The University Times www.universitytimes.ie
November 25th, 2009
MOCK & ROLL
Eoin Rafferty examines Taking Woodstock and the spirit of the 60s.
Culture p14
Strikers will alienate public
West Brit Style Rachael Shearer takes a look at the Jack Wills “lifestyle”. Features p8
Jonathan Wyse discusses the public sector strike and its consequences. Opinion p16
Oireachtas to investigate spending of registration fee
SU considering sit-ins to protest against library budget cuts
SU President presents college accounts to education committee
Officers call for class reps to participate in ‘alternative action’
Carl Doherty News Writer
Marykate Collins Deputy Editor
The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee will discuss on November 26 if Trinity’s Student Service Charge is being used to top up the College’s core grant. The Committee will discuss that matter in a closed session. The Joint Education and Science committee heard that only a third of Trinity’s student service charge for 2008/09 academic year was spent on student services. The accounts produced by Trinity College were sent to the chairman of the education committee and Green party TD Paul Gogarty. Gogarty told the committee that the accounts sent to him by Trinity SU’s president Cónán Ó Broin revel that much of the student service charge is being used to pay for cuts in the Government’s grant to the College. The student service charge is supposed to be ring fenced for student services, exams, and registration. The charge has increased this year to €1,500 from €900 the year before. Ó Broin says that the documents that he has sent to the Oireachtas education committee show that of the €1,500 student service charge ‘less than thirty-five per cent is actually being spent of student services.’ Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes, TD has said that he has written to the Comptroller and Auditor General and asked for an immediate investigation into the student service charge Hayes told the education committee that the student service charge is ‘tuition fees through the back door.’ The estimate accounts for 2009 show that of the €900 charge only €593.75 was being spent on student services the rest was being used to make up for cuts in the core grant given to the College by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The HEA wrote to the College in 2002 and said that there would be a €250 reduction in the College’s grant. Then again in 2008 the HEA told the College that there would be a further reduction which, when calculated on 2009 figures, amounts to €56.25. The College is making up for this reduction by taking these amounts from the student service charge. This was ‘direct evidence that students are being
Trinity Students’ Union is planning action in response to a €650,000 reduction in the book buying budget. Ashley Cooke, the Education Officer of Trinity Students’ Union told a meeting of class representatives on November 17 that sit-ins in the library are being considered in response to what they say are a number of short comings in the library service. In the library accounts for the year 2008/09 there was a reduction of approximately €650,000 in the book buying budget. The College said that the decrease in the book budget ‘was as a result of an overall reduction in funding to the Library along with the cost of Sunday opening hours.’ Cónán Ó Broin, Students’ Union president told class representatives that ‘alternative action was needed’ in the Union’s library campaign. Cooke said that some of the alternative actions planned were a ‘last resort.’ Ó Broin took a straw poll of the representatives present at the meeting on the question of if they would be willing to participate in a sit-in in the library. The result was unanimously in favour of a sit-in. Asked by The University Times about a purported increase in staff costs in the library the College said that it was successful in getting funding on a matched basis for a number of strategic projects, including cataloguing of collections in the Old Library which was part-funded by the Mellon Foundation. The College says that the ‘additional staff costs for these projects came from generated income.’ Cooke says that he prepared a document that outlines the opening hours of Trinity’s library compared with the libraries of other Irish universities in which the Trinity library came joint last with National University of Ireland, Maynooth both only opened for seventy one and a half hour per week. He said that he furnished a copy of this document to the College and he says that ‘it was basically thrown in the bin.’ The return of Sunday opening hours is also the focus of the Union’s library campaign. The library no longer opens
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Staff of the college picketing outside the front gate shortly after the strike began at midnight on Tuesday. Photo: Dargan Crowley-Long
Public sector strike renders College effectively shut down All lectures and labs cancelled as staff participate in nationwide work stoppage Carl Doherty News Writer Trinity College staff picketed the College on November 24 in the national day of protest for the public service sector. The College was severely disrupted by the one day work stoppage. All lectures and labs were cancelled on the day due to an ‘unacceptably high’ risk to health and safety. The College said that it carried out an assessment of risk to health and safety and the professional advice was that lectures and labs should be cancelled. The stoppage was the result of a national day of protest with many of the College staff participating or supporting the protest. The lecturers’ union Ifut says that it ‘expects that there will be huge support for the one day strike’ and ‘nearly all non-academic and back up staff will support the stoppage so it is hard to see how the University can function in any normal way.’ The Chief Operating Officer of the
College sent an email to all staff and students saying that ‘several categories of staff will be absent by choice from work’ on November 24. From 7am to midnight on November 24 access for vehicles and pedestrians was via the Pearse St gate only. All the other gates were locked and secured from normal closing time on Monday, November 23. The Registrar of Chamber informed residents that ‘overnight guest arrangements are suspended for the nights of Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24.’ College residents were not able to sign in guest to their rooms. As well as causing the cancellation of all lectures and labs on the day, the strike, caused the closure of most of the College services and facilities. The library was closed because of the strike as there was a lack of staff to open and run the library services. However, the new twenty-four hour study space remained open for students to study in. The Department of Sport also closed the sports centre and told those that had bookings on the day to contact the
centre to make alternative arrangements. The College Catering Service or Information System Services helpdesk was not open. The College Health and Counselling Services were available to deal with cases requiring urgent assistance. Other colleges were affected by the strike including UCD which said ‘some students had assessments and/or assignment submissions scheduled.’ UCC was scheduled to close because of the strike but due to the flooding the college will remain closed and the staff will help out with flood relief. A facebook event was set up to encourage students to ‘to take advantage of the lack of grounds men, staff, security and tourists and enjoy Trinity’s grounds to the full.’ A full report of the security measures are not yet available but are expected to be forthcoming. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has released a statement saying that it supports the strikes by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu). The USI’s president Peter Mannion says ‘we are
impelling the students of Ireland to demand a better future for themselves. Our students will be tomorrow’s graduates and any changes in pay or working conditions in the public sector will directly affect them in years to come.’ The national day of protest not only affected colleges, all Siptu members: nurses, teachers, government and State employees including fire, ambulance and emergency workers joined the strike and picketed their places of employment for the day. Unions representing public sector workers, including Siptu, have argued that Government plans to take a further €1.3 billon in costs out of the public service through a six pint eight five per cent pay cut and reductions in pensions are both ‘unfair and counter-productive.’ Ifut say that ‘it is important to note that even though the primary issue at this time is the threat to make even more cuts to the pay of those working in the University (and the wider public service), our members are also angry at the underfunding of the Higher Education sector.’
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Trinity Students’ Union to withdraw from Forum for University Students’ Unions Simone Hall News Writer
SU President Cónán Ó Broin who put forward the motion to withdraw from Fusu at SU Council
Trinity Students’ Union will secede from the Forum for University Students’ Unions (Fusu). The motion was passed at a meeting of the Students’ Union’s Council on November 17 by a unanimous vote. Under the terms of the motion the President of the Students’ Union is mandated to ‘take the necessary steps to withdraw from the Fusu.’ The Fusu was setup as a discussion forum between the seven universities. Four of the universities are constituent organizations of the Union of Students Ireland (USI) while University of Limerick (UL), National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI, Maynooth), and Dublin City University (DCU) are not affiliated with the USI. The President of Trinity Students’ Union, Cónán Ó Broin told the Students’
Union executive that the Fusu was ‘not an effective organization; having meetings with no agenda and no leader.’ After a discussion at Students’ Union executive it was resolved that the only advantage of Trinity Students’ Union’s membership of the Fusu was the contact it gave to Trinity with the members of the Fusu that are not constituent organizations of the USI. Ó Broin told the executive that while working on the fees campaign he worked with the Fusu closely and in his experience they were an ‘ineffectual organization.’ During the fees campaign a full-page advertisement was taken out by most of the students’ unions and the USI. It was agreed between the unions that payment for the advert would be based on the numbers of students they represent. It transpired that after the advert was
taken NUI, Maynooth have refused to pay their contribution to the cost of the advert. UCD Students’ Union paid for the full cost of the advert and were reimbursed by all except NUI, Maynooth Students’ Union. The University Times asked NUI, Maynooth Students’ Union’s president, Brian Murphy to comment on their decision not to pay for the advert but he did not answer.
Editor: Robert Donohoe Deputy Editor: Marykate Collins Volume 1, Issue 4 ISSN: 2009-261X Phone: 01 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Website: www.universitytimes.ie
UCD Students’ Union has also decided to leave the Fusu in a motion put to its Students’ Union Council which was held on October 27. The motion calling for the withdrawal says that the Fusu ‘takes no formal action on any policies, is merely a “talking shop” for Students’ Union officers and in fact undermines the strength of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) through its inaction.’ Fusu was established in 1997 by five universities that had just disaffiliated
This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Students’ Union. It is set in 9pt Utopia and Whitney – a classic newspaper typeface and a modernist sans serif respectively. It was printed by Mortons Print Ltd.
from the USI with the hope of establishing a forum for communications between their students’ unions. Fusu does not have any officers or staff to administrate its operations unlike the USI which employees elected officers to campaign and run its services. Trinity Students’ Union’s president says that he will be formally notifying the students’ unions around the country that Trinity is seceding from the Fusu very soon.
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