Student senators learn to play politics at MUSS

By Christian Mattil, Ansbach High School JournalismApril 9, 2015

Plenary
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANSBACH, Germany (April 8, 2015) -- Ansbach and other high school students, role-playing as Republican senators, attend plenary session. Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from across Europe gathered in Wiesbaden, Germany, ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Meeting during plenary
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANSBACH, Germany (April 8, 2015) -- Department of Defense Education Activity students representing the Republican majority leader, majority whip, and Senator John McCain conduct a meeting about a bill during plenary session. Department of Defense Edu... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Votes during plenary
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANSBACH, Germany (April 8, 2015) -- Department of Defense Education Activity high school students representing Democratic senators vote on a bill in the Model U.S. Senate plenary session. DoDEA high school students from across Europe gathered in Wies... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Ansbach High School
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANSBACH, Germany (April 8, 2015) -- The Ansbach High School Model U.S. Senate team and video production team pose with MUSS project officer Robert Claus. Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from across Europe gathered in Wie... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Taking notes
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANSBACH, Germany (April 8, 2015) -- Department of Defense Education Activity high school students representing Democrat senators write notes and listen to a speaker during a plenary session. DoDEA high school students from across Europe gathered in W... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

[Editor's note: Christian Mattil is a journalism student at Ansbach High School.]

ANSBACH, Germany (April 9, 2015) -- Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from across Europe gathered in Wiesbaden, Germany, to participate in the annual Model United States Senate program March 16 through 19.

During MUSS, students are assigned the role of a senator, given topics to write two bills, and allowed to debate about many different topics just as their senators would.

With more than 100 students from across Europe participating, this year there were more participants in the program than there were available senators.

The program has been running in DoDEA-Europe for decades, but the overall concepts have remained the same. Senators attempt to gain support for their bills once they reach the conference by lobbying with other senators in their respective committees. If after lobbying one senator chooses to sponsor another senator's bill, they are known as a co-sponsor. These co-sponsors are vital because they can speak on behalf of the bills and they show that bills have garnered support.

After the lobbying process, bills are debated in each committee. The bills that pass in the committees are then sent to a group consisting of students from each committee and one chairman from each committee. Here, the group prioritizes all of the bills to decide which bills will be debated in plenary first.

Plenary, which takes place on the last two days, is the gathering of all the committees and is where all of the passed bills are debated. Unfortunately, there is never enough time to debate all of the bills that make it to plenary, because if they were all debated students might be at the program for an extra week.

This year fewer bills were debated in plenary than in previous years. This was due to simulated crises involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and a plane crash in Jordan. The Senate was split into two different groups that each decided how to handle the problem, and then the Senate reconvened to decide which parts of both groups' plans would be in the final plan. This process took a few hours of debate time away from the bills.

During MUSS, students can take on the role of a senator with beliefs that contradict his or her own beliefs. By taking part in this role play scenario, students must research the beliefs that the other party or group has to try to understand them, so that the students can effectively argue their senators' beliefs. This is a way for a student to step out of his or her own shoes and understand the reasoning behind the opposing view.

Robert Claus, the project officer of Model United States Senate, Department of Defense Dependent Schools Europe, coordinated the entire event.

"One of the best ways that a student can improve his or her debate skills is to take on a role that is opposite from his or her personal beliefs," said Claus. "In doing that you force yourself to learn and argue for positions that are not your own and thereby broaden your knowledge of the subject and look beyond your own prejudices."

Claus also explained that one of his favorite parts about the program is that it is planned by students and run by students. The students write the bills, the students debate the bills, and the teachers facilitate when necessary, making it a student-based program.

To learn about DoDEA Europe, select "Department of Defense Education Activity Europe" in the "Related Links" section on this page.

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