THIRD LEVEL IN IRELAND Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Trinity senator Ivana Bacik on the fallout from the Savita Halappanavar tragedy, page 12.
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The University Times Hist to pursue electoral reform Jack Leahy News Editor THE COLLEGE Historical Society will pursue reform of its electoral laws in Hilary Term, The University Times has learned. A Law Reform Sub-Committee will be established in Hilary Term to act upon the recommendations of the electoral-subcommittee after concerns were raised as to the size of the electorate for recent byelections. The subcommittee, which will be appointed in the fi rst teaching week of Hilary Term, includes in its terms of reference remit to suggest reforms in the society laws to ‘normalise the levels of attendance expected at debates from members to determine their eligibility to vote in by-elections of the Society.’ Th ree formal submissions were made to the subcommittee in relation to the size of the electorate during the recent electoral period, while a number of members of the society spoke to The University Times to express concern that the highest affairs of a society of 2,000 members was being decided by the votes of 29 people. Hist laws currently require that an individual seeking franchise in an election has attended three ‘ordinary weekly meetings’ (debates) of the Society during the session in which the by-election is held. However, the resignations of auditor John Engle - as well as ordinary members of committee Caoimhe Stafford and Kirsten Nelsen-de Búrca - in late October prompted a major election after only five such meetings had taken place. Th is lead to 29 members initially being declared eligible to vote with a further 25 added upon the success of viva voce appeals and email submissions requesting reconsideration of eligibility. The society’s laws require that a new electorate be assumed if an election takes place six weeks or more into a new session of the society. As Ruth Hoey’s election to the position of treasurer took place in week five of
Michaelmas Term, the society were permitted by their own laws to franchise the same individuals who elected the committee at the society annual general meeting in March. The necessarily lower ratio of attendance required for elections held in the traditional period at the end of term made that electorate considerably larger at a maximum of 72. The electoral subcommittee’s detailed report on the elections indicate that ordinary members of the society and members of committee had expressed concerns as to the ‘unrepresentative’ size of the electorate. One such regret was formally submitted by former auditor Engle, who eventually resigned in October after it was revealed in late September that he had taken an unathorised €2,000 loan from the society during the summer. ‘Engle’s submission’, said the authors of the report, ‘expressed concerns about the size of the electorate, the eligibility of the Inaugural and the defi nition of eligible meetings in the Laws.’ Engle argued that the Inaugural, an annual event at which the society auditor presents a paper and invites response from academics and notable figures, be considered when appeals to franchise were being considered. Traditionally the event has taken place in late Hilary Term but Engle presented his Pax Americana paper on US foreign relations before his resignation in October. At the end of the 2010/2011 academic year, the University Philosophical Society amended its laws to enfranchise those members who had attended a particular number of the society’s activities, rather than specifically evening debates. The move was considered reflective of the broad nature of the society’s activities and allows for a large yet intimate electorate, but the Hist’s electoral subcommitee report affi rms its debate-only entitlement in stating that ‘attendance at debates is not felt to be an unfair condition for electoral entitlement.’
“Exclusion in college is one of the biggest problems for students
Leanna Byrne, How Prevelant is Bullying on Campus, page 7
“Abercrom-
Adding a touch of class: DUPA host photography exhibition in campus rooms. Photo: Cat O’Shea
CSC evict Sci-Fi society from coveted House 6 room Hannah Ryan News Staff THE UNIVERSITY Times has learned that the Central Societies Committee (CSC) executive committee has voted to move the Dublin University Science Fiction Society out of its allocated room in House 6 to a room shared with DU Gamers Society in the Arches in Goldsmith Hall. The decision was reportedly announced by Ronan Hodson, honorary treasurer of the CSC, at a recent meeting of the executive committee. The official reason given is that the society are not making full use of such a large space - the biggest society space in House 6 - and that the ever-growing number of recognised societies dictates that no society can justify having a room for its exclusive occupation. The decision to move the society from its current location was made on Wednesday 14th November, but the society was not informed of
the decision for a further 26 hours, by which stage The University Times was already aware of the outcome of the meeting. Speaking to The University Times, a Sci-Fi Society source has said that this decision has ‘long been in the making’ and expressed the society committee’s collective suspicion that the room was being earmarked for Q Soc in their stead. Th is sus-
suggestions when speaking to The University Times on Sunday afternoon. The society have claimed that the decision was announced by Hodson at the end of the meeting. The position of honorary treasurer is non-voting and does not imbue the holder with decision-making authority. Sci-Fi committee members approached the CSC on
CSC Secretary David Doyle: “This was the decision that the exec felt was the best for societies in general” picion, said the spokesperson, is based on Hodson and CSC secretary David Doyle’s shared affi liation to Q Soc. Doyle held the position of auditor in the most recent academic year and Hodson held the same position in his days as a student. The spokesperson also questioned whether or not quorum was reached at the meeting of the executive. Doyle denied both of those
Friday to request a copy of the minutes of the meeting but that request was denied on the basis that sensitive information had been relayed in another part of the meeting. A further request for the minutes of the relevant section of the meeting only was also denied. A University Times source indicated that this was indeed the case, but Doyle
stated that the decision was that of the executive and that quorum was in fact reached at the meeting: “it was an exec decision…exec voted on it.” When questioned about the suggestion that Q Soc would replace Sci-Fi in the room, he said that “the list of who’s moving in hasn’t been decided yet…all this movement is part of a larger movement of all societies. Th is was the decision that the exec felt was best for societies in general.” A member of the DU Gamers Society committee, who would be sharing its space with Sci-Fi if the move goes ahead, has expressed concerns to The University Times that there is no room for another society in their room in Goldsmith Hall. Doyle refuted this claim, stating: “it’s been assessed by the CSC exec and it’s felt that there is defi nitely room for both societies.” When asked about the subject, and the prospect of several societies being
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moved in to share Sci Fi’s room, Sam Heavey, treasurer of the society, stated emphatically that “I am not happy with the decisions… the logic, we believe, is unsound. We have addressed our concerns with the CSC, but they refused to acknowledge it. We may have a chance as they did say we can write a proposal and officially submit it to them. “Our proposal is simply to move some other societies into the room with us that have already agreed to it, if the CSC allows.” Asked if he thought the move to be a form of punishment for the society’s unsatisfactory accounts for 2011/12 and poor security of its room that led to €1,000 being stolen during broad daylight, Heavey said “I do not believe that we are being punished. They claim to have had plans to move societies, although it possibly put us in the spotlight.” Additional reporting by Jack Leahy
bie may not be the problem, but merely a symptom of it Louise Duffy, What Lies Behind the Smile, page 8
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obvious truth in saying traditional romance is dead Conor Murphy, Are Irish Men Useless at all Things Romantic?, page 11
Aoife Considine, In a Man’s World, page 10
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Irish-American culture is its own phenomenon, and with Barack Obama’s grandfather’s grandfather hailing from Moneygall, we talk to this distant cousin about the world’s most powerful chancer.