UCC Express Issue 4 by University Express

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 4

Image by: Conor McCabe Photography

Students’ Union vows to tackle lack of female involvement Barry Aldworth | News Editor

Patrick’s College.

With persistent question marks over the lack of female involvement in student politics within UCC, the Students’ Union has announced that it plans to hold a series of workshops to tackle the issue head on.

The SU currently plans to begin holding the workshops before the end of October, with WFE’s website stating that the primary function of the workshops is to examine both the local and national political system. In addition the sessions also seek to encourage those who may be hesitant about running in any future elections to do so.

Speaking at a Philosophical Society panel discussion on ‘Sexism within UCC’, Mark Stanton confirmed that the union has begun working with the group Women for Election (WFE). As part of the arrangement, the SU will join the group’s INFORM program, which seeks to highlight the potential and benefits of further political involvement for women, as well as for all groups. The INFORM program was trialled last year at UCD and St

Stanton highlighted that increasing student participation in next year’s student elections was a primary focus for this year’s SU: “We want to see numbers up across the board, both running for and voting in elections this year.” The current President added that the union “will be providing as much

support and information about the job we do to any student who wants to run.” In addition to the WFE workshops, the Students’ Union intends to open discussions with the staff of the UCC Department of Government on how the election process could be better run. Chief among these plans is the appointment of Dr. Theresa Reidy, who Stanton described as an international elections expert, as an external advisor to this year’s UCCSU Election Committee. “I think it would be beneficial for us to tap into her knowledge,” said Stanton, “but also a great chance for her to test theories such as randomised ballots on an electorate with the same population

and turnout as many local authority constituencies.” Female involvement on the SU has been a persistent problem, with only two out of 26 paid positions being held by females in the past five years; Cat O’Driscoll and Annie Hoey being the only candidates successfully elected to sabbatical positions in that time. However the pattern seemingly hasn’t carried over to part-time positions, with Equality Officer Rob O’Sullivan highlighting that of the six positions on the SU’s Equality Working Group, only one is held by someone who identifies as male. Also discussed at the Philosophical Society meeting was the wider

presence of sexism within UCC, including whether women in male dominated courses, or vice-versa, felt prejudiced against. The panel, chaired by UCCSU Gender Equality Officer, Kelly Doherty, agreed that while sexism is still present within UCC, progression had been made this year, with Katie Quinlan highlighting increased student interest in the Feminist Society. However Jerome Wholihane of the Societies’ Guild highlighted that while progression had been made, there is still a lot of sexism present under the surface and just because it’s no longer acceptable to say certain things in public, does not mean the problem has been eradicated.

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Inside Today: SU Flippancy Page 7 September Feeling Page 8 Peer Support Page 10 Scottish Legacy Page 15 Irish university Presidents pictured with Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan.

Image by: Jason Clarke Photography

Whistleblower Wilson Page 16 UCC maintains position in THE World Rankings Barry Aldworth | News Editor

USI Rally Page 21

Editorial team Editor-in-Chief: Stephen Barry Deputy & News Editor: Barry Aldworth Deputy News Editor: Brian Conmy Fiction Editor: Ruth Lawlor Features Editor: Conor Shearman Deputy Features Editor: Laura Flaherty Sport Editor: Stephen Walsh Photo Editors: Emmet Curtin & Marc Moylan Designer: Kevin Hosford

The Number Cruncher

The number of years recently hired UCC Fitzgibbon manager, Ger Cunningham, was appointed for to manage the Dublin Senior hurlers.

UCC has maintained its position in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Rankings 2014-15, after being ranked in the 276–300 range. In addition to holding its overall position, UCC improved its scores in several categories, with the university’s research and international outlook in particular making significant improvements. For most Irish third-level institutions, the trend of ranking declines continued, in particular for Trinity College Dublin (TCD), which fell from 129 to 138, as well as UCD, which tumbled from 161 to the 226–250 range. NUI Galway continued to buck the trend, however, as increased funding and academic output saw the university jump from the 301–350 range to the 251–275 bracket, leapfrogging UCC in the process. The THE rankings assess an institution’s performance in 13 separate areas, including knowledge transfer, international outlook, teaching environment and research. Whilst the THE rankings, like any other, have both strengths and weaknesses, the overall decline experiences by Irish institutions has become a source of

anxiety for the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

Tom Boland, Chief Executive of the HEA, stated that; “There should be no doubt that we are now at a tipping point. The global university rankings, for all their ﬂaws, reﬂect international perceptions and we should take note of concerns that our universities are not in a position to compete.”

“Despite maintaining its overall ranking, UCC drops to 4th best Irish university”

Boland’s fears were echoed by Professor Vinny Cahill, Dean of Research at TCD, who said; “Our universities are sliding because we can’t compete on funding. A decrease in the ranking for any of our Irish universities in the Times Higher Education World Rankings is not good for Ireland.” Despite the belief that cuts to funding meant that Irish universities dropping in world rankings was inevitable, the THE rankings have come under criticism after the release of this year’s

list. UCD President Andrew Deeks recently claimed that the survey might be designed to include big changes in the rankings to “grab more headlines.” Despite dropping to Ireland’s fourth best university in the latest rankings, UCC has experienced recent success in other lists, among other ranking falls. In May, the inaugural EU Commission U-Multirank findings were released, with UCC being ranked among the global elite. The rankings, which factor student input into their findings, placed UCC among a small group of institutions that returned more than 10 ‘A’ grades across its different sectors, with UCC obtaining 14 ‘A’ grades in total. Additionally, UCC recently finished as runner-up University of the Year in the Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015. On a global scale, California Institute of Technology topped the THE rankings, narrowly beating Harvard. The University of Oxford was the highest ranked European institution, finishing in third place, with Europe’s only other top-20 representative being ETH Zurich of Switzerland.

2,000 €3,000 €938.9m The number of student residences to be built by Trinity College in the next five years, according to Provost Patrick Prendergast. The houses will help alleviate the student accommodation crisis in Dublin.

The amount to which the Student Contribution Charge is forecast to rise to for 2015/6. There is not expected to be any reversal of this figure in today’s announcement of Budget 2015.

The total state-funding provided to higher education institutions in Ireland, down 32% from six years ago.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Societies’ Guild announce society budgets for coming year Barry Aldworth | News Editor The Societies’ Guild has announced the amount of funding each society will receive for the 2014/15 academic year, with the amount of money each group will receive ranging from €20 up to €19,500 across a spectrum of 84 societies. The Philosophical Society was the only society to receive this maximum figure, followed closely by the Law Society which will receive an initial budget of €18,000, with a large portion of both budgets to be used to allow both societies to attend national and international debating competitions. Originally, the Law Society request sought an approximate €21,500 in funding, whilst the university’s principle performance-based societies, Choral and Dramat, applied for €24,920 and €22,000 respectively. However, after the requests were assessed by the Guild Executive, both societies were awarded €17500 to cover expenses such as workshops, stage productions and competitions. The Economics Society was the only other society to receive a five-figure budget, with an allocation of €12,000. When asked about the presence of a

financial cap, Guild President Aaron O’Sullivan said: “This is the second year that there was an upper cap in place for societies in terms of the budget that was allocated to each. “The reasoning behind putting a cap in place is to try and ensure that as many societies as possible have most of their funding requests in order to fulfil their goals that they have set themselves for the coming year.”

“Budget allocations ranged from €20 to €19,500” The announcement of the budget also brought good news for many of UCC’s charitable societies, including SUAS, who received €6,500, and the Cancer Society, who was awarded an initial budget of €6,000 for the year. For the majority of societies, the budgetary process proved to be a formality as the amount requested and the amount due to be received either matched or saw only minor changes. O’Sullivan added that “the vast majority of societies were happy with their allocation and the Societies’ Guild has not received any complaints from societies in relation to budget allocations.”

Conference on Gendering Political Recruitment takes place in UCC Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor UCC last week played host to a seminar focusing on female candidate selection and issues around the topic in politics in the Brookfield Health Sciences Complex. The seminar featured speakers from a variety of universities and countries, bringing their expertise to the topic in a day full of insights into gender quotas and their effect on political life. The event received funding support from the Irish Research Council’s ‘New Foundations’ scheme and was organised primarily by Fiona Buckley. A lecturer for the Department of Government, Buckley’s academic work focuses largely on gender issues in politics and many of the seminar contributors including Dr. Meryl Kenny, Dr. Lenita Freidvall and Prof. Yvonne Galligan have produced quantities of work on similar issues surrounding gendering political recruitment The impetus for this conference stemmed from the 2012 Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act which has been passed into law by the Irish government. Buckley noted that “The Act provides for a 30% gender quota at the next general election, rising to 40% seven years thereafter. Parties who fail to implement the gender quota provision will see a 50% decrease in their State funding under the Electoral Acts on an annual basis.” This is the first legislative action to be taken on gender quotas, a system

that parties previously tried to selfimplement to varying degrees of success. While the morning portion of the seminar focused more broadly on the topics of gender quotas, candidate selection and other affirmative action measures, there were also more specific examples given on issues in specific countries, including Ireland, Belgium, Britain and France. While many of the experiences of these other countries could be useful for the Irish experience going forward, some attention was paid for the need of context in any action being taken to bring gender parity to politics. The first woman elected to Dáil Eireann was in 1918 and currently there are only 27 women serving in the Dáil; around 16% of the total members currently elected. This places Ireland extremely low on numbers of female candidates in government, with some members of the EU28, including Sweden, Finland and Spain, having over 40% female candidates in their respective parliaments. While this graduated gender quota may be the beginning of an approach to gender parity in Irish politics, it was noted at the seminar that some countries which successfully implemented gender quotas and increased their female representation have since regressed slightly in their percentage of females elected. As such, this kind of quota may need to be a first step of a constant effort to achieve gender parity in politics.

Auditors at Societies Senate. Image by: Emmet Curtin In addition to announcing the budgets for individual societies, the Societies’ Guild also announced its expected income and expenditure for the 2014/15 academic year. In total the Guild expects to bring in a total of €441,211.47, with the vast majority of this, €402,000, coming from a grant received from the university. The remaining income will

largely be made up of sponsorship, personal contributions and a claw-back of approximately €21,000 of unused money from the 2013/14 budget. Overall the guild expects to spend €444,696.18 over the course of the year, with society expenses, start up grants, the purchasing of new equipment, as well as training for Auditors and society committee members to make

up most of this figure. The majority of the €11,645 due to be spent on training throughout the year was spent on the annual Auditors’ Training weekend. While the guild spent a total of €9,514 on the annual event, the overall cost was also supplemented by a €3,000 overall personal contribution from the attending auditors.

O’Leary elected new International Student Ofﬁcer Lia Curtin | News Writer Grace O’ Leary, a final year student of Commerce and Hispanic Studies, has been voted Students’ Union International Student Officer following an election held last Tuesday, October 7th. The event began with an introductory presentation from Equality Officer, Rob O’Sullivan, before opening the ﬂoor for nominations. Five candidates, Grace O’Leary, Niki Chopra, Nwafor Ezebuchi, Victor Cecheti and Jessica Rainer, contested the position as both Irish and international students were represented.

Image by Daire Calnan

The candidates each gave a short speech explaining their eligibility, as well as answering questions about their plans for the role. Central to the plans of all five candidates was a desire for greater integration between Irish and international students.

vote, but having not reached the quote of 42 votes the process continued.

A proportional representation system was used on the night, with the count overseen by SU Officers, including outgoing International Students’ Officer, Kevin Devey. After the initial count, Chopra was ahead by a single

In her new role she will join the SU’s Equality Working Group, who are responsible for advising UCC on issues of discrimination, dealing with complaints and running awareness campaigns.

Chopra stayed ahead until the elimination of Cecheti from the race, whose votes swung mainly to O’Leary, who emerged victorious after the fourth count.

The group was established to ensure that the rights of students are upheld in UCC as well as in wider society. The International Students’ Officer is responsible for fostering links with all organisations that represent international students on campus. O’Leary also hopes to give the International Student Officer more responsibility over the international orientation programme by holding elections before term starts.

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Whistleblower Wilson speaks at LawSoc event Dan Delaney | News Writer

starting in 2008.

UCC Law Society, and an audience of over 100 people, heard former Garda John Wilson and journalist Gemma O’Doherty discuss their roles in revealing the 2013 penalty points scandal, with John Wilson detailing how he was targeted by other Gardaí due to his efforts to highlight the corruption.

In 2011, both Gardaí uncovered what Wilson said were “large numbers of lawfully issued fixed charge notices corruptly terminated by senior Gardaí.” Wilson also highlighted that the cancellations occurred in “clusters” and that it was clear that tickets were “taken care of” because the people who received the penalty points “were connected to certain individuals.”

Wilson, along with Sgt. Maurice McCabe, revealed that over 90,000 fixed charge penalty point notices (FCNs) had been unlawfully cancelled by Gardaí in what O’Doherty described as an “endemic corruption.” O’Doherty was a reporter with the Irish Independent who was made redundant from that newspaper after calling to the home of then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan while investigating the FCN story. It was later revealed that Callinan himself had penalty points removed. Wilson had first met McCabe, who he described as an “honest, decent man who insisted on the highest of standards” from other Gardaí, when they worked together in 2002. Wilson later supported McCabe when the latter Garda made allegations of corruption against senior Garda management,

Wilson made complaints relating to the cancellations to senior Garda management, but said that these complaints were ignored. Wilson passed the information to TDs but his access to the Garda PULSE database was restricted which, he stated, meant that “in effect, I was unable to do my job.” In Janurary 2013, while on duty, Wilson’s squad car was stopped and searched by other Gardaí in Monaghan town. Two weeks later, he found a rat pinned to the front door of his house. After other incidents like this, he left the Gardaí that May. “The vast majority of people in this country are decent, hard-working people with no connections. When these people receive penalty point notices, it causes them great upset,”

Cork students win big at Undergraduate Awards Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor Two UCC students have won outright at the 2014 Undergraduate Awards (UA). David Jones from Bishopstown and Tadhg O’Laoighaire from Togher were among the 49 winners at the awards from an initial pool of 5,000 entrants from 200 universities worldwide. The awards ceremony for the only pandiscipline academic awards programme currently operating will take place in Dublin on November 21st. Jones won the UA in the Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences category for his paper entitled ‘Preliminary Investigation into the Optimization of Sample Systems for the Study of the Vinyl Substitution Reactions of 3(2H)Furanones’. He completed his undergraduate degree in the Chemistry of Pharmaceutical Compounds and his begun a PhD in Organic Chemistry in UCC. “I was thrilled to have won my Undergraduate Award,” said Jones. “The piece I submitted was based on my final year research project and I was very happy with it. I found the research interesting and I’m glad the judging panel thought so also.” O’Laoighaire captured the UA in the Philosophical and Theological Studies category for his paper entitled ‘Thinking Makes it So; A Defence of Narrative Reﬂection as the Appropriate Measure of Worthwhile Life’. He

studied

Philosophy

for

his

undergraduate degree and is currently doing a night course in Psychology before his planned Master’s programme next year. On the award O’Laoighaire said: “I’m proud of the work I’ve put in during my undergrad degree, so partaking in the undergrad awards was a natural follow-on from that; if I feel like I’ve developed a worthwhile idea, it serves nobody to keep it hidden away. Ideas spread through sharing.

“If I feel like I’ve developed a worthwhile idea, it serves nobody to keep it hidden away. Ideas spread through sharing” “In terms of winning; it’s nice, but basically I just see the summit as a great opportunity to develop and disseminate ideas with others who are looking for answers and asking questions. Winning is just a gateway to further inquiry.”

Image by: Emmet Curtin said Wilson. “But, for a lot of other people, receiving a FCN in the post was a mere irritation which necessitated a phone call to make it go away.” O’Doherty and others pursued the FCN story, which eventually led to the resignation of Commissioner Callinan

and the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, as well as the removal of the Head of the Department of Justice, Brian Purcell. Although McCabe and Wilson were eventually vindicated, Wilson said that nothing has changed. “They are fixing tickets today as bad as they ever were,” he said at the event. O’Doherty highlighted that while most of the crowd may have chosen to study

law “because you wanted to make a difference, to expose injustice and to uphold truth; it has arguably never been so difficult to uphold those ideals.” “These two guests had a tough time for doing the right thing,” said the Law Society’s Internal Convener, Cormac Manning. “I’m grateful that people put themselves out there in the face of injustice.”

Nobel Prize winner to receive Honorary Doctorate Barry Aldworth | News Editor Professor John O’Keefe of University College London, who was announced as a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine last week, is to receive an honorary doctorate from UCC. The ceremony will take place on December 5th and is being held in recognition of O’Keefe’s contributions to the field of neuroscience. O’Keefe, whose father was originally from Newmarket, will also present a lecture at a symposium to be held by the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience in advance of the conferring.

Awards, which comprise of a gold medal, are given by category with each winner being the top student in their respective field globally for the year. Aside from these two wins, 12 other UCC students were highly commended in their fields.

The American-born scientist shared the 2014 Nobel Prize with Norwegian scientists May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser. The trio were awarded the honour for discovering an ‘inner GPS’ which assists the brain with navigation. The Nobel win came over thirty years after O’Keefe’s original discovery upon which the Norwegian scientists’ work was built.

The 2015 Undergraduate Awards Programme is now open for registrations and submissions from current, penultimate and final year students, as well as 2014 graduates.

In 1971 O’Keefe discovered place cells, neurons within the hippocampus that become active when a person enters a particular place in their environment. After this finding he

proposed that the hippocampus acts as a form of cognitive map for spatial memory function. O’Keefe will become the third Nobel Laureate to receive an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from UCC, following on from DNA pioneer James Watson in 2010 and Robert Wilson in 2004. Wilson jointly won the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work in

the field of radio astronomy. At the symposium, which will predate the honorary conferring, O’Keefe will present a lecture entitled ‘The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map; An Update’. The Overall event will focus on the role played by the hippocampus in health and disease and is being organised by Dr. Yvonne Nolan and Professor John F. Cryan.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Students take to the streets of Dublin Sean O’Connell | News Writer Over 2,000 students from all over the country took to the streets of Dublin in order to mount a pre-emptive strike against further cutbacks to education in the coming budget. Nearly 150 UCC students armed with signs and whistles took part in the October 8th rally, adding their voice to the nationwide effort. The Rally for Education was organised by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) which has been concerned with the price of accommodation and the general cost of living, which has increased by up to 13% in the last year. This was the first time in three years the USI organised a pre budget protest, provoked by the alarming reality that students are finding it extremely difficult to pay for accommodation. This, coupled with forecasted increases in the cost of the college tuition, could spell disaster for many new and returning students. The march began at 12.30pm at the Garden of Remembrance and proceeded towards O’Connell Street, bringing the traffic to a standstill, continuing past Trinity College and concluding at Dáil Éireann. Each college brought something unique to the march, whether it was music, chants or someone dressed as the college’s mascot, it was a sight to behold.

Boole Library wins Business Award

Despite the weather, the students could not be silenced, singing chants such as “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts!” and “Education is a right, we won’t give up without a fight!” Upon arrival at the Dáil, the march was over but the rally continued on with renewed vigour. With speakers from the various unions supporting the rally, such as SIPTU, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), ICTU Youth, the Young Workers Network, We’re Not Leaving and the Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU); making it clear to see that this issue is not solely affecting current college students. Addressing the rally, president of the USI, Laura Harmon, pointed out that Ireland now has the second highest tuition fees for third level education in Europe, coming in only behind the UK. Harmon added that the cost of college tuition has created a “culture of crippling debt” and added that “education is the key to our recovery.”

Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor Hot on the heels of a UCC Library worker winning the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, the Library itself has recently won a business award. The ‘Excellence in the provision of services for a Digital Library’ category in the ‘Excellence in Business Awards 2014’ is run by Public Sector Magazine, with the award itself highlighting the importance of proliferation of new digital technologies and online resources.

“Nearly 150 UCC students armed with signs and whistles took part in the October 8th rally”

The magazine is a quarterly publication distributed to all departments in the public sector and acts as a platform for key decision makers in Ireland to keep informed of news, products and services in the public sector space.

Speaking on behalf of SIPTU was Ethel Buckley who said that she was “proud of being part of the coalition fighting to protect the future of education.” For those at the march, the message was clear: If we are to remain to isle of ‘Saints and Scholars’ it is imperative that tuition fees remain at a level which is both affordable and just. Education should be a right, not merely the privilege of those who can afford it.

Image by Aaron O'Sullivan

UCC Scientists Make Stressful Discovery Barry Aldworth | News Editor A group of UCC0based neuroscientists may have found the answer as to why certain people are more resilient to the negative of stress than others in their day to day lives. The research project, led by Professor John Cryan and Dr. Olivia O’Leary, in conjunction with several colleagues and PhD student Daniela Felice, found that certain receptors in the brain play an important role in determining how individuals respond to stress. While the links between stress and psychiatric disorders such as depression are well known, the study sought to assess the role of the GABAB receptor in determining response to stress. Cryan and O’Leary, along with their team, found, through testing on mice, that those lacking the 1b subtype were resilient to stress, while mice lacking the 1a subtype were more susceptible to stress. In addition the study, which was published in the most recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA journal, found that these receptors played a key role in determining how stress impacts

The Director of Library Services, Colette McKenna, had this to say on the win: “I see the future of UCC library in developing further collaborative initiatives with strategic partners and delivering high quality services to all our user communities as they need and want them.”

the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus.

She added that “making content available, whether it is The Great Book of Ireland or content available digitally will enhance our role in supporting researchers worldwide. Educating our users in discovering and using highquality information remains central to our mission. Most importantly, it ensures our value to future generations in a sustainable and responsible way.”

Increased production of new brain cells in the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in processing emotion, is also thought to contribute to the successful action of anti-depressant treatments. Speaking of the discovery, O’Leary said that; “although it is early days, these data show that these receptors could be important targets for the development of new drugs in the treatment of depression, where there is still such an unmet medical need.”

As well as continuing to offer user focused service, the UCC Library have hosted two successful exhibitions in the last year. The first exhibition was a crowd sourced ‘Sir Henrys @ UCC’ exhibition which focused on the Sir Henry’s club in Cork and garnered large attention through clever use of social media outlets.

Cryan added that while “we still have some way to go to translate these findings into humans,” the news was very exciting as “understanding the molecular factors that enable the brain to be stress resilient is one of the most exciting areas in neuroscience research currently and these data position the GABAB receptor at the heart of such efforts.” The research project was supported by a grant from the European Commission, as well as funding received though

While the library offers standard services such as book lending, in recent years it has put a noticeable focus on providing information skills training to students including EndNote and other software trainings, as well as in preserving Irish documentary material.

Science Foundation Ireland. In addition to Cryan, O’Leary and Felice’s involvement, the piece was coauthored by UCC researchers Stefano

Galimberti, Hélène M. Savignac, Javier A. Bravo, Tadhg Crowley and Ted Dinan, in conjunction with researchers based in France and Switzerland.

The second exhibition, in collaboration with the Glucksman Gallery and the School of English, was the ‘Facing Pages’ exhibit which presented publicly for the first time in The Great Book of Ireland and is currently in care of the library.

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Letters to the Editor

John Smith’s: An obituary Dear Editor, John Smith’s Bookshop, UCC will close its doors for the last time on Friday 21st of November 2014. It will be with great sadness that we turn the key on a shop we’ve devoted 11 years of blood (thanks to perma-paper-cuts), sweat (those heavy Accounting books don’t carry themselves upstairs) and tears (of happiness on finding someone as excited about John Steinbeck as we are). My long-serving colleagues and I will look at each other and feel silly at our sadness that we won’t be reopening its blue doors. After all, it’s just a shop. It’s not really though, is it? Since the news of the shop closure broke, we have been absolutely inundated with lovely messages of support from both staff and students. The warmth they have expressed towards the bookshop, and their sadness at its loss, has been truly heartening. We like to

The next deadline for Letters to the Editor is Wednesday, October 22nd. Send your thoughts to editor@uccexpress.ie.

think that in the 11 years we’ve been trading, we’ve become a little beating heart on campus. It’s comforting to hear these thoughts expressed by both new and long-standing customers. We thank you all for your kind words and custom. Over the last few years we’ve toiled to give students what they need at a price they can afford. When not busy alphabetising, our time is spent crunching the numbers to try to compete with the monster that is online retailing (Amazon, I’m looking at you). Alas, we could only hold back the tide for so long and must bow out and accept defeat with grace. The future will see the face of the book buying on campus change. John Smith’s will remain in the form of a digital outlet and is committed to continuing its service to the UCC community. However I can’t help but hope you will miss the singular joy of spending time in the bookshop browsing through our

shelves, coffee in hand, and picking up an unexpected bargain. I am immensely proud of my team (Rose, Jane, Michael, Matthew and Ger). They are the type of booksellers that think Shakespeare puns are funny and believe paper is kinder to the eyes (and soul) than a computer screen.

Need for true gender equality Dear Editor,

As the college yet again finds itself musing on the issue of sexism, it is high-time to appraise just how far we have come with gender equality. We still find ourselves mired-down by the prevalence of lad-culture; despite the fact that there have been measurable efforts to ensure equality across campus. And while it is vital that we rid our university of misogyny at all levels; it is equally as important, in the interest of true gender equality, to address the casual misandry and discrimination against men that has remained unchallenged for far too long. We here at UCC have witnessed misandry in multiple forms over the

last number of years, but I will limit my discourse to the SU sponsored ‘Don’t Be That Guy’ campaign that took place in recent years. The necessity of an effective anti-rape campaign throughout third-level institutions is indisputable; however the campaign should have been representative of all students. The addendum of ‘Guy’ was, to me, somewhat problematic as it had a gendering effect on the act of rape, citing men as the default perpetrators. Empirical evidence is something that you can’t argue against, and statistics show that men are significantly more likely to rape than women. But by endorsing a campaign that gendered the act of rape with men as perpetrators, the SU isolated a minority of men and women who were victims

There will be tears when we stand in the empty space that was once John

Smith’s Bookshop, but until then, call in to us and help us celebrate the last 11 years. You will find us dancing, giving away freebies in exchange for jokes and telling you all you need to know about the books you need to get.

Claire Fitzgerald Bookshop Manager

An Apology

of sexual assault by female aggressors. The danger of this act of misandry stemmed from its marginalisation of minorities; creating a campaign that could plausibly cause male victims to not come forward as a result of their gender automatically associating them with rape. However, the campaign went unchallenged – would the same have happened if it marginalised women? I, for one, believe it would have caused a stir. While it is reassuring to see careless acts of sexism being brought under scrutiny, it is often necessary to readjust your footing to make better progress: casual misandry, along with misogyny, deserves no place in our minds, and on our campus. Stephen Goulding

They have responded to the loss of all our jobs with renewed energy, focus and determination. It is a privilege to be the one to lead such an impressive team in giving the bookshop the sendoff it deserves.

Dear readers, On behalf of the Express team, I would like to extend our online apology from a fortnight ago to this print edition, regarding the humour piece entitled ‘The Neurological approach in becoming a desirable male’. The piece was sexist, unfit for publication and represented a major failing on behalf of the Express. We acted to remove copies from campus in a timely manner and are continuing to take steps to ensure better future practice. I would like to apologise again for publishing the piece and we will seek to do better into the future.

Stephen Barry Express Editor

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Positive steps forward overshadowed by SU ﬂippancy Méabh Flanagan | Features Writer My first encounter with the UCC Students’ Union occurred at Orientation. As a Fresher it would not be a case of good first impressions: only half of them actually managed to make an appearance as the others we were told had ‘fecked off to Electric Picnic’. President Mark Stanton then proceeded to show us a slideshow full of memes and jokes, including an image of his face photoshopped onto Rosie the Riveter. Altogether they seemed more concerned with making us laugh than informing us about their roles. Opinions were divided on whether the laid-back attitude was endearing or unprofessional; and admittedly, at that point, I was in the ‘unprofessional’ camp. This division in opinion carried over to social media, where images of graffiti were uploaded to the SU’s Freshers’ Facebook page. One showed the words ‘UCC Ents’ spray-painted between ﬂag-posts, with the tagline “Bold enough Marky” on the image and a caption “CIT President wasn’t too happy.” The picture has over 400 likes

proving that such social media savvy does seem to endear the SU to students. Unfortunately it also endorses the SU as a group of lads who do not take their roles seriously. The very fact that the UCCSU is composed of six males is discouraging. It’s easy to feel like there’s something amiss when only males are elected in a university which has more females than males. Even if the system in UCC does not encourage women to run, or other students to vote for them, we cannot simply blame those who benefit as a result. Feminist Society Auditor, Sonja Warner, stated that the lack of women in the SU “does not reﬂect badly upon the current SU, who have expressed a major interest in collaborating with us to improve the female participation in campus politics.” This represents a contrast to last year’s SU whom she felt “made no attempt to encourage women to run for leadership positions.” As a young female student just starting out in UCC, it’s still difficult to see six men represent such a diverse student body. However knowing that the SU

Image by: Emmet Curtin are hyper-aware of this and are working to combat it, does soften the blow. In spite of their work on this front, sexism in the university is a still hot topic with the Philosoph hosting a panel last week to address the issue. The event covered single-gender dominated courses, clubs and societies, and the SU itself. Stanton was one of the speakers invited on the panel, proving once more that the SU are willing and able

to open a frank discourse on the issue.

conveys a lack of seriousness.

Although my initial impression of the SU was not a good one, my research into their work revealed this belief was unfounded. However, if they wish to convince more students of their worth, the SU must refrain from using phrases such as “You’re destined to be alone forever just like Páidi!” on Facebook. No matter how humorous comments like that are intended to be, it still

Instead the SU must begin to promote themselves as the capable hardworking men that they are, a process which begins on social media. Actions may speak louder than words, but in this case their carefree doing-it-forthe-laugh voices are drowning out the actual good work that they are doing and it’s about time it changed.

University Rankings fail to tell the real picture Jamie Fraser | Features Writer After two weeks of confusion, excitement and alcohol-fuelled parties, one could say I’ve served my term in the ‘Freshers Fest’. To be honest, when I put down UCC as my number one choice on the CAO last year, I neither looked at nor cared about the college’s university ranking. I felt the ranking of the university wasn’t significant due to the raucous stories of my older friends telling me how much craic the place was. At that moment I knew UCC was the place for me. Honestly, who cares about some hierarchal system judging the place I call home? Fair enough they can judge our facilities, exam results and our number of international students, and compare us to other Irish universities; but do these so called experts know the true people who form the backbone of the university? No, they do not. They are oblivious to the staff of UCC who make you feel at home, away from home. They don’t see the fun of the everyday in pushing one another onto the UCC crest in order to challenge the pregnancy myth. The friendly nature of UCC is another mainstay of the excellence of our college. You can’t walk down the stairs of the Boole or into the Main Rest without

someone shouting your name or asking about the weather. It may not seem much on the broad scale of things but it is these little things which add up. Talk about your Irish stereotype. You can’t beat a Wednesday night in The Rock either. I’d bet you my grant that the adjudicators wouldn’t rank us below Trinity if they had a night out in The Rock on a Wednesday night with the trad music blaring and the Irish

“They don’t seem to comprehend that success isn’t measured by what you achieve but how far you’ve come since you started.” dancing in full ﬂow. Our clubs and societies aren’t included in university rankings, a huge downfall on their validity. We have a mix of everything to suit everyone; from the nippy little corner forward who will win you the championship, to the mathematical geniuses who enjoy finding x. Societies’ charity work is also amazing, for example €20,000 was raised during R&G Week in 2014 alone. The SÁMH

Society works to promote mental health awareness and encourage everyone, even the bulky macho rugby players to talk about their feelings. Societies like the Cancer Society can’t be forgotten either for the wide array of events they organise during the year. On a serious note, the academic side of the college must be noted. In my opinion it is unfair that the various rankings focus only on academic excellence and research undertaken in the college. They don’t see the work behind the scenes. They are oblivious to the diligence of lecturers and the sheer volume of work our students put in to their studies. You often see the medical students in the Boole Library at closing time. They don’t understand that things can go wrong on the day of the exam and affect overall grades. They don’t seem to comprehend that success isn’t measured by what you achieve but how far you’ve come since you started. On a parting note, university rankings are not significant; they only measure the University on the surface and don’t delve between the fissures which make the university tick. Here at UCC I’ve learned that ‘education is about inspiring one’s mind, not just filling their head’ and for that reason rankings provide no solace or despair to me. They don’t realize that UCC is my home and haven.

Image by: Emmet Curtin

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Rape is not a blame game: dispelling culture of victimblaming Morgane Conaty | Features Writer The Affirmative Consent Bill, more commonly known as the ‘Yes means yes’ bill, that was signed into law in California just a few weeks ago marks a slow but steady shift from the blame culture associated with rape and sexual assault. The law requires that state funded colleges adopt a policy of affirmative consent when they are dealing with sexual assault. This means, quite simply, that a person must actively consent to any sexual activity and a lack of objection is not sufficient. This policy will be employed in college disciplinary procedures and in raising awareness of the problems of sexual assault in colleges. The attitude still persists, though, that the victim of rape or sexual assault must bear an element of personal responsibility. In response to the enactment of the Californian bill; certain commentators, while admitting that the focus should be on educating the male student population and clamping down on perpetrators, still drew attention to the victim’s role. To paraphrase one commentator, you wouldn’t walk down a dodgy part of the city at two o’clock in the morning and expect nothing to happen. While it is understandable to advocate

sensibleness and responsibility, the focus of the discourse on the responsibility of the victim diminishes the responsibility of the guilty party. An Irish Examiner survey in 2008 found that one in four people believed that women who have been raped are partly to blame for the crime because of how they were dressed, their sexual history, or how much they had had to drink. It has also been shown that female jurors tend to be harsher towards victims of rape and sexual assault than male jurors. For women an innate fear and vulnerability leads to the assumption that the victim is blameworthy; the idea being that ‘I cannot be attacked because I don’t dress like that or act like that.’ It is the one crime where the victim, rather than the accused, is morally judged for their actions. This fear of judgement is one of the reasons why women are far less likely to report the crime. In 2011 only 30% of victims who contacted Rape Crisis Network Ireland reported the sexual violence to a formal authority. In the same report they found that of all cases reported to the Gardaí, only 7% of cases resulted in a conviction… Not much of an incentive for victims to speak out. It is a problem echoed across the globe, although America seems to be

progressive in tackling the issue. In September the White House launched the ‘It’s on us’ campaign, aiming to raise awareness and try to put an end to sexual assault on college campuses by involving men and women alike. It was launched in response to research which found that nearly 20% of female college students have been sexually assaulted but that only 12% of cases are reported.

That September Feeling Jessica Ní Mhaolain speaks about her experiences with occulocutanious albinism So here we are; back to education after a fun, hot summer. Now I’m settling down to start my masters in Government back in UCC. So I’m out shopping for college and then I feel it again. That Fear. Some of you know what the fear is and some might never have experienced it before. That fear is starting to wash over me again, the fear I know strikes both students and parents. It’s a kind of a strange apprehension isn’t it? That feeling of what might be facing you or your child this year in terms of how their disability will affect their education and socialising this year. For me these questions are all too common. ‘Have they cut resource hours again?’ ‘What will the other kids think if I can’t recognise them?’ ‘I hope someone doesn’t ask me to read something off the board.’ I’ve dealt with that September Feeling every year since I was about 12.It would be a lie to say you don’t feel it every year but it does begin to bother you less and less. I felt it worst the year I went into Leaving Cert. Imagine what it was like to have the points race on top of the September Feeling? It will send you a little crazy, it will send kids a little crazy and it will drive parents absolutely up the walls. Isn’t that a parent’s job though really;

to worry about their kids? My disability is a mouthful of a thing called occulocutanious albinism; a condition that primarily affects my sight but also gives me pale skin and stops me from tanning. It’s pretty severe; I can only read the top letter of the eye chart in a doctor’s office and that’s on a good day. Strong sunlight, my workload and the length of my day all have an effect on how functional my sight will be during the day.

“I’m quite used to my condition and I know my limitations, yet I almost always take on more than I can handle.” It’s genuinely not that bad though, I absolutely love my life. I love my family, my friends, the course I study in college, the politics I’m involved in and everything in between. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops because I do have some awful days, but don’t we all? I’m quite used to my condition and I know my limitations, yet I almost

always take on more than I can handle. I think the reasoning for that might be subconscious. I constantly strive to be as ‘normal’ as everyone else and I think by keeping myself as busy as my friends I feel like I’m achieving normality. It’s obvious to me that part of me is clearly still slightly uncomfortable with my disability, but I’m 22 surely that’s still to be expected? Back in UCC again, this time I’m beginning a Masters. You’d think after spending four years as an undergrad in a college where the Disability Support Service is second to none, I wouldn’t be apprehensive? You’d be so wrong. Returning to college is just like starting again for me. There are new people, a new department and a new building; information overload for the girl who relies on memory to get around. I’m learning to combat my September Feeling though. For me it’s all about organisation; organising yourself and organising the people around you that you depend on. I’ve planned my year in terms of how to study and when to study so I don’t tire out my eyes. Planning is such a good help to me when I’m trying to combat that September Feeling, and it only took me four years to figure that out!

The way in which college authorities are dealing with this problem was also highlighted; 55 colleges across the US are currently being investigated for their handling of sexual assault allegations. The California bill seeks to change that by putting measures in place to ensure that allegations are dealt with seriously and professionally. In Ireland too, there have been many

campaigns, particularly at university level to raise awareness of the problem and to shift the focus off the victim and onto the perpetrator. We need to change the victim-blaming that occurs to those who have been raped or sexually assaulted. It could happen to anyone, in any situation, yet unfortunately many people seem disinclined to believe that.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Government emphasis on technology echoes past failings Diarmaid Twomey | Features Writer

Albert Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; but didn’t someone tell me that persistence pays off? The reality is that in everyday life, both and yet neither is fully accurate. Taking the case of the Irish education system however, which might be more accurate? It seems to me, observing specific government incentives and societal pressures on youth in Irish society, all indicators point to the fact that Albert Einstein was pretty much on the money.

“I myself have lost contact with many friends I spent all my teenage years with; inseparable then, disconnected now.” When I was growing up and very reluctantly completing the later half of my secondary school education, the volume of young men that left the education system to pursue careers in construction and other trades was staggering. By sixth year the majority of my friends were no longer in school and instead were pursuing careers in everything from bricklaying to carpentry. This was encouraged by all elements of society. Money was to be made in construction and the vision of

well paid teenagers driving around in 4x4s was not uncommon, nor was it scorned.

Crash

When the infamous economic crash happened in Ireland in 2008 and the bottom fell out of the property and construction market, it became apparent very quickly just how big of a predicament a huge percentage of young Irish males were in. Tens of thousands became unemployed overnight. Young men suddenly had nowhere to turn. The trade that had coaxed them from completing their formal secondary education had suddenly abandoned them. As the months and years passed by, there was no let up. The unemployment queues grew and grew. Instances of suicide amongst young males became more common and ‘hope’ became a rare commodity, a word you daren’t utter in public. Nowhere to turn, Ireland weeped for it’s lost children as they emigrated in their droves, determined to make use of their skills on foreign shores. Families said their goodbyes in airport terminals, friends shared their last pints together, no one knowing when Ireland would open her arms and embrace her lost children again. I myself have lost contact with many friends I spent all my teenage years with; inseparable then, disconnected now. The recession has been unforgiving, aggressive in its attack on every Irish community

and home from Malin to Mizen Head. Even now as we supposedly enter calmer waters emigration continues to drain the life blood of communities the length and breadth of the nation.

They say you should learn something from every life experience, especially from the most difficult ones. Being someone who has spent the last three years of my life recovering from a long illness, this is a virtue I have come to appreciate and fully endorse. So what have we learned? Has Irish society and more importantly the Irish state, learned from the mistakes of the past and our collective torturous experience of the past six years? Einstein is back to haunt us with his words I fear. Where construction once offered an enticing embrace, a mirage of an orchard filled with endless blossoming fruit, now appears another industry. The fruits of promise that the IT sector now offer is irresistible, too good to be true yet too delicious to resist. As the youth are now led up the newly discovered garden path en route to the awaiting mecca, it is said that only the begrudgers try block their way. The begrudgers who attempt to illustrate to Ireland’s children just how many other paths they can explore.

Diversiﬁcation A word of warning to these men and women who express a more cautious approach to the hoarding of our youth

down the latest solitary path… Just as those who signaled issues with our overheating construction industry and economy were ridiculed, these latest batch of ‘begrudgers’ will find themselves standing out in the cold, their green jersey stripped from them by the more patriotic. One dare not mention that IT multinational corporations don’t care how many of our youth they will leave jobless if, or most likely when they find somewhere cheaper to base their operations. Only the most negative would mention the increasing global pressure our corporate tax rate is coming under and the implications this could have on our IT orchard and on those who will need its fruit to survive.

Our government should now be acutely aware of how dangerous it is to put all your eggs in one basket. Surely the mistakes of the past won’t be repeated? Yet that is exactly what they are doing. In an attempt to lure students to this new fruit laden orchard, our education system has been rigged. Students are either being punished for not embracing higher level maths by being denied bonus points, or are being coerced into completing it to get these bonus points; actively encouraging them to neglect their natural talents. A depressing outcome when you consider that the education system is in place to nurture all our children’s diverse array of talents. Today as we still reel from an overreliance on construction and the

unsustainable jobs it created, a large swathe of our youth are being pushed to pursue subjects and careers which they quite possibly are neither suited to nor satisfied in. Like the jobs that have gone before, these careers are most likely unsustainable in the long term. All the while those who are resilient enough to follow their true talents, in the pursuit of a career they can truly embrace, are being disadvantaged and denied bonus points.

“Those who are resilient enough to follow their true talents, in the pursuit of a career they can truly embrace, are being disadvantaged”

We even have a scenario, whereby heads of firms including PayPal and tax evaders like Google are attempting to dictate and inﬂuence how we educate our children. Have we learned anything? As we refuse to encourage corporations to leave heavier fingerprints on our tax books, it is bizarre that we embrace those leaving heavy handprints on our educational manifesto. The minds of our youth are one of our most precious commodities. We cannot let history repeat itself, finding that our newly discovered orchard will wither with the onset of a new economic season.

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Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

An integral part of campus life

Zoe Cashman examines the Peer Support system The annual arrival of Peer Support week put a focus on what the service has to offer students. Promoted as an opportunity for first year students to come into contact with their Peer Support leaders, I spoke to those involved in the service to gain an idea about what uLink Peer Support has to offer. Peer support is a service provided by students for their fellow students. uLink Peer Support Coordinator Rebecca Murphy stated that, “Peer Supporters are volunteers who provide an invaluable resource to UCC and its students. Research shows that most young people would prefer to speak to a peer about a problem they’re experiencing rather than to an adult or staff member. Peer Support provides a first contact point for students before they need to get professionals involved in a bigger problem.”

needing support from the university for counselling and health but not being entirely sure who to contact. There are other services available to students within Peer Support including Niteline and Uplift to Positive Mental Health. Niteline is a listening service run by students for students, who are trained by Samaritans to listen to their peers’ issues. They do not offer advice or judgement, they just listen. A new online listening service is now available where students who may be nervous about talking on the phone can now engage in an online chat with one of the Niteline volunteers on their website.

Peer Support leaders can offer new students their own take on university life and offer some practical help in dealing with issues that they may have experienced in their first year of college.

“Peer Support provides a first contact point for students before they need to get professionals involved in a bigger problem.”

life.

county or country is massive.”

Academic issues were among the biggest problems faced by students in 2013, such as reading timetables, finding buildings and contacting lecturers. Other common issues found by Peer Support were issues with settling into college; being nervous about approaching societies, or students

Uplift is a one-to-one mentoring programme run in conjunction with the Disability Support Service for students with mental health difficulties. Students who have experience in this area provide support and listen to students who may be struggling to balance their mental health needs alongside college

Kevin Devey is now in his third year of Peer Support and is still enthusiastic and proud of what the volunteer programme has to offer: “Peer Support has become an integral part of UCC life now. The transition of moving from secondary school to college and also possibly moving from a different

Niki Chopra, another volunteer in the service, described Peer Support as a great service as it provides a friendly face around campus: “I love the idea of the service, students giving their time to help other students, also we make great cups of tea during Peer Support week,” said Chopra, before adding, “My Peer

Image by Tomas Tyner Support leaders were really nice and answered loads of my questions during the scariness of orientation.” Thanks to the hard and fulfilling work carried out by the Peer Support volunteers, the service truly has become an integral part of the university and long may it continue.

Combatting the rare disease EB: Release your Butterfly! Nicole Clinton | Fashion Editor It’s not unusual for one of Harry Styles’ tweets to be retweeted hundreds of thousands of times. It was one tweet in particular though, a picture of his butterfly tattoo, that had a profound effect on charitable organisation DEBRA Ireland, when it was retweeted 145,732 times last October. This year the charity are hoping that you will follow in the boyband member’s footsteps and ‘Release your Butterfly’ on EB Awareness day Friday October 24th 2014, to raise awareness and funds for their very worthy cause. DEBRA Ireland is a national charity delivering patient support services and aid research into treatments and cures for those suffering with the rare disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB). This distressing and painful skin condition provokes the separation of the skin layers from the internal body linings as a result of a breakdown in the natural proteins that keep the skin together. Patients of the genetic condition cannot even enjoy a comforting hug without blisters and sores developing on their skin. These blisters have to be lanced and dressed on a daily basis, a process that can last up to three hours. Many of the sufferers are susceptible to a very aggressive form of skin cancer from as early as their teenage years,

due to the constant breakdown of their skin. While the disease is currently incurable DEBRA strive to change this tragic fact by working with the DEBRA International Research Programme, who are exploring the effect of gene therapy, protein replacement therapy and bone marrow transplants on EB patients. The ‘Release Your Butterfly’ campaign will see DEBRA sending out thousands of temporary butterfly tattoos to the Irish public on in the run up to EB awareness day on October 24th. They will be asking people to post a picture of their butterfly on social media and to subsequently make a text donation to the charity. DEBRA’s patient ambassador Emma Fogarty hopes that EB awareness day will see “people start to understand and learn what EB is, because it’s such a rare condition,” even just so she can “leave the house without being stared at.” Fogarty says her role in the organisation has given her a freedom to meet people. “Being in a wheelchair I have lost a lot of my independence, and with that I’ve lost the ability to be able to go out and meet new people,” something that she would not have been able to do without DEBRA. Her favourite part of her position though is “being able to advise

and support young families who have this horrible condition… I love being able to support them in the hard times and advise them on things that I’ve already been through”. Last summer Fogarty became the first female in the country with Recessive Dystrophic EB to pass her driving test (after just 5 lessons), a goal that was inspired by a promise she made to her best friend who unfortunately died of the disease before she achieved the momentous feat; “I promised him that no matter how long it took, I would get driving eventually.”

“I promised him that no matter how long it took, I would get driving eventually.” Emma set another record this year by reaching her 30th birthday and thus becoming the oldest woman in Ireland with the disease, despite the fact that when she was born, her parents were told that she would not last a week. Emma informed me that families with new babies diagnosed with EB are given the same bleak outlook today but she tells them to stay positive; “[I] say it is so hard, everything you do there’s an obstacle in your way but you can live your life, the child will be able to

go to school, go to college, get a job and live somewhat of a normal life. I’ve done it and it’s not easy but it can be done.” By sparing just a few euro this October, you can help DEBRA to help more patients just like Emma to achieve

their dreams, to generally improve the lives of those currently living with EB and to fund research into finding a cure for this debilitating disease. Text BUTTERFLY to 50300 to donate €4 because no-one should have to live a life without hugs.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

An Innocent Collusion Daisy May Pemble

My eyes are closed, my brow furrowed. If I stay like this for long enough then maybe it will all go away. Maybe I can will myself to be transported back to the safety of my home. I hold onto this thought, indulge in it for as long as I can. But all too soon this impossible dream of peace is ripped from my mind and no matter how hard I try to get it back, I can hear the judge banging his gavel on his desk and shouting: “Mr Adams! My sincerest apologies if I am waking you; however we have a rather pressing matter to attend to, hmm?” His sarcastic tone is unmistakable and as my eyes snap open I can’t stop myself from glaring at him. I survey the scene around me. Nothing has changed since my attempt to distance myself from the situation. Over 100 pairs of angry eyes are glaring at me from behind their glasses or from underneath their hats. A bead of sweat forms itself on my forehead and drips down my face, making my left eye sting and burn.

“I think we’ve all heard enough. We are ready to make our decision.” The lawyer for the prosecution casually wanders over to where I am in the witness stand, places his fists in front of me and leans in, so that we are mere centimetres apart; our noses almost touching. I hold his gaze, determined not to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he scares me. Saliva builds up in my mouth and my eyes begin to water, but I do not blink, I do not swallow. He turns now, addressing the entire courtroom: “Now I think everyone here knows that Mr Adams is guilty; it’s basic logic! He was the last person who saw her alive and the first person present at the scene of the murder, even before the police arrived. His fingerprints were all over her body and her blood on his clothes! “Now I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I am sick of going round in circles when it is evident that Mr Adams murdered her in cold blood!” There was a resounding “Amen!” from the spectators and to reiterate his point a few even gave an exaggerated yawn and stretch of their arms. Jury member number one stood and addressed the courtroom, solemn and expressionless: “I think we’ve all heard enough. We are ready to make our decision.” The jury filed out of the courtroom

and entered the room behind me to decide my fate. There was silence in the courtroom, all eyes sternly fixed on me. They were probably all imagining my demise in the electric chair once the jury no doubt finds me guilty and ultimately sentences me to death. I look imploringly to my lawyer, who averts my gaze, shaking his head. The pained expression on his face tells me that he knows, deep down, what the verdict should be, but he has given up on me, just like everybody else. I desperately wrack my brain, searching for a way to make them believe I am innocent. All too soon, the jury re-

enters the courtroom. They all retake their seats, except jury member number one, who remains standing, and says: “We find the defendant not guilty.” A steady murmur of protest erupts among the spectators; one person even begins screaming profanities at the jury before the bailiff takes him outside. I risk being seen for a few seconds as I turn my head towards the jury and wink at my brother, who is still standing. He nods his head ever-so-slightly in my direction and can’t stop a wry smile creeping across his face. In that moment, I know we are safe.

My lawyer comes and shakes my hand, no doubt preparing to take all the credit for proving my innocence, when he wasn’t even in on the plan. The judge bangs his gavel one last time and the court is dismissed. Once I am out of the courthouse, I sit on the steps and wait for my brother. The fresh air has never felt better. I breathe in the ﬂoral scent of the nearby rose garden that adorns the sides of the steps up to the courthouse. Ironic, really, how a symbol of such purity and freedom is in such close proximity to a place of injustice and lies. Once everyone from the courtroom has

dispersed, my brother comes and sits beside me, but we stay silent, taking in our moment, marvelling at our own genius. He lights a cigarette, cupping the end with his hand to stop the ﬂame from being extinguished. He silently offers the pack to me, but I shake my head. I have been given the opportunity to start my life over, one which I don’t plan on jeopardising by doing anything that could shorten it. Without either of us saying a word, we rise and head for home. As we walk I think of all the wonderful things left to do that I will now have the pleasure of doing and I cannot help but smile.

Out of India: Into the Dreamworld

Ruth Lawlor | Fiction Editor

There were several brass pins that belonged to a child whose father had been in the army: a jaguar, a bear, two skeletal creatures joined together by a chain. They were being given away to the clones of people who only now were returning to their former selves. I arrived late, after my own clone had been changed, because I had been distracted by something, something that now I am unable to recall. The

others were all eating lunch and I was anxious to join them before the show started.

I sank to my knees, held my breath in preparation for drowning and felt unusually calm and at ease.

There were about six of us in the elevator, including two men whom I remember most clearly, and a girl with blonde hair who got in on an upper ﬂoor. That was when the base retracted back and red lights began to ﬂash as the water gushed inside. We scrambled back and searched for the raft we had been told was there; but I couldn’t remember any of the instructions.

A woman appeared and told us we were cresting on a wave, to ride it until the very end. I clung on to some yellow protrusion from the wall and felt a strange relief that I had left my handbag downstairs. The woman was sucked in as the base of the elevator detached from the walls and was swept away with us on-board. To steer it one of the men used a sweeping brush

and we used our hands. There was a car waiting for us at the end and we drove to high ground; one passenger wanted to go to Wal-Mart to buy eggs to go with his bacon, but as we passed it the building slid backwards into the ground like a great sunken ship. We kept going and I felt very lucky until someone said there would be many casualties, and there would be very many deaths.

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Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Predictions for Budget 2015

Student amazed by own deadline bullshit

A student sitting in Boole Q+2 was said to be amazed by the stream of seemingly coherent sentences and paragraphs appearing on the screen in front of him this morning.

Eddie Bloggs Irish Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, is due to take to the ﬂoor of parliament this afternoon to announce Budget 2015, in a moment which Noonan will start by admitting has no real consequence for the future of the nation. Budget 2015 will determine the levels of income, through taxation, and where that money will be spent, however it “will have a negligible effect on the direction of the economy,” Noonan will state. “Those type of decisions are taken at a higher level.” With such decisions being taken by European power-brokers, Noonan shall use long and complicated words to help mask the lack of good-news content in the speech. Noonan will mention that the National debt is over €200 billion as an expression of the need for cutbacks, but may choose to omit that any baby born in Ireland today will take a share of the debt amounting to about €43,500. Pre-budget leaks have indicated that friends of Enda Kenny are due to be granted an Enda rebate, but such an

The student, whose essay-delaying tactics culminated in watching four hours of Friends last night, did the opening two paragraphs that night, before packing it in and heading to bed early.

announcement is likely to be coded deep within the announcement – if you play the budget backwards, you will hear the instructions for tax loopholes.

But in the grip of full panic the next morning, the student rushed to campus, forced down a Nutri Grain breakfast and started typing the remaining 1,800 words.

However Noonan will also take time to plainly reﬂect on the progress made since the darkest depths of the recession and how it was all Fianna Fáil’s fault, in case anyone forgot.

“Noonan shall use long and complicated words to help mask the lack of good-news content in the speech. “ Fianna Fáil will hit back with their fact that their brand of doing the same thing would have yielded a different result, while Sinn Féin will suggest a completely different tack, which

nobody really believes adds up. Labour will also be present in body, but not in spirit. Amongst all this, students’ incomes will also be raided in a move which will be blamed by the government on themselves of three years ago. Ultimately the biggest event of the Dáil year will be a media frenzy of party-political bitchiness, which will play into the character-based reporting, rather than reporting on issues. As well as providing a much-needed smokescreen for many pressing issues, the budget will also enable Fine Gael and Labour to attempt to kick the can

Relying on sentences and phrases which he seemed to remember from introductory lectures and paraphrasing obscure online articles, the screen began to fill with words which, to all intents and purposes, appeared to be coherent English text. down the road, as they attempt to put off many any semi-important decision until after the next election in an attempt at political survival.

With lightning-fast touch typing, the student amazed himself by producing what seemed like the best content he ever wrote in no time.

The general paradox of austerity commitments will continue to go without discussion, as Ireland continues to be cured by taking more blood out of a patient who has already lost a leg.

However with inspiration slowly beginning to wane, rather than compromise the excellence of the allegedly articulate piece, the student was heard to mutter, “era, fuck it,” before making the font size 16, adding a cover page and sending it to print.

With the Irish population dizzy from blood-loss in front of their TV screens, the gaggle of teachers and lawyers will continue to display a potholed grasp of finance late into the night… Drinks in the Dáil Bar after!

Moments later the Express writer at the next table would have a similar epiphany, with both leaving to go back home for an afternoon nap in advance of more Friends reruns that evening.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

COMIC

A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER

14 |

Crossword

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Sudoku - Easy 8

3 9

5 ‘Dowtcha boy!’ confuses 29 across (5) 9 UCC’s biggest ones live on Rossa Avenue (6) 10 I can free Enid now I’m in college (8) 13

Not odd (4)

Chasing waves in UCC (4,4)

4 Book of Kells sounds like it’s written in foul language (7) See 34 across

16 Campus café located below art gallery (6)

Veer, always (4)

12 (4)

Writes out an essay, oldstyle

26 You may meet a Spanish friend on Erasmus (5) 27 (5)

Royal or Grand waterway

17 They behaved mysteriously badly in 2011 (9) 19 (8)

All-Ireland winning student

Publish a paper again (7)

22 They infamously did this to their drink when nominated (6) 23

See 31 across

Official UCC nightclub (6)

29 A German in Operation Transformation (6)

25 They oversee 1 down and other clubs (4)

31 (+23d +28d) Yellow home of UCC Economics (4,2,4)

See 31 across

30 (4)

The back part of something

32 Initials for 17 down who are polite (1,1)

4 3

24 Periods of excessive alcohol indulgence (6)

3 A person’s liking for particular ﬂavours (6)

8 European anthem studied in English (3)

See 20 across

Sudoku - Hard

15 A test of chemical acidity or basicity (6)

Hard

Puzzle 1 (Hard, difficulty rating 0.64)

7 Before computers ran in the Western Gateway, these animals did (10)

20 (+22a) Charitable medic is a society (7,6)

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Mon Oct 13 06:12:26 2014 GMT. Enjoy!

14 In a backward way, I tide myself over in this paper (4)

18 Most popular science in UCC (7)

2 It’s all a formality now that you are one (8)

8 6

1 The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning (9)

5 1

Medium

Down

Answers

Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.48)

Across

September 30th

6 3 2

September 30th Answers

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Mon Oct 13 06:12:35 2014 GMT. Enjoy!

33 Sounds like you would go here for lunch in India (5) 34 (+35a +6d) 24-hour charitable event (5,3,4) 35

See 34 across

uccexpress.ie

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

The Legacy of Scotland’s Referendum Cormac Manning | Features Writer It had been the chance of a lifetime. “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Elections come and go but this was different. Normal elections last five years; this was one whose result was to endure well beyond the end of our lives. From the Gàidhealtachd to inner-city Glasgow, from the oilfields of the North Sea to the English border, last month every Scottish person over 16 faced a choice over whether to separate from the United Kingdom and found a new state. 4.3 million voters considered the arguments and by a margin of 55% to 45%, Scotland decided to remain within the UK. So is that it? Was the result an endorsement of the current state of affairs? In an echo of our own constitutional referendum a year ago on the future of the Seanad, very few supported the status quo. Instead a No vote was a vote for change, for “faster, better, safer change” as Better Together, Scotland’s official No campaign, put it. Spooked by opinion polls showing the result too close to call, the leaders of Britain’s three biggest political parties published ‘the Vow’, a promise to devolve power to Scotland. It would prove a decisive factor in swinging more votes towards No in the final days of the campaign, but the vow was taken by the leadership without consultation with their backbenchers in England. Many now complain that Scotland will get extra powers at lightning speed while England languishes behind. With both the UK Labour Party and Conservative Party locked in a fight to remake the constitutional framework of the UK in a way that best serves their narrow party political advantage, it now appears unclear whether British Prime Minister David Cameron can deliver

60%

would vote to keep the union

voting for a united Ireland now

powers to Scotland on the timescale promised. If Westminster cannot keep their solemn vow to Scotland, promises on the basis of which many people cast their votes, there will be demands for a second referendum.

Northern Ireland Scotland is not the only devolved region of the UK. Northern Ireland will be affected by the changes, whenever they appear. In contrast to Scotland and Wales though, Northern Ireland has a very different political system, power-sharing producing an Executive who cannot agree on anything. There is fear among some that giving more power to Stormont will result in more gridlock, with the DUP and Sinn Féin being able to veto each other’s policies, meaning nothing could get done. First Minister Peter Robinson has said:

There is fear among some that giving more power to Stormont will result in more gridlock “I would always be more impressed when people asked for the transfer of full fiscal powers if they had shown a competence in dealing with the powers that we have”. For their part, Sinn Féin have used the opportunity to push for a border poll on a united Ireland. While this is longterm goal number one for the party, opinion polls reveal a strong majority of Northern Ireland people would vote to retain the union. A recent Belfast Telegraph/LucidTalk poll found that though a small majority of people supported having a poll, 60% would vote to keep the union, with 8% voting for a united Ireland now and 32% who

32%

wouldn’t want a united Ireland now but want it in 20 years.

A recent Belfast Telegraph / LucidTalk poll found that wouldn’t want a united Ireland now, but want it in 20 years. Even among Catholics only 10% would vote for an immediate united Ireland. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the referendum wasn’t even the result but the turnout. 97% of the population registered to vote and 84.6% of those cast their votes. Extending the vote to 16-year-olds has been a popular measure and contrary to fears most 16and 17-year-olds treated the decision with the thought it deserved. The positive engagement seen here must be something to bear in mind when we have our own referendum on lowering the voting age in 2015.

Mass movement The biggest effect of the referendum may well have been the mass political engagement it created. Queues to register to vote went out the doors of

offices. Thousands upon thousands of grown men and women voted for the first time, many of them from the most deprived and politically forgotten neighbourhoods of the country. The Yes campaign talked mostly not about blood and soil, but on giving Scottish people the powers to create a better society. Legions of people joined the cause because they believed in creating this fairer Scotland, even though the referendum is over, the newly energised activists aren’t going to abandon the underlying dream. Membership of the parties campaigning for a Yes vote has soared in the weeks following the No vote. The Scottish Nationalist Party has more than doubled its membership and is now the third biggest party by membership in the entire UK, passing out both the national Liberal Democrats and UKIP. The pro-independence Scottish Green Party has more than tripled in size,

now standing at over 6,000 members. Similarly the Scottish Socialist Party has also seen huge increases in membership. These hikes are all the more astonishing in the face of generally declining party membership in the modern era. As independence campaigner Adam Ramsay put it, “if this is what losing looks like...” After this surge in engagement the face of politics in Scotland has changed. More and more people realise democracy means more than just filling in a ballot paper once every couple years. The turnout and party membership swells are staggering. The overall effect is still hard to predict accurately but the inheritance of the massive civic debate is the rejuvenation of democracy. The referendum itself may be over, but the legacy of September 18th 2014 lives on.

History Expressed: Don’t cross the Quad! Emmet Curtin | Features Writer In looking at UCC superstitions, the first one many students were told on Saturday’s Open Day is never to walk through the Quad or you will fail your exams. There have been a number of theories throughout the years about this. One of these is the belief that the exam results were posted in the West Wing and you’d have to cross the Quad to tell the President or apply for repeats. Up to the 1960s, results for exams were read out at the ‘Door of Judgement’ at the North Wing, where the wheelchair ramp for the North Wing now is. If you

did have get bad news here and have to go to tell the President that you failed, then crossing through the Quad would not have been the fastest way to do so. Alas, this theory appears to be untrue. The most likely reason for the Quad superstition comes from the fact that traditionally, at the end of conferrings, there will be a procession going through the Quad, walking through the passageway in the middle. The idea behind this is that passing through the Quad is a way to mark your transition into the next stage of your life, meaning that your undergraduate career has ended in UCC. It’s believed if you walk through this passageway before you graduate you will fail your exams.

Given that this procession is only done by new graduates, their lecturers and the UCC President, it is likely the origin of this superstition. Regarding the UCC crest, UCC’s other predominant superstition, it’s difficult

to say with certainty the origin of this. However the most likely theory is that it was invented by members of the maintenance staff of the college in order to preserve the crest under the archway as hundreds of UCC students pass through this archway everyday on

their way to classes. As for why the consequence for breaking this superstition is suddenly becoming pregnant, well that is anyone’s guess!

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Tuesday, September 30th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

The Big Interview: John Wilson

The Garda whistleblower speaks to Conor Shearman on reforming a broken Garda Síochána, being forced out of his job and how the corruption continues. Corruption is the word on the tip of John Wilson’s tongue. Anger lays thick in his voice as he describes an organisation in which corruption was an inherent practise, not once or twice a day but tens of thousands of times a year. The organisation he describes is An Garda Síochána. John Wilson is a whistleblower, a guard for 30 years, he and a colleague Detective Sergeant Maurice McCabe brought complaints forward in 2012 that alleged tens of thousands of fixed charge penalty notices were being wrongfully terminated by senior Garda officers. These allegations since vindicated in the Guerin report were ignored by senior Garda authorities when the two men first came forward. Wilson admits that “It became clear to me that nothing was going to occur with the Garda structures.” It was only when the two men informed TD Clare Daly of the allegations, as was their right in the 2005 Garda Síochána Act, that the wheels of motion began to turn, generating a debate in the Oireachtas and a Prime Time investigation. It was a difficult time for John Wilson and his family. Banned from the Garda PULSE system, an electronic system which Gardaí use to examine crime

front door. He made a decision that his position in the Gardaí was no longer tenable, resigning on the 1st of May of 2013. It was a decision which he never wanted to make; “I’m sad I had to leave in the circumstances that I left. I had no intention of leaving the Guards; it made no financial sense for me to leave the Gardaí.” It is this passion for An Garda Síochána which seems to give particular vehemence to his fight against its inherent corruption, “If we could get rid of the corrupt practises, being part of An Garda Síochána is a wonderful job. I got great satisfaction out of helping people down through the years.” The training for the Guards changed him, he claims, from the shy boy he once was to the confident outspoken individual he is today. The corrupt practise of terminating fixed charge notices has not changed though in spite of public awareness of the scandal. Wilson points out that “that these corrupt terminations are still ongoing. That’s quite true, nothing’s changed. This corrupt practise is ingrained in the culture of An Garda Síochána. Everybody is told the laws of

The corrupt nature of An Garda Síochána is not one which is limited to the abuse of cancelling fixed charge penalty notices. Wilson outlines the promotion system of the Gardaí as “a system which is incestuous, dysfunctional and rotten. It is all done on pulling strokes and who you know.”

“a system which is incestuous, dysfunctional and rotten. It is all done on pulling strokes and who you know.” Reform is urgently required. The resignation and change of personnel in both the position of the Minister of Justice and The Garda Commissioner has not offered any meaningful reform he believes. He is adamant that “the next [Garda] Commissioner has got to be an outsider, not a Guard; somebody from outside the organisation… somebody with absolutely no allegiance to An Garda Síochána.”

records; by senior officers who feared he would garner more examples of illegal terminations of fixed charge notices, he was unable to complete his daily job. The victim of persecution from colleagues within the force, a particularly unsavoury moment he notes, was when he was searched on the side of the road whilst in uniform by a sergeant who suspected he had documents pertaining to the PULSE system on his person. A few weeks later he woke to find a rat tied to his

the land, but the laws are not enforced equally.” He believes that as long as the responsibility of terminating tickets remains with An Garda Síochána, the system will not work. The Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, could solve the problem overnight he believes by taking away this responsibility, advocating serving district court judges as those to whom the power should be provided to.

It may be that a culture change within the Gardaí itself is required, with Wilson admitting that “complaints are viewed as a threat” when rather they should offer the possibility of positive change for the force. GSOC, a supposedly independent body which regulates An Garda Síochána, also requires radical reformation. “There are senior Garda officers attached to GSOC. I want these officers removed from GSOC. I want these members removed because I believe as long as you have these officers attached to GSOC, it can never be and will never be truly independent.” The failure of GSOC to truly regulate the Gardai isn’t difficult to find; of the

1197 complaints given to GSOC in 2013, 527 were handed straight back to the Garda Commissioner to investigate, putting under scrutiny whether it really has the resources to successfully regulate An Garda Síochána. The attitude towards whistleblowers in Irish society generally is also something which may need to change. There seems to be an inherent fear amongst Irish people of speaking out, breaking from the norm. Meeting a Guard recently Wilson recounts how the man asked him, “Have you not found a rock to crawl under yet?” Such contemptible attitudes towards attempts to bring accountability and transparency to an organisation in this country are not to be found solely amongst a single organisation, rather it reﬂects a historical and persistent notion in this country that for those suitably connected ordinary laws need not apply.

“Everybody is told the laws of the land, but the laws are not enforced equally.” John Wilson has no regrets in his revelations. Recovering from a successful treatment of bowel cancer in March, his latest test results have come back clean. He has just received an exemplary record of service, 16 months after he resigned from the force and only in the wake of an article published in The Sunday Times. There is the sense that finally things may be on the up. He is unsure of his next step, but garnering employment is high on the agenda. Although uncertainty lies ahead, one certainty remains, he will not rest until a reformed Garda Síochána emerges.

Image by: Emmet Curtin

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Watson’s HeForShe campaign tackles rigidity of gender stereotypes Cathy Naughton | Features Writer In her first speech as Women’s Global Goodwill Ambassador for the UN, Emma Watson kick-started HeForShe, a new UN Women campaign with a focus on gender equality. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll have heard how Watson’s endorsement of HeForShe earned her a standing ovation at the event in the UN Headquarters in New York. Although Watson’s speech did receive shocking negative feedback online in the form of threats to leak nude photos, thousands worldwide have supported the campaign on social networking sites. The huge support that HeForShe is receiving is sure to increase the impact of the campaign. UN Women defines HeForShe as “a solidarity movement for gender equality” which is focused on “the entirety of humanity.” Watson’s speech emphasises that gender inequality is a human rights issue and that freedom is a key aspect. While many consider gender inequality to be a topic of concern for radical feminists and men-hating women exclusively; Watson makes it clear that men worldwide should be concerned as they are also deeply and negatively affected. She sees that men are “imprisoned by gender stereotypes,” a problem that is

rarely discussed or even acknowledged in most societies. In her speech Watson makes a point of condemning the gender stereotypes that serve to stiﬂe male personalities. She speaks of how she experienced her young male friends being unable to express their emotions. No doubt at some point, each of us has heard the complaints of a female who is exasperated by her male other half’s inability to express his feelings. My question is: what else can we expect of young men whose society tells them that men don’t cry?

“The more you think about the unwritten rules and conventions of the gender stereotypes that we force on each other, the more bizarre and nonsensical they”

Men who are suffering from mental illness feel that they cannot seek help “for fear it would make them less of a man” according to Watson. She also condemns the common father figure stereotype that continues to limit a father’s role to that of the breadwinner, while at the same time limiting

Jon Hamm who plays the lead role in the award-winning television series Mad Men, remarked in an interview in 2011 that life was hard in 1960s America if you were “anything other than a rich, powerful male.” This sort of inequality has persisted and seems to have even developed globally in the last-half-century.

“have permission to be vulnerable and human too, to reclaim those parts of themselves that they have abandoned and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves.” It leads us to question the gender stereotypes that we enforce on each other every day. Are we, females and males alike, giving our male friend few options other than to conform to the stereotype of the testosterone-fuelled, pint-downing LAD?

Watson supports this theory, naming many men’s fragility and insecurity as the products of “a distorted sense of what constitutes male success.” She pleads with men to be accepting of one another so that all men might,

The more you think about the unwritten rules and conventions of the gender stereotypes that we force on each other, the more bizarre and nonsensical they seem. The good news is that these stereotypes don’t have to be given this

his right to paternity leave and to the guardianship of his own children.

Graduate Proﬁle: Richard Milner our bottle of whiskey. This turned me against student politicians for the rest of my life.

Arrogance.

How did UCC students manage studying before Wi-Fi and online notes?

Impatience.

Well in quiet spaces in the library, Aula Maxima and at home. Dr. Richard Milner is Professor of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the college’s director of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science. A major focus of his recent research is studying the spin structure of the nucleon. He graduated from UCC with a Master of Science in 1979.

Nothing.

My family.

What do you think is the main difference for this year’s graduates compared to yours?

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party (living or dead)?

That I wanted to be a physicist.

What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone looking to start in your career?

What’s the funniest story from your time in college that is ﬁt for print!? My honours physics classmates and I built a boat that won the Boat Race in the 1978 UCC Rag Week. This was a substantial effort over several days. The prize for winning the race was a bottle of whiskey. We climbed out of the winning boat to find a senior officer of the UCC Students’ Union drinking

Think before you speak. What do you miss about not living in Ireland?

What’s the most important thing you learned about yourself while in UCC?

Meeting my wife, Eileen.

What’s one rule that you think everyone should follow?

What would you do differently if you had your time in UCC again?

Present graduates are much better informed about the world than students of my generation.

What’s your best memory of college?

What’s your worst vice?

Benjamin Franklin, Turlough O’Carolan, Jackie Gleason (his mother was from Farranree) What (if any) major scientiﬁc breakthroughs do you expect to see in the next ﬁve years?

Find out what you love to do and pursue it with passion and focus.

New physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your work?

What is the next step in your research?

Carrying out technically challenging experiments that typically last for a decade.

Building the DarkLight experiment to look for evidence of dark matter.

What traits do you least like in others?

destructive importance. Watson states that acceptance is the key to gender equality and that the resulting freedom of males is vital for the acceptance and freedom of females; “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t have to be submissive.” The take-home message of Emma Watson’s speech is that gender equality does not ultimately benefit women but rather benefits women as well as men. While HeForShe aims primarily to recruit males as advocates of gender equality, Emma Watson reminds us that both men and women need to work together in order to facilitate the fair treatment of everyone, regardless of gender.

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Images by: Emmet Curtin

Tuesday, September 30th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Images by: Conor McCabe Photography

20 |

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Demons shoot a century to win local derby C&S UCC Demons 100 Stephen Barry | Editor-in-Chief UCC Demons got their Premier League season off to a comfortable start, easing to a 20-point victory over Neptune. Demons led by 13 at the halfway mark and even though the Northsiders brieﬂy closed the gap to 7 with 8 minutes remaining, Demons were able to reply with an authoritative finishing ﬂourish. Demons’ player/ coach Colin O’Reilly was happy to seal such a calm away win: “Everyone has written Neptune off so far but, for us, this is the toughest road trip of the season and it’s great we got a 20-point win. “We’re not fully ready yet. We don’t have everyone up to speed so we can’t play a free, rotating game, getting bodies in and out as much as I’d like, but in two weeks that will be the case.” Despite tipping off their season in the home cauldron of their fiercest rival, the hosts were never really able to turn up the heat on last year’s runners-up in Neptune Stadium. With club legend Ger Noonan taking over as player/ coach, the team featured a much changed roster. However backto-back threes by his counterpart, O’Reilly, helped Demons to a 25-12 lead. Neptune rallied as a trio of baskets by

Basketball: a peach of a sport

BFG Neptune 80 Michael Boneparte pulled the deficit back to five by the end of the quarter. Boneparte again pulled out the big plays at the end of the second quarter, with a big rejection leading to a rebound pair at the other end and moments later he converted Noonan’s pass for an alleyoop. Regardless O’Reilly continued to rack up points, contributing 18 in the opening half, as Demons went in 53-40 ahead.

“It’s almost a positive that we’re on the road at the start, because it brings the team together more” Demons managed a mere eight buckets in the third period, as Neptune Captain Ian McLoughlin met the buzzer with a corner three followed by a breakaway two. The gap stood at ten, 69-59, before a perimeter basket by Gary Walsh cut the deficit to its lowest since Boneparte’s alley-oop. However Carlton Cuff and Adrian O’Sullivan responded with big shots from outside the arc, while American centre Lehmon Colbert and pointguard Kyle Hosford kept the Demons’ net safe. goal of choice for the first 15 years of the game.

The Basics The modern game in Ireland is played by teams of five over four 10-minute quarters on a 28x15m court. The ring is 10 feet off the ﬂoor for all age groups but the ball differs in size for men, women and children. Despite the broken backboard in your old primary school, basketball is predominately an indoor sport and is played with a leather ball.

The Lingo Ever thrown up a brick from the elbow of the key? Basketballers love their lingo.

Ross O’Donoghue

The Game Basketball: Throwing a ball into a basket. Simple, but brilliant. The game is played by 11% of the planet, with almost 300,000 basketballers in Ireland alone. The modern game was born in 1891 when someone found a fun use for peach baskets. After the janitor complained of climbing the ladder too often, they bored a hole in the bottom, but peach receptacles remained the

Terms that are more fun to witness than explain include ‘slam dunks’, ‘buzzer beaters’ and anything that happens ‘Downtown’. An ‘alley-oop’ is a dazzling combo move where one player throws a ball up towards the basket for a teammate to catch the ball mid air and force it downwards into the basket.

The Game in Ireland While older basketball fans will wax lyrical about the glory days of the 1980s, the modern game has much to offer. There are 32 teams in the Basketball Ireland National Leagues

Players from the Cork clubs, including Demons' Ciaran O'Sullivan, centre. Nigel Byam and McLoughlin did find “It’s almost a positive that we’re on the late scores, but Demons finished with road at the start, because it brings the assurance as Hosford showed good team together more and it tests your hands to get the final two baskets that character a bit more as every game is brought up the hundred. a hard game, regardless of who you’re playing.” Six of the Demons first seven games are on the road, but O’Reilly is reasonably Neptune: Gary Walsh, Ian McLoughlin, content to face that tour of Irish halls Roy Downey, Darren Cronin, Nigel early in the season. Byam. Interchange: Mark Kenny, featuring players of all shapes and sizes. The imported ‘American’ is still a big draw as is a roof – it’s been said Ireland would be a great little country if we could only roof it and Basketball has done its bit.

The Game in Cork Cork has long been a hotbed of basketball action as Neptune and Blue Demons gave rise to the term ‘Norrie Fire’. Basketball has a 50/50 split between men and women and these days Team Montenotte Hotel and Singleton Supervalu Brunell are the Leeside teams to beat in the Women’s Premier League. C&S UCC Demons won the 2014 National Cup and have some of the most stylish players in the Men’s Premier League. They also play their home games at the Mardyke Arena.

The Game in College Varsity basketball is big and getting bigger. College basketball in the USA culminates in ‘March Madness’ and features some of the loudest and most colourful fans in the world. Meanwhile, in Ireland the first big event of the year is coming soon as the Freshers’ Tournament takes place on November 22nd and 23rd in IT Carlow. The big Intervarsity Tournament takes place in April and will be held in Belfast this season.

Images by: Brendan Moran/ Sportsfile Michael Boneparte, Declan Cahill, Ger Noonan. UCC Demons: Adrian O’Sullivan, Kyle Hosford, Lehmon Colbert, Shane Coughlan, Colin O’Reilly. Interchange: Ciaran O’Sullivan, Niall O’Reilly, Carlton Cuff, Niall Murphy.

Ladies lose Irish Hockey League opener UCC - 2

Lurgan - 6

Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor

match officials meant they went into the final quarter 3-2 behind, rather than 4-3 in front.

UCC Ladies hockey team made the long trip up north to play Lurgan last Saturday, however the result didn’t go their way as they ended up losing 6-2. In their third game of the season and Irish Hockey League opener, goals from Amy Kate Trevor and Nicola Kerr weren’t enough to stop Lurgan sealing a convincing win. The opening half saw UCC fell behind 3-1. After Lurgan’s opener from Chloe McCann in the 10th minute, Trevor levelled from a penalty corner seven minutes later. However Lurgan hit back soon after with scores from Jo Anne Wilson and Sarah McClure to take a two goal into the break. UCC rallied and brought the scoreline down to 3-2, thanks to a penalty corner goal fromKerr in the 49th minute. However two goals disallowed by the

Concentration, which has been a problem for the ladies team in recent weeks following a loss to Glenanne, again proved their downfall as they conceded three goals in the final minutes; Wilson ended with a pair, as Julie Morrow hit the net either side of Wilson’s second. UCC will be hoping for better results in the coming weeks and will be hoping to exact revenge on Lurgan for this defeat in the coming months. UCC: Sarah Wrixon, Clodagh Moloney, Ailbhe Coyle, Ciara Mullane, Amy Kate Trevor, Nicola Kerr, Lucy Judge, Holly Lehane, Sarah Browner, Emma Dobson, Shauna Fagan, Ciara Sexton, Aoife Freyne, Sarah Sullivan, Eline Van Zinnicq Bergmann, Grace Tutty.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Digest

OKC: Win now, Live forever Ryan Collins | Sport Writer

still second to LeBron James.

Oklahoma City Thunder is an elite team; they possess a Big 3 that can stand against any other outfit on any given day, they have a competent head coach that has instilled the franchise with an understood identity and the front office ensures that the financial security of the organisation is never threatened. Their three best players are all 25 and under, and they are surrounded by capable veterans and promising youngsters. Their potential is limitless.

There is no trio in the NBA that can currently rival Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka; so why haven’t they won anything yet?

Or is it? Ever since the infamous James Harden trade in 2012, what was once a sure-fire NBA dynasty has come under constant scrutiny. After being vanquished by LeBron and the Heat in 2012, many predicted improvement from this young team; but setbacks have occurred at every step. In 2013, ‘the assassination of Russell Westbrook by the coward Patrick Beverley’ derailed a very promising post-season escapade and, in 2014, Serge Ibaka’s calf injury resulted in the Thunder going down to the eventual winners, San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder have the leaders to win, and win for a long time. Ibaka is a world-class defender who can outjump anyone on the court. Westbrook is a fearless maelstrom of speed and power who, when in control, can be the best point guard in basketball. Kevin Durant is the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player and arguably the second best player in the world, with the only argument questioning if he is

Basketball Men’s Premier League: BFG Neptune 80 C&S UCC Demons 100 (Kyle Hosford 23, Colin O’Reilly 20, Adrian O’Sullivan 16); Sun 19th Oct: Belfast Star vs C&S UCC Demons @ 3pm in Methodist College; Sat 25th Oct: Killester vs C&S UCC Demons @ 8pm in the IWA, Clontarf; Sun 26th Oct: C&S UCC Demons vs Swords Thunder @ 3.15pm in the Mardyke Arena.

The Harden trade slowed them down: if he still donned the white and blue, you’re looking at four of the 25 best players in the NBA on the same team; a frightening prospect. Head Coach Scott Brooks has been criticised and vilified for his monolithic line-up choices: overly-reliant on the immobile Kendrick Perkins and the ancient Derek Fisher in close contests last year, while largely ignoring the youth of Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III at his disposal. Additionally, they have been victims of bad luck; the Westbrook and Ibaka injuries meaning that OKC were irreparably weakened during the last two post-seasons.

Gaelic Football HE Senior Football League Division 1 Group C: Thu 16th Oct: UCC vs IT Carlow in the Mardyke; Wed 22nd Oct: UCC vs IT Tralee in the Mardyke. HE Fresher Football League Division 1 Group B: Tue 14th Oct: UCC vs IT Carlow in the Mardyke; Mon 20th Oct: UCD vs UCC in Belfield; Thu 23rd Oct: UCC vs Cork IT in the Mardyke.

Hockey (Mens)

Bad luck can strike at any time, however, and Durant and Westbrook’s contracts expire in 2016. They need reasons – and championships – to want to stay in Oklahoma.

Munster League Division 1: Ashton 0 UCC 10 (John Sweetnam 3, Shrew Power 2, Gary Wilkinson 2, Fionn O’Leary, Peter Catchpole, David Doherty). Irish Hockey League Pool A: Instonians 3 UCC 0. Irish Senior Cup round 2: Sat 18th Oct: UCC vs Glenanne @ 2pm in the Mardyke. Hockey Intervarsities: Sat 25th Oct – Mon 27th Oct.

LeBron has returned to Cleveland and forged a new Big 3 with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, and, depending on how well they perform as a unit, they will be the juggernaut that OKC must overcome. As young as Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are, windows of opportunity in all sports are rare and should never be taken for granted. The Thunder need to strike now and strike fast.

Hockey (Ladies) Irish Senior Cup round 1: Glenanne 3 UCC 1 (Sarah Browner). Irish Hockey League Pool A: Lurgan 6 UCC 2 (Amy Kate Trevor, Nicola Kerr). Munster League Division 1: Sat 18th Oct: UL vs UCC in UL. Hockey Intervarsities: Sat 25th Oct – Mon 27th Oct.

John Alexander Brodie and the ﬁrst goal-line technology Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor

by the authorities.

Liverpool is a city famous throughout the world for a host of reasons; whether it’s that the Beatles originated from there, that it’s one of the most successful cities in European football or because Stephenson’s Rocket was tried out in the city in 1829. But the purpose of this article is to talk about the impact John Alexander Brodie had on sport right across the globe.

He convinced the FA to trial his goal nets in 1891 in Nottingham Forest’s Town Ground for a North versus South game. Happily for Brodie, it was an Everton player, Fred Geary, who scored the first goal in this match and was legally the first player to ever hit the back of the net. An Everton player Edgar Chadwick also scored that day to help the North run out winners on a 3-0 scoreline.

Outside of sport Brodie was an important engineer who helped to plan and design New Dehli in India and was also the Chief Engineer for the Mersey Tunnel, which is still in use today. But I’ll bring you back 1889 for the origin of Brodie’s most famous invention. His team, Everton, were disallowed a legitimate goal against Accrington that cost them victory in an important match. So infuriated was he with the decision, Brodie decided to come up with a solution to goals being disallowed in error. His invention was the goal net, designed simply to keep spectators off the line (who could often stop goals from going in) and to end contentious calls from officials. He first used it in Stanley Park and the following year applied for a patent that was accepted

Hurling HE Senior Hurling League Division 1 Group C: Tue 14th Oct: UCC vs WIT in the Mardyke; Thu 23rd Oct: IT Carlow vs UCC in IT Carlow. HE Fresher Hurling League Division 1 Group C: Mary Immaculate 2-21 UCC 0-24; Wed 15th Oct: UCC vs UL in the Mardyke; Tue 21st Oct: WIT vs UCC in Carriganore.

Rugby

Of course, judging by the newspaper reports that followed the next day, not everybody was fully supportive of the idea with the Birmingham Post saying the trial proved inconclusive: “There was no question about any of the goals scored, and the efficacy of the nets could not be judged.” On the other hand the Yorkshire Herald thought it was a great idea writing; “The goal nets introduced by a Liverpool man were used and were considered by the goalkeeper a very useful introduction.” Yet in September 1891 the Football League decided that the nets should be used in all matches. It didn’t take long for the Birmingham Post to support the idea of the nets when

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Ulster Bank League Division 2A: Skerries 27 UCC 21 (Ben Nugent try, con, 3 pens; Dan Nolan try).

Soccer (Mens)

the local team Aston Villa won a match that they wouldn’t have were it not for the nets, with the match report saying; “The goal nets were a great service, as two of the points scored by the Villa were from shots just under the bar, and from a distance it was difficult to tell whether the ball had gone through. “Finding the ball inside the net,

however, does away with doubt, and the referee is prevented from giving a questionable decision.” Brodie passed away in 1934 and Liverpool City Council named a road, Brodie Avenue, after this great engineer. So next time you score a screamer playing astro, give a little thought to this engineer.

Munster Senior League Premier Division: UCC 2 St Mary’s 1 (Evan Browne, Anthony O’Callaghan OG); Tue 14th Oct: Rockmount vs UCC @ 7.30pm in Rockmount Park. Donie Forde Trophy quarter-ﬁnal: Fri 17th Oct: Carrigaline United vs UCC @ 8pm in Ballea Park.

Soccer (Womens) WSCAI Premier Division South: Tue 14th Oct: UCC vs UL @ 2pm in the Farm.

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Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Men’s Hockey side defeated in historic debut UCC - 0

Instonians - 3

Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor

went about clawing back the deficit. They had three good chances to score with Fionn O’Leary, twice, and Gary Wilkinson proving unable to find the back of the Instonians net.

UCC made the long trip up north on Saturday to play Instonians in the club’s first ever Irish Hockey League clash. The team went down to an experienced Instonians side that have played at this level for a longer time and this showed in the 3-0 score line. However UCC will benefit from this experience and this should help them next Saturday when they entertain Glenane at the Mardyke. Instonians were two up at the break. Their first score came from a short corner in the 24th minute, with William Robinson converting. The Belfast side doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when a loose ball across the circle was picked up by Instonians, who capitalised on a drop in concentration by UCC; Robert Cummins tapping it into the goal. The second half saw the college side step up their performance as they

Barcelona’s Future after November Elections

Instonians got their third goal as Robinson doubled his tally with a drag-ﬂick from a penalty corner to put the result beyond the brave effort of a young visiting team.

“We’d two forwards missing this week due to injury and we’d hope to have them back next week”

UCC will be hoping to improve results over the coming fortnight when they will be playing Glenane and Annadale on home turf. Coach Les Ruddock said in the aftermath of the game that he hopes for his side to improve in the coming

games. “We’d two forwards missing this week due to injury and we’d hope to have them back next week. Andrew Power and John Sweetnam should be back next week and they’ll add to

Despite the central government in Madrid’s shrill reaction and court rulings, Catalonia is set to go to the polls to vote on the independence question on the 9th of November. It’s an unprecedented move which could have huge ramifications for the Spanish state; the sporting consequences could be huge too.

“If Catalonia became independent,” Javier Tebas said, “taking into account the Sports Law that would be enforced by the rest of Spain, Barcelona wouldn’t be allowed to play.” Neither would their cross-town rivals Espanyol. Any future Catalan league would be stuffed by minnows and semiprofessional teams. Girona, Llagostera and Sabadell all play in Spain’s second ﬂight but none of these sides could feasibly put up any sort of competition to the two Barcelona clubs

O’Grady, Peter Cathchpoole, David O’Doherty, Stuart Miller, Fionn O’Leary, Gary Wilkinson.

UCC: Brian Corcoran, Adam O’Callaghan, Wesley Bateman, Jack Sherry, John Catchpoole, Stuart

Subs: Kevin Burn, Ben O’Mahony, Andrew McGregor, Malcolm Chromes, Daniel Moore.

Deirdre O’Sullivan

When you start to spend more time in a week with your crew than you do with your family, that’s when you know things are going well. A great rowing squad is like a family really – yes, the clichés are ﬂying thick and fast! But ask anyone who has ever been involved in the sport and they will tell you likewise.

A Rowing Life Rowing was never on my radar. Before I came to UCC (over three years ago now), I knew next to nothing about this sport. I just thought you sat in a boat, went for an ‘ole paddle down a river and that was that really! This couldn’t have been further from the truth! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would become obsessed with this gruelling, demanding and hugely pain inducing sport.

Joseph Sexton | Sport Writer

Previously Barcelona’s then-President Sandro Rosell claimed that whatever the outcome of the vote, the Catalan giants would continue to play in the Spanish League. In the last week, however, the League’s President waded into the debate.

our strength in depth for the visit of Glenane give us some much needed firepower up front.”

The blow would be a heavy one too for the Spanish League. Overseas television rights, which still lag considerably behind those of England’s Premier League, are sold in large part from the global appeal of the big two. Atlético Madrid may be the current champions but nobody would kid themselves that the capital club has the same cache. Global viewers are drawn by the spectacle, the story and the glory of Barcelona and Real Madrid. The clásico is amongst the biggest sporting events in the world with fans from India to Iowa locking their attention to this bitter rivalry. It’s an outcome neither club would want as so much of their identity is bound with their rivalry. Even Florentino Pérez, Real Madrid’s President, concedes as much when he quipped; “If Barcelona didn’t exist, we’d have

to invent them.” Between the pair, they account for 40% of the league’s current television revenue. One solution from left field has been mooted. Should Catalonia secede, reports in the Spanish press last week claimed that Barcelona might chance their arm at entering France’s Ligue 1. The fact that Monaco already play there is a precedent, but one imagines any moves to admit the blaugrana would be torpedoed by UEFA. With so many Catalan players having played a central role in Spain’s recent success, it would also be a massive loss to the Spanish national side. But that many, most vocally Gerard Piqué, have come out in favour of an independent Catalonia says a lot for the mood on the ground in the eastern region.

The basic premise of a rowing race is to cross the line first, not a hugely novel concept I have to admit! However what makes rowing so engrossing, so amazing, is everything that comes before taking that final stroke of a race. Rowing is a power-endurance sport. Basically that means you need to have the strength of a powerlifter, the speed of a 100m sprinter and the endurance of a middle-distance runner, all rolled up in one. Training, therefore, is never boring! We train our cardio, anaerobic and muscular strength to the max and all the while hone our technical skills on the water. That’s one of the great things about rowing, you can be the fittest guy out there, but if you don’t have the skill to move a boat, it’s pointless; and the converse is also true! So that’s the training side of things… Now let me tell you about this little known thing we rowers are so lucky to have; our crew mates!

Nothing can bond a group of people together like seeing each other redfaced and sweaty at 7am every morning for a year straight, sharing yet another box of pasta (the staple of any decent rowers diet) during a break in training or going absolutely mental together at the end of season party (so many lives could be ruined if those stories ever got out!). Lastly, one of my favourite things about rowing is how it can change the way you approach the rest of your life. It teaches you that if you want to see results, you have to be willing to slog it out and put in the hard work. It teaches you that if you show up to training every day, of every month, of every season, then you will get places. If you don’t… well, you won’t! There you have it guys: a very brief insight into the wonderful world of one of the most demanding yet massively rewarding sports around. So, if you’re the sort of person who likes a challenge and wouldn’t mind making a few life-long friends along the way, send an email to UCC’s Rowing Club – we cater for everyone, from total beginners to elite athletes.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 14th 2014

Mary’s shoot themselves in the foot UCC - 2

St Mary’s - 1

Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor

Mary’s had the majority of possession, due to their high pressing midfield causing UCC problems, but were unable to trouble Charlie Boureman in the student’s goal. At the other end, Brian Murphy’s free kick from 25 yards on 20 minutes was well saved by Coakley for a corner as UCC went in search of the opening goal.

UCC won their opening game of the Munster Senior League Premier Division season with a late comeback against a strong St Mary’s side. An own goal from Anthony O’Callaghan after 75 minutes proved to be the difference between the sides, after Evan Browne had equalised for UCC a minute earlier. In a sunny Farm, the hosts fell behind to a Wayne McBride goal for Mary’s midway through the second half, but the game would be turned on its head before the end. UCC were full of attacking play for the opening five minutes on Saturday, with Seán O’Callaghan heading wide from an Evan Browne ball. The students had an early goal disallowed after several minutes, when a diagonal ball from O’Callaghan found Evan Browne to head in, but referee Richard Murphy adjudged him to be offside as the game remained level. The game was now being played at a quick pace with both sides keeping the ball on the ﬂoor and trying to run at each other’s defences. This was best shown on 11 minutes when a sliding tackle from Cian Hill stopped Wayne McBride as he was running in on goal, and a quick few passes allowed UCC to work the ball up the length of the pitch, where Pierce O’Riordan’s shot was stopped by a full stretch Stuart Coakley in the Mary’s goal.

O’Callaghan and Evan Browne were linking up well for UCC and causing Mary’s many problems with their good link up play. This saw O’Callaghan pass to Browne on the edge of the box where his volley was sliced just wide. Mary’s had their best chance of a goal in the opening half on 35 minutes when a ball from JP Sullivan hit across the six-yard-box found Jason Conway and he sliced his shot wide from all of four yards. UCC had one final chance to score in the first half when a ball from Daragh Corcoran found O’Callaghan at the back post, but he was unable to keep his shot on target as both sides went into the break level.

Every NFL fan is well aware that the first few of weeks of a new season are notorious for producing surprise results, and weeks four and five have been no different.

Kansas City Chiefs 41 New England Patriots 14 The biggest news of week four on the field was the surprise win of the Kansas City Chiefs against their highly favoured opponents, the New England Patriots. For Patriots fans it was a tough game to watch from the kick-off. At the beginning of the third quarter, the Patriots went three-and-out on their first possession, while the normally dependent Tom Brady was then quickly sacked by the Chiefs’ defence on the next possession. The early deficit would end up becoming Bill Belichick’s second worst loss during his reign as Head Coach. Post-match commentary has been

ball before being fouled. Sullivan then stood up to take the penalty and his shot to the right was brilliantly saved by Boureman for a corner.

St Mary’s opened the second half full of energy and where unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after 50 minutes when it looked like Sullivan was taken down by Hill, but the referee waved play on.

The breakthrough was coming for Mary’s and it arrived on 64 minutes when a ball into the corner by Barry Triggs was picked up by McBride, who rounded a UCC defender before scoring at the front post.

Yet it was only minutes later that Mary’s were awarded a penalty when a Gary Aherne cross saw Sullivan control the

UCC’s equaliser arrived on 74 minutes when substitute Calvin O’Callaghan’s cross found Browne in the six yard

NFL wrap: Patriots on the wobble Shane O’Sullivan | Sport Writer

Jason Abbott surveys his attacking options. Image by: Marc Moylan

heavily focused on how poor New England played during the 41-14 loss, rather than the Chiefs’ impressive display. The performance of the game came from the Chiefs’ own runningback Jamaal Charles who returned from a sprained ankle injury to score three touch downs. This result has placed a great amount of pressure on Belchicks’ Patriots to perform, the pressure however has been slightly eased as week five saw New England convincingly beat the Cincinnati Bengals 17-43 in a game that showed the critics the real New England Patriots.

New Orleans Saints 37 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 (OT) The Saints overcame three Drew Brees’ turnovers, including a pick-six and an earlier interception that led directly to a Bucs touchdown, to secure an overtime victory. The normally explosive New Orleans offense has not performed to its potential all season as Brees has struggled to connect on passes beyond 20 yards. Pierre Thomas, the best screen-pass back of his era, ran with authority and was especially hard to

box, who fired past Coakley. The winner then arrived a minute later when some good attacking play down the left resulted in Ian Mylod crossing the ball across the box, where Anthony O’Callaghan directed the ball into his own goal.

UCC: Charlie Boureman; Andy Gannon (Aaron O’Donovan 62), Daragh Corcoran (Ian Mylod 66), Cian Hill, Seán O’Mahony; Jason Abbott, Seán O’Callaghan, Brian Murphy, Evan Browne; Pierce O’Riordan (Calvin O’Callaghan 63), Conor Barry

Just before the game finished Seán O’Mahony and Sullivan had a clash going for a ball which required them both to seek treatment, but they were able to carry on to meet the final whistle.

St. Mary’s: Stuart Coakley; Gary Coughlan (Mickey Buckley 82), Cian McDonald, Anthony O’Callaghan, Aidan O’Callaghan; Andy Mylod, Gary Aherne, Jason Conway, JP Sullivan; Wayne McBride, Barry Triggs (Steven Waters 76).

the team may arrive on the field and try and prove a point against the team who beat them in the Divisional final last year. The Broncos find themselves in

a similar position as the 49ers, having not performed as well as fans would have expected; setting this games up as one not to miss!

bring down. For the second consecutive game, Mike Glennon started off slowly, failing to move the chains for the first quarter and a half. Much like the week previous, he performed better in the second half. However the game was won by the Saints with a play which saw a fantastic tackle breaking catch by Khiry Robinson to seal the win.

Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Texans 17 (OT) Dez Bryant proved his star quality in overtime as he made a one-handed grab with a 31-yard gain that put Dallas in field-goal range. Some great running back play from both sides was evident as both Arian Foster and DeMarco Murray went well over 100 yards on the ground. The important note for Dallas fans was that Tony Romo is moving much better in the last three weeks, which will hopefully ease Dallas fans’ concerns about their star quarter-back.

Pick of the week: 49ers vs Broncos With mounting speculation on the San Francisco 49ers trust in their Coach, Jim Harbaugh, and their current inconsistent form of non-consistency,

UCC

SPORT

Tuesday, October 14th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 4

City’s women making their mark on UCC Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor UCC is well used to having students playing with Cork City in recent years, with Rob Lehane and Dave O’Leary two of the first to come to mind. This summer Cork City Women’s football team was founded and with it, two women who now don the green of City came into UCC; both of whom will be hoping to make their mark on this college in the coming years. Megan Carroll is a 17-year-old first year Arts student and is in her second year of playing with Cork City, who were known as Cork Women’s FC before getting rebranded this year. She hails from Athea in west Limerick and played her underage football with Listowel Celtic before the bright lights of the Women’s National League began to shine on her. Having played before and after the name-change, Carroll thinks it was a welcome step forward for the club: “It has definitely given the club

more publicity, bigger attendances, especially in the past two games, and results have improved too.” Being involved with a team that travels the country was a lot harder last year for Carroll, who trained twice a week while sitting the Leaving Cert. “They used to train Wednesday and Friday but I could only make the Friday session with school, so I trained with the local men’s team.” This year she is up in Cork, which makes it a lot easier for her to balance studies and football, yet from her words it’s clear to see that she takes her study seriously despite the fact that she is only in first year: “Well the study is very important but if you want it enough you’ll make it happen.” Carroll will be combining soccer with City and UCC in the weeks ahead and Carroll’s enthusiasm shines through when she says; “I just can’t wait to get started! We’ll be starting up next Thursday.”

Plans for the future after UCC are very ambitious, with Carroll talking about going abroad to play football while also furthering her education. “I’d love to go to America to do a postgrad in teaching while at the same time playing football.”

“I’d love to go to America to do a postgrad in teaching while at the same time playing football.” Vanessa Ogbonna is a first year Public Health student who hails from Tramore, on the Waterford coastline. She previously tried to sign for Wexford but that didn’t work out, so with the move up to Cork for college, it made sense to join City. “I had trials for four years with Wexford but that would have meant leaving Tramore, so with college in Cork I had to leave Tramore.” Just like Carroll, Ogbonna has hopes

of playing with UCC this year and is looking forward to starting with them; but is just waiting for college life to calm down a little before she begins to play. Regarding the difficult topic of balancing sport and college work, she says that sacrifices had to be made, but for a person to succeed they must do it going by her favourite motto from Stephen Gerrard; ‘Live like an athlete, one day better.’ “I don’t really do anything besides football; I had to give up athletics this year as it wasn’t feasible to play for two teams this year. With study and football, I’ve no free time.” But, at the end of the day, her ambitions for the future don’t end with Ciy, with an Irish cap now in her crosshairs: “I had two goals at the beginning of the year but I’ve completed one by joining City and now the second is an Ireland cap.”

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Winning start: Pipped at the post last season, UCC's Senior soccer side got their first points on the board on Saturday.