OWEN BENNETT THE CATCH-22 OF SOVEREIGN DEBT BUSINESS 9
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
KATE ROWAN IN NEW ZEALAND SPORTS FEATURES 22
JOHN RYAN KING OF THE RED TOPS GOES BROADSHEET OPINION 18
JESSIE THE DEVIL HUGHES
Two
TRINITY NEWS Est 1953
GSU opposes Provost’s plan to axe facility
Set the night alight: Fire show heats up Front Square
TRINITY NEWS INVESTIGATES
College defends leases College News Editor Manus Lenihan makes an enquiry into exam extension fees charged for campus residents
Provost to replace graduate study space Up to 40 desks and seminar rooms at risk Careers Advisory Service to be put in place GSU says there is no dialogue over the plan Kate Palmer Editor
THE Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) is embroiled in a row with Provost Patrick Prendergast over plans to replace 40 postgraduate study desks with office space for the Careers Advisory Service (CAS). The proposal has been opposed unanimously by Arts faculty members. Trinity News understands the CAS is being moved from its current location in East Chapel to make way for an office for the Vice Provost for Global Relations, Jane Ohlmeyer. Prendergast proposes axing 30% to 40% of research space in Phoenix House, which houses a recently renovated facility for postgraduate research students and postdoctoral fellows. Phoenix House been in development throughout this year to accommodate postgraduates in the faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS). Facilities include study desks, lockers, network access points and meeting rooms. It was at a meeting of the Executive Committee for AHSS on 27 September that the faculty was first informed of Prendergast’s proposal. The executive voted unanimously to protest the
Manus Lenihan
proposal to the provost. Dean of AHSS, Michael Marsh, was mandated to bring this protest to the attention of the Provost and subsequently wrote to him protesting the plan. The meeting heard: “Just as the as the access arrangements are improving the Dean [Michael Marsh] has been informed that the Provost has identified the second floor of the building as a new location for the Careers Advisory Service. “If this plan proceeds the [AHSS] Faculty will lose between 30% to 40% of the 90 existing spaces available for postgraduate research students and postdoctoral fellows.”
College News Editor
According to College the “matter is under consideration” by Provost Patrick Prendergast In reaction to the opposition, a university spokesperson said: “The matter is under consideration and the College has no further comment to make.” When asked about the timescale for the renovation, College was unable to provide a date, although the GSU speculates the desks could be Continued on page 2
Trinity’s Juggling and Circus Trick society hold a fire show as part of CSC 4th Week
THE Accommodation Office has responded to a Trinity News investigation regarding campus leases and rental costs. Students living on campus after 12 May or before 21 September, which excludes exam season, Freshers’ Week and parts of certain courses, are pay an extra charge of €18 to €22 per night. The accommodation office advertises these same rooms to tourists at prices between €57 and €120 per night. A spokesperson from the Accommodation Office said: “This core residential year best suits the academic requirement of the majority of residents. “There are of course residents particularly postgraduates, medical and dental students, who need to either arrive earlier or stay later than these dates.” According to the Office, the cost of €18 to €22 represents the breakdown of the total rental period to a nightby-night figure. “This is reasonable because some students are occupying rooms for a longer period. “It would be inequitable if the same total charge applied for persons staying for different lengths of time.”
#occupydamestreet reaches 18th night 50+ protestors continue to camp outside Dublin’s Central Bank Extra demands now include non-payment of the bank guarantees David Barrett Deputy Editor
TRINITY COLLEGE continues to be the backdrop of the Occupy Dame Street protest, which has now reached day 18 of its occupation outside Dublin’s Central Bank. The movement, which identifies itself to be a sister protest to the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, claims it will be making its stand outside the Central Bank for ‘as long as it takes’. The movement has a usual protest population of between 40 to 50 people sleeping in tents outside the Central Bank, however this population has
been known to swell to 80 and during a protest march on October 15th over 2,000 individuals expressed their solidarity with the Occupy movement. This support has come as no surprise to Sharon, a researcher who acts as one of the movement’s co-ordinators, arranging matters such as food for the protesters. She explains that the reaction has been ‘over 90% positive’ to the movement and that even employees in the Central Bank do not seem to overly perturbed, with very little interaction between the protesters and those on their way to work in the building aside from idle curiosity. They may soon have plenty of time to satisfy that curiosity – Gardai have told the
Occupy movement that they can stay where they are indefinitely provided that they do not block the entrances to the Central Bank. With a motto of ‘We are the 99%’ Sharon explained that this referred to the proportion of the population who had suffered with the current economic system. Demands have started to crystallize. Paying for the bank recapitalization in particular appears to be an important source of grievance, while demands for the nationalization of key natural resources and restoration of democracy from the EU-IMF were also cited by protestors Continued on page 2
Protestors outside Central Bank in Dame Street, around 50 people will camp tonight
Vol 58 Issue 3
25 October, 2011