uo
The University Observer SU ELECTION SPECIAL Volume XXiI
march 1st 2016
universityobserver.ie
Featuring interviews with: Foals Mystery Jets Firehouse Film Contest
The State of the union Photo: James Healy A breakdown of the candidates in the sabbatical election
What do the college officers candidates have to say?
Vox Pops Page 2
Analysis Page 3
Pages 4 - 9
Pages 10
Only one race contested in Students’ Union elections
Talleyrand Page 10
patrick kelleher Only one race is being contested in this year’s Students’ Union elections. There are three candidates running for Campaigns and Communications, with one for President, Welfare, Education and Graduate. Lack of engagement has been a problem with Students’ Union elections for years, with a traditionally low turn-out turning up to vote on the day. A lack of awareness was found by the University Observer in speaking to students on campus (see page 2) – many of whom were unaware
that an election was happening at all. Marcus O’Halloran, Students’ Union President, says that the lack of candidates does not show a lack of engagement. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it shows lack of engagement. Up until about two weeks ago, we had, I think 14 potential candidates in each race, and... slowly candidates decided to drop out. I think engagement is good, and I do get a sense on the ground that a lot more people are talking about the Union than previously.”
In last year’s Students’ Union elections, every race was contested, with four candidates running for President and two for every other position. Hazel Beattie, Graduate Officer and Vice President, says that last year’s race was not the standard. “Last year was unusual. I think this year, well on social media, they’re a lot more engaged, and if you see our events, they’re far more well attended. I think there’s a lot more engagement this year than any other year, and we’ve
gotten feedback from students saying that.” On the same day as the Students’ Union elections, students will also vote on a referendum on rejoining the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), following a referendum that saw UCDSU leave in 2013. When speaking to students across campus, there was a lack of awareness of the referendum, with many not knowing what USI was. The USI referendum is happening as a result of a student petition which bypassed the SU
and went straight to the Returning Officer. When students gather a certain number of signatures, they can bypass the Union, as was the case with this referendum. Since the announcement of the USI referendum, ‘No to USI’ and ‘Yes to USI’ campaigns have both begun. However, if the responses from students across campus are anything to go by, for many students, the question won’t be ‘should we rejoin USI?’ but rather ‘who is USI?’
SU Elections
Name: Grace Feeney, 4th year, Commerce International
Name: Troy Flynn, 1st year
Name: Orla Donovan, 2nd year, German and Commerce
Will you be voting in the SU elections? I will be voting, but because I’m a fourth year I don’t see as much of a point for me to vote.
Will you be voting in the SU elections? I’m not sure to be honest.
Will you be voting in the SU elections? Yeah, hopefully
What do you think of the work done by the SU? I think they’ve done an absolutely amazing job, they’ve been under a lot of pressure… They’re just trying to do the best they can.
What do you think of the work done by the SU? I haven’t heard much about any work done by the SU this year.
What do you think of the work done by the SU? I’m not overly familiar with it.
Name: Paul Harris, 2nd year, Politics and Sociology
Name: Roisin O’Gara, 2nd year, Politics and Economics
Name: Tamara Whelan, 2nd year, Commerce International
Will you be voting in the SU elections? Probably, because I feel like it’s one of the only votes that’ll make a difference because nobody votes in this University.
Will you be voting in the SU elections? Yes
Do you feel represented by the SU? I suppose so, they’re doing a few good things for us.
What do you think of the work done by the SU? Do you feel represented? Not really in a sense, because I feel like maybe… it’s possible that they actually do stuff that nobody knows about, or maybe they sit back and do nothing – I have no idea…. I feel like I will never be happy with the work they do. I haven’t heard of any students’ union in any college that’s actually effective…
Name: Eoin Hinkson, 4th year, International Relations and Sociology Will you be voting in the SU elections? Probably, if I’m here I may as well. What do you think of the work done by the SU? I’m not aware of any of the work they’ve been doing actually, I know nothing of it.
2 March 1st 2016
Do you feel represented by the SU? Yeah to a certain extent. I think that the sort of consensus around college might be that there’s a certain level of disengagement, but I don’t think that’s the fault of the Students’ Union, they probably put in a good effort to try and engage people… What do you think of the referendum to rejoin USI? I haven’t completely made up my mind yet. I think the most contentious issue is whether being part of the USI will strengthen our lobbying power at a government level. And so far I’m not convinced that it does entirely.
Do you think they’ve done good work this year? Not particularly this year, no. What do you think they could have done better on? Definitely helping students with welfare issues and accommodation, and instead they made a lot of money for charity, when they could have been giving it to their own people who are struggling. It’s topical. What do you think of the referendum to rejoin USI? I haven’t heard of it.
Name: Brian Brookes, final year, Maths
Name: Rachel Gaffney, 2nd year, Law and History
What do you think of the work done by the SU? Fairly ineffective for an entity that has a million at its disposal, with most of that funding going towards unnecessary salaries which isn’t needed. There’s no real effect you can see on campus, whether it’s social or any other means. Any campaign they do seems to fail, wither and die, whether it’s the slutwalk campaign or any other kind of campaign of that nature. Absolute waste of time.
Will you be voting in the SU elections? Probably, yeah. Do you feel represented? Yeah. Are you happy with the work they’ve done? Yeah, I think so. You see all the campaigns around, they seem to be pretty effective… They had the consent one with the slutwalk, that was really interesting. And they had their charity Skydive and everything.
Analysis
SU Elections FAQ
Joining USI What does it really mean? Roisin Guyett-Nicholson
What does the Students’ Union do?
When and where can I vote?
According to the Students’ Union Constitution, the SU has a number of fundamental objectives. These include: acting as the recognised means of communication between the University and all members; to act as a representative body for all members, to provide and manage social, recreational and commercial services; to promote discussion and research in all matters of interest to the Union, particularly education and welfare, and to secure and defend the fundamental rights of all members. Five sabbatical officers, as well as the college officers and the Irish language officer, form the Union executive, who are in charge of the day to day running of the Union.
Voting will take place on the 8th and 9th of March at polling stations in every faculty on campus.
How much power do the sabbatical officers have in running the Union? The Union are answerable to Union Council members, but also to a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors provide advice to the SU President on financial, commercial, budgetary and corporate matters. The Board of Directors are responsible for the preparation of the budget and final accounts, and can make proposals to rectify negative deviations from the budget; so while the Union executive is responsible for the day to day running of the Union, ultimately the Board of Directors (which is currently made up of the SU President and eight other members, four of whom are former sabbatical officers) must approve and are responsible for the finances.
What voting system is used? The Single Transferable Vote system is used in the SU elections, which is similar to that used in Irish general elections. A person’s vote can be transferred to a second or further candidate according to the voter’s order of preference if the their first choice candidate is eliminated or if they have more votes than needed to meet the quota for election.
What is RON?
Next week, as well as voting for new sabbatical officers, students also have the chance to vote on whether or not to become a member of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). This is the national union of all students’ unions across the country. Currently there are only two colleges that are not affiliated; University of Limerick and UCD. Currently, UCDSU has to hold a referendum at least once every four years on membership of USI but this referendum was brought forward by student petition. If 3.5 per cent, or around 1000 students sign a petition asking for a referendum, the Returning Officer must call one. As a constitutional referendum, it can only pass if a majority vote yes with 12.5 per cent of students turning out to vote. UCDSU was previously a member of USI but voted to disaffiliate in 2013. At the time, the Union was in financial difficulty and it was felt that leaving USI would save a substantial amount of money. The referendum that will be held next week includes a stipulation that the cost of
returning to USI would be covered by each student individually. This amounts to €5 for full time students and €2.50 for part time students. The charge has not changed since 2003. USI President Kevin Donoghue says that USI would welcome the return of UCDSU. “It would be something that we’d be very excited about and we’d be very welcoming of UCDSU if they wanted to rejoin.” He also stated that USI could provide a more national focus on issues such as fees and accommodation, claiming that “the more people that are connected to an issue, the more people that are committed to an issue, the easier it is to kind of deliver on it.” Grace Williams, a UCD student involved in co-ordinating the petition claims that UCD needs USI to advocate on national issues. She agrees with Donoghue that fees and accommodation were significant issues and explained that “USI are the only organisation that are dealt with on national issues, the government and all the national bodies deal with them, UCD has [around] 25,000 students that aren’t being represented at those tables.”
If the referendum passes, the amount that USI would receive from UCD’s subscriptions would be around €100,000. Though the cost would be covered by each student, when UCD was previously a member, the SU paid this charge from its internal budget. Most colleges, however use the other system. If UCD votes to join USI, the Union would officially re-affiliate on July 1st this year. However it is likely that UCDSU would be invited to other USI events before then, such as national congress which will be held on March 21st. Newly elected officers would also be eligible for the training that USI provides for each sabbatical officer in unions across the country. Williams also explained that the timing of the referendum was crucial. “We have a new government coming in a matter of days now,” claiming that being a member of USI would provide UCD with a voice on the big issues. If the referendum returns a no vote then the Union would continue on in its current form. UCDSU has currently not taken an official position on the referendum.
In every election, voters will have the right to choose ‘RON’, or to re-open nominations. If the RON option is deemed “elected”, the SU Returning Office will re-open nominations for that position, other candidates will be able to enter the race and another election will be held. In cases where elections are uncontested, the RON option means that candidates still have to campaign to get elected rather than being elected merely by default. This year, four out of five sabbat elections are uncontested, which means that RON could be a viable option for any one of them. The RON system was introduced in 1998 but has not been chosen since that year, when an uncontested Ents candidate ran for election.
March 1st 2016
WELFARE
Roisin O’Mara
Welfare Watch
Midwifery student Roisin O’Mara believes that her medical background will aid her in dealing with the physical and mental welfare of students as SU Welfare Officer With four years of midwifery studies under her belt, Roisin O’Mara believes her medical background will help her in being UCD Students’ Union’s Welfare Officer. Since first year, she has “been dealing with people who have problems, of physical nature and of mental health nature. I’ve been doing this for four years, I have been learning about it and I have been implementing it through practice, from really, really great experiences and really, really terrible ones as well. So I feel that this background makes me very suitable for this.” The mental and physical health of students is a major issue for O’Mara’s manifesto. Due to demand, UCD counselling services are under severe strain with students being referred to Ranelagh for counselling. O’Mara believes “if people feel the need to go to the mental health counselling on campus, then they need to see somebody if they feel as bad. So I don’t think it’s okay to have someone on a waiting list. And I get it’s very difficult to do it. It’s an oversubscribed service. So I think anyone who presents themselves and who feels they need it should absolutely be 4 March 1st 2016
given the time of day and given the means to access whatever they need. I would look into the SU funding additional counselling services externally.” With such a high demand, it’s difficult for students to be seen soon enough. O’Mara wants “people to be seen the same day but like in reality that might not happen. I think a twoweek turnover would be good for an acute issue. Say you definitely need to see someone today, then you should get that seen as soon as possible.” Students on placement are also a focus for O’Mara. She understands “how difficult it is to feel like part of the university when you’re not on campus. When you’re in a hospital or an internship it’s very easy to feel like you don’t belong here anymore. So I want to actually extend campaigns to the people who are on placement and maybe go visit them. I want to link in with them because it’s hard to spend half the year on placement and feeling like you have no one to talk to or feeling like you don’t belong in the hospital or the university. Which a lot of students of nursing and medicine who I have spoken to certainly do feel.” She is critical of the Students’ Union’s engagement with students on placement, saying: “There has been nothing from
the SU in the entire four years I’ve been in university. I have never gotten an email from them saying ‘you’re going on placement, we’re still here, you can still talk to us.’” As well as mental health, physical health is also important to O’Mara, who wants to introduce health check-ups and screening. This would involve not only health check-ups but information on selfchecking: “With breast checks you get a specialist nurse in to teach people how to do it.” With marketing the campaign, she intends to “run the campaign online with the posters and run different events on campus.” Sexual health and consent have been a major part of UCDSU campaigns this year. The recent UCD 200 story, which turned out to be unsubstantiated, has also opened the door for criticism of UCD’s handling of sexual harassment and assault, with the first consent class happening last week. O’Mara thinks the SU needs to “re-examine SHAG Week. I think sexual consent and healthy sex is so much bigger than anything we could do in just one week. It needs to be brought forward throughout the whole year and be taught the entire year. It’s important to look after yourself, it’s important to respect others and I don’t think a week or a
day is sufficient.” Accommodation is a major source of worry for students in Dublin, especially UCD due to it’s Southside location. O’Mara wants to improve the accommodation advisory service and the email alert service. “I’m actually hopeful the Welfare Officer will run them or indeed the exec council will run it. Or if needs be we get someone in to do it, like a student or an intern. Just to look out at Daft.ie and other housing sites, and give emails out to where you want to go.” O’Mara also wishes to improve the UCD Accommodation Pad as “it’s a good service, it just needs a bit of tweaking and a bit of expansion. And a bit more advertisement I think…” The UCDSU has recently announced they will hold a referendum on re-joining the USI. O’Mara believes “there is power in numbers. I wouldn’t be against rejoining the Union. I don’t think my opinion overall matters. It’s kind of more what the students want and a referendum will be held. Whatever the students decide on, that’s what will be carried. I certainly don’t think it’s a bad idea. There’s a power in having a big group of people putting a voice behind us as well.”
Analysis Roisin O’Mara displays both interest in and a passion for the position of Welfare Officer. What is apparent is that she is running for the position because she wants to improve life for students on campus. Having said this, her campaign suffers from a lack of fully thought out ideas. Her manifesto is vague in parts, and issues like the funding of additional counselling and SHAG week haven’t been fully thought through. The advisory service she proposes to help students with finding accommodation is notable, but O’Mara provides little substantial information on how she will bring this to fruition. Her proposal for the SU to fund additional counselling outside of UCD to make up for the shortfall is a good idea, but one that doesn’t take into account that students are already referred to Ranelagh if the waiting list is too long. Her proposal for classes on mindfulness, meditation and cooking are also noble, but haven’t been sufficiently planned. Currently, most of what she states remain as ideas, as she has contacted few of the relevant people to find out if the ideas are actually viable. Besides some of her ideas not being wholly thought out, what O’Mara does make clear is that she does care about the role of Welfare within the Students’ Union, and she is driven by a genuine desire to help students – which can be seen in her plans to extend a hand to students on placement. If elected, she would need to immediately start putting in place concrete plans for exactly how she will fulfill the promises made in her manifesto and in her interview.
EDUCATION
Analysis
Lexi Kilmartin
Lexi Kilmartin’s campaign to be Education Officer is a strong one. While her manifesto is often vague, she shows that behind the manifesto is a well thought out and surprisingly well researched campaign. Of all the nominees for sabbatical positions, Kilmartin has put the most work into achieving and researching her goals for the year. She is close to completing her project with jobs website Jobbio, and has already met with all the heads of schools in the Arts and Human Sciences faculty to work on her deadline coordination plan. On the other hand, some of her ideas are derivative. Her ‘post exam guide’ was made this year by current SU Education Officer, Dannii Curtis. The same guide was previously made by Curtis when she was with Arts Society the year before. Her idea for an education blog was previously promised by Curtis, however it has not materialised under her tenure. It is also worth noting that what she has suggested is not actually a blog, but rather a forum for posting updates. Some of her ideas are also likely to be too much to take on for her and the Union. Alleviating the burden on programme offices is a noble goal, but one that could result in constant queues in the SU corridor, preventing her, and other officers, from doing other work they’re supposed to be doing. Even if all five sabbatical officers committed to helping students with their registration, it is also unlikely that they would make a major difference to the queues at programme offices. Similarly, co-ordinating deadlines is an excellent idea, but one that is likely to be extremely difficult to implement across the University.
Second year History and Politics student Lexi Kilmartin plans to utilise her experience as Arts and Human Sciences Officer to help her secure the position of Education Officer. She aims to learn from past Education Officers and policies in order to create longer term goals for the SU. Kilmartin identifies the importance of representing students on the Academic Council, which she has already done for the last year as Arts and Human Sciences Officer. If elected Education Officer, she will continue to represent students on the Council. “I actually sat on the Academic Council this year in my role as Arts and Human Science Officer,” she says. “At the moment, one of the big ones coming up for Academic Council is an increase to 240 credits for all degree courses. So, that’s something I’ve been working on quite closely with Dannii [Curtis] this year because obviously it effects BA and master’s and health science students quite a lot.” Kilmartin feels that the SU is not always entirely focused on education, and hopes to change this if elected. “I think it’s been a difficult environment for the Education Officer to work in this year because the Union wasn’t very education focused, which is
Inform, educate(?), entertain!
Lexi Kilmartin, currently Arts and Human Sciences Officer, is running uncontested for Education Officer. Her goals for the year include a revamped Culture Fair and a post-exam guide something I really do want to change, because the primary function of the Union [is as] instigator for the education demands of the students.” One area that Kilmartin hopes to improve upon is the culture fair. “The idea behind that initially was very similar to what I want to propose as a study abroad fair. And I think where that fell down was she wasn’t able to get in as many of the schools, as many of the universities in order to be able to showcase proper study abroad options.” Kilmartin aims to make the culture fair bigger for the year ahead. In terms of continuity, Kilmartin looks to revive some older policies that have been implemented by past Education Officers. “I think it’s important to have a bit of continuity in the Education Office. I want to revive some of the older policies, particularly a few policies from Amy Fox’s year that I think are good policies but would be better if there’s a bit of strategic development and we implement a strategic plan for the next few years at the Education Office. I think that would benefit the students overall.” One of the ideas Kilmartin outlines in her manifesto is to introduce a peer assisted learning scheme. She explains that incentives will be offered to older students who would help younger students, suggesting coffee vouchers as a possible plan. “It would be mostly done through an online campaign because it almost exists informally on
a personal basis,” she says. Social media is critical in her initiative to start an education blog, which she also lists in her manifesto. However what she intends to do is closer to a Facebook ‘like’ page where students could see updates from the Education Office, as she explains. “It’s more feasible to do a five line Facebook update of “this is what’s going on at the moment in UCD” than a 1500 word blog post.” Kilmartin is also conscious of the long waiting times for the programme offices, and she has plans to try to combat the queues. This comes in the form of registration clinics run by the SU. “Ideally it would be myself, if I was the Education Officer, alongside the Graduate Officer, to man them mostly, plus whoever else wants to help. But they would be in discussion with Registry so we’re not giving out false or incorrect information.” She feels that “if it helps twenty people, then it is still worth doing.” In terms of career development and post-exam support, Kilmartin has a number of goals and ideas. A relationship with networking website Jobbio is near completion, giving UCD students an additional avenue for part and full-time employment. She also plans to run LinkedIn workshops to improve student engagement with the service. Getting information to students is critical for Kilmartin, as surmised in her “post exam” guide she wishes to
publish, similar to the guide created this year, which would help explain concepts like degree compliance and GPA weighting. She describes it as “one easy-to-read pamphlet [that says] ‘this is what you need to know.” To help students get part-time work, as well as develop their careers, Kilmartin plans to have two alternative career fairs during the year. The emphasis will be on Irish businesses, alongside charities and graduate programmes. Remaining realistic is a key factor in Kilmartin’s ambitions. She intends to tackle co-ordinating deadlines for student assignments to alleviate the pressure at mid-term and the end of the semester. It’s unlikely that the plan will be able to be rolled out across the entire university, but in her role as Arts and Human Sciences Officer, she has been working to pilot a scheme in the Arts programme to reduce the amount of deadlines that coincide with each other. She explains that this would be done through the most common subject combinations. Kilmartin believes re-joining the USI should be left in the hands of the students, and her own opinion has no effect on the matter. She feels her potential role and initiatives would not change drastically, regardless of the result of the upcoming referendum on the topic.
March 1st 2016
Graduate
Cian Casey
Developing the Graduate Experience
Cian Casey is running uncontested for Graduate Officer. In his interview, he outlines his goals for engaging postgrad students, introducing a discount card, and getting an office on the Smurfit campus Cian Casey is studying for a master’s in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, and feels that the Students’ Union needs to fully engage postgraduates if they are to be truly represented. Communication is key for Casey. While he feels the position of Graduate Officer is still developing, he feels that there hasn’t been enough done to bring postgraduate students into the Union. “We’re still learning what postgrads really want because, as from experience from [being a] postgrad myself, they’re very disconnected from the Students’ Union,” he says. The way to improve engagement between postgraduate students and the SU is in communication, as Casey explains. “The lack of engagement at Council of reps is very poor,” he says. “I’d first go to each class when they first come in, introduce myself, give them all the contact details, and I’d let them know that there are positions for reps... once the reps’ positions are filled, personally, I’d prefer to meet them every two weeks alongside Council to get the feel [of] what they feel, and we can come up with ideas and I can send on messages through them that they can give out to their respective classes.” 6 March 1st 2016
He also proposes a monthly newsletter, vlog or blog to be able to reach many people quickly, and keep them in the loop of what he is doing for them. A large part of this communication will initially be to find out what it is that students really want from the office conducted through surveys and focus groups. He is conscious of the role of the position as representative of students, as he explains. “You have to remember that you’re being a representative of the students so you need to know what they are thinking about because, otherwise you’re just forcing your own opinion on everyone else and that’s just not the way the Union should work.” The welfare of students is also a concern. The proposed “ASK” initiative aims to get current postgraduate students and lecturers to give advice and tips about stress management and resources. “The idea came from the Dear First Year Me Campaign that they ran [this year’s sabbatical team], so I’d I know quite a few people in other faculties in postgrads and I would develop sort of simple questions like: ‘when you were stressed, what did you do?’ Another aspect of postgraduate welfare is stress management
workshops. “Stress is, especially for postgrads, we’ve such a deal to balance... it gets very stressful at times,” he says. He is planning to arrange these by talking to student advisors in each faculty. He also proposes a discount card for 10-20 per cent discounts for postgrads. “Suits, thesis binding and stationery, they’re the three most fundamental things postgrads need, especially for job interviews and to be representatives themselves,” Casey explains. He has not yet approached any businesses on the matter but is confident that the promise of a few thousand customers will secure a deal with many businesses. He also wants to build on the travel expenses fund created this year, which covers costs to conferences for postgraduates. Currently the agreement is with Arts and Humanities, Social Science and Law, and Casey wants to expand it to the other faculties and increase the funding for it. An issue that has affected postgraduate students in Casey’s eyes is the lack of an office for the graduate officer on the Smurfit campus. He aims to combat this by lobbying Smurfit to give him an office where he could meet postgraduate students. “I’m currently aware of an extension with new
offices and I would lobby the UCD Smurfit to allow me to have one of the offices. Doesn’t matter how big or small it is, as long as it’s a confidential room.” Casey explains that currently, the graduate officer has to meet students in the common room. “People do get frightened if you want to talk about a personal matter, and to do it in a common room with God knows how many people listening, it’s just not fair on the student.” As well as greater engagement with the Union, Casey wants to foster a greater engagement of postgraduate students with each other across faculties. One method of doing this is a proposed International Week for postgraduate students towards the beginning of the year for all postgrad students to “figure out what’s out there and broaden their horizons”. Another proposed measure is moving the postgrad ball to the second semester. Casey feels that the managing of the postgrad ball this year has been one of the biggest failings of the office, partially due to the timing in the first semester, leaving very little time to organise it and would hope to manage it better if elected.
Analysis
Casey is running for the position of Graduate Officer unopposed, and is likely to be elected. Interestingly, he proves to be one of the strongest candidates running for any position this year. From a strong manifesto detailing well thought out plans to a good performance in his interview, Casey looks set to do well in the position. Some of the major strengths of Casey’s campaign include his student focus and his focus on clear focus on the welfare and education of postgraduate students. Stress management workshops would be very beneficial for postgrads, who balance intense workloads. If he can achieve it, an office on the Blackrock campus is sorely needed. Having said this, the aim to have an office is currently just an idea; he has not contacted anybody about a possibility of getting office space, and it is entirely possible that his requests will be denied. Casey’s campaign falls short on some smaller issues. He speaks extensively about surveying students, but doesn’t seem to consider that postgraduates may not engage with his surveys – especially considering other candidates have also spoken of running surveys. He has also failed to contact businesses for his proposed discount card, and his idea for a 24 hour workspace seems unlikely to materialise at best, considering this idea has appeared in various manifestos over the years. Despite these failings, Casey remains a strong candidate that has produced a thoughtful manifesto and seems passionate about improving life for postgraduate students in UCD.
President
Practically President Analysis
Conor Viscardi’s campaign to be SU President is hindered greatly by what appears to be a lack of thought put into his ideas, or indeed, the meaning of the role of President. His manifesto outlines several very vague ideas, and these ideas are also not well articulated in interview. When pressed on his ideas for bringing buskers onto campus, his OpenUCD initiative, amongst others, he displays a lack of knowledge and understanding of how UCD works, and how the Union works. The ideas are whimsical and are focused on having a fun atmosphere for students, but fail to take into account that ultimately, he will be leading a limited company that has a turnover of over €1 million a year. As Viscardi is running uncontested, he is highly likely to be elected, unless there is a strong re-open nominations (RON) vote on the day. If he is elected, he will have to dedicate great thought to his manifesto and all the ideas he has outlined. Currently, his goals lack substance, and will take a great deal more work to make them viable.
Conor Viscardi
Conor Viscardi is a second year history and geography student, but his research into implementing his campaign promises falls short of the mark
Conor Viscardi is running uncontested for the position of Students’ Union President, and plans to build on his experience as Arts and Human Sciences College Officer over the last year. Viscardi, who is a second year History and Geography student, aims to make campus a friendlier and more inviting place while also aiming to gain attention from the government on issues such as fees and accommodation. As SU President, Viscardi would be responsible for overseeing the workings of the Union, as well as managing the other officers and providing leadership to the officers. On the education side of the Union, he has a number of goals. He is aiming to increase learning materials for students, explaining that there is a shortage of books for some courses. “You’d take a two pronged approach in dealing with the library, in one instance for general reference books, and then you’d also talk to the schools themselves as well for specialised things as well,” he says. Despite the fact that he refers to learning materials, he explains that he is “talking about the books purely”. He also aims to promote entrepreneurship in UCD, believing that all faculties should be encouraged to take on entrepre-
neurial projects. “When you look at entrepreneurialism, it’s mainly marketed at commerce students,” he explains. “But I think other students from different disciplines as well could excel in entrepreneurialism and use their academic disciplines to enhance their entrepreneurial projects.” He does, however, concede to not knowing what the Innovation Academy does in UCD when asked if this work was already being carried out. “I’m not fully aware that they do so already, but that is something to be promoted and looked into, and if it doesn’t exist already, that is something that we’d do ourselves. But I think a separate Union initiative wouldn’t be a negative thing as well, to kind of connect students and have more kind of widespread engagement in such a thing.” In his goal for fostering a community atmosphere in UCD, he states in his manifesto that he wants to start an OpenUCD campaign. “We go to a very diverse college where there’s a huge student body from varying international and cultural backgrounds,” he says. “One of the things that I’d like to promote is that diversity, through different events, even like when you look at the different events, what you want to do is that you want to come up with innovative ways to showcase diversity
but also showing that there’s interconnectivity there as well.” He cites his work as College Officer as an example of the kind of work he’s done. In his manifesto, Viscardi also says he wants to bring buskers onto campus. He says that he hasn’t been in touch with campus services yet on this idea to find out if buskers would be allowed. When asked if he thinks students want buskers on campus, he says “I think they do as well. When you look, as well, that a lot of people, they’re members of Music Soc, they’re members of TradSoc, I think that using them as a platform to promote such a campaign, while being independent as well, is at the same time run by the SU is very important as well. I think in terms of creating a kind of engaging environment as well, music is a very good way to do it.” He says he would like to see it becoming “almost like a Grafton Street model”. On the accommodation crisis, Viscardi says “it’s about continuity”. He plans to lobby the government, however he currently has no other plans for dealing with the crisis. “If I was to be elected, you’d instantly talk to the people like the President and the C&C officer, whoever’s involved in the campaign, and see what they did, and see what you might
do differently as well. I think one thing to definitely look into as well, is definitely considering contacting commercial outletters and things like that as well.” He also says: “I think that one thing that the government could have encouraged as well, is that they could have thought about giving tax incentives to households in South Dublin if they rent out their accommodation to the students, maybe some sort of a model like that, that’s something you could recommend to them.” If elected, Viscardi will be elected to a managerial position that will see all Union staff ultimately answerable to him, as is outlined in the SU constitution. Viscardi says he has never been in a managerial position before, but says: “I think that’s just the nature of the position… if you are elected to be the UCDSU President, that’s just the way it is, and you are in power to have that decision making capacity.” On the area of Ents, he wants to diversify the lineup “a bit further”. He feels that UCD Ball, which will not be going ahead this year, is a complex issue that won’t be his main priority. “I’m not saying that I won’t be campaigning for a UCD Ball. It isn’t on top of the agenda, but it something that I will consider. But I do think that we have to think about what a UCD Ball is and what we’re trying to achieve with it.” March 1st 2016
CAMPAIGNS & COMMUNICATIONS
RYAN OAKES
Running in the only contested race is second year Business and Social Justice student, Ryan Oakes. Currently B&L College Officer, Oakes believes that the role of C&C is still a relatively new role which can be built upon. A key element of the position, according to Oakes, is making sure “what the Union is doing is available to the students and that they’re informed on…what’s going on and what the Union’s doing for them.” While Oakes seems reluctant to criticise this year’s C&C officer, he does offer some reproaches of the campaigns that have been run and the standard of communications between the Union and students. Claiming that “it’s very much up to the current Officer to kind of define the role… you shouldn’t review someone’s performance until they’re actually completed,” Oakes does however question the state of the SU website. Noting that it is in “dire” need of an update, he also draws attention to a recent mandate passed by SU Council which allows the C&C officer to post social media updates during SU council. The communication of the developments at council is key point in Oakes’ manifesto. He proposes that “informal” vlogs be posted every fortnight to coincide with Council, which Oakes’ argues will engage students with the Union
more effectively. “A vlog is more reflective of how we receive information in our current day and age,” he claims, explaining that this should be easily accessible to students. He did note however that he had never made a vlog before. Another issue that is likely to be prominent in the next year is thirdlevel fees, which Oakes does not specifically outline in his manifesto. He does claim that he wants to increase UCD’s voice nationally, stating that he does not want to take an official position on fees until the SU receives a mandate from students. Oakes is in favour of rejoining USI, though notes that “I’m not going to let it reflect upon my work.” Oakes states that he would be in favour of a preferendum on fees in the first semester. When questioned about the recent SU position which “fully supports free fees and publicly funded third level education,” Oakes criticised the statement. “That stance hasn’t been mandated or put through Council,” he says. The idea of consultation with students appears often in Oakes’ manifesto, with proposals for information drives which would consist of distributing pamphlets and holding panel discussions. Oakes claims that this would give people an opportunity to “come down and kind of genuinely educate themselves.” Issues that Oakes suggests to be discussed include fees and the possibility of reviewing the student code which he notes “places more impor-
tance on how you submit assignments then how you actually behave towards one another.” Oakes claims that this approach will allow students to “engage in educated discussions on the issue” without having “the Union telling people where they should stand.” While the idea is admirable, it isn’t clear who will set the agenda of these discussions. The class rep system also seems to be important to his consultation plans, yet Oakes does not mention them in his manifesto. Stating that “in the mechanism that is the Union they’re the most important cog.” Oakes outlines that class reps are key for the Union communicating with students. However he also acknowledges that engaging students can still be difficult. With a number of constituencies not electing class reps this year, Oakes hopes to tackle the lack of representation by “ideally not having empty seats in the first place… getting people interested… and showing past work of the Union.” On keeping class reps engaged after their election, he suggests a more “lively” approach to Council by encouraging students to speak through public speaking training. While Oakes’ manifesto tends to focus on the usual candidate trope of making promises on what to change rather than improve what is already there, the relatively new role of C&C calls for greater definition. The policies that Oakes proposes seem feasible and well thought out, though it remains to be seen if the regular nature of his proposals can be maintained.
LUKE FITZPATRICK Luke Fitzpatrick, a second year student of Information and Social Computing and Geography is one of the contenders for C&C, the only contested election this year. In his interview with the University Observer’s panel, he discusses his manifesto and plans for next year if he is elected to the position. On paper, Fitzpatrick’s manifesto is suggesting new ideas to aid in a safer, healthier and more student engaged campus. His main objective appears to be creating an environment in which students feel more in touch with their Students’ Union, and to feel more at ease in making friends when coming into first year, something he says is particularly difficult for students in courses such as Arts or Science. “I’m in Arts and I feel like people drop out because they don’t make friends quick enough. You’re put in a Peer Mentor group, and there’s 12 people you don’t know, you don’t see them after two days. I’m a Peer Mentor myself. I [tried] to hold on to mine for as long as I could, but there’s 8 March 1st 2016
only so much you can do.” In order to tackle this issue, Fitzpatrick says he hopes to introduce a social media incentive called UCDCrew. UCDCrew is a group in which students can post plans and events that are happening, outside of the Students’ Union and societies in UCD. This is an idea which Fitzpatrick says is based on the GirlCrew Facebook page, and would encourage students to meet with each other in an environment separate from the events run by societies and the Union. What he also hopes to improve is the sense of safety for students in UCD. Fitzpatrick intends to introduce a night link service that caters solely for UCD students, see the introduction of an app for safe drug use, and the introduction of an app for students to track their journey home after a night out, though he falls down on his ability to back these plans up with thorough research. Fitzpatrick also hopes to see Campus Services’ number printed on the pillars along the concourse. “Just one simple idea [I] was just suggesting to myself or talking to people, was that through the concourse, having campus services’ numbers
available. There are security guards in UCD, they do roam the area, they do walk through, but they’re not going to be there at all times when you need them.” What appears to be missing from his manifesto is the issue of accommodation, something which is a pressing problem for many students, not only in UCD, but in Dublin generally. In regards to fees, Fitzpatrick vows to take a “realistic approach” to the matter. He says that he will work with whatever option is decided from the Cassells’ report, even if it means the fees will not be reduced. “Realistically, there’s only so much you can do for fees. And I think that when UCD do decide, or when the government do decide what they want to do, I feel like you have to take it realistically and not be like “I can promise you no fees,” because that’s unrealistic. There is money, money has to go around.” On the issue of the Students’ Union joining up with USI again, Fitzpatrick fails to give a definite stance on his opinions of the matter, but confirms that “if the students want to join the USI, I would like to be elected as the campaign manager and will campaign for them.”
CAMPAIGNS & COMMUNICATIONS
Sam Blanckensee Sam Blanckensee is one of three candidates running for Campaigns and Communications Officer this year. A fourth year veterinary nursing student, Blanckensee sees the role as involving being able to improve the conversation between the SU and the student body. “I say conversation rather than speaking to, because I think conversation is very much a two way street and very much something where you’re listening to people and not just talking at them.” Blanckensee recognises the difficulties that the C&C role has faced this year in its first year back following its abolition three years ago. “I think that because it’s the first year that it’s been back, it’s been quite a difficult role to reforge. Especially because Cian [Byrne] wouldn’t have been around when it was here before. I would have liked to have seen better two way communication because a lot of the time the campaigns weren’t very visible and there was issues getting out mandate books and making sure minutes were up online. And I think those are very basic things that needed to be changed.” Blanckensee is no stranger to running campaigns, both in UCD and further afield. As the UCDSU LGBT coordinator from 2013 – 2015 and the founder
of the Harry Potter society, he has been a visible participant in university life for several years. His major plans for the year involve campaigns on life hacks, anti-racism and a continuation of this year’s consent campaign. On his Anti-Racism campaign, he says “I would like to see that very much led by people of colour, by people of marginalised ethnicities. So I will be consulting with different groups outside campus; the migrant rights centre, Pavee Point which is one of the Travelling Community groups as well as students within UCD, so African Society, Islamic society, trying to consult with them and see what they want to happen.” When asked if he knew how many UCD students are members of the Travelling community he said, “I don’t but I know it’s very very few.” He added, “I think it’s [racism] something I’ve never seen talked about in UCD properly so it’s a conversation I want to start and I think it’s important to do so.” He also mentions allowing extra time for class rep training and that smaller group sessions are the way to improve the impact it has. He hopes to implement training in certified skills for class reps, such as social media and public speaking. Although Blanckensee admits that “as a final year I haven’t
Analysis A key characteristic of all the candidates for C&C has been the recognition of the need to improve on certain elements of communication in the year ahead. All of the candidates note the necessity to improve interaction with students and general student awareness of the Union, with Blanckensee proposing an online student hub, Fitzpatrick putting forward the idea of UCDCrew while Oakes is more in favour of panel discussion and face to face communication. All of the candidates also have significant experience in working with the SU already, which will benefit the winner of the race. Based on the manifestos, Blanckensee appears to have the upper hand, with a number of ideas
for campaigns and for improving the state of communications within the Union. However, it is clear that the implementation of these ideas has not yet been fully thought through. Meanwhile, Oakes performs best at backing up the campaigns he has planned on students’ rights and updating the university’s student code with adequate research, and his regular contributions to Union Council meetings will not go unnoticed by voters. The likelihood however is that the fight at the polls will be between Oakes and Fitzpatrick, who has a strong presence and support base in spite of his less thorough plans for campaigns.
managed to look into [international funding] entirely”, he mentions that corporate sponsors and European funding streams such as Erasmus plus might be interested in funding this training. Like many C&C officers before him, he also hopes to improve the engagement with class reps, calling it the “eternal question”. “I think the way to get class reps engaged is to make them part of something they want to be involved with, that they care about, to give them a Union they believe in and I’d hope the rest of my manifesto will give them that passion for the Union because they feel like it’s something they can take ownership of.” Blanckensee has strong feelings about student fees, saying “I would be campaigning for free fees, in the way that the students asked for in the Preferendum in 2012 or 2013”, and reaffiliating to USI: “I would be pro the SU rejoining USI. My first campaign in UCD was the USI back in 2013, my first year anyway, and I haven’t changed my position since.” Although he is a member of the Labour party, he adds that “If I am elected, and when I am elected, I do not believe that an SU officer should be openly affiliated to any party. So I will not be active within Labour next year and I will have no problem with campaigning against a Labour policy or campaigning against a Labour TD if I feel that is the best for the Union.”
uo
the university observer Editor Gráinne Loughran Deputy Editor Patrick Kelleher VISUAL CONTENt & Design Editor James Healy
Contributors Niamh O Regan Martin Healy Megan Hickey Roisin Guyett-Nicholson Maebh Butler Dylan Tierney Aoife Hardesty Karl Quigley
Letters, corrections and clarifications pertaining to articles published in this newspaper and online are welcome and encouraged. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, University Observer, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin 4. Correspondence may also be sent to editor@universityobserver.ie.
March 1st 2016
COLLEGE OFFICERS Talleyrand Greetings electioneers, In my ramblings around the SU campaign trail this year, I am once more confounded about the point of student politics. The big question this year around the SU elections isn’t who will win what, but whether enough students will run for there to be an SU at all. Personally I intend to arrange a coup whereby I will take power myself and show the SU how to run an adult organisation, rather than the barely-trained monkey show that it currently is. Although the SU are keen to note that sabbat roles are full time jobs, they don’t tend to realise that most people get jobs through interviews, not by popular vote – although perhaps that’s
because if all the candidates were interviewed and hired based on competency, there would never be an SU again. Interestingly, the most pointless job of all, C&C officer, is the only contested race. But who will win? Ryan Oakes, noted SU hack? Luke “what is a snapback?” Fitzpatrick? Or Sam “I talk a lot and say nothing of worth” Blanckensee? We can rest assured that no matter what, the C&C officer will “improve engagement” with students “on the ground”, which all candidates were keen to emphasise, and which basically assures us that they will spend lots of time in the bar. Our future president, Conor Viscardi, assures us that he is the only openly Kerry-Swiss-Italian
mandolinist on campus, which is of massive reassurance to that particular minority. We are assured that he will be a wonderful activist for mandolinists but will likely do little else. Roisin “Delivering Babies Isn’t Actually That Hard” O’Mara will call on her midwifery experience in her future role as Welfare Officer in having to deal with a whole lot of screaming children down the SU corridor. Lexi “Better Danniiiii” Kilmartin will be a highly organised Education Officer, while the quota for one Ag student per Union will be met by postgrad officer Cian Casey, who assures us that he will be more about actual postgrads than slutwalks this year, which will make a welcome change for
the postgrad officer. The referendum to rejoin USI is also of very little interest to students, whereby they will have the choice to pay money for the Union they don’t care about to join another Union they don’t care about. What does USI even stand for? Uninteresting Students’ Initiative? Unforgivably Stupid Individuals? Whatever it is, the fact that another referendum is being held on USI three years after students voted to disaffiliate shows exactly the level of confusion that students have about the entire thing. As for me, I will merely watch from afar as another group of incompetents takes residence in that hellhole of all hellholes, the SU corridor. TALLEY OUT
Who’s who: college officers Ag, Food & Vet
Ag, Food & Vet Vikki Banach, 2nd Year, Veterinary Nursing “I’ve been involved with the Union for the past year and I just think it’s really great and it’s an opportunity for us to make a change … I just think it would be great to be able to make the change and just listen to people and see what problems they feel.”
10 March 1st 2016
Eng & Arch
Eng & Arch Joseph Millerick, 2nd Year, Ag Science
Lidia O’Shea, 2nd Year, Architecture
“I definitely think I can make a difference to the Ag and Vet faculties, and there’s a lot of improvements that need to be made. I want to see an improvement to the Ag common room; the couches down there are not to a good standard at all and the Ag building badly needs a water fountain.”
“I just decided that it’s time to do it, and I also feel like it’d be great because Architecture is a school that’s a bit far out and people forget about it, and nobody from architecture is ever really involved in the Union.”
Joshua Gorman Climax, Stage 1, General Engineering “I don’t actually want to immediately be a College Officer, I want to put myself forward as a choice. I don’t know whether I’m the best choice, it’s just been recommended to me that I should run, because people think that I have the ability to do so. I have skills, those skills seem to be well applied as College Officer.”
College officers Science
Science
Science Connor Larkin, 2nd Year, Science
Hakeem Goloba, 1st Year, Computer Science
Sean Kilgarriff, 1st Year, Science
“I want to be Science College Officer because I care about UCD… I’m happy here, and I want to make everyone else as happy as I am here. So I feel like I can do that as Science Officer, and remind them all why they came to UCD and make them remember that every single day.”
“I feel like people in science aren’t really saying what they want to the SU, so we can’t really do much. So I’m trying to improve that communication between the two… I think I’m approachable and more chilled than the other candidates.”
“I want to run for science officer because I believe I can make a positive change to the constituency of science. I have a lot of ideas that I’d like to implement, and I feel like I could do them… I plan on being a strong link between students, the SU and the UCD faculty.”
Health Science
Arts & Human Science
Arts & Human Science Rebecca Hart, Health Sciences Officer
Thomas Monaghan, 1st Year, Social Science
“I’ve built up a lot of connections within the faculty and I feel like I can really build on them this year… I still have so much more to give, so I’m bringing my heart back into health science, and bringing health sciences to the heart of UCD.”
“I plan on making it mandatory for all class reps from arts and human sciences to do public speaking workshops, and to make those services available to all students. If anyone is feeling anxious or lonely, I want them to know that they can talk to me or one of the other college officers.”
Tama Francis Roche, Politics and International relations “I’m going in from third year and I know how the union works. I can give an angle that someone younger can’t. There’s no specific arts careers fair, and I’d like to dive off the deep end and get the careers advice office on board for that.”
Business and Law
Arts & Human Science Liam Brady, Stage 2 Arts “I’m going to try and involve Events and Campaigns such as the Newman project, it’ll be running throughout this year and bring it on next year… I’m going to bring up a careers fair. This will be different to the Open Day that was on yesterday because it’s going to be more informal…”
Oifigeach na Gaeilge Jonathan Byrne, 3rd year Law
Eoghan MacDomhnaill, 2nd year Science
“I want to implement a community atmosphere as replicated in other schools… I would encourage event organising, faculty events, which are something we’re quite lacking in, and getting the two buildings social and interacting. I want to increase awareness of class rep positions too.”
“I mbliana bhí an deis agam feiceáil an méid oibre a dhéanann an Aontas ar son an teanga agus na rudaí ar fhéidir leis an Aontas a dhéanamh amach seo chun Gaeilge a chuir chun cinn. Ba mhaith liom obair i gcuideachta leis an Aontas chun suim a chothú sa teanga at champús. Déanfaidh mé cinnte go mbeidh páirt lárnach,nó nasc ag an teanga le eachtraí cosúil le Seachtain na nGiobal nó fiú an ‘Consent Campaign’.”
March 1st 2016
NUI Awards 2016 Promoting Scholarship and Academic Distinction
• Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities • Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Irish/Celtic Studies • Travelling Studentships • E J Phelan Fellowship in International Law
Full details including eligibility criteria and closing dates at www.nui.ie/awards Ollscoil na hÉireann, 49 Cearnóg Mhuirfean, Baile Átha Cliath 2, D02 V583 Teileafón: +353 1 439 2424 Ríomhphost: awards@nui.ie NUI, 49 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, D02 V583 Telephone: +353 1 439 2424 Email: awards@nui.ie