Who to complain to about WITSU et al. poor decisions

BuilderPlumber

Over the course of college life (which ended this year with me gaining my batchelor's degree), I have had a generally negative experience with student unions. This ranges from them lying about what they have the power to achieve to diminished services to arrogant defence of hardline policies that have disimproved things for students.

I've had questions totally ignored often by officials in the union. They either don't answer at all or else promise the sun, moon and stars but then ignore future correspondence and offer nothing at all.

Sure, there are some things they can't do. National government cutback policies are also wrong but not the student's unions fault for example. But diminished grinds databases are 100% WITSUs fault as are not having the right person in the office when needed (all too often they have been at CPD outings and Rose of Tralee selection events among other things when I asked where they were).

To cut a long story short, where can I go to voice concern over these issues and to make sure they are rectified for future WIT students. OR if I decide to do a postgrad at WIT or elsewhere (I was in college elsewhere as well and found the union there to be poor as well but not hardline like WITSU is). Any help is much appreciated.

b0ardsUser

Over my 4 years in WIT, I've never had to use their services. I'm probably guilty of taking a bottle of water they provide during exams, but I don't believe they have ever done anything that has aided me throughout my 4 years.

Perhaps the USI could give you more information?

AD91

I have to agree with you on this! I've gone to the student union a few times regarding our brutal class reps and they did nothing about it! and as with you they also promised me they would sort out the issues and they never did. This was so frustrating. I went in about other issues apart from class reps and was told they would get back to me and I never heard anything back from them.


I'm incredibly annoyed over the grinds issue also. When I talked to people in the student union about it they just said everyone was in the same boat and to talk to your lecturer if your finding some part of the course difficult. They said the funding just wasn't there. Ok the funding might not be there but I don't see them doing anything about it at all.


I am just after finishing my course in May and thankfully passed all my exams. I was hoping to start a new course in WIT as the new course would have been a step closer to what I hope to do in the future. There was one module that's ran throughout the 3 year course that I was worried about as I found it very hard in secondary school. There just isn't the help there if I found myself struggling and in my eyes this isn't good enough. I found one module in my own course hard that a good few people failed. I had previously went to the lecturer about it and got zero help was told to go on Moodle despite there being nothing relevant there regarding our course work and exam :mad:


I don't intend for my post to be so negative on the student union or the college itself. I did have some brilliant times in the college and made great friends and all in all really enjoyed my course but both the college and student union really need to get there act together. I really don't want to move college as I really liked it there but I felt I've been left with no other choice. :mad:

BuilderPlumber

AD91 wrote: »

I have to agree with you on this! I've gone to the student union a few times regarding our brutal class reps and they did nothing about it! and as with you they also promised me they would sort out the issues and they never did. This was so frustrating. I went in about other issues apart from class reps and was told they would get back to me and I never heard anything back from them.


I'm incredibly annoyed over the grinds issue also. When I talked to people in the student union about it they just said everyone was in the same boat and to talk to your lecturer if your finding some part of the course difficult. They said the funding just wasn't there. Ok the funding might not be there but I don't see them doing anything about it at all.


I am just after finishing my course in May and thankfully passed all my exams. I was hoping to start a new course in WIT as the new course would have been a step closer to what I hope to do in the future. There was one module that's ran throughout the 3 year course that I was worried about as I found it very hard in secondary school. There just isn't the help there if I found myself struggling and in my eyes this isn't good enough. I found one module in my own course hard that a good few people failed. I had previously went to the lecturer about it and got zero help was told to go on Moodle despite there being nothing relevant there regarding our course work and exam :mad:


I don't intend for my post to be so negative on the student union or the college itself. I did have some brilliant times in the college and made great friends and all in all really enjoyed my course but both the college and student union really need to get there act together. I really don't want to move college as I really liked it there but I felt I've been left with no other choice. :mad:

You and me are far from alone. I also want to state that I have happy memories of WIT and found the college itself and most lecturers to be grand. Sure, the courses are often difficult and are far from perfect but I must say I enjoyed my course and all the friends I met.

BUT the WITSU sucks. I also don't want to sound negative but that shower drive me insane. :mad::mad:

The class reps are handpicked union cronies for the most part. The reps don't care about their classes and only care about being future WITSU officers or else will enter other college politics. The so-called training days (drinking sessions more like it!!) are a waste of resources and things have only gotten worse since they were started.

WITSU grinds are not funded by anyone by the way. The student pays for these themselves. WITSU reduced the number of tutors on their system due to either cronyism or laziness. I know many talented tutors who were taken off for no real reason and when they went about it, the WITSU could not tell them why. The only thing WITSU should do is ask tutors for their CVs and then list them allowing the students to decide who to go for. Like it used to be! The only funded grinds in WIT come from CHART (now Student Life & Learning) and these are for students with disabilities or serious illnesses. They provide a very good service overall but unfortunately their budget was hit. But that's another story. WITSU were supposedly setting up a system of funded grinds at one stage but it never materialised like most of their suggestions!!

I hope the new administration is more moderate, helpful and productive than the terrible 2011-2013 administrations. WIT students need something better than this self serving, politicised union that gets all hardline when anyone confronts their poor decisions.

BuilderPlumber

b0ardsUser wrote: »

Over my 4 years in WIT, I've never had to use their services. I'm probably guilty of taking a bottle of water they provide during exams, but I don't believe they have ever done anything that has aided me throughout my 4 years.

Perhaps the USI could give you more information?

Thanks for this. I will contact USI in due course. The bottle of water is about the only positive contribution they could make:D!!

AD91

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

You and me are far from alone. I also want to state that I have happy memories of WIT and found the college itself and most lecturers to be grand. Sure, the courses are often difficult and are far from perfect but I must say I enjoyed my course and all the friends I met.

BUT the WITSU sucks. I also don't want to sound negative but that shower drive me insane. :mad::mad:

The class reps are handpicked union cronies for the most part. The reps don't care about their classes and only care about being future WITSU officers or else will enter other college politics. The so-called training days (drinking sessions more like it!!) are a waste of resources and things have only gotten worse since they were started.

WITSU grinds are not funded by anyone by the way. The student pays for these themselves. WITSU reduced the number of tutors on their system due to either cronyism or laziness. I know many talented tutors who were taken off for no real reason and when they went about it, the WITSU could not tell them why. The only thing WITSU should do is ask tutors for their CVs and then list them allowing the students to decide who to go for. Like it used to be! The only funded grinds in WIT come from CHART (now Student Life & Learning) and these are for students with disabilities or serious illnesses. They provide a very good service overall but unfortunately their budget was hit. But that's another story. WITSU were supposedly setting up a system of funded grinds at one stage but it never materialised like most of their suggestions!!

I hope the new administration is more moderate, helpful and productive than the terrible 2011-2013 administrations. WIT students need something better than this self serving, politicised union that gets all hardline when anyone confronts their poor decisions.

I feel really let down by them! a few other classmates felt pretty irked by them also! I'm guessing its down to a lack of resources (possible laziness as well) The grinds/help I was talking about was the maths resource centre I heard a few people mention. When I asked them that's when I got the there's no funding, were all in the same boat spiel from them. I would have had no problem doing extra hours in work to pay for grinds. They didn't even tell me about the fact there was lecturers offering grinds, all they mentioned was no funding and the person telling me couldn't have been anymore disinterested!! The system they were on about setting up will take years and a lot of funding will be needed (if it ever happens that is!)


Our class reps were awful, never attended a meeting and we fought for over a year to organize anything, we finally received our hoodies after looking for them for two years. We tried on numerous occasions to have them changed and they didn't do anything. Completely agree on the training days being a waste of resources! :mad: I honestly think the class reps need to be monitored and if they stop attending a certain amount of meetings should be made step down.

BuilderPlumber

AD91 wrote: »

I feel really let down by them! a few other classmates felt pretty irked by them also! I'm guessing its down to a lack of resources (possible laziness as well) The grinds/help I was talking about was the maths resource centre I heard a few people mention. When I asked them that's when I got the there's no funding, were all in the same boat spiel from them. I would have had no problem doing extra hours in work to pay for grinds. They didn't even tell me about the fact there was lecturers offering grinds, all they mentioned was no funding and the person telling me couldn't have been anymore disinterested!! The system they were on about setting up will take years and a lot of funding will be needed (if it ever happens that is!)


Our class reps were awful, never attended a meeting and we fought for over a year to organize anything, we finally received our hoodies after looking for them for two years. We tried on numerous occasions to have them changed and they didn't do anything. Completely agree on the training days being a waste of resources! :mad: I honestly think the class reps need to be monitored and if they stop attending a certain amount of meetings should be made step down.

Lack of resources seems to be the standard reply to all with them! Another thing with them is they expect everyone to just go to their website and get the information (they do not take too kindly to someone calling to the office requesting stuff that is on their site). No consideration to non-computer people here! A student may not have access to a computer or even if they did don't have the time to plough through their site.

I am unsure of the maths resource centre arrangement but I thought that was not a WITSU service? I thought it was a CHART/Student Life & Learning offshoot?

It seems they have no interest then in the grinds services and are not promoting anything. The very least they could do is point you towards their site!! WITSU 3-4 years ago would and they were a very different organisation then. Not perfect then but I'd give them 70%+ whereas now I'd give then 0%-!!

They are vetting grinds tutors (all professionals with good qualifications most of the time) and banning the best of them from their site but yet they do not vet class reps and tolerate the poor standard of most of them.

The stupid training days need to stop (a good class rep is all about common sense - the training they need is to familiarise themselves with the issues concerning each member of the class so they should talk to all the class and familiarise themselves with college procedures). This is best done by the individual meeting the class members and the college legislators.

Finally, this Rose of Tralee orientation sickens me too. One of the recent officers was an escort for this and WITSU was used as a promotion tool for it. Ok what they do in their own time but WITSU is not a promoter of this festival. Likewise, WITSU is a union not a charity: such charities they got involved in (Life in the box, Waterford gives a shirt, etc.) are all worthy causes but it is rather ironic that they can support these and ask people to donate to them while being nasty to grinds tutors and being indifferent to students.

BuilderPlumber

2 more issues:

First: With regard to student fees: Every student who attends college in Ireland automatically is amember of a SU. This means that all WIT students become automatic members of WITSU. Does this impact on the cost of fees in WIT (another previous thread said that in NUI Galway, SU membership did enhance fees)? If so, would you get a reduced fee if you could opt out of the union?

Are we paying high fees for sending WITSU representatives to the Rose of Tralee or for them to sit in a cardboard box for a full week or for their T-Shirts, fancy business cards & posters, and especially their bloody class rep training days? If so, the WITSU situation is far worse than first thought.

Second: Defence of students' bad behaviour: Like most students (now ex student), I take a drink and participated in many student events. Yes, there were sessions that went on from 11 in the Dome through the pubs and clubs in town to ending up in a house party and the finish may be 8 the following morning. But I have not done any of these:

roared and shouted all over the town, engaged in violence, urinated or puked (or worse) on the streets, took drugs, or any other illegal or nuisance behaviour.

Yet, we see all these WITSU dominated events like Ragweek and the so-called Christmas Day where ALL the above happen. When asked about controlling students who engage in bad behaviour, the tone from WITSU implies how dare anyone comment on student activities (of course, some of the so-called 'students' are WITSU and their crony followers who encourage wild behaviour!). The vast majority of students are law abiding and hard working individuals who have good social lives and do not harm anyone. Hooliganism encouraged by WITSU events give us a bad name and this is not the actions of a responsible organisation.

b0ardsUser

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

The class reps are handpicked union cronies for the most part.

I was a class rep, although my class was very small (about 5 including me). I didn't really get any benefits out of being a class rep (got a hoody that I had to pay for).

I think every class has to have a class rep according to the college/SU, but I did nothing. If my class needed something that would warrant the Students Union then of course I would pursue it, but we were never in that position. I didn't go on those 'training days' either, personally I just seen it as a waste of time, like you said doing an hour of 'training' and 6 hours drinking.

brian plank

how many more accounts are you going to set up to complain about the students union before you realise no one gives a sh*t.

BuilderPlumber

b0ardsUser wrote: »

I was a class rep, although my class was very small (about 5 including me). I didn't really get any benefits out of being a class rep (got a hoody that I had to pay for).

I think every class has to have a class rep according to the college/SU, but I did nothing. If my class needed something that would warrant the Students Union then of course I would pursue it, but we were never in that position. I didn't go on those 'training days' either, personally I just seen it as a waste of time, like you said doing an hour of 'training' and 6 hours drinking.

It is very true. I know of many good class reps who were not the union-affiliated ones and all were able to solve class issues without going near WITSU.

BuilderPlumber

brian plank wrote: »

how many more accounts are you going to set up to complain about the students union before you realise no one gives a sh*t.

A lot of people give a sh*t about the improvement of WITSU and are angry about the path it has followed in recent times. It is an organisation in serious need of reform.

Mugatuu

brian plank wrote: »

how many more accounts are you going to set up to complain about the students union before you realise no one gives a sh*t.

He's more than entitled to give his opinion on the WITSU. Anyway just because you don't give a sh*t doesnt mean you should be rude to him. I had a few negative experiences with them so I understand why he's frustrated in the first place..

brian plank

Mugatuu wrote: »

He's more than entitled to give his opinion on the WITSU. Anyway just because you don't give a sh*t doesnt mean you should be rude to him. I had a few negative experiences with them so I understand why he's frustrated in the first place..

im sure its not just me. its not strange at all either that as soon as he posts anything the same people back him up every time and others (AD91) even decide to set up an account just to post about it. :pac:

BuilderPlumber

brian plank wrote: »

im sure its not just me. its not strange at all either that as soon as he posts anything the same people back him up every time and others (AD91) even decide to set up an account just to post about it. :pac:

You must be one of the WITSU as you are always defending them! You should take people's complaints onboard and reform your organisation.

BuilderPlumber

Mugatuu wrote: »

He's more than entitled to give his opinion on the WITSU. Anyway just because you don't give a sh*t doesnt mean you should be rude to him. I had a few negative experiences with them so I understand why he's frustrated in the first place..

Thanks. Brian plank is most likely a WITSU person or an ally of them. If so, he should not be engaging in put down comments. This is precisely the problem with WITSU at the moment: full of smart @sses who think they are brilliant and who destroy and trample on others.

callaway92

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Thanks. Brian plank is most likely a WITSU person or an ally of them. If so, he should not be engaging in put down comments. This is precisely the problem with WITSU at the moment: full of smart @sses who think they are brilliant and who destroy and trample on others.

I'm 99% sure that Brian Plank is definitely part of WITSU in some way anyway

BuilderPlumber

callaway92 wrote: »

I'm 99% sure that Brian Plank is definitely part of WITSU in some way anyway

Definitely, he is part of it. He should therefore recognise students' concerns and WITSU should implement reform. I am saying nothing about the new administration coming into office next academic year but I hope they are more moderate, more interested in students and less confrontational with other groups.

brian plank

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Definitely, he is part of it. He should therefore recognise students' concerns and WITSU should implement reform.

afraid not. i'm far too lazy for that

Sully

Please contact a mod if you feel that users have multiple accounts to back the main account up. Likewise, petty 'Your a member of WITSU' remarks without foundation are unfair. Not everybody will agree with your views on the union! So don't accuse someone of either. Thanks.

Sully

In relation to WITSU, the organisation is there to help and guide students who are unfamiliar with how the college system works if problems arise. They have helped in this situation in my experience in the past. That's all a union can do - represent you and try get something resolved if possible. They tend not to push the college very hard on issues if the college refuses to give way, and there effectively powerless bar holding an all out strike.

Perhaps the service has gone down hill in recent years, I wouldn't know, but again raising that in class rep council or running yourselves will be the only way things will improve. There is no body you can complain to if your not happy with them, just raise it in the Class Rep Council if you wish. If your class reps are useless, don't vote them in next time or run against them. The USI are no good in that regard, as they don't take much notice of what college unions do it would appear from experience.

I have absolutely no idea why the union has developed a strong bond with the Rose of Tralee in recent years, it makes no sense to me from the outside but maybe there have their reasons (Note to Union/Friends of Union: Please don't contact me to explain, if you feel the need to do this, post in the forum or ask someone to do it on your behalf (not me!).

WITSU might be obliged to cooperate with the USI in terms of these national day of protests but they have a strong relationship with the USI anyway as former officers have gone onto be elected at USI.

BuilderPlumber

http://roseoftralee.ie/community/userprofile/waterfordrose

That will pretty much explain why WITSU and Rose of Tralee are linked. Conor Doyle was president of WITSU in 2011-2012 and also is on the Waterford Rose Selection board. Also, Brian Staunton was an escort for the Down Rose in 2012.

BuilderPlumber

Sully wrote: »

In relation to WITSU, the organisation is there to help and guide students who are unfamiliar with how the college system works if problems arise. They have helped in this situation in my experience in the past. That's all a union can do - represent you and try get something resolved if possible. They tend not to push the college very hard on issues if the college refuses to give way, and there effectively powerless bar holding an all out strike.

Perhaps the service has gone down hill in recent years, I wouldn't know, but again raising that in class rep council or running yourselves will be the only way things will improve. There is no body you can complain to if your not happy with them, just raise it in the Class Rep Council if you wish. If your class reps are useless, don't vote them in next time or run against them. The USI are no good in that regard, as they don't take much notice of what college unions do it would appear from experience.

I have absolutely no idea why the union has developed a strong bond with the Rose of Tralee in recent years, it makes no sense to me from the outside but maybe there have their reasons (Note to Union/Friends of Union: Please don't contact me to explain, if you feel the need to do this, post in the forum or ask someone to do it on your behalf (not me!).

WITSU might be obliged to cooperate with the USI in terms of these national day of protests but they have a strong relationship with the USI anyway as former officers have gone onto be elected at USI.

At the end of the day, it is true that the students should excercise their power to vote out poor class reps. Voter apathy also affects who does and does not get into office in the WITSU. As much as possible, I have voted in all WITSU elections but did not vote for the president or education officer in 2013 one because I did not agree with just having the one candidate to vote for which restricted choice and because I don't know the education candidates. I voted for Frankie Mulqueen in 2011 for education and he probably would have made a good officer. I voted for Gillian Walsh in 2012 for president and she seemed to be a good candidate. Someone else said the same clique of friends predominate as the likes of Conor Doyle, Brian Staunton and Stephen O'Rourke are very close friends, meaning that others get less support in their campaigns. That said, I wish Stephen all the best in his new role as WITSU president and hopefully he will implement reform.

Weighing up the positives and negatives: I think that the welfare part of WITSU in general is okay and does its best. They give good advice in general here. They also are good at the entertainment (maybe too good at it!). I believe that the main problems arise from the education part and the presidencies. There has not been a truly good education officer there since Colm Murphy who was in charge when I was in first year. Recent education officers have messed up the grinds, mentoring and so on services. I will take a break from studies this coming year but want to do my postgrad degree in 2014-15. Hopefully, I can see a more caring, more moderate and more helpful education officer and/or president in WITSU who will go back to running it like Colm did.

BuilderPlumber

Well today we were reminded of an organisation even WORSE than WITSU: that loveable institution that we came to know and love as Anglo Irish Bank. These tapes would be laughable only for the amount of suffering that Anglo has caused.

But these tapes show us the unapologetic arrogance that emanates from the bottom to the top in all walks of Irish authority from student unions and college political societies at the bottom to banks, governments and the church at the top. If this is the best we can offer, Ireland's institutions are truly rotten to the core at this stage.

Mugatuu

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Well today we were reminded of an organisation even WORSE than WITSU: that loveable institution that we came to know and love as Anglo Irish Bank. These tapes would be laughable only for the amount of suffering that Anglo has caused.

But these tapes show us the unapologetic arrogance that emanates from the bottom to the top in all walks of Irish authority from student unions and college political societies at the bottom to banks, governments and the church at the top. If this is the best we can offer, Ireland's institutions are truly rotten to the core at this stage.

@BuilderPlumber
I dont mean in anyway to come across as rude but you started this thread is about the WITSU. The Anglo bank tapes have nothing to so with the student union. If you want to rant please don't do it on this thread take it to After Hours!

BuilderPlumber

Mugatuu wrote: »

@BuilderPlumber
I dont mean in anyway to come across as rude but you started this thread is about the WITSU. The Anglo bank tapes have nothing to so with the student union. If you want to rant please don't do it on this thread take it to After Hours!

This thread is about WITSU and the Anglo tapes have nothing to do with them (and yes I have complained about it in the After Hours thread about it). But it is a reminder of what corruption and cronyism is and a warning to us about the emergence of that culture in WITSU. What goes on in WITSU cannot be considered in any way close to what happened in Anglo but WITSU's recent direction is a consequence of that same culture that has ruined everything in modern Ireland. The types of joking on the tapes would be worthy of a WITSU reps training day or what you often hear in their office!

The reason I highlighted the WITSU issues is to do my bit against what I saw as injustices and wrongdoing. The next WITSU administration needs to end this and not be afraid of the impact reform may have on what other former presidents and representatives in it think!

Mugatuu

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

This thread is about WITSU and the Anglo tapes have nothing to do with them (and yes I have complained about it in the After Hours thread about it). But it is a reminder of what corruption and cronyism is and a warning to us about the emergence of that culture in WITSU. What goes on in WITSU cannot be considered in any way close to what happened in Anglo but WITSU's recent direction is a consequence of that same culture that has ruined everything in modern Ireland. The types of joking on the tapes would be worthy of a WITSU reps training day or what you often hear in their office!

The reason I highlighted the WITSU issues is to do my bit against what I saw as injustices and wrongdoing. The next WITSU administration needs to end this and not be afraid of the impact reform may have on what other former presidents and representatives in it think!

Are you actually serious? ..
The WITSU are not corrupt and are never ever going to do damage similar to Anglo. If anything they were a tad lazy and they might not have answers to all the problems that students go to them with but they are only human. Look if you want to do your bit take a previous posters advice and contact the USI and voice your opinion on the WITSU and mention that the class rep training days aren't up to scratch. Remember to take into account that if budgets were cut their resources will probably have been cut as a result. If you still feel strongly about it why don't you send them an email outlining your worries etc..

BuilderPlumber

Mugatuu wrote: »

Are you actually serious? ..
The WITSU are not corrupt and are never ever going to do damage similar to Anglo. If anything they were a tad lazy and they might not have answers to all the problems that students go to them with but they are only human. Look if you want to do your bit take a previous posters advice and contact the USI and voice your opinion on the WITSU and mention that the class rep training days aren't up to scratch. Remember to take into account that if budgets were cut their resources will probably have been cut as a result. If you still feel strongly about it why don't you send them an email outlining your worries etc..

True, WITSU are not going to do damage similar to Anglo for obvious reasons. I agree that they are lazy and can be nasty too. There is a lot of waste of money there, there is cronyism, and the grinds database/mentoring/class reps situations are unfair and uneven. There is corruption there for sure .. but not like Anglo.

Talking or emailing WITSU under Brian Staunton's presidency anyhow is a waste of time. I may talk with Stephen's new administration in the Autumn or Winter. I understand cut budgets et al but the concerns I have with WITSU are nothing to do with cut budgets. Also, I cannot expect WITSU to be truly able to change any government fees policies either. But WITSU could be less dictatorial on their grinds databases and put a better effort into mentoring and class reps services.

On the grand scale of things, WITSU is a small organisation unlike Anglo or political parties. But from every acorn grows an oak and corruption, incompetence, laziness or cronyism at EVERY level should be stamped out before it takes hold. The only way to do so is to make our voices be heard and take action to get rid of any form of emerging dictatorship before it is too late. I have noticed a frighteningly different attitude in the 2011-2013 administrations of WITSU that was not there in previous ones. Is it something to do with Ireland and a move towards authoritarianism in general or is it just a once off in WITSU. I hope for all our sakes it is the latter.

shanemul

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

http://roseoftralee.ie/community/userprofile/waterfordrose

That will pretty much explain why WITSU and Rose of Tralee are linked. Conor Doyle was president of WITSU in 2011-2012 and also is on the Waterford Rose Selection board. Also, Brian Staunton was an escort for the Down Rose in 2012.

You do know thats the same as putting 2 and 2 together and getting 10, from what I know the Rose of Tralee approach the college to get escorts and it seems the only people that put their name forward was either current or former people involved with WITSU. What people do in their spare time is up to them. It looks to me like your just want to whinge, if you want to make change why not go off and run for a position and make a change

Sully

shanemul wrote: »

You do know thats the same as putting 2 and 2 together and getting 10, from what I know the Rose of Tralee approach the college to get escorts and it seems the only people that put their name forward was either current or former people involved with WITSU. What people do in their spare time is up to them. It looks to me like your just want to whinge, if you want to make change why not go off and run for a position and make a change

To be fair, if memory serves me correctly, they were officers of WITSU during the Rose and it wasn't a personal or private hobby, it was an official event for WITSU.

BuilderPlumber

shanemul wrote: »

It looks to me like your just want to whinge, if you want to make change why not go off and run for a position and make a change

I have raised the issue here but I am not just whingeing here and taking no other action. I intend to return to education in the 2014 academic year so first off I would like to give the new WITSU government a chance and see how they operate. Hopefully, they can take into account all issues raised by me and others. What we can then see is are the problems at WITSU a result of a longterm change or of the truculent hardline policies of a few individuals in it.

Running for WITSU office is not easy. I may be wrong but it is really practically closed to all except WITSU contributors, members of clubs, societies and political organisation in WIT, and (of course) class reps. On top of this, some of the more in the know candidates have more backers and friends thus making their campaigns better organised with better PR at election time. Of course, I have seen far better candidates who I voted for down through the last 3-4 years but they got nowhere.

BuilderPlumber

The first thing that should go off the WITSU site is this dictatorial rubbish:

http://www.witsu.ie/disclaimer/

This is a licence for WITSU to be as lazy, dictatorial and incompetent as they like. The source of all that is wrong in WITSU is protected here.