If you were SU president...

Insulting_Bitch

Considering we had a lengthy thread on the elections…

If you were SU president what would you try do?

Mine would be:

Ensure the entire campus, including res, was hooked up to the wireless network.

Abolish the €5 charge for overnight guest in res. (Yes, I do live in res.)

Strive for greater involvement for clubs and soc in larger events like the balls with the likes of Juggle Soc juggling, Music Soc performing and sure throw Drama in there too, ParaSoc having a séance at the Halloween ball etc etc etc…I’m sure you could add several to that list.

Have events that do not involve alcohol…there are people underage who have been forgotten the last two years.

And lastly…have a Starbucks on campus that do frappaucinos!



There are piles more I could think of as that would be a **** campaign but let’s hear your ideas.

robby^5

"Labour Camps" for undesirables.

phasers

+1 on the frappucinos, especially in the current weather!

I would organise a shuttle bus (or rickshaw or cable car or something) from Henry Grattan to the library :cool:

Have some free (or at least very cheap) events during the day and some evening events that don't involve alcohol! I don't drink and so always feel out of place at a lot of events.

Benny Lava

I'd sit on my arse, allowing events to be organised poorly and watch the inevitable conflicts from a distance, all while growing a distinct beard.

Cy_Revenant

Subway sandwich bar.

Urizen

Insulting_Bitch wrote: »

Ensure the entire campus, including res, was hooked up to the wireless network.

Abolish the €5 charge for overnight guest in res. (Yes, I do live in res.)

Both of these fall under the accommodation officer of Union Council, and have been discussed at length, both in council and in other threads. The charges pay wages. If you can find someone to work for free, go ahead.

Insulting_Bitch wrote: »

Strive for greater involvement for clubs and soc in larger events like the balls with the likes of Juggle Soc juggling, Music Soc performing and sure throw Drama in there too, ParaSoc having a séance at the Halloween ball etc etc etc…I’m sure you could add several to that list.

Clubs & Socs Officer. Also, the newly elected (and extremely handsome) C&S Officer had that on his manifesto. In fact, that's most of it. And founded Paranormal. And is talking about himself in the third person. :P

Insulting_Bitch wrote: »

Have events that do not involve alcohol…there are people underage who have been forgotten the last two years.

I like. And I'm sure our new Equality Officer will strive to do this... Since she told me.

Insulting_Bitch wrote: »

And lastly…have a Starbucks on campus that do frappaucinos!

... No comment.

Insulting_Bitch

I do not know the ins and outs of the lines of demarcation within the union and frankly, couldn't care less.

Just though it might be interesting to hear what other people would like to do.


Lighten up, I think it's obvious that we are talking hypothetically here anyway.4

Urizen wrote: »

If you can find someone to work for free, go ahead.

You, clearly.

phasers

Jaysus Urizen, the thread is only a bit of fun.

TheChrisD

Cy_Revenant wrote: »

Subway sandwich bar.

Om nom nom.

Although I doubt that one would be brought in, as the drastic drop in business at the hot food counter in Spar would probably put them out of business :rolleyes:

PeakOutput

TheChrisD wrote: »

Om nom nom.

Although I doubt that one would be brought in, as the drastic drop in business at the hot food counter in Spar would probably put them out of business :rolleyes:

here in ul we got a subway at the start of this semester the spar still semms very busy at lunch time and there are queues at both so seems to be working well so far

Noodleworm

If the spar made their hot food counter into a subway desk too, lost of shops in town have that. They have the room and the facilities, just throw in an oven.

Id like the abolishment of the 5 euro charge on res too, I think people would be more likely to book guests in. Sometimes theres only a small chance someone will need a place and your unwilling to pay the 5 euro on the off chance they'll need you. knowing res they won't want to part with that extra 5 euro though.
Same reason why they won't give us wifi, its easier to make sure we pay for internet if its by cable.

Id like clubs and socs to make sure to have plenty of open events early in the year, so that the first years can see what its like before joining, it'd also let them get to know each other.
Also I like plenty of inter-soc and inter-varsity events, so socs aren't hiding themselves away.


Oh- and ONE poster per noticeboard for each event. If your trying to put up one poster and have no room because some other soc or election candidate has 20, it gets irritating.

Garseys

Two words: Hub refurbishment.

That would include: New layout of SU/Clubs and Socs offices, Clean up of the venue, New Den, Turn old bar into a multifunctional room (similar to the old seminar room) and a Cafe in there too.

Oh and fixing that pesky DCUfm wheelchair access problem!


There's other things, just can't think of them now! :pac:

public_enemy

Put the Mezz into the Den area and have the Seminar room open for societies like in the old days. The loss of that room has had a definite impact on the Hub this year. Or alternatively, fix the Den into an area usable by societies in the way the old Seminar room was.

Do something, anything, with the USIT office.

Re-open the Old Bar?

stainluss

Make a big student bar that TCD and UCD would envy. Students would come from all across the city to party...

Secondly, if I was SU president, I would use it to "the shift"

I may also get more cheap food on campus (bring jamie oliver or KFC in) if my first two policys work, that is.:pac:

Daysha

Urizen wrote: »

Both of these fall under the accommodation officer of Union Council, and have been discussed at length, both in council and in other threads. The charges pay wages. If you can find someone to work for free, go ahead.

Are you honestly telling me the Campus Res staff are fully reliant on a €5 "administration fee" to pay their own wages?! According to the CV Campus Res made a profit of over €1.5 million last year, I wonder how much that would drop by if the guest fee would drop. Not much I'd imagine.

We're not asking people to work for free, we're asking for a bit of common sense. And charging people to stay in their own apartment when they're already paying well over €4000 for 8 months rent is ridiculous.

As for the original question, I heard there are proposals to bring in some sort of loyalty card for people who purchase food on campus and that sounds pretty cool. They have something similar in WIT called the WITcard where you top it up with credit using various machines around campus, and then use the card to pay for food or other supplies with a certain discount. Something like that here would work pretty well I'd say.

--LOS--

Insulting_Bitch wrote: »

Considering we had a lengthy thread on the elections…

If you were SU president what would you try do?

admit that I had no power :rolleyes:

Urizen

@phasers - Nyaww, can no one tell when I'm joking anymore? I mixed the humour with the seriousness. Some of these are serious issues. Some of those points ARE allocated to other officers in the Union, . And that Clubs & Socs Officer IS hotter than an Iceland volcano.

@Daysha - I didn't attend the meetings, I just heard the reports. Both John Murphy and Jackie Fox, as Ed Wel Officer and as Accommodation Officer, have met with Campus Res and discussed this. Apparently, the €5 pays for the person who comes in and reviews applications. I'm not saying I agree with it, but you can see the logic. It's been brought up a lot before too.

@Noodleworm - Poster thing, THANK you. Really, I'm as likely to look at one poster as I am to look at four beside each other.

And Subway, WANT!

gizmo

Urizen wrote: »

@Daysha - I didn't attend the meetings, I just heard the reports. Both John Murphy and Jackie Fox, as Ed Wel Officer and as Accommodation Officer, have met with Campus Res and discussed this. Apparently, the €5 pays for the person who comes in and reviews applications. I'm not saying I agree with it, but you can see the logic. It's been brought up a lot before too.

And therein lies the problem, there is no need to "bring someone in to review applications". With their existing setup there is no reason they couldn't do it during normal office hours with the staff they have.

That is besides the point though, the issue here is simple. People should be allowed to have guests in their rooms once they've been signed in by security. The old excuse as to why this wasn't possible was that there was an issue with the way the rooms in campus accommodation were classed legally. I can't remember the specifics but the end result was that they couldn't have people in the rooms who weren't the legal occupiers. This issue then disappeared when the new system was put in place, albeit with this new €5 fee.

The only thing that will fix this is putting a hell of a lot of pressure on Campus Residences over a prolonged period of time. Whether any one officer can do this is debatable of course but over time fingers crossed the situation can be changed.

Katniss everMean

I don't wanna be president, but one of you such get us a REAL Starbucks, no the french branch..

Want all the deals starbucks do along with being able to use a starbucks card!

andrew163

I'd make the seminar room available to societies again. Turning it into the mezz was a big blow to a large number of socs.

I'd also tear out the den area completely, split it into two or three smaller, nicer rooms. Make one of them the mezz if people *really* wanted it, make the others into more seminar room-type areas. The problem with the seminar room before wasn't that nobody was using it, it was that there was only one of them.

Urizen

gizmo wrote: »

The only thing that will fix this is putting a hell of a lot of pressure on Campus Residences over a prolonged period of time.

And hopefully next year's officers will continue what was started.

Green Hand Guy

Definitely agree with bringing back the seminar room. Turning it into the mezz was probably the most insane idea I saw this year. The hub hardly offered much space for Clubs and Socs activities as it was.

The old USIT office should definitely be used for something. Maybe a second equipment room? The current one is generally too full of sets, gym mats and unicycles to be able to reach anything.

Maybe the pool tables should be gotten rid of (a lot of them are missing balls and they tend to attract local skangers) and the whole area turned into some kind of space for Clubs and Socs stuff.

Also, more non-alcoholic union events would be very welcome. I'm sure there are other non-drinkers out there who would appreciate it as much as I would.

g5fd6ow0hseima

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

Definitely agree with bringing back the seminar room. Turning it into the mezz was probably the most insane idea I saw this year. The hub hardly offered much space for Clubs and Socs activities as it was.

Im sure that move was debated into the ground in this forum (I never bothered looking into it), but yeah, I fully agree that it was a stupid idea, and to me personally, the only retionale behind bringing it there was to suit a certain few people. I quite liked the old location, where I could buy a coffee and tip on up and mess about on the internet. I made the point of not bothering to go to the mezz this year.

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

The old USIT office should definitely be used for something. Maybe a second equipment room? The current one is generally too full of sets, gym mats and unicycles to be able to reach anything.

Also in agreement here. I only ever saw it used once, which was when student cards were up for collection at the beginning of the 08/09 year. It could definetly be used for many things.

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

Maybe the pool tables should be gotten rid of (a lot of them are missing balls and they tend to attract local skangers) and the whole area turned into some kind of space for Clubs and Socs stuff.

I take it you're referring to the tables other than those owned by the Pool soc?

--LOS--

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

Maybe the pool tables should be gotten rid of (a lot of them are missing balls and they tend to attract local skangers) and the whole area turned into some kind of space for Clubs and Socs stuff.

Since when have the pool tables been attracting local skangers?

Tiroskan

Luke Enough Prizefight wrote: »

Im sure that move was debated into the ground in this forum (I never bothered looking into it), but yeah, I fully agree that it was a stupid idea, and to me personally, the only retionale behind bringing it there was to suit a certain few people. I quite liked the old location, where I could buy a coffee and tip on up and mess about on the internet. I made the point of not bothering to go to the mezz this year.

Funnily enough, I don't remember really seeing it mentioned anywhere. But I'm the same. I think I've been in there once this year and I think we lost more by moving it from the canteen than we gained from it being moved to the hub. And I really miss stuff being on in the seminar room

GLaDOS

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

Maybe the pool tables should be gotten rid of (a lot of them are missing balls and they tend to attract local skangers) and the whole area turned into some kind of space for Clubs and Socs stuff.

Nonsense, I play on them all the time, just have to count the balls to make sure they're all there.

Don't know where you're getting attracting local skangers from.

TheChrisD

Obviously you've never been in there late at night putting equipment back that you had to lug all the way from the Henry Grattan building because the room that you used to use was turned into an Xbox mezzanine...

GLaDOS

TheChrisD wrote: »

Obviously you've never been in there late at night putting equipment back that you had to lug all the way from the Henry Grattan building because the room that you used to use was turned into an Xbox mezzanine...

Fair enough, that's a security issue though

--LOS--

I've been out in DCU at all hours and I've never encountered local skangers around the place as you put it, that's a very false image of DCU and one that really doesn't do much in the way of quashing some ignorant views of people that don't even go there.

g5fd6ow0hseima

I usually take the same view as yourself regarding how its percieved by stupid ****wits from the 'larger' colleges but I've recently came to notice a few skangers walking about the place, and this being my third year here. About two weeks ago during the middle of the day I seen two 'malnourished buds' walking by the new bicycle rack on the green and one of them gave the back wheel of a bike a tug to see if it had been changed.

Then a few days later, I seen the gards get out of their squad car and apprehend two knackers on bikes. They wernt taken away, but they were spoken to for a few minutes. I can only presume the gards were called, as this was up at the astroturf pitches.

--LOS--

Unless it's a recent development, I've never noticed it before, it's still far from the amount of scum that have to be hauled out of trinity by the security guards. Just grates on me when people ask oh so sneeringly "how's Ballymun?" :rolleyes:

Urizen

That's town for ya. I've had much more hassle in town than I've ever had around DCU. But there have been a good few scumbags in the past hanging around the tables. And, apparently, the back stairs of the Hub have been pretty bad in the past for all sorts.

But yeah, people insult us for our location. At least we didn't have our buses cancelled due to assaults, did we?

--LOS--

Urizen wrote: »

That's town for ya. I've had much more hassle in town than I've ever had around DCU. But there have been a good few scumbags in the past hanging around the tables. And, apparently, the back stairs of the Hub have been pretty bad in the past for all sorts.

But yeah, people insult us for our location. At least we didn't have our buses cancelled due to assaults, did we?

Ye it's hugely ignorant though, it's not Ballyman, it's Glasnevin right

I have to say I've never had any hassle walking home late or anything around there.

Katniss everMean

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

Definitely agree with bringing back the seminar room. Turning it into the mezz was probably the most insane idea I saw this year. The hub hardly offered much space for Clubs and Socs activities as it was.

The old USIT office should definitely be used for something. Maybe a second equipment room? The current one is generally too full of sets, gym mats and unicycles to be able to reach anything.

I don't get why drama still have all their sets in the equipment room in the first place, they now have the old mezz as their private room, they should move their stuff up out of everyone else way.

g5fd6ow0hseima

Angelkat7 wrote: »

I don't get why drama still have all their sets in the equipment room in the first place, they now have the old mezz as their private room, they should move their stuff up out of everyone else way.

Maybe they're a law into themselves, seperate to every other society?

That's about all I can think of.

Urizen

The Mezz is an informal thing, and it's gone for them next year, being turned into a staff canteen from what I hear. Which I strongly disagree with, as they already have one. We need more rooms just for clubs & socs, we're being marginalised.

gizmo

Angelkat7 wrote: »

I don't get why drama still have all their sets in the equipment room in the first place, they now have the old mezz as their private room, they should move their stuff up out of everyone else way.

Has anyone actually asked them about it?

Einstein?

• A subway would be extremely successful, and very good value for money.
  
• Tired of the long queue at 1pm at spar ... every day.
  
• Make the hub a hub. The hub is certainly not a hub, the hub needs to be more attractive than what it is.
  
• Fix the damn automatic doors outside the Henry Grattan. I'm tired of reducing myself to a disabled person every time I want to enter that building. Also fix the rotating doors of the hub. Remove the rubbish at the entrance of the hub.
  
• Sport related events, it's a real good method to break the ice and meet new people!
  
• Couches in the Science building.
  
• Physical removal of the Gestapo inside the library.
  
• Fix the projector in some of the lecture halls. You know the way there is little bits on the edge that just ruin the lecture?
  
• Cheaper food in the canteen.
  
• Annual sports event.
  
• A printer in all the different schools.
  
• Tired of spiders crawling up your ass? Benches in the green area for those lovely summer days.
  
• Events ~ less getting pissed related.
  
• And the thing about alcohol related events... the E&S ... it has to stop! Sure, once in a while its OK - why not? The net number of votes in the SU election shows the sheer lack of support in the SU, as only very small fraction of students are actually GETTING INVOLVED.
  
• Bottom line
  - get people involved.
  
• And as the FAQ around here says, there is people that are no life nerds and people that do something with their time, and make the most of it. In my opinion, people just rather go out with their friends to somewhere local than just sign up on some biggest craic of your life SU event. All of the students at DCU don't fit on the same boat, there needs to be a variety of events throughout the academic year that accommodate everyone at least once.

and theres a whole bunch of other worthwhile stuff you could do as a SU president.

Alan Keegan on the first day at DCU ~ my role is ... I don't know.. the irony of the irony.

phantom_lord

how do you guys plan on paying for all this stuff?

andrew163

Einstein? wrote: »

A subway would be extremely successful, and very good value for money.

I'm presuming you mean the sandwich company As much as I can't stand their food, agreed on this.

Make the hub a hub. The hub is certainly not a hub, the hub needs to be more attractive than what it is.

Not sure what you mean by this. Just aesthetic improvements, or would you add something to it? IMO the looks of the place are the least of its problems.

Cheaper food in the canteen.

As long as nobody pulls a Charlene Connolly (piss everyone off with stupid protests, destroy relations with the university for years to come) on it, I somewhat agree on this. There are some very good deals in the canteen though, you just need to look closely.

Annual sports event.

Eh? Sports day?

Events ~ less getting pissed related.

And the thing about alcohol related events... the E&S ... it has to stop! Sure, once in a while its OK - why not? The net number of votes in the SU election shows the sheer lack of support in the SU, as only very small fraction of students are actually GETTING INVOLVED.

Agree on getting more people involved (a difficult task though, and one more suited to campaigns and information officer - hope Collie realises he has an uphill battle involving more then just the occasional poster). Not sure what you mean with the E&S bit. They're gone now.

And as the FAQ around here says, there is people that are no life nerds and people that do something with their time, and make the most of it. In my opinion, people just rather go out with their friends to somewhere local than just sign up on some biggest craic of your life SU event. All of the students at DCU don't fit on the same boat, there needs to be a variety of events throughout the academic year that accommodate everyone at least once.

Yep. Agreed on this.

adamski8

phantom_lord wrote: »

how do you guys plan on paying for all this stuff?

disband the SU and use their wages to pay for it:p

Einstein?

About the hub not being a hub, I don't see how you don't understand me. A hub, by its definition, should be where the majority of students come together and do student related activities.

By all means, the hub is fine the way it is. But it could be much better. The nu bar downstairs is great, but upstairs you have offices and more offices. There should be more space for the different societies and clubs in the hub. A coffee shop like the one under the library wouldn't be a bad idea. The sheer fact that the hub is half empty nearly all the time supports my point.

About sports, I can't believe there is no sports day.. it would be great imo. We've got huge parks down near the tennis courts and their not appreciated.

And yes I know the E&S are gone..

Urizen

There is a sports day, of sorts. The SCC run one, it's just not fully utilized or advertised. This will hopefully be fixed for next year.

phasers

Are students allowed use the Macs in the Hub? Deadly! I just assumed they were for some sort of official use.

/noob

gizmo

adamski8 wrote: »

disband the SU and use their wages to pay for it:p

I think you overestimate how much they get paid.

Einstein? wrote: »

About sports, I can't believe there is no sports day.. it would be great imo. We've got huge parks down near the tennis courts and their not appreciated.

If the SU wanted to organise more events with the Clubs & Societies in the college then that would be a fantastic way of doing it. While the SCC do run one, getting the SU involved would perhaps open it up to the entire student body.

Urizen

gizmo wrote: »

If the SU wanted to organise more events with the Clubs & Societies in the college then that would be a fantastic way of doing it. While the SCC do run one, getting the SU involved would perhaps open it up to the entire student body.

Good thing it's one of my election ideas so, isn't it? :P

Insulting_Bitch

phantom_lord wrote: »

how do you guys plan on paying for all this stuff?

Rag week money.
:P

phantom_lord

would be a much better use than giving it to charities.

robby^5

phasers wrote: »

Are students allowed use the Macs in the Hub? Deadly! I just assumed they were for some sort of official use.

/noob

That was a by-product of the terrible idea to turn the seminar room into the mezz.

The Mac's are tucked away behind the reception, conveniently outside the offices of the SU. I'd hazard a guess that most students dont even know they're back there unless they're one of those people who spend a large proportion of their time hanging around the offices. If I wasnt in the know I'd assume they were the SU's Mac's.

The Old Bar should be gutted and turned into a new seminar room and a café. The lobby of the old bar could become a new seminar room and shut off from the main old bar and then a main entrance for a café/sandwich bar/subway could be at the patio area.

The Hub has gotten progressively worse since I first started in DCU, every year something about it gets worse. This year was the diabolical idea to get rid of the seminar room, shafting lots of societies in the process and I'm sure some equally ridiculous idea will ruin it further next year.

OrionsBelt

i assumed that the logic behind moving the mezz to the seminar room was to open up the original mezz (above the restaurant) for clubs and societies to use instead of the seminar room.

TheChrisD

OrionsBelt wrote: »

i assumed that the logic behind moving the mezz to the seminar room was to open up the original mezz (above the restaurant) for clubs and societies to use instead of the seminar room.

Possibly yes, but that area is so much further away from the centre of activity than the Hub, and most of the societies that used to use the seminar room have their equipment stored in the Hub, making the trek more hassle than it's worth.

Yes, what Robby said makes sense. With the nuBar being the college bar, the Old Bar can be refurbished into something different that would see it used a lot more.