The University Times - Vol. 1, Issue 6 - Election Supplement

And they’re off...

The University Times

ELECTION SPECIAL 2010 Tuesday, February 9th CASHMAN | FLEMING | FLOREA | FOX GENOCKEY | HARMON | HUGHES | LOWE | O’TOOLE PRESTON | REILLY | TRIGOUB-ROTNEM

INSIDE EVERY CANDIDATE PROFILED PAST OFFICERS’ EXPERIENCES THE ELECTIONS REVIEWED

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Tuesday, February 9th | The University Times

TIMESELECTIONS

Upping the ante Former Education Officer Robert Kearns examines the growing professionalism of election campaigns in Trinity since his time in office.

It’s always fun when a friend approaches you asking you to give the ‘these kids didn’t have it so good back in my day’ angle in a newspaper article. It’s even more fun when you’re only 23 and still in college. However, it is fair to say that the SU Sabbatical Elections have changed hugely in the time that I’ve been involved in them.

By way of introduction, I ran for Education Officer in 2006 and was, quite happily, successful.

In fairness, I was practically unopposed. (My most threatening competitor was running on the mantle of launching the campanile into space!)

Even though this was only four years ago, the methods of campaigning have changed a great deal in that time. Actually, it’s almost impossible to compare the process which I underwent to what the candidates of 2010 will take part in, in the coming weeks.

To try and conceptualise some of the differences, bear in mind that there were literally no Trinity students on Facebook in 2006. None. By the time you’ve read this article, you’ll probably have been invited to groups for at least five of the candidates. These will be used as information hubs for every campaign for the next fortnight. Allied to these will be flashy professionally designed websites which spew forth the already overly distributed policies of the candidates.

During our election, my fellow candidates and I converted our Bebo pages (pause for nostalgia) as our election vehicles, using blogs as our method to communicate with the masses.

As Education Officer, I had to run the following year’s elections. In that year, we made some

important changes which have influenced the way in which the elections have changed and expanded ever since. Before this, candidates had to produce single colour manifestos and posters, and were limited to fifty t-shirts per campaign. These rules were eliminated and provisions were made for election ‘stunts’.

Now full colour posters and manifestos are the standard for every campaigner and you can be expected to see up to 160 people in t-shirts for some of this year’s campaigns.

Anyone who witnessed our 2006 elections and then saw Cathal Reilly’s presidential campaign of 2008 or Mick Birmingham’s of last year can see how much the methods of publicising the elections have changed in such a short time.

More permissive rules and more accessible technology were feared by the Students’ Union for many years as it was worried that they would somehow “corrupt” the electoral process. However, the Union’s embracing of these has only served to democratize the election process and allow students to find out more about their future public servants. As long as candidates are able to use as many forms of communications as possible to show off their credentials, the competitive nature of the contest will constantly drive the candidates to build bigger teams, get better designs and create more innovative stunts. As annoying as this all may be to any student who’s just trying to get from A to B in the Arts Block, this drive is a good thing for the Union. As a result, I’m sure election turnout will rise again this year, as it has every year since 2006.

With all of these changes, it should be noted that the most important factors will never change. At the end of the elections, a massive pile of paper will be sorted, counted and transferred, and some old hack will read out a result.

There will be tears and celebrations on the night, but these will follow two weeks of screaming campaigners, gnashing of teeth, barbed words and stabbed backs. Back in my day, we used to call the SU Elections ‘Trinity’s finest bloodsport’.

Once the campaign gets going, I hope voters will understand why.

An insider’s guide to losing the elections I was busy at work browsing Facebook when a sweaty, long-haired man calling himself ‘Conor Smith’ bustled towards me. He garbled something about writing an article for a paper about an election, while brandishing a rolled-up newspaper in my face in an overtly-threatening manner. Just as I was about to scream for help, he departed, as swiftly as he had arrived.

Upon reflection I realize that this man was probably the Conor who lives in the room next to mine, and that he was asking me to write an article for The University Times, about the Trinity SU elections. If this is actually printed in the Albuquerque Council Election Gazette, I apologize for its content. If this is indeed published in The University Times, I apologize for its content.

I wrote an article entitled ‘An Insider’s Guide to winning the Elections’ two years ago for the Times’ predecessor, The Record, which met with presumably widespread acclaim. Indeed, one of my friends went so far as to tell me to my

face that he had immensely enjoyed the article, though he did go on to lose an election last year.

I was tempted to resubmit said article before my conscience, and an inability to find it on my computer, convinced me otherwise.

So, I’ve decided to take a different tack, and essentially write the opposite article – ‘An Insider’s Guide to Losing the Elections’. One Thursday three long years ago I made my way to the Earl of Kildare hotel, for the elections result night. As a candidate for the position of Welfare Officer, my next year, my life, my legacy, had the potential to drastically change in a few hours’ time. I was quietly confident – I’d managed to vote for myself twice, and knew that my rivals, assuming that they weren’t as good at voting as me, would only have voted for themselves once, which gave me a 100% lead. I was also confident of getting a few extra looks-based votes – I’d give myself a solid 7 out of 10 for looks (7.5 if I’ve had a few; 8 at a push if I’ve been Viagra-ed, and I’m in a

Information Editor Robert Donohoe Contributors Marykate Collins, Robert Donohoe, Orlaith Foley, Robert Kearns, Emma Keaveney, Dáire McNab, Barry Murphy, Cathal Reilly, Conor Smith, Hugh Sullivan, Claire Tighe

Photographs David O’Dwyer, Robert Donohoe, Martin McKenna Special thanks to Eoin Maher, Gearóid O’Rourke

A look back over campaign materials from the last few years clearly shows the massive improvements. Robert Kearns’ poster was used in 2006, Conor Smith’s manifesto in 2008 and Rob Donohoe’s professionally designed newspaper-style manifesto was used last year.

by Dáire McNab, one-time Welfare candidate

particularly good mood) and expected to pick up some of the ‘this one’s attractive, I’ll vote for him’ votes.

Against that, I was conscious that one of my rivals was a whole point better looking, and I had recently received the shattering news that the girl who I was at that time seeing, while I had sex with her, had only given me her third preference vote. Plus, my hustings hadn’t gone to plan (I almost came to blows with a girl at one, and at another a fake blood-filled condom which was concealed under my shirt failed to implode as planned, leading to considerable embarrassment), and at the previous nights’ Slave Auction I had accidentally tucked my penis between my legs before exposing it (for charity I hasten to add), which led to me sporting what could only be described as a ‘mangina’. No one wants to vote for a man with a fanny who has unimploded condoms hidden down his shirt.

I was on edge – would Lady Luck shine on me that crisp February night?

As it turned out, no, she wouldn’t. Not only had my soon-to-be-girlfriend not voted for me, most of my friends hadn’t either. I ended up being narrowly pipped to fourth place by RON, or ‘Re-Open Nominations’, who isn’t even a real person, and I got less than a tenth of the votes the winner got. My night reached its nadir when, as I was standing on a chair watching the Welfare votes being sorted into piles for each of the candidates, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to win. As I digested this bombshell, the girl standing beside me turned and enquired whether I was wearing mascara.

This is a fairly common occurrence for me- I

happen to be blessed with particularly full-bodied, luscious eyelashes, and am frequently accused of wearing mascara. However, this would have to be the one occasion where I actually was wearing mascara, which was applied (as a joke) by a female friend earlier in the day. I felt humiliated, and quickly left before the girl beside me

“

I was quietly confident – I’d managed to vote for myself twice.

noticed that I was also sporting blusher.

So, to all this year’s candidates – if you do end up losing, at least console yourself with the fact that you haven’t lost wearing make-up (unless you’re wearing some for the laugh, or you’re a tranny, or you’re a girl). If you have lost wearing make-up, at least you didn’t lose with several people thinking you have a fanny (unless you’re a proper tranny, or a girl). If you have lost with people thinking you have a fanny, at least you haven’t lost with an unexploded bit of rubber up your top (unless you’re a girl). And, if you are a girl and you’ve lost, and you’re at least a 7 out of 10 – a man named Conor Smith would very much like to meet you.

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The University Times | Tuesday, February 9th

TIMESELECTIONS

Ents Officer

The coveted Ents Office is being fought over this year by three candidates. Both Florea and Genockey have served under various Ents Officers and say that they have the experience, while self-described satirical candidate O’Toole

Keith Florea JS Bess KEITH FLOREA is a 3rd year Bess student. He has been a club promoter for nearly two years and has also been working with Ents during that time.

Florea is running for Ents as he thinks he can make a difference and give students what they want. He feels students want more variety and more say rather than just being offered one particular night out, they should have options.

Florea is interested in looking into offering a better variety of music events, so that all students’ tastes are catered for. He plans to set up online polls to find out what

the students want. If elected he wants to unite the current Ents website with society websites, so that students can just go to one website to see what is happening.

Florea first started off as a DJ four years ago and then started working as a promoter. He sees being Ents Officer as a natural progression. He does not see being a DJ as a hindrance but rather as a bonus as he is familiar with so many of the student nights out. However he intends to drop everything else he is doing if elected so as to concentrate on entertaining the students of Trinity. With reference to being the underdog,

Darragh Genockey JS Bess

My time as Ents Officer

Barry Murphy It’s kind of difficult when you’re asked a few years later to write an article about being an Ents Officer or your time as Ents Officer. Once you’ve gotten older and have left college it can be a challenge to remember accurately how you felt about it at the time. It kind of becomes blurred and tainted by how you feel about it now. We all look back on photos of ourselves when we were younger or hear stories about what we did and cringe at the memory of our younger selves.

Having said all that, it is not to say that I didn’t enjoy my time as Ents Officer or that I regret it in any way. The only thing I regret is the level of importance I seemed to attach to the job and to myself for doing it. It is the arrogance of youth that I cringe at when I recall how self important I was. It is the levels of unnecessary stress that I put myself under that I would change. Because really more than half the college don’t care what you are doing or what the events are. More than half of the other half are happy to go to the same cheap drink nights out as the year before and the remainder will be pleased enough if you put on a decent ball and throw in the odd curve ball like Howard Marks (well done Mick!) or The Presets or something. It really isn’t rocket science!

The hardest part is just realising that and enjoying it as much as humanly possible. It is the best opportunity you’ll ever have to completely lose the run of yourself for an entire year and get paid to do it! You can put on events you’ve always wanted and with the budget that is there these days you can basically do what you want. I wish whoever wins the best of luck and hope they do plenty of things they should regret - I hope they drink, smoke, and whatever else too much, sleep with an unacceptable amount of women, don’t go to the gym or get enough hours kip, eat greasy food and just have an unbelievably good time. Not many people get the opportunity to do what whoever wins is about to so they should take full advantage of it. Just remember not to think any of it is too important.

DARRAGH GENOCKEY is a 3rd year Bess student from Tallaght. He started getting involved in promotional work whilst still at school and has continued with this during his time in college.

In his 1st year he was asked to manage the band ‘Killer Chloe’, who played at Trinity Ball and the Fringe Festival.

He is currently the Social Secretary of both Dublin University Business and Economic Society (Dubes) and the Cancer Society. This year he has played a very active role in the Ents crew under current Ents Officer Mick Birmingham, to whom Genockey was campaign manager last year.

When asked why he was running for Ents this year, he replied that he ‘feels I would do the best job and would thoroughly enjoy being able to take a year off to concentrate on entertainment for Trinity students’.

If elected he plans to make Ents more accessible to all by working closely with both societies and class reps, something which he feels may have been lacking in previous years; “Ents is for everyone; all the societies, all the sports clubs and all Trinity students.”

This year the competition has been taken a step further, with all three candidates cur-

Conor O’Toole SF Engineering CONOR O’TOOLE is an 18 year old 2nd year Engineering student. He likes mountains and his room is green and blue.

O’Toole is running for Ents this year as he feels it needs to be shaken up. According to him people have fallen into a perception of what they think Ents should be. He wants to show the human side of Ents.

He cares more about being entertained rather than losing massive amounts of money.

If elected he plans to make Freshers’ Week really, really fun and sleep with as many 1st years as possible. He does however want to be as effi-

cient as possible, with a booking system in place, so that everyone can have a turn.

He is also interested in free entertainment and will try his best to fund as much of the alcohol as possible so that students don’t have to. When asked as to why the average Trinity student should vote for him, he replied; “because I am the average Trinity student. I would vote for me.”

O’Toole was disappointed this year with current Ents Officer Mick Birmingham as he has yet to see a barbecue at the Pav. O’Toole feels Ents needs more events, more entertaining things, yet one thing it

has stepped up to challenge them.

The students’ decision in this race will dictate where we’ll be partying next year, what kind of events we’ll have in the Pav and who will be in charge of Trinity Ball 2011.

Florea does not see a problem with this and does indeed view himself on a level playing field with the other candidates. He is however different to the other candidates as his nights out “offer more variety”. Florea however declined to say as to whether or not this would help him out in the elections.

His ideal Trinity Ball Act would be ‘The Killers’, ‘Muse’ or ‘The Prodigy’. Florea is happy with how Mick has done this year, yet wishes he had added more variety to the music events. However all in all feels that he has done a very professional job. When asked what he has that the other two candidates do not, Florea replied that although he is great friends with both of them, Florea feels that he can do a better job. “The elec-

tions are fun, there will of course be competition, but it will be friendly competition.” In reference to how the elections are so big in Trinity, Florea stated that it was great; “Compared to other colleges, the elections are much more fun here in Trinity.”

rently promoters, yet Genockey feels that he has more experience than the competition. He wants to take Ents outside of House 6, even looking into organising intervarsity events, which would leave greater scope to book bigger acts without having to worry about the cost. He has already been in contact with other university Ents officers and says that he would love to work alongside them if he got the opportunity.

Genockey feels that Birmingham has done a great job so far this year, creating a new style of Ents, such as getting Howard Marks as a guest speaker. Yet he is aware that much more can be done. He is excited about the elections, and eager to start, despite being aware that it will be a tough two weeks; “Some peo-

ple might not agree with what I’ve done or what I intend to do if elected, but that’s what the elections are all about, putting yourself out there to be judged. Hopefully in the end I’ll be elected, I’m looking forward to the two weeks either way.”

definitely needs is more tea; “There is no proper tea facility in this college. One of the best universities in the world yet appalling tea facilities.

Students should have a place to relax with a cup of tea for seven, eight hours at a time.”

When informed that we had the Buttery for this O’Toole stated that “I don’t think it’s working out as a bar.”

In terms of his ideal Trinity Ball act, regardless of money or logistics, O’Toole replied that “money and logistics are no issue.” Ideally he would love to have the Pixies play.

Currently O’Toole is excited about Andrew Maxwell playing on Monday, yet he is also excited about the start of elections.

It is the first time a comedy promoter has ran for Ents, yet

O’Toole prefers to be known as a ‘comedy informer’ as comedy promotes itself. If elected, he plans to increase informing and decrease promotion as he feels this would be a “good idea.” According to O’Toole this “is the way forward.”

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Tuesday, February 9th | The University Times

TIMESELECTIONS

President The presidential race is always one that attracts the most attention.

The Students’ Union Constitution defines the role of the President as the chief campaigning officer. That means that the President is responsible for running the major campaigns on issues such as fees, library, and the long-awaited student centre.

The President’s position is often used a jumping off point for a political career with many former Trinity Students’ Union presidents now holding important jobs in law and politics.

This year we have four candidates competing for the spot which means that we are in for an interesting race.

Fearghal Hughes is a seasoned veteran at sabbatical election campaigns as he was campaign manager to last year’s president Cathal

HAILING FROM Palmerstown, Declan Harmon is a 21 year old JS Bess student who is a self-professed rugby and GAA fan.

A member of Rialto Vincent De Paul and treasurer of Ballyfermot GAA Club, he cites his involvement in community and voluntary groups as the best experience for the role of president.

“I think I have experience in managing money, whether it be as a treasurer of a GAA club, or as a member of a board of directors of a voluntary body that has a turnover of over a million a year. I have experience in positions of responsibility within organisations that are handling large volumes of money. Because I have that experience, I think I can deliver on the issues I’m putting forward in the campaign.”

These issues include better access to jobs and internships for all students and results on the library campaign. Harmon’s main policy, however, is that of ensuring greater accountability and control over how the Union spends its money. “We spend a lot of money on our union, around €400,000. That money doesn’t

Reilly and for the less successful candidate in last year’s election Cathal Horan. After years of planning he has decided to throw his hat into the ring and make a dash for the first floor of No. 6.

Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem is another Union insider vying for the job. Currently the Assistant Campaigns Officer of the Union, he plans to take the position of chief campaigning officer next year.

Declan Harmon came out of the woodwork just before the nominations were due in. While not being well known in No. 6 he has been involved in numerous other activities, both in and out of college.

Dan Reilly is running as a self-proclaimed joke candidate. He claims to have the backing of the Trinity Intellectual Traditionist Society, an organisation with an interesting initialism.

Declan Harmon

Dan Reilly

JS Bess

SF History and Political Science

just fall from the sky. It comes from us, it comes from the students. I don’t think we’re getting as much out of it as we could be. I think that the Union could be much more effective and I think I could make it more effective. That’s why I’m running.”

Harmon went on to outline the ways he intends to make this come about. “I would publish the income and expenditure of the union each month on the union website.

I would publish my salary and expenses, as president, online. I would ensure that finance is discussed at every SU Council and SU Exec, which does not happen at the moment. The people who are in charge of the Union have to be held accountable.” Harmon claims that this would give class reps “an element of control over where that money is going.”

Trinity SU’s membership of USI is also under scrutiny in Harmon’s plan. He cites figures from 2007/2008 (the last year that figures are available for) and goes on to say “we spent just under €70,000 on membership of USI. I don’t think we’re getting much out of that. USI is meant to be our lobbying arm at a national level. It doesn’t seem to me to be doing much except operating as an employment agency for aspiring politicians.”

If elected, Harmon says he would make moves towards disaffiliating from USI.

Another primary policy for Harmon is increasing awareness of potential jobs and internships for Trinity students.

Claiming that the worsening job market is “the biggest challenge we all face,” he believes that the Union should be informing students of internships in all areas of study, not just business and science.

“The Union could and should be doing more to help students prepare themselves for going out into the workplace”’ he says.

Harmon thinks that current SU President Cónán has done a good job, particularly with regard to revitalising sports clubs within the college.

However, he thinks that the library campaign was a possible weak point, saying “The library campaign was a good campaign. It was well run. But I don’t think we’ve gotten results from it. That’s not necessarily Conan’s fault.

It’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. But if I were to be elected, that is something I would keep up the pressure on.”

When asked to comment on his status as a relative unknown within the Union, Harmon is quick to dispel those who would paint him as an outsider. “I’m a member of the Union, like every student here.” Instead, he says, we need to ask ourselves why the vast majority of students in the college decide not to become involved in the SU.

DAN REILLY is a Senior Freshman History and Political Science student. He is running as a self-professed joke candidate. His views centre on the policy of bringing Trinity back to its 1800 roots and to restore the level of Trinity pretentiousness to the College. An important part of this is the policy is introducing an authoritarian regime and to rule with an iron fist.

He believes that Trinity needs to introduce a monarchy style system for running the College. Commenting on the presidency of Cónán Ó Broin, Reilly says that he will send Ó Broin to Kilmainham Gaol for introducing GAA

goal posts to Trinity because he says that it is in direct opposition to his policy of an Anglo Athletics Association which would provide funding for the mother land sports like cricket and rugby.

He also thinks that Ó Broin is involved in a conspiracy to make Trinity more like UCD. The introduction of semesters is shameful and it lowers Trinity to UCD’s level. Any plan to fly the Irish Tricolour above the front gate of Trinity is strongly opposed by Reilly.

He would rather see the flag of St Patrick or maybe a harp with a crown on it.

Reilly is the only candidate that is promising to make security a central theme of the campaign. If elected he says he will introduce a new security force to replace the Trinity security which he will call the Royal University Constabulary (RUC). They would have full powers of arrest and

search which he hopes will crack down on messing in college.

He thinks that people will vote for him because most students are cynical like him and will not want to see another careerist get elected. He will abolish all future elections and appoint himself leader for life.

He is running as part of a political party called the Trinity Intellectual Traditionalist Society which espouses the principles of Stalinism and Toryism. It is unclear who the other members of the party are or if there are any at all.

With policies similar to Dave Preston, who is running in the Education Officer race, Reilly was asked if they were running on a ticket but he told The University Times that this was not the case but that they were arranging a meeting to discuss a number of issues.

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The University Times | Tuesday, February 9th

TIMESELECTIONS My time as President

Cathal Reilly Being President of the Students’ Union is a very tough task. In my year I had no idea what was in store and I am sure none of us could have predicted what challenges were to present themselves. The surfacing of fees campaign took up a lot of time as a major issue of importance to the majority of students and we knew that it could be make or break for the Union.

The President has a lot of work to do, a great deal of which is based around committee work - sitting on various college committee including Board - Trinity’s highest decision making body. Our job on these committees is to represent the students’ interests and to tell the college what you want aiming to ensure they acts in the best interests of the students.

Another major role in my job as President was as the Union’s chief campaigning officer.

Given the nature of the fees campaign, a lot of media attention was needed to aid our cause.

Luckily the Irish press always seemed to be willing to lend a hand, with plenty of articles and photographs being published in national and local media.

FEARGHAL HUGHES is a twenty-three year old from Drogheda, County Louth. He is in Senior Sopistor Environmental Science student.

Hughes is a Students’ Union insider having been actively involved in Union politics for four years in Trinity. The last two years he has spent as Engineering, Mathematics, and Science (EMS) Faculty Convenor which means he represents all the students in that faculty.

Hughes also has been involved in societies including the Cancer society. He is proud of the charity work that he has done especially helping to establish the EMS day last year. Hughes has a long list of experience be it organizing the Science Ball for the past few years, writing for the sports section of The University Times, and playing rugby with the College team.

Speaking on his motivation to run for the position of president of the Students’ Union, Hughes’ view is that the Union “did some things right and some things wrong” over the last few years and he wants to try to continue with the successes and to improve what he regards as being done

Of course, running campaigns can be very difficult without campaigners to lend a hand.

We were very lucky last year to have record numbers of wonderful class reps and other students to give us the man power needed.

Campaigning for what our students need and want was always our top priority, but another key issue I dealt with last year was the visibility and approachability of the Students’ Union. In increasing these, the number of students using our services, such as the welfare loan system, increased dramatically. I feel that these individual services for our students are just as an important part of what the Students’ Union does as national campaigns.

The most important thing an SU President can do is to be out there, to be known and to be approachable. To represent effectively you need to relate to those you represent. You need to remain a student. This is much more difficult than it sounds but is the best advice I could give to anyone in the position.

And always keep in mind, the three tools needed for anything you do are: hard work, common sense and stick-to-it-iveness!

Fearghal Hughes

Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem

SS Environmental Science

JS Engineering with Management

wrong.

Hughes has a couple of core issues that he is focusing on during the race. His first policy is based on the library, in particular the opening hours. He is determined to have the library open on Sundays and he says that Trinity has the worst library opening hours in the country and is very critical of the College for allowing this. He says that the moratorium of hiring staff has caused a huge number of problems for the library and

Trigoub-Rotnem is keen to stress that political lobbying is the way forward for Trinity SU. “The Union can no longer go back to thinking inside Trinity college.

Those days are over. We need to think outside the box. We need to think down the street, at the Dáil. The big decisions on grants, on fees, the big decisions are all made there.

It’s important to work inside Trinity college but we need to think outside of Trinity as well.” Pointing out the political lobbying done by this

“

Hughes’ view is that the Union “did some things right and some things wrong.” he wants to find a solution to this by finding money that can be saved in other areas of the College.

His second issue regards student grants and what he says is the need for reform of the system. He regards the current grants system as outdated and in need of root and branch reform.

The Student Support Bill which is held up before the

Oireachtas contains comprehensive changes to the system; Hughes intends to lobby Senators and TDs to enact the legislation as soon as possible.

Asked about incumbent Cónán Ó Broin, Hughes said that he is “doing a great job.”

Hughes complimented the fees campaign and said that the President has to engage in national politics too in order to affect College decisions.

The student service charge is now on the agenda because serious issues have recently been uncovered regarding the spending of the money paid by students.

Hughes says that people should vote for him because he has experience dealing with the College because as Faculty Convenor he sits on University Council which is the highest academic committee in College.

It is where most of the major decisions that affect your education are made. He says that he has already built up a relationship with the College officials and that this will make his transition easier if he gets elected.

Finally, Hughes has been involved in two presidential races in the past two years as a campaign manager for last year’s president Cathal Reilly and for unsuccessful candidate Cathal Horan. Hughes says that this has given him a unique insight into the operations of the elections.

THIRD YEAR Engineering with Management student Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem believes that he can bring experience from all realms of college life to the role of president. He says he has “done the college thing” and points to his participation in the judo, snow sports and surf clubs as well as his work within the Union as the former Chair of Council and as the current Assistant Campaigns officer.

His interest in the campaigns aspect of the presidency role is obvious and he praises the work of this year’s team. “This year I think the Union has really taken a step up. Now the question isn’t ‘can we get microwaves in the Hamilton or couches in the Arts block.’

The question now is ‘Can we beat fees? Can we improve the grants system? Can we work on a national level?’ I think that’s amazing and it really gives students belief in the Union, belief that the Union doesn’t just sit on committees and moan. Students are saying ‘Wait a second, the Union actually does do something for me.’ I want to make sure the Union stays at that level and that we keep the bar high.”

“

“Students want visibility” years President Cónán Ó Broin, Trigoub-Rotnem says that “it would be a shame to see the Union take a step back from that level. We’ve done so much good work for ourselves in the Dáil with TDs and with the media. If we leave that behind now we’re really going to damage our reputation.” No doubt Trigoub-Rotnem would use this political lobbying to fight grant cuts and the proposed increase in the registration fee, both of which are his key policies for his year as President.

If elected, he also aims to

increase the Union’s visibility and relevance on campus.

“Students want visibility”, he says. “They want to see that the Union is working. They want to see that the Union is doing something for them.”

He thinks that the perception of the Union as a big clique needs to be changed by running big campaigns, “like the library campaign, for example. I want to make sure that students see the campaigns.

I want students to know that we’re doing this work.”

With regard to the library campaign, Trigoub-Rotnem underlined the importance of direct action on the part of the students. “I think there’s a general wave of ‘we need to do something’ – there is a recession going on at the moment. We need to get value for money in everything we do because otherwise we’re not going to get out of this...

Students are demanding more and direct action is necessary.” He goes on to say that if elected as president he will campaign for the introduction of automated book lending and automated access to the library which would allow the library to open for longer hours without requiring extra staff.

As well as this, TrigoubRotnem plans on working alongside sports clubs to ensure that they are properly consulted on matters of planning and funding in the sports centre.

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Tuesday, February 9th | The University Times

TIMESELECTIONS

Welfare Officer The job of Students’ Union Welfare Officer is often summed up with two words: condom dispenser. Of course, there is a lot more to the job than that and this year’s two candidates are more than aware. Current Welfare Officer Cormac Cashman is aiming to retain his position, while Steph Fleming is stepping up to be his successor.

My time as Welfare Officer

Orlaith Foley Running for elections is a pretty daunting experience. You are very much out there on your own and open to any amount of criticism.

That said I thoroughly enjoyed my campaign experience. It involved being in on campus at 8am every morning and staying around until usually around 8pm every night – pretty hectic. Though you’re under stress I advise all the candidates to soak it all up and try to enjoy it as much as you can.

As far as the job is concerned, Welfare is a tough one because people tend not to know what you do. Most of what I did as Welfare Officer was all behind the scenes work. It is a job that concerns all non-academic issues that come against students so as such it is very private work you are involved in.

A good welfare officer, from my experience, should be someone who genuinely cares, who is strong enough to support others and someone who is not shy. After all both Education and Welfare officers spend the majority of time listening and talking to students.

Cormac Cashman Incumbent CORMAC CASHMAN is currently the Union’s Welfare Officer and is running for the position once again. On the subject of his re-running Cashman says that “the biggest failure of our Students’ Union is every year there’s a lack of continuity” noting that big projects and casework can fall behind because of this.

Among Cashman’s plans for next year are to address the problem with Ireland’s grants system, which he describes as a “hugely failing monster.” Cashman believes his experience dealing with

various grant awarding bodies this year will be crucial when the government looks

Steph Fleming SS Physiotherapy STEPH FLEMING is a 4th year Physiotherapy student, originally from County Cork, who says that her reasons for running for the position of Welfare Officer are simple: she’s passionate about Welfare services and thinks that she would be good at the job.

“Studying physiotherapy, I’ve been in some pretty intense work environments, intensive care units, The National Rehab centre. I’ve treated patients who have gone through the toughest times of their lives. I will work hard to help people. I’m very passionate

about it.”

If elected, the first thing she wants to do is to make the

Communications Officer JS Bess

TOM LOWE is the first person ever to run for Communication Officer as the job was only changed to its current incarnation from Deputy President after the elections last year. Lowe is twenty-one and from Shankill in Dublin.

Lowe has worked for Trinity News for the last two years helping them make their

Welfare services “as accessible as possible”. She points out that some students have very long days in college and thinks that the Welfare office should have evening hours at least one day a week to accommodate this. Fleming wants to bring increased accessibility to off-campus sites also. “There’s hundreds of students based elsewhere. I want to make sure that Welfare services get to these sites too.”

Fleming also sees increased LGBT awareness as a priority. “I want Rainbow Week to also reach out to people who don’t necessarily see themselves as LGBT. LGBT has expanded to LGBTQ - Q being questioning, as

in you’re not really sure who you are yet. You find yourself in college – it might be a cliché but it’s also true. If you’re coming out as gay, lesbian or bi, college is a place where you find the opportunity to do that.”

Fleming speaks passionately about her belief in the importance of the Welfare position. “It takes a lot of courage to seek help. I think there is a feeling in Ireland that seeking help is a sign of weakness, that people should be able to stand up for themselves. But I want to ensure that people feel secure and happy and confident – if they’re having problems, make sure they know that they’re not dealing with it on their own.”

Claire Tighe

Tom Lowe paper has established.

Lowe has been at the head of a campaign called Save Freedom of Speech in Trinity which was opposing some wording on the Senior Dean’s powers to seize publications in college that was included in a draft terms of reference for the Capitations Committee. “I was mandated by the Trinity Publications Committee about three weeks ago to go out there and do it” says Lowe.

Lowe puts a lot of importance on hearing from students and listening to what they have to say. “Communication is a two way system” says Lowe and he believes

ests” with regard to his own promotion of gay club night Prhomo in Basebar. Cashman talked about the advantages of his promotion work, including a number of charity nights he’s run this year and how it has taught him how to make people aware.

When asked why students should vote for him and not his opponent Cashman wouldn’t comment on his opponent, but instead pointed out that he has the experience of doing the job for the last year. Finally Cashman was asked how he would feel if he lost this election after his victory last year. He said that he’d get back to finishing his degree, but also that he “would be gutted.”

My time as Communications Officer

One of the main jobs of the Students’ Union Communications Officer is to ensure the production of The University Times, along with the duties of overseeing SU communications and publicity. This year there is only one man who wants to take over from Rob Donohoe’s editorship, Tom Lowe.

newspaper, he says this has given him an impetus to want to run his own newspaper and he thinks that he can do some good work as editor of The University Times.

The Communication Officer has the responsibility for the production of The University Times and Lowe says that as editor he intends to improve on the work done this year with the paper. He says that “there were great strides made over the last year in the paper” but he says that it takes more than a year for a paper to reach the top quality.

Lowe is clear that he is keen to maintain the principle of editorial independence that this

to reassess the grant system next year.

When asked how he felt about his job so far this year, Cashman said, “I’ve achieved a lot of things I wanted to do.”

Among his successes he mentions the Accommodation Advisory Service run by the Union and a service he’s run in Trinity Hall going door-todoor to chat to first year students. Cashman believes it is important to reach first year students as soon as possible so that they know there’s help for them as they go through college.

When asked about the trend of nightclub promoters running recently Cashman responded by saying “I don’t think there’s a clash of inter-

that class representatives can sometimes be voting on their own view rather than representing that of their classes’.

He wants to provide an online feedback system so students can make their views known.

When asked how he thought the incumbent Robert Donohoe was doing as Communications Officer, Lowe said “he has done well.”

Modernising the communication systems in the Union is something that Lowe feels could have been done better by Donohoe. But Lowe is confident that he can achieve some of the things that he says Donohoe has not managed to do.

Communication is a fundamental aspect of the Students’ Union’s work, and it will make or break the success of an SU team in the eyes of the student body.

The SU works hard to deliver the best representation and services it can for students, but unless students are aware of such efforts, a sense of distance and a political cynicism can easily emerge. As such, the role of Communications Officer is a huge responsibility.

This position entails a commitment to long hours of design and production, constant brainstorming of creative new campaign ideas, and the enhancement and development of existing means of communication.

Along with the multitude of creative duties, you are also an elected representative, there to be of assistance and support students at all times.

Newspaper production, campaign design, website management are all manageable. It is the juggling of all these things with the busy schedule of being an elected representative that can make the job so challenging. Regular meetings, councils and campaigns and events mean that you have to work hard to stay on top of everything.

Providing advice and assistance, hearing and acting on students’ concerns, advising on college procedures, dealing with queries and problems, putting students in the right direction and being constantly available are all important aspects of the job.

At the end of the day the SU is the union of the students – there to make college life easier and better for every student. Above all, you have to really care about and believe in what you’re doing. It is a huge undertaking. You have to possess a genuine desire to do the job well, and serve students as best you can.

7

The University Times | Tuesday, February 9th

TIMESELECTIONS

Education Officer

This year’s race for Education Officer originally looked set to be uncontested, with Jen Fox as the only one stepping forward.

That was until last year’s joke candidate for President, Dave Preston, decided to take a shot at looking after Trinity’s students’ education. How will Fox fare against Preston’s latest humorous effort?

Dave Preston

Jen Fox

SS Philosophy and Classical Civilisation

SS Genetics

CONTRARY TO the above Dave Preston claims to be a Senior Sophister Protestant Studies student, with a minor in Catholic repression.

Preston says he is running because while Trinity was once the bastion of Protestantism in Ireland, this has fallen by the wayside. He worries that we are now too much like Maynooth or UCD and says he will bring the protestant back to Trinity. To achieve this GAA will be banned and replaced with rugby, croquet,

fowling and cock fighting.

Preston’s main policy is “Yes to fees, pay your way.” He says that we are a rich, strong, protestant university and we don’t need government handouts like the Catholics in UCD. Other policies include longer lectures, harder essays, more exams, less comfortable seats and uglier lecturers.

Among the things Preston plans to abolish when elected (“not if”) are Sociology, “because nobody needs a degree in CSPE,” and Engineering, “because that’s building, which is Paddies’ work.” Bringing back a promise made last year in his bid for President, he will “stop knackers coming through Trinity to use the Dart.”

When asked about how he thinks current Education Officer Ashley Cooke has fared this year, Preston responded that Cooke has sucked up to the nanny state too much.

Preston plans to fire the entire library staff when elected, replacing them with immigrants who will do twice the

work for half the pay.

Preston plans on “ruling with an iron fist in a glove made of cuddles.” Students looking for help with essays will be sent to the boiler room.

On the topic of his failed presidential bid last year Preston insists that he was, “hoisted out by this puppet Union.” He claims that they couldn’t handle him and that the election of Cónán Ó Broin was, “a Bush election.”

Preston asserts that he has a strong backbone and a stiff upper lip and doesn’t care what the average students wants in an Education Officer, but feels they should vote for him and listen to their betters. He said he is more than confident in his victory.

JEN FOX is a 4th year Genetics student from Bray. She says that she has gotten very involved in the Union in the last couple of years. When asked why she is running for Education Officer she said that she’s been working closely with current Education Officer Ashley Cooke this year and that she sees “how tough the job is and I still want to do it.”

Among her many policies are building on the work done recently with the library, printing in college and academic online presence. She feels that college’s current online systems are woeful for students, with the widelyused WebCT being outdated.

She wants to get the college to modernise their virtual

learning environments.

Another policy of hers regards the Union bookshop and textbooks in general. She plans to get the bookshop’s stock on the Union website and to have more interaction with Science and Health Science students. She also has plans for a “buy and sell” service for books on the website.

When asked about how Ashley has done this year she said he’s done a great job and has made a fair whack at his promises, with the 24 hour study space open and the grinds service online.

When asked about her plans to make the Union more approachable she talked about plans to hold informal meetings with the five Union officers every few weeks in various locations outside House 6.

Fox felt that this year’s library sit-in was necessary, saying, “there are certain situations where such aggressive action is an option or is required.” She had some

reservations about the haste with which the library campaign was put together, but knows the time constraints the Union was under.

Running against a sole ‘joke’ candidate Fox said that she hates the assumption that she has the election won. “It’s the wrong frame of mind to be in.”

As for why students should vote for her Fox promises that she hasn’t said anything she doesn’t mean and will do what she says she’ll do.

My time running for Education Officer

Hugh Sullivan When I look back at the pictures of myself during the elections in 2008 I notice that I have a manic grin on my face in nearly every photo. I think I was convinced that if I didn’t smile the whole time and seem like I was enjoying myself people would think I couldn’t handle the pressure or my opponent would think they were getting to me or something. In reality people probably just thought I was mental. That’s just symptomatic of the insanity and paranoia that results from the psychological warfare and exhaustion of running for election.

It’s unsurprising that people go a bit clownish during those two weeks as Trinity’s elec-

tions are a bit of a circus. The colour and quantity of t-shirts is more important than the ability to coherently describe on an A4 page what you would do if elected and election gimmicks have supplanted policies. I must admit I was just as guilty of the above as everyone else: I had a massive overdraft, a massive moustache and my mom campaigning in the arts block for me (I’m convinced she won me at least 150 votes).

If I could change how the elections were run then, I would have relaxed the rules on campaigning a lot and make the financial rules a lot stricter.

It’s ludicrous that you’re allowed spend something like €600, but you can’t use your social advantages to campaign. You can buy

150 t-shirts, but you can’t be endorsed by a club or society. To me that’s a bit mercenary.

Most of the 10 days of that election campaign have blurred into a single generic day in my memory: Up at 7.30, throw on the least smelly t-shirt available. Wake up campaign manager and other candidate sleeping on my floor.

Inhale some Weetabix, throw some manifestos and flyers into a bag, jog over to Zumo for a smoothie with guarana and back onto campus in time for a 9am lecture in the east end.

Scour the social spaces in college looking for students to annoy, return to one of the main teaching centres at 5 to every hour to squeeze in as many lecture addresses as possible.

Power nap, quick sanger and out to whatever night was on to pretend to get drunk and lobby people to get their mates to vote for me. Home by 1. Repeat.

It was definitely worth it for me come countnight, but like most candidates I realised eventually that being a sabbatical officer is nothing like I thought it was going to be. A quick flick back through manifestos over the past four or five years will tell you this. How many on-campus off-licenses are TCD students owed? How much time should sabbats have spent running clinics in the Hamilton and D’Olier Street? The simple fact is that when elected, people realise that there’s an organisation to run with severe consequences for buggering it up and rules in which it has to operate.