Feb 2015… Welcome Back!

17 February, 2015

We can imagine between Christmas, and the month off in January, it must be a strange feeling to be returning to CIT. Whilst the break can be long, and often tedious if you do not have a job, it will serve you well in coming back completely fresh to your studies. It can also be a great time to distance yourself from work and study pressures to find a bit of head space and work on the many New Years’ Resolutions. We have been busy planning out Semester 2 over January, which promises to be another great one from a Students’ Union perspective.

Raise and Give (RAG) Week (Feb 9th– 12th)

RAG Week will take place this year from 9th to 12th of February, with the focus being to raise as much money as possible for charity. The main beneficiary of this year’s RAG week is the ‘Fight Back for Sophie Fund’. We are sure that most of you are now aware of Sophie’s situation, but please make sure to read the piece on Sophie further on in this issue of ExpliCIT which illustrates why it is vital that we raise as much money as possible to help pay for Sophie’s treatment. The other charities which will benefit from RAG Week include Focus Ireland, Childline Cork and Age Action Ireland.
Make sure to look out for The Students’ Union RAG Crew who will be at various locations across the campus throughout RAG week to collect any donations that you are willing to give. I know that college isn’t typically the highest point of wealth in a person’s life, but even if it was just one or two euro donated by each student, this would make a massive difference to the amount of money that we can raise for such worthy causes. We are also looking for people to be part of the RAG Crew for the week to help with event flyering and bucket collections. If you are interested please come along to our RAG Crew Meeting on Tuesday 3rd February at 5pm (Meeting room 1, Student Centre) or e-mail supresident@cit.ie. Free Pizza and VIP Entry for RAG week night-time events guaranteed for those who come along.
We have organised a number of daytime and night time events to keep you all entertained and in high spirits throughout the week. The daytime events are completely free, so if you do avail of these, please donate whatever you can, no matter how little. Any monies made on the night time events will also go to charity, if you are heading out during RAG Week, please be sure to support CIT Students’ Union events at The Bishopstown Bar on the Monday, The Bailey on Tuesday and The Hanover on Thursday.
Last year we raised €10,000. We aim to knock that figure out of the park this year and raise as much money as possible for the RAG Week beneficiaries.

Student Activism Campaign (Feb 4th/5th)

How many of you are part of a Trade Union or even know the kind of work that a Trade Union does? With the aim of increasing students’ awareness of how they can protect their rights during their time in college and in the workplace, we are running a campaign focused on these areas. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will be on campus on Wednesday the 4th and 5th, and will be available to visit in the Main Corridor. If you have any questions about your rights as an employee in your future career, or in your part-time job / internship while at college, then feel free to call over to Fiona Dunne and Noreen Moloney, representative of ICTU, who will be open to answering any questions you might have. They will also be delivering a talk on these topics from 1-2pm in the Rory Gallagher Theatre on Wednesday the 4th. For students working within the areas of Social Care and Early Years education, Úna Faulkner of IMPACT will be delivering talks on working within these industries and working within the public sector. She will be calling around to individual fourth year classes in these areas on the 4th, and will also deliver a talk on the 5th regarding working in the public sector and working in Trade Unions. It is your responsibility to know your rights and make sure that your employer is treating you fairly.

Election Information Session

Have you ever considered running for an election within the Students’ Union? Nominations open on Monday the 16th of February and we will host an Election Information Session on Thursday the 19th of February at 1pm (Meeting room 1, Student Centre). We will give an overview of our roles, as well as the Non-Sabbatical roles, what to consider before running and tips on running a successful election campaign.

Exam Results

As you all know, Thursday 5th February brings with it the release of the Semester 1 exam results. Passed all your modules? Well done, congratulations are in order, enjoy the forthcoming celebrations, this is a commendable achievement, all the hard work and endless study paid off. Didn’t pass all of the required modules for Semester 1? This is far from the end of the world. The worst possible thing you can do at this moment in time is to panic unnecessarily and let unpassed modules define you for Semester 2. Semester 2 brings with it a new canvass i.e. a clean slate, a new opportunity. What’s done is done. There’s no point crying over spilt milk as it were but rather concentrate on the present, future and current semester ahead. No matter what your results are, the trick is to stay focused on the road ahead and strive to achieve your full potential as a student this semester regardless of the results that have come from Semester 1. Any common queries you might have in relation to your examination results may be answered in the Exams Q&A on page 8. If not please don’t hesitate to get in contact with our Vice President Education Shane Falvey (Email: sueducation@cit.ie) who will be happy to be of any assistance he can be to you. Even if you just need a chat after the release of the exam results, as we know this can be a very daunting time for students, don’t hesitate to call up to the team here in the Students’ Union, always remember that we’re here for you.

INFORM – Women in Leadership Programme

Have you ever wondered why there are so many males in leadership positions? Has there really been a female CITSU president?  Are you a female who has thought about running for election in a society, the Students’ Union, as a TD or even a leadership position in your area of study? There are many females in CIT and throughout Ireland who can achieve great goals in their lives and can become the leaders of our future. It is about time we gave our female students the support they need, to achieve what they want to achieve. We need to encourage and support more females in running for Students’ Union roles. On the 3rd and 4th of February we will be running a Women in Leadership programme in collaboration with UCCSU, for which female students from throughout the college have been nominated. Women for Election will facilitate this programme called ‘INFORM’, which was launched nationally by Jan O’Sullivan, Minister for Education and Skills in November 2014.  This is a programme we are excited to be part of and we are delighted to support any students that would like to take part in any such initiatives in the future. Remember Students’ Union elections are coming up in March so if you or any of your friends are thinking about running for any position, we encourage you to support them and remember you can always ask any of us about the roles. #GirlPower

Mind Your Mates

So are you all ready for Round two this semester? Well we hope you enjoyed your time off, are well rested and ready to go again. Second semester flies by , and it may  be a while since you have seen all of your college friends – so it is great to meet up with them all again, catch up and see how many of you got selfie sticks from Santa. For a lot of you and your friends, January can be quite a lonely time too so make sure to look after yourself and look out for your friends and classmates when you all return to college. RAG week is going be great with lots of amazing and fun filled events happening both during the day and at night, so we are sure there are going to be many of you heading out on nights out over the next few weeks.  We want you all to enjoy yourselves and have some great nights out, but we also want you to look after yourself and be safe. You have the choice to not drink and you have the choice of how much to drink, if you are going to drink. Remember, drink responsibly and in moderation. Get home safely after your night out. Make plans on how you are going to get home before you go out. Do not walk home alone at night and aim to go home as a group or else share a taxi.  Also, when coming home after a night out or if there are a big group of you in one place please be aware of and respect your neighbours around you, whether it is in apartments or residential housing. There can be serious consequences of causing excessive noise disturbance and antisocial behaviour, and no one wants the Gardaí knocking at the door.
You can avoid jeopardising your academic future by following these simple guidelines…

• Keep noise and music to a reasonable level
• Only admit people you know to your house, as the tenants bear all responsibility for the actions of their guests
• Keep your doors and windows shut
• Don’t litter the student village or residential
• estates with cans and bottles etc.
• If you’re having a house party, ensure people
• remain inside the house
• Try and keep noise to a minimum when entering and exiting taxis or buses.

All of us here in the SU would like to take this opportunity to wish all students well for the forthcoming semester, may you all achieve what you set out to over the next few months. Have a great Semester 2 Guys and remember, mind your mates!

All the best,
Michael, Shane, Ciara, Avril, Rej, Mikey