starry eyed issue 3

Piacenza 2012 | p1

Starry Eyed

No Signalby Sigrun Fagerfjäll

‘There will not be any in-ternet connection or phone reception at the venue, so make sure you tell your loved ones that you will not be able to get in touch with them dur-ing these days’. When I read this in one of the pre-session emails I must admit that my heart stopped for a second. No internet, no texting and no calling for five days? Normally, I can not even last an hour without checking facebook. This was sure to be the end of the world.

Technology presents us with endless possibilities. Eve-rywhere we go we have access to social networks, all the in-formation we will ever need and lots of different media. It is completely understandable if we become a bit spoiled. So how do we react when we are suddenly deprived of internet and mobile reception?

At this session we have all seen people walking around in different parts of the venue, phones raised over their heads and with a look of desperation on their faces. All of a sudden we might hear a ‘Yes!’ which is then followed by a ‘No, I lost it again!’. These people are hunt-ing for reception.

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capturing all that shines in Piacenza 2012, XXIX° National Selection Conference of EYP Italy

V for Vendetta sets the Gun-powders Plots as V’s historical inspiration. Guy Fawkes, a revo-lutionary soldier that on the 5th November 1605 tried to blow up James I and his Parliament, inspires the film’s character.

We are in 2030, and Norse-fire’s totalitarian government rules the United Kingdom. His party sets up concentration camps where political prisoners are exterminated.

www.eypitaly.org

12-15 AprilSa

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If you have ever read this editorial before, you might have noticed something odd. Maybe you thought it was a typing mistake. It is not. And yes, we are talking about the weird name-nationality combination of the editresses of this paper.Multiculturalism is geting more and more common in Europe. There are more and more kids born from parents of differ-ent cultural backgrounds. Many of them even have a double nationality. It is not uncommon that these children grow up speaking two different languages from the youngest age. This not only facilitates them in many concrete aspects of life, like communicating with people of different origins or learning other languages more easily, but also creates a sense of belong-ing. Multiculturality is something that gives you flexibility and helps you recognise and accept the idea of difference. At the same time, it makes things more complicated. Most people are able to answer immediatly to the question ‘Where do you come from?’ For us it is not the case. Having or not a double nationality is not the matter. We simply do not know the concept of patriotism. It might sound very confusing, perhaps even scary to someone. To us though, it is something that can only enrich you as a person. This is why we do not mind when people assume we come from France just because our family lives there, or any other country because we speak the language of the place. This is also the reason why the nationalities of the contributors to this paper might seem messed up.Nevertheless, here we feel comfortable with that, as EYP is a place where you can embrace multiculturalism. We wish for you to do the same, even if it might seem scary at first.

Giada Benfatto (FR) & Camille Dugay (IT)

EDITORIAL

Piacenza 2012 | p3

Committee News p4

Role Model: V p6

Don’t judge a book by its cover p7

No Signal: Techonology Rehab p8

Hell’s Kitchen p12

Doctor Anything or Talent Hyde? p14

The importance of being international p15

Do’s and Dont’s of the GA p16

Evolution of an EYPer: Stage 3p19

Le réspect de l’énvironnement p18

CONTENT

INDEX

The Journalists

p4 | XXIX NSC of EYP Italy

LIBE

FEMM

AFCO

CULT

The first discussion I heard from AFCO was a discussion on how they were going to have a discussion. Sounds complicated? It may, but this committee was extremely fo-cused on working out a strategy for creating a successful resolution. They were first put to the test in the ‘Multi-Legged Monster’ where they had to move from one side of the room to the other with only eight points

of floor contact. It was hilarious – and quite terrifying – to have an entire and very unsteady committee heading towards you shouting ‘RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT LEFT’, but despite being on the brink of collapse, they succeeded in their task with great teamwork and good humour. In committee work everyone was well prepared and they attacked with full energy with the issue of

education. Returning later in the day, this en-ergy had not been lost and a lot of progress had been made. . They got a little stuck on the controversial TV show

idea, but the delegates always showed great maturity in their discussions. – TK

When you watch FEMM in committee work it almost feels as if they are playing some bizarre energizer. In the middle of a discussion they suddenly all start waving their hands in the air, clapping and show-ing thumbs up. This is in fact a very intel-ligent system that the committee members use to express their opinions. This way the committee work becomes more efficient.

When you work fast you also get more time for games. Friday morning the com-mittee played a wild round of Fruit salad that ended up with

two people falling over in their desperate hunt for a chair. After an energizer in the

afternoon the chairs jokingly questioned if the committee was serious enough to continue the discussion since everyone was laughing. FEMM makes sure to stay energized at all times so that they can give their full atten-tion to the important issue of integrating female immigrants. They find the perfect balance between work and fun. – SF

It is day 2 for LIBE.The situation in prisons is heatingup. Ideas were flowing all over the place. As the committee’s chair, Loren-zo D’Eri (IT), puts it, “Don’t get frustrated if your idea goes down the graveyard, we are working as a committee, not as indi-viduals”. Yes, you heard right, graveyard. Lorenzo came up with a marvellous idea for brainstorming. Instead of the oh-so-

boring distinction between relevant stuff and non relevant stuff, he decided to have three sections named Bank, Hospital and Cemetery – although a dictionary was needed to spell that. At first it seemed like people were relying

heavily on statistics, until Amina Abdul suggested that these may offer incoherent data that can be misleading. During the debate, the delegates shifted their attention from a purely practical point of view to a more humanitarian one. Marco Fiormon-ti in particular seemed really sensitive to those people struggling to start over once they get out of prison. – EC

SONIC BOOM. Villa Regina Mundi is shaking. The street fighter-shouts can be heard in the entire building. I run to CULT’s committee

room to see what is going on. It turns out to be the most epic game of street fighter

ever seen by mankind, fourteen minutes long with everyone shouting until their throats are sore. After the game one of the chairs, Laurens Kraima (NL) proudly says that CULT is the most enthusias-tic committee that he has ever had the pleasure of playing street fighter with. Maybe it is the enthusiasm that makes it possible for CULT to always be one step

ahead. Right before the afternoon coffee break they are fifty-five minutes ahead of schedule and still they show no sign of slowing down. Watch out for the street fighters, if CULT continues at this speed there will be no stopping them. -SF

News From the Committee Rooms

Meet the com-mittee that can be recognised by their enthusiasm and their sore throats.

AFCO focus on making the EU a more trans-parent body to increase trust in voters.

In committee work FEMM

managed to mix business with

pleasure without losing focus.

LIBE throws away pragmatism to concentrate on

individuals.

Piacenza 2012 | p5

News From the Committee Rooms

DEVE

AFET

EMPL

ENVI

EMPL has been working the entire day to find solutions to the problem of an aging popolation. Their chairs affirm that they were really active and proposed loads of ideas. Their preparation level was really high as they brought fact sheets to the session.From the very beginning they highlight-ed the hottest issues, such as unemploy-

ment, healthcare, age discrimination and the technological gap between genera-tions. Afterwards they selected social in-clusion, independence, and cooperation as the main goals for their resolution. The debate got interesting when the delegates had to find solutions. Maria Chiara Starck (Torino) proposed to imitate Belgium’s welfare, where citizens

can retire earlier if they find some young-sters who substitute them. One of the boys, Andrea Balzarotti (Como) told us that in a first place he did not

completely agree, but after debating they could arrive to common positions. - GDB

It seems like everyone in AFET works for a clock-manufacturing company, as their time-management skills are impressive. Maybe that could be due to the com-mittee being the most technologically advanced one, though that is not what really counts. As you should already know EYP is all about ideas, and in AFET’s room some pretty bold ones were

flowing around. Enea D’Andrea showcased his knowledge of the topic by stating that many minorities in Syria now face the fear of genocide.

As the Syrian government has now called for a surge in the army’s lines, Margher-

ita Quaia reminded us that the logical reaction to this measure would be an even more violent environment. The same girl came up with the idea of having a third section added to the more com-mon ”relevant, not relevant” system that is normally used to select ideas. Things look really bright for AFET. Let us see what their weapons during GA. – EC

When I crossed the door where DEVE committee was, I did not imagine to find such a dedicated team, so devoted to their chairpersons. Everybody there agreed that the chance to share opinions is the highest moment of committee work. Everyone was perfectly included in the discussion. Sincerity seems to be the core value in DEVE.

During one of the energizing games something happened: Luca Intronini fell off a chair and broke it. Maybe that chair was not so well made, because this poor guy is at most 70 kilo-grams in weight.

Some girls of the committee were not so happy about their room because they had a lot of nice insects under their bedspreads but luckily our efficient orga team helped them for that. By the way I can’t under-stand why only the delegates found insects in their room, are the officials blind? –BM

Before Committee Work began, ENVI had the task of find-ing a fact about each person which no one else shared with them. Thw exercise revealed

some interesting facts: Chiara Carlino surprised everyone when she announced

that she had driven reindeer – and eaten one too. The blindfolded ‘Lazerfield’ game was fun to watch but really challenged ENVI. Lorenzo Vergari managed to mas-ter the technique after a lot of practice, but the committee had to work together and constantly adapt their ideas to complete the task. Once again, communication was essential and this was very important in

preparation for Committee Work. ENVI had to work very hard throughout the day as they soon experienced the challenge of forming a resolution with many conflicting ideas proposed. However, atrmed with col-ourful, heart-shaped post-it notes, the com-mittee continued working as a strong team and form a response to their topic – TK

ENVI face the challenges of communication and learn how to work as a team.

Nothing to say, EMPL really seems ready to produce a well-founded position paper

AFET advances in their topic

with the steadi-ness of a swiss

watch.

DEVE: You must put yourself in other people’s

shoes.

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VV for Vendetta sets the Gunpowders Plots as V’s historical inspira-tion. Guy Fawkes, a revolutionary soldier that on the 5th November 1605 tried to blow up James I and his Parliament, inspires the film’s character.

We are in 2030, and Norsefire’s totalitarian government rules the United Kingdom. His party sets up concentration camps where politi-cal prisoners are exterminated.

Evey Hammond, a young woman who works at the state-run Brit-ish Television Network, faces attempted rape and is rescued by a Guy Fawkes masked vigilante famous as “V”. After saving her, he detonates the Old Bailey – the central criminal court in London. The government publicly explains that it was a controlled demolition. The same day, V takes over the state television broadcast, exposing the lie. Here he urges all the citizens to rebel against the regime and meet him on the 5th of November outside the Houses of Parliament, which he promises to destroy.

The plot develops around the relationship between V and Evey. After hiding her in his lair, V makes her live in another dimension, where she is captured by the police and then interrogated. After releasing her, he reveals the trick, eyplaining that he wanted to defeat her fears, as only a fearless person can be free. At first, she hates V for what he did to her, but then realises that she feels stronger and free in spirit and promises to return to him after the 5th of November. A second storyline follows inspector Finch, Scotland Yard’s chief officer, who learns how Norsefire came to the power, and begins doubting about government’s legitimacy.

As the 5th of November nears, V starts diffusing chaos in the UK through various devices and the population starts questioning Norse-fire’s rule. Then V organises the distribution of thousands of Guy Fawkes masks. When the final day arises, V goes to London’s under-ground to direct a train full of dynamite towards the Parliament, but there he needs to fight against some of his enemies. He wins, but dies, mortally wounded, in Evey’s arms.

In the end, Evey, helped by Finch, decides to send the train on its way, while over the ground thousand of masked Londoners are march-ing towards the Houses of Parliament to watch the event.

The films ends with the explosion of the Houses of Parliament and of the Big Ben, and in their final speech, Evey and Finch pronounce the following words: “Who is V?” “He was all of us.”

V has become a role model both in the movie and in the world. He wants, through his actions, to wake up people from their rest. He fights but not as a war machine. He does not fear showing his feelings dur-ing the scenes. Indeed this is what allows him to approach the public, demonstrating that he is a human being with the same needs as others. He does not use violence to create chaos but to reach his political goals.

His character opens a different point of view on terrorism, which might be seen also as a last effort to free a civilization from dictatorship and has inspired loads of people as a symbol of freedom and rebellion. –GdB

by Giulio del Balzo

Piacenza 2012 | p7

Music…music, music! Since the most remote ages music was a beautiful way to abstract yourself. Primitives played it, Ancient Greeks too, Mozart, and then LMFAO during our times. Music has evolved during ages, and has become more and more spe-cific. You listen to songs that represent your mood of the mo-ment. If your heart gets broken, you listen to songs about love and heartbreaks. You will listen to happy songs if you are just happy and enthusiastic. Punk, rock or indie will appeal to you if you are angry or just want to escape. Music sometimes is the only thing that reflects your feelings.

Almost everybody listens to music and benefits from it. Just think of all the kinds of activities music is used for: playing yoga, running, doing physical exercises, cleaning the house, driving the car, driving your bike, or just standing up waiting for some-one… and of course dancing.

There are a lot of ways to enjoy music. However, the most popular way to listen to music is going to concerts or attending clubs. I personally love dancing and I love going to clubs, but I know that not everyone likes it because they think that the music is too loud and commercial. According to stereotypes, guys go there just to get a chance with girls, girls go there just to appear, and people want to be as drunk as possible.

I am not one of those bad examples, but sadly I have to admit that what anti-clubbing people say is almost true. I agree that it’s fun to dress up, wear heels, a skirt or whatever you prefer but you risk ending up as a copy of everyone else.

In the summer period I go to Versilia’s clubs. There, you risk to be judged by girls that often look like porno Barbies or girls from ‘Jersey Shore’, or guys who try to appear cool by buying fashionable clothes. This might happen simply because you are not dressed like them.

Nowadays it seems like appearance is more important than really getting to know each other. It is terrible how some groups judge others by their clothes, by the people they hang out with. Thank fully, I can gladly say that people in EYP do not have this problem, because everyone has fun in a genuine way. Eypers do not judge each other by their cover. – BM

There are many ways to listen to music. Sitting on the couch, doing your homework or just dancing alone in your room. But what happens with loud music in clubs? Is clubbing just a way to appear and show off?

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

by Borana Meta

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p8 | XXIX NSC of EYP Italyp8 | XXIX NSC of EYP Italy

‘There will not be any internet con-nection or phone reception at the venue, so make sure you tell your loved ones that you will not be able to get in touch with them during these days’. When I read this in one of the pre-session emails I must admit that my heart stopped for a second. No internet, no texting and no calling for five days? Normally, I can not even last an hour without checking face-book. This was sure to be the end of the world.

Technology presents us with endless possibilities. Everywhere we go we have access to social networks, all the infor-

mation we will ever need and lots of different media. It is completely under-standable if we become a bit spoiled. So how do we react when we are suddenly deprived of internet and mobile recep-tion?

At this session we have all seen peo-ple walking around in different parts of the venue, phones raised over their heads and with a look of desperation on their faces. All of a sudden we might hear a ‘Yes!’ which is then followed by a ‘No, I lost it again!’. These people are hunting for reception. “One time I had reception inside my room for a few seconds, then it

disappeared again” , Emanuele Ballarin (IT) tells me about this miracle, he says that he sometimes gets reception outside too when he is lucky. However he does not get too hung up on these matters “It is not a big problem, we have people here and that is the most important resource, we have everything we need” he says. Anna Conti (IT) agrees with Emanuele when I ask her if it is hard not being able to use her phone “It is not important” she says, “I do not use my phone a lot any-way, mostly to call my relatives”. Maybe Emanuele and Anna are right, maybe our phones are not as important as I thought.

No signal

While we often talk about drug addiction, technology addiction is not as widely known. This does not make it less fatal. So how does a true technology addict deal with the lack of internet and mobile reception that we are facing at this session? And can anything positive come out of the experience?

by Sigrun Fagerfjäll

Piacenza 2012 | p9

It might even be a good thing that we can focus a hundred percent on the session and avoid distraction from the outside world. After all we spend a lot of time online and the lack of internet connec-tion gives you the opportunity to instead invest that time in your new friends at the session or in perfecting your speech for the General Assembly.

The absence of internet might also make you more effective and social. When we have access to social networks and such on our phones we tend to multi-task. According to Professor David Mey-er, who has researched multitasking for

the past fifty years, this can reduce your effectiveness by as much as fifty percent. You will need those extra fifty percent when preparing for the General assem-bly. Research has also shown that people who can access internet on their phones are less interested in socializing and less committed to relationships. We all have a need for social gratification and when you can receive that online, instantly on your phone, you tend to put less effort into socializing when you actually meet people in real life.

I still find it hard to deal with the ab-sence of facebook and texting but maybe

there is hope for me too. Giuseppe Coz-za (IT) also found a little difficult to deal with being cut off from civilization in the beginning of the session but he says that he has no problem with it now, on the second day.

Being addicted to technology is a common problem in today’s society. But if we can push through the pain and deal with the absence of our phones once in a while it can actually make us better persons. Maybe this session was just the technology rehab I needed. – SF Sa

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We managed to score five minutes in the hectic schedule of the session’s Head Organisers, and it surely was not an easy fit. You must know that Head Organis-ers are constantly planning the next event minute by minute, while coping with un-expected problems and turns of events. Therefore it was impossible for us to catch them together. Nevertheless we managed to get an interview from both Simone Passeri (IT) and Camilo Teillier Villagran (RCH/IT), the two people without whom all that you are living through now, would not be possible.

Chatting with Camilo, the first ques-tion that sprung from the discussion, was the basic question every EYPer should ask themselves: what got you into EYP. He re-

plied that it is the need and the desire to have a high-quality comparison to other people, and EYP is the perfect environ-ment for this. As you will have realised, the fast-paced rhythm pushes everyone to their limits and brings out the best in each participant. It is not only the Europe-an issues that interest him. His drive lies mainly in interpersonal relations, as well as critically analysing but still respecting everybody’s ideas.

Talking about ideas, I asked him what he was thinking when he decided to take on the role of head-organiser. This time it is the strong desire to offer delegates the possibility to experience the magic of a national session that made him step forward. To him, like to most of us, that

magic is still the main reason to stay in-volved in EYP.

As you might know, organising a na-tional session is not an easy task to ac-complish, that is why there are usually two Head Organisers. Do they get along? They seem to have no problem doing so. According to Camilo, Simone is the per-fect model of Head Organiser. He is able to keep calm in the worst and most cha-otic situations. At the same time it sounds like it is also a pleasure to work with him, as he keeps in mind that Head Organis-ing a session also means enjoying yourself and having fun.

On the other hand, when Simone was interviewed, he described Camilo as ‘the mind and heart of the session’. He stated

HELL’S KITCHEN

by Emanuele Cossa

A few words from the ‘evil puppet masters’ : the Head Organisers.

Valentina Moles, 19

What is it like to be an orga? ‘Stressful, tiresome, but it’s really nice to know that you helped make this session amazing’

What do you think about your HOs? ‘They are really efficient, they are not those type of guys who bitch about anything they possibly could, and they do their utmost to make you feel as confortable as possible’.

Piacenza 2012 | p13

that Camilo has the mind-frame of a dele-gate and the maturity of a Head Organiser, a perfect balance.

If Simone is here to help lead the or-ganisation of this session, it is thanks to his philosophy teacher from high school. If it was not for her, we would not be able to appreciate his ability to keep a cool head even under the greatest pressure. She was the one who introduced Simone to the ever-surprising world of EYP.

What was his specific motivation to organise this particular session though, we do not know. He had no idea what the stakes were when he decided to take this chance. Looking back, he thinks that per-haps he was drunk. Now, on the contrary, after hundreds of difficulties, last minute

changes and improvised solutions, it is very clear to him what organising a ses-sion means.

You have probably noticed that every time you had a problem, somebody would immediately be there to take charge of it. That no matter how bad things went, Camilo would always be smiling, and Si-mone would always stay calm. As a Media Team we would like to say that we really admire this attitude, and we would like to thank them for their dedication and pres-ence in the moments of need. – EC

Matteo Bagatella, 19

What is it like to be an orga? ‘Stressful, tire-some, but in the end rewarding, I would just like to sleep more’

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Really cool guys, they do everything they can to make this session the best one ever’.

Elena Rovai, 21

What is it like to be an orga? ‘It is really about team work and the ability to be coor-dinated at what you are doing. But you know, it’s very rewarding when you realise that everything that’s going on is because of you’

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Camilo is a sweetheart. As for Simone, he is like the most passionate guy I’ve ever met. Though he is way better once he gets a shower!’

Clelia Tundo, 18

What is it like to be an orga? ‘It really feels like being at the core of the session. It is all about team work and trusting your fellows teammates’

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Amaz-ing people. They are always there for you.

Marco Rossi, 19

What is it like to be an orga? ‘Exhausting, but being an orga you really feel in control and you know that you’re making this session happen’.

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Camilo is the reason why I’m always smiling. Simone is like the mastermind behind the session, he always manages to get everything done, no matter what’.

Chiara Rezzoagli, 22

What is it like to be an orga? ‘Stressful, tire-some, gruelling. Yes, I feel like a desperate housewives. Though when you see the results, you cannot feel but satisfied’

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Camilo is like the sweetest guy around, whereas Simone is more of a dreamer. He dreamt about making this session for more than a yearyear now. And by the way, he really needs to take a shower’

Sonia Trabelsi, 18 (Yeah... sure!)

What is it like to be an orga? ‘Complete tiredness rewarded by full satisfaction’.

What do you think about your HOs? ‘Ummm, one is unstoppable; the other is a source of energy with his never-ending smile. The perfect match’.

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The GleEYP night revealed some ex-traordinary talents from our delegates. Some of them turned out to be really good good dancers and singers, and performed so well that they pushed us to continue to discover new talents among the delegates.

A talent is not always what you show in public, but sometimes it is an interior skill that distinguishes ourselves. Therefore we interviewed some delegates and found out about their dreams, abilities and, obvi-ously, role models.

Alessandro Variola (DEVE) from Tri-este affirmed that he is not coordinated or athletic, but he does not mind that. De-spite of the fact that he said that he cannot do anything, we discovered that his biggest talent is that he accepts himself. In fact he is able to focus on his qualities, such as so-cialising and managing relationships. He appeared as an open-minded person who can inspire confidence amongst other people. Nowadays good humour has be-come a rare talent.

We then met Lorenzo de Vita (AFCO) from Como who told us he has been play-ing the violin since he was six, but has left this activity because he found it difficult to coordinate it with his studies. Anyhow he finds it easy to study all the subjects and asserts that he has not ever made any big effort with practising. Moreover, he says that sometimes it can be a pleasure. He would like to study chemistry in univer-sity and not by chance his role model is the famous scientist Galileo Galilei.

Our session also hides lots of writers and artists. We have Valentina Ruffo di Calabria (AFET) from Como who af-firms to be very creative. She likes paint-ing, writing poems and also making jew-els. She is interested in music and follows groups before they are on the top of the scenes. Her role models are the President of the Republic, Napolitano; a Portuguese writer, Saramago; and a French artist, Cheval.

Marco Malusà (AFCO) from Tri-este declared that he is creative and has a strong imagination, which makes him able to extract things and realize them as thoughts. He is good at teamwork and feels he is quite intellectual. He would like to become a writer and his role models are Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

At the end of our talks, we met a cos-mopolitan delegate, Arvin Dobay. She’s half Hungarian and half Dutch and lives in Milan. She loves writing stories and po-ems and sometimes she composes loads of texts about the world around her. When she was little she got a prize for winning a writing competition and now she declares to be an hermetic. Obviously she would like to become a writer and her favourite writers are Stefano Boemi and Giuseppe Ungaretti. – GdB

Doctor Anything or Talent Hyde?

by Giulio del Balzo

Let us discover the delegates’ hidden talents. What is behind the people who are attending the session?

Piacenza 2012 | p15

The world is becoming more and more international and open to new cooperation among countries. Young Europeans are be-ing offered new opportunities to get involved in a new vision of the world, and to think of themselves as citizens of a multinational un-ion that will be represented by Europe.

Just think of Erasmus and other exchange projects, such as Overseas, which give you the chance to study in another European country or in another continent. Think of EYP, think of concerts or travels. Not only students, but families as well are used to trav-elling a lot nowadays and seeing the world. Getting in touch with foreign people, cities and countries, and learning from different cultures and traditions have become an or-dinary holiday.

In fact, this is not a completely new thing: if we look behind us, we will find out that being ‘international’ was highly valued by the Romans. Rich people used to send their sons abroad through an ‘Ancient Erasmus’. It consisted in making them travel all around the Roman Empire, and to Greece especially as civilization there was based on studies of philosophy, math, science and literature. There, they had the opportunity to discover the new theories of important Greek intel-lectuals, to exchange ideas with them and learn the language. In this sense, the Romans culture can be taken as a model for our days.

The development of technology and dif-ferent type of media gave people a remark-able push to go ahead with the international development of cultures, thoughts and

technology. It is very important to be inter-national in a world that is going in this di-rection. Young people need to become open-minded. It is not as easy as it seems, and for that close-minded people are to blame. Even if they come from countries where nearly everyone has the chance to travel abroad and explore different cultures, they keep living with walls around their head. They do not understand the importance of being united, not just by an ID card but also as human be-ings. Sometimes even different cultures and traditions can become an obstacle to reach-ing an international sense of belonging.

Furthermore, we cannot forget the im-portant role that the Internet, mobile phones and TV have played in this internationali-sation. Internet is a revolutionary tool that reaches people in their own home. It has be-come one of the basic needs of population. Just think of how essential it is for school re-search, news, Wikipedia, mails or Facebook. Just think of us in this national selection conference and how alienated we are from the rest of the world: we could have been at the beginning of the third world war and we would not have known. By now, the devel-opment of media is the base of international communication and without it we would be more and more estranged from the rest of the world.

The world is going to be always more and more intercontinental, by continuing researches, using media and opening minds towards an “international” citizenship. – BM

The importance of being INTERNATIONAL

by Borana Meta

Internationally united through technologies, travel and experience.

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GA is approaching and you want to get everything right. The debates can become stressful so you do not want any embar-rassing moments to make things more dif-ficult for you. Being officials, we have all been through different GA’s before so fol-low this advice to help things go smoothly.

It is important in GA to pay attention at all time. It may sound obvious but often you may get distracted – oh, look at that pretty light or that pretty bird flying past the window – so try to stay focused and responsive to what is being said. Try and be spontaneous in your responses; you want the debate to be as lively as possible, so react to what is being said to keep it moving forwards. Sometimes it is appro-priate to use humour, which can help to create a dynamic and interesting discus-sion. Obviously do not use this moment to stand-up for an hour and test out some new jokes with the room because GA is of course a serious time, but if you can use a little bit of humour selectively, it can make the debate a lot more enjoyable for every-one.

Now, moving on to appearance in GA. Obviously you know that EYP is not a competition about who has the most ex-pensive suit, the highest heels or the best tie. However, looking smart and present-able makes you feel more confident and less self-conscious – and you want to be completely focused on the debates. So make sure tights are not ripped, hair is brushed and suits do not have the morn-ing’s breakfast poured down them. From personal experience, white shirts and cof-fee is not a good combination.

It is easy to say, but try not to panic dur-ing GA. You will naturally be nervous when the day comes but do not let fear go beyond your control. Remember you have the sup-port of your committee so you are never alone. The team building and committee work has given you a new group of friends so enjoy the discussion with this new team. EYP is not about adversarial politics; in-stead GA aims to be a discussion to reach consensus for the resolutions. If you relax and prevent major panic you will also avoid talking too fast, especially in speeches. No one wants to be the ‘dearmembersofthe-boardjuryandfellowdelegatestodayiam-proposing…’ person, so keep your speech steady. You have worked hard on your res-olutions so make sure your points can be clearly comprehended.

Although you may sometimes want to jump up and shout ‘YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG!’ do not let this inner desire escape. You must respect other people’s opinions and explain your ideas politely. In committee work you have learnt the discipline of lis-tening to others and, during this time, you have experienced the art of debating and coming to a conclusion. Every opinion is valid, no one is ‘wrong’ with their sugges-tions.

Hopefully, you will all use this advice and have a good chance to display the hard work you have put into your resolu-tions. The main thing is that you enjoy the debates and all get a chance to voice your opinions, so good luck and don’t be shy. – TK

Some tips to master the art of debating

DOs and DON’Ts of GA

by Toni Kerridge

Piacenza 2012 | p17

FASHIONABLE STARSSa

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En tant que vos modèles exemplaires, nous vous encourageons au respect de l’environnement. Dans ce but, nous avons décidé de laisser cette page blanche. Soyez créatifs.

Piacenza 2012 | p19

Maximus Excitus Stage: Full Time Committeee Work

The Evolution of an EYP Delegate: Stage 3Everyone goes through different stages in an EYP session. You arrive, you are nervous. Then however you gain confidence... Want to find out what stage you are in?

StrengthsBuilt up high levels of trust and friendship within committees

Great improvement in speaking English – practice makes perfect!

Learning to respect others’ opinions to reach a consensus, and learning about diplo-macy and democracy

Survival TechniquesWhen in doubt, use post-it notes – in Committee Work they are a good way to identify your main ideas and allow everyone to contribute

Have clear notes for GA, it will be very stressful to have hundreds of sheets of paper to sort through in each debate

Try to mix with some new people on the last night so you can get to know even more friends at the session

WeaknessesThe stress and nerves for GA are beginning, with resolution phrasing and speech writing soon to begin.

Tiredness has hit hard and the early morning start on Sunday is not very appeal-ing

Number of Hours before Next Coffee is Needed: 1.5 hours – everyone is building a worrying necessity for coffee.

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JOURNALISTS

Borana Meta (IT/AL)Emanuele Cossa (IT)Sigrun Fagerfjäll (SE)Giulio Del Balzo (IT)Toni Kerridge (UK)

EDITING TEAM

Print:Camille Dugay Comencini (IT/FR)Giada Benfatto (IT/FR/DE)

Video:William Goyet (FR) Sara Rinaldi (IT)

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