Presented by Helen Doyle
Produced by Samuel Hamilton, Paula Lyne and Michelle Stedman

Presented by Michelle Stedman
Produced by Helen Doyle and Samuel Hamilton
Sound by Stephen Mangan

The incident was reported last month to the Estates Office, as well as to the Students’ Union, when this newspaper witnessed a staff member letting the air out of both tyres of a student’s bicycle.

The bicycle was locked to a pole outside the Henry Grattan Building but was not blocking the entrance.

When approached by the College View, the employee in question said his name was “not relevant” and that he was carrying out the action because “there are blind people on campus”.

In an email to the College View, director of the Estates Office, Mike Kelly stated: “Whilst we discourage locking of bicycles to lamp posts, handrails and the like because they can cause hazards to people with disabilities, letting air out of people’s tyres is not something that we do or encourage”.

“I have investigated the matter and it will be dealt with internally in the Estates Office. I apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused.”

The SU said it would bring the matter up with university authorities.

“I think it is a bit ridiculous that a staff member interferes with anything that students own. I have come across others who have had the same problem and it just doesn’t make sense,” according to SU president Alan Keegan.

Keegan added: “The SU will be treating this as an important issue, because if a student did this to a staff member’s bicycle they would be thrown straight in front of the disciplinary committee and be reported to the Gardai.

“Double standards shouldn’t exist in this university and we will work to make sure this isn’t the case.”

Meanwhile, the Dublin Cycling Campaign said letting air out of tires as a form of punishment is “highly inappropriate behaviour” and that putting a notice on the bike or a similar action would be much more appropriate.

“All universities should have very clear bike-parking policies and well designed and sited facilities for same. Areas not for bike parking should be marked out for good reason, not just the perceived tidiness of the landscaping, and clearly signposted as such.

“On the other hand, the visually impaired certainly have a strong right to have their pathways clear,” according to Will Andrews of the Dublin Cycling Campaign.

“To my mind, deflating tyres causing complete loss of use of the bike is serious damage,” he added

“I would strongly encourage DCUSU and its executive to at the very least consider holding an affiliation referendum in the coming months to allow their members to decide,” he said.

“Now is the time for us all to unite, work together and represent the best interests of our members which we feel is through USI.”

However SU president Alan Keegan has rejected the idea of holding a referendum on rejoining the USI and says it is no surprise that Redmond is supportive of an expansion of USI.

“It’s understandable that UCDSU, with such a strong influence on the running of USI would be supportive of its expansion, however, we do not believe at this time that this is the best option available to DCU,” he said.

“It is almost certain there shall be no referendum on USI in its current structure,” he added.

Tensions between the two SU presidents became evident last month, when the College View reported that Keegan sent an email to Redmond describing UCD’s withdrawal from the Forum for University Students’ Unions of Ireland (FUSU) as “counterintuitive”.

Keegan is critical of USI’s many “overpaid” sabbatical positions and its “severely limited decision making structures”.

“DCUSU used to be strong followers of the USI campaigns however when we protested about the structural problems, we were ignored and subsequently disaffiliated,” he said.

In an interview with the College View, USI president Peter Mannion argued that DCU students would benefit from being affiliated to USI.

“DCU does not have a voice on a national scale for their students. Anything that would strengthen their voice and in turn strengthen our voice within those negotiations would be beneficial to everybody”.

According to Mannion, USI is an extremely active organisation that has secured numerous benefits to students at a national level.

“The amount of representation we give to students is clearly evident. We sit on everything from the Higher Education Authority right down to the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and all the access bodies - USI have done a lot of work. We’ve stopped cuts on disability payments for students, and the student assistance fund, things like that. The representation that we get on a national scale we work for.”

He added: “But again we don’t know what the students in DCU want, because we as a national organisation have no communication with DCU. But again it has to be the students decision - maybe it is a good time to join USI, maybe it isn’t - but ultimately it is up to the students to do that. But USI is a national organisation and is the sole representation organisation from the Government’s side.”

The USI in recent months has been extremely vocal against the re-introduction of fees, at one point staging a sit-in protest at the Department of Education.

According to Mannion: “The students’ unions and the USI put in an awful lot of time and resources (into the fight against fees) and that “if there wasn’t a USI we surely would agree that there would be fees back now.”

However Keegan rejected this claim.

“Although USI and non-affiliate unions, mounted a tremendous campaign against the reintroduction of fees, I do not think that they are solely responsible for it,” he said.

Mannion argues that at the moment, given that DCU isn’t a member of the USI, the union “don’t know what the students in DCU want, because we as a national organisation have no communication with DCU.”

Keegan says though that there is no reason why the USI could not be in contact with them despite their non-affiliate status. He says: “If USI genuinely believe that without paying the €50,000 membership fee, DCU may not receive a letter, email or phone call then that is indicative of what is wrong with the organisation itself.”

USI has been the main student representative body in Ireland for the last fifty years, with three out of seven universities and 13 out of 14 Institutes of Technologies affiliated as members.

Any real push for a referendum from union council is unlikely, however, one of the main arguments Keegan would present against a proposal relates to the cost of joining USI.

Students would be charged a fee of five euro each to receive the union representation.

According to Keegan: “Expecting an increase of €50,000 to our budget through the capitation fee paid by students of DCU is unrealistic and would be a massive strain on our resources.”

Mannion however disagrees, stating that it isn’t the students’ unions that pay for the affiliation but the students themselves.

“We charge students five euro to become a member of USI, so that’s five euro per student, it isn’t the students’ union that pays that… I don’t buy the argument that it’s too expensive - because the money does not come from the coppers, should not come from the coppers of the students’ union - it should come from the students that we represent.”

With interviews set to take place this month, UCD vice-president Philip Nolan is expected to mount a strong challenge for the presidency, with the Irish Times describing him recently as a “clear favourite”.

However sources within the university have tipped DCU’s Brian MacCraith as a potential candidate for the post.

MacCraith – a Professor of Physics and Director of the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at DCU, is seen as one of the most likely internal challengers, along with DCU vice-president Professor Anne Scott. Both declined to comment when contacted by the College View last week.

Outgoing president Ferdinand von Prondzynski, whose term is set to end in July, refused to be drawn on the speculation stating: “I need to stress that I am not involved in any way in the process, and therefore cannot comment on the candidates”.

He added that he is in “no doubt that the actual list of candidates will have very high quality people on it”.

The shortlist is also thought to include an academic from Queens University and another from Scotland.

UCD’s Brigid Laffan and DIT president Brian Norton were also rumoured to have applied for the post as they were both shortlisted for the position of president at UL last year. Laffan did not make any comment and Norton described the rumours as “misinformed”.

Speculation also surrounded vice president for Research at RCSI, Professor Brian Harvey who dismissed the rumours.

“Although I have close collaborative ties with DCU, I have no interest in applying for the DCU presidency” he said.

He went on to hint that he may have been mistaken for another Brian and that the focus should be on the “two main internal candidates”.

Marian Burns, DCU Director of Human Resources said that the process was “ongoing and highly confidential.” She said that it would be “inappropriate to comment at this stage”.

The responsibility of selecting the new president lies with DCU Chancellor and former Attorney General, David Byrne, who will be assisted by a panel of external experts.

Speculation is expected to continue for the moment but von Prondzynski believes “that the successful candidate will be known before the end of the year.”

“I plan to work in close collaboration with my successor over the months until I step down in mid-July,” he added.

The removal of this long-standing ban, which prohibited students from having guests stay in their apartment in the run up to exams, was secured through negotiations between the students’ union and campus residences.

Students’ Union accommodation officer Jackie Fox believes the agreement will have great benefits for students as long as it is not abused.

“It’s a brilliant achievement for us, the idea had been brought up in the past and we decided to approach campus about it, although they were wary about noise levels and disturbances they agreed to run it on a trial basis,” she said.

“It gives students the perfect opportunity to get together in study groups prior to exams,” she added.

DCUSU education and welfare officer John Murphy, who was also involved in securing the removal of the ban said: “They [campus res] decided to allow it on a trial run to allow for collaborative study and I must emphasise the point that this is purely what it is for”.

“I think if students use it as it is intended, for collaborative study, then yes it will be a success,” he added.

Campus Residences said that they were unavailable for comment when contacted by the College View about the matter last week.

The SU is also urging all students who experience any problems with regards noise and anti-social behaviour whilst on campus to contact security on 01-700-5999.

Keegan did warn however that if the withdrawals from FUSU continue “then the existence of the body will have to be looked at”.

Both Trinity College and UCD have withdrawn from FUSU in the past two months after motions to leave the forum were passed at both universities’ union councils.

The SU president added that he would like to see the members who withdrew to “rejoin and actively participate in FUSU as a free and beneficial student discussion forum”.

Trinity College SU president Cónán Ó Broin put forward the motion to withdraw from the organisation, telling the college’s union council meeting last month that FUSU was “not an effective organisation, having meetings with no agenda and no leader.”

He also said that while working alongside FUSU on the campaign to prevent the re-introduction of tuition fees he felt it was an “ineffective organisation.”

According to Keegan, there is still value left in DCU remaining as a member of FUSU but that the withdrawals are a loss to the forum.

“There are still five universities who sit on the forum and their information can be vital to DCU. Being realistic, Trinity’s and UCD’s withdrawal is a significant loss to the forum but I do believe there is still a need for it,” he said.

FUSU was originally setup in 1997 as a discussion forum between the country’s seven universities and DIT, which the forum recognised as a member because of its size.

The forum is viewed as DCU’s principal means of interacting with other universities after it disaffiliated with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in 2002.

The next meeting of FUSU takes place in UCC on December 18.

Over 6,000 secondary level students visited campus on November 20 and 21, with the event drawing crowds of 4,000 on the Friday and 2,000 on the Saturday.

He said that although figures were quite similar to last year’s, the increase was significant considering certain outside factors that were expected to reduce numbers.

“We had expected a Friday decrease due to budget and staffing constraints in second level schools as well as bad weather conditions but this was not evident,” Spierin said.

“However as the figures show, neither had very little effect.”

Spierin also dismissed rumours from last year that the second Open Day event, traditionally held on the Saturday, would be scrapped this year due to low turnout last year.

“Rumours are rumours. Having organised this event for the last three years, there was never any suggestion that the event would not include Saturday,” he said. “We also have to consider those students whose schools do not afford them the day off to attend Open Days, in addition to those travelling a long way – from Cork and Galway for example.”

“Traditionally DCU always had an Open Day on the Saturday and this will not change,” he said.

Spierin says that costs for the open day have been reduced “by 50% since 2005” and that “further increases” are expected for this year. The marketing office account for a large amount of the financial burden, he said.

Head of the registry, Phylomena McMorrow told the College View that there are no early indicators as of yet regarding application numbers for next year: “Normally we would receive some preliminary data about applications in March, although I do not have the exact date for this as yet.”

Secondary school student Jonathan Harte was one of the 6,000 students who visited DCU on Saturday November 21. The student from Dunboyne, Co Meath said that while he enjoyed the day and plans to put DCU down as his number one choice on the CAO, he did not find it “that helpful”.

“The students were good for guiding on where to go and that sort of stuff but I couldn’t really find students that did the courses I was interested in order to get a real insight,” he said.

“It was worthwhile going in to get a feel for the campus, however.”

Spierin told the College View that Higher Education research suggests that Open Days are “extremely important” in attracting prospective students to a third-level institution, claiming that “the likelihood of a student going to DCU having attended the Open Day is much higher than those who haven’t.”

Aoife Walsh, a guidance counsellor from Malahide Community School, said that the large contingent from the school who attended the Open Day found it beneficial and heard “no downsides” about the event.

“They had a good day and most of them spoke to lecturers and students and that’s what’s important.”

DCU student Chris Cleary had his radio documentary aired on RTE Radio 1 recently, while third-year journalism student Shaun Dunne is starring in a new film released nationwide.

Cleary’s documentary divulges the personal story of his mother and her life-threatening struggle with drug addiction. The second-year communications students admits that it is extremely difficult to break into the radio industry, and attributes his recent success to the importance of acquiring contacts in the business rather than talent.

Cleary claims that his initial pitch to RTE was very well-received, and that it was the story of the documentary that caught their eye.

“I think it was just easy because of the storyline. It could help so many people,” Cleary said.

Meanwhile Shaun Dunne became involved with film Situations Vacant via his agent.

“My agent, Gillian Oman, sent me on the audition which was cast by the director Lisa Mulcahy and casting agent Louise Kiely. It was improv-based which is a lot looser than straight scriptwork, audition-wise.

“Following that audition I was called in for a group reading, and then got word the next week that I got the part.”
Dunne feels he was fortunate to land the role.

“There are struggling actors everywhere - it’s a job that a lot of people want to do but realistically there isn’t the work and opportunity to facilitate everyone.”

Dunne also writes plays and has just been commissioned to write a script for the Dublin-based Rough Magic theatre company.

Cleary’s documentary is still available to listen to online and the list of cinemas where Situations Vacant being shown can be viewed on the movie’s website.

The sensors have already been used to produce and analyse data from The river Lee during the recent flooding that caused millions of euro worth of damage across the country. The DEPLOY project is lead by Dr Fiona Regan of DCU’s National Centre for Sensor Research.

The project was initially set up to develop an environmental system that could provide data to councils and health authorities about the quality of the water. The technology is partially deployed since last March in the River Lee. During the flooding, the system was shown to have much wider uses by providing instant information about the river.

The technology uses a series of sensors at various points in The River Lee that collects data, including water-depth measurements, every fifteen minutes. Once the technology is fully deployed it can help give much earlier warnings of rising levels.

According to Dr Regan: “In response to the immediate emergency in Cork, the DEPLOY water quality monitoring system has demonstrated that it can reliably deliver real-time data on water quality… In future scenarios, decisions which are informed by timely accurate data will always be better decisions. It is likely that these types of systems could help to mitigate against the risk of serious flood damage in the longer term.”