U.N. trip gives students glimpse of enviro programs

By Franklin Crawford

Assie-Lumumba

N'Dri Assie-Lumumba was in her element. At a weekly student-faculty dinner discussion in the Noyes Community Center, Assie-Lumumba, associate professor of Africana studies and Cornell faculty-in-residence, led an informal discussion about a recent group trip to the United Nations. Joined by Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, Wells College professor of political science and environmental studies and Cornell visiting scholar in the Department of City and Regional Planning, the gathering was marked by its open, relaxed atmosphere and diversity.

About 70 students, faculty and staff kicked off their fall break with a bus trip to the United Nations on Oct. 8. Initiated by Assie-Lumumba and Lumumba-Kasongo, the trip was co-sponsored by Campus Life's Community Development, the Faculty-in-Residence Program and the International Students and Scholars Office. The highlight of the tour consisted of three presentations given by U.N. representatives James Sniffen, Yassine Fall and Demetrios Argyriades. Topics covered included a discussion of the U.N.'s environmental programs, issues of gender and water supply in developing countries and a general overview of how the U.N. operates. Despite a minor delay and an elaborate security check -- and, due to construction, the disappointing absence of the U.N.'s famous display of flags -- the trip proved inspirational for all participants.

Kevin He '06 said, "The [presentations] helped me understand how discussion in the U.N. influences people's daily lives, [like] food prices and drinking water quality -- even the air we breathe."

A United Nations tour guide gives a tour to Cornell students, from left, Aalya Fatoo, Vincent Chau, Luis Ramos, Joseph Mbugwa, Susanne Rest and Angelika Wick at the United Nations last month. Provided

Neeraja Adidam, who specializes in urban forestry in India and is currently a Humphrey Fellow in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said the trip offered a rare "bird's-eye view" of the U.N.'s environmental projects. Adidam is from India, where urban forestry is a relatively new field, and she said she made several contacts at the U.N. that could prove useful to her work in the future.

October is a busy month at the U.N., and time constraints naturally made the tour too brief for the curious Cornell visitors. However, on the whole it proved rewarding, Assie-Lumumba said. And considering the logistics involved, the whole thing "came off beautifully."

Students toured several large conference halls, where each member country is designated by a name plate in the U.N.'s trademark semicircular seating arrangement. The setting was the perfect photo op for students who snapped shots of one another seated behind delegates' desks.

Christian Casciola '06 was impressed by the tour, especially the presentations.

"I found it interesting that each presentation offered a different view of the same overlapping problem -- the need for greater national-interdependence on all levels," Casciola said. "An excellent paradigm addressed by one of the speakers being the European Union's ban on American GMO products and its correlation with both the global economy and American agriculture as well as the rising Third World poverty line."

For Assie-Lumumba, who has worked with several U.N. organizations, the trip was a chance to visit a place that is quite familiar to her. She is currently serving her second term as one of 24 scholars and development experts who are appointed by the U.N. secretary-general for voluntary service on the U.N.'s Committee on Development Policy.

Assie-Lumumba joined the faculty-in-residence program in fall 2000, and her family moved into the Gothics on West Campus. From 1992 to 2000, she served as a faculty fellow to Ujamaa Residential College, and she is still involved with Ujamaa programs. She also is a member of the recently formed North Campus-Collegetown Council.

"I am gratified to see how much the students enjoyed this trip," Assie-Lumumba said. "The frustrating part was that we didn't have enough time, but it did give them a flavor of what the U.N. is like."

The U.N., she said, is an ideal destination for students in campus life programs because "all academic fields have their equivalent in the U.N. organizations, offices and programs, and it is a microcosm of the world."

But the U.N., like the world it represents, is anything but ideal.

Humphrey Fellow Enyi Elekwachi of Nigeria said the U.N. is an inherently contradictory place. It advocates democracy on one hand, he said, "but there is no democracy within the U.N. Not all countries have an equal voice."

Assie-Lumumba agreed, saying that the mere existence of a U.N. security council and the veto power it wields "is a reminder that countries are not all equal yet."

But there is nothing else like it.

"It is true the U.N. has not always lived up to its potential," said Assie-Lumumba. "But it is important for students to see and for people to understand the important role it plays in the world."

Co-sponsors for the trip included: Gothics/House 2N, Holland International Living Center, Collegetown/Edgemoor, Ujamaa Residential College, Nigerian Students Association and the International Students Programming Board.