Leaving USI..

Slydice · 18-04-2002 2:40am #1

Well NUI Maynooth is having the vote today...

I've read decob's post saying the DCU have already left
wonder how it's going to pan out

Slydice · 24-04-2002 2:38pm

well NUI Maynooth is out

you can read about it here

http://www.mikadosoc.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?t=866

tHE vAGGABOND · 24-04-2002 2:49pm

jasus USI seems in a bit of trouble

decob · 24-04-2002 4:34pm

Originally posted by Slydice
well NUI Maynooth is out

you can read about it here

http://www.mikadosoc.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?t=866

Well done, hopefully some other college will follow suit and USI will restructure itself...

anthonymcg · 09-05-2002 1:43pm

Can ya outline exactly what's wrong with USI? I see a lot of students complaining without actually offering some constructive criticism.

SheroN · 09-05-2002 1:46pm

we had a vote when i was in first year to leave the USI, in third year we had a vote to rejoin?.....(WIT) ??

anthonymcg · 09-05-2002 2:06pm

I work for USI in that Im a Student Services Rep for NCI. I also work on the Voice magazine as the Chief Tech Correspondent. Just wondering what issues the colleges have that they feel they need to leave the Union?

DeVore · 09-05-2002 2:38pm

Well now, here's a little history for you all.

Its 1990 again.

Trinity college (a member of USI) sent a delegation to the USI congress mandated to vote for a guy who was standing for president. We had 11 votes as a block.

He got 9.

Two Trinity SU types broke the mandate and voted for Ivana Bacik... who won by 1 vote and refused to have a re-vote even though it was clear that Trinity had been disenfranchaised and that the outcome would have been radically different if we hadnt been.

Trinity refused to pay its dues on the grounds of No Taxation without Representation.

A year passes. Trinity refuses to pay its next bill in protest and USI insist that it owes two years membership dues (we are talking nearly 20K Irish pounds just for Trinity btw, neat little operation they have going there aint it!)

A motion is placed in front of the student that the USI is ineffectual, bloated, money gobbling and corrupt and that TCD should leave.

I became involved with the campaign with 3 friends and we became the "get out of USI" lobby.

The sh|t that happened during that voting campaign was unreal. I'll never forget it and it will take a HUGE amount of work to convince me that the USI is anything but a money hungry, dangerous, corrupt spring-board into left and far-leftwing politics.

We were threatened, assaulted, they attempted to disrupt the count when it was clear they were out on their ears. We recieved an "anonymous" threatening letter saying "we know where you live". (We printed it on A2 noticeboard sheets and all four of us signed our names and addresses at the bottom with a note saying "just in case you dont").
People lost their jobs, there were several assualts including the Senior dean of the college. They even tried to claim we'd lose our USIT cards (total crap).

This is all an aside and frankly the USI may have changed but I still believe just about everything it does could be done with a few phonecalls between the Union leaders and a decent messageboard. Look what IOFFL have achieved without hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Dont believe the hype.

DeV.

jd · 09-05-2002 3:16pm

Originally posted by DeVore
Well now, here's a little history for you all.

Its 1990 again.

Trinity college (a member of USI) sent a delegation to the USI congress mandated to vote for a guy who was standing for president. We had 11 votes as a block.

He got 9.

Two Trinity SU types broke the mandate and voted for Ivana Bacik... who won by 1 vote and refused to have a re-vote even though it was clear that Trinity had been disenfranchaised and that the outcome would have been radically different if we hadnt been.

Actually I thought what happened is that Ivana wouldn't vote for Marty Whelan (then a plo-scarf wearing lefty-he went on to become one of Berties political advisors :eek: )

AFAIR Ivana wasn't standing- she was impeached at council meeting though.:

anthonymcg · 10-05-2002 9:14am

Yes but that was 12 years ago at this stage. Any news on the current situation? I understand you made the comments as a background on what may be happening at the moment.

Pablo · 22-05-2002 8:33pm

anymore news on this ?

is it another one of those college drinking cliques ?

po0k · 25-05-2002 2:46am

I became a Student last september in NUIG.
The only sight or sound I saw of USI was an offer for a Meteor mobile, and some bleating about a bit of free credit or something.
The 'offer' came in the post - a month after the fúkcing offer closed.
The Voice isn't too bad. The Tech side isn't up to much - not a personal knock, just an opinion - it's not detailed or up-to-date , but then i didn't expect it to be. There are numerous websites I can go to for that sort of content.
I've seen the effects politics have onstudents, and I never want to ahve anyhting to do with them. Big fish in a small pond.
Has totally turned me off politics.
Bertie is also a secondary cause for that but that's another rant - the sleezey-dodgey looking geezer. Surely he can afford a better fake smile then that - shadey snotty arrogant wánk-stain.

As for improvements - how's about lobbying for some issues? Publiscising what you currently want to go after?
Go around and do spot-questions to people asking what one thing woud they like improved in general Irish student life, find teh most common and go afterit like a pack of starving wolves, publicising your aim and that it is what the majority want and that you are folowing your member's wishes.

Is that constrcutive enough?

deco · 25-05-2002 3:53pm

Syxer you've got it right

The USI is nothing more than a left-wing talking shop that gets students 10% discounts in Golden Discs....

I have seen almost nothing of substance from the USI this year, and for that matter last year, in NUI, Galway.

Point in case: the 20k walk had less to do with the dying children of Chernobyl than with trying to dispell the notion that students were lazy, uncaring slackers.....not exactly the best reason to undertake a charity event is it?

The sooner NUI Galway disassociate the better.

daveirl · 25-05-2002 5:12pm

This post has been deleted.

Leaving USI..

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