The USI Referendum

This whole discussion seems to come down to two issues:

1. The Cost/Value for Money
2. Campaigns people might not agree with (oh noes)

So to deal with 1. first, I think the problem here is that irish_goat doesn't understand that being part of a national representative body has real tangible benefits. Just because it doesn't organise bar-exs and jelly wrestling doesn't mean that USI doesn't do things that benefit students. So for example, Pink Training equips Sabbats to deal with the complex and emotional issues surrounding sexuality, so that when a student comes to them for advice on some such issue, they know how to help. That is a real tangible benefit.

Maynooth being part of a national representitive body strengthens both Maynooth Students and the Student Movement as a whole. There are issues we cannot tackle alone, like fee, grants etc. When these issues arise, being able to speak with a coherent voice as part of a mass student movement has real tangible benefits, not to mention the benefits of direct access to the Oireachtas and to the media.

In other words, joining USI is well worth my fiver.

As for point 2., LeixlipRed raised the analagous point of contraception. Not all students agree that the SU should be involved in handing out condoms to students, because it is against Catholic dogma (which says that condom use for the prevention of pregnancy is a mortal sin, rather than a socially and personally responsible choice). If we are to accept the principle that the SU must not involve itself in any action that some students will disagree with then the SU must stop handing out condoms. Otherwise it's special pleading.

irish_goat wrote: »

No need for cheap shots there. Take a look back at my posts, in your rush to sign up to boards and rave about USI you missed the posts(plural) where I said I like the NUS model and have no qualms supporting a decent student movement in Ireland. I'm well aware that USI doesn't organise bar-exs and jelly wrestling(I really don't know why you brought those into the argument).

You claimed several times that there was no tangible benefit to being in USI, I demonstrated several, as did Declan.

irish_goat wrote: »

Is training for our sabats needed? What have they done wrong this year that warrants USI training?

It's not so much that sabbats do stuff wrong (although there's a lot of criticisms I could make of this year's crop) but that every year new sabbats go into the job with no experience and they're up against the whole established University bureaucracy made up of people who have been in their jobs for years. Clearly, sabbats need training to be able to be an effective voice for students within that environment.

Do we need a national press officer? What NUIM issues in the past few years have not recieved national press coverage that should have? Private_Eye and the rest of FEE have shown that national press coverage is very much achievable.

Why don't you ask Brian Murphy about his efforts to get national press coverage? He said quite clearly at USI Hustings that the press really didn't care about anything he had to say, because he represents such a small body of students.

As for FEE, the reason we were so successful in gaining press coverage is because we marched several hundred students to the door of John Hughes' office; the SU President can hardly do that every time he/she wants to highlight an issue. The FEE campaign is not an example that supports your case.

Campaign materials are good yes but they can be purchased/made up relatively cheaply anyway.

That's just factually incorrect, campaign materials are not cheap, but also, because of its much larger resources, USI is able to run campaigns that our Sabbats just don't get the time to.

Ugh, crazy day of campaigning today. And I got into the count tomorrow (they let me tally, the fools). It was kind of sad to see the no campaign descending to lies and scaremongering, but it was probably to be expected.