Again, etc. [SU Elections '12]

charmer

Campaigns officially begin at 11pm tonight


http://www.universitytimes.ie/?p=7811

Lawliet

Ents is unopposed? Does this mean we can expect a nice uneventful election?

...please?

Fo Real

Going to keep this short:
Abolish the SU. The only people who care about the election are those running in it. It's merely another addition to the CV of these egocentrics and political wannabes. Utter waste of college funding.

Denerick

May the greatest hack win.

Hooray! Think it has been nearly seven years but I'm delighted the 'again it begins' is still going.

Well, i'm happy.

Raedwald

Would like to agree with the above posters. SU elections is the biggest pain in the arse of the college, with people annoying you for a week and interrupting lectures etc.

Uni Times took the mickey out of the candidates this year imo. Feekin delighted in all honesty, they just want it on their cv end of story.

TrollHammaren

I could not give less of a shít, to be honest.

Mark200

Raedwald wrote: »

Uni Times took the mickey out of the candidates this year imo. Feekin delighted in all honesty, they just want it on their cv end of story.

If you're talking about the article with profiles on all the candidates, then I didn't get that impression at all.

Anyway, of course a few of them are mainly thinking about their CV. You'll find that in all voluntary roles of responsibility. But for example I think its obvious that the FEE candidate is probably not just doing it for his CV (saying that, he will get my last preference). There are a few others as well who seem relatively genuine.

Wouldn't have a problem with the scrapping of one or two positions, but roles such as Welfare officer are pretty important. Not necessarily on a college-wide basis, but for the students who need help and don't know where to find it.

languagenerd

Mark200 wrote: »

Anyway, of course a few of them are mainly thinking about their CV. You'll find that in all voluntary roles of responsibility.

This isn't voluntary, they get paid for the year.

I agree that some of the roles are important though. The whole system could do with a reform. (Do we really need to spend so much money on Ents, ffs?)

Mark200

languagenerd wrote: »

Mark200 wrote: »

Anyway, of course a few of them are mainly thinking about their CV. You'll find that in all voluntary roles of responsibility.

This isn't voluntary, they get paid for the year.

Fair point, I guess what I meant was taking time to do something that's not part of your degree and probably not part of your career plan. IE they may get paid, but they're probably not doing it for the money

Lawliet

I don't think the welfare guy who mentioned suicide in his speech to us realized someone from our class committed sucide a few months ago. Awkward.

Jonathan

Courtesy of our new Meme page...

Acid_Violet

Lawliet wrote: »

I don't think the welfare guy who mentioned suicide in his speech to us realized someone from our class committed sucide a few months ago. Awkward.

When people I know have attempted or committed suicide in college too, it gets me pretty píssed off when people are apathetic about the welfare position. They can't save lives but they can do a hell of a lot towards that ends!

NSNO

Has anyone else noticed that a certain female candidate's poster... em... offers more than others?

Hande hoche!

NSNO wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed that a certain female candidate's poster... em... offers more than others?

If you are talking about her potential assets then yes.

Denerick

Acid_Violet wrote: »

When people I know have attempted or committed suicide in college too, it gets me pretty píssed off when people are apathetic about the welfare position. They can't save lives but they can do a hell of a lot towards that ends!

What does the welfare officer do for people who feel suicidal? What can they do?

Lawliet

NSNO wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed that a certain female candidate's poster... em... offers more than others?

Oh yeah I know who you're talking about, I heard she had her ankles on show yesterday as well. Honestly what a harlot.

Denerick

Lawliet wrote: »

Oh yeah I know who you're talking about, I heard she had her ankles on show yesterday as well. Honestly what a harlot.

Is she a papist?

The Black Oil

It's a bit odd when someone sits across from you in the library wearing a 'vote for _____' t-shirt.

DragonsFire

Can I just ask as a candidate what do you think of me (John Tighe)?

BlueCam

DragonsFire wrote: »

Can I just ask as a candidate what do you think of me (John Tighe)?

Same way I think about the far-left in general. Bunch of economically illiterate dreamers with no actual policies other than your utterly unrealistic prevent-all-cutbacks dribble. Couple that with your penchant for stupidly over-the-top protests and occupations that are illegal, have no public support, and tar all students with your brush among the general public, and the result is the general antipathy and distrust with which you are viewed by everyone other than yourself.

Furthermore, it looks like you drew your campaign pamphlet in Microsoft Paint and you misspelt the word "tiger".

Mark200

I don't think John Tighe is a terrible candidate (based on the UT videos). Still getting my last preference though because of the whole FEE thing (and the idea that he might appear at FEE protests while SU President), but he came across as a lot more reasonable than I expected.

DragonsFire

BlueCam wrote: »

Furthermore, it looks like you drew your campaign pamphlet in Microsoft Paint and you misspelt the word "tiger".

That was actually a deliberate attempt at a play on words you see tighe and tighe very similar so that was deliberate

As for your other points, I am sorry but even you must see from your economic viewpoint that denying students an education will only harm the Irish economy and thus we will attract less MNCs and will not be able to create this smart economy all the neo-liberals keep going on about

Well actually the feedback that I have received has been generally positive (most people just seem happy to see a political candidate running) and I think the fact that the other two candidates fail to mention the national issues and because of my insistence on talking about fees must then take a stance on them can only be a good thing for improving the SU

Well I mean it's not only the 'far-left' that are going on occupations anymore is it? With Messrs Gary Redmond and co. and the SU in NUIM taking the initative and having occuaptions

and talking about illiterate policies, the VAT increase was possibly the stupidest thing the government could have done in that it will damage consumer confidence and will hurt the economy generally, especially small business owners, such as my parents. This is further exacerbated because they can't get short-term loans fromt he banks because while the taxpayer own the majority of banks in Ireland, we don't have control over them

My pamphlet was drawn using Microsoft Publisher
Well actually this was quite good I would like if people debated these points with me, Would you agree that these elections would be more interesting if they had more political candidates, of whatever leanings, involved?

Just at Mark200 anyway I can change your mind? If not I would like to hear your reasons constructive criticism is always good

BlueCam

DragonsFire wrote: »

That was actually a deliberate attempt at a play on words you see tighe and tighe very similar so that was deliberate

Brilliant pun, don't know how I didn't get that one.

DragonsFire wrote: »

As for your other points, I am sorry but even you must see from your economic viewpoint that denying students an education will only harm the Irish economy and thus we will attract less MNCs and will not be able to create this smart economy all the neo-liberals keep going on about

Fees do not deny students an education. Third-level participation rates in England have not fallen since fees were introduced there. Free fees have had two effects - they have crippled the Irish education system which has become chronically underfunded. The government does not have the money to pump into universities and the result is TCD sliding down the rankings as it works on less than half the budget of Oxford or Cambridge. No universities in the top 50 in the world - not exactly too attractive for MNCs, is it? Secondly, we have students taking courses that have absolutely no economic use and for which jobs do not exist. Maybe if you had to pay for your degree, you might have thought twice about what you'd do afterwards before you chose to study Ancient History and Archaeology, eh?

DragonsFire wrote: »

Well actually the feedback that I have received has been generally positive (most people just seem happy to see a political candidate running) and I think the fact that the other two candidates fail to mention the national issues and because of my insistence on talking about fees must then take a stance on them can only be a good thing for improving the SU

Maybe the fact that neither of the other candidates have mentioned fees shows the generally antipathy the student body has towards them? The fact is - we already have fees. You've lost. Flogging a dead horse isn't going to help the SU - it's a waste of resources. The other two candidates have realised this and have focused on issues students actually care about. You haven't.

DragonsFire wrote: »

Well I mean it's not only the 'far-left' that are going on occupations anymore is it? With Messrs Gary Redmond and co. and the SU in NUIM taking the initative and having occuaptions

Occupations are not a democratic means of protest. I am not familiar with the SU in NUIM, thankfully, but it certainly sounds like they're in the realms of the far-left too.

DragonsFire wrote: »

and talking about illiterate policies, the VAT increase was possibly the stupidest thing the government could have done in that it will damage consumer confidence and will hurt the economy generally, especially small business owners, such as my parents. This is further exacerbated because they can't get short-term loans fromt he banks because while the taxpayer own the majority of banks in Ireland, we don't have control over them

Ok, so how do you propose we plug the gaping hole in our finances? Even before interest repayments on our debt, we're leaking about €10-15 billion a year. I'd suggest cutting spending - but you actually want to increase services, not reduce them? So we are left with tax rises. Now, while I agree that VAT increases tend to depress consumer spending, the alternative is increasing payroll taxes - and when the unemployment rate is above 10%, this would have the effect of seriously damaging job creation. VAT is a "safe" tax as despite being regressive in fiscal terms, it is not easily avoided like other taxes are. Economically speaking, it was the best option of a bad lot.

Banks can't be forced to increase their lending - there is a massive liquidity crisis in the Eurozone at the moment and it would be terribly foolish of them to start throwing money at small businesses in the current economic climate. Remember what happened when they threw money at first-time home-owners up to 2007? Didn't end too well, did it?

DragonsFire wrote: »

My pamphlet was drawn using Microsoft Publisher

I'd suggest Photoshop the next time. Publisher looks terribly unprofessional and it's a shame when you're printing off hundreds of flyers.

DragonsFire wrote: »

Well actually this was quite good I would like if people debated these points with me, Would you agree that these elections would be more interesting if they had more political candidates, of whatever leanings, involved?

Debate is good - but you need to ground your political beliefs in reality.

Lawliet

I don't like the idea of an SU president that's going to push his own political beliefs regardless of what the student population wants.

Fo Real

I think the student population wants these irrelevant glory-seekers to go away and vanish. This John Tighe fellow has been reduced to the status of a lap dog, begging for praise on an internet forum, desperate to be accepted. Were you bullied as a child?

Also how much will you get paid if you get the job next year?

Ahoyhoy

Fo Real wrote: »

Also how much will you get paid if you get the job next year?

I actually know the figure on this, from 2009 anyway, don't know if it's changed since. But I'm interested to see how much people think they're making. What do ye reckon then?

There's no way in hell I'd ever elect someone from FEE or the occupy. Sitting outside the Central Bank calling themselves the 99%. I'm not sure of the actual number of protesters but I think it's safe to assume that I know at least as many people who disagree with them. At most they're the 50%.

I loath any group without a democratic mandate that claims to speak for an entire population like Cóir and the PBP alliance. It's the single greatest flaw with the SU. So far I agree with most of what they do and I do think it should stay where it is, mostly because of the welfare and education officers, but I think I'd happily ditch the other three, especially ents. Basically I know they speak for me (except for on fees) but I know loads of people who think they don't. But then again none of those people vote.

I'm not putting this very well but suffice it to say that while they don't speak for all students I think they do speak for everyone who casts a vote.

Which is why I dislike people who shout fire and corruption the whole time without every having involved themselves, even in something as easy as voting.

TrollHammaren

To John Tighe, I'm not going to jump in and start insulting you like those other two condescending dickheads; the fact that you're coming on here and asking people's opinions is something I support.

I know very little about your campaign, but when it comes to the Student Union in general I tend to think it's full of attention-seeking careerists. My main objection to how the SU has behaved in the last few years is that there was very little active dialogue regarding the fees issue.

As a "left-wing nutjob", I jumped on the anti-fees bandwagon in the name of equality without much thought. I know that if I had to pay full fees up front I would never have been able to go to Trinity, but I could conceivably support a system that would allow me to pay it back when I start earning a good wage, as long as it doesn't act as a barrier to people like me from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

I don't think I'm in a minority regarding this. I could support a students' union that represents the will of the general student population. A lot of students aren't happy that there's been no dialogue regarding fees, and that the SU haemmorhages funds on stupid things like the massive piss-up that is class rep training.

What I'd like to see with the SU is dialogue. Ask the student population how they feel about issues. Hope this criticism is somewhat helpful.

NSNO

Want my vote? Abolish the class rep training weekend.

Anyone got a link to when the actually voting takes place?

blubloblu

Dónal wrote: »

Anyone got a link to when the actually voting takes place?

POLLING LOCATIONS

Campus (Arts Block and Hamilton): Tuesday 14th Feb: 12-6
Wednesday 15th Feb: 9-7
Thursday 16th Feb: 9-4

D'Olier Street (Nursing Building): Tuesday 14th Feb: 10-1
Wednesday 15th Feb: 10-1

St. James' Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 12-3

Tallaght Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 10-1

Trinity Hall (JCR Canteen): Monday 13th Feb 7.30 pm onwards

Marino: Wednesday 15th Feb 1-2

CICE: Thursday 9th Feb 1-2

Froebel: Tuesday 14th Feb 1-2

blubloblu

blubloblu wrote: »

POLLING LOCATIONS

Campus (Arts Block and Hamilton): Tuesday 14th Feb: 12-6
Wednesday 15th Feb: 9-7
Thursday 16th Feb: 9-4

D'Olier Street (Nursing Building): Tuesday 14th Feb: 10-1
Wednesday 15th Feb: 10-1

St. James' Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 12-3

Tallaght Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 10-1

Trinity Hall (JCR Canteen): Monday 13th Feb 7.30 pm onwards

Marino: Wednesday 15th Feb 1-2

CICE: Thursday 9th Feb 1-2

Froebel: Tuesday 14th Feb 1-2

Thanks. Quite surprised that I haven't received any of the dates by e-mail (yet?).

Mark200

Dónal wrote: »

blubloblu wrote: »

POLLING LOCATIONS

Campus (Arts Block and Hamilton): Tuesday 14th Feb: 12-6
Wednesday 15th Feb: 9-7
Thursday 16th Feb: 9-4

D'Olier Street (Nursing Building): Tuesday 14th Feb: 10-1
Wednesday 15th Feb: 10-1

St. James' Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 12-3

Tallaght Hospital: Monday 13th Feb: 10-1

Trinity Hall (JCR Canteen): Monday 13th Feb 7.30 pm onwards

Marino: Wednesday 15th Feb 1-2

CICE: Thursday 9th Feb 1-2

Froebel: Tuesday 14th Feb 1-2

Thanks. Quite surprised that I haven't received any of the dates by e-mail (yet?).

They were sent out in an SU email

Mark200

Mark200 wrote: »

They were sent out in an SU email

...which are sent to undergrads@tcd.ie only (assuming it hasn't changed since 2007!). Not even a mention in any GSU e-mail about the elections at all that I can see.

Which, on the face of it, seems particularly impressive that someone neglected to e-mail the polling times (or the fact to alert students that there's an election going on) to what, 25% of the electorate?

Anyways, if someone could post up an SU e-mail with details of candidates, that'd be great too.

tanora78

This post has been deleted.

Mark200

Dónal wrote: »

...which are sent to undergrads@tcd.ie only (assuming it hasn't changed since 2007!). Not even a mention in any GSU e-mail about the elections at all that I can see.

Ah right sorry, thought they went to postgrads too!

Mark200

Mark200 wrote: »

Ah right sorry, thought they went to postgrads too!

No bother.

Just received another e-mail there today from the GSU - sent at 12pm. Call for peer reviewers of the Journal of Postgraduate Research. Still no mention of the elections, interesting.

asdfghjz

Kudos to whoever designed the posters encourages you to vote, they're Neat.

gaeilgeboy

Dónal wrote: »

Still no mention of the elections, interesting.

The SU only have access to the undergrad email addresses and the GSU only have access to the postgrad email addresses. The GSU President gets the SU weekly email, but I would've been surprised if they'd mentioned anything about the elections. They tend to distance themselves from anything SU related, even if it relates to postgrads.

gaeilgeboy

gaeilgeboy wrote: »

The SU only have access to the undergrad email addresses and the GSU only have access to the postgrad email addresses. The GSU President gets the SU weekly email, but I would've been surprised if they'd mentioned anything about the elections. They tend to distance themselves from anything SU related, even if it relates to postgrads.

I'd have expected a representative of postgraduate students to inform those students what their entitlements are, and in this instance what their voting entitlements are. The GSU know they are the only ones who can inform postgrads of these elections, yet they do not. I simply don't understand it, other than it looking like the GSU are deliberately setting out to not inform students of their right to vote. They are quite happy to mention deals for food in the SU shops in the e-mails, but not the SU elections.

An e-mail I received back from the GSU President (very quickly, to her credit) outlined the following:

Dear Donal,

Thank you for your mail. I will be letting postgraduates know at Council. As far as the email, we will not be advertising for the Students' Union. It is the SU's responsibility to advertise to all members.

The GSU is the only body recognized by Trinity that represents only postgraduates.

Perhaps you should contact the SU on this or with your permission, I can forward this to the SU president.

Kind Regards,
Mary

gaeilgeboy

Dónal wrote: »

I'd have expected a representative of postgraduate students to inform those students what their entitlements are, and in this instance what their voting entitlements are. The GSU know they are the only ones who can inform postgrads of these elections, yet they do not. I simply don't understand it, other than it looking like the GSU are deliberately setting out to not inform students of their right to vote.

I get the impression that they just don't want to do anything on behalf of the SU. I mean, the SU have no other way of contacting the postgrads specifically, bar postering, via newspapers, etc, despite the fact that postgrads can vote in their elections.

They are quite happy to mention deals for food in the SU shops in the e-mails, but not the SU elections.

They only started mentioning that after last Council when someone asked Mary to include it in the emails.

Ahoyhoy

gaeilgeboy wrote: »

I get the impression that they just don't want to do anything on behalf of the SU.

That's a stupid attitude (from the GSU, not you gaeilgeboy), surely they're meant to be serving their constituents. Telling them what parts of college are available to them is their job, surely an SU vote (trivial as it is) is one of those things? It sounds like petty wannabe politics. Also according to a statement in UT today the SU gives them €10,000 a year. Would it kill the GSU to send an e-mail? I wonder if there's any proper rational behind the decision. I also wonder if the SU has even bothered asking them to send one.

bythewoods

According to the University Times twitter feed:
President: Dunne
Education: Daniel Ferrick
Ents: Whelan
Welfare: Aisling Ni Chonahoweverthe****youspellhername
Communication: Cabbage

Disappointed neither of the James' got it, they're good lads. But shur what can you do I guess.

gaeilgeboy

I know the elections are over, but to reply:

Ahoyhoy wrote: »

Would it kill the GSU to send an e-mail? I wonder if there's any proper rational behind the decision. I also wonder if the SU has even bothered asking them to send one.

In an email Martin McAndrew sent to a friend of mine:

As for the elections, while noone denies that PGs can sit, act and vote in SU elections. But SU elections are not a GSU affair. We don't advertise CSC general meetings, we don't send out calls for submissions to Pubs' journals. It was on this basis that the GSU executive committee were unwilling to allow an email to go forward about it despite the President raising the issue early on in the SU election campaign, and my supporting it. Sabbatical officers are obliged to follow the decisions of the exec.

gaeilgeboy

gaeilgeboy wrote: »

I know the elections are over, but to reply:



In an email Martin McAndrew sent to a friend of mine:

For all the energy it took to not publicise the SU elections it would have been remarkably easy to let people know. Ah well.