New Student Centre Yes or No

themole

New Student Centre Yes or No

mise

.. its been a few years since i finished up there, but they hadnt long finished the student centre. Surely there's not talk of a new one already

BKtje

not voting..mainly cos i lost my student card and refuse to pay €14 for another peice of plastic.

Blowfish

Not voting because I won't see it anyway, so i'll leave it to those people who might actually live to see it to decide

themole

mise wrote:

.. its been a few years since i finished up there, but they hadnt long finished the student centre. Surely there's not talk of a new one already

its more of an extension.

but its being billed as "new"

hullaballoo

I'm voting no because I think it's ridiculous that people who will be doing finals next year should have to pay for something they'll never get to use.

In fact, and this is slightly off topic, next year, I'm not going to pay my SU registration fee, and see what happens.

tintinr35

B-K-DzR wrote:

not voting..mainly cos i lost my student card and refuse to pay €14 for another peice of plastic.

get a letter from the cops to say u lost ur wallet and u get replacement for free. ive done it twice

Red Alert

nope. sort out the shambles that is the current one plus forum bar before thinking about another one.

a swimming pool and gym should be the responsibility of the *college* to *provide* - why send a dog on a man's errand?

mise

I had often thought bout doing that too. SU wrecked my head while I was there. Just seemed to be bout people egos never did anything worthwhile when I was there. And is was so bloody annoying round election time, couldnt walk through the arts block without half a trees worth of paper in your face.
Anyways back to topic, what function will the extension perform?

elmyra

I'm voting yes, I think it's a good idea. The reg fee is going up gradually, the ones who will have to pay the most for it are the ones who'll get to use it, something that's run by students for students is never a bad idea and they do have a clearcut plan for how it will be run, there is a need for it considering how difficult it is becoming for clubs and socs to get rooms anywhere else and it's going to be run at cost for both students and grads, so grads can get something out of it if they wish. Build away imo.

Dave!

I'll vote yes, cos I want a swimming pool...!

Don't really care about anything else, I don't usually go to the Student Centre.

singingstranger

hullaballoo wrote:

In fact, and this is slightly off topic, next year, I'm not going to pay my SU registration fee, and see what happens.

The only way to do that would be to not pay the reg fee in its entirety, in which case, you ain't getting your degree, dude...

panda100

hullaballoo wrote:

I'm voting no because I think it's ridiculous that people who will be doing finals next year should have to pay for something they'll never get to use.

In fact, and this is slightly off topic, next year, I'm not going to pay my SU registration fee, and see what happens.

Im doing the same!Im tired of paying for things I dont use/need

passive

Question!

What time can one vote until? I overslept..so.. won't be in to college. But i do want to vote for everything so might trek out for it .

Blowfish

tbh i've actually been here three years and haven't voted in anything, so i'm not going to bother starting now

singingstranger

passive wrote:

Question!

What time can one vote until? I overslept..so.. won't be in to college. But i do want to vote for everything so might trek out for it .

If you're not in the College of Business and Law, you have from 6pm - 9:45pm in the Arts Block this evening. If you are, you've got 'til 5pm (I think, no guarantees) in Roebuck.

Dave!

panda100 wrote:

Im doing the same!Im tired of paying for things I dont use/need

Do you not use the trap, SU shop, and so on? I couldn't get by without those! :eek:

singingstranger, can you not just pay the reg fee and not the SU fee?

singingstranger

Unless you mean the Student Centre levy thing... the actual SU reg fee is part of the €775 registration fee...

passive

If you're not in the College of Business and Law, you have from 6pm - 9:45pm in the Arts Block this evening. If you are, you've got 'til 5pm (I think, no guarantees) in Roebuck.

Hmm... Thank you. I'm in Arts so the first one applies to me. But when you say from 6pm do you mean i can't vote before 6? I'm in work at 6:30 so that's not happening...

Dave!

singingstranger wrote:

Unless you mean the Student Centre levy thing... the actual SU reg fee is part of the €775 registration fee...

Why is the Student Centre Levy seperate? I thought that was the SU fee, hmmm

singingstranger

No, the €63.50 is a Student Centre levy that pays off the mortgage taken out to build the first - existing - Student Centre. The SU membership thing is taken out of your €775. Good luck to you trying to get hold of a breakdown of that €775 though.

cruiserweight

singingstranger wrote:

No, the €63.50 is a Student Centre levy that pays off the mortgage taken out to build the first - existing - Student Centre. The SU membership thing is taken out of your €775. Good luck to you trying to get hold of a breakdown of that €775 though.

So essentially we are being forced to join a union! Is that not illegal?

rainbow kirby

Voting NO. It's a total waste of money and time. Plus I pay quite enough for college already without having to fund the SU ego trip too.

Dave!

but.... SWIMMING POOL!!!

Waltons

Voting yes. I believe it's a good idea.

elmyra

Waltons wrote:

Voting yes. I believe it's a good idea.

That's the spirit!

cruiserweight

DaveMcG wrote:

but.... SWIMMING POOL!!!

Are you easily distracted by shiney things It is a waste of money when there are much better ways the SU can be using their time and the money they extort from us!

holly2000

cruiserweight wrote:

Are you easily distracted by shiney things It is a waste of money when there are much better ways the SU can be using their time and the money they extort from us!

Voted YES! Its nothing to do with the SU, they dont run the student centre and they wont be running the new developments. Student Centre seems to run fine, while I agree the Forum Bar is a shambles, but then thats probably because the SU runs it..... If everyone a few years ago had decided like this, we wouldnt have our facility now. Its not as good as it might be, but looking at some of the people out canvassing against it.....brothers and sisters just shouldnt get together.......

rainbow kirby

DaveMcG wrote:

but.... SWIMMING POOL!!!

Yes, a swimming pool that the college should have built with the sports centre. Why should we as students be forced to pay for that separately?

Umaro

i'd be voting no if i was voting

cruiserweight

holly2000 wrote:

.....brothers and sisters just shouldnt get together.......

Yes petty insults about people expressing their opinion and not agreeing with you and canvassing against the new student centre are the way to go! You should have seen the dirty looks I got for refusing to sign the petition to bring the referendum about!

What is the point of it? Why do we need it? The only really new facilities are the swimming pool, and there are plenty of them around! There are no definite plans just an idea and a shiney brochure, and yet we are being asked to increase the levy which we pay! When will this thing be built? Not very soon is the likely answer!

So why pay for an idea, when we are already paying to much for a hole that was 30 years in the planning! How long will we be paying this increased levy before the centre will be extended?

So if someone comes back with concrete plans and good ideas instead of bullsh*t I may consider voting yes but until then no!

singingstranger

The centre, if approved, is planned for opening sometime in 2008. If you're in the 1st year of a 4 year course, you'll have it before you leave.

singingstranger

rainbow kirby wrote:

Yes, a swimming pool that the college should have built with the sports centre. Why should we as students be forced to pay for that separately?

Well, it could be a massive profit-earner for UCD if we were to get one for ourselves... yes, there should have been one with the Sports Centre (which I believe was actually publically funded...) but there wasn't. C'est la vie. Let's not stop ourselves from pulling a good commercial move here. I voted yes.

cruiserweight

singingstranger wrote:

The centre, if approved, is planned for opening sometime in 2008. If you're in the 1st year of a 4 year course, you'll have it before you leave.

and where was that figure pulled out of? I have not heard of there even being any definite plans yet!

IHatePoorPeople

Despite thinking it's a bad idea, and even though I won't be around by the time it opens, I'm voting yes. Why? Because unlike most of you paupers, my student centre levy is paid out of my research group's account. I couldn't care less if they wanted to charge €500/year, it's not like it'll affect me. But it would be worth it just to annoy the rest of you.

Isn't democracy great?

panda100

IHatePoorPeople wrote:

Despite thinking it's a bad idea, and even though I won't be around by the time it opens, I'm voting yes. Why? Because unlike most of you paupers, my student centre levy is paid out of my research group's account. I couldn't care less if they wanted to charge €500/year, it's not like it'll affect me. But it would be worth it just to annoy the rest of you.

Isn't democracy great?

Sangre??

humbert

I've got a feeling someone hasn't got any friends:( Anywho I think I'll vote no, simply because even if I am here it's not something I would use. I also have the feeling it's being built so ucd can advertise it great sporting and entertainment facilities, I think a college should stand on it's academic merit before all else.(longer rant omitted)

Blowfish

panda100 wrote:

Sangre??

Yeah definitely some muppet trolling

IHatePoorPeople

Blowfish wrote:

Yeah definitely some muppet trolling

It's hardly trolling if I go through with it. If you want to see me vote yes, drop down to the science lecture building around 3, that's when I'll be casting my ballot.

Once again, suck it.

elmyra

cruiserweight wrote:

and where was that figure pulled out of? I have not heard of there even being any definite plans yet!

It's on the literature.

cruiserweight

elmyra wrote:

It's on the literature.

So what! What I was asking is how that date was arrived at? Just because it is in some brochure or in the paper does not mean it is true! Is there a realistic timeline, I don't think so!

gliondar

I'm voting no.

Firstly there's so many 25metre pools around UCD i don't see the point. If we are building a pool it should be 50 metres, something that can host international events and will make UCD stand out. That would be a great investment, not just for the students but for everybody.
25 metres is useless, its not as if its free use anyway. On top of the new levy for the next 20 odd years will also be hit with fees to use it. There are no free breckfasts.

Then there's this pompous debating chamber. This is the last thing this college needs, another haunt for elitism. They plan on making it look like the House of Commons! Thats ****ing ridiculous. Looks like the main beneficiaries are about three societies, thats why L&H and C&E people are all out and about hacking away.

There has been no presentation of blue prints for this proposed student centre. This is crazy.

I believe there was very little consultation with students. I'm guessing it was Richard Butler and a few others who've been hanging around this college way too long who put the proposal together
services who sat down with architects and decided what they wanted. I'm sure he has a massive office and a few secretaries waiting for him in the new building. That man is a cancer on UCD and from experience everything he touches has something seriously corrupt/unfair/self-interested motive behind it.

Also, I heard there's 17 rooms in the med centre but sure there's only a couple of Doctors, what's all the space for? Looks badly thought out.

I hope it gets rejected before another disaster befalls UCD. everything seems to go wrong in this college

I'm highly skeptical. Looks like its being rushed through at the end of the year with nio debate. Bet ya somebody will make a feck load of money off UCD students with this. No guarantee it will cost 35million, I expect a collossal over-run.

Hope for the sake of UCD this doesnt get passed

Vorsprung

Not a chance

I will be in college for another couple of years, but I won't be in Belfield, and even if I do venture up, I never use the student centre.

Let them take out a loan and have students pay for it when it's open.

Red Alert

Exactly...

The 25m pool is foolish - Glenalbyn in Stillorgan is undergoing a refit soon, Westwood have a 50m pool and there's the NAC. A 50m pool paid for by the college would be a big attraction to people coming here, not some half assed addon run by an inept SU executive.

A 50m pool with a competition-grade seating which is *open* for use by *ordinary* students is a common feature of many US and European universities. Often it's free for students and staff!
Some years ago my dad worked just outside Boston and I came over for the summer, there was a small IT style college beside our house. The 40m pool was 1 dollar for as long as you wanted. The area was very quiet in the summer as the college serviced a large number of surrounding towns, so you pretty much had it to yourself. My dad asked the guy there what the deal was, and he says they just commit the budget for it and that's that.

A debating chamber is useless, what they do need to do is reform the use of rooms. For example services can't assign rooms in Quinn - why not?

hullaballoo

The government pays my fees, so all I have to do is not pay anything at all, and I'll be sure that I'm only excluding the SU funds.

I don't really know why you're jumping to the defence of the SU ss, it's not that I don't like the SU, it just hasn't proven itself to be worth the money I pay towards it every year. I don't see that I have anything extra in my college experience as a result of the SU, but of course, I could be wrong.

IHatePoorPeople

bigjimthefirst wrote:

Let them take out a loan and have students pay for it when it's open.

That's quite a good idea. Nevertheless:

panda100

IHatePoorPeople wrote:

It's hardly trolling if I go through with it. If you want to see me vote yes, drop down to the science lecture building around 3, that's when I'll be casting my ballot.

Once again, suck it.

oh no its definatly not sangre...he wouldnt be seen dead in the science building:D

irlrobins

Voting no as

a) I'm gone after this summer
b) I think the existing Student Centre is under utilised as it is
c) The new centre is badly thought out and unrealistic

singingstranger

IHatePoorPeople wrote:

That's quite a good idea. Nevertheless:

I like how the image isn't from today!...

cruiserweight

singingstranger wrote:

I like how the image isn't from today!...

and how do you know that? I know IHatePoorPeople and I took the photo about an hour ago! BTW he is agreeing with you about voting yes!

singingstranger

The dates, the question, the ballot paper...