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25 YEARS OF THE LGBT IN TRINITY SOCIETY NEWS P9
ON CAMPUS
CHRISTIAN GROUPS EXAMINED P
www.trinitynews.ie
Michaelmas term, Week 6
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They wanted a blood sacrifice, they wanted me gone. I am not interested in an organisation that cannot see past its fucking anger.
Richard Morrissroe,
No Confidence USI President resigns
CAOIMHE HANLEY NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR Union of Students in Ireland President Richard Morrisroe has resigned following a vote of no confidence taken at the USI National Congress which took place in Galway on Saturday. Another member of the officer board, USI Equality Officer Stephen Conlon, has also resigned in an internet scandal that has rocked the union. The vote took place following a week of controversy for the union, in which Conlon authored an unsigned document, posted on political news website and forum politics.ie, attacking the leadership and integrity of Morrisroe. Conlon accused Morrisroe of “attempting to rule Officerboard by decree, subject to his own whims.” He suggested that Morrisroe’s “style of leadership has led directly to a breakdown in trust at the highest levels of the Union, and he has, by his actions, contributed severely to an alienation of the Union from its constituent organisations”, Morrisroe is charged with bringing media ridicule to the union, due to his unfortunate assertion that “lots of students drive their own cars because public transport is too expensive” and because of his failure to attend the Tara protest march despite his assurances that he would be present. On top of these allegations, Morrisroe
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USI President, July 1st 2007 - 13th October 2007
MORRISROE AND CONLON OUT - FULL INTERVIEW - P6 USI PRESIDENT LOSES NO CONFIDENCE VOTE - P2 JOHN MCGURK ON RICHARD MORRISROE - P12 WHY USI NEEDS TO CHANGE - EDITORIAL - P13
Phil Jewish joke censored by CSC
Issue 2, Volume 54
is also accused of undermining union morale by “publicly criticising a member of USI Officer Board in the presence of a Constituent Organisation,” and “failing repeatedly to consult with CO’s when requested to by members of the Officerboard, and when requested by CO’s themselves”. But according to Conlon, Morrisroe’s greatest failing was in his inability to “effectively put the USI’s case to the Government” and by specifically “failing to put the case for an increased grant to the Minister for Education.” However, in an exclusive interview with Trinity News, Morrisroe has revealed that he feels his ousting was “completely political” and “absolutely disgusting”. In response to Conlon’s allegations, Morrisroe states that the majority of the accusations were “hearsay and nonsense”. While admitting that he has made mistakes, and confirms that he did miss the Tara protest march, the ex-president refutes the quotes referring to his interactions with the Government, revealing that his accuser Conlon was also on the taskforce that dealt with this issue, and negated to raise the issue at the time. Furthermore, Morrisroe finds Conlon’s actions “disgusting”, and can see “no excuse for what he did”. Morrisroe is “deeply upset” that Conlon did not raise his objections with him personally, instead preferring to “air USI dirty laundry” in such a public way.
Trinity banned from editing Wikipedia by fire alarm geek
CAOIMHE HANLEY NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR
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STAFF WRITER
received a complaint by email from an offended reader. College then moved to censor the • Continued page 2
The College’s Internet Protocol Addresses have been blocked from editing Wikipedia.org “due to persistent vandalism” by students using college computers or through the college’s Internet connection. The block was activated on the 19th of September 2007 and will remain active for one year. The block means that unregistered users cannot edit articles or create accounts while on the college network, be it in a computer room or on their laptops. This comes following several “friendly” warnings from Wikipedia editors and two “final” warnings, which were issued during a litany of vandalism over the summer. The final infraction was an edit made to the personal profile of Ben Schumin (whose
Wikipedia username is “schuminweb”), a Wikipedia administrator (an editor with access to special technical and maintence tools). Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” is the ninth most visited site on the internet. This is the third time that Trinity has been blocked for vandalism to the website. Previous blocks, in November 2006 and March 2007, were for a matter of hours. Wikipedia’s blocking policy states that blocks should be preventive in nature rather than punitive, i.e. they should be designed to prevent further vandalism to the site rather than punish those responsible. The severity & frequency of damage, as well as the likelihood of recidivism are the primary factors in determining the length of a block. Institutional blocks are a special case: “Blocks on shared or dynamic IP addresses are typically shorter than blocks on
Ben Schumin poses beside a Fire Alarm registered accounts or static IP addresses made in otherwise similar circumstances, to limit side-effects on other users sharing that IP address.”
As Trinity News was going to press Mr. Schumin hadn’t responded to an appeal made on his user talk page. According to the Wikipedia administrators’ code all issues should be raised with the administrator initially responsible before being submitted for arbitration. Before Trinity was blocked Mr. Schumin had been engaged in a bitter dispute with another editor over several personal attacks against him. Mr. Schumin had never warned or blocked Trinity prior to his block, nor had he reverted any of the vandalism made by Trinity users. Wikipedia has a history of vandalism and its blocking policy has been revised significantly since its foundation six years ago. The most famous incident was a false biography of Joseph Seigenthaler, which went unnoticed for 132 days. The article made several libelous • Continued page 2
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Exclusive interviews with Johnny Marr and Duke Special. A student’s guide to eating at Tesco. What’s Hot and what’s Not. The Turner Prize and more. 7
The Last of Culture Vul the tures
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From film -m to film suc akers cess
Photo: Donal donal.wordp O Caoimh ress.com
The University Philosophical Society is under investigation by the Senior Dean amid allegations of antisemitism. Meanwhile, a source close to the scandal has reported Hist involvement in the matter. Ruth Faller, President of the society, chose to appear on The Gerry Ryan Show on Monday 8 October to defend her society, which printed the allegedly anti-semetic material in its annual pulication, The Philander. The magazine allegedly quoted the leader of Austria’s notorious xenophobic Freedom Party, Joerg Haider, stating that “Jews are always welcome in the chamber”, in reference to the debating chamber of the Graduates Mermoial Building. This was then sent to the homes of the majority of incoming firstyears, with the result that College
KEVIN LYNCH