Photo by Graham Cullen Hood College political science professor Paige Eager has instructed high school students from Frederick and surrounding counties in a regional model U.N. program for the past four years.

Eager, an assistant professor of comparative and international politics, instructs students about world conflicts, terrorism, poverty and poor health in developing nations, and government corruption.

In many classes, she uses the day's topics to illustrate broader themes and nudge students out of their comfort zones as she tries to prepare them to think as policymakers worldwide would think.

With the advent of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle, there's no excuse for not knowing what's happening in this country and others, she said. Ignoring bad news or shying away from controversial subjects won't make them go away.

But Eager said seeing students apply lessons learned in the classroom to other situations helps her cope with the sometimes jaded perspective she has acquired studying political and social problems.

As an example, she mentioned assigning students to read a book about Islam.

One student who identified herself as an Evangelical Christian told Eager that a preacher came to her church and spoke at length about the evils of Islam.

Based on what she'd learned and read, the student stood up and challenged the preacher, she said.

When complex problems such as raising education levels for female children in developing nations, or reducing poverty, seem overwhelming, Eager encourages students to think about effective solutions, such as microfinancing or targeted loans.

Some students Eager meets will enter a work force that requires knowledge of foreign languages, or spending part of their career abroad, she said.

Apart from her duties at Hood, Eager has been instructing high school students from Frederick and surrounding counties in a regional model U.N. program for the past four years.

She'll lecture students Saturday on the working of the United Nations for an orientation for the fifth model U.N. at the Hayward Road offices of Frederick County Public Schools.

She'll also introduce participants to two main topics of this year's model: the Israel-Palestine conflict and a sort of progress report on the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.

The Millennium report will require students update a simulated U.N. assembly on each nation's progress in reducing infant and maternal mortality and raising literacy.

More than 100 children have signed up for this year's program, almost twice as many as last year, Eager said.

Students will also focus on issues such as the fate of potential borders between two separate states of Israel and Palestine, Palestinian refugees and water resources, particularly in the Golan Heights, she said.

While some criticize the effectiveness, failures or, in some cases the allegedly malignant intentions of the U.N., Eager said even if the organization were abolished, the world would need a similar global forum to take its place.