By FEE UCD

As has been well documented, when Labour became the balance of power under the Spring Tide, one of their lasting achievements was the abolishment of third level fees for all undergraduates. Next week, students of UCD will be asked whether or not they want to abandon this principle in favour of a more “realistic” option in the current economic climate. Most of us in the college have felt the crisis’ bite already, if it is needing welfare assistance or an increased reliance on the grant, an so it may seem reasonable to suggest that an alternative is needed, but how realistic are these alternatives?

Firstly, and most obviously, there is the reintroduction of full fees, paid upfront at the beginning of every year. Certainly this would relieve a great deal of stress from the Department of Finance, and yet it does nothing to help the vast majority of the population. Already, in the first few years of the recession, we have seen a great increase in the disparity between rich and poor in the nation, something that will only increase as it continues. If Universities were able to set their own prices on entry it would not be to the benefit of lower or even middle income applicants. Some will argue that this will increase the funding for third level but if we follow the current system and simply add the student contribution to what the state pays, there would be no increase in revenue, and probably a decrease as less people will attend college.

The other main alternative is referred to as the student loan system, its premise being that all the graduates will pay back a certain amount of their wages once they start earning. This is the system that has been in Australia since the late 1990s and is generally seen as a colossal failure. Many graduates simply emigrate as soon as they have finished their degree, never re-contributing or paying back their loans, causing the state to bail out the independent loan companies for millions of dollars. It has also come to light about how much the undergraduates suffer in trying to maintain a passable standard of living, working as many hours as they have classes, while 1 in 8 have been admitted to hospital for stress, malnutrition and fatigue.

Our own Student Union President is promoting the idea of a graduate tax, against the mandate currently in place in the college. What this means is that anyone with a bachelor’s degree will have to pay and extra form of taxation once they have reached a certain earning threshold. It seems to fail to take into account that this is still money taken from the exchequer initially, only to be removed from the economy later on, nothing will change. In any case, the facts show that anyone with a higher degree generally earns at the higher tax level already, you already pay for your degree once you start earning.

And so we return to the fully exchequer paid system. Since its introduction attendances have increased amongst all areas in society, and particularly amongst the middle class. Only a few years after its introduction, the number of highly trained graduates was one of the reasons that Ireland experienced a boom the likes of which it had never seen before. With a distorted healthcare system and a welfare system that has been slashed beyond all recognition, the education system could be the jewel in the Irish state, just like the NHS is in the UK.

We are not being asked in this “preferendum” what is realistic, what we are being asked is what we would prefer, what is ideal, and what should we strive towards? It took nearly forty years to achieve a partially state-funded system for undergraduates and if we let it go now, we will never get it back.

Thoughts on the Preferendum… is a post from Free Education for Everyone

Education should be about teaching people how to think, not what to think. Third level education today however has become no more than state subsidised training. Universities are now just a huge assembly line churning out regimented workers for the benefit of corporations, banks and big business. Terms such as “market-based education”, “user charges”, “tuition fees” and “cost recovery” are now common.

This new approach to education funding stems from the influence of World Bank policy advice, and conditions for loans and debt relief, which consider free public services for all “financially unsustainable”. Rather than places of enlightenment, the primary role of universities today is to meet the labour requirements as stipulated by employers.

Students should be allowed to reach their own conclusions rather than have opinions forced upon them by conservative and rich professors. Most people never consciously choose to be capitalists; it is forced upon them from birth and consolidated in the state education system. While our education system must teach people skills so they can make a contribution to society and create wealth, we must not let it be hijacked by big business for their benefit. There is pressure on public universities by both legislators and state system governing boards to design accelerated degree completion programs, credit-for-work experience, distance education links to industry sites, and other options for the non-traditional “adult learner”. The Arts are under attack while employers want more students studying maths and science so that the labour market in these areas will become glutted and wages forced down.

Students must fight to keep third level institutions as places of learning and not places of training. Lecturers and students alike nowadays cynically describe university education as a ‘factory’. The notion of the University as a mechanised profit machine is where the term derives its critical force. When the philosophy department at Middlesex University was shut down, the ‘Save Middlesex Philosophy’ campaign’s occupation strung an enormous banner out of a first floor window reading: ‘The University is a Factory. Strike! Occupy!’ The slogan became the emblematic image of the campaign. Part of the neo-liberal agenda is the casualisation of labour and the normalisation of precarity.

The student struggle for free education, therefore, is intrinsically linked to the workplace struggles of university staff. There is a lack of political engagement of ‘radical’ academics—Marxist or otherwise—and there seems to be no translation from critical thinking in the scholastic debating chamber to actual support for struggles taking place even within their own workplaces, including for the cleaners who sweep their departmental corridors. It is the economy and its needs that determine the quantity and content of the education that students receive. In the Culliton Report 1992, education was examined in the context of the contribution it could make to improve the competitiveness of the Irish economy, and it was stressed that the fostering of usable and marketable skills should be a priority within the educational system. Free education respects the intrinsic value of knowledge and ideas irrespective of their subjective value on the labour market. It is about the pursuit of learning for its own sake. It is therefore the opposite of the neo-liberal agenda, which sees the university as a factory churning out graduates for the benefit of big business, and which seeks to restructure the university to fit the priorities of big business and the markets. Performance indicators based on productivity and efficiency have become the current definition of accountability, and success in satisfying these measures is often the basis for funding allocations. It is important to oppose the commercialisation and commodification of education, which will lead to the prioritisation of subjects and areas of research that are profitable for businesses, to the detriment of others, regardless of their value to society. Measures should be put in place against the dilution of teaching which leaves graduates being equipped only with the skills and knowledge most desirable of employers. All this leads to the detriment of students’ intellectual and personal development. There should be an end to the distortion of scientific and medical research for private profit. There is a tendency towards casualisation amongst University staff. This includes the increasing composition of temporary staff, workers on sessional teaching contracts, and the way the increasing burden of work is being shifted to PhD students who are remunerated at a rate that is wholly inadequate to draw a living from. In recent times, universities have undergone a massive shift towards short-term contracts for both teaching and non-teaching staff. This places a downward pressure on wages and conditions, and undercuts the ability of trade unions and professional associations to organise on university campuses. Graduate students as an exploited class in the University’s internal economy, are used to depress wages, limit full time job openings, and operate in sync with the tendency towards pay-per-hour lecturers across the University sector as a whole. The university can much more easily cut the wages of contracted workers, safe in the knowledge that there are plenty more to take their place once their contact expires, should they decide to kick up a fuss.

For what drives PhD student teachers is resume building; what drives casualised University workers is staying within the system. In both cases, consciously submitting to exploitation is premised on the belief that the future will hold out better things to come: that temporary pain will pave the way to long-term success.

The University isn’t a factory is a post from Free Education for Everyone

On November 2nd, 2011 the Fine Gael / Labour government paid out over 700 million euro to the unsecured bondholders of Anglo Irish Bank – a bank that no longer effectively exists or functions as such, a bank that so far has swallowed up billions of euro of Irish taxpayers money to pay for its gambling and speculation. On the 25th of January 2012, the government again paid out unsecured bonds of over 1 billion Euro to Anglo’s bondholders. These bonds were unsecured – this means that the government was in no way obligated by any law or agreement to pay it. It was paid only to appease the vultures of international capitalism that hold this country and others to ransom through their enforcers in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On Monday the 24th of October 2011, Free Education for Everyone in NUIG confronted Fine Gael senator and Junior Minister for Training and Skills Ciaran Cannon over several issues concerning the rising cost of third level education in Ireland; one of his responses was that it would cost an estimated 500,000,000 Euroto fund free education for a year in Ireland. This, he said, was impossible. And yet, in one single day, his government can pay a cabal of faceless financial gangsters over € 700,000,000? Makes sense alright..

The fight for free education and against the commercialisation of our campuses is inextricably linked to the fight against the austerity programme being implemented in this country at the behest of the IMF – a direct consequence of the financial criminality carried out by the likes of Anglo Irish Bank and their cronies in government. The increase in the registration fee, the cuts in grants, along with the far more widespread cuts in education, healthcare, and every other section of society, all lead back to the IMF, and back further to the criminal actions of the gangsters of Anglo Irish Bank. And yet, to this day, the Fine Gael / Labour government, like their Fianna Fáil / Green buddies before them, are determined to continue bailing out these failed institutions, these money pits, at our expense.

We say this is inexcusable.

 We say this is criminal.

 WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Billions for Banks; nothing for us! is a post from Free Education for Everyone

Recently, Education Minister Ruarí Quinn and Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced that third-level fees will have reached €3,000 by 2015. Coupled with the recent removal of the maintenance grant for Post-Graduate degrees, this measure comes as a serious blow to current and prospective students.

The same week as this revelation, FEE held a forum for students and others to come and speak about how the cuts have been affecting them. There were young people who had been forced to drop out because they could no longer afford to support themselves, graduates who have been forced to sign on, and students whose siblings will not get the opportunities that they have had. The Government claims that a registration fee in conjunction with a grants system does not create an inequality of access. Clearly, they are mistaken. The grant has been cut by 13% over the last three years, and for many students it has been cut by as much as 60%. Now, the maintenance grant for students who wish to begin a post-graduate degree in 2012 is gone. Support for the payment of fees will only be provided for those from
families within a new, further restricted income band. There is an increasing disparity in who is capable of pursuing a university education in this country, and the actions of the Government are antagonising the situation.

An Taoiseach claims that these measures are necessary to improve the quality of our suffering education system, asserting that “a really strong and vibrant third-level system is fundamental…and it’s got to be paid for.” However, alongside the increases funding for third-level institutions will be cut by
a total of 6% over the next three years. In combination with rising student numbers, we are essentially being asked to pay much more, for far less. The money being squeezed from students and their families every year is, like all austerity measures, being used to service the massive private debt the Irish people have been burdened with. Mr Kenny attempted to justify this injustice by declaring that austerity is affecting “every single person in the country” – he earns over €300,000 per annum in total, over 8.9 times the average industrial wage.

On Monday the 13th of February, the class reps council voted in favour of a number of motions that mandated the SU Executive to consider a number of new tactics in the fight against education cuts. Presented by Equality Officer William O’Brien, they included occupations of university buildings, a
student strike, and a mass boycott of fees. This progressive move marked a significant turning point in the attitude of the NUIG SU. Evidently, they have come to the conclusion that their traditional methods of sporadic marches and lobbying have failed. With a clear majority in favour of these actions it is now vital that all students come together as a cohesive movement. We must mobilise to protect our fundamental rights and to resist those in Government, the IMF, and the ECB, who wish to compel us to inherit a future of desolation, or emigration.

€3,000 for Under-Grads – No More Grants for Post-Grads – What Now? is a post from Free Education for Everyone

The Craic Society wish to thank everybody who turned up to the extravageansaí yesterday. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned. While various other societies are allowed to drink cans in any manner they choose, we are herded around the campus like pariahs and lepers.

Once again, Craic Soc outsmarted Services. We won’t gloat too much about this however, because it is not a difficult feat. After our initial rendezvous was disrupted by four Gardaí cars and a bunch of services who intimidated and bullied those present, we decided that Top Secret Plan B would be instigated.

Everyone was told to disperse and regroup behind Roebuck Castle at 6pm, where we had a sound system already waiting. Then we cranked that motherfucker up and partied like it was 1993. Craic Soc has no respect for the college authorities and their totalitarian regime. Seig Heil Herr Brady. Further to this, Craic Soc is disgusted at the manner in which the Services harass students and pathetically attempt to nick our booze. Craic Soc calls on all students never to hand over a student card or booze. Even better, steal someone else’s and then hand that one over.

Craic Soc claims responsibility for the crazy redhead who flashed her bountiful breasts at the bar staff and mooned Services as one of our brave valiant soldiers of Craic. Tesie, the redhead in question, was reportedly heard to say, “I really should not have taken all those Class A’s this summer. I saw the guys in trouble and I realised that the only way to distract Services was to flash my tits.”

Craic Soc will not be cowed. We will endeavour to bring Craic back to Belfield. From now on, we intend to use more innovative organisational methods to provide drinking sessions on-campus. José Cappuccino of the Craic Soc Committee said last night, “I would rather have my testicles ravaged by a pack of seething hyenas than have my booze confiscated by those degenerate Services. No-one stands in the way of me getting fucked up! Mark my words, I will personally wreak havoc and revenge on all those responsible for wreckin’ me buzz, man.”

Craic Soc wishes to refute all rumours that we intend applying for recognition. We are recognised en masse by the student body. Society Treasurer Barney was heard to comment last night as he was urinating against a Services van, “Craic Soc breathes a new life into the hearts and minds of disillusioned students who feel let down and ripped off by the large societies.”

Miley from Glenroe, an honourary member of the Craic Soc Committee further claimed, “The Cornettos handed out during Freshers’ Week gave me diarrhoea. I’m not the only one either, there was a queue outside the jacks all night. The kebabs in Abrakebabra are also rumoured to be responsible for this ‘liquid shit’ epidemic”

It’s time to occupy our minds.

Craic Soc.

Ends

Craic society issues Cornetto warning after "pissing out ass" fiasco is a post from Free Education for Everyone

DRUNKEN Irish students went on a violent rampage and tried to burn down their college – SEVEN TIMES.

A UCD staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed the beer-swilling teens have been out of control since the academic year started last month.

He said: “There is often a bit of hassle from students at the start of term, but this year their carry-on is unbelievable.

“Students have already started seven fires around campus. They even set fire to the admin block while there were people inside.

“We expect a bit of high jinks at the start of term, that’s perfectly understandable. Spirits are high and for many of these kids it’s their first time living away from home – but this level of behaviour is unacceptable.

“Someone could be seriously hurt, fires have a way of getting out of control.”

Staff think a student drinking society, Craic.soc, is promoting “knacker-drinking”, for which it organises huge public drinking binges.

To celebrate last year’s end of the last college term 200 students gathered for a massive drunken party organised by the society.

One party-goer openly bragged about lighting fires and intimidating college staff in an article posted online.

He said: “Did we have permission? Did we f***!

“Services would drive up to their vantage point about 100 metres away every so often.

“Sometimes they’d have the audacity to get out of their jeep and wander around.

“Invariably it was greeted by a wave of cheers from the crowd.

“The students knew the score. Four of them. More than 200 of us. As the evening drew in and the dancing got going, some lads started feeling chilly so got a bonfire going”.

The society is already back in action and planning more booze- fuelled mayhem.

One member even suggested in an email that they should move from drinking to drugs.

He wrote: “We ought to have an illegal rave, that would be good craic.

“I mean just do what the club kids did, literally have so many people we can do whatever the f*** we want.

“Where’s that spirit gone?”

The group have also accused UCD President Dr Hugh Brady of being a Nazi.

In a Press release the group said: “Craic.soc has no respect for the college authorities and their authoritarian regime. Seig heil herr Brady.”

College authorities admit they are struggling to deal with the group.

Vice-President for Students Mary Clayton said: “You can’t have a standing army of security just for situations where you have over 200 students causing trouble.

“All you can do is contain the situation which, I think, Services do very well.”

A worried staff member said: “We don’t know if Craic.soc are behind the fires, but they are certainly making things difficult.

“To be fair to the students most of them are grand, it’s just a minority who cause this kind of trouble.”

A spokesman for UCD refused to comment on the recent fires.

University Of Complete Disorder is a post from Free Education for Everyone

This is 200 students, a lake, a generator,a bonfire, cd-decks,speakers, dutch gold, buckfast, rubbish bags, trees, bushes, flowers and lots and lots and lots of fun. Coming together at the exhortation of Craic Soc, the last day of the academic year was celebrated by the students of UCD in the most open way possible. For hours we trickled behind the Vet building, to a place fondly called ‘Lake2′, or Tir na nOg for those that discovered it first.

Descending from the hill, or emerging from the bushes, we were amazed at the sight of a mass of energetic colleagues partying as if exams were some bad dream they once had. The ebb and flow of numbers, as people either went to Higgins’ to restock on supplies, or to fetch friends who’d lost their way to this magical land, or even to get some soakage meant I never really knew what friendly, long-forgotten face I would see next.
To be honest, I was a bit late. I had a couple of things to sort out, you know, assignments and the like. But I’d stocked up early, Mr. Higgins looking at me rather strangely as I presented a six-pack of dutch gold on his counter at 11:30am. Itching to be free in lectures, giddy with excitement in my last hour of work, it was certainly worth the wait. I don’t think even in the wildest dreams of the rabble of individual students who organised what was necessary did they think they’d get such a response. Not getting there until 4.30pm I felt a little out of the loop at first having to play a quick game of catch-up. Entertained by the periodic dip in lake (cesspool?) of some unfortunate punter, the jugglers, the game of football, the banter, the frisbee and the random eejit with the tulip sticking out of his arse, I soon got into the swing of things.

Services would drive up to their ‘vantage point’ about 100 metres away every so often. Sometimes they’d have the audacity to get out of the jeep and have a wander around. Invariably, it was greeted with a wave of cheers from the crowd. The students knew the score. 4 of them. 200 of us. Would we care to move on? Will yez go on an’ shite! As the evening drew in and the dancing got goin’, some lads started feeling a little chilly so got a bonfire going. Nice bit of warmth for the increasing number of people who for some reason felt the odds of catching cholera from the lake weren’t weren’t totally stacked against them. People continued to be mellow and I bumped into a friend from Trinity. “You wouldn’t see this in front square!”. They might have the ball, but give me this any day.

Of course, eventually, the boys in blue turned up. Not too impressed by the bonfire. Some people began to scarper on seeing the squad cars. Shouts went out imploring people to stay, sit down, relax. Attempts were made to appease them by instigating a blitzkrieg clean-up of sorts. Maybe we should just have ignored them. 4 of them 200 of us. Then again, a lot of people there weren’t used to dealing with na Gardai as some of us were. “When they bring in the riot cops, that’s when we can start to worry”, someone said. Maybe. Then again, it wasn’t really in the spirit of the day. Most of the people there just wanted to have fun, so the attitue was, lets just try and keep the cops happy so we can continue the party. Maybe that was wrong. Who knows.

The gardai left. The clean-up was finished. Some people had been scared off but the party kept going. The bonfire was relit. And gradually, it got dark and it got cold, very cold for those that still insisted on being amphibians. And eventually we gradually went our seperate ways, carrying bags of rubbish to be deposited at the nearest bin/skip. Off we went to parties in some other neck of the woods.

It was my last day as an undergraduate after 5 years in UCD. I’m so happy it ended like this. The last day of term has traditionally been a day of fun and frolics, and I’ve had some really good times, but this surpassed them all. Many thanks to all those who designed and put up posters, streaked through lecture theatres, got the generator, paid for the petrol, brought the decks and the cds, spun some tunes and helped with the clean-up. Thanks, most of all, however, must go to all of you who turned up. Thanks for believing in fun. Thanks for understanding what it is to be a student. Thanks for making my last day of college one I’ll never forget.

I hope some people were inspired yesterday. I hope ideas are flying around in people’s heads about what can be done in September. What more can be done. How can we get 500 people there next time. I look forward to being there. But finally…

Did we have permission? Did we fuck!

Police, Services, Bonfire and Buckfast: A Celebration Of A Year's End is a post from Free Education for Everyone

Commenting on the celebrations, a representative Tom Rice said:

“There’s not much to celebrate, is there? State cut-backs, an inadequate grant, the creeping introduction of fees, and if Hugh Brady, our new college president has his way, the handing over of our university to private companies. Last year the college tried to cut back on our library opening hours to save money. Well this year Brady spent 1.6 million of our money doing up his mansion. There is not enough money for new library books, but there’s more than enough to install a private gym in the presidents house, despite the fact that he lives 2 minutes away from the UCD gym.”

The students believe Irish third-level education is at a turning point, having been hit badly by the government’s cutbacks. Education spending per GDP in Ireland is far below the EU average, and is falling every year. Initiatives that support people from disadvantaged backgrounds such as the Back To Education Allowance have had their finding slashed. Last year, due to a lack of funding, UCD authorities cut down on library opening hours. After action by UCD students, they restored the hours but only by secretly transferring funds from the budget for new books.

The government, the Higher Education Authority and the OECD have all joined together to push for a reliance on corporate funding. Basing their vision for Irish universities on American colleges like Harvard and Yale, both of which charge tens of thousands of dollars per year. Though the government have backed down for the moment on their attempts to introduce full fees of thousands of euro per year, they are still introducing fees by stealth in the form of gradual increases in the capitation fee and increases in postgraduate fees.

Another activist involved in organising the events expressed concerns that:

“If education gets turned over to the corporate sector, the potential problems are huge. Research will be dependent upon private donations, and so only research that benefits profit making will receive support. This has happened in the US and Britain, both of which have seen education penetrated by the interests of big business. Funding for subjects which are not seen as promoting business needs will be difficult to get and will gradually disappear. This has already happened to classical studies in UCD. Who knows what subjects will be axed next?

Similarly, the introduction of fees, which is happening gradually before our eyes will see college becoming more and more difficult for people to afford. The introduction of fees in the UK has seen an explosion of student debt, and in Australia it has seen reductions in the numbers from disadvantaged groups attending college.”

UCD Students Slam College’s 150th Celebrations. is a post from Free Education for Everyone

Yesterday, at twelve beside the lake in UCD, while bleak grey clouds gathered overhead, a ‘Reclaim the Campus’ banner was unfurled at the Belfield FM kiosk.

Minutes later something of stereo come sound system was produced, with beats provided a reasonably small group gathered and proceeded towards Tony O’Reilly Hall, in an ensemble of color, music and cans, they were there to make a point; the reclamation of campus, making a political point in the face of UCD authorities out of one of the lowest common denominators in entertainment; cans and open space. Something the college is increasingly loathe to tolerate.

Traditionally the last day of term in UCD sees a momentary release of energy from students who driven mad by the sudden bouts of sun and minds numbed by the library, have increasingly resorted to abandoning study. Instead, weather depending there suddenly appears what is taking on all the vestiges of a mini festival in its own rights. As one student described after last year, ‘the campus looked like it had been raped and pillaged by Vikings.’ This year again, the end of college year was celebrated with a rather spontaneous out door party.

There had been murmurings of a Reclaim the Campus event to take place to coincide with a proposed UCD Ball that was to be hosted by the Students’ Union. Rumors that it was to be a black tie affair, and with ticket prices to rival a day at Witness, reclaiming the campus increasingly gained currency. The Ball, it seems was eventually cancelled. Yet at about three O’clock on Thursday, posters and flyers for an event began to appear around campus. At about three o’clock the following day, upwards of 120 people were thankful rain clouds had dispersed and were drinking at the party’s culmination point beside what is known as ‘Lake Two/Tir Na Og’, a green field, split in two by a lake crossed by a small foot bridge, at the back of the Vet Building.

Unlike yesterday, entertainment usually comes at a price in UCD. That several of the ‘Spinnies’ should show up just as RTC was starting said it all, a rapid blur of pink mini cars and fake tans, a circus regularly making their way into UCD to flock Spin Fm/98fm for teenagers, shite cds and even more shite nights out. Where we are charged for both space and the spectacle. The idea that we are free in our leisure time is indeed a fallacy, in the face of the increasing dependency on consumption rather than gathering in gaffs, fields or any free space to produce entertainment.

A precedent has been set that implies we do ‘nothing’ with our time unless it is confined to the spaces that are allocated to us for the consumption of our preferred forms of expression, relaxation, and enjoyment. Where boundaries are clearly set, yet willingly accepted. Access to them is determined by a barrage of factors; economic (just how fucked can you afford to get?), cultural (without shoes? Not tonight son…). They are also legal; closing times, age restrictions, and the many other interferences in how culture is organised for us. The designation and licensing of who controls these spaces and opens them up is also constricted, legally and economically. A process that is steadily becoming more complex. For a state that claims it’s responsibilities should whither away in terms of preserving services which attempt to provide some basis to material comfort, transport, health and education.

There is a sharp escalation in how it seeks to control and regulate the excesses of an entertainments industry that seeks to cater towards a general desire for escape. It governs over a society and structure that pushes us towards weekend lapses into drunken oblivion but at the same time finds it difficult to tolerate this. The behavior of youth becomes designated as anti-social, yet these are perhaps the most social acts of all; acts produced by the ordering of our society. Legislation designed to quell anti-social behavior such as mandatory ID cards, drug laws and public order open up the possibilities of aiding state repression against politicized elements.

The state of affairs in UCD is no different, it has become impossible to find anybody on campus who has not experienced needless harassment from blokes standing around in Blue Tops, who occasionally scour around the campus in patrol vans looking for cans to confiscate. Yet, these are the same blokes who took upwards of twenty five minutes to respond when a student was found dead at the back of the library. UCD Services exist outside the democratic structures of the college, security in UCD being provided by a hired private company. Which inevitably draws with it all the faults of private companies; lack of accountability, shoddy service and the prime concern being the profit motive. Increasingly, services have provided the backbone of increased repression at on campus protests.

This writers last experience with someone from services at a protest entailed me being flung over a fence, to hop myself quite badly on the ground. There was recently even one absurd occasion when the SU Executive were blocked from entering a room in the STUDENT CENTRE that they had booked because a state minister was in the same building. Increasingly, services, as body with no civil authority are exceeding their role. And as recent protests have shown increasingly police are being called on campus to deal with protests, backed up of course by services.

At twelve, four blokes from services were waiting at the Belfield FM kiosk, despite keeping on eye on the early stages of the party they only moved against it at lake two around four o’clock, giving us 30 minutes to move or face cops being invited on campus. We declined, and the cops never materialized. Services returned in one or two jeeps on several occasions to survey the party, once taking several photos from hill as a tactic to intimidate the gathered students. Despite this harassment, there was still twenty students to be found at four am, sitting around a campfire.

The idea of reclaiming a campus, extends beyond the day to day relationship between security and students. If there is a private security firm pushing its weight around UCD, then one can only beg to wonder what the hell kind of role private investors will play if the current administration has its way. Rooted behind Hugh Brady’s talk of the new UCD is a very different value system to that held by most UCD students, if recent elections and referendum are anything to go by.

The following is the text of ‘Why Reclaim the Campus?’ a leaflet that was circulated to those who gathered at the lake.

‘Despite all their bullshit about the ‘student experience’ the college authorities have only shown intention to contribute to its erosion.

Allowing private franchises to exploit their monopolies on campus, leaving us with rip off books, over priced food and broke. They have shown themselves unwilling to challenge the state over education cutbacks, only going back on the library after student action. Increasingly they allow private interests to intrude in funding, leaving us with the ‘Dunne’s Stores Theatre’ and faculties which resemble Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. Where there are purposefully no social spaces apart from those in private cafes and outlets.

Tony O’Reilly Hall is a prime example. The only use students get, is on their first day where the president greets us with rhetoric about how great UCD is and on their last when we graduate from the degree factory. The Student Centre is no different, purposefully dumped right at the back of the college, ensuring the student body’s alienation from it. With their support for moves to open UCD up for private investment, and increased reference to students as ‘costumers’, it seems education is too being distorted into a commodity and with it collapses the student experience and the whole idea of education as something of social value.

Hiding behind a rhetoric of social inclusion the authorities refuse to promote a public education system funded through proper taxation. Inequality does not begin at the college door, but in the community, primary and second level but the state refuses to deal with its failures here. Instead it proposes privatization and fees. As community on campus collapses due to the erosion of public space at the hands of the private sector, well then so will the quality of education collapse at the hands of private interest.

As the critical university is swept aside for one more concerned with the interests of business. This is our campus, we want more public space and the right to be there with out harassment from private security firms.

This is our education, we want the democratization of how it is run and of the decisions that affect our lives.

This is our campus, and this is a free party which makes that point. .

If services come and try to break the party up then;

1. Remember this is your campus and they as a private security firm have no right to tell you what to do.
2. Always act in groups at and leaving the party. Unity is Strength.
3. If they ask for your student card, just say No. If they threaten you or harass you, ask them to state where they get their authority.
4. If they continue to harass you, report them.’

Reclaim The Campus Party In UCD is a post from Free Education for Everyone