Lots of stuff to update

It's been a long long time since I posted and I've been up to a serious amount of stuff from MnMing for Charity Week, to attending an Alcohol Issues seminar, to being re-elected and so on and so forth.

For those of you who havent' gotten to see them, what I'm going to do since there's way too much to actually rember is copy and paste my An Focal articles and Officer Reports

Week 5 An Focal
Hey everyone, it’s been a busy busy two weeks since I last wrote. We had the UGM which was unfortunately inquorate. The main issue which was of concern to me was that people seemed bothered enough on Facebook to tell us that an increase of €4 in the price of an ID card is bad, but didn’t come to the meeting to back this up for us in a minuted meeting which I could act upon. This weakens my position when I bring the issue to the table with the Director of Student Affairs. I haven’t had a single email on the issue either. Maybe I’ll just have to stick around for another year for a quorate UGM.

On the plus side, I got through my officer report in less than a minute and it is on the student portal to be viewed in the Students’ Union box. If you have any questions you can email me.

There’s also a brief article in An Focal this week of a consultation we are engaging in with you, the student on a national representative body. The items discussed by the Executive are also on the student portal which might give you an idea of what you would like to add.

In terms of meetings, I’ve had loads. Under-Represented Students and Facilities and Services discussed Student Hardship at length last Monday. We are proposing to the university to get a significant increase given the part-time job market and increase in student service charge meaning students are in a far worse financial situation in some cases.

The Alcohol Working Group chaired by the Director of Student Affairs met again and I proposed a set guideline for students on Discipline which was sent to the Vice-President Academic and Registrar. This group is also looking at running some events such as acoustic gigs and quizzes in the main canteen during week 7, also election week.<

The Equality and Diversity Committee was happy to hear about Jason’s plans for Equality Week in Week 11. There is a Diversity Calendar at Students’ Union Reception for anyone who wants to check out what’s on.

Bagpacking in Weeks 2 and 3 raised over €1,300 for the Raising and Giving Charities. Get in and collect your entry forms for Tag, 5-A-Side, Sleepout and €5k 5km run.

Apart from that I spent a number of days in Week 3 interviewing candidates for Clubs and Societies Liaison Officer with Paul Lee (Clubs and Societies Development Officer) and Tomás Costello (Secretary General)

Charity Week went down a storm and we’re finalising fundraising figures. I can’t help but say that I’m extremely disappointed by the contribution of the average student. When special event collections and collections off campus excluded, the contribution per student is less than 20c. That is just pitiful. I have to congratulate those who did contribute as the charity take is quite good compared to last year with the recession and all and the charities will be very appreciative

Well, Alcohol Awareness Week seems to have gone down quite well and the Director of Student Affairs tells me she’s had some email feedback from some of you which is good! The debate was quite well attended from a wide range of areas and I’d like to thank Prof. Mary O’Sullivan for chairing and the Debating Union for a great debate. Little known fact to follow up on this; there are 2/3 of the calories of a cheeseburger in a vodka and Red Bull, so think about it next time you go for the extra drink. The Surprise Gig in the Red Raisins was reasonably well attended with Subway staying open until 9 for that and the quiz on Tuesday night. Winners have been announced by Facebook and email.

I spoke to a group attending the Irish Heart Foundation Happy Heart Talk in the Castletroy Park Hotel, which was well publicised on the ULSU website and Facebook, but few students attended. Facebook is one of our main forms of communication with students, so please become a fan of ULSU for updates. Anyhow, this was a very interesting talk and showed how a healthy heart and cardiovascular system is important to everyone, not just older people, I will see about getting the speakers back again next year.

From the election campaign it has been a bit clearer to me that people are sometimes unaware of what assistance we can offer in the SU. There really is only one answer that covers everything; if unsure and you have a problem, just come and ask. We’re not going to shout it from the rooftops that Jo Bloggs was in looking for advice on STI testing, or that Pat Soap was in asking what to do if he failed 3 modules. If you have a problem, ask us about it, we might not be able to help, but if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

Again, lots of casework and committees attended, but nothing that’s going to affect any of you this year at least!
anyway...happy weekend