The College View - Issue 6 - Vol XVIII

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Wednesday, 8 February, 2017 www.thecollegeview.com Vol. XVIII, Issue 6

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THE COLLEGE VIEW’S INCORPORATION SPECIAL 2017 St. Pat’s students

Over half of DCU students unhappy with incorporation Rebecca Lumley News Editor @RebeccaLumley1

OVER half of DCU students feel that the incorporation programme has had a negative impact on their college experience, according to a survey conducted by The College View.

Fifty-one per cent of students from DCU and its incorporating institutions reported dissatisfaction with the “New DCU”, while 29 per cent said they had experienced no change.

Just 20 per cent of 148 respondents said that the incorporation had proved a positive venture.

St Patrick’s College, Mater Dei Institute and Church of Ireland College of Education have been officially incorporated under the DCU umbrella since September 2016. Teaching colleges, St. Pats, Mater Dei and CICE have amalgamated to form the DCU Institute of Education which, when combined with the DCU School of Education Studies, has over 4,000 students.

The changes caused by the incorporation have caused challenges for some students. When surveyed, 23 per cent said that the change in lecture location had been a significant disadvantage, with many students also concerned about timetables and course content.

One respondent said, “I have no security for my future. I do not know if I will be able to secure a job after college as my course content has been changed during the incorporation.”

“Whereas the course was once delivered on one campus, generally over four days, I now spend my time commuting between St Patrick’s and All Hallows’ campuses five days a week.

“I am also now being forced to take classes I will not benefit from and I would not have had to do had

the incorporation not happened.”

While disorganisation, lack of communication and widespread confusion were reported as significant problems during the incorporation process, the majority of students cited loss of college atmosphere as the biggest disadvantage.

One respondent said “the incorporation has not been done to benefit students. The students on the Glasnevin campus have not been affected hugely, however, the students on the other campuses have experienced many disadvantages.”

“St Patrick’s College was fantastic before it became DCU, and it’s very disappointing to see the loss of atmosphere and representation for the college.”

Another stated that St Pat’s “identity, spirit, community, societies and clubs” had been lost.

The majority of respondents who were dissatisfied by the incorporation identified as legacy students from St. Patricks College and CICE. The majority of DCU students surveyed said they experienced little or no change, citing the main disadvantage as the requirement to attend certain lectures on different campuses.

When asked how the incorporation benefited students, respondents cited the opportunity to join more clubs and societies, the diversification of the student body and the stronger institutional position of the colleges in the higher education sector.

VP for Education and Placement, Manus Mc Loughlin, agreed that while it had not been all “sunshine and rainbows” for students, the amalgamation between several education-focused institutions has created a “hub for teachers of our future”, and affirmed that “the teaching culture and community that once existed is still present and thriving.”

Students expressed displeasure over the change in location of lectures and events.

News

Sport

Purchase of “study drugs” has become more accessible 8

DCU beat Carlow by the odd goal in seven to reach semi 20

Emily O’Carroll and Alice Ward of DCU Surf’nSail present a check worth €850 to Ian Sheridan of Howth RNLI. The club have raised €3,568 over the past five years for the lifeboat station in Howth with their annual swim at Balscadden beach Credit: DCU Surf’n’Sail

Arts

The evolution and success of afrobeat

2

Hayley Halpin News Editor @HayleyHalpin1

FINAL year St. Patrick’s College students are voicing their concerns regarding which campus they will graduate from later this year through a petition that has been set up online.

The petition is asking for students based on the St. Patrick’s College campus to support the final year graduation being held on the grounds of the Drumcondra campus this year.

As of writing this, the petition has received 365 signatures with an ultimate goal of 400 signatures.

DCU, St. Patrick’s College, CICE and Mater Dei Institute officially incorporated in September 2016. Final year students of the academic year 2016/17 were the last to enroll in the colleges in question. Students in the years below enrolled as DCU students, as the colleges prepared for the incorporation.

The majority of final year St. Patrick’s, CICE and Mater Dei students never took classes based on the Glasnevin campus.

“In my role, as a Students’ Union Vice President and as a future student next year in DCU, I’ll be returning back as a primary school teacher 4th year, I think it’s only fair that those students based on St. Patrick’s Campus for their entire degree that don’t have any other lecture on any other campus at all should be afforded the opportunity to graduate on that campus,” DCUSU VP for Education and Placement Manus McLoughlin said.

The College View asked the graduation department of Registry whether it has been decided which campus St. Pat’s students will graduate from this year. They stated that nothing has been decided as of yet. They could not provide further information as the Academic Calendar 2017/2018 which determines Graduation dates has not been published.

Registry’s statement was also confirmed by Grainne Mooney, spokesperson for DCU President BriContinued on page 3

Features

Opinion

DCU: Ireland’s first university of sanctuary

voice concerns over graduation location

10

Palestine, Israel and the UCC conference 14

2

Editorial INSIDE

AARON GALLAGHER

Lifestyle Breaks on a budget Read more on page 6

Gaeilge Códúcháin, an teanga nuaaimseartha Read more on page 12

News

CICE staff to continue industrial action Read more on page 3

Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Aaron Gallagher Deputy Editor: Aidan Geraghty

Video Editor: Leanne Hanafin Deputy Video Editor: Ciara Moran

Production & Layout Editor: Scout Mitchell Deputy Production & Layout Editor: Hannah Kelly Production Assistants: Stephen Keegan, Daniel Troy, Amy Lawlor & Barry O’Sullivan

Illustrators: Laura Duffy, Zoe Ryan Chief Sub-Editor: Bríon Hoban

Sub Editors: Enda Coll, Kyle Ewald Elsa McEvoy, Conor O’ Doherty, Gavin Quinn, Fionnuala Walsh, News Editor: Hayley Halpin & Lauren Ennis, Lucy Mangan, Katie Rebecca Lumley Gallagher, Oisin McQueirns, Liam Deputy News Editors: Paul Dwyer, Ashton, Diana Elena Oprea, Zainab Brein McGinn & Kyle Ewald Boladale, Sadhbh Kennedy & Aoife Marnell Opinion Editor: Shirley Donlon Contacts Lifestyle Editor: Amy Lawlor Deputy Lifestyle Editor: Michelle editor@thecollegeview.com Martin news@thecollegeview.com Features Editor:Shauna Bowers Deputy Features Editor:Orla features@thecollegeview.com O’Driscoll opinion@thecollegeview.com Irish Editor:Cal Ó Donnabháin Deputy Irish Editor: Áine Marie gaeilge@thecollegeview.com Monk sports@thecollegeview.com Sports Editor: Aidan Geraghty Deputy Sports Editor: Patrick Lynch Printed by Datascope, with the DCU Journalism Society Arts Editor: Stephen Keegan Deputy Arts Editor: Emer Handly Thanks to Sportsfile, SLC, Office of Student Life Images Editor: Daragh Culhane Deputy Images Editor: Laura Logo design by Lauren McConway Horan

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A

ll changed, changed utterly: a New DCU has been born. We have now passed the four month anniversary of the DCU Incorporation Programme and now is the time to reflect and consider the impact it has made on students and staff, for better and for worse.

The facts are that three college’s (St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Mater Dei Institute and the Church of Ireland College of Further Education) were brought under the remit of Dublin City University last year as a single legal entity, raising student numbers to over 16,000 and staff to 1,600.

St. Pat’s is now DCU St. Patrick’s, CICE no-longer exists, moving from its former location in Rathmines to Drumcondra to join St. Pat’s in forming DCU’s fifth faculty: the Institute of Education, while Mater Dei too moved to Drumcondra.

DCU said it would “herald a new era for education in Ireland”, bringing together the largest critical mass of initial teacher education expertise in the country.

Two weeks ago students and staff protested outside the former home of one of DCU’s amalgamated institutions, CICE. They demonstrated against unsatisfactory contracts in relation to payment and hours and said that programmes previously offered in their college were being terminated, leaving students in limbo.

These are unsavory scenes considering the mantra of the programme to: “build on the complementary strengths of the founding institutions in delivering a differentiated student and staff experience, underpinned by effective implementation of the transformation process.”

That is a dense promise and a tall task, with the “effective implementation of the transformation process” proven to be a sticking point when taken into account staff in CICE had a reported 24 hours to pack up and leave before the gates were locked and the college closed back in August.

On the one hand, one of the undoubted highlights of the move has been to bring separate Catholic and Protestant college’s under one secular, pluralist roof — something which is unique in Ireland and equally unimaginably prior to the Good Friday Agreement.

The Incorporation has raised student numbers, diversifying the college and has brought new facilities such as bigger lecture halls, libraries and computer labs to more students from smaller colleges.

But what about the students? The big selling point of the programme was to bring the expertise of four institutions to all those who would call themselves DCU students from now on. But that’s where we hit another roadblock — many students from the incorporating institutions simply do not identify themselves as DCU students. Loss of identity has been a crucial

but misrepresented issue since the move for smaller colleges.

Many students of the incorporated institutions feel that the traditions and unique histories of their colleges are being wiped away without a second thought. As though they are being drawn without consent towards a larger conglomerate called DCU where all that they knew is gone, all the while being told that that’s okay because it is for the collective good of future generations.

Being told on a regular and consistent basis that the New DCU is a good thing does not take away from these quiet feelings of isolation and loss of identity from the staff and students of those smaller colleges who now must go searching for their place in a DCU where many feel unwanted, lost and disenfranchised.

Staff must move offices and negotiate new contracts, students face lectures across multiple campuses, modules are lost, programmes restructured, Students’ Unions in disarray, clubs and societies lost and some merged — all of this combined to repeatedly see students of the smaller institutions lose out time after time and gain little individual, pragmatic value in return.

The move has made little difference to Glasnevin-based students. What little change brought about has been positive, but not enough to make up for the discontent now being endured by their fellow DCU students from those smaller colleges, who must trek across multiple campuses, face packed libraries not big enough to cater for all new incoming students, and try to find time and ample distance to take part in multi-campus clubs & societies.

Some of this was to be expected and perhaps will be looked back upon as the minor difficulties of transition. But we must ask what DCU stands for now as this new entity, and what it will represent going forward by means of ethos and outward identity.

Incoming first years of 2017/18 will become normalized to this state of affairs, but it appears clear and transparent now that those students in the midst of their studies, the graduates of 2017, 2018 and 2019, were not given preference or even much consideration by those implementing the Incorporation Programme; they were simply pawns that would be moved on and forgotten by the passage of time.

We must come to terms with the fact that the biggest programme implemented in the history of DCU has seen so many of its students marginalised for a greater good they will not stay long enough to bear the fruits of.

Rebecca Lumley

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NEWS DCU owed thousands through unpaid fees by students

St. Pat’s students voice concerns over graduation location oldstone

Lucy Mangan Sub Editor @thecollegeview

DCU is owed €165,000 in charges by just over 100 students, says records found by the Irish Times last week.

The seven state universities and Dublin Institute of Technology are collectively owed €560,000 in fines from their libraries alone, while the universities are also owed more than €1.3million in Student Contribution Charges.

NUI Maynooth takes lead

NUI Maynooth is at the top of the list, with an outstanding figure of €450,000 for charges, despite being the university with the smallest student population. DCU was one of the lowest, with the debt being spread across just 100 students.

University College Dublin and NUI Galway were not able to provide a breakdown of the debts, which is likely to increase the total amount.

UCD is the largest university and is expected to have the most effect on the total charges. €3000 per year Currently, the charge stands at €3,000 per year, however, over half of students attending third level education do not pay this amount due to their level of household income.

Maynooth also has the highest amount of unpaid library fees, with a total of €170,000. No other university even comes close to this figure, with University College Cork following with €135,000. This figure may be so high as NUI Maynooth does not stop a student from graduating if they have a negative outstanding balance.

DCU and UCD are also the only colleges to hire third-party debt collecting agencies to deal with unpaid balances.

Unpaid accommodation

NUI Galway released a statement saying that they could not provide the total amount of charges owed by students, but it is likely to be upwards of €700,000. A large amount of this sum may be due to unpaid on-campus accommodation in the college, which is a growing concern for universities across the board.

The government is now looking for other schemes that will ensure that students pay fees, such as a loans scheme.

Hayley Halpin News Editor @HayleyHalpin1 Continued from page 1

an MacCraith: “Logistical planning of the Autumn 2017 graduation ceremonies is still underway and no decision has yet been made in relation to the graduation ceremony for the Bachelor of Education programme.”

McLoughlin said: “In fairness to the heads of staff and any figureheads in DCU, nothing has been decided and I’ll make sure people are aware of that. It’s just the fear of it being in the Helix. It’s the worry that they’ll have to graduate up there.”

“It seems like such a petty thing but when you’re forced to amalgam-

ate with another university and then you’re forced to graduate on another campus it just creates this negative perception we already know exists, do you want to add fuel to the fire is my question,” he said.

McLoughlin noted that there is “uproar” on campus at the minute.

“It’s not as such a Students’ Union fight as much as it is a student’s fight.

This is really coming from the students.”

Many of the students that signed

the petition spoke out about why they did so.

Final year St. Pat’s BA student Naoise Ní Chinneide said Glasnevin is an unfamiliar setting and on graduation day St. Pat’s students would like to be somewhere they know.

“I wouldn’t be happy about graduating from the Glasnevin campus, personally I’ve had no lectures on that campus before and the only time I’ve been there was for the open day when I was in 6th year,” she said.

Final year St. Pat’s student Ann Marie Doyle said: “ This year’s 3rd BAs and BEds were the last year ever to apply to St. Patrick’s College. I am now a DCU student. However, I never asked to be.”

“To take our graduation away from everything we’ve ever known would be an extra step towards stripping away what makes Pats Pats.

We are not ‘the new DCU’. We are students caught in an integration we were not consulted on,” she said.

CICE staff will continue industrial action RTE

Aaron Gallagher Editor-In-Chief @AaronGallagher8

FORMER staff members of the

Church of Ireland College of Further Education will continue their industrial action against poor treatment, loss of personal benefits, loss of autonomy and the termination of programmes following the college’s incorporation into DCU last year.

Students and staff of the college took to the picket line outside its former premises in Rathmines a fortnight ago demonstrating against a host of problems they say have arisen following its closure and subsequent amalgamation into DCU last year.

A statement on behalf of the CICE Staff Support Group said the protest planned to draw attention to the negative experiences suffered by students and staff following the move, which it said has caused the State to “lose a higher education institution of exceptional quality.”

The Support Group added that staff feel extremely aggrieved at the level of disruption at both a

personal and professional level as a consequence of the move into DCU, noting a multitude of issues they feel must be resolved.

Among the problems put forward are: poor management of the transfer from Rathmines to DCU, a loss of personal benefits to all staff, loss of professional autonomy and benefits by academic staff, the termination of CICE programmes, lack of clarity regarding financial, administrative and support services for students transferred to

DCU and concern for the conditions of part-time academic staff.

The DCU Incorporation Programme was finalised in September 2016, seeing CICE, St. Patrick’s Drumcondra and Mater Dei Institute combine with Dublin City University to create one single legal entity. CICE was closed, moving to the university’s new Drumcondra campus to create the Institute of Education, DCU’s fifth faculty alongside St. Pat’s.

Responding to the protest, Chairperson of the Board of Governors

of CICE, Archbishop Michael Jackson, said every effort had been made to accommodate those completing studies under the old arrangements.

He added that the Board recognised from the beginning that disturbances would arise during the transition into DCU, but that at every point it had sought to keep staff and students informed through updates and consultation.

According to Archbishop Jackson, the Incorporation Programme was directed upon CICE by the Department of Education and Skills in 2012 and its move to another provider carried forward by successive Ministers of Education: Ruairi Quinn, Jan O’Sullivan and Richard Bruton.

Members of the Support Group disclosed that their frustrations lie with the CICE Board, who they feel have mismanaged the move. They said: “While we are aware that former CICE management and relevant trade unions are engaged in some consultations, we are very concerned at the high level of stress among former CICE staff regarding the above issues.”

DCU have stated they are not involved in any negotiations on either side of the action.

NEWS

4

Beg, Borrow, Steal raises Gender-neutral bathrooms wheeled thousands for charity Darragh Culhane

Rachael Kellegher News Reporter @thecollegeview

BEG, Borrow, Steal broke the €100,000 mark this week in total fundraising over the last three years, according to SU President Dylan Kehoe.

The annual event which saw 120 students race from The DCU Hub to Rome was in aid of The Irish Cancer Society in association with Movember Ireland for the second year running.

Last year’s event raised over €50,000 and was Movember Ireland’s largest fundraiser in 2016.

The ever growing event, which has been held by Esoc society for the last three years, transitioned to being SU run for the first time this year. The concept which was set up

by Dylan Kehoe in 2013 has been a huge success to date and is attracting even larger interest for next year.

“We’re in talks with big companies over in the states and the UK that are eager to get involved and we’re hoping to launch the event in multiple universities next year,” Dylan said. “In three years we’ve come from Cork to now looking at Cal- i fornia so who knows this time

out as bike scheme waits for funding

Liam Ashton Sub Editor @thecollegeview

next year where we’ll be. ” This year’s winners were Oran Duffy and Liam Mc Sweeney who reached destination, Rome, in less than 24 hours, known as team ‘Lemmons’.

60 two-person teams gathered

s p o n sorship before and during their trips with this year’s winners raising over

€2,000 alone in advance. An advantage of a fifteen minute head start was provided to the contestants that raised most, providing initiative to fundraise.

A group from the SU including Dylan Kehoe, Cody Byrne and Manus Mc Loughlin as well as past Beg Borrow Steal committee members, headed out to the finish line in Rome to greet the winners.

Dylan said how the transition from Esoc to SU will continue over the next few years and that he believes it should not affect Esoc as a society.

“I’ve given a lot to Esoc over the years and many of the events they run have come from me. Beg Borrow Steal is my personal thing and I am sure that Esoc will survive without it.”

EACH building in DCU will contain one gender neutral bathroom as part of an initiative suggested last year, according to LGBT chair, Mel Kavanagh. This will stretch across all DCU campuses.

In a mandate proposed and accepted by the Class Rep Council, it was initially suggested that the signs on the toilets would be replaced, as this would be most effective.

In his monthly updates Vice President for Welfare and Equality, Cody Byrne, said that DCU and the Estates Office are on board with the idea and although there were issues concerning altering of campus facilities, they will be installed soon.

Kavanagh said that for most students, the introduction of a gender neutral bathroom won’t have much of an effect but it will be an important difference for transgender and non-binary students.

“Using gendered facilities can be an anxious experience for someone who’s transgender so having the option there is a fantastic step forward,” she said.

She also explained the important message DCU are sending to the public with this new social development.

“Not only would these bath-

rooms make trans and non-binary students feel safer but DCU also sends a welcoming message that it cares about all students.”

Open badge and bike scheme

Another SU proposal which will be running soon is the ‘open badge scheme’, an awards system for heavy involvement in clubs or societies.

Vice President for Engagement & Development, Eimear Maguire has said the design is nearly finished and will be running by the end of term.

Mark Glynn, Head of the Teaching Enhancement Unit worked alongside Maguire to bring the system into its final stages.

As well as committing to finalise work on the system, Maguire had planned to create a bike scheme between DCU and the St. Patrick’s College campus.

“It’s proving harder than we anticipated to find funding.

We are looking to get sponsorship but at the moment we haven’t got the funding,” she said.

Alternative methods are being used to drive funds for the scheme.

“We’re currently doing a thing where we sell bags of condoms for €30 and all profits made will go towards funding for the bike scheme,” Maguire said.

Maguire hopes that if she doesn’t see a bike scheme put in place in her term that her successor will be granted funding next year.

Constitutional Review Committee to present changes at Class Rep Council

Rebecca Lumley News Editor @RebeccaLumley1

A committee tasked with analysing and modifying the Students’ Union constitution is due to present its work to Class Rep Council today, at

the first meeting of the semester.

The Constitutional Review Committee was elected at the last CRC of semester one, on the heels of heated debate over the propriety of calling a constitutional referendum.

Class reps voted against having a referendum on constitutional change last semester, as was originally planned, with many expressing concern over the lack of consultation with CRC. Reps argued that the Executive could not call a referendum, without first passing a vote at council. The referendum was overturned and the Constitutional Review Committee, which comprises 13 members, was set up.

“Our job is to go through it (the constitution),” explained committee

chair, Bryan Mulry.

“We sort of know what CRC want at this point and our job is to go through the document, see what to keep, what not to keep and just to question why everything was put in the way it was.”

The committee have met four times since its inception and are due to present their revisions at CRC tonight, though a decision on whether or not to abolish the position of Postgraduate Officer has not yet been made.

One of the changes in the rejected constitution was the removal of a part time Postgraduate Officer. It was suggested that role would be included in the responsibilities of VP Education and Placement, leaving one full time position.

This was heavily criticised by current Postgraduate Officer, Allan Stevenson, who argued that with 13,000 undergraduate students and just 3,000 postgraduate students enrolled in DCU, a postgraduate would never be elected to the position.

Stevenson said this would be “completely and utterly detrimental” to postgrads, diminishing their

representation.

This was just one proposal that caused controversy amongst reps.

Touching on the subject, Mulry asserted, “we’re not doing anything weird or strange. There’s no agenda here. There never was. But they elected us to do this, our job is to go through it and make certain that everything is in working order.”

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NEWS

Hungary Today

Number of Irish students on Erasmus hits an all time high Gavin O Callaghan News Reporter @thecollegeview

THE number of Irish students go-

ing on Erasmus is at a record high with about 3,200 students going on the exchange programme each year whilst the country takes in about 6,300 from other European nations according to The Higher Education Authority.

France, Spain, and Germany are the most popular destinations for Irish students with 69 per cent of the 265 DCU students who are currently studying abroad being in one of those three countries. DCU has also welcomed 348 Erasmus students over the current academic year.

The programme, which includes 28 EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Nor-

way, Switzerland and Turkey, has grown dramatically since its first year in 1987 when only 112 Irish students took part. Since then over three million students have gone to other European countries to study.

Ireland is currently the 14th most popular destination for EU students to study in with demand for places expected to rise due to uncertainty over Brexit’s impact on those looking towards the UK. International Business Student Ciara Nugent is currently in Neoma Business School Rouen in Reims, France and says that the experience has been overall positive. ‘’Erasmus is definitely an invaluable experience whether you initially like it or not, especially for language students’’ she said. ‘’I think it would be impossible to fully learn a language without spending time living in that country

and Erasmus gives you the opportunity to experience the real culture of a place and separate it from the stereotypes that you often help form your view and opinion of a country.’’ ‘’Erasmus has allowed me to discover the things I love and really hate about France, something I could never have experienced in a classroom in DCU.’’ The experience gained by students is also reflected in the EU’s Erasmus Impact Study which found that students who have undertaken the programme were 50 per cent less likely to find themselves in long-term unemployed.

In 2014, the EU launched the Erasmus+ funding scheme with about €15 billion to be offered in grants to over 4 million students with the aim of having 20% per cent of students undertake the programme by 2020.

Hazelwood rent down as management evicted from apartment complex Hazelwood.jpeg

New student employment app launched on DCU SU website

Stephen Keegan Arts Editor @thecollegeview

RENT in the Hazelwood student ac-

commadation have been reduced by €15 per person a week after rogue property management company Academy Walk were evicted from the apartment complex entirely.

A number of Academy Walk’s unethical practices were reported in the Irish Independent last September, including requiring a €500 “non-refundable deposit” and charging €100 if a student had overnight visitors.

The landlords of the 14 apartments managed by Academy Walk went to the courts to obtain early release from their contracts, but it was a protracted process, Vice President for Welfare & Equality Cody Byrne told The College View.

“The leaders of Academy Walk were refusing to go to court, they weren’t at their home address, they weren’t answering anything so it took a few weeks to get the court orders delivered by email, at which point it was undeniable,” he said.

After the court orders were delivered, security in the complex were fired and the 14 apartments moved to the care of Harrington Property Management.

Despite this, Academy Walk office staff maintained a presence at Hazelwood until January 31st, de-

Paul Dwyer Deputy News Editor @PaulWicklo

spite having no apartments to manage and therefore no income. “I think it was just a pride thing,” Byrne said.

Byrne had been in liaison with Harrington Property Management over rents since before exams started in first semester.

“They were looking to get more students in as students were leaving, from there they contacted me about two-three weeks later saying they were struggling to get students in, then again a week afterwards before saying they couldn’t fill the rooms,” Byrne said.

“So I said what about reducing rents?” Byrne said, pointing out to them that it would also be the best way to fight the “bad label Hazelwood has now” due

to Academy Walk’s behaviour.

Harrington have now reduced rents from €175 per person per week to €160 per person per week.

The knock-on effects of the Academy Walk scandal can also be seen elsewhere, Byrne said.

“When the whole Hazelwood thing kicked off, Gateway Student Village sent me an email being like I hope we can work together and keep this peaceful.

They’ve taken nice initiatives they disabled the turnstiles, they’re allowed have people into the rooms now whereas last year they weren’t.”

Byrne expressed delight at Academy Walk’s defeat, saying: “The students shouldn’t be taking that.

It was a big highlight of my year.”

DCU has officially added a Jobbio feature to their website which will allow thousands of students access potential to potential employers through the Student Union.

The feature allows students to create a profile that will connect them with companies who have part-time and graduate jobs available.

It enables students to search for jobs relevant to their own abilities and it also allows students to follow other business in their area of interest.

The Jobbio feature offers a wide range of jobs from wellknown businesses such as Intel Ireland, Balls.ie and Ryanair.

The jobs on offer are not strictly limited to just Dublin as Jobbio operates nationwide offering employment in all counties of Ire-

land.

The statement on the Student Union website said that this new association will ease the pressure for students who are struggling to find employment during their time in university.

It said, “This partnership will make it much easier for DCU students to find and secure work throughout their time in university.

With this new partnership, DCU Students have a whole new window of opportunity ahead of them.”

The new feature was part of DCU president, Dylan Kehoe’s manifesto last year and he described how he had contacts in Jobbio and wanted to use these to benefit other students seeking employment.

He said, “One of the things on my manifesto was to improve the employment section on the SU website and I had a few connections with jobbio and that seemed like a nice fit…and to me it sounds pretty fool proof” “It’s more focused on part time jobs for first and second years to try and get them through the year.”

Kehoe concluded that this new feature would be a huge improvement from the current available employment listing from the newsletter send out by DCU career’s section.

“I know that the careers section in DCU sends out a newsletter each week but I never use it and I don’t actually know anyone who uses it because it seems a bit shit.”

NEWS

6

TCDSU elects Ethnic ‘Dark web’ allows for purchase of drugs without prescription Minority Officer Amy Lawlor Lifestyle Editor @thecollegeview

TRINITY College Dublin Student’s Union’s (TCDSU) council voted last week to elect an Ethics Minority Officer onto their executive. This position arose shorty after TCDSU President Kieran McNulty decided to utilise the structures and strength of the Union to ensure all students’ voices are heard.

The successful candidate Dipo Adebisi has the role to “act as a part time officer of the Union and act as a voting member on the executive team, called Union Forum, which comprises of the Sabbatical Officers and Part Time Officers as voting members,” said Dale Whelehan TCDSU’s Education Officer.

On the 21st of December 2016, DCU was designated as a ‘University of Sanctuary’ following its range of initiatives that demonstrated commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers into its university environment.

Despite the designation being a separate entity to the appointment of TCDSU Ethics Minority Officer, as it’s specifically aimed at bettering the welfare of refugees, DCU’s Education Officer Cody Byrne would ‘love to see a part time Ethics Minority Officer on their executive.’

“It all just stems back to diversity and embracing inclusivity. We’re not all white heterosexuals and it’s important to let everyone know that they have a voice in speaking out and stepping up,” said Cody.

The role of an Ethics Minority Officer on DCU Student’s Union may become necessary after DCU announced, among other initiatives, that it would award fifteen academic scholarships to applicants who are currently in Ireland either as asylum seekers or refugees.

However, although in favour of including an Ethics Minority Officer into its executive, Byrne believes “it becomes a little complicated from an executive stance in that where does it stop?”

“You always have to be wary of too many chefs in the kitchen. I think that while there isn’t currently a parttime member on the executive for an Ethnic Minority Officer, there are other leadership opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

Dipo Adebisi Credit: LinkedIn

Niamh McKeown

Kyle Ewald Deputy News Editor @thecollegeview UN-PRESCRIBED “study drugs” such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Concerta are becoming more accessible to students through online mediums that allow users to purchase drugs without a prescription and without being traced.

According to a report by TheJournal.ie, spikes in usage of un-prescribed stimulants are not uncommon on university campuses during exams and purchasing such stimulants is only becoming easier through the internet. In fact, around the 2016 summer exam season, The Health Products Regulatory Authority confirmed the seizure of more than 1,300 stimulant tablets and narcolepsy medication at customs being imported by online suppliers. After the seizure, the HPRA warned of the dangers of using online-ordered drugs and that there are no guarantees the substances ordered contain the right ingredients.

One of the most popular methods of acquiring un-prescribed drugs is through the medium Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that users can buy without supplying personal details by downloading the software onto their computers. “Bitcoins” can then be purchased through PayPal and used to buy substances without entering names or credit card details.

Most websites that accept Bitcoin in exchange for substances are located on the “dark web”—an encrypted

network accessible through special servers (often Tor) that does not link IP addresses with online activity so transactions between seller and provider are not traced.

Such websites include the Silk Road 3.0, Black Market Reloaded, and Agora Marketplace. In the 2015 Student Drug Survey, eight percent of students admitted to purchasing illegal drugs from the internet, and ten percent admitted to having a friend do so on their behalf.

Many un-prescribed users of study drugs are unaware of the potential negative side effects such drugs pose. While when used under a prescription, these stimulants are successful in the treatment of ADD and ADHD, they can also cause appetite suppression and unhealthy weight loss, headaches, weakness, dizziness, blurred vision and anxiety.

A previous NCI student who took

Credit: rte.

DCU PhD researcher becomes first visually impaired athlete to complete seven marathons in seven days Aoife Marnell Sub Editor @thecollegeview

DCU PHD researcher Sinead Kane became the

first visually impaired athlete to complete the World Marathon Challenge this week. Sinead successfully ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents with just 5% vision.

Sinead ran the week-long event with her guide runner John O’ Regan. They began their journey in Antarctica on 23rd January, making Sydney the finishing point to their final marathon. They finished the marathon with an impressive completion time of 4:42:49.

The seven marathons took place in Union Glacier (Antarctica), Punta Arenas (Chile), Miami (USA), Madrid (Spain), Marrakech (Mo-

rocco), and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

She placed joint-first place in her marathon in Asia and came in at sixth place in her final marathon in Australia.

Sinead has made history books by running a standard 42.2km marathon distances with almost no sight.

She said following the race, “I am trying to take in what I have just achieved over the past week. The last seven days have been a character building experience for me. It’s been a huge adventure. “I am sad that this experience has come to an end, in a way I am in auto pilot mode, I keep thinking I need to run another marathon tomorrow.” “[In Australia] I kept thinking that I just couldn’t do it, that I just didn’t have it in me to complete the final leg of the World Marathon Challenge. I have had high moments and low moments on this trip over the last week, so

Adderall during exam times and larger assignments said he experienced paranoia and sleep disturbances after taking the drug.

Other than harmful side-effects, the use of stimulants without a prescription leads to potential unfair advantages for those using such drugs without a diagnosis that requires them.

A current DCU School of Communications student who previously used Ritalin and other stimulants to study for exams disagrees that the use of study drugs creates an unfair advantage: “An unfair advantage would be getting the questions ahead of the exam, but anybody can get access to study drugs if they wanted to.”

While all seven of Ireland’s universities have a policy on drugs and alcohol, UCD is the only one to specifically address the use of study drugs.

thanks for all of the belief and support in me.”

She began her training for her marathon journey five years ago in 2012, inspired by her participation in the Women’s Mini Marathon that year.

This is not the first time the Irish woman has made history, just two years ago she be-

came the first visually impaired Irish person to run an ultramarathon in Ireland. This is a long-distance running race which is even longer than a marathon.

A woman of many talents, Sinead also qualified as Ireland’s first legally blind solicitor in 2009.

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DCUSU kick off the new semester with Refreshers Week

Campus residences made €13,000 on student fines in first semester Lauren Ennis Sub Editor @thecollegeview

STUDENT;S living in on-cam-

pus accommodation in Dublin City University paid approximately €13,000 in fines in the first semester of the current academic year according to Campus Residences’ General Manager, John Gaffery.

The majority of fines issued by Campus Residences from September through December 2016, were issued for breaches of the terms and conditions that were given to students prior to their occupancy.

Some of the fines outlined by these terms and conditions include, smoking within the complex, drying clothes within the apartment, hosting parties in the apartment or complex and exposing bottles, containers or other articles in the windows of the apartment units.

Adding to this, students can

be subject to additional fines if their apartment unit does not meet the housekeeping standards set out by Campus Residences.

Housekeeping fines are issued to students during housekeeping inspections which are conducted approximately every six weeks

by Campus Residences staff and are deducted directly from the occupier’s security deposit.

They include fines for posters on the walls, unclean bathroom facilities, unclean bedroom areas and unclean kitchen appliances.

A notice of inspection dates is sent out to each student by email and also in hard copy form which is sent to each bedroom, giving students advance notice of each inspection.

A full list of fines set out

by Campus Residences is made available to students in an Accommodation Welcome Pack which is issued to each occupier on arrival to their apartment.

The fines begin at €5.00 per

item deemed to be below housekeeping standards and can reach up to €100 for other incidences including hosting parties, damaging or defacing property and acting in an anti-social behaviour.

The total sum of fines issued for the first semester is a cumulative figure spread across the three DCU residence locations; DCU Glasnevin, DCU All Hallows and DCU St. Patrick’s campuses which house approximately 1,450 DCU students collectively.

“While it would be the goal of Campus Residences to keep the issuing of fines to a minimum they are a necessary part of a pro-active approach in keeping the residences clean, safe and secure,” said Gaffery.

“Any fines that are imposed are used to enhance, protects and maintain the residences,” he said and “all of the profits of the company are reinvested in the operation, maintenance, refurbishment and development of the residences.”

USI launch their National Student Housing Survey Hannah Kelly Deputy Production Editor @thecollegeview

THE Union of Students in Ireland

(USI) have invited students across the Republic of Ireland to fill in their National Student Housing Survey to assess conditions and preferences.

On January 11, the USI launched the survey which focuses on five areas: demographics, accommodation status and conditions, satisfaction with current accommodation and past experiences of all students living and studying in Ireland, will be open for three weeks for students to fill in.

The housing crisis is negatively impacting study trends, academic performance and mental health of students. The high demand and shortage in supply of hous-

ing for students means some are left sleeping on friends’ couches, living in inadequate accommodation or enduring long commutes.

“With students paying up to 1,240 euro a month with If and When contracts students struggle to pay rents when they do find accommodation,” Daniel Waugh, USI Vice President for Campaigns said.

USI are planning on using the information to they collect to make an informed policy for the Student Accommodation Strategy. In the survey they are asking how much students are paying for bills and rent, the standards of living, types of deposits and if their landlords are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

“We want to assess the actual situation of students across the country. Housing cannot be treated only as a market, but is central to the experience of the student, and

whether or not they thrive at college. Investment in student accommodation is investment in reduced rates of wasteful non-completion and increased rates of study success”, USI President Annie Hoey said.

The data collected from the survey will be used in a report that USI will present to Department of Education and Skills, HEA and the Department for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to inform the Student Accommodation Strategy.

“The survey results will also inform local and national campaigns around housing like promoting our digs service homes.usi.ie, tenant rights and advice on seeking accommodation for students,” Waugh said, “the survey will also give USI an indication of what are the big issues beside finding accommodation and rent so we ensure students are living in socially acceptable conditions.”

Callum Lavery News Reporter @thecollegeview

PETTING

zoos, magicians and dunk tanks were just a taste of the events on offer as students enjoyed DCU Students’ Union Refresher Week.

The second semester began with a series of activities for students both within and outside the university brought to you by DCUSU. Returning and new students faced a socially jam packed week with events offered daily on the Glasnevin and St Patrick’s campus and beyond.

The week started with very special guests as ‘Back to the Farm Day’ brought animals from llamas to ducks outside the Henry Grattan.

At night, Christy Moore Tribute act Liam Byrne performed in Nubar and the official Refresher week after party was held in the Wrights Venue.

Tuesday had sexual health magician Shane Quilty presenting

spell binding messages on sexual health through entertaining means in the Grumpy Mule outside St. Patricks campus. And students also saw the return of DCU’s Shite Night in Nubar that evening.

On Wednesday, members of the DCU student union volunteered to get soaked for charity as a dunk tank was set up on the Glasnevin campus.

Wednesday night was Race Night as Nubar had virtual horse racing, commentated on by Hardy Bucks Owen Colgan, students could bet fake money on races and win prizes such as Dominoes and Redbull.

Beg, Borrow, Steal was launched on Thursday morning at the Helix, this year competitors had to race their way to Rome by any means possible. On St Patricks campus, America’s Got Talent Finalist Stevie Starr performed for the students.

The week ended with International Night in Nubar with Music brought to you by DCU’s DJ society.

The week was believed to be a great success and was received well by both students and staff alike.

Zainab Boladale

9

OPINION

Has feminism taken a turn for the worse?

Lucy Mangan argues that although feminism has advanced in society in recent years, perhaps it has taken a turn for the worst in its aim to promote the equal rights of both men and women

I

am an advocate for an equal society, but just because I am a woman, this does not mean I am a feminist. Feminism began as what can only be described as a challenge for an equal society, when women were not allowed to vote, own a property or even earn money.

These women’s liberation movements fought for a balance in democracy.

And women succeeded. From 1918 onwards, feminism thrived and grew, into the first and second movements, giving women a chance at something that they had never experienced. A vote, education and the right to work after marriage.

In countries other than our own and those of the Western world, women are still being treated like second class citizens and the need for an equal society could flourish through feminism. They are still in an era where feminism is really about equal rights.

Unfortunately here in Ireland and most developed countries, feminism has seen a shift, moving away from equal rights for all and towards the mindset that men’s rights do not exist, or are not as important as women’s rights.

I have seen countless tweets and Facebook posts about how we should rise up and kill all men or how men are the root of all our problems. When did this become part of feminism?

Do not get me wrong, the plight of women does not go unheard of in my life. Getting catcalled, harassed and having men think that they have a human right to be given attention, just because I am standing alone is normal to me. But when exactly did feminists forget that men face real problems too?

In a society where our mental health is one of our most valued possessions, it falls through the cracks, especially for men.

Nearly 300 more men died by suicide than women in Ireland in 2015, and the same kind of statistics can be found in the years before, because ‘men don’t cry’?

There is a stigma surrounding a man talking about his feelings or his mental health, just in case he seems ‘weak’ or ‘unmanly’.

If this statistic alone is not enough to convince feminists that society disadvantages men too, then what is or what will ever be enough?

Feminism used its voice in the media to portray what they wanted. Where a movements voice in the media is its center point, it is what everyone hears and focuses on.

It used this to create the illusion that women are the only downtrodden gender.

That men are the only culprits for crimes such as violence, domestic abuse and cat calling, creating feelings of mistrust and suspicion towards all men, even though it is a minority perpetrating these crimes.

What does this mean for society?

This bias in the media has indicated that some women are adopting a mindset that their husband need to help out more at home or doesn’t do any housework. Despite them

Americanlookout.com

working all day and being the only person who earns money in the home. How can this be equality?

The meaning behind the word feminism has been moulded and changed from equal rights for men and women, to women advocating solely for women’s rights.

Feminism lets women beat down on men, and then play the victim. Using lies about the wage gap and campus rape culture in America are prime examples of this.

Now women are abandoning feminism in their droves, leaving behind the extremists, who are screaming for blood instead of equality.

In a survey done in the UK, only 7 per cent of women surveyed considered themselves feminists. However 74 per cent believed in gender equality.

We are using an old and outdated definition of feminism to fight for equal rights in a society where the meaning of equality has changed. We are no longer fighting a male dominated society where women have no rights.

Instead, we should be fighting together to make the world a more fair and just place.

Rather than women solely campaigning for women’s rights or men campaigning solely for men’s rights. We need to campaign for equal rights for both sexes.

Feminism has advanced society, there is no doubt about that. But feminists need to realise that women are not always the

“

The meaning behind the word feminism has been moulded and changed from equal rights for men and women, to women advocating solely for women’s rights

victims. Men face issues of their own, which may have been created by feminism in the first place.

There are plenty of examples of how feminism has actively fought men in their pursuit of equality. For example, feminism fighting paternal rights and feminism fighting educational changes to help boys.

Whereas when questioned about what feminism has done for men’s rights, they have no answer.

Feminism was meant to be a battle for equal rights, but it is not. Equality is not a battle for just one gender, it is a battle for the human race as a whole.

I do not think I can ever call myself a feminist. I believe that society equally disadvantages both men and women.

If campaigning for women’s rights or men’s rights is what you are passionate about, then more power to you. I am just sick of hearing the word feminism.

10

OPINION

Trump’s first week leaves the U.S. in turmoil Donald Trump’s first week in office signified the beginning of an era of horror, writes Bríon Hoban

associated Press

BRÍON HOBAN CHIEF SUB EDITOR

N

o amount of hyperbole is unjustified. Donald Trump’s first week in office begins an era of horror that is almost impossible to comprehend.

Much time and effort has been spent mocking Trump as he continuously claimed that the crowd at his inauguration was bigger than the crowd at President Obama’s. All photographic evidence proves this to be a lie.

Yet it is very important not to get distracted by grandiose lies like this. While Trump loudly boasted about his crowds, he was quietly undoing eight years of progress.

Trump’s first action was to sign an executive

order aimed at scrapping Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act currently provides healthcare to 30 million Americans.

It will be demolished and no other healthcare plan will be put in place as a replacement.

Instead the allocated funds will be used to pay for upper class tax cuts while millions die of easily treatable diseases.

He is moving ahead with plans to build his border wall. Contrary to what he repeated throughout his campaign, it will be American tax payers rather than Mexico who end up funding his great folly.

The wall will be ruinously expensive and ecologically disastrous.

Also, it will not halt illegal immigration as the areas of the border that already feature walls are pockmarked with tunnels running beneath them.

The final action of his first week was to ban all refugees entering America for 120 days and banning Syrian refuges indefinitely. He signed this order on Holocaust Remembrance Day. There is no satire that could possibly be more nightmarish than reality. There is no political thriller than can be described as far-fetched ever again.

The only solace is that Trump is and always has been wildly unpopular.

He entered office with the lowest presidential approval rating in history.

He gained just 46% of the vote in the election and received 2.8 million votes less than Hillary Clinton.

The American people rejected Donald

Trump, even if their flawed electoral system facilitated his election.

The outstanding success of the Women’s March points to his unpopularity. Half a million people marched in opposition in Washington DC, more than three times the amount that attended the inauguration.

An estimated five million people participated worldwide. This level of engagement and protest will be crucial to stop the bleeding over the next four years.

Will Ireland suffer as a result of Trump’s reign? Yes, but provided he does not start a major war, the worst consequences will be eco-

nomic.

Ireland will lose thousands of jobs if Trump decides to match our low corporation tax rate.

Trade with America will likely be hampered by his commitment against the spread of free trade.

Even stricter immigration measures may result in America no longer to be a prime holiday destination for Irish men and woman. J1 visas are also on Trump’s chopping list.

Yet we will never suffer any measurable percentage as badly as the citizens of America. It is our duty as fellow human beings to assist and resist in any way we can.

DCU’s efforts show signs of hope for the refugee crisis

T

Andrew Ralph discusses DCU’s new title as Ireland’s first University of Sanctuary

he world is grappling with the largest refugee crisis since the end of the bloodshed that was the second world war in 1945.

Politicians across the globe are struggling to comprehend and reckon with the scale of the challenges that this crisis presents and the responses differ substantially from border to border.

While Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Germany’s Angela Merkel embraced the battered and beleaguered of Syria, America’s Donald Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán plan to put up walls and barriers to get them out and to keep them away.

But it is not just the world or government leaders that have a role to play in responding to the refugee crisis. Individuals, businesses and organisations have been called on to show practical and strong leadership on this matter.

DCU has become Ireland’s first designated ‘University of Sanctuary’ – something that everybody in the DCU family can be proud of, whether you’re staff, student or alumni.

However, what exactly does this mean and why has DCU been chosen by the UK-based City of Sanctuary organisation to be awarded such recognition and distinction?

The phrase “charity starts at home” springs to mind and the management of DCU has been working hard over the past few months to make the university as welcoming, as inclusive and as accommodating as possible for refugees and asylum seekers that have fled war, conflict and famine to reach the shores of Ireland. And that work has paid off with this designation.

DCU’s President Brian MacCraith said recently, “the title is not a destination but rather the marker on the

Zainab Boladale

“ beginning of a journey” and what a journey it will be for the 15 refugees that are fortunate enough to receive academic scholarships from the university, which is beginning in September of this year.

For many of them, whether they come from Aleppo, Kabul, Mogadishu or Sana’a, the chance to realise their potential in life and to escape the devastation of their homelands is something many of us in Ireland will never know. We inadvertently take our access to education, our personal freedom and our safety and security for granted.

But how will DCU be able to retain its new found status as a “University of Sanctuary” and how will it practice what it preaches as the naysayers would enquire?

A steering group of staff and students will be established and a refugee week will be had.

An initiative will be pioneered to allow DCU studentsteach English to the refugees, the Mosney Book Club for those living in direct provision who cannot borrow books from public libraries and an inaugural “University of Sanctuary” lecture on campus.

DCU becoming a “University of Sanctuary” is not something that has happened by accident.

It is the result of the efforts and work of DCU to do something bold and proactive in response to the refugee crisis. History will remember that this university rejected hatred, intolerance and prejudice and welcomed, embraced and assisted these refugees and asylum seekers to become a valued part of the Irish Nation.

History will remember that this university rejected hatred, intolerance and prejudice

11

GAEILGE

Sluascaoilte - Bagairt NuaAimseartha

Pléann Cal Ó Donnabháin tuar na sluascaoilte agus conas a dhéantar sícé an dúnmharfóra a mheas sa lá atá inniu ann

Cal Ó Donnabháin Eagarthóir Gaeilge @thecollegeview

A

n Amharclann ‘Bataclan’ i bPáras.

‘Virginia Tech’ sna Stáit Aontaithe Meiriceá. Muenchen sa Ghearmáin.

Trí shampla de sluascaoileadh, nó ‘mass-shootings’, a tharla le 10 mbliain anuas trasna na cruinneoige.

Chaill 171 duine neamhchiontach a gcuid saolta sna sluascaoilte sin toisc ghníomhaíochtaí ionsaitheoirí nár aontaigh lena gcuid tuairimí, lena gcuid stíleanna mhaireachtála, lena mbeithsine.

“

Ní féidir na tubaistí seo a mhíniú, áfach, agus tagairt á dhéanamh agat do reiligiún nó fuath, toisc go mbíonn míniúcháin níos doimhne a bhreathníonn ar shícé na n-ionsaitheoirí, ar an spreagthacht agus na timpeallachtaí ina raibh siad roimh theacht na n-ionsaithe

I 2015, ag déanamh iarrachta sícé ionsaitheoirí difriúla a chíoradh agus na táscairí a bhaineann le hionsaitheoir féideartha a aithint, roinn an lia Sherry Towers as Arizona State University staidéar a rinne sí ag maíomh go raibh idir 20% agus 30% de shluascaoilte mar eachtraí aithrise, gur chúisigh ionsaí amháin ionsaithe eile agus na hionsaitheoirí eile ag iarraidh gníomhaíochtaí an lámhaigh i dtosach a chóipeáil. Chomh maith le seo, feictear go minic go gcuireann na tíoránaigh a meas ar thíoránaigh eile in iúl, iad ag rá go dteastaíonn uathu breis dhaoine a mharú ná an t-ionsaí deiridh.

Is léargas suimiúil seo toisc go gcuireann sé an solas ar nádúr an duine agus cé chomh héasca agus atá sé dul i bhfeidhm ar dhuine, go háirithe duine leochaileach, agus go mbíonn coimhlint inmheánach ann san ionsaitheoir go rialta, ní hamháin an choimhlint cúisithe acu go seachtrach.

Is féidir, ag www.avoiddenydefend.org, sampla a fheiceáil de rialtas ag déanamh iarrachta na gníomhaíochtaí tógálacha seo a throid, Texas State University ag cur an suíomh idirlín ar fáil chun go gcuirtear an pobal ar an eolas i dtaca le modhanna líon na n-ionsaithe a laghdú agus conas na hionsaithe seo a aithint do mo rud é gur aimsigh tú tú féin i lár sluascaoileadh. Agus iad ag dul i ngleic ar éífeacht na haithrise, tugtar comhairle dos na léitheoirí ó thaobh na dlúthaisritheoirí de agus deirtear nach cóir ainmneacha na n-ionsaitheoirí a lua ar chor ar bith agus gan aitheantas a thabhairt dóibh toisc go gcreidtear go gcúisíonn lagmheas agus leithlisiú an duine an t-ocras d’aitheantas agus do thóir.

Chomh maith le neamhaird a mholadh mar bhealach trioblóide a sheachaint, tugtar comhairle conas tú féin a chosaint má aimsíonn tú tú féin i lár an tsluascaoilte agus tá nasc acu go fís a léiríonn na moltaí seo agus iad curtha i gcrích. Sa lá atá inniu ann agus le cúrsaí ag éirí níos measa ó thaobh sábháilteachta de amuigh ansin is féidir go mbeadh an t-eolas ar fáil ar an suíomh an-luachmhar duit amach anseo.

Ceist a chuirtear go minic agus sluascaoilte á phlé ná ‘an féidir iad a thuar?’. Go simplí, ní féidir, toisc nach féidir faireachas a dhéanamh ar gach aon duine agus níos deacra fós, a staideanna meabhrach a mheas ach an oiread. Cé nach bhfuil cúrsaí dubh agus bán, scríobhann Lisa Grossman

Google Images

in ‘New Scientist’ faoi na táscairí a bhaineann le cuid ionsaitheoirí agus na cúiseanna féideartha le haghaidh sluascaoileadh.

Ar dtús, is truicear diúltach a chúisíonn na gníomhaíochtaí seo go rialta, le críoch ghaoil agus cailliúint poist mar an dá cheann is comónta, dar leis an scríbhneoir agus foinsí a taighde. Is leithlisiú sóisialta go háirithe a spreagann freagracht na dtíoránach agus iad ag mothú nach bhfuil siad ina mball den chine daonna agus nach bhfuil luach ar a saolta. Toisc an leithlisiú seo, dar le halt Grossman, ní bhíonn atrua ag an ionsaitheoir agus níl tuiscint acu ar fhulaingt a n-íospartaigh. Is as seo a thagann an cur síos comónta ó chlanna agus comhlaigh an ionsaitheora i ndiaidh an ionsaithe, go raibh

siad ina (h)aonaránach nó ina d(h) íbeartach sóisialta.

Leis an eolas curtha ar fáil ag Grossman, tugann sí comharthaí rabhaidh bainteach le tuar na n-ionsaithe, táscairí gur féidir fearadh amach dóibh agus a thugadh deis sluascaoileadh a sheachaint. Deir sí má thugann tú faoi deara go bhfuil pleanáil ar bhonn ag duine i dtaca le hionsaí, má tá duine tógtha go huile is go hiomlán le duine eile nó bunúdar áirithe agus iad feargach, go fuil siad ina n-iarshaighdiúirí le droch-mheabhar sláinte, go bhfuil gníomhaíocht cosúil le seo déanta acu cheana nó mura mothaíonn an duine go bhfuil réiteach ach amháin le húsáid fhoréigin, is gá bheith in amhras fúthu.

Cé go bhfuil an t-eolas ann

amuigh ansin cuidiú linn amhrasaigh a aimsiú, ní féidir amhras measctha a bheith ar bhun ag duine toisc an domhain ina bhfuil cónaí orainn inniu. Leis an próifíliú ní féidir gach aon a shásamh. Leo siúd a cheistíonn cé chomh eiticiúil agus atá an próifíliú, leis an té a phróifíltear agus an lucht a dhéanann an próifíliú tá sé deacar gan cur as do ghrúpa ar leith toisc nádúr an phróifílithe. Le seo, ceistím cé chomh eiticiúil agus atá sé slumharfóirí féideartha a bhraith agus ceistím cé chomh cruinn agus gur féidir a bheith agus iad ag déanamh iarrachta sícé na ndaoine seo a thuiscint.

Focail na seachtaine

Dlúthaisritheoirí - Mimickers

Sluascaoileadh - Mass Shooting Códáil - Coding Díobartach - Victim

Féideartha - Potential

GAEILGE

Códúcháin, an teanga nuaaimseartha

12

Cuireann Áine Monk scéál an chódála trí Ghaeilge in iúl agus léiríonn nach bhfuil sé don Bhéarla amháin

in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science, just like biology, chemistry or algebra.”

Urraithe ag Microsoft, Facebook, the Infosys Foundation, Goos féidir scileanna ar bith a gle, Omidyar Network agus níos fhoghlaim ar an idirlíon faoi mó, tugann an chlár foghlama seo na laethanta seo. Ní haon deis do chuile duine triail a bhaint ionadh gur féidir le duine ar bith as an gcódúcháin a fhoghlaim. cúrsaí ríomheolaíochta a fhoghlaim An rud is spéisiúil a thug mé ar shuíomhanna éagsúla. B’fhéidir faoi dheara nuair a chuaigh mé tríd gur ionadh gur féidir na scileanna an tsuímh ar dtús ná go raibh gach seo a fhoghlaim trí-Ghaeilge agus cúrsa ar fáil ann ar fáil trí-Ghaeilge saor in aisce. araon le beagnach 50 teangacha Déan cuardach Google de eile. Is féidir cluiche a dhearadh go ‘coding’ agus ‘Gaeilge’ agus tagann héasca nuair a leanfar na treoracha Code.org suas i dtús áite. Is suíomh atá leagtha amach go soléir sna idirlín bunaithe i Meiriceá seo a ceachtanna Code.org. Is féidir triail dtugann deis do dhaoine scileanna a bhaint as cluiche a chur le chéile, chódúcháin a fhoghlaim ag am ar mar shampla, Flappy Bird, Frozen, bith agus ar do chaoithiúlacht.

Disney Infinity, Angry Birds agus Is eagraíocht neamhbhrúbasach Minecraft. Ta suil agam go mbíonn Code.org. An sprioc atá leis ná an-suim ag na daltaí a bheith mar achmhainní foghlama a chur ar fáil dhearthóir de na cluichí mhóréilimh do chuile duine, ní amháin daoine seo! atá ag tabhairt faoi chúrsaí riomTuigeann foireann ComputeTY haireachta san ollscoil. Tá na daoine an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an i gceannas ar Code.org dóchasach gcodúchán. Is clár oideachais do go gheallfar deis do dhaoine ó chuile dhaltaí san idirbhliain ComputeTY áit triail a bhaint as codúcháin, go a bhíonn ar siúl i mí Eanair go háirithe dreamanna mionlaigh timbliantiúil. Ar siúl in Ollscoil Chapeall na cruinne. Deir siad: thair Bhaile Átha Cliath, tugann sé “Our vision is that every student deis do dhaltaí meánscoile seachtain

Aine Monk Leas-Eagarthóir Gaeilge @thecollegeview

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a chaitheamh san ollscoil ag foghlaim scileanna cóidríomhaireachta, dearadh gréasáin agus méarfhorbairt aipeanna. Freastalaíonn beagnach 400 daltaí ar an gclár chuile bliain.

Is í Christine Stears stiúrthóir ComputeTY agus tuigeann sí féin an tábhacht a bhaineann le scileanna ríomhchlárú a fhoghlaim. Deir sí: “We have been looking at the statistics of ComputeTY and entrants into DCU 2 years on and can see some of these students are coming back to us in Computing as first year students to continue their journey in the world of programming. Only recently two of our previous ComputeTY students (and now DCU students) have started their own Company (along with the winner of the 2017 BT Young Scientist’s Shane Curran), to develop their own robot to teach kids the basics of coding. So it’s great to see that this Outreach Programme is paying off.”

Deir Gary Conway, stiúrthóir eile ComputeTY: “The idea behind ComputeTY is to de-mistify Computer Science for TY students so that they can make a more informed decision when they come to filling in their CAO forms in a few years. We

“

Is suíomh idirlín bunaithe i Meiriceá seo a dtugann deis do dhaoine scileanna chódúcháin a fhoghlaim ag am ar bith agus ar do chaoithiúlacht. have designed the courses to be as fun and as creative as possible with students leaving DCU with a professional website, android app or programming skills under their belt to show their friends and family.

This year we were able to completely redesign the programming stream with the help of Bank of Ireland, to switch over to teaching the students Python programming using the very cool and very tiny BBC Micro:bit computer. Ultimately, we hope that they get bitten by the tech bug and return to DCU in two years time to study Computing here.”

Ba theagascóir ComputeTY í Meghan Dowling i mbliana, agus í mar iarrthóir PhD freisin í san Ionad ADAPT, ceann de na hurraitheoirí.

“Mhúin mé an modúl Buntús Ríomhchlárúcháin ar champas Glas Naíon, OCBAC. Bhí timpeall daichead daltaí idirbhliana sa rang a bhí agam, idir buachaillí agus cailíní. Is ábhar an-difriúil é ríomhchlárú, agus tá baint aige le scileanna ‘fadhbréiteach’ thar rud ar bith eile. Mar sin, rinne mé iarracht smaointeoireacht fadhbréiteach a spreagadh sna daltaí meánscoile ‘in a fun and friendly environment.’” a deir sí.

Má tá suim agat na scileanna thuasluaite a fhoghlaim saor in aisce agus ar do chaoitiúlacht, tá na ceachtanna ar fáil ar www.code. org agus m’ás rud é go bhfuil spéis agat i gcúrsaí ComputeTY, is féidir teagmháil a dhéanamh le Christine Stears ag Christine.stears@dcu.ie.

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FEATURES St. Pat’s students feeling the loss of their Student Union Following the merging of DCU and St.Pats’ student unions, Laura Burke looks at how the students feel about the change.

only space to actually hold events so there is no venue anymore. DCU is not actually what it used to be,” he said.

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he merger of St. Patrick’s college into DCU which began last September has brought many changes to the make-up and facilities present across both campuses in the last number of months.

One particular change that has affected students of the three merger colleges, the Mater Dei Institute, Church of Ireland College of Further Education and St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra, has been the abolishment of these colleges’ independent student unions.

As part of the Incorporation Programme, students of St. Pat’s were told they would no-longer have their own Students’ Union based on the Drumcondra campus and that from September 2016 onwards any events taking place for St. Pat’s students would be ran by the DCUSU.

Construction work Construction work began on the DCU campus last semester which resulted in Spar moving to a temporary location in the venue which used to cater for large numbers of people attending DCUSU ran events.

“ The lack of

events on St. Pats’ campus is something that students there feel strongly about

St. Pat’s students feel left out The decision to merge the Students’ Unions on both campuses has left a lot of St. Patrick’s students feeling that they are being left out of the brunt of activities that take place on the DCU campus, rather than in St. Pat’s.

Speaking about the matter, DCUSU Vice President for Welfare and Equality Cody Byrne said: “I completely get where they (St. Pat’s students) are coming from.

“I think that in general there are more events here in DCU and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t.

“I think the logic behind why there are more events in DCU is because there is a student bar here, its only a 20 minute walk away and there are about four times the amount of students here in DCU than in Pats. So that is the main idea and logic behind it.”

The lack of events on St. Pats’ campus is something that students feel strongly about. ‘’This is my third and final year here in St. Pats and since last September I’ve noticed that there are less events and things going on around the college

Speaking about his role as SU Vice President for Welfare and Equality, he said that his term was going well but that some of the campaigns could prove stressful.

Campaign costs Credit: Laura Duffy

as everything seems to be taking place in DCU”, said final year student in St. Pat’s Amie Kavanagh.

“I think the DCUSU is trying its best to hold events on both campuses but it is hard for St. Pat’s students to travel all the way to DCU for events during the day when we have lectures all day on our own campus.”

Extra funding for SU

When St. Pat’s SU combined with DCU in September, the DCUSU received an extra €200,000 from the merger, whereas the year before funding for the St. Pat’s Student Union was a lot higher.

Byrne argued that DCUSU should have got a lot more money

from the merger that could have been invested back into St. Pats throughout the 2016/17 year.

He also points out that while the majority of the merger has affected St. Pat’s and Drumcondra students in general, it has also affected students and events in DCU. ‘’There is not enough space here in DCU because Spar took our

“Last year I had four campaigns and this semester we’re having five, but you try and keep the spending to under €1,500 per campaign. There are things that cost extra like STD tests in a bundle that cost around €3,000, but it’s important to provide these things for students and I’m really enjoying my role.”

Refreshers week is currently taking place across all DCU campuses, with Shite Nite in NuBar, a sex magician on the St. Pats campus, with Thursday marking the launch of Beg Borrow Steal.

FEATURES

Palestine, Israel and the UCC conference

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With controversy surrounding the UCC conference, International Law and the State of Israel, Paola Rivetti, a member of Academics for Palestine, tells Features Editor Shauna Bowers why she believes it should go ahead

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ravelling and transportation is such an innate part of our day but not everybody has the luxury of travelling where they want and when they want. The roads in Palestine are organised in a way that segregates Palestinian civilians from Israeli civilians. There are certain roads that are restricted to Israelis and other roads that are restricted to Palestinians.

The roads that Palestinians are obliged to drive on are littered with check points. In the West bank alone there are 27 permanent staffed checkpoints.

It elongates the journey to such a degree that it could have a six-fold increase on the amount of time spent travelling. The cars from Israel have yellow plates while the cars from Palestine have green and white plates.

This is so the distinction between the two is irrefutable.

Dr. Paola Rivetti a lecturer in DCU was in a car with her friends travelling from Bethlehem to Jerusalem on one of her trips to Palestine. They had yellow plates on their car and so it only took them about an hour to arrive at Jerusalem because they could drive wherever they wanted to.

However, her other group of friends were in a car that had Palestinian plates. They had to take a different route and it took them 24 hours to get to the same destination.

They got stuck at a checkpoint because the guards did not want to let them pass by. This is a struggle that Palestinians face every single day of their lives.

An academic conference entitled International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Exceptionalism and Responsibility, is set to be held in University College Cork in March to examine the links between Israel’s policies and the suffering in Palestine.

Its aim is to look at how the simplest sectors of Palestinian lives are being controlled and restricted, such as transport and education.

However, it has sparked massive controversy between lobby groups, activists and the Israeli embassy.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin said that the conference seeks to ‘demonise’ and ‘deligitimise’ Israel.

It said: “the prejudiced approach of such ‘activists’ serves only to propagate hatred of the state of Israel and its people. It is incompatible with the values of democracy and goes against the essence of academic discussion.”

Academics for Palestine, a group of academics who oppose apartheid in Israel, wrote a letter pleading with UCC to proceed with the conference. One of the signato-

Credit: UCC

The conference set to be held in UCC questions the legitimacy of Israel’s policies

ries was Paola Rivetti. She joined Academics for Palestine because she feels light needs to be shone on the goings on in Israel, especially in relation to international law.

Rivetti described her time in Palestine as ‘unbearable’. “There is so much injustice. It’s so heartbreaking seeing Palestinians and their rights being violated on an everyday basis, in every sector of their life,” she said.

Academic freedom

She also believes that academic freedom is necessary in order for society to evolve.

“I think it’s crucial that scholars, academics and, to a certain extent, society at large, have the opportunity and the freedom to meet up and discuss such crucial issues. It is not by ignoring controversial discussions that we grow as a society, that we can have strong opinions that are informed, evidence based and credible,” she said.

“

There is so much injustice.

It’s so heartbreaking seeing Palestinians and their rights being violated on an everyday basis, A lot of the critics of the conference feel it will ‘question the legitimacy’ of Israel as a state and feel that the type of academics speaking at the conference is unbalanced. However, Rivetti argued that the purpose of the conference is to question and discuss the legitimacy of the policies implemented by the state of Israel.

“This comes from the rhetoric of the Israeli government that says

any attempt to criticise state policy is delegitimising the existence of Israel.

“They overlap two very distinct notions: anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Anti-Semitism is a racist notion whereas, anti-Zionism is a political stand. Zionism is basically nationalism. They are not the same thing,” she said.

Anti-racism

Many of the activist groups promoting the conference, such as Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and Academics for Palestine, have pillars that make up their organisations. One of them is anti-racism. It does not matter about faith, race or location, their objective is to look at whether Israeli policies are breaching international law, they said.

In 2002, a law was passed which prevents Palestinians from flying straight into the airport in Tel

Aviv, so they are forced to use the Allenby bridge, which is the only crossing point between Jordan and Palestine. The bridge, which is also known as the King Hussein bridge, leads into Zone C of the West Bank and is completely under control of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Rivetti was crossing the bridge on one of her trips as she had research to do in Ramallah.

There were queues of people both old and young who were waiting in lines for hours so that they could be interrogated. She remembers two old Arab men being shouted at aggressively in Hebrew and they looked so confused as they did not understand a single word.

There are reports of women and young girls being detained in inhumane conditions at this bridge.

This is a military border and so the guards have complete impunity.

“It was shocking. It’s like a small example, or a concentration of a larger landscape of injustice,” Rivetti said.

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Where did Valentine’s Day come from?

Valentine’s Day has become a very commercialised occasion, but its history is fascinating

Aine Campion Contributor @thecollegeview

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t is that time of the year when

Christmas and New Years have passed, and the masses of red and pink items land in shops all around the world. Valentine’s Day is once again upon us, and Love Hearts have become the festive treat for us to relish.

Chocolates, flowers, cards and soft toys occupy the space where stockings and mistletoe were once placed. Now that the celebration is fast approaching, we can remind ourselves how the holiday originated and how it is commemorated around the world today.

Last year Irish people spent more on Valentine’s Day flowers than the UK and Germany, according to the Irish Times. However, around the world ‘ Valentines’ day’ is celebrated with diverse traditions and different ideologies across different countries.

Japan’s tradition involves women gift-giving chocolates to men,

Credit: Zoe Ryan

while South Korea sees it as a ‘love’ day where women give men presents and the gifting alternates on ‘White Day’ a month later.

In Finland the day is translated to mean ‘Friend’s Day’ a special day which focuses on remembering friends.

However, Valentine’s day did not originate with the concept of

simply giving chocolates, tokens or flowers.

Valentine’s Day originates from the ancient Roman festival ‘Lupercalia’ where women put pieces of paper with their name on it in an urn, and men then chose one woman to spend the year with as their female companion. These matches often led to marriage.

It was not until the 5th century that the Roman Catholic Church

enforced Saint Valentine with the celebration. There are many legends as to who Saint Valentine was and what he did, but mostly it is agreed that he was a Roman priest.

The date February 14th was apparently based on Saint Valentine’s death, but other sources say that the Catholic Church placed it there to make the festival of ‘Lupercalia’ more Christian and less pagan.

Many people associate Cupid, who was known to the Greeks as Eros, the god of love, with February 14th. Stories of Cupid portray him as mischievous and daring; he sent

Battling Burnout

golden arrows to arouse desire and leaden arrows to spark disgust.

He played games with people’s emotions, often making gods and mortals love or loath each other. Cupid was represented by a handsome, irresistible mortal in writing periods, but eventually became the pudgy baby with wings and arrows, with which we see on many greetings cards.

Nowadays, young Irish people like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their loved one. It is a day to show appreciation and love by treating them to a nice meal, evening out, cinema date or a gig in town.

Indeed, February 14th has become a singles day worldwide, where women and men celebrate their single status. A popular activity is to plan a party of singletons to mix and socialise.

Whatever your status may be, Valentine’s Day can be a day you simply appreciate those around you and the loved ones you have. The day is ultimately a celebration of love.

Credit: Laura Duffy

Here are some of the top tips on how to deal with burnout during semester two Lorna Lawless Contributor @thecollegeview

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emester two is here and

everyone is ready to jump straight back into college life full steam ahead. A lot of students have new year’s goals to finally get themselves sorted with regards to college work or are committed to getting more involved with societies.

If you’re the kind of student who deals with a demanding and ambitious schedule you may experience feelings of burnout. With pressure of assignment deadlines and exams students can get overwhelmed. After these assignments are handed up and exams are over, you could feel a little worse for wear if you’re not careful. You have worked yourself into the ground for the last few months and are physically and emotionally drained.

Burnout is characterised as near constant exhaustion, a lack of motivation, frustration and that’s only a few symptoms. It can happen when you’re dealing with a large amount of stress over a long period of time which is common in students.

Students can be working part-time, trying to pay university fees and living costs, on top of dealing with a hectic college schedule and this can eventually takes its toll.

There are a few things you can do to avoid burnout and keep yourself motivated.

1. Get more sleep

Yes, this seems like an obvious suggestion but getting enough sleep should be a priority. Instead of scrolling mindlessly on your social media feeds when you should be sleeping, place your phone on the opposite side of the room. Record the TV program you wanted to watch and save the Netflix binge for the weekend. Sleep needs to be a priority to be motivated and productive the next day.

2. Don’t bite off more than you can chew

In other words, don’t take on everything and be good at nothing. Only say yes to a project if it suits your schedule and you can dedicate time to it, otherwise give it a miss.

You don’t need to be adding stress to your already hectic timetable if it won’t benefit you in the long run.

You’re always better doing less tasks to the best of your ability then half doing everything.

3. Meet up with friends

Sometimes we get so busy we forget that we have friends to talk to about how were feeling and to have the craic with.

The best stress reliever is laughter, so why not plan a day out with your closest friends and chill out for a while.

4. Have a ‘Me’ day

Relax, plan a day where you can watch the show you wanted to watch for months now, cook your favourite food and just be with yourself.

Take some time to reflect on why you’re feeling so burned out and what needs to change. Take this day to plan and remind yourself of what you want.

It’s so important to take time for

yourself to reflect so you can refresh and motivate yourself the rest of the time.

Assess your life and see where you are and what you need to do to get to where you want to go.

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New year, same issue: what can we do to help the homeless?

Christmas is over but homeless people are still in need of assistance

Credit: Alan Betson Irish Times

Arthur Velker Contributor @thecollegeview

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he building protrudes from

concrete aisles of office blocks, asserting its dominant structure over neighbourly dwellings scattered within its range.

Its front windows are coated with graffiti scribblings on the outside and a thick layer of dust on the inside, and the once busy main street entrance is now littered with a sheaf of disposed belongings.

Despite its seemingly calm façade, the building has been the subject of much controversy in the past three months after it came to the attention of Dublin City Council that a group of activists converted the building’s confines into a homeless shelter.

The order to vacate Apollo House in late December, an initiative that put 76 homeless people in temporary accommodation during its 3-month run, has come to an abrupt end.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that in 2016, over 198,000 buildings across Ireland were declared vacant.

This is an atrocious figure for a country toiling with a homelessness problem that’s been steadily rising since 2014 and has seen the number of people accessing emergency accommodation almost double in

the past two years.

In January, the Simon Community surveyed rents across all major locations in Ireland and reported 83 percent of all privately-rented accommodation falls beyond the margin of government rent allowance.

Focus Ireland Director of Advocacy, Mike Allen, also pointed to another catalyst fuelling a major flaw in the rent market. “There are over 15,000 buy-to-let landlords who are in arrears by over 2 years,” Allen says. “Banks and financial institutes are repossessing these homes and evicting the tenants at a rate of over 100 a month.”

But this isn’t the full story. We might see the full picture walking through the streets of the inner city at 7am: where abandoned sleeping bags and articles of clothing lie at the foot of every second shopfront and scores of bodies line the public footpath as they queue for their hot meal.

Government initative

In July 2016, the numbers prompted a government initiative that focuses on a large-scale building scheme to create over 47,000 housing units over the next four years.

The Rebuilding Ireland plan will focus on solving the housing crisis by dealing with five key issues: tackling homelessness, accelerating social housing, improving rental sector, utilising existing houses and

A young homeless man begging for money in Dublin

building more new homes.

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney, called it a ‘far-reaching’ and ‘ambitious’ programme that will “transform housing in a way that will affect every community in Ireland.”

Meanwhile, charities and organisations are urging the public

to tackle the crisis with small steps such as donations of clothes and non-perishables.

“A lot of our finances are dependent on the public” says James Phelan of the Simon Community.

“Something we’re really calling for at the moment is donations of winter woollies and warm clothes – jackets, jumpers, hats, scarves, that

kind of thing.”

A decision on the redevelopment of Apollo House is expected to be announced in May – and as the building awaits its uncertain fate, so do the hundreds of faces on Dublin’s streets as they look to the government to give them a fundamental need most of us so take for granted.

The harsh reality of the 2C-B drug

The Union of Students in Ireland have called for students to avoid the 2C-B drug, Ciara O’Loughlin explains the dangers of it Ciara O’Loughlin Contributor @thecollegeview

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n early January six young

people were hospitalised after taking the synthetic drug known as 2C-B, at a house party in Cork City.

Gerard Banks and his friend were walking by the house when they heard “crazy noises” and “not your average shouting” from inside.

Speaking on Cork’s Red FM he said that “it’s hard to describe the levels of blood” in the house when he entered.

Inside the house he was met with a harrowing sight. He saw both a man and woman naked and covered in blood. They were dancing and it was obvious that they were completely out of their mind as they had no idea they were covered in blood or hurt. The male had an apparent head injury and was badly cut. On the floor he saw another man, he was not moving and appeared to be in cardiac arrest.

The Gardaí were called along with paramedics and the injured were taken to Cork University hospital.

Six young people had their lives ahead of them. They were having a good time at a party, until the effects

of the drug 2C-B kicked in. Their families were surely traumatised and they could have very easily died.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) are urging students to stay away from a new synthetic drug called 2C-B after six young people were hospitalised in Cork after taking the drug.

The USI are concerned for the health of students after the HSE have put out a public warning concerning the “scary party drug” 2CB. The HSE says the drug is: “One of the new psychoactive substances similar to those products previously sold in ‘headshops’”. At low doses the stimulant has similar effects to ecstasy but at higher dosages can have psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects.

“

People are warned that there is no quality control on these drugs People are warned that there is no quality control on these drugs and that there is no way of checking

what is purchased or consumed is the intended substance. Dr. Greg Murphy of the Rochestown Clinic in Cork said: “There is not a lot known about it in this country but it has arrived. It is a street drug which has potent effect. It peaks after five to ten hours but it can last for up to 24 hours.”

Research is ongoing on the drug 2C-B, but the known serious side effects are both psychological and physical.

Possible effects include paranoia, hallucinations (both auditory and visual) gastrointestinal effects and kidney problems. Similar to MDMA, many users overheat due to an inability to control their own body temperature.

Talking about the drug, Kevin Donoghue, USI president said: “We need to ensure that young people are being educated on the risks in a way that is relative to them. The ‘just say no’ campaign simply doesn’t work. Young people don’t connect with it.”

Donoghue says it needs to be acknowledged that drug use is happening among students.

According to the 2015 National Student Drug Survey, 82 percent of students have at some point used illegal drugs, and Donoghue believes that the key to keeping students safe, is awareness education.

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Behan’s eyes set firmly on Tokyo

Credit: Sportsfile

DCU Sports Science student Matthew Behan tells Deputy Sports Editor Patrick Lynch that Rio wasn’t a realistic target for him, however he fully expects to be competitive at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

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hen twelve-year-old Matthew Behan wandered down to his local athletics club for the first time, he probably did not expect it to alter his life so significantly.

Still only 19, Behan’s rapid rise to prominence on the Irish hurdling scene has been striking. Having smashed the 110 metres national junior record with a time of 13.78 seconds, expectations are high for the Dubliner aiming to follow in the footsteps of Olympic hero Thomas Barr.

Having shown promise at a number of sports as a child, including Gaelic and football, it emerged that Behan was a particularly promising swimmer.

However, it was not long before he discovered a sport which was much more enticing to him.

“I was quite a good swimmer to be fair, but I absolutely dreaded swimming.”

“When I was twelve though, I was invited to a trial at Crusaders Athletics Club. I was better than the other kids and had a particular knack for hurdling.

It just took off from there really.”

Behan quickly rose through the ranks as the national junior champion. Ranking as the 12th best junior in Europe for 110 metres and being the first Irish junior to run this distance in under 14 seconds highlighted the massive potential of this young athlete. The transition from junior to senior level, however, was a difficult one.

At junior level, the hurdles are three feet and three inches, but at senior level they’re half a foot taller (3’9”). “That’s a very big difference, so it has taken a while to adjust.”

A second year student of Sports Science and Health in DCU, Behan is absolutely focused and almost obsessive when speaking of his personal best performances and times records which he is looking to break.

“At first my times weren’t super. I was consistently getting around 14.4 seconds, which was frustrating.”

“Although at the end of the season I travelled to England and recorded a time of 14.18 seconds, so that was massively encouraging.”

“The aim for this coming season is to qualify for the European U-23 games and the World Student games. 13.68 seconds is the target. If I can achieve that I’d have a good chance of competing

“

You hear all these horror stories about athletes going abroad and burning out within months. You could be a big fish in a small pond over here, and quite the opposite in America. for a medal.”

Having considered the possibility of attending college in America, Behan finally opted for DCU. “I had thought about going abroad, but at the end of the day I’m a home bird. I love my setup here, especially with my coach Maria Hetherington, who puts everything together for me.”

“You hear all these horror stories about athletes going abroad and burning out within months. You could be a big fish in a small pond over here, and quite

Behan (red) found the half-foot height difference a challenge in senior hurdling

the opposite in America.”

“There’s great competition and hurdle talent in Ireland and it suits me better to be in familiar surroundings.”

Behan speaks in glowing terms of the support he receives from Athletics Ireland and DCU. “We’re given absolutely ample support and you couldn’t really ask for more. We’re regularly made do blood tests to ensure that we’re healthy. Enda Fitzpatrick, the director of DCU Athletics Academy, really couldn’t be any more helpful.”

Having trained last year with DCU, Behan now trains solely with Athletics Ireland. Athletics Ireland would rather Behan’s training was more specifically based around hurdling and as such favour him training under their stewardship.

Hectic

A day in the life of Matthew Behan is rather more hectic than that of your typical DCU student. Mondays and Fridays are reserved for gym work and strength and conditioning training with former Irish hurdler Martina McCarthy.

Tuesdays and Thursdays see him take to the track with Crusaders AC in Irishtown Stadium.

Fitting in college lectures with this busy schedule requires discipline, but when your aspirations are as lofty as Behan’s, discipline is essential.

“I suppose my big goal is to get to Tokyo 2020. I never tried to kid myself by believing that Rio was a realistic target. I don’t want to just go there and be making up the numbers though. The aim is to go there and be competitive.”

“Obviously being a professional sportsperson would be a massive incentive too.”

Seeing fellow hurdler Thomas Barr achieve fourth place in the 400 metres hurdles at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro only served to further whet his appetite.

“I’d be pals enough with Thomas and to see what he achieved this summer was inspiring. To see the Irish out there mixing it up was just brilliant.”

When he’s not breaking national junior records or striving for perfection in his quest for an Olympic appearance, Behan says he likes to play FIFA, hang out with his friends and family, and read about sport. You get the sense, however, when talking to Behan that Tokyo is always in the back of his mind.

Remember the name. He very well may be the next Thomas Barr.

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Credit: Darragh Culhane

Saints withstand late pressure to best Moycullen DCU Saints 77 Moycullen 74 Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League Liam Ashton Sub Editor @CVSport

DCU Saints held off a late run from Moycullen to seal a win in the Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League on Saturday night, February 4th.

A 15-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter appeared to be enough to hold off the Galway visitors, but an 11-point unanswered run lead by big men Philip Lawrence-Ricks and Paul Freeman put the side within four points.

It was evident that Latvian Martins Provizors would be an influential player in the game doing seemingly everything for Saints in the first quarter both rebounding on the defensive end and scoring ten points.

American Ricks displayed his offensive awareness by rebounding his own missed shots to score on a handful of occasions.

He also displayed how dangerous he can be on the fast break by splitting defenders to lay it in off the backboard.

Late in the first quarter Ricks had the travelling support on their feet and the

home fans in awe after scoring a put-back dunk which caused the basket to need readjusting.

With Provizors getting in foul trouble early it was the younger Saints players Tariq Gueballi and Dan Heaney who made an impact on the game.

The three-pointer was not as effective for Moycullen in the second quarter as it was in the first so it was the mid range shooting of Patrick Lyons that kept his side in touch.

DCU continued what was working on offence by driving at the basket and drawing fouls. The Saints were converting free throws to keep them ahead, something that Moycullen were struggling with going into the half down 41-38.

Saints started the second half with conviction scoring eight unanswered points and not allowing the visitors to score for nearly four minutes.

Rory Gilson ended the scoring drought, getting a clear look at the basket after swift ball movement. Arkadijs Makarenko responded with back-to-back three-pointers to inhibit Moycullen’s chances of getting back into the game.

Moycullen were not doing damage on the scoreboard and their persistence on offence to continually drive to the basket was putting the Latvian pair Makarenko and Provizors in foul trouble.

Provizors continued to punish Moy-

cullen’s lack of scoring by drilling a three-pointer at the end of the quarter leaving Moycullen with huge task ahead of them going into the last quarter down 6550.

Moycullen coach John Cunningham’s message to the team at this point was to continue drawing fouls to take the Saints’ key men out of the game: “We kind of felt they were in foul trouble so we didn’t feel the game was gone, at that point it was keep playing, keep attacking the basket and get good looks which we did,” said Cunningham.

Moycullen went on a run of their own topping that of their adversaries in the previous quarter scoring 11 unanswered points lead by Ricks and Freeman.

Saints coach Joey Boylan said the message to the players at the end of the third was to keep doing what they had been doing which he says that didn’t get through.

He also praised the younger players for their composure and singled them out as integral factors in closing out the game.

“The key player was Kevin O’Hanlon he kind of controlled things but then Dan Heaney came in and did a great job he got a real big basket after just missing one,” said Boylan.

The Saints carelessly gave Moycullen an opportunity to close the deficit by stepping over the line of the key before the free throw had gone in, giving possession back

to the Galway side.

Cunningham commented on how his side’s free throw shooting was ultimately their downfall.

“At the end of the day we didn’t hit free throws. It has been a problem all season.

“We get them in foul trouble, we put their best players on the bench and we don’t score the free throws to punish them.”

Defensive pressure was kept on by DCU to ensure they maintained their now threepoint-lead by stepping up on the ball carriers.

This tactic seemed to pay off as O’Hanlon tipped the ball away from Ricks, but the American regained control and brushed through DCU’s defence for his second dunk of the game, closing the game to a single point lead.

Saints were put in further trouble with their big men Makarenko and Provizors both fouling out and giving Heaney and Gueballi the chance to close the game out.

Heaney and O’Hanlon both scored crucial baskets under pressure from both Moycullen’s defence and the importance of the scores.

The climax of the game came with just under 30 seconds to go and Dylan Cunningham of Moycullen having the opportunity to score a three-pointer to force over-time.

Saints did not allow Moycullen get a clean shot off and closed the game out winning 77-74.

19

SPORT

LIT’s late smash and grab downs DCU

Credit: Darragh Culhane

DCU suffered a three-point defeat in their opening Fitzgibbon Cup match against LIT

Dublin City University Limerick IT

0-15 2-12

Fitzgibbon Cup first round Niall McIntyre Sports Reporter @CVSport

TWO second half goals from Galway senior

Paul Killeen were enough to fire Limerick IT to victory in this hard fought Fitzgibbon Cup encounter on Thursday evening, February 2nd at St. Clare’s.

The home side will wonder how they ended up on the losing side as they had the upper hand on their Limerick counterparts for the majority of the game. However as the old cliché goes, goals win games and the Limerick side’s ability to carve open the DCU defence when it mattered most proved decisive in turning the tide of this contest.

Strong winds and heavy rain pervaded throughout but that did not stop either side from showcasing their skill and determination in an extremely physical contest.

This game began in a tense, tight and high-paced manner and this high intensity lasted until the final minute of the game.

The sides traded early points with DCU’s marauding wing back Paul O’Dea to the fore for the home side while Shane Bennett’s free taking kept his side in the game.

The sides were very well matched in this opening quarter before a hell-bent DCU took over aided by a strong breeze.

The DCU charge was led by their dogged defenders with the stylish Darragh Brennan and the imposing Eoghan O Donnell standing out and their attacking unit soon clicked into gear with the industrious trio of Jason Byrne, Joe O’Connor and Gavin Bailey notching some fine scores.

The home side lead by eight points to four at the break but could easily have been six or even seven points to the good.

Goalkeeper Robbie Gillen felt that his side “didn’t capitalize on our dominance in the first half, we hit too many wides and it eventually proved costly for us.”

Nick Weir’s DCU machine continued where they left off at the beginning of the second half with Dungarvan sharpshooter Patrick Curran scoring two magnificent points from play. The second of these points was worthy of the metaphorical admission fee alone as the ball was worked up through the field from a Gillen puck-out all the way up to Curran without the ball touching the deck.

Davy Fitzgerald’s Fitzgibbon giants who last won the competition in 2007 awoke soon after with Limerick senior Diarmuid Byrnes leading the charge from wing back with a fine point from play.

LIT were beginning to take over and when Killeen struck for the first of his goals leaving just one between the sides and one wondered how DCU might respond.

However this DCU team has character, resilience and bravery in abundance and they responded in the best possible manner reeling off three unanswered points from

play to put them firmly in the driving seat, three points to the good with just six minutes remaining.

LIT lived up to their billing as kingpins of the Fitzgibbon Cup, however, and Killeen’s second goal of the game was followed by three more unanswered points to leave the final scoreline at 2-12 to 0-15.

This DCU team can hold their heads up high and still have a chance of booking a quarter final place when they clash with a Trinity side next week who appear out of their depth in the Fitzgibbon grade.

Jason Byrne, DCU’s hard working wing forward felt his side put in “a savage effort from the word go and perhaps paid for their effort when we ran out of steam and lost our shape in the last few minutes.”

Goalkeeper Robbie Gillen is “adamant we will beat at least one more of the so called big sides before the year is out.”

DCU: Robbie Gillen (Cullion, Westmeath); Sean McCaw (St Vincent’s Dublin), Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall Colmcille, Dublin), Darragh Brennan (Carrickshock, Kilkenny); Aaron Maddock (St Martin’s, Wexford), Paudie Foley (Crossabeg/Ballymurn, Wexford), Paul O’Dea (Na Fianna, Dublin); Gavin Bailey (Ferns, Wexford), Joe O’Connor (St Martin’s, Wexford); Liam Fahey (Rockwell Rovers, Tipperary), Rian McBride (St Vincent’s, Dublin), Jason Byrne (Clara, Kilkenny); Killian Doyle (Raharney, Westmeath), Patrick Curran (Dungarvan, Waterford), Eoghan Conroy (St Maur’s, Dublin).

Subs used: Andrew Jamison ‘AJ’ Murphy (Na Fianna, Dublin) for Doyle (45’), Paul Kelly (Craobh Chiaráin, Dublin) for Fahey (52’) ,Tony French (Adamstown, Wexford) for Brennan (56’).

Scorers for DCU: Patrick Curran 0-8 (0-6f), Joe O’Connor 0-2, Paul O’Dea 0-2, Jason Byrne 0-2, Gavin Bailey 0-1.

Limerick IT: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle, Clare), Ciarán Cooney (O’Callaghan Mills, Clare), Kieran Bennett (Ballysaggart, Waterford), Cian Nolan (Smith O’Brien’s, Clare), Willie Ryan (Clonakenny, Tipperary), Barry O’Connell (Kildimo-Pallaskenry, Limerick), Diarmaid Byrnes (Patrickswell, Limerick), David Reidy (Éire Óg, Clare), Michael O’Malley (Kilmaley, Clare) Paul Killeen (Tynagh Abbey Duniry, Galway), Peter Duggan (Clooneyquinn, Clare), Shane Bennett (Ballysaggart, Waterford), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge, Clare), Joe Campion (Borris Kilcotton, Laois), David Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh, Limerick).

Subs used: Jason Ryan (Toomevara, Tipperary), Oisín O’Brien (Clonlara, Clare), S. Ryan (Tipperary), Jack Quaid (Effin, Limerick) Scorers for LIT: Paul Killeen 2-0, Shane Bennett 0-6 (0-3f), Diarmaid Byrnes 0-2 (0-1f), David Reidy 0-1, Michael O’Malley 0-1, Peter Duggan 0-1, S Ryan 0-1.

Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath)

SPORT

INSIDE Matthew Behan focused on Tokyo Olympics

Kelly’s last minute penalty secures semi-final berth

DCU Soccer Development Officer Fran Butler has overseen unprecedented success for football in DCU Credit: Laura Horan

Institute of Technology Carlow 3 Dublin City University 4 CUFL Premier Division quarter-final

AIDAN GERAGHTY DEPUTY EDITOR

L

uke Kelly’s 90th minute penalty gave Dublin City University a 4-3 win over reigning champions IT Carlow on Wednesday, February

1st.

Declan Roche’s side took the lead three times in the match but were pegged back by the hosts on each occasion. The Ballymun native’s last-gasp winner broke the hosts’ hearts and booked DCU’s place in the semi-final of this year’s CUFL Premier Division. St. Patrick’s Athletic’s Rory Feely played a part in each of DCU’s three goals from play and was the unequivocal man of the match. The visitors took an early lead thanks to some impressive link-up play between Feely and Jack O’Connor.

The former played an inch perfect pass from just inside the opposition half. It found the feet of O’Connor behind the Carlow defence and the young striker slotted it past the goalkeeper with little difficulty.

Feely played provider for the first goal, but after the champions’ equaliser he grabbed a piece of the glory with a spectacular finish of his own. The Kildare native gave the opposing netminder no chance, curling his 35-yard effort straight into the top corner.

The Dubliners couldn’t maintain their lead though, as Carlow drew level for the second time. While DCU’s second goal was a great individual effort, they showed their quality as a team to put away the third.

Eric Whelan split the back four to give the strikers a two-on-one in the box. Alan

O’Sullivan drew the goalkeeper out and pulled it back to Jack O’Connor who netted his second of the day.

O’Connor then missed the penalty that would have sealed his hat-trick shortly before the home team equalised yet again. It looked like the miss had proven costly for DCU as extra time loomed but the referee awarded another penalty. This time Luke Kelly made no mistake.

“There can be no underestimating the achievement of the players to reach the semi-final of the Premier League,” manager Declan Roche said.

New Territory

“This is new territory for football in DCU and it’s the result of the hard work done by the people involved in DCU Soccer.”

“We’re in a very tough league. Most of the players in this league are playing in the League of Ireland so we’re proud of the players for how far they’ve progressed while playing good football.”

Despite his elation at his team’s success, Roche insists that the focus must turn to the semi-final against University College Cork on Wednesday, February 15th.

“One semi-final is ourselves against Cork and the other is UCD and Maynooth.

This stage is new to us and this league is at least as high a standard as the First Division of the League of Ireland but we’re confident wecan play to that level.”

The aforementioned semi-final against UCC will take place in St. Clare’s on Wednesday February 15th with a 2pm kick-off.

DCU team: Lee Doyle; Jack Blake, Eric Whelan, Gavan Kearney, Craig Farrelly; Rory Feely, Craig Dowling, Luke Kelly; Jack O’Connor, Alan O’Sullivan, Ross Tanehy.

Subs not used: Stephen Lawlor, Seán Mc-

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