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Trinity News Post-Grad Awards receive new huge investment.......................................p.2 TCD Researchers discover probable cause of Heroin addicts’ deaths.................p.3

Student News Fraternity ‘Hazing’ causes deaths in the US......p.4

Forum TN Debate: Student Politics......................................................p.7 Are women truely the weaker of the sexes ?....................................p.7

Featur es An historical account of binge-drinking..........................p.8 Hare Khrishna - friend or foe?...............................................p.9

Gaeilge Rangers na Gaeilge...........................p.10

Science Fighting Blindness with SFI.......................................p.11

Theatr e H-BAM: TCD’s home

grown comedy troupe..............................p.12

Music Dublin Electronic Arts Festival ‘03................................p.16

Arts The Scariest Art Masterpieces.........................p.16

Sport Gaeilge Football win...p.19

Trinity Rugby Ladies lose to Boyne...........................p.20

INDEX College News.....................2,3 Student News.....................4 Forum.......................................7 Features..............................8,9 Gaeilge..................................10 Science.................................11 Theatre.................................12 Music.....................................13 Books.....................................14 Film.........................................15 Arts.........................................16 Fashion..................................17 Comment & Letters.......18 Sport...............................19,20

trinity.news@tcd.ie 11th November 2003 Vol 56; No.3

Always Free

FILM

F EATURES

S PORT

Alien: The Director’s Cut On The Run

Bouncers - Menace or Mate?

Scandals of a Booker Author

TCD Shotokan Karate Club Trinity win Mauritius Cup

PAGE 15

College News

D U B L I N

PAGES 8 & 9

PAGES 19 & 20

‘Insane’ Financial State incites SU Protests across Campuses David Reubin Symington IN RESPONSE to the dramatic cuts from the government affecting the Third Level across Ireland, the Student Union protested on Friday November 7th at St James’ and is planning another, even bigger, protest in December. Indeed, within Trinity College, the current financial situation is "insane" according to the Student Union Education Officer Heledd Fychan, and if "cutbacks continue", Trinity’s fantastic reputation and quality of degrees will be put at risk The Provost John Hegarty, has claimed that the cuts will not affect

the core aspects of university life, teaching and research, but as Dr Duffy, Head of the Medieval History Department, pointed out, there has been an embargo on the hiring of new academic staff, so that the remaining staff suffer from increased workload, stress and administration, as a result of their colleagues’ departures.

Moreover Trinity risks a "braindrain", since young academic staff on temporary contracts will not see them renewed, despite the fact they’re often the "best people" since they’re not yet "overtired", are "keen to teach" and most importantly "have talent." For students, this results in bigger lec-

tures and bigger tutorial groups from a previous cap of 8 students per tutorial, to sometimes 10 or even 12 students. According to Miss Fychan (SU Education officer), the "tutorial system is just collapsing." As regards the running of administration within Trinity’s departments, Dr Duffy says that College used to be "very generous", giving "several thousand Euros" towards such things as photocopying, however this amount has been reduced to "almost nothing": a "few hundred Euros", and in his own words, "the Medieval History Department can only afford fourfifths of a secretary." He also said that

staff morale has been affected "very badly", which is a point put across by Dara, a Senior Sophister psychologist regarding students themselves. He says that students will truly agonise from the implementation of printing charges, because fourth years for instance, who are researching and writing their thesis, could end up paying up to EUR25 a week on printing costs alone. According to the SU, the printing charges are only supposed to be a temporary emergency measure, yet seen the current financial situation of the Irish government as well as College, the charges look far from temporary. To compound the matter,

this year’s rent increases within College, as well as fees, are "hitting the students hard…It is the student that has been paying the price for bad financial management" says Dara.

Studying itself is becoming increasingly difficult. According to John Walsh, outgoing Vice-President of the Graduate Student’s Union, research space for post-graduates has "always been a problem", and as the Education Officer points out, the Lecky and Berkeley are in need of "urgent refurbishment" as students simply "can’t work in them."

Continued on page 2

Trinity Post-Grad in Tuition Fees Debacle Tim Walker AN IRISH postgraduate student who was to be forced by College to pay full non-EU tuition fees has been granted an eleventhhour reprieve following the intervention of Trinity Senator Shane Ross. James Myers was born and raised in Dublin and holds an Irish Passport, but he recently returned to Ireland after living and working in the United States since 1987. Under new college regulations, which are unique to Trinity, incoming postgraduate students must have been resident in the EU for three of the past five years in order to be eligible for EU fees of approximately 4000 Euro per year. Myers, who speaks fluent Irish and played International Youth Soccer for Ireland under Brian Kerr, was asked to pay a total of 11,200 Euro a year to study at Trinity for a Masters in Social Work. However, he was not informed of his Non-EU status and the accompanying financial implications until August this year, four months after he was initially accepted to the course. It was only after Senator Ross took up Myers’ case that the Graduate Studies Office finally revoked the fees request on November 7th, the payment deadline. Without this change of heart from College, Myers could have been asked to leave his course after that date.

Nonetheless, the success of Myers’ case does not constitute a change in College policy. He is still classified as a Non-EU student, but has had the extra fees waived on the basis of Graduate Studies’ mismanagement of the case.

The clause in College’s fees regulations

that prevented Myers qualifying for EU fees was changed last year. In a memo dated November 7th 2002, Professor John Saeed, the Dean of Graduate Studies, requested that the section stating that a postgraduate student "who holds a passport from an EU state and has received all his/her full-time post primary education in the EU" should be eligible for EU fees, be changed to demand the specified recent EU residency. Under the original regulations, Myers would qualify, since he completed his Leaving Cert in Ireland in the 1980s. Conversely, Non-EU students with a previous degree from Trinity are eligible for EU fees for postgraduate study.

Professor Saeed declined to comment on the matter. The Dean’s Secretary, however, explained that "the Graduate Studies Office implements the rules that are set in place by the College. Should those rules change, [Professor Saeed] would, of course, implement the changes." Senator Ross confirmed that he had met personally with Saeed to decide Myers’ fate on Friday November 7th, but added that the agreement to allow Myers to pay only EU equivalent fees is yet to be set down in writing.

The policy discerning EU students from non-EU students on postgraduate courses is specific to Trinity. Deirdre McQuaide of the Higher Education Authority told Trinity News that "the Department of Educational Science only makes a distinction between EU and Non-EU students for undergraduates involved in the Free Fees Initiative.

Continued on page 2

Phil Soc. threatened over Press Release FOLLOWING THE eleventh hour cancellation of Eamon Dunphy from the Phil’s media debate last week, Mr. Patrick Cosgrave, Secretary, put out a press release that was not well received.

The release had a suggestion Mr. Dunphy had lost his nerve when faced with a possible confrontation with Mr. Pat Kenny who chaired the debate.

The controversial section of the press release is as follows: "Eamon Dunphy was also an invited guest.

However, it seems, that Eamon Dunphy, on learning that Pat Kenny will be chairing the meeting, decided to decline. Leaving many students questioning if Dunphy was losing his nerve, only weeks after The Dunphy Show was first aired."

TNT trinity news two arts & features supplement out Week 9

TV3 Presenter Eamon Dunphy

Continued on page 2

College Chapel Choir hitting the high notes for the historic first visit to Trinity of the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland HE, The Most Reverend Photo: Renata McDonnell Giuseppe Lazzarotto last Sunday

Welfare Officer’s Paltry Victory in recent College Election Conall Bolger THE SU Welfare Officer election on October 24th had the lowest ever turnout for a sabbatical election.

With a potential electorate of approximately 15,000, the overall turnout numbered a mere 953. As a percentage of possible voters it computed as just over six percent. Although expected in some quarters, the low voter count still surprised many. This suggests a high level of disinterest amongst students towards college politics.

Although the winner Michael Miley was quoted as saying that he now "felt official", it wasn’t quite the earth shattering endorsement of his position expected by some in House Six considering he ran unopposed. Overall Miley received 812

votes that tallied as 85.2 percent.

Although this election drew the lowest turnout ever, it also tallied a more positive record: the highest margin of victory over RON (Re-open Nominations) ever.

RON received only 118 votes, or 12.4 percent. This was in stark contrast to the election of the previous Welfare Officer Anne Hyland who recorded the lowest margin of victory over RON ever. Hyland, who resigned under unusual circumstances, had been replaced by Miley who then served as her interim replacement until his election.

Spoiled votes accounted for 2.4 percent of the overall tally.

This trend of declining student interest is the cause of some concern. Especially when the position at stake is considered.

Continued on page 2

Student News, Sport, Arts, Culture and Entertainment

2

Trinity News

COLLEGE NEWS

11th November 2003

Maths Society Donate Valuable Ancient Books Ian Carey THE MATHS Society last week donated several cases of ancient books to the College’s Early Printed Books Library. Mr. Joe Morton, the society’s PRO, told Trinity News that the donation had been on the cards since last year however immediately after the donation rumours started to circulate around the department that if sold the books could have fetched up to a million euro. "The possibility of committee weekends away in the Maldives did flicker through my mind when I heard the rumour" said Mr. Morton. The spirit of giving was some what squashed by the possibility of hard cash but the committee are still insistent

that it is the best place for them.

Trinity News spoke to Mr. Charles Benson from Early Printed Books and he could reveal that the books were not in fact worth anything close to one million euro. He pointed out that although the books were incredibly valuable they would not have made much if sold.

Their value is to do with their historic importance to this college specifically. Some of the books are hundreds of years old and they had notes written on them by the professors of the day. Mr. Benson pointed out that it was important that the books were donated because student societies should be more concerned with wine receptions for freshers than compiling historic libraries.

Myer’s Fees Mess Continued from page 1 The distinction between EU or non-EU postgraduate students is totally at the discretion of the university." NUI Galway defines EU students as those permanently resident in the EU, the University of Limerick requires EU students to hold an EU birth certificate, and Dublin City University classes all EU nationals as EU students.

UCD, where Myers studied last year for a Higher Diploma, has similar regulations to Trinity, but claimed only the standard EU fees for his course.

When applying for the Masters in Social Work at Trinity, Myers also applied to UCD for the same course. Having received an acceptance letter from Trinity’s Social Work Department in April this year, he was told to wait approximately two weeks for official confirmation from the Graduate Studies Office, and duly declined UCD’s offer of a place. Four months later, on August 15th, Myers finally received his official acceptance, and discovered that he had been classified as a non-EU student. His subsequent appeal to the Graduate Studies Office

was originally turned down.

The Graduate Students Union supported Myers’ case and were the first to contact Senator Ross over the issue. Michael Dowling, the GSU’s incoming President, argues: "First, James is clearly Irish, and UCD accepted him as an EU student. Second, his fees application should have been sent out in April as promised, not four months later. It is a bad case of mismanagement by the Graduate Studies Office." He went on to say, "The GSU have had huge numbers of complaints concerning the poor management of Graduate Studies.

James’ case is just the tip of the iceberg." Myers himself, speaking to Trinity News, said "I’m not asking to get anything for free. I have no gripe with Trinity, and I’m happy to pay the EU fees. I love the college and the way the Social Work Department goes about the course: that’s why I’m here.

But I resent the way an arbitrary policy can discriminate against me and classify me as a non-EU student. I’m Irish through and through."

Joe Morton and Christian de Chenu of Maths Soc

Angry Protests at Cuts Continued from page 1 John Walsh says that the "savage cuts" translate into the following financial figures: in the 2002/2003 academic year, ISS services have suffered a cut of EUR800,000 whilst the library has had to bear a cut of EUR600,000. With staff cuts at the Library soon due, the student’s academic research and motivation will suffer even further. In an interview with Trinity News, the current Librarian of Trinity College, Robin Adams, spoke of his increased workload due to the non-renewal this year of three senior management posts, including that of Deputy Librarian. He added that though the Library has so far tried to avoid the massive cuts it has suffered from affecting the quality of service students received, by prioritising "quantity over quality." However he revealed his belief that the Library "could not absorb any further cuts, without severe repercussions for the student."

Although the official budget for the Third Level sector will not be announced until January 2004, many at high academic levels have received information that the cuts will continue. If this is the case, Robin Adams said that the Library might

have to follow the path taken by University College Dublin, and "reduce the Library’s opening hours."

As Dr Duffy has pointed out, the Provost has emphasised the importance of the "Trinity Experience", yet with these "stealth charges", increased rents and Library cutbacks, this experience can only suffer. As Miss Fychan indicated however, the Provost and the College Board are simply reacting to the budget cuts that the current Irish government has implemented and according to John Walsh, the current student levy charge will double within the next two years if not by Michealmas 2004. He says that the current Irish government, Finna Fail, treats the Third Level sector "with contempt", and sees it as "soft target" when budgeting times are hard. He says that College needs to review its "financing" and "develop supplementary sources of funding" to strive to reverse the situation because the cuts to Third Level "will continue and that is an unfortunate reality." If this is not the case, Trinity College will lose its place a centre of academic excellence and Trinity fun, the two core components of the "Trinity Experience" for the Trinitarian.

Welfare Win Continued from page 1

Michael Miley, SU Welfare Officer

POST-GRADUATE AWARDS have been changed following a significant increase in investment. The Category Two Postgraduate Awards, which are open to all though competitive and merit-based, are to be replaced with Post-graduate Teaching fellowships although the Usher Awards will remain unaffected. A limited number of the current awards will also remain for students who are unable to accept

Teaching Fellowships. For those applicants who qualify this year for the awards they will be given the choice of either receiving the new fellowship or the old Postgrad Award. Current holders will also be offered the opportunity to change to the new scheme.

The College Board approved the new scheme in July 2003 and offers significantly enhanced benefits to Post-graduates. The value of the new teaching fellowship includes EU fees and a maintenance award of approximately 4.000 Euro, an increase of around

Welfare is a prestige position but also one of some practical importance. Considered the Officer who assists students with problems that aren’t specifically academic in nature, for many it can be their only point of contact with the Students’ Union. If such

1800 Euro in comparison to the previous scheme.

The scheme also involves an increase in support for research students as a result of additional investment by the College. It was initiated following discussions between College Officers and the Graduate Students Union regarding the necessity for continual support for research students and the need to preserve the essential part played by Postgrad teaching. Post-grads who obtain the new teaching fellowships will be requested to partake

disinterest continues, the Student Union may face a crisis of legitimacy in future.

The Student Union draws their mandate and legitimacy from a claim of representing the student body. Can they continue to make such a claim if elected by such a low margin?

in teaching and teaching-related duties of only up to 6 hours per week during teaching terms.

While the new scheme will not be able to impede cuts in Postgrad teaching by some Departments, it does provide a useful method of ensuring that the important role of post-grad teaching in the University continues; and it is also a means of offering new teaching opportunities to Post-grads. No Post-graduates will lose out as a result of the new scheme and hopefully the majority should benefit.

Dunphy Show vs Phil Society Continued from page 1 This attempt to vex Dunphy seems to be the climax of what can only be described as bad relations between the Philosophical Society and DC Productions, the production company responsible for The Dunphy Show. It transpires that The Dunphy Show were extremely interested in some of the guests that the Phil have attracted this year. They were particularly interested in John Pilger and Newt Gingrich. The Phil’s Secretary Mr. Cosgrave refused to release the contact details for these speakers until Mr. Dunphy came to the media debate. DC Productions got irate with Mr. Cosgrave after he explained that he would only give the information they wanted to Dunphy in person when he arrived. This breakdown in relations is unfortunate considering the fact that Dunphy was

Ian Carey

In Brief Trinity FM off the Airwaves

Massive New Investment into Post-Grad Awards Wendy Williams

News Editor

willing to speak at another debate with the society.

The press release was only picked up by one national paper The Daily Mirror however this was enough for TV3 Commissioning Editor Ms. Jane Gogan to take up the case and ring Mr. Cosgrave personally.

The contents of the phone calls between Ms. Gogan and Mr. Cosgrave have been relayed to Trinity News only through a Phil source as Ms. Gogan was unavailable to comment.

Reported as ringing Mr. Cosgrave on four occasions, it is said she threatened him with a libel suit over the press release and Philander Magazine. It is claimed she said he was wilfully misleading the public about the guest speakers that the Phil had confirmed for the year.

This claim forced Mr. Cosgrave to fax copies of the correspondences the society had had with

Mr. Pilger and Mr. Gingrich to Ms. Gogan, with the contact details deleted. It is reported that she also said that she would write a letter to the Head of the Philosophy Department regarding what she claimed was the Phil’s breach of college’s alcohol policy. This breach she spoke of seems to have little basis, as does the threat to write to the Philosophy Department, as it has nothing to do with the Phil. Ms. Gogan whilst being an Editor for TV3 is also Mr. Dunphy’s long-term partner. The final point Ms. Gogan is reported to have made is that she would encourage people in the media to take the press releases and the Philosophical Society in general less seriously. From the Media debate alone four speakers pulled out however members of the Phil were keen to state that this was simply, a coincidence.

After a week of exciting broadcasting on 97.3FM in and around Dublin during Fresher’s Week, unfortunately Trinity FM will now be off the airwaves at least until Hilary Term. Having to apply three months in advance for a temporary license from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), T:Fm has in the past been usually able to broadcast for a week in the Michaelmas and Trinity terms. However T:Fm was late in applying for a licence, whose success was further compromised when the board of the BCI was dissolved several weeks ago, resulting in a vacuum of positions to be renewed, leaving the application of licences hanging in the air without the necessary persons to sign the legal contracts. However, T:Fm’s Chairman is confident that the radio will be broadcasting in Weeks 2 and 9 of Hilary Term.

A Med Day to Remember The Medical Faculty’s Med Day was an unprecedented success this year raising EUR46,000.

Speaking humbly, Karen Given, Chairperson of the Trinity Med Day Committee said that Med Day 2003 was "a great success regardless of how much we raised due to the tremendous turnout and involvement of students from all five medical years." Having raised EUR42,000 last year, EUR27,000 went to the National Children’s Hospital and the remaining EUR15,000 to the Trinity Access Programme (TAP). It is planned that this year’s funds will go primarily towards the much-needed modernisation of the long-term elderly care ward in St James’ Hospital whilst the rest will be donated to the TAP and to the student counselling service, Niteline. With lectures, labs and tutorials off, a day of fun, games and money raising greeted this year’s Med Students. Meeting at 7am in the morning in the Atrium, Medical students across the five years were out on the streets almost immediately, canvassing funds for charity before taking a break at 1pm to partake in the provided activities which included trampolining, inflatable twister, tug of war and a sponsored legwaxing from 5 five male Med students representing every year.

Students set to get Wired Described as a ‘milestone’, IS Services and the Students’ Union have managed to negotiate a deal with Dell computer company whereby especially customised laptops will be made available for sale, allowing users to have laptop access within numerous areas across College. Reeling from a budget cut of EUR800,000 IS Services are still finding the time to improve IT prospects for students. The three Dell laptops selected under the scheme, range in price from around EUR1,200 for the latitude C540 to just over EUR1,600 for the D500, to approximately EUR1,750 for the top of the range D600 (all including VAT). The computers are specially customised for College, and come installed with MS Windows XP Professional, MS Office XP Pro and McAfee anti-virus software.

Hist Society Searches for Greatest Irish Person The College Historical Society is trying to find "The Greatest Irish Person". The web based poll is billed as "Ireland’s version of the BBC’s Greatest Briton programme". The list currently holds twenty names of Irish luminaries ranging from Eamon de Valera to Gay Byrne. Over the next few months the list will be narrowed down to ten names for the title of greatest Irish person.

When the final ten are announced, the poll will be reset and polling will continue for the rest of the year. The final decider will take place in the Hist in Trinity Term. At that event a mixture of experts, historians, public figures and students will all propose one figure for the title of Greatest Irish person, and a combination of the internet poll and crowd vote on the night will decide who the College Historical Society vote the winner.

Unsurprisingly for a debating society, there is a strong political flavour to the list. At time of print there had been 168 votes logged and Michael Collins was leading the race with eighteen percent, followed by Eamon de Valera with fifteen percent. The poll can be found on the Hist’s website.

College News In Brief compiled by Ian Carey, Conall Bolger and David ReubinSymington

News Editor

Trinity News

Ian Carey

11th November 2003

3 CAMPUS NEWS Socialist Representatives get set to Thursday Protest at Controversial Phil Soc Debate Fight Night Anne-Marie Ryan VARIOUS SOCIALIST organisations within and outside Trinity College are planning to protest on Thursday 20th November at an evening debate of the University Philosophical Society, at which a member of the far-right British National Party (BNP) will be speaking.

Tony Wentworth, a prominent member of the BNP, has been invited to speak at the Phil next Thursday evening, where the motion for debate will be that "New right political parties are parties of hate". A meeting is to be held next Tuesday in the Swift theatre to mobilise support for the protest, which sources say will include representatives from the trade unions, the Socialist Party, the Socialist workers party, Sinn Féin and UCD. A Trinity student and a member of the Socialist Party, who does not wish to be named, objects strongly to Mr. Wentworth speaking at the Phil. He told Trinity News that "by allowing Tony Wentworth a platform to express his ideas in an

internationally respected institution such as Trinity College, it may wrongly appear to the outside world that his ideas are in some way legitimate - which clearly they are not." Responding to this claim, Patrick Cosgrave, Hon. Secretary of the Phil commented that "In the case in hand you have to ask yourself what are the so-called socialists party so worried about. If Tony Wentworth’s views are detestable, and I think they are, then what’s the harm in letting him talk; let people figure that out for themselves. I think we should have faith in people’s own common sense.

Moreover, the socialist party should not be so quick in elevating their genius, in seeing through Wentworth’s arguments, above the rest of us".

Wentworth, a student at Salford University in Manchester, is chairperson of the youth section of the BNP, who currently has 17 elected councillors in Britain. The party, described by the Trinity socialist representative as ‘a rag-tag Nazi organisation’, support controversial policies such as British withdrawal from the EU, the reintroduction of

corporal punishment for petty crimes, an end to British financial aid to the developing world and the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the United Kingdom as a long term solution to ‘the conflict with Ireland’. The BNP also support a complete ban on immigration. As Tony Wentworth himself once told ‘Manchester Evening News’, ‘I do disapprove of multiracial societies full stop’.

Following his election to the youth chair of the BNP, 600 students at Salford University, signed a petition calling for his expulsion from the university. Wentworth was also banned from the Students’ Union premises at the college for two months following an incident where Wentworth hit a white student, although he claims it was selfdefence against an anti-Nazi campaigner.

When asked if preventing Wentworth from speaking at the Phil would interfere with his right to free speech, the socialist representative replied ‘Is it really true to say that everyone has free speech? I believe in freedom of speech, but not when that freedom is used in a

way that discriminates against whole communities’.

Cosgrave, while agreeing that there are ‘inherent contradictions’ regarding the right to free speech, believes that the focus should not be on Wentworth’s right to speak, but rather on the reasons why an increasing number of people are sympathising with the ideology of the BNP: ‘If somebody has something to say that connects with people, then there are reasons why it is connecting with people, and, I think, for people genuinely interested in a freer and more democratic society, these reasons should be examined, and not denied.’

Socialist sources have are predicting a large turn out for the protest and as well as scenes reminiscent of the visit last year of Jörg Haider, former leader of the Austrian Freedom Party to the Phil. A similar event in UCC recently attracted 600 protestors. Mr. Wentworth will be sharing a platform with guests including Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney and Rosaleen McDonagh of Pavee Point, a travellers’ rights organisation.

THE CONTROVERSIAL Mr. Anjem Choudary came to Trinity last week.

Mr. Choudary is a solicitor from London and the Leader of the UK branch of Al Muhajiroun.

Al Muhajiroun is an Islamic fundamentalist organisation and they came under extreme criticism for their discription of the September 11th suicide hijackers as "martyrs". The Anjem Choudary debate was extremely lively and Mr. Choudary’s position provoked strong criticism from the floor and during the course of the debate the chair had to stop proceedings on more than one occasion to tell people to calm down.

His invitation to speak at the Phil was changed because of the reluctance of former Taoiseach Mr. John Bruton to speak in the same forum with him.

This had prompted many to presume that Young Fine Gael would be staging some kind of protest to the event but this was not the case. The Chair of Young Fine Gael spoke to Trinity News and explained their position, " It’s not that we don’t disagree with Mr. Choudary being given this platform it’s simply that we believe that protesting debates in college is counterproductive." He explained that forming a protest only increases the speakers profile. This point seems to have eluded the socialist groups who are planning a massive demonstration against Mr. Tony Wentworth from the BNP.

Trinity Researchers find Deadly Toxin

Research may explain recent Heroin Deaths

MEDICAL RESEARCHERS in Trinity and St. James Hospital believe they may have identified the toxin responsible for a number of previously unexplained deaths among heroin users in Dublin from April to August 2000. The infection from a contaminated batch of heroin led to 22 cases of severe systemic toxicity in Dublin.

Anthrax, botulism and a range of other toxins were suggested as possible causes of the outbreak but research at St James’s Hospital Dublin have isolated Clostridium novyi type A in two cases.

This bacteria is usually found in soil and is associated with a specific plant disease, the research says. Dr Stephen Finn, HRB clinical research fellow at Trinity, studied the autopsy findings of the eight fatal Dublin cases. "We only looked at the Dublin cases but it is likely that the heroin was contaminated with Clostridium novyi exotoxin in the UK and distributed around the UK and Ireland," Dr Finn said.

During the outbreak among injecting drug users, a total

of108 people became ill, 35 of whom died, he added. All of the users were injecting heroin into muscle tissue rather than directly into a vein, according to the researchers.

Dr. Finn said that the soil toxin was the likely cause despite the fact that he can only definitively identify it in two of the five cases he studied.

"Patients who have this bug in their system present with high white blood cell count and go into shock very quickly." said Dr Finn. The findings will be published in the November edition of Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and doctors should be aware that such a contamination could occur again. "Although it has not happened in the period since the outbreak, it may happen again," he added.

It is likely that the contamination occurred by accident at a central site of distribution in the UK, according to the researchers. However, contamination of drugs bound for western countries as a form of bioterrorism ‘is not unthinkable’, the report concludes.

Trinity News

STUDENT NEWS Action against Hazing after Deaths at US Universities

4

11th November

Student News Editor

2003

Leah Finnegan

Leah Finnegan HAZING, THE process of initiation associated with college fraternities, has become the subject of controversy after a number of fatal incidents across American university campuses.

Two students at Plattsburgh State University, New York, pleaded guilty to charges arising from the death of Walter Jennings, an 18 year old Freshmen student who died last March. Police investigations in to the death of Jennings, originally from Gansevoort, revealed that the deceased had been forced to drink pitchers of water through a funnel while pledging fraternity to the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity. An autopsy on the body of the freshmen student revealed that he had died as a result of massive swelling of brain tissue which was directly linked to excessive consumption of water.

The students at the centre of the criminal case, Adam Atkinson and William Farmer III, also face a number of charges against them at their university. College authorities at Plattsburgh State University have expelled 21 students who were involved in the fatal hazing episode. The students, all members of the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity at the centre of the incident, were expelled on the grounds that they were members of an unrecognized fraternity. They also stand accused of endangerment and hazing.

The State University of New York (SUNY) College authorities are under no illusions as has responded to the death of Jennings by to the difficulties which face them in their bid creating a task force drawn from several to crackdown on potentially fatal hazing praccampuses to deal with the practice of hazing tices. A senior staff member at SUNY, Marti on university campuses in the New York area. – Anne Ellerman, says that one of the main The task force are currently proposing to ini- obstacles facing them is the ‘code of silence’. tiate a crackdown on outlawed fraternities Potential pledges to fraternities and victims and to impose a of hazing practices are stricter policy of susoften unwilling to come forpension on students ward to report the initiawho are members of tion rituals to college unrecognized frats. authorities for fear of retriHowever, there is bution and social isolation. debate concerning the Ellerman says that the culSUNY proposals to ture of silence which exists clamp down on hazwithin the closed communiing. Steven R. Perry, ty of fraternity life makes it the Vice President for very difficult to address the student development problem of hazing because at Oneonta college authorities simply University, New York, A photo of Kelly Nester pinned to a tree at the ‘don’t have the evidence’ to has said that a clear scene of her death build a disciplinary case distinction needs to against fraternities who be made concerning the different levels of abuse the initiation process. SUNY has hazing associated with initiation into college attempted to break the ‘code of silence’ by setfraternities. Perry stated that in his opinion ting up a ‘hazing hot line’ which will allow ‘you have to be careful not to lump every inci- students to report hazing safe in the knowldent into the one category’. Perry added that edge that their conversation will be treated hazing practices range from making prospec- confidentially. tive fraternity members wear similar clothAnother challenge which faces both SUNY ing to more serious, high- risk activities like and campuses across the United States is the forced consumption of alcohol. In his opinion number of unrecognized fraternities whose ‘the penalty should be adjusted to fit the activities are often both beyond the knowlcrime’. edge and the control of college authorities.

Professor Hank Nuwer, Indiana, has researched the ‘Greek system’ of university fraternities. In his opinion the practice of hazing is ‘all about power and status’. The unrecognized fraternities often seek to gain status amongst their peers and to establish a reputation amongst potential pledges by ‘toughening up the requirements in terms of hazing’.

Concern surrounding the hazing rituals of fraternities is not confined to the New York area. The small college community at Plymouth State University, New Hampshire, was shocked by the death of 20 year old Kelly Nester. Police in the area believe that her death in a car accident may have been a tragic result of an initiation ritual into the Sigma Kappa Omega sorority.

Michigan, one of the few US states which does not currently have anti-hazing legislation, is currently in the process of introducing legislation which would make hazing a criminal offence. The bill, put forward by Senator McManus, advocates the outlaw of hazing practices at all educational facilities in the state. A spokesperson for the Senator stated that the strength of the proposed bill lies in the fact that it will remove student consent in hazing as a viable defence. The bill outlines the penalties which those accused of hazing could face. They vary from 93 days in prison and fines of up to $1000 for injury and a prison sentence of up to 20 years and $10,000 fine for injuries resulting in death.

Admissions Scandal Yale Law School verus US Dept of Defence at Oxford University

Oxford University

Leah Finnegan THE PROFESSOR at the centre of an admissions scandal at Oxford University has tendered his resignation as a Fellow of Pembroke College. Professor Andrew Wilkie refused to admit an Israeli student, Amit Duvshani, on the grounds that he had served in the Israeli army.

Duvshani’s letter of application was met with a letter of rejection from Wilkie which stated that despite the fact that he had not doubts about the student on a personal level there was ‘no way’ that he would ‘take on somebody who had served in the Israeli army’.

Oxford University imposed its harshest punitive penalties, bar permanent removal from employment, upon Wilkie. The Professor has been suspended without payment for a period of 2 months and has been ordered to enrol in an equal opportunities course. A spokesperson for Oxford University was quick to point out that the prompt disciplinary action of the college ‘reflects that there can be no place for any form of discrimination within the University of Oxford other than on the grounds of merit’.

Some commentators and members of Oxford’s Jewish student community have expressed their doubts as to whether the disciplinary action taken against Wilkie is far-reaching enough.

Roni Tabick, the CoPresident of Oxford University’s Jewish Society expressed the opinion of many students who believe that Wilkie should be permanently banned from playing any role in future admissions.

Duvshani, the student at the centre of the case, has said that in his opinion the response and actions taken

by Oxford

University were ‘sufficient’. He was keen to stress that his desire to expose Wilkie and publicise the circumstances of his rejection from the prestigious university were ‘not a matter of personal vendetta but of exposing academic boycotts against Israel’ (Reuters). The Oxford case comes in the wake of efforts made by eminent Palestinian academics and intellectuals to enforce a boycott against Israeli academic institutions.

Supporters of Wilkie have been quick to point out that the professor’s actions were not racially motivated but rather stemmed form his political views concerning the state of Israel. One British Professor, Mona Black, told reporters that Wilkie’s actions constituted ‘a statement of conscience and if more people did that, we wouldn’t have atrocities being committed in Palestine’ (Al Jazeera)..

The Union of Jewish students has argued that if a boycott of Israeli students was initiated by those had a problem with the state of Israel it would amount to the automatic exclusion of 90% of the population of Israel as military service is compulsory.

Leaders from both the Jewish and Muslim student communities have commented that there is a sharp parallel between events in the Middle East and university campuses. Danny Stone, the Campaigns Organiser for the Union of Jewish Students, says that ‘every time there’s a raising of tensions there, there’s a rise in anti-Semitic attacks and tensions on campuses here’(Al Jazeera). Hassan Patel, a member of the Student Federation of Islamic Societies, has warned that tensions will rise if ‘the supporters of Andrew Wilkie are not allowed to show their feelings’.

STUDENTS AT the prestigious School of Law at Yale University are filing a controversial law suit against the US Department of Defence. Two campus civil rights groups are challenging the constitutional basis of the 1995 Solomon Amendment. The law threatens universities who refuse to allow military recruiters to attend college career fairs with the immediate withdrawal of federal funding.

Yale Law School denied access to recruiting agents from the US military to a career fair held at the Holiday Inn in New Haven, on the grounds that the military refused to sign and adhere to Yale’s non-discrimination clauses. The nondiscrimination policy of the university requires that all recruiters accord prospective employees with equal and fair treatment. The university determined that the military’s ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy with regards to gays directly contravened its non-discrimination policy as it discriminated against students on the basis of sexual orientation. Yale University stands to lose $350 million dollars on an annual basis as the result of its decision to exclude military personnel from recruitment fairs on campus.

The lawsuit against the Department of Defence, headed by Donald Rumsfeld, was filed by a group of fifty students.

The students are members of two separate civil rights groups; the Student/Faculty Alliance for Military Equality (SAME) and Outlaws, the LGBT society. The legal case against the Department of Defence is based on the

School of Law at Yale Universtity, US premise that ‘the Solomon Amendment violates plaintiff’s rights to due process and equal protection under the Fifth Amendment’. Professor Greenfield, a founding member of the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR) added that ‘you can’t condition government benefits on whether the recipient agrees with the government and that’s what the Solomon Amendment does’.

The case against the Department of Defence marks a landmark in relations between the federal government and universities across the country as it is the first time that a student group has attempted to legally challenge the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. Adam A. Sofen, a co- chair of Outlaw proudly remarked that the ‘movement is gaining force fast’.

Cult Blamed for Murder of 2 Nigerian Students Jon Foster TWO STUDENTS were killed and a community left on edge in a charged cultist reprisal at the Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria. The first attack occurred at about 10.00pm on Tuesday 7th October as Mr.Ebi Okeffi Leonard, a first year Communication student, left campus and headed for his family home. He was near to the bus stop on the Court 5, North Bank when ambushed by a band of machete-wielding assailants who inflicted heavy wounds on his neck, his head left almost severed.

Two days later Prof. David Ker, Vice – Chancellor of the university expelled 20 students who were known cult members.

It was also revealed that Ebi, the victim of the 7th October murder, was a suspected cultist and his attackers affiliates of a rival cult. The Vice Chancellor stated his belief that campus restaurants and bars are a haven for cult activists, and recommended that Nigerian police officers should patrol theses establishments to prevent further violent incidents. This suggestion was

strongly supported by Benue State Anniversary in 2001. In March 2002 the Command as a means of dealing with the Black Axe Fraternity gang murdered three sectarian problem which is engulfing the students of the University of Agriculture, area as a whole. and then made a drunken forage into the This move has done little to quell the State University killing one person. They violence. On the morning of Saturday 11th then fled the scene only to be captured, October, another student was butchered, beaten and then burnt alive in front of the this time a more daring assault. Having security office. Many point to this incident arrived in his village, as evidence that cult Ikpayongo, a few kilomeviolence has been an tres from Makurdi, Mr. endemic problem for Terkula Manesseh Imbor, some time. a first year political science At present police are student at Benue State attempting to keep both and son of a police serthe local and university geant, was pursued into community calm in the his parent’s bedroom by face of the recent five young men. Imbor’s attacks, especially since parents watched as their increased University child was hacked to pieces security measures have with cutlasses and axes. served to deflect the conThe shocking fact about State of Benue, Nigeria centration of violence these crimes is that this into Makurdi town. particular university has a low-incidence Despite the reassurance of security forces, of violent crime in comparison to others – students, more akin to sensing the insidior so declared by the vice-Chancellor on ous nature of cultism within their own Radio Benue during a discussion pro- institution, are sure that a reprisal will gramme marking the University’s 9th come soon.

THERE IS A PAGE MISSING HERE

THERE IS A PAGE MISSING HERE

Forum Editor Rory Loughnane

FORUM

Trinity News 11 November 2003 th

7

Student Politics is Negative rather than Forward thinking in this Country The Proposition

The Opposition

Patrick Cosgrave

Carl Cullinane

T

hese are issues, like so many others, of no great degree of certainty. Indeed, if student politics is negative, then it is so only by degrees, which implies the possibility of it becoming positive at some later point. For that reason we should be wary of anyone who professes with any absolute certainty that it is one or the other; negative or positive. However that been said, I will argue, that student politics is, by degrees, negative.

There are a number of plausible reasons, some more obvious than others, and some more worthy of mention. For one, the idea that a young person, on coming to University, would join a conventional political party like Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats, or New Fine Gael (Labour), among others, represents, in my mind, a failure to think. It suggests a gulf, or a gap, in thought. The gap, or the gulf, is between the real issues for these political parties and the real issues for students. It is gap too obvious to merit elaboration.

But, on the upside, party membership in college is very low, so it is a gap filled by only a few welleducated individuals. So we are posed with a choice. Either these individuals, involved in student politics, are non-thinking robots whose actions are mere reflexes learned through a proper education or these handful of students have abandoned logic and reason, failing to see the glaring gap, for the sake of that all important "career in politics". Either way it is, in a sense, negative. But there are other reasons.

Secondly it is unfortunate that the Student Union have become more part of the College administration than part of the student body. As a consequence their methods of enticing College to grant concession to students, be they in a Student Centre or otherwise, have, perhaps, become somewhat feeble and ineffective. A mass protest here, and a mass demonstration there, are all very well on their own, but there is a need for other, and complimenting methods, for levering funds out of College’s hands.

For starters you have to ask yourself what does Trinity College value, and need. There are, of course, a number of plausible and possible answers. Perhaps the most obvious, is that they value the standing of their Degrees, Masters, and Phd’s both nationally and internationally, and also need the corresponding funding to keep College going. If the value of their "certificates" falls off,

W

hat the hell is student politics in the then they are less likely to secure funding because first place? Is student politics, Anne people will question if students in Trinity actually Hyland being run out of office in the SU? Is are clever enough to figure anything out. student politics, Christopher Gambino wantSubsequently, perhaps, a good way to start forcing ing to disband the Union? Student politics is College’s hand would be to present to other a far bigger sphere than that, and more Colleges, and secondary level students, among importantly the political activity of students other groups, the questionable methods of teachisn’t restricted to Students Union or USI ing, the questionable materials that are thought on campaigns. In fact the opposite is in fact many courses in Trinity, and the questionable faciltrue. The most important contributions made ities in many faculties. by students are entirely separate to our supIf our elected student representatives are content posed civil society representatives. to take the easy and walked path to the end of the After a period of apathy in the eighties and year, with the odd protest here and there, for the nineties, sake of their it does C.V., then seem that fine, they students are perfectly are beginentitled to ning to be continue to m o r e do that. politically However if involved they actualo n c e ly want to a g a i n . start to do That is something not to say substantial we have then pernothing to haps they w o r r y should look a b o u t . for alternaThe Irish tive methstudent ods of prying body is o p e n far more College’s insular f u n d s , a n d because so Trinity Students protesting on Westmoreland Street depolitifar they cised than our counterparts in both other have failed, in any substantial way. For that reaEuropean countries and indeed the US. But son it would appear that student politics, at the we should begin to be positive about ourmoment, is, in some sense, negative. selves, rather than constantly cynical.

There are of course numerous other reasons, but Political activity is a broad term that lends these seem the most pressing at the current itself to many different forms of participamoment, though this may change. In some sense tion in college life; from the SU itself, to sociwe can argue that student politics is negative in eties like One World or Suas, to going to this country because it encourages the abandonGMB debates, to participating in Voluntary ment of logic and reason, which is silly, and Tuition or SVDP programs. The latter two because our student representatives seem too often examples may seem odd, but as a political too content to walk the easy path to the end of the act, taking the time out to aid the less eduyear. For those reasons I feel that student politics, cated or less well off is probably the most is by degrees, more negative than positive, in this effective in college. And there can’t be much country.

of a doubt that involvement in this fashion is hardly a ‘negative’ act.

To take the other forms of political involvement of students; one cannot forget the youth wings of the political parties themselves. Love them or hate them (and I would think there is a preponderance for the latter), at least they are doing something. Youth and Ogra parties put in significant amounts of work for their respective parties, and the fact that their recommendations are more or less ignored by their parent organisations is more a reflection on Irish politics in general than anything else.

As for student societies, it seems that the development of a global consciousness is slowly developing in Irish youth political culture, with societies like One World, Suas and Trasna all doing very well and holding regular and extremely interesting events.

And I certainly don’t think that these societies are negative or not forward thinking.

The characterisation of the misleadingly titled ‘anti-globalisation’ movement as negative is patently flawed. The movement, based in student populations from the developed to the developing world, is about proper development, proper internationalism and recognition of the common humanity of the world.

There is more to the movement than people who smash the windows of McDonald’s, though that’s commendable in its own way.

So in conclusion then, while cynicism still to a large extent pervades in student politics, we should recognise that students have a massive role to play in the political life of any country and the various forms of political participation that students engage in should all be recognised as a growing and encouraging area of student life. From membership of youth political parties, to participation in national rallies like the anti-war demonstrations, to participation in globally focussed societies, to the active assistance of Ireland’s less well off to the large crowds at a free trade or a Northern Ireland debate in the GMB. Just don’t mention the Students Union

Global Economy: Losses in Lives, Profit in Dollars there is supposedly a world threat knocking government will buy whatever military can read about in the business press of the power are filled with the "Halliburton and on America’s door, like Saddam, people tend equipment can be produced, but is also pay- day, but unfortunately something that has friends team", or any other team for that to abandon their rights, because they have to ing for all the research and development for been conveniently forgotten. matter, is it any real surprise that the US new technologies, and more importantly, if Finally, if you are one of those people who government is shooting goals for the raq is a mess. Yet Halliburton has just survive, and rally behind their government.

It is a reality that even General Douglas anything comes out of this research and feel that all this involves some sort of con- Halliburton and friends team in Iraq, and posted record profits. In fact, its KBR one of development, that is spiracy, then you would be naïve, because not for the people of Iraq. Newsweek seems unit’s profits have risen four-fold and its MacArthur, sales have leapt 80%. In America people are America’s most famous “...to think that Ireland would commercially mar- there is no need, it is far too simple for that. to think so.

However America is not alone. America, ketable, then the It’s just like a game of football. There are continuing to lose their jobs. Yet the and respected "Military American economy is up 7.2% for the last Men", found obvious. He act any different in a similar profits go straight to certain rules to be followed, rules that are like all other nation states, is a vehicle of observed that "our gov- position, is to fail to think.” business. In short sometimes broken, but in the main players power for "the national interest"; "a narrow quarter, a 19 year high. the public bear the are just trying to score a goal for their team. mystification devised to conceal the special War serves many purposes, and a war econ- ernment has kept us in a omy many more. But most of all war "is a perpetual state of fear -- kept us in a contin- disproportionate expense of paying for all They don’t need to sit down in some dark interests of those with domestic power", such racket", and "it always has been", according uous stampede of patriotic fervour -- with this research and development, and if any and shadowy room, smoking cigars and sip- as Halliburton and friends in the US. But to to General Smedley Butler, America’s most the cry of grave national emergency. Always profits come out of it they go straight into ping fine brandy, and work out every single think that Ireland would act any different in there has been some terrible evil at home or private hands. phase of play, instead they know instinctive- a similar position, is to fail to think. A habit decorated General.

It is a very simple system, that involved a ly what to do from their position on the foot- best left to Newsweek, and other bastions of War, it would seem, has been continually some monstrous foreign power that was waged with benefits accruing to a few, while going to gobble us up if we did not blindly large amount of planning and design in the ball pitch. If they didn’t they wouldn’t get so-called free thought. everybody else has been burdened with the rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant mid to late 1940’s, something that anyone onto the team. So when the corridors of whole expense of waging that war; both in funds demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these money, and in blood. That is, war has a disasters seem never to have happened, strange habit of becoming a mess for most seem never to have been quite real."

The year he penned this line was 1957, but people, and predictably profitable for the it similarly applies to Iraq. But war serves remaining few.

For example, WWI cost the American peo- even more purposes.

Conall Bolger In the case of the US it justifies the ple $52,000,000,000, that’s about $400 for ill Hicks, the late great sion of labour was institutionalized. Yet how do we justify this in a modevery American man, woman, and child. Yet American economic model, that Eisenhower Texan comic, once ern era when less physical labour is performed? during that period, 1914-1918, Du Pont’s christened, the Military Industrial Complex.

An inequity still persists in economic, social and political relations spoke about a "Love List".

This involves channelling taxpayers’ money profits, for example, rose 940%.

He decried those who between the genders. Evidence, if evidence is needed, of a disparity is Skip forward another 90 years, or so, and through the Pentagon system in order to moaned ‘what about the there for the eye to see. Look to the chambers of power and seek females you will find as American, Iraqi, and other subsidize high-tech industry. It is an ecowomen and children!’ in positions of influence. Critics will respond by pointing out examples of taxpayers’ count their mounting loses in dol- nomic model that has been adhered to since whenever a crisis arose. His women in powerful positions. The fact remains that such women tend to lars, and in blood, Halliburton and friends after the Great Depression, when it was attitude was ‘what happens be solitary figures and by highlighting their presence, their exceptional are just counting their mounting profits in realised that anything remotely resembling when they hit a certain age: status becomes obvious. The glass ceiling persists in the workplace. dollars. Little has changed over the years in a Free Market Economy would be a total disthey’re off your Love List?’ Women with children are far less likely to end up in a management posiaster. this respect; war is He also added, to para- tion than a man with offspring. Issues such as domestic violence and There are, of course, still a racket. “...our media possess all the phrase, ‘screw you and sexual assault are either ignored, or taken as further evidence of the numerous other ways Yet somehow foxy characteristics of a ‘fair to stimulate an econoscrew your hateful little ‘weakness of the female of the species’. An issue that plagues feminists Newsweek, along with and balanced’ amnesiac.” my; such as spending is they were so successful in highlighting the plight of maltreated children’. so many other august During times of emergency this war cry of is taken up and reduces the women that in some cases they managed to reaffirm women’s status as that money on building and adroit publicamost rational critic to a foaming mess. The latter half of the equation is victims and not as citizens of the human race. tions, write with genuine alarm and aston- houses and hospitals, or hiding it in trees Male victims of violence rarely, if ever, admit their plight if it is perperelatively unproblematic. Its roots lie in a natural instinct of the species ishment that Iraq is somehow a mess for its and getting people to try and find it, in fact to protect its weaker offspring. Although its more pernicious aspect is trated by a female. This conception of female weakness is so ingrained people, and the US economy is somehow on there are all sorts of ways. However, in revealed when used as a rationale to restrict civil liberties. For example, that he couldn’t bear to admit to his snickering cronies in the bar he was the up. A reaction that conveniently rele- terms of stimulating the economy the ecothe American right’s repeated claim ‘rock music will infect our children, abused by a ‘mere woman’. There is little revolutionary in this, but it gates history to wordless pages of text, and nomic effects are not all that different. But bears repeating if only because we men seem such slow learners.

Marilyn Manson must be crucified’. gives you the stamping suspicion that our the social effects are.

This assumption of weakness is false. In terms of mental capacity, The former half of the ‘women and children!’ chant causes more For one, social spending, as opposed to milmedia, at times, possess all the foxy characgrounds for concern. Both are grounded on a basic assumption, but women consistently outperform men in academic areas, yet the majoriitary spending, has that worrying tendency teristics of a "fair and balanced" amnesiac. although the foundation underlying the child aspect can be justified ty of professors in stuffy academia are, oddly enough, male. We attribute In any case, there should be no surprise of increasing the danger of democracy, as it (though not without fault) the side of the contention underlying the the characteristics of feeling and sympathy to women, yet perhaps that Iraq is a mess, and Halliburton is post- threatens to increase popular involvement Kipling’s line of the ‘female of the species being more deadly than the ‘women!’ half of the equation is spurious. ing record profits. History, as was noted in decision making. For example, if the Irish This assumption is that women are weaker. Though it is objectively male’ has merit. In previous years it has been noted by former hostages above, demonstrates why it should be no sur- Government builds a hospital or a school true in physical terms, men are the stronger gender, it is the associa- of terrorist groups that the female captors were noticeably more cruel prise. Because it demonstrates how America, near you, you probably could get involved tions that are troublesome. The masculine mind seems to associate than their male counterparts. along with so many other nations, has con- and make useful and practical suggestions.

So what’s the point? Certain assumptions are made regarding women physical weakness with an overall deficiency. tinually fought wars whose benefits have However, if the Irish Government decides to Historically; the roles within a society were based upon physical attrib- that contribute to the unequal treatment of women in our modern socigone to a few, while everybody else has been build a secret stealth bomber then there isn’t utes. Women bore and raised the children, because they were the ones ety. The attitude is still of treating women not just as physically weaker burdened with the whole expense of waging much that you can suggest, because you who could physically conceive. Due to the close relation of such tasks but making certain associations with that fact that are basically false. don’t have a clue about it. those wars; both in dollars, and in blood. with the domestic, women remained behind in the household perform- On a side note, up to recently men have been biologically necessary for Secondly, a Military Industrial Complex, But war is more than a racket, for it serves ing more menial tasks but also performing more than their fair share of the propagation of the human race. Recent scientific advances could now many other purposes. For one, it has that that funnels money through the Pentagon external labour also. Men performed the heavy exertion, hunting and make our rather (short in some cases) contribution unnecessary. habit of keeping a domestic population obe- system, is just a straight gift to private intergathering due to their greater physical strength. Over time such a dividient and quiescent and passive. For when est; business. The reason being, that the

Patrick Cosgrave

I

Kicked out of the Man Club B

8

FEATURES

Trinity News 11th November 2003

Features Editor Neasa Cunniffe

Dirty Secrets of a Shiny Clean Writer Booker Prize winning novel may be outshadowed by scandals of it’s author

B

ookshops. Bookshops full of volumes of illustrated encyclopaedia and crammed dictionarDineen ies. Shelves stuffed with pages and pages of industrious authors’ words.

Slim and subtle volumes of poetry and crisp clean stacks of fact. Kids books, cookbooks, military and art books. Books covered in pearly girly covers and books faced with a misty photo and foggier title. The paperback publishing industry has grown 4 fold over the past 10 years. Just as reality TV shows have created a world in which anyone can become a celebrity, the growth of the book market means that everyone can be an author. It does not matter whether you’re David Beckham the footballer or Monica Ali the mother of three from London’s East End. We are indiscriminate: Tell us a life story and we’ll print it because there is nothing so strange as the truth.

I have just bought Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. I bought it for several reasons. Firstly, because it had just won the 2003 Man Booker Prize where it was up against Margret Atwood, Monica Ali, Damon Galgut, Zoe Heller and Clare Morrall. Secondly, I bought it because I read a good review and brief plot synopsis: Vernon is a 15-year-old who finds

Rosalind

“Finlay has been a gambler, cocaine addict and smuggler. He is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt” himself blamed by his Texan community for a high-school massacre, which was actually carried out by his best friend, Jesus, whilst high on LSD. I bought it because it was described as a very dark comedy. But most importantly, the main reason that I bought and read this book was because of its author. I’m not interested in the book as much as the man who wrote it.

Peter Warren Finlay is the 42-year-old Mexican-Australian-American who wrote Vernon God Little, his first book, under the nom-de-plume DBC Pierre. The hidden past behind the name has only recently been

uncovered. Finlay has been a gambler, cocaine addict and smuggler. He is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt due to his extravagant endeavours to make a film tracking his attempts to find the mythic gold of the last Aztec emperor Montezuma. He has had reconstructive facial surgery after a car crash and left a trail of wronged women in his wake.

DBC Pierre stands for Dirty But Clean Peter.

Finlay, who walked away from the British Museum in London on October 14th with the £50,000 Booker prize, has even been accused of stealing a house. The family of American artist Robert Lenton say that Finlay left them penniless after conning Lenton into signing a document in Spanish that he did not understand.

Finlay and Lenton met in Granada in the 1980s and Lenton is understood to have been somewhat of a father figure towards Finlay. His own father, a genetic modification scientist, died when he was 19. The close relationship between Lenton and Finlay turned, when Finlay persuaded Lenton to sign a document stating that Finlay legally owned the

artist’s house. Finlay went on to sell it for approximately $35,000 before disappearing completely. Lenton’s life spiralled into destitution, depression and divorce and then last week he saw his former friend’s picture in the Guardian newspaper.

The day before winning the prize the new, "clean" Pierre reputedly phoned Lenton and promised to pay back the money. The artist has reportedly forgiven him. "I've talked to Peter and I think he has turned his life around. He wants to make it up to me by helping to find a market for my paintings."

Lenton’s family unsuprisingly, have found it harder to forgive Finlay. In a letter to the Guardian on October 17th, Elizabeth Lenton wrote: "My father-in-law cannot remember how severely depressed he was during the years in which Finlay wrote him letters promising that the money was on its way. But my husband and I both remember clearly, since for one of those years Mr Lenton lived with us.

Finlay is Teflon and Brylcreem mixed; sticky stuff rolls off him, yet the slime remains."

Finlay says he wrote Vernon God Little out of regret. "(Regret) is like rocket fuel for this kind of art." Finlay’s regret producing lifestory will undoubtably add rocket-fuel to his sales. Even though Vernon God Little was the second lowest seller on the Booker shortlist (selling just 4,350 copies in hardback and 799 in paper-back since it was published in January) a reprint of 50,000 has been ordered. Perhaps we should view the revelation of his story, therefore, with the same cynicism given to all "publicity-stunts."

However, last years’ Booker Prize winner, Yann Matel, rose from similarly low sells to the top of the bestseller list with his novel The Life of Pi and without much help from lifedivulging publicity.

It is impossible to tell which will produce more sales: DBC Pierre, or his novel. In a recent Sunday Telegraph interview Emily Bearn noted that the "Dirty But Clean" life- story is in danger of overshadowing the book. Perhaps it’s wrong to choose a novelist’s work because of the novelist’s life, but we do.

We cannot detach the two.

It has always been like this. Byron (17881824) became a Lord at ten, slept with several

of his cousins and kept a bear living on his staircase at Cambridge. He had an affair with his married half-sister Augusta, created an Armenian dictionary and ended his life fighting the Greek War of Independence. It was the assumed connection between the author and one of his characters Child Harolde that effectively launched him. A critic of the time wrote: "The genius the poem exhibited, the youth, the rank of the author, his romantic wanderings in Greece – these combined to make the world stark mad about Child Harolde and Byron."

Similarly Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) became

“Finlay is Teflon and Brylcreem mixed; sticky stuff rolls off him, yet the slime remains"

popular when he was associated with his creation, Sal the alcoholic, tripping, hitchhiking writer in On The Road. William Burroughs remarked, "Kerouac opened a million coffee bars and sold a million pairs of Levis".

Sometimes we do not choose a book, instead we choose an author, a celebrity, a life and a style. We choose the writings of the interesting and attractive. Authors are distanced from us through their work and this inherent mystery can drive us tofascination: We think we can get into their heads through their words but the truth is frustratingly otherwise.

Elizabeth Lenton wrote furiously in the October 17th letter: "Peter Finlay is definitely creative. Indeed, even his interviews are the stuff of fiction. Finlay conveniently claims reformation, since it adheres nicely to his newfound fame." Only DBC himself knows how much of his story bares true. Authors are just as capable of constructing an image around themselves as they are of constructing characters, plot and chapter titles in their books.

Nothing is so strange as the truth. Yes, the boundaries between the reality of an author’s life and the fiction of their work can become blurred; but there is often no more exciting place to be than a blurred boundary.

Finding Flatmates - not quite like Friends High competition in Dublin means prospective flatmates have to audition for the honour

E

veryone has their story.

The accommodation crisis afflicting Dublin’s students is not news, Fergusson and as I smugly write this in the attractive, comfortable, heated flat for which my enormously generous parents have just guaranteed the rent, I can feel the wrath of thousands of fellow students in damp digs with harridan landladies and a full-time job, descending on me for daring to imagine that I know anything about the situation.

But arriving in first year knowing no-one and nowhere in Dublin, bitterly conscious of the fact that my friends in other universities were settling con-

Laura

tentedly into their appointed rooms in halls with an automatic supply of meals, washing machines, romantic intrigue and social life, I felt anything but smug. I turned to the Evening Herald.

"You’ll want to hold onto your bag around here", warned the bus driver as

I disembarked on the North Strand Road. It didn’t bode well. The side street of terraced houses to which I had been directed looked pleasant enough, until I realized that, yes, it was that house at the end; dark, unpainted, almost entirely shadowed by a large tree. It was a haunted house straight out of central casting. The door opened and I was shown round a surprisingly appealing four-bedroom home. The drawback was my prospective landlord and flat-mate, a rat-like man in his thirties who seemed to have a disturbingly rapid turnover in occupants of the three spare bedrooms. All the previous tenants had been female, young, and foreign – he was currently living with a Spanish girl and a German one, and appeared to think that a blond British addition would do very nicely. My unease with this Bluebeard-style setup increased when I was shown the garden, which was filled with long mounds of earth…I fled.

More potentially damaging to the ego, because more personal, were the interviews in which the accommodation in question was not even involved. I had one of these in London. Having left my number with the accommodation office in Trinity, I was telephoned by two English public school boys, first years like myself, who were looking for a third person for the flat they had just taken. My increasing desperation meant that I was not that bothered by accepting at face value the boys’ assurances that it was a nice place. All that was at stake was that they should like me. Like some 18 certificate date, I wanted to persuade both these boys to take me home.

We met in a pub, and enjoyed a couple of drinks together, but although I affected relaxation the stakes felt higher than any date or even job interview. If these people didn’t like me I was on the

streets. Maybe I should have worn a shorter skirt, maybe I should have pretended to be into rugby. The boys knew that, as the proud possessors of a flat, they could afford to be choosy. Despite raising a couple of laughs I didn’t quite cut it. It was back to scouring the ads.

Which is how, having reached the middle of freshers’ week still homeless, I ended up at Neptune House. Until my first year (2001-2), this concrete monstrosity had allegedly been owned by college but, evidently ashamed of it, they had sold it to a private company, who continued to charge the same rent but removed as unnecessary luxuries the ovens, the laundry facilities and cleaning staff. Oh, except for where the stairs were concerned. Thanks to an ever-increasing team of Philippinos, who seemed to add to their number at the same rate as the residents fled, we

“Like some 18 certificate date, I wanted to persuade both these boys to take me home” had the cleanest stairs in existence, but hot water was a rare and celebrated arrival, and there was no heating. Plus, we were in Blackrock, which is not the easiest place from which to create a life in Trinity if you know nobody to start with. A twenty minute DART ride into town in order to attend a reception and achieve that ultimate objective “Meet People”, then having to leave at 11 to get the last train back was not much fun, and it’s not surprising that many of the Neptune House residents (mostly Erasmus students and a few fellow international first years who, like myself, had ended up here as a punishment for disorganisation) chose to forego the events devised by Trinity

and instead bring the contents of the local off-license back to base camp in a desperate attempt to prove to themselves that contrary to appearances they were neither in boarding school nor prison. My own solution was, as soon as I had made friends, to spend virtually every night on their sofas, an escape plan which became easier when, in Hilary term, I acquired a boyfriend with a double bed, heating, hot water and a washing machine.

Things brightened up considerably in second year, when I lived with a good friend in a good flat, and life was, generally, good. But this year we decided to add someone else to the mix, and, having found ourselves a gorgeous three bedroom flat, we advertised. I finally realised the appeal of the whole datelike tactic that I had encountered first time round. When the flat is accessible and available to be seen, it is difficult to persuade viewers to stay longer than the five minutes it takes to look at it so that you can look at them. It became clear that by making the rent of the third room low enough to attract students, we had made it too low for any of them to care who they lived with. The appeal of the flat was too great- again and again people said "Yes, I’m interested", and then disappeared before we could say "Wait – can you cook? Do you like Coldplay? Do you take heroin? Are you a serial killer?" Trying to ascertain whether you would like to invite a person to live with you in a conversation consisting entirely of "This is the bathroom" is complicated. Of course, there are some easy ones, the people you know at first glance are not going to be right – the guy who never took his baseball cap off (sure, call me petty, but if he annoys you on first meeting then it’s not going to work), the Spanish businessman who spoke next to no English yet attempted to pick up my friend.

Then there were those with a possible redeeming feature – "I have a DVD player" was, I have to admit, a point in favour of one applicant, and another, painfully eager to please, went so far as to say "Well, I could try to get a DVD player", when we jokingly told him of the competition. Clearly, from our own perspective of wanting to find someone we would actually enjoy spending time with rather than just filling a room, it

“One applicant, eager to please, went so far as to say "Well, I could try to get a DVD player", when we jokingly told him of the competition” would have been better to go for a pint with each one and only show the flat to those we liked, but that’s a lot harder to justify when the flat is round the corner than when it’s in a different country.

We were left with the gut reactions of ludicrously short exposure to people, and in attempting to narrow it down we had to become ruthless – the girl I most enjoyed the company of, chiefly because she actually talked to me, was rejected because she wasn’t a student.

In choosing between the final two, aware that either would be a gamble, we resorted to tossing coins, and gauging our reactions to each result. Our eventual flatmate, who moved in a week ago, seems far more compatible with the two of us than we had any right to expect after choosing her on the basis of her smile and lack of baseball cap (and the fact that she brought a friend with her thereby proving, as my friend said that "she’s persuaded at least one person in the world to like her"), though she’ll probably murder me in my sleep after reading this. But I’d rather it was her, than the man on North Strand Road.

Features Editor

FEATURES

Neasa Cunniffe

Trinity News 11th November 2003

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The Other Side of the Door Tim Walker

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Interview with a Bouncer: The story you haven’t heard

here is still an air of uncertainty surrounding the altercation outside Fireworks last month that resulted in the hospitalisation of a Trinity student.

Whatever the hard facts of the incident may be, such a fracas can have done nothing to improve the accepted image of the bouncer as a thug with a licence. But the truth is, we live in an enlightened age. Doormen, as they are now known by the politically correct, are no longer necessarily violent ex-cons given free rein to break heads at the slightest provocation. Hitting a punter, whatever the circumstances, is often more than their job is worth. Alastair, a philosophy student who has also been working Dublin’s doors for two years, claims "bouncers are there mostly to make an impression; they’re a physical presence more than anything. The kind of places I work, the job is more about talking people out than throwing them out."

I tried to persuade Alastair that I could give him a false name when I quoted him, in the hope that anonymity would tease out gritty tales of broken jaws, glassings and bloody encounters with Dublin’s dark underbelly.

Cameron, perhaps, or Clive. "Do I look like a Clive, then?" No, Alastair, you look the exact opposite of a Clive. That’s the whole point. It’s a pseudonym. But, no dice. Unfortunately for investigative journalism, the life of a bouncer in central Dublin nowadays rarely descends into all-out violence. When a fight does occur, it’s the exception to the rule. "It’s things like [the Fireworks incident] that give the job a bad reputation," Alastair explains, and each time a bouncer is involved and that reputation is compounded, it becomes harder for the door-

men who fulfil their duties in the proper manner to redress the balance. "If you throw a punch the guy on the other end is going to remember it in the morning. If you’re polite he probably won’t."

Arguably, Alastair works an easy beat. As a doorman for the Thomas Read group, the clientele he encounters are at the top end of the market; punters who can afford to drink in Pravda, Ron “The key word for the doorman is restraint. Restrain the violent drunk. Restrain yourself from breaking his legs” Black’s or the Morrison Hotel and would rather not spill blood on their suits. In fact, he was drafted whilst working in the Morrison’s bar. "One of the guys who runs the firm saw me working on the bar, and told me if I ever got bored I should come and work for him as a bouncer instead. I was already pretty bored."

Recruitment, then, is casual enough. For all the man knew, Alastair could have been a big wuss. But when I say a big wuss, I mean a seven-foot wuss that I’d think twice about being lippy with, even if I was fifty feet away and clutching a baseball bat. And what about training? "Well, the company takes you on for a probationary period, and you’re paired with guys who’ve been working doors for a while. If you’re not going to cut it after that [i.e you’re a headcase, or have particularly bad communication skills], you get dropped."

So, training is largely on the job.

There is no preparatory taekwon-do class, nor is there a clear discussion of the legal issues involved, beyond the signing of a contract whose contents Alastair

seemed unable to recall. However, it is made perfectly clear that the doorman is there to serve the bar and its owner, a job description that counts out getting him or her sued. Hitting a customer is actively discouraged; the key word for the doorman is restraint.

Restrain the violent drunk.

Restrain yourself from breaking his legs.

So, what of the job itself?

"Basically, we get paid to take abuse. It was a real eye-opener at first, and I realised pretty quickly why so many bouncers are surly or humourless. You just see the worst of everyone." The moneyed crowd that frequents one of Alastair’s newer beats rarely acknowledge his and his colleagues’ presence when they slide past them into the bar, denying them even the most basic human courtesy. The doorman’s implicit authority is also perceived as having been abused the moment they deny a punter entry. I know, I’ve been that punter. Haven’t we all?

Apparently, though, students are unlikely to be culpable when trouble starts. "Drunk solicitors cause far more trouble than students because they think they own the world, and you can’t touch them “Liam Gallagher turned up one time... he’d no front teeth at the time because he’d just been soundly beaten by a pair of German bouncers in Munich” because they’ll have you sued.

But then they’re normally the people the manager likes to see spending money at the bar." In general, door policy is left to the discretion of the bouncer, based on the type of clientele the owner wants to attract to their particular establishment. But, as a rule,

"six English guys on a stag night are more likely to be involved in a bit of trouble than a couple out for after-dinner drinks." Knowing that the Morrison is a recognised celebrity hangout, I couldn’t resist asking whether Alastair had ever had to eject somebody famous. "Well, Liam Gallagher turned up once with the Appleton sisters, but for once he didn’t cause any trouble. He’d no front teeth at the time," he added with some glee, "because he’d just been soundly beaten by a pair of German bouncers in Munich."

In his time as a doorman, Alastair has only been involved in one serious violent incident, and even that story didn’t end in an ambulance. "A pair of idiots made the mistake of starting a fight with the bouncer at Pravda, at the one moment that night that there happened to be four of us on the door." One was soon pinned to the floor, leaving his friend to bab-

ble drunkenly on until the gardai arrived. Generally, the police are on good terms with the doormen around Dublin. "They see a lot of the same kind of trouble as we do, get the same attitude...It’s always better for us if we call the police, rather than someone else calling the police on us."

The interview is all but over when I make a last-ditch attempt to extract at least one bloody episode from Alastair’s memory, or even second-hand from the tales of his colleagues. "Well, most of the stories you hear come back to you differently from the next person you work with. The bouncer who loves telling you about the last head he kicked in could just as easily have been wetting himself behind the plate-glass windows when the fighting started."

An uncharacteristic image, that.

I, for one, will never look at a bouncer the same way again

Trinity News ‘Attitude Poll’ Results Yes

Menace or Mate: what do students think?

Photo: Matt Pitt

No

Results compiled by Neasa Cunniffe

10

GAEILGE

Trinity News 11 November 2003 th

Focal ar an taobh le R.G. Cuan: Todhchaí ár dTeanga

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s ar éigean a bhí R.G. ábalta colún na seachtaine seo a scríobh mar bhí an ríomhaire s’aige i bhfolach fá na mílte freagraí a seoladh isteach chuige i ndiaidh an eagráin dheireanaigh. Nach sibh atá corraithe fá na suaitheantais údaí?

Ar na dea-uair, áfach, d’éirigh leis an díograiseoir an méarchlár a aimsiú sa deireadh agus, agus beart eile fan mail ag teacht isteach san oifig, chuir sé ceann amháin eile dá chuid tuairimí ar pár.

Cad é a bheas mar ábhar léitheoireachta agaibh na iarraidh seo mar sin? An Ghaeilge san Eoraip.

‘Chan an tsean-theanga sin arís!’ a deir sibh, ach léigí ar aghaidh mar tá rud suntasach suimiúil ar na bacáin, b’fhéidir.

Mar nach eol do mhórchuid na tíre, ní raibh stádas oifigiúil oibre riamh ag an Ghaeilge san Aontas Eorpach, agus níl go fóill. Ní fhoilsítear achtanna an Aontais i nGaeilge, ní féidir teagmháil a dhéanamh leis an Aontas fríd an Ghaeilge agus ní féidir labhairt i nGaeilge i bParlaimint na hEorpa mar níl séirbhís aistriúcháin ar fáil don teanga.

De ghnáth, nuair a thagann tír isteach san AE cláraítear an teanga oifigiúil s’acu mar cheann de theangacha oifigiúla an Aontais. Faoi láthair, tá an stádas oifigiúil seo ag 11 teanga (an Béarla, an Danmhairgis, an Fhionlainnis, an Fhrainicis, an Ghearmáinis, an Ghréigis, an Iodáilis, an Ollainis, an Phortaingéilis, an Spáinnis agus an tSualainnis).

Ar ndóigh, níl stádas oibre ag mionteangacha na hEorpa ach níl ach dhá theanga náisiúnta nach bhfuil stádas oifigiúil acu san Aontas; an Ghaeilge agus an Lucsamburgais.

Is ag Dia amháin atá ‘fhios cad é a bhí ar intinn an Rialtais in 1973 nuair a roghnaigh siad gan ‘stádas teanga oifigiúla’ a lorg do ‘chéad theanga an Stáit’. Dúirt siad go mbeadh deacrachtaí praiticiúla ann maidir le haistriúchán na gcáipéisí ach is beag an leithscéal é sin. Is cinnte ag an am nach raibh an mhuinín chéanna ag muintir na tíre seo asainn féin mar náisiún Eorpach, agus is dóiche go raibh tionchar aige sin ar an chinneadh, ach is tráth dúinn anois an dearmad dall seo a chur i gceart.

Ní amháin go gcuideoidh an stádas oifigiúil le saol na Gaeilge sa tír seo agus meastar go gcruthófaí suas le 500 post in institiúidí na hEorpa, agus nár mhaith le roinnt cairde R.G. post breá sofaisticiúil mar sin bheith acu? Agus shíl sibhse go mbeadh sibh gafa i Ros Muc go deo!

Tá an tAontas le fáilte a chur roimh 10 mballstát nua ar an bhliain seo chugainn, iag uilig lena dteangacha féin, agus mar sin is am fóirteanach é aitheantas oifigiúil a lorg don Ghaeilge. Tá tús á chur le feachtas anois chun an stádas cuí, stádas atá go iomlán tuillte aici, a thabhairt don Ghaeilge agus beidh deis iontach ag an Rialtas é seo a dhéanamh nuair a bheidh uachtaránacht an Aontais ag Éirinn i mí Eanáir.

(An gcluineann tú sin a Bhertie?)

Is ríthábhacht an cheist í seo, impleachtaí aici do thodhchaí na Gaeilge mar theanga oibre agus ba chóir do phobal na Gaeilge iomlán a dtacaíochta a léiriú don fheachtas.

Cuirfidh muid le chéile agus tabharfaidh muid guth don teanga in Éirinn agus san Eoraip.

B’fhéidir go mbeidh an Ghaeilge á labhairt i bParlaimint na hEorpa (thuas) go luath

Eagarthóir na Gaeilge Tommy Connolly

Tinte na Tríonóide Robert Smyth

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ar is eol do cách faoin am seo, bhí tine i dteach a seacht oíche an tríú lá déag de mhí Dheireadh Fómhair. Seo achoimre bheag ar ar tharla: Thosaigh an tine sa chóras leictreachais san íoslach agus bhuail an t-aláram tine sa teach go huathoibríoch ar an toit. Bhí ar an bhfoireann slándála an t-aláram a chur ag bualadh i dteach a hocht agus dteach a naoi iad féin. Tar éis tamaill, cuireadh an t-aláram ar siúl i dteach a deich.

Bhí an tOifigeach Slándála agus an tOifigeach Áiseanna i measc na foirne a bhí i láthair ag an dtimpiste.

Bhí ar na cónaitheoirí dul amach as na tithe seo agus fanacht amuigh faoin aer ar feadh timpeall uair a chloig. Ní raibh bróga á gcaitheamh ag roinnt de na scoláirí.

Tar éis na h-uaire fuaire sin, bhí na cónaitheoirí in ann fanacht sa séipéal, go dtí go raibh sé slán filleadh ar na h-árasáin. Bhí ar an lucht ó theach a seacht lóistín a fháil in áiteanna eile sa choláiste.

D’inis Eoghan Mag Uidhir, cónaitheoir i dteach a hocht a scéal dom. Dúirt sé nár chuala sé aon aláram tine agus go raibh sé fós ina choladh nuair a tháinig fear dóiteáin isteach ina sheomra codlata.

Dar leis an bhfoireann slándála gur bhuail an cloigín i dteach a hocht agus dealraíonn sé anois gurbh fhéidir nach raibh sé ard go leor.

Tugadh tuairisc don Déan Sóiseareach faoi na cónaitheoirí nár éirigh óna leapacha nuair a buaileadh an t-aláram.

Bhí ar Eoghan agus scoláirí eile ó theach a hocht dul chuig an LeasDéan, an Dochtúir Paula Murphy, chun ceisteanna a fhreagairt.

Ach ní hé seo an t-aon fhadhb amháin a bhí ar siúl i gColáiste na

Tríonóide i mí Deireadh Fómhair ó thaobh tine de. Ar maidin 23ú den mhí chéanna, bhuail aláram tine sna seomraí ríomhairí EEPC1-EEPC4.

D’imigh gach éinne amach as an bhfoirgneamh, agus tar éis nóiméad nó dhó, cuireadh stad leis na aláram.

D’fhill gach duine ar an bhfoirgneamh.

Agus mé i mbun fiosraithe, ní raibh mé in ann fath buailte an aláraim seo a fháil amach. Ní raibh an teolas ag an Oifigeach Slándála, an tUasal Tom Merriman.

Ar an oíche chéanna, bhuail an taláram tine sa Bhutrach. Arís, bhí ar gach duine dul amach as an bhfoirgneamh. Cuireadh glaoch ar folíne 1999, tháinig an fhoireann slándála agus tar éis cúig nóiméad déag, ar a laghad, stad an t-aláram.

D’fhill gach duine ar an mButrach.

Tar éis dhá nóiméad, bhí an taláram ar siúl arís. Chuaigh gach duine amach agus tháinig an fhoireann slándála ar cuairt eile.

Mar an gcéanna leis na hócáidí eile, ní raibh tine ar bith ann.

Is léir óna cásanna seo go léir go bhfuil, nó fiú go raibh, fadhbanna leis an gcóras aláram tine sa Choláiste. Deir údárais an Choláiste go raibh an t-aláram tine ag bualadh i dteach a hocht, ach deir cónaitheoirí nár chuala siad tada.

Freisin, bhuail alármaí tine trí uaire i rith an lae céanna, gan tine ar bith. Is cinnte go bhfuil córas maith ar champas maidir le cúrsaí slándála agus a leitheid ach má tá tuilleadh cásanna mar seo ann ní bheidh muinín ag daoine as na haláraim.

Is rud tábhachtach é gur féidir le daoine braith ar an gcóras nuair is gá agus táthar ag súil nach leanfaidh sraith seo na n-aláram ar aghaidh.

An tine sa GMB in 2000

Rangers na Gaeilge Tá lucht leanúna Glasgow Rangers atá bunaithe anseo i mBaile Átha Cliath ag tiontú ar an Ghaeilge Tomaí Ó Conghaile

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s beag an bhaint atá ag Glasgow Rangers le Gaeil na hÉireann de ghnáth, seachas an choimhlint dhian idir iad féin agus foireann eile na cathrach sin thall.

Is ábhar mór iontais é mar sin go bhfuil cumann tacaoíchta Rangers curtha ar bun ag lucht leanúna an chlub i mBaile Átha Cliath.

Baile mór na gCeilteach atá sa phríomhchathair, ar ndóigh, ach i ngan fhios d'fhormhór mhuintir Bhaile Átha Cliath, tá cumann tacaíochta an namhad ag streachailt leis sa chathair.

Bunaíodh Dublin Loyal Supporters Club cúpla bliain ó shin agus tá ballraíocht thart ar 50 ag an chumann.

Albanaigh atá ag obair in Éirinn iad formhór na mball ach, dar le suíomh idirlín an chumainn, tá roinnt Éireannach páirteach ann chomh maith.

Ar an suíomh, déantar cur síos cuimsitheach ar na himeachtaí a eagraíonn an cumann i rith an tséasúir in Albain agus tá foirm leictreonach ann dá m ba mhaith le duine ar bith bheith ina bhall den chumann.

Is é an rud is suntasaí faoin suíomh seo, áfach, ná go bhfuil Gaeilge in úsáid acu ar roinnt dá gcuid leathanach gréasáin. Tá leagan Gaeilge d'amhrán cáiliúil Rangers, The Billy Boys, ar fáil ar an suíomh chomh maith le ráiteas a chuireann fáilte roimh chainteoirí Gaeilge.

Ní hamháin go bhfuil gnáthchantaireacht Rangers aistrithe go Gaeilge acu ach tá naisc do choláistí Gaeilge ar an suíomh fosta.

Is feiniméan aisteach é Gaeilge a bheith ag lucht tacaíochta Rangers sa tír seo ach, in Albain, tá gaol láidir ann, le fada an lá, idir cainteoirí Gàidhlig agus foireann Ghlaschú.

Tá roinnt cumainn tacaíochta ag Rangers i gceantair Ghaeltachta na hAlban, Steórnabhagh ar Oileán Leódhais agus Port Rí ar Oileán Sgitheanach ina measc.

Measadh gur cumann bréige a bhí i

“Tá leagan Gaeilge d'amhrán cáiliúil Rangers, The Billy Boys, ar fáil ar an suíomh chomh maith le ráiteas a chuireann fáilte roimh chainteoirí Gaeilge”

Na ‘Gers’ ag ceiliúradh i nGaeilge?

gcumann Bhaile Átha Claith mar gheall ar a laghad fógraíochta a dhéanann siad ach deir lucht eagraithe an chumainn go gcaithfidh próifíl íseal a bheith acu ós rud é go bhfuil sé suite i gcathair mhór na gCeilteach.

Dhearbhaigh oifigigh in Ibrox go bhfuil an cumann tacaíochta cláraithe leis an chlub ach dhiúltaigh siad labhairt faoi shonraí chumann tacaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath.

B'fhéidir nach mbeidh amhráin Ghaeilge na mBuachaillí Billy seo ar eolas ag lucht tacaíochta Rangers in áiteanna eile sa tír ach léiríonn an t-éan corr seo taobh eile den ghnáthnasc idir foirne Ghlaschú agus muintir na hÉireann.

Science Editor

SCIENCE

Kirsten Bratke

Trinity News 11th November 2003

Fighting Blindness with SFI The Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) approved funding of 12 million Euro for 12 researchers working in the fields of Biotechnology and Information and Communications Technology – identified as the key strategic drivers in Irish economy. This funding is part of the SFI project running from 2000-2006 to invest a total of 646 million Euro (check) aiming to convert Ireland into a worldclass international research base.

The researchers and their teams are based in 3rd level institutions in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and have been selected following a process of international peer review.

One of the funded groups is part of the TCD Department of Genetics.

Scientists around Dr Peter Humphries, Dr Gwyneth Jane Farrar and Dr Paul Francis Kenna from the Ocular Genetics Unit are

investigating hereditary degenerative diseases of the retina causing blindness.

This research group, which consists of 26 people (including postdoc research fellows, PhD students and technicians that entertain the animal facility), has been working on elucidating the genetic basis of the most prevalent causes of registered blindness since the start of the retinal project in 1985 with their research emphasis on a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) – which causes more blindness in people of working age than any other disease.

RP currently affects about 1.5 to 2 million people worldwide with about 100,000 affected in the UK. It causes the gradual breakdown and degeneration of the photoreceptor cells of the retina resulting in progressive loss of vision usually ending in complete blindness.

There are currently no conventional therapies for this condition.

The primary focus of research for the last 18

years has been the characterisation of disease-causing genes.

Humphries names a number of milestones: the first was a major genetic linkage study that was undertaken on genetic material from a very large family in Ireland in which over 50 people were affected by a form of RP. Following that study the first RP causing gene was localized on chromosome 3 in 1989 leading to the implication of the gene encoding rhodopsin in the disease causation. In 1991 a second large scale study came to conclusion with the localization of a second RP gene on chromosome 6, encoding a protein called RDS-peripherin which functions as a structural building block of photoreceptor cells of the retina.

Another more recent observation has been the identification of mutations within a gene encoding an enzyme necessary for vision.

Until now, at least 27 genes have been found to be implicated in RP

An eyeball being injected as part of RP therapy

(4 of which have been discovered in Ireland) and at least another 30 need identification.

However, for three of those genes alone, there are now more than 200 different mutations known that cause RP. These mutations count for up to 40% of the dominant cases of the disease.

Humphries stresses, "a very important component of the research is our capability to generate and maintain small animal, i.e. mouse models of retinal disease in Specific pathogen free conditions".

In the past, the group has also worked on the development of mouse models that mimic the disease. In 1997, the first animal model to be generated in Ireland for a disease was a transgenic mouse carrying a mutated version of the rhodopsin gene. More recently a mouse model has been generated carrying a mutated peripherin gene. These animals, which rely largely on smell rather than vision, are proving to be of great value in explorations of meth-

Two other research teams and their projects have also been selected from T rinity: - Dr Andrew Graham Bowie from the Department of Biochemistry and his team are investigating the body’s defences and immune response to certain viruses at the molecular level to develop new methods of fighting infectious viral diseases.

- Dr Daniel Bradley and his group from the Department of Genetics are examining the resistance to infectious diseases bovine genes. The group aim to expand their knowledge to other mammals, which could open doors for veterinary and human pharmaceutical industries to develop new drugs targeting those diseases. ods for restoring the visual function "and the animals are looked after very well" reassures Humphries.

The major research objective now is to explore and develop genetic methods that prevent or slow down the progression of the disease.

RP can be caused by a great variety of different mutations, so that a therapy targeting individual mutations would be ‘economic suicide’ in respect to clinical validation. Clearly, a mutation-independent therapeutic approach is needed. One approach evaluated in TCD is to

knock out the mutated gene and replace it with a copy of the healthy gene, which then codes for the required gene product.

On the question if and when there will be a cure for blindness, Humphries comments: "Well, I think we all hope that there will be a prevention to the progression of these diseases. Rather than talking about a cure, we hope that we will be able to prevent the disease progressing and save the sight of the people."

He thinks that "some forms of therapeutic intervention will enter what we call phase 1 trials within the next year or two" but admits he would "be more comfortable in talking about the next 5 years".

Humphries concludes:"The funding from SFI will assist in our further understanding of the genetic cause of eye diseases which are of immense social and economical importance and will assist in the development of therapeutics to prevent such conditions".

How Far can we Go? “Who makes the rules for science?" boldly asked the invitation to the Royal Irish Academy’s Halloween Public Lecture.

Under the title of "No Strings Attached" the RIA presented a panel chaired by Justice Adrian Hardiman that promised to answer the public’s burning questions on designer babies, cloning and ethics.

What actually took place in the Ed Burke Theatre that night was a fairly peaceful presentation of three scientists’ work in controversial areas.

Clive Page, a pharmacologist from London, without being challenged to do so, vigorously defended animal testing on the grounds that the animals in his lab were in fact treated better than patients in a Southeast London casualty ward. If scientists stopped testing drugs on animals, there would be no medication at all. And surely, he teased the audience, nobody here would refuse in a moment of extreme pain or after a life-threatening accident to be given drugs because they had been tested on rodents?

Page was revealed to be somewhat of a celebrity pharmacologist after he related a story that happened during one man’s hunger

strike as part of a mission to stop animal testing. An animal rights group had published a list of people they intended to kill if the striker died from hunger; Page himself was number two on that list.

Next up to speak was Andrew Green, the director of the National Centre for Medical Genetics, who is involved in genetic counselling. In a collegestyle presentation he gave the audience a run-down of genetic disorders, available testing and problems related to the tests. They are worth thinking about: Do you agree with therapeutic cloning in which cells are produced for treatment of disorders like Alzheimer’s?

In pre-implantation diagnosis, which disorder is "acceptable" to test for, i.e. what disease is not worth living with?

If you knew there was a 50% chance of you having an incurable condition (Huntington’s disease) with onset in middle age, that would cause the slow deterioration of your nervous system and eventually death, would you want to find out for sure? Or would you prefer to live in blissful ignorance, possibly subjecting your children to the same risk?

Green urges people to weigh the risks and make up your own mind.

The most entertaining

Haven’t got a clue what to do after college? These people might give you ideas..

Dr. Linda Williams, 31 Forensic Scientist - BSc from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics) in 1993 - BSc Honours in Biotechnology from the University of Hertfordshire, England - PhD in Plant Biotechnology, NUI Maynooth. During my PhD project I worked on genetic modification of Apple. My work involved plant tissue culture, molecular and biochemical analyses, report writing and presentation of material at conferences. current job: I started work in forensic science laboratory in February 2003. I am presently working on DNA profiling in the main biology section of the forensic science laboratory. previous jobs: Project Manager of the “Programme for Selection and Breeding of Irish Birch”. This was a countrywide breeding programme to produce quality birch for the Irish timber industry. The running of the project included managing tree plantations, fieldwork, plant tissue and molecular analysis of birch for traits of interest to timber growers. loving it: As I am in my initial training period I am on a steep learning curve and enjoy the challenges that arise. I also enjoy the fact that working as a forensic scientist relies on an accumulation of skills gained from working on different cases. not loving it: You need a strong stomach and there are times when you wish you didn’t have a sense of smell! how to get there: Basic qualification for employment at the Dublin forensics lab is an honours degree. The majority of people employed in the biology section have further qualifications and/or postgrad experience. The important thing is to have experience in particular techniques such as molecular biology, rather than having qualifications in forensic science. An ability to speak in public and write reports are also valuable because they prepare you for the aspects of the job which are not purely scientific, like testifying in court.

Short Cuts

Rodney the Mouse.

Unchallenged puppeteers at science ethics lecture

Kirsten Bratke

CV career vitals

TCD Genetics research group is awarded major funding from the Science Foundation Ireland Melanie Spaeth

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speaker of the night was Christine Evans, star of her own TV show "Under the knife with Miss Evans". She is a urologist, mainly concerning herself with the "male naughty bits", be it in the process of gender reassignment, AIDS research in Africa or treatment of male infertility. Evans has seen it all and she brought the slide show to prove it: the audience are treated to horrendous pictures of gangrenous foreskins and giant ulcers. She partly blames the Roman Catholic Church for the spreading of AIDS and one after the other ridicules many religions for their hypocritical approach to bioethics, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, who refuse blood transplants but accept donor organs. It irritates Evans how the church seem to think they have a "monopoly on goodness"; and how religious people often believe atheists like herself are bereft of any righteousness.

Again, these topics are all thought provoking and each could justify a whole lecture themselves. But they don’t quite fit into the frame set for this one.

Nevertheless, Evans manages to switch between jokes and shockers so quickly and eloquently that she really keeps the audience engrossed.

"Thorny questions to be

Joke of the Month There are only 10 types of people in the world.

Those who understand binary and those who don’t.

7th Science Week Dolly, the first cloned mammal raised", promised the Irish Times before the lecture, and provided a phone service for people to address their questions to the panel. Apart from the occasional "Are scientists losing sight of what it’s all about?" , however, the members of the audience were being very tame and full of approval for the speakers. I missed the raging theologists and persistent philosophers that would have made these ninety minutes that little bit more compelling.

It was, despite everything, a very interesting lecture giving an insight into scientific disciplines that many people feel squeamish about. No matter what your view on reproductive cloning or penile implants may be, one thing is certain according to Evans: "In the end you get burned or buried."

This week (9th-16th November) sees, for the seventh year running, various events around the country which aim to promote active participation in science for all age groups, all backgrounds and all levels of knowledge.

Here are some selected events in and around Dublin, free admission, that might be of interest to you.

Exhibition of historic scientific instruments in the National Science Museum in Maynooth, 15th 16th November, 2 - 5 pm.

Irish Wildlife: A photographic exhibition, in the Rathbeale Library, Swords Shopping Centre, 10th 15th November.

“From Pan to Pandemic: animal to human infection”, lecture by Robin Weiss, 11th November, 7pm, RIA, 19, Dawson Street. Pre-book tickets at www.ria.ie.

“Attack of the killer microbes”, lecture in NUI Maynooth, 12th November, 7pm.

“Dolly: It’s all in the genes”, talk with Mary Corcoran in the Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham, 13th November, 7pm.

Science & Literature discussion/poetry reading in the Dublin Writers’ Centre, 13th November, 7.30pm.

“The search for Life on Mars” by Emmett Mordaunt, Blanchardstown Library, 14th November, 2.30pm. Pre-book tickets at the library under 018905563.

Launch of a Discovery Corner in the Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, 10th - 14th November, 10am - 5pm.

Science and Society, debate in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 10 Burlington Road, pre-book tickets under 01-6140122 For more information on these and other events go to www.science.ie.

All eyes on Medical Futures Winner A novel ophthalmoscope is the overall winner of this year’s Medical Futures Innovation Awards. This pocket sized device for diagnosing eye diseases provides a low cost, simple to use alternative to existing designs and is set to revolutionise healthcare in the developing world.

The inventor, Roger Armour, a retired surgeon from Hertfordshire, will receive £10,000 from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts), sponsor of the overall winner at this year’s Awards, and will be fast-tracked for possible further funding of up to £100,000 to help develop the technology further.

The new ophthalmoscope weighs just 30g and costs less than £2 to make, compared to a standard one which can weigh up to 400g and cost up to £340 to produce.

Armour, who was delighted to win the award, hopes his invention “will be of help to people in poorer countries, where the cost of medical equipment can be prohibitive." It will help doctors all over the world diagnose diseases such as glaucoma, cerebral malaria and high blood pressure.

Winners in all categories include a prosthesis, developed by Tim Briggs who won Best Innovation to Improve Child Health with this prosthesis that will grow with the child, reducing the need for further surgery or even amputation.

The Best Innovation in Health Communication was won by the team who created a group of animated characters following in the footsteps of Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam. They are supposed to relay important health messages, such as hand washing to children between the ages of 2-6.

Helen Lee won the Best Diagnostic Innovation with her FirstBurst urine collection system, which has the purpose of avoiding the messy process experienced by millions of patients each year and aiding improved accuracy in diagnosis of diseases such as STDs. Brian Thornes, an orthopaedic specialist registrar from Ireland, won the Best Medical Device Innovation with his Tightrope ankle suture repair system, which will improve the operative management of patients with ankle fractures.

Andy Goldberg, founder of Medical Futures, commented that "the choice was based on the ability to affect patient care, commercial potential and novelty."

In 2003 the Award received over 620 entries from a wide platform including scientists, hospital consultants, GPs, nurses and physiotherapists right through to the hospital porter.

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Trinity News 11th November 2003

THEATRE

Theatre Editor Patrick Stewart

How Careers in Comedy are Made John Foster reports back from the front line of the Edinburgh Fringe. The ten strong comedy troup that started off in Player’s theatre, How Babies Are Made, showed the Royal Mile, Scotland and the World exactly how it is done with their hit show ‘TV Dinner and Dancing’.

05.30 hours and A Squadron was in position. It was a dewy morning. A scout slowly and methodically crushed a still-warm cigarette butt beneath his cowboy boot, scanning the darkness for any sign of B Squadron. You could cut the atmosphere with a fork.

Suddenly the soldiers of B squadron arrived. There was relief and warm exchanges. But wait! C squadron had not radioed in to confirm their arrival. Once again the air was tense. In the distance a wolf howled. ‘Abort?’ someone suggested. Then, with a rush of automatic doors and trollies, the missing squadron cruised towards us adorned with plastic weaponry, plastic helmets, and a single rubber chicken. There was much delight and celebration. If there had been food, there would have been a feast. Once on the plane, the battle had only just begun …

H-Bam is Ireland’s only full-time student comedy group, and Edinburgh was our first exposure to an international audience.

Originally conceived as an improvised comedy troupe, we transformed our act into sketch-comedy at the start of the 2002-2003 year performing firstly in Trinity’s Players Theatre, then latterly in Christchurch’s smoky comedy-den Mother Redcaps.

H-Bam writes and performs as a ten-piece unit, meaning decisions can be as rare as yetis. But despite this lack of directorial whipping, during the year H-Bam had managed to write and stage three sketch-shows - ‘Bigger Than Jesus’, ‘Send in the Clowns’ and ‘Scraped off the Crackhouse Floor’. All were a collection of spontaneous ideas and comic-etchings bracketed under the same title, merely as a result of when they were written. Original conceptions would emerge during dingy drinking sessions and expanded into full-blown sketches in such inspiring places as couches or apartments, even over afternoon tea. With Edinburgh looming we could not afford to perform another experimental mess. Arriving in early July for our pre-festival rehearsal schedule - which swiftly became a comedy ‘boot-camp’- the entire H-bam repertoire was dissected like an old fish we had forgotten to bone. Under the banner of ‘TV Dinner and Dancing’ (the name of our new show) our lives were regimented for the week, our metaphorical comedy-heads shaven. It got so bad that one guy actually shot himself in the lavatory.

Confidence was uncertain and nerves were twitching as we boarded that ryanair flight on that misty morn- the pilot too sharing our edgy feelings, the shaky landing a sure sign that it was the first time for both him and us.

It went to shit that first morning. By ten o’clock we had eaten a full Irish breakfast (complete with award winning sausages) and had begun necking whisky, waiting for the landlord to arrive with keys and directions. It struck Mik that it would be worth checking out the venue as we had a few hours to kill, so off we trundled. The Smirnoff Underbelly, a converted book-depository situated beneath the George IV Bridge, lay in a state of semi-construction populated by about five pony-tailed workmen all of whom seemed to be called Adrian. ‘Come back tomorrow’ was our chosen Adrian’s merry cry and so we left, noticing on the way out that our poster had been splattered across the walls outside. Well at least the £400 given to the poster boy was money well spent, even if the venue was, at present, a timber yard.

Returning the next day there was pleasant surprise aplenty. What previously resembled a Baghdad police station was now a warren of cavernous theatre spaces, bars, and music venues. Walking up the

Mik Cullinan tries to look as if he isn’t enjoying it on the Royal Mile, 2003 cobblestone path along a tunnel illuminated by grotto lights, the dripping gothic bridge above, it was not hard to understand why the Guardian dubbed the place ‘an atmospheric wonder’. We were performing alongside celebrities such as Dudley Sutton (of Lovejoy fame), Gary le Strange, and Aaron Barshak , the Comedy Terrorist.

Despite the kudos, there were problems from the start. We had a zombie press office which equated ‘please can you print a copy of our review and stick it on the board’ with ‘please can I have a sandwich and put it in my mouth’ and more alarmingly the staff spent more time sniffing naughty salt than watching their own shows.

To make a name for ourselves we had to attack the Royal Mile - a stretch of road in the older part of Edinburgh - famous for being the outdoor centre of action during the festival period. Lined with kilt and fudge shops, it curls down from the military tattoo, jammed with theatre groups plugging their shows. Stunts are the best way to get oneself noticed on the Mile. Originally certain cast members were intent on claiming responsibility for the death of Dr. David Kelly. We quickly realised such a move would be a major tactical error. The most important traits of any fringe stuntman are audacity and a willingness to look daft in front of a crowd and with this in mind the Royal Mile becomes an easier nut to crack. So it was decided that a man should be tied to a tiny wooden chair and gagged with flyers. He screamed muffled pleas to passing tourists, members of the group circling like circus trainers, threatening to kill him if people did not see the show. This worked a treat and the first performance pulled in 50 punters - not bad if you consider that the average audience for a Fringe show is 4.

Our publicity got steadily more sinister over the first week with

members of the cast lying ‘dead’ in a pool of flyers and blood, a placard on their chest inscribed with 'This is not a publicity stunt'. Soon we were making children cry, so we moved our act to the podiums, standing in a line singing a one-verse song entitled ‘Standing on a podium’ with dancing boxes jiving in front of us. This 20-minute number sent the audience into a crazed mind swirl. Hundreds of passing tourists stood to watch and snatched our flyers like ration packs from aid trucks, prancing on down the street singing our tune, telling others of the good news they had just heard. These tactics kept our audiences up, the show regularly selling out but the Edinburgh press continued to remain silent.

Unfortunately in the first few days the only journalists attending our shows were fools, and by the end of the first week there was a measly one review to our name. ‘Three Weeks’ gave four stars declaring ‘I loved it!’ - but this badly written review also warned that some of the sketches were more terrifying than actually funny (which was great). ‘Fest’ magazine wrote a scathing review describing the show as 'not without humour'. The bright young journalist was puzzled to find everyone else in the room laughing but herself, and continuing in this perplexed tone, asking the reader: "Have you ever been in a situation when everyone gets the joke apart from you?" Such an honest admittal of stupidity surely merits a tear.

Both Hairline and the Scotsman had attended a sell-out show, yet nothing seemed to have come of it. By this point it was hard to keep motivation up because, although audiences were large and there had been a strong review, it did feel like perhaps the pinnacle had been reached and a tattered flag erected. The show itself had become a routine - so slick by this point that the audience had no time to laugh. The group itself was a wee bit introverted affecting the speed and dynamic of the show. Video footage revealed the final dance routine was being performed as if the audience were pointing kalashnikvos at us. It was resolved to slow everything down, go back to basics, to start enjoying the jokes again.

Back on the Royal Mile the following morning Shane tears through the crowds, beaming like Ronald Mc Donald on his wedding day. He reads from a piece of paper the words ‘comic genius’, ‘a must see for this year’s festival’ and ‘the only problem with this show is that it ever had to end’. This was more like it, finally some recognition.

These were the scrawlings of a journalist, an excited journalist from Hairline magazine, who rated the show five out of five. Later we realized they had given us an award - (later presented somewhat awkwardly in front of a sell-out audience who didn’t particularly like us). The Scotsman and Metro responded equally favourably, perhaps more important as these were dailies with far more circulation.

It was bafflingly easy to make a name for your group on the streets of Edinburgh. Although being one of the most famous arts festivals in the world, the competition in our field was limited - a surprise considering the hundreds of shows going on at the time. Pulling in a huge audience was the simple part, getting our name in print was not - which can be frustrating when your group is interviewed on radio, performs with famous celebraties such as Brendon Burns and Ross Noble, and performs (for free) in the cabaret tent during Fringe Sunday. All around you bad shows are being praised like tyrants and your own show is not being ignored by the venue manager. He didn’t attend the show until the final weekend, even though we were one of the largest selling acts in the venue. Despite this minor vent, the experience itself was better for the hard work and difficultiesthe rewards being greater and more surprising and H-Bam will continue to produce sketch comedy, performing an entirely new show in week 8 of this term. We will be returning next year to Edinburgh to give it another bash, building on the reputation earned this summer. There will be a new comedy armoury and probably one or two new haircuts...

Split Haddock: Co-Op 2003 Rough Magic lacks Finnish he three directors of the Fresher’s Co-op making it back double quick fast for even more aren’t giving too much away about the con- Sex Tag) and near compulsory nights out every tents of this year’s offering, Split Haddock, but night it wasn’t just going to be friends for long. judging by the snippets of information they This year has exceeded all previous breeding records with the first would reveal this Fresh faced pair year’s Co-op will be as clocking in on Day 3 mindlessly satirical only to be joined by and hilariously surreal the end of first week as it ever was. Set in by six more loved up Heaven, Hell, and couples. …Leitrim and featurThe three directors, ing a flourishing landBronagh C. Titley, locked fishing village Shane O’Brien and and a lethal barber Ben Simon should shop, it looks like nothknow better as they ing is sacred enough all have fond memoand no corner of ries and scars from Ireland depopulated co-ops past. Shane and unwanted enough recalls not being able to escape the sophistito stand up because cated comic weaponry of knees swollen from of these three directors solo dance routines and their private army and Bronagh fondly of Freshers. recalls sensitively Over 250 people audiportraying Maeve tioned for Split Binchey belly flopHaddock and the lucky ping on to a table fifty have had five screaming ‘I am going weeks of intensive to kill you Chairman comedy workshops and Mao.’ The directors have given away near- Erin Murray and John O’Donnell in last along with John ly every evening of year’s dramatic student co-op madness, Foster and James their college career so Walmesley wrote the far. On top of the actors ‘Exit the Lindbergs’ this year, for the first time, features a dedicated play over the summer and promise that this team of dancers and a specially formed fresher year will be a more coherent plot than the usual band performing a live, original score. ‘Once you series of in-jokey skits and it will also run at add in the crew on top of that number’ enthuses just over two hours (just two hours!). one of the directors ‘it’s like 100 instant friends.’

Friends indeed. With 26 girls and 22 guys, Split Haddock, Player’s Theatre, Week 6 (Mon10rehearsal methods involving Kiss Chase, an Fri14th November) at 8pm. (As always the advanced version known ‘Sex Tag’, the ‘Co-Op queues are long and if you don’t want to end up Challenge’ (which involved running to the Pav on the floor or worse outside get there as early as in the twenty minute break, downing a pint, and you can).

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he marketing blurb depicts Olga, written by Laura Ruohonen, adapted by Linda McLean and directed by Lynne Parker, as ‘the unlikeliest of love stories’ and the unconvincing and improbable narrative that follows does this description justice.

Olga (Rosaleen Linehan) is a lonely, cranky old woman whose isolated world is invaded by a dishonest and restlessly disaffected young man, Rundis (Fergal McElherron).

The pair set out on a courtship that matches his social alienation and young, male anger with her crankiness, truculence and independence. This has it’s touching moments once the relationship is established but the characters seem to have simply floated together rather than having grown their relationship out of anything we see on stage. The start of the coupling features Rundis breaking in to Olga’s apartment and threatening her with a screwdriver while she, though a little flustered, is happy to berate him for his inefficiency, enter in to discussions about historical gender relations and then head off in to the night with him to go bird watching. Olga’s reactions to these violent threats and what can often be described as bullying from Rundis seems to ignore any sense of vulnerability that comes with age and the ease that she seems to accept him as a companion strains belief. Rundis is a limited character who rages against the world and shows a slightly redeeming side with his interest in urban birds and his good intentions towards Olga but ultimately he does nothing, fails to transform, and ends the play pretty much where he started.

Neither Linehan nor McElherron, though they both have energy and presence, seem to get to full grips with their characters and choose very hardedged interpretations that rarely allow any tenderness or sensuousness to help their relationship along. The play lacked a well-defined social context that might have been evident in the original Finnish production but the Parker’s choice of Finnish touches and strong Scottish accents and Scotch whiskey served to smother the characterisations and confuse the context of the play (the action, though translated, was still set in Finland).

Rosaleen Linehan and Fergal McElherron in Olga at the Project Bláithín Sheerin’s set does the job but the stark, minimalist style that hits the mark for wintry, Scandinavian scenes feels at odds with many of the indoor settings, especially Olga’s flat which the play suggests is full of nostalgic mementos of her past but ends up looking remarkably chic. Paul Keogan’s lighting design suggests appropriate atmospheres but I couldn’t help feeling that the whole design concept was a little off key, suggesting an ultra modernity when the play’s characters were both alienated from the modern world around them.

The evening was disappointing and I was surprised to see an established company such as Rough Magic offer up something so weak. Spirited acting was ultimately let down by a weakness of direction and poor adaptation of a play that, if we are to believe the hype, did amazingly well in Finland and must have gained something in it’s native language and context.

Olga, Project Arts Centre, 8:15pm Tickets Eur20/15

Music Editor Derek Owens

MUSIC

Trinity News 11 November 2003 th

Going Deaf in Style Thursday and the showcase gig at the Storehouse on the Saturday night. The former, a live, sit-down concert that took place in the Project Arts Centre was presented by DonnachaCostello’s Minimise label. Though the concert started a half-hour before the advertised time (causing me to miss the first performer, Peter Maybury) and Taylor Deupree didn‘t make an appearance, the music I did get to see was excellent and surprisingly varied. Richard Chartier, In pitch darkness After the phenomenal suc- night at Traffic, hosted by D1, save for the light from his cess of last year’s DEAF the techno label and promot- Powebook, created minimal(Dublin Electronic Arts ers, who are among the driv- ist soundscapes with tightly Festival), TN’s Joe Carroll ing forces behind the festival. controlled use of drones, noise went to DEAF 03 to have a Things wound down on the and pulses. The first half was look following bank holiday utterly absorbing, and his Monday with a variety of DJs performance was marred only The first Dublin Electronic playing at The Globe and by an ill-advised interlude of Arts Festival was one of the Viva bars. As was the case ‘alien whale-song’ towards highlights of last year’s club- last year (and thankfully, I’m the end that managed to bing/concert calendar, an sure, will be for years to sound a trifle cheesy in the audacious attempt by a group come), the general flavour context of the whole.

Probably Ireland’s most sucof the Dublin clubbing scene’s was decidedly underground, cessful exporter of minimalist most devoted and respected so members of the shirts-off electronica and promoters to give techno, Donnacha Ireland its first international-scale festi- “Members of the shirts-off brigade Costello performed val of electronic looking for hands-in-the-air trance next as Modul, music and art. Unlike anthems would have been disap- showcasing music from a forthcoming many similar happointed” - Quite album on the penings abroad, the Raster-noton label. great majority of performers were indigenous, and brigade looking for hands-in- This was more accessible despite the relative lack of the-air trance anthems would fare: where Chartier’s music big-name international have been disappointed. I never once offered the listenguests the people came in don’t want to give the impres- er a drum beat or any regular droves. The line-up was excel- sion that the DEAF is aimed rhythm, Costello’s live set lent, the atmosphere electric, at chin-stroking, muso-intel- opened with a thumping bass and I was left eagerly antici- lectuals and techno train- drum. Where the former had pating the DEAF’s return. spotter types. Over the course deliberately restricted his This year saw the festival of the 10 days a diverse pro- sonic vocabulary, the latter grow impressively in size, gramme of club nights, con- morphed textures, added and duration and scope, with not certs, exhibitions, screenings removed layers, and conone but two gigs in the and other happenings cover- structed and deconstructed Guinness Storehouse and a ing a broad spectrum of styles grooves as he presented such more international line-up, and genres offered something a multitude of ideas that it though it still focused, com- for almost everyone with a became a double edged mendably, on promoting Irish taste for electronic music. sword: all too often a promistalent. It kicked off on Friday Unfortunately, I only man- ing idea or groove was dis17 October with a multimedia aged to attend two of the carded almost as soon as it exhibition at the Temple Bar main events this year: was fully formed.

Music Centre and a club RAUSCH explore on the Finally, Frank Bretschneider played as Komet. Unlike the musicians who had preceded him, visuals were a crucial part of his superb performance, with various images pulsing on the screen complementing Bretschneider’s layered wall of sound. He kept a more-or-less constant groove, making his music by far the most enjoyable to the casual dance- head and, unusually for his style of music, all of his tracks featured a vocal element.

The Storehouse gig on the A Masterpiece of Art or a Waste of a Good PS2?

Saturday was a very different affair.

Five performance areas offered a mixture of live and DJ sets from over twenty-five different artists or groups, covering almost every form of dance/electronic music: house, techno, electro, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, drum’n’bass, down-tempo electronica, and even industrial gabba! For those who didn’t feel like dancing the main sponsor, Playstation 2, had installed several consoles in the venue. While the lineup for the Sunday night was arguably better, there were still plenty of highly respected performers to see: Plaid, DJ Bone, Decal,Ewan Pearson, Panacea, DJ Mek, Paul St. Hilaire and Billy Scurry were my personal picks. In particular I was impressed by Plaid and Decal’s performances: with a new album out now on Warp Records, Plaid showcased a more experimental style that still retained their distinctive

Reviews Bubba Sparxxx Deliverance Interscope / Universal

headline acts performed on the second floor, but in order to see anyone else one had to climb all the way to the fifth floor, which had three separate performance areas. The intervening levels were off limits and visiting the famous Gravity bar meant ascending to the seventh floor. It has to be said, however, that despite the trek involved, the panoramic Gravity bar was well worth visiting: it is, quite simply, the coolest dancefloor in the country.

One further quibble was that the crowd seemed considerably smaller than last year’s. This was always likely to be the case, given that there were twice as many gigs in the Storehouse, but I can’t help wondering if the

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hough it all seems a little silly in retrospect, I had a pretty rough time in high school.

Spending a lot of time holed up in my dorm room reading Kafka, I’d write letters to ex-girlfriends about how I was so sad all the time and how everyone was such a jerk. (Hey, I was a fragile, artsy teenager. I’m allowed.)

I also spent a lot of that time listening to music, though it wasn’t until I heard Elliott Smith for the first time on ‘XO’ that I felt as though someone understood my lonesome teenage troubles. The dominant feature of that record is Smith’s damaged, reedy voice and lyrics belying deep emotional wounds – for example, the song ‘Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands’ ends with the biting indictment, "You say you mean well…you don’t know what you mean/ Better fucking stay the hell away from things you know nothing about."

Calling out for help for the duration of a record, then denying its sincerity when it’s offered…like Morrissey or Ian Curtis before him, Elliott Smith spoke the language of sadness (the language of the fragile teenager) and was articulate enough to make it beautiful in its enunciation, promising a time when sadness is no longer necessary and only the beauty remains.

Unfortunately, the artist couldn’t provide for himself what he promised to the rest of us. Elliott Smith died last week, at 34, from a self-inflicted knife-wound in his chest. He had made four records – a lo-fi, self-titled home recording and the

Between them, production virtuosos Timbaland and the Neptunes have squeezed hip-hop and pop so close together that when Bubba Sparxxx, the Dirty South’s answer to Eminem, provided guest vocals for another of their protégés, Justin Timberlake, no one batted an eyelid. This may have been because Bubba’s debut ‘Dark Days, Bright Nights’, despite its quality, contained enough borrowed Missy Elliot hooks and samples to be dismissed as just another Timbaland record.

‘Deliverance’, on the other hand, while it retains his mentor’s familiar studio panache, is indelibly etched with Bubba’s own personality. This is hiphop knee-deep in the swamp, stinking of yesterday’s shrimp and waiting to creep up and gut you with a Bowie knife. I confess it took me days to get around to listening to the album in its entirety, mostly because I would get halfway through and already want to start all over again. The second side arguably fails to live up to the string band exuberance of ‘Comin’ Round’ or the sombre ‘Nowhere’, but this deserves nonetheless to be one of, if not the year’s most memorable hip-pop LP. (4/5) Tim Walker

Texas ‘Careful What You Wish For’ Mercury Records

Ugly People. And having a ball too. Bless ‘em. sense of melody, and Irish electro hero Alan O’Boyle (now the sole member of Decal since the departure of Dennis McNulty) played a brilliant live set to an enthusiastic crowd.

While I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted- impossible at such an event - the music in general was very good. The Storehouse is a beautiful building, inside and out, and its size and design adds a sense of awe and adventure I’ve yet to experience at another venue, but one unfortunate side-effect of the lay-out was that moving between floors was time-consuming and disorienting. As I tried to see as many acts as possible I found that I missed too much of many sets to really get into them. Most of the

price of the tickets had something to do with it. I commend the organisers for not selling their tickets through Ticketmaster, but at 35 Euro each (60 for a weekend ticket), they were priced beyond the range of most students.

Obviously a huge amount of effort and expense went into the festival, but considering that last year’s tickets were only EUR20, and the huge increase in sponsorship this year, surely a more reasonable price was possible?

These quibbles aside, this year’s DEAF was, an unequivocal success and it deserves our future support. I look forward to it becoming a regular and renowned addition to Dublin’s cultural calendar.

Elliott Smith, Rest in Peace...

Shane Greene gives a belated thank you to a hero

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brilliant Either/Or for the indie label Kill Rock Stars, then was picked up by the majors after contributing the best songs from Either/Or in addition to his catchiest song ever, ‘Miss Misery’, to that Good Will Hunting movie.

(Elliott Smith was not an attractive man – he had something of a bulb for a nose and was scarred by acne – but the Best Ever Elliott Smith moment is the music video for that song, where he shuffles down a city street in a frilly white suit, putting coins into all the parking meters.) Then came XO; then, finally, Figure 8, which was unfortunately produced out of existence, but is emphatically not-bad. I was pretty broken up about it when I heard, and it still takes me a minute to think about his body of work as being strangely, prematurely complete. I’ve been listening to Either/Or in remembrance, the sadder of his two best albums. It sounds as though the original tracks were recorded in his living room, then dubbed over in a studio, creating both a sense of immediacy and a phony transparent sheen that, because it wants to hide something, makes that something more

poignant. In retrospect, the final events of his life give incidental phrases a morose weight: he sings, among other things, of escaping the world though drug and alcohol abuse ("Drink up with me now/ And forget all about/ The pressure of days…"), the impossibilty of finding happiness in love, the soulessness of cities… I’ve reacted differently to the loss of Elliott Smith than to that of Johnny Cash, or the anticipated loss of Bob Dylan (who can’t have more than a few years left). While, those other deaths are tragic from an artistic standpoint – that a hero has died – it’s hard to look at Elliott Smith’s death from anything but the perspective of a friend. There was always so little space between the man in the songs and the one performing them that every word seemed a confessional. As such, the most upsetting thought of the whole situation is that I was never able to give him the reassurance he gave me. I can’t say anything more than, "Thanks, man", and hope that he was able to get a little happiness from knowing that he was a reassurance for some of us when we needed it.

Texas's 'descent', in the course of three number one albums, from little darlings of the music press to among the most easy bands to be cynical about, can be explained by two words: Greatest Hits.

Suddenly, they weren’t the delightful almost-losers come good, they wanted to make money, lots of it.

Shocking. Now their new effort has a naff ‘edgy’ title and a press blurb waffling about ‘new directions’. Gleefully I dipped my pen in vitriol... and I would have succeeded if it wasn’t for those meddling kids. They still complement each other perfectly and have a winning way with a tune, Sharleen is still a more than capable vocalist, and their limited experimentation (by and large) works a treat. ‘Carnival Girl’, easily the worst song on the album (with tired rapping and lyrics about as charming and inoffensive as a dinner plate), may have been chosen as the lead off single, but with sure- fire hits like ’And I Dream’ (which marries Sharleen’s best vocal in recent memory to a richly textured late 90’s dance pop backdrop) present, I wouldn’t bet against this making Texas a lot more money in the future, and cementing their status as a successful, credible pop band. The bastards.

(4/5) Derek Owens

The Clientele The Violet Hour Independent

A blend of twinkling guitars and dreamy-eyed vocals, The Clientele’s debut album (not counting Suburban Light; a collection of the singles and bsides they have released over the past 6 years) is an impressive affair. ‘The Violet Hour’ is just the album to listen to sprawled out on the bed, rain whispering at the window, cosy in the knowledge that there’s nowhere else you have to be. The Clientele draw on a strong tradition of warm, charmingly simple gossamer-pop, while remaining more than just the sum of these parts -put aside your Thrills and SnowPatrol and hear how it’s meant to be done.

Deftly combine the chiming guitars of the Byrds with the fragile vocals of Grandaddy, the trio lead you on an effortless journey through nostalgiasoaked, fading summer days that are distinctly their own. Delicate drums, evocative lyrics and ridiculously melodic bass lines paint a timeless picture of Sunday drives through ramshackle streets, hidden safely in the back of your parents car; those moments when everyday people and places seem magical. However this all-pervasive ‘sound’ is, at times, the weak point of an otherwise solid album.

While there are two or three stand-out tunes: the rich and heavy "House on Fire", slightly bluesy "The House Always Wins", and the genuinely catchy title track, some of the songs can tend to blur into one another. Nonetheless a sophisticated offering, ‘The Violet Hour’ is a fine album and an exciting promise of even better things to come. Definitely ones to watch.

(4/5) Nem Kearns

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BOOKS

Trinity News 11 November 2003 th

Books Editor Laura Dixon

Alasdair Gray at the End of His Tether

A Not-So Fun Day at the Pool...

Ho Davies teaching in Michigan, Gray’s steadfast commitment to his Glasgow roots is refreshing. Along with Tom Leonard and James Kelman, the author became joint Professor of Creative Writing at Glasgow University in 2001. It was a fitting tribute to a writer who sets his stories almost exclusively in and around his home city.

Perhaps living in the infamously cold, rain-sodden metropolis has soured the Glaswegian’s view of life. The thirteen short stories that make up The Ends of Their Tethers depict a grim world. As suggested by the title, his characters are fed up. The stories depict by turns an alcoholic spouse, a technophobic office worker, a reclusive multiple divorcee, a leprous misfortunate, incestuous siblings and a homeless writer. You get the picture.

il Courtmanche’s ally been viewed as superior. The Tutsis, a taller A Sunday at the and slimmer race, are ‘cockroaches’ in their eyes, Pool in Kigali is a needing to be wiped out. Courtmanche relays vivid and tragic brutally violent descriptions of the true horrors of account of the mass war, events based on eye-witness accounts. The genocide that shook horrors committed by the soldiers reveals the Rwanda in 1994. A extent to which humanity will falter if itself Sunday at the Pool in under threat. Courtmanche’s own experiences Kigali is set amidst and impressions clearly influence the book, makbrewing racial ten- ing the novel a deeply shocking personal account.

Valcourt ignores the warnings to leave the counsions in a Rwanda try when the other expatriates flee, deciding to close to civil war. suffer the consequences of his decision. Because The novel charts the of Gentille, Rwanda has become the place where touching relationhe belongs.

They decide to live for the moment, ship between never losing their appreciation of life.

Valcourt, a Canadian Canongate Publishers journalist ‘visiting’ Courtemanche contrasts beautifully poetic Rwanda, and Gentille, an innocent Rwandan girl descriptions of the mountains and the country who works in his hotel, against the backdrop of Valcourt has fallen in love with, with often disracial hatred in Rwanda. Their loving and devot- turbing and vivid images of the massacres and ed relationship sets them apart from the more the horrors wreaked by grenades and machetes. seedy reality of expatriate life in the hotel. They The war becomes inescapable, and he and seem almost oblivious to the diseases, fear and Gentille seem destined to be pulled apart.

Throughout the book, Courtemanche is highprostitution surrounding them, yet everywhere lighting, and criticising the reaction of the West lies the harsher African reality of AIDS, malaria to the terrors, which go barely reported on CNN and violence. and the ‘perspicacious’ BBC. They only report the The protagonist, Valcourt, lives through the viooutbreak of further ethnic warfare in Africa, prinlence, offering an honest, humane and yet deeply cipally worrying about the safety of UN and personal view of the events. Similar to J.M. Diplomatic residents.

Courtemanche is criticisCoetzee’s often middle-aged protagonists, ing their inability to listen and their complacenValcourt seems to have lived too long. He has cy. The pool and expatriate been widowed for five community itself is a years, seen the famines in Ethiopia, “Sometimes, a bit drunk or stoned microcosm of that ignoand now comes to see on hash which the soldiers doled out rance and complacence. the country where he to them, they lopped arms or legs off They play golf to pass the time, and do not worry finds love again, a few stray Tutsis” when a grenade explodes being torn to pieces because it is…‘Just far by its own people. enough from the pool for it The two ethnic to be somewhere else’.

The title is in fact somegroups, the Tutsis and the Hutus, have long batwhat ironic, with the comfort and exoticism tled against each other for superiority. Gentille’s implied by the title being steadily destroyed. The grandfather, believing in the superiority of the West ignores the warnings, leading to a tragedy Tutsi race with its paler skin and thinner noses, with over a million deaths, thousands of refugees tried to change the race of his future ancestors. and many Tutsi casualties.

Meanwhile, as they Such genetic meddling returns to haunt the famdid in Ethiopia, the West calms its conscience ily; they are split between Tutsis and Hutus, a division which breeds hatred. Therein results the with parcels of aid that do little to alter the realtragedy of uncles killing their nieces in their des- ity. perate attempts to wipe out the ‘cockroaches’. A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali is a beautiful if The Hutus come to power towards the beginning troubling book. It highlights the dreadful terrors of the book, and thereafter follows racial discrim- and shocking trauma of civil war. Perhaps its ination and genocide likened to that of the Jews success lies in the Courtemanche’s decision to in Nazi Germany. Rwanda has become a place change as little as possible from reality, creating where families are torn apart by war, where a deeply-felt and powerful novel which has been women are raped and violated, a place where it is described as "A Heart of Darkness for today" (Yann Martel, author of the Life of Pi). a curse to be beautiful.

Hereafter follows a terrifying spree on the part of the Hutus, mostly drunken young soldiers who wreak vengeance on the race that has tradition- Laura Dixon

Canongate Publishers

S

hort stories are like sex. If they’re good then you don’t want them to stop. If they’re bad then you still don’t really mind getting to the end.

Glaswegian Alasdair Gray’s recently published collection falls into both categories.

The 69 year old Gray describes himself on his publisher’s website as ‘a fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glaswegian pedestrian’. He went to the Glasgow School of Art and after graduating spent his time scene painting, creating portraits, teaching art and writing numerous radio plays. The author made his name in 1981 with the four volume experimental work Lanark.

This semi-autobiographical non-linear Kafkaesque narrative has been repeatedly lauded by critics as a great work of postmodern fiction. However, as no one really knows what postmodern fiction is, he’s not particularly well known.

That’s a shame. He is a fascinating writer and won the coveted Whitbread Prize for Poor Things in 1992. But prizes are for chumps, and the Scotsman doesn’t need them as proof of his skills. He writes with a unique voice and a quirky, offbeat style that one suspects is the end result of a quirky, offbeat life spent odd-jobbing in Glasgow.

With Zadie Smith jetting off to Harvard, Susan Elderkin relocating to New York and Peter

It’s not all drab and dour though. Gray manages to be amusing and shockingly serious by turns, and not all his stories are written in a tenebrous tenor.

Aiblins exposes the knives-out mindset of a creative writing teacher at a Scottish college with deliciously wicked glee.

Irritated by the precocious young poet Aiblins, the teacher can’t decide whether he’s a genius or a derivative flop, and more importantly whether he drove the writer to insanity, or society did.

If stories about anonymous writing teachers sound suspiciously like Gray’s real life dressed up as fiction, they probably are. On the 15th February 2003 he doesn’t do any dressing, factually relating his experiences at a demonstration

against the invasion of Iraq earlier this year. Gray drops the fictional lens in order to vent his feelings about the worrying power of the media, the disproportionately high number of Scottish troops en route to Iraq and his country’s national trademark "arselicking."

This Moral Philosophy Exam weighs in at 231 words long, but packs a harder polemic punch than the non-fictional piece.

The first section outlines the problem: "a man who liked horses but had become so poor that the few he owned were badly fed and stabled", is harassed by an investigative camera crew who misrepresent small fry rather than tracking the corrupt corporations and politicians that might sue them. As a result of their coverage the man is arrested and imprisoned because he’s too poor to pay a fine and the horses are taken to the knacker’s yard. Gray asks who cares most for the horses, who gains most and who loses most from the situation? The answers are multiple choice.

This story neatly illustrates the political subtext, interrogation of fictional forms and impressive originality that runs through most of The End of Their Tethers.

At 161 pages the slim book feels padded out by gimmicky ‘short story’ Creative Writing and a list of writing prompts.

The author’s gothic doodles and publisher’s large font don’t help the feeling that you’re being ripped off somewhere along the line and you might well find the hardback asking price a bit steep. Other than that my only complaint is a positive one: I wish some of the stories had gone on longer. Why not take some sandwiches and set up camp in Hodges Dodges for the afternoon? You never know, you might even meet your next sexual conquest, but then maybe you’ll be too engrossed in the book to bother. It’s probably a more reliable pleasure-giver.

John Hollingworth

The Wild Life of Sailor & Lula - Barry Gifford “On the Road” has a definite ring of truth about Canongate Publishers it.

After reading this book I felt like I’d never been really wanted to hate this book. The in so many roadside diners. This recreates the Books editor dumped it myth of the dusty odyssey across the American on me with a winning landscape. The division of the tales into miniasmile, a toss of her hair ture chapters, usually containing a conversation, and a threat of death if means that the miniature discussions never feel not completed in forty stretched. In fact often a dialogue will cease at an hours. So instead of unsatisfactory point: the reader demands to know elucidating on Frege more. Tough luck reader, but just come along for and Russell’s theory on the ride.

And a zany ride it is too. We have cults, placenarithmetic and their refutation of Kant (it’s on the way Professor), I tas being used for illegal cosmetic research and settled into the “Wild Life of Sailor and Lula” and most importantly a motley crew of adventurers.

The New York Times Book Review called it “A indeed it was a bit wild, well a departure from the dark and comic ride through a fantasy America norm.

Six inter-locking novels fill these pages. that rings desperately true”… and who am I to disagree with them?

Characters are interwovsincerity en between the tales with “Sex pervades the text... a genuine Gifford’s towards the world he the only common factor expression of lust or love has created (which being Gifford’s loving eye between(not always) consenting would serve as a perfect for detail. The first story adults” foil for Lynch’s weird of the series is ‘Wild at vision) is beyond doubt.

Heart’ immortalised as a A possible peril with a collection of stories can be film by David Lynch which I never saw despite my film geek status (Gifford also co-wrote the the uniformity of quality. This is not a problem with this book. There is little divergence amongst screenplay “Lost Highway” with Lynch).

The characters, even the raving psychotics, are the stories (well maybe one or two stick out from treated with respect by the author. His creative the pack, but I’m not going to ruin the surprise of eye and talent for dialogue draw out details that which ones). They shoot off in a multitude of lend even the more eccentric characters a definite directions but they are consistent in their excelair of authenticity. They are not dragged along lence. Anyway enough of my forced character arcs and “developed”. Character incoherent ramblings and development occurs at a natural pace, and for here are those of a far betwriter Armistead some that is minimal, as can be the case in (wait ter Maupin, ‘Barry Gifford is for it) “real life”.

Sex pervades the text. A multitude of the quirky all the proof the world will conversations occur pre or post coitus. It isn’t ever need that a writer who Hollywood making-love with swelling orchestral listens with his heart is music, the blue lighting and sheets that cover capable of telling anyone’s women’s bosoms and men’s waists. This is a gen- story”. uine expression of lust or love between (not always) consenting adults. This like Kerouac’s Conall Bolger

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G

Call My Brother Back - Michael McLaverty Blackstaff Press

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the streets, these lines of division are clearly drawn, from block to block, neighborhood to neighborhood, house to house.

From the top of Whiterock Road, overlooking Belfast and the countryside beyond, however, Colm and his friends are able to see beyond the conflict that defines Belfast in nearly every other way.

The strength of McLaverty’s

being manipulated. Indeed, in developing an earnest portrayal of fraternal dynamics, there is no need for McLaverty to resort to emotional mindgames.

Likewise, McLaverty traces the evolution of Alec’s involvement in the divided politics of the North without making him one dimensional, but neither making it the sole focal point of the novel.

If there is a message here and--much to McLaverty’s credit, it is difficult to pinpoint one because his prose does not fall victim to preachiness where it very easily might—it is that clinging to old prejudices and grudges often eclipses the path to progress.

That when anger is all people have, it leaves little room to achieve much of anything.

And ultimately, that such grievances often taint the innocent before they’ve even had the chance to choose for themselves.

or a generation of readers who have been inundated with films, plays and books about the sectarian strife in Northern Ireland it could be easy to underestimate Michael McLaverty’s Call My Brother Back.

Sixty-four years after its initial publication, however, McLaverty’s debut novel remains a pertinent commentary on the ways “Ultimately... such grievin which conflict often ances often taint the innodestroys even the most inno- cent before they’ve even cent who live within its con- had the chance to choose fines. In a language that is at for themselves.” once lyrical and plaintive, McLaverty tells the story of narrative rests in capturing Colm MacNeill, a thirteen- Colm’s perception of the year-old living on Rathlin events around him with a thirIsland, whose life is uprooted teen-year-old’s sense of confuby the unexpected death of his sion and injustice over the father and a resultant move to actions of adults. Colm’s relaBelfast where sectarian poli- tionship with his older brothtics—and the violence it er, Alec, is firmly established inspires-- come to infect his and skillfully crafted with no family directly. reliance on schmaltzy plot In the hustle and bustle of devices. As readers, we underBelfast, Colm and his brothers stand Alec’s sphere of influinitially find endless opportu- ence over his brother without Cassie Farrell nity for new forms of excitement. The city streets offer a host of other children to play with, practical jokes, flirtation and adventure. Yet, placed in an environment where people keep staunchly to popular opinions and impassioned rhetoric, Colm and his family cannot remain immune to the ongoing struggle between Belfast’s Catholic and Protestant populations. On

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FILM

Film Editor Ruth Ní Eidhin

Trinity News 11th November 2003

15

Cutting the Crap Ruth Ní Eidhin

L

ast Friday, Ridley Scott released his Director’s Cut of the classic sci-fi thriller Alien. Just in time for Halloween. Given this opportune timing it’s impossible not to take a cynical view as to the motivations of re-releasing such a film, with an added scene spliced here and there and maybe a little digital remastering. Put simply, there doesn’t seem to be any sound reasoning for the existence of Director’s Cuts, beyond the continuing desire of the already vastly-wealthy movie maestros to make money from a franchise long

Reel Spiel Is it wrong to hate? Specifically is it wrong to hate a child? In the broader sense kids do wreck a lot of heads, but in Hollywood they have a strict policy of headache prevention – "never work with children or animals". Despite this mantra, stars are increasingly willing to forego one (if not both) of the above in the name of box office approval. As a direct result more kids are accepted as ‘stars’ and therein lies the problem.

Child actors, from the time of Chucky, all too often seem like the spawn of the devil.

I have to be honest. I have been inspired by the seeming omnipresence (or was that omnipotence??) of one particular ‘kid’. I’ll give you a hint – "I see dead children". Haley Joe Whats-his-face, underage star extraordinaire with billing on all too many ‘big’ films in recent times. He’s adorable, he has the kind of blue eyes you know will break hearts some day, and if I have to spend another two hours tolerating his ‘remarkable acting ability’ I won’t be held responsible for my actions. As a fellow Haleylover quipped recently, the best thing about Pay It Forward was watching him die (and if you haven’t seen the film that might just be motivation enough…!)

This may seem a bit unfair, after all what did the poor child ever do to me? Osment is but the most recent in a long and seemingly never-ending line of young stars – how he deals with the puberty (professionally at least) will determine his ultimate standing. Ah yes, puberty – when everything goes wrong and all child actors are forced to take ‘time out’ to let their voices break.

Arguably that might be why young male actors are so much less tolerable than young girls.

Shirley Temple was probably the first real childstar, and in many people’s eyes she has not yet aged beyond 8. Drew Barrymore might be a more relevant example of a female child star, and her thriving career in recent years is a testament to what is all too often referred to as staying power. It could be that the extent of her personal breakdown during her adolescent years endeared her to the American public, but equally the fact that she now has serious sex appeal was a big help. Anna Paquin and Natalie Portman were similarly tolerated aged 12, because aged 20 there was some chance of seeing them in Playboy. Not so for McCauley Culkin.

No I haven’t forgotten about him – if only I could! I think I almost enjoyed Richie Rich purely because I saw it in it the absolute ending of any credibility Culkin might have attained in such classics as Home Alone 2. And then he came back. Playing a sexually ambiguous heroin-addict who has not yet grown up could hardly have tested Culkin’s acting ability, but it does seem to have shown once and for all that he will surely fail to make the crucial transition into ‘real’ acting. May he bow out gracefully, and soon!

Pre-pubescent actors are scheduled by nature to have a considerable career break a matter of years after first hitting the big screen. In Hollywood, time is money, and expecting audiences to not only remember but actually retain an interest in young stars who all but disappear for up to a decade is a risk that few studios will take. Young male stars tend to lose their cuteness and get very little in return. Young female stars, on the other hand, tend to ‘blossom’ (if you’ll forgive the cliché) into beauties fit for all manner of supporting roles. There is a sense that young boys are wasting the time of an audience who might invest a certain amount into their appreciation only to be rewarded with a wasted talent and a ‘wasted’ star. If Haley Joe wishes to survive the pitfalls of a professional puberty, he must firmly draw the line between childhood and manhood, and hope that his boyish good lucks mature into something altogether more marketable.

since forgotten.

When Steven Spielberg released ET in 1982 it was screened in just over a thousand cinemas in the US, grossing $14 million. Twenty years later it was released again, though second time around the distribution was tripled. While the gross profit was down to $12 million it has to be considered that in the interim, in the US alone, $300 million was spent on rentals of the one of the most family-friendly films of all time. While the proportion of returning audience members at the latter release can only be guessed at, the enduring popularity of what is arguably Spielberg’s masterpiece cannot be ignored. ET has aged well and will continue to do so as the original was genuinely worth celebrating. If (and when?) a 50th anniversary edition is released in another thirty years audiences will most likely flock to see it a third time.

Whether this kind of lasting appeal will apply to Alien is yet to be seen. The film has not aged well and seems almost completely silly at this stage, especially the first thirty minutes which rely on atmosphere and a certain awe of human presence in space which has long since dissipated. The ‘whole space thing’ just doesn’t do it for us anymore, and Ridley Scott isn’t offering that much extra. Clearly this is the case of cashing in on a generation who were too young to see it in cinemas the first time around (most of us weren’t even alive – how scary is that??) and who would presumably relish the prospect of seeing the Bitch on a 40 foot screen with dolby digital surround sound.

To some extent this is an opportunity for us to finally see one of the films that defined our generation the way it was originally intended to be seen. If nothing else, Alien on a big screen will scare you in ways a 14 inch version never could.

This in itself is a pretty decent justification of the re-release, but it’s one that could only apply to a film featuring one of the most charismatic leads ever seen onscreen (and I don’t mean Sigourney…).

Does the director’s cut go beyond this idea of letting a new audience witness something in the cinema that they didn’t get to see? Presumably if that was all it took many other classics could be rereleased. Sunset Boulevard was stuck in the IFI but the likes of Casablanca would presumably rake it in in Savoy Screen One. Given the current cinematic climate of what I’ll politely term ‘abolute rubbish’, there would definitely be an audience out there for real films – the kind Hollywood no longer seems interested in producing. While it might not necessarily be the student audience attending such screenings, admittedly those with taste refined enough to look beyond teen-trash movies also tend to be the ones with the money to spend on something a little more interesting.

Director’s Cuts belong to an era before the possiTrilogy, Part One: On The Run (Cavale) Cast: Catherine Frot, Lucas Belvaux Director: Lucas Belvaux Elaine Doyle "Hunted, betrayed, obsessed".

So runs the tagline to Lucas Belvaux’s most recent offering, a thriller in the film noir tradition which centres on the fortunes and ultimate fate of Bruno, escaped leftist terrorist and anti-hero who struggles to make sense of a world which has rejected any legitimisation for his actions – past or present.

Having spent fifteen years in prison, Bruno emerges to find his former comrades no longer accept the ideology he still adheres to. Turmoil and violence ensue as Bruno takes up a bombing campaign, encountering old enemies along the way.

Alien: so much scarier on a 40-foot screen bilities provided by DVDs could even be imagined.

A single disc, particularly in the case of commercial blockbusters, tends to contain at least two if not three alternative versions of any given film.

Viewers can choose soundtracks, voiceovers and even alternate endings and beyond that have access to behind-the-scenes footage and frankly more information than even the most fanatical of fans could ever need. Peter Jackson has no doubt made the best use of the DVD medium with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Adding at least half an hour to each of the films (so far), Jackson has taken the opportunity to embrace the new medium to its full potential. The excessiveness may be justifiable in this case given that his films are

“We are the generation of sequels and remakes and no director’s cut can be justified in celebrating a cheap copy.” based on Tolkien’s masterpiece that could never be satisfactorily confined to a nine-hour trilogy.

Given the extras that have already been released, it should be safe to assume that Jackson won’t attempt to release a director’s cut at some point in the future – though rumours abound that the DVD box set will add another hour again. As Extended Edition DVDs increasingly get released mere months after the original theatrical releases, it seems clear that the days of director’s cuts are numbered.

Director’s Cuts, perhaps most significantly, belong to an era of great originality. Arguably we are in the midst of the most creatively-challenged generation so far, reliant on copying films and covering music in order to pretend that we truly have something to say for ourselves – look at any recent movie or music chart if you don’t believe me. We

The film forms the first part of a trilogy, taking the form of thriller, romantic comedy and melodrama respectively.

In many ways, the film is not as innovative as it would have us think. The overlapping stories

and trilogy structure clearly echo Krystof Kieslowski’s Three Colour films. in terms of character development, Bruno might be said to be overly restricted by the archetype he represents: he is an outsider, confused, alone and living in a world of darkness as only a film noir anti-

The Singing Detective Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Robin Wright Penn, Katie Holmes, Mel Gibson Director: Keith Gordon Ruth Ní Eidhin There’s so much to wonder about a film with a title like The Singing Detective before you see the opening scene – and so much to say once the credits have rolled.I don’t think I’ve ever been so confused, and I knew what it was about before I got there, so here goes an attempt to give you that same advantage. Dan Dark (RDJ) is an author – the creator of the detective of the title and a series of mediocre mystery novels that are well and truly out of print. Dan Dark is currently hospitalised and suffering from severe burns over at least 90% of his body. Dan has been immobilised and entirely dependent on other people for over a month.Dan is losing his mind.

The worst kind of mind to lose is a creative one.Dark has no need to create his own little world because he has

hero can be. The central conceit - that of overlapping storylines lends complexity and depth to the film when it is most needed.

Belvaux forces us to acknowledge a world wider than that onscreen. A broader landscape is imagined, must be imagined.

This genuinely challenges the audience at key points.

Bruno, played by Belvaux himself, is an arresting creation. We see him manipulating and destroying even those that he appears to have real affection for, yet he remains sympathetic.

Jeanne (Frot) offers a wonderful counterpoint to Bruno; in a lesser film, she would surely have formed the centre of the piece. It is a testament to the film’s selfconfidence that so strong a character is pushed to a supporting role. Compelling and absorbing, Cavale comes highly recommended.

already done that in his books, so he ends up there, starring in his first (appalling) thriller. This is where the singing comes in. From very early on in the film, doctors (via hallucination) burst sporadically into song-and-dance routines. Katie Holmes (complete with nurse’s uniform) bursts into a rendition of ‘Mr Sandman’ moments after suggesting "I’m going to have to lift your penis now to grease around it". I’ll leave that one to the imagination.

The film flits between reality,perceived reality,visions of Dark’s childhood and scenes from his book.This is more effective than it has any right to be in that the audience is forced to join the lead character in becoming ever more paranoid about what may or may not be going on. The musical interludes add to what can only be described as the mania that the film becomes. Robert Downey Jr at this rate may never play a sane character, but then he’s so good at ‘seeming’ insane he should have no desire to.

Mel Gibson, on the other hand, is simply unrecognisable (it literally took me twenty minutes!). Now a little disclaimer. I adore RDJ. Worse still I really truly love 50s music.If neither of the above applies to you,go see Matrix Revolutions. If, however, you believe in the powers of music and madness, The Singing Detective should be right up your street.

are the generation of sequels and remakes and no director’s cut can be justified in celebrating a cheap copy. To get away with a director’s cut, the director in question must have genuine credibility and preferability some cult status. As such Ridley Scott’s revamps are tolerated, perhaps on the grounds that Blade Runner’s re-release was such an improvement, but this tolerance may not last much longer.

The phrase director’s cut has lost its edge completely. Elements of American-Pie-ism of it means that there may be a few things that didn’t quite get past the censor’s office but nothing too exciting. The point is accentuated by the release of (yet another) spoof horror earlier this year entitled ‘Directors Cut’. You can guess the plot, and equally you can guess why it never even made it to cinemas in the US. When I was nine I saw an uncut version of Die Hard, and while admittedly the effect was lost on me having not seen the original, there was a certain delirious thrill about watching something so definitively out-of-bounds. Uncut versions are now automatically the only ones released on VHS and DVD, and even nine year olds don’t seem all that impressed by them.

Director’s Cuts have become horribly tame and have all but cut themselves out of existence by pandering to the same safe standards that were required in the original.

With a little luck, Alien: The Director’s Cut will be the last such release we are subjected to in cinemas. It’s an enjoyable film, and certainly something we should all experience on the big screen, but the time has come to call a halt to such blatant exploitation of the cult status of twenty year old features. The proliferation of DVDs on the market has made Director’s Cuts obsolete and irrelevant to all but the hardiest of fanatics, and it might just be better for all of us if such enthusiasts stayed home alone on a Saturday night.

In The Cut Cast: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kevin Bacon Director: Jane Campion Conall Bolger Phwoarr! Always wanted to say that in a paper. It’s may be totally inappropriate for this review but it captures my impression of this film. It’s a Meg Ryan film… but it’s an excellent piece of work. This isn’t Meg Ryan doing "dark" like in the atrocious "Addicted to Love" or "When a Man Loves a Woman". This is an actress at the peak of her powers performing admirably in a mature dark film. Here, you don’t catch her acting.

Based on a Susanna Moore novel and directed by Jane Campion (The Piano), it focuses on a writing professor- Frannie Avery (Ryan)living alone in New York.

She witnesses a young woman performing fellatio on a man and later this girl is found murdered outside her apartment. Avery embarks on a relationship with the cryptic investigating officer, Malloy (Ruffalo), even as she begins to question his innocence in the murders.

This is a modern love story. It is brilliant cinema: a disturbing tale tinged with moments of endearing simplicity. This is enthralling but probably not for the faint of heart.

The sexual encounters are frank and advance the

tale. This is grown-up sex, between consenting adults and bears a closer relationship to what transpires between the sheets than pretty much every Hollywood export I’ve seen. There is no hint of voyeurism but the embarrassment of seeing two people in a genuinely passionate moment. These are honest people with multiple dimensions to the character. The audience is credited with discretion and an IQ. Mark Ruffalo is a revelation. His Malloy is a complicated character. His brutal honesty initially suggests a rough person, but as the film progresses we see the subtlety of his personality. Kevin Bacon’s minor role as a disturbed former boyfriend of Frannie’s adds an extra facet to an already intriguing film. To reiterate, in case you believe it to be a psychotic episode, this is a great Meg Ryan film. It's not for everyone but worth seeing for those who’d like to see a film for grown-ups.

Trinity News

Arts Editor

11 November 2003

Barry White

ARTS Trick or Treat: Ten of the Scariest Art Masterpieces 16

th

Barry White Mathias Grünewald - The Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515.

German artist Mathias Grunewald painted this celebrated altarpiece for the hospital chapel of a monastery in Alsace. One of the panels depicts Christ’s crucifixion, but Grunewald’s rendering of the scene is a far cry from many artists’ depictions of the crucifixion, which tend to tone down the violence of the scene. In Grunewald’s depiction, Christ’s flesh has taken on a greenish tone, his body is covered in suppurating wounds and his hands are grotesquely splayed out. His entire body is grossly distended and twisted, his face hanging in an expression of utter agony. This remarkable painting does nothing to elide the physical anguish of its subject, and to this day remains one of the most shocking artistic depictions of human suffering.

Edvard Munch - Anxiety, 1894 Set on the same bridge and against the same “screaming” landscape of his most well known work, The Scream, Munch’s Anxiety is a chilling depiction of mental anguish which haunts the viewer like a bad dream. A group of menacing figures move towards the viewer, their strangely illuminated faces glowing out of their black clothing. They fix the viewer with accusing, penetrating gazes, arousing a sense of alienation and unease.

Alfred Kubin - Madness, 1904 In this disturbing drawing, a grizzled old man sits with his misshapen hands folded in his lap, staring out at the viewer with wide eyes, his mouth open in a hideous grimace. Behind him, an attenuated, spectral figure prepares to hammer a long nail into the old man’s head. Kubin attempted suicide on top of his beloved mother’s grave at the age of nineteen, and, unsurprisingly, much of his work deals with themes such as insanity, death and disease.

Jake and Dinos Chapman - Zygotic Acceleration, biogenetic, desublimated, libidinal model, 1995.

A sculpture by the controversial English brothers, (who are on this year’s Turner prize shortlist), comprising a group of hideously mutated mannequins which have been fused together into a grotesque mass. The mannequins are all of naked young girls, and in some cases, parts of their faces have been replaced with genitals. All of them wear identical trainers. The work is a genuinely shocking comment on the grotesque sexualisation of children at the hands of advertisers and marketers.

Marc Quinn - Self, 1991 A self portrait bust, made from 8 pints of the artist’s own blood stored in a refrigeration tank. Self is a powerful work which plays on the many connotations of blood, and also points to questions about the nature of artistic creation. Eight pints is of course the entire blood content of the human body, thus the artist has literally poured his entire self into the creation of this work.

Katharina Fritsch - Rat King, 1993 Rat king is a gigantic sculpture which consists of a ring of identical nine foot high black rats, made from a polyester resin. The piece is in some ways humorous, the rats having a certain cartoonish quality. However, its overwhelming scale and the menacing poses of the rats, which stand on their hind legs with their heads pointed out, as if the are about to pounce, evokes a deep sense of unease in the viewer.

Richard Wilson - 20:50, 1987 20:50 is a site specific installation designed for the Saatchi gallery in London. The viewer walks along a walled catwalk which projects into the room in which the piece is housed,

only to realise that the catwalk is surrounded by a 2500 gallon lake of oil which rises to the very edge of the walkway. The oil is perfectly reflective, so its surface mirrors the glass ceiling above. 20:50 completely disrupts the viewer’s sense of the relationship between their body and the environment in which it stands, resulting in a disorienting, frightening, yet exhilarating experience.

Chris Burden - Shoot, 1971 In 1971, American artist Chris Burden enacted a performance piece in which he stood in a Californian art gallery and was shot by an assistant. In other works, Burden had himself kicked down a flight of stairs, crucifed on the bonnet of a Volkswagen, electrocuted and almost drowned. Burden’s work explores the extremes of human experience, and challenges some of society’s ultimate taboos.

Nancy Grossman - Caracas, 1971 A bust of a screaming head, made from wood covered in black patent leather and zips.

Grossman’s intensely disturbing works deal with issues of confinement, aggression, torture and power. In this piece, the use of black patent leather and zips alludes to sadomasochistic practises.

Luis Caballero - Untitled, 1991 Columbian artist Luis Caballero uses images of murder victims as well as gay pornography as source materials for his drawings of young men, which possess a charge that is simultaneously violent and erotic. A consummate draughtsman, Caballero produces drawings of violently contorted male bodies, which seem to oscillate between ecstasy and agony. They twist and writhe, with a strange, fierce animation that points to the thin line between pleasure and pain.

Clockwise from top left: Nancy Grossman - Caracas; Alfred Kubin - Madness (detail); Chris Burden - Shoot

Genie in a bottle - Ivana Panizzi at TCD Louise Taylor

Ivana Panizzi with one of her previous installations

“I

t doesn’t hurt at all,” the dark haired woman adds with a smile in response to the rather awkward poses pulled by a male student as she positions her camera. The scene is the dimly lit aisle of the college chapel and the young man in question is just one in a long list who have been ‘recruited’ by the chaplain, Rev. Alan Mc McCormack to be part of an exciting installation work by the Brazilian artist Ivana Panizzi.

On the invitation of the chaplain, Panizzi is endeavouring to create a screen or reredos behind the altar, constructed entirely from milk bottles to mark the beginning of the Christian festival of All Saints. In the week running up to All Saints Day, which will significantly be the opening night of the exhibition, the artist has been working in the chapel taking photographs of students, tourists, and college staff which she will develop onto acetate transparencies before inserting them into the bottles kindly sponsored by ‘Nude’.

The idea is both inventive and hugely symbolic as Panizzi, a graduate of the Instituo Superior de Arte in Cuba uses the bottles to play upon the idea of the body being but a fragile vessel for the soul. Like captured fairies, the light infused transparencies convey a need for freedom and spiritual enlightenment as they contort against the sides of the glass. The finished product will depend on the complete structural harmony of every component part reminding us once again that to create the bigger picture, each element is relevant and to remove but one piece would result in the failure of the whole.

On the suggestion of the chaplain himself, Panizzi has decided to intersperse the images of people she has met and photographed with those of saints old and new, adding another dimension to the already evident spiritual possibilities of the piece.

“It makes the idea of saints and religion more accessible to the wider public when they are

placed alongside ordinary everyday people and friends,” Rev. McCormack remarked. Ivana Panizzi was also very expressive in her recognition of the connection between the theme and location saying that “It is so, so, so significant to do this… in this place.” She also told me that as well as including pictures of her own family, she would for the first time include a photograph of herself in this type of installation.

Panizzi’s fascination with bottles and their creative potential began when living in Cuba.

There, many commodities were purchased in bulk and would therefore require smaller containers to break down the goods into usable quantities. It was in this collecting and recycling of old bottles and jars for friends and neighbours that the artist began to recognise the value of a container not just for the beauty of the object, but for the inherent potential that the item possessed.

The connection between the bottle and the human body was made during a period of great personal difficulty for the artist.

She spoke of a time when her father became critically ill and in desperation to preserve his image, she placed his photograph in a milk bottle. Unfortunately, the bottle broke a few days later and so began the chain of events that has led Panizzi to build these huge towers of glass as a testimony on one hand to the fragility of human life whilst recognising the endurance of the soul on the other.

The artist has also been actively involved in the building of houses in some poorer areas of South Africa from bottles and containers filled with sand. This government project as well as being hugely beneficial to the African people involved, has proved an immense influence on Panizzi’s art.

The installation will be open to the public for the nine days of the religious festival and I encourage art amateur and expert alike to avail of the opportunity to see this remarkable work in this unusual setting.

De Rijke and De Rooij at The Douglas Hyde Clare Flannery

Y

ou are told that the ‘film’ will be showing in twenty minutes. Do you to head off for a cuppa cha or a wander up Dawson Street or do you decide to stick around the Douglas Hyde Gallery and explore the space? Artists Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij hope that you would choose the latter, viewing this exhibition more as an installation than simply a ten minute film screened at precise twenty minute intervals. An integral part of this ‘minimalist installation’ is space. The deliberate space is a waiting space but it is more importantly an art space. The dichotomy of the word here is intentional, referring simultaneously to the actual space of the gallery and the precise space of time between screenings. The projection booth is also part of the installation, reminding us of the process of the film screening. As regards the actual film, a single shot, we are presented with the interior of a mosque converted from a church in Amsterdam. (This film is part of a series of three ten minute films. The next will be screened next week.) Nothing happens and nothing is supposed to happen. The intermittent and sparse stimuli of staged sound and visual obstructions break the monotony, alerting the viewer to the process of recording and creation in a way and also serve to

waken any sleepy (or bored) viewers.

On the opening night of the exhibition a public conversation between John Hutchinson, Gallery Director, (who fell short of Michael Parkinson but managed to keep his head above any Alan Partridge stylee gaffes) and the artists allowed for a much needed occasion for explanation and elaboration. After a lot of meandering questions and answers and through a process of elimination the artists affirmed one definite aim of their installation; that of coercing the viewer into a certain way of looking, encouraging a more attentive regard. In fact the committed viewer must watch, give or take the odd unexciting bit of deliberate technical trickery, ten minutes of the same image. Was this aimed at thwarting the viewer’s expectation of action, so associated with the film genre and its cinematic affiliations? A provocative degree of discomfort perhaps?

No, the artists disregard this interpretation. “People spend this long looking at a painting” and the artists want us to devote as much time to their film. De Rijke and de Rooij betray here a detachment from the reality of the public and their viewing practices.

Nevertheless this is novel notion - fully absorbing an image and exercising the poten-

tial of our too often dismissive and distracted concentration.

The 35millimetre sharp image furthers this comparison with the painting as do a few cautious references to 17th century Dutch paintings of interiors.

The pure aesthetic quality of the film is patent and admirable.

Yet despite several claims made by the artists of a narrative structure justified by the presence of a beginning, middle and end and the history of the actual building, don’t expect any obvious story. As one astute audience member pointed out, that is more the reality of the building’s history than a story within the film. By claiming to have a story the artists appear to have an ulterior motive; trying to avoid categorisation, in particular that of post-conceptual art.

According to the artists you should feel refreshed by the space. Presumably they mean intellectually and spiritually because if it is physical refreshment in this space you seek, off to Phoenix Park with you.

However adhering to the modern ethos of the museum as sacred space, together with the art invoking a spiritual atmosphere and evoking an intimate experience, recognition is due.

It’s worth seeing, but don’t expect anything as exciting as a magical painting from Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.

Trinity News

FASHION

Fashion Editor dave ring

11th November 2003

Rant from the Ramp

style barometer everyone else does it, so we can too

Terry E. M.

T

vintage/faux fur hats: so long as they’re fake or belonged to your granny , the russian ice princess look is a keeper.

laughing at yourself: if you snicker at your own arrogant attempts at runwayslick, everybody else will be much kinder. we swear.

plastic jewelery: still tacky retro cool ... especially if you nick them off a two year old

mini skirts: yeah, its the latest factory trend, but the sheer winter defiance of it all is a beautiful thing. so are legs.

matching hats and scarves: if you can pull it off ...

men’s winter shoes: they’re all bleedin’ beige. what the hell? barratts is a particularl offender.

mass-produced pirate punk: tying a poor down-on-its-luck subculture into a Disney film is one thing, but making the symbol of their rebellion into assembly line department stores? poor pirates.

stripes: borderline, kids. seriously. they’re a classic look, from french sailors to prison couture, but there is such a thing as oversaturation.

style barometers: i mean, they’re never funny.

Iceberg Flotsam Jeananne Craig

T

he parka jacket is back. Again.

These puffy, fur collared coats were once the staple of Liverpudlian dockers, Grange Hill extras, and the occasional old man lurking at the back of the cinema. Who could forget the parka sported in classic films like ‘Kes’, and ‘Gregory’s Girl’, or the video for hit East 17 single ‘Stay’, where singer Brian Harvey showed his sensitive side in the cosy, fluffy coat?

Parkas returned with a vengeance a few years ago. Brit-pop icons and fashionistas adopted this fashion pariah; Kate Moss replaced the elasticated plimsoles sported by parka wearers of yore with suede pirate boots, in a trend still popular long after la Moss has moved on to style pastures new. Surely warning bells should have sounded when Geri Halliwell began to don the coat on a regular basis, but no. Still the trend continues.

What began as an ironic fashion revival in homage to mods and nerds has now become a must have for every winter

17

wardrobe. Grafton Street now resembles rush hour Greenland, with an army of parka clad Eskimos marching over its paving slabs. For the past three or four years, everywhere from Topshop to Penneys has been churning out this jacket in various colours, lengths and faux furs. Some have lavish quilting and plush fur; those on the che aper end of the scale seem to be padded with cotton wool, their hood provided by a skinned stray mutt.

Whatever the parka’s initial quality, the collar or hood eventually comes to look and feel like Mr Twit’s beard, with the debris of a winter’s wear buried in its fur.

I for one have had enuffa the puffa.

High Street stores are suffering from a double dose of Anoraksia and Parkasons Disease. These coats have become a populist uniform, but we aren’t provided with many other choices. Why can’t they look to the future and produce an imaginative alternative? When South Park killed Kenny, they should have killed his Photo: dave parka too.

Model: Kamelia

he unchartered landscape of virgin territory or the fashion sorority ruminating on one's next victim? And when it comes to lacklustre mainstream same old, is BLANK the new black? While the conspiracist loyaltotheroyals is currently de rigeur, we think anybody still waffling about in military/camouflage gear should be shot. It may disguise an incipient weight problem, but you are subliminally identifying yourself as a 'seriously in search of that white-wash-the-black-list baby Bush hack look.' So do watch out for Stalinreminiscent heavy wool coats and 1940s inspired don't-mention-the war block heel sandals that only fascist fashionistas will be vying for this season. Very matronly-curve inducing (where do they get their inspiration?). You won't get your plastic refunded and credit vouchers are the toilet paper of customer service. But then again, if aspiring to join the ranks of the po-faced blue collar doomed-for-lifers, you can't go wrong with a pair or two of corduroy trews to match that gramps blazer and overcoat with out appearing, perish the thought, in any way like a priggish Pongo. Vneck jumpers will also go down well with that dark Gothic pile vibe aka the GMB.. The product of pusillanimous, putrescent certitudes or solidified, snooty simplicity? Just think Rupert Bear with a touch of repressed Noddyreminiscent reserve. But keep in mind, it's all about manner over substance in the environs of Bram Stoker. Become a lofty commentator on Irish politics without claiming allegiance to a pig party, otherwise people might do an Avril Tarts on you. (SU x-files for those too young to remember). Witness at first hand that good old Irish love affair in search of that next can of dutch gold, moronic of mouth (insert stereotype as required: scrumpy jack for engineers, prob and tontons for gombeens, superplonk for screaming serenas etc etc). The essential kit for the crowd: A book of excellent one-liner quotes and the "selective memory" idiot's guide to plagiarism. Smooth, like gravel. Or be deconstructive, you sly little rascal. Develop the gift of automatic writing and employ sublimely malicious surrealist rhymes to Swiftian effect. A catty attack. Plunge into the depths of mental torment and unearth a mass of apparently unrelated nuggets of information.

Internal logic shall emerge. This will complement your self-consciously stylish dandyabout-college image, which you are secretly trying to cultivate, you provincial, sanguine expression resting on the elaborately made up but otherwise comparatively plain facade.

Engage in a spot of liberal aesthete flannerie and occupy much sought-after space in a cafe anywhere in the half mile radius of this fine establishment. The so-ultra-hip do it pashmina-wrapped in November. Milkthistle minimises the morning after the night before. To prevent those chapped lips, the tool of necessity is grease paint squillionaire Elizabeth Arden's eight-hour cream, actually developed to treat infected cow's udders, but we won't go there. Get the edge: a deshabille look, a tousled bouffant, Eley Kishimoto meets Lainey la la Keogh, and the South Beach Diet (but do stop obsessing about the anatomy of Barbie).

Don't forget to swop cafes every hour in order to fool yourself that you are revelling in peoplewatching variety, but really the reason is before you are ceremoniously asked to leave for being the tight, penny-pinching student aspirant poseur that you are. You will always be vulnerable to the charges of airy-fairyness so counteract with aplomb and create exuberant, word-less drama as you exit said cafe, so that everybody else briskly follows suit. It's altogether spritzier and comic escapism is just what we need. Essay time approaches and this we do not like. The vibe: Neo-dada delinquency a le English-pseudo-street-cred fashion rag type thing, demolished naturalism, The Lady Vanishes. Throw Studio 54 and Julian Schnabel in for good measure. But let's face it, with an unfeasibly feathered brain your scene is largely immaterial so update that dozy bird image. The cellulite of psychology, a metaphysical rationale for daily life does not come in the form of the self-help glossy magazine.

It's dictatorial. Cultivate a collection of ephemera and maintain the illusion of elusive individuality. Think Cacharel (it's favouritism) or anything by a Belgian designer.

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Trinity News 11th November 2003

COMMENT & LETTERS

_xààxÜá àÉ à{x Xw|àÉÜ

Trinity News

Unhappy at BESS? Go Pick Strawberries Dear Madam, I feel sorry that Dave Comerford had to hide his disgust with BESS students behind a so- called travel article of his trip to a farm this summer. I too am a Senior Sophister BESS student and along with the majority of the year I appear to be ‘impinging on his happiness’. Surely politics and economics have taught him that we can’t all be the same and the diversity which exists in our year that is part of the college experience.

Comerford comments on the ‘vomit-strewn’ and ‘ubiquitous’ talk of his ‘smug’ class and he is disgusted by our ‘careerism’. Is college not a step towards getting a career? Excuse the ambition of our class but working as interns in ‘corporations with many, many surnames in the title’ is not only a way to earn money but also a step towards a very successful future. I am delighted that he got away this summer to be one with nature doing his ‘pastoral’ and ‘pleasant’ work but his article ‘Strawberries are the only Fruit’ only highlights his callowness and complete ignorance towards his year.

Yours etc, Mary O’Toole

It has been brought to my attention that some readers drew offence from my article on strawberry picking. It was never my intention to belittle any individuals or groups. My task in the article was to explain why I went strawberry picking for my summer holidays. I felt that this explanation of events read less engagingly than the published piece. The virtues in farm work are fresh air and novelty. Moreover, from my own experience, it seems a lot of people are ignorant that such work exists. In order to accentuate the contrast between strawberry picking and more well-trodden forms of summer work I employed a stereotype. I hoped that the liberal use of the term 'stereotype' and the tone of the piece would alert readers to this fact. I concede that I was short-sighted and selfindulgent in my aim of writing engagingly and I humbly apologise to all parties injured in the crossfire, especially my friends who made my time in Denmark so notable.

Dave Comerford

Letters can be e-mailed to trinity.news@tcd.ie or sent to The Editor, Trinity News, House 6, TCD, Dublin 2. Although there is no limit of length on letters, most letters range from 50 to 200 words. Brevity is encouraged. Please include the following contact information: name, mailing address, e-mail address and evening phone number (where applicable).

Under no circumstances can the publication of a letter be guaranteed. All submitted letters must bear the name of at least one named individual. ‘Petition’ signatures will not be published. To ensure accurate attribution, authors are encouraged to include their full name, class year (if graduate or undergraduate of TCD), or any relevant affiliations.

Trinity News Editorial Staf f 2003/2004

House 6 2nd Floor D.U. Publications Trinity College Dublin 2 Phone: +353 1 6082335 Fax: +353 1 6082656 E-mail: trinity.news@tcd.ie

Sinn Fein Response

Editor: Deputy Editor: TNT Editor: Campus News: Student News: Forum: Features: Science: Arts: Theatre: Music: Film: Books: Fashion: Gaeilge: Sport:

Renata McDonnell Conall Bolger John Hollingworth Ian Carey Leah Finnegan Rory Loughnane Neasa Cunniffe Kirsten Bratke Barry White Patrick Stewart Derek Owens Ruth Ni Eidhin Laura Dixon Dave Ring Tommy Connolly Shaula ConnaughtonDeeny Picture Editor: Graham Mooney Sports Photos: Matt Pitt Copy Editor: Mally Foster

A Chara, In relation to Issue 2’s “Sinn Fein Controversy” there are a number of inaccurate facts. First of all, Daithi Doolan is not the candidate for the European elections, it is Mary Lou McDonald. Secondly, Daithi Doolan could not make the debate because he had to go to a Bin Tax protest in Ringsend. Thirdly, the constituency office does not have the power to deselect a candidate; only the cumann and the Ard Chomhairle have the power to deselect a candidate.

The article also avoids the question of why Sinn Fein boycotted the debate with the PSNI’s Hugh Orde. The article failed to look at collusion, use of plastic bullets and the British government refusal to implement the Patten Report.

The PSNI collusion with unionist paramilitaries has been documented by John Stevens, a British police officer. There has been no independent investigation of PSNI involvement in the murder of human rights lawyers such as Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, hundreds of ordinary members of the Nationalist community or the 46 people killed in the 26 counties including the Dublin – Monaghan bombings.

The PSNI’s special branch who directed this collusion has not been disbanded as suggested in the Patten report.

Fourteen people have been killed by plastic bullets in Ireland including seven children. In the year 2000 the PSNI purchased 76,320 plastic bullets and in November 2001 they purchase a further 50,000 plastic bullets. Since the publication of the Patten report approximately 11,000 have been fired. Recently the British government and the PSNI have developed a new plastic bullet known as L21A1 which has a greater density and velocity than its predecessor. This means it greatly increased the risk of death and serious injury on impact and it has been deployed 300 times by the PSNI and 100 times by the British army.

The British government has refused to fully implement the Patten report. The Police Board and the District Policing Boards do not have the powers to hold to account the PSNI’s activities as suggested in the Pattern report. The surveys carried out by the Committee for the Administration of Justice have shown that the people have little faith in the Policing Board or knowledge about their activities.

WRITERS: Patrick Cosgrave, Tim Walker, Anne-Marie Ryan, Denis C. Lehane, Wendy WIlliams, David Reubin Symington, Jeannane Craig, Jon Foster, Melanie Spaeth, Carl Cullinane, Rosalind Dineen, Laura Fegusson, Robert Smyth, Joe Carroll, Shane Greene, Elaine Doyle, Clare Flannery, Louise, Bruce Walker, Carol Mullen, Hugh Hennessy, Paul Balbirnie, Eoin Greene, Cassie Farrell.

MANY THANKS TO: Katie Dickson and the University Record, Eimear Nic An Bhaird, Dave Ring, Therese Mac An Airchinnigh, Tim Walker, Justin O’Hanlon, the Publications Committee, David of Grounds Staff, Catering, Pat Morey & the Security Staff, The Mail Office, the Cleaning Staff and anyone else who assisted in the compilation of this mammoth production.

Is mise Aibhistin O’Dubhslaine Cathaoirleach Trinity Sinn Fein

Printed by Datascope, Wexford

Crossword

ACROSS 1 3 7 8 9 10 12 15 16 22 23 26 28 29 30 31 32

SMALL BOVINE (4) WAY OF WRITING (9) HOLDS DOOR OPENING DEVICE (7) JOHN IRVING'S MOST FAMOUS CHARACTER (4) NOTE WELL (2) SNEAKY MAMMAL (6) PERFECT (5) FERTILE SOIL (4) HELPS NEEDY PEOPLE (14) ANCIENT LETTER (4) AMERICAN SUGAR (5) LESS COLD (6) MP (2) IN A LAZY MANNER (4) UNEVEN (7) WHIRLPOOL (9) THE ACTIVE MALE FORCE IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY (4)

DOWN 2 3 4 5 6 8 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 27

PARTY(6) DRINKING AID(5) PUT YOUR NAME DOWN FOR SOMETHING(8) AMBASSADOR(8) AGAINST(4) A VERY FAST HORSE DOES(6) DIRECTION OF THE RISING SUN(4) HOMER'S EXPLETIVE(3) GIRL'S NAME(3) TYPICAL PATTERN(8) AMOUNT OF FREEDOM(6) FOOD(8) BIG BUNNY(4) ELF GONE WRONG ACCORDING TO TOLKIEN(3) SLAB OF TURF(3) SHARPNESS OF THOUGHT(6) MIXED UP SENTENCE SPEAK HE DOES(4) KINGDOM(5)

Crossword Issue 2 Solutions: ACROSS 1 scavenge 6 ocarina 7 Xavier 10 newts 11 aspic 13 owls 14 di 15 valet 17 prat 18 boggle 21 uvulae 23 gere 24 ogres 25 en 27 Bali 29 aside 30 dance 34 alkali 35 tantrum 36 assassin DOWN 1 sexbomb 2 anvil 3 eden 4 ecg 5 intifada 8 re 9 Stillorgan 11 ad 12 SIPTU 15 veto 16 thus 19 overseas 20 greed 22 elision 26 ne 28 amass 31 ca 32 Elba 33 sub

Crossword compiled by Kirsten Bratke. Answers in Issue 4

Trinity News

SPORT

Sport Editor Shaula Connaughton-Deeny

11th November 2003

19

Karate – more than just breaking boards! Extra Time...

Bruce Walker

“WAX ON…wax off” the immortal words of Mr Miyagi as he tries to teach ‘karate kid’ Ralph Macchio the basics of karate. But more than ‘painting fences’, breaking boards or other such cosmetic displays, karate is a complete martial art that continues be popular the world over, and right here in Trinity, we have a club that aims to reach as many students as possible, be they experienced martial artists, or novices with their own

karate kid aspirations.

Shotokan karate is derived from the Okinawan karate styles taught by Master Funakoshi, and means literally the clan or the house of Shoto, which was the Master's pen name for his poetry, denoting the sound of the wind blowing through pines. Our Sensei is Kyoshi Steve O’Connor, a 6th dan black belt, who is also chief instructor of the Shotokan Karate Institute of Ireland, and has an extensive resume in martial arts and civilian defence systems. He has trained for more than 30 years, and his passion has directed him to specific research into ‘koryu’ or old styles of karate.

Kyoshi O’Connor founded the Trinity Shotokan Karate club. In the 25 years since, the club has enjoyed continued success at the Intervarsity Championships, a title we reclaimed in 2003 and are confident of defending next year. This competitive success reflects both the club’s size and popularity, and the many excellent individual karatekas: on the one hand, we have over 100 members, many who have been training for less than 2 years, and includes students from other colleges affiliated to Dublin University; on the other, there are at least a dozen black belts training with the club which has consistently provided karatekas to the national team.

Apart from competitive success, Kyoshi O’Connor is keen to instil the more fundamental skills of karate, ensuring that his students learn a martial art that is effective and not simply aesthetic, and with a particular

technical emphasis to ensure we train thoroughly whilst minimising risk of injury in the short, medium, and long term; the karate we learn is designed to stay with us through life.

Away from the dojo, or training centre, TCD karate offer members lots of opportunities to socialise. As well as post-training drinks in the Pav, we organise a training weekend in November to Kinvara, Co Galway, where members get the chance to experience the joys of beach training (this should require no translation). In December we have the obligatory club Christmas party, complete with celebrity Santa. There are also nights out and a pub quiz, and then in February it's off to Galway City for the Intervarsities, where competition on the dojo will hopefully be matched by the celebrations after!

The club also arrange a trip to the advanced training course with Kyoshi Patrick McCarthy, a 7th dan black belt of international repute. This year, the course is scheduled for November 22nd and 23rd.

Finally, the club wishes to extend a warm welcome to anyone who is interested in joining, whether you're a novice, an experienced karateka, or perhaps somewhere in between. Training takes place in the main Luce Hall on Tuesdays 5-7pm and Thursdays 5-6.30 pm. If you have any questions or need further information then go to our website at http://www.tcd.ie/clubs/karate or you can email the club karate@tcd.ie, or the captain walkerab@tcd.ie. So here's hoping we see lots of new members down at training next week!

Disappointing Break in Ladies’ Winning Streak Katherine Woods Trinity Ladies Rugby travelled to Drogheda last weekend to play fellow 2nd Division promotees, Boyne, in their second league match of the season.

The first league game for the ladies, two weeks ago against a strong Highfield side (who finished third overall in the league last year), had not gone quite as Trinity had hoped. Not only did Trinity lose 029, but a plethora of injuries meant the students finished the game with only 14 players still on the pitch!

With this in mind, and despite their injury crisis, Trinity this week travelled to Boyne hoping to put

some points on the table. Games between these two sides have always been close, last season Trinity winning one 5-0, and Boyne winning one 6-0.

Trinity opened the scoring in the first half when Boyne gave away a penalty in their own 22. The students opted for the kick and Brid Aherne successfully put one over to retain her 100% record for the season so far, and give herself a nice 21st birthday present!

Boyne were not going to let a mere three points stop them however, and answered Trinity’s kick with first one, and then a second try of their own. The tries came through their

impressive forward pack, which drove Trinity’s somewhat lighter players over the line and touched down to score.

Play was not all one-sided however, and the Trinity scrum held its own against a larger and more experienced pack. Scrums are this year contested for the first time by the students and a windy day with lots of knock-ons gave the Trinity pack plenty of opportunity to put their training into practice.

The score stood at 10-3 with 20 minutes to go, and Trinity fought hard to change this narrow margin.

Sustained and determined play kept the students in the Boyne 22, and

Daniel and Thomas out blasting in Achill Island getting set for the up and coming intervarsities to be hosted by Trinity next year Photo: Matt Pitt

fighting to score, for the last 5 minutes of the match, but it was not to be. The ref finally blew up the game with Trinity just metres from the Boyne try-line, leaving the score at 10-3 to the home side.

Trinity Ladies rugby would like to thank their two dedicated coaches, who travelled with them to Boyne and put up with the singing on the bus home – Keith Murphy and Ritchie White. We would also like to let anyone who is interested in trying a new sport that we are recruiting! Don’t be shy, just come along to the Pav at 6pm Monday or Wednesday, or email jstack@tcd.ie for more information.

LAST SUMMER millions of Irish people gathered around television screens in pubs, homes and offices as Ireland’s international football team played Cameroon, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Spain in the World Cup. Hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland call themselves football (as in Soccer) fans, but when asked what team they support the answer is usually Celtic, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham (though few would probably admit to that based on current performance) or one of the other UK teams. The jerseys and other merchandise for these teams is available in most sports shops around Ireland, and every year thousands of Irish people travel across the water to watch these teams play.

But if we really are a land of fanatical football fans, why are we spending thousands of euros and travelling hundreds of miles to watch football matches when we have our own "Premier League"?

The fact is the Eircom League Premier Division draws about as much interest and is as well attended as the English third division or Football Conference.

The quality of the grounds and team facilities is also equivalent. This is not to be taken as an insult to the teams, as both

leagues have very talented players, many of whom would have played for or had trials at some of the biggest teams in Europe.

Yet the fact remains that for most countries, many of their international players also play in their domestic leagues.

However, every player who turned out for Ireland in their 20 away defeat to Switzerland plays their football for an English or Scottish club. When Glen Crowe, the Bohemians striker, was called up to the Irish international squad last year, it was the first time a national league player had been in 25 years. Despite some good performances in friendly matches, Crowe never played in a competitive international game. It seemed like the appointment of Brian Kerr and Crowe’s call-up could open the door for other League of Ireland players to get the chance to play for their country. That door now appears to be closed once more.

While players like Damien Duff and John O’Shea were household names before they ever donned the green jersey, as we saw them play for their teams in the champions’ league or FA Cup and on Saturday night Highlight show, "The Premiership", most Eircom League Premier Division players are largely unheard of.

Similar shows based on the Irish league get limited viewers or are on very late at night. Live

matches are screened sporadically and usually coincide with other possible television shows.

Even the FAI Carlsberg cup final, which took place on October 26th between Longford Town and Saint Patrick’s Athletic, and which is Ireland’s answer to the FA cup final, failed to fill Landsdowne Road Stadium. However, it did show the potential of league of Ireland teams to attract large crowds to important games, as thousands of Longford fans travelled to Dublin for the match, many of whom were wearing replica shirts.

Of the many sport shops located around Trinity, none sell the jerseys of League of Ireland teams. Considering Dublin is home to some of the "biggest" teams in the league, such as Shelbourne, Bohemians, Saint Patrick’s Athletic and UCD (though who would be seen dead in a UCD jersey, especially now they are propping up the table?) it seems almost inconceivable that there is no demand for these jerseys. If they can sell them in Longford, why not Dublin?

The question may be do teams need support to then thrive, or do they have to be able to compete at a higher level before they will get recognition and support. Think of Bohemians run in the Champions’ League qualifying rounds. There was a surge of interest in Bohemians

In the first race of this new season the Trinity Senior Ladies stormed ahead to prove how well they deserve their National Championship titles, which they won last July. Both the coxless four and the pair won their respective first places on the Corrib a fortnight ago. Galway Head was a battle against the odds for the coxless four. Oar clashes and full boat contact with two Neptune fours led them to a complete stop on two occasions, half way down the narrow and winding five kilometre course. Kate McCullough (stroke), Luise Rowayne, Nessa Rowayne and Nicola Fitzsimons (Bow) rowed on down the river to win with a comfortable minute to spare, a performance we have come to expect from these accomplished ladies. Their closest competition were the Tribesmen ladies followed by the offending Neptune crew.

The pair, Kate McCullough and Luise Rowayne, who have both competed at an international level, beat their closest rivals by over a minute and a half.

Finishing with a time of seventeen minutes and thirty two seconds, the ladies won the pennant with ease.

Dublin University Ladies Boat Club will hold a victory dinner this Friday in their Boat House. The ladies will celebrate their most successful year ever.

The senior squad won two gold medals at the Irish National Championships for the first time in the clubs history last summer. This momentous achievement followed an incredible season where the club’s Senior eight and Novice four won every race they entered all year!

Assured Trinity Earn Vital Win Trinity Dundalk IT

Richard Northridge, Men’s Boat Club Captain, gets excited about the upcoming Neptune Head, 15th November, Blessington Lake

Eircom League Premier Division- what’s the problem?

Carol Mullen

Trinity Ladies Boat Club Triumph over Adversity

as it emerged they would be playing Rosenborg in their qualifier. Rosenborg are Champions’ League veterans and were by far the best-reputed team to play competitively here for many years. Such was the interest that the game was televised and match tickets were like gold dust.

Had Bohemians won, their next opponents would have been Deportivo La Coruna, who are one of the top teams in La Liga.

Had they somehow passed that test, they would have been in the Champions’ League proper, and facing the prospect of playing leading teams in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan or Bayern Munich.

Any of these teams coming to Ireland would have surely created a frenzy of interest in Bohemians and in the league in general. But is it possible to imagine these teams coming to play at Dalymount Park or even Landsdowne Road? Imagine the look on the faces of Ronaldo or Zidane, leaving the Bernabau and arriving at one of these stadiums.

To state the obvious, the money, the big name players and managers and the fifty thousand strong capacity stadiums are all missing for our Premier League. If the Eircom League is to move on and become even close to its European counterparts, huge changes must be made.

Supporter numbers must increase before anything can happen. This could be helped if the games were played on Saturday afternoons with a 3 o’clock kick-off, similar to those in England and Scotland, as currently most games are played mid-week, when people are less likely to go. This schedule change could attract families to games. Also, since the league runs during the summer when most other leagues are over, this would be a good time to capitalise on those suffering form withdrawal symptoms.

If Dublin sport shops can sell the fictitious "Dream Team" jersey, surely they could sell "local" shirts. The potential revenue that these jerseys and other merchandise could raise could fund great improvements to team facilities.

It would seem that even a Bertie-Bowl or the use of Croke Park would not really help.

Major changes to the internal workings of the league and the FAI are vital, as this league has been largely neglected as the FAI has itself struggled to change following increasing proof of its inefficiency.

The truth is that it will be a long time before we see big name players in the Eircom League. In the meantime, it is worth keeping an eye out for some of the good games being played not so far from our college doorstep.

1 – 11 1–8

Trinity earned a deserved victory in this Fresher’s League match against Dundalk IT. Playing into a stiff breeze, Trinity started nervously and went behind early. An early point from Dermot McTiernan seemed to settle them down. For most of the remaining first half, Trinity dominated the game playing a skilful short passing game with Cian O’Morain to the fore. A stubborn Dundalk kept battling and kept the game close. A piece of individual genius from Dermot McTiernan put John Prenty into the clear with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Prenty coolly sent the keeper the wrong way to give Trinity a deserved 4 point lead. Just on half- time, the dangerous Dundalk full-forward showed great pace to evade the Trinity defence and send an unstoppable "rasper" to the top of the Trinity net.

Trinity went into the break with a slender 1 point advantage. Trinity started the second half nervously as Dundalk came storming forward. However, the Trinity defence kept them scoreless and a John Prenty free seemed to have the tide towards Trinity.

The impressive Trinity corner-forward, Barry Hurley then kicked over his third point from play.

Coupled with another Prenty free, this left Trinity 4 points to the good. Good Trinity attacking set up Barry Hurley with a goal chance but he sensibly took his point to put Trinity 5 points up.

Dundalk rallied strongly and brought the game back to just three points. Trinity goalkeeper and captain, David Mitchell made a super save from the Dundalk full-forward to keep Trinity ahead and secure the victory for the visitors.

Trinity Scores: Prenty 1 – 3, Hurley 0 – 4 Eddie Brennan 0 – 2, Hegarty 0 – 1, McTiernan 0 - 1,

Extra Time compiled by Shaula Connaughton-Deeny and Hugh Hennessy.

Trinity News

20

S PORT

Vol 56 No. 3 11th November 2003 trinity.news@tcd.ie

Sport Editor Shaula Connaughton-Deeny

Trinity Trash UCD to win Intervarsity Championships Philip Balbirnie THE TRINITY Men's hockey team won this year’s Intervarsities by beating the University of Ulster 2-0 in the final of the Mauritius Cup in Santry. Having won all their pool matches, including a 4-3 win over the holders DCU, with fresher Peter Blakeney scoring all 4 goals, Trinity won their group ensuring a semi-final play off against their bitter rivals UCD. Trinity dominated the match and soon found themselves 1-0 up with a well taken goal from Peter Blakeney. UCD continued attacking in numbers but were unable to penetrate the Trinity back line which included some resolute defending from captain Steven Findlater and Brian Scully. Brian Scully found himself on the score sheet after running the length of the pitch and coolly slotting the ball under the advancing keeper. Ross Cullen got Trinity's 3rd goal to further add to UCD's woes and ensure a place in the final.

Having only had under 3 hours rest until the final, both Trinity and UU were slow to get into their match rhythm

with both teams making unforced errors but Trinity soon took control of the game and went 1-0 up, again through Peter Balkeney, notching up his 9th goal of the tournament. This rattled UU and they soon found themselves down to 10 men after one of their players was sin binned after a cynical foul on the enigma, Paul Tuthill.

UU were unable to cope with Tuthill's skill and he doubled Trinity's lead finishing off a move that he started himself. In the second half UU tried to get a goal to get them back in the game but Trinity were in cruise control and Phelie Maguire, John Blakeney and Roly Budd completely dominated the midfield. Trinity even managed to change their goalkeepers, Johnny Royds who had a great game came off for Cormac Staunton. With 4 minutes to go UU saw a glimmer of hope by winning a penalty stroke but it was put wide.

Trinity ended up comfortable 2-0 winners and won the Mauritius cup for the second time in three years scoring 23 goals to become the Intervarsities Champions for 2003.

Rusty Trinity succumb to Late Goal Hugh Hennessey St.Pats, Drumcondra Trinity 2–9

1 – 13

Trinity got off to a disappointing start in the Fresher’s football league with a one point defeat to St.Pats of Drumcondra.

Degraded to Division 2 this year, there were high hopes that this team could hit the ground running with an opening win.

However, a physically stronger St. Pats team proved more than gallant opponents.

In the first half, Trinity played into the wind and were undoubtedly second best in the early exchanges. St. Pats opened the scoring early in the game with a routine free from the corner-forward. At this stage, St.Pats were playing all the football with their centre-forward pulling all the strings around midfield. They scored two decent points from play to extend their lead to three points. In between these scores, Trinity themselves had their chances. Playing into a tricky wind, Barry Kennedy missed two scorable frees. However, he made up for these misses with a starring role in Trinity’s opening score when he showed quick hands to put Dermot McTiernan into space who easily pointed from thirty yards.

This score seemed to settle Trinity, with players like Cian O’Morain and J.H Carty starting to turn the screw in the full-back line. From a poor Pats kickout, Hugh Hennessy gathered and fed John Prenty who slotted the ball between the ball between the posts from an acute angle. Now just a point behind, the tenacity

of the Trinity tackling visibly improved. This just made St.Pats increase their workload and they increased their lead with a dubious point, after what seemed like excellent defensive play by corner back by Kevin McCarthy.

Another bad refereeing decision allowed Pats to score another.

Prenty drew Trinity closer with a pointed free following excellent fielding by centre-forward Dermot McTiernan.

As this was the first game of the season for this Trinity team, positional changes were expected.

The first tactical change made by manager Ray O’Brien was to push half-forward Hugh Hennessy into full-back and move Dublin minor player Cian O’Morain onto the impressive St.Pats centre forward.

O’Morain made an immediate impact from centre-back as he drove forward and linked with James Hegarty, himself moved from centre-back to the half-forward line, who supplied a perfect pass to the on-rushing O’Morain who calmly chipped the ball over the bar. This was undoubtedly the score of the first half from a Trinity point of view and left Trinity only two points down at half-time. ( 0 – 7 to 0 – 5) On the resumption, Trinity, again, started slower and St.Pats knocked over two easy points in quick succession. Then came a real turning point in the match.

A flowing Pats move resulted in their corner-forward passing the ball across the goal and various Trinity players tried to clear the ball. This was a right old "scrap" with a combination of desperate defending and panicky attacking until the ball fell into the hands

of the Pats full-forward. He looked certain to score but corner-back Kevin McCarthy came from nowhere to intervene and rescue the situation. This still left Trinity four points down and needing to score next. They did this and did so in the most emphatic fashion. A lovely move involving half-time substitute Paddy Cushen and James Hegarty finished with Cushen supplying a pass for corner forward Barry Hurley who was just about to bury the ball into the net when he was cynically taken down from behind. This was a stone wall penalty and the referee rightly obliged. John Prenty stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. This represented a huge turnaround in the match and seemed to have pushed Trinity into the ascendancy.

Prenty drew the teams level with an individual piece of brilliance. Having been moved out to centre-forward, he got the ball near the sideline and then cut inside towards the goal. He then, kicked the ball with the outside of his boot and it curled straight between the uprights. This put a spring into the steps of the Trinity players and none more so than Dublin minor player Barry Kennedy. Faced with a nigh on impossible angle he curled the ball between the sticks with his left foot to put Trinity in front for the first time in the match.

St.Pats responded with two points from their inspirational number ten to put them back in front. That did not last long, as Prenty converted an easy free following good work from Barry Hurley and Kevin Ward. Trinity

again profited from a poor Pats kickout when half-forward James Hegarty fed McTiernan who found himself in space. The Sligo minor player then emphatically finished the ball to the net to put Trinity four points clear. This seemed to be the decisive score of the game as it left Pats. needing a goal with only four minutes remaining.

Trinity, who had earlier escaped without conceding a goal due to last ditch defending and a bit of luck, succumbed to a sucker punch. While attacking in the Pats half, the move broke down and Trinity were left short at the back. One long diagonal pass left Trinity exposed and the opposing corner-forward coolly slotted home. Trinity were still ahead but were visibly tiring and two quick scores from the Pats half forward line put the game beyond doubt.

In hindsight, Pats were marginally the better team and deserved their victory. For Trinity, it was a story of what if? Late efforts drifted wide and dubious refereeing decisions cost Trinity dearly.

Throughout the game, the physically bigger Pats team dominated around midfield. Trinity, without midfielder John O’Donoghue, always struggled in this sector and tried many players there, including Prenty, McTiernan and O’Morain.

Even in defeat, the future looks bright for this team. It has some excellent players and will no doubt improve as the players begin to know each others style of play. Next up for this team is a tricky encounter against UCD B which will no doubt prove a bruising encounter.

Trinity Surfers come Third in Tramore Eoin Greene THE WEEKEND of the 1st and 2nd of November saw surfers from the majority of Ireland’s third level colleges descend on Tramore, Co. Waterford for the annual Irish Surfing Intervarsity. This national event was hosted by Dublin University Surfing and Bodyboarding Club (DUSBC) in conjunction with the Irish Surf Association. There was a huge turn out for the competition with entrants from 12 of the country’s colleges.

The event consisted of four categories: Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Longboarding and Bodyboarding.

DUSBC entered a total of four teams, which enabled some of our new members to get their first taste of competitive surfing.

The competition kicked off early on Saturday morning with the first round of the Longboarding Heats. Conditions were good for the longboarders. TCD was represented by Benjamin Porte, Rory Madden, Ed Kelly and Eoin Greene. All performed well with Kelly, Porte and Greene making it through to the semi’s. Competition in the semi-finals was tough with classic surfing from the Coleraine and Sligo competitors. However, Greene managed to

hang on and booked one of the spots in the final.

The first round of the Women’s Open saw solid surfing from the TCD girls: Niamh Gibbons, Roisin Gilland-O’Doherty, Julie Perole and Jean Lynham. Both Roisin and Julie managed to make it through to the next round. By the end of the first day the team points tally had TCD, NUIG and Sligo on even points.

By Sunday morning conditions had

changed dramatically from small clean 2 – 3 foot surf to 4 – 5 foot messy onshore conditions. The Men’s Open commenced with six TCD surfers: Paul Howard, Chris Darling, Patrick Wilson, Dave O’Riordan, Joe Cummiskey and Derek O’Mahony.

The adverse conditions meant a lack of scoring waves for the TCD surfers. Only Dave O’Riordan passed through to the

quarter finals. From then on the Men’s Open was dominated by Sligo and Coleraine along with one Basque surfer competing for Belfast IT. The Longboarding Final was run next with 1st going to Sligo IT, 2nd to Coleraine, 3rd to Sligo IT and 4th to TCD surfer Eoin Greene. Trinity saw a great result in both the Women’s Open with a 2nd place for Roisin Gilland-O’Doherty and the Bodyboarding category where excaptain Hilary Clarke proved she hadn’t lost her touch coming 4th and Seamus McGoldrick in 3rd place.

Sunday’s result had the effect of dramatically changing the favourites for the Team Title Trophy which was sponsored by Siúcra with a new perpetual trophy for the competition. Individual events were sponsored by SurfDock with Circle One Wetsuits and also The Great Outdoors.

Knocking defending champions TCD out of the race for the title was University of Ulster Coleraine with 1st place and Sligo IT with 2nd, leaving TCD to place a respectable joint 3rd with Queens University Belfast.

The competition was deemed a tremendous success by all who attended.

Trinity Ladies Hockey 1st XI make it to the final of the Plat, having narrowly missed out on a chance to progress to the semi-finals of the Intervarsity Championship.

DUFC Win in Shock Upset Trinity 35pts UL Bohemians 28pts Saturday 25th October 2003 It does not get any better than this!

On Saturday the students came back from 28-6 to win the first AIL game of the season. UL Bohemians were regarded as the top team in the division. UL had been showing excellent early season form in the Munster league. In contrast, the Trinity line up was quite experimental in nature Playing into a stiff breeze in the first half, Trinity seemed to self-destruct as they ‘gift wrapped’ three first half tries to their Limerick rivals. The first try was a controversial ‘penalty try’ after Bohemians had kicked the ball through the dead ball area, only to be awarded a try after a push in the back of a chasing player. The second try came from shambolic back line play by Trinity, which the visiting centre profited from to score from sixty metres. The third was from a blocked down kick. At 37 minutes the home team were 28-6 down.

Trinity looked on the rack, but they are obviously made of sterner stuff, Martin Garvey typically led the way when he got up out of a ruck and blocked down a clearing kick and won the chase for the touchdown. This seamed to ignite the home team. Out half Keelan McGowan only playing his second game since January kicked the conversion.28-13 to Bohemians at Half time.

To be with any chance of winning this game, Trinity had to score first in the second half. This they did when after applying heavy pressure to the visitor’s line the backs conjured up a magical move to put wing Francis Keane under the posts for a well deserved try. 28-20 to Bohs Bohemians were clearly rattled and began to give away penalties in kickable positions. Keelan McGowan was in superb place kicking form and duly punished the visitors he kicked three penalties in quick succession to huge roars from the jubilant and disbelieving College park crowd. McGowan just kept up his incredible accuracy to give the home team a 35-28 lead.

There was one last scare for the students but stern defence kept the visitor’s at bay. The final whistle was

greeted with a huge cheer from both players and supporters who no doubt celebrated into the night!

Old Belvedere 16pts Trinity 12pts Saturday November 1st Trinity could have and should have won this game. Certain circumstances prevailed and crucial injury (broken jaw) to out-half Keelan McGowan on 15 minutes really effected their pattern as they crucified the highly touted Belvedere pack, but failed to get the usual cohesion behind the scrum.

With McGowan out injured, full back Thomas Horner making his debut at full back after three outstanding games at that position for the U20s stepped in at out-half. He did remarkably well kicking three penalties and a left footed drop goal.

But through no fault of his own, he only knows a part of the Trinity system as he only came up to the 1st XV this week.

Trinity still should have won going away. They gave away an interception midway through the first half when former Trinity player Reuben Aiono ran in from 60 metres after a gift from his former team!

In the second half it just seemed a matter of time before Trinity would take the lead. They chipped away with Horner kicking the penalties after constant home team infringements, which brought penalties but not yellow cards. It was not to be but a bonus point was gained nonetheless.

Team ; 15 Thomas Horner, 14 Francis Keane, 13 Barry Kinsella, 12 John Quigley, 11 Ruairi Kerr, 10 Keelan McGowan (Brian Hastings 15 mins), 9 Paddy McCormack (David Sisam 76), 1 Niall Conlen, 2 Matt Crockett, 3 Forrest Gainer, 4 Martin Garvey, 5 Mark Warburton, 6 Hugh Hogan, 7 Richie White, 8 Jamie Heaslip.

Trinity U20s made it two out of two, when they beat Terenure College convincingly 45-8 scoring seven tries.

The U20s B gained their first win of the season against Terenure with an emphatic 38-10 win, with captain Richie Martin to the fore.

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