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Campus abortion referendum analysis.

Unions reaffirm harm reduction drug policy.

Students’ opinions on marriage explored.

The death and decline of Vine.

A look at the UCD Boxing Club.

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Interview with Two Door Cinema Club.

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UCD Turn €10 Million Profit from On-Campus Accommodation Rent Jack Power | Editor

The college brought in €18.2 million in income from student residences, which cost €7.7 million to run UCD Residences rent has been increased by 20% in two years, with further rises planned for next year UCD brought in over €18 million in income from student residences in 2015 the Tribune can report.

On-campus accommodation costs the college €7.7 million to run and maintain according to financial figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The bulk of the income generated came from rent, but also included laundry and catering services. The breakdown in the costs of running accommodation included €348,000 in pay for those working is residential services, and €471,000 spent on minor works. €6.9 million was spent on general running costs.

University management in 2015 raised on-campus accommodation rents by 13%, as part of a plan to increase residency fees by 40% over three years. UCD followed this by raising rents by 7% for this 16/17 college term. The college administration at the time stated the increased rates were necessary in ‘order to fund the maintenance of existing residences and the development of further spaces’.

The €10.5 million profit the college turned over from campus accommodation was put towards capital developments for future residential blocs construction, and payments for recently built new accommodation.

However, UCD financial reports from 2012 show other factors in the university’s decision to raise rents.

In 2012 the college brought in €15.9 million from Residences. But in 2013 UCD’s income stream from campus accommodation fell to €14.8 m according to college financial statements.

Students’ Union President Conor Viscardi said he has been in dialogue with university management over further increases for next year, which he stated would only be in the ‘range of 2-3%’.

Continues on pg 3.

Editorial.

CT.

0530 Editor Jack Power Deputy Editor & Chief Designer George Hannaford

News Editor Cian Carton Politics Editor Oisín MacCanna Features Editor Racheal O’Neill Music Editor Aoileann Kennedy Fashion Editor Naimh Cavanagh Food & LifeStyle Editor Ciara Landy Film & T.V. Editor David Deignan Arts & Events Editor Holly Lloyd Eagarthóir Gaelige Sophie Osborne

Editorial: Rebuilding a Truly Political Students’ Union Last week the campus referendum on the abortion stance of the Students’ Union saw one of the largest voter turnouts in recent years. Nearly 20% of the student body got out and voted, in favour of retaining the SU’s pro-choice stance. From a steadily declining string of turnouts that petered around the two and a half thousand mark for some years, to see over four and a half students get out to vote is fantastic for campus politics.

UCD relative to its size has in the last few years been undoubtedly one of the most disinterested and apathetic university campuses when it comes to student politics. Last year only one of the SU sabbatical positions was even contested, with all other posts including the President having just one candidate. In the student march protesting fees and fighting against a loan scheme last month, colleges like IT Carlow even outnumbered UCD in terms of the amount who showed up to march.

In what has been a steady decline of active student politics in UCD the abortion referendum offers an opportunity for the Students’ Union to reawaken some of the dissipated political spirit among Belfield students. When I say active politics, I don’t mean political party societies, or groups on campus like UCD Amnesty or the campaign group UCD for Choice. I mean rediscovering the real political fight on campus.

This university nearly spends as much money on advertising and promoting its image than it does on purchasing books for the Library. Last year €3,030,000 (3 million) was spent between its communications department and on advertising, compared to €3,101,000 spent on new books and journals. The university has sought to raise on-campus accommodation rents by 20% over the last two years, despite registering a €10 million profit for 2015 as reported in our lead piece. Yet political opposition to what is an administration operating almost in entirely the opposite interests of students has been absent from UCD for years.

In the past five years the politics has been sucked out of our SU. Sabbatical elections are no longer fought on any kind of wider political left/right policy spectrum or divide. Elections are won by markedly apolitical candidates who aren’t affiliated to any

Short Story Author Cillian Fearon

political party. Some might argue that’s a good thing that party politics has left the SU. But it means candidates and officers often lack a defined conception of politics upon taking office, other than to act in vague notions of the ‘interest of students’ or on specific issues such as repealing the 8th.

UCD management have a very slick and defined political strategy. The university has been re-orientated to run along a corporate model, as have many colleges in the US and UK in previous years. The result of this new business-model mechanics of the college’s administration is primarily that costs, such as services and wages are stripped down, and additional revenue streams are increased as far as possible. Out of the seven universities in Ireland, UCD now actually relies the least on funding from the state. This doesn’t mean we’re the most efficient at spending money, but that UCD management is the most effective are drawing down and tapping streams of funding outside of state grants. They have completed this ‘corporatisation’ trend, while at the same time minimising opposition from the students. For example, in 2013 they announced their initial 13% rise in rents in May when the student body was studying for and sitting exams, and would then be off for the summer. To negotiate and articulate our interests effectively against such a well-defined and effective game plan espoused by the university - we need an active student body politic.

Our Students’ Union officers and Council need to redevelop and begin to create an opposing narrative of management.

One which places both academic and support services for students and staff at the heart rather than the periphery of UCD. The abortion referendum represents a rare spike in interest for campus politics. The next step of building a coalition of students interested and engaged in campaigning for issues like accommodation, academic and welfare services would undoubtedly be more difficult. But failure to do so will mean the university management will continue to make decisions as it does, and students interests will continue to be sidelined.

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Editorial Note 0530 December Key Dates

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Content.

*Cover Continued UCDnews. p.04

Campus abortion Referendum analysis.

Politics.

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Student Unions’ reaffirm harm reduction drug policy.

Features. p.10

A look at how students view the tradition of marriage today.

Music. p.14

An Interview with Two Door Cinema Club.

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Photoshoot with Lindsay Mermaida.

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Film. p.24

How to go veggie the right way, without harming your health.

A look at the art of the cliffhanger in modern television.

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Events coming up across the city and here on campus.

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Níl aon chumann ollscoile mar do chumann ollscoile féin.

The latest accommodation bloc to be developed is Ashfield, a 354-bed complex beside Belgrove residences. The building contract of Ashfield, awarded to Collen construction is believed to have cost €15.5 million. Rent in Ashfield is one of the highest across student residences, at €8,104 a year. And the total intake of rent from Ashfield accommodation is valued at €2.8 million a year for UCD. The Ashfield bloc is the first finished project in UCD’s residency masterplan, which is looking to increase the current capacity of 3,164 residences up to nearly 6,000 beds.

Commenting on the proposed plan SU President Viscardi said the new Ashfield bloc was only ‘financially realised by increased rates in on campus accommodation’. The future planned blocs would be built in the fields between Roebuck accommodation, the back of the Law building, and the space adjacent to Centra and Merville residences. But Viscardi said these developments should have to be paid for ‘in a manner which does not inflict a further financial burden on students’ such as more rent increases.

Currently the profits from Residences (or ‘Res’) rents are ring-fenced to be spent on maintenance or on building more accommodation. The college contributes the majority of funding for building works from its capital development budget. But by increasing their profits through raising rent from Res the college can free up capital funds to put towards building works elsewhere.

The plans to nearly double UCD’s on-campus accommodation ties in with the college’s internationalisation effort. In trying to attract more international students (who pay between €17,000 - €25,000 in fees a year) UCD identified the shortage of residency units on campus as a problem. Reports from the Governing Authority from 2013, which is final decision making body in UCD, state there was ‘strong demand for bed spaces for international students’ exceeding availablity.

has generally been really positive the recent increase in rent ‘isn’t justified’. The argument that the hikes in rents are needed to pay for more accommodation developments just isn’t fair argued Jamie. ‘We who are currently living there are subsidising future people’ and future Res developments.

‘When I was in first year a lot of the people in my class were living on campus, and then from second year it just become unsustainable, they couldn’t keep up with the rising cost’ he said. ‘We know the wider problems with the housing market, and the difficulty students have in finding accommodation, I don’t think dramatically increasing prices was the best response they could have taken in UCD’ Mcloughlin claimed.

In late 2013 the college altered the allocation of Res places, to give priority to international students and first years. The new priority policy saw 1,292 beds of last year’s total 2,810 accommodation places reserved for international students. The rationale behind this policy is twofold, first as international students would find it difficult to house hunt in the local private market from abroad, being able to secure on-campus accommodation would increase their likelihood of choosing to study in UCD. Secondly, as international students pay much higher fees then they The final year student felt the college was would also be better able to afford high res- unfairly hiking prices in an attempt to furidency rent. ther monetise international students. ‘It’s cheaper for a lot of them to study in Ireland But the 20% increase in Res rent was criti- [compared to America] so they don’t mind cised by both Irish and international stu- paying higher accommodation rates … We dents. Jamie Mcloughlin, a final year Law all agree we need to build more accommoand Politics student from Kerry who lives dation, [but] there’s no good building new in Roebuck residence said the ‘cost has gone accommodation if its unaffordable’. ‘I think up dramatically in the past number of years’. the Students’ Union need to be more active Although he said his experience living in Res on the issue’ claimed Mcloughlin.

Short Story.

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of our WWI historical short story.

Tech.

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and disapperance of Vine.

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New Ashfield on-campus accommodation.

Ash Bagla, a fourth year Food Science international student said he felt the the policy of shifting priority towards international students but at the same time raising rates was ‘scheming’. He was critical of the 20% rent hikes, saying ‘it should be more transparent, they are charging so much - where is this money going? This should be invested back into different activities that are planned throughout the year. But the university should not be allowed to make profit on residents’.

Rents for on-campus accommodation are higher than most private rental rooms near UCD. Rates in Merville and Belgorve are €6,607. Glenoma and Ashfield are significantly higher at €8,104 for a college term.

Students’ Union President Viscardi said he would be negotiating with the university to consider ‘alternative sources of capital funding’ for future campus residency building projects.

Turbine.

Sport.

p.32 Satirical takes on p.33 student morale, Halloween, and more.

A look at the UCD Boxing Club. p.3

#UCDNEWS

Referendum 4,781 Students Vote in Reaction: High Turnout Despite F Short Campaign Kevin Deegan | Senior Reporter The referendum held last week saw one of the highest recorded voter turnouts in recent years. The pro-choice No side won 64% of the vote, while the Yes side who advocated for the SU to adopt a neutral stance on the contentious issue only secured 36% of the vote.

The turnout of the referendum was larger than the precursor abortion referendum in 2013, which similarly asked what stance the UCDSU should adopt on the issue of abortion.

In the aforementioned referendum, the voter turnout totalled 2,527 while the most recent vote accumulated a total of 4,781, almost doubling the amount of students voting. In comparison, only 2,921 voters went to the polls to decide UCD’s current stance on re-joining the USI earlier in March this year.

The big wins for the No side came in the Newman building and Science. Over 70% Arts and Science students voted for the pro-choice option. The closest ballot box came from the Business school which was 52% No and 48% Yes, out of 338 valid votes cast in the Quinn Building. Health Sciences was just behind, with 791 votes being split 45% Yes to 55% No. The impressive turnout is made more apparent when the length of time for the campaign was particularly short and was also rushed.

Many thought the short campaign of just three

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weeks, and the bank holiday on the Monday of voting week wouldn’t allow enough time to inform students of the referendum. The USI referendum last year faced similar issues, yet this referendum flew in the face of these problems and managed to muster a larger turnout regardless. The fact that a large portion of Arts students would have been on reading week and not on campus during the days of polling makes the high turnout more substantial.

The turnout levels correlate highly to the level of significance that the abortion debate brings with it. As students of various and multifaceted disciplines, we are wholly responsible for the future of this country and we believe we must be at the epicentre of such important issues.

The large voter turnout for the abortion vote is indicative of a wider, influential and ever growing social movement to repeal the 8th amendment among young people. The marked increase in the 2013 campus vote on a similar issue outlines just how much the topic has come to the fore in civic and student society in the past year. It remains to be seen whether student politics in UCD can maintain this high level of engage and voter turnout for the SU officer elections in March, or if the spike will turn out to be an issue-based once off.

ollowing the quickly apparent win for the pro-choice No side when voting results were announced last Friday the Yes campaign remained upbeat despite defeat. They stated they have ‘broken the stigma of single-mindedness on this issue, and it has been so uplifting to hear healthy discussion echoing the halls of UCD around this referendum’. They re-affirmed how they ‘want to make sure everyone is represented and that there is active participation rather than a one-size-fits-all view representing so many people’.

Katie Ascough, who was involved in the Yes Campaign, thanked every student who took the time to vote. The Medicinal Chemistry student said that she was happy to see so many people ‘get involved and actively think through this difficult issue’. She said that ‘it’s kind of hard to be disappointed when over 4,700 students showed up to vote’. Despite being on the losing side, Ascough remained optimistic, ‘UCD is made up of a mix of students and maybe in the future we could see them be represented a little bit better than they are at the minute. More proportionately, at least….

The outcome of the vote won’t stop us from trying to achieve that’.

Ascough’s comments are similar to those made

by Donal Lynch and Christine Doyle of the Yes Campaign to the Tribune before the referendum.

Doyle stated that if they lost or failed to reach the quorum, they would ‘just try again and try again and again. Because it is important for students’, while Lynch said that ‘we would of course keep going’.

The result has been well received by the No side, who ensured the SU retained its mandate to advocate for a repeal of the 8th, and pro-choice abortion liberalisation. Hazel Nolan, head of the No Campaign, said that ‘UCD for Choice can now, with the support of the SU, continue to hold different events on campus with the common goal of repealing the 8th’.

Ryan Oakes, a member of the No Campaign, stated that the UCD pro-choice community was ‘overwhelmed’ with the result. He said that the result shows the student body ‘want their SU to fight for a repeal of the 8th amendment on the national level’, and they are ‘proud that our SU will continue to have a voice on this issue’.

Oakes stated that ‘Students’ Unions have a rich history of being catalysts for social change and we are delighted to see that this tradition will not be coming to an end any time soon. The 8th amendment has been widely regarded as a complete violation of human rights and it is crucial that our Student Union has a voice on an issue that affects UCD students so intimately and personally’.

The campaign to adopt a neutral stance on the abortion issue saw students engage critically with the debate. Interestingly the nuanced discussion saw many students who were adamantly pro-choice state they were in favour of a Yes vote and would like the Student’s Union to be neutral. One student Michelle O’Rouke who studied Food Science, said she identified as pro-choice but agreed with the Yes side and wanted the SU to be neutral. ‘I voted yes for neutrality, the main reason I voted Yes is for both sides to register as a society, and get funding and get their point across’. ‘I don’t see the problem having two different sides’ being represented on campus she said.

Speaking after the result was announced, Luke Fitzpatrick, Student Union Campaigns and Communications Officer (C&C), said that ‘it’s absolutely fantastic that students are becoming more active in society especially on such pressing issues like abortion. With student engagement on the rise we can confirm that we will continue to actively campaign on repealing the 8th amendment’.

Pro-Choice ‘No’ side Win Campus Abortion Referendum by 64% News editor Cian Carton brings you analysis of last weeks referendum result, which saw UCD students vote to keep the Student Union pro-choice.

UCD

Students’ Union (UCDSU) will maintain its pro-choice position on abortion following the conclusion of a referendum called by a group of students who wanted it to switch to a neutral stance on the issue. Students were asked to vote on the position that the Students’ Union ‘should adopt a neutral stance on the abortion issue’.

In total, 4,781 votes were cast. 19 votes were spoiled, leaving a total valid poll of 4,762. Out of the valid votes, 1,726 were Yes and 3,036 were No. Percentage-wise, Yes received 36.25% of the vote, while No received 63.75%. The turnout easily surpassed the quorum of 2352 votes, which made the result binding. The high turnout came as a surprise, as a short campaign along with the fact the vote happened during a reading week for many students, were cited as possible factors for an initially low turnout when the polls opened.

UCDSU maintained a unbiased stance during the course of the referendum. It kept its involvement restricted only to encouraging students to vote, and providing details on the logistics of voting itself.

Unlike the annual Sabbatical elections, there was no hustings. A debate on the topic held by the Literary and Historical Society (the L&H), one week before the vote. Most of the conversation on campus came from the two sides while on the campaign trail.

The Campaigns The Yes for Neutral Campaign developed out of Students for Fair Representation, a group formed to campaign for UCDSU to adopt a neutral stance on abortion.

The referendum was called after the

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Students’ Union Lobby Citizens’ Assembly to Call for a Referendum to Repeal the 8th Cian Carton | News Editor

F

group succeed in collecting the required number of signatures to trigger a vote.

The Yes campaign’s leaflet argued the 4 way split during the 2013 preferendum highlighted how the issue was extremely divisive. The decision to support abortion in all circumstances was approved by 3.7% of the student body. The Yes side galvanised a solid core of dedicated campaigners that were a strong presence on campus over the polling days.

The No campaign argued that the issue had already been resolved with the 2013 preferendum, and that a vote for neutrality would maintain the status quo in Ireland. Leaflets distributed by the campaign stated that by advocating for a national referendum on the issue, everyone would ultimately get to have their say. Speaking to the Tribune before the referendum, Hazel Nolan stated that ‘voting No means you are being pro-choice, you are striving towards everyone having bodily autonomy’. The No side perhaps enjoyed an advantage in that more students would naturally describe themselves as pro-choice, and so the impetus was on the Yes side to sway students from the default position to change the Union’s stance on abortion.

The social media element as always played a factor in student politics, with both sides actively pressing their point on both Facebook and Twitter. The No side appeared to have to edge in terms of pushing out their message and calling on students and friends to get out and vote to retain the pro-choice policy position, mirroring the active online presence and discourse on repealing the 8th amendment.

The 2013 Preferendum UCDSU originally adopted a policy of ‘legalising abortion in Ireland upon the request of the woman’ after a 2013 preferendum on the issue. This position won out over three other stances, and received 45% of the vote. 28% opted for the stance which supported the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, while 19% believed UCDSU should have remained neutral on the issue, and 8% voted for a pro-life stance. The total valid poll in 2013 was 2,527. The vote last week however represented somewhat of a conclusion to criticisms of the 2013 vote, which had been criticised that it was a four-way split rather than a decisive vote, and that the turnout had been low.

Image Above

UCD students in Arts take to the polls

The Neutrality Issue The attempt to get UCDSU to revert to a neutral stance on abortion is not a new issue, and has continually re-emerged since the 2013 preferendum. After the preferendum, over forty students delivered a petition to UCDSU demanding it revert to a neutral stance. When it refused, Samuel O’Connor, then a law student, sought to disaffiliate from the Union. While most of the signatories were from pro-life students, several pro-choice students also signed the petition as they believed the Union should have stayed neutral. While the referendum saw a comprehensive 64% victory for the pro-choice side, the 1,726 students who voted Yes totalling 36% of the vote will feel they have a claim to be taken into account. The conclusion of the campaign will cement the democratic mandate of the Students’ Union to campaign to repeal the 8th amendment, but also may highlight the need for the SU to take other views on the contentious issue into account and consideration.

ollowing the pro-choice victory in the campus referendum last week, the Students’ Union have made a submission to the Citizens’ Assembly calling for a repeal of the 8th amendment.

The submission states that UCDSU is advocating on behalf of its membership for ‘comprehensive reproductive health services in Ireland including the provision of safe and legal abortion for people that choose it’. Therefore, the Students’ Union requested the Citizens’ Assembly to recommend a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment, and notes several reasons to support its claim. It argues that the 8th Amendment does not represent the opinion of the Irish public today, is harmful to the health of Irish people, infringes on their human rights, and should be repealed by referendum.

The SU claim the 8th Amendment is “at odds with public and medical professional opinion.” A recent MRBI Ipsos poll from the Irish Times, and surveys of General Practitioners (GPs) and medical students are cited to support this point.

The controversial amendment they state harms Irish women’s health. It notes the ban on abortion in cases of Fatal Fetal Abnormalities (FFB), alongside research on women procuring at-home abortions, which is a criminal offence.

The Union’s submission argues that the 8th Amendment is not compliant with international human rights law, as it ‘fundamentally limits the Government’s ability to legislate for access to abortion and to provide information about abortion services in a manner compliant with UN human rights accords’.

The 8th amendment of the Irish Constitution states that “the State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” The section was added in following a 1983 referendum, in which 67% of the 1,257,369 voters approved the Amendment. In practice the parity of the life of the unborn and the mother criminalised and outlaws abortion in all cases. In 2013 the Irish government passed an act to say an abortion could be performed if the life of the mother was at risk.

The Citizens’ Assembly is a group that was set-up to consider political issues in Ireland as part of the deal to return a Fine Gael minority government earlier this year. Mary Laffoy, a Supreme Court Judge, chairs the Assembly, which is made up of herself and a further 99 citizens randomly selected. The group initially met this October, with abortion the first big issue up for discussion. It has put out a call to the public for submissions on the topic of the 8th amendment, with the UCD Students’ Union submitting their position and argument for repeal this week.

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Plans to Open Extra Shop in Student Residences & Tuck Shop in Science Centre Alison Graham | Senior Reporter

€2 Million UCD Has Invested in Malaysian Medical College at “Risk” Jack Power | Editor UCD owns 50% of a medical college located in Malaysia, Penang Medical College. They joint-own the college with the Royal College of Surgeons. The venture was set up in 1995, with students travelling to initially study for two and a half years in either Dublin college, and then undertaking the clinical side of the degree over two and a half years in the Malaysian college.

Recently an academic quality review of Penang Medical College (PMC) found that it ‘faces some significant risks at present’. The value of UCD’s investment is just under €2 million, according to the Belfield college’s financial statements for the 2015 year.

The Penang College has been sponsored by two agencies of the Malaysian government, The People’s Trust Council and the Public Service Department. But as of last year these two departments have pulled out from funding and sponsoring students to attend the institution.

The quality review, which had representatives from both UCD and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) on board, expressed concerned ‘that the risk of over-reliance on sponsored places had not been identified at an earlier stage by PMC, UCD or RCSI and no plans had been put in place to mitigate such a risk’.

The review group was also critical of the lack of or unclear means of financial reporting between Penang and its shareholder colleges UCD and RCSI. Particularly the report suggested on issues such as ‘finance and risk’.

The Malaysian college takes in 150 students a year, but is now www.collegetribune.ie

‘facing a significant challenge’ said the report. The primary funding assistance came in government sponsorships of students fees to attend the college, which it provided for the ‘majority’ of Penang students.

The Medical school provides UCD and the RCSI with an income stream, as the agreement between the three institutions stated Penang students spent the first two and a half years of their degree studying in Dublin. The fees the Malaysian students pay to UCD or RSCI (whichever college they chose to study in) are €16,500 a year. Despite the uncertainty around the loss of the government sponsorship scheme, UCD still recorded a €273,000 profit from the investment last year in their accounts.

The Malaysian college have tried to make up for the loss of the direct government scholarships for its students by setting up a private sponsorship scheme. The ‘Penang Future Foundation’ relies on private or individual donations to fund scholarships for high achieving Malaysian students from low income families, and sponsors their fees. But as the Foundation scheme relies on private donations it is not as secure as the previous government funded programme.

The quality report concluded that ‘UCD and RCSI should work together with PMC as a matter of priority to carry out a full risk analysis of the PMC arrangement in order to mitigate future risks, include this in all three institutional risk registers, and refresh the analysis on a regular basis’.

UCD

is seeking proposals from private companies to run a new shop in the O’Brien Science Centre, and a large convenience store in Merville residences. While it hasn’t been officially announced by UCD, the College Tribune has seen a document which outlines UCD’s proposal for companies to bid for the contract.

The proposed location of this new shop in the Science Centre is Room E0.10, located on the ground floor of the South building. The room measures 43 square metres and is currently being used as seminar and classroom. Pi Restaurant has exclusive food and drink selling rights in the Science Centre and therefore this new premises will be permitted to provide only soft drinks, daily newspapers, snacks, confectionary along with limited stationary.

While it is not yet confirmed as to whether or not a shop will go into the classroom, concern has already been raised about the idea. Given its proximity to the SU shops and other outlets, repurposing a classroom to use as a shop in the Science centre would prove to ‘be an issue, especially as there is already a designated shop space in the science centre that is currently unused’, according to Lexi Kilmartin, UCDSU Education Officer. Kilmartin stated that Sean Kilgarriff, UCD Student's Union College Officer for Science, would be better placed to offer an opinion, as he is more familiar with that area of campus.

Speaking to the Tribune, Kilgarriff questioned the necessity of the proposed new tuck shop. He mentioned that all the products the premises would sell were already available on campus in the SU shops and Centra and that therefore ‘there is no substantial need for such a tuck shop’. Kilgarriff went on to outline the facilities he believes the Science Centre is lacking in, and for which he is lobbying for, such as more seating, microwaves and other commuter related facilities. The Science Centre is also strict about student activities, and doesn’t allow student societies to book rooms for events in the building.

Kilgarriff was quick to say that if the tuck shop would benefit students in Science, or nearby buildings such as Agricultural or Computer science he would get behind it completely. On the other hand, he feels it could be disadvantageous to the students as classes are held in this room.

#UCDNEWS

€2.6 Million Awarded in Contracts to Private Companies Breaching UCD and Government Competition Guidelines Jack Power | Editor €1.7 m contract for student residency maintenance hugely exceeded €60,000 limit on private contract procedure

Image Above The space in the Science Centre Hub, where UCD want to open a tuck shop.

‘If it were to stop E0.01 from being used as a tutorial class room and resulted in students having to go to other buildings around UCD rather than staying in the Science Building, I would be less inclined to support it’ he concluded.

Spaces on campus that UCD lets or rents out to private catering or commercial companies provide the college with a substantial revenue stream that isn’t related to government or public funding, which has declined since the financial crash. UCD have also opened advertising for a company to run a larger convenience store in Merville residences. The

convenience store the college are looking to get a private company to run in the student residences it is believed is an attempt to alleviate the congestion and pressure on the current Centra store located there. The new store would be expected to provide a ‘diverse service’, including ‘frozen and fresh food, in addition to a take away coffee [counter], and deli counter’. Although the advertising of the opportunity represents only the first stage in the process, so both the larger convenience store in student Res, and the tuck shop in the Science Centre may be some time away before coming to fruition.

UCD paid out seven private contracts totalling over €2.6 million that they awarded without a public bidding process, in breach of both college and government guidelines.

The college regularly hires private companies and firms to provide various services like maintenance, catering, or cleaning. However, university guidelines state if the cost of the contract is greater than €60,000, it has to be opened to a public bidding process.

The Dáil public accounts committee, which looks into spending and irregularities within public institutions heavily criticised UCD for the seven contracts it awarded in breach of the guidelines, when they came to light at the end of last year.

The committee found seven contracts which breached the college’s own limits on private tendered works. The largest of these was a €1.7 million contract awarded to provide maintenance and administration services to on-campus student residences.

Speaking to the Tribune, former TD Joe Costello, who sat on the public accounts committee said the college were entirely ‘disregarding the rules’. The Labour politician said the university management ‘seem to be a law unto themselves’ and appeared to be ‘flexible in their interpretation’ of government guidelines. ‘That’s public money being spent’ and the Dáil accounts watchdog ‘were critical’ of the college at the time Costello stated.

UCD uses a method of ‘direct invitation’, which means it invites firms or companies to submit a tender application for contracts.

Normally contracts are advertised publically on the government website etender.ie , which allows numerous companies to submit bids to win the contract and ensures competition and value for money. UCD’s policy of direct invitation was described as ‘non-competitive procurement’.

In a letter UCD President Andrew Deeks sent to the government public accounts committee obtained by the Tribune he admits that ‘€2.6m worth of services [had been] procured in a less than competitive manner’. The college head stated that following the scrutiny, the deals with the seven private companies had been ‘regularised’, and the discrepancies has mostly arisen from legacy arrangements the college had with private providers.

The contracts included a €1.7 million deal to provide maintenance to the college’s student residencies. Coffey Group are the company that provide the maintenance to UCD’s student residences. There was also a contract for window cleaning which was worth €219,271, and two different electrical services works contracts, which earned each company €171,145 and €131,724 respectively.

Other deals the university did with compa-

nies include a contract for management of the summer letting programme for students who come and learn English in UCD over the summer, that was worth €147,686. The final private contracts over the €60K threshold that were awarded without competition was for legal services valued at €119,064, and maintenance works valued at €89,616.

The UCD procurement office (who handles the college’s contracts with private firms) at the time stated any service costing over €60,000 had to be put to public bidding. However, it emerged even this threshold was grossly out of line with the government’s guidelines. The government Department of Public Expenditure maintain that to ‘secure the best value for public money’ any contract over €25,000 should be advertised publically.

UCD however were non-compliant with this, and instead employed their own limit of €60,000. The public accounts committee were heavily critical of the college, with Fine Gael TD Patrick O’Donovan stating the practice highlighted the ‘arrogance of the institution’.

O’Donovan, now a Minister for state criticsed UCD President Deeks. ‘I find it absolutely unbelievable that the president of an institution that is funded pretty much entirely by the state would decide in an arbitrary way that he will not comply with rules that are set down by the Oireachtas’ he stated.

Following the heavy political scrutiny UCD since changed its procurement threshold to come into line with all other public bodies, and now sets a limit of €25,000 before contracts must be opened to public bids. President Deeks attempted to argue that as UCD was a large institution it should operate on different rules. The university he said ‘have over 14,000 supplier accounts with an annual spend of over €150 million’. Although he admitted their policy of direct invitation and the higher €60K limit did ‘not lead to perfect competition’.

In a statement to the Tribune a spokesperson from the Department of Public Expenditure said that ‘public procurement is governed

by EU and national rules. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money’.

The largest of the non-competitive contracts, for the maintenance of student residences it can revealed not only breached both the government and college limits, but even European Union procurement thresholds. An EU directive on procurement outlined that any public contracts to private firms exceeding €207,000 should be advertised at a European level. Yet UCD’s €1.7 million contract was not initially advertised at all.

p.7

Politics.

Students’ Union Renew Drug Harm Reduction Effort Ahead of Christmas Period Oisín MacCanna | Politics Editor

Harm Reduction Contacts UCD Specialised Addictions Counsellor (01) 716 3133

If concerned about your drug use take an online drugs test

drugs.ie HSE drug / alcohol freephone helpline 9.30 - 5.30 Mon - Fri

1800 459 459

HSE Email Support helpline@hse.ie For drug information and support reachout.com

www.collegetribune.ie

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he use of psychoactive drugs by young people in Ireland between the ages of 15-24 is the highest in Europe. The comparative level of drug use by Irish young people was revealed in a recent report from the Health Services Authority. The report highlights how drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine or ketamine are most popular in Ireland than in any other European country.

The UCD Students Union, and the national Union of Students have re-confirmed they will advocate for a harm reduction approach to drug use.

Minister of State for Health and Dublin South Central TD Catherine Byrne officially launched a new information campaign recently with students being the specific target demographic. The campaign was originally developed by the Union of Students of Ireland in partnership with Drugs.ie and the HSE. The information and awareness campaign focuses on harm reduction as well as also taking aim at young adults who use new psychoactive substances.

In addition to established drugs such as MDMA, available indicators suggest that there are no signs of slowdown in the number, type or availability of new substances used in the recreational nightlife scene. These include the wide variety of new psychoactive substances designed to mimic established illicit drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and LSD. Manufacturers of these ‘head shop’ substances develop new chemicals at an alarming rate to replace those that are banned in order to stay ahead of the law. As the availability of new substances has increased so have the serious harms associated with their use particularly acute poisonings sometimes resulting in death. These substances also cause other unwanted physical and psychological side effects.

Research from within the report also indicated that 22%of those engaged in drug use from within the age bracket go on develop a lifetime use of illegal substances. Data also suggests that the purity, or potency of most illicit substances is increasing and that the market for substances is becoming more varied and accessible.

The initial phase of the campaign focuses on two specific drugs; ecstasy and ketamine. This is the first step of an ongoing campaign to provide harm reduction information for students.

A social media campaign is among some of the tools being used by the coalition group in an effort to give harm reduction advice and information on accessing support a wider reach for people who may be using illicit substances.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President Annie Hoey said they are 'delighted to be working closely with the HSE and Drugs.ie on this harm reduction campaign.' Hoey continued,

“the purity, or potency of most illicit substances is increasing and that the market for substances is becoming more varied”

'ongoing use of a variety of substances by young people and students has rightly attracted attention and concern due to the significant number of physical and psychological side effects associated with their use. As such, it's important for us to ensure that students' relationship with substances is as safe as possible. Drugs can be unsafe, but if you do take them, follow a harm reduction regime. We are urging students to be vigilant against unknown substance'.

‘The HSE is partnering with the Union of Students in Ireland to target students and young people with an appropriate harm reduction message. Harm reduction refers to policies, programmes and practices that aim to reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of the use of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs. Harm reduction benefits people who use drugs, their families and the community. It is always safer not to use illegal drugs and we advise people not to use, however we have a duty to reduce harm and protect young peoples’ health. The key messages that we need to get to people is to Stay Safe and to be aware of the strength of the drugs they are taking. There is information, support and help available through www.drugs.ie or the HSE Drug Helpline'.

UCD Students’ Union launched their own campaign on drugs awareness and information back in 2015 with the then Minister for Drugs Strategy Aodhán Ó Ríordán and Dublin county councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh. The campaign also took a slightly different direction to the classic approach of ‘drugs are bad, don’t do it’ , instead pioneering a contemporary step in implementing cautionary safety measures for those that do choose to take drugs. The key aim of the campaign was to raise awareness of the various chemicals that are inside not only psychoactive drugs but also stimulants and sedatives.

Speaking to the College Tribune, a spokesperson for the SU said 'these [drugs] can all have different, unpredictable risks associated with them, including hospitalisations, deaths and possible mental health issues. The main message of the campaign is that you can never tell what’s in a pill just by looking at it. The safer option is always to not take drugs at all, but we acknowledge that a lot of students do use ecstasy and the campaign focus is to promote precautionary measures'.

The campaign went on to highlight that 82% of students admit to experiencing drug use in their time in UCD, with a quarter of those surveyed saying they do so for fun, but a further 31% cite using drugs as a coping mechanism, boredom and switching off as their reasons for doing so.

As for the continued use of drugs among young people, the SU and multiple other groups will be continuing the campaign to raise awareness of illicit drug use over the Christmas break and into the new year, as the winter break following exams will see students out in town in force.

Politics.

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Features.

M AR R I AG E In this Tribune’s Feature special on marriage and young people, we look towards what students think of the ancient tradition and institution. We explore how views on getting hitched have and continue to be re-defined, within a transforming society. From Marriage Equality to taking the ‘man’s name’, how does our current generation seek to understand marriage in the coming years?

www.collegetribune.ie

Features.

Challenging Preconceptions of ‘Traditional’ Marriage, One Generation at a Time Features writer Laura Addie delves into why exactly young people seem to be pushing marriage further and further back in their list of ‘life goals’. She argues that Ireland had re-defined marriage for the better last year to include samesex couples, following the marriage Equality Vote. So our generation shouldn’t be afraid of marriage, and instead make and define it to suit what we want from the concept, throwing aside traditional perceptions.

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oday when students hear the word 'marriage' we pawn it off as something which may happen way down the line. Perhaps we even shudder at the thoughts of being tied down for the rest of our days. We tell ourselves that we’re still young and currently too busy planning on what country or continent we’ll backpack through next. Or more importantly how we’ll manage to pull off getting the money together to pay for it.

We want to travel, meet new people, perhaps relocate to a new city and that’s not even taking into consideration trying to break into the increasingly competitive workforce and nab our dream job. The very last thing on the minds of most students right now is marriage.

Here lies a slight problem because when you look back about forty or fifty years, an era which is completely alien to us, and compare how young adults viewed marriage at that time, it’s completely different. Marriage was to them what travelling and education is to us, it was quite simply 'the status quo'. As they reached the latter end of their teenager years, they were most likely already being interrogated by inquis-

itive family members about when they were planning on tying the knot. It was quite common to settle down with your first love and start building your life together from as young as 18. When we were 18, we’d rather starve than attempt using the kitchen appliances before mam came home, never mind running an entire household. Of course it’s comforting to see how standards have completely transformed and we are no longer expected to settle down so soon. Instead we’re encouraged to pursue whatever it is we love to do. However, that’s not to say we can’t do both and there is definitely something to be said for considering marriage a little earlier on in life.

A recent study on marriage by Pew Research indicated the percentage of adults in the U.S who have never been married is at a record high of 20%. It also showed the longer that people waited to tie the knot, the less likely marriage became. This is largely due to the fact 'marriage' is slowly sliding down young adult’s lists of priorities. In fact, more and more couples are choosing the route of living together and having children, without the paperwork from the state and the big fancy wedding that is sure to cost them an arm and a leg. I’m sure we’ve even heard the phrase 'sure, it’s just a piece of paper' being thrown around a few times.

‘marriage’ is slowly sliding down young adult’s lists of priorities’.

The importance of marriage has been cast aside with its purpose becoming increasingly debatable.

Perhaps this is from sheer doubt, it’s possible that we’ve seen so many cases which put us off the idea altogether, whether it was a parent’s difficult divorce or eavesdropping on a bitter married couple arguing behind us in the queue at the supermarket. 'Well I hope I never end up like them' is what most of us are thinking, but marriage can be a fantastic experience where we wholeheartedly commit ourselves to that one person with whom we’re willing to share our life with. It’s not about waiting around for the one we’re 100% positive we want to spend the rest of our lives with.

That’s one of the reasons less and less of us are willing to make the leap.

We’re scrutinising aspects of our relationship which we believe may end in tears after years of marriage.

We say we’ll wait around until we’re completely sure. If you ask most of your parents or grandparents were they certain they were making the right choice walking down the aisle,

I’m sure they’d say they had their doubts, but they were happy at the time and willing to try. Marriage shouldn’t be about perfection, but about building your relationship along the way.

‘The LGBT+ community had to put up a long and inequitable fight to exercise their right to marry their loved ones’.

I’m sure many of you voted Yes last summer in the marriage equality referendum. The LGBT+ community had to put up a long and inequitable fight to exercise their right to marry their loved ones. Their determination can only be admired and the majority of Ireland were delighted to see our country finally become a nation of equals. What was most refreshing was the abundance of teenage and young adult campaigners out on the streets campaigning for their right to marry. I feel that this goes to show marriage is not just a topic of discussion for the over 30’s, but an incredible aspect of life which those who are denied it are willing to fight for. I realise it’s a long way down the line for most of us right now, we’re trying to juggle

exams, classes, family, friends and in some cases a part time job.

‘You can travel the world with your husband or wife and build your careers together. Your life can still be as adventurous as it ever was when you were a singleton’.

We barely get a moment to stop and think about what our plans are for the next day, never mind what we’ll be doing in ten years time.

But we shouldn't just retain the old fashioned idea of marriage which has been ingrained in us since childhood. Marriage isn’t settling down, getting a mortgage and living in boredom for the rest of your days.

You can travel the world with your husband or wife and build your careers together. Your life can still be as adventurous as it ever was when you were a singleton. With that in mind, it’s my hope that 'marriage' takes on a new meaning with our generation.

Last year we voted Yes to re-define marriage as including partners of all sexuality, so there’s nothing stopping our generation each re-defining marriage the way we want it to be.

p.11

Features.

Has your view of marriage changed in the last 5 years?

Do you want to get married?

Conor Duffy 22 neuroscience student did and outlined his reasons. 'I’ll say yes to this one, because I’ve always imagined having a wife and kids. But it’s contingent on the person. It’s more important to me that I find a person that I want to commit to than I find a person who wants to get married.'

Jasmin Jeys Pampana 21

Should We Put a Ring on It? Students’ Changing Views on Marriage and Tradition Features editor Rachel O’Neill explores our generation’s changing views to the tradition and expectation of marriage, whether it's still important, and if so, why?

I

n Ireland in 2015 there were 22,025 marriages recorded. This represents 4.8 weddings per thousand up from 4.5 in 2013. The average cost of a wedding in 2015 was €23,200 and approximately 18% of Irish couples took out a loan to pay for it.

Given that we now need a 20% deposit before we can buy a house in this country, I think it’s fair to suggest that weddings and marriage as a whole may start to become a little less common. I personally have little to no interest www.collegetribune.ie

in getting married. I believe that weddings are too expensive and with property prices so high, I believe the money would be better spent buying a house. I wanted to investigate other students attitudes towards marriage as an institution. The Marriage Equality referendum opened a national conversation but how we define marriage. But what do our generation think about the traditional institution when it comes to their own future?

erasmus student from Italy took a different view. 'If one day me and my potential boyfriend/girlfriend will decide to get married it will be just in order to obtain legal rights. I don't need to sign a contract to show someone that I love them'.

Sinéad Harrington 21 european Studies student from Trinity College said 'honestly I’m not sure. I don’t have really strong opinions on this. I think that a solid commitment can exist without a legal institution, but I can see the symbolic importance that marriage has for a lot of people'. But she said it 'isn’t something I’ve thought about a lot and I still haven’t settled on an answer'.

Grace Conway 22 theology student from Trinity College said almost getting married at 19 gave her more than enough reservations on taking the leap. 'To be honest, it’s because of a bad experience. I very almost got married when I was just nineteen, luckily it wasn’t legal and so it didn’t have major implications for me when everything fell apart with that person'.

Do you think marriage is important?

Jasmin was critical of the perceptions and societal drive to have to get married just for the sake of it. 'Personally, I don't think marriage should be considered as something that everyone needs to achieve. Marriage should be about promising each other 'eternal' love, but nowadays people seem to be more interested in just getting married rather than in the person they choose to marry.'

Jasmin however said in Italy marriages perception was still very traditional and entrenched. 'People dream of their marriage since they were children. Marriage is seen as an inevitable achievement so everyone grows up thinking that one day they will have to get married'.

Sinéad argued that the concept of ‘marriage has been constantly changing for hundreds of years, and I think it still is changing. As to how marriage has changed very recently, I think that particularly amongst my generation people are regarding marriage as less inevitable and necessary for a stable, lasting relationship’.

Conor Duffy said marriage still had an importance in formalising or recognising a relationship for life, especially when looking to raise a family.

‘Many people aspire to have a family, and for many people that family will include having children. Marriage can be seen as a kind of formal, defined way of doing that, of having your family recognised in a more official way. So, as an institution, I definitely think it’s important.’

Potema agreed her view had changed as well recently, ‘I’m currently 25 and relationships come and go. I’ve changed as a person the past five years and my outlook on things, my perspective, has shifted with that. Realising things about myself and how that slots me into society has made me think a lot about how things such as the marriage referendum of 2015 affects my life.

I would like to think a lot of people’s views of marriage has changed in the last 5 years’.

Ben Scott 26 Medicine student in UCD said marriages’ intertwined links as an institution of the Church might put more of this generation off of it when they get older. ‘I think marriage can be a very nice symbol of a healthy relationship. I think it also has quite a sinister undertone due to its relationship to the church in this country. I would not be concerned if I was in a happy relationship in my 30’s - 40’s etc and not married.’

Andrew Blennerhassett 22 economics student from Trinity College said the marriage Equality referendum played a big part in changing the meaning of marriage. ‘I think that coming up to the marriage referendum a lot of the discourse changed the way we see marriage for the better. Ireland has gotten significantly more progressive in its views and I think that has only accelerated in recent years’.

Features.

S

Marriage, But on Our Terms

Would you prefer to take your partner’s name as your own?

One of the most enduring traditions passed on through previous generations is the practice of taking the man’s surname, but perhaps that too is beginning to become less and less the social norm or expected among young people.

Do you think marriage is valued in modern society?

Is marriage the only way people can commit to each other for life?

Ben stated he felt 'if a relationship is healthy it does not need a binding agreement such as a marriage to keep two people together. Living together, having children together is much more important than a ceremony which has been greatly diluted by social progression.'

Andrew ‘no, I think we have seen a change in the way relationships form and evolve. You aren’t stuck in marriage due to divorce so I don’t think it’s integral to commitment.’

Potema said ‘a relationship, is not about finding someone who completes you, but finding someone with whom you can share your completeness. If someone were to force themselves into marriage in order to feel commitment then I get the impression they are just trying to fill in a void.’

Conor said he didn’t think so 'but that’s because marriage means something different today than it used to. Marriage today is about love and commitment. A few centuries ago, it was about formalising relationships between families and social order. The modern definition is better, but is also of less value to the structure of society' Andrew concurred to argue that ‘it has dropped in importance greatly, whereas it was considered a vital part of building a family in the past there is a huge rise in fertility rates outside of wedlock. In the earlier half of the 20th century you were expected to marry early and stay with that person the rest of your life. The advent of divorce combined with a society that has become less secular year on year has led to a change in these views’.

Grace said ‘it depends on who you ask. More traditional families often see it as something which is important, but I think a lot of younger people in the post-90’s divorce generation don’t see it as something essentially valuable anymore. It’s not an absolute anymore, certainly not in the west, it’s more of an opt-out system’.

o what can we conclude from these answers? It’s clear that marriage is different for everyone. People approach this subject with a different view depending on their background, their beliefs and their own experience. As most of the participants have pointed out, that experience can be negative or positive but it will almost always shape your views. I’ve had a primarily good experience of marriage in my family yet I have no interest in it myself.

While I don’t believe that marriage is a dying institution, it seems clear to me that students

don’t think it’s as important as it once was.

A progression in views has meant that we can have families without getting married without the stigma that once surrounded those born out of wedlock. Marriage is no longer something that is expected of us.

We’re more inclined to have several important relationships before we choose to settle down and I think that’s a healthier place for our society to be in. As many other societal institutions have found interacting with our generation, we’re more likely to redefine it to suit ourselves, than let it define us.

Grace Wsaid she wouldn’t take her husband’s name. ‘I like my surname, I’m an only child and my late father’s only heir.

I really don’t want children so there’s no possibility of passing on the family name, but I think it’s important for me to keep that sense of identity in myself, knowing where I came from and who I owe everything I have to’ Ben ‘I couldn’t care less. As long as my wife was happy with her name (be it mine or hers) I’d be happy. My kids are having my surname though.’

Jasmin said ‘that if two people are married they still are two different people and they still have two different identities. Adopting your partner’s surname would mean that you are giving up on your identity to take in your partner’s. I would never do that’.

Conor said that he would like his family to have the same surname. ‘I think it would be a positive thing for any family I have to have a unified identify. That being said, I think the gender expectation is a bit arbitrary. Your name is part of who you are, and I think it’s unfair to always expect the woman to be the one to change that’.

Potema said she wasn’t sure, but wouldn’t give up her surname automatically. ‘My family hold a lot of value in our name. It’s a pretty basic surname but they feel a lot of pride regardless when it comes to the family name.

I already have had enough trouble with names when it comes to family, my first name being Potema. Names are powerful. There’s a lot behind a name and they can have a lot of significance for individuals. It’s a lot to think about’. p.13

Music.

Interview:

Two Door Cinema Club

Music editor Aoileann Kennedy chatted to Two Door Cinema Club’s Kevin Baird about the Co. Down band’s new album ‘Gameshow’.

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Album in Review:

Lady GaGa, Joanne CT Rating: 5/10 Music writer Muireann O Shea takes a detailed look at Lady Gaga’s new album ‘Joanne’, and discusses some of the most talked about tracks from the record.

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or her fifth album, Lady Gaga has side stepped into yet another genre.

Leaving behind the gaudy disco of 2013’s ARTPOP and the smooth 2014 jazz collaboration with Tony Bennett for the country twang of the deep south. Gaga remixes all the usual tropes of the Bible Belt, trying out different flavours of musical vintage, but never truly embodying the country genre.

The album’s two lead singles are arguably the two worst songs on the album. ‘Perfect Illusion’s 80’s synths and fist-bump drumbeat are unlikable from the beginning, but by the time we reach the last chorus’ boy band regurgitated key change, the song is unbearable. ‘Million Reasons’ is quite possibly the least interesting song Gaga has ever released. The other acoustic cut on the album, title-track ‘Joanne’, is better, as Gaga tries out her best Dolly Parton impression, while crooning about her late aunt.

Sinner’s Prayer and Come To Mama are best enjoyed as fun filler songs.

The former sounds like it was pulled directly from a Spaghetti Western remake or the credits of Django Unchained. While Come To Mama could’ve been sung in a 40’s dance hall to army boys dancing with their sweethearts, the track becomes tiring around the two-minute mark. www.collegetribune.ie

‘Angel Down’ is a surprisingly genuine moment of social commentary, as Gaga laments the racial and sectarian violence of the US. She cries the question, “where are our leaders?”, Gaga manages to steer clear of her usual melodrama and touches on the earnest emotion and authenticity that were present in early Gaga tracks, like ‘Speechless’.

‘Hey Girl’ is a Elton John-esque keys track. Gaga and Florence Welch make a formidable pairing, having two of the most interesting voices in today’s pop music. Lyrically, ‘Hey Girl’ is a call to arms to carry each other. It’s a duet that could have been performed at a 70’s benefit concerts and could easily become the feminist anthem that had been mostly missing from Gaga’s repertoire.

‘Grigio Girls’ is an airy folk song and a bonus track that would’ve been a welcome replacement for some of the album’s less interesting numbers.

With a similar theme to ‘Hey Girl’, Gaga shares the recipe for the bluesW open a bottle of white wine, stick on the Spice Girls and have a bit of a cry with your best friends.

This is Lady Gaga’s most musically stripped album, and perhaps the closest she has been to her early work. Yet it is behind the masquerade of the country genre she attempts that the best and most genuine Lady Gaga tracks can be heard.

wo Door Cinema Club were unquestionably the biggest breakout band of 2010.

Their debut album ‘Tourist History’ was a massive success, winning the 2010 Choice Music Prize for best Irish album and reaching number one on the Irish Independent Album Chart. They dominated the Irish airwaves with tracks like ‘Undercover Martyn’ and ‘What You Know’ and their Oxegen set was heralded as one of the highlights of the festival (I can attest to this, I was there). They followed that with 2012’s ‘Beacon’ and the EP ‘Changing of the Seasons’.

However, for the past three years the band was silent. This year they have made a triumphant return to music with the album ‘Gameshow’.

‘Gameshow’ is quite different from their previous releases. Kevin told me this was organically the record they wanted to make, but it definitely reflects their interests and influences at the time. They aren’t averse to making music that is different from their previous releases, however it isn’t a truly conscious effort. It has been a gradual progression.

Their different locations (London, LA, Portland), didn’t influence the sound of the record, but it massively influenced the way they wrote the album. They wrote a lot of the album via email rather than sitting together in a room. When I asked Kevin if the break from the band (and each other) majorly influenced the album, he told me it was probably the biggest influence on the record. As we discussed their break and the issues they faced

beforehand, I got the impression that a major factor in recording the album was to put their demons and talk of struggles to bed.

Kevin pointed out that Alex was particularly adamant that past issues regarding mental health and alcohol abuse would play a major part in recording the album. This understandably led to some trepidations and nerves about writing so openly and honestly about difficulties that they had worked so hard to overcome.

There is a concern that they will be defined by their struggles rather than their music. They want to be open and honest, not to fix the world and other people's’ problems, but for their own peace of mind and progression as a band.

There is a real sense that they do want to show the human side of the industry and of musicians with their work, but that they do not want people to focus entirely on the past. The future is what they are focusing on now, with an upcoming tour in the works. You get the feeling that the band is excited to get back out on the road, and especially to get back to Ireland. For them, they are very conscious about when and how they play in Ireland. They are from here, so for them it feels like home when they come back here, especially Dublin. They love the feeling of familiarity of the city and the crowds.

It’s obvious from chatting to Kevin, that they are thrilled with the record and excited to get back into the thick of it. For them, their focus is 100% on their future, and after hearing about their plans, I think we should be too.

В глубине (In Focus)

Russian Techno

Deputy editor George Hannaford takes you through some of the most interesting sets and features of the understatedly lesser known underground Russia techno scene.

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vershadowed by the well-know underground Berlin house scene, deep Russian techno can be found on the radio outlet Mixcult, based in Saint Petersburg Russia.

Choosing to play ‘deep, minimal, dub-techno, and house music sets’ this outlet is available to listen to online, be it from the Mixcult website, SoundClould or on YouTube.

The audio visual experience of Mixcult via YouTube is particularly special. Featuring 1+ hour sets accompanied by old USSR video footage there is great potenial to sit back and enjoy the music (note very suitable for playing at parties). A few recommendations of DJ’s whom are interesting heads on the underground techno-jam are the likes of Andrey Pushkarev, Luijo, and Lola Palmer. Each of which feature numerous sets on the Mixcult medium. ‘Andrey Pushkarev - Podcast 155’ (find it on YouTube) is particularly balanced all the way through. With tasty beats emerging at 20 minutes in, the accompanying retro footage leads to a sub-modern feel. The set is surprisingly good to put on as background music, while studying or writing an essay. An industrial feeling is met within ‘Podcast 156 Luijo Realtra’, skipping forward to 12 minutes in and we can find a remix of Pablo Bolivar’s Summer Nights, a nostalgic beat that is in sync with a search for the days past. ‘Podcast 126

Quick Questions:

Q&A

2XM Radio DJ Tara Stewart Music editor Aoileann Kennedy caught up with RTÉ’s alternative pop radio presenter and DJ Tara Stewart, who hosts a Thursday show on the online-only station 2XM, to get her best picks for upcoming acts to watch.

What kind of music do you play on your show on 2XM? I play a variety of alternative music from around the world, from pop, indie, RnB and Hip Hop. Artist to watch over the next few months?

Hare Squead, Mabel, Soule, Mango Dassle, Bonzai, Anne Marie, Dua Lipa, Mykki Blanco, Lizzo, Kimbra, Leikely47, Sampha, Goldlink, Rebel Phoenix, Aik J, Mura Masa, Cyril Hahn, Princess Nokia, Dai Burger.

Who are your 4 favourite acts at the moment & why?

Junglepussy - She is an American rapper, I’m mad for female rappers.

She’s not really doing much at the moment but I genuinely just love her style and really raw lyrics. Also she’s an absolutely gas bit*h. My fave song is Spicy 103 FM Mykki Blanco: He is a really different ‘weird’ artist that has been

pretty underground for a long time, he just released a brilliant debut album called MYKKI. Again he is really raw and has very very honest in his lyrics. He’s not afraid to speak his mind.

Mabel - She is one to watch for 2017, I can see really big things coming her way. I simply just love her simple but catchy chilled RnB songs. She is really old school 90’s which I love.

Kimbra - She’s from New Zealand and a lot of people would know her from the GOTYE collab with ‘Somebody that I Used to Know’.

But she makes fantastic music in her own right. She is super talented and has an insane voice, and again seems like a gas bitch too.

How can people tune in?

Peeps can listen the RTE radio player app on their phones and also on the computer at rte.ie/ listen/2XM, Thursday nights 7-9pm.

Album in Review:

Kate Tempest, Let Them Eat Chaos Adam Bielenberg | Music Writer CT Rating: 7/10

Lola Palmer, My Berlin’ feels like you have gone out for the night. An energetic beat of 80’s techno culture is redefined at 42 minutes in. Overall elements of the Russian based underground deep house scene features a more relaxed feel to that of the heavy underground Berlin scene. I definitely suggest Mixcult as an additive to the Boiler Room, however not a full replacement. For those unversed in deep techno Mixcult is an interesting wormhole to dive through, even if it's for nothing more than an hour of musical experimentation.

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f you have ever stumbled upon poet/musician Kate Tempest’s performance on the BBC, you most likely would have watched in wonder. In one grand non-stop portion, she abrasively blurted out her second album, ‘Let Them Eat Chaos’.

Tempest employs this stream of consciousness technique to capture the alienation, paranoia and anxiety of seven Londoners awake or asleep at 4.18am. Most of the album’s thirteen tracks boast the same structure – a semi-spoken word descriptive account of a character and the setting, before we dive into the character’s minds, brooding over their lives - often in a dreamlike state. Nocturnal introspection pervades this record.

What has always been refreshing about her work is her attentiveness to mundane details. We hear about people paying their mortgage off and going on Tinder. Then there is Tempest’s deeply cynical worldview; taking the monster tune “Europe is Lost” and the gloomy apocalyptic ‘Tunnel Vision’ together, she lists just about everything wrong with society. The world is caving in and we are the architects of our own destruction. Let Them Eat Chaos does not contain the absorbing narratives that were present on Everybody Down. Tempest’s poetic façade shines more brightly on this occasion. This is poetry set to music, having the same punch of hip hop, brimming with modernity and relevance.

And there is nothing like a record that creates a palpable sense of atmosphere. The starry synths and night time ruminations render this album ideal for the darker days coming up. p.15

Fashion.

Clothing Lindsay’s Model Lindsay Mermaida Make Up Niamh Cavanagh Stylist Niamh Cavanagh Photographer George Hannaford

SOCIAL

SOCIAL Lindsay is athleisure’s wet dream. Her quirky, up-tempo, yet laid back style makes her intimidating, yet approachable. Quite the juxtapose.

Her wardrobe is a mix of charity shop hauls and Zara’s latest season. She represents everything about on trend, street style fashion mixed with pop culture. She has built a huge following on Snapchat with her stick and poke tattoos, nail art (which she does herself) and style, all the while smashing preconceptions of being a young mother in Ireland. She is one to watch for 2017.

Snapchat – MERMAIDAJADE Instagram – lindsaymermaida

LINDSAY

MERMAIDA

LifeStyle.

Moving Away from Meat and Towards Sustainable Sustenance Food & LifeStyle editor Ciara Landy weights up the environmental benefits of switching to a low-meat diet, and picks out some of the best documentaries and studies raising awareness on the issue.

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nimal agriculture and meat consumption are significant contributors to global warming that can no longer be ignored. The US Food & Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat consumption is set to double from 2000 to 2050, adding to an already unsustainable food production model that is wreaking havoc on the Earth’s environment and endangered ecosystems. Going vegan, vegetarian or simply cutting back on meat can make a huge impact on your carbon footprint. A study conducted by Oxford found that meat-rich diets (more than 100g of meat per day) amounted to 7.2kg of carbon dioxide emissions per day, a stark contrast with vegetarian and fish-eating diets which caused about 3.8kg of CO2 per day and vegan diets that produced only 2.9kg – definitely food for thought.

Cowspiracy This feature length documentary, available to stream on Netflix, examines the reluctance of many environmentalist organisations and leaders to discuss the issue of animal agriculture and its environmental impact and the price of such silence on the future of the planet. The documentary takes the viewer on gradual but fascinating journey that ends up leaving you inevitably questioning the hypocrisy of current ‘green politics’.

The China Study Since its original publication date in 2005, ‘The China Study’ has sold over 1 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books on nutrition worldwide. The book is based upon the findings of ‘The China-Cornell-Oxford Project’, one of the largest observational studies on human nutrition that took place in rural China in the 1980s. In its findings, ‘The China Study’ advocates a whole-foods plant-based vegan diet as well as emphasising the relationship between animal product consumption and illnesses such as breast cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease. It is a must read for anyone considering transitioning to a plant-based diet, or seeking an academic source on the topic.

‘Before the Flood’, released in 2016 by National Geographic,

Forks Over Knives Also available to stream on Netflix, ‘Forks over Knives’ highlights the numerous benefits of eating a plant-based diet and investigates the link between animal products and degenerative disease.

Before the Flood Looking for a quick fix of Leo Dicaprio? The veteran actor stars in and narrates climate-change documentary ‘Before the Flood’, travelling to various regions around the globe and meeting with scientific and world leaders, exposing the effects of man-made global warming and exploring potential solutions. ‘Before the Flood’ is available to stream free of charge on YouTube.

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E-mail Andrew for more info: andrew@deloitteltd.com www.collegetribune.ie

LifeStyle.

How to Go Veggie the Right Way Amy Meegan | Food & LifeStyle Writer Did you know that last month on October 2nd 2016 it was World Vegetarian Day? Vegetarianism is often considered an unhealthy lifestyle, and many people believe that a vegetarian diet lacks protein and many other essential nutrients because of the absence of meat. Let me tell you something – a careful planned vegetarian 1812 diet that only excludes meat products can be a nutritionally complete diet. A vegetarian diet Martha Brotherton can be as nutritious as a non-vegetarian diet. was the first person in Britain to write a veggie And with a bit if planning certainly healthier than subsisting entirely on the dietary selection of cook book, entitled the Clubhouse Bar, and SU shop sandwiches.

“A New System of

Veggie Info

Vegetable Cookery”.

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Sex Studies have suggested that eating increased plant based food can increase libido and can have the potential to increase sex hormones.

Protein The key role of protein is in growth and repair of muscles, organs, skin and bones. For vegetarians the best sources of protein are beans, nuts, eggs, dairy products (milk/cheese/ yogurt), tofu and meat alternatives such as Quorn. By adding at least one of these options to each meal and snack throughout the day you should be able to satisfy your daily protein requirements.

Iron Iron is a key component of red blood cells and serves in transporting oxygen around the body. The primary sources of iron for vegetarians are green leafy vegetables, whole grains and fortified breads, cereals and milk. To promote iron absorbance a source of vitamin C should be consumed with all iron-containing meals, e.g. oranges, tomatoes, broccoli or a vitamin C supplement. Low iron levels may results in an iron deficiency anaemia with symptoms including fatigue, cold hands and feet, pale skin and dizziness. Tannins, a component found in tea, can reduce the absorption of iron, so it’s actually best to wait at least an hour after eating before you have you wee cuppa if you can.

Vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 is important to help prevent of a form of anaemia known as pernicious anaemia. This form of anaemia may be considered more serious that iron deficiency anaemia as it affects the nervous system. Symptoms include tingling in the hands and feet, impaired balance, confusion and forgetfulness.

Vitamin B12 can be found in dairy products, soya milk and yogurts, eggs and fortified milks, breads and cereals.

Top Tips For A Nutritious & Delicious Vegetarian Diet 1

Breakfast is an excellent opportunity for you to get in a host of wonderful nutrients. Try adding nuts and seeds or a blob of nut butter to your morning oats for an added protein punch, or maybe peanut butter and banana on toast tickles your fancy.

Late for your 9am and eating on the go? Whizz up a refreshing fruit smoothie and add in some nuts for protein and health-promoting fats. Cashew nuts can be a good addition to any smoothie as they give a wonderful smooth and silky texture.

2

Omelettes are possibly the quickest and easiest lunch to make. They can even be made the night before and eaten the next day while you’re at work or in college.

Pack your omelette with tasty veg and some Quorn or tofu to keep you going until dinner time. Omelettes are great for breakfast too, and hold surprisingly well so you can make two at a time, refrigerating one for the next morning.

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Not so fond of the eggs? Cook up a big pot of homemade soup at the weekend and freeze it in individual portions to dole out and heated up each day. Pack your soup with beans and lentils and maybe even some pumpkin seeds to give it a nutritious yet satisfying kick.

4

Use dinner time as your opportunity to show those sceptics that vegetarian meals are not ‘boring’, ‘flavourless’, ‘unsatisfying’ – the list of unreasonable descriptors is endless. Go wild with stir-fries, adding Quorn chicken strips or chunks of tofu to your wok with veg.

A dash of soy sauce can also really add some taste to any wok.

5

Or maybe you feel like a burger? Bean burgers are so tasty that you’ll never guess you’re missing meat.

Tryexperiment, the best bean burgers can be made using chickpeas, red kidney beans or a combination of both. Two vegetarian dinners on my list now are lasagne and Shephard’s Pie, both using lentils.

For more of Amy’s nutritional advice or tips you can follow her lifestyle account The Baking Dietitian on Facebook, or @thebaking dietitian on Instagram. p.23

Film.

Superhero Showdown:

2016’s Caped Crusades Ranked Film & TV editor David Deignan brings us his top picks from the wide array of superhero movies to hit screens this year.

5. X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer / Fox)

The Art of the Cliff-Hanger The Walking Dead returned recently for its seventh season, having cruelly kept fans waiting a full 7 months for a resolution to the previous episode’s conflict. But do television showrunners rely on the power of the cliff-hanger too much?

Why do they drive viewers so crazy?

Film & TV editor David Deignan takes a look at the most frustrating - yet effective – narrative device in entertainment.

C

4. Doctor Strange ( Scott Derrickson / Marvel )

3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ( Zack Snyder / Warner Bros. )

ritic Emily Nussbaum once wrote in The New York Times that ‘cliff-hangers are fake outs. They reveal that a story is artificial, then dare you to keep believing.

If you trust the creator, you take that dare, and keep going’. The season 7 premiere of ‘The Walking Dead’, which first aired October 23rd in the States, was the latest in an increasingly long list of television shows that have dared audiences to keep believing.

The notable thing about The Walking Dead’s return was that it was, easily one of the most talked about events in television history. The show, which is adapted from Robert Kirkman’s wildly successful comic book series, had courted controversy with the way that it had ended the previous season. It spent multiple episodes in the back-half building up anticipation for the arrival of big-bad Negan, one of the most iconic characters from the source material, portrayed onscreen by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. In the comic book the villain’s arrival heralds a grisly end to an important character, with the spontaneity of the moment shocking readers and acting as a bitter catalyst for the inevitable war with the Negan and his army. The black-clad, foul mouthed Negan finally

The Walking Dead premiered in the United States on October 31st, 2010 and was exclusively shown on the cable television channel AMC.

arrived in the season 6 finale but, before his unfortunate victim could be revealed, the screen cut to black, with only the sounds of squelching blood and horrified screams audible as head collided with baseball bat. Choosing to cut out the identity of Negan’s victim drew the ire of the shows fans. The creators, including showrunner Scott M.Gimple and Kirkman himself, were forced to defend their decision, insisting that the move was not audience manipulation and actually served as a critical demarcation between two phases of the show’s story.

Even if the cliff-hanger was not intended to be a publicity stunt, it certainly worked as one. Social media blew up following the season 6 finale and, as the show’s return grew ever closer, speculation on who Negan killed grew to fever pitch. Cliff-hangers

T

2. Deadpool ( Tim Miller / Fox )

Film in Review:

Doctor Strange David Deignan | Film & TV Editor

CT Rating: 5/10 Director: Scott Derrickson Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, MadsMikkelson

1. Captain America: Civil War ( Joe & Anthony Russo / Marvel )

www.collegetribune.ie

he release of ‘Doctor Strange’, the 14th film in Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe, sees an incredibly competitive year for the superhero genre finally draw to a close. Since the series - which revolves around the tent pole events of ‘The Avengers’ team-ups - began back with 2008’s ‘Iron Man’, it has become a staggering financial behemoth with almost every new instalment releasing to a swathe of critical and commercial acclaim.

It is as a result of this success that introducing Doctor Strange and, by extension, the prospect of magic and the supernatural to the series for the first time is no significant gamble for the studio and their financiers. Marvel have grown more and more comfort-

Film.

have, throughout television history, acted as a brilliant means to stoke audience anticipation and guarantee a strong viewership for following episodes.

The template was set in 1980 by the third season finale of ‘Dallas’ when protagonist J.R. Ewing was shot twice by an off-screen assailant before collapsing to the floor, leaving viewers in the dark over the characters faith for 8 months while they waited for the beginning of season 4. A national media frenzy broke out in response to the cliff-hanger. Dallas broadcasters CBS capitalised by launching the ‘Who Shot J.R.?’ marketing campaign, with t-shirts proclaiming ‘I Shot J.R’ becoming popular over the summer months. J.R. actor Larry Hagman held out for a pay rise as attention increased while bookmakers set odds for the most likely suspects. The cliff-hanger even influenced the 1980 U.S. Presidential Election campaign, as Republicans issued out campaign buttons proclaiming ‘Democrats Shot J.R.’ while Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter joked that he

would have no problem with financing if he knew who shot J.R. The Dallas producers admitted that the ending had been engineered to keep audiences engaged with the show during its hiatus and, sure enough, the season 4 episode ‘Who Done It?’ – which wrapped up the mystery – became the highest-rated episode in U.S. television history.

Unsurprisingly the cliff-hanger has become commonly used in television ever since J.R was shot and the advent of social media has only increased the potential audience that producers have the power to engage with. Shows such as ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Sherlock’ have all used cliff-hangers to their advantage in recent years, proving that when done well it can be a classy, yet tantalising means of connecting chapters of a wider story.

The Walking Dead drew a level of ire with its own cliff-hanger that those shows didn’t and perhaps that’s because it felt like a cop-out – like the writers only did it so that their show would

remain a relevant topic of conversation over the summer months. After all the show was on the receiving end of a great deal of criticism throughout its sixth season, with the fake death of Steven Yeun’s Glenn early on in the season proving that the show’s writers are not averse to pulling a stunt to gain audience traction. The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg went has far as saying that the show has ‘lost its credibility’ and that it just ‘feels mechanical now.’ The controversy that surrounded the subsequent season 6 cliff-hanger should act as a warning to The Walking Dead – audiences are not going to be fooled by simple gimmickry. Cliff-hangers need to be well thought out and, ultimately, make sense in the wider scheme of a show’s story. If done well they can elevate a series’ reputation among viewers and critics, guaranteeing it a healthy figure in ratings when the show returns. There is, however, a fine line between a cliff-hanger and a cliff-drop – and The Walking Dead needs to be careful that it doesn’t tow that line too carelessly.

able venturing into unknown territories, having reaped rewards with adaptations of lesser known comic book characters like ‘Ant-Man’ and the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’.

While ‘Doctor Strange’ struggles to the hit the same heights that those films did, it still manages to deviate from the tried and tested superhero formula in a zany way, allowing it to feel simultaneously fresh and original while also fitting seamlessly into the fabric of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The story follows the eponymous protagonist Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), a prodigiously talented but painfully selfish surgeon whose work-obsessed exis-

post-production team fully embrace the opportunities that Strange’s sorcery presents, offering up a gorgeously psychedelic experience.

Clearly inspired in sections

by Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’, the film has to be commended for choosing to push the boat out and intentionally look to offer up something that stylistically sets itself apart from most else of what the superhero genre has to offer.

Unfortunately, however, the same cannot be said for the story or the characters at the centre of it. Cumberbatch performance as Strange is fine but, for whatever reason, he lacks the same charismatic spark that seems to come

is engaging as The Ancient One though, providing a wellsuited foil to Cumberbatch’s magical MD. The film must be commended, however, for the manner in which it concludes. The ending manages to successfully dodge tried and tested tropes and gives us a left-field means of tying the story together.

In the scale of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe ‘Doctor Strange’ is as close as we’ll likely get to a completely standalone instalment. Nods to The Avengers and their world are subtle and deftly done but, with Cumberbatch confirmed to return as Strange in 2018’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, it will be fascinating to see how the char-

tence is dismembered when his hands are seriously damaged in a car accident.

Embarking on a desperate quest to find some sort of cure, Strange finds himself falling under the tutelage of The Ancient One (Swinton) a powerful entity who has mastered the ability to manipulate time and space.

As Strange travels deeper into The Ancient One’s world he is forced to fight for a cause much bigger than himself, as a powerful villain (Mikkelson) sets his sights on destroying the world as we know it.

‘Doctor Strange’ is undoubtedly the most visceral onscreen experience that Marvel have offered up to date. Derrickson and his

so easy in most of his other material. Too many jokes fall flat and, although it seems like the writers were attempting to mould Strange in a similar vein to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, for whatever reason the character never completely clicks.

The story is structured like a typical superhero origin story for the most part (‘Batman Begins’ is an easy comparison) and, although it is dressed up nicely with the impressive visuals, it lacks any serious surprises or impact as it progresses. The pacing is off and as a result really talented actors like Mikkelson, Ejiofor and McAdams are wasted, having all been given far too little to do or say. Swinton

acter fits in with the studios’ bigger picture.

Overall ‘Doctor Strange’ is mostly an enjoyable – but not astonishing – romp through the world of sorcery that does its best to put its own unique spin on the superhero genre.

It’s a visually brilliant film that unfortunately trips over itself as it dances and, as a result, wastes many of its more promising aspects.

While it may succeed in serving as a quirky, memorable stop-gap en route to the next chapter of the wider story, there is definitely the sense that the final film is a lot less than the sum of its parts. Which, considering the scale of talent involved here, is very strange indeed. p.25

Arts & Events.

In The Loop; Holly Lloyd | Arts & Events Editor

Ham Sandwich

Irish band Ham Sandwich are set are bringing their home tour to Dublin, in the Academy on December 22nd. The band originally from Meath have steadily made a name for themselves, with their gentle yet melodic style. They played a fantastic set in EP the year before last when they headlined Other Voices, so are well worth catching. Tickets from €22.50.

UCDVO Annual Conference

The UCDVO will hold their annual conference in the Global Lounge on 26th November from 10:00-17:00. The conference this year is running with the title, ’International volunteering - where can it take you? This conference is aimed at particularly the returned volunteers, and focuses on the impact that volunteering has had on volunteers lives both personally and professionally. The day will include a photographic exhibition highlighting sustainable development goals, titled ‘Our goals are Global goals’. The day will include guest speakers and a ‘storytelling session’ by returned volunteers on their experiences. Anyone interested in the Volunteer Organisation should register beforehand.

Beardyman Live

Beardyman will be doing a night of improvisation along with MC Leen and Rob Lewis from the dream team on Sunday December 4th at the Sugar club. He will be taking suggestions from the audience and making up tunes on the spot from their ideas. Due to audience participation, this event should be totally unique. Tickets €23.00

Dramsoc, In the Heights

UCD Dramsoc are holding auditions this week for the latest production, In the Heights. The performance will run in the second semester in late February. Auditions will be held in the New Student Centre theatre on Tuesday from 10am – 5pm, and Wednesday 11am – 6pm.

Discover Islam Week

UCD’s Islamic Society are holding a ‘Discover Islam’ week all this week. ‘Isoc’ will have a tent sent up in the student centre, with food, henna, hijab stalls, calligraphy, and other exhibitions. The society are hoping to let people better explore and understand Islamic culture and the religion.

UCD Symphony Orchestra UCD SVP Sleepout The Saint Vincent de Paul society are having their annual sleepout week from Monday to Thursday outside the James Joyce Library, to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness in Ireland. www.collegetribune.ie

The third installment of night at the movies The UCD Symphony Orchestra will play a live score to a movie, following two previous shows which were extremely successful. They have added another night to bring live music to the movies. The event will take place in the Astra Hall on the 16th and 17th November at 8pm, and will feature over 200 performers playing scores from movies such as The King’s Speech and Psycho. Student tickets €10.

Julia Jacklin

Jackline will perform in The Grand Social Friday November 11th. She is relatively unknown at the moment, but is set to be big in the indie folk genre. Doors open at 8pm with tickets for €15.

4th Dublin Doc Fest

This festival first established in 2013, aims to give Irish made documentaries their own platform. Irish documentary films are growing and growing to some of the highest standards in the world of documentary film. The festival gives the public the opportunity to see these works. Regular festival tickets are priced at €15, and will take place in the Teeling Whiskey Distillery.

Arts & Events.

La Boheme

Ballet Ireland, The Nutcracker

From the 16th-19th November, Ballet Ireland will bring their production of the classic, ‘The Nutcracker’ to the Gaiety Theatre. This is an absolute must for anyone in the Christmas mood, as it is synonymous with this time of year, telling a magical Christmas Eve story. Tickets available for students at the box office for €21.

The classic Opera will take place in the Bord Gais Energy theatre between the 30th November and the 4th December and will be performed by the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow. Set in the Latin Quarter of Paris, this Opera tells the tale of Paris’ artistic inhabitants. Tickets from €15.

St Petersburg Ballet

John Boorman and Declan Power in Conversation with Sean Rocks

The world renowned Russian ballet company will be bringing Petipas beautiful production of Swan Lake to the Bord Gais Energy theatre on 22nd and 23rd November. First choreographed in 1877, it has stood the test of time and is one of the most popular ballets worldwide, with a wonder score by Tchaikovsky, it is visually fantastic to watch. Tickets range from €15-€69.50.

Nordic Makers Talks

The Nordic Makers of Dun Laoghaire are hosting open talks. Join a range of designers in talk about their design work from a Nordic perspective. Talks are hosted at 7pm on the 10th and 17th of November with a drinks reception.

Culture Shock, New to the Parish

This free event to be held in the Liquor Rooms on November 16th, 7pm, was set up as an experiment by the Irish Times to document how new arrivals to Ireland settle into their new lives and how their immigration has impacted them in all aspects. Journalist Socha Pollak will ask questions to discover the true immigrant experience.

An interesting and open event.

John Boorman, an Oscar nominated director will be discussing his transition from filmmaking to writing a novel.

And in contrast, author of ‘The Siege of Jadotville’ Declan Power will be discussing the recent success of the conversion of his novel into a Netflix Film. Cultural journalist Sean Rocks will interview them on their crossed paths of art mediums. The event will be in the main theatre of Smock Alley, on November 11th from 7:00pm. Tickets €8/€10.

Movie Theatre Number One On 29th of November, the Grand Social will become a cinema, drafting in the Tartarus theatre company to do interpretations of Good Will Hunting and Silver Linings Playbook. A different take on a classic trip the the cinema, the event will begin at 8pm with tickets at just €8.

Wild Laughter

The theatre company Sidelong Glance will be taking the story of Albert James, a jester at the turn of the 19th century, to produce a one woman show , performed by Nell James who will bring prose , comedy and poetry into the act. The performance will take place in the Smock Alley theatre on 18th November.

Tickets €8-€10

Michael Nyman

World renowned composer Michael Nyman will take to the Olympia stage on 17th November. Famous for composing the soundtrack to the film The Piano, Nyman is sure to set the Olympia theatre alight with his music. Tickets are pricey from €43. p.27

Gaeilge.

Níl aon chumann ollscoile mar Chuir ar an méar fháda é! do chumann ollscoile féin.

Éamonn Ó Gallachóir | Scríobhneoir Gaeilge

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in atá foghlaimthe agamsa tar éis mo chéad bhliain anseo in UCD. Tá cumann do chuile duine ann. Ar mhaith leat a bheith ag damhsa? Tá cumann ann duit. An dtaitníonn cúrsaí polaitíochta leat? Ní féidir linn a chinntiú nó a dhiúltú go bhfuil cumann ann duit. Ar mhaith leat a bheith ag breathnú ar dhéagóirí a dhéanann draíocht le bata?

Bhuel, tá cumann ann duit (Harry Potter Soc) Agus an rud is fearr faoi na cumainn seo ar fad?

Na baill. Is iad na cumainn, agus na clubanna, an áit is fearr le bualadh le daoine nua taobh amuigh de shaol acadúil na hollscoile Mar a dúirt mo shin-seanathair James Joyce tráth, “níor chruthaíodh gach cumann cothrom”. Nuair a bhí dia na gcumann ag tabhairt amach pointí banter, ní féidir é a shéanadh ach gur thosaigh sé leis an gCumann Gaelach. Chláraigh mise leo ar an seachtain úd seo, Seachtain na bhFreisear, 2015. Is cuimhin liom an t-aistear fada sin tríd an bpobal mór bán. Bhíos níos neirbhísí ná maighdean ar oíche a bainis. Bhí t-léinte ildáite le feiceáil i ngach áit le puns den chéad scoth ar nós “Ducky ár lá” agus “úsáidim mo theanga” scríofa orthu.

Ní cuimhin liom cad a tharla i ndiaidh dom an seastán a shroichint – caithfidh go raibh mé chomh sceitimíneach gur ‘black mé out’ ar feadh tamaillín. An nóiméad gur chuir mé mo t-léine glas le, “No Béarla” scríofa go bródúil ar an mbrollach, ón lá sin ar aghaidh, ba leis an gCumann Gaelach mé, croí is anam.

I ndáiríre, níl ach cumann amháin eile ar champas gan lucht ar bith dar liom (seachas an Cumann Gaelach) agus is é sin FoodSoc. Ah, Foodsoc. Soláthróirí leigheas na póite is fearr

Shane Ó Grugáin | Scríobhneoir Gaeilge

ar domhan – bia saor. Is cuma cén saghas bia atá i gceist, má tá póit ort, is é FoodSoc an áit le dul. Scrúdú leaththéarma agat ag a naoi agus tú ag streachailt isteach an doras ó Coppers ag leathuair tar éis a hocht? FoodSoc. D’fhiacla ag titim amach as do cheann toisc go bhfuil scorbach agat? FoodSoc. Ag iarraidh do bholg a líonadh roimh oíche mhór (toisc go raibh scrúdú lárthéarma agat an mhaidin sin, dár ndóigh)? FoodSoc. FoodSoc, bíonn sibh ann dúinn i gcónaí, agus is aoibhinn linn sibh. Is sibh an Robin dár Batman, an Sam dár Frodo, agus an Pixar dár Disney.

Ach ar ais linn go dtí fíorlaoch an scéil seo – an Cumann Gaelach. Ní féidir linn ‘One-Minute Rice’ a dhéanamh i gcaoga ocht soicind.

Ní féidir linn cinneadh Sasamach a athrú.

Agus ní féidir linn an Ghaeilge a athbheochan i lá amháin, in imeacht amháin, nó i mbliain amháin. Ach is féidir linn iarracht a dhéanamh. Is féidir linn ár seacht ndícheall a dhéanamh. Ag tosú ag tús na bliana le ‘Spoons agus bop’ i DTwo, ag leanúint sin le Scóráil Sciobtha, Béal Oscailte, an dráma réabhlóideach ‘An Triail’ agus i bhfad níos mó. Ach tá mé cinnte dearfach de rud amháin; le tacaíocht ó na mílte baill atá againn faoi láthair, iad siúd a tháinig romhainn chun a gcuid tacaíochta a thaispeáint agus a thabhairt dúinn, na daoine atá chun teacht chugainn i rith na bliana, agus an lucht atá le teacht inár ndiaidh – beidh an bua againn amach anseo. Ná lig d’éinne é a chur ina luí oraibh nach bhfuil an chumhacht sin againn. Ar scath a chéile a mharfaidh na daoine.

Tugann Shane Ó Gruagáin roinnt slite conas moilleadóireacht a sheacaint i do shaol.

M

oilleadóireacht. Sin an focal a smaoinigh mé air agus mé ag déanamh… moilleadóireachta. Nuair a bhí aiste le scríobh agam agus mé ar Facebook ag iarraidh aon rud eile a dhéanamh seachas an aiste a scríobh, smaoinigh mé dom féin, níl an Ghaeilge ar an bhfocal sin agam agus anois táim ag scríobh alt faoi. Faoraor, tá m’aiste fós le scríobh agam agus is iomaí uair agus mé ag scríobh an alt seo go ndearna mé moilleadóireacht.

Ach cad é moilleadóireacht go díreach? Is é an sainmhíniú atá air ná ‘Ag cur rud éigin ar an méar fhada d’aon ghnó, agus a fhios a bheith agat go mbeidh iarmhairtí ann’. An fáth a ndéanann daoine é seo ná go ndéanann siad an cinneadh sásamh a bheith acu ar an spota seachas níos déanaí, sin é ag féachaint ar ‘Memes na Gaeilge’ seachas ag scríobh aiste faoi Mheamram na Gaeilge.

Tá roinnt mhaith staidéir déanta ag daoine air agus ar chúiseanna taobh thiar de. Is amhlaí go bhfuil fadhbanna pearsanta agus mothúcháin taobh thiar de, ach is cuma liom faoi sin, ní shiceolaí mé. An t-aon fáth go bhfuilim ag scríobh an alt seo ná go bhfuilim ag iarraidh rud ar bith a dhéanamh seachas m’aiste a scríobh. In ainneoin go bhfuil mé ag déanamh moilleadóireachta anois, tá roinnt taighde déanta agam ar an ábhar agus tá fhios agam conas é a sheachaint.

Féach ar fhíseáin spreagúla ar Youtube.

B’fhéidir go bhfuaimíonn sin amadach ach ní dóigh liom gur féidir le héinne éisteacht le Sylvester Stalone mar Rocky Balboa ag labhairt gan ghéilleadh agus ansin rud éigin fiúntach a dhéanamh.

Scríobh litir chugat féin.

Scríobh litir le bheith oscailte i gceann seachtaine, i gceann míosa nó i gceann bliana agus scríobh ann cad atá tú ag iarraidh a bheith bainte amach agat faoin am sin.

Arís amadach ach d’úsáid mé é don Ardteist agus bhí sé an-éifeachtach go deo. Gach maidin chonaic mé mo litir ar mo bhalla. Chuir an litir i gcuimhe dom mo dhícheall a dhéanamh. Ba chuma liom faoi mo thuistí nó mo mhúinteoirí nó aon duine eile, ach ní raibh mé ag iarraidh mé féin a ligint síos. Úsáid na haips seo a leanas: ‘’Rescue Time’’ déanann seo tuaraisc ar gach rud a dhéanann tú ar do ríomhaire, d’úsáid mé é ar feadh seachtaine agus thug mé faoi deara go raibh mé ag caitheamh suas le trí uair sa lá ar Facebook ag déanamh faic. ‘’StayFocusd’‘ seo aip ar Chrome a ligeann duit am áirithe a chaitheamh ar shuíomhanna éagsúla . Nuair a chaitheann tú an t-am sin ar an suíomh ní féidir dul ar ais ar an suíomh. Ní ligeann sé duit am a chur amú ar líne.

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Short Story.

November 5th, 1916 Dear Mrs Keegan, It is with the deepest regret that I write to you today to inform you of the death of your son Private Peter James Keegan. I had only known Peter for a short number of weeks but in that time I knew him to be an outstanding soldier. He was steadfast and reliable. In attack he was brave and in defence he was ferocious. He was killed defending his platoon’s position after they had been overrun by a German raiding party. He will be sorely missed by the 9th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Regards, Lieutenant Wilber Clemens.

November 7th, 1916 Dear Mrs. Keegan, I’m writing to you because Peter was my friend and I don’t trust that dolt Clemens to do him justice. I’m sure you’ve been informed of his death by now. It happened in the evening. We had just eaten our meagre rations and were stationed on the trenches.

There were seven of us in the trench. Peter, myself, Parsons, Lynch, Farrell, Wright, and Clemens. We weren’t really expecting anything. There had been a mist settling and we were soggy but not in terrible spirits. The guns along the line had been quiet. Our sentries hadn’t reported anything. It happened suddenly.

A stick grenade landed in amongst us. It took Parsons’ head off. He had only been with us for three weeks. Farrell took a nasty wound to the leg, Wright got a piece of shrapnel in the neck. Lynch was trying to tend to them when the Jerrys came over the top with bayonets and clubs. Lynch took a bayonet to the back before I knew what happened. Peter shot the first man dead with his rifle and stabbed a second as he tried to finish off Lynch.

Short Story Part 05 Cillian Fearon | Short Story In the final part of our historical short story miniseries, we learn of the death of Pvt. Peter Keegan as so many relatives did during the Great War, through the letters sent home by his unit officer Lieutenant Clemens, and his friend private John McKenna.

It took me a moment to ready myself as the grenade left an awful ringing in my ears.

I shot a man who tried to stab Peter. Peter finished off another one. It had stopped for a moment. Only myself and Peter were left standing in the trench. Peter saw Clemens whimpering on the ground. He went over to him to see if he was injured. The coward had not gotten up from the stick grenade. Peter dragged him to his feet. Clemens was totally unharmed. He was a coward through and through. I went to tend to Wright. He had bleed out. I will be writing to his fiancé shortly. He was a good man. Lynch too was dead. The bayonet was stuck in his body, it was one of those terrible serrated ones. Farrell was howling in pain. The grenade had taken off his foot just below the knee. He was lying in the blood and the bodies and the mud screaming in pain. I looked at him and knew he didn’t have long unless a medic showed up soon.

That was when the second wave attacked. I grabbed Lynch’s rifle and shot the first man.

I went to shot the next man but my rifle jammed. I took one in the shoulder and another in the gut. I wasn’t able to so much as pick up a gun. Peter grabbed Clemens’ revolver and returned fire. They seemed to be pouring into the trench. The German’s were shouting and screaming bloody murder. They were coming at Peter from both sides. He shot the first three with the revolver. A fourth man came at him from behind with a bayonet but Peter crushed his skull with a trench club. Another two men charged at him with bayonets. He shot both of them dead. One of the Germans stopped beside me and saw I was still alive. He raised his bayonet to finish me and Peter cut him down. Peter saved my life.

I looked at him and saw a German appear behind him. I called out and he turned but the revolver was out of ammunition.

The young German boy shot him through the head. Peter died quickly. He didn’t suffer.

The German boy was shot a moment later as several reinforcements arrived. If he had waited but a moment we would still have Peter. He was one of the best friends I have ever had and he was one of the bravest men I will ever know. He was a hero. I owe him my life.

As does Farrell and Clemens.

Myself and Farrell are currently recovering from our wounds in a hospital in Nantes. We will be shipped home as soon as we are fit to travel. There is little else either of us can do in this war. I wanted to write to you to tell you all this because it’s important you know how brave Peter was and that when he died, he died defending his brothers in arms. Clemens has been sent back to England to “assist” with the war effort.

It may not allay any of the grief you are feeling to know how your son died but I felt it was important to tell you. Peter didn’t die for the British. He didn’t die out of a hatred of the Germans. He died for Ireland, and for his friends.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

Regards and my deepest sympathies, Pvt. John McKenna

p.29

Tech.

Innovate or Die: The Disappearance and Decline of Vine Conor McGovern | Tech Editor

How did one of the fastest growing video platforms suddenly find itself out of favour with the digital masses? Tribune Tech editor Conor McGovern explores the factors leading up to the once popular social media video app Vine’s sharp decline and now closure by its parent company Twitter. Highlighting some key warnings for other platforms on the difficult task of staying popular in the ever evolving and shifting social media market.

T

wo weeks ago Twitter announced that it would be discontinuing its mobile app Vine, the six second looping video service that was founded in 2012 and was purchased by Twitter for a reported $30 million dollars that same year. Originally created so users could capture casual moments in their own lives and share them with friends and family, it was no surprise to co-founder Dom Hofmann who stated after the sale that ‘it immediately became clear that vine culture was going to shift towards creativity and entertainment’.

Ian Padgham a member of Twitter’s 2012 marketing team responsible for the purchase of Vine felt the six second video feature was the key and forced users to be creative in how they could tell a story. Padgham expressed his love for Vines simplicity and ease by stating 'it’s kinda like Microsoft Paint. it used to be the worst app, but you couldn’t get distracted by the bells and whistles'.

In 2013, Vine began allowing users to record clips with their phones front facing cameras and usage of the app blew up. A community of young users sprung up around the service and within a short space of time the internet was bombarded with six second clips, the internet became home for a new social community with its own celebrities called Viners. Vine was growing rapidly and its 'stars' were becoming more and more popular by the day, physical comic Amanda Cermy earned more than 2.2 billion views while Logan Paul’s vines looped more than 4 billion times.

Although on the outside Vine was seen as a one of the more popular social media apps, on the inside it rarely looked stable. In 2014, two years after its purchase the three co-founders of Vine had all left or been let go by Twitter. Firstly, Dom Hofmann left to pursue other ventures and was later followed by Colin Kroll, while Rus Yusupov who was then Vine’s creative director was let go to save money. Jason Toff who took over from Yusupov in 2014, recently left Vine to work on Google’s virtual reality project. The executive conveyor belt in such a short amount of time certainly didn’t help matters with Vine, and a number of employees have expressed frustration with the lack of guidance and balance from higher ups within the company.

Four years on from the purchase, Twitter have begun to shut down the once dominating social app. The closure of Vine comes in conjunction with Twitter also cutting 9% of its global workforce in order to reduce costs. It is still early but rumours suggest that Vine’s closure is due to the apps limitations and the lack of monetization. Vine who boasted a commanding lead over other social video apps has failed to keep pace as competitors have steadily adapted and reinvented their platforms to entice new users, something that Vine has ignored which ultimately could have cost the app its relevance.

Snapchat and Instagram grew into hundreds of millions of daily users, Instagram introduced its fifteen second video clips in June 2013 something that Padgham was worried about, claiming ‘Instagram video was the beginning of the end’. Instagram were successful in courting a deeper user base and gathered a massive backing from celebrities e.g. Kim Kardashian. While Vine stuck to their six second videos, Instagram extended video time to sixty seconds, and www.collegetribune.ie

The executive conveyor belt in such a short amount of time certainly didn’t help matters with Vine, and a number of employees have expressed frustration with the lack of guidance and balance from higher ups within the company.

managed to keep its platform from becoming virtually stale.

Twitter has been focusing a lot more on their live video ventures, for example they purchased Periscope in 2015. This new venture has put immense pressure on the small New York based Vine team that have struggled in recent months to recapture its user base or find new ways to make money. The difficulty lies with the one feature that is Vines unique selling point in its six second videos. Monetisation of Vines was an impossible task that there was no way around. The average YouTube advert lasts around 30 seconds with many adverts allowing users to skip after 5 seconds, a similar strategy for Vine couldn’t possibly work as remaining users wouldn’t want to watch a six second clip after being forced to watch an advertisement longer or similar to the time of the desired clip.

Vine had once longed to grow their audience base on the app, through a simple paid placement package an offering similar to the one that Twitter runs for promoted tweets and promoted accounts. Unfortunately, Vine never managed to come through with these packages, partly due to the resistance against monetisation. It is difficult to comprehend why a popular social app would be so hesitant around money. They maybe had felt their tentative position at the top of video-based social media would be curtailed if they tried to monetise the platform too soon.

The lack of monetisation and failure to evolve has left Vine without their most popular self made stars, who have pushed on to bigger and better things. Vine star Logan Paul has recently signed up to host the Streamy awards and produce a new YouTube Red show.

For other Viners they haven’t been so lucky, last Autumn nearly twenty of Vines top fifty creators gathered in a conference room in Los Angeles to stage an intervention after the steady decline in views and followers. From what can be gathered the Viners in question wanted to help the platform that made them moderately famous, but only for a sweet sum of 1.2 million dollars each to produce new content.

The demand for money from Vines contributors seems to be the final nail in the coffin, the lack of leadership and direction from management, failure to innovate while competition was improving and the severe lack of monetisation have all led to the closure of Vine.

It’s a harsh reality that nothing lasts forever and the closure of Vine might in fact be an omen and warning for Twitter, who have been criticised in the past for lack of innovation and inability gain a wider user base. It’s clear the rapidly changing appetites of people in what and how they want to use social media means even the biggest and quickest rising platforms have to keep evolving, or they may face the same end as Vine.

Tech.

Mobile versus Desktop: The Battle for Internet Domination

F

Conor McGovern | Tech Editor

or the first time in history mobile internet usage surpassed desktop usage worldwide. The story comes courtesy of internet monitoring firm StatCounter who released the combined traffic figures between mobile and desktop devices, with mobile devices accounting for 51.2% of internet usage while desktop accounts for 48.8%.

This comes as no surprise as mobile usage online has been growing in popularity, there has been a substantial drop in desktop usage over the last couple of years, for instance December 2015 saw a decrease of 9.5% in desktop usage compared to December 2014.

Over 1 trillion minutes were spent online with mobile devices this past March, almost double the amount of time spent on desktop.

With mobile devices accounting for 51.2% of internet usage while desktop accounts for 48.8%’

In April 2016, ComScore a global media analytics company reported that mobile users consume more digital media than desktop users. Now one in five millennials no longer use a desktop computer, but overall most millennials don’t necessarily use their mobile devices exclusively; most still consider themselves multi-platform users.

It is important to note that the majority of mobile use comes from developing markets such in Asia, Africa and South America. For example, mobile platforms account for 75% of all internet usage in India. Developed markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland still show favour towards desktop devices but the gap is slowly diminishing with some suggesting that mobile will surpass desktop in early 2017.

With this news it means that web developers will have to re-evaluate their priorities in web architecture. Understandably, up to this point there has been a bias in web development with focus on more how the desktop site looks rather than the mobile site. StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said in a press release that ‘this should be a wakeup call for small businesses, sole traders and professionals to make sure

that their websites are mobile friendly’.

In early 2015, Google reported that more search queries came from mobile devices, one year later Google has begun to prioritise mobile users. In a press release over the summer the internet behemoth said they will ‘start rolling out an update to mobile search results that increases the effect of the ranking signal to help our users find even more pages that are relevant and mobile-friendly’.

Though mobile devices are becoming the preferred platform for internet consumption, on desktop, users spend more time on websites than when viewing it from a mobile. For this reason, the desktop currently remains more profitable for advertisements.

‘Display ads perform ten times better on mobile compared to desktop’ However, this is expected to change in coming years with recent reports suggesting that display ads perform ten times better on mobile compared to desktop. Native video ads

also perform twice as much as display ads both on mobile compared to a desktop.

The thought that mobile internet usage would eclipse desktop internet usage isn’t a surprising one, it was expected. The shocking discovery is how rapid the growth of mobile usage has become as we move towards a more mobile-oriented world. The transition from desktop to mobile can be somewhat credited to Apple and the iPhone which introduced the world to the new era of the modern smartphone in 2007. But it wasn’t until 2013 that mobile internet usage approached 30% on desktop’s usage share of the internet.

Three years later mobile internet usage has finally surpassed desktop and there are no signs of slowing down, with some reports suggesting that mobile internet usage could hit 70% by the end of 2017. The test as always in the break-neck digital world is how quickly firms, platforms, advertisers, and both desktop and mobile producers can adapt and get ahead of people’s preferences to capitalise and provide for how people want to access and view the internet.

How do you ensure that you’re the Disruptor and not the Disrupted?

The EY Better Questions Challenge disrupting a campus near you. Launching November 2016.

Register your interest at eyirelandcareers.ey.com

© 2016 Ernst & Young. Published in Ireland. All Rights Reserved. 10918.indd 10/16.

p.31

The Turbine A lway s S ati r ical - O c cas ional l y H u mou rous

Student Depression on the Rise

How to Talk about Yourself In Any Social Context Simon Kearney | Turbine Writer

Karl O’Reilly | Turbine Editor For the majority of us, the doldrums of reading week and the anxiety of mid-term essay deadlines is a period that comes and then goes. It is a fleeting thing, a blink, a thin slice trimmed off the fat loaf of the year. But for an increasing number of students the despair that comes with all those assignments crammed together, like the congestion of the library itself, is on the rise.

Its causes are unpredictable, so it is important to look after yourself. This means taking regular exercise, eating healthily, and purging your life of unnecessary stresses.

For example, I recently got rid of my email alerts from Amnesty calling for donations for starving refugees. It had really started to bum me out.

Yet the college has an undeniable role in this cloud of depressions’ prevalence over students’ lives. A cursory glance around the place can confirm this. While the highest peak of Belfield can easily be pointed out, the candidates for lowest trough are too dark and numerous to attract a proper evaluation.

While resources are available on campus to assist students that are struggling, it is difficult to tell whether or not they are effective. Surely the daily sight of the college President and Registrar playing piano by the lake in a last-ditch effort to cheer people up does not bode well for progress (Not to say that their playing is not good). One fears for the morale of students heading into the coming of exam season.

Roots of Halloween Traditions Exposed We have so much fun on Halloween that we don’t stop to think what it is all about. Where did the traditions come from? Using only his own razor sharp logic and anecdotal sources (the best sources) Turbine writer Cian Desmond tries to find out.

Dressing Up. People wear costumes on Halloween. It is a night where spirits can travel between their world and our world easily. If you dress up, they think you’re one of them!

This is smart, because evil spirits try to harm humans, i.e. steal your sweets. Don’t take my sweet, spirit! Take my car or house.

Bobbing for Apples. No one eats apples like this normally.

Not even ‘Bob’. Not wet apples. This tradition is about our desire to not eat healthily, it goes back many years. Back in the day, buckets containing apples would also have a Twix in them, which people passing by would want desperately.

They would be so hungry for it they would dive in head first, and thus the tradition was born, maybe.

Pumpkin Carving. What the heck? Not sure there.

Black Cats. We see lots of pictures of such cats at this time of year. The cats are bad luck, but why? It’s because during the witch hunts, women were often found in their houses living with black cats. The cats were ‘familiars’, which were evil spirits that did the witch’s bidding (like the one who took my sweet!).

Nothing is more irritating than people who talk about nonsense like the Presidential election, gender issues and Brexit, instead of the most important subject - you. This is a guide on how to avoid irrelevant conversation, and bring every conversation back around to the main event.

Good News If you let the other person talk about anything good happening in their life, they will not stop. If they try to tell you they ran a marathon last week, stop them and tell them about the relay race you won when you were fourteen and how you were probably top ten fastest in your year. They will not change the subject, because they will not want to be rude.

Redundancy Many people experience losing their jobs, but it’s so boring to hear about. If someone tells you they got fired, tell them your

boss is a real monster and that you would kill to move on. Your life is actually worse, so tell the person.

Death People you talk to often try to talk about people they know who died, or might die, or are dying. This is easy to avoid. If a friend tells you how his granddad died, tell him he should feel grateful because you have not seen your granddad for a year.

Break-up The only thing worse than divorce is listening to someone talk about it. If a friend tells you their parents’ love just faded away, tell them you understand how they feel because your parents always argue about what furniture to buy. Family drama is tough you know.

If you follow these rules, you can change the conversation what it should always be about: you. Now go and let everyone know about that relay race!

University to Sell Naming Rights of Arts Students to Corporate Sponsors Zack Bower | Turbine Writer In a bold move to increase UCD’s cash flow the university is proposing to sell the naming rights of students studying Arts to wealthy business magnates and corporations. Built on the success of shaking down Ireland’s wealthiest businessman Denis O’Brien for a few million quid for the Science Centre. Now the top heads in UCD are seeking to do the same, but with students rather than buildings. The college have invited firms such as KBC, Deloitte, Matheson and A&L Goodbody to buy the naming rights of Arts students for a generous donation.

‘After plans to get Supermacs to sponsor the Ag Science building fell through we had to get creative’ stated a UCD official.

One first year, David ‘KPMG’ McGowan said he wasn’t too sure if UCD actually had the legal rights to rename him for a savvy profit, but he ‘didn’t get the points for something like Law so couldn’t be definite’.

Sport.

In Focus:

UCD Boxing Club Gunning For Glory Jamie Duff | Sports Writer

'The day hasn’t come yet where I haven’t wanted to be in boxing’, UCD Boxing’s head coach Phil Rooney tells me as we sit down after training on Friday night.

His perennial smile wide across his face, he adds, 'I don’t want it to’. Phil’s infectious passion for the sport is doubtlessly shared by his students. As many as fifty boxers at a time converge on Hall C of the UCD Sport Centre on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings to fine-tune their understanding of the intense sport.

Indeed, there are few better coaches in the country to learn from. Having previously competed all over the world, Phil now divides his time between training UCD’s boxers and those of the prestigious Irish ‘High Performance Squad’, in addition to serving as a ring-side judge and three-star referee for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA).

High Performance Having coached UCD Boxing for the past three years, Phil tells me there are different challenges when working between the high performance players and the beginners. ‘It’s definitely different’, he says, ‘with the high performance squad, a lot of them are already elite amateurs’. Indeed, many of Ireland’s representatives at the London 2012 and Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympics are members of the high performance stable. While UCD certainly has its fair share of seasoned fighters, Phil reveals that the club is also far more accessible to newcomers. ‘With college boxing there are a lot more beginners’, he explains.

‘There’s a lot more developing new talent from scratch’.

If you were to observe or to participate in a UCD Boxing class, however, no such difference would be apparent. Phil’s carefully planned training sessions are challenging yet entertaining for seasoned and novice boxers alike. Following a rigorous warm-up consisting of footwork drills, running, and shadow boxing, boxers then alternate between individual work on one of the club’s various heavy bags, and paired work practicing combinations and head movement through the use of handheld focus pads.

The effectiveness of such training is time-tested bag-work improves both the power and technical form of a boxer’s punches, while pad-work develops the quick-thinking and deep arsenal of combinations essential for success in the ring, in addition to the invaluable coaching tool of pad-holding.

Sparing No martial arts class would be complete without sparring, though, and this also forms a crucial part of training at UCD Boxing. Despite erroneous conceptions of sparring resembling a mindless slugfest, the actuality is a series of high-quality sessions. Boxers of equal size and skill level are paired together, and under the watchful eye of Phil alongside experienced committee members, are encouraged to trade blows with controlled speed and power. Such training is not only

Above Inside UCD’s Boxing Ring.

essential for boxers to develop their in-ring composure, but also fosters a sense of respect both for one’s self and one’s opponent, one of the central benefits of martial arts training.

Competitions UCD’s Boxing is a keen participant in inter-collegiate competition against other colleges. In addition to the Colours Competition with cross-town rivals Trinity, UCD also compete in the University Junior and Senior Championships alongside Trinity, the University of GalwayW and University College Cork.

Having conquered the Junior Championships in 2015/16, I ask Phil about UCD’s chances of repeating last year’s success. ‘I’m very confident’ he answers, ‘I’d say we have a nine in ten chance of doing it again’. Having witnessed the standard of the club’s competitive boxers first-hand, it’s certainly hard to argue.

The Katie Taylor Effect Boxing has seen its share of criticism in the past for failing to foster a culture of gender equality. Such scrutiny is not undeserved, with female fighters being starved of the limelight for many years. However, this is not the case at UCD. Phil tells me ‘when I see a student training I don’t see a guy or a girl, I see a boxer,’

and this inclusive outlook is reflected in the club’s high proportion of female members.

Phil tells me that there has been a surge in popularity in boxing among Irish girls and women following Katie Taylor’s success gold-medal success at the 2012 Olympics.

Having had the pleasure of refereeing several of Taylor’s bouts, he’s a strong advocate for bringing more women into the sport at every level. Towards that end he happily explains that there has been around a ten per cent increase in female participation in boxing since 2012 across Dublin’s fifty-two amateur boxing clubs, which includes UCD. The passion that students develop for boxing at UCD is not just a college fling either. Phil tells me that, just as it is for himself, boxing becomes a lifelong passion for UCD students, with many continuing to practice the sport at local clubs after moving on from academic life.

In an era where we are in a constant state of worry over our diet and exercise regimens, the work of a club which has fostered such longterm commitment to healthy living is worthy of great credit. With high membership turnout, quality training, and great competitive success, the future certainly looks bright for UCD Boxing. p.33

Sport.

3 UCD Rugby Players Named in Ireland’s Autumn Series Squad Against All Blacks Eoghan Brennan | Sports Writer

Three of UCD’s brightest stars have been named in Joe Schmidt’s Ireland national squad for the latest autumn international test series, which will see Ireland face off against New Zealand and Australia.

Star Collidge centre Garry Ringrose, whose leading performances in the blue of UCD saw him progress to play regularly for Leinster this season has been given a chance to prove himself at the highest level of rugby.

Former scrum-half Luke McGrath, who was the heartbeat of UCD’s quick attacking rugby two years ago before leaving Belfield is also included in the squad. Josh van der Flier makes the third recent Belfield player to make it into Schmidt’s picks. The promising young flanker has been steadily making a name for himself with appearances for Leinster and Ireland, but will face a real test if he gets a chance to go up against the physically intimidating All Blacks or Australian front packs.

Ireland are facing down the barrel of the seemingly impossible task of defeating the All Blacks in the Aviva on November 19th. The odds are stacked heavily against the Irish who have famously never managed to beat their illustrious opponents. The All Blacks themselves have shown no signs of missing their two famous leaders Dan Carter and Richie McCaw following their third World Cup win just over a year ago. With Beauden Barrett and co. stepping up and showing the true depth of quality available to the Kiwis, so much so that they arguably look even stronger than they did in Twickenham last October. They are coming off the back of a faultless Rugby Championship where they blew away South Africa, Australia and Argentina with ease to extend their current unbeaten run to a record breaking 18 games.

Ireland will need to be perfect on the Saturday, and even that may not be enough. One person that will certainly need to be on top of his game if Ireland are to succeed is the man in green with a number 10 on his back. But with superstar Johnny Sexton having a serious lack of game time under his belt recently it may be too much to ask of him to control the game for 80 minutes.

His provincial replacement during this injury lay-off Joey Carberry may have impressed in the blue of Leinster but his responsibility was heavily limited in his first 10 appearances and as he celebrates his 21st birthday it remains unclear whether his fine form at provincial level can translate into a potential International debut against the country of his birth.

The All Blacks look simply invincible in every facet of the game and you could argue that if a combined Ireland and New Zealand team was put together it would be comprised of purely New Zealanders. Their strength in depth is second to none as was shown in The Rugby Championship, blowing all opposition away.

The world leaders are particularly deadly in the last 20 minutes of games, allowing them to seal comprehensive win after comprehensive win against what was by www.collegetribune.ie

Top to Bottom Garry Ringrose, Luke McGrath Josh Van der Flier

no measure easy opponents. Including a 57-15 victory over South Africa in the final match, the biggest defeat on home soil by a South African team. South Africa, of course, were Ireland’s last opponents as they won a thrilling series 2-1 after losing the first game. Ireland were by no means outplayed by their Southern opponents in their own back garden but were some way off the 42-point drubbing that Steve Hansen’s men gave South Africa.

However, the rugby mad public of New Zealand may not be as confident as we may think. Campbell Burnes has written for the NZ Herald in the past few weeks stating ‘All Blacks: beware’, and warning to not underestimate the plucky Irish side. Listing off an account of missed Irish opportunities from 1963 when the All Blacks left Dublin with a narrow 6-5 win to our most recent encounter where a famous Irish performance was very nearly rewarded with a win, as the home side lead in Dublin until the very final play of the game. From that 2013

team 9 players remain, and those 9 players will be keen to put to bed the ghosts of their last encounter.

Even for those who did not feature three years ago, they will need to feed off the heartbreak from the last encounter with former players Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy both recalling this week of how it was their most heartbreaking loss as a player. Ireland will need to play with a passion and intensity which we could argue has not been seen since these two sides last met but even if the stars align and the rugby gods are smiling on Ireland and playing in their own backyard may not be enough to defeat the godly figures in black they will be facing. In the final crunch quarter of the game where substitutes need to be called upon to step up, it may even be one of UCD’s bright performers who the game’s result hinges upon, win or lose.

UCD Law student Chloe Ryan lands the Irish University Women’s Golf Championship Conor Lynott | Sports Editor

Below Ryan, a confident and strong golfer

bit tired because I hadn’t played a tournament in a month and a half. I was just trying to stay as relaxed as I could for the last few holes and happily it paid off,’ said Ryan.

The big win for Ryan follows earlier disappointment this year, where she has beaten at the death in the Irish Women’s Open this May. Ryan was in contention up to the end in the Open, which was played in Dún Laoghaire Golf Club. Isabella Holpfer of Austria led the charge in the Open, but Ryan managed to do enough to bring Holpfer to a sudden death playoff. But Ryan was beaten on just the first hole of the playoff, after a sterling effort to get there.

Elsewhere in the recent University Championship competition, John Hickey of County Cork won the Men’s Intervarsity tournament. He got the better of the chasing pack with a final round 66 to secure the Irish University Men’s title. In doing so, he also dethroned defending champion, Alex Gleeson.

Hickey was in danger of missing the cut after opening with 73 but he played his way into contention and followed 68 with another strong 66 round to reach nine under for the tournament. Overnight leader Jack McDonnell birdied the last but his closing 72 left him stuck at eight under and one shy of the winner.

‘This is massive’ said Hickey, a third year student at Cork IT. ‘I haven’t really contended for anything for a long time. It’s comfortably my biggest win. I finished fourth last year and I was excited to come back and try and improve on that’.

Like Chloe Ryan, John Hickey could point to previous success in golf at this level. The Corkman had also won the Muskerry Scratch Cup on the way to this success.

The other contenders in the Men’s tournament, Jack McDonnell and Kevin LeBlanc occupied the top three spots. McDonnell grabbed second on eight under par, while LeBlance achieved third with six under par.

These successes at intervarsity level, particularly the success of Chloe Ryan from a UCD point of view, bodes well for the wellbeing of the sport in the country. Following on from the respectable performance of Rio 2016, as well as the performances of Padraig Harrington and Séamus Power, the latter being in contention for the US PGA tour at the time of writing, demonstrates that there is a sufficient level of interest in the sport in Ireland to ensure success for both genders at all levels in the not so distant future.

UCD golfer Chloe Ryan claimed the Irish University Women’s golf championship title last week in county Clare. The outstanding college ambassador continued UCD’s proud tradition of success in sport by landing an Irish University Women’s Golf Championship title at Lahinch. Ms. Ryan, who is a single semester away from completing her UCD Law Degree, finished the 54th Hole event at Round 71 with five under par.

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his remarkable feat brought her four shots clear of her closest competitors, Raychelle Santos of the University of Ulster, as well as Mary Doyle of National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

The two golfers finished level on points at one under par each. However, due to a better final round at 73, where Santos of the United States just edged Doyle by one shot, it was Santos who claimed the Silver Medal at the intervarsity golfing event.

The basis of Chloe Ryan’s inspiring achievement lay with the birdies she secured at the third and seventh round, along with the twelfth and sixteenth rounds. This came after she had held a one shot lead at the start

of the day. It was these four crucial birdies that allowed Ryan to open up the four shot gap over her main rivals in the Championship, for what was a comfortable victory it has to be said.

Although this tournament win deserves tremendous admiration and praise, we should not be surprised at Chloe Ryan’s ability to succeed at this level. Indeed, it is by no means an underdog story. Ryan had had a history of success in the lead up to this tournament, being a member of Lahinch Golf Club and having won the R&A Foundation Scholars event in April of this year.

‘I was feeling good the whole way round,’ said Ryan. ‘I had a few wobbles in the middle but I made up for it at the end’. ‘I think I got a little p.35

College Tribune

CT. Sport

Collidge Hold Off Late Onslaught from Garryowen to Seal League Win Conor Lynott | Sports Editor

Match Score

UCD RFC 23 Garryowen 16 www.collegetribune.ie

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niversity College Dublin showed admirable steel to hold off a rally from Garryowen RFC to secure another win in the top division of the Ulster Bank rugby League at Belfield.

Scrummaging power, a quick pressing line and accurate kicking proved crucial in a game of high attrition.

It was UCD (Collidge) that had the brighter start. After an exchange of kicks, an initial forage into UCD territory by Garryowen went astray as the students won a scrum in the middle of the field. From there, the Collidge front row got the better of Garryowen and forced a scrum infringement. A nice kick to the corner by Matthew Gilsenan was followed by a well-executed lineout. After a few pick and drives at the Garryowen line, the Belfield home side caught their opponents out wide and dived over for a try.

After the early spark, the game was marred by the inability of both sides to put multiple phases of attacks together. Spilled possession became a common feature of the first quarter, which meant that UCD were unable to take advantage of their superior pack. However, Collidge were eventually rewarded for consistent presence in Garryowen territory win a penalty, that Tom Fletcher squared over for 3 points.

To their credit Garryowen fought back and

scored a try of their own. Much like UCD before them the try had come from a period of sustained linkages in play. Calm nerves under pressure allowed Liam Combes to break through and bring some life back into the game on 35 minutes. At 8-7, the game was on.

Collidge turned on the flair at just the right time however, some brilliant link up play from the backline created a move that started from the middle of the field and ended in the corner with a try from UCD lad Tommy O Brien. This time there was no mistake with the conversion to put the score at 15-7 to UCD’s advantage.

Garryowen players will wish that they made the most out of the subsequent minutes as from a penalty that was as a result of foul play, the scrumhalf chose to split the posts with a penalty to make it 15-10 at halftime.

The Limerick side had been on a war path towards UCD’s try line, and the home side were lucky they only gave away 3 points.

The Collidge boys had to come out fighting in the second half, their good line speed and pressure managed to wrestle the game’s momentum from Garryowen’s grasp.

Strangely however, despite the dominance of UCD, perhaps they could be accused of switching off at this point, going into the second quarter. The perennial problem of

the boys in blue, discipline, let them down again and allowed Garryowen to grow in confidence pushing forward.

Another penalty for Garryowen, which reduced UCD’s lead to 5 points proved to be a bit of a wake-up call for the Belfield based outfit. They struck back with a snap try, back row James Ryan breaking free unopposed to touch down on 55 minutes.

The student side didn’t seem to miss some of their leaders, mainly Garry Ringrose, and Josh van der Flier who travelled with the Irish national squad for the Chicago game against the All Blacks.

Towards the end possession and territory was bossed by Garryowen as a sense of urgency came into their attacks. Again, despite mistakes by both sides, the line speed of UCD proved a crucial factor as they could clear trouble and rush Garryowen’s passing.

In the last minutes of the game, yet another Garryowen attack was repelled and turned over with a scrum, to signal the end of an intensely physical affair with UCD coming out on top.

After six games Collidge sit seventh in the Division 1A club table, a slow start to the students’ season. They face off against league favourites and local rivals Lansdowne this Friday the 11th in the Aviva.