VOL. XXIV, Issue 7, UO

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER IS IRISH EDUCATION CLASSIST? RUTH MURPHY PAGE 5

SHOULD WE TAKE BACK UCD? BENJAMIN JORDAN PAGE 6

INTERVIEW WITH NOBEL PRIZE WINNER SIR PAUL NURSE AOIFE HARDESTY PAGE 11

“A” GRADE TO BE CHANGED TO 85% AND HIGHER IN NEW ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

AOIFE HARDESTY EDITOR The University Observer has seen a draft version of the taught Academic Regulations that have been composed by the Academic Council Executive Committee Regulations Review Working Group.

In the regulations, which were given to the University Observer by a member of UCD staff, a number of changes to the current regulations are outlined including dividing the academic year into trimesters, making it mandatory to provide feedback to students on assessments within twenty days, and altering grade calculations so that 85% and upwards will class as an A grade.

A working group was set up to review the current UCD Academic Regulations which have been in place since 2006 in order to bring the regulations in line with the UCD Strategy 2015-2020 as part of the ‘Strategic Initiative 2: defining educational excellence.’ The draft regulations were released for consultation in February of this year.

Trimesters: The regulations state that, “The university’s academic session [will be] structured into trimesters (Autumn, Spring, Summer),” instead of the current two semester system. This change aims to “reflect current practice” where “graduate studies and certain undergraduate activity continues across three terms” rather than the two semesters.

Electives: Currently, undergraduate students can take up to six elective modules each worth five credits; the new regulations however, would limit this to five elective modules available to students. The regulations entitle students to take a “number of elective modules, equating up to 25 credits,” with the condition that, “Undergraduate degree students shall not take elective modules in trimester 1 of stage 1.”

This decision was based on a recommendation from the Enhancement of Electives Advisory Group with the reasoning that “it provides time for students to familiarise themselves with the university environment and their preferences.”

Assessment:The regulations outline that the ideal strategy of module assessment “should make use of an appropriate range of methods of assessment.”

On this matter, it is stated: “Where end-of-trimester

27TH MARCH 2018 VOLUME XXIV ISSUE 7 UNIVERSITYOBSERVER.IE

examination is used as a means of assessment, an No credit is awarded and a subsequent attempt at that appropriate balance between formal end-of-trimester module is treated as a first attempt. Attendance at an examinations and in-trimester assessment should be examination shall be considered as an attempt at an achieved.” assessment component.”

Regarding final examinations, the regulations say The regulations specify the changes in grade scales the exams are to be “restricted to two hours without awarded by the percentage received in a module. The derogation [exception].” following table shows how grades were previously set The regulations also advise for “the use of notes in and the new grade changes proposed in the Academic the form of a single A4 page prepared by the student… Regulations. In a statement to the University Observer, where examinations is used as a means of assessment.” UCDSU Education Officer Robert Sweeney said: The usage of notes may be restricted by the module “Feedback with 20 working days is something the SU coordinator “where it is clearly specified in the module has advocated strongly to be kept in the regulations. descriptor.” The reasoning for making this provision While it does not specify what type of feedback it is “is to establish a norm whereby students would be very welcome. We are also pleased to see the ability to permitted to bring a single A4 page with notes into withdraw from a module at a late stage to be beneficial. the examination.”

It formalises what is essentially current practice within Feedback: The new regulations lay out that programme boards.”

“Students shall receive feedback on both formative and Regarding the changes to the grading scale, he says, summative assessments.” This makes the provision of “We have raised our strong concerns on the changing feedback a requirement for all assessments completed of the grading system… Through this concern we have been guaranteed that we will have a seat at the table during a module.

According to the draft: “Feedback should be clear in the discussion on University grading through the a and understandable, focused on the promotion of sub committee of University Programme Board. While learning, and be structured around goals, criteria and it is hard to say currently what the grading system standards. Feedback… may be given in written or oral change will result in, we would expect if the current form, whether formally in a one-to-one meeting or scale becomes the sole scale for MCQs it will reduce informally in a lecture/tutorial/practical setting.” the number of students receiving an A. The current Clearly stated within the new regulations is the pro- regulations are in draft stage, so we will continue to vision that feedback must be provided within a certain raise our concerns.” period of time. “Feedback on assessment must be The new regulations are expected to come into effect provided according to the specification in the module next year, although it is likely that some aspects will descriptor and no later than twenty working days after need to be phased in. the deadline for submission of each piece of assessed work.”

Grading: Within the new regulations, changes have been made to the grading scale. The grade scale shall include an ABS grade, with a neutral grade point, for ‘Absent’ to denote where no marks are awarded because “no work was submitted by the student or the student was absent from the assessment component.”

The grades WL and WX will no longer be awarded.

Currently WL grades mean ‘Withdrawn Late’ and are given to students who withdraw from a module after the first six weeks with a grade point of zero awarded.

WX grades are for students who withdraw from a module after week 6 due to extenuating circumstances.

Under the new regulations, there will no longer be separate grades for late withdrawal or withdrawal due to extenuating circumstances, instead, W grades will be awarded. W grades will have a neutral grade point and be given to “a student who withdraws before attempting assessment components amounting to 80% of the weight of the module’s assessment components.

New Grading System

OTWO LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE INSIDE

EMIL NOLDE A REVIEW OF THE EXHIBITION IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY EMMA KIELY P5

SUBSET INTERVIEW WITH ARTISTS SUBSET JOANNE OLIVIA P7

DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON CAN THE ROCK CONTINUE TO SAVE THE WORLD? ANNA DONNELLY P12

TRAVEL SECTION WHY KIEV SHOULD BE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST OF PLACES TO SEE SOPHIA FINUCANE P26

1

NEWS

VETERINARY MEDICINE IN UCD RANKED 24TH GLOBALLY

Veterinary Medicine in UCD has jumped 16 places since it was first ranked in the QS World University Rankings in 2015. Placing at 24th globally, Veterinary Medicine is now positioned as the highest ranked subject in Ireland, above Nursing in Trinity College Dublin at 25th globally.

The UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, which is the only school of Veterinary Medicine on the island of Ireland, first ranked 40th in 2015. It ranked particularly well in employer reputation, where the school came 3rd globally, and in citations per paper, where it came joint 13th.

Overall, UCD has slipped in the QS rankings since it was first ranked 131st in 2012. It dropped to an alltime low last year after falling to 176th before seeing its first improvement in 2018, where it rose to 168th.

UCD ranks particularly poorly in the ratio of faculty members to students, but performs very strongly in the level of international faculty members.

Speaking after the release of last year’s QS rankings, UCD President Andrew Deeks stated that the university may need to reduce the number of places available to Irish students unless “there is movement on the funding of Irish students soon,” in order to preserve quality.

SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PLEASETALK TO HOST MENTAL HEALTH OPEN PANEL DISCUSSION

UCD Youth Mental Health Lab (YMHL), in collaboration with PleaseTalk, are to hold a free, student-focused panel discussion which aims to “promote conversations about mental health.”

The panel discussion, ‘Would you share your mental health story online?,’ is to be held on Thursday April 12th, and will hear from UCD School of Psychology Assistant Professor Dr. Cliódhna O’Connor, Psychotherapist Colman Noctor, and journalist and blogger Rosemary MacCabe.

Established in 2013, the YMHL aims to promote research in youth mental health and to “translate findings into having a positive impact on the lives of young people.” Funded by the Health Research Board and Irish Research Council, among others, the Lab’s mission is to “build critical mass in research in youth mental health.”

PleaseTalk is a student-led mental health organisation and is funded through the National Office for Suicide Prevention.

YMHL is currently researching the effects of emotion perception training on social anxiety symptoms and the health and well-being of students in colleges of further education.

Details and registration for the event can be found on ucd.ie or on the Youth Mental Health Lab UCD Facebook page.

UCD PROFESSOR AWARDED FOR CREATING “INDUSTRYSTANDARD” OPEN SOURCE PROGRAMMES

UCD Professor of Bioinformation Des Higgins has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for Open Access in the Life Sciences by bioinformatics.org, an online community of over 40,000 bioinformatics experts.

Higgins will receive the award for the creation of Clustal, a series of open source computer programmes used for multiple sequence alignment (MSA) in biological sequences such as DNA or RNA. Clustal was initially written by Higgins in 1988 and is now maintained and developed by his lab at the UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research. Higgins also co-developed T Coffee (Treebase Consistency Objective Function for Alignment Evaluation), a method for MSA which provided a “dramatic improvement in accuracy with a modest sacrifice in speed.”

In 2014, Higgins was included in the science magazine, Nature, as being among the top 10 most cited bioinformatics researchers of all time. Bioinformatics is a field of study which develops methods and software tools to compile and analyse biological data.

Higgins is due to give his laureate presentation to the Bio-IT World Conference and Expo on May 17th 2018.

2 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

AUTHOR: NATHAN YOUNG Universities in Ireland have received Government approval to recruit top academics on salaries of up to €337,000 a year, despite a rule which usually caps salaries for employees in the public sector at the Taoiseach’s salary, which is €190,000 a year. Until this change in rules, universities seeking to pay more than this had to seek approval on a case by case basis.

Currently the top paid academic in Ireland is UCD’s Prof Boris Kholodenko, who is Deputy Director of the the university’s Systems Biology Centre. He earns €336,927 per year, which is broken into his main salary of €264,464 plus €72,463 in lieu of pension as Prof Kholodenko is not in UCD’s pension scheme.

While professors can earn up to €136,000, more senior appointments, such as registrars, directors, or university presidents, may earn between €140,000 and €190,000.

The Irish Times analysis revealed that there are over 1,000 staff in the higher education sector on salaries of over €100,000 a year, and over 70 staff members in the higher education sector are on salaries of over €200,000 a year. The bulk of these are academic medical consultants, whose salaries are paid by the HSE and their affiliated college or university. These appointments do not need government approval as the salary scales allow them to be paid more than the Taoiseach’s €190,000. Most of these posts pay between €200,000 and €230,000. There are also 17 senior academics who have been hired under a rule called the “Departures Framework,” and they receive salaries of between €140,000 and €300,000.

The Departures Framework requires government approval to hire staff above the public sector pay caps. Senior university managements claim that they are experiencing difficulty recruiting top academics because of the public sector pay gaps and have been arguing for an increase. According to Jim Miley, the

director general of the Irish Universities Association (IUA) “Ireland needs to be able to compete for the best talent in the market if we want to be truly world class...

The best way to do this is to provide much greater flexibility to individual universities . . . Universities are competing more and more in an entrepreneurial world economy. They need to be freed to compete effectively by greater flexibility on salary levels. That will ultimately provide the best value for money for the State’s investment in talent.”

Last year the Government provided a special exemption from the public sector pay restrictions to allow for the recruitment of up to 10 research professors on salaries of up to €250,000. This is aimed at allowing

Irish universities to hire world class researchers in areas of economic importance, such as science, technology, engineering, and maths.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), a trade union representing university staff, believes this strategy to be misguided. “The crisis of attracting and maintaining qualified lecturers and researchers will only be reversed by a recommitment of the exchequer to provide adequate resources,” according to Joan Donegan, IFUT’s general secretary. IFUT argues that paying large sums of money to a small number of staff is “no response” to a decade of cost-cutting policies that have affected low ranking researchers.

PICTURE: WIKIMEDIA

Brían Donnelly

TOP ACADEMICS MAY RECEIVE SALARY OF OVER €330,000 AFTER GOVERNMENT APPROVAL

COST OF AMERICAN EDUCATION BOOSTING IRISH PROPERTY RATES AUTHOR: SARAH BURKE VAUGHAN The Real Estate Alliance (REA) has indicated that the cost of education in the United States has become a factor in increasing Irish property prices.

At a property show in New York earlier this month, the REA stated that, Irish-American immigrants considering returning home listed American education and health costs among the top motivators. REA Chairman Eoin Dillon pointed to “increased wages and the lure of better opportunities for returning emigrants” as some of the reasons American buyers are currently flocking to the Irish property market.

The US market currently makes up roughly 22% of overseas inquiries for Irish properties. Currently the average cost of a home in the US is $382,700 (€311,324), which when compared to the Irish average of $277,697 (€225,806) shows the advantage for American buyers in Ireland. US interest in the Irish property market has been increasing annually, with the REA reporting over 500 leads from their March expo alone.

“Enquiries from the US are now increasing hugely year-on-year, highlighting the return of emigrants who feel the time is right to come home,” Dillon stated in a press release.

On average, college fees for a four-year public American college can range anywhere from between $37,640 (€29,480) to $95,560 (€77,403), and the cost can increase substantially for private colleges.

The cost of secondary schools in America can come to about $15,000 (€12,150) a year. This is much higher than in Ireland, where secondary education is largely free, and total costs of uniforms, school trips, transport, grinds, lunches and more throughout the year, will usually come to around €1,629. Fees for non-boarding private school students in Ireland can usually be anywhere between €4,000 and €7,000, according to the Irish Times (December 17th 2017).

The REA has also been in communication with

multiple buyer agents, investors, lawyers, and Real Estate Investment Trusts in the US to establish more solid links. They expect this to quickly convert to sales, and many of these groups have already planned inspection trips to Irish properties.

These American investors could serve to sky rocket

Ireland’s already increasing property prices. Significant problems may arise in Dublin, where rents have been increasing by an average of 10% every year since 2013.

As well as being the most expensive county in Ireland in which to rent, it also hosts the most students in the country.

PICTURE: GEOGRAPH.IE

CAMPUS NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS OVER €4 MILLION SPENT BY UCC FOUND ‘NON-COMPLIANT’ deductions. He noted such financial changes in recent years as UCC’s increased student intake. Nevertheless, the main state grant has fallen to €43.3 million, from a previous amount to €94 million in 2009.

O’Mahoney has noted that “The failure nationally to agree a model and an appropriate level of funding for the university sector continues to threaten long-term sustainability.” He added that “A new sustainable funding model for the sector is now urgently required to enable UCC play its role in supporting the economic, cultural and social development of the region and of Irish society.”

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has, in the past, been critical of the financial affairs and practices of several Irish universities, including UCC. In July

2017, the PAC published a report which identified issues around procurement practices in universities.

The report pointed to a spend of €616,000 by UCC in 2013-14 which was found to be non-compliant with procurement rules.

The PAC report also pointed to “a major failure of corporate governance” where universities failed to submit their financial accounts until, in some cases, years after they were required by the C&AG. NCAD and NUI Galway delayed submitting their accounts for 37 and 26 months respectively.

The Irish Times reported in May 2017 that universities such as NUI Galway, UCC and UL have resisted declaring tens of millions of euro in private trusts and foundations which ultimately benefit the universities.

PICTURE: WIKIMEDIA

New accounts have revealed that University College Cork spent almost €4.5 million paying 39 suppliers without complying with public procurement guidelines within a year. The Office of Public Procurement issues guidelines to ensure government expenditure achieves the best value for money for the public.

The university itself declared €3.9 million paid out to 34 suppliers for the year up to September 30th, 2016.

The declaration was followed by an audit by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), the constitutional office’s office’s mission is to “provide the independent assurance that public funds and resources are used in accordance with the law, managed to good effect and properly accounted for.” It also works to “contribute to improvement in public administration.”

The audit revealed a further amount of approximately half a million euro to be non-compliant.

The C&AG assessed 17 of UCC’s suppliers. Five of those suppliers receive the largest amounts from the university, amounting to over €14 million. Twelve other suppliers were assessed at random. The amount paid to the twelve companies totalled €3.3 million.

UCC claims the €3.9 million they declared was spent mainly on recruitment agencies and IT suppliers. The university has expressed its intentions to consider more affordable alternatives for recruitment agencies, but stated that it will be unable to step away from the IT suppliers because of the infrastructure and software currently in place.

A UCC statement of internal governance and internal control states “The university is committed to continuously reducing this non-compliant spend in compliance with national and EU procurement guidelines.”

The revelation of non-compliant spending comes during a time when universities are facing increased pressure over their financing.

Dermot O’Mahoney, UCC’s honorary treasurer, reported a surplus of €14.5 million over the year, however the amount was reduced to half a million after

NATIONAL NEWS IN BRIEF

‘SHORT-TERM AND NARROW’ BUSINESS INTERESTS CATERED TO IN EDUCATION PLANS 2018 include “meeting critical skills gaps,” “actively supporting a professional workforce,” and a “focused engagement with enterprise.”

In a tweet posted at the event, Minister Bruton stated that “[education] is key to the development of the economy and we must strive to create the best learning environment for all those who come to education.”

In September 2017, Mike Jennings, then-General BRÍAN DONNELLY Secretary of IFUT, announced he was leaving the union NEWS EDITOR “after years of frustrations.” In an op-ed published in The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has the University Times, Jennings stated that he “cannot stated that it has come as “no surprise” that the “needs get closure on the frustrating fact that,” where the of certain business sectors are strongly promoted as the Department of Education is concerned, “short-termism basis for course development.” will prevail.”

A forum on the Action Plan for Education, held in Professor Rob Kitchin of Maynooth University’s NUI Galway earlier this month, “regrettably and un- Social Sciences Institute has claimed that all of the surprisingly” focused on the immediate and short-term State’s research priorities “favour technological soluneeds of industry, according to a press release from tions only and promote business interests.” On March the IFUT. The event heard from participants including Minister for Education Richard Bruton and Vice President for Academic Affairs & Registrar at GMIT Michael Hannon.

The forum, which discussed ‘Meeting the needs of Senior Cycle Students and the Skill needs for Work and Enterprise,’ also focused on the Minister’s plan to create ‘the best education and training service in Europe by 2026.’

“This raises fundamental questions about the future of our universities in society, how the Government views the development of funding models and, as a consequence, its view of Academic Freedom and the autonomy of the entire university system,” a press release from the IFUT stated.

The second annual Action Plan for Education, launched in February 2018, contains over 370 actions and subactions to be completed before the end of the year. The plan commits to “fostering strong relationships between enterprise and education and building strong bridges with the wider community.” It also aims to encourage “robust and sustainable partnerships between schools and business and industry.”

The Action Plan makes clear commitments to meeting the demands of industry, stating that key focuses for

14th, 2018, the Government published its refreshed research priority areas for 2018 – 2023. The priorities are: Information and Communication Technology; Health and Wellbeing; Food; Energy, Climate Action and Sustainability; Manufacturing and Materials, and Services and Business Processes. In a letter to the Irish Times, Prof Kitchin stated that the research areas “completely ignore… housing, deprivation, education, community development, economics, public administration, law, planning, culture, and the wider public good.”

Similarly, in 2016, UCD Professor of Equality Studies Kathleen Lynch alleged that the approach to teaching and research in Irish higher education was increasingly focused on its commercial value. Writing in the Irish Times, Lynch pointed to the fact that between 2000 and 2013, 83% of all funding in the State’s main research programme was allocated to “science, technology, engineering and related subjects.”

Clare Appezzato ESB NOT LIABLE FOR UCC FLOODING

Following floods in November of 2009 that caused significant damage to 29 UCC buildings, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) are not liable for costs. UCC and their insurance providers, Aviva, claim that having been warned of extreme incoming rain, the ESB failed to make significant room for this rainfall in the two hydraulic dams they control on the River Lee. ESB in turn claims that it is the presence of these dams that in fact, reduced the amount of flooding that occurred at UCC. It was decided that while ESB did not make enough room for the rainfall in the dams, it was not their legal obligation to create the space. This fact, and through the ESB releasing a large amount of water from the dams over the following days, caused the large flooding to damage 29 of UCC’s buildings. This caused €20 million in damages to UCC and a further €14 million to surrounding buildings. The Court of Appeal stated that the damage arose “from a natural event” and therefore the ESB did not cause this damage. Liability for the legal costs, estimated to be several million euro, is still to be decided.

DCU SETS PLASTIC-FREE DEADLINE OF 2020

DCU have become the first Irish University to phase out non-reusable items and become Plastic Free.

Their initiative to have no non-reusable plastic items on campus will be rolled out in phases as they have identified what single-use items need to be removed.

The first phase began with their Green Week where plastic cups and glasses were immediately removed from all buildings. The second phase is estimated to be carried out by September 2018 which will include the removal of all non-reusable coffee cups, plastic cutlery, plastic straws, and single-use plastic bags. By the deadline of 2020, all plastic water and soft-drink bottles with be removed also.

Minister for Communications, Climate Action, and the Environment, Mr Denis Naughten was at DCU this week to launch the plastic-free drive. He spoke of the importance of the removal of plastic on a national level as “we discard an incredible 80% of what we produce after a single use.” The President of DCU Brian MacCraith also spoke on the day, commending “DCU’s commitment to address a very real challenge, both at local and global levels.”

YOUNG UNIONISTS RESPONSE TO IRISH- LANGUAGE SIGNS AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY

The Vice-Chancellor Professor James C McElnay, of Queen’s University Belfast, has apologised after a ‘misunderstanding’ was caused concerning bilingual signs of English and Irish on campus. Confusion over the university’s standpoint on the Irish language was then followed by a letter written to the Vice-Chancellor by the Young Unionists society, who believe the installation of such signs would be detrimental to students.

While there once were bilingual signs on the campus, they were removed in 1997 to create a more open and diverse university. The Irish Language society wrote to the Vice- Chancellor about the issue, to which he responded by saying that Queen’s “seeks to create and sustain a neutral working environment” and that this environment must be kept free from “language likely to be provocative, offensive or intimidatory.” This caused an outrage from the Irish Language society and the Vice- Chancellor subsequently apologised for the confusion and offence caused. The University’s Young Unionist society then wrote to explain their viewpoint on the matter, which is that “the imposition of dual signage threatens to make the University into a cold house for students of the Protestant Community.” They wished to make clear that they don’t have a problem with the Irish language itself, but the installation of such signs would be provocative and intimidatory to students.

27TH MARCH 2018 3

NEWS INTERNATIONAL EXAMINING THE IMPLICATIONS OF NEWS IN BRIEF CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA

Following the attack of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skirpal, and his daughter in the town of Salisbury, on March 4th, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson has said that the issue is with President Putin and not the Russian people. This comes after, British Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack, which left Skirpal and his daughter in a coma. The UK has also suspended several “high-level” contacts with Putin’s administration.

The Kremlin vehemently denies any involvement with the attack, stating that they had no motive to target Skirpal. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Putin, told Russian news agencies that the claims made against President Putin “violated all rules of diplomatic protocol.”

Several EU leaders have supported Theresa May, with French President Emmanuel Macron stating that “France and Germany would be among the countries taking ‘co-ordinated measures’ against Russia.” President of European Council, Donald Tusk, further backed May by adding “the recall of the EU’s ambassador to Moscow for ‘consultations’ would be followed by further action by member states.”

CHINESE PRESIDENT TO REMAIN AS LEADER AFTER TERM LIMIT REMOVED

The Chinese President, Xi Jinping will remain as Leader of China, due to the removal of the two-term limit on the position of presidency. During the annual gathering of parliament, The National People’s Congress voted to make the constitutional change, repealing the two-term limit imposed by China since the 1990s. Out of the 2,964 votes cast, only two delegates voted against the change, while three delegates abstained from voting.

As Xi already serves as the Communist’s Party general secretary and the military chief, both of which do not hold term limits, few believe that he is likely to be challenged by rivals. During his time in office, Xi has fought corruption within his own party, punishing more than a million party members, which no doubt increased his popularity among Chinese supporters.

However, some people have criticised the President’s initiatives on increasing the state surveillance and censorship programs within China, believing him to be “clamping down on many emerging freedoms.” Some critics also believe that Xi used the anti-corruption stance to sideline political rivals and further his own presidency.

PEDESTRIAN KILLED BY SELF-DRIVING CAR

In an article published by the Guardian, Tempe police reported that a woman was killed after an “autonomous Uber car” hit her as she was walking outside of the crosswalk. The technology in self-driving cars is supposed to detect pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles to avoid collisions.

The company subsequently decided to pause it’s self-driving car operations in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. This is not the first time that Uber have suspended its operations, as in 2017, there was another incident of a crash involving a Volvo SUV. Tempe Sergeant Ronald Elcock released a statement saying, “The 2017 Volvo SUV was traveling at roughly 40 miles an hour, and it did not appear that the car slowed down as it approached the woman.” The footage of the crash was not released to the public.

The governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has publicly been in favour of allowing corporations to test the technology in Arizona, and in March released new rules surrounding the testing of self-driving vehicles on Arizona roads.

4 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

CA also alleged to be involved with specialist organisations that could gain an opposition’s secrets, claiming to know former agents of MI5. They also claimed to sometimes operate under different names, so as to hide the involvement of CA itself. Alexander Nix, the currently suspended CEO, later detailed several situations that they could film and use against an opponent, such as sending a woman to have sex with the individual and record it for use against them, which by definition is entrapment. Nix and several others later claimed after the release that they were overselling the product, to

obtain new clients.

It appears that one of two things is true, either CA does what the exposé shows, or they have overhyped themselves into an international situation. The behaviour of Facebook has been roundly criticised, from their failure to act, and their threat of a lawsuit to cover it up. Several campaigns have been launched in relation to Facebook either to regulate it worldwide through legislation or encouraging people to simply to delete Facebook.

PICTURE: PEXELS

UK BLAME NERVE AGENT ATTACK ON PUTIN’S ADMINISTRATION

AUTHOR: DEAN SWIFT Cambridge Analytica is a political consulting firm based in England, which has been the subject of major concern after what is alleged to be major involvement in the Trump Presidential campaign. Cambridge Analytica (CA) acts primarily as a data analysis company, who claim to focus on personality traits in order to drive the behaviour of individuals. The company were also involved in the Ted Cruz and Ben Carson campaigns in late 2015, which paid CA 750,000, and 220,000 US dollars respectively.

Cruz and Trump’s campaigns both fired CA, claiming that they were ineffective.

The company teamed up with Global Science Research (GSR), a data-gathering group, and used ‘Amazon Mechanical Turk,’ a crowdsourcing site, which would pay users to take a personality test, and provide access to their Facebook account. Amazon later banned GSR from using the service, after repeated violation flags. Facebook claims that after requesting GSR to delete the information, the data was deleted.

However, in 2017, it was revealed that GSR had collected the information of nearly 40 million users in another data collection.

CA tried to prevent an exposé by Channel 4 News, in which a reporter posed as an agent from Sri Lanka, interested in hiring CA to achieve electoral success. In the undercover footage they claim to have used the data to produce language and imagery that would be engaging to the intended viewer, and claimed to have done so in America, Africa, Mexico, Malaysia, and then Brazil.

They also claim to be able to determine hopes and fears, which will then be preyed upon, even those fears that are unconscious and until faced with them, unknown to an individual. They gave the presidential election in Kenya as an example of their work, claiming they did everything, which is in marked contrast to their public stance in which they distance themselves from said election.

INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED AFTER 12 YEAR OLD GIRL TRAVELS ABROAD FOR ABORTION

FIACHRA JOHNSTON DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR The Gardaí and the Child and Family agency Tusla, are currently investigating the case of a 12 year old girl, who reportedly travelled to the UK to receive an abortion. It is believed she was provided aid by the Abortion Support Network (ASN), with authorities notified by the clinic in question after questions about the age of the girl were raised on her arrival. First reported by the Sunday Times, ASN founder Mara Clarke stated that 52 girls under 16 used its service last year, and that at least two thirds of them were from the Republic of Ireland.

As stated by the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland the termination of pregnancies is not legal within the country.

DNA testing is currently underway to rule out the possibility of an adult being involved with the pregnancy, and to confirm the identity of the father, which is at this time believed to be a 15-year old boy. With the age of consent being 17, and the age of criminal responsibility being 10 (in cases of rape), the boy, if found guilty, may face up to life in prison. Colm Keena of the Irish Times reports that “A defence of being ‘reasonably mistaken’ in believing the person was 15 years old would, if successful, reduce the sentence upon conviction to one of up to seven years. Consent is not a defence.” The Garda Press Office and Tusla, who are now handling the case, have made no comment as to the investigation of the individual.

Sinéad Redmond of the Pro-Choice advocacy group Parents for Choice has said that it was “deeply saddening that such a vulnerable person could not get the care she deserved at home, and that a young person’s private crisis is front page news,” although she stated

she was not aware of the details of the case. Lisa Keogh Finnegan, of the same group, spoke to the Irish Independent, saying “A few of our membership have daughters of her age. We need to look after the children we have – she is only 12… You can’t ask a 12 year old to carry a pregnancy.”

Members of Pro-Life groups have also spoken out over the issue. Cora Sherlock of the Pro-Life campaign stated that, “There isn’t any reason to believe that an abortion, a traumatic experience, would help her.” Sherlock also added that campaigners for the

Pro-Choice side “have shamelessly exploited cases like this for one reason only – to make abortion widely available.”

The Bill for the repeal referendum was confirmed to be finished by Minister for Health Simon Harris on Twitter, where he wrote “36th Constitutional Amendment Bill to hold referendum to #repealthe8th has passed all stages in Dáil Éireann. Now moves on to Seanad Éireann.”

The referendum is planned to take place at the end of May or the beginning of June.

PICTURE: MAXPIXEL

Dylan O’Neill

COMMENT WHY A SELF-ABSORBED SU KEEPS FAILING UCD STUDENTS, SOCIETIES, AND ITSELF With RAG week failing to amaze, outgoing auditor of UCD Medical Society Shane Kelly, gives his two cents on UCD Students’ Union.

How can the Union justify having room in its budget to produce a monstrous 120 square foot banner to display the darling faces of its four remaining officers, and drape it across the concourse outside James Joyce?

For most, the SU make little to no visible contribution to their college experience each year. SU diehards are quick to point to important behind the scenes work that ‘unappreciative’ students just don’t notice day-to-day.

Perhaps instead of the increasingly desperate attempts at going big to win hearts and minds across campus, the SU just needs to learn to derive satisfaction from doing this essential but not as high-profile or glamorous work.

It’s student politics. It’s supposed to be dull.

The part of the SU’s vanity that actually upsets me is the opportunity cost that comes with it. At over €600,000, the UCDSU receives over double the total amount allocated to societies through The Student Activities Committee. The group which is tasked with dividing the funding ring-fenced for student-centred activities between Societies, Clubs, and the Union.

In reality, that funding originates as a small slice of our fee payments. Compared to the service provideded by societies for the student body, the SU shows a pretty measly return on our investment. Think about how many balls societies manage to run from their skinnier portion of the spoils, how many shows, how many trips, how many debates and guest speakers, screenings and conferences, juggling competitions and jazz recitals.

Compared to the Union, societies provide so much to so many, on both superficial and deeper levels. All the way from pure entertainment to personal development and lifelong friendship.

Our sorry RAG Week exemplifies the inefficacy of the union compared to societies operating on a fraction of the budget. AgSoc, MedSoc, and others annually raise many tens of thousands of euro for charity.

Imagine the amount SVP or UCDVO could raise if they were in a position to run a carnival and bring in some washed-up 90s popstars.

Societies do it all without the luxuries of the eight full-time employees the SU needs for its efforts.

When recruiting new committee members, societies don’t need the €8,000 euro the SU sees fit to spend recruiting class reps, nor the thousands more that the Union deems necessary to train them. How would they ever manage to order class hoodies and book a hostel in Prague without the free weekend away that they all get in the first semester?

“Oh but societies are more commercially viable in other ways, the SU can’t raise money like that” comes the bleating from the Union chambers. Well yeah, obviously, because (and here’s the big secret for any SU election hopefuls) the services provided by societies are actually popular with students. They

actually meet a demand and fulfil a need. In fact, they are so popular that students are often even willing to put aside significant proportions of their budget for tickets to balls, trips, shows, or whatever this week’s activity entails. This concept may be difficult to grasp for anyone heavily involved with the SU. While many are in a position to pay to get involved, these prices can often be prohibitive for many others, preventing them from getting the opportunity to engage with other students outside of the classroom. Societies are not for-profit organisations, so if societies were to receive a bigger slice of the student activities pie, they could conceivably be in a position to lower their prices or alternatively expand on the range of activities offered, catering to even broader tastes again.

When this is the case, how can the Union justify having room in its budget to produce a monstrous 120 square foot banner to display the darling faces of its four remaining officers, and drape it across the concourse

outside James Joyce. Actually my apologies, two such banners. It was imperative to the student body that we got a fresh one to “Welcome Us Back to Semester 2.”

If DramSoc or MusicalSoc wanted to do something similar to promote their biggest shows of the year, something students might actually be interested in seeing displayed, their grant proposals would be met with either derision or disbelief from the societies’ finance committee.

As we enter into what is sure to be another apathetic election season, I have one message for the candidates, many of whom I know well, respect, and call friends.

Those involved need to ask themselves does the SU really need the big image, the big branding, and big events in order to provide the best service to its members. They need to be able to admit that the SU is not the answer to all of campus’ problems, and if they are going to continue to steer funding away from alternative groups, they better be able to justify it.

PICTURE: DYLAN O’NEILL

Never have I been as anti-UCDSU as I have become in the wake of that sorry excuse for a RAG week. Yes that’s right, we had a RAG week. You’d be easily forgiven for not noticing. After all, the SU seem to have decided that it’s not even worth the hassle to tell us what the total raised was. Or rather, they’re too embarrassed to admit that they would have been better off taking the money they wasted renting out Funderland and the dregs of S-Club 7, and just donating that to Pieta House in the first place.

But what do we expect? Sure isn’t wasting vast sums of money just a rite of passage for any self-respecting UCDSU executive. Up there alongside making empty election promises and a good old impeachment controversy. The collective apathy of the overwhelming majority of students towards the Union is at the very least understandable if not thoroughly justified.

OUR CLASSIST FREE EDUCATION SYSTEM Ireland claims free fees and yet some cannot afford university, Ruth Murphy looks at the realities of Ireland’s education system. request “voluntary” contributions from parents in order to fund sports facilities or new buildings, much like UCD’s student centre levy. In some areas this can be a very heavy burden or simply cannot be afforded.

The class gap widens at each school stage. In secondary school some students get the opportunity to attend grinds while others may have to take on parttime jobs that may take from the time that they have to focus on studies.

Many Irish young people dream of getting a well-paid job in their favourite industry while others just want to afford to get by.

while others spend their spare hours working on their essays. Some choose between rent and food. Access to internships and low-paying jobs that offer experience widens this gap. Internships are great if you are lucky enough to have parents who can and will fund you during this time. Many Irish young people dream of getting a well-paid job in their favourite industry while others just want to afford to get by. These things do not just affect your studies but your mind and your comfort.

With post-graduate education being charged at full price it is clear that the state is not helping in the way that it could.

The Irish education system is overdue a revamp.

Equal access to education is something we would like

to claim but it is not reality. Equal access should not just refer to your ability to enter school but also to receive a high quality of education and to have the same chance of receiving 600 points in your leaving cert as your friend whose parents drive Lexus jeeps.

A good education and the most chances in life should not be down to how big your house is. The first step in fixing this should be actual free fees, and not loans that some of us can afford to pay off and others cannot.

I do not want to pretend that I do not benefit from the flaws in this system but what is the point in it if it only benefits the few who are lucky?

Ireland’s third-level “free fees” are simply a farce.

The cost of registration is simply too high. This is easily proven by the fact that it is deemed necessary that we must have a grant system to help people pay these ‘free fees.’ Still these grants do not do enough to tackle the difficulties in attending university, particularly if you are moving to Dublin. UCD is one of the highest ranked universities in Ireland and it is supposed to cost the same to attend it as anywhere else in the country but to come here you will face the highest accommodation costs, the highest fines, and the highest resit and repeat fees of any institution in the country. Other universities and technical colleges across Dublin will also boast ridiculously high accommodation costs and it is not as if the university will provide the accommodation.

Whilst at university, some can afford expensive laptops and new books while others fight for what is available from the library. Some have to work part-time jobs

PICTURE: DYLAN O’NEILL

While Ireland may boast free education up to third level, the reality is a lot more complicated. It is simply not true that people from poorer socio-economic backgrounds have the same access to education as their richer neighbours.

The difference in education can start as early as primary school, or even earlier where wealthier parents are able to afford to send their children to Montessori and after school lessons while others cannot. This early education is simply not an option for many families.

Ireland’s array of fee-paying schools regularly top the tables as the best schools in the country. The best schools are measured based on what percentage of their students go on to third-level which is not a fair method, but such criticism belongs in another article. You might point out that there are a few non-fee-paying schools that make it into these rankings. However, many of these non-fee-paying schools are situated in wealthy areas and so to attend the school your family would probably require a certain amount of money to live in the area. Also, as there is a much greater number of non-fee-paying schools in Ireland by sheer numbers it would be difficult for fee-paying schools to entirely dominate the top of these tables.

Funding for the facilities of fee-paying schools as well as schools with free fees but in affluent areas are an issue. Schools in more affluent areas can raise funds more easily as parents have more money and events hosted in the area may gather more funds. Recently it was highlighted that Wesley College, a fee-paying school in South Dublin, is to receive €150,000 for a sports pitch while other schools requesting fewer funds and with greater need are not getting the full funding that they applied for. This is absolutely ridiculous when Wesley College could find the funds elsewhere where as a school in Tallaght would have more difficulty. Wesley College already has multiple sports pitches. Tallaght Community School applied for funding through the same grant scheme and received none. Many schools

27TH MARCH 2018 5

COMMENT SHOULD WE “TAKE BACK” UCD? Benjamin Jordan wonders if UCD students should follow Trinity’s example and protest exorbitant repeat fees. the construction of the building. It is supposed to be an index-linked levy, yet has only increased since its introduction. The reality of university life, particularly of students who work in precarious jobs, is that people fail exams. In the 2016/2017 academic year, almost 4000 students failed one module and out of this 2096 failed more than one module. This can be down to a variety of personal circumstances or inability to make it to the exam hall. In that year, UCD received at least three-quarters of a million euro in exam repeat and resit fees. How is it legitimately acceptable that the university can charge an extortionate €230 per module, and then cap grades at a D, meaning your GPA is going to suffer no matter how much you pay?

Years of austerity and staffing cuts in the library, in administrative staff, in counseling staff are coming back to haunt us. Students with mental health issues are waiting weeks to be seen by a counselor. The UCD experience is regressive. It is too expensive, and it hits working students harder. Yet, Deeks wrote in his aforementioned Irish Times article: “let us get on with the job, and we will be able to serve our students and our society all the more effectively for it.”

With the University Management Team due to come to a decision on resit and repeat fees at the end of March, an organised student body must be ready.

We cannot let the university management “get on with the job;” that would only serve to further enable the profiteering which is already underway. It is up to the students to get together and organise. We have seen a magnificent grassroots movement in Trinity and the college board there is getting scared, with threats to replace EU student places with non-EU student places to increase revenue. Yes, if we organise ourselves, and protest; we can expect backlash. However, we have a right to afford to go to university whether we glide through with ease or come across bumps along the way.

UCD students are the victims of a cash cow culture where the university is only too happy to profit from young people who already struggle to balance college and work.

PICTURE: DYLAN O’NEILL

Recently there was a meeting in the Trinity Arts Block, held by activists involved in the Take Back Trinity movement. The discourse of the meeting followed the lines of how to move on from the dining hall occupation, and how to escalate from here. The capacity of these students to organise themselves, the sheer strength in numbers, and their genuine belief in the idea that they can win this battle against their administration is both heartening and aspirational.

A slogan of their campaign has been bellowed out and chanted by Trinity students at their protests: “Paddy in your ivory tower, this is called people power,” a reference to TCD Provost Patrick Prendergast’s recent renovation of his personal penthouse residence paid for by college funds. This sounds remarkably similar to recent renovations of UCD President Andrew Deeks’ residence, which cost the University €300,000. Deeks, perhaps unsurprisingly, wrote in the Irish Times on January 22nd that “universities need less regulation and more autonomy.”

As it stands, UCD students are the victims of a cash cow culture where the university is only too happy to profit from young people who already struggle to balance college and work, in most cases working for not much more than minimum wage. The conditions of students are not a concern to those at the top levels of university management, proven in the case of a new construction site beside O’Reilly Hall. This new alumni club facility which is currently being built will not be open for student access, highlighting a culture in UCD where management prioritise the shiny public image of the university over looking after the welfare of their students.

The Student Centre Levy, as was recently reported by the University Observer, has cost students over €43 million since 2006. This is to cover the cost of

This is just the tip of the iceberg. EU students get a guarantee that their fees will remain the same upon entry to the university. Fees for non-EU students are not fixed, meaning they can rise year on year, with many students paying in excess of €40,000. Postgraduate fees put a strangle hold on more mature students, many of whom have mouths to feed at home.

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA Transition year work experience student Magda Szklanna discusses the worrying power of social media.

“Lads for Choice” promotes men getting involved in repealing the 8th, as they feel that too often men say “that’s a woman’s issues, it has nothing to do with me, I’m not going to vote.”

Social media is however, so much more than just news and entertainment. It is spreading awareness about the topics that are important to us, like the homelessness crisis that Ireland is facing right now.

Social media exposes us to different views and ideas.

It provides a platform for people to share and expand their views and opinions, and to listen to others. It shows that the world is full of different types of people and opinions. It can also be used to educate people on a variety of topics, like LGBT+ issues and feminism.

Social media, especially Facebook, is home to many pro-choice and pro-life campaigns regarding the 8th Amendment. Pages like “In Her Shoes,” “Lads for Choice,” and “Love Both” have gained a lot of popularity in recent months. All pages post about their views and opinions regarding the 8th Amendment, which is great because people can hear the two sides of this never-ending debate. On “In Her Shoes,” people can read different women’s stories of abortion, ranging from “it just isn’t the right time” to “my baby died,

6 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

but my body didn’t register it.” It shows how the 8th Amendment forces women to leave their country because the help they need will not be provided for them here. “Lads for Choice” promotes men getting involved in repealing the 8th, as they feel that too often men say “that’s a woman’s issues, it has nothing to do with me, I’m not going to vote.” The “Love Both” campaign advocates for the rights of the unborn all over Ireland through their #LivesSaved Tour.

Nevertheless, there are aspects of social media which continue to be worrying. People tend to put their best side forward, and social media is no exception.

People only share the good things that happen to them, leaving the bad stuff out. This can lead to some people thinking “why can’t my life be like theirs? They don’t seem to have any problems.” When, in fact, they could be going through something serious, like financial or mental health issues, but they do not want to make it public. Think about it, how many times did your friend post something and it made you feel bad about yourself? People compare themselves to rich celebrities and people who run fitness accounts. While sometimes comparisons can motivate people to improve and grow as a person, unhealthy comparisons can lead to low self-esteem and negative self image. You have to remember, there is always more behind closed doors.

Social media can also make people feel isolated. People see their friends out having a good time while they are stuck at home watching TV. While we may not like to admit it, social media does decrease levels face to face interaction, which is something that human beings naturally require.

A big question that a lot of people have about using online platforms now is: “how safe is my private information?” The recent scandal with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica regarding where people’s private information was being used to influence elections may have answered that question. The UK firm, Cambridge Analytica, obtained the information of 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge. Cambridge Analytica obtained the information from a researcher that created a personality quiz which asked people to download an app which gave Cambridge Analytica access to their friends’ data. They used this information

to create profiles that they later sold to clients as political research. Many suspect that this information was used in Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, but Cambridge Analytica denies this claim.

While sometimes comparisons can motivate people to improve and grow as a person, unhealthy comparisons can lead to low self-esteem and negative self image.

Mark Zuckerberg is avoiding calling it a “data breach,” but he has come forward and promised that Facebook will monitor apps that use Facebook more closely to prevent this from happening again. However, what’s done is done, and many people have deleted their Facebook accounts because they were scared that their privacy will be breached again. Many people are questioning what other social media platforms may have the same issue. People no longer feel safe and many are now thinking twice before setting up accounts.

The power of social media in this day and age is undeniable. It influences everything from trends to people’s opinions and views. It allows us to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones. Social media can have a huge positive impact, we just need to use it for the right reasons.

Picture: Flickr

Social media has a huge influence on 2.46 billion peoples’ lives. We wake up, we check social media, we eat, we check social media. No matter what we are doing during the day, we always find time to check Facebook. It has become an essential part of our lives. Twitter is always sure to have important news trending, and Facebook shows us important news from our friends’ lives. Social media keeps us in the loop, whilst also keeping us entertained.

COMMENT THE STATE OF SEX EDUCATION Sarah Burke Vaughan looks at recent developments in attitudes towards sexual education in Ireland and considers whether real progress is being made to educate the youth.

In 2017, the UN recommended that Irish Schools should introduce compulsory objective sex education.

emphasis on contraception, LGBT+ inclusive education, education without gender norms, and which educates on abortion in a “factual and objective way.”

TD Ruth Coppinger has supported this bill and said that, “at the moment, if a school has a religious ethos, it can use that to prevent aspects of relationships and sexuality being discussed that it doesn’t agree with.”

In 2017, the UN recommended that Irish Schools should introduce compulsory objective sex education which should include “comprehensive sex education for adolescent girls and boys covering responsible sexual behaviours and focused on preventing early pregnancies, and ensure that it is scientifically objective and its delivery by schools is closely monitored and evaluated.” This recommendation has strongly informed the work put into the bill proposed

by Solidarity, and is used as a basis for why it is needed.

In an opinion piece on theJournal.ie, Relationship and Sex Education teacher Cionnaith Ó Duibhir spoke on the state of the subject within schools, criticising the way LGBT+ sex and relationships are treated as other, unrelated to the subject at hand, and not for full discussion within the classroom. Beyond that he criticised the small amount of time secondary schools allocate for the teaching of sex education, only being obligated to provide six periods on the subject, “an agreement born of a time when schools hotly resisted teaching RSE at all.”

In general there seems to be a push on all sides for sex education to change in Ireland, whether it is arguing for more conservative education, in line with religious ethos, or believing that we are simply letting our children down by not giving them all the facts.

PICTURE: CONTACTOHOY.COM

Sex education in Ireland has a long and complicated Multiple times the institute has advocated for chastity history. Many will have seen YouTube clips from the and moral-based sex education, with an emphasis on 80s of Irish Catholic ‘sex guru’ Angela discussing sex teaching an ‘abstinence until marriage’ approach. education for girls. Angela would pray before beginning her discussions to make sure that God was in the room when she taught young girls about puberty, sex, and marriage. Angela would also remark throughout the videos about how cleverly God had designed the human body specifically for making babies.

Of course, these videos were made at a time when contraception had only just been legalised in Ireland and was still heavily restricted due to the country’s staunchly Catholic beliefs. As well as this, homosexuality would not be decriminalised until over a decade later, so these videos obviously focused only They have also spoken out in regards to movements on male-female intercourse, within a marriage, with in favour of LGBT+ rights within schools, referring to the intention of having a child. The assumption would the ‘Different Families, Same Love’ posters that depict be that sex education in Ireland has come a long way families with same-sex parents and were distributed to since then, but has it? Is there more that schools should classrooms by primary school teachers’ union INTO. be doing to educate Ireland’s youth about sex or are we The Chairman of the Iona Institute, Dr. John Murray, already overloading them with too much information? said that, “denominational schools should be allowed The Iona Institute is a socially conservative organisa- to be denominational. The problem with this poster tion that describes themselves as “promoting the place is that it seems to require, or suggest to teachers, that of marriage and religion in society” and have in the past they teach in a way that treats all family forms as being and the present campaigned against marriage equality, the same.” An article on their website criticised the civil partnership, and abortion. They have also spoken Department of Education guidelines given to schools out multiple times about the role of the state in sex advising them to allow transgender students to wear the education. In response to an Oireachtas Committee on uniform of their choice, for teachers to refer to students the Eighth Amendment report which recommended by the pronouns they prefer, and to allow them to use a “thorough review of sexual health and relationship the changing rooms they are most comfortable in. The education, including the areas of contraception and Institute support claims that such discussions only lead consent.” The Iona Institute said that the tone of the to confusion for children. report was “less than subtle and patronising” as well On a different end of the discussion is the group as being “deeply troubling.” They also said that the Solidarity, a socialist political party that has introduced Committee’s suggestion of sex education being pre- The Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill 2018 sented independent of school ethos was a “direct threat and a petition in support of it. The bill aims to deliver to the ability of denominational schools to advance “factual, objective and scientific sex education for all their own view of human sexuality and intimacy.” schools regardless of religious ethos” with a particular

FROM SPACE DUST WE COME, TO SPACE DUST WE GO Sean Mooney takes a look back on the extraordinary life and career of Stephen Hawking.

Hawking realised that the Big Bang was rather like the collapse of a black hole in reverse.

This perseverance, coupled with his intellect, led him to carve out an illustrious career in the field of cosmology. For 30 years, Hawking held one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world, the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, a professorship at the University of Cambridge that was formerly held by Isaac Newton.

One of the main contributions Hawking made to science was regarding black holes. Matter exerts a gravitational pull on everything, attracting more matter to it. Black holes are sufficiently massive that nothing can escape their pull, not even light itself. The fact that there is no light coming from black holes is why they appear black. However, Hawking showed that black holes are in fact glowing, and emit what is now called Hawking radiation. This radiation leaks out from black holes, causing them to evaporate over time. Black holes continue to shrink and eventually disappear. This process is extremely slow for the average black hole, but miniature black holes release radiation rapidly and explode out of existence.

There are two incompatible theories that can explain much of what we see in the universe. Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes enormous structures in the universe, such as black holes and the orbits of the

planets. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, is a theory that precisely describes the behaviour of stuff on the smallest scales, like atoms. These two theories have forever been mutually incompatible and one of the biggest questions in all of science is formulating a grand unified theory that agrees with both general relativity and quantum mechanics. To explain why black holes emit radiation, Hawking applied the small-scale theories of quantum mechanics to black holes. This was the first step in the ongoing effort to find a grand unified theory.

There is no such thing as a true vacuum; even in empty space, new particles and their anti-particle pair are constantly popping into existence and then immediately destroying each other. When this occurs at the edge of a black hole, however, it is possible that either the particle or anti-particle gets pulled into the black hole while the other escapes. Then the pair of particles can no longer annihilate each other and in this way, the black hole is seen to emit radiation, as these particles appear to be coming from the black hole.

of a black hole in reverse.

In the 1980s, Hawking showed that tiny variations in the distribution of matter right after the big bang could explain why galaxies are spread out across the universe. These tiny deviations from uniformity gave rise to the planets, stars, and galaxies of today and this was an important discovery in cosmology.

Hawking may have gained prominence in the scientific community for his work on black holes but his success extended well beyond academia and he inspired a generation to study science and ponder the universe.

In spite of his condition, he was a master at science communication. Hawking stated that “Equations are just the boring part of mathematics” and he had a talent for describing technical ideas simply.

In 1988, he authored A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, using his scientific insight

to translate complex ideas for a non-specialist audience.

Since its release, the book has gone on to sell more than 10 million copies and has been translated into dozens of languages. He also featured in a range of popular media, including appearing on television shows such as The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory.

Hawking’s remains have been laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, in a place of pride near the final resting place of Newton. Newton once said that “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” and it is fitting that Hawking held the same position as him at the University of Cambridge since Newton was the first to formulate how gravity works and Hawking has arguably taken it further than anyone else. Likewise, the discoveries that Hawking has made will no doubt provide the bedrock for future theories for decades to come.

In the 1980s, Hawking showed that tiny variations in how matter was distributed right after the big bang could explain why galaxies are spread out across the universe.

The universe is expanding, in that all distant galaxies are moving away from each other at an ever-increasing rate. Hawking collaborated with Roger Penrose to publish a series of theorems which showed that, since the universe is expanding, space and time must therefore have had a beginning in the distant past. Hawking realised that the big bang was rather like the collapse

PICTURE: FLICKR

At 21, Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, and was given a life expectancy of two years. Although death did not come in that time frame, over the years, the disease severely reduced his bodily control. Crucially for his research, however, his mind was left untouched. He did not let his disability stand in his way, and once said: “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet.”

27TH MARCH 2018 7

FEATURES EATING DISORDERS IN COLLEGE LIFE: A HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM University can be incredibly stressful for some. Sambhavi Sudhakar examines how this stress can manifest itself in eating disorders.

There is a lot of stress during exams and submissions.

That, for a lot of students can lead to complications and eating disorders” Eoghan Mac Domhnaill, Welfare Officer of UCDSU provides some insight into the occurrence of eating disorders among students. In concurrence with the report, he says, “There is a lot of stress during exams and submissions. That, for a lot of students can lead to complications and eating disorders. Sometimes, students don’t even realise it themselves.”

Speaking about how eating disorders are perceived in society, Julianne Casey, the mental health coordinator of UCDSU says, “I think there is a lot of relevance to the USI report. Eating disorders are disorders which people still often overlook or stigmatise.” Casey echoes the sentiments that stress can play a role in developing

or worsening an eating disorder. “Stress is deemed a risk factor when talking about eating disorders and works in conjugation with other risk factors also, and it is important that we talk about the relationship between eating disorders and stress. Students are under a huge amount of stress regarding exams, assignments, and general student life, and as a result of this their mental health often suffers.”

Colin Kingston, a psychiatric nurse at Community Mental Health Services says whilst he has come across few “cases of eating disorders in students,” he has observered how courses with increased stress and pressure have negatively affected students. “The cases I have come across have been medical students and PhD students, or those who are generally taking very specific and challenging degrees.”

Another insight from Kingston is that the development of eating disorders among students can be owing to problems external to academics, “Normally the eating disorder traits, behaviours, and symptomology appear to have deeper psychological roots that may be present long before attending university.”

Casey raises concerns over how eating disorders can be handled in society, saying she thinks they “are often trivialised… which is something that is extremely dangerous to do.” Kingston talks about the need for people to seek help, and says part of the reason why he has seen so few cases of eating disorders amongst students is “because people who people who experience eating disorders generally do not seek help as they do not believe that they have a problem.”

Kingston emphasises the dangers of staying silent and not reaching out for help: “The cases that I have come across have been those that have been hospitalised as they are so severely underweight and require refeeding and to gain a certain amount of weight before they are cognitively able to engage with psychological

DIARY OF A TAOISHMUCK

An exclusive look into the personal diary of Leo Varadkar.

Dear Diary, Thank God my fake news spin unit got found out, it was soooo restrictive. I felt like I was in the closet again. I feel like I could do anything now. Scream, shout, spin, do the splits, shoot myself in the foot. Anything goes. It’s just Leo now, the pure unadulterated me. Watch this space.

Leo xxx Dear Diary What a Paddy’s Day it has been! (NOT GERRY ADAMS DAY ta very much). My first visit to the White House, my first shamrock plant - its beauty is matched only by Matt - and (not) my first diplomatic gaffe. Let me just ask; is Doonbeg really this important to anyone?

Haven’t I just given it some publicity that it very desperately needed? Did anyone really know where in our emerald isle it was? So I interfered in the planning process - who cares!?!

Windmills are ugly and white (unlike me) and more importantly, you can’t play golf on them.

If we ever want Rory McIlry to get back to the top we need to give him the tools for the job.

A Donald Trump international golf course is what he needed to put a swagger and a bounce back into his British (oops) curls. It was a selfless gesture.

Everyone wants to take advantage of my sense of humour. Take Michéal, that’s the second funny anecdote that he’s attacked me for (though I bet he laughed, how could he not?). And the Clare County Councillors? Bah! What a load of layabouts they are, taking advantage of my international stardom to steal into national radio stations. I bet they’d never even seen a microphone before, why would they, even I know you can’t shear sheep with the national press. Even Paul Murphy rallied his ‘Tallaght Thugs’ (chuckle) round to give me some abuse “disgracing our nation” etc etc, what a hideous man. I wish he’d been put in jail for that water nonsense.

psychotherapeutic work.”

Casey believes the USI report is particularly relevant as it highlights “how important it is to lead a balanced life physically and mentally, encouraging students to take care of themselves not just during these stressful times but throughout the year. I think it’s especially important to pay attention to the advice given within this report; to look after one another, educate ourselves on the affect stress has on our mental health, and to have an open conversation regarding mental health, and eating disorders to help de-stigmatize and raise awareness about these issues.”

Mac Domhnaill agrees that more open discussion is needed to help students. With this aim in mind he

says, “UCDSU is organising its Mind, Body, and Soul festival towards the end of the semester. This venture facilitates open discussion in relation to both mental health in general and eating disorders in particular.

This facility also lets students know about the services available to them.”

Mental health awareness is one of the key issues of discussion in university campuses. Through the above perspectives, it is evident that there is a sound platform for the discussion of these problems in contemporary Irish colleges. However, with the amount of pressure UCD’s counselling service is under at the present moment, there are almost certainly students who are suffering and slipping between the cracks.

PICTURE: DYLAN O’NEILL

In anticipation of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2018, USI (Union of Students in Ireland) released a statement about how stress amongst college students can result in poor mental health. USI also stated that it is essential students seek help if needed and that mental health should be discussed more openly on college campuses. The USI President Michael Kerrigan mentioned in the press release that it is essential that Students’ Unions, staff, and friends are aware of the negative impacts of stress at university. He recommended that students follow a healthy schedule which includes recreation and exercise alongside studying.

besieging our island, I, as God’s celtic representative on this mortal earth stood in the splendid sun and sang our Soldier’s Song.

I met Mike Pence as well, very nice man, although he did seem a little overly-concerned in ensuring that I wasn’t wearing a wire (his hands lingered...hopefully Matt and his green-clad wife - heaven above I’ve forgotten her name, probably Chlamydia or something - didn’t get too jealous). He assured me that this nonsense about his supposed determination to stamp out gays and convert them to good, straight-laced Christians was merely ‘fake news.’ He even invited me to stay with him next year, when I make my glorious return to the US of A for next year’s Leo day. Hopefully Donald hasn’t tried to build another golf course by then, I’m not sure I could contain myself.

Leo xxx Dear Diary, Why is everyone so quick to jump down my throat (it’s sore), and pour scorn on my attempts to be modern, straight, and manly. I wished our ‘Boys in Green’ good luck on Twitter before their outstanding win at Twicc----? (how is it spelt).... ANYWAY, they won, as I expected and doubtless were inspired by my patriotism. If I used the Ivory Coast flag who really cares? As the Leader of this great Republic of Ireland I made a decision to show my support for a small, insignificant African country. As if anyone could ever believe I don’t know my own flag. Pffffffttt.

Leo xxx

I wish everyone would realise that the independents are even worse. Has Shane Ross, for example, ever done a single thing right? They all need to learn from me and my Maggie.

Walking in the parade was fun, there were so many people embracing the Irish spirit and customs. Amongst others things, many American youths seemed to heartily agree with the idea that drinking should not be confined to the legally set minimum ages. I myself walked under the banner of the United Irish Counties Association, may the 32 not be divided by a hard border (dare I mention Brexit) and the sun shined on us. No matter that snow was

PICTURE: MEADHBH SHERIDAN

8 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

FEATURES HOSTILE DESIGN: WHO ARE OUR CITIES MADE FOR? In both obvious and hidden ways, our public spaces are designed to deter and attract certain types of people, Gavin Tracey investigates the increasingly common trend of hostile architecture.

In December of 2016, a tattoo parlour in Dublin City Centre, Dublin Ink, made headlines when they installed sprinklers outside of their doors to prevent rough sleepers and drug users from taking shelter. This decision was met with both immense criticism, as well as a large amount of understanding among the general population. The homeless community, as well as those

There are a myriad of small but intentional design choices in cities, and even here in UCD, that discourage us from using certain objects in certain ways. who advocate for their rights, decried the decision as being inhumane and cruel. Soaking people with cold water in the freezing conditions of winter, they argued, was dangerous, and dehumanised homeless people even further. The tattoo parlour claimed that it was not their intention to “soak” homeless people, that they only meant to deter drug users for the protection of their staff, who were forced to clean up syringes and vomit on a daily basis (Dublin City Council do have

design that’s been created with the primary purpose to control, exclude or harm any human being.” The group raise concerns over people designing spaces where they use their “creativity to cause any kind of harm.” Ultimately, the only people who profit are “the people that get paid for manufacturing it. Everybody else loses.”

Hostile architecture can be found even here in UCD, we have benches with metal partitions for precisely this reason (they can be found around the lake and in front of the Engineering building). Here too you can see another example of preventative design; small metal balls installed along the edge of a low lying wall, to prevent skateboarding. There is a lively debate around the so-called positive and negative aspects of this sort of design.

Many public bathrooms have started to use blue lights, to deter heroine users from injecting; the blue

lights prevent users from being able to locate veins.

Trinity College installed these blue lights after a man was found dead in 2002 in Trinity bathrooms of an overdose.

There have been attempts to rectify the trend of anti-homeless design, with a bill being introduced to the Dáil late last year to ban them from public places, according to Paul Murphy on the grounds that “it would provide a tiny modicum of relief, and send a signal about our approach to homeless people.” However the bill was opposed by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Murphy believes that it is likely “we will see the trend increasing” as “we’re seeing a massive rising trend in homelessness in terms of rough sleepers.” For Murphy there is cause for hope, but he says things will get worse before they get better. Stuart, from the ‘Design Crime’ movement was more optimistic, stating that “crueltyfree design seems like a possibility” in the future.

PICTURE: FLICKR

GAVIN TRACEY FEATURES EDITOR

a waste management division to deal with issues such as this).

It raised a larger question however, of how we design our urban spaces and who we design them for. There are a myriad of small but intentional design choices in cities, and even here in UCD, that discourage us from using certain objects in certain ways. The sprinklers outside Dublin Ink are perhaps the most egregious example of anti-homeless design, but if you look around Dublin City, you can find examples almost everywhere.

Most ubiquitous is the way in which benches are designed. We are all familiar with the tall, slanted, narrow benches at bus stops, which deter a number of activities; they are too narrow and slanted to sleep on, and the height and dimensions deter sitting for a prolonged period of time. Almost any bench in a public place will have some sort of barrier or partition in the middle, ensuring that the bench can only be used for sitting.

Speaking to the University Observer, TD Paul Murphy says of hostile design that “it sends to rough sleepers, and homeless people more generally, the message of you’re not welcome here, this isn’t your space, this isn’t a public space, it’s private space, and it’s pretty chilling.” The University Observer contacted numerous homeless charities and advocacy groups, many responded that there had not been research done on the issue.

The issue of hostile architecture has even led some to take matters into their own hands. A UK based art movement called “Design Crime” is drawing awareness to the issue by distributing stickers that people can place on objects whose sole purpose is to exclude. Speaking to the University Observer, the group said “The campaign is to raise awareness for design crimes, so that people start to question them within their own communities and ultimately opinions can shift and hopefully we start to see designs in our public spaces that are cruelty-free.”

Design Crime describe ‘hostile design’ as “any

BRINGING A LIFETIME OF CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE TO THE CAMPAIGN FOR REPEAL Aoife Hardesty meets with Senator Alice-Mary Higgins to discuss her work in campaigning for women’s rights.

We also need to acknowledge that we have a past and ensure it’s not something we forget.

damage inequality and really damage outcomes and experiences for women.”

While working with the National Women’s Council, Higgins recalls supporting “colleges about making sure they’re really accessing their proper rights around maternity leave, care and making sure the policies of individual companies actually reflect that equality,” and Higgins firmly believes we need to support mothers more. Currently, Higgins is campaigning for greater “rights for lone parents, so that whatever choice a woman makes she is supported in that case.”

Higgins believes feminism is experiencing a backlash and she thinks this is because feminism is challenging “a lot of the old hierarchies and the old assumptions… I think what’s really interesting is that almost because in some ways certain establishments, former authorities, are losing the argument; instead we’re seeing quite an almost authoritarian form in the

backlash. They’re not even trying to persuade in some cases but they are trying to enforce. So I think when we see really draconian laws that target women’s bodies, or access to healthcare, that’s a kind of authoritarian backlash because they know they’re losing the argument.”

From a young age, Higgins has been involved in campaigning. Whilst she refuses to discuss her father, President Michael D. Higgins in interviews, when he is brought up what she does say is: “I have been a campaigner since I was young and I think that’s something that’s been very important to me and I’m grateful [for] all those experiences.”

Regarding campaigning Higgins sees that “there are lots of different ways to campaign. There’s lot of different ways to change, and I think it really is up to all of us to find a way that we can all contribute constructively to the change.”

PICTURE: TWITTER @ALICEEIRE

Senator Alice-Mary Higgins was elected to the Seanad the referendum “can be a positive one,” but she admits in 2016, the first woman elected to the NUI panel in that, “there are those who’d like to frame it into a very the Seanad in 36 years. She was previously policy co- divisive way.” ordinator at the National Women’s Council of Ireland Remembering marching in favour of repeal back in and holds a BA degree in English and Philosophy from 1992, Higgins recalls a photograph taken of the parade UCD. In February, Higgins returned to UCD for the in Galway. The photograph “appeared in a local paper Women in Leadership conference where she joined an of me and my friend and she got quite a hard time for all-female panel of “Policy Influencers,” afterwards it,” the repeal movement was less accepted then than she spoke to the University Observer about the work it is today, and Higgins describes the parade as “very she has done in campaigning for women’s rights. small,” which is definitely not how you could describe Higgins’ beginnings in campaigning took place as marches for repeal today. a teenager “when I first marched for repeal… another campaign was divorce which was a very crucial issue for everyone in society but especially for women.”

Today, she sees the “huge, key, massive area is we need to address making sure that women are treated equally in our constitution and we need to make sure that women have the same rights to bodily autonomy and to proper healthcare and to decision-making within healthcare as men.”

The treatment of pregnant women in Ireland is what Higgins was a child when the 8th amendment was all this campaigning boils down to Higgins believes. introduced to the constitution, and she believes that it The Magdalene laundries were discussed at the conis important to note that there were “people who didn’t ference, and Higgins brings that issue up as another agree with the 8th amendment when it first happened in example of how poorly “women have been treated in 1983.” Those are the people who campaigned against terms of pregnancy in Ireland… It’s really unfortunate it at the time and “some of them are still campaigning. that women from the Magdalene laundries are still havWe owe a huge debt to those who have carried that ing to battle to get proper recognition.” Higgins praises voice of opposition and challenged through.” those such as Catherine Corless who are continuing Discussions about the 8th amendment are often to raise issues such as the mother and baby homes. protrayed as being divisive, but Higgins believes that “These issues are still here, and they are all linked. I that is not how the discussion needs to be. She thinks feel we [have] an amazing opportunity as a state to the process so far, between the Citizens’ Assembly and move forward, but we also need to acknowledge that the Oireachtas Committee has been “very positive in we have a past and ensure it’s not something we forget.” terms of putting real evidence and real experiences of Women’s rights have come a long way in the hunwomen into the public domain. We’ve talked about the dred years since women (over the age of 30, and who hard decisions that women and medical professionals owned, or whose husbands owned property worth more are having to make everyday, and we’ve talked about or equal to £5) were granted the right to vote. Aside the need for not making those decisions anymore in a from reproductive rights, Higgins believes we are still climate of secrecy, but making sure whatever choices in need of improvement in other areas of women’s women make that they are supported.” Coming from rights in Ireland. “So many of our systems are in fact those discussions, Higgins thinks the debate ahead of diseased… in many cases there are structures that really

27TH MARCH 2018 9

LOOKING TO GET INVOLVED IN JOURNALISM OR DESIGN? Applications are open for positions on the editorial team of the University Observer for the academic year 2018/2019.

The Position:

The Editor of the University Observer is responsible for all aspects of the newspaper. The Editor is responsible for the management of the newspaper, the publication and distribution of the newspaper, the content of the newspaper and is responsible for the co-ordination of the newspaper’s writers. The Editor is responsible for all internal appointments (with the exception of the Deputy Editor and the Designer) within the newspaper as well as any disciplinary matters that may arise (with the exception of the Deputy Editor and the Designer).

EDITOR

The position of Editor of the University Observer is an extremely demanding one and applicants for the position should be aware that the role involves working unsocial hours in a highly pressurised environment. The Editor is responsible for all deadlines being met by the newspaper.

The position includes working alternate weekends.

The University Observer is editorially independent from the Students’ Union, as enshrined in the Union constitution. The Editor has complete authority over the content of the newspaper, proviso to the standard regulations governing newspaper content (e.g. defamation etc.).

The Editor is appointed for the full academic year, 2018/2019.

Remuneration:

Wages currently stand at €650 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are normally published) and some expenses incurred during production of the newspaper may be reclaimed.

Application Procedure: Applicants for the above position must submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae and a detailed proposal, outlining how the candidate intends to operate and manage the University Observer. Specifics areas where the newspaper can be improved should be dealt with in some detail.

Note:

• Applicants are only permitted to apply individually.

Joint applications will not be accepted.

• Canvassing members of the interview panel is forbidden. Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

• No formal training is offered to successful candidates.

• Applicants should make it clear in their cover letter whether or not they would like to be considered for the role of Deputy Editor as well as Editor.

•Applications should be no longer than 5,000 words.

Closing date for applications is 5pm, May 4th, 2018.

Applications should be sent as a .pdf file to editor@ universityobserver.ie or to the following address: Aoife Hardesty, The University Observer, Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Short-listed candidates will be called for an interview.

The Position:

Note:

The University Observer is editorially independent from the Students’ Union, as enshrined in the Union constitution.

The Deputy Editor has authority over the content of the newspaper, subject to the standard regulations governing newspaper content (e.g. defamation etc.).

Closing date for applications is 5pm, May 4th, 2018.

The Deputy Editor of the University Observer, upon direction from the Editor, is responsible for all aspects of • Applicants are only permitted to apply individually. the newspaper. The Deputy Editor, subject in all matters concerning the newspaper to the direction of the Editor, Joint applications will not be accepted. shall be responsible, with the Editor, for the management of the newspaper, the publication and distribution of • Canvassing members of the interview panel is the newspaper, the content of the newspaper and is responsible for the co-ordination of the newspaper’s writers. forbidden. Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

The position of Deputy Editor of the University Observer is an extremely demanding one and applicants for the • No formal training is offered to successful candidates. position should be aware that the role involves working unsocial hours in a highly pressurised environment. The • Applicants should make it clear in their cover letter Deputy Editor is responsible for all deadlines being met by the newspaper. whether or not they would like to be considered for the role of Deputy Editor as well as Editor.

The position includes working alternate weekends.

•Applications should be no longer than 5,000 words.

DEPUTY EDITOR

The Deputy Editor is appointed for the full academic year, 2018/2019.

Remuneration:

Wages currently stand at €610 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are expected to be published) and some expenses incurred during production of the newspaper may be reclaimed

Application Procedure:

Applicants for the above position must submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae and a detailed proposal, outlining how the candidate intends to operate and manage the University Observer. Specifics areas where the newspaper can be improved should be dealt with in some detail.

Applications should be sent as a .pdf file to editor@ universityobserver.ie or to the following address: Aoife Hardesty, The University Observer, Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Short-listed candidates will be called for an interview.

The Position:

ART & DESIGN EDITOR

You will be responsible for the design and layout of the newspaper, working in conjunction with the editors and contributors in producing and sourcing high-quality imagery and related media. The position requires an understanding of visual culture, and the integral role it plays in journalism. The position will require work at alternate weekends, whilst working hours during the week are flexible. Although this work is highly demanding it is also highly rewarding. The successful candidate would be expected to constantly strive to improve the overall design of the newspaper.

The Art, Design & Technology Director reports to the Editor and Deputy Editor.

Remuneration:

Note:

• Applicants may be required to present a portfolio of work upon request.

• Interviews may be conducted using modern communications media for candidates who are not able to attend in person.

• Canvassing members of the interview panel is forbidden. Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

• No formal training is offered to successful candidates.

Wages currently stand at €610 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are normally published).

Closing date for applications is 5pm, May 4th, 2018.

Application Procedure:

Applications should be sent as a .pdf file to editor@ universityobserver.ie or to the following address:

Candidates should submit a cover letter and curriculum vitae.

Aoife Hardesty, The University Observer, Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Applicants with further queries should contact Aoife Hardesty, at 01 716 3835, weekdays during business hours, or at the above email address.

10 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

SCIENCE SIR PAUL NURSE AND HIS LIFE IN SCIENCE Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse visited UCD to recently to receive the inagaural George Sigerson Award. Aoife Hardesty met with him to talk about his life, his science, and the Nobel Prize.

AOIFE HARDESTY EDITOR All lifeforms are dependent on their cells’ ability to divide. Whether an organism is composed of one or many more cells, they all need their cells to grow and divide, in that way the organism can grow, repair damage, and reproduce. Sir Paul Nurse unlocked one of the mysteries of cell division: he discovered the proteins responsible for regulating the cell cycle, these proteins decide when the cell should begin to prepare for division, and following that, when the cell should start dividing.

who are awarded the Nobel Prize, are near, or past, me to comment on who had won the Nobel Prize.” It retirement age. Nurse however, was younger than most took a replay of the message, and very careful listening when he received the Nobel Prize, being in his early for Nurse to realise the Nobel Prize “was for me!”

50s. He describes being a Nobel Prize winner as “like Nurse’s life then transformed into the ‘before’ and another job, you’re asked to go here and there, I get ‘after.’ Although Nurse had been a public figure in requests to do something every day, and most of the the world of science before winning the Nobel Prize, time I have to say no.” “the only prize that means anything to anybody in the general public is the Nobel Prize. Suddenly you get catapulted into a slightly ridiculous position where eve-

His mother gave birth out of wedlock, and her parents raised Nurse as their son, with Nurse believing his biological mother was his sister.

Hunt later said the remarks were made in jest, and in recordings of the toast, laughter can be heard from the audience. The remarks were tweeted from the event by a science journalist present, and sparked anger online, and Hunt stepped down from various positions following the controversy surrounding the remarks. Nurse describes him “as a lovely man, but he sometimes says things that are a bit off the wall.”

Nurse takes his position as a well-known scientist se-

Turning down requests is out of sheer necessity.

Nurse spends his professional time between his research and running programmes and organisations, including the Francis Crick Institute and Cancer Research UK. His administrative duties however, are something Nurse doesn’t “really enjoy so much… but what I think is: I’m quite good at running things, and if I pay back to society by running stuff, then I can justify doing whatever I like in the other half of my life where I’m basically doing my research.”

Nurse’s research is centred around understanding For his discovery, Nurse was awarded the Nobel single celled organisms, and his work features the uniPrize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001 alongside Sir cellular fission yeast, who helped him win the Nobel Tim Hunt and Leland Hartwell.

Prize. A single cell “exhibits the characteristics of life.

Nurse recently visited the Biological Society in UCD t“and I got no phone call or anything, so I assumed I where he received the George Sigerson didn’t get it,” so Nurse went to a meeting in London Award. Speaking to the University Observer Nurse to discuss funding for a museum. During the meeting, Sir Paul Nurse pictured with UCD Biological Society Committee describes being fascinated by the world around him as “the secretary from outside came in during it and said, a child. “I came from a working-class family, and my ‘I’ve just got a message from your office saying could rybody thinks that you have something to say sensibly riously, and sits on the European Commission Science brothers and sisters were older, and I was quite often you turn on your mobile phone?’ So I switched the about everything.”

Advice Mechanism, a group of six scientists who give on my own.” Nurse would later in life discover that his phone on, it was one of these big chunky things, and I The real problem with such a highly esteemed posi- scientific advice to the European Commission. He also brothers and sisters were in fact “not my brothers and went outside and there was a recorded message.” tion according to Nurse, is that “some Nobel Prize win- sat on a committee of scientific advisors to the Prime sisters,” his mother gave birth out of wedlock, and her ners… start to think they do have something sensible Minister of the UK for 15 years. For society to function parents raised Nurse as their son, with Nurse believing to say about everything! I’ve even coined a disease for and progress, Nurse believes “politicians and society his biological mother was his sister. Because of the age it, I call it Nobel-itis. You’ve got to watch it, because need to take science seriously.” difference between Nurse and his ‘siblings,’ he spent a people listen to what you say, and if you say something In Nurse’s talk to the Biological Society he told the lot of time watching the world around him, “I walked silly, like Tim did, it will stick with you.” story of his discovery of the checkpoint proteins of the to school and I passed the park and see things growing Sir Tim Hunt is a good friend of Nurse’s, and the cell cycle, using his own hand-drawn diagrams, followand changing with the seasons, and I would see the “something silly” he said, were remarks he made during ing which he happily stands around meeting staff and same with the stars, and that got me interested in the a toast at the World Conference of Science Journalists. students from UCD and posing for numerous photos. natural world which developed into science I guess.”

At the conference, Hunt was asked to give a toast at a An esteemed, and well-respected scientist, Nurse has A mantra often repeated about scientists is that lunch for female journalists and scientists. advised the top officials in Europe, when asked to give they maintain their childhood curiosity and continue During the toast he said: “It’s strange that such a advice to budding young scientists, he smiles and says, to question why the world is the way it is. Nurse has chauvinist monster like me has been asked to speak “never listen to advice from an older person… But the dedicated his life to “just trying to find out how life to women scientists. Let me tell you about my trouble main thing is do it if you’re passionate about it.” works,” by unravelling the mysteries of cell division, Listening to the message, Nurse was very confused. with girls. Three things happen when they are in the and this he says, “satisfies a curiosity… and frankly I He could make out the words ‘Nobel Prize,’ but the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with feel quite privileged about it.” Being able to still con- voice “was very heavily accented and I honestly you, and when you criticise them they cry. Perhaps we tinue researching is important to Nurse, most scientists thought it was a journalist again, calling me up to ask should make separate labs for boys and girls?”

It took a replay of the message, and very careful listening for Nurse to realise the Nobel Prize “was for me!”

PICTURES: AOFE HARDESTY, ERIK LINDBERG VIA WIKIMEDIA

Some Nobel Prize winners… start to think they do have something sensible to say about everything! I’ve even coined a disease for it, I call it Nobel-itis.

Sir Paul Nurse receiving the Sigerson Award

27TH MARCH 2018 11

SCIENCE THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER: THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL Our medical knowledge has been getting increasingly fine-grained for centuries. Christine Coffey discusses the ways in which this is becoming ever-truer of cancer treatment specifically.

If all the blood vessels from a single human being were connected end-to-end, they would span the equator twice over.

Most bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases result from a foreign micro-organism invading the body. However, most cancers differ from this as they typically originate in the body. Cancer is a repair process gone into overdrive, where cells multiply at ever faster rates. The problem with standard chemotherapy and radiation is that you are bombarding these cells and damaging them, attempting to eradicate them like you would any bacterial or viral infection. Some patients respond positively to these treatments and their tumours shrink.

Targeted chemotherapy now exists for some cancers, such as chronic myelogenous leukaemia, which results in 100% remission rates. As the oncologist Dr. David Agus suggests, it seems as though trying to beat cancer to a pulp with brute force is not as successful as we would like it to be.

Tumours grow thanks to a process called angiogenesis, where new blood vessels grow and allow the tumour to take over the surrounding blood supply,

which provides nutrients and other essentials for further growth of the tumour. Some particularly aggressive forms of cancer take over major blood supply routes to vital organs to the point where removing them surgically would be fatal. Such tumours are inoperable, and at that point all hope is placed on radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which aim to shrink the tumour as much as possible. Without a blood supply and without angiogenesis, tumours are benign and generally very small. Simply put, if we can control our immune system and the blood flow supplying potentially cancerous cells, then we are not giving cancer a chance to grow, essentially starving it.

If all the blood vessels from a single human being were connected end-to-end, they would span the equator twice over. This means a lot of potential sites for tumours to hijack, but fortunately most of these blood vessels are with us from infancy, and there are few special instances in which our bodies manufacture new blood vessels. One of the most important of these is after an injury, when blood vessels form under a scab and all grow towards the damaged area. The body controls this process through an intricate balance of stimulants and inhibitors, so that when new vessels are required, proteins which promote the growth of these vessels (called angiogenic factors) are released and when the area has healed, inhibitors are released.

Judah Folkman researched the effect of naturally occurring blood vessel growth inhibitors and their role in defending us against the progression of cancer. Due to angiogenesis, tumours get the oxygen and nutrients required to grow exponentially, and this network of blood vessels also acts as a transport channel by which cancerous cells migrate to other organs within the body. The research of Dr. Folkman was far from a comprehensive outline of the magic bullet that would put an end to cancer, but it put the research of a very promising field of oncology in the right direction, and it shows great potential for certain cancers.

Proteomics is also an emerging field where digital snapshots of all the proteins in a patient’s body are created in another approach to tackling the disease.

Not dissimilar to comparing the DNA of different people, overlapping patterns indicate common protein expressions in different people. This means that in a clinical trial where one patient reacts positively to a treatment and another does not, the protein expressions can be compared. This could lead to more precise targeted treatments, personal to the protein make-up of the patient and how they are likely to react.

Since the 1850s, cancers have been categorised based on the location of the tumour. With the development of more targeted anti-bodies, the tumours would be more accurately classified based on the proteins they express.

According to a report by the industry group PhRMA, almost 250 immuno-oncology medicines and vaccines

were in development in 2017. Thus, many checkpoint inhibitors are being given the green light by the FDA. In a press statement following the 2016 census, the Central Statistics Office reported that “Ireland’s population has been getting steadily older since the 1980s.” According to the report, almost 40% of the population are over the age of 44, with those aged 65 years and over demonstrating the largest increase in population since 2011 – a 19.1% increase. These are the most at-risk groups for developing cancer – in developed countries, prevalence of disease increases with the average age of the population. It is early days yet, but Immuno-oncology shows great promise in the future of cancer treatment.

PICTURE: NEPHRON VIA WIKIMEDIA

According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is the second leading cause of death, being responsible for 8.8 million fatalities in 2015. We may be improving the standard of life for patients, refining palliative care and providing precious extra days, months, and years with loved ones, but traditional methods of radiation and chemotherapy are falling short of the ultimate end goal of winning our fight against cancer. Nonetheless, some emerging techniques focusing on the principle of conditioning your immune system’s response to cancer cells are gaining momentum, resulting in a more personalised approach to this fight.

EMPERORS OF THE ARCTIC Lisa O’Dowd warms to one of the coolest creatures of the colder climates, and casts an icy glance at their not-so-glacial decline at the hands of global warming.

PICTURE: NAVALLO VIA PIXABAY

In a week that began like any other, an innocent image circled the internet and captured the hearts of many. A camera left rolling by a researcher with the Australian Antarctic Division recorded two Emperor Penguins kicking it over and staring deep into the lens, giving rise to what may be the very first penguin selfie. These naturally curious birds were simply investigating a foreign object on their terrain, and it was unintentionally captured beautifully.

As we leave the darkness of winter behind, we must appreciate an animal that withstands and defeats the winter in a place where few dare to go. Antarctica, a massive continent covered in freshwater ice and snow and surrounded by sea ice from the southern ocean, is the ultimate survival test.

Ernest Shackleton once described Antarctica as ‘the coldest, windiest, driest and darkest continent

12 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

on the planet.’ It is home to the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), the largest of the eighteen penguin species. Doug Allen, a world renowned filmmaker recently gave a lecture in Trinity College Dublin. There, he introduced his book Freeze Frame where he describes his own personal account of these birds. “Normally I avoid anthropomorphic descriptions but these birds clearly posess a dignity. They walk with a regal gait, measured and slow, their heads dipping from side to side.”

Emperors have a remarkable life cycle. As the only animal to breed during the Antarctic winter, their story has fascinated scientists since they were first described in 1844. In early April, around 54 colonies gather in the Antarctic. Emperors travel from the open ocean across sea ice for hundreds of miles to the same place every year. Breeding colonies are usually located where the

sea ice will be stable for the full breeding sequence and where icebergs and ice cliffs provide shelter from prevailing winds.

As colonies continue to increase in size, the initial weeks are spent searching for a mate. From May through early June, females lay a single egg. It is crucial that eggs do not touch the ice as they will freeze immediately. Males incubate the eggs on their brood pouch for roughly sixty days where they endure a time of virtually complete darkness, high winds, and extreme freezing temperatures. Conservation of energy is essential and it is the mechanism of huddling to which they attribute their survival. Females leave soon after the egg has been laid, and go in search of holes in the ice where they can feed.

From late August, chicks begin to hatch but remain protected under their father’s brood pouch until they are about ten days old. It is essential that the mother’s return is synchronised with the chicks hatching so that sufficient food can be provided through regurgitation.

If chicks hatch before the females return, males have means to feed the chick for several days from a protein secretion produced in their crop. Following the female’s return, males leave and head for open water where they will spend around twenty days feeding before returning to the colony.

As the sea ice retracts, the parents take frequent turns between brooding and feeding. It is their ability to recognise their partner’s call that allows them to find each other on return. As chicks become too large to reside inside the abdominal pouch of their parents, they begin to form huddles just as the adults do, to conserve heat. Come December the colony breaks up, the chicks dive into the ocean for the first time, and the adults begin their feast until it is again time for their annual migration inland.

Despite their isolation, these birds are not safe from the threats posed by climate change. Emperor Penguins

were first listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species in 2012. It has been projected that they will undergo a moderately rapid population

It has been projected that they will undergo a moderately rapid population decline over their coming three generations (60 years) due to the effects of predicted climate change. decline over their coming three generations (60 years) due to the effects of predicted climate change.

Polar regions are extremely sensitive to small variations in temperature. A temperature increase of 2°C in the Earth’s troposphere (forecasted to occur by mid 2040) will result in changes to sea ice and weather patterns. Colonies found north of 67-68° South may be lost entirely. Unlike other species that track climate change latitudinaly, Emperors’ breeding is restricted to a very limited latitudinal range.

It is the Antarctic that is experiencing one of the fastest rates of global warming. Unless action is taken to immediately to reduce global carbon emissions, the future of Emperor Penguins appear bleak. Only time will tell how the next chapter of the extraordinary story of the these birds will unfold.

SCIENCE RATS OUT: ANIMAL TESTING MAY HAVE FATAL FLAW We have been using mice as scientific test subjects for decades but laboratory mice may be further from humans than we thought.

Emmet Feerick takes a look. chromosomes are protected during replication so that it can copy itself almost identically. The job of protecting the chromosome falls in large part to nucleotide caps at each end, called telomeres.

Every time a cell divides and its chromosomes replicate, a small bit of the material that makes up the telomere degrades. With each subsequent division, the telomere gets slightly shorter, until eventually the cell EMMET FEERICK is no longer able to divide. From the point of view SCIENCE EDITOR of a cell, this is doubtless a bad thing. However, as Cruel though it may be, scientists do a lot of drug and collections of cells ourselves, we should be happy chemical testing on domestic mice. They are the ideal that this mechanism of programmed cell death candidates for the job, with organs that function much exists. Without it, our cells would divide indefinitely like our own, and cells that share 97.5% of our DNA. – something we have come to call cancer. As it stands, We have been breeding mice in laboratories for decades our cells replicate for as long as they can without for this reason. The list of side effects inside almost becoming cancerous (most of the time), and then they every packet of tablets you buy has been generated die. Their timely death is what keeps us alive. by research on these lab mice. This is why we should As we and our cells age, we become less able to be concerned when we see something like the paper repair all sorts of damage. This is why older people written by Bret Weinstein and Deborah Ciszek in the need more time to recover from operations, and why their cuts and bruises heal up more slowly. New cells scientific journal Experimental Gerontology. are simply better cells, but a cell can only divide so many times before the dangers of cancer outweigh the fast-healing of youth.

The problem with our lab mice is the following: our aim in studying these animals has been to test out as many chemicals and drugs on them before they die.

Some of them die very soon, whereas others live to This paper outlines a few key facts which cast have more drugs tested on them. Over the decades, we serious doubts on the applicability of laboratory mice have been playing the role of natural selection on these results to human beings. First, we should consider the mice, continuing to test those who can withstand it, mechanisms by which cells reproduce and die. When and discarding those who can’t. This has meant that a cell reproduces, its chromosomes duplicate, and our current lab mice have developed incredibly long the two new cells contain nearly identical copies of telomeres. This is an issue because long telomeres the original chromosomes. For new cells to carry out increase the time it takes for a cell to reach the the same function as the old one, it is vital that its programmed-death stage, which increases the number

of times it can replicate, which increases its cancer risk. Conversely, as cells stay newer for longer, they remain excellent at repairing cell damage. What we now have in labs are a species of highly cancer-prone, bruise-resistant mice.

What this means for us that the list of things we’ve labelled “carcinogenic” may not need to be as long as it is. It is possible that it is only that long because we are doing animal testing on mice that are highly prone to cancer. On the other hand, we have reason to be more cautious of the chemicals that have passed animal testing. Our cells simply do not replicate as often as lab mouse cells, and as such they cannot repair tissue damage as effectively. This means that chemicals

which cause these mice no harm may in fact be toxic to our own organs over time. We may be susceptible to damage from chemicals which these super-mice can handle without a problem.

In many ways this danger is like that posed by increased antibiotic resistance. Where our antibiotics have driven the evolution of highly-resistant bacterial strains, our laboratory protocols may have driven the evolution of mice which no longer resemble us in their tissue-healing and cancer-developing capacities. We should thus be wary of applying the results of lab mice testing to ourselves until there is evidence indicating that this is not a problem.

Mallika Venkatramani discusses the real reasons behind the popular belief about falling sick in the cold season.

Most of us have heard something along these lines.

Such pieces of well-meaning advice have been reiterated from parent to child down the generations.

However, if the 21st century is an age of breakthrough and we are beginning to develop a penchant for questioning household beliefs, this rather harmless warning now seems to be an addition to the list of old wives’ tales.

PICTURE: MOJPE VIA PIXABAY

Rhinoviruses generally thrive in the nasal cavity, which is around 2°C cooler than the chest cavity.

It is believed that winters and being ill are intertwined, because so many people get sick as soon as temperatures start dropping. However, it has been well-established for some time now that the common cold is transmitted not by low temperatures, but by a group of retroviruses called rhinoviruses. Rhinoviruses generally thrive in the nasal cavity, which is around 2°C cooler than the chest cavity. Scientists at Yale University have discovered that the intensity of immune action directed at the lung cavity is higher than that heading for the cooler nasal regions. This is a bonus for rhinoviruses, which are able to thrive in the nasal passage further cooled by wintry weather, triggering the common cold.

We become blue with the flu due to influenza viruses.

Influenza viruses get more active and last longer in winter. According to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in the USA, their viral coats are made of lipids which solidify as temperatures reach freezing point. This enables these viruses to resist freezing temperatures better, aiding their person-toperson transmission. As they enter an individual’s chest cavity where the internal body temperature is warmer, the coating melts and the viruses invade host cells, making the individual sick with the flu.

Thus, it is not the cold temperature per se that affects

us, as common advice would suggest. Boosted activity of both types of viruses is the first factor causing sickness. The second important factor is that, in the cold, we are more likely to stay home to keep warm, increasing our interactions with those around us, giving these viruses a chance to be better circulated amongst those close to us. Coughing and sneezing in close proximity causes the virus-laden aerosol droplets from an affected individual to travel to another person more easily. Finally, we tend to decrease ventilation to shield our homes from those icy blasts, further allowing the viruses to propagate in our sealed-up homes.

FLIGHT OF FANCY? WINGED DINOSAUR COULD FLY LIKE A PHEASANT Since its discovery, scientists have wondered whether the “first bird” was capable of flight. A recent discovery discussed by Aoife Muckian suggests that this winged dinosaur could fly (albeit in short bursts).

Research recently published in Nature may have breast bones – however, it is not certain if they were settled an academic debate which had been going made from bone or cartilage.

Previous attempts have been made to solve the on among paleontologists for decades. It had long been unknown whether the famous winged dinosaur, question of the dinosaur’s capability to fly, but none the archaeopteryx, was capable of flight. This paper had been as successful as the research conducted suggests that the dinosaur may in fact have been able at Grenoble in France, where the researchers used powerful non-invasive x-ray technology to examine the to fly in short bursts, much like a pheasant.

The archaeopteryx is a well-known species of fossil and to compare it against other modern species. dinosaur among the public, along with the brontosaurus One of the researchers, Dennis Voeten, observed that and others. A part of the fascination and popularity “a lot of research had indirect evidence for flight, but it surrounding the creature is owed to its winged anatomy was never really substantiated.” which has caused it to be seen as a link between reptiles The researchers examined the anatomy of the torso and birds. and wing structure of the species by using the 11 known fossils of the archaeopteryx. They measured the density of the bones’ outer walls and the dinosaur’s capacity to resist a pressurising force, like that which a bird might experience when flapping its wings. The threshold of resistance can determine the length of time that a bird can continuously fly. The measurements of the dinosaur were similar to those of quails and pheasants, who fly in short bursts, with the archaeopteryx’s blood vessel supply being similar to that of the modern bird, suggesting more of a resemblance than once believed.

A part of the fascination and popularity surrounding the creature is owed to its winged anatomy which has caused it to be seen as a link between reptiles and birds.

Picture: James L. Amos via Wikipedia

MYTH UNIVERSE: THE COMMON COLD

PICTURE: ALEXAS_FOTOS VIA PIXABAY

What we now have in labs are a species of highly cancer-prone, bruise-resistant mice.

Discovered in the 1860s in Germany, the archaeopteryx was first called the Urvogel, which roughly translates as “first bird,” though scientists now consider it more akin to a winged dinosaur. Ryan Carney, an evolutionary biologist at the University of South Florida, notes that the origins of modern aviation in birds has been something scientists have puzzled over for centuries. Modern birds have particular anatomical features that allow flight, such as breastbones that have extensions into their breast, and powerful muscles that act as an anchor for their wings to flap in a downward motion. The archaeopteryx has been found to have

27TH MARCH 2018 13

STUDENT VOICES THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER NEUTRAL BATHROOMS Speaking from personal experience, Chloe Maguire Sedgwick highlights the reasons need for gender neutral bathrooms. don’t feel any ties to being male or female, they help all of us at various points in our journey of transness.

In an ideal world, people would just let everyone pee in a male or female bathroom if that’s what makes most sense for them, but unfortunately we do not live in that world.

Through both not wanting to become dysphoric and a fear of harassment or violence, a lot of trans people avoid using the bathroom where they can. This has lead to there being a ridiculously high number of trans people getting serious kidney and bladder infections.

So, not only does it have an emotional toll knowing there isn’t a place for you to safely access a basic human right, there is also a physical toll.

So, we know why trans people need access to gender neutral bathrooms. I now want to clear up a few misconceptions about the introduction of gender neutral bathrooms.

Firstly, none of us want to get rid of gendered bathrooms at this moment in time. There are a lot of people out there who would be uncomfortable in gender neutral bathrooms and the aim here is for more people to be comfortable not less. We just want there to also be a space for us. To put it simply: we just want a safe place for us to pee.

Thirdly, gender neutral bathrooms don’t just benefit trans people. That might be the motivation behind introducing them, but there are plenty of other people who benefit here. Parents with children where there’s a mix of genders benefit. People with certain disabilities who have carers where there’s a mix of genders benefit.

Also, due to the fact that they will specifically be singlestalled gender neutral bathrooms, people with anxiety benefit. Even just people who feel uncomfortable

hearing other people pee, and being heard pee benefit.

All in all, this is an amazing step forward by UCD. They are continuing to make strides to accommodate the trans community within UCD. Gender neutral bathrooms are beneficial to all of us in one way or another, and aren’t taking away from anyone else’s rights or needs. I myself am looking forward for when these bathrooms start getting rolled out.

Even just people who feel uncomfortable hearing other people pee, and being heard pee benefit.

PICTURE: SARAHMIRK VIA WIKIMEDIA

Transgender (trans) is an umbrella term for anyone who’s gender doesn’t align with the gender they were assigned at birth, non-binary people fall under this umbrella. Non-binary people are anyone whose gender is not exclusively male or female.

On February 22nd 2018, UCD’s Gender Identity and Expression Policy was launched. This policy puts in place a number of measures to make life easier for trans people on the UCD campus. It is now possible to change your name and gender marker on any university documents without a Deed Poll or Gender Recognition Certificate. The measure that seems to have caught the most attention is the introduction of gender neutral bathrooms across campus. Along with a series of single-stalled gender neutral bathrooms being rolled out, there will be an accompanying map of all the buildings showing where each gender neutral bathrooms is.

Firstly, you might be wondering why gender neutral bathrooms are so important to trans people. Well, when you are a non-binary person like me, walking into a male or female bathroom just does not feel right. Every time that I need to use the bathroom, I am inadvertently forced to misgender myself. Misgendering is an issue because it makes trans people dysphoric. Gender dysphoria can result in anything from mental health problems like depression and anxiety, to physical symptoms like chest and stomach pains. While each trans person has different experiences with dysphoria, it is generally unpleasant and can have quite harmful consequences.

Secondly, safety in bathrooms is a key issue for trans people. For a lot of trans folks, we do not look how people would expect us to. If people aren’t able to look at you and definitively assume that you are a cis man when in a men’s bathroom, or a cis woman when in a women’s bathroom, they do not always react so well.

As a result, it can be quite unsafe to use the bathroom.

You risk harassment and often violence by using specifically gendered bathrooms. So, gender neutral bathrooms do not just help trans people like me who

Secondly, these bathrooms are not just for trans (or specifically non-binary) people. Literally anyone can use them. No one is losing access to bathrooms.

If anything, cis men and women are gaining access to more bathrooms as now they can access both the gendered and gender neutral bathrooms.

POSTCARD FROM ABROAD: ZARAGOZA, SPAIN Rachel Adepoju writes about her time on Erasmus in the city of Zaragoza, Spain.

I’ve spent the past seven months in Zaragoza, Spain.

I get a lot of “where’s Zaragoza? I’ve never heard of it,” to which I always respond, “oh it’s just in between Madrid and Barcelona.” Zaragoza has been a bit of an adventure. I didn’t choose it for any specific reason, it was almost entirely random to be honest. I remember filling in the Erasmus application form the day before it was due and I did minimal research on all the options.

It would have been nice to have had some idea of the vibe of the city but I definitely don’t regret coming here blind. Even right now, there’s a lot that I don’t know about Zaragoza, and a few attractions I still haven’t seen but will get round to visiting in due time.

At the beginning of October, we had a week off college for the “Fiestas del Pilar,” the patron saint of the city.

Zaragoza is crazy, because in September, we experienced typical Spanish summer weather, you could go to college in shorts and summer clothes. All of a sudden, one November day, the cold hit us like a tonne of bricks. It was absolutely freezing and I had not packed appropriate clothing. Right now, the weather can be very changeable. There’s a mix of sun, extreme wind, and a lot of rain.

I don’t know if it’s a nationwide thing, but Zaragoza has a lot of holidays and festivals which are basically an excuse to day drink for a week straight. At the beginning of October, we had a week off college for the “Fiestas del Pilar,” the patron saint of the city. It was a week-long festival with entertainment and concerts. One thing in particular which I loved here was the atmosphere around Christmas time. Christmas

14 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

stalls and exhibitions were set up and the lights were gorgeous. There was ice skating, mulled wine, and a huge Christmas market which gave off great holiday vibes.

Personally, I wouldn’t say that I experienced much of a culture shock. However, the most surprising thing is that shops don’t open on Sundays, so you can’t just go out and get a loaf of bread or any hangover food if you need it. The transport prices were also a shock. The bus and the tram only cost 75 cents no matter how far you need to go. Also the rent has been a huge relief from Dublin prices. A surprisingly large portion of citizens speak English, so it’s definitely possible to get by with English, but I’ve noticed that whenever I try to speak Spanish, they would rather speak English if they can, so it’s quite difficult to practice Spanish outside of the classroom.

Speaking of the classroom, college life is very different. In September, it took weeks to get settled because of their registration system. Basically, we were able to choose from the module catalogue of the entire university and sit in on two hour lectures (which are too long in my opinion). We had to go to the international office and register in person one by one. It involved hours of waiting, which was a bit of a joke. Classes are either too intense or too casual, and in my experience there is no in between. You’re either transcribing everything the lecturer says for two hours straight or you’re listening in on Spanish teenagers debating on random, but futile topics.

I was in a geography class once and the students were literally debating about something to do with airports for the whole class. I definitely don’t think the University of Zaragoza is the best, but it has introduced me to some great people. While most of my friends are English speaking Erasmus students, we still get our chances to practice our Spanish. Usually it involves asking the person next to us what the teacher just said.

In general, other students tend to be helpful whenever

we don’t understand what’s going on.

The city isn’t a very touristy area, so there isn’t a lot to show. Puerto Venecia is particularly impressive. It is the third largest shopping centre in Europe where we can get our fix of Penneys and IKEA. Zaragoza is also home to a large park, Parque Grande José Antonio Labordeta, where you can take the most Instagram worthy photos, and also the “Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar,” which is a stunning cathedral that is open to people at all times with impressive architecture and art.

Would I go back? I think Zaragoza is a beautiful city

but I don’t think I would live here. After my Erasmus year, I think I will have exhausted the city and done everything I would want to do. However, I’m definitely open to the idea of moving to Spain after my degree and figuring out what I’m doing with my life. So far, the year has been a lot of self-development, improving social skills while spending time by myself and explaining that Ireland is not in Britain! I’ve experienced a lot that I would not have done if I weren’t here. So all in all, I would highly recommend the Erasmus year abroad to a friend.

GAEILGE #BLACKMONDAY: FEIRMEOIRÍ NA HAFRAICE THEAS I MBUN AGÓIDE Labhraíonn Donncha Ó Murchú faoi ghéarchéim an fhoréigin san Afraic Theas faoi láthair agus an teannas ciníoch atá tagtha chun cinn arís le blianta beaga anuas.

An argóint atá ag feirmeoirí geala na tíre ná gurb iadsan amháin a bhfuil fios a ngnó acu i gcúrsaí talmhaíochta, os rud é gurb iad a muintir féin a bhíodh

Dúnmharaíodh 71 feirmeoir sa bhliain 2017, dar leis an ngrúpa Afriforum, atá ag seasamh ar son phobal geal na hAfraice Theas, a bhraitheann gurb iad siúdis mó atá ag fulaingt faoi láthair agus an foréigean ag leathnú amach.

Picture: Pixabay

Tá an Afraic Theas sáinnithe i lár géarchéime faoi láthair, agus is faoin Uachtarán nuathofa, Cyril Ramaphosa, a bheidh sé aghaidh a thabhairt ar an achrann fadtéarmach atá ag réabadh na tíre as a chéile. Le blianta beaga anuas, tá feirmeoirí na tíre á ndúnmharú ar bhonn rialta agus tá líon na ndúnmharuithe ardaithe le déanaí. Dúnmharaíodh 71 feirmeoir sa bhliain 2017, dar leis an ngrúpa Afriforum, atá ag seasamh ar son phobal geal na hAfraice Theas, a bhraitheann gurb iad siúd is mó atá ag fulaingt faoi láthair agus an foréigean ag leathnú amach. Afracánaigh gheala is ea an chuid is mó d’fheirmeoirí na tíre, a bhfuil daoine dúchasacha fostaithe mar oibrithe feirme acu, agus is minic gurb iad na hoibrithe seo a ionsaíonn úinéirí na talún. Dar leo siúd a chuir tús leis an bhfeachtas #BlackMonday i mí Dheireadh Fómhair 2017 nach bhfuil rialtas na hAfraice Theas ag tabhairt dóthain airde ar fhadhb na bhfeirmeoirí geala, agus chuaigh siad i mbun agóide ar phríomhshráideanna Johannesburg, iad gléasta in éadaí dubha ar son na cúise.

Anois agus sinn i dtosach na bliana úire, tá cúrsaí ag dul in olcas ar fad, agus an ciníochas a bhí faoi thalamh ó aimsir na cinedheighilte tagtha chun cinn arís. Is beag duine gorm a bhí páirteach san agóid mar shampla, a thit amach cúpla lá i ndiaidh ionsaithe a rinneadh ar fhear gorm in Middleburg. Beirt fheirmeoir geal a ciontaíodh agus tugadh téarma deich mbliana sa phriosún don bheirt acu. In ainneoin go bhfuil an Afraic Theas ag druidim i dtreo an chomhionnanais, mar dhea, is beag rian de atá le feiceáil i gcúrsaí talmhaíochta. Is leis an bpobal feirmeoireachta

Afracánach 73% de thalamh feirmeoireachta na tíre i gcónaí, os rud é nár roinneadh úinéireacht na talún i measc an phobail dhúchasaigh riamh mar a rinneadh sa tSiombáib, mar shampla. Níl iontu sin ach 8.9% de dhaonra na hAfraice Theas, rud a fhágann go bhfuil an chuid is mó den daonra gorm teanntaithe isteach i slumaí agus i mbailecheantair bhochta sna cathracha.

Ní luann Afriforum ach oiread gur daoine gorma iad

30% dóibh siúd a maraítear, ach tá siadsan suite de gur ionsaí sistéamach ón bpobal gorm ar an bpobal geal atá i gceist. Creideann Gareth Newham, ó Institiúid na Slándála in Pretoria, go bhfuil an t-achrann á úsáid ag na feirmeoirí geala mar uirlis pholaitiúil i gcoinne an rialtais, agus an téarma ‘Cinedhíothú Geal’ á lua leis go rialta, rud nach bhfuil ag teacht leis na fíricí dar le Newham.

i bhfeighil na talún i gcónaí. Tá an baol ann go scriosfar an talamh go hiomlán má dhéantar í a roinnt i measc na ndúchasach os rud é nach bhfuil cleachtadh acu ar an bhfeirmeoireacht ar scála mór, mar a tharla sa tSiombáib. Pé scéal é, tá fréamhacha an aighnis sáite i dtréimhse na cinedheighilte agus tá sé ríthábhachtach nach mbeadh tionchar ag an gciníochas ar thuairimí an Uachtaráin as seo amach.

Bliain na Gaeilge 2018: Frásaí an Eagráin

FOLAÍONN GRÁ GRÁIN Pléann Sophie Osborne cursaí grá agus na deacrachtaí atá ann grá a aimsiú ar líne Deirtear go bhfuil sé deacair bualadh le daoine sa lá atá inniu, ní fíor sin. Lena léithidí de Tinder, Bumble, Plenty of Fish agus na cinn eile nach iad is iomaí aip chleamhnais atá ar fáil chun grá gheal do chroí a aimsiú go heasca ar líne. Faoraor, ní grá a aimsítear i gcónaí, nó i mo chás féin ariamh.

Ní dóigh liom gur áis iontach é Tinder chun grá a aimsiú.

Tá coincheap na haipe breá simplí. Svaidhpeálann tú ar dheis ar phictiúir duine éigin, ag léiriú go bhfuil spéis agat sa duine sin. Svaidhpeálann tú ar chlé mura dtaithníonn pictiúir an duine leat. Má léiríonn an bheirt agaibh spéis i bpictiúir a chéile, beidh deis agaibh teachtaireachtaí a sheoladh dá chéile. Easca péasca?

Tógann Tinder eolas ó do phróifíl Facebook ar nós d’aois, d’inscne, an post atá agat agus do shuíomh chun próifíl a chruthú ar an aip. Ná lig do Tinder an

2) Déanfaidh tú svaidhpeáil ar chlé ró-thapaí trí thimpiste ar an duine is dathúla a bhfaca tú riamh ann.

3) Tiocfaidh tú trasna ar do iar-bhuachaill/ iar-chailín agus ní bheidh a fhios agat ar chóir duit svaidhpeáil ar chlé nó ar dheis. Svaidhpeáil ar chlé. Gach uile uair.

4) Mura bhfuil ach grianghraif grúpa acu agus níl fhios agat go díreach cé hiad sa ghrianghaf, is cinnte gurb iad na daoine is gránna sa ghrianghraf. Geallaim.

5) Má tá comhrá deas ar bhun agat le duine éigin, gach seans go bhfuil an comhrá céanna ar bhun acu le cúigear eile. Bí ar an eolas.

Ní dóigh liom gur áis iontach é Tinder chun grá a aimsiú. Ní chóir d’éinne caidreamh a bhunú le duine mar gheall ar chuma fisiciúla an duine sin seachas an pearsantacht atá acu. Mura bhfuil tú sa tóir ar ghrá agus má tá spéis agat labhairt le daoine nua leis an féidireacht ann go mbualfaidh tú leo sa fíorshaol, is fiú triail a bhaint as an aip. Baineann an oiread sin daoine idir taitneamh agus tairbhe as an aip, ach ní oireann sé do chách. Tá an t-ádh orm go dtí seo nach bhfuil mo shaol chomh ladránach sin go mbainaim pléisiúr as ag

Bliain na Gaeilge 2018 atá ann, agus tá sé mar aidhm againn ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar an teanga sa tír seo.

Cuirfidh an mhír seo den nuachtán béim ar frásaí éagsúla chun bhúr scileanna foclóra a fhorbairt! Bain sult as!

Táim sáinnithe ag an sneachta le cúig lá anuas! – I’ve been snowed in for the last three days!

Beannachtaí na Cásca ort! - Happy Easter!

Caithfimid an tionscadal grúpa a chríochnú roimh dheireadh na seachtaine! – We have to finish the group project before the end of the week!

Tá síneadh ama uaim don aiste! – I need an extension for the essay!

Beidh mé breá sásta a bheith réidh leis na scrúduithe seo! – I will be glad to see the back of these exams!

Ruagaire Reatha Medb Dolan

Bhí mé ar an imeall mar Chaitliceach Agus níor thuig mé i gceart cén fáth Nach raibh páistí ag súgradh liom ach Go raibh siad i gcónaí do mo chrá.

Bhí mé in ainm ‘s a bheith ámharach Mar ní bhfuair muid ach bagairtí báis.

Déirtear go bhfuil na Trioblóidí thart Ach níl sé sin an cás.

Picture: Wikimedia

Is maol guallain gan bhráthair Ach ba strainséir mé i mo bhaile féin.

Thug siad seans dúinn imeacht ón chathair Agus d’imigh muid i bhfad i gcéin.

Ní fhéachtar ar an saol dubh agus bán, Ach trí mheon atá oráiste ‘s glas, Agus an limistéar liath atá ann Ná nach féidir linn éirigh as.

caibearacht le daoine nach bhfuil aithne agam orthu faoi rudaí seafóideacha nach bhfuil spéis agam iontu.

Nílim ar mo shuaimhneas ag bualadh le stranséirí ach an oiread, cé nach féidir leo a bheith níos measa ná na fir óga a bhfuil aithne agam orthu faoi láthair!

PICTURE: MEADHBH SHERIDAN

dallamalóg a chur ort afách, insíonn go leor daoine bréaga. Meastar go bhfuil cúpla céad míle duine in Éirinn a bhaineann leas as an aip go rialta. Cluiche na n-uimhreacha atá ann mar sin. In anneoin na húsáideoirí ar fad bíonn an eispéireas céanna ag beagnach gach duine. D’fhoghlaim mé roinnt mhaith rudaí thar na blianta agus mé ag úsáid na haipe agus chum mé liosta de na cúig fhiric is mó a bhaineann leis an aip.

1) Ní bhraithníonn éinne cosúil lena bpictiúir a chuireann siad ar fáil.

Seo an dóigh atá rudaí sa tuaisceart Agus tá an locht orainn féin go léir, Ach ritheann sé anois ‘s arís liom Nach bhfuil baile ar bith agam faoin spéir.

Athrú sóisialta ar fud na háite, Dul chun cinn déanta againn mar chine Ach an bhaois seo ag éirí níos measa Agus muidne ag lasadh na tine.

Saol agam ar dhá thaobh na teorann, Is Éireannach mé orthu araon Ach ruagaire reatha mé is m’anam Ar an imeall arís mar sin féin.

27TH MARCH 2018 15

BUSINESS MUSIC IS IN DIRE STRAITS: WHAT HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE DOWNTURN OF GIBSON? Ciarán Busby takes a look at the factors causing two prolific American companies to haemorrhage money.

Gibson annual revenue has dropped almost 20% in the past three years.

Firstly, the primary attributing factor to consider in Gibson’s potential bankruptcy is the impending maturation of senior secured notes (a loan backed by collateral) to the value of $375 million, and $145 million in bank loans. Due to be refinanced in July, Gibson is currently considering solutions to refinance these loans with new bonds and extend their credit line. In an official release from company owner Henry Juskiewicz, he explains how Gibson “has met all current obligations to the bondholders, is in the process of arranging a new credit facility to replace the bonds, and fully expects the bonds to be refinanced in the ordinary course of business.” That may sound all well and good until you discover that the companies new Chief Financial Operator (CFO) Bill Lawrence has left, and will be replaced by the former brief standing CFO that he had succeeded less than a year earlier.

Apart from their bad business decisions and financial woes, what other underlying problems do Gibson face?

Predominately, as is the challenge facing the rest of electric guitar makers, rock is dead.

I write those words with utter disdain as both a major rock fanatic and guitarist myself. It cannot be ignored

that there has been a pivotal sea change in the listening to cut costs. A major American grown and based habits of the populace. Rock is seen as old hat, a relic manufacturer moving activities to reduce costs would of the decades past that the over thirties listen to. Look be detrimental to their brand, which is founded on no further than the 2017 Billboard Top 100 end of year “American-Made” ideals. singles chart, where you are hard-pressed to find a song where the electric guitar is featured as a lead instrument.

Instead, synths and DJ decks are preferred, with guitars Massive multi-national corporations are not the only moving to the role of accompaniment rather than a affected parties in this breakdown of demand. Guitar melodic instrument. retailers have faced increasing losses, with chains and As a consequence, young music lovers are not independents alike suffering in the red. Guitar Centre is exposed to legendary guitarists and hence don’t aspire a blistering $1.6 billion in debt and refuses to comment to play like them. This is where Gibson placed a great on their position, while closer to home, the iconic deal of hope in their marketing efforts for the past 60 years. From Guns n’ Roses’ Slash, to Green Day’s Billy Joel Armstrong, there just aren’t any bands big enough or impressive enough to grasp the attention of potential younger players.

More to the point, Gibson guitars are often judged for being too pricey while their quality has dipped in recent years. Recent models are bombarded by critics online for being of progressively deteriorating quality in build and sound. Potentially this could be from loyal customers of Gibson’s competitors, but the situation is only intensified by their closest competitors’ own issues.

Fender, yet another mainstay in the music industry for years, had to cancel their initial public offering in 2012, collapsing beneath the weight of their own debt.

There is one caveat to guitar sales being down.

Acoustic guitar and ukulele sales have steadily increased and since 2010 has surpassed the sales of electric models. Duly noted as the reason is the influx of singer-songwriters to the mainstream such as Ed Sheeran, further strengthening the concept that icons inspire interest.

Gibson had to sell off its Memphis manufacturing facility last October to help keep the company afloat for a more extended period of time. With the news of concurrent financial woes, it might be not be long until the company must outsource their operations

Rock is dead.

Waltons Music Store, had to close their flagship store on George’s Street. Citing recent rent prices rising in Dublin, it may not be a far stretch to assume that their primary revenue stream of guitar sales dimmed.

While all fretted instrument sales are not down, the electric guitar may be nearing the end of its product lifecycle and will need a resurgence of desire or a massive innovation to save the future of rock. Gibson or Fender may not be the companies to solve this predicament, but through careful management of their businesses, staying afloat is a possibility.

PICTURE: WIKIMEDIA

Gibson; a staple brand of rock and roll, American culture, and music in general. A name which is instilled in the minds of most guitarists to be the pinnacle of craftsmanship and has for the past seventy years stood as a behemoth of electric guitar manufacturing. With its favourable brand positioning and countless celebrity endorsements, how is it possible that Gibson annual revenue has dropped almost 20% in the past three years, with the threat of bankruptcy imminent?

TOUTING TO THE THOUSANDS Ciarán Busby analyses the economics of ticket touting, taking into consideration both the underground market and high-profile legitimate resellers.

€650 plus booking fee, an extraordinary 677% price hike.

This summer, the Irish government hope to ban ticket touting which exceeds a maximum of a 10% profit margin with new legislation. The news has been met with extreme opposition from both Ticketmaster and their subsidiary reseller Seatwave. The latter of which has hit the headlines most recently for an extortionate pre-sale ticket on offer for Britney Spears to the value of €650 plus booking fee, an extraordinary 677% price hike. However, as it appears, the decision to implement this regulation will fall to each performing artist’s request.

Although, as official resellers who guarantee a limited supply of genuine tickets for an event, Seatwave are

16 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

not exactly the enemy. Yes, they severely overcharge for entrance to events, but the company does not have a vast impact on the economics of ticket-selling. The real damage occurs when ‘Paddy from down the road’ decides to buy as many tickets as possible to resell.

It really isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get front row seats to see an act, it will most likely be streamed through a plethora of Snapchats and Facebook Live videos anyway.

Primarily, and this statement will not be met with great enthusiasm, a roaring secondary ticket-selling market is a clear indicator that ticket prices are too low.

Demand is exorbitantly higher than supply for these events. Mainly thanks to event promoters wanting to fill their stadium with people and make money off of food, drinks, and merchandise. High demand causes touts to make an entrepreneur of themselves and resell tickets at a higher price. It makes sense for someone to profit off of a problem, it is basically what capitalism strives on.

Touts often use internet bots to purchase tickets online almost instantly and at a higher volume than humanly possible. A major issue that presents itself in this process is the resultant overflow of online servers, crippling the selling system and locking users out, ensuring that fans don’t get a ticket legitimately. This practice has rightfully been outright banned in the UK, but it has not piqued the interest of us Irish just yet.

Then comes the anger-inducing fake tickets.

Counterfeits are easily forged, a quick scan of a printable downloaded ticket and, with virtually no extra cost, touts can sell a convincing fake ticket. Maximising their revenue while the poor old none-the-wiser concert goer gets tackled by a team of security men. Even with this potential risk, die-hard fans continue to buy on the second-hand market, in the hope that they will receive a genuine article. Why? Due to the fact that tickets are far under-priced and overvalued.

What can you do to help?

Vote with your wallets. Even though it is a hard pill to swallow, if everyone were to stop purchasing from the second-hand market, it would cease to exist. With too high a risk to purchase multiple tickets and not make

a return, touts would conceivably give up the trade.

Alternatively, stop going to concerts. In turn promotors would have to raise the initial ticket prices to remain profitable. However, that is quite drastic. Anyway, it really isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get front row seats to see an act, it will most likely be streamed through a plethora of Snapchats and Facebook Live videos anyway, but that is an article for a different day.

While the government introducing legislation is all well and good for regulating online retailers, without policing, cash-in-hand black market sales will continue on their current trajectory. As the problem lies with event promoters, in a catch-22 situation, to put an end to ticket touting for good, ticket prices inevitably need to rise.

PICTURE: PEXELS

We have all been there. Our favourite artist announces a gig, or a massive event is scheduled, and we are told tickets go on sale this Friday. You wait all week with the hopes of securing a ticket by getting up bright and early to boot up your desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone (just in case), and you go on to the ticket sellers website only to be greeted with the heart-dropping pop-up, reading: “There are no tickets available for this event.”

The news headlines all spout, that in a record-breaking time, such and such a person has sold out.

By this point, you’re scrambling to find tickets, Googling, DoneDealing, and checking ticket resellers sites for anything that might look like it could get you to the front row. Until you find out that your Mam’s friend, Paddy from down the road, who’s definitely more into Nathan Carter than Ed Sheeran, has eight tickets and has them for sale at double the face value.

Being a die-hard fan, you buy the ticket, albeit at a much higher price, and enjoy yourself. Although you might not know it, by buying tickets from a ticket tout, you are actually worsening the situation.

PUZZLES THE LITERARY ALPACA Across

Down

2. Acronym of a theory of deterrence in military strategy and international relations that supposedly prevents the world from nuclear annihilation (3) 4. Reportedly the most widely consumed drink in the world after water (3) 7. Developer of the navigation software for the Apollo project (8,8) 8. Dublin five piece who released their most recent single on February 23rd 2018 (9) 9. Strong thermal emission velocity enhancement, not a proton aurora (5) 10. Country with the second largest Japanese population in the world (6)

1. Concept first introduced by Adam Smith in the Theory of Moral Sentiments (9,4) 2. Neuronal mass responsible for autonomic functions (7,9) 3. Type of cake made using oil, also a fabric commonly used in evening dress (7) 5. Celtic sun god (also interpreted as sky god or storm god) (4) 6. English word of Irish origin meaning “a lot� (6)

For puzzle solutions, go to universityobserver.ie/puzzles/

ILLUSTRATION BY DANIELLE CROWLEY

SUDOKU Easy

Medium

Hard

27TH MARCH 2018 17

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL With an election coming up candidates should consider which issues they can and cannot affect. The union does not run the bar. A sabbatical officer previously took credit for bringing burritos to campus (which are still available in Centra) and that did not go well. People running for the Students’ Union should concentrate on the well-being of UCD students current and incoming because SUSI grants and the UCD Counselling services are unfortunately not going to solve all problems.

Those of us lucky enough to come to university are still faced with challenges, mentally, physically, and financially. Many degrees require that you do work placement that is often unpaid. This must be done on top of what might be long hours, plenty of assignments and exams, and possibly also a part-time job.

The pressure of exams can result in, or exacerbate, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. The counselling waiting lists in UCD are not going to get shorter by themselves. Something needs to be done about this. Students may die as a result of the counselling service’s inability to cater for all students. Funding is needed for more counsellors and more space needs to be set aside for the service.

This funding is unlikely to appear without significant

pressure on those who govern UCD. Board meetings may not be enough. Protests may be necessary for any change to occur. Newspaper articles also help on occasion.

Financially, most students on campus are struggling in some way. The Editor and Deputy Editor of this newspaper are extremely lucky to be funded by their parents. Many students in UCD and across Ireland face the issue of having to do a job that they could not possibly live off. Many students are restricted from gaining this experience that helps bulk up CVs leading to career progression.

The candidates elected will have some control over the jobs of those in the SU shop and those at the University Observer, as well as possibly, however indirectly, those working for Aramark on campus. This responsibility should not be taken lightly.

While we cannot speak for SU shop workers, the University Observer has had a positive relationship with the Students’ Union for most of this year and we wish for this to continue into next year, though there will be a new team here also.

We wish the Students’ Union to have a positive relationship with all students next year, if possible.

The responsibility for this is not just on the election

candidates. For UCDSU to cope well with its members students need to vote for the candidates best suited to the job and they need to listen to what is happening around them. Hints of ignorance, bigotry, and homophobia had little effect on last year’s elections. This resulted in a union that fractured within months.

Do not vote for candidates because they are attractive.

This may sound obvious but looks have been taken into account in previous votes, particularly with regard to female candidates. Do not vote for candidates simply because a friend of a friend said that they were sound.

Find out about people. Watch videos and read articles from the University Observer and the College Tribune.

Look through manifestos and question if any of the ideas are actually feasible. If you are hearing rumours about candidates investigate them: some may be true, some may be false.

What candidates do you think will have the ability to rally crowds as well as help individuals in an efficient and friendly manner, and speak up on boards with UCD staff? What candidates care about the well-being of all students? Gimmicks do not solve an accommodation crisis or counselling waiting lists.

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER TEAM EDITOR Aoife Hardesty DEPUTY EDITOR Ruth Murphy ART & DESIGN EDITOR Joanne Olivia NEWS EDITOR Brían Donnelly DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Fiachra Johnston COMMENT EDITOR Adam Lawler FEATURES EDITOR Gavin Tracey SCIENCE EDITOR Emmet Feerick BUSINESS & CAREERS EDITOR Ciarán Busby EAGARTHÓIR GAEILGE Cian Griffin SPORTS EDITOR Ian Moore DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR Christine Coffey

TALLEYRAND

CHIEF OF PHOTOGRAPHY Phoebe Ireland CHIEF OF ILLUSTRATIONS Meadhbh Sheridan

Howdy raucous hooligans!

This time of year is usually an emotional time for Talley, when I can watch the demise of the sabbatical team and laugh in joy at their departure. This year is different. Two of these idiots are trying to stick around for yet another year! Did they not get the ghostly poop parcels I left on their desks to remind them what shits they are???

Running for Pres once more we have Barry I-comefrom-a-farming-family Murphy, who mostly seems to be running to try and save his dignity by showing people he can be president, and he can do this thing properly. He just needs one more year, the last six months weren’t enough. And anyway, it was all ruined because of that spiteful LoveBoth woman.

Murphy would also appreciate if the newspapers could stop writing about him… Maybe you should stop running to them with your tales and stop giving them stories to write about? Ever thought of that one dumbhead?

Meanwhile only one person has been foolish enough (Graduate Student Advisor) to put themselves forward for Grad is the same only person (Graduate Student Advisor) who went for it (Graduate Student Advisor) last year. And his brilliant brainaic idea? “Let’s hire someone else, a GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR, to do my job for me!!!” (Graduate Student Advisor) Now give Mr Former President of Carlow College (Graduate Student Advisor) a round of applause everybody (Graduate Student Advisor) for such original thought. (Graduate Student Advisor.)

What are the remaining half of the sabbatical team doing at the moment you may ask? Aside from pissing off members of SAC, and the University Observer editors, who knows what Rob I-love-Mary-MitchellO’Connor Slimey is up to? Oh yes, that’s right, Minister Mitchell O’Connor is avoiding Slimey’s advances, finally a sensible woman where he’s concerned. Let’s hope Murphy’s sister was just as sensible, we wouldn’t

want anyone else’s sisters getting involved with that fool.

Talley has heard a rumour going around that Talley actually likes (vomit) one of the sabbatical officers. That’s disgusting, and absolutely fake news.

After Talley discovered that MacBritsOut sent drunk messages to the editor of this appalling publication, he wonders if this pathetic excuse of a man has any experience of dealing with women, or does he always ask their father’s permission first?

Is Talley happy that at least two of these wastes of space are leaving? Yes. Is Talley happy that there’ll be more wastes of space coming in next year? No! Talley’s advice to all this week is to vote RON and then march over to the SU corridor and burn it down.

Talley can’t bear the thought of being stuck here for another year…

TALLEY OUT!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters, corrections and clarifications pertaining to articles published in this newspaper and online are welcome and encouraged.

Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Unversity Observer, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin 4 Correspondence may also be sent to editor@universityobserver.ie

18 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

ONLINE NEWS EDITOR Katia Gillen ONLINE COMMENT & FEATURES EDITOR Orla Keaveney STAFF WRITERS Rory Clarke Dean Swift COVER PICTURE Phoebe Ireland CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Burke Vaughan Clare Appezzato Dylan O’Neill Shane Kelly Magda Szklanna Benjamin Jordan Sean Mooney Sambhavi Sudhakar Lisa O’Dowd Mallika Ven Aoife Muckian Rachel Adepoju Chloe Maguire Sedgwick Donncha Ó Murchú Medb Dolan Sophie Osborne Colman Stanley HAPPY BIRTHDAY Magda Szklanna

SPORT UNDEFEATABLE IRISH SECURE THIRD GRAND SLAM Ireland’s young guns stood tall and the experienced players controlled the game to secure Ireland’s third Grand slam title, reports Christine Coffey.

When the final whistle came on St. Patrick’s Day, Joe Schmidt was nowhere to be seen. A touch of class from the manager that managed to assemble and mould a squad with just the right balance of youth and experience to win Ireland’s third grand slam title. Quick to praise the effort of his players and deflect attention from himself, his post-match interview alluded to the humble nature of the genius behind Ireland’s efficient structure and attacking flair, both of which were crucial in this year’s championship.

Our UCD representatives played a larger role than perhaps initially expected.

The championship could have unravelled in a very different manner. Nobody needs reminding of the great escape in Paris but one knock on, one moment of illdiscipline in 41 phases, a few inches of a difference in the cross-field kick to Earls, anything off the famous drop-goal, or any other tiny nuance that did not go Ireland’s way and it would have been curtains on all grand slam ambitions after round one. Ronan O’Gara wouldn’t be the only one waking up the morning after the game feeling depressed. Injury concerns really tested the strength of this abrasive Irish side, especially in the back row and midfield. Those issues which beset the squad made this championship’s success all the more impressive. Come the Scotland game, we could

have had Henshaw, Ringrose, and Farrell all putting their hand up for the number 13 shirt if injuries did not play their part. One of the squad’s most consistent performers, Dan Leavy may not have been involved at all had O’Brien not been returning from injury and had Josh Van der Flier not gone down in the opening game against France.

The Welsh side might consider themselves unlucky after their trip to the Aviva and if that floating pass had gone anywhere else but Stockdale’s grateful arms after the Ulster winger had shot up off the line, the final result might have been very different. As it was Stockdale scampered to one of the seven tries he would score in the championship and Ireland marched on to victory. In the final match we were awarded three tries with the assistance of the Television Match Official and all three of those tries were finished by the finest of margins.

Kearney could have knocked the ball on up in the air, Bundee Aki showed great ability to keep the pass to Stander flat and not forward and Stockdale’s hands were precariously close to his knees for his try before the half. Fortune tends to favour the hardworking, and Ireland had their fair share of luck for their tireless efforts over the course of the championship.

Our UCD representatives played a larger role than perhaps initially expected at the beginning of the campaign, but such was their contribution in all areas of the field that by the last game, most were playing with the ease of seasoned pros. Luke McGrath would consider himself unlucky with the timing of his injury and Josh Van der Flier’s championship ended before it really began, but that gave UCD’s Dan Leavy the opportunity to make his mark at open-side flanker on the international

THE BADGER

stage, an opportunity he took with both hands after a string of six solid performances. Andrew Porter grew in confidence game by game and maintained the high standards of the pack when he came off the bench to make big impacts.

at a better time and the 23-year-old had no problem slotting back in at 13, despite the limited game time all season and only having played one game for Leinster this season. Rob Kearney was at his dependable best under the high ball and added some much-needed experience to balance this youthful side. He joins Rory Best in an exclusive group of the two Irish Grand Slam winners but unlike Best, Kearney started in both the 2009 and the 2018 successes, a testament to the impact he still makes from full-back and the confidence of his manager in him.

In light of the recent success, Best and Kearney

This side are never dead and buried, no matter the injuries, no matter the stakes, no matter the opposition.

The final game called for big performances and big statements from the start and any questions about whether John Ryan was ready for the big stage were answered emphatically with a ferocious hit on Mario Itoje in the opening minute of the game. The young lock seemed perfectly comfortable playing alongside Henderson and Toner and against some of the most experienced and talented locks in the world. Gary Ringrose’s return from injury could not have come

have both been offered contract extensions with the IRFU until after the 2019 world cup in Japan. The Irish young guns undoubtedly have the potential for a world cup in them, but perhaps the contract extensions mark a backing from the IRFU and a belief in next years campaign. If there is one thing to take from this year’s campaign, it is that this side are never dead and buried, no matter the injuries, no matter the stakes, no matter the opposition.

CAMPUS SPORTS ROUND-UP Author: Christine Coffey

UCDAFC SECURE THE DOUBLE

UCDAFC completed this year’s league and cup double by overcoming a strong UCC side. The boys in blue struggled to break down the well-organised UCC defence in the opening half with their best opportunities coming from tidy combination play between right full-back, centre-half, and centre-defensive midfielders which released the pacey attacking unit. They failed to break the deadlock until the 68th minute when Jason McClelland found himself one on one with the UCC full-back. He chopped back inside onto his right-root before tearing into the box and calmly threading the ball through two sets of flailing defender’s legs, just beyond the reach of the outstretched UCC keeper’s hand, and into the bottom corner. The UCC custodian was the busier throughout and apart from one dangerously weighted free-kick, UCC never really took control of the game. A fitting end to a very successful campaign from the boys in blue UCD Women’s soccer defeated local rivals Trinity in a closely contested affair in University of Limerick to lift the Challenge cup. One goal was all that separated the sides at the final whistle thanks to some determined defensive work to hold onto a clean sheet.

UCD SIDES ENJOYING SUCCESS AT INTERVARSITIES In light of all the international success of the Irish senior rugby team, the Badger feels our own national games are being overlooked in recent weeks. Besides the weather related reorganisation of fixtures and the impact this will have on the upcoming season, not many incidents are grabbing the GAA news headlines quite like the ‘dual-status dilemma.’

UCC camogie and Cork GAA’s recent war with words is the latest chapter in the GAA’s schism between codes. Three players were involved in this managerial tug-of-war resulting in UCC lining out for their O’Connor Cup (Gaelic football) semi-final without Hannah Looney and Méabh Cahalane, both of whom played in their county’s Camogie Division 1 semi-final the following day. Libby Coppinger, the third player involved in both squads, and as a result the fracas, played for the UCC side that lost to UL and subsequently made no appearance in Cork’s semi-final against Limerick. The popular Cork radio station, Red FM, provided a platform for both managers to make statements about the situation. Cork camogie manager Paudie Murray was under the impression that the three players’ college scholarships would be in danger if they didn’t represent their college side and UCC manager claimed that the players had been threatened that they “would never play for Cork camogie again if they togged out for UCC” on that particular weekend.

Much finger-pointing, hearsay and double hearsay

later, tensions in the Rebel county are frayed and the Badger considers both managers publicly airing their dirty laundry to be the immature actions of people in high-pressure positions which is unfair on both squads in question. The increasing physical demands and time commitments of both the footballing and hurling/ camogie schedules is tough enough on the players without the managers’ handbags.

The Badger considers representing your county as one the pinnacles of any GAA player’s sporting career, but also believes that scholarships represent a college’s invested interest in the player. Nobody wants to be forced to choose and giving up one of your favourite sports might be one sacrifice too many. Cork has a longestablished history of success on both fronts at intercounty level and as more counties start to enjoy success in both arenas, more players are finding themselves caught in the middle. UCD’s Con O’Callaghan missed the opening rounds of the Sigerson Cup because of club hurling commitments, Tipperary’s Stephen O’Brien doesn’t seem to want to pick between either sport and many other intercounty dual-status players are finding it difficult to balance the year-round schedules of both sports. With the inflation of participation in both sports at this high level, tensions within the GAA could cascade to Rule 42 levels. The Badger fears Ireland might not be big enough for hurling and football.

UCD Squash Club travelled to UCC’s Mardyke Arena to secure the Squash intervarities title for 2018. UCD Karate also made the long trip to Cork but finished second in the competition losing out to hosts UCC.

UCD WOMEN’S RUGBY UNLUCKY IN ATHLONE

Scrum-half Heather Cullen ran in a hat-trick of tries for the UCD side that narrowly missed out in the Irish School’s Shield final. Some exceptional defensive work from the team as a whole was not enough to secure victory on the day as UCC turned over the ball at the breakdown at key stages of the game in key areas of the field to keep the pressure on the Dublin side and stifle any momentum. The UCD girls showed their support for World Down Syndrome Day by wearing odd socks for the match. They now look forward to playing Trinity away in the annual Colours game which will be a great send off to some of the final-year players and an experience for the younger players that have yet to play in this historic tie.

27TH MARCH 2018 19

SPORT “DO SOMETHING ELSE” Colman Stanley offers an insight into the lives of four top Irish sports journalists.

Sports journalism is a demanding career but can be rewarding for those who combine their job with their hobby. Several journalists told the University Observer about their experiences of the role.

Brendan Fanning, of the Irish Independent, is one of Ireland’s top rugby journalists. He has been writing and reporting on the game since the mid-80s, and minutes into our interview, he lifts the lid on the painstaking elements of the job. “Typically, the week is taken up with a press conference one day, and a player interview on another day. This can involve a fair amount of travel if the press conference or player interview is in Limerick or Cork, or Galway, or Belfast.

A painful amount of time is spent transcribing notes from interviews.” On the other hand, Fanning explains that one of the most enjoyable aspects of his job is that he gets to work from home, which he has done for a large part of his career. It seems like a well-deserved perk after spending years, in his earlier days, doing the hard slog in the office. “I work from home, I don’t have to go into the office, I never go in there and I’d say most journalists are the same because most journalists now are on contract rather than staff. it’s fantastic. You don’t have to get into a suit and get into the traffic at half seven in the morning, none of that.”

Even more instantaneous is of course Twitter, which all four journalists acknowledge as playing a major role in contemporary sports journalism, particularly for breaking news stories. In this regard, Bailey laments the presence of ‘fake news,’ emphasising the need for fact checking to always take priority over the need to release news as soon as possible.

Now anybody with a phone is a journalist The paths each of the four have taken to get to where they are share many similarities. Each of them stressing the importance of flexibility and being prepared to take on any work in any area when starting out to maximise opportunities. Colm Kinsella started off his

to get where he is, is akin to a brief history of Irish newspapers since the mid 80s. His initial foray into Irish sports journalism was working part-time for the now defunct Irish Press and the Irish Independent, covering “mickey mouse” club rugby games on the weekend. The Sunday Tribune eventually became a source of more work, and Fanning does not hesitate to heap praise on the publication.

“I started getting more work from the Sunday Tribune and then in 1990 they set up the Dublin Tribune, which was a free newspaper, a broadsheet which had something crazy like ten or eleven editions right across the City, it was a big operation, but I was made redundant after a year and a half, and I just went back to the Tribune. The Tribune was fantastic grounding for a lot of journalists in Dublin. Unlike the Press and the

surrounding interviews and the effort it takes going through a media officer to contact a player, as opposed to the ways of old where you could contact a player directly and organise a meeting place. Fanning also describes how the nature of interviews have changed.

He stresses that experience was more important than his degree.

“The people I’m talking to now have very little to say for two reasons. Firstly, they’ve just gone straight from school into an academy. They’ve never experienced anything outside of rugby. They’ve very little

A painful amount of time is spent transcribing notes from interviews.

Colm Kinsella is the Deputy Sports Editor of the Limerick Leader, and offers an alternative perspective to the Dublin-based journalists. “No two days are the same really,” explains Kinsella. His daily work mostly involves carrying out editorial duties for the five weekly editions of his newspaper, which also includes the Limerick Chronicle. These papers play a crucial role in Irish media, giving important, more localised and less Dublin-centric news, to a highly populated region. Kinsella’s regular work includes a weekly press briefing with Munster Rugby at UL, where journalists have the opportunity to interview the coaching staff and selected players. His work also includes reporting and previewing the Ulster Bank League, and the Munster Schools Senior and Junior Cups. While in the summer months, Kinsella can focus on other sports such as soccer, horse racing, GAA, and golf.

Ryan Bailey, of the42.ie, has achieved a lot at a very young age. Bailey echoes Kinsella’s words regarding the variety of the job. “No day is the same, you can’t expect to work 9-5 Monday to Friday, and that be it.

You could be sitting in the office one day and expecting to be there for the whole day, when suddenly you get a call to say that there’s something on. That’s what keeps it refreshing.”

Patrick McCarry, author of The New Breed: Irish Rugby’s Professional Era, and ghost writer of Stephen Ferris’ autobiography Man and Ball, works for JOE.ie, whose social media driven news platform is in keeping with the modern trend of clickbait journalism. The daily work of McCarry differs to that of the other writers. He has a relatively set work schedule, which he says is normally Tuesday to Saturday, working 7am-4pm on weekdays, and 1pm-10pm on a Saturday. His output is also a lot more frequent. “I will generally write seven or eight stories a day. Two to three will be features, analyses, or opinion pieces that take a bit of time, while the rest may be shorter, sharper pieces that we hope folks are interested in. I’ll go to anywhere between 1520 games a year and I do love that part of it. The player ratings, opinions, post-match reactions and quotes. We don’t necessarily have to do that many stories. Less will certainly do if they are proving popular and bringing in page-views.”

Each of them stressing the importance of flexibility and being prepared to take on any work in any area when starting out to maximise opportunities.

career working as a news journalist, which gave him a ‘solid foundation’ in covering all aspects of journalism, before moving into sports coverage. McCarry’s route into sports journalism is a testament to the importance of flexibility, as he explains. “I worked for music and entertainment magazines abroad in the USA and New Zealand first and did some freelancing in Ireland until I eventually got a full-time job with my local newspaper, the Echo in South Dublin. I worked there for 3 years The fast paced, social media driven nature of a before deciding to fully embrace my dream of being a website such as JOE.ie may not have the same quality sports journalist. I worked in that profession in Canada of output as more broadsheet-style sites such as the42. for a year before returning to Ireland with some good ie but what they lack in substance, they make up experience behind me to work for theScore (now the42. for in mass appeal. They are easy to engage with on ie) and in 2014 I moved to sportsJOE.ie, which was just platforms such as Facebook, giving an indication of starting up at the time.” the direction in which sports journalism is heading.

Listening to the journey Brendan Fanning has taken

Suddenly you get a call to say that there’s something on. That’s what keeps it refreshing.

20 VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 7

Independent there weren’t heavy demarcation rules so you could wander from one element of the newspaper to the next without breaking union rules and causing an all-out strike. So, it was a fantastic place to learn.”

From there Fanning moved to the Sunday Times in 1993, who were using rugby to help establish a foothold in Ireland. In 1996 he moved to the Irish Independent and has been there ever since. Over the years, he has been on radio shows such as the Last Word, and even hosted his own podcast, Down the Blindside, with fellow rugby journalist Peter O’Reilly.

All four journalists offer words of advice to anyone hoping for a career in sports journalism. Kinsella urges young writers to get as much work as possible published, and says it is crucial to “have a good nose for a story.” Patrick McCarry cautions, “Value yourself and your work. Don’t let outlets or editors take advantage and take tips and support where you can get it.” When asked what advice he would offer to an aspiring sports journalist, Fanning replies with, “Do something else.” His experience is such that his words must carry a certain amount of realism and truth.

“Print is a dinosaur business. The quality of a lot of stuff online is horrendous. The current model of people getting paid in peanuts and get them to fire out as much stuff as they possibly can and just whack it all up online, and don’t worry about the quality, don’t worry about the content. Compared to the situation obtained when I started where you’d be filling your pants if you made a mistake. It was a much better time to be a journalist back then. Now anybody with a phone is a journalist.”

Fanning laments the current environment

experience of life so they’re very uninteresting people.

Not all of them obviously but a lot of the and moreover, if they do have something interesting, it’s coached out of them by people in their own organisation. They’re petrified that the players will say something that will be used by somebody else.”

These diluted interviews are indicative of the power of the media to take words and stories out of context, and the ability of the public on social media to do the same. It is hard to blame clubs for being wary of its dangers.

It is not all negative however, and Fanning does say that if you are good, you will find an opening. Ryan Bailey’s success is proof of this, and at just 22 years old his career path is the model that any aspiring sports journalist should look to. Deciding what he wanted to do when he was in secondary school, Bailey did journalism in Griffith College and his career progressed rapidly. He began freelancing for Goal.com and RTÉ, reporting on League of Ireland matches, while he interned for ESPN in the summer of 2014. Bailey cites the sacrifices of going to matches on ‘miserable’ Friday nights for no pay as an important part in learning the trade and gathering contacts. He stresses that experience was more important than his degree. After working part-time with theScore.ie, he was then taken on as a full-time employee. He singles out travelling to Rio in 2016, to report on the Summer Olympics, as a highlight in his career so far. With such growth at such a young age his advice shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“You know who people are and once you build those relationships up it becomes a lot easier. Just go for it.