Volume 12 Issue 4

F R E E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R , V o l . 1 2 I S S U E 4 , 0 2 . 1 1 . 2 0 1 0

Institute spent €185,000 on private jets Passengers included last two university presidents.

By Richard Manton

It has emerged that the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUIG spent €185,000 hiring private jets to fly from Galway to Innsbruck, Austria. The expenditure took place between June and November 2004 and was not approved by the university.

funder of DERI, and the university found that the spending was “inappropriate” and, according to a statement from DERI, NUIG “agreed to refund the cost of the inappropriate travel expenditure from non-exchequer income”. NUIG repaid the SFI to the tune of €170,000.

The scandal was uncovered by the Irish Independent by obtaining flight invoices and other evidence using the Freedom of Information Act. An investigation in the newspaper revealed that €154,000 was spent sending up to 50 DERI staff to conferences at a luxury resort in Crete and that €1.3m was spent on foreign travel in three years.

The directors of DERI – Dieter Fensel and Christoph Bussler left NUIG soon after the investigation into the travel expenditure. According to the DERI statement, there was a “restructuring of the directorship of the Institute and the introduction of new management and tighter controls on spending”.

An investigation by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the main

This issue is the subject of a featured article on page 6.

Education to face €500m in cuts

By Grainne Coyne Last week it was announced that the Government are considering raising the registration fees and cutting the grant as part of €500 million worth of cuts in the Budget.

Emmet Connolly, SU Education officer told Sin: “We’ve been told by government TDs that the amount that is in play for budget cuts in December is about €1.8billion from the €8.2 billion education budget.” Despite some aspects of education being immune under the Croke Park agreement, it is still at risk under the new budget.

According to Connolly, the government plans “up to €500million in cuts” in education. This would amount to a cut of 28%.

These cuts would “have severe and immediate effects on students here in NUIG and across the third-level sector,” these cuts would affect investments in technology and infrastructure, Student Assistance fund, facilities and “more than likely, a cut in the student maintenance grant, which over a third of NUI Galway students are dependent on and which was hit for 5% in last year’s budget.” continued on page 2

Prospectus Literature A glossy sales pitch

National March 3rd November

Page 7

Tickets available from SU

NEWS

page 2

Education to face €500m in cuts continued from page 1 The government insists in order to achieve savings in the education budget, the registration fee will have to be increased. The registration fee has already doubled since 2005, including a two-thirds increase last year from €900 to €1500. The government believes under the new budget that an estimated €80million could be raised for colleges by adding €600 to the existing fee but that still would not make up for half of the 10% education cuts expected.

Carpooling website launched

By Rebecca Healy A new website has been launched in NUI Galway to encourage car pooling between staff and students of the University.

Connolly questions whether registration fee increases and education cuts are necessary: “The country has a problem with the budget deficit, but equally important is the ability of the country to create economic growth in the years ahead so we can generate more taxes to close that deficit.” Despite education being a likely target against social welfare and pensions in the budget, Emmet insists “education is always an investment in the future potential of the country.”

GMIT parodies NUIG about National March

By Grainne Coyne GMIT student union created a parody of the clip from the film ‘Downfall’ titling it the “SU Protest meeting” in attempt to create publicity for the National March on November 3rd. In

He continued: “We need to keep investing in education, to ensure that when the economy turns, as it inevitably will, we will be ready to take advantage of that recovery with our graduates and create real, sustainable prosperity and jobs here in Ireland for the decade ahead.” ensure a way home with the “Guaranteed Lift Home Scheme”.

The feedback from staff and students has been positive. An NUI Galway travel survey found that 56% of students and 38% of staff currently travelling alone are willing to partake due to the many benefits associated with the initiative. The scheme will reduce travel costs of those involved and will have a positive impact on the environment.

Susanne Afra, National Transport Authority and Dr Aoife Collins, NUI Galway Environmental Manager the clip it is mentioned that NUIG launching the new car sharing website at NUI Galway Students’ Union has only one bus The website www.carsharing.ie/nuigalway, requires staff and students to register their details online, free of charge. People with similar commutes are given the opportunity to car share on an informal basis. In cases of unforeseen circumstances where the driver is unable to bring the passenger home, there is a contingency arrangement to

According to Emmet Connolly Education Officer of NUIG Students’ Union: “I wouldn’t regard it as a complaint against the NUI Galway Students’ Union, implicit or otherwise.” Connolly also told Sin, as regards the NUIG Student Union campaign for the national march, that “we have been out lecture addressing, postering and selling tickets in the student residences for the march, rather than spending valuable time making Youtube videos about other

The initiative also provides the opportunity to meet new people in your area. It will ease traffic congestion in the city, thereby making the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. It may also help towards alleviating the problem of availability of car parking spaces in the University.

going to Parnell Square when they had promised “ten on Facebook” to GMIT. There are also criticisms in the parody about the NUIG student union campaign posters.

Colin Canny, GMIT Students’ Union president told Sin that the parody clip was aimed “to get people talking about the march” and was “in no way to try to downgrade NUIG Students’ Union.”

colleges. I guess NUI Galway and GMIT just have different priorities when it comes to the national march.”

Connolly also said that the clip was “really just a bit of banter between the two colleges here in Galway about which one will get more students on the streets for the national march – GMIT or NUI Galway.” Canny said: “I have a lot of respect for Peter and the gang so it is merely a PR stunt on our side.”

NEWS BA Connect prospectus literate misleading

By Méabh McDonnell Parts of the prospectus literature for the BA Connect programme has been called “misleading” by students in relation to the course outlines of some of the BA Connect Programmes.

The BA Connect programme was launched in 2008 as seven degree programmes that work alongside the regular BA. These courses are provided by the College of Arts and Celtic Studies. These programmes include Creative Writing, Children’s Studies, Film Studies, Human Rights, Irish Studies, Theatre and Performance and Women’s Studies. The layout of the course has the extra subject being taken by the students of the BA Connect along with the subjects of the regular BA for the first two years. The third year is then focused on the ‘specialism subject’ on its own. The fourth year operates the same as the average BA. The courses were launched to receive great interest from students, interest which has only grown

Movember Campaign Launched

By Méabh McDonnell The Students’ Union will be hosting the Movember Launch party in the College Bar from 7pm on Monday November 1st. Fat Tony’s Barbers will be present to provide all those taking part with clean shaven faces, to participate in the month long challenge.

The Movember campaign is an international campaign to raise awareness about men’s health issues and fundraise for charities that focus on these issues also. The funds raised through Movember’s Ireland campaign will benefit the Action Prostate Cancer programme of The Irish Cancer Society.

The campaign has a particular emphasis upon prostate cancer which is the most

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according to both Dr. John Kenny (Director of the BA connect in Creative Writing) and Méabh Ní Fhuartháin (Co- Ordinator of the BA Connect in Irish Studies).

Dr Kenny highlighted that, “The interest is such that this year saw an increase of 25 in the points required for the programme [BA with Creative writing], and this trend is likely to continue into next year.” This year is the first ‘specialism year’ and there have been certain differences in its execution than those seen in the prospectus originally (see feature) .

Many of these are the case of the current economic situation. Dr Kenny further illustrated that, “Each of the Connect programmes has its own imperatives which are evolving according to the respective student experiences year on year, but consultations with the other programme directors, together with the College, are proving very important in the recognition of, and exploration of potential responses to, the stark change in the country's economic situation since the BA Connect was initially envisaged.”

BA Connect is a case study in the featured article about prospectus literature on page 7

common form of cancer in Irish males.

The campaign was launched in Australia in 2003. It began its fundraising campaign in 2004 and has grown into an international campaign to improve awareness about men’s health. The Movember Ireland website states that, “Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start November 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.”

According to the Students’ Union page promoting Movember, “Recent data has shown that there were 2758 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Ireland in 2009.” Emma Conway, SU Welfare Officer, spoke about the Movember campaign and the Students’ Union’s involvement, “Movember is all about guys’ health especially regarding prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Guys tend to ignore their health and don’t talk about it until it’s too late”.

She highlighted that this attitude denies

USI organises National March in Parnell Square

By Grainne Coyne The Union of Students in Ireland (USI), including NUIG Students’ Union, plans to march in Parnell Square on November 3rd against potential education cuts in the next budget.

The USI has created the campaign “Education not Emigration”, to prevent an increase of graduate emigration and unemployment. Following work by

NUIG SU, USI has adopted “Tell your TD”, which enables students to contact their local representatives “stating that education should be protected in Budget 2011.”

Zealand and Australia”.

Emmet Connolly, Education Officer of the Students’ Union told Sin that Ireland cannot afford to have any more education cutbacks and that nations such as “China and India educated hundreds of thousands of Englishspeaking graduates every year, who are competing for the same jobs many of

our own graduates are competing for, we cannot stop investing in education now and let ourselves get left behind the global leaders.”

Paul Gogarty, Green Party TD has warned “that education services may have to be severely cut as result of the Croke Park agreement”, despite the Green Party being responsible for preventing the removal of free fees in 2009.

The national march takes place not long after the rumoured announcements of €500 million in cutbacks in the next budget, particularly in the education sector which would dramatically affect many student services including the student maintenance grant and the registration fee.

The National March will take place in Dublin city centre at 12.30pm, with students from all across Ireland marching against further rises in registration fees and education cutbacks. According to the SU website: “unemployment is at 14% and graduates are leaving the country at a rate of over 1,000 a week. We are losing our best and brightest to the Canada, New

The SU highlights the necessity of the campaign to prevent student emigration and unemployment in light of the latest budget announcement, which they “are calling on the Government to Protect Education in the upcoming Budget to allow Ireland to continue to produce world class graduates who will reignite the smart economy.”

many men the chance of early detection and prevention of common diseases.

According to Conway, the the founders have been approaching colleges all around Ireland, promoting the event and

trying get as many people involved as possible. It is hoped by the Students’ Union that Movember will be a fun way to raise the awareness and needed funds for these men’s health issues.

NEWS

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Controversy at Israel-Palestine debate

By Conor Lane To say that the debate on the Israel and Palestine issue held in the Kirwan theatre less than a fortnight ago was explosive would be an understatement.

It is such a highly controversial issue that those who chose to speak did so at their own risk.

The matter in question is of such epic proportions that on a world stage it literally calls for decisions to be made for day to day, life and death situations. For one night, all the grievances of those who have had to put up with hearing about such horrible stories were allowed to voice their opinions to a panel of guest speakers who all had highly educated answers to give if not in some cases very disputable accounts of the matter at hand.

INTERNATIONAL HIT SHOW MAKES ITS FIRST VISIT TO GALWAY Arguably the most toured production in Irish theatre history, Pan Pan Theatre’s Oedipus Loves You is an individual take on the enduring myth of Oedipus. It is finally coming home with a highly anticipated national tour including two performances at the Town Hall Theatre on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th November at 8pm.

acclaimed season in New York in 2009 and the Sydney Festival in 2010.

Directed by Gavin Quinn and written

by Simon Doyle, Oedipus Loves You has been rocking international audiences at performances in twentytwo cities across ten different countries, from New York to Berlin to Beijing, Hamburg to Helsinki, London, Sydney, Brisbane, Quebec and Shanghai. Now after almost four years on the road, this daring production comes to Galway following a critically

Antigone. When Oedipus discovers the truth from the blind prophet Tiresias, he blinds himself and Jocasta hangs herself.

The original myth of Oedipus epitomises Greek tragedy: abandoned by his parents as a child, Oedipus unknowingly kills his father Laius and equally unsuspectingly becomes the husband of his own mother Jocasta, with whom he has children, including

myth to a dysfunctional suburban household. In the setting of a backyard BBQ, the cast of five act out a complex family history. All in various states of depression, the family – the self-pitying Oedipus, the suicidal Jacosta with a noose around her neck, the moody teenager Antigone and her cocaine-sniffing uncle Creon occasionally channel their rage by

It got to the point were people had to be forced out of the theatre because they simply would not stop shouting expletives at some of those who were speaking. It seemed clear that one member of the crowd wanted to throw diet coke on one of the speakers but was quickly halted by security.

Said person gave a clear message of intent after swapping drinks with that speaker.

Conor Kelly, Auditor of the Literary and Debating Society, had his work cut out as he looked over proceedings. It was his duty to stop the debate from going into utter chaos. He had this to say about the night: “Overall it was quite good, there were a few issues with the members; the contributions were good” It was obvious that the issues at hand were of great interest as the theatre was filled with more people than usual but you could cut the tension with a knife. It was very exciting and one could only hope that most debates had that much energy. It’s just a shame that the topic of Israel and Palestine still needs to be discussed and has not already been ended with a just resolution.

With dark humour and a live punk music score, this production is inspired by the classic Oedipus the King plays of Sophocles and Seneca and their legacy - the writings of Sigmund Freud.

Pan Pan’s version takes the classic

playing live punk music – a part of their therapy recommended by family psychotherapist and ex-Glam Rocker, Tiresias.

Bookings can be made at the Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square, Galway.

Phone 091 569777 or online 24/7 at www.tht.ie Tickets are €18 / €15 and Group Bookings of 10 plus are €10.

editorial/LETTERS SIN TEAM: Editor Richard Manton editor@sin.ie

News Editors Méabh McDonnell Gráinne Coyne

Reviews Editor Darragh O’Connor

Literary Editor Johanna Stock

As reported in Sin, the registration fee looks set to increase. As we discussed, this is on top of the facts that the fee has been increased heavily in recent years and is only intended to be used to cover the costs of student services, which it already more than does. Increasing the registration fee is the most regressive form of third level fees as it is paid by all undergrad students – rich and poor.

The only undergrad students who do not pay the reg fee are those in receipt of the grant, then it is paid by the local authority.

However, these students will also be hit as part of the €500m package of education cuts. The grant is likely to be cut by 10%, even though it was cut by 5% last year. The grant increased marginally over the last decade and further cuts will push these students further into poverty.

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To combat these attacks, NUIG SU as part of USI have organised a national march. The march takes place on Wednesday, 3rd November and tickets are available from the SU. Sin encourages all readers to attend and give their voices to the campaign against cutbacks in education.

That said, the campaign must continue after this march, keep up momentum. Previous campaigns decades ago and in recent years employed tactics such as occupations, student strikes and blockades. Following the march, a debate should be opened up across campus, and society as a whole, on the best tactics to defeat the cuts and on what is the alternative. ________ Sin is forming a code of practice. If you would like to make a suggestion for this code please email editor@sin.ie and su.president@nuigalway.ie

Web Editor Chris Cosgrove

Photography Leah Mollica

Dear Sir, I refer to the article

Mahon, replies from readers

from the position of editor of

and your apology, published

SIN, with immediate

in SIN.

effect. Your attempt at an

PAC, our online application

apology was contradicted by

system, opened on 1 November

published in the last issue of

missed at this point.

your publication, 'How to get...

I wish to draw your attention

your decision to continue with

2010 to accept applications for

Layout

From the Shift to the Ride', an

to the article on page two of

articles that serve to

the 2011 cycle

Tom Parandyk

electronic version of which has

the most recent edition: Two

dehumanise and endanger

(www.pac.ie/nuigalway). Our

been sent to me by a colleague.

Attacks Near NUIG. I am

female students within this

closing dates policy has

Contributors

If this article was intended as a

wondering if you or Mr

community, rendering it

changed this year also for most

Conor Lane

joke, then I for one did not find

McMahon can you see the

meaningless.

programmes-we advise basically

Rebecca Healy

it amusing. The article reads as

connection between the

Joe Loughnane

an immature celebration of the

articles published in SIN and

Sincerely,

get an early offer (for example,

Peter Mannion

nastier side of human

the behaviour of one or more

S. Garrity

our first round offers for taught

behaviour. The article also

individuals in attacking female

programmes will be made in

appears to condone violence

students on/near the campus?

mid-February 2011); see

against women, which is

Mahon's articles, which you

Aisling Scally

certainly no joke. As the editor

approved and published,

Natasha McGowan

of a student newspaper (which

promote the notion that

I'm writing to clarify a couple

And date for your diary!: the

Valerie Hartnett

is funded by the Student

women are mere sexual objects,

of points in Rebecca Healy's

Postgraduate Open Day will be

Cillian Lineen

Union, according to their

whose purpose is one of

article "Choosing Your Career

held on Wednesday 2 February

website) you have a duty to

sexually gratifying men. You

Path" (P18, SIN Vol. 12, Issue 3,

2011 in the Bailey Allen Hall on

Áine McWilliams

provide a public service to your

also endorse the use of physical

19 October 2010). She

campus-it's a great opportunity

Kaylyn O’Brien

readers, the student community

violence in achieving the

mentioned "many graduate

to meet programme directors

in all its diversity, and no

objective. It is a slippery, yet

programme deadlines are fast

from all Colleges, attend

mandate to publish such

fast moving slope, between

approaching at the end of

presentations, and find out all

offensive material. I suggest

pseudo-official publications,

October. Some postgraduate

about postgrad. study at NUI

that your editorial staff may

such as SIN promoting males

studies such as teaching also

Galway. More information on

require training in the ethics of

use of physical sex-based

have early application deadlines

the event will be circulated to

journalism, particularly if you

violence in printed articles, to

in December". Her second point

students nearer the time.

are intending to publish further

such behaviour occuring within

regarding the Postgrad. Dip. in

Finally the new postgraduate

articles in this series or along

this community.

Education/Dioplóma Iarchéime

prospectus will be available in

(Oideachas) (PGDE/DIO) is

mid- November-you can pick it

Dave Pope Stephanie Furlong Fiona Ní Mháille

Antoinette O’Sullivan

Barbara Preston Conor Lane Miceala O’Donovan Kevin Christie Darragh O’Connor Shane Leonard Samuel Ferry Lisa Jackson

this line.

Kevin Hough Ciarán Kelly John Coleman Hynes

that if you apply early you may

Dear Sir,

www.nuigalway.ie/postgrad/clo singdates for full information.

Where does the responsbility

correct: the deadline for these

up in different locations on

Yours,

of this editor, this publication

is 1 December 2010. However

campus (e.g., Aras Ui Chathail

Dr Simon J. Potter

building).

and the board of SIN lie in

the deadlines for all other

Fionn McGowan

regards to attacks on these and

taught postgraduate

Simon Casey

other women? As a student of

programmes are not yet in

NUIG I believe your behaviour

force, "for entry 2011"

is both reckless and endagering

programmes. So students have

Valerie Leahy

I am writing regarding the

to female members of this

plenty of time to apply and I

Deputy Admissions Officer

ongoing debate brought about

community, and I am therefore

wanted to allay any fears that

(Postgraduate)

by articles written by James

demanding your resignation

deadlines may have been

Nigel Concannon

Dear Editor,

Breandán Mac Gabhann Siobhán Harkin Sarah Dillon

Best wishes,

page 6

DERI travel expenses scandal

By Richard Manton The Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) was involved in “inappropriate” travel spending in 2004. The institute spent €185,000 on private flights from Galway to Innsbruck between June and November of that year. These flights were not authorised by the university and were signed off on by the director of DERI, Dieter Fensel.

According to the Irish Independent, which broke the story, Fensel complained that travelling between

news feature spent inappropriately and their concerns were expressed to NUIG. The university entered a consultation process with the SFI and agreed to refund the cost. According to the Irish Independent, NUIG repaid €170,000 to the SFI. It is not clear why the full €185,000 was not repaid.

Following the audits, there was a change in management of DERI. Fensel and Bussler left NUIG in June 2006 and December 2005, respectively.

According to a the statement from DERI, the university “intervened to impose more effective management controls”. The statement continues: “Subsequently there has been a restructuring of the directorship of the Institute and the introduction of new management and tighter controls on spending.”

It is not clear whether Fensel and

€26,521 The cost of one chartered flight from Galway to Innsbruck €170,000 The amount paid back to the SFI from NUIG €185,000 The total amount of ‘inappropriate’ spending Innsbruck in Austria and Galway was quite cumbersome. Fensel first chartered a flight from Innsbruck to Galway in June 2004. This flight cost €11,200. This expenditure was not approved by NUIG or the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the main funder of DERI. The SFI supplied a grant of €12 million to DERI when the institute was founded in 2003. This money could only be used for chartered flights if the cost was comparable to the cost of a commercial carrier. The NUIG accounts office queried the charter in August 2004. Despite this, Fensel chartered nine more flights, the last of which was that November. The most expensive of these flights was €26,521.

Passengers on the flights included current president, then registrar, Jim Browne and former president Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh. After one trip, Ó Muircheartaigh wrote to the SFI about the flights and initiated an internal audit of DERI’s expenditure.

The SFI also carried out an audit of DERI’s travel and subsistence expenditure between June 2003 and December 2005. According to a statement from DERI: “These audit findings concluded that certain levels of travel expenditure, in the above period, sanctioned by the Institute’s Directors were inappropriate.”

The SFI found that €185,000 was

Bussler left voluntarily or whether it was forced. We do know that Fensel was recruited to the post of Scientific Director of DERI as part of a five-year package, but only stayed for three years. During that time, Fensel was a part-time professor at NUIG and spent half his time at the University of Innsbruck.

The reason for the flights is attributed to discussions on a collaborative research partnership between NUIG and the University of Innsbruck.

Following his departure from NUIG, Fensel took up the post of director of DERI at the University of Innsbruck.

DERI Innsbruck was renamed the Semantic Technology Institute (STI) Innsbruck and Fensel remains director.

It is possible that Fensel used the flights as transport between his jobs in Galway and Innsbruck and that once the expenditure was curtailed he did not wish to return to cumbersome transport between the cities.

DERI was audited by the SFI again in June 2007 and no issues related to travel expenditure were found. SFI acknowledged that stricter controls are now in place. Work at DERI has continued and it is now the world’s largest institute for semantic web research. SFI funding has been recommended for renewal for a further five years at the increased level of €19 million.

Profiles

principal member of technical staff at the Oracle Corporation in California.

He joined Fensel at NUIG in 2003.

Following his departure from NUIG in 2006, he became a member of technical staff for Cisco Systems Inc. in California.

Prof. Dr. Dieter Fensel Scientific director of DERI from May 2003 until June 2006.

Fensel oversaw the receipt of the SFI grant to DERI in 2003. At the time he held a part-time professorship in NUIG and also working at the University of Innsbruck. Following his departure from NUIG in 2006, he became director of DERI at the University of Innsbruck.

Dr. Christoph Bussler Scientific director of DERI from May 2003 until June 2006.

Executive director of DERI from June 2003 until October 2005.

Bussler previously worked as the

Dr. Jim Browne President of NUIG since March 2008.

Browne was the university registrar between 2001 and 2008. He was a passenger on one or more of the private flights chartered by DERI.

Dr. Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh President of NUIG from August 2000 until March 2008. Ó Muircheartaigh was the president of the university at the time and was a passenger on one or more of the private flights chartered by DERI.

What is DERI? DERI stands for the Digital Enterprise Research Institute. It was established in 2003 following the allocation of €12 million funding from the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

As a Centre for Science and Engineering Technology (CSET), DERI brings together academic and industrial partners to boost innovation in science and technology, with its research focused on the Semantic Web. To date, DERI has leveraged €55 million in competitive research

income. DERI has multiple industry partners, four spin out companies set up and has established a significant IT cluster in NUIG. The Director is Prof. Dr. Stefan Decker, the Vice Director is Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth and the CEO is Michael Turley.

page 7

news feature Prospectus Literature – a glossy sales pitch

By Méabh McDonnell University courses are advertised by each and every university in the country to prospective first years in much the same method: the university prospectus.

Students get a description of their courses, possible career opportunities and the requirements to enrol. There are full colour photographs printed on high resolution paper, featuring happy students amid pealing laughter in the library and glowing recommendations from students of every course.

Prospectuses present what is brightest and best about the university.

However beneath the smooth glossy surface, a university prospectus is a sales pitch. It is an advertisement like any other ad on the television and therefore is supposed to be read with the same caution.

Each course is dressed up and described to be the best opportunity that a student can avail of. However they seem to require the student to read between the lines a little. The course is painted in a wonderful light however if the student reads closer they will see something very interesting that occurs throughout the prospectus. The conditional language stands out. Words like ‘may’ and ‘possibility’ are used frequently, in order to avoid making any promises that might not be kept.

However to maximise the ‘positive PR’ these statements remain in the prospectus, giving the impression that courses will deliver certain opportunities, to students even though they are shrouded in the conditional tense. The courses themselves fail to live up to students expectations. The way a prospectus is written seems to

be constantly covering itself so it won’t get caught by an opportunity that it promised but failed to deliver.

CASE STUDY: BA Connect.

on the student’s specialism.

The final year is then treated as normal. The first students to do the BA Connect Courses are now in the first semester of their third year which

with creative writing stated that, “the third year was to be either a year abroad, a year work experience or a split of both and with those two experiences, a student would be expected to hand in submissions of writing to an editor, a word count and topic to be agreed with before hand. “ This has not occurred for any of the BA Connect class except those doing a language as one of their degree subjects. However this

!

The BA Connect courses were launched in NUIG just over two years ago. There were originally seven courses, now eight, (BA with Children’s Studies, BA with Creative Writing, BA with Human Rights, BA with Film Studies, BA with Irish Studies, BA with Theatre and Performance, BA with Women’s Studies and BA with Latin American Studies).

The course is run like a traditional BA however it is four years rather than three.

The first two years the students do the extra subject in conjunction with the BA, with the third year as a focus

focuses on their specialism.

There were issues to do with the BA Connect subject registration last year however this year has presented new problems.

These problems in some ways can be rooted back to misleading prospectuses, the students of the BA in Creative Writing raised the issue that they were of the opinion that they would all have the opportunity to go spend their third year abroad. They were of this opinion because of the prospectus description of the course, Gemma Morrow, a third year student in the BA

is almost directly contradicted in the brochure, advertising the BA Connect programme, which states, “In the third year of the four-year degree, students will study abroad.”However when the Dean of Arts, Dr Edward Herring was asked about this statement, he replied that it referred to the previous sentence which states, “It is highly recommended for students of Creative Writing to include a modern language among their other subjects.

Knowledge of the literature of another country, experience of life in another culture, and

translation are all advantageous to the writer. In the third year of the four-year degree, students will study abroad.” This is a prime example of the misleading nature of prospectus advertisement.

The current prospectus, being distributed to Leaving Cert students this year phrases it slightly differently, saying “In the third year of this four-year degree, you will have the opportunity to gain practical work experience and/or study abroad.” This is slightly closer to the reality that has been presented to the BA in Creative Writing Students.

It has been financial setbacks that removed the opportunity for certain of the BA Connect students to study abroad this year. The Dean of Arts maintains there was never any guarantee for any student among the BA Connect course to study abroad. He however pointed out that the other courses have been extremely successful, that the BA with Human Rights has gone abroad in their entirety. In relation to the course outline in the prospectus the Dean pointed out that, “We are introducing completely new programmes here, they are completely different from anything which has existed in this University or elsewhere.

With anything new there are going to be teething problems, not everything is going to be perfect first time out. But if you’re not willing to accept the teething problems, then don’t try anything new, don’t try anything creative”.

The BA Connect has been deemed successful by many of the course directors and students. It has certainly shown itself to be an attractive course to prospective students, with the points rising every year.

However the issue of misleading language in the prospectuses is not one to be ignored.

page 8

Protesting against fees

By Joe Loughnane It costs €42,000 to put a student through a 4-year degree programme, according to the Bank of Ireland. In the past, many students funded this through part-time work but for most people this is no longer possible (1 in 3 young men are out of work).

Financial aid from parents is also growing smaller as parents face difficulties of their own (hours cut, jobs in danger). Those who got the grant saw it cut by 5% in last year’s budget. And the report

by An Bord Snip Nua terrifyingly recommended cutting the grant by 25%!

We want to go to college to improve our chances in life but the problem of funding is

pushing it out of most people’s reach. So to deal with the issue the government threatens raising the registration fee to €3,000 just to add an extra difficulty to anyone contemplating thirdlevel education. In the so-called “boom years” young people left school to go into a construction industry the government tried convincing everyone would last forever or to other jobs. Now that unemployment is obvious in every Irish town people want to go to college (a good thing, most people would think) but are facing increased prices with less money to fund them.

Seeing 70,000 graduates on the Live Register shows up the lie of a better life after college.

The solution - get outside and protest. It’s time for us to realise that the government is not going to fix the problem by themselves. In fact, it would suit them very well if we just paid them no heed and remain apathetic to the problems we are facing or emigrate. Despite what we get told protest does work – protest brought US troops home from Vietnam, helped end apartheid in South Africa, caused the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and showed the pensioners wouldn’t put up with Fianna Fail cutbacks.

Calm and reasonable Canada – where many students plan to emigrate to – is the most militant country in the western world (it loses more days to strikes a year than France). Protest is necessary and has the chance of success.

People get uncomfortable when young people take matters into our own hands.

But in late 2008 that’s exactly what students began to do. A grassroots organisation spread across the country called FEE (Free Education for Everyone).

Students who were sick and tired of being ignored started our own protests against the people who were really to blame for the country’s problems. We opposed the reintroduction of fees and the destruction of the education system. There were protests.

There were occupations of ministers’ offices. Fianna Fail TDs and Ministers (and even an ex-Taoiseach) were blocked from trying to explain away

bankrupting the country on campuses.

my biggest criticism of NUS UK was that they had given up fighting for free education and were focusing on promoting a graduate tax. When tuition fees were introduced in the UK, the NUS backed the move as a progressive step and were lead to believe that businesses, as a benefactor of Higher Education, would also contribute to tuition fees. This did not happen and the result was increased tuition fees for students.

insisting on introducing or increasing tuition fees is really a diagnosis of convenience.

Tuition fees were introduced in the UK to make up the deficit in education funding – but despite students spending €16,000 in fees it hasn’t been enough.

FEE wants to end the feeling of apathy and helplessness visible in Ireland’s campuses and communities. To do this it’s hugely important that every student who can joins the USI protest on November 3rd in Dublin. We need to start a debate on what type of country we want to live in.

We need to motivate every student we know to insist on a better society.

To get involved in FEE contact 087 272 9021 or email feegalway@gmail.com

Tuition Fees – the Diagnosis of Convenience Lessons from the UK

By Peter Mannion Students in the UK are very worried. It is now likely they will have to pay £7,000 (over €8,000) a year for tuition fees.

That means an average four degree would cost the equivalent of €25,000.

The recently published Browne report on Higher Education funding models was released in the UK last week.

This report suggested that the current fees system in the UK should be altered. In the UK, students pay fees – but for now these have been capped by the government. Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland pay just over £3,000 (€3,500) a year for their tuition fees. Students in

Scotland receive a free third level education. When initially introduced, the tuition fees were relatively small – but the New Labour government (who also introduced third level tuition fees in 1997) decided to increase the amount students would pay by adding on a ‘top-up’ to the fees.

The Browne report also promotes complete marketisation of education – with colleges allowed to charge whatever students would pay as a price index.

They suggest that the most expensive courses would cost students £12,000 a year. In an Irish context this equates to a four year degree costing

almost €60,000.

When the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition government decide on the price tag that students will pay for their education it will undeniably have an effect on what happens in Ireland.

It was only last year that the re-introduction of tuition fees was halted in Ireland and it is fair to say that many who flavour the re-introduction of tuition fees here in Ireland will use the UK example to sell their point here.

Tuition fees may well be a permanent feature for UK. When I was president of USI,

Education is currently suffering funding deficits but

The lesson we must take from the UK system is that using tuition fees as an argument to correct underfunding in the education system will not work. Tuition fees are a diagnosis of convenience that simply doesn’t work.

page 9

Rossport – the struggle continues

By Stephanie Furlong I recently had the privilege of visiting Rossport in County Mayo with Eco Soc. Rossport is an area that sits on billions of dollars worth of natural gas, it may seem like a blessing, but at this stage the locals consider it a curse. Shell and Statoil have gone into this area in order to extract this gas, but they are using the most basic, cheap methods in order to do so putting this entire are and its residents at risk. Furthermore, neither the locals nor this country are reaping any benefits from our resources. They are extracting €542 billion worth our our natural gas and guess what, we are actually paying for them to do it. They can claim any expenses against tax, so

essentially it is the Irish taxpayer paying them to take our resources. Honestly, does that seem like a clever deal?

Why did the Irish government let this go ahead?

The locals of this area were the most passionate people I have ever met. They are so angry about what is happening, and you can tell from speaking to them that this has really taken over their lives. One man described what has happened as “economic treason”, he went on to say that we have the second worst deal in the world, even compared to developing countries. How corrupt does that make us?

Another local said that they wouldn’t be like this if they knew the pipeline would be put in properly and safely, but the fact of the matter is that Shell is a bully and will cut corners wherever possible and that is clear by the planning tactics they have used already.

Their entire locality is now terrorised by IRMS security and our own Gardaí. The media presents these locals as dissident groups who are violent and from my experience there they could not be more wrong. They are worried about their future, there is a kill zone of 2 metres either side of the pipe and that’s not to mention the zone of destruction that spans miles beyond this. They are worried about their children and whether the schools are far enough away. They have already been subject to beatings, prison time and fear tactics in order to protect their area they are not sure as to what lengths shell will go

to in order to make money.

Finally, I must make it clear that although Shell is evil, we really should point our fingers at who let them in and gave them permission to carry all of this out - the Irish government. It was a stupid decision that the country will only suffer for with absolutely nothing in the end to show for

it. But you can bet that the men in power benefited in some way. Think about the next budget and how we as students are getting ready to march in order to fight the fees, that €542 billion that is being stolen from us would actually pay our fees. Think about that when you are out marching on Wednesday.

LETTER Dear Sir, I am a 19 year old undergraduate student currently attending University at NUI Galway. In my current physical and mental state I feel that I have no choice but to write this expressing my anger and frustration at the economic and social ‘state’ of this country. I feel that as a young adult living in Ireland, the age bracket that I am in at the moment is largely neglected. This anger I feel is centred towards the political, social and economic philosophy that has manifested due to the Celtic Tiger. The Celtic Tiger hit this country like a sliotar from a hurl. Hard and fast. There is no time to think, you just take it and go! And go we did!

My generation is called the baby boomers. Although we hailed from a rich, thriving

society I am not proud to call myself a baby boomer. The society that we grew up in was a greed ridden lustful society that taught many of us to be greedy, spoiled, little brats. It’s shameful. Material possession; expensive clothes, gadgets, cars, houses, and much more was thrown at us.

Of course there is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself after you’ve earned it; if you didn’t then you would be a Communist! However, we the baby boomers did not earn it and we will now suffer the consequences. Many of us were not taught the basic values of life because we were all living in a fantasy material bubble; and now its burst.

Time to emigrate I am afraid!

At least that’s the norm, and the government doesn’t seem to be doing all that much to help the situation. After they failed to bully us (3rd level

students) into paying university fees, which many of us cannot afford, we the young adults feel like we are not wanted. Instead the government has hiked the registration fee up which is now the highest in the EU and put a hefty student levy on our shoulders. Maybe if the government put as much effort into creating new jobs as they did in trying to get us to pay for their mistakes then maybe they might be able to keep us in the country and stop the ‘brain drain’. We, the young adults, should also be taught about the social and economic mistakes that were made, not just our parents.

For hundreds of years people in Ireland have been emigrating abroad in search of better opportunities and a better future. It became part of our nature to pack up and leave. This was seen during the

time of the great Famine (1845-1850) and well into the end of the nineteenth century due to poverty, famine and unemployment. This resulted in the emigration of millions of Irish people, many of whom were young. This slashed the population. Emigration continued to be an economic and social norm right into the 20th century in which Irish people left in droves. My generation are leaving, and those that can’t want to, and will. To be honest if I had the chance I would leave. What is there to stay for? Doom and gloom? No thanks. Although not on the same scale perhaps, the ‘emigration gene’ still exists in Ireland and it is beginning to thrive again. This government should be doing everything possible to keep the young people of Ireland in Ireland. Stop driving us away, after all we are the future!

Finally a warning, multi-

nationals choose this country because of its talented young work force, please do not force your best national asset out!

We sat back and let our parents feed us with things that we wanted and did not need. For my generation today many of us look at Ireland and we do not see a positive future. I see few opportunities for work after I graduate.

What we do have though is a collection of painful reminders of the mistakes that were made. The growing number of ‘ghost estates’ and a severely hampered economic and social ego are just for starters. I only hope that we can be positive and learn from these mistakes and not at the cost of a generation of young Irish people.

Yours, Dave Pope

Sin Style

page 10

Buying on a Budget

By Fiona Ní Mháille

This season, the glundge (glamorous mixed with grundge) look is big. Think wellies and biker boots teamed with skinny jeans, a cowboy shirt, and a long blingathong necklace - Rick James meets Chuck Norris.

Tell me about it, stud! Sick of your heels, thinking they’ve been seen too many times? Re-vamp your old shoes by sticking thumbtacks along the side of the wedge and heel. Cheap and chic = result! Are your knits and woolly cardigans covered in balls? Don’t buy a new one! Take a razor and, Silas Marner style, shave the balls off. Oi vey!

With the recession putting people’s appetite for good buys at an all time high, it’s extremely important to be able to tell the difference between an investment piece and a waste of money. Shopping in the sales can be a great way to save money. The best thing to remember is if you wouldn’t buy it at full price, it’s not a bargain. If you don’t HAVE to have it, don’t buy it. By having more pieces you adore in you wardrobe, you’ll be able to mix and match, to create more outfits you feel great in. But there’s a few more tricks to the trade than just thatFor long lasting, good quality pieces, try to buy natural fibres as much as possible. Leather may be expensive, but a good leather bag or jacket can last for at least ten years. Like David Beckham, leather only gets better with the age (the older the fiddle...)

The more worn it gets, the more character it develops. Its strength and durability means leather will never stretch too far from its original shape.

Cotton is another natural material. It allows the skin to breath. Mohair, cashmere and wool are natural,

cosy materials. Wear a cami or a t-shirt underneath to avoid itching, scratching and looking like a flearidden dog. Silk is a rich natural material, its delicacy makes it susceptible to snagging and tearing so don’t bring a clutch or bag with sequins when wearing silk, and be careful any sharp jewellery doesn’t get caught in it.

Steer clear from too much man-made materials.

Those shiny leggings that give girls a bad case of the camel toe usually comprise a high percentage of lycra. Most synthetics don’t allow skin to breath, so they don’t do any favours for sweating. If you’re a fan of restricted hand-shakes and a pat on the back instead of a hug, because of under-arm puddles, then these materials are for you. Nylon, polyester and acrylic are also synthetic fabrics that wash badly, with their colours bleeding easily onto other clothes.

They are susceptible to shrinking and losing their original shape. Every clothing piece should have the details of its composition on its label. Check the inner side of the garment, not the label at the nape of the neck.

Another great way to save money and make the most of your clothes is to buy pin-on flowers (available at Dunnes and Penneys) and stick them onto the shoulder or waist of your favourite little black dress. Teamed with a similar coloured ribbon tied under the bust, you can create a completely new look. If you’re a fan of rummaging through vintage shops, and have a good eye for spotting gems, try looking in charity shops. Getting a bargain AND doing your bit for charity? Who knew shopping could be so admirable?

Sin Style

page 11

Legging/ Jegging Etiquette

By Aisling Scally

Ah the humble legging, where would we be without it? All the comfort of sweatpants, but a gazillion times more stylish, these bad boys can be worn in countless ways and form the basis of many chic ensembles around college, all for a fiver or less. However, our lycra lovelies also have a downside. I’ll be frank, there’s little worse than walking down concourse and having your eyes assaulted by a bad dose of camel toe... especially on a Monday morning. Leave

no going back. The sight of hot pink undies peeping through threadbare leggings is definitely not a good look for anyone.

that faux pas to our behumped friends in the Arabian deserts and get your hands on a long top. Used as a strategic layer or even on their own, longer tops will cover your booty and keep the dreaded C.T at bay. Available in almost every colour they can be picked up in Penneys, or Topshop if you’re feeling more flush.

applies while wearing. Fake pockets do not constitute bearing your bum uncovered, I cannot stress this point enough!! No-one wants to see the outline of your Bridgets or indeed your thong peeping out “cheekily” ...how 1999. For the love of God layer!

Another downside to our skin-tight sidekicks is their lasting power. Due to their nature (and indeed low cost) your leggings often succumb to the watery perils of the washing machine and come out looking like a giant’s ski thermals.

When this happens, bin them. There’s

Women all over the world rejoiced at the birth of the jegging... finally a skinny jean that didn’t cause blood clots, restrict movement or take five minutes to wriggle into. We must not forget, however, that the jegging is the sister of the legging, and the same etiquette

When worn correctly both of these items look fab and give a trendy touch to any outfit, but one flash of VPL and they go from hot to not in less than a second. So remember ladies, always team leggings and jeggings with a derriere skimming top for the ultimate in casual style.

skies, lour of the Galway Grey may be the co onagh shows it’s a but as Patrick McD this season. Black is fantastic choice for ter colour for their win many people’s safe , is often a better idea wardrobe but grey dude Irish skintone. This especially with the tee orms a plain white from Doolin transf a t by teaming it with into a style statemen ting an enviable rock witty waistcoat crea s ates a waistcoat is hi star edge. Patrick st d we item for college, an must have everyday jeans antly lifts the basic can see why; it inst ing cool and classy look and tee combo to a ensemble.

SIN Style

page 12

NUIG Fashion Show The time is approaching once again for the annual NUIG Fashion Show. The fashion show has taken place for the last four years in aid of a different charity every year, chosen by the Rotaract Society. It offers an opportunity for students to attend a somewhat sophisticated event (besides the complications of the partying which then ensues), to check out the latest ‘affordable’ fashion Galway City

shopping has to offer, and to spot the hotties that are due to become a daily distraction in the library during exam time.

The event however, is based on a more moral and credible basis than nice clothes and ridiculously goodlooking models. In previous years the event has managed to raise up to €24,000 for charities such as Croí and the Alzheimer Society. This year Rotaract have chosen Jigsaw, which is a free support group based in Galway City that provides confidential and personal support to young people between the ages of 15 and 26, and the Barretstown Centre which helps children who have been affected by serious illnesses.

Each year there is a great build-up to the show with a launch party, and flashy posters featuring the show’s models. The night itself is glamorous and entertaining.

Each year the show is set around a theme and a guest speaker (usually famous, at least by Irish standards) acts as presenter for the night. Along with models parading up and down the runway, there are intervals throughout the show where music, dancers and raffles take place for the audience’s entertainment.

Last year's show was run by Deirdre Kirwan, who is the fashion director again this time round. The show took place in the Áras na Mac Léinn with an overall

winter wonderland theme. It contained a lingerie section, had DJ Byrno providing music and the event raised hundreds of Euros for Aware.

So what has this year got to offer? I managed to get hold of the infamous and forever busy Eoin Keane, who is one of the event organisers, to get an insight into what to expect…

So Eoin, how are you? Nervous, stressed?

Let’s just say that Camel Blue are going to have high profit margins this month… but overall it’s been a very positive experience and I’m really looking forward to the show.

OK, so the basic questions first - where and when does the fashion show take place?

This year’s fashion show is going to be held in the Radisson SAS Hotel on the 18th November, which is a Thursday night. The show kicks off at 8pm and Trad Soc will be opening the event, which should be brilliant.

Why were Jigsaw and Barretstown chosen? And how much do you hope to raise for them?

Jigsaw and Barretstown were ultimately chosen because of the brilliant work they do in Ireland. I firmly believe that charity begins at home and I think this is a fun excuse to raise a couple of thousand and have a bit of craic in the process.

Previous years have had a theme, presenter, DJ, dancers…what are the plans for this year?

This year’s theme is New York Upper East Side, so we’re hoping to add a bit of class to the show, which

By Natasha Mc Gowan

I’m sure will go out the window of CPs! We also have Sinéad Ní Loideán who you’ll recognise from TG4, as our MC. She presents Féilte, An Aimsir and loads of other shows on the station. Sinéad is mental! She is really going to add a good buzz to the show. Also we have Trad Soc as I previously mentioned, Juggling Soc which will be something different, and Daithí Ó Drónaí as an interval act who you will recognise from

“Must Be The Music” on BBC and the All-Ireland Talent Show. We will also have Ireland’s national HipHop troupe, who represented Ireland at this year’s Hip Hop World Championships in Las Vegas. They are as famous for their dancing as they are for their skimpy outfits, so I’m looking forward to them anyway!

Where can people get tickets?

Tickets are on sale from today! They are €15 from the Socs Box. Included in the price is free entry into CP's which is where our after-party will be held. The party will continue long into the night I am sure... I certainly won’t be stopping!

And finally, what can the male and female readers expect from the models at this year's event?

Lots of wardrobe malfunctions… worth the price of the ticket at least!! And you never know, you might get the shift at the after party… you don’t need James Mahon to help you out with this one, lads and ladies!

Tickets are on sale from the 5th of November in the Socs Box which is located in Áras na Mac Léinn, next to the student bar. Tickets are only €15... you get a great and entertaining night, maybe pull a hottie and get to help out two worthwhile local charities- which would not hurt your karma before Christmas!

page 13

e d i u G l a v i v r u S y t Universi

By Valerie Hartnett

Part fou r:

t u O g n i o G

Dear Student, Session on! So you’re washed and dressed, shaved, waxed, plucked, made up, manicured, pedicured, and fragranced to within an inch of your life. In short, you’re transformed from an everyday scruffy student into a glittering social butterfly. And now to the pub! But before you head out, here’s a few things to think about.

Don’t go out alone. If you’re meeting friends in town, make sure you arrange to meet them somewhere public. Aim for a well-lit venue with plenty of pedestrians, like by the fountain in Eyre Square. Take a cab in to meet them if you’re by yourself, or feel anxious about walking in. Also, make sure your housemates know you’ve gone out. If you’re not coming back home, let them know. That way, if they don’t see you until the next day, they won’t worry about where you’ve got to.

Don’t bring more money out than you

actually need. A cab fare home is something you do need, and if you’re the sort of person who likes to go for food after a night out, remember to bring some money for that too. If you bring out lots of cash you’re a target for pickpockets. On top of that, with your judgement impaired by a drink or two, you’re more likely to spend it if you’ve got it on you. Also, don’t bring out anything too valuable that you’re worried about losing. If you wake up having lost your camera and phone you’ve lost more than just the item itself. Images, videos and phone numbers have an importance that you only realise once they’re gone. You don’t want to wake up regretting your stupidity.

Be wise about the amount you’re drinking. It’s recommended that men drink no more than 10 pints a week.

The weekly limit for women is seven pints. That’s two small glasses of wine or two measures of spirits. These units are based on pub measures, NOT your own guesstimate of what counts as a

measure. Bear in mind that your maximum intake is supposed to be spread out over the seven days and that staying in from Sunday to Friday doesn’t mean that you can blow your week’s units in one Saturday night session. Also it is worth remembering that everyone’s reaction to alcohol is different. People with a larger build can generally tolerate alcohol better than those who are slighter. People who drink frequently have more of a resistance to alcohol than those who drink less often. Get to know your own limits when it comes to drinking. Know how much you can safely handle.

Don’t accept drinks from people you don’t trust, and don’t leave your drink unattended. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Make sure you stay hydrated throughout the night. You’re in a warm pub (or club) and both the alcohol and those moves you’ve busted on the dance floor can leave you feeling quite thirsty! This means you need a pint.

Water, people, not beer! Having a few glasses of water over the course of the night flushes some of the toxins out of your system, and means you’ll suffer less the next day! Another tip to help beat the hangover is to avoid mixing different types of alcohol. Don’t drink in rounds, and don’t play drinking games. One rotten hangover should be enough to make you learn your lesson, but it’s easier to believe me than find out the hard way!

Stay safe! Don’t go off by yourself, or with strangers. Leave when your friends do, and never walk home by yourself, especially if it’s a dark or lonely walk. Get a cab, even if you’re leaving early. On that note, if you do go home early, tell your friends – it’s polite.

Enjoy your night – look out for me on the dance floor when they play “Bad Romance”!

Sincerely, An older and (allegedly) wiser student

page 14

Dear Agony Aunt,

by Grainne Coyne

After being single for what feels like forever, I

Overheard in NUIG

finally met a man. Things are going really well between us, but my friends are being so negative.

At first they said they were happy for me, but now

Eoin Grealis: One undergraduate lad to

they all go off and do things without me. They say

another at the counter in the College Bar:

I’ve dumped them for him, but now I feel like an

Lad 1: Hear you've got balls; will you ask if

outsider.

we can have the burnt pizza?

Bitterly Rejected, 22

Lad 2: (Slight pause) Ah yeah I'll do it.....Yeah

Dear Bitterly Rejected, How long have you been seeing this guy? The very early stages of a new relationship is normally the time when we tend to let older, more established relationships slide somewhat. But you need to make an effort with all of the people in your life, not just the newest ones. Your friends have hardly dumped you because you found somebody; you said yourself that they were happy when you first started this relationship. You need to ask yourself what’s changed. What’s caused them to behave this way? It might be easier to

Claire Bear: Girl 1: Did you hear the Chilean miners are out?

Girl 2: What? Tonight in Galway!

Conor Lane: Man 1: I’m heading into the steam room Man 2: The steam room's shite; the pool's class Man 1: But you can't swim!

say they’ve cut you off and lay the blame for this rift at their doors rather than investigate your own behaviour. Have you made an effort to see them, returned their calls, and taken an active interest in their lives? If you’ve let them all drop off your radar, you can hardly expect them to hang around waiting for you before they can live again. Start mending your bridges! If you’ve been a neglectful friend, face up to that fact sooner rather than later. You’ll have a lot of apologising to do, but a little effort on your part could go a long,

Michael O'Neill: Two girls in An Bialann.

Brunette: Guys, there’s a pigeon up in the

outside the library.

Girl 1: You know how people go into the library and get books and stuff.

Girl 2: Yeah?

Girl 1: Well, I don’t think I’m going do that.

Sinéad Carroll: Outside the Socs Box. Girl: Ugh, I hate that my Dad is in the same college, it's pure annoying seeing him everywhere. Guy: Yeah I suppose, but I'd say it's pure handy for getting the ride. Girl: What? Guy: I mean like, he gives yah a lift to college.

Lorna Smyth: Group of people surrounding one of the new bins outside the library: Girl 1: Oh look at this cool bin!

Girl 2: Wow... do they talk to you or what?

Concourse!

Blonde: Who's drinking in the Concourse?

Brunette: No...there’s a pigeon.

Blonde: There’s a drunk pigeon in the

long way.

Concourse?

Agony Aunt.

Michelle Hyland: First year Arts student

Aoife McGrath: Sitting in a psychology lecture, two girls behind me are talking to each other. Girl 1: Have you noticed that less people are coming to these lectures?

Girl 2: Yeah, it's because the hot guy isn't teaching us anymore.

LGBT in NUIG College is a popular time in a person’s life to start exploring their sexual feelings, but this is not so easy for the LGBT community. College is a time where many members of the LGBT community finally decide to “come out”, although many still stay in the closet.

But what does LGBT stand for? It includes lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. As most people know, to be “gay” is to have sexual feelings for someone of the same sex, and to be “bisexual” is to have feelings for both genders. Many people are sceptical towards bisexuals, thinking it to be greedy or desperate. (Of course, this is nonsense!) Transgenders are people who are born into the wrong body of their gender. Psychiatrists and physicians diagnose this as GID, Gender Identity Disorder. Literally, it is described as “a man in a woman’s body” or “a woman in a man’s body”.

Discovering that one is LGBT can be terrifying. There are startling statistics regarding a correlation between LGBT youth, depression, and suicide. However, it can also be an exciting experience, depending on your outlook. The key thing to do is NOT TO PANIC. Getting bogged down about it is not going to help, or make it go away. If you are scared or upset about realising it, a good idea is to talk to someone. While you may not feel ready to talk to your friends or family, there is counseling available (FREE!!) on campus to students. Don’t feel like you’re mentally ill to have to go to counseling; it’s just a good idea if you need someone to talk to. Talking about it can help you accept it and come to terms with it, which can be one of the hardest things in life to do.

If you feel that a friend may be LGBT, it is not a good idea to force them to come out and tell you. This could offend them, whether they’re LGBT or not, or even scare them. Simply wait for them to feel ready to come out to you. Don’t be offended if they don’t right away. However, if you feel that a friend may be

depressed, it IS a good idea to suggest counseling, or offer a listening ear.

However, never suggest that a friend may be LGBT. So why am I writing this article? It’s for anyone out there who’s scared, confused, concerned about a friend, or even didn’t know what LGBT stood for and confused it with BLT at Smokey’s one day. Of course, if any issue concerns or confuses you, as I mentioned there is counseling, or you can speak to the Student’s Union Equality officer, Robin Allen (su.equality@nuigalway.ie). Or you can speak to any committee member of GigSoc, NUIG’s LGBT society (it stands for Gay In Galway), (gigsoc@socs.nuigalway.ie). All of these people will deal with you in the strictest confidence. If you feel like attending any GigSoc event, you can also meet with a member one-on-one beforehand if you so wish, as an icebreaker.

Finally, just remember, DON’T PANIC! It’ll only make things worse. In the next issue I’ll be talking about coming out. Keep an eye out for it!

By Cillian Lineen

page 15

Our generation seems to have lost the rulebook when it comes to dating.

Back in the good ole’ days, it was the general consensus that you would meet your future significant other at the local dancehall. The boys would lean against the wall on the far side of the room chatting and coyly glancing over at the giggling girls. Maybe they would pluck up the courage to ask the object of their desire for a dance, if you please ma’am. At the end of the night, with her permission of course, he would walk her home and a ‘courtship’ might begin. By the second date, he might shyly lean in ‘for the kill’ before making sure she was safely at her doorstep by her curfew.

What a far cry from the dating world we are familiar with today. Town hall dances have been replaced by Cuba and the GPO. Waltzing to Thin Lizzy’s ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ has become a thing of the past. It’s Cheryl Cole and JLS who have become the soundtrack to nights out on the town – shockingly - by choice. However, the most distressing thing of all is the change in the way young men and women relate to each other. Respectfully asking a girl for a dance and timidly approaching for a kiss is an art form no longer undertaken by the men of the 21st century.

outside Supermacs. Then you are required to concentrate vividly to remember your respective numbers and finally exchange them. Following all of this the bleak reality is that you probably will only vaguely remember what he/she looks like in the ghastly morning light. That is, unless you wake up beside them. Oh dear. Cue intense

friend really likes this girl; to simplify, we’ll call him ‘Tim’ and the lady in question ‘Amy’. Tim was ranting on to me the other day about how Amy was giving him ‘mixed signals’, and playing ‘mind games’. I asked him why he didn’t just ask her out. Unsurprisingly, he practically guffawed at me. The concept of simply asking her out to see

clad, with sore feet as a result of 10” stiletto’s. Then going on to spend €60 in CP’s, with nothing but an empty wallet, a hangover, and bunions to show for it. I’m more of a pumps, jeans and gig girl myself (mainly because I don’t have the balance for stiletto’s or the endurance for Irish weather in a tank top), but meeting genuine guys

By Antoinette O’ Sullivan

M.I.A: Respect for Romance

A situation that most of us are probably more accustomed to is hearing a loud “Alright love?”, shouted by a random stranger (both men and women alike). As much as I’d like to claim that the fairer sex are just as ladylike and timid as our preceding generations, we can be just as drunken and debauched as our male counterparts.

I’m sad to say that I’ve yet to meet a potential boyfriend in a bookstore, as we discuss a mutual love for George Orwell or Yann Martel. I’ve never brushed hands with my prospective soul mate as we accidentally reach for the same mocha in Starbucks, as in most romantic comedies I’ve seen. The sad reality is that you’re more likely to meet someone in Galway under the neon lights of a UV party in the GPO or after 8 pints at a gig. The truth is, alcohol is almost always a factor in a rendezvous with a potential partner.

After meeting said potential partner, you share a drunken, sloppy kiss

mortification as you frantically search for your handbag....And your dignity.

By no means am I implying that every NUIG student has had the misfortune to end up in this scenario, but it’s not exactly uncommon.

How the male mind works is as much of a mystery to me now as when I was ten years old. Trying to understand what men want is difficult to most 22 year old women. In fact just as difficult as it is for men to understand what we want. As an example, my male best

a movie – or shock, horror – go for a walk, was as alien to him as the offside rule is to me. It just doesn’t seem to be the ‘done thing’ these days, even though -newsflash– being asked out to dinner by a good–looking guy is far more appealing than ‘scoring’ for ten minutes outside a nightclub.

So, for the single girl –or guy– it can prove quite difficult to actually meet someone worthwhile. I hate to generalise, but many girls feel that the only way to ‘score’ is by being scantily

can be just as hard. Don’t get me wrong, there are some lovely lads out there, but ‘dating’ and old fashioned ‘courtship’ has flown right out the window. Again, I hate to generalise, but it seems to be all about sex, scoring, and face-booking nowadays. It might be a breath of fresh air to take a different approach. The next time you have your eye on a hottie across the bar, instead of drunkenly leering at her and trying to lob the gob, remember that there’s ‘no school like the old school’.

SU Sessions Presents Apartment 44

The SU Sessions are proud to present Apartment 44. The Galway based band will be performing in the canteen at 6pm on Tuesday, November 2nd as part of Healthy Living Week.

Apartment 44 are a delightfully original and stirring potpourri of musicians. They offer up acoustic genius with verdant, melodic guitars and charming vocals brimming with

resonance and originality. If you’d like to hear more of their music check out their myspace page at www.myspace.com/apartment4orty4our

The SU Sessions are a free weekly event open to the public and hosted

by NUI, Galway Students’ Union in An Bialann (The Canteen) every Tuesday at 6pm. www.myspace.com/thesuses

Healthy Living Week 2010 Monday 1st November 12pm-2pm: Placard making for the National March in Áras na Mac Léinn.

2pm -5pm: MO-vies for Movember: Anchorman & Pulp Fiction in the Large Acoustic Room, Áras na Mac Léinn.

6pm: Beginners Archery Class in the Student Sports Centre.

7pm onwards: The Movember Clean Shave in the College Bar with barbers from Fat Tony’s providing shaves for the Mo Bros and DJ Paul Hannon.

Register online at http://ie.movember.com/mospace/559 972/ and join the NUI Galway Students’ Union team so we can become the hairiest college in Ireland.

We need all students, staff, Class Reps, lecturers, clubs, societies, friends and neighbours to take part and raise money for the Irish Cancer Society’s Action Prostate Cancer programme.

Tuesday 2nd November 11am – 5pm: Market Fair outside Áras na Mac Léinn – Falafel, Sushi, Crepes, Donuts and more.

11am – 3pm: Sláinte Soc 50 Cent Clinic & Coffee Morning in the Hub, Áras na Mac Léinn. Get your blood pressure checked and your BMI measured for only 50cent.

11am – 3pm: Free Evergreen

Movember

Healthfoods sampling in Áras na Mac Léinn.

2pm – 5pm: MO-vies for Movember: The Big Lebowski showing in the View, Áras na Mac Léinn.

6pm – 7pm: The SU Sessions present Galway band Apartment 44. Free gig in An Bialann (The Canteen).

8pm: Men’s Basketball in the Student Sports Centre.

Wednesday 3rd November 9am – 6.30pm: USI National March in Dublin Bus tickets €4 from the SU with your SU card includes return bus to Dublin, free t-shirt and food.

11am – 5pm: Market Fair outside Áras na Mac Léinn – Falafel, Sushi, Crepes, Donuts and more.

4pm: Beginners Archery Class in the Student Sports Centre.

Thursday 4th November 1pm: Beginners Archery Class in the Student Sports Centre.

8pm – 10pm: Comedy Soc gig with Tiernan Douieb & Foil Arms & Hog in IT125G. Tickets €5 from the SocsBox. Friday 5th November 7pm: Inline Hockey in the Student Sports Centre.

NUI Galway Students’ Union has joined forces with the “Movember” Campaign as part of Health Living Week. Movember aims to raise awareness of men’s health issues, particularly prostate cancer. The campaign also raises funds for Action Prostate Programme run by the Irish Cancer Society. Throughout the month of November, men are encouraged to grow a moustache or “Mo” and collect sponsorship from friends and family.

The NUI Galway Movember Campaign will start with a “Clean Shave” event in the College Bar on Monday 1st of

November. Galway’s Fat Tony’s Barbers will be on hand to ensure that all participants start the challenge with a clean shave. Students and staff alike then have one month to grow the most impressive “Mo”. For those of you that have not registered yet you can still sign up as a Mo Bro or a Mo Sista by joining Team NUI Galway Students' Union online:http://ie.movember.com/mospac e/559972/ . Here you can help us raise money for the Irish Cancer Society's Action Prostate Cancer Programme.

Student Assistance Fund

Students with Disabilities

Please note that application forms for this years Student Assistance Fund are now available on the NUI Galway Student Services website: http://www.nuigalway.ie/student_ser vices/student_assistance_fund.html.

More information is available from Emma at su.welfare@nuigalway.ie.

Applications must be submitted by the 18th of November.

To all Students with disabilities, even one that you don’t consider serious, it may be worth your while registering with the Disability Office before exams. This is confidential, and can be a huge support during exam time, and in some cases very necessary. The time to register for full support is very quickly disappearing, so it is imperative to register as soon as possible, as an assessment may be needed beforehand for the more complicated supports. For anyone who indicated a disability on their CAO, you are automatically registered. You can contact the Disability Officer on 087 91 493541 or e-mail elizabeth.walsh@nuigalway.ie.

WWW.SU.NUIGALWAY.IE | WWW.EDUCATIONNOTEMIGRATION.IE

Third level education is under serious threat in the budget this December. Possible increases in the Registration Fee and reductions in the grant would put third-level education beyond the reach of many.

After speaking with government TDs it is our understanding that the Government is considering increasing in the Registration Fee, which is currently ˡ1,500, to as much as €3,000 per student, per year. The Government is also considering a possible cut to the Student Grant of a further 5%, on top of the 5% cut made in the budget last year. Finally the Student Assistance Fund, which helps students in dire financial circumstances, may be cut.

Final decisions on these issues have not been made so we still have time to show that students are a powerful force. To prevent these potentially devastating cuts to third-level education we need all students to be active and make your voice heard over the coming weeks!

What can I do?

L TEL R TD YOU

Please tell your elected representatives that you think it's important to preserve access to third level education in the next budget.

www.tellyourtd.com allows you to send a letter to your TDs stating that education should be protected in Budget 2011.

All you have to do is fill out your name and address and the Students' Union will look after the rest!

It only takes a few seconds!

USI National March Wednesday 3rd November If you want to make your voice heard join us for the National Demonstration on November 3rd.

Thousands will march to show that education should not be seen as an easy target in December's budget. Everyone who takes to the streets adds strength to this message.

Students will congregate at Parnell Square at 12.30pm and from there, will march to Government buildings at Dublin 2. Guest speakers at the event will include USI President, Gary Redmond and a host of public representatives.

Buses will be leaving the Quad at 9.00am and will return at approx. 6.00pm. Tickets are just €4 available from the Students' Union. For this you will also get a t-shirt, lunch and a great day.

For more information check out www.su.nuigalway.ie or contact SU President Peter Mannion at su.president@nuigalway.ie

page 18

Be seen! Be safe!

Autumn is here and with it misty mornings and gloomy evenings. Lately there has been an increase in the number of pedestrians being killed on Irish roads it is hard not to imagine that there could be a correlation between the reduction in visibility and the rise in accidents.

Whether you are a pedestrian, cyclist or motorist, the importance of being seen on the road cannot be stressed enough.

Hi-Viz vests and a torch at night are imperative if you are walking, particularly where street-lighting is poor or non-existent. Remember the Green Cross Code – Watch, Look and Listen. Not using your mobile when crossing roads and only using iPod headphones in one ear, so you can hear traffic, will also keep you safe. Don’t be blind and deaf when using the road. And importantly, don’t trust drivers! Just because they aren’t using an indicator doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to suddenly turn a corner while you are crossing the road.

If you travel by bicycle, the rules of the road regarding visibility also apply to you! Front and rear lights are mandatory and should be used.

Wearing reflective armbands, belt or a jacket will increase your chances of being seen on the road. Dismount if crossing a road because, no more than the foot-sloggers, you can’t trust anyone driving a vehicle with more wheels than you! Blocking your ears to traffic with headphones is something else you need to avoid – hearing and sight are both equally important.

Bikers tend to be the best at using their lights, most now keeping dipped headlights on all the time. However, reflective clothing is always helpful, even if it does spoil the look of the leathers!

Now for motorists - It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that a

Personal Safety Tips October marks the third anniversary of the murder of Swiss student Manuela Riedo. While walking into the city to meet some of her friends, Manuela was subject to a brutal rape and murder. In light of this tragedy, it is important to create awareness on personal safety. Áine Mc Williams spoke to Garda Hugh Rodgers (Community Unit) about personal safety and how to be alert.

Prevention is best Students are encouraged to assess their personal safety and to take reasonable measures that can blend into everyday life without stimulating unnecessary fear. Please remember that most people go through life without ever encountering a personal safety problem so keep it in perspective.

Avoid situations, which will necessitate you travelling alone at night time. There is safety in numbers. If however, you must travel on your own, plan your journey to limit your exposure to risk of assault, robbery or theft, by scheduling your journey to coincide with bus and train times etc. Use a taxi if no other transport is available.

When travelling on foot, use busy routes and well lit walkways – avoid isolated and darkened areas. Inform another trusted party of your intended destination, mode of transport and expected arrival time.

Do not display obvious valuables on your person – jewellery, hand bags etc. unless completely necessary. Carry only the amount of cash that you require – credit cards, bank pass books should be kept securely out of sight and not in hip pockets.

When socialising other than at home, do not leave opened drinks unattended even for short periods unless a trusted friend is watching your drink for you.

Remember that campus sites are like any other public place and thieves

large proportion of Irish drivers have no idea what the lights on their cars are for. While we are inundated with advertisements and signs to help us reduce the carnage on our roads, the simple act of using the lights on our vehicles correctly seems to be beyond the scope of many road users.

The campaign encouraging drivers to be 'daylighted' is all very well, but how many actually know what ‘daylighted’ means?

While travelling in fog in the early morning recently I lost count of the number of 'invisible' cars on the road, whose drivers seemed to think that lighting up is a guideline rather than the rule. Some had made a half-hearted effort with a lone parking light showing dimly as they came within a few metres. Most didn't seem to know that cars are equipped with rear fog lights but, more frightening was the number of drivers that didn't even bother to show any lights at all.

The rules of the road state clearly the times when dipped headlights (not parking lights) should be used and, even if you aren't a practitioner of the sensible procedure of keeping them on all the time, every driver should be fully aware that during times of poor visibility such as: dusk and dawn, heavy rain, mist and fog, snow and sleet or even on a heavily overcast day, it is mandatory to switch on. It's not for nothing that the NCT fails many cars on their lights. Being visible on the road as well as being able to see where you are going is a major part of road safety.

So the next time you are on the road, on foot, or two or four wheels, remember that you need to be seen and able to see and hear – it could save lives including your own!

By Barbara Preston

GALWAY GARDAI 091 538000 EMERGENCY NUMBERS 999/112 will take advantage of students leaving property unattended in libraries, lecture theatres, restaurants and changing rooms.

If you think you are being followed, go to the nearest place where there are people, even a private house and contact the Gardaí. If you are assaulted, help is available to you 24 hours a day. In any case involving sexual attack, you should NOT wash, change your clothes or clean up the immediate vicinity until after you have talked to the Gardaí as you may unwittingly destroy essential evidence.

Security of Your Accommodation Ensure your apartment and house doors are locked at all times. When vacating your accommodation, check to ensure that all windows are locked. Never give your keys to anyone else and do not leave your keys where others could have access to them. Before you admit any callers to your accommodation, ensure you are satisfied with their identity – ask for identification if in doubt.

Inform a trusted neighbour if you are going away. Ensure that you do not have obvious signs of vacant accommodation – curtains drawn during daylight hours etc. Ensure that all your property is marked with your own personal identification code. Items of value should be securely locked away. Always lock outside doors. The main entrance is the first line of defence to your property. Close your curtains after dark.

Act on any suspicions you have, don’t dwell on them. Let the professionals share your suspicions. Never reveal you are alone. If you receive strange, threatening or abusive phone calls, contact the Gardaí / Campus Security Personnel. Don’t be afraid to check the ID of unfamiliar people. Don’t let strangers in or hold doors open for strangers who are arriving as you are leaving. Use the door chain on your room door.

By Áine Mc Williams

page 19

OMG, Americans in NUIG We are strangers here, invading the NUIG campus for months at a time. We come and try to adjust but try as we might there are still some things we just can’t get right. We’re American students studying abroad and it’s not too hard to pick us out in a crowd.

We talk a little different, dress a little different, act a little different and even though we try to blend in… we stick out.

Since the beginning of the semester we visiting students have been trying to fit in. We learned very quickly that our baseball hats and North Face jackets are dead giveaways. We’ve worn our athletic shorts on the walk home from the gym and had upwards of seven cars honk at us. We’ve been called lesbians on a Wednesday night because we thought it would be

okay to wear jeans to CP’s.

We’ve gone to Dunnes and Tesco, done all our food shopping and then, at the check out, remembered you actually have to bring your own bags. Have you ever seen someone try, singlehandedly, to carry a weeks worth of groceries back to Gort na Coiribe? It is quite the spectacle.

In addition to the “mistakes” we seem to make on a daily basis we’ve also found ourselves in situations where we just cant seem to understand what is being said to us.

It’s not an issue of accents; we learned quickly to decipher the Irish accent. There are certainly still moments where a

conversation will pick up speed and we’ll end up totally lost, left only to nod and smile and hope someone slows down. But the little words that are strange to us provide the most entertaining tales. For instance, “craic”. The first time I overheard someone ask “Was it good craic last night?” I had to pause for a moment because, to me, it sounded like this person was asking if there were good drugs at the party last night. See, in the States the word “crack” pronounced like “craic” refers to cocaine, that nasty drug you

definitely want to stay away from. Of course my American peers and I quickly learned “craic” is something we definitely want to find whenever we can.

We’ve only been here for a few months and the cultural differences are very obvious. I’m sure we’ve provided you with a few laughs here and there as we struggle to figure out what is right and what is wrong here in Galway. There will certainly be more and more American blunders to share.

One can only imagine what will happen to us next…

By Kaylyn O’Brien

page 20

We’ve Got to Fight for Our Rights to Study It’s not the constant uphill battle of applying for and accepting a course.

It’s not even running the gauntlet of our Local Education Authorities to see if we qualify for financial support. It’s society.

Those of us who’ve put time and effort into furthering our educations, or who are returning to University after a hiatus of travelling/working/living in the real world are often met with an indignant “WHAT? You’re still in college?!” Even worse, the indulgent “God you students have a great life, what will you do when it’s time to grow up?” etc. etc. when asked what we’re doing with our lives. Oh, it puts many a fine set of fiacla on edge…….

Being a student isn’t as easy as all that.

The romanticised notion of the student having zero responsibilities is so prevalent amongst those outside the collegiate bubble, that to them the term “poor student” seems to exist in name only.

Here’s the deal: We have deadlines to meet. We have schedules to attend to.

We have rules to follow, and standards to uphold. We sit at desks and take notes, develop ideas, and write papers.

Sound like the real world yet? OK so we don’t have fancy titles for what we do, and we can’t delegate our workload, but being a student is a fulltime occupation without the full-time salary. So yes, we are poor. The stereotypical poor student image exists for a reason. Whether your scholar is dressed in scruffy old clothes and can afford all their books, or is kitted out in the latest looks and quietly starving on a diet of apples and bread, you can rest assured that everyone’s cutting corners with their cash somewhere in these hallowed halls of learning. It’s a fine balancing act of trying to make our finite cash cover an infinite amount of costs: rent, bills, food, books, printing, photocopying, class materials, clothes (we can hardly go naked), and that’s not including late library fines, socialising, or that scary phone bill throbbing illicitly on the shelf that I’m afraid to open…

That’s not including the part-time job to keep a roof over our heads plus whatever we’re having in the fridge.

Yes, it gives us a little more cash to play around with, but it cuts days out of our free time. All that fine “Grey’s Anatomy” time is taken up with work!

Grr! Oh and study time cut too, don’t forget. So with school, work, assignments, and everyday household chores, there aren’t enough hours in the day! I was promised days of uninterrupted leisure time! Just me on the couch with my duvet and Ellen DeGeneres on the telly! That’s what I was told it would be like this year!

Nobody mentioned the sheer amount of effort it takes just to get through the basic coursework for a Master’s.

Oh, wait. It was people in the real world who spun me those idyllic tales.

Figures.

The balancing act is bloody hard work, and furthering our education means we get to do it for longer. The other day, my dad asked me, in all seriousness, whether I wouldn’t consider “the oul’ PhD” once I finish my Master’s. Arrah, sure, why not, I can’t envision a free moment for the next 12 months, with college and work. Why not throw another 4 years on top of that, sure I’d knock a bit of craic out of it. Seriously, though, as students, most of us only have plans that stretch as long as our submission deadlines. Asking anything further of us while we’re mired in academic and financial quandaries is a little bit much.

And making us justify our lack of free time starts to wear a bit thin after a while. Receiving the full benefit of this very fine education takes its time, you know. And I can think of far better ways to employ that time than defending my continued study to people who couldn’t care less about the reality of college life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think Glee is on…

By Valerie Hartnett

By Conor Lane

With the United States putting pressure on England to keep its military budget at a level that is in keeping with the NATO agreement, it got me thinking: what would happen to Ireland if it were to switch its stance from military neutrality to nonneutrality? What is a military for? Is it the attempt of a country to show how mighty it is? Is it a sign of great efficiency or a way of promoting a feeling of security? Take the US, which accounts for almost half of the total expenditure for military expenses around the globe. Over $600 billion spent every year keeps America as what can only be described as top dog.

You might think that a great military is the sign of a powerful nation. Yet how the tables have turned in recent years, as China, which spends one-sixth of what America spends on its military forces, is now the main creditor to the top dog. So it’s clear that a great economy is a driving force in whether or not a country is considered powerful. Throughout history, the nation that had a strong force was the nation that had all of the say, whether it was Spain sending Columbus for a little trip or the Romans burning the

IrIsh Defence forces candle at both ends. At the time, these civilizations made their economies great through force of arms.

At one stage in the world history index, the only significant fact that could separate countries was the size of their populations. It was the countries with the larger populations that were able to have consequential influences in the shaping of the great powers -- manpower as it were. Ireland has never had a large population and yet through education and hard work it grafted itself into a literary culture and socially stable nation. As everyone knows, though, it didn’t come easily.

We are in a different era now and the fact that the Irish Defence Forces budget is around the €1 billion mark, which gives it a ranking of 59th in the world, is an indication of the changes, and since it only accounts for 1 % of Ireland’s GDP, it’s not exactly draining finances. Ireland may not be part of NATO but if we were to be faced with

an invasion (unlikely) from a foreign enemy too powerful to resist, it’s generally thought that it wouldn’t be too long before help in the shape of our American cousins would come to the fore.

The Irish Defence Forces are made up of 10,000 active personnel and up to 12,000 reserve personnel. The force is made up of the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service and reserve defence force.

Although Ireland is a neutral country, there have been questions raised over the usage of its airspace and the allowance of refueling other countries’ planes while they are at war. Irish politicians have always maintained that such allowances in no way contradict their stance on neutrality.

So when the budget is announced in December, do you think the Government’s spending on the Defence Forces should be slashed, just like everything from health to education? It’s a tough decision to

page 21

make. The Naval Service is certainly needed to protect Irish fishing borders but should Ireland be spending valuable money on peacekeeping missions to faraway countries when there are enough problems here? How can one be sure?

The question this leads to is simple: would an active and heavily funded military make Ireland any more of a force in the world? Simply put, it wouldn’t. A reputation as a peacekeeping country has helped build respect for Ireland amongst other nations. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan praised this country’s humanitarian efforts and assistance to countries in desperate need of help. A larger army for Ireland would be futile and unnecessary. It would waste time and money. What Ireland needs to do is to bring its economy back to the way it was and while that may be many decades away, it was during the times of the Celtic Tiger that Ireland was envied the world over. Bringing back the Irish economy should be a focal point and the Defence Forces might need to be diminished along with everything else to make that happen.

page 22

Oh No She Did Not!

By Miceala O’Donovan

How to kick your addiction to bitching once and for all your friend in the face for always being late. If you can’t control your anger and are abusive or violent, you should visit the counsellor on campus who can help.

Basically, there are four ways of communicating a problem.

“Assertiveness” involves confronting the person responsible in a calm, respectful way. You state how you feel about whatever it is that they have done, and discuss it without attacking or insulting them. Everything is then out in the open, and everyone can get over it, move on, and end up being better friends as a result. Sounds lovely right? Sadly, it probably sounds pretty unfamiliar to some of you too.

I don’t admit this often, but Mean Girls is one of my favourite films ever. I can actually recite long passages of dialogue from it, as shameful as that is, and I enjoy it now as much as I did when I was thirteen. For those of you who haven’t seen Mean Girls (ie. philistines), the story revolves around Cady and her new friend Regina. Cady fancies the arse off Regina’s ex, Aaron.

Regina shifts Aaron in front of her.

Understandably, Cady’s head nearly explodes with rage. But instead of telling Regina to feck off, she pretends that she isn’t angry at all and that

everything is fine. She then attempts to ruin Regina’s life in revenge, by giving her “diet bars” that actually cause her to gain weight, turning all her friends against her and, in one memorable scene, cutting two boob shaped holes in her top. All while being as nice as pie to Regina’s face.

So what would have happened if Cady had been more honest about how she felt? Well, the film would have been pretty boring, but the characters would probably have been a lot happier. Unfortunately, one reason the movie is so compelling is because the audience can relate to it. We all know someone who deals with anger in this way, and we might even do it ourselves.

Many of us deal with issues we might have in a less healthy way. “Passive” behaviour involves being, well, a bit of a doormat. The anger felt is never expressed, and resentment gradually builds up instead. An example of this came up recently when my friend was doing a project for college with another girl who didn’t contribute much to it. “Lazy Girl” was then given more of the credit for the work than my friend, who was pissed off, but never actually said anything. Her excuse for this was “if I give out to her, it will make things awkward.” A lot of people share her irrational fear of “awkwardness” and don’t realise that when there is an issue that hasn’t been addressed, a huge elephant in the room basically, the awkwardness created far exceeds what would result from being assertive.

This is may be because, when some people hear the word “confrontation”, they imagine shouting, name-calling, maybe even violence. This is not being assertive, it’s being aggressive, and this article is not advocating shouting profanity at housemates if they don’t wash up after themselves or punching

Finally we move on to nasty old “passive aggression”. Instead of being direct about whatever has hurt them, a passive aggressive person will try to get revenge in other ways, like bitching about you to friends, using “the silent treatment” or insulting you and then pretending that it was an innocent remark. I once had a friend like this, which was less than fun to say the least. When I confronted her to find out what the problem was, she was so unused to confrontation that she was unable to handle it. She reacted by never speaking to me ever again. As we still had to live together for the next two months, the whole horrific experience taught me a valuable lesson. If someone is mean to you without any reason, you are probably not the cause of their anger. It’s better to just spend less time with them instead of having it out, particularly with housemates. People who you should never confront either include: your boss, your boyfriend/ girlfriend’s parents and the bouncers in CP’s.

Many of us are scared to criticize our loved ones behaviour for fear of looking like a bitch, causing a rift in our group or even losing a friend. Does it not make more sense though, to be upfront about what is bothering us, let them have their say on the topic and clear the air? To me, the real Mean Girls are the ones who will whinge about you behind your back or cause lots of tension and confusion by pretending that things are cool, when they clearly are not. A tiny grievance that goes unaddressed can easily ruin a relationship. The resentment builds up and pretty soon, absolutely everything they do or say annoys you, which causes another thing to bitch about. So is whatever started it off worth ruining a friendship over? If not, take a deep breath, sit them down and begin with “You know I love you but…” It’s easier than you think.

campus digest Vowel Movement After a lengthy search, the NUI Galway Writers’ Society has found a publisher for a collection of original writing by students from the university.

‘Read Between the Tiles: Cock Fun Serious!!! And Other Stories’ is a selection of poetry and prose from the toilet cubicles of NUIG. Trout, an Irish publisher, have confirmed that they will be releasing the collection in hardback at the end of November. A spokesman for the company said: “Over the past ten years, Trout has been publishing some of the most exciting new Irish poets. We are delighted to be publishing ‘Read Between the Tiles’, a powerful scatological homo-erotic-cum personalclassifieds rape-fantasy-whiletaking-a-poo-with-a-biro.

The behatted Writers’ Soc auditor, Mr. E Figure, who wished to remain enigmatic is also delighted with the deal: “Yea, whoop deffo tea, there’s something… haha… so visceral about these, those, this, their, there, they’re, I before e except after tea hahaha (ag gáire). Sometimes I’ve sat for hours in the jacks just devouring the stuff. It’s so real, so raw, in the old bogs no less, brilliant, bogs, bogtrotter, Bruch Bogtrotter, Billy the Whizz and the Bash Street Kids in The Beano, The Beano, now there’s proper literature”,

Movember Students unwilling (or unable) to grow a moustache this ‘Movember’ are being encouraged to show their support by taking part in one of the four ‘No Pants Fridays’ scheduled for NUI Galway this November.

While growing a moustache is a suitably embarrassing sacrifice for people to make to show that they care, the reality is that half the population aren’t (or at least shouldn’t be…) in a position to grow one and this precludes them from lending their weight to the campaign to raise funds for Testicular Cancer.

So, The Students’ Union have come up with the novel idea of ditching trousers one day a week and letting our hairy legs, knobbly knees and wibbly thighs do the talking. The campaign is aimed at both males and females and students and staff of all

page 23 he said.

Others are less enthusiastic, however.

Dean Douglas of Latrine Hygiene, the company contracted by NUIG to wipe your skids off the porcelain, bemoaned what he saw as the immortalization of vandalism: “Raaaarrrgh! I see this as the immortalization of vandalism!” he roared like a pterodactyl swooping down on a chicken. “…and if there’s one thing I’ve had it up to my big buttery face with, it’s the immortalization of vandalism.

Aaaargh! Noooo! This will just encourage more of it. And it’s so hard to get rid of, the ink soaks into the grout, you can’t wipe it clean, like, you can wipe the tiles and no one ever answers when you call the numbers. I hate it. I HATE IT, I HATE IT, AND I HATE IT!” Writers’ Soc auditor sees it differently though: “The thing about the books, is that the only good books, are the books, where the people in the books, kill everything and take drugs and have sex and kill women and there’s blood and drugs everywhere and they stick heroin syringes into their eyeballs.

They’re the only books that are actually like real life. This toilet movement is the natural progression from stuff like Burroughs and that scene in American Psycho where Christian Bale makes the rat go up your one’s clunge”.

‘Read Between the Tiles: Cock Fun Serious!!! And Other Stories’ is released on November 9th, priced €5.

ages, shapes and sizes are being encouraged to take part.

President Browne had been earmarked as a model for a publicity shoot due to take place early this week but the controversy over Paul the Octopus has made it highly unlikely that he will risk further ridicule by allowing himself to be photographed without his pants.

Anyone willing to volunteer for a press call in the Quad on Wednesday 3rd November is asked to contact Richard, Sin’s editor, as soon as possible.

Pants-less fundraisers will be roaming the campus armed with collection buckets each Friday in November, so please give generously…

(PS. The Students’ Union has kindly asked us to remind people that underwear must be worn; modesty is still called for despite the naughty nature of the campaign - the idea is not simply to have hundreds of students flaunt their genitalia willynilly…)

I bet he didn’t see that coming…

Reporters at Sin were this week saddened to learn of the death of Paul the Octopus who died peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 26th October.

Sin’s grief however, was nothing compared to President Jim Browne’s embarrassment and indignation after it since emerged that he had put pen to paper on a lucrative multi-million euro deal to bring the talismanic octopus to NUI Galway just hours before Paul met his maker.

Sin has learned that after years of lobbying for such a project to be approved, President Browne acceded to a request from The Marine Science Institute that the 4 glass structures above the newly-refurbished canteen should be turned into mini aquariums.

That, however, was only half the story.

In an astounding twist, it seems that the outdoor aquarium was destined to be home to none other than World Cup legend Paul the Octopus.

Having met the mystic octopus’s advisers at the inaugural ‘All-You-CanEat Bobby Sands Commemoration Barbecue’ held in the French city of St Étienne in early October. President

Browne moved quickly to net the leggy soothsayer as the galactico signing that he believed was needed to capture the public’s imagination and raise awareness of, and interest in, the outdoor aquarium project.

However, far from being the toast of the university, President Browne is now coming in for harsh criticism for squandering precious funds and for bringing the proud name of NUI Galway into disrepute. A tense legal battle is underway with President Browne refusing to sanction the release of the funds promised to Paul’s previous owners. A university insider this week said: “Jim believes that he has been taken for a ride and considers it more than a little coincidental that the octopus should die only hours

after finalising the contract. As far as he’s concerned, the deal is off - it was null and void as soon as himself died.

No-one wants a dead feckin’ octopus floating around in their fishtank. That wasn’t in the brochure, so, I have to say I’m with Jim 100% on this one”.

So, what should have been a major coup for the university has now become a PR disaster with NUI Galway embroiled in a bitter dispute that will, no doubt, run for quite some time.

In the meantime, may we express our sadness at the loss of a truly great individual who brought so much joy to all our lives. Rest in peace, Paul.

Writers’ Page

page 24

Know when you are wrong,

Know that you are special,

A lesson you’ll learn,

To yourself be true.

You’re not always right.

More special than you think,

Life isn’t easy,

Listen to the voice

Even if you are

Love yourself, then others,

It will twist and turn.

Living inside of you.

Try to be polite.

That’s the special link.

Life’s one big story,

Dance to your own music,

Forget regret.

One day you’ll grow up,

You’ve got the main role,

Dance to your own beat,

You are who you are.

See through older eyes,

You’ve got your own body,

Keep on dancing though

Learn from your travels,

Trust me on this one

A mind and a soul.

You may have two left feet.

Then you’ll go far.

Time just fleetly flies.

You write your own story.

Try not to care what

A hard thing to learn

Live life to the full,

Hold your pen with care,

Other people think,

Is people disappoint

It is one great ride,

The choices you choose

Float up to the top,

Don’t feel small, stand up tall,

Chopping and changing,

Could lead you anywhere.

Don’t let yourself sink.

Forgiving is the point.

Just flow with the tide.

Sometimes you will find

You’ve never lived

There’ll be times when you’re up,

So there you have it,

That you’re back at the start,

Unless you’ve ever tried,

Times when you’re down.

Life’s one hullabaloo,

Or lost in the middle,

Cried until you’ve laughed

Remember the ups

Ever-changing and wonderful,

But do not lose heart.

Or laughed until you’ve cried.

To rid your sad frown.

Just like YOU!

It’s an adventure,

When you hit a wall

One thing to mention

Who knows where you’ll go!

Try not to break through,

Remember to be kind.

Go at your own pace,

Walking around it

Kindness is the greatest -

Be it fast or slow.

Is what you should do.

Gift that you’ll find.

Changes come quickly,

Worrying worry

Chase your one big dream,

Some rough and some smooth,

Is a waste of time,

Do it now or hold your peace,

Rocking and riding,

Save yourself worry

Only you can do it,

Swaying to each mood.

Get on with life’s climb.

Don’t let that dream cease.

If I was to give you

Sorry is a word that you

Love is the greatest

Some ‘don’ts’ and some ‘dos’,

Must learn how to say,

Best feeling of all,

You could take my advice

Try not to have to use it,

Grab a hold of it,

Or simply refuse.

But learn it anyway.

Don’t be afraid to fall.

Cross-legged

I sit cross-legged on the balcony staring, My eye caught on a handsome stranger, He takes his job seriously, the kids Listening intently with hungry eyes

Such a strong character, self esteem Resonating around the glass room,

Drooping

Be true to yourself,

Life’s one Hullabaloo!

Here’s a life lesson,

What quiet hours that pass away, Leaving the heart pound faithfully In its encasement, Slowly our eyelids droop, Weary from the memorised scene Of work and stress, Of pain and worry,

No fear or doubt on his creased face,

We turn our heads if it’s not us

He knows who he is without question

Yet stumble wilfully when mentioned, Our acknowledgement only for Certain aspects of existence

The Societies Page

page 25

Dansoc Salsa Time: 18:00 - 19:00 Venue: The Cube, Aras Na Mac Leinn

TUESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER Lotus Society Intermediate Yoga!

Time: 07:40 - 08:50 Venue: The View

Physics Soc Science Ball 2010 Time: 19:00 - 23:59 Venue: Galway Bay Hotel

Dramsoc Dramsoc Committee Meeting Time: 13:00 - 14:00 Venue: Meeting Room 2

Comedy Soc Tiernan Douieb with Foil, Arms & Hog Time: 20:00 - 22:00 Venue: IT125G

Organic Gardening Society Open Garden Time: 13:00 - 14:00 Venue: Organic Garden - Distillery Road, to left of Security Building Rock Soc Rock Soc EGM Time: 16:00 - 17:00 Venue: large acoustic room, Aras na Mac Leinn Lotus Society Beginners Yoga!

Time: 17:15 - 18:15 Venue: The Space Poker Poker Tournament Time: 18:00 - 23:59 Venue: The View Polish Society Polish Language and Culture Course 2 Time: 18:00 - 20:00 Venue: Block S, Room 109 Juggling Soc Weekly Workshop & Practice Time: 18:00 - 20:00 Venue: Áras Na Mac Leinn Dansoc Intermediate Hip Hop Time: 18:00 - 19:00 Venue: The Cube, Aras Na Mac Leinn Choral Soc Weekly Rehearsal Time: 18:00 - 20:00 Venue: College Chapel FLAC Society Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) Clinic Time: 18:00 - 19:30 Venue: Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 Áras Na Mac Leinn (directly about the help desk on 2nd floor as you enter Áras Na Mac Leinn ) Sinn Fein Soc Ogra Shinn Fein Soc Time: 19:00 - 20:00

FRIDAY 5TH NOVEMBER Venue: AC 216 - Down Behind the Bank Of Ireland

Time: 19:00 - 21:00 Venue: The View

Dansoc Ballet Time: 19:00 - 20:00 Venue: The Cube, Aras Na Mac Leinn

Lotus Society Intermediate Yoga!

Time: 19:30 - 21:00 Venue: C223, School of Chemistry

German Soc Filmabend Time: 19:00 - 21:00 Venue: AM200

DJ Soc Weekly meeting and lessons Time: 19:30 - 21:30 Venue: the cube Aras na Mac Leinn

Musical Society (GUMS) NUIG's Got Talent; Heat Time: 20:00 - 23:00 Venue: College Bar

Comic Book Society Comic Soc - Comics Writing Workshop!

Time: 19:30 - 21:30 Venue: Meeting Room 2, Áras na Mac Léinn

Life Society Life Society's Soccer Team Meeting Time: 20:00 - 21:00 Venue: Áras na Mac Léinn WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER

Art Soc Comic Book Drawing Class Time: 19:30 - 21:30 Venue: The Art Room, Aras na Mac Leinn

Physics Soc Science ball tickets on Sale Time: 10:00 - 18:00 Venue: Socs Box

Postgrad Soc Table Quiz Time: 20:00 - 23:59 Venue: back room of the College Bar

Dansoc Beginners Hip Hop CANCELLED TODAY! Time: 18:00 - 19:00 Venue: The Cube, Aras Na Mac Leinn

THURSDAY 4TH NOVEMBER

Lotus Society Beginners Yoga!

Time: 18:15 - 19:15 Venue: C223, School of Chemistry Dansoc Breakdancing CANCELLED TODAY! Time: 19:00 - 20:00 Venue: The Stage, Aras Na Ma cLeinn Dramsoc Staged & Confused

Lotus Society Beginners Yoga!

Time: 07:40 - 08:50 Venue: The View DJ Soc Open Decks Time: 12:00 - 17:00 Venue: large acoustic room, Aras na Mac Leinn Juggling Soc Practice Session Time: 18:00 - 20:00 Venue: No suggestions found

Organic Gardening Society Open Garden Time: 13:00 - 14:00 Venue: Organic Garden - Distillery Road, to left of Security Building Postgrad Soc Pizza and Pitcher Time: 17:30 - 23:00 Venue: college bar SATURDAY 6TH NOVEMBER Life Society Viva la Vida Pro-Life Youth Conference Time: All Day Venue: Griffith College Dublin ISS International Students Society Overnight trip to Belfast Time: 01:00 - 23:59 Venue: Belfast Camara Society Camara computer drop-off Time: 10:00 - 18:00 Venue: 18 Distillery Road galway@camara.ie http://green.camara.ie/ +353 91 495336 +353 87 4139367 SUNDAY 7TH NOVEMBER Life Society Viva la Vida Pro-Life Youth Conference Time: 00:00 - 17:00 Venue: Griffith College Dublin ISS International Students Society Overnight trip to Belfast Time: 00:00 - 01:00 Venue: Belfast

music reviews

page 26

‘Carl Barât’ Album Carl Barât attempts to mesh visionary ideas,

Regrette’. It uses the usual indie rock formula of fast

autobiographic lyrics and jazzy piano in his new album

pounding drums and dynamic guitars. An imaginative

‘Carl Barât’. The album was released on his own record

piano also compliments the songs quirky arrangements.

label Arcady on 4th of October 2010. Mostly arranged

The gentle melodies of ‘Carve My Name’ seem to

on a classical piano the record comes across differently

contrast most with the cut-throat songs Carl has wrote

to any of his other work. As always there are emotional,

before this. However the song speaks artistically and

personal and powerful messages but the music that

cleverly, a great example of how he decided to try and

wraps around these lyrics is much more fragile. Album

create a new sound for himself.

opener ‘The Magus’ sounds like some kind of medieval jingle to accompany a Shakespeare play. The song

The first single off the record was ‘Run with the Boys’

boldly states "men can be animals, savages and

the song is catchy and sounds classy and vintage. The

together, the lyrics are the personal and urgent. The

cannibals, keep your wits about you". These kinds of

most interesting song on the album has to be the epic

album pleasantly reminds you of the skill and craft that

lyrics simply wouldn’t work with other artists but a

‘The Fall’, it is hard to tell what the inspiration is for

went into the libertines and so it should bode well with

figure like Carl can pull them off with ease.

this fairytale like song but its presented in such a

fans, but only time will tell what will become of the

mysterious and charming way it’s certainly going to

Arcadian poets.

enthral you. ‘So Long, My Lover’ glues the album

By Shane Leonard

One of the more gripping tracks is ‘Je Regrette Je

Gaga for Gaga Everyone’s favourite exhibitionist, Lady Gaga hit Dublin

her new album “Born This Way”, her

last Tuesday 26th October with her new Monster Ball

voice is absolutely astounding live.

tour and it certainly did not disappoint. To quote one of her hits, I was Speechless leaving the 02. After two solid

Her interaction with the crowd was

hours of glitter, raunchy dancing and amazing music, I

amazing, she was shaking hands to beat

must say that lunatic deserves every penny she makes.

the band and donning everything that was thrown at her, including a

Seriously, I can’t stop raving about it. There were no

questionable pair of y fronts. I was taken aback by her

this world, there clearly isn’t a hamstring between them.

meat dresses and no diva antics, just amazing stage sets

humbleness, she constantly thanked the audience(her

The costumes were brilliant, my favourite being a bra

and raw talent. She had the crowd in absolute awe,

‘little monsters’) for their support and let me tell you

top that shot out sparks during her rendition of

everyone was prancing and dancing around doing the

there were some seriously hardcore fans present. The

Paparazzi...must get one of those for my next night out

famous ‘monster claw’, even Louis Walsh joined in the

pit was a sea of white blonde wigs, leotards and giant

in CPs. Even if you hated Lady Gaga you would have

frenzy. She banged out all the hits to the extremely

bows, with several people sporting tshirts from previous

enjoyed the night, we overheard a granny (there were

diverse audience, pulling out all the stops with Bad

dates in Ireland and abroad, and I can see why they came

loads there) in the queue for the Luas afterwards

Romance to celebrate its one year anniversary. Gaga’s

back for more.

claiming “she’s stone mad but great craic”... I couldn’t

sheer talent was obvious when she sat down at the

The dancing was absolutely flawless, the shapes that

have put it better myself.

piano to sing her slower songs and give a teaser from

were thrown by her scantily clad dancers were out of

By Aisling Scally

Drama: A Night in November A Night in November by Marie Jones follows Kenneth

portraying an entire crowd at a football match.

Aoife Noone’s focus on narrative saved the play from

Norman McAllister, a middle-class Protestant dole

Simmons gave a subtle, restrained performance

the twin traps of sermonising and self-congratulation

clerk in 90s Belfast. Kenneth has calmly discriminated

throughout: engaging and holding his audience

that have so crippled other productions. Though its

against Catholics his entire life, delighting in the

without overplaying characterisation. At times this

finale lacked punch, the play was completely engaging

opportunities for pettiness his job affords him.

restraint may have worked against him, particularly in

and entertaining throughout, benefitting from a

However, a World Cup Qualifier between the North

some of the more heated and dialogue-heavy scenes.

minimalist set and lighting design that kept the focus

and the Republic brings him face to face with the ugly

On the whole, however, he succeeded in creating

firmly on the actor.

realities of sectarianism causing him to question his

audience empathy for deeply bigoted characters that

The challenge of Jones’ play lies in the maturity and

identity as a British Protestant in Ireland. Jones has

in the wrong hands would otherwise have been

virtuosity it requires from its director and actor. This

one actor play her dozen or more characters to

unsympathetic.

production met that challenge head on, creating a

literalise this internal conflict.

show very different from the usual Dramsoc fare. That A Night in November is a play with a message and,

this is Noone’s directorial debut is only the more

Though the show got off to a slow start, it was soon

like all political theatre, it walks a fine line between

impressive.

in full swing with actor Ben Simmons impressively

telling a story and preaching to its audience. Director

By Samuel Ferry

tech reviews

page 27

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor is available to buy now for €44.99 from HMV Galway

Arriving late to the “modern day combat” fad, one that

to them (and trust me there are few things

has long since reached other household names such as

as satisfying as removing an insurgents

Call of Duty and Battlefield, EA brings back to life the

head with a shotgun) but all the realism of

previously dormant WWII franchise and drops it in the

the Special Forces “breach and clear”

Middle East. It even has the cojones to say you’re in

manoeuvres is lost, when the game is so

Afghanistan and that those people you are shooting at

reliant on action movie set pieces and

are indeed the Taliban.

exploding helicopters. I mean really, could they at least let it happen once that the

The game takes place over the course of two days in

chopper you’re about to jump out of

the 2002 campaign, in the Shahikot valley shortly after

doesn’t get shot down?

the invasion of Afghanistan, and flicks back on forth between a Special Forces operative, a covert ops sniper

It’s important to note that once you take

and a run of the mill ranger. While I have to admit, it is

away the bugs (of which there are many), the un-

All in all, there is a lot to offer here from EA. The game

refreshing to have a backdrop based on real events, it’s

interesting characters, and sparsely spaced checkpoints,

may be full of clichés, from General Arsehole using

unfortunate to see that the story and characters are

Medal of Honor is actually a really fun game. In essence

Skype across the Atlantic to give really dumb orders, to

never really fleshed out. I was aware at one point that

it is just running from point A to point B, killing all

the “leave no man behind”. Marines who will end up

we were fighting Chechens, but I never really

enemies in between and making sure to trigger all the

having ten men killed for the sake of saving two, but it

understood why and that’s coming from someone who

scripted sequences. But I still had a blast doing it. One

does succeed in being a decent shooter and I’m only

could follow Lost, when it was at its most confusing.

cool thing the game had was the ability to do an

giving it a hard time because of the high standard set by

extremely handy (and unrealistic) slide when sprinting,

it’s competitors. If you’re looking for an epic six hour

In terms of game play kudos has to be given to the

this saved my bacon on more than one occasion and

cinematic experience that runs one mission seamlessly

development team, they had US army consultants on

CoD would do well to pick it up. Also, the level when

into the other and has decent enough multiplayer, then

board to ensure the authenticity of gear and battle

you play as an Apache gunner, though on-rails is still

look no further. Otherwise I would just wait until the

moves used by the troops. It seems to have paid off,

well worth a few re-plays.

next Call of Duty comes out in a few weeks time. 3/5

By Darragh O Connor

each of the weapons have a genuine and individual feel

Make the Most of your PC Top tips to Maximise your PC’s potential Is your computer running slow? Finding that you are

Hard Drive in tip top shape!

running out of space and patience? Then fear not as I

keep all your documents safe. Not only does it act as a great backup in case anything may happen your PC

may have the answers you seek! I find that no matter

Delete Unnecessary Programs: Most PC Users would

but I find it is useful to place all your heavy loaded

who I talk to the most common issues people have

be familiar with this process and all you have to do is

files (movies, etc.) that you don’t use so often onto

are, they find that their PC does not respond in the

go in to your control panel and click on add or remove

your external drive and in doing so you can free up

way they want or they just don’t know how to use it

programs and from here you can remove any

more space on your hard drive too! (External Hard

efficiently. So that is why I have prepared a list of my

unnecessary programs in order to free up space on

Drives aren’t too pricey and can be found in most

top five ways in which you can ensure your PC is

your PC.

electrical/PC stores as well as Argos too)

Clean out Temporary Internet Files/Cookies: This can

Upgrade your PC Memory: For those that find these

Defrag your PC: Sounds like some sort of complicated

be done in one of two ways: you can either clean out

methods still don’t help speed up your PC, then

process but in matter of fact it is quite easy to do. If

your temporary files using a program like Glary

maybe your PC needs a bit of updating itself. I would

you go into My Computer and then right click on your

Utilities, most of these programs have free versions

advise that if people find that their PC runs

Hard Drive (C:) and then click Properties you bring up

and are quite easy to find on the internet even if you

dramatically slow then bring it to an IT business, in

a little box and on one of the tabs it will say Tools.

just Google Cookie/Junk File Cleaner, etc. Another

order to see if they can purchase a memory upgrade

When you click this, you should see one of your

way to clear your cache is to open your Internet

for it. This is of course a cheaper option to buying a

options as Defragment Now, if you click on this your

Browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) and go to your tools

new PC and can save on frustrations associated with

PC will automatically defrag your drive. For those of

menu and select options and there you will see

slow running PCs, which can cause people to lose

you that want to know what this does,

options to clear your temporary files and cookies and

their patience with their PC and let’s just say the

defragmentation sorts around the files you have and

by clicking these you can clean your PC of all your

results can be far more costly to the PC!

in a way is like a sorting system. It helps sort out the

cookies.

being used to it’s full potential.

state of your hard drive, so that your PC won’t find it

If you have any tech questions or issues you can email

so hard to find the specific files or programs you

Move your files off your Hard Drive: Most people

SIN tech help at sintechguy@live.ie and I will be able

want, making it work more easily and efficiently for

would be familiar with this process and I would

to address any of your problems and questions in the

you. I would recommend that you defrag your system

recommend that everyone get an external hard drive

next issue of Sin!

every month if possible as it will keep your

for their PC as it is an essential tool, in ensuring you

By Christopher Cosgrove

reviews

page 28

Bulmers Galway Comedy Festival Review Comedy fans in Galway were treated to a very special event over the October bank holiday weekend. The Bulmers Galway Comedy Festival burst onto venues around the city and county for five nights of comedy genius including acts like David O’Doherty, Karl Spain, Maeve Higgins and Rich Hall. The Radisson Live Lounge featured Andrew Maxwell, Abandoman, Carl Donnelly and Colin Murphy on Sunday 24 October at 10pm.

had never laid eyes on each other but highly entertaining for the rest of us!

Carl Donnelly Carl showcased stories about himself and his mates and the dumb stuff they’ve done. One involved Carl punching his new wife in the face while trying to swat a fly. It was easy to see why Carl was the winner of Best Newcomer at the

Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell played the gracious host for the event. He was hilarious, intelligent and warmed the crowd up perfectly between acts.

He is really politically minded and very current in his observations on topics like the state of troubled airline Aer Arann. The crowd really took to him and the general mood brightened up every time he came on stage. He is definitely one to see live when he comes to town again.

Abandoman Abandoman are comedian Rob Broderick and musician James Hancox. They form a high-energy hip-hop improv duo. Rob raps and James joins in with backing vocals and musical support. They were really entertaining but it took a while to get used to their unique style. The highlight of the gig was when Rob hauled two random punters from the audience on stage to compose a musical about them meeting and falling in love.

Very embarrassing for poor Adrian and Gina who

2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards - he’s witty, original and doesn’t need to try too hard to get a laugh. Most times, just shaking about his voluminous curly hair will do the trick.

Colin Murphy The headlining act was Colin Murphy. He blundered out onto the stage after 12 am. His online biography for the festival described him as “a natural performer, superb mimic and proof that straight stand-up is hard to beat. His

delivery is immaculate, ultrafast and never unintelligible...” Well, I feel pretty bad saying this but he was tad rubbish.

Before you turn the page in disgust, believe me, I think he’s amazing on the TV show The Panel on RTÉ. I was so surprised to come away disappointed from his show. It was like finding out the awful truth about Santa. His jokes were really obvious and tired and he seemed like he wasn’t making an effort. The gags included: how crap Irish people are in bed, how pale we are and how annoying children are. Sound like something you may have heard a million times before?!

There were some funny moments but nothing to get too excited about. I reckon he thought he didn’t need to try too hard on a bank holiday Sunday to please a crowd in Galway at 12am.

Maybe that’s true but I’d like to think we deserve some effort! He muddled through and it was pleasant enough but there were no major comedy moments.

The gig was wound up by Mr Maxwell just after 1am and the crowd were invited to a silent disco upstairs in the Radisson with DJs Ferg and Gugai battling it out on the decks. Overall it was a great laugh and well worth the €25 ticket price but Colin Murphy should up his game before his next visit to Galway.

By Lisa Jackson

Comic Book Jim Jeffries Hailing from down under, Jeffries is known world wide for being an extremely controversial comedian, having a go at subjects and races that others wouldn’t go near with a ten foot pole.

The fact that he can get away with it is a testament to how funny this man really is, and his closing story about the time he left his disabled brother with a prostitute won’t be leaving me any time soon.

David O’Doherty Never having seen or heard much of Mr. O’Doherty before (I was aware he was a comedian), it really was a treat to see such a clever mix of stories, song and facts about pandas. The cherry on top though was after he had finished and MC Karl Spain was wrapping

up, David actually came back on stage and the two of them did an impromptu 15 minute duet which left all in the audience laughing and with the all important feeling that they had gotten their monies worth.

Rubberbandits Unfortunately the Hardybucks also featured, and between the surprisingly good Grandmaster Cash and plastic-bag-stricken boys from Limerick, there was about 30 minutes of disjointed waffle from Castletown to be endured. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Hardybucks are great….on TV. They simply need to work on the live act. Thankfully the Rubberbandits came on after to pick up the beat and bang out the tunes. From party hits like “Bags of Glue” to the politically conscious “Up

The ‘ra”, the lads were able to prove once again their worthiness of being put on stage with Crystal Swing at Electric Picnic last September.

Après Match Being together since the dawn of time, (the dawn of time being 1996), it’s great to see that this spoofing trio still have what it takes to lampoon sporting personalities and politicians alike. Highlights of the show included when they impersonated Eammon Dunphy, Alex Ferguson and a very convincing Brian Cowen. But my personal favourite had to be when they became “The River Tenors”, where humour was put in harmony with great singing, showing just how talented these guys were.

By Darragh O’Connor

page 29

Compromised Rules: the only thing compromised is the quality I think it’s fair to say we have witnessed our fair share of anti-climaxes. The Millennium Bug, countless super flues which threaten to destroy humanity and of course not forgetting every ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ broadcast on Sky. However, the fare at the Gaelic Grounds must rank up there with the best of them. We’d all seen the advert and the premise seemed good. We get to watch our favourite footballers, support our country and get a bit of good old fashioned physical violence thrown in for good measure. Sure beats X Factor anyway.

game itself, the pick of the country scoring a mere five ‘overs’ in 54 minutes and getting thoroughly outplayed by a team who uses a different shaped ball, field and goalposts in their daily routine. For two physical sports, this hybrid

‘The Compromise Rules’. It evokes images of two great colossi, slightly lowering the level of their respective immortality, almost to give the other a chance.

The immovable object making a little slip to the left, the irresistible force having a small tea break. How could one pass up the opportunity to attend such a spectacle?

The journey into Limerick however, wasn’t indicative of such an occasion. As the bus cruised surprisingly seamlessly into the city centre, the first doubts set in. As someone who has attended Munster Finals in the same ground, tried to find enough room to lift a drink to their mouth when Munster are in town, it all seemed strangely subdued. No crowds, no colour, no atmosphere.

The walk to the stadium was more akin to a Munster Minor Football Quarter Final than a game of this supposed magnitude.

We are all aware of the lamentable quality of the

is diluted of edge and completely devoid of passion. In 50-50 situations, players, mainly Irish, repeatedly preferred the option of using their foot rather than putting their bodies on the line, and if the players aren’t too bothered, then what can be expected of the paying fans?

One is left wondering what is the point of this exercise? The cream of the crop from both islands pitting their wits against each other? A

noble concept, but sadly wrong. Just four of our 2010 All-Stars were on duty and we had only two representatives from the All-Ireland Champions, Cork. There also seems to be an understandable reluctance to showcase some of our exciting young prodigies given the possibility of recruitment by our professional opponents.

Michael Murphy was the sole under 21 on duty, while Kevin McKernan was the only other player under the age of 24.

Perhaps it’s an entertainment venture? The 30,000 other hardy souls who braved the cold certainly weren’t entertained, although if they’re into confusion they were handsomely rewarded.

Just about every facet of this game seemed to confuse someone within earshot. A perfectly legitimate tackle brought gasps of indignation, every score was greeted with several different opinions on whether it was an over, a behind, a point, a 70, a square ball or a double fault. The hand signals and flag waving would have been more at home 12 miles further out the Shannon Estuary at the Airport and would have probably have meant as much to any low flying aircraft as they did to the majority of the attendance. Even those manning the scoreboard weren’t quite sure where they stood, points being rewarded and revoked with abandon.

Unfortunately, the relative excitement of the last ten minutes couldn’t masquerade what preceded it. Whatever the reasons for staging this clash are, they seem less and less and apparent and it would be no great surprise if a final compromise is soon drawn for once and for all between the GAA and the AFL.

By Kevin Hough

sport

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Champions League week 3: Russians, Rooney and rampant Gunners

By Conor Lane Week 3 of the Champions League saw Chelsea return to the stadium where they lost to Manchester United in an eventful final 3 seasons ago.

Spartak Moscow; the team who sold Chelsea their only Russian recruit, Yuri Zhirkov, in a big money move who hasn't exactly lit the Premier League up since his arrival. He has the makings of a great player, he’s quick, strong, determined and is capable of scoring wonder goals as he has shown before just not in a blues jersey. That changed when on the 23rd minute, a long ball dropped kindly to

Zhirkov who only had one thing in his mind. 25 yards later and the ball was nestled in the mouth of the goal. You couldn’t write the script; Zhirkov scoring his first goal for Chelsea after 36 games against his former side on their home ground. Anelka scored his 50th for Chelsea just before half time as they ran out comfortable winners even though though the home side caused a few problems but Chelsea maintain their 100% start in the competition.

The Champions League was almost an irrelevant side note

for Manchester United as every fan who supports the club was trying to grasp the idea of Wayne Rooney leaving.

The news came out before the game against Bursaspor at Old Trafford and the gloomy atmosphere was evident around the ground with Alex Ferguson looking like a father betrayed by a son. The United players morale must have been terrible going into the game considering what a poor start to the season they’ve had by their standards and the fact that their best player had just announced that the club’s ambition was not good enough for him to consider staying.

The players got on with their jobs and thanks to a great long distance strike by Nani they managed to finish the game as winners but only one goal against a side most people have never heard of is hardly

Chelsea 2-0 Spartak Moscow Manchester United 1-0 Busaspor Arsenal 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk impressive. It was a tough week for the club and maybe what Rooney did was more of a warning than anything else.

He has renewed his contract for five years making him the club’s highest paid player ever and whether it was over money, his private life or the club’s so called lack of ambition even though they have been the most successful team in the world over the last twenty years, it is a clear message that the team needs investment and they need it soon.

Arsenal took on a rather dismal Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates stadium and questions should be asked about

some teams respect for the Champions league when they put on performances such as what the away side gave. Alex Song, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamkh all scored in what couldn’t have been an easier game for the Gunners.

At no point after they scored did they look or feel threatened by there opponents who just made error after error.

The home fans even cheered when they conceded late on by a goal from former Arsenal player; Eduardo. There will much tougher tests for Arsenal to come but at the moment they still have their 100% start in the competiton.

WAYNE ROONEY: THAT BOY WAS A BIT SPECIAL

By Ciarán Kelly It’s October 21st, 2002 where Arsenal’s incredible unbeaten run of thirty league matches has been ended at Goodison Park. A perfect stage for the then sixteen year old, Wayne Rooney, to announce himself to the world. It was an almost unrecognisable Rooney in appearance but he showed the kind of finishing that we have begun to expect from him; a blistering thirty yard curler just twenty-eight seconds from the end of the match.

However, this Wayne Rooney, a lover of the game, has been replaced by the modern day football mercenary, corrupted by greed.

While many people were shocked by Rooney’s initial lack of loyalty in considering leaving Manchester United, the writing was on the wall even at his beloved Everton.

Although Rooney was kissing

the club crest and bearing undershirts with the slogan “Once a Blue, Always a Blue”, he was desperate to leave Everton at the age of just eighteen in 2004. A decent tournament with four goals for England at Euro 2004 raised the media hype drastically and turned Rooney’s head. His goalscoring record for Everton was a modest fifteen goals in sixty seven games and it was obvious as the main man at Everton this could be improved upon. Despite David Moyes giving him the chance to be the star in an established Everton frontline which included cult heroes like Duncan Ferguson and Kevin Campbell; Rooney’s reason for leaving was Everton’s inability to progress. He had even been offered a huge wage rise to £50,000 to stay at his hometown club but United

trumped this offer. Rooney left for Manchester United in the final days of the summer transfer window in 2004 for £25 million.

His record at Manchester United upto the start of the 2010/2011 was very impressive. Ninety two goals in one hundred and eighty three games certainly showed what a lethal finisher Rooney had become. Also, he had won every club honour possible with United. Ferguson, like Moyes, had begun to build his team around Rooney, a request Rooney had made in protest to playing out wide with Cristiano Ronaldo in the central striker position.

Ironically, this request is part of why Rooney wanted to leave according to his statement. The lack of spending United have made is what is troubling him,

although this can be seen as masking his greed for a higher wage. If Rooney made this statement twelve months ago, maybe he would have had a point but the Rooney we are seeing now is unfit, lacking his trademark first touch and has not scored a goal from open play since April. Also, under Ferguson, Rooney has had a stable influence on him particularly when it comes to matters like his private life.

Under the revolving

managerial door at Real Madrid or Manchester City, would Rooney really improve as a footballer or as a man?

The new five year contract Rooney signed may seem like a good result for Manchester United but with Roberto Mancini, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti all distancing themselves from making an offer for him, did he really have any other choice?

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Badminton Club win in Limerick

By Simon Casey On Friday 22nd of October the NUIG badminton team embarked on their trip to the 7th Annual Irish International Student Badminton Tournament (ISBT). The competition was held in the UL sports complex. Over 200 participants, including international standard players from Europe, took part in the event. The players were split into four respective categories and classes. Twelve of Galway’s finest stepped up to the task at hand, with players competing in all categories.

The first round of matches began at 9am sharp Saturday morning, with everyone bright

Fencing tournament hosted by NUIG

By Fionn McGowan In mid October, NUIG’s Fencing Club hosted over 40 fencers in a two day tournament held in the University Sports Complex, NUIG. The event ran smoothly and was a great start to the University Fencing season. NUIG fencers were successful in various categories - a notable achievement given that it was a first competition for a couple of NUIG students.

In the men's foil category Cian Blaix finished highest up for NUIG in 6th place, and in the men's epee category, Fionn McGowan finished highest for NUIG also in 6th. NUIG’s Marianne Van Dijk came 3rd in women’s epee and in women's foil, Josephine Duggan finished 5th.

Ladies Soccer: NUIG 2-2 Mary I

By John Coleman Hynes

eyed and bushy tailed. It was singles up first, with doubles and mixed to follow. The order of play changed everyday with everyone playing 2-3 rounds of matches a day. For doubles and mixed the pairings were random! All sets were first to 21 with 2 sets to be played. The standard of badminton this year was high, particularly in the A category. The NUIG team did very well, with Elizabeth Naessens winning her ladies doubles category. A superb trip in all and NUIG’s Badminton Club are looking forward to the GSBT in January.

The NUIG ladies soccer team started the 2010/11 season with a well deserved draw in Limerick against the training teachers of Mary I last weekend. NUIG took the lead on both occasions and were unlucky not to start the season with a win. With much of last year’s team unable to travel, it was an experimental team that coaches John Mellet (Sports Med West/Galway UTD Physio) and Johnny Hynes (Ex-Galway Utd/Irish u18) soccer had to pick. A stunning 30 yard free kick from Canadian Tara O'Reilly, who is studying in NUIG for the year, hit the back of the

Softball team to host inagural IV

By Breandán Mac Gabhann On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of November, NUI Galway will host the inaugural Intervarsity Softball tournament. Teams from universities throughout Ireland, including Limerick, Cork and Dublin, will be taking part.

Softball, the amateur version of baseball, is one of the most popular team sports in the

world, especially in the United States. It's one of very few sports in the world to be played mixed at senior level, with a minimum of 4 girls on a team of 10 players. The game's popularity in Ireland has been growing steadily over the past decade, with hundreds of players attracted to its recreational and social ethos.

The tournament is being

Ladies football continue winning ways

By Nigel Concannon NUIG ladies football team continued their winning ways

with victory against a gallant MICL side last week in

net to give NUIG a great start.

With the experience of two matches already this year Mary I. played very well and pulled a goal back before half time. NUIG defence was under pressure but battling displays

by Mayo's Aine Barrett and American Julia Walsh at the back kept Mary I to one goal before half time.

In the second half midfield battling by Ciara McDonnell, Alana Jennings, Louise Benson and German star Imke Lorenze meant NUIG were taking control. Tara O’Reilly made a dashing run down the right hosted in St. Mary's College, and is being organised by the NUI Galway Softball Club, which was founded only last year, and plays under the name 'Base Invaders'. It will be the first of three Intervarsity softball tournaments this year, with the subsequent events expected to be hosted in Dublin and Limerick. Matches between university teams in all three tournaments count towards the Intervarsity League, but each tournament counts in its own right, with three different trophies awarded.

whipping in a perfect cross to the back post for Donegal 1st year Danilla Gordon to hit the back of the net to put NUIG 2-1 up.

As Mary I pushed forward NUIG were under immense pressure in defence. After a harsh free kick given by the referee to Mary I, led to an equalising goal leaving it 2-2 with 10 minutes left to play.

With the game looking like stalemate a through ball by NUIG set striker Siobhan Tully alight but was harshly called offside. With the game nearing its end a brilliant free kick by Mary I cruised to the top corner of the net but a finger tip save by Leona Doolin put the ball over the bar. All in all a draw was a deserving result but a victory will be in the minds of players and coaches for the next match.

teams will be divided into three tiers for a knockout phase, with the highest-placed teams in the Cup, the middleplaced teams in the Plate, and the bottom placed teams in the Bowl. Awards will also be made to the best male and female players of the tournament.

The tournament begins on Saturday 6th with a roundrobin phase. On Sunday, the

Come along to show your support for the NUI Galway team, play starts at 9am on both days. If you're in college, there's still time to join the softball team before the tournament - just come along to practice at 2pm on Thursday or Saturday at Laurel Park playing fields on the Thomas Hynes Road!

Dangan. A full forward line of Caoilfhinn Connolly, Eilish Ward and Niamh Cunningham made the most of their chances in the opening period.

Natalie McHugh continues to impress in the half forward line and notched up two points as NUIG led by 1-7 to 0-4 at the break. A brilliant Ursula Leonard goal was the highlight of the second half as

Niamh Cunningham (goal) and Edel Concannon also got in on the act. Ciara Hegarty was at the forefront of all of NUIG's attacks as she put in a powerful performance in midfield. Final score NUIG 312 MICL 1-9. Player of the match was goalkeeper Caoimhe Egan, who made some stunning saves to deny MICL at crucial stages.

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