The DURC Report
05/09/00
Mark Dennehy

Following the usual quiet summer season, DURC is once again opening
its doors for business with the traditional Freshers' Week recruitment
drive, from the second of October. This is followed up by the first
Safety and Orientation meeting on the ninth, and regular shooting begins
the following week, this delay being necessary to allow the new students
to find their way around college.

This year sees change for DURC : The new rifle range that the club has
been promised since 1972 finally appears to be within reach. However,
the design is currently untenable due to a fire door being situated at
the far end of the range, and the timesharing arrangements for the new
range are highly inconvenient  and face substantial negotiations!
Nevertheless, we remain excited at the prospect of finally having more
than two firing points for our three hundred members, and to the jump in
membership the new facilities will allow.

Further changes are being planned over the next two years to gear up
to the new range. New management procedures, including a complete
computerization of the club's paperwork and an Internet-based detail
booking scheme are being discussed and designed. Happily, we've finally
found a use for the Computer Scientists and Engineers who make up half
our membership ! Hopefully, we will get to test these new systems during
this academic year. We are also introducing new membership ID cards,
handouts and booklets and a host of other related improvements to the
club. 

We are also hoping that if the Department of Justice's review has a
favorable outcome, we may be able to re-equip the club for target pistol
once again, something that has not been possible since 1972, at which
time DURC enjoyed a range which was certified for pistols up to .45
caliber. 

DURC's usual competitions are to be held again this year, with some
minor improvements. The prizes for the Trinity Top Ten are finally to
be sorted out, the menu for this year's barbecue at the Free Open has
been modified following last year's vegetarian feast, and there's even
a promise of white chocolate cheesecake for the Air rifle open, which
this year is being held in UCD due to the technical difficulties which
plagued last year's Open. This may be the venue until the new range in
Trinity is completed, as using Luce Hall in Trinity is fraught with
difficulties that are very difficult to overcome.

The DURC Calendar is in preparation and will be posted on the DURC
Website, which is also receiving a facelift to make it somewhat more
user-friendly. This year will see major modifications to the Website,
including the addition of discussion forums where our new members can
hopefully learn from the mistakes of our older hands and the Irish
shooting community at large; we hope to have web broadcasts of the
competitions being held on the range; the news page is set for a
facelift; and far more photographs and video clips are already in the
pipeline! So keep an eye on us at http://www.tcd.ie/clubs/rifle !