Student Magazine
In This Issue Inside Your Student Union Games Reviews Movie Up-Dates Competition
Ball
Contents Page 3 Behind the Student Union Page 11 Social Welfare Budget UpDates Page 12 Men outnumber women in academic postings Page 13 Health and safety Myths Page 16 Exams Prep (USI) Page 18 Games Review Page 21 Movie Reviews Page 23 Competition Page 24 Your Photos
21
23 16
Behind the scene profiles of your Student Union and who they are and what drives them
By Oran Moten
Paul - The President ‘You’re fired’ isn’t a catchphrase from a TV show. It’s a hand grenade thrown into your life. When Paul saw that hand grenade come towards him, he first thought of his colleagues losing they’re jobs too, and then he caught it. He held it in his hand, holding down the pin so it wouldn’t explode for a month until he tied up the loose ends, and remaining accounts were cleared up. When he finally had to let it go, he wasn’t fazed. Even though he’d left school early, he started looking at college courses. He says that his experiences here have utterly changed him, but it seems merely that his ever present drive and optimism interacted with his new environment, and brought back a passion for activism and helping people that had been interrupted by the practicalities of life. He’s got a responsibility that you couldn’t envy, to speak with and for 2500 people with different needs and beliefs. He is the essential go between of the students and the college. He’s got to maintain a positive relationship with the institution that allows him the access and ability to make necessary change, but also maintain a distance so that he doesn’t become too comfortable in that system and it’s way of thinking. He’s got to think like the students he represents, and that not easy, because he hears the troubled thoughts of so many, whether it’s financial trouble, or stress. He doesn’t dwell on it too much though, because he can’t or he won’t be able to function and try to solve those problems. It’s all about balance, and
it takes a lot of energy to stop from tipping too far either side. You wouldn’t know it to talk to him, he looks like he’s loving it all, because he kind of is. Robbie - The Mature Student Officer Robbie left school without an education. Remember what you were told about your education. Think about the importance it has in the nature of your life. Now think about not having it. What kind of life can you have? What kind of person can you be? When Robbie left school he did things. He became an organiser and activist, joining the marrowbone lane tenants association. He joined the Defence Forces, and was involved in committees, associations, and task forces with acronyms with more combined letters than the alphabet. In the military he learned the value of structure, efficiency, and achieving these things through analysing a situation. He asks,”Why?” It’s a reflex for him. Why are things the way they are. Why can’t they be better. When you ask questions, you learn, and when you learn, you can act with purpose. Sometimes a dysfunctional system is so large that you can’t beat them, so you have to join them. That’s why he’s here. He’s been a photographer for 26 years. He’s been published, but when he left the military, and wanted to pursue a career in the thing he’d always done, they asked him where he got his degree. Always asking why, but never one to dwell in that question, it is asked with purpose. He does things, so he’s here to do that one thing that’s holding him back. While he’s here, we have a man who sees how things work, or otherwise,
Social Welfare Budget Up-Dates Rates of payment The rates of the main social welfare weekly payments will remain unchanged in 2015. Child Benefit and the Living Alone Increase will increase from January 2015. Child Benefit Child Benefit will increase by €5 a month for each child. Child Benefit is currently €130 for each child (since January 2014). It will be paid at €135 for each child in 2015. If circumstances allow, it is proposed to increase it by a further €5 a month from January 2016. One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) No new changes to the OFP were announced in Budget 2015. However, some changes which had already been announced will come into effect in 2015. From July 2015, the upper age limit for a child in respect of whom an OFP may be paid will be seven years for all recipients. In 2014, the first €90 of income is disregarded in the means test. Half the rest of your gross income up to €425 a week is assessed as means and you may qualify for a reduced OFP. You do not qualify at all if your income is more than €425 a week. There were just over 74,426 OFP recipients in June 2014. Just over 5,000 were due to leave the scheme in July 2014 as a result of the changes to the age limits. Living Alone Increase The Living Alone Increase will go up from €7.70 a week to €9 a week from January 2015. You may qualify for this allowance if you are living alone and: • You are aged 66 or over and getting a social welfare payment from the DSP or • You are aged under 66 and getting Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement or Blind Pension In general, you must be living completely alone. However, there are some exceptions. For example, you may qualify if you are old or infirm and have someone to stay at night for security reasons. This person must not contribute to the household expenses. Similarly, you may qualify if you are alone during the day but stay with friends or relatives at night or if you have a relative to stay at the weekend. If you are living in sheltered accommodation, you
may qualify if you can show that you are living independently. The Increase is currently paid to 177,500 people. The change in this payment does not require primary legislation. There is a separate Island Increase for people who live on certain islands. This remains unchanged at €12.70 a week. Christmas bonus A Christmas bonus will be paid in early December 2014 to people who are receiving the following payments: Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) - (people coming from jobseeker’s payments must have been on their payment and/or BTEA for 15 months) • Back to Work Enterprise Allowance and Back to Work Allowance • Long-term Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance • Carer’s Allowance and Benefit • Deserted Wife’s Allowance and Benefit • Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension • Disablement Pension and Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme • Domiciliary Care Allowance • Farm Assist • Guardian’s Payment (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory) • Long-term Jobseeker’s Allowance, PartTime Job Incentive and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transition) • Magdalen Laundry Payments • One-Parent Family Payment • Partial Capacity Benefit • State Pension (Contributory), (Non-Contributory) and (Transition) and Pre-Retirement Allowance • Employment schemes including: Community Employment, Gateway, Tús, Rural Social Scheme, Job Initiative and JobBridge (people coming from jobseeker’s payments must have been on their payment and/or JobBridge for 15 months) • Widow, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory) Regulations to allow the payment of this Christmas bonus will be made shortly. The bonus will be 25% of your usual weekly pay-
ment with a minimum payment of €20. Student Grant Changes will be introduced to the administration of the Student Grant Scheme from the academic year starting in September 2015. This will mean that students will get four months of maintenance payments before the end of December 2015 and five months of payments in the following year. At present, three months of payments are made before the end of December and six months of payments are made the following year – this will remain the case for the current academic year. Student contribution It was already announced that the student contribution towards higher education will increase to €3,000 in September 2015. It is currently €2,750 and this increase was announced in Budget 2012. Taxation The main income tax changes which will come into effect in 2015 are the reduction of the top rate of income tax to 40% and the increase in the standard rate band by €1,000: from €32,800 to €33,800 for single people and from €41,800 to €42,800 for married couples with one income. Income tax credits will be unchanged in 2015. Tax relief at the marginal rate, for example, on pension contributions, will be worth less because of the reduction in the higher tax rate. There are a number of detailed tax changes affecting farmers. Some of these are mentioned here. Many are highly technical. The Agri-Taxation Review – Report of the Agri-Taxation Working Group is published as part of the background documents to the Budget. Standard rate band The standard rate of tax (20%) will apply to the first €33,800 of taxable income for a single person and to the first €42,800 for a single-earner married or civil partnership couple. A two-earner married or civil partnership couple will pay tax at the standard rate on up to €77,600 or on €42,800 plus the income of second earner, whichever is the lesser. Higher rate The new higher rate of tax of 40% will apply on all income above the standard rate band.
Artists’ exemption The threshold for the artists’ exemption from income tax is being increased from €40,000 to €50,000. The exemption is also being extended to non-resident artists (to people who are resident or ordinarily resident in another EEA state). However, the exemption will only be of benefit to those artists who are liable to income tax in Ireland. Foreign Earnings Deduction The Foreign Earnings Deduction is being extended for a further three years until the end of 2017. The number of qualifying countries is being increased to include Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Chile, Mexico and Malaysia in line with the Government’s strategy on Trade, Tourism and Investment. The number of qualifying days abroad is being reduced from 60 to 40, the minimum stay in a country is reduced to three days and travelling time is being included as time spent abroad. The three-day minimum stay may be accumulated among qualifying countries. A Review of the Foreign Earnings Deduction is published as part of the background documents to the Budget. Pension levy The 0.6% Pension Fund Levy was introduced in 2011 to fund the Jobs Initiative. In 2014, an additional levy of 0.15% was introduced to apply for the years 2014 and 2015. This was done in order to help fund the Jobs Initiative and to help make provision for potential State liabilities which may emerge from difficulties facing pension funds. The 0.6% levy will not apply after 2014. The 0.15% levy will continue to apply in 2015 but will expire at the end of 2015.
Men outnumbering women in academic posts, according to new data New data from the Higher Education Authority reveals that women are massively under-represented in senior academic positions across virtually all of the country’s The figures, gathered late last year, show that in the country’s top universities between just 14% and 20% of professorships are held by women. It is the first time the HEA has published a detailed breakdown of the gender gap at senior levels in the sector. This data is stark but it will not come as a surprise to many academics, especially female academics, working in Ireland. Across the universities it shows men strongly outnumbering women in senior academic posts. NUI Galway is the worst, with 79% of all senior posts held by men, but the other universities are close behind. 71% of senior posts are held by men at the country’s largest university UCD, 73% at UCC, 73% at DCU, 72% at NUI Maynooth (Maynooth University), and 67% at Trinity College. St Patrick’s teacher training college bucks the trend with a 50/50 split at its top level The gender gap in a few Institutes of Technology is not quite as pronounced, but in only one, the Institute of Art and Design in Dún Laoghaire, do women hold slightly more senior posts than men. RTÉ requested these figures from the HEA following an Equality Tribunal ruling earlier this month. The tribunal found NUI Galway had discriminated against a female academic, Dr Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington, on grounds of gender when she applied for a senior lectureship post. The tribunal called the university’s recruitment procedures “ramshackle”. The gender gap persists even though female students outperform male students in higher education. The HEA tables show that the higher you go, the fewer women. Across the universities, women hold half of all lecturer posts.
At the next level, senior lecturer, their share falls to 35%. Above that, at associate professor level it falls to 26%. At the very top, just 19% of all professors are women, fewer than one in five. The picture is similar, though slightly better, in the Institutes of Technology. But still, at the top senior lecturer level, just one in every four posts is held by women. Studies have found that a favouring of research performance above teaching skills and engagement with wider society can work against female job applicants in the sector. The studies also suggest that women’s caring responsibilities can often be incompatible with academic life. However, the recent Equality Tribunal ruling highlighted the fact that in NUIG one male had been promoted in the round of promotions under scrutiny, even though he was ineligible to apply for the job in the first place. It also found that the same criteria was applied differently to different candidates
Health and safety myths
Case 333 - Managing Agent says a garden pond has
socks
to be fenced in
Issue
Issue
It was reported that a school banned children from
A residents association for a residential development
wearing frilly socks for health and safety reasons.
of 75 dwellings has been told by their new managing
Panel decision
agent that they must fence in the feature garden pond in the middle of the parkland grounds due to health and safety. The development has been like this for 25 years. Panel decision There is no legal requirement for ponds and open water to be fenced off and the panel is unanimous in regarding this as an over the top and disproportionate
There is nothing in health and safety law which stipulates how long or short frills on school girls’ socks should be. These socks are unlikely to be a serious hazard unless they are torn and trailing on the floor. If you tried to ban everything children could trip over, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.
approach being suggested by the site management.
Schools are free to set their own uniform policies
Fencing may appear to be a “solution& but could
but these decisions shouldn’t hide behind spurious
easily create different risks. A rethink is required here.
references to health and safety law.
Case 299 - Can teachers remove a child’s splinter?
Case 123 - Child banned from taking plastic food
Issue
flask into school for lunch
Enquirer asked if teachers can remove a child’s
Issue
splinter?
The enquirers 7 year old daughter took a small
Panel decision Given that most schools will have competent, qualified first aiders, there is no reason at all why they should not remove splinters, if they are partly exposed and
plastic food flask into school with baked beans in for her lunch. She was told by the Headteacher that she was not allowed to take it in again because of Health & Safety
easily removed with tweezers. If splinters are deeply
Panel decision
embedded then parents should be consulted and
There is no health and safety regulation which would
professional medical help sought.
prevent children from taking hot food to school as
Case 180 - school bans children from wearing frilly
part of their packed lunch. It is clearly a matter of school policy with some schools allowing hot food and
others not. The Headteacher should be challenged to explain the real reasons for the decision rather than giving the easy - and incorrect - health and safety answer Case 49 - Primary school’s tree house had to be erected outside grounds to address concerns over
Panel decision There are no regulations in place which ban schools from allowing spouses and children to join teachers and school staff on school trips. This is a local decision taken based on an overly cautious interpretation of guidance on health and safety and possibly safeguarding.
risks to children Issue A tree house designed for a Primary School has
Case 26 - School told that they cannot display children’s work on windows using “Blu Tack”
now had to be erected outside of the school’s own
Issue
grounds to address concerns about risks to children
A Perth & Kinross school occupies a building owned
created by the structure being within the school
and administered by private companies. They have
premises. This decision had been made by the Local
been told that they cannot display children’s work on
Authority who employ the staff at the school.
windows using “Blu Tack” due to Health and Safety
Panel decision There are no health and safety regulations that specifically apply to tree houses. There are industry standards for playground equipment but these are not mandatory. The tree house is in use in another location so it is very likely that any safety concerns could have been dealt with and the tree house used in its original planned location. This seems to be a case of risk averse behaviour possibly on grounds of potential civil liability. Case 4 - Local authority withdraws facility for staff to bring families on school trips Issue A local authority has withdrawn the facility for teachers and school staff to bring their spouses and children on organised school trips.
concerns. It is claimed that a chemical in the Blu Tack may combine with a chemical in the glass to make it shatter. This impacts on the way they teach in their classrooms and their children’s education. Panel decision Whatever the reason for banning the use of Blu Tack it is not on health and safety grounds. The manufacturer’s website makes clear that the product can be used on glass. We see no reason why the children’s creative work should not be displayed for everyone to enjoy! Case 70 - School bans yo-yos on health and safety grounds Issue A school has banned the use of yo-yos on health and safety grounds. Panel decision
There is no health and safety law which bans yo-yos
Myth: Kids must wear goggles to play conkers
from schools. Whilst there will always be some risk
The reality
of yo-yos being misused and causing minor injuries, it seems to us to be a disproportionate response to ban them from the school. Case 74 - School asked pupils not to push fellow pupil’s wheelchair as they have had no training Issue A secondary school has asked pupils not to push a fellow pupil’s wheelchair claiming the pupils have had no training. The pupil is temporarily using the wheelchair because he has sprained his ankle. Panel decision There is no health and safety law preventing students from pushing wheelchairs. The school may have legitimate concerns about the welfare of students if they push wheelchairs. In this case, it would be better if the school worked with the students to address these concerns so that they could help their fellow students.
This is one of the oldest chestnuts around, a truly classic myth. A well-meaning head teacher decided children should wear safety goggles to play conkers. Subsequently some schools appear to have banned conkers on ‘health & safety’ grounds or made children wear goggles, or even padded gloves! Realistically the risk from playing conkers is incredibly low and just not worth bothering about. If kids deliberately hit each other over the head with conkers, that’s a discipline issue, not health and safety. Myth: You can’t wear flip-flops to work The reality During the summer, many of us think about wearing sandals or flip-flops to work to help us stay cool. Despite recent reports to the contrary, health and safety law doesn’t ban them. However, slips, trips and falls do account for about
Myth: Graduates are banned from throwing mortar
30% of all workplace accidents, and what you wear
boards
on your feet can make a difference. So, if you work
The reality
somewhere where the floor can’t be kept dry or
Health and safety law doesn’t stop graduates having fun and celebrating their success in the timehonoured fashion! The chance of being injured by a flying mortar board is incredibly small, and when the concern is actually about the hats being returned in good condition, it’s time to stop blaming health and safety.
clean then wearing shoes that fit well and have a good grip would be a better choice than flip-flops.
Top Game Console of 2014 All Consoles Reviews Number 1 Far Cry 4 Console games Far Cry 4 Gaming PlayStation 4 Xbox One Far Cry 4 5 stars Another holiday doesn’t quite go to plan in Ubisoft’s latest openworld adventure, now with God 14 November 2011 Number 2 Grand Theft Auto 5 Console games Gaming Grand Theft Auto 5 PS3 Xbox 360 Grand Theft Auto 5 5 stars GTA 5 arrives with the highest of expectations, but it exceeds almost all of them to become one of the greatest games of all time 16 September 2013 Number 3 The Last of Us Remastered Console games Gaming Naughty Dog PlayStation 4 The Last of Us Remastered The Last of Us Remastered 5 stars The definitive version of one of gaming’s landmark titles; The Last of Us Remastered is essential for newcomers and veterans alike 28 July 2014
News
Features
Videos
Top Game Console of 2014 Number 4 Forza Horizon 2 Console games Gaming Xbox 360 Xbox One Forza Horizon 2 5 stars Forza Motorsport’s free-roaming cousin gets a new next-gen playground. Does it deliver, or stall at the lights? 24 September 2014 Number 5 Apps and Games Console games Destiny Gaming PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Xbox 360 Xbox One Destiny 5 stars We spent hours playing Bungie’s epic MMO/FPS hybrid and managed to tear ourselves away just long enough to write this review 18 September 2014 Number 6 FIFA 15 Console games FIFA 15 Gaming PlayStation 4 Xbox One FIFA 15 5 stars Has The Best World Cup Ever™ inspired the best football game ever, or is FIFA 15 on a post-Brazil comedown? 23 September 2014
Enter to win a Student Union Huddy Closing Date 12th January 2015. Just return a photocopy of this page to the Student Union office. Winner to be announced on 15th January 2015