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More than 450 young adults fromIrelandincluding many from UCD have graduated from WIP, representing twenty-five different universities throughout theUKandIreland. Last year, UCD were represented by Jack O’Donnell, David Tansey and Moose Patel who had internships with Senator John McCain,GeorgetownLombardiCancerCenterand the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers respectively. Many graduates are now emerging in important careers in politics, law, business, communications, education and community organizations.

“Don’t be putting that in the paper now,” an expression I have heard almost every day in the past two years writing for the College Tribune newspaper. I mostly hear it from self-important hacks who think that I, and the rest of the student population, care about they had for breakfast.

Walking in the Clonskeagh gate of campus, as I have done every morning for the past two years, I come across two signs hanging on the fence surrounding the new student centre. One reads: “we apologise for any inconvenience caused during construction work,” the other: “No Access”. In many ways, the two signs characterise the student experience in UCD for the class of 2012, and more aptly, summate my experience as a writer for the College Tribune.

Firstly, I am sure many of the class of 2012 won’t be able to help feeling somewhat hard done by, graduating only months before the opening of a fantastic new student centre. During all of my three years here, UCD seemed as much a construction site as it did a university campus. One cannot dispute that construction on campus is, on a whole, a positive – it will make a better university for future students and development is an important part of any thriving university.

However, does UCD have its priorities right? Logging onto the UCD website, one will notice on the left hand side of the screen a panel that reads: Prospective Students, International Students, Current Students. This is the same format as almost any university website in the world, but for UCD, the list (read in that order), reflects a ranking of importance.

In between opening campuses at the other side of the world, entering deals with former Goldman Sachs chairmen, and filming slick television adverts, UCD has forgotten about its own students. Students are not the number one priority in UCD. There are more vice-presidents in UCD than I can name, but every year the same problems reoccur: chaos for module registration, confusion surrounding campus accommodation allocation, and longer queues at the student desk because UCD have shortened the desk’s opening hours.

Don’t get me wrong, almost every member of the academic, library and office staff I have encountered has been nothing but helpful and outstanding at their jobs, but there certainly appears to be a disconnect between the senior, highly paid management of the university and the student body. The sudden closure of the athletics track last winter is perhaps the best example of this.

Deals with Kylemore, Britvic and others may not offer students the best value. Deals such as these are lucrative and must generate substantial revenue for the university – but where is this money going? Lecturers constantly tell their students the university does not have enough money to buy new books.

UCD is becoming increasingly commercialised with very little student input. The irony is not lost on me that I lament the increasing commercialisation of UCD in a paper that the university essentially allows to exist. The College Tribune is a uniquely independent paper in the sense that it relies entirely on revenue generated from advertising -the paper receives no formal funding. However, the university facilitates the production of the paper by providing it with an office (and in Dublin 4 rent isn’t cheap), a telephone, light and heat. The Tribune is an anomaly in UCD as it does not come under an umbrella, like literally everything else in the university.

Unlike the claims of some former and current Tribune writers, I do not believe the paper could survive without its Belfield office. A base is important for many reasons: for writers to meet up, for people to drop in with stories, and for somewhere to go in between class.

I would hope that the university allowing the paper to continue, despite it being a thorn in their backside, is down to someone, somewhere in the university realising the important role a paper independent of students’ union or university funding can play – either that or they have just forgotten we are here!

The second sign hanging from the fencing surrounding the new student centre construction site reads: “No Access.”

I cannot help but feel if the students’ union may have been more open in their affairs the €1.4 million debt may never have accumulated.

When I began writing for the College Tribune one of my first assignments was covering the release of the then SU president Paul Lynam’s projected operating budget to SU council. As a complete newbie, I looked at the budget in shock, surprised at how much detail it lacked. The whole thing covered less than two sides of an A4 page.

I interviewed Lynam, my first ever interview, and asked was there a more detailed budget. He explained to me that the A4 sheet was only a projected budget. He said that more accurate end of year accounts are prepared. I asked for these several times. They never came.

The students’ union debt is not only a failure on the part of the SU, and some would say the university, but also the campus’s media. The Observer costs enough money and the Tribune makes enough noise, that between the two of us, we should have demanded to see full accounts at least once in the past four years – and a campaign should have been launched until they were released.

Then again, hindsight is 20/20 and things are easier said than done; particularly with UCDSU which, in my experience, has never been very open to those with opinions which radically challenge the status quo.

Karl Gill, a second year student, organised a campaign against the SU and its decision to close its print bureau and make long term staff members redundant. Karl organised the collection of several thousand signatures, enough to hold a Union General Meeting, as per the SU constitution.

Some in the SU criticised Karl for wasting Union money on holding the meeting when it failed to reach quorum. To see elected student representatives criticise a student for correctly utilising a democratic process within the union’s own constitution was disappointing – the union were not as critical of themselves last week when their own “preferendum” failed to reach quorum.

Campus papers, the College Tribune in particular, are often cited as being overly critical by some in the SU. Critics of the paper will often say it is “easier to sit on the sidelines and criticise than it is to get involved.” What these people do not realise is that by working in a college paper we are getting involved.

The media plays a fundamental role in any democracy, and I would argue in the world of student politics, particularly UCDSU which lacks an effective internal opposition and where accountability is poor (as evidenced by no SU accounts in over four years), student newspapers play an even more important role.

The new SU constitution includes a lot of measures to ensure proper accountability, increase deliberation and encourage debate – and this can only be welcomed. But these new measures will only be effective if attitudes changes with them – a student, like Karl, should never be criticised for properly utilising a process the union itself sets out.

There are some fantastically devoted people involved in the students’ union; the current president and the president-elect are only two examples. College newspapers do not try to take away from the good work done by the union – but those who lead must, and generally do, realise the importance of fair criticism. If student media does its job it puts more pressure on student representatives to do their job – there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to involvement in either. Both groups (should) have the best intentions and are what make any university great.

Writing for the College Tribune, “the College Rag,” or “there’s a paper in this university?” (as most students would ask), has been a privilege. UCD is a great place for any aspiring journalist to cut their teeth because, put simply, so much crazy stuff goes on. Whether it be trying to calculate Hugh Brady’s astronomical salary, guessing what Law Soc are going to do next or figuring out how to get a straight answer out of a up and coming politician – there is always so much going on.

Vincent Brown, the now famous (or notorious) journalist, set up this great newspaper over twenty years ago, and recently wrote of it: “The surest way of knowing whether the College Tribune was doing its job was how much the college ‘authorities’ disliked it, deemed it ‘irresponsible,’ and wanted to shut it down.

That’s the test.

Go to it.”

I hope we have.

Follow @DonieSullivan

UCD Students’ Union accumulated  a €1.4 million debt over a four year period, an investigation into the union’s finances has revealed.The university has given the union a loan of almost €1 million to keep the student representative body afloat.

The investigation has laid bare the lack of a regulated accounting system, a lack of documentation, and serious difficulties in establishing a basic audit trail. The report found between 22,000 and 23,000 bank transactions made through UCDSU since 2007-2008, but between 8,000 and 10,000 of these had no initial explanation.

The union are expected to apply for a €900,000 bank loan when the investigation is completed in the coming weeks.

The loan the university has given to the union is an advance on their capitation funding. UCDSU receive  €700,000 in capitation funding each year – this equates to a €35 contribution from each UCD student per annum.

A figure of €400,000 was initially included in the €1.4 million debt. The figure arose, Pat de Brún, SU President claimed, from a mistaken assumption that the union was VAT exempt. “This sum is primarily borne out of poor budgeting. Previous SU budgets assumed wrongly that all our activities were VAT-exempt and people were paid without tax having been deducted,” said de Brún. That debt has subsequently been repaid.

The university, and not the union, also paid the costs associated with the rescheduling of last year’s UCD Ball it has emerged. Neither the university nor the union could confirm the total figure but one well placed source suggested it could be a six figure sum.

De Brún said the figures would be available later this week when all accounts are finalised and sent to audit. He told the College Tribune, “as for why they paid for it, that is a question for the University, but I imagine it came from the fact that it was actions on the part of the University that led to the original cancellation.”

The findings of the internal investigation by McNally Business Services, paid for by the SU and the university, were released to UCDSU members last Thursday. The findings reveal the SU has been in serious financial difficulty since at least 2007.

Gerry McNally of McNally Business Services Ltd revealed that not all monies had yet been fully accounted for and some cheque payees are still unclear. There is also evidence of some union staff members being paid in cash in the period under investigation.

De Brún said poor structures and a lack of individual responsibility and accountability contributed considerably to the accumulation of the debt.

Former SU Presidents claim they were unaware that the Union was in financial difficulty during their respective terms as president. Gary Redmond, UCDSU President in 2009/10 claimed that throughout his term as President he “constantly enquired about the financial status of the union and was reassured on every occasion that everything was within budget and that commercial services were turning a small profit.”

“If at any point I had become aware that either the SU or its commercial services were incurring a loss I would have taken corrective measures immediately to ensure the financial stability of the union long term,” he added.

Mr. Redmond is coming to the end of a two year term as President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), an organization which UCDSU is heavily in debt to.

UCDSU’s contribution accounts for a sixth of USI’s budget and at one stage last summer UCDSU owed almost €250,000 to USI. Redmond said that UCDSU have been paying USI in increments since the autumn.

Donie O’Sullivan
Follow @DonieSullivan

donie@collegetribune.ie

-Union’s and university’s reporting structures unclear

-SU President-elect says SU and University are both responsible for €1million debt that axed student services

-Full accounts to be published on 12th April

-Accounting investigation only goes back as far as 2007

-USI one of UCDSU’s major creditors

UCD Students’ Union may be over €1 million in debt when accounts are published  on April 12, with claim and counterclaim surrounding who is responsible for, and who will be funding, the debt repayments.

Neither the university nor the current SU President, Pat de Brún, could confirm what university staff member the Union Administrator – a university employee who  played a role in managing the SU’s finances– reported to.

SU President-elect, Rachel Breslin said that she believes both the Union and the university must share responsibility for the debt problem, which has led to the axing of services for students.

The current investigation into the Students’ Union’s accounts by McNally Business Services only extends back to 2007. The Union of Students in Ireland is understood to be one of UCDSU’s major creditors.

UCDSU are expected to apply for a loan when accounts are completed in the coming weeks. Pat de Brún, current SU President stressed that it would be the Students’ Union who would be paying off the debt but said he expected the university to be “very supportive” of the Union.

De Brún did not rule out an increase in funding from the university that would help with loan repayments.

De Brún cites poor structures, that he claims, were “not conducive to proper financial practices” as a key cause of the accumulation of the debt.

Some of the university and Union’s reporting structures are unclear, particularly those pertaining to the position of Union Administrator. The Union Administrator was a university employee, who both the SU and university say was under secondment to the Students’ Union.

The Administrator played a role in managing the SU’s books. The position was abolished recently with the ratification of a new SU constitution as part of an overall reform of the Union.

The Union Administrator did have other administrative responsibilities other than their role in the SU. The former, and final, Union Administrator, Mr. David Carmody remains a university employee but has been on sick leave for some time.

On reporting structures the university state, “the administrative post was under secondment to the Students’ Union, and as such reported to the President of the Students’ Union.”The recently replaced SU constitution also stated that the Union Administrator “shall be directly responsible to the [SU] President.” However de Brún does not believe this was the case in practice.

The accounts may reveal when and how the debt began to accumulate. The full accounts will be presented to the last Union Council of the year on 12th April, according to de Brún.

The accounts were due to be published at an earlier date but de Brún claims delays were caused by the thoroughness of the investigation.

De Brún’s three predecessors, Paul Lynam, Gary Redmond and Aodhan O Dea have all told the College Tribune that during their time in office they were never aware of a substantial debt.

In a statement to the College Tribune Gary Redmond, current Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President and former UCDSU President claimed “at no point during my time as an employee, Vice-President or President of UCDSU did I have any notion that the Students’ Union may have been in any sort of financial difficulty. To be honest I was absolutely shocked when I initially learned that the SU was in serious financial difficulties and flabbergasted when the true scale of the debt began to surface.”

On the position of Union Administrator, Redmond claimed, “as a University employee the SU had no legal or other authority to discipline or review the performance of the [Union] financial administrator.”

De Brún told the College Tribune, “I was a sabbatical officer the year before [this] year and I would never have said that person was reporting to the [SU] President, I never got that impression.”

“You could say the university has a role to play here, you could say the Union has a role to play here. The limbo in which that arrangement existed was not conducive to proper financial practices. The [Union] Administrator was seconded and that did create a lack of oversight for that position and it’s got us in a hell of a mess undoubtedly,” he claimed.

Pat de Brún said his predecessor Paul Lynam told him that “he was beginning to grow concerned” before de Brún took office last July. De Brún said he didn’t think it was a major problem at first, but as more and more creditors began to contact the Union he realised the issue was very serious.

Lynam claims financial issues only came to light in June of last year and said that throughout his year as President he was assured that the SU accounts were healthy.

Current SU Welfare Officer and SU President-elect Rachel Breslin said she believes the SU and the university share responsibility for the accumulation and the payment of the debt. “The college is responsible because there is a member of the college staff who is also part of our accounting team and the expenses had to go through. So absolutely, it is the SU because the SU were the people that were spending the money but also the college because of staff members involvement there,” Breslin claimed at a SU election hustings last month.

Accountants working to bring the SU accounts up to date will also compile a report which is expected to outline how they believe the debt accumulated.

No regrets over copy bureau closure, says de Brun

De Brún also told the College Tribune he believes closing the SU copy bureau before Christmas was the right decision. Responding to a common criticism leveled against him, that he should have waited until all the accounts were completed before closing the bureau de Brún said; “I don’t regret it, it wouldn’t have changed anything apart from our debt would have gotten bigger.

It was a very simple one in that the copy bureau only had three suppliers altogether and then the staff costs so it was extremely simple to figure out where it was [..] when it comes to the shops you have hundreds of suppliers” and said it was much more complex in comparison.

However de Brún did speak about how difficult it was to make long term Union staff redundant. “it’s horrible, it’s something I hope I never have to do again. It still upsets me to a certain extent but at the same time I don’t regret the decision. At the time and since it’s caused me quite a few sleepless nights.

The implications are very far reaching, it’s not something that a twenty one year old would like to do or anyone would like to do really but that was the situation we were faced with.”

Donie O’Sullivan
Follow @DonieSullivan

donie@collegetribune.ie

Logue will replace Gary Redmond, also a UCD student,  who has spent two years at the helm of USI.

Logue is a former USI Eastern Area Officer. The Donegal man ran for the position of UCDSU Education Officer in 2010 but was defeated by James Williamson.

Significantly, Logue says he in favour of campaigning for a graduate tax rather than continuing USI’s current fight for free fees.

Presidential Election Result:

LOGUE, JOHN (UCDSU) 133 *Deemed elected

Nevin, Ciarán (DITSU) 43

R-o.N. 28

Other Results:

Academic Affairs: Cat O’Driscoll (UCCSU)

VP Equality: Laura Harmon (UCCSU)

VP Campaigns: Kate Acheson (USI OB)

VP BMW Region: Breffni Gorman (USI OB)

VP Irish L &C: Peadar Bluit (USI OB)

VP Welfare: Denise McCartney (WITSU)

VP Southern: Nominations Re-Opened.

Reaction Online

Congratulations to John Logue, on being elected as @TheUSI President and to all other successful candidates #USI12 #fb

— Ciarán Nevin (@CiaranNevin) April 4, 2012

Congratulations to John Logue, elected as your new President of @TheUSI, best of luck for your year in term. #USI12

— Adrianne Peltz (@adi_peltz) April 4, 2012

John Logue… The man… The Legend… The folksy accent #usi12

— UCD Tallyman (@UCDTallyman) April 4, 2012

Donie O’Sullivan
Follow @DonieSullivan
donie@collegetribune.ie

De Brún states that while the members of the committee are working extensively with the current bar staff “unfortunately [we] don’t have the time required to put into the bar on a day-to-day basis, so we felt that bringing in an external resource would be prudent”.

The consultant is preparing a proposal to present to the committee in the coming week; his fees will be included.

The committee plans on examining every aspect of the bar’s activities in an attempt to make it profitable again.

Students have complained in recent years of the price of drinks in the bar. 2nd year student, Maria, informs the College Tribune that it’d “be better if the €3 drinks were more often … it’s much cheaper to just pre-drink at home.”

The SU President acknowledges this feeling, stating that “students are now more inclined to get their alcohol in an off-license and drink at home instead of the bar. In order to be competitive, I feel we need to reduce prices in line with the economic realities we’re faced with.”

He argues that there is potential in the Student Club as “it is a members’ club that is there to serve the needs of the [students]. That gives me faith that we can turn it around into a bar that students want to spend time, and money, in.”

De Brún’s aim is to deliver a lower-cost model “in time for the beginning of the next academic term, although it is undoubtedly a challenge, i think it would be fantastic to be able to re-launch the bar completely from the first week back.”

The new Forum bar should also be open in time for the beginning of the forthcoming academic year.

Conor Fox

News Editor

This is the first time students have been asked to vote on the issue of third level funding and UCDSU President, Pat de Brún tells the College Tribune  this ‘’referendum will probably be the most significant vote held in UCD in recent memory’’.

UCDSU have made the decision to put the question to a preferendum, following many students’ expressions of dissatisfaction with the current policy.

Last month saw the Minister for Education & Skills Ruairí Quinn announce that students could anticipate an increase in the student contribution charge to €3,000 by 2016.

This increase along with major cuts to the higher education authority grant and university funding being decimated are a major blow for students and university Unions across the country.

President Pat de Brún informed the College Tribune that “the Union will not be taking a stance in favour of any particular option, but officers are free to support any option they wish in a personal capacity’’.

De Brún himself won’t be publicly campaigning but tells the College Tribune, “I will make no secret of the fact that I believe that a graduate tax is the best option available’’.

Graduate tax is one of the five separate funding models which UCD students will be asked to vote on. The other models include a student loan scheme, up-front fees, full exchequer funding and the student contribution/registration fee which is currently in place.

Students can find summaries as well as pro and con lists of each model on the students’ unions impartial information website www.voteucd.ie. As SU President, de Brún urges “all students to make the effort to get informed’’ on their options before the referendum takes place. Other interest groups such as FEE – Free Education for Everyone – and Labour Youth will also be setting up campaigns on the issue in the coming days.

The referendum will be held along elections for the seven College Conveners, Graduate Officer and Oifigeach na Gaeilge positions.

Sophie Kelly

One student who lives in the Belgrove Residences told the College Tribune that his apartment was burgled between the hours of 8pm and 9pm on Thursday 22nd of March.  His and one of his housemate’s rooms were both open. The thief took his laptop, mobile phone, suit, and a savings card.  The first year is unsure of insurance will cover the loss of his valuables.

Brierley informed the Tribune that incidents are “being investigated by the Gardaí who are following up a number of leads, and Residential Assistants, Security, and Campus Services are actively monitoring the Residences.”

Following reports that Residences Services allegedly had a photograph of the thief, the College Tribune sought access to the image. It was neither confirmed nor denied that a photograph existed nor was a statement given on why, if it existed, such an image would not be released to the student body.

Conor Fox

News Editor

Cancelled due to poor ticket sales, Darcy stated that the loss made by the cancellation was minimal, “the only cost was the printing charge which wasn’t substantial.”

He explained that “two [of the locations] were daytime clubs and there was no expense in opening them; the final club was open anyway so there was no expense there.”

Darcy further stated that the twenty buses booked for the event were hired from a company used regularly by the Union so a deposit was not lost.

At Union Council, questions arose regarding the lack of publicity of the event which mainly took place over social media. Roisin Conran, Business Programme Officer, argued that “a lot of people didn’t know it was on, it was a last minute thing … people need to be given advance warning to save for tickets”.

Eoin Heffernan, Ents Officer elect, told the Tribune that he was busy with his studies and didn’t see much publicity. Pat de Brún, UCDSU President, stated that “the fact that it was postponed twice did not leave enough time to promote it effectively.”

Darcy stated that the facebook event for the Mystery Tour was the biggest one so far this year. There were 336 attending and 1,000 tickets available.

He tried to explain that “there are so many facebook events” that students don’t click attending but there was a lot of interest which “unfortunately didn’t translate into ticket sales.”

When asked why he felt students did not purchase tickets, Darcy replied that it was “just a combination of people having no money … UCD Ball tickets going on sale at the same time … there was just too much on”.

The ‘Spin 103.8 Student Races’ at Leopardstown occurred on the same day as the planned Mystery Tour. UCDSU sold over 900 tickets, making an estimated profit of €930. De Brún also felt that the huge popularity of the student races “completely overshadowed” the mystery tour.

Darcy told the Tribune that he hopes to put on the Mystery Tour directly after the exam period, “I might put it to a student poll to see if there’s enough interest”.

In relation to the UCD Ball, he confirmed that sales are “well past” the 3,000 mark but he was not allowed to reveal the exact figures.

Students have complained that the line up is disappointing with some hoping that more acts may be announced but the Ents Vice-President told the Tribune that “there’s no major surprises coming up … we’ve spent our budget in terms of acts … [but] there may be another one or two little acts”.

In his manifesto, Darcy promised to have a carnival on site but he has failed to follow through on that. “The guards wouldn’t let us this year … it was a nice idea [but] I can’t argue with the guards … after last year, I’m doing anything to keep [them] sweet.”

Darcy is confident that the event will be a success, “we’re so prepared for it and it’s just a matter of selling it out now, the hard part now.”

Conor Fox