The 1998 Florida Division Convention was hosted by the Jacksonville Chapter at that city from May 15 to 17, 1998. Eight of the eleven chapters were represented, with each, depending on their membership, having three to seven authorized delegates. The Sarasota-Manatee Chapter was represented by six of our authorized seven delegates. There were also alternates, individual members, guests, several local representatives of the Council of Organizations and a delegation from the Florida High School Model UN Committee.

The Convention theme was "Conflict Resolution", and the featured speaker at the Saturday night banquet was State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research senior official Gary Crocker, who spoke on what we have learned about the subject. Mr. Crocker reviewed techniques, tactics, and results of recent attempts to resolve international conflicts, with considerable focus on Iraq, other areas of the Middle East, and chemical and biological warfare negotiations.

The Convention also featured a workshop on conflict resolution led by Michael Hartman, Executive Director of the Growth Management and Conflict Resolution Institute of Jacksonville University. The workshop compared and contrasted mediation with other forms of conflict resolution. Another workshop segment focused on South Africa and included an overview of the evolution of the conflict resolution process in that country by a workshop leader who had been directly involved in facilitating that thus-far remarkably successful process. A mock conflict resolution session on Bosnia followed, led by a participant in that ongoing process.

In addition to the events mentioned above, the Convention included an initial reception on Friday evening, followed by dinner. The Friday evening speaker was UNA-USA Board of Governors member Bill Miller. From his base at the Kentucky State Capitol, Bill is undoubtedly the most successful person in UNA in using television to promote our objectives. His presentation on "The Role of Television in UNA Advocacy Outreach" drew on his experience over several years in hosting a weekly one hour television talk show, "Frankfort's Global Connection".

Bill encouraged us to get involved in starting a program with similar aims, and gave us numerous pointers on how to get going. He recommended the broader theme of international relations rather than only the UN, emphasizing local connections and benefits, going with the public access channel rather than the more difficult commercial ones, and collaborating with other producers or hosts, particularly in the beginning. After showing us portions of a videotape of some of his shows, Bill offered to help get one or more of our Florida chapters started in any way he can.

Many of the group then joined the 13 Division Board members present for the pre-convention Board of Directors meeting. President Diane Powers congratulated the eight Chapters that had submitted their annual reports to National UNA-USA with copies to Florida Division, and urged the other three Chapters to submit theirs. Brief oral or written Chapter reports followed, with most Chapters reporting considerable activity. The Board was concerned and sympathetic to the plight of Orlando's immediate past President Rita Lucey, who recently began serving a Federal prison term for violating a judge's injunction in a peaceful protest against the School of the Americas in Georgia.

Committee reports included one of inspiring success from Tom Cook, chair of the High School Model UN Committee. This year there were 320 delegates from 23 schools, serious and well-organized debate, and excellent coaching from the college students who had been through this before. Tom anticipates more county-wide local model UNs next year, with a late November conference at the University of South Florida on model UNs. These activities will lead up to the state-wide high school model UN in March 1999 at the Orlando North Hilton in Altamonte Springs. Tom urged that Chapters encourage and financially support local school participation.

President Powers reported on UNA-USA national developments and encouraged attendance at the June 3 to 6 national CCD meeting in Washington. The Board approved a motion that Florida Division sponsor a Leadership Day for chapter and division leaders and potential future leaders with an outside resource person or persons at the Langford Hotel in Winter Park on November 7 and provided initial funding for that purpose.

Dates for the 1998-99 Board meetings were set (Nov. 7, Jan. 9 and March 6) and the Sarasota-Manatee Chapter agreed to host the 1999 Division Convention. (Subsequently, Sarasota-Manatee Chapter blocked rooms and made provisional arrangements for the 1999 Convention April 30-May 2 at the Holiday Inn Riverfront in Bradenton with riverfront rooms at $62 plus tax per night and suites at $72 plus tax, so mark your calendars.) Saturday morning's plenary session featured a review of national UNA-USA developments and an informational workshop with leaders and members of several local affiliates of the UNA-USA Council of Organizations. In response to the AFL/CIO representatives' presentation on their concerns and objectives, it was noted that the theme of the 1998 UNA-USA global policy project will be workers' rights (including the rights of the child). Plans and the agenda for the national CCD meeting in June were also discussed.

The Saturday luncheon featured UNA-USA Vice President for National Programs James Olson, a one-time resident of Jacksonville and former President of the Jacksonville Chapter. Jim's talk on "The Work of the UNA-USA" gave a frank overview of many items, but focused on the status of the debilitating and dangerous arrearages in US payment of dues and other indebtedness to the UN and what UNA-USA is doing to try to motivate Congress and the American people to pay in full, on time, and without conditions.

The remainder of Saturday's activities are covered at the beginning of this report.

Sunday morning's final general and plenary session reviewed the finances of the Division, discussed and approved a budget for the coming year, elected new officers, and discussed Division and Chapter plans to implement the Common Core. Several members recommended specific actions by Chapters and individual members, such as Chapter letter-writing campaigns to Congress, taking advantage of public radio calendars and other community newspaper, radio, and television calendars to push UN Day and special UNA events, and calling in to talk radio.

Specific goals recommended by President Powers were to increase each Chapter's membership by 20% and form a new chapter in Tallahassee. In addition to strongly advocating payment of our arrearages to the UN and full funding for present assessments and contributions, it was recommended that Chapter education and advocacy campaigns focus on ratification of the Conventions on Discrimination against Women and on the Rights of the Child, early US adherence to the international treaty to abolish anti-personnel land mines, and US support for an effective international criminal court.

The following officers were proposed by the nominating committee and elected by the general and plenary session. There were no nominations from the floor:

	President:		      Diane Powers (re-elected)
	First Vice President:	Steven Baker
	Second Vice President:  John Ryan
	Secretary:		      Jane Bingham
	Treasurer:		      Nancy Sever  (re-elected)

Readers of this web page may wish to consider whether they or their organizations should send similar letters to their Congressional representatives:

May 16, 1998

Members of the Florida Congressional Delegation
House and Senate Office Buildings
Washington, DC

Dear Senators and Congressmen:

We are delegates of over 1200 members of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) from eleven chapters in most of the Florida Congressional districts or are representatives of several of the 140 non-governmental organizations with total national memberships in the millions which are affiliated with the Council of Organizations of the UNA-USA. We are presently assembled in Jacksonville, Florida at the annual convention of the Florida Division of the UNA-USA.

We express our deep concern, frustration and disappointment with the failure to date of the US Congress to pass acceptable legislation to pay the long-standing and embarrassing US arrears to the United Nations. We deplore the linkage for political purposes by the US Congress of payment of these treaty-obligated debts to the unrelated issue of abortion and by the imposition of other unilateral conditions which, if applied by other nations, would be condemned by the US and would lead to a breakdown in international cooperation.

Reliable public opinion polls in recent months show that a substantial majority of US voters continue to support the UN and international cooperation. Regrettably, political posturing by some in Congress to curry favor with a radical minority of isolationists and single-issue extremists is now threatening serious US national interests. We and others, individually and as members of our organizations, have for several years communicated with many of you urging full and prompt payment of our debts to the UN without unilateral preconditions. Many major US and Florida newspapers and other media have editorialized in support of removing the United States from the shameful status of international deadbeat that Congress' failure to pass an acceptable bill has caused.

The amount of money involved is very small in comparison to most other categories of US Government spending, but the potential cost of US military and economic spending to repair the damage inaction could cause is incalculable. We, the undersigned, therefore request and urge that you, our Florida representatives in the US Congress, work together to assure the prompt passage before the summer adjournment of legislation to fully pay US arrears to the United Nations without unilateral preconditions.

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