COLLEGE TRIBUNE Volume XXVI 25th September 2012
Issue 2 Independent Student Media Since 1989
CHRISTOPHER AHERNE INVESTIGATES THE IMPACT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NANOTECHNOLOGy
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INSIDE
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Beijing-Dublin venture leaves questions unanswered James Grannell Editor
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he Chinese government has, this month, given approval to UCD’s International College in Beijing. The venture, which is being undertaken by UCD and Beijing University of Technology (BJUT), follows a proposal by UCD first mooted after the twinning of Dublin and Beijing in July 2011. A spokesperson for UCD described the Beijing-Dublin International College as “an academic partnership designed to advance education.” They went on to state that, “The agreement between UCD and BJUT (Beijing University of Technology) is a result of a long and complex process requiring multiple stages of agreement and approval on both sides. Ultimately, the Beijing-Dublin International College will promote and encourage cultural understanding between Chinese and Irish students and staff, and also contribute to the growing positive relations between the two countries.” While many have welcomed the new project as a means of boosting UCD’s position in an increasingly competitive and globalised market, there are those who express trepidation when it comes to UCD’s links with China, a country that has come under constant criticism over reported human rights abuses. Colm O'Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, has stated that UCD ought to use their influence with the Chinese government to raise the issue of human rights in China. “It's obviously important that we build and maintain relations with a country like China,” stated O’Gorman, “but this is a government that detains thousands of
men and women in prison or under house arrest simply because of their support for human rights.” “China is the world's number one executioner. It is crucial that institutions like University College Dublin use their influence in their contacts with the Chinese government to raise the concerns of many Irish people about China's appalling human rights record. Academics and students in China have gone to prison for speaking out about human rights abuses. UCD should be a voice for them.” Amnesty’s Communications Coordinator, Justin Moran added, “nobody is going to say that UCD need to change Chinese law or policy across the entire country. I think people need to be realistic about what an institution can affect, but they do need to be making those efforts to ensure that, for example, students on this campus – are they going to have the right to free speech, are they going to have the right to protest? If students in this campus want to hold a demonstration against the forced evictions in Beijing what's going to happen, [are] the Chinese security forces going to be allowed into the college? Is UCD going to refuse to allow those protests to take place?” A number of American universities that have established campuses in China have found that they must operate within the unfamiliar boundaries of China’s restricted academic freedom and right to free speech. UCD have not confirmed whether these issues, along with that of restricted Internet access, were addressed at any time during talks with Beijing authorities.
UCD Freshers' week 2012 saw many societies break previous membership records. Picture by Philip Byrne.
Bar workers' union serve strike notice on UCD Peter Hamilton News Reporter
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andate Trade Union, the trade union working on behalf of the UCD Student Bar staff, has served strike notice on UCD. The strike is due to commence on the week following the AGM, which took place on Monday 24th September. In a press release published on Friday 21st September, Mandate Trade Union announced that the staff would be striking based on “the failure to pay outstanding wages and redundancy monies to staff who were let go at the end of August.” Staff of the Student bar were advised in June that the bar could not continue to function in its current vein due to significant estimated losses of €120,000. After the staff were informed of the closure, a Human Resources Representative was appointed to the Student Club committee which runs the Student Bar.
Seán O’ Driscoll of Athrú consultancy was the HR representative given the task of negotiating on behalf of the bar committee. According to Joe Donnelly, the divisional organizer of Mandate Union, “after two meetings the issues were referred to the Labour Relations Commission and a series of meetings there culminated in an agreement being reached on 15th August in relation to redundancy terms for the staff.” Donnelly claims that the staff of the student bar reluctantly accepted the redundancy from 31st August as they were informed that the alternative was the liquidation of the entire operation. In response to the question as to why the bar staff haven’t received their redundancy yet Rachel Breslin, Student Union President and member of the Student Club Committee which runs
the Bar, said “there is no money in the account to pay that.” Breslin was unsure as to how the situation may be resolved but from the information that is before her with regard to the relationship that the committee has with the university, she believes that the money will end up coming from a university bailout. Donnelly maintains that the lack of payment to the workers from the bar is “extremely unfair to the staff concerned who have given many years of good service to UCD Students Bar, some of whom are now experiencing difficulties with mortgage payments.” In terms of the options that are now available for the premises that previously held the bar, Breslin said “there is still a place that is the best Continued on page 5