SUNNIER SKIES COSIMA GLAISTER PONDERS A YEAR ABROAD FEATURES 11
DAN O’CALLAGHAN GETS MYSTICAL SPORT FEATURES 21
Two
FOUR BIRDS IN FLIGHT CLOUD CASTLE LAKE TALK TO KARL MCDONALD
TRINITY NEWS Est 1953
Junior Dean investigates DU Ski Trip
RAG Week raises over €12,000 On Tuesday, ‘Pie your Sabbats’ saw the five Student Union sabbatical officers standing in Front Square to receive a barrage of pies from anyone willing to donate. Onlookers, including a group of perplexed tourists, hollered in delight with every successfully administered pie splatter. One of the most popular events of the week was the infamous Iron Stomach competition. Wednesday afternoon drew a sizable and expectant crowd at Front Square. From drinking four litres of milk to eating from nappies, contestants were determined to see the event to the end,
Caitriona Murphy College News Editor
REPORTS OF damage to property and destructive behavior following the DU Snow Sports Club trip are to be investigated by the Junior Dean. The trip took place in the week before classes recommenced. The group, which consisted of 350 students, travelled to the Wasteland Ski resort in Les Deux Alpes, a popular resort in France. Students stayed at the resort for a week, until their trip was cut short due to defacements to the property. Other Trinity and UCD students seperate from the trip were also staying at the resort. Sources speaking to Trinity News said that the walls of the property were written on and swastika symbols, which are illegal in France, were drawn by students, some of whom were not part of the DUSSC group. Fire hoses were also sprayed at groups of students. One source said the destruction was carried out by a small number of people and compared their behavior to “bullying”. Following the damage, the group were asked to leave several hours early, resulting in the loss of one day of skiing. Pictures uploaded to the internet showed rooms in disarray and names written on the walls, including the name of the TCDSU President, Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem, who was also on the trip, but who says he did not write the name himself. Students were handed a “first warning” letter from the Wasteland Ski resort, stating that the group as a whole was “too noisy” and that “there is significant damage to and rubbish scattered in the hallways”. Trinity News learned of a “spendathon” that took place between some Trinity and UCD students. T h e letter went on to state that the gendarmarie had been notified and would be keeping an eye on the area. Students were warned that further misbehavior would result in their ejection from the resort and penalities being imposed. Wasteland Ski confirmed to Trinity News that there had been damage to the property, but that a full report would not be compiled until next week. There were hopes from students that a refund might be made available as a result of their missed day of skiing. Trinity News also learned of a “spendathon” that took place between some Trinity and UCD students. Students competed to see who could spend or waste the most money, and carried out stunts such as smoking and eating money, buying rounds for everyone at the bar, and paying a barman to tie shoelaces. In a Youtube video, one inebriated student, thought to be from UCD, spoke about throwing his iPod off the side of the mountain. Continued on page 2
“We have finally found a formula with which Trinity RAG Week can grow”
SS Communications Officer Tom Lowe, left, and Student Union President Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem get cream-pied to raise money for RAG Week’s selected charities. Photo by Caitriona Murphy
Kalle Korpela Contributing Reporter
RAG WEEK 2011 kicked off as College returned after the Christmas break. The week involved students raising money for the VDP, VTP, S2S, Suas,
FLAC, Amnesty, Cancer Soc, and the Student Hardship Fund. This year’s Rag Week took a different approach to previous weeks, with students encouraged to set up individual projects in order to raise money. The Trinity Ents team also
scheduled a week’s worth of events to encourage the student body to donate. Kicking off the week, Monday afternoon saw live music being played in the Junior Common Room, followed by the Three Legged pub crawl in the evening.
eliminated after each round by the audience. Further entertainment on Thursday and Friday took place in the form of the Beer Olympics, a Slave auction held in the Pav, and a scantily clad Fun Run. But in the end the Rag Ball with Republic of the Loose, Bipolar Empire and Killer Chloe stole the show by putting on a spectacular performance. Throughout the week various individuals carried out their own charity events including Rachel Barry’s Gumball challenge, Ents Officer Darragh Genockey dressing as Mario, Ryan Bartlett swimming 20km in the Trinity pool and Jenny Doyle doing a 51.5km Triathlon trek. Genockey called the week a success, with initial counts showing that over €12,000 was raised for charity. He praised the new format for RAG week saying, “we have finally found a formula with which Trinity RAG Week Continued on page 2
Ó Broin steps down from USI position Mairead Cremins Staff Reporter
CÓNÁN Ó Broin, a former President of TCD Students’ Union, has stepped down from his position as Deputy President of the Union of Students of Ireland. The announcement was made last weekend in IT Sligo, where Ó Broin made his farewell speech. “As a result of an offer that has been made to me “I spent weeks talking about this with the closest people in my life” over the Christmas break which is directly related to the outcome of the General Election, a conflict of interest now exists between my duties and responsibilities as Deputy President of USI and what is in my own personal interest.” He went on to say, “I have spoken
with my family and closest friends about this situation over the past number of weeks and, after much contemplation, the decision which I have come to is that, in the best interest of USI, in the best interest of the COs, in the best interest of the current officer board and in order to allow USI to conduct an unquestionably impartial General Election campaign which is entirely transparent, I will step down as Deputy President of USI”. The announcement was a source of shock for many and Ó Broin later stated: “I will be working on the General Election Campaign of Cllr. Robert Dowds of the Labour Party in my home constituency of Dublin MidWest. Election 2011 is going to be one of the most important in Irish history, and Robert Dowds is genuinely one of the most honest, hardworking and honourable people I have ever met. I will be doing everything I can to help him to get elected to the 31st Dáil.” The former USI Deputy President believes the entire political system is in
SS O’Broin has quit USI to promote Cllr. Robert Dowds for election
need of urgent reform, and he wants to be pro-active in bringing that change about. “Over the last 18 months I have been lobbying Government Ministers and TDs of every party on a weekly basis on behalf of students, and my honest opinion after that time is that our political system is broken and
needs to be fundamentally reformed. We don’t just need to change who is in Government, we also have to change how Ireland is governed. Only Labour has actually committed to doing that through a coherent policy, and I believe that Eamon Gilmore is the only credible leader who can actually deliver the reform that is so badly needed”, he added. Ó Broin stresses that it was not a decision that was taken lightly, “I spent weeks talking about this with the closest people in my life and it took many days of quiet contemplation before I was sure of the course of action to take.” He said that he was sorry he was not finishing out his term, but to do so would “seriously damage the integrity and reputation” of the USI as an organisation. “I am bowing out of student politics after a year and a half of involvement. It has been a great time in my life, and I will look back with some great memories”, he added.
Vol 57
Issue 6
25 January, 2011