What bugs you about UCD?

Blush_01

I don't want this to descend into a "D4 heads"/"Culchies"/SU nonsense thread. What about the college (and not the students here) genuinely písses you off?

***WARNING. RANT ALERT***

Today is New Year's Day (Happy 2007 everybody). Both yesterday and today the launderette has been closed. Today is my only day off in an (at least) 11 day period. The launderette is only open between 10am and 6pm every other day. Now, I knew the launderette was only open between 10 and 6, so I couldn't do my laundry any of the days I was working. That was fine. I didn't, however, know it was closed today. The RAs are on duty every day, they have to be. The launderette involves locking/unlocking the door and turning on/off the machines. Not brain surgery, by any stretch of the imagination and I can't imagine it'd take more than 15/20 minutes (being very generous with time) to do that at 10 or 6. So why the hell, on the only day I'm not working, is the bloody thing closed? Who, in their infinite wisdom, thought the RAs would be unable to perform the simple task of opening the launderette today, and why? I, like a fool, went the whole way to Baggot St. to get change to wash my uniform (since there is nowhere in UCD to get change, not having a change machine), as I have no more clean black trousers, having worn them all earlier in the week. Unfortunately that was a bloody waste of time, considering the launderette isn't open until tomorrow and doesn't resume normal launderette hours until the 8th. Does this make sense to anyone? I'm now going to have to wash my clothes in the bathroom sink and hope they dry for the morning. /me bangs head repeatedly on wall.

humbert

Five months to go...

Blush_01

7 months and 15 days until I move out. Been counting down since October.

humbert

Who said I was talking about you

Drapper

Q What bugs you about UCD?
A. Students

Scraggs

Blush if its any consolation the Roebuck laundrette is open 8 til 11 [last wash @10].

There is one really big thing that bugged me about UCD, and I don't get angry often but [un]fortunately in my absence/hangover I've forgotten \o/

Scraggs

The lack of computers

Umaro

I couldnt care less about the culchies v D4s thing either. The one thing that really bugs me about UCD is the lack of a decent fast food place, 911 is just garbage but if you're in a rush it seems to be the only place to grab something.

Blush_01

Scraggs wrote:

Blush if its any consolation the Roebuck laundrette is open 8 til 11 [last wash @10].

There is one really big thing that bugged me about UCD, and I don't get angry often but [un]fortunately in my absence/hangover I've forgotten \o/

At the moment? Because normal laundry hours are 8-11 monday to friday and until 10 at weekends, or something like that. Feck it, I'll just text you.

Blush_01

humbert wrote:

Who said I was talking about you

Who said I said you were talking about me? Ass, u, me.

Schlemm

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: MODURALISATION!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAarg why do they make us do such pointless modules and endless amounts of exams, why.......?

I was in college for a year in Trinity before I transferred to UCD. To be fair, TCD is run a lot better than UCD. The administration runs smoothly, the staff and the people in the admissions office actually know stuff about college regulations and the staff are happy!

The course I'm doing in UCD is fairly focused and intense and we could really do without moduralisation. The staff are all giving out about it too and there seems to be a lot of unrest.

The online registration system has been a complete fiasco. I tried to sign up for language modules and it said they were full...until I went down to the applied language center to ask them in person....at which point they told me that there were places left in a few modules even tho they were shown as being full online!!! According to the online reg page, I still haven't fully registered (even the core module times are clashing with each other) and paid my fees, both of which I've done.

Having 2 exam seasons wrecks the buzz and is exhausting. Ppl say that continuous assesment prevents cramming but that's rubbish. If you fall behind, you wind up cramming from one exam to the next. Either you're a crammer or you're not!

Moduralisation doesn't have to be the disaster that it has turned out to be tho! UCD needs better leadership and needs to actually listen to what the students are saying!

seraphimvc

i dont get it why is that we were having some midterm tests which eventually made u reach home really late(tests from 7pm-9.30pm,reach home about 10.30pm...)

i dont get it why is that we cant do our exams inside the school (since our school is really big!!) but go to Blackrock (my 2euro bus fee and about 20mins to reach there) or RDS hall(this is even worse,my 3euro and half an hour to reach there from the city center!!!)!!!

and the last thing (seems i m still quite satisfied for UCD overall;) )
PLEASE!!!ppl who using the pc in the school!!!when u see the pc room is quite free (nobody queueing) ,u can do watever or use as long as u want,BUT never goto do something 'personal'(eg like BeBo,youtube)!!!leave the pc for those who really need it!!:cool:

Stepherunie

The backstabbing annoyingness of a college that say one thing then do the complete and utter opposite which screws everyone over in the blink of an eye without giving a rats ass for what it did to the students.

Jonny Arson

- Administration bugs the fcuk out of me more than anything, it's like the FAI or Frank Spencer run it!
- Hugh Brady and his cronies who dont give a toss about students by transforming UCDD into a monster corporate machine
- The paths next to the lake which are always flooded when there's rain, H&S disaster in the making and nothing ever gets done about it!
- The two mens downstairs toilets in the Orts block - absolutely fcuking minging, hand dryers don't work, some toilets don't flush properely, lack of bogroll at times
- and I know this is a student thing but it has to be said.....
I'm really bugged by those pricks who walk ''in'' through the ''out'' doors in the library and vice versa.... GRRRRRR DIE!!!! :mad: - also a honourable mention to the people who chat to their mates on the stairwell leading up to the library thus blocking people getting up the stairs! :rolleyes:

and also the usual complaints over *cough* d4 heads and the SU *cough*

Ahhh first rant of the 2007 out of the way, needed that! Sure it could be worse for us, we could be in one of those DIT kips or even Trinners :eek:

Jonny Arson

Oh I left out the big one - ''sure lets introduce semesterisation/modularisation/horizons where there will be a bigger and more frequent demand in textbooks but lets not increase the amount of textbooks in the library!!!''

gubbie

The fact that the eng shop closes in the run up to the exams and during so you've to walk down to the library to go to the shop :eek:

That and the awful-tasting over-priced restaurant :mad:

generalmiaow

for some reason nothing really annoys me about UCD, I actually quite like it.

mloc

the lack of decent healthy food options or even the lack of microwaves and allowances for students to reheat and consume thier own food on campus.

that gets to me.

LovelyHurling

mloc wrote:

the lack of decent healthy food options or even the lack of microwaves and allowances for students to reheat and consume thier own food on campus.

that gets to me.

let me guess, chicken tikka with little else still running in the re-heated ucd fridge without reheat offer!!!!!????

Red Alert

People complain about the same stuff year on year - nothing gets done.

Same crap food - i've only been in Elements once, and occasionally in O'Briens. Maybe things are improving. Perk is overpriced for what you get. Restaurant is just plain not appetizing, add to that the petty pricing and the staff who seem intent on it. 911 is a health hazard, apart from buying tea to sit by the lake with I no longer go there.

Practically unusable website - it's just plain useless. Trinners by comparison had a sort of revamp (where they mandated the college header and footer). No ridiculous fonts or the like.

P.R. machine - the university's PR engine seems the most well oiled contraption i've ever seen. I was at a recent talk a while ago by a high ranking person within the college and it was peppered with quotes from Hugh Brady. There's something vaguely stalin-esque about that.

Student Centre 2 - this project appears to have been pushed by an out of touch SU and the vice president for students, who is equally as removed from reality in many areas. Another abject waste of money, seen as how little/irrelevantly the current building is used.

Bar Reform - as far as I'm concerned the only year any of the bars was anyway fun was first year (a whopping four years ago). About the only decent development was the introduction of food into the student bar, because the quality is just that bit higher than the restaurant. Nobody has ever explained where the jukebox cash-take goes (because I think it may be on a profit share with the operator of it). We have two bars, which I think is a good thing. Different strokes for different folks. But has anyone actuallly sat down and seen how best to make use of the facilities we have? I don't think so.

Ents - a joke, this year especially. Last year's ents was actually something to be proud of, as it did stand out compared to every other year. He did get some really good bands in and did his best to communicate what was on very well. Holly Irvine should not be still in her job given the farce she has presided over.

The SU - the sooner they all drop the mini-dail-masquerade and quit having an opinon on crap like Shell to Sea and Irish Ferries, and actually do their job the better. Until I see value for money, and a crap sabbat officer who's not doing their job (see above) counts as a waste of money, as does irrelevant positions and hiring buses to go and show said position, I cannot say we have a good SU.

ferdi

now that you mention it Red Alert, i am struggling to think of any Ents event which i went to or even considered going to during the first semester...i dont even remember ANY Ents stuff being advertised or plugged properly...

snickerpuss

How incredibly inept they are.

Thank god i don't have to think about registering again. Its still messed up. I only registered properly last month.

Aside from that i quite like it. I really love my subjects and the people in my departments are lovely.

But then i don't hang around or do 'ents' etc so i dunno bout any of that.

gubbie

The reason why you don't do ents is cos they're ain't much ents to do

Red Alert

How about removing the source of the problem - ie the incompetent ents officer and her cronies. I have seen some pathetic excuses of ents officers up and down but nobody as bad as this,

Tan Princess

mloc wrote:

the lack of decent healthy food options or even the lack of microwaves and allowances for students to reheat and consume thier own food on campus.

that gets to me.

Thats something that really annoys me too. Lunch is cheaper when you're working than a student as you can bring in stuff and microwave it. Although the food coop people did make a decent stab at making nice cheap sambos this term.

Schlemm

Cycling in UCD also grinds my gears!! There's always complaints about how awful it is for the folk who drive to UCD and can't get parking, but you should try
getting from A to B on campus on a bike. They have bike ramps alrite, but a lot of them have these crazy little 90 degree turns at the end, and the one by the admin building has this blind corner in it...the amount of ppl I've seen smashing into each other at it!
At the Clonskeagh gate, there's an awful junction which you have to negociate to get into UCD, and they have a special traffic light for bikes which is good...but then once you make it into campus, the cycle lane is on one side only wtf!? It's a pain in the a** cos you have to cross the road if you want to use the track, which is just plain awkward. Used to come in the creche gate but got one flat tyre after the next from the amount of jagged stones that u have to cycle over. rrr:mad:
Also, has anyone else had their bike stolen?! Mine got nicked and it seems to happen all the time!

gubbie

I don't know anyone who hasn't had their bike stolen. Its kind of a "If you cycle then you can expect to not finish the year with the bike you started with". How can they promote using bicycles when they don't have proper security around them

mloc

The fact they make the escalators in the library so easy to stop. That bugs me. I personally think it should be an expellable offense to stop the escalators except in case of emergency. I'm 100% serious when I say that. It's a pretty good indicator a person being an absolute ****ing eijit, and I personally don't want my college degraded by such drivel.

Red Alert

i agree with that too - it's ridiculous. you'd get chucked out of a shopping centre if you did that. although in the shop i worked in you'd get real brats of kids who'd hit the stop button too.

rathmaniacal

The incompetence of the administration is breathtaking. Was anyone there in the RDS when there was a stampede of students towards the board to find their exam numbers? Or the constant timetable changes before the exam just to screw up everyone's study timetables- some silly gimp assured me that the confusion was becasue of modularization, to which I could only reply that they knew all the students, all the exams needed, they had computers to help them out, and organizing exams has been happening since the place was founded. The place is run like a government department in the sleepier days of the the 1950s- for God's sake, I have seen better run places in the developing world. I doubt that any of these people would survive in the private sector.
One thing that doesn't annoy me is the students' union, because as a student in an outlying faculty, I never see them and that's just the way I like it.

Jonny Arson

mloc wrote:

The fact they make the escalators in the library so easy to stop. That bugs me. I personally think it should be an expellable offense to stop the escalators except in case of emergency. I'm 100% serious when I say that. It's a pretty good indicator a person being an absolute ****ing eijit, and I personally don't want my college degraded by such drivel.

panda100

Red Alert wrote:

People complain about the same stuff year on year - nothing gets done..

Well we only have to wait another month till we get the empty promises of another batch of su officers.....smae promises,nufin gets done.

Red Alert wrote:

Same crap food - i've only been in Elements once, and occasionally in O'Briens. Maybe things are improving. Perk is overpriced for what you get. Restaurant is just plain not appetizing, add to that the petty pricing and the staff who seem intent on it. 911 is a health hazard, apart from buying tea to sit by the lake with I no longer go there...

Concur!You must come along to market day that im organising.It will be in the third or fourth week back and there be cakes,buns,fruit and veg etc along with unwanted xmas pressies,posters,old cds and books.Students can rent a stall for free,sell whatever they want and make a bit of cash,while the rest of us can get to buy cheap stuff! Its a win win situation!Anyway watch this space.....

Red Alert wrote:

P.R. machine - the university's PR engine seems the most well oiled contraption i've ever seen. I was at a recent talk a while ago by a high ranking person within the college and it was peppered with quotes from Hugh Brady. There's something vaguely stalin-esque about that...

I cant see the prob with advertising the college a bit.Though I wouldnt mind Bradys salary!

Red Alert wrote:

Student Centre 2 - this project appears to have been pushed by an out of touch SU and the vice president for students, who is equally as removed from reality in many areas. Another abject waste of money, seen as how little/irrelevantly the current building is used...

Agree.The student centre as it stands at the moment is grand if it was used effectively. Instead of building stu centre 2 they should build a multistorey car park.

UrbanFox

WHATEVER EDGET is responsible for closing the changing rooms beside the athletics track, converting them into offices and expecting people to walk/run/cycle/take a taxi to the Sports Centre to wash off the minging bacteria.

Mind you, if I insisted on having a shower in the same spot as I had it last year I would have to stand on some admin bird's desk in the nip.... Nah, I think I better walk to the Sports Centre...

singingstranger

gubbie wrote:

I don't know anyone who hasn't had their bike stolen. Its kind of a "If you cycle then you can expect to not finish the year with the bike you started with". How can they promote using bicycles when they don't have proper security around them

I've managed to get through a year with the same bike, although granted, I kept it parked in the VERY secluded racks before the Egg near the Vet building.
And was usually in before 8:30am and out after 8:30pm.
And I fell off it on November 14th, couldn't ride it again before Christmas (cracked tailbone) and started walking to UCD from house (Stillorgan) for 2006.
And it was fuschia, and nobody would want to steal a fuschia bike.*




* Which is probably actually the reason why I was always in before 8:30am and commonly left after dark...

rain on

I've had the same bike for over three years now. Apparently girls' bikes are less attractive to thieves because they're harder to sell or something. Also mine is purple and covered in stickers and hence identifiable from a mile off.
I'm giving it away this evening because I'm moving. I'll miss my bike

Pythia

I think UCD should stop wasting their money on these crazy ideas they have and build a nice big exam centre on campus. It could be mutlistory. This would stop us having to trek out to the RDS or Blackrock.

Sangre

It would also only be used twice a year.

Pythia

Sangre wrote:

It would also only be used twice a year.

No, it would be used for midterms too. It could also double as a place to hold events which could be rented out to people, or other shows.

dajaffa

Pythia wrote:

No, it would be used for midterms too. It could also double as a place to hold events which could be rented out to people, or other shows.

Racks brain.... O'Reilly Hall Basically. Anything decent enough to get rented out doesn't seem to get used for exams...

Garret

Pythia wrote:

This would stop us having to trek out to the RDS or Blackrock.

cos its so hard isnt it, imagine two locations both less than a ten minute walk from a dart station, the inconvenience

cast_iron

Pythia wrote:

I think UCD should stop wasting their money on these crazy ideas they have and build a nice big exam centre on campus. It could be mutlistory. This would stop us having to trek out to the RDS or Blackrock.

Replace ""exam centre" with "car park" and it would make much more sense.

Pythia

Garret wrote:

cos its so hard isnt it, imagine two locations both less than a ten minute walk from a dart station, the inconvenience

Actually, yes, I do find it inconvenient. It being near the Dart doesn't help me whatsoever.

Sangre

Don't you have a car?

Anyway if you don't walk to the RDS from UCD you're a lazy bastard.

Pantsless

yeah sangres right. you are all lazy ****s.

more car park spaces for those of us not lucky to live within 2 hours distance from UCD

singingstranger

Wasn't the Sports Centre only funded by the Government because it was supposed to act as the exam hall for the newly Belfield-based UCD for a prerequisite number of years?

Garret

Pythia wrote:

Actually, yes, I do find it inconvenient. It being near the Dart doesn't help me whatsoever.

but do you honestly believe that spending millions on an exam centre that would only be used a few times a year would be worth it.

the carpark would make much more sense

Pythia

Garret wrote:

but do you honestly believe that spending millions on an exam centre that would only be used a few times a year would be worth it.

the carpark would make much more sense

You've put a negative slope on it, but yes I do. Why would I suggest it otherwise?
A carpark can be built aswell. It's not either or.
If UCD have enough money to build a hotel on the grounds, they can build an exam centre.

Garret

Pythia wrote:

You've put a negative slope on it, but yes I do. Why would I suggest it otherwise?
A carpark can be built aswell. It's not either or.
If UCD have enough money to build a hotel on the grounds, they can build an exam centre.

a hotel will generate more income than an exam centre ( i know it can be used for more than exams obv)



also, theyre building a hotel? whereaboots?

Pythia

Garret wrote:

also, theyre building a hotel? whereaboots?

Supposedly near the 46a busstop. I think some shops too.
I'm not too sure on the details, tbh, but I've heard it from a few people.

Sangre

Pythia wrote:

You've put a negative slope on it, but yes I do. Why would I suggest it otherwise?
A carpark can be built aswell. It's not either or.
If UCD have enough money to build a hotel on the grounds, they can build an exam centre.

Don't you do economics or something?

Can you not see the difference between an exam centre (which only saves money really) and a revenue generating hotel?

Although more than likely piss-posh.

delta_bravo

Pythia wrote:

You've put a negative slope on it, but yes I do. Why would I suggest it otherwise?

Well perhaps you could justify it? I really dont see the need for it. It would be used 2 times a year. The R.D.S. is not far from U.C.D. and is capable of holding exams. Blackrock is suitable for smaller scale exams. There is no need for another centre