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College Tribune | November 25th 2008
News News
600 signatures collected for transfusion protest ■ Tadgh Moriarty A recent visit by the IBTS (Irish Blood Transfusion Service) in UCD for their annual drive to encourage blood donation among students resulted in a one-man protest. LGBT Rights Officer Ryan Griffin spearheaded the “hugely successful” MSM blood campaign against the ban on gay men giving blood. This year he chose not to target the IBTS staff. Instead he decided to lobby the Minister for Health to set up a review group to examine the ban. Previous years have seen large demonstrations of students protesting. This year however, Griffin opted for the softer approach of handing out “last year’s pamphlets” and putting up “very effective” posters. The weeklong campaign provided 600 signatures. Griffin attempted to explain the shortfall with “the attitude that’s out there”, referring to the mind-set of many who had signed the petition last year and saw no point in doing so again, “as it had very little effect the first time”, he said. Undeterred by the low level of signatures, Griffin is determined to reach a target of 3000, three times higher than SU president, Aodhan O’Dea’s, expectations for “a thousand or so”. The LGBT Rights Officer has asked class reps to hand out the petition to their classes. Though it is acknowledged the LGBT could have provided great amounts of support, Griffin decided not to involve the society citing his reasoning as wishing to steer clear of “internal politics”. Despite the small number of signatures, O’Dea felt that the campaign had been “massively successful”. In his opinion “It’s as much about getting signatures as it is about getting the message across and raising awareness”.
■ Smokey statue: Despite excess demand, Belgrove is not filled to capacity
Student residences lie empty Apartments in Belgrove are lying dormant despite the fact over 500 students missed out on the on-campus accommodation at the start of this year. Welfare Officer for the Students’ Union Conor Fingleton has branded the situation “unacceptable”. He further says “I know of one particular case in which the room in question was empty since the end of September. Another class rep has told me that they only just moved into a room that had also been unused for quite some time.”
■ Jennifer Bray Fingleton says he cannot explain why this is happening, but that he is seeking to find out when he brings the matter to the attention of the Residence Committee this Friday. “The only reason I can think of that this could happen would be if a student de-registered and it took a while to show on the system, although even this I’m not sure of”. President of the Students’ Union
Aodhán Ó Deá has also lashed out against the occurrence saying he has spoken to other members of the union on the matter and intends to follow it up. Of the 500 students who did not get accepted onto the campus accommodation this year, the majority are understood to be first year undergraduate students. Criteria for eligibility for the residences range from disability, contribution to campus life, the geographical location of the candidate, and the
applicants year of study with a greater weighting going towards first years and final year students. UCD currently has rooms on the Belfield and Blackrock Campus for more than 2500 students in residence. In 2008, 615 places were awarded to an undergraduate international allocation, 16 to those in the Bord Na Gaeilge entries, 40 to those on disability and 900 to first year undergraduates. Other places were awarded to those on sports scholarships and other entry paths.
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College Tribune LG 18, Newman Building (Arts Block) or Box 74, Student Centre, UCD Email: collegetribune@gmail.com Tel: 01 716 8501 Editors Acting Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Music Editor Health & Fashion Editor Chief News Writer
Jennifer Bray Simon Ward Philip Connolly Bryan Devlin Cathy Buckmaster Sebastian Clare Aoife Ryan Karina Bracken
Contributors Steven West, Eoghan Brophy, Jordan Daly, Colman Hanley, Steve Tuohy, Fiona Redmond, Heather Landy, Ruth O’Neill, Maximilliam Harding, Faustus, Tadgh Moriarty, Evan O’Leary, Chris Bond, Sam McGrath, Jason Timmons, Ben McCormack, Rachel Boyle, Diarmuid Laffan, Jessica Whyte, Nicholas Broadstock, Orla Kenny, Katie Godwin, Jessica Egan, Philip Connolly, Niamh Bhreathanach, Orna Mulhern, Eoghan Glynn, Roe McDermott, Conor McKenna, Aoife Smyth, Cian Taaffe
Special thanks to... Huw Jones and Frank Flynn at NWN, Karen from DEAF, everyone at MCD, Chantal at Universal, Alan and Beryl Ward, Sharon and Joseph Bray, 60 Cents Mochas, Eilish O’Brien and Dominic Martella at the UCD Communications Office, Caitrina & Colin, Hilper’s Scones, Jack.
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