Vol. XXIII - Issue 1 - Berliner

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 VOLUME XXIII ISSUE I UNIVERSITYOBSERVER.IE

Alanna O’Shea SPEAKING to the University Observer, UCDSU Education Officer Lexi Kilmartin said that from information she has gained from different university departments, British students enrolling in the 2017/2018 year will likely still have the same EU rate fees. As far as the union is aware, no decision has yet been made about subsequent years.

She did say that there have been discussions of a special arrangement where UK students would pay something more in line with the EU fee status, “not free fees… but not non-EU fees”, although she was keen to emphasise that nothing concrete has come from these discussions. “As soon as we know and we can tell people, we will.”

UCD acted quickly to reassure students following the Brexit referendum, updating the UCD website just a day after the result to

say that existing enrolled British students will retain an EU fee status for the duration of their degree programme. Students who were due to enrol in the 2016/2017 academic year will also have EU fee status for the duration of their programme.

A rise in fees of this magnitude may make UCD unattractive to British students, and the UCDSU Students’ Union is acutely aware of this. Kilmartin said that discussions are happening in the university about what the fee structure will be for British students going forward.

“We’re involved in some, not all of those discussions and we’re trying to advocate for British students and particularly for students who are north of the border,” said Kilmartin “because that’s the most contentious issue as far as we see and also as far as the university sees.”

There would be a substantial fee increase if students coming from the UK, including Northern Ireland, were forced to pay nonEU student rates. In 2016, the majority of EU undergraduate students paid fees ranging from €5,843 to €7,567. In comparison, nonEU undergraduates pay between €17,400 and €24,400 for the same courses.

“I was quite nervous initially,” said Milly English, a British student studying medicine in UCD, who had voted to remain in the EU. Immediately after the referendum result, she emailed UCD to ask if she would become a nonEU student.

Kilmartin also pointed out that a British exit from the EU had some potential upsides for UCD: “what might attract more students to UCD is the opportunity this gives the university to

hire very high level staff who are receiving EU funding who will no longer receive EU funding, because of Brexit.”

As well as discussions taking place in UCD, there are wider discussions between the English and Irish governments regarding the impact Brexit could have on third level education in both countries. When asked for comment, Adeline Meagher at the Department of Education told the Observer “The Department is conscious of the resulting pressures that may fall on the Irish higher education system following the UK’s decision to leave the EU.” She also said Department was “liaising with all relevant parties in relation to these pressures including issues with regard to the movement of students between this State and the UK, fees and student grant arrangements.”

Aaron Murphy THE Montrose accommodation has been listed for sale for €41.5 million. Located on the N11 opposite UCD, the building consists of 205 student bedrooms, as well as a Spar, an Insomnia and a Bank of Ireland on the ground floor.

Savills, the real estate agency who have listed Montrose, say that the student accommodation scheme has a predicted gross rent roll of roughly €2.91 million per year.

Matthew McAdden, the head of Atelier Property Asset Management and founder of Ziggurat, the current owner of the property, stated: “the strategy for this asset was always to sell once the commercial space was fully let and the building [was] stabilised… The investors into this project wanted to see the process from start to finish in order to be able to re‐invest in the €400 million, 4,000 bed fund to develop in Cork, Galway and Dublin”.

This “fund” is one of Ziggurat’s current plans for developing purpose-built student accomodation in Ireland – Montrose being the first. The announcement came on August 31st when it was listed for sale by private treaty on Ziggurat’s behalf by Savills. McAdden assured the University Observer that “the Montrose will continue to be let to students and managed by a reputable manager.”

There is no indication as to whether prices for rooms will change with the change of ownership, but new rent rates are currently being set for 2017. McAdden has said that “Ziggurat are setting rents for September 2017 and these will be live on the letting website very shortly.”

The property was obtained from NAMA in 2011, with planning permission being granted to redevelop as student accomodation in mid-2013 and works beginning in January 2014.

McAdden went on to say that “Atelier recommend the appropriate rent based upon a fair reflection of value for money and this is adopted by the asset owner. This process will not be impacted by the sale”.

Michael Fitzpatrick, a previous tenant in the Montrose, has stated that rent rates have steadily risen since 2014/15 with students being notified in advance of the rise and being offered the option to remain for another year. Rents currently stand at €245 per week for a standard room, €270 per week for a superior room and €300 per week for a twin room. In comparison, before its opening in 2014, there had been a proposed entry-level price of €175.

McAdden said that “we set rents as a function of the rents being charged by UCD on campus, the cost of renting other accommodation in the

area, the level of demand for the property and what we believe to be a fair rent for the high quality of products and services that we offer.”

UCD Students’ Union have also commented regarding accommodation: “our policy is aimed at increasing supply which is why we’ve gone into joint projects with [Trinity College] and Daft… There needs to be a concerted effort to increase the amount of purpose built student accommodation.”

The SU has emphasised that a combination of private developers putting beds onto the market and increased public funding for campus residences is necessary.

PHOTO CREDIT: RYAN O’DONNELL

Commenting on the current housing issues, the UCDSU accommodation officer said that it is due to a “fundamental lack of supply” and that they would like to see the Montrose accommodation further developed as it is the first “purpose built student accommodation of its kind in Dublin.”

Ziggurat finished refurbishments on 126 of the bathrooms in the Montrose and on the heating system throughout the property this summer. There has been no publicly interested investors as of yet.

Montrose

COVER PHOTO OF UCDAFC VS DUNDALK BY: KEVIN QUINLAN

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 1

NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF JADE STANLEY

USI DENOUNCES PREGNANCY AGENCIES MISLEADING WOMEN ON ABORTION THE Union of Students in Ireland has released a statement denouncing crisis pregnancy agencies, which were said to be deliberately misleading women about the effects of abortion. This was in response to investigations by the Irish edition of the Times in which an undercover journalist posed as a woman seeking an abortion at a crisis pregnancy agency in Dublin.

The reporter secretly recorded a counsellor saying abortions can cause breast cancer, a reduction in fertility, and women to become child abusers in later life. While abortion is illegal within the Republic of Ireland, women have the right to receive information about abortion services in other countries as part of a counselling session exploring all of their options.

USI President Annie Hoey stated “the production and promotion of misinformation is unethical, unhealthy and frankly dangerous… If a doctor or a medical expert was to give out false information like the advice given out at a Dublinbased pregnancy counselling centre, they would be reported and risk losing their license.”

As the crisis pregnancy agency did not receive HSE funding, the HSE has stated that it does not have the power to regulate the sector, asking HSE-funded counselling services to report “disingenuous” services. USI urged women experiencing an unwanted pregnancy to visit positiveoptions.ie or to contact the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA).

Martin Healy SPEAKING in an interview with the University Observer, UCD graduate and Irish Olympic rower Claire Lambe has criticised the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) for their inability to provide tickets for her friends and family to see her compete at the Rio Olympic Games.

The twenty six year-old spoke about her frustrations with OCI’s official ticket reseller Pro10 Sports Management, eventually leading to her friends having to “find some (tickets) outside the country” in order to see her compete in Rio. Lambe, who competed alongside Sinead Jennings in the Lightweight Double Sculls final for Team Ireland, detailed her friends and family’s frustrations with Pro10 stating “[they] had an awful time with Pro10 in that they were unresponsive to emails, unresponsive to phone calls, and then eventually they told them that they never had any rowing tickets whatsoever – and were never going to.”

Lambe’s parents spent €400 each, along with additional travel expenses for the week of rowing in Rio. She mentioned how the steep cost “ruled out my sisters coming” and that the tickets secured by her parents were purchased under the fear that “they wouldn’t be able to get tickets elsewhere.”

She elaborated on the ticket process, saying how her friends “ended up buying them

Roisin Guyett-Nicholson through other country sellers and… one of my friends even got totally done on a scam website.

There was no proper Irish vendor that I was aware of, other than Pro10.”

Lambe’s comments come after an incredibly difficult month for the Irish Olympic landscape.

In August, OCI president Pat Hickey was arrested and detained for his involvement in a supposed ticket touting racket.

Pro10 were selected as the OCI’s official ticket provider prior to the Olympic Games but, as was announced by Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport Shane Ross, now face an inquiry into the ticket touting allegations.

A Pro10 statement, released last month, on behalf of the directors of the firm, wishes “to make clear that they [Pro10] have always acted properly and fully in line with the ATR [Authorised Ticket Reseller] guidelines.”

The statement stresses that the directors of Pro10 intend on continuing “to cooperate fully and promptly with inquiries by the Brazilian authorities.” Pro10 has demanded an apology from the Rio Olympic organisers as 823 OCI tickets were seized when THG Sports official Kevin Mallon was originally arrested in Rio on August 5th.

Pro10 had not replied to requests for comment at the time of going to print.

UCDSU Education Officer Lexi Kilmartin has cautioned students not to panic after it emerged that there is a delay in processing student grant applications. The deadline to apply to the Student Universal Support Ireland was July 8th but the service is still accepting some submissions.

Kilmartin explained that: “the university is aware that there’s a delay in SUSI processing applications. So long as the university has your SUSI application number don’t worry about it.

It will all come in due time… a lot of people are panicking because obviously the fee deadlines are coming up.”

She went on to say: “if you look at your sisweb it might still say that you’re eligible to pay the €3,000 student contribution charge.

That’s being processed by the university.”

Kilmartin asserted that if a student’s application has been approved then it is unlikely they will face any backlash: “it’s important that you pay your fees, it’s important that you pay them on time but it’s not the end of the world if you can’t… As a general rule, UCD won’t kick you out if you’re a bit late getting your fees.”

The bulk of the backlog is due to be processed by the end of September. Module registration will also close around this time, on 21st September.

UCD Students’ Union has ventured onto legally uncertain ground by providing students with information on abortion services available outside of Ireland in its ‘Winging It In UCD’ student guidebook.

Page 125 of the guide informs students of specific abortion services provided in Britain by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and gives details of the costs of such services according to different stages of the pregnancy and whether consultation or surgery is the service sought.

Speaking to the University Observer, UCD Students’ Union Welfare Officer Róisín O’Mara emphasized that the Students’ Union was “not advocating” abortion. They are merely “providing information as a service provider” due to the fact that “it’s not safe to trust all sites online” and because students might find it “very difficult to ask (their) GP” for assistance

if they have an unplanned or crisis pregnancy.

Despite the potential legal ramifications of its decision to publish such information in its guide, O’Mara replied “I don’t know” when asked if the Students’ Union had received any legal advice in relation to the publication, saying that she “was on placement” and so “just wrote it up and sent it in.”

She stated that the information was “looked over by the corridor” - in other words, the full-time staff and sabbatical officers of the Students’ Union - and this enabled “edits” to be made.

Under the Abortion Information Act of 1995, such information may only be provided by “a person who engages in, or holds himself, herself or itself out as engaging in, the activity of giving information, advice or counselling to individual members of the public in relation to pregnancy.” This has generally been taken to mean doctors, specific agencies or individual counsellors.

O’Mara also stressed that while the price of abortion pills available with the BPAS is outlined, the SU “does not advocate for people to take abortion pills because, regardless of where you’re getting them from, you don’t know the long-term side effects. You don’t know if they’re safe or not.”

In its guide, the SU publishes archive letters, sent to them from solicitors and the UCD Registrar’s Office in 1988 that relate to the well-known ‘SPUC’ case. This was a case brought against the UCD Students’ Union by a pro-life group, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, who claimed that the Union’s publication of information on abortion in its welfare guide was unconstitutional.

The case ended up going to the Supreme Court, with the UCDSU losing and the President as well as the Welfare, Education and Ents Officers facing a total of £38,000 in personal liability (the SU would bear the cost).

DIT SEES RISE IN NUMBER OF STUDENTS REPORTING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN the 2016 academic year, Dublin Institute of Technology has shown a staggering 700% increase in students registering with disability services with mental health conditions. Students availing of the DIT counselling services have also increased, from 628 in 2012 to 1,071 so far this year.

The rise in the number of people seeking out mental health services is regarded as a positive sign that mental health issues are being destigmatised among students. Dr. Brian Gormley, head of Campus Life at DIT, said “people wouldn’t have disclosed it five years ago. They are more aware now that they will get support.”

Previously, USI has said that 73% of students’ experience anxiety and depression over the cost of tuition. A statement from Jill O’Herlihy of the Mental Health Ireland organization concluded that, “financial struggles affect everyone, especially students. We need to be mindful that when these issues arise, we act upon it instead of sweeping them under the carpet.” Services such as counselling services, the chaplaincy and therapy assistance can be accessed on college campuses for students struggling with mental health issues.

Conall Cahill

If you are feeling overwhelmed, please contact UCD Student Health Service at 01-716-3133.

NOTABLE REDUCTION OF OFFERS FROM CAO TO PAST RECIPIENTS OF LEAVING CERTIFICATE 2016 has seen a drop in the number of Leaving Certificate students who received first round CAO offers in comparison with students from 2015.

Fifty fewer students were offered a course in the first round of CAO offers, despite 800 more people applying for places in 2016 compared to last year.

Students who did their Leaving Cert this year represented less than three-quarters of people receiving first round offers.

This year a record number of people -- 80,877 -- applied through the CAO for third level courses.

Points for many science and technology courses have risen. First round offers for both science and engineering were five points higher than last year, continuing the recent trend of high demand for these courses.

In comparison, demand for arts courses has dropped, particularly in UCD, which has the largest arts course in the country. At the second round of offers, UCD English has fallen by 30 points to a total of 445 and History has fallen by 15 points for a total of 395.

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PHOTO CREDIT: MARTIN HEALY

NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

NEWS IN BRIEF

Garrett Ó Cinnéide ON Friday, September 9th, University College Dublin hosted ‘Tom Kettle 100‘, a morning symposium to honour the centenary of the death of the UCD’s first Professor of National Economics, Thomas M. Kettle (1890-1916).

Kettle died while leading a company of the Ninth Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, during the Battle of the Somme, often considered the most brutal battle of the First World War. The ceremony included a bronze plaque unveiling in the UCD rose garden and speeches from President Andrew Deeks and others.

Current Economics Society auditor, Robert Sweeney commented that: “[Kettle’s] main contribution to economics is considered to be his translation from French and preface to, Louis Paul-Dubois’ Contemporary Ireland, one of two books he translated into English, the second being in German”.

ASHLEY PERRY Kettle began studying in UCD in 1897, and in 1898 was elected to the position of auditor of the Literary and Historical Society. Kettle would later go on to become president of the Youth Ireland Branch of the United Irish League in 1904. In 1906, after the death of East Tyrone MP Patrick Doogan, Kettle stood for election to Parliament. Kettle won by 18 votes in the subsequent by-election and became the youngest member of his party.

Kettle returned to his alma mater in 1908, to become UCD’s first Professor of National Economics at only 28 years old. An award named for Thomas Kettle is still bestowed today by the UCD Economics Society to those who have made a major contribution to the fields of economics or public affairs.

Kettle was considered a controversial figure for much of his life. One such example being

his willingness to fight on the side of the Allies both before and after the Easter Rising, despite being a committed Irish Nationalist.

“Yes it was controversial. Despite opposing Irish support for Britain in the Boer War, Kettle followed John Redmond’s call for Irish nationalists to join the British army in World War I, with the prospect of Home Rule at its end.” said Sweeney. “A major part of this decision was witnessing German atrocities during the invasion of Belgium as war correspondent for the Daily News.”

The bronze plaque unveiled at the centenary features a poem written by Kettle for his daughter just days before his death at the Somme, which gave his reasons for fighting in an Irish Regiment in the British Army.

1,200 RESEARCHERS from 18 different universities across South Africa have penned an open letter to government officials pleading for more funding to keep academia alive in the state.

Noor Nieftagodien, one of the coordinators of the letter, said they used this medium in hopes that the wider academic community would take notice of how austerity could severely affect the country as a whole.

The letter candidly states: “we have reached a limit. We simply cannot weather any further cuts without jeopardizing the academic project.”

Neither the President, nor any of the other government officials mentioned in the open letter, have yet given a response. The move comes less than a year after widespread student protests that stemmed from growing tuition fees and vanishing university resources. Outraged students highlighted that enrolment has almost tripled in the past 22 years, though subsidies produced by the government have been declining for a decade.

President Jacob Zuma resolved in 2007 to make higher education free for the poor but has yet to put any sustainable actions in place, causing further unrest amongst students.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHERS CONSIDER LEAVING THE UK AFTER MOMENTOUS BREXIT VOTE

Maeve Costello CHIEF Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Emily Logan, has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by UCD. The degree was awarded in recognition of her contribution to human rights and equality, both as Chief Commissioner of IHREC and for her previous work as Ombudsman for Children.

President of UCD, Professor Andrew J. Deeks presented the award with UCD lecturer on International & European Human Rights Law Suzanne Egan delivering the ceremony.

Egan said of Logan that she is “one of Ireland’s foremost champions of human rights whose work in the field has made a concrete difference to the lives of many people in the State.”

Logan joins other notable figures, such as independent TD Katherine Zappone and businessman Dermot Desmond, who have previously been awarded honorary degrees as

SOUTH AFRICA ON THE CUSP OF HIGHER EDUCATION COLLAPSE

Doctors of Law by UCD. After starting her career as a pediatric nurse, Logan became the first Ombudsman for Children in March 2004, having been appointed to the position by former President Mary McAleese. During her time in this position, Logan was involved in reviews of state compliance with child protection policy. She was also involved in furthering the rights of children without parental care, with particular attention paid to children in care and those deprived of their liberty.

In 2008, Logan was appointed President of European Network of Ombudsman for Children, and remained on the executive until September 2011.

Michael D Higgins appointed Emily Logan to her current position of Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality

Commission on the 31st of October 2014.

The position was established under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act, 2014 to protect and promote human rights and equality.

Logan described the Commission’s aims as: “[bringing] about a change of culture through legal means, policy and legislative advice, awareness and education, and partnership that can transform services, workplaces and society.”

In her two years in the post, Logan has played a key role in assessing Ireland’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

NEW studies show that scientific research in Britain could falter in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union. In the past, the UK has been a leading force in research advances and often favoured for EU funding, but it seems researchers are unsure of their future in the aftermath of the historic referendum result in June.

The BBC reported that Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, has spoken out about the issue by stating, “we’re hearing about UK researchers being excluded from collaborations because their other EU collaborators don’t want to take on a UK-based researcher [as] they don’t know what their status will be.”

Allegedly, some British members of the Horizon 2020, the EU research programme, have been asked to lessen their involvement. It is reported that there are 33 cases of British coordinators being asked to step down from their roles since the referendum in June.

PHOTO VIA UCD.IE

STUDY SHOWS FEW EXTRA BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS STUDYING ABROAD THE Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA) recently published a study that challenged the idea that those who studied abroad were at an advantage in the job market after leaving university. The findings state that study-relevant work and project-oriented courses were actually more beneficial for four out of the five study disciplines.

Those who participated in study-relevant work were 10 to 20% more likely to find occupations in their field a year after graduation than those who did not. Employment chances were strengthened from 12 to 19% for those who attended project oriented courses than those who did not.

Surprisingly, those who were involved in study abroad programs showed little to no benefit in finding employment.

Reimer Thaysen, researcher with the EVA, commented on the results saying, “this is a bit surprising and it could be because study abroad does not carry the same prestige as previously, simply because it has become so commonplace to travel.” Other researchers in the field have also noted that although study abroad programs may not give you the edge in the job market, it is an avenue to gain personal growth through different cultures and languages.

Logan and UCD President Andrew Deeks

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 3

NEWS Rory Geoghegan LAST MONTH US Special Forces carried out an unsuccessful mission to rescue two professors of the American University of Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon press release last Thursday. The two professors, named as Kevin King (US) and Timothy Weeks (Australia), were abducted at gunpoint on August 7th. The two were in a vehicle just outside the compound walls of the university where they work when they were stopped and seized. The Pentagon’s press secretary, Peter Cook, announced that President Obama had “authorised US forces to conduct a mission in Afghanistan, aimed at recovering two civilian hostages.....unfortunately, the hostages were not at the location we suspected.”

The Pentagon confirmed that they believe the Navy SEAL team, supported by Army Rangers, missed the hostages by a matter of hours. An earlier rescue mission was reportedly called off after the White House declined to give the SEAL team, who were already en route, the go ahead due to concerns over the intelligence. A number of insurgents were killed during the unsuccessful raid.

On the same day as the Pentagon’s press release, Taliban insurgents were on the verge of overrunning the southern city of Tirin Kot, capital of the Oruzgan province. Since the US began its withdrawal of troops from the country -- after 13 years of fighting that turned the country upside-down -- the Taliban has surged

back in some provinces.

The American University of Afghanistan remains closed following a subsequent attack on 24th of August, which left 16 people dead and 37 wounded. According to Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, the attack occurred when a suicide car-bomb crashed into the outer security wall allowing a number of unidentified militants to storm the complex armed with grenades and automatic weapons. This is despite the fact that security at the university had been stepped up prior to the attack after the kidnapping of two of its professors. The dead include seven students and two professors. Three police officers and two security guards were also killed. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The university temporarily suspended all classes following the attack and has remained shut since. Nevertheless, in an adamant statement, the university insisted that “rumours that the university will close completely are untrue”.

Afghanistan’s National Security Council, which held an emergency meeting on the 26th of August, said that they believe the attack was orchestrated by the Tehrik-i-Taliban from across the border in Pakistan. The group is responsible for multiple attacks on education facilities throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Taliban and other militants regularly launch suicide bombings outside foreign

facilities in Kabul and increased violence by Islamic State loyalists in the city has added to the insecurity of late.

The American University of Afghanistan opened in 2006 on principles of critical thinking, gender, and religious equality: unique in Afghanistan. As such, it upset many groups in the country, including the Taliban. The students of this co-ed university in Kabul face immense dangers by attending the college.

This is especially the case for women as they try to realise a better future for themselves.

The Taliban has been determined in its attempt to prevent the education of women and has targeted individual women in the past.

Nevertheless, this has not deterred the 32% of the university’s students who are women; considerably higher than the national average of around 20%.

Naqeb Khpalwak, an Oxford PhD candidate who had returned to his home country to teach law, can be found listed amongst the dead. As can Sami Sarwari, a musician who on arriving to the university the day before the attack posted on Facebook: “I’m in. Looking forward to a beautiful and bright future.” Yet, despite the numbers of promising students that were killed, those who survived the attack are determined to continue their education.

One such student is Narges Mohammadi, whose father encouraged her to attend university, regardless of his own mother’s

protests on the matter. Mohammadi, speaking to The Guardian, said that she has aspirations to become a fashion designer and to start a factory employing women. “He [her father] is open-minded.....he loves me too much,” said Mohammadi, whose evening English class was brought to a halt by the car bomb that crashed into the university’s barricades.

She is determined to return to university and finish what she started, seizing something unattainable for most women in her country, and in the face of extreme danger.

Rory Geoghegan

Rory Geoghegan PRESIDENT of Georgetown University, John DeGioia, has recently pledged to make a formal apology for the sale of 272 slaves by the university in 1838. During the speech he was confronted by a group of people, descendents of the slaves. The group complained of having been left out of the process and “rushed” to the event after not receiving invitations, proclaiming “nothing about us without us”.

In the nineteenth century, Georgetown’s scholarship was entirely dependent on the slave trade. The college relied on plantations in Maryland to help finance its operations, university officials say. According to the New York Times, slaves were often donated by prosperous parishioners to the university in much the same way money donations are made today. The university, headed by the Jesuit priests and mired in debt, decided to sell 272 slaves it owned.

A joint declaration was read by Karran Harper Royal on behalf of the more than 300 decendants at the Georgetown event.

Joe Stewart, who also spoke on behalf of the decendants, stated that he objected to the

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comments of Rev. David Collins, chairperson of the university’s working group on the issue. “[He] said what was missing from this scenario was the faces of the slaves,” said Stewart.

“Here are the faces. These are the faces. Here are the direct descendants of the 272.”

While Stewart thanked DeGioia for the university’s efforts he continued: “Our attitude is that all of this evolved from the pain and suffering of the 272 people we talked about and we are those faces... if reconciliation is gonna take place as it has to, it needs to start at home and you don’t start reconciling by alienating.”

Georgetown University, one of the top academic institutions in the world, is undergoing a self-imposed atonement process for having benefitted from the slave trade.

Other top universities across the United States, such as Brown, Columbia and Harvard, have themselves publicly acknowledged their ties to the slave trade and issued apologies. As part of the process, Georgetown has promised to issue an official apology and offer preference in admissions to the 272 slaves’ decendants.

CAMPAIGNERS UK are increasing their efforts to end sexual harassment of students by university academics due to claims that non-disclosure agreements are preventing greater awareness of the problem. Professor Sara Ahmed of Goldsmiths University of London, who resigned from her post earlier this year over a failure to deal with the issue, stated on her blog that: “there have been many cases of sexual harassment in universities, but there is no public record of these cases. They have vanished without a trace. No one knows about them except for the people directly affected.”

Cases of sexual harassment of students by academics “disappear without a trace” as they are hidden through confidentiality clauses and aided by an “institutional blind-eye” in universities. According to Prof Ahmed, “the clauses do something: they work to protect organisational reputation; no one gets to know about what happened. They most often protect the harassers: there is no blemish on their records; they can go on to other jobs.”

The 1752 Group, which seeks to end sexual harassment in higher education and offers training to university staff, notes that the issue often goes unreported and is underresearched. “Higher education institutions in the UK need to be leading the change to support complaints, address cultures of

abuse, and implement policies and procedures to eliminate the sexual harassment of students by academic and professional services staff,” says the group.

A 2010 report by the National Union of Students (NUS) in the UK found that one in seven women had experienced a serious physical or sexual assault during their time as a student. The study also found that twothirds had experienced verbal or non-verbal harassment, groping, flashing and unwanted sexual comments, while 12% of respondents had been subjected to stalking. However, despite the data gathered by the NUS study, accurate numbers of students subjected to sexual harassment by academic staff are nonexistent due to non-disclosure agreements; the likes of which Prof Ahmed details in her blog, ‘feministkilljoys’.

A government task force has been established to investigate and report on sexual harassment in universities across the UK. The task force, chaired by Nicola Dandridge, the Chief Executive of Universities UK, is due to report later this autumn on issues of violence against women in higher education.

Nevertheless, campaigners have stated that there needs to be an increased focus on sexual harassment by university staff and that there ought to be greater punishments for academics who sexually harass students.

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COMMENT Orla Keaveney weighs in on who should bear the burden of third level and asks if debt is the only solution.

WHENEVER anyone mentions that Ireland offers free third-level education there is always some agitation caused by the word ‘free’. Compared to many other countries we have a sweet deal but as Irish students know all too well, the list of university expenses doesn’t begin and end with tuition fees. Accommodation, transport, study materials, food and healthcare are among the countless features of student life that makes holes in our pockets. This burden falls on both students and their families. But how evenly should the costs be divided between students and parents?

Most parents want to give their children the best possible start in life, but the point at which parental duty ends can be unclear. University gives young people a new level of freedom, particularly if you are living away from home for the first time.

For many parents, their broods are old enough to handle some of the responsibilities and benefits of adulthood, and the management of finances that comes with that. Some believe their kids won’t appreciate their education if they have everything

handed to them. Others think that paying their own way will be an incentive to avoid poor grades and attendance, failing, or dropping out.

A survey carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions reported that 60% of parents get into debt funding their kids’ third-level education, in spite of the current SUSI grant scheme. This can range from small, short-term loans to cover registration fees or books, to dealings with high-interest moneylenders.

Many parents don’t have the means to support their children unaided. In cases such as these is it fair for students to ask their parents to clock up debts on their behalf?

University can be just as demanding on students as a full-time job. In the competitive employment climate, an impeccable GPA is not enough. Time must be given to societies, clubs and volunteering to meet employers’ demands. Part-time jobs and summer work are great ways for students to earn some cash, but managing both work and study can turn into a precarious balancing act.

Making enough money to support yourself in university is a waste of time if you end up failing the course you’ve been working so hard to fund. Besides, the minimum wage paid for unskilled jobs can’t compare with the income of a more experienced parent.

In truth, it would take a lot longer for a student to earn a month’s rent than the average parent.

In theory, student loans sound like the perfect solution when parents can’t cope – graduates use their qualifications to pay back the money they borrowed to earn them. But if you dip a toe into the realm of student loans online, you’ll unleash a torrent of frustration and anger from international students.

The system’s main flaw is that the interest mounts constantly in the background until new graduates find themselves buried in debt before they’ve even secured their first job. This forces many to default on their loans, which leads to further increases in interest rates for incoming students. While Ireland needs a way to alleviate the strain of funding college on families, we should learn from the mistakes of other countries, rather than starting a vicious cycle here.

Despite the so-called economic recovery, asking the government to do more than the bare minimum can seem as useful as asking Santa, but they seem to be the obvious candidate to alleviate the problem.

As eye-roll-inducing as this suggestion may be – it’s as much in the state’s interests as ours to sort out the problem of student expenses.

After all, skilled graduates create businesses, attract foreign investment, and (most importantly from a revenue perspective), contribute more in taxes to the national budget. The government needs to tackle emigration and rising dropout rates, and the cost of college is a major contributing factor to these issues.

So what can the politicians do to make life easier for both students and parents? One option could be to establish a regulated version of America’s student loans, keeping an eye on the banks so they don’t lead us into the pitfalls experienced abroad.

These loans could be interest-free for the duration of a course, so the debts would stay small and manageable rather than spiralling out of control.

In truth, any economic students out there can probably point out several holes in this halfbaked notion. But the core point is that clocking up a mountain of debt doesn’t have to be the only answer when neither students nor parents can meet the financial demands of university. Third-level education may never be truly “free”, but the idea of it being manageable for Irish families is by no means beyond the realms of possibility.

PHOTO CREDIT: MARTIN HEALY

As Ireland’s obesity problem intensifies Helen Carroll examines how UCD can tackle the cheap fatty food trap.

IRELAND is on its way to an obesity epidemic.

We are set to become one of the fattest countries in the EU by 2030. Irish men are forecast to be the heaviest in Europe, tipping the scales with 89% estimated to be overweight or obese. Irish women are not faring any better, with 85% estimated to be overweight or obese by 2030.

Often the first experience people have of cooking and feeding themselves independently is during college. This can make students vulnerable to the harmful cycle of cheap, poor quality and high calorie food that does them more harm than good.

Ireland was the thinnest nation in Europe after World War Two. Food shortages meant that putting on weight and being overweight or obese was seen as a good thing; a sign of wealth. People have not been letting their family go hungry ever since, and have thus been loading plates with cheap food to fill themselves. Certainly this isn’t the healthiest, but it is understandable.

Nevertheless, going from the thinnest nation in Europe in 1945 to being predicted to being the fattest in 2030 (in just under 100 years) is an alarming increase that should be tackled at every level.

It can be hard to keep a healthy diet. For students, who made the move away from home for college, the time to cook a proper, nutritious meal every day is often not there. Parents can’t be there to have it ready for them when they come home.

This means that students often fall into the never-

ending circle of quick food they can eat on the way between lectures. Chicken fillet rolls, muffins and flavoured milk are recurring vices.

People give many excuses for eating these unhealthy foods. The range goes from not enough money to afford the (often far more expensive) healthy salads and sandwiches, wanting something quick to eat, or simply forgetting to prepare food in time for when they’re hungry. Many also do not know the correct nutritional information they need to make the right decisions regarding what to eat. It can be so easy to fall into the quick fix trap. So while it may be easy to have a ready list of excuses for an ever expanding waistline, a want to implement a solution to the problem is of the utmost importance.

Thus, we have to ask ourselves, should rules be enforced on campus to actively promote and implement a healthy food only policy?

In UCD, you can’t buy Coke. The drink was removed by campaigners, who highlighted the human rights abuses of the company. All well and good, but for much of the campaign the health effects associated with the drink were ignored. It is highly likely that removing unhealthy food from campus would be met with serious opposition. Students may not have the income for ready-made healthy food and may not have the time to prepare their own cheaper alternatives at home.

There is also the fact that if a list of foods were drawn up to be banned due to their high levels of saturated fats and general unhealthiness, the famous chicken fillet rolls would be included. These are seen as a UCD staple food, and it would be nigh on impossible to remove them completely due to inevitable outrage.

If enforcing strict rules regarding what we can and cannot buy on campus is not viable, an education campaign by the Students’ Union would do wonders. The official endorsement by them saying that we need to eat healthy could really drive the

message home. By combining the message that we need to eat healthy along with a need to exercise, it would further reduce the daily consumption of unhealthy food and benefit our bodies in the long run.

It is also possible that requiring all food in UCD to be labelled with the amount of calories in it would be beneficial, as often people do not know

how many calories and grams of fat, sugar and saturates are in the food they are putting into their bodies. These days, even food that appears healthy may be very high in calories; a salad coated with dressing or a deli sandwich can be high in fat.

No one wants to be obese – to take years off a life and struggle with basic activities due to a lack of basic food education. It is likely that, given the push, many people would actively start seeking out healthy alternatives to the food they are currently eating.

Ireland is forecasted to be the fattest nation by 2030, but we have fourteen years to change that forecast and prove it wrong. It takes an attitude adjustment towards food and can be tough for many to change long-established habits, but won’t it be so worth it.

IMAGE VIA KINGSFORD.COM

6 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

COMMENT Laura Hogan reacts as Stanford University bans liquor and questions the effectiveness of the policy.

FOLLOWING the sentencing of Brock Turner for sexual assault, Stanford University, his alma mater, responded by restricting hard alcohol on campus.

The move is thought to be a result of Turner’s insistence that his actions stem from an on-campus party culture. Yet by introducing the liquor ban, the college endorses his point thus alleviating responsibility from him.

When the university was required to tackle the issue head on, the response seemed to be a token at most. Consuming alcohol is no excuse for sexual assault – nor is it any defence for it. What’s needed is acceptance that unwanted sexual contact is a problem. Tackling what’s needed, not rationing the availability of alcohol – which can of course be accessed elsewhere by any booze-thirsty student.

Turner’s case is just one of many. A study released last year found that one in four female college seniors had experienced some kind of unwanted sexual contact. This is a shocking statistic and one that, in truth, is unlikely to change dramatically through a campus-imposed spirits ban.

Alcohol consumption is a problem many universities face, but it is careless to lump alcohol indulgence with sexual assault. For a university, it is far easier to admit to a party culture than a rape culture. While it can be argued that any step taken to tackle the issue of campus sexual assault is a step in the right direction, this approach has the potential to be harmful.

Of course, alcohol can be a factor in sexual assault, but alcohol doesn’t cause sexual assault.

Pretending that alcohol is the problem entirely misses the point and does not address the culture and violence surrounding the affair. For Stanford, the policy acts as a safety net. It has taken a step to address a negative situation, but the issue is being dressed up as drinking culture.

Turner himself did not admit responsibility for raping a woman, but placed the blame on a party culture. Stanford’s policy reflects a tolerance for a denial of responsibility. Banning alcohol on campus in response to this specific case legitimizes the alcohol excuse; it says that alcohol is the core issue.

When this is the only action Stanford has taken, it sends the message that it is the only problem.

In this sorry case, the misunderstandings of the link between rape culture and alcohol really come forward. This was seen innumerable times during the trial of Turner – with the defence counsel asking about the victim’s drinking habits. Unfortunately, that line of questioning isn’t unusual in such trials.

What enraged the world was what Turner’s father said. His now infamous description of the attack as

“twenty minutes of action” in his son’s life broke the hearts of rape victims everywhere.

There is undoubtedly a perceived ambiguity around the issue of consent when the parties have consumed alcohol. It is common sense that if someone is too drunk to consent, that person cannot consent. But in practice, this concept seems to bypass lawmakers and judges time and time again.

In this case, the jury found beyond all reasonable doubt that Turner had committed sexual assault and yet Judge Persky placed his own biases within the sentencing, finding Turner to be less morally culpable due to his alcohol consumption. The prevalence of such a belief is a product of irresponsible legislators. Stanford endorsing this idea by making policies based on this untrue assertion reinforces such thinking and instills these ideas in the next generation.

In order for a person to be held responsible for his or her actions by society, that individual has to have the capacity to know the difference between what’s right and wrong. People who commit sexual assault are responsible with or without party culture, with or without alcohol.

We need to change how society views sexual assault and alcohol. Party culture can and will only change when we have open and frank discussions on the nature of consent. Young people need, from an early age, to be taught about sex education and what consent looks like. If this doesn’t happen, chances are they will come across what they perceive to be meaningless interpretations of the

nature of consent when they hit university.

Since this generation will not have had early tuition on the nature of consent; classes and forums to learn about consent need to be made available campus-wide. Alcohol is not the problem, rape culture is.

Emmet Feerick asks what effects on-site drug testing could have.

THIS past July, an independent music festival in England set a record. It became the first in the UK to allow its attendees to have illegal drugs tested without risk of arrest. The festival -- the Secret Garden Party -- provided a service whereby individuals could hand in a small sample of any illicit drug to a test centre. They were next told how pure their drug was, and whether or not it was what they thought they had bought. Importantly, the sample was disposed of, but whatever was not handed in was allowed to be kept.

This service was approved by local police, and those who availed of it made use of the information they received – 25% disposed of their drugs.

Considering the fact that over the last few years, there has been a spate of drug-related deaths of young people in Ireland, is this a lead we should be following?

PHOTO CREDIT: KONSTANTIN LAZORKIN

In January, then Minister for Health Leo Varadkar announced that he was examining a proposal which would allow drug users to test their drugs for potentially lethal ingredients in venues such as clubs and festivals. This proposal is being considered as part of a new national drugs strategy which will be implemented in 2017. The plan, which would necessitate a change in the law, means that those who decide to take illegal drugs in public venues will be able to get them tested.

sises harm-reduction rather than prosecution, could lead to drug decriminalisation. For now anyway, the reach of this proposed legislation only extends as far as festivals and nightclubs.

The effectiveness of services such as this has been proven by research. A study conducted in Austria showed that 50% of those who had their drugs tested said the results affected their consumption choices. At the Secret Garden Party, more than 80 different substances were tested over the first eighteen hours of the festival. A number of extremely high-strength ecstasy pills were identified, as well as some samples which had been advertised as something entirely different. To take one example; a bag of what was purportedly ketamine turned out to be a potent antimalarial drug.

Despite the proven harm-reduction effects that this change would bring about, in truth, some drugs Irish teenagers are the biggest users of psychoare illegal for good reason. The introduction of facilactive drugs in Europe and we account for 5% ities such as this to public venues sends a confusing of all ecstasy seizures worldwide. Coming from a message – that illegal drug are becoming tolerated. small country that speaks volumes about our need The evidence speaks for itself. MDMA has been for safer drug practice. Our culture of drugs is so shown to be neurotoxic, and recent studies suggest deep-rooted that it is dangerously naïve to ignore the damage to the brain is even more severe and the facts. widespread for primates such as ourselves than for This legislation would potentially bring an enomourous change in attitude towards drugs in Ire- the rodents which were used in earlier experiments.

Hallucinogens like LSD and magic mushrooms can land. One could argue that the introduction of this cause psychologically destabilising experiences legislation would amount to a tacit (if not explicit) whose effects can persist for months. Cocaine is bad endorsement by the government of illegal drug use in public venues. A legal philosophy which empha- for the circulatory system, highly addictive, and an-

ything but “ethically sourced”. However, the fact of the matter is as long as drugs are available, people are going to take them. The question is whether we as a society are willing to accept this, and whether we are willing to reduce the harm done by them.

Of course, the ultimate harm-reduction strategy would be the elimination of all dangerous drugs, or at least of those whose potential for harm is greater than their potential for good. Given that this has so far been impossible, the war on drugs is showing no signs of a ceasefire. It seems that measures such as that proposed in the upcoming new drugs strategy hold the best chance of reducing the number of drug casualties in this country.

Education has proven ineffective at stemming drug use – even the most well-informed and deliberate drug users take drugs because they have concluded that the positive effects outweigh the negatives. It therefore seems that if what we care about is reducing the harm done by drugs in this country, proven methods of harm reduction such as that used at the Secret Garden Party in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, are our best chance of doing that.

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 7

COMMENT As the cost of UCD’s student residences continues to rise, Ross Walsh asks if these prices are exploiting students.

AT first glance, campus accommodation in UCD looks perfect. Little to no transport costs; easy access to university facilities; plus, three to five other students ready for befriending and, from personal experience, the showers in Glenomena are amazing.

However, every academic year brings with it fresh stories of students turning down places on campus.

For the majority of those students, the reason is simply the price. Three years ago, a place in Glenomena would cost you around €6,000, and that was thought to be expensive. Now, that same place will cost you over €8,000, an increase of 26%.

These price increases are taking place in nearly every college in the country, and it begs the question: should campus accommodation put priority on keeping up with the private rental market, or should the top priority be the students?

The private rental market, especially in Dublin, is a nightmare for students. Rents are increasing at a pace that most can’t keep up with, and the Government’s responses have been half-hearted at best.

We hear horror stories about students being offered a bunk-bed in a room with three other people for €550 a month, or a shed in someone’s back garden for €600 a month, and they’re expected to be grateful that they even found these places.

While many landlords take good care of their tenants, others take advantage of the combination of desperate students and Government negligence to charge extortionate rents for substandard accommodation. In this borderline abusive market, campus accommodation seems like a shining light in the distance.

We, as students, expect our universities to have our best interests at heart, so naturally we assume that the houses or apartments they provide will be tailored to the needs of students. In terms of price,

however, this is not the case. We are repeatedly told by officials that these price hikes are necessary for the maintenance of existing facilities and the construction of new apartments, such as those at the recently completed Ashfield.

Despite the benefits of this increase in the number of places on campus, most students will remain unable to afford them. The Irish League of Credit Unions recently reported that 66% of parents are going into debt to fund their child’s third level education. The price of the accommodation provided by universities such as UCD should not be the cause of greater financial strain on the families of students. Despite Fine Gael’s catchy election slogan “Keep the Recovery Going”, most families in Ireland haven’t felt much of the so-called “recovery”. With employers often reluctant to give part-time work to students and financial aid remaining competitive, most, if not all, of third-level costs are falling on parents who are already squeezed by mortgages, taxes, and the rising cost of living.

Even before the price hikes we have seen in the past few years, UCD’s student residences were among the most expensive in the country. This year, students will have to pay anywhere between €5,896 and €10,480 for a place on campus, above and beyond what they would pay for a private house or a room in digs.

Campus accommodation should be both a cheaper and more convenient alternative to the private rental market. Students shouldn’t have to balance the benefits of proximity to the library versus the outrageous prices they’re being asked to pay. For the thousands of Irish students wishing to attend UCD each year, campus accommodation is either completely unattainable or presents another huge financial drain in a world of expensive textbooks

and rising tuition fees.

According to a recently released joint statement by the Presidents of both UCD and Trinity, funding for third level education is seen by the Government as an easy target for cuts and austerity measures.

But rather than fight back against this worrying budgetary trend, our universities appear to be attempting to make up their shortfalls by squeezing as much profit as possible from their students. In few ways is this as obvious as in the price hikes of UCD’s campus accommodation.

For too many, the shocking reality is that UCD exploits its student tenants just as much as the private rental market, and the latter can often be cheaper. Does President Deeks comprehend the irony of student accommodation that is unaffordable to most students?

Campus residences should not be treated as another opportunity for profiteering, but rather as a service for students in need of a budget-friendly place to live. With this in mind, the price of campus accommodation must be brought down to levels that are manageable to the average student. The showers in Glenomena may be amazing, but they are definitely not worth €8,000.

PHOTO CREDIT: ROISIN GUYETT-NICHOLSON

Hannah Twomey questions what it means to be bored in the information age.

BOREDOM is inexcusable. It is lacklustre. Our lives are focused on avoiding it. Our jobs, our hobbies, and our relationships are an attempt to distract us. Although technology has made boredom evasion easier, has it killed it off completely? There really is no good reason to be bored anymore. Generations have lived and died without internet to browse, TV to watch, radio to listen to, books to read, footballs to kick, siblings to annoy and in some drastic cases without paint to watch dry.

We are the lucky ones. We have access to hundreds of movies on Netflix, millions of songs on Spotify and there is an endless amount of information at our fingertips. But so often we find ourselves bored. Plain and simple. Boredom is not dead, but it is changing. It’s no longer staring out a window watching clouds pass by, but staring at a screen, constantly clicking refresh.

Listening to music or watching films are hobbies. Binge watching Netflix is not a hobby. It is the background noise for boredom. The overwhelming accessibility and almost unlimited selection of such streaming sites is a crutch we lean on, in order to pretend we are not bored. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, boredom is the feeling of weariness and impatience “because one is unoccupied

or lacks interest in one’s current activity.” Is it not weariness and impatience that drives us to binge watch the first mindlessly amusing sitcom we find on Netflix? Is it really a past time if you just numbly alternate from staring at your TV screen to your phone’s screen?

We are connected 24/7 through social media. We are fed endless stimuli and have opportunities to distract ourselves in an unlimited number of ways.

We remain bored, however, due to our stubborn refusal to admit that that is how we are feeling. Instead we scroll through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Reddit and convince ourselves we are doing something.

In the past, monotony was obvious. The feeling of numb frustration was always directly related to a lack of something. A lack of films to watch, music to listen to, books to read. When your TV has only two channels it’s clear when there is nothing good on.

Modern tedium is masked. Unable to recognise it,

PHOTO CREDIT: MARTIN HEALY

8 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

we are unable to remedy it.

Boredom is as natural to the human condition as the desire to be rid of it. Without this desire there would be no new scientific discoveries or great works of literature. No art or music. Some of humanity’s greatest accomplishments were undertaken to avoid boredom. Without it human innovation may suffer, cause progress to stall or even stop altogether.

This modern culture of boredom does little to cultivate creativity or independent thought. The discontent is gone. The next Shakespeare could be sitting at home right now, binge watching Parks and Recreation with zero inclination to create. Without the dull, drab monotony of life there is no catalyst, no striving for something new. We cushion our boredom to the detriment of ourselves.

People do face up to the reality of their own boredom breifly as they go about their lives. Power cuts. Dead phones. Flying. But pockets of creation do not spring up, during these times, as would be expected if technology was the root of this problem.

Technology is not the issue, it is our mind-set. Our complacency. Although technology does admittedly enable this complacency to function smoothly. Our boredom is a result of the mind-set that we can be entertained with little effort or focus from ourselves.

We rely too heavily on external distractions. We prefer watching something meaningless on TV than finding an alternative to our boredom, simply because it is easier. Learning to entertain ourselves is not that difficult. Children do it. It requires effort and thought but it can be done. Instead of listening to Spotify, go to a gig. Instead of watching a mindless comedy on Netflix, watch something that actually provokes thought.

But we shouldn’t get too hung up on worrying about the dull and mundane. To reiterate we are the lucky ones. Boredom is a luxury. An affliction which primarily affects the privileged. Being bored is more than likely an alien concept to the starving or sick. For those forced to work long hours, in extreme conditions just to survive, boredom is just a dream.

It is a small price to pay for the wonders that technological advancements have contributed to our lives. The modern world is simpler and quicker, leaving boredom to fester in all the time we’ve saved. However, it is a choice we make and it is possible, with a little effort, to escape it. Or if you bother to pay attention for long enough, you might realise how lucky you are to be bored.

BUSINESS After the conclusion of the Rio Olympics, Brían Donnelly examines the political and economic fallout for Brazil after a turbulent year in the spotlight SINCE THE SLUMP in commodity prices in 2014, Brazil has suffered political and economic crises which have dampened growth and corroded the fourth wall of Brazilian politics, exposing deep levels of corruption.

The international attention afforded to Brazil’s instability by the Olympic Games has depressed confidence over the last 2 years. Thirty-six days before the Games, the Federal Government released $5.6 billion to Rio de Janeiro after acting state governor Francisco Dornelles declared a financial “calamity”. Rio’s morgue had begun diverting corpses to other cities because it couldn’t afford cleaning. Police officers -- whose salaries were in arrears -stood at the international airport with placards reading “Welcome to Hell.”

For the citizens who were promised increased investment, and better quality employment and services, many view the Games as lavish, unaffordable and environmentally damaging. A disconcerting practice over recent years is the alleged removal of thousands of people from their homes. Providencia Hill, a favela, had residents evicted and their homes destroyed in order to build a cable car. Residents of favelas

claimed the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games were a pretext for the “social cleansing” of Rio. As residents were relocated, reportedly up to 40km from their original homes, Amnesty International alleged that a process of gentrification was underway. In 2013, a health worker in the Indiana favela said the government were placing residents under “relentless pressure” to relocate. While many favelas are prone to flooding and poor sanitation, residents claimed these problems were exaggerated in order to force people from their homes. Analysis by journalists Lena Azevedo and Lucas Faulhaber in their book, Removals in the Olympic City, estimated that 71,500 families were evicted from their homes by authorities, while city officials claim the number is actually in the hundreds.

A Sustainability Management Plan published by the Organising Committee in 2013 indicated that improvements in water treatment and the quality of bodies of water, such as Guanabara Bay, were a high priority. These works included basic sanitation for favelas, replacement of sewer networks, and the expansion of water

treatment facilities. Officials stated in January 2015 that the goal of reducing untreated sewage by 80%, a cornerstone of Brazil’s bid for the Games, would not be reached. By the time the Games began, the UN had advised athletes to spend as little time in Guanabara Bay as possible, citing concerns over untreated sewage and viruses.

Increased tourism is an oft-cited benefit to the host nation, but this may fail to materialise due to Brazil’s poor international image postGames. During the games, a target of 500,000 foreign attendees was well surpassed, but many tickets were left unsold, seats at many events were left empty, and there are already concerns that the Paralympics will fall short of its own attendance targets. Subjected to global media scrutiny over the years, Brazil’s issues with crime are likely to be a bulwark for further growth in tourism.

After Brazil was awarded the bid, violent crime had halved by 2012, yet Brazil is the most violent host country ever. In Alemão, gunshots were recorded on 25 days over a 2 month period in 2016. Police are responsible for a fifth of violent deaths in Brazil, and are often targeted

themselves; 132 officers died in 2014. Human Rights Watch, a NGO, claims many police killings resemble executions.

Since the Games, there have been few internationally identified cases of the Zika virus. The virus loomed threateningly for months before the Games as a group of 150 physicians and scientists, concerned over a potential outbreak, called for the Games to be cancelled or moved. Visits to Rio may increase if authorities continue cautionary measures and a spread is avoided in the short-term.

Over two weeks ago, Michel Temer, of the Brazillian Democratic Movement Party, was formally sworn in as President after his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff (Brazil’s Workers’ Party), was impeached by the Senate on charges of distorting the federal budget deficit. The state’s strong judicial foundations have enabled in-depth investigations into Petrobras, the state oil company, which fuelled the political motive for Rousseff’s impeachment. President Temer will now see out the rest of Rousseff’s term unless the Electoral Commission finds that Petrobras funds were used to finance his and Rousseff’s re-election campaign in 2014.

Since becoming interim-president in April, Michel Temer has vowed to cut the budget deficit through austerity measures and by liberalising the economy. Reforms are underway, as a 10% tariff on imports was lifted to combat the rising cost of beans -- a staple food -- and tentative signs of a recovery are emerging. In manufacturing, production has increased for four consecutive months, while firms have steadily reduced their stock of unsold goods. An OECD report in June doubted any political momentum existed for reform, but few see reason to believe Temer will do a worse job than his predecessor.

Rio de Janiero: The Olympic Rings alongside a Favela

After the recent Apple tax ruling, Megan Fanning looks at why the Irish Government is making the right decision in appealing the European Commission’s ruling.

THE recent Apple tax ruling by the European Commission is not as straightforward as some would like to believe. Unfortunately, should Ireland have opted to force Apple to pay the apparent thirteen billion owed -- forgetting about interest for the time being -- it would not have gone straight into our pocket. The Government would not be able to invest it in public services such as healthcare, education, or even Dublin Bus. Due to the fiscal treaty referendum voted in four years ago, the money would have to pay off our national debt, which currently stands at €204 billion, as it is a onceoff payment.

The European Commission reports that Ireland has given a special deal to Apple in order to allow for this tax inversion to happen.

Between 2003 and 2014, Apple’s taxes fell from 1% to 0.005% in Ireland. Both Apple and Ireland have denied that any special tax deal was formed and that all dealings were above board.

The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, announced that Ireland will appeal the judgement. Given the misrepresentation of the report in the media it is understandable that the nation would be outraged by having no say in the matter.

However, it will be much better in the long run for our country to appeal the judgement and to keep strong alliances with the multinationals. Cork houses Apple’s European

headquarters and employs over 5,500 people and has plans to expand further. If Ireland were to request the €13 billion we would jeopardise this relationship to a point that is beyond repair, costing thousands of jobs and providing a catalyst for many other multinationals to look elsewhere in Europe. As Minister Noonan has stated, Ireland must “provide tax certainty to business.”

It is unjust to expect foreign direct investment to come into Europe expecting a legitimate tax arrangement only for that arrangement to change. Then, on top of that, the company would be punished in retrospect for a legal arrangement. Along with that, approximately one in five of all private sector jobs in Ireland are in some way connected to American multinational companies. In 2004, American companies’ profits made up a total of 7.6% of our GDP versus more recent figures showing that this had been quadrupled to 42%. Ireland cannot afford to accept this judgement.

Nine out of ten of the top information and communications technology companies; nine out of ten of the top global pharmaceutical companies and nine out of the ten top global software companies all have locations in Ireland and we cannot risk the jobs these companies provide.

For five consecutive years, IBM have ranked Ireland number one in its global trends report for our “continued ability to attract highvalue investment projects in key areas” and Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ reports that Ireland is the “most effective country in the European Union in which to pay business taxes.”

In 2015, Ireland’s GDP grew by 26% - a number not even seen by the likes of China at its peak. Governments, economists, policy makers alike began to ask questions as to how this was possible. Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, coined the term “leprechaun economics” to describe the tax inversion that takes place in Ireland. A company shifts its legal domicile to a low-tax country while keeping its operations in a hightax country in order to avoid higher rates. This was the case with Apple and Ireland and, while it is morally questionable, it is still legal.

So Ireland is going to appeal the judgement.

Our Government’s view is that we need to protect our tried-and-tested low corporate tax policy that has attracted an incredible amount of multinational companies such as Apple,

Google, Facebook, and more. Perhaps we are a country that is too dependent on multinationals but unfortunately, for the time being, the power is not in our hands. Multinationals provide too many jobs and too much revenue to question the structure. Minister Noonan argues that we must protect our tax system and provide a system that is certain of its structure.

Minister Noonan argues for the appeal on two main points. Firstly, that the report is an intrusion onto our sovereignty. We have a sovereign right to control our own fiscal policy, to conduct our tax structure as we wish.

Secondly, all acts were in accordance, there was no deals or favours offered to companies and there has been no evidence provided by the Commission for this.

This news story is going to go on for many years to come and it will be interesting to see the effect it will have on future tax policy both nationally and on a global scale.

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 9

GAEILGE An cheart go gcloistear Fáilte an Aingil fós ar RTÉ1? Smaoiníonn Síófra Cén saghas éagsúlacht poist atá ann do nua céimthe Gaeilge?

Niamh O Regan Ní Shluagadáin faoi.

TÁ an iomaí rud inár saol atá traidisiúnta; an ceol Gaelach, síscéalta, agus dár ndoigh, an Caitliceachas. Tá gaol fad-bhunaithe idir an reiligiún agus an saol ina mairimid, a théann ar ais ar a laghad go athscríobh na bunreachta sa bhliain 1937, nuair a thug Eamon de Valera stádas ar leith don Eaglais Chaitliceach in Éirinn.

Inniu, tá bród ar leith orainn cé go bhfuil muid inár gcónaí i dtír atá il-gcultúrtha, agus a chuireann fáilte roimh chách. In ainneoin seo, tarlaíonn rud ar leith gach uile lá, ar an teilifís agus ar an raidió. Ag mean-lae, agus ag a sé a chlog, glacann RTÉ nóiméad chun ómós a thabhairt do chloig na n-Aingil, nó “The Angelus”, mar a thugtar air. Agus cé go bhfuil conspóid ann faoi láthair maidir le ról na hEaglaise inár saol, go háirithe maidir leis an oideachas, is fiú é le rá nach mbíonn an mór chuid le rá ag daoine faoi na cloig seo, maith na holc.

chaomhnú. Ina measc tá an reiligiún agus an páirt a imríonn sé inár gcultúr, maith ná olc. Tá argóintí eile ann áfách. Dár le roinnt daoine, tá maith airithe ag baint le nóiméad a glacadh i gciúnas agus muid ag dul i mbun an saol. Is áit gnóthach, gasta é an saol inniu, go háirithe do dhaoine óga. B’fhéidir gur cheart suaimhneas, nó “mindfulness” mar a thugtar uirthi i mBéarla, a cur chun cinn inár saol, fiú mura bhfuil sé ach ar feadh dhá nóiméad achan lá.

Ag deireadh an lae, níl ann ach dhá nóiméad; céad soicind is fiche, i lár ceithre uair is fiche an lae. Fiú má tá olc-fhuath agat ar na cloigíní sin, an bhfuil gá cur as do dhaoine eile ar son an méid ama sin? B’fhéidir gur cheart an dian-cheangal leis an Eaglais Chaitliceach a bhriseadh, ach, é sin a bheith ráite, is ait an saol a mbeadh an dá dtosódh an nuacht ar RTÉ go díreach ag a sé a chlog um thráthnóna.

Gluais Bomaite - minute bunreacht - constitution ómós - homage suaimhneas- peace/tranquility

Ar chóir dúinn siombail mar seo a thréigean, ar mhaithe shochaí níos saolta a cruthú? Tá an uile thuairim maidir lena leithéid a cur uainn, ach, i mo thuairimse, is iad na hargóintí is suimiúla ná iad siúd i bhfabhar iad a

FAOI mar a théann an sean dream amach, tagann an dream nua isteach ; seachtain na céime agus seachtain ionduchtaithe ag an am céanna. Ach cén saghas rogha atá roimh na céimithe Gaeilge nua?

I mí na Bealtaine fógraíodh go mbeadh an Ghaeilge mar teanga lán fheidhmeach an Aontas Eorpach agus dá bharr go mbeadh na céadta post ann dóibh siúd go bhfuil Gaeilge acu. Tar éis céim a bhaint amach, cuirtear an ceist; “cad nach bhfuil foghlamtha agam, a mbeadh úsáidte don saol atá romham amach?”. Tá seans mhaith ann go mbeadh tuilleadh staidéar ag teastáil chun cáilíocht iomlán a bhaint amach, ach is féidir le ollscoileanna cabhrú lena ndaltaí trí réamhullmhúchán a sholáthar. Sampla tábhachtach de seo ná na riachtanais a bhaineann le post leis an Aontas Eorpach. De bharr an ardú atá tagtha i bpoist aistriúcháin, b’fhéidir gur cheart go gcuireadh na scoileanna teanga i UCD modúil ar fáil a díríonn ar aistriúchán dlíthiúil.

Comh maith leis na modúl atá dírithe ar stair, chultúr, fealsúnacht is litríocht an teanga atá á staidéar, ba choir go mbeadh modúl ann a réitíonn daltaí leis na scileanna praiticiúla riachtanacha.

Comhcheangal ábhair coitianta le Gaeilge i UCD ná an Tíreolas. Is minic gurbh é an plean coitianta i measc na daltaí seo, ná tabhairt faoi Máistreacht san Oideachas agus a bheith cáilithe mar mhúinteoirí meánscoile ar deireadh. Go cinnte d’fhéadfá a rá gurbh í an múinteoireacht (bunscoile agus meánscoile) ceann de na slite beatha is coitianta dóibh siúd go bhfuil céim acu

sa Ghaeilge. Caithfear cuimhneamh ar an dream nach bhfuil fonn acu tabhairt faoin múinteoireacht nó an aistriúchán dlíthiúil áfach, cad fúthu?

Féidearthacht amháin atá ann ná oibriú sna

tionscail turasóireachta agus ealaíona; bíonn mórán de féile timpeall na tíre agus Gaeilge agus an chultúr Gaelach bainteach leo. An dhá cinn ba mhór ná Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann agus Oireachtas na Samhna. Anuas ar seo, ní hea an aistriúchán dlíthiúil an t-aon aistriúchán atá ann.

De bharr an chultúr liteartha Gaeilge mór, tá mórán ábhar litríochta ann nach bhfuil aistrithe agus go bhfuil an éilimh ann do; i 2015 foilsíodh dhá aistriúchán ar shaothar Máirtín Ó Cadhain “Cré na Cille”. Uaireannta feictear ar an Ghaeilge mar céim teoranta ó thaobh slite beatha de, ach mar a bhíonn le teanga ar bith, tá I bhfad níos mó ar fáil ná mar a cheaptar i dtosach.

Gluais: Céim- degree seachtain ionduchtaithe- orientation week teanga lán fheidhmeach- fully operational language aistriúchán dlíthiúil- legal translation

Le haitheantas náisiúnta ar chóir leighis na mná i gcás ailse chíche agus cheirbheacs cén fáth nach bhfuil an t-aitheantas céanna ann i gcás ailse na bhfear?

LE blianta fada anuas tá béim á chur ar fheachtais bainteach le hailse chíche, ach go háirithe, in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. Aithnítear an ribín bándearg mar shiombail idirnáisiúnta na hailse chíche anois. Tá ag eirí go hiontach leis an ribín agus tá méadú ollmhór ar líon na scagthástálacha. Caithfear an cheist a chur; cén chaoi a bhféadfaimis an éifeacht thuas a athdhéanamh i gcás ailse phróstataigh agus uirí na bhfear. Is í ailse phróstataigh an ailse is coitianta i measc na bhfear ach níl feachtas chomh láidir leis an ribín bándearg ar bun go fóill.

Tá clú agus cáil ar “Movember”, feachtas feasachta ailse na bhfear, agus tá éacht déanta ag an ngrúpa chun an náire atá bainteach leis an galar a scriosadh. I 2014, bhailigh “Movember” €1.4m in Éirinn amháin. Áfach, is beag daoine a bhfuil a fhios acu fós gurb é ailse uirí an ailse is coitianta i measc na bhfear idir 15 agus 34. Is minic a cheaptar go bhfuil an galar bainteach le fir níos sine amháin. Dar le Cumann Ailse na Stát Aontaithe tá ráta an ailse uirí ag méadú ar fud an domhain ach níl a fhios acu cén fáth a bhfuil méadú ag teacht chun cinn. Cé go bhfuil leitheadúlacht na faidhbe an íseal (5.7 do gach

100,000 duine) tá sé iontach tábhachtach go dtuigeann an t-aoisghrúpa is so-ghabhalaí go bhfuil baol ann agus conas déileáil leis.

B’fhéidir gur chóir do Aontas na Mac Léinn i UCD feachtas a chur ar siúil ionas go bhfuil an t-eolas cuí ag daltaí san ollscoil. Ní hea go mbeadh an feachtas bunaithe ar ailse na bhfear amháin ach ar an ailse go ginearálta agus an chaoi a bhféadfaimis an galar a sheachaint. D’fheadfaí stíl mhaireachtála níos sláintiúla a chur chun cinn le linn an fheachtais ionas go dtuigfí conas baol an ghalair a laghdú. Is gá féindiagnóis a mhúineadh anois ionas go mbeadh na scileanna sin againn sa todhchaí.

Tá ag eirí go geal le “Movember” agus feachtais eile, “Blue September” ina measc. Tá an grúpa “Blue September” ag díriú ar na fadhbanna céanna le “Movember” ag úsáid an datha gorm in ionad croiméil nó ribín bándearg. Áfach, tá cuma

ar an scéal go bhfuil i bhfad níos mó béime ar fheachtais bainteach le hailse na mban in Éirinn.

Mar chuid de Stiúrthóireacht Sláinte agus Folláine atá curtha i bhfeidhm ag an bhFeidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte, cuirtear tastáil ar smearadh as an gceirbheacs agus scrúdú brollaigh ar fáil saor in aisce do mná. Níl seirbhís choibhéiseach ar fáil do fhir in Éirinn faoi láthair, go háirithe i gcás scagthástáil na hailse phróstataigh. Le cabhair Aontais na Mac Léinn, d’fheadfaí a fhadhb seo a shoiléiriú go naisiúnta agus tús a chur le réiteach. Cé nach ngoilleann ailse phróstataigh ar aoisghrúpa na ndaltaí ollscoile anois caithfear aghaidh a thabhairt ar an todhchaí. Anuas seo tá gach aon seans go bhfuil daltaí ann go ngoilleann ailse na bhfear ar a gclann agus go mór acu an tacaíocht. Faoi láthair, diagnóisítear 3,267 fir in aghaidh na bliana leis an ailse phróstataigh in Éirinn. Tarlaíonn 97% de na cásanna seo agus an fear níos sine ná 50 bliana d’aois.

Dar le Cumann Ailse na hÉireann nach bhfuil scagthástáil curtha i bhfeidhm faoi láthair in Éirinn de dheasca fo-iarmhairtí na tástála. Tá ráta fáis na hailse phróstataigh an mhall ar fad

agus ceaptar nach bhfuil sé riachtanach gach cás a leigheas agus bheadh an leigheas níos measa ná an ailse í féin. Faoi láthair, úsáidtear tástáil PSA chun dóchúlacht na hailse a mheas ach deirtear nach bhfuil an méid PSA iontaofa mar thomhas na hailse. Mar gheall ar sin, níl Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte sásta scagthástáil a chur ar fáil faoi láthair.

Bunaíodh na tástálacha do mná de dheasca tomhais iontaofachta agus tapaigh. Go dtí go n-aimsítear teicníc nua chun ailse phróstataigh a aimsiú go héasca ní bheidh scagthástálacha náisiúnta againn in Éirinn. Cé go ceapann roinnt daoine go bhfuil éagóir ann idir cóir leighis na mná agus na bhfear i gcás na hailse a mhalairt ar fad atá fíor. Le tuille cistiú agus feasachta ó ghrúpaí ar nós “Movember” agus “Blue September” bheadh dochtúirí agus eolaithe in ann breis taighde a chur ar siúl chun go réiteofaí dúshlán na diagnóise.

Gluais coibhéiseach- equaivalnet scagthástáilscreening ailse phróstataigh/uirí- prostate/ testicular cancer leitheadúlacht- prevalance feachtas- campaign Aontas na Mac LéinnStudent’s Union iontaofa- reliable

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FEATURES Weeks before a Dáil debate to Repeal the 8th Amendment, Roisin Guyett-Nicholson chats to Ruth Coppinger TD about a possible referendum and what legislation could follow.

MANY of you will have seen the recent video released by the Repeal Project last week.

Comparing the current law in Ireland to historic attitudes towards witches, it features prominent Irish women such as Róisín Ingle and Una Mullally.

The video is a part of a much wider movement to repeal the 8th amendment to the constitution which recognises “the right to life of the Unborn” but also “the equal right to life of the mother.” The amendment was the result of a referendum in 1983, which was held largely because of pro-life campaigns. Since then there have been two referenda, in 1992, allowing the freedom of travel and the right to information.

Speaking to the University Observer, Ruth Coppinger outlined her opposition to the law. She explains that the amendment was introduced “after a campaign by a mainly Catholic lobby and it equates a foetus with a women. The reason that it’s caused so many difficulties, [is] obviously it banned abortion within Ireland but also has endangered women in other ways through pregnancy.”

Coppinger references the case of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist living in Ireland who died in October 2012 due to complications of a septic miscarriage. She explains much of the opposition to the amendment as it “isn’t just about abortion it’s also about women’s bodily autonomy.”

The legal ambiguities surrounding abortion in Ireland also outlines the problems with enforcing such a ban. As Coppinger explains “we know that 12 women a day used to be cited as the figure for leaving the state, now it seems that there’s about ten going to, say Britain or another country to actually have an abortion and there’s at least three a day that are taking abortion pills that we know of. I think the abortion pill really shows how unworkable the ban is.”

Often at the forefront of this debate in the Dáil, in December 2014 Coppinger produced a packet of pills often used in abortions during a house speech. She explains that: “because of austerity and because of poverty, the option of actually going abroad, it’s very expensive. So more and more women are going to be looking online for abortion pills and I’d be concerned that people would contact a reputable agency.”

Coppinger advocates the website womenonweb.org, an online service for women seeking abortions in countries where abortion is restricted. The site provides pills that people can take at home for a cost of €90. She explains “because that’s a doctor-led service that I could stand over, that we’ve been in touch with, that you know have a track record, that I’ve looked into. It’s one of the things I’d be highlighting with colleges, is if they’re going to give abortion information, they should mention them because you are right, people can’t trust, otherwise, what they’re getting.”

However, for a woman from Ireland applying, the website warns users to provide an address in Northern Ireland, stating that “the Irish Medicines board confiscates packages that contain medicines and are send to Ireland.”

Coppinger notes that this is a particular issue, “what happens is, women in the south get them via the north and they have to give an address for them to be sent in the north, with womenonweb because womenonweb don’t want to be sending them and people getting disappointed and not getting them.”

She explains that some organisations, such as ROSA, work with people to give them an address in Northern Ireland that the pills can be sent to.

“But we shouldn’t have to do that. Somebody should be able to go to their own GP and get this prescribed, in a pharmacy and go home and take it. It’s completely safe, it’s used for 80% of abortions in Finland for example, and it’s safer than a surgical abortion.” In order to be prescribed the pills on the site, people must answer a number of questions which cover both their mental state and medical history.

Before the 8th amendment was enacted, abortion was already illegal in the Ireland, due to article 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Even if the repeal movement is successful, there would still need to be a discussion around this legislation. Therefore the aim of the repeal movement is simple: a referendum, as that is the only way to change the constitution.

However, Coppinger disagrees with the need for a referendum at all; “to be honest with you my view is we shouldn’t be having a referendum on any of these issues. These are health issues that affect a minority of people and it shouldn’t be up to the majority to prevent them happening.”

In 2013, the UCD Students’ Union held a preferendum on which position it should take on abortion, resulting in a mandate to campaign to repeal the 8th. Yet some argue that a number of students will now be represented by a union that does not hold their views.

Despite this, Coppinger asserts that students’ unions will be a vital part of the campaign. “It’s critical, when you think about it. It’s obvious that the students’ unions are going to be and colleges, because that’s where a lot of young people are concentrated. And this is primarily a youth issue.”

Referring to the importance of youth groups and organisations, Coppinger notes that the issue of abortion could be the “civil rights issue of this generation.”

She further explains that “this is about choice,” presenting the argument that it’s not the decision of everybody in the state but “it should be a women’s decision, whether or not she has an abortion. Ultimately she’s the only person that can decide that.”

This is a sentiment often examined in relation to the Dáil. In the same speech in which she presented the abortion pills, Coppinger made the point that it is highly unlikely that anyone in the state does not know someone who has had an abortion. As such there is an element of hypocrisy in a body that upholds a law that it has no desire to enforce.

“The idea that politicians in this house haven’t had a sister, partner, a mistress… that hasn’t had an abortion is just beyond belief,” Coppinger explains. “I’ve held up pills in the Dáil, which they’ve never done anything about because they’re glad to brush it under the carpet, you know, Irish style… They’ve no intention of prosecuting anyone because they want a safety-valve to take away their need to actually legislate. We would have back-street abortions, we would have women dying if we didn’t have Britain in close proximity.”

Coppinger outlines that the only way to get a significant change is through grassroots campaigns. “There isn’t enough activism on this issue, there needs to be a lot more because… the type of campaigns that actually bring about social change usually come from active campaigns or groups of people on the ground… right now to get a referendum in the first place and to pressure TDs who are behind the curve on this, we really need people contacting their TDs.” It is an issue that currently, many elected officials seem to be uncomfortable to talk about.

This is due in part to the upcoming citizens assembly, which is to discuss Ireland’s abortion laws. Organised following a UN ruling which stated that the state’s position on abortion was inhumane, the assembly is to be made up of 100 people.

However, neither the selection process nor exact dates have been decided. The Government has outlined that after the assembly reports, they’re recommendations will still have to be considered by an Oireachtas committee.

This has led some opposition TDs, including Coppinger, to brand the move as a temporary scapegoat not designed to outlast the current government. “They try to say now is you wouldn’t get it past on it’s own, you wouldn’t get repeal of the 8th amendment… That’s why

they’re setting up this citizens assembly, to try and come up with some formulation that they think the middle ground will agree with.”

Branding the assembly as a “delaying tactic,” Coppinger asserts that “the real citizens assembly is a referendum, that’s where every citizen gets a say and also the Dáil is what’s elected, only recently.” Instead, she suggests that “what’s needed is huge pressure to be put on these TDs. There’s a number of TDs in Fine Gael who got elected on a pro-choice platform but they, a couple of months ago, voted down a bill on fatal foetal abnormality.”

Coppinger goes on to say that “if there was a referendum to repeal the 8th I think we would get it passed because I think there’s been such a change. But I think that the establishment politicians like Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael in the main are so conservative and so behind.”

However, the 8th amendment is only part of the conversation. Abortion was illegal in 1983 before the introduction of the act, it simply strengthened the legal position.

Currently while much of the public tend to favour the broadening of abortion, there are still uncertainties as to which form should be introduced. Even amongst the repeal movement, there is some discussions about what should follow a referendum.

Nevertheless, countless cases in recent years have proven that the 8th amendment is not only unworkable but there seems to be little desire to enforce it. Momentum is growing, not just on campuses but across the country. The upcoming bill to repeal the 8th will likely be voted down. However, it is clear that something must change and soon. Regardless of the next step, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the question about the 8th amendment is simply when will it be removed.

The upcoming 5th annual March for Choice takes place this Saturday 24th September in the city centre.

Students are gathering from 12.30pm at Trinity College Dublin.

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 11

FEATURES Billy Vaughan explores how Irish charities are coping amid recent fundraising scandals and ever-increasing demand for their services.

FEW would deny that the Irish charities sector has been rocked to its core by recent events.

Namely the Console saga, and other recent scandals such as the Carline Learning Centre, from which €161,000 was misappropriated by its treasurer. The series of stinging revelations were not even confined to the realm of illegality, with recent disclosures that St. John of God’s Hospital made large and secret top-ups to senior executives three years ago.

The climate that Irish charities are now vying for funding in is one that has been changed utterly. Unquestioning generosity, or even respect, from the general public can no longer be taken for granted, and other charities in the sector are suffering the consequences.

The scandals have had little effect on fundraising at campus level, according to Ause Abdelhaq, outgoing Secretary of UCD SVP. “In our chapter, the recent scandals have had very little effect on our day-to-day operations; on the contrary, in the last two years we’ve seen sharp increases in fundraising income, not in the least thanks to some wonderful work by the respective committees.”

Eithne Healy, Communications Manager at Concern Worldwide, says that fundraising levels are very much linked to the reputation a charity upholds. “The public needs to be able to trust charities with their donations and have confidence that their money will be spent wisely, appropriately and effectively.”

Aside from possible financial implications, it is important not to forget about the effects the scandals have had on the reputations of Irish charities. Unfortunately, the sector has had a long history of murky finances. The Irish Hospital Sweepstake was one of the first major charities to divert large amounts of funds to its senior staff, beginning in the 1940s.

It is estimated that over the years, less than one-tenth of the money it raised actually went towards the funding of Irish hospitals.

More recently, the 2014 Central Remedial Clinic scandal is also fresh in the minds of the public, in which Paul Kiely was given a €742,000 severance package. Are recent events yet another damaging blow to the sector?

Healy disagrees and says that the Irish public’s willingness to give has been enduring. “We at Concern still find that the generosity of the Irish public is outstanding, especially given the challenging economic situation here at home and we hope this continues in spite of recent revelations.”

Abdelhaq notes that “people nowadays are more wary of donating to charities”, but considers this a good thing, as “it means that the public are getting behind causes which they believe to be important, and they feel the impact of their donations more fully.”

The government has recently announced measures in response to the crisis, including giving more power to the charities regulator.

Could the scandals ultimately be a good thing for Irish charities in the long term? Healy says that Concern is fully behind the new measures.

“Charities need to be accountable, transparent and effective, and Concern has been calling on a regular basis for the implementation of the Charities Act enacted in 2009, especially for those issues around openness and accountability.”

She notes that Concern’s annual accounts have won the Published Accounts Awards for charities in Ireland for the sixth successive year. “Charities generally make good use of the resources entrusted to them. Most do high quality work and are staffed by genuine people who work and volunteer for those charities because of a shared vision.”

Another element currently hindering Irish charities is the ever increasing demand for their services against a backdrop of government funding cuts. “Cuts in funding are crippling, and directly affect how many people receive assistance. The reality is that all any charity (not just SVP) can do is continue helping as many people as possible with whatever

funds are available,” says Abdelhaq. “Rates of homelessness across the country have skyrocketed.”

Abdelhaq also mentions how SVP has adopted innovative new ideas to try to address the funding shortfall. “Instead of focusing on traditional methods such as door-to-door campaigns or charity auctions, organisations (including SVP) began to try more innovative, outside-the-box fundraising techniques, aimed at raising money while having fun.”

Overall, Healy reflects the general consensus in that it is “still too soon for us to evaluate what impact the Console revelations have had on our public donations.”

Most charities are careful not to dwell on recent events, and are looking towards the future, innovating and changing how they interact with the public. “One needs only to look at the success of SVP’s annual Homeless Week, or Pieta’s Darkness into Light campaign, to see that the public are very much buying into the idea of social fundraising”, says Abdelhaq.

“I believe that the future of fundraising lies in attracting people to your campaign, whether for fun or self-betterment – or even just the pictures.”

Aurora Andrus explores what Dublin employers look for when hiring students.

AS college rolls around for another year, the students of Dublin will be on a quest for parttime work. With the number of students steadily increasing, the number of jobs available to students is decreasing, making the tedious and daunting task of handing out CVs all the more stressful.

Dublin is home to many big name businesses in retail and food service, many of which are open to hiring students. So what are these employers looking for and does being a student actually matter when trying to find a job? How much does the flexibility of a schedule affect the probability of employment? Is there anything students can do to stand out?

Most big name companies had the same thing

to say in regards to hiring students. The lack of flexibility seemed to come up as a deal breaker for most businesses. The popular clothing store H&M said that they don’t specifically look for students. Instead they look to see if they have “good customer service, that they are focused, hard workers, and friendly.” Roughly half of the staff in H&M in the Ilac Centre are students.

When asked why they may not hire a student, the manager Jamie stated, “usually it’s their flexibility that may be an issue or they want

to work less.” Having a staff of 50% students shows that they do their best to accommodate and that their student status is actually of small concern. “We look at everyone who applies here the same and our experience with employees that are students have been great,” Jamie said.

One of the most common businesses that students apply to is Starbucks. There are over 15 Starbucks locations just in the city centre, and coupled with the fact that the brand is familiar, it becomes a common place for students to drop their CVs. Giamma, supervisor at a Starbucks on Drury Street, said he receives CVs almost every day, most of which are students looking for parttime work. When asked why they hire students he explained: “we often hire part-time, so it works for students and for us. Three of our five baristas are students.”

In regards to the issues surrounding hiring students, Giamma stated that “they often aren’t very flexible and we have found that students tend to want to go on nights out more, but we still hire students and do our best to accommodate their schedules.”

However, Giamma also recognised that all employees, regardless of whether or not they may be studying, request time off. “Everyone wants days off, so it’s no different than an employee -- that isn’t a student -- wanting a Friday night off, or someone with a kid that needs certain days off, everyone needs certain PHOTO CREDIT: HAO XING VIA FLICKR

12 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

days,” he explained.

In terms of the best way to get hired in places like Starbucks Giamma offers some advice: “the more upfront you are the better, tell us when you have time off, if you will want to work more hours during breaks, etc.” Like H&M, Starbucks and many other retailers, look for hard workers, flexibility, and good customer service.

Ultimately most businesses tend to enjoy their experiences of working with students. In general, many big companies are more than willing to hire students. However, students need to keep in mind that their flexibility is the most important part of them snagging that job at Forever 21 or Zara. Being honest from the beginning will be beneficial to both parties.

Neither the student nor an employer wants their time wasted. Employers in Dublin know that students are busy, so being upfront about the days they need off is key. The job market for students is vast, and searching for a job tends to require a bit of leg work. However, being a student may not be too great a hindrance.

So what gets you a job in Dublin? Firstly, being flexible. If you want weekends off, then work nights during the week. Be sure to take advantage of the technology of today. Utilise jobs search sites like Jobbio.com, Jobs.ie, and indeed.ie for they may have listings that you wouldn’t necessarily find in person.

Having no experience in a specific area doesn’t mean you are incapable of the position.

Showing determination and willingness to learn may just land you the position. Don’t let the fact that you are a student detour your search.

Employers want to find the best person for the job, regardless of being a student or not.

FEATURES Billy Vaughan speaks to Dr. Fred Cummins about the process of putting together experiments for an emerging branch of science.

DURING the summer the main concourse of campus becomes a completely different beast.

No longer needed for society posters, the pillars in front of the library and arts building become home to recruiting posters for the many psychological and sociological studies that take place on campus during the summer months. Below the snappy descriptions of the experiments lie removable phone numbers, for anyone who feels like volunteering some of their time. Just learning about the work done is an incentive in itself.

One such academic vying for volunteers this summer was Dr. Fred Cummins, who is currently running a study on rhythmicity in joint speech, and the effect it can have on how we interpret the words being said.

Often, when we think of joint speech, we think of passive activities, such as saying prayers or reciting an oath. Cummins says, however, that this is not always the case.

“There’s something that’s unclear here, because this kind of speaking is knitted into things like going to mass, or going to court, or classrooms and so on. But it’s also often a part of political protests or in football terraces where people chant. It’s not all authority speaking down to you, sometimes it involves asserting yourself as a group, and that area hasn’t really been studied in its own right.”

The study itself is not just confined to UCD and it covers two more studies: one in Germany and one in France. “This is a very small part of a much bigger puzzle,” Dr. Cummins explained, “the more we look into it, the more we are surprised by how much new information we are getting.”

The geographic spread is not only there for accuracy, but to assess the effect of rhythmicity on languages. “We’re building in a replication into the experiment, so that if we find that

rhythmicity matters, we want to find it in three centres, with three different experimenters. We are trying to see if the effect of the rhythm will be independent of the languages.”

After the experiments are done, the work will hopefully be published, and the inevitable process of academic criticism will begin. Peer review is one such mechanism, but Cummins sees it as a necessary evil. “If we put it into a journal, it will be peer reviewed. Peer review is a lousy mechanism but it’s the only one we have at the moment really. Your work goes out to three anonymous reviewers, and one of those could be someone who doesn’t like you or the work you’re doing, and they will be biased.”

He is always aware that the process of criticism does not stop after publication. “You always have to address criticism, and that is an active process. The interpretation of these doesn’t happen on its own. It’s a contribution to an ongoing discussion.”

one place that we really should be looking into further.”

Dr. Cummins points out that the phenomenon of “speaking in tongues” has been subject to ten times as much research as the area that they are studying. It appears that life for an emerging branch of study, such as rhythmicity in joint speech, is most certainly an uphill struggle.

It is a struggle that he has been familiar with, as he has been working in this field for over

a decade. “It’s good that it’s finally getting a bit of attention now. We have 20 subjects in each location, which may seem small but we’re hoping that the results will be clear enough to be apparent with just 60 subjects. Then we can be reasonably confident of our results.”

The risks and struggles involved in being a part of an emerging scientific offshoot are formidable, but the rewards can also be great.

It is easy to forget that Dr. Cummins and his team make up only one part of the vast ecosystem of experimental research on campus, each with their own story of challenges and victories, which the average student will give little thought to during the academic year. It is only in the summer, when precious advertising space is available, that the world of campus research takes centre stage.

In terms of where the experiment may influence the wider scientific world, and indeed how we live our lives, Dr. Cummins is hoping for a solid foundation to build on. “Our work is adding to a very small pile of findings that will contribute to the question of why no science has been done here before. This is an old vocal behaviour that is hugely significant in our lives and has been for a very long time. In this area of research, we’ve always had a blind spot when it comes to what we do together. If we want to get a handle on how we create our society and how we come to be the people that we are, this is PHOTO CREDIT: ARTEMAS LIU VIA FLICKR

With considerable recent press coverage, the alt-right has been on the rise, but as Matthew Hanrahan discovers, defining the movement is a difficult task.

OVER the past number of weeks, the perception of the alternative-right political movement (or “alt-right”) has changed. It has gone from being perceived as keyboard warriors with limited impact on the real world, to being considered a real political force.

Hillary Clinton made the alt-right the focal point of a speech that deemed the movement a racist, sexist and anti-immigrant ideology.

A former lecturer of the Clinton Institute of American Studies, Dr. Jack Thompson, echoes this view of the movement. Expressing a similar sentiment he explains: “It is more complex than simply a collection of white nationalists but white nationalism is a key aspect of the worldview of many in the altright, along with hostility to multiculturalism and gender equality.” The party also falls outside the political mainstream and traditional conservative movement. Former Chair of Republicans Abroad Ireland, Tom Plank says they are “anti-establishment and also very anti Republican Party”.

In recent weeks former Breitbart News CEO, Stephen Bannon has been appointed manager of the Trump campaign. With Breitbart News regarded as sympathetic to the alt-right, it was a significant victory for the movement. Plank views the movement as one that is temporary rather than a new fixture of American politics.

“The alt-right movement rises and falls with Donald Trump,” he stated.

A version of the movement also exists beyond what might be considered the typical political sphere, on college campuses. There, it is seen

as a movement that rejects a politically correct culture. According to Plank “they certainly adopt a brand of oppositional politics that they have copied from the left, particularly leftist advocates of the 1960s, and they would certainly have a point that the Republicans ceded the battlefield in the public space of what norms are accepted.”

Milo Yiannopoulos, who is often associated with the alt-right, visited the UCD Economics Society and the UCD Philosophy Society last year. Yiannopoulos considers himself a provocateur and a champion of free speech. At the same time he, like the alt-right movement itself, has been called sexist, racist, and so on. The event with Yiannopoulos was well attended, but also attracted protest from the UCD Feminist book club for providing an uncontested platform.

Former Economics Society auditor, Conor McCabe, says that the appeal for a figure like Yiannopoulos comes from his views on politically correct culture. “We’ve gotten to a point where it’s socially untenable to hold certain opinions on campus. If you don’t support marriage equality you’re a homophobe; if you don’t support repealing the 8th you’re a misogynist; if you don’t agree with a liberal immigration policy you’re a racist or an Islamophobe.”

Feminist Book Club member, Niamh Ní Chormac, questions how the ideas of the altright are utilised. “Mental health statistics and men’s suicide rate statistics are used to shut down conversations that the black community are trying to have or the feminist community are trying to have. I think that comes from their anger and frustration at their own struggles that they have, but the point is that they don’t stem specifically from being white or being straight or being male but their channelling their frustration at being attacked for being those things.”

On the issue of whether more radical elements of the alt-right interest students, McCabe says, “from my experiences I really don’t think there’s any widespread appetite for the radical elements of the alt-right at all. I’d imagine that Milo’s attraction for a lot of students was just an extension of the much discussed ‘lad culture’ on campus and not symptomatic of some sort of burgeoning neo-fascist movement.”

Ní Chormac, however, says that the distinctions in the rhetoric of the alt-right movement are not all that clear. “Any arguments by the alternative right movement that I have heard or that I have interacted with have had undertones of racism and sexism and homophobia – ironically, because Milo is gay.”

The debate surrounding politically correct culture on campus and free speech is a core issue for the alt-right movement. However, the support for the movement in UCD seemingly stops short of a discussion surrounding white identity and white nationalism, which represent the more extreme elements of the alt-right. Dr Thompson warns against these particular elements of the alt-right movement being entertained. “Of course they are careful to adjust their message to the audience when visiting a college campus. However, many of the ideas that the alt-right is promoting are deeply antithetical to liberal democratic values.

I would urge anyone who is attracted to the altright to do a bit of research.”

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 13

SCIENCE Sharks are the most vilified and misunderstood creatures in our oceans. Danielle Crowley dives into their world to reveal some of their secrets, and their biggest threats.

WHEN YOU THINK of sharks, what comes to mind? When sharks find themselves in the public eye, it is often for the wrong reasons.

They are “man-eaters” and “public menaces”.

But this isn’t entirely accurate.

Sharks are ancient having first evolved about 400 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs. Their body design hasn’t changed much, showcasing an evolutionary masterpiece that is perfectly suited to their environment.

Sharks are able to detect changes in electrical and magnetic fields, changes in water pressure, low frequency sounds and, most famously, blood from up to a quarter of a mile away, even in quantities of one part per million of seawater.

This allows them to hunt efficiently, even in darkness.

The world’s largest sharks prey only on plankton. These gentle giants include the whale shark and the basking shark, which is found in Ireland’s waters during the summer months.

They can reach 12 meters in length.

In comparison the dwarf lanternshark, the smallest shark, can reach truly terrifying lengths of 20 centimetres. The larger velvet belly lanternshark, also a deep water species, has light producing photophores on its belly to avoid detection by both its prey and predators.

Their bellies glow causing them to disappear against the paler surface when seen from below.

They also have glowing spines on their dorsal fins like lightsabers. Researchers believe that these warn away predators.

The most feared shark, the great white, is the largest predatory fish at six meters long although most are smaller. They have a reputation as mindless killers, but this is more fiction than fact. It is now coming to light that these sharks have impeccable manners. They love to feast on dead whales, but form orderly queues leaving the largest sharks to eat first.

When they encounter one another, they observe each other closely and the smaller will give way to the larger.

They even extend this courtesy to humans.

Sharks will mostly ignore or keep their distance from humans, although some are curious and study humans just as much as we study them. When a human begins to overstay their welcome, the sharks will let them know using body language such as lowering their pectoral fins or arching their backs.

Sharks can be solitary, but whitetip reef sharks are social. During the day they rest together and once night falls they hunt together. Juvenile lemon sharks make friends.

Their mothers swim into shallow waters near mangroves to give birth, since it gives their pups the greatest protection. Once born, the young sharks stay there for seven or eight years learning to hunt, often with one other particular shark.

Some species give birth to live young and others lay eggs. The mermaid’s purses found on beaches are the egg cases of dogfish. What is even more amazing is the fact that some of them can reproduce with no need for a male. This is called “virgin birth” and has been suggested as a survival strategy for isolated females.

Sharks have often been portrayed as dim witted animals but that simply isn’t true.

Mother lemon sharks return to the same mangroves they were born in to give birth.

Tiger sharks travel to areas where they know they’ll find food, such as the nesting sites of albatross and turtles. Their timing is uncanny, yet no one knows how they do it. Close relatives of sharks -- manta rays -- have the largest

brains of any fish. They appear to have distinct personalities and have been reported to seek out divers to remove fishing line from their bodies. They are the largest rays, stretching eight meters from wingtip to wingtip.

Sharks are amazing, but endangered. Unlike “cute” animals such as pandas, sharks have such a bad reputation that no one seems to care about them. Each year, we kill 100 million sharks (the entire population of Spain, France and Austria) through by-catch, “revenge” culling and sport fishing. That’s three sharks every second. At most, sharks kill roughly five

to seven people annually. Dogs kill 25,000.

The biggest culprit is “finning”, a practice where the shark is caught, its fins are removed, and it’s thrown back in the water to die. All for shark fin soup, which is toxic and has no nutritional value. Populations of oceanic whitetips have been decimated as a result, numbers are down by almost 99% in some places. They used to be one of the most numerous species.

Sharks are keystone species. If they are removed the ecosystem collapses, along with the wellbeing of the people who depend on it. We all depend on the oceans, therefore we all need to help protect sharks. As conservationist Ian Fergusson says: “Sharks are cool fish to have in the ocean, and wouldn’t it be a boring place without them?”

Whale shark and diver

Does the new CRISPR/Cas9 gene modifying technology hold the secret to wiping out mosquitoes and the deadly diseases they transmit?

Seán Kilgarrif investigates.

WHAT IF I told you there was new technology that could completely wipe out mosquitoes?

What if I told you mosquitoes are also pollinators and some believe that their extinction could have extreme consequences on our ecosystem? This is the moral dilemma playing on the minds of many scientists in this field.

CRISPR technology presents us with the opportunity to modify genomes with exceptional efficiency and precision with a wide range of applications. CRISPR stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” If you’re like me and are still a little puzzled, what that means is that the name CRISPR arises from one repeated sequence

Chikungunya mosquito

14 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

of DNA with unique sequences in between the repeated sequence.

This seemed intriguing to scientists and, sure enough, they discovered that the unique sequences were actually the DNA of viruses that target bacteria. The viruses were present in the DNA so that the viruses could be effectively fought if the body encountered them again. On top of that Cas (CRISPR-associated proteins), an enzyme located near the CRISPR, can snip DNA and slice the harmful viruses. This double level defense mechanism is extremely useful when it comes to combatting viruses.

The CRISPR/Cas9 technology was discovered as early as the 1980s but it’s only in recent years that steps have been made to unlock its

true potential. Previously it could take up to a year and several generations of mice to create a genetically altered mouse. With this new technology that time can be reduced to only a few months and far fewer mice are required.

Another bonus is that multiple genes can be altered simultaneously -- a real game changer.

The Cas9 gene makes this whole idea even more powerful. They essentially let us exploit evolution to insert a desired gene into an organism. The special thing about a gene drive is that it always ends up in the offspring, even if only one parent has it. Eventually more and more generations will possess this gene drive and the induced gene will be present in the entire population.

This technology can be used to modify the genomes of any organism. The possibilities this creates are endless. Endangered species may be saved, genes could be modified to stall the spread of weeds, and harmful species such as mosquitoes could be genetically modified to eventually die off. This would leave the world free of the fear and suffering which malaria and so many other mosquito transmitted diseases cause.

With the outbreak of the Zika Virus during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and its spread throughout the US, the virus has gained increased media attention. Since 2015, sixty-two countries and territories reported mosquito transmitted Zika virus. Zika in pregnant women can lead to microcephaly, unusually small heads in babies, among other abnormalities.

In 2010, malaria killed 554,000 people. In 2015 there were 214 million malaria cases resulting in 438,000 deaths. This decrease is positive but the number is still far too high.

The World Health Organisation recommends “personal protection with repellents, clothing that covers exposed skin and use of nets when resting during the day”. When there is a more proficient solution it seems a shame not to use it when it could save so many lives each year.

However, opinion is divided as to whether wiping out an entire species is wise. What would happen to the plants they pollinate and the predators that prey on them? Lives may be saved but would the world around us be left to perish?

Is it right for scientists to decide if a species lives or dies?

We must contemplate these questions as we approach this important crossroads in our future. As George Church, a professor at Harvard University says “if we’re going to talk about it at all in advance, rather than in the past tense, now is the time.”

Kevin Esvelt, a postdoc from Harvard University, and his colleagues are proposing a number of safeguards, including reversal drives that can undo earlier engineered genes. “We need to really make sure those work if we’re proposing to build a drive that is intended to modify a wild population,” Esvelt says.

However Church is optimistic about the potential for Cas9-based gene drives. “I think we need to be cautious with all new technologies, especially all new technologies that are messing with nature in some way or another. But there’s also a risk of doing nothing.”

SCIENCE As ageing becomes one of our biggest concerns, George Merrin examines what the upper limit of ageing is for other species.

WE LIKE TO think that we are the most advanced species due to our intelligence and our global domination. At a quick glance, this may be true, however despite all of our technological advances we still age and die.

The oldest verified person ever was 122. This is nothing compared to other species. The oldest verified land based animal was a radiated tortoise named Tu’i Malila who died at 188.

Radiocarbon dating has recently revealed a Greenland shark to be even older when a female was found to be about 400 years old.

This species reaches sexual maturity at 150, redefining what we thought we knew about ageing in vertebrates. The previous record holder for vertebrates was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old.

Ageing is caused by the breakdown of the cell’s ability to correctly reproduce. This leads to cellular senescence, which is when division stops. This ultimately leads to death. As DNA reproduces, some is lost every time, which causes ageing. But not in all species. Lobsters seem to deal with senescence far better than we do and the immortal jellyfish can revert from adult to juvenile and back again.

Aquatic invertebrate animals live longer than terrestrial or land based ones. Sponges such

as Xestrospongia live for more than 2300 years and one Leiopathes coral was determined to be 4265 years old. We hardly exist in comparison.

Most animal species don’t live for more than two hundred years whereas many plants live far longer. Many large species of plants live for thousands of years by forming interconnected root systems known as colonies. An example of such a system, Pando, is a quivering aspen found in Utah. Due to the nature of the organism it is hard to determine exactly how old it is. Most agree that Pando is around 80,000 years old, but some suggest that it may be closer to one million years old.

Individual trees can still live for thousands of years. The oldest non-colonial tree currently known is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine found

The immortal jellyfish

in the USA. This tree is 5066 years old which means that it is older than the pyramids of Giza, while Stonehenge would have been 57 years old when it was planted. The oldest tree in Europe is the Llangernyw Yew found in Wales. It is believed to be between four and five

As a new academic year kicks off, Aoife Hardesty delves into the science of memory.

MEMORY is defined as the mind storing and remembering information, and we define ourselves largely by our memories. Memories shape who we are and what we know. Everything we learn in life depends on memory forming in our brain and being processed. As a result, dementia patients or people with severe memory loss change into very different people.

We depend on memory for all learning events and different memory techniques can be employed to use our memory system more effectively. The method of loci involves visualising mental places to store memories and is sometimes called a “memory palace”.

This technique of memory storage involves a space -- real or imaginary, outdoors or a building -- not necessarily a grand palace. Whatever it is you are trying to remember, you create mental associations between it and locations within your “palace”. This then enables you to walk around this space within your own mind and “see” the memory associations, which trigger the memory.

Another way of approaching this form of memory storage is to journey through the place, and have information deposited at different stages of that journey.

A mnemonic is a memory aid, which helps with the storage of information. Common mnemonics include rhymes to help remember the number of days in each month, songs to remember the letters of the alphabet, acronyms where each letter in a word stands for another word.

Mnemonics work by association, the information you’re trying to remember is associated with another piece of easier to remember

information, or a place in your “mind palace”.

The harder info is linked to the easy info and so remembering one triggers the other.

Our brain cells are dynamic things. They change their shapes and connections regularly throughout our lifetimes. When objects become associated with each other, the brain cells responsible for the two separate objects or info are connected, and if this association is repeated, the connection becomes stronger until it is very hard to get rid of the association.

A familiar everyday scenario in which this happens is how a certain song can remind you of an exact moment in time – whether it be a flashback to the beach in Majorca, your first kiss, or walking home in the pouring rain after a miserable day in school.

In order for the brain to hold onto memories, memories generally have to be retrieved and processed so that they can eventually enter long term storage; this processing involves the hippocampus, and is the reason why you may have to study the same thing several times before you feel that is solidly implanted in your brain.

The hippocampus, named due to its semblance to a seahorse when isolated from the rest of the brain (hippo is horse in Latin, and kampus is sea monster), is a brain structure located in behind your ears. The importance of the hippocampus in memory formation was seen very obviously in the case study of HM, Henry Molaison, a patient who was studied from 1957 until he died in 2008, aged 82 years old.

Molaison suffered from severe epilepsy and to alleviate his condition underwent brain surgery.

During the surgery, sections from his brain were removed, including the hippocampus.

Following the surgery, Molaison could remember events prior to the operation and had short term memory, but was unable to form long term memories.

The hippocampus is required for the processing needed to turn short term memories into those stored for the long term, and is the structure relevant for those mnemonics discussed above. Without the hippocampus, it’s unlikely you would be able to remember reading this article, the information within it, or even the rest of this newspaper.

thousand years old. Fungus can also survive for long periods with the“Humongous Fungus”, member of the Armillaria solidipes species, believed to be around 2400 years old.

Endoliths are also among the oldest living organisms. They are microscopic and live in rocks, living off the minerals found there.

They live for over ten millennia due to their slow metabolisms. Most of their time is spent

repairing DNA damage, one of the factors which cause ageing.

But how does this all relate back to us?

Attempts are being made to investigate whether or not humans can undergo gene therapy to become biologically immortal, or extend our lifespan. With current life expectancies increasing, some scientists are even questioning if we will evolve this ourselves.

Laoise Fitzpatrick takes a look what life on another planet (in this case, a simulation on Hawaii) would really be like.

A TEAM of six has recently concluded an experiment into one of the most volatile aspects of a potential manned space mission to Mars: the human factor. How well can a small team cope when having to live and work in a tiny space together to and from the Red Planet? This is the question that the HI-SEAS IV (Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue and Simulation 4) experiment hoped to answer.

The mission brief was to determine how to keep a crew healthy and happy while on a long-term mission such as one to Mars. The research would cover food, interpersonal dynamics and behaviours, and work performance over the course of one year. This is the fourth such experiment, with the prior three lasting 4 months, 120 days, and 8 months respectively.

To simulate the type of structures that could be constructed for a Mars mission, the crew spent the year inside a two-storey dome, which was fitted with cameras and movement trackers to analyse their behaviour. The ground floor of the dome contained a kitchen, dining area, office, laboratory and a bathroom with shower. The second floor contained the crew’s bedrooms which each consisted of just a bed, desk and chair. The crew was forced to spend almost all of their time in this small area with little to no privacy or personal space. They were allowed short excursions outside the dome in a space suit to simulate experiments that would be required during a real mission.

Resources were strictly controlled to imitate

the realities of long term missions. Water was rationed and food was limited to freeze-dried, long-lasting food which had to be rehydrated to be eaten. As well as this, the air was recycled as there would be no oxygen atmosphere to rely on during a Mars mission.

The crew consisted of a French astrobiologist, a German physicist, and four Americans: an architect, a soil scientist, a pilot, and a journalist. Upon leaving the dome at the end of August the crew was optimistic about the potential for real Mars missions to succeed, with French crew member Cyprien Verseux stating “I can give you my personal impression which is that a mission to Mars in the close future is realistic.

I think the technological and psychological obstacles can be overcome.” Other crew members however noted the difficulty of living in such close proximity to others for so long. Carmel Johnston, the mission commander, stated “it is kind of like having roommates that just are always there and you can never escape them so I’m sure some people can imagine what that is like and if you can’t then just imagine never being able to get away from anybody.”

This experiment is the longest of its kind since a Russian experiment which lasted 520 days.

The Mars mission will not to be the last; at least two more will take place, with the next to begin in January 2017.

Martian Hawaii: Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea panorama.

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 15

OPINION With a new year in UCD dawning, Jess “the Captain” Quinn shares her words of wisdom WELCOME new UCD Students, or, as the University like to call you, fresh meat. Chances are if you’re a fresher reading this, then you’re probably bored and lonely in your 5x5 bedroom in Belgrove. You’re wondering why someone hasn’t invited you over to their house party to drink beer out of Red Solo cups and become life long friends that go on road trips together.

Honestly, the best road trip you can hope for in UCD is finding someone to drive you to Lidl to get some €4 wine.

Okay, enough of the negativity. You should be excited, you’re now a student of the best University in the world, maybe even the universe!

I’m not sure how accurate that statistic is, but we’re definitely better than Trinity, and that’s all that matters. UCD is a place rooted in academic history and culture. From James Joyce to Lad Culture, we are a very fortunate to be steeped in the collective learning of the brightest minds in the country. Although within some parts of UCD you’ll find that the only culture is the bacteria that is growing there. You’ll also find that in the SU corridor, where bacteria are the only sign of intelligent life.

It is important to use all your fresher free time exploring interests outside of your field of study. The only thing you need to learn when in first year is that your undergraduate degree is completely useless and meaningless. Once you know that, you’ll be smarter than most of the students in Newman who strut around like anyone cares about their B.A. in Contemporary Neo-Medieval Sociology with Swahili. Although never make fun of the Arts students. You don’t want them to spit on your Big Mac.

So go mad in first year! Join every society, never go to any of their events and then moan about how annoying they are for emailing you every week. To save you some time, let me break down the need to know information about our societies. Joining the L&H and Law Soc is absolutely compulsory. Even if you don’t know what they are, you must do it. Don’t ask why or expect any kind of engagement, just do it. Join the society that is relative to your course for networking and because, for now, you still like the people in your class.

Although, if you are in Arts, don’t join Arts Soc, unless you want to ruin your life. Join The Newman Society instead, be sure to ask them for free condoms! If you plan on joining the Potter Society, you don’t need to join any other society. You won’t need free condoms. You ain’t getting laid, Harry. If you are of above average intelligence, don’t join any political party societies, you won’t find any of your kind there.

You’ll probably just receive a bag full of leaflets and a frontal lobotomy. If you identify as LGBT then you can join the LGBTQ+ society. Any cis hetero people who try to join will be blasted backwards like an underage student putting their name in the Goblet of Fire.

If none of the societies interest you, don’t panic! You can join a sports team, defy the odds by remaining friends with your Peer Mentor group, or just don’t be a dick! No matter how desperate you are for friends, don’t become involved in the SU. Invest your time in something more worthwhile like defrosting and refreezing ice cubes, watching paint dry, or writing for the College Tribune.

Even though UCD has a population of 30,000 people, and 300,000,000 seagulls, it can be a very lonely place. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you are feeling down, and make note of the resources that are available to you. University is a stressful and confusing time. On one hand there is this pressure on you to have the time of your life, but at the same time you’re constantly stressed out and having daily mental breakdowns. Take care of your physical and mental health. Although don’t be that douchebag shaking a protein shake in the middle of a lecture.

So enjoy yourself, and make sure to put every second of it on your Snapchat story.

Because one minute you’re sitting in O’Reilly Hall getting that free scarf, and the next thing you know, you’re sweating on a rickity chair in the RDS wondering what language your exam paper is written in.

Your path through your UCD life isn’t always as easy to follow as the lines on the ground in Newman. You’ll make mistakes, like going to the Fresher’s Ball. You’ll find true love in the Centra Deli staff. You’ll learn the true hellish nightmare that are group projects. And you’ll learn how to say 400 words in 1,000 words.

But, you’ll never learn how to actually reference correctly.

You’ll get a first class honours degree if you can figure out what the D in the UCD Crest stands for. UCD Dublin. University College Dublin Dublin? Double Dublins? Or a secret underground patriachial movement to put more D into our lives. I’ll finish with our University motto: U C D today, I C D everyday, we all love the D!

Being trans makes adjusting to college life that much harder but Isabella Gallinaro highlights how in many ways it’s a chance to be out and meet others just like you.

IT’S the first week of college! All across the nation, tens of thousands of students are getting ready to start the academic year. Countless tasks must be carried out all while clueless freshers try to convince themselves they know what they’re getting into; even more clueless international students (like yours truly) struggle with the Dublin housing market and the semantics of the word “craic”.

Today, I’d like to talk about a particular subset of students. They’ll be making up a small but steady portion of the college population this year, and have been doing so for as long as universities have existed. I’m talking about transgender students.

Before we get into the thick of things, a little Trans 101. Thanks to people like Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, Laura Jane Grace, and Tom Phelan (to name a few), transgender visibility in pop culture has greatly increased in recent years. However, we still walk into embarrassing misconceptions whenever we stick our nose out into the mainstream.

To clarify: a trans woman is someone who was declared male at birth, only to realize she is a woman later down the line. Vice versa for trans men. This realization can come at 5, at 20, at 70. Not all trans people want to take hormones or get surgery. Some trans people, rather than being men or women, use labels like “nonbinary”, “agender”, “bigender”, and others – but are no less trans for it.

The opposite of transgender is “cisgender”: a cis person is someone who looks at the gender they were assigned at birth and goes “yup, sounds about right”. Obviously, cis people make up the majority of the population.

Finally, a person’s trans status is not tied to their sexual orientation, physical appearance, behaviour, or pretty much anything else.

With that out of the way: college! What a wonderful time for a young trans person. Many of us realize our actual gender in our teens, and then spend our teens in horrible, terrible places, like secondary school, or small country towns, or the secondary school of a small

16 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

country town. As I’m sure many readers will agree, these locations aren’t especially good for the development of a non-conformist identity.

Thus, college life presents a plethora of exciting new opportunities: the opportunity to try out a new name, to be referred to by different pronouns, to buy that skirt or that blazer and wear it around campus.

The most important perk offered by college life, and I’m sure many of my cis readers will agree, is the opportunity to meet people of the same stripe as ourselves (perhaps rivalled only by those of a completely different stripe).

Adolescence is often even harsher and more lonesome for a trans kid than it is for most other teens. Going to college is usually the first time we get to hang out with other transgender people outside of the internet.

Of course, even in college, one can’t exactly walk around shaking hands and asking new acquaintances if they’re trans, at least not without wearing some form of body armour.

It’s more or less feasible for cisgender, nonstraight people to form friendships with people in different social circles without outright disclosing their sexual orientation. However, trans people tend to have a harder time, since trivial details like your name and whether you’re a “he”, “she”, or a “they” are sort of bound to come up in conversation. Having to explain to everyone that you’re really a Chloe when you look for all the world like a Sean or a Tom can be pretty daunting.

As such, a college’s LGBT society tends to play a key role in a trans person’s campus life.

I’ve certainly formed many close friendships through UCD LGBTQ+ (a big shout out to them

for letting me write this, by the way). A practice employed by any LGBT society worth its salt is asking people for their name and pronouns before most society events. I can attest that this custom is slowly being adopted, or at least acknowledged, by other societies. It’s simple, quick, and it would be immensely helpful to the trans community if it became more commonplace on campus.

Living on campus openly trans is possible, if you want it badly enough. Lecturers generally prove amenable to the idea of calling a student by a different name or pronouns. The head of your school might even be willing to change your data in the class roster. If you know where to look, there are gender-neutral bathrooms on campus - even something as simple as walking through a door to splash some water on your face can be a source of aggravation when you’re trans, depending on the little person painted on the door. Getting lecturers to actually employ your chosen name with regularity can be difficult (they do have several hundred other students to worry about, after all), and schlepping to the one bathroom that doesn’t box you into a binary is tricky, but it’s possible. If you’re trans and out, people will probably ask you weird questions about certain delicate regions of your body, and some people will outright hurl abuse

at you. For some trans people, that’s way more trouble than being out is worth. For others, it’s the only way to survive.

In conclusion, I say to my cisgender readers: we are here. As with most human beings, we tend to be okay people once you get to know us. So do! We’re all different people: you’re bound to find at least one trans person who’s absolutely excellent banter. Just don’t ask any weird questions. You’ve read the column, right?

To my trans readers, I say: we are here! You are not alone. Keep that in mind when the world seems staunchly against you. Love is the key to survival, and you are loved.

Have a good year at college, everyone.

EDITORIAL THE value of education is something that will no doubt be debated as we approach next month’s budget. As the first one of a very shaky government and the first after the Cassells report on funding in higher education was released, there is huge pressure to find a realistic solution to the chronic lack of third level funding.

Over the summer the President of this University and the Provost of Trinity College, issued a joint statement condemning the lack of investment in the higher education sector.

These claims are largely justified in the falling rankings of most Irish institutions, except NUIG, in the recent QS listings. UCD, for example, has fallen from being in the top 100 in 2009, to 176th this year.

Yet as students settle in for the first semester of this year, the efforts by universities, the government, and companies has been woefully inadequate. The accommodation crisis, which began to really hit students in 2013 has shown no signs of easing. Specific student accommodation sites next to UCD are still advertising despite the first week of classes being complete.

Last year, UCD was still advertising on-campus residences after classes had started.

The plain fact of the matter is that a large number of students can’t afford to live in Dublin. The rates charged for supposedly studentaimed accommodation are just unfeasible. This either results in students commuting ridiculous distances to get to college or dropping out.

At the same time, registration fees have risen to €3,000 since 2011, though we allegedly still have “free” education. For students of UCD this cost is even higher as the student contribu-

TALLEY HO! Welcome, plebs, to another no doubt exciting and rapturous year here in UC Dull. As the freshers celebrate their new found freedom, it is up to the older students to let them in on the secret that by the time they stumble, drunk and exhausted out of here in four years’ time, they will all detest the very sight and thought of college. Perhaps I’m being too cynical after being thoughtlessly awoken from my summertime slumber by the stomping of students across campus. Though, in this grey abyss of UCD, is that ever possible?

I, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, like this university, detest those who give it reason to exist, the students. As the flocks of grateful students all rush toward their graduation, it’s reassuring to know that UCD will not give them anything complementary. Cleary that €9,000 in ‘free fees’ doesn’t give you much credit, apart from a bad quality photo of your degree.

But at least our Students’ Union officers can rest easy, looking forward to their illustrious future careers in the student bar. It’s reassuring to know that employment will be found for those who spend a year wasting away in the SU

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

tion charge, which covers the cost of the student centre, is included. In July, the Cassells’ Report outlined that continuing the current model of funding is just not practical.

Very often in order to afford fees and the cost of living, students have to find work outside of their regular college hours. We’re also expected to study full time and build up a CV through involvement in societies or sports.

All of this is exhausting yet overly common.

So why do students put themselves and their families through this pressure? Well, largely because that’s what companies expect from their new employees. The plain fact of the matter is that in order to find a decent job, people have to get a degree. While this has not always been true, it is the case today.

Yet companies and those who believe people should have degrees are doing very little to support students. While bodies like the Union of Students in Ireland do advocate for students, it is not solely their job to fix the lack of funding available for students.

The chronic lack of investment in education shows not only a disregard for the kind of education that is being provided but also the overwhelming lack of consideration for students in general. There is only so much that can actually be done by various students unions to highlight the problem.

Ultimately, there needs to be a significant shift from political parties and the companies that expect this from students. More support and an actual plan needs to be put in place, especially as student numbers are set to increase rapidly in the next five to ten years.

corridor, sacrificing their vitamin D, all for the good of themselves the students.

This years’ crop of hacks seem even more dull than the last, with @LukeFitzHandbook not being able to get through a sentence without mentioning the SU’s latest piece of ‘wisdom’.

Talley wonders if the enthusiasm for the handbook means the C&C officer has forgotten that there’s still a whole year of work to do. Perhaps ol’ @LukeFitzHandbook can try to offload the remaining handbooks by skating around campus and throwing them like sweets to the new first years. Of course, that’s assuming they want to read it.

Students can also annoy the new welfare officer Roisin “Oh did you know I’m a midwife now?” Talley hopes she can do more than organise one poorly attended, five minute event but only time will tell.

Coke and Bacardi is now running a company that only five years ago was near financial run.

Reports that Bacardi won his campaign based on a promise of more alcohol for students are yet to be confirmed.

The plan for buskers on campus, which struck a particluar core with voters last March, is to be rolled out this week. It is comforting to know that while the accommodation crisis con-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters to editor@universityobserver.ie

EDITOR Roisin Guyett-Nicholson DEPUTY EDITOR Martin Healy ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Louise Flanagan CHIEF OF PHOTOGRAPHY Camille Lombard NEWS EDITOR Alanna O’Shea DEPUTY/INTERNATIONAL NEWS Rory Geoghegan COMMENT EDITOR Julia O’Reilly FEATURES EDITOR Billy Vaughan EAGARTHÓIR GAEILGE Niamh O’Regan SCIENCE EDITOR Danielle Crowley CO-SPORTS EDITORS Conall Cahill & David Kent BUSINESS EDITOR Megan Fanning BROADSHEET ONLINE EDITORS Ruth Murphy Eithne Dodd

tinues and student loans may be introduced, Bacardi is focusing on the important things.

Those wails you hear outside your lectures aren’t from disappointed students but actually that “Wonderwall” cover by Ag Science Barry with a guitar.

Rounding out the new sabbatical team are Lexi Kiljoy-Martin and Cian “Who even is he?” Casey. While the sabbats seem to be working hard at the moment, as the year goes on no doubt that will wear off.

Even the Editor of this esteemed publication seems to be mixing in bad company these days. Talley hears reports that she has friends in the SU corridor and even an entanglement with the Editor of a far less reputable rag. The prediction in this very column was correct as Jack Power-hungry now rules the far less impressive Tribune roost. One can only hope he produces something of better quality than that article.

BROADSHEET CONTRIBUTORS Aaron Murphy Jade Stanley Ashley Perry Garrett O’Cinneide Maeve Costello Orla Keaveney Helen Carroll Laura Hogan Emmet Feerick Ross Walsh Hannah Twomey Brian Donnelly Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin Conor de Paor Aurora Andrus Matthew Hanrahan Sean Kilgarrif George Merrin Aoife Hardesty Laoise Fitzpatrick Jess Quinn Isabella Gallinaro Talley Colm Honan The Badger

OTWO CONTRIBUTORS Laura Brohan Ause Abdelhaq Claudia Dalby Conor O’Toole Mystic Mittens Seréna Pilkigton CO-OTWO EDITORS Sean Tate Sean Hayes Robyn Gilmour David Monaghan Sven Kretzschmar FOOD & DRINK EDI- Christine Fitzpatrick TOR Adam Lawler Rachel Gaffney Ian Moore FASHION & STYLE Ruan McGuinness EDITOR Shane Cullen Katie Devlin Lucy Mortell MUSIC EDITOR Dermot Christophers Luke Sharkey GAMES EDITOR Aaron Poole FILM & TV EDITOR Owen Steinberger ARTS & LITERATURE EDITOR Ezra Maloney CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Chiamaka Amadi ONLINE OTWO EDITOR Melissa Ridge

And so ends my first lazy column of the year. Go forth and irritate. Your exams will be here all too soon.

TALLEY OUT xoxo

SPECIAL THANKS Webprint Laura Harte Gráinne Loughran Joanna O’Malley Anna Wadolowska Silvia Ortega Jennie Carr Ciara Whelan Dee Alfaro The Office Fan

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 17

SPORT As the race for promotion in the League of Ireland reaches its conclusion, Colm Honan analyses what’s left for UCD AFC this season.

DESPITE the Premier League, and subsequently ‘football’ returning in the middle of August, there have actually been games happening every single weekend in Ireland throughout the summer.

Soccer fans around the country are preparing for a nail biting conclusion to the SSE Airtricity League First Division season. Limerick FC have dominated and being beaten only twice all season, they can now prepare for top-flight football after securing the title in August. Surely their aim will be to avoid a swift relegation, something they failed to do in their last venture to the top tier in 2015.

Now that the title has been wrapped up there is still an interesting race is for the valuable second and third spots. UCD and Drogheda United will likely face each other in a play-off for the right to take on the 11th placed team from the Premier Division in a two-legged winner-takeall game at the season’s end.

For the Students, everything is still to play for. Trailing in third by seven points from their promotion rivals Drogheda, they now head into the last month of the regular season facing four proverbial cup finals (due to a game in hand against Waterford) in their quest to restore their Premier Division status.

An away trip to basement team Athlone Town is the first leg of a crucial trio of games. The midlands side have been in lacklustre form all season after being crippled with financial problems. The situation got so bad that, at one stage, they were forced to sign players from local leagues on the day of a game.

UCD will be confident of collecting all three points from Lissywoolen in what is, at least on paper, an easy away win. The previous three meetings saw two wins and a draw for the Belfield outfit who scored eight goals in the process. Stranger things have happened though,

especially in the League of Ireland.

A tricky tie against an in-from Shelbourne follows on the penultimate day of the season.

Owen Heary’s side should provide stiff opposition and have been notoriously tricky to turn over on their home turf, providing Limerick with their toughest test so far this season. Saying that, UCD have managed to beat Shelbourne three times out of three so far this season, so the Students should feel relatively confident.

Shelbourne will want to finish strongly though. Even after picking up back-to-back wins earlier in the month, their mission to return to the Premier Division will have to wait until next season at this point for the side known as the “sleeping giants” of Irish football.

will be readying themselves for their season to extend by three games. That would represent vindication for their boss’s insistence in his youthful side. It’s just up to UCD to provide the opposition.

Reaching the Premier Division, however, is not straightforward. A second play-off tie will await the winner of the original clash in a promotion-relegation bout that UCD came out on the wrong side of in 2014 against Galway United. Many First Division coaches have called for a change to the system and argued for a two-up, two-down system and an abandonment of the play-offs. Perhaps a memo on the desk of John Delaney may do the trick...

Manager Collie O’Neill is sure to be encouraged when he reflects on this season’s campaign.

Although promotion will be the benchmark by

which the season is judged, there have been a number of high-points. A cup run which, ended with a narrow defeat to holders Dundalk at the quarter-final stage, gave the playing staff a welcome reminder of their ability to compete with the best teams domestically. A 39th Collingwood Cup success and a Harding Cup win for the freshers side reinforced the Belfield outfits dominance on the intervarsity circuit.

PHOTO CREDIT: MARTIN HEALY

Ultimately, the season may hinge on a possible play-off tie with Drogheda, which is ironic as the final game of the league season is a dress rehearsal with the College heading to Hunky Dory Park. The Drogs have fallen from grace somewhat since tasting Premier Division success in 2007, compounded by trouble at the boardroom level as well as their relegation. Their misery has only been aggravated by the success of their nearest neighbours. Nonetheless, the 2016 season has seen them rejuvenated.

Experienced manager Pete Mahon put his faith in youth, and he’s reaped the rewards of that. The youngest side in both divisions (with an average age of just 22) have flourished this year, losing just twice at home all season. One of those was to runaway champions Limerick but the other was against (you guessed it) UCD in June. They currently sit in second position and

With a number of ex-League of Ireland players in the Irish international squad, Colm Honan asks why don’t more universities compete at the highest level of Irish club football.

IN what has been an outstanding summer for Irish football in general, the transfer of youngster Dylan Watts to English champions Leicester City was further confirmation that UCD has established itself as a nursery for young footballers to develop and learn their trade.

Watts is not the only graduate from UCD’s football academy to have secured a transfer across the water. Paul Corry joined Sheffield Wednesday in 2012 while Conor Sammon (now at Hearts in the SPFL) enjoyed a career with Wigan Athletic in the Premier League and proved to be a loyal servant of Giovanni Trappatoni towards the end of his stint as Republic of Ireland manager, with the UCD graduate earning nine caps.

Central to the colleges’ conveyer belt over the past decade has been recognising the link between academic and sporting excellence.

Robbie Benson, who has forged a successful career with Dundalk, cited his Masters degree in Actuarial Science as the primary reason for remaining with the Belfield side for five years.

Dave McMillan, another Dundalk star, studied Architecture. Between them, they’ve scored all of Dundalk goals bar one in the historic Europa League campaign so far.

Indeed, there were six UCD graduates in the Dundalk squad that travelled to AZ Alkamaar last week. The scholarship scheme also convinced Corry to turn down a move to Burnley and instead to complete his Commerce degree before making the move to England.

The Ad Astra programme allows the club to attract top-level talent from around the

18 SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016

country whilst also offering players a chance to enhance their future career opportunities if the tumultuous world of professional football does not go their way.

The advent of the SSE Airtricity Under-19 and, more recently, Under-17 leagues has given young players a chance to enter an elite player development pathway without diving head first into the uncertain and cut-throat environment of a Premier League academy.

Far too much Irish footballing talent has been lost due to the eagerness of teenagers to make the move to England at a young age.

Many return after a short period of time with little education and a disillusionment with the game. Perhaps a more settled approach to player development will see more future Irish internationals akin to Séamus Coleman, Stephen Ward, Shane Long, and Wes Hoolahan, all of whom plied their trade in the League of Ireland, before earning a move to English football.

While UCD are currently the only college to put forward a team at the top level of football in Ireland, there are big strides being made elsewhere around the country’s colleges. Dundalk IT’s main soccer side has benefitted hugely from the success of the football club in the town. DKIT offer seven football scholarships and their top team is being coached by four-time League winner and current Dundalk captain Stephen O’Donnell.

NUI Maynooth have eight football

scholarships per year and have a link with St. Patrick’s Athletic, with current starters like goalkeeper Conor O’Malley graduating from the college before heading to the league.

Admittedly, the risks are big for the colleges.

Having to fund trips to the likes of Cobh, Waterford or Longford could prove quite expensive every second week, particularly when you add it to the League of Ireland entry fee of €19,000. As big and costly as those risks may be, some would say the rewards are greater and point to UCD as a shining example. An historic European campaign of their own last season brought in almost €400,000 to the club that has produced the likes of Sammon, Benson, Kevin Moran, and Jason Sherlock (yes, really) amongst others.

Collingwood Cup weeks can sometimes

require players to have five matches in five days and as McMillan or Benson have testified in the Sun, that really hardens you as a player.

Football in UCD is in a good health. With three teams competing in the Leinster Senior League -- one of the most competitive amateur competitions in the country -- platforms for players of all abilities are in place. This is the essence of a football club within a college, especially a college the size of UCD. The promotion of the game is further helped by the AIB Super League which contains up to 58 teams made up mostly of friends, classmates and colleagues. The outlook is bright for UCD AFC and the game in general in Belfield, but there’s still a lot left to do in order to bring Premier Division football back to the bowl in 2017.

SPORT A round up of the rest of the sporting activities in UCD through September A great sporting summer? Fresh out of his summer slumber, The Badger doesn’t think so.

THE glorious Irish summer has slowly morphed into the crushing reality of the first weeks of term. All of the hopeful freshers are soon to be weighed down – which will mimic the Irish sporting summer really.

The main event? The Olympics. Once again there was controversy with those meddling Russians in the boxing. Social media was abuzz with cries of cheating and unfairness but failed to notice the Irish boxing judge that was sent home early from Brazil.

No, instead the entire island of Ireland became rowing and sailing experts. But the Badger had some INCREDIBLE tickets for the rowing final! It’s funny when dictators get brought down, isn’t it Pat? John Delaney’s time is running out. The Brazilian police and, more importantly, the Badger is watching.

We had Dundalk getting through to the Champions League playoff only for your average Joe Soap that supports Man United or Liverpool to chastise actual League of Ireland fans for wanting them to lose.

The glory of the European Championships, which saw England crash out to Iceland in embarrassing fashion, giving us Irish a grand aul chuckle. ‘Haha, delited for rooney and the queen give us our counties back’ says the same Man United fan who’ll cheer for Rooney next weekend.

Tipperary had one of the greatest All-Ireland final performances in history, but then John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer decided he wanted to go viral. The man whose nickname came from a monkey proving that the average IQ of a Tipp hurler is similar to that of a primate.

Speaking of primates, the Notoriously Nauseating Conor McGregor won another fight and became the greatest fighter in the history of anything ever, taking on all comers in the aftermath from John Cena to his uncle Harambe.

And to cap it all off, the Irish football team had one of the worst performances that this omnivore has ever seen. Away to an Eastern European side, it looked at times like Daryl Murphy had indulged in a little bit of the Serbian lifestyle – or that could just be what he runs like normally. The Badger isn’t sure.

It’s almost as if the rigorous warm up friendly against Oman failed to prepare Martin O’Neill’s men for a genuine opponent.

Who better for Robbie Keane to finish his international career (albeit three years too late) against than a Middle-Eastern side that couldn’t even beat an Irish club’s reserves?

That game was almost as pointless as being a Mayo fan in September…

Seminar - There will be an information seminar on the 27th of September on gambling addiction and sport. The seminar will include speakers who have overcome issues in the past such as ex-UCD AFC star Craig Walsh and is designed to inform and educate students on the signs of potential gambling problems and provide information on support networks for those addicted.

The event takes place in the O’Connor Theatre of the UCD Science Hub and attendance is free however you must register online at Eventbrite.ie prior to the seminar.

Show jumping - UCD Ad Astra student Emma O’Dwyer finished second in the International Longines Horse-Show of Lausanne Grand Prix at the start of the month. HHS Figero went faultless in the final two testing rounds in Switzerland to give the Physiotherapy student the runner-up spot. Echo De Laubry had jumped clear in 9th position the previous day before the 10 year-old Figero put the Kilkenny native up the board.

In further news, UCD’s Ian Cassels won big at the Student Riding Nations Cup in Cork.

The Third Year Agricultural Science student took gold in dressage and show jumping and therefore overall at the tournament. UCD Show jumping as a result have qualified for the Gold League at the AIEC World Finals which take place in the Netherlands over the New Year

period.

Athletics – Mark English picked up where he left off from the Rio Olympics by finishing second in the Great North City Games in Newcastle. Finishing just 0.22 of a second behind double Olympic champion David Rudisha, English seems to have fully recovered from his broken foot.

Rugby – UCD’s rugby team kicked off their season last Saturday against Clontarf and take on Dublin University FC (also known as Trinity College) in the second round of the Ulster Bank League. Kick off in College Park is 14:30 on Sunday afternoon as UCD aim to better their semi-final appearance from last season against DUFC who were promoted from Division 1B around the same time.

GAA – UCD’s Ladies GAA side are having open trials on Wednesday the 21st and Monday the 26th of September, both at 7:30pm. Trialists are requested to meet at the UCD Sport dressing rooms prior to the trials. UCD Camogie have their trials on Thursday evening at 7:30.

UCD Men’s GAA have trials for their Fresher’s Football side on Wednesday and Monday at 6pm, with the Hurling Fresher’s hosting their trials on Thursday evening at 6.

There’s more to karate than getting kicked in the face, as David Kent finds out in conversation with Lawrence de Barra FANCY yourself as a mini Conor McGregor but don’t really want to do any of the grappling or mouthing off? Never fear, because UCD has a variety of mixed martial arts clubs available around campus. One of the more successful ones is UCD Karate Club.

Don’t get it twisted – Karate isn’t just kicking or punching people really hard in the face. There are plenty of different techniques required to be a success, as UCD KC captain Lawrence de Barra explains: ‘’We’ve got different aspects of karate that we train. Our instructors start us off with an aerobic warm up and then a bit of stretching.

At the start of the year in particular we try and cater the beginners a bit more, the ones that are trying something new for the first time.

Obviously we have got different aspects of karate that we train. We start with the basics for newcomers and a sequence of moves called Kata, which consists of different moves in different directions (to help you stay light on your feet). Then we’ve sparring to build up combat and simulate what someone would

actually face in a karate fight.’’

With UCD Karate celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2017, it’s a big year and the club already has some events planned. ‘’We’ve obviously got the sports expo this week and a trip to Lahinch in Clare pencilled in for I think it’s the second weekend of October.

We’ll have a Freshers night coming up where’ll we head down to the Clubhouse after a Monday training session and try and integrate everyone.

Just a way of getting to know people really.’’

It’s not just about trips and nights out, however, as the club’s trophy haul shows.

There’s potential for it to be a record-breaking year at intervarsity level as well as a colour’s clash: ‘’The Inter College Youth Cup is between us and Trinity College so there’s a nice bit of rivalry. Over the past few years they’ve been giving us a bit of a kicking but we always get it back when it comes to the intervarsities.

We’ve won the last six titles in a row, equalling our own record, which was set a while ago. If we take it this year it’ll be seven in a row and

we’ll be re-writing the history books for the intervarsities.’’

De Barra, a third year neuroscience student, has been involved with the club since 2014 but it took a bit of experimentation for him to get involved at the start. ‘’I had been doing karate since I was seven and thought I’d try something new (when I got into college). I gave Olympic Handball a shot and while that was pretty good there was always a sense of stick to what you know so in semester two I joined the club and haven’t looked back since.’’

Despite the success at intervarsity level, there hasn’t been much international recognition for the students in UCD KC. ‘’There was something I heard last year about how if you won your personal event at the intervarsities you would go on to represent Ireland in the World University Student Games.

They were held in Azerbaijan last year but I don’t think anything came of it for the UCD students.’’

That was sure to be disappointing, especially after Team Ireland took in a record breaking 77 medals at the 2015 World Karate Championships.

The Passage West Club in Cork was responsible for nearly 50 of those and Ireland was boosted further with the announcement that UCC’s Mardyke will host the 2017 Championships.

These successes have led Sport Ireland to aim for a ‘medal haul’ from the 2020 Tokyo Games in the competitive martial arts sports, news which was bittersweet for de Barra: ‘’Obviously it’s great for the club but it’s a little disappointing at the same time. Up until the end of 2015 I was told that I was going to the Olympic Games but, because of politics and the way there… (it) wasn’t really one governing organization they didn’t allow it. Now… (that it’s been reported in print) it’s going to give people something to work towards which is always a positive.’’

Karate isn’t the only martial arts club in UCD however with no fewer than ten other disciplines available for students to join. But the captain is keen to point out that Karate stands alone: ‘’We’re a very social club. I think, all around, Karate is the best martial art that’s adapted to every day. Other clubs might use weapons or techniques that newcomers might not be used to. All around, I think it’s easier to get the grip of.’’

Students can join UCD Karate Club by signing up to it at the Sports Expo in Halls 1 and 2 of the UCD Sport Centre. Alternatively, they can come down to training on a Monday evening. There’s no set uniform, so t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms will be fine!

IMAGE COURTESY OF UCD KARATE FACEBOOK

SEPTEMBER 20TH 2016 19

SPORT After her summer in Rio, Conall Cahill sits down with UCD alum and Team Ireland rower Claire Lambe.

LIKE a summer romance, the Rio Olympians flickered within our sight for a fleeting moment, then left with our hearts. In their wake we wandered aimlessly, looking for something that gave us the same joy, laughter, nervousness; the same heartbreak. We watched the interviews with the magnificent O’Donovan brothers and Thomas Barr over and over again; we bookmarked Scott Evans tearing off his shirt and we ranted to anyone who’d listen about Mick Conlan and the injustice of it all.

And we watched Claire Lambe and Sinead Jennings, a pair so odd yet so fitting, and we fell in love with them just a little. Jennings, a mother of three who had spent sixteen years trying to get to an Olympics; Lambe, whose shy and gentle exterior when interviewed belied a toughness most of us can barely fathom.

Her story is as remarkable as that of any Olympian – of any person who devotes years of their life to fulfilling a picture they have in their mind. A dream that they once had and haven’t been able to escape. But for Lambe, who alongside Jennings finished sixth in the lightweight double sculls in Rio, it has never been about a seemingly ceaseless pursuit; rather, it has been about the daily rekindling of an inextinguishable romance she holds with her sport: “You come in after a session, when the weather is just lovely. Or maybe there was a sunrise on the water that morning. And you’re so happy that you’re getting to do that... nothing compares to going out on the water and when the boat’s moving effortlessly. You put in the hard hours and the horrible training sessions just for that feeling. I love it. I absolutely love it. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give it up.”

Team Ireland’s Olympics this summer at times felt like a vulnerable craft at the mercy of a fickle swell. Boxer Michael O’Reilly tested positive for a banned substance before competition had even begun. What followed his exit from Brazil were a series of under-performances and injustices involving his Irish boxing team-mates that had the nation reeling. The Olympic Council of Ireland ticket touting scandal and the arrest of its president Pat Hickey spelt international embarrassment for Ireland and at times it felt like the rowers, Annalise Murphy, Tom Barr and their fellow chinks of light were all that held us together.

Lambe admits that they were aware of the gloom that was at one stage threatening to engulf Team Ireland: “Yeah, I remember the first interview with RTÉ when we came in (after their race) and they said everybody at home was very down, and it was all very negative with the boxers... I was nearly annoyed at RTÉ for saying something negative. Everyone (in Rio) is doing their best – although some results were disappointing.”

She talks now with self-assurance and a “robust” faith in her own ability that she admits she has only gained “in the last couple of years”. Oftentimes, we assume that professional athletes – with their sleek frames, steady postures and excellence in a sporting sense – are the most cocksure of us all. But Lambe reveals a crippling self-doubt that hindered her attempts at qualifying for the London Olympics four years ago.

“I think my biggest inhibiting factor was that I never believed I could do it - although I always had positive coaches and people telling me I had natural ability. Nobody ever told me, ‘You’re never going to make it.’ It was always me that told myself, ‘I can’t do it.”

And this, she believes, is one of the key factors behind sporting performance (and underperformance) – the inability to control the demons, to stop “that negative thought coming into your head”. She talks of coming thirteenth with Jennings in a World Cup regatta in Varese in April and telling a coach afterwards that she thought they could medal in Rio. His wide-eyed response didn’t shake what, “deep down”, she knew they had within them. Reserves of belief stood up after years of effort and dedication

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that stretched back to when she was turning down nights out in UCD in favour of an early bedtime and a dawn rise for training the next day.

Although she was always left out of the loop when winks and nudges were exchanged in her engineering lectures after class nights spent somewhere on Harcourt Street, she doesn’t think she “ever felt overly like I was missing out”. She found the UCD Boat Club and fell in with its steady and consistent rhythm and routine, its early starts and easy companionship amongst people of a kindred spirit. The types of people who enjoy getting up before the birds and pushing themselves to excruciating physical and mental extremes balancing finely on the line preceding torture. She admits she would laugh when seeing other sportspeople engage in what they called ‘training’ and a part of her would wonder why it was that she was so drawn to the rhythm of the lake and such an uncompromising pursuit. It was always a fleeting moment of curiosity, rather than any concrete manifestation of doubt.

When talking to someone who has just achieved their life’s dreams and is operating in that hazy stratosphere of euphoria just above cloud nine, one is often reluctant to ask questions that threaten to dampen that mood. Yet the possible connotations of the ticket touting scandal involving the Olympic Council of Ireland are all very real for athletes like Lambe.

More specifically, for their family and friends – those, in other words, who have often played nearly as much of a role in their success as the athletes themselves.

Since the news broke that Kevin Mallon of the company THG was arrested in Rio in possession of hundreds of OCI tickets, and since it was reported by Brazilian police that 228 further tickets were found in the room of Team Ireland’s Chef de Mission Kevin Kilty, stories have been emerging of athletes’ families and friends who struggled to get their hands on tickets for their loved ones’ performances in the Games.

People like Grainne Adams, mother of sailor Finn Lynch, who couldn’t get any tickets from Pro10, the supposed ticket provider for the Olympic Council of Ireland for the Rio Olympics.

People like Scott Evans, whose parents had similar problems with Pro10.

And, speaking to the University Observer, Lambe told of her own supporters’ frustrations with Pro10: “Pro10 were an absolute disaster for any of my friends trying to get out there... (they) had an awful time with Pro10 in that they were unresponsive to emails, unresponsive to phone calls, and then eventually they told them that they never had any rowing tickets whatsoever – and were never going to. So my friends ended up buying them through other country sellers and, oh God, one of my friends even got totally done on a scam website. There was no proper Irish vendor that I was aware of, other than Pro10.”

Lambe says that representatives of Pro10 had initially promised that tickets for the rowing events would be released through a “lottery” system in February of this year. But when February came, “they told (her friends) that there were no rowing tickets anyway. And at that point they had to go and find some outside the country.”

She admits that it “all seems very strange” – stating that her parents “paid over four hundred euros each for the week of rowing, on top of the travel expenses” and that “the cost ruled out my sisters coming out, and a lot of others.”

Her parents sourced tickets through the “rowing federation” just after she qualified out of a fear that “they wouldn’t be able to get tickets elsewhere”.

Of course, all of this raises questions as to why the relatives of one of Ireland’s Olympic athletes weren’t certain that they could quite easily obtain tickets to watch their daughter’s events. Why were her friends forced to go through such obscure – and, plainly, dangerous – avenues in order to acquire tickets? All of this

was going on while spare OCI tickets were allegedly set to be flogged in Rio; while tickets lay in Kilty’s room; while, according to emails alleged

by Brazilian police to be from his account, Hickey seems to have offered tickets to THG director Kevin Mallon and refused the offer of tickets for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.

Indeed, it appears that Lambe’s parents shouldn’t even have had to look for tickets. According to Adams, under a ‘family and friends’ scheme supposedly run by the Olympic Council of Ireland, there are meant to be two tickets allocated to each athlete for their event that can be (at a cost) used by family or friends.

As part of the Brazilian police inquiry, a number of OCI officials had their passports seized, among them Dermot Henihan, Kilty and Stephen Martin. The three men have now had their passports returned to them – but at the time of the interview they were still languishing in Rio, something that displeased Lambe greatly. She said herself and Jennings (who is a friend of Henihan’s) were “very upset” about the situation, opining that the treatment of the trio was “awful”.

Lambe admits that she “doesn’t want any negativity” to cloud her memory of the Rio Olympics and that, perhaps because of this, she “hasn’t given too much thought” to the inquiry or to what impact its results could have on that memory.

After all that she has done, it is a little sad that, in the coming months, she just might have to think about it.

PHOTO VIA UCD.IE