Since the year is finished, the time has come for the Hood to look back over the year and dish out some awards to the societies, people and so on that I feel deserve to have the cold light of day poured onto their pimply backsides. Unlike the SU awards, these awards have been well thought out, and will not be awarded based on good relations with staff. The recipients and nominees will not get a dinner, nor will any society receive more than one award. However, in a similar vein to the SU awards however, these are undemocratic, uncounselled and decided by a heavily breathing man sitting in the dark.

BY THE HOOD

Best New Society:

This award simply must go to the QUB Palestine Solidarity society, not only for managing to post an advert with no address, no contact details and half of the advert in foreign, but also for their ability to compete with the socialists on sheer bloody-minded scrotum-chewing irritancy. However, the main reasons they received this award was for the heckling of a foreign diplomat and the assaults on his taxi, and of course for giving us one of our most easily to caricature figures by making himself president for life, banning all elections within his society, (Alex Redpath would be proud), accosting strangers about bewilderingly titled films, and wearing a tea towel.

Most improved society:

This award can only go to the Canoe club who have risen from last year’s position (being coshed vigorously in a darkened room by Andrew Dodge) to actually being a proper society once again. Bravo team! Another victory for student democracy.

Outstanding club or society:

I think this must go to the law society. Their election team promised to cut red tape, and they showed their working by failing to be registered as a proper society. Cutting red tape indeed.

Event of the Year:

Although there are several events that do deserve nomination for this, I feel it must go to the second UGM, the stillborn event that it was, with an attendance of roughly 30 people (including sabbs). But the Hood was there. Watching. Laughing. Playing with Himself.

Community Contribution of The Year:

This of course must go to Mr. McGrizzle, who spent St Patricks Day serving his community in the best way possible. By being in New York at the time, and managing to disappear with all the grace and smoothness of a hippopotamus covered in talcum powder.  Runner-up goes to Kevin Mulhern, Head of Communications at QUB, who became an honorary member of the police that day, the result being a steward going to the ambulance.

Love Affair of the Year:

For their darling public behaviour, their general cuteness, this award must go to Fiona Kidd and Gary Spedding. Spending all their time in idle chatter, whispering sweet nothings, she coyly playing with her SU magazine, he wiping the dribble from his tea-towel. How sweet.

Sabbatical of the Year:

This award was torn between the beard monster, the crying statue, the SU Mag editor, the evil genius, Nathan Hackett, the Tiny Casanova. However, in the end, it had to go to McGrizzle, the VP for institutional bickering, purely for his stand against the university on our behalf. He risked life and limb by threatening ‘a negative press release’. Fight the power.

Publication of the year:

SU magazine. Much less boring than the Verdict, much more informative than the Gown, much funnier than the PTQ.

Website of the Year:

The Gown Website. Not only can you sling muck, but you can pretend you’re someone else.

Andrew Dodge award for Puppeteer of the Year:

This award goes to DJ Shuffle McKernon, for his amazing looking after the ‘change4su ticket. Being a DJ in Jaxx, using their promotional stuff, ensuring that his candidates (maybe) forced foreign students to vote for their ticket (maybe). bravo. dodge rubs his hands with glee.

Gracious loser award:

This award was going to go to Jay for stomping off before the rest of the results came out, however, the winner is Niall Bole, for asking for an electoral court after he lost. Head full of sweetie mice that boy.

McGibbon award for barefaced electioneering:

The change4su ticket deserve two, firstly for their bewilderingly oft-repeated ‘huge acts festival’, which is different from the May Ball, in that it’s entirely fictional. Secondly to Aidan Hughes for his ‘QUB crew’, which will clean up the Holylands. Special mentions must go to Nuala Mcadams promising to fix QSIS (with her IT skills), and Derek Crosby promising to banish the Ice.

Elected officer of the Year:

Darren Leckey (our NUS-USI education and Welfare officer), for his bafflingly badly spelt, grandad-racist facebook statuses. Showing us the flower of Ulster unionism. Also for managing to look like a damp sack when discussing anything.

Award that was not allowed to be given due to a superinjunction:

Sarah Wright, Chloe Minish, Adam McGibbon, Joe Corina, Nuala Mcadams
Although we can’t say anything about these people, assume what you like about their disgraced faces.

QUB Person of the Year as voted for by my adoring public:

It seems to have gone to Ryan Quinn, that guy who did Evita.  People are idiots, actually voting for someone that did something well.

Sabb of the Year as voted by the public:

We had a clear winner here, a SAAB 9-3.  This was clearly the most reliable Sabb over the past year, it just never breaks down.  Its probably the prettiest of them all too, even though it’s an ugly wee fucker.

The first SU Council meeting since the sabbatical elections witnessed a number of constitutional amendments passed as well as the inclusion of two new societies. The meeting also featured a number of heated debates between councillors over the proposal of performance related pay (PRP) and an emergency motion relating to the upcoming University College Union (UCU) strikes on the 21 and 24 March. 

BY SEAN AHFORD AND KERRI-ANNE CAMPBELL

SU President, Gareth McGreevy was not in attendance due to annual leave. In addition, it was announced that Ryan Cushley would be stepping down from his position on Council. 

The first new society to be proposed was the Rotaract Society, a fundraising body which has already raised money for diverse causes such as leukaemia research and the Simon community. The second society, proposed by current Council Speaker Joe Corina, was QUB Labour Students. SU Councillor, Sarah Wright took on the role of Speaker for the duration of the proposal. Both societies were ratified unanimously by Council. 

The majority of the constitutional reforms were proposed by current VP Community, Jay Downs. Downs’ first proposal was to delete the constitutional clause which required amendments to be ratified by a Union General Meeting or by Referendum prior to submission to the Senate. The motion was opposed by VP Education, Nathan Anderson. For Anderson, to suggest referendums and general meetings were unnecessary was against the democratic principles of the University. The amendment, however, was carried by 38 votes to 21.

The second amendment was to change the process by which a referendum takes place so as to make it easier for them to garner enough support to get over the lower threshold for ratification (a 10 per cent turnout is required). Despite the fact that this amendment was passed unanimously, a number of senior councillors were unhappy with these two proposals, calling them a contradiction of interests. According to one councillor, whereas the first amendment called for a severe reduction in the number of referendums at Queen’s, the second was designed to make these easier and more workable tools for the Union’s disposal, therefore making the decision to largely remove referendums as “stupid”. 

Other motions carried included one to make all questions directed at sabbatical officers or any senior member of the Students’ Union as being “professionally relevant” and the introduction of anonymous questions directed towards sabbatical officers. It has been suggested the latter amendment may have been in response to the fact that so far this academic year there have been no questions directed at the sabbatical officers from Council and therefore they have not been held to account as much as they should be.

The amendment was passed with only two councillors opposing, Jason O’Neill in particular stated that this set a “dangerous precedent” for future years. O’Neill also opposed the introduction of an amendment which would lead the way to performance related pay being introduced for next year’s sabbatical team, stating that it would “open Pandora’s Box”. O’Neill expressed his concern that it could lead to future animosities being expressed at Council. However, the mer otion was passed by 46 votes to 4.

The final constitutional amendment passed, and passed unanimously, was the introduction of end of year reports by sabbatical officers to aid the transfer of future sabbatical teams.

The final major issue of the evening was an emergency motion proposed by NUS-USI Deputy President, Lorcan Mullen, and this passed after a heated debate between certain members of Council. The motion called for the SU to support the upcoming UCU strikes by urging students not to cross the picket line and attend classes. At one point of the debate a councillor accused the motion of being “pure socialism”. VP Downs said that if fees do not increase then the University will cut 400 jobs and that this is why students ought to show solidarity with the unions. After two proposed changes the motion was eventually carried with only 4 council members opposing it.

A pilot scheme of 12 CCTV cameras in Holylands was introduced yesterday at a press conference led by Belfast City Council. They will be installed over a 4 day period at a cost of £100,000,  and will operate through a wireless network which will be monitored 24/7 from Musgrave Police Station and the emergency centre at the City Hall on St. Patricks Day.

BY RUTH MAGENNIS AND SARAH WRIGHT

For coverage of St Patrick’s Day keep clicking on to www.thegown.org.uk

The cameras are just one initiative attempting to reduce crime and are not intended to be a permanent feature, but will be evaluated after a year. Cormac Hopkins from Wired Up Solutions, the designers of this high –tech equipment, revealed plans for them to be eventually scattered throughout the city and redeployed to particular hotspots in a matter of hours to deter criminal and anti-social behaviour and provide evidence for any prosecutions.

This comes as no surprise to the community following Sp. Patrick’s Day last year which exacerbated the need for increased security in order to protect all residents and students. Suzanne Wylie, head of Environmental Health for Belfast City Council asserted that the scheme was in the pipeline for years and was not as a direct result of the events last year. Of the 12 cameras that will be installed, only 7 will be in place for March 17th but there will be PSNI and wardens present with mobile cameras.

One local resident, Maura Doherty, who has suffered from anti-social behaviour in the area, feels that “there is one law for students and one for us” with unfair allowances being made for students due to their potential careers. In her opinion, the University campaign against student misconduct is far too lenient and that they should emphasise that anti-social behaviour will definitely affect your degree, rather than might, as the slogan suggests. She added that landlords should take responsibility as well as students and universities. There is a general consensus that it is a minority causing trouble in this student area, and that those that don’t cause trouble will have nothing to hide and will benefit from an increased sense of security.

Queen’s has already invested £75,000 to provide wardens for the area to ensure the safety of those living in Holylands, and the CCTV will provide additional protection for students. VP Community Laura Hawthorne has emphasised how hard those in the Students’ Union have been working with residents through the Community Affairs Unit and that the purpose of the cameras is not to catch students out as they are in plain view. The Council reassured residents that the cameras will not violate their privacy and that new technology will detect and block out windows. However, any students with fears over privacy can contact Laura at her office in the Union.

BY SARAH WRIGHT

It is not unusual for this 1st year student to get up early, spend ninety minutes trying to find a space (when there are loads free in the staff car park), miss a lecture and then have to pay a £30 ticket from “over-zealous” traffic wardens, or give up and drive home. Is this what my £3,000+ a year is getting me from Queen’s?

The University of Ulster generously provides its students with access to a secure car park to encourage car sharing, and offers options to pay hourly with a 24 hour ticket for £3, or for 6 or 9 month permits which are £40 and £75 respectively, with various payment methods available. As an added bonus, if you are parking for less than 30 minutes, it’s free. Perfect for those times when you simply need to leave a library book back, pick up a module guide or hand in an assignment. Obviously, the University of Ulster recognises and, above all, respects its students need and desire to travel by car. Queen’s, however, does not. The only parking available to students is when the barrier at the library is lifted after 5pm and these spaces are limited.

The introduction of paid parking will undoubtedly exploit students who are already in vulnerable financial situations rather than working with student bodies to address the issue and seek an appropriate solution. Promoting and rewarding students for car sharing would be one viable option. If you are fed up with tutorial latecomers complaining about parking, have suffered problems with parking yourself and have an opinion on the introduction of paid parking around QUB, then please join the Facebook group – Students against paid parking.

To enable our voice to be heard by Queen’s University, I have started a petition and I urge all students to sign!

http://petition.co.uk/paid_parking_qub