Dear Students, Faculty, and Guests,
On behalf of the Institute for International & Domestic Affairs, we would like to invite you to attend Rutgers Model Congress 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey from 16-19 April 2008.
Rutgers Model Congress 2008 will provide an interactive environment for civic education in which students will learn about and debate a variety of issues currently facing Congress. During the four day simulation, students will become versed in many of the political, economic, moral and social arguments in society today. In addition to factual education, students leaving RMC 2008 will have improved their communication and leadership skills, learned the importance of compromise and concession, as well as witness firsthand how the political process works to solve issues facing the people of the United States.
Within each committee, students will learn how states, businesses, and people achieve their varying goals as actors in a federal society. Federalism has played a critical role in American politics throughout our history and continues to be an important factor in how the legislative process works. The officials elected to the United States Congress are members of political parties, but their purpose in the legislature is to serve the constituencies that put them into office. This is the very basis of a representative democracy. Students will keep this in mind during debate, shaping their decisions to more accurately reflect the interests of their respective states.
To emphasize Federalism, and the debate of states’ rights versus the federal government, RMC will offer many Advanced Committees relating to current issues as well as critical historic issues that shaped the history of the United States. Analyzing the role of the judiciary, the United States Supreme Court and New Jersey State Supreme Court will debate cases regarding the legal give-and-take in power between the states and the federal government. Furthermore, students will discuss the "Bleeding Kansas" Crisis of 1859, introducing the key issues that led to the eventual secession of the South and the start of the American Civil War. Other students will travel to the debate between the colonies that raged in the Second Continental Congress, wrestling with whether declaring independence from Britain is in the interest of their colony and its' people.
Registration for RMC 2008 will open 1 December 2007. Please register your school early, as the Conference has a limited number of seats available. For more information about the conference, please review the following pages. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact IDIA at (732) 249-4227 or via email at rmcinfo@idia.net.
We eagerly await your attendance of RMC in April, and we wish you the best of luck during preparations for
Rutgers Model Congress 2008.
Sincerely,
Kyle Gruber and Sean Hemmings
Conference Managers
Rutgers Model Congress 2008
