Class Rep Weekend in Wexford

Shantih

I was just wondering if anyone had heard anything about the shenanigans that went on at last weekend's SU class rep training in Wexford?

Was anybody there?

Red Alert

I'm sure there has to be a class rep resident on boards.ie.... surely they can enlighten us as to exactly what 'training' took place. :rolleyes:

Stabshauptmann

I was at one 2 years ago, dont worry lads, they're pretty tame, and you dont have to be a class rep to go :pac:

That being said, and I wouldnt be the unions greatest supporter, but I think the class rep training is essential to the effective running of the union.

random_banter

Ive called into one before.. didnt stay.. they throw huge drinking fests in the houses they rent.. then do "training" for a few hours on the sat afternoon and sunday... complete waste of union funds imo.

Would be far better off getting the Astra hall for a full day and providing food, drinks, and lunches and perhaps a drinks reception in the evening afterward with a party in the forum bar.

Stabshauptmann

I dont think the union pays for the booze.

They rent the houses take care of transport and pay for one meal a day.

Train from early morning 9 or 10 afaik untill 3 or 4, Saturday and Sunday. My memory would be quite fuzzy and thats all subject to change.

People do socialise at night, no big ****ing surprise there, but its at their own expense iirc. yes its the main attraction of the weekend, but its absolutly essential. 99% of the work that gets done in life is done on an informal basis.

the first week in many companies for example is pointless training and nights out so that you get to know your team mates.

TBh being secluded with the other reps for a weekend and sharing houses etc does work really well for getting to know each other. Auditor training, which is a one day event in the astro hall doesnt work as well.

Het-Field

The Weekend is the only way council will keep quorate. Kaptain Redeye has hit the nail right on the head.

However, if you ever needed the definition of the word Junket, the Oxford English Dictionary may define it as "UCDSU Class Rep Training". It has a huge booze culture to it, you have usually scored one of you fellow Class Reps by the end of it, and most people know little more about the Union, then they did when they jumped on the bus behind the Student Centre. As such im not sure I fully agree with the validity of its existence. I must becoming more of a lefty in my old age !

That said, Class Rep Training October 2005, Lake 2 April 2005, and PD National Conference February 2007 are three of my favourite memories from college.

AngelofFire

Kaptain Redeye is right, there was no free booze, i was there.

gubbie

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

TBh being secluded with the other reps for a weekend and sharing houses etc does work really well for getting to know each other. Auditor training, which is a one day event in the astro hall doesnt work as well.

After doing both, I concur 100%

AngelofFire wrote: »

Kaptain Redeye is right, there was no free booze, i was there.

I've heard otherwise.
Granted I wasn't at this years class rep training but last year there was also free can's given out.

panda100

How much did it cost to hire the hotel,the accomodation etc ?? Well into 10 grand I've heared. Couldnt they have better uses to spend that money on??
My two years of being a class rep ,I never went on this junket on a point of principal beacuse its just a complete waste of students money.

passive

http://outpost81.com/Number_One_Homer_the_Great_Get_Drunk_and_Play_Ping_Pong.wmv

AngelofFire

Just to clarify that Class rep training is not entirely a drinking session, we have to be up for 9am sharp on both saturday and sunday morning for day long training seminars which are quite intense.

anyone with any queries about the weekend should drop SU president Aodhan O'Dea an email aodhan@ucdsu.ie

clickerfingers

i know someone that went on it who boasted that it was a complete piss up, and noone paid for a drink at all, and he even went as far to say he felt bad that all of us poor students paid for their piss up.

and training or no training those reps are ridiculous , i have yet to hear a good story about them actually doing what they are supposed to do

Karma_Police

clickerfingers wrote: »

i know someone that went on it who boasted that it was a complete piss up, and noone paid for a drink at all, and he even went as far to say he felt bad that all of us poor students paid for their piss up.

Well unfortunately for you, that person is a lying tool.

I too was on the class rep trip, as a class rep. It was completely necessary, and was not a drinking w/end. Obviously there was beer had at night, but every1 was up by 9 and in the hotel for training till 5 or 6. As Kaptain said earlier it is extremely necessary, its a way of meeting those people you are to be working with for the year, and getting some basic guidelines to the approaches you can and can't take..

Obviously there are going to be stories of people getting everything for free, but those are just stories... no truth behind them. The accomodation and transport with 1 meal in the hotel was provided.. The drink and food at night, was bought at your own expense

scop

As long as they do the training it dosen't really matter what they get up to as, you know, students like me and you...who, can you believe it, drink and listen to music and god knows what else. I for one support our overlords in their drinking binge as long as they know whats what the next day.

Stabshauptmann

panda100 wrote: »

How much did it cost to hire the hotel,the accomodation etc ?? Well into 10 grand I've heared. Couldnt they have better uses to spend that money on??
My two years of being a class rep ,I never went on this junket on a point of principal beacuse its just a complete waste of students money.

How many years have you been a rep? It should be easy to verify something like that, either A)Ask a sabbat or B)Look at last years accounts

edit: It appears the report of last years training and last years budget were included in the presidents report Oct 22nd 2007. Unfortunately, due to someones oversight, these sections of the report are not available on the union website. Anyone want to source these?

DaveyGem

Didn't someone piss on an electricity box and that f*cked up the power for the cottages they were staying in?

Also Starring LeVar Burton

DaveyGem wrote: »

Didn't someone piss on an electricity box and that f*cked up the power for the cottages they were staying in?

That's a mere rumour. Electricity was working fine when we left and as far as I know, no one pissed on an electricity box.

As many people have already said, we spend all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday in Seminars that are very helpful to class reps and believe it or not, despite how much some people would like to deny it the class reps do a lot of work during the year - trust me, if there were no class reps, you'd definitely notice. Just because you don't always see what they are doing, doesn't mean they aren't getting things done.

As for free booze - it's a complete myth - everyone bought there own drink and as far as these alleged "charges" go, the Union haven't paid any extra bills, than the ones set out in the original budget.

gubbie

Karma_Police wrote: »

Well unfortunately for you, that person is a lying tool.

I too was on the class rep trip, as a class rep. It was completely necessary, and was not a drinking w/end. Obviously there was beer had at night, but every1 was up by 9 and in the hotel for training till 5 or 6. As Kaptain said earlier it is extremely necessary, its a way of meeting those people you are to be working with for the year, and getting some basic guidelines to the approaches you can and can't take..

Obviously there are going to be stories of people getting everything for free, but those are just stories... no truth behind them. The accomodation and transport with 1 meal in the hotel was provided.. The drink and food at night, was bought at your own expense

You may have gone down there to learn to be a class rep (and good on ya) but look around you at next council, and at councils to come and they will drop like flies. Many of them that you saw at class rep training you will never see again. But I don't think you would get the same comradeship at just a day in the student bar.

CaptainNegative wrote: »

As many people have already said, we spend all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday in Seminars that are very helpful to class reps and believe it or not, despite how much some people would like to deny it the class reps do a lot of work during the year - trust me, if there were no class reps, you'd definitely notice. Just because you don't always see what they are doing, doesn't mean they aren't getting things done.

Many class reps are getting lazy. Most of them don't do their job. That's just how it is

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Seems to be a bit of an info blackout...nobody's saying nothing. Have the SU closed ranks? It certainly sounds like it.

CaptainNegative wrote:

That's a mere rumour. Electricity was working fine when we left and as far as I know, no one pissed on an electricity box.

As many people have already said, we spend all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday in Seminars that are very helpful to class reps and believe it or not, despite how much some people would like to deny it the class reps do a lot of work during the year - trust me, if there were no class reps, you'd definitely notice. Just because you don't always see what they are doing, doesn't mean they aren't getting things done.

As for free booze - it's a complete myth - everyone bought there own drink and as far as these alleged "charges" go, the Union haven't paid any extra bills, than the ones set out in the original budget.

Case in point. You've carefully managed to say very very little.

passive

Sean_K wrote: »

Seems to be a bit of an info blackout...nobody's saying nothing. Have the SU closed ranks? It certainly sounds like it.

I'M A MASSIVE DOUCHE!!!11!!ELEVEN!!

Case in point. You've carefully managed to say very very little.

hm... I see how this works. good technique.

Stabshauptmann

Sean_K wrote: »

Seems to be a bit of an info blackout...nobody's saying nothing. Have the SU closed ranks? It certainly sounds like it.

Listen. This isnt an SU website, this isnt an SU board. You're looking for gossip - theres plenty of it out there. But this isnt the place. many of the posters on here know each other in real life, but this board isnt for
> "hey man, Saturday was deadly buzz"
> Bleedin Rapid

We've IM for that crap.

This board is for discussing things about UCD, for example, is Class Rep training needed / well run / abused.

But its not a place for who scored who

Case in point. You've carefully managed to say very very little.

The first point was that electricity was working fine afahk. Whats wrong with that/ should I have my tinfoil hat to the ready?

Does the Union pay a premium for anticipated damage / plan to lose its deposit every year?
Interesting question. I'd bear in mind though, if these things caused a lot of destruction of property, I dont think they'd be allowed back year after year...

No offence to any of the reps, and Ive heard some pretty good war stories, but for the most part, the one I went to was very tame.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

From the mystery tour thread:

DaveyGem wrote:

I wouldn't bet on it going ahead, particularly if word spreads about that training weekend, the bus crowd could pull out.

People can make up their own minds, but if the SU is going for a piss-up at the expense of events for the rest of the student body, then there's something wrong.

Stabshauptmann

If you also read the rest of that thread the SU ents officer says its definitly going ahead...

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

If you also read the rest of that thread the SU ents officer says its definitly going ahead...

That's all well and good but unless that poster was mistaken, something must have happened for them to form that opinion.

Stabshauptmann

Sean_K wrote: »

That's all well and good but unless that poster was mistaken, something must have happened for them to form that opinion.

You said "if the SU is going for a piss-up at the expense of events for the rest of the student body, then there's something wrong". I havent seen any events cancelled as a result of this.

There was an event in another university a few years ago that had a big knock on effect for studnets nation wide, but thats another story for anther day.

How much weight am I to give that opinion?

The poster hasn't said why they hold that opinion, so its completely worthless to me.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

You said "if the SU is going for a piss-up at the expense of events for the rest of the student body, then there's something wrong". I havent seen any events cancelled as a result of this.

The SU profess to be a representative body for students in the university. As such, they have a responsibility to the students to be beyond reproach when it comes to their actions.

Stabshauptmann

No they dont. That is ridiculous.

They dont even have a fiduciary responsibility (though arguably they should).

They have a responsibility to be bound by the rules of the SU, nothing more.
The SU has its flaws, plenty of them, and Im not a fan of the organisation and have my problems with most of its members, but Im not going to give much weight to idle speculation, rumour mills or witch hunts.

The facts I am aware of: when I went on this training there was no free booze. The ppl on this board who have said there were none this year I know and trust.

The waste of student funds is unacceptable, but I dont think this is an example of it.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

I was speaking from an ethical perspective as opposed to a legal one.

gubbie

There was free booze last year. I remember it was bought in Tescos. Not on our first trip to Tescos, but our second.

Ah everyone's gotta have seen the front page of the tribune. Now class rep training isn't a waste of €10,000 but the couple of extra grand on that that they'll lose... not thats a waste

Red Alert

gubbie wrote: »

There was free booze last year. I remember it was bought in Tescos. Not on our first trip to Tescos, but our second.

Ah everyone's gotta have seen the front page of the tribune. Now class rep training isn't a waste of €10,000 but the couple of extra grand on that that they'll lose... not thats a waste

I'd like to see class reps behave a bit better than your average scumbag.

Stepherunie

Seeing as the Tribune can't even get the numbers who attended right I fail to believe that they can have got much of what they said right....

There was max 120 there.