No-lympics? by Daron Vaught

Even though a reporter does not have the privilege of taking a direct part in the debating and sharing of ideas that goes on at CONA, it helps to know as much as possible about what he or she reporting. I took an extensive “peek” through all of the conference’s proposals, making note of my favorites. Now, I didn’t necessarily agree with some of them, but I may have enjoyed the innovative thought that was apparently put into a particular submission. I managed to narrow it all down to one, however, and I would like to share with you what I saw as the most intriguing and interesting proposal submitted. I will follow this proposal and its author throughout the legislative process and will keep you updated on its progress.

In 2001, the International Olympic Committee granted the city of Beijing, China the privilege of hosting the Summer Olympic Games. This, of course, was under the impression that the Republic of China would enhance the freedoms and right of its people. With the 2008 games approaching, Beijing is set to host and no apparent changes have been made in the city’s human rights policies, leaving one Eric Kunkel to be very distraught. Kunkel, a three year CONA veteran from Minnesota, proposes that the United States make sure that the people of China have justice. He proposes that the United States boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics.

I don’t believe that there are many flaws to this motion, as history tends to repeat itself. Allow me to explain. The Olympic Games have been somewhat notorious for playing host to groundbreaking political statements and have induced the rise of many of the world’s most outspoken heroes. From Jesse Owens single-handedly defeating the Third Reich to President Ronald Reagan catalyzing peace in South Korea (which was also done by way of boycott), the Olympics have been proven to be the stage to some of the United States’ most gratifying moments.

However, fellow delegates pointed out that the stipulations of this proposal would be terribly detrimental to the athletes who plan to compete in the Games. “These athletes spend their whole lives trying to get here, and this may be there only chance to compete in the Olympics,” Alex Oliva of Kentucky stated in his con statement. “It is a great idea, but I think that maybe there is another way we could do it.” Kunkel responded to these comments, concluding that “we may be ripping away dreams of thousands of athletes, but if we do not move this proposal forward (through General Assembly) we’ll be allowing others to rip away lives of millions.”