IRC Elects Kottas Model U.N. Secretary-General

Kofi Annan may be the man of the hour, but the Harvard International Relations Council (IRC) has made its own judgement, electing Quincy House junior Angelos M. Kottas the secretary general for its 1998 Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN) conference.

Kottas won the position over Hilary F. Yeager '99, of Leverett House, in what Gopal Garuda '98, an IRC board member, called a "distinctly non-political...clean, fair election."

Members of the IRC's board and veteran HMUN and National Model United Nations conference participants cast 38 secret ballots in Monday night's election.

"It's a very intense, emotional experience to get elected," said Kottas, who served as an undersecretary general for the General Assembly in last December's model U.N. conference.

The duties of the HMUN secretary general include overseeing the IRC's annual U.N. simulation for high school students in December and appointing the other seven members of the HMUN "secretariat"--the conference's executive cabinet.

Kottas said he plans to expand scholarships to needy high school students who are currently unable to attend the HMUN conference--held every year at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston--for financial reasons.

"As hotel prices go up, it's something we have to expand upon," Kottas said, adding that many other delegates to the conference are also burdened by travel costs.

Kottas said he hoped to extend HMUN's current financial aid program to sponsor an entire school delegation from "a financially disadvantaged neighborhood" in the local area.

"We'd have a Boston area high school participate that wouldn't ordinarily be able to participate," he said.

Kottas' election represents a swing back to HMUN's trend of electing a secretary general from what the organization terms its "substantive" side--the branch that deals with the actual committee meetings during the conference. The "non-substantive" side focuses on the administration and logistics of run- -ning the 2,000-delegate conference.

In the last two elections, the organizationbroke with tradition, choosing secretary generalsfrom the "non-substantive" side. Last year'ssecretary general, Lee P. Koffler '98, hadpreviously served as an undersecretary general ofbusiness and as the HMUN comptroller.

Yeager, who previously was undersecretarygeneral for administration, said she is confidentKottas will do "a fabulous job," but expressedconcern about preserving balance in theorganization's leadership.

"There seems to be a bias towards a substantiveperson become secretary general," she said. "Idon't think we're giving enough consideration tothe non-substantive side of our conference."

Other IRC members expressed a differentimpression of the organization's direction.

"HMUN has done a lot in recent years tointegrate the various different departments of theconference," Garuda said. "I think that if thereis a rift between substantive and non-substantiveparts of the conference, it has closedsubstantially in recent years."

Deepti Choubey '98, president of the IRC,agreed, claiming that whether a candidate camefrom the non-substantive or substantive side wasirrelevant in the election for secretary general.

"To be quite honest I think that when you'relooking at the position of secretary general,which is the top level of the organization, itdoesn't matter," she said. "You're looking for aleader--you're looking for the person that's goingto be able to lead a conference of over 2000people.

In the last two elections, the organizationbroke with tradition, choosing secretary generalsfrom the "non-substantive" side. Last year'ssecretary general, Lee P. Koffler '98, hadpreviously served as an undersecretary general ofbusiness and as the HMUN comptroller.

Yeager, who previously was undersecretarygeneral for administration, said she is confidentKottas will do "a fabulous job," but expressedconcern about preserving balance in theorganization's leadership.

"There seems to be a bias towards a substantiveperson become secretary general," she said. "Idon't think we're giving enough consideration tothe non-substantive side of our conference."

Other IRC members expressed a differentimpression of the organization's direction.

"HMUN has done a lot in recent years tointegrate the various different departments of theconference," Garuda said. "I think that if thereis a rift between substantive and non-substantiveparts of the conference, it has closedsubstantially in recent years."

Deepti Choubey '98, president of the IRC,agreed, claiming that whether a candidate camefrom the non-substantive or substantive side wasirrelevant in the election for secretary general.

"To be quite honest I think that when you'relooking at the position of secretary general,which is the top level of the organization, itdoesn't matter," she said. "You're looking for aleader--you're looking for the person that's goingto be able to lead a conference of over 2000people.