Welcome to Harvard Model Congress 2012 and, more personally, to the Presidential Cabinet! It will undoubtedly be the best committee at the conference this year. We are Carina Fish and Chris Ballesteros, and we will be your chairs. Over several days, you and your peers will assess potential threats to America’s stability, and you will debate ways to respond to them. This committee will need to work together to address national, international, domestic, economic, and cultural issues. The Cabinet will culminate its efforts in crafting creative recommendations for the president that effectively ameliorate these problems. The dynamic nature of the international community and Congress will require the focus of the Presidential Cabinet to evolve rapidly as new issues arise. As a member of the Cabinet, you must always be sensitive to any changes abroad that may pose a threat to the United States and respond appropriately. As you engage these real world issues, your responses will ensure the safety of Americans and maintain the United States’ position as the leader of the free world. We are both very excited about meeting you and look forward to working with you. In the meantime, here is a little bit about us.
Chris Ballesteros is a senior history concentrator from Hau’ula writing a thesis on Hawaiian cultural history. Chris is one of the captains of the Harvard Mock Trial Association, the Director of International Programs for Harvard Model Congress Asia, and a staffer for HMC Europe (this will be his eleventh conference). Chris has interned in real estate, law, and politics over the last three years, and hopes to pursue a career in business, law, or government. In his spare time, Chris enjoys teaching karate, finding new restaurants, and playing soccer.
Carina Fish is a junior living in Quincy House, pursuing a concentration in Mechanical Engineering. She is thrilled to be returning to the Cabinet after serving as a senior staffer last year. Outside of HMC, Carina is involved in a number of extracurricular activities including the Harvard Black Students Association and the Harvard College in Asia Program. This is Carina’s third HMC conference, for which she is incredibly excited.
Again, welcome to the Presidential Cabinet. We cannot wait to meet you and to begin tackling the issues that the United States currently faces. We hope that you are as enthusiastic as we are about the upcoming conference. Please take some time before the conference to read the Cabinet briefings posted on this website. Feel free to do additional research on the issues by reading the briefings of other committees, and stay up to date on articles that discuss any changes in any of the conflicts. If you have any questions, we would be more than happy to answer them. Happy reading, and see you in February.
Sincerely,