VOL. XXV, Issue 1, UO

THE UNIVERSITY VOL. XXV, ISSUE 1

OBSERVER 18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

UNIVERSITYOBSERVER.IE

Philosophy & Religion Unpacking the Viganò letter William Higgins P16

Image: Brían Donnelly for The University Observer

Common Room Committee to organise boycott of University Club

Brían Donnelly EDITOR The UCD Common Room Committee believed that there would be more of an opportunity to put forward a case for its continuation than the 21st December eviction deadline, according to the Committee’s Chairperson, Wolfgang Marx.

Opposition to the forced closure was made clear when the Committee “voted against it at the time, where we could, at different levels.”

However, the Committee believed that there would be a chance to discuss the retention of the Common Room, allowing it to operate alongside the University Club. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, in anybody’s view I have talked to, except the President,” Prof Marx told the University Observer, “why you would close this place a full semester minimum before the new club opens. Even if you accept the view, which we don’t, that the new one is a replacement”.

“The President doesn’t care at all about collegiality or what is actually Objective 7 of the University’s Strategic Plan, which is to ‘develop and strengthen our University community’. And this won’t do it.”

The Common Room has been located on the First Floor of Block A in the Newman Building for almost 43 years. Despite its location, the Common Room is run independently and is a separate legal entity. Although it does not pay rent to UCD, Marx states that the University “gets a lot out of it.” The University Observer reported in April 2017 that the University Club would cost at least €300,000, according to notes from the University’s Financial Remuneration and Asset Management Committee.

The Common Room Committee received the notice to quit the premises in July and were informed that the area occupied by the Common Room was needed for “teaching space”. The Committee has rejected that a closure on the last day of the exam term would facilitate additional teaching space for the following semester. A list of arguments in favour of retaining the Common Room, given to the University Observer, states that “closing the Common Room a full semester before the University Club can be ready at the earliest is completely unnecessary even from the

President’s point of view.” The Committee also dismisses as “not convincing” the argument that there is an “immediate need for teaching space”.

According to the arguments put forward

by Marx, who is an Associate Professor of Musicology, the Common Room and University Club serve “different needs and can co-exist alongside each other.” Common Room members have also taken issue with a potential situation in which University Club members may have “millionaires” invited to observe academics and administrators “in the wild”. Concerns have also been raised that the structure of the University Club is too different to that of the Common Room. Presently, members may decide on the annual membership fee, the form of company it takes, the opening hours and the type of events held there. “Nothing of this will be in the hands of members over there. It will be determined by Management.”

Two part-time staff and one full-time barman may be set to lose their jobs when the Common Room shuts its doors on 21st December. Prof Marx told the University Observer that the members of the Committee have been “in touch by with UCD HR to say, if that happens, would there be a chance to redeploy them, so to speak - even though it’s technically not the same employer.” With fewer than 100 days until the Common Room is scheduled to shut, Prof Marx stated that UCD HR “haven’t been back to me for a while.”

A weekly bulletin circulated by Professor Andrew J Deeks to staff, seen by the University Observer, stated that the “UCD University Club is now well under way and looking well.

We are expecting the Club to open in April 2019, providing a venue for faculty, staff, researchers, alumni and partners of UCD to meet, eat and socialise, and supporting Strategic Key Objective 7 – Develop and Strengthen our University Community.”

“Most world-class universities have a venue of this nature, and the Club will address a significant gap in our facilities. I’ll provide you with more information on how the Club will work over the course of the year.”

A survey run by the Committee, which received 900 responses from members and non-members, indicates that the main issue raised was “formal versus informal - so this is an informal place where you want to have a relaxed time. We are not there in order to have a three-star meal... or have some time with a Minister. It is where you meet colleagues.”

UCD Students’ Union Graduate Officer Niall Torris is set to discuss the forced closure at a Union meeting this week. Postgraduate students who are paid by UCD are entitled to join the Common Room.

History Lecturer Dr Conor Mulvagh, who has been a member of the Common Room since he joined UCD staff in 2014, told the

University Observer that “there’s a mixture of feelings on the University Club, certainly, but I think the universal feeling at the EGM was that we are very disappointed at the decision... to serve the Common Room with notice to quit.”

Common Room members are expected to host a series of seminars this semester which will seek to “address developments concerning universities all over the world, but of special importance to the UCD community where the Staff Common Room is currently threatened with closure”. These seminars will highlight what many see as a trend towards the commercialisation of the University. Members will highlight what some view as a global trend of university management attempting to assert more control over the affairs of its academic staff on campus. The Committee claim that the Common Room is one of the last entities in UCD which is not managed centrally by the University.

“The view is, essentially, that the University is a corporate company and has to be run like one. Which is also why students are now customers and why all sorts of other things are expressed in a business-like language,” Marx said.

The notice to quit the premises echoes a similar situation which arose in the University of Ulster (UU) at Coleraine in early December 2013. The ‘Occupy Coleraine’ protest lead to a student sit-in which lasted over 3 weeks until water and electricity services were switched off by university management. Management at UU attempted to force the closure of the Senior Common Room (SCR) and convert it into a “corporate dining suite”. Like the Common Room in UCD, the SCR was a members’ only, fee-paying club, described by one student blogger at the time as “the last public noncommercialized space - open to students, staff, and any number of organizations - on the campus”.

In an open letter published in the Belfast Telegraph on 19 December 2013, lecturers from the University and Colleges’ Union declared their support for the student-led occupation.

40 lecturers signed the letter which stated that: “Students are asking for meaningful dialogue with university management, but thus far it is not forthcoming. This is a great shame, because meaningful dialogue is what a learning community is all about.” After the sit-in, a University spokesperson said that they intended to “move forward with the substantial improvement works which will deliver a new range of modern, high-quality facilities for staff and students on the campus.”

During the year, the Common Room has entertained guest speakers such as American historian Timothy D. Snyder. The Committee has also hosted a number of events such as beer tasting, a summer party in the Rose Garden and a charity table quiz.

Student Voices Op-Ed: Immigration bots Andrew Grossen P14

Features Engaging with self esteem Dylan O’Neill P9

Science New painkillers Roseanna Shanahan P12

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NEWS Campus news in brief Brían Donnelly

UCD Students’ Union sabbaticals saw 20% pay rise in 2016/2017 Financial statements obtained by the University Observer show that remuneration for the President of UCD Students’ Union rose from €20,480 to €24,520 between the sabbatical terms 2015/16 and 2016/17, representing a near 20% jump.

Salaries for elected Students’ Union Officers were less than €21,000 between the years 2012/13 to 2015/16. All sabbatical officers, including the Union President, receive equal pay.

The documents show that UCD Students’ Union Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) held €212,508 in cash and bank balances for the year ended 30th June 2017. The statements also indicate that €55 was owed to UCDSU CLG by its subsidiary commercial arm.

The number of staff working for the University Observer was again misstated in the statements.

In April of this year, it was reported that the Union’s financial statements did not accurately account for the total number of paid University Observer staff. In 2016 and 2017, the Union’s financial statements implied that there was a single salaried position within the University Observer, when there are 3. The University Observer is funded through the Students’ Union and is granted editorial independence in the Union’s constitution.

The financial statements were signed off by former-UCDSU President Feargal Hynes on 3rd May 2018. Hynes resigned from the board of directors after 4 years on 5th June 2018, one month after former-UCDSU President Marcus O’Halloran did the same. O’Halloran had been a director for almost 3 years.

Under the Union’s constitution, the board of directors of UCD Students’ Union CLG is composed of the incumbent president and at least one former president, with at least four and no more than eight other members. Current members of the board include former Union President Conor Viscardi (2016/17), formerCampaigns & Communications Officer Ciara Reilly (2007/08), former Welfare Officer Maeve Desay (2014/15), Labour Party spokesperson and former-Senator Aideen Hayden and former UCDSU Welfare Officer Shane Hennelly (2004/05).

New UCDSU constitution in deliberative process The first draft of a new UCDSU constitution will be finalised at a meeting at the end of September, according to the Union’s press officer. The draft will be presented to the Union Executive by the end of October and will enter a consultation period in which the Executive and a review committee will discuss and make amendments.

The Union plans to present the draft constitution to the Council on 19th November, after which there will be another consultation period between the Council and the committee.

The new constitution, which will be voted on by the student body alongside the Executive elections in March 2019, will come into effect for the 2019/2020 academic year.

Hungary to ban Gender Studies degrees AUTHOR: JADE STANLEY In mid-August of this year, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began his campaign to push legislation barring universities from offering gender studies programs.

The legislation will primarily affect Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) and Central European University (CEU), the two institutions currently offering the degree.

Lorinc Nacsa, who is in government with Mr. Orban as a coalition partner, described gender studies degrees as a “wasteful luxury and destructive, and not economically viable.”

Hungarian right-wing parties oppose gender studies for ideological reasons.

CEU has continued to promote its stance on promoting academic freedom for its students, maintaining its impasse with Orbán’s intentions.

Inside Higher Ed, a publication dedicated solely to news on the higher education sector, has stated that the draft does not represent the Hungarian government’s official policy and is still an evolving situation that is being monitored.

further elaborated that the bill would “send a chill” through the Hungarian higher education sector.

Opposing the move to defund the degrees, Professor of Gender Studies Andrea Peto has outlined the importance gender studies research has on policies and legislation. Peto says that the analysis provides opportunities for different social groups and different political decisions. It also takes into account the interests of marginalized social groups, creating a more inclusive society.

Organizations such as the European Consortium for Political Research and the Council for European Studies (CES): Gender and Sexuality Research Network have all come out in defense of the international importance of the discipline.

A letter drafted by the CES was posted on Twitter, responding to the proposed law, “expressing deep concerns and requesting reconsideration of the law.”

Many members of the CES Gender and Sexuality Research Network are renowned Hungarian colleagues, who have contributed to the scientific study and the ideology that the government should not affect the advancements made by this field.

The move by Orbán comes as a new wave of farright governments have taken power in countries such as Poland and Italy; while anti-academic rhetoric aimed at the supposed left-wing nature of academia has only increased, now finding a voice in government and legislation.

There has been no formal announcement from the EU as to how they will react to a member state curtailing academic freedom. In a report commissioned by Safeguarding Academic Freedom in Europe (SAFE), an EU funded project, they write of “academic freedom as a fundamental human right and as a key element in creating a knowledge economy in Europe”, adding “academic freedom is essential to the proper functioning of universities.”

Academic freedom falls under the same protections under the European Conventions on Human Rights as the right to freedom of expression.

However, as larger issues dominate the news cycle, such as Hungary’s steadfast support of Poland’s attack on their judiciary, and their refusal to bring sanctions against them for such, it is unclear whether or not the EU will make this an issue.

Image: Flickr

Safety concerns raised over rented accomodation AUTHOR: CLARE APPEZATTO With more than 50,000 new students starting 3rd level education this year, and tens of thousands more returning, the battle to find student accommodation is in its most dire hour. In UCD, the struggle to find suitable student accommodation is highlighted in the limited availability of rooms on campus and inturn, the high number of students commuting up to three hours per day.

While UCD has upwards of 30,000 students in attendance, there are only 2,700 rooms available to students on both the Belfield and Blackrock campuses, as well as off-campus in Muckross Halls, leaving most of the student population left to scramble for alternative accommodation.

This accommodation is usually far away from campus, expensive and often times cramped with large numbers of students per room living in unsafe conditions. Geraldine Larkin, the NSAI Chief Executive states that “finding appropriate rental accommodation for students will likely

Union shops recorded almost €115,000 profit in 2017 Profits at UCDSU Commercial Services Ltd (UCDSU-CS) fell by more than €25,000 between 2016 and 2017, financial statements for the company show. The company is the Union’s commercial arm and runs the three Union shops on Belfield campus.

Statements show that UCDSU shops paid out €548,367 in wages and salaries over the course of the year ending 30th June 2017, an increase of €58,513 on the previous year, while social welfare and pension costs amounted to €54,065 and €13,752 respectively. UCDSU-CS had 34 retail staff in 2016, as shown by company records.

The statements also show that a new licence agreement for one of the three Union shops was being negotiated. The statements were signed by former-director and ex-UCDSU President Feargal Hynes and interim chair of the board of directors Ciara Reilly.

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However, Euronews reported that as of September 2019, the government would no longer finance gender studies courses.

The defunding of the program will impact ELTE, though CEU is privately funded and can continue its program uninterrupted. CEU, a U.S. accredited academic institution founded by American-Jewish billionaire and founder of CEU George Soros, a target of Orbán’s and many other global right-wing campaigns.

A spokesperson for the university has gone on record, attacking the the government’s policy and stating that the university will continue to promote academic freedom for its students.

Other universities have come out in protest and support of CEU’s stance. One such example, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have begun a blog post, calling for contribution on a series on transnational antigender politics by the Departments of Gender Studies and Engenderings.

CEU’s University Rector, Michael Ignatieff

prove difficult this year, due to factors beyond their control. We’re asking people to be mindful of tandards when they do secure a place to stay and, if necessary, to remind landlords of their obligations when it comes to providing a safe place to live”.

A recent report from the property website Daft. ie, found that at the beginning of August there were just 1,400 properties available on the market and, while the Greater Dublin area has 80,000 students, the shortage for student accommodation can be seen clearly. The report also found that average rents in Dublin City were now above €1,900, which leads some to cram upwards of eight students into a two bedroom apartment. While some student- targeted accommodation has cropped up throughout Dublin city, the rent is priced at €250 and upwards per week.

The National Safety Authority Ireland recently released a statement outlining their concerns for student accommodation, advising students of what to look out for and to make sure the property meets

the minimum health and safety standards. The NSAI states that “landlords have a legal duty to ensure that rented accommodation meets certain minimum physical and safety standards including, but not limited to, the presence of two smoke alarms, a Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector, a fire blanket a and fixed heater.” As well as this, all of these items should display the CE mark “which shows that the product meets the minimum safety requirements as set out under European legislation.”

The NSAI also released five tips to check that everything in your rental accommodation is up to standard. Firstly, make sure every electrical item is genuine. “Only buy electrical products, such as laptops, kettles, toasters, or extension leads that meet the required standards and display the CE Mark. The CE mark should be visible on the product itself or on its packaging. If it’s not there don’t buy it”. Secondly, be sure to not overload your power sockets, as it may lead to an electrical fire.

“Make sure the extension cord is heavy enough for the intended load and that there are no loose connections. If a cord or plug becomes hot when it is plugged in, it may be overloaded and should be disconnected immediately”. Finally, keep your heaters away from everything, and though it may be tempting, do not use them to dry your clothes, as “misuse can lead to serious injuries, fatalities or fires. Place the heater where it cannot be knocked over, at least one metre from furniture and flammable materials such as curtains, bedding and paper”.

The fourth tip from the NSAI is to read the instructions, “if you are using electrical appliances, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t leave items unattended while in use, for example a laptop on a bed, and keep flammable materials away from cooking and heating devices”. Finally, they urge students to make sure their alarms are up to date. “Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, lethal gas and a carbon monoxide detector could save your life. Look for three quality marks on the device; EN 50291, the CE-Mark symbol and an end-of-life indicator. Test your smoke detectors once a week, by pressing the test button until the alarm sounds”.

NEWS NUI universities to be given quotas for sceondary school teachers AUTHOR: CONOR MCCLOSKEY Universities are to be given quotas for secondary school teacher training in an effort to deal with shortages in certain subjects. Shortages of teachers in maths, physics, home economics and a range of languages have led to the need for implementing quotas.

Reports of these shortages have begun to describe the situation as a “crisis”.This decision has led to a mixed reaction among groups and individuals involved with second level education.

The policy, proposed by Minister for Education Richard Bruton, will see subjects including English, history and geography, already adequately staffed, likely to be affected negatively. These quotas will prevent many postgraduate students from commencing training to teach these courses.

In a speech to the Irish Primary Principals’ Network in January of this year, Mr. Bruton said “we must ensure that teacher supply at second level matches demand across the range of subjects…

In the context of schools reporting a shortage of teachers in STEM, in Irish and in foreign languages,

it will attract students to areas of need and make it easier for schools to fill positions.”

The move comes amidst reports of schools left without qualified teachers in the aforementioned subjects. It was announced alongside the commencement of new courses in Lithuanian and Korean, which have entered the Junior Cycle programmes and courses in physical education (PE) and computer science, which have entered the Senior Cycle programmes in select schools.

A similar shortage exists in primary schools where there is difficulty in recruiting substitute teachers to deal with temporary absences. According to the Irish Times, the quotas will be introduced for National University of Ireland post-grad education courses. This will affect programmes in UCD, NUI Galway, UCC and Maynooth University.

The number of students in second level education is expected to hit a peak of 400,000 in 2024. Despite this urgent need for teachers, Dr Anne Looney, Head of Dublin City University’s faculty of education expressed scepticism and

pointed out how England found little success with similar quotas which included monetary incentives that were not availed of and “unfilled places” in the relevant courses.

The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), Ireland’s largest second level teachers union, made the claim that these shortages can only be solved through equal pay. Speaking on the issues of unequal pay and teacher shortages, ASTI President Brenda Lynch said “these two issues are the leading causes of job dissatisfaction amongst teachers” and pointed to a recent survey that found only 51% of second level teachers were satisfied with their jobs, a figure which has fallen from 77% in 2009.

More recently, there have been threats of further action. Speaking to RTÉ in April of this year, President of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation John Boyle claimed it is possible that the 3 Irish second level teachers unions “will work closely together” and “will be shutting down schools and withdrawing labour” without equal pay.

The issue of pay inequality affects teachers hired from 2011 onwards. Their lower pay is a result of austerity measures implemented in the aftermath of the financial crisis and is currently stuck below the rates of teachers who have been employed for longer.

On average, teachers hired before 2011 earn €4,000 more than their younger colleagues every year. This has been a topic of great controversy lately, manifesting in the form of a strike in late 2016 that affected over 500 Irish secondary schools.

Among other proposals to deal with this shortage include the retraining of primary school teachers and the training of native foreign language speakers to teach classes. Plans to implement such measures have yet to be announced but can be expected as shortages of secondary school teachers in Ireland continue to worsen.

Scientific papers to be made free to all by 2020 AUTHOR: ANDREA ANDRES In what the European Union’s Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, calls a “life changing” reform, all scientific papers published in Europe could be accessible without cost by 2020. The Competitiveness Council, which is an assembly of ministers involved in science, trade, innovation and industry, agreed on this ambitious target after a two day meeting in Brussels. This change is part of a broader set of policies supporting “open science”, which also involves better storage and access to research data.

This reform means publications of research results would be available to anyone immediately.

The Council has called for “immediate” open access without “embargoes or with as short as possible embargoes.” However, the Council has been vague as to what should be achieved by 2020 and how short journal imposed embargoes qualify as “immediate” open access. Some have criticised this decision as it could affect scientific journals relying on a paid-for subscription model. It could compromise the current practice of publishing reports under embargo.

The council indicated no preference for Green Open Access (OA), in which scientific papers are put into institutional repositories or authors publish in Gold OA journals which have no delays in making papers public.

At present, non-OA journals allow authors to release their papers six or twelve months after publication. Open access could mean that a publication will be immediately available to the public, after it has been published. This data must be accessible, according to the Council, unless there are justifiable reasons not to do so, such as intellectual property rights, for reasons of security or reasons relating to the privacy of those involved in testing.

According to an interview with former EU Director-General for Research, Science and Innovation, Robert-Jan Smits, open access to scientific publications and data “will help to have more and faster innovations, to have quicker solutions to the problems we are facing and to allow further research to be carried out.”

Moedas, speaking at the Euroscience Open orum, feels that “the gap between science and public leads to at best apathy and at worst distrust.”

Moedas adds that by making scientific results and data free for all is in increasing engagement and trust.

In a statement by Sandra Dekker, Dutch Secretary for Education, Culture, and Science: “Research and innovation generate economic growth and more jobs and provide solutions to

challenges. And that means a stronger Europe.”

She added that “Europe must be as attractive as possible for researchers and start-ups to locate here and for companies to invest. That calls for knowledge to be freely shared. The time for talking about open access is now past. With these agreements, we are going to achieve it in practice.”

The Dutch Government diligently lobbied for Open Science alongside Moedas and is a frontrunner for open access. Moedas said in a press conference: “We probably don’t realise it yet, but what the Dutch Presidency has achieved is unique and huge. The commission is totally committed to help move this forward.”

The League of European Research Universities has called the decision “a major boost for the transition towards an Open Science system,” but it is “not an easy ambition.”

A council spokesperson has admitted “it may not be an easy task,” but spoke of the Council’s determination. “This is not a law, but it’s a political orientation for the 28 governments. The important thing is that there is a consensus.” Even the Netherlands has set its targets to make all Dutch scientific papers free by 2024.

However, an EU progress report published at the end of February 2018 reveals that “100 per cent full open access in 2020is realistically not achievable in the majority of European countries participating in this exercise in the foreseeable

future”. This conclusion is in line with a survey conducted by the European University Association (EUA) that 60 to 70 percent of universities have more than a fifth of their researcher’s peerreviewed papers categorised as open access. But the progress isn’t fully captured as the survey only asks the members about papers published between the period 2013-2015.

According to the survey results, one in eight universities thought the biggest obstacle against open access was the “high priority given to publishing in conventional journals”. “Authors have difficulty switching to open access journals as they lack prestige and have lower impact factors compared to standard journals. 60 to 70 percent of universities also cited “concerns about the quality of open access publications”.

Lidia Borrell-Damian, the EUA director for research and innovation, says that open access “is very difficult to achieve” and believes that “we have reached a plateau in which it’s very difficult to move forward”. She argues that “a whole new system” of research assessment that isn’t overly dependent on citations or impact factors is required, or else it’s impossible to “change the game.”

An EU council spokesperson recognized that “more efforts will be needed overall to accelerate progress towards full open access for all scientific publications”.

National news in brief Dylan O’Neill

President Higgins favourite to be reelected as President of Ireland In a poll carried out by the Sunday Business Post, incumbent President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, looks set to win re-election by landslide, with 67% of people polled saying they would give the sitting president their first preference in the election set for the end of October.

Former Dragon’s Den judge, Sean Gallagher, received the next highest preference with only 15%. This is the second time Gallagher is seeking election to the office of the President, having failed to be elected back in 2011. Since his defeat, Gallagher has expanded his business profile, becoming president of Nutribrand, and chief executive of Clyde Real Estate.

Interestingly, although having not announced a presidential candidate at the time of polling, Sinn Féin have received the backing of 7% of people polled. Liadh Ní Riada has since been confirmed as the Sinn Féin candidate for the presidential race. The DIT and CIT alumna is a former television producer and director and has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014.

Irish schools should be named after state founders over saints, according to Taoiseach Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has indicated his preference for naming new schools after founding members of the Irish Free State over the tradition of naming them after saints.

Varadkar believes it may be more appropriate in the lead-up to the centenary of the founding of the Free State. “The tradition in Ireland was always to name schools after saints and we don’t do that so much anymore,” he told the Irish Times.

Although he does not believe the decision to name schools should be left to the government as “the schools are named obviously by the patron bodies,” he suggests that new schools be named from “figures acceptable to all political traditions.”

The declaration came in the middle of a speech the Taoiseach made while visiting Coláiste Ghlór na Mara in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, to announce a €12b fund for schools in Ireland. The Taoiseach was also conscious that a possible downside to his idea is that all the founding members of the Irish Free State, “are all male”, failing to consider Countess Markievicz.

Study shows reunification would see fall in living standards A study carried out by Trinity economist, Prof John Fitzgerald and DCU economist, Edgar Morgenorth, found that in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’ which led to the reunification of Ireland, there would be a number of economic difficulties faced by the Irish government.

Most notably, the Irish government would not be able to avail of the €11bn subvention that Northern Ireland currently receives from the UK Government on an annual basis. This would amount to a 25% gap in Northern Ireland’s national income.

Prof Fitzgerald has suggested in a column published in the Irish Times that if Northern Ireland try to become less reliant on London and further develop their economy, this could have a positive impact on the cost of reunification faced by the public.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Northern Ireland is currently significantly lower than that of the Republic, despite approximately 60% of Northern Ireland’s exports being to countries within the EU. Of that, 50% of products are exported to the Republic.

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SU to resume printing Leap Cards Universities “reaching for the on Campus cheque books” in HR cases Katia Gillen

UCD Students’ Union announced that it was recommencing the printing of Student Leap Cards, after privacy issues were successfully addressed with the National Transport Authority (NTA).

As of last year, to receive the card, students were able to fill out an online application providing their full name, home address, photograph, mobile phone number, email address and date of birth.

Upon filling out the applications students were issued with a code consisting of six numbers. The code was then used by the designated agents within their respective universities, often represented by their university’s Students’ Unions, to verify that the person was in fact a current student and print the cards. As the agent typed in the digits, applications that began with the same numbers appeared. The specific student’s application appeared only after the full code was entered. All of the personal details provided on the online application were accessible to every agent in the country.

The Students’ Union flagged the privacy issue with Fimak Group, the company to which the National Leap Card system was outsourced, in May. Credit Card Systems Ireland, a firm that print secure electronic cards, is a member of the Group.

The Irish Times saw the correspondence between the UCDSU and Fimak Group. Fimak addressed the SU’s concerns by claiming that the application “has been approved by the NTA, and is fit for this purpose” and that the service “will stay as is”.

However emails between the NTA and UCDSU show that the organisation considered the problem to be of “category one importance”.

Barry Murphy said “UCDSU did not want to risk having the personal information of our student members abused... As students across the country Sport & Fitness 2018.pdf 1 06/09/2018 15:00:29 beginTribune this Ad semester, we need this serious data breach to be resolved immediately.”

The Students’ Union had made the decision to not print Leap Cards until the issue was resolved.

In August, an NTA representative announced that the authority “worked closely with UCDSU to address their concern and have made some changes to the way in which Student Leap data is stored and processed”. The changes have been tested and implemented.

With the new policy implemented , to apply for the transport card, an application can be downloaded of the Student Leap Card website or collected at one of the designated agencies and filled out. The physical copy is then submitted to the agent printing the card, limiting others’ access to students’ personal information.

UCDSU released a statement upon recommencing the printing of the transport cards, that reads as follows: “UCD Students’ Union are pleased to announce the National Transport Authority has solved the Data Protection flaw on their system. It has new restrictions added that will safeguard data and minimise the potential for any misuse.

Student Leap Cards are now available outside our office in the Atrium of the Old Students’ Centre for the next two weeks and they will be available in the Students’ Union from then on.”

The press statement also included comments from UCDSU President, Barry Murphy: “We are delighted that the National Transport Authority has taken the issue of protecting students’ personal information as seriously as we do. They have worked very closely with us in the past week to ensure out students’ information is now secured and that they have access to student leap cards in time for the start of Orientation Week.

Protecting Students’ personal information is something we will continue to strive for as a union.”

Gavin Tracey

In recent years, Irish universities have been increasing the money spent on human resources (HR) disputes between staff and management.

Some of the largest universities in the countries, such as UCD and Maynooth, among others, have made headlines in recent years with high profile HR cases involving bullying and hiring. Irish universities paid out around €3.3 million in legal fees in disputes between staff during 2010 and 2015, a significant portion of this on cases of age or gender discrimination, as well as cases of bullying.

UCD made headlines this year after it was forced to pay out €30,000 to a professor who had taken a case against them in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Dr Anne Cleary, a sociology professor in UCD, argued that she had been passed over for promotion due to her age - she was 61 at the time. UCD denied that this was the case, but statistical data provided by Dr. Cleary illustrated the drop off rate in promotions as applicants reached 60 years old. The General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), Joan Donegan, welcomed the result, and criticised UCD, saying “UCD refused all attempts via FOI and by order of the WRC to provide relevant data”, and went on to say that the data they had received was “so extensively redacted as to be useless.”

The case comes only two years after UCD increased the amount of money spent on HRrelated consultancy and legal fees by over 300%, from €77,176 in the 2013/14 academic year, to €236,859 in 2015/16. Mike Jennings, the the General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers at the time, told reporters that UCD was being “deliberately harsh”, and that the increase in spending was due to UCD reaching for the chequebook” and hiring expensive lawyers to fight the cases. This led to criticism of UCD , with

many decrying that the money was desperately needed in other areas of the college. In UCD’s annual financial report for the year ending 2017, President Deeks wrote in the president’s report that they have “after extensive consultation, developed a new UCD HR Strategy”. No specifics as to what this new strategy entailed were given.

A relatively recent case which made headlines was in June 2018, the University of Limerick (UL), which had to make a financial settlement in the region of €150,000 after a report was published that detailed a misallocation of funds by the University.

The report made further allegations regarding human resources and the University’s governance policies.

In an article published by the Irish Times, it came to light that the education authorities were not made aware of the severance payments, as they may have been in breach of UL’s pay policy.

In NUI Galway, four female lecturers received settlements amounting to hundreds of thousands in July of 2018, after it was determined that they had been “discriminated against on gender grounds.”

Dr Sheehy Skeffington alone, was awarded a settlement of €70,000 as compensation, for being passed up for promotion. An article published by the University Observer found that there was significantly low representation of women in senior positions in academia of third-level institutions.

It is by no means only the larger universities who are exhibiting this trend. The University Observer has learned through a Freedom of Information request that Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, (IADT) spent €285,850, on legal and consultancy fees for 6 HR cases since 2014, averaging over €47,000 per case. At the time of print, IADT have not responded to questions relating to the nature of these cases.

COMMENT UCD doesn’t need an entrance precinct

With a €48 million Centre for Creative Design in the pipeline Adam Lawler wonders why UCD is ignoring its underfunded areas for the sake of appearances.

Over the summer months, a design by Stephen Holl Architects won the competition to design a new entrance precinct for the UCD campus, and with this win came a buffet of questions and concerns.

The design was inspired by the Giant’s Causeway’s hexagonal columns and, strangely, James Joyce, perhaps to maintain a tenuous connection with the campus on which it is being built. The new building, designated as the “Centre for Creative Design”, will have a budget of €48 million. It will consist of a gateway building complete with lecture halls, studios, a café, and all of the cavernous empty space consistent with UCD’s other unnecessary constructions. It will also supposedly be able to be seen from the N11. The main question students of UCD are asking is: why do we need this?

The project brief for the competition advised applicants to produce a solution to UCD’s underwhelming “arrival experience”. It stated that the original construction of the entrance was “framed by 1960s traffic engineering” and is “low key, nondescript and unfriendly to pedestrians and cyclists”. This mindset does not seem to affect change in other areas of UCD such as the Newman Building, the library, or the Agriculture and Food Science building, which act as a row of blocky and

“There are so many things UCD needs and every time one of these projects appears it is an unintended slap in the face of students campaigning for better services” wholly unsightly 1970s conservatism.

In contrast to the O’Brien Centre for Science and other newer constructions, these buildings arguably damage UCD’s pristine aesthetic more than the entrance precinct, so why is the entrance

precinct receiving this much attention when lowkey and nondescript is objectively better than hulking, grimy and dated? The goal may be to attract attention to the college, but it comes across more as an extravagant show of mismanaged wealth by a university in desperate need of funding in other areas.

Mental health and accessibility services are currently dire. UCD has become infamously callous with mental health services, expecting the SU to shoulder the burden as it is mandated, while the waiting list for counselling services is at its highest. A University Observer article last November revealed that 20 out of 194 students on the waiting list are priority cases and that many students would have to wait until the next semester for an appointment.

If the distribution of funding towards projects such as the gateway precinct and the University Club for staff and guests, instead of mental health services was not enough of an indication of negligence, one need only look to last week’s news of the Societies Council’s refusal of society status to the “Mental Health and Wellbeing Society”. The feedback from the Council only highlighted the dismissive nature pervasive in discussions around mental health funding. Someone needs to inform President Deeks that “giving visitors, students and faculty a definite sense of arrival” is not worth more than the needs of students who will find themselves let down and ignored as soon as they pass through the hulking glass structures of the prospective entrance.

Whenever one of these fanciful projects appears, they are attributed to creativity and innovation.

Trinity recently announced their plans for a €1bn project in the heart of the docklands to “foster entrepreneurship and innovation” and house more than 400 start-ups in the largest development in the university’s history, giving them a whole new campus. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is quoted as saying that the new campus “speaks eloquently to our vision of making Ireland the tech capital of Europe and our plans to ensure that the jobs of the future are created first here in Ireland.” This vision feels tone-deaf and symptomatic of an inferiority complex that enables our leaders to dream up

pseudo-Silicon futurism which glaringly exclude any mention of relevant social issues such as homelessness and exorbitant rent prices. Making Ireland the unlikely tech capital of Europe will do nothing but attract more eyes from abroad and direct them at our nation’s preventable faults.

Perhaps this is a good thing; there is nothing that motivates Irish politicians like shame and the weight of international pressure.

Our government is constantly trying extremely hard to win some recognition for our country in some kind of underdog Olympics, while ignoring the people who are consistently and criminally overlooked. An apt symbol of this was the clearing of homeless people from the streets of Dublin to prepare for the Pope’s €32 million visit. More apt still, are images of the Pope travelling down pitifully empty streets in the greatest testament to our government’s delusion and over-compensation The fact that the Pope was welcomed with goldplated arms, in the same year the 8th amendment was repealed, to the most visible main streets taken

from the Pride parade route, shows the disparity in funding and the discrimination in the allocation and prioritisation of money and resources. It is one thing to try to put Ireland on the map; it is another to build superfluous projects and spend obscene amounts of money on projects that do not directly service its people. Though it does not seem to matter to the government which map it is put on.

This is why these projects in UCD may please those in the fields of architecture or simply the wider public who glance at the news and cluck their appreciation for the design before moving on.

It does not, however, please those who attend the university and witness firsthand, the elements of college life which are vastly underfunded. There are so many things UCD needs and every time one of these projects appears, it is an unintended slap in the face of students campaigning for better services in order to improve their college experience.

State support for landlords has caused a crisis - it must end

Politician-landlord crossover means little support for working class, writes Stuart Scully T he use of the word ‘crisis’ when we talk about the current housing crisis paints the image of an act of god, some spectacular event beyond our control which no one can be truly held responsible for.

This is not the case.

The housing crisis is not a natural phenomenon.

It did not come about by a mere accident of politics. This housing crisis has come from the deliberate policies and actions of the right wing parties of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, supported by the Labour and Green parties. These policies, which sold off public land to private developers, allowed landlords to continue to increase rent and leave properties vacant, and reduce the standard of living for the working class. All of this has resulted in thousands of Irish citizens being forced into homelessness and emergency accommodation.

These policies were not accidental, nor were they brought in out of ignorance. The politicians of these parties were not uninformed as to how this would affect the lives of the working class. Instead of putting the welfare of the people first, they put the pursuit of profit and capital ahead. With one in five TDs being landlords, it’s easy to begin to understand where their conflict of interest lies. The housing crisis was born out of rampant capitalism, facilitated by a state which doesn’t care whether the people live or die - only as long as there’s profit to be made.

Practically, the solutions to the housing crisis are to build more public houses, for the state to take vacant houses and to introduce rent caps equal to the living wages of the public. However, while these are the solutions to the crisis itself, the only way we will be able to reach these solutions is if the capitalist right wing parties are voted out of government and, until then, there is constant agitation by the public to force their hand in stopping the needless suffering on our streets.

While battling for housing within the electoral process has its place and supporting public

housing bills introduced by the left wing parties is extremely important, it only gets us anywhere if the elite establishment knows that if they do not enforce it, the public will turn on them.

Direct action like SummerHill Place, Frederick

“Practically, the solutions to the housing crisis are to build more public houses, for the state to take vacant houses and to introduce rent caps equal to the living wages of the public”

I’m sure the vast majority of students reading this, particularly first years coming up from outside Dublin, excited for their college experience, faced crippling stress this past summer trying to find accommodation, going to countless viewings, planning days of eating the bare minimum just to afford an astronomical rent set by an already grossly wealthy landlord. I’m sure many students will be splitting any free time they get from their studies, to work in a part-time job, just to afford to survive.

I know there are others commuting for two or three hours twice a day, in and out of Dublin, because it just isn’t affordable to live here. This crisis, orchestrated by the landlords and capitalists, is affecting every one of us, threatening each person with the the potential of becoming homeless. So

what is to be done? For everyone reading this, hoping their SUSI grant isn’t retracted or waiting on that one packet of noodles they have to eat for the day because they can’t afford anything else, what hope is there to end the suffering?

The answer lies in supporting occupations like on Frederick Street and Belvedere Road, from doing a shift in the houses to simply sharing a Facebook post or having a conversation with a friend. The answer lies in joining left wing parties and activist groups to join the fight against oppression, in keeping housing on the public discourse and challenging the state as they continue their deliberate failure to address it. Together we can make housing a human right and end the greed that has already cost so many lives.

Street, and, as of the time of writing this piece, the 41 Belvedere Place occupations, have put the housing crisis into the public discourse. Only by physically seizing these homes can activists highlight that in a country of nearly 10,000 people experiencing homelessness, including 1500 families and 800 young people aged between 18-24, not only do houses exist, but potential comfortable homes are left empty for years. These vacancies serve the landlords, who can simply reap more profits from the suffering of others. The community support for these occupations, organised by many different housing organisations, activist groups, and left wing parties, has been huge.

As time goes on, and the landlords and the state face no consequences for forcing people to sleep in doorways, to battle the hellish bureaucracy of the emergency accommodation, and to live a life where every day is a struggle to survive until the next, more and more people will be affected by the crisis.

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

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COMMENT Dáil predictions and aims With what was an eventful summer now behind us, Gavin Tracey looks ahead to see what will be discussed in Leinster House.

The Dáil is set to resume sitting on the 18th September, after a summer recess. More often than not, news comes to a halt in these months, the proverbial silly season, where lack of any real news fills the papers with stories that normally would have never seen the light of day. However, this has been a more eventful summer than most, resulting in some good old fashioned political spectacle, meaning Dáil debate will be heated from day one.

From the Healy-Rae’s sputtering indignations, to Brendan Howlin desperately trying to be taken seriously, here’s what one might expect to see coming before the Dáil this year.

First and foremost, the pressing issue when the Dáil resumes will be the task of legislating for abortion, after the May referendum delivered an impressive 66% ‘Yes’ vote. The landslide victory will certainly make legislating easier than was previously expected, with nearly all counties and constituencies having given their TD a firm mandate to legislate for abortion. However, one

However, one cannot expect it to go in any way smoothly. To begin with, the question of term limits will be hotly contested. Simon Harris has said he intends for the legislation to be passed by October, but how reasonable is it to expect this?

One must take into account the substantial number of TDs who campaigned for a ‘No’ vote - and while many say they will not try to impede the legislation, they have many issues with what is being proposed. The term limit of 12 weeks will be debated fiercely, with Danny Healy-Rae saying he has “reservations about the 12 weeks”. While he says he has no intention to block the legislation, one must keep in mind that this is the same man than filibustered a change to drink driving laws, lowering the legal limit of alcohol one may consume and still drive.

Others, such as Eamon Ó Cuiv, one of the most ardent proponents of a ‘No’ vote, has refused to state a position on the issue. It is perhaps wishful thinking on the part of Harris to assume all of those

all of those who fought for a ‘No’ vote will simply accept the result and vote along with the government.

“The latest opinion polls have Varadkar and Fine Gael in the lead, but not by much, and with Martin’s and Mary Lou McDonald’s numbers almost neck and neck, it serves neither party’s interests to cause an election.”

There is also the debate surrounding doctors who wish to ‘conscientiously object’. GP’s who have a moral objection to abortion say they do not wish to facilitate in any part of the procedure, which may include refusing to refer a patient to another doctor who will. The Irish Medical Organisation has released a statement asking for those who wish to conscientiously object be taken into account.

Harris has stated that no GP will be forced by law to perform a termination, but questions regarding referrals are still being asked.

While the debates may turn nasty and drag, those who are anxious as to the passing of the legislation can rest assured. The mathematics of the current Dáil will ensure that the legislation will be passed with relative ease, with Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats, the left wing parties such as Solidarity, as well the majority of Independents, all holding steadfast pro-choice views.

The issue of housing, and the current crisis in Dublin with relation to homelessness and affordable housing, will prove to be more divisive. Both Sinn

Féin and others, including Solidarity and Labour, have accused the government of being asleep at the wheel when it comes to the issue of housing.

Eoghan Murphy, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, has come under intense pressure as of late (the new moniker of “Posh Boy” seems to be sticking). Already Sinn Féin have submitted a motion of no confidence in him, but he still has the seemingly steadfast support of an Taoiseach Leo Varadkar - who doesn’t seem to mind that his housing minister has done little to nothing to help ease the crisis. As to how he fares as the public outrage around the housing crisis, only time will tell.

The larger existential question surrounding the future of the government is how long the confidence and supply arrangement between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will last past the 2019 budget. Over the summer, Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin took various potshots at each other in the press over the future of the confidence and supply deal. Varadkar saying he wants to extend it, Martin giving various answers to the tune of ‘we’ll see’.

However, with Brexit looming, and the ‘national stability’ narrative pervading all talks of a future election, it is unlikely that either party will pull out of the deal. The latest opinion polls have Varadkar and Fine Gael in the lead, but not by much, and with Martin’s and Mary Lou McDonald’s numbers almost neck and neck, it serves neither party’s interests to cause an election. How long the arrangement will last after the UK leaves the European Union in March is anyone’s guess however.

Another issue that will be sure to raise much discussion will be John Halligan, of the Independent Alliance, introducing a bill to allow for assisted dying. In the wake of the repeal vote, euthanasia is the next big moral debate. As well as the proposals surrounding the removal of the blasphemy clause from the constitution, Ireland is continuing it’s trend of shaking off its Catholic past.

Conjecture as to how the next year of political discourse and legislation will evolve is for the most part futile, but at the very least, these are what you expect to hear from the Dáil over the coming months (or however long this government lasts).

Will lightning strike twice for the Students’ Union?

Looking back at the previous campaigns and experience of the sabbatical officers, Nathan Young wonders whether this year will be any different?

The Sabbatical team leading the Union are the most experienced we’ve had in a long time, with President Barry Murphy and Graduate Officer Niall Torris both returning to their roles. Former Welfare Officer Mícheál Gallagher’s presidency in 2013/14 was the last time a member of the team had previous UCDSU sabbatical experience, with 2006 being the last time there were two Returning Officers. This, combined with the fact that last year was largely dominated by the “Ascough Fiasco”, seems to set the stage for a year of competent, if undramatic, good government of the Union.

There are a few points of qualification that need examining, before the experience is taken to mean that the sabbatical team will be more effective than usual. First of all, despite his experience, Torris received a staggeringly low vote in the Carysfort

“If this year’s sabbatical team make any tangible improvement to the operation of the counselling services, they will have achieved something that makes a real and serious difference to the lives of students.” constituency last year, the only constituency where every voter had already had Torris represent them.

Of the 25 votes cast, 15 were spoiled, 6 were to re-open nominations, and a mere 4 voters opted to re-elect Torris. It is impossible to know if this pattern would have been repeated across campus if the votes of final stage undergrad students were discounted in the graduate race. What good is experience when your constituents are so unhappy

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VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 1

with your performance?

The other qualifier on the SU’s experience is that the disappointments of last year didn’t stop with the end of the impeachment drama, or even the subsequent by-elections. Events in the second semester such as SHAG Week, which consisted almost entirely of a handful of gimmicks such as the cameo appearance from the “Rodeo Penis”, came as a disappointment to many students.

There is a fair case to be made that the time and stress that went into the impeachment takes at least partial blame for the lacklustre year, as the time when planning should have been taken place was wasted. There are countless old adages about learning from mistakes, and both returning sabbatical officers had quite different manifestos in the most recent election than when they first ran.

Torris’ focused on convincing the university to have a “Graduate Student Advisor”, something he learned the need for during his role last year.

Murphy’s major campaign focus was on continuing the work of the Union and not allowing university authorities to hoodwink a new naíve team into ineffectuality. Perhaps this shows that past mistakes are being learned from.

The next question to consider is what will the Union try to achieve this year? After the aurduos campaign for the repeal of the 8th amendment, the Union is almost certainly not as united or radical on any other national issue, and the manifestos of all winning candidates were full of issues closer to campus. After the drama of last year, it is probably a good thing to have a year where funding for the counselling services and more effective management of the ENTS crew are made a priority.

Every candidate at hustings claimed they were going to increase student engagement. Focusing on campus issues would be a better way to achieve this than the current efforts to increase the Union’s social media presence, as previously disengaged students could see a real difference made to their lives in UCD. Of all the issues UCD candidates run on, the one mentioned the most, as well as the one that

makes the least amount of progress, is funding and resources for the counselling services. In his manifesto, Murphy proposed a triage system for the counselling service will make sure that students seeking help are sent to the right people for the

“What good is experience when your constituents are so unhappy with your performance?” problems they face, potentially reliving the current strain on waiting times substantially.

While Welfare Officer Melissa Plunkett has no experience as a sabbatical officer, she has proven herself more than competent in her role last year as the Mature Students Campaigns Coordinator. If

the combined experience and ideas of this year’s sabbatical team make any tangible improvement to the operation of the counselling services, and other areas of Union interest aren’t neglected, they will have achieved something that makes a real and serious difference to the lives of students.serious difference to the lives of students.

Even with the lack of Executive experience, this year’s sabbatical team are bringing with them, it would be difficult to not have a better year than last, but last year was undoubtedly an outlier, and this year should be compared to a hypothetical average year. With national press probably not taking much of an interest in our affairs and national campaigns for referenda probably not being the focus of Union work, it would not be unfair for students to expect better RAG and SHAG weeks, a better ENTS presence, and better campaigns on campus.

COMMENT Head-to-Head

Should UCD Societies Council have recognised the Mental Health and Wellbeing Society?

IN FAVOUR

AGAINST

Nathan Young

Melanie Kelly

The decision of the UCD Societies Council to not recognise the Mental Health and Wellbeing Society (MHWS) comes as no surprise to anyone who’s been involved in UCD student society life for any length of time. The Societies Council operate on the understanding that the less work they have to deal with, the less responsibility that they have to take on, the better. The creation of the MHWS would potentially create new work for the Societies Council, as they would have members of a committee seeking training in mental health First Aid programs such as SafeTalk and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). It could be understood, that the Societies Council are taking some responsibility for the mental health of the students involved, or, more worryingly, that the committee are taking responsibility for the mental health of society members.

The fact is that members of societies are already affected by mental health issues, and that involvement in society life can have positive or negative effects on a person’s mental health. The Societies Council does not wish to avoid taking on extra responsibility, but rather to shirk the responsibility they already have on this issue. Allowing for the training of committee members in SafeTalk and ASIST would not carve out more responsibility for the Societies Council but rather, it would recognise the responsibility that already exists.

To illustrate how this is a pattern in the operation of the Societies Council, see how sexual harassment is handled. As has been reported by this paper last semester, an alleged case of sexual harassment led to a meeting between the victims and the Societies Council. Nothing came of this meeting, and an internal report later concluded that this meeting should never have taken place. The same internal report recommends that Auditor training include presentations on the Sexual Harassment policies of the university. Two years of Auditor training have taken place since this report, and in neither of them were any such presentations given. That the Societies Council hasn’t included this in Auditor training doesn’t mean that sexual harassment doesn’t happen in society life, but it does mean the Societies Council can ignore the issue and pretend it’s not their place to deal with it.

In an email to the group behind MHWS, a Societies Officer cited “the transience involved, lack of training, lack of referral ability and lack of properly structured experience, knowledge and expertise”.

However, it is also not the aim of the society to provide mental health care, but to “break down stigmas, raise awareness, and… provide a community sense that mental health isn’t stigmatised in UCD [sic]”.

That kind of activity wouldn’t require any training, making any training they do receive a wise precaution.

The society have stated that they are seeking training in SafeTalk and ASIST. This author has completed ASIST, which is offered and promoted by the HSE. It is the highest level of training available in suicide first aid. It is simply bunkum to claim that, should members of the committee receive ASIST, that they would have a lack of training. If the MHWS were recognised, they could even promote ASIST training to other societies committees. If members of a committee received conventional first aid training, it wouldn’t be to claim responsibility for all injuries but rather a recognition that injuries occur. Why would ASIST be any different?

The other concern risen by the Societies Council was that mental health was best dealt with by the Union. There are two obvious responses to this: First, that the Union are supportive of a mental health society, and second, that many societies overlap with SU mandated issues. Think of all the issues political parties share with the Union, from the repeal of the 8th amendment to accomodation. We already have an LGBTQ+ society and a Disability Inclusion and Awareness Society, both of which work with the Union to advocate their goals. Why would having a mental health society not comfortably fall into a similar space?

Ultimately, the Societies Council would like to pretend that mental health isn’t and shouldn’t be their responsibility, and so have denied recognition to a society who have done all the correct preparation work and who, if recognised, would almost certainly provide a benefit to student life.

UCD’s mental health services (or lack thereof) have become a huge point of contention between students and admin staff. Growing waiting lists have become a recurring theme during Union elections, with promises to tackle the issue left unfulfilled. Every time UCD pours millions into frivolous vanity projects, students despair at the number of counsellor hours such money could have been put towards.

As pressing as the need for mental health services is on campus, the society system is not the best way to address this need, and could do more harm than good regardless of the intentions behind it.

Firstly, it’s unclear what would distinguish this society from the existing services on campus. In the application that was later rejected by the Societies Council, the society was pitched as one that “promotes positive mental health, break down stigmas, raise awareness, and… provide a community sense that mental health isn’t stigmatised in UCD [sic]”. Each of these actions is already being covered by some organisation within UCD, even if not to a wholly satisfactory level.

As well as a full-time sabbatical officer dedicated to student welfare, UCDSU has a Mental Health Campaigns Coordinator (Sadhbh O’Flaherty) to lead the sort of de-stigmatisation campaigns mentioned in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Society application. There are also services such as NiteLine and PleaseTalk which can provide the peer-led support that a society would potentially bring. There’s no convincing evidence that a society would do a better job than these groups, and it could be a more efficient use of students’ time and resources to build on established structures rather than starting a new group from scratch.

The main way that a Mental Health and Wellbeing Society could differentiate itself from these existing services is by providing a safe space for students to discuss their mental health, which gets into very risky territory from an ethical perspective. Even if the committee received SafeTalk training as they proposed in their application, they would need to decide how to handle confidentiality and other potential grey areas. For example, if a student disclosed that they were experiencing domestic abuse to members of the society, it’s unclear whether the society would be obliged to report this to prevent further harm to the student. Adopting this policy could make the society untrustworthy for vulnerable students, but equally, the society could be liable if they didn’t intervene.

The professional counselling that UCD already provides is much better suited to deal with these cases, even if they aren’t as well-funded as students might want. Although reaching the top of the waiting list for on-campus appointments can take months, there is at least the option of getting help from an off-campus therapist within two weeks of applying for counselling. There’s certainly room for improvement, but it is still better for students to have their mental health in the hands of qualified therapists rather than even the best-intentioned students.

While societies are a huge part of college life for many UCD students, they are not necessarily the best structure for addressing complex issues such as mental health. Societies exist as an outlet for students to pursue their extra-curricular passions and make like-minded friends, not to provide essential services.

There are thousands of UCD students that don’t engage with societies at all, and many see societies as cliquey or inviting only to a certain type of student. The existing mental health services, even if they are not as expansive as we would like, are better suited for providing impartial support to students regardless of whether they are comfortable in a society setting.

In addition, the funding allocated to societies is mostly proportional to the number of students that pay €2 for membership. Signing up to a society also involves handing over identifiable information, often in a public setting such as in the Fresher’s Tent or at a society event. This would likely serve as an obstacle for students who would prefer to maintain their anonymity due to the still-present stigma around mental health.

Overall, setting up a mental health society in the most effective way would be a huge and complex undertaking, and the benefits over the status quo are not enough to justify this.

REBUTTAL Melanie Kelly It is interesting that the other side brings up last year’s report on the mishandling of sexual harassment allegations by the Societies Council. While this has been used to support a Mental Health Society, I would see it as evidence that the society system in UCD is not equipped to protect students at vulnerable times.

Clearly, the Council did not prioritise student welfare when they failed to bring in the recommended Auditor training. Giving additional responsibility to an organisation that has already proven its incompetence is surely not the best solution for anyone involved.

The other side also raised the point that there are societies that deal with SU-mandated issues.

However, mental health is different from, say, LGBTQ+ rights, in that the well-being or even the life of a student could be put at risk if a sensitive situation is mishandled. Even though the Mental Health and Wellbeing Society would not have had the aim of providing mental health care, the fact that its committee would have received SafeTalk and ASIST training shows that they anticipated students coming to them with problems. Given the Societies Council’s bad track record, plus the fact that even the most dedicated committee member wouldn’t have the skill set of a qualified psychologist, a society is definitely not the best port of call for a student in need.

The society system simply isn’t designed to provide real support to students who are struggling with their mental health. UCD has services dedicated to that purpose, and it would be a much more efficient use of students’ time and effort to add to these existing supports rather than trying to set up a new group with limited scope. Participating in PleaseTalk events, fundraising for NiteLine or campaigning for better on-campus counselling with UCDSU are all impactful options that don’t require the formation of a formal society.

REBUTTAL Nathan Young Ethical dilemmas around issues of anonymity and confidentiality are, of course, hugely important to anyone seeking to provide mental health care, and are to be treated with the utmost seriousness by professionals and organisations providing such care. Meanwhile, individuals and organisations not claiming to provide healthcare cannot be held to such a high standard. The situation of a committee member having personal information disclosed to them by a member of their society already occurs. The difference is that under the status quo, the Societies Council can pretend that it’s nothing to do with them, and no one ever actually needs any training that could be useful in this situation.

On the point of the Union and other organisations on campus already existing to fight stigma around mental health, it must be remembered that the Union has already offered support for the founding of a mental health society, and that having another organisation operating under a different structure fighting for the same goals seems beneficial to the pre-existing ones. Also, though the MHWS is not planning on being a peer lead healthcare service, if it came up, surely they could answer all of the above criticisms the same way as PleaseTalk and Niteline do, both of which are student led and excellent services.

While most of the reasons given to defend the decision are thinly veiled excuses for the Societies Council to pretend mental health isn’t and could never be their responsibility. There are plenty of reasons to set up a mental health society, and those trying to do it have already done all the same paperwork that anyone else trying to set up a society would have to do.

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

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FEATURES “Have you a minute?” Engaging with self-esteem With social media playing a major role in our day-to-day lives and the number of men engaging with questions of self-esteem, Dylan O’Neill investigates how social media affects self-esteem.

The My World Survey was carried out over the course of five years from 2008-2012, to study youth mental health. The team of researchers, led by Dr. Barbara Dooley who is a Senior Lecturer in the UCD School of Psychology, surveyed students in secondlevel, third-level and FAS education courses from the ages of 12-25 to establish a national “baseline” on youth mental health. Speaking the to University Observer, Dr Cliodhna O’Connor, of the Youth Mental Health Lab said “the data that we captured there was representative of the national distribution, so we can stand over it and say ‘from that we knew that males had significantly higher self-esteem than females.’”

Studying issues such as self-esteem and self identity in men has always been a tricky feat. In a survey conducted by the University Observer on the role social media has on self-esteem, only 33% of the respondents identified as male. O’Connor believes that this could be down to the fact that it was “a self report measure. Males typically either don’t recognise it in themselves to be able to articulate it, in comparison to females. There could have been a response bias, whereby they could have responded in a way that they want to be perceived.”

This is a recurring problem for researchers in the field of psychological study.

Inaccurate media reporting surrounding selfesteem in scientific research is another issue that contributes to the problem of poor engagement by men. There seems to be a disconnect between what the researchers publish in academic journals and what the general public understand about the field of study. “For example, there is a researcher here in UCD and her research was following scientific studies and how they’re portrayed in the media, and the way things can just form a life of their own is just incomprehensible.”

With more advancements in technology and the ever-increasing capability to remain in touch with the world around you, our survey found that 46% of male respondents spend between 4-11+ hours online. According to the survey, on average, men tend to view equally a range of content, from news to personal interest or hobbies to networking sites.

Surprisingly, although 77% of men have a hobby that involves physical activity, only 34.6% said they viewed sport content online.

Dr O’Connor suggested that this is because of

the constant connectivity between everyone in the world. Based off a study that looked at self-esteem in males who viewed neutral photos against men who view images of “physical attractiveness”, O’Connor came to the conclusion that “it is important to note, that we follow and we engage with media that confirm our beliefs or that we aspire to. For example, if you want to go on a diet, you are more likely to follow things like The Body Coach and people who will inspire you, and those are the people who are absolutely ripped.” However, Dr O’Connor emphasises that “even those findings are mixed.”

As most studies remain inconclusive on the correlation between social media content and selfesteem in men, you have to ask yourself why are networking sites so appealing to many? A popular theory is that “having low self-esteem is what drives you to follow all these people and then how can we say that looking at all these photos causes low self-esteem when low self-esteem could have gotten you there in the first place.”

“In saying that, there are so many support forums online, you can follow loads of people similar to you that are trying to get over things.

Then there is a sense of community. People follow you if you follow back.”

However there have been some notable studies, such as the My World Survey, that provide hope for the future, as more males are moving away from the still-prevalent gender stereotypes of tight-lipped macho men. In the literature, men have been seen not to “even recognise when the problem is big enough to do something about it. Then there is [the fact] that males don’t necessarily want to be seen in a certain way, for example, seen as weak.”

O’Connor points out that, in more recent years, “I came across research on eating disorders and it said that in England, last year, there was an increase of 40% in the number of males seeking help for eating disorders.” She further discussed the findings from the study, saying, “I think coupled with that is the idea that men are seeking help for things more and more. It also comes back to sometimes, men who are experiencing low self-esteem, low levels of mood, don’t necessarily present in the way we would assume they do. Depression might manifest itself in a behaviour that is aggressive.”

Surveys are only a small part of tackling the

problem. “Mental health literacy is key.” Being able to recognise the signs of when you are

“Everything is related. Our self-esteem is related to our mood. It’s related to how much you sleep at night... research suggests that just getting outside and experiencing nature will increase your mood” experiencing a low mood or high levels of anxiety, “what that looks like and what that looks like to you personally.” On a more broad community scale, integration is a pivotal aspect of promoting youth mental health. In this respect, O’Connor believes that Ireland can improve on this, especially on

a low mood or high levels of anxiety, “what that looks like and what that looks like to you personally.”

On a more broad community scale, integration is a pivotal aspect of promoting youth mental health.

In this respect, O’Connor believes that Ireland can improve on this, especially on school structure.

“There are so many boys schools and girls schools.

Because we are moving towards a non-binary society, I feel like we should make more of an effort to integrate people, because if we are looking at people collectively, they can identify whatever way they want and they’ll be accepted.”

There are no new answers or helpful hints as to how you might improve your self esteem.

“Everything is related. Our self-esteem is related to our mood. It’s related to how much you sleep at night. But there is so much research to suggest that just getting outside and experiencing nature will increase your mood, and will increase those “happy” hormones like dopamine and serotonin.”

Things such as playing team sports, competitive or non-competitive, has the feeling of camaraderie, where you feel part of a group and that will increase your self esteem.

The housing occupation movement With Dublin in the throes of a housing crisis many are labelling a national emergency, Gavin Tracey examines the origins and tactics of the activists occupying buildings across Dublin.

With the influx of thousands of new and returning students arriving in the capital to find accommodation, the already dire housing crisis has become more pronounced. Long queues, ranging anywhere from 40-100 people long, form outside of property viewings. Meanwhile, the quality and safety of many properties is not being addressed, as many tenants are unaware of their rights and do not wish to be evicted.

A cursory look at Daft.ie reveals just how bad the situation is. For example, an inflatable mattresses in a kitchen for €650 a month, a tiny flat in the city centre with two sets of bunk beds set up in the living room; sights all too common for those looking for somewhere to live in the city centre. Landlords have taken full advantage of this current shortage of accomodation to capitalise on people’s desperation, charging exorbitant rents and paying little to no regard for the safety of their tenants. With little being done by the government, and the only change in the markets being that rents were increasing, a small group of activists seized on a high profile eviction to make a stand and to demand action be taken by the government and local councils.

In May 2018, a number of predominantly Brazilian tenants were evicted from 35 Summerhill Parade, as well as the surrounding houses, in North Dublin inner city, after being given only 24 hours notice. The houses had been inspected by Dublin Fire Brigade, and many rooms were deemed to be dangerous, and that in the event of a fire, lives would almost certainly be lost. The condition of the properties were squalid and overcrowded, with up to 20 tenants living in each property.

After the properties had been left empty and untouched for a few months, a consortium of leftwing groups, including housing and student activists came together to occupy the property. Speaking to the University Observer, a spokesperson for the occupation said, “the places, having seen inside them, are basically tenement like conditions, 8-10 people to some of the rooms... black mould on the walls” with each one of the tenants paying between €300 to €400 a month in rent.

After the occupation enjoyed a substantial level of public support, and the activists were told to

vacate the property by the high court, they moved to another vacant property, this time on North Frederick Street, also in inner city north Dublin.

On their facebook page, the group have published information about the owners and landlords of the properties they occupy, outlining their backgrounds and personal information. Under the name “Take Back the City - Dublin”, they have moved into several properties, and appear to be gaining traction and support.

The question arises as to why they have enjoyed success where other housing protests in the recent past have not, notably the Apollo House occupation in late 2016, which left many of the activists involved feeling “burnt” in the words of the spokesperson for Take Back the City.

“Landlords have taken full advantage of this current shortage of accomodation to capitalise on people’s desperation”

in an unmarked van with no registration plates, and entered the building using electric tools to gain access. This same van was later found to have been previously owned by the Manchester Police, and has not been taxed since 2014. They were followed shortly after by the Gardí.

A press statement released by Take Back the City details that “as community response to the eviction attempt began to build, they were joined by 1 Garda Riot Squad, 1 Public Order Unit, 1 Garda Transit Connect van and 1 Garda Jeep with dogs.” The activists claim that “physical force was used against a number of attendees”, and 5 of the activists were arrested and brought to several Garda stations, outside of which protesters began to congregate. In the same statement, Take Back the City - Dublin condemn the actions of An Garda Siochana, who they claim “facilitated these illegal activities”

The decision to carry out such forceful evictions in this manner is baffling to many.

Coverage of the occupations, which in the days beforehand had been dying down (at least in the

“Unidentified masked men arrived... in an unmarked van with no registration plates, and entered the building using electric tools mainstream press), is now frontpage, breaking news. Accompanied by images of dozens of masked Guardí and persons unknown, this will only serve to further glavinise the public, increasing support for the movement, as well as adding even more pressure to those in government, in particular Eoghan Murphy, to do something about this issue.

It is clear that from the beginning, the movement displayed a knack for public relations, and have used social media to garner support and help recruit volunteers. All of those occupying the Summerhill and Frederick Street properties donned paper masks of Leo Varadkar, serving the dual purpose of sending a clear political message about who they hold to be responsible for the crisis, as well as removing the possibility of the movement becoming about individual personalities. After so little has been done for so long, they are tapping into a genuine public anger surrounding the inaction of the government and county councils.

Using this to their full advantage they were able to schedule a meeting with Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy.

However, in recent days things have begun to turn for the activists. On the evening of Tuesday the 11th of September, unidentified masked men arrived at the North Frederick Street property, in Image: Jack Power

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FEATURES Student Activism: Finding your voice and shouting from the rooftops

With a proud history of pushing for change associated with third-level students, Dylan O’Neill speaks to those involved in student activism.

Third level education is seen as place where students go to continue their journey on the road to employment. That’s what it is marketed as.

However, what you may not see and what is often omitted from the advertisements, is the work that groups undertake to bring about change at local and national levels. Traditionally, students have been the first group to come together with a voice and are frequently referred to as the ‘voices for change’.

Across many third level institutions, students’ unions have been harbingers of change, promoting discussion within council between students and actively marching on issues affecting students.

UCDSU President, Barry Murphy, explains that the point of activism is to give students a voice on boards that are made up of individuals who, on a university level, view it as a business or have become out of touch with student needs.

As sabbatical officers have a seat on many of these university boards, their role is to ask if the decisions made, take into account reasons that may benefit students’ experience of university life.

But what is the point of constantly shouting?

Is our vote not enough? According to Murphy, “if we just vote we are not helping to influence change”. Student activism is a grassroots stage of influencing change at a national level and Murphy says the reason behind this is because “young people are often the driving force of long term progressive change in Ireland”. Campaigns led by students include: the Vote4Me campaign in 2015, prior to the marriage equality referendum; the Strike4Repeal protest which saw students march to Leinster House to call for a referendum on the 8th Amendment and March4Education which was organised by students to pressure the government into investing more public funds into third-level education. Murphy highlights these as prime examples of the work carried out by students to influence change at a national level “without students these causes would not have reached their full potential in achieving needed change in Irish society.”

Although progress has been made with studentled lobby groups, there is still much more work involved for certain groups. For example, UCDSU currently provides funding for UCD for Choice, Consent at UCD, Students For Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and officially support the work of UCD for Prep.

Speaking with Ailish Brennan from the UCD

chapter of SSDP, she describes the overall aim of of the group is “to end the ‘war on drugs, because we see the fact that it hasn’t worked. People can still get drugs very readily.” Believing that the “war on drugs” campaign has led to situations where people “don’t know what they’re taking, so as a result, putting themselves in more danger.”

Citing the National Student Drug survey of 2015, which found that 82% of students surveyed admitted to having used illegal drugs at some point, Brennan says, “I think you’d struggle to find 82% of students who have done anything else. I don’t think that amount of students even drive. That’s the amount of people who are affected by this stuff and not only are they doing stuff that is inherently risky, because they don’t know an awful lot about it.” SSDP continuously tries to educate students on the risks of drug use and keeping students who do use drugs informed about the contents of certain drugs, and how to deal with the emergency services if a friend experiences a bad reaction from taking drugs.

Students in UCD who are interested in advocating for causes can get in contact with their class reps to pass mandates through student council or go directly to the Campaigns and Communications officer, Thomas Monaghan, to discuss joining the campaigns forum to work on existing campaigns or create new ones.

With the UCD chapter of SSDP having been officially founded in March of 2018, Brennan advises students who feel passionately about an issue to keep pushing for it. “You have to talk to a lot of people, you have to meet a lot of people, you have to keep at it. There was a guy who tried to set it up a few years before I did, he actually didn’t end up setting it up because, especially in UCD there is a lot of bureaucracy where you have to go through a load of different meetings.”

Another point Brennan makes is to not feel discouraged if your initial plans do not work out. “[The Societies Head] has to tell you that this doesn’t work as a society and then you have to go back to square one and then you have to meet with the Union… But don’t be put off like that and remain focused on what you want and what the issue at hand is and keep remembering why you’re doing it.”

Overall, it is important to that you “make sure you get that emotive message across as well as having a factual message, where you show it actually means something to you, there being an important

message behind what you do,” as Brennan believes from her experience, that that is the best way to ncourage people to follow and support your cause. “Reach people. Engage with as many people as possible. Talk to as many people as possible.”

If you are interested in the work of or wish to join Students for Sensible Drug Policy, you can email the UCD chapter at dublin@chapters.ssdp.org or message their Facebook page UCD Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

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SCIENCE What does Science have to say about God? Emmet Feerick asks whether religion and science can be reconciled after all.

The contributions of science to our knowledge are undeniable. In just 300 years it has shown us the age of the universe and of the earth; the origins of the species; and the insides of stars. It has shown us how time travel is possible, and it has enabled us to build life-saving medicines and devices such as MRI machines. Yet this knowledge has not been without its victims, namely; the religious myths of yore.

Gone are Adam and Eve, with advancements in paleontology now showing we are descended from fish. Gone are natural disasters as expressions of God’s wrath - we now have plate tectonics and meteorology. Yet with all this chipping away at the statue of religious mythology, one of its most important elements remains largely untouched the concept of God itself. What can science hope to say about the existence of a deity? As our scientific

knowledge expands to fill the universe, will God be subsumed or supplanted?

These are questions for which answers can be given, ranging from tentative to less tentative but equally evasive answers. One of the more scientifically literate of these has been the

“We would not be here to be amazed at the fact of our existence, were it not for the fact of our existence in the first place”

argument from “fine-tuning”. The idea goes that if the physical constants of the universe (like the exact strength of gravity, the speed of light, the charge of an electron, etc.) were not exactly as they are, we humans would not exist. What good fortune for us that these constants are set! While scientifically correct, a universe with even slightly different physical laws would be vastly different, this argument does have a weakness worth pointing out.

Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) summarised this weakness best. He asked us to consider the case of the puddle of water, which is astonished to find that it fits the shape of the ground it sits in with absolute precision. “What a miracle!” the puddle thinks.

“I happen to be the perfect fit for this hole in the ground!” Of course, we know that there is nothing miraculous about this at all. What puddle could fill that hole, other than the one which fills it?

And yet, we humans stand in much the same position with respect to the universe. We would not be here to be amazed at the fact of our existence, were it not for the fact of our existence in the first place. For all its scientific pretenses, the “finetuning” argument for God’s existence seems tenuous. And this is even without asking the obvious question, who fine-tuned the fine-tuner?

And who fine-tuned that fine-tuner? And so on.

Other efforts to reconcile God with our growing scientific knowledge have attempted to claim that there is no conflict between the two, as they deal with different questions. Consider for instance Stephen Jay Gould’s idea that science and religion are “nonoverlapping magisteria”. That is, that science and religion both propose to answer different questions about the universe. Science, Gould claimed, aims to answer the “how” questions, while religion’s purview is the “why” questions.

This response to the science-religion conflict is only satisfactory if one doesn’t consider religious claims about, say, miracles, or the power of prayer, to be within the realm of scientific enquiry. And is this a reasonable stance? Don’t claims about the efficacy of prayer fall within the remit of science?

After all, it is possible to test whether prayer is effective.

As it happens, there has been no substantial evidence that praying to a deity works, and not for lack of trying. Many dollars have been spent on this

and similar efforts.

According to this theory, any modern concept of God must eschew any commitments to this kind of religious literalism, and must be able to reconcile religious doctrine with the discoveries of science. Given this, what form could our renewed conception of God take?

The scientific endeavour is predicated on the idea that the universe is knowable. But, as our knowledge becomes ever more mathematical and abstract, it seems probable that this “knowing” will be of a different sort than the intuitive understanding that we have come to expect from science. The God we eventually find could be made of equations.

Would it be worth calling such an entity “God”?

“Science, Gould claimed, aims to answer the “how” questions, while religion’s purview is the “why” questions.”

What theologian would sign on to belief in a God of x’s and y’s; a God who was not merely fluent in equations, but consisted of them?

All of this is not to say that something like a higher power doesn’t exist. However, it does imply that what is meant by “higher power” needs to be defined more exactly (needs some fine-tuning?).

Going on current evidence, such a notion as a higher power would need to be so abstract as to render theism (belief in a god who intervenes in human affairs) untenable. Deism (belief in a primemover who does not intervene), therefore, is the only scientifically-compatible stance. And at that, it would have to be a rather diluted form of deism.

In recent decades the findings of quantum mechanics show the universe to be, in the words of British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane “not just stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we can suppose”.

That our ability to understand the universe has already come up against such an insurmountable wall in this early stage of science, does not bode well for our future understanding of the cosmos.

Perhaps our growing sphere of knowledge will one day encompass our own cognitive limitations, in

Image: HSE

The Universe in a Nutcase: Why do we believe in conspiracy theories?

Delphine Joyce ventures down the rabbit hole and asks why conspiracy theories are so compelling to so many.

Did you know that the earth is flat, and the moon landing was faked? And that the voice we all know so well as belonging to Britney Spears is actually sped up to make her sound more like a baby? Oh, and the 2018 California wildfires were caused by Donald Trump testing his satellite laser guns on his most hated state. Or so they say…

With a litany of these outlandish “alternate” explanation for events, often secretly organised by a group of people (often a government, an organisation or an industry), with evil intentions, why do so many people believe in them, and why do people tend to believe in either none, or many?

Firstly, as any university science student will tell you, our whole concept of reality is formed around theories which cannot be proven, only accepted as the most likely possibility until disproved. Given the way humanity forms its knowledge, there will always be space for alternate interpretations of the billions of patterns we can trace in the world! But why go for a less likely, less accepted theory than those chosen by science? You would do this, of course, if you were a conspiracy theorist.

One of the most common reasons would be for a feeling of belonging. Socially marginalised people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories,

“Socially marginalised people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories because it gives them the opportunity to interact with a group of people with a similar interest.”

because it gives them the opportunity to interact with a group of people with a similar interest. The interest could be triggered by boredom or simple curiosity, and encouraged by the adrenaline rush

“In some cases, conspiracy theories can appear to be very tempting because the truth is simply too unbelievable or too terrible to accept.” they experience when all the evidence falls into place.

Another reason could be a reaction to a feeling of guilt or loss of control. People feel safer thinking that climate change is a hoax, because that way they don’t have to worry about how their carbon footprint contributes to the melting of the ice-caps.

It is always easier to put the blame on someone else who has malicious intent than take responsibility for what human complacency does to this planet.

In some cases, conspiracy theories can appear to be very tempting because the truth is simply too unbelievable or too terrible to accept. The obvious example for this is holocaust denial – it is too scary to admit that humans could be capable of such atrocities, and to take responsibility for the dangers of (often, their own) xenophobia. It is easier to just deny the entire story.

The Flat Earth Theory is a good example for how such insane ideas can be so enthusiastically swallowed. Due to the difficulty many have in accepting the Big Bang Theory, and the fact that the United Nations signed a treaty saying that no one is allowed to cross Antarctica, or explore it

too deeply without supervision, the Flat Earthers believe the Earth is a circular plane surrounded by ice, with a map that looks similar to that of the UN flag, with a dome covering it. This way, the moon exists only for us, as does the sun, and Flat Earthers get to feel like there is a purpose to their life, as the Universe no longer has to be chaotic and indifferent. Notice the age-old human narcissism creeping back there?

This theory also ties into the philosophy of ‘The Matrix’ introduced by Rene Descartes, that proposes that the human experience is all just a simulation – which, according to some scientists, is statistically quite likely. In that case, it would make sense for the Earth to be a plane with hard boundaries. But why would the government hide this? Perhaps they use our sense of meaninglessness to more easily distract us with consumerism and push us to fight

each other, so ‘they’ can control ‘us’ more easily.

Clever, huh?

Then again, why not believe in conspiracy theories?

After all, several have come true before. Prime examples of some are about the ethical or even inhumane issues in Sony’s contracts, especially with girl or boy bands and K-pop artists, as well as with Ke$ha. A less controversial example would be one from Apple: they openly admitted this year that they have been purposely slowing down old iPhones, supposedly to maintain the battery life of older models as their batteries became less efficient. Conspiracy theories have existed about them doing this long before they admitted it!

It’s up to you whether you want to dive into the dark hole that is conspiracy theories - maybe it can help you feel like you belong. But whatever you do, always stay sceptical.

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

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SCIENCE Miracle Drug? New Opioid replacement shows much promise.

A new pain relief drug appears set to revolutionise the way we treat pain, and importantly – it does not appear to be addictive.

Roseanna Shanahan takes a look The poppy flower may look innocent and beautiful but it contains substances that have created havoc throughout the world. Many countries the world over are experiencing an opioid crisis. America’s opioid crisis is certainly the worst, claiming hundreds of lives every week. This problem has reached our shores as well, with Ireland seeing a threefold increase in the prescription of oxycodone between 2006 and 2016, and a twofold increase in the prescription of fentanyl, a pain relief drug which is stronger than heroin.

T here are many social and biological factors that lead to opioid addiction. For instance, the Irish health care system is flawed. Patients experience long waiting lists for surgery and for counselling, lengthening the time which they spend using opioids. The social stigma around addiction also prevents addicts from getting the help they need.

Combine this with the fact that opioids are highly effective in dampening pain and evoking the feeling of euphoria in the brain, and patients stand little chance against overcoming the addictiveness of these drugs.

To eradicate this epidemic, alternative analgesics have become highly sought after. A newly developed drug called AT121 has shown promise in American preclinical trials carried out on rhesus monkeys. The results from this study were published in the journal of Science Translational Medicine in late August 2018. AT121 was found to kill pain and researchers reported that it is not addictive. It works by blocking the pathways that lead to opioid addiction in prescribed painkillers.

In this study the monkeys in question were sat down and their tails placed in water baths of 50°C, which inflicted acute pain on them. Without a painkiller the animal would flinch and rapidly remove their tail from the warm water.

But when the drug AT121 was administered, these monkeys showed an increase in their pain threshold - AT121 treated monkeys could withstand a greater level of pain from the water baths.

Similarly, capsaicin, which is the hot component in chilis, was placed on their tails. When AT121 was applied, the monkeys did not display any pain

related behaviour. AT121 also showed to be better at treating pain than morphine. The monkeys were put through a different test to see whether AT121 had any addictive properties.

Monkeys were provided with a vast amount of the drug that they could choose to self-administer.

AT121-treated monkeys showed no interest in taking any more of the drug than that needed to kill their pain.

In contrast to this, monkeys treated with heroin continued to seek the drug as much as they could. Monkeys that were administered AT121 before they were administered the commonly prescribed opioid oxycodone showed less addictive behaviour, proving that it can help addicts to recover from opioid addiction as well.

This drug is much safer than opioids in high doses too. Opioid related fatalities often occur due to either respiratory depression or cardiac difficulties. AT121 did not affect the lungs or heart in one monkey that was tested. The drug kills pain, without having any major side effects, and it is devoid of abuse potential.

However, it is important to note that these

shown.

Other analgesics that can help combat

AT121 did not affect the lungs or heart in one monkey that was tested the opioid crisis are THC and cannabinol, which are the main psychoactive properties of cannabis. Cannabis has been used medicinally for thousands of years - some of its first records of use date to 300 BC in China. An Irish doctor called Sir William O’Shaughnessy, who was born in 1808, was one of the first to introduce cannabis to western medicine. He discovered

the analgesic properties of medicinal cannabis as he travelled throughout Asia. Today many people throughout the world use cannabis to kill chronic pain. In the United States, certain recovery programmes for heroin addicts use cannabis as means of weaning addicts off of opioids. These programmes have saved many lives from opioid overdose. Cannabis is a natural analgesic that has proved for thousands of years that it is efficient in killing pain.

People suffer greatly everyday from chronic pain and hundreds die from opioid overdose.

Perhaps in the future medicinal cannabis laws will become more widely-accepted, but if this doesn’t happen the world has AT121 as a beacon of hope to tackle this opioid crisis.

“When the drug AT121 was administered, these monkeys showed an increase in their pain threshold” preclinical trials have many limitations. Mainly, that the nervous system of the animals tested is not a perfect replica of our own. Additionally, these experiments only measured short term pain, not the chronic pain that is experienced by many patients who use pain relief. Drug testing is a rigorous and lengthy journey, so those hoping for some relief will likely have to wait some time before this drug is approved by the various licensing agencies. For now, they may take solace in the promise that it has thus far

Alcohol and tobacco: Better in moderation or not at all?

With the recent publication of some novel scientific research, Mark Jackson asks whether it’s better to enjoy alcohol and tobacco in moderation or not at all.

It is no secret that regular alcohol consumption is harmful to your health and may actively reduce your lifespan. The conclusion from a recent study conducted at the University of Washington and published in the Lancet medical journal may come as a surprise to many, however. This study found that the safest level of alcohol consumption may in fact be none, an unusual stance for the field of toxicology, where trace amounts of toxins are often accepted to be harmless.

The topic of alcohol consumption is not as black and white as the findings of this study would seem to suggest however, and it appears as though there is no clear-cut answer to the question of whether alcohol is better in moderation or not at all. The main reason for this being the vast amount of contradictory research conducted over the years.

Some studies have even concluded that moderate alcohol consumption (a couple of drinks a day) may actually have protective effects on some conditions, including ischemic heart disease and diabetes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these findings have been heavily scrutinised, inspiring studies such as the one published in the Lancet.

The study in question found that between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine, alcohol was the leading risk factor for deaths in 2016. It found that 3.8% of female deaths and 12.2% of male deaths were linked to alcohol in everything from road injuries to self-harm and even tuberculosis. In the more mature age bracket, it was found that women and men over fifty were much more likely to die of cancer caused by alcohol consumption than any other disease, with just over a quarter of women and a fifth of men succumbing to such deaths.

According to the study, alcohol use is also associated with “far more health loss for males than for females”, a fortunate reality considering the otherwise pessimistic finding that Irish women are seventh in the world for daily alcohol consumption - a ranking even higher than that of Irish men.

Sustained alcohol consumption like this has also taken its toll on global populations, with 10% of

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VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 1

global deaths in the fifteen to forty-nine-year-old age category resulting from alcohol intake.

In a separate study conducted by University College London (UCL) and published in the European Heart Journal, it was concluded that teenagers of age seventeen who drink and smoke have much stiffer arteries than average and thus are much more likely to suffer from heart and blood vessel problems as they age compared with their nondrinking, non-smoking counterparts. The study assessed 1,266 individuals at age 13, 15 and 17 through questionnaires and non-intrusive medical assessments.

“the newest research strongly suggests that the less you drink and smoke, the more likely you are to live a healthier, more wholesome life.”

There was substantial evidence from the UCL study to suggest that their arteries would return to normal if teenagers ceased their habitual drinking and smoking, meaning they would be as well off as their non-drinking, non-smoking peers.

Footnotes of the study maintained that the research gave more credibility to the active discouragement of youths to continue drinking and smoking in their daily lives. Naturally, the study has limitations considering its observational nature. Its conclusions are no less noteworthy, however, especially given the fact that 23.8% of their participants at age 17 were smokers and 75.6% of their participants drank 3-9 drinks in a typical day.

Equipped with these facts, it is easy to see that alcohol and tobacco use is extremely prevalent and is doing us more harm than we know. With more alcohol readily available in supermarkets and

through online ordering, it doesn’t appear as though the Irish culture of casual drinking and smoking is going to end any time soon unless we redefine our perception of alcohol and tobacco as forms of escapism and casual indulgence. Irish universities, social media and popular culture have major roles to play in relabelling regular alcohol and tobacco consumption as unattractive and harmful, a concept scientists are continuously trying to nudge into the mainstream.

The question of whether it is better to enjoy these substances in moderation or abstain from them completely is totally up to individual decision, but the newest research strongly suggests that the less you drink and smoke, the more likely you are to live a healthier, more wholesome life.

“alcohol use is also associated with “far more health loss for males than for females”...Irish women are seventh in the world for daily alcohol consumption - a ranking even higher than that of Irish men.”

SCIENCE Putting the eye in A.I. Emmet Feerick takes a look at the latest significant breakthrough in the application of machine learning to medicine.

Few professionals are more acquainted with the idea of “lifelong learning” than medical doctors.

Every year, stacks upon stacks of new medical research are produced, and keeping on top of this exponentially growing pile is part of a doctor’s job description. Thankfully, this growth in knowledge is accompanied by a proliferation of new medical machinery. This enables medical professionals to best take advantage of this new information, improving the accuracy of their diagnoses, and the efficacy of their treatments.

In ophthalmology (the branch of medicine dealing with the eye), an imaging technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become widespread since its introduction in the 1990s. It involves taking a 3D scan of the retina, which can then be viewed and manipulated by an ophthalmologist to help diagnose a wide range of eye conditions. In medicine, OCT is seen as the gold standard imaging technique for the initial assessment of many diseases of the eye, with 5.35 million OCT scans being performed in the US Medicare population in 2014 alone.

Perversely, the widespread adoption of this technique has meant that there are now more scans available than there are doctors available to view them. This has created a backlog in many countries, where patients with potentially visionthreatening eye diseases wait weeks and months for a diagnosis and referral. It is this backlog that led researchers from Google’s Deep Mind to develop software which can read OCT scans and correctly diagnose more than 50 common eye conditions.

This software was trained using over 14,000 OCT scans from over 7,000 patients who were referred to the hospital with symptoms of macular

“This software was trained using over 14,000 OCT scans from over 7,000 patients who were referred to the hospital with symptoms of macular pathology” pathology (diseases of the central part of the retina that is required for high-resolution, colour vision). As well as diagnosing eye conditions, the AI system was tasked with referring cases to the relevant specialists. Its performance on this task was compared against several experts, each of which had slightly different success rates in their

referral (a worrying thought in itself).

When all they had to go on was an OCT scan, the performance of the A.I was comparable to the two best-performing retina specialists in the experiment. The error rate of the A.I. was 5.5%, versus 6.7% and 6.8% for the two specialists.

Additionally, it did not make a single clinicallyserious wrong decision. When the human experts were allowed access to other images and summary notes of the patients, five came close to the performance level of the A.I, while three others still lagged significantly behind.

Expert reactions to the research, published in Nature Medicine this August, have been overwhelmingly positive. Many claim it to be an exemplary application of machine learning to medical diagnosis. Prof. Noel Sharkey, Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics,

“Expert reactions to the research, published in Nature Medicine this August, have been overwhelmingly positive. Many claim it to be an exemplary application of machine learning to medical diagnosis.”

“[The A.I.] did not make a single clinically-serious wrong decision” University of Sheffield, said “If you were looking for beneficial applications of deep learning, this has got to be one of them. It’s the type of task that these learning techniques are cut out for.”. However, he warned about the need for a well-crafted interface between machine and medical staff in order to prevent blind deference to the A.I.’s decisions.

Likewise, Prof. Duc Pham, Chance Professor of Engineering, University of Birmingham, emphasised the role of this technology as one of assistance in the decision-making process of medical staff, rather than of outright replacement. This, he says, is because “deep learning is inductive, i.e. it forms general rules and principles from specific training examples. Inductive systems cannot be guaranteed to produce 100% correct results, no matter how many training examples they used or how much training they received.” It (almost!) goes without saying that the concept of a second opinion is hardly a new one in medicine.

Cautionary note notwithstanding, this technology shows much promise for the future treatment of eye diseases. It enables faster and more accurate diagnosis and referrals, which leads to safer and more prevention-focused care. The same trend of A.I.-assisted clinical decision making appears set to affect other branches of medicine too, from radiography to cardiology. We may now be living at the beginning of a time of exponential growth in the effectiveness of healthcare, where the merging of man and machine brings us all to a state of better health. Sláinte!

Vitamin supplements: Are they really Icarus eat your heart out: Solar probe necessary? set to fly into Sun’as corona With a whole host of dietary supplements to choose from, Jack Lynch asks whether popular vitamin supplements are worth buying.

Seán Mooney takes a look at the $1.5 billion solar probe set to revolutionise our understanding of space weather. .

In the modern era there seems to be a constant infatuation with being healthy and staying fit. So what does this actually entail? Going to the gym, exercising, wearing skin tight clothing and taking some supplements? Research has demonstrated that perhaps those vitamin supplements on sale aren’t really benefiting you after all - that is, if you are maintaining a balanced diet.

So, vitamin supplements, what are they? They provide their buyers with specific doses of a certain vitamin. Iron deficient? Here, take some iron supplements. Not sure you’re getting enough zinc? Here are some zinc supplements for you!

Supposedly, that’s great news for those starting college again, with crowded lecture rooms and sneezing strangers - everyone loves a bit of vitamin C. But with much skepticism flowing around about the true efficacy of vitamin supplements, can we say whether they are actually beneficial to our health?

Let’s pick vitamin C as our example. Contrary to common belief, vitamin C is not a cure for the common cold (though it can prevent more serious complications). It functions by offering protection against pathogens that have the potential to cause immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling. Take that, sceptics!

The attention that vitamin C gets may be warranted, according to Dr Mark Moyad, MPH, of the University of Michigan. He notes that higher levels of vitamin C in the blood may be the ideal nutrition marker for overall health. He goes on to say that “the more we study vitamin C, the better our understanding of how diverse it is in protecting our health, from cardiovascular, cancer, stroke, eye health [and] immunity”, all of which contribute to living longer.

Launched in August 2018, NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission is set to revolutionise our understanding of the Sun by traveling closer to it than any spacecraft has gone before.

Released from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, is a stream of charged particles called the solar wind, which flows out past the Earth at 1.8 million km/h. This spacecraft is named in honour of the astrophysicist Eugene Parker who coined the term “solar wind”.

The main goals of Parker Solar Probe are to investigate what gives rise to this solar wind, and also to understand how energy moves through the Sun’s corona.

In order to travel much of the 150 million kilometres to the Sun and enter the corona, Solar Parker Orbiter will use multiple gravity assists from Venus. The heat and radiation conditions experienced by the spacecraft over the course of its almost seven-year mission will be intense, with the surrounding temperatures exceeding 1,300°C at its closest approach. Advances in thermal engineering have led to the development of a carbon heat shield to protect the electronics in this harsh environment.

Onboard Solar Parker Probe there is a suite of instruments, all powered by the solar panels.

The purpose of these instruments is to measure quantities such as the magnetic field and to take images of its surroundings. The data are then beamed back to Earth, as Solar Parker Probe travels around the Sun at speeds up to 700,000 km/h.

This mission will improve scientists’ understanding of the corona and the solar wind.

With this knowledge, researchers will then be able to better forecast space weather, which can radically affect our lives on Earth by interfering with satellites. Parker Solar Probe comes at the ideal time, because as our society becomes

Words of praise indeed, but are vitamin C supplements really necessary to reap these benefits? Not so, says the medical consensus.

Nutritionists and doctors are coming to agree on something - a balanced diet is the most important way for us to get all of our vitamins in the right amounts. No need for supplements or additives, they say. If we eat a wide enough variety of food in healthy amounts, from fish and meat to fruit and veg, we will be supplied with our required amounts of nutrients.. Vitamin supplements are beneficial for those who experience vitamin deficiencies, simply having a varied and balanced diet is not enough to prevent a person from succumbing to illness.

So what can you do? The professionals recommend giving your physician a visit to identify whether you have a specific vitamin deficiency, and to understand that we are all individuals - the incorporation of vitamin supplements into our diet should be personalised to our own specific needs and not incorporated as part of a societal “fad”.

For now, stay safe, and eat your oranges.

the ideal time, because as our society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, it is crucial to understand the Sun-Earth connection to mitigate the risks posed by space weather.

Researchers using NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will also have the chance to co-ordinate observations with the European Space Agency’s upcoming Solar Orbiter Mission. Solar Orbiter will also perform close-up, high-resolution studies of the Sun and it is scheduled for launch in 2020. To protect Solar Orbiter from the high temperatures, a protective heat shield is being developed by ENBIO -- a company which emerged from UCD’s Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs, NovaUCD. The heat shield, composed of burnt bone charcoal from “prehistoric cave paintings” will be applied to the Solar Orbiter’s titanium exterior.

“The big advantage is that the new layer ends up bonded, rather than only painted or stuck on. It effectively becomes part of the metal,” said John O’Donoghue, Managing Director of Enbio in an article posted on the ESA website.

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

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STUDENT VOICES

Immigration appointments remains a struggle for international students Andrew Grossen is a UCD Masters student from the United States, who completed his undergraduate degree at UCD and is still trying to book an INIS appointment.

As the new academic term begins, most students are excited to start their new classes, meet new people, and get involved with societies and clubs. For international students however, there is the added stress of registering with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS). A stressful and flawed process that rarely deserves the attention it gets and effects the welfare and academic lives of almost a third of UCD students.

The most significant hurdle to registering with INIS is actually booking an appointment. Obtaining an appointment from the INIS (formally GNIB) used to require waiting for many hours outside the Burgh Quay Immigration office. I once spent six hours outside waiting for an appointment ticket only for the office to run out of appointment spaces shortly after opening. I know many UCD students who had similar, and in some cases, worse experiences.

In 2016, the GNIB moved to an online appointment-booking system. It removed the physical lines, yet did nothing to remove the stress and frustration. The process can seem straightforward but the reality is it’s not. INIS only has limited appointments available and releases these appointments at specific times of the day. The website is prone to freezing and many days there are no appointments available. Changes to the “Re-entry visa”, through which applications can now only be completed by post, also have drastic impact on lives of UCD students.

The problem has gone underground and it is important that calls for reform continue to be heard. The issue has been covered by major Irish news organizations in the past, but the invisibility of current issues lacks similar coverage. Students are arriving in a new country, going to a new school, sometimes speaking a new language, learning a new culture, trying to find accomodation during the housing crisis all while stressed about immigration.

A look at this years UCD international students Facebook group shows evidence of the widereaching frustration this process generates despite students spending weeks even months attempting to book an appointment. The situation is so dire that private online services have arisen to take financial advantage of student’s desperation and frustration.

A Facebook page, “GNIB and Visa Appointment” charges €25 to book an appointment after the student provides highly sensitive information over Facebook Messenger. “GNIBot”, a €10 service that takes a person’s information and has their robot make the appointment. Each service’s Facebook page has over 1000 ‘likes’ and multiple reviews stating that the service was easier and less stressful

“Students are arriving in a new country, going to a new school, sometimes speaking a new language, learning a new culture, trying to find accomodation during the housing crisis all while stressed about immigration. “

New lessons from the old

Our therapeutic paradox

Molly Greenough

‘Your Favourite Mess’

Throughout my life, I have dreamt of the future. At 16, I dreamt of college. In college, I now dream about my future career. It was not until this summer, at my minimumwage job, that I began questioning not my dreams, but my dreaming. Working at an elderly retirement community in south-shore Massachusetts as a waitress, I never expected to learn more than how to be a good server, much less leave with new perspectives on myself, the future, and youth.

With a few months at home in Massachusetts, I was planning to work, hoping to save, and really hoping to not spend all of my money before I got back to Dublin. With money on my mind, I began picking up shifts, then more shifts — until I realised I had definitely spent more time this summer at the retirement community than with my own friends. But, it was in these months that I forged stronger relationships with a few residents, and in turn, began looking forward to each shift, not only for the monetary compensation, but for the conversations, advice, and wisdom imparted.

I heard the tales of collegiate excellence, promptly followed by a well paying job. I heard tales of regret; those wishing they had travelled more in their youth, before their age infringed upon their mobility. I heard the frustration and pain in voices as some racked their minds trying to remember even the simplest fact, often in vain. And I saw. The pride for their newest grandchild. The empty seat at the table where a good friend once sat. Lucid minds becoming a bit more forgetful each week. The childlike delight that an icecream sundae still brings, whether eight or eighty years old.

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than booking the appointment themselves. These services present an unfair advantage for students willing to pay and a disadvantage those trying to book manually. A legally required appointment should not be so difficult to obtain that students feel the need to pay a potentially insecure online service in order to be successful.

There are a number of factors that have led to this annual crisis in the international student community. It is annual because student visas are valid for one year even if the student will be a registered student at an Irish university for multiple years. This requires thousands of students to reapply each year putting a significant strain on the already under-resourced INIS. The disconnect between the targets of the Department of Education and Skills and the resources by the Department of Justice is also a factor. While the Department of Education and Skills implements their ‘International Education in Ireland Strategy 2016-2020’, which seeks to increase the number of international students enrolled in Irish institutions, there is no collaboration with the Department of Justice to develop their resources to match the higher demand of immigration of appointments. Beyond an increase in international students, Ireland is experiencing higher rates of immigration across the board. The INIS is under-resourced year round, but it is in September and October when the crisis hits each year.

There needs to be more investment from the government in reforming and streamlining the student visa process. The International Office in UCD can only provide basic informational support to students struggling with booking appointments and has to comply with the strategy set forth by the Department of Education, meaning that the only entity that can enact real reforms is the Department of Justice.

Here at UCD, the international community is rich with cultural diversity and enriches UCD’s student life at all levels. International students also generate over €97 million in revenue for the university. According to the Department of Education and Skills, international students, based on output impact basis shows that they are worth a minimum of €1.55 billion per annum to Ireland. It is not just in UCD’s, but also the Irish government’s, economic interest to invest in continuing to reform this system. The contribution international students have on the Irish economy is significant enough that calls for improving the visa appointment system should be dealt with seriously.

VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 1

At nineteen years old, I found myself having a bit of a quarter-life crisis. It became disheartening going into work, to be blunt, often feeling surrounded by death. It’s not uncommon to hear of a resident passing away; but I found it equally painful watching some gradually lose their keys, then their memories, and then themselves.

However, I often wondered how much pity was fair to have for my older friends, especially since their wrinkles allude to lives filled with laughter, pain, stress, love. Lives well lived. I am still a dreamer.

I still have hopes for the future, and a long list of things I hope to complete one day.

But I have been careful, as I fear that one day I could look back and realise that I spent more time dreaming and planning, opposed to truly living.

As I approach my twenties, I have never felt more youthful. Not in the traditional sense of the word, but rather that I no longer directly link age with youth. To me, being youthful isn’t as simple as being “young and dumb,” or having a wrinkle-free face. It is something far more complex. It is pursuing your interests. It is cracking a joke at a slightly wrong time. It is being authentically yourself, and letting others do the same.

It is passion and spontaneity. It is seeing the good in the world. It is seeing the good in yourself. As we mature, it can be easy to lose some of these characteristics. Not overnight, not in a year, but gradually.

College turns to a career, dreamers turn to realists. It may be a futile effort, but I hope one day, when I am wrinkled and grey, I will still have a bit of my youth in my back pocket.

Another long hard day; lacking in naps, discounts and opportunities to open a new jar of Nutella. Your college crush has just referred to you as ‘buddy’; it was clearly only you that felt the spark in the sweaty paradise of Dicey’s. You’ve run out of cookie crisp to drown your sorrows; those god-sent chocolate biscuits that don’t count as biscuits because of their sneaky disguise as cereal. Could the day get any worse? Oh, definitely. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make your Tuesday evening glow with positivity. So, you do what you always do; cram those earphones so far into your head that it sounds like a jet engine and blare the saddest tunes you’ve got. You’ve even made a playlist for times like these; naming it *sad emoji*.

Why does staring dramatically out the window of the 145 with Bon Iver’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me (Live Version)’ narrating your journey serve as a therapeutic choice? Why does mentally writing, directing and playing the lead role in a modern, musical tragedy help the daily dumps? Surely listening to ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ would lift the spirits and inspire you to choreograph and perform the next viral masterpiece right there on the 145, yes?

No. Of course we could try to ameliorate our mood; whip out some ‘#PositiveQuotes’ on Instagram; but sometimes there’s nothing we love more than revelling in our own sob stories.

Adding Post Malone screaming, ‘Ooh I fall apart’ to your misery suddenly crafts a cinematic sensation worthy of the big screen. t’s the complete opposite direction to the sensible decision of actually recognising your emotions, dealing with them and getting back to ‘Shut Up And

Dance’; but does that really make it a bad one?

I’m not saying drowning your sadness in minor chords is the best path; but it’s not the worst either. I truly believe it’s an elaborate form of self-care. Sometimes wallowing in self-pity gives you a bit of much needed me-time. When no friend is there to pat your back and sympathise with your dramatic downfall, you can always count on some guy moaning sadly with his acoustic guitar to do just that.

You’re not alone in your pain, and look, you’ve even got a soundtrack to prove it.

Sure, it might be a bit depressing and make your mother want to sit you down for a ‘chat’, and result in your friends kicking you off the decks at pre-drinks - but that’s alright. Your mind probably doesn’t need the newest Martin Garrix drop after your relationship has fallen to pieces and your bank account might as well self-implode.

You choose the music to suit the situation.

No-one’s blaring ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ as the rivers flow from their eyes, and maybe nose, at 2am. You pick the saddest, tearinducing tune you’ve ever heard; and you let yourself feel those feels.

You don’t need to ‘cheer up’ every time you’ve had a bad day. You’re under no obligation to break dance to the next hit wonder if you don’t feel like it. Plug in those earphones and get those Spotify playlists going. Maybe just for today, or a week, or a year, but we all need a bit of moan-y, echoey acoustic vibes to wallow in sometimes. If anyone tells you any different, don’t worry, Adele has got your back and may even join you for a bit of a sob.

GAEILGE

An Chaighdeán oifigiúil vs canúintí áitiúla- cén ceann an ceann is fearr?

Fionnuala Ní Chuireáin: An mbeidh coimhlint choíche idir chaighdeán oifigiúil na Gaeilge agus canúintí áitiúla na tíre, nó an féidir leis an dá mhodh cainte cómhaireachtáil le chéile?

Dar leis an bhfoilsiú is deireanaí don Chaighdeán Oifigiúil (2017), ‘beart ceannródaíoch’ a bhí in sa chéad foilsiú dá gcuid i 1958 a rinne ‘caighdeán do ghramadach na Gaeilge’ a sholáthair. Is léir gur ghlacadh go huilíoch leis an gcaighdeán seo ó shoin, go háirithe maidir le chúrsaí oideachais; is léir chomh maith, don té sin a bhfuil Gaeilge a labhairt ina gceantair, go mbíonn difríochtaí suntasacha le sonrú go minic idir an caighdeán oifigiúil agus a gcanúintí féin.

B’é mo thuairim-sa i gcónaí gur bhfearr i bhfad an Ghaeilge áitiúil ná an Ghaeilge chaighdeánach mar bíonn sí níos nádúrtha agus níos bríomhara ar ndóigh, agus, thar rud ar bith eile, mar cuireann sí an baile i gcuimhne i dtólamh dom. Sin ráite, ní thig a shéanadh go mbíonn go leor buntáistí ag baint leis an gcaighdeán oifigiúl chomh maith.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, cothaíonn an caighdeán oifigiúil cruinneas sa Ghaeilge scríofa agus labhartha, rud a dhéanann cumarsáid ar bith trí mheáin na Gaeilge a neartú, go hoiread idir dhaoine a bhfuil canúintí difriúla acu. Mar sin

le féiniúlacht cheantair na Gaeltachta. Tá na canúintí áitiúla suimiúil chomh maith i gcomhthéacs stairiúil, mar is minic a thig ceangal a shonrú idir sanasaíocht na bhfocal agus stair na háite (glac mar shampla an frása ‘imigh leat go Poitigéar’ (‘imigh leat i dtigh an diabhail’) a deirtear i gcoirneáil áirithe i dTír Chonáil, agus a dhéanann tagair ar an mbaile beag Poitigéar- tá i bhfad níos mó den stair áitiúil sainráite sa frása seo nach a bhfaighfeá le frása ginearálta caighdéanach).

Go minic bíonn sé níos fusa fosta do chainteoirí Gaeilge a dtuairimí agus a gcuid mothúcháin a chuir in iúl agus iad ag baint úsáid as a gcanúintí dhúchaise féin, mar bíonn an Ghaeilge níos neamhfhoirmiúil agus ní bhíonn an oiread béime

ar an ngramadach chaighdeánach.

Mar sin de, caithfear a theacht leis go bhfuil a dtábhacht féin ag baint leis an dá mhodh cainte atá thuasluaite. Sa saol atá inniu ann, a bhfuil daoine ó cheann ceann na tíre i dteagmháil le chéile go minic (i gcomparáid leis an tseansaol inár raibh níos mó srianta ar dhaoine), tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach caighdeán oifigiúil Gaeilge a bheith againn a dtuigtear go forleathan (go hoiread i gcomhthéacs foirmiúil); mar an gcéanna, ba chóir achán mheas a bheith ar na canúintí áitiúla uilig mar cuireann siad go mór le héagsúlacht agus le beocht na Gaeilge.

“Go minic bíonn sé níos fusa fosta do chainteoirí Gaeilge a dtuairimí agus a gcuid mothúcháin a chuir in iúl agus iad ag baint úsáid as a gcanúintí dhúchaise féin”

“Is iomaí bua ag ná canúintí áitiúla thar an nGaeilge chaighdeánach” de, thig a rá go bhfuil an caighdeán oifigiúil ina acmhainn a dhéanann na deighilt idir dhaoine ón uile cheantar a chur as an mbealach, mar tuigtear í go forleathan. Mar an gcéanna, dar go bhfuil an gcaighdeán oifigiúil ar an ionann ar fud na tíre, bíonn níos mó seans ag an té a fhoghlaimíonn an Ghaeilge ón mbonn a bheith ar an gcomhchéim (ó thaobh líofachta de) leis an té an bhfuil an teanga ó dhúchais acu. Thig an argóint a dhéanamh fosta go mbaineann níos mó inchreidteacht leis an gcaighdeán oifigiúil ná leis na canúintí áitiúla mar is beag an difear corr an uair idir nathanna cainte áitiúla agus an Béarlachas – cuir i gcás an cleachtadh coitianta i nDún na nGall ná an ruball ‘-áilte’ a cheangal ag deireadh aidiacht Béarla (mar shampla, ‘fair-áilte’) nuair a bhítear ag caint go neamhfhoirmiúil, cé nach gcloíonn sé seo leis an gcaighdeán oifigiúl.

Ar an taobh eile den scéal, is iomaí bua ag ná canúintí áitiúla thar an nGaeilge chaighdeánach. Is cinnte go gcuireann nathanna cainte áitiúla go mór

“Las an dúid agus foghlaim an lingo” ; An tábhacht de ceol nua-chumtha as Gaeilge Cé atá níos fearr don teanga; Kneecap nó Lurgan? Pléann Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra an cheist seo.

Tá réabhlóid ar siúl i saol na Gaeilge. Tá níos mó daoine ag labhairt an teanga anois agus a bhí ag labhairt í roimh an Gorta Mór. Is é an Gaeilge ar cheann de na teanga is cáiliúla le foghlaim ar an app Duolingo. Ach is é ceann de na gnéanna is tábhachtaí na an ceol. Le blianta anuas tá comhlachtaí cosúil le Raidió Rí-Rá ag seoladh dluthdioscannaí Ceol, le ceoltóirí cáiliúla ag ceol leagan Gaeilge de bhur amhránaí. Tá físeanna TG Lurgan feicthe ag na milliún duine i rith na blianta.

Is rud fíor mhaith iad na físeanna mar seo, mar gur tugann siad aitheantas don Gaeilge do lucht féachanta níos mó, ach mothaíonn sé

domsa go bhfuil an aitheantas seo curtha san áit mícheart. Ní bheidh daoine ag éisteacht leis na amhránaí seo muna raibh eolas orthu ar an leagan Béarla. Bhí eagla orm nach raibh muid chun amhránaí nua-chumtha cáiliúil as Gaeilge a fáil arís, ach ansin, tháinig Kneecap.

Muna bhfuil eolas ort ar Kneecap, seans maith nach raibh tú ar leathantaí Facebook Gaelach nó sa Chonradh nó ag na Pop Ups le tamaill anuas. Trí leaid as an Tuaisceart atá iontu, Mo Chara, Moglaí Bop agus Gunna Bango, atá ina dhiadh mixtape fíor conspóideach agus rathúil “3CAG” a seoladh. Ar an albam, bíonn siad ag caint faoi drugaí, gnéas, ag troid le preabairí agus ag taispeáint nach bhfuil

mórán dúil acu i RTÉ. Tá sé soiléir san amhránaíocht go faigheann na leaids a gcuid inspioráid as na grúpaí rap de na nóchaidí ar nós

“Amhránaí bríomhar atá le bheidh cloiste ag fuaim an-ard agus le cúrfaí atá le bheidh ceolta os ard” Public Enemy agus NWA. Amhránaí bríomhar atá le bheidh cloiste ag fuaim an-ard agus le cúrfaí atá le bheidh ceolta os ard. Ag na ceolchoirme beo a bíonn ar siúl acu, bíonn siad ag caitheamh málaí (bréagach, nach mór an trua) de drugaí thart ar an áit agus ag caitheamh balaclávannaí ar stáitse. Is soiléir é nach bhfuil na lucht féachantaí chéanna ag na leaids seo agus ag muintir Lurgan nó cheol.

Ach cad é an modh is fearr leis an Gaeilge a chuir chun ceann? Is maith an rud é go bhfuil Kneecap ag cuir amhránaí nua-chumtha chun tosaigh, ach leis an stíl agus na liricí atá acu, tá seans maith nach mbeidh ach lucht éisteachta óg beag acu. Tá a lán daoine óga nach mbeidh compordach ag éisteacht le amhránaí ar nós “Tá Na Baggies Ar An Talamh” agus iad sa charr lena gcuid tuismitheoirí, ach éisteann na míle le Ed Sheeran ag ceol as Gaeilge agus Picture This ag déanamh an rud chéanna. Ní féidir le múinteoirí scoile na liricí chuig “Incognito” a múnadh sa seomra ranga, cé gur amhrán ar dóigh atá ann chun do foclóir a feabhsú, i mo thuairimse. Beidh i gcónaí daoine ann le rá nár cheart do daoine éisteacht le ceol rap, mar gheall ar an íomha a tagann leis an stíl sin i gceann na sean daoine agus na daoine i gceannas ar na staisiún raidió.

An é sin fáth go leor nach cheart do bannaí

cheol ar nós Kneecap a gcuid amhránaí a chuir amach? Ní chreidimse sin ar chor ar bith.

Leoga, ba cheart daofa a lean ar aghaidh agus ba cheart go mbeidh níos mó bannaí cheol ar a nós ar siúl. Tá Kneecap ag athrú an sean íomha atá ar an Ghaeilge i saol na bpobal. Ní rud atá le bheidh fágtha sna seomraí ranga atá ann níos mó. Chomh maith leis an obair atá déanta le Bliain na Gaeilge, agus ag na fir as Pop Up Gaeltacht, is rud gnéasúil, suimiúil í an Ghaeilge anois. Ní raibh Gaeil óige na h-ollscoile amhránaí cosúil le “Tóg Mo Lámh”

“Is é an Gaeilge ar cheann de na teanga is cáiliúla le foghlaim ar Duolingo”

a canadh os ard agus iad thíos ag an Oireachtas i gCill Airne, ach ní bheidh fadhb ar bith leo ag ceol “C.E.A.R.T.A”. Tá súil agam go mbeidh Kneecap mar inspioráid do Gaeil eile chun amhránaí nach bhfuil cosúil leis an sean nós nó leaid amháin le giotár, mar atá muid rócleachtaithe leis anois le blianta. Tá an méid sin seanraí nua spéisiula ann na laethanta seo nach bhfuil duine ar bith ag déanamh amhránaí as Gaeilge iontu. Cé chomh fhada is a beidh muid ag fanacht go dtí gurb é amhrán damhsa as Gaeilge an amhrán den Camino ag ár Taoiseach? An mbeidh muid ag dul chuig aiteannaí beaga pacáilte chun rap cheol a feiceáil ar nós na Section Boyz i Londain?

Cén uair an bhfaighidh muid banna ag ceol go h-iomlán as Gaeilge mar an príomh banna ag ceolchoirm i bPáirc an Chrócaigh? Níl fhios agamsa, ach tá fhios agam go bhfuil muid ar an bhealach cheart má tá cheoltóirí ar nós Kneecap cheart.

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

15

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION Unpacking the Viganò letter The letter by Archbishop Viganò was a bombshell in a Church already in crisis. William Higgins analyses its contents and implications, which require unpacking and understanding as this scandal continues.

As Pope Francis was finishing his trip to Ireland in August, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò released a letter claiming that the Pope knew about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s abuse of seminarians. Viganò further claimed in the letter that Pope Francis brought McCarrick back into public ministry after Pope Benedict XVI had placed sanctions on him in 2009/2010 for his history of abuse.

The letter has been a shocking and controversial document during the Church’s ongoing sexual abuse crisis. Almost a month after its release, the letter’s contents and implications require unpacking as the story continues to dominate discourse in the Church.

The timing of the letter’s release meant that the Pope had to answer allegations as he was leaving Ireland, a trip that many felt required him to make amends for abuse committed by clergy. The letter seemed to confirm perceived failures of the Pope in addressing sexual abuse after a summer in which evidence of the Church’s abuse boiled over. Pope Francis himself had been criticized for his previous handling of sexual abuse claims in Chile and was met by protesters in Dublin.

Earlier in the summer, a grand jury in Pennsylvania found that over 1000 children had been molested by over 300 Catholic priests over several decades. McCarrick was sanctioned in June for his alleged abuse of minors. He is now waiting to face an ecclesiastical trial.

The letter claims that Viganò warned his superiors in the Church multiple times about McCarrick before Pope Benedict XVI ordered him into solitude to do penance. He also writes that he told Pope Francis that McCarrick had “... corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.” This warning, he says, was ignored by the current Pope, who restored the Cardinal.

Viganò further claims that McCarrick was an advisor of the Pope. He details the way in which McCarrick assisted in the appointment of several officials. “The appointments of Blase Cupich to Chicago and Joseph W. Tobin to Newark were orchestrated by McCarrick, [Cardinal Rodriguez] Maradiaga and [Cardinal Donald] Wuerl, united by a wicked pact of abuses by the first, and at least of coverup of abuses by the other two,” writes Viganò.

Wuerl has announced that he will ask the Pope to accept his resignation. The archbishop takes time in his letter to attack those appointees he mentioned. “Regarding Cupich, one cannot fail to note his ostentatious arrogance, and the insolence with which he denies the evidence...”

Viganò ends his letter by calling on the Pope to resign, “Francis is abdicating the mandate that Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren.” Pope

along with all of them.”

Seeming to bolster Viganò’s account is a letter from 2006 that recently came to light.

This letter appears to indicate that Vatican officials were aware of McCarrick’s abuse as early as 2000.

However, there are issues with the accuracy

“Church infighting over ideology would not help to solve the issue of abuse that has continued under successive popes.”

of Viganò’s allegations in the letter that some have used to challenge its claims. It is unclear, for example, if Pope Benedict XVI actually removed McCarrick from public ministry in 2009 or 2010, as the former cardinal performed clerical duties and appeared to act in a public, official capacity several times after those dates.

He also does not say that Pope Francis knew about allegations that McCarrick had abused minors. Pope Francis would eventually remove McCarrick from office in June of this year for that allegation.

Furthermore, the archbishop spends part of his letter attacking homosexuality and forming a connection between the sexual abuse crisis and homosexuality. At one point, he cites statistics that he claims connect homosexuality and the perpetrators of abuse. This connection he makes seems to politicize the letter and points to an ongoing conflict in the Catholic Church.

Viganò has been a conservative opponent of the Pope’s liberalization efforts. They had previously clashed over the meeting Viagnò arranged between the Pope and former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who refused to give marriage certificates to same-sex couples. The Pope recalled Viganò to Rome from the United States at his displeasure over the meeting.

The ideological conflict between the two leaders specifically, and between conservatives and liberal Catholics generally, has been used by some to frame reactions to the letter. Professor Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University, speaking to Vox, says that conservative Catholics like Viganò see the sexual abuse scandal as a moment when the Church can be turned back in a more conservative direction from the relatively Francis, Viganò says, “must be the first to set liberal path it has taken under the Pope. This a good example for cardinals and bishops who professor used this framing in an interview with covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign Slate, to frame Viganò’s letter as a personal and

political attack.

Some conservative Catholics, like Ross Douthat, have claimed that liberal Catholics are attempting to protect the Pope in this moment. In the New York Time, he writes, “now it’s why certain organs and apostles of liberal Catholicism are running interference for McCarrick’s protectors — because Francis is their pope, the liberalizer they yearned for... and all’s fair in Catholic civil war.” It is unclear how widespread this defense of “McCarrick’s protectors” is in the laity.

Even before Viganò’s letter was circulated, the Church was facing distrust. Before the Pope’s arrival, Patsy McGarry wrote in the Irish Times, “It [the Church] betrayed its teaching and the people, abused their children, and facilitated that abuse through covering itself up to protect itself.” One in Four, an organization that supports victims of sexual abuse in Ireland, released a statement about the Pope’s speech at Dublin Castle (they have not released a statement on the Viganò letter). “One in Four views the Pope’s speech at Dublin Castle today as a missed opportunity... While Pope Franciis made reference to the sexual abuse, he failed to

announce any tangible changes in Vatican law or policy that would tackle the sex offenders and protectors in a meaningful way.”

The Pope has not directly addressed the allegations yet. Shortly after the letter was released, the Pope said that he would not respond and told the press to analyze the letter themselves. On 10th September, the Council of Cardinal advisors announced their “full solidarity” with the Pope, and that the Vatican was preparing a response. On 13th September, the Pope met with bishops from the United States. He also called for a meeting of bishops in Rome next February to address the sexual abuse crisis.

It is unclear what an effective statement would be besides a clear confirmation or unequivocal denial. Elizabeth Bruenig, a left-wing Catholic writing for the Washington Post, writes, “Prelates, please listen... There are those among you who know the truth. Tell it now.” Church infighting over ideology would not help to solve the issue of abuse that has continued under successive popes.

While another papal resignation may cause chaos, discovering who knew what appears to be the only way forward in the present crisis.

Ethical framework of the month William Higgins discusses how utilitarianism is a simple, rational philosophy for you to reorder your life around.

Welcome to your Ethical Framework of the Month, where in every issue we give you a new moral apparatus to order your life around.

This month it’s utilitarianism, the 19th-century philosophy that is still popular today for its simplicity and mathematical assuredness.

Utilitarianism is a subset of consequentialism.

This school of thought maintains that the results of an action are what determine its moral rightness. Utilitarianism, first developed

by Jeremy Bentham and former child-genius John Stuart Mill, refines consequentialism by arguing that good results are those that increase happiness and decrease suffering.

This idea is called the Principle of Utility. This simple philosophy is usually summed up by the line “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”, highlighting ideology’s desired end.

The simplicity of this ethical framework is a major part of its appeal. It is easy to grasp and

it was self-evident that increased happiness is a desirable end because people clearly value greater happiness. Brilliant insight, former prodigy.

Bentham, who had himself mummified and sits on display in University College London today, nearly breaks his theory down into simple arithmetic. This mathematical approach to ethics is one of the clearest elements of utilitarianism’s theoretical and practical applications. Take the ever-present Trolley Problem. A trolley is hurtling down a track that has five people tied to it. You have the ability to pull a lever and divert it onto a track with one person on it, killing that one person and saving the other five. There is no conflict for a utilitarian. While some people might be somewhat conflicted over actively killing one person, a utilitarian would only see a mathematical equation that ends in an increase of happiness by a net four lives saved.

Modern practitioners of utilitarianism This mathematical also employ this mathematical approach in approach to ethics is one their praxis. For example, Effective Altruism is a movement that attempts to educate and of the clearest elements assist its practitioners in increasing net global happiness by quantifying how to effectively of utilitarianism’s give to charity. On a micro-level this can mean giving steadily to one cause where you know theoretical and practical your donation will have a large effect rather than giving sporadically on an emotional basis. applications.

On a macro-level, it can mean becoming an even has a mathematical simplicity and logic unscrupulous Wall Street trader rather than to it. Both Bentham and Mill observed that taking ethical, low-paying work so that you the Principle of Utility was intuitive. Bentham can have more money to give away. To learn writes that even “stupid or perverse” people use more about this movement, you can check out it. Mill, meanwhile, pedantically explains that Effective Altruism Ireland or use GiveWell, an

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organization that analyzes charities and their effectiveness.

Some criticisms of utilitarianism attack this cold, quantitative quality that leaves out other, more emotional concerns. Numerous mutations of the Trolley Problem have shown us that there are some goods that numbers cannot describe

“In this view, utilitarianism can demand that anyone who is not maximizing global net happiness is increasing global net suffering.”

(What if the one person on Track A is a heart surgeon? What if the five people on Track B are murderers? What if the person on Track A is a heart surgeon who is going to perform life-saving surgery on all those murderers?

There are countless combinations). As Derek Thompson writes in the Atlantic, “imagine the impossibility of designing a randomized, controlled trial to determine the value of a free press in the United States.”

Connected to this is the criticism that atrocities could be justified with utilitarianism’s language as long as there is an arguable net increase in happiness. Discourse around the bombing of Hiroshima can reveal this critique in a sobering way. People who view it in a positive light usually argue from the utilitarian logic that the bombing prevented an invasion of

Japan and potentially millions of lives. Using this argument, it is easy to see this criticism of utilitarianism. The goal of potentially saving lives could be used to justify almost any action.

Any action could be made to look like it is potentially preventing net pain and increasing net happiness.

A third common criticism of utilitarianism is that it is too strict. Contemporary Australian philosopher Peter Singer’s version of utilitarianism is particularly prone to this as he is particularly demanding. He questions how people with resources fail to save people around the globe without them. In one of his more famous thought experiments, he asks the reader if they would save a child in front of them from drowning. Having presumably answered yes, Singer then points out that his readers in the more affluent, developed countries allow people without resources to suffer and die by not redistributing their wealth to these people. For Singer, there is little to no difference between the two failures. In this view, utilitarianism can demand that anyone who is not maximizing global net happiness is increasing global net suffering.

While this extreme interpretation can be severe, utilitarianism’s simplicity can still be made flexible in ways that other philosophies are not. It does not carry a massive moral apparatus with it and its value system can be contained in a line. Next time, however, our Ethical Framework of the Month will have with a massive moral apparatus to bring into your life, Kantian ethics.

PUZZLES The Literary Alpaca

Issue 1 1

2

3 4

5

6

7 8

9

10

11

12

Across

Down

3. South East Asian country with a capital four letters long

1. Belgian Trappist beer

4. Signatory of Charles I death warrant whose statue stands outside the British Houses of Parliament in Westminster and

2. Longest word in English without any letter repetition 5. City which claims to have the oldest Sailing Club in the world, founded in 1720

6. UCD Alumnus and author of amongst other things, children's books where a parent is haunted by Jacobs Cream Crackers

7. Blunder

8. Animal disastrously affected by deforestation taking place in order to produce palm oil

11. SoirĂŠe taking part in the residence of an individual, often while parents are away, referred to on Glasgow as "an empty"

9. Informal term for a boss or a person in charge of another

12. Primary beverage consumed at the infamous party attended by a white rabbit, a March Hare, and a dormouse, amongst others

10. In theoretical physics, an intense concentration of energy, resulting in a black-hole

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

17

EDITORIAL Editorial With Amnesty International Ireland and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties both requesting reports be carried out on the events surrounding the occupation of 34 North Frederick Street, it seems that the current feeling of dissatisfaction with the housing crisis has reached a boiling point.

The events of last week have shown that when the elected officials, who claim to hold power and responsibility hand-in-hand, fail to address an issue that has been in the forefront of practically every media outlet, the people who elected them will take matters into their own hands.

The protest of 34 North Frederick Street and 41 Belvedere Place, not only brought to light the way Ireland’s legal system treats squatter’s rights, but also the way that it enforces the rights of the landlord over the civil rights of assembly.

An Garda Siochana, which literally translates as ‘peacekeeper’, donned black balaclavas and carried power tools. Further drawing parallels to

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER TEAM Orwellian dystopia, the gardai threatened protesters with batons and pepper spray. Whether you think the protests or the gardaí are responsible for the hospitalisation of the two students, is up to you, but the fact of the matter remains that two students ended up in hospital with injuries, with many students’ unions and USI making statements condemning the use of force by the gardai on students partaking in a peaceful protest.

Despite these unfortunate state of affairs, one can remain optimistic if lightning does indeed strike twice when students are involved with national campaigns. Riding the high from the success of the “Repeal the 8th” campaign, which saw thousands of students from across Ireland and abroad gather together to achieve a common cause, it seems that finally the housing crisis might be next in line. Yes, there have been many attempts to end the housing crisis before, with many sabbatical officers from Trinity, DCU, UCD and Maynooth, in

contact with the housing ministers throughout the years - but none have been on the same scale of the “Strike4Repeal” or the “HomeToVote” campaigns seen in the lead up to the referendum in June.

We must be cautious of empty promises and practise scepticism with discussions on the housing crisis. The new Housing Development Authority announced by the Government has been said to favour developers, and its target of 7,500 houses a year, on average, is pitifully low. A National Forum on Student Accommodation and the creation of links with financing bodies, such as the European Investment Bank and the Housing Finance Agency, has been mooted by the Student Accommodation Working Group. Much may come of this. However, the Forum would tell us what we already know - the time for government-led intervention has passed, and action is urgently needed.

DEPUTY EDITOR Dylan O’Neill ART & DESIGN EDITOR Fiachra Johnston NEWS EDITOR Gavin Tracey INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR Úna Sinnott SU AFFAIRS EDITOR Katia Gillen SOCIETIES EDITOR Chloe Maguire Sedgwick HIGHER EDUCATION EDITOR Brian Treacy COMMENT EDITOR Nathan Young

Talleyrand Lay down and kiss the earth I tread, peasant.

Another year, another leading lady in the Union lost to a ‘greater cause’. Far be it for Talley to draw parallels, but the Union, an otherwise ignoble gateway drug to self-reverential masturbation, seems as directionless as last year. Having opted to abandon the Union at the birth of a new academic term, Fiona Hammond has left them exactly how they deserve to be - alone. From one vital organ to another: smooth move, Hammond.

For now, the blind children leading the blindly faithful will draw less of my ire than usual - for I am in mourning. Talley is lamenting the loss of his favourite watering hole, the UCD Common Room.

Some of Talley’s fondest memories were conceived behind its doors: one rambunctious evening there was spent as Farrah Fawcett and I did cocaine off President Thomas Murphy’s back (paid for, of course, on the account of the honourable Literary & Historical Society). Yes, in Talley’s eternal youth I dabbled, on occasion, with more than one of Charlie’s Angels.

Deeks, however, the vile, base trickster, has committed a mortal felony, allowing Brady-era

EDITOR Brían Donnelly

corporatocracy to flourish at the expense of a lively spirit of comradery. The man has always appeared to me polished, cold, tricky, ambitious and bad.

Though espousing the virtues of cooperation, the man of UCD seldom shows anxiety in trampling the spirit of our community. This Regent cares little for those over whom he dares to assert rule.

Those behind this most disturbing plot are but silk stockings of filth and should be flung from the towers most high unto and forever remaining upon the bent poles which bare the flag of the Fifth Republic - an unequivocal message of embarrassment.

July’s missive that this campus will once more play host to a barrage of construction crews is more a stake to the heart than a jolt to the system. A Centre less ‘creatively designed’ might have won more praise among its scholarly body - a statue of yours truly might equally have been well received.

As is said, youth is the time when we are most honest, and so the resident scholars of this fair campus would be wise not to expect much of their aged overlords.

Alas, one can always find solace in the misery, of what is the new plague scourging this campus

known as “Freshers”. These entitled, cappuccinosipping hipsters make Talley want to break out in contagious boils. How and ever, when they come to realise that they’ve wasted a heavy lump sum just to ingratiate themselves on groups of former plague rats, only to fall flat on their face and be left without a committee title next May, Talley will have the last laugh. Tally always has the last laugh.

Talley-out!

LAW AND POLITICS EDITOR Owen Cuskelly AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS EDITOR Matthew Kehoe PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION EDITOR William Higgins SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Emmet Feerick EARARTHOIR GAEILGE Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra SPORTS EDITOR Rory Clarke DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR Colmán Stanley CHIEF OF PHOTOGRAPHY Alex Fagan CHIEF OF ILLUSTRATIONS Freya Williams CHIEF OF VIDEOGRAPHY Orla Keaveney

Letters to the Editor

COLUMNISTS Molly Greenough Matthew Tannam-Elgie Michelle Duggan STAFF WRITERS Sofia Dragacevac Jack McNicholl Daire Brady

.............................................................

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

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

Celebrate 25+ years of student journalism with us Visit universityobserver.ie to learn more

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VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 1

CONTRIBUTORS Jade Stanley Clare Appezzato Conor McCloskey Andrea Andres Adam Lawler Stuart Scully Melanie Kelly Delphine Joyce Sean Mooney Jack Lynch Andrew Grossen Fionnuala Ní Chuireain Andrew Dempsey COVER PHOTO Brían Donnelly SPECIAL THANKS Niamh “Doc” O’Regan Our supporters and advertisers

SPORT A case for selling the Aviva Stadium?

Andrew Dempsey looks at the ramifications of the income received, if the Aviva Stadium should be sold.

Having seen Wembley being the subject of a huge bid from Shahid Khan, reportedly in the region of £650 Million, the FA were faced with the question of whether the injection of millions into grassroots football, would be worth selling out their national stadium.

As the big wigs at the famous old venue in London continue to deliberate on whether or not they should accept the offer, imagine if the highlycriticised Football Association of Ireland (FAI) had that type of a decision to make. While this scenario is probably never going to unfold in Ireland due to the current state of ownership at the Aviva Stadium between the Irish Rugby Football Association (IRFU) and the FAI, it is an interesting proposition regardless.

The Aviva Stadium, historically Lansdowne Road, was completed in 2010 after a three-year reconstruction of the famous old ground. While it was badly needed, the stadium has undoubtedly lost that infamous ‘Lansdowne Roar’ which gave it such renown and made it so intimidating for many

a team that travelled to Dublin for domestic, and/or international fixtures.

The Euro 2016 home qualifying games, against

‘The stadium has undoubtedly lost that infamous ‘Lansdowne Roar’ which gave it such renown and made it so intimidating’ Germany and Scotland in particular, were a trip down memory lane, but apart from that, there have not been too many moments of magic at the Dublin 4 venue. Perhaps that may be due to the current fortunes of the Republic of Ireland’s national side.

But there were even darker days in the old ground, and Dalymount Park for that matter, and it retained

its thunder and passion.

The current situation regarding the running of the FA in England is poles apart from the way the FAI is run. In truth, to say the FAI is run poorly would be a compliment to those in power. While there has been an improvement in terms of the overall administration structure of the organisation, there are still some gaping flaws attached to the much-maligned entity.

If we were to compare figures, in terms of scale, compared to the Wembley offer, the FAI would receive approximately €65 million should they decide to sell the second home of Irish football, with the real home being Dalymount Park in Phibsborough on Dublin’s Northside.

Even in today’s day and age, €65 million is a serious sum of money to invest in the domestic game. Any sort of investment in grassroots football in Ireland would be a gamechanger. Many clubs throughout the country have to beg, borrow and steal in order just to make ends meet. The standard of playing surfaces at all levels of football leave a lot to be desired, barring one or two exceptions, and that is having a detrimental effect on the standard of underage players.

As novices of the game, youngsters deserve the chance to play on a decent pitch. Too many times local parks have been used that are clearly not able to house any standard of football. From broken glass to pools of mud, how can we nurture fine footballing talent by telling them to play any old way they can on these surfaces? The answer is, we can’t.

In addition to this, there needs to be a systematic change in the way football is looked at in Ireland.

For far too long we have encouraged a very direct style of play. Irish children, teenagers and even professional footballers have been indoctrinated into this way of thinking by a leadership that was fit for purpose 20/30 years ago, but not now.

To get out of that mindset, there needs to be a radical change in the scope of the FAI’s investment. €65 million could be the difference between getting up to the standard of play or not. Grassroots football is the most raw and beautiful thing about football in Ireland. Everyone starts there, from

seasoned internationals to your average Sunday league footballer.

However, this is where we start to encounter issues. Can we inspire the next generation of Irish football without a national stadium? Children are brought up dreaming of the bright lights and aweinspiring experiences of massive stadia. If we have nothing to show them, what motivation will they ever have? In truth, they will probably just look at the incredible colosseum of Croke Park and dream of being a GAA star. This is also excluding the dinosaur views of the GAA who, standing firm on their policies, probably won’t let the FAI use their grounds, as seen with the Liam Miller testimonial fiasco over the summer months.

As well as this, the FAI aren’t doing anything near enough to show that they are committed to improving the player pathway here in Ireland.

There is a complete over-reliance on English born players (e.g. Jack Grealish and Declan Rice) and that is holding us back significantly. There is also a poorly supported domestic league which was dubbed ‘The Problem Child’ by the FAI’s own CEO John Delaney, which clearly doesn’t help.

‘Many clubs throughout the country have to, beg, borrow and steal in order just to make ends meet’ While €65 million would be massive, there is no suggestion of anything from the FAI which would ensure that they would invest much of it back into the game here unlike England. Chances are, that based on past events, it will go straight back into Board of Directors’ coffers. That is a shame, as the domestic game needs it more than ever. A strong national league combined with quality grassroot facilities result in a strong international team, as seen in Germany, Spain and the likes. Maybe, just maybe, with savvy investment we might not get a tanking away to Wales once more.

Club Focus: Snowsports In the first instalment of Club Focus, Rory Clarke & the University Observer take to the slopes, as we look at the Snowsports Club.

The Snowsports Club is one of the most popular clubs on campus, and this is largely down to how well it is run and the amount of events they put on.

They are also known for their welcoming attitude and indomitable spirit (regardless of how many times they get ploughed in the snow!). I chatted to Club Captain for the 2018/2019 session Conal O’Neill to understand how the club has gone from strength to strength.

Founded in 2006 by a group of friends who loved skiing and snowboarding, the club gives a medium for like minded individuals to go on organised trips away and to hone their skills on skis and board, all while enjoying many different social events throughout the year.

On a week-to-week basis the club is a slick operation. There are sign-ups on Monday morning for both the ski/snowboard lessons/race training on Thursday nights and for the freestyle training run on Friday nights. These training/freestyle sessions take place in the state-of-the-art facilities of the

“Snowsports is one of those sports that can be difficult and expensive to do outside our club” Ski Club of Ireland in Kilternan.

An emphasis is also placed on the social aspect of the club. They run a social event every Thursday night after skiing for all those who attend the lessons - to compare flips, falls and all manner of snow-induced highs .

Although O’Neill himself is a veteran of the slopes, having started skiing at 5 and racing with the Ski Club of Ireland at 15, he assures me that these lessons are aimed at “people of all abilities”.

He is clearly passionate about sharing his love of the snow with all. He says that “snowsports is something that I think everyone should experience at least once in their lives”. To this end, the club

Organises a broad spectrum of training and events; from absolute beginners to advanced race training, and everything in between.

The Snowsports club attempts to overcome Ireland’s lack of consistent snow to offer UCD students the opportunity to try out snowsports without significant financial outlay. O’Neill acknowledges this as one of the main reasons that people join up, “snowsports is one of those sports that can be difficult and expensive to do outside our club. Snow is a rarity, so snowsports are quite exotic to many. Our goal is to provide a way that people can try out snowsports without having to go to the snow”.

In this manner people can avoid risking large sums on a skiing trip that they may or may not enjoy - although O’Neill is confident it would be the former, “the feeling you get skiing down a mountain is a very hard one to put into words, but its one that each and everyone of us in the club have fallen in love with”.

One of the most popular aspects of the club is its yearly ski trip the Alps, which have become stuff of campus legend. O’Neill speaks fondly about his experiences of these trips since joining the club.

“Personally, my highlight within the club has to be the ski trip. After my first trip to Val D’Isere in 2017, I did not think it could get any better, but the committee worked hard for the trip to Les Deux Alpes in January this year and it blew the previous one away!”.

Plans for this years trip are well underway and I am assured that it’s looking even better than before. Spots for this celebrated trip are always at a premium so those interested are advised to keep a close eye on the club’s social media, lest they miss out on the experience of a lifetime!

This industrious club does not stop there however. Several smaller trips are also organised throughout the year, to the UK or within Ireland itself. In addition to this they have a number of traditional events pencilled into their annual calendar - including the Annual Snowsports Ball, Freshers Night and their Aprés Ski Trip Night.

While the priority within the club seems to be fun they also compete - and quite successfully too - in a number of competitions during the year. This

“One of the most popular aspects of the club is its yearly ski trip the Alps, which have become stuff of campus legend” includes the Irish Intervarsities, where their record is nothing less than outstanding. Last year they fended off DIT and TCD to claim their 12th title in the 13 years since their foundation. O’Neill is determined that this record will not lapse on his watch “we plan on continuing our success this year

too!”. They also compete in Colours, the British University Dry Slope Championships and the Leinster Snow League.

If you are interested in joining the Snowsports Club it is easier than ever. Go down to the Sports Expo during Freshers Week (17th-20th September) in the Sports Halls and be sure to chat to O’Neil and the rest of this year’s committee. If, for whatever reason, you can’t make it down during Freshers Week you can sign-up during the weekly Monday signups. You can also get in contact with the club on Facebook (UCD Snowsports Club), Instagram (ucdsnowsports), Snapchat (ucd_snowsports) or by email (snowsports@ucd.ie) with any questions you might have. Get your snow on!

18TH SEPTEMBER 2018

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SPORT

The ancient Irish Óenach, and the Tailteann Games Colmán Stanley recounts the history of the long forgotten Tailteann Games.

Nally claims that the Games began as a tribute to the dead Queen of Táilte, in the time of the Firbolgs and Dé Danann. It was, he wrote, a festival that preceded the Battle of Troy by 700 years, and directly influenced the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece. Even the legendary Fionn McCool was known to have frequented the Games on numerous occasions, to recruit men for his famous legion, the Fianna Éireann.

Of course these ‘facts’ of Nally’s, taken from the Book of Invasions (now widely dismissed by historians as mere legend), are not true. Ironically, he even admits that many of Fionn’s other exploits are clearly false and exaggerated, while remaining adamant that the heroes’ attendances at the fair did occur.

Looking back now, it does seem baffling as to how a serious writer could publish these stories as truth, but his narrative can be seen as a product of its time. He was writing from the point of view of a nation, the Free State, in its infancy. It was a nation intent on forging its own national identity.

It was a country that wanted to show that ‘despite centuries of invasion and oppression (political, economic, and cultural) the Irish had survived and so had their culture’. While the intentions of Nally to preserve this culture are good, the origin of the Games is much different to his fictitious account.

Although it is unclear during what period the Óenach Tailten first began, the festival had been

in progress since at least the 6th century onwards.

Convened by the King of Tara, and held in the Teltown area of County Meath, it is assumed by historians that the festival originated as funerary games, similar to the Ancient Greek Olympics, which are thought to have begun in 776 BC. Sporting wise, chariot racing was the main feature of these games, and in other óenachai around the country. There is documented evidence of Óenach Colmáin, held in the Liffey plain in modern Co. Kildare, and it details some of the aspects of the racing which would have been common at all óenachai. Jockeys known as monaig, and charioteers, known as araid, held a particularly low status within society, and were owned by the people ‘who kept them’. Óenach Colmáin was held in the area where the Curragh racetrack resides, and can been seen as a spiritual ancestor to the modern races held there. Looking at the vast flat plains of the Curragh, one can nearly picture the scenes of racing there in ancient times, and feel a connection between Éire in its past and in its present. Musical performances, literary recitals, and matchmaking are among the other festivities associated with the ancient Irish óenach.

It is thought that the Norman invasion brought an end to the óenach, until J.J. Walsh revived the idea, in the early days of the Free State. Walsh, who was Minister for Post and Telegraphs, hoped that a revival of the Games would help with nation

building and to bring cultural independence to the newly formed Free State. Initially planned for August 1922, these plans were shelved until 1924, due to the outbreak of civil war.

Given £10,000 from the government, Walsh and the games’ committee, set about organising an event to show the world that Ireland was capable of hosting a large international event, and that order had been restored to the country. The subsequent success of

Looking at the vast flat plains of the Curragh, one can... feel a connection between Éire in its past and in its present. the Games was a monumental achievement, and they have a captivating uniqueness within modern Irish history, which has probably not received the historical remembrance it deserves.

The 1924 Games were attended by 250,000 spectators, and included 5,000 competitors, greater numbers than the Paris Olympics of the same summer. The event was seen worldwide through the coverage of renowned outlets such as Pathé, the Times, and the New York Times. Although the Games were billed as an occasion for athletes with Irish heritage, this rule was bent to allow bigger names to compete, and to attract larger crowds.

Some of the biggest stars in athletics competed, including Olympic high jump and decathlon gold medallist Harold Osborn, and triple Olympic gold medallist, and the world record holder in the 100 metres freestyle, Johnny Weissmuller. Weissmuller would achieve most of his fame later in his life when he starred as the lead role in the Tarzan films of the 1930’s and 40’s. In total, 23 medalists from the Paris Olympics competed at the 1924 Tailteann Games.

Croke Park was the centrepiece of the festival, and was refurbished in time for the opening ceremony. The athletics aspect was modelled on the Olympic Games, with Gaelic games and a diverse range of sports also featuring. These included swimming, which was held in the lake in the Phoenix Park, golf, tennis, and most fascinatingly, motorcycling, motorboating, and aeroplane racing.

The GAA’s rule banning cricket, regular football, and rugby, also applied at the Games.

Other cultural festivities such as literary

throughout Dublin City, and with this public recognition, and the triumph of the overall organisation of what was the largest sporting event staged in the world that year, a decision was made to host the Tailteann Games every four years.

Despite a lack of funding and opposition from members of the government, Walsh successfully raised funds privately, and a second successful event was hosted in the summer of 1928. Again, with the Olympics being staged in Europe in the same year (Amsterdam), a host of athletes competed in both games. The star of Tailteann was Ireland’s own Olympic hero, and hammer throw gold medallist, Dr. Pat O’Callaghan. The number of female participants across a wide range of sports was another positive aspect of these Games, and again an area in which it trumped the Olympics.

The Tailteann Games were again staged in 1932, but with a stark decrease in its success and stature. With the Olympics being held in Los Angeles, there were no major athletes attracted to compete, and the festival of that year was Irish only and more parochial in its nature. Despite Walsh’s passion for continuing the Games, the 1932 edition proved to be the last. De Valera and the Fianna Fáil administration had no ambitions to preserve the festival, and were content with allowing its memory and support to slowly decompose. De Valera saw the Games as part of a culture which was constructed by the Cumann na nGaedheal administration, whose legacy he was intent on tearing down. The festivals image-building qualities were not needed either, after De Valera had achieved what he wanted in that regard, with the enormous success of the Eucharistic Congress of 1932.

The memory of the festival perhaps lives on most notably by sharing its name with the Rás Tailteann, and Meath’s current GAA stadium Páirc Tailteann, but it is disappointing that a festival with such a rich history is not remembered more widely in today’s culture.

The legend surrounding the ancient Óenach is fascinating, but the scale of the success of the modern Games is also noteworthy. The achievement, by a fledgling nation, of hosting a successful international event, so soon after two debilitating wars, is an accomplishment which should be celebrated and cherished.

recitals, musical performances, and staged performances, also featured prominently at the Games, with W.B. Yeats tasked with attracting some of the most prominent artists of the time.

The festival lasted 16 days, during

Sports shorts Rory Clarke #LiarLiarPantsOnFire Andy Murray took to Instagram - in spectacular style- to defend himself in the aftermath of his spat with Fernando Verdasco during his defeat to the Spaniard at the US Open. The returning Scot lost in 4 sets, with his accusations of coaching falling on deaf ears. Verdasco spent a heat break in play in the company of his full coaching team in the changing room but maintained that they didn’t share a single word. Murray remained unconvinced.

Zach Johnson’s Ryder Cup Reveal Warwick Rowers win battle with Social networks really are a gem for sports news.

Instagram

This time it was Zach Johnson who, in posting a seemingly innocent photo of his personally inscribed Ryder Cup gear, all but confirmed what many golf aficionados had predicted for weeks that Tiger Woods would be given a wildcard slot and Johnson (who it is safe to say has not had his best season) would be replacing him as one of Team USA’s vice-captains for the golfing showpiece in Paris. While the announcing of wildcard picks Has Kanté been cheating all is generally the province of the captain (and in truth one of the few powers they possess) Johnson along? undercut Jim Furyk by nearly 2 weeks. Good work, Since his unheralded arrival into English football Zach. in 2015, the diminutive form of N’Golo Kanté has been defying the odds. However recent reports emerging from the French camp may have unearthed the reason for his prophetic rise. Several of his colleagues have suggested that an alleged habit for cheating at card games may not be where his deceptions end. The idea seems to be catching on. Kanté was serenaded by a special song from the Stade de France faithful “N’Golo Kanté, he’s short, he’s nice, he stopped Leo Messi, but we all know he’s a cheater”. The mystery of Kanté has finally been demystified.

Federer takes aim at Piqué Roger Federer, tennis star and venerable statesman, recently broke ranks to slam the Spanish star, Gerard Piqué, for his ever-increasing meddling in matters outside of his concern. Piqué, influential in securing investment for the International Tennis Federation, stated recently that he was working to move the Davis Cup to September, where it would clash with the Swiss great’s brainchild, The Laver Cup. Piqué must, according to Federer, “remain very careful. For us tennis players, it’s a little strange that a footballer comes to interfere in our world. The Davis Cup should not become the Pique Cup.”

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VOLUME XXV, ISSUE 1

The Warwick Rowers annual naked calendar, which began in 2009 as a small fundraising project, has become one of the world’s most celebrated charity calendars. Their yearly selection of images of scantily clad rowers has made them an Internet sensation and, moreover, a powerful social influencer and activist. That celebrity did not stop Instagram repeatedly removing their posts and then suspending their account due to their ‘nude’ photos. Accusing the social network of a sexist double standard - by allowing prevalent female ‘nudity’ of a similar type across their platform the rowing club campaigned hard, and eventually, successfully, over the summer for the restoration of their ‘natural’ and ‘non-sexual’ content. Instagram had to swallow their pride on this one. They better hope that no one shows the Calendar Girls how to start an account.

Futsal ≠ Football Denmark, as Irish fans know all too well, are a solid footballing nation, blessed with several stars. None of these stars however, were playing as Denmark lost 3-0 to Slovakia during the international break.

In fact, not one of the World Cup squad were playing. The reason is simple. The Danish FA are in the process of trying to prevent their footballing heroes signing sponsorship deals with any companies in competition with the national team sponsors. However, as Christian Eriksen and co are likely to get more from Nike than Hummel, they’re resisting. This led to a near full team of debutants against Slovakia, which included futsal players and veteran players from the 4th tier of Danish football.

They did not have beginners luck.