Clubs and Socs in DCU

Raz

During my time in ye olde DCU I've been quite active in the clubs and socs around the place. I just thought I'd add a few words (and some personal ego boosting!)

Joining fees.
Each club and soc charges €4 per member. Unfortuately the clubs don't set the prices themselves, it's specified by the clubs and socs governing bodies, the SCC for clubs and the SPC for societies.

Martial Arts Club:
I got hugely involved in the Martial Arts Club out there (I'm outgoing chairperson) . Only place I've ever trained in Martial Arts. Great people in the club and I found it an excellent place to find some friendly faces when I started in DCU.
They take in members of any skill set, from the complete beginner to the more advanced practicioners. The first couple of weeks are always fun as there is loads of people there who have never thought of doing it before and there's a great atmosphere about the hall.
Some great instructors, one in Tae Kwon-Do and Ju Jitsu (Or was it Nin Jitsu :rolleyes:) and one ,a 5th dan (5th level black belt), in Matsumura Seito (The higest ranked in Europe!).
Different instructors come in during the year and you get to see and try different styles of Martial Arts.
DCUMAC

The Networking Society aka Redbrick
Redbrick is used by almost everyone in the college. Well, a lot of us anyway. They do some nice stuff like tutorials on photoshop, java, html and other techy disiplines.
The main usage of redbrick though is the virtual community. Log on to Unix run redbrick server using putty.exe (I think it's the debian variant for those interested. I could be wrong though).From here you've access to your own personal space. 75MB of file storage which includes web space and e-mail. You can spend hours chatting to people you know either through 'hey's or IRC.
If you want to give somebody a shout there's always me. I go by the alias goaz.
Redbrick

Filmsoc
These guys are great. Especially if you're on campus Res. When I started they showed 2 movies on a Thursday night in the T101 lecture theatre. Quite recent releases aswell. They were showing stuff before it came out on video which was cool. I think they might have upped it to 2 nights a week but I'm not sure.

I'm sure there's plenty more to say on Redbrick and I could go on about DCUMAC but I think that's a decent introduction to all. Anybody else care to add anything about the other clubs and socs on campus.

dregin

Swim Club
You get 2 swims a week in the pool in Ballymun for the price of your yearly membership (until we start using the DCU pool for which we will be charged).The pool is pretty decent despite the location. Most sessions are split half in half between length swimming and a game of water polo. Good value for your membership fee.
As regards competition, The water polo team take part in intervarsity friendlys during the year (I think) and there is also a swim team representing DCU at the national intervarsities which were held in Belfast last year.

DCU Swim Club

Creature

I joined a few socs last year but didn't attend a single one. Anyone know will I have to join again or will my membership still be valid?

dregin

Yeah. You have to join again.

halenger

Archery
You get to shoot things. What more do you want?

Thank God I've nothing to do with any organisation of any sort this year. I shall actually be able to goto archery and relax... until the new committee ask how to do a,b,c... :P

Archery website's currently down (don't ask me) but there's remnants of it aruond. The gallery's probably the most interesting/scary parts!

Archery Gallery

Check Club... "That's not how you do it" for some rather dodgy photos.

halenger

Raz wrote:

The Networking Society aka Redbrick
Redbrick is used by almost everyone in the college. Well, a lot of us anyway. They do some nice stuff like tutorials on photoshop, java, html and other techy disiplines.
The main usage of redbrick though is the virtual community. Log on to Unix run redbrick server using putty.exe (I think it's the debian variant for those interested. I could be wrong though).From here you've access to your own personal space. 75MB of file storage which includes web space and e-mail. You can spend hours chatting to people you know either through 'hey's or IRC.
Redbrick

That's 175 mb webspace and another 175mb file storage.

As for Debian/any unix variant you can use putty for linux or just simply use ssh (my preference).

Good bunch of people. Quite active. Currently 51 people online but during semester it usually hits close to, if not more than, 200.

Of course some people are idle and so on but still. Redbrick irc is quite active and has been all summer. "Business" will pick up vastly when we all start back.

Zem

hey i'll be joining DCU as a first year and just wondering what is the normal amount of clubs socs to join to ballance the work during the year and doing stuff, any ideas?

Raz

In general people will join about 10, if not more, of the clubs and socs. Over the first few weeks most people will try their hand at most of the clubs and socs they've joined and then they will stick to the ones they enjoy. Generally people stick to about 2 maybe 3 clubs and socs.

350mb total storage? They've up'ed it since I started! I guess that explains why I could suddenly start uploading stuff again.

halenger

Yup. 2 new servers over the last 2 years. Sweet set up now.

I don't think I've ever joined that many.

Maybe 4 or 5. You can join at ANY time during the year so don't feel obligated to join a club/soc on Clubs n Socs Day(s). It's better for the club/soc if you do join them then though. Funds wise and so on.

I'll probably join around 4/5 this year as always but I'll be taking a nice slow wander to see what's on offer and then decide.

Zem

thanks Raz and Halenger for replying, so yeah i'll keep that in mind it's just hard to choose because there are so many choices but i'll see on the day.
Also 1. Raz you know the martial arts club? do you do all the different styles together or do you choose a few or one style to do? (please say all).
Oh yeah am i the only one who has to keep logging back in everytime i do stuff or is that normal?

Raz

In the MA club we try to do as many different things as possible. We generally have regular instruction in 2 or 3 different styles during the year. Last year we had Padraic Grogan teaching Tae Kwon-Do and some Nin Jitsu (He's training in this atm) and we also had Sensei Nicholas Burke teahing Matsamura Seito Shorin Ryu Kapella-Ha (Or Seito to most of us!). We also had Gareth O Brien teaching Brazillian Ju Jitsu. We should have these instructors back this year plus another Karate instructor. (Sensei Burke is the highest ranked in Europe, he's very impressive! Think Mr. Miagi ... only Irish)
Also last year we held our first competion in the last five years plus an Arm Wrestling competition in the Bar. We also cross trained with the NUI Maynooth Self Defense Club.
Other usual things to expect are cross training with other clubs on campus (Previously Shotokan Karate, Judo and ... Yoga).
We generally like to give each member an appreciation for the Arts help them find whats most suited to themselves.
Usually there are about 10 members each year who stick with it regularly and they seem to enjoy themselves.

As for your logging in problem ... have you got your browser set to reject cookies? If you don't log out when you leave boards you should be logged in when you come back unless the cookie was denied or deleted.
If your cookies are regularly deleted then this could be the problem.

-oRnein9-

Are any of you bhoys in the gaming society? I was maybe thinking of joining for a bit of a laugh. Also freshy soccer and maybe boxing.
Richy

phreak

yea i'm in the gaming soc. definately worth joining.

adjodlo

I'm defo joining the ma club.


Dunno what else. Film soc, gamesoc, and redbrick i suppose are definites. Whats a good club for chicks? oh yes

spockety

adjodlo wrote:

I'm defo joining the ma club.


Dunno what else. Film soc, gamesoc, and redbrick i suppose are definites. Whats a good club for chicks? oh yes

Depends entirely on what type of chick...............

For example, the DCU Ladies Rugby Club has a lot of chicks in it.

Zem

Hey thanks again Raz on the Q's about the M/A club and the cookie issue it's that damn privacy setting someone has it set on high. Anyways yeah i'll definately be in the M/A club, i hope the days and time is good in terms of training because the trek is a @*&?h sometimes but hey if it's half as good as your starting to make it sound i'm there thanks. Also i know i'm constantly asking questions and sorry if it's annoying but how many gradings are there a year or are there any?
PS.
this gaming society is it just a thing where people play between lectures sometimes to keep boredom at bay or?

dregin

Games Soc organize LANs and weekly console nights.

Xbox and P2s are the main consoles I think, but you can bring your own along. They setup two projectors in the seminar room in the hub to play on, and sometimes a couple of TVs.

The LANs last semester were played at the Wired internet cafe on Georges St. (not sure if it's georges street but it's down that way). They are usually overnight events from 8pm til 8am and cost only a few euro for the night.

The society also organized a small Bring your own PC LAN in the large venue in the hub a few weeks ago as a trial run. By all accounts it ran fairly well and there will prbably be at least one over the next year.

I'm not sure but i think Games Soc have gotten permission from CSD to use some of the computer labs on campus for LANs aswell. Some of the labs are fairly well equipped with Geforce 4 graphics cards, which are capable of playing most games fairly well.

Dregin

Zem

Yeah sounds good enough but only Q is for console things and the lan games do you mostly need your own copy of the game?

dregin

No. For the LANs in Wired they provide the games for each machine. For the Console games you only need one game for a multiplayer, it's usually 4 player games they play on the consoles.

Zem

so that means no 8-12 player games of halo or something on the xbox? if you only use one machine.

dregin

Well if there are 2 consoles and 2 copies of the game noones gonna stop it happening

Zem

ok cool thanks dregin-x you part of gaming soc?

hey anyone out there part of the japanese soc or the eclectic music soc are either any good?

ahh that damn cookie problem is happening can anyone tell me the cookie that stores the boards stuff (sorry to be off topic)

Dont be at yourself

hey anyone out there part of the japanese soc or the eclectic music soc are either any good?

Japanese Society:
It was a good laugh last year, but what with the commitee jetting off to Japan this year, it looks like it'll be run by our class this year. What can you expect? Outings to japanese restaurants (and I spied a new sake karaoke bar in town!), movies and all that jazz, as well as some stranger stuff like singing japanese christmas carols for the Christmas mass. Last year we went away to Galway for a weekend, which was absolutely fantastic.

In honesty though, we won't really know what we'll be able to do until we talk to the Clubs/Socs people!

adjodlo

what exactly is this japanese soc for? people who are japanese? people who want to be japanese? Trip to galway like?

Dont be at yourself

For people with an interest in Japan and japanese culture. Consisted last year of irish students studying japanese language, students from japan and just people who were interested in Japan.

Many societies go away for a weekend or so during the year. We went to Galway and stayed in a hostel run by former DCU Japanese students. It was just a big piss-up really, though I vaguely remember eating some sushi.

jebuz

Ultimate Frisbee Club:

yeah i know ur goin what the f**k is ultimate frisbee, its quite a cool game actually, and really starting to take off in ireland, i started playing in 2nd year as a laugh, but i ended up really liking it and im goin into my 3rd year playin it now. DCU did really well in some of the major tournaments last year, and its such a laugh when we go on trips with the other colleges and get completely wasted. anyway come talk to us at clubs and socs day and we'll tell u more, or visit http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~ultimate

Col_Loki

yeah i know ur goin what the f**k is ultimate frisbee, its quite a cool game actually, and really starting to take off in ireland, i started playing in 2nd year as a laugh, but i ended up really liking it and im goin into my 3rd year playin it now. DCU did really well in some of the major tournaments last year, and its such a laugh when we go on trips with the other colleges and get completely wasted. anyway come talk to us at clubs and socs day and we'll tell u more, or visit http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~ultimate

Yea i gotta agree there, best club ive ever joined. Also my 3rd year of playin and getting wasted, and then getting wasted while playin. Its great heading down to cork, or sligo or scotland / leeds for some of the tourneys.... everyone is drunk and friendly.

Sure if ye see the stall come over and have a look, great fun and we usually give out free beer/vodka jelly (almost got in trouble for doing it 2yrs ago so think the beer is given outside of the hall).

Lantis

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

For people with an interest in Japan and japanese culture. Consisted last year of irish students studying japanese language, students from japan and just people who were interested in Japan.

3 out of 4 ain't bad. I'm in.

decob

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

In honesty though, we won't really know what we'll be able to do until we talk to the Clubs/Socs people!

listen man, you can do anything you like, providing you can show some relevance to the society and aims of the soc... believe me there are many ways to get funding from the spc...

Raz

As regards the grading in the MA club. We havn't really done any proper gradings in the last few years. Some internal grades, basicly to let you know what stage a member is at. Four levels, White, Yellow, Blue, Black. I'm blue myself which means I'm pretty good and should be able to see other possible uses for techniques I've learned and put my own spin on things. I wouldn't be good enough to teach others though.

Hopefully this year Sensei Burke will grade his regulars in Matsamura Seito. He has a dojo in finglas so it'll probably take place out there with the rest of his students. There maybe two gradings within the year hopefully.

Zem

Cool thanks Raz, do you guys take part in tournaments at all?

scoey

I'm interested in joining the Martial Arts club but I'm just wondering about something. I've been practicing Aikido for a couple of years and really like it as relaxation and stress relief , but sometimes I get the feeling that it wouldn't be the most useful martial art to know if I get into trouble on the street or whatever. Basically what I want to know is,is the mix of martial arts taught by the MA club more practical than aikido (I'm not quitting aikido but I would like to learn something a bit more practical aswell, possibly involving more punches\kicks) and would it complement aikido well?. Also is the Aikido club any good?

I'll definitly be joining the Film Society and the Japanese Society(although NBMs talk of singing Japanese christmas carrols is worrying me somewhat )

Do the film society just show newish movies or do they show classics aswell?

Raz

Zem: We ran our own tournament last year but that was the only one we took part in. Hopefully we'll be taking part in more this year as I think we made a good impression with ours and may get invited to similar ones. Students of the club are also welcome to take part in any other tournaments they would like to and we'll say you're representing the club

Scoey: The Aikido club in DCU is very good. Last year they held a seminar in DCU with a grand master from France (On the same day as our tournament and stole our mats!! Nice guys though )
That said the Aikido club is very much different from anything you'll do in the Martial Arts Club. With the Martial Arts club the emphasis is more on street smart styles. Matsamura Seito is largely geared towards this. As you progress in this art you start to learn pressure points, which are cool. It's great being able to make a persons knees buckle by rubbing their elbow.
Nin Jitsu has a large element of grappling involved and it's pretty much the sole element of Brazillian Ju Jitsu. Grappling is very useful as a lot of street fights go in this direction.
Tae Kwon-Do can also be applied to street situations but you'd have to work at doing your techniques in confined areas.

I can see Seito and BJJ complimenting Aikido quite nicely but I'm not so sure about Tae Kwon-Do.

Filmsoc are nice people, they provide us with the classics too

scoey

Thanks a lot for the info Raz. It sounds great so I'll definitly give it a shot

MarkD

DCU Mens Soccer Club

Basically the club has 2 parts, the Leinster Senior League(LSL) Teams and the Intervarsity Teams.

LSL:
Anyone can sign for the LSL teams, so it's not just DCU students who play on these teams. Currently we play in Premier 1 Sunday and Premier 1 Saturday

Intervarsity:
There are 4 college teams
*IUFU League Team - Open to any DCU Student, runs until just after christmas.
*Harding Cup Team - Open to any DCU 1st Year, held in Limerick last year in Feb.
*Collingwood Cup Team - Top soccer intervarsity in Ireland, any DCU student can play, held in Belfast last year in March.
*Crowley Cup Team - Open to any DCU player who did not play in the Collingwood, last DCU hosted and won this Cup in April!
*We also run an internal league, where basically you get 13 guys together, and we provide the astro pitch, ref, and fixtures every week during the year.

We will be holding freshers trials in the first couple of weeks, getting through these will mean going to the Harding Cup and probably being called up to the other college teams and possibly the LSL.

For further info or any queries, check out dcusoccer.com!

Cheers,

Mark
Chairman
markd on RB

nuthin

Hello,
I am definitly joining Mens Basketball but it seems that there's not much going on in Mens Basketball club?

are they even playing regularly?
any homepage of Mens basketball team?

thanks

Zem

hey Raz any idea if joining the akido and the m/a club would clash in the long run because you were saying they had a guest come while you were in a tournament is that common?

I hear the music soc is good for joining because they sometimes buy tickets to concerts, events etc. in bulk and sell at a knock down price any idea if there is actually any playing of music in the music soc or would i be better to try the eclectic music soc, only thing is i wasn't to sure of the fact that it said it took place in the inter-faith centre, hey i got nothing against anyone with a religion it's just im not a big fan of group meetings to do with religion anyone any info?

finally did anyone do the scuba or sub aqua club last year was it any good?

BlackWizard

Im also gonna join the basketball club! Ive no idea what they are doing now but with me and you they will do lots So are you doing computer applications or what course?

adjodlo

Is this m/a club open to total beginners? I did a bit of judo in school and liked it. Also, would anything have to be bought in order to participate in the club?

BlackWizard

Today the tae kwon do crowd wer trying to get me to join there club even tho i told them i never done it before(i lied to try to get them away) so maybe they will let beginners join.

nuthin

Hi Blackwizard

actually, I am a new postgraduate student in International Relations and I love basketball, did you play basketball here before?

if you let me know when you practice or just play for fun, I will definitly join..

ciao.

BlackWizard wrote:

Im also gonna join the basketball club! Ive no idea what they are doing now but with me and you they will do lots So are you doing computer applications or what course?

Raz

Zem wrote:

hey Raz any idea if joining the akido and the m/a club would clash in the long run because you were saying they had a guest come while you were in a tournament is that common?

Well, that was the first tournament we've held in 5 years so no it's not common
Usually the Aikido classes run straight after our classes or maybe an hour later (about 8pm ish and they run for an hour I think)

We'll probably have classes 3 days a week if not more. Generally they'll be in different styles so it won't really matter if you can't make a certain day.
Some of the classes will be 2 hours long so if you're going into an Aikido class straight after that then you can expect not to be able to move the next day

Zem wrote:

I hear the music soc is good for joining because they sometimes buy tickets to concerts, events etc. in bulk and sell at a knock down price any idea if there is actually any playing of music in the music soc or would i be better to try the eclectic music soc, only thing is i wasn't to sure of the fact that it said it took place in the inter-faith centre.

As far as I understand it Music Soc = classical influence
Eclectic = whatever the hell's your thing.
I know a few guys who were in the Eclectic soc for the last few years and they were the kinda guys who would bring they're guitars to parties an deliver the fine aural stimulation

adjodlo wrote:

Is this m/a club open to total beginners? I did a bit of judo in school and liked it. Also, would anything have to be bought in order to participate in the club?

The MA club is of course open to total beginners. You will find that during the first few weeks of the each semester you'll have classes with about 60 or so beginners, and I mean complete beginners. The numbers then usually drop down to about 10 or 15 regulars per class.

You don't have to buy anything to take part. The club provides any gear you'll need for training i.e. Hand/Foot pads, head gear, strike pads etc.
If you decide to keep it on as a regular thing you'd be advised to get a groin guard. Other than that you can train for the whole year without buying a single thing.

General training clothes would be tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt. Don't wear shorts .... you'll be kicking and rolling around. Need I say more?
There will also be a lot of grabs and holds so don't wear your favourite T-shirt. It might get stretched.

page

Zem wrote:

I hear the music soc is good for joining because they sometimes buy tickets to concerts, events etc.

Yea, we get a lot of tickets for shows at a discount, especially if you want anything for the helix.


Music Soc
There are a few different parts to what people do in music soc...
Firstly, there is the bands part to it. We have a lot of guitarists, drummers, and people who just want to sing. So we all come together once a week and just jam, or you can get a few of you together to form a band to play in the hub or at the music soc nights out in town. If you're already in a band, we can get you a room to practice, and we own a full PA system, amps, drum kit (and transportation via shopping cart), so just bring your axe's or whatever.

For those more classically inclined, we will be forming a small orchestra to play at functions in dcu and elsewhere.

There are going to be two choirs this year too. I'm not sure which styles they each do, but I think they are planning to go to some intervarsity choir competition in semester 2.

Then there are those who just meet up in from being in music soc and do their own thing, but we support them anyway we can. Such as a jazz band could be in the works, and I'm personally looking for 3 other singers to form a barbershop quartet, purely for the laugh! ("baby on board", anyone?)

Zem

thanks raz and page for the info it sounds good.

yeah i think i'll choose the m/a over aikido then so thanks because i do value slight mobility after training.

Also page i've only played guitar for a few years but would like play with others i think i'm ok but the last attempts to get something going with people was a failure so it's ok for a newbie at playing with others to join in on the jammin yeah?

page

absolutely Zem! I can't play guitar at all, but hoping to pick up strumming chords or some malarky this year. Also going to give my hand at drums. We're getting people in to give free classes for diff instruments during the year, and all members are welcome.

Remember, all the clubs n socs are run by students, so they are usually a lot more relaxed about, well, everything.

OFDM

page wrote:

Music Soc
If you're already in a band, we can get you a room to practice

Can you organise a practice room for drummer's who want to practice on their own with an audio track?

johnjo76

is there much point in joinin the film soc if you're commuting?

page

OFDM wrote:

Can you organise a practice room for drummer's who want to practice on their own with an audio track?

We're working on getting our own room on campus this year. It's going to have a drum kit and PA system all set up and ready-to-go. I'd imagine if you want to go in there for about an hour when noones using it there'd be no problem with it.

The Music Soc stand will be the first stand on your right when you walk into the hub (look out for the drum kit) if you're interested in signing up, or want to talk to any of the committee. We'll be loitering around and possibly playing a bit on the stage in the venue between 2-3 on both wednesday and thursday too.

Raz

If they still run 2 showings in one night as they used to then you could catch the earlier one and still make your bus. I think the earlier one was at 6pm or maybe 6:30, I'm not too sure.

spockety

page wrote:

We're working on getting our own room on campus this year. It's going to have a drum kit and PA system all set up and ready-to-go. I'd imagine if you want to go in there for about an hour when noones using it there'd be no problem with it.

The Music Soc stand will be the first stand on your right when you walk into the hub (look out for the drum kit) if you're interested in signing up, or want to talk to any of the committee. We'll be loitering around and possibly playing a bit on the stage in the venue between 2-3 on both wednesday and thursday too.

Where are you hoping to get a room?
It took Redbrick 4 years of painful negotiation before they finally moved into a relatively tiny server room... Who have you been dealing with on it? Keep badgering..

markpb

spockety wrote:

Where are you hoping to get a room?
It took Redbrick 4 years of painful negotiation before they finally moved into a relatively tiny server room... Who have you been dealing with on it? Keep badgering..

The Glass room on the first floor of the Hub between the Sports Complex and the Pool room I'd imagine.

While Martin Conroy was in a good mood last year, I went on a bit of a spree with HMC and seconded large chunks of the Hub for society use