BYU invited to send studentsto symposium in N

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    By HEATHER HUMPHRE

    The Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) has selected BYU, along with nine other institutions of higher education in the United States, to accept applicants for a summer symposium in The Hague, Netherlands. This will give those accepted the opportunity to meet with world leaders and internationally-known diplomats.

    “Students attending this program will have their lives shaped dramatically for the better — in what they learn, who they meet, and the doors that will be opened for them. This will be the ultimate networking, career catapulting experience,” said Cody Shearer, program director and IIMCR president.

    The goal of the International Student Symposium of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution is to provide experience on international business, law and affairs for future world leaders. IIMCR feels strongly that the key decisions of tomorrow will be made by those who are being educated today.

    There are so many conflicts in the world today that students are not prepared for. IIMCR tries to help prepare them for their future by providing them with access to leading professors and negotiators. On a larger scale, IIMCR seeks to make this world a better place, noted Marcel Smits, a student from the Institute of Higher European Studies who is helping with the seminar.

    The mediation symposium is an intensive four-week program held at the Institute of Higher European Studies, a leading European institute of higher education and international relations, from July 8 to August 2, 1996.

    The Hague was chosen for the seminar conference because it is the home of many United Nations agencies, as well as various important international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the headquarters of the European Union, and the International Court of Justice.

    The location will also allow students to tour one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe. The Hague is located on the beach, and hosts the North Sea Jazz Festival and many other entertaining activities during the summer months.

    The program is seeking a diverse base of inquisitive, self-confident, well-read students, who are self-starters interested in becoming involved in business and politics on the international scene.

    One hundred students will be selected to attend the conference. Sixty of the students will come from BYU, Stanford, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Wellesley College, University of Washington, Northwestern, University of Florida, Princeton and Williams College. The other forty students will come from universities located worldwide.

    The mediation symposium will focus on the roots of conflict, peacemaking and peacekeeping, the legal aspects of conflict resolutions, the status of nuclear weapons treaties and international security covenants, and the use of international force and law.

    Issues of human and civil rights, the environment, ethnicity and migration effects on world affairs, and the importance of the international business environment will also be discussed.

    By participating in the program, students can earn three credit hours and will be instructed by professionals who train the Dutch Diplomatic core, as well as many other diplomatic organizations located throughout the world.

    Additionally, the program will introduce students to a wealth of international businessmen, diplomatic heads of state and world leaders, who are experts in international relations, legal disputes, trade policies and environmental dilemmas.

    “You are dealing with people who have actually made history,” Shearer said.

    The Institute of International Mediation and Conflict Resolution is internationally known for its participation in many high-level mediation programs and has proved instrumental in many negotiatory settings in the Middle East and Europe.

    IIMCR was responsible for helping to secure the release of several westerners in Bosnia from the hands of the Serbs. Currently, the institute is helping in negotiations between the Israelis and the Syrians.

    Students applying for the seminar are required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average and must have completed their first year of college.

    The application deadline is April 15, 1996. The selected attendees will be announced by the admissions committee by May 15.

    The program costs $3,500 and those selected may apply for scholarships to help cover costs. To obtain applications call (202) 828-0721, or send your request to: IIMCR, 2001 S Street, N.W., Suite 740, Washington D.C. 20009.

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