Vol. XXVI, Issue 1, UO

Comment

Features

Deeks’s New Office Symptomatic of Callous Spending Nathan Young

The Long and Winding Road to Brexit Doireann De Courcy Mac Donnell

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Agriculture & Rural Affairs

Sport

Beef Protests and Rural Unrest

On the Edge of Glory?

Niall Hurson

Michael Tuohy

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THE UNIVERSITY VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

OBSERVER 17th September 2019

universityobserver.ie

“They don’t seem to understand anything that’s not a physical disability.” Access Centre accused of not providing adequate resources for students Gavin Tracey and Aoife Mawn Additional reporting by Nathan Young

Access & Lifelong Learning (ALL) is a resource offered to UCD students that advertises a range of supports, including financial, academic, and personal. Their aim is to support students by providing them with the necessary tools and services to ensure that third level education is open and accessible to all, including those with disabilities.

However, The University Observer has heard from several students, who have detailed the issues they have faced in dealing with the Access & Lifelong Learning Center, especially surrounding so called “invisible” disabilities, such as autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and anxiety. Speaking to the Observer, John* described problems in dealing with the Access Centre; “they don’t seem to understand anything that’s not a physical disability. They don’t understand anxiety or autism or anything.”

A common issue raised by these stu-

dents is a lack of clarity surrounding what services are available to students with invisible disabilities. Mark* told the University Observer “when you do the disability assessment meeting you aren’t actually told what’s available to you. I understand that they don’t want to be like ‘well this this this and this [is available]’ but it’s often very hard for someone who is newly diagnosed to be like ‘this is what I need’ because you can identify that you are struggling, but I didn’t know why.”

automatically registered with the Access Centre as they were a DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) student in secondary school, told the Observer; “I was trying to ask if there was anything else that they could offer but they didn’t seem to want to suggest anything. I didn’t know what I could have.” Matthew felt that “they were a bit dismissive, when I would explain a problem and ask if they had anything they wouldn’t offer anything.”

John also mentioned the difficulties they encountered dealing with lecturers, particularly in obtaining notes for Maths; “He was like, “Oh, I don’t know how to help you, I do it all on the whiteboard, it’s your problem.” The question of who was responsible for solving this problem was then argued over, John said: “Then I went back to the Access Centre, they were like ‘talk to your Student Advisor.’ And the Student Advisor was like, ‘talk to the Access Centre, anything to do with disability doesn’t go through us.’”

When approached for comment, Anna Kelly, Director of the Access Centre, expressed concern that students were having problems.

“Students are assured that we have an ‘open door’ policy, and they are strongly encouraged to contact us when they need information, assistance, guidance or supports.”

“It’s often very hard for someone who is newly diagnosed to be like “this is what I need” because you can identify that you “They don’t seem to understand are struggling, but I didn’t know anything that’s not a physical why.”

When the issue of lecturers and academdisability. They don’t under- stand anxiety or autism or any- ic staff refusing to take into account students disabilities was raised, Kelly responded, saying: thing.”

“Following the student’s needs assessment, we

Similar sentiments are held by other students who have shared their experience in dealing with the Access Center. Matthew*, who was

contact the Module Coordinators each semester, outlining their responsibilities in supporting students with disabilities. Information is also

sent regularly to all University staff and faculty, and we also provide ongoing training opportunities.” It was not stated whether these training opportunities were compulsory, nor if staff had come to the Centre looking for specific training.

It was also not disclosed what kind of training was offered.

The Access Centre deal with some 2000 students with disabilities, 11.6% of the total amount of students who avail of the services offered by ALL. ALL have 24 full time staff members. Students who spoke to the University Observer felt that the issues they were facing could be due to funding and staffing issues. Mark explained that “when I was on the service before, the standard is that you have an appointment [with an occupational therapist] every week, but at the time I was only having an appointment every two weeks. I was told it was because they didn’t have enough people.”

The University Observer also reached out to the Student’s Union for a response. President Joanna Siewierska said “Since we have began [sic] [working with the Access Centre], we have not have [sic] any student complain about services from the ALL centre.” However, she did concede that students had expressed issues with academic staff. “We have heard from students under the Access umbrella who encountered problems when dealing with members of academic staff.”

Disability Rights Officer, Hannah Bryson, recently tweeted about her interactions with the Access Centre and sharing her difficulties with them and other disability support services within UCD: “I failed a module twice because no one would step in and tell the lecturers to give me notes, spent over a grand in repeat fees due to my dyslexia, banned from extenuating circumstance because one was disability related, Dean told me [to] go to another uni [sic] as not suited for UCD.” When approached for comment, Bryson said “My tweets were out of frustration that the university is not currently matching the needs for myself and other students. My main issue is that in class supports are dependant on [the] communication skills of the student.” She also highlighted the work the Union is hoping to do this year. “We as a Union are currently looking into a peer run self advocacy group to help students, and hoping to engage with [the] ALL centre more to make sure UCD is truly a University for All’.” *The names of these students have been changed at their own request.

UCD make €200,000 profits on UCard replacement charges since 2014 Gavin Tracey and Aoife Mawn UCD have made a six-figure profit on the production of replacement UCards since September 2014. The cost of replacing a UCard for the student reduced from €30 to €20 at the start of the academic year in 2014. In figures obtained by the University Observer, through the Freedom of Information Act, the manufacturing cost of replacing and reprinting a UCard is €5, four times less than the current retail cost of €20.

Since September 2014 UCD have made just over €200,000 in profit from the replacement of UCards, against an overall revenue of €274,260, a 75% profit. It is unclear at this time as to where this money is reinvested within UCD.

17th September 2019

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NEWS National News in Brief Andrea Andres DNA samples from survivors and relatives can be used to identify Tuam babies A new report by Dr. Geoffrey Shannon indicates that DNA samples can be collected from survivors and relatives through a voluntary scheme. “Report on the Collection of Tuam Survivors” indicates that the voluntary collection of DNA samples from survivors and relatives is possible. This could aid in identifying the remains from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home.

The report comes after survivors wanted to “bank” their DNA samples to identify remains found in the excavation of the site.

The collected DNA samples can be used to compare DNA profiles produced from the remains in Tuam. However, new legislation has to be in place and it has to be proven that DNA profiles can be created from the remains before any DNA profiles are generated.

Private Bus Operator Go-Ahead Avoids Fines from the NTA Private bus operator Go-Ahead has avoided fines from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to allow it a “short time to bed.”

Go-Ahead were to be fined in July for complaints about its unsatisfactory bus service.

There were complaints about buses failing to turn up and its punctuality. Pensioners and school children were particularly affected by its bus service. The most frequently complained routes were 59, 66 and 111.

This has drawn criticism from People Before Profit deputy for Dun Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barett, whose constituents were particularly affected by Go-Ahead’s bus service.

He called the decision “outrageous” and “totally unacceptable”. Go-Ahead admitted to Mr. Boyd Barett that “the delivery of certain bus services by Go-Ahead during June was below the target set out in the contract.”

This was caused by “higher than expected driver resignations.” Go-Ahead won a contract of €125 million over the next five years in exchange for running an essential public service.

Irish Universities Association calls for greater funding in third level education In light of the upcoming Budget 2020 proposal, the Irish Universities Association (IUA) has called for 377 million euros in funding across core funding, research and innovation. It has demanded that the government take a “decisive step to address the growing funding crisis” in third level education.

The IUA is asking for “real and sustained increase” in core funding. Universities need an investment of €117 million to address growing student numbers, problems related to quality and access and known cost increases in national pay grounds. This is still short of what is recommended by the Cassell’s Report, but it would “signal real intent to fix the funding crisis.”

Other demands from the IUA include an investment of €50 million into research and innovation, increasing to €70 million by 2022 and €80 million by 2025. It has also asked for a total of €210 million in capital funding for new facilities, upgrading equipment and urgent repairs.

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Photo Credit: CollegeDegrees360 on Flickr

More Than a Third of Students Experiencing ‘Extremely Severe’ Anxiety Jade Wilson A HSE funded report published by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has found that one third of students are experiencing “extremely severe levels of anxiety”.

The National Report on Student Mental Health in Third Level Education surveyed 3,340 students on aspects of their experiences with mental health and mental health services in third level education.

The majority of students who took the survey (88.3%) were enrolled in an Undergraduate Degree. Students who were repeating an element of their course were more likely to be on the extremely severe end of all mental health difficulties.

38.4% of surveyed students said they suffer extremely severe levels of anxiety, 29.9 per cent reported experiencing depression and 17.3% said they experience severe stress.

32.2% had received a formal diagnosis of mental health difficulty at some point in their lives.

8.9% of surveyed students said they felt lonely all of the time.

Gender had an influence on anxiety, depression and stress levels. Non-binary students had the highest levels of extremely severe anxiety symptoms at 61.3%. Female students followed at 41% experiencing anxiety. Stress levels correlated with this, however, male students were found to be more depressed than women.

Over half of transgender students reported suffering with severe anxiety and depression.

A quarter of students said their mental health problems often impacted on their studies at university.

Over ten per cent said it affected them all the time.

However, almost half of the students surveyed said they would not have considered leaving college due to their struggle with their mental health.

Most students were made aware of support services through their Students’ Union, however, a fifth of students still felt they did not have someone to talk to about their personal and emotional difficulties.

A total of 41.8% of those who participated in the study were receiving social welfare support of some kind.

Many were dependent on financial assistance from parents, partners as well as bank and Credit Union loans.

HEA study reveals how postcodes affects student prospects With the much anticipated research from the Higher Education Authority, Mark Jackson asks whether class affects progression to third level education A soon-to-be-published report by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) - as reported by the Irish Independent – has found startling results in terms of how affluence or the lack thereof can influence academic performance as well as progression. The research indicates the wealthiest areas see the most second-level students going on to attend third-level as well as those achieving the highest Leaving Certificate points. At the moment, those in disadvantaged areas are more likely to score less in the Leaving Certificate, earn less when they progress to the professional sector and are less likely to attend third level in the first place.

The report examined small patches of the population and cross referenced the most recent household income data alongside the level of Leaving Certificate achievement and progression into higher education. To measure socioeconomic background, researchers used the Pobal HP Deprivation index from the government to determine the relative prosperity or disadvantage of a particular geographical area.

Affluent students were discovered to be 10 times more likely to achieve high points in the Leaving Certificate and take their pick in esteemed third level courses. It found that students from the most affluent areas accounted for 32% of those scoring 555-600 points and 26% of those with 505-555 points. But only 3% and 4% from the most disadvantaged areas scored within the same points bracket. 24% of those scoring 155-205 Leaving Certificate points came from disadvantaged areas compared with 8% of the wealthiest communities.

Furthermore, those from affluent areas tend to make up a high proportion of students in 500+ points courses such as healthcare, finance and business. A stark example are figures for medicine, one of the most competitive and highly-sought after pro-

fessions. It was found that 36% of enrolments to the course came from the wealthiest areas as opposed to 3.5% from disadvantaged communities.

Overall, 19% of third-level enrolments came from the wealthiest families compared to just 10% from the most disadvantaged families. The HEA also found that socioeconomic status affected earnings in the year after completing college. Regardless of the level, the grade achieved, specialism or their initial employment, socioeconomic standing still had a strong influence on earnings after college. This could mean a difference of €1,000-€2,000 in pay levels a year after graduation between a well-off student and disadvantaged student.

DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools are attempting to close this wide and evident gap between the wealthiest areas and the most disadvantaged ones. In January of this year, the Educational Research Centre conducted research on DEIS schools and how they were performing in comparison to data collected from the Junior Certificate programme in 1998. For the purposes of the study, they used the possession of a medical card as an indicator of low family income.

“affluent areas accounted for 32% of those scoring 555-600 points and 26% of those with 505-555 points. But only 3% and 4% from the 16% most disadvantaged areas scored on the same points bracket.”

The survey found that a free campus counselling service was important for students.

The counselling service in UCD is available free of charge to students. However, The University Observer reported in 2017 that the waiting list had reached the highest it’s ever been for a number of years.

Students are seen on a priority case by case basis. Students who are on the waiting list for more than two weeks can be referred to external counselling services, but similar waiting list scenarios are often encountered there too. Úna Carroll, UCDSU Welfare Officer, said she did not wish to comment on the matter at this time.

Students spoke about the difficulty balancing their mental health and college at the same time. One student, responding to the USI survey, said “I couldn’t see the CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) nurse until the summer because I had college but when I did get to talk to the CBT nurse I found those sessions very helpful.”

The HEA and HEI recommended the introduction and utilisation of online services, peer support and group workshop and/or sessions. They acknowledged that more investment is needed to meet the growing demand for free counselling services in colleges.

It was also recommended that research and peer support programmes be “standardised, further developed and expanded.’’

It appears that the DEIS programme is working as intended for students from disadvantaged areas. Since the year 2006, when the DEIS initiative began, there have been significant reductions in students sitting Foundation Level papers in both English and Maths. There has been an increase in students sitting Higher Level papers in these same subjects. Twelve years ago, in 2007, one fourth (24%) of all DEIS students sat Foundation Level Maths papers. This fell to 13% nine years later in 2016. Students sitting Higher Level Maths papers rose from 19 to 33% during the same time frame.

The Education Research Centre stated in a press release that ‘significant gaps still exist and most of those gaps have their basis in income inequality.’

Disadvantaged areas have DEIS schools, while the wealthier areas have what are known as feeder schools. These are schools which have a proven track record of students going on to attend some form of third level education after their studies. In December of last year, the Irish Times published research concerning how feeder schools performed on a national scale. The most affluent areas of Dublin 2, Dublin 4 and Dublin 6 saw 90-100% of the student body progress to some form of third level institution. 80% of school leavers from Dublin 6 entered either into a university, college of education, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) or Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) In comparison, only around 57% of DEIS students went on to higher education, while Dublin 10 and 11 witnessed far lower progression rates of 42-44%.

Dublin 17 saw the lowest progression rate with just 7% going on to attend higher education (however this data may be distorted by a single secondary school in the area). According to the report, these figures have seen no change since 2012.

NEWS

UK Universities Losing Academics and Funding After Brexit Vote Nathan Young

An analysis of the impact of the Brexit vote on academics carried out by the The Russell Group has found an increase in the numbers of EU citizens leaving their academic posts since the Brexit vote, and a decrease in the number of EU citizens coming to the UK to fill vacant academic posts. The Russell Group is a self selected association of 24 research universities in the UK, including Oxford and Cambridge, who represent their members interests primarily to the UK parliament. The data used was from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which serves as the official agency for the collection, analysis, and dissemination on higher education in the UK.

In 2015-16 3,865 EU nationals quit jobs in academic posts in Russell Group universities. In 2016-17 the number was 4,280, an 11% increase. During the same time periods, the number of non-EU academics leaving their posts rose by 4%, and the number of UK academics leaving their posts rose by 5%. The proportion of EU academics hired by Russell Group universities from overseas went from 48% in the 201617 period to only 43% in the 2017-18 period, meaning that more of the EU nationals who are being hired by Russell Group universities were already UK residents. While the overall number of EU academics working in Russell Group universities rose by 4% in 2017-18, this is the lowest

growth in a decade, in what is otherwise a growing industry. The Russell Group argue that if urgent action isn’t taken, and these trends continue, UK universities will soon have a net loss in EU academics year on year.

The Russell Group is calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to make good on political promises made during the Brexit referendum in 2016 and to guarantee working and residency rights to academics from the EU before the October 31 Brexit deadline. In the analysis, Senior Policy Analyst for The Russell Group Dr Hollie Chandler writes “For any prime minister interested in the health of a sector that is a major national asset, and fundamental to our future economic success, this should be a concern”. She later writes “Our new Prime Minister must address this situation as a priority and take action to provide certainty and reassurance to EU academics. If not, the UK risks losing many talented EU teachers, researchers, technicians and innovators who are so fundamental to the success of our sector”.

Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute, a UK think tank, Rachel Hewitt has called the Data “concerning,’’ adding “Much of the discussion about the impact of Brexit on higher education has been on the impact on students, but the impact staff at UK universities has clearly already been significant...EU academics help to make our universities the first-class institutions they are, and they have a particularly critical role in the research we conduct.’’ She echoed Dr Chandlers calls on the government, saying that “The government needs to take action to ensure that the UK remains an inviting place for talented academics across the world to come to work.”

Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokesperson said, “As

this report rightly recognises, our universities’ non-UK workforce grew again in 2017-18 and the increasing diversity of our higher-education system is one of the many reasons it continues to thrive. We are stepping up our preparations to leave the EU, which includes making sure our world-class universities are able to continue with important research and teaching. We are making an unequivocal guarantee to the 3.2 million EU nationals living and working among us, and they will have the absolute certainty of the right to live and remain in the UK.” The UK Government has already started a settlement scheme for EU nationals living in the UK, however the rights promised on the scheme are yet to be enshrined into UK law. These rights had previously been defined in Theresa May’s Withdrawal bill, but that bill was defeated in parliament. The Russell Group are seeking these legal protections for EU academics in the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill which is currently awaiting a date for its third reading in parliament.

Another concern for academics who remain in the UK is access to funding. Following Brexit, it will be unlikely that researchers in UK university will be eligible for European Research Council (ERC) Grants, or qualify for Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions that give researchers money to spend time working in a lab in a different country. In the decade before 2016, UK scientists won 22% of ERC grants awarded. Non-EU member participation in ERC projects from 2020 is still being discussed, and UK science minister Chris Skidmore and director of the Alan Turing Institute Adrian Smith has begun a project to investigate the possibility of having a UK research Grant Scheme to attract researchers to the UK. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that these grants will be able to make up for the losses in EU funding post Brexit.

Chinese Government Faces Scrutiny Over “Re-Education” Camps Aoife Mawn The Chinese government continue to deny mistreatment at their “re-education camps” as more Uyghur Muslims claim that millions are being held in inhumane internment camps due to their religion and ethnicity. The government claim that the re-education programmes are being carried out in order to stop terrorism attacks and instill a respect for the Chinese state in the group that they say have a tendency to incite violence against the government, despite failing to provide any examples of this having occurred previously.

The government has invited international media into these camps in an attempt to prove that they not internment facilities, but that the majority of those attending the centres are there of their own choice. This, many Uighirs claim, is untrue. It is estimated that up to two million people are currently being detained, with varying reports being released on what is occurring in the facilities. The government claims that there is an assortment of classes on the greatness of the Chinese state, traditional Chinese music and dance lessons and workshops on reducing the chances of radicalisation to ensure they are on a path to reformation, being “reborn” as good, Chinese citizens. Those who have family members in the camps, or have been there themselves, say that what is occurring is less educational and more akin torture. Waterboarding, handcuffing and long spells of imprisonment are common, with tools such a brainwashing and humiliation also being used.

Mihrigul Turson, a mother of triplets, claims that she was tortured on multiple occasions after being detained a number of times.

On the first occasion, one of her three children died in custody and the other two had developed serious health problems and had been operated on. On the third occasion, she claims to have

been drugged, electrocuted and subjected to intrusive medical examinations. She was kept in a cell with 60 other women, and security cameras were installed in the bathroom facilities. “I thought I would rather die than go through this torture,” she told journalists after her testimony.

“I begged them to kill me.” Upon her release she fled to Egypt with her children, before settling in Virginia, U.S.A.

Uighur writer Nurmuhammad Tohti was reported to have died in March 2019 at the age of 70. His family claim he was incarcerated for several months without medical treatment for his diabetes and heart disease. They also claim that they were initially afraid to inform the rest of the family of his passing as they feared their phones were being tapped by the government.

One of the reasons cited by the government for internment is contact with relatives outside of China. “Shortly after the call, my grandma received a message from the Chinese government saying she had answered a foreign call and that that was a dangerous decision,” Tohiti’s grandson, Balbur Ilchi, wrote on a since deleted Instagram post. “What did she do other than tell us he had passed away? Why should that be met with consequences?” This fear lead to many family members not being informed of Tohti’s passing for up to 11 days after his death. His granddaughter, Berna Ilchi, stated that they do not know if he passed away in the internment camp or at his home, as they were too afraid to ask due to fears of phone-tapping.

International reaction to the reports has been mixed. In July 2019, 22 countries including U.K. and Germany signed a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council urging China to close the camps in Xinjiang. In response, 50 other countries, including North Korea and Syria signed a joint letter to the same body praising

the “remarkable achievements” the camps have made. The Chinese government only admitted to the existence of the camps in October 2018 following their legalisation, however satellite images trace them back to 2014.

The Chinese government invited international press into one of the facilities in Xinjiang in June of this year, in an attempt to deter rumours of mistreatment by showing journalists brightly lit classrooms and happy, dancing students. The BBC reported that the Chinese government officials that were accompanying them as they toured the facility and spoke to those inside “believed wholeheartedly in the narrative on display,” adding that while watching the classes and workshops that were being performed, “some [were] almost moved to tears as they looked on.” A BBC reporter surmised that the primary reason behind the invitation was to show that “the West could learn a lot from this was the message.”

International News in Brief Jade Wilson Netenyahu pledges annexation of Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. The Israeli leader announced his plan on Tuesday 10th promising to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, occupied since 1967.

The Valley is home to roughly 65,000 Palestinians and 11,000 settlers. Palestinians in the Jordan Valley area are concerned the move will put an end to their aspirations of statehood and result in local people unable to be granted citizenship. Palestinians are also concerned the move will jeopardize their rights and result in a loss of jobs.

The leaders of Israeli settlers in the area applauded Netanyahu’s speech, labelling it a “historic event”. The move comes ahead of upcoming elections on Tuesday 17th. Some have brushed Netanyahu’s plans off as merely a campaign stunt.

However, the groundwork for the annexation has been in place since Donald Trump came to power in the United States. President Trump has previously recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Last week, the Russian foreign ministry denounced Netanyahu’s annexation plan, saying his proposed plans could “lead to a sharp escalation of tension in the region and undermine hopes for the establishment of a long-awaited peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours”.

John Bolton leaves Trump administration

US President Donald Trump has sacked his former national security adviser, John Bolton.

A report by Bloomberg on Wednesday 11th put Bolton’s departure largely down to a fundamental disagreement over the possible easing of US sanctions on Iran.

Trump announced that he had fired Bolton via his Twitter page on Tuesday 10th, saying he “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration”.

Most recently, there were disagreements within the administration regarding Trump’s decision to host a meeting with Taliban leaders. Bolton was highly critical of talks with the Taliban. The meeting was cancelled. US Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump found Bolton’s position on the issue to be “a bridge too far”.

Bolton was also known to have pressed Trump on issues relating to North Korea. He advocated war against North Korea as well as Iran.

Bolton claimed he had offered his resignation on Monday night, tweeting: “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow.’”

Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser, succeeding HR McMaster and Michael Flynn, who resigned after just 24 days and pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador Sergey Kislyak relating to US sanctions imposed on Moscow by Obama.

Hurricane Dorian

Approximately 1,300 people remain missing nearly two weeks after Hurricane Dorian began in the Bahamas. The number is down from 2,500 listed missing in the first week after the storm.

The National Emergency Management Agency said the drop in numbers came after cross-referencing names of the missing with those in shelters.

The Bahamian Government has stated the list of people still missing may include those staying in shelters who have thus far been unable to connect with relatives.

The category 5 storm killed 50 people when it hit the northern region of the Bahamas with winds at almost 300 kilometres per hour and severe flooding. The storm lasted for a day and a half.

The Bahamas now brace for a second hit as the US National Weather Service issued an advisory on Thursday, warning of an oncoming tropical storm. The tropical storm conditions are expected to hit the northwest Bahamas, including the Abaco Islands. However, no significant harm is anticipated as it is predicted the storm will only result in two to four inches of rain.

17th September 2019

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NEWS Campus News in Brief Gavin Tracey and Aoife Mawn UCD Sued by Maynooth UCD has been brought to court by Maynooth University over the alleged poaching of Professor Kath Browne. Maynooh claim that UCD approached Prof. Browne and suggested that she apply for a position within UCD. The Kildare university claims that UCD recruited Prof. Browne under their Central Pool Academic Appointments Programme.

Maynooth are not seeking to prevent Prof.

Browne from taking up her position in UCD, but they are looking to the courts to make a decision on what they claim are unlawful poaching practices. They claim that the manner in which Prof. Browne was hired, by being asked to send her CV to the head of school, was not an open or honest way of going about hiring someone. They also maintain that the position was not advertised. They also claim that it breaches a 2006 agreement entered into by the two universities, in which they agreed not to approach members of staff from the other university to offer them employment.

The Department of Education have expressed their wish for this case not to go before the courts.

€20m Quinn extension opens The UCD Moore Centre opened its doors early September, increasing the floor space in the Quinn School of Business by almost 50%. The €20 million expansion features a 320 seat lecture theatre and co-working zones, aimed to “to mimic those in start-ups and innovation hubs.”

Many of the new lecture theatres and classrooms bear the names of large businesses and firms, such as PwC, KPMG, and EY. The extension is named after entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. George G. Moore, a UCD alumnus. His wife, Angela Moore, the founding donor, opened the new extension on September 1st.

Speaking at the opening of the Moore Centre, UCD President Andrew Deeks said “Our hope is that George’s story and the UCD Moore Centre for Business will inspire and encourage our students to believe in themselves and their ideas – a fitting tribute to one of the most successful business people of his generation.”

UCD mourns former chaplain Fr Tony Coote The passing of former UCD chaplain and Volunteers Overseas founder Fr. Tony Coote on 28th August last was marked

by UCD, who highlighted the late priests achievements on and off campus. Fr. Coote also founded the student led mental health movement, Please Talk, following his dismay at the number of young people taking their own lives. The programme, which began in UCD, is now in operation in 27 colleges and universities around the country.

Five months after his diagnosis of motor neurone disease in February 2018, Fr. Coote took part in a 550 kilometre walk from Co. Donegal to Co. Cork to raise awareness of the disease, undeterred by his reliance on a wheelchair. In doing so, he raised €700,000 for motor neurone research. His best selling book, ‘Live While You Can’ was released in May of this year, and was widely acclaimed for its honest portrayal of the disease, along with Coote’s memories of his life before and after his ordination.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCD in December last year. He passed away in Dublin, aged 55.

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New Solas Chief Executive Andrew Brownlee Looks To Make Reforms in the Further Education Sector Andrea Andres Andrew Brownlee suggests that a reform agenda is needed to realize the full potential of the further education sector.

Newly minted chief executive of Solas Andrew Brownlee has indicated that wider reform is needed to “unleash the full potential” of the further education sector over the coming years. Solas, the state agency for further education and training, is exploring different ideas to invigorate further education and attract more school leavers.

Solas is looking into adding “taster” courses for further education and training courses in secondary school similar to a model in Scotland where modules formed part of what is equivalent to our Leaving Certificate. He thinks that the 24 types of programmes on offer could be further simplified as well.

To address criticism of further education colleges that they mimic a secondary school year and close for the summer, Solas is looking into ways to make further education colleges open for longer. They’re trying to meet the demand for more upskilling and “bite sized” courses. Speaking to the Irish Times, he said: “We’re going to look at how we develop a more flexible, year-round approach and how to use technology to deliver year-round courses . . . and find ways to ensure our facilities are open throughout the year and can service needs at different points in time.” he said.

He also said that Solas will work with trade unions who are “very important stakeholders.” He said that: “They are committed to the future of further education and technology as well and they recognise the need to develop and chance. Teachers and instructors are critical stakeholders in moving this forward.”

He is also looking into further education options being added to the preference process of Central Applications Office. This can potentially give further education choices more visibility to students as they decide on career options.

He believes that “it’s the right option for a much more significant group of school leavers than are choosing that at present,” Speaking to the Irish Times, he said: “A 17- or 18-year-old doesn’t always know what the right option is. Sometimes a one year post-Leaving Cert course or 18-month traineeship can help in deciding what the best option is.”

Furthermore, he describes the result of further education as excellent: 90% of graduates end up in employment or in other types of education. At the moment, one in five students entering institutes of technology are from further education courses.

However, further education courses can also bring a school leaver to third level courses, but this isn’t always clear or consistent. Solas will be looking into making these links between further education and third level clearer for school leavers.

He is exploring several ways to “get that message across” that further education is a viable option into full-time employment and higher education without having to commit to another four years of education.

“I think we have a real offering which we can make more of in the next few years.” he said.

Mr. Brownlee credits higher education as playing a transformative and positive role in shaping Ireland, but feels there is a “cultural issue” here. He has expressed concern that “there’s an almost obsession with people going into higher education. And I think there is an opportunity now to see if we have that balance right.” Therefore, routes to further education

are ignored in favour of going straight to third level education.

“According to the Higher Education Authority, 44,000 new entrants entered higher education and 70,000 are graduating with undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications. But very few enter further education and training compared to other countries in the EU.” This “obsession” is clear from the Higher Education Authority’s (HEA) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) recent figures. Ireland has one of the highest proportions of school leavers entering third level education in the European Union with 60% progressing to tertiary education. According to the HEA, 44,000 new entrants entered higher education and 70,000 graduated with undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications last year. Over the last year, just over a quarter of a million people (232,000) or one in 15 adults are studying a third level course in Ireland according to the HEA. This has indicated that “Ireland is clearly a society committed to learning,” according to HEA chief executive Paul O’Toole. “This talent pool will help us meet whatever challenges we face.”Numbers from the OECD show that that almost half of Irish adults (47%) gained a bachelor’s degree. This is one of the highest shares across all OECD countries. But very few enter further education and training compared to other countries in the EU.

OECD Report Reveals Significant Gender Pay Between College Educated Men and Women Andrea Andres A new OECD report has revealed a stark gap in pay between men and women and the general state of education in Ireland.

Women, between ages 25-64, with a degree earn 28% less than men despite having a higher tertiary attainment and completion rate. This is one of the key insights about education in Ireland in a new report by the international economic think tank Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to OECD’s report entitled “Education at a Glance 2019”, Ireland has one of the largest shares of tertiary-educated adults. The report reveals almost half (47%) of adults (25-64 year olds) have a degree. 51% of women have obtained a degree compared to 43% of men. In the age bracket of 25-34 years old, 60% of women hold a third level qualification compared to 52% of men.

There are also clear benefits to a third level qualification and is seen as more valuable by employers. One is more likely to be employed with a degree; 85% of graduates are employed while only 4% of graduates are unemployed. Those who only completed the Leaving Certificate have an unemployment rate of 71%. These percentages are far higher as 56% of 25-34 year olds in Ireland have gone on to third level education.

Long term unemployment rates for those graduates (31%) are slightly higher than the OECD average of 29%. Those without third level qualifications are more likely to stay unemployed for longer with the unemployment rate being 46% in Ireland compared to the OECD average of 36%. The employment rate for those with a degree is 11 percentage points higher than someone who has only completed the Leaving

Certificate or attended further education and 33 percentage points higher for those who obtained a level below the Leaving Certificate.

“The net financial returns for Irish men in the public sector are roughly $369,00 compared to $143,000 for women.”

Holders of a bachelor’s degree or higher enjoy great financial benefits compared to those without one. They earn 81% more on average than those who only completed the Leaving Certificate compared to the OECD average of 44%. Those who have completed a Master’s degree can earn twice as much as someone whose formal education stopped at the Leaving Certificate. Despite tertiary educated adults having an advantage over earnings, it still varies by age; if they have completed university, those between 25-34 years of age earn 42% on average compared to 71% more among 35-44 years of age and 116% more if they’re among 45-54 years of age. These gaps between age are more marked among those without a third level degree.

But having higher educational attainment such as a masters or a doctorate doesn’t mean better chances of employment. Regardless of tertiary attainment, employment prospects are similar across a bachelors, masters and a doctorate. The employment rate for doctorate holders are only 3% higher than those with a masters.

The report has also revealed that men who have a third level degree have higher absolute net financial returns than women. Men can earn $476,000 compared to $387,000 for women. The net financial returns for Irish men in the public sector are roughly $369,000 compared to $143,000 for women.

The report describes this as the “largest gap across OECD countries with available data”. However, be-

cause men earn more, they pay more taxes.

Despite earning less than men, women have more pronounced benefits if they obtain third level qualification. Their average financial benefits are 22 times the cost compared to only 15 times the cost for men. Irish women have the highest benefit-cost ratio across OECD countries while men have the third highest ratio in the OECD. The report shows that Ireland has one of the highest rates of enrollment to third level across the OECD. 96% of tertiary students are enrolled in public institutions. Bachelor’s students are generally between 19 and 21 years of age. 53% of students enrolled in third level education are between 19 and 20 years old in contrast to 39% of students enrolled that are 21 and 22 years old. Ireland also has the second highest completion rate in the OECD. 63% of new students complete a bachelor’s degree within its theoretical timeframe. For women, this is slightly higher with 67% completing a degree.

Despite high attainment rates for third-level education, Ireland has one of the lowest investments on post-primary education. In 2016, total expenditure for tertiary education only added up to 0.8% of its GDP. In contrast to the OECD average of 1.5% and EU23 average of 1.2%. Ireland only spends $13,237 per student in third level, compared to the OECD average of $15,556 per student and to the EU23 average of $15,863.

COMMENT

Deeks’s New Office Symptomatic of Callous Spending With the revelation last April that Andrew Deeks’s new office is going to cost €7.5 million, Nathan Young considers the possibility that this is part of a wider spending problem.

Last April it was revealed by the Irish Times that UCD president Andrew Deeks’ new office in Ardmore house, which was set to cost €900,000, is actually going to cost €7,500,000. Not only that, but Deeks had approved the cost himself under “delegated authority” between meetings of the finance committee. The money isn’t just for Deeks’ office, mind, but also for the offices of his staff, and the UCD Foundation, the fundraising arm who teach poor students just how depressing call centre life really is. According to the minutes of UCD’s Governing Authority, “concerns were raised” over whether UCD had a strategic vision for how it spends its reserves, which are between twenty and twenty five million euro. That this extra spending wasn’t even part of a larger plan, let alone debated by any of the larger committees within UCD, is typical of how UCD in general and Andrew Deeks personally order priorities.

That the president of UCD should have a nice office in a central location is almost a given.

Deeks needs to meet and impress many important people, such as representatives of the Chinese Government checking if the Confucius Institute is behaving adequately shadily, or Denis O’Brien to see if he can have his name associated with something other than being Denis O’Brien.

What is less obvious is why renovations for this should cost seven and a half million euro. A full breakdown of the cost has not been posted, but at the price of almost twenty average Dublin houses, Deeks may as well be gold plating all his

his furniture and encrusting his stationary with precious stones.

The salary of a therapist in Ireland is roughly €51,458, according to recruitment website indeed.ie. The inside of the agriculture building is falling apart. Many mandatory text books for modules are in too short supply in the library, forcing some students to buy €60 tomes they’ll never use again. There isn’t an academic field that doesn’t have researchers seeking funding for new projects, and research projects are what drives students, academics, and whole fields of human knowledge forward. You know, like a university is supposed to do. Give €7 million euro to almost anyone on campus, from students to staff, to spend unilaterally on campus projects, and a better use for it than Deeks’s office will be found.

“Give €7 million euro to almost anyone on campus, from students to staff, to spend unilaterally on campus projects, and a better use for it than Deeks’s office will be found.”

The timing of the revelations is also somewhat interesting. Depending on which course they are in, students voted two or three days before the revelation on whether to expand the Student Centre levy until 2040 to cover the cost of an even newer student centre, with even more expanded facilities. Of course, a new student centre is needed, or at least will be soon

A Love Island Divided?

Love Island is a show where, whether you are an enthusiastic fan or have never watched an episode, you will surely have heard inexplicably large amounts about it. For two months of the year it is all folks seem to be able to talk about, and the other ten months of the year are filled with anticipation for a new season. Despite this incredible amount of attention, few shows seem as capable of dividing opinion. But can the nation be swayed by this reality drama or are the shallow contestants all that people see?

Is there a stigma around Love Island?

Most reality TV shows seem to get stigmatised in this way to some extent. Think Keeping Up With the Kardashians or even Dance Moms.

These are the kinds of shows ‘nobody watches’ - reserved only for the hot-take on the weekly episode of Gogglebox. The idea that there may be notions of classism or sexism towards shows produced for pure entertainment seems contrived by public trolls.

People choose to watch what they want.

They even curl up six nights of the week to watch the drama unfold. Of course, trolls try to sour something people enjoy with negative comments that no one needs or asks for. In watching the show, the Islanders do questionable things with actions recorded and shown on screen. These actions are then up for debate. But are these a question of an Islander’s character for the public to dwell on or a reason for trolls to belittle people who get enjoyment from watching the show?

with more students attending year on year. However, the shouldering of the burden of the cost on students is a tad unfair, for two reasons. First, students are infamously broke, and second, because the student centre is beneficial for the entire university. The student body are informed that having space for their sports, societies, and day drinking is not for UCD itself to pay for, because those are all extra-curricular, not academic. Then, once it’s built, UCD puts an Ad Astra room, which is definitely academic by definition, inside. Furthermore they send prospectuses and recruiters across the globe to recruit international students. International students pay far more to attend UCD than Irish students, making them a goldmine, and each and every one of them was told about the “free” gym and discount swimming pool as part of the reason to study here. The same “free” gym and discount swimming pool UCD has already effectively said is not theirs to pay for, because they don’t see the benefit.

A mere €7.5 million euro wouldn’t cover the cost of a new student centre, of course.

But it would go a long way to starting the project. It would at the very least cover the cost of having an architect plan and price the new student centre before Student Services Limited ask students to pay for it. And that is beside the point, UCD has more money, but the decision to use it on the holistic education it prides itself on providing seems to be made rarely, if ever. Even from a profit motive, a student centre would be a wonderful investment for the university. At least if UCD paid for it, it would be less cynical when they advertise it to American and Chinese tuition payers.

Last year much of the reporting in this paper covered the disgraceful closure of the Common Room Club in Newman. A space for staff members to meet, eat, drink, and network was closed for more teaching space to be made available. Nevermind that staff used this space for purposes genuinely beneficial to their work and students, and therefore the university as a whole. It was to be scrapped, replaced with some offices. The real reason, of course, was so that the staff would join Deeks new “University Club”, despite the fact that a democratically organised common room by and for workers is an entirely different set up to another project designed to squeeze alumni for what their worth, such as the University Club. In a letter to the Common Room committee penned by Deeks last year, he wrote “Of course there are numerous other tea rooms and cafés around UCD that they will be able to use, both during the gap and after the Club opens, including the Clubhouse Bar, which I believe is already frequented by a number of research groups, particularly on a Friday evening”. This is not the tone of a man with genuine concerns for possible negative side effects for his actions. This is cruel mockery from those with power to those without. If Deeks has the authority to spend €7 million unilaterally, then he has the authority to spend €7 million unilaterally on a new space for the common room.

Ultimately, as with the Gateway Precinct, and the University Club, this is a display not just of wealth and power, but of callousness towards those in UCD, be they students or academics, who make the university a university.

Love Island was this summer’s biggest show. Katie McCormick discusses whether all the criticism it receives is warranted.

People watch reality television shows for different reasons. These range from it being fascinating to see a group of one percenters live their lives to seeing what happens when we trap singletons in a villa for two months. Neither of these indicate that watching these shows has anything to do with a viewer’s intelligence.

Who are we to judge a person’s watching habits? Never having watched an episode of Game of Thrones in your life does not make you an idiot. Why is Love Island any different? Is its structure? Its aim of viewership? Take all that away and the challenge is unearthed beneath the show: find love and win money. It’s an easy concept that raises the stakes and makes the game being played a bit more interesting.

love in their Villa? Only if it increases their viewing figures. This strategy clearly works when you consider that adolescents between the ages of 18-29 made up 43% of the show’s ratings for the 2019 series.

Mocking Love Island and its fans is common. Nonetheless, an interesting question is whether the hate is motivated purely by the show’s concept or by something else. Swirling online these past few months have been rumours of the showrunners’ disregard to the islanders’ mental health and wellbeing. After a past Islander tragically ended their life it was reported by the official BBC website that future casts will be offered therapy and counselling.

It is sad that so many people seemingly have nothing better to do in their lives than to try and ruin something other people are passionate about. On one side, it seems legitimate to raise concerns about the exploitation of the cast for being overly sexualised to boost ratings. On the other hand, much of the criticism seems significantly less nuanced than that.

“an interesting question is whether “Discussing the show in terms of the hate is motivated purely by the whether it makes you lose brain cells show’s concept or by something seems trivial when compared to the else” loss of life or even Islanders receiv- The fact that this is not trending on ing death threats from the outside.” twitter instead of who picked who in the last re Of course, the Villa isn’t without its controversy. Islanders do and say a lot of things that shouldn’t be caught on camera. It is clear that it all goes back to the aim of the show. That is to get people to watch it. Do they care about the love in their Villa? Only if it increases their viewing figures. This strategy clearly works when you consider that adolescents between the ages of 18-29 made up 43% of the show’s ratings for the 2019 series.

coupling shows how twisted the narrative about this show is. This is not just about classism and sexism, it is about mental health, what the showrunners are doing to protect the islanders during their stay and immediately following. Discussing the show in terms of whether it makes you lose brain cells seems trivial when compared to the loss of life or even Islanders receiving death threats from the outside. Lest we forget these contestants are ordinary people up until their series begins airing.

Does it put you at a lower intellectual standard to enjoy Love Island or any other reality television show? It certainly does not seem obvious that it does. It seems that the only reason Love Island viewers have a worse reputation is because of the sexual nature of the show. However, as is the case for many reality shows, this is a means of escape. Keyboard warriors will troll people for watching anything nowadays.

It cannot be denied that Love Island is a ground-breaking reality series. This is evidenced not just by the viewing figures but also by the many spin-offs in different countries. Love it or hate it, the people who sit down to watch are no different than those of us who would rather indulge in a drama or a game of football. It is simply a form of entertainment doing its job. Disliking a popular show does not give you the right to belittle others because of your particular taste.

“It is sad that so many people seemingly have nothing better to do in their lives than to try and ruin something other people are passionate about.”

17th September 2019

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COMMENT Should we listen to what experts say on fields outside their area of expertise?

Clodagh Healy analyses whether we should listen to experts on topics outside their area of expertise.

Expert is a word that evokes a sense of assurance and reliability. We seek them out because we know they are the most knowledgeable in their respective fields. In the last few years, a funny thing happened: some of them have become our friends, the mainstream experts we are all familiar with - the Neil de Grasse Tysons and Bill Nyes of the world. You may not be friends with Neil de Grasse Tyson, but through television and social media, it can feel like it. Known as ‘parasocial interaction,’ it is basically the illusion of closeness to a figure in the public eye.

It could be as simple as reading their tweets every day or seeing them regularly appear on talk shows. It creates a sense of trust and familiarity over time. It comes from the same logic as to why we seek our friend’s opinions.

Through our own familiarity with them, we trust their common sense and reasoning.

The increasingly pressing question is: should we? It’s all fine and well if an expert gives his two cents on something based in their area of academia. They have the credentials and the information to provide an informed opinion on these matters, even if some might not agree with those opinions. How good those opinions are is a different debate altogether. A discussion equally as important is: should we listen to experts outside their fields of study? Views which, without that experience from study, don’t have the same weight behind them. Those opinions can, of course, be harmless - until they’re not.

An example of this is Jordan Peterson.

He is a well-known Canadian psychologist, either adored or loathed. He initially arose as a controversial figure in his own area of study by opposing Bill C 16. For those unfamiliar with this bill, it became Canadian law in June 2017 to add more protection to the rights of transgender individuals. Since then, he has become something of a poster boy for a wide variety of conservative internet communities. Instead of focusing on those particular controversial views, it is useful to explore the opinions he holds outside any claim to studying that topic.

Here is the thing - Mr Peterson only eats meat.

That’s the opinion. Well okay, that’s not the opinion, but it is the truth. He believes that eating a diet devoid of vegetables and carbohydrates is healthy, and strictly consuming meat, salt, and water is beneficial. Now you might be thinking to yourself: ‘Is this a Drumcondra reading test?

I must not have read that correctly.’ It’s not, and you did.

Since April of 2018, he has been surviving only on meat, salt and water. Now again, you might be wondering, ‘Why do we care about this?’ It is simple - he has the built-up influence and trust of his followers and is not a dietitian.

Peterson’s YouTube channel is listed under education, and yet this diet advice isn’t from a dietician. His daughter, who introduced it to him, again, is not a dietician. He stated on the Joe Rogan podcast that it helped with his depression, and ailments of his autoimmune system had lifted since starting this diet. That is a podcast which gets between 1.5 and 2.5 million views a day on YouTube. That is a vast audience he is reaching. This means that about two million people heard this advice and some of them, because it came from someone with the title of Professor, likely trusted it.

Of course, if a person finds something that they think works for them, naturally, they would want to share it to the world. The reason it is problematic though, is that these experts must understand the influence they have. These people have cultivated a sense of friendship and trust with their audience. They have a responsibility not to abuse that trust. Beauty experts should not be promoting ‘slimming teas’ any more than Peterson should be stamping his unqualified approval onto extreme diets. This is a diet deemed to be ‘unnecessarily restrictive’ by genuinely qualified dieticians.

“These people have cultivated a sense of friendship and trust with their audience. They have a responsibility not to abuse that trust. Beauty experts should not be promoting ‘slimming teas’ any more than Peterson should be stamping his unqualified approval onto extreme diets.”

This is where self-accountability needs to be addressed. People need to look inward at their own personal biases. Many of these may make them take bad advice from these individuals. Advice, especially advice which concerns an individual’s health, should always be verified by that person’s GP or by another medical professional. Even then, it is widely recommended to seek a second opinion from a second medical professional.

A study found that 88% of patients that went to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion ended up ‘changing their care plan after a new or refined diagnosis.’ This shows how difficult giving accurate medical advice is. If it is hard for the actual experts to get it one hundred percent correct each time, then why would anyone listen to a clinical psychologist doing a dietician’s job?

Especially one who has no knowledge of their audience’s medical history.

Despite their responsibility to do otherwise, it seems inevitable that apparently wise individuals will continue to sporadically say things which are wrong. So, should people listen to things experts say outside their area of expertise? The Thai government and dive team didn’t listen to Elon Musk, and they completed a near-perfect rescue mission. Ultimately, it is up to the individual, but don’t be hesitant to question that opinion and seek a second from a qualified source.

Should we defund societies that run events to which many students are Kennedy considers whether UCD should use student money to pay for society events many opposed? Garrett students disagree with.

There are lots of reasons societies exist. Some societies offer students the chance to pursue a common interest. Others create a space for students to make friends and build a community in what can sometimes be an intimidatingly vast campus. Others are there for networking and building CVs. All of these are valid, and it is, by and large, good that UCD supports these societies by funding them and offering them spaces to hold events. It makes sense that UCD students pay to help these societies exist because they make the experience of being in UCD much more rewarding for many students.

One might question, however, the decision to fund societies which many deem as not only failing to add value to students’ college experience, but instead do things which many students find significantly distasteful or problematic.

There are a lot of obvious examples of this sort of thing. The most extreme are probably religious societies such as the Islamic and Newman societies. Islamic society regularly run events with speakers such as Abdullah al Andalusi, who is explicitly anti-democratic. Newman society similarly have near-annual events discussing the legitimacy of same sex marriage.

Another example is when the Economics and Philosophy societies hosted Milo Yiannopoulos.

That is a man who, among many other infamous quotes, has defended paedophilia and has said that lesbians do not exist.

These are straightforward cases in which many UCD students do not want these events to take place and whose lives are arguably put in danger by these events. It seems clearly unethical to use these students’ money to fund such events.

More contentious examples are when societies or their members just do stupid things.

An example of this is when former UCD Labour auditor Liam Van Der Spek released a video espousing his opposition to feminism; stating that

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feminism is “anti-scientific…cry-bullying” and that “people who talk about rape culture consistently in Western culture …actually minimise concern given to genuine rape victims.”

It is important to note that such views seem obviously antithetical to those of most Labour members. Similarly, Van Der Spek does not necessarily hold those views anymore. Regardless, having a prominent member of a society be so openly misogynistic obviously makes it harder for women to feel comfortable engaging with that society. A likely response to this idea is that the damage it will do to debate on campus far outweighs the benefits to the groups previously being harmed, especially since they could have simply not attended the events.

The second problem with the free speech argument is that a large reason for UCD societies existing is to create centres for communities on campus. This must obviously be balanced with the ability for students to offer diverse perspectives on issues. Nonetheless, threatening to defund econ soc if they decided to rehost Yiannopoulos would obviously disincentivise them from hosting the event to some extent. However, this does not seem a net harm if it means that lesbian, trans, and Muslim students no longer feel alienated from econ soc events.

Defunding in cases such as the Van Der Spek one is possibly a bit extreme. Nonetheless, it could be a useful tool should the society fail to deal with the problem themselves. Again, this simply offers an incentive for societies to be more inclusive and create a better sense of community. That allows more people access to the many non-problematic events most societies host each semester.

“having a prominent member of a society be so openly misogynistic obviously makes it harder for women to feel comfortable engaging with that society” “it seems pretty unreasonable to ask I disagree with this for two reasons. The first is a lesbian UCD student to fund a hothat this would not actually ban these events or tel room for Yiannopoulos” societies outright. I am going to leave aside the question of whether society X should be allowed to host a controversial event. Debates about deplatforming on college campuses are everywhere and you have presumably made up your mind on that already. Furthermore, it is such a messy debate that I am not even sure of my own position.

What I am convinced of, however, is that there are many events which UCD should not be helping societies pay for with student money. Many of these events would still be able to exist without this money. This contribution from UCD only makes up a portion of the money societies use to put these events on. Despite this, it seems pretty unreasonable to ask a lesbian UCD student to fund a hotel room for Yiannopoulos given his claims about them.

All of these societies hold many events every year which are less extreme. If people were not alienated from the societies as a result of a few problematic events, the attendance at these events would likely be far higher. Therefore, if this helps societies maximise student engagement, then that means more students actually access this discourse.

The other common objection to policies such as this is that a line must presumably be drawn somewhere. One might question how we can be sure to draw it in the right place and how we can avoid a slippery slope in which the admin starts defunding events which do not warrant it.

This is obviously a tricky question, but it seems that a policy which promises to only ban the most extreme cases could still do enormous good.

Some kind of metric based on a large amount of student complaints seems like it would solve most problems.

Even if this was rarely used, it seems keeping it in the locker in case societies decide to be edgy probably incentivises them to practise moderation. Even if there are some mechanistic problems with drawing lines and so forth, we can certainly all agree that this is at least, hypothetically, a good idea.

Photo Credit: @Kmeron on Flickr

COMMENT

Head To Head

Should students have mandatory subjects outside of their majors in college?

YES

NO

Garrett Kennedy

Isabella Ambrosio

There are two reasons people normally give for why a university education is valuable. One is that it is a means to a better career. The other is roughly that knowledge is valuable for its own sake, and society is better off when many of its citizens are well educated. This policy would increase the value of students’ degrees under both views.

One of the problems I have encountered thus far in writing this piece is that the extent of this policy is a bit unclear. I think it is probably fair to think of it as being as small an encroachment on UCD’s current elective system as possible. UCD would keep the current system of most students doing two elective classes a year. The only difference would be that students would be required to use some/all of those electives in certain areas such as social sciences, languages, or science. This is pretty common in American universities.

With that clarified, it’s worth actually getting onto the argument. Why is it good for students to have to take modules outside of their normal interests?

Beginning with employability, it seems reasonably intuitive why knowing more, about more things, is probably good for your jobs. Despite this, many degrees are narrow and many students emerge from their degrees having already specialised significantly.

This is less problematic in degrees with clearer career paths like engineering or medicine. Regardless, the traditional path from a degree into a job for life is becoming less and less common. Far more people than ever before are jumping between different jobs as their career progresses. In such a world, having a more flexible skill set would clearly be useful.

Even for students targeting specialised career paths, having a broader skill set is clearly useful. An engineering student has lots to gain from a history or economics elective even if their career goal is simply to design bridges. This is because these modules offer skills one simply does not generally acquire from an engineering degree.

An engineering degree can obviously offer one the technical expertise to design bridges. However, it offers little in the way of communication skills. These are incredibly useful in terms of managing other employees or engaging with clients. A social science module or two can make a significant difference on this front.

The benefits are clearer again when it comes to language electives. Language skills are useful in acquiring jobs. Furthermore, a large part of language electives typically involves learning about the culture as well as the language. This again, shows that this policy would help students think about the world, through ways in which their normal degree may not allow them to.

All of this is before we even get onto the societal benefits. It almost seems a cliché at this point but there are many advantages to people having a better and broader understanding of the world around them. This is most clear when it comes to the social sciences. It seems quite intuitive that if students have a basic understanding of economics or the Irish political system it will make them more fully informed and therefore, better citizens.

There is obviously a trade-off between students taking these modules and taking a few extra modules in their subject of choice. However, given this would only be a module or two a year it seems like a reasonably small deal. An engineering student can still do forty engineering modules in their four year course. The difference in expertise they would have gotten if they had studied a few extra seems reasonably insignificant.

Conversely, the marginal benefit of taking one or two social science modules seems extremely significant. This is because in the status quo, many non-arts students simply will not go near a module that requires essays. It is only by forcing students to take these classes that the benefits of them can be fully realised.

Interestingly, this policy actually seems more reasonable in Ireland than it would be in the US, despite it being the norm there rather than here. This is because of the difference in how much students have to pay to get their degrees. When students are graduating with several tens of grand of debt it seems quite unfair to implement such strict rules on what they have to study. However, when the government is paying for the majority of students’ degrees it seems much more reasonable for them to ensure that students graduate with as many skills that are going to benefit society as possible.

For twelve years, a majority of students were told where to sit, when to speak and what to study.

This tends to develop large amounts of resentment towards the education system and boredom with the material being forced into their brains. This was especially prevalent when surveying secondary school dropouts, where a study found 47% of the students dropped out because they were bored.

People choose to apply to college, so why would they choose to apply to college just to be told what they should be studying? They will most likely just end up dropping out because they were bored with the mandatory material once again.

Being forced to take statistics is so unbelievably unappealing for many English students that it might force them to look elsewhere for their English degree. Just because UCD would have mandatory subjects does not mean that other universities in Ireland, or anywhere in the world, would.

There are little to no universities in Ireland alone that have mandatory classes outside of the major.

This would push away Irish students.

Students in universities in America have required classes and may be looking at Ireland as a way to avoid those mandatory requirements. If mandatory classes were to be implemented, American students might prefer to go elsewhere because their needs are not being met. This decision would ultimately push students away from UCD. This means they will miss all of the quality education they would have received otherwise.

If UCD wanted to implement mandatory classes, more Irish universities would have to engage in this movement. Otherwise this might make UCD stand out in all the wrong ways. Even if all universities started to implement mandatory classes, university in general might lose even more appeal.

Most students wish to attend college in order to focus or narrow their specialities based on the majors provided. An influx in classes that wouldn’t contribute to that speciality, or even be added onto the 5 to 7 classes a student is required to take each semester, might not suit an individual. The choice of education and customisation in order to achieve the desired specialty is one of the main draws to a university. Removing that could easily push a student away from applying to school.

Electives are already a requirement and give the student flexibility if they wish to study outside of their subject. Electives are classes that exist outside of the major but can be taken for credits.

This already allows any students who wish to take classes outside of their major, so why force students who don’t wish to? Why force students who don’t wish to explore outside of their major to take classes that wouldn’t suit or benefit them and therefore waste time and resources? If forced to take courses outside of their major, it could cause further frustration or resentment towards a student’s education. They might start skipping lectures or not attending tutorials because they simply aren’t interested in the material. This will lead to failing modules and an endless cycle of failing and repeating. Students forced to take modules take up spaces for students who are taking modules for their major, therefore wasting time and resources. This also leads back to the statistic of secondary school dropouts mentioned previously, with the risk of the same happening in universities. Forcing students to take specific modules might lead to boredom, and then lead to dropping out.

Because UCD already allows students to take electives and because of the lack of customisation and the boredom that will come with that, adding mandatory classes would negatively impact UCD students. There would most definitely be students that would not apply to UCD because of the mandatory subjects. Whatever the specific reason for their dissatisfaction with the policy, that is inherently negative. It does not only impact the university, it impacts the student who may apply elsewhere, but not receive the same high standard of education that they would at UCD. I know I would not want to take a stats class as an English major - maybe if mandatory classes were required when I was considering applying, I would have applied to another school.

Rebuttal

Rebuttal

It is true that there is a trade-off between students studying the subjects came to university to specifically study and studying these mandatory classes. However, the extent of this trade-off seems exaggerated. Losing out on a few extra option modules does not massively affect a student’s engagement with their major.

Conversely, significant benefits can be gained from studying a subject or two outside of that major. Those benefits will never exist to the same extent if those subjects are not mandatory because so many students simply will not take them.

The idea that students will simply not go to college or will choose different colleges may be true but seems limited. Most students choose their university for a wide variety of reasons. Being able to study their chosen subject is only one among many. Similarly, students already have to study a variety of core modules which are often quite dull. We make students take these because we consider the content of these modules important enough. I think it is similarly important that everyone have a basic understanding of history, economics, and linguistic ability.

Furthermore, many students are not entirely sure what they want to study when they get to college. Being forced to study a wider variety of subjects will surely help these students figure out if they made the correct choice.

There is something to be said about having an increased level of societal skills when taking classes outside of your course. But, UCD already offers employability classes for undergraduates. These classes help develop a range of skills for the workplace and developing a standout CV and cover letter. It also assists in interview techniques.

While it isn’t necessarily the same as having a wide-range of surface level knowledge, it does tick the boxes of what employers are looking for and will increase the likelihood of being employed after college. This is an option for students, but perhaps should be made mandatory. This would remove the need to have mandatory classes in science, history or languages, without fully depriving a student of employable qualities that would be attributed to background knowledge. It would aid in an engineering student being able to communicate in the workplace, or an arts student being able to analyse data better.

This is an option, and forcing students to take mandatory classes would be a waste of resources as these classes are already available to them.

17th September 2019

7

STUDENT VOICES

Escaping from Politics: An Optimistic Fever Dream Matthew Tannam-Elgie Standing on my shelf, amidst a handful of other compilations and critical analyses, is a collection of poems and short stories published by LitSoc at the tail-end of 2016. This was in the middle of the collective dismay surrounding the American presidential election and, further back, the Brexit referendum. Reading the editors’ introduction hammers home the inseparability of the student body from political upheaval;

As students, we watch the world turn around us with little to do but stand in awe of the wretched course it inevitably takes. But it is the youth that must be the coming tide, must bring a new wave, must push discourse even further in the face of these rapidly rising waters. There are few tools we are given with which to plot our own course. In such trying times, it is our words which must stand for us.

Those last two sentences capture the sense of puppetry that can be all-too dominant in youth. It’s the sense that politics and crisis are carrying you down a tide that won’t subside, despite your constant protestations and wails.

“As students, we watch the world turn around us with little to do but stand in awe of the wretched course it inevitably takes.”

I recall, with clarity, the morning after America’s election night when the bus to this

campus was chock-full of mournful faces glued to their phones. The absurd question I constantly ask myself is why political earthquakes, global or domestic, need to infiltrate the everyday and the mundane?

The answer to this question hits me just as quickly. The structure of a nation relies fundamentally on a political system, with all its posturing, drama and skulduggery. I recall, with less clarity due to an upheaval of the familial kind, a lecture in Southern Europe last Spring in which an ageing professor told us that political governance is a social contract. Society accepts law and political order so that security can be assured for the population. In exchange, she said, the population relinquishes some of its freedom and obligates itself to the rules set down by the state.

Here we find a key reason for the multitude of mournful faces that morning in November 2016. Every country is bound by this social contract, and political upheaval sends shockwaves down the international line because it applies directly to each and every one us.

The strange little fantasy I’m mulling over now is simply this; what would happen if you were to take away that social contract? Obviously, laws would not apply. We’d have to be on our guard, bolt our doors, change our route etc.

However, buried among the danger would be the undeniable truth that we would essentially be free. Indeed, the plague of certain states’ legislative stereotpying of gender, or restrictions on

same-sex marriage, for instance, would be gone.

The cascade of peril, stemming from the removal of law, would be complemented by a small but significant leap from oppression to equality (at least in the legislative sense). Also removed from the population would be the infiltration of political crisis into the everyday and the mundane. At last, one would be able to escape from politics forever.

“Society accepts law and political order so that security can be assured for the population.”

obligation. The very fact that it doesn’t exist is a source of pleasure in itself.

“Here’s where things get interesting; the ability to escape from politics lies on the boundary between fiction and reality.”

So, now I resign myself to the real state of things. The idea of escaping from politics is an optimistic fever dream. There’s no room to be the analytical equivalent of a free-market extremist. Political shenanigans will always interfere with us, regardless of our dispositions or interests. All we can do is remind ourselves of the inherent beauty of a fictional world where politics steers clear from those who don’t want it to hurt them. Only then can we feel the way Keats probably did when he wrote that famous verse from his Ode on a Grecian Urn;

Now, it’s time to grind my diatribe to a halt and bring out the essential disclaimer; I do not want to live in an anarchical society. I value my life just as much as everybody and his brother. I’m simply writing all this to show that extricating yourself from political culture and influence is impossible. It’s a scenario so impossible, in fact, that it reaches a level of fantasy “Beauty is truth, truth beauty- that is all ye know shared with pagan devotion, the music industry on Earth, and all ye need to know.” and delusions of grandeur. It shares an element of religious transcendance with all three.

Here’s where things get interesting; the ability to escape from politics lies on the boundary between fiction and reality. It’s the stuff of the roman à clef, Gonzo journalism and cinéma vérité. The very fantasy of what society would be like without politics contains, in some ways, the essence of all entertainment; pure, beautiful humanity, unfettered by oppression or social

“It’s actually a beautiful thing to be able to be so diverse, to have two different backgrounds and two different cultures.”

Helen talks to Andrea Andres about her parents ended up in Ireland and growing up between two cultures.

Helen’s parents had dramatically different journeys before settling in Ireland. Despite hailing from the same village in western Ukraine, they had never met until both ended up in Dublin. “She never met my dad,” Helen said of her mother. “She never knew him in person, they came from the same village, but never met each other.”

Helen’s father was “part of the army”, but “he saw it wasn’t for him. He hated it and wanted to travel.” She explains: “He saw that if he stayed in Ukraine there was... very little opportunity for him.”

So, he left. He travelled to Hungary, to Germany, to Paris, eventually making his way to England. After some suggestions from friends he made his way to Ireland and settled here. “He didn’t think he was going to stay in Ireland. He thought he was going to the States.”

Helen’s mother was an English teacher and after a school trip in England she and Hel-

In a twist of fate, she “got robbed” while sightseeing in Dublin. Her bag contained her passport, leaving her unable to go home, but there was a silver lining; “She really got to know my dad. She really liked him and she liked being together and going out. And then she got pregnant with me. They’re still here and I was born.” They hold Irish citizenship now. “It took them about 10 years to get it.”

Helen keeps in touch with her Ukrainian roots through language, food and company. “Both my parents are Ukrainian so they both spoke to me in Ukrainian. So, I suppose that was my first language.” “[Her] mom always cooked Ukrainian food because that was the food she could cook.” The “majority of their close friends have been Ukrainian and also have had Ukrainian families. So, [she] would have played with Ukrainian kids.”

Keeping up with Ukrainian had paid her

“It would have been very hard for me to not speak Ukrainian because I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them when I would have went there. I wouldn’t be able to have fun, I wouldn’t be able to do the things that they do and enjoy it to that level. I wouldn’t be able to comprehend, I wouldn’t be able to understand what they’re saying.”

Going back to Ukraine for holidays “feels like home” for her. “When I leave Ukraine I’m sad to leave Ukraine because I’m leaving my family. I’m leaving people that are close. I always cry, I always get emotional. I do find it hard.”

She described growing up as “hard”, feeling not quite Ukrainian in Ukraine and not quite Irish in Ireland. “When I go to Ukraine, I felt like I didn’t fully sync in with them because they knew from my mannerisms, the way I acted. Yeah, I spoke Ukrainian, but they could still see a part of me that wasn’t fully raised in Ukraine. Each society, each country has their differences and they could spot that in me and the same way in school I did feel Irish, but I knew I wasn’t the real Irish.”

“I was really young and didn’t fully have

back in dividends, it allowed her to “know Rusen’s grandmother, also a teacher, had a free week sian.” But also let her really enjoy her time with an identity. I didn’t fully know where I belonged. and decided to visit Ireland. Through Helen’s her family during visits in Ukraine.

In primary school, it was such a small circle of father’s sister, they were able to stay with him. people and especially the place where I went to

8 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

where my primary school was. The majority of people there were Irish and like there was only three like me, a girl from Iran and one girl from, whose her parents are Pakistani and it was just the three of us. And for us it was kind of isolating, we did feel different.

I definitely felt different among my primary school.

I did find it hard to make friends with the Irish. If it was an Irish group, it was hard to kind of click in with them. I don’t know why. I don’t understand why because I suppose we were just childish. We just didn’t understand these things.” But secondary school was better for her, “we were more mature and it was more mixed. So, it was more multicultural. We all got along really well.”

“I didn’t know where I stood. I didn’t know where I was meant to be. Now, that I have realized that it’s okay. That I have two worlds and I felt that it’s actually even better to explore two countries, to explore two traditions and I get to pick the best from both and still feel myself” Helen concludes that “it’s actually a beautiful thing to be able to be so diverse, to have two different backgrounds and two different cultures.”

FEATURES

Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa spark riots and disharmony across the continent.

Doireann de Courcy Mac Donnell reports on the recent outbreak of xenophobic attacks spreading across the African continent.

It has been reported that in the last few days racial tensions in South Africa, which have been building over the past ten years, have resulted in widespread xenophobic attacks. Over one thousand businesses have been targeted in widespread attacks across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, with twelve people reportedly killed. Videos showing vandalised shops and streets alight have been circulated online. The nationalities of the fatalities have not yet been announced but local media have reported Nigerian, Ethiopian, Congolese and Zimbabwean citizens attacked.

On September 8, an improvised militia, armed with spears and shields fashioned out of wood, looted and burned central Johannesburg chanting “foreigners must go back to where they came from” in Zulu. The ‘foreigners taking our jobs’ narrative, which is now familiar around the world, has reared its ugly head in the most developed country on the African continent. However, in this instance, it involves Africans against fellow Africans.

The xenophobia has been traced to the high unemployment rate which exists in the country, over 30%. Several prominent figures within South Africa have blamed this number on the multitude of migrants entering the state, many economic refugees. Recently a truckers’ strike was held, protesting the number of non-South African nationals employed as truck drivers. Although it is difficult to understand what exactly sparked the xenophobic attacks in this instance, the high unemployment rates and limited economic opportunities available seem to be the root cause.

Several African countries have become increasingly worried about their citizens within South Africa. It was reported on September 12 by Al Jazeera that a Nigerian Airline was repatriating Nigerian nationals over the following days

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“We cannot have a continental free trade agreement and have a situation where there is black-on-black violence in South Africa.”

as it was ‘no longer safe here’. Samson Aliyu, a clothes shop owner, told AFP news agency; “I ran for my life… they burnt my shop… They would have killed me.” The private Nigerian Airline Air Peace proposed flying 600 Nigerians to Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria, for free.

Although the violent attacks began in South Africa, they have quickly spread throughout the continent. Reprisal attacks have resulted in South Africa closing its embassies in the Nigerian cities of Lagos and Abuja over threats to its ambassadors.

Lunga Ngqengelele, the South African Foreign Ministry Spokesman, told ASP news agency “After receiving reports and threats from some of the Nigerians, we decided to temporarily close while we are assessing the situation”. Reuters has reported that two major South African companies, MTN and Shoprite, have also closed their doors in Nigeria after their facilities were attacked in retaliation.

The xenophobic riots have not only had an effect on the political situation in South Africa, but are also having wider ramifications on relations across the continent. Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage announced online that she would no longer play her scheduled concert in South Africa, calling the riots; “the barbaric butchering of my people”. The Zambian national football team has pulled out of a scheduled friendly against South Africa.

South Africa is no stranger to xenophobia. Even after generations of colonialism and apartheid ending in 1994, celebrating Nelson Mandela’s election as president, racial violence is a regular occurrence in the major cities. Between 2000

Features Editor: Doireann de Courcy Mac Donnell (Masters of Architecture) Features take an issue of importance to students, whether that be on campus, a national issue or News international story, and examines it from an imEditors: Jade Wilson (English and Drama) and partial stance. Like news, it is completely objecAndrea Andres (Economics) tive and doesn’t ever bring in personal opinion.

News has a formal, objective, broadsheet style of writing. It aims to answer the Who, What, Science When, Where, Why and How of every story, Editor: Lillian Loescher without ever including the writer’s opinion.

(Masters of Mathematics) The news section includes the most time-sensiDeputy Editor: Vanshika Dhyani ( tive articles we publish and therefore can have a Science articles should be informative but shorter deadline. equally interesting. We’re not looking for your lecture notes. This section should make science Comment news and current affairs accessible to everyone.

Editor: Garrett Kennedy (Philosophy and Economics) Business & Careers Comment takes a topical news story and gives an Editor: Unassigned individual take on it. It must be a solid argument, This section looks to break down some major not a rant, and backed up with facts. It is not the events in the business world and looks at them same as an Opinion piece. from a student’s perspective. This section aims to make sometimes-indecipherable business accessible to everyone on campus.

and 2008, 67 deaths were reported as being of a xenophobic nature. In 2006 an academic study conducted between Cape Town University, SA and Queen’s University in Canada found that South Africa was responsible for levels xenophobia greater than anywhere else in the world.

Having been persecuted for so long, why have the black population of South African’s become the persecutors? The UNHCR’s, or the United Nations Refugee Agency as it’s more commonly known, Global Appeal 2011 cited competition over jobs, business opportunities, public services and housing as the main reasons for racist attitudes. The tensions among ‘refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and host communities’ gave rise to xenophobic violence. In 2011, the UNHCR put strategic plans in place to help the 494,800 asylum seekers.

This involved providing basic services, emergency shelter and security from exploitation and violence. However, once the migrants were granted asylum, there has been minimal external support to integrate them both socially and economically into the host country, South Africa. This means that the economic burden falls predominantly on South Africa’s resources, leading to the more than 10 million people unemployed we see today, a shocking 38.5% of the entire population.

Although the official unemployment figure released by the South African government is closer to 30%, the larger percentage is a closer reflection of the economic and social burden unemployment is causing, as, whether or not the individual is in the position to seek work, they require the same financial support.

Over two hundred arrests have been made as a result of the racial attacks. President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has declared that he is ‘committed to quelling attacks on foreign nationals’. In a video released through his twitter account, Ramaphosa condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms”. “These attacks are.. something we cannot allow in South Africa.. [it] is something completely

Law & Politics Editor: Unassigned The turbulent political landscape in which we live in is reflected in the content the University Observer reader wants to access. A new section to the University Observer, the section takes an analytical lens to policies, courts and activism both on campus and on a national level.

Philosophy & Religion Editor: Unassigned Another new section to the University Observer, this sections looks at the influence that philosophy and religion have on day-to-day and political life. It publishes a mixture of news and comment-orientated articles surrounding the subject. Again, like News and Features, it is completely objective and doesn’t ever bring in personal opinion.

against the ethos we espouse as South Africans”.

The President’s public address was welcomed as the riots had temporarily been denied and ignored by his administration. This wave of unrest is ill-timed for Ramaphosa’s government as the World Economic Forum was held in South Africa from September 4 until September 6. A main objective of the Forum was to boost trade between African countries. The Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, cancelled his planned trip to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Cape Town. The governments of Rwanda, Malawi and Congo followed suit.

“Having been persecuted for so long, why have the black population of South African’s become the persecutors?”

Participants who attended the forum took the opportunity to condemn the violence, not only in South Africa, but across the continent. Oby Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian politician, said “We cannot have a continental free trade agreement and have a situation where there is black-on-black violence in South Africa.” A founding member of Transparency International, an anti-corruption group, Ezekwesili argued that the steady pan-African economic and trade development was powerless unless governments confronted the ‘systematic’ societal failings within their nations. As part of the forum a huge emphasis on the “tremendous opportunity represented by Africa’s burgeoning young population” however this sentiment means little if governments and private companies cannot provide adequate employment; “we have a lot of bad politics on the continent” Ezekwesili said, “the young people who are out there are extremely angry”.

Agriculture & Rural Affairs: Editor: Niall Hurson ( This section is designed to inform the reader of news within rural areas, focusing on agriculture, not only on a national and international scale, but also within the UCD community.

Sport Editor: Andrew Dempsey (History and Geography) Sport is made up of a number of different types of articles from match reports, to features and opinion pieces. It is important that this section covers the sports and sports society news within the campus, as well as national and international stories. The tone will depend largely on what you’re working on, but the style is generally quite similar to features or news.

If you would like to write with us please email editor@universityobserver.ie

17th September 2019

9

FEATURES GLOSSARY Article 50: Article 50 of the TEU (Treaty on European Union) states that “Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements”.

The United Kingdom triggered Article 50 on March 29th 2017.

The Long and Winding

The word “Brexit” has been heard by all of us at least once a day since the 2016 Referen European Union. Or so we thought. They’re still here. At this point it’s all become so con a crash course in the car crash that is Brexit so that you know your Boris from your Bar n,

Benn Bill: Formally known as ‘European Union Withdrawal (No.2) Act 2019, the Benn Bill is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which requires the Prime Minister to seek an extension to the agreed Brexit withdrawal date – October 31 – should he not succeed in proposing a withdrawal agreement with the EU which is approved by parliament by October 19. This would see the Brexit withdrawal date extend until January 31, 2020.

Brexit: An amalgamation of the words ‘British’ and ‘Exit’. It solely refers to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Backstop: The backstop is a draft agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the republic. The backstop allows for a soft border to remain for an indefinite period while talks are ongoing between the EU and the UK. If the UK ‘crashes out’, the agreement will no longer stand. Ireland has insisted that a backstop must be included in the final Brexit deal.

Confidence and Supply: A confidence and supply agreement is required for a minority government to retain power. Smaller parties or groups of independent candidates agree to support the government in votes of confidence, appropriation or budgets. However, although they agree to vote in accordance with the government, they are not required to should they prefer to do otherwise, unlike in a coalition government, where the supporting party would have to hold the government whip. In the UK the government is made up of the leading Conservative Party supported by the DUP in a confidence and supply agreement. In Ireland we have a coalition government comprised of Fine Gael and Independent candidates.

EU27: The EU 27 refers to all the countries involved in the Brexit negotiations. The term was previously used before Croatia joined the European Union in 2013, however it has recently been adopted to refer to all the countries in the EU except for Britain.

Hard Border: As a result of Brexit, a physical border could be erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic. This raises huge concerns as it could derail the Good Friday Agreement and reignite the Troubles.

Meaningful Vote: A ‘meaningful vote’ is a British parliamentary vote on Brexit under Section 13 of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018. This act requires the UK government to bring forward an amendable parliamentary motion at the end of Brexit negotiations to ratify the withdrawal agreement.

tio lec e e e on Un th Prim . f m o s om du ean ult ns a ngd n p s e re sig Ki er ro ref Eu s a n re ted a A e o ni th lds 4 – mer e U 2 ho ave U. h a E K le ne C f t Ju vid er o e U to the h T ot ve Da inist 3 – or n lea M 2 o ne her te t u J et vo wh .9% 51 . ion

2016

r de e a e l th ew pts ernn he acce gov ain’s ,t a Brit the ay rty, M a m P or es ing a res tive to f om Exit e h a ec r – T serv tion is b e fo 3 1 Con vita av tat 27 S D ly n t y l Ju the ’s i vid for Ju poin n f y a . o ee D tar on ap litic Qu ent. cre Uni po r t m st Se ean fo fir rop Eu Eu

March 2 letter, in 9 – The v This be oking A gins a April 1 two electio 8 – Theresa M n, callin t o a y calls lea go a April 2 as to d 9 – The eliver a n voters to re snap general the inv -e ‘strong oking o EU 27 hold t and sta lect Tories so heir firs f Article b le le and po t h rough t talks 50. Ov licies, a Brexit n adership’ post e r a n ll d egotiat E June 8 ions. tions a the framewor U positions – T r h k e e f unanim majorit o y in the conservative ously a r negotiapart greed Ho agrees upon. to supp use of Comm y loses their ons. Th govern ort the e m C D e o Augus nt und er a co nservative Pa UP t1 rt nfidenc es its p 6 – For the fi e and s y in rst time lan for u pply N , th o Comm on Trav rthern Ireland e UK releasmovem el Area . It pro , p ent of people guaranteeing oses a on the t s island o he free talk l f Irelan of a d. e UK s nth exit d res ,a b t o n r a e sm aB ecl e ure em riou cure UP d rvativ gre d fut o A b D nse se rs se September 6 – The UK releases a ‘wish-list’ of r la que propo ed fte els to s. The e Co e A h h EU programmes they would like to remain part C a alis 4 – uss talk t for t The ibing , is fin er to Br e of r of post Brexit, including some in healthcare, b o – r UK on upp y 6 esc cem els vi science and innovation.

De y trav hase raw s Jul er d d the Da n – d p p a iti M ing l with pa EU a y 8 Ex s l Jul te for clo t it wi the Sta tha

2018

No-Deal Brexit: Also informally known as a ‘Crash-Out’, a No-Deal Brexit would occur if the no agreements are reached between the EU and Britain by the time the UK leaves Europe.

This would have serious and immediate consequences on trade, travel and particularly on the Northern Irish border.

Northern-Ireland-Only Backstop: Only Northern Ireland would stay in the single market and the customs union. This was originally agreed by Theresa May and Donald Tusk in December 2017 however has more recently been rejected by PM Boris Johnson and Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP. Privy Council: They Privy Council, first established in 1708, is a formal body of advisors to the sovereign of the United Kingdom.

It is an honorary role and the council is usually comprised of both present and former senior members of the Houses of Parliament.

Jacob Rees Mogg is the current Lord President of the Council.

Prorogue: Prorogation is the formal term used for the end of a parliament session. The manner in which prorogation was conducted recently in the UK was unprecedent and alarming, however prorogation is not unusual. The British parliament has had periods of prorogation nearly every year since 2010, however they usually last less than 10 days. When the parliament is prorogued the motions which have not been answered and bills which have gained Royal Assent do not progress any further.

Although bills may be introduced in the next parliamentary session, by the time the British Parliament will reform it will be too late to pass a motion preventing a no-deal Brexit. It is for this reason that Boris Johnson called prorogation, a move which has received wide-spread disdain and declared ‘undemocratic’ and ‘a constitutional outrage’.

White Paper: A white paper, in reference to the English Government, is an authoritative report or guide which explains to the reader a complex issue and the writers philosophy on the topic. It is designed to help the reader understand an issue, solve a problem or make a decision. In 2018 a white paper between the UK and the EU was finalised and became known as the Chequers Agreement.

Withdrawal Agreement: Officially titled ‘The draft Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union’, this unratified treaty sets out the withdrawal agreements of the UK from the EU, discussing matters such as money, citizen rights and border issues. Originally published by the UK in November 2018, it was approved by the EU 27. However it was then rejected by 432 votes to 202 in the House of Commons. It was rejected a further two times, triggering the first extension to the Brexit negotiations and eventually May’s resignation.

10 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

Januar y 15 which s – The first m ea ee al Agre s May’s prop ningful vote March is h o e se ment b 12 eing de d Brexit With e Brexit W – The second f dr eated b m ithdraw y 432 t a March al Agre eaningful vot o 2 1 eo em depart 4 – Just 15 d this tim ent is also de n the v o t ure dat e ays bef e fea by 391 e, the g o votes t ted, overnm re the origina March o 242. l UK ent vot 20 – the Art es to extent extend May formally icle 50 the Art r period icle 50 equests the E . period U to until Ju ne 30 March 2019.

21 – Th e Euro agrees pean C to exte om n period until M d the Brexit n mission ay 22 s egotiat agreem hou ion ent be govern passed ld a withdraw m e . nt al O way fo rward. has until April therwise May This is ’s 1 2 t o indic as a re at sult of the pla e a nned nd xte or e co effe ss n t er 31 al , o i n a March 29 – The original date for the UK deparpa iss tob tio raw find ay erm r Oc ithd . The gna lity to in as i t p s ture, May’s Withdrawal Agreement suffers its o W e e n M rst a nts ith p ma abi er r can ent, until third defeat in the House of Commons, this time gra ntil e after rise fi s h er in will re or is a t e U m n a c u e E e un of h he ld th ess by 344 to 286 votes. riod nm gre or The period mon shou nno sult nt. S a succ ver al A 50 pe – a –B o r y e e 0 e g r e 0 w l 4 a i h 1 ra a K ev M nt le em f t nd ril y2 le 5 e U Withd Artic 4 – 7, as Agre der u Ap Artic day o which Jul der a ve h 2 t a l y s o the the Ma June rawa arty le the first ssed, Lea a g n -A d m a e l 5 n to xtend r e P h i v p t o i h r o i e t t f J h s Ap lutio to e al i r W rvativ er. t e e s o h d i res uests nse Co req e 30.

Jun

September 3 – A motion for an emergency debate on a bill tha parliamentary approval, is passed by 328 to 201, including 21 Co September 4 – The Benn Bill is passed, this time by 329 to 200 September 4 – Boris Johnson proposes the motion to call a gen and Labour abstains from the vote, meaning that Johnson does September 9 – Once again Johnson fails to pass a motion callin of the House of Commons on or before October 31. Parliament

ng Road to Brexit

6 Referendum that saw the UK make the decision to leave the me so confusing that Doireann De Courcy Mac Donnell is giving us your Barnier and what exactly Proroguing is.

FEATURES WHO IS INVOLVED? Boris Johnson: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of

r he rn ve in’s a rit the g itin

te on vo to ssi ch i t n en es le mm re or am vot rtic h Co er F tiat i l r c an rm go Pa 461 ger A Mar ( ig n pe r, fo f Ne the K o U ur tr r a Eu rnie Chie iting he favo to r th T a e n e x t E – la Th l B U’s 7 ly in ’s p o la – iche e E dom n r y a y e ng 27 s M s th ing mb elmi sa M U) b t ,a K y l e n i c re E h Ju po ian ited on.

De erw The the ap litic Un Uni v f o ) o ve po r the ean 89 (lea p o f ro 50 19.

Eu 20 January 17 – May lays out her 12 negotiating

2017

priorities and ambitions for leaving the EU saying that the UK will most likely seek an entirely new trade deal with the EU.

March 1 May to 3 – Parliame nt pas trigger ses Article the am March 5 e 0 witho a bill allowin ndmen 28 – N t ut m g s ic a o s prop la Sturg Ministe osed b aking any of eon, th r, d e s y e c e the Ho cond re lares th March use of at Scot Scottish First ferend 29 – Th um on land w eresa M ter, inv il S l c s o e t a e tish ind y ha okin epend k a begins g Article 50 a nds Donald T ence. a two y usk a nd trig gering ear pro Brexit. ce to leav e the E ss, allowing t he UK U on M genera arch 29 l 2019. ories so dership ’ ations.

Nigel Farage: Best known for spearheading the ‘Leave campaign’,

Farage’s anti-EU agenda began much earlier, in 1992, when he left the British Conservative party apropos of the Maastricht Treaty, which furthered EU integration. It was at this point he joined UKIP (UK Independence Party), which he went on to lead from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2010 to 2016. Farage has been a Minister of the European Parliament since 1999 and in January 2019 was a founding member and leader of the Brexit Party.

The Brexit Party is a Eurosceptic single-issue political party campaigning for Britain to leave the EU without a deal in order to be able to trade on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.

Theresa May: Having served as Home Secretary from 2010 until 2016,

May became the British Prime Minister in 2016 upon Cameron’s resignation.

She remained as PM until resigning herself in 2019 as a result of her rejected draft Brexit proposal. May also called for the Brexit negotiations to be extended from the original leave date, May 29th 2019, until June 30th 2019, however although an extension until October 31st was granted, May could not hold onto her tenure as leader of the Conservative Party.

David Cameron: David Cameron was the British Prime Minister from

hite K w een U ,a etw for ent re b ry m a Da t u e t e d r i re u c e f v e d Da ing th s s S . s a e ose t a i c n s pla for Ex signs ed ign Unio s K’s e s i r l e a b ate re eU a s r pean h i n a t t v al Da uro ic R or S hnso cts raw eje d min tary f is Jo r vid the E h o a t i r D D e EU g 9 - Secr n. Bo it W he 8 – Exitin x T y e l o e r i – y B Ju as th 1 nt.

Un Jul te for ry. r 2 eme s an creta The i e a e v t b e – p r S e o 4 tem Ag Eur eign S r 1 ed. ep uers e S r b sh Fo eq vem ubli Ch No l is p dea

gful vo te Brexit W is held, it d by 43 hdraw2 to 20 2 votes.

the Conservative Party since 2019, Boris Johnson has been on the political circuit for many years, both as a journalist and as a politician. Johnson previously held positions as the Mayor of London, from 2008 to 2016, and as the British Foreign Secretary, from 2016 to 2018. Educated and awarded scholarships through Eton and Oxford, Johnson is known for his public speaking and debating prowess. Upon his appointment as PM, the President of the United States declared; “They call him Britain Trump. That’s a good thing, they like me over there. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need”. It is rumoured that on the occasion of his rousing Brexit speech, which convinced much of the nation to leave the EU in 2016, two speeches were prepared – one for, and one against- and Johnson chose the speech which was closest aligned to the mood of the crowd.

Novem

ber 25

2019

November 15 – A mere 129 days after his appointment, Dominic Raab resigns as Secretary for State for Exiting the European Union. The following day, Stephen Barclay is appointed as his successor.

– The E

U27 en d Withdr orse the Brex awal A greem it ent.

2010 to 2016. It was under his leadership that the referendum on Brexit was called. Upon the very slim majority (51.89%) voting in favour to leave the EU, Cameron resigned. Since his resignation Cameron has kept a low profile, however upon May’s defeat in the House of Commons over her draft withdrawal agreement, he voiced his support for her Brexit proposal. He has also publicly said that he does not regret calling the 2016 referendum.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: Leader of the House of Commons and Lord

President of the Council since 2019, Jacob Rees-Mogg is perhaps one of the most recognisable British politicians after slouching across the seats of the House of Commons during a debate in September 2019. As Leader of the House of Commons, along with the chief whip, it is the responsibility of Rees-Mogg to organise government business and make time for backbench issues to be put before the House.

Simon Coveney: A member of Fine Gael, Simon Coveney is the Irish

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade since June 2017. Having lost out in the Fine Gael leadership contest to Varadkar, Coveney is Deputy Leader of the party and has been Tánaiste of Ireland since November 2017. As Minister for FA, Coveney has the responsibility of Brexit in relation to the Irish government and represents the Irish interest in talks with the EU.

Leo Varadkar: A mere 40 years of age, Leo Varadkar has been Taoiseach

of Ireland since June 2017 and is the youngest person ever to hold the office.

Varadkar has been a member of Fine Gael since 2004 and a Teachta Dála since 2007. Varadkar has previously come out and declared Brexit to be; “an act of self-harm that was not fully thought through” and has consistently stressed the importance of avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

Arlene Foster: Arlene Foster has served as leader of the DUP

(Democratic Unionist Party) since 2015. The DUP support the Conservative Party in a confidence-and-supply agreement. Arlene Foster recently rejected the proposal of a Northern-Ireland-only-backstop calling it “undemocratic”.

It is felt by the DUP that an agreement which has specific provisions for Northern Ireland will further distance them from the United Kingdom, which is contrary to the Unionist wishes of the party.

Donald Tusk: Donald Tusk is the President of the European Council.

Previously the Prime Minister of Poland, from 2007-2014, it is Tusk’s role to chair European council meetings and ensure cohesion and consensus within the European Council. He also acts as the representative for the European Council at international summits. Tusk has been strongly in favour of extending article 50 to ensure a smooth British exit from the EU.

Michel Barnier: Michel Barnier is the European Union’s Chief

ive vat to r c e ns ffe n nt, Co itatio inn, e pass me of o d a i M i v t e l e in ot na y to e er as Par is v een’s e Prim inist of Hous nson lit main pi n s b M o e h u a h t a s s e e r o Q u vis l ohn the come Prime Ho nd Th oris J e go wil ssor J h s t a th be ird ce ,B ori bo pts suc lst mons ecess ogue – B acce t and he th i h 4 r r t en w er nd – W om y2 pro Jul der a vernm is no 28 of C summ n to t s o se tio on gu Lea a g nson Au Hou still inten m oh r o e f r. J The ds, ar s his iste e r o L unc o n an

Negotiator for the United Kingdom Exiting the European Union. Previously a French politician, Barnier has held this role since July 2016. In the last few days, it has been reported that Barnier will retain his position as Brexit talks continue. He has been a key figure in ensuring the avoidance of a return of the hard border on the island of Ireland.

Jean Claude Junker: Jean Claude Junker is the President of the

European Commission. It is the job of the President to determine the Commission’s political agenda and defend the general European interest.

Junker would act as a European representative at G7 meetings but also during major debates between the EU and European nations. Having previously served as Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Junker has been President of the European Commission since 2014 and is set to step down on November 1st.

He will be succeeded by Ursula von der Leyen, a long serving member of Angela Merkel’s cabinet in Germany.

September 2019

e on a bill that would rule out a no-deal Brexit, by forcing the government to reach an agreement and get cluding 21 Conservative MPs voting for the motion. y 329 to 200 votes, seeing one further Conservative MP vote against the government position. n to call a general election in October which is rejected. The same 22 MPs once again vote against the party ohnson does not obtain the required two-thirds majority needed. a motion calling a general election. Speaker John Bercow announces his intentions to step down as Speaker 1. Parliament is prorogued until October 14.

Illustration Credit: Ella McLoughlin @ellamayjenny

17th September 2019

11

SCIENCE

Can Consciousness be Created?

Scientists have produced mini brains that mimic preterm babies’ brains, have they created consciousness too?

Jade Norton investigates.

It is difficult for us to comprehend our own consciousness, let alone try to operationally define it in a scientific experiment. In the last century scientific advancement has allowed for experiments to be conducted that cross the fields of possibility and allow humans to play their hand at creation.

However, there are many ethical considerations that come along with this. For example, what responsibilities would suddenly arise if a tissue on a bench could not only react to experimental procedures but had an opinion on them? On the other hand, what if the creation of consciousness in the pursuit of understanding can lead to answers that would not have been answered otherwise? This raises the question of whether scientists should aim to create consciousness or is it something that should be left to the natural world without human interference?

One recent experiment undertaken by scientists from the University of California, San Diego used stem cell technology to create cortical organoids or “mini brains” that are capable of producing brain signals that mimic that of premature babies. The brains do not look like a typical human brain and are instead a smooth pea-sized blob that is encased in a nutrient-rich medium. They lack the folding seen in a human brain as they do not contain grey and white matter but are more of a mass of neural tissue. An induced pluripotent stem cell, which is a cell capable of dividing into any cell in the human body

with the right instructions, was used to create the brain cells. These cells divided and over the course of 10 months grew from base neuronal cells to neuroepithelium-like structures which are similar to that of human brain tissue. These organoids were not capable of complex thought but were created with the idea of using them to study neurological diseases.

“… what if the creation of consciousness in the pursuit of understanding can lead to answers that would not have been answered otherwise?”

Throughout the development of the tissue nested oscillatory network dynamics were measured, these are networks of repetitive electrical activity produced by the human brain in response to stimuli. This electrical activity can be found in all living neurological tissue but does not necessarily show consciousness as there is yet to be an electrical ‘ping’ signalling life as we currently understand it.

The team in San Diego measured oscillatory spikes from the minibrains weekly using microelectrode arrays and found an increase in activity as the months progressed. This implied that there was a neural network capable of new development contained in the tissue. The electrical activity spawned by the neural network of the cortical organoids produced in the lab was

troencephalograph) the scientists measured the neural activity of a premature baby. These neural patterns were compared to see if there was a substantial difference between the neural activity between them. The comparison used a subset of features from the EEG to offset variable factors not found in the cortical organoid. The results of comparison using a machine-learning algorithm found that the development of each tissue had many similarities which were likely to have been part of a genetically programmed timeline.

However, these minibrains were unable to progress to further development than that of a premature baby and it is thought that this is due to the lack of sensory input that would usually be felt through the womb by a premature baby.

The “mini brains” that were developed in this experiment did not have any evidence of consciousness and were almost one million times smaller than a human brain and without the multiple types of cerebral cells they didn’t have the capability of developing the full neurological complexity that is needed to form consciousness as we see it. The measurements of electrical activity were done without comparison of physiological features which varied greatly between the two tissues and have an effect on the maturation of neurons essential for development. The reality of creating a sentient being similar to ourselves is still resting in the world of science-fiction, but the ability to create a tissue that mimics brain activity and can be used in medical research is a definite possibility. Brains can now be grown on a petri dish, but as of yet they haven’t voiced any complaints.

The ability to grow an organoid that has an extensive neural network that is similar to that

preterm baby raises the question of at what point does consciousness arise? It depends on who you ask. The origin of consciousness has yet to have a universal consensus and without it there are no clear ethical rules relating to the growth and development of cerebral tissue. There is no indicator that will tell you that consciousness has been created so it is possible that there is or once was a homegrown sentient lab tissue somewhere.

Along with the advancements in organoid technology, ethical considerations will continue to come into question. Without the ability to know when consciousness has dawned, how do you know if the organoid is feeling pain or is distressed? And once something develops a consciousness it becomes a subject of an experiment rather than an object which entitles it to its own rights. Consequently, this would seem that it would give scientists the responsibility to uphold these rights, however, this is still a largely unexplored area.

With the knowledge of ethical responsibility in hand, the possibilities of opportunity for advancement is huge with a literal minibrain to work with. Medical research can use these organoids to see the in vivo effects of certain mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and epilepsy and see the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s without the invasive problem of viewing it in a live person. The question of when consciousness begins is something that can fuel a philosopher’s career but for a scientist the creation of consciousness is a possibility that has never before been so accessible, with increasing advancements we may soon have our own brain in a jar.

Counting sheep vs burning the midnight oil: How much sleep should we get? against family members who did not show tenDespite the World Health Organisation’s recommendation for dencies for short sleep. young adults to get between 7-9 hours of sleep each night, there have “Why has our relationship with sleep been reports of people functioning better on average on as few as 5 been overlooked in discussions surhours a night. Dylan O’Neill investigates this phenomenon. rounding health and have people beSleep. When you’re a child you never want to fall asleep, too afraid of missing out on the world around you. As you grow older, sleep becomes more of a valued commodity, often sacrificed for an extra hour of work, training for a sporting event or dedicated to a hobby. For a lot of students, by the time they reach university, sleep is a fleeting respite from the busy world that not only expects activity, but productivity. Despite its association with both an individual’s physical and mental wellbeing, it repeatedly fails to be adequately addressed by educational bodies, when the issue of early starts to attend exams and late nights to meet deadlines is brought up by students, and merely joked as being part of the “student experience.”

Why has our relationship with sleep been overlooked in discussions surrounding health and have people begun to adapt to require less sleep to function in society to keep up with the demands of productivity to survive?

The scientific study of sleep began with physiological studies that examined a person’s circadian rhythms during times of sleep and wakefulness. Le probleme physiologique du sommeil by French scientist Henri Pieron was the first published book to analyse sleep from these physiological perspectives in 1913. In the 1920s, Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman further studied these circadian rhythms to define sleep characteristics in different populations and the effect of sleep deprivation on the body. It was in 1953, that Dr. Kleitman’s research led to the discovery of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. By the late 1950s, Dr. William C. Dement continued on the research of his teacher Dr. Kleitman in the field of REM sleep to find that REM sleep was a stage within the sleep cycle. This discovery sparked the interest of scientists within the fields of elec-

12 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry and psychology to study the stages of the sleep cycle and the sensation of dreaming.

With these fields now interested in the relationship between sleep and health, sleep apnea, which is when a patient repeatedly stops and restarts breathing while asleep, was discovered in Europe in 1965 by scientists Gastant, Jung and Kuhlo. In 1970, the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic was established to specifically diagnose and treat patients with sleep problems. Through examining respiratory and cardiac readings in their sleep tests, the clinic investigated the symptoms attributed to and avenues of treatment for Pickwickian syndrome, narcolepsy and insomnia; bringing sleep from the laboratory to a clinical discipline in medicine by 1972.

These published reports and academic journals were the basis for groups, such as the American Sleep Disorders Association, to advise the public on healthy sleeping habits based on the results generated from large samples of people examined. As technology advanced, with tests being able to run faster and cheaper in the laboratory, scientists began to look in depth at the genes that have an effect on the circadian rhythm and the genes that are involved in the sleep cycle.

A study entitled “Gene linked to needing less sleep identified” was published in the journal Cell Press in August 2019, in which scientists Ptáček, Fu et al. discovered that individuals with the Kindred 50025 allele are subjected to natural short sleep, which the authors refer to as a “lifelong tendency to sleep only between 4-6 hours per night”, describe feeling well-rested. They began by screening individuals with “unusual sleep patterns” in families and tested

gun to adapt to require less sleep to function in society to keep up with the demands of productivity to survive?”

The group used SNP-based linkage analysis, a technique used to identify individual base differences between two alleles of the same gene, to identify the Kindred50025 allele in the ADRB1 gene, on chromosome 10. This alteration in one base leads to a difference in amino acid formation (alanine is instead valine) in the coding sequence of the gene. According to the Exome Aggregation Consortium database, this mutation occurs only 4.028 times per 100,000 individuals in the population.

Once the Kindred50025 allele had been identified, Ptáček, Fu et al. tested it to determine what functional differences were a result of the mutation. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, they were able to “knock-in” the altered gene into mice, with the mutant mice showing a decrease in the β1AR levels, having a subsequent decrease in the activation of the cyclic-AMP signalling cycle, as opposed to the control mice.

The mutant mice were then subjected to the

ANY-maze and electroencephalogram tests to judge their sleep/wake behaviours. The results of the tests told scientists that the mice with the Kindred50025 allele were more mobile during a 24-hour period with both light and dark phases.

The mice also clocked in 55 mins less sleep than that of the control mice, in which the mutated allele was absent.

With the first work on natural short sleep being published in 2009, the genetic components of sleep are still in their infancy in terms of research and study, given that this most recent study used a small nuclear family, a sample much smaller than the historical studies in the 1950s and 1960s. However, with the identification of the Kindred50025 as a novel sleep gene, the report states that even when the allele is in a carrier individual - a person who has the allele, but it doesn’t have the same identifiable expression - their total sleep time is 7.5 hours, an hour shorter than the population.

This study will undoubtedly pave the way to research into drug research on the sleep cycle and sleep/wake behaviour in individuals, but with such a small percentage of this allele being identified in the population, it is unlikely that most students will report the same sensation of well-restedness after only 5 hours of sleep. In the meantime, the takeaway from this study is that the Kindred50025 allele it is an allele to look out for in your 23andMe results.

SCIENCE

Why is Everyone Becoming Vegan?

Vegans choose not to eat meat and dairy in an effort to do their part in reducing water usage, emissions of greenhouse gases and pollution. animal’s tail, and the way in which the process is Raising farms of cows for milk and meat concarried out is particularly gruesome. The cow’s sumes an enormous amount of water. tail is pinched with a rubber band to cut off blood “In terms of emissions one study from the tail, which causes it to die. In Ireland in 2014, “one-third of beef, dairy and calf-rear- on livestock based food production ing farms inspected for animal welfare by the in the United States in 2014 found Department of Agriculture […] were found not that it causes “about one-fifth of the to be fully compliant”, mostly due to tail docking. Females are forcibly inseminated so they global greenhouse gas emissions.” will give birth and lactate, over and over again.

Vegans choose not to eat meat and dairy Calves are also taken away from their mothers in an effort to do their part in reducing water as soon as they are born, which is another argu- usage, emissions of greenhouse gases and polment that welfare standards are not met by the lution. Raising farms of cows for milk and meat dairy and meat industry. What’s more is that in consumes an enormous amount of water. PETA large industrial farms or as People for the Eth- states the number as 683 gallons of water needed ical Treatment of Animals (PETA) calls them, to produce one gallon of milk and 2,400 gallons “factory farms”, the animals often live in tiny of water to produce one pound of beef. PETA and filthy cages until they are slaughtered. They argues that by eating a vegan alternative, such are also force fed and pumped full of hormones as tofu, which only requires 244 gallons of wato yield the ‘ideal’ product. The conditions in ter per pound, we can conserve water. Farms which meat and dairy are produced is only one also take up a lot of land, land which needs to be reason why someone might become vegan. cleared or deforested to be used. This in turn endangers biodiversity as deforestation takes away “There are potential downsides to animal’s habitats. In terms of emissions one the vegan lifestyle. Essential nutri- study on livestock based food production in the ents such as choline, vitamin B-12, United States in 2014 found that it causes

From ethical questions to conflicting nutritional advice, Ruby O’Connor examines the science behind a vegan lifestyle.

It seems that everyone is becoming a vegan these days. For those who don’t know what a plantbased lifestyle is– although surely most people have encountered a vegan who likes to talk about veganism by now – being a vegan means abstaining from consuming animal products. There are many reasons why someone may decide to be vegan. Someone may have moral obligations to raising and killing animals for food and clothing, where animal cruelty is common. Others avoid animal products in an effort to combat climate change. Many forgo animal products for their personal health, as a vegan diet is shown to lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and certain types of cancer. However, there are potential downsides to the vegan lifestyle. Essential nutrients such as choline, vitamin B-12, iron, calcium, and vitamin D, which are found in meat and dairy products are lacking in the traditional vegan diet.

The Vegan Society of Ireland argues for compassion for animals and believes that animals have a right to life. For them, “being vegan is the next logical step”. In this way, veganism takes moral and philosophical issue with humans taking the lives of animals for their own benefit. In addition, The Vegan Society of Ire- iron, calcium, and vitamin D, which land believes that welfare standards will never be are found in meat and dairy products met completely and that the processes used to are lacking in the traditional vegan produce meat and dairy are inhumane and cruel. For example, cows on dairy farms sometimes diet.” have their tails docked, as it improves efficiency Meat and dairy farms also have other harmful imwhen milking. Tail docking is the removal of an pacts on nature contributing to climate change.

It’s Not You It’s Them: The Impacts of Social Exclusion on Health Lillian Loescher looks into the relationship between social exclusion and our health and discovers things are not always what they seem.

As the poet Criss Jami once said, “telling an introvert to go to a party is like telling a saint to go to Hell”. There seems to be a general misconception that if you are introverted then you are somehow excluding yourself from being social.

As if there has to be some kind of prerequisite that to be an introvert you must avoid parties like the plague; in reality social exclusion or social inclusion have nothing to do with how introverted or extraverted you are.

The World Health Organization defines social exclusion as a dynamic multidimensional process that is driven by unequal power relationships interacting across 4 main dimensions: economic, political, social and cultural. Given the scientific nature of sociological research these main dimensions are defined broadly. So, the economic dimension refers not only to personal finances and debt, but also to the absence (or presence) of basic goods and services on a larger scale. The political dimension encompasses the access to public and community services, healthcare, proper education, housing and the safety of ones living environment. On a social front, scientists are referring to the level of social isolation as well as personal (or general) participation in formal and informal social networks. Within the cultural sphere the literature analyses the amount of noncompliance with overall core societal values. To say that this is a simple topic would be an understatement. To make things even more complicated, these unequal power

relationships can occur at the: individual level, household level, community level, country level and global level.

Much of the research that is dedicated to the impacts of social exclusion (verses social inclusion) define social exclusion differently as well as analyse it at varying levels. Though there are several prevailing themes that can be taken away that are invariant across all of these studies.

That is, there is a positive relationship between social exclusion and chronic illnesses, disability, life expectancy and mental health problems (including depression and suicide).

Prevailing scientific literature shows that low social standing, feelings of alienation and lack of belongingness impact health thought a psycho-neuroendocrine mechanism. To put that into other words this quite literally means that social exclusion impacts a person’s psychology, neurochemistry and immune system. For example, two out of three cross sectional studies have supported the notion that a high level of social exclusion is associated with low physical health. One such study found that elderly Japanese women who were excluded in economic and social dimensions were 1.7 times more likely to die earlier. No such correlation was found among elderly Japanese men. The impacts of social exclusion on physical health do not end there.

Overwhelming evidence shows that there is a strong relationship between social exclusion factors and the presence of chronic disease as well as limitations in daily activity due to chronic health problems. So, it may be the case that part of the reason your Grandma might have trouble getting around is due the fact that they are experiencing or have experienced some form of social exclusion. Our personal health is a very complex phenomenon indeed. If we expand on the Grandmother scenario to include people with disabilities in general, there have been

numerous studies that have shown a positive relationship between social exclusion and the onset and persistent presence of disability. It is interesting to note that in these studies women with long term illnesses with a history of social exclusion were at an increased risk of future economic and social exclusion, though there was no significant association between long term illness and social exclusion among men. There are an increasing number of scientific studies showing there is a relationship between social exclusion, the body and the mind. But just how much does social exclusion impact mental health?

“Prevailing scientific literature shows that low social standing, feelings of alienation and lack of belongingness impact health thought a psycho-neuroendocrine mechanism. To put that into other words this quite literally means that social exclusion impacts a person’s psychology, neurochemistry and immune system.”

“about one-fifth of the global greenhouse gas emissions.” Pollution is also a major side effect of farming, contaminating lakes, rivers, air and land with animal excrement. However, sustainable farming does exist on a small scale, which attempts to minimize damage to the environment through increased efficiency, farm redesign or substitution of harmful products (such as fertilizers).

However, the research surrounding the vegan diet is not one sided. Many studies warn that the vegan diet is sorely lacking in many essential nutrients. One of these nutrients is vitamin B-12, which is absent from the vegan diet because plants do not make vitamin B-12. Another nutrient notoriously absent from the vegan diet is iron. Interestingly, this is not because vegans consume less iron, but because they are not able to store it as efficiently. Vegans have also been shown to have low levels of calcium and iron.

These nutrients are relatively well known and easy to supplement. However, a new study questions whether vegans get enough choline, which is an essential nutrient found primarily in meat and dairy products. It says that “choline is critical to brain health, especially during fetal development.” These studies indicate that the Vegan diet needs to be approached with a great deal of thought and research as to decrease the risk of developing nutrient deficiencies.

can one do to lessen the impacts of social exclusion?

The Ireland Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has developed an Updated National Action Plan to help with poverty and social exclusion by creating a minimum income, inclusive labour markets and access to quality services. In the best-case scenario for this action plan, it still doesn’t address all dimensions of social exclusion and the ultimate responsibility falls upon the individual. As for students here at UCD that means reaching out to the Student Health Centre for counselling and health services, utilizing UCD’s online resources for anxiety and depression through the SISweb, joining that weirdo society that makes you happier at the end of the day, keeping food on the table and above all not just reading about these things, but doing them. As the famous psychologist Maslow would put it, “if the essential core of the person is denied or suppressed, he gets sick sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes immediately, sometimes later.”

Perhaps the best way to describe the research that links social exclusion to mental health is by thinking of social exclusion and mental health in a feedback loop. A loop in which social exclusion can exacerbate an underlying mental health problem and an underlying mental health problem can reinforce certain dimensions of social exclusion in a seemingly never-ending vicious cycle. Most of the literature seems to look at how mental health impacts social exclusion and not the converse; how social exclusion impacts mental health. Of the research that exists, scientists have found that individuals among socially excluded groups exhibit poorer mental health and higher suicide rates due to isolation, loneliness and low self-esteem. This is particularly relevant to those who are unemployed and those that have poor social capital. With the impacts of social exclusion severe and plentiful, one might wonder what is being done about this and what

17th September 2019

13

SCIENCE

A Suggestion Can Go a Long Way in the World of Hypnosis Lillian Loescher interviews professional hypnotist Oisin Foley.

Much like the mom jeans of the 90’s it seems that the science behind hypnosis and suggestibility is making a comeback. Often thought of as an eccentric offshoot of cognitive science, the underpinnings of hypnosis and suggestibility are topics of rigorous empirical study. Whether convincing an unsuspecting lad that he is Connor McGregor or temporarily altering the way an individual with chronic pain perceives their pain, the implications and mechanisms of hypnosis are far reaching and mysterious.

Hypnosis is defined as “the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction”. Given the numerous proposed models to explain the mechanism by which hypnosis works, there is still a need for further research. Each model individually explains one part of a larger picture, but that larger picture has not been fully explained in and of itself. The most current research in the area suggests that a model that encompasses the biological, psychological and social aspects as well as the interactions between these factors best describes how hypnosis actually works.

“I think if you’re to chat to 100 different hypnotists each of them is going to have a different perspective on things because everyone is different [and] every hypnotist is different”

An interview with professional hypnotist Oisin Foley helps to shed a bit of light on this complex topic. Oisin’s expertise lies within the performance of hypnosis, so his perception and implementation of hypnosis is different than what would be discussed in a clinical setting.

He emphasises this point explicitly by saying, “I think if you’re to chat to 100 different hypnotists each of them is going to have a different perspective on things because everyone is different [and] every hypnotist is different”. When asked to define suggestion (in the context of hypnosis) he says, “It’s something that psychologists have debated for years whether suggestion is real or not, the very same they have done with hypnosis [though they are both real]. It’s pretty much where an idea can be planted into someone’s head.”

Foley stresses that the psychological and social aspects of hypnosis have the utmost importance in determining how one is hypnotised and how he approaches the hypnosis. He says, “If you approach the alpha male of the group and say ‘Oh, I’m going to hypnotise you’, 9 times out of 10 it’s not going to work, but if you say to him, ‘I’m going to try something a little bit different with you’, (make him think that he cannot be hypnotised) it’s going to work 9 times out of 10. Each way you approach someone has to be different based on what kind of feel you get of them as a person…The beta male’s…they’re the kind of person who you could go up to and say ‘Oh, I’m going to hypnotise you’. Then there are other people who are terrified of hypnosis, [to which I would say] ‘don’t worry we are just doing a relaxation technique. You’re going to be completely fine; you’ll be aware of everything the whole way through’.” [It is important to note that the alpha/beta male distinction is debunked science.]

Foley’s experience has merit and is backed by extensive scientific research, the prevailing social-psychobiological models stress the importance of the relationship between the

hypnotist and the person being hypnotised. The scientific literature says that there seem to be two main social aspects that influence hypnotic responding, that is, the relationship between the individual and the hypnotist and the rapport between them. It was found that when a hypnotist and their subject had a personable relationship the subject exhibited significantly greater hypnotic responding when compared to hypnotists with impersonal relationships with their subjects. So, it’s no wonder that Foley relies heavily on social perception and likability during his acts.

“if you believe that you can be hypnotised, you are statistically more likely to respond to hypnotic suggestion”

On the biological side the literature outlines a number of quantitative approaches to measure a person’s suggestibility. Additionally, there seem to be neuroanatomical differences within the brains of individuals who are highly suggestable versus those that are significantly less suggestable. For example, using an EEG (electroencephalograph) numerous studies have shown that individuals who are highly susceptible to suggestion have higher baseline levels of theta wave activity as compared to individuals who are less susceptible to suggestion. Of the five main types of brain waves (beta, alpha, gam-

-ma, theta and delta), theta brain waves are involved in daydreaming and sleep as well as with experiencing intense emotions. As Foley puts it, “there is this stereotype that people who are less intelligent are easier to be hypnotised which is not the case at all, it relies massively on the use of complex intellectual ideas and having a very vivid imagination, two things we have already seen from hundreds of years of psychological research are linked very strongly with people of higher intelligence”.

The scientific models support a correlation that Foley describes. The two key factors that influence how responsive an individual is to hypnotic suggestion are; (1) a latent cognitive ability/talent for hypnotic responding and (2) one’s beliefs about their own future hypnotic responding. Thus, if you believe that you can be hypnotised, you are statistically more likely to respond to hypnotic suggestion and if you are part of a group of individuals that are highly susceptible to suggestion you will be more likely to experience hypnotic amnesia, according to the science that is. Psychological factors that tend to increase an individual’s susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion are: a tendency to daydream, a vivid imagination, a better ability to entertain the possibility of a thought being true. Given the proven medical benefits of hypnosis as well as the entertainment value it seems that when mom jeans cycle out of style, perhaps the study of hypnosis will not.

Dogs, their Brains and Science Vanshika Dhyani asks: did humans love wild animals into domestication?

A recent article from the Journal of Neuroscience has come to a conclusion that the selective reproduction and subjection to environmental factors over generations led to alterations in the brain morphology of dogs. Did we love wild animals into domestication? Are we responsible for altering the gene pool of an entire species?

Did the original organisation of their brain cells change?

Historians believe that man’s friendship with the species fostered when wolves settled in the outskirts of hunter-gatherer camps looking for leftovers. The ancient canines that came to be known as dogs were the relatively tamer and less aggressive of them. Recent genetic studies suggests that domesticated wolves originated in China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Data from a 40-year-old experiment that began in the 1950s suggests that it takes six-eight generations to domesticate a canine. Oxytocin is a hormone associated with emotional bond that is secreted when two human beings connect emotionally. Another study conducted in Nagasawa claims that the same hormone is released when a man and a dog stare into each others eyes.

It is speculated that dogs began travelling with their human companions about 20,000 years ago, and the oldest dog fossil is over 14,000 years old, from Germany. This acts as an evidence that helps us understand the depth of our ancestral relationship with the creature. The bond is very so often called a ‘symbiotic’ one which refers to a mutually beneficial relationship, like lichens and mycobionts.

A Harvard study analysed the brain structure of 62 male and 33 female dogs. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate regional volumetric variation in their MRI scans.

14 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

Neuroanatomical variation is evident in amongst breeds. Small dogs and big dogs have different brain structures. This is because they were bred to do two different jobs. This breeding manifested in their behaviour and physicalised in their brain. Dogs are said to have the cognitive brain activity similar to a two year old. Some dogs have the ability to learn commands quickly and obey 95% of the time. There is physical diversification in the shape of the skull is said to indicate behavioural dissimilarities. Most contemporary dog breeds were developed in the recent past, in a premeditated and intentional manner.

The influence of humans on different lineage of domesticated dogs indicates an altered, gross organisation of the animal’s brain.

Breeds differ in cognition, temperament, and behaviour. Variations occurred in the terminal branches of their phylogenetic tree, which is evidence that humans have significantly altered the psyche of domestic dogs in several ways.

“If your dog brings you a dirty sock when you’re having a particularly rough day they are trying to cheer you up. A dog can understand their owner’s emotions and pick up on how they’re feeling.”

Scientists believe that brain evolution in domestic dog breeds follows a “late burst model,” with directional changes in brain organization being lineage specific. The truth remains, if humans had never domesticated dogs, they would still be wolves. Studies show that different breeds behave differently not because they differ in genetic composition but because they were

raised to do different jobs. Dogs are intelligent animals. Scientists have categorised them into three sections on the basis of their intellectual capabilities. The three categories being: instinctive, adaptive and working & obedience. Stanley Coren- a canine psychologist from Canada believes that working dogs are the brightest of them all. German Shepards, Poodles and Border Collies belong to this category; they obey at least 95% of the times and are known to learn new commands after fewer than five exposures.

It is not surprising then that these three breeds are ranked in the top three of 137 smartest dogs in the world.

Canine psychologists help us understand the psyche of these wolf-like-canines. Research in this area shows that while male dogs choose to play with female dogs, female dogs do not differentiate between playmates. This difference in behaviour is attributed to evolutionary necessity for mothers to care for pups of both sexes.

If your dog brings you a dirty sock when you’re having a particularly rough day they are

trying to cheer you up. A dog can understand their owner’s emotions and pick up on how they’re feeling. Thus, your dog may be more likely to bring you something that they associate with positivity or playfulness, in an attempt to cheer you up.

A recent article in Current Biology throws light on how animals like dogs coevolved with humans. Zoologists are trying to understand consciousness in animals and how it has shaped their relationship with us. Research indicates that barking is a source of reliably communicating information about the dog’s current mental and physical state. It is believed to have evolved as a direct result of living with humans.

It is speculated that domestication of dogs happened twice, independently, in Asia and Europe.

Communication is believed to play a pivotal role in the co-evolution of the species. Even though a lot of research has gone into understanding the morphology and general anatomy of their brains, the question still remains: Did we love wild animals into domestication?

GAEILGE

Scéalta na bhFáinneoirí Danielle Nic Gill Fhinnéin Toradh iontach ó thaobh Athbheochan an Fháinne le feiceáil ar an leathanach Instagram Scéalta na bhFáinneoirí.

Leis an gconspóid faoin nGaeilge le déanaí agus an thábhacht a bhaineann léi, is rud iontach é go bhfuil leathanach ar Instagram tagtha chun cinn atá dírithe ar an dea-thionchar atá ag an nGaeilge ar dhaoine.

I mí Eanáir na bliana seo cruthaíodh leathanach ar Instagram darbh ainm Humans of an Fáinne nó Scéalta na bhFáinneoirí. Cad atá le fáil ar an leathanach seo ná scéalta cainteoirí Gaeilge. Bíonn an Fáinne á gcaitheamh acu mar shiombal don theanga Ghaeilge. Léiríonn an Fáinne an cumas atá acu an Ghaeilge a labhairt agus go bhfuileadar toilteanach an Ghaeilge a labhairt. Cruthaíonn sé nasc idir na cainteoirí Gaeilge uilig.

Cruthaíodh an leathanach ar Instagram an bhliain seo agus bíonn scéalta le fáil ann ó gach aon saghas duine atá in ann ár dteanga álainn a labhairt. Foilsítear pictiúr agus scéal nua chuile coicís den chainteoir ag caitheamh an Fháinne agus alt beag faoin tionchar atá ag an nGaeilge orthu.

Feachtas atá i gceist leis an leathanach seo chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn agus an Fáinne a chur chun cinn chomh maith. Tá an Fáinne ar fáil le fada an lá ach le déanaí is beag duine a bhí á gcaitheamh. Is iad Piaras Béaslaí agus Diarmuda Uí hÉigceartuigh an bheirt a tháinig suas leis an smaoineamh seo den Fháinne. Gníomhaí teanga a bhí i bPiaras Béaslaí chomh maith le ball den Bhráithreachas Phoblacht na hÉireann.

Duine mór le rá a bhí i nDiarmuda Uí hÉigceartaigh i mBráithreachas Phoblacht na hÉireann agus bhí sé ina Rúnaí ag Comhairle Feidhmitheach an tSaorstáit ó 1922 go 1932.

Tháinig siad le chéile leis an riachtanas chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn agus as an riachtanas a gineadh an smaoineamh.

Cruthaíodh coiste sa bhliain 1916 leis an aidhm chun an Fáinne a chuir chun tosaigh.

Scaip an smaoineamh seo i gConradh na Gaeilge agus gan mórán moille aithníodh an Fáinne mar shiombal Athbheochan na Gaeilge.

Le himeacht na mblianta thit líon na ndaoine a bhí an Fáinne a gcaitheamh acu agus ní raibh an tóir chéanna air. Anois sa lá atá inniu ann tá tóir ar an bhFáinne arís. Cad a bhí á léiriú ag an bhFáinne ná go raibh tú i do chainteoir líofa ach anois tá cúpla Fáinne ar fáil a tugann le fios cén leibhéal Gaeilge atá agat. Anois níl an Fáinne le haghaidh cainteoirí líofa amháin. Níl aon duine fágtha ar lár ón bhFáinne anois. Tugann sé seo dearcadh níos dearfaí don Fháinne.

Tá Fáinne Óir ar fáil atá don chainteoir líofa, an Fáinne Airgid don chainteoir le Gaeilge measartha agus tá suaitheantas ar fáil anois leis na focail ‘Cúpla Focal’ scríofa air. Tá an suaitheantas seo dírithe ar thosaitheoirí atá sásta an Ghaeilge atá acu a n-úsáid.

Níl an Fáinne dírithe ar an gcainteoir líofa amháin a thuilleadh agus tá gach aon duine curtha san áireamh. Cabhraíonn an t-athrú dearfach seo níos mó daoine a mhealladh don Ghaeilge. Seo cad atá i gceist leis an leathanach Instagram Scéalta na bhFáinneoirí chomh maith.

Scéalta éagsúla atá le fáil ar an leathanach Instagram a thagann le chéile leis an aidhm céanna, an grá atá acu don Ghaeilge a léiriú. Ó mo tháithí féin leis an bhfeachtas seo, is smaoineamh iontach é chun freastal ar na Gaeilgeoirí atá sa thír seo agus seans a thabhairt dóibh inis don saol mór cén fáth go bhfuil ár dteanga leochaileach mar chuid thábhachtach dár saol.

Léiríonn an Fáinne am criticiúil i stair na Gaeilge mar go bhfuil sé fite fuaite isteach leis an

Athbheochan. Bhí an Ghaeilge in uair na cinniúna sa thréimhse seo agus cruthaíodh an Fáinne mar shiombal don Ghaeilge, chun na Gaeilgeoirí a nascadh le chéile. Daoine a chumasú a bhí i gceist leis an bhFáinne sa thréimhse seo. Chun misneach a chothú i ndaoine. Chun stop a chur leis an nGaeilge ag éirí níos laige.

Bhí Aindriú Mac an Rí mar an chéad duine chun a scéal a insint. Bhí sé ag an Oireachtas i mbliana agus an Fáinne a chaitheamh aige agus iarradh air a scéal a roinnt ar an leathanach Instagram Scéalta na bhFáinneoirí. Seo cad a bhí le rá aige faoina thaithí leis an bhFáinne agus an Ghaeilge.

“Tá sé iontach suimiúil. Sílim go léiríonn sé gur cineál gach saghas duine atá ann a mbíonn ag labhairt i nGaeilge agus a mbíonn ag caitheamh an Fháinne. Sílim go bhfuil sé go maith an Fáinne a fhógairt. Tráth den saol, bhí níos mó daoine ag caitheamh an Fháinne ach anois is comhartha an-mhaith é go bhfuil Gaeilge ag duine éigin.

Ligeann sé duit bheith in ann labhairt le duine éigin fiú muna bhfuil aithne agat orthu. Sílim gur dea-rud é agus dea-rud é an fhógairt don Fháinne.”

Bhí Anna Ní Chathail mar chuid de Scéalta na bhFainneoirí agus seo cad a bhí le rá aici faoin leathanach. “Is breá liom na píosaí uilig atá le fáil ar an leathanach.

Is cuma cé chomh difriúil is atá na daoine atá air. Bíonn siad ar fad lán de ghrá agus buíochas don Ghaeilge mar fhórsa láidir ina saol”.

“Maidir leis an bhFáinne, creidim gur nod beag néata é chun léiriú don té atá ar an eolas gur féidir an Ghaeilge a labhairt agus chun eispéireas beag taitneamhach a bheith agat trí Ghaeilge, rud nach mbeifeá b’fhéidir tar éis bheith agat murach an Fáinne a bheith ann.”

Tá éileamh ag teacht ar an bhFáinne arís le níos mó agus níos mó daoine ag caitheamh an Fháinne go mórálach. Leis an gceangal seo idir na cainteoirí Gaeilge ar fad, tá muintir na Gaeilge tagtha le chéile agus iad ag caitheamh fáinne beag néata. Ach cé gur rud beag é an Fáinne, tá brí agus siombalachas ollmhór ag baint leis.

Todhchaí na Gaeilge sa chóras Oideachais Pléann Shane Mc Donnell todchaí na Gaeilge ó thaobh an curaclam de.

Bhí mórán pléite sna meáin thar an tSamhradh mar gheall ar an Ghaeilge agus an áit atá aici mar ábhar éigeantach don Ardteist, ag dul ar aghaidh.

B’é tuairisc scríofa ag an National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCAA) a tharraing ard ar scoilt idir daltaí meánscoile a cheapann gur cheart an ábhar a choimeád mar atá, agus daltaí atá i bhfabhar fáil réidh leis an nGaeilge mar ábhar éigeantach. Na mílte coimhlintí a tharla ar líne; ar Facebook agus Twitter ach go háirithe, mar gheall ar an ábhar. Truflais ab ea an chuid is mó, mar a bhíonn, ach thug sé le fios go bhfuil meoin áirithe i leith na Gaeilge ag cuid mhór den tsochaí.

Aontaím leis an tuairim nach bhfuil an cúrsa Ghaeilge foirfe agus go bhfuil géarghá uasdhátú a dhéanamh ar. I bpolla déanta le níos mó ná 20,000 duine ag TheJournal.ie, dúirt 42.9% dóibh siúd a fhreagar nar chóir don Ghaeilge a bheith mar ábhar éigeantach don Ardteist, i gcomparáid le 43.8% a cheapann gur chóir. Ach sa pholla céanna, dúirt 11.8% gur cheart an t- ábhar a roinnt i ndá chuid; ábhar amháin, a mhúinfeadh an teanga agus cultúr, a mbeadh éigeantach agus ábhar eile, a mhúinfeadh litríocht agus filíocht, a mbeadh roghnach.

Cé go dtuigim an mhéid atá i gceist le scoilt an ábhair, ní aontaím leis an tuairim. Níos mó ná stór focail agus liosta rialacha ghramadaí í an Ghaeilge. Is meáin í ár dteanga ársa muid a cheangail lenár ngaolta a tháining romhainn.

Nuair atáimid ag léamh dánta de chuid Seán Ó Riordáin agus Pádraig MacSuibhne, nílimid amháin ag foghlaim stuif a bhéas úsáideach ar theacht mí an Mheithimh, táimid ag léamh faoin mbunachar ar a bhfuil ár dtír is ár ndaoine cruthaithe.

Bhí caint mar gheall ar “éilíteachas” na scoileanna lán-Ghaelacha le feiceáil ar-líne thar an tSamhradh. Má roinntear an t-ábhar ina dhá chuid, laghdódh sé sin an nós go bhfuil scoilt soiléir idir daltaí a fhreastalaíonn ar scoil lánGhaelach agus siúd nach fhreastalaíonn.

Le fás an daonra atá le teacht sna mblianta atá romhainn, tá sé i gceist ag an rialtas 42 scoil nua a bhunú faoin mbliain 2022, méid áirithe dóibh siúd a bhéas ina Ghaelscoil. An gciallaíonn sé seo go bhfuil deis ag na daltaí sna Ghaelscoileanna leas a bhaint as staidear ar litríocht an Ghaeilge nach mbeadh ar fáil dóibh siúd i scoileanna eile?

Ní roghnódh daltaí nach bhfuil Gaeilge líofa acu staidéar a dhéanamh ar an litríocht, tá an méid sin soiléir. Táimid ag iarraidh athbheochan an Ghaeilge a spreagadh fud fad na tíre , ní amháin sna Gaelscoileanna. Cruthódh scoilt san ábhar Ardteiste scoilt go bhforleathan sa tír a dhúnfadh cuid mhór den daonra amach ón oiread atá le táirgeadh ag an teanga.

Ní hé sin le rá nach bhfuil athrú ag teastáil, ní hamháin ag an gcúrsa Ghaeilge, ach ag an gcúrsa Ardteiste ina iomlán, ní chuideoidh scoilt an ábhair le seo. Tá gá leis an gcúrsa mbéalscrúdaithe a uasdhátú, ach go háirithe, chun díriú isteach ar an gcomhrá in ionad sraith pictiúirí a fhoghlaim de ghlan mheabhair. Fós, más é go bhfuil leasú as cuimse á dhéanamh ar ábhar amháin, is gá leasú a dhéanamh ar an gcóras in iomlán.

Ag labhairt ar the Hard Shoulder, clár raidió de chuid Newstalk ar an 30 Iúil i mbliana, dúirt iar-Uachtarán Ollscoil Luimnigh, Ed Walsh: “I would suggest that we give every encouragement and support to those students who want to study Irish - but for the majority who don’t... we should recognise reality.” Mhol sé freisin achmhainní a aththreorú agus a dhírigh ar teangacha Eorpach, nua-aimseartha agus teangacha ar nós Mandarínis. Tá an t-Uasal Walsh den tuairim: “The language has not been restored,” rud atá amhrasach nuair a ghlactar le fiannaise réadúil.”

Tá gluaiseachtaí shóisialta i leith an Ghaeilge ag tosú mórthimpeall na tíre. Faoi stiúr ghrúpaí ar nós Siansa Gael Linn, tá obair na gcapall á dhéanamh acu chun an teanga a scaipeadh le ranganna, imeachtaí shóisialta agus

céiliúratha mar gheall ar an nGaeilge. Le roinnt blianta anuas tá sár-rath i ndiaidh teacht ar imeachtaí ar nós Pop-Up Gaeltachtaí , atá le feiceáil i ngach rinn don tír. Tá an Ghaeilge ag dul faoi bhláth go shóisialta agus tá sé á labhairt in áiteanna nach mbeadh sé á labhairt roimhe seo; i dtithe tabhairne na cathrach, mar shampla. B’fhéidir nach bhfuilimid fillte ar na laethanta roimh An Ghorta Mhór ina raibh Gaeilge á labhairt go bhforleathan, i ngach áit taobh amuigh den Pháil, ach siúil thart ar Chlub Conradh na Gaeilge, nó ar Phop-Up Gaeltacht ar oíche Déardaoin agu feicfeá nach bhfuil athbhunú na teanga i ndiaidh teipeadh.

Le déanaí, nochtaigh an t-Aire Oideachas, Joe McHugh, go bhfuil sé ar intinn ag an t-Aireacht Oideachais rialacha níos boige i leith díolúnaithe ón ábhar a fháil i gcás daltaí le deacrachtaí foghlama. Chruthaigh sé seo buairt ón ngrúpa Gaeloideachas, a thacaíonn forbairt an oideachais trí mheán na Gaeilge: dúradar go bhfuil baol ann go gcruthódh “cúldoras” chun an Ghaeilge a dhéanamh neamh-éigeanntach sa todhchaí. Dar le Gaeloideachas, cuireann na haithrithe seo teachtaireacht amach a deireann nach bhfuil oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge

oiriúnach do dhaoine le deacrachtaí foghlama, rud nach bhfuil fíor go h-uilíoch. Ní hionann deachracht foghlama agus míchumas Gaeilge a fhoghlaim.

É sin ráite, faoi mar atá an scéal faoi láthair is ábhar éigeanntach í an Ghaeilge.

B’fhéidir go dtagann drochmheoin i leith na Gaeilge ó laethanta scoile ár dtuistí agus ár seantuistí, inár bhuaileadh an Modh Coinníollach agus an Ginideach Iolra isteach iontu , agus ón tsochaí atá mar aidhm aige béim a leagan ar neamhúsáideacht braite na Gaeilge sa lae inniú - níl cead ag cuid mhór dúinn ár ainmneacha Ghaelacha a úsáid ar pháipéarachas bainc toisc nach aithníonn na ríomhairí Ó nó Í.

Ní mór dúinn Gleann na nGealt a fhágáil agus muid féin a thumadh arís inár dteanga dhúchasach. Tá todhchaí cinnte ag an nGaeilge sa chóras oideachais agus ní hamháin a bhfuil sí buan, tá sí geal. Tá an lasair á n-iompar acu siúd atá ag troid ar son na Gaeilge.

17th September 2019

15

AGRICULTURE & RURAL AFFAIRS

6

Lucrative Mercosur Deal a Foe of Farmer and Rainforest Alike Negotiators for the European Union and the South American Mercosur trading block reached agreement on a new free-trade deal back in June, writes Niall Hurson.

Mercosur is a South American trade bloc which was established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Prêto in 1994. These agreements were made in order to establish a customs union in the region, creating a fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. Mercosur is made up of four full member countries which include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Venezuela is a full member but has been suspended since 2016 after doubts whether the country was complying with the union’s rules, including human rights violations. Merscosur also has seven associate countries which include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Suriname.

The deal was 20 years of negotiations in the making and it will consist of a free trade area open to 760 million people, bringing 2 continents together in cooperation. The European Union (EU) is the first major partner to agree a deal with Mercosur and all that is left is a final ap-

-proval from the European Parliament before the pact will come into effect. The deal has been met with negativity with France expressing concern about a surge of beef imports into the EU. Environmental groups are warning the deal could worsen the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest.

Previous to the free-trade deal, the EU was already Mercosur’s biggest trade and investment partner. A total of 20.1% of the bloc’s exports went to the EU in 2018. Europe’s biggest exports were machinery and transport equipment while foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco were the biggest imports from the South American region. It has been estimated the EU will save over 4 billion euros as a result of tariff reductions between the two continents. Europe will now enjoy tariff reductions on goods such as cars and wine with an aim to increase access for companies involved in industrial products.

The Amazon rainforest covers most of deal is a sell-out of EU values and reckless of the the Amazon basin of South America and 60% is Commission to agree to thousands of tonnes of contained within Brazil. Many environmentalists substandard beef from South American counfear that agricultural expansion incentivised by tries come into the European market. the free-trade deal could potentially contribute A study carried out by the EU Commisto further deforestation in the region. In August sion Joint Research Centre said beef imports French president Emmanuel Macron threatened from Mercosur countries into Europe could 9 to block the Mercosur trade deal as a result of drive beef prices down by 16%, costing the Euwildfires in the Amazon rainforest and a lack of ropean beef sector as much as €5bn a year in action from Brazil’s government. An Taoiseach revenue. The potential impact on Irish farmers Leo Varadkar also said there is no way Ireland according to the IFA could be a loss of between will vote for the deal if Brazil does not honour €500 and €750m. IFA livestock chairman Anits environmental commitments. Varadkar said gus Woods said in jest earlier in the year that “There is no way we can tell Irish and European “this deal is to allow Europe to sell more cars, 10 potentially electric chainsaws to farmers to use fewer pesticides, less fertiliser, champagne and embrace biodiversity and plant more of their cut down their rainforest with.” land and expect them to do it, if we do not make Beef farmers in Ireland have received untrade deals contingent on decent environmental, relenting bad prices for their animals for months labour and product standards.” on end with the Mercosur free-trade deal pre Mercosur aims to increase exports of senting an enormous threat to an industry that farm products, the deal includes a 99,000-tonne is already on its knees. Unregulated agricultural quota of beef at a 7.5% tariff, phased in over five expansion in countries such as Brazil also poses Across years along with tariff-free 180,000-tonne quo- a real risk of heightened deforestation. tas each for sugar and The Irish Farm4. poultry.

Pocahontas ers Association (IFA) has widely condemned the 6. Can speak to thethe manager deal with IFA president, Joe IHealy s saying

9. Brooklyn's grumpiest old man 10. Can walk and chew gum at the same time

Beef Protests and Rural Unrest Weeks of protests have been a product of recent unrelenting bad news for beef farmers and created widespread rural unrest, writes Niall Hurson.

Picketing at factory gates began on Sunday July 28 with farmers gathering at the gates of ABP Cahir, Co Tipperary in response to weeks of unrelenting bad news for the beef sector. Farmers congregated under the Beef Plan Movements banner in an effort to create awareness around the poor prices they have been forced to take with no sign of improvement on the horizon.

Beef Plan Movement originated in Co Meath in late 2018, created by farmers who were unhappy with their representation from traditional farm organisations. The movement began as a Whatsapp group and soon gained momentum amongst beef farmer circles. The group claims to be centred around “regaining control of the animals produced from birth to slaughter, returning the cost of production with a margin to the farmer, and regaining respect within the beef sector.”

In an effort to achieve these objectives Beef Plan Movement began a wave of protests which effectively shut down 14 meat processing plants in its first week from Bandon to Slane.

The extent of the effectiveness of these early protests can be seen in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) weekly

beef kill figures. By week two of Beef Plan protests the total head of cattle kill had been cut in half. Just 15,065 head of beef cattle were slaughtered in DAFM approved plants. In contrast, the same week in 2018 saw 30,470 head of beef cattle slaughtered. A well-coordinated beef protest had proven to be an effective tool in creating awareness around poor beef prices. The cattle kill was reduced by over 50% and mainstream media began to take notice of the farmers at the factory gates.

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) had seen enough by August 9th and agreed to talks with an intervention from the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to bring all concerned parties to the table. The talks commenced on August 12 at the Department of Agriculture’s Backweston Campus under the condition all Beef Plan Movement protests were to be stood down during the talks period. Beef Plan cooperated with the terms and entered the Backweston talks with MII and other industry stakeholders. Agreement was reached during the early hours of August 21st which signified the permanent cessation of Beef Plan protests.

The parties involved made allowances on various criteria farmers had been previously forced to

with. One such compliance was the 70-day residency of an animal on its holding prior to slaughter in order to qualify for a bonus which was reduced to 60 days during the talks. Aside from these small steps of progress, price remained unchanged and ultimately proved to add fuel to the rampant protest fire.

Many farmers remained unhappy with the outcome of these talks and felt they had been a failure for the efforts of farmers who spent many days and nights at factory gates. On August 25 ABP Cahir witnessed its second wave of famer protests.

The Beef Plan Movement could take no further part in protests with risk of incurring legal action.

In a controversial move the group threatened to “immediately expel” any member that takes place in the new wave of protests.

Protests at their peak were uncontainable with independent famers taking to the gates of beef plants across the nation. Independent farmers who led a new wave of protests diversified their campaign to address the retailers and any connected industry such as Larry Goodman’s dog food company. A fresh marathon of talks took place last weekend September 14 and 15. Agreement was reached between farmers and factories with guarantees given on bonus payments and structural reform within the beef sector. One such agreement was an immediate 66% in-spec bonus increase for steers and heifers from 12c/kg to 20c/kg.

“Since protests began over seven weeks ago the total kill is down over 50,000 head on the same period in 2018.”

Many retailers claim beef is sold as a loss leader; a product sold at a loss to attract customers. Factories are under pressure to sell their product to retailers at a low price in order to ensure the security of their outlet market. Factories are in turn passing on the low prices to farmers who are currently producing beef at a loss with no one to pass the loss down to in the chain. Factories remain highly profitable businesses while farmers struggle to supply at unsustainably low prices. Recent Teagasc research suggests the current base price of €3.50/kg is causing suckler famers to lose €150 on every animal they sell. A breakeven price of €4.17/kg was suggested in the report.

Since protests began over seven weeks ago the total kill is down over 50,000 head on the same period in 2018. Communication between industry stakeholders has improved but a long-term resolution to poor cattle prices has yet to be established, protests are ongoing.

No Deal Brexit Laden with Implications for Agriculture A no deal Brexit has presented itself again in the face of a vulnerable agri-food sector, Ellen Durkin outlines the implications tariffs and checks could entail.

With an atmosphere of confusion present in Westminster and Brexit looming, planning for a no-deal scenario has become increasingly difficult, with the likelihood of the UK and the EU reaching a deal decreasing. There will be a Northern Ireland backstop if the EU and UK can’t reach a deal by the end of the transition period.

A hard border will be difficult to avoid in the case of a no-deal Brexit come October 31. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Ireland will be asked to implement EU laws to protect the single market and Britain will have to operate under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. WTO rules have the potential to enforce tariffs on export goods, from food, to electronics, and fuel.

Ultimately this would result in the return of customs checks on goods entering the south and our exports to the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. In theory, this will create difficulty for farmers in Northern Ireland to send lambs and milk to the South, unlike the free movement we have today.

16 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

There is no doubt that the economy will suffer as a result of a no-deal Brexit and a hard border. Estimates are currently circling around €6.5bn, with the agri-food sector being hit the hardest. With regards to the beef industry, the UK accounts for 75% of animal exports. Currently, 50% of meat and meat-product exports from Ireland are destined for the UK.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned of checks on goods and has promised further supports to be made available to the agriculture sector if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. In the case of mandatory checks, they are expected to occur at ports, airports, and businesses.

While addressing an audience at the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce, Varadkar highlighted a number of consequences from a potential no-deal Brexit, which included the application of tariffs on goods. He added a no-deal would cause economic growth to slow but a return to recession was not expected.

An Taoiseach continued by outlining support currently being planned in the event of

a no-deal Brexit. He alluded to further financial supports that will be announced in Budget 2020.

These supports are to be made available to areas of agriculture, industry, tourism and the border region. He added that the Beef Emergency Aid Measure (BEAM), had opened its applications and would “provide financial aid to Irish beef farmers facing difficult circumstances as a result of market volatility and uncertainty arising out of Brexit.”

The BEAM scheme was formed to utilise the €100 million beef fund agreed by the European Commission and the Irish Government to support Irish Beef Farmers.

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson wants to have the current backstop proposal removed, because, in effect, it locks the UK into a Customs Union with the EU. This could inevitably inhibit the UKs ability to carry out its own trade deals.

This is of concern to farmers across Ireland as regulatory alignment in Ireland would allow goods to move freely. However, if Britain is to set its own trade path, the market for Irish farmers could potentially be severely undermined.

Representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (DAERA) representing the UK government have said that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, exports of certain products to the EU, including the Republic of Ireland will stop

overnight, regardless of tariffs. An example of this is potatoes, where the EU will no longer continue to recognise UK regulatory standards once it becomes a third country.

Another problem could be in the export health certificates that have to accompany every consignment of animal product moving from NI to the EU if there is a no-deal Brexit. These certificates are filled in by the exporter and have to be signed by a department vet. Concerns are mounting over the availability of vets in NI to manage the anticipated increase in these export health certificates as figures are expected to jump from 18,000 to over 2 million.

As it stands, a no-deal Brexit appears likely. However, it will be difficult to know for sure until Brexit takes place on October 31st. Farmers can hope that sense will prevail in Westminster before this time.

8

5

PUZZLES

8

7

9

Literary Alpaca 1

10

8

2 4

Across

3

Down

4. Pocahontas

1. Obama's best friend

6. Can I speak to the manager

2. How are you going to spend your $1000

9. Brooklyn's grumpiest old man

3. He was a skater boy

10. Can walk and chew gum at the same time

5. The Edge's boots

5

7 7. She's 6got the black vote locked up. Literally

8. Not Fidel

Down 1. Obama's best friend 2. How are you going to spend your $1000 3. He was a skater boy 5. The Edge's boots

8

7. She's got the black vote locked up. Literally

9

8. Not Fidel

10

Across

Down

4. Pocahontas

1. Obama's best friend

6. Can I speak to the manager

2. How are you going to spend your $1000

9. Brooklyn's grumpiest old man

3. He was a skater boy

10. Can walk and chew gum at the same time

5. The Edge's boots

The Harpy

7. She's got the black vote locked up. Literally 8. Not Fidel

“Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?”

Roebuck Castle Votes To Leave Campus In Shocking Rexit Result

Young Fine Gael Begin Campaign To Remove Old Man Belfield From Campus

Johnny Journalist

Young Man Belfield

In a press conference held in the Student Centre today, Young Fine Gael have announced their intention to remove UCD mainstay Old Man Belfield from campus, citing “illegal occupation of a property” and “years of unpaid rent gone uncollected”. Group leader, D. Fore, has come out against UCD’s “lack of resolve in removing this unsightly stain from an otherwise clean campus”.

Old Man Belfield, real name unknown, has been a resident of the UCD grounds for years after being given permission from campus services to stay indefinitely. YFG have decided, however, that this permission has “no real legal standing” and that they are speaking with members of their senior party to figure out “the best way to get rid of a homeless person quickly”.

“In all of our time in education, we have never been so shocked - nay, horrified - to have discovered that we should have to share our space with someone who is without a fixed abode,’’ said D. Fore, while holding a suspiciously clean boot. “It was enough of a shock for us to realise that we would have to go to college near people who had to work to survive but this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Mr. Fore was seen to be licking his lips every time he would mention words such as “removal from the

habitat” and “landlord’s rights”. When a reference to the removal of people without residences from Apollo House was made by a member of the press, Mr Fore’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he excused himself from the conference for a moment.

UCD students have come out in protest to the announcement, organising marches, sit-ins and discussions about how systematic issues have been key factors in the housing crisis. Young Fine Gael say that they are not worried about the backlash, saying that “any news is good news” and that the discussion around the campaign will only draw more eyes towards their cause. “Who cares what a hundred broke students think about this situation? All we need is one rich man with power to hear about this and we’ll succeed.”, claimed Mr. Fore, before leaving the press conference in what looked like a golden carriage but on closer inspection was a poorly constructed box made from cardboard and yellow paint.

“I’m surprised it took this long to attempt this, if we’re being honest,’’ one UCD student was heard to say. “This couldn’t be any more on brand for them”.

In a result that shocked UCD campus, Roebuck Castle has voted to leave UCD and become its own independent student residency with a majority vote of 51.9% to 48.1%. After weeks of campaigning from both sides, the result was announced today in the Student Centre. The result was met with a polarising reception, with some elated students claiming that they “finally have their independence back” with other students running through the halls desperately applying for residence in any of the other halls on campus.

Nicky Farry, leader of the Rexit Party, was absolutely delighted with the result of the election, despite conceding defeat before the final results had come out. “It truly is a great day for the residents of Roebuck Castle. We thought we wouldn’t be able to fully convince the people to do it seeing as we couldn’t get a bus into UCD to promote our message but it seemed to work out alright all the same.” When asked about how the building without the help of UCD staff or finance, Nicky seemed to be unfazed by the whole situation. “We will simply get a deal from UCD that will allow us to be treated the exact same way that we were before, just on our terms. How hard can it be?”

Students with places on campus are already feeling nervous about the proposed

implications of the removal of Roebuck from UCD’s domain. Merville student’s are nervous due to the fact that if they wish to get into their own homes, they will need to have their student cards checked on both sides of the border between the two accommodations. “This is the worst thing imaginable! This is such an inconvenience, I don’t know how anyone could manage it,” claimed Susie Laporte, from Skerries.

“This is nowhere near the worst thing imaginable,” said Patsy Gallagher, from Donegal.

The value of a residency in Roebuck Castle has increased significantly since the result of the referendum was published, making it much more difficult for students to afford staying there. Nicky Farry doesn’t seem to be worried about this result, however. “We expected something like this, so we’re not concerned.

We’ll just simply ask UCD to give us more money. It’s a win win situation.”

The process to leave UCD will begin at the end of Fresher’s Week, where the members of the Rexit Party will be handing out leaflets promoting their new “Roebuck Castle Party Bus”, with prices starting at 500 euro per student.

Editor’s Note: Following the publication of this article it was revealed that Nicky Farry, leader of the Rexit Party, had ties to the DCU governing body. The legitimacy of the result has been thrown into question, and some are calling for Mr Farry to be sent to the Haig. As of now, the election results still stand.

17th September 2019

17

EDITORIAL Talleyrand Guess who’s back, bitches?

It’s me, your one and only Talleyrand, featuring once again in this godforsaken rag that has the temerity to call itself a newspaper. It could be worse, I could be in the Tribune. At least the editors of this filthy publication have met each other.

Semester One is now in full swing, and this years batch of so called graduates have all departed. Alas, I am cursed to an eternity of wandering these halls, and must yet again spew my thoughts for all to read. To rub salt in my wounds, I cannot even join the universities illustrious Alumni Club, which I am sure the newest former students of this godforsaken place were falling over each other to throw their (parents) money at. After all, Deeks gave it such a ringing endorsement at this years graduation ceremonies he had to end his speech with hashtag AD, hashtag SPON.

Speaking of our Aussie overlord, President Deeks is splurging €7.5 million of his hard earned cash on a new residence for himself.

What’s that? It’s your cash? Oh how wonderful!

Talley is sure that your exhausted parents who have saved since your birth to put you here are only overjoyed that not only are they paying extortionate money for you to live in this God awful city, but for him too!

Speaking of renovations, this haunted campus is becoming more and more of a construction site with every day that passes. Talley has counted 5000 cranes, at the time of publication, a new record not seen since the extravagance of 2006, when they finally installed windows in Belgrove. Perhaps it is all that excess money from the UCard office that is funding all of these new constructions? Alas, we should not lament, as every cent not being spent on the welfare of students only makes Deeks happier, and what is more beautiful than a smiling President Deeks? Nothing, Talley assures you.

But what about our new Students’ Union? Well, do you really want to get Talley started on the mundane goings on this year? At least

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER TEAM when Murphy was at the helm I could lash him with a few whips of my sharp tongue, but this years team seem to be made up of such utterly competent and decent individuals that there isn’t a whiff of an impeachment referendum, nor allegations of gross misconduct in sight. Rest assured, at the slightest hint of a money laundering scandal, Talley will be there to slap the handcuffs on the guilty individual (looking at you Anderson. You too O’Dea.).

What’s to be said for Monaghan 2020?

Talley is salivating at the thought of the atrocities that could occur. Students forced to consume vast amounts of hand rolled ice cream as their Mayo overlord sits on a golden throne of Guinness World Record books, promising an Ents card to the student who abstains from vomiting first.

You love to see it.

and staff can pay €75 a year for the privilege to join a glorified cafeteria that no one wanted in the first place. We have the new €20 million extension to Quinn, with every available classroom and lecture theatre named after companies such as KPMG and PwC. UCD is modern Ireland in microcosm, all traces of history and culture being systematically stamped out and replaced by corporately sponsored sameness.

For those of us who have watched UCD change over the years, this is nothing new. We have watched as UCD have cleared away computers from several buildings, gutted common spaces such as An Cuas and the Common Room, while also spending €7.5 million on Deek’s new offices in Ardmore House. The fact that the Ag building is crumbling doesn’t concern them.

The fact that there are students who are forced to drop out because of a lack of adequate supports, from counselling services to the Access Centre not being given proper funding, doesn’t concern them. They don’t care that courses are becoming harder and harder to get in to due to extreme rise in points. Once you realise that those at the top of UCD care more about making the university profitable than they do for the

students who study here, things start to make a lot more sense.

There are kind people working in UCD. Behind the scenes there is a network of people; student advisors, lecturers, counsellors, heads of schools, doing their best to help students who come to them with problems. It would be nice, for once, to see money spent to help them, rather than on vanity projects and fancy offices that do nothing for the students. I’m not holding my breath though.

Art and Design Editor Alex Fagan Assistant Editor Nathan Young Design Assistant Orla Keaveney News Co-Editors Andrea Andres Jade Wilson Comment Editor Garrett Kennedy Features Editor Doireann deCourcy Mac Donnell

Deputy Science Editor Vanshika Dhyani Eagarthóir Gaeilge Danielle Nic Gill Fhinnéin Agriculture and Rural Affairs Editor Niall Hurson The Harpy Editor Hugh Carr Sports Editor Andrew Dempsey Chief of Photography Alex Fagan Deputy of Photography Sofia Dragacevac Chief of Videography Eleanora Dzhungurova Deputy Videographer Fiadh Melina Brosnan Columnists Matthew Tannem-Elgie Andrea Andres

In Memoriam - Séamus Sweeney Séamus Sweeney, former contributor to the University Observer Volumes IV and V, passed away on 8th September aged 44. He is survived by his wife Aoife, children Eimear, Dearbhla and Donnacha, his mother Aine and his extended family.

Séamus wrote for the University Observer between 1998 and 2000, covering various sections including a beautiful piece on Tintin, which we in the office have enjoyed looking back on this week. We will be sharing that article on our website this week, as a tribute to Séamus and his great work with us over his time in UCD.

Prior to his passing, Séamus worked as a psychiatrist in St. Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, was an avid walker and climber, and lived in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary with his wife and children. In lieu of flowers, his family have asked that donations be made to South East Mountain Rescue.

We at the Observer would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Aoife and the rest of Séamus’ family at this extraordinarily difficult time.

Contributors Ella McLoughlin Mark Jackson Isabella Ambrosio Katie McCormick Clodagh Healy Jade Norton Ruby O’Connor Dylan O’Neill Shane McDonnell Ellen Durkin Micheal Tuohy Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Rory Clarke Old Man Belfield Johnny Journalist Special Thanks Fiachra Johnston Ella McLoughlin In Memoriam Séamus Sweeney, Volume V

May he rest in peace.

********************************* Letters, corrections, and clarifications pertaining to articles published in this newspaper and online are welcomed and encouraged.

Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, University Observer, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin 4

18 VOL. XXVI, ISSUE 1

Deputy Editor Aoife Mawn

Science Editor Lillian Loescher

Editorial: Who is UCD for?

Upon returning to campus after the summer, it’s always interesting to see the ways in which campus has changed during the three month break. More often than not, one notices all of the construction on campus - some ongoing from previous years, some new projects. UCD’s unofficial mascot is the swan, but perhaps it’s time to change it to a crane. Recently, UCD has begun to lose the feel of a university, and has slowly begun to resemble the bland, homogenous feel of Docklands-esque glass and steel corporate Ireland. President Andrew Deeks seems to have forgotten that the point of a university is to provide students with a quality education, and instead is treating the campus like his own personal Lego set.

Take this year’s new additions. We have the University Club - a building that nobody asked for. In fact, staff members, some 400 of them, launched a boycott in protest over the closure of the common room in Newman. Despite this, the Common Room, a beloved space for academics to congregate and host guests, was shut down, ostensibly for more classroom space. But don’t worry, now all these lecturers

Editor Gavin Tracey

Correspondence may also be sent to editor@universityobserver.ie

SPORT

On the Edge of Glory?

Michael Tuohy considers the factors that could potentially bring Ireland to the World Cup Final in Japan.

four and beyond. It may also prove prudent to grant game time to the likes of Luke McGrath and either Joey Carbery or Jack Carty, in order to keep the world-class duo fit for the notoriously difficult knockout rounds.

“We need our half-backs on top form throughout the tournaments, and it may definitely be worth giving full game time to Luke McGrath and either Joey Carbery or Jack Carty.”

Ireland owned 2018. 11 wins out of 12 including a Grand Slam and rare win over the All Blacks, Joe Schmidt’s side went into this year’s Six Nations as favourites, only to bookend the competition with losses, and a struggle out in Italy slap-bang in the middle of it all. Another struggle against Italy and a drubbing by England in August has put a push for this year’s World Cup under threat, but could their last two wins against Wales show that Ireland are back on the march?

With their win against Wales at the beginning of the month, the Irish rugby team are now ranked number one in the world. Did we ever think we would see the day? Irrespective of how this ranking system works and how it is calculated, this is a serious achievement and one that the IRFU and Joe Schmidt should be incredibly proud of.

There are four major focal points we can focus on that led to this incredible achievement, the first of which focuses on the half-back pairing of Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray. The Six Nations saw both Murray and Sexton just come back from major long-term injuries, with Murray never quite meeting the standard that he has so consistently set over his time in the No. 9 jersey for Ireland with Sexton being singled out by teams who found another chink in his armour.

The game plan against Sexton for the most part was simple – make him angry – which proved to be quite successful. Despite being 34, Sexton still has the ability to learn, and has clearly brushed aside those issues to come back to his calm, passionate self that approaches games.

This is to prove crucial should Ireland harbour any hopes of making that next step into the last

Secondly, the line-outs need to stay at the consistent level they were against Wales which proved to be a major pitfall during the Six Nations – as Ireland consistently lost the ball in the air or overthrowing past the receivers. The trio of Rory Best and his namesake Scannell seem to have improved during the warm-up games along with Sean Cronin, which is a positive – but even one missed line out can ruin a hooker’s confidence, so the Irish coaching staff need to try and keep morale high.

It’s not all on the hookers although. New lineout caller and former UCD Student James Ryan needs to be at his brilliant best throughout the tournament. The non-inclusion of veteran Devin Toner was a shock to many on the announcement of the 31-man Irish squad, but Toner has aged in recent years and there’s a high possibility that he would become a liability on the pitch thanks to the frequency of games played in the tournament. With the young Ryan as the new line-out caller, he will be under a lot of pressure to get it right. He was at fault for a few calls against Wales at the Aviva, having the ball thrown into the grateful hands of Alun Wyn Jones on mul-

tiple occasions. However, it is hopeful that he can iron out the creases in this part of his game by the time the opening game against Scotland rolls around.

Ireland’s third focal point must be their defensive line. Much like the aforementioned Devin Toner, Ireland’s defence recently has been slowing up in recent times. It allowed teams to pierce through them all through the Six Nations. But it’s clear from the Welsh games that something has changed. There is a newfound pace about Ireland’s defensive structure, focused around the centre partnership of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw – a partnership bursting with chemistry. If this continues, this could lead them past the quarter-finals for the first time in the nation’s history.

But one more spectre must be dealt with before Ireland can dream of making a Webb Ellis Cup Final – Injuries. It proved to be the downfall during 2015 – with the costly losses of Sexton, Jared Payne and leader Paul O’Connell being decisive. Ian Madigan was forced to take over the duties of an injured Sexton against Argentina, and we all know what happened there. It’s an aspect that can’t be fully controlled but injury prevention has and will prove to be massive for Schmidt’s final hurrah. In truth, all we can do is hope that the major figures in the squad aren’t taken down by the ghost of disappointing tournaments past.

With just days to go until the start of the Rugby World Cup in Japan, a palpable sense of eager anticipation - tinged with a modicum of justifiable trepidation - is building up steam as the countdown to Ireland’s opening match against Scotland in Yokohama gathers momentum.

‘That Night in Dudelange’ Andrew Dempsey reflects on UCD AFC’s finest night with two of the main protagonists from that iconic night in Luxembourg.

The 9th of July 2015 is a significant day, in one way more than others. A certain Chuck Blazer was given a lifetime ban by FIFA for corruption but, it is also the night when UCD AFC became the first ever Irish second tier side to win a Europa League tie – a nice piece of history for the university’s oldest club, formed in 1895.

was achieved through the mercurial Ryan Swan but the game plan was thrown out the window following the dismissal of defender Sean Coyne – “Going into the away leg, we went into it thinking we could do well. Remembering the game for the first twenty or twenty-five minutes we were doing pretty well. I wasn’t fearing anything, and Ryan’s goal eases the fears of that obviously, but However, this was not your classic plain-sailing I thought we were doing really well up until Sean European tie against some unknown quantity Coyne’s sending off. from the back of beyond. UCD, at the time were in the First Division (the second tier of Irish “My wife was ten days overdue as football) having suffered relegation from the well at the exact same time. The team top-flight of Irish football at the end of the 2014 flew out on the Wednesday and did campaign.

UEFA grants three spots for Fair Play the training session on the pitch that each year in the Europa League, one spot for night. I didn’t fly with them” each country of the three selected. With the “Thinking back then, the only thing I rememRepublic of Ireland falling into that category – ber from that was – I stood the players up in the UCD AFC were the side to benefit having been changing room to show how we were going to the cleanest side to take part in the Premier Di- defend at the half-time break. It was nearly like vision during the 2014 campaign. As a result, another training session in the dressing room.

UCD AFC were on a European adventure for Thankfully we had a goalkeeper in Niall Corbet the first time since 2000. being brilliant on the night. We rode our luck

Having been dismissed by many quar- and we got a result that will live long in the memters heading into the tie, and with questions be- ories. ing raised about the merits of a second tier Irish “Because it was the first moment of what side playing in the Europa League – the students you would call success it’s probably one of my brought an unlikely lead to Luxembourg – but favourite nights without doubt. Particularly with a tall order still lay in waiting. Manager Collie the amount of stuff that was going on with me O’Neill told the University Observer; “My wife personally at the time as my wife was ten days was ten days overdue as well at the exact same overdue as well at the exact same time, so it was a time. The team flew out on the Wednesday and really great night.” did the training session on the pitch that night.

While it was a hectic night not only for I didn’t fly with them. I stayed and booked my the manager – spare a thought for the players own flight into Belgium at 5AM on the Thursday who fought tooth and nail on a famous night morning. for the club. Winger Jamie Doyle also added;

“Once I got to Belgium, I got a car hired “Without a doubt that’s my fondest memory of to drive to Luxembourg. Of course, the flight I a game of football in my career to date. had booked – I had Tomas Boyle’s parents on “Thinking back then, the only thing it with me as well as another parent I brought along with me. They had no way of getting a bus I remember from that was – I stood or train Luxembourg so I said while I have a car the players up in the changing room you might as well jump in with me!” to show how we were going to de Compared to the events that took place before the game, the opening stages of the sec- fend in the dressing room.” ond leg went according to plan – a one goal lead

“It was the most tiring game I’ve ever played we couldn’t get out of our half for most of the second half, but it was the best feeling after I’ve had on a football pitch to date. It was more of a tactical approach than games in the League of Ireland, you were given time on the ball in certain areas, two teams who liked to get the ball down and spray it around rather than the madness in the League of Ireland.”

Arguably one of the greatest achievements in European football from an Irish side in recent years – well, up until Dundalk’s run of 2016 – there are still plenty of untold stories from the time – from scouting opponents on YouTube to organising an unlikely third round

tie against FC Krasnodar that never happened – the list is endless.

The collection of events will soon come to life as ‘One Night in Dudelange’, written by UCD graduate Kevin Burke will look to bring those unheard of stories to life – a must-read for any football or sports fan in general. The book is earmarked for launch early next month and it will be available via the publishing company online and from the UCD AFC club shop on matchdays.

17th September 2019

19

SPORT

Club Focus: Lau Gar Kickboxing Andrew Dempsey delves into one of the most popular martial arts on campus that one may join.

Boasting a membership of over 100 people, the UCD Lau Gar Kickboxing club is one of the most popular martial arts on campus. They cater for a wide range of interests and levels, from beginners to advanced. The club particularly welcomes beginners at the start of each term, but you can also join at any time of the year as senior members of the club will be on hand to help you catch up to what level you would like to reach.

The code is based on the traditional Chinese Lau Gar syllabus, with a wide variety of options available for members to get involved in.

Kickboxing, sparring and self-defence classes are regularly on offer for members but significantly, fighting is not mandatory with plenty of alternatives available to utilise. These options include circuit training, partner work and locks.

Each session on offer also includes opportunities to improve your aerobic and cardiovascular fitness that also provides a chance to improve one’s flexibility.

Behind every club is a strong team – and that is no different at the UCD Lau Gar Kickboxing Club. Club captain Mark Cullen will arguably take much of the limelight, but he is certainly helped in so small hand by his team around him.

Secretary Colm Magee, Treasurer Róisín Lande, Senior Treasurer Chris Quinn, who is also the club’s first aid officer. OCM’s Dylan Kierans and Charles Kelly also help with the smooth running of the operation. Last, but certainly not least is PRO and Ents Officer Lavinia De Vito.

“Boasting a membership of over 100 people, the UCD Lau Gar Kickboxing club is one of the most popular martial arts on campus”

Keeping in tandem with a high number of beginners joining the sport within the Belfield Sport Halls – Lavinia relates to how many start joining the sport in UCD when she spoke to the University Observer; “It’s like kickboxing I suppose. If you hit the head you get the most points, if you manage to hit your opponents from under the stomach there’s no points or if you don’t get points if you hit the back of your opponent.

“It’s very much a sport based on what the referee sees. If you touch them or if you think they touched them. You can get points without getting counted or you can get points even if you don’t touch your opponent.

“This year we’re having our second annual inter-club competition which is actually going to be geared towards beginners. We have a lot of new people in the club who have never tried kickboxing before and it’s actually quite easy to pick up. It’s a good workout and intensity even if you don’t want to do any fighting or anything like that.

“You can develop and improve in the sport quite quickly. I tried other clubs and I wanted something more intense for an exercise and I ended up giving that a go and I really liked it and here I am!”

The club will also be given a significant boost this year as their main sparring coach will return after a year’s sabbatical on September 30th. As mentioned previously, people of all levels and interests are welcome to join the club – with the more beginners joining the club the better. The scope for getting involved is fairly relaxed in all arenas as there is no great emphasis placed on one or two sole interests.

The club provides an opportunity to give members the platform to either use the sport as a means of working out, rather than just going for

Photo Credit: Catherine J. Bailey

sashes, which, by all accounts, are quite achievable to gain in a short enough period of time.

Also, there are plenty of practical skills that are provided to members, such as protection from knife attacks.

The club also has a decent number of accolades to associate itself with in recent months, as seen in February with the success at the inter-club tournament that took place in UCD. Of the three categories, two were won along with medals picked up at events in both Laois and Wexford.

The club also has plans to arrange a variety of social events throughout the year with a weekend away early on in Semester One planned to take place, while there will also be plenty of social events to take place throughout the year.

There are hopes that a martial arts ball can be arranged to take place in conjunction with the Karate Club, but this has yet to be confirmed by all parties.

If you wish to join the club, there will be a stand at the Sports Expo in the UCD Sports Centre during Freshers Week where you can sign up to join the club. Membership costs €20 for the year which includes two sessions a week that can be availed of along with a wide variety of other benefits. You must be a student, staff member or alumni of University College Dublin to join and you can contact the club via email or through their social media channels.

The Hidden World of the Court of Arbitration for Sport Rory Clarke takes a look behind the veil of the anonymous world of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Caster Semenya. A name that has become synonymous with controversy and behind-closeddoors tribunals and rulings. Since 2009, having won the 800m at the World Championships and been subjected to a ‘sex verification test’, she has been struggling against the IAAF and various other bodies for recognition.

In the end however, she reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). She lost and that was it. Subsequent complaints centred not on the CAS but on fundamental unfairness.

Indeed, although a nominal appeal is ongoing, Semenya herself appears to be preparing for a career outside athletics, having joined JVW, a women’s football club in South Africa.

FINA’s Doping Panel body is fundamentally flawed - look, it let Sun Yang compete, despite him destroying a surprise blood sample with a hammer. The IAAF has always been against Semenya. The point is that each of these individual processes can be discredited, no matter how much they purport to don a cloak of independence and virtue - they are still in the

Photo Credit: Citizen59 on Flickr

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employ of the principal organisation.

Not so the CAS. It stands resolute, a pillar of anonymous and impartial justice, which is, uniquely, beyond reproach. Issues go off to the court and an ultimate, unimpeachable, verdict is returned - but there is a great degree of uncertainty as to how and by whom it has been reached.

The concept of a formal ‘sports court’ was only conceived by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Samaranch in the early 1980s. This was in response to a rise in sports-related legal disputes, where the lack of a specialised authority had become increasingly apparent. Formally established in 1984, the first court was led by President Kéba Mbaye, who had also chaired the working group which had recommended its formation.

“Not so the CAS. It stands resolute, a pillar of anonymous and impartial justice, which is, uniquely, beyond reproach.”

Indeed, as bystanders observed, this close relationship, impugning one of the Court’s most vaunted attributes – its independence, threatened to undermine the Court in the early years. This came to a head in the Gundel judgment in 1993, where the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland pronounced that for the CAS to maintain its integrity, greater independence was required. This precipitated major reform of the CAS, the keystone of which was the formation of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport , which would take control of the CAS from the IOC, making it definitively independent from the organisation which had sponsored it from the beginning.

The Council is also responsible for the appointment and supervision of the approximately 380 arbitrators and mediators who work in the CAS. These arbitrators generally preside over cases in three strong panels. Where both parties agree however, arbitrators can preside alone. Proceedings generally take place in private, with only two recorded exceptions - Irish swimmer Michelle De Bruin’s failed attempt to overturn her ban for sample tampering in 1999 and the upcoming WADA appeal against Sun Yang’s acquittal by FINA.

Although CAS decisions can technically be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (as Semenya is doing), these appeals rarely succeed and proceed, in the main, as an assessment as to whether legal procedure has been correctly adhered to. As of 2012, there were 7 successful appeals, with only one overturned on its own merits. This trend has continued in recent years. In effect, its decisions are final and cases which have been fought long and hard through various appeal processes finally rest with the CAS.

The Olympics, near-universally acknowledged as the pinnacle of athletic competition, unsurprisingly gave rise to a huge number of CAS cases. Belatedly restored medals are

becoming ever more common, as doping and other offences come to light. However while, technically the athlete will be noted as the champion of record, in reality they will have experienced a fraction of the wealth, both financial and in emotional experience, of an Olympic win.

In response, recent editions of the ancient grecian games in Pyeongchang, Rio and Sochi have seen the establishment of ‘ad hoc’ Courts in the host city, in the immediate run up and during the games to facilitate speedy resolutions. Sport cannot wait. The glory of a potential Olympic champion to be, a unique moment in time, cannot be cast aside by delays in accessing justice.

CAS decisions can be wide reaching, having an impact both on Olympic medal allocations and those whose dreams are fulfilled by simply taking part. In 2016 there were some who argued Bertram Allen should take Horse Sport Ireland to the CAS over their non-selection of him for the Olympic spot which his own ranking had earned. Ultimately, any appeal would likely have been fruitless as the CAS does not assess which of two athletes is better or which is more likely to win a medal at the Games, focusing instead on procedural fairness.

Perhaps most infamous of all, is the Semenya case. For her however, who once waxed lyrical of the Court’s independence and wisdom and spoke of looking forward to having her case and situation finally respected and accepted, its decision signalled the ultimate blow. Her buttering up having failed, any appeal likely to be token, her case drew international attention to the oft-mysterious and murky ways of the CAS. Ultimately, despite her protestations, the sporting world at large has submitted itself to the CAS, and so must she. So must we all.