More elections.

Pythia

zap wrote:

I'm vice-chair of council since last council - I'm not related to James.


Also I will be producing a manifesto and do have IT skills. - unlike the current holder of the position.

Ouch!

singingstranger

Shouldn't it be called Rhona for Women's Officer? :rolleyes:

singingstranger

zap wrote:

Also I will be producing a manifesto and do have IT skills. - unlike the current holder of the position.

And he doesn't even have to worry about fearing Pierce's wrath because Pierce probably can't access the site anyway! lol

/waves to Pierce just in case

panda100

singingstranger wrote:

And he doesn't even have to worry about fearing Pierce's wrath because Pierce probably can't access the site anyway! lol

/waves to Pierce just in case

Pierce is Tin tin!!:)

singingstranger

panda100 wrote:

Pierce is Tin tin!!:)

The worst thing was that I went to check this out.
*shakes head*

By the way, tintinr35 is four years too young to be Pierce.

panda100

singingstranger wrote:

The worst thing was that I went to check this out.
*shakes head*

By the way, tintinr35 is four years too young to be Pierce.

Haha April fools!!

tintinr35

panda100 wrote:

Pierce is Tin tin!!:)

ur wrong panda, ur just clutching at straws now!!!

Blush_01

Pierce uses these boards - he may not have an account that he posts with, but he turned up in the wrong Porterhouse the night of the Boards Beers before the break. Maybe we should all play a bit nicer, eh?

Samos

Pierce turned up last night in the right porterhouse this time, and he forgot my name for the twentieth time!

Blush_01

Ah, he does that for a few years, it'll stick eventually.:D

singingstranger

panda100 wrote:

Haha April fools!!

/checks calendar

Am I really the fool here?

panda100

singingstranger wrote:

/checks calendar

Am I really the fool here?

Still it is quite funnny that you actually checked out tintin's account:D

singingstranger

panda100 wrote:

Still it is quite funnny that you actually checked out tintin's account:D

*sulks*

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, extra shame on me for not learning from the first one.

singingstranger

Incidentally, regardless of your alignments/opinions on the job/candidates for Women's Officer, this is a motion that's been submitted for Council next Wednesday:

Motion regarding non-directive pregnancy counseling
Council notes that more than 6000 women every year are forced to leave Ireland every year to avail of abortion services outside of the state. Choosing to have an abortion is a very difficult and emotional decision for any woman to make.

Council further notes that the UCDSU are mandated by a 1993 referendum to provide non-directive counseling and information on all pregnancy options, including abortion, both verbally and in union publications.

However, Council notes with concern that UCDSU currently ignores this mandate. Written information on abortion services are not available on the union corridor, in any union publication or on the UCDSU website.

Council therefore mandates the Welfare Officer to make such information freely available to UCDSU members, reminding him/her that failure to do so is in serious breach of the UCDSU constitution.

Proposed by Kate O'Hanlon, 2nd Arts
Seconded by Darren Cogavin, 3rd Social Science

Obviously I know this is at the risk of veering into an off-topic discussion - especially given that the proposer and seconder are obviously boardsies too - but I thought it couldn't hurt to just point it out and hypothesise that this could be a real marker for the candidates for Women's Officer and their attitudes/capabilities of speaking on the matter.

Council is, by the way, in Theatre R, Arts Block, next Wednesday at 6, and as per usual is open to all members. I'll be the guy at the front left typing furiously.

Related link to UCDSU Newswire with discussion: http://www.ucdsu.net/newswire.php?story_id=1063

panda100

Dont worry already had my two cents about that over on the newsire!:)
Heading to the comlamh debate on wedensday in bewleys at half 6 so wont be able to go to council but probably wouldnt go even if I could go. It'll be passed anyway

pigeonbutler

Ah Panda100 I wouldn't have that little faith in Council. If Dan speaks against it (which is likely seeing as it's telling him he's doing his job wrong) he'll carry a lot of council with him. Also I've seen your 2c on the newswire and it makes a lot of sense. I was indifferent on it until I saw the points you made.

tintinr35

panda100 wrote:

Still it is quite funnny that you actually checked out tintin's account:D

i feel dirty that u rummeged through my account i think somthing needs to be done here, its at least molestation if nothing else:eek:

panda100

pigeonbutler wrote:

Ah Panda100 I wouldn't have that little faith in Council. If Dan speaks against it (which is likely seeing as it's telling him he's doing his job wrong) he'll carry a lot of council with him. Also I've seen your 2c on the newswire and it makes a lot of sense. I was indifferent on it until I saw the points you made.

Yay someone actually reads what I have to say!:) Thats made my day that has!anywho off to watch munster and Leinster win,2nd thing to make my day!

Chinafoot

I'm curious to know why that shouldn't be passed tbh.

I would expect my Welfare Officer to provide me with all the relevant information for every option, should I become pregnant.

arbeitsscheuer

peachypants wrote:

I'm curious to know why that shouldn't be passed tbh.

Ditto. It seems a commendable idea to me.
But what do I know?

pigeonbutler

Panda made the point on SU newswire (from a med students point of view) that it is inappropriate for an untrained person i.e. Welfare Officer to give out the details of medical specialists (which is what abortion clinics are). The analogy was that someone coming in with another medical difficulty wouldn't be handed the number of a specialist consultant. They ought to go to a GP first. Or in the case of abortion a crisis pregnancy counsellor.

Hope I haven't misrepresented the case Panda!

Chinafoot

Ok, so say I went to my Welfare Officer and said "I'm pregnant and I'm unsure if I want to keep the baby. What are my options?"

Will he be able to provide me with any information regarding abortion clinics in the UK? Or will I be told to go to my GP? If its a case of the latter then imo he's not really doing his job.

I wouldn't be expecting him to outline exactly whats going to happen during an abortion or what would happen afterwards, but I would expect some contact information all the same.

tintinr35

peachypants wrote:

Ok, so say I went to my Welfare Officer and said "I'm pregnant and I'm unsure if I want to keep the baby. What are my options?"

Will he be able to provide me with any information regarding abortion clinics in the UK? Or will I be told to go to my GP? If its a case of the latter then imo he's not really doing his job.

I wouldn't be expecting him to outline exactly whats going to happen during an abortion or what would happen afterwards, but I would expect some contact information all the same.

i have an idea..........why dont we elect an SU sabat abortion officer.......
if you are pregnant u are hardly going to go to the welfare officer first tho are u, wud your doctor not be your first port of call for information etc

Chinafoot

tintinr35 wrote:

i have an idea..........why dont we elect an SU sabat abortion officer.......
if you are pregnant u are hardly going to go to the welfare officer first tho are u, wud your doctor not be your first port of call for information etc

An abortion officer. Nice. :rolleyes:
I'm asking about the distribution of information on the subject.

As for going to the Welfare officer...who is to say where people would go first. Personally if I fell pregnant I would prefer to go to someone who didn't know me, not my family GP who has been close to our family since before I was born. Many people may be the same.

Are you suggesting that the Welfare Offcier shouldn't have to deal with the issue of pregnancy at all? I would certainly consider it to be one of the issues for the officer.

If anyone can answer my question I'd appreciate it.

The_Minister

su motion wrote:

However, Council notes with concern that UCDSU currently ignores this mandate. Written information on abortion services are not available on the union corridor, in any union publication or on the UCDSU website.

Surely the welfare officer himself will have this information? Its not that hard to find info on this anyway so its not like its depriving them.

singingstranger

peachypants wrote:

An abortion officer. Nice. :rolleyes:
I'm asking about the distribution of information on the subject.

This is where you get into the legal stuff... I believe it's probably permissable to *hold* information on the subject, but it's illegal to *display* it, and if, say, details of abortion clinics are to be put up on walls, then the student centre staff would have a legal obligation to shred it immediately. Likewise, a thread on the newswire that was posted with the details of clinics abroad had to be hidden because to host such a thread would contravene Irish law. I guess the problem lies in whether a Welfare Officer is allowed to *show* such material to a person, or whether they'd have to legally make them access the material themselves, which would be STORED by them.

Let's not forget that USI, TCDSU and UCDSU were brought to court by the SPUC, a right-to-life organisation, previously, where the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were in clear violation of Article 40.3.3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann.

3° The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the State and another state.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by law, information relating to services lawfully available in another state.

I'm not going to copy and paste a legal summary of the SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) in there but there's one under B. The Second Information Case on this page here is quite interesting reading on the subject.

panda100

No ,peachy, the welfare officer deals with pregancys-wether planned or unplanned.The way it is at the moment is that if someone comes into Dan,pregnant and not knowing what to do then of course Dan will talk through all their options.The welfare officer would never ever tell someone what to do ina crisis pregnancy situation and the welfare officer is there to be guidance to someone through all the options.If a student does decide to go through with an abortion,which is absolutley fine if its her descision, then Dan will probably refer her on to the IFPA(Irish family planning association).The IFPA are trained individuals who deal with women having abortions in England every day.They will reccomend compassionate GP's and councillers in Irealnd for the girl to attend before and after the abortion,if needed.

If this motion is passed, then addresses of abortion clinics in England will be available as written information on union corrider and directly from the welfare officer.
As I have said over on the newswire when passing a motion ,council has to think of every individual that they represent.Id say the majority of girls in UCD would have the initiative and maturity to be able to deal with a crisis pregnancy confidently.However,on campus we have people of all types and from all nationalities,muslim,catholics,Americans,Hindu's,the list goes on.We dont know how much sex education if any these people have had.If addresses of abortion clinics are just available on union corrider,then maybe one,frightened naieve girl who thinks the college welfare officer or GP will tell her parents that she's pregnant,picks up this adress of the abortion clinic, books an abortion privately through the address she's found and goes through this surgecial procedure all by herself.
By passing this motion the middle man of either seeing Dan or the IFPA will be completly removed.In some cases this middle man may be desperatly needed.The welfare officer should be trained to help these girls in the best way possible to referring them on to those with experince in these matters.By not having addresses of abortion clincs displayed and given out so readily the union is protecting that small minority of women on our campus that might go through an abortion without knowing they can seek advice and help from Dan or other medical proffesionals.
Also on the newswire I talked of how the welfare office stocking numbers and addresses of surgeons in another country is a bit naieve and dangerous.The welfare office deals with many issues from depression week to fun alcoholic free night out.A welfare officer is not trained to be telling students what surgeons they should go to in England.Surgery always has a risk to it.This isnt being hysterical,it is the truth and it will be on Dan's head if something happens to a girl during an operation because he provided the name and address of the surgeon. At least if Dan refers the girl to the IFPA she is dealing with professional whose lives day in day out resolve around pregnancys instead of a third year arts student who has had two month training in a huge spectrum of welfare areas.

tintinr35

peachypants wrote:

An abortion officer. Nice. :rolleyes:
I'm asking about the distribution of information on the subject.

As for going to the Welfare officer...who is to say where people would go first. Personally if I fell pregnant I would prefer to go to someone who didn't know me, not my family GP who has been close to our family since before I was born. Many people may be the same.

Are you suggesting that the Welfare Offcier shouldn't have to deal with the issue of pregnancy at all? I would certainly consider it to be one of the issues for the officer.

If anyone can answer my question I'd appreciate it.

if you did want to go to someone you didnt know, and you were in the student centre where both the doc and the welfare officer is then who wold you chose, im just curious im a fella so obviously cant say!!! but if by some chance i did become pregnant i think after i had sold my story for a million quid i would prefer to go to the doc than the welfre officer for advice and info, after all they are trained professionals not just some elected union hack!!!

elmyra

I actually might go to the welfare officer, both, realistically. The doctor for everything medical but the welfare officer if I did need to speak to somebody, given that they're likely to be closer to you in age, can talk to you as somebody who understands your position as a student....I dunno, it just seems like someone like that would be a lot easier to speak to than a doctor. Hope I never have to find out though, and I fully agree with Panda regarding how the info is made available

Chakar

Hello Boardsies, The name is Conor Dixon, I'm running for Programme Representative Officer for Arts. A newsflash about whos going for what. Paul Lynam is going for PRO for Arts as well.John Butler for Business and Law, Jennifer Murphy for Engineering, Luke Hayden and Jane Tiernan for Science, Colm for Health Sciences.