THE UNIVERSITY
OBSERVER ?
Election Special 2020
THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER
CONTENTS
SU President Pages 3-4 Welfare Page 5-6 Education Pages 7-8 C&E Page 9 ENTS Page 10 A Message from Talley Page 11
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The 2020 Students’ Union Elections are unprecedented in many ways. Before the closure of campus due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it was gearing up to be a de facto referendum on the SU and the more radical groups that had begun to coalesce during the previous months. Anger over rent increases reached a boiling point, sparking larger protests the campus has seen in years. Students who had a hand in the organising of the group Fix Our Education UCD decided to run as a radical slate in the SU elections, and many of the current sabbatical officers decided to re-run for their positions. The initial dynamic was shaping up to be a “radical vs status quo” choice for students. Of course, the pandemic fundamentally changed the entire nature of the election. Online voting was quickly brought in, and candidates struggled to adapt to the new, online only, campaigning. In a relatively short space of time, the “radical vs status quo” dichotomy quickly evaporated – incumbents Brian Treacy and Katie O’Dea ended their re-election bids. Hotly contested races, such as the Campaigns and Engagements race, went from four candidates to one. As we go to print, only two executive races are contested, Welfare and Education. The race for President had only one candidate from the beginning, current Graduate Officer Conor Anderson. Examining the make up of the races, it is clear that next years Sabbatical team will be far more radical than in recent years. Many, such as Education candidate Darryl Horan and Welfare candidate Ruairí Power, have a wealth of previous campaigning experience, and have been active politically, nationally and within UCD, for some time. Leighton Gray is another seasoned activist, leading UCD for Choice in 2015/16 to become perhaps the most visible and vocal political group on campus for a long time. Hannah Bryson has spent a lot of her time in UCD fighting and organising for better disability services on campus. Whatever way the contested races go, the SU appears that it will be in safe hands.
The University Observer takes a strictly impartial view on all races and all candidates. In this election special we have printed all of our interviews with all remaining candidates. It remains up to you, the students, to make the final choice.
Election Special 2020
SU PRESIDENT Conor Anderson Conor Anderson, a 31 year old with a M.Sc in World Heritage Management and Conservation from UCD, is the sole candidate running for the office of President of UCDSU. He currently holds the role of Postgraduate Education Officer.
payment in cash, upfront, and didn’t require reimbursement.” Anderson believes that the primary role of the President is “to be the spokesperson for the union. There are a number of roles a president, the president is in some ways the boss, but because of the way sabbatical positions work, not really. So the primary role is to be a public face and a spokesperson for the union. And that’s the central role, there are other roles in terms of managing the team The experience he has gained in his current role is primar- and leading the team and resolving conflicts and they ily what he believes qualifies him for the role of President. arise.” “I have been working closely with the current president Joanna Siewierska as we took our more militant turn this When questioned on the fact that he is running semester...which I thought were quite successful.” One of unopposed for the role, he admits that he feels conflicted. the benefits of Anderson having worked for a year in the “I don’t know what went on there. The role that is always SU is that he is very knowledgeable on what the role en- contested now isn’t. I don’t know what it means, I wonder tails, successfully naming the boards and committees that if it’s because I’m an intimidating candidate, which I think he would sit on as President. I kind of am. Probably because of the rent campaign we didn’t put enough effort into promoting elections.” “The other thing I would touch on in terms of my experience and work style would be the conference When asked about the perennial issue of building fund, which gave out €2000 in €100 awards to 20 PHD engagement between students and the SU, Anderson says students to help them fund attendancy conferences, and that “I think I have a pretty good track record of building I specifically structured it in a way that it is done as a
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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER engagement in my role. Now keeping in mind that the current role I’m in is a relatively small segment of the student population. Masters and PHD students, I think there are like 8,000, 9,000 total graduate students at UCD, but building from very little engagement on Smurfit campus to the level we have now, and also my work with the conference fund and working with UCD anti-casualisation. So I have a relatively good track record and I would hope to continue it in my role as president.”
protests (in comparison to the total number of students on the Belfield campus), he explains that “physical turnout is the tip of the iceberg. We had 3000 signatures gathered. This was done on very short notice. I think given three months on how to get turnout, how to build a movement and build participation and get people out there, then we could get a lot more people.” He expresses his disappointment at the lack of any candidate to replace him in the role of Graduate Officer, saying that it is something he is working on. “Two candidates came forward and subsequently backed out. Graduate is a tough role to fill. PhD students can’t take a year out due to their funding, and masters students often have jobs. The returning officer fumbled which led to the first candidate bowing out, I am very frustrated at that, but there is nothing to be done.”
In relation to the online voting that is being brought in due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Anderson is somewhat skeptical, stating that there is “no good option. No matter what we do, it will be possible to make the claim that these elections are not democratically legitimate. Because the online voting has never been done before, it’s gonna be a dry run, we don’t know if people could vote twice, if people could hack it, fake the link, there are While he has nothing but praise for the current any number of IT questions that could come up.” SU President, Joanna Siewierska, Anderson does not harbour any illusions about working with UCD President However, he stresses that elections must take Andrew Deeks; “I am not interested in campaigning for place this semester, and lays a lot of the blame at the feet more government funding of higher education in Ireland of UCD; “ We’ve been trying to move towards it but the with Andrew Deeks. Even if he is sincere in his desire to University has been dragging its feet, we need access to increase government funding, which I have my doubts Sisweb or Brightspace and they will not give us access to about, our goals are so out of alignment that I don’t think it, it’s been sitting on someone’s desk for two years. One there would be any point in working with him or members of the few positives to come out of this situation is that it of his management team.” has forced the university to jumpstart the online voting process.” He qualified this answer by saying “I am happy to work with Andrew Deeks on some things, but I do not Anderson is upfront about how he would work think we would have a fruitful collaboration on most things with the University, saying that he would go in “guns because as I said, our goals are distinctly out of alignment. blazing - with the understanding that because there is a Andrew Deeks is interested in prestige projects and milkbig turnover of people there will have to be some quieter ing international students for all they’ve got, I’m a little base building work done before we can go in guns blaz- more interested in a sustainable world and making sure ing but I harbour very few illusions about the efficacy of students can get the dyslexia accommodation they need using UMT subgroups to affect change. I have had high from their lecturers. I don’t see what the point of weekly level members of management [say] that ‘there is no mon- meetings with Andrew Deeks would be.” ey, there is nothing to be done, we appreciate your enthusiasm, but you’re just a kid you don’t know what’s going Ultimately, Anderson is a more radical candidate on’, and then carte blanche rubber stamp €3.3m for new than many who have come before him. Having seen how res. I think there has to be some strategizing on how to little the SU was able to achieve through official channels, do it, and it doesn’t mean I want to have a strictly antago- he hopes to carry the momentum from the rent protest nistic relationship with the University, I want to maintain into next year. Save some major upset, Anderson will be cordial working relationships, but I am not interested in elected, however it will be unclear just how much support being fobbed off anymore, and telling me that there is no his more radical approach will actually have amongst the money when there are cranes going up all around campus student body, given that there is no other candidate to is not going to cut it anymore.” challenge him. Having been heavily involved with groups such as Fix our Education UCD and UCD Anti-Casualisation, he believes that there is an appetite for change on campus. When asked about the relatively low turnout for the rent
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Election Special 2020
WELFARE Rebecca O’Connor & Ruairí Power Rebecca O’Connor is a final year English, Drama,
and Social Justice student. She is the former Inclusions Officer for Musical Society and Student Leader in Volunteers Overseas (VO), two roles which she feels give her experience to ready her for the role of Welfare officer. As a Student Leader in VO, she was responsible for fellow VO members doing charity work in India, “Making sure they were comfortable, making sure that they were safe, making sure that they were happy in a new environment” She is also a former class representative however she lost her seat due to work commitments preventing her from attending council. She told the University Observer “I did let my class know that I no longer had my seat on council under constitution but I would still fulfill my duties in an unofficial capacity aside from council”. O’Connor has decent knowledge of the structures of both UCDSU and UCD as a whole, having clearly done her homework on what exactly the role entails, how the Union functions, and what role the Welfare Officer plays in wider UCD management. She says she has been told she is “bubbly”, and clearly enjoys conversation. The one terse answer she gave was when asked what the most important aspect of the role was, she said “people”. When asked what distinguishes her from Ruarí Power, her sole opponent, O’Connor finds it difficult to say anything negative about him. The two of them have jointly published a “Quarantine Kit” of recommendations for media and activities for the quarantine. However, she does say that her extra year in UCD and roles she has had give her more experience. O’Connor believes that while the lack of engagement is a
“shame”, the solution is to “Reach out me, be more widely available…[be] seen on campus, be seen in the buildings”. She supports the recent protests against the rent hikes by the university, saying she will support further actions regardless of whether she is elected and dropping the “Not a Business” slogan. She says “People should not be worrying about paying extortionate rent and then worrying about all their assignments and the rest at the same time”. Although unsure of the details of what her budget will be as welfare officer, O’Connor is quite aware of the nature of the time management issues that can come with the role. “I think it can be easy to be sucked into the personal cases...They deserve dedication to them but I also believe for the Welfare Officer’s Mental Health and as well as engagement with the student body that it’s important that it’s not the only dedication”. O’Connor “Personally disagrees” with the removal of ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) from mandatory training for sabbatical officers, and in both her manifesto and interview has promise that if elected she will be taking ASIST in her own time. Speaking about past sabbatical officers she admires, O’Connor said that “I admire all of the Welfare Officers…[Eoghan Mac Domnaill] had such passion for students” She said that the work current Welfare Officer Úna Carroll has done on rapid HIV testing behind the scenes is “important”. However, she also stated that “I personally believe that the welfare officer should be out and meeting with people...she believes that being on the corridor, working on cases, directing people through email is the right way to go”. She qualified this with “I don’t think it’s a failure, I just think it’s a different
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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER approach”. O’Connor’s manifesto is detailed and not overly ambitious, but lacks a lot of the research into individual proposals. She promises to take ShoutOut training (a workshop on LGBTQ+ identities and issues) if elected to help prepare her for the role, but when asked if aware that this training is already mandatory, she nodded her head. When asked what the difference between having an “Open Door Policy” “When I’m free” and her office hours, she explained “I think it’s more flexible than office hours, At the end of the day, if people need [Support from the Welfare Officer], then they need it...It’s especially there for the colleges which are outside of campus or off campus”. On the point of UCDSU having an open plan office making an an “open door policy” unfeasible, O’Connor explained “I haven’t been in the Corridor since it was refurbished, so in my brain I was thinking “Okay, the office”, but there is no offices anymore, so it would be a matter of making sure one of the boardrooms was free”. On the question of working with UCD management, specifically on the funding of the mental health services, O’Connor states “I believe that just because UCD aren’t listening doesn’t mean it’s worth saying so…[I will try] as much as I can to work with UCD”, but after “looking into all the possibilities [of working with management]..it’s Strikes, I suppose”. O’Connor wants to bring in a free STI clinic to UCD, and said “Galway have had free STI clinics so...there must be a way around it...If there is a way of bringing in external people that is definitely something I would be looking into”. She proposes a very ambitious “database for all local venues and their accessibility level, which students, clubs and societies can use in planning their events”. To do this she proposes contacting the venues themselves, as well as auditing venues who don’t provide the information with the Disabilities Campaign Coordinator. As a Welfare Officer candidate, O’Connor promises an approachable, friendly, and experienced character to case work and face to face aspects of the role. Her manifesto lacks clear planning and thought in some places, but is overall not bad. She demonstrates a decent understanding of the job and what her responsibilities would be, and if she can overcome the shortcoming of her manifesto over the summer would be a decent, people focussed, Welfare Officer.
Ruairí Power is a 20-year-old Psychology student and an election hopeful for the position of Welfare Officer. He currently serves as the auditor of the UCD branch of the Social Democrats. He has been heavily involved in the Fix Our Education campaign and is running as part of a “slate” of radical candidates alongside Darryl Horan.
“The main thing would be looking out for the students and I know that is signposting; putting people in contact with the relevant services and advocating for the best interests in various boards you sit on.” answered Ruairí Power when asked about the role of the welfare officer. “It’s using whatever position, towards committees and governing authority and your casework to further causes of student welfare on campus.” Power feels that he has experience in the “campaigning aspect of it” and “got a leg to stand on”. He has worked with different advocacy groups and societies in opposition of rent hikes, the commercialisation of UCD, and is a prominent member of Fix Our Education campaign. He says he is “basically good at coordinating, working with other people and with different groups.” Power thinks that “you can’t drop the ball” when it comes to campaigning because “if you don’t tackle the structural issues, it’s only going to get worse.” He emphasises campaigning and wants to “find time every single day of the week
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to try and prepare for some aspect of the campaigning.” He chose to campaign about awareness around HIV stigma and coercive control as well as a campaign against sexual violence. He thinks that “coercive control is something that doesn’t get as much attention as more standardised forms of sexual abuse and violence. Emotional neglect is just as important as physical neglect. It’s just about attention to issues that students might not be as aware of.” Power believes that the casework involved is the single most important aspect of the welfare officer’s role, especially this year when the mental health services are experiencing severe cuts. He admits that “there is a lot of case work to be done and I think it’s easy to be bogged down on it. It’s difficult outside the job to know exactly how much is in it because you haven’t done it.” But he feels that he can handle the casework because of his background as a psychology student. He hopes to evenly split his time between casework and campaigns. He has a good understanding of what’s involved in being a welfare officer, but is shaky in specific details. When asked how much was the welfare budget, he admitted he didn’t know. There is an emphasis of improving the student support services in UCD. He wants to cut down on waiting times on the counselling services and believes it doesn’t make sense that there are waiting lists in September. Power said that he would advocate for “fully functioning primary care”. He also wants to end the self-advocacy of students with disabilities and show an understanding of the hoops they have to jump through to get support. He feels that the student support budget needs to be ring fenced and that the HEA should intervene. He criticises the “unnecessary” spending of UCD on the University Club, luxury flights and other “vanity projects” such as the proposed entrance. “Students need that [money]” and these expenditures “have no impact on student welfare.” He also wants to provide “security of tenure” to staff working in health and counselling services. Power wants to give staff a 12 month contract instead of the 9 month contract because “people need secure jobs and security.” As part of his manifesto, Power wants to end the outsourcing of appointments and is “not a fan” of them. He feels that “it’s important to scrutinize where funds are going” because with outsourcing “you don’t know how the money is being spent.” When asked about the merits of outsourcing, he would still prefer to have “to spend it in UCD”. He acknowledges that different students may have different needs with different therapies and the more treatments available to students in UCD the better, but admits that there is an issue of “how we’ll bring it inside of the college”. He also hopes to bring rapid HIV testing to campus next year. He would prefer to have it provided on a universal basis for free and doesn’t want cost to be a barrier, but he seems unsure about the costs it might entail. When asked about the food bank he proposed in his manifesto, he admits that he kept the section of whether it’s going to be means-tested or universal “vague” because it ultimately “depends on the budgetary constraints’’ of the SU budget. He admits he doesn’t know “if the money is there for that”. He also wants the SU to subsidise “staple foods” and “basic commodities” such as bread and rice and that the SU will recoup the costs. However, he says that he hasn’t spoken to the COO of the SU shops, David Collins, and has yet to contact him. Ruairí Power is clearly a passionate candidate and wants to usher in significant changes in how UCD supports its students from bringing in a food bank to ending outsourcing of appointments. His extensive involvement with campaigning with Fix Our Education shows he’s more than capable of handling the campaign side of the role and his background as a psychology student might serve him well in handling casework. However, some aspects of his manifesto may be limited by budgetary constraints.
Election Special 2020
EDUCATION Hannah Bryson & Darryl Horan Hannah Bryson is currently serving as the Disabili-
ty Rights Coordinator for the Students’ Union. The 28-year old is a stage 3 Computer Science science student. She is also a member of the university’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Board, and is involved with the Fix Our Education campaign. Bryson has previously served as the auditor of UCD’s Disability Inclusion and Awareness society. She hopes to use the skills and knowledge she has gained in the capacity of Education Officer. Above all, she maintains that her personal experiences make her the ideal candidate for the role. When asked what the role of Education Officer entailed, Bryson said that while the majority of the role revolved around casework and working with university management on education policy, it also entailed being involved in organising the Union’s campaigns and events. A lack of affordability continues to be one of the major concerns among students across Ireland. To help alleviate the financial burden on students, Bryson proposes setting up a discretionary fund for students who find themselves facing unpremeditated costs. She envisions about a third or fourth of the money raised via the SU’s charity initiatives to be set aside for this purpose. The funds would be dispersed through an anonymised application process, to be adjudged by the UCDSU Executive. According to Bryson, what distinguishes her idea from the Student Welfare Fund is the very strict criteria that apply to the latter, which prevents many from availing the same. Creating a web page for advertising on-campus jobs also features in her manifesto. However, the issue of repeat and resit fees is conspicuous by its absence.
Bryson was also critical of the lack of clarity about academic information, and overworked support staff. Speaking about the poor quality of services provided for disabled students, she described the staff at the Access Centre as being “very dismissive” of students’ queries. Additionally, the procedure for obtaining necessary accommodations from faculty places the burden to “explain and justify why they need the supports they do” entirely on students. This, she says, can often be a demoralising experience, besides being detrimental to students’ ability to keep up with coursework. If elected, she hopes to continue campaigning for better disability support services. Bryson is appreciative of the radical moves taken by the Union in recent weeks while adding that the SU should have adopted this approach from the beginning. She believes that until recently, the Union has been “soft”, and this has contributed to the lack of engagement among the student body. She is also complementary of Stephen Crosby (Education Officer, 2018/19), who she saw as being proactive in his role and gave one “the feeling that he was fighting for your case.” However, she was somewhat critical of outgoing Education Officer Brian Treacy: In her opinion, Treacy was “not very present outside of his office.” She went on to say that the issues she has brought up with him, in her capacity as the Disability Rights Coordinator, “have gone nowhere.” With reference to improving student engagement, Bryson praises the efforts of current sabbatical officers Katie O’Dea and Thomas Monaghan in promoting the Union’s activities on social media and hopes to continue “building on that.” She emphasises the need to work towards getting the Union’s perspective across to students but offers little in the name of tangible steps to be taken to this
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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER end. Bryson reckons that UCDSU should rejoin USI, given that it can serve as an important avenue for sharing information and “know what is going on in other universities.” She added that USI could provide UCDSU with the opportunity to be a part of nationwide campaigns, alongside additional support for voicing students’ demands. Bryson expressed concerns over the lack of information on how the SU elections will be conducted this year, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, she has worries about the visibility of her campaign and felt that online voting would put her at a disadvantage. She states “ I don’t think students know who I am” and online voting implied that students would “either just select randomly or just not vote.” While her platform suffers from a lack of detailed or innovative ideas, Hannah Bryson has a demonstrable history of engagement with the Students’ Union. Through campaigning and advocacy for disability services and disabled students, she has acquired a strong understanding of which issues affect the everyday life of students. This aspect works to enhance her approachability, which may prove to be an important asset for her, if elected as Education Officer.
Darryl Horan is a 22-year-old History and Classics
student running for Education Officer. Horan is a member of People Before Profit and is running as part of the “Radical” slate, alongside Ruairí Power. He states that the most important part of the position is “being there for students when they need you”. Horan believes students should vote for him because he has “a track record of being a radical voice fighting for change in UCD”. Much of Horan’s manifesto focusses on continuing, if not increasing, the more radical approach made by UCDSU in recent weeks. When asked about this shift by the SU, he expressed support. He said he had “been very much on the side of encouraging (them) to do so and pushing them even further and yeah I hope it continues.” While he does not consider himself to be a traditional candidate in terms of SU experience, he states that he has “a wealth of UCD based and national based campaigning, with a particular focus to improving student experience.” Horan wants to emphasise the campaigning aspects of the position. This move makes sense given both his background in political campaigning and the changes made to the role in the SU constitution last March. He states he wants to dedicate most of the Education budget to campaigns, leaving “20 to 30% to exam supports”. One of the more ambitious promises in his manifesto is to achieve a reduction in repeat/resit fees. He says he would do this “by continuing the wave of protests we have right now…building up to a partnership with the university…whereby the university has to concede on some of these issues.” The last major attempt to solve this problem was by Robert Sweeney, Education Officer in 2017/2018, who managed to get a €50 decrease on resit fees and no change in repeat fees. Horan believes it will be easier now than it was then because “there wasn’t a movement for change when Rob Sweeney was here”. Horan supports UCDSU rejoining USI. This move makes sense given his emphasis on campaigning, both nationally and within UCD. With regards to fees, Horan wants to build a national coalition to campaign on this issue. Rejoining USI seems a logical step in achieving this goal. He also wants this coalition to include other groups such as the ISSU and Fix Our Education. He was optimistic about the possibility for progress on this issue, citing the recent General Election result. He claims that “virtually every party is in agreement that there has to be massive funding put into third-level education. We would just argue that some of that funding should be diverted to reducing fees.”
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Horan also supports ending the student centre levy by lobbying the HEA “to include it under their free fees scheme.” This would exclude low-income students from paying the levy. He does not think it is likely he will be able to end it for all students in his time in office but believes ending it for some and making progress for the rest is an achievable goal. Horan also plans to lobby for increases in funding for the library and for students who undergo mandatory placement. He claims this involves both pushing for these concerns on committees and also campaigning nationally. Horan is sceptical of the ability to make significant progress through committees alone. He claims they need to be combined with “radical action”. When asked whether radical action might threaten the SU’s positions on these committees, he claimed that was a risk he was willing to take. “My worry would be, by protesting, if they just revoke these seats unilaterally…it’s that we never had a say to begin with”. Horan was also critical of many aspects of the SUSI grant system. He stated that he has “been on SUSI my entire time here” and “would not be in UCD otherwise”. He claimed the grant had failed to keep up with the cost of living and called for an end to means testing. “The fact that say one year your family earns 23,400, yep you’re fine. If you’re family earns 23,600, you lose virtually about eight grand in funding. It has to be proportional”. Horan also stated that the biggest barriers to accessing an education in UCD for prospective students are “housing fees and, for rural students, transport”. Despite the emphasis Horan puts on campaigning, he still maintained that casework was a priority. “These are the people that need help now because they’re calling for it.” He stated he would be willing to forgo attending certain boards in order to deal with particularly important cases. He emphasised the importance of casework when assessing the performance of the incumbent Education Officer, Brian Treacy, saying “I think he’s done a good job, especially in relation to casework.” However, he also said “some students do feel letdown”, citing Veterinary students’ unhappiness with his handling of their twenty-credit module and “not being available on crucial dates for students”. Horan showed an impressive understanding of both the role and its place within the UCD administration. He knew the size of the Education budget. He was able to name every committee on which the Education Officer sits and all the support services in UCD. When asked about the state of the Access Centre, Horan said that most students he had spoken to had negative responses, “particularly those that would be queer.” He claimed, “the Access Centre staff are not as sensitive to their issues as they should be” He cited self-advocacy as another problem. “They don’t feel represented in this regard.” He also said it should be less centralised and that “there should be a committed officer in at least every school to help disabled students.” When asked what he wanted to change about how union staff were managed, Horan stated that “all staff in the union need a living wage.” This would include corridor staff, shop staff, and the editors of the University Observer. He claimed that “a union is supposed to be there to protect workers and students. UCDSU is not protecting its workers by not giving them a living wage.” Darryl Horan has significant campaigning experience and an understanding of the problems UCD students face. His manifesto has detailed and ambitious plans and given the groundswell of support for radical action in UCD at the minute, they are much more achievable than they might be in a normal year.
Election Special 2020
Leighton Gray
CAMPAIGNS & ENGAGEMENT Leighton Gray is completing their Master’s degree in
Gender Studies at UCD and is currently running for the position of Campaigns and Engagement officer in the upcoming Student Union election. In their own words, Gray describes the role of Campaigns and Engagement officer as, “in its very basics, it is political campaigns and engaging with students, particularly with the focus on class reps.” They chose to run for this position to bring radical change to UCD and according to their manifesto, ‘break the formula’ of how the Student Union functions. When discussing the improvements that have to be done in the Student Union, Gray comments, “there needs to be an overhaul of how the SU is run.” They continue this point by elaborating, “I think not that the SU should be less professional, but it should recognize its mistakes and be open to criticism, because I think a lot of people turn away when the SU won’t admit its faults and letting more people in to the planning process.” With their experience as the LGBTQ campaign coordinator for the SU, as well as their involvement as auditor in UCD for Choice in the year of the Repeal the 8th referendum, Leighton Gray is a well-established leader in UCD. They share, “I have a lot of experience in a lot of communicative jobs. The biggest one that is almost identical to this role would be having been auditor for UCD for Choice. It was absolutely vital that we kept in touch with everyone who’s interested, so that we could have regular meetings, regular protests, regular events that were usually well attended.” One of Gray’s biggest concerns if elected as C&E officer, is trying to draw in more students into all of the different campaigns around UCD. Gray expresses this concern about campaigns by saying that “I think the only issue really with campaigns is that there’s not a continuous update or action that could be done with it. The Great Donate is absolutely fabulous, but to have it twice a year and nothing in between, sometimes from the Union seems a bit like a waste.” The C&E candidate then adds how they intend on improving this in the future, “I think my main focus is continuity. Constantly having small things, even if it is online, just to make sure that whoever is interested in one thing, it keeps going.” Gray is looking to increase ‘student agency and engagement’ when coordinating these campaigns. They discuss that there needs to be an ‘open door policy’ to make the students of UCD ‘feel more involved’ in the projects happening around campus. Gray highlights the three most important campaigns in UCD, which include the rent crisis, climate change and mental health. As a previous partici-
pant in the mental health services in UCD, Gray states, that by “knowing what the faults are inside out, I think it is probably what’s going to help the most.” One of the main issues that this candidate discusses, relating to this topic is that UCD needs to add more available services for their students. They share, “there needs to be more counsellors, there needs to be counsellors that are of colour and LGBTQ+ and not just a part time psychiatrist. I think that the end goal would be that we wouldn’t have to use it (external mental health services), that we would have enough resources in UCD.” Another project that Gray finds important is the climate crisis. This is a movement “inspired by Greta Thunberg” and her Friday’s for Climate campaign that would involve UCD students partaking in a sit in ‘once a month’ in protest of climate change. However, Gray also wants to have “more knowledge of what UCD is doing in terms of its relationships with fossil fuel companies and to be able to challenge that.” Gray refers to this concept in their manifesto as a ‘system change, not climate change’ and intends on interacting with students ‘through social media, to share info on how to be more sustainable.’ In addition, Leighton Gray also comments on how the current SU are running protests relating to the rent crisis saying that they and “a lot of students are very frustrated with the lack of radical action and the compliance of rules” and confirms with this notion by saying, “ I don’t really think I’d call it radical.” Gray looks to bring more initiative to the role of C&E officer by sharing, “I’m not afraid to get in trouble with UCD, which is what I think we need right now, rather than playing it safe.” They then elaborate on their plans of what they are going to do next year. “I think, sometimes having protests earlier will show management that we’re trying to make a point and we’re not afraid to break the rules and push their buttons. Sometimes that might be the only way to get them to listen. I think that just talking when obviously someone is not listening, doesn’t make sense.” Leighton Gray’s momentum for change is admirable and has strong ideas conceptually on how to initiate it. Their manifesto seems to lack examples and is light on details on the specifics of their campaign program. However, Gray counters this argument by stating “I didn’t think it was wise to promise very, very specific things if I don’t know I can deliver them, which is why I felt it was better to put the ideas that I had down and allow for it to be more adaptable.” All in all, Leighton Gray is a big picture person who wishes to switch up the system by acting first and talking second, if elected to be the Campaigns and Engagement officer for the Student Union.
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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER
Sarah Michalek
ENTERTAINMENT Sarah Michalek is a 21 year old, currently complet-
ing a masters course in psychological science. She is the lone candidate running in the race for Entertainments Officer. She is currently the Mental Health Coordinator for the Students’ Union, and was previously the auditor of UCD Hispanic Society. Michalek believes that the most important aspect of the role of Entertainments officer is “essentially putting on events and helping out the other college officers, class reps, sabbats, campaign coordinators, anyone in the SU put on events. Advising students on anything from nights out to trips abroad. The ents officer has a say in the charities chosen for the year and is in charge of putting on events to raise money for those charities.” While she has no issues with either of the charities the SU supported this year, she would like to see one of the homeless charities included next year. She thinks that these past and current roles have prepared her for the job of Entertainments officer, telling The University Observer “ I would have put on a lot of events, whether they were weekly coffee mornings or monthly events like tapas nights, or salsa lessons. I also would have organised the trip to Barcelona which was a large group trip. This year I would have put on a lot of events as well as mental health coordinator such as World Mental Health Day. So I think I have experience with putting on events.” On building student engagement, Michalek says that the SU need to “just try and really go out into the different buildings, because a lot of the events put on by the SU are in the student centre, which I’m sure will continue as well, because it is where the Students’ Union is based, but I think going out and putting on events in the different buildings, the way the graduate officer goes out to Smurfit, would engage with students more, the ones that would not normally pass by the student centre.” She is optimistic about the online voting system that is in the process of being brought in, saying that “it could potentially end up with more student involvement, potentially, we haven’t done it before, but, in terms of getting people to actually go and vote, we all know that during the two voting days people are just bombarded by canvassers. I think people might be more inclined to do it as it would be easier for them.” She believes that it should be used in future elections, alongside in person voting. If elected she says she will take an active role in all aspects of Student Union affairs, stating that she “will be engaging in anything that is going on, and I will be helping out at all the events. I think a lot
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of the sabbatical roles overlap and it’s about teamwork and helping each other out. I’ll absolutely be getting involved in everything.” We spoke to Sarah on her manifesto, asking about the competitions she would run if elected, and she confirmed that she has already spoken to various organisations and groups, such as Drink and Draw and Coppers about them. She sees the role as being one that could be more than it currently is, saying that she would be open to helping class reps and college officers, as well as everyday students, in organising nights out and trips abroad. She believes that given that the role is a full time one, she will have time for this kind of one-on-one time with students. Other aspects of her manifesto are less clear, such as the idea for portable phone and laptop chargers, which she has yet to cost. She also wants students to have more of a say in what sort of events and workshops the SU run, and let them vote for it on the Enstagram and other platforms. Michalek has had experience in running events in other capacities, and aims to build on this in the role of Entertainments Officer. She has a strong grasp of what the role entails, having been involved with the SU previously. Given that the race is uncontested, it appears that Michalek will be the next Entertainments Officer for the Students’ Union.
Voting will take place online from Tuesday 28 April at 9am to Thursday 30 April at 9pm. Results will be announced on 1 May at 6pm on Zoom. For more information please go to
ucdsu.ie/yourvoice/elections
Election Special 2020
Greetings, fellow degenerates, It is I, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, and I wish to impart on you my knowledge of revolutionary politics. Having inspected your SU candidates, I can declare none come close to being capable of revolution. The Dear Leader, who in the grand tradition of communists is running unopposed for president, is bound to figure out eventually what Smurfit students do with their degrees, at which point he’s going to (hopefully) grow a pair and send them the way of the Kulaks. I know one shouldn’t joke about atrocities, but I’m not joking. Have you ever had the economy explained to you by a business major? Castro Anderson isn’t the only Commie running unopposed. Layton Grey stands before you as your C&E officer before a single ballot is cast. All they want is for the feckless gossip merchants of this rag to spell their name right. What a laugh! This paper is a pet project that went too far, and no one involved is competent at anything. Bharatiya Janata Party member Wrecker Nagargoje dropping out is probably for the best as she had about as much chance of winning as a muslim has of becoming the Prime Minister of India. Fortunately she may yet run for Graduate officer, meaning there will be at least someone on the corridor who knows that COVID-19 is a Chinese bioweapon. The Corridor staff must be distraught that their beloved colleague and certified team-player Katie O’Dreadnought dropped out. Whatever will they do without her? Celebrate, I’d imagine. There was one other candidate to drop out, but I think remembering her name would be giving her candidacy more credit than it deserves. Cousin Itt and Jenny Joyce’s secret twin are both vying for the position of education officer. With both of
them stealing each other’s policies, social media posts, and talking points, the only difference I can see is that one is 28 but looks like she is only 22, and the other is 22 but looks like shit. There was meant to be a third candidate, but that dork dropped out as soon as he remembered he won’t have anyone to doss off and play pool with, and the student press isn’t all smiles over chicken sandwiches. Brian should do well in Oxford, a place where it’s okay to use a GPA in place of a personality. The welfare race is contested between two people who misread the job description. One thinks it’s the C&E race, and the other thinks she’s running for the role of Mammy. They also seem to be co-authoring election material and checking in on each other. News flash, kids: Only one of you can win. Rebecca Ní Concord promises to be chatty and friendly with all students, which is concerning for anyone who doesn’t want to hear the life story of a wannabe primary school teacher. To her credit, she has promised to let students get a word in edgeways “where possible”. Ruairí Powerbottom wants to be the most radical twink since Mark Ashton, but as a welfare officer he’ll be there to listen to trivial student-y problems, like “being broke” and “being depressed”. Why is there no one to listen to my problems, like “I can’t host weird sex parties in quarantine” and “I can’t get any good opium”. There is also a Samantha something running to do her boyfriend’s job as King Pintsman. I’m not sure of the details, but I’ve heard if you need the ENTS forum to make friends in college, you’re an unlikable loser anyway.
Love, UCD’s favourite headache, Talley
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