 We have six races to get through tonight. They are Engagement and Development, Education and Placement, Welfare, Efecucinoguerre, Academic Affairs, and Fine. These debates are one of the last tests for all the candidates after a long week of campaigning. And with two days left of voting, this is one of the final ways to make up your mind on who to vote for. To start things off, we have the candidates for Education and Placement, with only Luke O'Kallig moderating the debates. Last week, only Luke interviewed both candidates to see who they are and what they're all about. I promise you I'll have my students on Placement, with assignments, with exams, anything. Vote for me and I'll be there for you next year. One of the big ones, my main one is feedback on assignments. All students need to be given feedback to know exactly how they go about improving their next work, what they did right, what they did wrong. And without getting feedback, you don't know. And as well then, referencing and essay writing skills workshops need to be promoted more. Some are run, but they're not pushed enough, and then people spend. Ridiculous spend time worrying if they're structuring essays properly, if they're referencing properly, and they shall be focusing on the content. So if you know if you're taught how to reference properly in the first year, then you'll know for the rest. Welcome back to the DCTV Live SEO election debates. We're joined now by Stephen Rickson and Manus Loughlin, who are running for the new role of Vice President for Education and Placement. Guys, thanks for coming in. This is a new role this year. What are the key issues to looking at this new role? How are you going to make a drone? How do you see your strategy? Well, I think it's very important because up to 70% of students in DC are on placement. So it's obviously a big part of any part of the course, especially because everybody hopes to enter a professional environment afterwards, the placement of the key issues. So I think some of the big issues are just supporting students on placement, because at the end of the day, we are only students. Some people in the workplace might look down on you, and it's a much-supporting place that we are confident in. How do you think you can address the issues with that? What issues are those issues going to be with you? Well, financial is a big one, because especially if you're placed far away from DCU, and you have a lot of travels here, that's a travel expense, and you have a lot of printings here, especially in any education courses, I have a lot of resources to print, so these are big things to get financial support in place. But as well as that, there are issues obviously regarding how to get your placement to receive that placement. You don't want not very nice to six months in a job you already want to do, and you have to get your placement back, so you'll get the whole allocation process, because even with teaching courses, and students are often placed very far away from where you're actually living, and you need some more consideration in what things are happening. On that point, you mentioned that you might be looking to a system where students, if one person got, if two people got a placement that they weren't happy with, they might be able to swap them with each other if they were both open for that. Do you think employers would go for that? I know for some of the courses anyway, interviews are between candidates that have to come in, that have to be chosen by a specific company. You see employers actually agreeing with it where students can just swap amongst themselves. Well, it's other they can just swap amongst themselves, obviously there's more interest in that. But I don't mean that the two would just swap directly. I mean, if this person had a separate interview that they wanted to go for, and they got that one, that they could then give their one position to somebody else who was also interviewed for it. So it's not a case for two people to just swap and over like that. It's not what it's where you go for something different, and then somebody else takes your position, so it is filled so the company's not wearing like, oh now we have no one for the position. Okay, I get you. Manus, what do you think the key issue facing the position will be now next year? I mean, it's a little bit better, because that's going to be the main issue, and it's going to be said by a certain student, and I would like to say that there is education and cases, so I'm not going to just say that the students can pass it. Maybe we have to do all of that, all cases. Because college courses and colleges are going to be specific. And look, I suppose there's been a lot of issues around this, and I had a lot of questions being posed and asking the surface students what they would do if they get to them. And I believe that if elected next week, it's very important that I try my absolute best then, along with everyone who's asking for help and what I will do. And when I ask them to come with me next week and put certain things in the changes then, why not? What changes, specifically what changes are you looking to implement? Education is a broad banner. What actually falls under that, that you're going to be addressing that shift? Yeah, see the schools, finding out what the students want is the most important thing, first of all. There's no point in putting my hand up and saying nothing. You change this and then you change that. As I've mentioned, the questions that I've heard and the questions that I've been asked and the people I've been talking to, the main issues there, the ones I'm going to be front and drive and post behind, and I suppose instead of just moving up there, fighting alone, I'd like to say to everyone else with me who has an issue and we know what those are going to be. Okay, and obviously finance, as I mentioned, tax and issues for people on placement. Where do you propose to get this money to support it? Have either of you approached the intra office yet, after them, if the changes you're proposing are possible, if the reform is feasible, have you either approached the intra office yet? Well, in terms of the intra office, I have spoken briefly with Vanessa and that was where the swap system kind of was mentioned. Not so much finance with the intra because I was more focused on financially, I suppose if you are an unpaid intra, but additional fridging credits isn't something that's going to cost the college very much money because as it is, you know, it's to use the printing facilities within the college and then travel expenses through the budget in the SEO at the start of the year and I'll do something I really push for it to go towards because obviously at the end of the two SEOs are coming together, all the budget that was in the tax SEO as well is going to come together all the three ones that I definitely did a section there for and travel expenses in the budget. Okay, and I suppose would either of you be lobbying for, as you mentioned, some places are unpaid because a lot of those are in the school, the humanities here and a lot of intros go unpaid whereas in the likes of the engineering faculty and stuff that I was talking to me last week that said that it's very rare that somebody would get an unpaid intra that usually the pay is quite good. Would you lobby for the rights of media students, of students in the schooling humanities who like arguably they're going through the same like the college jerry learning technical skills that they specifically have that they should probably be getting paid for. Would you be lobbying for these companies, the intros to make these companies pay their intros too? Well, I suppose it is important obviously that they get paid on intros but at the end of the day, it's going to be beneficial for a company that's going to be beneficial to your career and it is an unpaid intra that's kind of, if the company doesn't want to pay you, that's something that you're going to have to kind of expose, put up with. Now obviously it would be great if everyone could be paid if they could at least get some sort of financial assistance but we can't get every company around Ireland or around Dublin to provide finance as well. I know I was talking to some science students about getting an intra, it's very much dependent on their grades or intros they can actually apply for so I think that could be looked into because then I do think if they're kind of not going getting an intra that's paid just because they're grades, that is unfair, that's different. Okay, Manu, what are your thoughts? First of all, I was almost working professional as you said in the final year, I don't understand why people aren't being paid. I myself as a teacher on none of us are paid in placement 100% related to those who aren't being paid in placement. My bank account decreased the entire first semester and I'm still doing the same so I don't have the risk in the summer so I know what, so I can personally relate to that I suppose. What can I do with regard to it? I suppose I'm not just going to focus on those who are in some place but not being paid I would really like to focus and gather everyone. As I said, with regard to change you need a driving force behind you and to get one you need every rather than just me. So I will be calling upon everyone who isn't paid and if they're not I need them. And how would you go about that change? By finding out the students who are willing to come behind me in the lobby and would you approach the intra office and the intra office as everyone knows, there is a lot of demand there's a lot of work going on there and that contributes to, I know it leaves the intra office wanting a bit more people aren't too happy with the intra office in a lot of courses. Would you get onto them and get them to campaign to something? I understand everyone is telling me that if you have any questions can you please just be within 30 I've spoken to a viewer of us and her advice to me was to go in and just chat this is what they've said to me is there anything that can be done because they're supposed to go in there all done brazen is not going to be any of us I suppose something else is the gravity demalgamation is a big issue this election your vote St. Pat's students how do you feel about working I know obviously Clayton is a huge part of the education training in St. Pat how do you feel about if you come up to if two universities come together would you be looking at Pat's students more favorably or would you be looking at everyone what do you think about the amalgamation? Do you think it's going to be a pressure in the past 90 days in DCU look at that that is going to be a pressure in that we're all going to have and make sure that we all get along very well and build a community that we all talk so much about I definitely have no favorability I've probably been in DCU longer than people in DCU because obviously I'm in my fourth year now and I've been involved in society DCU so I'd absolutely love to work across both campuses because it is placement in all faculties and the faculty has placement and what are you writing saying that the placement you go on in Pat's it's got nothing to do with the interest system itself no it has nothing to do with the interest system so you've never personally had experience with the interest system with the idea of going to these interviews and having to take the first one or you've never had to deal with the interoffice itself no I haven't but that's why when I was making my manifesto and found out that Intra was a part of it I went I asked I went and talked to as many students that I knew had Intra to find out what the big issues were to tackle because what were the biggest issues that they came up with? Intra Portal was a big one and obviously I feel very strongly about that if you're doing Irish and journalism Irish and business, Irish and anything and you want to apply for an Irish Intra you should be able to upload your CV to Australia as well as that people having to spend a ridiculous amount of time just clicking in to see what date the thing is that should just be presented if they had the dates on the front page stuff like that just not being able to add personality to your thing I understand that obviously the Intra department have to go through each thing with a fine comb and it is easier if it's laid out like that for them but I still think you should be able to give and I've heard people say that they went to their job and they kind of said oh well your CV wasn't laid out properly but they had to lay it out like that because of the Intra Portal Okay and Manus have you any experience yourself with the Intra Portal or anything? Can you just repeat the very first question you had so I was just wondering like obviously you haven't gone through the Intra Portal itself what experience do you have of dealing with the Intra system which causes so many problems for Look I haven't had any experience with going to Intra people and talking to them and look when I first approached this election I immediately made sure that I didn't put on my manifesto loads of ideas that I had about Intra Why? Because as a student union person I've had two different roles you need to learn and grow and develop in your role people can't expect immediately that just because we said we're going to try and change scenes that we immediately are going to definitely do it like you know it's very important that people understand that we can only do our best and the best is all I'm going to do next year and if elected next week is when I plan to implement such changes there's a lot of people behind me and look as I said implement is only a word I plan to just drive behind it because I haven't seen too many other people campaigning over the past two years to push for Intra changes Okay fair enough this time next year there's one thing you want to say you've done as Education and Places Officer what would it be? I am asking you first on that one First of all it's just to be there support for all the students who are on placement open because representing the students is absolutely no easy task and look I want to make sure the students on placement are provided with placement and well-being packs because they feel the two are very much interconnected and look our proactive hard-working experience my name is Manus Blacken, Vote Manus Red Okay and Steven I suppose the biggest thing if I could just have by the end of next year that students who are on placement have had a better experience because of the work I've done and what I've pushed for is to support students on placement there are a lot of issues with many different courses, lots of different placement issues but I do think that in my manifesto a lot of things I have said are very realistic they can be achieved if we just actually work on them, work with the department staff and support students more on placement so that it is an easier process because at the end of the day that is kind of the practical element of your course and you should be able to enjoy it as much as you can because it is what you want to do once you're finished college Okay so from your manifesto what would be the one thing like if you just had to pick one specific key aspect of your manifesto what would it be and well in terms of education the key thing is to start getting feedback on assignments because at the end of the day if that's something because from an education point in order to improve you have to be told what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong otherwise it's just a guessing game because if you had a first one semester and the next semester you don't know how you got that first you need to know and that's feedback Okay so from the lecturers themselves you want to... Yeah because as they're grading them literally all they have to do is write in three concise points that's enough Okay and would that like some lecturers have over 100 students like that would increase the workload on them It's not really increasing the workload though it's just a few simple points because as I said like I'm importing and until I started doing my research project pieces that was the first time I found out whether I was referencing properly or not I mean the lecture could just literally write down you referencing properly because you go through four years of college still unsure because nobody's actually ever told you whether you're doing it right or not Okay that's right and minus if we're going concreting from your manifesto that you want to I suppose there's one concreting I want to bring next year it's academic events across the whole board to give students the edge when they go for a job over the other students we're talking team week such as professional development week jump to J1 week, careers abroad week, careers at home week and much much more Okay so yep that's perfect well thanks very much guys for joining us it's obviously been a very long week for you so far and it's not over till Wednesday if people do want to get in touch with us they can do so with the hashtag SUdebates and yeah you can still you can vote online at the minute at suelections.dcu.com or .ie yeah so thanks a million for joining us we're going to come up next with the engagement and development debate Well I'm a very passionate people person and I've always been involved in student union and society life and college life and I was always wondering like if I would ever get involved in the students union and I was looking at the positions and then this year there's the brand new position engagement has been and I read about it and I saw how much it would actually suit me and I saw that I could bring something along to it as well that it's so new and that I could define it in my own way and I'm really excited to bring something new to the student union So by looking there I decided to run for engagement and development because my friends always said I was the perfect candidate I feel that I have the right attributes I'm approachable I'm big on engagement and I study human development in simpats so I feel that my course it comes into it and I really want to make everyone's college life the best times of their life So from the moment I started in the first year at clubs and socks fair I've always been involved in extracurricular activities I've always been involved in clubs and societies I joined 14 or so societies and then I think the first of them was DCU drama and I've always loved taking part in clubs and societies and the class rep council as well it's probably one of the more neglected parts of the engagement and development office but I was a class rep in my first year and I just loved being so involved I started running for the position of vice president of engagement and development is because I feel that it's a very important position it's the first year it's going to be introduced and I really want to implement great ideas and thoughts that I have for all colleges I want to incorporate my ideas with the amalgamation that's happening between DCU and Pats I feel that I have many great ideas that I can bring to the table I decided to run for engagement and development because at this point in my life I feel like it's just the right time for me to go for it after 4 years in college I've learned so much and I feel like I have an awful lot to offer I hate to leave without leaving my mark and I feel like next year is the perfect opportunity to do that Before we began I asked each candidate to define the role of VP for development and welfare in one sentence which they will now read starting with Keith The role of the engagement and development officer is to be responsible for the development and the training of the membership They must work with staff to promote extracurricular activities, liaise with class and faculty representatives and sit on relevant university committees and bodies Next up Misha The engagement and development officer is a facilitator for everything extracurricular in the college class rep council, clubs and societies volunteering, referendums, etc It is very much in the name It is an Engager, it is a developer and I think it is also an Envolver Jack The key responsibility for engagement and development is the engagement and promotion of the class representative council while also being available to engage with the student body at all times and promoting extracurricular activities The definition of vice president for engagement and development in my opinion is to ensure that all students in their academic background are equally represented and have equal opportunities and facilities made available to them to develop themselves in all aspects of their being This brand new role has been defined very differently by the candidates online and on both DCFM and DCTV A lot of people are confused and have been asking for a clear definition of this role which I will now read The VP shall be responsible for development and training of the membership for overseeing faculty reps and shall facilitate meeting The VP will sit on university committees and bodies They will develop student engagement of all members by working with university staff to promote all extracurricular opportunities So I have two questions aimed at all kinds of this and now I have one each individual So the first question is about how they plan to include and engage with student commuters How do you plan to involve them when a good bit of what happens on campus goes on until late and on until after the last bus We're going to start with Nisha on this one Oh, thanks It is obviously a very good question It's something I've wondered about I haven't actually thought about or prepared a response for this but the first thing I can think of is perhaps creating some sort of networking system with people who might be able to offer accommodation I know Sean Cassidy who's running for president is looking for a better guest policy for campus residents So bringing in something like that would probably be the most effective thing I can think of I'll hand it in a way Up next Steve I think a lot of it is about things have been happening during the day so it's about whether you have a break and perhaps it's not so much waiting around for later on it's about during the day because a lot of the development courses are on during the day I think a lot of it is about bringing it to the students as well so I want to implement a lot more use of media content for people to upload pieces for people to train themselves and then I want to also have a nap room for commuters so commuters you may have a nap room you may sleep as much as you like you may sleep in this room and so yeah Okay, Jack Yeah, if elected I want to create daytime activities which are commuter friendly to aim is in participation this is something that I am extremely passionate about if elected in this role I want to make sure to reach out and involve each student from whatever faculty you may be in Emer Yeah, again, daytime activities is a big thing I know myself when I travel up and it takes a lot to stay late at night another thing also is that you're not just addressing the commuters you need to be addressing the mature students and the international students that don't have times and the people with heavy workloads so you need to have, I know there's a daytime activity officer in St. Pat's so I'd like to have something like that set up the BP for Engagement and Development would have to work with daytime activities as well as that I know a lot of the workshops and clinics and things like that would be on during the day so it's just about time management I have a question big time that if you're passionate about something you'll go and you'll do it And finally Keith Yeah, I think this came up last year when there was an election in Pat's that 60% of St. Patrick's students are commuters I was actually very surprised by that I thought it would be less so I presume the figure is probably quite similar in DCU so there's a definite gap in the market there not for daytime events that run or their classes might be on or events that could take place at 6 or 7 o'clock in the evening when they wouldn't have class but they wouldn't be rushing home either so something simple would be like an outdoor barbeque or an outdoor cinema or even a bus going to jump zone or something like that at that time of the evening rather than having to get them to miss all their classes during the day or having to get them to go out and probably miss classes the following morning Okay, my second question for all of you is about CRC on the topic of low attendance at CRC and how you would incentivise class reps to attend some of you have mentioned introducing more training weekends more nights out, coffee mornings, rewards I was wondering if any of you know what the budget is for this part of the job and how you plan to incentivise class reps without using any of this budget starting with Steve As regards what the budget is I have no idea I've asked some of the other positions that the funding is used they told me that they get a large budget for the year and they get to spend that however they want so a lot of money will be going towards the class reps if we want to do that as you read out the proper definition class reps is such a big part of it and then how we incentivise them otherwise I think it's just about without using a budget it's about the whole social aspect of it them to enjoy their time we will be getting people in to train them but that will be going into the budget it's about using the budget wisely okay, next up is Jack yeah this is something that I've actually talked to James Donahoe about quite a bit the engagement and promotion under class repers then to the councillors is something I am extremely passionate about I know something simple as from the outset given each elected member hoodies so that it is clearly seen throughout four campuses that they have a say in what the student agenda is and they are encouraged to engage with students he has organised training trips this year and I want to enhance that next year what I promise to do is two training trips as regards the budget no actually I don't know but one for each semester so that the students who have the privilege of getting these roles know exactly what they are going to do and any issues that may occur they are able to deal with them I just want to emphasise again it's without using any of the budgets for myself I did actually mention through those things that I am aware by the constitution you can miss up to four class rep councils without any apology formal apology so firstly I would run a referendum to bring that down to two at most you shouldn't be missing class rep council that would take no budget to run that referendum it literally just needs to have the motion put forward and have that changed with the budget then also there would be USI training stuff like that that doesn't cost that much as well as even just getting in public speakers such as people who are involved in politics or even Mickey Joe Harris is always around DC people like that that can engage with the class reps and help them develop their own skills to relay information back to the students I just want to say again guys and it's incentivising the class reps I'm not actually sure what the budget is either for me I don't know absolutely everything like this is obviously such a new role and we're going into a new job or whatever I'm a very very eager learner and one of the first things I'll be doing if I was looking up to get the job I'll be going straight to the chair I'll be going straight to some of the higher ups in the class council the class rep council and just to learn from them they have the experience they've been at it to be totally honest and I really enjoyed it and I have a couple of ideas myself that I love to implement and try and incentivise it but I would be also more so looking to learn from people that have been through it people that would have very good suggestions like we saw from the motions that were put forward the last night there's an awful lot of intelligence in the room there and they're very willing to put their ideas forward I'm sure there'll be some great ideas for this particular question and I'd love to hear from them and I'd love to implement it OK and finally, Nisha I actually do have an idea of what the budget is but I'm not entirely sure whether I'm allowed to say it right here if you get back to me afterwards I will check and reaffirm it I promise I'm not finding out what it is as to incentivising from having spoken to the chair of the class rep council Katie Dawson she certainly feels that the class rep council itself needs to be tougher on class reps making sure that they're attending I know Imer was talking about the tent of class rep councils they can miss yeah that's about it I guess just be tougher on reps and make sure they know what they're supposed to be doing OK so now I have individual questions which have been raised over various promises and issues you guys have raised so starting with Jack you have promised a rag week more than one occasion DCU actually hire and pay someone to organise their main events which takes the responsibility of organising events away from SEBATZ so rag week is actually already in existence here and is organised by the DCU rag society and has existed for about two years I'm just wondering why exactly you thought that organising a rag week would fall under your responsibility and whether you know anything about the week itself that we do here yeah no it's a good question but like if I get elected into this role I want to engage and promote these events like the rag week I knew it was in place but I want to promote it I mean there's events that are in PACS that I want to retain as well so I don't want these events to just dismantle and I was asked a question earlier about this role having nothing to do with events I completely disagreed with that because I think every role in the SU has in some way got to deal with events so I would like I want to engage and promote it like I want to bring certain PACS events up to DCU so we can all integrate and I want to bring certain DCU events to PACS so we can like there is an amalgamation that's going to happen in this role particularly whoever gets assigned to it it's going to shape how that role is going to be dealt with so I think that the engagement and development role is very important for whoever gets it this year next up is Imer one of your main focuses is the UNEAN module how do you plan on introducing UNEAN into courses that don't currently have it who are you going to talk to and campaign with so that all students can avail UNEAN and be recognised and rewarded for their extracurricular activities through credits I know that this is a big ask and I know that it's not going to be done, it might not even be done by the end of the year if I am elected I can't promise that it will be but I will definitely establish that it will be in work like it will be work in progress so basically the first thing you would do is you go to each board like each head of each faculty is hugely important here the SU and the Class Rep Council have a lot of control here, the Class Rep Council can put forward a motion and the exec have to look at that motion so it needs to be just addressed even if it's not in place it needs to be looked at that it should be offered to students I know even nurses themselves don't have it made available to them but maybe if it was made available to them they would like to take part in it it's not about that it should be there for them it's that it should be at least offered to them Keith you said that if a certain Class Rep has poor attendance you would go to the other Class Rep and get somebody new elected this year was very difficult to even get Class Reps in the first place especially for some final year classes many times they were just there to help out with certain issues but had no actual interest in SU policy what are your plans for the classes where no one wants to run for Class Rep yeah that's very unfortunate that's definitely going to be an issue I suppose that's around the whole thing of incentivising it and not like these are people that are doing it for no personal, for no like financial gain or anything like that they're putting their own time aside and they're going out and they're attending the Class Rep meetings like if there is an issue if there is an issue with that that somebody wasn't interested in doing it you'd have to make it a personal job of yourself that if they couldn't put someone in place to go to every single meeting that I feel like whoever gets the job would have to take on the role of contacting them individually making a personal connection with them and so you might end up giving some people a free reign that they wouldn't have to go to the meetings because they don't have the time or whatever but you trying to get in contact with them find out the needs of the class find out what their own ideas are and then let them know about other things that are going on in the college okay Misha you want to introduce a week long clubs and societies fair on every campus why do you think this is necessary where will these fairs be located on each campus how will you get people there and how feasible do you think it is given the size of committees involved in clubs and stocks and how this could interfere with their academic attendance okay so this is probably the most complicated aspect of my manifesto it's I know it's possible I haven't gone into tiny details about how I'm going to implement this what I've established so far is that it's going to be terrifyingly complicated but I think it's very important because from what I've gotten from talking to people is that they haven't been able to get involved with clubs and societies because they just haven't been able to make it to the three days and it's absolutely vital that it happens on every campus because otherwise we just the people on all the campuses outside of say Glass Neven and maybe Pat's they just won't understand how many societies we have going on even if we get the people won't go out of their way to look at the clubs and societies website so I think that's why it's absolutely important as to how I'd implement it do you have any idea of where you would hold it on each campus that's a big question the sports hall and Pat's we don't have a venue next year so that's going to be a problem I would say we'd be looking at the helix or maybe setting up a marquee in Glass Neven matter-day from what I've been from the times I've been there I would say the car park out in the front I have actually yet to make it out there during the daytime but from what I've seen like the front entrance just along the gate just between the buildings and the gates I'm explaining this very badly but between the buildings and the gates there's like a just giant stretch which I believe we can fit a good plenty of stalls in so that's where I put it on matter-day as to the rest of the campuses I don't know just yet okay Stephen you promised a nap room for students which campus will this be based on and how do you think you'll find space first which like clearly space is going to be very limited next year so what do you think it will look like? I don't know I'll look into it it was something that completely came off the top of my head in hostings and I thought it was a great idea when I came up with it and I'll definitely look into it Before the debate I asked each candidate to write down the colleges that will be joining DCU through the amalgamation I'm now going to read out their answers so Imer you said Saint Pats Paul Hallows matter-day DCI CE and DCU Glastnevin Jackie said Saint Pats All Hallows Matter Day Nisha Glastnevin DCU Innovation DCU Sport Saint Pats Matter Day All Hallows and Churches of Ireland College of Education and Keith you said DCU Saint Pats Matter Day and CICE and Steve you did not write anything down it is in fact DCU so thank you all for taking part in this debate next up is the race for welfare and Rachel Kalleher interviewed the candidates last week here is the video it's a kind of small thing I think would be a date I think over the last three years in DCU I've worked with a critical range of people so I volunteered with intellectual disabilities ex-prisoners and homeless people and this has just given me a really good basis for working with other people and I think I'm absolutely the best candidate for the job I'm so confident in what I can do if I'm elected and I'm just really passionate I just want to help people and the last three years in DCU show me that I'm really good at this position well I think I should be running for this position because of the personality and the characteristics to open this position and after three years in Pats I had such a great experience and I think the whole of the MAG in Pats and DCU I think I can incorporate the spirit and the camaraderie that we had in Pats up in DCU as well and vice versa I'm a Grey's Maddening expert this is when I was 15 I called two cops one in and one fired truck to my dad's apartment I'm welcome to the debate for the vice president of the Wesbur and the quality to Shane Parsons, Aston Ring and Chloe Byrne the vice president of Wesbur and the quality is responsible for issues such as engagement on campus, student accommodation and health and wellbeing of students be it mental, physical or sexual health and it is sexual health that I would begin with this evening so I'll create a few minute clear that sexual consent is something that you would consider very important for the upcoming year Shane Parsons, you may have it in your manifesto but I want people to know that it's okay to say no but as hosting as last week in DCU you made a joke about it do you feel this is something that you're okay with and people both knew that they feel this is okay and if you're elected would you be able to make a similar joke to someone who came to you in the office yeah I did make a joke and I really regret it just came out no I wouldn't be like that if someone came to me and opened the office I'd be completely serious with them it is an issue sexual health is an issue and sexual consent is an issue and people need to be more outgoing with it and I think I can help people to be more outgoing bringing in consensual workshops and so on that job is totally out of context and I don't think people should really take much heed of it to be honest and Alison you said that you want to refocus Jagwick how would you say that you'd be fit to get attendance for some of these the much harder workshops and talks if you think that the students would be a bit awkward to be attending some of these yeah we were asked this question how are you going to get people to come to say the less popular events so with Jagwick there's a lot of fun events talking about STIs and they actually are educational events too there's a lot of events like sex and opening up that conversation on it and to introduce something like consent workshops is probably not going to be that popular you're right but I think introducing them is the important thing and I think once people realise this issue they'll actually come to them I think it's really important to have good content to have good people coming in giving consent workshops so it's not going to be me delivering them we'll outsource that definitely and have legitimate people coming in and talking to the students I think I'd aim it at first years because I think they're probably the most kind of vulnerable coming into college they don't really know maybe when they've been taking advantage of it when they're not I think that's what I do and I encourage people to come in groups because obviously it's easier if you're there with a group of friends than just turning up on your own that's how I go about it but I think even if they're not popular at the start that's not a reason not to run them and we need to roll it out even if it's one of the two lads I know that it will be done next year and I'm happy to say that as well And Cody for content classes would you say then with something that you would make mandatory for all incoming first years or what are your relationships with me So there's a difficulty with making something like that so mandatory it would actually turn people off the idea not necessarily off the idea of consent but of attending classes like that in the future I think that the key is well there's two in essence and the first is that to not target it directly at men consent is a two-way street and it should be just a general kind of conversation we need to reduce the kind of stigma surrounding talking about sex in a normal way sexual activity, sexual orientation is part of all of our identities and it's definitely something that should be suppressed I think that in our society in general maybe due to a lack of pre-existing sexual education we think it's like something that's like funny and it's not funny especially when you have all these events and when you come to college and so there's a heavy drinking environment which is then you know collaborated with this like you know pressure to engage in sexual activity that's an issue with regards to making it mandatory I think that when you're having the talk for example in the helix that is the absolute perfect opportunity to just be like to listen college is different to sexual education you have so much more freedom and you need to use that freedom wisely you don't need to go around sleeping with A, B and C because they depict that in scams and misfits and that's a college experience you need to highlight that you will be put in environments where sex will be brought up like even how none of us have been to a pre-drinks where we don't do never have I ever and someone throws out like I've moved and everyone drinks like legends that's an issue and like you know not an issue in the sense that we're not talking about it in normal way but you know we're pushing it constantly there and it's constantly being associated with alcohol so we need to just have it as an open thing in the beginning during orientation in the helix and then provide a threat to the ear and Cody I'll stay with you for this next one I'll move on to the mental health and you have something to say about the counselling and you had suggested that a peer-to-peer support system would be a way of delegating support or delegating the traffic brought to the counsellors and allowing it to be spread across to different services have you been looking into how this would be funded or how how much it would cost and how the support would actually be working yeah well um the actual the day I wasn't going to incorporate that into my manifesto until the Wednesday before um election started on the following Tuesday so two Wednesdays ago because I met with Claire Bowen from Student Support Development and it was completely coincidental because they actually just had a meaning that day about mental health and the mental health issues that their college is currently facing and they were literally it was weird because I presented it and like this is my idea because it was basically just bringing the work to the mental health hub and at the Walk It Up Society have been doing already all year on to an online platform and that was exactly what was brought up so it was like fate or something like sorry guys I have a fate on my side um I'm getting uh and uh sorry um yeah so in terms of funding um all you need to do is you need to have there's two things that are going to be in terms of costs um the actual student volunteers they just need to be trained they're going to do workshops and then you have some sort of certificate to say that they were trading online that online active listening um I've already been talking to the counseling department about this um it's it's something that will just be kind of incorporated um as part of their their training anyway so I don't know how much that would cost I don't think that would be too much and then just actually developing it as an online platform those are the only two costs associated and the time you've been talking to the ASS what's in developing it? um there's going to be a number of different faculty so you're going to have um like you're obviously going to have that counseling department like so heavily involved and there's like the finance department like even like disability services like occupational therapists like every relevant department we're going to have involved um ISS art is going to be one of those departments um I'd imagine from my own ideas it's just going to be off the DCUSU website um it just has a platform which is kind of there um and all you need is a relevant marketing to make it another day and for two hours a day or whatever anything to do and Shane I'll go to you next you have suggested that there will be a mentoring program set up for students and how would the students who are involved on the listening side of this how would they be trained to help out with the students who are looking for help um simply it's called assist training and it's on during you can do it whenever during the year uh basically just training students uh um to talk to students about other issues like um such as say if you want to drop out of college say you're not enjoying your course you don't like the course at all uh just like a student who can instead of going to the counselor you can talk to the student oh no wait you can go you can try a different course or something like that just give them a give them a sense of like help there um basically the mentorship program is training students uh to take off the counselor service with smaller problems um and to speak to other students like speak to your friends like speak to a friend that basically seems like there won't be much training involved in it but there would be a certain amount that'll be needed and it's called assist training um I want to get myself started somewhere if I like it and have think of this improvement in other places they work that would some students not feel a bit awkward with talking to one of their own age group for class about these issues um yeah well like basically just like a class rep um if you have a problem in your class you go to your class rep um is the class rep system are you afraid to go talk to your class rep it's the very same aspect as in if it's brought in we'll know we'll try and get it in we'll try and make it work hopefully it can work and hopefully it will and Alison you've been looking to collaborate or to combine physical and mental health beauty that they are both interlinked um how will your physical health week be run let it be run with mental health and how will you make sure that it'll be sustainable throughout the whole year yeah and it won't be run with the mental health week I think the reason for the physical health week is we currently have a mental health week we have a sexual health week now we need to start with them after our physical health too the World Health Organization released statistics earlier this year saying by 2030 Ireland is going to be the most obese nation in Europe and if we don't start addressing this along with our mental health and our sexual health then we are going to be in trouble and students when they move away from college and when their eating habits change when their living habits change this is when physical health becomes a real issue so it will be separate to mental health week but the link I was making between them is that we don't often use physical health with mental health like we should because there is a massive knock on effect if you are physically fit, if you are going out and exercising, if you are eating well you feel so much better about yourself so that was the link there but the physical health week itself will be run separately but hopefully with links to it there's a guy called Patively Patively Fitness Down and Golly he was really depressed set up his own basically fitness boot camp now runs his own gym and has a whole backstory to how this helped him get through really tough times and it's people like that that I want to bring in for the physical health week so I want to do exercise, I want activities every day but not just that I want nutrition classes, I want to teach good habits, I want people to know how to cook for themselves and how to cook well for themselves and as part of the mental health week which ties in with the physical health week and alcohol away in a state because alcohol has an effect on your mental health but also physical health it adds to the both not to me next but do you know what I mean there is a link between the two so I don't want to run them together but I do want there to be strong links between physical and mental health next week and I want to talk next about the accommodation crisis because it's clear to see that there is a problem ongoing not just in Dublin but all across the country with this and there is a Facebook group or a Facebook page or DCU accommodation but all you have ideas which expand beyond this or look to change this can just one at a time start with you and tell me what is it that's easy that's wrong with this Facebook page what's wrong with the Facebook page well I think we can broaden our horizons like Facebook page how many people are friends are still on that Facebook page that aren't in DC anymore we need to we need to change up things we need to make things new I personally believe that the app that I have coming in and I was talking to Donald Harkin as well the welfare officer from well this year still he worked hard last year and this year to bring in an accommodation form basically what this form does is it's a a form the contact eat as a landlord the house is on it you need to get a solicitor signature off the landlord so his house can be put on it so basically if elected I'll ensure that that's what you call it refreshed the whole thing so just keep it refreshed so when a house is rented out that house will be removed so and then that accommodation clarification I think this is a great idea I've been speaking to my friend who goes computer science Robbie down in UL and he said that the app won't cost much to me basically what this app does is students can log on to it I know students in 4th year are leaving college or whatever students in third year down in Pat's are leaving college Mahadeh students are leaving in third year third on 4th year but when they're leaving they can offload or off their houses onto the students in young readers first, second and third I think this is a great idea because I remember I got my house in college true word of mouth but it's on a virtual scale so it's bigger and better, true DCU, Pat's Mahadeh, Church of Ireland, work for everyone and as well all the courses in DCU work with placement especially down in Pat's there's third year on placement in the first semester and fourth year in the second semester so basically they can sublet their houses so you don't have to pay I know students are paying a full years rent or a full nine month rent and they're only living in the house for what is it, once a semester six months twelve weeks you know like paying so much money, this is just how students would would they not be fit to sublet through different pages or through the forms you know Siege, free free yeah they will, obviously, that's there as well that's the form, that's coming in but this is just another app that can help students find it like the more things the better that's the way I look at it and Alison, what would you bring up with this? the Facebook page has been a good resource over the last two years but it's finally seen to itself that we're working off the Facebook page here so there are there's a couple of thousand people that are proud of that and probably most of them have moved on the event of spam you see on that just stuff about other things, rent people commenting just messing, like tagging people that aren't looking for accommodation and this makes it really hard especially for international students coming in it's first years, they have no idea who's actually putting up a posting or who's not and that's the real problem with the Facebook page you actually don't know if the information you can't verify is as real as it is but did you not bring in Tater moderation or something like that to train to prepare that? Well I think there's a much simpler way to do it why don't you control the information yourself than rather than having loads around and people putting it up, so that's what my idea is with the accommodation advisory service this is gathering existing information, putting it together and putting it in the one place it's bringing the listings that I put off the legitimate ones that I put on the Facebook page putting them on the SU website on the accommodation prior to it and posting 10 questions you should ask your landlord when you go to do your house putting up all the listings and contact details of the student accommodation be it in paths, be it to Glaff-Nevin campus be it Schoolhouse Court, be it Shenoan, whatever, you'd be surprised how many people have never heard a gateway it's simple things like that and it's bringing those easier models of student accommodation together and putting them there at the start of the summer for the first years coming in and for people returning and then it's dealing with the people who can't find a foundation path that the Facebook page does kind of come in as a backup and what I'm supposed to do I just think it's a simple way to put everything together and I think it really will help it will streamline people's questions about accommodation and they'll be sent today and if they have a follow on question the welfare number is there and they can answer Yeah, well basically we should stop using the Facebook page as a primary source of information but I just think quite simply just put it onto the DCUSU website we need to start making the DCU website more relevant for DCU students the SU website don't really use it but if we upload more additional information onto it it becomes more important and basically it's quite simply you need to love the motivation behind why people do certain things you have two types of landlords you have your Diggs landlords and you have your actual accommodation housing landlords that rent out houses to students that are less prevalent and we need to look at why whereas Diggs are becoming more and more prevalent but they're less common sorry not less common, less popular so with the Diggs landlords they are going to be motivated to upload their information with their profiles, photos costs, just additional information onto an actual website because they're the ones that are going to be personally benefiting from it they're the ones with rooms that are spare whereas the actual landlords that are providing houses are going to be motivated to do that they're going to be like well I have a family of three that are going to take it over a bunch of like what seven students that are going to trash the gaff anyway so you need to remove the traffic that's occurring from the Diggs landlords put them onto a website where Diggs is available eventually everything will be on that website but you need to put the Diggs landlords onto that website then have chase up the additional housing landlords and see if you can put their information on there as well so you still have that as an overall arching primary source of information particularly for international students because I've dealt with three international students I do a lot of work as a student master with the international students three of them this semester have already been evicted from their Diggs landlords just because no reason so it's because you're getting these kind of shady landlords in so this is a more viable, valid source of information and then use this Facebook group as a secondary backup in case something goes astray with accommodation you're going on placement so they don't want to take the room kind of thing that's all ground but it shouldn't be a primary source of information and then you back up the Diggs and the accommodation particularly the Diggs with legal contracts because again they're going to be motivated to do that the landlords who are actually providing houses aren't if you remove the Diggs traffic which accumulates the majority of Donal's accommodation traffic that frees up more time for you to contact pre-existing or previous students who have rented off land by and see if they'll get back on board to servicing students these legal contracts will also ensure that students become more kind of emotionally obliged to look after the house because again you have students on these houses these house parties and at the end of the year party things party things, great words and then they wreck the house and then landlords just don't want to get to students in years in future years and it's just a big cycle so we need to just look at the picture on a global level and just simply just start shifting it towards being more professional and then as Alison said what questions do you ask landlords what are your tenant rights so you can't be evicted on the spot because that's illegal and people don't even know that you know, there's loads of simple measures we can be taking and finally just like to say it's been the theme of all the debates here run this week about the next year users will be working across all the campuses and how would you find that especially with what has been one of the most important aspects of a student life how do you think that you would fit to maximise your effectiveness across all the different campuses and start with Alison on this one so I think we can't be everywhere at once and we can't say now I'm going to be on X campus for X month a week because we actually just don't know that yet we don't know if we're allowed to allocate our time like that we don't know what our obligations are going to be to each campus so it's going to start fresh as we go and we get out there on the ground whoever it is and I know the two lads will be the same you get talking to people so first of all they know you're there you approach them don't wait for them to approach you and then they won't be as afraid to contact you on your welfare phone add you on Facebook and drop you a message so that even if you are not on campus or on their campus they're still not afraid to get in touch with you and say okay I'm looking for help then we need to utilise the other sabats so there will be two sabats based on the same past campus and we need them to work with us basically there are eyes and ears on the ground there when we can't be there there is the option of can we swap boxes for a week where I work down there given the same past students better access to me and they work up here given the last ten students better access to them but then there's Maree Day as well, the CIC we are going to have to figure out a way that those students feel comfortable enough to contact us with technology and not just with us being in their campus yeah well the first thing I'll say is that I actually didn't know this until this semester but all sabats part-time full-time get welfare training so it is quite nice to know and comforting I hope it is for other students that everyone is trained in welfare issues that we all receive the same training we would just know it more extensive not just through experience it essentially just comes down to mobility and communication so just making sure that you're constantly moving out and ideally in an ideal world we're not constantly in our office waiting for people to come to us because that's kind of what I call a treatment model it's effective in the short term for one individual but on a global level it doesn't do anything so by going out getting your name heard getting people to know why they would go to you how do they contact you those are just key information that can be done quite simply the first two weeks of semester are key just so everyone knows who you are sorry you can ask sorry to rush you before all the time it is going to be very difficult I'm only one man I can't be everywhere but the two Cody and Allison they said it all really Allison said it the first few weeks are vital you have to get out there on the floor talking to students making students aware of who you are what you're doing, what your job is yeah I don't think it's fair that the office is just in DCU why can't there be allocated times in Pat's in Maraday and Church of Ireland all the students are going to be treated equally from each campus and I don't think that's treating the student equally if you're based just in DCU I know DCU is massive there was 16,000 students that's huge that's where Pat's is at 16,000 that is massive it's going to be hard we just have to really work hard to make it work sorry for asking the last question but we are running out of time I'd like to thank all the trainees for joining me here and talking to me now next up we have the debate for the Irish officer and Megan Roentree will be moderating this and she spoke to them earlier in the week thank you very much so Kristina is here and it's a great pleasure to be here with you this evening i've been here because i've seen you and because i'm very happy you're here in this world you're here for your own sake and for the good of that but really thank you because you've been here because your language has changed you've became a young woman and from a young age starting to grow from a young age when you're going to school I've been to school and it's written in our club coro in our school. I'm very happy and I don't think it's a good thing, I think it's a really cool thing to do. I'm very happy to be here. So, I'm very happy to be here, I'm very happy to be here, I'm very happy to be here, and I think it's a great opportunity for me to be here, because it's a place where you can play, you can play, and it's a great place for you. So, it's really fun, and I think it's a great opportunity to play. Well, Tamisha, you agree. So, I'd like to start with you, because I think it's a great opportunity for me to play, and I think it's also a great opportunity for me to play with people and others. So, in general, where do you play in your club? What do you think is the best way to play for your club? So Barron, what's your question? who I am, who I am with, and who I am. I do not have a family, but I have a lot of friends who I know, and I am happy to be here with you. Well, I and some people from this school are in contact with the teacher and the students who are there. and I was working with a foreign language to learn the language. So I was working with different topics, and I was able to learn the language and also learn the language which is important for me. That was the best thing I was able to do. Do you have any questions? Yes, I'm Qinta. I have a friend who is a student and I work with a foreign language teacher So, the next one we'll discuss in English because it is relevant for not to start with students who don't speak English. So, the next one we'll discuss in English because it is relevant for not to start with students who don't speak English. So, the next one we'll discuss in English because it is relevant for not to start with students. What are you going to do for the international students? Because we have a huge amount of international students coming to DC every year. So, how are you going to encourage them or promote Irish for people that actually don't have a word of it and never learnt it in school? So, caught you on the start. That's actually a really big point of my manifesto. It's something that I felt really, really strongly about initially. Because I think when we go to a foreign country, you know yourself, you want to learn the language, you want to learn the culture, you want to learn the dance, you want to learn everything. And I think that if international students come in first, whenever they get their presidential address, that they should be told straight away about the Irish language officer and how they can get access to when in class they're going beyond, how they can learn how to Irish dance and things like that. Like, when they come in first, they learn about how important clubs and societies are. Because we are the society capital of Ireland and there's a straight away emphasis point that we have clubs and socks weeks straight away. Whereas, even though we are about bilingual campus and we're one of the few colleges in Ireland that actually offer courses throughout, there's nothing kind of indicating international students to that whenever they come in first. Now, I know they do learn about the culture and they do take classes for that and that they're lecturers. But they don't mix with the students the same, so they wouldn't actually get the chance to meet students who are studying throughout unless they have someone like the Irish language officer just kind of linking the two together. Yeah, so a lot of the points I have in my mind, I have to link into that. So for example, like the events like Tayugas play, Kayli Herring gay being things like that, that will be working with different societies and clubs to help integrate bilingual events the whole time. So that they have, you know, they can fall back on whatever language they have, but they can make that extra effort to these Irish. And I want, we have those events already here in DCU, but what I want to do is make them open for everyone. I want to make sure everyone knows that they are welcome to come and speak whatever Irish they have. If they have none, we want those people who are fluent and who are comfortable to be working with those people and promoting the Irish language because you have such an amazing and unique culture. It is so amazing and it will be such a pity if nobody gets to see that when they come to this country. And Barra, do you think it's realistic to expect international students to pick up Irish or to be interested in the Irish language? Definitely to be interested. I couldn't agree more that I'm actually doing Erasmus at the minute, so I am an Erasmus student, I'm an international student, I'm a foreigner in a different country. And it's disappointing when you can't mix with the people of that country, you can't see their culture. So like for me, I had to get a job in a bar to meet actual French people. And when I give the class, I give Irish classes in first year and like 90% of the people who came to the classes were always foreign students. I had like Turkish people, German people, Persians. Really, people from all over, they were the most interested. And I was said earlier at the hostings that we have the Langua Cultures place in the Henri Garten, which is run by the Salis, the School of Bilingualism and Cultural Studies. And it always has events in Chinese, German, French, Spanish, all these other languages but never seems to be having events in Irish, so I think it's a space that we can use already, which already attracts international students. Definitely. This question might tie in. So if I'm a capital group, Shibbolog, Groszbegir, Schumer, going to ADCU, do you not think that this is kind of, should we not be focusing more on making Irish and English coexist rather than having, you know, an exclusive Irish room away in a corner, which excludes Irish speakers and it excludes English speakers in a way? Would you agree with that or do you think that there's a need for it? So if Christina wants to start. Yeah, well, no, I completely agree with that, that we need to have Irish and English coexist because that is the reality that we have today. And I think that is one of the problems we have with the Irish language that people who don't speak it feel that we get angry with them when they aren't as passionate about Irish as they were. And that might have been the case in the past, but that's not the case now. We want everyone to feel comfortable while we're speaking Irish, while we're speaking English. I have people coming up to me apologising for the fact that they don't have Irish. Now, in a way, that's good that they understand that the Irish is a great thing to have, but as well, they shouldn't feel like they have to apologise. They should feel that they can come approach me and say, look, I need help with this. Can you help me with this? I want to learn the Irish language. And if they feel like they're on the defense constantly, that's not going to, like, they're not going to want to make that effort because they'll feel scared. I know we have a show more cognitive impact at the moment and some people, some students are very nervous about coming in because they know they don't have that confidence in the language to go and speak it openly. So I want to create a show more cognitive where everyone can go in and speak whatever language they have and whatever bit of the language they have. Can you help me with this? I agree in a way, but I also don't agree. I think that it's not necessarily excluding people, but I think that it's giving Irish people a context to meet and a place to meet because, I mean, just like I tell you, we're all speaking Irish together, but I mean, when we came here at first, I didn't know we spoke Irish, we spoke English to each other all the time. So until you meet in the context where you speak in Irish, then you're going to bring the Irish outside of the room so I can see where you come from that, yeah, maybe you're excluding to a point, but obviously you want to try and make it as often as possible, but I think we need this kind of context and this physical space to meet in the first place. Otherwise, you're walking around the street meeting people who actually speak Irish and love it, but you don't know that because you've never had that experience. I completely agree. It's just an outlet for the language rather than an exclusive space. Like even we have our future labs, like where we just kind of have computers, where we all sit down, we all know each other, have Irish, so we use that space to speak Irish, but if some of us, like, if we bring our friend or whatever, we're not going to just speak Irish if they don't understand, we're going to talk to them as very different. Okay, so I think we should talk about the role of the language. We're learning to speak English to each other and I think it's important that we speak English to each other. I think it's important to talk to each other so that we can learn more about each other and we can talk to each other in a different way. Okay, so Christina, one of your points is to have a discount card for Irish speakers. How much have you looked into this because it's unlikely that places like Spare and Starbucks and things will offer discounts because they haven't done it for the society cards and the club cards that we all have with RAG and NPS and everything. And also have you considered the fact that, you know, a lot of the staff in these restaurants and shops, they don't speak Irish? So can have you looked into the different factors that people might argue against these things? Yeah, I have considered it and talked to different people about it and I do understand that some places on campus might have had discounts so that's why I've actually, I was talking about it in the Huston State, I've actually broadened that out to maybe shops and restaurants around campus that might do it. As well, the point of the Grail Court would be that you've already proven that you have Irish so you don't have to use it in the shop if that person doesn't have Irish. Now, in reality, people will understand, but if you want to use those people focus, they will understand that, you know, they won't understand how much Irish you use in the shop, you say, girl, I'm going to march the hell of things like that. So there is very little Irish required, but it's that little extra effort that I want to reward and that's why what we would have in place is that maybe in cooperation with the Commonwealth Grail Act that once people have come to a certain amount of events, they would be rewarded with the Grail Court. So they've proven that they have the Irish and that they want to speak the Irish and that's how they would be rewarded. I'm not going to be giving them out everywhere and then only if they speak Irish in the shops and it would be too much confusion with that. So that would be kind of a greater system. Can I just ask, is it like the one that the Commonwealth Grail Act has already? It would be kind of like that, but more, you know, focus on the DCC habit, you know, because they're more useful to DCC students. So Barrett, like you said already, you were gone for a year and it's unlikely that you had the opportunity to speak Irish or to use Irish or, you know, have the culture around you. So do you think that that will hinder you at all because it was a whole year away from it? The only way that I think it will hinder me is that sometimes I'm speaking with French-speaking habits. Okay. Like a little bit of my spoken Irish is obviously I don't want the same severance that I had before. But like in terms of passion, culture, drive, absolutely. You know, actually the minute I'm looking into setting up a mini Conrad and Geiliga in Lyon, I'm speaking with the Commonwealth Cascale, Helen Shen, I guess, I'm just giving Geiliga a while, you know, so I don't think in terms of passion, drive anything like that. If anything, it's probably strength. Okay. Great. Well, I don't know if that's the case. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. I think. I guess. I don't know if I can say that I'm not a fan of the language, but I'm not a fan of the language. I think it's a good idea to use the language as a language, but I don't know if I can find a solution. I don't think it's going to be a genuine purpose. Okay. And what do you think about that? I think it's going to be a good idea to use the language as a language. If I're not a fan of the language, I feel today that I don't find a solution to it. If I'm not a fan of the language then I feel that, so I am happy with that. I just think that the world's was a very good story. How was it for you? Well, I feel like I can't say much about it. There are many things that I've never said before. For example, when I was in my first year of school, I was a bit worried about what my parents would say about me. I was a bit worried that they wouldn't be able to speak to me. I've never thought about it, but I've always thought about it. and I would like to say that if you're a little bit of a foreigner, if you're like a good foreigner and if you're from a DCU, you are the most important person here and I would like to thank you for your recent messages on Facebook and I would like to thank you for your support on Rangamak and I would like to tell you that I love you and I would like to say that I love you I love you so much and I love you I would like to be on course A I don't know if I'll be able to do that, but I don't know if I'll be able to do that. Do you worry about that at all, or how would my impact the role? I do, I worry about it of course, but I have been tackling my anxiety. Working with the Media Production Society for the last two years has really helped me battle it. If you told me that I'd be doing this two years ago, I would never have said that. I put myself forward in first year for going for a class rep for a first year rep of MPS. I just got really involved in things and it really boosted my confidence up. I'm recovering from it more than still a software. I would still say that I get very nervous in front of crowds, but it is something I'm battling with and it's something I'm dealing with and I think that that has to be recognised as well. I know people will definitely appreciate your honesty because it is something that a lot of students deal with but it definitely is something also that occurs to people where it's a very demanding role and obviously you need to be kind of up for it. So what do you plan to do with your role in the future? Will it be possible for you to have a role in the future? Will it be possible for you to have a role in the future? So what do you think of it? I think it's really important to have a role in the future and not just to have a role in the future. I think it's really important to be able to create and have a role in my own work. I want to be able to create something that people can feel are really important to me. And I am very interested in what the campus is like, it is something that I am really passionate about and what I do and what I do in the future, if I am an artist I like to come up with a role I think it could be a good return to Blenarash and she would go and read my first, I guess my record, if we're going to get it. Can you laugh at Goni? She would go to her kind and early as charity done first, can you laugh at Goni? Can you, can you have real to it? I think it could be a good laugh, I guess. But she wouldn't, I don't know much about her, I wouldn't. I don't know if she's going to be able to read my chief PDC now as a gober, so she wouldn't go to a charity done, I don't know if she's going to be able to read my work as I don't know if she's going to be able to read my stuff. You think it could be a good laugh, or a good friend? It could be a good friend as a go teller in the beginning and then thinking about the advantage in the end and so on because it was the first time I did a good job as a go learner and she said I'd like to go and the last time I don't know if it's because of the box or the label, but I don't know if it's because of the fact that it's real. But in UCD Trinity, I don't know if it's because of the form on the screen, or if it's because of a couple of different reasons. So I don't know if it's because of the reason, but I don't know if it's because of the reason. Christina, how do you feel about the fact that you've discovered the difference between the two? It's true that I'm also going to be at the campus in Frostford, and actually going to the campus to learn more about it. And I also have the knowledge about the difference between the two. I think that's why we're so focused on what's happened with the kessler. If we had to go to the kessler, it would've been a bit more difficult. And the kessler would've been in the house to play the kessler, but she didn't know what it was. That's why she started to play the kessler. So, I think that's why we're focusing on what's happened with kessler. And, you know, the freshness of the kessler, I think it's really important to have a good understanding of the language and how it works and how it works. I think it's really important to have a good understanding of the language and how it works and how it works. And I'm very happy that I'm here. I've been here since I was 18 years old. I'm also... I'm a bit of a... like... I think I'm very happy with the program. I feel like it's really good to play here and to be able to interact with the kids and the kids and everything. And I'm very happy that I'm here. I'm very happy with this channel after. I'm really happy to have a friend who has just come back from South Africa and had a great time. It's a really big success for me. I just want to tell you that I'm really happy to have a friend who has just come back from South Africa and had a great time. I love the way that I think people are talking about the colour of the house. And then it's really about the colour of the house. I think about the way that people are talking about the colour of the house. And I think that it's about the colour of the house. We're talking about the colour of the house. And that's it from me today. And next up is Academic Affairs. Clare Prenti interviewed the candidates last week. last week and tonight Roshin Nester will be moderating them. My name is James Donahue and I'm a second year computer application student. My name is James Donahue, I'm the current education officer and adjournment is in graduation. Ever since I've come to DCU I've been heavily involved in representing students and because of that I see many things and issues that students have and I'd love to be able to solve the issues for them and help them with different and various issues. So that's why I want to be the next academic affairs officer because I want to affect every student's academically both inside the classroom and outside. I'm running because currently I'm the education officer and I love my job. It's really rewarding to meet different students every day of the week but also next year with the incorporation of all the new campuses. It's a fresh challenge and I think there's some ideas I'd like to implement across all campuses so that's why I'm running. I suppose this year the two busiest days of the year for me were exam results and it's extremely stressful for students both. James Donahue and James Nolan, thanks very much for joining us tonight. I'm just going to start off by asking you to briefly explain what you think is your responsible for it as the rule of vice president of academic affairs done in your studies. Yeah, academic affairs is essentially kind of two pillars, support and the other one is representation, support with involvement, exam results, changing modules, any queries you have from students about crimes, etc. Then the second pillar I suppose will be representation so across the committees across all the campuses. Yeah, so basically it's kind of the same peer-to-peer support for students, working with staff through committees and I'm sure the university building up connections with staff, working with staff as well to kind of work on policies and so you're working with staff to work with them to promote university and then they'll help you promote your own manifest as well. So it's represent students in terms of lecturers, tutors, any academic basis for exams and delights as well. Okay, so Donahue, in your manifest you mentioned running a health line after exams. So who would demand this health line and what kind of a cost would be associated with this health line? I suppose it's about prioritising it and I think it is a priority when you look at the figures of students who talk afterwards, after the exams date, in general in the first year if you fail an exam and you talk to your lecturer or talk to someone, there's figures there from surveys to support that and I suppose it's about putting money aside but I contacted student support and development about projects we could work on together and they're very happy to support so they will provide certain amount of money or why we'll provide the rest and cost aside I don't think it will be that expensive but it's also, it's something I prioritised in my manifest so there's not that much money involved in it. In my manifest also it's something we will put some money away towards but once it's set up, that cost won't be there for the rest so it's for the next 10 years while it's at base. I'm James Dooling, we've looked at having exams, repeated exams earlier and having results with them earlier, having looked into this and contacted people to ensure that this actually can go ahead. Yes, so basically I was having a look at last year's elections, it's something to crop up last year, basically what I was talking to a few business students what they were saying was that they only have 20 days to sort out an interest so they're restricted access to the interport if they have a repeat so basically that means they have 20 days to get to an interface which isn't really enough. I was meeting with the inter-office this year having hosted a talk for a second year engineering and computing students and they bring it up so what I was looking at doing is having the repeat results and the exams earlier so basically those two, if those two dates are adapted earlier you're going to give those students more time to get their inter-placings as well because business, especially with business, interest is a pivotal part of their degree and it is a compulsory part as well and I think it's going to help students as well in terms of their exams If I was to fail at a repeat, so I have two repeats at the moment so if I was to fail one of those I'd have to go back into second year and do it again and that would mean I'd have only 20 days to essentially change my plans around, change accommodation, get a job, that kind of stuff as well so I think it's better, it's really good if we have it adapted earlier and yes, I have connections with students for three years and it drops and I haven't looked into it as well. So one of the big things this year and next year and through the coming years is going to be the amalgamation of all the campuses across and especially for academic careers so how do you plan on spreading yourself and providing for all the students across all campuses in and out of therapy? Yes, so what I will do is I'll set out a timetable of me beyond which campuses so we might have four campuses and actually we might have three campuses we don't know yet, the information is available what I'll do is I'll set out a timetable before the semester starts and then also what I'll do as well is I'll work with the faculty reps I'll work with the class reps to get messages across because of course you're not going to be available on campus all the time you need to be in your office available to the students as well so they can come up to you within general queries they have what I will do is I'll send out an email at the very start I'll send it out to the class reps and the faculty reps and these are the times I'm in my office and these are the times I'll be on this campus and I'll have the issue hoodie on as well, it'll be very visible it's something I do on this faculty rep this year most students knew how it was so they could come up to me so it's all about being visible it's all about utilising the positions that are already there in the student union as well and everything is the education working group I'm looking at setting that up for next year so basically what that is is it has elements of post-grad representation the faculty reps on it as well and that's how I'm going to get my message across and that's how I'm going to keep in touch with the students when they're actually being on the ground all the time but essentially being on the ground at the same time I'm ready Yes, well it's despite being a bit bigger at issue I still can't spread myself across four campuses but first of all it's about time management and about making sure you're allocating set time towards for every campus or your day secondly, I think for students to engage with the students union you have to give them stuff to get involved in looking at careers this year it didn't engage every faculty setting that up faculty base I think I'd like to do that again across every campus because it gives them something of their own and it means that you are interacting with the students I think the health line is good as well it's a good thing to be set up by students and it means that the students will actually acknowledge that the student union are working for them so that's kind of two kind of visible things that you do for students but once you do that you can do the meet and greet your representation and it's about making committees and stuff like that and making their voice heard and giving snippets of feedback on the website on what you're doing for students emailing back every student who emails you from any campus and then being visible at attending events doing stuff like that but about time management realistically and setting yourself targets so if I set myself a target to be on the St. Patrick's campus or the matter day campus for a Friday evening I have to get my act together and get down there and not say, oh Jesus, I have a couple of things to do in the office I must get to them but I have to say, my target is to be on that campus that day and that's where I have to be and aside from the Glass 7 campus and the Pat's campus have you visited the other campuses do you know where they are at James Cooley? Yes, so the oldest one is visible from the Pat's library so you can see the massive building there as well the matter day one is not too far from it CIC is in Ratmines, I'm aware of that shopping because, as I said, my family is from CIC so I've been aware for quite a few years that Ratmines was closing down as well so I do know where they all are but what you do is you'd go out to them after the elections you'd go out with the education and placement officer you'd go out with the new executive and make sure that you know where those campuses are and secondly, I think if you go out that bit earlier it's given students that by more time they'll have to get to know their new student unit so it's all about visibility and especially getting to know where the resources are and where students are so getting on the ground with students and knowing where they're going to be as well so you know where they are but you haven't visited them yet? I haven't visited them yet but I plan on going down there tomorrow I'm aware that a lot of the Beds the religious Beds they've been on the Pats campus at the moment as well so I will be down to visit the Mother Day campus tomorrow just in case a situation does arise where it's still open next year Yeah, like I'm in the fortunate situation where I've been on all the campuses I've sat on committees on every campus so I added myself to the appeals committee this year on the Church of Ireland there was only actually four appeals as part of the incorporation I suppose everyone takes to student unions only incorporated this year and it is but the campus has had it incorporated before so I sat on the appeals in Church of Ireland I sit on a number of committees in Mother Day and I sat on committees in St Pets and I suppose the most important thing is we ran the National Student Survey across all of those campuses and it was the highest feedback ever in DCU and that means that every course is going to be brought up to the same standard getting that feedback from every campus has a positive impact so I have been on every campus sitting on committees and one of the big issues that's come up in this SU election is the Fiumpe lecture has been moved to the All Hollows campus and potentially the Fiumpe students have been moved down there as well what do you think of this and do you think there's anything that can be done to help these students if they're in alternative solutions because obviously the bilingual campus on every other campus apart from All Hollows is going to be affected and I suppose that's something that only came out in the last week and we're still trying to gather like I'm still currently working in the Student Union we're still trying to gather information that obviously it didn't arise in committees or anything like that I think it was more of a strategic move obviously I do feel for the students they feel like they're being cast away and stuff like that and I think it's about working a positive solution for those students so working a system where they're comfortable because obviously they didn't sign up for All Hollows campus and that's fair enough but at the end of the day probably someone is going to have to move but we have to make whatever whoever does move it could be nurses I heard nurses earlier on in the year it could be business there was business science as mentioned as well so it's about making whatever change does happen as positive for students so one thing I want to do is to sit down with the Registry Office and the Dean and faculty to see if there are any moves which are possible I really don't think that all of you should be moved down I think it should be a nice balance where you have maybe a couple of hours down with All Hollows doing the Irish module but it's about setting out guidelines so one problem course issue would have been the joint honours because there were spread across courses and there was actually no guidelines strategically placed on how it was going to be done there was one big mess and I don't want that to happen it's a very topical issue at the moment there's not enough information as it's only recently come out this week and last week I was talking to a few other students in an address and I would be against the moving down but what we need to do is the reality of the situation could be that some sort of students are going to have to move down and what it is about is ensuring that the students are happy with the solution that we provide the Student Union and also that it suits the staff as well so it's about getting the best scenario possible if it was a case that we couldn't possibly avoid the situation what you'd look at is you'd make sure that they're on the one campus one day and on another campus the next day that could be one possible solution but also what I would do if I was in the position at the moment I'd sit down with the faculty rep I'd sit down with the class rep and make sure they're happy with the solution that's provided and if not we go back and it is currently being looked into because we're very passionate about Irish here in this campus and definitely we don't want to lose a big element of the Irish so I do think a good scenario is going to come out of it and one of the other things that came up at Hostings and throughout the SU elections is that no female candidate has ever been elected for the role of education which is now split into two but if you were elected how would you ensure to get more females involved in education affairs and hopefully Yeah I suppose the most important thing about that is kind of encouragement it's kind of bringing people who work for you and stuff and talking to them and kind of talking them up for the role and stuff and I talk to a number of people this year about running and stuff I decide myself and possibly it might take even more than that and looking at the class rep system there's an awful lot of really good girls involved and they're really good class reps so maybe it's about just doing union getting out there and approaching lots of people maybe part of it is as well is to go down to St Pat's and Mardee and encouraging people down there to run maybe it's looking at elections it's strenuous, it's a lot to take on if you're in a difficult course and stuff and possibly part of it might be actually making it more accessible for students to run possibly like this has been going on a long time now with nominations and stuff like that maybe it is a bit too hard to make it run so maybe we do have to look at that again as regards nominations and stuff encourage people to run in the election yeah so this year you will be where we had a women and leadership talk it was the first year ever we also had the first female president we've had in an awful lot of years but I think what you're going to see is you're going to see a knock on effect so this year it's disappointing there's no female but I think from having a female president this year you're going to see a knock on effect the more females get involved that's not to say we shouldn't encourage it but we should encourage it across all genders leadership talks were issued, they came too late so they came in the middle of elections nominations had already happened what we need to do is have that beforehand as well we need to be encouraging women to run we need to be encouraging class reps and all that kind of thing we need to encourage women in leadership here as well as well as that we just need to ensure that it's not that hard to run for election and you can put yourself forward for these things and you have the power it's about empowering people it's definitely possible to the class rep system as well like I've been talking to an awful lot of candidates this year like you see there's more women in the power time races there's only two women in the full time races this year which is shocking that shouldn't be the case but I think we really do need to get out there on the ground with the students and talk to them about elections and say look listen it is easy and bringing in people like him so we need to encourage people to run and have the women in leadership workshops stop being more frequent as well as to encourage women to run and as Vice President for Academic Affairs you'll be responsible for updating the students on changes in education and there's kind of a problem in DC and across all the campuses that students aren't really reading their emails or they're not engaging in events like CRC so how would you ensure that students are listening and are hearing the updates and these changes I suppose like you have to look at the way of promoting things and stuff and update students on changes myself and Deer just spent a lot of time this year updating the website so next year effectively we are going to have a weekly article from every person so an update from everyone from Academic Affairs to President to send to the students and that will be shared online and you can see from even from the election the reach certain posts get on Facebook and stuff is slightly different from emails and like word of mouth and stuff so they might see that on the website the other thing like Gary always said to me and I've seen it a lot this year I'm a big believer in infographics and stuff like that so stuff like that online obviously students aren't going to pick up every little policy change in the education system but it's about getting as much positive stuff out there as well as the small bit of negative stuff if we need to kind of combat it but it's about different avenues I really do think the new website is going to help a lot and then obviously we're very transparent we have yourselves DCUTV we have NPS and we have the CollegeU and stuff as well so we have to use as many transparent ways of getting what we're involved in out there but I really do think the website and the articles on that weekly is going to help a lot so one thing on my manifesto is the education work group it's in the constitution that's whereby you have as I said you've post-grad reps on it you have your faculty reps and you have then other reps as CRC wants to have on it so what you would do is you would make sure that these people have any changes in policy in regards to academics so inform your class reps make sure they know make sure your faculty reps know as well as there is a big issue with emails here in the university I was talking to a few past students today they're like we're getting all these emails what the hell are we getting these emails for so emails I think we need to avoid that but as James was saying social media is going to be a big massive aspect you can see the reach you have on certain things outlets like NPS the website hopefully is going to be something big as well if you improve the class rep system you are going to get this information out here so much easier I know this is a class rep I know it is a faculty rep as well this year the information you provide your class reps gets out to the class and they put it on Facebook as well so you're looking at having like the student union Facebook page, Twitter page all the other social media pages then your class reps on their course pages send it out as well and verb leading class as well and then you have the NPS college view oh that's going out in social media as well so it's all about getting out on the ground as well and that's where the class reps that come into it they can get up in front of the class I've done it sometimes when I was back in first year to get up in front of the class and inform them of big changes that are coming in for example I got the tutorials for a maths change so I got up in front of my class and told them that so it's about encouraging that kind of thing as well and I think it links back into women in leadership if you have female class reps and you're empowered to do this kind of thing it's going to encourage them to run for elections because they're not going to be afraid so it's all about getting out on the ground and then the education working group as well it's going to ensure that the people in the student union are well informed of changes in the academic policy and just lastly what do you think is the most important issue academic issue for students next year so James don't allow to say anything I think the most important issue is going to be the incorporation the incorporation is going to pose massive issues for the likes of Pat's, CIC coming in they haven't already learned a module in third year the BED program has it in first year the current first and second years in CIC you're going to be affected from that you're going to have issues with incorporations into programs, fundings being cut because college is being shut down there's going to be massive issues with that credits so the Pat's the BED module used to be three credits three and a half credits and they're moving to five credits so there's issues with that as well it's about getting out on the ground and nipping those things and devote before semester two comes as well and ensuring that the incorporation process is smooth and ensuring that students know where to go if they have these kind of issues and who to contact so I want to make sure that incorporation is fair and that it is good for every student and it benefits both DCU students moderate A.C.I.C.E, St Pat's and all other issues I'm telling you what do you think is the most important issue I suppose the academic fair is one it's a broad range of issues like every issue that's been highlighted in this race it's extremely but that's your job to deal with these smaller issues day to day for me the biggest issue for academic fairs will be still getting that same pool of students across all the campuses like you look down in St Pat's campus it's tightly they all approach the students union and this year and in previous years we're probably even becoming more distant so for me the biggest issue for academic fairs is having that outlet for students to go to if they're struggling to change module and stuff and that's why I really do think the headline is going to encourage more people to contact the students union and stuff like that so for me the biggest issue is still being a student union where students feel comfortable going from peer to peer even though there's such big numbers and some people might say oh I've never been up to the SU it's about getting back, keeping that kind of homeliness nature across all the campuses I think that's the biggest issue other academic issues you deal with them anyway it's your job you have to do it so I think the biggest issue is still getting that pool of students up towards the office James Donahue and James Nolan thanks very much for joining us this evening this will be the presidential debate which will be hosted by Jordan Kavanaugh Hi my name is Ayu Bishir I'm a final year student chemical pharmaceutical science this is my fifth year in DCU I'm originally from Eretria it's a little country North East Africa but I am an Irish citizen My name is Sean Cassidy I'm a second year economics politics and a large student I'm an access student and I am running to be the next DCU to continue in president My name is Ivan Hines I am 21 years old I'm a final year chemistry student from Mayo My name is Dylan Keeho I'm currently a final year communications student I come from Caldwell and I've been in DCU for four years My name is Qua McIntyre I'm in a third year multimedia and I live in Glennegeary and I'm 21 years of age Welcome to the final debate of the evening Unfortunately Ivan Hines couldn't be with us due to personal reasons but welcome candidates How much research in the role have you made? How many past presidents have you contacted in the last few months? I've rather than I've rather than talking to Kim I've talked to Aaron and Kenneth about this role also not rather than just speaking to the president I've talked to other candidates like Gary for example from last year and E just to get a different idea of what these things were Myself personally Kenneth Brown and Paul Darcy because Paul was the president when I first came to DCU and aside from the president then I've been talking to Kali Ali who was in the SU twice and then Lorna Eve and all the current subat Yeah I want to make this position my own so I really want to bring a new thing to it so if I don't break the frontiers who's going to the people behind me so yeah I've spoken to Kim and all them but apart from that No one else from previous years so I knew the ins and outs but for me it was just I know what I'm going to do so I don't need that so I'm not going back in the sense Yeah I would have talked to spoken to obviously Kim, Aaron Eve, Gary and other subatics that I've done from across the country So next year EXEC will have more members than ever before across multiple campuses How do you propose to stay on top and ensure everyone is spending adequate time on each campus and actually doing their job because you will be in charge So Cork? Yeah this is something we spoke about we've been speaking about all day we don't know what the timetables are going to be next year yet so obviously it's all well and good now to plan things out but at the end of the day we're just going to have to wait until the timetables come out I have no problem traveling I travel every day for three hours in and out of college so I won't spend more time in Glaston-Evan than I will in parts or any of the other campuses where people are doing their job so how are you going to stay on top of them and get them to check in with you Just call them text, media, everything 2016 and we'll be 2017 so I don't think staying in touch with people will be a problem Dylan? Two very simple things time management and leadership skills I feel like an abundance of both One of the great things and the great opportunity is about to roll next year is that we have these campuses it's a really good opportunity and I think it's something that the president can relish really take on grab a hold of and put their stamp on Communication is key obviously I'd like to obviously travel to the other campuses whenever I can delegate jobs whenever you're away make sure that whenever a query arises in a different campus make sure you're there personally to deal with it when you say make sure you're there deal with it personally on each campus you can't be in two places at once initial comes up on paths initial comes up on DCU that's why I said delegate jobs you prioritize basically whichever you feel is more important for you personally to be there I think you should be there for that the students union so you're coming in I think teamwork is important but also every team needs to have a leader yeah I suppose like I look in the union constitution the president is in charge of staff in the union alongside the OSL manager so I would take that approach there will be OSL staff down there as well like I agree with what the labs are saying like you need to give them directors this is what your job is they think this is what you have to do but on top of that we're at a situation where we're out between I don't know we're going to be two campuses or a maximum of four campuses we're assuming we're two based on paths so I'll be applying I'll be applying a 30% standard to every sabbatical product they will have to spend 30% on each campus every week so I'll do that by breaking down days so I don't like seeing those days I like seeing that as a morning and afternoon so that's 10 shifts so each sabbatical have three shifts minimum on all campuses okay you mentioned that we may be operating that too or maybe we're operating that for the big huge issue that has come up in the last two weeks is the school of Fionnter is set to be moving down to Alhalos campus this move is set to take place over the summer where lecturers are moving down there but students have shown they're against such a move if elected on Wednesday what will you do to support the students Sean? I suppose well what I've already done is I've ensured that faculty rep and Oscar Miguel that has met these students I've helped them draft so the public letter went out which was quite helpful what I'll do is make sure that the university recognises that the students union is behind these students not just because they're students but because they're right we have a bilingual policy the university has taken a very bizarre stance whereby they are pushing a reflection of moving lecturers down and classes down whereby that will seriously affect our bilingual policy the university has bilingual policies as well so I think we need to take that principle the university is hoping to move certain schools down they tried to move the schools and signs down they said no now they're trying to move Fionnter down they're saying no this isn't good enough and that's how I approach it like they need to recognise that the Irish language has a special status within our union constitution within their aims and objectives within an Irish law and the Irish constitution and that's I think you need to make a principle argument towards the university what you're saying it is a bilingual campus but it's not like they're removing the course they're just removing it down to another campus yeah but that's a multi campus now yeah it is a multi campus but we have to operate bilingual policy across all campuses and you cannot do that if you move all of the whale goers onto one campus you just can have spent two years building up the Irish language on this campus they've done it quite successfully and quite well because we actually got the introduction of an Irish language also on our students union and to see that run away by moving them all down to one campus there's one simple word for it it is segregation it is nothing else it will have a detrimental effect on promoting a bilingual policy on campus and the university will need to strongly reflect on that fact and recognise that our union constitution and our students support the Irish language segregation is a strong word that's what I use as well I might like to use the word segregation as well I mean they're not going to learn anything if they're all pulled together they're not going to spread the culture of Ireland because we are in Ireland yeah but what will you do on Wednesday if elected to stop this move from happening I'll do everything in my power again I'll meet up with the team discuss our options and see what happens okay are you yeah meet up with the Irish officer first of all discuss the plan what kind of change I can do to this but I do agree it is segregation and it's also negative for them it's also negative for people in this campus you're kind of like separating the two so let's work with the Irish officer and see what plan we can come together yeah look I think it's personally I don't think it's a good move I think it should be fought against the wheels seem to be in motion they seem to be in motion they're not fully there is room there it's been over it's not gone that it's set in stone I think over the next few weeks with the student power behind it and there is a lot there's a lot of student power behind it I think that could be changed I think it could be turned around if it's not we have to look at the flip side of the coin yes it's not good for a bilingual campus it's not because you need the Irish speakers on each campus but if they are all on one campus well then we have to look at okay well then we have a fully speaking Irish campus that has all these Irish speakers which on the other side of it and this is looking at a positive perspective isn't a wholly batting either but personally I think it needs to be fought I'll be optimistic at this time so there's only two women running for Spatical positions so there is a chance that no woman will be a full-time officer next year do you think this will have a negative effect on the SU if it's the case that there's a chance to deal with women who may be nervous approaching a male next year so I yeah Kim raises a similar question about this I think it does have a negative effect I think having a male and female perspective male and female in SU does give you a different perspective in looking at things how I would encourage it I would reflect into the good work I would try to promote female candidates for next year and using her as an example but when first years come in who may be nervous seeing a whole panel of males how are you going to encourage them that it's okay to come up and talk to you so I'll just be friendly I'll just be myself I don't know if people look at it this way they're separating between male and female I'm nervous I'll do my best or maybe work with any other sabbatical positions if there's a female running and just approaching in a friendly manner I think at this time it's not like we don't know there could be females but that's about us as sabbaticals us as the students union we have to portray that we are people kind of gorgeous we are welcoming we welcome you and that's just that has to be worked on that's what has to be done there looking at the St. Pat's SU obviously it's a much smaller it is a much smaller number but I've only heard very good things from the two lads down there and it's an all male SU but I've heard extremely good things now I suppose it's a particular problem this year we have a situation where there are more women running on one faculty rep race than in the entire sabbatical race is combined I was chatting, I was actually chatting with a sabbatical over in Trinity they had a great year of forgiving females like the sabbatical positions last year and I was joking saying oh you know there's so many women up this year and I think one of the things we need to recognize is that the impact Kim has had and even before will be that in a year's time or two years time we will see more women directly I will be certain that there will be a number of female candidates at a faculty rep level it's about promoting them but they need to come up and murder their strong candidates and their strong individuals I have no problem getting them on board to help do the likes of the addresses at the start of the year the addresses in the helix that will be an important challenge and there's another thing and I'll say it here but for anyone who hasn't voted for female candidates in the sabbatical race it's an absolute issue we introduced a policy this year where the union will give out free tampons to women that they can't afford and get caught short but so many women turned around to me and said I like that but I would not go into a man's office to get them so it's an issue I'd say to the audience, reflect on it look into the female candidates their candidates are standing in quality a strong look into either voting for them for the next year and one of them is Oktoberfest societies aren't allowed to advertise alcohol for events do you think it's okay if the SU are allowed to or do you think the SU should be allowed to and doesn't it send a wrong message about the students union advertising alcohol the essence of Oktoberfest is German culture and a part of that festival obviously German beers are a thing that has very much to do with it but it's also German food and I think the Oktoberfest has a lot of fun it's a really good feedback on it that's what people want and in terms of the cost and putting the event on I don't think there's that much to it and I think that's what I genuinely believe that's what the university is crying out for something new and innovative and I think I'm the man to bring that another point in your manifesto is about the Wi-Fi walkway so you said you would approach people in the SU roughly what's the cost for that but that brings my next point according to the students union that plan is already well underway are you just taking credit for work that's already been done? the first day of campaigning I was told that we were actually doing that now but through the campaigning I've seen a lot of people people are running against have spoke out against the Wi-Fi walkway and that it's unnecessary I think it is and if elected president that's what I want to drive home that's for September but it is happening now it's not coming from the students union but at the very beginning when I was running my manifesto it was toxic it was toxic and now I want to just drive it home make sure it's happening because people here sitting at the table have said that it's not they'd rather focus on the Wi-Fi on campus and I'm personally Wi-Fi on campus is part of it but it's bad but in your own home you don't want a house Wi-Fi back then you shop in the centre of hope that's technology and that's how it is in 21st century so I fully believe that the Wi-Fi walkway is a link for the two campuses as Dylan pointed out most of you have spoken out against it and some of you have even said well I have 3G, I have 4G or I haven't debuted no credit and you need to get home you need to get a bus you know I have 2G and I understand well I first of all I know it's a planned emotion but I feel like what I said is not that I have 2G it doesn't matter where you have 2G or not I said you could focus on improving other things with that budget rather than the Wi-Fi like it's not coming out of the student's union for many in the university we spend money in one department it's potential taken away from money there's a broader reality here there's a 9 month academic calendar which students are on we don't have the nicest way I walked up there and it got soaked and that's something funny to say but I don't see if we're spending anywhere between 50 and 100K that's far too much because you're not going to get that level of use for me this is something I would take this perspective on the university this isn't something for students this is something nice they can put in the perspective and sell to students because honestly Wi-Fi sounds brilliant I don't know what it means but it sounds brilliant and it's something nice I can go on a perspective had I found out this 4 weeks ago I would have had that same perspective for me it's not just about Wi-Fi on campus Wi-Fi sometimes doesn't extend to campus rest that's an issue and it's not just that it's bad in certain areas and I have an issue where the university decides to invest money outside of the campus because it would look nice to sell in a perspective rather than investing for the services that students pay for their contribution charge on campus it's funny I've spoke to numerous past students today and they don't have Wi-Fi on them I went through a lot of my manifesto and it's something they're loving they really, really love the idea and that's enough for me that's a big contingent of students that's enough for me to support it guys you might disagree but I'm just listening I think loving an idea is one thing but then thinking of how that idea affects like Shala saying overall picture that's another I also feel like you could spend on campus res or other things like if you're spending that much money on I do think it's a great idea but just my main concern will be it's cost at the end of the day I mean we all get stuck if you're stuck you should be 20 minutes between each campus it's not the end of the world in life you struggle on a merge Sean a big thing you campaigned about is getting the free Wi-Fi microwave on campus for students who commute or want to bring in their lunch but a counter-argument that's always brought up is health and safety so just what I want to know is who will clean it on a day-to-day basis like for me like I would see those as silly items they have one in N.U.I.G they have them in I.T. Trilley traditionally speaking like where a mess is made to clean up after yourself like for example if it's in the student union area then like there are these particles there from 7-8 o'clock it takes 5 minutes it's not an arduous task like I was talking to the president of I.T. Trilley they're interested in the canteen they're not sure it's going to go down into business and uptake in business and to be honest students who use it couldn't afford the canteen anyways but they got to a stage where after 6 months the cleaners just go away after after it's being used but the one within the students who the sabbaticals are generally their speaking from till 9 o'clock there's nothing to say that any sabbatical the Trilley based on DT stamps or if we put one in parts of the tube it takes 5 minutes it is not an arduous task and she has a list of the sabbaticals we have to stand by it because in case anyone messes with it if anyone puts any oranges which could happen if it is left unattended but you're also having to put one in the restaurant yeah so in regards to the engineers have one in the company they don't have a guard on the microwave we're adults and we know how to use these things now I can understand it's not really about health and safety it's about if something goes wrong we have to trust students there's nothing to say that we can't have written warnings in regards to the restaurant yes it's like my friend said in IT Trilley the restaurant were massively against it and the one perspective is oh sure we're going to lose things no you're not because people who need to can't afford your food anyways and the second point was the restaurant found after a couple of months there was uptake in people buying their food but the restaurant actually had a policy that they won't take claim from a microwave because any food that's heated that they haven't cooked if someone gets food poisoning they're liable and they're responsible for it so they said they won't take claim of a microwave yeah there's nothing to say that it can't be hosted in the restaurant and we can't take responsibility for it I think more often than not the restaurant is a company of DC it's called Tryspace it has 3 million euro turnover this has become an issue year on year I go into it wasn't a class it was a week and a half and it was a class mature issue and they gave me 3 rounds of applause because I said the word microwave there's a high demand for this and to be honest it's ridiculous there is a microwave in the engineering building and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a microwave in every staff sector room in the college at the end of the day it's just a microwave we're not talking about volatile bombs maybe it's more fresh but don't put tin foil in it there's a broader reality here is that we have these we have it in the engineering building we have never had a fire in the engineering building in the common building this is the stuff that annoys me when a university looks on students as children and not at all pay to go so a big talking point last week's hostants were events because next year there will be no venue or despair is going to take its place you couldn't think of an answer to the question of why events haven't worked at DCU what do you think now yeah it's a completely blanked out about that no I think why events don't work at DCU I feel like certain events are made specifically for a certain group of people they don't interest the wide variety of students and I think that's why they don't work certain events like Netflix and chill that was specific for certain event people I think you should make events that would interest the whole variety of students Cormac you said events aren't interesting enough or what would you do different yeah that's my thing I'm putting it to the students so how can the event not be interesting enough if the students themselves have put forward an event and the rest of the students have said that one and the majority pick one to me that's both proof everyone wants to do that one crazy event then that one crazy event is what we'll do and it will be the one that's else rather than the DCU putting forward something that's kind of been done or boring or just plain or whatever people aren't going to want to get behind that as much as they would something that's a little bit different Sean you are against or do you don't believe that venue can be taken off for students that they despair like that yeah well effectively I'm in disagreement because I think there's been a few processes that haven't been followed for me it's not about a shop it's about losing a venue for a lot of people the student center is a place where they can go that they know that they're comfortable but more so than that we have a situation where by the only other venue on campus the only other currently available venue that has entertainment facilities university owned company in the same time that we have lost a venue like that's not right that's going to have a massive impact on the overall budget and like there are things we need to ask why is this happening why did those two things happen in the same year like that's not right I understand that but Kim Sweeney said it is 100% happening that despair is going into the venue and as you said the venue on campus has raised its prices but what will you do if we have no venue and well I think there's there's three things that you have to do like there is like if we come to a situation and to be honest for me personally I don't think we're at that point we're definitely not at that point until you know in under 10-15 days but what we do need to look at we need to make sure all processes have been followed like this is the thing more often than not the university will say this is a done deal like it's a done deal when we say we're not going to fight until a certain and that's just the following of every process we have after that point if you're in a situation whereby the venue the retail unit is being moved into the venue then you need to look at where is the funding going to come for the marquee like for me it's not just about you need to invest in a proper marquee you need to turn around to the university and say you're going to have to lower rents on in the helix because that isn't right and I think that's what you have to do like you need to look at and you need to look at outside events and like for me that's very upsetting because we have a problem engaging non-traditional engages for example in the national community post grads and matures and it's quite a valuable asset to have a venue there and when we take that away we take it a ton of a way in a building and that's a really bad thing for engagement like it annoys me because people don't realize that the wide impact on a budget on a principal level regard to effectively being screwed over by the university in a monetary sense and on the tour level the opportunity cost of using the potential to engage non-traditional engages I think look it seems this is happening venue is going and I really really think we need to take an optimistic stance on this, this is refreshing this is good trust me it is I'm looking into it, I've been looking into it for months now there is facilities available on campus the canteen, the marquee maybe once throughout the year I think it could be a good option not a solely reliable thing to use obviously the helix is there but off campus off the Glass-Nevin campus Jump Conjure has so many venues so many great venues and the likes of Trinity are doing events always off campus, UCD, DIT and Pats this year and there are some of the most engaging events these students love them and they're not afraid to go it doesn't affect attendance whatsoever purely because it's refreshing, it's always fresh our volunteer at DCU, regardless of the title whether it's Halloween, winter, Netflix and chill it's pretty much the same thing print off your ticket that's the hope you'll have a DJ in the venue you'll have the new bar rock in the demo maybe the old bar might be open on some of them maybe but that's it events need to change in DCU I think it's really good, it's really refreshing me personally it's a gold mine of opportunity, a real gold mine of opportunity and finally lads last week at CRC Hostings someone asked what is being done for the new hub for the environment what are they doing to help that no one really knew what was being done then have any of you looked into it since then I looked into it it's a question from me on a personal level, I'm not sitting on any of these boards the new hub boards, any of these committees and I don't think anyone who was even knew the information it was really hard to get anything for me personally, maybe you have more joining I think the question he was asking he asked was there I think he had a vested interest in that particular topic and it was a bit specific for us but I was thinking about that question it's kind of cool when there's a building or something that kind of interacts with the environment and any way we can make the canvas greener I'll definitely get behind that the question from Monarch I asked Kevin afterwards and he made the question what he was trying to say was he wasn't worried about the sustainability of building the building what he was asking was can you incorporate certain designs and architecture so I did have the chat with him afterwards I'm not going to lie, we're running for election I think there's a level where you have to recognise that we're still competing can't we present it if elected I'll absolutely be looking at Kevin and see what we can do because it's a brilliant idea to make a building more and more the thing about the rainfall to use that to flush the toilets I thought that was a brilliant idea what is there anything being done that any of you are aware of I'm not aware of anything that that's been done the core of what I had from Sebastian was that the engineers haven't even met to discuss that the new building is going to reach certain standards so it's in itself it's going to be a clean building but yeah, I would definitely be on board with the hope interact with the environment and reuse recycle, produce, all that kind of stuff perfect, thank you lads, thank you very much so that's it tonight from DCU TV's live debates voting will close on Wednesday at 5pm so if you haven't voted vote then and thank you for staying tuned and best of luck to all the candidates thanks