Official bitch about daily life in UL

TMJM96

Has anyone here ever completed an audit module?

kerryked

Those new barriers in the Arena car park are causing some hardship I'd say, I pass them everyday and there's nearly always someone there trying to fix them or do something with them. Walked past them today and both the entrance and exit ones were up continuously.

Any know where the money from the pay parking in UL goes? Between the Arena, Foundation and Stables car parks, there must be a fair bit of money coming in.

Pete123456

kerryked wrote: »

Those new barriers in the Arena car park are causing some hardship I'd say, I pass them everyday and there's nearly always someone there trying to fix them or do something with them. Walked past them today and both the entrance and exit ones were up continuously.

Any know where the money from the pay parking in UL goes? Between the Arena, Foundation and Stables car parks, there must be a fair bit of money coming in.

I heard its used to fund fitted kitches, mileage claims, trips to australia and spa treatments

kerryked

Pete123456 wrote: »

I heard its used to fund fitted kitches, mileage claims, trips to australia and spa treatments

Sure look..if you were "off work" for 20 months, with pay, what else would you be spending your money on :rolleyes:

Pete123456

UL badly needs more parking though, i didnt notice the problem a few years ago, but recently its crazy, so im speculating that more students in the last year or so have cars.

There are 2613 parking spaces all in, including the visitor section, paid and all staff parking etc. Circa 14000 people work or study at the university, so spaces (like the library) are in very high demand. Several times ive come in to find all paid car parks and free car parks full, with queues of people driving around, and have had no choice but to go from place to place until i saw somebody leaving. Cars are abandoned at all the edges of the free parking behind schuman and college court etc. because people either dont want to have to pay the 3 quid, or the paid car park is full.

What bugs me, is that i was talking to one the security lads i know recently and he was driving around counting the cars in the staff carparks and making note if any cars without stickers were parked there. Apparently the staff were bitching that they couldnt find spaces, yet nothing has been done for the students. Also, there are car pool spaces that entitle staff to park if they have 2 or more staff stickers. No sign of this option for students though.

Theres a large field behind schuman opposite the free parking, that could be used to build a multistorey. Even if they just tarred it, it would give a couple of hundred spaces, yet ive been told policy is not to 'build up' when it comes to parking. If thats the case, dig down two floors and have a three floor multistorey. that would alleviate the congestion no end. There is too much lawn as it is around the place.

the way i see it the problem will only get worse as the cost of car ownership gets cheaper, so why not nip the problem now before it gets beyond a joke. I understand that the university is plugging public transport and cycling etc. but the parking really does need to be evaluated. Im sorry for the rant, but ive been annoyed having to wait around to park and have missed lectures because i was half an hour trying to get a space. I dont want to leave my car in college court and have no other option than to drive to UL. Most days i dont have the option of being in for 8 or 9, so that effectively rules out getting a free space straight away. The SU president or whoever needs to raise this issue.

A levy will be stuck on to the fees in Sept to pay for this new student centre, that (despite being voted down twice) will be built over the next few years. They may aswell tack on another 5 or 10 quid and build a car park. By all means make it a paid car park, but build it for fcuk sake.

wnolan1992

I think the problem has got worse because there are more students, more students with cars because of the upturn in the economy, and remember we've lost that carpark where the Analogue building is.

And considering the Visitor Carpark will be gone in a year or so, they're going to have to do something pretty sharpish.

One (slightly farcical IMO) idea that was thrown out was that the roof of the student centre could be a carpark. :pac:

Rob that field opposite the current East Gate carpark and mirror it tbh.

ScummyMan

I couldn't agree more, the ratio of staff to student parking is ridiculous really. Especially when you consider all the residents of Dromroe also hunting for spaces

Pete123456

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I think the problem has got worse because there are more students, more students with cars because of the upturn in the economy, and remember we've lost that carpark where the Analogue building is.

And considering the Visitor Carpark will be gone in a year or so, they're going to have to do something pretty sharpish.

One (slightly farcical IMO) idea that was thrown out was that the roof of the student centre could be a carpark. :pac:

Rob that field opposite the current East Gate carpark and mirror it tbh.

ScummyMan wrote: »

I couldn't agree more, the ratio of staff to student parking is ridiculous really. Especially when you consider all the residents of Dromroe also hunting for spaces

It is farcical hough, the university really needs to be put under pressure to convert some of their 'precious green spaces' into parking. If theres an event on in the concert hall or over in the pavilion or sports pitches the spaces are in higher demand again. Granted, most are in the evenings, but the SU president needs to get the ball rolling.

Id bet that if they ran a survey of what the staff/students think of the parking scenario most would complain about it. Again, I dont mind paying 3 quid if im in for the day, but having to waste time and diesel looking for a space is ridiculous

marno21

There is also a major issue regarding the access to the university from the surrounding road network, as well as within the university itself.

These days there's a queue from the roundabout near the library back beyond Dromroe caused by the volume of traffic leaving the campus along this narrow road, and the fact that so much of that traffic fronts onto a signalised junction on the Plassey Park Rd where priority is given to mainline traffic on the Plassey Park Road.

Then there's the issue that there is terrible access to the campus from the M7, firstly being the busy Groody Roundabout, with all the traffic along the old N7 leaving town, the main access being a narrow road cobbled through the Groody Valley as more and more housing developments were built and tacked onto the roundabout down by Conlon's BMW which is thronged every evening, and that's before Northern Trust open their 7 storey expansion which will add to a major mess outside Northern Trust with traffic back as far as Brookfield some days.

Perhaps the University (and Limerick as a whole) need to look at:

a. The spiralling costs and lack of accomodation in the area causing more and more people to need to drive.
b. The lack of proper public transport for the university
c. The possibility of implementing a Park and Ride near the M7/N24 and M7/Finnegans junctions if the demand is there.

With the massive expansion (and more coming down the tracks) of the University in recent years all this has been improperly planned (how surprising), but it's only worse it's getting. Northern Trust is also a major issue out by Ballysimon as it's expanding at a massive rate with it being necessary to commute by car. The roundabout there really needs a left turn slip direct onto the road leading to the motorway, which I believe is in planning.

FionnK86

I think UL are trying to encourage people to use cars less with the increase in cycle paths and SmarterTravel office.

However, with the huge amount of bike theft (passed another 4 lads after robbing bikes on way into 'the cave' tonight) they won't get people out of the cars until the security situation is rectified.

It's a bit ridiculous but I know plenty of people that drive from Curragh Birin/Bru Na Gruadan into college even on sunny days. It's only a short walk, fair enough if it's raining but Im guessing 20% of the car spaces are taken by people driving in from 20 minute walk away.

Killergreene

Where is the cave ?


Whcich car park is the visitor car park and what is replacing it?

FionnK86

Killergreene wrote: »

Where is the cave ?

A0-051a :pac::pac::pac:

It's a room for 4th year/Post-Grad engineers with software packages such as CAD and FEA installed on the computers. They only recently restored the card reader but it used to be accessible to everyone.

It's called "The Cave" because it's got no natural light, and as I have been finding out in the past few weeks, you can go in there on a dark morning and leave at night without seeing daylight. (THANKS FYP!! :mad::mad::mad:)

Pete123456

Killergreene wrote: »

Where is the cave ?


Whcich car park is the visitor car park and what is replacing it?

Its the one one the right if you were walking from the library up the path towards the stables, you book a spot in there (although i see the same cars in there everday as i pass).

Not sure whats replacing it... potentially the new student centre.

kerryked

I mean if Smarter Travel bike seat covers aren't enough to entice people out of their cars, then what is?....

wnolan1992

Pete123456 wrote: »

Its the one one the right if you were walking from the library up the path towards the stables, you book a spot in there (although i see the same cars in there everday as i pass).

Not sure whats replacing it... potentially the new student centre.

Yeah, it's the student centre going in there. I think what they're going to do is have it mirror the library extension (at least that's what was said at a recent meeting about it).

Killergreene

That car park is tiny. Are they going to get rid of the lovely green outside the library? Shame they only renovated the path next to that car park recently.

TwilightFan88

MnMs making more noise in the housing estates than students during Rag Week! grrrr

Visaquestion

Can you print your FYP double sided? On the FYP info page for arts and humanities it says it must be typed on one side only, but that it can be printed double sided, so that's confusing me

Chris Martin

You can print one sided, with the print office anyway you get the option, costs same amount. Just look at the page where you're asked how many copies and where you put in pdf of fyp, you'll get the choice there..

Expected binding to be more than it was actually.. looking at hardcopy prices
Still going to be about 25e for 2 copies... :P

What course you doing in arts and humanities?

Chris Martin

My bad it's the page after you put in pdf of fyp..
https://webprint.ul.ie/getBinding.aspx

Have to sign in through webprint page first but you'll get options of fastback binding or not, b/w or colour or both, single or double sided then how many copies.

Visaquestion

Thanks for that👠so double sided is OK but it's not any cheaper? What is normally done I wonder

iLaura

Visaquestion wrote: »

Thanks for that👠so double sided is OK but it's not any cheaper? What is normally done I wonder

When I printed my FYP I did it double sided, though most other people in my course did single sided. My course director actually commended me on mine being double sided, she thought single sided was a waste of paper.

Visaquestion

iLaura wrote: »

When I printed my FYP I did it double sided, though most other people in my course did single sided. My course director actually commended me on mine being double sided, she thought single sided was a waste of paper.

Thank you, printed it double sided in the end.

One more thing to panic about now, has anyone any idea how long it takes to get printed? I sent it for printing at 2pm today and haven't received an email yet.

Pete123456

Visaquestion wrote: »

Thank you, printed it double sided in the end.

One more thing to panic about now, has anyone any idea how long it takes to get printed? I sent it for printing at 2pm today and haven't received an email yet.

I rang the print room at 4 today and they said there was no queue and if i sent it to them before 4.30 i could collect it at 4.45

But seen as theyre closed no i would give them a buzz in the morning because theres obviously an issue with the email not sending or whatever, but they more than likely have it done for you.

Visaquestion

Pete123456 wrote: »

I rang the print room at 4 today and they said there was no queue and if i sent it to them before 4.30 i could collect it at 4.45

But seen as theyre closed no i would give them a buzz in the morning because theres obviously an issue with the email not sending or whatever, but they more than likely have it done for you.

thank you, that's me reassured a bit

Chris Martin

Eyes on my phone now for the day...
Said project needed a bit more more last night so held out on it getting printed, finished it up today and sent in around 11ish.. waiting for email now...
4pm, at least I've only to drop it in to concert hall from foundation building.. :P

Visaquestion

Chris Martin wrote: »

Eyes on my phone now for the day...
Said project needed a bit more more last night so held out on it getting printed, finished it up today and sent in around 11ish.. waiting for email now...
4pm, at least I've only to drop it in to concert hall from foundation building.. :P

Don't bother waiting for an email, when I collected mine this morning the fella working there said that not everybody is receiving emails so it is probably ready now if you printed it at 11.

Chris Martin

Cheers
Saves the sweat at half 3 :P
Will give them til 2 just in case, might be a few more doing it today than yesterday..
Have an essay due Monday I must start but after that I can finally get back to my actual course.. :P

Pete123456

Visaquestion wrote: »

Thank you, printed it double sided in the end.

One more thing to panic about now, has anyone any idea how long it takes to get printed? I sent it for printing at 2pm today and haven't received an email yet.

Chris Martin wrote: »

Eyes on my phone now for the day...
Said project needed a bit more more last night so held out on it getting printed, finished it up today and sent in around 11ish.. waiting for email now...
4pm, at least I've only to drop it in to concert hall from foundation building.. :P

Visaquestion wrote: »

Don't bother waiting for an email, when I collected mine this morning the fella working there said that not everybody is receiving emails so it is probably ready now if you printed it at 11.

Chris Martin wrote: »

Cheers
Saves the sweat at half 3 :P
Will give them til 2 just in case, might be a few more doing it today than yesterday..
Have an essay due Monday I must start but after that I can finally get back to my actual course.. :P

I wonder why the emails werent sending?? A lot of people had their FYPs due today etc.

ITD need to get the finger out sometimes with this kind of stuff... either that or the print room just werent arsed sending them

Chris Martin

Seemed to be an issue with IT, when I went your man there was asking everyone had they received emails, no one had.. A lot of sociology ones due Thursday..