No SU backing of RAG week?

PomBear

In exchange for the Students’ Union not holding a College/Rag Week, the University agrees to the following:
1. Support for a one-day concert/festival to replace Rag Week (the possibilities here are currently being looked at by a Rag Week Alternative Committee, headed up by Conor Healy, the SU Education Officer).
2. An extra €60,000 a year contribution to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), which is used to help students at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship. This would almost triple the University’s current contribution to this fund and keep an estimated 60 to 75 students in college who otherwise would have had to drop out.
3. A guarantee not to introduce charges to visit a doctor or nurse at the Student Health Unit in Áras na Mac Léinn. This would ensure this heavily-used service remains free for students.
4. The abolition of the current €2 charge for members of University sports clubs, who are not members of the Kingfisher gym, when they need to use the facilities there for club training.
5. The provision of a number of prominent, permanent SU notice boards around campus.

It has yet to be brought to the SU council but what are your thoughts?

wallpaper12

It looks like the college is just trying to blackmail the SU. It is ridiculou that the college has that extra 60 grand but wont use it unless the SU stop supporting rag week. The festival thing is a bit stupid too, where do they plan on holding this? I cant think of anywhere that will hold a couple of thousand students.
People are going to celebrate rag week whether or not the SU endorse it so te SU might as well make some money out of it by holding official events.

hokeypokey

In fairness if they raised 30k last year, the 60k seems pretty good. The SU also pay probably more than 30k in damages because of RAG week... The SU can hardly endorse RAG week as the way it is... It is a monster...

NuckyT

Knowing the SU, the one-day concert/festival will probably consist of 12 hours of the Rubberbandits + Dj Byrno! :rolleyes:

Dman001

Mightn't be a bad idea, seeing as students will just go on the piss whatever week the concert/festival is held and consider it RAG Week anyway!

WesternNight

Trading an extra €60,000 per year in the SAF and guaranteed free healthcare for the SU not supporting RAG week is a no-brainer.

IsThisIt???

Well the health center thing is more of a threat than a compromise and the kingfisher bit is about a charge that shouldn't exist (won't get into that idiotic deal that was made when the kingfisher was built). As was already said the 60000 extra shouldn't just be lying around.

It's pure blackmail by the college that the SU may fold to, but it won't make a difference. Students will celebrate RAG week no matter and some crappy concert will only let everyone know when Rag week would have been.

I would be interested in seeing them try to attract some big names for the gig though...... Republic of Loose anyone?? :P

WesternNight

IsThisIt??? wrote: »

Well the health center thing is more of a threat than a compromise and the kingfisher bit is about a charge that shouldn't exist (won't get into that idiotic deal that was made when the kingfisher was built). As was already said the 60000 extra shouldn't just be lying around.

It's pure blackmail by the college that the SU may fold to, but it won't make a difference. Students will celebrate RAG week no matter and some crappy concert will only let everyone know when Rag week would have been.

I would be interested in seeing them try to attract some big names for the gig though...... Republic of Loose anyone?? :P

Yes, that will all still happen, only now dozens of students every year who may otherwise have been forced to drop out will no longer have to because of that extra assistance from the SAF. That's not exactly insignificant.

IsThisIt???

WesternNight wrote: »

Yes, that will all still happen, only now dozens of students every year who may otherwise have been forced to drop out will no longer have to because of that extra assistance from the SAF. That's not exactly insignificant.

True, and as I said in my post that money should have been made available already. Would this money have been made available if the University didn't want something from the SU

WesternNight

That's something you'd have to take up with University management.

wallpaper12

I would also like to see the stats backing up their claim that an extra 75 students will stay in college because of this extra money, the max you ca claim for the SAF is only 1200 and they have made changes this year so you can only claim for two expenses so most people wont even make it near the 1200.
I have serious doubts that a couple of hundred euro is the difference between 75 people staying in college or dropping out

strawberryb0y

I have to be honest I don't like the blackmail nature of this proposal.
I also think that announcing this on Facebook only, 48 hours before the vote on it takes place is pretty poor form too.

Ficheall

PomBear wrote: »

1. Support for a one-day concert/festival to replace Rag Week (the possibilities here are currently being looked at by a Rag Week Alternative Committee, headed up by Conor Healy, the SU Education Officer).

As mentioned previously, there will always be a RAG week unless the college actively discourages it. The concert/festival will be a crap waste of money.
And if it is just one day then everyone will go out and get completely unmanageably pissed that night.

PomBear wrote: »

2. An extra €60,000 a year contribution to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), which is used to help students at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship. This would almost triple the University’s current contribution to this fund and keep an estimated 60 to 75 students in college who otherwise would have had to drop out.

This sounds like out and out bribery, though it may be a case of two wrongs making a right. The issue, of course, lies in whether folk care about their fellow students.

PomBear wrote: »

3. A guarantee not to introduce charges to visit a doctor or nurse at the Student Health Unit in Áras na Mac Léinn. This would ensure this heavily-used service remains free for students.

An absolutely worthless guarantee. If they want to introduce a fee then they will find a way around it. This reads more as a threat to introduce a fee.

PomBear wrote: »

4. The abolition of the current €2 charge for members of University sports clubs, who are not members of the Kingfisher gym, when they need to use the facilities there for club training.

As it should be. Who's offering this though? Are the college paying the Kingfisher extra, or are they renegotiating that bull**** agreement? Or are the Kingfisher willing to sacrifice money to help get rid of RAG week?

PomBear wrote: »

5. The provision of a number of prominent, permanent SU notice boards around campus.

I doubt anyone cares...

strawberryb0y wrote: »

I also think that announcing this on Facebook only, 48 hours before the vote on it takes place is pretty poor form too.

Care to elaborate on this for those of us who aren't on facewank? Where and when is this vote on, and who can vote/speak on the matter?

WesternNight

Ficheall wrote: »

Care to elaborate on this for those of us who aren't on facewank? Where and when is this vote on, and who can vote/speak on the matter?

This is the bit I have an issue with.

I have no real problems with the deal, but anyone who isn't on Facebook or otherwise actively in contact with the SU won't have a clue that it's even happening.

The vote is on tomorrow (Monday) at 6pm in AM250 and anyone can be there, but it's Class Reps/SU who vote. Class Reps are supposed to have spoken to their classes about it, but they've had their first training yesterday so I struggle to see how that's realistic. Plus some classes don't even have CRs yet..

There's been calls for a referendum, which I think is futile. But there's also an air of "but it's a good deal so it's a given" - whereas I think that even the 'good' ideas should be discussed and all students be kept in the loop as much as possible, and not just on Facebook.

Croppy Bhoy

Excellent news, the Students Union events are pathetic and only ever attended by massive losers who can't arrange their own social life.

Although all those points appear to be NUIG effectively bribing the SU to drop RAG Week, or threatening them with additional charges if they don't. Ethical.

IsThisIt???

Why hasn't an e-mail been sent around about this? The SU sent out an e-mail on Friday about updates but not a word about this that I can see.

I am on facebook but I didn't see anything about this until I searched for it after reading it here!

WesternNight

IsThisIt??? wrote: »

Why hasn't an e-mail been sent around about this?

An excellent question.

PomBear

WesternNight wrote: »

An excellent question.

Would the same questions be asked about a anti-fees march? Can't believe this is the issue people are up in arms about this...

WesternNight

PomBear wrote: »

Would the same questions be asked about a anti-fees march? Can't believe this is the issue people are up in arms about this...

I'm not up in arms about it at all. I think it's a brilliant deal. I just can't work out why students aren't being actually told about it, bar the few that have seen it on Facebook. Class Reps are supposed to be voting on behalf of their classmates tomorrow evening, but most students have no idea it's happening. Doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not, people still need to *know* about it in order to be represented accurately.

PomBear

WesternNight wrote: »

I'm not up in arms about it at all. I think it's a brilliant deal. I just can't work out why students aren't being actually told about it, bar the few that have seen it on Facebook. Class Reps are supposed to be voting on behalf of their classmates tomorrow evening, but most students have no idea it's happening. Doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not, people still need to *know* about it in order to be represented accurately.

Lots of decisions are taken by the union that aren't run by students, that's why you elect someone you trust! I doubt this is the biggest issue for the union this year, even close to it.

WesternNight

PomBear wrote: »

Lots of decisions are taken by the union that aren't run by students, that's why you elect someone you trust! I doubt this is the biggest issue for the union this year, even close to it.

I have no idea what your argument is. Are you saying that because the SU were elected, we don't get to have opinions about the decisions they make on our behalf? Are you kidding me?

Also, Class Reps are supposed to be elected by a given class, which hasn't happened in either of my courses as far as I'm aware. If and when they are, their job is to represent the views of the class. Not to make decisions all by themselves because they happen to be elected.

Seriously.

PomBear

WesternNight wrote: »

I have no idea what your argument is. Are you saying that because the SU were elected, we don't get to have opinions about the decisions they make on our behalf? Are you kidding me?

Also, Class Reps are supposed to be elected by a given class, which hasn't happened in either of my courses as far as I'm aware. If and when they are, their job is to represent the views of the class. Not to make decisions all by themselves because they happen to be elected.

Seriously.

That's politics for you.

Croppy Bhoy

Why are class reps voting on behalf of their class mates? Most class reps aren't very representative of their class mates whatsoever, the total opposite in many cases...
Would it be that hard to have some sort of online poll requiring students to log-in and vote?

MadYaker

Croppy Bhoy wrote: »

Excellent news, the Students Union events are pathetic and only ever attended by massive losers who can't arrange their own social life.

Although all those points appear to be NUIG effectively bribing the SU to drop RAG Week, or threatening them with additional charges if they don't. Ethical.

Haha, I have to agree. Its still RAG week as far as I'm concerned and I think whether its supported by the SU or not doesn't matter. RAG week is people not going to college, drinking during the day and going out every night. None of these things are encouraged or supported by the SU. I'm in my third year in NUIG and I have never gone to anything organised by the SU during RAG week.

Ill see you all under thebridge at 10am on monday morning. :cool:

Croppy Bhoy

You just have to find a balance. I love Rag Week, I love going out all week and getting absolutely bollocksed with my mates, but I've also never done anything to piss off any (reasonable) people. Never vandalised the place, thrown my empties around or harassed anyone. I think a lot of the natives should accept that Galway is a student city and it's not going to be nice and serene all the time, but the blow-ins and students should also have a bit more respect for everyone.

joeKel73

This vote was PASSED last night...

http://www.su.nuigalway.ie/site/view/3121/

http://www.su.nuigalway.ie/site/view/3121/ wrote:

The Rag Week proposals were passed by Class Reps last night (17/10/11) by 107 votes for to 7 votes against.

The vote to accept the Rag Week proposal will be put to class reps at the special meeting of the Students' Union Council on Monday 17th October, at 6.30pm in AM 250 (O'Heocha, Arts Millennium). All students - class reps or not - are invited to attend and to ask questions and have their opinions heard. In putting together this proposal, the SU sought, and received in full, a number of concessions from the University President. These concessions are:

Support for a one-day concert/festival to replace Rag Week (the possibilities here are currently being looked at by a Rag Week Alternative Committee, headed up by Conor Healy, the SU Education Officer).

• An extra €60,000 a year contribution to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), which is used to help students who are at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship. This would almost triple the University's current contribution to this fund and keep an estimated 60 to 75 students in college each year who otherwise would have had to drop out. Compare this figure to the €22,000 raised for charity through Rag Week last year.
• A guarantee not to introduce charges at the Student Health Unit for visiting a doctor or nurse. This would ensure this heavily-used service remains free for students in future years.
• The abolition of the current €2 Kingfisher charge for members of University sports clubs, who are not members of the Kingfisher gym, when they need to use the facilities there for club training.
• The provision of a number of prominent, permanent SU notice boards around campus. Not a big deal, but still good.

***If your class does not have a class rep yet, email Conor Healy, SU Education Officer, at su.education@nuigalway.ie so he can arrange for an election this week.***

Statement from the SU President on the Rag Week proposal:"It's a sad day when we have to consider replacing Rag Week; which can be regarded as a rite of passage for NUI Galway students. However, in the past few years Rag Week has descended into a week-long embarrassment to the University and an embarrassment to you - the students. The amount of money raised for charity (‘Raise And Give' week) is pathetically small, and has fallen massively in the past few years. At the same time, the amounts of anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, violence, and arrests of students have all shot up.

Rag Week now is not what is used to be. It has changed utterly even in the past five years. The fundraising element has been completely overshadowed by what appears to be a week of SU-sanctioned binge-drinking. The fact is that we are the laughing stock of the Irish universities because of Rag Week. The fact is that your degree and your chances of getting a job after graduating are being directly damaged by Rag Week. The fact is that your Students' Union cannot stand by and ignore the problem any longer, however convenient it may be for me to go along with the flow, do nothing, and once again defend the indefensible come March.

It's true to say that a lot of the damage is caused by non-NUI Galway students; but the fact remains that the SU cannot go on officially sanctioning a week-long binge drinking session in which the costs in damage to property are a multiple of the amounts raised for charity.

We have plans in place to replace the charity aspects of Rag Week with a series of large-scale, endurance-based fundraising events in which individual students and groups can participate. I have no doubt that we can exceed the €22,000 that was raised through Rag Week last year through these events. We have plans in place to replace the entertainments aspect of Rag Week with a one-day festival/concert. The concessions I requested and received from the University President, as detailed above, are worth the trading of Rag Week.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at su.president@nuigalway.ie or call up to the SU office." Emmet Connolly - SU President

Definately a good decision IMO.

The Internet

I wonder who voted against it?

joeKel73

A bit off topic but just thinking.... class rep voting doesn't seem very fair/representative.

Some classes have only 4 or 5 in them.
Others have a few hundred.

Does the vote of a group of 4 or 5 students carry the same weight as a group of hundreds??

harrythehat

This sounds like a great deal for the SU.

They've got a good deal of extra funding for students facing hardship [and don't kid yourselves, that money would have been spent somewhere a lot less student friendly otherwise, it didn't come from nowhere] AND when students inevitably wreck the place during some kind of unofficial RAG week the SU has no responsibility to clean it up.

Croppy Bhoy

foto joe wrote: »

A bit off topic but just thinking.... class rep voting doesn't seem very fair/representative.

Some classes have only 4 or 5 in them.
Others have a few hundred.

Does the vote of a group of 4 or 5 students carry the same weight as a group of hundreds??

Not to mention the fact that in every class I've had, the class rep has been the odd one out.


Anyway I find this news devastating. I don't know how I'll cope without DJ Byrno in the college bar

WesternNight

foto joe wrote: »

A bit off topic but just thinking.... class rep voting doesn't seem very fair/representative.

Some classes have only 4 or 5 in them.
Others have a few hundred.

Does the vote of a group of 4 or 5 students carry the same weight as a group of hundreds??

Not one class rep has ever stood up in any of my classes and asked for a show of hands from the class so they could go back and vote representatively at SU Council meetings and the like. One of my classes has a class rep this year, that I'm aware of.

The SU is either not bothered whether things are conducted in a fair way where people are actually actively informed about things, or they are bothered but the message isn't getting across to the class reps. Either way it's a complete waste of time having them and pretending they represent more than themselves.