UCC Express

Page 1

EXPRESS

UCC

Tuesday, 05 November 2013 | www.uccexpress.net | Volume 21 | Issue 5

HOZIER & LUCY SPRAGGAN

FEATURES INVESTIGATES MENTAL HEALTH P10

THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION P17

Increase in bike thefts around campus Stephen Barry | News Editor @StphnBarry

Overcrowding: A typical lunchtime in the Mature Students Common

Mature students call for common sense Robert O’Sullivan | Film & TV Editor

students here. We are grateful to the college for this space, but the Common @theCircleGuy Room really has become a victim of its Last Thursday, mature students held a own success.” demonstration in the Mature Students’ The Windle Building is set for renoCommon Room to raise awareness vation as part of The Student Hub proabout what they see as unsuitable condi- ject, which is set to begin construction tions. in 2016. At present, many offices and The current space, located in the Win- rooms have been emptied and locked. dle Building, can hold approximately 30 According to Kiely, there also weren’t people, yet there can be as many as 60 any bathroom facilities available near students in the room at times according the Common Room until very recently. to users. “There are fantastic rooms just down the There had been an overflow space hall that have kitchen facilities, electricabove the Common Room, but that was ity, proper ventilation and heating, and closed off at the beginning of the year are very accessible, but they’re just sitdue to health and safety concerns. An- ting idle at the moment.” other overflow room had been provided, The HEA (Higher Education Authorbut that has since been closed. ity) stated the goal in its 2008 ‘National Tomás Kiely, Mature Students Of- Plan for Equality of Access to Higher ficer of the Students’ Union, said, “It’s Education’, that Mature Students should embarrassing, especially when you make up 20% of full-time college enbring first year or prospective mature trants by 2013. Currently, mature stu-

dents make up 9% of the student population in UCC. “At the moment we feel surplus to requirements,” says Kiely. “The community we have here in the Common Room is a fantastic support structure for mature students, but there simply isn’t enough room here.” The retention rate of mature students from first year is 83%, versus a 94% retention rate for the wider student population. “If there was more of a support structure that would make them feel less alienated; then the extra fees could pay for a new Common Room. We’re not just giving problems to the University here, but solutions.” Both the SU and the Mature Students’ Society have said they’ll help fund the new Common Room. Mary O’Sullivan, UCC Mature Students Officer, feels the Mature Students’

Common Room is an essential service: “A lot of mature students commute to college every morning from all around Munster. When they do have free time, the Common Room is important as a space that they can relax during the day and socialise. “Integration is an important issue in the case of mature students, but they need a safe space that they can go to if they’re feeling alienated or out of place among the wider student body.” The mature students Common Room was introduced last year, and had an average daily footfall of 120 people. This figure has doubled this year, with an average of 240 people coming into the Common Room daily. For more information on the campaign, organisers have asked people to call into the Mature Students’ Common Room itself.

There have been a number of warnings in the past fortnight to students who use bicycles to commute to and from campus. Barrack Street based retailer, the Bike Shed reported that 5 or 6 bikes were stolen in one go on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of October around campus. The Bike Shed estimated that at least 20 bikes around the city are stolen every week. The average value of these stolen bikes is €350. Official Garda figures say that 76 bikes were stolen in the period July to September in the city; however they also acknowledged that many thefts go unreported. Most of these robberies happen in the UCC area. Sergeant Tony Davis, the crime prevention officer in the city, spoke about the measures owners should take with their bicycles. “They should always take a picture of them and log their security numbers.” Speaking to the ‘Irish Examiner’ he went on to say, “They should also report to us when they are stolen and provide us with the details, so if we recover the bicycle we can return it to the owner.” The Bike Shed recommends using two locks on a bike, including a U-lock for the frame and a cable lock to secure wheels to the rail. They advise locking bikes in busy walkways, especially where CCTV is available. They also warned against leaving bikes out overnight and reminded cyclists that bikes can also be taken from back-gardens and garden sheds. Gardaí in Cork currently have 80 recovered bicycles on their website, where they hope owners can identify and reclaim them.

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