Charity Week on week 6?

freyners

so i as looking over the ULSU ents page on facebook and it was announced that Charity week is on in week 6, according to my timetable thing thats starting the 28th of Feb.

Also i noticed from comments on the pages that this clashes with f.y.p deadlines, midterms etc.

So what im wondering is why has it been changed to week six from week 9. considering all the problems it creates for a good part of the student body? Is there a big act that is only free that week or what? If any of the sabbats or anyone in ents could answer this it would be appreciated!!

Catch15

Week 9 pushes closer to exams or project dates for other courses, you're never going to keep everyone happy really..

freyners

Catch15 wrote: »

Week 9 pushes closer to exams or project dates for other courses, you're never going to keep everyone happy really..

truth..i seem to remember someone starting a thread last year about hate charity week altogether...all im trying to figure out is why the change,,not really attacking it..sorry if my post comes across like it

Although im slight p*ssed off that if it is the 28th it clashes with galway rag week;)

interesteduser

No matter what week it is a large amount of students will always find a fault with something about it.

People are saying its too early and that weather will be awful for it - UCC, LIT, Mary I and a host of colleges in Dublin all have their RAG/Charity weeks in early/mid February and there is never usually any complaint about their timing.

When you look at calendar week 6 is really the only available week. Week 7 is Union AGM, week 8 is Club/Socs ball and Paddys day and week 9 is Election week - all of which are labour intensive weeks in their own right.

Can see where people are coming from saying its too early but unless someone can come up with a viable alternative in an already packed semester there is really no other option!

freyners

interesteduser wrote: »

No matter what week it is a large amount of students will always find a fault with something about it.

People are saying its too early and that weather will be awful for it - UCC, LIT, Mary I and a host of colleges in Dublin all have their RAG/Charity weeks in early/mid February and there is never usually any complaint about their timing.

When you look at calendar week 6 is really the only available week. Week 7 is Union AGM, week 8 is Club/Socs ball and Paddys day and week 9 is Election week - all of which are labour intensive weeks in their own right.

Can see where people are coming from saying its too early but unless someone can come up with a viable alternative in an already packed semester there is really no other option!

thanks thats what i was wanting to no more than anything else.. again ive had no real issue with the change personally, was just interested to find out why

Hulk Hands

I think its ridiculous. Having UL rag week late worked, as it gave better weather and students could spend their time outside enjoying themselves. We are out from the city, so dont have an abundance of pubs which students of other rag weeks earlier in the year would spend their time in.

With all due respect to the other events on in weeks 7 and 9 (or even 10?), Charity week is far more important to the vast majority of students than any of these events. Charity week should have been scheduled first, and let the other events work around it.

Also the decision to put it on the same week as Galway's is horrible. The one's who will lose out in the end are the charities. I know that sounds a bit high and mighty from me, who is angry from a selfish craic point of view, but I can guarantee that money raised will be down this year as many students, myself included, who might have otherwise contributed handsomely, will be spending half their week in Galway.

PeakOutput

no matter what time its at 4th years will be affected, if it was week 9 like last year i would have my fyp demo day and presentation during rag week and my draft report due in the next week and my final report due in 2 weeks after that

week 6 happens to be great for me

also the fact that easter week is the week before reading week might have something to do with it aswell

Seloth

I'm only in first year but does the week get sponsorship?

I was just looking at IADT one and they seem too have a good set up.

schuman_stalker

There was quite a big push last year to have it as late as possible if i remember rightly.... it really doesn't make sense to go back to week 6? i remember it coming up at agm and everything to have it later, the given reason that it made sense to have it after campaigns and also students would have much better weather... surely a union showing its concern for the needs of the student body?

having it in week 6 either means students' desire for better weather no longer exists, or the union don't have as much concern for the needs of the student body...

canned_ulkc

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Also the decision to put it on the same week as Galway's is horrible. The one's who will lose out in the end are the charities. I know that sounds a bit high and mighty from me, who is angry from a selfish craic point of view, but I can guarantee that money raised will be down this year as many students, myself included, who might have otherwise contributed handsomely, will be spending half their week in Galway.

I don't understand.... do people go on a tour of Charity/Rag weeks? If the timetable was right would people be "doing" NUIG one week and UL the next?

Will a complainant's contribution to charities be less because they are the same week? If so - why?



(All credit to you for admitting the "selfish" reasoning btw)

daithi_lacha

That means that the last day of the great race collides with the first day of teaching practice :mad: Ah well as said before ya can't please them all

freyners

canned_ulkc wrote: »

I don't understand.... do people go on a tour of Charity/Rag weeks? If the timetable was right would people be "doing" NUIG one week and UL the next?

Will a complainant's contribution to charities be less because they are the same week? If so - why?



(All credit to you for admitting the "selfish" reasoning btw)

yes alot of people do go to other rag weeks,
Personally, i was two days of the galway one last year (because most of the people i went to secondary school with go to nuig).
alot of people i no went to galway and corks..some even dublin.

starfish1

on the brightside though at least if you miss everything during rag week,it won't be too difficult catching up on work-week 9 is pretty close to exams and probably not the best time for it...as long as its on sure i don't mind

cson

Study week is preceded by a week off this year so a late Rag [hate Charity name on it tbh] Week wouldn't be such a disaster imo.

seanman is me

In all fairness the weather we get is pure luck!! not much of a difference in 3 weeks!! Week 6 is good for me , the sooner the better plus more recovery time to catch up! However Mid terms exams could **** things up a little!!

Hulk Hands

canned_ulkc wrote: »

I don't understand.... do people go on a tour of Charity/Rag weeks?

In a word Yes. Especially students who would have friends in college elsewhere.

canned_ulkc wrote: »

If the timetable was right would people be "doing" NUIG one week and UL the next?

Usually they're a bit further apart but again, Yes.

canned_ulkc wrote: »

Will a complainant's contribution to charities be less because they are the same week? If so - why?

For example there is usually a band/gig on in the college on the Thursday of Rag week. Instead of going and paying in to this, many students will spend Thursday night in Galway, especially those who will find it easier to get home from there on Friday. The students displaced arent made up in turn by visitors, as non UL students cant attend our gigs and generally cant get into the stables where numerous collectors would be placed.

This is just one example but the like will be happening all week.

Hulk Hands

seanman is me wrote: »

In all fairness the weather we get is pure luck!! not much of a difference in 3 weeks!!

There is a big difference though. I'm pretty sure rainfall is well down in early April as opposed to early March.

Decent weather is essential for a good UL rag week. The best Rag week I can remember was 2 years ago when the sun was splitting the rocks all week. Everyone came away saying it was a masterstroke from the SU having it on in week 10 that year. Thats partly why this decision baffles me.

ninty9er

The initial idea was that in consultation with the other universities we would all have it the same week. This has been on the agenda for about 3 years as an experiment in the impact (or lack thereof) on anti-social behaviour, as it is widely reported by security on all campuses and Gardaí in different towns and cities that it is visiting students that cause the vast majority of damage and trouble.

It hasn't worked this year either, but we have managed to run with NUIG (I'm not entirely sure it didn't just happen that way)

As regards weather, you may have missed the newsflash, but this is Ireland and there can be floods at any time of the year.

freyners

ninty9er wrote: »

The initial idea was that in consultation with the other universities we would all have it the same week. This has been on the agenda for about 3 years as an experiment in the impact (or lack thereof) on anti-social behaviour, as it is widely reported by security on all campuses and Gardaí in different towns and cities that it is visiting students that cause the vast majority of damage and trouble.

It hasn't worked this year either, but we have managed to run with NUIG (I'm not entirely sure it didn't just happen that way)

As regards weather, you may have missed the newsflash, but this is Ireland and there can be floods at any time of the year.

that might be a good idea but i can see one huge obstacle in trying to see this happening...and thats exams. Nuigs 2nd semester starting last monday.....we dont restart until tomorrow week. So stuff like midterms/elections etc are on different weeks. gonna be hard to organise the same week for everyone

daithi_lacha

I thought there was an observation, and indeed admission by gardaí, the students union and even residents that the level of anti-social behavior last year was down on other years. This was partially down to the work of the 'MnM's', and partially down to students quite simply having less money to spend.

Many people I spoke to out on the streets were having 1 or 2 nights 'on the tear' rather than a whole week quite simply due to lack of funds.... Many residents and gardaí commended the work of the Students Union for making a visible effort to 'reform' some of the channels of anti-social behavior.

Finally, Derek, with regard to 'floods at any time of the year', again there was a very conscious campaign last year as mentioned above to have Charity Week later in the year so that students would have better weather. It's not promised, naturally, but it's more likely in week 9 than in week 6! And that's from the mouth of last years sabbats, not mine!

On a less abrupt note - hopefully the MnM's will be back this year, they really gave the SU a great image with local residents and did genuinely help cut back on anti-social behavior. Granted, not everything was stopped, but you're going to have something negative at any event be it UL Charity Week, or a match in Croke Park!

Hulk Hands

ninty9er wrote: »

The initial idea was that in consultation with the other universities we would all have it the same week. This has been on the agenda for about 3 years as an experiment in the impact (or lack thereof) on anti-social behaviour, as it is widely reported by security on all campuses and Gardaí in different towns and cities that it is visiting students that cause the vast majority of damage and trouble.

It hasn't worked this year either, but we have managed to run with NUIG (I'm not entirely sure it didn't just happen that way)

As regards weather, you may have missed the newsflash, but this is Ireland and there can be floods at any time of the year.

But there is still more chance of better weather later on. In all likelihood, its going to be neither raining nor sunny, but cloudy. At least if it was later the temperature would be high enough to spend the day outside. Like I said earlier in the thread, its not like we're inundated with pubs around UL. I always associated UL rag week with groups of students sitting outside enjoying themselves. Won't happen this year.

So basically the only reason your giving for the switch is that it's to stop students heading up to NUIG's week, and that may not even be a factor?

I just realised that the majority of 4th years will be up to their ears in FYP's that week, so it's screwing them (us) over too. I'm hoping that someone will be on to explain this decision in the coming week, as its looking like it's completely void of any logic

mulner92

what sort of things will be on charity week?

Mossin

OMG, stop the press, some people are annoyed about when Charity Week has been scheduled! :rolleyes:

Tbh it shouldnt matter when it is on, if people are into the spirit of the event, and that is for raising and giving monies to charities, and not seeing the week as a chance to get completely wasted [yes I know thats not what a lot of students will think], then Charity Week will be a success.

The fact that some students will go elsewhere for RAG weeks says little for they think of all the hard work that the SU and ENTS put into organising Charity Week in UL.
It was highlighted that we dont have the same number of pubs in the vicinity to go on the lash in, hence why the Stables is put under so much pressure, and the requirement for tickets, all of which goes to charity also.

Somebody mentioned that non-UL students cant attend our gigs - this is a load of nonsense, as I've known plenty of students over the past 5 years who have bought tickets for friends who either go to college elsewhere, and in some cases for non-students altogether, and they have been able to attend organised events.

The weather issue will always be raised, but nobody complained at Xmas Daze, and the weather was cold and miserable [yes I know the events were indoors in comparison to what will be organised during Charity week]. Week 6 could be the best weeks weather we get all year [I'm not sure what date it will fall - I think its the 1st week of March].

Hulk Hands

Funny, I cant seem to remember anyone complaining about the timing last year when it was in its fairly standard week 9 slot. But I must commend your post for highlighting all the more that good weather is essential to a good rag week.

There would be no danger of losing students to other rag weeks if the timing wasn't changed. It's understandable that some students have friends elsewhere with whom they would also like to share the "craic" with.

I really should get back to working on my FYP, otherwise I will have no time at all that week to partake in anything. sigh

CiaranMT

To take this thread in another direction, I'm wondering if the Ents members on here could let us know what is planned for this year in terms of gigs etc?

Personally, would love to see an electronic night with UL DJs/local DJs getting a slot, culminating in an up-and-coming act that would have a wide enough appeal, to finish the night.

Someone like this Scottish guy would be a real winner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os82RSWJjWE

Track taken by Chris Brown for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhgbiHxT_mI

While on Study Abroad in Canada, I saw him live in Toronto, and to say the crowd were like putty in his hands would be an understatement. He was phenomenal, had no problem with the crowd dancing around his mixing desk up on the stage, and I think he'd have a big crossover appeal for people into pop, hip-hop, electro and dance.

No clue about going rates or the like, but I'd imagine he wouldn't be too expensive, since he's still relatively underground and hasn't quite made the break.

seanman is me

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I think its ridiculous. Having UL rag week late worked, as it gave better weather and students could spend their time outside enjoying themselves. We are out from the city, so dont have an abundance of pubs which students of other rag weeks earlier in the year would spend their time in.

With all due respect to the other events on in weeks 7 and 9 (or even 10?), Charity week is far more important to the vast majority of students than any of these events. Charity week should have been scheduled first, and let the other events work around it.

Also the decision to put it on the same week as Galway's is horrible. The one's who will lose out in the end are the charities. I know that sounds a bit high and mighty from me, who is angry from a selfish craic point of view, but I can guarantee that money raised will be down this year as many students, myself included, who might have otherwise contributed handsomely, will be spending half their week in Galway.

Ya but what about all the galway students coming down to vist us??? They can vist us too!

Hulk Hands

Yes but students from other colleges aren't allowed into the courtyard area or Stables during RAG week so can't contribute to the many collectors around the area. Somebody said above that they are allowed to attend our gigs/events. I don't know if this is true. In either case it can be effectively guaranteed that charity takings will be down this year, and a large part of that is due to the timing of the week.

I am disappointed that nobody has been on to give a reason for the change. Only ninty9er (Derek Daly) has given an (half) excuse and he doesn't know whether that was a factor in the decision. It's got me thinking that there actually is no logical reason for the changing in Charity week timing this year and that the SU has simply made a massive cock-up.

Perhaps somebody could come on to explain the decision, or even attempt to make up an excuse.

Mossin

How about you wait and discover if Charity Week is a failure before you doom it before it has even begun...

Hulk Hands

Sorry, i'm just going by places like my facebook news feed which is full of status' such as...."what tool has decided to schedule Rag week for week 6?"

Also there are a large portion of 4th year student's who simply wont be able to "wait and discover" whether Rag week is a failure, as they will be finishing off FYP's that week and wont be able to experience Rag week at all. Thats not to mention the students that will invariably be disrupted by the mid-terms that tend to crop up around that time.

But anyway, you can see the reaction for yourself when we get back Monday and the news is made known to the masses.

It's irrelevant whether this Rag week is successful or not. A reason deserves to be given as to why it has been changed from its regular slot in late march, where btw it has always been successful.

NFL

I also agree that week 6 is a disaster, this is the last charity week for many 4th years and to think they will be sweating it out trying to finish their fyp's.
Week 9 has milder weather, no midterms, and just far enough away from the final exams.

Surely charity week should have been set a date first, and other minor events be dated around charity week.

freyners

Hulk Hands wrote:

Sorry, i'm just going by places like my facebook news feed which is full of status' such as...."what tool has decided to schedule Rag week for week 6?

i can second this, loads of people on my news feed saying things similar, lot of comments underneath too.

ninty9er wrote:

As regards weather, you may have missed the newsflash, but this is Ireland and there can be floods at any time of the year.

thats a cop-out if i ever saw one, doesnt take a genius to work out that the further you go away from winter, the less likelihood of rain/floods, especially when april (which starts two days after week nine) is the dryest month in ireland

CiaranMT

Mossin wrote: »

How about you wait and discover if Charity Week is a failure before you doom it before it has even begun...

Well said.

freyners wrote: »

thats a cop-out if i ever saw one, doesnt take a genius to work out that the further you go away from winter, the less likelihood of rain/floods, especially when april (which starts two days after week nine) is the dryest month in ireland

So, still March then? The weather doesn't make the week, the activities do. Twas wet for the boat race last year, still brilliant craic!

GodlessM

Ah, so they're still trying to serenade this as 'Charity Week' huh? The more things change the more they stay the same.

freyners

CiaranMT wrote:

So, still March then? The weather doesn't make the week, the activities do. Twas wet for the boat race last year, still brilliant craic!

in fairness, theres usually a big difference between early march and late march...and alot of activities would be weather dependant too

btw im not trying to make out i have a crystal ball saying what weather it will be, it might be sunny in week 6 and it might rain week 9, and visa versa, but generally its well accepted that the weather is generally better around april and the closer you have it to that the greater likelihood of better weather.

btw i really hope im wrong as i want to have the craic charity week regardless,

ninty9er

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Sorry, i'm just going by places like my facebook news feed which is full of status' such as...."what tool has decided to schedule Rag week for week 6?"

Also there are a large portion of 4th year student's who simply wont be able to "wait and discover" whether Rag week is a failure, as they will be finishing off FYP's that week and wont be able to experience Rag week at all. Thats not to mention the students that will invariably be disrupted by the mid-terms that tend to crop up around that time.

But anyway, you can see the reaction for yourself when we get back Monday and the news is made known to the masses.

It's irrelevant whether this Rag week is successful or not. A reason deserves to be given as to why it has been changed from its regular slot in late march, where btw it has always been successful.

Week 9 is election week. It has to be constitutionally.
Week 8 has Paddy's day in the middle
Week 7 will see most Irish bands go touring the world for Paddy's day
Week 10 is too late as it's close to exam time
The other option was Easter holidays, but that was decided against as the BICS awards are that week and it's a massive opportunity to catch up administratively
Week 5 was too early to get acts to play outdoors.

FYPs are due from weeks 1 to week 10, so that is not taken into consideration.

Hulk Hands

Ok, i'll start by saying that Rag week took place in week 10 in 2008 and by all accounts was a raging success. There is also a late week off after Easter this year, so there is absolutely no reason why it couldn't have been scheduled for week 10. In fact, this is actually the perfect week when you take into account weather.

Week 8 out obviously. I'll be interested to check whether the bands booked were actually taken up during week 7, but anyway thats early March so no problem with that not being chosen either.

Do the elections have to be in week 9? What week were they last year seeing as Charity week was week 9 last year? Could they not have been scheduled for week 10?

It's a sad but true fact that many students (i'm willing to say majority), couldn't give a toss about SU elections. In fact, many students only care about one aspect of the SU, organising a good RAG week. This is the week that's most important to a majority of students, it should take precedence over everything else and let other events work around it.

I find it funny to see how passionate some people have gotten in other threads regarding some officers political bias, and whether a candidates personal opinions should be made known to voters. In actual fact, a large portion of the student body couldn't care less whether somebody is involved with FF or not. A wet RAG week though in the middle of midterms will be remembered. Sad but true.

Ginge Young

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Ok, i'll start by saying that Rag week took place in week 10 in 2008 and by all accounts was a raging success. There is also a late week off after Easter this year, so there is absolutely no reason why it couldn't have been scheduled for week 10. In fact, this is actually the perfect week when you take into account weather.

Actually in 2008 RAG Week took place in Week 7 having checked over my e-mails from back then.

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Do the elections have to be in week 9? What week were they last year seeing as Charity week was week 9 last year? Could they not have been scheduled for week 10?

As Derek said, as per the SU Constitution the elections must take place in Week 9. Unless you want them during Paddy's Week. While I can agree with you that sadly not many students seem to care with regards all of this, if they did take that bit of time to care they would have noticed that attempts were made to amend the Constitution so that this problem would not occur. I cannot remember if this was last semester, or this semester last year, but it was attempted.

Hulk Hands

Ginge Young wrote: »

Actually in 2008 RAG Week took place in Week 7 having checked over my e-mails from back then.

My mistake sorry. It took place in week 10 in 09. It took place during week 7 in 08 alright, I remember Cheltenham was on at the same time. Weather was sketchy iirc. Weather was brilliant a year later.

Ginge Young wrote: »

As Derek said, as per the SU Constitution the elections must take place in Week 9.

Why? And why have the elections took place over different weeks in different years? Not giving out btw, i'm genuinely interested in the answer.

Ginge Young

It is specifically written into the Constitution that the new incoming Sabbats must be elected by Friday of Week 9.

I think it can technically go on any time before that.

Hulk Hands

Thanks for that.

I see that last year the SU body placed the elections on during week 7, and Charity week in week 9. I question why this same strategy wasn't implemented this year? Had the SU suddenly decided this year that the elections were of greater importance to a larger portion of the student body? :rolleyes:

Either way, there could have been the best of both world's had Charity week been organised for week 10. As Ninty9er so nicely pointed out earlier on, all 4th years would be finished their FYP's that week.

ninty9er

Regardless of what week Charity Week is the majority will always find reason to complain, irrespective of justification.

CiaranMT

ninty9er wrote: »

Regardless of what week Charity Week is the majority will always find reason to complain, irrespective of justification.

And still proceed to have a great bloody week of it.

ninty9er

CiaranMT wrote: »

And still proceed to have a great bloody week of it.

And the charity take will probably, again despite all the best efforts, be less than 50c per head for general fundraising.

daithi_lacha

ninty9er wrote: »

And the charity take will probably, again despite all the best efforts, be less than 50c per head for general fundraising.

not a great statistic though considering a fair portion of students will be away on tp or placement, and another portion locked up doing fyp's and the like... I still don't see why the election weeks can't be juggled around as in the past...

sceptre

Ginge Young wrote: »

It is specifically written into the Constitution that the new incoming Sabbats must be elected by Friday of Week 9.

I think it can technically go on any time before that.

It can.

CiaranMT

ninty9er wrote: »

And the charity take will probably, again despite all the best efforts, be less than 50c per head for general fundraising.

99er, as a matter of interest, could you tell us what percentage of gigs, events and the like go to charity?

ninty9er

CiaranMT wrote: »

99er, as a matter of interest, could you tell us what percentage of gigs, events and the like go to charity?

Any profits made from the gigs during the week are donated. There hasn't been a significantly profitable week in a number of years. The Union budget has even had to subsidise the donation in past years but didn't last year as it's not sustainable.

toodleytoo

new video up promoting rag week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64a9ziP8ao

CiaranMT

toodleytoo wrote: »

new video up promoting rag week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64a9ziP8ao

Nice video, but lads, who's proof-reading in the SU? I saw Chaity Week towards the end of that clip.

daithi_lacha

can't wait to find out what 'bungie jump' is too