Table of Contents.
Survey of Incoming Students 97/98 - This is a Word document. I'm also including a small links section to various pages of other Student Organisations
Introduction
I would very much like to emphasise the fact that any information contained on these pages is absolutely unofficial and 'though I believe it to be accurate, I cannot guarantee it to be so.The incoming SU PRO made a pre-election promise of better public informations services for the DCU-SU. The SU, to be kind, has been a disaster in terms of PR, and as such this is one of the most, if not the most, important area for improvement in the coming year. One of the his ideas was to set up a Student (Union) Website upon which you can now find official info relating to both the SU and the SFC generally. this, if it goes ahead will be a most welcome advance.
My role in the SU is that of Class Rep. My class, and all the others, elect representatives for Union Coucnil, which is the decison making body of the SU. The Exec. are elected by direct sufferage and work in conjunction with Council.
The Union Council meets every two weeks, and as a rep for a computer literate (?) class, I have the advantage of being able to send out email reports of our dealings rather relying on a f2f method. There are several disadvantages in addressing the class in person, for example -
- Half the class won't be at any given lecture.
- Of those that are there, half won't listen / can't hear.
- Of those that are there, and can hear and will listen, only some will be able to remember the specifics of what you said, and few if any will remember complicated figures etc. Emailed reports solve all of these problems, and I'd advise any representative of a computer literate class to use this method.
Reports of Union Council Meetings
The following is a collection of my emailed class rep reports spanning the period from the beginning of the current academic year until the present. I'll try to keep this page up to date.Also, I should just point out ( for fear of pedants ) that the views / facts / opinions expressed below do not in anyway represent offical SU postitions / opinions. Neither do they represent the views of Council or of the Exec. If you want such things go ask the PRO for meeting minutes, or look them up in old issues of An Tarbh, or for minutes of exec. meetings keep annoying the PRO and let me know how you get on :) Finally, I'm not saying that the information below is accurate in any respect, although I think it is.
- 22nd of October, '97
- 4th of November, '97
- 18th of November, '97
- 2nd of December, '97
- 16th of December, '97
- 12th of Feburary, '98
- 17th of Feburary, '98
- 4th of March, '98
- 19th of March, '98
- 31st of March, '98
- 14th of April, '98
- 28th of April, '98
Welfare Loan Scheme
On the 4/11/'97 Union Council voted by 28 : 25 to suspend the Welfare Loan system, which was bleeding funds at an unacceptably high rate. The suspension was to give the Welfare Officer time to try to recover the provisional bad debts, and to come up with proposals for a better regulated Welfare Loans System.
The Welfare Loan Scheme was reopened by vote of Union Council on 19/3/'98 following the presentation of a new set of Welfare Loan Regulations.
The new conditions of operation of the Welfare Loan System are as follows.
General Overview... Welfare Loan System will have a £1,000 cap. Max. £60 ea. per person.
General Details of Application... Person will give details to Welfare Officer/Pres/V. Pres who will fill in the Welfare Loan Application Form.
There will be a 24-hour minimum period before the Cheque can be received.
Upon approval, the student will receive the cheque with a photocopy of the application form.
Additional Points... Student ID required, proof of address.
No security required, no parental consent required.
Details on Application Form to include... Full Name ID Number Address: Current, Permanent, and previous permanent in the case where the permanent is less than 3 years lived. Phone No: Current, Permanent, previous permanent, mobile/pager. Details of Employer (if necessary)
Cheque Number Signature of Applicant Signature of SFC Administrator and one of -Welfare, Pres, V. Pres.
Statement that SU will pursue the debt as far as possible- including legal action as the SU sees fit.
Recovery of Loan... Upon repayment or part repayment, receipt and letter of receipt to be given to the student.
General Recommendations... If the debt is for current expenditure, advice on managing expenditure to be given.
Where possible, the creditors (with the applicants permission) should be contacted with a view to allowing the delaying of payment. This would reduce the loan being taken out.
General Notes... All the above details are at the full discretion of the Welfare, Pres, or V. Pres. in conjunction with the Admin Officer.
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These seem to me to be a decent set of regulations, except for the General Notes section. The idea that the £1,000 'cap' be at the discretion of the Officers is repugnant. Such a clause makes the idea of a 'cap' nothing more than a nice number, to be ignored at whim.
I put this argument, and other supporting points, to Council at the time, but only managed to get a draw, following which my amendments were rejected. But democracy is democracy, and fair's fair.
Nevertheless, the Council voting to give the Officers free reign with our purse is a serious matter, and one which I will expect the candidate(s) in the Welfare Officer by-election to address.
SU Exec. Officers
President : Dave Flynn. Vice-President : Eugene Cunningham. Secretary / PRO : Enda Cahill. Welfare Officer : Máirín Ní Loideáin. Rights Officer : Ciarán Mac Annraoi. Services Officer : Ronan Quirke. Clubs & Socs Officer : Eoin Ó Ceallacháin. Womens Rights Officer : Sara Falvey.
Go To Top Of Page
President : Dave Flynn
Election.
Total Poll 1550 Spoils 48 Total Valid Poll 1502 Colm Donoghue 89 Dave Flynn 1134 Ronan Quirke 279 Dave Flynn elected on the first count.
Election Literature. Dave's election lit. was in the form of a CV detailing his experience etc.
CV of Dave Flynn
Class : Analytical Science - Year 4.
DOB : 19/7/76
SU Experience.
Class rep for 4 years in a row.
Electoral Committee 94-95
Returning Officer of the Union 95-96
Chaired several Union Council Meetings 95-96
Member of the Commission of Arbitration 94-96
Ents Crew 97-98
Clubs and Socs Experience.
Secretary SCC 97
Secretary Hurling Club 95-96
Treasurer Hurling Club 96-97
Chair of SFC for 2 years.
Reasons for running.
I have been heavily involved in SU affairs for the past four years and wouldn't run unless I felt that I had something valuable to contribute.
I think that my time spent in DCU coupled with my involvement in SU affairs makes me an experienced candidate with the ability to get the job done. I am not in the habit of promising things that are either impractical or impossible. I've seen too much of that in the past. All I can promise is that anything that |I put forward in the course of the election will be followed through to the best of my ability.
Exec List
Vice-President : Eugene Cunningham
Election.
Total Poll 1548 Spoils 69 Total Valid Poll 1479 Barry Balfe 479 Eugene Cunningham 1000
Election Literature.
Eugene's campaign was fronted by the slogan...Think BIG, Vote EUGEEducational.
Change lectures on Friday evenings.
Laser printers in CA labs.
Exam no.'s instead of own name on exam papers.
Irish options for language courses.
An Tarbh with Irish articles, and journo's allowed to use AT articles for credit.
Sport
Catch-up tutorials to help those whose studies suffer as a result of representing the college.
Investigation into the problems with new playing pitches.
Entertainment.
Social events outside college.
Can bar during Rag Week.
Music Marquee and other side events.
Bar opening, cheaper beer.
Other.
Camera in Car Park behind new res.
Additional bank machine.
More use of Irish in College Lit and signs.
Use of AT or info sheets to inform the student body of SU activities.
...and many other issues...
A vote for Euge is a chance to make your voice heard.
Exec List
Secretary / PRO : Enda Cahill.
Election.
PRO / Secretary Total Poll 1519 Spoils 89 Total Valid Poll 1430 Enda Cahill 777 Tara Caffrey 653
Election Literature.
Rather than a CV he gave us promises such as...Enda Cahill PRO
What I intend to do if elected...
Advertise all SU events properly.
Meet each individual class in the college at least once a year.
Develop a SU website, and allow interaction.
Create a mailing list of class reps from which they will receive details of Union Council meetings and other SU information. Once your class rep has this information they have no excuse for not letting you know what's happening.
Make the minutes of all the meetings available to the students as soon as possible after the UC meetings..
Try to keep one of the S offices open for as much of the normal working day as possible.
To be available to clubs and societies to help them as much as possible to promote their clubs.
To make a draft agenda for Union Council meetings available 24 hours before the meeting.
To try to develop AT as a means of publicising the SU and the events in the University.
I trust that what I have written here will convince you to vote for me in the elections on Wednesday and Thurdsay. EC
Exec List
Welfare Officer : Máirín Ní Loideáin
Election.
There were no candidates for Welfare Officer at the Exec Elections and so the position was up for grabs again at the subsequent by-election, at which the single candidate was elected unopposed.
On The Hustings.
- She says she's not from an overly wealthy background, and understands Welfare Issues.
- She says she'll be a strong voice.
- She says she's in contact with a lot of students.
- She favours the establishment of a Welfare Committee to help her.
- She says that Welfare Officer should be full-time, and paid position.
- She says she's involved with the SPC, and DBES, and IIRC she was Secretary of DCU-Sinn Fe/in this year.
- She didn't really know how the Welfare Loans Scheme works.
Exec List
Rights Officer : Ciarán Mac Annraoi
Election.
There was just the one candidate for this position, and he was duly elected at the first round of elections.
Total Poll 1529, Spoils 128, Total Valid Poll 1401, Yes 1140, No 261.
On The Hustings.
- Didn't want to talk about issues that he wasn't fully versed on.
- Sees his job as depending on people coming forward.
- Thinks that people don't see 'disability' as an issue.
- Says he's articulate.
- Says that he's a good fighter.
- Contact : You can always mail him.
- Didn't really make any specific promises, but in answer to a question, said that he was interested in increasing the information concerning the right to use postal votes.
Exec List
Services Officer : Ronan Quirke
Election.
In the absence of candidates at the main elections, this position was filled at a subsequent by-election.
On The Hustings.
- He thinks that very few people know of the existence of a SU Services Officer, or who that person might be, or what he is supposed to be doing.
- He wants to work on communication with the Students, and sees the process of informing students about who he is, and what the Services Officer does, as the necessary first step to really getting things done.
- He ran for another position the last time out, and lost.
- He wants to see the car parking facilities improved, and says we have to use our imaginations to come up with ideas, but didn't suggest any himself.
- He wants to see the provision of things like Rolls and Sandwiches as an alternative to the Canteen.
- He wants us to remain in USI.
Exec List
Clubs & Socs Officer : Eoin Ó Ceallacháin
Election.
There had been an indeterminate by-election early last year, following which Eoin was installed by Union Council as a 'temporary' officer, and was subsequently elected unopposed at the Exec elections.
Total Poll 1539, Spoils 153, Total Valid Poll 1368, Yes 1217, No 169
On The Hustings.
- Is pleased with the performance of the Clubs on campus.
- But he's a little more concerned at the state of the Socs.
- Wants to increase the level of participation.
- Is worried about the effects of semesterisation and modularisation.
- Would like to see an increase in the C&S allocation from the capitation.
- Wants to produce a
booklet for committee members of C&S's to help & inform them.
Exec List
WRO : Sara Falvey
Election.
This job is actually theWomens' Officer but everyone seems to call her the WRO but who am I go against the flow.
In any case, there were no contenders at the Exex. Elections, but three contestants stepped forward for the by-elections, and Sara was successful.
On The Hustings.
- I think she's a CS2, can't remember, but it'll say on the ballot paper anyway.
- She wants to educate all students, both male and female about Womens Issues.
- She wants to produce a free booklet, seperate from the SU Handbook, and distribute it to students, possibly via stands in the canteen.
- She wants to work with specialist groups like the Rape Crisis Centre etc.
- She'd like to see an upgrading of the Health Facilities on campus.
- She'd like to improve the discount rape alarms scheme, and work with local community groups and the council on security issues.
- She attended Womens Congress on our behalf, and says she learned a lot.
Exec List