ACS Students Participate in the Athens Model United Nations

By Alex Varsaki

      Model United Nations is a conference students all around the world can attend, making it a multinational event. It simulates the United Nations seminars that are held in order to solve current problems in and between countries, today. MUN allows students to represent a country, debate its stance on a particular issue and try to achieve a unanimous solution in a formatted and concise resolution. This not only informs, but allows students that were mere strangers beforehand to become acquainted with one another - a friendship which extends past the duration of the conference.
     Athens Model United Nations, beginning on April 1^st this year, was no different. Arriving bright and early at the planetarium, many young, bright and excited faces came to represent not only a country of their choice, but their home country, stemming from all around the globe: India, The United States of America, China, South Africa, Germany, The United Kingdom, France and numerous other countries. Once everyone had arrived, they assembled in a hall called the General Assembly and the introductory speeches were given by the presidents of the conference, chairs of specific conferences and ambassadors, all warmly welcoming the students to AMUN 2011.
     I participated in the conference and, it being my first time, I was nothing short of mortified at the idea of having to stand up at the podium in front of such a large audience. Sure, they were my peers; however, they were strangers - strangers that would be scrutinizing my every word as I spoke about the “Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology” in Japan. Right after the magnitude nine earthquake and twelve foot tsunami hit Japan. Thankfully, Nick Efstratoudakis broke my spell of nervousness by reprimanding the delegate of Mexico for wishing a moment of silence for Japan, stating that “Japan is an independent country, and finds the intervention of other countries unnecessary.” Needless to say, all of the delegates of Japan (all of which were ACS students) were attacked for that comment the entire three-day conference, so for that, we thank him.
     The rest of the conference was filled with moments such as these, and I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone who participated when I say that not a single day passed by even remotely uneventful. Whether debating in heated arguments, accusing others of not knowing their own country’s policy, fixing the resolution for the eighteenth time, laughing at the frantic panic of allies when “You have two minutes to hand in your resolutions” was called out by the chairs, celebrating the passing of a resolution or clapping whenever the chairs shouted “Clapping is not in order” into the microphone for the umpteenth time, this year’s AMUN conference was a fantastic success and multiple resolutions composed by ACS students were passed.
     So much as to say that I would dare to participate in another conference, and put myself on that podium which was once intimidating, but has now been conquered.
     Here is what others had to say about the conference:
     “AMUN was full of excitement and it gave the opportunity for individuals to come face to face with the real world and actually attempt to solve issues that even grownups have problems solving.” - Maria Vangelatou
     “AMUN was a remarkable experience and proved to be an excellent opportunity to learn about world issues and how to solve them. It was educational, yet still enjoyable, and I gained several friends from participating in the conference.” - Sara Samad
     All in all we learned a lot and had a lot of fun.

ACS Combo Class Students put President Truman on Trial

By Dimosthenis Papaleonardos

     The verdict is in..... “Truman is guilty of crimes against humanity in the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during WWII. This was the decision of this year’s Combo class.Each year, the ACS Combo class which consists of English 10 Honors and American Studies 10 Honors creates a hypothetical trial to determine if the former president of the United States, Mr. Harry S. Truman, is guilty of crimes against humanity for his decision to utilize the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during WWII. The students of the class play the roles of lawyers and witnesses. They divide into the prosecution and the defense. The groups develop their cases and prepare to cross-exam the other side. Other students from the 10th and 11th grade are the jury. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Papatassos are the honorable judges of the trial and make sure that the trial runs smoothly.
     This year’s trial started very dramatically, both sides were in a fight to get the jury’s attention. In the beginning, it was very clear that the prosecution was making better points and winning the jury over with those points. As the trial continued, however, the defense lawyers started to cross examine witnesses and proved points by “trapping” the witnesses.  As time passed by, points were proven by both sides. It was very hard for the jury to make a decision. It all came down to the last two witnesses of the defense team, Mr. Henry Stimson, Secretary of War and Mr. Harry S. Truman, the US President, himself. Both defense witnesses had very long speeches. Throughout their speeches, they attacked the prosecution lawyers who kept pointing out that the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary. President Truman’s speech also had strong and direct points supporting his position and attacking the other side.
     Finally, after 5 hours of presentations, the jury was asked to come to a decision through a vote. Mr. Harry S. Truman, the President of the United States of America was found guilty. Despite a very convincing speech by Mr. Truman the prosecution had prevailed.
     After the decision this year’s President Truman, Nate Todd, was interviewed. He said that he thought the experience had been very educational, very realistic and very demanding. He had spent a lot of time researching and understanding the issue in order to be able to give his speech.

ACS Students Participate in the Math Literature Club's Activities

By Christine Siomou

     If you like math and reading … why not do both of these at the same time? Yes, you can do it and ACS makes it easy for you. The very successful Math Literature Club gives you the opportunity to read books about great mathematicians such as Archimedes and watch movies about the mathematical way of thinking. But the fun doesn’t stop there… Our teachers with the help of the leader of our club, Ms. Falidas, organize seminars with famous authors that are of interest to everyone.      Furthermore, this club offers a great opportunity to improve your reading, writing, speaking and mathematical skills. There are philosophical discussions that help students improve their critical thinking. There are discussions about new books, music and culture and about new concepts in math and how they affect our everyday life.  Also trips are planned to various educational places in Athens such as the math section of the Benaki Museum. In addition, members of the club participate in the Christmas and Halloween Fairs and run bake sales to raise money for all our activities.