Exam Results - Delayed (Mod Warning: Post #383 & #420)

Clano

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0203/waterford.html

Heres rtes report

AdMMM

I hope that the TV3 cameraman took some clever shots to make it look like a bigger crowd, because that was barely 200 to 300 people. He and the reporter looked pretty underwhelmed.

jonsey

Will be interesting to see how TV3 report it shortly.

jonsey

jonsey wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how TV3 report it shortly.

In the usual way I'm afriad. One-sided and factually incorrect. Great stuff! :rolleyes:

CheesedOff

jonsey wrote: »

In the usual way I'm afriad. One-sided and factually incorrect. Great stuff! :rolleyes:

What have 'facts' got to do with us the students. Who cares if its the TUI, Lecturers themselves or WIT Management that are to blame here, all we want is our results yeah? Why are we fighting battles for these groups, let them fight their own battles, they're not concerned with our rights, so lets just make this about the students and how we get our results.

Fair play to all that took part today, for all the people complaining about noise and missing lectures, its a small price to pay over an entire semester to make sure your voices are heard and if the people carrying out this dispute have their way, you won't be needing those lectures because you won't be having exams this summer. Somehow I get the feeling that the people complaining are either:

People that are not students but like using these boards for kicks
People that have a grudge against the union or against those that go the extra mile and fight for their rights.
People that like to stir it up

I may be wrong, and if I am so be it. I'm finding it all a bit pathetic that if you are a student, this is your biggest gripe at the moment.

I have plenty of moans and groans relating to the WIT, oh the list is endless but there is something much more important going on right now. By not having results, I can't apply for a graduate programme with a company or any job in my field of study for that matter. I can't predict what I got, how many students are able to do that? Cause i sure as hell always get my predictions wrong. I finished college in Dec. How dare anyone hold my future in their hands when I have done absolutely nothing to create this issue. My girlfriend is wondering how to push forward on her thesis when she has not had any result from the first half so can not possibly know the changes which need to be made.

Someone putting my future at risk is a MASSIVE dismissal of me (to put it kindly) and this is why I am less concerned with a whistle blower, or a passionate student running into a class getting so hyped up, he/she doesn't know how to handle themselves. Perhaps you felt it disappointing or annoying but in fairness a small issue when put in persepctive. Are you saying this is the biggest issue of the day? You've paid fees, worked hard for the exams, and you are entitled to these results.

Cmon lets get back to focussing on the bigger picture, our results or lack of them and what we are going to do.

Delighted with the clip on TV3.

alpha2zulu

jonsey wrote: »

In the usual way I'm afriad. One-sided and factually incorrect. Great stuff! :rolleyes:

Thought the students came across very well in that piece. Who cares if it wasent alll fact checked, the main thing is it showed up WIT management and TUI militants to look stupid. One sided-maybe so, but all's fair in love and war!;)

2Bv¬2B

CheesedOff wrote: »

Delighted with the clip on TV3.

Unfortunately I did not make it home in time to see it, is it online anywhere or will it be on later in the night?

jonsey

Ye are right lads. Feck the facts. :rolleyes:

CheesedOff

2Bv¬2B wrote: »

Unfortunately I did not make it home in time to see it, is it online anywhere or will it be on later in the night?

Not sure, maybe the TV3 website or theres usually a short news bulletin around 11pm so maybe they'll play it again.

2Bv¬2B

Cheers CheesedOff,

Apologies, I misread the piece

Sully

2Bv¬2B wrote: »

Cheers CheesedOff,

Apparently there were 6000+ people in total..... C'mon now,

Never heard that figure at all.

alpha2zulu

jonsey wrote: »

Ye are right lads. Feck the facts. :rolleyes:

Well the TUI can only really blame themselves, just look at the 'brief' letter response by them for those at the class rep meeting. It was 2 pages of legal nonsense in which if you dident have a law degree it was hard to make heads of tails of it. A case of misinformation at its best.

CheesedOff

jonsey wrote: »

Ye are right lads. Feck the facts. :rolleyes:

Well in this case yes.

Do you understand why facts are irrelevant here or are you a TUI member hacked off by the fact that you failed to give TV3 a response. This was highlighted in the bulletin 'TUI refused to comment on the stand off'

The only fact relevant to us - the students - is that we have nothing to do with this dispute, but we have been dragged into it, we seem to have no control over what is happening even though we are doing our best and currently some randomer sitting in an office getting a weekly wage is making a huge decision on mine and every other graduate / final year students immediate future.

I don't care who's to blame, I want my results. FACT.

2Bv¬2B

Apologies, I mis-read the facebook page,

2000-3000+ between both campus' sorry, my eyes are knackered after looking at a laptop all day

jonsey

CheesedOff wrote: »

Well in this case yes.

Do you understand why facts are irrelevant here or are you a TUI member hacked off by the fact that you failed to give TV3 a response. This was highlighted in the bulletin 'TUI refused to comment on the stand off'

The only fact relevant to us - the students - is that we have nothing to do with this dispute, but we have been dragged into it, we seem to have no control over what is happening even though we are doing our best and currently some randomer sitting in an office getting a weekly wage is making a huge decision on mine and every other graduate / final year students immediate future.

I don't care who's to blame, I want my results. FACT.

Of course I'm not in the TUI. I just think that in a case like this when people get passionate about the issue (rightly so) the facts are important. I didn't know that you spoke for all students (in saying that the only fact relevant to us is that we have nothing to do with this. Some people do want to know what's going on and want to direct our anger at the right people - that is the best way to get results - not just going out and shouting without knowing the facts. The news made key errors. I never mentionned anything to do with the TUI in my post. Not sure where you pulled that out of.

thejanitor

What have 'facts' got to do with us the students. Who cares if its the TUI, Lecturers themselves or WIT Management that are to blame here, all we want is our results yeah? Why are we fighting battles for these groups, let them fight their own battles, they're not concerned with our rights, so lets just make this about the students and how we get our results.

Yea facts are so last year, lets ditch the facts and do whatever we want. I have never heard such crap in my life. Please stop posting your rediculous childish comments on here.

You know full well that the demonstration today was a complete disaster. Of the total amount of people that turned up, verty few of them actually knew the story behind why we dont have our results.

Stupidity got the better of some people who started shouting abuse at lecturers and staff of the college which made the students look like further idiots. I am a student in WIT and I can assure you WITSU DOES NOT REPRESENT ME!

How dare a small irrelevant drinking group such as WITSU determine that it has my best interests at heart and then procuce such rubbish as an excuse of a demonstration. Then not to mention the president of WITSU screaming into the microphone, almost about to say something childish such as the "F" word and realises "oh wait, I am being recorded". Today I was ashamed to be called a student! You should be too!

alpha2zulu

thejanitor wrote: »

Yea facts are so last year, lets ditch the facts and do whatever we want. I have never heard such crap in my life. Please stop posting your rediculous childish comments on here.

C'mon, hes only expressing a point of view:rolleyes: Nothing childish about that.

You know full well that the demonstration today was a complete disaster. Of the total amount of people that turned up, verty few of them actually knew the story behind why we dont have our results.

Did it achieve national media attention...yes.
Did it help get the views of the students heard nationwide...yes.
Does it matter if it took 50 or 500 people to get the publicity...of course not. The main thing is its a case of job done on that front.

Honestly I couldent give a monkeys if half the college couldent be bothered finding out the full facts. The main thing is for those of us who do give a dam its definetly done our cause a world of good.

Stupidity got the better of some people who started shouting abuse at lecturers and staff of the college which made the students look like further idiots.

I agree those muppets shouting around the gallery at 1135 should be banned from owning a whistle for life, however the lecturers havent exactly covered themselves in glory either this week. They have been the most 'childish' and petty of anybody in my book.

jonsey

That's your opinion and obviously everyone is entitled to that but I (like lots on this thread) feel that it did us more harm than good. The union and management were meeting today anyway so hopefully we'll a good resolution out of that. Whether or not today had anything to do with that is open to debate but as long as it's resolved then most people will be happy.

CheesedOff

thejanitor wrote: »

Yea facts are so last year, lets ditch the facts and do whatever we want. I have never heard such crap in my life. Please stop posting your rediculous childish comments on here.

You know full well that the demonstration today was a complete disaster. Of the total amount of people that turned up, verty few of them actually knew the story behind why we dont have our results.

Stupidity got the better of some people who started shouting abuse at lecturers and staff of the college which made the students look like further idiots. I am a student in WIT and I can assure you WITSU DOES NOT REPRESENT ME!

How dare a small irrelevant drinking group such as WITSU determine that it has my best interests at heart and then procuce such rubbish as an excuse of a demonstration. Then not to mention the president of WITSU screaming into the microphone, almost about to say something childish such as the "F" word and realises "oh wait, I am being recorded". Today I was ashamed to be called a student! You should be too!

You're entitled to your opinion. I don't agree with anyone getting abusive either. But I don't believe for a second that that person/people made me look like an idiot. Fortunately I know who I am and I don't need to worry that someone else thinks I'm an idiot because of someone elses actions.

In a protest people are always going to get carried away, have you ever been to a well behaved protest where everyone voices their opinion? It wasn't a forum. It wasn't a debate. It was a protest. Its all about making noise.

I hope your shame eases soon. I'm afraid I can't feel this shame you believe i should feel, because I know I didn't offend anyone today at either protest. And after watching the news clip, and being at the protest, I believe the students got their point across 'they are not happy' without breaking the law, bringing 'shame' upon the student body or turning it into a negative event.

Now since you weren't happy with this, what do you think the students should do next?

jonsey

alpha 2 zulu wrote: »

the lecturers havent exactly covered themselves in glory either this week. They have been the most 'childish' and petty of anybody in my book.

Another idiotic generalisation. My lecturers have been good this week. At 2.15 one of them took class despite only two of us showed up as the rest had probably fecked off home or over to the dome. Really don't know how anyone could see what happened today as a success (unless getting your face on the tele is a measure of success).

CheesedOff

jonsey wrote: »

Of course I'm not in the TUI. I just think that in a case like this when people get passionate about the issue (rightly so) the facts are important. I didn't know that you spoke for all students (in saying that the only fact relevant to us is that we have nothing to do with this. Some people do want to know what's going on and want to direct our anger at the right people - that is the best way to get results - not just going out and shouting without knowing the facts. The news made key errors. I never mentionned anything to do with the TUI in my post. Not sure where you pulled that out of.

Seriously? I persumed you were a TUI member because the one sided bulletin was regarding lecturers not getting paid enough so I figured if your biggest gripe was not the results but rather the TUI not getting their point accross (they were asked for a response they refused to give one, up to them to get the facts out), it must have meant that you were part of the union. I sincerely apologise for that error.

Again, I must apologise, I most definitely did not mean to speak on behalf of the student body, quite persumptious of me to believe the only thing the students care about is getting their results, perhaps some are happy for the debate to continue as long as its a fair one. (even though I'M of the opinion this is unfair towards the students, let me be clear)

By protesting today may I add, I was not directing my anger at anyone, I was directing my anger at an unknown person/people to let them know I want and need my results. I wouldn't dare approach a lecturer, management or TUI member to point the finger of blame but I will do what I can to keep focus on this so that the students aren't forgotten about - because it is us that is suffering.

jonsey

Well at least you can see the errors of your ways Even if you don't care about the facts some of us do - so don't try to speak for all of us.

alpha2zulu

jonsey wrote: »

(unless getting your face on the tele is a measure of success).

Well in fairness now it is!

jonsey

alpha 2 zulu wrote: »

Well in fairness now it is!

Not in my book. I want my results and don't think that us being on the news will do anything to get us our results quicker than would otherwise would be the case. It is nice publicity for the powers that be in the WITSU and gives an excuse for people to vent their anger but is not a worthwhile goal in itself. People will think that it will make things happen but that'd be very naiive. The meeting (between management and TUI) happened whilst the protest was on. The fact that it made it onto the news later on is totally irrelevant as proposals will have been put before the news was aired.

Sully

jonsey wrote: »

Not in my book. I want my results and don't think that us being on the news will do anything to get us our results quicker than would otherwise would be the case. It is nice publicity for the powers that be in the WITSU and gives an excuse for people to vent their anger but is not a worthwhile goal in itself. People will think that it will make things happen but that'd be very naiive. The meeting (between management and TUI) happened whilst the protest was on. The fact that it made it onto the news later on is totally irrelevant as proposals will have been put before the news was aired.

Well, the more pressure applied the quicker things get done. Which is why significant progress has been reported at todays meeting.

CheesedOff

jonsey wrote: »

Well at least you can see the errors of your ways Even if you don't care about the facts some of us do - so don't try to speak for all of us.

Absolutely, you may have noticed I apologised for that Jonsey but hey yes I'll say it again in clearer terms for you, I will not speak or try to speak for all of the student body.

Thank you for that valuable input to this detrimental situation. The TUI and WIT management will be proud to have your support I'm sure

jonsey

Sully wrote: »

Well, the more pressure applied the quicker things get done. Which is why significant progress has been reported at todays meeting.

How can being on the news later in the day affect something early on in the day. I think the fact that there was a protest at all may have sped things up but the way the protest was run and the fact that it was on the news after significant progress was made did not affect that imo. My point revolved around the news sully, rather than the protest being on in the first place. Even at that, it's only speculation to say what caused progress. If people want to believe that being on the news or blowing whistles or whatever caused the progress then fine but you can't say for sure what caused it (well you can and you have but it's speculation in some ways). A bit of a long-winded post (like most of mine!) but I hope you take my point.

jonsey

CheesedOff wrote: »

Absolutely, you may have noticed I apologised for that Jonsey but hey yes I'll say it again in clearer terms for you, I will not speak or try to speak for all of the student body.

Thank you for that valuable input to this detrimental situation. The TUI and WIT management will be proud to have your support I'm sure

I did read your post and don't worry my sarcasm detector was turned on. As for the TUI and WIt management being proud of my support - that's just a dumb statement but then again I'm not surprised since facts don't matter to you so feel free to continue to pull things out of your arse if it makes you feel better. If you can find where I supported the TUI and/or the management of WIT then please point me towards it. I try to deal in facts or at least what I honestly believe to be the facts. I've slated the management in many posts here so I don't know how that constitutes support. I'm sure they'd be more proud of your attitude of not caring about the facts or who is to blame. Kind of leaves both of them off scot free if you just protest in general without caring about the details of what caused us to be mixed up in this mess.

sparkling sea

The dispute is between the TUI and WIT management, both of whom think they are right.

Students need to stick together and remember this is not there fight.

The SU would be wise in my opinion not to allow themselves to be used as a stick to bet the TUI on WIT managements behalf. They should look after their own needs just like the TUI and WIT are doing.

Again I would say the students, especially international students should read through there contract with WIT and determine whether or not this has been breached. Maybe the SU will go down the grown up route and not allow themselves to appear as if they are taking sides

thejanitor

Now since you weren't happy with this, what do you think the students should do next?

The WITSU should have started at the start and wrote to both parties (WIT Management & TUI) and asked permission to send a competent representitive from WITSU to attend talks and represent the students interest.

The students should be represented by WITSU as victims of an unfulfilled service provided by the college (e.g. students pay the college for an education which is examined at regular intervals). This is no different to paying for a new car and it being delivered with no engine because the dealer had a dispute with the engine people.

It would be more productive if the members of WITSU identified their war first and took a pro-active approach such as organised a bag pack in tesco's to raise money to hire a professional negotiator with experience in union disputes. How about regular fundraising to make sure there is sufficient funds available should something like this happen in the future.

I guess what I am saying is for WITSU to concentrate their energy on the back office such as sending letters to all students in the college informing them of the issue, talking to professionals that understand the dispute etc. and less concentration on the front end which we all know is ringing every media outlet there is and have another repeat of the farce that happened today.