UCC Express Issue 8

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Wednesday, January 21th 2015 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 8

South African freedom fighter on equal rights Page 10

WHITE CAMPUS: UCC was covered by frost as students returned to the Leeside campus. Image by: Tomas Tyner.

President Murphy dismisses grade inflation Page 16

UCC ‘No’ to USI would affect all Irish members Barry Aldworth News Editor

Should UCC students opt to vote against re-affiliating with the Union of Students in Ireland, the loss will be felt not only by the union but by all of its members, said USI President Laura Harmon as campaigns prepared for next week’s vote. UCC first re-affiliated with the USI in 1999, after spending 16 years acting independent of the union. Currently the cost of affiliation stands at €5 per full-time student and €2.50 per parttime student, with the amount paid by UCC to USI in affiliation fees totalling €85,235 for the 2013/4 academic year.

In addition to affiliation costs, UCC also paid another €21,062.38 last year to cover USI-related expenses on items such as travel and accommodation to National Council meetings, buses, t-shirts for USI campaigns, conference fees for National Congress and officer training events.

On the cost of membership, Harmon added that at less than ten cent per week per student the cost of membership is low, “but when it’s all concentrated in one cause it can achieve a lot.” In return for this cost, members receive a variety of benefits such as representation at meetings of the Higher Education Authority, as well as training for

sabbatical officers and access to events such as Pink Training, an event for LGBT* students and allies.

However, UCCSU Business & Law College Rep Marcus Knuttson argued that what USI offers does not justify the cost of membership, highlighting a particular disappointment among members of the SU about the quality of the training they had received: “I spoke to our Sabbats after this year’s training – some really enjoyed it and some didn’t enjoy it at all – but by all accounts it was underwhelming and not worth the thousands of euro it cost to attend and the time lost by being away from their offices.”

In addition to the financial aspect of the USI, students will have to consider the effectiveness of the organisation in representing UCC and also the value of USI-run events, such as Pink Training. Harmon stated that should UCC opt to leave the national union not only would students “not be able to attend USI training events” but they would also lose the ability to “shape the direction of the national student movement.” She added that the group is prepared to “cut its cloth to suit its measure” by moving on with or without UCC. Contd. on Page 3

Sigerson Cup to start with red-hot derby Page 22

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