Sin: Volume 16 Issue 10

FREE STUDENT NEWSPAPER | VOL 16, ISSUE 10 | 02 MAR 2015

NEWS

INSIDE

for over five decades now; as a student, a Student Union President and as a Lecturer.

“I was 21 when I came to the university… I think the warmest part of it without a doubt was that you knew not only the people taking the same subject as yourself, but also you knew people in other faculties.

“Students are there for each other, the friendships they make and the exciting things they do together are the things that will be the most value to them.”

He maintains that the societies available in NUI Galway are integral to student integration and development. He was heavily involved in the Arts Society and Literary and Debating Society during his time as a student; becoming auditor of both in 1964 and 1965 respectively.

Given President Higgins’ involvement in the then Arts society, it is clear to see why the University and Galway’s rich cultural history have had such a lasting impact on him.

LIFESTYLE

Galway received the prestigious designation in December 2014 and has become just the fifth city worldwide to be bestowed with the title to date.

In this way it differs from the European City of Culture which Galway is expected to one day host. This would only be held for a year, with Dublin and Cork having already held the title.

In the President’s opinion Galway “would have been the city of culture before but the difference was the absence of institutional provision. Galway is a wonderful city, the size of the city helps; structure of the city helps; the fact that the university is such a large proportion of it.”

Going on from that he spoke highly of music, dance and theatre in Galway. On Culture he said “Culture isn’t about events it’s about living where the music happens naturally.”

President Higgins spoke fondly of his memories in NUI Galway (then UCG) having been associated with the University

ENTERTAINMENT

President Michael D. Higgins has lashed out at drinks companies for preying on students.

Speaking exclusively to this reporter, he stated “it is important not to waste all the excitement and energy of a particular phase of one’s life. I very much believe that students aren’t there for the drink companies; students are there for each other.

“I think what I see, and I’m very glad to see it’s coming to an end, are the people who are bred like predators on student populations through, for example, drink promotions. I think that’s the end of the world, and I think it should be faced up to and seen for the shameful exploitation that it is.

“There is so much enjoyment (to be had) in life at that particular age rather than wasting your life on hangovers.”

President Higgins was in his alma mater, NUI Galway,

on Friday 6 February to give a keynote speech at a conference on Health and Human Rights.

The event was organised by NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights and the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

The conference hosted the discussion about the link between health and human rights, and applications of human rights concepts and methods in addressing health challenges in Ireland and on a global scale.

Overall though, the President had glowing things to say about Galway and the University he has been involved with since the age of 21; “I love the time I spend in Galway; it’s the home where my children were born.”

President Higgins went on to discuss the Cities recent cultural exploits; “I was very, very glad that it got the UNESCO designation in relation to city of film. It stays with the city in perpetuity, not just a year or so.”

SPORT

By John Brennan

FEATURES

President Michael D. Higgins critical of drinks companies

Bodies of two missing persons recovered in Galway in the space of a week

2

NUI Galway received First Class Honours with U-Multirank

2

EIL Travel Awards 2015 open for applications

4

Ireland “most unequal” country in EU before social transfers

5

THIS WEEK’S DEBATE: Has political correctness gone too far?

6

Will Ireland’s economic recovery last?

9

BDSM: Dangerous fetish or harmless kink?

10

Stuff I should have gone off for Lent

13

Bearded Backpacker

16

Teacht na bhféasóg

17

RETRO REWIND: The Sixties

19

Back to the good old days: turning vintage at the height of the recession

20

Film Reviews

21

Sin meets Vann Music

22

Dean of Letters

23

NUI Galway CAO Performance Points for Elite Athletes

25

2015 League of Ireland season preview

26

ELECTION SPECIAL How student politics can impact a future political career

2

The positions explained

3

Debate: Are SU Elections actually useful?

4

Referendum Debate: Should Cannabis be legalised?

7

PLUS… Michael D. Higgins gave a compelling talk on human rights in NUI Galway recently.

Know who you’re voting for?

Read our interviews with all of the candidates.

2 NEWS

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

NUI Galway receives First Class Honours with U-Multirank

By John Brennan NUI Galway has been given the highest ranking in U-Multirank, an EU Commission-led initiative to measure excellence in higher education and research institutions worldwide.

NUI Galway was one of only two institutions in the country to be bestowed with the prestigious ranking. The University ranked highest with an A grade in all four performance indicators of international orientation.

The University was awarded all A’s in the four criteria being explored. These were teaching and learning, doctoral training, research and the composition of academic staff.

Of the 237 Universities in the U-Multirank, only 27 received A’s across the board. The U-Multirank database see how Universities perform on internationalisation, using measures spread across teaching and learning, doctoral trainings, international research collaboration and the composition of academic staff.

The four faculties that were focused on were physics, business studies, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

Professor Brian Hughes, Dean of International Affairs, NUI Galway welcomed the announcement: “NUI Galway is a university that embraces internationalisation in all of its activities. Being connected to the world is part of our everyday reality, and we are delighted to receive this external validation for our international orientation.”

Considering barely one in ten actually achieved allround top scores in the new institutional level ranking this is clearly a sign that the University is making steps in the right direction.

U-Multirank is a new global university ranking funded by the European Commission and takes a different approach to existing global rankings of universities; it is multi-dimensional and compares university performance across a range of different activities grading them from “A” (very good) to “E” (weak).

U-Multirank does not, however, produce a league table of the world’s “top” 100 universities based on composite scores.

Instead, it allows users to identify a university’s strengths and weaknesses, or the aspects that most interest them.

In this sense they are tailoring the Universities strengths to the needs of potential ­students.

One of the U-Multirank project leaders, Frans van Vught gave insight into the results: “Achieving four ‘A’ scores for international orientation is a significant achievement. Not many institutions are ever likely to accomplish it.”

The rankings also show that excellence in international orientation is found in widely diverse institutions. The 27 all - round top performing universities come from a wide range of institutions differing in terms of size, sector, mission and age. As well as this, the 27 top performers are located in 12 different countries. This goes a long way in showing the depth and diversity of education in Ireland and abroad.

In other ranking related news, NUI Galway has been named in the top 100 most international universities in the world 2015 by Times Higher Education (THE) who compiled a list using the “international outlook” indicator of its World University Rankings methodology.

Over all it’s been a good couple of weeks for NUI Galway.

NUI Galway Global Alumni Network goes live

By Jenna Hodgins RTE’s Sean O’Rouke and NUI Galway’s Alumni Association Chair recently launched the new Global Alumni Network, an innovative social media outlet which allows graduates of NUI Galway to connect and communicate with each other.

Alumni of NUI Galway and UCG can access the network at www.nuigalway.ie/network which will take them to an interactive webpage. Here, graduates can access news and updates about the University, tag their location, and connect via their LinkedIn profiles.

NUI Galway has over 90,000 alumni across the globe. Since the launch of the site over 600 graduates have tagged their location including those who graduated as far back as 1962.

The map is accessible to anyone who visits the site and agrees to its terms and conditions. From here, you can see where graduates of both NUI Galway and UCG have gone and the career paths they have chosen.

Albeit early days, the map is already decorated with graduates working as teachers, engineers, project managers and much more, in various locations including Mexico City, Kyoto, and Kuala Lumpur.

The network was discussed at the West of Ireland Digital Summit in February, the first of its kind organised by OMiG Marketing.

Speaking at the event, NUI Galway graduate and 2FM DJ Will Leahy addressed the 500 attendees about the new Global Alumni Network: “We've always known that NUI Galway graduates are making waves in many roles and locations around the world. This website www.nuigalway.ie/network is a very visual way to show where our recent, and not so recent, graduates are and what they are doing.”

Mr Leahy added: “[…] the platform also gives current students and graduates the ability to connect to potential employers through the network, so endless possibilities……including the likes of me checking up on classmates from years gone by.”

Speaking on behalf of Alumni Relations at NUI Galway, Alumni Relations Officer Aisling Nolan said: “We are very excited that NUI Galway Global Alumni network has been launched, the prospect of engaging graduates in this manner, connecting them back to us here at NUI Galway, but also to past classmates, and potential employers encompasses what we strive to do in Alumni Relations.

“The system of ‘putting yourself on the map’ has proven to be a worthwhile endeavour and shows how far NUI Galway graduates have gone both in terms of career development and across the globe. We hope that alumni interact with this network; the response we have received thus far has been encouraging and positive and only can grow and make waves!”

“For current students, soon you too will become a part of this graduate community and are going through college in a time where connections with classmates will remain through social media. We hope that when you walk out through the gates of NUI Galway for the last time that you will connect with us, via the network and let us share in the waves you’ll be making in your futures” Ms Nolan added.

Irish West Airport Knock announced their partnership with NUI Galway and its Global Alumni Network, offering flights to multiple international destinations in order to connect graduates across the world and at home in the West of Ireland.

If you know of any NUI Galway/UCG graduates, get them to put themselves on the map and enter the competition to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes.

Bodies of two missing persons recovered NUI Galway Arts alumni recount their career paths in Arts Career Fair in Galway in the space of a week

By Tomás M. Creamer In two tragic incidents, the bodies of two students were found in Galway City after extensive searches initiated when their friends and family reported them missing.

19-year-old UL student Brian Gubbins from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary went missing on Thursday 12 February. The young man was last seen near Carbon nightclub just after midnight by his friends, and was reported missing in Galway City after he failed to get the bus back to Limerick City, where he was a New Media student at the University of Limerick.

On Sunday, 15 February, the body of a young man was pulled from the water at Bridge Street in Galway and positively identified as Brian Gubbins.

The following day, a class which Brian had taken as part of his course was cancelled in his memory, and a book of condolences opened that same day at noon.

NUI Galway Students’ Union President Declan Higgins expressed his sympathy at the loss of a young life.

“If ever there was anything to put everything in context, it is this. It’s horrible to think someone could come to our city on a mystery tour, full of wonder and excitement, only to end in tragedy like this.

Absolutely tragic; may Brian rest in peace,” he said.

On Wednesday 18 February 25-year-old Mayo native Jason McNulty, who was a student at GMIT, was also reported missing. The Swinford man was last seen at 6am that morning, leaving the Connacht Hotel.

A body was recovered on the coastline in Roscam on Saturday 21 February and was formally identified as that of the missing Jason McNulty.

The GMIT student’s family were devastated at their loss but thanked Gardaí and volunteers for their help in finding Jason’s body.

“This is becoming an all too common occurrence in Galway of late,” said Declan

Higgins, soon after the discovery of Jason’s body.

The President went on to advise students to take care; “Look out for each other, especially when out socialising.

Two young lives ended very tragically in the past week.”

Students who have been affected by either or both of these losses are encouraged to seek help from the student counselling service. See nuigalway.ie/counsellors for details.

By Tomás M. Creamer Eight former graduates from NUI Galway’s Bachelor of Arts programme visited the University to speak at “Options with Arts - Career Fair”. The Fair was held in the Arts Millennium Building on Tuesday 24 February.

The successful graduates working in industries such as journalism, marketing and administration were invited to talk about their experiences in

Special Collections Lunchtime Lecture Series The Special Collections Lunchtime Lectures Series 2014-2015 will continue on Wednesday 4 March with "The Bairéad Collection: a window on the mind and reading of an Irish revivalist" by Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, History.

The talk will introduce the Bairéad collection of books housed in the James Hardiman Library, and offer

observations on the original owner, his career and interests, in the light of common assumptions about the cultural forces (including reading material) that shaped the 'mind' of Irish-language revivalists in the early decades of the twentieth century.

All are welcome to the G011 Seminar Room in the Hardiman Building at 1pm.

the workplace, offering invaluable insight into the post university world.

Speakers included Harry McGee from The Irish Times, Joanne Sweeney-Burke, founder of Media Box and author of Social Media Under Investigation: Law Enforcement and the Social Web, as well as Hildegarde Naughton, a local Fine Gael Senator.

They talked about how the ability of Arts students to be flexible and adaptive was a great advantage in the modern workplace, particularly where a “job for life” no longer exists.

Breda Ní Mhaoláin, who graduated with an Arts degree in Irish and Psychology, listed various jobs she had undertaken before she obtained her current job as an Irish language translator in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

These jobs included language and piano lessons, translation for conference and other local meetings, and one of the Irish language translators in the European Parliament.

Darragh O’Connor, who produces the weekly Galway County Matters programme

on Irish TV, explained how Arts students are afforded the opportunity to involve themselves in societies and media outlets.

NUI Galway offers such opportunities like Flirt FM and Sin to gain experience and skills that would be highly valuable in any career.

Other speakers included Conor Warde, Associate Account Executive at Citrix Systems Ireland, John Fitzmaurice of Jigsaw Galway, and Katie Finnegan of Galway Bay FM. The talk was followed by the Arts Career Fair itself.

Located in the Arts Millennium Building, a number of stands presented variety of career paths that would be available to Arts graduates.

These included fields such as teaching, enterprise, IT and public administration, as well as marketing and media.

All of the stands were staffed by people which extensive knowledge in those fields, who were willing to give advice to Arts Students who approached them.

NEWS 3

March 02 2015

Have you visited sin.ie yet?

Those colourful campaigners are there for a reason…

By Jessica Thompson Valentine’s Day is long gone, you think, as the beginning of March creeps up on you. But issue nine of Sin is still in the Sin Bins around campus. What is going on? Where is my biweekly fix?

Well, dear readers, we are back. We took an extra week’s break so we could get cracking on this extra big, extra full issue that is our Students’ Union Elections Special.

When I was a student in UCD, I didn’t care much for student politics. To be honest with you, my friend and I couldn’t give a fart in space about SU elections.

We didn’t have a clue who the President was, or the Vice-President or the Vice-President’s teamaker. We didn’t even know what the SU was.

That was many years ago when I was a mere undergrad wandering the huge campus of UCD. When Election Day came along, all I wanted was the sticker that said “I have voted, have you?” so I could avoid being attacked and eaten by the forty million campaigners I would encounter while I walked from my lecture on crime novels in Block D to my Popular Music lecture in a basement on the other side of the building.

I had a simple strategy for voting. I would walk down the tunnel from the library towards the polling station and whichever campaigner managed to stop me first would get my vote. That is, if I remembered his or her face.

Before voting, I could step through the doors of the library tunnel and have campaigners flock to me like moths to a flame. After voting, I could simply flash my sticker; no words were

32 pages once a fortnight simply isn’t enough when it comes to covering all the great stories on campus and entertaining our readers every day.

This year, we’ll be ensuring our website is constantly updated with great news stories, opinion pieces, fashion, sport and much more.

Visit our website at www.sin. ie or simply scan the QR code.

needed. We had an understanding. The flame was now quenched and I had voted for another stranger whose name and face I couldn’t even remember.

“Who did you vote for?” my friend would ask. “Not a notion,” I’d reply, “You?” “Same!” and we would skip merrily to our music lecture, parting the crowds of campaigners like Moses parted the sea, by flashing our stickers. We were free.

I never used the SU services and I never cared about the SU. I had nothing to do with it, and it had nothing to do with me – at least not until the next year when they wanted my vote again.

But things have changed since I came to NUI Galway. These days you’ll often see me handing over my SU card when paying for a cup of tea at Smokey’s, before heading to my office, supplied by the SU, to work on a newspaper owned by the SU, which covered whatever shenanigans the SU was up to.

Now my interest in student politics is much greater. Now the SU plays quite a big part in my life.

In fact, whether you realise it or not, the SU also plays a big part of your life as a student.

It’s all very well to swan into a polling booth and vote for whoever gets to you first, but you should stop and think; “Why vote for just anyone, when I have the power to choose someone worthy of the job?”

It’s all very well to swan into a polling booth and vote for whoever gets to you first, but you should stop and think; “Why vote for just anyone, when I have the power to choose someone worthy of the job?”

These candidates are trying to prove to you why they are a better fit for the job than their rivals. If elected, they will represent you. They will make decisions on your behalf. Do you really want to give that power to just anybody?

This year there are quite a few candidates hoping for your vote in the SU Elections, which will take place on Thursday 5 March.

You’ll see interviews with each of them in our amazing Elections Pullout in the middle of this issue.

Each candidate has a different vision, but they all have the same goal; to represent you and to work for you. You need to consider which of them would benefit you personally.

What would you like to see in your SU next year? Go and vote; make it happen.

Listen to the campaigners. Let them flock to you like moths to a flame, because at that moment, that’s exactly what you are; the most beautiful, brightest flame they have ever seen. Take a manifesto.

Read it over your coffee at Smokey’s, and go forth and vote. Have your say, because if you don’t you’re letting others have it.

Now that I’ve had my rant about the elections, let me turn your attention to the rest of this issue. We’ve still got all the usual stuff you love to read, with our debate going ahead as planned, and the fashion pages bulging with great content.

But one article that really stands out for me – or rather, two – is one on Michael D. Higgins, who visited the campus recently to talk about human rights.

The reason this stands out for me so much – aside from the fact that Sin got an interview with the President of Ireland – is that it reminds me of a time two years ago when something quite similar happened.

When Mary Robinson visited the campus two years ago, Sean Dunne, one of Sin’s brightest journalists at the time was the only one to be granted an interview with her. Now

Editor in Chief: Jessica Thompson editor@sin.ie Layout: Shannon Reeves | contact via Ed. NEWS

Ciara Treacy | localnews.sined@gmail.com

Chelsea Tabert | nationalnews.sined@gmail.com FEATURES

Eoin Molloy | opinion.sined@gmail.com

Áine O’Donnell | features.sined@gmail.com LIFESTYLE

Jenna Hodgins | fashion.sined@gmail.com ENTERTAINMENT

Austin Maloney | artsentertainment.sined@gmail.com

Ken Glennon | arts.sined@gmail.com

Dean Buckley | literature.sined@gmail.com

Thomas Murray | entsonline.sined@gmail.com SPORT

Kieran Kilkelly | sport.sined@gmail.com

Michael Farrell | sport.sined@gmail.com Matthew Cassidy | sportonline.sined@gmail.com PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel O'Loughlin | photography.sined@gmail.com

WEB EDITOR John Brennan | web.sined@gmail.com

Get in touch with Sin:

Email: Facebook: Twitter:

editor@sin.ie Sin Newspaper NUI Galway @Sin_News

Send us your tweets and we may publish them in future issues of Sin. another of our brightest journalists, John Brennan, has had the chance to sit down with Michael D. Higgins and discuss numerous student issues with him.

Aside from our front page story in which Michael D. discusses students and alcohol, we have an excellent profile of the man himself in our elections pull-out. Michael D. himself was once NUI Galway’s SU President, so it’s very fitting that he should appear in this issue.

Of course, we’ve had some bad news since our

last issue too, with the deaths of two students in Galway leaving the whole city shaken. For those two young men, it was just an ordinary night out, but it ended in tragedy. It’s so important to look out for yourself and for your friends. Be safe out there.

And now, go forth and enjoy this issue. Use it to figure out how you will vote on Thursday 5 March.

Happy voting!

Until next time,

Jessi @Jess__Thompson

4 NEWS

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

EIL Travel Awards 2015 open for applications Free GP care plan delayed by three years EIL Ireland is delighted to announce that the EIL Travel Awards 2015 are open for applications.

As a not-for-profit based in Cork City, EIL Ireland are offering 35 people fully-funded international travel opportunities in summer 2015, to immerse themselves in another culture, fostering the EIL mission “to enrich lives, and inspire global citizenship”.

The Travel Awards aim to provide an experience beyond tourism; an experience encouraging self-improvement, open-mindedness and global awareness.

The EIL Travel Awards allow people the opportunity to apply for fully-funded cultural adventures, volunteering opportunities and language exchanges to locations such as Japan, Ecuador, Mexico, Thailand, USA and many more.

From 16 to 18 years youth programmes, to an Active Retirement Award, to themed global awareness programmes, there is a Travel Award for all interests and ages. Dedicating over €95,000 in 2015, EIL is the only organisation in Ireland offering this kind of unique experience.

Established in 1994, the EIL Travel Awards give people the chance to apply for fully or partially funded 2-10 week programme abroad which includes volunteering projects, study abroad experiences and cultural exploration.

The winners live with their host family in their new community, immersing themselves in the culture and learning about life in a different part of the world.

EIL Ireland is seeking to support people who have a history of voluntary involvement in their school, college or their community.

The Travel Awards are aimed at people who are active members of their local communities in a voluntary capacity, and who would not ordinarily be able to avail of such travel opportunities due for social or economic reasons.

Following its year-long 50th Anniversary celebration in 2014, EIL are excited to announce three new Travel Awards for 2015; an internship in an Community Development NGO in Shanghai, China; a two-week Youth Leadership programme in Vermont, USA for a young person who has demonstrated leadership potential while promoting equality and human rights; and a 3 month Secondary School in Europe experience in September 2015.

As well as new awards, there are increased places available in a number of existing awards, such as the Access and Mature Student.

Applicants for the EIL Travel Awards must complete an application form and submit a piece of work, which can be an essay, project or short video that highlights why they wish to participate and, more importantly, how their experience might benefit them and their community upon their return to Ireland.

For further information, check out www. eilireland.org/travel-awards Closing date for applications is Tuesday, 10th March at 12noon.

By Chelsea Tabert Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar’s signature health policy of providing free GP health care for the entire population is currently set to be delayed by three years. The policy was initially intended to be in motion by the end of the Fine Gael- Labour Government’s term of office in 2016.

Senior sources has suggested that the full implementation of the plan is unlikely to be completed until the middle of a second term in office for Fine Gael and Labour.

Varadkar was supportive of this notion and said that “it probably makes sense to phase this in over a longer period of time. It is best not done in a hurry.”

Work is ongoing to ensure the first steps of the plan, providing GP care to children under six and adults over 70 are in place by the end of 2015.

Varadkar also said he was “absolutely confident we will have the over 70s by the summer” but added: “The under sixes requires a little bit more negotiation.”

A revised statement of the Government priorities said the Coalition “remain committed to the introduction of a universal GP service for the entire population as part of Universal Health Insurance.”

It said the next groups to be focused on were the six to 11-year-olds and 12 to 17-year-olds respectively.

A spokeswoman for the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, is currently in talks regarding the introduction of this plan.

Belgian researchers discover ‘aggressive’ HIV/AIDS strain

By Odhran Donovan A team of researchers have detected a previously undiscovered “much more aggressive” strain of HIV in patients in Cuba.

The scientists based in the Belgian city of Leuven, claim the virus is capable of progressing to AIDS in just three years, or treble the speed at which HIV normally evolves.

The strain has been termed ‘CRF19’ by those that discovered it, the researchers warning that CRF19 exhibited “few of the recognizable symptoms of HIV”.

In a sample of 73 recently-infected Cuban patients taken by the Belgian scientists, 52 were diagnosed with an orthodox version of the virus, whilst 22 were identified as having contracted CRF19.

When HIV first enters the body it anchors itself on a protein in human cells. Typically, following five to ten years of hosting the virus, HIV progresses to another protein in the cell membrane and mutates into the AIDS virus.

Professor Anne-Mieke Vandamme, who led the experiments, labelled CRF19 as constituting of “three different subtypes of virus”, which allows it to grow at an unprecedented rate while being incubated in the human body.

Another scientist who took part in the research characterized the infection as “evolutionary fit”, and would cause “rapid progression to AIDS in newly infected patients in Cuba.”

Advances in medical capabilities in the past three decades have allowed authorities to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS. The disease is now manageable through antiretroviral drugs, as long as it is diagnosed at the earlier HIV stage.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide; with 40 million people having died from the virus since the 1980s.

Currently, some 15,000 Cubans live with the virus, representing a wider infection rate of 0.13% infection rate in a wider population of approximately 11.3 million people.

US promises Jordan additional $700m in military aid

By Odhran Donovan The United States has pledged to support Jordan with additional military aid, as the Hashemite Kingdom prepares to further involve itself in the conflict with the Islamic State.

Although both respective governments have declined to comment on a memorandum signed between them on 3 February, it is understood that the Obama administration is willing to provide Amman with munitions it requested following the death of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasabeh in January.

As well as promising the replenishment of dwindling stocks of Jordanian weaponry in the coming weeks, the United States also plans to significantly expand on the annual funding it provides to its ally.

Currently, the US offers more than $300 million in annual security assistance to Jordan, which is expected to increase to at least $1 billion by 2017.

King Abdullah, Jordan’s head of state, visited Washington earlier this February,

pleading for the United States to urgently supplement the Jordanian military with “the most sophisticated of weaponry”.

John McCain, a former US Presidential Candidate, also called on the incumbent President Obama to deal with Abdullah’s request “with a sense of urgency reflecting the pace of events in the Middle East”.

Jordan, along with the United States, is already the largest military contributor in the war against the Islamic State. The Jordanian Air Force has already piloted more aerial missions in Iraq and Syria than its coalition partners combined, having flown 946 out of a total of 1,500 sorties since the beginning of the campaign in June of last year.

The US-led coalition is estimated to have killed 6,000 Islamic State militants through their airstrikes alone. However, evaluations of the size of the Islamic State’s military capabilities vary wildly, ranging from an American estimation of 40,000 combatants, to a Kurdish claim of over 200,000 fighters currently deployed in Iraq and Syria.

NEWS 5

March 02 2015

Ireland “most unequal” country in EU before social transfers

By Tomás M. Creamer A new study published by the think-tank, TASC, has revealed that a third of all income earned in Ireland is concentrated in the top 10% of the population, and that, before wealth transfers in the form of progressive taxation and social welfare are applied, Ireland’s economy is the most unequal in the EU and even more unequal than the US, in terms of distributing income.

Other startling statistics are listed in TASC’s report, Cherishing All Equally: Economic Inequality in Ireland, which utilises Revenue tax returns and other data so as to build up what claims to be the most up to date, complete picture of income inequality in Ireland.

Such statistics includes findings that one in five workers are in low paying jobs, and two-thirds of individuals or couples had gross household incomes of less than €35,000 in 2011 – compared to the average wage of about €32,000.

When progressive taxation and social welfare are applied, Ireland’s levels of income inequality are reduced to close to the EU average. However, as Tasc’s report warns, it will become increasingly expensive for the state to counteract such inequality if current trends persist.

This is due to what TASC states to be Ireland’s relatively low levels of overall taxation compared to other countries, which could lead to the system of wealth transfer in Ireland to been “stretched to breaking point”.

TASC’s Director, Nat O’Connor, said that “Income inequality leads to poverty and social exclusion. But it also lowers demand in the economy in a downward spiral of lost spending”.

Calls to cut taxes instead of proposing investment in public services would, Tasc believes, simply entrench economic inequality, with O’Connor saying “The concentration of income in fewer hands gives the wealthy more power to lobby for tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit them”.

Water pressure to be reduced in places in effort to fix leaks

By Tomás M. Creamer Irish Water has called its efforts to reduce the amount of water lost through leaks across the country “painstaking”. There are plans to reduce water pressure in some localised areas across the

country, where such pressure is considered to be excessive, in order to fix leaks.

This announcement came from Irish Water’s head of assets, Gerry Grant, in the wake of RTÉ publishing data showing the extent to which water is lost through leaks across the country.

Italy closes Libyan embassy, faced with influx of immigrants

By Eoin Molloy Libya has been fully consumed in a positive maelstrom of war. Following the NATO-backed coup against Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, the country has been plagued by fighting between rival militias, all vying for a slice of the country’s rich resources.

The situation in Libya took a dramatic turn for the worse when a militia group pledging allegiance to the Islamic State released a video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach near Tripoli.

The very fabric of the country is disappearing in a cloud of indiscriminate violence.

Libya is unravelling into a state with two rival governments. For this reason, Italy, the former colonial master of Libya, has taken the decision to cease its embassy’s operations in Tripoli and has had around 100 embassy staff escorted from the country.

They were brought to safety by a catamaran

chartered by the Italian government called the San Gwann.

On Sunday, the Italian coast guard rescued nearly 2200 migrants stranded on 12 boats between Libya and Italy.

Traffickers are allegedly charging as much as $2,000 for safe passage from Libya to Italy.

This places Italy in a difficult financial situation.

Migrants are required to be brought to safety, but many Italians are of the opinion that jihadis will come to Europe disguised as refugees.

The recent spate of lone wolf attacks in Europe, namely in Paris and Denmark, has lead to the rise of Islamophobia. The desire to send Arab refugees back where they came from is commonplace with most Italian citizens.

Diplomacy is definitely to be preferred when it comes to dealing with conflict resolution. It goes without saying that the EU should tread with caution when it comes to the Libyan situation.

For now, Italy has managed to get up to 100 EU citizens out of harm’s way.

While 49% of treated water is unaccounted for annually, the county with the largest proportion of lost water was also the country with the largest problems with untreated drinking water – Roscommon, where up to 62% of treated water is lost annually.

Mayo, Cork City, Tipperary and Kerry also lose the majority of their drinking water supply through leaks.

Grant has said that Irish Water plans to reduce leakage rates by 2% by 2016. The roll-out of Water meters has, he said, given the Semi-State company more accurate data on the issue of water leakages.

He also said that the existing water network was developed on an ad-hoc basis is, “largely

based on gravity systems, and largely based on having pressure to serve the houses at the highest point of the system”.

As a result, some areas have what is considered to be excessive water pressure, which is wearing down pipes at a quicker rate, which leads to the large rate of leakages and spills.

Tap water pressure in parts of Cork and Dublin city, as well as in certain hilly areas, are considered to be too high, and as a result, certain areas will have their water pressure reduced, in order to reduce the pressure on the system.

Grant gave assurances that customers would not see their supply cut off or reduced to a trickle as a result, saying that “[water] pressure of themtap will be sufficient in all cases”.

China to begin police interrogations to halt police brutality

By Chelsea Tabert February 2015, Chinese police are now required to film and record all interrogations in criminal case to increase police transparency. The new law states that all interrogation processes must be carried out fairly, and that the rights of the suspects are to be respected.

Ministry of Public Security introduced the law, and the Xinhua news agency said that there are also plan to begin making the police accountable for their actions. Human Rights Watch has also been critical of the Chinese authorities. A spokesperson for the watch says that police dominate the criminal justice system, and rather than relying on evidence, rely on the confession of defendants. This means that police brutality can be used for their benefit, and weakens the efficiency of Chinese justice system.

“Weak courts and tight limits on the rights of the defence mean that forced confessions under tortue remain revalent and miscarriages of justice frequent.”

China has been notorious for wrongful convictions over the past decades.

In December, the parents of a teenage who was executed after being found guilty of rape and murder in 1996, were compensated. The Inner Mongolia High Court found the teenager not guilty after his death, and overturned the decision which granted his parents two million Yuan.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping has launched several anti-corruption drives since taking power in 2012 in attempts to clean up the country’s legal system.

This is not the first attempt that China has made to introduce more transparency of the country’s interrogation system.

In November 2013, the Supreme People’s Court said that the guidelines issued that ecidence must not be extracted through means of torture. Cases must be decided by judges, without interference from local government, the South China Morning Post reported.

“Extracting confessions through torture – such as the use of cold, hunger, drying, scorching, fatigue and other illegal methods to obtain confession from accused – must be weeded out, “ the document said.

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6 DEBATE

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

THIS WEEK’S DEBATE:

Has political correctness gone too far?

YES: Political Correctness NO: Political correctness has gone too far should be a collective wish

By Valeri Tarassov Here I will be speaking from my own personal experience, recounting episodes I have encountered where political correctness has really gone too far. It has gotten to a stage where one can automatically be associated with some hate group or labelled a bigot for simply expressing an opinion.

A discussion on the topic of gay marriage in Ireland broke out in a lecture I attended recently, and everyone seemed to be supporting it. Those who didn’t generally kept their mouths shut in fear of ridicule.

My opinion was that gay people should be able to live freely and have a different legal status, rather than marriage. This new legal status would give them the same rights as marriage. I backed up my opinion by saying that marriage is not something that I felt was a correct step for gay people as it has traditionally been reserved for opposite-sex couples only.

And believe me, I put it as gently as I possibly could. After this class I was immediately stamped as a homophobe. So political correctness has come to the point where I can be marked a bigot just because I refused to stay silent and keep everyone around me happy.

Is expressing your opinion when it does not match the opinion of the majority wrong? I am really craving for the first amendment of the United States Constitution here.

I once made a comment in a coffee shop, where for three years in a row I have only seen white personnel.

One day I saw an African

male working in said coffee shop. I said, ‘hey they hired a black guy’.

Immediately people who were with me labelled me a racist. Does pointing out the fact that a coffee shop hired an African barista make me racist? I was happy for said shop and the African man, especially because I have noticed over the years of

writing this, but even religiously-motivated protest counts as free speech.

The behaviour of the majority of our own student body was absolutely disgraceful. Hateful slurs were spilled towards the young people who were quietly protesting.

Some of our fellow students showed their real

By Teodora Bandut Upon finally getting around to watching one of the most beloved films of 2014, 22 Jump Street, the observation of evidently forced political correctness strikes me.

In the last few scenes, the true mastermind of the drug operation is revealed to be the unlikely, sardonic, prim

compassion and consideration for others.

In a multi-cultural, multidynamic society, divisive comments and actions should not be protected or excused if progress is what we are striving for. We have arrived at a point where it is recognised that the only way forward is through unity. To instill a sense of cautiousness

Political correctness is also stepping In a multi-cultural, multi-dynamic on the toes of our judicial system, society, divisive comments and actions especially when it comes to criminal should not be protected or excused if proceedings. In my opinion, judges are progress is what we are striving for. afraid to lay out harsher verdicts and sentences when it comes to minorities, just because of the fear that someone will mark them as a bigot and deem their judgement racially motivated.

Aren’t we all equal before the law? being a customer that they lacked racial diversity. Stating a simple fact does not make anyone a racist.

Political correctness is also stepping on the toes of our judicial system, especially when it comes to criminal proceedings.

In my opinion, judges are afraid to lay out harsher verdicts and sentences when it comes to minorities, just because of the fear that someone will mark them as a bigot and deem their judgement racially motivated. Aren’t we all equal before the law?

And lastly, our own Students’ Union vote on marriage equality last year comes to mind. Everyone has a right to protest something they feel is wrong. I can’t believe that I am

faces that day. I wonder where the political correctness was then. I did not see much effort from organisers to apprehend or at least ask the most hateful people to take it down a notch.

Those who protested suffered a great deal of harassment and insults.

Does political correctness not go both ways? Is the level of free speech you are entitled to directly proportionate to the political correctness of your views?

There seems to be a double standard in our modern world, and yes even in our own university when it comes to political correctness, freedom of speech and the right to object and protest. So yes, political correctness has gone too far.

blonde whom Schmidt has to confront in a physical fight.

“If you thought of me as a person instead of a woman, you’d hit me and not feel bad about it,” snarls she, debatably making a point for feminism.

Earlier on, Jenko blows his cover in order to reprimand the “bad guys” for the inappropriate terminology they used to insult him and Schmidt when he pretended to be caught performing fellatio so as to not attract suspicion.

This movie is replete with profanities but is laudable in its borderline ridiculous attempt to include various aspects of political correctness.

The struggle to be politically correct is very much inescapable in today’s society. This phenomenon took shape in the 90s when the term started being used and with time, confused.

There is now a very bothersome misconception that it is an infringement on free speech and the right to dissent and assert said dissent.

But at the core of the concept, we must remember, rests the perhaps impractical intent of

so as to encourage tolerance is the first step towards better-functioning communities.

Aristotle’s pertinent declaration: “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing” still stands. But the issue at hand is not opinions but the perpetuating of stereotypes in the way in which they are phrased. It is now universally acknowledged that we are all complex beings and labels cannot be justified in 2015. Especially when they are ignorant and crass.

If to promote inclusion and acceptance we must go out of our ways to speak with care at this point in time, then so be it. (God knows a lot people need to think a little more before they open their mouths.) If nothing else, you should embrace it as an opportunity to expand your lexicon!

It may be forced and perhaps insincere initially, but politically-correct ideals are just floating around at the moment and it will take a while for them to be absorbed in society.

There will be considerable nit-picking for now,

yes, but, as unnecessary as it may seem to be, we must take into account that oceans are compiled of many drops.

And it will take every drop to eventually drain our ocean of injustice. For this reason, if leniency is continually exercised, it will get us right back where we started.

It is sad to think that we would want to limit the extent to which we are mindful of one another. Is it the license to act without consequences that we’re after?

Needless to say, words have an insurmountable power and they are a direct reflection of our thoughts.

A derogatory word or a sexist shirt hold behind them whole mentalities and their acceptance is a symbol of the acceptance of everything that comes along with them.

As self-assured and unbreakable as we may fancy ourselves to be, we all deserve diplomacy. There is an aspect in every person’s life that pertains to a delicate, minority issue.

Pointing it out crudely does nothing but reinforce the “us” and “them” mentality in a hurtful way. Equally insulting everyone is not the ultimate expression of inclusion, contrary to popular belief. Why should negativity be our drive?

Tolerance is the key here instead, and just as much as we are entitled to speaking our mind, we are entitled to being spoken to in a diplomatic, tolerant manner.

Sexism, racism and overall small-mindedness still prevail and we have every right to frown upon their manifestations. It is not about discouraging a thick skin but about principle. There is no need to attack those who want a fairer, kinder community. After all, it should be a collective wish.

OPINION 7

March 02 2015

Should Jordan have stooped to the Islamic State’s level?

By Laura Roddy ISIL released their most gruesome video yet, of the Jordanian Pilot, Muath alKassasbeh, being burned alive within a cage on 3rd February.

The effect of the video is one that has certainly shocked the world and caused anger amongst the Jordanian nation.

The question on everyone’s mind – should Jordan have responded in kind with what has been described as revenge executions?

Mahtama Ghandi has been over-quoted this week with ‘an eye for an eye makes the world blind’, as people believe that avenge for Kassasbeh’s death is wrong. Many are of the opinion

It seems clear that the world stands in unison when wanting to see an end to ISIL and even more evident that this is not going to happen through peaceful means.

The country responded with the execution of two prisoners, Sajida al-Rishawi and Zyad al-Korbouli, and 56 bomb raids over northeast Syria.

that ISIL has manipulated the King of Jordan into retaliation.

However, with much of Jordan’s territory touching that of the Islamic State group’s

self-declared caliphate, over 600,000 Syrian refugees now on Jordanian territory and the increasing threat of war looming over the country for the past months, it seems inevitable that tension between the two states would reach fruition.

King Abdullah has ordered his commanders to prepare for a bigger military role in the international coalition fighting ISIL and perhaps this can be viewed as positive.

Jordan as a country is right in the center of the MiddleEast region and has always been heavily affected by neighboring conflicts.

Part of its strategy has been to present itself as a stable country in the region in order to secure aid, financial support and political support from the US, gulf region states and the EU. In fact, on the day that the video of Kassasbeh’s

immolation was released, King Abdullah was with Barack Obama in Washington.

It seems clear that the world stands in unison when wanting to see an end to ISIL and even more evident that this is not going to happen through peaceful means. Therefore a helpful factor is that Jordan has good relations with the EU and the US. General Mansour al-Jbour, head of the Jordanian air force said after the airstrikes on Saturday: “We achieved what we aimed for. We destroyed logistics centers, arms depots and targeted hideouts of their fighters.”

It is very easy for the Huffington Post and newspapers alike to print articles talking about the need to address socio-historical conditions that marginalize people and see the emergence of terrorist

What Ukraine about?

By Dean Buckley There is probably no way to achieve peace in the Ukraine, and that’s terrible, but it’s also true.

The way things are happening on the ground goes something like this. Russian troops are in Crimea. Russian troops are massed at the border between Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia has annexed.

Across the border, there is an on-going conflict between the national army of Ukraine, and separatist militias that are being sponsored, trained and armed by Russia.

That last bit is the most important. Excluding Crimea, and a few sneaky excursions across the border, Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine.

So, I’m fairly unimpressed by the news that the USA, Germany, France and Russia are supposedly working on a peace deal, for a few reasons.

First of all, because they already worked out a peace deal, and Moscow broke it.

As a result, their agreement to peace talks seems suspiciously similar to a plan to keep western intervention off the table by dangling the carrot of peace, while giving their allies in Ukraine more

time to consolidate their hold on vulnerable regions.

T h e g ov e r n m e nt o f Ukraine, like all governments, is a self-interested actor. There’s only thing that Vladimir Putin has to do if he wants to annex the eastern parts of Russia, and that’s pile on enough cost to outweigh the benefit of continuing to fight.

Considering how unlikely it is that the Ukrainian Army will overcome the Russian Army, and how even more unlikely it is that any regional powers, or the US, will provide any military assistance beyond intelligence or advice to the Ukrainian Army, it probably wouldn’t take much effort for Putin to make it far more difficult to reclaim the eastern regions than they’re worth.

Of course, that scenario is largely dependent on a possibly untrue assumption about what Putin wants out of Ukraine. For my money, I don’t think Putin wants to annex Ukraine. I think he wants Ukraine to be a satellite state for his Russia, to join his Eurasian Union, and to act as a buffer between Russia and the EU. If he can achieve those aims without conquering Ukraine, he will, because he

will not risk escalating conflict with his western rivals.

And so I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Moscow signed a peace deal and stuck to it.

militias, but that wouldn’t stop the militias from having weapons, up to and including the capabilities to down a commercial airliner,

For my money, I don’t think Putin wants to annex Ukraine. I think he wants Ukraine to be a satellite state for his Russia, to join his Eurasian Union, and to act as a buffer between Russia and the EU. Here’s the thing though.

How exactly could Putin disarm the militias now that he’s armed them?

That Ukraine would allow the Russian Army temporary access to the eastern parts of their country in order to stop them is inconceivable. That Russia would accept military intervention from its western rivals to do so is equally unimaginable.

And if Ukraine could just stop them, they already would have.

So, sure, Russia could sign a peace deal, and they could withdraw their troops from the Ukrainian border, though not from Crimea, obviously, and they could even stop supporting the

and it certainly wouldn’t diminish their current hold on the eastern parts of Ukraine.

Because, ultimately, the peace deal signed by the powers that be is one thing, but these separatist militias weren’t invented by Russia, merely armed by them.

They’ve existed for a long time, and they desire, at the very least, greater autonomy for the east of Ukraine, and ideally separation, whether that be towards independence or towards entry into the Russian Federation.

Maybe a political solution, involving a federal Ukraine, or devolution, can placate some of them, but not all.

Meanwhile, the war rages.

groups such as ISIL instead of acting rashly and perpetrating revenge attacks.

Does this side of the argument suggest that leaders drink tea and discuss ideas of how the world can right its injustices while ISIL continue to behead and immolate people?

Did they expect King Abdullah to sit in his drawing room of Raghadan Palace and create theories on how best to remedy the problems of transnational violence and the dynamics of globalization?

It is easy too for those who

say that terrorism is a result of unemployment, lack of government and humiliation and that these need to be addressed rather than perpetuating violent attacks.

This calling for a new world order is petty and unrealistic at a time of crisis when the only tangible solution to violence is reprisal.

The 26 year old F-16 fighter who was burned to death was not treated with chivalry or good manners. It was certainly time for Jordan to respond in kind.

8 OPINION

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

America is slowly becoming a dynastic empire

By Eoin Molloy When democracy dies, it does so quickly.

Rome began as a democratic republic.

Much like America during its infancy, it was a society built on solid ideals: freedom, equality and suffrage for all.

After a few centuries of utopia, Rome slid into autocracy. The Roman Republic transitioned into the Roman Empire. All of Rome’s military might, economic power and political influence became concentrated in the hands of just a few families.

Similarly, revolutionary France was born on the ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality for all. It began with a three-man triumvirate of power known as ‘the directory’ set up to govern the country.

France was accustomed to having an authoritarian single ruler in the person of the king. For that reason, the French citizens did not oppose Napoleon during his quick ascension to power. Having a single, unchallenged ruler seemed normal to them.

As America is a young democracy, it is not outside of the bounds of conceivability to think that this kind of French problem is recurring in America.

If the next two presidents raised to the highest office in the ‘land of the free’ were Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton (sounds like a big if, but it seems likely), then five out of the last six American presidents will have come from just two families.

Say what you will, but that is not representative democracy in a country with

over 316 million inhabitants. The American ‘establishment’ seems to be far more restricted and exclusive than in any other country.

America is surviving on a thin veneer of democracy. Behind the glittering façade of freedom, is Hamlet’s ‘something rotten’.

America has the world’s highest per capita incarceration rate, a history of institutional racism and oppression as well as the world’s most sophisticated surveillance agencies.

An empire is defined as ‘an extensive group of states ruled over by a single power’.

So how exactly does America behave like this? The short answer is nation-building.

PJ Crowley, a former mouthpiece for the US State Department, speaks of America’s ‘liberal hegemonic project’. This is a fine example of how a bit of thesaurus work can alter the connotations of a sentence.

In reality, he is speaking about America’s use of covert operations and nation-building to interfere in the inner-workings of independent nations. This is the system by which American military and intelligence institutions influence which government comes to power in a particular country by subversive means. This is all done to engineer the best possible circumstances in that country for American interests.

Covert operations include discreet financial backing, the inciting of riots and even assassinations. Between WW2 and the present day a number of influential nationalistic South American political leaders have been killed in suspicious

circumstances. It is estimated by the site globalresearch.ca that the CIA has attempted to assassinate around 50 South American leaders.

You may think that we are straying into conspiracy theory here. If so, you should consult the writings of Hugh O’ Shaughnessy, who covered the 1973 Chilean coup d’etat in fantastic detail.

Augusto Pinochet was a Chilean counterrevolutionary dictator who clung to power from 1974 to 1990 following a US-backed coup that overthrew the popular, democratically-elected socialist government of Salvator Allende. The army assumed control in 1973 following a gunfight in the presidential palace. It was later announced that Allende ‘committed suicide’.

The role of the US in all of this was that of a distanced instigator. Documents declassified by the Clinton administration show that the US used the intelligence capabilities of the CIA to paint the administration of Pinochet in a positive light through propaganda. It also showed that the Nixon administration aimed to incite economic instability in the country by opposing Allende’s Marxist plans for the economy.

After the coup, then Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, told Nixon that ‘we didn’t do it but we created the conditions necessary for the coup to occur’. All of this geo-political meddling was done against the backdrop of the Marshall Plan. America believed that it could go to any means necessary to contain the spread of communism.

Interfering in the inner-workings of other countries is textbook imperialism.

This has created a dangerous precedent whereby America now believes it is justified to stick its head into the internal politics of sovereign nations without reproach.

This kind of nation-building through covert operations is essentially polite way of occupying a country, sub-letting a nation out to a puppet government.

Perhaps I am being too cynical. Maybe America’s aggressive foreign policy does keep dangerous forces at bay. Figures like George Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson came to the conclusion that democracy could not thrive without the ability to grow and defend itself.

The question is: Is America’s interference abroad a means of guaranteeing the survival of democracy, or is nation-building a dangerous euphemism for Romanesque imperialism?

The Vietnam and Iraq wars were not ideological struggles, nor were they about sowing the seeds of democracy. They were simple invasions. Like Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, these conflicts were about bringing deviant territories under the control of the empire.

America can go to war without formal declarations, it can tear up international law without fear of reprimand. The US is an empire. It is the ‘single power’ that exercises control over all of the other countries it has subdued down through the decades. The sooner we accept this fact the better.

Perhaps we’re in need of nannying

By Maria Leahy

someone openly challenging our national pastime is far more shocking a concept for Earlier this month Operation Transformation most to grasp. leader Eilish Kavanagh hit headlines after The doctor, who was deemed ‘unprofesbeing publically criticised by Dr Ciara Kelly sional’ and ‘deserving of her P45’ by the most for binge drinking while partaking in the polite of her online critics, has since stated RTE-made weight-loss programme. The air- that she believes our drinking culture ‘needs ing of this episode stirred some debate about to be challenged’ and that as a nation ‘we’re our nation’s historic relationship with alcohol in collective denial of the fact we have an but in fact what really grabbed the nation’s issue with alcohol,’ sentiments which Health attention was Dr Ciara’s address itself.

Minister Leo Varadkar hopes to challenge with the introduction of ‘miniIt is not only students who are mum pricing’ legislation.

A recent study of over 2,000 currently in need of nannying.

UCC undergraduates found that two-thirds of students admit to Statistics show that one in ten Irish engaging in hazardous levels of alcohol consumption, an activity drinkers are alcohol dependant whose contribution to increases in violence, suicide, unplanned and that more than 1.35 million sexual encounters, property destruction – the list is endless people here are harmful drinkers.

– has been well publicised. The results obtained through the UCC It would seem strange to me that in a study called for national intervention on country of educated people a healthcare pro- student drinking but, as 47-year-old mother fessional would receive criticism for stating Eilish and her supporters proved above, it is the fact that binge drinking is anything but a not only students who are currently in need healthy activity to be engaging in. Yet, judging of nannying. by both the volume and content of the abuse Statistics show that one in ten Irish drinkthat Dr Ciara received through social media ers are alcohol dependant and that more platforms, it would appear that the idea of than 1.35 million people here are harmful

drinkers. In 2013 The Health Research Board found that 85% of Irish people believe our current rates of alcohol consumption to be too high and 58% of people are critical of the government for not doing enough to reduce these figures.

We’ve been handed the statistics, been bombarded with warnings, witnessed the utter carnage that comes with the emptying of bars and clubs after a night out and know too well that information on alcohol consumption is no further away than a few taps on a keyboard, yet we continue to abuse our country’s most widely available source of inebriation.

Most students know what it’s like to dodge an assignment – you have the title, the resources, the required reading complete but have yet to start typing. You’re not in school, no teacher is going to hunt you down for your work, but you know that for each day that assignment is overdue you are going to be docked marks until the point where (gradeswise at least) that assignment becomes worthless. No matter what your educational aims, too many incomplete assignments have the same consequence: repeating the year which in economic terms means more fees.

Like Eilish in Operation Transformation we can all easily Google the number of units we are allowed in a week and just as easily ignore the warning beneath stating that these units should not be consumed in a single session. But like a student facing a repeat year we cannot ignore our financial circumstances. Money or lack thereof forces people to make decisions they may never make alone. We could have worked with the information provided: but we didn’t. We could have acted like adults and put our health and our society above our need for alcohol-induced entertainment: but we didn’t. And so, failing to act like adults, our need for a nanny became apparent, and finally it has come in the somewhat unexpected form of Minister Varadkar.

OPINION 9

March 02 2015

Will Ireland’s economic recovery last?

By Mark Laherty Br ussels has forecast that Ireland’s economy will continue to have the fastest growth in the EU. This comes as a result of Ireland having an export boom while much of the rest of Europe struggles.

The EU has had to suffer the effects of austerity measures. Conflict regarding Greece was also a general setback for the continent.

The European commission’s winter 2015 forecast stated that Ireland’s GDP growth will lower to 3.5% in 2015 after coming to 4.8%. However, this will still place it above Britain’s 2.4% and Germany’s 1.5%.

This paints a rosy picture, but can it be trusted? Ireland is, at least in theory, improving at the moment. That it might continue to improve is by no means out of the question. However, the discerning reader may not necessarily be convinced by the predictions of analysts.

You don’t have to look at this image of the future too closely to spot the

Ireland’s multinational sector, will grow by 3.5%, enduring the strong rate of expansion into 2016.

On the subject of unemployment, the commission said that Ireland will dive below the EU average this year and next year, falling from 11.1% in 2014 to 9.6% in 2015 and 8.8% in 2016.

The most recent KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index has said that Irish consumers have regained t h e i r e nt hu s i a s m f o r spending, as indicated by it reaching its highest point in nine years. Since the survey began 19 years ago, it was the fourth-largest monthly increase.

Increasing property prices, low to negative inflation, and recent tax cuts had probably lifted confidence, according to the compilers of the survey. With parliamentary elections little more than a year away, this bodes well for the government, although victory is by no means assured.

“The January survey shows that for the first

Ireland is, at least in theory, improving at the moment.

That it might continue to improve is by no means out of the question. However, the discerning reader may not necessarily be convinced by the predictions of analysts. shades. At 115%, Ireland’s debt-to-GDP ratio stays amongst the EU’S highest. More than 10% of the populace is unemployed.

In recent speeches, Enda Ke n ny d e s c r i b e d t h e recovery as fragile. Strong growth in the first nine months of 2014 and staying level in the last three months demonstrated, as the review stated, that Ireland’s economy is open to instability.

Despite this, the commission said the GDP measure of economic activity, which includes

time since mid-2007 more consumers expect their household finances to improve rather than worsen in the year ahead,” said KBC chief economist Austin Hughes. “ This marks a notable change in thinking.”

The commission con­ g ra t u l a t e d Sp a i n f o r speeding up its rate of growth in late 2014 and entering this year as the fastest-growing of the major economies of the EU. Madrid’s right-wing government has dissociated itself from Greece’s

appeal to write off its debts and bridge its loans.

Germany’s economy is predicted to rise by 2.3% this year, growing from 1.7% in the preceding forecast.

Circumstances in France and Germany account for the vast majority of output for the EU. Their positive development will endure,

but it will be slow. France’s GDP will grow from 0.4% last year to 1% this year while Germany will remain level with 2014 at 1.5%.

This depiction of positive development came with an important qualifying caution: economic inequality is worsening.

There’s a striking contrast

between wealthy nations and those who suffered the worst harm by the ­downturn.

Many of the nations with massive debts have taken excruciating action, particularly with regard to the labour market and its cuts in wages and benefits, but Germany, Sweden, the

Netherlands, and Denmark have enacted little in the way of changes to boost demand, according to the report.

In s t e a d , t h e y c o n tinue to run large trade surpluses with southern Europe, which makes it harder for the worse-off countries to recover.

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10 FEATURES

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

BDSM: Dangerous fetish or harmless kink?

By Amie Lajoie In the wake of the weeks of media hype surrounding the release of the film 50 Shades of Grey, the term ‘BDSM’ has very much risen to prominence.

Many people believe that the relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele misrepresents BDSM, making the term appear synonymous with intimate partner violence and the glorification of male-on-female sexual abuse.

Others maintain that the film’s portrayal of BDSM has been somewhat positive in removing the ‘taboo’ surrounding the term itself, bringing a predominately ostracised, clandestine practice to light and provoking new and exciting conversations about human sexuality.

These different interpretations reveal the complexity of meanings and the paradox surrounding BDSM and the members of the BDSM community. In order to make informed and open judgements on the subject, it is first necessary to understand what exactly ‘BDSM’ is and how it is commonly misconstrued.

BDSM stands for Bondage and Discipline (BD), Dominance and Submission (DS), Sadism and Masochism (SM). Unlike

popular conceptions, BDSM is more than a singular ‘act’, but encompasses a multitude of activities and fetishes.

For some who practice BDSM, it is part of who they are and how they self-identify as human beings – for others, it is more of a hobby or lifestyle choice.

BDSM is often portrayed as something that deviates from traditional ‘healthy’ sexual practice. It is seen as strange, violent, sadistic and, in most circumstances, a means of manipulating and controlling women’s sexuality. These assumptions are founded on harmful untruths and serve to shame and marginalise the BDSM ­community.

One of the first and most important aspects of BDSM is that of consent; consent freely exchanged between partners without coercion. The BDSM community is largely one of respect and tolerance, and there are occasions where sex itself is not the objective or even an aspect of BDSM experience.

As such, the attraction to the BDSM community may not be exclusively sexual in nature. There are a diversity of exchanges and kinks in any given BDSM lifestyle – and these are not intrinsically abusive or violent.

Yes, as within any such exchange there

are cases of exploitation and/or abuse, yet this is not an inherent manifestation of BDSM experiences. Partners engaging in BDSM may choose to incorporate a ‘safe word’ to halt practices that become too intense, out of a place of mutual respect and consideration for one another.

As is found in most sexual and/or relational experiences, there is a strong psychological and mental element to BDSM practice, and this is culminated in the creation of a space of shared trust and acceptance between partners.

Sexual kinks of BDSM are rooted in a myriad of experiences and are wholly dependent on the desires of individual participants, and include but are not limited to, bondage, dominance, submission, humiliation, role-playing, restraint and so on.

BDSM is oftentimes portrayed as having a negative gendered and heteronormative dimension – and much of popular (and arguably problematic) representation of BDSM is concerned with a male partner’s domination over a female ‘submissive’, as is portrayed in 50 Shades of Grey.

While this can sometimes be the case in BDSM scenarios, it is incorrect to interpret all BDSM practices this way. In a world that valorises unattainable norms of mas-

culinity, some men seek to be members of the BDSM community as it enables a safe environment to embody a more ‘submissive’ role without fear of persecution or judgement.

BDSM is also not at all a uniquely heterosexual playground– with members from all corners of the spectrum of human sexuality, including Trans men and women and non-binary individuals.

It is important therefore to approach the community of BDSM, like all underrepresented and marginalised social groups, with an attitude of tolerance and openmindedness.

It is impossible to paint the diversity of BDSM experiences and practices with a single brush, and in so doing one is severely defaming the BDSM community.

It is essential to remember that sexual growth and experience, as long as it is not damaging to others, is a personal choice and right, and should be respected as such.

This mind set is specifically necessary when presented with the popular portrayal of sexual experiences as damaging as those in 50 Shades of Grey in order to distinguish between BDSM and sexual abuse, as well as to challenge and prevent the stigmatisation of the BDSM community.

Have the Oscars lost their credibility?

By Néil Rogers With the red carpet rolled back up, the champagne leaving a well-deserved hangover and the stars returning home, this year’s Academy Awards have come to a close.

On 22 February, Hollywood, California welcomed the best of modern cinema, celebrating a truly brilliant year of film.

Considered by many the ‘Holy Grail’ of the industry, the Oscars are the pinnacle of movie awards and every actor wants one. But with the recent uproar regarding snubbed nominees and accusations of a racist and biased academy, have the Oscars lost their credibility?

For years the Oscars have served as a celebration of talent within the film industry.

Since 1929, they have strived towards excellence in every sense of the word, awarding talented individuals in all aspects of film.

Although it has been a loved and celebrated affair, recently the ceremony has come into some controversy. After this year’s nominees were announced, allegations of racism came into the spotlight with the #OscarsSoWhite trending on Twitter.

With fan favourite Selma overlooked for Best Actor and Best Director, it became apparent that the nominees for this year’s categories were predominantly white. As such, this sparked the reoccurring debate ‘Are the Oscars racist?’

To many, this debate has fallen on deaf ears throughout the years. With last year’s 12 Years A Slave picking up Best Picture, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay Oscars on the night, it is easy to argue that they have been fair to the talent regardless of race.

What people missed last year was that Steve McQueen, producer/director of 12 Years A Slave was the first ever black person to win for Best Picture. With this in mind, people have been critical of the academy, accusing them of close-mindedness.

However, I can’t help but feel this is more of a representation of the film industry itself.

Predominantly dominated by white males, the industry has always been accused of discriminating against black and female filmmakers. Even Selma struggled to get a budget for the movie until Oprah Winfrey came on board.

With the Oscars at the forefront of the abuse, people have overlooked that the problem itself is more an issue with Hollywood and the industry itself, with the Academy somewhat perpetuating it.

It may be fair to say that the Oscars have got it wrong on many occasions, but we can only hope they learn from these mistakes and regain the credibility that they have lost.

I believe that they will learn. Though it doesn’t look like it this year, there has been an increase in the amount of females and black people nominated over the past 20 years in comparison to the way it was.

What people are calling for isn’t tokenism; the belief that people should be nominated because of their race or gender is in its own way segregation.

However, what I believe #OscarsSoWhite serves to do is evoke thought on the matter and promote awarding individuals who deserve it the most, regardless of the colour of their skin or whether they are a man or a woman.

FEATURES 11

March 02 2015

Plug sockets, plug sockets everywhere

By Ciara Treacy Everyone’s talking about voting these days – for the potential general election, the marriage equality referendum, the Carlow-Kilkenny by-election (maybe not as many for the latter). Widespread coverage in the media, on nearby lamp posts and on the mouths of many mean that they are for the most part inescapable, although never so much as on the NUI Galway campus in the wake of the Students’ Union elections.

The first few hours of canvassing for an SU candidate are great, before anyone sporting a vibrant t-shirt emblazoned with a slogan and choice hashtag is avoided like the plague.

To be fair, it’s helpful in getting crowds to disperse when you’re in a rush somewhere.

Someone once did a fall worthy of an Epic Fail video on Youtube just to avoid one of my fliers – it’s dedication, in an odd sense.

My fondest memory of the time was going door-to-door campaigning when to our horror the doorbell jammed and played on a consistent loop throughout the complex (persistence is key). The t-shirts also later function exceptionally as pyjamas, so it could be said some policies certainly keep one warm at night.

This is my first year voting where I’m not going to be in the university to see the next

Executive pan out. I’m also not publicly backing any candidate this year (undoubtedly to the delight of my Facebook friends), so it allows for a more critical analysis of the business of lobbying and manifestos.

Candidates say they’re offering what students really want, but what do students really want? We could play a form of bingo where points are scored for every mention of extended reading room and library hours, integrated placement for all courses, an increase in plug sockets, microwaves in every classroom, a puppy for every First Year.

And these surely are things students want, but how conceivable are they?

That’s not to go amiss the work the SU does in carrying out a wide variety of functions and services, while bridging a gap between students and university structures who are not always in tune with what concerns this populous the most.

For example, this week a survey was circulated from the upper echelons asking students’ opinions on opening a Chicken Shack on campus. With factors including coursework stress, financial uncertainty and disillusionment about future career paths, is fried chicken really the epitome of students’ concerns, the top of our priority lists, the root cause of sleepless nights?

With an average turnout of 3,140 students at the polling booths every March, it seems many feel their needs are not being met, and it’s difficult to know how to tackle this scepticism.

For all their merits, are loud, energetic campaigns always the way to go? That being said, in a Trinity College SU election, a student based his whole campaign online and acquired only 28 per cent of the vote in a twohorse race. However maybe he was on the right track with running a campaign deviant from the norm.

Some may be familiar with the tale of Jon Gnarr, a popular Icelandic personality who in the wake of his country’s economic crisis set up the ‘Best Party’. This was one who promised to stop corruption “by participating in it openly”, campaigned for free towels for every citizen and recorded a theme song to the tune of Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’.

They achieved the largest share of votes in the Reykjavik elections, and as mayor Gnarr dressed up as a drag queen for a Gay Pride parade and as Darth Vader with a Santa hat for his Christmas address to the people.

The funniest part is that the party followed through with some successful policies during its time in power. Extreme transparency and Star Wars masks could be worth pursuing for the current batch of candidates.

Regardless of movie poster adapted to suit the campaign, choice of election motto or reason for running, it’s admirable to expose oneself to the elements in running for a position.

A person without a vote is one without protection – so turn up and cast your ballot, even if it’s for that loveable rogue RON.

How to land your dream job case study

By John Mulry Since the launch of this column there have been two recurring themes; one, you must be willing to do what others aren’t willing to do in order to succeed and two, you must show up like no one else.

In today’s issue I want to show you an actual case study of someone who did

exactly this. This case study was shown to me by own marketing mentor. It’s from a marketing consultant (who follows the same marketing methodologies as I do) in Indianapolis who decided to help out her struggling, just-about-ready to give up son find a job.

First of all, like I suggest, she researched the top 100 companies he’d love to work for.

She then put the names of the CEOs, presidents and/or owners along with their full contact information into a spreadsheet.

The fifth step in the campaign was a letter from his dog.

Market Thyself

What she did next was absolutely brilliant. She put together a five step direct mail campaign much like the ones I advocate and teach. This direct mail campaign hit upon the two themes I keep harping on about perfectly. The five-step campaign consisted of: 1. A file folder with cover letter, a fake interview feedback form customised to each business and a very visual CV. 2. The second mailing consisted of an envelope with a fake X-Ray film inside with a clever headline, illustration, cover letter and CV. 3. The third mailing was a handwritten letter on yellow legal pad.

4. The fourth was a “how many mailings will it take” letter.

5. The fifth was (my personal favourite) a letter from his dog.

Now you might be thinking three things: that’s way too much work, that would never work and that’s just flat out insane.

Well not only did he show up like nobody else (again and again) he got taken to lunch by two companies, was interviewed by five, got calls from the others and ended up landing a role, a base salary much higher than average with excellent commission too.

There are actually seven reasons why this marketing campaign to land a dream job worked so well. The first is that all the normal ways of applying for a job were ignored.

Direct mail was used. This meant they showed up like no one else and showed up alone.

Second, they didn’t care whether or not the companies were actively hiring. Third, they researched the companies. Fourth, they used the best marketing strategy: multi-step mailing. Fifth, they weren’t boring. Sixth, everything was customised and personalised. Seventh, it pretty much violated every rule when it comes to applying for jobs.

You can do this too, if you pony up the time, effort and possibly even the expertise of someone like me to implement this.

In fact, if anyone is interested, maybe I’ll set aside some time to actually roll out a strategy like this if there’s enough interest.

Regardless, this can and should be done and yes it takes some effort, some creativity and some brass but won’t all of that be worth it when you land your dream job?

12 FEATURES

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

I’m slow

By Hazel Doyle I think I’m slower than regular people. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Yep, slow and steady wins the race… except it actually doesn’t, only in that story.

General life tasks take me longer than other people. I always take longer than other people in the shower. I have the biggest, curliest hair in the world, so it takes the suds ages to get down their little curl-slide and shimmy out the drain.

And I always take ages in the supermarket, shopping for food. I just get so distracted by the deals. Those little yellow ‘reduced’ stickers are my downfall.

When I’m clothes shopping, I have to walk around with things in my hand, see how I feel about them, try them on, consider them from all angles in the mirror, do a little jump and a squat, to make sure there’s a bit of give in the material, have an internal chat with myself, wondering if I really need this thing or not. Then I may buy it, or I may decide to think about for another day, and hide my size at the back of the rail.

I take ages getting up out of bed in the morning. The cold mornings are so uninviting,

An Ode to Smokey’s

By Siobhán Mulvey

so it takes me about an hour just to get out from underneath the covers. And then that results in no makeup and Belvita Breakfast Bars on the way out the door.

I will always be late leaving the house. I’m so optimistic about public transport, always assuming it will be there, never anticipating the traffic, or the frosty morning where I’ll have to walk that bit slower.

Or not realising that a bike lock will freeze, so you need to pour hot water on it, and wrestling with it for about fifteen minutes before panicking about the time and starting to run with my bicycle helmet still in my hand…

I’m just so cool and breezy.

I hope that I’m a safe driver when I am bequeathed with a full licence. I am always chancing it across the pedestrian crossing at a gallop, running super quickly, and that’s a bit too trusting; what if the driver coming up to the crossing is similarly in a rush? The world is not built for crazy go-slow late people like myself.

It takes me ages to get over things. If I have a fight with someone, I’ll be raging for days, thinking about the things that I should have said.

Or, if someone has upset me, I’ll spend days wondering if I have any right to be upset,

before deciding that I do, and then it’s a little bit late to bring it up, and the culprit in question is wondering where this has all come from!

If I was a bit quicker at life, then I’d be able to cop on to the emotional mess going on under this mop of curly hair and get on top of the feelings in the right century. As it stands, I’m like yesterday’s paper, telling yesterday’s news.

Whenever I cycle, other cyclists pass me out. In the beginning of my cycling career, I found this somewhat offensive, and I felt inadequate. Now, I’ve convinced myself that it is because I am dignified, and not in a rush… except obviously I’ve left the house late, so I am in a breakfast-bar-in-my-gobwhile-I’m-on-the-go rush.

So, it’s because I’m slow.

I need to realise this. It is because I am slow and unfit.

I have not yet developed the breathing capacity, the muscular thighs or the physical stamina that is necessary to succeed whilst cycling… and I’ve been at it a while now!

I don’t always get jokes.

And I never get riddles. I picked up the RTÉ Guide the

Oh Smokey’s, our hectic place of coffee and croissants Of hard orange leather sofas parcelled into groups Amongst steaming cups and angry pigeons We fight for a seat in the loud room

last day, and I tried to do the crossword. I couldn’t attempt a single word. I have a degree in English. I am a slow person.

I want to pretend that I’m like the Ugly Duckling, and that soon I will blossom and become this wise old person, who gets jokes, gets out of bed on time, gets places on time, and not five minutes after, panting and panicked.

Unfortunately, too many springs have passed for me to convince myself that I am still going to wake up a fullyformed person-swan thing. I will forever be slow, and I will forever be bad at getting up in the mornings. I may never understand a single riddle, and I may never pass anyone else out on a bike.

My only consolation about my slowness is that maybe I’ll make a cute little granny, slowly walking with my shopping trolley. The grandmas who bomb around, bashing people all around with their granny handbags are less cute than the slow ones.

It is the brown tiled floor or the large open space, Which draws us to this café as our favourite place?

To spend our time between lectures Laughing, and juggling cups of tea The fear of occasional high-swooping pigeons Will not daunt us in the least Like brave over-caffeinated soldiers we risk all hair dos In Smokey’s the coffee shop that we choose

I Would Rather…

By Heather Robinson We’re all familiar with a game of “Would You Rather..?” from sleepovers with friends to long, boring lunches that need a little excitement.

You can always count on your more creative, daredevilish cohorts to liven things up with sometimes nasty options and even, the more terrifying kind.

It’s a game, an idea, which has been around for decades and decades. So I present you with a compiled list of NUI Galway’s “Would You Rather?” that only we, as students here, could fully understand.

WOULD YOU RATHER:

STeM expo

From start-ups to multinationals employers want to talk to yoU!

Tuesday 10th March :: Bailey allen hall :: 12.30 – 16.00 Science

Technology

engineering

Basecamp panel discussions from 12.00 – 14.30

MaTheMaTicS

1. Lick the Big Yellow Thing or face your secret paranoia that everyone is staring at you as you walk through the library?

2. Stroll down the concourse belting out Taylor Swift or stroll through the reading rooms on Study Week hoping you’ll find a seat…with a plug available?

3. Eat nothing but chips from the College Bar for a week or leave your food too long in the industrial microwaves

by Smokey’s and watch your pasta carbonara explode?

4. Submit an assignment at the very last minute on Blackboard or be forced to use the toilets in the Arts Millennium?

5. Avoid going to lectures all semester because

“ah sure the slides are on Blackboard, it’ll be grand” except you discover they’re mostly one-word slides and you’re doomed for exams or write a stellar essay but you accidentally use the wrong referencing style?

6. Be stuck at home doing assignments during unofficial Rag Week or get arrested outside Supermac’s in Eyre Square during unofficial Rag Week?

7. Stress about getting MLA right or stress about choosing the right fillings for your Subway?

8. Relive the crazy first year queue in Áras UÍ Chathail to get your student ID card or battle the SUSI offices by email because you should’ve gotten your grant by now?

9. Fight your way into the College Bar for “Christmas Day” or be called to the Head of the Department’s office for a quick chat about your grades’?

10. Have a mini-panic attack because your essay has a 70% plagiarism result on Blackboard or your laptop breaks and you can’t access your assignments until it’s fixed?

11. Commute every day or have the worst roommates imaginable?

12. Fe n d o f f S m o ke y ’s Pigeon on a regular basis or deal with the awkward moment of running into last night’s shift?

March 02 2015

Mairéad Ní Nuadháin Year of ­graduation: 1974 Course at NUI G ­ alway: Arts Current ­Occupation: Head of External Relations, RTÉ

What is your fondest memory of NUI Galway?

How did attending NUI Galway develop you as a person?

What was the college newspaper like when you were in NUI Galway? Did you write for it?

My fondness for NUI Galway isn’t just rooted in the past as I have kept up my links to the University, mostly through the Alumni Board. I still meet many of the people I knew in college.

When I was Auditor of the Lit and Deb, Jim Browne (now President of NUI Galway) was a member of my committee, as was Eamonn Gilmore, former Tánaiste.

Garry Hynes, founder of Druid was like me, from Ballaghaderreen originally, as was Patsy McGarry of the Irish Times. We had a great time in Dramsoc and I was in Druid in the early seasons. I think I did some study in University, but not a lot.

I left boarding school at 17 and within two years I was chairing public debates, meeting national figures at the Lit and Deb and acting on stage at the Grammar School.

I remember the night we had Seán McBride. And every Thursday night I had to deal with some very noisy if witty hecklers. And if they didn’t turn up, we found replacements.

Unity; I didn’t write for it but I had another sideline in cartoons. Eddie Linehan, now a renowned storyteller edited it and Frank Murphy was another editor then.

Did you partake in any societies, sports clubs or volunteering at NUI Galway?

Any juicy stories of your time here?

Has NUI Galway changed since you were here?

There is now such a wealth of courses available – I would love to go back and start again. The college has so much to offer now and the facilities are ­u nbelievable.

But the best things about it are the things that are unchanged – it’s a brilliant location, the fact that it’s so near the river, the sea and the city. And you have to admit, there’s a special atmosphere there.

Stuff I should have gone off for Lent

By Eoin Molloy Each February, millions of New Year’s resolutions are cast away as optimism fades slowly into fatalism. That “no junk food” rule becomes “no junk food during the week”, before slowly degenerating into “screw this, I’m having a snickers”.

Fear not, masochists, another period of self-denial and misery is upon us.

Lent is seriously a dreadful idea, yet a decent chunk of us (even the non-religious) tend to observe it. Denying one’s self chocolate for a few months can’t be a bad thing, right?

You don’t have to be the kind of person who likes getting on their knees on a Sunday morning to see the health benefits of temporarily giving up junk food or alcohol, for example.

This Lent, I haven’t gone off a single thing but I guess there are some things I really should have binned.

The drink is a curse, so the Hardy Bucks said, and the more time we spend off it the better. Giving up the aul drink would be a hard one to sustain for Lent but your wallet and vital organs would certainly thank you for it.

The internet is something I would love to try and live without. This is perhaps an unrealistic goal as we really need the ‘World Wide Web’ for almost everything we do.

We spend so much time gazing at our smartphones, refreshing our newsfeeds and exchanging selfies with one another that we often miss out on important things that are happening right in front of our eyes.

How many times have you witnessed a group of friends sitting together in silence all glaring at the small LED screens under their noses? This is a phenomenon that I would like to try live without.

Lent is seriously a dreadful idea, yet a decent chunk of us (even the non-religious) tend to observe it. Denying one’s self chocolate for a few months can’t be a bad thing, right? This Lent, I haven’t gone off a single thing but I guess there are some things I really should have binned.

And last but not least: doge memes.

I really wish I could try and do without these damn things for Lent as they are slowly eradicating my ability to English.

Wow, very Lent.

I’m not sure if these sacrifices would impress the man from Nazareth but then again I wouldn’t really care. You should give things up to try and better yourself and not to get into the good books of mythical sky fairies who may or may not have existed.

Lit and Deb, Dramsoc… and I had a neat sideline in painting posters for societies and for concerts. I remember doing some for Ollie Jennings who was a local impresario at the time – Louden Wainright 111 is one I remember and for Dramsoc I hand-painted all the posters for the visiting college plays.

I reminded Jim Sheridan of it the other day when we met at a film festival.

He directed the play Oedipus Rex with his brother Peter and it involved a lot of scaffolding which wasn’t ready when the judges, John Arden and Margaretta D’Arcy came along. A small protest ensued….

Do you ever miss NUI Galway?

I feel it is a continuing part of my life. When I go back for meetings and even just pass by, I feel 17 again.

As they all involve me, they’re too good to tell now.

What advice would you give to current NUI Galway students?

Get up earlier! The days offer so much, in college and in life in general. Get as much as you can out of it now. Talk to your lecturers – really, they do want to hear from you. Talk to graduates. Most important: turn off your phone and read. Do not take that wonderful library for granted.

If you could go back and do it all again, what would you do differently?

I’d be afraid I’d miss out on something if I did anything differently.

How student politics can impact a future political career.

PAGE 2

The positions explained.

PAGE 3

Debate: Are SU Elections actually useful?

PAGE 4

Reeling in the Years: Half a century of NUI Galway Students’ Union

PAGE 5

Referendum Debate: Should Cannabis be legalised?

PAGE 7

From Áras na Mac Léinn to Áras an Uachtaráin: President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins

Know who you’re voting for?

Read our interviews with all of the candidates.

PAGE 15

2 ELECTION SPECIAL Interview with Ken Curtin, Returning Officer at the NUI Galway Students’ Union Elections

By Ciara Treacy How long have you been involved in NUI Galway’s Students’ Union Elections as Returning Officer?

That’s a good question! I think this will be my fourth year, could possibly be my fifth.

For anyone who doesn’t know, what does the position of Returning Officer entail?

The position of Returning Officer is an independent role. The reason that somebody like me is used, who is independent of the local Students’ Union and independent of the student body, is to make sure that the rules of the election, and in effect the rules of the land, are followed while the elections are taking place in the run-up, during the voting and at the count.

The two main days I’m involved in are the actual day that the voting takes place and the day that the counting takes place. Now, obviously if there are other bits and pieces which come up before then that need an independent perspective, then the Returning Officer is involved as well.

In your time here is there anything you have noticed in particular about the NUI Galway Students’ Union Elections or are there any standout moments?

To be honest, I really enjoy going up to Galway for the elections. There’s a real level of student engagement – students get very involved in the elections and they’re very passionate about them.

That’s great to see at a time when young people in general are quite slow to get involved in the election process.

When you see them getting involved at Students’ Union level, it usually follows through that they’re more inclined to vote in referendums and real elections – not saying Students’ Union elections aren’t real elections!

In terms of standout memories, I’ve seen some fantastic canvassing going on. I’ve seen babies brought in, I’ve seen puppies! When I was first going up there, there were loads of goodies to be had. There were buns and sweets and all kinds of nice things to coax the voters.

As an independent Returning Officer, I personally was devastated when the rule was brought in banning those, because I was one of those who would be munching through them all day long.

I think in the greater scheme of things

it’s something they could reconsider because I actually think it helps. Yes, there’s the danger that people will go off spending too much but they still spend an awful lot on t-shirts and things. Maybe there are other ways of limiting spending overall than actually banning something that was working, and actually got students engaged.

A secondary role and I suppose a role that the Students’ Union has in general (and as a Returning Officer I’d very much support) is trying to get as many students as possible to vote, so little things like that can help.

Outside of your role as Returning Officer, you’re quite heavily involved in politics yourself, are you?

I am, I more or less work full-time in the area of politics and communications. I’ve been a Returning Officer in a number of other elections as well as being a Students’ Union Officer myself in the past. Right now, I’m working full-time on the Equality Referendum coming up in May. Obviously NUI Galway, like a number of colleges, had a referendum on that last year, and you were the first.

It has to be remarked upon that your tie collection appears to steal the show at elections every year. What amazing tie can we expect to see this year?

Well, I can guarantee it will be one you’ve never seen up in Galway before, that’s as much as I can say. I still have to make up my mind on which one.

As I did last year what I might end up doing is I might put up two or three differ-

ent ties and then get people to vote online to decide which tie I am to wear this year. I might do that in conjunction with the NUI Galway Students’ Union Twitter account because I’m a huge fan of Twitter myself, obviously.

There will be fun times again, I can guarantee you that. For example, today as I talk to you I am currently wearing a Space Invaders tie.

For more political updates and a peek into his tie collection follow Ken on Twitter @kencurtin

When I was first going up there, there were loads of goodies to be had. There were buns and sweets and all kinds of nice things to coax the voters. I personally was devastated when the rule was brought in banning those.

How student politics can impact a future political career

By Eoghan Holland WHEN COVERING AN ELECTION for broad-

cast, options are limited; either lump candidates into one room and see if you can get them to fight, or talk to them ­individually.

In 2014, weighing up my options I contacted all candidates and in the interest of fairness, asked them all the same set of questions individually; whether it was a wise decision or not, I left out one question at the 11th hour. More on that later.

Considering the impact on a future political career, we can look into the past and see characters as diverse as Michael D. Higgins, Ronan Mullen, Clare Daly and Micheál Ó Seighin have all served their time as an SU president.

In some respects, It could be a considered a rite of passage for an aspiring brown envelope pusher to do their time at the head of a SU, and delving further into USI history, well, you’d be amazed at who and what you would find.

It would seem pretty logical that a political youth movement might want to road test a candidate or two in third level elections.

For most of us, third level is about putting together things that will go on our CV that will get us a few steps closer to where we want to be in life. I would not doubt for a second that ‘SU president’ would raise an eyebrow or two when a person is being interviewed to be a politician.

Consider what skills you are going to be

able to put on your CV after a year in the SU; people skills, organisational skills, outreach, diplomacy and the ability to get elected.

Wait; maybe put that last one down first.

It’s the only one that any political party organiser is going to pay the slightest bit of notice to.

In short, that is the crux of this piece.

Aspirations may lead you to think that being a politician in Ireland is about concerns, change and positive movement, but none of these things will occur unless you can convince a portion of the population to tick your box and if you can prove this ability in the sandbox of a third level college, there isn’t really much reason that you can’t do the same in the big bad world.

But wait, nobody gets interviewed to be a politician. What really happens is that youth movements such as Young Fine Gael, Sinn Féin Republican Youth, Ógra Fianna Fail and Labour Youth (for the want of a less sinister word) groom the architects of the future in their formative adult years.

They carry cards, have meetings. They

discuss you, and your life. So it would seem pretty logical that a political youth movement might want to road test a candidate or two in third level elections. In fact, for these aspiring movers and shakers, it could be considered a job interview of sorts; which brings me to that question I never asked last year.

2014 presented me with ten young, motivated and professional candidates with varying opinions and interests, and none of them declared to my knowledge any party affiliation in their campaigns.

Whether they have affiliation or not is yet to be revealed as they continue in life, they may indulge in a switcheroo alá Michael D. Higgins or Mary Lou McDonald, who both flipped party affiliation early in their career, but it has nagged me occasionally; would the SU election, the gateway to the presidency and many other avenues have gone a little different had all ten candidates been flying under their respective coats of arms or allegiance?

And in 2015, in the interest of transparency, is there anything these candidates vying for your support should declare?

ELECTION SPECIAL 3 DEBATE: Is the Students’ Union really worth anything, or is it just a popularity contest?

YES: The Students’ Union is run for its members by its members

How to Vote

By Mark Kelly

By Tomás M. Creamer

SO, IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, when

people put themselves forwards to become an officer in the Students’ Union; when seemingly every poster board is filled with smiling faces of candidates wanting your votes; and when you can’t walk through the concourse without some person handing you a leaflet and asking you to vote for the person on said leaflet. Sure, it can be an annoyance but it’s damn important.

Every year, elections are held to fill positions on the Students’ Union Officer board.

It’s to enable the people who are working for you for an entire year to have a mandate to represent you and your needs.

Why are these important though? Aren’t they just popularity contests? Honestly? No, they are not. They are the furthest thing from a popularity contest. There are three main reasons why the elections are so important.

Firstly, it lets the students in the University see exactly who will be representing them next year and what new ideas they bring to the table.

NO: The SU has failed in its core mission – protecting students’ interests

By Tomás M. Creamer BEFORE I MAKE MY CASE, I want to clarify

that the Students’ Union (SU), as an institution, is not pointless – any organisation that runs Smokey’s Café and the Health Unit is anything but.

However, if you are in any doubt as to the perceived importance of the SU elections in the minds of most students, just look at the turnout figures of the elections themselves in recent times.

The number of people who vote in the elections for the full-time positions, on average, is around 3,140 – out of 17,000 students, that’s a turnout of less than 20%. Such a pathetic turnout is not one to boast about.

And the elections for part-time positions are usually a lot lower – despite a massive hike in the numbers of votes in last year’s part-time elections, only 2,500 or so voted.

Considering the fact that students have to make mandatory contributions to the SU, regardless of their engagement, the fact that less than a quarter of students see any relevance in the democratic organs of the Student Union should be of great concern.

After all, if around 70%+ of students do not feel that the elections or the referendums apply to them, it is hard to say that the SU has the full backing of all of students.

What could be the reason for such lacklustre turnout figures? Some would say that young people in general just aren’t politically engaged anyways.

However, this was not the case historically in NUI Galway. In the 1982/83 presidential election, for example, there was 2,451 votes cast from a student popula-

tion of just over 4,000 – a turnout of around 61%, triple the turnout rates of recent student elections.

In reality, the reasons behind such a lack of engagement is very simple – many students do not feel that the SU is fulfilling their most basic of obligations, aka, fighting for the economic interests of its members.

If you were to take a random survey of the most pressing issues facing ordinary students in NUI Galway, what issues do you think would crop up? Would they be abortion, Israeli boycotts, or cannabis legalisation – any particular issues on which a SU referendum was held in recent years?

On the contrary, the issues that would be raised would be the severe shortage of student accommodation, and huge hikes in student fees that have crippled those who fall between the stools of having just a bit too much income to apply for a grant, but not wealthy enough to function without some financial assistance, or a part-time job, if they can get one.

To be fair to the SU, they have not been inactive about these issues – there have been, indeed, several protests against the continuous hiking of fees, even though they went ahead regardless.

As well as that, the Union of Students of Ireland (USI), with which NUI Galway’s SU is affiliated, has attempted to address the issue of lack of accommodation.

However, most students nonetheless believe that the SU has failed the most basic function of a union – the protection of its member’s economic interests. That is why most students believe that the SU elections are irrelevant – as harsh as that may be.

A lot of the candidates will have a lot of similar things in their manifesto (fight against increases in fees and cuts to grants, retaining services for Students etc.). However, each candidate will have other issues that aren’t covered by the other candidates in their position.

It allows students to see who will be the best fit for them, the issues they face and the Students’ Union for that year and also allows the students to hold the elected official to their manifesto.

Secondly, it engages the students with their union. From my previous experience of both running and helping someone else run, the amount of students who find out about the Students’ Union during elections is fantastic.

They find out about campaigns that are run, things that happen behind the scenes that they don’t know about and lots more besides. It also means that they can show their interest in the union by voting.

Some students will base their votes on the fact their friend or a friend’s friend told them who to vote for but most students will take the time to read the manifestos, engage with the candidates and make an informed decision on who to vote for.

Finally, and perhaps the most important reason, is that a union is run for its members, by its members. If an election wasn’t held to decide who would be on the officer board for the next year and the positions just arbitrarily given out to “the most deserving” or something along those lines, it ceases to be what it is; a union that is there to support students, to have officers who are there to work for students.

Being elected means that you have the backing, trust and support of the student population. They want you to be the person to represent them in the role you are elected to, to fight for them.

Having someone just appointed defeats the whole point of a union as there is no mandate there, no clear support shown, no choice from the members of the union.

At the end of the day, whoever gets elected is there to help their members, to answer to their members.

THERE ARE TWO important dates to keep in mind, if you wish to vote – 5 March for the three full-time Student Union positions, and 12 March for the various parttime positions.

On each of those designated polling days, you have a choice of three “polling stations”, from which you can cast a vote: • AN BIALANN, also known informally as the Canteen, located in the intersection between the Arts/Science building and the Hardiman Library, (open between 10am7pm) • ÁRAS NA MAC LÉINN, which contains the Bailey Allen hall, and is located next to the College Bar (11am-8pm) • THE ENGINEERING BUILDING (12pm-4pm) You will need to remember to bring your NUI Galway Student Card, and from there, you will be given a ballot paper and a pen.

You then go to a polling area, where you fill out the ballot paper, numbering the list of candidates in order of preference - although you don't have to vote for more than one person, if you don’t want to.

It is recommended that you then fold your ballot paper to conceal your vote before putting it in the ballot box.

REMEMBER, YOU CAN ONLY VOTE ONCE

– I wouldn’t recommend ­trying to get around that rule.

Why is it important to vote?

By Chelsea Tabert ACCORDING TO RESEARCH, only 37.4% of young people vote in any given electoral setting. That means that over 60% of the young Irish population does not participate in selecting those who will be responsible for governing – whether it be the country or students union.

When candidates know in advance that a majority of people will not be participating in voting, they may be less interested in making the effort to be responsive to that select group.

By not voting, you are giving up an impor-

tant opportunity to make a decision as to who will be representing you. Compared to other forms of political participation, voting does not require a lot of time or effort – in other words, it is one of the easiest ways to have a say in how your position as a student is represented in the university.

Candidates are running for positions because they are concerned about their fellow students and peers, and have a greater sense of their ability to impact their surroundings. Whether you feel that this year’s student elections benefit you or not, the more votes, the more powerful the message; every vote counts.

4 ELECTION SPECIAL The roles explained: What’s the point of the Students’ Union?

By Jane Kearns THE FULL TIME STUDENTS’ UNION e­ lections

are set to take place on 5 March; all students will have the opportunity to vote on the day and ultimately decide who gets voted in as the president and two vice presidents.

But before the voting begins, students need to do their research and find out exactly what it means to be a full time SU Officer in NUI Galway.

The Students’ Union is broken into full time and part time officers, all of which are voted in by the student body. But the full time officers are paid a salary of ¤22,000 for the year they work for the SU, so students should choose wisely when voting.

There are three full time positions; President, Education Officer and Welfare Officer; they all play different roles within the SU and offer a variety of services to the student body.

Commercial Services, the company which runs the College Bar, Smokey's, the SU Shop, the Hub and the Wall.

They also serve on the Board of Directors of: Seirbhisi Comhaltas na Mac Léinn, the Health Unit and Flirt Fm. The President is the spokesperson for the Union and leads any lobbying or student issues within NUI Galway and on a national level.

THERE ARE TWO VICE PRESIDENTS on

All of the full time officers are also heavily involved in the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and regularly represent NUI Galway on a national level.

THE STUDENTS’ UNION PRESIDENT is the head of

the SU in NUI Galway; their main job is to manage the Students' Union including Union finances, campaigns and initiatives.

The President represents students' interests by meeting with management and participating on University Committees. They are chairperson of Students' Union

The Part-Time Officers that make up the Students’ Union

By Ann-Marie Donelan THE STUDENTS’ UNION operates with a fifteen-member Executive Committee which meets once a week and is answerable to the Students Union Council, and therefore to the student members of the union.

This committee is made up of three former students in paid full-time positions of President, Education Officer and Welfare Officer.

With it being election time at the moment, these positions, or rather who will fill them for the coming year is a hot topic. It is hard also to miss the host of candidates battling it out in the hope of gaining one of these positions, with posters and campaigners in t-shirts putting forth catchy slogans and promises, to be seen at every corner of the campus.

Although it is of great importance, these candidates, some of whom will soon be responsible for the running of the SU, get the attention and coverage required for students to be able to cast votes confidently, the 12 other part-time positions on this committee must be filled by full-time students just a week later.

These 12 positions are of utmost importance to the running of the SU and students should have knowledge of what it is these officers actually do.

FIRSTLY OIFIGEACH NA GAEILGE promotes the use and awareness of the Irish language and culture within the Union as well as providing assistance to Irish language societies on campus.

THE EQUALITY OFFICER must promote the ideals of equal opportunities with the Union and University while also providing a confidential listening and referral service to students.

THE SOCIETIES CHAIRPERSON represents the views of societies to the University and Executive Committee while providing assistance to the day-today activities of societies.

THE POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS of the college are represented by a Post-Graduate Officer, who also encourages the inclusion and activity of post-grad students in Union events.

THE CLUBS CAPTAIN plays a vital role in student life as they work with the Director of Sport and Development and Participation Officer to ensure the provision of resources to clubs.

MATURE STUDENTS are not forgotten by the Union as a Mature Students Officer represents them, promoting their development and integration throughout the college.

A HOST OF CONVENORS, each representing a relevant school of the college makes up the rest of the committee, acting as chairperson of Class Reps of their discipline.

Elections for the part time SU positions for the coming year 2015/2016 will be held on 12 March and all of us at Sin encourage students to make sure they cast their votes, as these positions are vitally important to the running of the SU.

the SU, they are the Education and Welfare Officers; THE EDUCATION OFFICER is responsible for co-ordination of the SU Council, representing students on University committees which relate to academic life, dealing with students on a one-to-one basis and keeping the Executive and students informed of all educational matters.

They are also responsible for the provision of academic information through the publication of leaflets/books and organising and chairing the Education Forum.

THE WELFARE OFFICER is responsible for

co-ordination and delivery of welfare campaigns on relevant welfare issues such as SHAG week.

Like the Education Officer they represent students on University committees and deal with students on a one-to-one basis, keep the Executive and students informed of all welfare matters, organise and Chair the Welfare forum and provide welfare information to the wider student body.

Both of the vice positions mean being clued in to all student welfare and academic issues, being a voice for students within the University and also being an important member of the Executive Committee. As Vice-Presidents, these officers are very involved with the dayto-day running of the Union, and help with all Union campaigns and events.

All of the full time officers are also heavily involved in the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and regularly represent NUI Galway on a national level, so it is essential that all students do their research before casting their vote on 5 March.

The SU Constitution The Students’ Union President 1. S/He shall act as Chairperson and shall have responsibility to uphold [the] Constitution and the terms of reference of all Union companies.

2. S/He shall be responsible for liaising with the appropriate staff members of the Union, the Union’s companies and with University management.

3. S/He shall have responsibility for the day-to-day finances of the Union in conjunction with the senior staff member and shall report to the Finance Committee on those issues.

4. S/He shall also be responsible for ultimate coordination of Students’ Union campaigns.

5. S/he shall be required to act as a member of the Boards of Directors of companies owned by or related to the Union.

6. S/He will represent Union members on University committees.

7. S/He shall be the Chief Executive Officer and chiefspokesperson of the Union.

8. S/He shall be the principal delegate to the National Council and Annual Congress of the Union of Students in Ireland.

9. S/He shall also be required to give a mandatory report on work carried out at each Executive meeting.

The Students’ Union Welfare Officer 1. S/He shall have responsibility for providing information and educating the general student body on welfare issues and to this end shall initiate campaigns on relevant and pressing welfare issues.

2. S/He shall also provide a confidential listening and referral service for members of the Union.

3. S/He shall represent members on various University committees.

4. S/He shall also organise and chair the Welfare Forum.

5. S/He shall also be required to give a mandatory report on work carried out at each Executive meeting.

The Students’ Union Education Officer 1. S/He shall have ultimate responsibility for the co-ordination of the CRC in conjunction with the relevant staff members.

2. S/He shall provide a confidential listening and referral service for all Union members.

3. S/He shall represent members on various University committees.

4. S/He also has responsibility for keeping the Executive and general student body informed on relevant educational issues.

5. S/He shall be responsible for dealing with individual requests from students.

6. S/He shall also organise and chair the Education Forum.

7. S/He shall also be required to give a mandatory report on work carried out at each Executive meeting.

ELECTION SPECIAL 5 Reeling in the Years: Half a century of NUI Galway Students’ Union ELECTION SEASON SNEAKS UP ON YOU

quicker than Christmas. You hear it around campus, God can you believe it’s that time of year again? You begin to hear the words ‘Students’ Union’ echoed from An Bialann to the bus stop. Canvassers are trying to pocket your votes in exchange for lollipops and stickers, but do you appreciate what you are truly giving your vote for?

Tea had risen to 33p and coffee to 35p. The Union serves approximately 2,000 cups of tea throughout the boycott for 25p a cup.

For some of you, the SU is something you push into the background of the NUI Galway landscape; something stuck in the corner of that building over there, you know the one… no, the other one, beside the college bar. Now you got it.

Some like to put it away in that office like storage, bringing it out at certain times of the year, like SHAG week and our current Election season. We let it become a term instead of an entity. But it is an entity; it’s a team of your peers who keep the college breathing.

They’re a hardworking team of lungs and they get out your message with a shout not a whimper.

The SU has a long and colourful history within NUI Galway, and students ought to acknowledge the contribution that has been made in their name since 1911.

The Union boasts a list of former Presidents which include Eamon Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte, and our current Uachtarán na hÉireann, poet, scholar and former lecturer, Michael Daniel Higgins. So let’s sit back and enjoy a Reeling in the Years moment.

1911.

1987.

1964.

2008.

1969.

2014.

Originally established as the Students’ Representative Council under Bryan Cusack, as an offshoot of the Literary & Debating Society. The council finds solid footing during the 1920s, and this formally develops into the Comhairle Teachta na Mac Léinn in Ireland’s moderately-swinging sixties.

Michael D. Higgins leads 600 students to march for better relations between the University and local community.

RAG week is run for the first time after being banned by the Bishop in the fifties.

1980.

The Union supports calls for the political status of prisoners in the H-Block of Armagh Jail. The James Hardiman Library now houses an archive of Brendan Duddy’s hand-written records of negotiations between the British and the IRA over the Hunger Strike.

The Union organises a boycott of tea and coffee due to an increase in price. Tea had risen to 33p and coffee to 35p. The Union serves approximately 2,000 cups of tea throughout the boycott for 25p a cup.

The fees campaign sees t h o u s a n d s m a rc h i n g across the country, including the streets of Galway.

The Students’ Union throws a big 50th anniversary bash, attended by many former SU members and alumno.

SO AS YOU SEE, the SU has your back

covered from the cost of tea, to fees and freedom. The best of luck to this coming year’s executive team, and may your time in the Students’ Union be spent continuing the long legacy of quality service to NUI Galway.

In Photos: What your SU has been up to this year…

Arranged a ‘Shave or Dye or Oh My’ event to raise funds to fight cancer.

Puppies! Puppies on ­campus!

(Mental Health Week)

Launched #MakeGráTheLaw to fight for Marriage Equality.

Held numerous events on ­campus, including a night with Panti Bliss.

Brought some cuddly ­creatures to campus… and a llama!

Organised a successful ‘Working and Travelling Abroad’ fair.

6 ELECTION SPECIAL What is USI and why is it important to us?

By Hanna Macken THE NUI GALWAY STUDENTS’ UNION

remains affiliated with the Union of Students in Ireland, but others have questioned this and sought to become disaffiliated in the past.

Of what benefit is it to us that our SU remains a part of this national Student’s Union? Is it really worth our while to stay with them and what becomes of the SUs that become disaffiliated?

The most obvious benefit to an SU being part of the USI is that it offers students and SUs a united body, with which to act. This is generally of use when there is something being done to undermine the value and importance of education in the country.

The USI has had its hand in many rallies and protests over the years; the benefit of this is that there is a united front. If this was not the case, these protests would probably

be less organised, with more small protests rather than singular large ones.

The best publicised and attended in the past have been held in protest to increased fees and cuts in education grants.

A collective union in the face of adversity can be more effective as it will be more visible, therefore taken more seriously.

“Imagine an organisation that represents 250,000 students. Imagine having national campaigns that can attract media attention that no student or students’ union could do alone… If we want to make change, we need to be united, because truly ‘Together we are Stronger’!” said former NUI Galway SU President, Sean Kearns in his testimonial for USI for the DCU referendum on affiliation last year.

A service the USI provides is training to SUs. This training includes helping the SU to provide helpful information to those in

need of assistance. This is of benefit to the SU and students as it makes for an effective and efficient service to students.

USI runs many campaigns throughout the year that would already be undertaken by many SUs already, but with the added emphasis of being done as a national organisation.

These campaigns range from mental and sexual health awareness to the addressing of equality issues. SHAG Week, a week of sexual health promotion is a good example of this.

The USI will gather information and necessary items, producing an information pack to be distributed to the student body by the individual SUs. This streamlining of campaigns could be both financially and time effective.

The USI is heavily involved in advocating for the rights of students in areas such as welfare and education. They also advocate

Election Humour: C’mon, vote for RON By Órla Ryan Let’s cut to the chase: you love RON , I love RON . We must grab every opportunity we get to bask in my glory.

You, the students of NUI Galway, are about to have your minds blown. I hereby present to you, my future loyal subjects, RON ’s manifesto: AS YOU ALL KNOW, I am standing as a can-

didate in the upcoming Students’ Union elections. I would have preferred to sit, but cutbacks have led to the abolition of chairs in the university.

The university will offer a wide range of new Masters and Doctoral programmes.

Noteworthy inclusions are an MA in Home and Away: An Analytic Study of the River Boys’ tattoos and a PHD in the Psychological Effects of repeatedly being denied entry to The Front Door.

Which position am I running for, you ask? All of them, obviously. I had contemplated just going for SU President, but why deprive the student body of as much RON as possible?

If – sorry, when – elected to every office in the SU, I plan to bring about radical changes to NUI Galway.

Firstly, the name NUIG just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll change it to yet, but the current frontrunners are Smokey’s Academy for Over-Achievers, the Volvo Ocean Race Subsidiary Sailor School and the Sultans of Ping College of Latin and Art. Citizens of every land the world over know that election promises are made to be broken, but here goes anyway.

FROM SEPTEMBER 2013 ONWARDS, the fol-

lowing will become a reality: • Attendance at An Bhialann and the College Bar will actually count as lecture attendance (be sure to swipe your student card every time you order a pint or scone – this translates as double time at the office).

• ‘Craic marks’ will be awarded depending on how fun you are; dry shites run the risk of failing their degree.

• Smokey’s pigeon will hold a series of workshops on the aforementioned ‘craic marks’ system – he will attempt to pass on some tips about how to be as effortlessly fun and cool as he.

• Donegal Tuesday in RAG Week shall be extended to encompass every third day in semester two. If it gets too confusing as to whether or not it’s taking place on any given day, assume and act like it is.

• Instead of certificates, successful graduates will be awarded vouchers for Supermac’s and Karma. The volume of these will depend on complex credit system based on the criteria listed above.

• The scope of Arts subjects will be expanded to more accurately represent

the diverse nature of students’ interests in the college. New modules will include the destined-to- be-popular Pun-craftsmanship; Basic bean-cooking skills; and How to Master ‘The Floor is Lava’.

• Undergraduate courses aren’t the only ones due for a revamp; the university will offer a wide range of new Masters and Doctoral programmes. Noteworthy inclusions are an MA in Home and Away: An Analytic Study of the River Boys’ tattoos and a PHD in the Psychological Effects of repeatedly being denied entry to The Front Door.

• To increase employment and efficiency, the Áras na Mac Léinn will become a training centre for construction workers who can begin their careers from the moment the step outside the building.

• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, every student who loses their jumper while dancing bumper to bumper at any official college ball shall have it replaced with a jumper of equal or much lesser value within three to 72 working days (the same rule does not apply for dignity or self-respect).

AS IS CLEAR FROM THE ABOVE, RON is

not the only valid alternative; I am the only choice that makes sense. A vote for RON , is a vote for progress, equality, world peace and free snack boxes. You know what to do.

As your brain processes the brilliance of this manifesto, I’ll leave you with the following piece of advice; feel free to put it to the test-o: Eat natural foods, bathe twice daily, fill your nostrils up with gravy.

Don't drink tea and don't drink coffee, cover your chin in Yorkshire toffee.

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY TEAM RON.

on other issues in the wider public sphere with the focus on their impacts on students.

One such area is in the equality of students.

The USI has an advantage to SUs as it is regarded by government and other bodies as being the official voice and representation of students in Ireland.

“USI is recognised by Government, industry and institutional representative groups as the voice of students on a national level. USI represents students on the board of Higher Education Authority – the state agency that funds the universities and advises the Government on higher education policy, the IUQB (Irish Universities Quality Board) and the NQAI (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland) – the agencies that ensure your degree is recognised internationally and that your own institutes quality assurance exceeds global quality assurance standards.”

(USI, 2012)

Who’s this RON person?

By Tomás M. Creamer

WHEN YOU GO TO YOUR ­POLLING AREA ON THURSDAY, you’ll see the names and faces of all the people in here, but there’s one face you won’t see and that’s the mysterious RON. But who is RON anyway?

RON stands for Re-Open Nominations. You might look at your ballot card and decide you don’t like any of the candidates who are hoping to secure your vote on the day.

If this is the case, you can vote RON, which is essentially a vote against all candidates.

If re-open nominations is deemed elected to any position then at the end of the count that position is declared vacant and nominations must later be re-opened.

It will mean going through the whole election process again, but it is essential to give your vote to the person you think is the best fit for the role. If none of the candidates meet your expectations, then RON may be your best option.

Whatever you vote this Thursday, use your vote wisely. Your voice is important.

ELECTION SPECIAL 7 Vote YES: Criminalising weed Vote NO: We must consider was politically-motivated the consequences of cannabis legalisation in Ireland

By Eoin Molloy

THIS MARCH, THE STUDENT BODY OF NUI GALWAY we will be voting on whether or not we should support the legalisation of cannabis for adults aged 18 and over.

Before proceeding to list the benefits of cannabis legalisation, it is necessary to first give a historical backdrop as to why weed was criminalised in the first place.

The ‘war on drugs’ was racially motivated from the outset. Mexico’s revolution of 1910 caused an influx of migrants to pour over the borders. It is well documented that the Mexicans smoked ‘marihuana’ to relax after long days of working in the fields.

Most western states in America made weed illegal between 1915 and 1930. This was a sure-fire way of keeping the Mexican population in check. Wherever Mexicans were no longer needed for cheap labour they could be rounded up, charged with possession of weed and sent back over the border.

Harry J. Anslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (the original DEA) had this to say at the time: “Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers. Their satanic music is driven by marijuana, and marijuana smoking by white women makes them want to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others.”

Now tell me the criminalisation of weed was not borne from racism?

Weed was made illegal on a national level by the Controlled Substance Act of 1970. This act designated weed a ‘schedule one’ controlled substance despite evidence given by the Schafer Commission doubting whether cannabis should be illegal at all.

The modern day war on drugs is more racist than ever. Black and Hispanic communities are forced to live in ghettoised, impoverished communities where the only way out is through drug-related crime.

The policing of weed is carried out with staggering racial bias. According to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union, blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for weed-related offences than whites. This is not about controlling a ‘dangerous’ drug, it is simple population control.

People dismiss cannabis as a ‘gateway drug’ that will lead to harder and more dangerous drugs.

This redundant argument is a popular refrain amongst the anti-cannabis camp. Saying that cannabis is naught more than a gateway drug actually implies that cannabis itself is quite harmless.

CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr Sanjay Gupta, recently released an article called: ‘Why I changed my mind on weed’. In this eye-opening article, he notes that weed causes addiction in just 9% of its users, whereas the number is closer to 30% amongst smokers.

He also praises the medicinal uses of cannabis and comes to the conclusion that the Drug Enforcement Agency of the US simply do not have the scientific proof to back up their claim that cannabis deserves to be a ‘schedule one’ controlled substance.

There appears to be no downside to legalizing cannabis for medicinal and recreational use. ‘medicinal marijuana’ would not be a phrase if the cannabis plant didn’t have proven medical benefits. These health benefits have been welldocumented.

Weed can help prevent epileptic seizures. It can also be used to treat glaucoma. In the simplest possible terms, criminalising weed forces sick people to go follow illegal avenues to access medicine.

When asked about legalizing cannabis, Ciaran Maher, auditor of NUI Galway’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said that “a society that professes to be one that values personal liberty should leave adults to consume cannabis if they so wish”.

Criminalising weed also denies the state of valuable revenue that could be collected were the drug regulated in the same way as tobacco.

Our government charges ¤7.72 worth of tax on a ¤9.50 pack of cigarettes. One would think that they would jump at the chance to tax weed to death in the same way.

Under the current system, the revenue produced by weed falls into the hands of criminal gangs. This is a two-fold shame, as this money could instead be used to pay off Ireland’s staggering debt or improve our dire services.

Mr Maher of the SSDP also said that legalizing weed would “generate a net revenue in the region of hundreds of millions of euro, creating thousands of jobs and damaging the power of the criminal underworld”. He makes a good point.

Colorado made world-wide headlines last year by being the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

According to a very favourable report carried

by CBC, violent crime, drug-driving and drug use amongst youths has been steadily decreasing in Colorado. In short, the sky has not fallen.

Weed is much safer than legal drugs like alcohol on every level. In Ireland, there are 88 alcoholrelated deaths per month. Alcohol is linked with dangerous driving and suicide. 50% of murders are also perpetrated by an intoxicated person. Like it or not, there’s no way weed can be this bad.

The cannabis plant occurs naturally on our planet. As Bill Hicks said, doesn’t the criminalisation of something natural feel altogether unnatural? It’s time to trust grown adults to make their own decisions. It’s time to give sick people free access to a proven medicine.

It’s time to legalise weed.

By Tomás M. Creamer CANNABIS LEGALISATION CAN, AT FIRST,

seem like a reasonable proposition – after all, the proposition would ask why we legalise alcohol, but not cannabis, and make references to the infamously ineffective Prohibition (of alcohol) in America.

However, before you get taken in completely by the YES side of the case, I would beg you to seriously consider what could actually be the result of approving of the concept of legalising Cannabis in Ireland, which is what this referendum is asking us to support.

Colorado is one of the poster boys of the cannabis legalisation movement – and, certainly, one could point to some promising statistics. However, Colorado hasn’t legalised cannabis for all that long – only a few years, at most. It is far too easy to say what the longterm consequences are.

One of these consequences would be when cannabis becomes commercialised to the same extent as alcohol and tobacco, where a handful of huge firms dominate the industry, and have massive financial power.

If anyone watched John Oliver’s piece (available on youtube) on how multinational tobacco firms use their huge muscle to strong-arm countries as diverse as Australia, Uruguay and Togo into dropping regulations, with the intent of informing and protecting their citizens, you would know exactly what I would be referring to here.

Without a doubt, the proponents of this motion will make it clear that legalised cannabis will need to be stringently regulated, in order to minimise abuses with the drug – like what they do in the Netherlands, where the state strictly controls the distribution and accessibility of cannabis.

Referendum on Students’ Union position on the legalisation and regulation of the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis.

On Thursday 5th March you will be asked to vote in a referendum on whether or not the Students’ Union adopts a position on the legalisation and regulation of the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis.

The wording which will appear on the b ­ allot paper, requiring a Yes / No answer, will be:

Do you agree with the following proposition: “That NUI Galway Student’s Union actively supports the legalisation and regulation of the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis for adults age 18 and over.”

YES NO This referendum has been requested by 500 members of the Students’ Union in accordance with the Students’ Union Constitution, Article 16.

However, as we all know, Ireland does not “do” regulation very well.

I could point to various areas of regulation where Irish Governments have failed spectacularly, with serious consequences for society as a whole – such as the financial sector, which was arguably responsible for our gigantic economic crash, and the various abuses in relation to the state’s treatment of the Beef industry back in the 80’s, which dealt serious reputational damage to one of our largest domestic industries.

However, in relation to the ability of Governments in Ireland to regulate effectively, all we need to do is look at our relationship with the legal drugs that are already out there, and widely consumed – alcohol, and tobacco.

At first glance, some might say that Ireland’s approach to regulating cigarettes shows that we do have the ability to regulate drugs like cannabis, as Ireland does seem to do an oddly effective job in introducing restrictions on cigarettes.

Not only are advertising on TV and radio banned, and health warning on cigarette packets obligatory, but Ireland, arguably the only country in the world famous almost solely for its pubs, was also the first country to ban smoking in all workplaces (including pubs), and we tax the hell out of the product.

All we are missing are “plain-packaging” laws, like Australia’s – which the Government is on-track to introduce, despite huge pressure from multinational tobacco corporations.

Introducing all these restrictions and regulations is one thing – actually imposing them effectively is another thing altogether.

And while we may pat ourselves on the back for these draconian measures, we don’t think about the hundreds of millions of cigarettes that are circulating throughout the black market as a result of high excise duty.

However, there is one drug in particular that the vast majority of us have gotten acquainted to, especially during the last, completely unofficial “RAG week” – yes; I am talking about “the drink”, aka alcohol.

Now, there are all sorts of regulations on it as it is – such as restrictions on the hours of sale, and on marketing. However, while many of us (me included) can take a drink sensibly, many others simply can’t “do” moderation.

And why does this happen? It happens because drink is engrained into the Irish cultural psyche – which is one stereotype of Ireland abroad that, unfortunately, has more than a hint of truth to it, even in “modern” Ireland.

If cannabis was legalised, there is the risk that legitimisation, resulting from it been legal, could lead to it becoming engrained in our national culture – and do we really need another legitimised drug in our society?

Do we not have enough such issues in our society with the legal drugs – Alcohol and tobacco – that are out there?

8 WELFARE OFFICER

Shane Broderick Interview by Ciara Treacy What are your reasons for running for Welfare Officer?

I guess the main reason I’m running for Welfare Officer is that I’ve seen a lot of potential in the Students’ Union that maybe hasn’t been realised as much as it could have been in the last few years. And there’s a lot of things, especially with regards welfare, that need to be started from the ground up.

I suppose the biggest issue that you could look at is maybe housing, which is a welfare issue. I want to tackle areas surrounding housing and other welfare issues throughout campus that can be spotted and maybe at least improved.

What are your main objectives if you’re elected?

My main objectives would be to improve the smaller areas that you wouldn’t consider to be welfare, that actually are welfare.

A lot of it would be surrounded by finance, surrounded by sports, health and fitness, that haven’t really been addressed properly in the last few years. I also want to have a look at smaller things; more practical things like disability access on south campus which is atrocious compared to north campus. We’re years behind and there’s far more students in south campus that require disability access. That can be improved and I’d like to work on those things.

What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to be Welfare Officer?

You need to be a hard worker; you need to be able to grind from the get-go. I think that I definitely have that kind of a grind in me to get things done.

Another thing you need is a lot of compassion and a lot of reasoning as well. I don’t think I’m short of that either. I work with

Best Buddies and societies that require a lot of compassion and getting stuck in and getting things done.

Why do you think students should elect you as their Welfare Officer?

I think my manifesto speaks for itself, it’s a strong manifesto.

It doesn’t necessarily address issues that you would consider to be welfare but actually are welfare, like small things that could tackle bigger issues. A lot of focus around welfare is always - and it should be always on mental health and mental health awareness. However there are a lot of contributing factors to mental health that I think can be addressed and should be addressed, that haven’t been in the last few years or ever in some cases, so those are things I want to look into.

I want to create an atmosphere where mental health should always be in the mind of things when other stuff is being done.

You want to look at student finance if elected – what areas in particular would you look at?

The biggest manifesto area that I’d like to look into would be student finance. That includes housing – not to say better access to cheap housing. It’s going to be impossible to canvass every single landlord in the city but to better inform students where there are possibilities to stay. There are a lot of things that could be worked towards that.

Another thing on my manifesto is the ¤224 student levy. I want to really challenge the university to create more clarity and transparency in it and there are areas where it could be revised. It could work out that there are things we could reduce money on and increase money in other areas – make that ¤224 either go further for us or reduce where it’s unnecessary to be paying X, Y and Z for things.

What do you hope to implement in the areas of sports, health and fitness?

Especially in the last couple of months there’s been this thing about the GAA and GAA players playing for a club at the weekends and playing for college during the week, and some of them are intercounty players as well.

I know a few lads t h a t a re dual GAA players

that do seven or eight teams a week, and thirty training sessions, the list goes on. A lot of those things end up in injuries and bad exercise techniques and bad recovery processes. I’d like to maybe set up through the SU one of these courses (and with clubs as well, if they’re willing to work with me) to create an information and education class surrounded by proper health, fitness, diet and so on and so forth for students to better manage their time and better manage their health while they’re performing sports for the university.

There’s fantastic talent out there that will be wasted if they get injured for no reason other than they don’t have the right techniques to continue that work.

Why do you think the current disability services need improvement?

Don’t get me wrong, the south campus has improved a lot in the last few years, but students that have disabilities – students with psych disabilities, students that require wheelchairs to get around campus – are barely making par, whereas other students are able to excel.

I don’t think it’s fair that a student who has a wheelchair should take 20 minutes to get to class that takes another student five or ten minutes to get to. And on north campus that’s not the issue. Okay there’s a few minutes in the difference that there will always be in terms of mobility, but there are obvious holes in the disability access around campus that I think really need to be improved.

I think there’s a lot students can do to mobilise the issues towards the Quad, to pressure the Quad to improve student access throughout campus for everyone.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I really do feel strongly that the welfare position has been very well run the last few years and I think that the most important thing to do with new candidates is to bring something new to the table; stronger policies, better ideas.

Again you’re not there to change the job description of the Welfare Officer, I think you’re there to improve on what the person has done last year. You’re not neglecting what they’ve done, you pick up what they’ve done, you carry on with that work, as well as adding some more stuff for yourself and for the students around you.

Jimmy Interview by Ciara Treacy What are your reasons for running for Welfare Officer?

I know I’m meant for this position and I genuinely care, I’m so passionate and determined. I have been involved for two years in Student Welfare volunteering and have seen the wide range of issues that students face and it is very eye-opening.

Being Welfare Officer obviously means there’s the greatness that you’re involved in so much and you’re a student leader but that’s not what motivates me.

What motivates me to run for this position is that one student who’s considering maybe dropping out of college because of a non-academic related reason, either housing or finance or their wellbeing, and it’s those students – students who really need it the most – who motivate me.

I know I can help them and I wouldn’t run for the position if I thought otherwise.

What are your main objectives if you’re elected?

My number one priority is to have an open-door policy for non-judgemental and completely confidential listening. The Welfare Officer is in a great position to help with any issues, be it wellbeing, welfare, housing or finance issues, and a huge thing I’ll be pushing is to try and encourage students that I’ll be there and to increase visibility.

Another thing is to have an increase in strong, active volunteers because once you have volunteers, you can do so much in terms of campaigns.

The two main things I’ll be focusing on is recruiting volunteers and actively keeping an interest in it for them, and getting our faces out there. Once we have volunteers, we can run campaigns. For example, I plan to run a Know your Union campaign and run that quite early on so people know all the services that we do.

I’ll also be teaming up with the Education Officer and President to run the campaign during that week. I’m going to try and

do that as early on in the first semester, to try and get the students who really need it most to know that their Students’ Union can help because visibility is an issue. It always has been, it’s very difficult to overcome but I have a lot of ideas around that.

I have a lot of plans for the year but the priority is that one-on-one with an individual with any problem.

What do you see being the key skills and personality traits needed to be a Welfare Officer?

There are two very different roles to being a Welfare Officer.

There’s one where you’re catering for an individual and that can be a very sensitive issue. To cater for an individual it is so important that you are approachable and trustworthy for a start. If a student can’t approach you or feels they can’t trust you, then you’ve completely taken away their chance of seeking your help. There’s only one Welfare Officer and this person needs to be someone they can trust.

I think the most important skill is to be able to truly listen and understand because you cannot point a student in the right direction if you don’t understand their problem and how it affects them, because everything affects people differently, everyone has different levels of tolerance.

To be able to actually listen and really understand how it affects them as an individual is important so you can point them in the right direction. You have to be in no way judgemental and can show empathy and I feel that’s something I can do very well.

In terms of dealing with the student population, people skills are so important because if you want to run a campaign, and deal with university officials and support services, teamwork and leadership skills and the ability to negotiate are so important.

You need to be

WELFARE OFFICER 9

McGovern enthusiastic and encouraging to lead volunteers and motivate your volunteers to want to come back on a weekly basis.

These are two very different roles of the Welfare Officer and I feel I can do both of them very well.

Why do you think students should elect you as their Welfare Officer?

The number one reason is I genuinely care and I think that makes all the difference. The difference of going the extra mile to help out a student is really what motivates me.

I’ve been consistently involved on campus – I have three certificates in suicide intervention and suicide awareness and they have taught me so much in how to listen to someone and to go that extra mile.

Questioning is a huge thing which I feel I do very well. People could say ‘things aren’t great but they will be fine’ but it’s about going that extra step and asking why aren’t things okay? You get deferred answers and could be there for five minutes, ten minutes or two hours. It doesn’t matter the likelihood of success that you can help them, once there is a sliver of a chance I’ll keep going.

I think students should elect me and I will represent them very well.

I know a lot of students are mentally healthy but everyone knows someone who does struggle. Everyone has a friend who needs the help, they might not even realise it.

Vote for me, if not for yourself then for the people you know and care about who need the help. Please vote for who you think is the best, and someone you can trust.

Why do you feel an open-door policy should be your key priority as Welfare Officer?

My number one point on my manifesto is to have an open-door policy for a non-judgemental listening and referrals. You can run so many campaigns but as soon as a student walks in to that office that’s the number one priority. Nothing matters until that person who is in need is taken care of. It’s something I’ll be pushing a lot.

What kind of campaigns do you aim to implement in the area of sexual health?

I’ll be planning to have a second SHAG week at Freshers’ Week because freshers won’t wait forever to start having sex. So Jimmy’s got you covered on that one!

In SHAG week I’ll be bringing in a lot of information around sexual

consent because it’s a very vague grey area for a lot of students and people don’t actually know the full details. I know Trinity College’s student newspaper The University Times released a survey which said one in four female students had unwanted sexual contact or harassment in some way.

They’re huge numbers and I’d hate to see any student be in any position where they could be accused of anything like that because of their lack of knowledge, and even so much more importantly I’d hate any student to be a victim of any sort of unwanted sexual contact or harassment due to someone else’s lack of knowledge.

How do you aim to tackle accommodation issues for students?

Everyone will know housing is a huge issue and it will be a huge issue again this year around July and August.

One thing I’ll be prepared for if elected is to be completely up to date, because the Accommodation Office in Galway isn’t up to the standard it should be. The online websites leave a lot of stuff up, even when houses are taken. I’ll be in touch with all the letting agencies and all the student accommodation and I’ll be prepared for emergency housing for students, because a lot are going to come in (especially first years), not knowing the area and everywhere will be full.

I’ll be prepared day-to-day ringing up and seeing what’s available and aim to work very effectively in that area.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Please go out and vote this year. We have an average of 3,000 students voting each year, which is huge but at the same time there are a lot of students who don’t.

I know most don’t realise that it benefits them but it does benefit other people. It’s important the right people are there in the job.

Vote for who you genuinely think will do it – not because they’re popular, or unpopular, or funny or not funny, vote for who will make a genuine difference and genuinely cares.

I have a huge passion; people’s wellbeing is what really motivates me. This is something I have been planning for a long time and I’m more than ready to take leadership at this stage. I’ve been planning to run for the last 18 months and everyday I’m getting more prepared.

Megan Reilly Interview by Laura Roddy What are your reasons for running for Welfare Officer?

I have been involved with the Students’ Union for three years. I am the Convener for Business and Law at the moment. With the SU, the higher up you progress the more you want to get involved. I have had a couple of people tell me, recently, that welfare would suit me perfectly.

It is the thing that I want to do.

I have been obsessively volunteering for six years. I have worked as an intern with ALIVE last year, before that I worked in a homework club, an animal shelter, a nursing home, was a class rep and helped out at various fairs around the university. I am also passionate about people.

As corny as it sounds, since I have been at college I have been trying to make a difference. I set up the marriage equality task force, for example. Welfare Officer seems like the next natural step for me.

What are your main objectives if you’re elected?

I want Welfare campaigns that are more inclusive to everybody and more widespread. I want to reach more first years and link up with the mentoring programme.

I think that having a casual running group or fitness group that could meet between lectures is a good idea; it’s something I have definitely wanted these past few years in college.

I want a mental health campaign that doesn’t just focus on anxiety and depression. We need to branch out into bi-polar disorders and eating disorders, things that are never talked about.

I have been talking to people about chronic illnesses and invisible illnesses, such as epilepsy and diabetes, conditions which a lot of students have. There needs to be a better link made with the disabilities office, not just to build awareness but make it easier on students. I would love to hold a forum where these students could come together and actually meet those who have the same conditions.

What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to be a Welfare Officer?

I think you can narrow this down to two things. The first is passion and the second is the organisational skills to actually follow through on your campaign aims.

At the end of the day it is about forging and maintaining connections with people, like the counselling

office or the disability office.

I have a slogan behind my campaign at the moment which is ‘compassion with action’, which summarises these two things.

Obviously you have to care a lot because there is so much involved in the role and I think that organisation is a big thing also. People just see the role of Welfare Officer as, ‘oh you just have to be really nice’ but at the same time you have to be really organised.

Why do you think students should elect you as their Welfare Officer?

I have the experience of the SU; I have seen the great work they have done this year as well for Welfare. I know for a fact that I have put my heart and soul into this and I will continue to do so. I have the passion for it.

I have had friends come to me in the past with problems and even though it is heart-breaking sometimes, there is nothing I love more than to be able to help someone out. My desire to be Welfare Officer has come from this, but the extra-curricular activities I have undertaken at college have also helped me realise that this is really where I want to be. This is what I want to be doing.

Please elect me, because I think I would be really good at it.

Your manifesto says that you wish to break down the barriers around seeking help. Can you tell me how you wish to achieve this?

I think there is an administrative side to when a student goes to the counselling service or the SU. There are forms to fill out and there is a receptionist desk to get past.

I feel like students who are already in a vulnerable position can feel intimidated by this. I think it would be a good idea to hold an open clinic, a place

where students can just walk in and don’t need to feel scared.

I also think hooking up with the counselling service and offering more well-being workshops is a good idea. The idea of mental fitness is not stressed enough, even offering meditation classes would be significant.

If you succeed in your manifesto aim of expanding the welfare team, how do you think this will benefit the students that attend NUI Galway?

There needs to be an expansion of the welfare crew. I want their focus more on campus. Maybe get them into student accommodation to talk to first years more frequently.

I want to give free fruit out on campus. I’d like a bi-weekly positive day on campus where we would poster the place with sheets that have a tear-off ticket compliment, a place where people could post their worries or throw them into a bucket.

It is important to get the welfare crew out onto campus, give them more visibility to the students and to generate more positivity around the university.

Any other points you would like to discuss from your manifesto?

I want to be able to connect with students who are on placement.

Hopefully that would be through some kind of online portal because I know a lot of students can feel a sense of disconnection with the university. This can be so that they have a point of contact with their Welfare Officer.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Well, to tell people to vote.

I’d love to see more students engage with the union. I think that is a big thing and a lot of people are going to be saying it in the next coming weeks. Just come have a chat with us on campaigns week, there should be some exciting things happening. If you feel like giving me your vote, then all the better.

10 EDUCATION OFFICER

Rebecca Melvin Interview by Ciara Treacy What are your reasons for running for Education Officer?

My main reason for running for Education Officer is because I believe I have the right work experience and life experience as a student in NUI Galway. I want students to get the most out of their education, so I will go up and beyond for them. I will fight for their rights and will be a strong voice for them also.

I’m just your typical student; I know what it’s like to be a student in NUI Galway. I know what it’s like to be an Officer also, so I know the roles and responsibilities that come with that and I also know the challenges students face on an everyday basis.

I believe I’m a relatable student - like I’ve failed the year, lost the grant, got the grant again, and passed my exams. I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I believe I’m a candidate people can relate to and hopefully will put their trust in me to deliver everything.

What are your main objectives if you’re elected?

My main objectives are to fight fees, to fight against more grant cuts, introduce longer opening hours in the library, a new and improved Class Reps system, and greater in-course student support.

I also want workshops in public speaking and preparation for the workforce, along with exam preparation also. My public speaking isn’t great so if we had public speaking workshops I believe it would benefit everyone. Going to an interview can be such a nerve-wrecking experience, so just being able to speak and hear your own voice without getting the jitters would be great.

What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to be Education Officer?

I speak for what I believe in, so if students have any worries, I will voice them, and if I notice anything wrong I will also voice it. I will fight with every fibre of my being for what every student in NUI Galway deserves, which is a better education, because at the end of the day we are paying for it so we deserve what we get for our money.

I believe I’m also approachable; I’m good craic at the end of the day! I have great organisation skills and I love to canvass and campaign.

I’ll fight for any injustice students may encounter and I’m a woman of my word, so if I say I’m going to do something I will do it. I want students to know I will do whatever it takes to make their time in NUI Galway

as easy as possible and get the most out of their education. My time as Equality Officer has given me the opportunity to voice people’s problems and help them get them fixed.

If elected Education Officer I will do the same, and I will have more time now to give my all into it, because the Equality role is a part-time role and the Education role is a full-time role, so I can forget about studies and just concentrate on students.

Why do you think students should elect you as their Education Officer?

I am a focused person who represents the student voice. I know the ins and outs of the Education system - like I’ve said I have deferred and repeated, I know what it’s like to fight the Grants Office, I know what it’s like to deal with library fines. I fight the library staff - obviously I’ll be nice to them too! I will do what it takes to help any student with any query. I will have an open door policy where students can walk in with any problem and I will be there. I know what it’s like to be a student and when life throws you unexpected curveballs, it can be difficult. So I would like to think students can relate to me because I’ve been there.

How do you aim to fight fees?

Usually USI have a march up in Dublin usually around October. I plan to bring a more focused march to Galway against an increase in fees because we had one a few years ago and it was such a good success. At the end of the day students can’t be taking time off to travel to Dublin on buses, the numbers aren’t great. I plan on having a focused march around October where students can get excused for an hour off their studies to go, put on a t-shirt, blow some whistles, get the politicians seeing us and not taking us for granted. Our message is there, we don’t want any more increase in fees.

Why do you want to extend the library opening hours?

I’m a demon when it comes to exams, so around exam time I would like the library to open until 12 o’ clock for study week and the two weeks of exams. I don’t believe it’s a massive request. At the end of the day the reading room does not facilitate 17,000 students at one point so students are finding it difficult to find somewhere to study.

They’re wasting time queuing when they could be spending it studying. That really annoys me – I’ve been there, I’ve had security

men chase me (I like to play hide and seek with them) around the Bailey Allen, I hide around the SU, Smokey’s – I’ll do anything just to study in peace but I do believe until midnight would be reasonable.

I also want more study space advertised as well because students don’t always know where to study, so just opening more classrooms all around campus – not just the Concourse.

How do you aim to reform the class reps’ system?

That’s a massive one for me because the turnout isn’t great at SU council and I believe it can be better. I don’t think that’s any fault of the students, I think it is the fault of us organising it. I plan on making it more accessible to students in the likes of the Engineering, Cairnes and Áras Moyola buildings. It’s very much Arts and Science focused at the moment because we’re holding it only in the Concourse and IT building – it’s not accessible for every student.

Also I believe we should have a reward system in place for class reps because they are volunteers at the end of the day. I’d like to bring in a gold cert that’s recognisable from the university for class reps who go up and beyond for their class. This would be not just the normal ALIVE cert that all class reps would get but particularly excellent class reps, who are at every SU council and constantly at their lecturers trying to make a change for the students.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just to mention about buses to exams, which was a new service introduced last year. I was on the buses going to Salthill, and there was only one bus going three times a day.

It was like going to a cattle mart, we were packed on to this bus like sardines in a can.

It was awful!

I believe just having two buses three times a day will make a massive difference. It will eliminate health and safety issues because I had people sitting on me and I had people elbowing me in the face. At the end of the day students can’t afford taxis and pay ¤6 or ¤7 to Salthill and back, crazy money. To have that system in place would make life easier for students.

I just want to bring home I would do anything for any student. I believe I would make an excellent Education Officer due to my experience in life and also in the SU and hope that my time as Equality Officer has proven I’m able to deliver.

I was very grateful when students elected me last year and I hope they can do the same. I will be a strong voice against injustices students would face. I’m not afraid to approach any lecturer or any committee and tell them things need to be changed.

EDUCATION OFFICER 11

Joanne Duffy Interview by Jenna Hodgins What are you reasons for running for Vice President and Education Officer?

I am dedicated and passionate about the Students' Union and I take particular enjoyment in dealing with academic issues. I love helping students find their way through a tough issue. I was a class rep for two years and am currently on the students' union executive serving as science convener.

Over the years I've helped many students with a range of issues; some trivial, some much more serious. I know I can deliver results that students want and need and I am running for VP Education because I believe I am the person to get the job done for students who need to be represented.

What are you main objectives if you’re elected?

If elected I have clear goals regarding the day-to-day issues affecting students, as well as a set of goals relating to the bigger issues that affect students on a national level.

Students who can't access computer suites to work on their final year projects deserve better. Students who can't find an adequate study space with power outlets and proper heating deserve better. Students who are not being given feedback on their work deserve better. Students who aren't getting their results on time deserve better.

I am capable of addressing these issues head on; I know who to talk to and what needs to be said. On a national level, I'm dedicated to finding a better deal for students as regards the grant and fees.

I think it's high time that a national conversation is had about where we want higher education to go in this country, and I want to spear head that conversation along with the USI and other students' unions in the country.

What do you see being the key skills and personality traits needed to be Vice President and Education Officer?

I think the VP Education needs to be someone who can address issues quickly and efficiently.

They need to be someone who knows not just how to talk the talk but how to walk the walk as well, so to speak.

It's a tough job and it requires someone with an open mind and above all, someone who won't take no for an answer when it comes to securing a fair deal for students, whatever situation they find themselves in. That means you have to be a good listener also.

I have a wealth of experience in representing students and as a result I've got a lot to bring to the table as VP Education. I believe I have the key skills and personality traits to make the most of this role for students.

Why do you think students should elect you as their Vice President and Education Officer?

I'm a leader, I'm creative and I know how to negotiate effectively. I'm an all-Ireland champion debater; I actually spoke representing the country at a public speaking festival in Scotland.

I have been an active student representative for three years and I was short listed as one of the top three class reps in the country at the national student achievement awards last year.

This means that I have a unique set of skills that will allow me to continue working for students as I have done for years. Being VP Education means that I would be able to address issues more effectively, and delve into issues I may not have had the opportunity to while in full time study.

I'm a vocal, outspoken and articulate person and I always listen carefully when a student comes to me with an issue so that I can determine the best course of action. I'm never afraid to speak up on behalf of people who need someone to represent their cause. I tackle issues head-on and I am the right person for the job.

Your manifesto says you will donate ¤1000 of your salary to SVP, why this particular charity?

I'll be donating the ¤1000 euro to St Vincent de Paul because I feel they're the best community-based charity there is. I think the people of Galway support the students so well, and we all know how much young families in particular are struggling.

St Vincent de Paul really know the people in their community, they're an amazing charity for targeted care like that.

I also feel the salary for VP Education is quite large; transparency in funding and spending in the union is something I'm hoping to work on also. I won't even remotely feel the hit of losing ¤1000 from a salary but the people of Galway will definitely feel the hit of its benefits I hope.

I'm interested in tackling the student assistance fund, I think there are ways we could pool more funds into this vital resource. I also want to increase awareness of the fund on campus, I think a lot of students struggle and don't know it's available to them.

Students have a hard enough time getting a hold of their grant sometimes, let alone applying for extra funding. It's a matter of working with and speaking to students one on one; this is something I already do and I believe it's the best way to get the job done. If a student can trust their officer, they can rest easy while the work gets done.

How do you plan on running the writing and study skills workshops you mentioned?

Will it be student-mentor based, or do you seek to employ academics, and professionals?

There is a wealth of resources on the campus for learning to write, reference, achieve top grades in assignments and a litany of other things, but unfortunately students are not using them as much as

they could. I feel with directed workshops that bring the best of these elements together, students will be able to make the most of the resources. For example, the SUMS centre is an incredible resource, but many students are not willing to attend the service alone, or aren't sure what they need from it.

I'm in the process of creating a workshop for science students at the moment on technical writing and referencing; there was great demand for it from science class reps so I'm hoping that will be a success. Simple skills like how to use the library efficiently could make a world of difference to students and I'm hoping to get out on the ground and provide all of that information in a clearer, more effective way.

I feel the lecturers on campus are the best people to give these kind of workshops as not only to many of them have supplementary qualifications that deal specifically with technical writing or other such useful skills, they also are the ones we hand our assignments up to, so this will give them an opportunity to tell students exactly what they are, or more importantly are not looking for.

You said you have plans for securing more study space and power outlets for students, how do you plan on executing this? Will it just be for exam time?

I'm hoping to secure more study space by taking spaces that are used very little on the campus and sectioning them off as study space, potentially with swipe access for specific groups of students who have very limited space at the moment.

I think if a room is being used only three or four times a week, that whatever classes are tutorials are taking place there can be moved to another location, allowing the room to become a dedicated study room. It's just like timetable tetris!

As regards power outlets, there is no point in me suggesting I can add more to the library because I know from my time on the executive this year that that simply cannot be done because of how old the building is.

However I hope that if I can secure more spaces like classrooms in the more modern buildings, there can be enough power outlets added so that students have a place to plug in their phones/computers/iPads/Magic carpets or whatever it is they need power for!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

If anyone would like to contact me they can do so by e-mailing me at su.science@nuigalway.ie ; I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone has. Tá Gaeilge líofa agam chomh maith má tá duine are bith ag iarradh labhairt liom faoi chursaí Gaeilge, tá an-suim agam forbairt a dhéanamh ar chursaí Gaeilge ar an gcampas.

12 PRESIDENT

Karl Picard Interview by John Brennan What are your reasons for running for SU President?

I’ve been actively involved in the Students’ Union since first year. In first year I was a class rep, but for the last two I’ve been the chairperson of the Students’ Union.

I’m just as passionate about the Students Union now as I was on day one. I think over my three years I’ve seen a great insight into how the union works, I’ve seen the good things it does, but I also see the things it could do a little bit better.

I believe I’m the candidate with the policies, the drive and the passion and the experience to be able to formulate my policies and to bring the union on to where it needs to be. I can provide a representation to students, that in my eyes, they need.

What are your main objectives if elected SU President?

I have several different policies, but going for my big policies; the strong ones that I will be pushing. I believe the Students’ Union need to promote a greater relationship with businesses in Galway City.

What I would like to see is, you see students every year, the last thing they want to do is go home to their home place for the summer. You find some students, who aren’t on the grant, or maybe they are on the grant, but they still struggle financially.

This is a big worry for us as a union; we need to get these students help. Listen, we don’t have the facilities with the cuts to the student assistance fund to give them loads of money, that’s not the case.

What I would like to do is to promote a relationship between the Students’ Union and Galway businesses. So we are in a position better than we already are to highlight student-friendly jobs through the Students Union and through Sin. What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to be President?

I think to be a president you need to be brave. Brave in a sense, that there will be times that you will have to take a position that is seen as unpopular or seen in the eyes of the greater student body, seen as not the right decision.

But since you are so heavily involved, with what I suppose is the nitty gritty stuff behind the scenes, t h a t yo u k n ow yourself and as a Union, you should know that this is actually the right decision.

I think the policies I have are the type of policies that give the students union back to the students.

I really want to remind them that it’s not THE Students’ Union, it’s YOUR Students’ Union.

What is being done, even though it might not seem like it at the time, but what is being done is the right thing for the Union.

Now there are several, several other things you need to be as President, which I believe I have. You never stop being passionate about your role, whether you’re a class rep or a part-time officer and I’m sure it can be said about the full-time officers.

You can never stop wanting to improve, and you can never stop being passionate about your role and what you can do. I think the last thing you could ever be is complacent and say “right, I’m elected. I’ve got the job now, that’s the end of it”.

No, I always thing you should be building on your role.

You should say “Right, I did this, and this was ok and what I do next will be better”.

Why do you think students should elect you as their president?

I believe I’m the candidate with the passion, the experience and the driven leadership to get the job done. On a more, student level, I think that the policies I have are things that students, the everyday students can relate to.

I think that there is a problem in the Students Union at the moment that the vast majority of our students, if you look at our student engagement is something that we really need to put hard work into.

I think that there is a lot of students, the ordinary everyday students who don’t pay a lot of attention to the Students’ Union and wouldn’t know quite a lot about the Students’ Union. I think the policies I have are the type of policies that give the students union back to the students. I really want to remind them that it’s not THE Students’ Union, it’s YOUR S ­ tudents’ Union.

That’s my big thing, so I think that the policies I have are ones that normal students can relate to the most.

Anything else you’d like to add?

There are eight points on my manifesto, I have several big ones. The one about student jobs I discussed earlier, another particular one which a lot of students don’t really know is surrounding the SU card and our commercial services.

I don’t think the SU utilize the commercial services as best they can. What I would do is absolutely, 100% push the SU card, you would be so surprised how many students don’t have an SU card or don’t know what they do.

It’s such a vital thing where you can go into the college bar, you can go into Smokey’s or wherever and you can buy say 10 cups of tea and then when you buy your 11th cup of tea it’s free, because you built up enough points on your SU card.

There are a lot of things here that students don’t know about that we need to highlight to them, we are a Union, this is what we do. Come join us, we are here to help you; that type of thing.

Another big thing is student engagement, I really, really want to push that, I want to see more and more frequent resident runs. The number of resident runs we do at the moment is good, fair enough, but it could be better.

I think we need to be engaging the students far more and they need to be seeing us outside the office. This is the big thing, I want to take the SU out of the office and put it back on campus.

I want students to know that the SU executive is approachable at all times.

We aren’t just 15 faces you see on the poster scattered around campus, that’s my big thing.

I would like to see the formation of an SU crew. It would be similar to the welfare crew. They would be used essentially as a volunteering group within the Students’ Union to get more students involved and used to highlight the work the Students’ Union are doing at that moment.

More importantly, the SU executive is 15 people; the sabbaticals are only three people. It’s unrealistic to think that we’d hear everything, if we have an SU crew, it allows them and us to go onto campus and talk to students and listen on a greater scale to the problems they have.

The size of the university with 17,000 students means that we don’t always hear of it. This is a big problem.

Students need a reminder, and it’s up to the students union to remind them, it’s not THE Students’ Union, it’s YOUR Students’ Union.

PRESIDENT 13

Phelim Kelly Interview by John Brennan What are your reasons for running for SU President?

Over the past year I have been fighting for students’ rights and student issues with the college. I’ve really worked hard this year and I think I’ve another year in me.

Another reason I’m running is that I’ve been on university committees Udarás na hOllscoile (governing body) and all the committees feeding into it and I’ve seen the ins and outs of what happens in the university and how to go about effecting change.

I’ve seen the backhand discussions that go on behind closed doors. This experience is why I am running and I want to help students in any way I can. I have seen various Presidents throughout my time in NUI Galway and I believe that I am best placed to represent NUI Galway students.

What are your objectives if you’re elected?

One of my main objectives is the 2016 elections, primarily the local [General] elections next year. I will be lobbying profusely for student-friendly manifestos. For example the cost of education, accommodation, student supports, welfare and the student assistance fund.

We registered over 4,000 students to vote this year, initially for the marriage equality referendum. This is a tool we can use against them; it’s going to be a strong lobbying tool, we’ll be like “lads we have like over 4000 people in your constituency, start listening to us”.

Another thing I want to bring in is a vicepresident for campaigns and events. In my term I’ve been able to build up a network with other sabbatical officers around the country. I’ve noticed that colleges which have an events officer and campaign officer seem to have a much better understanding of what students need and want.

This would be a full-time paid role; it’ll be elected alongside the other vice-presidents and the president. Obviously it won’t be brought in until March next year if I can get the go ahead from the Class Reps, etc. and of course the student body.

Galway is undoubtedly lacking in events and I think that is a huge part of the student experience. Getting students when they come in the door on their first weeks of college is essential for getting them more active and makes for a happier/ better college experience.

A big aspect of the university I want to work on is the quality review and feedback mechanisms within the university. I have completed so many surveys in my time as a student and SU officer.

I have worked extremely hard over the past year, I’m not afraid to work and I’ll work my fingers to the bone for students, and I will do everything I can to vindicate their rights and ensure their voice is heard and listened to at all levels within the university.

To me I feel like the info that I am giving back to the college goes into a hole with no consultation after. I believe the college should take an approach along the lines of a “You a s ke d , We d i d ” approach. So that questions and opinions from these surveys would be answered and that actions be taken.

I also believe in terms of academic surveys on course/module review etc. there should be Staff-Student Liaison Committees set up so that these issues can be relayed in person back to students (and class reps in particular).

What do you see as the key skills and personality traits needed to be President?

As the President of the Students’ Union a person needs to have good leadership skills. This is important because the SU President is the head of the student body and the students depend on the president to coordinate core student union activities and leading the elected officers to undertake their promised goals.

Stubbornness and dedication is another, myself and Declan (curre n t P re s i d e n t ) have been in a fair share of committees together, more often than not we are told no and we have to be committed to our cause and keep pushing so that the student issues are a priority. We have to say this is what students want, this is what they need.

You need to have a good grasp of knowledge of student issues, as well as around university policies. It’s not enough to demand something and go to the university with problems but bring a possible solution which can be negotiated on.

A President needs to have good communication and negotiation skills. Nothing will ever be handed to anyone on a plate and as president, you need to put forward strong arguments in favour of student’s issues in a clear manner and negotiate any negative changes on students for a better and fairer experience during their time in NUI Galway.

You need to be inviting, open, and transparent. That if any student asks a question, you tell them the answer, you don’t hold back. You give them everything they need and want with no reservations.

Why do you think students should elect you as their President?

In the past year I was the Vice-President for Education, in the two years before that I was the convenor of the colleges of science and in my first year in college I started as a class rep. There is nobody running for any position that has more experience than me in terms of the Students’ Union affairs.

I have worked extremely hard over the past year, I’m not afraid to work and I’ll work my fingers to the bone for students, and I will do everything I can to vindicate their rights and ensure their voice is heard and listened to at all levels within the university.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Last year, NUI Galway Students elected me their Vice-President/Education Officer, I have delivered on several aspects of my previous manifesto; exam results have come out earlier for the repeat sitting in August.

I successfully lobbied for provisions into the exam deferral policy which was nothing short of a ridiculous proposal at the beginning of the 2014/15 academic year.

I have shown the University the necessity for practical work placements for students throughout their degree to prepare them for the world of work after their degree and the university have put this into their strategic plan and aim to put in place practical work placements in 80% of all undergraduate courses by 2020.

I have the experience, I have the track record of effecting change and I will work my fingers to the bone and continue on my promises next year if elected President of the Students’ Union.

14 PRESIDENT Conjoined Twins Ross and Cian Interview by Ciara Treacy What are you reasons for running for President?

Life is tough being a conjoined twin. You'd think that having a small abnormality like a mere full sized person stuck to you wouldn't have too much of an impact, but it does.

Let us take you back to 2001 when we were given a hula hoop for Christmas that we couldn't fit into it or back in 2009 we filled out different courses on our CAO. Now we both miss half our lectures and we've had to defer multiple exams because the college won't let us sit two different exams at the same time.

Even if we had picked the same course we wouldn't be able to sit exams at the same time because we'd be done for cheating like we were in our leaving cert, which strangely enough we both got different points in even though we done the same subjects and wrote the same thing in each exam.

These were only two of the many struggles we encountered throughout our life but there were some high points for both of us like when Ross lost his virginity I (Cian) got a cheeky feel of boob for the first time.

The greatest high point though would be winning the presidential election and showing people that a conjoined twin isn't someone to drag you down but someone to pick you up when you fall because if you fall they fall too.

What are your main objectives if elected?

Well if you have a quick gawk at the manifesto you’ll see our main points really come down to students making some quick grade while they are in college. We’ll be giving out a couple of shrewd horse racing tips and the odd cheeky accumulator on the football at the weekends.

If you’re not one for the ponies then we are trying to implement a ‘sperm for cash’ scheme like we seen in one of those American movies, easy money! Don't have to be a lad to donate sperm, just as long as you can get your hands on some [winks and put finger to nose puts finger to nose and taps].

Human trials for products we feel aren’t being promoted enough for the quick bit of bean so we are teaming up with cosmetic and food companies to allow students to be exclusively the first to try products before they go on the shelves.

We would also like to implement some money saving schemes such as a system in the Bialann where whatever you can eat from the food counter to the till is free. So if you get five sausages and manage to eat three on the way to the till then those sausages are free.

That along with the abolishing of repeat fees for exams which has shafted us for race week money on more occasions then we would like to mention.

What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to President?

Well over the last couple of years we’ve only ever seen one person be president. Us on the other hand happen to be two people stuck together which can only be an advantage for the college. Having two lads doing the one job, for the same amount of money as the last couple of fellas, will surely bring about better results.

This along with our kind-hearted nature, unforgiving attitude toward SU staff mistakes, excessive aggressiveness towards pressing issues, impulsiveness and indecisiveness make us ideal candidates for the job.

Why do you think students should elect you as their President?

Students would want to be thick in the head to not vote for us. There is two of us. End of question. Next.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Ya just want to give a quick shout out to Eughin and the lads for serving us after hours the other night. Appreciate that lads.

Tell us about your manifesto.

Well our integration program for students from shite counties will be a nurturing process whereby we introduce them to college life in the most gentle fashion possible. We would do a quick crash course for induction week where we would introduce them to things such as rooms that fit more than 25 people, mobile phones, traffic lights, the concept of a plastic card with virtual money on it, the idea of public transport and the general ins and outs of ‘the big shmoke’ as they call it.

Ross McLoughlin is 100% for marriage equality and we really just want to raise awareness of fellas marrying fellas and beours marrying beours. No real explanation needed here.

For the Harriers night we want to bring people back to their glory days of harriers and millennium madness. We’d be looking at guest appearances from washed-up sham DJs like DJ Rankin, Cascada, DJ Sherk and many others.

We would be looking to re-arrange all the couches to have them against walls and we want to increase the number of couches by ten-fold. There will also be a mini-bus service to any student estate associated with the college.

Our main goal is to boost numbers attending college bar events throughout the year by any means necessary.

Any. We've killed people before. And by kill people, we mean kill fees, boo fees.

Cillian Moran Interview by John Brennan What are your reasons for running for SU President?

The glorious leader, Kim Il Sung has selected me to run on behalf of the peoples’ republic of Galway to ensure that they have a transparent and hardworking dictator, to ensure that the people do not enjoy their ruler and to ensure that all other hardworking and transparent individuals will not be allowed to come to office.

What are your main objectives if you’re elected?

The Glorious leader and I have devised a 10-year plan for the SU.S.S.R; these include a number of key aspects to ensure that the peoples’ republic of Galway comes into being and to ensure that the force it was always intended to be succeeds.

These include: • To ensure that Corrib Village becomes the gulag it was always intended to be.

• To ensure that all dissident thinkers that are within Galway’s boundaries are relocated and that academic cleansing occurs.

We also hope to invite the Glorious leader over to Galway for RAG week next year. On top of that we intend to install a series of puppet Students’ Unions across the country.

What do you see as being the key skills and personality traits needed to President?

Having a beard.

Why do you think students should elect you as their President?

Because I have shades, a beard and a hat.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Someday that angels shall descendeth from the heavens and they shall sing and they shall cry and a new wave of terror shall wash across this land, and upon the backs and the blood of labourers a new and glorious union shall be built. A Students’ Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic.

Tell us about your manifesto.

I feel that the Republic of Galway has let its students down; it never finished building Corrib Village into what it was intended to be. A Gulag is incredibly important. There are too many free and dissident thinkers located within the boundaries of this fine State and I feel it is necessary that we have a fine place to put them.

I propose to install academic cleansing. To ensure that anyone getting less than a first class honours gets deported and, if necessary, executed.

It would be mighty for us to increase ties with the glorious leader in North Korea. It will ensure a booming trade of prostitution, alcohol, drugs and pizza.

I plan to merge the Ministry of Education and Welfare into the Ministry of Truths and Propaganda and I feel that it is only right to re-establish the only true Communist nightclub in Galway. Cuba.

Students' Union & Class Reps Council The Students' Union Executive is answerable to the Students' Union Council. The Students' Union Council consists of approximately 350 members representing every class in the University.

The Council is essential to the running of the Union and is beneficial to the running of the University. It also helps bring students ever more closely involved with the workings of the Union and the University.

The SU Council is used by the Union to inform students what is happening within the University and also to get feedback from students regarding any problems, suggestions or positive aspects they have found in the University.

The SU Council meets at least three times per semester and quorum for an SU Council meeting shall be 50 class representatives.

Each of the NUI Galway Colleges also has a College Class Representative Council together with a Postgraduate Council. Each College Council meets twice each semester.

• Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies Convenor • Science Convenor • Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences Convenor • Engineering & Informatics Convenor • Business, Public Policy & Law Convenor • Postgrad Officer

The object of the College Class Rep Councils is to discuss individual faculty issues whilst Students' Union Council discusses University-wide issues.

Class Reps is co-ordinated by the VicePresident/Education Officer who works with the SU Council Chair and the Convenors to ensure that every class is represented and heard. Feel free to make use of the SU Council to get your views across by approaching your class rep or an Officer.

Students’ Union SU Council Chairperson The SU Council Chairperson chairs the meetings of the SU Council and represents all Class Representatives on the Executive Committee. They work with each of the College Convenors to ensure that every class has a Class Representative.

This year there are two people running for the position of SU Council Chairperson.

They are Cathal Sherlock and Ronan Gallagher.

The Students' Union Council Chairperson will be elected at the last SU Council meeting of the academic year on Monday 2nd March 2015 at 6pm. Only registered Class Reps are eligible to vote in this election.

For more information on the SU Council see su.nuigalway.ie.

ELECTION SPECIAL 15 From Áras na Mac Léinn to Áras an Uachtaráin:

President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins Many famous people started out in NUI Galway Students’ Union, but perhaps the most famous of all is current President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, who first experienced a Presidential role in NUI Galway when he was elected SU President in 1964.

Sin reporter John Brennan discusses politics, student issues, and more with the president…

PRESIDENT MICHAEL D. Higgins is a man

who is small in stature but huge in presence.

The cold February air creeps in the window which is slightly ajar. As he walks towards me, he exudes a cool air of unquantifiable warmth. We both stand for a photograph in a scantily furnished makeshift interview room in Áras Moyola.

My pre-interview nerves evaporate as the President puts me at complete ease sitting down across from me. When he does speak, he speaks with a quiet confidence. President Higgins is a softly spoken intellect; one who has spent a lifetime making a difference.

Everything he has ever thrown his diminutive hands to, he has shaped in some tangible way. Be it from the leafy grounds of NUI Galway with which he has enjoyed a half century long association, to the vast arid expanses of sub-Saharan Africa where he worked during the 1980s for a short while.

More recently he has represented Galway West as a TD until 2011 and as well as this, he was also the first ever Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gealteacht back in 1993. These successes culminated in his election to the office of the President of Ireland in 2011.

To say he has made a difference is an understatement.

AT THE AGE OF 21, having worked for a time

as a factory worker and a clerk for the ESB, he became the first in his family to attend University. This is something he reflects on; “It was very important to come to the university for me, when I first came to Galway. At the time the University itself had a very large wall around [it]… the numbers were very small…”

His life as a student in UCG was to be marked by success after success. He rose quickly in the ranks of several societies like

the Literary and Debating, Drama and Arts Societies, which he still maintains are very important to student integration.

“There was a great interest in the societies which was important, I was first involved in the Arts Society and I wrote for Criterion in my second year.”

The extra-curricular things filling up his timetable helped him foster a passion for public speaking which would become something integral to his life in the public eye.

The Literary and Debating Society and public speaking to a larger extent prepared him for the public life he still lives over 50 years later. It was more than a mere hobby; “They would have this best speaker in the [Literary and Debating] Society… and I think I more or less won best speaker every year.”

He had huge success within the University debating and even represented the University with his close friend Gearoid O’ Tuathaigh at intervarsity debating competitions. Gearoid would, like President Higgins, go on to work within the University throughout his life, retiring only recently.

“I think we went to the quarter final of the Observer Mace competition, we did very well in one of the British Universities but we were robbed in another,” President Higgins quips. His sense of humour is sharp as a knife, even after a lifetime spent under the glare and scrutiny of public life.

HIS POSTGRADUATE STUDIES saw him

focus on minority groups and people on the periphery of society. During his tenure at Manchester University in the department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, he found he would encounter a lot of the Irish abroad.

This introduced him to something he would spend a lot of his life working on, namely, migration, emigration and attitudes to migrants. Exploration of the human condition is a “theme that would stay central to all my work later on” he explains.

Access to education is another thing he has spent a large proportion of his life addressing. During his time lecturing in NUI Galway he travelled extensively across the West of Ireland providing accessible evening classes for interested citizens.

The President spent ten years writing for Hotpress between 1982 and 1992. Many of the essays contained within his first book entitled Causes for Concern derived from his column which he wrote fortnightly. He reflects upon his time writing for Hotpress as time spent developing “a kind of diary for human rights initiatives I was involved in”.

He explained that he would generally write “anywhere between 800-2,500 words”.

Reflecting on this period of his life, he states; “I had a great editorial relationship with Niall Stokes and I think I only missed maybe a dozen issues over ten years.”

Engaging with the youth of the country, in a meaningful political and academic way, undoubtedly made him stand out from the crowd. He wanted and still wants their voices to be heard.

THE PRESIDENT SITS across from me hands

together, carefully considering each question laid before him. Every answer is carefully worded, meticulous, but what really strikes me about him is how accommodating he has been. He is relaxed, cordial and razor sharp.

President Higgins has always had a soft spot for students. He has spent most of his life surrounded by them, representing them and finally teaching them during his 50-plusyear association with NUI Galway.

Stories of him burning his degree in Eyre Square during the visit of then US President Ronald Reagan remain the stuff of Student folklore.

Even the current President of NUI Galway, Dr. James Browne remarks “I have known and respected Michael D. since I first came to NUI Galway as a student. All his life Michael D. has demonstrated a commitment to education in the very broadest sense... Generations of NUI Galway students will remember Michael D. as an inspirational teacher…”

He became the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaelteacht in 1993. Remembering his time working in Government, he explains; “You need a strategy for music; when I was Minister… I had two big investigations carried out… one was on ‘music as a living’ and the other was on Orchestras.”

One of his biggest initiatives while he was in Government was focused on granting and facilitating access to music. This went beyond the borders of Ireland and was a European endeavour. Along with several other European officials he had proposed a scheme that would see the distribution of musical instruments to children across Europe.

“We got quite far with it; we managed to get a line in a budget.” However, before this came to fruition the so-called ‘rainbow coalition’ collapsed and he was out of government.

“I’m still very convinced of that, that there are hundreds of thousands of instruments that were purchased for child improvement but they’re in the attics of Ireland. They could be brought to life again through things like music banks.”

Going on from that he spoke highly of music and dance. “Culture isn’t about events; it’s about living where the music happens naturally.”

HIS STRONG BELIEFS in people, education

and culture simply teem from him. They are woven into the fabric of his life’s work. “If there is one thing that has continually added to Ireland’s reputation and Ireland’s Irishness at home and abroad, it is culture and the music within that.”

His strong belief in culture and creativity are amplified by the fact that he has always shown a flair for writing; be it creative or academic. He recently released the text to his newest poem ‘the prophets are weeping’; his first since taking office. On top of this, he’s written four collections of poetry and two books.

Even at 73 years of age, he makes time for students. The issue of Human Rights is why he is visiting the University as he still vies to make a difference. At least whatever one he can manage through his limited functions as President of Ireland.

His passion for the Arts hasn’t dimmed and neither has his sense of humour. “Are you going to run for a second term?” I asked towards the end of our interview, to which he laughs and coyly says “I can’t possibly answer that question.”

President Higgins has always had a soft spot for students. He has spent most of his life surrounded by them, representing them and finally teaching them during his 50-plus-year association with NUI Galway.

16 LIFESTYLE

The Retro Beard

By John Brennan I recently decided to immerse myself in all things nostalgia.

To be more specific I rekindled my ‘on/off’ love affair with Nintendo. God damn, those guys just keep me crawling back for more like some masochistic pain hound.

I bought a Wii U a few weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar with the recent release from Big N (Nintendo), the Wii U is the follow-up to the Wii. I bought the console for two games.

Genuinely.

This isn’t some “hey, I’m cool and say things to the masses with disingenuous sentiment”. I bought this console for just two games.

Quite an investment with little return you might be thinking.

Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart were the reasons I parted with my cash. The first time I played either of these franchises I was in my formative years where beards belonged on villains and most games I play nowadays would

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

have been wholly unsuitable to my young, naïve and impressionable eyes.

The gleam of the indelible memories contained within these franchises hasn’t dimmed in the intervening 15 or so years since I first cherished the Nintendo 64 as everything that great about my young life.

It was too you know.

I’m a Nintendo fanboy through and through. I still play Pokémon and the granddaddy of them all, Zelda on my 3DS. Yes I have a 3DS. Interested ladies? I have a beard too.

On a side note, I often wonder if I’m a gamer in the truest, purest, smelliest most unambitious sense of the word. I still play the types of games I adored as a child, just not with the punctuality I practiced back then.

Gamers have haven’t been portrayed in the best light after gamer-gate and the shellacking they’ve taken from popular culture behemoths like South Park. Could I be one of these ghastly crea-

tures lurking in the shadows full of spite, malice and a severe vitamin D deficiency?

I wonder these things because sometimes it dawns on me that I’ve really not changed all that much since I was a child. I still like all the things I did back then; wrestling, Pokémon, Batman, football, reading.

The only difference is now I have a beard and I lift heavier items, other than that I’m just an adult version of kid John. That freaks me out beyond words sometimes, other times I use my words and write columns. Funny how the world works, isn’t it?

When you look back and realise the past is valued in a way. The beard keeps growing and you’ve got to keep going, in a sense.

Retro games are some microscopic form of regression for me. I mean that in the most positive sense too.

It’s escapism, Houdini antics from behind a keyboard, controller or wii-mote. I used to play Mario Kart against my eldest sister and we’d have

epic battles. The fact is now, she lives in Australia and I can still feasibly play against her online; technology allows this nostalgia to take a global form, hardly a bad thing.

I think this generation look back at the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox with the same fondness I regard all things pertaining to late 90’s Nintendo and Wrestling antics.

I think in a large family of children you learn to share, and share some of your best memories with the people who were unfortunate enough to be stuck growing up with a future bearded rambler. This is a retro beard column, but in fairness, my retro beard was in fact, not a beard.

Just to endear myself further to prospective ladies, I also like comic books. I generally call them graphic novels in some self-deceiving attempt to legitimize my perennial nerdy-ness. I am a nerd. I like heavy metal, rap, indie and folk music. I still play Nintendo games. I am the retro beard.

BEARDED BACKPACKER: Perspective

By John Brennan The strangest thing about being on the road for any amount of time is that you get used to not having a base.

You get used to living out of a backpack.

I never realised how much crap I had accumulated over the years until I returned from travels and found I filled a van with things I hadn’t used in nearly 18 months.

That’s one of the great things about travelling; you really evaluate what you need in your life and the stuff which is extraneous clutter.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t detached when I came back.

Did I want to come home?

Not really.

I don’t have an attachment to any single place really anymore. I’m the baby of a family. Both my parents had passed away before I turned 21, so I have no concrete home or centre with which my family life could feasibly emanate from.

That isn’t said with bitterness, it’s just a reason why I find myself inexplicably drawn to life on the road.

I like being on the move; the uncertainty and the excitement make life with a backpack something everyone needs to experience.

Inter-rail offered me a no holds barred month and a bit of culture and alcohol.

I would be lying if I said otherwise. It taught me the value of money and that life on the road could be lonely as well as awesome.

It’s ok to feel lonely when you’re totally out of your comfort zone, it’s getting used to not having a comfort zone which is the real task. And something you’ll have to address if you plan on a longer bout of travel.

My trip throughout Asia was difficult in a sense. I left knowing that I’d never have the same sense of home ever again. It was a big step leaving because coming home would never be the same, how could it?

You’ll open your eyes to new cultures, new people, new lifestyles and you’re expected to pick up the threads of an old life when you return. It’s jarring and the strangest part is that you get used to not seeing your friends and family with the same regularity you would at home.

It’s a world of spontaneity and excitement that life behind a desk or in front of a computer screen could probably and will probably never match.

I became independent in a sense and grew up so much while I was away gallivanting and traversing parts of the globe. Both trips for different reasons, inter-rail is convenient in that you’ll never be too far away from home, the time differences are pretty minimal bordering on non-existent.

Asia, Australia and New Zealand on the other hand are a different beast. In New

Zealand I was physically the furthest away from home I could feasibly be. That was ethereal in a sense.

Travelling with someone you care about and get along with is so important too. I cannot stress that enough.

You’ll have the awesome days of escapades where you raft, skydive, bungee, cave the hours away. There will also be days where you feel drained, low, tired, homesick and everything else in between. You’ll need that rock or support there for you.

While travelling is one of the greatest things you can do, it’s one of the bravest too.

The uncertainty is most of the fun. It’s carefree to an extent. You’ll always be concerned about money, about your safety and everything else in between.

Travelling doesn’t have to be some grand set of trips; it can be a flight to somewhere you’ve ever been for a week.

Experience is at the heart of travel and travel is at the core of the human condition. Book a flight, go see the world.

It’s the stuff you don’t do that you’ll regret. @Jbrennan88

LIFESTYLE 17

March 02 2015

Teacht na bhféasóg Le Michelle Nic Gabhann Gordon D’Arcy, Paul Galvin, Conor McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Colin Farrell... Fir breá, Éireannaigh, iad uiligh, ach ní hamhain de bharr a gcuid aisteoireachta, scileanna liathróide nó scileanna troda a bhfuil cáil ar na fir seo, ach as a ngruaig gnúise freisin.

Tá sé soiléir ón gcairpéad dearg na Golden Globes i mbliana, ag suí sa gcoláiste nó ag breathnú ar shuíomh sóisialta ar bith go bhfuil ré na bhféasóg tagtha arís. Tá deireadh ag teacht le híomhá an fhir ghlan, bhearrtha. Tá sé in am do bhearbóirí na tíre a chuid sceana a chur síos agus na doirse a dhúnadh. Tá fir an lae inniu ag dul i ngleic leis an bhfearúlacht, agus leis an ngruagán a bhí istigh iontu le blianta! Ceann de na fáthanna is mó atá luaite le cáil na féasóige agus na gcroiméal le roinnt bliata anuas ná Movember, feachtas a bhailíonn airgead ar mhaithe le sláinte na bhfear.

Thosaigh Movember i 2003 san Astráil agus ó shin tá sé leathnaithe amach mar fheiniméin ar fud an domhain. Ó bhunaíodh é, tá an-chlú tagtha ar an bhfeachtas a spreagann fir an domhain chun croimeál nó fhéasóg a fás ar feadh mí na Samhna. Inniu, de bharr an chlú atá ar an bhfeactas agus os

chionn €490milliúin tuillte acu, tá os cionn 800 chláir leighis á chur ar fáil ag an bhfeactas i 21tír ar fud na cruinne.

Tá Éire ar cheann de na tíortha is mó a bhailíonn airgead don fheachtas seo. Le breis is 11,000 duine cláraithe chun pháirt a ghlacadh sa bhfeachtas in Éirinn, agus níos mó ná milliúin euro bailithe acu, tá an t-oileán beag, glas s’againne ag teacht isteach ag uimhir a chúig ar chlár an fheachtais!

Dar le blag Beardsy, i measc na mbuntáistí a bhaineann le féasóg a fás, laghdaíonn sí baol ailse craiceann, coimeadann sé an craiceann glan, gan spotaí agus tais agus coinníonn sí duine te.

Ach is iomaí buntáiste eile atá ag na féasóga don fhear stuama, barraineach, nua-aimseartha. Cosúil le Clark Kent agus a chuid spéaclaí agus Batman lena mhasc, is minic a úsáidtear féasóg mar bréagriocht. Úsáideann Ben Glavin, mac léinn ceoil in Ollscoil na Cathrach Chorcaí, a fhéasóg bhreá mar bréagriocht chun a smig mhór a chur i bhfolach, mar shampla!

I ndiaidh an cúlú eacnamaíochta, agus ag iarraidh airgead a cothú, admhaíonn Aindriú De Paor, mac léinn cumarsáid in Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge ar an gCeathrún Rua, gur fhás sé a fhéasóg toisc go raibh sé i bhfad níos saoire ná scaif a cheannacht um Nollaig.

EXPERIENCE TRINITY

Toisc an teocht, an treocht fhaisean, agus an aimsir Artach ar an gcósta thiar, is mór an smaoineamh í an fhéasóg d’aon fhear ciallmhar, fuar, atá ag iarraidh an cúpla pingin a spáráil! Tá Aindriú den tuairim freisin go gcuireann an fhéasóg cuma níos sine air, agus deir sé go gcoimeádfaidh sé í toisc go meallann sí aird na mban.

Agus bheadh an ceart aige! Dar le staidéar a rinne taighdeoirí ó Evolution & Human Behaviour, b’fhearr le mná bruth féasóige trom ar a cuid fir, toisc go dtugann sé chuma níos aibí agus níos fearúla don fhear. Ag breathnú ar an chlár Today tá sé soiléir gur scaoileadh an rún seo le fear an Daingin, Daithí Ó Sé! Nuair a d’fhill Daithí ar Rós TráLí i 2013, bhí féasóg breá, tiubh, liath ar aghaidh an Chiarraígh, rud a tharraing go leor cainte sna meáin.

Ach bígí cúramach! Dar leis an staidéar céanna, tá mná den tuairim go gcuireann féasóg thiubh, fhada a n-aithreacha i gcuimhne dóibh agus nach mbeadh siad róthógtha leo ar aghaidh a gcuid pháirtithe.

Is mór an tóir atá ar fhir na bhféasóg sa lá atá inniu ann, agus is mór na buntáistí atá ann freisin. Sula bhfásann tú d’fhéasóg fhéin afách, bí chinnte go roghnaíonn tú an fhéasóg is mó a oireann dhuit - más masc, bean, scaif nó cuma na haoise an toradh atá uait!

Dar le staidéar a rinne taighdeoirí ó Evolution & Human Behaviour, b’fhearr le mná bruth féasóige trom ar a cuid fir, toisc go dtugann sé chuma níos aibí agus níos fearúla don fhear.

Trinity Business School Masters Programmes Applications are now invited from exceptional graduates of all disciplines to our suite of Masters programmes

For more information or to apply visit www.tcd.ie/business/masters

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18 LIFESTYLE

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

FORGOTTEN FACET OF FASHION: The Costume Design

By Heather Robinson We often overlook the importance of costume in any performance but the costume designer wields a mighty power of persuasion; the power to make you believe in what you’re watching. They go unnoticed amidst all the ‘DiCaprio at the Oscars’ jokes but this year’s Costume Designer nominees for an Academy Award are to be contended with.

THE 5 NOMINEES FOR COSTUME DESIGN 2015 ARE: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero.

11 nominations. Known for: Marie Antoinette (2006), Titus (1999), Chariots of Fire (1981) Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges.

2 ­nominations. Known for: 8 Mile (2002), The Artist (2011/12), 50 Shades of Grey (2015) Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood.

9 ­nominations. Known for: Little Women (1994), Chicago (2002), Alice in Wonderland (2010) Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard.

3 nominations. Known for: The Pianist (2002), Schindler’s List (1993), Fury (2014) Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran.

4 nominations. Known for: Pride and Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012)

The strongest of the five nominees are Colleen Atwood and Milena Canonero in terms of success.

Atwood comes in first place with 10 previous nominations and Canonero has just received her ninth Oscar nomination.

Colleen Atwood’s nominations have been far more recent and frequent than her competitors’ so the big question of the evening will be whether experience in Academy success will garner an Academy Award.

Anna B. Sheppard also seems like a shooin for an award in costume design. Her work in Maleficent is astounding and films like this are general Academy favourites.

Sheppard isn’t unfamiliar with styling blockbuster movies so surely any film with as much star-power as Maleficent is expected to dominate at the Awards this season.

Mark Bridges is equally prolific and has been involved with costume design in many top-grossing productions since his start in 1990. His designs have remained solely in the realm of ‘real life’ as compared to other films on the list of nominations. He relies heavily on authenticity and portraying an era correctly.

Jacqueline Durran on the other hand, has quite a reputation for period pieces and all of her previous Oscar nominations

RESEARCH STARTS NOW

19th March 2015

The First Ever NUI Galway Undergraduate Research Conference

have been films starring Keira Knightley. Mr Turner is, in fact, her first Oscar nomination for costume in a film that does not star Ms Knightley. I’m familiar with Durran’s work and I honestly enjoy it. She adds a touch of life to the rigid uniform of her films’ worlds.

She somehow makes it real without being gloomy or uncomfortable as I imagine the clothes were in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. She gives her costumes a breath of fresh air.

All five nominees are equally likely to win this award. There is such a high standard present in each film with immense attention to detail and accuracy. I think it all boils down to the most striking costume design.

Maleficent and Into the Woods head the top of that criteria with their whimsical and fairy tale costumes. Who is not struck by the powerful image of Angelina Jolie as the fierce Maleficent with her piercing cheek bones and horns? Colleen Atwood’s influence in Into the Woods is obvious when you compare the costume design to her previous work in Alice in Wonderland, the Tim Burton version featuring Depp and Bonham-Carter. She has an amazing skill at creating a cartoon-ish, but almost realistic image for the characters.

With the award show fast-approaching it’ll be difficult to predict the most likely winner in this category.

Men’s Fashion Week comes to New York

By Ashley Healy Ladies and Gentleman, we can finally sit back and enjoy the view as the boys have come to town for New York Men’s Fashion Week.

The rumours have been made confirmed that there will most definitely be a launch of the first ever New York Men’s Fashion Week this coming July.

WWD reported that The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) will launch the event which will take place from July 13 to 16 at Skylight Clarkson Square in Soho.

In recent years menswear designers have expanded rapidly and have even attracted some womenswear designers such as Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs.

Now days we see men being brave and taking creative risks as to what they wear on the red carpet and are taking much more pride in their appearance than ever before. It makes sense that there finally is a separate fashion

week dedicated to stylish creations for men.

Impressive brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein Collection, Michael Kors, Rag & Bone, Public School, Billy Reid, Todd Snyder, Michael Bastian, Ovadia & Sons, Robert Geller, Duckie Brown, Patrik Ervell, Timo Weiland and Kent & Curwen have all been mentioned to participate in this exciting long-awaited event.

The idea behind New York Men’s Fashion Week is to give American menswear designers a level of exposure similar to what their European counterparts get from events such as London Collections: Men. Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, told WWD; "We're not naïve enough to think that we're going to create a huge, international mega men's fashion week immediately. We know we have to build it from the ground up. But we're going to do a good job, and we know we'll be able to compete on a more global basis in the future”.

Miami designer imagines super women instead of supermodels in mock iconic fashion campaigns

By Eoin Molloy Engage students & staff in a collaborative multidisciplinary conference environment nurturing vital research skills in presentation, communication & dissemination

Bailey Allen Hall, Aras na Mac Leinn All undergraduates welcome to participate @NuigConf undergradconference@nuigalway.ie

A Miami-based designer named Elisa Rodriguez-Vila is making waves in the fashion industry following a stunt whereby she reimagined major ad campaigns by replacing the supermodels with real-life female ‘superheroes’.

These super women included Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, LGBT activist and actress Laverne Cox as well as feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

Ms Vila thinks the repeated use of the same super models over and over again for ad campaigns is somewhat of a ‘fashion groundhog day’. She said that having people like Malala Yousafzai pose for Louis Vuitton would actually be a ‘dream casting’.

The Miami-based designer was inspired to craft this mock campaign by a Joan Didion Celine ad. She didn’t realise how bored she was of ‘flipping through fashion magazines’ until she saw how stunningly original the idea of casting older and more inspiring women in advertisements was.

Therefore her motivation for creating such a potentially-political stunt comes from disaffection and boredom with the fashion scene rather than any sort of feminist ideals, which is somewhat of a let-down.

She went on to clarify that the project was more about attempting to add diversity to a very mundane area of advertising. This is definitely disappointing, as the campaign would have so much potential to promote different kinds of beauty, as well as helping to champion intellect and elegance over simple physical attractiveness.

Despite being somewhat of a missed opportunity, it seems as though this project was definitely a step in the right direction.

Ms Rodriguez-Vila’s grand vision appears to be catching on.

Last month, a New York-centred jeweller named Alexis Bittar hired 93 year-old interior designer and fashion icon, Iris Apfel, to front his label’s spring/summer 2015 campaign.

One can only hope that this innovative and original idea will be replicated by the major fashion houses in future.

LIFESTYLE 19

March 02 2015

RETRO REWIND: 1960s By Áine Leech.

This week we are throwing it back to the “swinging sixties”, the decade of mini-skirts, psychedelic colours and patterns, and of course the all-important beehive. The 1960’s was a welcome explosion of diverse trends following the rigid styles of the 1950’s. A very hard look to pull off without resembling something from a themed party but this style guide will have you wishing you were amidst all the peace, love and Beatlemania of the era.

1960’s makeup by Gracey O’Connell.

Keep the skin pale and matte with some subtle contouring using a grey toned shade. Match cheeks and lips with either a pale pink or pale peach colour.

Eyes are very structured with a cut crease. Black/white/ grey shades or pale blue colours. Use the darkest shade in the crease and blend upwards. I added top lashes and individual lashes on the bottom.

I'd make a point of saying while it's minimal on products it is quite difficult to do so practice makes perfect for a twiggy-

inspired look. I just used a matte grey shadow, a matte white and a black gel liner to get the shape of the crease on an angled brush.

Keep the brows bushy and a pale peach lip to finish! Any pale pink or peach matte lipstick will do.

FOLLOW GRACEY’S BLOG AND INSTAGRAM FOR MORE LOOKS:

BLOG: http://longhairandlashes.blogspot.ie/ INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/longhairandlashes

Product list: 1. Born €25 (on sale) 2. Born €28 3. Topshop

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Topshop River Island €40 River Island €25 Missselfridge Topshop

Style Spotter By Áine Leech ERIN HART

JOE

LINDA KELLY

Jacket: Vintage Scarf: Penneys Tshirt: Penneys Jeans: Zara Shoes: Scuh Favourite shop in Galway: River Island Fashion pet hate: People wearing the wrong size

Jacket: Levi Jeans: Asos Boots: Levi Favourite shop in Galway: I do most of my shopping online Fashion pet hate: crocs.

Fur scarf: Topshop Coat: New Look Boots: River Island Shoes: River Island Hat: River Island Favourite shop in Galway: Topshop Fashion pet hate: When people wear leggings as pants

20 LIFESTYLE

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

Back to the good old days: turning vintage at the height of the recession

By Ciara Treacy Regular visitors to Abbeygate Street’s Flea Style Market may be familiar with the welcom-

ing face of Galway girl Sinéad Lally, a hallmark for success in the world of ­vintage fashion.

Operating under the brand name Cotton Face, she sources and sells vintage and apparel clothing for a living, hosts a variety of local sartorial events and last year fulfilled her goal of opening a vintage beachside boutique in the serenity of Spiddal.

However, this all may have remained but a dream had she not pursued her passion after becoming unemployed in 2008.

“I had worked in retail for eight years before being made redundant at the height of the recession. Not knowing what to do with myself, I took a few weeks out to get to grips with my new life,” Sinéad explains.

How to dress for an interview

By Saoirse Rafferty Get ready guys, it’s time to ‘suit up!’ If Barney Stinson can do it every day why can’t you for just one day? Don’t know where to start? Let me give you the low-down.

If in doubt wear a suit. You can’t go wrong and if you’re entering the business world, a suit is 100% necessary.

I’m not just talking about any old suit, it must be ironed, in good condition and fit perfectly. You don’t want it to be too big for you or you’ll look like your auditioning for the MC hammer music video.

You have three options for the colour of your suit: grey, black or navy-blue. Avoid intense colours as they’re too distracting. Black can often be cold and suited for funerals; grey and navy-blue are warmer and friendlier colours, therefore your best options.

You’ll need a white shirt to match; no explanation needed as it’s white and matches everything!

Don’t try and be the funny guy wearing a multi-coloured ridiculous tie with superman on it. You’re trying to be professional so stick with a non-patterned single conservative coloured tie.

Black shoes are perfect (brogues or pointed formal shoes recommended) and don’t forget to wear matching black socks.

When interviewing for other jobs such as tradesmen jobs (engineer etc.), a suit isn’t a necessity. There are more casual but still smart options including V-neck jumpers and a textured tie underneath to add some excitement. Similarly, with creative jobs (writer etc.) an open blazer with a plain top is a different stylish option.

Remember to shave, slick the hair back out of your face and trim your nails. Don’t wear flashy jewellery (only a watch), or strong cologne; you don’t know what the interviewer favours or is allergic to. Carry a dark briefcase or your portfolio to give an extra good impres-

sion. Give a smile and you’re ready to go!

For women who have their wardrobe under control they’ll know picking out an outfit for an interview is actually fun and easy.

What’s more exciting than getting to dress stylish and smart in your best clothes after all?

I’m sure you’ve got it all under control gals but I’ll give you some little hints in case you’re undergoing the worst crisis ever, the “I can’t find anything to wear” crisis.

Black is your best colour option always.

Why? It makes you appear slimmer, it’s plain and professional. A black dress just hitting the knee is perfect with neutral tights (not fishnets). Another killer option is a black pencil skirt to the knees with a black blouse, button down or V-neck sweater (NOT a t-shirt).

Ensure no cleavage is showing and don’t even think about wearing a slinky red dress or seethrough top!

If you want an even more interesting skirt option, a dark tweed skirt is the way to go and in the summer light colours work better.

Don’t worry if you’re too cold for a dress or skirt, black dress pants are perfect!

If you’re feeling adventurous and want to mix colours or wear different patterns stick with black and white, they are your safest options. A belt isn’t necessary but if you insist, do not wear any animal printed belts; always stick to a plain colour that matches the colour of your shoes.

High heels should be avoided, nevertheless low pointed plain black or nude heels, as seen in the image are encouraged.

A sharp black or grey blazer is the best option to wear over each of the outfits; it gives a professional appearance.

Don’t forget to keep your hair out of your face and avoid wearing too much makeup. A large plain coloured bag is a stylish accessory.

Don’t overdo the jewellery; a necklace, ring and watch are your main options.

The most important bit of advice though: Don’t forget to smile!

Although her job had enabled her love of fashion to flourish, Sinéad had always been driven by the idea of becoming self-employed. This idea provided the grounding for the launch of her fashion enterprise.

“I set up a blog called Fashion House and started selling my old clothes at local markets and realised I was pretty good at it. Then I decided to start selling vintage clothes, so set up my business Cotton Face. There were lots of challenges at the time because of the recession and frankly, I was terrified.

“Money was tight − luckily I had been saving a bit through my retail years to help finance it. My fiancé Neil has also seen me through some tough times, for which I will be forever grateful.”

What began as a market stall gradually developed into an online fashion boutique, operated from Sinéad’s attic which was transformed into the Cotton Face office. As the name became more established, involving travel across the country to showcase at events, the next logical step involved setting up a physical store in Galway. In 2013 Cotton Face Vintage was opened in The Ceardlann, Spiddal.

“When planning the opening of the store I never felt so stressed out in all my life. It was like my brain was split into good and evil; one half telling me it would be amazing while the other half told me it was going to fail and never work out.”

However, the venture proved to be a success and plans for expansion of the business are high on Sinéad’s agenda.

“Not only do we offer hand-picked vintage pieces from all over the world, we have started to add some apparel clothing to the store and online. Mixing these new brands with our vintage collection feels right as they complement one another. We will be extending this range next year with more new brands for the website and store.”

Her own style has been a strong influence in deciding what clothes and accessories to stock, in addition to the trends most preferred by customers.

“I love style from the sixties and seventies. There’s nothing better than a sixties dress, a coat with a huge fur collar and cuffs, teamed with tights and boots – it’s fun, comfy and feel-good! The twenties is another era that I just adore and it’s very popular with my customers in Galway and afar, so I keep stock of this in the store all year round.”

Another notch in her belt is the rise of the Flea Style Market, which runs in association with Cotton Face in Factory Night

Club on Abbeygate Street. Local hoarders and designers are invited to rent a rail or table to sell their pre-loved clothes, shoes, books, crafts and records at the event which takes place on the last Saturday of each month from 12-6pm.

“The Flea Style Market is going from strength to strength,” Sinéad says. “People love a bargain, people want unique and people like to rummage. That’s what the Flea Style Market is all about.

“We are now running into our third year and I just can't believe it. I haven’t missed one month since I started it up in Kelly’s in Galway. We have formed our own little family of ‘thrifters and hipsters’ now and its lovely.”

But how does she think the City of Tribes fares out in the fashion stakes?

“Galway has an eclectic mix of style for sure but I think people are still afraid to go for it with style here,” Sinéad says. “To me, style is a bit of fun. My advice is to try not to follow trends as such, and just go with what you love and mix things up.”

This year will see Cotton Face mix things up on a larger scale, with expectations to expand the business further.

“We hope to make the website bigger and better and full of stock on a regular basis. That side of things takes up a lot of time but we are working on it!

“We would love to do a huge flea style market in a warehouse during 2015 or maybe a kilo sale here in Galway. Why not push the boundaries a little?”

Sinéad shares her formula for success, accrediting her courage back in 2008 to where she and the business stand today.

“The only thing to do is work with your passion, it’s the only thing that will make it work. Cotton Face has come pretty far and it has been a journey for sure!”

For more information see www.­­cotton-face.com.

FILM REVIEWS 21

March 02 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey The Interview

By Jane Kearns After well over a year of media-plugging, recasting and re-shooting the hotly anticipated film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey was released this Valentine’s weekend, and while many expected the film to be one of the worst in cinema history, it was very clear from the start that it will not go down as one of the worst films ever made, but something much worse; a tame and very mediocre film that would be all but forgotten in a few months if it wasn’t for the huge hype surrounding it.

Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as meek student Anastasia Steele and mysterious billionaire Christian Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey tells the story of Ana and Christian’s unconventional affair that sees the virginal Ana welcomed into the enigmatic world of Christian’s very specific sexual appetites.

What are Christian’s unconventional desires you ask? BDSM, and more specifically dominance and submission, the embodiment of which is his playroom, which houses a plethora of whips, chains, blindfolds and more This might all sound incredibly titillating, but the truth is, Fifty Shades of Grey is just a regular love story where the protagonists like to get a little extra naughty between the sheets from time to time.

As leads, Johnson and Dornan do a decent job; Dornan plays the part of a secretive billionaire well for the most part and Johnson takes on the role of Ana in a likable and quite believable way, displaying reservations at the idea of getting involved with Christian and giggling appropriately at some the ridiculous things he says to her.

The Seattle backdrop and Christian’s sleek apartment give the film a very polished look overall, and given the source material and author EL James’ control over the final cut, the film isn’t nearly as bad as what was expected.

This is largely due to director Sam TaylorJohnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel’s creative input which saw some of the more cringe-worthy dialogue and idiotic “inner goddess” narration removed for the film.

However there are still some major p ro b l e m s w i t h the final product; mainly how Christian exercises his control over Ana outside of his playroom. He is forceful and controlling and at times doesn’t seem to have any regard for Ana’s wants or needs, most alarmingly of which comes when Ana asks what she will get out of being Christian’s submissive; his reply is that she will get him, not pleasure or enjoyment but simply time spent with the handsome billionaire.

There are many other issues with Christian and Ana’s relationship, but it is some of the lesser crimes of the film that are more off-putting; in a world filled with expensive cars and sleek Apple products Ana uses a flip phone, a detail that is perplexing to say the least.

What’s even more confusing is Christian’s choice of wardrobe when in his playroom, rather than be naked like Ana or even wear a robe, he chooses to wear a ripped, old-looking pair of jeans, a detail that is never acknowledged but was surely done to prevent male nudity.

Perhaps the film does have some silly problems with minor detail but the coveted sex scenes are surely where it shines, right?

Not exactly, the hotly anticipated scenes between Ana and Christian are tame at best, they are slow moving, not too risque in terms of nudity and not remotely offensive, which for a standard romantic drama would be perfectly fine and quite enjoyable, but for a story that is completely built on erotica and sexual taboo, the sex scenes are just too safe.

Overall Fifty Shades of Grey is a mediocre Cinderella story that attempts to tackle sexual taboos in a very safe and digestible way, however if you’re hoping to see something with a bit more substance to it, give this one a miss and perhaps watch the much more erotically charged Secretary, Sex, Lies and Videotape or even The Piano.

The Iron Man: The Michael Thatcher Story (2014) Directed by Nicky Larkin Produced by Niall Cahir The Iron Man is a feature-length documentary following Irish artist and poet Michael Thatcher's incredible battle with terminal cancer, which was filmed for the last two years of his life.

Coming from a family devastated by cancer and frustrated with the pharmaceutical “cancer industry”, Michael began researching alternative cannabinoid treatments being used to fight and cure cancer to great effect around the world today.

His research took him to Israel, to The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to meet world renowned Israeli organic chemist Professor Raphael Mechoulam.

Professor Mechoulam was the first scientist to isolate the active ingredient of cannabis, THC, in the 1960's. Mechoulam continues his groundbreaking research and development today, successfully using cannabis oil to treat and cure cancer.

Michael travelled to Jerusalem to interview Professor Mechoulam, to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and to see his ground-breaking medical work in action.

Inspired by the work of Professor Mechoulam, Michael set about growing his own crop of cannabis in his garden shed. He then distilled this into cannabis oil and began to treat himself with startling effects.

By Ken Glennon If the sight and sound of Seth Rogen concealing a rocket shaped container up his backside, with tender radio support from James Franco and Lizzy Caplan sounds inviting, then The Interview should be good for a few laughs.

For a movie that had a prime Christmas release date and was at the heart of the Sony cyber-hacking scandal, there isn’t a great deal going on here. Familiar jokes of an anal persuasion abound and there’s a few half decent cheap laughs but this is a weirdly forgettable and, given its subject matter and scope for satire, not especially biting comedy.

Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who combined to well received effect in This is the End, the latest James Franco/ Rogen team up has the pair as entertainment journalists who run a low-brow news show (typical headlines involve Eminem coming out and Rob Lowe being bald).

After a chance meeting with an old friend now working for 60 minutes, the show’s producer Aaron (Rogen) decides he wants to be taken seriously as a journalist. Discovering that Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is in fact a massive fan of their show his interviewer

Big Hero 6

By Neil Rogers Big Hero 6 marks the story of Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old genius with a talent for technology and the remarkable ability to squander it.

When his supportive brother Tadashi invites him to his college, Hiro is opened up to a new world of possibility that is tragically taken away from his when a fire claims his brother’s life.

Devastated by the events, Hiro finds comfort in Tadashi’s unfinished nurse-bot Baymax as they attempt to solve the mystery of the disaster.

It’s easy to assume this movie wouldn’t live up to that of its predecessors. With a virtually unknwn cast and an unheard of comic book as source material, Big Hero 6 could have easily slipped under the radar.

Instead Disney and Marvel have brought us a film that stands out on so many levels.

The animation itself borders on breath taking and magical.

Late to the game with a new style of animation, Disney have adapted their ways to produce scenes of pure aesthetic beauty and stunning images. With a canvas like that, the action sequences can only play out magnifiThis incredible, aweinspiring journey took Michael Thatcher thousands of miles across the globe with an unbeatable positivity that will touch everyone who spends an hour in his company.

The Iron Man will screen in The Strand Cinema, B ­ elfast on Saturday 25 April at 6pm.

Dave Skylark (Franco) engineers a meeting with the North Korean president.

Before long the pair are whisked to Kim’s lavish home but not before being intercepted by the CIA (represented here by Lizzy Caplan) who convince them to attempt an assassination on the Korean dictator.

What ensues is a mash of body gags, plot concerns of a heavily bromantic nature and a strangely committed, if not very funny running joke about Franco’s character and The Lord of the Rings which I will not utter here.

The two leads, though a long way removed from the funnier Pineapple Express continue to make a solid comic duo, even if Franco’s inhumanly stupid man-child occasionally grates next to Rogen’s more likeable straight man. Randall Parks gets a sizeable look in as Jong-un, who unexpectedly bonds with Dave over basketball, father issues, women, tanks and a shared appreciation for Katy Perry.

Credit where credit is due for tangential involvement in an international dispute but I’ll be hard pressed to remember a joke from this in a week (improvised anal concealment aside) and fans of Goldberg, Rogen and Franco have better options involving all three elsewhere. cently and the characters themselves look impressive as the crime-fighting ensemble.

Where the real magic lies however is with the character Baymax. Funny, caring and cute the robot comes out of his programming to help his new friend mend his broken heart.

His unassuming nature and hilarious robotic persona juxtaposed with the chaos that surrounds him only strengthens the movie’s appeal and the emotional moments when he compassionately assists Hiro through his loss make for powerful cinema.

He is undoubtedly the friend everyone wants and needs in moments of heartache.

Unfortunately, these high points do experience brief moments of turbulence. The Scooby Doo-esqe storyline begs for more depth and detail leaving plot holes that can only confuse the audience with a movie of this pace. Still the movie is still for kids with the added benefit of appealing to adults. As such these moments do not sway either age group from the beautiful imagery, entertaining action and moments of sheer fun.

Much like the other animated greats, this movie speaks to all ages, entertains and can be quite moving at points. A powerful turn from Marvel and Disney suggests that there might be more amazing projects to come.

For all it has achieved this movie is one to be remembered.

22 ENTERTAINMENT

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

The Circus is coming to town Sin meets Vann Music Galway Community Circus and Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre are very excited to announce our return to the Black Box for our brand new circus show; Grimm’s Circus. This youth circus extravaganza will take place at 7:30pm on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 March.

“Run away with Grimm’s Circus and get lost in the deep, dark forests of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales.

Marvel as the fairies take flight in this breath-taking display of aerial dance and circus arts in this stunning youth circus spectacle.”

Grimm’s Circus will feature fifty of our members aged between twelve and twenty years of age. These performances have been devised and created in collaboration between the young artists, our tutor team and Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre, Ireland’s premiere aerial dance company.

The performances will display the high level of technical skill acquired by our young performers and feature a visually striking, dynamic retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales.

The aim of Galway Community Circus, as a youth arts charity, is to provide a fun and safe environment where young people can learn to develop their fitness and creativity.

We educate young people in circus arts from as soon as they can walk up until their early twenties and this year we have added an extra matinee show featuring our youngest members. Once Upon a Circus will be a short show suitable for the whole family and will take place at 3pm on Saturday 14 March.

After five years of sell-out circus productions, Galway Community Circus and Fidget Feet are excited to be returning with a spectacular a collection of classic fairy tales mixed up into a deliciously dark story of wolves, witches and the long way home. This project is funded by the Arts Council Youth Ensemble Scheme.

Tickets for both shows are available through the Town Hall Theatre, www.tht. ie or 091-569777. For more information please contact us on 085 1117224 or see www.­galwaycommunitycircus.com.

By Austin Maloney.

Vann Music is an Irish electro-pop band which has been making quite a name for itself in the past year. They will release their second EP, Running, on 6 March and play the Róisín Dubh on 12 March. Sin had a chat with vocalist Aaron Smyth.

Can you give us a little history of Vann Music?

We started in very late 2012, and put a record out in 2013, an EP called Electro Shock Dreams. We put two singles out last year, and we’re putting an EP out now in 2015.

About the new single ‘Boy’. In an interview you said “we’ve slowed it down a bit, the other stuff as very French-house”. I noticed that when listening that ‘Boy’ is less dancey and more poppy than your earlier work. You also mentioned M83 in your State Interview, and ‘Boy’ did remind me quite a lot of their kind of cinematic soundscape, and I wanted to ask of that was a deliberate move in that direction?

There was actually no deliberate move in any direction. We felt when we were following up ‘Tina’ that we wanted to put a new EP out and we started writing towards an album. We felt that we had grown, not tired, but frustrated with that kind of sound. We felt the housey, dancey stuff wasn’t really doing it for us.

In between working on songs in that vein, we found that we were coming up with a richer, more cinematic, wider sound and the songs gravitated towards that. Being an M83 fan it’s probably easy to put one and one together but there was no conscious ­decision

to move that way. It was just the way the songs went on an emotional level, that kind of cinematic, big - scale sound lends itself to that kind of feeling.

Can you give us a little insight into your writing process?

There are four writers in the band, myself, Ross (Fortune), Rob (Von Bergen) and Phil (Costello). We all write, and then we all write together or we write in twos or in three, it all really depends on who’s at the session and who’s brought what to the session.

The way ‘Boy’ was written, we had worked for two or three days on a song which didn’t make the EP, and the guys were coming over to work on it. I was actually in the shower that morning, and I started singing the first line of ‘Boy’, and I went: “Oh shit, this is something”.

I jumped out of the shower and sang it into the microphone, literally there and then, put a piano down, built a beat and looped it, and then went back to the shower for my wash.

And that’s how that song was born.

So there’s no time or place where you sit down to go write songs, they just come at you, whether it’s at 3AM when you’re trying to sleep, or when you’re having a shower at 9am.

The Running Ep is out on March 6.

Can you give us a few details about that?

There are four tracks on it, ‘Boy’, ‘Repeat’, ‘One Chance’, and ‘Jesus Babe’, and it coincides with an Irish tour through March and a couple of days in April. We’re going to hit up as many venues as we possibly can, and ‘Boy’ is also coming out on 6 March.

REVIEW: ‘Courage’ and the upcoming album Darling Arithmetic by Villagers

By Sylvia Power Introspective musing is an unusual characteristic for any artist to adopt, particularly for releasing a single. ‘Courage’ is the new single for the third full - length Villagers album, Darling Arithmetic, which will drop in April.

This quiet reflection is what sets Villagers frontman Conor O'Brien apart from the rest of the folksy and alternative - styled Irish artists.

Spinning a compelling narrative through mellow acoustic tones has been thematically prevalent through the Villagers discography, from the debut album Becoming A Jackal (2010) and the follow - up {Awayland} (2013).

O'Brien is adept at creating an intimate connection between the listener and himself, a connection that he even manages to uphold in live performances.

Self-exploration can be a tricky topic for any artist to broach without sounding like an angsty teenage gothic outfit, but it's vital to trust that O'Brien will navigate this problem with the usual finesse that has resulted in Villagers rising through the ranks of other talented Irish artists.

O'Brien knows how to best accentuate his haunting and distinctive voice and it speaks volumes about the raw talent he possesses that both his lyrics and video production are refreshingly understated.

Simplicity and the complexity of subject matter are definitely not compromised by O'Brien, which is refreshing in a musical era struggling for innovation where ideas can often try too hard to stand out.

O'Brien's maturity is evident in the video for ‘Courage’, as he reclines comfortably in a chair with only an acoustic guitar and sagely reflects on the past: “All the mistakes I’ve had to make, To find courage, It’s a feeling like no other, let me tell you”.

O'Brien's readiness to offer advice and his admitting to making mistakes assures us that he is writing from the heart; there is nothing false about ‘Courage’. The melodious rhythm of the track is unhurried but is occasionally punctuated by sharp accidentals. O'Brien's faith in the strength of his own lyrics gives an unassumingly confident yet distinctly personable vibe to ‘Courage’.

According to the synopsis of Darling Arithmetic, O'Brien plays every instrument in a “sparse, spacious, acoustic-leaning fashion”.

As a long - time Villagers listener, this description has me feeling intrigued and extremely excited. One of the best parts of being a Villagers fan is that Conor O'Brien always exceeds expectations. Villagers will tour both the UK and Ireland throughout April and May, and Darling Arithmetic is out on April 10.

LITERATURE 23

March 02 2015

Point of view is an interesting concept in literature, obviously, because that’s the reason I’m writing a column about it.

Debates have raged forever about the superiority and appropriateness of various different styles of narration. For starters, there’s obviously the classic first-person versus third-person discussion.

First-person puts you in the shoes of a character in the story, and gives you a direct and revelatory experience of their interior world, and their perceptions.

First-person narratives sometimes offer the best simulation of our own experience of the world, and otherwise offer a simulation of experiences radically different from our own.

However, that word “simulation” isn’t just jargon. Ultimately, it’s very difficult to make first-person narratives feel like a real account of the story from the perspective of the narrator, because the process of writing is always one of invention, and writers are imperfect inventors. We can’t even accurately recount our own experiences, let alone the experiences of others.

So, in a certain sense, as much as all writing is kind of a lie, the first-person is at particular risk of feeling untrue, and that might explain why third-person is the more common point of view in most languages, including English.

Galway Review call for submissions THE GALWAY REVIEW, an upcoming, locally based literary review, is calling for submissions from undergraduate and graduate creative writing students. All genres will be ­considered.

Any male writers looking to submit their work should send them to: thegalwayreview@gmail.com.

Submissions from female writers should contact mnagalwayreview@gmail.com.

Your submission should include your name and a 100word bio written in the third person. For more about the review, check out our website: http://­thegalwayreview.com/.

Be sure to watch for our third print edition, due to launch in April!

Despite my rambling explanation as to why that’s the case though, it’s honestly kind of weird that a more ontologically complex point of view is more common.

Whereas first-person is complicated solely by the reliability of the narrator and the grammatical tense, third-person is a whole other level of messy.

How subjective or objective is the thirdperson narrator? Do they know the thoughts of the characters they’re narrating, or can they merely observe their actions?

The latter is often called “fly-on-the-wall” or “camera lens”, and is best exemplified by the third-person works of Ernest Hemingway, that mouldy old hack.

The former, on the other hand, is like having the story narrated by an invisible psychic imp who can read the thoughts of the characters and sometimes express an opinion on them.

The other “axis”, as literary wonks like to say, is the level of knowledge that the third-person narrator has.

Limited third-person is what happens when the invisible psychic imp sits on the shoulder of just one character and reports on their thoughts and actions alone, and with only the knowledge that they have. Harry Potter is probably the most well-known example.

Then there’s an alternating limited thirdperson, where the invisible psychic imp flits from shoulder to shoulder, usually from chapter-to-chapter, though again they have only the knowledge of the characters with whom they “travel”, so to speak. Obviously, A Song of Ice and Fire is a codifying example of that narrative voice.

Whereas first-person is complicated solely by the reliability of the narrator and the grammatical tense, third-person is a whole other level of messy.

The omniscient third-person has sweeping knowledge of the world and refuses to be situated with anyone character, describing events more than characters, though they can be objective or subjective. That’d be The Lord of the Rings.

Finally, there’s the most dangerous thirdperson of all, the third-person universal omniscient, where the narrator has complete knowledge of the world, including future events of the plot, which makes them really annoying sometimes.

Honestly, as with so many stylistic and technical things, I don’t have a strong preference or opinion on point of view, as I always care more about whether it’s done well or not than which it is.

But, that being said, I think I speak for most people when I say you’re probably not good enough to pull off the second-person, so don’t even try.

GMIT_SIN_halfpage_portrait_5382_V3_CC_ARTWORK_OL.indd 1

05/02/2015 10:34

NUI Galway Sports Ball 2015 “Shaping their destiny”

Drumroll please!!! It is that time of year folks!! The NUI Galway Sports Unit is proud to announce that the “32nd Annual, NUI Galway Sports Awards” will be held on Wednesday March 25th, 2015 at 6pm in the Aula, Quadrangle, NUI Galway.

NUI Galway's Sports Awards recognise not only excellence in individual sports people & teams but also for achievements in recreational participation & outstanding achievement.

The Sports Unit invite you as a committee, to submit your nominations for activities in the academic year 2014/2015.

25th.March.2015 Radisson Blu Hotel Dinner at 8pm(sharp) Tickets €40

Featuring: DJ Graham Dolan

The Winner of the Sports Ball Poster design is Fionn Delahunty, Hiking Vice Captain of the Mountaineering Club.

Congratulations Fionn! Your Prize Tickets will be available next week from the sports unit

GET OFF THE COUCH, GET ACTIVE THIS SEMESTER!!

JOIN A SPORTS CLUB

Go to the App Store to Download the Eventr App or Scan QR Code with your QR Code Reader!

Get Off The Couch and Get Moving with our Sports Clubs.

For More info on Clubs Activity Programme... www.clubs.nuigalway.ie

/nuigalwaysport

/nuigalwaysport

Check out our new free Clubs NUIG Eventr App and receive messages from NUIG clubs you are following and use the app to keep up-to-date with club events. Available on the App Store for IOS Devices and the Play Store for Android Devices

SPORT 25

March 02 2015

NUIG-Corinthians Dazzle at Dangan NUIG-CORINTHIANS 39 UCC 10

Matt Cassidy @ Dangan NUIG-Corinthians recorded a seven try thumping of UCC at Dangan in the U 20 Donal Walsh Trophy playoffs on a sunny Saturday afternoon perfect for playing open rugby.

The try bonus point that eluded the home side against Highfield at Corinthian Park the previous week was secured in the first half as NUIG-Corinthians remedied the poor handling and inaccurate back play that cost them the extra point last Saturday.

There were strong words and certain truths spoken in the UCC half time huddle but it appeared not to have the desired effect.

Fullback, Patrick Griffin, helped himself to a first half hat-trick with silky broken field running and lock, Peter Claffey, outstanding throughout, plundering a brace for himself.

Inside centre, Philip Murphy and hooker, Pat O'Toole, added tries in the second period with openside flanker, Eoin Perry and replacement prop, Noel Roche, replying for the visitors.

Both sides entered into the tie on the back of victories but it was one way traffic for the duration of the match.

The opening score of the day came in the fifth minute thanks to the home forwards, who dominated throughout. NUIG-Corin-

thians mauled the ball for 35 yards up to the try line where UCC managed to stall the inevitable and bring down the drive.

The ball was spread wide and Griffin used his pace to get round his opposing man to touch down in the corner for his first of the day.

Wing, Joss Murray, who took over the kicking duties this week, was unsuccessful with the conversion. (5-0) The lead was increased again in the 15th minute when Claffey dived over from close range after numerous phases on the UCC line.

Murray made no mistake with the extra two points to make the scores 12-0.

The home team's pack was on top and their third try came courtesy of a stolen lineout. The ball was tapped down to scrumhalf, David O'Mahoney, who fired the pill wide. It eventually found its way to Griffin who used a combination of pace and power as he left UCC's defenders in his wake to go over the whitewash again in the 23rd minute.

Murray was incredibly unlucky with his touchline conversion as it rebounded off the bar. (17-0) The bonus point was obtained after 36 minutes as NUIG-Corinthians used the width of the pitch to good effect once again. Centre, Murphy, received the ball and the number 12 brilliantly drew the defence and popped an inside pass to the on rushing Griffin who sliced through the defensive line to complete his hat-trick.

Murray bisected the posts and NUIG-Corinthians held a deserved 24 point advantage for first half of possession and territorial dominance at the break.

There were strong words and certain truths spoken in the UCC half time huddle but it appeared not to have the desired effect as

Claffey crossed for his second of the match in the 42nd minute.

Murray's attempt at goal drifted wide.

(29-0) UCC did not let their heads drop and entered their best period of sustained possession and pressure in the game and were rewarded when flanker, Perry, pounced on a charge down close to NUIG-Corinthians' line to register the first score of the clash for the southerners.

Flyhalf, Max Ryan, was off target with his follow up kick after 54 minutes. (29-5) NUIG-Corinthians responded in the 65th minute with another score. After Claffey was denied his hat-trick by brilliant last ditch UCC defence, the referee called a scrum. A solid set-piece provided an easy run in for Murphy who glided over.

Murray again was off target with his conversion. (34-5) The visitors refused to lie down and proceeded to batter the NUIG-Corinthians' try line. But a well read intercept by flyhalf, Cathal Evans, led to another score for the home team.

Evans did not have the pace and put a delicate chip ahead for Murphy. The centre collected and despite being hauled down managed to offload to hooker, Pat O'Toole, who crashed over for a wonderful try after 71 minutes.

Murray's conversion was off the mark.

(39-5) To their credit UCC did not throw in the towel and had the last say when replacement, Noel Roche, burrowed over in the 80th minute.

Ryan missed the conversion and the scores finished 39-10 in favour of NUIG-Corinthians.

NUIG-Corinthians' next match is away to Kanturk/Charleville

SCORERS NUIG-CORINTHIANS

Tries- Griffin (3), Claffey (2), Murphy, O'Toole Cons- Murray (2) PensUCC

Tries- Perry, Roche ConsPens-

NUIG-CORINTHIANS 15 Patrick Griffin, 14 Joss Murray, 13 Ruairi Greene, 12 Philip Murphy, 11 Conor O'Sullivan, 10 Cathal Evans, 9 David O'Mahoney, 1 Shane Faulkner, 2 Pat O'Toole, 3 Craig Hansberry, 4 Thomas Fegan, 5 Peter Claffey, 6 Aaron Broderick, 7 Ian Kilcoyne, 8 Roy Stanley REPLACEMENTS

16 Michael O'Connell, 17 Kevin Harty, 18 Michael Donohue, 19 Peter Ennis, 20 Maurice Brosnan, 21 Josh Foley, 22 Johannas Olsthoorn

UCC 15 Eoin O'Carroll, 14 Cal Óg Healy, 13 Tim Cronin, 12 Andrew McCarthy, 11 Feargual O'Nuallain, 10 Max Ryan, 9 Hugh O'Keefe, 1 Seanus Hogan, 2 Ciaran Fagan, 3 Michael McGann, 4 Aaron Daly, 5 Joshua Barnes, 6 Dylan Lane, 7 Eoin Perry, 8 Paul O'Regan REPLACEMENTS

16 Karl Hurley, 17 Noel Roche, 18 David Jennings, 19 Aaron Hogan, 20 Shane McHugh, 21 Shane O'Sullivan, 22 Kevin O'Keefe

NUIG Prevail in League Decider

By NUIG Rugby PRO SLIGO 5 - NUIG 14

Two converted tries either side of half-time were enough to see NUI Galway prevail over Sligo in the Connacht J1c league decider at a windswept, sleet and rain-soaked Hamilton Park, Strandhill, on Sunday 22 February.

The home team were installed as favourites going into the promotion playoff game, having won the last two encounters between the sides. The stormy weather and atrocious underfoot conditions meant that whichever team dealt best with the elements would have a significant advantage.

Overall, Sligo probably edged the set piece, while College's maul and organised phase play in the loose gave the students a decisive edge over the 80 minutes. The bad weather also rendered the set-piece a lottery, especially the lineout.

The opening quarter saw both teams come to terms and intense physicality, played mainly between the respective 10 metre lines. Crucially, College's break-

through came just before half-time.

Concerted, powerful play by the College forwards was starting to create space and momentum behind Sligo's gain-line.

After great work from the pack, out-half Mark Comerford put centre Billy Delaney through for a superbly worked team score. Facing a galeforce cross wind Comerford coolly struck the conversion and bisected the uprights.

The decisive score for NUI Galway came after the break, again after great work from the pack, expertly marshalled by scrumhalf Jack O'Callaghan. Sustained College pressure eventually yielded the try, with impressive lock Peter Claffey forcing his way over. Tony Hall, who replaced Comerford on 50 minutes, s­ lotted the difficult conversion.

Although Sligo scored a try following the restart, they could not add the conversion. In response, College raised their intensity in defence and worked the elements well, holding on for promotion and the win.

The man of the match was awarded to College number eight Gearoid Crowe who turned in a massive day's work. A great result for NUI Galway and well deserved for all involved: captain Darragh O'Loughlin and his players, and the coaching team of Pete Small, Barry Kilroy, Bartley Fannin and Tom O'Regan.

NUI GALWAY

1. Shane Faulkner, 2. Niall Wilcox, 3.

Charlie O'Neill, 4. Eoin Casserly, 5. Peter Claffey, 6. Darragh O'Loughlin (capt.), 7. Roy Stanley, 8. Gearoid Crowe, 9.

Jack O'Callaghan, 10. Mark Comerford, 11. Jack Whooley, 12. Billy Delaney, 13.

Max Sale, 14. James Kennedy, 15. Ruairi Kehoe-Clarke. Subs (all used): Kevin Harty, Josh Dunne, Matt Davey, Rob Conneely, Tony Hall.

26 SPORT

Sin Vol. 16 Issue 10

2015 League of Ireland Galway United F.C step season preview up to top flight

By Ciarán Maher March 6 will mark perhaps one of the most important moments in sport in Galway over recent years. The visit of Derry City to Eamon Deacy Park will be the first time the Terryland venue has hosted a Premier division game since 2011.

Over the next few months, Galway United will face off against the likes of Shamrock Rovers, St. Patrick’s, Bohs and defending champions Dundalk as the club attempts to retain its place in the top tier of Irish football.

The step up from the first division to the premier is not one to be taken lightly. Galway have a relatively inexperienced squad compared to the majority of the other teams they will come up against.

Recently, one of last season’s star players, Ryan Manning has swapped Galway for London as he joined QPR on a two year deal.

Odds are Galway could spend most of the season in a dogfight to avoid relegation against the likes of Bray, Limerick and Drogheda.

However, I believe Bray are most likely to be rooted to the bottom of the table this time around, although this means Galway could potentially still have to compete in a relegation play-off match at the end of the season against a side from the first division.

Contenders for the crown are likely to be defending champions Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers & St. Patrick’s. Rovers have bolstered their squad this year with the signings of Danny North from Sligo Rovers, Gavin Brennan from Drogheda and ex-Republic of Ireland international Keith Fahey from St. Patrick’s.

Two highly rated young players, Brandon Miele and Michael Drennan from Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively have also signed with the Tallaght based club for the forthcoming season. In addition, highly rated midfielder Stephen McPhail has re-signed.

St Patrick’s have managed to maintain the services of the bulk of the first team players that saw them win the league in 2013, and then the FAI Cup last November. However, the loss of Keith Fahey to another side competing for the title will no doubt be a massive blow for the Saints.

But Pats have made two notable acquisitions, Jason McGuinness and Ciarán Kilduff, both join the club from Shamrock Rovers.

It will be a closely fought battle, but I think Shamrock Rovers will be too strong for St. Patrick’s and Dundalk.

In the First Division, Shelbourne and UCD are the two sides most likely to compete for promotion. Shels narrowly missed out on promotion last year while this marks UCD’s first time outside of the topflight since 2009.

A third Dublin side will also compete in the first division this year; Cabinteely FC, a Leinster Senior League club, will be playing their home matches at the grounds of Blackrock College rugby club as their own home grounds in Cabinteely are not up to League of Ireland standards.

It remains to be seen what this new addition to the league can be capable of however, clubs that have been in their position in the past have traditionally done poorly.

After a fairytale first year for the newly formed club, Galway United F.C are ready to begin life as a top flight side, when they make their Airtricity League bow against Derry City in Eamonn Deacy Park on 6 March.

In trying to keep his high achieving squad together, the off season has been about consolidation for manager Tommy Dunne . The performances of his team at the latter end of last season did not go unnoticed by other top flight sides and indeed some English teams too. So when Queens Park Rangers came calling for Ireland under-19 international Ryan Manning, the club were resigned to losing a player that then QPR manager Harry Redknapp called “a top top player”.

It wasn’t all bad team news for the club as they did hold on to last year’s top goalscorer Jake Keegan and key players such as Paul Sinnott, Ryan Connolly, Gary Shanahan and goalkeeper Connor Gleeson. Along with keeping most of his squad intact, Dunne also managed to attract a few players to the club.

Highly rated midfielder David O’Leary was signed from Cork City and defender Killian Cantwell from Wexford Youths, the latter unfortunately suffering a knee injury in training that will keep him out for a couple of months. Another new signing is former Arsenal trainee Sam Oji. Signing from Limerick F.C, Oji will provide much needed experience and strength in defence.

Last season the team took until midway through the season to find their form and really it was their run of games at the end

of the year that propelled them to promotion. This year there is great continuity in the squad and Dunne will be hoping that his team can use these preseason preparations to build on last year’s success.

Finn Harps were the opponents for the first preseason game of the year at Moyne Villa.

Both sides were rusty and played out a nil-all draw. However, it was not without excitement as Galway keeper Gleeson did save a last minute penalty keep the scores level.

In preparations for the Collingwood Cup, NUI Galway’s first team were glad to play a friendly against Tommy Dunne’s men in Fahy Field. It was a novel affair, as NUI Galway students and Galway United Players Padraic Cunningham and Conor Barry played a half for each team, the former scoring for United in the second half. The other goalscorer was striker Enda Curran, who will hope to fill the void left by Manning’s departure.

Indeed, it was Curran who got the only goal of the game in the Maroon men’s third preseason game against Athlone Town, finishing at close range from a corner kick. It was a more comfortable game at Eamonn Deacy Park than the scoreline suggests, as Galway were unlucky not to add to their lead.

Although they have not played any top flight opponents in preseason, the assured performances of the team, and their displays when encountering Premier Division teams in the cup last year, will make Tommy Dunne’s men feel confident in their ability to compete and stay out of the relegation zone in the coming season.

NUI Galway CAO Performance Points for Elite Athletes 15 Elite athletes, who meet strict criteria, will be awarded 40 CAO Performance Points for undergraduate courses under the NUI Galway Performance Point Scholarship Scheme.

Following the success of the inaugural bonus points scheme last year, NUI Galway will again reward elite athletes with 40 CAO Performance Points in recognition of their skill, time and dedication in reaching the highest level of their chosen sport.

This is an extension of NUI Galway’s current Elite Athlete Scholarship scheme which includes a subsistence grant, performance supports, gym membership and medical support.

The scheme will award 40 Performance Points to a limited number of athletes, applying for undergraduate courses, who meet strict criteria in a number of identified sports. The points will be added to a minimum

requirement of 350 CAO Points from a single sitting of the Leaving Certificate in 6 subjects. The scholarship currently does not apply to GY501 Medicine. The closing date for applications is Tuesday, 31st March 2015.

NUI Galway Sports Officer Kathy Hynes said: “NUI Galway has enabled and guided student leaders in sport for many years. The Performance Points Scheme will broaden the horizon of achievement both for NUI Galway and for the athletes themselves. Our facilities, structure and athlete supports help successful candidates achieve their goals, both academic and sporting.”

Applicants will be selected through an application form and interview process. The assessment will be based on sporting achievement and potential as well as evidence of their academic achievement and commitment. The successful candidates will then receive a conditional offer of the 40 performance points in May prior to the Leaving Certificate and CAO changes.

The ‘Performance Points’ athletes will receive similar benefits to those enjoyed by the current NUI Galway Elite Athlete scholarship scheme. Benefits will include a subsistence grant, performance supports, gym membership and

medical support. Supports will be provided for the duration of the undergraduate degree of the successful candidates as per the terms and conditions of the NUI Galway athlete’s charter and will be reviewed on an annual basis.

The scheme will only apply to new entrants applying for full-time undergraduate courses at NUI Galway. Applicants must be under 21-years of age on 1st April in the year of application and only sports whose national governing body is recognised by the Irish Sports Council will be considered.

For further details see http:// www.sports.nuigalway.ie.

FINAL WORD 27

March 02 2015

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THE COLLEGE INSIDER Student who missed RAG Week due to Erasmus taken to hospital, diagnosed with ‘fomo’

By Eoin Molloy

22-YEAR-OLD ELICIA MALONEY from Ballindrait, Co. Donegal, is said to be in a critical but stable condition in a French hospital having missed out on RAG Week for the first time.

The self-confessed raver has been participating in an Erasmus study abroad programme in a Parisian university since September of last year, according to sources close to her family.

The source confirmed to Sin that Eileen had been going about her usual Frenchy college day (croissant in hand) when she collapsed.

Apparently, one of her friends posting a status to Facebook saying: ‘RAG Week 2015 bring it on whoot whoot come at me bro x x’. This is thought to have triggered the onset of grade three fomo.

Fomo (which comes from the Latin stem fomo-miss-lastnitis) is a serious condition that comes from missing out on an event that ordinarily, you would have been very excited about attending.

The young Arts student will undergo surgery next week to have the fomo cells removed.

Our thoughts are with her and her family.

More to follow as we get it.

diary of the SMOKEY’S PIGEON I LOVE THE WEEK LEADING UP TO SU ELECTIONS. There’s always a load of people roaming the corridors in colourful tshirts, wreaking havoc and ambushing people passing by.

The best part is when the passers-by drop whatever they’re eating while trying to dodge canvassers coming at them left right and centre.

There are sweets everywhere and I’ve got the perfect little stash on top of the vending machine. Obviously I can’t eat any of those treats now because I’m off them for lent. But I’ll be having the feast of kings come Easter.

One thing I’m looking for in an SU President is the promise to remove those big heavy doors and put back the automatic doors that used to be there. They weren’t hurting anybody.

Help me out and try to get someone to consider that if they’re elected.

Don’t forget to vote!

Follow @Smokeys_Pigeon on Twitter for regular pigeon musings

BRAIN TEASER:

By Tony Gapper A sports car travels for two hundred and twenty five miles. It is reported that the distance was 2% understated. If the average speed is 75 mph, how long does it take to complete the journey?

Last issue’s Brain Teaser answer: George is having a birthday party and his parents have invited 15 of his friends but four cannot make it to his party. George’s mum has made a circular chocolate cake. All of the children (no adults) have exactly the same amount of cake, apart from George, who has half as much again, and his friend, Rose, who has one quarter more than George.

Expressed as degrees of a circle, how much does George and Rose get each?

Answer: Total number of children who had cake = George (1) + (15-4) = 1 + 11= 12.

Total degrees in a circle = 360. 360/12 = 30.

Given that all of the children have the exact same share of the cake, apart from George who has half as much again.

George = 30 x 1.5 = 45 Degrees.

Rose has 1/4 more than George = 45 x 1.25 = 56.25 Degrees.