Members of Queen’s College JCR have accused their
President of using a provision which ensures tall people do not
get attic rooms to fix the room ballot to obtain the best rooms
for himself and his “mates”. Ashley McDermott, the JCR President, has dismissed the claims
as “ludicrous” and, while admitting things could have
been handled better, he said, “my conscience is completely
clear”. He has responded to allegations that the process
“wasn’t fair and that it was an excuse to give some of
your mates good rooms,” by sending a 1,500 word email to the
whole JCR denying that there had been “an outrageous abuse
of power.” The ballot for rooms in the college was run by the Home
Bursar’s secretary instead of the Home Bursar for the first
time this year, along with McDermott. Following last year’s
ballot that left students over 6ft tall stooping for a year in an
attic room, the college invited submissions from students who
felt they had a justifiable need of a certain room. After only
one application was made on the grounds of height, the Home
Bursar’s secretary asked McDermott to name all the tall
people in college. He named several of his friends but he admits,
“Unfortunately there were people who I missed out, and I
apologise for this.” There was more dissatisfaction after it emerged that McDermott
himself had made a submission to the Home Bursar but had refused
to reveal the reasons behind it. He asserts that “as a
matter of principle and personal preference I would not be able
to stand up in front of the JCR and try to justify the personal
reasons for which I applied for any particular type of
room.” The requested room is in the illustrious Drawda Halls
and contains a double bed. McDermott claims that it is not a
particularly good room and that he is as entitled as anyone else
to apply under the new rules. Stewart Robinson, ex-JCR president
said that the JCR “should establish a proper policy” on
the ballot adding that it, “should be the luck of the
draw” for everyone, including the President. Amidst a jumble of double negatives, McDermott goes on in his
email to “categorically deny that I have gone against
neither the ‘spirit’ not (sic) the ‘letter’
of JCR policy,” and to promise that clearer guidelines will
be drawn up in the future.ARCHIVE: 4th week TT 2004
Queen’s sized Bedrooms
