Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News

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Most young adults complain that their parents' generation just doesn't understand what it's like to be young anymore. Consequently, older generations tend to label the young as immature.

This misunderstanding often leads to many opinions clashing between the generations, especially concerning political and social issues. This age-old problem is usually blamed on the 'generation gap' and ignored by both sides. The Texas A&M Student Committee of National Affairs is doing their part to get young adults involved in the issues.

"SCONA is one of the oldest organizations at the MSC," said freshman SCONA Internal Affairs officer Stephanie Hinds. "It was started by two cadets who felt students needed to have more of a perspective on what was going on."

The SCONA committee has an annual conference that enables students from across the nation to participate as delegates. The delegates listen to political leaders and debate the issues at their own roundtables. Each table institutes a policy, which is presented to be judged.

"The delegates divided up into roundtable groups and discuss what they think is right or wrong," said SCONA President Tony Listi. "They also get to collaborate to form a group policy proposal that is judged on the last day, and the winners are awarded at our final banquet."

Hinds said that the purpose of the conference is for students to come together and discuss major world issues. The topic of the 2008 conference will be developing a sustainable global energy policy.

In preparation for the event, the SCONA committee assembled prominent figureheads such as speakers like Ambassador Aliyev of Azerbaijan to discuss energy, gas and oil prices.

Hinds said that students do not have to be politically minded or want to pursue a career in politics to participate in the conference. The committee recruits from the political science, engineering and liberal arts schools, but they encourage anyone with an opinion to sign up.

"It's a time for students from all over the world like Qatar and Miami to get what they are thinking out there. Everyone has an opinion and it works for everyone," Hinds said.

Listi said the only requirement to sign up as a delegate for the conference is that participants must be enrolled in college. There are 150 seats available and tickets are on sale until Friday at the MSC box office or on SCONA's website.

"People just say they had a blast. They always say, 'Oh, I want to come back,' and even our former students ask if they can come back," Hinds said.

The conference will be Feb. 21-23. Each day will begin with a different speaker, and the remainder of the day will alternate between roundtable sessions to other speakers.

"The first day tends to go longer because of registration," Hinds said. "But it's a very relaxed environment. It's not like classes with facilitators, and anybody is welcome to observe the conference and come and go as they please."

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