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volume xviii · issue iv · www.universityobserver.ie
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AT T E M P T S . . .
OCCUPYING
THE SU
SU to become SU Ltd
Katie Hughes News Editor
Progress has been made in turning what is currently UCD Students’ Union into UCD Students’ Union Ltd. The initiative is that of current Students’ Union President Pat de Brún and is expected to be completed by 2012. The SU accounts are still being compiled and while De Brún hopes to have drafted final figures and plans of action by December, he concedes that it will be January before the SU is ready to “move and step up the restructuring side of things”. De Brún states that he is “starting to get ideas” of the extent of the SU debt but is unwilling to estimate a figure, “while I want it to be as open as possible, until I have a figure myself I don’t want to speculate”. He admits that the Union will most likely be looking for a loan, “it’s likely enough that we’ll have to get external financing. It is quite likely now; we won’t be in a position to get that until our final accounts are actually done”. A budget is expected to be presented at the next meeting of Students’ Union Council, “I’m trying to make it as accurate as possible, which means it might take a little bit longer, the last thing I want to do is estimate figures that aren’t fully accurate”. He adds that the national fees campaign will incur significant costs that will need to be factored in. As a part of the streamlining process, de Brún submitted a request to the Independent Appeals Boards (IAB) to lower sabbatical officers’ wages by ten per cent before he took over the position of President from Paul Lynam in June. The request was rejected as the IAB claimed the other officers would have had a legitimate expectation of a certain sum when running for office. Regardless of the decision made, Students’ Union Officers have nonetheless seen a reduction in wages. Unlike previous years where an agreement had been in place with the Revenue Commission that officers Katie Hughes News Editor Plans are going ahead for a national protest orchestrated by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) against the possible increase of the student contribution fee. A sleep-out is planned to take place on Molesworth Street on November 16th following the march. The protest follows the Labour Party reneging on the pledge they signed one week prior to the general election in February, which stated that they would not support any increase in the student contribution fee, the introduction of any variety of fees, and that there wouldn’t be any further cuts to the grant. A spokesperson for the Department
would not be taxed, they have this year been moved onto the payroll. According de Brún, the move was made as “it was an old agreement and it was just out of date and we wanted to make sure that everything was done perfectly”. While nothing more can be done for this year’s elects’ wages, IAB may revise them downwards for next year’s officers prior to elections in March. De Brún is finding the year “extremely challenging” thus far due to the condition the Union’s account emerged to be in over the summer, “it’s certainly not what I expected and it’s not what I thought the year would be at all, but that being said I’m enjoying the challenge because I know it’s the right thing to do and it’ll make a lasting impression and a lasting difference and it will really improve the organisation”. “It’s definitely a difficult year because we’re facing all these cuts and challenges across the board but it also means that it takes up all of my time personally; other projects that I would have liked to pursue have had to take second place. I’m hoping that towards the New Year, I’ll be able to start focusing more on other things as well.”
Former President Mary Robinson on a recent visit to the UCD Humanities Institute Photographer: Ciara Andrews
SU to draft new constitution Katie Hughes News Editor A constitutional review committee has been established to draft a new constitution for the Students’ Union. This committee consists of chairperson Students’ Union President, Pat de Brún, the remaining sabbatical officers, excluding the Ents Officer, two council-elected class reps, one of last year’s presidential candidates, Brenadan Lannoye, and solicitor Richard Hammond. De Brún is trying to “reach as large a catchment as possible and every sector of society in UCD” when writing the new document, and has consequently contacted society auditors, sports clubs, sabbatical officers from the past ten years as well as all students so as to gain their input. This is in an effort to “dispel the idea that the Union is a clique. I think, as part of the Constitutional Review process, we need to try and open up the Union and pick out the faults. It can be difficult when you’re someone who works in the Union to see some of
the faults that people see externally”. De Brún considers the current constitution not fit for purpose, “I don’t think it represents modern UCD and I think there are parts of it which constrain the work of the Union and what the Union should be, the good work that we should be doing”. The new constitution will not simply be an amendment of the one currently in place, but be a brand new document; “we’re not relying on the old constitution and changing a couple of things from it, we’re looking at a completely clean slate, building from the ground up, and everything is on the table: that ranges from who the sabbatical officers are to the structures of the Union and how the elections are run to everything that we do”. One of the more contentious issues for de Brún is the article relating to class rep quotas, “I find it quite frustrating that … there is one representative for every ‘x’ amount of students … we have one rep for languages, literature and music – anyone can tell you that mu-
Student protest plans underway of Education has justified the possible increase in the fee as being due to Ireland having a requirement to adhere to its economic recovery program “in order to reduce the budget deficit to three per cent of GDP by 2015 and to restore our independence”. USI President Gary Redmond has admitted that he is disappointed with the actions of the Labour Party and remarks that it is primarily due to their initiative to make education accessible to all that the party was elected, “I think large numbers, not only students but also their families and community
members who were concerned about education, swung towards the Labour Party because of the party coming out quite strongly and quite clearly pro-education and education funding”. Redmond is not ruling out more direct action, such as occupations and sit-ins, if the march is unsuccessful, “I think that certainly direct action, if it comes to it, has been a part of every campaign if all other avenues have been exhausted. USI has used direct action in the past and I obviously can’t rule that out in the future”. UCD Campaigns and Communica-
tions Officer, Brendan Lacey is setting up what he refers to as “campaign headquarters” in UCD. This will involve installing extra phones and computers in the Student Centre. Lacey intends to encourage students to come and ring or e-mail their local TDs regarding the pledge. A “broken pencil” campaign stems from the larger initiative and involves students sending their local TDs a generic letter containing a broken pencil to symbolise that “they’re breaking education and they’re breaking their promise” says Lacey.
sic and languages have almost nothing in common, we have loads of people in those classes that would love to represent their classes but they can’t under the current system”. The committee hopes to meet five times over the course of the year. According to de Brún the meetings won’t take place more often as “you can meet for an amount of time quite often or you can meet less regularly and give a whole day or a whole weekend. It’s by far the most efficient way to get things done; the nature of the work means that you really need to get stuck into it, it’s not a stop start thing”. The final draft of the constitution is expected to be presented to Students’ Union Council on January 19th 2012. A vote will take place at the subsequent council to determine whether a referendum should take place. If the vote is positive, the constitution will be put forward to UCD students to be voted upon alongside the sabbatical elections. These will take place prior to the twoweek study period in Semester Two. He stressed the importance of making an effort for the upcoming march, “we’re facing a bigger and a tougher battle than we have in the last ten years; this is a government that are strong, that are determined to bring in third level contribution and increase it”. Redmond is positive about the unfolding campaign, “I think we may absolutely have a shot at ensuring that registration fees, let’s not call them registration fees, they’re college fees, there’s no doubt about that … will be frozen at the current level this year and the way we’re going to do that is hold a government party to account”. A “town-hall” meeting is to take place on November 3rd in Theatre L in the Newman Building.