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Kyle Messer (left) of New Mexico State University speaks during the Model United Nations college

Amanda Noroña and Amy Penn both represented China in the Chinese Council of the United Nations this past weekend.

But these students never went to the U.N. headquarters in New York – instead, they attended a mock conference here at UCLA.

For its second year, UCLA played host to 150 members of the Model U.N. club as they created a simulation of the world organization with the goals of cooperation and positive debate. Students from all over the world assumed roles as diplomats and discussed and passed resolutions on the state of world affairs.

Eight committees discussed topics including human trafficking, the war in Iraq, sustainable development, emerging markets and terrorism.

Noroña, a first-year political science student, and Penn, a fourth-year Chinese language and microbiology student at UC Berkeley, cooperated with the Japanese Council on the issue of Spratly Islands, a group of islands in the South China Sea that has caused disputes between the two countries. The islands are owned by the international community, but Japan and China both seek control of them because of its bountiful fishing market and oil wealth.

Noroña said she joined the council because she saw the importance of China’s influence in world politics.

“China’s population takes up 20 percent of the world’s population and is growing as an international power,” Noroña said.

The club at UCLA includes 100 students, 30 of whom were active in this weekend’s event. The 80 other attendants came from universities including UC Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and New Mexico State, as well as places as far away as Sydney, Australia.

“The mission is to pass resolutions and be able to get along with (representatives) of other nations and also figure out common areas of interest and compromise,” said Kay D’Souza, undersecretary general of collegiate relations for UCLA’s Model U.N., who recruits universities to attend and organizes the conference.

Delegates within the committees each represented a country’s views.

“Model United Nations provides opportunities that other (clubs) can’t provide,” said Shebli Mehrazarin, secretary general of Model U.N. at UCLA. “(Model U.N.) gives students the opportunity to practice public speaking, discuss current world issues, and (promotes) diplomacy.”

Noroña said the club also provides students with unique learning opportunities.

Noroña said she believes issues such as the conflict in Sri Lanka, where rebels want a separate homeland for the Tamil ethnic minority, and other problems in smaller African nations need more media attention.

“Some of the topics that have been brought up are so obscure it shows how media downplays (some important issues that affect many people),” Noroña said.

Mehrazarin said not only is it important to understand international perspectives, the practical skills Model U.N. members attain can help them later in life as well.

“Mostly people want to do (Model U.N.) to learn what is going on in the world, deal with stressful situations diplomatically to be more successful later in life,” Mehrazarin said.