University Observer Volume XVIII - Issue 6

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Editorial Ivan Yates and Prof. Pat O’Connor on educational reform & universities’ glass ceiling

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Features Observer Survey:

What students really think of societies

Siptu object to privatisation of Main Restaurant

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

UCD recently announced that the Main Restaurant on campus was to be put out for tender. This statement came following the licensing rights to the majority of catering outlets on campus being given to Kylemore Services Group after a tendering process took place over the summer.

According to an email sent out by the UCD SIPTU Section Committee, “the announcement was made with scant regard to the loyalty and commitment that staff displayed over the years.”

However, a University spokesperson stated that, “following a tender process, contract caterers will be appointed to operate the main catering services at UCD. In this regard, UCD continues to comply with the Croke Park Agreement in the ongoing consultation with SIPTU as the representative trade union including confirmation that the employment terms and conditions of all existing permanent staff will be retained following the award of the tender.”

SIPTU is demanding that the restaurant be retained by UCD in order to bring “an end to privatisation”, that full accountability be held for “managerial decisions which led to difficulties” and for “full transparency about the accounts of the restaurant” with an independent audit assessment taking place.

According to SIPTU, UCD appeared before the Labour Relations Committee on November 19th, 2009 and agreed to a trial period of two years to see how the restaurant performed, with

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an agreement put in place stating that “at the end of this two year period the situation will be reviewed by management: if there has not been a significant revenue improvement at that stage it is accepted that management will revert to its original proposal to appoint an outsourced catering manager.”

SIPTU stated that the deficit of the restaurant was €470,000 in 2009, €320,000 after the following year and €70,000 in the financial year just finished.

SIPTU claims that the deficit would have been even lower had “very poor management decisions not taken place”, the results of which included “a loss of €70,000 [arising] from moving the Sandwich Bar upstairs … a ten year contract was awarded to Britvic which caused an immediate increase in cost

price – and a further loss of revenue … money from a private donation was used to create a private dining room – but this was then ripped out a few years later … costs for electricity and contract cleaning appear to be apportioned to the restaurant in an unfair way.”

SIPTU maintain that UCD have ignored “significant improvements that have taken place in the restaurant … if UCD management can break an agreement and start privatising parts of the college, a precedent will have been set for all staff. We are, therefore, not willing to accept this situation and shall soon be calling a general meeting of all staff to discuss how we respond to this and other issues. We will not tolerate a situation where the hard work and loyalty of Union members is thrown back in our face.”

Photographer: David Nowak

SnowPatrol Talks to

Photographer: David Nowak

by Kate Rothwell · deputy Editor

The UCD Athletics Track was officially closed as of Monday 21st November.

UCD Athletics Club Captain, Richard Owens, was told of the track’s imminent closure shortly before an email was sent

by Vice President for Students, Martin Butler, to students and staff informing them of the end of the “operational life” of the facility due to health and safety concerns.

Butler described the poor condition of the track as the reason for its closure; “as the surface is badly worn and becomes slippy when wet, it should be closed to all users.” However, Owen maintains that until “diggers and bulldozers moved in” the following morning, it was still usable. “It wasn’t great, it was the oldest track in Ireland, but it was still in perfectly usable condition … We know there are plans for a new track, which is great, but we were perfectly happy with what we had.”

Owens explained how the closure of the track will affect not only the 256 members of the Club, but five local schools, a running club, and members of the public. An alternative location must also now be found for the traditional Belfield staging of national charity event the GOAL mile.

Students affected by the closure have been involved in a campaign to ‘save’ the track since the announcement was made. The campaign has so far included an “emergency meeting” between the Athletics Club, Sports Officer Paddy Guiney, and Students’ Union Campaigns and Communications Officer, Brendan Lacey, as well as a “fun run” around campus. A written petition reached over three thousand signatures last week, and an assembly meeting, held in conjunction with LawSoc, was due to take place on Monday 28th November.

UCD Athletics Club demand apology for closed running track Numerous political and sporting personalities have voiced their support for the campaign, including TDs Olivia Mitchell and Micheál Martin, and athletes such as Sonia O’Sullivan, Paula Radcliffe and David Gillick.

Guiney stated that the late notice students were given regarding the closure was the impetus behind the campaign, and that they were seeking “an apology for the way the Athletics Club were treated” and wished to see details of the track removed from the UCD prospectus and website: “we don’t want it advertised because it is not there.”

Director of Sport Brian Mullins acknowledged that the closure was a “shock and a very big disappointment” for students and explained that shortterm alternatives including “not only synthetic surfaces on campus and grass areas but also options like the Irishtown track” were being explored.

Butler expressed the intention of the University “to provide an alternative facility on campus in the future, subject to funding becoming available.”

Mullins stated that the “preferred location for a replacement would be in Richview.” Both he and Owens expressed hope that funding for a new track might be obtained from the Sports Capital Programme, which having been suspended for the past three years is due to be reintroduced by the current government in 2012, with a budget of €30 million.

Should funding become available, Owens emphasised that the Athletics Club would strive to raise a portion of the required sum themselves. “The exact figure UCD Sport has quoted us is €1.6 million for a new track, so … we think it’s only fair that the club would have to raise €100,000 to €150,000 and then whatever else, to make up the rest of the track.”

Students’ Union to abolish loyalty card scheme

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

The Students’ Union have made the decision to withdraw their loyalty card service, which was put in place under last year’s sabbatical team, due to their current financial situation.

SU President Pat de Brún stated that he was attempting to make the cuts to avoid having to reduce funding to frontline services that would have a greater impact on students, “we’re looking for other areas where we can save money; the loyalty card is one area that sprang

to my mind because it costs us in the region of €12,000 a year for upkeep and maintenance.”

Following approval from the Union’s Executive Committee, de Brún contacted the company providing the service, 20-20 Insights, in an effort to terminate their contract. “It’s kind of complicated because it’s a three-year agreement that we’re only a year and a half through. It is kind of an unusual situation that we’re in and finances are very tight. I’m hoping that we can reach some kind of an agreement whereby we can leave early.”

De Brún cites the introduction of the U-Card system on campus as further reason to terminate the loyalty card scheme, “with the roll-out of the U-Card on campus, its relevance comes into question and I just don’t think that the cost is justifiable in the light of the U-Card starting … I think [the loyalty card] was a great idea, but now that the U-Card has come on board across campus, potentially the SU shops could just be involved with that as well but that’s a bit further down the line … the option is likely there that we could join that sys-

tem and it wouldn’t cost us anything.”

The original contract involved a set-up cost last year as, according to de Brún, the loyalty card scheme “was involved with the whole till system of the shops … there’s a lot of software involved and there’s a lot of upkeep with that software, the whole system, the administration of it through our website, that has a cost with it per year.”

De Brún describes the sign-up for the initiative last year as “reasonable”, with approximately 6,000 students registering to the system, though he ad-

mits that the number of students using the scheme did not reflect the number that signed up, “people that use it regularly is a lot lower, opportunities for development of it didn’t quite materialise, in that I would have liked to have put drinks tokens on it, I would have like to have put food deals on it, but for a variety of technical reasons some of that wasn’t possible. That’s where I saw the real value of the loyalty card as opposed to just an accumulation of one cent back for every euro spent, which is not a great return.”

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The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Observer News UCD scientist discovers colour of ancient moth news@observer.ie

News in Brief

by Evan O’Quigley & Katie Hughes

UCD SVP take part in Operation Christmas Child UCD’s St Vincent de Paul society, in conjunction with the Students’ Union, is taking part in ‘Operation Christmas Child’, a worldwide project that began in 1993 to help disadvantaged families during the holiday season.

There will be a Christmas tree in the Student Centre, and one in the Library Building. On the trees there will be tags with the name, age and gender of a child, to indicate what type of gift would be suitable. Students will be able to take a tag and place a gift under the tree for the child in question.

Auditor of UCDSVP Colm O’Mahony explained that the presents “go to kids in disadvantaged areas and it can really help; not only will it help the kids, but also help reduce the financial burden on parents. Christmas is expensive enough, and if you don’t have a lot of money coming in this can really help people”. The gifts will go to children in the south inner-city area.

UCD Welfare Officer Rachel Breslin is overseeing the project. “I know that students are really willing to help … they love to help people that were their own age once, and have been through Christmas, and know what a special time it is for children”.

SU Organise Extra-Hour Study Spaces for Students Extra-hour study spaces will be provided for students in the lead up to and during the upcoming Christmas exams. The plan is scheduled to commence on December 5th and close on December 21st.

The study area will be located in the Student Centre, in either the Astra Hall or the Blue Room, with approximately thirty-five seats being available to students from 11pm to 3am on weekdays and from 8pm to 1am on weekends.

The initiative was that of Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan, who is “delighted” with the implementation of the extra study facilities, “hopefully students use it, it’s been a big push; it will be in the exam guide, which will be published in study week too, just to emphasise the importance of it”.

Geoghegan is currently in talks with the library regarding the possibility of announcing the facility alongside the regular announcements which notify students that the library is closing, “if you want to continue studying you can go on there and there’ll be toilet facilities, vending machines and security and safety”.

A member of the Student Centre staff will be present throughout the evening.

The SU are going to be covering the costs of staff, “not all of the staff costs, they’re giving us a very considerable discount.

Obviously the Student Centre are not going to pay their staff members into the all hours without getting a little back”.

Contingency Plans in Place for Snow UCD have formed a contingency plan for end-of-semester exams should extreme weather conditions, public transport strikes or a medical epidemic interfere in the smooth running of end of semester exams.

Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan explained the reason behind their requesting such a plan be made, “the main point last year was the lack of communication and no-one really knew what was going on and it was such exceptional circumstances last year; if it happens again we want to be better prepared.”

According to The Contingency Plans for UCD Registry for End-of-Semester Exams, “a group of key staff should convene as soon as the risk of examinations becomes known, the examinations process and dates are considered under serious threat when the nonattendance rate of the examination hall rises above five per cent”. The group would then decide if and which examination sessions should be cancelled, allowing for a minimum notice of four hours to students and staff “if practical and possible”.

It will be decided this week whether Students’ Union representatives will be a part of this group, although SU President Pat de Brún stated that “regardless of whether we sit on it, we’ll be privy to the conversation in an official capacity”.

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

A group of scientists led by a member of UCD’s School of Geological Sciences, Dr Maria McNamara, have recently discovered the colour of ancient moths from analysis of their forty-seven million year old fossils.

The fossils were found in Germany, at the Messel oil-shale pit near Frankfurt, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The shale-pit is a world-renowned fossil site, due to its importance in understanding ancient eco systems.

The fossils structures were analysed using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, which allowed Dr McNamara and her team to determine that the colour that moths bare today are not their original colours. Additionally, they were also able to show that the colour is not generated by pigments but is a structural colour and so, by using the preserved structural features, the team was able to reconstruct what the original colours would have been.

The reconstruction of the colour of the forewings as a matte, non-iridescent yellow-green allowed Dr McNamara and her team to determine that they had a double function, “these colours would have functioned as camouflage when the moths were resting in leafy backgrounds, but when the moths were feeding, these colours would have

A reconstruction of the moth

The moth in glycerine, which make its structural colors appear yellow.

Images: Dr Maria McNamara stood out against the background of any flowers they would have been feeding from. In that case, the flowers could have functioned as a warning signal … they’re extremely toxic so the colours could have presumably been advertising to predators, ‘hang on, I taste unpleasant’”.

Dr McNamara explains that there are two different aspects to the experi-

NovaUCD company secure €1.2 million investment

by Denis Vaughan

Biosensia, a spin-in company based at NovaUCD, has secured a €1.2 million investment, which they will use to advance their commercial partnership strategy and develop its new technology, RapiPlex.

NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, is responsible for the commercialisation of research carried out at UCD. It also works with UCD researchers in establishing what business model is most suitable for the commercialisation of the intellectual property. This can mean licensing to partners or creating spin-in companies such as Biosensia.

“The idea was generated by the company founders and executive team as an answer to an unmet market need for fast, versatile and low-cost point of care platform technology,” explains Chief Executive Officer of Biosensia, Diarmuid Flavin.

RapiPlex can perform up to twelve separate analyses simultaneously on a single sample and provides test results in as little as five minutes. The RapiPlex platform is suitable for use in a wide range of areas; to test for infectious diseases such as HIV, respiratory diseases and STDs, as well as carrying out hormone and allergy testing. It can also be used to test for drugs such as meth-

amphetamine and cocaine. The product is suitable for roadside use, which means it could potentially be used by the Gardaí to test suspected drug users.

The product has huge potential for the healthcare sector. Flavin states that “our technology allows the transition of complex immunoassays from the centralised laboratory out into the community. Tests which traditionally could only be carried out in a large central laboratory can, through the use of Biosensia’s technology, be carried out in doctors’ offices and other point of care environments. Biosensia technology allows the use of a wide variety of samples types and can test for up to twelve different analytes from a single patient sample”.

“The technology will mostly be used in human clinical diagnostic settings such as a hospital A&E department or a doctor’s office. However, the technology also has applications in other fields such as veterinary medicine, environmental testing, and food and beverage testing.”

Biosensia’s main aim is to achieve FDA approval for their first product by the end of 2012. They also plan to engage with commercial partners to bring additional products to the market. The company was recognised as a new innovator in the Irish Times Innovation Magazine in August as a result of their revolutionary new technology.

Mental Health Week

by Aoife Brophy

Mental Health Week took place from the 21st to the 25th of November in UCD. It was run by the Students’ Union with support from organisations Please Talk and Reach Out. SU Welfare officer, Rachel Breslin, explained that the campaign was designed to create awareness about mental health and to reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems: “a lot of events we’re running this week

are very serious events, but there are also some light-hearted events … we’re trying to get it across in the biggest variety of ways possible so that everyone can get involved.”

Included in the 2,000 mental health packs handed out across campus during the week were leaflets, important phone numbers, pens, badges and two sheets of paper which would become part of a “State of Mind” wall in the Student Centre, “one says ‘I last felt sad when…’ and the other says ‘I last

ment, “working on fossils is one side of the story but the other is actually to try and replicate the fossilisation process in experiments; at the moment I’m working on a series of experiments on insects that have these kind of structural colours to try and simulate what happens to the colour when the animals are fossilised”.

Dr McNamara explained the signifi-

cance of the findings, “on a small scale, finding evidence of coloured fossils is extremely rare, so just that fact in itself is a very significant find. Being able to actually reconstruct the original colours, to show that the colours we see today have been altered by the fossilisation process, that’s really important because the colours and colour patterns that the animal would have had are what tell you about how it communicated with others of the same species and other species”.

Similar techniques can be applied to many fossilised insects and potentially lots of other fossils too, as structural colours that leave physical traces in fossils can be found in birds, mammals, fish and plants.

The research for the project was not carried out in UCD but at Yale University, where Dr McNamara is currently on an IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship.

Eadbhard O’Callaghan Medal announced in honour of late Professor

UCD Professor of Psychiatry & Mental Health Research, Prof. Kevin Malone, last week announced a medal set up in honour of the late UCD Newman Professor of Mental Health Research, Professor Eadbhard O’Callaghan.

The awarding of the medal will commence in 2012, with the first week of September being the final deadline for submission of an abstract. Applications will be open to all postgraduate researchers who are involved with mental health research anywhere in UCD. Following the adjudication of the submissions, the top three candidates will be invited to give an oral presentation, answering questions in a conference at the end of November. If the winning candidate is of a standard that the committee deem worthy, they will be awarded the Eadbhard O’Callaghan medal.

The opportunity to enter an abstract to qualify for the medal will be open each year; however, the medal itself will not necessarily be awarded every year. Prof. Malone explains that “Eabhard had a big thing about a nonslipping standard, we’re not just going to award a medal for the sake of it. If the standard of post-graduate research excellence in UCD isn’t reached, the medal won’t be awarded. Obviously, we want to award it, we want to encourage [students].”

Prof. Malone explains that the medal was set up to acknowledge the legacy of Prof. O’Callaghan, who passed away in May 2011. Prof. Malone explained that

one of Prof. O’Callaghan’s passions was the idea of “a young postgraduate stepping forth in the field of mental health research and to support their efforts to pursue higher degrees and to produce high quality research in Ireland in UCD.” It was hence deemed fitting to create a medal that would remember Prof. O’Callaghan in this way.

The idea for the medal was first presented by Prof. Malone to the Head of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Prof. Michael Keane, who then brought it forward to the School of Medicine for further approval. Prof.

Malone also discussed the idea with Prof. O’Callaghan’s wife, Mrs. Virginia O’Callaghan, who was “very pleased that this was the way that the University was going to acknowledge [Prof.

O’Callaghan], because he was very fond of the academic pursuits and the academic drive within UCD”.

Prof. O’Callaghan was described by Prof. Malone as “an inspirational leader to a cohort of young Irish psychiatrists, who always championed excellence above mediocrity”. He founded the First Episode Psychosis DETECT Project in South Dublin, which was established as an “early detection, intervention and relapse-prevention program” for every breaking first episode psychosis case in the region, the premise of which was that “if early, timely and universal best practice clinical care can be delivered to those who suffer a first episode of psychosis, the consequences of this illness can be modified to have a positive impact throughout the life course”.

felt happy when…’ – we’re going to put those up on the wall in the Student Centre … I really wanted a physical manifestation of the week … something that people can see because you always get people that can’t go to the talks or can’t go to the comedy event or won’t see you that day in arts or wherever you are.”

Breslin was happy with the response from students and believes that the various national and student mental health campaigns are having a positive effect, “I’m genuinely surprised at the amount of people writing notes and taking time out to engage in a campaign that may have been stigmatised before … the main objective is to reduce the stigma, that really does seem to be happening right across the board”.

One of the biggest events of the week

was the Ardal O’Hanlon and Foil Arms and Hog gig in the Student Bar, which was organised by the Comedy Society. Other events included a duvet day and talks about mental health.

During the week, Breslin wanted to address the stigma associated with “feeling down”, expressing that “people come into me and say I’m the only one that’s like this or I’m really sorry I’m like this or you must think I’m awful, not understanding that there are so many people in the exact same boat and that it’s ok not to feel ok”.

Breslin advises students combating stress during the exam period to “take a break, do something that makes you happy because there is a lot of pressure at this time of year”.

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

news

UCD researchers test aerobic exercise stimulator for astronauts

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

A team of UCD researchers conducted a series of experiments last week on a muscle stimulation device they had invented, which causes aerobic exercise using a Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Exercise (NMES). These experiments were carried out on a parabolic flight to determine whether the device was suitable for use by astronauts in space.

It had previously been thought impossible to produce an aerobic exercise effect using a muscle stimulation device, but Principal Investigator, Dr Brian Caulfield, explains that this is exactly what the team did.

“We have developed a new form of delivering the electric current into the tissues, which is called multi-path stimulation. It involves using very complex pulse shapes and pulse pathways delivered via an array of electrodes rather than the standard approach to stimulation, which is to use pairs of electrodes and very simple pulse shapes. We also don’t tighten the muscle and hold it, we pulse the muscle, tighten and let it go a few times per second. Doing that causes a demand for oxygen, and the only way you can get more oxygen to the muscle is your heart pumping more blood to the muscle, like it would be if you were walking on a treadmill – by doing this, we have been able to mimic aerobic exercise.”

The device, made with the Galwaybased company, Bio-Medical Research, was not originally intended for astronauts, “we didn’t develop this technique for astronauts, there’s a very small number of astronauts in the world, in

the grand scheme of things they’re not that important; this was developed to meet a healthcare and societal need.

There’s a very large number of people out there who are sick because they don’t exercise, there are conversely a large number of people who cannot exercise because they are sick … for example people with arthritis who can’t do weight-bearing exercises ... astronauts fall into the category of people who can’t exercise – when they’re in space they can’t exercise due to zero gravity.”

Masters student involved with the project, Lorenza Cafolla, explained that the testing during the week was carried out “to see whether it would be any use for anti-gravity projects and potentially in the International Space Station for astronauts in space to give them a modality of exercise rather than shifting up heavy machinery like a treadmill or the bicycles in the gym, this stuff is really bulky and space is at a premium up there.”

The next stage in the project may be either another set of parabolic flights to refine the experiment set-up and have the subject strapped standing up instead of sitting down. After that, a bedrest study is expected to be carried out as it will enable the researchers to understand how people react to long-term zero gravity. According to Dr Caulfield, “bed-rest is not a million miles from what zero-gravity does to you – [you] don’t have the gradience of pressure on different parts of your posture and no loading on your boning structure.”

The project started in 2006 and providing it passes all further tests, will be expected to go up to the International Space Station in two to three years.

The Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize was announced on November 17th at London’s Science Museum. The ceremony announcing the £1 million prize was attended by Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and Leader of the Opposition Edward Milliband.

Prime Minister David Cameron expressed delight at the Queen putting her name to the prize, which he hopes “will carry the same stature as the Nobel Prizes”.

The prize, which is not exclusively for UK citizens, will be awarded every two years for “a groundbreaking advance in engineering which has created significant benefit to humanity”. President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Lord Browne, will chair the awarding trust.

Dean of the UCD School of Engineering and Architecture, Professor Gerry Byrne remarked on the significance of the prize, stating that it represented a “development in the effort to raise the profile of engineering in society. Engineering is the leading driver in the development of modern technologies which enhances the quality of people’s lives daily … this prize is enormously significant and a tremendous step forward”.

The Architecture course in UCD is currently undergoing a structural change; it will remain as a “three year – two year” programme with the first stage resulting in a BSc, while students who successfully complete the second stage will now be graduating with an MArch instead of a BArch.

The change in the structure was made to comply with the Bologna Accord, which proposed the structure as a standard across higher-level education.

Dean of Architecture, Prof. Hugh Campbell, explains the change, “all of our European partners and Erasmus networks were already offering Masters – it’s pretty much the standard now for a Masters [to be] in the part two.

We were really just trying to position ourselves in line and give our students what they would be getting.”

One current UCD Architecture student stated that they were dissatisfied with the change, in part because they were apparently not aware of the change until after accepting their CAO offer, “anybody who began in 2010 or after will eventually have to graduate with a level nine instead of a level eight but they will now have to pay for the last two years of that. It would be almost unheard of for the Department of Education to waive a year of fees for a level nine, so it doesn’t seem that students who accepted level eight course

places and began that course have been given any other option but to have to pay for the last two years of that.”

Prof. Campbell confirmed that the move did have fee-related implications, with the final two years now being classified as “fee-paying Masters”. However, he insists that efforts are being made to make the fee a fair one, “we are still discussing it, in terms of trying make the case that at the moment five years of professional education is wholly funded, why wouldn’t it continue to be the case? As you can imagine, people are not very receptive to that.”

“At the moment, we’re trying to set the fee for the Masters as fairly as we can. In terms of the University and the School, the shift from Bachelors to a Masters has been financially disadvantageous – the fee that we would get for the BArch from the block grant is bigger than the fee that we would intend to charge for the Masters … It would be in line with what taught Masters courses [cost], there’s a six at the start of it.”

The school is currently examining the transitional aims of allowing people the opportunity to come into the Masters or to “stick with the Bachelors as they’re entitled to do”.

University College Cork currently has a similar scheme in place, except with a “four year – one year” system instead. Both Queen’s University and the University of Ulster run the Masters programme under the British system.

EIB provide €90 million for UCD campus development The European Investment Bank (EIB) will fund the development of six buildings on UCD campus, including the Sutherland School of Law, the Science Centre and student accommodation, as a part of its aim to support Ireland’s knowledge economy.

This announcement of the €90 million investment comes following news that the government would no longer be supporting the developments due to a scaling back in exchequer funding.

According to a university spokesperson, the aim of the UCD Campus Development Plan 2010-2015 is to “make the campus more compact, concentrating related activities and separating aca-

demic and leisure functions. The overall redevelopment aims to consolidate and enhance this position of pre-eminence by providing future generations with a sustainable, healthy, and living campus.”

UCD President, Hugh Brady, insists that the agreement with EIB will strengthen UCD’s position in the European university rankings, “the cutting edge teaching, research and student support facilities which this partnership with the EIB will enable will ensure that UCD consolidates and enhances its position at the top table of European universities.”

A university spokesperson echoed these sentiments, saying that the “development of the campus follows European efforts to increase investment in

News in Brief

£1m Engineering Prize Announced in UK

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

BY Katie Hughes · News Editor

international

by Jason Quigley & Niamh Emmett

UCD Architecture degree restructured

Photographer: Caoimhe McDonnell

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research and higher education, and will strengthen UCD’s role in an increasingly competitive academic environment.

The ability to locate both industry and academia on the same campus will help increase links between the University and key Irish companies. The new campus development combines refurbishment of existing award-winning buildings and provision of new facilities.”

A variety of environmental initiatives to enhance working conditions at UCD and reduce the impact that 2,000 staff and 24,500 students on campus have on the environment will be implemented as part of the development.

Among these are an energy efficient design of the Science Centre and a “coordinated and sustainable commuting,

parking and transport regime.”

EIB Vice-President for Ireland, Plutarchos Sakellaris, stated that the reason behind the EIB providing the funding was that “The European Investment Bank is committed to ensuring that world class education and research facilities can help future generations contribute to the European knowledge economy. Redevelopment of University College Dublin will benefit students studying on a modern, vibrant and sustainable campus and foster a greater contribution to Ireland and Europe as a whole.”

UCD Vice-President for Finance, Gerry O’Brien, and Plutarchos Sakellaris recently signed the agreement in UCD.

Vaccines stored improperly in UCLA Due to a slightly outdated accounting system, the University of British Columbia can only allow the formation of fifteen more societies before they hit their maximum capacity.

The system currently has a capacity for 999 accounts, only 400 of which are reserved for student societies. To make room for new ventures, the accounts of old and inactive societies are being frozen. This year these included, among others, the Canadian Afghanistan Partnership Club and the UBC Green Party.

The introduction of an entirely new system would cost between $20,000 and $40,000 and would be cause to retrain the entire staff according to Societies and Clubs (SAC) Vice-Chair Alannah Johnson.

AMS President, Jeremy McElroy stated that “we feel that with more than 360 clubs right now, all of the club office and lockers accounted for, and our already overworked administrative staff, any significant increase in the number of clubs is next to impossible”.

The SUB, where the various clubs and societies are located, is also lacking in space, having been built in 1968 when the University was much smaller and had fewer groups to accommodate.

UC Davis to pay peppersprayed students’ medical costs Students from the University of California Davis partaking in a peaceful sit-down protest as a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement on November 18th were pepper sprayed at close range by a police officer in an attempt to break up the protest.

The police officer’s reaction to the peaceful protest in the University of California shocked onlookers, with over a dozen videos of the encounter being uploaded to the Internet within the day. UC Davis has recently agreed to cover the affected students’ medical costs.

According to a student who attended the protest, “I didn’t even hear a warning for the spraying, just by the students telling us all to turn around, and then we turned and we were sprayed, just like that. One of the cops was yelling at a guy saying he’s going to spray him in the face and then grabs him in the face and sprays him. They grabbed one of the protesters and sprayed it directly in his mouth. We were there peacefully, the tents were down, they had no reason to spray us”.

Following the actions carried out by police who were called in by UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, Chancellor Katehi has been called upon to resign.

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news

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Christmas Ball festive success

by Maitiú Mac Seoin

The Christmas Ball took place on November 24th in the Student Bar, in line with SU Ents Officer Stephen Darcy’s plan to keep balls on campus.

Darcy was pleased with the event, “it was a bad time of year because everybody’s studying and everyone’s submitting their assignments this week so it wasn’t as busy as I would have liked, but there was still 400 and something people there so it was grand, it was very good”.

“We had Vodafone in and they decked out the bar with giant candy canes and lights and they gave us Santa hats and they had a Santa going around the place. We had a snow machine in and we had Key West, an up and coming Irish band playing, they were sup-

ported by Paul Kilgallon and myself … it was a really good night, everyone seemed to have a really good time.”

Students could either pay a €3 admission fee or donate a toy which would be donated to the Christmas Shoebox appeal for Team Hope Ireland. “It’s something that I want to build on, I want to do more stuff like that for student bar gigs … it’s a nice initiative.”

Following the cancellation of last year’s Christmas Ball due to heavy snow, Darcy was aware from the outset that a similar situation might have occurred this year, “it’s always an awkward one, last year it snowed and we didn’t have [a ball]. The risk was always there so I planned from August that I wouldn’t be putting on a big act in case we had to cancel – I think going for the cheap and cheerful version really works out”.

Road Safety Campaign scheduled for Semester Two

by Emily Longworth

UCD Students’ Union Campaigns and Communications Officer, Brendan Lacey, aims to launch a campaign that will raise awareness of road safety among UCD students in the second semester, following an increase in the number of road fatalities suffered by UCD students in recent months.

Lacey described the campaign as one that was close to his heart, saying “since I took office in July, five UCD students have died, and four of those have been road deaths, and that’s very high compared to other years, not just for the numbers of deaths themselves, but the number of road deaths in particular is pretty shocking”.

There will be no time limit on the campaign, “it will run for as long as it needs to … ideally we would have liked to do it before Christmas but the national campaign stopped any chances of that happening”.

Lacey predicts that it will be “a very different and hopefully very impacting campaign”. He hopes that it will “make students not just aware when they’re

driving, but also when they’re cycling and walking of what the dangers are and how they can avoid them”.

Although he showed enthusiasm for next year’s campaign plans, he described the National Stop Fees campaign as taking “absolute priority” over his time so far this semester. He deemed the fees protest “a huge success”, and was equally pleased with the second day of national protests that took place on November 24th, which involved a symbolic funeral procession “representing the death of Irish education” walking through Dublin.

“Obviously it had a far smaller turnout than the march but it was more of a media stunt than anything, and we got great media play from it” explained Lacey. The protest got the attention of last week’s Irish Times and the Independent, among other national media, to the satisfaction of the SU and Union of Students in Ireland.

Other plans for the second semester include Lacey’s ‘mandated campaigns’ such as Rainbow Week, Environmental Week, Disability Awareness week and several others.

The Christmas Ball was the final Ents event of the year, with no more acts scheduled to perform before Christmas, “we’re doing end of exams Christmas parties but they’re all nightclub based and they’re starting on the 12th of December”. The events are scheduled to run every day except Sundays until the 23rd of December.

Darcy’s plans for Semester Two are still being finalised. A big act is expected for the first week and RAG week is scheduled for week three, “we’ve an informal agreement [with TCD Students’ Union] that we’re going to do the RAG Ball, a joint one, during UCD rag week, providing our dates match and other inquiries don’t get in the way”.

Wristbands, which will allow a student entry into all twenty-eight ‘Christmas Fest’ events, go on sale for €10.

Key West performing at the Christmas Ball. Photographer: Rob Manning

UCD Accommodation Office to be run by external company

by Katie Hughes · News Editor

UCD Students’ Union is considering a partnership with an external company, Corathlin Ltd, to provide an accommodation service to UCD students.

The SU currently employs an Accommodation Officer from August to October every year. The officer aids students in finding accommodation and dealing with the adjustment period.

It is proposed that Corathlin Ltd would employ the Accommodation Officer on a full-year basis over a long term, “they’d be there twelve months of the year and the Union wouldn’t have to pay the wages, but they would be based around the Student Centre and they would be there to deal with students” explains SU President, Pat de Brún.

The company would develop a website similar to existing accommodation websites, which would be geared solely at UCD students. As the service is to be

of no additional cost to UCD students, the company would generate its income from the recruitment of landlords and from advertising on the site.

The Accommodation Officer would still be in place to advise students, but would no longer be a direct employee of the Union. De Brún insists that one of the main stipulations of the deal was that the Officer would assist any student with accommodation problems, regardless of who students are renting accommodation from, be it through Corathlin or privately.

De Brún explains that, “essentially we’d work hand in hand, it’d still be the Union accommodation service but it would be a partnership with an external company. The thing about it is it’s twelve months of the year, it’s there for people coming on Erasmus in January and it’s there for people who have ongoing issues with their accommodation”.

He continues to say that “they will do

everything that they can to make sure that all the landlords are registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), that they’re meeting all their obligations – that they’re essentially meeting all best practices, so that students can be looked after. They’re also going to provide an arbitration service if there’s any disputes between landlords and students.”

De Brún describes the service currently in place as “a really valuable [one] and it’s one of our most used and popular services so it’s something that a lot of people depend upon, a lot of traditional students but a lot of international students as well. It’s like their main port of call for finding accommodation”.

Corathlin have stated that “we are very excited by this opportunity, which we are confident will benefit the UCD Students Union, the students, UCD’s brand and we are very keen to get started as soon as possible”.

Do you think a twenty-four hour study space is necessary?

Ciaran Fagan

Patrick Rooney

Heather Coyne

2nd year Food Science

2nd year Arts

3rd year Law

“I think there is too much of an advantage in people going home – it’s just not a good idea, it won’t work, a twenty-four hour study space just won’t work”

“Not twenty-four hours no, I’d like to sleep at some stage, but coming up to exams I probably would use it like thirteen to fourteen hours, but nobody could study for twenty-four hours, that’s ridiculous”

“I think it’s a great idea actually, it just gives an area where you can study whenever you feel like. It’s not so restrictive”

Patrick Fitzgerald

Joey Doheny

Patricia Quirke

2nd year Law with History

2nd year Economics & History

1st year Agricultural Science

“[Students] need to get a good night’s sleep, eat well and sleep well, and I don’t think it’s a welcome move to encourage this concept of the last minute rush”

“It’s good because a lot of students are nocturnal anyway, so I think it would be great in that sense”

“I think it’s really good as it gives students an atmosphere in which other students are studying and so it would really help with focusing and concentration” Voxpops & photographs by Jack Walsh

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

5

Observer Features

Surveying the Crowd

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Following the moratorium on new societies, Jason Quigley n order to determine the levels of student participation in UCD’s takes to the concourse to gauge student participation fig C extra-curricular activities, the University Observer conducted a survey of UCD students. Students were also offered the chance to make other comments. These comments ranged from FIG A the positive, such as “They offer you something different from the academic side, and the chance to meet and engage with people,” by Michael O’Flanagan from second year Politics, to the negative, such as Shannon Comiskey from second year Economics who felt that “The University can be very grey and anonymous.”

UCD is home to many different extra-curricular activities, which are in place in order to create a fun and vibrant campus. Extra-curricular involvement can help students gain valuable skills they would not gain through academia alone. Furthermore, a study commissioned by the University itself in 2007, authored by Student Advisor Colleen Doyle, found that three of the leading reasons stated by UCD students for leaving the university were “Poor Sense of Community”, “Unfriendly Environment” and “Didn’t know anyone/Difficulty making friends”, each given by roughly 20% of their respondents. Clearly extra-curricular fig B societies can play a key role in treating those concerns. No student can prosper in university without a healthy social life. Student societies and clubs may ostensibly be for fun, but they also serve a valuable purpose in student life.

The survey results show that 71% of students joined a society, but that only 53% of respondents have actually attended an event this year. Furthermore, only 27% had done so in the previous two weeks. The same questions were also asked with regards to sports clubs, where it was found that 39% of respondents had joined a sports club, 35% had attended at least one event and 22% had participated in the previous two weeks. The figures for active participation were similar to societies, but considerably fewer students joined a club at the outset.

This ‘two week’ figure is likely to be the closest to the number of students who consistently participate in student b b societies. Combined with the society s ty nt er ks sh st s ek clu clu ve cie e statistic, 58% of students took part in neiui ap ee e re s s o q p t t w e s i y w s r r t 2 a ther a society nor a sports club in the last o o cl 2 n w iet sp sp re di ed ne oc two weeks, and 7% had done both, showe a a a n s t i v n in ed ies er Jo ny ing only a small overlap between the de Jo ns nd iet tu da e u c two. Of course, as with any randomised s t e s d d so At sample of two weeks there is scope for ea Ha ks ten R t n i A error. However, when combined with Th the fact that only half of respondents had attended any society event this year, it would suggest that many UCD students draw limited benefit from the society no preference. This is interesting given 55% for most years, except first years, have good enough contact via email af- try new things, than other years. As and sports club system. the perception of students often being where only 26% believed it was an is- ter the first two weeks, they’ve got your people progress in college they tend to Participation in other activities was ‘binge drinkers’ or highly influenced by sue. A similar analysis was performed money and that’s it.” Likewise, Leanne specialise. So instead of joining ten soalso measured as a comparison. When alcohol. regarding faculties and found no mean- Ryan of third year English believed cieties, they join one or two,” and “Soasked whether they had attended, or When asked whether they perceived ingful variation. that “societies give too little informa- cieties want people to be involved. At planned to attend a Student Union or- student societies to be “exclusive or In contrast, gender did appear to tion about how to get involved, or even any stage during the year you can join ganised event in the current year, 65% cliquish” the result was high, at 44%. have a slight affect on responses. Fe- what they’re doing”. a society, and they’ll be happy to have said yes, though this number may have In addition, students who had partici- male respondents were less likely to Some made practical suggestions of you. I think the ‘clique’ label used is been inflated by the inclusion of pro- pated in a society in the previous two take part in societies than male respon- their own of how to ameliorate pre-ex- not helpful, and for the most part, illtests as “an event”, due to the SU pro- weeks were as likely to feel societies dents, while being more likely to per- isting issues, like Lauren McDunphy of considered.” He concluded that, “With test that had occurred in the same week. were cliquish as the general population ceive societies as exclusive or cliquish. fourth year Nursing. “I’d like it if there over eighty active societies here on 80% of students said they had read a of students. One Commerce student However, less female students felt they was an easier way to join societies after campus we have a great deal of diverstudent newspaper in the last month commented that “Some of the larger so- had unserved interests or hobbies, and fresher’s week, for instance online, be- sity ... Obviously, it would be foolish to and 27% said they had participated in cieties can be quite cliquish, and I know female students did not believe alcohol cause during fresher’s week, as a fourth be complacent. The Societies Council an event organised by a class rep in many people who left to join smaller was as influential in choosing an event year student I was very busy getting will continue to encourage participathe previous two weeks. The class rep societies as a result.” Another student, to attend as their male counterparts. organised.” Some students also felt tion and promote society life here on statistic deserves some special note, as Richard Blanc of 3rd year History, felt The breakdown of results can be seen similarly about student newspapers campus.” for most of the faculties we surveyed new members can often be ignored by in fig B. This is an interesting result and responded that while they enjoyed This survey shows that there is a sigthe figure was in the 30%-50% range, older members and given little to do, with no immediately clear explanation, reading it, many had little idea of how nificant number of students that are not but the Arts faculty was unusually commenting that “For many of the so- and perhaps warrants further investi- to actually get involved and write. taking part in extra-curricular activilow, with only 9% of those surveyed cieties you have to be there for several gation.

The University Observer contacted ties. It should be stressed, however, that responding yes. One first year Science years before you get anywhere, before In comments collected from indi- Stephen Whelan, chairman of the So- most of the student respondents were Class Rep, Niall Clarke, commented that, you’re just a number.” vidual students, other concerns were ciety Council, for comment on the re- positive about student societies and felt that “As a class rep it’s hard to commuWhen asked if they “had interests or voiced that were not specifically ad- sults. “Firstly, it is to be expected that they were an important part of the uninicate with the entire class, particular- hobbies not served by a currently exist- dressed in the survey, and may have the numbers attending society events versity. The main issues we found stuly when it’s large.” Given that Arts has ing society”, the student response was given a significant response if they had this late in the semester is lower than dents expressing that kept them from many large classes and a low number of relatively low, with 16% of students re- been. One of these was commuting, usual. Assignments and exams take participating were not related to a lack class reps to deal with them, this may sponding positively to this question. with sixteen students independently precedence at this stage, so it is a bad of resources on the part of the univerexplain the numerical disparity and Suggestions for new societies ranged answering that their commute pre- time to examine attendance in a gen- sity, but due to poor infrastructure and this would appear to support plans by from Arts and Crafts, to Zoology, to vented them from taking part in extra- eral sense. This has been the general communication. Students were not takthe constitutional review committee to Cars. curricular activities in UCD, and many trend since the introduction of semes- ing part due to events being too late, not expand the number of Arts class reps.

When the data was analysed further, saying that events earlier in the day terisation a number of years ago.” Fur- being informed of any events, or simply It was found that alcohol was not a it was found that two-week participa- would make it substantially easier for thermore, he stated that many society not knowing how to volunteer. decisive factor for the majority of stu- tion in societies and sports clubs var- them to take part. events were not always obviously run Perhaps there are more problems dents in attending extra-curricular ied little with regards to the student’s The other main issue brought up by a society, for example faculty days. to be solved, however the survey is alactivities. When asked about whether year of study. However, the probability by numerous students was publicity. Whelan also thought that “people are ready beneficial insofar as it highlights alcohol would make them more likely of joining or attending any society fell Many commented that they encoun- too quick to use the word clique. Your that even an improvement in the freto attend a particular event, 37% re- the longer students were in college, as tered various problems keeping them survey suggests that over 70% of stu- quency and timing of email communiplied it they would be more likely to shown in FIG A. Another trend was from knowing how to get involved. dents joined a society this year, I think cation would create a greater connecattend, 7% replied that they would be that the percentage perceiving soci- Orla Ward, a second year Actuarial this is positive. First year students are tion between societies and students less likely to attend and 57% expressed eties as “exclusive or cliquish” was studies student, felt societies “don’t always more willing to be involved, or and invite greater participation.

6

features

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he effect of the global financial owed and no currency to back it up. It’s crisis on Europe has been sweep- a similar pattern to what happened to ing and widespread. It has taken the likes of Lehman Brothers in 2008, down governments in Italy and Greece, but at a much more severe level. led to brutal austerity measures across There is an economic logic behind peripheral countries like Ireland and the desire for the end of the currency.

Spain, and even ushered in a new Eu- Having control of your own currency rosceptic sentiment in many states. At- can be an effective way tempting to predict an outcome of the for a state to ease crisis seems almost futile given its in- the impact herent complications, but the question of the that is preoccupying the minds of politicians, bankers, economists, investors and citizens now relates squarely to the fate of the common currency.

To ask whether the euro will still exist as a currency in any recognisable form in a few years is essential. However, it is inaccurately being misrepresented by many as an issue of countries either exiting the currency of their own choice, or being forced out for threatening other countries within the eurozone, such as the theorised Greek expulsion were it to have rejected the bailout program in a referendum. “It’s really neither of those,” explains Karl Whelan, a monetary economist and UCD professor. “It’s events, my dear boy, that cause all the trouble.” He comments on how the shakiest part of the house of cards is Italy’s high levels of debt, and the fear amongst many is that it will have to default on these debts, refusing to pay back any investors holding bonds (a government guarantee promising the holder a set payment on a maturity date).

Yields on Italian bonds, the interest rate investors demand and an indicator of perceived risk, recently passed the seven per cent rate. This was the rate of risk that was deemed to warrant the b o o m Greek and Irish bailouts. At that point and bust the cost of borrowing becomes unsus- cycle. By devalutainable. “If the Italian government was ing your currency (usufaced with a potential default, which ally by printing more or adjusting incould have knock-on effects for Italian terest rates to influence demand), you banks and banks in the rest of Europe, can make your labour and resources it’s quite possible that that could lead relatively cheaper compared to your to some version of the end of the euro,” competitor countries, encouraging Whela n says. This possibilit y has become easier to imagine, with Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel agreeing in a recent meeting with new Italian PM Mario investment in your own country to Monti that an Italian default would help you out of a recessionary period. mean the end of the euro. Whelan Frank Walsh, a labour economist and explains how UCD professor, points out that the “I don’t think this would hy- lack of this possibility leads to a situpothetically pan ation where wage cuts often need to anybody should be out.

“That could occur, and explains that the effect of thinking that a lead to the Ital- “the absence of monetary policy is that reintroduc- you have to have these internal devaluscenario in which ians ing their own cur- ations, and that makes it painful for the euro breaks rency, and using us”. This is best seen in the ongoing that currency to struggle over attempts to cut wages up and Ireland finance the gov- as part of austerity measures across establishes its ernment to avoid Europe. On the other hand, monetary It could policy can be used in times of booms to own currency is abedefault. called a default help reign in unchecked growth and going to be fun.” in the sense that speculative bubbles. Effectively, there [ b o n d h o l d e r s ] is a prescribed way to control your curwon’t be paid eu- rency given your economic standing at ros, but they’ll be any time. paid something”.

Thus, when this currency control UCD Economics Banks and states was relinquished from sovereign states Professor across Europe to overall authority of the European holding Italian Central Bank (ECB), it meant that debt will be seriously hit, causing a there was one set policy for all of Euhuge risk of contagion. rope. Given a situation such as the one Italy is seen as the focal point purely we’re currently in, where some coundue to its economic heft within Europe. tries lag behind while others grow, this As Whelan puts it, “While you could is hugely problematic. Any policy will maybe imagine some version of the have beneficial effects in one country euro without Greece … it’s pretty hard and adverse effects in another. It’s why to imagine a version of the euro with- Ireland historically tied its currency to out major European countries like Ita- Britain without much trouble, as the ly.” Rather, a Greek exit poses a threat two economies were linked heavily by by proving that the currency area is not trade and followed similar patterns of a fixed set of states but instead one that growth and recessions. Walsh gives the may be left by its members. “If they examples of France and Germany sufwere to leave, that would lead people to fering economically during our Celtic ask the question, where next?” Whelan Tiger, as well as the opposite occurring remarks. Were investors and deposi- now. tors in a nation’s banks to start anticiThe benefits of having one’s own pating that their savings will cease to currency may seem appealing, but not be euros and soon be some other less enough to warrant the potentially catavaluable currency, funds will be taken strophic effects of the exit. “You can out in a run that could hollow out the debate whether it was a mistake for Irefinancial system, leaving it with debts land to join,” Whelan says. “But I don’t

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

think anybody should be thinking that a scenario in which the euro breaks up and Ireland establishes its own currency is going to be fun.” He believes that a hypothetical exit by any country would be “extremely disruptive at a European and at a global level”, even saying that “It would likely trigger a financial crisis and global economic crisis

that would be bigger than the Lehman’s crisis.” It demonstrates that focusing on benefits to us such as competitive devaluation, or having our debt to the ECB written off, would probably be small good points in an overall tragedy.

and UK have yet to show any sign of causing inflation to any worrying degree. Even in Ireland’s case, it would not be wholly problematic, as Walsh points out. “One of the negative sides of inflation is that it’s bad for savers and good for borrowers, but Ireland with a little bit of inflation that devalues people’s debts mightn’t be such a bad thing.”

Contrasting default with monetization results in little distinction. They both impose costs, a default imposing them on bondholders, and monetization potentially placing them on anyone holding euros by devaluing the currency.

As to a long-term means of preventing a similar crisis reoccurring, there are a range of options of varying degrees of severity. The most radical one is a fiscal union of some sort, where sovereign states begin to have their budget supervised, approved, possibly even managed by the eurozone to coordinate fiscal policy, as well as guaranteeing that no country ends up in the debt levels that Greece or Ireland managed to.

“I suspect there will be repercussions whereby Germans and other countries in the euro will say ‘We did this once, but we’re only going to stick with the euro now if there is some greater form of fiscal monitoring’,” Whelan says.

The fiscal union would certainly follow the pattern of response to previous crises in the EU with further and further integration, but the political opposition to such an intrusion of sovereignty is likely to be vehement. Even on an economic front, Walsh points out that having such a programme would be disastrous in cases of unmatched cyclical patterns across countries unless a US style transfers system, wherein states with surpluses finance those with deficits directly, was implemented. At that point, the Monetary Union would have all the features of a state in its economic policy.

T h e other hypothetical outcome that has been suggested is much more unusual.

“There is one scenario in which, let’s say Germany and a couple of like-minded countries, decide to leave the euro and set up a new currency,” Whelan says.

“There are all sorts of legal issues to do with that that make that complicated, but that could be done.” The situation that leaves us in would be little better though, with any countries left in the ‘old euro’ seen as too risky to invest or even keep wealth in, and it is not being viewed as a realistic possibility.

Given all this, the breakup of the currency looks like it needs to be taken seriously as a possibility. It could be seen as the bringer of a dark mis- “One of the erable future, but Whelan offers to negative sides put it in some per- of inflation is spective.

“Ultimately, the world that it’s bad for has survived the savers and good Great Depression, the world has sur- for borrowers, vived the Second but Ireland with World War. The end of the euro, if a little bit of it were to happen, inflation that would probably be a pretty big devalues people’s economic disas- debts mightn’t be ter, but at the end of the day, we’d such a bad thing.” survive.” He adds that “We have some notion of what a Europe UCD Economics with fifteen different currencies Lecturer looks like; if we look back fifteen or twenty years we can see such a world. It can work. The mistake was probably to abandon it in the first place and assume that such a large economic area could work with a single currency.”

With the financial crisis showing little sign of abating, Cormac Duffy looks at the future prospects of the Euro

Karl Whelan,

Right now a short-term solution needs to be found to prevent a sudden, uncontrolled detonation of the eurozone before a long term solution can be considered. Both Whelan and Walsh forsee a monetization of sovereign debt, where the ECB prints off money to buy government bonds. It’s a programme that has been rolled out in the UK and the USA under the jargonic auspices of ‘Quantitative Easing’.

Walsh says one of the reasons this is most likely is that it avoids the political deadlock of arranging a default or establishing Eurobonds, a debt security backed collectively by all of the eurozone. Were it even politically possible, it’s now not even certain that the bonds will sell, given that Germany, usually the international standard for bond stability, struggled to sell newly issued ten-year bonds last week. “You don’t have to go around to the German parliament and all the others and get them to vote for anything,” Walsh explains. “Mario Draghi [Governor of the ECB] can just roll up the printing press and start printing.”

Whelan also sees this as the most likely occurrence. “I suspect that what would have to be done to prevent [the collapse of the common currency] would be some version of the ECB printing lots of money [to purchase bonds].” The only obstacle to implementation seems to be the German government under Angela Merkel.

Printing off large amounts of money runs the risk of inflation, something the German nation is notoriously vigilant about as they live with a flawed historical narrative where hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic created the instability that brought Hitler to power. Of course, the quantitative easing programmes rolled out in the US

Frank Walsh,

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

features

7

Verona Postcards from Abroad:

With winter just around the corner, Sean Finnan takes advantage of Verona’s travel opportunities

V

erona is a quiet town in winter, when the flow of coach tourists stems until next spring. I first arrived two months ago to unexpected heat and with a broken suitcase. The plan was to meet a friend at Ponte Pietra, the edge of the historical centre, forty minutes from the station. With two hours sleep, I hauled my ridiculous suitcase across town, too disorientated to consider removing my coat from a cold morning at Dublin airport. I had no idea where I was staying that night.

It turned out it would be a castle, on a beautiful hill that overlooks the town.

Unfortunately, the castle was in ruins and I was staying in a tent; not exactly the lap of luxury that I had perhaps had in mind.

We made the campsite on the castle our home. Dining al fresco on sunny evenings, bottle of wine in hand and listening to whatever albums the owners put on. This was La Dolce Vita. It lasted a week. On the last day of September we were informed that the campsite would be closed. “Why?” we asked, dismayed at the thought of leaving. “It will get too cold”, was the reply, while the outside temperature was still thirty degrees. Thoughts of how cold it was at Electric Picnic one month before came to mind as I packed, disgruntled that the honeymoon had ended already.

Househunting in Italy, like anywhere else, is a nightmare. It is worse when you can’t speak Italian, immediately striking out most adverts on walls

and online letting sites. After a few days of trying in vain with the above, we decided to head to an estate agent, and unfortunately, our choice of agent was dubious at best. At first she was friendly, but as we started getting into business her inefficiency became obvious. What was an apartment that we could move into by the end of the week was an apartment that we could move into by the middle of the next week and so on. In a stupid move, we had handed over one hundred euro up front as a deposit of some sort. With nowhere to stay, I questioned her on what was taking so long. I was met with a fiery temper in an instant, and she screamed Italian at a much higher pitch than was appreciated. We didn’t take the apartment. She smirked when I asked for the money back.

Verona is ideal for three-day tourists. It has pretty little streets with plenty of cafes, historic buildings dating back to the Roman era and of course Casa di Giulietta, whose statue has been groped by more tourists in a day than Molly Malone endures in a year. Beyond this prettiness however, the town of the world’s most famous lovers has the shallowness evident in all tourist regions. Once the tourists go to bed, the town sleeps. Apart from a thriving campus bar, the nightlife here cannot compare to my reminisces of Dublin pubs. After a month, I felt I had discovered everything of interest. My expectations seldom meet reality. Here

they crumbled, until one weekend when I wound up at the train station.

The departures board read Paris 13:40, Munchen 14:10, Roma, Milano, Venezia, Innsbruck. Verona may be small but its station opened up the whole of central Europe.

First on the map was Milan. We missed the early morning train from Verona, but we still got there in plenty of time. When we missed the last train home, that mattered. With the station closed throughout the night, we turned to a dodgy cafe for coffee, but mostly for warmth. We left amid an extortionate bill for three coffees, the boss attempting to lock us in, and a hurling of insults. Worst of all, it was still three hours until the station opened. Luckily there was a hotel lobby nearby where we attempted to sleep until a gang of loud Italians came roaring through the door. The staff had finished for the night and they had seen us. Instead of kicking us out, we were treated to wine, food and a surprise party. This was the other side of Italians.

Although it is winter, the cold hasn’t fully kicked in as of yet. This is fortunate, as the electricity has been off since last night and, through the half light, I am waiting for the electrician.

In Italy nothing runs like clockwork and if you expect it to, frustration mounts. The best way to get through the unexpectedness is to join the Italians at the bar, spritz in hand, through their glorious three hour lunch break.

It has pretty little streets with plenty of cafés, historic buildings dating back to the Roman era and of course Casa di Giulietta, whose statue has been groped by more tourists in a day than Molly Malone endures in a year

Mianach Óir Grinn nó Paráid na nGealt?

Agus ár nUachtarán féin insealbhaithe againn le déanaí, tá toghchán uachtaránachta eile go mór i mbéal an phobail. Déanann Niall Mac Taidhg cíoradh ar an rás Poblachtach don ainmniúchán uachtaránachta i Meiriceá agus breathnaíonn sé ar na príomhiarrthóirí.

S

na Stáit Aontaithe, tá an troid don ainmniúchán Poblachtach sa toghchán uachtaránachta seo chugainn faoi lán seoil sa nuacht. Bhí 11 díospóireacht teilifíse go fóill, cé go bhfuil naoi mí fágtha fós sula roghnóidh an Páirtí Poblachtach a n-iarrthóir don toghchán féin, bliain mhór fhada ó inniu.

Ar dtús, tá cuma ar an scéal go bhfuil seans iontach ag na Poblachtaigh an Uachtaránacht a bhaint de na Daonlathaigh. Níl an ráta sástachta ag Uachtarán Obama ach thartfá 40%. Tá an geilleagar fós ag streachailt, agus tá pairilis ar an Chomhdháil i ndiaidh na dtoghchán lán téarma bliain ó shin, a thug cumhacht do na Poblachtaigh i dTeach na nIonadaithe.

Shílfeá go mbeadh fonn athraithe ar mhuintir Mheiriceá, agus mar go bhfuil córas dhá pháirtí i bhfeidhm, thairgfeadh na Poblachtaigh an tathrú sin. Ach tá na hiarrthóirí ag na Poblachtaigh chomh antoisceach agus chomh dona, tá seans go mbeidh an bua ag Obama a los éagmaise. Dúirt

Pat Robertson fiú, soiscéalaí teilifíse conspóideach, go bhfuil na hiarrthóirí Poblachtacha ró-antoisceach leis an olltoghchán a bhaint. Bíonn rudaí aisteacha ag tarlú sna díospóireachtaí féin; rinne lucht féachana faíreach faoi saighdiúirí aeracha agus daoine bochta a bhfuil tinneas orthu, ach lig siad gáir mholta faoi bhásuithe i dTexas, gan trácht ar ráitis aite na n-iarrthóirí féin.

Agus cé hiad na hiarrthóirí sin? Is é Mitt Romney, iar-Ghobhanóir Massachusetts, rogha na coitiantachta.

Tháinig sé sa dara háit sa rás Poblachtach i 2008 i ndiaidh John McCain. Ag an am, smaoiníodh go raibh Romney níos coimeádaí ná McCain; ach anois, is é an rogha is réasúnta.

Níl gnaoi ag mórán Poblachtach ar Romney áfach. Tá dhá phríomhfháth le seo. Ar dtús, bhí roinnt polasaithe liobrálacha aige nuair a bhí sé ina Ghobharnóir Massachusetts, a chlár chúram sláinte sa stát ach go háirithe. Bhí an clár seo an-chosúil le clár Obama, a bhfuil fuath láidir ag Poblachtaigh air.

Tá Romney ag maíomh anois go bhfuil

sé in éadan cláir atá beagnach mar an gcéanna lena chlár féin ar an ardán náisiúnta, agus é ag déanamh iarracht vótaí a fháil ó vótálaithe níos coimeádaí ná toghthóirí Massachusetts.

Mar gheall ar a sheasaimh neamhsheasmhach ar shaincheisteanna do Phoblachtaigh, deirtear gur Poblachtach san ainm amháin é Romney.

Chomh maith leis seo, is Mormannach é, creideamh a shílfear mar chultas ag mórán Críostaithe coimeádacha. Mar gheall ar an drochmhuinín atá ag a lán Poblachtach as Romney, ní fhaigheann sé níos mó ná 25% sna pobalbhreitheanna. Ach tá an tacaíocht aige seasmhach, rud nach bhfuil ag iarrthóir ar bith eile.

Tháinig ceithre iarrthóir chun tosaigh mar phríomhchéile comhraic ag Romney le linn an fheachtais go fóill, ach arís agus arís eile, bíonn a seans scriosta go han-ghasta nuair a thugann siad chun solais. Ar dtús ba í Michele Bachmann a bhí chun tosaigh, ach laghdaigh a cuid tacaíochta i ndiaidh roinnt ráiteas conspóideach. Mhaígh

sí gur chúis é an vacsaín do phapalómaivíreas daonna le moilliú intinne i gcailíní óga. Dhiúltaigh saineolaithe leighis dá ráiteas. Ní raibh sí in ann cuimhneamh ar roinnt fíricí stairiúla chomh maith, agus bhí a ráitis ró-antoisceach fiú i measc na bPoblachtach.

Ba é Rick Perry, Gobharnóir Texas, an chéad duine eile a bhí chun tosaigh.

Ach tá scileanna óráide in easnamh air.

I gcomparáid le Perry, shílfeá go raibh líofacht san óráid ag a réamhtheachtaí mar Ghobharnóir Texas, George W. Bush. Bhí cuma ar an scéal go raibh Perry ólta ar ardán ag imeacht in New

Hampshire. Agus i ndiaidh botúin mhóir i ndíospóireacht i Michigan, nuair a rinne sé dearmad ar ranna rialtais a chuirfeadh sé deireadh leis mar Uachtarán, tá cuma ar an scéal go bhfuil a fheachtas millte.

Ba é Herman Cain an chéad iarrthóir eile a thug dúshlán do Romney. Is cosúil go bhfuil bród air as an easpa eolais atá aige ar chúrsaí thar sáile.

Dhearbhaigh sé in agallamh gur cuma leis cé hé Uachtarán ‘Ubeki-beki-bekibeki-stan-stan’, agus in agallamh eile streachail sé le ceist simplí ar chúrsaí na Libia. Ach an rud a rinne an dochar is mó dá fheachtas ná na socraíochtaí a d’íoc sé do mhná mar gheall ar éilimh gnéaschiaptha sna 1990í, nuair a bhí Cain i gceannas ar Chomhlachas Náisiúnta na mBialann. Anois, tá Newt Gingrich ag ardú sna pobalbhreitheanna, in ainneoin a chuid conspóidí féin, íocaíochtaí ó Freddie Mac agus caidrimh suirí ina measc.

Tá triúr eile fágtha, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, agus Rick Santorum. Tá tuairimí seasmhacha ag Paul. Tá sé in aghaidh rialú rialtais, mar aon le Poblachtaigh go ginearálta, ach níl mórán tacaíochta dá pholasaithe eachtracha agus dá pholasaithe maidir le drugaí i measc thromlach na bPoblachtach.

Ní aontaíonn sé le coiriúlú na ndrugaí, agus tá sé i gcoinne idirghabhála míleata, polasaithe sainiúla i measc na niarrthóirí.

Tá Huntsman cosúil le Romney. Is Mormannach é, agus síltear go bhfuil sé réasúnta. Iar-ambasadóir Mheiriceá sa tSín, tá Sínis líofa aige, rud nach raibh ag Uachtarán ar bith go fóill. Tá Huntsman go han-íseal sna pobalbhreiteanna, áfach, cosúlacht atá aige le Santorum.

Tá sé an-deacair buaiteoir a roghnú faoi láthair. Tosóidh na toghcháin tosaigh iad féin i Mí Eanáir, leis an chácas in Iowa. Ach leis an ghráscar iarrthóirí, an mbronnfaidh na Poblachtaigh an Uachtaránacht ar Obama arís an bhliain seo chugainn?

Gluais: Teach na nIonadaithe ...................................... House of Representatives faíreach .............................................................................................. catcalling básuithe ............................................................................................. executions rogha na coitiantachta .......................................................... hot favourite papalómaivíreas daonna ........................................ human papillomavirus éilimh gnéaschiaptha ................................... sexual harassment claims coiriúlú .................................................................................... criminalisation idirghabháil mhíleata .......................................... military intervention

8

features

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

With applications for 2012 J1 Visas recently opening, Nicholas Lawrie explores some potential pitfalls facing Irish students “We can see from State’s decision that they found serious problems with the J1 visa program, which has effectively become the largest unregulated guestworker program in America. The deception, exploitation, and threats that the 400 student workers at the Hershey’s packing plant faced aren’t the exception in the J1 program; they’re the rule”

Saket Soni, Executive Director of the National Guestworker Alliance

“They have such a huge amount of people coming over that they know they can replace us. My employer told me that ‘when Irish people were poor, they’d do whatever we asked them to.

Now you’re more picky’”

Susie McEvoy, Fourth year International Social Science

N

ew York. Chicago. Los Angeles.

As students approach the end of the year, many are planning their upcoming summers and the exciting experiences which will no doubt be had on a J1 trip to America.

Talk to any student who has done a J1 and you’ll hear tales of good times. These adventures often include stories of Irish students getting a tad too excited. On the low end of things, anecdotes include excessive partying; on the higher end, examples of more anti-social behaviour and aggressive activities which placed students in risky situations.

“There were issues this year of students putting stickers onto their passports,” according to Sheila Daly of USIT Dublin. “Somebody had a little enterprise going where they were selling stickers, a laminate, so students gave a copy of their passport and they took copies of it and changed the date of birth and made a sticker that went over the bio page which looked extremely real but in some cases police found out, it got leaked and certain bouncers and pubs and clubs found out. If you lifted the passport to the light, you can see the hologram with the passport, and with these you couldn’t so they were confiscating passports,” added Daly. Illegal? Definitely. Brilliant?

Maybe. Certainly this trick is not to be recommended. However, more and more reports emerging from the United States indicate that it is not only students who may be attempting to work around the law.

This past year 400 students believed that they would be working for a major American producer of chocolate, Hershey’s, America’s answer to Cadbury’s or Nestle. However, they soon found themselves as employees of the temporary staffing agency SHS, contracted through a company called Exel on behalf of Hershey’s, working incredibly long hours under extremely physically taxing conditions in a chocolate packing factory.

Stephen Boykewich represents an American organisation called the National Guestworkers Alliance, which assists foreign guestworkers.

The organisation was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when many guestworkers were recruited to assist in the rebuilding of New Orleans.

“These students were forced to work at extraordinary rates of productivity - 120%, 125% of plant capacity. In the process, they were suffering a whole huge range of physical ailments, from chronic fatigue to shooting pains, bruises up and down their arms and legs, they were doing heavy repetitive lifting for eight hours at a time, unable to sleep, and any concerns they raised were met with threats of retaliation or deportation,” said Boykewich.

“The most important thing to understand is that the J1 visa program is not a guestworker visa program. It was not created to be a guestworker program, it’s not administrated by the Department of Labor, but by the Department of State, and of course on the face of it, it makes no sense that the Department of State would be administering a guestworker program.

It’s not equipped to, it shouldn’t be able to. The J1 program was founded in 1961, where by providing opportunities for cultural exchange, it promised young people from other countries

the opportunity to come to the United States and meet Americans and return to their home countries as cultural ambassadors. What has happened over the last decade is that the J1 program has been exploited by US employers of all kinds to turn it from a cultural exchange program into the largest unregulated guestworker program in America.”

These students eventually spoke out about the abuses that they faced, which led to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issuing a moratorium on applications of new employers to be recognised as eligible J1 employers while internal reviews of the program were conducted.

In a press release, Saket Soni, the Executive Director of the National Guestworker Alliance, stated that “we can see from State’s decision that they found serious problems with the J1 visa program, which has effectively become the largest unregulated guestworker program in America. The deception, exploitation, and threats that the 400 student workers at the Hershey’s packing plant faced aren’t the exception in the J1 program; they’re the rule.”

Susie McEvoy, fourth year International Social Science, participated in the J1 program last summer in Montauk, New York. “I ended up getting a job in a market, a shop, sort of the equivalent to Donnybrook Fair. I was doing seven o’clock to seven o’clock ... working sixty hours a week. I was making rent, but that was about it, I’d have little money left over.”

Other students faced similar difficulties. Fourth year Law student Jane McCann worked in Wildwood, New Jersey at a company which provided dolphin and whale-watching tours and explained that she “worked for twenty-eight days straight, seven until seven.” Clare Nagle, fourth year Business and Law, also worked with Jane. Clare worked an “average of seventy hours per week ... there were a

“Not everybody has the best experience, some people can go out with unrealistic expectations, but for the most part we do a survey every year and 99.9 per cent of people have the most amazing summer of their lives”

Sheila Daly,

Spokesperson for USIT Dublin

couple of weeks in the beginning where it was slower, and then in the middle of the season, it was seventy-hour weeks.”

Certainly there is nothing wrong with a strong work ethic and being able to work long weekly hours. However, a major part of the issue is that under

excellent opportunities for many and, when asked if she would participate in it again, Susie said, “I would do it again, no questions asked. It was one of the best summers ever.” Clare also stated that she would also go again, but offered advice to students. “We

American labour law, any hours worked didn’t have enough time off work to by any worker which exceed eight travel. If I was going again I’d work hours a day and forty hours a week less, have more fun, and go travelling require the employer to pay overtime. at the end so I could get the fun out of Yet in the case of Clare and Jane, no the place where I was. If you’re going overtime was paid, and in the case of with your friends, get jobs in different Susie, she was paid overtime pay in places because if not, it’s really difficult cash. This allowed the employer to not to do anything because on your day pay taxes on the overtime pay; thus, the off there’s no one else off. Be careful employers were able to skirt the law of your housing. They think because and exploit their labour. Additionally, you’re a) under twenty-five, b) Irish, they were often paid their basic wage and c) on your J1 that you don’t care in cash and the fact that the employers about what you live in.” had them work these hours also put Both Daly and Boykewich stressed the full-time American workers at a the importance of researching disadvantage. accommodation and employers before “They did it in a way that they’d travelling to America. “We advise pay us overtime in cash because they everybody to do research before they go. didn’t want to pay tax on our overtime. It’s the biggest thing. We recommend Which was fine for me, but then they certain websites where people can find close for three or four months of the work or accommodation but we always year and the full-time workers get advise people, for example Craigslist half the unemployment benefits that ... you’ll find that there are thousands they would be getting if everything of legitimate employers and people was done above board because the renting accommodation on there, but government thinks they are working you get the people who are dodgy as only half the hours that they are. For well,” Daly said. me, it didn’t make much of a difference, Boykewich added, “Do the because I get it in cash. But for full- research. Understand every single time workers, it was a big issue,” said point of whatever job offer, whatever Susie. “They have such a huge amount documentation you are given. Very of people coming over that they know often, students are given job offers that they can replace us. My employer told will sketch out situations including me that ‘when Irish people were poor, some of the numbers but then are told they’d do whatever we asked them to. a very different story by the sponsors.

Now you’re more picky’.”

You want to be very, very clear what Attempts to take advantage of your economic reality is going to be students is not limited to the workplace; and ask sponsors all the hard questions, many landlords are also increasingly things that are not laid out in the doing so, either packing students into contract.” places or offering rentals which tenants A summer trip to America on a J1 can would not normally accept. “The house be a fantastic experience but make sure was disgusting, it was an absolute kip. that you are well-organised in order to We didn’t have hot water for a month not be taken advantage of. Daly added a and I’m pretty sure it had black mould final note for UCD students considering as well,” Clare said. Susie describes her a J1. “Not everybody has the best living situation: “We had people in our experience, some people can go out with living room. We had a pull-out couch unrealistic expectations, but for the that we had at least two people in the most part we do a survey every year and living room, if not three people. We 99.9% of people have the most amazing had another two or three people in the summer of their lives. Personally I had a garage. We had another four people in green card, I got one of those Donnelly my bedroom, three people in another, visas years ago so I went off to the States three people in another...the landlord and did my time over there. It’s a rite collected $800 a month from each of us, of passage, it’s an amazing experience. and there were thirteen of us in a three Literally, you grow up, you learn about bedroom house.” the big bad world. And it’s great to have Still, the J1 program provides on a CV.”

opinion.

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

9

Are students under too much pressure?

As exams loom ever closer, Yvanne Kennedy and Emer Sugrue debate whether or not Irish students are under more pressure than those studying abroad

yes.

no.

Yvanne Kennedy

Currently, I am sitting at a desk There is, however, the added piled high with books and legal benefit in universities where the pads that are filled with the scrawl twenty-four week year is split in of hours worth of lecture notes. three, that there is a lot more time There is an essay due, there are for resting between terms, a time exams coming up, my diary is full to chill out, time to perhaps get to the hilt and I was working all some work experience and genday to help finance the ‘extras’ eral time away from studying that that are cluttering its pages. Now, makes it much easier when you you may say that I have brought do have to return. this all on myself and to an exIrish universities are held tent I have. I am the embodiment in very high esteem. They are of the ‘yes man’ philosophy - if some of the best universities in something takes my fancy, I will Europe and are the continuous apply for it, fundraise for it or oc- recipients of various awards for casionally sing for it. That’s what research and development. This college is all about, right? In all high standard is reflected both in honesty, that essay isn’t due for a the calibre of teaching staff they week and the exams will be fine, attract, but also in the standard but I can’t help feeling entirely of graduates they produce. Conoverwhelmed by my sheer lack of trary to some beliefs, this is not time. because our exams are easier or That events diary is becoming marked with a lighter touch of slowly lighter as I attempt to claw the pen. It is because the standmy way out from under that stack ard we are compared to is so of books, and the daily commute is high and because we are worked a killer - the sheer price of campus hard to produce these results. accommodation means a good Our lecturers undoubtedly give four hours spent on buses damp- us lots to work with, but what ens my day. Our college year from they expect in return is a standend to end may be shorter than ard of care, an attention to detail, most in Europe, but the system and research that can rival any of will be damned if it doesn’t suck the top universities in the world. a lot of life out of us by the end of They are not content with medithose twenty-four weeks. The mix ocrity and neither are we. Howof continuous assessment and ex- ever, if it potentially comes at the ams is good in theory, but when cost of running people into the compared to certain other juris- ground, where is the worth in the dictions and universities, such as fantastic results if the person bethose in Britain, where the exams hind them is exhausted, cranky may be plentiful but the pace is and defeated? There is none, so slower, pressure is on us from all maybe we should start thinking sides. about that instead of our assignThe different degree lengths ments. here and abroad also ramp up the pressure on Irish students. Many Rebuttal by degrees and postgrads take much Emer Sugrue longer in other countries than I would disagree that pressure is here, meaning the same amount placed on students because of of material is condensed. One-year our universities being in high remasters instead of two, and three- gard – the rank of Irish universiyear bachelors instead of four, may ties has never been lower and the push us out into the real world a lit- continued cuts are ensuring that tle faster but it comes at the cost of standards will continue to fall. an intense workload. The amount The pressure may be even greater of time spent on initial learning, for qualifying degrees than more especially on a course leading di- general ones, but the stress of rectly to a profession, means that a this is offset by the fact that this great amount is missed out on and is job training, and practise in this the module choice is limited. The environment is essential for beoption to cover the same amount coming qualified. Many degrees of material may be available but have even fewer pressures, and in that condensed time period, taking on extra work in being a there is much less scope and I’m ‘yes man’ is not the responsibilsure more pressure laid on to cov- ity of the educational body, but er things over reduced weeks and of the individual’s time keeping abilities. hours.

“Our college year from end to end may be shorter than most in Europe, but the system will be damned if it doesn’t suck a lot of life out of us by the end of those twenty-four weeks”

“Semesterisation has divided student life into easy to manage, bite-sized chunks rather than worldending final exams”

50st

Emer Sugrue

While being knee-deep in exams. Some final exams are deadlines of already extended worth as little as twenty per cent, essays, and with exams for hardly an overwhelming task. classes I’m not even sure the I’m not suggesting that name of looming ever closer, it students aren’t under pressure, is very tempting to claim that of course they are. Essays, exams, Irish students have a tough life presentation and assignments compared to everyone else. I’m are stressful. But is it too much? not lazy, it’s the system. What do Part of the purpose of university the French study, wine drinking is to ease us into the real world and lechery? That is merely an – a taste of deadlines and living extracurricular activity for the alone without the consequences burdened paddy. Sadly, as much that oversleeping every day for a as I claim this to my parents, it is year would have on your career. simply not the case. There is plenty Everyone says these are the best of pressure on Irish students, but days of our lives and tragically, it is no more than is expected of this is true. You will never have anyone in full-time education. such an opportunity for a varied Most Irish universities have and active social life. Even the switched over to modularisation, most bombarded students find which not only gives you the time for societies and free beer freedom to choose classes nights, and apart from turning outside of your core subjects, but in the odd paper, you have no also allows each class to be taken responsibility. The amount of separately. A failed class does extra work students are able to not mean a failed year as it might take on when they need to shows mean elsewhere. The freedom to that the course itself is not overly fail, as it were, is a huge relief from demanding. Due to financial the pressures of a degree. There circumstances students may be are consequences, the re-sit fee compelled to take on part-time being the least of them, but it work but the same cannot be said is not the end of the world. Irish for Coppers and the supernatural universities go out of their way hold it has on the drunk and to accommodate students like no bewildered. other country.

Irish students face pressure, One thing that is often but no more than any other complained about is how short student has to deal with, and no the semesters in Irish universities more than they can cope with. have become. Just ten weeks of The not only increasing numbers lectures and tutorials to cover a of people applying for college, whole section of a course isn’t but completing courses with very much, true. But while it may high marks, proves that the stress not allow for the most in-depth is not too much to bear. learning of a topic, it does serve to reduce stress on the hapless Rebuttal by student. I think we can agree that Yvanne Kennedy a lot of college work is left until The semesters being shorter the last minute. There are tales of does not lessen the pressure mystical beings who finish their students are under, but rather assignments days, even weeks increases it. Irish degrees are of before the deadline, but this a globally recognised standard, is just fantasy and rumour. No and therefore are understood matter how long you get to write to provide the same learning as something, it’s done the night their overseas equivalents. All before, maybe over the course of that semesterisation has done a few days if you are really hard is compress the heavy workload working and there’s no particularly into a short timeframe, where interesting gossip on Facebook, students have no breaks and but it won’t be finished until you few opportunities to relax. With have to hand it in. It’s the way of so little time to comprehend the the world. Now, think how much material it is no wonder that Irish work that would be if you had a students are feeling the strain, and year-long module. It’s too horrible while this may prepare them for to think about. Semesterisation the harsh realities of the working has divided student life into easy world, we should be working to to manage, bite-sized chunks change those realities rather than rather than world-ending final blindly accepting them.

10

Opinion

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Loss leader With the Prime Ministers of Italy and Greece recently replaced, Sean O’Grady looks at what this change means for the economy and the people

A

s early as 2002, economists have been predicting the eventual failure of the euro.

At a time when most European countries were free of recession and financial worry, to the majority of people, these predictions would have seemed pessimistic.

Presently, however, those forecasts are becoming more realistic by the day. Several countries, including Ireland, must deal with

the looming threat of being completely ousted from the currency, the case being particularly grave in Italy and Greece. With both countries on the brink of economic disaster, two new leaders have been elected in both Rome and Athens to try and alleviate the problems their countries face.

It must be said that when considering the actions of the previous leaders, this change in leadership

is without a doubt a positive one. coni’s image has been plagued the void left by Papandreou. While However, it begs the question, is it with allegations of corruption, tax Papademos himself is ready to all too little, too late? evasions and bribery, Monti’s past admit that he is not a politician, Italy and Greece have been fac- is as clean as a whistle. As was ex- he has been well received, wining economic hardships for quite pected, Monti, an expert econo- ning a confidence vote in which some time. While it is unfair to lay mist, faces a long uphill battle in 229 MPs voted in favour of him. the blame entirely on the leaders, trying to bring his country back Unlike Papandreou, Papadamos it is evident that bad decisions on its feet. His main priority is so- is determined to ensure Greece were made on their behalf. The cial equity and he has been wel- remains within the euro, saying twelfth of November marked the comed with open arms by the “Dealing with Greece’s problems end of the seventeen-year run of population, who are eager to see will be more difficult if Greece is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Ber- the opening of a new chapter for not a member of the eurozone.” lusconi. Berlusconi was once re- the country. Certainly Monti rep- This statement echoes the views nowned for his undeniable cha- resents a positive change for Italy, of most Greeks and represents a risma and political skills. This all but whether or not he will be able positive indication for the country. came to a crashing halt when he to bring them out of their financial It goes without saying that both was forced out of government, la- rut remains to be seen. of the new leaders of Italy and belled a ‘clown’ by his own people.

Just as Italy faces an uncertain Greece face a long struggle ahead Berlusconi’s continuous politi- future, its neighbour Greece lies of them to help regain some of the cal dominance in Italy, combined in a similar situation; with its debt financial stability that their counwith his control of the media and expected to increase 186 per cent tries are currently deprived of. The wealth, almost echo the char- by 2013, the now former Prime change in leadership is largely acteristics of another notorious Minister George Papandreou has symbolic in both cases. From the Italian leader. Berlusconi, a man stepped down from his post. Pa- positive reactions both Monti and plagued by sex scandals and ac- pandreou received substantial Papadamos were given upon becusations of objectifying women criticism from both members of ing elected, it seems that people’s throughout his political career, the government and the public af- mindsets have changed from once claimed in 2008 that, de- ter his decision to have a referen- frustration and disillusionment to spite the countless predictions of dum on the question of the euro. hope and optimism. While this is economic disaster, he was ‘opti- The choice was seen as foolish by undoubtedly a positive change for mistic about the future’. Now, just many, including French President both countries, whether or not this three years later, Italy has been Nicholas Sarkozy, who labelled change in direction has come about left in a crisis totalling 1.9 trillion Papandreou as ‘crazy’ and a ‘de- in time to make a positive impact euro in debt. pressive’ after his referendum de- before the euro completely falls With all of this in mind, the im- cision. While he later withdrew the apart remains to be seen. Monto mediate election of Mario Monti referendum, Papandreou firmly and Papadamos have a lot of presas the new Prime Minister will placed himself in a negative light sure to succeed on their shoulders, hopefully be a positive one. While in the eyes of the Greek people. but they also have the support of Berlusconi has moved from wife The former Vice President of the their people behind them. Whethto wife, Monti has been happily European Central Bank and expert er or not they will succeed in their married for years. While Berlus- economist, Lucas Papademos fills goals, only time will tell.

Economy of equals

As the Occupy movements face a backlash from police, Hannah Dowling examines whether the economy has spread the damage equally

F

rom Wall Street to Dame Street, the rallying cry of the “ninety-nine per cent versus one per cent” has struck a chord around the world. The Occupy protests embody the frustrations of average citizens against the very worst aspects of capitalism in a way that mainstream politics has not. Across the western world, the average citizen is now being held to ransom to the actions of a minority, whose financial power has immensely damaged the political fabric of society. This recession is a rich man’s mess being paid for from the poor man’s pocket.

What happened in Ireland was

self-inflicted. Our collapse may have been triggered by Lehman’s and US subprime lending, but had Ireland not been a house of cards we would have weathered the post-2008 financial storm. Ireland was weakened from within as greed infected the banking and business communities and a complacent government slept at the wheel. The politicians have had their comeuppance at the polls; many of the former business elite such as Sean Quinn are either filing for bankruptcy or are moving to the US. Prosecution of those who broke the law is proceeding at a glacial pace. Now, the key contributors to our national

downfall have been removed and it is left to the general public to tidy up the mess. On the theory that one should never let a good crisis go to waste, much good will have been achieved if we rebuild a fairer society that makes the recurrence of this crisis morally as well as legally unacceptable. In the meantime we have to live with the consequences on a day-today basis.

Unemployment and emigration are at levels not seen since the eighties. The banking system is catatonic; consumer morale is on the floor. As usual, the burden falls on the average citizen squeezed by government for more taxes, by

stubbornly high living costs, and high mortgages taken out to buy overpriced property. Despite having benefited least from the boom, they will carry the majority of the subsequent cost, creating a new poor in the process. This is politically dangerous. The aspirations of the middle class form the bedrock of the western democratic model. When they lose hope the door is open for extremism. It is a truism that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in a recession.

What is different this time is the damage being done to the politically vital middle.

Look at America, where poverty is accelerating against a backdrop of increasing political extremism and dysfunction. Families who have worked their way up the ladder suddenly find themselves falling with only the most basic of safety nets. The response of the political system has been skewed to say the least. Despite nearly one in seven Americans now living below the poverty line, taxes have actually been cut with breaks directed towards the top one per cent of the population.

The richest in America now own around eighty-five per cent of the nation’s wealth, a figure that hasn’t been as high since before the Great Depression. However, it is rapidly becoming clear that a falling tide doesn’t sink all boats.

America’s middle class is shrinking, unemployment is appallingly high and fifty million citizens cannot afford health insurance in a system where public health care would make Florence Nightingale reminisce fondly of the Crimean

War. America has never been a country of equality, merely a country of equality of opportunity. Inequality was rife and an accepted by-product of the American dream. This time, however, the gains of the wealthy are not seen as coming from honest endeavor, but from a corrupt and reckless financial system. Costly wars, expensive financial bail outs and a weakened tax system have combined to leave America bereft of the resources needed to address these issues, even if it had the will to do so.

While the average taxpayer is suffering, the cash rich continue to prosper. Sales of brands such as Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent and Porsche have increased.

Luxury sales have shown an increase of eleven per cent in 2011 alone. In contrast, the middle and working classes struggle to make ends meet on reduced incomes.

Graduates, for whom college was the route to advancement, now find themselves burdened with student loans and reduced job prospects.

The Occupy movement has gained traction in way that most forms of protests have not. It has struck a resonance with the core middle of the political system. It has given a voice to those behind the unemployment statistics, the struggling families and the disillusioned. One of its lasting legacies will be the fact that these protests have created national dialogue about the inequalities within our countries that so badly needed to be addressed.

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Opinion

11

Going postal As the government announce that grants for postgraduate degrees are to be scrapped, Phillipa White looks at the toll this will take on students

L

ast week over 20,000 Irish university students walked the streets of the capital to protest against the likely changes to third level fees in the upcoming budget. I, like many other students who refrained from going, conjured up a clichéd array of excuses when clarifying my lack of attendance. Truth being told, however, I was in fact not “too busy with exams”, nor was discouraged by the weather, and I obviously was not washing my hair. Frankly, I did not fully agree with the entire idea of the protest itself.

Although I was not willing to protest against the increase in un-

dergraduate fees, there was only when it is acceptable to scrounge the free fees scheme since its inone factor that made me want to off one’s parents, combined with troduction in 1996, are the middle rise from the depths of my inac- many years continuously spent in classes. In other words, since third tion and hop on an inbound 46A further education, postgraduates level undergraduate fees were in a banner-waving, slogan-chant- having little to no savings base. abolished, there has been a coning frenzy. Indeed, the cuts to the Postgraduate students are, more tinual growth in students attendpostgraduate maintenance grant often than not, strangled by the ing university, and many of these is the one of the few grievances pitiless clasp of penury before new attendees are students who I have regarding the upcoming they have even paid their course could afford to attend univerbudget. fees. Therefore, making postgrad- sity with or without the scheme.

Currently, undergraduate stu- uate students the prime targets in Therefore, to increase the regisdents in Ireland have to pay for the bid to make third-level institu- tration fees for many undergradutheir registration fees themselves, tions more cost-effective seems ates equates to taxing those who the notable exception to the rule dubiously inequitable. can afford to be taxed. being the students who qualify to Secondly, if postgraduate stuThe simple fact of the matter receive a grant. Postgraduate stu- dents cannot avail of maintenance is that Ireland cannot continue dents have a much rougher time grants, this will have serious ef- to provide free third level educa- not only do most of them have fects on the number of students tion for all undergraduates. The to pay their registration fees but, participating in postgraduate only countries in the EU which unlike undergraduates, they also courses. Those who could only still make such a luxury available pay their own tuition fees. Again, afford to do so in previous years, are Scandinavian countries. Let some postgraduates who are due to the existence of the main- it also be noted that these are means-tested can avail of a main- tenance grants, will simply opt out countries which have some of the tenance grant which covers both of continuing with further studies highest tax rates worldwide. Iretypes of fees. and go straight into employment. land prides itself on being a lowTo put it simply, postgraduates This will lower the educational tax country, and thus it is naïve should not be subject to further standards of Irish graduates en- to believe that we can continue cuts. Cutting the postgraduate tering the work force. Moreover, if down the path we embarked maintenance grant in the upcom- our nations’ universities have few- upon when we abolished thirding budget means that far fewer er people pursuing Masters and level undergraduate fees in 1996. people will be able to avail of PhDs and carrying out research, In short, if we want to keep our postgraduate education in Ire- this will undoubtedly shake the taxes low, we must pay for serland. This is a critical measure that integrity of our “knowledge econ- vices, such as education, in other could cause a greater long-term omy” to its core. ways. detriment to the education sysAs stated previously, one of Ireland has a national debt tem than any rise in undergradu- the main reasons why I am vehe- of €117 billion, and this figure is ate registration fees. mently opposed to the cuts in the growing at an astonishing rate Firstly, the age profile and cir- postgraduate grant is because of €20,000 almost every minute. cumstances of students must be undergraduates should be target- Suffice to say, the country needs considered. The median age of ed for increased fees before post- more money. Before the deciIrish undergraduates is twenty- graduates are subject to cuts, in sion to cut postgraduate grants one, as opposed to twenty-five order to generate some revenue is made, alternative ideas should for postgraduate students. It is for the national universities. The be examined in a bid to generthus inarguable that more under- reason for this is that many under- ate more funds. These alternative graduates than postgraduates are graduates can afford to pay more ideas may be controversial and financially dependent upon their to their universities. Research has downright unpopular, but in the parents. shown that the sectors in society long run, they may prove to be exHaving long overtaken the age who have benefited most from actly what we need.

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health Doctor, Doctor?

&

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

science

PhD student Michael Fenton talks to Alison Lee about his life as a postgraduate student and the fascinating world of structural engineering

What is the official title of your PhD? My work has no official title as of yet, as it keeps changing so often, but I’m provisionally calling it ‘Investigating Structural Engineering Applications of Grammars in Grammatical Evolution’ (catchy, I know!). But it’s a lot more than that.

In layman’s terms, what does that mean?

It basically (in an extreme nutshell) is about computational evolution. We are using Darwinian principles of natural evolution (survival of the fittest, combination and mutation, etc.) to evolve architectural computer programs using a grammar-based system. My part revolves around integrating structural engineering analysis capabilities with this evolutionary process; for example, we have created programs that allow designers to create complex 3D structures such as bridges or electricity pylons. My work ensures these generated designs are structurally feasible, i.e. they’ll stand up. If a design fails (falls down), then it isn’t “fit” for its environment, and therefore is kicked out of the gene pool while “fitter” individuals advance and continually improve the population towards an ideal individual.

Describe your typical “day at work”.

I try to get started before 10am and get through all of my emails, check the news, etc. Then I’ll just dive into whatever’s on the agenda for the day. I might have a paper or submission to be working on, a presentation to prepare, or a project with the other guys in my team. I don’t really take a lunch break, I just walk to the shop, buy a roll and eat it on the way back; I’m back at my desk in about fifteen minutes and back at work. I usually finish up around 5pm, although if there’s an impending deadline, or if I’m in “the zone” (i.e. getting loads of work done – this is a good thing and when it happens I’ll stay in for as long as possible and get as much done as I can), I’ll usually completely forget about the passage of time and end up staying until about eight or nine, at which point my stomach reminds me that it’s time to go home.

What, for you, is the most fascinating thing about your field of study?

For me, coming from the engineering world (I did a Masters in Structural Engineering with Architecture in UCD), the most fascinating thing about moving into a more computer science-oriented world was the speed at which it moves. In engineering things take a long time. A single project may last many years between the tender process, submission and assessment of tenders, planning, construction, maintenance, etc. Even conference submissions take years – it is not unknown for an engineering submission deadline to be over a year, possibly as much as two years, before the actual conference. In the computing world by comparison, things move at light speed. Conferences can

be announced, papers submitted, and the conference attended in under six months. Another fascinating thing for me is the relative limitless potential of the field. Literally, whatever you can imagine can be implemented via code, all that stands in the way is your own skill in getting the ideas in working order through the keyboard. Coming from the regimented rules and laws of engineering, the freedom is incredible.

In your opinion, what are the best and worst things about being a postgraduate student?

Having a student card that says “Doctor of Philosophy” on it! And getting paid to go to college isn’t too bad either.

I feel the hardest thing for any new PhD candidate is the initial stages of “oh god what the hell am I doing here”.

Every person initially feels completely overwhelmed by the undertaking they’ve signed up to and they wonder how the hell they arrived in this situation. But you eventually find out that everyone else feels the same and then you just get on with it. It’s like any college project – it’s horrifically daunting at first, but as soon as you put pen to paper it just flows, and once you get into your stride you’re grand.

How could your work make a difference to the world?

I’m not sure. I hope to be able to provide a tool for any designer/engineer/architect looking either for inspiration in a design scenario or for full (basic) design solutions which they can build on.

How do you hope your PhD will affect your career prospects?

Yet again, I’m not sure! That’s at least three years away at this stage, so I’m not thinking about it.

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The communicative gene L

anguage is such a part of our lives that we scarcely give it thought. For the most part, it is the medium through which we project ourselves onto the world, and in turn through which we gain our perceptions of the world. Our success as a species owes much to the communicative powers language affords. It enabled our ancestors to become the organised, cooperative species we are today. But where did it come from? A sentence leaves no skeleton, so how are we to track its origin?

Researchers of the past, lacking physical evidence or a definite direction, were free to speculate on the origins of language. However, all of their conjecture served only to cause frustration, to the extent that the Linguistic Society of Paris banned all communication on the origin of language in 1866, quickly followed by its English counterpart, the Philological Society of London, in 1873. It would be almost a century before it was mentioned again.

In the 1960s, studies of the deep structure of language, and the effortless way in which children acquire it, lead modern linguists such as Noam Chomsky (pictured) to propose that it must have some biological foundation.

Following on from this, some asserted that language might have been shaped by natural selection. If so, it should be possible to gain an understanding of the origins of language by studying the parlance of natural selection, DNA. Biologists toiled for years, without finding a single gene to support this theory, until a breakthrough occurred in 2001.

The KE family (so named in scientific literature for privacy reasons) are an extended family living in London, who suffered to a large extent from speech and language problems (with unaffected cognitive abilities). The

The science behind the human acquisition of language skills is not yet fully understood, but James Kelly examines a discovery which indicates that it may be genetically influenced

family’s children were referred to the Institute of Child Health at University College London. On investigating the family’s medical history, the problem was traced back to a grandmother. Researchers deduced that she must have carried a rare genetic mutation. Further studies revealed that all of the suffering family members had a mutant

FOXP2 gene.

This gene, which is highly conserved (present in an extremely similar form) in all vertebrates, produces a protein called FOXP2. This protein is present in high levels in developing embryos and plays a key role in mediating other genes in the brain, resulting in neurons being “switched” on or off. It is thought

that the complex neural pattering orchestrated by FOXP2 is essential for the faculty of speech. Mice have been genetically engineered to produce the human FOXP2 protein. These mice show increased neuronal development in the basal ganglia - an area key to procedural learning and voluntary motor control, both necessary for speech and

quicker learning times. Interestingly, they also emit a loud frequency sound instead of a squeak.

While association of the FOXP2 gene with language is a major step forward, there is still a long way to go. Aspects of language such as grammar and syntax have yet to be afforded a genetic grounding.

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Science & Health

Is the proteome the new genome?

T

he human cell is a complex structure, at the core of which lies the nucleus.

The nucleus contains chromosomal DNA, which is the genetic material of the cell. Full genome sequencing involves determining the complete sequence of the chromosomal DNA as well as the sequence of mitochondrial DNA and chromosomal DNA in plants.

The human genome has already been sequenced to an extent, which is a huge step in the area of molecular biology, considering that the original double helix was only discovered in 1953 by James D. Watson and Francis Crick (pictured). It is through the activity of the DNA that proteins are formed, though the complete human proteome has yet to be sequenced.

To understand the significance and complexity of sequencing a genome and the current attempts at sequencing a proteome, it is necessary to have a certain extent of knowledge about the sequences and structures that are being dealt with.

The human cell has an outer membrane, which encloses the fluid cytoplasm, in which all of the various parts of the cell are suspended. These include the energyproducing mitochondria, the proteintranslating ribosomes and of course the DNA-containing nucleus. In the nucleus is found the genetic material, which consists of twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, giving a total of forty-six per cell. Each of these chromosomes is made of DNA, which contains the genetic information required for an organism to function.

The DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) backbone of a chromosome strand consists of two complementary strands wound together in a double-helix formation. The backbone of each strand is comprised of a sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate group, which are held together by phosphodiester bonds. Deoxyribose is a five-carbon sugar, which contains one less oxygen than its relative ribose, which is what gives it its name.

The repetitive structures of sugar and phosphate make up the DNA’s backbone.

Attached to the other side of the sugar

Following the determination of the human genome in the 2000s, Katie Hughes examines the next step in molecular sequencing molecule on the backbone is a nucleic base.

There are four different nucleic bases found in DNA – adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C), only one of which is attached to each sugar. However, when the two strands of the DNA molecule intertwine to form the double helix, an adenine molecule must be opposite a thymine molecule, as these bind together with three hydrogen bonds, and a guanine molecule must be facing cytosine molecule as this pairing forms three hydrogen bonds. Because of the necessity for the strands to be complementary to each other, both strands are used as templates for the formation of a new complementary strand during replication, which results in two identical chromosomes.

A gene is a series of thousands of base pairs in a row: every gene codes for the production of a specific protein, which leads to various outcomes in the body. Proteins are complex three-dimensional structures composed of amino acids. There are twenty different amino acids in nature; a series of three base pairs codes for the production of a particular amino acid. As there are twenty amino acids, each has more than one possible triplet sequence coding for it.

For a gene, or a sequence of bases, to be formed into a string of amino acids, a series of steps must take place. These steps can be divided into transcription and translation. In the first, a protein called RNA polymerase recognises a specific sequence of nucleic acids, called the promoter. The promoter is a length of bases before the gene sequence which signals for the RNA polymerase to bind to the chromosome. The RNA, along with other transcription factors, binds to the promoter and begins the process of transcription once it detects the

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start codon, AUG. The RNA polymerase stops its activity once it reaches a three base sequence called the stop codon which is any of TAA, TAG or TGA, located at the end of the gene.

Transcription is the process by which a copy of the DNA sequence is made into a RNA template. This template is transported out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm, where ribosomes convert the sequence to a chain of amino acids through a process called translation; in humans, this takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum. The proteins then undergo post-translational modification in the Golgi body of the cell, which may include, among others, ubiquitation, phosphorylation or glycosylation of the protein, which is the addition of other molecules to the amino acid sequence. The protein then joins with other proteins to form a holoprotein, as most proteins do not function alone, which is then transported to it’s final destination within the cell.

One of the main aims of the Human Genome Project was to sequence all of the 20,000 – 25,000 genes found on human chromosomes, some three billion base pairs in total. From the description above, it is easy to see that this was quite a mammoth task – it was by no means a simple undertaking but one that, now that it is complete, has a huge impact on mankind.

At the outset of this piece, it was stated that the entire human genome has been sequenced, but only to an extent. There are still small sections of the genome that have not been sequenced due to the gaps in question not responding to the sequencing techniques applied to already sequenced parts of the genome.

It is the sequence in which nucleic bases appear that the Human Genome Project is based on.

The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health announced a primary draft of the first human genome in June 2000 and a more complete draft in 2003.

In September 2010, researchers at UCD’s Conway Institute completed the sequencing of the first entire genome of an Irish individual. This project was carried out as every individual’s genome, with the exception of identical twins, is different.

This difference in each human’s DNA comes from conception – all cells but one in the human body contain double-stranded DNA; however, the female gametes, the egg cells, and the male gametes, the sperm, are both haploid, i.e. they contain singe stranded chromosomes only. Upon conception, when they fuse to form a zygote, they form twostranded chromosomes.

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS BUILDING AND ONLINE

The DNA coming from the mother and the DNA coming from the father would both have been mutated in some way as the cells divided; so, because half of the new organism’s DNA comes from the mother and the other half from the father, each individual’s DNA is different.

Because of the individuality of the respective genomes, the first genome that was announced in 2003 was a representative one, formed from the compilation of more than one human genome. It would have matched relatively closely to most people’s personal gene sequences, though some variations would have occurred due to the variety from case to case.

Of the many benefits that have come out of the sequencing process, one of the most significant is the impact it has had in the area of molecular medicine. Researchers have been able to produce increasingly detailed genome maps, which allow them to locate and target genes associated with genetic conditions such as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and myotonic dystrophy. This targeting allows them to focus on examining the fundamental causes of the disease in question rather than solely treating the symptoms.

The next big step in the study of molecular systems is the sequencing of the proteome – this would involve the sequencing of the entire complement of human proteins, including the modifications made to sets of proteins, which vary depending on the conditions present.

One of the basic problems with proteomics is the sheer complexity of proteins not only in their varying structure, but also in their expression. While the genome can be considered constant, despite mutations that may occur, proteins are produced due to a stimulus that is produced as a result of varying cell conditions. This means that the proteome in each cell of the body differs depending on the cell and the time.

After the RNA strand is translated into a series of amino acids, the protein undergoes post-translational modifications. A protein can undergo any number of these, which further complicates its structure and attempts at sequencing it.

Proteomics gives a more thorough understanding of an organism than genomics, as genomics simply provides a fundamental template from which proteins are made.

Proteomics however, examines all of the possible ramifications of the outcomes of transcription. The level at which a gene is transcribed is only a minor estimate of its level of expression as a protein. This is because in some cases a protein may become active only once it has undergone posttranslational modification; a protein may be spliced after its production, giving two separate proteins or a section of the protein may degrade, giving a wholly different structure.

Examining proteins at a detailed level and determining their functions is of huge significance as knowledge of the DNA sequence of an organism is not sufficient when attempting to explain the way in which cells work or in examining the cause of disease. It is the function of proteins in every single cell of the body, from their actions in the phospholipid membrane and their functions as transport molecules to the need for their presence for the formation of yet a different protein, that determine our body’s response to different stimuli. They are one of the most important molecules in our body, which when we understand them completely, may give us a whole new lease on life.

13

The Observer Guide to Surviving exams In our final buzz killing column of 2011, Alison Lee tells you how to survive the immense dangers surrounding exam time

Studying and sitting exams is tough on both the mind and body, and looking after your health at this time of year can seriously pay off in terms of exam performance. Your diet can play a huge role in how well your brain works: although it comprises only two per cent of body weight, the brain greedily consumes twenty per cent of your body’s energy when you’re at rest. Blood glucose levels need to be kept above four millimoles per litre to prevent symptoms of mild hypoglycaemia, which can include impaired judgement, confusion and amnesia - definitely not what you need during an exam. Low blood sugar also causes a release of adrenaline, which enhances feelings of anxiety. Basically eat a light meal containing a source of protein before an exam. If you’re feeling too nervous to eat, go for a smoothie or protein shake instead.

There is even evidence that some foods enhance how well our brains function. Everyone has heard about the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids, but what do they do? Evidence has accumulated that they affect the synapses (points where our brain cells, or “neurons” connect). Here they may stimulate the release of transmitter chemicals which affect learning and memory - they have been linked to prevention of dementia and Alzheimer’s in elderly people.

Although conclusive evidence that Omega-3 does improve cognition is lacking, taking fish oil supplements can’t hurt. Just don’t forget that a balanced intake of vitamins and minerals is important.

The atmospheric temperature also affects how well the brain works.

Our brains work most efficiently at a temperature of below 25 degrees Celsius. Therefore if you study while wrapped in jumpers with the heater on and a mug of tea at your elbow, beware. You may feel warm and happy but it’s likely you’re making yourself sleepy and less productive.

Luckily, this is unlikely to be an issue in the draughty RDS.

Sleep is also essential for mental function; in fact, one sleepless night can affect your brain function as much as being over the legal alcohol limit. Studies have shown that people who focus on their anxiety during exam time sleep less than those who don’t openly display their emotions the latter group sleep to escape their worries. Thus if insomnia is an issue, try take your mind off study and focus on something different for a while.

Sadly hitting the books is probably the best way to prepare for an exam but looking after your overall health can definitely help you along - then you can undo all your good work over the Christmas holidays.

14

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Irish University Senior Management:

Still a Man’s World?

Talleyrand U Felicitations Failures!

It’s that time of year again, to eat, drink, and merrily storm out of exams you have just comprehensively failed. Yes, it’s Christmas, and that means exams, the freezing aerodrome of the Industries Hall, and the faint promise of mulled wine and parental care to bide you over until the 21st. Just think, you’re halfway through the year, and look at all the time you’ve already squandered! Just get your socks on now, because time is running out; you only have a few short weeks to pretend that a beloved grandparent died and that you’re not responsible for the fact you haven’t done a jot in the last four months. Just think of all the books you never bought, or bought and never opened – this is why you came to UCD. Speaking of our beloved alma mater, UCD have released a brand new piece of YouTube propaganda to try and trick naïve Leaving Cert-ers into thinking we are a real college, and bless them for trying. “What is the mind?” the advert rings out; well, I’d imagine you should know, you being a university and all. Why are you asking me? Once again, UCD is off to a flying start.

Talleyrand has good reason to believe that Hugh Brady simply took an ad for O2, and cut in the occasional shot of a library or some girls jumping about on the Dramsoc stage – and by God, it worked. If I wasn’t already in UCD, I’d be transferring here immediately, such is the allure of texting on a bench and the promise of a Frank McGuinness in every classroom. Stop pretending Frank McGuinness is in every classroom, UCD – we only have the one, and you’re too cheap to buy us another one.

Also in UCD’s latest magnum opus is a lady looking distractedly at an iPad while standing outside a Neolithic burial ground, presumably the Neolithic burial grounds recently opened behind the Ag building. The ad is awash with such inconsistancies; firstly, the advert heavily infers that people commonly read on the grass of UCD’s lush campus, which as we all know is a unique strand of weed that remains permanently wet and results not in learning, but in wet bottoms and ‘surprise’ rashes. Also, the ad features good-looking people, and as a result, the Advertising Standards Authority have begun their investigation into failure to fulfil legitimate expectations.

Talleyrand hates to harp on about these things, but good Christ, has anyone even seen this ad? ‘The Social Network-but-crap’ rowing scene alone is enough to make you wonder who they are trying to fool. The best part is the strange man who is in the bushes, staring at the rowers while they fly past on that river that we supposedly have – the vibe is less Oxbridge, more Deliverance.

In other news, Talleyrand personally oversaw the demolition of the running track. Look closely at the photograph of the running track being ripped up, particularly at the big JCB in the foreground – you might just see a certain French diplomat proudly gesticulating from the cabin. Yes, it was me all along, and the upper-echelons of the University hadn’t a thing to do with it.

Why did I do it, I hear you cry, running around campus assuming everyone cares about a blasted running track as much as you do? No particular reason, I was simply bored, and people who are physically proactive annoy me. Turns out I was absolutely right to do it – people who charge around campus like a half-dressed flashmob, disrupting people from their studies and screaming like svelte howler monkeys annoy me even more.

With that said, one does understand their frustration. Being told that the track is being taken away from you, only to have it conveniently torn down just twenty-one hours later, represents a distinct and flagrant lack of respect, even outright deceit. And for that, Talleyrand apologises. I’m glad we can all put the nasty business behind us.

Talley-ho!

Talleyrand

I

n the run-up to the December 6th budget, all vested interests in society have been busy explaining why the axe should not fall on their area. One might have expected informed understanding amongst the educational elite about acceptance of austerity. No chance.

Representatives of educational institutes, teachers’ unions, and student groups have been to the forefront of seeking exemption from fiscal reality. The €8.7 billion spent by the Department of Education has to be reduced by circa ten per cent in real terms over the next three years.

All expenditure programmes are only being sustained by borrowing. Markets won’t lend this finance because they believe our sovereign debt is unsustainable. They are correct. The national debt is heading for €220 billion, while GNP is €164 billion. Interest repay-

niversities are hierarchical organisations, with power increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small group of people at the top. In Irish universities these are, overwhelmingly, men. Thus at a time when girls are outperforming boys in the educational system; where they constitute more than half of the students in universities; where half of those in the professions are women, as are one third of those in senior management and administrative jobs nationally; universities remain male dominated institutions.

Country

President or equivalent

Sweden* Australia Ireland New Zealand South Africa Portugal Turkey UK

41 18 0 0 22 7 10 8

In Ireland, all of those in the highest position (Presidents) in our publicly funded universities are men; as are eighty-two to eighty-six per cent of those at Deputy President/Vice Presidential level. A quarter of those at the next level (Deans) are women – but there is no guarantee that these will move up the hierarchy in the future. Suggestions that these patterns reflect women’s innate abilities or their family responsibilities are challenged by the fact that, for example, forty-one per cent of those at the top of Swedish universities are women (see Table 1). Furthermore, we know that there are women at the top of Irish Institutes of Technology. So, there is something else going on in Irish universities.

Prof. Pat at O’Connor, University rsity of Limerick

A recent cross-national study (including Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Portugal, the UK and Turkey, as well as Ireland) showed that the organisational culture at senior management level in Irish universities was one where male academic senior managers were, for the most part, particularly comfortable working with other men. Thus, as one of the respondents noted: “Most of the men I work with, the bottom line is that they would be much more comfortable to be working

lack of career planning, low selfesteem, high valuation of caring, lack of career ambition, poor ability to market themselves and lifestyles choices. Such explanations obviate the need to look at the organisational culture or wider systemic issues. They are thus very convenient for those who wish to perpetuate the status quo.

Indeed, some of the senior managers in the Irish study felt that it was not in women’s own interest to be in such management positions: “We have a number of good women doing a great job … but I wouldn’t want … to Deputy Other Vice Dean pull them into a manPresident or Presidents or agement area. Even equivalent equivalent from their own career path point of view 35 55 30 they are better off ...

36 40 38 getting well known 14 18 25 in their own area.”

17 17 17 Such attitudes reflect 30 0 28 a kind of patronising 27 16 23 heroic masculin7 4 13 ity insofar as they 6 21 20 purport to protect * A. Goransson (2011) women, while at the same time maintainwith men. They vaguely put up ing men’s positional power. with you, accept that you have Both men and women thought a right to be there but if it was that presidents had the power to up to themselves, they are more change the gender balance in unicomfortable around men. This is versity senior management teams. not a generational thing. Those Both men and women thought most uncomfortable are seriously that the appointment of women younger.” Male academic senior to such senior management posimanagers who had not worked tions was important. However, outside Ireland were particularly there was a reluctance to do this. likely to deny the importance of Very different patterns emerged gender in shaping organisational in for example, Sweden and to a culture. On the other hand, womlesser extent Australia. In both en senior managers were likely to of these countries pro-activity by see the organisational culture as those in the (equivalent of the) ‘a boys club’ - one where conforPresidential position was seen mity was valued and where men as appropriate to ensure that appointed those who were like university management was not themselves. homogenously male dominated.

In the Irish study the senior Given the scale of the chalmanagers typically suggested lenges facing Irish society in that ‘the problem was women’. general, and Irish universities in Thus they referred to women’s particular, does this lack of diver-

sity matter? Firstly, we know that diversity in management teams is strongly related to innovation, so that its absence is likely to inhibit the kind of innovatory approach that the state wishes to foster.

Secondly, if fifty-one per cent of the population is excluded on the basis of gender, then the threshold of excellence will inevitably be at a lower level. Thirdly, the importance of role models has also been widely recognised.

Thus male dominance in senior management in the universities is giving a very clear message to bright, well-educated young women that there is no place for them in senior management in such organisations. Finally, universities are still important in the creation, transmission and validation of knowledge – indeed, in the definition of what constitutes valued knowledge. Hence the kind of knowledge that is seen as valuable may well be ultimately affected by gender, with consequences as regards university priorities and funding.

The male dominance of senior management in Irish publicly funded universities is mirrored in the political system where eighty-five per cent of the TDs are men. Given the need for genuinely innovative thinking in Ireland today, it is difficult not to see male dominance in Irish university senior management as ultimately inhibiting the contribution that universities will make at this critical time.

Education can’t evade reform

ing programmes, including both renovations and new facilities, will be curtailed. Despite demographic pressures of a growing population, total costs will be strictly limited. ments will amount to €12 In this context, the third level billion in 2014. This year’s education sector seems to be primary budget deficit, responding like a spoiled child. leaving aside bank recapi“Not me, Guv” rings hollow in talisation, will exceed €10 contemporary crises. Fairness is billion. Four successive a pre-requisite for even-handed budgets of tax hikes have public administration. The proved that there is not a basics of literacy, numeracy and revenue-raising solution to language skills are not automatic close the gap between pub- for many in society. Early school lic spending and revenue. leavers represent the most disOur creditors (the Troika) advantaged. Participation rates insist on cost control in third level institutions mean before releasing future it is a privilege rather than an tranches of cash flow. entitlement to go to college. Not Education is a people everyone is so lucky. The benefits business. Eighty-five per of this extra tier of education uncent of it is spent on teachdoubtedly enhance the personal ers’ pay. Cutbacks comfuture income and employment prise of reduced salaries or prospects of its beneficiaries. lower numbers. The Croke Why are unskilled workers (as Park Agreement prohibits taxpayers) expected to provide the former. At primary funds, while participants are not? and secondary level, this While higher education means raising the puinterests make ever greater depil teacher ratio – with mands on government, they seem resultant loss of 2,000 jobs. unprepared to recognise or accept School transport costs serious attempts to obtain greater will double. Special Needs productivity, transparency and Assistant posts will be accountability. An increased restricted. School buildrequirement of public funding,

Ivan Yates from €1.3 billion to €1.8 billion by 2020, is being sought from the Exchequer. It is clear that the question of consolidation between universities, institutes of technology and other providers must be addressed on a regional basis to deliver effective value for money.

There seems to be little appetite for the pooling of resources.

Any extra resources must be conditional on key reforms. Generic contracts of tutor productivity reveal a primary teacher’s work to be an average of 1,037 hours per annum; secondary school colleagues must fulfil 735 hours per annum; university lecturers’ basic commitment is 560 hours per annum. On a weekly basis, this means the relative hours per week are, respectively, thirtysix, twenty-two and as few as six.

Union representatives of tutors at universities have been the least open to the modest reforms of the Croke Park Agreement, compared to other teachers’ organisations.

By comparison with international colleagues, notably Britain and the Netherlands, our lecturers are amongst the most costly, with the least obligations.

The most significant recent analysis of higher education in Ireland was the Hunt Report, chaired by Colin Hunt. It was

unambiguously supportive of the contribution of the higher education system in providing stimulus to innovation, job creation and economic renewal. However, it raised serious questions about the current organisation and financing of the sector. The Higher Education Authority have presided over wasteful duplication and failed to secure full, transparent comparative data across institutions. This is mirrored by a decline in top colleges’ competitive places on international league tables. Many IT and other multinational employers tell me half of their new employee recruits have to be immigrants, because of the lack of suitably qualified graduates.

Governance structures at higher education level must be rationalised, made more transparent and accountable. There is an overreliance on the taxpayer currently. Knowledge transfer and linkages with industry in new partnerships are critical to a new partnership that must emerge. The pace of reform and adaptability of the curriculum is far too slow for modern industry.

Much of the research work in colleges is exorbitantly expensive, unfocused and of little commercial benefit – especially in the

Arts sphere. There is an appalling lack of leadership at the apex of education in addressing these critiques. The rest of society would be much more sympathetic towards the educational elite if there was an open internal appraisal and willingness to modernise. Not as members of any political party, but as young people and students, we should all be gravely concerned about our futures and opportunities.

The number of jobs available is far less than the number of people who need them. It won’t matter if we are staunch supporters of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael in Ireland, or Democrats or Republicans in America if we don’t have jobs and are unable to put a roof over our heads and food on the table once we graduate. It’s high time we examine economic inequality and move to make some changes to improve our chances.

When critics of the Occupy movement speak out against it, I am reminded of the famous quote

by Mahatma Gandhi: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” It appears that protestors around the world are now somewhere between the second and third section of the quote. Fasten your seatbelts.

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

15

Observer Editorial

Quotes of the Fortnight

editor @ universityobserver.ie

...the worrying fact remains; out of over one-hundred and fifty elected representatives in our student government, including Class Reps, Programme Officers and the Sabbatical Officers, only one is non-white.

I

n this issue of the University Observer, distinguished author Colm Tóibín talked with Otwo about the implicit racism and homophobia of Irish society; to quote Mr. Tóibín in the article, “I think in most families there’s an absolute innate racism where you learn not to say things … There’s no overt homophobia in political discourse, or the newspapers, or on radio, but it doesn’t mean that anybody longs to have a gay baby.” As it happens, his comments could not have been more timely.

When former Mayor of Naas Darren Scully made his incredibly hurtful and politically suicidal remarks on Kildare FM last week, he did not simply represent a solitary racist Fine Gael member who had slipped through the cracks and into a high profile position; his personal opinions represent a subtle examination of a subtextual racism that pervades far deeper into the domestic social unconscious than we would care to admit.

To quote Mr. Scully on the radio show in question, “I have found many Africans are well versed on their entitlements, [and] are currently on most days in the Council building, you see a steady stream of them coming in looking for housing or grants or whatever is going”, before following this statement, and many like it, with the most

Letters to the editor Letters should be sent by email to letters@universityobserver.ie or by mail to The editor, The University Observer, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin 4 The editor reserves the right to edit any letters.

All letters are subject to editorial approval.

the

petty and cowardly of apologetic sentiments; “I abhor racism in all its forms.”

These attitudes are beyond outdated in a purportedly modern Ireland, and represent nothing less than a slap in the face of a new generation of multicultural young people who are, both legally and spiritually, wholly Irish. His remarks do not only mark a shocking inability (or, at the very least, a startling unwillingness) to provide his obligatory duty of care to his constituents, but it also displays how deep these prejudices run, regardless of how willing we are to bury our heads in sand and quietly convince ourselves that we are living in a post-racial, post-racist society.

On the 16th of this month, Israel’s most-read newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, ran a story online entitled ‘Ireland most hostile country in Europe’. The article was printed following criticism from the Israeli Foreign Ministry that Dublin City Council allegedly subsidised an anti-IDF, pro-Palestinian display. One cannot account for the quality or the substance of the piece itself, but unfortunately, it doesn’t matter – the article was widely viewed and commented on, and painted Ireland as an unreservedly anti-Semitic state. Although Irish readers were quick to jump into the fray to defend a pro-Palestinian viewpoint as political, rather than racial, perhaps

the question should be asked – can we honestly exclude the possibility that race does not play a considerable factor in both this, and other national political preoccupations? How deep are the scars of anti-Semitism left by the sermons on “treacherous Jews” that rang from altars just one generation ago?

We might look to UCD as a perfect example of how the issue of race is still alive and well in both public and private life. Regardless of our vaguely left of centre, secular intellectual self-image, race is still plays a profound role in our student governance. Despite the fact that, according to the UCD International Student Handbook, “Over nineteen per cent of UCD’s student body came from outside Ireland and this international dimension is greatly valued by the University”, the worrying fact remains; out of over one-hundred and fifty elected representatives in our student government, including Class Reps, Programme Officers and the Sabbatical Officers, only one is non-white.

While some might be quick to blow the whistle on institutional discrimination (and not without merit), the issue stands that each representative was elected democratically. The fault, unfortunately, is not with the system, or with some ill-defined elitism within the University or the student government,

Dear Editor,

as well as the onerous effects of a rapidly worsening staffing situation in the context of increasing student numbers.

We hope that Mr. Geoghegan will dissociate himself unambiguously from the comment attributed to him, and we ask him to work energetically as SU Education Officer to reflect and promote the centrality of research to education at UCD, in order that it may continue to aspire to be a world-class university.

The University Observer of 15 November 2011 quoted Sam Geoghegan, SU Education Officer, as claiming that “a huge amount of staff in the university seem to take the summer off”.

Academics employed by University College Dublin are contractually obliged to undertake research. This essential professional activity advances knowledge, enhances teaching and consequently students’ learning experience, as well as raising the academic profile of the university, which is also much to the advantage of UCD’s students and graduates. Research often involves visiting international archives and libraries, participating in national and international conferences, and always means lengthy absorption in the subject under study. Increasingly, the months of July and August are the only period of the year when any such sustained research can be carried out, given the extent of the assessment periods (which for academics include external examining, often abroad, and student appeal processes within UCD),

University Observer Volume XVIII Issue VI

Telephone: (01) 716 3119/3120 Email: info@universityobserver.ie www.universityobserver.ie The University Observer is printed at The Guardian Print Centre, Longbridge Road, Manchester M17 1SN.

Yours sincerely, Dr Paolo Acquaviva Dr Phyllis Gaffney Dr Michael Brophy Dr Eric Haywood Dr Derval Conroy Dr Emer O’Beirne Dr Siobhán Donovan Dr Síofra Pierse Dr Ursala Fanning Dr Jeanne Riou Professor Mary Gallagher Dr Stephen Schwartz School of Languages and Literatures, UCD

Editor Jon Hozier-Byrne

Sports Editor Daniel Keenan

Deputy Editor Kate Rothwell

Irish Editor Séamas Ó Meachair

Art and Design Director Conor O’Toole

Music Editor Cormac Duffy

Otwo Editors George Morahan Aoife Valentine

Film Editor Dermot O’Rourke

News Editor Katie Hughes Features Editor Matt Gregg Opinion Editor Emer Sugrue

Fashion Editor Sophie Lioe Food & Travel Editor Elaine Lavery Online Editor Ryan MacKenzie

Science & Health Editor Conor O’Nolan

Copy Editors George Morahan Aoife Valentine

Chief Science & Health Writer Alison Lee

Chief Photographer David Nowak

but rather, we are the problem. We, as an electorate, made the decision (be it conscious or not) to elect an almost entirely white student government. This is not an issue exclusive to our campus, but instead mirrored somewhat by the exclusively white faces representing us nationally in Dáil Éireann.

Historians and sociologists from W.E.H. Lecky onwards have described, in some manner, the Irish Catholic ‘underdog’ mentality, which seems to have culturally placed us, in our own hearts and minds, in the archetypal role of the oppressed. Deep in our cultural subconscious is the quiet but consuming belief that we cannot be racist, because we are ourselves a victimised race. Such thinking, however, is as outdated and unsuitable for the modern world as the aforementioned ex-Mayor’s vitriol. We are part of an international community, and play a political and economic role on a world stage, and as such, the victim complex begins to unravel. The silent belief that we are somehow ‘exempt’ from racism has become more and more laughable. This argument does not amount to what the ex-Mayor described as “the PC brigade”; rather, it is the only logical response to an antiquated social preconception that became unacceptable decades ago.

Clarifications & Corrections

“This campaign has really taken legs and it’s beginning to run” Sports Officer Paddy Guiney on the ‘Save Our Track’ campaign

“[Students] love to help people that were their own age once, and have been through Christmas, and know what a special time it is for children” Rachel Breslin on Operation Christmas Child

“It would in be in line with what taught Masters courses [cost], there’s a six at the start of it” Dean of Architecture Prof. Hugh Campbell on the cost associated with the new Master of Architecture

“Obviously it had a far smaller turnout than the march but it was more of a media stunt than anything” Brendan Lacey on the ‘Death of Education’ Funeral March

It is the policy of the University Observer to rectify any errors as soon as they arise.

“There’ll be toilet facilities, vending machines and security and safety”

Queries and clarifications can be addressed to info@universityobserver.ie.

Contributors The Badger Elizabeth Beecham Aoife Brophy Ian Campbell Dixon Coltrane Rory Crean Hannah Dowling Donna Doyle Chloé Duane Niamh Emmett Sean Finnan Sally Hayden Rachel Heavey Sara Holbrook Niamh Hynes Adam Kearney James Kelly Aaron Kennedy Yvanne Kennedy Nicholas Lawrie Emily Longworth Oisin Sheehy Maitiu Mac Seoin Niall Mac Taidhg Eimear McGovern Mystic Mittens

Dan Moriarty Matthew Morrow Emily Mullen Gordon O’Callaghan Sean O’Grady Brian O’Leary Caitriona O’Malley Evan O’Quigley Jason Quigley Alex Rathke Maggie Rek Ben Storey Talleyrand Denis Vaughan Jack Walsh Maria Whelan Phillipa White Illustrator Olwen Hogan Photographers Rob Manning Caoimhe McDonnell Kate Rothwell

Sam Geoghegan on extra-hour study facilities

Special Thanks Peter, Ian, Tim, Malcolm, Ade, Jonathan, Dave, Emma, Ged, Bob, Steve at GPC Manchester Eilis O’Brien Dominic Martella Colm, Sabrina and Rory at MCD Promotions Bernie Divilly at PIAS Giselle Jiang Dominic, Grace, Charlie, Jason, Gary, Stephen, Mark, Sandra, Paul and all the Student Centre Staff Amy Bracken, Donna Doyle, Bríd Doherty, Paul Fennessey, Bridget Fitzsimons, Danielle Moran, Dave Neary, Quinton O’Reilly, Rob Lowney, Gav Reilly, Natalie Voorheis, Raine Hozier-Byrne and John Byrne and all other friends and family who have supported us. We wish you all a very happy Christmas.

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18

sport

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

The Badger’s End of Year Fashion Awards

Sports Digest

by Alex Rathke

Athletics

This week, the Badger follows in Paul Galvin’s footsteps, and writes about fashion

NUI Maynooth hosted the 2011 All Ireland Universities Road Relay Championships.

UCD were captained by Laura Shaughessy on the Women’s team and Richard Owens on the Men’s team who brought home silverware for the first time since 2006. The team of Owens, Dan King, Joe Sweeney, Cian O’Rielly and Timothee Francony finished twenty-four seconds ahead of their nearest rivals to claim gold, while UCD’s Women’s team finished fifth. The next national event is the Cross-Country Championships in February.

Swimming On Wednesday last, UCD swam in the Colleges and University Swimming Association of Ireland League (CUSAI) against hosts Queens University of Belfast, Sligo IT and Blanchardstown IT. UCD put themselves ahead within the first two events and increased the lead during the two-hour competition. UCD ended up winning the first leg of the meet, while the return leg will be hosted by UCD on the 3rd of December.

The winner of that group will progress to race any of the other teams in the second group, containing NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, UCC or Waterford IT. UCD, who last year won the Intervarsities title, will be looking to regain that status, while also looking to win the newly introduced league competition for the first time.

Men’s Hockey Last Monday night, UCD made it into the Irish Senior Cup for the first time since 2007 as they beat Glenanne 4-2 in Belfield. Goals from Nick Burns, David Watkins and Conor Motyer ensured that UCD was the first of the two finalists. They will play either Railway Union or Fingal in the final.

Sailing The National Championships took place on the weekend of the 12th November. Twenty teams entered the competition, with UCD entering three teams. UCD1 and UCD2 were drawn against each other in the opening tie. UCD2 managed a disappointing two wins from five after a strong start on day one. On Sunday, UCD1’s fortunes did improve slightly with a win against UCC1, but a demoralising defeat to youth team Schull – who represented Ireland in the World Championships in August – left them with three wins from seven for their event.

Equestrian UCD Equestrian won the National Tetrathlon Intervarsities last weekend for the fifth year in a row. The competition, held this year in Tipperary, consists of running, swimming, shooting and riding, with points accumulating over each discipline, leading up to the final round of riding on the final day.

Ian Campbell racing in the Formula Ford this year

Vee got the power Fourth Year Mechanical Engineering student, Ian Campbell, writes for Observer Sport about his experience racing Formula Vee cars in Ireland

I

started racing Vees following a sevenyear spell racing radio-controlled cars in Ireland, the UK and occasionally at European events. I’d been to the European Championships four times, in France, Italy, Monaco, and Slovenia, and I’d done enough travelling to the UK to win the Under-16 Championship over there.

Technically, it was fantastic – the cars got to 105 km/hr in less than two seconds, and we rebuilt them after every race.

Unfortunately, it never got the support it needed, so there weren’t enough purpose-built tracks and facilities in Ireland.

Along with some friends, my dad and I got heavily involved in trying to promote the racing, and to use that publicity to raise funds to build more tracks, but the noise of the two-stroke engines was a pretty big issue when it came to finding suitable locations.

By the end of 2010, I’d won the Irish National Championship for the second year in a row, and was looking for something different. The Formula Vee class is a single-seater series running in Ireland, Australia, across the US and in the UK. It’s a really competitive class, and less expensive than higher formulae because it uses some Volkswagen road-car parts, and you can do most of the work yourself.

I started racing in the class in 2011, and though it didn’t all go smoothly, I had a good year. I claimed six wins in

the Novice category, and won the Windstorm Novice Championship. I started off with the intention of winning races outright, but although my qualifying results were strong, I had three nonfinishes in races early-on in the season.

That didn’t help me score points in the National Championship, so I ended-up eighth out of twenty-five competitors at the end of the year.

The class had its annual “away” race in July, at Donington Park in the UK. It

by just testing, so I did two events in different single-seater categories during the year. Over one weekend in June, I competed in two Formula Sheane races, which was the first time I got to try a car with wider tyres, wings and a bigger, 1.8 litre engine.

In September, I competed in the Martin Donnelly Trophy in a 1992 Formula Ford, which was fantastic. The race-gearbox took some getting used to, but with the help of ex-Formula 3 driver,

It’s a really competitive class, and less expensive than higher formulae because it uses some Volkswagen road-car parts, and you can do most of the work yourself

was a bit of a turning-point in the season, Bernard Dolan, I was able win the “Preas I took the lead for the first time after ‘93” class and was awarded “Driver of the starting from sixth. Unfortunately, it Day” for my overall fifth place finish. only lasted two laps before I was overtakBoth of these events were steep learnen again and finished fifth, but I’d gotten ing curves, but because of them, I’m the experience of competing at the front. better-prepared for 2012. I’m looking I built on that, and later in the season, I forward to next year a lot, and I’m glad earned a second-place finish in Kirkis- to have the opportunity to build on my town, Northern Ireland.

2011 results, and try to win the National I tried to do as much racing as possible, Championship. as I couldn’t get the experience I needed There are three students in second year Mechanical Engineering in UCD who either have been or are currently involved in Irish motorsport. After winning Mondello Park’s “Become a Racing Driver” competition, Sean Hynes – who was racing in the Formula Sheane series during 2011 – is someone I’ve spent a lot of time at the track with. He too had a strong first season, and now both of us are in the same situation, trying to source sponsorship for a second attempt at the championships.

Sean Cleary won the incredibly-popular “F1 in Schools” competition in 2009, and Mark Keane has been very successful on Irish Karting scene, finishing second in the Irish Under-17 Championship.

Right now, my dad and I are strippingdown and rebuilding the Vee chassis before we begin testing in late February. I think the Vees are the right class to be in at the moment – the number of entries is usually high (thirty-two cars lined-up on the grid for the Leinster Trophy meeting in September) and with changes like a switch from Avon to Dunlop tyres for the whole field, things will be mixed-up a bit.

The eleven-round 2012 Championship will be taking place in Mondello Park, County Kildare, in Kirkistown and Bishopscourt, County Down, and in the Ian Campbell, in car 24, racing in the Formula Sheane this year Phoenix Park, County Dublin.

Worst Suit: Sepp Blatter While the Badger acknowledges how hilariously awful Dwight Yorke’s suits are, they are not nearly as bad as the corporate suit that is Sepp Blatter. The man has become a walking joke. As if his name, which just sounds like some kind of urinary tract infection, wasn’t already a punch line, he is also President of a corporation that is completely out of touch with the public and riddled with allegations of corruption and bribery. And what has Blatter done exactly? He has managed to correct football’s equivalent of affirmative action, the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, by enlightening the world with his view on how on-pitch racism should be dealt with. His ‘shake hands and be men’ philosophy is a lot like Blatter: old, dated and condemned by everybody.

v

Best Hair: Wayne Rooney Not since Samson has hair had more supernatural power. Wayne Rooney’s nightmare 2010/2011 season was left behind him with the insertion of his hair plugs, which led to an upshot in his form for this season. The Badger still thinks he looks like a chav on dole day, but his miracle hair cannot be denied.

And remember, he’s beaten Jerry Flannery to the Best Hair award; the man may have calves like veal chops, but the Badger respects his hair.

Worst Jeans: Paul Galvin With jeans so tight they’d make Noel Fielding cry, the Badger at least knows he’s not alone in his disliking of Paul Galvin. But maybe, for once, the Badger is being harsh; Paul Galvin does provide a useful service in the world. In his weekly column in the Irish Independent, he shows men how to look absolutely ridiculous in designer clothes. Where would the Kerry bench be, and what would the CCCC do all year, without him? He has also provided the fashion industry with a test subject to identify how much strain the male genital area can take from skinny jeans.

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

sport

19

Rosell’s European Shake-Up

Gordon O’Callaghan examines Barcelona President Sandro Rosell’s proposal to change domestic and European football

B

arcelona President and European Club Association (ECA) vice-Chairman, Sandro Rosell has come under scrutiny recently for his ideas on the structure of European competitions. At the recent Aspire4Sport Conference in Doha, Qatar he claimed that if UEFA and the ECA could not reach an agreement on UEFA Competitions and international fixtures before their memorandum of understanding expires in 2014, then the ECA may be forced to break away from UEFA, forming its own pan-European competition.

This is a complete red herring and Rosell knows it.

Barcelona are facing an ambiguous financial future. On the home front, the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid is under threat. Currently these two sides are able to negotiate their own television and media deals. Being the two largest clubs, they are able to capture sixty per cent of the incoming revenue.

This has caused friction amongst the smaller sides in La Liga. These clubs have begun angling for a move to a co-operative negotiating system similar to that of the Premier League, a move that the recently elected People’s Party favours. While this move may significantly enhance the financial power of the smaller La Liga sides, it would eat into Barcelona’s revenue streams.

Barcelona have also noted, with concern, that wealthy owners have turned their attention away from the saturated English market and are starting to pick up clubs in Spain, such as Malaga.

Domestic financial worries are not the only factor concerning Barcelona’s number crunchers.

On the international side, Barcelona fear the rise of clubs in England

“Barcelona and Spanish football are growing increasingly nervous about their ability to compete financially”

Sandro Rosell (right) in Qatar at the Aspire4Sport conference that are controlled by owners with almost limitless resources.

Rosell recently defiantly claimed that his club would never go the way of English sides, preaching that the ownership model imposed by Barcelona is the only sustainable model in football.

While he may be correct on this front, it does not hide his club’s insecurities in terms of competing on a fair financial footing. Manchester City recently demonstrated, by signing a massive sponsorship deal with Eithad Airways, the relative ease that they have when it comes to side-stepping UEFA’s

new financial fair play rules.

These concerns have led Barcelona to reconsider revenue streams that they had previously considered beneath them. The signing of their first commercial shirt sponsorship, trips to China in order to build closer commercial relationships, as well as shifting kick-off times to better suit viewers in Asia, are signs that Barcelona and Spanish football are growing increasingly nervous about their ability to compete financially.

Financial parity was clearly the motivation for Rosell when he spoke at the Aspire4Sport con-

ference, but what did he hope to achieve?

He proposed that Champions League fixtures, from the quarter-finals stage, at the latest, should be shifted to weekend time slots and that domestic league games shifted to midweek. A reduction in the number of teams competing in Seria A, La Liga and the Premiership from twenty to sixteen in order to accommodate a larger Champions League, as well as a reduction in the international fixtures list, was proposed by Rosell.

This is clearly a high ball tactic from the Barcelona President.

There is absolutely no chance that the Rosell could convince the Premier League, Serie A or even La Liga to reduce to sixteen teams.

Richard Scudamore, the Chief Executive of the Premier League has already come out and rubbished the idea.

Realistically, Rosell is hoping that he can strong-arm both UEFA and La Liga into a compromise position on the structure of both domestic TV revenue and the Champions League, so as to best increase Barcelona’s revenue streams.

Regarding La Liga, Rosell is using the threat of moving Champions League football to the weekend (a much more lucrative time slot) in order to secure a better deal. As for UEFA, Rosell recognises that this is where the money lies and therefore he wants to maximise its potential by manoeuvring UEFA and other major European teams into a position where they will agree to shift Champions League fixtures after the group stages or quarter-finals, into the weekend time slots. A precedent for this has already been set, with the final shifting to Saturday night for the past two years.

There is a third aspect to this and that is the amount of international fixtures there are currently in the calendar, an issue that is particularly contentious in Spain.

Rosell does not believe that he can get a reduction in the number of league teams in Spain, England and Italy, but feels that by raising the issue a reduction in the number of international fixtures may be viewed as reasonable compromise.

Despite the loud heckling of the English public and media, Rosell’s actions have shown him as a shrewd manoeuvrer and calculating businessman.

A series of shortcomings

Matthew Morrow looks at Martin Johnson’s tenure and legacy as England manager

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artin Johnson’s resignation as the English Rugby Union manager brought to an end a three-year tenure that culminated in an awful World Cup campaign.

Sympathy for him may be lacking from this side of the Irish Sea, especially given Johnson’s actions at the 2003 Grand Slam decider at Lansdowne Road, but recent events have created an element of pity for the man that led England to World Cup glory in 2003.

Appointed in 2008, the RFU took a huge gamble by appointing Johnson, who had virtually no coaching experience. They banked on his outstanding reputation as a leader and the respect that he commanded from the English players and media alike, to take him over any managerial hurdles. Not only did this gamble backfire from a rugby perspective, but a report leaked to the Times has shown there to be something rotten at the core of English Rugby.

The RFU’s relationship with the media has reached an all-time low, which was especially highlighted by the events in Queenstown and in the English team hotel, when Mike Tindall, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton allegedly made sexist remarks to a hotel maid. The discipline exhibited by Johnson on this evidence was non-existent, as he tried to cover up the incident rather than deal with it. Ill discipline was a feature of England under Johnson, but why was it that he was not able to keep control of his players?

A possible reason for this is that Johnson was friends and former teammates with several members

Martin Johnson has had contrasting fortunes as a player and a manager for England of the 2011 World Cup team, which undermined his overall authority as their superior. As a player, Johnson was a leader by example. As a manager, he could only be a ‘do-as-Isay’ type of leader. Johnson surely struggled to impose his influence on the English rugby squad when he wasn’t able to physically lead from the front.

The circumstances of Johnson’s resignation were bizarre to say the least. He told the media that he was resigning, before any decision he might have made was taken out of his own hands, the implication be-

ing that he jumped before he was pushed. The RFU are clearly looking for scapegoats to distract attention from themselves following the disastrous events in New Zealand. Top of their list would have been Johnson and English skipper Mark Tindall, who has been removed from the Elite Player Squad and fined £25,000.

Why was the same punishment not also dealt to Hartley and Ashton? Possibly because Tindall is nearing the end of his playing days while Hartley and Ashton should be reaching their prime in the next

World Cup cycle, and Tindall had too much negative publicity surrounding him following his extensive partying in New Zealand.

The World Cup was a neat summary of Johnson’s managerial career; average though often poor rugby, but with more focus on offfield matters. Even his Six Nations win earlier this year was in some ways a failure, since the team failed to secure a Grand Slam, despite possessing the best squad in that season’s Six Nations.

Several prominent coaches have either declared their interest in being the next England manager or ruled themselves out of the position. Frankly, one would have to question why you would want to work for an organisation in as much disarray as the RFU, which was recently embroiled in ‘hush money payments’ to the hotel maid who had sexist remarks made to her by players.

Candidates who have ruled themselves out include World Cupwinning coach Graham Henry, former Italy and South Africa coach Nick Mallett and Jake White, South Africa’s 2007 World Cup coach.

The current favourite is Northampton’s Jim Mallinder, whose reputation has not been dented by his side’s poor start in the Heineken Cup. Mallinder’s CV includes fifteen games won for the English Saxons, as well as leading Northampton to the Heineken Cup Final last year, where they were ultimately overpowered in the second half by a rampant Leinster side.

Former Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan has also expressed an

“Johnson surely struggled to impose his leadership on the English rugby squad when he wasn’t able to physically lead from the front” interest in the post. Whether he would be given the same control as he had when in charge of Ireland, or if the RFU will introduce a reduced-power manager situation after Johnson, is up for debate.

The third candidate to declare himself interested is former Australian coach Eddie Jones, although he is definitely considered an outsider.

There is a strong possibility that the former All Black John Kirwan will take the job on a temporary basis, whilst the RFU sorts out its internal matters. Kirwan has publicly stated that it would be an honour to work with the RFU, and that ongoing issues are not of his concern. Kirwan has a reputation for being a straight talker, which is perhaps what the RFU and English players are in desperate need of at the moment.

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OSbserver P O R T

The University Observer · 29 November 2011

Galwegians Rise Above Weakened UCD RFU Galwegians UCD Side 13 26 Galwegians enjoyed a double-score victory over a lowstrength UCD in Belfield, writes Aaron Kennedy

We examine Sandro Rosell’s proposal to change football

page 19

U

CD came off the back of an emphatic victory over their biggest rivals, Dublin University (Trinity) last week in the Colours match and went into this fixture against the Galway outfit with an air of confidence. Collidge have had a mixed season so far and their results match their performances: inconsistent.

UCD made several changes to the side which overcame Trinity last week, with David Lynch and David Kenny both injured; also missing was last week’s star performer, Sam Coughlan Murray.

Galwegians have been in fine form of late, having beaten Dungannon two weeks ago, a team who crushed UCD on the opening weekend of the season. Both sides had to deal with the difficult windy conditions in the Belfield Bowl; despite the weather, there was a decent crowd in attendance.

There were positive signs for Galwegians early on when a missed kick set them up in a promising field position to attack the UCD defence. Galwegians were penalised soon afterwards, which led to Collidge counterattacking to their opponents’ 22, only to be penalised as well. Having secured clean ball in the ruck, the Galway club attacked with conviction only to be halted by a knock-on.

Collidge then began to gather momentum and the students were testing the defence of their opponents time and time again. Niall Earls showed early on why he is one of the top-rated out-halves in the league with a marvellous kick to touch. UCD’s Andy Boyle almost played in Tom Fletcher, only for the winger to knock-on.

It was on the eighteenth minute mark when the deadlock was broken as Galwe-

Inside...

The Badger presents his end of year fashion awards

page 18 Action from the UCD vs Galwegians match on Saturday. Photographer: Caoimhe McDonnell gians’ Brian Murphy fed Barry Lee with a precise pass into the corner which was converted by Matthew Jarvis, to make it 7-0 to the visitors.

The home team responded through the boot of Niall Earls, who landed a penalty from 60 metres out. Earls’ fine kicking ability was on show throughout the match and he was the only player who looked like he might turn the game for UCD. Approaching the half-time mark, it was the Galway club who were in the driving seat and they made possession count when Kyle Tonetti touched down to make it 12-3, after Jarvis missed the conversion.

A kick from Earls on the stroke off half

time was sent over to make it 12-6. The first was far from a classic, with both sides fighting hard but Galwegians coming out the stronger.

The second-half started off horribly for UCD when Barry Lee touched down for Galwegians in the first minute after a serious lack of concentration from the Collidge defence. Jarvis added the extra two, to make it 19-6, as the game steadily began to slip out of UCD’s grasp.

The absence of Coughlan Murray was evident, as Collidge struggled to create many opportunities in the backs. Richie Bent came on for UCD in the hope of changing the game, but had little impact. Galwegians de-

fence held firm, showing determination and grit to maintain their lead. On the sixty-third minute, UCD’s misery was compounded when Brian Murphy went over, with Jarvis converting the kick to make it 26-6.

A glimmer of hope appeared for UCD in the thirty-third minute when Michael Twomey touched down to make it 26-13 with the conversion from Earls.

The last ten minutes became quite stagnant and it was clear that the late Twomey try was merely a blip in what was an emphatic win for the Galway side. It was a disappointing defeat for UCD after a morale boosting victory last weekend, but Galwegians were deserved winners.

London Calling

UCD’s David Campbell talks to Aaron Kennedy about setting his sights on the 2012 Olympics

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wenty-nine-year-old David Campbell is one of UCD’s Olympic hopefuls for London 2012. He competes over varying disciplines, primarily the 800 metre and 1500 metre track run.

Nearly a year ago, he had two surgeries on his back which kept him out of racing for some time, but he has since started to get back to full fitness. “Back’s feeling great now, it really took about a year for the back and hips to settle after the two surgeries. It was a tough enough year but I am back on track now,” says Campbell. “Training is kicking along nicely, I’m about four months into it after starting in August.”

His weekly routine is a vigorous one, as he is running at the highest of standards in athletics: “Monday I go for a morning run and then in the evening I go for a run as well, five miles in the morning and seven miles in the evening.

Tuesday I go for five miles in the morning and eight in the evening and a track on a Wednesday and a hill session on the weekend.”

His main plans for next summer are focused solely on competing in the Olympics, and he is looking to use the European Championships in Finland as a platform to prepare himself for the bigger task ahead.

“The main goal is the Olympic games at the start of August in London - everything is building towards the Olympics. There’s also the European Championships at the end of June in Helsinki, so that will be nice preparation along the way.”

Campbell’s confidence levels are high after coming back from injury and he has no doubts about his qualification for the games next summer when he runs the standard in May or June.

Currently in second year Physiotherapy, Campbell balances his training with one of the most demanding courses in the University.

The course helps him better understand every facet of his sport, improving on his knowledge from being a sports massage therapist: “I’m really looking forward to [progressing further in the course].

It’ll really open up my eyes to areas of physiotherapy I wouldn’t have thought about before.”

He plans to go to Australia after Christmas, to train with some of the top coaches in athletics: “I’ll have a good group to train with down there. Sonia O’Sullivan’s husband, Nick Bideau, has a group of some of the best distance runners in the world down there; some Australians, some British guys and some Americans. The facilities are very good there; we do a lot of the training up the mountains for the month and then in Melbourne, where the facilities are second to none.”

The athletics facilities down under are an exciting prospect for David, giving him a chance to train with some of the best athletes in the world, as well as giving him a welcome retreat from an Irish winter.

The recent closure of the running track has evoked outrage among the UCD Athletics Club and many others.

The track in UCD has closed due to health and safety concerns, leaving

Ian Campbell, writes about racing Formula Vee cars

page 18 the club and members of the public frustrated with the lack of athletics facilities on campus.

Campbell is left puzzled as to how this has happened. He has used the track regularly for many years and is dismayed that these benefits have been taken away from athletes, as well as the public and UCD students. “I’m just confused by the motives,” says Campbell. “We’re on the verge of an epidemic of obesity in Ireland right now: diabetes, heart problems, and the biggest remedy for all these problems is exercise. The biggest university in Ireland has taken away a facility that the whole of south-county Dublin has been using for forty years.”

“It’s accessible to everybody, even if you had never ran in your life, you would know that the Belfield [athletics track] is there. It’s an institution; it’s the heartbeat of the college.”

Campbell’s passion for athletics is obvious, but he notes that he might have quit the sport seven years ago were it not for James Nolan, Head Athletics Coach at UCD, who Campbell says has been one of the most inspirational people involved in his career. “I guess without James I wouldn’t be running today. He gave me a lot of confidence when I was younger, and kept me in the sport when I nearly fell out of it at around twenty-two”.

Campbell’s determination is selfevident, and it would be no surprise if the young athlete continues to succeed on his path to London 2012.