niversity U bserver O
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volume xviii · issue i · www.universityobserver.ie Education Special
Educational Arms Race
Faith no more?
opinion
Security SU guard assaulted on Black Monday ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________ A security guard was assaulted in Belgrove Student Residences by a non-resident as he was being escorted off campus after failing to produce his student card on demand. According to a Residential Assistant (RA) on campus at the time, there was a party taking place in one of the houses which was attended by the non-resident. When he was being led off campus security guards approached him asking for a student identification card. The non-resident refused to produce identification before becoming aggressive and injuring one of the security guards. He was consequently tackled to the ground and restrained. The security guards who appeared on the scene were not due to start their shift in Belgrove until 7pm but nonetheless came to diffuse the situation, though some time had passed before they arrived on the scene. The Gardaí later arrived as the non-resident was being restrained. One security guard allegedly sustained an injury; “a dislocated finger or something, that was the first diagnosis but there was also rumours flying about that he had a broken bone because of the way he landed”. The RA spoke of a cut-back on security which, on most nights of the week, “is not an issue.” “It’s alright, but any night where it’s at all busy, and the two security guards are occupied with someone else, that still leaves you 500 other students that RAs have to deal with.” The source went on to state that “it’s regrettable as you can have a good time but it’s just one student who takes it too far”, and indicated that this will result in security being tightened next Black Monday. “We tend to be slightly relaxed about Black Monday, because it’s the first day and we allow a few par-
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ties, but after that everyone will be expected to cut down – it’ll ruin the fun for everyone.” “There were six of us on duty and we were all occupied, we got the usual: outrageous parties and we had people climbing over every which way to get into the [residence]” is how the RA in question described the pandemonium on Black Monday. A cut-down in security during Orientation Week, which resulted in there being no security guards after 2am, caused a slight disturbance among RAs. “You need someone after two, that’s when most of the instances happen.” This issue has since been rectified with two security guards present per residence from seven o’clock in the evening until two in the morning, and one from two in the morning until five. The assault on the security guard is currently being investigated.
De Brún decribes debt as “not insignificant.” The prospect of taking out a loan “would be on the table”
Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi addresses guests at the Amnesty International ‘Law, State and Religion’ conference in the UCD Student Centre. ________________________________________ Katie Hughes Chief News Writer ________________________________________ UCD Students’ Union President Pat de Brún recently started an investigation into the state of the Union’s accounts following the extended sick leave of SU financial administrator Dave Carmody. Upon investigation of the finances and discovering “not only a backlog but a certain level of debt” de Brún employed an external accounting firm to assess the Union’s financial situation as well as to carry out the role Carmody would usually have performed. The level of the debt is still unknown, but is described by de Brún
as “not insignificant.” The prospect of taking out a loan “would be on the table” and he insists that “if we do need money, there are various ways of getting money.” The investigation is still ongoing but de Brún states that it’s quite evident that “there is some debt there now” and that “we’ve learned enough to realise that the structures and the way we’ve done business in the past haven’t been strong enough and that we need to change them permanently.” In an attempt to rectify the situation, de Brún is attempting to implement “completely new financial systems from the ground up” in all of the SU’s different areas of activity. He considers the upcoming
constitutional review “an excellent opportunity to ensure solid structures and to make the Union better than it’s ever been - it certainly is difficult and it’s a lot of work but it’s a fantastic opportunity for the future.” Despite the Union’s current financial situation, de Brún is determined to “minimise and hopefully avoid completely” cuts to frontline services that will affect students such as welfare and education services. To prevent a similar situation arising again, de Brún is moving towards making a company limited by guarantee with reporting structures and boards of directors under which there will be a legal obligation to produce audited accounts every year. This would have “proper accountability and it would ensure transparency.” In addition, a considerable emphasis is being put on “earning more money – we’ve already brought in a lot of saving in different areas, we’ve worked very hard in gaining sponsorship for both Ents and the likes of Orientation Week and the Freshers‘ Guide, which operated at a profit this year.” He adds that “serious credit has to be paid to the Vice Presidents here, all four of them, because I’ve requested that they act as frugally as possible because we are experiencing financial difficulty and they’ve been very efficient and not wasteful. My hope is that we can make the bulk of any necessary cuts just through efficiencies and I’m confident that we can do that.” “I hope that by agreeing to the interview today, I’m proving that I want to be as transparent as possible with this entire process of sorting out the finances and the whole structural reforms” he concludes. Analysis on page 5
Student-friendly system introduced for re-sit fees ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________ A new system has been introduced for the payment of re-sit and repeat fees. As it stands now, a student who is repeating one exam no longer has to pay the student contribution fee but
solely the €230 re-sit or repeat fee. According to the old system, if a student was coming back for one semester to repeat an exam, they would be required to pay the €230 repeat or re-sit fee as well as the €750 registration fee for one semester. Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan commends the
change, stating that “it’s saving students a lot of money; it’s funny that the government let that happen.” The change of scheme was not a Students’ Union initiative but one that was introduced in the 2011 Budget. Geoghegan continues to explain why the change was introduced;
“It’s probably because it’s now not clearly defined what students are paying for - it used to be the student services fee, and then the government or the HEA would pay for our tuition but now the government are contributing to the overall pot and so are the students. Therefore, it’s unsure what a typical student is pay-
ing for with the €2000, they could be paying for some of his or her tuition but they could also be paying for student services, it’s not clear where the money is going; because of that, I don’t think it was possible for the government to charge a registration fee when the students were only just taking a repeat or re-sit.”