University Observer Volume XVIII - Issue 1

niversity U bserver O

the

volume xviii · issue i · www.universityobserver.ie Education Special

Educational Arms Race

Faith no more?

opinion

Security SU guard assaulted on Black Monday ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________ A security guard was assaulted in Belgrove Student Residences by a non-resident as he was being escorted off campus after failing to produce his student card on demand.

According to a Residential Assistant (RA) on campus at the time, there was a party taking place in one of the houses which was attended by the non-resident. When he was being led off campus security guards approached him asking for a student identification card. The non-resident refused to produce identification before becoming aggressive and injuring one of the security guards. He was consequently tackled to the ground and restrained.

The security guards who appeared on the scene were not due to start their shift in Belgrove until 7pm but nonetheless came to diffuse the situation, though some time had passed before they arrived on the scene. The Gardaí later arrived as the non-resident was being restrained.

One security guard allegedly sustained an injury; “a dislocated finger or something, that was the first diagnosis but there was also rumours flying about that he had a broken bone because of the way he landed”.

The RA spoke of a cut-back on security which, on most nights of the week, “is not an issue.” “It’s alright, but any night where it’s at all busy, and the two security guards are occupied with someone else, that still leaves you 500 other students that RAs have to deal with.” The source went on to state that “it’s regrettable as you can have a good time but it’s just one student who takes it too far”, and indicated that this will result in security being tightened next Black Monday. “We tend to be slightly relaxed about Black Monday, because it’s the first day and we allow a few par-

The role of the Chaplaincy in a secular university

Features

Markéta Irglová speaks to

OTWO

President considers loan

ties, but after that everyone will be expected to cut down – it’ll ruin the fun for everyone.”

“There were six of us on duty and we were all occupied, we got the usual: outrageous parties and we had people climbing over every which way to get into the [residence]” is how the RA in question described the pandemonium on Black Monday.

A cut-down in security during Orientation Week, which resulted in there being no security guards after 2am, caused a slight disturbance among RAs. “You need someone after two, that’s when most of the instances happen.” This issue has since been rectified with two security guards present per residence from seven o’clock in the evening until two in the morning, and one from two in the morning until five.

The assault on the security guard is currently being investigated.

De Brún decribes debt as “not insignificant.”

The prospect of taking out a loan “would be on the table”

Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi addresses guests at the Amnesty International ‘Law, State and Religion’ conference in the UCD Student Centre. ________________________________________ Katie Hughes Chief News Writer ________________________________________ UCD Students’ Union President Pat de Brún recently started an investigation into the state of the Union’s accounts following the extended sick leave of SU financial administrator Dave Carmody.

Upon investigation of the finances and discovering “not only a backlog but a certain level of debt” de Brún employed an external accounting firm to assess the Union’s financial situation as well as to carry out the role Carmody would usually have performed.

The level of the debt is still unknown, but is described by de Brún

as “not insignificant.” The prospect of taking out a loan “would be on the table” and he insists that “if we do need money, there are various ways of getting money.”

The investigation is still ongoing but de Brún states that it’s quite evident that “there is some debt there now” and that “we’ve learned enough to realise that the structures and the way we’ve done business in the past haven’t been strong enough and that we need to change them permanently.”

In an attempt to rectify the situation, de Brún is attempting to implement “completely new financial systems from the ground up” in all of the SU’s different areas of activity.

He considers the upcoming

constitutional review “an excellent opportunity to ensure solid structures and to make the Union better than it’s ever been - it certainly is difficult and it’s a lot of work but it’s a fantastic opportunity for the future.”

Despite the Union’s current financial situation, de Brún is determined to “minimise and hopefully avoid completely” cuts to frontline services that will affect students such as welfare and education services.

To prevent a similar situation arising again, de Brún is moving towards making a company limited by guarantee with reporting structures and boards of directors under which there will be a legal obligation to produce audited accounts every year. This would have “proper accountability and it would ensure transparency.”

In addition, a considerable emphasis is being put on “earning more money – we’ve already brought in a lot of saving in different areas, we’ve worked very hard in gaining sponsorship for both Ents and the likes of Orientation Week and the Freshers‘ Guide, which operated at a profit this year.”

He adds that “serious credit has to be paid to the Vice Presidents here, all four of them, because I’ve requested that they act as frugally as possible because we are experiencing financial difficulty and they’ve been very efficient and not wasteful. My hope is that we can make the bulk of any necessary cuts just through efficiencies and I’m confident that we can do that.”

“I hope that by agreeing to the interview today, I’m proving that I want to be as transparent as possible with this entire process of sorting out the finances and the whole structural reforms” he concludes.

Analysis on page 5

Student-friendly system introduced for re-sit fees ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________ A new system has been introduced for the payment of re-sit and repeat fees.

As it stands now, a student who is repeating one exam no longer has to pay the student contribution fee but

solely the €230 re-sit or repeat fee.

According to the old system, if a student was coming back for one semester to repeat an exam, they would be required to pay the €230 repeat or re-sit fee as well as the €750 registration fee for one semester.

Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan commends the

change, stating that “it’s saving students a lot of money; it’s funny that the government let that happen.”

The change of scheme was not a Students’ Union initiative but one that was introduced in the 2011 Budget.

Geoghegan continues to explain why the change was introduced;

“It’s probably because it’s now not clearly defined what students are paying for - it used to be the student services fee, and then the government or the HEA would pay for our tuition but now the government are contributing to the overall pot and so are the students. Therefore, it’s unsure what a typical student is pay-

ing for with the €2000, they could be paying for some of his or her tuition but they could also be paying for student services, it’s not clear where the money is going; because of that, I don’t think it was possible for the government to charge a registration fee when the students were only just taking a repeat or re-sit.”

2

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Observer News

News Voxpop: Food Outlets on Campus in Brief What do you think of food on campus? news@observer.ie

by Matthew Jones

UCD drops twenty places in world rankings Niall Cunniffe UCD has fallen from 114th to 134th in this year’s QS ranking, a considerable drop from its 89th position two years ago in the top one hundred.

UCD and TCD have continued to descend the table over the past few years, a slide contributed to this year by a six per cent decline in unemployment and a funding crisis.

It was NUI Galway that experienced the most severe drop, falling a substantial 66 places from 232nd to 298th.

While the top universities continue to slide, UCC climbed the ladder this year, reaching a position of 181st from a previous 184th.

The Quacquarelli Symonds system is the most widely referential method of assessing the standards of universities.

It is based on four pillars – research, teaching, employability and internationalization.

Editor of the Times Good University Guide, John O’Leary stated, “this has resulted in lower scores for student/faculty ratio. Academics have also ranked Irish universities lower this year; there is a decline in Ireland’s academic reputation.’’

Niamh Byrne 2nd year Psychology

Carol Kelly 3rd year Animal Science (Equine)

Aisling Mitchell 3rd year Animal Science

David Surridge 3rd year, Economics and Politics

It’s worse than last year, places have closed and the Arts Café has changed.

It used to be good, until they changed Insomnia. I loved Insomnia, I hate Starbucks.

It used to be good, and you used to have more choice, but Kylemore have higher prices for lower quality food.

It’s ok, way overpriced though. I mean, quality is one thing, I’d put up with ok quality if it was cheap enough.

Do you think the food was good in Elements?

Sutherland School of Law to open in 2012 Niall Cunniffe The UCD Sutherland School of Law is expected to be complete by late 2012, according to a campus development update.

At 5,133 square meters, the new school will be the first purpose-built law school in Ireland in more than two centuries. It promises to feature many state-of-the-art facilities, including a purpose-built moot courtroom and a Clinical Legal Education Centre.

Approval was given to the construction of the building in 2008; it was then expected to open in September 2011, which would have marked the centenary of the UCD School of Law. The campaign organized to raise €27 million for the completion of the building has included contributions from the Sutherland family, with Dr Peter Sutherland being an alumnus of UCD, as well as A&L Goodbody and Matheson Ormsby Prentice.

The project was assigned to awardwinning architecture practice Maloney O’Beirne Architects, who have received numerous RIAI commendations, including that for the School of Physiotherapy at Trinity College Dublin.

Professor Joe McMahon, Interim Dean of the UCD School of Law comments, “future law students and the legal profession will truly benefit from the development of the new UCD Sutherland School of Law. It continues in our tradition of pioneering and delivering the best possible legal education. Something clearly evidenced in the continued success of our past students.”

Honorary Doctorates Awarded Katie Hughes Novelist and UCD graduate Dr. Emma Donoghue was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from UCD during this year’s conferring ceremonies.

Donoghue was described as one of “the most versatile and boldly original creative talents to have emerged in Ireland in recent decades” by School of English, Drama and Film Professor, Anne Fogarty.

Donoghue, an English and French graduate, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize for her 2010 publication, Room.

Also awarded a DLitt this year from UCD were fellow UCD graduate and playwright Dr. Martina Carr and Artistic Director of the Druid Theatre Company, Dr. Garry Hynes.

Dr Cathy Leeney highlighted the “philosophical, emotional and poetic scale” of Dr. Carr’s work, which shows audiences a world where “the conversion between life and death spans the oily currents of the Styx.”

Director of the Irish Dairy Board Cooperative Ltd., Dr. John Moloney, former chairman of Bord Bia, Dr. Daniel Browne, and former chairman of SIEMENS Ireland, Dr. Brian Sweeney were all awarded Honorary Doctorates of Science.

Former leader of the Conservatives and Speaker of the Senate of Canada, Dr Noël Kinsella was also recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature.

Do you think there should be more competition on campus?

It was good – when Kylemore took over, it went downhill. So, if they’re going to be in charge of every food outlet on campus, they should improve their quality and drop their prices.

That’s the whole idea, to get the best deal for yourself.

Orla Hammond 3rd year Geology Student

Roger Cross 1st year Masters in Common Law

Safety scheme to hit campus ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________

The Students’ Union initiative Safe Spaces is set to be launched at the end of September, as part of an overall safety campaign to be run on campus. The scheme involves having ‘safe spaces’ in the city centre where students can call taxis and wait for them at any time during the day or night. Garda stations will initially serve as the safe spaces in question.

Safe Spaces has backing from the UCD Health Promotions Committee as well as the Gardaí. It will be tried as a pilot scheme in UCD before “being rolled out nationally”, according to UCD Students’ Union Welfare Officer,

Rachel Breslin.

“I would certainly look at launching it in Garda stations at the end of September and using that to get a bit of publicity there and then going with the Gardaí and UCD as a joint proposal, to chambers of commerce and to individual businesses.”

Also running as part of the nightout aspect of the campaign will be Slán Abhaile. This is a scheme whereby students can get a taxi home and pay the fare at a later date.

A student’s details, including student number and phone number, would be registered in a system set up for the scheme. Once a student rings Winicabs, the taxi company through which the system is being run, they receive a text with a code, which is recorded

by the driver. This allows the fare to be charged to the account that the SU have with the taxi company, in the student’s name. The student can then pay the fare at some stage during the next seven days, although the exact deadline is still being decided.

Breslin explains that she approached Wini-cabs, as they were established “on the whole ethos of being safe – so they get a lot more of the personal details of the taxi drivers than other companies.”

The campus campaign has several elements to it according to Breslin; “it’s kind of an overall safety campaign – it wasn’t really done in UCD before and there are several aspects to it: there’s the night-out aspect, the daytime aspect and the actual on-campus aspect.”

“I spoke to the Health Promotions

Committee about the possibility of setting up stations on campus with phones where you can call someone 24 hours, which they are looking into at the moment” continues Breslin.

“I want to run an information campaign - really just a ‘protect yourself’ campaign where you look after your personal belongings, to be vigilant, to report any incidents with [a lack of] lighting and a lack of security in a busy point; the other aspect of that is on personal belongings, because higher instances of theft were reported to the Welfare Officer last year. Looking after your belongings, looking after yourself,” she concludes.

Students can sign up to the scheme during Freshers’ Week.

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

3

news

Bus services pulled on Black Monday ________________________________________ Katie Hughes News Editor ________________________________________ The first day of term, commonly known as ‘Black Monday’, saw Dublin Bus discontinuing their evening services in UCD due to students’ anti-social manner.

There were reports of rowdy behaviour, including objects being thrown at buses and general mayhem around bus stops as students began to make their way to town. A representative for Dublin Bus stated that students’ actions were “unnerving drivers, the drivers feel unsafe, that’s why we ended up with a situation.”

According to Students’ Union President, Pat de Brún, the incidents at the bus stops were sufficiently serious to warrant Dublin Bus threatening to completely remove services from UCD if a similar situation should arise again.

However, a Dublin Bus representative insisted that “services will remain once we get appropriate behaviour.”

De Brún urges students to “think about the possible withdrawal of ser-

vices the next time they are getting the bus because it will severely affect a lot of people if it does happen” and reminds them that “Dublin Bus provides a vital service to all students and bus drivers must be allowed to do their job without the added complications of dealing with unruly passengers.”

To ensure that a similar situation does not arise again, de Brún stated that he intends to write to Dublin Bus and suggest that “in future, on the first day of term or the last day of term, on days where it’s so busy in the bar, that maybe they stop the service within UCD for the night-time because that won’t cause a major disruption to anyone but it would also ensure that the buses would stay on campus for the year.”

In addition, de Brún called on the University to “work on increased public lighting around bus stops in addition to installing CCTV cameras” as a preventative measure to anti-social behaviour.

The SU has intentions to launch a campaign to encourage students to act responsibly when using public transport.

Dublin Bus highly commends a similar campaign run last year by the Union, considering it “instrumental in helping with respect for buses and bus drivers”.

As a part of re-launching the Ents brand, there were no external acts performing in the student bar on Monday 12th, “we had all of our banners printed and the stage was all designed as UCD Ents with the logos and branding so we said we’d keep it to UCD Ents DJs” says SU Ents Officer, Stephen Darcy.

Darcy described the evening as a great success, “everyone seemed to have a great day, it was very well controlled and managed and a nice start to the year”; he labelled it the “biggest bar spend ever at a UCD event.” He attributed the success of the evening to it having been “a long summer, everyone was looking forward to getting back.”

Student Centre to open April 2012 ________________________________________ Angela Clarke ________________________________________ The new Student Centre, currently under construction, is set to open in April 2012. Dominic O’Keefe, project manager of the complex, stated that “our dates from the builder are looking at practical completion by the end of January, with the handover of the key on March 16th.”

The €49.5 million development, which spans 120 square feet and is set to boast a 50m Olympic pool, 250-seat debating chamber and full drama theatre, has been in progress for five years.

O’Keefe noted that it will be April before the facilities themselves start to

open but that “it wouldn’t surprise me if the official opening is not until this time next year, during Freshers’ Week”.

O’Keefe admits that for larger technical student activities there will be a slight training phase as “when dealing with a brand new theatre with €400,000 worth of lighting equipment on the roof, you can’t just expect students to turn it on overnight and know how to use it.”

There have been many setbacks in the completion of the project since the referendum of April 2006, which set the venture in motion. Winter conditions

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last year brought all work to a complete halt for 6 weeks, as concrete could not be poured due to temperatures below four degrees Celsius.

The economic downturn saw the project managers having to deal with four receiverships of building companies, as well as several strikes and huge structural difficulties. These difficulties arose due to the complexity of the structural design, which will fully connect the new building to the current Student Centre and the Sports Centre, creating one extensive student complex.

Crunch Fitness spokesperson, Su-

zanne Kinsella, stated that the gym, which was to close last June, will remain open until April 30th 2012. The space Crunch now occupies in the Sports Centre is to be converted into an area to cater for the 9 martial arts clubs in UCD with the aim of freeing up the halls for increased sports training times. The new student complex will feature 850m2 of new gym space, more than twice what is currently available.

All UCD students will have free membership of the gym, pool and sports facilities while graduate students who contributed to the student

levy while at UCD will be offered free 3 and 4 month memberships.

O’Keefe notes that the fundamental business of the complex is contingent on the successful interface of commercial and student activity. Sports memberships will be open to the wider public, as will facilities for private conferences and conventions, in order for the complex to maintain economic viability.

The Forum Bar, which closed in December 2010, will reopen in the New Year when the building work is complete.

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4

international

News in Brief Cambridge Tops University Rankings

Elena Nikonova The University of Cambridge has topped the QS World University rankings for the second year in a row.

Thirty-one British institutions made it into 2011’s top 200 universities in the world; Oxford University came in fifth, London Imperial College sixth and University College London seventh.

Head of research at QS, Ben Sowter stated that “the gap between Cambridge and Harvard is very small, but Cambridge’s superior student/faculty ratio helped tip the balance; individual attention is one of the key attractions of the Oxbridge tutorial system”.

Sowter also indicated that “British universities have the edge on international indicators, particularly international faculty, the proportion of staff who are from overseas.”

The QS Rankings are largely based on academic reputation, employment after graduation, research publications and staff per student ratio.

Extensive cuts to the British higher education system, together with the increase in fees, had a significant impact on the university rankings this year.

The majority of British universities will increase fees to £9000 per academic year beginning in 2012.

news

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

11th Annual Conway Festival takes place ________________________________________ Katie Hughes Chief News Reporter ________________________________________ The eleventh annual UCD Conway Festival of Research and Innovation took place last Thursday the 15th of September.

Conway’s Communication and Education Officer, Elaine Quinn, said the event was a success, with all of the sessions being very well attended.

Thirty abstracts, primarily from the PHds and postdoctoral students that are working within the Conway Institute or its partner institutions, were

selected for moderated poster sessions.

There, presenters gave a five-minute outline of their work and its innovative potential to a small committee, which also included keynote speakers; this was happening in three different parts of the Conway Institute in the morning and afternoon.

The overall winner of the moderated posters competition was Conway’s Dr. Mark Pickling. Quinn stated that it was very difficult for the judges to make a call and in fact “they ended up giving an additional prize that they hadn’t before and quickly termed it the Director’s Prize”.

Professor of Clinical Bioinformatics, Denis Shields was one of the speakers

on the day. He gave a talk about sequencing whole sets of human proteins and using computer methods to predict their short, biologically active pieces which can then be used to piece apart cell signalling processes and develop therapeutics.

Professor Shields said that the festival took place to highlight to everybody involved “all of the research that is going on in the Conway – it’s really useful to the people in the Conway itself to know all of the great things that their colleagues have been doing; it’s also very useful for people coming from outside to come and attend, particularly for undergraduate students to get a flavour for research”.

The three plenary speakers at the event included Professor Romas Ka-

zlauskas from the BioTechnology Institute in the University of Minnesota, USA who spoke about ‘Engineering new catalytic activity into enzymes: from perhydrolases to ancestral enzymes’; Professor William Gallagher of UCD Conway and School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science gave a speech titled ‘Translational Perspectives in Cancer Biology: Case Studies in Biomarker and Drug Development’ and finally Professor Rick Morimoto from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA spoke about ‘Cells in Stress - How Protein Misfolding causes Aging and Disease’.

“There was some really good quality research going on and even though we were saying it’s an exciting week for science in UCD, what with the science centre opening, we’re sort of no longer the new kid on the block; what’s nice to see is that there seems to be the whole idea of interdisciplinary research really coming out now” finished Quinn.

Berkeley students face charges after campus demonstrations Elena Nikonova Following a demonstration against budget cuts held in University of California Berkeley, twenty-one students are waiting to face charges.

This follows fourteen protestors trespassing and refusing to leave one of the University’s academic buildings after its closing time on March 2nd.

Seven of the remaining students were arrested on the grounds of trespassing charges that occurred on March 3rd.

In addition to the misdemeanor three of the twenty-one students are facing charges for resisting arrest.

One of the protestor’s lawyers, Graham Archer, said that the speed with which the legal process will take place depends entirely on how many court rooms will be available and the amount of cases that have to be processed for the protesters. Archer has also indicated that according to the law the court hearings should begin no later than September 19th.

The protesters face up to six months in jail for trespassing on university property and up to a year in jail for resisting arrest.

No protests planned despite potential introduction of Third Level fees ________________________________________ Jonny Baxter ________________________________________ UCD Students’ Union have no immediate plans for any protests or demonstrations, despite the introduction of third level fees still being a concern for students.

A protest for students from all over Ireland was organised last year chiefly by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), which ultimately prevented the increase of the registration fee to €3,000, with it being raised instead to €2,000.

Following UCD’s recent drop to 134th in the QS World University Rankings, university president Dr Hugh Brady stated that Irish universities “could not possibly compete at the top” when other universities, using the UK

as an example, will from next year on be free to charge up to €10,369 in undergraduate fees.

Dr Brady’s comment comes as a report from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) stated that an increase from €1.3bn to €1.8bn in higher education funding will be required by 2020 to maintain expected standards in academia as well as in other services.

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said in July that he is “not ruling anything in or out” with regard to the third level budget but that an increase in fees was “not desirable” as it would “prevent socio-economic groups that we’re trying to get into the third-level sector from participating”.

This uncertainty, combined with the report from the HEA, suggests the possibility that the student charge, which

was this year raised from €1,500 to €2,000, may once again be looked at as a means of making up the deficit.

SU president Pat de Brún has said that while he agrees with Dr Brady that UCD needs more funding he feels that this should come from “public funding as opposed to student contribution funding” and urged the Minister for Education to consider the reaction from students to the Liberal Democrats in the UK who reneged on a pledge not to raise fees and suffered significantly as a result.

De Brún replied in the affirmative when asked if he felt students had been let down by the government and appealed to Mr Quinn to “stick by some Labour principles” warning they will be a “dead party” if they continue to ignore them.

Asked if the Students’ Union had considered reducing budgets in other areas of the SU to accommodate a potential increase in demand for welfare services, de Brún stated that they are presently working towards making the Union more efficient in an attempt to avoid cuts to services.

He is also aware that an increase in the third-level budget will be difficult given Ireland’s economic difficulties but was clear in stating the Union’s belief that “investment in third-level education leads to dividends in the longrun”. Asked if he could see a repeat of last year’s student protests, de Brún said that while it is important to have a number of approaches, “we are prepared for anything”.

University of British Columbia Katie Hughes September 12th saw students at University of British Columbia (UBC) being unable to log into the college network, ‘ubcsecure’.

As a result, students attempted to log onto the visitors’ network which is only able to process up to 4,000 users at a time and which consequently became unusable.

IT was able to increase the capacity of ‘ubcvisitor’ to allow students who were unable to access the ubcsecure network access to the internet.

IT’s Director of Client Services, Jennifer Burns stated that the services should return to normal in the near future – “in the next 48 hours we’ll have the additional servers online, and that will enable us to reduce that load issue quite substantially”.

Authentication servers are to be added to the system, which will prevent problems such as the network repeatedly requesting campus-wide login user information.

During the summer, ubcsecure replaced the less secure and hence decommissioned ‘ubc’ network, becoming the main network on campus.

Burns stated that the change in the security encryption of the ‘ubcsecure’ network to the WPA2 protocol in no way contributed to the login issues.

All Day Every Day

www.borz atakeaway.ie

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

news

5

News Analysis

Stress Testing

As Students’ Union President Pat de Brún announces financial reform for the SU, Kate Rothwell reflects on the task he has undertaken

T

o say that 2011 has so far been a year of financial unrest is an obvious statement, but it is still disheartening to see the new semester open with news of a worrying fiscal situation. UCD Students’ Union President Pat de Brún this week told the University Observer that he has initiated an examination of the SU’s current financial situation, and has so far discovered that there is an unknown but “not insignificant” amount of debt to be addressed.

De Brún’s comment that “the structures and the way we’ve done business in the past haven’t been strong enough” gives little indication as to where (or with who) the exact root of the problem may lie, but whatever the nature of the beast may be it is grave enough to lead the new President to propose a complete overhaul of the Students’ Union financial system. His ambition is to be admired, but it is the eventual success or failure of this endeavour that will be a key factor in defining his tenure.

However in order for de Brún to come good on his promised reform, some of his colleagues may have to cut their prized manifesto highlights. The SU President has stated that “frontline services” in education and welfare will be prioritised, but even they cannot be granted cutback-immunity. Mammothscale events in the 02, smartphone apps and the printing of class rep handbooks are, one would imagine, projects which will be have to be cut before they have even been begun. Reports of increased revenue earned from sponsorship and advertising is encouraging, but they can only stretch so far. No hard and fast guarantees have been made about what we can or cannot expect to be cut; the exact financial implications of the ongoing investigation are still a mystery to those who will be affected by its outcomes.

Being forced to withdraw votewinning but overly ambitious promises made in the heady days of the election race is reasonably understandable in such financially frugal times, but it will take more than a cancelled concert or two to keep this year’s student body content. The newly-registered students of 2011 are still stinging from a registra-

tion fee of over €2,000, and are wary of the fact that full college fees may well be on the agenda as soon as next year.

Those who were in UCD last year have already had their faith in university authorities shaken by the revelations of €1.6 million of ‘unlawful’ allowances being paid to UCD staff, as well as five UCD staff members being listed among the ten highest paid educators in the country. The students of UCD have been let down by those in the upper echelons of the University; their representatives in Students’ Union must prove to them that they are worthy of their trust.

De Brún has pledged that the examination of SU accounts and restructuring of the financial system will be a transparent operation, and he is no doubt aware that this is a promise that he cannot afford to break.

One of the first expenses that students will expect figures on will be Class Rep Training, an event that is now infamous for its often ludicrously costly price tag. For students who have little or no contact with their own Class Rep this seems like a futile expense, and even those who do appreciate having an appointed representative will admit that it is extravagant. If de Brún can ensure a substantial decrease in the cost of this year’s training, he will have made at least one step in the right direction.

He who promises great things must be prepared to overcome equally great challenges, and also make unpopular decisions. Promises are only words until coupled with actions – this is not the first time that we have been assured of the publication of SU accounts, and the student population is used to being let down by those in charge. Pat de Brún has not chosen an easy cause with which to start his presidency. Should he make sufficient progress in reorganising the financial setup of the SU, he could make great strides towards stabilising a brighter future for the entire Union. Should he discover that the task is too great, he could also find that what may be well-intentioned efforts will bring him more trouble than acclaim.

“He who promises great things must be prepared to overcome equally great challenges, and also make unpopular decisions”

“No hard and fast guarantees have been made about what we can or cannot expect to be cut”

Students’ Drinking Habits Make Campus Unsafe D espite a precedence having been set over the past few years, no extraordinary measures seem to have been taken to ensure that students toed the curb at bus stops in UCD on Monday 17th – the first day of term.

What was described as anti-social behaviour inevitably broke out and bus services were cancelled after both buses and drivers were abused.

For a long time, unpleasant and rowdy behaviour has been commonplace on late-night UCD bus routes, in particular on the first and last days of term when the night-time services are at their busiest. The curtailing of services in Belfield on Black Monday was something that should therefore have been expected if previous years were anything to go by.

However, it is not the responsibility of UCD or Dublin Bus to arrange extra security in an attempt to curb students’ anti-social activities as they wait to be transported to town; it is in fact no-one’s responsibility but our own to behave in a manner expected of us as adult members of society. Unfortunately, this is a message that has not yet registered with a significant proportion of Belfield’s student population.

One would think that having reached third level education, students would have enough common sense to be, or at least act in the manner of, the adults they were long ago expected to become. However, it is evident from the statements released by both Dublin Bus and the Students’ Union that UCD students are not, in fact, behaving in a socially acceptable manner.

As a student body, we protested against an increase in the registration fee, the introduction of third level fees and graduate unemployment; exactly how much of our credibility will remain down the line if we allow it to be so easily whittled away by our own reckless actions?

What can only be described as a boorish display of intoxication led to the assault and injury of a security guard on Monday evening in one of the residences on campus. It is unfortunate that it is students, and students of our own university, who are the ones that members of campus security are there to protect us from – it is not a deranged madman who might be hid-

ing in the bushes, but a person who has consumed one too many drinks in the student bar.

Not only is security’s safety being compromised but also that of our fellow students. Residential Assistants across campus had to deal with numerous drinking violations in residences, as well as threatening and unpleasant behaviour from their peers. Why is this something that people are willing to inflict on their fellow students? The question remains whether the promise of getting drunk is such an inviting one that students are willing to cause a multitude of problems for not only themselves, but for those around them.

The disgraceful behaviour exhibited makes it questionable whether UCD students are ready for the soon to be implemented initiative, Safe Spaces. Is this yet another service that will eventually be withdrawn once it becomes evident that students are unable to control themselves and their behaviour?

It is an excellent initiative, but if we as students cannot behave on our own campus, what is it that inspires peoples’ confidence in us to mind our manners outside of it?

The idea of Black Monday that is ingrained in first years’ minds, and that sticks with students as they move up through their years in UCD, is that of a day of frivolity and irresponsibility – skip your lectures, wear a suit and enter the campus “institution” that is the student bar for a day of madness and mayhem. Surely incapacitating yourself for the first two days of the semester is not the way one wants to start a school year – though if the first day of the 2011 academic year is anything to go by, it certainly seems to be the case.

While most anti-drinking campaigns are targeted at motorists, it is perhaps time for university students to be included in such schemes. A huge significance is placed on alcohol in university; free drinks are offered as an initiative for students to show up to events, and nights out are often marketed on what array of cheap drinks will be available rather than what the main entertainment or music attraction of the evening will be – though if people are too intoxicated to notice, does anyone really care?

by Katie Hughes

6

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Observer Features

A Question of Faith In a time when Irish society is becoming increasingly secular, Matt Gregg investigates what role the Chaplaincy has to play on campus

U

CD owes its roots to the Catholic University. Though no longer a denominated institution, UCD has certainly maintained a “catholic ethos” throughout its 157 year history.

In its origins, the Catholic University sought to offer Ireland’s Catholic majority an avenue to third level education that the non-denominational Queen’s colleges or the Anglican controlled Trinity College did not. Each of the three colleges had their own chapel and the majority of the professors were also members of the clergy, while all public university functions were conducted in the University Church. When the university’s first rector, Cardinal Newman, reflected on his university he foresaw “a land both old and young; old in its Christianity, young in the promise of its future”.

Fast forward to 2011 and Christianity in Ireland certainly feels old.

Secularism and apathy are on the rise as the Catholic Church, still Ireland’s main Christian representative, is rocked by scandal after scandal. Yet, even without this catalyst, religion in Ireland has long been in decline.

Church attendance in the Archdiocese of Dublin this year averaged 18% of the Catholic population, while in certain dioceses this figure fell to as little as 2%. Furthermore, youth participation is at an all time low, a plummet that has not escaped the notice of UCD’s current Chaplains.

“25 years ago, [students] would have been more conscious, I would think, of the spiritual side of life than they might be now. Nowadays, I suppose you’d have to say, a lot of students wouldn’t have a big involvement with their par-

Father Callanan S.J. is one of four that the funding of chaplains by the “You could say I don’t see what the concedes that “Perhaps we should have Chaplains currently employed by state did not constitute the endow- need is for a fire station down the an Imam. However, the Muslims [on UCD. He works fulltime and has an ment of religion and was therefore not road because I’ve never called it, campus] are well served by the local office on campus, just beside the Arts a violation of the constitution. The case therefore I’d say get rid of it. The Mosque in Clonskeagh, which is one of Programme Office, which is provided was concerned with secondary schools University is also a place that cares the largest in Dublin. Also numerically, using university funds. However, the but it can also be seen as applicable to for others. The President speaks of the they are strong and in fact support appropriation of university funding for universities, as they too are a secular UCD community and that is a multi- themselves well, in their faith.” a religious purpose is not something source of education that receives state dimensional reality which includes the For Aneeq Ahmed, auditor of the that everyone at UCD believes is funding. Of course, accusations that spiritual, but is not exclusive to it.”

Islamic Society, the proximity of the appropriate.

“The Chaplaincy does have financial support from the college, as well as office space, which non-religious students don’t really have access to,” explains Rita Harrold, UCD student UCD Head Chaplin, Father John McNerney and spokesperson for the Humanist Society. “There are certain areas that the constitution looks favourably on Of course, this idea of a multi- Islamic Cultural Centre for Ireland are really just for religious students religion are frequent and would lead dimensional reality applies to other (ICCI) does provide help for UCD’s and, while I think there should be some to dismiss the notion that this religious denominations as well as Islamic community but operates on a support for students in lots of different decision legitimises the chaplaincy on secularism. The primacy of Catholicism different agenda. He went on to express ways, and it’s great that the college campus. But that is a debate that goes is no longer as evident, particularly his gratitude at how welcoming the is providing a service, it is unfair for beyond the Belfield boundaries. with the influx of international UCD Chaplaincy was and the support religion to get preferential treatment For UCD’s Head Chaplain, Father students who now account for roughly they offered but also felt that providing over any other viewpoint.”

John McNerney, the ruling provides a a fifth of the student population. In representatives of other faiths would Harrold did make it clear that she base for justifying the chaplaincy as light of this, it is appropriate to explore be a good idea. understood why students, particularly part of a secular state institution, but how the Chaplaincy adapts to this.

“It would be nice to have chaplains of those far from home who had been is not the clinching argument. Instead, “[The UCD Chaplains] are Catho- other faiths to help students deal with involved with their local parishes, when asked to counter the Humanist lic with a small ‘c’. Our outreach is any specific issues or questions they would find it helpful to have people Society’s point, he gestures to the Catholic or universal in the sense that may have,” he explained. “We wouldn’t tied in with religion on campus. But label on his door. “Our title is chaplain it reaches into every part of the com- have a big issue if [they are] in the on the other hand, she didn’t feel this student advisor. We are employed as munity,” says Father Leon Ó Giolláin chaplaincy or employed separately. I was a strong enough reason to justify student advisors who happen to be S.J. when asked how the Chaplaincy think the important point would be funding a chaplaincy on campus. chaplains as well. One of the team is a caters to those outside the Christian that, for example, there is a Muslim “There are churches outside the psychotherapist; another is qualified in faith. “We are interested in the human educated in Islam who is available to campus and potentially the religious terms of community sociology. [UCD] person as a whole, with their questions, guide the students on campus, whether societies could assist religious students is inundated with student welfare cases whatever they are, and indeed their it’s as part of the Chaplaincy or not.” who wanted to get involved with those and we definitely contribute in that role answers to these questions also, which In their 1998 judgement, the Supreme kinds of things and becoming members and are employed on that basis.” can come from a faith perspective - any Court decided that funding did not of Dublin congregations,” Rita argues. “I Father Callanan was also quick faith perspective - or from a ‘non-faith’ have to be provided to all faiths, only do see [the function of] a chaplaincy but it to point out that theirs is a dual role. position.” those of the institution’s ethos. They is another benefit that religion is getting, “Because of the first part of our job, His colleague, Father Callanan, said that having a Catholic Chaplain did in this case particularly the Catholic you might get some that are Catholic expanded on the idea and explained not require the provision of religious Church, from a state funded institution with a problem about a marriage or that “there is an interfaith, or non- advisors for other faiths merely to faith, grouping that meets once a term. provide balance. This is perhaps a fair You get Baha’is, Christians, Atheists, statement in a small school community “We wouldn’t have a big issue if [they are] in the chaplaincy or employed separately. I think etc. It’s an attempt really to get people where a clear majority ethos remains. the important point would be that, for example, there is a Muslim educated in Islam who is to share their own values and beliefs Yet UCD’s student population is vast. available to guide the students on campus, whether it’s as part of the Chaplaincy or not.” and to understand the values and the Its historical Catholicism has, and beliefs of others.” is continually, being diluted by both Aneeq Ahmed, auditor of the Islamic Society Nevertheless, there is no escaping those of other religions and of no the fact that the Chaplaincy remains religious allegiance at all. Today, the ish and wouldn’t know their clergy very which runs contrary to the ideas of an something like that. But in the majority composed entirely of Catholics and Chaplaincy presents clear reasons as well,” bemoans Father John Callanan equal and secular institution.” of cases, it’s not that. It’s a much wider Methodists. A perusal of their website to why spiritual advisors still have a S.J., Chaplain for Medicine and EngiThis is not a unique train of thought. range of areas that people would be does indeed give prominence to an role on campus, both for religious and neering students. “If we conducted an In fact, it was a central tenet of civil coming to us with. ” He continued that account of the interfaith meeting but non-religious welfare, but that does not experiment by walking down the thor- rights group Campaign to Separate the question of faith was only broached it is somewhat lonely in and amongst mean the role is complete. There are oughfare and asking ten students ‘Do Church and State when they brought a at the student’s discretion and that, the far more numerous mentions of clear reasons to suggest that it could you go to church? Do you know your case against the Minister for Education. much like non-faith student advisors, Christian events. be expanded to support the growing local priest?’ I suspect much, much less They complained that the use of state he would pass on cases outside his When the subject is broached, range of faiths and non-faiths on than twenty years ago where nine out funds for a religious purpose, including competencies to UCD’s professional Father McNerney admits “there are campus. Bringing the spirit of Newman of ten would have said yes to both ques- the employment of chaplains, was counselling services. growth areas for development” and to 2011, UCD should have a Chaplaincy tions. The way they see the chaplains is unconstitutional.

Father McNerney draws parallels he is not alone in this opinion. Father to cater for both old and young; old in not as visible, and they wouldn’t be as However, the Supreme Court dis- between the debate over the services Ó Giolláin draws comparisons with its Christianity, young in the promise used to being in contact with us.” agreed. Its 1998 judgement decided they offer and those of a fire station. DCU’s inter-faith organisation and of a diverse future.

“Our title is chaplain student advisor. We are employed as student advisors who happen to be chaplains as well.”

“I do see [the function of ] a chaplaincy but it is another benefit that religion is getting, in this case particularly the Catholic Church, from a state funded institution which runs contrary to the ideas of an equal and secular institution.”

Rita Harrold, UCD spokeperson for the Humanist Society

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

features

7

Post-traumatic stress With Twitter recently reaching the 100 million users mark, Elizabeth O’Malley investigates the potential pitfalls when social networking Instant messaging or private groups, no matter what their labels might suggest, are all considered public information in the eyes of the law

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ushed by declining Guinness sales On the day, Cribben explains that and a stagnating pub industry, “there tends to be a good cross section Arthur’s Day is taking place again of ages, but it is again dependent on the this year on the 22nd of September. For specific type of event in individual lothose of you unfamiliar with the con- cations. There tends to be a good party cept, Arthur’s Day began two years atmosphere and people use the occaago as a celebration of the legacy of sion to simply enjoy themselves.” the founder of one of Ireland’s most faIndependent of the events that local mous brands, and the new charity fund pubs are putting on across the country set up in his name. Now in its third year, are the gigs which Diageo are orgathere is a danger that Arthur Guinness’ nising. By associating Guinness with memory will soon be remembered in new bands through the gigs they place the same alcohol-heavy manner as that around the country, they keep the laof our national saint; a worrying pros- bel in the eye of the young drinking pect in a society already plagued with market. This is a marketing ploy that alcohol abuse problems.

Heineken have been using effectively Even the sight of Barack Obama for years. In no way are the leading Ardrinking a pint of plain at Moneygall has thur’s Day gigs aimed towards the tranot stopped the latest decline in sales ditional, older Guinness market. This of Guinness in Ireland. With profits year the Scissor Sisters are leading the staggering, the prospect of using their celebrations alongside DJ Calvin Harfounder’s 250th birthday was a market- ris and Scottish singer Paulo Nutini. ing opportunity not to be missed. Guin- Guinness needs the younger market ness sales fell by six per cent in Ireland in order to survive, and it comes as no last year but this is just a reflection of surprise that Guinness have every year the overall effect that the recession and placed Arthur’s Day on a Thursday; the governmental legislation has been hav- traditional student drinking day. ing on publicans’ trade. To the cynic, Welfare Officer Rachel Breslin Arthur’s Day could be regarded as just agrees that Arthur’s Day is a brilliant a corporate ploy by Diageo to increase marketing ploy but is unsure as to how sales (which it no doubt is), but its pres- much of an effect it will have on stuence helps an economic sector that has dents’ consumption of the product in been hit hard over the past decade. question. “If students are as astute to Padraig Cribben, CEO of the Vint- the very commercial purpose of this ners Federation of Ireland (VFI), told day as I believe they are, then they will the University Observer that during Ar- not be influenced by a drinks manufacthur’s Day “there is a usually a signifi- turer and if they do go out will instead cant increase [in sales] in some outlets enjoy the events and social atmosphere depending on the type of events orga- in the city.” nized. We welcome the continuation of Arthur’s Day is built upon the noArthur’s Day, and actively encourage tion of consumption, and it brings with our members to take advantage of this it the all-too-familiar problem of excesday by putting on events and activities sive drinking. This problem is especialto increase custom.” ly aggravated among student drinkers, It is not only the publicans that known for overindulging. welcome Arthur’s Day, but also their “Excessive drinking on Arthur’s day customers. Although the lore of a free is a symptom, not the cause of Ireland’s pint is enough to entice half the coun- cultural problems with alcohol and try outside its doors for an hour, it is these need to be addressed,” explained not the only reason that punters head Breslin. “Welfare acknowledges its cruto their local on Arthur’s Day. The pub cial role in reducing excessive drinking has always been the traditional social among students, and aims to do this hub of urban and rural Ireland. This is through information campaigns this changing fast and Arthur’s Day could year on alcohol and its effects.” be seen as just another attempt to inAlthough only in its third year, Arject some life into a faltering sector. thur’s Day has quickly gained signifiOn the day, however, the old vibrancy cance in the social calendar. Not only that defined the traditional Irish pub is this, but its importance to publicans’ brought to life again. Most pubs across livelihoods and to Guinness’ sales will the country have music events in place ensure that we will be all raising a glass that draw the once familiar crowds.

“To Arthur” for years to come.

J

ordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan have been sentenced to four years in prison for incitement to riot. What is so interesting about this case is that it is the longest sentence handed out in relation to the riots, and yet no actual damage occurred as a result of the posts the two young men put up online. In fact, to qualify for a four year sentence you would usually have to have kidnapped somebody, killed someone while drink driving, or be found guilty of sexual assault. So what makes writing something on Facebook so different from the other acts committed during the riots?

The answer lies in the unique ability that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have to mobilise people to a cause and to spread a message. While the event posted by Blackshaw and the page created by SutcliffeKeenan did not result in any trouble, panic was said to have spread throughout Northwich and Warrington. One person doesn’t start a riot; a riot occurs when the mob mentality takes over and when enough people are taking part as to make it seem ok to loot and damage property. By suggesting on Facebook that people join in the riots and knowing that the posts would be seen by their hundreds of friends, the two created the very real possibility that a group would take part.

One group, one page on Facebook led to four years in prison. Now, more than ever, the message is to be careful what you say online or be prepared to accept the consequences. Of course the riots were an exceptional circum-

stance, hopefully not to be repeated.

But is there a real cost for students who do not think before they post?

“Anything that you publish online to other people is regarded by the law as having been made public. So, publishing something to a group of friends on Facebook does not keep it private,” according UCD Professor Eoin Carolan, a media law expert. “Publication to one other person is enough to expose someone to the risk of a defamation action, so anything you say online could have legal consequences.”

Instant messaging or private groups, no matter what their labels might suggest, are all considered public information in the eyes of the law. Admitting to a crime online is not a wise move, even if you’re joking or just think it’s hilarious that you keyed your lecturer’s car.

It’ll be incredibly difficult to deny you did anything if you’re incriminated by your own words.

Another area where a series of social media posts have come back to bite their author is the world of work.

It now seems to be almost standard procedure for an employer to look up a potential employee’s Facebook page, and with the website’s ever-adjusting privacy settings you can’t be certain about what exactly they might see. One employer that this writer spoke to recently held interviews for her organisation and found “[it was] amazing how much of their personal info was available online, including comments about how they felt the interviews had gone.”

Once employed, students should still remain wary. A recent judgement

in the US forced a non-profit corporation to rehire five staff fired for complaining about their job online. However, no such protection exists in Ireland so your online criticism can still lose you your job.

Probably the most infamous Facebook-related dismissal story is that of a sixteen year old who was fired from her job in Essex after posting that her boss was “a pervy w****r” and her job was “boring”, but not all work related mishaps need to be so evident. Companies are increasingly using networking sites to check up on staff members that have called in sick. According to a survey taken by employment consultancy firm Peninsula Ireland, 83 per cent of employers have monitored individual’s Facebook statuses to investigate whether an employee was truly ill.

Even if it might not get you fired or have legal repercussions it is also probably best not to put up that picture of yourself in a compromising position or post a mean comment on somebody’s wall. Professor Carolan points out that “there are significant difficulties involved in removing something that has been placed online in the future.

Facebook, for example, has been criticised for claiming rights over anything uploaded to it and for making it very difficult for people to remove material completely.” Once something is online, it exists forever. This makes the rule of thumb quite simple: if there is anybody who you wouldn’t want to see it, don’t put it up.

To Arthur!

To Martha!

To marketing!

“The lore of a free pint is enough to entice half the country outside its doors for an hour; it is not the only reason that punters head to their local on Arthur’s Day.”

With Arthur’s Day being celebrated for the third time, Sean Finnan takes a look at how this once-off celebration has become an annual event

8

features

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Walls / Apart With Belfast City Council recently examining how Belfast’s peace lines could be removed, Natasha Murtagh gets to grip with their history

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hen the Northern Irish peace “They went up for different reasons in lines were being built, Lieu- different places, which I think a lot of tenant-General Sir Ian Free- people don’t realise,” she begins. “The land stated; “The peace lines will be a walls aren’t just to stop conflict; they very temporary affair. We will not have were also built to stop communities a Berlin Wall or anything like that in moving, particularly in North Belfast this city.” Yet more than forty years where the Protestant population was later, the lines remain standing. decreasing. It was to more or less to stop There are currently fifty-three Catholics coming in to the area. They Northern Ireland Office-maintained wanted to segregate people without peace lines in the region – forty-two in looking like you’re segregating people.”

Belfast, five in Londonderry, five in Por“Take the West link carriage way tadown and one in Lurgan. The major- coming into Belfast from the M1, it was ity were built in North and West Belfast, more or less built to stop Protestant the most famous of them being the wall and Catholic communities interacting separating the loyalist Shankill Road together. The terminology is quite difand the republican Falls Road in West ferent… You’ve got peace lines, peace Belfast. Unlike the Berlin Wall, Belfast walls, segregation through urban plandoes not have one continuous stretch ning and environmental interfaces. of brick and mortar. Instead, there is a There is no generic meaning, which is variety of structures ranging from the why the term ‘peace line’ is quite good small-standing 1.5 metres to the daunt- because they’re not all walls.” ing 7.6 metres in high conflict areas.

Over the years, murals have been The first barriers were built in 1969 painted on the harsh concrete barriers following The Northern Ireland Riots and have transformed some of them and the start of the Troubles. “They into works of art as well as historical were primarily designed to minimise artefacts. Though many of these murals inter-communal violence between the are the work of paramilitaries and are warring Unionists and Nationalists,” often seen as provocative, others were explains Dr. Laura McAtackney, a post- put up by community development doctoral research fellow at the John projects to bring a friendlier feel to a Hume Institute of Global Irish Studies permanent state of antagonism. “The at UCD. Under the duress of mounting small amount of community groups sectarian violence, residents were com- that are out there are very good and plaining that they simply didn’t feel are increasingly trying to get a lot more safe and sporadic barriers began to be interaction between the different sides, constructed in order to divide the on- particularly with young children and going ethnic conflict. teenagers,” Dr. McAtackney remarks, Although commonly referred to as pointing out they have an essential role ‘peace walls’, Dr. McAtackney believes to play in bringing hope to a fractured that this description can be misleading. community.

“The bottom line is it’s not going to get any better with the walls there, it’s simply not attempting to work through their problems,’ Dr. McAtackney says when asked to predict what will happen in the future. “Maybe taking the walls down completely is too drastic, but we could at least lower them or replace the concrete with fencing so that you can see through them into the other communities. It’s a small step but at least it would be moving forward.”

A survey taken earlier this year by the US-Ireland Alliance, a non-profit organisation aimed at informing Americans about Irish affairs, found that 81% of respondents who live near peace lines wanted them to come down, which suggests they may not remain a permanent fixture. However, only 21% felt that now was the time to do it and Dr. McAtackney found that many people she interviewed were still “living in fear that if the walls come down, troubles and complications will just start all over again.”

This has not stopped Belfast’s leading political parties attempting to create a strategy for the removal of the peace lines but it does perhaps explain why no concrete plans can be agreed upon. The peace lines may not be solving wider social problems but, in the eyes of many locals, they have kept the peace more effectively than the police have. Although many members of the affected communities want to progress towards reconciliation, it is evident that the fear of potential violence is a stronger force that continues to prevent any consensus being reached, at least for now.

Postcards from Abroad: Berlin

“The city screams rebellion and chants anarchy”

Fifty years ago, Berlin stood as a divided city. A wall, 96 miles long and 11.6 feet high, perhaps the most infamous construction of the twentieth century, spilt Berlin physically, economically and ideologically.

From divided to unified, from communist to capitalist, Berlin has seen its fair share of change since 1961. The fall of the wall in 1989 led to the perfect combination of ideas and open space. The anarchy, idealism and alternative lifestyle that existed openly in the west, and privately in the east, found its roots in a new Berlin that has since become a significant tourist destination.

It is rather extraordinary for a city of such popularity to remain grounded in its roots.

Berlin, I am delighted to say, has managed to do just that.

The city screams rebellion and chants anarchy. It is a worldwide paragon of freedom and individuality, a paragon that for the next ten-and-a-

half months I will call home.

Before I left, I had to stop myself from making assumptions about what Berlin would be like. Although I had been to the city before and knew it quite well, the greatest thing about Berlin is its constant adaptation. Nothing stays the same; no experiences are repeated. Rather they are improved upon, highlighted and made all the more sweet

by Berlin’s infectious and never-ending charm.

Undoubtedly this trip would be a shock to my previous notions of relaxed summer days spent idly at cafés. If there was one thing that brought this home, it was the horror of my first-day early-morning start; 8:15am to be precise. While I was used to stumbling into a bed at this time on previous visits, today I would be arriving at my preGerman language course at the Freie Universitaet (FU) Berlin.

“A student’s first day is inevitably going to be anti-climatic, particularly when it’s the first day of ‘the best experience of your life’”

In the first of our columns from students abroad, Anna Burzlaff gets to grip with the diversity Berlin has to offer

Although I could hardly function due to sleep deprivation, whatever senses had managed to awaken themselves could feel a growing sense of excitement as I boarded the U-Bahn and began my adventure. Oh the melting-pot of nationalities that greeted me (or, more precisely, huddled in awkward corners out of shyness)! Aside from being an opportunity to study in one of the world’s most exciting cities, I was well aware that my cultural awakening would stretch far beyond the boundaries of Berlin as I spoke to people from Israel, Italy, Japan, and Australia, to name but a few.

A student’s first day is inevitably going to be anticlimatic, particularly when it’s the first day of “the best experience of your life”.

Naturally, you do not manage to befriend your life-long soul mate who will shape most of your future years. Instead

you engage in some shallow niceties and hope your hair didn’t become too dishevelled in the wind. My first day at FU Berlin was not a great cataclysmic point in my life. It was short, sweet, and provided the tiniest taste of my year to come. Exciting people, all with fascinating stories (such as the Australian girl who travelled from London to Mongolia by car in 2 months) made UCD and its tales of drunken nights out at Tripod pale in insignificance. Along with this unending list of Berlin’s cultural activities, and many, many planned trips to the beer garden, gave me the smallest idea of just some of the things that this year would hold.

When I left the University to return to my new apartment, I began to think again about my expectations of the year; what I hope to happen, and who I hope to meet. Expectations can be dangerous things and can often prevent you from appreciating

what does come to pass, however brilliant it may be, if it varies from that which you had hoped for. However, when I sat in the train heading home I became extremely assured that this year would not disappoint, and that it would bring with it new and exciting people and experiences. I couldn’t help but feeling extremely lucky to be living in a city that is the pinnacle of culture, innovation, and change. No matter how sick of techno music I get, or tired of climbing the U-Bahn steps, or irritated by the obnoxious American student, I am sure I can find solace somewhere in one of the city’s many havens. Berlin is constantly changing; it changes with you and your mood. Dozens of galleries, hundreds of shops, innumerable cafés; perhaps Berlin itself will be the lifelong soul-mate who will shape my future years, that I hope to get to know over these next tenand-a-half months.

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

features

Internships:

With jobs increasingly hard to come by, Faye Docherty explores what students have been doing to improve their employability this summer

Making Your Summer Work

S

tudents returning to UCD this year will probably spend the first few weeks engaging in conversations about their summer, which for most people consisted of spending time with friends, enjoying the odd sun holiday, and holding on to their part-time job. However, another option that students are increasingly availing of is summer internships. More and more students have come to realise that internships really can form the cornerstone of an impressive CV and are looking to take advantage of what is on offer.

Brian Mahon, a final year History, Politics and International Relations student, spent the summer working in The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), a non-governmental organisation based in Berlin. “You get to meet people who have the same kind of ambition as you and want to go places,” Mahon explains when asked what motivated him to spend his summer interning.

With a strong interest in politics, and international relations in particular, an internship in ICD seemed an excellent opportunity to put what he had learnt into practice. His future studies and a possible MA after his degreee also had a big role to play in the decision, however he did concede that “everything that everyone does at this stage is for the CV too.”

Mahon worked in the news section of the Institute, producing articles for their website. “If I was writing a piece it would be sort of for my own satisfaction, making sure that it was

9

Rowan Lacey on an archaeology excavation site in France, just outside Montpellier final year Law and European Studies student, was fortunate enough to spend eight weeks in Washington DC as part of this internship last year. “Whilst the internship was a major part of the program it also involved Leadership Development, Professional Development and service both at home and in DC. The internship is only one part of the program that students do. Fundamentally the internship involved working with Senator John McCain in the US Senate,” he explains.

early meant having a few precious moments of the Senator’s time. “Personally, knowing I was not out of place in Senator McCain’s office has given me huge confidence. It has also given me a better work ethic and drive. The office, and indeed the Senate, was full of hugely dedicated people, who, through hard work, dedication and conviction change the lives of millions of people in a way they believe to be positive.”

Another UCD student who had a positive internship experience was Rowan Lacey, a final year French and Archaeology student. He spent the summer on an archaeology excavation site in France, just outside Montpellier.

“I was on as a student excavator dig-

worthwhile, especially because it presented him with new challenges. “The thing with the Archaeology degree is that there isn’t a lot of time or scope to do any practical stuff, it is fairly academic so it was a case of trying to get some practical experience under my belt before I finished up.”

However, not all internships go as well as students would have hoped, and interns are often dissatisfied with their experience. In order to ensure that this doesn’t happen, companies must make preparations to accomodate an intern, as if they are is ill-prepared the entire experience may seem completely counterproductive to the student who has commited to their programme.

while still at college instead of attempting to do it after finishing her degree.

“It definitely gave me a headstart in trying to think about what I want to do,” she said. “Even the interview practice beforehand, writing your CV and your cover letter was really good preparation to have before going in to your final year.”

The benefits of doing an internship while still at college are evident, even if students feel that they aren’t receiving worthwhile training or that the company they are working for isn’t gaining much from them. Experiencing the negative can end up fuelling positive changes in their career path in the future and push them towards more suitable professions.

However, it’s no secret that getting an internship in the first place can be a difficult task. Many students are disheartened after spending weeks sending email after email to companies across Ireland and the rest of the world to no avail, never managing to secure an internship in their desired career area. “I do think that internships are a vital element to a person’s degree,” muses O’Donnell, “And it is a pity that some students don’t get the chance to work in their chosen field.”

The promotion of internships seems to be an issue that is handled differently in every school across UCD. For example, Humenik found that “our school is really good for helping people do that, [a] lecturer in our school nearly makes sure that everyone who wants an internship gets an internship, but I have friends in different schools in UCD and it appears that they don’t have that sort of support at all.” However, when Mahon was asked whether he felt UCD needed to do more, he said that while perhaps they should push the benefits of internships, he also feels that the culture in Ireland in general might explain why not everyone is seeking this opportunity; “To be honest, I don’t think it is much the culture in Ireland to do internships, and com-

Negatives experiences can occasionally help students to learn something significant about their future career – they realise what they don’t want to do

Jack O’Donnell with Senator John McCain digestable and that I was happy it was After asking O’Donnell if he learnt readable for whoever was going to read a lot and whether he felt he was chalit”, says Mahon, continuing that the lenged he responded in a hugely posismall readership and target audience tive manner; “I had access to one of the did not provide huge motivation. As a most powerful politicans in the USA. result, he doesn’t feel that he was chal- I also had exposure to the workings lenged as much as he could have been, a of the American Senate and House of complaint which many students make Representatives. It was a hectic eight about their internships. weeks of hard work but [there were] Despite the disappointment that many fantastic moments,” he comsome interns experience with their mented. These moments included evplacements, there are many established erything from sharing a lift with John internships which gain widespread Kerry to having breakfast with Senate praise from their participants year af- leader Harry Reid. Other unique exter year. One of these internships is the periences were not only getting to say Washington-Ireland Program for Ser- ‘good morning Senator’ every day, but vice and Leadership. Jack O’Donnell, a soon realising that coming in an hour

On the other hand, negatives experi- panies in Ireland might start taking adging through the site which was a site from the Celtic period”, he says. Most ences can occasionally help students to vantage of it.”

Yet O’Donnell explains that his of the work involved “removing layers learn something significant about their of earth at a time” and recording each future career – they realise what they experience in Washington was only new layer as he reached it. Lacey’s four don’t want to do. Internships can com- possible because of UCD’s assistance; weeks of work were unpaid, but his pletely change a student’s perspective “the Washington-Ireland Program is costs were reduced by bed and board on a specific field of study or a whole supported by UCD so without them being covered as part of the internship. profession in general, a fact which I would never have had the chances I Payment is an issue that arises for supports the idea that internships are had this summer.”

Internships will always end up eduinterns every year, particularly now best done while still at college. Mahon that students are more strapped for agrees that it was best to do his intern- cating students in one way or another. cash than ever. Yet when they are told ship before graduating, saying that he They are an excellent way of shedin advance that they will not be get- “could not have done this internship ding light on reality, showing what the ting paid it seems to reduce the an- after college; I wouldn’t have stayed world of work is really like, and what noyance of spending a whole summer for the three months.” He puts this many people’s dream jobs are actually doing potentially low-status work for down to the attitude in the office and all about. Countless numbers of stulittle pay. A sense of exploitation only stated how over the course of the three dents benefit from these career-buildtends to arise when interns are misled months he realised that working for an ing opportunities year after year, while about potential payment, whereas by NGO was not something he would like the companies who take them on enjoy a supply of enthusiastic workers, some being given prior warning of the lack to do long-term.

Ashley Humenik, a fourth year of whom could prove to be future fullof remuneration they are fully aware of what they are getting themselves into Chemical Engineering student who time employees. Internships are often spent the summer in Janseen Biologics challenging, but most are rewarding in and can plan accordingly.

Despite the fact that he was unpaid, in Ringaskiddy, Cork, also felt that she equal measure, and well worth signing Lacey felt that his experience was gained more from doing her internship your summer away for.

More and more students have come to realise that internships really can form the cornerstone of an impressive CV

10

features

Members Only With Fresher’s Week upon us, George Morahan speaks to active society members about the allure of society life

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y the time this article goes to a UCD society, what do students get out print UCD Freshers’ Week 2011 of signing up and getting involved? will be in full swing; the members Having spoken to numerous promiof UCD’s 80 or so active societies will nent members from a cross-section all be vying for your attention and your of societies, it is safe to say that those €2 membership fee. Their mandate is that are heavily involved in society life to encourage inclusion and to persuade believe it to be a personally enriching as many people as possible into joining, experience. As Film Society (FilmSoc) but their members say little about the Auditor, Natasha Waugh puts it, “It’s a importance of societies as part of the great part of college life and one that I college experience or how beneficial personally couldn’t be without.” joining a society can be for students, Drama Society (DramSoc) Auditor, both personally as well as for your fu- Eoghan Carrick, fell into society activture professional prospects. There’s ity somewhat by accident. “Someone sure to be a countless amount of goody came over to me and asked whether I bags and concession cards handed out wanted to audition for a show and I over the coming days, but beyond the wasn’t really sure if I wanted to, but I immediate, tangible benefits of joining did anyway. I got cast in the show and

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

I just slowly kept getting more involved want to do for the rest of my life.” It’s with the society. Once that happens, clear that societies can completely you generally get sucked into it.” change one’s expectations of college Overall, it seems that the pull of the life, but aside from the profound efsociety became irresistible to all that fects society involvement can have, the were consulted, compelling them to general sentiment is that societies are become more involved in society life. an important tool for first years; helpHowever, at first, finding the right so- ing to bridge the gap from secondary ciety was more a case of trial and error, school to the intimidating unknown of according to Literary & Historical Soci- college life, especially in a campus and ety (L&H) Auditor, Christine Simpson. a bureaucracy as big as UCD. “I think that a lot of people coming into “UCD is daunting, because it’s such first year join a lot of societies in the a large campus. It’s hard when you’re Fresher’s Tent and then see what suits a fresher, not only to make your way them best.” The L&H are best known around the place, but to meet new for their debating, but Simpson’s expe- people and make friends,” Waugh says, rience of debating was limited. Having “being in a society is like having your taken part in just a small number of de- own small family on campus.” bates in school, when she first came to Of course, there are drawbacks. As UCD she had little idea of how big a role with any long-term commitment, soit would play in her life. cieties consume time and energy and “It’s a great way to get involved and many members have found balancing either pick up a new hobby or contin- their studies with societal commitue an old one from school. In the past ments to be an unmanageable task. couple of years they’ve sent me to Cork, More than one former auditor has had Galway, Edinburgh, Paris, so it’s a re- to quit so that they could keep up with ally great way to get around the world.” their college work. People go to uniCarrick gives the same impression of versity for a degree, first and foremost, stumbling upon the wonders of society and while societies occupy a vital place life accidentally. “I didn’t know I was in the lives of some students, those inparticularly interested in drama until volved in extra-curricular activities I joined DramSoc and now it’s what I should not lose sight of what ought be

their top priority.

Carrick has found it “difficult around the exam period, but by that point the shows have died down. So, it’s just a question of keeping up to speed.

It gets very hectic and can be quite stressful.” However, there is a school of thought that believes societies to have a beneficial effect on one’s academic progress. “I think it forces you to be more organised,” attests Simpson.

Maybe that fear of falling behind focuses the mind on the important matters at hand, but all involved in society life agree that it is most certainly a balancing act. Juggling society commitments and academia successfully is extremely rewarding, and as long as you stay on top of things and don’t leave everything to the last minute, there’s a lot of fun to be had.

For all those finding nerves to be getting the better of them, there are few ice-breakers better than actively participating in societies. It’s a fantastic way of finding like-minded friends and making the transition to college that little bit easier. So instead of joining solely for the offers in d|two or free popcorn, be enthusiastic, get involved and make the best of it.

Mary eile don Áras?

Agus deireadh shéasúr na seafóide buailte linn agus leis an rás uachtaránachta fós go mór i mbéal an phobail, machnaíonn Séamas Ó Meachair ar an bhfeachtas go dtí seo agus breathnaíonn sé ar na bpríomhiarrthóirí

C

é nach mbeidh toghchán na huachtaránachta ar siúl go ceann míosa eile, ba bheag rud eile a bhí le léamh sna nuachtáin nó le cloisteáil ar an raidió le cúpla seachtain anuas. Mí chiúin go leor do na meáin is í mí Lúnasa de ghnáth, ach buíochas le rás an Árais bhí neart cúiseanna cainte i mbliana.

Cé go measann go leor daoine nach bhfuil mórán cumhachta ag an Uachtarán agus nach bhfuil ann ach post siombalach, is é an chéad shaoránach den tír é Uachtarán na hÉireann. De réir an Bhunreachta is é an tUachtarán a cheapann an Taoiseach agus an chomhaireacht ar fad. Ní foláir don Uachtarán gach bille de chuid na Dála a shíniú sula mbíonn sé ina dhlí agus feidhmíonn sé (nó sí!) mar ardcheannasaí Óglaigh na hÉireann chomh maith.

I dteannta leis na freagrachtaí tábhachtacha sin, tá ról ar leith ag an Uachtarán mar ‘Athair an Náisiúin’ (nó ‘Mamaí an Náisiúin’ i gcásanna McAleese agus Robinson.) Ar ócáidí mórtasacha chomh maith le laethanta dorcha, bíonn an tUachtarán ann.

Foinse sóláis ab í Máire Mhic Giolla Íosa nuair a phléasc an buama san Ómaigh i

Cé a bheidh ina c(h)ónaí sa Pháirc i gceann cúpla míosa?

1998 agus nuair a tharla ionsaithe 9/11 chomh maith.

Dhá mhí ó shin bhí David Norris ar scamall a naoi agus é i bhfad chun tosaigh sna pobalbhreitheanna ar fad, ach tháinig deireadh mór tobann lena fheachtas chun ainmniúchán a fháil don Áras ag tús na míosa seo caite nuair a tháinig sé chun solais gur scríobh sé litir ar pháipéar an tSeanaid ag lorg trócaire dá iarleannán Iosraelach Ezra Nawi, fear ar cuireadh ina leith go raibh caidreamh collaí aige le hógánach Palaistíneach. I dtír mar seo atá tar éis a bheith buailte go dona mar gheall ar scannail ghnéis na hEaglaise Caitlicí, ba bhuille marfach a bhí ann d’iarrachtaí an tSeanadóra a ainm a chur ar an bpáipéar ballóide.

Fiú ina dhiaidh dó eirí as an rás uachtaránachta áfach, is léir ó na pobalbhreitheanna is deireanaí go bhfuil tacaíocht láidir fós ag Norris. Éagóir a bheadh ann i ndáiríre muna mbeidh deis ag toghthóirí na hÉireann a mbreithiúnas féin a thabhairt ar Norris. Ach d’fhéadfadh toradh dearfach a bheith ar chliseadh fheachtais Norris mar go bhfuil feachtas ann anois chun an próiseas

ainmniúcháin don uachtaránacht a dhaonlathú is a nua-aoisiú. De bharr na monaplachta reatha atá ag an aicme pholaitiúil, bíonn sé i bhfad níos deacra d’iarrthóirí neamhspleácha ainmniúchán a fháil.

Agus Norris éirithe as, tháinig réimse leathan iarrthóirí le cúlraí éagsúla isteach sa rás. Cúpla lá ina dhiaidh don Seanadóir teitheadh chun na Cipire, d’fhógair an craoltóir mór le rá Gay Byrne go raibh sé ag smaoineamh ar iarracht a dhéanamh don uachtaránacht.

Dúradh chomh maith go raibh tacaíocht Fhianna Fáil aige. Cúpla lá níos deireanaí dúirt sé áfach nach mbeadh sé sásta dul i ngleic leis an dianscrúdú a dhéantar le linn feachtas uachtaránachta.

Ach chomh luath is a bheartaigh Gaybo gan seasamh, tháinig an tráchtaire Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh agus an t-aisteoir Tiobradach-Meiriceánach Martin Sheen chun cinn! De réir na tuairiscí is deireanaí tá Dana, buaiteoir na hEoraifíse i 1970, ag machnamh ar chur isteach ar an rás don Áras chomh maith. Cé eile a bheas ag seasamh don uachtaránacht? Trapattoni nó Jedward fiú?

Is féidir linn bheith cinnte áfach go mbeidh ceathrar ar a laghad san iomaíocht ar an 27 Deireadh Fómhair. Tá Gay Mitchell ag súil le bheith ar an gcéad ‘Léine Ghorm’ san Áras agus beidh an Lucht Oibre ag súil le bua i bhfoirm Mhichíl D Uí Uiginn.

Chomh maith le hiarrthóirí oifigiúla an chomhrialtais tá na hiarrthóirí neamhspleácha Seán Gallagher agus Mary Davis tar éis tacaíocht a chinntiú ó na húdaráis áitiúla. Beidh Sinn Féin ag iarraidh sochar a bhaint as cinneadh Fhianna Fáil gan iarrthóir a chur chun to-

saigh. Mar sin b’fhéidir go mbeidh ainm Michelle Gildernew le feiscint ar an bpáipéar ballóide freisin. Ach is beag an seans i ndáiríre go mbeadh an bua aici, mar níl mórán aithne uirthi ar an taobh seo den teorainn.

Agus an nuachtán seo ag dul i gcló dealraíonn sé gur ag Mícheál D a bheidh an lá, ach tá ráflaí á scaipeadh go mbeidh Norris chun iarracht nua a dhéanamh tacaíocht a fháil ó bhaill an Oireachtais.

Níl na hainmniúcháin druidte go fóill.

Seans go bhfuil casadh eile fós le teacht ar an scéal mar sin!

Gluais: séasúr na seafóide ........................................................................ silly season ardcheannasaí ............................................................... commander in chief foinse sóláis .......................................................................... source of solace pobalbhreitheanna ................................................................... opinion polls próiséas ainmniúcháin ................................................. nomination process éagóir ..................................................................................................... injustice toghthóirí na hÉireann ................................................... Irish electorate cliseadh ............................................................................................ breakdown daonlathú ............................................................................. democratisation comhrialtas ............................................................... coalition government

opinion.

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

11

Are students treated unfairly by landlords?

With the majority of students having all or some of their deposit withheld, Elizabeth O’Malley and Aoife Brophy debate whether students are treated unfairly by landlords

yes.

no.

Elizabeth O’Malley

It’s finally that day. You’re mov- allows normal wear and tear of a ing out of your parents’ house property. Just because the carpet and into an apartment with your is dirtier than when the tenants mates for college. You can’t wait moved in isn’t a reason to withto tack up your posters in your hold a deposit. If you did damage bedroom, fill your fridge and take the property, say, broke a window, advantage of your independence. then the exact amount needed to But in this rush there is a good fix that window should come out chance you’re going to forget a of the deposit; you don’t forfeit couple of things. Did you get a your entire sum. And if asked, the receipt for your deposit? Did you landlord should be able to show ask your landlord for some form you a receipt for that window reof identification and contact de- pair. tails when you met them first? Did Now unless I’m missing someyou check the place as thoroughly thing, I don’t think there has been as you should have? an outbreak of students comStudents are extraordinarily pletely trashing houses or breakvulnerable when renting. Any per- ing their contracts. In fact, I think son new to the market will often most students are quite consciennot have as much information on tious when it comes to their actheir rights and what to look out commodation, proving that they for as is desirable. However, stu- can take care of themselves. dents are in a worse position than So why do these students not most between a lack of money, a get their money returned to them lack of options and what seems to once their contracts end? There is be prejudice against them. Many an extent to which landlords take landlords refuse to rent to stu- advantage of students, knowing dents when it’s often only a few that they probably aren’t aware of people who give everyone a bad all their rights or would be afraid name. It’s also well-known that of confrontation. Students rarely students often pay above average initiate legal action to get their rent because of competition for money back, even where they places near their college. are aware that it’s being wrongly Even in a recession in which withheld. According to Threshold, most people who bought proper- the housing charity, most deposit ty during the boom are now rent- retention cases are resolved only ing, it is still almost impossible for when the parents of students instudents to find a decent place to tervene. Landlords are aware live within their price range. Some of this and unfairly, and illegally, landlords refuse to rent to stu- withhold deposits knowing that dents at all, preferring to keep the they are likely to get away with it. house off the market if they can’t find their preferred tenants. As a Rebuttal by result, students are often forced Aoife Brophy into making the error of signing The argument that students are up to a 12 month lease when they vulnerable is a futile one. Yes, they only plan on living in the accom- are entering the big bad world, modation for 8 months, in an at- and yes there are people, not just tempt to make themselves more landlords, ready to prey on them.

However, they need to learn how desirable tenants.

Students sometimes put up to protect themselves and eduwith pretty dismal conditions, cate themselves about their rights. their need for freedom allowing Very few of the students that sign them to ignore the fact that the twelve months leases pay their shower barely works or the win- own rent anyway. Mammy and dows let in a draught. It’s almost Daddy pay it for them. If they seen as a right of passage to live had to earn the money to pay an in somewhere less than luxurious average of one hundred euros a during college years. Landlords week for rent they would not be may be aware of this and will not so quick to sign a 12 month lease.

This same spoilt attitude comes try as hard to make their property into play again in the disrespect comfortable to live in.

Not only do students have an shown to the rental property. uphill battle when it comes to Most students are less than confinding somewhere to rent, they scientious when it comes to their are statistically more likely to lose accommodation, and some are their deposit than keep it. If you just plain slobs.

Most landlords see their rental were renting last year then there is a chance that you were part property as an investment, and of the 20% of students who had therefore they quite rightly want in excess of €200 withheld from to maintain its value. This means their deposit. And you would have keeping it clean, proper and in been lucky compared to other good repair. This also means be40% who didn’t get their deposits ing selective with tenants and being reluctant to rent to students, back at all.

These figures are more baffling who have the worst reputation of when put into context. The law all occupants among landlords.

“If you were renting last year then there is a chance that you were part of the 20% of students who had in excess of €200 withheld from their deposit.

And you would have been lucky compared to other 40% who didn’t get their deposits back at all”

“It is reasonable for a landlord to hold back some of your deposit to pay for a new hoover because you broke the old one trying to suck up a spilled pint”

I can’t help but feel sorry for landlords. Not only is the value of their investment falling faster than the Late Late Show’s ratings, they also have to rent out their second home to the dirtiest, most slovenly creatures known to man: students.

The Irish Times recently claimed, “60 per cent of students are being ripped off by rogue landlords.”

Well I say that 60 per cent of students are young, care free, party-loving (borderline) alcoholics.

Enclose four or five of these creatures in a 70 square metre space for nine months and you will have a serious mess that someone has to clean up. Broken banisters, overflowing bins, scratched walls, torn sofas and the smell of an Amsterdam coffee house is the norm in most student houses. No other smell lingers like the smell of shame and debauchery.

Even if you yourself are a tidy and respectful tenant, I’m certain you know many people who are not. A friend of mine once found that two British pence pieces worked in the electricity coin meter in her student flat. Needless to say, when the choice came between putting in two Euros and asking her friend from the North to bring down more two pence pieces, she wasn’t thinking about not getting her deposit back.

An increasing number of landlords are refusing to rent to students at all, knowing the cost of getting the house repaired afterwards will cost them most of the money they earned from the rent.

I heard one horror story about a Ranelagh landlord who had a bad infestation of students. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get rid of them and finally, he decided to release a bag of rats into the house. All he did was replace one species of vermin with another, but he obviously thought rats were the lesser of two evils.

The destruction of someone else’s property is the ultimate act of disrespect, and respect is something I think our generation lacks. The outrage when the landlord holds back some of the deposit is incredible. “I needed that money to go out Saturday night!”

It is reasonable for a landlord to hold back some of your deposit to pay for a new hoover because you broke the old one trying to suck up a spilled pint. Why should landlords have to pay for their tenants’ idiocy?

It really shocks me that some students don’t even clean up after themselves before moving out of their apartment. It’s bad enough to leave all kinds of stains on the bedroom walls, but leaving behind your washing up for a complete stranger to do is just plain

Aoife Brophy lazy. If you’re not going to clean up your mess, then make your parents come to Dublin and do it.

Ultimately, it is they who are responsible for not house-training you.

The Union of Students Ireland (USI) has started a petition encouraging the establishment of a ‘Deposit Protection Scheme’ for students. This would mean that an independent body would be in charge of looking after deposits until the lease is up. The inconvenience would only discourage landlords further from renting to students at all. Some advertisements read “no students or rent allowance.” Unfortunately, most landlords cannot afford to be picky about tenants any more.

The USI also staged a protest against so called “rogue landlords” back in August outside the Custom House. USI President Gary Redmond is quoted in the Irish Times as saying “Often landlords simply disappear once they get the keys back.” Far more often, students disappear at the end of May, leaving the landlord short of rent. I know protests are very in fashion at the moment, but surely the USI should avoid annoying the government as the budget looms.

As much as we all enjoyed the massive session...I mean... ‘Education not Emigration’ march, a protest may not be enough to change the government’s mind this time round.

Rebuttal by Elizabeth O’Malley

It’s fair to say that students tend, as a group, to enjoy drinking and partying. But even students will get sick of the mess in their living room and clean up every once in a while. That aside, property damage costing above €1,000 tends to be quite rare. Even assuming that students do in fact wreck all the houses they’re in, which I highly doubt, the point of the deposit is to cover any costs for repairs. It’s not that expensive: a case in the PRTB (Private Residential Tenancies Board) only costs €25 and you don’t require representation.

I think that it clearly makes sense to hold deposits in a separate place to the landlord’s account. It is simply too tempting to think of the money as something you own instead of as insurance.

And the so-called inconvenience is not getting the chance to take the money illegally at a later date.

Not only would this scheme insure against landlords using the deposit for any reason other than the proper one, it would significantly clear up room for other housing cases in the PRTB for other situations, such as where people have been illegally evicted.

12

Opinion Education Special

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Overdue reform for below-par third level system As a new report calls for a change in how students are selected for third level courses, Cormac Duffy bemoans the current entrance system

“Universities and employers will continue to complain that students leave school unprepared for third level education or future employment, lacking aptitudes for critical thinking and independent learning”

Ruairi Quinn, Minister for Education

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inister for Education Ruairí but being well versed in tricks to condemnation that many uniQuinn is continuing to push get through the exams. Knowing versities heap on the points race forward on reforming the how to learn selectively, ignoring seems somewhat hypocritical. If Irish education system. Follow- large chunks of the curriculum, universities are so bothered by ing announcements that renova- to suit the paper has become an the supposed failings of new stutions to the Junior Certificate cur- essential skill. It also means that dents then they should do what riculum is underway, he has now there is no room to engage with they can to fix the entry process. lent his support to a report calling material outside the curriculum, The suggestions the report offers for the flaws of the CAO system and that students are discouraged to universities are numerous, and to be addressed and fixed, even from making time for extra-curric- some are more useful than others. saying that he wants a new sys- ular activities.

A number are simple fixes that tem in place by 2014. The report The papers themselves are also should be implemented quickly, in question, ‘Entry to Higher Edu- easily exploited for gain. Hyland for example the increasing of macation in Ireland in the 21st Cen- brings up the example of Eng- triculation requirements so that tury’, was written by Áine Hyland, lish students learning entire es- students entering any course the former Vice-President of UCC. says about the works that they must have achieved highly, or at For anyone concerned about the are studying by heart in order to least studied that subject at Leavquality of the education system regurgitate them onto the exam ing Certificate. Tied into this is the and how effectively it functions, it paper, with their own original ef- idea that a higher weighting will presents a clear case for action. fort nowhere to be seen. All this, be applied to the subject relevant The points race exerts its big- of course, means that universi- to the course, such as Leaving gest impact on our education sys- ties and employers will continue Cert Biology being worth more “The strong tem, Hyland explains, through its to complain that students leave points when applying for a Biolinfluence on teaching in secondary school unprepared for third level ogy course at university. These condemnation that schools.

The goal of teachers and education or future employment, ideas seem obvious on the surmany universities students is merely to maximise lacking aptitudes for critical think- face, but there should be a guarpoints earned, and this appears ing and independent learning. antee that Leaving Certificate stuheap on the points to be the cause of the decline in And this is without even discuss- dents in any school would have race seems somewhat the quality of secondary educa- ing the grind culture it creates and access to these subjects, and it tion in recent years. Rote learning, unfair advantages it bestows would also have to be ensured hypocritical” the most discussed problem, has the upon those who can afford the that their higher weighting would now spread from grind schools best support. not merely intensify students’ tento all schools trying to keep up in Reform is obviously a press- dency to cram. the race. Sadly, since this method ing issue. The report frequently The serious reforms suggested continues to get students into the reiterates that the universities in centre on changing the method courses they want, it will probably question are not legally bound to of assessment. That one’s ability continue. The high importance of the points system and can come for any subject can be measured the exam means that the emphasis up with their own ways of choos- by how well they fare on one day is not on learning Mathematics or ing who to allow into courses. Giv- is in itself absurd. The strong emUNIVERSITY AD_Layout 1 25/08/2011 12:44 Page 1 English as an academic discipline, en that this is the case, the strong phasis on continuous assessment

in university also means that students are developing the wrong habits. The updating of the system to accommodate some form of continuous and alternate assessment is essential. We need to be able to accommodate more expressions of students’ intelligence and dedication than exam performance. The current system seems to measure what is easy to quantify (exam-readiness and memory) instead of what actually matters. While end of school exams are obviously a significant part of evaluating any student for tertiary education, in other countries they are more often part of a package that also includes aptitude tests, school references and personal statements. These help give a more rounded, accurate view of the pupil, as well as considerably reducing the stress of having all of your eggs in one basket.

Some of the report’s proposals are weaker, for example the suggestion of introducing a degree of randomisation to the selection of relatively equal students, which is sure to please no one. Expanding the applications system may even risk removing the anonymity of the CAO, one of its few benefits.

Still, the current system does not make teachers, students or universities happy. That fact alone should move us to try and fix it, by whatever means we can.

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The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Education Special Opinion

13

the Educational Arms Race As we head into another year of hard work and hand over €2000 for our free education, Emer Sugrue asks, is building up huge debts while living off beans and vodka for four years really worth it?

What is a degree worth?

I know that it is worth at least €2,333 to you this year. It’s probably worth a whole lot more. How high would the fees have to go before you would refuse to pay them? We may find out next year.

But giros aside, what is it really worth? You know what you are putting in; money, work and several years of your life, so you should know what you are hoping to get back for it. If you were to think like a banker and evaluate your investment (ok, well, not one of our bankers obviously, but a good banker, a banker who is good at his job and shouldn’t be in prison), you should be able to figure out what your returns will be.

The answer may depress you.

The number of people going on to third level education has risen steadily throughout your lifetime.

Third level student numbers increased by 105 per cent between 1990 and 2004, reaching 55 per cent of school leavers by 2005, and rising an average one per cent per year since. The number of young adults aged 25 to 34 (the age at which there is most competition in launching a career) who have degrees is 41.6 per cent, far ahead of the EU average of 29.1 per cent. The Irish workforce has never been more educated.

The problem is that while education for it’s own sake is a wonderful thing, it doesn’t actually

benefit you, apart from on a sort your portfolio. A hobby, a crèche of intangible spiritual level. Get- for young adults. ting a degree has never been These days a degree is worth premore costly while providing fewer cisely sod all (I calculated) in terms advantages. Once, any degree of job advantages, but this isn’t to pushed you ahead of the crowd; say it’s not worth getting; in fact it’s now it just brings you up to av- the opposite. You need it now more erage. Each extra degree there then ever. You need it just to keep is in the country makes yours up. It may not be an advantage to less valuable. We are more edu- have one, but it is most certainly a cated but there aren’t more jobs. disadvantage not to. The jobs availThis is educational inflation at its able to school leavers are scarce, worst. Degrees, like everything in and need impossible amounts of the world, have their value mea- work experience. They’ll find themsured by rarity. Gold isn’t valuable selves under-qualified for dish because it’s useful, it’s because washing and shelf stacking, but there’s not much of it about. don’t worry, I hear they offer unNow that third level education, paid internships for that. at 60 per cent of the young popuA rising tide raises all boats, and lation, has become the norm, the it has left us in the same position de facto minimum school-leaving but drowning in debt. Educational age has been pushed forward inflation is nothing new; once upon into our mid-twenties. Twenty a time the majority left education years ago a young person could at fifteen to start work, and the finish their free education, Leav- change has been nothing but posiing Cert results in hand, and get tive. The big difference is, seconda decent starter job in an office. ary education is free. There are Sure, it wouldn’t be glamorous, expenses such as books and uniand they’d spend the first couple forms of course, but nothing like of years filing and getting coffee, the fees we are obliged to pay for but they had a wage and inde- college. Ireland has ended up in pendence and they worked their the worst of both worlds, we have way up. Now a school leaver must fees while pretending we don’t. first shell out thousands of Euro The only option for someone to to spend three wage-less years compete in the jobs market is to get getting a completely irrelevant even more degrees. More than ever degree to get the same job, prob- before there are students going on ably having spent three summers to do Masters degrees, unemployed working in offices for free to build people going back to college to up their CV. Followed by a few of retrain, managers using their work years of filing, getting coffee and experience as prior learning to get working their way up. An Arts de- fast-tracked into business, mangree is becoming something you agement or even science degrees. do on the side while building up When everyone else has a degree,

what can you do?

The educational arms race is in full swing.

We don’t need no education?

E ducation, don’t you just tial avenues to a good career have hate it? I mean, it seems as been merged into one – the CAO. though I’ve spent my entire Setting arbitrary targets just leads life learning one thing or another. to people fiddling the numbers, Whether it was those gruelling even intentionally, and the victim months learning my first words, has been our education system. the first day of primary school, Every career you can think of has when I first came to terms with a qualification course, from jourthe horrors of maths or finally, the nalism to bartending to fish farmLeaving Cert; those two weeks ing. I just hope you like sitting in a that separate the men from the classroom. nerds. Then, as a reward, you Áine Hyland’s recent report make your way to college, where supports this analysis and calls the only things you need to know for a complete overhaul in the are the opening hours of the bar. next few years, particularly recGone are the days of learning ommending the streamlining of on the job, with experienced the CAO system. Chief among workers guiding you through your her recommendations was the education. No, nowadays, we’re removal of unnecessary courses far more sophisticated than that, from the Education System. Some you can’t just change a circuit things need the college enviboard, the circuit board has to ronment; courses needing spewant to change. And for that, cialised equipment or constant you need a degree, with elective access to dusty old books, but modules in things like psychology other things in life are inherently and social policy. practical and shoehorning them The idea of requiring somebody into the existing system is absurd. to earn a college degree before There is such an extraordinary taking up their trade is in a word, array of career paths potentially wasteful. It wastes time regis- available yet they are all taught tering those students, it wastes the same way: sit down, read teaching hours in college, it this book and do an exam. There wastes money funding the college are people who might otherwise course, and worst of all, it wastes be brilliant workers who cannot the student’s time and effort. And flourish in a classroom environyet this is what has been happen- ment, and the current education ing increasingly in recent years. trend is leaving them out in the University has turned into merely cold. The proposed streamlined the next step, giving you an extra CAO should once again allow for three years of procrastination be- freedom within job training, alfore starting on your career path. lowing practical work to be taught In an effort to reach seeming- in a practical way. ly random targets for students The report also predicts a lowcontinuing on to third level, the ering of points in many of the regovernment appears to have lost maining college courses. The Minsight of the original aim, which ister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, was to make education available called the current Leaving Certo all. Instead of making it easier tificate system ‘beyond reproach’, for anyone to go to university if and agreed that it was ‘ruthlessly they wanted, they just turned all fair’, but it is clear that there are career paths into college courses, elements that need to be adjustand charged students two grand ed. He seemed adamant that if a a year (plus lost earnings) for the new system were to be brought in, privilege. All the previous poten- it would not have any impact on

the standard of equality imposed by the CAO. This all goes back to my initial argument; that third level education should not be a goal in itself, but should be providing more opportunities to train for employment. I would argue that the majority of freshers have already forgotten most of what they crammed for the Leaving Cert and will never have occasion to use that information again. The widespread creation of near-useless or redundant college courses has left third level education drifting down the same path, becoming merely the next step of pointless mandatory education. If streamlining the CAO system is to work, it requires a complete revaluation of what the government regards as the purpose of education.

Following widespread calls for educational reform, Matthew Jones evaluates the need for focus and streamlining in the CAO system

“There is such an extraordinary array of career paths potentially available, yet they are all taught the same way: sit down, read this book and do an exam” “The idea of requiring somebody to earn a college degree before taking up their trade is, in a word, wasteful”

14

health

&

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

science

Trial and Error

Amidst a wave of public misunderstanding of scientific method and the rise of alternative therapies, Emer Sugrue examines how scientific research and clinical trials operate

“Ethics includes not only whether there is risk or harm but whether there is validity to the answer you get”

T

he human brain is an amazing thing, but it is easily fooled. We are conditioned to search for patterns in life but we often see patterns where they don’t exist. Things can look like they are related when they are not. An intervention can look effective while being useless, or worse, causing harm.

The way we can tell whether things really work or whether it’s our minds tricking us is to have a controlled trial. This writer can feel science students rolling their eyes from here, but it’s something that is poorly understood, and not just by those of us who frequent the Newman building.

Measurable outcomes are frequently dismissed by those promoting alternative therapies claiming that “science doesn’t have all the answers”. The media bizarrely portrays scientists as unelected authority figures, dictating conflicting decrees on how we must live our lives. The only science news most people see is the Daily Mail’s campaign to report every substance known to man as either a cause or cure for cancer. Scientific research is not a proclamation from on high, and science certainly does not have all the answers; but with patience, it can ask the right questions.

To help me understand more about the role of clinical research and how it works in Ireland, I spoke to Dr Peter Doran, Scientific Director for the UCD Clinical Research Centre and Professor Pat Murray, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology.

Clinical research centres are a fair- a research scientist. ly new institution in this county, with “Assuming you have a completed the very first opening in the Royal protocol, and that’s a big assumption,” College of Surgeons in 2001, and the laughs Dr Doran, “the Irish Medicines UCD CRC opening in 2007. Dr Doran Board approval is a maximum of 90 explains the role of the CRC in the sci- days, and that’s assuming that at your 45 entific community. day review you’ve to go back with a lot “The objective was really to cre- of information so that’s the maximum. ate a core infrastructure to allow any Then the ethics committee turnaround patient-orientated research to happen. is probably 60-90 days as well for most So whereas before that might have protocols. I mean, that’s assuming that been done in outpatient departments the protocol is appropriate, because you and the hospital, the idea was to create may have a situation where somebody a proper infrastructure. writes a protocol and it’s rejected and “Since the CRC opened we’ve had then they have to go back and do a large about 20,000 research patient vis- amount of work to bring it up to the its. Our investigators have leveraged standard that is required.” Altogether about €12 million in funding so it’s it takes at least a year, if not several, to made a significant impression on the bring a hypothesis to trial. research landscape. Very importantly, The reason trials take so long to what it’s allowed us to do is make sure get approved is a rigorous adherence that new treatments, new interven- to ethics. A proposal will have to go tions and cutting edge programs are through several medical boards and there so Irish patients can benefit from ethics boards before patients are even them. Ultimately that’s been the major approached. Ethics in science has adobjective, how Irish patients can get vanced dramatically in the past few access to the best emerging care.” decades. Horrifying stories emerge evMost clinical research that involves ery so often about patients purposely the testing of a new drug progresses infected with diseases or left without in an orderly series of steps, known treatment, but such events would be as phases. This allows researchers to impossible today. Ethical science today gain reliable information about the doesn’t just take into account the basic intervention and protects the patients. health and rights of the subjects but the A new intervention starts off as a hy- design of the experiment in regards to pothesis for a how a particular drug how useful the research is. might work. If it seems promising in Professor Murray explains that theory, you try it on animals to see if “the one thing that everyone agrees on, it kills them. It probably will, and it’s and the ethics committees make a big probably back to the drawing board at point of this, they’ll look at not only the this point. But should Fievel survive, risks to patients and any potential benthen it’s time to test it on people. efits when deciding whether the trial Phase I trials are the first stud- is ethical, they’ll also look at if the trial ies done in small groups of healthy design is adequate and are you studyhumans to evaluate how a new drug ing the right number of the right kind should be given, how often, and what of patients to actually get an answer. If dose is safe, how quickly it is excreted they think your design is a mess they’ll from the body and so on, and to see if reject it and say that’s not an adequate it kills them, of course. In Phase II the trial, you’ll end up wasting several huntreatment is given to a larger group of dred people’s time and spend a lot of a few hundred people with the rele- money and you won’t actually answer vant ailment, to see if it is effective and the question. to further evaluate its safety. Phase “The scientific integrity is just as III trials test the new treatment on important in many ways as the ethics hundreds or even thousands of people, and the protection of subjects, because comparing the new treatment to the if you do any one of them wrong you’re existing standard or a placebo. not doing valid clinical research.”

Bringing a treatment to trial is a However, various aspects of clinilengthy and costly process. It costs cal trials have been criticised. There around $500 million to bring a new are frequent claims that pharmaceutidrug to market, and even getting as far cal or industry-funded trials are biased. as initial trials is a huge endeavour for In 2003, a systematic review scruti-

nized thirty separate studies regarding whether funding affected findings and overall, studies funded by the drug company were four times as likely to give results that were positive and favourable to the company than independent studies. The UCD CRC itself is partly funded through the industry, but Dr. Doran does not believe that this is an issue: “Industry protocols are all approved by what’s known as the competent authority; in Ireland the competent authority is the Irish Medicines Board so the protocol is very clear in terms of what’s being done. Before we get involved in them at the CRC they have to be approved by the ethics committee so there’s a very clear line in terms of what the protocol is.

“Everything in the Clinical Research Centre is done in accordance with a set of standards called ICH GCP, the International Committee for Harmonisa-

of those positive trials was published in full. There were also 33 studies which had negative or unclear results; 22 of those were not published at all while the remaining 11 were written in a way that showed them as having a positive outcome. Professor Murray assures me however, that safeguards are in place to prevent this sort of misinformation.

“There’s now a need for clinical trials to be registered on a international electronic database so that even if your trial is negative and you don’t like the result, you still have to post the results on to that resource so people will know.

They’ll know not only about the one that works, which is what you want them to hear about, but they’ll hear about the other nine that didn’t work and they can make an informed decision about whether that represents how the literature should be.

“Whether the answer is what you

Six per cent of scientists admitted failing to present data that contradicted their previous work tion Good Clinical Practise guidelines.

They’re a global set of guidelines which tell us how to do clinical research and everything is done with GCP in mind, regardless of how it’s funded or where it originates from.”

There are also allegations of publication bias, particularly associated with industry-funded research. Publication bias refers to the practise of positive trials being much more likely to be published than negative ones. In an anonymous survey published by the scientific journal Nature in 2005, 6% of scientists admitted failing to present data that contradicted their previous work. Another paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine went through all known trials on SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors, a class of drugs used widely as antidepressants) registered with the Food and Drug Administration and attempted to explore possible correlations between published results and industry interests. There were 37 studies which were assessed by the FDA as positive and, with a single exception, every one

would like it to be or whether is isn’t, it doesn’t differ between industry and academics. Industry may want it to turn out a certain way because there are financial implications, academics may want it to turn out a certain way because of academic implications, but in both cases you actually have this very rigorous design so you end up publishing the truth, whatever it turns out to be.”

It is the ideal of truth that is so fascinating. In the arts anyone’s opinion is as good as another and entire careers are made from revisionism, post-revisionism and post-modern revisionism where you just deconstruct your own life choices. The UCD CRC and all other research centres attempt to reduce human error in scientific research and despite the complexity of ethics, money, reports and dead mice it all comes back to one basic question; does it work?

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Science & Health

15

Doctor, Doctor?

Theoretical Astrophysics student Ciarán Kenny talks to Alison Lee about his PhD and life as a postgraduate What is the official title of your PhD? Theoretical Astrophysics In layman’s terms, what does that mean?

My area of research focuses on cosmic rays - very small, fast and energetic particles that originate in space and are detected either via space detectors or ground based detectors. I investigate the origin of these particles - where did they originate in what is mostly empty space, and what process is giving them so much energy?

Briefly explain the background to your work.

Astrophysics is a very broad subject.

It can range from investigating how the universe began to how the sun affects telecommunications on Earth.

People often think it’s the physics of the very large, e.g. the sun. However, it is impossible to understand how the sun shines without understanding the physics of the very small (quantum and nuclear physics). This means astrophysicists require a very broad knowledge of physics. Fortunately, the physics undergrad I completed in UCD meant I was well prepared.

Pictured: The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switerland where Ciarán Kenny worked in 2008 Describe your typical “day at work”.

When people hear the word ‘astrophysics’, they probably assume that I spend all day looking through a telescope whereas you’d usually find me sitting at a desk; I’ve never even used a telescope! I arrive at about 10 a.m. and check to see if any new papers have been published on my research area.

As my work is mainly theoretical and computational, I spend almost all day scribbling notes while trying to solve equations. I sometimes use computer programming languages such as C++ to try solve the more difficult equations. I also spend seven or eight hours a week demonstrating in the 3rd or 4th year physics undergrad labs.

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

Having your own work, no matter how small and insignificant it is, which contributes to the understanding of how the universe works, and why it’s in its current state, gives me a great feeling of satisfaction.

How could your work make a difference in this particular scientific field, and to the world in general?

You might be aware of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment that’s been taking place at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland for the last few years. I was fortunate enough to work there as a summer intern in 2008. In what is arguably the largest man-made experiment ever created, very energetic protons are smashed together, creating more particles which can be analysed to test and verify our current understanding of particle physics. Cosmic rays are also very energetic elementary particles, however they have a much higher energy level. If we could understand how these particles seem to naturally become so fast and energetic in what is mostly empty space, we could use this information to improve experiments like those at CERN. What undergraduate degree course did you do and where?

I did a B.Sc. in Theoretical Physics here in UCD.

What made you choose to do a PhD? For me it was a simple choice. If you want to get a job straight after a Theoretical Physics degree, chances are physics will not be the main focus of the job. Most of my classmates who took jobs after their degrees ended up in the economics and finance sector, which didn’t particularly interest me.

Generally, if you want to continue working in physics, you do so via research through either a Masters or PhD. While there are a few physics jobs available for those with degrees, the recession was in full swing when I graduated, making the odds of me finding one much smaller.

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

The best thing is definitely the flexible hours: I can come and go as I please and I have no lectures. If I feel like I’ve done a good day’s work by early afternoon I can catch up on some muchneeded Xbox time! Another benefit is that my funding finances a few trips to international astrophysics conferences each year. For example, I’ve just gotten back from two weeks in Beijing,

and you’d be surprised at the fun to work ratio I had there! The biggest downside is the financial pressure. My scholarship funds me for three years, whereas a typical physics PhD can take at least four years to finish. This means that I’ll have to find external funding for my final year or else take out a large loan.

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

Having a PhD is particularly rewarding as a large proportion of the most interesting and best-paid jobs require it. For example, if I would like to go on to work in The European Space Agency, having a PhD will certainly increase my chances. At the very least, I hear they also bump up doctors to first class on planes!

Tell Us About Your

Safe Ride To mark World Contraception Day UCD SU are giving out 1,000 free, numbered condoms, and we want you to share their life story.

Used it after pulling in Coppers? Things got hot on a romantic night in?

Each condom has a unique code so take part in the experiment and anonymously share your condom’s story on www.1000condoms.com.

16

Science & Health

The Observer Guide to Surviving Freshers’ Week

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Serious research or

In our first instalment of the University Observer’s guide to surviving nearly anything, Conor O’Nolan lists some of the key health concerns to be wary of during Freshers’ Week

simply

Energy Drinks

Last year Freshers’ Week meant shedloads of free energy drink shots, and if the sheer amount of Revamp (comes in a glass bottle, tastes like cough syrup) on campus at the moment is anything to go by, this year will be no different. An inordinate amount of caffeine is a key element of college life, never mind just Freshers’ Week.

catastrophic?

As scientists announce that they have bred cats that glow in the dark, Conor O’Nolan explains the reasoning behind the fluorescent felines

Animals with unusual glowing colours are nothing new in science; flies, rabbits, mice and pigs have all been cloned and had the fluorescent colouring gene inserted into their DNA.

A

group of American researchers gene was inserted alongside an antiviworking in the Mayo Clinic (a ral gene from Rhesus monkeys during non-profit medical research and the manipulation of eggs. The experipractice group in the US) has bred three ment was conducted in an effort to cats with a special distinction; when develop treatments for feline immunoexposed to light of a particular fre- deficiency virus (FIV), which is the viquency they glow a fluorescent green rus that causes cat AIDS. The antiviral colour. The green colour is caused by gene that was inserted has been shown a gene taken from jellyfish which was to cause a resistance to immunodefiinserted into the feline genes. ciency viruses in other animals. The Animals with unusual glowing co- brightly coloured gene was inserted to lours are nothing new in science; flies, help track the success of gene transfer. rabbits, mice and pigs have all been Human immunodeficiency virus cloned and had the fluorescent colour- (HIV), which is the cause of AIDS in ing gene inserted into their DNA. Even humans, is very closely related to FIV. earlier this summer, scientists in South It is therefore hoped that this research Korean cloned a Beagle puppy with could not only help to find a treatment similar colouring genes added during for the virus in cats, but perhaps also the cloning process. lead to a related treatment for humans.

These kittens were cloned in an The experiments from this research atypical way, because traditional clon- project are still not complete. While the ing has a high failure rate. Sex cells for feline cells in isolation show a heightboth genders used in the experiment ened resistance to FIV, the cats themwere acquired from cat gonads that selves are yet to be exposed to the virus. were discarded after the routine neu- Cat lovers and scientists alike can now tering of cats. These cells were then just hope that this story will come to a used to prepare embryos which had conclusion that is both valuable for the the genes inserted into them, before future treatment of FIV and optimistic the cats were bred using in vitro fertili- for the glow-in-the-dark kittens. sation. The process that they used was so successful that almost all of the cats The paper documenting this research, born in the experiment had the genes ‘Antiviral restriction factor transgenesis intended. in the domestic cat’ was published in As cute as the research might seem, Nature Methods, a science methodology there are genuine scientific reasons for journal which all UCD students have accarrying out this work. The colouring cess to through the library website.

Vision of the Future Revamp itself contains 50.25mg/75ml of caffeine in a bottle, which doesn’t quite equate to a can of some other energy drinks (Red Bull is roughly 80mg/250ml can) but it’s still quite concentrated. Be careful though, as drinking a lot of caffeine over a period of just a few days can result in a dependency on the stimulant.

Then if you go too long without ingesting caffeine, you will get withdrawal symptoms, which can range from just being a bit irritable, to headaches or joint pains.

And if you consume a great deal of caffeine you could easily build up a tolerance to it, which will mean you’ll have to consume a lot more to get any real effect.

Condoms

Another Freshers’ Week staple is free condoms, which nearly every society will hand out. The highlight last year was some of the larger societies handing out Bavaria flavoured condoms, an interesting choice to say the least. Make sure to check that any condoms you are planning on using have a reputable quality guarantee - if it doesn’t have a BSI Kitemark (A heart with a squiggle in it) or a CE (not the society), throw it out.

Hangover Prevention Tablets

A number of societies will give these out; the companies who make them seem almost desperate to get rid of them. Why? They don’t work. The ingredients include activated charcoal (in such a low quantity that it’ll most likely have no affect) and vitamins (they might be nice if you were malnourished when you started drinking). If you wake up without a hangover, it probably wont be because of the pills.

Crap Food

Every pizza delivery company in Dublin want to get a slice of the Freshers’ Week action, so you’ll get more pizza than you should probably ever eat, and enough vouchers to paper your bedroom. Students have a reputation for poor eating habits, and this pizza-fest really doesn’t help. A medium-sized Domino’s Pepperoni Passion pizza contains 10.7g of fat per slice, so 85.6g of fat in total, but over half of this fat is saturated fat, and as we all know saturated fat has been linked to heart disease and a growing number of cancers. So try not to start bad habits early!

With laser eye surgery’s reputation for being somewhat unreliable, Alison Lee informs our readers of a potentially more trustworthy alternative

A

huge proportion of people world- to their vision problems. Most people wide are afflicted with “refrac- turn to laser eye surgery. However a tive corrections” of the eye: con- new corrective therapy for refractive ditions where the sufferer is unable to corrections is growing in popularity; focus an image properly onto the reti- “intraocular lenses” (“IOLs”). These na, resulting in blurred vision. These are synthetic lenses made of plastic or include myopia (short-sightedness), silicone that are implanted into the eye. hyperopia (far sightedness), astigma- Although the principle was originally tism and presbyopia (reading problems used to treat cataracts, since 1999 it has associated with age). Such refractive been applied to treat correct common corrections arise when a “mismatch” refractive corrections like short- or occurs between the length of the eye far-sightedness. Intraocular lenses for and its optical power. This normally this purpose are termed “phakic inhappens during childhood growth and traocular lenses” and unlike cataract although not yet fully understood, is treatments, the eye’s own lens is not rebelieved to be influenced strongly by moved when the IOL is inserted. genetics.

Many people have a phobia about In developed countries such as Ire- eye surgery, and the idea of having a land, routine eye tests easily pick up on synthetic lens inserted into your eye these defects and prescription glasses may indeed send a shiver down your can be worn to correct the problem. spine, but in reality the procedure is However many readers will have expe- fairly quick and easy. Although there rienced the inconvenience of breaking, are many different types and makes of losing or forgetting their glasses, not IOLs on the market, a relatively similar to mention felt the cost of purchasing surgery is performed for each; a tiny inregular replacements. These issues, as cision is made in the edge of the cornea well as cosmetic considerations, lead and the lens is inserted just in front of more and more people to invest in or just behind the iris. The eye’s own contact lenses- it is estimate that 28 natural lens continues to focus as bemillion people in the USA alone use fore, adjusting your vision for distant or contacts. These offer a number of ad- close-up sight, but the lens corrects the vantages- they don’t steam up in humid eye’s natural defect just as spectacles or conditions, they allow for a wider field contacts would, except it sits comfortof vision and they can be worn during ably and conveniently inside the eye. sporting activities. But they also have The procedure takes only about half an the potential to create a myriad of hour and most people are back to work problems for the wearer. Studies have the next day. shown that long term use can thin the The rising popularity of PIOLs is cornea (the clear “skin” of the eye) and understandable considering the risks increase its roughness and curvature. associate with the biggest “rival” treatIn addition, reusable contacts require ment, laser surgery. Startlingly, accordregular cleaning with special disinfec- ing to an article published in the journal tion agents.

Review of Optometry, as many as one The time and money involved in six people experience in caring for and replacing post-laser compliglasses and contacts cations that have led many to negaseek out a more perma nent solution

tively affect their eyesight. These include permanent dry eye syndrome, deterioration in vision quality and even serious problems such as irregular astigmatism, which can’t be corrected by glasses.

But it must be remembered that IOL implantation is also a surgical procedure, and there are obviously inherent risks involved. Taken together, these hazards form quite a long list, and some are just as serious as those involved with laser eye surgery. They include retinal detachment, cataracts, and corneal clouding due to loss of essential cells that pump fluid from the cornea, keeping it clear and transparent. Also, anyone contemplating this treatment must remember that it may not result in complete correction of their sight problems, and they still may need to use glasses or contacts for certain activities. Another important factor is price: The cost of such a specialised novel treatment is considerable, with one Irish eye surgery clinic quoting prices starting at 1915 euros per eye (the same clinic charges 955 euro for its most expensive type of laser surgery).

However IOLs are the only option

for some people whose visual defects render laser surgery impossible - these include people with thin corneas or myopia of between -3.00 and -20.00 diopters. In addition, many of the clinical trials to date have achieved positive results; a British study published in 2010 found that people who underwent IOL implantation surgery instead of laser surgery generally had clearer vision and better contrast sensitivity.

That said, IOL implantation surgery is, in medical terms, an extremely new procedure and as of yet, no large-scale studies on long-term outcomes have been carried out.

As with any medical procedure, IOL surgery possesses advantages and disadvantages - it’s up to optometrists and ophthalmologists to advise each individual client or patient in what is the safest option for them. Importantly, it’s also up to individuals to do their homework and achieve a clear understanding of each procedure before surgery. Clients must have the farsightedness to remember that it is their health and safety that is paramount in this decision-making, not convenience and cosmetics.

as many as one in six people experience post-laser complications that negatively affect their eyesight

The University Observer ¡ 20 September 2011

E E R F T N A W ?

E C N A R U S N I R O T MO

17

Have to drive to Uni this year?

Then this is the competition for you!

We would like to give ONE lucky student FREE motor insurance for the term!

All we would want in return is your car WRAPPED with our 4thelads branding for the term of insurance TO ENTER JUST VISIT

www.4thelads.ie Go through the quote system and once you get your QUOTE REFERENCE NUMBER email admin@brittoninsurance.com with the following details: Quote Reference Number: University: University Course: Entries close 5/10/2011 Terms and conditions apply* 4thelads.ie is a trading name of Britton Insurance which is regulated by the Central Bank. *Competition is open to all UCD students with a valid driver’s licence and vehicle registered in their own name, who falls into our acceptance criteria for a quote. All entrants must be willing to have their cars completely wrapped in 4thelads.ie branding for the term of the insurance, noncompliance with this will result in immediate cancelation of insurance. The insurance contract is subject to underwriter approval for cover. Winner will be required to sign along with their insurance proposal forms, a statement indicating that they will comply with the above branding and competition rules and regulations. Branding will be facilitated by 4thelads.ie upon announcement of winner. Removal of branding after the insurance term is the responsibility of the winner. 4thelads.ie are not responsible for any harm caused to the vehicle as a result of branding or incorrect removal of branding. 4thelads. ie will not be responsible for any excesses, mid-term alterations or cancellation charges in relation to the insurance policy. Winner will be randomly selected by an impartial person at 4thelads.ie brokers’ office Britton Insurance, Crennan House, Tirconnaill Street, Donegal Town on Monday 10th October 2011. Notification will be given to the publication and the winner will be contacted directly by 4thelads.ie. Any illegal activity or dispute in relation to the driving of the branded vehicle will result in immediate termination of insurance contract and the winner will be requested to remove all branding at their own cost with immediate effect. Any non-disclosure of information or incorrect information given during the quotation process will result in termination of contract. If the above is found in the initial stages, prior to inception of the insurance contract, a new draw will take place for an alternative winner. As part of the contract the winner may have to participate in a photoshoot with their branded car. All photos will retain the property of 4thelads.ie and can be used in conjunction with further advertisement for 4thelads.ie including website promotion. Please note the vehicle registration will not be exposed in any photos reproduced by 4thelads.ie. 4thelads.ie is a trading name for Britton Insurance

18

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

Talleyrand Attention scum!

Isn’t it marvellous to see a whole new year of eager, budding minds enter our cosy little campus? If you care for Talleyrand’s opinion (and if you don’t, this was a poor choice of column), this year’s Freshers represent some of the most promising, energetic whores ever to grace beloved Belfield.

And what an equally promising Sabbatical line-up we have this year, like a fresh summer peach, already beginning to rot from the inside out. Much as the haggard, broken cast of Skins Season 2 had to make way for the invitingly supple cast of Skins Season 3, so too must the awkwardly-shaped, visibly syphilitic Sabbats of yester-year make way for what are, for all intents and purposes, the most pathetic pop band in the world. Indeed, it’s been mentioned more than once that the new crew bear more than a passing resemblance to a mediocre Vengaboys tribute act, and are surely destined for comparable success.

Sure, the Pat Pack currently have a shine in their eyes and a song in their hearts, but give them a year; the future holds nothing but poorly photoshopped Seanad election posters, supposedly managerial positions in second-hand bookshops, and “degrees” in “Harvard”.

Even the unflappable positivity of Stephen DeGeneres will soon be suffocated by the stench that won’t remove itself from the Ents office couch, and like so many denizens of the couch before him, will come under extreme pressure.

For the unitiated, Stephen “Wedding Crashers” Darcy is the man whose sole purpose is to provide you with a good time, although appointments may only be booked in the early afternoon, and last between three and four minutes. Sure, he would like to give you a little while longer, but he knows how strict this year’s Education Officer is about time keeping.

Sam “the Rejected Mr. Man” Geoghegan represents your approachable face of Education this year, and it certainly is a face. Sam’s a busy boy these days, caught between his twin occupations of providing top-notch support to you, the students, and going through Rachel Breslin’s bins.

Rachel “Head-Boy” Breslin, or “Breasts” as she’s referred to in internal SU emails, may well be the only Sabbat this year to actually be seen doing any work. In fact, Brezzo might be the most highly-qualified Officer ever to grace the corridor, having spent years attending international conferences, working with UNICEF, and desperately trying to suppress a Donegal accent.

Brendan “Thumbs Way Up” Lacey has a great deal of spare time as the Camp. Officer, and as such, we can all expect a lot more high-quality Youtube videos in the coming months. Sure, the majority of students will tell you that Campaigns and Communications is an entirely useless position, and that it’s a gigantic waste of students’ money, and that the slightly large swan in the Lake will have a more profound bearing on your academic year, but anyway... Brendan’s there.

Which brings us finally to your President and mine, Pat “de” Brún. Pat, the leader of this rag-tag gang of selfless do-gooders, is ready to set the world alight with his exciting plans to run the Goonion for five old English pounds, and whatever money they can pull in from Darcy’s sponsorship deal with Tresemmé.

Widespread reports abound of de Brün repeatedly ‘misplacing’ his wallet during jaunts in the Student Bar, and trying to pay for a late night taxi back to Carlow using only his bedroom eyes and Paul “Bastard” Lynam’s old expense account.

On reflection, it’s a shame we don’t have the real Vengaboys as our Sabbat team – they spend more time on campus as it stands, and at least then we might have a decent bus service.

“Even the unflappable positivity of Stephen DeGeneres will soon be suffocated by the stench that won’t remove itself from the Ents office couch, and like so many denizens of the couch before him, will come under extreme pressure.”

Talley-ho!

Talleyrand

‘Free’ fees?

Professor Gerard Casey

I

believe there should be no charge for third level education for those who use it. I believe there should be no charge for medical or hospital care for those who use it. I believe there should be no charge for food for those who use it. I believe there should be no charge for TVs for those who use them. I believe there should be no charge for BMWs for those who use them. I believe…

Actually, I don’t believe any of these things. What I do believe is that people should pay for the goods or services that they enjoy — all goods and all services.

It’s great if someone wants to pay for your five-course lunches or give you complimentary movies and booze. Unfortunately, as there is a distinct shortage of people with small brains and large wallets, if I want to eat and drink luxuriously or if I want a wide-screen TV or Samba lessons, than as I’m the one benefitting, I’m going to have to pay the bill. The general principle is simple — those who benefit must be prepared to pay.

Those who receive the benefit of a third-level education must be prepared to pay the cost.

The argument will immediately be made against my position that some goods and services are so special, so necessary that it would be wrong to charge people for their use. We usually find health services and education lumped into this category.

The first thing to note about this is that such goods and services have to be provided by someone or other. They are costly to produce and the cost of production has to be borne by someone. Education may be free (sort of) to you — but someone else is picking up the tab. In the

“the funding to universities is being drastically reduced while the universities are being required to provide more and better services to more and more students.

This simply cannot go on.” end, if I make the claim that I should be given something for free, what I’m really saying is that someone else should pay for it, and it’s less than obvious why this should be so. It’s particularly non-obvious if you’re the one doing the paying and someone else is picking up the benefit.

Whatever may be the case about the necessity for all to have an elementary education (and it’s not clear to me why this should take so long and cost so much), it’s quite difficult to see why all or most people need to be educated at third level.

Until the mid 90s, students in Irish universities paid fees for their courses of study. Even then, the fees paid didn’t match the actual cost of providing the tuition; it came to roughly about one third of it. Then the Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach, introduced the so-called ‘free fees’ regime.

The purpose of this policy was to make third level education available to those sections of the population that historically had little or no contact with it.

If such was the purpose of the policy, then it must be judged to have failed and failed spectacularly. What it did in effect was subsidise the education of those sections of the community that already massively availed of university education while

“In the end, if I make the claim that I should be given something for free, what I’m really saying is that someone else should pay for it”

forcing all taxpayers, including those taxpayers whose children would not benefit from this scheme, to pay for it. If specific sections of the population needed financial assistance and educational preparation to enable them to come to university, then the way to do this was to address the problem in a targeted way. The ‘free fees’ policy consisted of throwing a lot of mud on the wall in the hope that some of it would stick.

One other thing the ‘free fees’ policy did was make universities increasingly reliant on the government. And given that he who pays the piper calls the tune, this meant that universities increasingly came under the control of the state and state agencies, with consequent ill-effects on their autonomy.

Now that public finances are in serious trouble, the funding to universities is being drastically reduced while the universities are being required to provide more and better services to more and more students. This simply cannot go on.

We may or may not need universities. We may or may not need as many as we have. We may or may not need as many staff employed in them as are currently employed. The only way to know what people really want is to see what they are willing to pay for.

It’s time for everyone to stop playing games with this issue.

Who is fooled by the transparent device of denominating as ‘Registration Charges’ the fees the universities currently levy? The issue is no longer really whether we have ‘free fees’ or not—it’s how much the fee will be.

Professor Gerard Casey lectures in political philosophy for the School of Philosophy, located in the Newman Building

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

19

Observer

E “previous volumes of the University Observer have represented a cultural litmus test for the institution as a whole, emblematic of the concerns, mood and tone of the totality of the student body in any given year.”

Editorial editor @ universityobserver.ie

ach passing volume of the University Observer has developed its own recurring themes, its own reflections and introspections on not only the constantly shifting nature of the University which it serves, but on the nature of student life itself. Some volumes have been social campaigners; decrying institutional sexism, homophobia, or even the over-arching grasp of on-campus clericism, while others have been financial watchdogs; identifying and condemning monetary mismanagement on the part of the Students’ Union, numerous societies, and even the University itself. As such, previous volumes of the University Observer have, to this Editor’s mind, represented a cultural litmus test for the institution as a whole, emblematic of the concerns, mood and tone of the totality of the student body in any given year. Now, still so early in the academic calendar, the theme of Volume XVIII has already begun to emerge, one that reflects the socio-economic climate UCD students cannot help but be faced by: uncertainty.

A running thematic trope throughout most of this issue’s sections, uncertainty is reflected not just in the moves towards financial reform made by Mr de Brún, but throughout the growing anti-clericist movement reflected in Mr Gregg’s feature on the role of the Chaplaincy in UCD, and even the apparent necessity of major third level reform discussed in this issue’s Education Special. In Features, this same anxiety is replicated in Ms Docherty’s piece on the importance of summer internships for students eager to find meaningful employment, a message largely reflected by Ms Sugrue’s contribution to Opinion on educational inflation. Even Otwo, that erstwhile bastion of unwavering optimism, reflects the somewhat domaineering

metaphor; Ms Valentine’s centre feature ruminating somewhat poignantly on the transience of success. Uncertainty, it seems, represents a profound cultural subtext, rapidly developing into text.

Financially, the Students’ Union is embarking down a potentially rocky road, one mapped out for them by their predeccessors. The success of Mr de Brún’s presidency, even at this early stage, looks set to be predominantly defined by the results of the austerity measures he is pursuing. Mr de Brún will be inevitably criticised (in much the same manner as the current government) for his attempts to force the books into some semblance of balance, in a manner that cannot truly be widely held to be successful; either the financial reform is dealt with through the procurement of external funding, in which case he will be criticised for burying the Union in debt, or worse, he will implement spending cuts in a more profound manner than any previous administration, and as such, deny the students of UCD the much-loved balls and entertainments that have long been considered God-given rights. Whatever your perception of the Union, Mr De Brún has chosen a bold, uncertain path; the great irony of which is that his path was chosen for him some time ago.

Elsewhere in the paper, a pressing cultural shift on a national scale is played out in the microcosm of our campus, as Mr Gregg discusses the now challenged position religious institutions play in modern life, and most notably, in a purportedly secular educational institution. UCD’s Chaplains, by all accounts gentlemen in every sense of the word, are nevertheless faced by a rapidly decreasing relevance, not only as a result of the secular Enlightenment finally making its way to our shores, but also due to an increasingly multi-cultural,

inter-faith population, both on-campus and off. The socio-cultural whiplash of revelations of clerical abuse is only beginning to be felt, and the ghost of Blessed John Henry Newman’s clerical idealism is just beginning to be exorcised. We stand on the cusp of ecumenical modernity, and never before has the anxious cultural juxtaposition between old and new been more profoundly felt.

Finally, the economic realities that have for so long dominated international media are beginning to trickle down to the student body, who have for so long stubbornly refused to ackowledge its existence. Previous plans to “wait out” the recession under the blanket of free fees are being abandoned, as the downturn progesses and ‘free fees’ becomes a more obvious misnomer with each passing year. Somewhat paradoxically, the financial crisis has lead to a mass migration into third level education, with seemingly everyone simultaneously working to ‘get an edge’, as aptly described by Ms Sugrue elsewhere this issue. Our parents’ soothing guarantees of our uniqueness may feel somewhat insincere as we enter a job market saturated with thousands of identical CVs. Uncertainty, it would seem, remains the only certainty.

Uncertainty, however, does not by any stretch of the imagination represent a pre-determined negative outcome. Indeed, uncertainty is nothing more than evidence of impending change, of emerging reform - it is as viable a cause for optimism as it is for apathy. This Editor, daunted as he is by the considerable task of living up to the example set by Editors past, is equally affected by this anxiety; however, the challenge it represents, presently, is emphatically outweighted by my excitement for the volume to come.

A Fond Farewell

On the 7th of August, UCD lost one of its most iconic figures. Long-standing owner and operator of the UCD Barbershop, James Coffey, passed away.

Coffey, who opened the barbershop in 1992, had remained involved in UCD life for nearly two decades. In 2006,

Letters to the editor

Coffey passed propriatorship of the UCD Barbershop to his son Richard, although he continued to work and serve the students of UCD until his passing.

Coffey was an avid sportsman, and a lifetime supporter of the Kilkenny hurling team. As a younger man, Coffey played League of Ireland football for Shelbourne Football Club. Even in his position of right-back, Coffey proved his considerable skill by scoring a remarkable eighty-seven goals in a single season.

He is survived by his wife Carol Coffey, and his sons Richard, Lee,

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

Jamie, Keith and Gary, and was expecting his first grandchild later this year. A devoted father and loving husband, Coffey was widely held as one of the most generous and affable characters in UCD, and remained a fixture of campus life right until his death.

Campaigns and Communications Officer Brendan Lacey commented on Coffey’s tragic passing; ‘It’s a terrible loss for UCD, he was an institution here and he’ll be sorely missed’.

Richard Coffey, who now runs the barbershop in his father’s stead, commented; ‘A big thank you to the

Clarifications & Corrections

University Observer

the

Volume XVIII Issue I 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.

Deputy Editor Kate Rothwell Art and Design Director Conor O’Toole Otwo Editors George Morahan Aoife Valentine

Chief Science & Health Writer Alison Lee Sports Editor Daniel Keenan Music Editor Cormac Duffy Film Editor Dermot O’Rourke

News Editor Katie Hughes

Fashion Editor Sophie Lioe

Features Editor Matt Gregg

Food & Travel Editor Elaine Lavery

Opinion Editor Emer Sugrue

Online Editor Ryan MacKenzie

Science & Health Editor Conor O’Nolan

“If we do need money, there are various ways of getting money.”

Pat de Brún on Students’ Union accounts

“It’s saving students a lot of money. It’s funny that the Government let that happen.”

Sam Geoghegan on resit fee reform

“You’ll have to talk to Pat. I don’t know what happened.

Students shouldn’t behave like that.”

Stephen Darcy on anti-social behaviour on Black Monday

Jon Hozier-Byrne

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

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

“It should be common knowledge by now that it isn’t a good day for buses.”

All letters are subject to editorial approval.

The editor reserves the right to edit any letters.

Editor Jon Hozier-Byrne

customers, friends and colleagues in the UCD Sports Centre for their kindness and support.’ When asked about whether or not the barbershop will remain open during this difficult time, Mr. Coffey remarked; ‘We will continue to run the barbershop, and everyday we remain trading is dedicated to him.’

The Editorial staff of the University Observer wish to express their sincere sympathy to Mr. Coffey’s family. James, or Jimmy as he was more commonly known, was nothing short of a campus icon, and he will be fondly remembered.

Quotes of the Fortnight

Contributors The Badger Steven Balbirnie Fearghal Bannon Jonny Baxter Daryl Bolger Aoife Brophy Anna Burzlaff Angela Clarke Dixon Coltrane Faye Docherty Donna Doyle Sean Finnan Lorraine Haigney Hannah Higgins Sara Holbrook Matthew Jones Alison Lee Jim Maher Jordan McMahon Mark Malone David Maloney Matthew Morrow Mystic Mittens

Pat de Brún on Dublin Bus services on Black Monday

Natasha Murtagh Elena Nikonova Saoirse Ní Charagáin Gordon O’Callaghan Elizabeth O’Malley Megan O’Neill Talleyrand Ethan Troy-Barnes Killian Woods

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

Photographers Jon Hozier-Byrne Katie Hughes Matthew Jones Ed Scannel

Very Special Thanks Amy Bracken, Donna Doyle, Bríd Doherty, Paul Fennessey, Bridget Fitzsimons, Danielle Moran, Joe Murphy, Dave Neary, Quinton O’Reilly, Rob Lowney, Ruth McCourt, Gav Reilly, Natalie Voorheis and all other friends and family who have supported and encouraged us during our first issue.

Special Thanks Peter, Ian, Tim, Malcolm, Ade, Jonathan, Dave, Emma, Jed, Bob, Steve (and the robots) at Trafford Park Printing Ourselves Eilis O’Brien

20

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

UCD Students’ Union We’re here for you!

Sam Geoghegan Education education@ucdsu.ie

Stephen Darcy Ents ents@ucdsu.ie

UCD ENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH VODAFONE PROUDLY PRESENTS //

UCD

FRESHERS BALL 2011

LIL JON

JAPANESE POPSTARS

DJ HIX // DJ FRANK JEZ // KANYU TREE THE WRIGHT VENUE // MONDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2011

Tickets €18 (Return Bus to UCD Included). Available from all S.U. Shops and the SU Bar // Over 18’s only // GOV id essential // R.O.A.R.

Pat de Brún

President president@ucdsu.ie

Brendan Lacey

C&C campaigns@ucdsu.ie

Rachel Breslin Welfare welfare@ucdsu.ie

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

sport

21

Football Finance: Playing the Money Game As financial scandals rock foreign clubs and funding issues trouble teams at home, Daniel Keenan examines how money is the root of football’s evil

E

ven since its amateur routes in strophic losses, without any fear of a the late 19th century, money has direct loss of points. Twenty two out had a massive part to play in foot- of the fourty two teams in the top two ball. After years of supposedly amateur divisions are in administration, and beplayers living off expenses and hand- fore the strike there was about €50 milouts, professionalism openly broke lion in wages owed to players. out in football in 1879, to the horror of Trying to grasp the financial goings those in charge of the game, who would on in Italy’s Serie A is a complex afspend the next six years trying to stave fair. While Italian football also strugit off before they conceded that profes- gles with spiralling wages and bloated sionalism was inevitable, and legalised transfer fees, Serie A and Serie B’s bigit. And so began the financial jugger- gest problem is where the money comes naut that we love and hate so much to- from. On top of some clubs’ alleged maday. fia connections, money laundering and We have just had a summer of record bribery has almost become part and spending, where about €1.5 billion was parcel of Italian football, and football spent on new players by clubs from La in general.

Liga, Serie A and the Premier League The Serie A match fixing scandal alone, where we found out that Jordan sullied the league’s reputation, and Henderson is apparently worth €20 showed clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, million, and that €10 million per year is and recently even Inter Milan, to be a reasonable wage for Samuel Eto’o. It cheaters. It was not only club officials is hard not to wonder how football can and managers involved; players were continue to repel the financial chains also incriminated. which have entrapped the rest of the Even after a huge investigation, clubs world. buying results still exists on a smaller While football fans will remember a scale, and not just in Italy. Fenerbahche summer filled with extravagant strik- were last month kicked out of the Chamers and skinny goalkeepers arriving pions League under match fixing allegafrom foreign leagues, those in financial tions, and more than a dozen countries circles will remember the USA’s inabil- have been rocked by match fixing scanity to maintain its Triple A credit rating, dals in the last year alone. and a time when the long-term viability If bribery is a problem among the of the Euro was put in serious doubt. clubs, then football’s governing body While the world haemorrhages money, isn’t exactly a beacon of purity for clubs football seems to roll around in it. to idealise. Cash for votes, where offiLa Liga was delayed due to players cials who voted on the location of the from the top two divisions going on 2018 and 2022 World Cup attempted to strike in order to force an increase in take bribes from the countries’ reprethe players’ fund, which covers play- sentatives, has ruined the credibility of ers’ wages should the club experience FIFA and of its president, Sepp Blatter. financial difficulty. It is almost imComparatively at least, the English possible to sympathise with overpaid Premiership seems financially sound players demanding an increased safety on the surface, but it does in fact have fund to cover their loss of earnings, but a major problem. the strike highlighted the biggest probWhile television deals aren’t as lem in La Liga. much of a duopoly as in Spain, and Clubs outside of the top two, Bar- match fixing has never been a major celona and Real Madrid, receive rela- cause for concern in England, clubs are tively little money from broadcasters. completely at the disposal of their ownMid-table matches are given sparse ers. When you’re owned by a Sheikh coverage nationally. As a result, many and have a couple of billion barrels of clubs struggle to make money, so a club oil to back you up, everything’s fine, but going into administration in La Liga what happens when your owner has and the BBVA is not uncommon. The made his money from sporting outlet league does not incur point reductions stores? When his business takes a batfor clubs going into administration tering the club burdens the debt and though, so there is no direct punish- the assets are sold. The club parts with ment for the mismanagement of financ- its best players, the manager is inevitaes. bly fired for not producing the results, Club chairmen can allow the club and relegation normally follows. The to go into administration, thereby re- unluckiest clubs go into administration ducing chances of liquidation and cata- soon afterwards. This carries with it a

points deduction, and the clubs in question spend the next season in yet another dog fight at the foot of a lower league.

This scenario has played out countless times since football became a business, but it normally goes unnoticed on the large scale. Would anybody blink twice if Hereford were relegated to the Blue Square Premier, and then go into liquidation? Now though, with clubs like Leeds United, Portsmouth and Sheffield United feeling the financial burn of administration and relegation in recent years, it’s easy to see how the financial plague is climbing the ladder to the Premiership’s higher echelons.

Chelsea continually post losses of up to £70 million every year, while Manchester United’s debt stands at £480 million, with annual interest payments of up to £50 million, and yet they managed to spend £50 million on players during the summer. Is there a business in the world which can continue to operate above normal spending with such a mountain of debt to burden?

Many have pointed to the soon to be imposed UEFA ruling that clubs must operate close to breaking even in order to compete in European competitions, as an explaination for the high spending this summer.

Manchester City have already tried to bend this rule, selling the naming rights of Eastlands and a ten year sponsorship deal to Etihad for £400 million, much more than the deal is thought to be worth. On the surface, it looks like bad business on Etihad’s part, but considering City owner Sheikh Mansour’s strong links with the Abu Dhabi group, the owners of the airline, it’s easy to see why an investigation was called for.

City have the most inflated wage bill in the Premier League, and when they inevitably publish huge losses they will not meet the UEFA criteria to play in Europe; unless, of course, they were to land a massive sponsorship deal like this one. The circumstances of the deal has angered many football managers, and has led UEFA to investigate the matter.

Back home, nowhere is football debt as prevalent as in the Airtricity League.

The league has witnessed the complete collapse of Cork City FC, the demise of Shelbourne, Derry City, and to a lesser extent, Bohemians, all because of financial difficulties.

Falling attendance at matches, decreased television revenue and increased competition from foreign mar-

kets has put the long term viability of the league in doubt. Shamrock Rovers’ qualification for the Europa League group stages is a rare bright spark for the Irish league, but continued success in Europe cannot be counted on for consistent income.

Commercial manager of UCD, Philip Nolan, believes that the long-term future of the Airtricity League does not lie in the league becoming a massive commercial success, but in education, and that the UCD model is the right fit for the league.

“The UCD model is the way to go, with education and sport. UCD are building people rather than just building footballers. The scholarship system [which UCD AFC operates under] offers the people who are good enough the chance to play soccer, to build a life for themselves outside of football with an education.”

Irish football doesn’t have the funding of its English counterparts, so adopting a similar system is unfeasible.

Most professionals in England have very little education behind them, but are on lucrative salaries which will see them through for life. What happens to a full-time professional in Ireland after their careers ends? They don’t retire with millions in the bank, so they need an education.

“Footballers don’t play forever; that’s the thing about UCD, it helps them prepare for a life after soccer, as well as getting the benefits of playing it. The country is not big enough to sustain full-time professional footballers for fifty two weeks of the year: I know that from my time with St. Pats and Sporting Fingal,” commented Nolan.

Players like former UCD striker Ciaran Kilduff, now at Shamrock Rovers, can enjoy a professional footballer’s life and then retire with an education behind him. Other former UCD players, the likes of Conor Salmon, who also turned professional, will too have an education to fall back on when their playing careers are over. Many others in the Irish league will not have that chance.

Nolan believes that the laws governing the spending of Airtricity League clubs will help prevent more clubs from suffering the fate of Cork City or Leeds United.

“Clubs can only spend 65% of their income,” says Nolan, and this regulation has helped a lot of clubs to control their spending.

World football sits at the edge of an abyss of financial ruin. Economists claim that spending money on football at the moment is unviable in the long-term, while financial scandals plague leagues worldwide. FIFA can’t sort out their own internal money issues, while clubs are already trying to sidestep UEFA’s new rules governing finance.

To put it simply, money is destroying the beautiful game.

Nowhere is football debt as prevalent as in the Airtricity League

22

sport

Sports Digest Rowing UCD Boat Club won the Senior Men’s and Women’s National Rowing Championships. In poor conditions, the Mens VIII overcame Queens, Trinity and a strong NUIG side to eventually clinch a comfortable win, a first title in 37 years. The Women’s VIII overcame Muckross in what was a much tighter race, to secure their third title this season, adding to the victories in the Colours and University Championships. There was also a win for UCD Intermediate IV, while the Intermediate VIIIs were disqualified before their race.

Golf UCD scholarship golfer Stephen Walsh won the South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship in July. The 21-year old, who beat Andrew Hogan by 3 and 2 in the final, joins a prestigious list of winners, including Paul McGinley, and Major winners, Darren Clarke and Graham McDowell.

Equine Equinome, a UCD spin-off company, has launched genetic testing for thoroughbred horses to identify the gene with the greatest potential for horseracing success.

The facility, located in UCD Nova, will identify the gene from foals and yearlings and give breeders the best chance to train horses most suited to horseracing.

Ultimate Frisbee This year UCD Chilli-o’s put forward a team of current players and alumni to compete in the Dublin Summer Club League. The Chilli-o’s got off to a flying start by beating last years defending champions Jabba the Huck in the very first match, and from there, they went on to win several matches in a row against teams such as OCS, Ireland Juniors and Westside Cowboys. The last qualifier was against Broc Ultimate, who have been the team to beat in Dublin over the last few seasons. Broc needed to win by 5 to make it through to the final, however the match came down to universe point (next score wins), with UCD coming out on top. This put Chilli-o’s through to the final to again play Jabba the Huck. Both teams put everything they had into the match, as points were traded back and forth for the first half, but UCD took off in the second half to take the lead by just a few points, a lead which they managed to hold on to for the rest of the game, giving UCD Chilli-o’s the Club League champion title.

Rugby UCD and Leinster out-half Ian McKinley has been forced to retire from rugby because of loss of sight in his left eye. McKinley sustained the eye injury playing for UCD against Landsdowne two years ago. McKinley managed to keep playing rugby at provisional level until May of this year, when a cataract began to form on his left eye. After a number of failed operations, he officially announced his retirement in August.

by Daniel Keenan

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

The Badger:

From Russia, with Love

Getting Boxed Out

Having travelled to Moscow to see Ireland draw to Russia, Daryl Bolger explains why this year’s team are worth travelling for

W

hat a difference a few days make. After an excruciating draw with Slovakia earlier this month, it looked all over. Summer plans in the Ukraine and Poland were all but out the window.

A few days later I was sat in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, with a few hundred other Irish fans after another 0-0 draw, the gutsiest and most unlikely 0-0 draw I’ve ever seen: things were looking up. Before the game, Russian fans spread rumours about Given’s fitness, and light-heartedly asked if Rubin Kazan could expect Shamrock Rovers in Europe. However at the end of the game they trudged from the stadium in pure frustration.

Skip ahead once again to later on that evening, when Armenia had just knocked in a fourth goal away to Slovakia to leave us second in our group. In the space of five days we had gone from no-hopers to football’s equivalent of Lazarus.

Following Ireland is not easy at the best of times, and since Trapattoni has taken over, fans seem to have abandoned the team, citing ‘boring football’ as their primary justification; but results speak for themselves.

Ten competitive away games unbeaten, eleven hours without conceding a goal, one World Cup play off (the less said about that, the better), and now it looks like we will get another shot via the play-off route this coming November. These are the results Trap has brought to the team, exactly what he was brought in to achieve. The football may not always be pretty, but in this case the end justifies the means.

We have not qualified for a major tournament in a decade. Our last European outing was in 1988; when Shane Long was one year old and four years before the Russian FC was founded.

While we aren’t in Euro 2012 yet, we have our destiny in our own hands, and have a great shot. We’re in this position as a result of Trap’s defensive tactics, and Richard Dunne’s brilliance in Moscow. Having spent close to €200 on a singing section season ticket, and €500 getting to Moscow, this writer is more than happy with the position we’re in, despite the football I’ve watched.

As a nation, we tend to over-estimate our national team. Let’s be under no illusions as to how good our players are.

Central midfield is the catalyst to any football team: our midfield consists of Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews, two players who wouldn’t make the bench for most other national football teams in Europe, never mind play the whole game. Whelan is anonymous in midfield; Andrews lets the game drift by him and has had to drop down a division to even get first team football. Yet Ireland have only lost one game.

Wide positions are more encouraging, but equally fruitless. Moscow’s own Aiden McGeady seems to have the raw talent, but wastes final balls far too often, and has yet to learn how to shoot from range, agonisingly scuffing too many of his shots to the bottom left.

In his favour, his defensive abilities is handling it well, making sure McCarhave increased enormously, something thy is hungry to play before letting him which Trap can take credit for. Ward do so. has started his season brightly in EngWhile Ireland struggle to pick a land, but has been found out in defence team of quality, Russia are spoilt for in a green shirt, and his lack of ability choice. Most of their team are playhe Badger is annoyed with boxing, to cross a ball is startling for a man who ing at the highest level of the Russian but has a peculiar love for The wanders forward so often. league, with clubs owned by mega-rich Muppet Show. Why? Well they’re Many are calling out for James Mc- oil tycoons. While we might dismiss Carthy, and questioning as to why Tra- the league due to ignorance, one only not quite mops, and they’re not quite pattoni is not playing him. It is a diffi- has to look at their European success to puppets, and the Badger shares an cult situation, with McCarthy pulling recognise that having an entire squad undying love for Jim Henson. So you out of squads on numerous occasions at this level is quite an achievement. can understand how devastated the with dubious injuries. Trap has always Yet we are only two points behind them Badger was when the show ended, and let his players know who was in charge, with two “easier” games left in the the Badger had to say a sad farewell to the dancing cloth-critters. and this has happened with McCarthy. group.

Now, after hearing the news that Now that he has shown his willingness Writing straight off the flight from to play at Under-21 level, it will be in- Moscow, I could not be more content Audley Harrison will participate in teresting to see if he is used. In any case, with our position in the group. Ire- Strictly Come Dancing, the Badger can rewhile he is a very talented footballer, land’s performances are impossible to joice, as once again there will be a danctoo much hope and expectation is be- predict, but we have as good a chance ing muppet on television. The Badger ing placed on him. He is being set up to as we ever had. All will be revealed in will be forced to skip Saturday night La Liga to watch Harrison give a different fall. It’s a worrying situation, but Trap the Aviva on October 11th. definition to the word Messi.

Okay, the Badger knows Harrison wasn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. He got buried by the weight of expectation after an Olympic gold, one of many who couldn’t make the big jump from amateur to professional.

It’s the greed which annoys the Badger: challenging David Haye with no chance of winning just to get the million pound payout, then truly selling out by moving to reality TV. And ‘Strictly’ of all shows? Harrison is about as suited to dancing as a badger is to writing a sports column.

Meanwhile, in actual boxing, the fight that everyone wants to see, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, won’t go ahead because Pacquiao doesn’t want to take a drug test too soon before the fight.

Now, the Badger won’t profess to knowing everything - how Wayne Rooney’s hair implants have made him look even worse still alludes him - but if the Badger learned anything from his good friend Michelle Smith, it’s that if you don’t want to submit to a drug test, it’s probably because you’re on drugs.

So, with Pacquiao-Mayweather slipping through the paws of the boxing world, attention turns to Haye, who says he’s willing to postpone his attempt to become the next Dwayne Johnson and fight Vitali Klitschko. The Badger enjoys a good heavyweight fight, and Haye has made the heavyweight division exciting again, but is it too much to ask for the Klitschko brothers to go twelve rounds?

The Badger realises that the match would consist of two lumbering Ukrainians jabbing continually at thin air, but surely the entertainment value of the build-up would be biblical, like a modern day Cain and Abel. Despite the Badger’s public protests, the brothers claim that the match will never happen, but not because of drug testing issues or financial disagreements. Oh no, much more serious than that: their mother won’t let them.

T

In the space of five days we had gone from no-hopers to football’s equivalent of Lazarus

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

sport

Dare to Dream Shamrock Rovers have made Irish football history by qualifying for the Europa League, but will have to prove themselves yet again in the games to follow, writes Matthew Morrow

S

hamrock Rovers’ feat of qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League is an extraordinary one for both the team and for the Airtricity Premier League (APL).

It is also an opportunity that they cannot afford to squander, in terms of both the increased revenue and public profile that comes with competing in Europe. For these players, some of whom are only semi-professional, the chance to run out onto iconic grounds such as White Hart Lane is something that they could only dream about a year ago. Now it is a reality, and when one considers the obstacles, it is quite a feat.

The difficulty in reaching this stage of the competition is exemplified by the fact that no Scottish Premier League team qualified for the group stage - besides Celtic, who were admitted more or less on a technicality rather than footballing prowess.

Rovers required no such luck, and the fact that they went to Partizan Belgrade, a club with recent Champions League experience, needing a win to qualify and managing to secure one, means nobody can begrudge them for where they are today. Playing in front of a hostile crowd of thousands at Stadion FK Partizan is a far cry from playing Bray Wanderers on a rainy Tuesday evening in Tallaght, so to get the result needed was a staggering triumph.

Now the question that’s being asked is whether or not Rovers will be able to hold their own against the big teams in Europe’s second tier of competition.

Last Thursday’s match against FC Rubin Kazan would suggest that they will struggle. This is no surprise given the step up in quality and financial backing from their regular APL opponents. Rubin Kazan paid €17 million for Obafemi Martins, the unorthodox ex-Newcastle striker, the kind of money that Rovers’ owners could only dream about. Money buys quality, and it showed in a comfortable 3-0 for the Russian side.

Though Rovers had their chances, including a missed penalty from Belgrade hero, Stephen O’Donnell, Rubin Kazan never needed to get out of second gear to see off their upstart opponents.

Goals from Martins, Christian Noboa and the impressive Gökdeniz Karadeniz were enough to bury the Hoops, for whom goalkeeper Ryan Thompson was the star; a fact that, on reflection, tells you all you need to know about Rubin’s dominance.

Shamrock Rovers’ chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages were always very slim, and after such an emphatic home defeat, there is realistically no chance that they will progress past the group. If they were to progress, as tournament minnows, the Hoops

would have to cause a major upset along the way - and what better team to do so against than Tottenham Hotspur.

The Spurs match will draw a media frenzy and great public interest, so Rovers’ decision to hold their home matches in Tallaght seems bizarre, given that the 50,000 seater Aviva Stadium is situated so close by. Hosting in the newly renovated Tallaght Stadium, however, will make for a much better atmosphere than a half-filled Aviva.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has publicly stated that the competition is a ‘nuisance’ for him and the club, but he was still able to field a starting lineup that included Roman Pavlyuchenko, Carlo Cudicini and Giovani Dos Santos in Greece last Thursday, for their match against PAOK. Presumably he will do something similar against Rovers and give his youth players a chance to impress.

Whilst this tactic will no doubt improve Rovers’ chances of causing an upset, it is no guarantee of Rovers getting anything from their two matches against the North London club. Rovers’ best chance of a result will be against PAOK, however, given their 4th place finish in the Greek League, this still represents a colossal challenge.

The confidence gained from their Partizan performances should help, especially away from home, but given the superior class of opposition, any sort of result during this European odyssey will be considered an historic achievement, trumping the triumph in Belgrade. Coming out of the group with any points will be an accomplishment, given that the three sides they face are playing top-class domestic football, week-in week-out, while Rovers are winding down their domestic season.

Rovers will know the weight of expectation is off them. They have already made a ground breaking effort to qualify for the group stage, which has belatedly put the APL on the European map. Whether Irish football will look back at this as a once-off fairytale, or the impetus for further success in Europe, will all depend on whether the APL and Rovers officials come through on their commitment to use the increased revenue to develop the league further.

Regardless, we can enjoy Rovers’ Cinderella story for at least five more games, and live in hope that they can grab a scalp on their way to the Ball.

23

Killian goes down under

The University Observer’s resident New Zealand columnist, Killian Woods, offers insight from the Rugby World Cup

A view from Killian’s seat at the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony

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ood columnists generally have little routine in their life. This lack of routine adds to the sense of adventure and insight they can provide the reader about their experiences.

While travelling around New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup, opinions and aspects of the tournament that aren’t evidently clear from your couch on a Saturday morning have been become apparent.

A visitor would have to be blind not to notice that a rugby tournament is taking place in the country throughout September and October, although with that said, there are some naïve tourists roaming the country who are dumbfounded that accommodation is difficult to find.

The country is visibly, vocally and mentally geared up to eat, drink and breathe rugby over the next two months, and to intensify their passion to a greater extent than ever before.

Every shop is selling over-priced official Rugby World Cup memorabilia.

Television adverts are all focused on rugby. The weather girl’s deliverance is littered with rugby references such as “All Black rain clouds will flank Auckland and cover the first five-eighths of the island, while westerly winds will touch the coast, pause and then engage the mid-south”. Even the Weetabix boxes have turned All Black.

Adding an extra dynamic to that atmosphere are the jubilant fans of the Pacific Island nations, Tonga and Samoa, who take over the city streets on game days. Their followers are out in force at the tournament to prove that this is not only a Rugby World Cup for New Zealand, but a competition belonging to the entire region.

Irish people have an incessant nature to equate performances with similar results from the past. Following the USA result, it was a race from all supporters to be the first to compare this World Cup campaign to the 2007 disaster. After the Australia result, Ireland stand in Auckland like Abel Tazman: on uncharted territory.

A wholly inspiring result and performance has put Ireland in prime position to reach the semi-final for the first time. While rugby media have heralded reaching the semi-final as the Holy Grail for the Irish, only lifting the Webb Ellis trophy will do for the Kiwis.

The All Blacks are rightly feared worldwide, while also being highly respected. They play very attractive rugby, driven by accurate offloads and

fast work at the breakdown. However, fans and media alike shamelessly love to remind visitors, and themselves, that they are the best in the world and everyone should aspire to copy their style.

Even though the atmosphere of New Zealand is pleasantly saturated with a rugby vibe, this blatantly arrogant media coverage of the tournament and the predominant opinions of the All Blacks fans does taint the ambiance.

For a country that feels like it’s stuck somewhere in the 1980s, and with little pedigree for World Cup success, they are remarkably assured about their superiority.

Their self-righteous nature is comparable with that of the English football team and the expectation that hangs on their shoulders. Like England, the All Blacks are expected to win every game and major tournament. It’s portrayed as a right of passage that they be crowned victors even if they are not the best team on paper, wood, scroll or papyrus.

Another similarity between themselves and the Three Lions is that their perpetual failure is always blamed on someone else, with that person having to endure a lifetime of hate from an entire nation. Currently referee Wayne Barnes and Australian fly-half QuadeCooper are the joint top public enemies; Barnes, for his role in New Zealand’s loss to France at the 2007 World Cup, and Cooper for an accidental collision with the All Blacks Bambi figure, Richie McCaw. Admittedly, the All Blacks are a very good team and are the favourites to claim the Webb Ellis Cup. However, it is a pity they cannot do so with a trace of humility and respect for their opponents.

If teams don’t play like the All Blacks their play is likened to “Greco-Roman wrestling” and labelled as “unworthy of the game.” If teams adopt a black shirt, they are described as a “side dressed in funeral black” and advised to “forget the cheap tricks and have more pride, more class”. And finally, if you are a “minnow”, the All Blacks team doctor openly admits that “key players shouldn’t be risked”.

All in all, I’m not surprised that New Zealand is reluctant to move on from the 1980’s. They are only longing after a time when the All Blacks had the application to finish what they started.

Unfortunately, I don’t think many Kiwis will prefer 2011 beyond the 23rd of October.

24

OSbserver P O R T

The University Observer · 20 September 2011

UCD secure Premier Division status

UCD afc – 2 Galway United – 1

Inside...

We look at the finances of football and the repercusions on the sport

A well-earned victory against Galway United led UCD to continue their Airtricity success, writes Gordon O’Callaghan

U

CD AFC maintained their Airtricity Premier League status last Monday night with a hard-fought 2-1 win at home to Galway United. The Students went behind early in the second half but rallied late on with goals from home debutant Chris Lyons and an own goal from Lawrence Gaughan.

The opening quarter was a scrappy affair, with UCD claiming more of the possession but failing to find any penetration in the final third.

Galway had perhaps the best of the early chances, with Mark Gilmore failing to find the target after a deft through ball from the left found the striker alone in the area. Barron did well to close the angle as Gilmore shot wide.

It was in the twentieth minute before the home crowd, boosted with the returning student population, witnessed the first clear-cut chance for their side; Robbie Creevy, who continued to show what an influential player he is when fit, released winger Darren Meenan on goal. Caught in two minds, it appeared that Meenan attempted to half lift the ball over the keeper and half blast it past him; in the end his effort was blocked away by the Galway shot stopper Conor Winn.

As Hurricane Katia battered the west coast, the high winds at the Belfield Bowl had a considerable impact on the game. Alan Murphy unleashed a speculative effort for the Tribesmen from the

left wing, which, with the assistance of the wind, almost deceived Ger Barron in the UCD goal, before landing on the roof of the net.

As the game progressed UCD turned their dominance of possession into chances, as Samir Belhout, Dean Marshall and Creevy went close.

Just before half-time the Students had perhaps their best chance, as Meenan slipped a good ball in from the left that found Robbie Benson lurking eighteen yards out, but his effort thundered off the cross bar.

UCD could not turn their dominance into goals, as the sides went in goalless at half-time. The second half began much like the first, with poor passing and a lack of precision letting down both sides.

Galway produced the first chance of the half in the fiftieth minute, and Oscar Sibanoi applied the finishing touch that had been lacking before the break.

The tricky winger nimbly escaped the clutches of his marker, before Mark Gilmore whipped in the corner from the right and Sibanoi powered in the header past Barron.

UCD went close soon afterwards through Marshall but couldn’t find an equaliser, as Chris Lyons was brought on for Meenan in the sixty-first minute.

Only two minutes into his home debut and with virtually his first touch of the game, Lyons latched onto a Samir Belhout knockdown, and gave UCD the equaliser they deserved.

UCD pushed home from there, and

page 21 The Badger setts himself up for a fight - a critique of boxing

Paul Corry in last week’s 2-1 win against Galway United.

Photographer: Ed Scannel within three minutes had their second goal. Sean Russell swung in yet another dangerous ball into the Galway United box, which Lawrence Gaughan headed into his own goal as he attempted to clear the danger.

UCD dominated possession for the final twenty-five minutes of the game, as Robbie Creevy marshalled the midfield, and should have wrapped up the game in the seventy-eighth minute when Stephen Doyle played in Creevy, only to have his shot cleared off the line.

With Airtricity League status secured for another season, manager Martin Russell can continue to develop his young squad for the next season, as the Students prepare for Bray Wanderers on September 23rd.

UCD AFC Barron, O’Conor, Russell, Boyle, Leahy, Corry, Marshall, Creevy, Belhout (Doyle 72nd), Benson (Ledwith 76th), Meenan (Lyons 61st) Galway United Winn, Sinnott (Gartlan 86th), Son, Gaughan, Lusi (Walsh 76th), Brown, Ryan, Kelly, Gilmore (Cauldwell 70th), Sibanoi, Murphy

Man of the Match Robbie Creevy

page 22

Irish competitors are showing great promise in the field of athletics, but a lack of funding may limit their potential, writes Fearghal Bannon

A

In every event in athletics there are what is known as A- and B-standards, and this ranking system is used to distinguish the current top athletes from the rest, with the AStandard being the top tier competitors. This prevents the likes of Usain Bolt from having to compete against the journeymen of the sport, and ensures a competitive meet. Denying Bstandard athletes though, especially promising youngsters, from experiencing the Olympics can only hinder their development.

Unfortunately the Irish Athletics Council’s funding is so restricted that they will not budge on the issue.

In order for this controversial decision to be validated, Athletics Ireland would need all A-standard athletes to completely outperform their B-standard counterparts.

Step in 29-year old Deirdre Ryan, Irish high jumper and holder of the Irish woman’s record for the high jump. After two injury plagued seasons she lost all funding last year, despite being the national record

Deirdre Ryan cleared 1m84 to claim joint 2nd place at the Meeting de Montreuil holder. Rather than give up, she paid her own way in training, by moving to Germany and working a part-time job.

The very fact that she acquired a B-standard to make the Championships is an accomplishment in itself.

Ryan not only made the finals of the high jump but set her personal best of 1.95 metres, and finished 6th in the championships. Had Athletics

Why this year’s soccer team are worth travelling for

Bookings Yob Son, Yellow Samir Belhout, Yellow

Setting the Standard thletics has never really taken off in Ireland. The smaller, more low-key events are often ignored, and only when a native athlete is setting the world alight in his or her respective field do the nation’s eyes turn to athletic sports. The middle-to-low standard athletes are too often ignored, while thousands flocked to Croke Park for Irish soccer matches during Steve Staunton’s tenure as manager.

With relatively little media coverage in Ireland, the IAAF World Championships, hosted this year in Daegu, South Korea, have just come and gone. Ignoring some unfortunate injuries, we can be left in no doubt that Irish athletics is in a good place at the moment.

The World Championships however, are just the epilogue to a much more important issue, as they come off the back of the decision by Athletics Ireland to only bring athletes who have acquired A-standards to the 2012 London Olympics.

page 22

Ireland imposed the cutbacks for the World Championships, Ryan would not have even been at the tournament.

The overall performance of the Irish team was very encouraging, despite their setbacks. Ireland lost their two best medal prospects, David Gillick and Derval O’Rourke, to injury, the latter during her semifinal warm-up. 20km and 50km star

walker Robert Heffernan also withdraw from the championship, due to a family bereavement.

Three athletes, including Ryan, made their respective finals. Ciaran O’Lionaird was the bolter of the squad, having come from virtually nowhere to earn an A-standard just before the tournament started. The 24-year old set out his stall for the future with some impressive runs, while Alistair Cragg finally delivered on his potential to make it to the finals of the 5000 metre final.

With the current blend of youth and experience, London 2012 could prove to be a successful Olympics for Irish athletics. Medals may be beyond our grasp, but we can realistically expect one or two athletes to make their finals. Considering the strains of the national set-up and limited pool of athletes, this in itself would be a success.

The big disappoint remains that young Irish B-standard athletes won’t be allowed to experience the Olympics in all their glory, where they would gain vital experience for potential future success. Athletics Ireland are adamant that they can’t afford to send B-standard athletes to the Olympics, but if athletics is to develop into a major sport in Ireland, they can’t afford not to.