Sin Volume 13 Issue 12 by Student Independent News

FREE STUDENT NEWSPAPER

VOL 13, ISSUE 12

02 APR 2012

NUIG Celebrates Non-academic Achievement By Louise France As term draws to an end a series of events were held across campus last week to celebrate students’ extracuriccular achievements. Prizes and certificates were awarded for volunteering, society involvement, sporting excellence, and the highlight of the week: the coveted Student Enterprise Award, worth €10,000. The Enterprise awards were held on Friday 30 and one Dragon’s Den star, Bobby Kerr was brave enough to face “tomorrow’s entrepreneurs”. The dragon was impressed by the NUI Galway entrepreneurial spirit; “the drive, determination and enthusiasm of the students is fantastic,” he said. “It is heartening to see that within NUI Galway the

essence of the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. I would also like to congratulate the University and the Students’ Union for their vision in fostering the talents of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs,” he added. Eight finalists were chosen from hundreds of applicant across the college but it was Sligo student Niall O’Connor, that was awarded the coveted prize of €10,000 for his brain child: Sonarplex. The aim of Sonarplex is to improve the overall experience of delegates at conferences by using “smart” technology such as tablets and smart phones to enhance their learning and interaction. SonarPlex will merge these services using a cloud-based system to store, and manage access to conference content and

data. The two runners up; Tunes in the Church and An Mheitheal Rothar (The Bicycle Gang) scooped €5,000 each for their innovative ideas. Tunes in the Church is a project centred on showcasing traditional Irish music in churches around the country. Kerryman and PhD phycology student, Cormac Ó Beaglaoich is the founder on this project. An Mheitheal Rothar aims to set up a free, student-run bicycle workshop in the college to promote the benefits of bicycling. The team includes Paul O' Donnell, Mary Green, Sarit O'Donovan and Senan Mac Aoidh. The ALIVE ceremony took place on Tuesday 27 and 956 students received certificates in recognition of their volunteering work throughout the year. Mayor Hildegard

Naughton, Pat Morgan Vice President for student experience, and Lorraine Mc Irath were guest speakers at the event. Mayor Hildegarde Naughton, a former student of the college spoke of how the community is benefitting from the volunteer work of NUI Galway students: “This is a fantastic turn out here today and a great celebration of volunteerism at NUI Galway and I must say during my year as Mayor going around the city it was very apparent all the work that students in NUI Galway are doing throughout the city and it’s great to celebrate that here today.” “I just want to congratulate all the students who received their ALIVE cert here today,” she added.

MBA Celebrates 40 Years in NUIG

Marine Robot Technology in UL

Highlights of the 11 2011/2012 Academic Year NUIG Campus: Four Students’ Perspectives

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Rory Kavanagh: A Legacy

ROPES Journal Review

NUIG Students To Take On All Ireland Yacht Race

Continued on Page 2

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

NUI Galway Wants it That Way By Cormac O’Malley BizSoc treasurer Conor Mulloy was the source of an idea that was almost an overnight success, resulting in a donation of €10,000 to 1Life Suicide Helpline. Along with We Session, Supermacs sponsored of the video, having agreed before production to give 50c to the suicide intervention charity for every view of the video up to

20,000 views in the first week of the video’s uploading. The production of ‘NUIG wants it that way’ took place over a couple of weeks throughout February and March. It was filmed across a wide range of venues including the Engineering building, the Kirwan theatre, inside and outside the library and even in the Kingfisher swimming pool. The College Bar was also included,

appearing at the beginning of video, when we hear the whistling of none other than DJ Byrno. The filming did not just happen on campus however, a bit of the clip shows some participants, including myself, Michael Talty and Conor Mulloy, dancing outside Supermacs in Eyre Square to the bemusement of passers-by. Their curiosity was of no surprise, as four

young men robed in white and dancing during the daytime is not very regularly seen outside of Supermacs. It was not only those mentioned above that were involved in the project. So too were Johny West, Rory Kitt, Oisín Robbins, Shane Reilly and SU President-Elect Paul Curley. A few members of the outgoing Students’ Union also took part in the project, including: President

Emmet Connolly, Welfare Officer Brian Grant and Arts Convenor Kevin Donoghue. As the video shows, there was most certainly an equality of enthusiasm among participants, but that was of no surprise, given the good cause the project is raising funds for. However, what was surprising for many was that after much persuasion, President Jim Browne got involved in the project. He

can be seen three minutes in to the video clicking his fingers. As one YouTube user commented: “Jim Browne is all about the money fingers”. Many believed that were the video not for such a good cause then his appearance would not have happened. However, our President’s moves add to the uniqueness of the video. Continued on Page 2

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Healthy Heart Apps Developed in NUIG By Colette Sexton A fourth year medical student in NUI Galway has developed two Apps designed to help people make better health decisions. Mike McNamara, from Ennis Co. Clare, launched the health education apps last week on the App Store in conjunction with the heart and stroke charity Croí. Croí FoodWise is a user friendly app which uses a novel traffic light system to inform people on their food shopping choices. Users simply compare the information on the food label with the values assigned to the colours red (unhealthy choice), amber and green (healthy choice). Croí HeartWise empowers individuals as they attempt to make healthy lifestyle choices. The user

can calculate their “Heart Age” by inputting simple information about themselves. They can track their dietary and alcohol consumption patterns and monitor their smoking habits, including how much money they would save if they quit. A detailed physical activity tracker ensures that the user meets the recommended weekly levels of exercise and they can also monitor their goals by observing their progress around a virtual running track. At the launch of the two new Apps, project supervisor Dr Gerard Flaherty, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Medicine and Medical Education at NUI Galway said: “With the widespread use of smartphones and iPads by people of all ages, mobile applications represent a highly effective means of delivering key health promotion

messages to a wide audience with the aim of orienting individuals towards healthier lifestyle choices.” Speaking at the launch Croí CEO, Neil Johnson, indicated that the development of these Apps is directly in keeping with Croí’s aim to educate and motivate people to make heart healthy lifestyle choices. “In developing these apps, we have once again worked with medical students at NUI Galway, thus strengthening our relationship with the medical faculty at NUI Galway and this is a further step in developing new educational initiatives in preventive cardiology” he said. Since their release, the Apps have been downloaded by users in over twenty-five countries and Croí HeartWise has already achieved a five star rating in the App store.

NUIG Celebrates Non-academic Achievement Continued from Page 1 John O’Dowd, a final year civil engineering student, was among those who shared their volunteering experience, recalling his work in Nepal last April: “despite the beautiful surroundings, the dominating memory of the place was of the people who are struggling for the most basic needs in life with a severe lack of food and clean water. In terms of life experience working with foundation Nepal was invaluable,” he said. When it was first established only 15 students took part in the ALIVE programme. The numbers have risen dramatically as to date 3,500 students have received their certificates. It is clear that the volunteering spirit is well and truly ALIVE in NUI Galway. The annual Sports Awards were also held last week. RTE’s rugby analyst Brent Pope graced the 2012 Sports Awards on 29 March. Sporting excellence and organisational and leadership skills shown by students throughout the year were recognised at

this years ceremony. Winner’s included; Sligo’s Des Leonard who won a silver medal at the 2012 World Kickboxing Championships, Jennifer Byrne who was part of the successful Irish U19 Women’s Soccer team at their World Cup and Adam Caulfield who led the NUI Galway Water polo team to victory in the IUSWA national competition. “NUI Galway recognises the outstanding contribution of student athletes across many diverse sporting disciplines for their achievements in sport,” said Kathy Hynes, D e v e l o p m e n t O f f i c e r, Sport Clubs and Participation. Louise Riordan from the Ladies Hockey Club received the Club Captain’s Award for her skilful and dedicated work to her club. Her co-ordination of the intervarsity was hailed as the best she had ever attended by President of the Irish Hockey Association. Those who attended the Societies awards were treated to a very special appearance of the hunky NUIG Back Street Boys, whose video on YouTube

has received 30,000 hits and raised €10,000 for charity. However the top stars of the night were of course the award recipients. The ceremony took place in the Radisson Blu Hotel on 27 March to celebrate the extraordinary work of NUI Galway societies. This year 4,000 events were organised ranging from educational, cultural, social and humanitarian. To put the work of the societies in perspective, over the last eight years they have contributed over €1.5 million to charity. Speakers on the evening included Deputy President An tOllamh Nollaig MacCongáill and Vice President for the Student Experience Dr Pat Morgan. Two societies in particular walked away with an arm full of awards: BizSoc and DramSoc. Both societies have had extraodinary year, and picked up an incredible three awards each. The events and ceremonies of last week have shown that NUI Galway continues to shine bright in both academic and nonacademic environments.

3rd Year BA in Mathematics and Education students hosted a Challenge Maths competition for 1st and 2nd year students from various secondary schools in Galway on Friday 23 March in Arás na Mac Leinn. The event was a huge success and huge credit is due to all involved. Pictured are the organising team from 3rd Year BA in Mathematics and Education. Photo courtesy of Damien O Connell.

NUI Galway Wants it That Way Continued from Page 1 The video itself went online on Monday 19 March, days after a trailer featuring some of the participants appeared on the STVGalway YouTube chan-

nel. The actual video saw as many as 4,000 views within the first 24 hours due to word of mouth and sharing on Facebook and Twitter. Local and national viewing was encouraged all the more by the reporting of

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

the video on Spunout.ie and in the Galway Advertiser. The Rubberbandits even promoted it on their Facebook page, saing “Be sound and give it a view and a share.” Viral social media sharing resulted in the video being viewed globally within a short space of time, by audiences in Austria, Belgium, New York, California, London and even reaching as far as Malaysia within the first week of release. As a result of this publicity the number of views that those involved aimed to reach within the first week (20,000), was no longer merely a faraway target. Only three days after its release, there were views of over 23,000. There was a great sense of relief and pride among participants that they reached such impressive targets within such a small space of time. For NUI Galway students who had not seen the video (now a small minority it seems), they had opportunities at the Socs Awards on Tuesday of last week and a flash-mob in the Bialann two weeks ago. Both got a very positive reaction and increased viewings, which at time of going to press were at 30,000.

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I’ve been dreading this for a while. Let me tell you, the pressure to produce a funny but poignant final Editorial is unbearable. I know you all think your exams are important, and that the international situation is dreadful, but trying to write a farewell editorial would really help you put things in perspective. One is expected to succinctly summarise all the incredible experiences one has had in the last year with poise and grace and to thank you, the students, for the opportunity to humbly serve you. What I really want to do is gush about my amazing writers, and tell you funny stories about all the things that make each and every one of them unique. I’ll get to that. Let me start by making some excuses. Traditionally the final issue of Sin has included an article from “The Sin Spectator” which critiques the Students’ Union Executive of that academic year. The Sin Spectator is a jerk. It’s supposedly anonymous and their thing is to sarcastically criticize the people they have worked with, but they lack the guts to simply say this stuff to them in the pub like a normal person. Honestly, the Spectator is a bigger ass than RON. Also, it is widely acknowledged that the Spectator in the case of the final issue is the current Editor. We all like to complain about the people we work with. However its rarely constructive or productive, and I believe it is poor journalism. Have you

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Graduate Recruitment Opportunities in Galway

Editorial ever written a nasty email to someone with no intention of sending it and then, bemused by your own vitriol, attempted to send it to a friend for their entertainment, but accidentally send it to the person you’re writing about? Well, imagine doing that with 6,000 copies of Sin. The only people who actually want to read it are the people being critiqued, and they will invariably laugh along with certain comments and get wildly ticked off with others. Readers, I promise you, Sin has reported the successes and failures of this year’s Students’ Union as they happened: always without bias, always in a fair and impartial manner. Let’s not undo all that good work now. I will add this, on a personal note: I have truly enjoyed working with and becoming friends with the Students’ Union Executive this year. There are some big personalities in there, but they are likeable folk. If you are having difficulties with any aspect of your academic and extra-curricular life, the current exec will be around for another few months. Go visit them. See for yourself. Now, for the hard part. When I took on this job in August I knew I needed three things to make this newspaper work: a new ethos, a great designer and an incredible team of volunteers. We radically overhauled Sin bringing its focus firmly to student and campus news and events. I’ve taken some criticism from this, mostly from the aforementioned incredible team of volunteers, but I stand by it. It was perhaps a knee-jerk reaction for next year’s Editor to consider softening, but it was a necessary one. The thing that constantly surprised

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By Jane Kearns

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc. me was that there is enough news emerging from our university to fill these pages. And more! The incredible designer helped with that. We pack about 30,000 words into each issue of Sin and photography to boot. Shannon Reeves has made all that material look good. He has made me look good. He has been patient but firm, critical but kind. He has my eternal gratitude, and an incredible future ahead of him. The volunteers – writers, photographers, and deputy editors – are the heart and soul of this paper. They have made me laugh and they have made me cry, but no matter what, they have always made me proud. To each and every one of them I award five gold stars. In the words of Anne Doyle: “For me, it’s been a pleasure. Good fortune. Goodbye.”

On 28 March NUI Galway played host to the second annual Graduate Recruitment and Opportunities in the West (GROW) careers fair. The fair, organised by the Careers Development Centre at NUI Galway, was held in the Bailey Allen Hall and showcased many of the top graduate recruiters based in the west of Ireland, including Abbott, KPMG, Fidelity Investments, KBC Bank, Avaya and the newly established local firm SourceDogg. All of the recruiting organisations were eagerly seeking talented and qualified applications from NUI Galway students in a wide variety of disciplines ranging from business to engineering to IT and languages. Deirdre Sheridan of NUI

Galway’s Career Development Centre, said: “It’s refreshing to know that there are opportunities in the West of Ireland and that organisations are actively and enthusiastically recruiting. This event was the perfect opportunity for alumni and current students to meet with local employers, explore graduate opportunities available on our doorstep, and hopefully kick-start a career in the West of Ireland in order for students to benefit fully from this experience.” The fair which was held between 5-7p.m. was a great opportunity for upcoming graduates as well as those who just wish to see what type of career might be suited to them in the future and to promote local employment during recessionary times.

Harry Potter Soc Quidditch Match in NUI Galway on 28 March, 2012. Photo by Majella Burke.

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GMIT Staff Discuss Low Morale By Jessica Thompson The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) said it is “consulting with staff” in the largest of the college’s five schools, following a three-hour meeting on issues relating to low morale two weeks ago. The meeting between the business school staff and the management follows several other meetings held in recent months. During one of these meetings, it was reported that “motivation and moral” are at “an all-time low”, and that staff in the business school were concerned about the lack of consultation with the management, as well as other issues.

At the meeting, the business school staff told how “disillusioned and “demotivated they are” – feelings which have been recorded in the minutes of three separate meetings, two in February and one in March. Morning lectures were cancelled in GMIT to allow for staff to attend the three-hour meeting which took place off-campus in the Carlton Hotel. During the meeting, staff in the business school criticised the management style, saying that there was a lack of consultation as well as general discontent about day-to-day academic issues. Minutes from the February meetings show that the employees of the business school have been discon-

tent for a while. The minutes from the 22 February meeting state that “motivation and morale are currently at an all-time low in the school” and that the “level of trust and respect in the school is low.” The minutes also said; “Staff are disillusioned and de-motivated and note there is a need to develop and open culture.” This is not the first management controversy in GMIT. In March 2011, there was an issue about the way college management dealt with complaints and suspicions of plagiarism. This was highlighted by one lecturer in 2010. The unrest among the staff stretches back to 2005 when this issue of plagiarism first arose.

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The Executive MBA: Forty Years On By Declan Higgins It boasts some of the finest names from the business community in the west among its alumni, from Padraig O’Ceidigh of Aer Arann to Gene Browne of City Bin Company. Now, the executive Masters in Business Administration is celebrating its fortieth year in existence at the University. To mark the milestone, the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics is hosting a series of information evenings. According to the school, these information evenings will afford prospective e-MBA students a chance to meet with the faculty and alumni, as well as present students of the course. The internationally esteemed degree is multifaceted and thus has an international element to it. Most recently, its students have been afforded the opportunity to study

Park & Ride Bus Service

abroad at New York’s prestigious Fordham University. A current student on the programme, Brendan Galvin who is also in sales, said that “the MBA programme at NUI Galway has amassed immense benefits for me personally and professionally from day one. The lecturers are extremely approachable and the camaraderie experienced through fellow classmates has given me deep-rooted networks which I suspect will last throughout my career.” Programme director of the executive MBA in NUI Galway, Dr. Alma McCarthy, spoke of the MBA having “a very strong focus on career and professional development and we have an excellent bespoke mentoring programme for MBA students with key business leaders from the locality.” The degree encompasses many aspects, including areas such as accounting, management, economics, business

information systems, finance, human resource management, enterprise, marketing and such optional modules as taxation and international marketing, and much, much more. In today’s ever more challenging market place, it is integral that business leaders are as comprehensively educated and briefed to evolve and develop in the dynamic world of business. Numbers undertaking MBAs are steadily growing as more and more seek to retrain or up-skill to weather the storm of economic uncertainty that has enveloped the commercial sector. In addition to the information evening being held at NUIG, others will be held in Dublin on 26 April, in Sligo on 2 May and another in Athlone on the 3 May next. These information sessions are sure to be of keen interest to those wishing to undertake one of the foremost business degrees available.

Park & Ride Bus Service

Ride Bus Service Timetable - Semester 1, 2011 PARKPark&&RIDE BUS SERVICE

AN TSEIRBHÍS Park & Timetable RidePÁIRCEÁLA Bus Service - Semester& 1, TAISTIL 2011

Timetable - Semester 2, 2012

Timetable - Semester 1, 2011 Amchlár – Seimeastar 2, 2012

Peak Morning Service from 1, Dangan Carpark (every 15 minutes) Timetable - Semester 2011

8.00, 8.15, 8.30, 8.45, 9.00, 9.15, 9.30, 9.45, 10.00, 10.15, 10.30, 10.45, 11.00 Peak Morning Service from Dangan Carpark (every 15 minutes) 8.00, 8.15, 8.30, 8.45, 9.00, 9.15, 9.30, 9.45,

Peak Morning Service from Dangan Carpark (every 15 minutes)

8.00, 8.15, 8.30, 8.45, 9.00, 9.15, 9.30, 9.45, 10.00, 10.15, 10.30, 10.45, 11.00 Peak Morning Service from Dangan Carpark (every 15 minutes)

10.15, 10.30, 10.45, from 11.00 Dangan Carpark (every 30 minutes) Mid - 10.00, Morning lite Service

11.30, 12.00, 12.30 Mid - Morning lite Service from Dangan Carpark (every 30 minutes) 11.30, 12.00, 12.30

Lunchtime Shuttle Mid–Morning lite From Orbsen Building 13.00, 13.30

Lunchtime Shuttle From Orbsen Building

Lunchtime Shuttle From Dangan Carpark 13.15, 13:45

11.30, 12.00, 12.30 Mid - Morning lite Service from Dangan Carpark (every 30 minutes) 11.30, 12.00, 12.30

Lunchtime Shuttle From Orbsen Building

Lunchtime Shuttle From Dangan Carpark

13.00, 13.30

13.15, 13:45

Afternoon lite Service from Orbsen Building (every 30 minutes)

14.30, 15.00, 15.30 Afternoon lite Service from Orbsen14.00, Building (every 30 minutes)

lite

8.00, 8.15, 8.30, 8.45, 9.00, 9.15, 9.30, 9.45,

10.15, 10.30, 10.45, from 11.00 Dangan Carpark (every 30 minutes) Mid - 10.00, Morning lite Service

14.00, 14.30, 15.00, 15.30

13.00, 13.30

Lunchtime Shuttle From Orbsen Building

Bus ag Am Lóin ó Áras Oirbsean 13.00, 13.30

17.45, 18.00, 18.15, 18.30, 18.45, 19.00

The night time service is no longer running.

University is providing a free EMERGENCY taxi shuttle from Orbsen to the Dangan carpark (only). The night time The service is no longer running. 9pmaplease telephone 091-561111 to request the Dangan The University isAfter providing free EMERGENCY taxi shuttle from Orbsenatotaxi thejourney Danganto carpark (only). carpark. After 9pm pleasePlease telephone 091-561111 request a taxi journey to the Dangan note: No other to taxi destinations are possible and thecarpark. service is only available from 9pm to 11pm Please note: No other destinations are possible and the is only available from 9pm to 11pm Your taxi staff/student number and name willservice be requested by the driver, for our records.

Your staff/student number and name will be requested by the driver, for our records.

Bus ag Am Lóin ó Charrchlós an Daingin 13.15, 13:45

14.30, 15.00, 15.30 Afternoon lite Service from Orbsen14.00, Building (every 30 minutes) 14.00, 14.30, 15.00, 15.30

Peak Evening Service from Orbsen Building (every 15 minutes) Peak Evening Service from Orbsen Building (every 17.00, 15 minutes) 16.00, 16.15, 16.30, 16.45, 17.15, 17.30, 17.45, 18.00, 18.15, 18.30, 18.45, 19.00 16.00, 16.15, 16.30, 16.45, 17.00, 17.15, 17.30, 17.45, 18.00, 18.15, 18.30, 18.45, 19.00

The night time service is no longer running.

The University is providing a free EMERGENCY taxi shuttle from Orbsen to the Dangan carpark (only). The night time service is no longer running.

Ní seirbhís ar fáil After 9pmana please telephone 091-561111 to request the Dangan The bheidh University is providing freehoíche EMERGENCY taxiníos shuttlemó. from Orbsenatotaxi thejourney Danganto carpark (only). carpark. Afteran 9pm pleasePlease telephone 091-561111 to request a taxi journey toin theaisce Dangan note: No other taxi destinations are possible and ar thecarpark. service is only available 9pm to 11pm Tá Ollscoil ag cur tacsaí ÉIGEANDÁLA saor fáil ó Oirbsean chuigfrom carrchlós Please note: No other destinations are possible and the is only available from 9pm to 11pm Your taxi staff/student number and name willservice be requested by the driver, for our records. Your staff/student number and name will be requested by the driver, for our records.

a dhéanamh ar thacsaí chuig carrchlós an Daingin.Tabhair faoi deara: Ní féidir tacsaí

Dangan carpark. Please note: No other taxi destinations are possible and the service is student number and name will be requested by the driver, for our records.

foirne/mic léinn a lua leis an tiománaí.

Buildings Office, 2011; subject to change Buildings Office, 2011; subject to change

QR code timetable QR code timetable QR code timetable

13.15, 13:45

Lunchtime Shuttle From Dangan Carpark

Afternoon lite Service from Orbsen Building (every 30 minutes)

Peak Evening Service from Orbsen Building (every 15 minutes) Peak Evening Service from Orbsen Building (every 17.00, 15 minutes) 17.15, 17.30, 16.00, 16.15, 16.30, 16.45, 17.45, 18.00, 18.15, 18.30, 18.45, 19.00 16.00, 16.15, 16.30, 16.45, 17.00, 17.15, 17.30,

Lunchtime Shuttle From Dangan Carpark

Buildings Office, 2011; subject to change Buildings Office, 2011; subject to change QR code timetable

QR code timetable

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NUIG Research Aims to Deliver Remote Healthcare By Colette Sexton New technologies being developed at NUI Galway will assist the delivery of healthcare to patients in their own home in rural and remote communities of northern Europe. The EU-funded project, I m p l e m e n t i n g Tr a n snational Telemedicine Solutions (ITTS), aims to create a range of projects based on mobile self management, video consultation and home based health services. Last week, research partner teams from Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Finland gathered at NUI Galway for a two-day meeting. At the conference experts were given the opportunity to hold lectures and workshops. The information and knowledge transfer that occurred there will allow all partner teams to proceed with their respective projects so that in the future all projects are both viable and sustainable within partner countries. Dr Liam Glynn, a senior

lecturer in General Practice at NUI Galway and Principal Investigator of the Irish ITTS research team emphasised the importance of the new technologies. “This project has the potential to deliver significant innovation in the connected health space. Our aim is to investigate the potential to deliver aspects of healthcare via a variety of technology platforms including the internet, smartphones and via video conferencing. These will include speech therapy, diabetes care and self management, inflammatory bowel disease management and physiotherapy based rehabilitation for COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),” Dr Glynn explained. He stated that the overall aim of the €2.3 million project is to allow those living in rural areas, the elderly, and a range of other groups to monitor aspects of own health and access healthcare professionals from their own homes. Other NUI Galway members of the ITTS team

include Professor Gearóid Ó Laighin from NUI Galway’s College of Engineering and Informatics. His group is responsible for the coordination of an innovative project on the use of smartphones for tracking physical activity. Smartphones possess tiny accelerometers which can be used for this purpose. The team aims to use this technology to increase physical activity in amongst patients thereby leading to a wide range of potential health benefits. The ITTS teams and their respective clinicians, speech therapists, researchers, engineers and technologists work in a variety of fields including psychiatry, emergency services, diabetes, rehabilitation and care of the elderly. The ITTS project is funded under the EU Northern Periphery Project (NPP), which aims to help peripheral and remote communities on the northern margins of Europe to develop their economic, social and environmental potential.

Sin Newspaper Forms Partnership with Studenty.me By Jessica Thompson Launched in September 2011, Studenty.me is on course to become one of the biggest online student communities in Ireland. Studenty_Galway has recently formed partnerships with Sin newspaper and s:tv|Galway, and has broadcast the work of these two organisations across Ireland, giving NUI Galway journalists and the film-makers the national recognition they deserve. Led by a dedicated team of student media editors, Studenty.me has grown to almost 200 online jour-

nalists, based in locations covering the island of Ireland. Studenty consists of a number of sites, the main ones being Galway, Dublin, Cork and Belfast, but welcomes students from all over the island to join for the chance of being published on a national online platform. The site has welcomed students from all societies from Writers Soc to the Nothing Specific Society to showcase their talents on the online platform: “If you’re a Sin journalist and would like to continue writing news over the summer, join up. If you’re

a member of the photography society and would like to broadcast your photos, get in touch. If you’re interested in videoblogging, Studenty would be happy to have you. Or if you have an idea that you think you’d like to do for Studenty, let us know.” If you’re looking for something to pass the summer months, why not try your hand at writing for studenty.me? To get involved with Studenty, simply visit ‘galway.studenty.me’ and click ‘join us’. Alternatively, you can send an email to the Galway editor on jess@studenty.me.

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Human Rights Violations Addressed in NUI Galway By Austin Maloney NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights and School of Law addressed the issue of human rights violations by corporations and other business entities in a conference on Saturday, 24 March, focussing on the implications for Ireland of a recent United Nations initiative. The initiative in question was Professor John Ruggie’s Framework for Business and Human Rights, which emphasises the need for responses to violations of human rights in business and a corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and was adopted by the UN in 2011. The conference, entitled ‘Ireland and the United Nation’s Framework for Business and Human Rights’, examined this new framework with regards to Ireland. Ire-

land is seen as an obvious case study, as it is home to many multinational corporations, has a trend of increasing privatisation of public services, and has been witness to many allegations of corporate violations of human rights in recent years. Numerous international case studies were featured at the conference, including NUI Galway’s Dr Tony Royle’s ‘IKEA Way in Retail’, a talk using a Swedish company to present on multinational corporations; a panel on ‘Migrant Workers, Forced Labour and Trafficking’ chaired by Dr Ciara Hackett from the NUI Galway School of Law; and a discussion with Professor Anita Ramasastry from the University of Washington on ‘Lessons from Civil Litigation in the US’. Other papers presented included topics on

corporate accountability for overseas activities, legislative shortcomings in Ireland related to business and human rights, company strategies for addressing human rights, and the rights of migrant workers. Speaking before the conference, organiser Dr Shane Darcy of NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights said “This area is particularly relevant at the moment given the recent implication of Irish technology companies in censorship and repression in Syria. There is a need to move beyond a voluntary corporate social responsibility approach and for a greater focus on the State’s obligation at home and abroad with regard to human rights and business. So far, we are seeing many shortcomings with regard to Ireland when it comes to corporate violations of human rights”.

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G alway N E ws

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Literary and Debating Society Host Speaker of The Year Competition

Challenges Facing the Irish economy

By Mark Kelly

O n 2 4 M a rc h t h e European Commission Representation in Ireland organized a special one day conference entitled ‘Challenges facing the Irish economy,’ in Áras Moyola. The panel that led discussions that day were made up of: NUIG Head and Lecturer of Economics, Professor John Mchale; NUIG Lecturer in Economics, Dr Alan Ahearne; UCC Lecturer in Economics, Séamus Coffey; Independent economist, Ronan Lyons. Discussions were moderated and the conference hosted by financial journalist and author, Margaret Ward whose previous incarnations include a wide range of work in RTE. This conference was aimed at not only business people and politicians but especially at bloggers and those working in social media- a sector rapidly becoming incorporated in mainstream media through both influence

The Literary and Debating society held their annual speaker of the year competition on Thursday, 22 March. It began, as always, with Pre-Motion Talk (PMT). The motion put forward was that the house believes Ireland should accept the gender quota bill, currently being discussed in the Dail. There were interesting points from both sides. Maria O’Flaherty brought up the point that it was tough for a woman to even get nominated by a party, let alone get elected, and this contributed to Ireland’s lack of female politicians. Honorary life member Dave Finn pointed out the reason that women failed to get into positions for election due to losing “power struggles” in the party, and not being the best candidate. Another speaker pointed out

that women who do get into power without gender quotas are usually exceptional politicians. However, when the motion was put, a tight victory for the opposition insured it was defeated. Next, the six candidates took to the stage, to debate the motion “This House Believes it is Time to Occupy”. The three speakers on the proposition, Maria Kennan, Shane Commins and Shane Gavin, all put forward some interesting and valid points. It ranged from the fact that they were occupying a public space, and as such, they had every right to use it to protest against any injustices they felt were happening in Ireland, to how occupying public spaces was the most effective way of showing the Government the movement means business. The opposition, consisting of Andrew Shevlane, Andrew Hannon

and Ruth Cormican, pointed out reasons why occupying wasn’t a good idea, such as that public spaces should be for everyone, not just the occupiers to claim; that people really didn’t care much for the movement and never did; to the belief that the occupy Movement is both a failure and eyesore. The judges withdrew to deliberate, and Dave Finn then proceeded to point out that the speakers had only focused on the Occupy Movement, and not the right to occupy as a whole. This swayed the debate in favour of the proposition, with a clear majority in favour. However, the big moment came when Sean Butler came onto the stage to announce the winner. Andrew Hannon finished runner-up to Shane Commins, who took home the trophy and the coveted title Speaker of the Year.

by Cormac O’Malley

and relevance, that may have helped close the gap that separates keydecision makers and the public that elect them. A topic discussed at the one-day conference was whether or not the mainstream media could be given credit for the Irish public becoming more economically literate and informed since the beginning of crisis. Some may say that it is the greater accessibility of economists and their ideas online that should be accredited with this growing trend of learning, as most economists can now be found on Twitter and have their owns blogs. What would have come up at the conference is the rewriting of Irish banking debt, an option being considered in Brussels, and one of the challenges facing the Irish economy right now. Another challenge is the globalization of Irish businesses and Irish trade agreements, the latter of which have improved in recent times with one particular country: China. After

Chinese Vice-President, Xi Jinping’s, recent visit, Ireland’s trade partnership with China has strengthened. It was encouraged all the more by the Taoiseach’s visit to China last week. It is felt by the general consensus that exports along with IT and tourism is the strongest of Irish industries in the road to recovery. Given that the conference was organized by the European commission, the subject of Ireland’s corporation tax was under discussion. All three parties of government, Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil have been insistent that a rise in corporation tax is not an option. The referendum for the fiscal compact treaty, due to happen in May or June, was another hot topic. It is felt among some that a Yes vote to the treaty, supported by Fine Gel, Labour and Fianna Fáil, but opposed by the ULA and Sinn Féin, will affect Ireland’s competitiveness, while others feel that further federalisation is the only way to save Europe.

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The NUI Galway Physics Society donated €1,500 to the Irish Cancer Society recently. The money has been earmarked specifically for cancer research. From left to right: Physics Soc’s Kenneth Hanley (Vice-Auditor), Emma McMahon (Treasurer), Mark Coughlan (Audior); Justin McDermot (Irish Cancer Society); and from NUIG Cancer Society Evelyn O’Donnell, Kerrie McGee and Jacqueline Bow. Photo by Barry Flannery.

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G alway N ews

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Top Outstanding Young Bodies Donated to NUIG Person of the Year 2012 By Katie Finnegan

By Sinead Healy Do you know an outstanding young person aged 18-40 living in the Galway area that has made a difference in their local community? Perhaps you would like to see someone recognized for their outstanding academic accomplishments? If so, Junior Chamber Galway is actively seeking nominations for the Top Outstanding Young Person (TOYP) of the Year 2012. Nominees have until 9 April to get applications in. There are a broad range of categories that people are sought for; business, academic, cultural, environmental, voluntary, human rights and medical. Local winners will go forward to represent Galway at a national awards ceremony in May. They will then possibly go on to represent Ireland at the JCI World Congress in Taiwan this November. Junior Chamber Galway is a branch of the largest organisation of young leaders and entrepreneurs in the world. At the World JCI Con-

gress held in Japan in 2010 one of NUI Galway’s own, medical student Melanie Hennessy, was recognised as one of the top ten outstanding young persons of the world. She had been nominated in Galway for her exceptional voluntary work helping to build a school and home for disadvantaged orphans in the village of Talamarang, Nepal. Melanie said at the time, “I honestly can’t believe it. I can’t thank JCI Galway enough for the hard work they put in and to win the award in Japan was totally unbelievable. I would recommend to anyone to enter this competition if you feel you have contributed something worthwhile and are looking to learn from other similar individuals. “ It was fantastic for Galway to have an international winner in 2010 and Junior Chamber Galway are eager to find national and international winner(s) again in 2012. According to Anne-Marie Shanahan, JCI Galway President and NUI Galway Graduate, this competition

is “a golden opportunity to nominate a family member, friend, colleague or classmate whom you would like to see honoured for their outstanding work and talent. The fact that the national awards are taking place in Galway in May this year means that the spotlight is on the high calibre, talent, dedication and academic acumen of so many young people living and working in Galway. The fact that the past winners have included John F. Kennedy and Elvis Presley among many other outstanding young people bears testimony to high esteem in which this award is seen on a worldwide level.” Candidates must be between the ages of 18-40 and living in Galway County/City. They would need to be available for interview the week commencing 12 April. Applications to JCI need to be received by 10 April 2012. For further information please contact Olivia Hayes or Anne Marie Shanahan on 087 9967968 or email: toyp@jci-galway. org

Fifty-five people registered to donate their bodies to NUI Galway for teaching and research over the last two years. Twenty people have signed up so far this year and a further thirty-five offered their bodies to the anatomy department in 2011. Fifteen bodies were received for teaching and anatomical research in 2009, twenty-one in 2010 and a further twelve last year. Alexander Black of the NUI Galway Anatomy Department says there is no problem with the number of bodies being donated despite reported appeals for cadavers in other third level institutes around the country. The donation of a person’s remains allow students and surgeons alike to practice, hone and master their skills without endangering life. Students pursuing careers in medicine, dentistr y, physiotherapy, radiation therapy, clinical speech and language studies and occupational therapy are among those who reap the benefits of learning from the donor’s remains. Any individual may bequeath their body, after

their death, to the anatomy department of a medical school such as NUI Galway. According to the Anatomy Department at NUIG; “Body donation is a most generous and charitable gesture and it is with deep gratitude that we at Anatomy, NUI Galway, accepts bequests of this manner, for they help us train the future generation of medical doctors and medical scientists.” The year 1315 marked the first public record of dissection, which took place in Bologna, Italy. If you pay a visit to Bologna University you can still see the original anatomy theatre. It’s constructed in a way that allows all students to have an unobstructed view of the dissection table. Dissections were performed on the bodies of condemned criminals supplied to the medical faculty by the civic authorities. As time went on, and medical education became more common, the supply of human bodies became restricted, prompting many colourful ‘bodysnatching’ schemes. Body snatching from graveyards became a lucrative activity for those dubbed “resurrectionists”. The most infamous were, of course, William Burke and

William Hare. An Ulsterman who ran a boarding house in Edinburgh, Hare came up with the idea of selling bodies to anatomists after the death of one of his lodgers. Along with Burke, another lodger in the house, the two turned to murder. They would lure victims to the house, suffocate them and sell them on. Hare turned King’s evidence and, in 1829, Burke was hanged. In reaction to the outrage caused in the process, the British Anatomy Act of 1832 was introduced. It awarded the medical profession rights to “unclaimed bodies” – in effect, those of workhouse paupers. This archaic legislation is still in force, although of course all donations are now voluntary, with donors coming from all walks of life. NUI Galway advised it has “sufficient donations which allows it to deliver a high quality Gross Anatomy Programme to more than 1,000 undergraduate students from a wide range of disciplines it teaches each year”. If you’re interested in body donation, visit www. nuigalway.ie/anatomy/donation

Girl 2: I don't actually like elephants but they have massive penises don’t they?  Girl 1: I actually just meant that you like love stories.

their g-strings unless you sellotape them."

Overheard in NUI Galway Robbie Kiely Walking past the old Civil Engineering building One fella says to his friend: You know there is at least 12 people a year taken by aliens! Mark Roche Girl: What's 9 and 9? <long pause> ...18 Rory Boyle Outside library, three girls. Girl 1: Ya and then after that she went outside, sat on the steps and started balling crying.  Two seconds later Girls 1,2 and 3: All start roaring laughing! Daniel Mc Court Guy walks up to group of friends at tree outside College Bar after ALIVE ceremony.

Guy: We all have certs now to prove we’re ALIVE.  Group: All break into laughter. :) Cathal Kelly Arts student: "I heard something about girls who like horses. They can never love a man because they love their horses too much." Catherine Heanue My dear friend Caolán: ''This is the fourth night this week I've slept in these jeans. Now I feel like they're pretty much a part of me.'' Aisling Owens Girl and a guy at Smokeys  Guy: Is 18 a high number, for the amount of people you've been with?  Girl: No, 50's a high number for the amount of people

you've been with! Megan Cox Guy on phone on Shop Street last night : "CarBIN or CarBON?!" Ken Mark Walsh Young guy runs up to man in suit: Hey Jimmy!   Suit bloke turns around. First guy: Oh sorry I

thought you were someone else.  Suit guy: I am. Jessica McGuinness Girl 1: Watch water for elephants its right up your street  Girl 2: What are you trying to say?  Girl 1 : That you like water and you like elephants?

Cian Ó Móráin American girl: "I don't know how you have strippers in Ireland as you guys don't use dollar bills. You just can't fit euro coins into

John Burke College Bar toilets. Two engineers discussing exams . Engineer 1: How’d metals go for you?  Engineer 2: Grand enough, how was thermo?   Engineer 1: I’m pissing on it right now, we’ll see how it goes down soon enough.

T R O P E R IMPACT ’ s t n e d u t S r u o y s g in h Some of the t : r a e y is h t e n o d s a h n io Un

f ber o st num o the e h g i he h ver t Sent t students e emontd G I n NU es ud e nal st inst fee hik er b natio a m g e a v n o o strati t cuts in N UIG) N r an and g r 900 from (ove

er f ov les o he past a s d t ix ver ieve ur s Ach 0,000 o hs in o ering t 0 e at €4,0 ve mon l and c Colleg , l i é e e f a h t a t w t re ets: ub C l out , the H fé, the Bar ey’s Ca s na k ra Smo Café, Á e SU l th l Wa fé and a c ilge Shop G ae

Ran the lf ’ ‘Note to Se ss de-stre a c mpaign

Hosted ‘Pink Training ’ for LGBT students from across the country

Threw 42 nts stude a plane f out o other 20 n a e r hot whil d ove climbed e k l a w 4 ll for and 3 coals atrick – a hP Croag charity

d ‘Sin’, Reforme ediew with a n s, o tor, eth d n a design l ia r edito policy

ted in Participa s It ant W “NUIG ” and W That ay ise helped ra ra €10,000 fo re suicide-p y harit vention c

d to ibute Contr constiew the n for the i t tu on l Union of na natio s in Irent Stude (USI) land

S eac Gae htain n An c ilge 201 a fear eann is 2 – r ri a mh!

Gained over 2,000 k Faceboo is year, th s d n frie our and grew s follower Twitter

by 1,000

B e g an n eg univers otiations for al mem ber of the K ingfishe ship rG but def ym, er the vot red e until next ye ar to ensure we g e t the bes t possib for stud le deal ents

e aw th Overs of over on electi ass l 0 30 c reps

Held 12 free SU Sessions at Fáilte Fest and throughout the year

Passed th Platform e ‘No for Fa cists’ Po slic in Class y Rep Council

Ha fe e s for R d e redu ced f peat Yea rs rom to €1 €2,350 ,6 decr 00 – a ea s e o €750 or 32 f %

sts at cal prote ary lo d e is n Orga liament Gael par the Fine (Radis-

eeting p ar t y m l) and e s on H o t ces of at the offi erek sD local TD abour) Nolan (L (Fine n Walsh and Bria el) Ga

Han d over ed out 10,0 con 00 d to n oms e e stud ents dy

d and ipate xtenc i t r a P the e ns ed in o advis e renovati g din siv a e R of the nd The a Room nd got a ( b u H ball e fooz e r f a ll you a le to use) t ab

Became a father to a healthy baby boy (we ll, SU Pres the ident Em met Connoll y did)

Introdu ce voting ’ d ‘remote for SU e lections, s os can vot tudents e online if they ’re off-cam pus on poll ing day

ily ed €5 da Introduc e College th meals in d ring goo e ff Bar, o od fo y t quali price, at a fair o while als

g the improvin ross c system a SU Card outlets all our

ver sed o l s e r d a Ad dividu 400 in udents’ st tion educa s, issue ver si d e o along re issues elfa 600 w Installed a free-to-use microwave in The Hub

eek d a two-w Organise , h ig Fortn t Freshers’ 0 0 ,0 3 d over distribute r e v nd o SU bags a ries in dia U S 12,000 our new g in welcom this year students

Expanded the SU Lockers into the new Engineering Building

and Expanded nt e th Stude improved Awards, Enterprise creased with an in best d for the prize fun projects

Raised over €1,500 at our one-day bucket collection day on Shop Street (the most raised in two year s)

Opened SUtwo new afés c operated and b in The Hu g il ae e Áras na G

Issued over 2,000 student travel cards and sold over 1,000 ck lo ers on campus

first staffLaunched Ireland’s initiative: n tio va student inno .nuigalway. EXPLORE (www.su partie/explore) which dents stu d an ff ners sta ing nd fu es id ov pr and e tiv va to work on inno ts projec on campus Health Organised , Mental k e e Living W ek, Health We ek, e W G SHA ty fe a S d a o R d n Week a lity Week a u q E

Several office rs participated in the Shave or Dye event with the staff of the College Bar

Participated in the national student nurses’ protest in Dublin

Held an Activist Academy with various speakers on student activism

diselling cht s n a B eg nna ed Co count tickets in y Rugb U office e th S

ed the SU Introduc p er to kee d r o n i s e Pag of what d e m r o f you in n is up to o i n U r u yo

Continu ed to ru n regular e for Post vents g student raduate s Postgra , including d-aoke, movie nights, prese skills an ntation d yo g a

Held the best-attended class reps training in recent years

Ireland’s Organised h Walk’ wit first ‘Slut t is in m e F the Society

usic and zens of m o d d e is n Orga the year, igs during g y d e m o c p, Natty Des Bisho including unce, ad Cat Bo Wailer, De y, the Freshers’ ohert David O’D r and Neil eisúin Mó S n A , ll a B Delamere

18,300 over € Raised for the Gal) (so far Crisis pe a R y a w e and th e Centr health l menta punOut. S y it r a ch ie

Sig whic ned the ‘ h Ra a yea included g Week d : an e r for a fun xtra eal’, finan € d c 60,00 i f or the € al need 2 ent , the students 0 r y fe ab o l in Gym it e tees for clubs at the K ion of on f r i ngfis train ee h H e al i th U access t ng, guar er ann o it , m on c a t h e ore Stu m long pus for t poster b dent h oard t e e rm SU respe ct giv protect , and th s e i on o en to ft t and your his Unive he de gr e e s r si t y

d hundre several le d g e r in e s t Regis te in a ed ts to vo studen ay, and watch d U PresiNUIG S 4-65, 6 dent 19 HigD. l e a h Mic htarán c a ome U c e b , s gin eann na hÉir

Organised Li fe Skills courses in: si gn language, first aid, self defence, Irish languag e, defibrillator trainin g, door security and anti-racism training

Elected our first SU Mature Students Officer

Successfully addressed incidences of antisocial behav iour in the Newcastle ar ea, winning com mendations from severa l residents’ as sociations in the process

Ran accommodation advice sessions in town for those coming to college in September

er 400,000 Served ov a and cofcups of te er fee and ov ls a 80,000 me t u througho g n ri our cate e tl ou ts

Reformed the SU website and Online Bookstore

Re-implemented the ban on access to Facebook on campus computers – now in its third year and proving popular with students

{10} 13–12

N ational N ews

A robot designed by researchers at the University of Limerick has explored some of Ireland’s most famous shipwrecks. The advanced ‘smart technology’ marine robot, ROV Latis, was launched off the navy ship the LE Eithne to explore the wrecks of the Aud and WWI submarine UC42. The expedition deployed ROV Latis to take both sonar and video scans of the area. It also trialled ROV Cherokee technology alongside the ROV Latis operating system. The ROV Latis operating system, Ocean Rings, has proven a great success, according to research leader, Dr Daniel Toal. “This technology now includes state-of-the-art control systems, precision navigation and positioning capabilities,” he said. “The operating environment in the ROV Control Cabin aboard ship gives the surface pilot and scientists an immersive reality transparent ocean view of the underwater world as if they were sitting on the submerged

vehicle and the ocean was made transparent well beyond the limits of video imagery in the underwater world,” he added. This is a unique prototype and the team at UL are currently examining the prospects of using the technology on the commercial market. The team from UL were joined by Moore Marine, Dr Garret Duffy of the Department of Ocean and Earth Sciences in NUI Galway, and Dr Martin Dean of Adus Ltd, from Scotland, for the archaeological survey of the wrecks. F a m o u s l y, G e r m a n ship the Aud was bringing arms to assist the rebels during the 1916 Rising. The crew scuttled the vessel themselves when cornered by British ships off Cork Harbour. German U-boat UC42 was laying mines in 1917 when it was believed to have fallen victim to an explosion, killing 27 sailors. The wreck of the UC42 was discovered in November 2010 by amateur divers. The project is partfunded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

02–04

Farmers Battle College Grants

UL Robot Going Swimmingly By Roisin Peddle

{sin}

By Sinead Healy

Getting the Wax Treatment in the College Bar on 20 March. Photo by Christina Quinn, PhotoSoc.

A campaign of resistance against changes to thirdlevel means tests is gathering momentum amid claims that children of farming families will not be able to get grants to go to college despite low incomes. The education minister Ruairi Quinn’s decision to set up a capital Asset Test Implementation Group has caused deep unease among the farming community and the self employed who would also be affected. The capital Asset Test Implementation will be bringing forward detailed proposals on new means testing arrangements for student grants, to include the value of assets, for new applicants from the 2013/14 academic year. A spokeswoman for Mr Quinn says that the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has “jumped the gun” in their criticism. “No decisions have been taken about what assets will be included in any changes in the means test. No proposals are even on the table yet,” she said. But the president for ICMSA, John Colmer has claimed that there is little doubt that the group was set up with the intention of changing the criteria measuring eligibility for third-level grants in a manner that would effectively discriminate against the farm children. The ICMSA

also referred to correspondence sent by Mr Quinn to the ICSMA last year in which he admitted that analysis of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) stats shows that the claim that a disproportion number of farmers’ children are in third-level education. The reasoning behind changes to the third level means tests is because it has come about that the current system is unfair. The 1993 de Buitleir report concluded that the current means test is defective in that it fails to take full account of ability to pay since it ignores the accumulated wealth (savings) of individuals, according to a spokeswoman for the education minister. Data provided by the HEA showed that 8.9 per cent of new students in 2010 were from framing backgrounds and of that figure 8.3 percent were the children of farmers and 0.6 per cent were the children of agricultural workers. Among the children of farmers, 39.7 percent received higher education grants with that figure climbing to 63.6 percent for the children of the agricultural workers. Mr Comer says that “It is perfectly obvious that the desired end here is less farmers’ sons and daughter qualifying for the grants to which they are currently entitled by reason of their parents’ income.”

Online Famine Archive Unveiled in UL The Branding of Kells By Roisin Peddle The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, unveiled a new archive of famine documents at the University of Limerick recently. The online archive contains stories collected by Canadian nuns in the 1840s. The French-Canadian Sisters of Charity, nicknamed the ‘Grey Nuns’, cared for hundreds of famine emigrants when they came to Montreal in 1847. The archives tell of the harrowing scenes witnessed by priests and nuns in Canada when they tried to treat the emigrants who had managed to survive the journey across the Atlantic. Many died before ever

reaching Montreal but those who did were malnourished, exhausted from the sea voyage and in some cases, suffering from typhus and other diseases. The Grey Nuns opened their doors to the emigrants and treated them wholeheartedly without fear for their own health. Typhus was a highly contagious disease and often fatal before the development of antibiotics. Indeed, the disease did claim some of the nuns' lives, and led to an epidemic in the General Hospital itself where the Grey Nuns treated the famine victims. "Alas, it is no longer sisters who go to the aid of their fellow nuns. Almost all are in

need of other's assistance. Only a few individuals have escaped the contagious fever," the archive reads. President Michael D. Higgins paid tribute to the Grey Nuns in his introduction to the archives. "As a country, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Grey Nuns who cared for so many Irish widows and orphans who were left destitute, impoverished and alone in a strange country," he wrote. The archives, which were originally published in French in 1898, have been translated into English for the purpose of the online archive. They will become a valuable resource for students of history at the University of Limerick.

By Kevin Kennedy

Throw away your pint glasses, tea towels, t-shirts or anything else you own that displays the logo of the Book of Kells. They are not the real deal. That’s right; there is a new brand around town. Trinity College Dublin have announced this week that they are now going to release a new luxury brand that boasts the ownership rights to the world famous Book of Kells logo. As of 1 January 2012 the prestigious college in Dublin owns the copyrights to the logo of the internationally famous Celtic book. In the past manufacturers were allowed to produce articles that displayed

the letter “K” alongside a picture of a lion’s head to depict the books logo; however this will now be illegal as Trinity own the full rights for the production of this logo. This week, a spokesperson for the library retail and college brands merchandising said that the production of the logo for retail could have been done by anybody. The logo of the Book of Kells will now be used in the manufacturing of luxury gift items like souvenirs for a high profile international market. Trinity College have stated that they will release the new range of products to highend stores and gift shops in Ireland, Britain, the United

States and Canada. On a very positive note it has been decided that all profits and royalties that are earned from the use of the logo will go towards maintaining the manuscript which is housed on campus at Trinity. The college believe that this is a very positive movement for the Book of Kells as it may very well recover any bad reputation that the logo may have built up in the past. It is believed that the tarnishing of the logo may well have been caused by the production of cheap and low quality products which advertised the logo. All in all this should be a positive move for Trinity College and also the Irish economy.

{sin} 13–12

F eatures

{11} 02–04

College Year 2011/2012: The Best Bits By Áine O Donnell As the college year draws to a close, we only have those pesky exams before us but let’s try to remember the better days of our year at NUI Galway. This year was packed full of events that got us talking, got us angry and got us laughing. Here are the highlights of the year that was 2011/2012: Michael D. Higgins is elected President: NUI Galway alumnus Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth President of Ireland in November in the most controversial presidential election to date. It was a proud day to be a student of NUI Galway as Michael D. was not only a graduate but had also edited the student newspaper and held the

presidency of the Students’ Union during his time at the university. The highlight for many students was the random popping up of candidates all over the university grounds while they were on the campaign trail: students were surprised by Michael D. Higgins’ trip to the Bialann and David Norris’ episode outside the College Bar. November 11 2011 will always remain a proud day for NUI Galway. The RAG week that wasn’t, that was: The biggest change that marked 2011 was the official banning of RAG week. The university offered students many incentives like a bigger student assistance fund and the introduction of a one-day concert if it was agreed that RAG week

should be cancelled. This proposal raised the most disputed topic of discussion of the past year. In October, an overwhelming majority voted in favour of RAG week being cancelled. Many students went ahead with plans for an unofficial RAG week and as always the out-of-towners arrived en masse. Havoc hit the streets of Galway and Supermacs in particular. Videos of Galway RAG week went viral and one question was on everyone’s lips: “who’s a sexy Garda?” “NO IFS, NO BUTS, NO EDUCATION CUTS!”: On 16 November, over 1,000 Galway students travelled to Dublin to march in protest of proposed grant cuts and introduction of student fees. Ruairi Quinn, the Minister

for Education, had made no change to fees and the education grant one of his election promises. In typical politician fashion, it seemed that his election promise would not materialise. Over 15,000 students from all over the country protested outside Lenister House. Some protesters did not evoke the serious feelings of the majority of students with comical signs reading “Ruairi Quinn has no hair. Hahaha” and portraying the feelings of the “b3bO $tuNnaHz”(Bebo Stunners). Despite of the efforts of thousands of students, Mr Quinn raised fees to €2,250 and made changes to the postgraduate grant system. The hostess with the mostess: NUI Galway played host to major

national events this year, including the Sigerson Cup, the Hockey Intervarsities and the Dance Intervarsities. The university hosted the Hockey Intervarsities which took place in November with the UCD team triumphing in both the ladies’ and men’s competitions. The Sigerson Cup came to NUI Galway in February on the 100th anniversary of when the NUI Galway first won the cup in 1912. The Sigerson cup was awarded to Dublin City University after a hotly contested match with NUI Maynooth. The Dance Intervarsities were also held at the university with students able to spectate at the Bailey Allen Hall. Twelve colleges competed in the contest displaying all types of dance from hip hop to

Irish dancing to ballet. The overall winners were DU Dance from TCD. The NUI Galway Memes Page: In more recent times, our Facebook newsfeeds have been bombarded with the clever and hilarious creations of the NUI Galway memes page. The university meme craze swept the nation this year with newly elected Education Officer, Conor Stitt, at the helm of the NUI Galway version. Nothing cheered us up at times of assignment stress or exam frustration quite like the meme page. We could have a chuckle at all those private jokes that only we, as NUI Galway students, could understand. Best not read this article aloud as the pronunciation of “meme” is still a mystery.

OPINION: The Class Rep Fiasco: Is There a Solution? by Eistear de Búrca At the last Student Council, held on 28 February, no decisions could be made because the meeting did not reach quorum: the SU has 320 class reps on its records for this academic year, yet not even 16% could make it that evening. We waited patiently in the shadowy expanse of the Cairnes Theatre and slowly a few faithfuls straggled in through the creaking doors. But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t that we didn’t have anything to discuss. There were the troublesome ‘non-NUIG related Rag Week’ events to be considered and there were important motions relating to the Irish economic crisis and a Code of conduct for Exec members to be voted upon. However we ended up having simply an informal discussion which was interesting, but absolutely useless as nothing concrete was achieved, and everything was postponed. It looks like Class Reps just aren’t interested in the Students’ Union anymore. The question is, were they ever interested? The Students’ Union represents the students at university level,

and the work of class representatives – the real workers at grassroots level - is essential to an effective democratic process. Only the conscientious, dedicated engagement of class reps with their Students’ Union will achieve any sort of positive change in the quality of life we experience on the campus of NUIG. The Students’ Union is our voice at the board meetings, at the academic councils, at Udaras na hOllscoil. Without us, the 320 Class Reps, the Students’ Union is not a representative Union, but rather a group of individuals who will make decisions based on what they assume we want – or in some cases unfortunately on what they want. Recently NUIG’s Education Officer Conor Healy, aware of the alarming disinterest of class reps in engaging with their union, carried out a survey in an attempt to identify the root of this problem. He discovered that most classes were quite happy with their class reps: “they organised class parties, they worked with lecturers when problems arose and performed their day-today tasks well.” However a lack of information about

and awareness of the SU was highlighted; reps felt that they weren’t integrated into the Union and that attending SU Council was not relevant to them. The Council was also deemed as being “not fun”: meetings were described as “fragmented” and reps said they wouldn’t go back because they were afraid of all the arguing that went on. So the system needs to be changed; Healy mentioned that the idea of having two reps per class – academic and social – might be an option. He also stated that the role needs to be ‘glamourised’. “In NUIG a show of hands elects the class rep and the main attraction of the job is the hoody. In UCD by contrast elections are a big deal, with flyering, manifestos – real campaigning goes on and a proper election is held. Reps get discounted tickets to SU events but the attraction really is in the prestige.” But will mere glamorisation and more engagement from the SU change our system? Reps that are ‘afraid’ of some animated discussion may need more than a ticket to the SU Session to entice them into the dangerous war arena that is the SU Council.

Some universities in England offer financial incentives for attending meetings; others offer free print credit, ECTS, and the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand even offers scholarships to those who have done exceptional work. But even if such progressive steps were taken, would the situation here improve? If a vigorous discussion frightens a student representative and a rousing argument prevents you from attending Student Council ever again, the problem is not that the job isn’t glamorous enough. The problem is that many of our class representatives just don’t care, disrespect democracy and despise debate (unless it’s about the abolishment of Rag Week, of course). Strong words I know, but unfortunately true. Apathy reigns supreme in our university culture at the moment and empty SU councils simply prove this point; the challenge now lies with the SU to address this problem, make itself more relevant to the student population and teach us all by its own actions how important active, conscientious participation in student democracy is.

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

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Occupy Galway Since the 15 October 2011 Eyre Square has been home to the Occupy Movement of Galway. The settlement has become a part of the city’s landscape. Recently Governments both nationally and internationally have been dismantling the Occupy movements throughout the globe. With the future of Occupy Galway hanging on a whim what would be the consequences of its departure? Sin hears from two students, one actively involved, and one outsider, to gauge opinion of the controversial movement.

A Movement without Direction by Kathy Dillon As a sceptic of the validity of the movement I recently visited the settlement to test some of my preconceived ideas of Occupy. Regardless of your political orientation I think it’s fair to say, no one can deny that Occupy have most definitely helped to highlight the limitations of the current Irish state. The camp epitomizes diversity from ethnicity to ideology. The political orientation of the camp ranges from anarchists to social democrats. Occupy want change; however when it comes to conceptualizing this change the members’ approach appears contradictory and somewhat vague. The camp advocates it is a platform for new ideas and at the same time is a community centre, youth café, hostel for tourists and participates in raising funds for vari-

ous charities. This very fact highlights the inconsistency in the objectives and organization of the movement. It seems to me Occupy hasn’t decided what exactly it wants to represent. Does it want to be a charity or a social movement that aims to bring about political change? The movement maintains that there is no political affiliation within the camp, regardless of individual’s political orientation. Is it really that simple to leave your political identity at the camp door? The varying and conflicting political backgrounds of its member’s acts as a division when deciding on how their demands should emerge. Primarily between those who believe in order to change political organization you must engage with the state, and those who are anti-statist and do not wish to participate in the political sphere.

Lack of a concrete identity and form undermines their goals. The profound diversity of its members -from their perspectives, to their level of commitment to the ‘cause’ - questions the extent to which occupy can be non-institutional and at the same time bring about the political institutional changes it desires. They claim to want participatory democracy yet are not prepared to form a political party and participate in elections. They say they are not anti E.U. but want the Irish people to vote no in the upcoming fiscal treaty. They are critical of the Irish tax system yet want all the benefits of a welfare state such as free education and healthcare. You can’t have your cake and eat it too Occupy. Members may be united by an idea of change but wanting change isn’t enough to materialize it. Ignoring the state, and undermining its power will not remove the consequences of its existence. Their instability is a weakness. Ironically occupy lack the bureaucratic organization they need to be successful.

A Community Space and a Platform for Activism By Ellen Leahy As a student who has been involved in the movement since January, I can say that we have very clear demands and objectives that we all agree on and a clear plan to fulfil these demands. From the beginning until now our demands are still the same: The removal of the IMF and the ECB from Irish financial affairs as well as a no vote to the upcoming fiscal treaty referendum; the removal of national debt; the return of Irish natural resources to the Irish people; and the return of real participatory democracy. The system we use to reach our objectives is based on consensus and at our meetings we all agree on actions, such as providing information to the public or demonstrations. Occupy Galway is a movement that brings together people from all sorts of backgrounds and political orientations and though political opinions within the camp are diverse, we all agree and want to see the same change manifesting in Ireland. The fact that we can all agree on the same objectives and want to see the same things happening

despite the diversity of our political views, proves the validity of the movement. We all still think of the fulfilment of our original demands as our first priority, but as the camp has progressed and developed, we have found more creative ways of helping the community and reaching out to people, whether this has been through charity fundraising or providing services for the city that the government is failing to provide. From my time in the camp, I have seen this development first hand, how it brings people of like mind together to discuss ideas and set up activist networks around the country from Belfast to Rossport. On cold rainy nights it acts as a shelter for the homeless when the hostels are full. In my opinion these extra actions are a step on the way to the fulfilment of our original demands. Everyone involved envisions a new system working both globally and internationally. In comparison to the reaction of other member states to austerity, such as the rioting in Greece, Ireland seems to have gotten off easy. The camp is a small manifestation of the anger people

feel at the loss of ownership of their natural resources, at having to pay unjust taxes because of the mistakes of a few speculators and at the fact that this debt will have to be paid by people who aren’t even born yet. Though our system is not an institutional system, one of our main demands is the return of real participatory democracy. We encourage people to take personal responsibility for the way their country is going and to participate in the political sphere as much as possible. Through our actions, we have come some way towards achieving our demands. A lot of people that would not have participated in politics before now find it easier because of the platform the camp has provided. We have highlighted the corruption that exists within the banking system and the state and are progressing some way towards coming up with alternatives to how things are currently done. A lot of people now feel encouraged to stand up for the sovereignty of their country and even if the physical structure of the camp is removed, we will continue with our actions.

ChaplainCy

www.facebook.com/chaplains.nuigalway.ie

scan this code with your smartphone Paul Geoghegan, David Martin (Award for boxing) Anthony Mulreany and Alan Martin at the NUI Galway Sports Ball on 29 March. Photo by Ashling O Louglin.

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Oooh Sometimes... I Get a Good Feelin’... Yeah! by Martina Gannon Every year there is a universal anthemic song that elicits powerful emotional responses from people all over the world. I think the universality of the potent effects of music is incredible if you really think about it. Can you imagine playing the wildly popular ‘Levels’ by Avicci from a giant boombox all over the world? The positive vibes would be sure to add centuries onto our lives (scientific fact right there). The magic of music lies within its power to effectively capture a moment of euphoria in a simplistic but highly evocative song. A modern day aesthetic expression one might say. Music is like a universal language that transcends any language and can spread intense contagious emotions if even just for a few minutes. Could I sound any more like a hippy?! It can also capture moments of great significance for you and then recreate it for you every time it’s heard again. Some examples being that ‘holy shit I’m in love!’ feeling or the ‘oh my, that was a splendid orgasm!’ feeling: regular emotions like that. I put my over-analysing to good use here through the following songs and the effects they can have on us all.

“

song. This involved me approaching far, far too many bewildered friends and strangers playing this song to them and then interrogating them as to the emotional effect it had on them. I harassed these poor frazzled folk with: but how does it make you really feel? Until I got the following heartfelt and somewhat aggravated responses: “Great form, like going out.” “It makes me change into someone else and go absolutely mental! It’s the sort of song that you don’t want your parents to see you dancing like a crazy animal to on the dance floor. By the way you know a song is unreal when it sounds just as good in reverse check out the reverse remix.” “It makes me feel an adrenaline rush and excitement. In adjective form: lively, victorious, melodic.” “It’s my running/treadmill song.” One intelligent fellow claimed that it made him feel “fist-pumping.” A novel emotion to be sure. The Break-up Song: ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ by Gotye, feat Kimbra. The perfect soundtrack to the bonfire of your ex’s belongings. It’s a slow starter in terms of a beat and features a video that quite frankly could be

extensions to abandon their deadlines and strut en masse to the beach or the nearest alternative, the College Bar. Its lyrics consist of mildly related positive adjectives that appear to have been thrown in together at complete random, creating totally nonsensical sentences. Nonetheless it is physically impossible not to jiggle one’s booty whilst immersed in it. ‘Someone Like you’ by Adele. The only soundtrack you need to bawl your eyes out to. It echoes feelings of loss, heartbreak and all sorts of general depressive symptoms. ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ by Kid Cudi. This song has personal significance for me, reminding me of an incredible girl who lived every second of her life to the full and this ‘tune’ captures her vivacious, inspiring legacy perfectly. When listening to it nothing makes me want to truly live my life in the present more. This Cudi chap sure does know what he’s talking about: “out livin’ my life getting’ out dreams, Imma do just what I want lookin’ ahead, no turnin’ back, If I fall, If I die, know I lived It till the fullest.” It reminds you that you’re not invincible or immortal and encourages you to grow a pair

”

It’s the sort of song that you don’t want your parents to

see you dancing like a crazy animal to on the dance floor.

The Ultimate 2012 Going-Out Song: ‘Levels’ by Avicci. If you do nothing else for the rest of your life for the love of God listen to this song. Now I am not a lady who is partial to these kind of ‘raver tunes’ and I would normally much prefer deep and meaningful lyrics aka: ‘soppy crap’ but yikes-a-doodles have I been affected by this song! I conducted some direct, investigative research prior to this article to gauge the natural reaction to this

mistaken for porn in the first few seconds but it is a truly belting tune once it gets going. It perfectly captures the bitterness and conflict that can arise out of a broken relationship particularly at that point when you haven’t quite let go of the ideas for revenge yet. The Ultimate Summertime Song: ‘Starships’ by Nikki Minaj. It is a song that will guarantee dozens of students requesting

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Re:

New Public

Legislating for Life of the Pregnant Woman by Conor McGuinness Twenty years ago last month a 14-year-old girl was brought to England by her parents to have an abortion. The girl had been raped and was pregnant as a result. The Attorney General at the time, Harry Whelehan, became aware of the girls decision and immediately applied to the High Court for an injunction preventing the abortion. The girl and her parents returned to Ireland before the termination could be carried out. A number of days later High Court judge Declan Costello granted a permanent injunction preventing the girl, referred to in the media as X, from travelling abroad. An appeal was lodged and protesters took to the street. Abortion became a live issue in Irish society and a groundswell of anger erupted over the treatment of X and the denial of her right to act upon her own decision. On 6 March 1992 the Supreme Court overturned the injunction and ruled that a woman’s right of life means that she has a right to access abortion services if her life is put at risk by to the pregnancy, including at

risk by suicide. The need for legislation to give practical effect to the Supreme Court decision was recognised at the time, yet there has been a consistent failure on the part of every Government since 1992 to enact the required legislation. The formation of the United Left Alliance in late 2010 and the election of an unprecedented number of left and progressive TDs in the 2011 General Election, has paved the way for the introduction of a Bill, which aims to address the need for concrete legislation enshrining a woman’s right to lifesaving abortion. The Medical Treatment (Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman) Bill 2012 was read into the Dáil Record by ULA TD Clare Daly on 22 February this year. The Bill is co-sponsored by Daly, Independent TD Mick Wallace and ULA TD Joan Collins. The Bill, if passed, will make it lawful for a medical practitioner “to provide any form of medical treatment to a woman, despite its consequences for the life of the foetus” provided that there is a “real and substantial” risk to the life of the woman

in the opinion of two medical practitioners. It will also make the “intimidation, harassment and obstruction” of practitioners and women in relation to abortion, a punishable offence. The United Left Alliance society fully supports this vital legislation. The society organised a public meeting in March to mark the 20th anniversary of the X Case and to highlight the legislation. A number of ways in which people can help promote the legislation were identified at the meeting including contacting local TDs, writing to newspapers, hosting meetings and keeping informed. The Dáil will debate the proposal in mid-April and the ULA is calling on parties to allow their deputies to vote with their conscience on this vitally important piece of legislation. Civil society groups, activists and the public in general have an important role to play in ensuring that this vital issue is addressed. The right to life of women is at stake, and pressure must be brought to bear on TDs in order to secure support for timely and necessary Bill. To learn more or to get involved visit www.unitedleftalliance.org.

and do what you have always wanted to do, right now! These ‘tunes’ can universally connect us all as well as comfort, remedy and transform us, even if just for a few minutes. So think about the power of music next time you plug in, think about how that same song could be affecting another person anywhere else around the world. That’s an order. Who ever said over-analysing was pointless?

Sending the wrong message: Messrs (excuse me, Drs.) Eoin O'Donoghue and Andy Sargent at the PhD Conferrings on 22 March. Photo by Mark Phelan.

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Four years ago, the BA Connect programme was launched and its first batch of rosy-cheeked recruits are due to graduate in a matter of months. The programme is an integrated Arts Degree: Connect students study two regular Arts subjects as well as their chosen specialist subject, which vary from Human Rights, Theatre and Performance to Children’s Studies. General Arts students cannot choose a Connect subject to study; it must be applied to separately through the CAO. The most unique and probably the most attractive feature of the BA Connect programme is it is a four year degree, with one full academic year spent doing work experience. These placements or internships give students a more well-rounded learning experience and ensure they graduate with experience already on their CV-certainly a distinct advantage in today’s market. In theory, it’s an excellent programme. In practice however, there have been some considerable problems with how students are placed and the value of the actual experience they are getting. Financial pressure has also been a significant issue. I spoke to a number of BA Connect students when researching this article and it is important to note that every one of them felt practical experience was the most valuable component of their degree. But many of them raised concerns about the financial pressure of working full time for no pay, while also having to pay fees. Many students go on placements abroad, due to better quality and experience, thus considerably raising the cost of their placement. Addressing this issue, Dean of Arts Dr. Edward Herring pointed out “students are not compelled to go on any unfunded overseas placement.” This is correct but it is also true that in order to obtain the best possible professional experience, particularly in a field such as Human Rights for instance, an international placement may be the only worthwhile option. So it is true that stu-

dents are going abroad at great cost by choice, but what other choices are available to them? Take an inferior placement at home to save money and thus damage their future employment prospects? It doesn’t seem like much of a choice. Third year Connect students also pay full academic fees, despite the fact that they may be off campus for the entire academic year and don’t sit any exams. When Dr. Herring was asked for the justification of this payment, he pointed out that “The College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies has no jurisdiction over fees matters and plays no role in the setting of fees for its programmes.” He goes on to say however that “all placements must be approved and vetted by staff of the University… for the Programme Directors, arranging placements is often time consuming and demanding.” He also adds “Members of staff monitor students on placement on a regular basis and those on placement are sometimes visited by staff.” Everything Dr. Herring notes is indeed correct but it does not take place in the case of every student. Many Connect students find their own internships; others do no receive visits from any university staff member and indeed find if difficult to get any support when they are not on campus. Connect students, of varying disciplines, report repeatedly emailing their Programme Coordinators and receiving no reply for up to a month afterwards. Also, while accepting the fact that it is a difficult and time consuming process to arrange and vet placements, it is therefore unacceptable that three BA Connect students would go to considerable personal expense to go on placement in South Africa, only to return home three months early due to the hosting organisation being completely inadequate and the placement effectively useless. The majority of Connect students I spoke to were surprisingly accepting of the reality of the situation, acknowledging it probably wouldn’t be feasible for the University to fund so many

international placements and in that case, they would rather fund their own placements than miss out on invaluable opportunities and experience. However, there was also a consensus that it was unfair for Connect students to pay €2,224 in fees when they were receiving little or no assistance from the University. Another issue raised was the stipulation that students must work full time; one student asked why she could not take a part time internship and thus work part time also but she was told it was against the rules, without any further explanation as to why that may be. The BA Connect programme is an excellent and innovative degree. However in order for students to obtain the most valuable experience possible, it is forcing them, for the flimsiest of justifications, into difficult or even impossible financial situations. In a statement to Sin, Dr Herring stressed that the BA CONNECT Placement was in many ways like any other college year: students worked for ECTS and were assessed on this work. BA CONNECT students, like all students registered for full-time degrees, are expected to devote their full attention to every year of their programme, including any period spent on placement. Grants are available to students visiting countries in the Erasmus programme, and funding is available in certain cases via the Galway University Foundation. Dr Herring emphasised the importance of students’ choice: "From the perspective of the College, we had only two choices open to us in the design of these programmes: either to make available to the students the widest menu of appropriate opportunities and to allow students themselves make decisions based upon a mature consideration of their circumstances, or to limit their choice to those placements for which funding support would be available, effectively restricting the menu largely to the ERASMUS-participating countries.” He continued that while some students preferred to source their own placements, it was not a requirement. In either case, the relevant Programme Director must approve the placements.

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BA Connect: A Great Opportunity, If You Can Afford It by Louise Hogan

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Dear Darcy, I’m dating a guy who likes to play a game called Magic: The Gathering. It’s like Pokemon for adults. He has a weekly night at the boys where he drinks and plays this game. He actually does a lot of nerdy stuff. He still watches cartoons but he swears they’re different because it’s something called anime. I’m telling you it’s a cartoon! He also reads comic books and plays video games but I think hipsters do that too, so it’s kind of cool? Do you think that v I should try to find someone a little less childish? I like him, he’s cool and truthfully this stuff doesn’t really bother me but it’s a little weird and childish which my friends love to point out. Am I being superficial or should I dump him? I mean, I can’t see myself marrying a man who plays video games! Sincerely, Too Cool Girl!

Dear Too Cool Girl, It’s one thing to be superficial but it’s an entirely different thing to have nothing in common with your boyfriend. If you switched out all of these ‘nerdy’ things and put in things like sport and poker do you think you would be less annoyed? Would you have more in common with him then? Or would you just be less embarrassed? If you have a hang up about this issue I think the problem might be with you. However, if you sometimes feel that you two have nothing to talk about because he’s on a different planet to you, a nerdy planet, you should probably think of cooling the

Dear Too Cool Girl, From what bits of your complaint I bothered to read I gather you are dating a guy who plays Pokémon? That’s a bit sad, isn’t it? I guess I don’t really know what to say because this is not a question I thought I’d ever have to answer. He’s a bit of a nerd and you’re a bit of a bitch. Sounds like something out of a mediocre sitcom? Let the hilarity ensue. Are you being superficial? Probably. Is this guy worth staying with? Who knows? If all your friends only have his nerdy pastimes to make fun of then I’d say you’re in the clear for staying with him. Take it from someone who knows, it’s better to have your friends tell you “Your boyfriend is dorky!” instead of

relationship. Take a step back and decide if you could have something long term with a guy who still likes comic books, video games and Magic cards. I would like to take this time to point out that I did some research into comics, Magic and video games. It’s not all so bad. I’d like to suggest you try them before you judge!

Hugs —Darcy xxx

“Your boyfriend’s a jerk who just hit on me while you were in the bathroom!” All in all I’d deem him a keeper. Now that that’s settled let’s hope he doesn’t read this and realise how shallow his girlfriend really is. Have a good week!

That’s Life, Barnacle

For more advice please email advice.sin@gmail.com!

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First Year

Graduate Spotlight

By Áine O Donnell

Who Runs the World? Girls!

It is hard to come to terms with the fact that my first year at university is coming to a close. I have spent the last year struggling along with assignments, going from one night out to the next and facing the constant battle of getting myself up for those very early lectures. I spent all of my Leaving Cert year dreaming of a life of freedom at university and it certainly lived up to my expectations. I came here to get an education but most of the important lessons I learned were away from the lecture halls, and out living in the “real world” for the very first time: Keep your friends close and your new friends even closer: I made some amazing new friends this year who I could safely say will be around for a very long time. The girls, who are mainly all from Clare, have made my first year in Galway very special. We spent the past few months laughing (mostly at each other) and made some special memories. I certainly hope we will be friends for a very long time (this is for the most part because they now know too much potentially scarring information that could ruin whatever little street cred I have left). “What the hell happened last night?!”: This was my first year away from the prying eyes of Mammy and Daddy which meant I was finally allowed to be responsible for myself (which was really code for unleash the wild side). From the very first week, we were loving the Galway night life a bit too much. I was hoping to master the illusive work/social life balance but it still remains a mystery. I had to learn my limits and begin taking responsibility for my own actions. This being an adult thing isn’t all it is cracked up to be… “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”: The most important thing I learnt this year was money management. In my past youthful days, I would gladly take €20 of Daddy

and frivolously blow it all on whatever useless rubbish caught my eye. Now, I take that €20 and calculate it in my new form of currency: “What will this get me in CPs?” I also noticed how ridiculously expensive food is. I would be doing the weekly shopping at home and firing in whatever I wanted when my parents’ backs were turned but now it is a completely different story. Tesco value range has become my cuisine de choix and the German brands of Aldi and Lidl no longer receive the snub they once had. I am like the female Eddie Hobbs. Surviving in the ruthless wilds of the James Hardiman Library: This year, I discovered the scary reality of library life. I heard ancient folklore, some second years told me, of the bestial behaviour of students around exam time in the library but these stories were nothing compared to when I saw it myself. It was horrifying; no lonely laptop was safe from the seat poachers that hovered like vultures around the studying area. Forget silly Freudian theory and the conjugation of avoir in the passé simple, the real lesson was getting a seat with a plug and guarding it with your life. “You would be late for your own funeral”: Never one for being good with time management, I learned that it was one of the most important aspects of college life. I had no one to wake me up in the mornings or tell me to go to bed which meant I was left to my own devices. I definitely could not be late for lectures or I would face over 200 eyes staring at me as I waddled down to the very first row. I had to master getting ready with lightning speed in the mornings but more importantly when a taxi was waiting outside and you were supposed to be dressed to go out five minutes ago. I almost have my time management sorted except when it comes to assignments: “night before, be grand” is a motto I live by. As for second year: bring it on!

by Fiona Ni Mhaille Since final year began for me in NUI Galway, I have written for the Irish Times; worked for The Sunday Times, London; done a show for RTÉ; co-hosted and co-styled a Brown Thomas fashion show; started my own column in The Connacht Sentinel and The Look magazine; done a weekly blog (fionaforfashion.blogspot.com); become the fashion editor of The Kingston Courier and finished my first book. I am by no means extraordinary. I’m an ordinary girl with an extraordinary ability to work hard. I am not superior to the common person in intelligence or talent. What I lack in intelligence and talent, I make up for in hard work. I am not a huge deal in London. I am not famous or rolling in riches. My darling mother often forgets my name and I spend most evenings hunched over my laptop eating Tesco value noodles (living the dream!) in my bear onesie (I’m such a man-magnet). Someday, if life treats you very kind, you too can be as cool as me! I live with two male housemates. The first is Greek (I still cannot pronounce his name. It’s something like Pasajlankjnfkdjn, so I just call him Paddy). He wears glasses so thick, I think they’re bulletproof, yet he keeps bumping into things. The second is an

Irish musician with pasty white skin and flaming red hair (breaking out of stereotypes here). I may be on a diet of caffeine and low-tax noodles, but I am exactly where I want to be. I’m doing a Masters that I love in a glamorous, recession-proof city (yet I’m still eating Tesco value noodles). The road to my (small) success (so far) was not typical. The summer of 2010 was the worst in my life. It was the summer before final year, when I came back from the Erasmus. My boyfriend broke up with me; our family moved house; I was working full time at a very busy job; one my best friends was very sick and her organs started shutting down; my brother, who has epilepsy, was also very sick having grand-mal seizures; and my father died. Yet it was this summer that my ambition began. I kept myself busy to stop my mind slipping into depression. I organised the funeral, worked every day from nine to six and somehow kept everything going in the house. I was fortunate enough to be able to save up money and send my mother to New York to get away from it all. My life, like my ass, was going pear-shaped. People asked me how I was so strong. I told them being strong didn’t mean not feeling pain. It meant feeling the pain but fighting through it. What was the alternative? Crumbling? Not

being a source of support to my friends and family? That wasn’t an option. That would be a tragedy. When I started final year Arts in NUIG last year I realised, for the first time in my life, how capable I was. Out of all the negativity came something brilliant: my ambition. The key to success is to find something you love, something you’re good at and working your ass off at it. I don’t believe in failure. To me, there is no such thing as failing, only learning, growing and always moving forward. At the moment, I’m doing three columns, a fulltime Masters in London, writing my second book, editing my first and work with The Sunday Times, London. The only way I can keep everything going at the moment is with my daily to-do list. I write it down on my white board, which I keep beside my desk. It keeps me organised and the foundation of my sanity stable. It also stops me wasting any time. You’ll never get anywhere sitting on your ass all day. The fra-

gility of life is something we only learn when we lose someone close. Life’s short, so make every second count. So the first thing you should do, if you want to be successful, is to write down your goals and keep them beside your bed. Go to Tesco and buy a white board (no, really). They’re €3.50ish and every time you tick something off, you’ll be motivated to work more. Lose your toxic friends. We all know one. The ‘B’ with an ‘Itch’ won’t help you reach your goals with passive-aggressive behaviour or jealousy. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but be friendly to everyone. Never burn your bridges unless absolutely necessary. You may not need them on the way up, but you’ll sure as hell need them on the way back down. Start your pathway to success today. What are you waiting for? Looking to the future, I want to write a best-selling book, get a column in Cosmo and do some more travelling. I have had some small success so far but I have, no means, achieved even a fraction of my life goals yet.

The NUI Galway Medical Orchestra performing in the Bailey Allen Hall on 22 March, as part of the Arts in Action series. Photo by Grace Mitchell.

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Growing Up In NUI Galway By Lia Stokes As a Galwegian, going to NUIG to continue my studies seemed like an easy option. I could live at home, I had a base group of friends and I knew the city, but I soon learned it wasn’t as straightforward as I initially anticipated. As I began settling in to my new routine I realised that although I had grown up in Galway, college life meant looking at the city in a whole new light. But in first year I ended up hanging around with people from school and others from Galway that I already knew, instead of meeting new people. Living at home and my huge Arts classes meant it was difficult to make friends the conventional way. However a few months in, I decided the best thing to do was to get involved with clubs and societies. It was my involvement in the annual Rotaract Socs and the City fashion show that first allowed me to branch out and meet a range of people from different courses. I got to know people fairly quickly and there was always a good night out lined up. As well as the social side, the society also offered a chance to do some fundraising for various local charities, adding another positive element to membership. Being part of the Surf Club allowed for the same kind of camaraderie. Regular weekend and day trips

were always great craic. Apart from the fun out on the water, the trips away left plenty of time to get to know people. The club attracted a huge variety of people from semi-pro’s to total rookies like myself as well as visiting students, but ability was never an issue. Everyone was welcome and encouraged in the water, and on nights out! As for actual work, well NUIG has a reputation of being something of a party college. Many of my friends held the perception that it was a place where fun overtook the fundamentals; however that is definitely not the case. As an Arts student, I’ll admit I didn’t exactly kill myself with college work for the first year, but for my final year I put in the hours and came out with good degree and the same grades as a lot of my friends who scorned my laid-back approach. You can work hard and play hard: it is just a matter of balance. Now, more than halfway through my Masters, my manner has changed very little. Though I’m more particular about the standard of my work this year, I still allow for time to chill out and socialise. This year my only ‘extracurricular’ outlet has been with Sin, and although it ties in perfectly with my Masters in Journalism, it still allows me a chance to meet new people and write about things that

my lecturers wouldn’t necessarily appreciate, something which I feel has been hugely important throughout my time in the university. Like the city that bears it, NUIG is fun, friendly and approachable. From the lecturers to the students, there is an undeniably chilled-out vibe on campus. Add that to some great facilities and outstanding courses and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an unforgettable college experience. Baz Luhrmann once wrote, “Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth,” and perhaps all of this nostalgia is clouding my memory a little, but I think that most of the university’s alumni will agree that their experience here was a generally positive one and a monumental chapter in their lives. For many, the college years are when you really get to live. You come in to your own, (hopefully) gain some kind of direction and encounter a variety of life experiences from work and relationships to travel. After four fantastic years in the university, I feel ready to move on but I will always cherish the years spent wandering the campus, sipping tea in the canteen and even the annual library trawls at exam time, and will miss

the college nights out and the buzz of coming back every September. I feel I’ve lived the college experience and had a great time doing it, but I’m not sure if it would have been as good in any other university. The people and the atmosphere are what give NUIG its good name but it is what you make of your time here that determines your own experience. Though I may not have made a lasting mark on the college in terms of my academic endeavours or involvement, the university has made its own mark on me. I grew up during my time here and I think the college helped to shape the person I have become. Now faced with the prospect of getting a job in ‘the real world’ I feel NUIG has done its best for me. It has nurtured me, educated me and prepared me for the future. I will always look back on my time here with fond memories and as I face my final weeks in this institution I am grateful for the years I’ve had, memories I’ve made and friends I’ve been lucky enough to meet. So for those of you just starting out, or in the early stages of your college years, make the most of it and take advantage of all of the wonderful things the university has to offer because these years fly and you won’t appreciate what you had or regret what you missed until it’s too late.

Michelle Liston, Aisling Ffrench, Aisling Corrigan and Nicola O' Sullivan at the NUI Galway Sports Ball on 29 March. Photo by Ashling O Louglin.

Brent Pope and Ashling O' Loughlin at the NUI Galway Sports Ball on 29 March.

Mo Bhliain ar an gCampas Le Seán Ó Flatharta Mar mhac léinn de chuid Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge agus mar mhac léinn de chuid Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, bíonn deis ag mic léinn aonaid sheachtracha an Acadaimh gach seirbhís ar an bpríomhchampas a úsáid, ach an dtarlaíonn sé sin i ndáiríre? Sa saol foirfe gan locht (más ann dó!), bheadh mic léinn an Acadaimh in ann obair a dhéanamh agus a bheidh páirteach sna cumainn agus sna clubanna a bhfuil suim acu iontu ar an bpríomhchampas, ach faraor, níl sé chomh héasca sin. I mbliana, fuair mise an deis mo bhliain taithí oibre a chaitheamh istigh san Ollscoil. Tá mé ag obair mar Oifigeach Teanga agus Cultúir. Nuair a fuair mé an scéala seo, bhí drogall orm le bheith fírinneach faoi. Mar mhac léinn a raibh dhá bhliain den chéim curtha de dhroim seoil agam, ní raibh mé istigh ar an bpríomhchampas ach thart ar dheich n-uaire agus ní raibh mórán ama caite agam san áit, rud atá cineál aisteach dar liom. Is campas ollmhór é seo agus tá na mílte mac léinn ann. D’fhoghlaim mé i mbliana go gcaithfidh tú aithne a chur ar dhaoine má tá tú ag iarraidh a bheith gníomhach agus rannpháirteach in imeachtaí na hOllscoile. Fuair mise deis iontach dul i mbun pinn don nuachtán seo trí aithne a bheith agam ar Oifigeach Ghaeilge Chomhaltas na Mac Léinn

(Senan Mac Aoidh) a thug m’ainm don eagarthóir (Rosemary). Shocraigh muid go mbeadh sé iontach ailt Ghaeilge a fhoilsiú sa nuachtán seo. Tá mé lonnaithe in Áras na Gaeilge anseo ar an gcampas san oifig fáilte. Bíonn orm déileáil le go leor daoine. Bhí sé seo an-tábhachtach chun go mbeadh deis agam suim na ndaoine sa Ghaeilge a mhúscailt agus a spreagadh ar an gcampas, ócáidí a chur ar siúl agus nasc a chruthú le campais sheachtracha an Acadaimh. Is é an rud is suntasaí a thug mé faoi deara agus mé anseo san Ollscoil is ea an méid daoine atá san áit agus an méid a bhíonn ag tarlú san áit. Bíonn a lán rudaí ar siúl ag tús an tseimeastair go háirithe Lá na gCumann agus Lá na gClubanna. Bhain mé féin triail as cúpla club agus fiú mura bhfuil suim agat ann is fusa d’intinn a athrú arís. Bíonn an oiread sin ag tarlú go mbíonn ort rudaí a phiocadh thar a chéile. Tá súil agam féin teacht ar ais anseo arís chun cúrsa éigin eile a dhéanamh leis an Acadamh sa todhchaí, tá réimse leathan de chúrsa suimiúla á reáchtáil ag an Acadamh, féach www.nuigalway.ie/acadamh. Tá go leor rudaí faoin bpíomhchampas atá thar cionn, ach an bhfuil sárú na háite thiar, An Cheathrú Rua le fáil meas tú? Fágfaidh mé freagra na ceiste sin fúibh féin, buailigí féin siar ann go bhfeicfidh sibh saol Ollscoile eile.

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Rory Kavanagh: A Legacy By Martina Gannon The Rory Kavanagh bursary was born with thanks to a generous donation by the family of the late Rory Kavanagh (1971-1996), a 1993 B.A. graduate of NUI Galway, who spent the 1991-1992 academic year in the University Of Bologna, Italy under the Erasmus Student Mobility Programme. The Bursary, which is valued at €2,540, is awarded each year at NUI Galway to aid a student of Italian to enjoy their third year studying Arts in an Italian university. I investigated the impact of this bursary through interviewing those most closely involved in it and was genuinely touched by the thoughtful, insightful place it originated from and the incredible, expansive effects it continues to elicit. I interviewed Rory’s father Des, who spoke on behalf of the Kavanagh family, his mother Mary and his two brothers Ronan and Conal on why they chose the inspiring idea of a bursary to keep Rory’s memory alive and provide this incredible opportunity for other students studying Italian. Des explained how the family had found it striking the astounding effect that the Erasmus year had on Rory. He spoke about how Rory had always been very different, open and liberal-minded and the year abroad accentuated this. He believes that through Rory experiencing this year he got to a place that none of the family could have gotten to without that experience. The Kavanagh family see the aim of the bursary as providing a financial stimulus for prospective Erasmus students that might enable them to have a fuller experience during that year. Their motivation in setting the bursary up came from a conversation they had in the aftermath of Rory’s death whereby they thought about the life

Rory had lead and they saw it in their minds and hearts as a way of commemorating him. For Rory the Erasmus year had been so laden with meaning and significance and they thought that if they could bestow the same experience on another young person then that would keep the memory of him alive in them and in the university. Des noted that the bursary has a twenty five year span and it is about half way through at this point. He also explained the process of the interview for the bursary whereby prospective students submit an essay and are then interviewed by a panel consisting of Paolo Bartoloni the head of the Italian department, one of Rory’s brothers (they take it in turns) and one of Rory’s many friends. They look for the student whom they believe would benefit most from the experience. After the recipients return from the year in Italy they hold a presentation to showcase their experience. They present it for their family, the Kavanagh family and other students with the aim of encouraging others to go for an Erasmus. Following the presentation Rory’s mother Mary presents a medal to the recipient, which is made by John Behan who is a friend of the Kavanagh family and one of Ireland’s best known sculptors. Prof Bartolini shared with me his views on the bursary saying that he believes it makes a significant contribution to the academic experience of students studying Italian. He added that the Italian department is immensely proud to be associated with the Kavanagh family and extremely grateful to the family for their generosity and vision. He believes that “with the Bursary we celebrate the memory of Rory Kavanagh, and the achievements and passion of our students.” He also adds that it elicits a tremendously positive impact on the life of the

students who receive it. Bartolini also emphasised the importance of participating in the Erasmus year stressing that it is “a vital part of the learning experience that will bring our graduates to a level of competence, both linguistically and culturally, that will serve them well in the future.” Deborah Naylor, one of many grateful former recipients of the bursary, has since achieved another award in the form of the prestigious Veronica Guerin Scholarship of Investigative Journalism in DCU. Deborah believes her success has much to do with her being awarded the Rory Kavanagh bursary. She explained to me passionately why it was such a huge honour and achievement for her to be awarded the bursary by the Kavanagh family. She expressed her gratitude at being awarded what she described as a prestigious prize and gratefully acknowledged the fact that it was granted on more than just grades, in keeping with the Kavanagh family’s desire to award it to someone they believed would truly blossom from it. She described her experience as ‘unforgettable’, enjoyed every minute of it and was amazed by the difference it made to her Italian, saying she went from having basic Italian to being practically fluent on her return. She added that to this day she is still extremely proud to have it on her C.V. She found it to be an amazing experience, travelling all around Italy and meeting so many people from all over the world. She also expressed her profound gratitude to the Kavanagh family for selecting her as a recipient as she would not have been able to afford it without the bursary, adding that it was the only year in all her time in university that she didn’t have to get a job. In relaying her experience she said that meeting the Kavanagh family at the presentation

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Fascination of Plants Day was “amazing” adding they were “the nicest people she has ever met.” She believes the bursary is “absolutely fantastic” and urges other students to apply for it adding that it is “something they will always remember and is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” After hearing about the visionary origins of the bursary and its pervasive, inspiring impact that is still continuing, I believe that this bursary has done and will continue to keep Rory’s memory and legacy alive by allowing so many other fortunate students to flourish as individuals. Although, as Des Kavanagh reminded me, students do not need to win this bursary to have an amazing Erasmus experience. All it takes is a spirit of initiative and adventure to go on Erasmus and return with a priceless vitality for life and a revitalised view of the world, among so much more.

By Fiona Gillespie The first ever International Fascination of Plants Day will be held at the end of this college semester, on 18 May, and NUI Galway is taking part! Dr. Zoë Popper, a lecturer in Botany and Plant Science, is the national organiser for the event which will be launched as part of the European Plant Science Organisation. The goal of the Fascination of Plants Day is to get people interested in and talking about plants and the importance of plant science, especially in agriculture and sustainable food production. A key message of the day will be that plants play a vital role in environmental conservation. Many institutions, gardens, museums, farms and companies will welcome people to explore the world of plants with an assortment of fun events on this day. The Burren College of Art and BurrenBeo Trust will hold two

walks introducing people to the wild flowers of the Burren coast, Trinity College Dublin will host a talk entitled ‘Ireland’s Lilliputian Flora: Mosses and Liverworts of the Phoenix Park’ and the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin will open a new sculpture exhibition entitled ‘Fascinating Molecules’. The latest state-of-theart research will be show cased on this day and potential applications of plant science will be discussed. “From one little seed, planted into soil, many green lives can arise… On the back of this coordinated activity we hope to plant many virtual and constantly germinating seeds in the collective mind of the European and World Public that plant science is of critical significance to the social and environmental landscape now and into the future.” For more information see: http:// www.plantday12.eu/

Getting the Wax Treatment in the College Bar on 20 March. Photo by Christina Quinn, PhotoSoc.

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A Beautiful Struggle By Conor Lane A magician named David Blaine was once asked why he performed the deathdefying stunts that made him a world-renowned performance artist. He responded with the philosophy that “life is a beautiful struggle.” The stunts he performs are challenging and dangerous. He embraces this, knowing that whether he performs them or not, life isn’t going to give him an easy ride and that by doing them he can inspire his fans. And I think most of us live our lives by this philosophy, whether we realise it or not. We know just how amazing and exciting life can be, but also how devastatingly awful it can become in a matter of moments. So we toil on every day, hoping that things beyond our control will be fine and try to make sense out of what we can control. But what happens when that beautiful struggle turns into a nightmarish exist-

ence? How do you reach somebody when they’re so gone into themselves and convinced that life isn’t worth living anymore? Unfortunately, the world we live in places too much value on appearance, social status, money and power. The yearning for these concerns tends to keep us quiet and wary about revealing how we’re really feeling. According to Suicide Ireland, “there are approximately 400 deaths from suicide per year in Ireland.” It is also estimated that more than one million people commit suicide every year, and the World Health Organisation states that “there are between 10 and 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year worldwide.” The most common cause of suicide would result from some form of mental illness, such as depression, which is expected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Other factors include substance abuse, problem gambling,

cigarette smoking or socioeconomic factors, such as homelessness, unemployment, poverty and discrimination. The consequences that ensue for a family when a loved one takes their own life are earth shattering. That’s why it’s so important that, should you feel suicidal or depressed, you seek help, because it’s not just your well-being that’s at stake. The topic of suicide is an incredibly difficult one to write about. I’m lucky in that I’ve never been in a state where I’ve considered suicide so I won’t pretend to know what it’s like to feel that way and what you should do in that situation. The most important thing is that you talk about how you feel and to also talk about the subject of suicide and where you go next if you realise you’re at a stage where the idea of committing suicide is feasible for you. There are many warning signs, if someone may be suicidal, including

a preoccupation with death, no hope for the future, selfdestructive behavior such as increased drug or alcohol use, or self-loathing and self-hatred. By recognizing these signs, you may be able to help someone whose life may be in jeopardy. It was devastating to learn that a student of NUI Galway and two distant learners of the college had taken their own lives this year. It is not mine or anyone’s place outside of these students’ families to speculate as to why they may have done so. But what we can learn from these tragedies is that it could be your family, a close friend or someone you may only know in passing who is finding it difficult to carry on and has lost sight of the beautiful struggle that life is. Mental health and the importance of addressing it are neglected in the mainstream media because there’s not as much money to be made from talking about that which you can’t sell.

Students’ Perceptions of Rape by Annie Mckeown O’Donovan In 2010, three NUI Galway students from the MA in Philosophy: Ethics Culture and Global Change class conducted a survey on third level students’ perceptions of rape and victim responsibility in conjunction with Galway Rape Crisis Centre. These are a selection of the results.

Out of the twenty scenarios presented regarding victim blame, there were a percentage of respondents who attributed some or all the responsibility to the victim in every single situation. Over a quarter of respondents (25.4%) felt that a rape victim should accept responsibility for being raped if they were drinking to excess: almost a quarter (24.6%) if they are under the influence of

drugs. When asked to define rape, the majority (39.22%) described it as an unwanted or forced act, carried out against an individual’s will. One particpant described it “the act of extracting sexual gratification from an unwilling other through the use of guile or force,” another as “when a person is coerced either physically or mentally into a sexual

Is it rape if they initially say no to sex but change their mind due to pressure from their partner?

act against their will.” One of the most shocking findings from the “Is it rape if…” question was that 10.5% of respondents felt that only sometimes was it rape if the victim was asleep. The question concerning the identity of rapists indicated that 46.1% of participants agreed, and 19.6% strongly agreed that “the majority of rapists are known to the victim.”

Welfare Officer Brian Grant said, “Throughout the academic year, the Students' Union always run suicide intervention courses on campus such as Safetalk, which takes place over half a day. The ASSIST course which is funded by the HSE is an intense two day seminar on suicide intervention. Furthermore, the SU frequently links up with national and local mental health organisations such as JIGSAW, Samaritans, Reachout, Pleasetalk, Headsup, Pieta House and many more, as well as the welfare services on campus in order to raise awareness to where students can receive help.” The last budget doubled the funding for suicide intervention to €10m while the budget for Mental health services as a whole has risen by €10m. Brian is around until the end of June should you require any assistance. A beautiful struggle can be likened to Theodore Roosevelt’s inspiring

speech, The Strenuous Life, in which one of the more prominent passages stated, “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.” I’ve always found serenity in quotes such as these that are applicable to my life, and maybe you would too. Some of the places in Ireland to contact, if you are concerned about yourself or a friend, are: 1life (1800-247-100), Aware (info@aware.ie), National Office for Suicide Prevention (info@nosp.ie). To contact the NUI Galway Student Counselling Service phone 091 524411 or 087 6644299 or email counselling@nuigalway.ie

This is a positive finding and demonstrates that the majority of respondents were aware that the victim knows their perpetrator in most rape cases. One of the students involved in conducting the survey and compiling the final report said that “amongst the shocking and negative perceptions we discovered, the overall effect of the survey has been positive as it has raised awareness and encouraged people to examine their perceptions

of rape and victim responsibility.” According to Aoibheann McCann of the GRCC: “We feel that the survey was very beneficial as the students had a greater awareness of the issues presented. But no matter how much we educate people otherwise, people keep blaming victims.” The full findings of the survey will be published in the Galway Rape Crisis Centre Annual Report 2012, available online and from the GRCC in June.

Decide whether the victim of rape should accept all, some, or none of the responsibility if they are drinking to excess.

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Sustainable Campus What about Buckfast? EXPLORE your Beautiful Surroundings By Paul O’Donnell This year has seen the launch of the EXPLORE initiative, a co-operation between the NUI Galway Bright Ideas Initiative and the Students' Union. The initiative offers students and staff the opportunity to work in equal partnership to encourage sustainable innovation and change both on campus and within our wider Galway community. Even though the programme was not officially established until January there has been keen interest and seventeen projects have been granted funding and will develop over the summer months. A number of these projects have a focus on socioenvironmental topics. The Video Podcasts in Mammal Ecology project aims to develop a series of video podcasts (vodcasts) for students to use as informational and educational tools. Much of the content will be directed to compliment the third and fourth year Zoology course but it will also be of interest to students involved in natural history documentary making and wildlife photography among others. The Vincent Wildlife Trust, a mammal conservation charity, has also offered to host the vodcasts on their new website. Each short vodcast will be designed, written, directed, filmed and edited by the Explore team, which consists of one member of academic staff and ten third year students. The first videos will concentrate on rodent (wood mouse and squirrel) handling, mammal identification and mammal tracking.

The Galway University Sustainable Transport Options (GUSTO) team, an interdisciplinary group from Civil Engineering, Sociology & Politics and Geography, aims to develop a map of and promote the sustainable transport options available for getting to campus. The background to the project includes many recent improvements to sustainable transport infrastructure, continuing levels of staff and student single occupancy driving and the Galway Transport Report in which many people said they “will abandon cars if services are provided.” The project team has already begun to work closely with the Galway Transportation Unit and the Buildings’ Office as well as a number of other groups including others in the Explore programme. Even with improvements to sustainable transport infastrucure in recent years, and the environmental, health and financial benefits of sustainable transport, currently 62% of staff and 22% of students drive on their own to campus, even though 45% and 64% respectively live within 8km of campus. The aim of GUSTO will be to promote the new and improved facilities in the form of a userfriendly map which will be hosted online and distributed to students and staff for free in order to get people to make the sensible choice. The Campus Tree Map (catchy acronym coming soon!) aims to develop an interactive map of the university campus which can act as a learning tool even offer-

ing tours of the campus with detailed information on the entire ecosystem which surrounds us; this will take years to develop. The first steps for the project are underway with information on the 102 acres and over 40,000 trees being gathered. From here, over the summer months, a basic map will be developed with information on the trees we pass each day. We hope to launch this basic version in September as both an online map and app, which might be used by incoming students to help familiarise themselves with the university. The Corrib Special Area of Conservation has a richness of bio-diversity that sees the university grounds as part of their home. In time, we hope to include information on the variety of species - some we see, most we don’t - and how they are dependent on the campus environment for life. All of this we eventually hope to integrate into a RealSim platform and over the summer we will be looking at the possibility of collaborating with a number of the other Explore projects along with the 3D map of the campus which is already in development In its first three months the Explore initiative has given life to these three fantastic projects, among others. It is a promising start to the initiative and we look forward to seeing them grow over the summer. In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine and we’ll be back to offer you more green stuff in September! For more information please contact ecosoc@socs. nuigalway.ie.

By Katie Finnegan Buckfast Tonic Wine, commonly known as Buckfast or Buckie, is a fortified wine licensed by Buckfast Abbey in Devon, south west England. It is usually spotted in the hands of the young males of Galway before they embark on a night out. Are you one of its many consumers? We’ve compiled ten facts about the syrupy beverage. If you’re not a fan, this certainly won’t change your mind. 1. The Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey first made the tonic wine in the 1890s. It was originally sold in small quantities as a medicine using the slogan "Three small glasses a day, for good health and lively blood". Unfortunately, The name 'Tonic Wine' will not in fact heal you of your ailments. It actually carries a warning on its label saying “The name 'Tonic Wine' does not imply health giving or medicinal properties.” 2. The brown liquid that is so popular among students in the UK and Ireland is slightly different in both countries. In the UK, it is sold in a green bottle while in Ireland, it comes in a brown bottle. The alcohol content of the wine is also higher in the UK and contains vanillin. 3. Not only is the alcohol content higher than other wines, it also contains the amount of caffeine found in eight cans of coke. One bottle a week for a year, and that’s over 400 cans worth of coke!

4. Like Galway, Buckfast is particularly common in Scotland and has been nicknamed "Wreck the Hoose Juice," "Commotion Lotion" and "Mrs. Brown". Other nicknames are "Bucky," "Lurgan Champagne," "Buckie Baracas," "Sauce," and "Coatbridge Table Wine". 5. The drink has been linked to anti-social behaviour and in January 2010 a BBC investigation revealed that Buckfast had been mentioned in 5,638 crime reports in the Strathclyde area of Scotland from 2006–2009, equating to an average of three per day. In 114 of these cases, the Buckfast bottle was used as a weapon. In another study of litter around a typical council estate in Scotland, 35 percent of the items identified as rubbish were Buckfast bottles 6. In Galway, in 2010 a young man who was so determined to get a bottle of Buckfast back that he poked a garda aggressively in the chest, appeared in front of Galway district Court. He pleaded guitly to being intoxicated in a public place, threatening and abusive behaviour, and refusing to give a name and address at Eglinton Street on September 2, 2010. The Gardai took his bottle off him after seeing him in a “heated exchange”. In response he went up to the garda, said that the bottle was his and demanded it back. He then “poked” the garda in the chest and when requested to desist from such actions told the garda to “f**k off”. Luckily

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

for him, he wasn’t thrown in jail, but it’s not the first case where Buckfast has led to anti-social behaviour. 7. People have devised many games surrounding the drink, the most common being ‘The Buckfast Challenge.’ Each contestant has a full bottle of Buckfast tied to each of their hands. The caps for every bottle are unscrewed simultaneously. The winner is the first contestant to finish both their bottles. Derivatives of this game include simply having the bottles tied to your hands, and not being allowed to remove them until they’re finished. It’s not pretty, and we wouldn’t recommend it. 8. Buckfast also has a strong acting career having appeared in the film Trainspotting where you can see a bottle in the hotel room in the final scene as Renton leaves the room. It’s also featured in The Simpsons in Series 22, Episode 5. In the episode, Groundskeeper Willie swigs from a bottle. 9. Ever wonder what the number at the bottom of the bottle stands for? Rumours have been flying around for years that it relates to the quality, or the viscosity (thickness) but in actual fact, the numbers on the bottle actually relate to the glass bottle manufacturers mould number. 10: Unless you’re a Franciscan monk and can make it yourself, it aint cheap! A bottle will set you back around ten euro.

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How to Beat Exam Stress: A Reader by Roisin Peddle “It’s sunny?” asks the poor third-year who hasn’t been outside the library since early February. Yes, it’s a cruel trick of the Almighty to cast a tempting glow across blank A4 pads at this time of year. All you might want to do is jump into the Corrib in your bikini (disclaimer: this is not advisable) but there are those dratted exams to sit. Never mind the sunshine. You haven’t had a proper night sleep since Take That were in short pants, you’ve ingested so much caffeine that toddlers are frightened of your bloodshot eyes and jabbering speech. Oh, and you’ve alienated your friends and a large portion of your family because of your endless tirades on failing. You have exam stress. Examius stressius does not just hit those poor

souls afflicted with those two-hour torture sessions referred to as exams. It’s much more insidious. Poor humanities students, despite their popular perception as paragons of bohemian laziness, also suffer from stress. At the end of semester two, assignments are piling up. Essays discussing structural Marxist analogies with special reference to feminist and postcolonial undercurrents in the Thomas the Tank Engine series lead to several brain explosions per year in the James Hardiman. So how do you overcome this dreaded disease? Well, as the front of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy said: DON’T PANIC. Panicking never achieves anything. Take a deep breath and make a short list of things to do. A word of warning though- resist the temptation to write the list in colour-coded 19th century

German script, or else it just becomes another method of procrastination. Speaking of procrastination, we live in a golden age of dallying. Step forward offender number one; the internet. Just checking Facebook, then just checking Twitter, then just watching that cute video of sloths having a bath, soon becomes an hour spent not studying. Unless you really need the internet for study - checking up what the latest academic opinion on Thomas is for example - don’t log in. And if you can manage without a laptop - using printed notes or those book thingies is a way around it - leave it alone. There’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling when you realise it’s four o’clock already and although you now know everything about three-toed sloth, it’s not coming up in your exam.

Is studying better at home or in college? Well, that’s a matter of personal opinion. Some people find it impossible to concentrate when boxed in with strangers at the library; others find the allure of the kettle, TV and chatty housemates at home too tempting. Personally, I’ve always liked the sense that everyone is in it together in the library. Poor mites. Wherever you go, resist the urge to feather your nest. You won’t study better if you lift every book remotely connected to your topic from the library shelves and put it on your desk. You won’t study better if you rearrange the furniture in your room. Let’s face it, you don’t give a damn about cleanliness the rest of the year, so why start at exam-time? So you’ve beaten procrastination. Now what? When you’ve actually

started studying, you can be tempted to take it to extremes. Experts recommend a break every 40 minutes at the maximum. A little break to get some tea, or stretch your legs, gives your overworked noggin a badly-needed break from the books. When you resume studying, you’ll find yourself fresher and better able to tackle those nasty chemical equations. All-night cramming sessions rarely work, especially the night before an exam. You’ll just fall asleep drooling on the paper in the morning. The examiner will harbour suspicions about the flecks of spittle on your answer book and probably fail you just for being so disgusting. Red Bull and other energy drinks are the devil, as anyone who ever encountered Jagerbombs will tell you. Yet there are those who swear by them at exam-time. Each

their own, but every high has a low. Just saying. As for coffee, too much will turn you into an insomniac and lack of sleep is the worst thing can happen to anyone in the run-up to exams. Some people lose all appetite when stressed - others (yours truly) find that using all that extra brainpower makes them extraordinarily hungry. For both, the advice is the same: regular meals, good breakfast, plenty of fruit, veg and water. Fish is great for smarts, so get some yummy salmon into you. Exercise is also key and we’re lucky that in NUI Galway we have some lovely walks around campus to help you work out body as well as mind. Exam stress can be unavoidable, but never fear. You’ll get through it, and although I probably shouldn’t say this in a college paper: there’s always the repeats.

or the status suggested by the burial. However, subsequent checks have shown this to be overly presumptuous. So, on the basis of the other bowl-barrows dug in Connaught, we can suggest that the cremated remains of an adult are likely to lie beneath Dangan barrow, but it would be unwise to assume a gender. We can also say it is likely that that person was buried with a bronze ‘razor’, potentially

under an upturned urn, about three and half thousand years ago. Also, since not everyone in the Bronze Age was buried under a barrow, the style of burial might mean our person was of some importance. There is one more clue we haven’t considered; the location of our barrow. It may be significant that it overlooks the Corrib River. As any of NUIG’s kayakers or rowers will know, the

river provides an excellent way to get around. In the Bronze Age, it would have been an important route, probably part of the main north-south route across Connaught. Our barrow overlooked that route; perhaps the person buried beneath Dangan barrow was a local leader who gained importance through involvement in the networks of exchange that would have passed by.

Who Lies Beneath the Dangan Barrow? by Ros O’Maolduin Hidden under overgrowth, on University grounds in Dangan, is a mound marking a ritual burial site. It is what in archaeological terms we call a ‘barrow’. These can date from the Neolithic to the early Iron Age (c.4000-0 BC) and are widely found throughout Europe, but are rare in Galway. This one is unexcavated, so who might be buried beneath remains a mystery. Nonetheless, on the basis of a little investigative work we can make an educated guess. In the archaeological survey of Galway our site is simply listed as an ‘unclassified barrow’, so to progress our investigation we must look at the monument morphology (shape) and do some research. It is about 20m in diameter, just over 2.5m in height and encircled by a shallow ditch about 3m wide. According to the classification system for Irish barrows, as developed by NUIG lecturer

Conor Newman, this puts the Dangan barrow in the ‘bowl-barrow’ class. In 1939, a bowl-barrow was excavated in Carrowbeg North, Co. Galway. A pit, containing cremated bones of a ‘probable male’ and a bronze ‘razor’, was found directly under the centre of the mound. Three other ‘bowl-barrows’ were excavated in Carrowjames, Co. Mayo, also in 1939. Each of those was also erected over a central pit containing cremated remains accompanied by ‘razors’. One contained the remains of an adult and a child, while the other two contained lone adults covered by upturned ‘Cordoned urns’. Thanks to work carried out by Dr Anna Brindley, while at NUIG, those urns are firmly dated to the Middle Bronze Age, about three and a half thousand years ago. The ‘razors’ are often assumed to have belonged to the buried person, but they and the Cordoned urns are as likely to have had something to do with rituals that formed

part of the burial rite. At this point you may be wondering why everybody was digging barrows in 1939. Well, a bit like today, Ireland was suffering from high unemployment and government relief schemes provided employment for ‘workmen’. An interesting idea for the future perhaps, except we ought to be enlightened enough to include ‘workwomen’. The gender and sex of the burials is an issue worth considering as part of our guesswork on who lies beneath Dangan barrow. However, the two should not be confused; one’s gender is arguably a social construct, while one’s sex is a biological characteristic. Furthermore, while it is not difficult to sex a complete skeleton, with cremations, depending on the preservation and amount of bone present, it can be difficult to do. In the past, many cremations (like the Carrowbeg example mentioned above) were assumed male on the basis of grave-goods,

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Review: Tyrannosaur

Guaranteed to ROPE You In By Katy Quinn So here it is, the eagerly awaited twentieth edition of ROPES: the Review of Postgraduate Studies, for those of you who didn’t know. The MA in Literature and Publishing have been working their socks off to get it com-

“

The foreword from the ROPES team maintains this motif, illustrating “The pieces that follow have organically linked themselves together through such themes of reflection and anticipation.” The stunning images that permeate the journal really

to create the sort of unique issue that the team can be proud of. The writers, whose astounding contribution cannot be understated, are made up of those who are familiar with ROPES and those who have never contributed previously. Each

”

Each work of poetry or prose has been written, reviewed,

selected and edited with great care – and it really shows.

pleted in time for the launch on 26 April and they do not disappoint. The wonderfully vibrant front cover - great design from Dazhka Claire - details the theme of ‘Links,’ and promises to bring together past and present contributors in celebration of the twentieth issue.

serve to make the theme even more prominent: they show beautiful and magnificent landscapes as well as close, obviously personal, shots of various people. Each photograph, from the opening black and white shot to the inspiring artwork that is found throughout, serve

work of poetry or prose has been written, reviewed, selected and edited with great care - and it really shows. There is not one piece that does not deserve to be there; I was astounded at the quality of work right across the board. From the first-time-published Michelle

By Gerard Madden

Katherine Coleman to the seasoned writer Kevin Higgins, there is something for everyone. For me, there were many pieces that stood out and unfortunately I don’t have the space to do them all justice so instead I will name just a few for you to look out for. Laura Ann Caffrey’s ‘Baking Bread (for my Grandmother)’, reminds us of all of those times we spent with our own family members who are no longer with us. The poem has a peaceful and soothing quality to it as well as invoking personal memories and feelings, such a wonderful achievement for a true poet. Kit Jenkin’s truly unique ‘White Corners’ written in an unusual format encourages the reader to piece together the purposeful gaps and involves them beyond the usual writer/ reader relationship. The excellent piece that really made me want to cry was Damien Cunniffe’s ‘A Private Smoke (For Gearoid, Stephen and Paul)’. It is the kind of story that everyone can relate to and will invoke strong feelings in the reader. The launch, as mentioned, will be during the Cuirt Festival on 26 April in Busker Brownes at 5pm and will feature Marina Carr (the celebrated Irish playwright) who is a guest speaker. There will also be food for all of you who take the time to show up and support your fellow NUIG students. All in all, the MA in Literature and Publishing deserve the highest praise for all of their hard work throughout the year and I will be first in line to congratulate them at the launch.

Ty r a n n o s a u r i s t h e directorial debut of Paddy Considine, the excellent star of Shane Meadows’ Dead Man’s Shoes. Meadows’ films are renowned for their kitchen-sink realism, and Considine’s movie echoes this; producing an extraordinarily bleak portrayal of several damaged working class characters in urban Northern England. The film’s main actor is the director of The Magdalene Laundries, Scotland’s Peter Mullan - AKA the ‘waiter’ from Trainspotting’s ‘Perfect Day’ scene. He is someone who is not only an extremely capable and underrated actor, but also has a close affinity with the subject matter, creating a graphic description of urban life based on his own experiences in a street gang in 1970s Glasgow with 2010’s Neds. M u l l a n ’s c h a r a c t e r, Joseph, is an unemployed widower who is suffocated by his anger and inability to contain his own selfdestructiveness. The film’s opening goes out of its way to portray him as an extraordinarily loathsome character; he drunkenly kicks his dog to death, gets into a racially charged confrontation with a Pakistani shopkeeper, and gets into a fight with local teens in a pub. And yet Joseph is a character that ultimately wins our sympathy, through his relationship with a local Christian charity shop worker Hannah (Olivia Colman) who seeks to help him after he runs into her shop following an assault. However, Hannah’s

seemingly perfect middleclass exterior masks her own problems with alcoholism and her extemely toxic relationship with her husband, James (the excellent Eddie Marsan). Also featuring in Joseph’s life is a neighbourhood boy, Samuel, with whom he is friendly, and whose stepfather, who has a very unpleasant vendetta with Joseph, is a highly abusive man. The situation haunts Joseph because his earlier inability to intervene with his brother’s abusive relationship with his daughter. Along with his new-found role as protector of Hannah and Samuel which he is thrust into, the revelation of his late-wife’s death from cancer also elicits our sympathy for the character. But our sympathy for Joseph is always tempered by the angry and volatile factor of his personality which is never far from the surface. As Joseph warns Hannah, when she expresses how safe she feels when she’s around them, “Nobody's safe with me.” The film’s title comes from the name Joseph taunted his wife with over her somewhat stout physique. Tyrannosaur can be a hard film to watch, especially if you’re an animal lover, with each scene striving to outshine the last in terms of unrelenting bleakness. But overall it is a valuable and wellmade film that ultimately strangely concludes as an uplifting one, with moments of black comedy and poignancy amidst the grimness. Tyrannosaur was screened by FilmSoc on 22 March.

The NUI Galway Students’ Union organised a Firewalk as part of their Earth, Wind and Fire challenge for charities Spunout.ie and the Galway Rape Crisis Centre on 15 March. Photo by Robbie Minton, PhotoSoc.

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Five Things You Must Do In Galway This Summer By Katy Quinn There are always plenty of things to do in Galway and never more so than this summer! For those of you, like myself, who cannot leave the country for the summer why not stop grumbling about it and enjoy Galway and all it has to offer. 1. The Tourist Attractions of Galway. To kick-start your summer why not take the time to do all the major tourist attractions because I would

bet most of you have never taken the time to really explore Galway? I’m from here and there is so much I have yet to do and see! Why not walk out to Salthill to the Aquarium? It’s so much fun and only €7 for a student ticket. If you check the website and go at certain times of the day you can be involved with feeding the fish! Galway City Cathedral, Galway City Museum and the Hall of the Red Earl (voted number one tourist attraction in Galway by Trip Advisor) are all amaz-

ing tourist locations and all free of charge! 2. The Volvo Ocean Race Final. There is no way you are going to want to miss any of this. The last time the Volvo ocean race came to Galway, we weren’t prepared for the influx of visitors or the beautiful weather. This year, Galway is getting ready to welcome even more people to the city as it becomes the largest outdoor venue. The boats are due to arrive on 3 July and the event runs

until the 8th with entertainment, various stalls and food stands and plenty of buzz! 3. The Galway Film Fleadh and The Galway Arts Festival. Running from 10 – 15 July and 16 - 29 July respectively, both of these events celebrate the visual arts on an international scale. The first is a festival for feature and short films and last year Cillian Murphy performed at The Town Hall Theatre. The Galway Arts Festival is a vibrant

celebration of anything to do with the visual and performing arts and there is always plenty of things to see and do spread across the city. There is even open air screenings in Eyre Square during the fleadh! 4. The Galway Races. I wasn’t going to mention the Galway Races but if you are in Galway for the summer and have never been, it really is well worth it. The upside, if you aren’t too keen on horse racing or being pushed around in the

crowds that gather at Ballybrit, is that the nightlife is just as exciting if not more exciting than the day itself. Wednesday and Thursday (Plate Day and Ladies Day) offer the best nights out. 5. Go to Salthill and Relax. If the weather is good (a rarity in Galway), or even if it just means its dry, go out to Salthill, walk the prom, have dinner in Kitty O’Shea’s (where we had to go as kids) and just basically chill out: you’ve had a hectic summer!

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

Review: John Carter of Mars By Kenneth Glennon John Carter of Mars has already had the life kicked out of it by critics. Furthermore, following an inexplicably quiet marketing campaign for such a mammoth production, it’s expected to lose Walt Disney Pictures somewhere in the region of $200 million. Yet, in spite of the grim headlines it is an inspiring film. John Carter is at heart a big, gloriously goofy space fantasy that deserves to find an audience. Based on the first of a

series of novels by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, the film is directed by Andrew Stanton, whose previous directorial efforts include Wall-E and Finding Nemo. This is his live action debut, and the story follows a disillusioned civil war veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who whilst searching for a cave of gold inadvertently transports himself to Mars (long story). On Mars, which is referred to as Barsoom by the locals, he discovers he has enhanced strength and can jump like the Incredible Hulk due to

the Martian gravity. Here he encounters a race of nine-foot tall, four armed, green aliens called Tharks who are caught in the middle of a civil war between the two human races on Mars. Taken as a Thark - who are motion captured by the likes of Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton and Thomas Hayden Church - Carter soon falls for a Martian princess, Lynn Collins, who fiercely puts flesh and blood on a potential cliché. She is trying to save her city and having seen Carter’s new-found abili-

Review: Cars Love Girls By Roisin Peddle New Irish band Cars Love Girls released their debut album Skip School on 9 March. The brother and sister duo couldn’t have written a better soundtrack for the (hopefully) long, hot summer of 2012. Skip School is a sun-drenched journey through funk and retro R’n’B in the company

of siblings Bres and Orla. Both Bres and Orla cut their teeth with Republic of Loose, one of Ireland’s biggest bands. Bres was a founding member and Orla joined as a vocalist in 2006. Bres himself co-wrote some of the bands biggest hits, like ‘Comeback Girl’ and ‘I Like Music’. Republic of Loose’s too-cool-to-be-Irish influence can be seen on

Skip School, but Cars Love Girls have a style all of their own. The band got their big break last year through their tour of Ireland with ex-Blizzards frontman and current judge on The Voice, Bressie. The album opens with ‘What’s on My Mind’, a minute of musing on times past and to come. It sets a good tone for an album that

ties in battle believes he can somehow help. Alongside the two appealing leads are a host of reliable British and Irish character actors from Mark Strong, as an all-powerful intergalactic being secretly controlling the course of the war, Dominic West, Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy who play the preposterous epic as straight faced as possible keeping the whole thing from high camp. Perhaps the biggest problem facing John Carter is the many films that have borrowed from Burroughs source material from Star Wars to Dune to Avatar. As such this entirely original

property has been criticised in some quarters for being hugely derivative. Still it’s enormous fun boasting an immersive Martian world with the Tharks representing a fantastic feat of motion capture. That these wonderfully expressive and personable creatures will not be seen again in future instalments, due to the film’s box office failure, is our loss in a time when another lifeless Transformers sequel is being prepared. On the whole John Carter is a Disney adventure through and through, with an old-fashioned Hollywood romance and grandiose

computer generated battles involving airships and green aliens amongst others. It’s not a movie to wait for on DVD: like Avatar it needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, its special effects demand as much. Not one for cynics this doomed would-be blockbuster requires a generous helping of goodwill going in and its heavily earnest tone will make it a soft target for many moviegoers. Still go with it and you may find yourself walking out with a big grin. Whether you’re grinning with or at John Carter of Mars is another matter entirely.

puts you in mind of endless teenage summer days. Cars Love Girls released their first single, ‘Lose Your Mind’, last October. This song naturally makes an appearance on Skip School and is a testament to the band’s love of Prince (in a good way). You could just imagine the Purple One singing this song. Current single ‘Future Ex-Wife’ opens with the startlingly cynical line “I just met my future exwife and I really want to get

know that girl,” and I guarantee it’ll be stuck in your head for the next few weeks. The eponymous track ‘Cars Love Girls’ has a bassline reminiscent of Van Halen. Cars Love Girls wear their influences on their sleeves, but they have a style all of their own. Shades of Republic of Loose’s ‘Comeback Girl’ abound in ‘Street Song’ and the newcomers are an evolution of the Dublin band’s sound. The last two tracks are

real highlights. ‘Light Came Back’ is a sweet piano-driven tune about reuniting with a lost love. And ‘Funny Little Thing’, the last song, is slower than anything else on the album and a fitting close to. Evocative of a hot summer night it’s a great epilogue to an album that evokes long, hot summer days. Skip School is the perfect soundtrack to a day lying out in the sun in Eyre Square. It’s available on iTunes now.

Three NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowships Each valued at €80,000 (over 2 years). Two are oﬀered in the Humanities; including the inaugural Dr Garret FitzGerald Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities. One is oﬀered in the Sciences.

Closing date: 27 April 2012

49 Cearnóg Mhuirfean, Baile Átha Cliath 2 / 49 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 Teileafón/Telephone: +353 1 439 2424 Facs/Fax: +353 1 439 2466 Ríomhphost/Email: awards@nui.ie Gréasan/Website: www.nui.ie

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Festival Fashion By Ashling O Loughlin The term ‘music festival’ might conjure up images of mud and navy raincoats, but for many it is the style event of the Summer. If you’re thinking of going there in your oldest and worst gear, you had better think again. Any festival goer knows that just because it takes place in a field, doesn’t mean you have to abandon style altogether. There are many ways of dressing fashionably and practically at a festival, without spending a fortune. Every year we see pictures of Kate Moss and Alexa Chung effortlessly floating around at festivals looking wonderful, and we think “how do they do it?” But the trick is very simple. Firstly you will need a pair of denim shorts; if you really don’t want to splash out on a new pair, then cut up an old pair of jeans for the stressed denim look, which is very on trend. Shorts are great at a festival; if it is sunny they keep you cool, and if it lashes rain, they dry out

a lot quicker than a pair of trousers will. Next you will need a straw hat; try to go for the panama style, and less cowboy to avoid looking like you’re going to a honky-tonk. There are plenty of these straw hats in New Look and Pennys, with different coloured bands around them. Or you could always customise your own with a scarf. It is a perfect way to keep your face out of the sun and for hiding hair that might be in need of a bit of a wash after three days of living in a tent. Whether you are festivaling in Ireland or further a field, you will always need to pack a raincoat just in case. Don’t be tempted by the lure of a cheap poncho – they never keep the rain out. Invest in an actual waterproof jacket. A mac-in-a-pac is a handy little one to buy and can fit nicely in your handbag. You’ll be glad of the investment when the heavens start to pour down on you. Wellies are another essential item to purchase. Pennys has a great

selection of wellie boots and they are very cheap. Like the raincoat though, if you want to be guaranteed water-proof, you might want to spend the cash on these , seeing as you’ll be wearing them for the whole weekend. Have a look in TK Maxx for a good brand, at a reasonable price. Ideally, a pair of Hunter wellie boots are the best quality, and offer a range of colours and designs. Start looking now and you might bag a nice pair on Ebay for a quarter of their retail price. There is also the danger of over packing and having to haul a case full of unnecessary clothes across three campsites to get to your tent. The best option is to travel light, and use a back pack, as trolley wheels will only get caught up in the muck and grass. Umbrellas are often seen as a weapon by security men, so don’t make the mistake of trying to bring one in. The same goes for stilettos, although lets face it, you deserve to be put out of a festival if wear high heels in the first place.

Style Spotter Jack Corbett Jeans and Shirt from Topman Satchel from M arket in Taiwan Shoes from River Island What's your style inspiration? I just wear what I like really; nothing in particular influences me. I guess I kind of have a put-together style. What do you think of the style in NUIG? I guess people just wear whatever they’re comfortable in. I don't take much heed to be honest. I guess there's a lot of bohemian style. What's your favourite shop and why? Topman, it's the only shop in Galway that caters for my sense of style really so I tend to just get most of things there.

with Cayla Bloomer

Kamile Jucyte Dress from Wallis Shoes and Bag from Topshop Glasses from TK Maxx What's your style inspiration? I'm really inspired by the 50s and 60s eras. I love Marilyn Monroe. I like the hippy/flowy-look but at the same time structured pieces; I like to mix and match. What are your thoughts on the style in Galway? Average overall, but at the same time there are some really good standouts. Where do you like to shop? Usually second hand shops because most likely no one else has what you find. Penneys also and I love TK Maxx!

The NUI Galway Societies Ball 27 March. Photo by Joe Hyland, PhotoSoc.

Modern Classics at Brown Thomas By Jane Kearns Summer is fast approaching, and with it comes a whirlwind of formal and semi-formal events that fill those warm days and balmy nights. We’ve all collected an extensive range of Autumn/Winter cocktail dresses, coats, boots and accessories, but what do we have to wear for the warmer and hopefully drier months of the year? Well, if you’re thinking more Prada than Penny’s,

Brown Thomas is opening up its doors to act as your summer stylist. Whether you’re going to garden party, a day at the races, an awards ceremony or simply attending a wedding, Brown Thomas will hold a series of style inspiration afternoons that will have you looking every inch the lady this Summer. On 31 March and 14 of April Brown Thomas stores have and will be celebrating modern classics and showcasing a variety of designs and styles to inspire your inner glamour. Among the major labels being exhibited are Hugo Boss, Diane Von Furstenberg, St. John, Max Mara, Prada, Escada, Armani and Mui Miu, as well as a range of accessories from designers like Chanel and Gucci. All of the chosen collections are elegant and timeless, and are sure to add a touch of class to any summer wardrobe. The St. John Spring/Summer collection which is endorsed by actress Kate Winslet is luxurious and feminine, neutral tones and flattering cuts are the basis of this collection which is sure to leave the wearer feeling comfortable from day to night. Hugo Boss is synonymous with timeless wardrobe staples and offers clean cut dresses and staple tweed suits, perfect for a day at the races or a summer garden party. Max Mara’s signature party dresses in silk fabrics with bright lively colours make the perfect outfit to wear to a wedding, while Escada’s more formal collection with

muted tones is perfect for a family christening or communion. If you’re looking for a bold look that sets you apart from the crowd, then Prada and Diane Von Furstenberg are the designers to look out for; featuring fantastic prints, vintage cuts and vibrant colours, both of these collections are guaranteed to get you noticed at any occasion. However, no outfit is complete with without great accessories. This summer headwear is a must for every big event and taking inspiration from Princess Kate Middleton; fascinators are the way forward. Cherry Chau offers an exquisite range of colourful fascinators suitable to match any outfit. If fascinators aren’t your cup of tea, sunglasses can be your stand out accessory. Try out this season’s hottest trends in sunglasses – from classic cat eyes to sophisticated Grace Kelly’s - from brands including Gucci, Ray Bans and Channel. The Accessories Hall also offers a fantastic selection of evening and clutch bags suitable for every outfit and occasion and to make sure all fashionistas step out in style this summer The Shoe Rooms at Brown Thomas offers an abundance of choices perfect for every occasion. The Modern Classics event will be in Galway branch of Brown Thomas on Saturday 14 April at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m., the event will be styled by Lisa Lane and is sure to awaken the fashionista in all who attend!

Team Winners

NUI Galway Sports Awards As Development Officer for Clubs and Participation I would like to thank the 350 students from all sports Clubs who celebrated their clubs achievements at their annual Sports Ball in the Galway Bay Hotel. It was a great night with our University guests including VP Pat Morgan and RTE Rugby presenter Brent Pope in attendance. Looking forward to next years festivities. All the best,

Kathy

Kickboxing Des Leonard

Pool & Snooker

Pool Club ‘A’ team - Stephen Dempsey (Cap), Seamus Keane, Stephen O’Sullivan, Neil Hennelly & Liam Cannon

Tom Tuohy Award for Achievement in Rowing Ladies Soccer

Jennifer Byrne

Rowing

Mens Novice & Womens Novice

Most Improved Club

Judo Enda O’ Connor

Mens Soccer Ger Cheevers

Hurling David Kenny

Rugby Carol Staunton

Alumni Leadership Award

Waterpolo Adam Caulfield

Gaelic Football Robbie Kiely

Archery Club

ALIVE Award for

SQUASH

Captain Shane Touhy

Special Achievement Award

Judo Club

Participation Award

Volunteering

Athletics Club Swim, Waterpolo & lifesaving Club Archery Darren Wallace

Boxing David Martin

Club Captains Award

Committee Member Award

Recreation Award

Futsal

Darren & the B

Fustal — Champion League Results

Futsal Recreational Overall Champions Darren & the Bitches

Runners up

Fabreeze Brothaars.

Gaelic Football Deirdre Brennan

Swimming Kevin McGlade

HOCKEY Louise Riordan

Sub Aqua Club Christina Quinn

Joint 3rd Place

Punetas, Erasmus, and LeaveMyA***Alona

Congratulations to all!

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S ports & F itness

The Good, The Bad and The Hydrogenated By Aoife Brennan Fats have been demonised in our society for many years and advertising has led us to believe that anything low fat is exponentially healthier than any other option. A number of things are wrong with this approach. Firstly, some basic chemistry. Fats and oils belong to the same family of molecules - they are both lipids. An oil is a lipid that is liquid at room temperature and a fat is solid. Lipids are high energy molecules, composed of long chains of fatty acids. Therefore they are perfect energy storage molecules. Sugars burn fast in our bodies but fats release large amounts of energy each time a fatty acid is broken off the fatty acid chain. Something you’ll see advertised or read about in magazines is how saturated fats are bad and unsaturated fats (polyunsaturates, monounsaturates) are good. A saturated fat is harder for the body to breakdown as

all the bonds in the molecule are ‘used up’ and its harder for enzymes to latch on and break them down. An unsaturated fat has at least one double bond which makes it a bit more accessible to enzymes to break it down. As a general rule, saturated fats are solid at room temperature, e.g. butter, whereas unsaturated are liquid, e.g. olive oil. Saturated fats themselves are not inherently ‘bad’ fats and in fact our bodies do need them for the structure of our cell membranes, the functioning of our immune system and for hormone production. Eating too much fat can be bad for a few reasons: it can cause weight gain, it can play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease (one of the biggest killers in the developed world) and sometimes, because of food processing technologies, the fat molecules can be altered into unnatural, unhealthy version of themselves known as trans fats. Fat causes weight gain

Look out for partially hydrogenated fats in your food. because it’s so energy-dense. If you don’t burn it off, you store it and it’s much easier to eat 500 calories worth of fat than to eat 500 calories of protein and complex carbs. If you want to know more about fats and their role in cardiovascular disease, have a look at my article in issue six. Lastly, trans fats. ‘Trans fats’ is short for trans-isomer unsaturated fats. This refers to the chemical structure of the fat - they can be trans or cis. In nature, trans fats are very rare but when fats are artificially processed by a method known as partial hydrogenation, trans fats can be produced. This procedure has been used extensively over the last few decades to produce all the different types of butter-like spreads and margarines on the market as well as being

Saturated and unsaturated fats.

hidden in many processed foods like fried or baked foods. These trans fats are associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease. The evidence for this association is so strong that many countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, the US and the UK, have begun banning trans fats, giving food companies time-limits for phasing out the use of these unhealthy and unnatural chemicals. However, they’re not gone yet so keep an eye on food labels for partially hydrogenated fats. The moral of the story is: stick with natural foods full of good, natural fats and rich in lovely fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Healthy diets don’t have to be low fat - they have to be the right fats. Choose lean meats, as organic and fresh as you can afford, olive oil, fresh fish, real butter, nuts, avocados and keep the processed stuff to a minimum. A good rule of thumb? If most of the things listed in the ingredients are long chemical names or things you’ve never heard of, avoid it.

Fitness: Apparently There’s an App for That By Alan Keane More people own mobile phones on this planet than own toothbrushes. This startling fact does little to instil confidence in the world's dental hygiene, but does show the extent of the global communication market. Consider this also; it takes an average of 90 minutes for someone to answer an email, whereas it takes them just 90 seconds to answer a text. These facts are brought to you courtesy of Ted Vickey, who delivered the final chapter of the Sport and Engineering talks at the beginning of March, entitled Fitness, There's an App for that. Ted was as good a person as any to deliver this

talk, working as he has with the White House fitness centre in the mid-nineties. (Bill Clinton needed other fitness outlets besides… ahhem). I digress. The main thing to take from this is that Ted knows his stuff. He was full of statistics. 91% of US citizens have mobile phones within reach 24/7. This would not be an altogether inaccurate estimate here in Ireland either, particularly in the 16-30 demographic. The point Vickey was trying to make was that phones are the best way for companies of all spheres to gain a foothold in the market. Consider the rise in use of smartphones; now people are using the descendants of the Nokia 3210 in order to maintain

fitness. Apps like Runkeeper keep track of distance and speed for aspiring runners, allowing them to post their information on social networking sites so their friends can send them words of encouragement. (Or abuse, if you've got proper friends). The very idea that your friends can see what type of speed and distance you are capable of theoretically means that you will be more inclined to push yourself further. God be with the days when you could tell your friends you had just run fifteen miles, without breaking a sweat. If you stop after a mile and pop into the shop for some cigs and a breakfast roll, Runkeeper will know, and will rat you out.

Other fitness apps are a little more dubious. Mealsnap allegedly calculates the calories of your meal if you take a picture of it, but it is also apparently quite inaccurate. To be on the safe side, put back that tenth spud. That's just gluttony. Perhaps the best and quirkiest fitness app on the market at the moment is Zombie Run. This brilliantly turns your runs into a game, where your speed and distance clocks up points which keep your zombie pursuers at bay. You can also transfer your points to other friends who are in danger of being eaten. What better motivation for your run than to know your brains could be breakfast?

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RECIPE: Roast Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto with Pinenuts Tr y t h i s d e l i c i o u s , warm, filling risotto dish that’s packed with yummy flavours. Feel free to experiment with the basic risotto recipe - add mushrooms, smoked salmon, peas or chicken. Mix it up to make the meal you want. Preparation time: 20-25 minutes Cooking time: approximately 1 hour Serves: 4

Ingredients 1 large butternut squash 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped 2 tbsp olive oil 15 fresh sage leaves, chopped Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Knob of butter 1 large white onion, chopped 400 g Arborio rice 2 glasses of white wine 1 litre hot chicken or vegetable stock Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve 75 g pine nuts (optional as they can be expensive) Tip: fry 6-8 slices of smoked rashers and cut into strips to scatter over the risotto with, or without, the pinenuts.

Method 1. Preheat oven to 200C 2. Cut the butternut squash into 6-8 wedges, remove the seeds and place in a roasting tray. Pound or chop the garlic and add a generous glug of olive oil, half the sage leaves, sea salt and pepper. Tip into the tray and rub over the butternut squash with your hands. Roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes until softened and becoming golden in colour. 3. Once the squash has cooked, cool slightly, then scrape the soft flesh away from the skin into a bowl. Lightly mash with a fork until it is fairly chunky in texture. 4. Heat the olive oil and a good knob of butter in a deep, heavy-based frying pan or saute pan. Gently fry the onion until softened. Add the rice and stir for about a minute until the grains are coated with the oil and butter. Pour in the wine and stir continuously until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and the remaining sage and season well with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down so the stock is simmering gently. Keep adding ladles of stock as it cooks into the rice, stirring and moving the rice around in the pan. After about 15-20 minutes the rice should be soft but still have a bit of bite left in it. The texture of the risotto should be thick and creamy, but not too loose. Add extra stock if necessary. 5. Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir the roasted butternut squash into the risotto with the Parmesan and seasoning to taste. Add any extra stock if the risotto seems particularly thick. 6. Toast the pine nuts in a fairly hot frying pan and until golden. 7. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls and scatter with the pine nuts and parmesan.

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Many Positives Can be Taken from WSCAI Ladies Soccer Intervarsities By Daragh Small NUI Galway were defeated by eventual plate winners UL in the semi-final of the WSCAI Ladies Soccer Intervarsities held in Dangan and Drom from the 8 - 10 March. It was NUI Galway’s first time in four years to emerge from the group stage while Carlow IT claimed the showpiece event defeating UCC in the final held at Drom. NUI Galway began proceedings with an 11am kick-off on the Thursday against red-hot favourites Sligo IT. Before the game Rosa Shine had voiced her concerns stating that “we were playing Sligo IT, who recently won the Premier Division so we knew we were in for a tough match.” However the women from NUI Galway didn’t seem to have read the script. Despite losing the game 1-0, some sterling displays from Jennifer Byrne and Co. meant Sligo IT

didn’t have it all their own way. Indeed NUI Galway may have felt aggrieved to have left the game with nothing as Nuala Marshall commented that “the team played amazing against the premier league champions, it was our best game all season.” After this energy-sapping loss, NUI Galway had to quickly pick themselves up again as they were controversially set to play again at 2.30 that same day. This time Waterford IT were the opponents and NUI Galway knew that if they could muster up enough energy, a semi-final could be waiting in the wings. NUI Galway started well, taking everything into consideration but the concession of a tenth-minute goal from a penalty stunned the hosts. This was added to at the start of the second half and the dream looked over for another year. Still one brave tactical move later and NUI Galway were back in the match. The switching of Jenni-

fer Byrne into midfield got her more into the game as Nuala Marshall also began to threaten up front. Another penalty was awarded, this time to the green and maroon of NUI Galway. The aforementioned Byrne duly obliged and suddenly the task didn’t seem difficult. For the final quarter NUI Galway peppered the WIT goal but couldn’t come away with that all important goal until stoppage time when the sublime Jennifer Byrne came up trumps once again. This result left NUI Galway in a precarious position with their continuation in the competition dependent entirely on whether Sligo IT could do them a favour and beat Waterford IT. Sligo IT won that game 4-1 to send NUI Galway into the semifinals of the plate where they would face the almighty UL in another David and Goliath epic tie.

This time there was to be no fairytale ending as the UL side proved far too strong. Fatigue took over as NUI Galway were unable to break down a resolute UL outfit, losing 3-1. Siobhan Tully’s effort in the second half proved only a consolation as UL went on to play UCD in the final where they won 4-3. In the blue ribboned event, IT Carlow edged out UCC 2-0. In doing so they became the first regional women’s college to claim the WSCAI Intervarsities Cup thanks to goals from Megan Campbell and Vivienne McCormack. NUI Galway can be very pleased with their efforts. Jennifer Byrne, Irene Glennon and Siobhan Tully all excelled winning All-Star awards at an event held in the Galway Bay Hotel to mark the occasion. The WSCAI Intervarsities for 2012 was a resounding success and the organisers must be happy with their weekends work.

Mark Selby lining up a shot at the recent PTC Grand Finals in the Bailey Allen Hall in NUI Galway. All eyes were on NUIG as the twelve tournament strong PTC series finished its European tour in Galway. It was Stephen Lee who ultimately took the trophy - his first ranking event for six years - beating Australia’s Neil Robertson 4-0 to the £70,000 prize. Images courtesy of NUI Galway Conference Office.

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Action-packed Summer Lies Ahead for NUI Galway Crew

Skydive 2012: Are You Brave Enough to Take the Plunge?

Daragh Small

Olivia Dullaghan

This summer the muchanticipated Volvo Ocean race returns to the Galway shores. Last time it brought a new dimension to summer in the West with its effects on the local economy. It also impacted hugely on the boating scene in Galway, inspiring waves of fresh new talent to get involved in the sport. The consequences are finally being felt as this summer NUI Galway will enter its first ever crew into the Round Ireland Yacht Race. The crew consists of eight sailors with skipper Cathal Clarke taking the navigation duties, Ben Scallan and Eoghan McGregor at the helm, Joan Mulloy, Ruaidhri de Faoite and Mark Armstrong: the trimmers, and Eoin Breen and Louis Mulloy: the bowmen. Ruairdhi De Faoite is one of the main trimmers on-board the boat. He told me “since

the team entered the race our goal has always been to win our class as well as claiming the overall prize. Sailing races like this have a number of classes of yachts so that you are only really racing yachts that are similar to your own but everyone’s time is multiplied by a handicap at the end to see who is the overall winner.” The 22-year-old native of Spiddal spoke further about what it means to him to be involved. “It’s a great honour to be one of the crew to represent the college especially as it’s not just a varsities competition; it’s a well renowned international sailing competition. Personally I hope to get more experience in offshore sailing and use my experiences from this race as a stepping stone to move onto bigger campaigns in offshore sailing.” “Myself, Ben and Cathal all got invited to sail with the

Green Dragon to Rotterdam in Holland and then from Southampton to Cascais, Portugal. This was a really great experience and gave us all a taste for offshore sailing on a worldclass sailing yacht. These trips gave myself anyways a real taste for offshore sailing and has driven me to want to do more of it and build a resume that will help me get on bigger and better boats in the future.” The 32nd Round Ireland Yacht Race departs Wicklow Bay at 12 noon on Sunday 24 June. It is the Premier race in the Royal Ocean Racing Club calendar. The first race took place back in 1980 with a fleet of just thirteen boats. In recent years the race has grown in popularity with up to sixty boats competing biennially travelling approximately 704nm. The course can prove problematic to even the most skilled of navigators as

the yachts encounter openocean along the south and west coasts and difficult tidal challenges around the northern and eastern coasts. The NUI Galway team have chartered a 38ft boat ‘Lynx’ and will undertake rigorous on-water training this month. A sail around the coast will follow this to Dublin in an attempt to gauge mileage for the race before they conclude their preparation with a race from Pwllheli in Wales to Wicklow in early June. The crew will also be required to refresh Sea Survival and First Aid qualifications. This repercussion of NUI Galway’s involvement in this race cannot be underestimated. This in conjunction with the Volvo Ocean Race returning to the Galway shores this summer, ultimately meaning even bigger things lie ahead for boat racing in the West.

A Momentous Encounter with NUI Galway’s Boat Club By Aisling Crowe It’s a cold spring morning as members of the NUI Galway Men’s Rowing team prepare for another early training session on the Corrib. At an hour when most students are warmly tucked up in their beds, these dedicated rowers are ready to take to the water. This morning a crew of eight and another of four will be put through their paces by coach Dave Mannion. Dave leads the way to the motorboat from where he directs the work that the two crews have to do. As the build up to the intervarsities and national championships intensifies, training

will become more pressurized but this morning, there is a mix of experience among the crews of the two boats. In rowing, technique is important and for the duration of this morning’s session the focus is on technical drills. Dave explains the importance of the drills, in particular the concept of perfecting the sequencing of movement necessary for fluid and harmonious rowing. “These technical drills use the legs, body and arms and we do them to make sure that co-ordination is right and to help the rowers develop a connection with the water,” he explains. “Rowing is a simple sport

with a lot of cyclical movement but it takes a good deal of practice getting it right,” Dave adds. Throughout the session Dave gives instructions to both teams and to individual rowers from the motorboat. The crews row past the empty college buildings and under the Quincenntenial Bridge, laden with rush hour traffic; they go beyond the hightech engineering building but stop short of Dangan. There is no need to go that far this morning. In rowing the cox plays a crucial role in the crew. The job of the cox is to steer the boat and they also work like a tactician during the race.

Dave relays instructions to Dan; the cox on the men’s eight, during the session. “They make calls and plan in front of them. They are almost like a coach inside the boat. A good cox is hard to come by,” he adds. It is a short session this morning and journeying back towards the boathouse, we pause to take in that Galway’s famous river has witnessed a lot of rowing history down through the years and the NUI Galway Boat Club has been a huge part of that. Back on dry land, it seems like a day’s work has been done but it’s not even nine o’clock, and some have lectures to go to and more training sessions

Every year, the NUI Galway Students’ Union organises events to raise money for its nominated charities. This year, the chosen charities are Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Spunout.ie. Not knowing what I was setting myself up for, I decided to sign up for the Charity Skydive in early December 2011. As this is my final year in NUI Galway, I wanted to do something that was worthwhile. I saw the skydiving as a challenge. As it was my first jump I decided to do the Tandem Skydive, in which instructors were strapped on to you. Also, there was the option of doing a solo-skydive. The date was set for sometime in March when the “lovely” Irish weather was to be getting better. I remember telling my family and friends, and of course they all thought I was mad! I don’t think anyone took me seriously at all, at the start. After Christmas, the fundraising commenced. I managed to raise over €500 which I was very proud of, not without the help of my family and friends! In total, we all raised over €10,000: a big congratulations to everyone who took part. The actual skydive date had to be rescheduled due to the weather, but on 8 March, I was set to jump 10,000 ft out of a plane. We arrived at the airport around ten o’clock. The sun was shining and I knew this was going to be a good day. The entire skydive crew were there for us! My group were the first skydivers that morning. We got our training talk, and I think everyone was more than excited. The instructors made

sure we all had fun and kept joking around with us. I remember being in the plane and asking Kris “how far are we up now?” and he said “about 3,000 ft”. I thought “Oh God, I’ve another 7,000 to go!” The instructors started belting out ‘I believe I can fly’ on the way up, which was hilarious. All of a sudden it was time to go! Of course I was last out of the airplane. All I personally remember seeing is clouds as it happened so fast. The free-fall is mindblowing, you literally can’t think. It was an absolute adrenaline rush: it was amazing. I couldn’t possibly explain the feeling, without saying “you have to do it.” The landing was perfect; it couldn’t have worked out any better, especially with the help of instructor Kris. Back on the ground I was dying to go up again. One of the instructors had said that NUI Galway had a club and as soon as I got back to college, I looked and lo-and-behold we do. I am delighted to be a member. Paddy Hennelly set up the club in November 2011. At the minute, it is getting up and running, and it plans to get bigger and better for the coming months. The team are organising another training session soon for anyone that is brave enough to jump solo. There’s also an upcoming AGM in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled. It’s an amazing experience and I am very lucky to have gotten the opportunity to do it. A huge thanks to Joanna, all at the Students’ Union and also to SkyDive Ireland. You can find the club and become an NUI Galway Skydiver on Facebook, “NUIG Skydive”; Twitter, “NUIGskydiving”; or on clubs. nuigalway.ie

to attend. Rowing may be a simple sport but it requires dedication and hard work. The old boat sheds illuminate the rewards, telling the glorious history of the college rowing club. Every available space records the names and years of national

and college champions. A permanent reminder of the momentous history of the club but also a testament to the glory days the club are currently experiencing and a motivation, for the current squads, to have their names written large on the walls.

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Taking the First Steps to the High Treks Orla Callanan, Mike Kelly, Neil Hyland Treks to places such as Kilimanjaro are becoming more and more popular among students during the summer months. With this in mind, a group of medical students took the opportunity to speak with Dr Gerard Flaherty, a highly experienced travel medicine physician, who has worked as a physician on Everest. Sin: Firstly, what is high altitude and where would I find it? GF: The nearest high altitude mountains are the Alps or the Pyrenees. Extreme altitude is greater than 5,800m eg. Kilimanjaro, The Himalayas, but altitudes over 1,500m can have effects on the body. Sin: How could altitude affect my health? GF: Low levels of oxygen cause changes in the body, such as to the breathing rate, heart rate, blood and the kidneys to compensate for these levels. This is known as acclimatisation. If the body has insufficient time to acclimatize, certain illnesses can ensue, which can be fatal if left untreated.

ness (AMS) is very common at high altitude. This can be recognised in someone with a headache and at least one other symptom e.g. tummy upset. These people are encouraged to stop ascending until their symptoms resolve. HACE is swelling of the brain and can be recognised if a person has severe mental disorientation. HAPE is when fluid builds up in the lungs and is often recognised by severe fatigue. These conditions are more serious and immediate descent is required. Sin: If someone is an asthma sufferer, can they still climb to high altitudes? GF: Yes. Most asthmatics tolerate high altitude very well unless the asthma is exercise/cold weather related. For all conditions however, it is important to see a travel medicine specialist.

Sin: What difficulties have you encountered yourself as a physician on mountaineering expeditions? GF: People are often overcome by ‘summit fever’ and are therefore less inclined to heed medical advice. Being able to treat others whilst experiencing the effects of high altitude yourself is also a big challenge. On one occasion we had to commission a helicopter evacuation for a person at 16,000 feet in Nepal but they wouldn’t send the helicopter until the person committed to paying $5,000. Sin: What are the benefits of training at high altitude for athletes? GF: In long distance running it has been observed that most of the best athletes come from the highlands of East Africa. Those born at low altitude

may seek to improve their performance by training in areas of high altitude such as Colorado. Our students on the high altitude medicine module this semester visited the Altitude Center in UL which offers endurance athletes the opportunity to spend time in a hypoxic house where they breath low levels of oxygen. Sin: If I wanted to climb Everest some day, where should I start? GF: The Inca trail or the Alps would be appropriate places to start. Places like Mount Kenya or Mount Kinabalu could then offer a stepping stone towards climbing Kilimanjaro. Winter in Scotland is an ideal location to practice the technical aspects of climbing in preparation for a Himalayan summit attempt. Sin: Finally, where would I learn more about high altitude? GF: The website highaltitudemedicine.ie is a good starting point. We have links on that website to many other useful resources including a video demonstration on how to use a portable hyperbaric chamber and an FAQ section.

Sin: Can you explain some of these illnesses? GF: Acute Mountain Sick-

Sin: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us!

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NUI Galway Come in Force to Take Home Gold in Glendalough By Daragh Small NUI Galway won their first Irish Mountain Running Association Men’s title since 2004, bringing eight male and two female athletes to the County Wicklow venue. They dominated the men’s event, with their A team winning and the B team taking the bronze medal. The A team made up of Diarmuid Collins (42:12), Oisin O’Carroll (50:45) and Rory Mannion (56:40) proved far too strong for the opposition, easily taking the crown. Indeed Diarmuid Collins was unlucky not to finish first outright, as at one stage he had the gap closed to 15 seconds behind eventual winner Sam Mealy of TCD. Carroll and Mannion provided great support to Collins staying in touch and bringing home NUI Galway’s first title in eight years. Oisin O’Carroll described the jubilation following the team’s success. “We finished the day with a dip in the lake to soothe the aching muscles before the prize giving in the Glendalough Hotel. A

great weekend had by all.” He attributed the success to the team-building that took place prior to the race “It was a fantastic weekend. Eleven team members travelled down to Glendalough in Co Wicklow on Friday evening. The weather was unbelievable. We rented out two small cottages for the weekend. On Saturday morning we headed for the race start and warmed up together for half an hour in the shadow of Camaderry, the grueling 550m mountain peak we would be racing up.” Cormac McDonnell (57:02), Pishoy Gouda (61:31) and Mark Walsh (77:20) finished in 12th, 13th, and 14th respectively, meaning the B team ensured NUI Galway left with two sets of medals. Stephanie Hulse (61:35) and Dymphna O’Dwyer (67:18) also did more than their fair share as the women represented the University well on their side of the draw minus a team member The feat that NUI Galway produced in Wicklow needs to be appreciated as it is unlikely to be reproduced by any institution on the land anytime soon.

and most of the half was played in UL territory. UL grew as an attacking force in the second half and the game was more evenly contested. Tackles were still being made as ferociously as ever as neither side were prepared to give up without a fight. Despite a couple of breaks for either side both teams defences remained water-tight and the match went into extra time. Extra time was agonisingly close and the drama ratcheted up a notch over the extra twenty minutes. Finally both defences were breached after heroic efforts all afternoon. After failing to register a single score in normal time, both sides scored in extra time. A

converted try apiece meant that after eighty minutes of rugby the sides could not be separated and the game went to a penalty shoot-out. It was a dramatic affair with both sides desperate to win. After a nail-bitingly close penalty shoot-out, UCC emerged victorious. They converted two of their penalties and UL converted none. It was a thrilling game and both sides put their heart and soul into it and in truth neither team deserved to loose. This competition has been dominated by UL over the past fourteen years. It was UCC’s first ever triumph in the competition and they became just the third side to add their name to the roll of honour.

Womens’ Rugby Intervarsities By Aisling Crowe Glorious sunshine and balmy temperatures provided the ideal backdrop for the women’s rugby intervarsities, which the NUI Galway Women’s Rugby Club hosted in Dangan on 28 and 29 March.

“

and UL. The Division Two championship was contested by LIT, Queen’s University Belfast, CIT, DCU and WIT. Some of Ireland’s best rugby players were on show as six of this year’s Irish Six Nations squad were involved.

standing. The tackles and hits were fierce in the final but Queen’s University ran out confortable winners, beating CIT by 75 -5. The northern team outclassed their southern opponents with a star turn from Irish international Ashleigh Bax-

A converted try apiece meant that after eighty

”

minutes of rugby the sides could not be separated and the game went to a penalty shoot-out.

Eight third-level institutions were represented in the competitions as their teams battled it out for national honours. Hosts NUIG competed in Division One along with UCC

The competition kicked off on Wednesday morning. Division Two was hotly contested and the battle for a place in the final went down to the wire with QUB and CIT the last teams

ter. The game was over as a contest by half time and QUB just pulled further away from CIT as the second half progressed. The Division One finalists were decided on

Wednesday. Unfortunately the home side didn’t make it and the battle for top honours was fought out between UL and UCC on Thursday afternoon. It was the standout game of the tournament despite not a single point being scored in normal time. The high quality rugby on display made for a fantastic spectacle and the supporters were treated to a tense and thrilling match. In a tight first half, UCC dominated possession but were unable to breach the UL defensive line. It was a supreme rearguard effort from the Shannon-siders in the energy sapping heat but the Cork girls had the majority of the possession

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Book 1

Easy Sudoku Puzzles by KrazyDad

13–12

Sudoku Sudoku#5 #6

F inal W ord

Book 1Intermediate Sudoku Puzzles by KrazyDad Sudoku#5 #6 Sudoku

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Challenging Sudoku Puzzles by KrazyDad

02–04

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CloakRumours The NUIG ComicSoc Presents...

The Existential Attitude Towards an Absurd World By Leigh Ashmore

©© 2011 KrazyDad.com © 2011 KrazyDad.com 2011 KrazyDad.com and food outlets. See galwayfoodfestival.com. Saturday 7 April: Brigit’s Gardens Reopens in RoscaIn politics, an absurdity is not a handicap. hill. For --more brigitsgarden.ie Napoleonsee Bonaparte

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Sales of tanning lotion up 70% and Buckfast up 800% as summer sets in in Galway. Student catches pneumonia as weather takes unexpected turn for the normal. Golden Snitch still missing after Harry Potter Society Quidditch match. Society offers five-hundred Galleons for its safe return. With competition for study space intensifying the “Occupy Reading Room” and “Occupy Hardiman” movements gain momentum on Campus. As Facebook timeline setting becomes mandatory record number of students visit the counselling service. “How am I supposed to handle this much change in my life at once?” distraught Arts student asks. President Dumblebrowne responds to un-wizardlike theft of snitch by issuing the following statement: “That’s enough of that lark now.” Student admits that he did not know what “Sparching” meant. “I thought it was some weird yoga hippie shit. We don’t have a Spanish Arch in Mullingar like.” As ‘Snitch-Gate’ escalates Death Eaters are released in Hardiman Library and Concourse to identify Snitch snatchers. With the election of a predominantly male SU for 2012/13 a Class Rep suggests that to embrace their feminine side the SU adopts the “Soft Kitty” song from the Big Bang Theory as the Union anthem. RON makes his (or her) first statement after winning a seat in the SU Elections “We knew that our strategy of running a candidate for every position would eventually result in a victory for RON. We will continue to use this strategy until there is a RON in every position. In RON we trust! RON!” First year student calls to the exam office to query why he does not have any exams scheduled and is informed that he was actually meant to have been in GMIT since September. Runs crying from Campus and is never heard from again. Snitch from Socs Box eventually snitches on snitch who snatched Snitch. Potter Soc fails to pay ransom. Snitch snatches Snitch. One week on RON, in a more reflective mood following his/her defeat in the by-election says “RON will live on. RON is a part of every student on Campus. RON is something inside so stRONg.”

By Rosemary Gallagher

Sunday 8 April: Easter Sunday. Shack Up Presents… DJ Kormac’s Bakesale & New AV Set @ Kellys Bar. Bringing you tunes and cake, as part of Galway Food Festival. Monday 9 April: Food Fest Table Quiz @ 7.30pm, The King’s Head. €20/table, includes bottle of wine. Tuesday 10 April: Theatre - Tungsten Theatre Company presents Hugh Leonard’s Da @ 8pm, Town Hall Theatre. Thickets €16/€18, from tht.ie. Wednesday 11 April: Music – The Underground Sound @ 11pm, Monroes. Admission Free. Thursday 12 April: Music – Rory and the Island @ 9pm, Roisin Dubh. Admission Free. Friday 13 April: Clifden Traditional Music Festival runs until 15 April. Celebrating Irish music, song and dance with concerts, sessions, workshops and outdoor entertainment. See clifdentradfest.com Saturday 14 April: Rugby - Connacht vs Ulster @ Galway Sportsgrounds. Tickets available for €5 from the Students’ Union. Sunday 15 April: Comedy – PJ Gallagher@ 8pm, Town Hall Theatre. Thickets €18/€20, from tht.ie.

Horoscopes By Myles McKittrick

Aries [Mar21-Apr19] You will miss the horoscopes from Sin. Their wisdom and insightfulness made you who you are. Go in peace my child. Taurus [Apr20-May20] I have had a look forward into your summer. Two words: ‘the bog’. Gemini [May21-Jun20] Nothing is written in stone, its too expensive. Send him a paper letter instead. Stone mason isn’t a good look for you. Cancer [Jun21-Jul22] When one day ends another begins. The sky won’t darken until the sun has set. When you climb a tree birds will fly away. These are the mysteries of the universe. Leo [Jul23-Aug22] Start saving now! The future brings something different soon that you will not expect. You will make two decisions today. Virgo [Aug23-Sept22] Black shoes, a tie and a ukulele. These are the qualities of your ideal man. Libra [Sept23-Oct22] If you phone Richard

Branson he will give you a billion euro. It’s because he loves you. Scorpio [Oct23-Nov21] Buy a goldfish. Call him ‘Dave the Fish’. Then eat him. This will bring you good luck. Sagittarius [Nov22-Dec21] Don’t worry about these mock exams, real ones are in August. Who wants a break anyways? If any lecturers are reading this, I personally do want to pass my exams and would really not like to be failed but if you know of anyone sitting the exam who is born between these dates you can fail them because they’re generally mean people... Capricorn [Dec22-Jan19] “Even roses are sometimes not the colour they were intended to be” – not an excuse for turning yourself into a yellow person Aquarius [Jan20-Feb18] You are not at all prepared for your exams and it’s not even funny. Go study and stop reading, end of. No horoscope for you. Bold Aquarius. Pisces [Feb19-Mar20] Due to complaints regarding lack of a decent Pisces horoscope: Have a nice day.

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