Irish Student Newspaper of the Year 2008
SCIENCE 19
WORLD REVIEW 10
Is it possible that we are still evolving?
The lustre of diamonds fades quickly in the arms trade
PAGES 12 & 13
HUMAN EVOLUTION
Every candidate profiled Bacik recalls her presidency Our readers’ biggest issues
Tuesday 10 February 2009
ELECTION PREVIEW
TRADING IN DEATH
www.trinitynews.ie
Issue 8, Volume 55
SU defends campaigning rule changes » » » »
TRINITY IS a sheltered enviroment, to be sure, with College Security ever vigilant against any unpleasant elements that might cause disquiet in the cloistered halls of academia. High up on the hit list are students, an irritating distraction from the vital functions of research, administration and attracting tourists that constitute the real business of a Modern University. The men in the yellow jackets were however powerless to prevent the snow that malingered around campus all week. Loitering on the inviolate lawns and scaling the roof with no fear of man or Junior Dean, it ensured that even to nip across to the Buttery for a cup of coffee and a three-hour chat was to run a gauntlet of ceasless intimidation. The student body made the best of it, wrapping up warm and teaching Erasmus students how to talk about the weather. Or was it the current economic climate...? Photo: Martin McKenna
Credit system introduced Campaign orders must now go through SU Objections at SU Council Meeting Sullivan apologies for “cheating” comment
By Lisa Byrne Deputy College News Editor THE ELECTORAL Commission, the Student Union’s governing body for the Sabbatical Elections, has introduced new rules to regulate this year’s election. In a bid to combat what Education Officer Hugh Sullivan, deemed the “falsifying of expenditure”, candidates must now order all campaign materials through the EC. Candidates will also be subject to a budget of €600. In previous years, candidates were allowed to order their own materials but had to provide receipts showing adherence to the budget. However, according to Mr Sullivan, receipts were often falsified in a bid to ‘enhance’ their budgets. In an attempt to prevent this practise, which can see candidates’ names struck off the ballot, all material and clothing must be ordered through the Electoral Commission. Flyers, manifestos and posters will be subject to the previous stringent limits and conditions. Flyers may be a maximum size of A6 and are limited to 4,000 per candidate, with posters printed on A3 with a maximum of 2,000 per candidate. Manifestos, setting out candidate’s campaign pledges, are limited to 2,000 per candidate and must be size A4. The quantity of printed clothing has
not been set, however, candidates must keep within their €600 spending limit. Candidates are permitted to use handmade clothing but must keep within the budget and all clothing must be stamped by the EC before use. The EC has promised to ensure that all campaign designs will be kept in the strictest of confidence before the campaigns begin. Stunts, a common feature of previous election campaigns, will also be subjected to this strict budget. While the EC have said that they encourage “inventive and ‘2 or 3 days of campaigning could make all the difference’ Hillary Allen original stunts”, they have warned that these stunts must be in accordance with the election regulations and must be pre-approved by the EC. Another new addition sees the introduction of a credit system, which abolishes the previous fine system. Instead of paying a fine as result of breaking the election rules, candidates will now be subject to a credit system, which sees them begin the campaign with 60 credits. Should a candidate be in breach of any rule, the EC will continued on page 2
Ambassador gives secret lecture By David Molloy A RECENT visit to the college by Israeli Ambassador Zion Evrony was kept secret from students at the request of the Israeli embassy, it emerged last week. The visit took place at 3pm on Thursday the 29th of January, in the form of an address given to a Junior Freshman class in the Department of Political Science. The visit had been organised by staff in the department, according to the college communications office. “It was agreed by Prof Kenneth Benoit, Head of the Department of Political Science and arranged by the lecturer responsible for the ‘Introduction to Politics’ course, Dr. Jacqueline Hayden,” a spokesperson said. Professor Benoit confirmed that the visit had not been announced at the insistence of the Israeli embassy. “We were asked by the ambassador, indeed this was a condition of his visit, not to announce it beforehand. If we had announced it beforehand, the embassy
Israeli Ambassador Evrony in the Edmund Burke. Photo: Andrew Booth would have wanted security checks in place at the entrance to the Burke and we did not feel this was either desirable or even feasible.” During the course of his address, Mr Evrony asked students to “forget about what you have read and listen to another point of view,” citing “a lot of misinformation in the Irish media and
Students march on Dáil Kasia Mychajlowycz International News Editor 15,000 STUDENTS marched on the government buildings in Merrion Square, according to Garda estimates, last Wednesday to protest the reintroduction of fees for third-level education, which has become a real possibility in the present economic crisis. Students from many colleges in the Dublin area and beyond marched from the Garden of Remembrance to Leinster House, where they were addressed from a platform by Brian Hayes and Ruairí Quinn, the Fine Gael and Labour spokesmen on education, Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty, former Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins and the general secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers Mike Jennings. Not all students were willing to listen to the speakers however. One group broke off from the rest, marched against traffic down Leinster St., turn on to Kildare St. and staged a sit-in in front of the Daíl. The group was lead by Free Education for Everyone (FEE), who have been present at USI and Student Union rallies across the country. Armed with a megaphone and a sound system on wheels pumping electro music, FEE lead about 100 students to the Daíl,
biased coverage”. He further reiterated his previously expressed opinions that Israel’s recent operation in the Gaza strip was a “war of self defence” and that “Hamas has cynically used the civilian population as human shields”. Andrew Booth, SS Philosophy and Political Science, was one of the attendees. He had learned of the visit
Exemptions abolished By Conor Sullivan
Left: Marchers on O’Connell Street. Photo: Andrew Booth. Above: The Trinity contingent leave Front Square. Photo: Andrew Holohan where they chanted slogans, demanded, at one point, for Brian Cowen to come out and speak to them, and gave speeches through the megaphone to the crowd. The gates of the Daíl were protected by at least a dozen Gardaí on foot, and two on horseback. The student halted traffic from Kildare and Molesworth St. Aiden Beatty, a fourth-year Law student at Trinity, is one of the coorganisers of FEE in Trinity, and one of the two delegates from Trinity on FEE’s national council. He explained that the group had decided that the
break-off march had been planned in the event that “there was a sufficient mood to go a little further than USI.” In regards to FEE’s relationship with the USI, Mr. Beatty said: “We’ve met with Dave Curren a number of times, there’s definitely a difference of opinion, we are all members of USI and our position is to push USI in a more activist direction.” Students from Trinity marched from Front Square at around 1 p.m., on to Westmoreland St., up O’Connell St., and west around Parnell Square, where they met up with the rest of the
college’s students. A TCD security guard estimated that there were “well over a thousand” Trinity students gathered in Front Square, taking up about half the square and making a racket with the whistles handed out by members of the Student’s Union. Many were clad in either Trinity Student’s Union or USI anti-fees T-shirts, and still more were holding the “No to Fees!” posters that were given out, while some had fashioned their own placards. continued on page 2
at Dr Hayden’s SS lecture minutes beforehand, and described the content of the Ambassador’s address as “a one-sided account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, from the foundation of the Israeli state to the modern flare-ups in Gaza”. Booth estimated that there were more than two hundred students in attendance. He also provided details of the security at the event, reporting there there to be approximately eleven members of the Israeli embassy security staff present, in addition to at least one member of the Garda Síochana and members of college security. Booth also claimed the Israeli security staff had used a device to scan the lecture theatre for security risks. Chief Steward Pat Morey declined to comment on the visit, though the communications office confirmed the presence of Israeli security staff. Mr Evrony made his entrance and departed through the access door at the rear of the Arts Building lower concourse. The Israeli embassy was unreachable for comment at the time of writing.
STUDENTS TAKING Schols this year will be the last to enjoy exemptions from their Annual examinations, under changes that will be introduced from next year. At present, students who score a II.1(60%) are exempt from their annual exams, effectively a six month summer holiday from April to October. Lecturers from across College have complained that the current system leads to students sitting the exam just to get exemptions, and these students rarely attend lectures in Trinity Term, as they are supposed to. This has led to problems as Trinity term coursework is neglected. The change follows a review of Schols that has been ongoing since 2005. Under the new academic year structure there will no longer be a break in March between Hilary and Trinity Term, where the exams are usually held. Instead they will be held over the Christmas break. The exam itself is also to be ‘significantly shortened’ to around 3-4 papers over 8-9 hours of examination.
This is a big departure from the present - BESS students currently sit 7 papers over 21 hours. The review found wide variations across College in the exams themselves and the proportions of students being successful in getting Schol - 44% of students in the Faculty of Health Science who sat the exams got Schol in 2004-2006, compared to only 16% of students in Engineering or Science. Last year there were 5 Scholars in the School of Law, with about 120 SF students, while there were 7 Scholars in Theoretical Physics, with 35 students. Each course will now have to prepare statements justifying how the examinations they set are consistent with the institution of Scholarship, and a College committee will oversee this. There was concern that talented students do not enter Schol but acheive First Class honours and Gold Medals in their Final exams. It was proposed to integrate Schols with the Annual exams in the SF year. This met with much resistance, however, as many see voluntarily opting to sit the demanding exam a central element of the institution.