Students Rag Week Trouble

DRakE

Fuinseog wrote: »

Rag week was always boisterous, but it seems to have gotten out of hand in recent years. are there any reasons for this?


I live near Gort na Coiribe which used to nice until students moves in.

maybe students should be kept apart from people trying to earn a living

aye lets bring back segregation, don't let them on buses either

Amhran Nua

Columc wrote: »

Ahh sure whats wrong with a bit of fun here and there! ye adults have your fun during race week can we not have our fun for a week?

Your problems start with imagining that non-adults are allowed to drink in this country. Seriously though, most people have no problems with most students. If you get your jollies wrecking other peoples' days however, you need to be dealt with appropriately.

Fuinseog

thesandeman wrote: »

They seem to have a new 'game' this year: scare an older person by 'pretend' punching them.

Had the misfortune of walking up Eyre St around 12 last night. Just past the Hole in the Wall this kid came racing up to me and took a swing, nowhere close to connecting but I still got a shock and jumped back. The young lad ran away laughing to cheers from his mates.
Got as far as the back of Dunnes and another lad comes at me fist flying. I stood still this time and he walked away sheepishly and a few mates joined him.
Got to Roches corner and saw another lad 'revving up'. When he took his swing I held him against the wall unviolently (if thats a word). His mates then arrived with 'we are only messing' 'hes drunk' and a couple of girls 'pleeeze dont hit him' etc. I gave a bit of a speech and let them stagger off.

Curious at this stage I hung around and watched. In the next ten minutes I saw three other different kids running at people who were middle aged and not part of the student crowd to cheers from their group when the 'victims' jumped.
Ive been around a long time (from when the tent used to be in the College for gigs and the worst thing that used happen was a few idiots would throw eggs at people) and I can honestly say this year is the worst Ive seen for stupidness, broken glass etc. I wasnt out tonight so hopefully Monday was first night jitters.

Thats all!

if they tried that one on me I doubt I would pretend punch them back.

drum!

I find it hard to understand how people here try to defend all the rag week related problems with "It's a bit of fun" and "You're all boring" or whatever. Why should i have to clean piss and vomit from outside my door every year because a bunch of little gits can't hold their drink? It is the only time of year i ever have hassle walking up Shop Street and I've been assaulted twice in the last 3 years by gangs of students during this time.

Have all the fun you want, take as many drugs as you want and drink yourself into oblivion, it's something most of us inevitably do when we escape the clutches of our parents for the first time. I had a great time during my rag weeks, but i didn't let it affect other people who are just trying to go about their daily business. I still frequently get locked, but i dont go screaming in peoples faces, rugby tackling strangers in the middle of the street or using peoples doorways as vomit troughs.When your choices impede others right to privacy, safety and comfort then some serious self-reflection is required.

On Millstreet this last 2 years i have observed countless groups of students congregating outside the SVP housing for the elderly, drinking, roaring, shouting and banging on the doors and windows. I feel really sorry for the poor people inside there who are amongst our most vulnerable in society. They must be terrified.

There should be no reason why the week should be cancelled unless all measures to control the damaging behavior associated with it have been fully explored. For instance, there have been some encouraging propositions such as people breaking the law during this time being punished by their university. Is this still going on? Should the institutions involved not be doing more to insure that residential estates with large student communities are being monitored and extreme anti-social behaviour controlled?

Of course not all students are responsible, it is ridiculous to suggest such a thing and RAG week has some benefits. But you can't defend this awful behaviour by saying "it's all just a bit of craic". Your vision of fun has some very real consequences for a lot of people.

I think people are forgetting that it's not just the students that head out for RAG week now.

I remember last year seeing 3/4 scumbags from the westside of town, bushing around town one of the nights.

Lookings at pics on FB from the river I can see 2/3 local lads who aren't even students.

A lot of the problems are coming from our own locals.

Fuinseog

ScumLord wrote: »

I reckon what's needed is an over 30 and employed rag week. We could all get pissed (at the weekend) and go in and wreak the college. We won't face any opposition because we're bigger than them and can afford good solicitors should none of us know a guard that we go drinking with and will get us off with any charges.

and maybe vomit in the lecture halls. this kind of week should be held whenever exams are on. a disco in the college library would be cool.

Long Term Louth

Columc wrote: »

Ahh sure whats wrong with a bit of fun here and there! ye adults have your fun during race week can we not have our fun for a week?

I'd horsewhip ya, if I had a horse

Fuinseog

JohnCleary wrote: »

You're assuming all students get their fees paid and get grants which is simply un-true.

I'm doing a 1 year post-grad and its costing me a fortune

I think the trouble makers are chiefly first and second year undergrads. postgrads in my experience are a bit more mature and having lived away from home for a few years do not feel the need to overindulge in newfound liberty.

Fuinseog

dloob wrote: »

Good news NUIG wants the whole thing abandoned.
http://www.galwaynews.ie/18059-nuig-head-calls-college-week-cancellation

Rather than call on the SU to abandon it why not schedule some exams and mandatory lecture attendance to coincide with it.

brilliant, they attacked the fire service. i doubt that happens during race week. Rag week amongst first years used to be encouraged by the college authorities when I was there. maybe their celebrations such be confined to campus. the place is big enough and maybe the college should have hired more security.

TristanPeter

Fuinseog wrote: »

I think the trouble makers are chiefly first and second year undergrads. postgrads in my experience are a bit more mature and having lived away from home for a few years do not feel the need to overindulge in newfound liberty.

I'd agree with that based on my own experience. When I was doing my post grad. I simply didn't have the time to go out partying because of assignments and lectures. In the ITs as far as I know, students have to sign in at lectures. If they don't, a cut is taken from their grants. Maybe NUIG should look at having a role call at their own lectures and maybe if students had assignments due during rag week there wouldn't be as much freedom to go mad over the whole week. Just a thought but I'd say the lecturers wouldn't want to burden themselves with, shock horror, even more work.

Amhran Nua

Columc wrote: »

Galway city should be more prepaired for it.

Students should be extremely grateful that they are given the privelege of studying in Galway, and if you think there aren't ten people who would gladly take the place of every student in the city, you're very much mistaken. A bit of common human respect would go a long way.

Columc wrote: »

Anyways most of the students causing the trouble arent actualy from NUIG. GMIT had their rag week last week and pretty much all of them said they are waiting for NUIG one cause its more craic. students from diffrent colleges come down to galway during NUIG rag wee. UL,UCC are some i know students are down for.

Then the appropriate institution should deal with them, that changes nothing.

Columc wrote: »

EDIT2: Also when has the galway forums become a sub version of joe duffy with everyone complaining about the most idiotic things in galway?

The perennial cry of the bully, "ah shure its just having a laugh". Once again let's be clear here, 99% of students are grand, its the few who do need to be taken in hand that spoil it for everyone else.

JohnCleary

Just to add to the 'Not from NUIG' crowd...

Was at a party in Gort-na-C on Monday and 4 strangers land in the door. Not a bother on them, sound as and we had the craic with them. Asked them what they were doing in college and their response was "Ah we're not in college, we just came up from Kerry for the week cause we heard it'd be a laugh" :eek: Nice and all as they were, we moved them on....

Columc

thats the problem now, more and more people are coming to galway for the NUIG RAG week as it is now famouse for being a 24/7 piss up and being allowed to cause havok! if anything we should blame the guards for not propler enforicng the law!

Fuinseog

Just a thought but I'd say the lecturers wouldn't want to burden themselves with, shock horror, even more work.[/QUOTE]

yeah, cos lecturers there are only on the minimum wage. the place is gaining the reputation as a place to doss.

undergrads are not taken seriously by professors, especially in arts and partying and a casual attitude towards your subject is encouraged.

Fuinseog

I wonder could Galway survive without NUIG? to a certain extent from tourism, but the college seems to be the number one employer. could the pubs live without the students?

Amhran Nua

Fuinseog wrote: »

I wonder could Galway survive without NUIG? to a certain extent from tourism, but the college seems to be the number one employer. could the pubs live without the students?

Both Galway and the pubs could live very happily without the troublesome students, all of whom have a queue of people waiting to take their places, literally. I like how the thread has gone from "ah its a bit of craic", to "its not students at all", to "blame the guards" so far.

seriouslysweet

Dún/Gort na Coiribe was disgusting on Monday, really bad. Yobs, and lots of them. Fools really. Go up now and you'll see it's still filthy, as for Newcastle, chairs and couches out and lots of nudity. Mam works in teh hospital, pitiful the time they take up. They would be held accountable for their actions.

inisboffin

Was in town today and witnessed some of the messers who were shouting at passers by in their faces, in a really aggressive way (not a big deal for some, but they freaked some old couple out):mad: One punter outside a pub nearly clobbered them, but they ran off.
They were definitely f*cking with the buskers too, and one lad busking told a group of lads what for. They could barely stand. There were loads of other groups around too though, having the craic, being a bit boisterous and singing, but hurting no one.
I agree that the aggressive as*holes should be academically punished in some way at minimum. That way there will be a bit of a separation in the public eyes between a bit of craic and abusive behaviour.
Screaming into a baby's pram?? SO out of order I can't even begin:mad:

seriouslysweet

Just to point out...doing a film as part of a competition on young drinkers...most of those we filmed so far are only about 18, so I feel awfully sorry for older students and also those not partaking in craziness, many are just having the craic which is grand but this type of thugish behaviour is not on.

Amhran Nua

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMfeLU3pkM

Classy.

skelliser

Goes to show how much drink and particular binge drinking is getting out of had.
And before ye all accuse me of being all PC let me explain.

The laws in ireland re drinking outside are lax because by and large most people know how to behave themselves. We are a friendly nation.
When people take the piss it with this it ruins it for everyone else.
The gards will then have to be strict as ****!
And if we go down that road we will lose alot of what makes this a nice, relaxed country to live in.

So wise up ffs! have the crack, get ****faced or whatever but be respectful to others. Its that ****ing simple!!

Amhran Nua

Amhran Nua wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMfeLU3pkM

Classy.

Completely harmless in all honesty.

JONJO THE MISER

Jaysus lads better batten down the hatches have the guns ready and hide under the bed, i hear the students just hijacked 2 truck loads full of miller and its being driven en route to dun na corrib:eek:

Columc

Amhran Nua wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMfeLU3pkM

Classy.

have ya ever played throw the ring on the stick? same principles really.

Sure amhran nua were are these truck loads of people wanting to take our places? how come they cant get in by themselves?

Amhran Nua

Columc wrote: »

Sure amhran nua were are these truck loads of people wanting to take our places? how come they cant get in by themselves?

So, if you got expelled from Uni, your place would remain forever unfilled because..?

Caliden

It's all well and good having a bit of craic with other students but to be agressive and involve members of the public trying to go about their daily lives, that's when it's just not on.

Saw 2 students scream into the face of someone waiting at a bus stop "ITS RAAAAAAGGGG WEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!" and I'm sure if you asked the students what R.A.G. week stood for they wouldnt have a clue.

Columc

Amhran Nua wrote: »

So, if you got expelled from Uni, your place would remain forever unfilled because..?

there are dozens of courses which are not full every year in NUIG that are unfilled!

my course went for 65 people in first year to 12 in second year,

ahh sure those 53 people probably had the crack on rag week anyways, its all good fun to be honest, no pain no gain

The Cool

As somebody said, its 10% of students making 90% of the mess. And to be honest, only half of the young'uns here celebrating rag week, are actually NUIG students. Many people come from all over the country during this week, because it's renowned as the best "craic". And from my own experience, it's those who come visiting that do the most damage, because after all they can just get on a bus back to wherever they usually are and forget about it. For example, when I was in second year, we threw a party during rag week. Some people from my hometown in Donegal came down for the session - boys who weren't even in college but being given drinking money from mammy and daddy - and it was that bunch who had the least respect. They were out in the back garden late at night despite my requests to keep the noise inside, and one of them broke the mantelpiece. And it was grand for them because the next day they cleared off elsewhere and didn't have to deal with paying for replacing the marble mantelpiece or unhappy neighbours. This was in 2009, the year of the 40 arrests during rag week. Might I add, a high proportion of that 40 were not NUIG students. Wish I could remember the number, dammit.

It's annoying that the media etc goes on about the bad side of rag week so much, when there's such a good side to it. This week, there are numerous charity gigs going on on campus; there's a girl locked in a box outside the college bar for the week getting her PhD done; there are students shaking buckets outside; there was a triathlon yesterday; ArtSoc are running lots of fun things to do and look at; and FilmSoc are running a film festival; and there's a skydive in Galway airport this saturday for it too. In past years we have raised €17,000, €35,000 and €20,000 for charity.

Of course there are the pricks who had an absolutely horrible attitude about it. The other night a few lads who live a couple of floors below me threw an absolutely massive, unbelievably noisy party. Besides myself they are the only students who live there, as the management don't usually allow students in (god knows how these guys got in). We, and their neighbours, called security and the guards when it got out of hand and one particularly arrogant lad came down into my face (I'm a 5'5" girl and he was very tall and scary!) and said, "Sorry, I'm a student and it's Monday night of Rag week!" To which I replied, "yeah, I'm a f'ing student too, but I have a 9am start tomorrow!"

I'm in final year and am spending this Rag week in the library working on a particularly stubborn French essay, and there's loads more besides me. I'm no dorkus malorkus, I'm not a mature student, a snob or a geek, but like many, many others I'm a bit past it and have my degree to be worrying about!

Long story short, please don't tar all NUIG students with the same brush.

Columc

The Cool wrote: »

It's annoying that the media etc goes on about the bad side of rag week so much, when there's such a good side to it. This week, there are numerous charity gigs going on on campus; there's a girl locked in a box outside the college bar for the week getting her PhD done; there are students shaking buckets outside; there was a triathlon yesterday; ArtSoc are running lots of fun things to do and look at; and FilmSoc are running a film festival; and there's a skydive in Galway airport this saturday for it too. In past years we have raised €17,000, €35,000 and €20,000 for charity.

Im gonna go off me messing about on this thread and jsut say that what the college does and the SU for events for charity is petdethic! those figures are less then what the damages is done throughout the city with broken glass/car damages/ cleaning etc etc.

Amhran Nua

Columc wrote: »

there are dozens of courses which are not full every year in NUIG that are unfilled!

my course went for 65 people in first year to 12 in second year,

And you think they'd miss one more? Contrary to what some of the ones who cause trouble believe, they'd be forgotten before the exhaust from the bus cleared. No special snowflakes here.

What annoys me the most is this attitude of entitlement, as though it was a right to tear up the town. It is not, even studying here is a privelege, and one which some people pay tens of thousands a year to enjoy. Hot on the heels of that we have the "but Galway depends on students" nonsense. You'd think they were doing us all a big favour by gracing the place with their presence, rather than receiving a high quality taxpayer funded education.

As always, I'm referring to the minority of troublemakers.