I
n her manifesto, capsule the top five reasons to vote for Breslin were: “Making Welfare Relevant to You, viagra Safer Nights Out, Student-Centred Residences, Because Your Money Matters, and an Approachable, Accessible and Accountable Welfare Officer.” How successful has Breslin been in achieving these aims?
Breslin has worked on “Making Welfare Relevant to You” in numerous ways. Most recently she has introduced a near half-price Cervical Cancer Vaccine Programme to the Health Centre. Breslin also organised Mental Health week which gave out 2,000 mental health packs and 200 random acts of kindness all over campus. However, the unsuccessful Republic of Loose gig showed that there is still work to be done. No more than seventy people attended the gig which was to celebrate World Mental Health day. This was blamed on unsuccessful advertising.
Breslin again tried to make welfare relevant with the “1000 condoms, 1000 stories” scheme. The idea behind the campaign was to encourage people to use protection and to remove the “laddish” image of discussing sex. However, if you look at 1000condoms.com, its stories seem more based on outrageously exaggerated lads’ stories, than wise condom use. They give little sexual advice, instead including such interesting “facts” as “UCD sperm has more nutritional value then Trinity sperm”.
Her next point was to have “Safer Nights Out”. Breslin’s idea for a buy-now-pay-later taxi scheme, entitled Slán Abhaile, was introduced to students during Freshers’ Week. According to her report from November 24, 2011, the scheme was due to commence on December 5, 2011. When contacted by the College Tribune about the success of the initiative thus far, Breslin was unavailable for comment.
Breslin’s attempts to make UCD residences more student-focused have been less successful. The Harry Potter themed residences ball was no “Yule Ball” and was cancelled due to low ticket sales. At the time of cancellation, forty tickets had been purchased and twenty more had been put on hold for the failed event. Proposed weekly bus trips from Residences to a local supermarket have also failed to materialise.
“Your Money Matters” was dealt with during M.U.M. (Mind Your Money) week. The posters for this campaign stated that students can contact Breslin for information on financial assistance and to be added to a mailing list about part time jobs. Details on whether she plans to proceed with a part-time jobs showcase in the Students’ Union this semester were unavailable at the time of going to press.
In her manifesto Breslin promised an anonymous chat box on UCD connect. According to her reports, this scheme went through a testing period last semester. Breslin did not respond to questions from the College Tribune about when this service will be made generally available.
Dawn Lonergan
UCD sperm has more nutritional value then Trinity sperm