VOL. XXV, Issue 6, UO

News

Comment

Gaeilge

Sports

Underfunded Irish universities are “systems in danger”

H2H: Religious and political societies Nathan Young & Michael Regan

Piain i mo ghuta – ca bhfuil an fada?

Club Focus: Sepak Takraw on the rise

Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra P15

Rory Clarke P19

Dylan O’Neill P3

VOL. XXV, ISSUE 6

P7

THE UNIVERSITY

OBSERVER 19th February 2019

‘I think that somebody has pissed him off’ - Union bogged down by endemic communication issues Wheelchair user had to be carried around and stay in a hotel on their own due to botched organisation of Union’s bonding trip.

Pictured: The “It Stops Now” mural in UCD that was supposed to be feature in a video for SHAG Week which UCDSU failed to organise despite the decision to postpone it being taken at an Executive meeting in November

Brían Donnelly EDITOR Persistent examples of poor communication within UCD Students’ Union have been causing discontent, with members of the Union’s Executive noting that the recent “lack of communication makes the union look very bad”, minutes from the most recent meeting of the Union Executive show.

Discussions held at the sixth meeting of the Union’s Executive concerned the need to focus on improving the reputational damage of the Union and addressed a cancelled debate which would have seen candidates for the Irish presidency address students in UCD in anticipation of the 2018 presidential election. The event had initially been promised at Union Council in early October.

The Union Executive is responsible for making decisions on the day-to-day operation of the Union and is made up of the Sabbatical Officers, the College Officers and the Irish Language Officer. The group heard that a meeting, to be chaired by a “neutral third party”, would be held to resolve persistent communication issues arising between members of the Executive and Campaign Coordinators. A “UCDSU Communication Meeting” held on the 14th November 2018, in which college officers and campaign coordinators discussed issues they saw with the lack of communication. When asked about the agenda of this meeting, Murphy told The University Observer that some of the proposed solutions raised to address event promotion were for college officers to “promote themselves and reps events” which he said would be boosted on the SU’s social media accounts, while campaign coordinators will be promoted through Monaghan.

According to Murphy, some of the proposed solutions to address the social media posts over the weekend, were for members of the Executive and Campaign Co-ordinators “to give anything for inclusion in All Student Email [sic],” giving Class Representatives a deadline of the Executive meeting prior to when the event is scheduled. However, the minutes from both the Union Council and Executive suggest that these solutions were not followed up on, with

the sixth Executive meeting taking place at the beginning of semester two noting that some members still have an issue with the Union’s communication.

Members of the Executive also heard that a number of Campaign Co-ordinators were not invited to receive training and feel “sidelined”, generally and at the Union’s Council meetings. Minutes from the meeting indicate dissatisfaction among Executive members over the situation, with a number of Campaign Co-ordinators believing they should receive training similar to that received by Sabbatical Officers.

Additionally, an unstated number of Class Representatives from last year’s by-elections “were not informed” of Union Council, suggesting that they were subsequently absent from Council meetings, and that College Officers “do not know their class reps.” There was an acknowledgement that Class Representatives “won’t want to engage with a union where there is no communication.”

8 Campaign Co-ordinators sit on the Union’s Council and are tasked with fronting campaigns to push the organisation’s agenda on issues such as gender equality, the environment and mental health. An additional Campaign Co-ordinator for Diversity & Inclusion will be elected at the final Council meeting of this year should Union members vote to adopt a proposed constitution at a referendum on 1st and 2nd April.

The Executive was told that a number of the Union’s College Officers were not informed of training sessions held for Class Representatives, which was described as “not okay” in the meeting’s minutes. Members of the Executive heard that College Officers were subsequently “unable to answer questions” coming from their Class Representatives. Law College Officer Edward Leonard stated that he could not meet with a Class Representative for Law as he had not received the results of a contested by-election and did not know who the Representative was.

Members also expressed frustration over the formerAgriculture, Food Sciences and Veterinary Officer Amy Mulchrone, as relevant Class Representatives had received “no contact from their College Officer.” Under Union rules, Mulchrone de facto vacated her seat on the Union’s Executive Forum due to persistent absences from Executive and Council meetings. At a Council meeting

in January, Murphy stated that Mulchrone’s absence was “disappointing” and unfair on those who had contested Mulchrone for the position last year. A member of the Union Executive, Mulchrone had never attended a meeting of the Executive or Council.

Organisers of Class Representative bonding sessions failed to address accessibility issues in advance, with Executive members lamenting that affected students were not informed early enough that neither the transport nor the accommodation were wheelchair accessible. Union sources have told The University Observer that sabbatical officers Barry Murphy, Niall Torris and Thomas Monaghan were responsible for organising the trip at which a student who required a wheelchair had to be carried around and be booked into a hotel to stay there on their own, despite allegedly requesting to be booked into accommodation with other trips-goers. Apologies were issued by the relevant Executive members.

Minutes show that the Union may also be experiencing difficulties communicating with University officials, with Leonard stating that he has not received replies from Paul Masterson, Marketing & Events Manager for the UCD Sutherland School of Law. In response, Murphy suggested that “someone has pissed him [Masterson] off” as “he has stopped replying to our emails.”

Concerns were also raised that Union events were inadequately marketed to students, with an Executive member noting that “certain societies are appearing more on the SU social media then [sic] some of our own events.”

“Advertising for events needs to be improved”, one member stated; “for example for bingo loco the event was only advertised 2 days in advance”. The Executive also heard calls for more sponsored social media posts for the Union’s events, in particular for Lá Na Gaeilge. The Union’s Campaigns & Communications Officer Thomas Monaghan is responsible for social media communications and for the Union’s website, which has not been updated to include details such as the names and contacts of this year’s College Officers. Executive members heard calls to update it as soon as possible and were told that “the lack of improvement on [the website] is unacceptable.”

UNIVERSITYOBSERVER.IE

Exec minutes reveal uproar over cancelled SU events Dylan O’Neill DEPUTY EDITOR UCDSU Welfare Officer Melissa Plunkett expressed her outrage over the postponing of the “It Stops Now” roadshow campaign against sexual harassment and assault, recently released minutes from the 6th UCDSU Executive show. Plunkett described as “insane” the move to push the campaign to semester 2 as it had “just launched” in October, stating that, as the contact for the campaign, it was “frustrating to not know what’s going on”.

UCDSU President Barry Murphy told the Executive that UCDSU did not “have the capacity to run it before exams” and that “it needs to be run properly.” The minutes note that Murphy was “tasked with [organising] the roadshow” alongside Head of Student Advisory Services Aishling O’Grady. Murphy told the Executive that the roadshow “will go from building to building...over three consecutive days.”

The “It Stops Now” roadshow by UCDSU was originally to be organised in the 2nd and 3rd week of January according to Murphy, but no such roadshow video was produced during the SU’s Sexual Health and Guidance (SHAG) Week, which ran from 13th-14th of February.

Plunkett expressed frustration as she had requested to be involved with the roadshows’ organisation.

USI affiliated universities launched a video on their social media platforms, featuring “consent murals” from different third level institutions. UCD’s mural was removed in semester 1 by Estate Services after the October launch of the “It Stops Now” campaign.

Minutes also reveal exasperation over the cancellation of an event between the Union, the Access and Lifelong Learning (ALL) Centre and the Literary & Historical Society (L&H). Records from the meeting on 1st October 2018 show that an event with the Access and Lifelong Learning Centre in UCD would “discuss inequalities on campus and...highlight and celebrate the work UCD ALL does in these areas.” This event was originally intended to “be run in cooperation with the L&H with a debate night and motion on the issue.”

A lack of resources and time were cited by President Murphy as to the cancellation of the collaborative house debate between the Union and the L&H during the ALL Week on the 27th November. Murphy stated “we brainstorm ideas for events internally and externally in conjunction with societies regularly. While many events come to fruition others remain in the brainstorming phase. Sometimes they are not viable or we do not have the resources to make them become viable at that time.”

However, correspondence between the SU and the L&H show that a draft programme was suggested, containing a time and date, motion for the floor and format for the event.

The correspondence also shows that Dr. Anna Kelly from ALL told Murphy and Plunkett that “senior University representatives” could possibly attend and that the Centre would “provide the food, and speaker gifts.”

Auditor Ella McLoughlin contacted Murphy on the 31st October to enquire on “any update regarding the ALL debate,” and received a reply from Plunkett who apologised for the lack of “adequate information to organise this debate.” Plunkett stated in the email “when I asked Barry about it he assured me that you [the L&H] were handling it.” Plunkett then provided McLoughlin with the draft programme that was sent to her by Dr. Kelly for the event.

McLoughlin contacted both Plunkett and Murphy to raise concerns relating to a time clash with Lawsoc house debates and the motion’s wording. “We would have a very hard time finding guests to run the opposition (ie; University should not be open to all). We could run something more specific? ‘This House believes financial support is the best way to have access for all’ for example, and advertise it as ‘The Access for ALL debate.’” McLoughlin asked if the Centre wanted student or guest speakers but received no reply.

The University Observer reached out to both the L&H and Dr. Kelly in the Centre for comment, but received no reply at the time of publication.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

1

NEWS

In Carter case, Department of Education to argue that no right to higher education exists

Campus news in brief Dylan O’Neill

Student Council votes to support Climate Action Ireland and gender balance on UCD governing boards In last week’s student council meeting, a motion was passed through council to mandate UCDSU, particularly the President, the Campaigns and Communications Officer and the Environmental coordinator to support the campaign of Climate Action Ireland. When asked about the relevance of such a motion, UCDSU Welfare Officer Melissa Plunkett explained that although the environment is something that everyone cares about, a mandate makes the campaign of Climate Action Ireland a priority for future sabbatical teams. The motion was proposed by class representative Lisa Murnane and unanimously passed.

UCDSU Graduate Officer Niall Torris also proposed a motion to council to mandate “that the SU President and Welfare Officer remain ex-officio members of the GA [Governing Authority].” The motion also noted that “the third officer should always be the Education Officer where possible.” The Governing Authority introduced gender quotas in the last elections which set the regulations to include the gender categories “male, female and other” for multi-seat panels in order to improve the representation on the these boards. The motion put forward was to set in place a precedent to “ensure these gender quotas are respected in future.” The motion was unanimously passed.

Most sabbatical officers have yet to complete mandated training From the “questions on notice” segment of the student council, class representative Niamh Plunkett asked sabbatical officers what training they had completed in their roles, specifically sexual assault disclosure training with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), Safetalk training and ASIST training. Welfare Officer Melissa Plunkett and Graduate Officer Niall Torris are the only sabbatical officer to have completed all three mandated training courses. UCDSU President Barry Murphy told council that he has yet to complete Safetalk training and he has scheduled 21st February to complete the training.

Campaigns and Communications Officer Tom Monaghan has completed disclosure training and has yet complete Safetalk training, which he is scheduled to do on the 21st February. Education Officer Stephen Crosby has completed the sexual assault disclosure training and has yet complete Safetalk training also.

The mandate which was originally put forward

by Melissa Plunkett when she was Mature Students Coordinator, prior to assuming the role of Welfare Officer, has been amended to include LGBT training. This training was not mentioned at the previous council.

UCDSU seeks to return UCD Ball to Belfield campus Speaking at the student council, UCDSU President Barry Murphy said he has begun conversations with Estate Services with the hope of “bringing back the UCD ball” to the Belfield Campus. Murphy told council that he hopes to plan the event for Friday 26th April, the last day of semester two, stating that this would result in lectures being cancelled for the day. When questioned about the security of the event, Murphy told council that there will be a tunnel from the N11 gate to the venue on the Quad.

When asked about alternate dates for the event, Murphy said that the SU were “apprehensive” about organising the event on Saturday 27th April as they believe that students would want to go home before exams and study. However, he said that we would consider alternate dates if Professor Mark Rogers, the Registrar of UCD refused the initial date.

Disabilities Rights Coordinator Úna Carroll stated that she wished to go on record advising the SU to be careful not to market the event as a “piss-up”. Murphy reassured council that there will be bouncers at the entrances with a bar at the event.

Currently, the proposed ticket prices for the UCD Ball are €40, but may increase to €50 depending on the acts, according to Murphy. Murphy also told council that Hudson Taylor is the only confirmed act for the ball.

2 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

Jade Wilson: The question of whether access

to higher education is a right, a privilege or a necessity is now coming to the fore in Ireland, as the Department of Education prepares to appeal a High Court ruling from last September.

Rebecca Carter, a Leaving Cert student whose points were inaccurately added up, won a landmark case in the High Court last year and has taken her place to study veterinary medicine at University College Dublin.

The right of individuals to access higher education is provided for in international law, however, in the Irish Constitution, there is no specific right to higher or further education. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys found that the right of access to higher education is directly related to the right to earn a livelihood in Irish constitutional law.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys said “the recognised Constitutional right to earn a livelihood would be meaningless without the concomitant recognition of a right of reasonable access to available higher education and vocational training, commensurate with the ability of the citizen.”

“In the modern world, it is difficult and in some cases impossible to earn one’s livelihood without access to higher education and vocational training,” he added, concluding that “the latter right must be regarded as a constitutional right that flows from the former right.”

The question of whether the right of access to education should be recognised as a stand-alone right was also raised.

The Minister for Education is to argue that no such right exists in his appeal of the High Court ruling.

Appeal documents filed on behalf of Minister McHugh state that “the findings of the High Court, as appealed, have broad implications and will most likely result in others initiating proceedings in reliance on those findings.”

Students who were unable to enter the course of their choice in the past would have legal grounds to take their case to court if the right to access higher education was provided for in Irish law.

The minister has commented that the appeal will not affect Carter’s place at UCD, but expressed that the appeal intends to address the broad constitutional matters and issues that may arise due to the findings of the High Court

case.

The document further states that “the Minister is anxious to bring legal clarity to the issues he has sought to appeal... in advance of the allocation of places for higher education or vocational training for the academic year commencing in autumn 2019.”

The appeal is due to be heard in the Court of Appeal in April 2019. It has been deemed a priority case. The National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-19 states that equity of access to higher education is a “national priority” for the Department of Education and Skills and the Government as well as a matter that is “fundamental to the role of the Higher Education Authority (HEA).”

The plan asserts that “as a country we have everything to gain and nothing to lose by increasing levels of participation in higher education among all Irish citizens.

It makes sense socially and it makes sense economically.”

The plan also acknowledges that there are still groups in society which are largely underrepresented in higher education, including those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, people with disabilities, Irish travellers and mature students.

It is unclear how the government plans to continue to promote access to higher education and bring about sustainable change whilst appealing a High Court decision that defends the right to access of higher education. Nor has the government revealed a solid plan as to how to fund an increase in the number of students in higher education.

Under the terms of the Free Fees Initiative, the Irish Exchequer will pay tuition fees on behalf of students registered for the first time on full-time undergraduate degree programmes. Students are then responsible for paying the student contribution fee unless they qualify for a higher education grant.

The following options have been proposed to accommodate an increase in higher education numbers: a fully State-funded system; income-contingent student loans; or a major increase in public funding alongside the current student contribution. It is likely that these options will be discussed at the appeal of the Carter case in April.

Following Ms Carter’s successful High Court case, the Leaving Certificate appeals system is being altered for 2019 in order to improve the speed of the process, with an aim to reduce the waiting period from eight weeks to five.

Students warned after outbreaks of mumps and measles in schools and universities Conor McCloskey: A recent increase in

cases of mumps in Ireland, as well as a rise in the number of cases of measles across Europe, has led to concern among officials at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE).

Second and third level institutions in Ireland have been affected by this rise in incidences of mumps. According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), who are committed to the surveillance of communicable diseases, there has been a stark 84 per cent increase in cases of mumps in Ireland over the first five weeks of 2019, relative to the first five weeks of 2018, with a total of 231 cases.

Among the institutions affected is Blackrock College, which cancelled a senior cup quarter final rugby match against St. Michael’s College due to concerns over the spread of mumps.

In response to this rise in cases of mumps in Dublin, Trinity College issued warnings to their students and faculty after cases of students with mumps became known.

In an email by Dr. David McGrath, the Director of College Health Services, sent to all students and staff of Trinity College last Friday, all were warned to “check they have had the two MMR (Measles Mumps Rubella) vaccines and to make an appointment for vaccination either at college health or with their own GP if they’re not protected.”

Dr. McGrath warned of symptoms including “facial pain, fever, headaches and swelling in the front of the ears” and how mumps could lead to more severe diseases such as meningitis, brain inflammation and deafness. Students were also advised to avoid college for five days if they develop swelling.

In a letter from Dr. Mary Conlon, a Senior Medical Office for the HSE, that was also sent with Dr. McGrath’s email, it was confirmed that there have been cases in Trinity College of this disease and the same warnings were repeated for those who have never had mumps nor received two MMR vaccines.

UCD have sent out an email to all students, again warning of symptoms, encouraging at-risk students to get vaccinated and those who may be affected to avoid other students for five days. At the time of print, UCD confirmed that one student has been diagnosed with mumps.

Further fears have arisen recently in relation to those who are not receiving the MMR vaccine. The concept of “herd immunity” has become compromised across Europe.

This means many communities now have fewer than 95% of members vaccinated, meaning these communities are at risk of outbreaks of diseases that are typically thought of as preventable.

Despite a record number of children getting vaccinated in 2018, there was also record numbers of cases of measles in Europe with a total of 82,000 across the 47 countries that commented. There was a total of 72 deaths from these cases.

In Ireland, all children between 4 and 5 have access to a free MMR vaccine as well as the 4 in 1 booster to protect against diphtheria, polio, tetanus and whooping cough.

Fear surrounding the MMR vaccine, which spawned the “anti-vax” movement can be traced back to former doctor Andrew Wakefield, and continues to grow across the world.

Mr. Wakefield published a study in The Lancet in 1998 that suggested there was a link between the MMR vaccine, autism and bowel disease. Since then, his research has been discredited and his credentials revoked. It is widely known that he falsified these results and the consensus among organisations such as the WHO and the HSE firmly states there is no link between vaccines and autism.

The HSE, who provide this as well as information for parents, points out that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism and that potential side effects, such as mild rashes and “mini mumps” only occur in rare cases, have no long-term side effects and are not contagious.

A 2017 poll by TheJournal.ie found that over 12,000 people out of a total of 20,108, would not be in favour of a halving of child benefit payments for parents who chose not

to vaccinate their children.

An older poll by the same source found that, of 10,000 participants, roughly 10% were against vaccinating their children or were unsure, despite the evidence provided on the webpage suggesting that vaccinating your children is the safest decision for them. The article featured the opinions of Trinity College Professor Kingston Mills from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology who stated “it’s frustrating to read about people who give their opinions when it’s not based on fact” and encouraged people to trust the findings of peer-reviewed studies.

Despite a clear professional consensus, “anti-vax” movements are still gaining support and have spread to Ireland. One such Irish organisation is Irish Vaccination Awareness, an organisation who promote scepticism towards vaccinations, claiming to “support informed decisions” while also admitting they “are not in a position to advise on medical matters.”

NEWS

Underfunded Irish universities are “systems in danger” - EUA Director Dylan O’Neill:

On Tuesday 29th January, the Director of Governance and Funding for the European Universities Association (EUA), Thomas Estermann said at a seminar organised by the Irish Universities Association (IUA), that despite the increase in funding to Irish universities in 2017 and 2018 after a decades of cuts,“the long-term sustainability of the higher education system in Ireland remains an issue. Funding per student has declined, and third level capital infrastructure is underfunded.”

Consisting of EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport & Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD; former Secretary General of the EU Commission and Chair of UCC Governing Authority, Catherine Day; Higher Education Authority representative Gemma Irvine and Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin and Chair of the Irish Research Council, Prof Jane Ohlmeyer, the seminar addressed the research which categorised the Irish university system, along with the Serbian university system, as “in danger,” due to a combination of rising student numbers entering higher education coupled with a lack of adequate government funding.

Despite the fact that the number of students entering the Irish universities system has increased by 25% in ten years, GDP figures released from the Department of Education show that funding to third-level institutions in 2017, stood at half of what the funding was in 2012.

In 2017, the Irish Times reported that the government decided to lift pay restrictions on colleges hiring “worldleading scientists and engineers on salaries up to €250,000,” overturning the rule of prohibiting public sector employees from earning more that the Taoiseach’s €190,000 salary.

Despite this, according to the figures Estermann presented, Ireland is ranked as the second to last country in the EU for “staffing autonomy” which the EUA described as the ability of universities to independently make its own staff hiring decisions.

Director General of the IUA, Jim Miley said “these figures illustrate just how out of step Ireland is with our European neighbours when it comes to funding third level education and supporting the autonomy of our third level institutions.“ He further called on the government to “prioritise the reform of the funding model for higher education as recommended by the Cassells Report, the

Photo: William Murphy

Government-appointed Expert Group that reported almost three years ago.”

“Ireland’s universities are already taking advantage of opportunities for collaboration with their European colleagues under the new European Universities Initiative, building on the strong links they enjoy with European-wide institutions through research collaboration, Erasmus and other programmes.”

In a recent call for proposal that was published by the European Commission earlier in 2019, they requested a total budget of €2,733.4 million for the Eramus+ programmes, representing a 10% increase on the budget in 2018. According the EUA website, “€30 million of this has been earmarked for European Universities, taking forward this initiative as endorsed by the EU leaders and as part of the EU’s ambitions to build a European Education Area by 2025.”

The University World News reported in an interview with Estermann “over the entire period 2008-17, funding fell from around €1.5 billion to €1 billion (US$1.7 billion to US$1.15 billion), while student enrolment rose from 160,000 to 200,000...So despite funding going up again in 2017 by about €35 million or 3.5%, it is still very far away from the 2008 figure, yet there are around 40,000 or 26% more students in the system.”

Estermann also expressed hope over the impact to the Irish university system over the fallout from Brexit, stating that Brexit could open up opportunities of attracting academics and student that would have otherwise attended British universities.“There are opportunities out there for Ireland but without major investment in the system, I doubt they will be able to take them,” he told University World News. European Commissioner Tibor Navracsics reiterated Estermann’s sentiments, stating that Brexit may present “a window of opportunity for Irish universities,” believing “continental Europe would be looking for good-quality English-speaking universities...and [Irish universities] may benefit from a pool of students who want to study science and humanities subjects in English.”

However the supposed benefit of Brexit to Irish third level institutions may not be as straight forward as Estermann and Navracsics suggest. Navracsics told University World News “the challenge Irish universities face is that their capacity to hire academic and admin staff has in the past decade been restricted as a consequence of stricter employment regulations established when the economic crisis hit Ireland, including stricter rules on hiring public servants that made it more difficult for universities to hire, and therefore less competitive.”

UCD Investing €6.5 million to house 50 per cent more start-up companies Shivani Shukla:

Last August, UCD announced a €6.5 million development project to expand the capacity of NovaUCD, the University’s Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs, to increase capacity to house early-stage start-ups by over 50%. The project to renovate and extend the facility’s east courtyard commenced in August 2018 and is expected to be completed by summer this year.

NovaUCD, based in UCD’s Belfield campus, officially opened in October 2003, and is located in a mid-18th century house, formerly known as Merville House. It currently comprises of a restored main building along with the restoration and extension of the west courtyard. The current expansion will see the renovation and extension of a second, or east, courtyard. NovaUCD currently has 1,425m2 of licensable space in a total of 40 units, labs and co-working space.

The newly developed courtyard will result in 800m2 of additional licensable space, and will include a total of 23 business units, labs and co-working space. A statement from NovaUCD’s Communications Office said that “the development of the east courtyard will enable us to increase our capacity by over 50% and when completed, NovaUCD will be able to accommodate up to 450 people.”

Alongside the €6.5m renovation, a number of new programmes are due to be introduced to tie Nova, and University College Dublin as a whole, more closely to sectors with high-growth potential such as medical, financial and agriculture tech.

Since opening in 2003, the hub has supported over 225 companies, which have either spun-out of UCD research programmes or have spun-in to locate at NovaUCD in order to collaborate with the University. NovaUCD has also supported an additional 130+ early-stage ventures through

a series of programmes run and managed by NovaUCD. Some €200 million in equity funding has been raised by the hub’s budding entrepreneurs, and over 2,000 jobs created.

Tom Flanagan, UCD’s Director of Enterprise and Commercialization said “the NovaUCD facility has been running at full capacity for several years now. There is an ongoing and significant demand from ambitious entrepreneurs who want to locate their start-ups at NovaUCD to leverage our ecosystem of experienced mentors, founders, alumni, investors and sponsors who can help them grow their businesses globally. By joining the NovaUCD community these start-ups can also take advantage of access to our world-class researchers, facilities and talent across the UCD campus.”

In an earlier statement to the Irish Times, Mr. Flanagan also said, “this development will enable us to support a lot more startups while those locating here can also take advantage of our world-class research and expertise across the wider UCD campus. We like to have a combination of spin-ins and spinouts and have had success with both. We now have about 55 companies across the campus between Nova, Nexus (industry partnership centre) and some of our labs. We also have Consult UCD, our new consulting arm, and a knowledge transfer office.”

Flanagan says there are also plans to leverage the expertise and resources at UCD’s Lyons Research Farm in Co Kildare to develop more AgTech-related startups while 5G is another key area of interest, in addition to a MedTech programme recently launched to create locations of dedicated knowledge transfer offices within hospitals.

The building is currently home to over 25 start-up companies, with the most recent entrants being Evervault, a cybersecurity service, founded by Shane Curran, and

myStudyPal, an educational technology venture started by Mark Nealon. Both founders are first year undergraduate students of UCD. In a recent interview with the University Observer, Mark acknowledges NovaUCD for providing excellent opportunities for shared learning through his coworking space, along with proximity to campus so he can attend classes easily. Flanagan was quoted saying, “(Both ventures) are ones to watch in the years ahead” ChangingWorlds, software firm acquired by Amdocs in 2008 for over $60 million, BiancaMed, a leading medical technology company acquired by Rapid7 in 2015 for $68 million, Equinome, who developed the speed gene test for thoroughbred horses, and Logentries, providing realtime log management & analytics service, are some of NoveUCD’s best known start-ups. Some popular spin-in companies include EnBIO, the space technology company, and Genomics Medicine Ireland, who have the largest genomic facility in Ireland.

Among the companies currently located at NovaUCD are life sciences start-ups Carrick Therapeutics, which is developing pioneering cancer treatments, OncoMark, an Irish diagnostics company focused on the development of novel panels of cancer biomarkers to aid treatment decisions and allow more tailored patient management, and THEYA Healthcare, who develop lingerie for breast cancer survivors.

Six private sector sponsors - AIB, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers and Xilinx -contributed 75% of the €10 million raised to develop the first two phases of NovaUCD, with the balance of funds provided by Enterprise Ireland and University College Dublin.

The architects for the current expansion project are Kavanagh Tuite Architects, who were architects for the original design of the NovaUCD facility.

Photo: William Murphy

National news in brief Gavin Tracey

CIT and IT Tralee vote to merge as second technological university Lecturing staff in Cork Institute of Technology and IT Tralee have voted to support a merger of the two colleges, which would result in the creation of Ireland’s second technological university. 80% of the members of the Teachers Union of Ireland and 68% of IT Tralee voted for the merger with the move being welcomed by Mary Mitchell O’Connor, the Minister of State for Higher Education. In a letter, the respective heads of CIT and ITT wrote that the Munster Technical University (MTU) “will bring considerable benefits to the citizens and economy of the region as well as delivering benefits for staff and students of the new university.”

There will be some issues, such as overstaffing and financial issues at IT Tralee, with an Irish Times review claiming that deficits could reach €4 million in a few years.

However, the heads of each IT acknowledged these issues in their letter, and said that they “understand that a change of this scale will naturally bring with it concerns and issues on the part of staff, students, and other stakeholders…. In addition, there will be ongoing engagement with all staff, students, and other stakeholders to address any further issues as they arise.”

RCSI set to become Ireland’s 8th university Legislation currently making its way through the Oireachtas would see that the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) becomes Ireland’s 8th university. The 235 year old institution has a somewhat peculiar status - it regularly ranks among the top universities in the world, its staff are paid privately, and it is currently a not-for-profit registered charity. The RCSI is allowed to describe itself as a university outside of Ireland, but is not permitted to do so within Ireland.

The college has been lobbying the government for years to give it university status, which is has not received due to concerns that it would allow other small colleges to do the same. This has been circumvented by drafting the legal change so as to not create a precedent that other colleges could follow.

When university status is given, the college will seek to expand and create a university quarter in the Stephen’s Green area.

Galway City Council votes unanimously to support more funding for higher education Galway City Council has voted to provide badly-needed investment in higher education in their next budget in 2020. The motion, which was supported by all 17 members of the council, stated that “our third level graduates are an essential ingredient of economic growth and, unless investment in third level is increased, we will damage the future competitiveness of the Irish economy, and of our society as a whole.”

The council is acting upon the recommendations of the Cassell’s report, published in 2016, which highlighted the need for a drastic increase in funding for Irish third level institutions, after almost a decade of underfunding following the crash, which effectively saw funding for higher education halved. The move has been welcomed by the Irish Universities Association.

The Government has applied for a detailed economic analysis from the European Commission in order to establish how to go about fixing the funding issue, and has considered implementing a student loan scheme among other options.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

3

NEWS US Immigration officials creates fake university, arrests those who register Andrea Andres:

International News in Brief Gavin Tracey

Black female academics in UK face pervasive bullying issues According to a report published by the University and College Union (UCU), a British trade union, black female academics face serious bullying and harassment issues in their workplaces. The respondents detailed the issues they face in the workplace, ranging from hostile colleagues who frequently report people of colour for minor issues, to more passive aggressive modes of harassment. Some respondents told how they had been forced to initiate legal proceedings as a result of their unfair treatment.

Many of the respondents share the experience of being passed over for a promotion by a less experienced, white colleague. The report also highlights how poor the levels of representation for people of colour are in professorial positions, around 0.6%. They note that this “corresponds with findings from the UCU that white academics are approximately three times as successful in their applications for Professorship when compared with their peers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.” The report calls for more than simply a one day seminar on race and race relations, but proposes longer programmes, which it says have proved to be effective.

Trump administration back down from higher education reforms The Trump administration has backed down from its proposed educational reforms after only one round of talks was completed by officials. The reforms have been highly controversial in academic circles, which they wish to enact under the guise of rolling back what the administration claims were burdensome regulations from the Obama administration. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has repeatedly put forth suggestions that many in academia view as seeking to empower “for profit colleges”, as well as removing what little protections borrowers have when it comes to student debt.

DeVos is aiming to cut these regulations, which many view as a blatant attempt to roll back protections aimed at helping those students who find themselves with inordinate amounts of student debt. A law enacted in the 90s which erases a student’s federal loan if the college was found to have used illegal or deceptive practices to encourage them to apply was recently amended so as to simplify and speed up the process, but before these changes took effect, DeVos suspended them.

Although most of the Trump administration’s proposed reforms still remain largely unfocused, most involved have spoken of their desire to lead the higher education sector towards increased privatisation and less government oversight.

130 students, 129 of which were Indian, along with eight recruiters also of Indian descent, were arrested under a sting operation by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). The sting operation was conducted as part of an investigation on immigration fraud.

According to ICE, the eight recruiters are charged with “conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit.” The recruiters also helped the students in “fraudulently obtaining immigration documents from the school and facilitated the creation of false student records, including transcripts, for the purpose of deceiving immigration authorities.” If the students are convicted, they could face deportation.

In a statement released by Homeland Security Investigations special agent, Steve Francis, “Homeland Security Investigations special agents uncovered a nationwide network that grossly exploited U.S. immigration laws. These suspects aided hundreds of foreign nationals to remain in the United States illegally by helping to portray them as students, which they most certainly were not.”

“All participants in this scheme knew that the University of Farmington had no instructors or classes (neither online nor in-person) and were aware they were committing a crime in an attempt to fraudulently remain in the United States.”

The arrests of the 129 Indian students has caused a diplomatic spat between India and the US. In a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, they expressed concern for the well-being of the Indian students; “Our concern over the dignity and well-being of the detained students and the need for immediate consular access for Indian officials to the detainees was reiterated.”

The Indian Embassy has also released hotlines to give help to those affected.

There are also concerns that the students may have been duped by the recruiters, unaware that they were committing any crime. They have also urged the US to release them at the earliest possibility from detention and without deportation. They said that students “should be treated differently from those recruiters who have duped them.” Furthermore, they argued that the students had no way of verifying the college’s legitimacy online.

In India, local reaction has been in support of the students. They believe that the students are innocent and they were not aware of attending a fraudulent university.

There is consensus among academics in India that ICE acted in an unscrupulous way by setting up a fake university to catch students.

4 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

Chase”. It has been in operation for nearly two years under the Homeland Security Investigations. Its goal was to catch foreign citizens who travelled to the US on student visas and then transferred to sham universities to extend their stay. These universities are called “visa mills” or “pay-tostay” schemes.

It was reported that the fictional college also created its own website with stock photos, complete with fictional staff and Facebook page with non-existent events to make it appear more legitimate, and difficult to discern from a legitimate university.

This isn’t the first time ICE has been accused of resorting to such tactics. In 2016, ICE set up fictional university of the Northern New Jersey and arrested 21 people in connection to the case with more 1,000 students mostly from China or India.

It also offered online courses and curricular practical training (CPT) that allows for visa holders to work fulltime while studying, as well having previously advertised $8,500 a year for undergraduate students and $11,000 a year for graduate students.

This is part of a greater crackdown on illegal immigration as the Trump administration hardens its stance on those who have been staying illegally or have overstayed their visas.

EU report highlights large gender disparities in research and development roles

Harvard University lawsuit could lead to the end of affirmative action in US A case that has been taken against Harvard University by Asian students who claim they are being discriminated against on racial grounds, could spell the end of decades of federal affirmative action laws in the US. Affirmative action laws were first introduced in the United States in the early 1960s, and were aimed at improving the level of representation for minority students who previously had been discriminated against. It has long been a source of contention, and has been subject to numerous supreme court challenges, most of which were premised on its supposed unconstitutionality.

This case, filed by the group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), is arguing that due to “racial quotas” in place because of affirmative action laws, they are being underrepresented in the student body. They claim that internal data shows that Asian students were ranked considerably lower in “personal metrics”, despite outperforming white applicants in other areas. They are alleging that it is in this manner that Harvard University is discriminating against them unfairly.

It is likely that this case will make its way to the Supreme Court, where some fear that the recent ideological shift caused by two Trump appointees, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, could lead to the end of affirmative action programmes in the US.

Subhash Patankar, a lecturer in the engineering department at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalay, a state university in Indore said that “the US government set the snare. If the students are deported, it would antagonise the student community both in India and America at a time when countries like Canada and Australia are opening their doors and taking positive measures to attract the pool of talent from India.”

Surendra Bhatti, another academic, weighed in, stating that “it was not the right thing to do...Students are being treated like criminals. They are the victims of a scam.”

Some also felt that the incident could cause less students opting to go to America. Asfia Zafar, a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi said that “the incident has created panic...The US move has reinforced the fear among students and guardians here that the environment in America is uncertain and hostile.”

Speaking to Detroit Free Press, immigration Attorney, Ravi Mannam, said the fake university “kind of hooked these students by promising them credits for their previous master’s programs.”

ICE argues that the arrested students were not enrolled in a full course of study in accordance with federal regulations.

The fake college, University of Farmington, was set up in 2015 as part of an undercover operation called “Paper

Gavin Tracey :According to figures released

in the European Commission’s She Figures report, Irish female academics are severely underrepresented and underpaid in research and development roles, and rank as one of the worst in Europe in this regard. The report’s role is to investigate “the level of progress made towards gender equality in research & innovation (R&I) in Europe.”

The report found that on average, women have 25 per cent less earning potential than men in Research & Development (R&D) positions, one of the highest disparities in Europe. The evidence gathered shows that even though there are now more women working in universities, closing the gap between the number of men employed, men still represent the vast majority of senior positions, with only 21% of women holding senior positions. The number of women completing PhDs is increasing by 2.3% each year, almost double that of men, who are only increasing by 1.4% per year.

These figures are causing some concern, as in general they see very little change or improvement from the previous She Figures findings. The number of women in senior scientific posts has only risen by 2% since 2013, and in Ireland as well as the rest of Europe, the number of women who hold R&D positions have stayed almost the same, with women holding approximately 1/3 of the

positions.

In terms of publishing, female researchers in Europe are underrepresented as corresponding authors in scientific publications, with men in Ireland publishing around 50% more than their female counterparts. This gap is an issue across Europe, with only one country, the Republic of Moldova, having more female authored research than male.

Perhaps the most pronounced gender gap is in the number of patent output. In none of the 28 countries in the European Union is there anything near to gender parity on the number of patents registered, the average being 1 female inventor to every 10 of their male counterparts.

These figures remain largely the same as those released in 2010. The report notes that “this observation partly reflects the under-representation of women amongst researchers in the business enterprise sector (BES). Nevertheless, the gap in inventorship…is more pronounced than would be expected based on the under-representation of women researchers.” It goes on to note that “this may suggest that besides being under-represented amongst BES researchers, women produce, on average, fewer inventions than their men colleagues.”

Although no data is available for Ireland on the subject of the success rate for the receival of grants, the trend in most of Europe is that it is heavily skewed towards men.

This trend is not limited to academia, as another recent

report by the European Commission on gender equality has found that in “a recent survey conducted in Ireland demonstrated that women are almost twice as likely as men to experience discrimination at work, in terms of pay and promotion. Research…suggests that women tend to obtain less challenging positions and to be offered fewer opportunities for career progression.”

However, the report shows that while in many areas women are underrepresented and underpaid, there are some fields in which they are equal to or surpass men. In the humanities and the arts, there is an equal gender balance.

Women also outperform men in health and medical science research.

Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation has warned that if left without political intervention, the gender pay gap in R&D would not be resolved until 2149. The publishing of this report will add further pressure to the Irish government to increase programmes aimed at increasing the number of women in senior positions at Irish universities. However, with the government’s plan to establish female only posts in Irish universities likely to be challenged in court, as well as there being little in the way of concrete gender equality legislation in the pipeline, it appears that little will change in the most unequal fields of research for some time to come.

COMMENT

Pi’s new healthy approach highlights the problem with our fixation on weight

With the new Pi Restaurant opening this Semester, along with the “New Year New Me” program, Aoife Mawn takes a look behind the messages around healthy eating.

The science buildings sole restaurant, Pi, reopened after renovations at the end of January, with healthy food options and weight loss as their number one selling points. Riding on the New Year’s resolutions train, staff handed out various leaflets and booklets that gave tips on how to lose weight most effectively, food diaries to help you count calories, and advertisements for high fibre low-calorie muck. All of this fanfare focused solely on the students physical health; wildly ignoring, and perhaps even damaging, their mental wellbeing. It’s irresponsible to open a “healthy” restaurant if the mantra is to convince all your patrons that they need to lose weight.

Often, it seems, New Year’s resolutions focus solely on our ambitions to lose weight, get into a certain dress size, clear up our skin or go to the gym four times a week, all to look better, without ever really thinking about the slippery slope that can be for some people. Eating disorders can

manifest in someone at any age, and in any social group.

They often strike the people that seem to have their lives most in order. Anorexia nervosa also has a higher death rate than any other mental illness, as what begins as a mental fixation soon develops into physical illness. Various studies carried out into the causes of eating disorders have been inconclusive, but with a spike in diagnoses in recent years, social media and an ever increasing obsession with having the perfect life and body seem to be major culprits.

This is precisely why Pi’s new mantra is so disheartening.

One of the many “healthy” leaflets that were handed out at the launch was a program book that contained the quote “aim for 1-2lbs (0.5-1kg) weight loss per week - this is a safe rate of weight lose and you are more likely to keep the weight off than if you lose it more quickly”. There was no mention of this being a choice, it is simply assumed that everyone is and should be trying to lose weight. For

someone who is struggling with disordered eating, this kind of wording and messaging, especially as it is so heavily pushed, could be extremely damaging. If this person is already underweight, losing two pounds a week could be dangerous, and it should not be advertised as the best way to keep weight off. Also, once the disorder has fully taken hold, it is hard for one to differentiate the sheer amount of weight they are losing. Worth noting too, is the fact that there is no information in the booklet about positive weight gain, muscle tone or the psychological benefits of eating healthier. It is all about being as skinny as possible, it seems.

On the back of the program, they give details on how to contact nutritionists, mentioning how they are committed to “delivering a service that will contribute to the health and wellbeing of all our customers”, without ever mentioning how the material in their literature could be unsettling

“Instead of focusing on body image, emphasis could just as easily have been put on high cholesterol levels or heart disease, both of which are also caused by high fat intake.” or triggering for someone who is struggling with body dysmorphia or disordered eating. They also advise limiting our fat intake “so it doesn’t impact on our waistlines!”

That is all well and good, but instead of focusing on body image, emphasis could just as easily have been put on high cholesterol levels or heart disease, both of which are also caused by high fat intake.

In a university filled with stressed students looking for coping mechanisms, this kind of messaging is risky.

Often, eating disorders develop from a need for control, which people think restricting food can give them. By telling students they need to cut down on certain nutrients to avoid weight gain, they are ultimately risking students going too far and completely cutting out food groups for fear of getting fat. Instead of discussing restriction and cutting down on what would be considered ‘bad’ food in order to avoid weight gain, Pi should promote the ways in which a healthy diet is beneficial to our mental health instead. Why is it simply our physical shape that is being focused on as most important?

What Pi should be doing is promoting an all round healthy and balanced lifestyle that is achievable for students. It is simply not feasible to expect a student to consistently follow a healthy routine every single day. In reality, we should be aiming to live as healthily as possible, but not beating ourselves up if we have a ‘pizza and junk food on the couch’ kind of day. Balance is what is really key, and instead of focusing solely on keeping thin, fit and uber healthy, all for the sake of vanity, we should be trying to choose the options that we know will make us happier in the long run. Often, eating disorders develop through an obsession with healthy eating, also known as orthorexia. This makes family and friends think that they are simply in a focused pursuit of a healthy body, when in reality this quest is a disguise for anorexia or other eating disorders. Through a promotion of fixating on eating clean and obsessively healthy in order to look your best, this new strategy by Pi is straddling a dangerous line, one that is only too easily crossed.

Judge, jury and executioner - cast your vote now Dylan O’Neill discusses the effect that media has on the court of public opinion.

In the popular dystopian sci-fi show Black Mirror, series writer Charlie Brooker has gained prestige as a digital town crier, focusing on the relationship between human nature and technology. In the season three episode, Hated in the Nation, Brooker provides a startling indictment of humanity’s complacency when facing natural disaster, in terms of the introduction of the andriod bees. The episode also serves as a mirror to society on their use, and undoubtedly misuse, of media and the power it wields in influencing public perception. Throughout the episode, the hashtag #DeathTo is used by the British population in response to a number of national scandals to voice their outrage. After it comes to light that the use of this hashtag is directly connected to the deaths of these public figures, amazingly, the public continue to use it, this time with an added fervour.

Black Mirror has never shied away from showing human nature in an unflattering light, but this episode, along with Shut Up and Dance, is perhaps the most chilling when one thinks about how the episode fits into the series.

Unlike many of the previous episodes, there is no futuristic backdrop that sets the characters at odds with the world, it is set in modern day. The artificial bees are the only source of a science-fiction McGuffin, with their exposition quickly glossed over. This makes Hated in Nation one of the most

disturbing episodes of the series in how close to home the episode hit viewers, when it first aired in 2016.

Fast-forward three years, and shockingly, most of the events have already come to pass in the real world. Bees are fast becoming an endangered species, with an ever growing need for international intervention to sustain the ecosystem. Even more so for the influence that media plays in everyday life. With the globalisation of social media platforms, people from around the world can voice their opinion on news events as they unfold. Where there is a sharing of information on such a large scale, there has been an emergence of opinions from those who incite violence and xenophobic thinking against public figures or marginalised groups. This in turn leads to news cycles being dedicated to the public response just as much as the inciting incident, making it almost impossible to go a day without hearing about the latest scandal. If we then consider the implications on this constant stream of information, we must ask ourselves just how much of our society is shaped in response to the media?

Take a case of a criminal court proceeding for example.

Such a high profile case will undoubtedly lead to heated responses from the public, as we’ve seen in the Graham Dwyer trial and the Paddy Jackson trial. With the media covering this reaction, and giving the full story behind the

cases, is it practical to expect the jurors on each case to abstain from following the story? Is the media inadvertently adding pressure to reach a conclusion? Is the court of public opinion now the only real judgement that matters in the 21st century?

After the verdict of the Paddy Jackson trial was reached, there was mixed responses of outrage and vindication from many online. Despite, what many believe to be a miscarriage of justice over the treatment of the victim and what was allowed to be presented as evidence, it sparked widespread conversations over the rape culture and what constitutes consent in society. Post-trial, the idea of teaching consent in schools is still hotly debated in the Dáil, with some TDs supporting the reformation of sexual education and others staunchly opposing it. As for Jackson, though he evaded jail time, he was found very much guilty in the majority of the public’s eye.

While Black Mirror dramatises the role of the media, it is not an immediate precursor to the world of George Orwell’s 1984, where the media is a tool to enforce one particular way of thinking. As mentioned before, social media has created a means of communication between individuals and communities and brings together stories from across the world, creating a larger sense of community.

This lends greater support to issues that are at the forefront

Photo: Cal Injury Lawyer

of discussion in social spheres. Prime examples of this were the two #HometoVote campaigns for the marriage referendum and 8th Amendment referendum in 2015 and 2018, respectively, both garnering worldwide support, and criticism, from different international groups.

With such a powerful influence that the media holds, it depends on the user for how it is implemented into real life. When social media has been used to share criticisms of those in power and who abuse their influence, there can be real world forms of retaliation. Recently, there has been

“Where there is a sharing of information on such a large scale, there has been an emergence of opinions from those who incite violence and xenophobic thinking against public figures or marginalised groups.” a rise in claims that universities harbouring and promoting “leftist propaganda”. Governments in Brazil, Hungary, Poland and Venezuela have called for restrictions to be placed on these universities, with some countries even instigating a professor watchlist, that encourages students to “tip-off” the authorities if their professors or university staff express left-leaning political views or are critical of right-wing views. Some state-controlled media publications and broadcasters are subject to oversight from the country’s government’s department of communications and must clear their schedules with officials before sharing content with the public. Independent news publications suffer from lack of funding, creating a monopoly in the media sector.

Once a government has a grip on the country’s media, it then becomes a case of squashing any form of media that would attempt to set itself up as independent and critical of the nations treatment of its citizens.

With the potential of the media to be complicit in the derailing of democracy, should the pre-emptive polling of political candidates be considered harmful to the democratic process? There is an argument to be made for the potential of bias in editorial decisions being made in polling certain demographic to skew the results in favour or against a certain candidate. In the age of information and post-truth perception, the media can hold just as much sway as the millions invested in the candidates’ campaigns.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

5

COMMENT Democratic regime change on the society corridor With Universities like Maynooth and Limerick running their clubs and societies through the Students’ Union, Alice Breen considers what this would mean for UCD. The relationship between Student Unions, clubs, and societies varies across different universities. In UCD, sports clubs and societies are managed and funded by the Athletics Union Council (AUC) and the Societies Council respectively, while in other universities, such as Maynooth University, societies and clubs fall under control of the

“In this scenario, the SU would become responsible for deciding the amount of money going to the SUled campaigns, clubs, and societies.”

Student Union (SU). When societies and clubs are under the control of a students’ union, it can give the impression that all students have some level of democratic control over the societies and clubs within the college. This is not necessarily a good system to have.

Both the AUC and Societies Council work in the interest of student clubs and societies. They promote and develop clubs and societies, allocate university funding to them fairly, manage events, provide support for committees and members of clubs and societies, and act as a lobby group in order to ensure that clubs and societies receive all available resources, among many other things.

These councils do no lack student input. The AUC is comprised of five executive officers, including a student Vice President position, as well as eleven elected student representatives from the eleven constituencies, meaning each club has some form of representation. The Societies Council is governed by the University Societies Officer and is chaired by a student or recent graduate of the university, and its membership consists of all UCD society auditors.

In having student representation, both groups facilitate democratic involvement of students who engage with clubs and societies on campus.

If the Students’ Union was to gain control of clubs and societies on campus, it would be damaging to all three groups. One option would be to have the SU take control of the two organisations. As it is now, the University allocates a set amount of money annually to the AUC, the SU and the Societies Council respectively. In this scenario, the SU would become responsible for deciding the amount of money going to the SU-led campaigns, clubs, and societies.

One can see where the conflict of interest lies. For example, should the SU decide to give all the sabbatical officers a raise, sourced from the money allocated by the university, societies and clubs would receive less in their annual grants than before, as the SU had determined that it needs a greater portion of the funds.

The SU could follow the example set by Maynooth

University, and have a sabbatical position in charge of coordinating societies and clubs. While this may work there, it would not work in UCD. This person would find themself in charge of the workload of two organisations, which could easily lead to a drop in the standard of the quality of support. This is not an unreasonable fear as currently both organisations operate to a very high standard. This position would include being responsible for the training and development of committee members. For societies that is a much easier task, largely entailing the providing of executive officer training once at the start of the year, but for clubs it is much more than that. Sports club committees are required to have more specialised training, such as child safety and first aid. As well as providing, or at least organising, all this training, this person would be in charge of reviewing and approving grant applications and allocating funding for clubs and societies, lobbying on their behalf, organising major events such as the societies at Freshers’ Week, the Sports Expo, and club and societies awards etc. Yes, the pressures of the job could be lessened through delegation and the establishment of subcommittees and other groups, but it does not make sense to undo two

organisations in order to bring clubs and societies under SU control in UCD. Essentially, bringing clubs and societies under the control of the SU would be an unnecessary venture. It would add an unprecedented amount of work to the SU in order to maintain the current standard of clubs and societies. It would lead a rift between the three groups, if they were all to operate under the control of one of them. If this unification was to occur, while it would technically give indirect democratic control to all students over clubs and societies, it would come at the loss of the direct democratic control students who are members of clubs and societies currently have. These directly elected positions would be seen as less valuable to the entire student body than having indirect democratic power over clubs and societies, as all can vote for the SU officers. In the end students who actually participate would have less democratic say over clubs and societies.

This also brings forward the point that while all students are members of the SU, not all students chose to engage with the SU. Amongst those students who do, not all of them choose to engage with clubs or societies. It makes

more sense to keep the three groups separate, as it means that the students who engage with clubs and societies have more democratic control, through the committees and auditors, who then will either be representatives or choose representatives for Societies Council and the AUC. While having clubs and societies under the control of a university Students’ Union may work for some universities, it would not work for UCD. The set up as it is, having the AUC and the Societies Council as the governing organisations for clubs and societies, seems to be the most beneficial system for the university overall. It allows for them and the SU to successfully operate without any group negatively impacting on the other.

“While all students are members of the SU, not all students chose to engage with the SU.”

Generation gender and the proper way to discuss these issues With RTÉ hosting “Generation Gender” while UCD hosts panels on Trans issues and closed spaces, Elliot Savage takes a deeper look at how these discussions are framed on and off campus.

Following the RTÉ debate surrounding the PrimeTime segment “Generation Gender”, the discussion on campus is proving to be quite different to that at a national level.

Ireland is considered to be a ‘world leader’ when it comes to trans inclusion, however socially it is not keeping in line with legal acceptance. The Gender Recognition Bill, signed into law in 2015, gives adults the right to apply through the Department of Social Protection in order to be legally recognised as the gender by which they identify.

However, 16 to 17 year olds have more of a struggle, requiring parental consent to legally transition, an issue if their parents don’t recognise their gender the same way as they identify, and for younger people this is not available.

A review proposes that this recognition be extended to all ages, with minors requiring parental consent and also that a system be introduced for non-binary people.

Discussion on trans issues is not new around campus.

Last February, the University made the decision to redesignate more than 170 toilets to “gender neutral” and introduce changing facilities for transgender members at the sports centre. Students can also change their names on official University documents without a gender recognition

nationally. Marginalisation is ripe in homes, schools and workplaces, and issues faced can cause major upset or distress for trans people. Unfortunately, with the airing of this program came the changing of some people’s views on trans issues. Many parents of trans kids reported family members who once ‘tolerated’ their kids identities now were refusing to respect names and pronouns and many young trans people feared attending school in the days following the debate for fear of backlash from staff and fellow students. It is likely that discussion differs between campus and nationally due to the presence of the LGBTQ+ society and the work they put in to bringing issues to light, as well as many student having more liberal views, while nationally, you have to take into account the older generation, many of whom either do not understand or refuse to accept trans identities.

A group from UCD recently attended the protest at RTÉ against Graham Linehan appearing on the Prime Time segment “Generation Gender”. In the lead up to the show, the public complained about the planned inclusion of Linehan in a debate on Irish Law. Many questioned the reasoning for this when he is ‘a known transphobe.’ A

“Many parents of Trans kids reported family members who once ‘tolerated’ their kids identities now were refusing to respect names and pronouns and many young trans people feared attending school in the days following the debate for fear of backlash from staff and fellow students” certificate. The LGBTQ+ society leads the discussion on trans issues on campus, dedicating a week to events around the issues, including a vigil on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. There are a number of committee and society members who are part of the trans community, and there are a number of events each semester such as trans info night and trans only closed spaces.

National conversation surrounding trans issues is growing, both negatively and positively. More people are being made aware of issues faced by those in the trans community. There have been calls for the improvement of trans healthcare in the country and for reform to take place in order to tackle the immense waiting lists faced by trans people seeking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Trans people also face high levels of discrimination

6 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

petition was set up but RTÉ failed to change their stance on the issue. Linehan has a history of making transphobic comments including likening trans activism to Nazism.

He also attempted to block funding to Mermaids, a charity supporting trans youth in the UK. This was counteracted

by YouYube/Twitch gamer “hbomberguy”, playing a 57 hour Donkey Kong stream to raise money for the charity, resulting in the raising of £250,000.

The UK, where Linehan has lived and worked for many years, has significantly more TERFs(Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) in its feminist movement than Ireland.

Last week, two British women ambushed Sarah McBride, the National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign following a meeting between the Parents for Equality National Council and members of Congress. They

Photo: William Murphy

complained that “this ideology”, presumably meaning the belief that trans people don’t exist, had been “imported into the UK by America.” They claimed they had gone to its “source” to reduce the “female erasure.”

The UK is falling behind Ireland in terms of tackling trans rights, with the failure to provide a law allowing for gender recognition best on self-declaration. Since 2004, trans people have been able to have their gender recognised under restrictions. They must be 18 or over, be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, have lived for at least two years in their acquired gender and “intend to live permanently in their acquired gender until death.” TERF ideology comes into play when certain feminist groups criticise the Gender Recognition Act and the idea of furthering trans rights.

They argue that in some circumstances trans women should be treated differently to how cisgender women would be.

They argue that some women-only spaces and jobs should be reserved specifically for cis women.

The counter-argument here is that this is scaremongering and likely rooted in a transphobic biased. They need only look at Ireland as an example to see that issues they ‘fear’ have not yet occurred despite trans people having the right to self-declaration. Ireland still has a lot of work to do in terms of trans healthcare and legal recognition for nonbinary people, but as things stand currently they are far ahead of the UK in terms of tackling issues faced by the trans community.

COMMENT Head-to-Head

Should UCD Societies Council stop funding religious and political societies?

Photo: UCD Societies

YES

NO

Nathan Young

Michael Regan

Student societies exist for a plethora of reasons. Some are centered around hobbies, creating a space for people to develop their interest, pick up a new pastime, or make friends with common interests. Others are faculty based, which help create a sense of community, and also create great networking for people at all stages in their academic careers, from freshers to professors. While there’s a lot of room for fun, there are also plenty of opportunities for the more goal- oriented, and earning positions on committees is a great way to develop interpersonal, teamwork, and leadership skills. It can also look pretty good on a CV. These clear positives are why societies not only exist, but receive funding from the university. The question, then, is why would religious or party political societies be any different?

Whatever bonds people can create over a hobby, stronger ones can surely be built over a world view. Depending on the chosen career, a committee position in Young Fine Gael may look far more attractive than one for the Games society.

As for the networking, being a party member creates many more opportunities for students to meet with the movers and shakers of the nation than any other student society ever could.

The organisation and goals of political and religious student societies, however, is quite different from other societies.

The bond between people who share an ideology is not necessarily closer than between people who share a hobby, but it is different. The reasons for not funding religious or political societies with what is essentially public money are slightly different, but similar and overlapping.

The primary reason for a political party to exist is to recruit members and encourage students to vote for their party in local and national elections. They also operate as a training ground for political parties future politicians. Recently, former YFG Auditor Vivienne Phelan and former UCD Labour Youth Auditor Liam Van Der Spek have been selected for their party’s ticket to run in the upcoming May local elections. While in some vague pro-democratic sense voting may be seen as a “good” thing to be encouraged, the aim here is not to increase political engagement for its own sake, but to enlarge the political influence of the parties involved as much as possible.

With religious societies the aim may be slightly different. Churches don’t run candidates per say, and it would silly and wrong to say all events they run are proselytising recruitment drives. However, to think of religious societies in UCD as merely being support groups for particular communities is to fundamentally miss the point of these societies. The Islamic Society host anti- reformist speaker Abdullah al Andalusi with little to no opposition almost every year, as well as all events, and segregating their committee into “Brothers” and “Sisters”. The different christian societies work hard to push their events where speakers come to make “The Human Rights case Against Same-Sex Marriage”. The promotion of illiberal, often borderline sectarian politics are part and parcel of these societies.

None of this is to say that such societies shouldn’t exist. The contention here is that society council money, which is the same money as the SU and Athletic Union get, shouldn’t be spent on these endeavours. The ability to exist as a society, book rooms to host events in, email members, et cetera should remain available, but they should fund themselves either through fundraising among those who support their causes, or through sponsorship.

One of the most alluring aspects of university life, according to many, is the possibility for self-discovery and reinvention.

As students, we come to college not only to nurture the skills and acumen of our future professions, but also to grow up into adults. In order to do so, we must have a solid system of core values and beliefs. This is where politics and religion come into play. Contemporary historian Yuval Harrari conflates ideologies and religion, arguing that both are “system[s] of human norms and values that [are] founded on a belief in superhuman laws.” Whether judaism, humanism, socialism or even nazism are practiced, each include inflexible doctrines which are either adhered to in their entirety, or refuted absolutely.

By discontinuing the funding of religious and political societies in UCD, students are effectively robbed of the opportunity to explore new ideas within the university. Due to a strict catholic ethos in most Irish primary schools and abysmal political education at second level, university is often the first place students are exposed to contrary belief systems. It is often the first environment in which students even think of questioning their own faith, prejudices and biases. The current nurses and midwives strike, for example, is a two-fold quandary with both metaphysical and political implications. On one hand, we have the highly-politicised, economic issue of redistributing healthcare funds and resources. We ask if it is feasible, if it makes financial sense. It is a game of numbers. On the other hand is the philosophical question of how much we truly value these people who devote themselves to our care. This is not a question of numbers, but of their intrinsic worth.

Both the economic and humanistic schools of thought are equally valid when considering how to deal with the strike, but it is up to the individual to determine which is the morally just way of resolving the situation. Education of, and exposure to, different ideologies provides a basis for moral decision-making, a skill which is vital for our ongoing growth and development. This kind of holistic, extracurricular education is what we study at UCD for, not disinterested lecturers and disappointing GPAs. One could argue that there are services and facilities within UCD which require urgent capital investment. One might even say the need for a new library or sports-ground supersedes the need for religious exploration or political activism on campus, and therefore funds should be distributed elsewhere. However, a lack of such societies in UCD would leave our college somewhat rudderless, and with no clear identity. With nothing to stand for, our current, liberal Student Union would fall apart at the seams. Those of us who don’t study the social sciences might go through our entire degrees without an inkling of how our society functions, either politically or spiritually, and thus retard our collective sense of civic duty, among other things.

Instead, we should maintain the current status quo. We should be free to hop from Labour, to Sinn Féin, to the Islamic Society until we find our (“fully-funded”) tribe and sense of purpose. We shouldn’t worry about getting it wrong or right, because no student really has a clue what they are doing anyway. What we do know is that we’re all here to learn, and to grow. At the very least, we deserve the opportunity to discover our niche and to try make sense of it all while we’re still here.

REBUTTAL

REBUTTAL

Both sides of this question agree that student societies are integral to the sense of community and fellowship which permeates through our university. Both introductions touch on the idea of belonging and shared interests. However, it is unfair and disingenuous to suggest that a political presence on campus exists solely as a recruitment mechanism for our future Dáil and Oireachtas.

As mentioned in my introduction, religious and political societies exist within UCD to allow exploration of new ideas.

Naturally, students with a greater inclination towards political life will pursue careers of this nature, but such students are a minority. At the heart of YFG and UCD Labour Youth, is not a clandestine culture of entrapment and indoctrination, but one of unity. The fact that there is such a variety of political voices in UCD is testament to the heterogeneity of our student body, which indicates that “political engagement for its own sake” is the whole point. Our society funding does not serve as dark-money towards Leo or Mary Lou, it serves as a conduit to our social activism, and therefore should not be cut.

The opposition raises some valid points regarding the controversial speakers and events organised by religious societies in UCD. It is quite possible that cutting the funding of these societies would render them incapable of organising such talks. However, promotion of sectarian politics and inciting division amongst students, if it were truly happening on campus, would be cause for an outright ban, not financial penalties. Views which differ from the norm are not necessarily illiberal. These views should be challenged and debated, not quashed. Also, reducing all religious societies within UCD to conservative echo-chambers is a gross generalisation, and undermines the progressive majority which populates them.

Finally, the idea that a college society with innumerable financial burdens - and which competes for membership with dozens of others - could possibly survive without university funding is insane. We would not expect the Students’ Union, the UCD Boat Club or, even, The University Observer to survive without minimal investment. How then, is it conceivable that Young Fine Gael could even organise themselves out of paper bag without funding? It’s not very cash-money to suggest that they fend for themselves, now is it?

The points raised above do fundamentally disagree on the purpose of political societies, but societies aiming to help students understand and develop their own, and others, belief systems exist. Two of the largest societies on campus, The Law Society and the Literary and Historical Society both host weekly debates which touch on political and existential questions. The Philosophy society and Politics and International Relations society both host speakers and panels to discuss these topics in perhaps less competitive but often much more nuanced ways.

If the point of political parties was simply to educate students about politics, then the parties would work together.

Instead, they operate independently. Every Freshers’ Week, and every Societies week in semester two, sees most parties having their introductions and drinking night simultaneously. It’s done so that if you go to Labour’s mojitos, you can’t go to Fine Fáil’s hot Whiskey.

It seems odd to suggest that the best way to combat the closed mindedness or ignorance of someone who’s only experience of religious discussion is to fund the Newman society. It’s possible that they’ll also go to the Baha’i or Islamic or Atheist societies, but that’s less likely than if they were attend a Philsoc event or L&H debate on organised religion.

As for how rudderless students would be without such societies, the contention is that the societies shouldn’t be funded, not that they shouldn’t exist. Current rules regarding political party societies not being allowed to receive donations are unfair. As long as they are following the same rules as any other private organisation providing donations or sponsorship, political parties should have equal opportunity to fund whichever student society they like. The same is true of religious societies. The aim here is not to prevent the activities of parties, but to prevent them from taking funding which could be better used on less divisive societies.

If starved for funds, it would also force societies to work for the goal described by the “Yes” side above. Religious societies hoping to afford their favorite speakers or political societies looking for a larger platform must work with a neutral arbiter, such as a debating or faculty society. Controversial speakers would be challenged more often, and members of different parties would have to better engage with each others ideas at events like the Mock Dáil.

Michael Regan

Nathan Young

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

7

FEATURES The mathematics behind an architecture degree in UCD: 3 + 1 + 1 As a student of architecture, Doireann de Courcy Mac Donnell explains the transition of the architecture programme from the traditional three-plus-one to a new, bespoke degree.

The Bachelor of Architecture in UCD is currently in a state of change. It is transitioning from a three year bachelor’s degree followed by a two year master’s degree, to a four year bachelor’s degree adjoined to a one year master’s degree. Having come as a surprise to all students enrolled in Richview, many are still unsure of how this transition will affect them. In conversation with Hugh Campbell, the Dean of Architecture, we discuss why the programme is being altered and the effect such a change will have on studying architecture in UCD. As it stands, the first three years studying architecture are dedicated to the acquisition of competences. As an architect, there is a whole composition of competences you are expected to be comfortable with. The fourth year, which was up until this year part of the master’s degree only, is split in two parts. One semester is dedicated to professional practice, an “office-based design experience, [understanding] all the parameters you have got to meet and understand in a real piece of design” as Campbell put it. The second is more focused on society and the architect’s role within it. Students can opt to go on erasmus and experience a new education system, “another set of architectural philosophies”, or stay at home and work in a community.

A project undertaken a few years ago saw students work with the Peter McVerry trust, tackling homelessness.

Fifth year will remain as it is with student’s focusing on a design thesis and dissertation. When asked why the fourth year was being tacked-on to the undergraduate, Campbell responded; “we would like our undergraduates to have those experiences, and that is the motivation for extending and enriching – giving those experiences to everybody, irrespective if they then continue on with the programme or not. We can’t do it within the three years, it would be just too tight.”

Although initially it was penned as a four-year-plusone degree, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a three-plus-one-plus-one. It is three distinct stages with opportunities for a gap, or a degree, between either the first or second phase. After the first stage, the student will receive a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. If the student chooses to take a four year bachelor’s degree they will qualify with a Bachelor of Architecture. However, upon counting those credits towards a four-year bachelor’s, the student may not put the credits towards a master’s degree in UCD. Finally after fifth year, the student will receive a Master of Architecture, accredited by RIAI, RIBA, and NAAB – the architectural accreditation for Ireland, Britain

and the United States respectively.

Many entered the architecture degree on the understanding that after the third year they would be taking a gap year or two before deciding where to pursue a master’s degree. With this new system in place, students have many more options open to them than expected upon enrolling. Most pressingly, the students in third year not only had to decide whether or not to take the fourth year, but if they would like take an Erasmus and, following that, think about if they will study a master’s in UCD – all within two weeks at the beginning of semester two. Even though the new layout of the architecture degree appears very positive, the students who are going through the programme as it transitions are somewhat in limbo.

Although one decision does not automatically imply the other, the idea of studying 60 extra credits before having to take a two year master’s in another university was not universally appealing. The unknown that exists at the moment is, as Campbell put it, “what currency does the four year degree have outside of here?” There is nothing to guarantee the students who opted to study a year of a master’s programme here that they will be allowed to count those credits towards a degree in a different university.

A notable benefit to those who chose to take the four year bachelor’s degree, is the ability to count one year of credits towards a master’s degree. Rather than paying for a two-year master’s, which is €7,830 a year, the student will only have to pay the (notionally free) fees. The students who are currently in fourth year have been reimbursed and talks are underway as to whether or not the fifth year students will also have the fees they paid for their first year of the masters programme returned. Although it hasn’t been overtly discussed by the school, it is understood that the university receives more money per capita for bachelor students than it does for masters students. Not only does a bachelor student pay the “free” fees but the college is also heavily subsidized by the programmes such as SUSI by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). This in turn will benefit the students as there will be more funds available for the facilities and tuition.

The architecture degree in Ireland has always been seen as a five year degree. If one accepts this to be true the degree itself will not be changing, just the parameters which divide it; “the path to the profession is to take five years full time education and then two years in experience and a part three as it’s called, ‘professional diploma’, and then after that you can register as an architect.”

In DIT, our neighboring architecture school, students

enroll for five years from the beginning. In a sense, no options have been removed for students, only more choice added. The advice given was; “just keep going up until year four unless you are clear at year three you want to leave. Once you have decided if you want to do the master’s degree in UCD that is the key point. You can choose whether or not to take the three year degree and keep the content so that I can use it to set against year one of the master’s. That’s when the decision is made. That’s why we couldn’t add on to three. We had to make a new four. Year four is about enriching and extending the experience.”

“A project undertaken a few years ago saw students work with the Peter McVerry trust, tackling homelessness.”

The stagnant pool of accessible food on campus Heather Reynolds looks at the lack of food options available on campus, and what that means for students.

When students first come to UCD they are faced with a veritable smorgasbord of worries; whether it be if they can find their way around the Newman building, or if they will be late to their lectures, or if they can find friends in such a new environment. However, people with dietary restrictions face an issue most others do not; the issue of whether or not they will be able to eat on campus. It seems like a very trivial thing, but it can have a large impact.

When you have had to skip breakfast to get to a lecture on time, and you forgot to make lunch the night before, it can mean having to go hungry, even if you have the €5 for the meal deal.

Students with any kind of dietary requirement, for religious, vocational, or health reasons, feel this impact regularly. Even just stepping into the Global Lounge restaurant while your friend grabs some lunch, is a reminder that while the university acknowledges your existence, it does nothing to accommodate it. While there are no up-to-date figures on those who follow alternative diets in UCD, it can be inferred from national statistics that there are at least 2,330 vegetarians on campus, along with 583 vegans. However, with the cultural context of UCD, it is not difficult to believe that there are far more among our numbers, as vegetarianism and veganism are

“People can be hospitalised over a few crumbs of something that they are not supposed to eat.” both more popular among young people and among college students.

When it comes to dietary requirements that are seen as more permanent, such as those who eat halal or kosher, or those with illnesses or allergies that impact their diet, it becomes a more complex issue. Dietary choices can be sidestepped occasionally, as they are a choice, but when it is a religious or health issue, it is more than that. Particularly when it comes to health based dietary requirements, people can be hospitalised over a few crumbs of something that they are not supposed to eat. When your choice is going hungry or going to the hospital, it is not a hard choice to make.

“It’s rough.” Orli Shlachter, a post-graduate student, said of trying to eat kosher while living on campus, “I did live on campus, and I cooked for myself.” She spoke of the difficulty cooking with roommates who would use her utensils to cook bacon, and other difficulties that came with on campus living. “In terms of pre-prepared food, you have to go for the vegetarian options, and those are quite restrictive.” Particularly as most vegetarian options on campus are cheese based, and as an Ashkenazi Jew Ms Shlachter is predisposed towards severe forms of lactose intolerance. “If you can’t eat dairy, you can’t eat the vegetarian options.” However, when asked whether she would support the expansion of kosher options on campus,

8 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

she was unsure,“I don’t know how many of us there are.”

This is a sentiment UCDSU President Barry Murphy shares. While he did not acknowledge questions on the availability of kosher options on campus, he did mention that halal options had been trialed twice over the past five years, and that the trials were viewed to be unsuccessful.

However, he did concede that this may not have been due to lack of interest, saying that “there probably should have been more awareness raising done.” He also spoke about the variety of vegetarian and gluten free options available in the Clubhouse and the Student Union shops, where there is a higher than average percentage of, despite incorrectly stating that the Clubhouse and Student Union shop deli-provided options which are accessible to those with Coeliac disease. This is incorrect due to the high risk of cross contamination present in the preparation areas, which is a risk for anyone with allergies. When he was made aware of this, he responded “it’s unfortunate, in terms of the Clubhouse, it offers some of the best value.”

As for facilities not controlled by the Students’ Union,

i.e. Centra and Subway, the university has no control over what they do outside of the lease agreement, as they function independently. Their leases function for a fixed certain period of time and therefore unlikely to bend to public pressure so long as they continue to reach their targets. This has been seen more recently with the Aramark protests and

“With its cheapest item starting at €6.00 for vegetarians, and €7.00 for non-vegetarians, [the Global Lounge] is not exactly accessible to the student wallet.”

boycott on campus, which did nothing to impact the queue at Subway in the long run. Chopped, in the Global Lounge, is the only one that is viewed as accessible to almost all on campus, with anti-cross contamination processes in place, and options for almost all dietary needs. However, with its cheapest item starting at €6.00 for vegetarians, and €7.00 for non-vegetarians, it is not exactly accessible to the student wallet.

When it comes to accessible food however, there is something not widely spoken about, and it is the key to these issues. People who do not have dietary requirements are still able to eat them. Non-vegetarians can eat vegetarian food, people who do not eat halal or kosher can still eat halal or kosher meat, people who can eat wheat can still eat a salad without croutons. All joking aside, these things are all true, and so these foods would likely be eaten, even if it is not by the community it was intended for. There is no reason, when looking at the long term, to not provide these options, or at the very least trial them for longer than a few weeks, until word has had time to spread.

FEATURES A rite of passage: The Irish student in Canada With many UCD students already applying for the IEC summer visa, Stephanie O’Connor takes a look at the effect of the Irish student in Canada.

Canada has long been a place of adventure and economic opportunity for the Irish who frequently migrant to their shores. Whether it’s for temporary summer work or a more permanent move, the Irish are consistently drawn to the relaxed way of life that places such as Toronto and Vancouver have to offer.

With Vancouver’s warm summer climate and a legal drinking age of 19 it is easy to see why so many make the leap to Canada. The Canadian experience is truly becoming a stepping stone to adulthood as many Irish move away from home for the first time. With so many Irish students and expats already settled in Vancouver a new Irish community is beginning to plant strong roots in the British Isle of Columbia, with many Irish noticing faces from home on public transport and on street corners.

Most cities that welcome youths in their droves will experience a peak in summer months. With Trump having clamped down on the administration of Irish visas in 2016, it is expected that the number of Irish immigrating to Canada will continue to rise. The high cost of living in Vancouver means that only those who have 2,500 Canadian dollars in their bank account before leaving will make their way to Canadian shores. Locating reasonable accommodation that is not overpriced is also a concern for Irish citizens

thinking of moving away for the summer. Subsequently, many young Irish resort to living in fraternity houses where overcrowding occurs. Accepting the Irish may come at a cost, symptoms of anti-social behaviour are on the rise according to locals who await the arrival of the Irish each summer.

“Each summer Irish citizens go to Canada to experience a different way of life and bring a youthful glow to the city.”

With an increasing influx of Irish students to Canada over the past few years there has been greater discussion about the attitude of local Canadians towards the Irish who chose Canada as their place of migration. Some question whether Canadians are genuinely happy with the ever increasing number of Irish who wish to gain employment.

Concerns have been raised by locals regarding public

disorder and general vandalism. There have been reports of some Irish students urinating on dancefloors and absconding from restaurants and rental accommodation without paying their bills. In 2019, those wishing to obtain a visa will now have to fork out an additional 88 dollars which is the equivalent of €77.63 to pay for biometrics. In short, Irish students must now supply their fingerprint for security measures. Whether this has anything to do with the odd Irish student causing disruption remains to be seen. With more and more Irish youth choosing Vancouver to spend their summers perhaps this new procedure is apt as a fundamental security measure. A current UCD student who wished to remain anonymous summarised her experience of her summer in Vancouver by saying “I don’t think the majority of students travelling over to Canada in the summer months go with the aim of wreaking havoc but some really do get carried away.” Despite this, it was noted that this student’s experience with the Canadian people was very positive.

To shed light on the issue of anti-social behaviour Shauna Griffith, who is currently living in Vancouver says that “among the Irish that are here permanently, there is a feeling of dread for summer when Irish students rush to Vancouver in their thousands”. Cathy Murphy, Director

of the Irish Canadian Immigration Centre notes that “we have noticed large numbers arriving in Vancouver in late Spring.” With more Irish expected to make their way to Canada in the summer of 2019 it is important that the youth continue to foster positive ties with Vancouver’s Canadian population. Statistics from the government of Canada show that there has been an increase in work permits issued to Irish citizens, with a 28% increase in work permits issued between 2016 and 2017. 2018 showed a further steady improvement of 6% in the first half of the year. This is to continue to rise in 2019 with 10,700 work permits available through the International Experience Canada Programme (IEC). This programme allow those from 18-35 to work in Canada for a maximum of two years.

With this in mind, many Irish go back and forth to Canada in the summer months, often spending three months at a time in employment.

Despite this, Vancouver continues to welcome the Irish in their droves as they bring prosperity and vibrancy to Canadian city life. Canada has long been a hub of the Irish expat community with a particular increase in Irish to Vancouver during the Irish economic collapse of 2008.

With young people desperate to seize employment over the last few years the Celtic community has grown. Although the cost of living is expensive many young Irish continue to flock to Canada for its economic opportunities which remain sparse at home. With Canada being listed as one of the top safest countries in the world there are more push than pull factors when it comes to driving the Irish abroad.

The Irish are an important part of Canadian culture and this is not to be taken for granted. Each summer Irish citizens go to Canada to experience a different way of life and bring a youthful glow to the city. With the Irish historically being a culture of migrants it is important that we acknowledge the diversity they bring to new cities.

With the rise of social media networking has become the latest phenomenon to connect new Irish immigrants with more permanent residents living in Canada. Facebook groups not only direct young Irish citizens towards means of employment-but also offer carpooling services which team Irish people together to cut high travel costs. Overall, it can be said that Irish students are more concerned with sustaining their accommodation and part time job than acting the fool. With the high cost of living, working in Canada is no easy pursuit and requires one to have an considerable amount of savings.

The moral of the story is that anti-social behaviour can happen anywhere. Canadians welcome the Irish who take over the jobs of Canadians who emigrate themselves during the summer. The Irish and Canadians also share similar sense of humour which contributes to the liveliness of Canadian districts. Without the Irish, Canadian summers would truly not be the same. We need to embrace our relationship with Canada and encourage our youth to travel and explore Canadian shores while they can.

“The cruelest thing a child could experience” - The harrowing reality of Female Genital Mutilation As we mark the 13th International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, Katia Gillen reports on the continuing atrocities experienced by young girls all over the world.

Wednesday 6th February marked the 13th International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), an annual awareness day. Sponsored by the United Nations, it is part of the organization’s campaign to fully eradicate the procedure. FGM is the practice of removing all or partial female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is seen as a coming-of age ceremony in some communities and is most often performed to control a woman’s sexual enjoyment.

There are four commonly recognised types of FGM. The first one is clitoridectomy and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoris, which is hyper-sensitive due to the high volume of nerve endings. The second is excision, which involves the removal of the labia minora as well as the clitoris. The third, referred to as infibulation, involves the cutting of labia minora and labia majora, which are often stitched together, leaving a small gap allowing for menstrual fluid and urine. This means that before the woman enters a sexual relationship, the external opening must be widened. Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian women’s rights activist and a medical doctor, recalls treating patients who underwent infibulation in her book The Hidden Face of Eve with horror, noting that “when a Sudanese woman is divorced, the external opening is narrowed once more to ensure that she cannot have sexual relations. If she

remarries, widening is done again”. The fourth type of FGM refers to any other form of genital mutilation that is not medically necessary, such as piercing, cauterizing and pricking.

The procedure causes multiple health hazards, such as immediate and ongoing risks of infection, permanent pain, painful sex and urination, and other complications.

It also results in deep psychological consequences, often impairing women’s relationships and self-confidence. When speaking about her own experience with the procedure, Dr El Saadawi recounts not being able to “forget the painful incident that had made [her] lose [her] childhood once and for all, and that deprived [her] during [her] youth and for many years of married life from enjoying the fullness of [her] sexuality and the completeness of life that can only come from all-round psychological equilibrium.” If performed in developing countries, FGM is often carried out by local village practitioners who do not have medical qualifications or tools, and who sometimes use the same knife on several girls in the duration of one procedure. It also poses several death risks: to the young woman after the procedure from immediate complications; to the woman when giving birth and to the baby being born from asphyxiation. Hibo Wadere, raised in Somalia, where 98% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone forced mutilation,

and residing in England today, remembers “… being held down, [her] legs yanked apart and [her] genitals literally ripped apart.” She “saw the cutter every time she brought her hands up. The blood was everywhere.”

Mrs. Wadere was six years old when her family hosted a party that she was told would make her a woman. In an interview with the BBC, she calls the procedure the “cruelest thing for a child to experience.” She commented on the permanent effects FGM has on her life, saying that it was “not only that day” and that “it stays with you for life. It’s a life sentence.” Her account of the procedure is staggeringly similar to El Saadawi’s, who also describes having “… [her] thighs … pulled wide apart,” and “each of [her] lower limbs … held as far away as possible, gripped by steel fingers that never relinquished their pressure.”

In both instances the women recall having their families present and joyful over the occasion. A quick search of international organisations working to combat the practice reveals a plethora of nearly identical accounts. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 200 million women worldwide have undergone the procedure and, despite the internationally recognised barbarity of the practice, it estimates that 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure each year.

Last year, in conjunction with #MeToo movement, an international campaign was started in Ireland in an attempt to raise awareness of FGM under the #MeTooFGM. In 2012, it became illegal to not only perform FGM in Ireland, but also to take a girl out of state to have the procedure carried out. However, the European Institute for Gender Equality’s report estimates that between 158 and 1632 girls in Ireland are still at risk of undergoing FGM. Across the pond, the situation is not much different. An estimated 137,000 women and girls in England are victims of FGM according to City University London.

On the 1st February of this year, the UK saw a historic conviction of a mother for performing FGM on her 3-yearold daughter. It was the first conviction since 1985, when the practice was made illegal. The number of convictions is disproportionately small. BBC’s Freedom of Information request revealed 939 calls made to emergency services in a five-year period regarding FGM, but the Crown Prosecution service has only had 36 referrals by the police since 2010.

It was revealed that 1 in 4 FGM reports between 2015 and 2017 concerned girls aged 3 or less. Out of 17 reports made to the West Yorkshire police, the youngest girl was just one month old. The young age at which these procedures are performed is what makes it increasingly difficult for public authorities to detect the issue.

In France, a much tougher approach is taken. Children under the age of 6 undergo mandatory regular genital checks, and doctors are required to report cases of physical

abuse. Linda Weil-Curiel, a lawyer responsible for more than 100 FGM convictions in France, identifies parents as the key perpetrators of the abuse, and tells the BBC that they are the ones who “want” the procedure done in the first place, “pay for it” and “bring the child to the cutter.” She faults the British system for “[expecting] a

“While often seen as a problem of the developing world, FGM is not contained to it and is performed in European countries and the US as well.” child to complain against her parents”. Many people do not report FGM out of fear of appearing racist, failing to realize that child abuse is not a cultural phenomenon but a crime. While often seen as a problem of the developing world, FGM is not contained to it and is performed in European countries and the US as well. 19th century British gynecologist Isaac Brown promoted the practice as a treatment for insanity, epilepsy and a number of illnesses.

There is evidence suggesting US doctors practiced FGM until the 1960s. The Guardian learned that Renne Bergstrom raised in a Christian community in Mid-West America, was 3 years old when her mother “concerned that [Renee] was masturbating…, took [her] to a doctor who cut of [her] clitoris.” Similarly to the cases described above, Renee remembers the pain and her mother’s role in the procedure being carried out. The consequences of FGM meant that during childbirth Mrs. Bergstrom was at risk of dying without medical intervention. Dr El Saadawi also rejects the suggestion that FGM is a practice contained by customs or religion and sees it as part of a larger culture of containing female sexuality, referencing the European history of using chastity belts to the same effect.

It is clear that FGM is a harmful practice, causing many physical and mental health risks and death and that the forced mutilation of children must be stopped. Irish Family Planning Association provides free specialized medical care and counselling to women in Ireland who have experienced FGM. The IFPA can be reached on 085 877 1342 by call or text.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

9

FEATURES Who is responsible for climate change action?

Shivani Shukla reports on the panel discussion on Environmental Responsibility as part of Green Week.

Climate change is undoubtedly at the forefront of global problems. Calling it merely a human problem is not comprehensive of the ensuing disasters it is likely to bring about of all forms of life. We are now at a time when denial of climate change is a fool’s act. Amongst all of the cataclysmic realisations, which often go beyond an ordinary individual’s singular cognition, emerges the quintessential question: who is responsible for countering climate change?

UCD had its first Green Week this year, running from 4-7 February, with a variety of pro-environment activities happening throughout the week. This successful initiative can be accredited to Katie O’Dea, SU Environment Officer; and EcoUCD, a group of student volunteers that form her team. UCD Estate Services, along with various student societies like UCD Horticulture Society and UCD Biological Society, held a number of successful events. The objective of this week was not only to bring the conversation on environmental matters to UCD, but also to effect change in an environment that can easily be made greener, and an academic community that may reflect on their environmental behaviours and align with a more sustainable living. There is also a new-found group on campus, UCD Sustainable Energy Community, which students can volunteer for, in addition to EcoUCD. One of the highlights of the week was the panel discussion titled ‘Responsibility - who’s failing our environment?’. The panel was composed of politicians

“Ireland indeed makes a difference, albeit relatively small, and needs to move into a stance of social transformation towards a sustainable economy.”

Green Party Leader Eamonn Ryan TD; Deirdre Duffy, Fine Gael Election candidate; academics Dr. Lisa Ryan of UCD School of Economics and Dr. Andreas Hoepner of UCD Sutherland School of Law; and DCU Vice President for Education Placement, Craig McHugh. The session was moderated by Prof. Patrick Paul Walsh of the UCD School of Politics and International Relations.

The discussion began with the question: “Does Ireland make a difference to global climate change and how?”

With the stance that the Minister for Environment Richard Bruton has taken; envisioning Ireland to ‘act and show leadership’ in climate change action, it was agreed that Ireland indeed makes a difference, albeit relatively small,

and needs to move into a stance of social transformation towards a sustainable economy. It was also later said by Dr. Hoepner that Ireland can become “not only the best country in the world, but for the world.”

When asked who the blame was to be apportioned to, the panelists had varied opinions. While Eamonn Ryan TD stated that stopping fossil fuel exploration is key to addressing climate change, rather than individual behavioural change which he considered to be a weaker path, Craig McHugh was of the opinion that individual behaviour has a knock-on effect on society. Responsibility of the government towards this problem was highlighted and also the importance of political discussion stemming from the younger generations. McHugh said, “students not only want (environmental action) but feel a value in it.” Dr Ryan commented that procurement of green vehicles for public sector services can be seen as leading by example.

She also noted that a “soft transition into renewable energy” is needed rather than an abrupt stop on all fossil fuels, while agreeing with need to halt further exploration.

The panel was then directed towards the question of what can be done by Ireland to effectively affect climate change. Dr Hoepner added that denying refinancing to fossil fuel exploration will aid in this. Eamonn Ryan stated, “we need a ‘we’ politics around sustainability.” Ireland, being predominantly agro-based and having deep cultural roots in agriculture, is having considerable difficulty in addressing rising emissions from this sector, with 33% emissions last year being attributed to the agriculture sector. It has been labeled the ‘white elephant in the room’ on multiple occasions. Dr Ryan commented that there is a need to transition agriculture from being dairy-intensive to being increasingly forestry-based. Dr Hoepner pointed out that the unavailability of a substitute for agriculture, unlike most other sectors such as transport, leads to a lack of objective in reducing emissions, unless everyone turns vegan. The discussion also veered towards equality concerns in society to which Ms Duffy replied that it needs to be a matter for all of society. Eamonn Ryan TD made a statement, “[climate change] is not a matter of working class vs middle class, not a rural vs urban matter.” On a similar note, an audience member directed the question as to the creation and availability of job opportunities in a new low-carbon Irish economy. Academia is gearing towards the training of such professionals. This generated a stirred response from panelists, with general concurrence on the stance that new jobs will indeed be created and reinstatement of some older, more trades. Through Prof.

Walsh’s efficient moderation and insights from all panellists on various topics, the discussion concluded.

The panel discussion incites a deeper need for conversations that will lead to action, and it is becoming more pronounced by the day. There is some discordance between setting of the target of an 80% reduction in

greenhouse gas emissions by Ireland by 2050, and development of a sustainable path leading to it. Although several plans are underfoot, it is high time that these plans be realised into action. In Mr. Ryan’s words, “we have to change words of intent into action.” He added that there is a need to refine the plans of action, stating, “it is because we keep deferring action that the matter is becoming more urgent.” We, as future leaders, and also most likely sufferers of consequences of climate change, are capable of more action than older generations, to whom the idea of climate

change is on most occasions distant and impersonal. We can go beyond conversations and demand for governmental action to counter climate change, and on an individual level, try to consume thoughtfully and live sustainable lives. Arguments for apportioning blame can be made for all parties – consumers, producers, government, blocs of governments – and on many levels, from individual to global. However, it is to be realised by everyone that this is of no consequence if not followed synchronised efforts from every single unit.

Pictured: Panel discussion feat. Eamonn Ryan TD, Deirdre Duffy, Dr. Lisa Ryan, Dr. Andreas Hoepner and DCU Vice-President Craig McHugh, moderated by Prof. Patrick Paul Walsh

Concerns raised over ‘expensive and isolating’ oncampus accommodation With UCD getting approval to build a new €300 million accommodation complex, Shruti Juneja looks at the benefits and shortcomings of the plan in the context of the student housing shortage in Dublin.

With over 30,000 students, UCD is the largest university in Ireland. However, the main campus only has just over 3,100 beds, meaning that on-campus housing is usually restricted to first year and international students. For continuing students, finding housing off-campus is no easy task, with substandard living conditions and pricey apartments posing significant challenges. To tackle the shortage of student housing in Dublin, UCD has big plans to build a new accommodation complex on campus. Despite its potential to allow more students to live on-campus, the plan still has shortcomings as the model that the rooms will be based on is both expensive and isolating.

“It’s a project of grand scale that would double the amount of student beds here on campus, which can only be a good thing long-term … I think it’s badly needed, but my initial reactions were that it’s a bit too luxurious, that these rooms are a bit too large and that there was no need for everyone to have an ensuite. The price plan … I feel is still out of reach for a lot of students,” said UCDSU President Barry Murphy. The accommodation plan, which will cost €300 million, was recently approved by the An Bord Pleanála under its new “fast-track” planning process,

10 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

The Irish Times reported.

The plan will add 2,178 beds to campus in a new residential community that will span 7 blocks and contain buildings that will vary in 5 to 10 stories in height. “It

“The impact is ... that they’re housing less students for more money rather than more students for less money” would mean that continuing students, not just first years and international students, would be able to avail of a room on campus,” Murphy said. According to the Residential Master Plan description, “the creation of a dedicated residential character area that facilitates the development of a sense of community, delivers quality public spaces, commuting, social, recreational, shopping and other

facilities will significantly enhance the experience of students living on campus.”

However, Murphy, who along with the UCD Residences Working Group, had a chance to review and critique the plan last year, still has hesitations about the model that the rooms will be based on. In addition to being costly, Murphy fears that the set-up of the accommodation will not encourage social interaction. “The rooms are built in such a way that you kind of don’t have to leave your room unless you absolutely have to,” Murphy explained. “You have your own bathroom, you have your own desk, unless you need to go and cook a full dinner, you’re not really leaving. What that means is that students aren’t seeing other students. They’re in their rooms doing assignments, yes, but also watching movies by themselves, and so that’s not a good thing.” Based on conversations with current students living in catered accommodation on-campus, Murphy described a situation in which “sometimes there could be six people living in an apartment and they may not see other for a couple weeks at a time, which doesn’t bode well for making friends, for engaging in the student experience, and I suppose for orientating yourself to the

college experience.” Beyond the rooms themselves, the new residential complex will also feature a student facility centre, known as the Fulcrum Building, which will include a function hall, gym and a health and wellbeing centre as well as shops and services such as a bank, convenience store and café’s. However, Murphy doesn’t think this will be enough to foster social interaction between residents.

“I think there needs to be more social rooms, every couple of apartments there needs to be a communal living space where people can watch TV together and just to interact,” he said.

Taken together, Murphy predicted that the University will struggle to find enough students willing to fill up the new beds. “The impact is ... that they’re housing less students for more money rather than more students for less money. We don’t want to argue against quality of rooms, and these are really good quality rooms ... but cheaper options aren’t available, there’s no options to share rooms, there’s no options to have accommodations where you’re sharing a bathroom with two or three other students … so I do feel that they should have made those available, I do think that will affect demand.” Murphy said that he thinks students will still try to look for cheaper options offcampus, which is also not an ideal situation. “The problem with student housing in South Dublin at the moment is one that has been building over the last number of years and is not getting better anytime soon,” he said.

On one hand, students may opt to save on costs by squeezing eight people into a four bedroom apartment, but this could lead to substandard living conditions and the extra students have no rights because they are not officially tenants. Many students may also choose to live in digs, in which host families rent out their spare rooms, but there’s a lack of regulation surrounding digs, which could lead to underreporting of abuses. On the other hand, developers have been permitted to build large hotel-like luxurious apartments, which are often out of the price range of students or force them to work extra to be able to afford them. “All these things lead to an overall crisis where demand far exceeds supply, and not only does demand exceed supply, the supply that there is does not suit the demand, so it is either substandard or too luxurious and it’s very difficult to find something in the middle,” Murphy said.

The construction of the new accommodation at UCD will take place in three phases over the next several years.

“The ultimate goal would be to have cheap, affordable, quality on-campus accommodation where students can easily access student activities and engage on campus and access their teaching spaces and lectures. It’s a good thing that they’re building accommodation, and that should be acknowledged, but also what are they actually building?

What it will it entail? What will it cost students?”

SCIENCE Individualised medicine: Population Genetics In the last of a three-part series for science, Evelyn Elias dives deep into population-level genetic differences and their implications for medicine.

In previous issues, we explored different aspects of personalised medicine. We started with the idea that through personalised medicines we could tailor therapies to individuals based on their genetics. We then delved into how a change in one chromosome, X or Y, can change a person’s response to medication. However, personalised is not always confined to an individual’s genetic makeup, and can be broadened to population genetics, and how this may influence the way individuals respond to drugs.

The idea that population genetics can be divided into 5 groups – African, Asian, European, Native American and Oceanian – is outdated and incorrect. This implies that genetic differences between races are large, and each race can be placed in a separate category. However, populations do cluster into geographical regions, and this can affect the genetic variation amongst humans. The variation between different regions is in fact small, and the lines between populations are blurred. Furthermore, even within a single region, the genetics vary and there often is no uniform identity.

A study done at Stanford University investigated whether differences existed in alleles across seven major geographical regions. Alleles are parts of genes that determine hereditary characteristics. For example, everyone has the same gene that will code for hair, however different alleles will give different hair colours. They found that 92% of alleles were found in two or more regions of the regions studied, and more than half of all the alleles were found in all seven regions. This indicates that even across different geographical locations, humans are much more similar genetically than they are different.

While there are indeed no “trademark” allelic markers or genetic features that are characteristic of a single group, these slight changes in alleles across populations influence both the risk of certain diseases as well as the populations’ response to medications and therapies. For example, the Ashkenazi Jewish population is at much higher risk of metabolic diseases and cancer than the general population. It is theorized that this is in part due to the “bottleneck effect” where the numbers of a population decrease drastically, leading to a reduced variation in the gene pool of that population. Another example is in German and British populations, where these populations are genetically predisposed to inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

When it comes to therapeutics, there have also been several examples where differences in ethnicity have led to differences in responses to drugs. For example, propranolol is a very commonly used heart medication, mainly used to treat high blood pressure and to slow down heart rate.

Differences in response to this drug between populations were first noticed in 1984, when a small trial found that in order to achieve the same effect of propranolol, a larger dose is required for African Americans when compared to Caucasian Americans. Warfarin, a commonly used blood thinner is another example where African Americans require a higher dose than Caucasian Americans, whereas

Hispanic and Asian populations require a lower dose in order to have the same effect.

Although Warfarin concentrations in the blood of individuals on treatment are closely monitored, it has been speculated that even the therapeutic ranges may differ between populations. This becomes important when considering the therapeutic window of these drugs: if given too high a dose the patient is at risk of bleeding, and if given too little the patient is at high risk of blood clots which could lead to heart attack and stroke. Knowing the differences in response of different populations is therefore critical when treating patients.

The impact of genetic variation across populations on therapeutic response came to a head during the class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company BristolMyers-Squibb (BMS). This involved a drug, Plavix, which inhibits blood from clotting. It’s used as an alternative to

“Warfarin, a commonly used blood thinner is another example where African Americans require a higher dose than Caucasian Americans”

a “guinea pig”, financial considerations of participating in clinical research, and lack of awareness and education of clinical trials. Including an adequate proportion of ethnically diverse groups in clinical research is a critical factor in helping the understanding of interactions not only between an individual’s genetic profile and the impact of this on therapeutic options, but also on the interactions between environmental exposures and social factors. The barriers to diversity in clinical research therefore need to be addressed.

There are ethical and practical issues associated with genetically testing individuals or populations of people in order to determine their response to particular therapies.

First off, the issue of cost: it is estimated that including full genetic testing to clinical trials could add approximated $1 million to the cost of a clinical trial. This can put a barrier on genetic testing that could help to understand which populations may benefit, or not, from certain medications.

Next is the matter of sample size. It is likely that in a given population, small percentages of individuals will have allelic differences that will result in them not responding to treatment. This may affect the statistical significance of those findings, and therefore may not in fact impact the drug development or treatment protocols.

The practice of pharmacogenomics (determining the

likely response of an individual to therapeutic drugs) within populations also presents certain ethical issues. The definition of race or ethnicity in terms of genetics raises issues over whether developing the field of populationbased therapies that build on past and problematic issues of racial biology will overcome the possible benefits of personalised medicine.

As encouraging as personalised medicine is, there are therefore several issues that need to be addressed. The inclusion of minorities within clinical trials, and funding for genetic testing in clinical trials are barriers that need to be overcome before population pharmacogenomics can move forward. The issues on race, population genetics, and pharmacogenomics also need to be addressed properly in order to reap the benefits of tailoring pharmaceuticals to different populations, without propagating inherent inequity that already exist.

Personalised medicine is a promising field that has the potential to eliminate improper dosage of drugs, individuals taking drugs that have no benefit to them, or to optimize treatments for different populations and individuals.

However, proper research needs to be conducted, and care needs to be taken in order to ensure that all ethical and sociological considerations are properly weighted.

Aspirin for preventing heart attacks and stroke. A large clinical trial comparing Aspirin and Plavix found that Plavix did indeed reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular death. However, 95% of the study participants that took part in that trial were Caucasian, therefore failing to take into consideration the genetic differences between populations that may affect the efficacy of the drug.

Indeed, approximately thirteen years after drug approval, it was found that 75% of Pacific Islanders have a genetic makeup that make them unable to convert the drug into its active form, putting them at higher risk of strokes and heart attacks. This resulted in a class action lawsuit against the BMS, the company who makes Plavix. This class action lawsuit was ultimately won, with the Californian court ruling in favour of Plavix lawsuit proceedings, deeming that BMS falsely advertised the cardiovascular benefits of the drug.

So what is the solution? Is the answer to genetically test everyone that uses medications that so far have been found to act differently on populations with different allele variances? How can we avoid the discovery of harmful side effects of drugs on certain populations after the drug has been given approval?

As it stands, there continue to be issues with diversity in clinical trials. It is well known that minority populations have very low rates of participation. This occurs for a number of reasons like mistrust in research and fear of being

The legacy left by one small step - a defining moment in space exploration Fifty years on from when Man for set foot on the moon, Sean Mooney reflects on a defining moment of the 20th century.

The Soviet Union tested the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile in 1957 and, two months later, they launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. In response, the U.S. created NASA, which in effect usurped the American scientific research sector to wage a fight on a new front in the Cold War: the Space Race. The Soviet Union took an early lead when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

“Throughout the 1960s, 45–60% of Americans believed the government was overspending on space exploration.” became the first person in space in 1961. To level the playing field, President Kennedy announced a new goal, one that was so audacious, it meant both sides had to go back to the drawing board: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade.”

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the moon and Apollo 11 first achieved this goal, but the road to this mission was a bloody one. Eight NASA astronauts died across five separate accidents leading up to Apollo 11, highlighting the high level of ambient risk tolerated to hasten progress.

Many infer that the Apollo missions were popular because of the significant media attention they garnered but this is false. Throughout the 60s, 45–60% of Americans believed the government was overspending on space exploration. The day before Apollo 11 launched, there were protests outside the Kennedy Space Center. People were frustrated by the racial and financial inequalities in society and identified the NASA space program as the quintessence of this excess. An editorial in the Los Angeles Sentinel published days before the landing put a fine point on the discontentment. It read: “does the fact that we are preparing for space travel circumvent the fact that hunger and strife still exist unabated in this wonderful country of a plenty?”

The world was watching, with 530 million people across the globe tuning in to watch the Apollo 11 coverage.

Half a century on, it’s hard to imagine the apprehension that hung in the air just prior to the landing. People surely wondered whether NASA would be punished for its hubris, just as the Titanic was. Fittingly, Apollo is the Greek god of

archery and he is said to have never missed the target. At 56 minutes and 15 seconds past 3am on the morning of 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong took one small step, becoming the first person in history to set foot on the moon. He was joined on the desolate surface 19 minute later by Buzz Aldrin. In 1903, the Wright brothers flew the Wright Flyer, the first powered aircraft in history; just 66 years later, a piece of wood from this plane’s propeller was taken to the moon by Armstrong.

The expediency of getting to the moon gave way and peace was then the prevailing message. President Nixon spoke to them from ground control, saying “as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquillity, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquillity to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one.” The astronauts left behind a gold olive branch to symbolise peace and a plaque that read “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

More than 20 kg of rock was brought back from the moon. After the Apollo program ended, pieces of the rock were gifted to countries around the world. Ireland received a piece, which was housed in Dunsink Observatory until 1977, when a fire broke out in the observatory. The rock, worth in the region of €5 million, was then accidentally discarded with the debris. It is now somewhere in Finglas dump.

No-one has been to the moon since the Apollo 17 astronauts left on 14 December 1972. That may change though, with both the European Space Agency and NASA talking about establishing a permanent base on the moon.

Private companies are also entering the picture, and SpaceX have proposed a crewed mission to Mars.

Part of the reason the moon has remained uninhabited for the last 47 years is that robotic missions have become far more cost effective. Robots are happy to work without food or sleep so if the sole goal is research, sending a robot is best. Since migrating out of Africa, Homo sapiens have had an innate desire to explore next frontier, for good or ill. If the aim is to inspire the collective imagination, then astronauts do a better job. Although some feel that exploration for exploration’s sake is unjustified. Poet Dorothy Drain wrote, from the perspective of the moon, “Kindly tell the scientists / I am overworked / And wish / They would leave me alone with my craters.”

Such a universal goal of going to the moon managed to dissolve the boundaries of tribalism and unite people, something which would be welcomed in today’s divisive

climate. It also had an immense influence on popular culture, from Hollywood blockbusters and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk, to conspiracy theorists and inspiring generations of scientists. An image of Earth called Earthrise taken from lunar orbit in 1968 by astronaut William Anders ignited the environmental movement of today. Anders said of the photograph, “we set out to explore the moon and instead we discovered the earth.”

There were more tangible benefits to the Apollo program, too. “Power consumption. Mass. Volume. Data rate. All the things that were important to making space flight feasible led to major changes in technology,” said Professor Scott Hubbard, Stanford University.

Half a century on, the Apollo program may well be the most important event of the 20th century and the pinnacle of human ingenuity to date. The mission proved to be a profound existential moment as millions wondered together about their place in the cosmos, but the motivations to get to the moon were rooted in a power struggle between superpowers. Today’s impetus of leaving Earth once more stems from materialism (i.e., the resources there we can use) but, similarly, it is possible to envisage these base motivations giving way to something more profound. In any case, perhaps the reason that President Kennedy gave originally is sufficient: “We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy but because it is hard.”

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

11

SCIENCE Mind over matter: The intersection of technology and neuroscience Ever bullish about brain tech, Lillian Loescher takes a look at how far we have come in using technology to manipulate our minds.

The year is 1964. A Spanish man stands in the middle of a bullring in Córdoba, Spain amidst a crowd of eager onlookers waiting for the “bullfight” to begin. Mechanically, the man waves the proverbial red cloth, enticing the bull to charge. This particular bull had been bred to be extremely aggressive. As the bull races towards the cloth, the man quickly grabs what appears to be a remote control and presses two buttons. Almost immediately the bull slows to a halt, turns away from the cloth and runs in a different direction towards the edge of the ring.

This man, a neuroscientist named José Manuel Rodríguez Delgado had implanted electrodes into the bull’s brain prior to his display in order to show off his newest invention, the stimoceiver. In the ring the stimoceiver was used to send electrical impulses to the bull’s caudate nucleus (which controls motor processes in the brain) in order to force the bull to stop and walk away. Not one to sit quietly, José had a knack for making a spectacle of his research and he had this entire event filmed, which can be watched online today.

José Delgado wasn’t just a scientist, he was a dreamer.

“We’re very close to having the power to construct our own mental functions…

The question is, what sort of humans would we like, ideally, to construct”

breakthrough technology is what allowed Dr. Kennedy and his colleague Roy Bakay to help a locked in patient operate a computer with his mind.

The patient, Johnny Ray had been fully paralyzed from a stroke and was only able to answer “yes” and “no” questions by blinking his eyes. For months, Dr. Kennedy and Bakay analyzed Ray’s motor cortex activity using the neurotrophic electrode, prompting Ray to imagine speaking or moving certain areas of his body. After decoding the patterns of electrical signals that were buried in a cloud of unrelated “noise”, Dr. Kennedy and Bakay had taught Johnny Ray to use his eye movements to spell out words on a computer screen. This brought them worldwide acclaim and Dr. Kennedys research was celebrated for years to come.

After trying the same thing on a few other lockedin patients with no success, many of them dying from unrelated complications, he became restless. At the age of 66, after three decades of dedicated brain computer interface research, Dr. Kennedy found himself out of research subjects, his FDA funding had run dry and interest in his research seemed as quiet as his own lockedin patients. With nowhere else to turn in 2014 he decided to take matters into his own hands, or more specifically, his own head.

Out of his own pockets and into his brain, Dr. Kennedy

decided to put himself under the knife to further his own scientific pursuits of a speech prosthesis. A short flight to Belize and one 11-hour surgery later Dr. Kennedy awoke

“Neuro-engineers from the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University have managed to create a system that can translate human thought into recognizable speech” after a successful surgery, in which his own neurotrophic electrode had been inserted into his brain. The surgeon held up his glasses and asked Dr. Kennedy, “what are these?” and all Kennedy could muster to say was, “Uh … uh … ai … aiee.” It appeared that he himself had become brain damaged. With little sympathy from his fiancé, Dr. Kennedy sat in the hospital for days with no improvement, the more he tried to talk the more he seemed to get locked up.

Amazingly he quickly began to recover and within a month he was back to his research. Quickly, Dr. Kennedy realised that he needed another surgery to continue his personal experiment and that same year he flew back to Belize. This time he had a power coil and radio transceiver added to the wires already inside his brain. Once he returned home, he began gathering data. To do this he balanced a magnetic power coil and receiver on his head and began to record his own brain activity while he said different phrases to himself out loud, like, “the joy of a job makes the boy say wow”. While some scientists like Dr. Kennedy are looking inside to create speech prosthesis, others are looking outside.

Neuro-engineers from the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University have managed to create a system that can translate human thought into recognizable speech. Utilizing the power of neural networks (artificially intelligent computer systems that mimic neuronal activity in the brain) and a vocoder (speech synthesizer) these scientists were able to reproduce words based on the thoughts of individuals with 75% accuracy. This experiment is in its early stages, but in the future, this could be used to help individuals with ALS, locked-in syndrome or other disorders impacting speech production. With research in this area plentiful, it is just a matter of time before mind over matter is a reality.

He envisioned a future where his electrodes would be used to interpret, change and improve humans’ thoughts. In 1970, during an interview by the New York Times he said, “the human race is at an evolutionary turning point.

We’re very close to having the power to construct our own mental functions…The question is, what sort of humans would we like, ideally, to construct”. His dream of programming the human race was bucked off as societal backlash began to mount. Many claiming that if his scientific ideas came to fruition, it would infringe upon human integrity and freedom. Additionally, for many years after the bull ring display José received letters from people all over the world claiming that he was controlling their thoughts, in what could be interpreted as trolling in the pre-internet era. In the end, José messed with the bull and got the horns.

In the decades that followed, scientists with less ostentatious research goals seemed to gather more funding and José never entered the ring again. By the 1990s, scientists were quickly finding ways to analyze wide scale brain activity to predict which areas of the brain would be most active before an action takes place. This could be anything from moving an arm to speaking. Around this time a confident neurologist, Dr. Phil Kennedy, invented what is called the neurotrophic electrode. Shaped like a cone, this glass apparatus allowed him to leave wires inside the brain for long periods of time to record electrical activity. This

Should fake news worry us?

James Donaghey investigates the facts behind the fake news phenomenon.

In the run up to the 2016 US Presidential election, the term “fake news” became part of the popular lexicon. With its increasing popularity as a phrase, the definition has been skewed by whomever uses it, but the most agreed upon definition are “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke.” There is a growing concern regarding these false stories, to the extent that fake news identification is now being taught in some schools.

Yet a recent MIT study found that there is no need to worry: crowd sourced judgments are marginalising fake news sources, with a general mistrust of the small independent media firms with a track record of spewing false stories.

Fake news can be traced back centuries, but its explosion in recent times is owed to social media. Most notably was the viral nature of the presidential campaign, fabricated articles began appearing which sought to taint the bids of certain candidates. The notorious alleged Russian interference has roots in “bots” which swayed

public opinion by creating false stories. Not only did the stories not have a solid grounding in facts, they didn’t have a grounding in the US, with Macedonia proving to be the source of a lot of the damning articles. Somewhere along the way, the definition became misconstrued and became a name for news sources that produce stories from an unfavourable political perspective.

Not all fake news sources are as clearly satirical as Waterford Whispers. Outlets in America include Daily Kos and Breitbart, which are deemed hyper-partisan, or extremely biased. In the study conducted by MIT it was found, quite unsurprisingly, that Americans had a preferred news source which corresponded with their own political leanings. Democrats were generally found to trust MSNBC, while Republicans favoured Fox News.

The surprise in the study lay in the trust people held in news sources outside their domain. While Democrats had a low trust rating in Fox News (2.4 out of 5), this was still higher than left leaning hyper-partisan groups, which had a

rating of 1.8 out of 5. Similarly, Republicans demonstrated more support for MSNBC, which they considered leftist, than for Breitbart, which is far-right. Both Republicans and Democrats were shown to be even more distrustful of fake news sources, but individual articles without context have proven difficult to judge. Of all fake news stories, 75% are still treated like real news, and shared in much the same way.

So the fact remains that fake news is still rampant, in the literal and misunderstood sense of the term. With the growth of clickbait headlines, easy access to a large audience and a growing divide between populations politically, a lack of journalistic accountability has never been so easy to get away with. To put the study findings into a broader context, even if there is a trust level of one out of five, this still corresponds to 20 people for every 100 in a sample population having some faith in an untrustworthy news source. While marginalised by the majority, there remains a relatively substantial following.

The future of fake news is not as bright as we are led to believe. While the ability to influence a huge group of people has arguably never been easier, so too is the ability to verify stories and fact check. The old caveat “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is” applies here. Logic and common sense should hopefully prevail, where readers should read broadly instead of relying on the words of one fallible source. For example, when the mainstream media chose not to report Pope Francis’ endorsement of Donald

“While the ability to influence a huge group of people has arguably never been easier, so too is the ability to verify stories and fact check.”

Trump in the presidential race, but was instead broken by a “fantasy news website for pet owners”, one is advised to use their own personal judgement before sharing it further.

This leads one to wonder what size audience fake news really reaches. The answer to this is a little more alarming.

On Twitter, false news is 70% more likely to be retweeted. This is most likely owing to the fantastical and bias affirming nature of the “news”. Furthermore, algorithms mean that social media users are given stories which appeal to them based on their online history, and as a result it becomes more enticing to simply trust what we’ve trusted before. False tweets reach people six times faster than true alternatives. Not only this, but tweet chains based on falsities are spread 10 to 20 times faster than verifiable ones.

Basically, today we are being left to navigate a minefield. The news is no longer just taken as true, and our own discretion is being advised when absorbing stories.

If this now vital step is missed, misconceptions become enforced, fiction becomes treated like fact, and research is replaced with hearsay. News has become a commodity, and the minimal nature of it means the goal for some media companies is to summarise stories into the headline that can easily be shared. Hopefully in the future we will see increased accountability and regulation without resorting to censorship, but until then, clarify, verify sources and make sure it qualifies.

12 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

SCIENCE

The role of language in shaping our thoughts How real is the threat posed by George Orwell’s Newspeak? Janice Lau investigates the various ways by which language influences how we think.

If you’ve done another language in school, such as French, German or Spanish, you would know that there exists more than one form of “the” in these languages. In German, for example, all nouns have a gender. There are three forms of “the” – one masculine “der”, one feminine “die” and one neutral “das”. Thus, German is often referred to as a gendered language, unlike English. The effects of this can be seen in the gender identity of children, for example. One study found that Hebrew-speaking children were aware of their genders one year prior to Finnish-speaking children.

This may be due to the fact that Hebrew is a gendered language, while Finnish is not. This idea that our language in some way shapes our thought, is known as the SapirWhorf hypothesis.

Studies on bilingual speakers have also provided greater insight into Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. In a study conducted on Spanish-Swedish bilinguals, the researchers found that bilingualism can alter your perception of time. They noted that people who speak two languages perceive time “more fluidly” than those who speak one language. In English, time is described spatially, as if one is walking along a path – something happened a “while” ago. Meanwhile, in languages like Spanish, time is described volumetrically – a “big” moment. In their study, the researchers concluded that bilinguals tended to be more readily able to switch between the two concepts of time and as such, they had a more flexible approach to thinking about time. They thus concluded that time is not one universally understood concept in one manner, but instead, interpretations are shaped by language.

I did, I do, and I will do. English is a language with

tenses – the past, the present and the future. However, there are also “tenseless” languages, such as Mandarin.

In a recent TED talk by Keith Chen, a Chinese American Behavioural Economist, he posits that speakers of these languages are much better at making decisions, whether this be decisions with regards to saving money, or decisions about health, such as smoking habits. In comparing these tenseless language speakers to English speakers, English

“Language may also have an impact on the way we perceive colours. In certain cultures, colours are expressed solely as cold or warm” speakers were 30% less likely to be actively saving money.

The researchers conclude that tenseless speakers often perceive their life as a continuum – as one unit, and as such, there is a great focus on the impact of their decisions now on themselves in the future. Thus, they are more mindful in making decisions being reminded of the impact this decision may have on their future selves. Tenseless speakers are thus more likely to be better savers, healthier and moreover, they tend to live longer.

In English, we describe the location of an item in relative

terms. So, for example, “the car is to the left of the tree”.

Meanwhile, in Australian Aboriginal communities, they would say “the car is to the north”. In other words, English negotiates space in relative terms, while some languages refer to things in absolute spatial terms. Languages with such spatial absoluteness provide their speakers with greater navigation skills, being more accustomed to paying attention to the four cardinal points and thus, making them much better travel companions for easily lost and spatially oblivious individuals.

Language may also have an impact on the way we perceive colours. In certain cultures, colours are expressed solely as cold or warm. In other languages, there may be 12 different colours and the list goes on. Yet, the existence of words for these colours may impact our perception. For example, Russians are exceptionally good at distinguishing between light blue and dark blue. This may be attributed to the fact that Russian speakers have words to describe light blue and dark blue, and thus, the arguably negligible difference between these two colours may prove more striking for Russian speakers.

In numbers, researchers have found that Chinesespeaking children are much better at math at an earlier stage in life than English-speaking children. The reason for this can be found in the numbering system of the two languages. In Chinese, the system is quite clear and transparent – the number 11 is simply “ten one”.

Meanwhile, in English, 11 is “eleven” – a whole new word to add to the child’s vocabulary. This proves more difficult as the child has to learn a whole new word which is not a natural extension of the words it has previously learned.

Speakers of different languages tend to focus on different aspects of their immediate environment. This seemingly starts at a young age, influencing the way we think and see the world all the way up to adulthood. The contrasts are more strikingly apparent when we look at

“In a study conducted on Spanish-Swedish bilinguals, the researchers found that bilingualism can alter your perception of time” studies of bilingual individuals and how their attitudes tend to shift when responding in different languages, seemingly adopting the culture of the language in which they are responding in.

It may be comforting to know that to learn another language is to learn another mode of thought. And research has shown that while it is more difficult to learn new languages as we get older, we never quite lose the ability.

So if you have been considering broadening your mind, learning a new language may be a good place to start!

We will rock you (to sleep) Janice Lau examines the latest research that claims we sleep better while being rocked.

Between assignments and that minimum wage job you survive on to pay for your 39c Tesco garlic bread, it is often difficult to keep up on something vital – sleep. If you are like me, you take naps on the bus, but you worry about falling into a deep slumber and missing your stop, or worse, being mugged. Although rationally speaking, the probability of that is low because surely, you would wake up, you couldn’t be in that deep of a sleep on a moving bus… right?

If you sleep better whilst experiencing a rocking motion, e.g. in moving cars, buses or trains, you are not alone. In a recent experimental study investigating sleep and memory, researchers found that adults benefited in myriad ways from being rocked to sleep.

Firstly, participants fell asleep faster when being rocked. You don’t just fall asleep quicker on the bus because

you are so overworked and fatigued after a long two-hour class in college, the swaying of the vehicle contributes too.

Secondly, participants reached non-REM sleep quicker.

This refers to non-rapid eye movement sleep, informally known as “better sleep”. During the deep stages of nonREM sleep, when your eyes are not darting quickly in different directions, your body repairs and regrows tissues, and builds bones and muscles. Moreover, research has demonstrated that non-REM sleep can strengthen your immune system, a cheaper alternative to buying Vitamin C supplements. Additionally, being rocked to sleep lead to fewer abrupt shifts in brain wave patterns, which are an indication of a change from deep to light sleep. Aside from rocking increasing the occurrence of deep sleep, it can also enhance your memory.

Other researchers have demonstrated even more

benefits to being rocked to sleep, including an improvement to your overall health and well-being. Since rocking to sleep facilitates deep sleep, you can expect to wake up feeling more refreshed and more ready for that long 3-hour lab you have been dreading all week. Rocking can help improve your circulation, treat motion sickness, and eradicate toxins out of your body via the lymphatic system.

Additionally, having more energy than before can increase your productivity.

Aside from improving your physical health, rocking can also improve your psychological well-being. Rocking has been shown to alleviate stress and anxiety, allowing you to feel more relaxed. This juxtaposes the often-repeated quotation by Glenn Turner: “Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.”

Perhaps it needs to be tweaked.

Whilst sleep is often not prioritised, it is potentially one of the most important activities we can do to help ourselves.

Even though it seems simple, it is effective and necessary to assure our bodies function at an optimal level. Without good sleep, our immune systems can suffer, resulting in a higher risk of catching colds and other illnesses. As well as this, good sleep can help us learn better and it has been shown to improve memory retention (key for those allimportant MCQs).

The current body of sleep research also clearly indicates that the quality of sleep is just as important as the quantity of time spent asleep. You can sleep for lengthy periods of time and yet still feel not fully rested because the quality of your sleep was poor. Sleeping on a rocking bed can help with that.

In another study conducted on mice, researchers found that rocking reduced the length of time it took for the mice to fall asleep. As well as this, they slept for longer.

However, it was found that this rocking did not actually benefit the mice in terms of experiencing deeper sleep.

Studying the reasons behind this, the researchers found that in half of the mice, they lacked the sensory organs we have in our inner ears that allow us to control our sense of balance and spatial orientation.

From the beginning of time we, as babies, were rocked to sleep, and the above demonstrates the potential neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this “natural” phenomenon. But let’s think about the evolutionary underpinnings of this. Why is it that babies and, by extension, adults, sleep better while being rocked?

Perhaps we have become accustomed to rocking due to the gentle motions experienced while in our mothers’ wombs.

It is possible that this sanctuary in which we lived for the first nine months of our lives provided us with such comfort and feelings of safety and trust that, as adults, we strive to experience it again. With the rocking motion bringing us back to being in our mothers’ wombs, memories of being safe and warm are incited, facilitating better sleep.

Rocking beds are available to purchase but they don’t come cheap, retailing at approximately €3,050. Perhaps for now, make use of sleeping on public transport. The benefits of being rocked to sleep is backed up by scientific evidence, but more research is required to establish what kind of rocking motion and speed provides the most positive effects. Ultimately, great sleep can be had while being rocked, regardless of the location.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

13

STUDENT VOICES Hold to replay: On why I’m distracted Veronica Rozynek

“I thought we were going to the shops.”Soham shares his story of moving to Ireland and growing up here Andrea Andres Soham was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra in India. He moved to Ireland with his mother in 2003. He was four and a half years old. Soham’s move to Ireland was instigated by his own father, who moved first because “the quality of life was terrible and it wasn’t mirroring . . . the amount of work he put in.”

“When my dad lived in India, he used to work ridiculous shifts. He used to work six days a week. His shifts started at three in the morning and ended usually at nine in the night or seven in the evening. His bus journeys used to be 3 hours long. One way.”

So when the opportunity arose to move out of India, his father took it. “He got a job offer in Galway. He decided to move to that company in Galway because in the long term it would mean he’d have better opportunities for everyone else and himself. And he’d have a better quality of life.”

“It was kind of because of me as well because he thought I’d get a much better life in Ireland. It’s much harder in India. If you’re looking for a popular course like medicine, you’re looking at least 200,000 students fighting for one seat, not even the entire college course. Just one seat.” This is a substantially large number compared to 43,569 new entrants going to college all over Ireland, according to HEA figures for 2016/2017.

The process of bringing him and his mother took two years. “He went back for a visit and he’d come to get us then, but our visas didn’t really work out . . . My dad just had to go back empty handed. Then he came back the next year, I think 2003, and he took us with him,” he said.

During those two years, Soham was “vaguely aware of [his father] being gone away. It didn’t really make a difference in those two years. I was too small and I didn’t really know anything. But I guess when he came to take us, it made a difference because I was with them all the time and I kind of knew what was going on. But when he was away, I was way too small to know what was going on.”

Adjusting to a new country, for him, was “awkward” and “difficult”. “When I actually moved I didn’t know what I was getting into. I had to get used to a new place. It was colder, I was sick at the start of it because of the cold. I had to learn to speak English better.” As a child, he had no problem assimilating and didn’t experience any bullying.

Most of his friends were Irish and he could speak English “decently”. “It wasn’t too bad making friends,” he says.

Galway was “nice”, but “there wasn’t much to do...

There weren’t many people around, there were very few things to do. Amusement parks or any of that stuff, but there were a lot of national parks so it was a beautiful place.”

Their move to Loughrea in Galway was made easier by the other Indians living there. “They were the first ones,” with his father having “kind of laid the foundations” of an Indian community there. He estimates that the number has grown to “2,000 to 3,000 Indian people over the last 14 to 15 years.” His family is well-connected to Indians living there, having met organically; “We said ‘hi’ to each other at a place, got their contact numbers. We do meetings once a year to meet up. It’s like a gathering.”

Soham keeps in touch with his roots through a mix of food, language and consumption of Indian pop culture.

But his parents don’t see the need to try and preserve the culture. “[They] still spoke Hindi in the house. It was a habit.” Soham, on the other hand would “speak more English than Hindi because now [he’s] outside most of the time [he’s] speaking English most of the time.” Even his parents “speak a lot of English now too.” He still struggles to find words now and again. “[He] didn’t back then when [they] would watch a lot of Hindi movies and [they] weren’t into Hollywood.” They still cook Indian food “everyday”, but “it’s kind of mix.”

He feels like he’s “fifty-fifty” on being Irish and Indian. He feels like he’s “still somewhat connected to the culture.” He describes himself at “fairly even ground between both.” He doesn’t agree with certain viewpoints both in the Irish culture and Indian culture.

He doesn’t see himself going back to live in India. “I think I’m settled [in Ireland] now. I think the weather or the surroundings wouldn’t feel right to me.”

“I don’t mind where I come from or where I am. I just like where I am at the moment and I know where I would like to be in the future. Because it doesn’t really matter that I came from there and I’m staying here now. It doesn’t really make a difference that I’m from India, but I’m living here right now. That’s all the difference it makes.”

If you would like to tell your story get in touch through andrea.andres@ucdconnect.ie

ADVERTISEMENT

14 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

In the past few years, I’ve recognized a worrisome trend in myself and others around me: attention spans are increasingly dwindling. These days, we are easily distracted, often overwhelmed by the commotion of surrounding sensory stimuli. As patience becomes a virtue of antiquity, the internet’s lightning speed has rendered us all sprinters, eager to accomplish one task after the next.

With so much information at the tip of our fingers, it’s a fine line to navigate between being well-informed and hardcore addicts. Social media and sensationalist headlines compete for our attention, as each source attempts to fulfill our heightened, sensory thresholds. While technology has provided us with opportunities unimaginable in previous generations, it also inhibits our ability to critically reflect, as the tech industry infiltrates into nearly every aspect of our lives.

For me, it feels unorthodox, to be contactable all of the time through the means of a smartphone. I sometimes feel anxiety, if I leave my phone at home, as if the world will come to a screeching halt if I leave a text unanswered for a couple hours. In addition to the liberal dispensability of connection, it’s the urgency we stress on instant communication that’s perturbing. Emails and messages beg you to respond in a timely manner, or else you’re considered haphazard or even worse, blatantly rude.

However, the most pertinent issue of all is that this multitude of stimuli inhibits us of from properly reflecting on each event. More often than not, this generation has sacrificed sheer quantity of information over its veracity or quality of acquisition. We are voracious in our hunger to consume as much information as possible, without the capacity to truly process it. Our brains are not machines, and we were not created to mechanically or translucently filter information. To attribute meaning to each stimulus requires deeper thought, and this is what makes us human as opposed to artificially intelligent robots. In the dark ages, information about your surroundings is what enabled you to survive, and perhaps now too, it’s about survival of the fittest. The more we know, the more powerful our means of persuasion to reach our desired goals.

We seldom have the opportunity to be bored, when we can access anything we want. However, to be bored is also to allow your mind to wander and allow yourself to creatively loiter through the unknown. But maybe, this is what we fear the most. To be left alone with our thoughts, without the means of escaping what we truly feel. Not everyone wishes to reach their innermost core, and begin the excruciatingly painful process that is self-introspection.

Thus, as of late, I am trying to put away my phone, close my laptop and be a bit more mindful in my consumption.

I would like to be a selective consumer, and engage with information that I think is worthy of my attention. It’s easy to be passively absorbed by technology’s whirlwind, as it swallows us whole with the affirmation that there are millions of other users, eager to consume the internet’s latest feed. However, in the midst of increasing diversions, it may be worth to seek out some peaceful silence, which so often mistaken for emptiness, is really just the absence of noise.

GAEILGE Seo linn! Na rudaí is tábhachtach le bheidh ar eolas agat faoi Gaelbreak Ag smaoineamh faoi ag éalu UCD? Tugann Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra comhairle san alt seo.

Muna bhfuil eolas agaibh ar Gaelbreak, ar dtús, ca raibh sibh le tamall anuas? Is é ceann de na h-imeachtaí is mór den bhliain atá ag an Cumann Gaelach achan uile bliain.

Tá an imeacht seo feicthe achan áit, ó nuachtán náisiúnta go dtí TG4. Is é an príomh aidhm den imeacht seo le fáil chuig áit darbh ainm Gaeltacht X, gaeltacht atá roghnaithe ag coiste beag agus níl fhios ag duine ar bith ach na daoine seo cén gaeltacht atá ann. Chuireann siad píosaí beaga eolas ar fáil do na foireann agus tá orthú aimsiu an áit gan airgead a caitheadh agus gan úsáid ach Gaeilge.

Is dúshlán ollmhór é do duine ar bith atá ag iarraidh é a dhéanamh, agus tá seans go mbeidh eagla ar daoine nach bhfuil an Gaeilge is láidir acu nach mbeidh siad abálta é a dhéanamh. Ach, tá duine ar bith abálta ghlac pháirt san imeacht craiceailte seo!

Ar dtús, an bhfuil Gaeilge láidir agat? Má tá, is cuidiú mór é seo ach níl sé chomh tábhachtach is a shíleann tú. Tá seans maith go bhfuil na daoine a mbeidh tú ag buaileadh leo ar do chuid taisteal gan an teanga ar scor ar bith, go h-áirithe thart ar mBaile Átha Chliath. Ní bheidh an méid ceanna le ard-chaighdeáin den Ghaeilge acu i gcomparáid leis na daoine a buaileadh tú leat agus tú ag iarraidh níos gaire go dtí an ghaeltacht. Déan cinnte go úsaideann tú frásaí atá fusa le tuigfeáil den ghnáth phobal. Níl tú chun fáil áit ar bith má tá tú ag úsaid Gaeilge as an Blaoscaid nó croí-lár Dhún na nGall agus tú sa Pháil, le bheidh go h-ionraic go h-iomlan. Má tá eagla ort nach bhfuil fiú go leor Gaeilge le seo a dhéanamh, ná bí buartha! Bíonn foireannaí do beirt ag déanamh an turas seo de ghnáth agus mar sin de, má tá eolas agat ar duine le níos mo Gaeilge

ná túsa, cuir ceist orthu le cuidiú leat! Is seans ar dóigh Gaelbreak feabhas a chuir ar do chuid Gaeilge agus am a chaitheamh le do chara ag déanamh rud inteacht difrúil agus suimúil. Seans gur féidir leat é a dhéanamh mar rud romansúil fosta, úsaid do teanga má dtuigeann tú caidé atá mé ag rá!

An dara rud is tábhachtach nó le bheidh múineadh agat sa ghnáth phobal agus an dóigh ina bhfuil siad abálta cuidiú leat agus tú ag dul thart ar an tír. Tá sé deacair a creidiúint ach tá daoine breá sásta cuidiú amach leat agus tú ag déanamh dúshlan ar nós seo, go h-áirithe más féidir leat a rá go bhfuil tú ag déanamh é ar son an teanga. Beidh tú abálta daoine a aimsiú áit ar bith a bhfuil cúpla focail acu le cuidiú leat. Molfhainn duit le dul chuig áiteannaí ina bhfuil a lán daoine thart ort. Deirfinn gur áit maith le

amharc do chuidiú nó an Busáras i croí lár an chathair.

Beidh a lán daoine ann agus má faigheann tú cuidiú, beidh tú abálta fáil bus go dtí cibí áit a caitheamh tú dul chuig chomh luath agus is féidir agus is atá tú abálta. Seans maith má téann tú ar cheann de na busannaí seo chuig na áiteannaí seo go mbeidh Gaeilge ag an tiomanaí busa agus beidh siad breá sásta cuidiú leat má déannan tú iarracht do chás a mhíniú daofa. Seans go dtabharfaidh siad cúpla punt duit fosta agus tú ag iarraidh fáil chuig an príomh suíomh.

Muna bhfuil tú ábalta ticéadaí saor a fháil nó síobannaí a fháil seans maith go mbeidh ort cuir cheist ar son airgead as an ghnáth phobal. Ná bí aon eagla ort seo a dhéanamh.

Ghlacfaidh sé am go leor airgead a saothrú ach beidh tú abálta é a dhéanamh. Beidh ort rud suimúil a dhéanamh chun an airgead a saothrú. Is féidir leat déan iarracht saghas seo nó amhránaíocht a dhéanamh chun an airgead a

“Tá duine ar bith abálta ghlac pháirt san imeacht craiceailte seo!” aimsiú. Má tá scilleanna ait nó difrúil agat, déan cinnte go úsaideann tú iad! Ar fhoghlaim tú cleasannaí cártaí nuair a bhí tú níos óige? Úsaid iad! Má tá uirlis agat, go h-áirithe ceann Gaelach cosúil leis an feadóig stáin nó an fidil mar shampla, beidh sin an cuidiúil duit agus tú ag dul thart ag cuartú airgead. Muna bhfuil scil mar seo agat fhéin, déan cinnte go bhfuil cheann ag an duine atá ar an foireann leat, agus is féidir leatsa a bheidh mar an duine leis an hata ag bailliú an airgead as strainséirí nó mar lucht tacaíocht do nó di sa dóigh go stopfaidh daoine le amharc orthu agus iad ag cuir seó ar siúil do na daoine atá ag siúil thart. Má tá tú chun seo a dhéanamh, déan é ar sráid gnótha, cosúil le Sráid Ghrafton nó Sráid Uí Chonaill. Molfhainnse Sráid Uí Chonaill, sa dóigh go mbeidh tú abálta fáil chuig an Busáras nó stáisiúin Heuston chomh gasta agus is féidir leat chomh luath is atá an airgead saothraithe agat. Ná bí ag caitheamh airgead ar ticéadaí deas a h-oiread, má tá tú ag iarraidh fáil amach as an cathair agus fáil chuig an áit chomh fusa agus is féidir leat, déan cinnte go mbíonn tú ag sábhail do airgead, ar eagla go bhfuil ort tacsaí a fháil ag pointe éigin agus tú i lár an tír.

Sin é den chomhairle atá agam faoi láthair, beidh níos mó eolas ag an Cumann Gaelach ar leathanach Facebook s’acu. Má tá aon suim agat ghlac páirt ann, tá sé ar siúil ar an dara lá do mí Márta. Beidh níos mó fograíocht déanta níos gaire don am ach molfhainn daoibh le ghlac páirt!

Piain i mo ghuta – ca bhfuil an fada?

Idir deachractaí le comhlachtaí ollmhór agus bancannaí, pléann Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra an streachailt atá bainte le comhlachtaí ag déanamh dearmad den fada i ainmní daoine.

Is fíor le rá go bhfuil caidrimh iontach difrúil agus deacair ag an tír seo agus an teanga dúcháis, go h-áirithe nuair a baineann sé lenár gcuid ainmneacha. Deirfinn go bhfuil

“Dá mbeidh an fadhb seo i tír ar bith eile san Eoraip nó thart ar an domhan, beidh conspóid ollmhór faoi ar fad na meán uilig.” an t-ádh orm nach bhfuil fadaí ar bith i mo ainm, ach ní cheart go mbeidh an mothúcháin sin agam faoi an teanga agus an dóigh a úsaidtear ainmneacha go poiblí agus go príobhaideach. Tá sé soiléir le fheiceáil as cúpla de na modhannaí ina bhfuil comhlachtaí ar fud fad na tíre ag deighleáil leis an teanga agus iad ag déanamh a chuid gnó.

I cúpla gcasannaí, is féidir linn a rá nach bhfuil aon meas ar bith acu ar an teanga agus ainmneacha daoine. Is fadhb seo a táispeannain an meoin atá ag an ghnáth-phobail taobh amuigh de muintir le Gaeilge.

Is é an cás is cáiliúla de seo, deirfinn, nó i 2016 nuair a bhí fadhb ag bean óg darbh ainm Caoimhe Ní Chathail lena h-ainm ar an seirbhís fón 3. Níor scríobh an comhlacht a h-ainm i gceart ar a gcuid foirmeacha agus téacsanna chuicí. Nuair a chuir sí an fadhb chuig an líne cuidiú de custaméirí, dúradh léithe go raibh polasaí acu gan an fada a úsaid agus iad ag deighleáil le ainmneacha daoine. Chuir Caoimhe an eolas seo ar líne ar Twitter, agus i gceann cúpla uair bhí an nuacht seo feicthe ag na mílte thart ar an tír. Bhí conspóid ollmhór bainte leis an eolas seo a bhí curtha sa poiblí. Dúradh le custaméirí go mbeidh an fadhb seo réiteach ach le tamall anuas tá custaméirí ag fáil téacsanna ó an comhlacht le na h-ainmneacha mícheart arís. Deirfinn go bhfuil an fadhb go fóill ag custaméirí eile ach nach bhfuil morán daoine ag cuir é ar líne le táispeain don nuacht agus don poiblí. Anois, níl mé ag rá gur cheart go gcuirtear achan uile sampla de seo ar an líne chun táispeaint cé chomh olc is atá an fadhb, níl an modh nó an fuinneamh ag achan nduine a dtarlaíonn seo daofa le chuir é go poiblí agus le deighleáil leis na daoine ar an idirlíon.

Mar a fheictear go minic, tá an meoin ag daoine nár cheart go bhfuil cuidiú ar bith den teanga ar scor ar bith, agus is doiligh an rud é le deighleáil leis muna bhfuil cleactadh agat leis an idirlíon. Ach ag an am céanna, ba cheart dúinne chuartú freagra as na comhlachtaí seo nach bhfuil sásta nó atá ró falsa chun aitheantas cheart a thabhairt do teanga an tír. Da mbeidh an fadhb seo i tír ar bith eile san Eoraip nó thart ar an domhan, beidh conspóid ollmhór faoi ar fad na meán uilig. Ach mar gheall ar na smaointí atá ag daoine sa tír seo faoi an teanga níl aon méid glacadh le na

fadhbanna atá ag daoine le seo. Dúradh a lán daoine, 3 san aireamh, le na daoine a raibh na fadhbanna acu le athrú a gcuid ainmneacha go dtí an leagan béarla. Da raibh seo an cás le duine le teanga ar bith, ní bheidh seo smaointí ar mar réiteach ar chor ar bith.

Ní hé seo an sampla amháin de seo ag tarlú agus níl sé comhlachtaí príobhaideach amháin atá ag déanamh seo.

Tá comhlachtaí a bhuil airgead s’acu ag teacht as an rialtas ciontach do fadhbanna mar seo. Bhí dalta sa Tríonoide darbh ainm Cúnla Morris ag cuartú cárta Leap úr don bliain úr. Rinne siad iarracht chun a ainm a chuir isteach, ach nuair a rinne siad iarracht an fada a chuir san ainm, níor lig an suíomh idirlíone daofa a ainm a cuir isteach mar is gceart. Ag iarraidh fáil thart ar an fadhb seo, scríobh siad “Cunla le fada” sa bocsa ar a bhfuil an ainm de dhith.

In áit ag glac leis an eolas seo, phriontáil siad an frása seo go díreach. Chuirtear pictúr de seo suas ar an idirlíon agus

arís, cosúil leis an cás le Caoimhe, bhí sé feicthe ag na mílte i gceann tamall gairid fosta. Ní bhfuair Cúnla cárta úr agus tá orthu go fóill an cárta seo a úsaid ar an corás

“Dúradh a lán daoine, 3 san aireamh, le na daoine a raibh na fadhbanna acu le athrú a gcuid ainmneacha go dtí an leagan béarla.” taisteal poblí. Ar a laghad do comhlachtaí ar nós 3, is féidir an leithsceal a úsaid gur comhlacht idirnáisiúnta é, ach le TFI, níl an leithscéal céanna acu ar aon nós. Tá airgead

ag teacht ó an rialtas le chuir na chártaí seo ar fáil agus níl siad abálta ainmneacha na daoine a úsaideann teanga an tír a chuir isteach i gceart. Is mór an trua é le feiceáil, déanfainn sé iontach deacair don pobail Gaelach aon meas a bheidh acu fhéin agus an meoin atá ag an tír acu.

Níl ach dóigh amháin chun an fadhb seo a réiteadh; agus sin an íomha atá ag comhlachtaí a athrú. Caithfidh siad an iarracht daoine a fáil isteach a bhfuil an teanga agus muna bhfuil siad abálta duine mar seo a aimsiú, ar a laghad ba cheart daofa chuir an rogha do daoine an fada a úsaid agus iad ag líonadh amach foirmeacha ar líne. Ní dhéanann sé difir ar bith don comhlacht cén litreacha a úsaideann daoine agus iad ag clarú ach deanfainn sé difir mór do na daoine atá ag iarraidh a ainmneacha a úsaid ar a gcuid foirmeacha. Tá súil mór agam go athraítear an meoin seo gan mhoill.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

15

BUSINESS & CAREERS

NovaUCD welcomes two A European banking new Start-Ups ‘Revolut’-ion Shivani Shukla investigates two new Start-Ups recently inducted into As digital banking comes of age, Rory Clarke scrutinises the success NovaUCD and interviews their young founders. of Revolut (and others) across Europe.

Earlier this year, NovaUCD welcomed two new start-ups, myStudyPal and Evervault, into its entrepreneurial league. ‘myStudyPal’ is an education technology application, and is the brain-child of Mark Nealon, a 20-year-old undergraduate student in UCD School of Health Sciences.

Shane Curran, a UCD undergraduate student of Business and Law, is the founder of Evervault, a cybersecurity startup.

NovaUCD is “a purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facility for knowledge-intensive companies,” and provides comprehensive business support programmes to new entrepreneurs. Various additional supports such as advice, seminars and workshops as well as facilitated access to a network of researchers, business leaders and investors also assists budding entrepreneurs in shared learning from a supportive community and promoting their ventures. UCD Start-up Stars Programme is an entrepreneurship programme developed by NovaUCD, the UCD Innovation Academy and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School that starts in February, through which, one overall winning team is awarded a cash prize to help them on their start-up journey.

Mark Nealon, founder of myStudyPal, shared his story and insights on being a young, successful entrepreneur with The University Observer. The idea for myStudyPal germinated two years ago when Mark saw an opportunity in aiding students in building comprehensive yet flexible study plans to ease time management struggles of students towards study commitments. “There is a very welldocumented relationship between time management and stress reduction,” Mark observed. myStudyPal optimizes study timetables by assimilating information about the students’ subject matter, dividing study topics into neat timeframes, along with taking other activities, such as family commitments, into account. Users then receive timely push notifications about their tasks.

Mark admits that one of the critical challenges faced during the process was securing finances as banks are ofttimes reluctant to extend loans to such early-age ventures, and he has put all his savings towards the company. On the other hand, he noted that being a young entrepreneur can be a stand-out characteristic that intrigues investors.

When asked about lessons learnt from establishing myStudyPal, Mark comments, “I had zero technical skills going into this… learning the tech part is a challenge I faced.” A better grasp of soft skills, team management, and improvement in emotional intelligence were also his learning from the process.

MyStudyPal works in close association with teachers and parents in addition to students in order to incorporate ideas from all perspectives to create a highly personalized service. The company constantly seeks feedback and adapts to demands of the clients. The company is only in its initial year, but has received recognition, the most

prominent being listed under ‘Top 30 Irish techs to Watch in 2019’. With the Leaving Certification examination set to happen in June, myStudyPlan is anticipating higher demand for the service. Mark sees the UK as a plausible market for future expansion of myStudyPal, having a similar educational structure as Ireland.

NovaUCD included myStudyPal into its sphere after Mark attended a business event, approached and had conversations with involved agents in UCD Innovation.

Mark seems to be well poised between studying and working, and credits NovaUCD for providing opportunities for shared learning from his co-working space, along with proximity to campus so he can attend classes easily.

The company’s two major aims at the moment are to make the product as effective as possible, and to generate greater interest amongst schools, parents and students themselves towards using the application. Mark noted, “most of our challenge is still to come.” For young entrepreneurs, he said, “the journey is much romanticized and sometimes it can be extremely frustrating and demoralizing. But it’s all really, really exciting, and you learn so much.”

Shane Curran - founder of Evervault - is a seasoned developer, winner of the 53rd BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, a rugby player, has spoken at an OECD Forum, and the European Commission ICT 2013 conference, all the while a student. Evervault is not his first venture, with Libramatic, a smartphone-based library system, already under his belt.

Evervault is a cybersecurity service that is “on a mission to make data privacy simple and accessible.”

“We’re fundamentally re-architecting the way sensitive data is collected, stored and processed.” It is the “world’s first end-to-end (enclave to browser), turnkey, secure processing solution.” The company has been listed under Forbes 30 under 30, and is deemed a successful endeavor.

The start-up has “secured a number of enterprise customers in the technology sector and is currently finalising their seed investment round.”

Shane stated in an earlier interview, “we plan to significantly ramp up our team during 2019 to support R&D, some of which I hope we can do here at UCD, and also grow our sales team.” Placement in NovaUCD has given him a set-up to easily access the campus and focus on his studies, while giving the company a base for scaling up.

Tom Flanagan, Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, UCD, said, “I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming Shane and Mark to our community of entrepreneurs at NovaUCD. It is fantastic to see these two young and talented entrepreneurs combining their undergraduate studies with developing and scaling their start-ups. Both, Evervault and myStudyPal, are ones to watch in the years ahead.”

The world’s first bank was reputedly opened in 1397 by the industrious Medici family in Italy. Named after the benches on which these early bankers met with their clients (banca), banks have permeated society ever since.

However, those 14th century bankers would have little difficulty in recognising their modern contemporaries.

Revolut, is one of a myriad of digital banking companies, which have sprung up since the turn of the decade. In April 2018, it gained the informal status of a ‘technology unicorn’, a name given to private companies which reach a valuation of £1bn. All this, for a company and a concept, which was given little chance of survival in 2015 when it came into being.

Revolut aims to provide a banking service without borders. Amongst a plethora of other functions, it offers free international money transfers, fee-free global spending and, shortly, access to cryptocurrency exchange.

Their business model is proving to be stellar and sustainable. Having first broken even in December 2017, it has done so every month since. It isn’t plagued by ads or off-beat suggestions. Instead it offers premium services for those more active and discerning users who may, for example, exceed the monthly non-euro transaction limit.

Indeed, its founder has stated confidently that they “are living up to our reputation as the “Amazon of banking.’

These digital banks aim to tackle some of the traditional barriers and gripes associated with ‘regular banks’. This includes quick and easy transferring, splitting of bills and currency conversions. It takes the time and stress out of banking, making trips to the bank obsolete. A ‘trip’ to the Revolut-bank merely involves opening the app on your phone, anytime, anywhere.

One of Revolut’s core aims is to streamline banking across Europe. They offer free withdrawals and payments in 150 non-euro currencies (up to a certain monthly limit), which is a blessing for cash-strapped holiday-makers and gap-yearers, even more so when you consider most mainstream Irish banks charge 3.5% for such withdrawals.

It also allows users to hold and operate different currency accounts within your overall portfolio.

One of its most valuable features, especially for students, is the Vault. As a handy saving mechanism, this feature rounds up transactions to the nearest euro, with those extra cents being sent to a Vault. For example, if I bought a coffee for €2.50, my Revolut account takes out €3, with the 50 cent ferreted away for use in the future. It’s amazing how quickly these amounts add up, and, unlike when saving physical small change, it never gets lost!

Many of these digital banks pride themselves on innovative and technologically-advanced security and fraud protections. Revolut’s include the ability to temporarily freeze a lost card (rather than cancelling it), enabling only certain types of transactions, coupled with

and a GPS-based system where payments will only be processed if your phone is within a certain proximity.

Although initially incorporated as a UK bank, Revolut was granted a full EU banking licence in December 2018 in Lithuania - which can be easily transferred to other EU countries due to EU ‘passporting’ rules. Passporting, drawn from the fundamental freedoms of the EU, allows an EU banking licence in one-member state to be valid in other member states without requiring a subsidiary.

The Capital Requirements Directive 2013, which governs the transferring of such licences, requires only that new licence holders must notify the relevant authorities within any member state where they wish to offer their services.

This application will also see deposits up to €100,000 guaranteed in these countries under the European Deposit Insurance Scheme, if and when the Commission’s plan, first mooted in 2015, comes into being.

However, whilst digital banks thrive in Europe they have traditionally struggled in the United States. The two biggest players, Simple and Moven have survived only by working with the established banks whose custom they initially sought to subvert. Indeed, Moven split in two during 2018, after seven unimpressive years.

Furthermore, inertia on the other side of the Atlantic, set in sharp contrast to the active interventionist mindset of EU legislators, has prevented the success of companies like Revolut stateside. Whilst Washington has done little, the European Commission has actively encouraged innovation in the financial sector, with the publication of its FinTech Action Plan and its efforts to harmonise pan-EU guidelines in relation to transfers, invoices and credit conversion.

In Europe, the sector is controlled via EU Payments Service Directives, most recently PSD2. The net effect of this directive is that small start-ups and fintech companies - like Revolut - have greater access to payment data thus encroaching on areas of consumer finance which banks have traditionally dominated. At the time of its passing in 2015, EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill commented that the legislation was a “step towards the digital single market.”

Digital banking alternatives have generally encouraged users to engage with their service with incentives - e.g free registration and first card offers, with rewards for sharing it with friends. This takes advantage of a modern person’s social instincts to create a circle of beneficence with the provider at its centre.

Although this system has been effective, it’s becoming increasingly evident that they don’t have to rely on it as they once did. Standard economic principles of supply and demand are crystallising the dream of a new digital financial empire all by themselves.

The success of Revolut and others speaks for itself they are speaking to a new wave of consumer desire thus far untapped by branch-based banks.

Rigging the system: the LIBOR scandal explained What if you were told the financial markets had been partially rigged since the early 2000s?, Robert Treacy discusses the LIBOR fixing scandal.

LIBOR is an acronym for the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate, the rate at which banks in London lend money to each other. Banks lend each other vast sums of money at lower interest rates than they lend to consumers. These loans are extremely short term; most of these loans have maturities of only one week, often they are for one day (known as an overnight loan). The New York Times has conservatively estimated that LIBOR, which is the principal benchmark for short-term interest rates around the world, underpins at least $350 trillion of financial transactions, many of which are interest rate swaps.

LIBOR also affects the interest rate at which retail banks lend to customers and the interest rate on adjustable rate mortgages, this becomes relevant later.

To understand the scandal, we must first understand how LIBOR is calculated: LIBOR is calculated daily

by Thompson Reuters. London’s largest banks submit estimates of what interest rate they would expect to be charged by other banks. Thompson Reuters then removes any outlier responses and sets LIBOR at the average of the remaining values. If banks were to collude, they would effectively control the interbank rate.

How closely connected were banks using LIBOR? Interest Rate Swaps are fixed income derivatives in which two parties can exchange interest payments.

Essentially, if one party is on a variable rate loan that is linked to LIBOR and the counterparty is on a fixed rate loan, they can swap their loan repayments. For example, General Electric borrowed £20 million at a fixed rate of 5% and Nike has borrowed £20 million at LIBOR+1%. If GE believes that LIBOR will drop below 4%, then they would prefer to pay LIBOR +1% rather than their 5% fixed. On the other side of the swap, Nike may believe that LIBOR is highly volatile and would prefer to pay a predictable 5% fixed rate. The two companies can enter into an interest

16 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

rate swap.

An interest rate swap is still possible if the two counter-parties have borrowed different sums of money.

The notional value is the value upon which interest rates payments will be exchanged. For example, where GE may only have a £15 million loan, Nike may offer an interest rate swap where they pay £15 million at a fixed 5% in exchange for GE taking LIBOR +4% interest payments. Nike may then try to find another company in which to engage in an interest rate swap for the remaining £5 million. As you can imagine, firms quickly become entangled in each other’s credit making them vulnerable to defaults. When one firm defaults on its payments it affects all the other firms in the web of interest rate swaps.

The LIBOR fixing scandal was speculated about for some time. Financial news outlets published numerous articles expressing concern that banks were submitting LIBOR estimates far lower than any reasonable estimate, thus biasing the calculation done by Thompson Reuters to result in a lower rate.

From a bank’s perspective, there are good reasons for fixing LIBOR: Primarily because lower LIBOR rates would benefit their traders. For example, in the first quarter of 2009, Citigroup had interest rate swaps of notional value of $14.2 trillion, Bank of America had $49.7 trillion and JPMorgan Chase wasn’t far behind with $49.3 trillion.

Each of these banks were betting that LIBOR would remain low, while the counterparties to these swaps believed a fixed interest rate was the better deal. Clearly there was a conflict of interest. Banks could control the rate depending on what suited their traders.

After the scandal broke, several US Municipalities filed lawsuits against LIBOR setting banks. These banks had suggested that municipalities should enter into interest rate swaps to decrease exposure to LIBOR, the banks

lawsuits against LIBOR setting banks. These banks had suggested that municipalities should enter into interest rate swaps to decrease exposure to LIBOR, the banks would be the counterparty and pay out at variable rates.

“As you can imagine, firms quickly become entangled in each other’s credit making them vulnerable to defaults. When one firm defaults on its payments it affects all the other firms in the web of interest rate swaps.”

Banks then manipulate the rate lower and profit from the municipalities. The plaintiffs alleged the estimated cost of the manipulation of LIBOR to the municipalities was at least $6 billion.

Furthermore, statistical analysis indicated that the London Interbank Offered Rate rose consistently on the first day of each month between 2000 and 2009. The very same day that most adjustable-rate mortgages rates would “reset” their interest rate. For clarity: an adjustable rate mortgage is a mortgage where the interest rate is periodically adjusted to reflect the cost of borrowing money, the cost of borrowing is calculated using a standard

benchmark (usually LIBOR). That means that millions of homeowners were paying more on their mortgage due to rigging of LIBOR. A secondary reason to artificially fix LIBOR, was to portray a façade of creditworthiness. Submitting a low LIBOR estimation conveys that your firm would not expect to be charged a high rate of interest from another bank, implying others believed your bank to be a low risk of default. Of course, during the credit crunch all banks lent money to each other at significantly higher interest rates than the LIBOR, because all banks were at risk of default.

LIBOR has become heavily regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, submitting false statements was made a criminal offence under the Financial Services Act 2012. Moreover, banks must now have a named person responsible for their LIBOR submissions and must keep records of submissions for audit purposes.

Heavy penalties were imposed on banks connected with the scandal: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was fined $612 million for its role in the global rate-rigging scandal. Barclays was fined over $400 million and UBS was fined $1.5 billion. Prosecutors also charged former UBS trader Tom Hayes: The father of one was accused of playing a “ring leader” role in the LIBOR fixing scandal.

Mr. Hayes was said to have acted alone. He denies this, saying his superiors were aware and even encouraged him to manipulate the rate. Tom Hayes (nicknamed “Tommy Chocolate,” as he was known to drink hot chocolate instead of alcohol on nights out) was sentenced to 14 years in prison, for context, notable Dublin serial rapist Michael Murray only served 13 years in jail. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America – are still under investigation for their involvement in scandal.

4

5

13 6

PUZZLES

14

Hello there 7

The Literary Alpaca 15

Across

9 12

14

10

2

Down

11

2. A handbook on boycotting Israel written by the American Psychiatric Association

1. The most commanding of metals

6. Known for a club dedicated to Bowles of a particular chocolate bar

3. This painful award can bring pleasure to some

7. Animated series about withdrawal 12. This super-model of the world has been caught stealing lipsticks 13. Implications of a final resting place

3

2. This fish is deep

4 out of college 4. Recklessly follow this path full speed 5. Available on Netflix but not in Catholic School 8. A fun Venue, and what they do to trouble makers here

5

9. An Irish actor who learned that lynching is bad

14. Fascist help desk for students in UCD

15

1

10. This Roman god perished in France

15. Created online for satisfaction, complacency

6

7

11. He brings calcium to the peasants of Anatevka

Down

the American

particular chocolate

1. The most commanding of metals

8

2. This fish is deep 3. This painful award can bring pleasure to some

10

4. Recklessly follow this path full speed out of college

ught stealing lipsticks

9

5. Available on Netflix but not in Catholic School 8. A fun Venue, and what they do to trouble makers here 9. An Irish actor who learned that lynching is bad 10. This Roman god perished in France

cy

11

11. He brings calcium to the peasants of Anatevka

12

13

14

15

The Harpy Across

Down

2. You may be too raw to eat this

1. Who casted out the Castros?

4. 'Authentic' Korean drink

3. Brazilian new Trump-like President, rh

6. Tennis players are Slam-ing here at the moment

5. Country running 271 days on fossil-fue

10. Your Irishman's favourite Italian dish

7. Italian salumi that's the next hipster piz

11. New pizza potas joint in Dublin that's a play on the word 'pizza' “Re vera, bene“ 12. Eire's latest export boom-product

8. This is seen when your food is rotting 9. Moroccan claypot for fancy eating

15. This un-buzzed Heathrow with its buzz 13. The Nobel Economist this year Billy McFarland, Ja 14.

Rule UCD School of Medicine to Essentially a long onion offer modules in homeopathy employed to head UCD Ball Eli Blunt for incoming first years

Eli Blunt In an attempt to commence the phasing out of the old curriculum in the School of Medicine, UCD will offer several modules in homeopathic care in medicine for incoming first years in the academic year 2019/2020.

The decision was made after the Higher Education Authority (HEA) published a report in which recentlygraduated doctors, nurses and midwives were interviewed over how they acclimatised to working in hospitals. The graduates highlighted a severe lack in the representation of homeopathic practises at industry level in the Irish healthcare system.

Dean of Medicine in UCD, Professor Michael Keane welcomed the news of the new modules in UCD, stating that “this new way of thinking will surely have an impact on the CAO points for health science related courses. I myself look forward to getting my hands dirty in our ‘rich soil healing farm’ that will be installed over the summer break.” Homeopathy, which is school of thought that believes the body can heal itself (weird flex but okay), Prof Keane believes that this ethos will inspire students to teach themselves in the field of medicine.

At a press conference earlier last week, Prof Keane took questions on the layout of the natural medicine route of learning. Announced at the press conference, held in the newly furbished University Club, Prof Keane unveiled the flagship module HOMO10050 Physician Heal Thyself, which according to the module description, aims to teach students the basics of the self treatment using crystals, herbal remedies and dilutions of opioids. Keane hopes that with the success of this module, successful students will move on to hands-on experience in hospital morgues “as the insurance won’t cover teaching with live patients.”

A spokesperson from the office of Minister for Health Simon Harris told The Harpy that the minister “was excited to see this transition to more user-friendly alternative solutions to nasty tummy bugs that will hopefully reduce the overall workload for healthcare professionals across the country.” The Harpy did not receive a comment at the time of publishing when asking Minister Harris if introducing this new healthcare reform would distract from the failure

of the government to increase the nurses’ and midwives’ salaries.

Not everyone held the news in such high regard. Senior staff from the School of Psychology were seen protesting outside the University Club and remarked with dismay that “such modules will steal their thunder amongst our peers in the scientific community.” This was met with appropriate rapturous laughter from all in attendance at the press conference. Ms Cliodhna O’Connor, a research fellow, dismissed the module as “pandering to the hypochondriac masses that want an alternative to vaccines. Everyone knows if you understand the behaviour of the virus, you can talk to it and get to the root of why it causes harm to people.”

Further concerns were raised over the lack of sufficient equipment necessary for the modules to go ahead as planned. Tipped module coordinator Dr John Baugh reassured those in attendance that he was in contact with outside contractors to supply equipment for the laboratory sessions. The Harpy later discovered that Dr Baugh was referring to UCD’s Horticulture Society for assistance.

Society auditor Dan Connor spoke to The Harpy saying “[Dr Baugh] asked if we could grow ‘essence of nightshade’ in our greenhouse for the class. I tried to explain to him that we weren’t interested in participating in what I frankly thought was a bad joke, but he wouldn’t listen.”

HOMO10050 Physician Heal Thyself will be a five credit module for pre-med students, beginning in the academic year 2019/2020. The module will consist of lectures from experts in the homeopathy, along with guest lectures from Rachel Smith, business owner of Rachel’s Remedies in Terenure, Co Dublin. The end of semester examination will be a 100% interview based assessment, where students’ auras will be judged on how well they absorbed the good vibes of the module and the clearness of the chakras.

More information on the module and education plan can be found on the UCD’s School of Medicine website, or by making an appointment with Dr Baugh.

In the wake of the announcement that the UCD Ball will return to the Belfield campus this semester, infamous event organiser Billy McFarland has been employed to head the project of an unironic Fyre Festival-styled UCD Ball. The plans which senior UCD officials have said will “cost an arm and a leg”, were leaked to The Harpy this morning along with correspondence between SU President Barry Murphy and UCD President Andrew Deeks, by a source close to the Union. Although requesting to remain anonymous, our source did wish to go on the record, stating “that the College Officer for Law, Edward Leonard is a really great guy who tries his best within the Union and is actually pretty good friends with [Barry] Murphy.”

In the emails between the two, Murphy reassured President Deeks that he’ll “find some way of coming up with the money.” Leaked supplementary budgets which showed the UCD Fashion Show was forced back into the closet, to fund the UCD Ball, a decision that the source said he was not consulted on or agreed with. Deeks continued to voice his concern over the project, asking Murphy “is it really worth it for a few extra bob in the kitty? I just want to make sure the students are getting a good deal.” Sources close to Murphy said that he was eager to fast-track this construction “in order to be the hero that brought back the Ball”, going so far as to put down a deposit of €19,000 that was supposedly lost from last year’s Fashion Show. The Harpy approached UCD Student Services spokesperson, Jason Masterson to confirm these allegations, but were met with stifled tears and concerned glances at the CCTV cameras in the corner of the room.

The construction plans, which were awarded to construction company LL Flatigan, show that the dome will cost upwards of €14 million, with old televisions being strategically placed at various points around the campus to watch the main stage. The event will feature a cashonly bar with limited alcohol licences and a special area reserved for “SU Prez’s private party.” McFarland spoke to The Harpy about his vision for the Ball, stating “I’ve made a name for myself as the event organiser for the rich and clueless, and this guy Murphy guy seems to like my track record of robbing blind the unsuspecting and naive. He asked if he could intern for me over the summer.”

Campaigns & Communications Officer Thomas Monaghan was unavailable for comment at the time of publication due to prior commitments with the public

relations officer in Dicey’s, but a Union staff member said that she would get back with a comment as soon as she informed Monaghan that an event of this nature was going ahead.

Architecture graduate and LL Flatigan intern, Tommy Green spoke to The Harpy about the construction plans, saying he received very specific instructions from Murphy for the design to have a long and winding tunnel from the N11 entrance to the main dome area surrounding the quad, with a smaller and slightly further back dome to be used for much needed car-parking facilities.

Questions were raised at a student council meeting, as to how the rest of the bill would be paid for, with one Welfare Officer noting a suspicious and unexplainable lack of counsellors in the Health Services in UCD that had been just hired. Dr Marian Freud of the Student Health Services later remarked that “the line to see the counsellors wasn’t long enough for UCD to justify another counsellor,” and advised students waiting to just go on their phones and download the app “sure there’s an app for everything nowadays.”

In the Council meeting, Education Officer Stephen Crosby announced that despite his best efforts, a new policy was passed that required students to pay for repeats and resits before sitting the exam “just to make sure.”

When asked if they would be refunded, Crosby gave a slight chuckle, alluding to a more sinister exam experience on the horizon for UCD students.

Murphy refused to comment on the decision process via an email interview, stating that he had a sore throat from being at a rally for students wanting Daylight Savings Time to be taught in universities. Flustered after the litany of pressing questions from both students and press such as “where can I get something to eat that caters to my dietary requirements?” or “what is the point of the President?”, reports came in to The Harpy that Murphy has been locked in office, mumbling “can’t we just go to a protest in town?” and “we don’t need USI.” The UCD Ball is rumoured to feature such acts as Battle of the Bands winner Greyface, UCD Musical Society’s Vocal Group, and former SU Presidential Candidate and radio-host, Breifne O’Brien. Tickets are estimated to be €500. Deposits in the form of a written reference from a reputable Dublin-based landlord will be accepted in the SU Corridor from the 1st April.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

17

EDITORIAL Editorial: Addiction should be treated with compassion The conversation around drugs in Ireland needs to change. When drugs are mentioned as news pieces on RTÉ, the focus is always on the amount of drugs seized, their monetary value and the people arrested for their possession, all highlighting the crime aspect of drugs.

There is a culture in Ireland that if you take drugs, you have made the conscious decision to do so, and you are solely responsible for the consequences.

From an early age, people are first introduced to the dangers of drug use in Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) classes when teachers advise the often disinterested students to steer clear of drugs and the people who offer them. Drugs are bad, end of story. The only time drugs come up in the curriculum is when being discussed for the physical and effects it has on the brain, how it interacts with the reward centre and the deterioration of grey matter through prolonged use.

SPHE classes warn about the dangers of peer pressure and how that leads to drug use and addiction; but what about personal circumstances of the user, such as homelessness or bereavement? Not everyone takes drugs to feel great a party, some people take them to get through the day.

Little airtime is given to the stories of people suffering from drug addiction and the real-world routines of those who continue to use drugs or who are seeking to beat their addiction. The circumstances that lead people to choose

drugs are rarely discussed, even rarer are the personal cases that are mentioned in reports on the drug policy and responses. People sometimes do not realise that behind every statistic is a person. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published the Ireland Drug Report 2018, which showed data from 2016 on the “overview of the drug phenomenon in Ireland, covering drug supply, use and public health problems as well as drug policy and responses.” Key findings of the report show that in 2015, there was 224 deaths caused by drug overdose, with approximately 50 cases of HIV diagnosis attributed to injecting. The report also found that while there were just under 4,000 offences in Ireland in 2016, for the supply of drugs, there were over 11,000 offences of drug use or possession of drugs, further showing the disparity between what we are taught to view drugs as a crime and the reality of the number of people you selfmedicate on drugs. Drug dealers are a very serious problem in Irish society, who prey on and take advantage of people, and there needs to be tighter restrictions and harsher sentences passed for distributing drugs, but they cannot and should be painted with the same brush as people you take drugs for themselves and do not intend to supply them to other people for profit.

There are groups that raise awareness of the realities of addiction and aim to help those who make the decision

to become drug-free. Merchants Quay Ireland is an organisation that provides informational services for people taking drugs to minimise the risk, as well as detox and recovery services for people wishing to quit altogether.

Equipped with the a medically supervised injecting facility as well as 14-week fully residential rehabilitation programme, it places people’s experience with drugs at the forefront of the care, without judgement.

In UCD, the Students for Sensible Drug Policy work to inform students of drug-related issues, such as “what’s in the pill?” so they have the best information at hand to make a decision on whether or not to take drugs. The group hold open conversations around drug use in an attempt to de-stigmatise the reality of the situation for many people in university.

If you or someone you know is currently battling addiction and would like to seek help, below is the contact information for different organisations in Dublin: Merchants Quay Ireland (01) 524 0160 HSE Drugs & Alcohol Helpline 1800 459 459 St Patrick’s Mental Health Services for Empowering Recovery (01) 249 3333

DEPUTY EDITOR Dylan O’Neill ART AND DESIGN EDITOR Fiachra Johnston NEWS EDITOR Gavin Tracey INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR Úna Sinnott SU AFFAIRS EDITOR Katia Gillen HIGHER EDUCATION EDITOR Brian Treacy FEATURES EDITOR Doireann de Courcy Mac Donnell COMMENT EDITOR Nathan Young

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION EDITOR William Higgins

empty-handed on St Valentines Day. This is preferable to any other given day, when he appears, raw and chafed member in hand, to pin the woes of an ill-run Union on whoever is farthest out of earshot. Not unaccustomed to throwing his peers under the wagon, Talley has heard tell, rather belatedly, that, last year, Murphy threw a spanner in the works of one Rosaleen Aljohmani only weeks before her run at the Union’s presidency. Aljohmani, whose work with the Union is seemingly far from over, must have been left red in the face having received Murphy’s assurances that he had spoken cordially of her in an interview with a local rag, The University Observer. Unfortunately for her, Murphy’s two-facedness is a continuously controlled act and not an innocent misstep.

Sensing a mid-semester slump in the enthusiasm of his deluded zealots, Murphy has seemingly decided to embark on a quest to gain any sort of leadership quality. Questions abound as to why this sorely-needed inculcation comes so late in his two-year term. Credited with neither sense nor morality, Murphy’s protracted stint as a deceiving puppet of the University almost has him forgetting that he holds any position of power whatsoever. Talley wonders whether he still cleans the office floors to keep himself grounded?

The Union is no stranger to loveless relationships but has oft attempted to move on after its shallow romances inevitably fail. Tis’ apparent that is no more, as our spotnosed Union, perpetually in the tailspin of a midlife crisis, has sought to rekindle its old flame with USI. Those with half a brain will dismay at Murphy and Crosby’s hour of SU-USI footsie in the President’s office.

UCDSU’s disgusting ‘come hithering’ is akin to flirting with an incontinent war veteran, critically wounded after a decade of tying their own shoelaces together. The flaccid USI have little to offer the Union other than enthusiastic

self-congratulating and an otherwise passionless commitment to do something, presumably, at sometime that might benefit students. In any case, if they ever do anything of worth, Crosby is sure to be the first to copy it. As TCDSU and DCU become begrudging partners in a worthless relationship, Talley can hardly blame USI for putting its junk on show to former lovers.

Nevertheless, do not despair, children of Belfield; love may be dead, strangled at the grimy hands of our sabbatical officers, but Talley will always care for you wretched weens.

Your moderate and defined specimen, Talley xo

LAW & POLITICS EDITOR Laurence Childs BUSINESS & CAREERS EDITOR Ciarán Busby SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Emmet Feerick DEPUTY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Séan Mooney EARARTHOIR GAEILGE Hugh Mac Giolla Chearra SPORTS EDITOR Rory Clarke DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR Colmán Stanley CHIEF OF PHOTOGRAPHY Alex Fagan DEPUTY PHOTOGRAPHER Conor Cosgrove CHIEF OF ILLUSTRATIONS Freya Williams CHIEF OF VIDEOGRAPHY Orla Keaveney DEPUTY VIDEOGRAPHER Fiadh Melina Brosnan

Letters to the Editor .............................................................

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

18 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

EDITOR Brían Donnelly

AGRICULTURE & RURAL AFFAIRS EDITOR Dáire Brady

Talleyrand What ho, bitches.

Do not dilly-dally - ‘tis I, the venerable Talley!

Returning once more to slip a tongue of sense into your lughole. So much has happened on this hellish campus since last we met and if I was one to desert a cause once it had abandoned itself, I would for sure have left the haunting of the clueless Union larks to another faded soul. Talley, however, is a creature entertained by torture, and one must travel no further than the fools’ corridor to watch the endless loop of self-isolating finger-pointing.

As sabbatical officers mesh their unwieldy egos together, morally and emotionally destitute, many would grimace to see the hapless fuzzheads attempt any form of social interaction involving empathy or, god forbid - love. These days, little love is lost between the Sabbaticals, who seem to be perpetuating a peculiarly competitive, destructive and vainglorious round of verbal bumper cars.

The lines of conflict are so blurred for Monaghan in particular that he can no longer tell whether he’s recording brawls on O’Connell Street or a war of words between Murphy and Plunkett. Ever the indiscriminate promoter, you can bank on him to put corridor quarrels up on the Union’s snapchat. Talley doubts anybody watches those stories - there are only so many times one can watch him skull pints at an otherwise deathly quiet Classical Society event. Readers can expect an updated website when the Union learn some sense. Don’t hold your breath. Monaghan does not seem to take constructive criticism well (made all the more unfortunate as Murphy blames him for everything), and attention to his shortcomings only results in blistering paper-cuts on his rear-end, having (rightfully) grabbed every copy of The College Tribune available.

Having taken the executive decision to block out all the women in his life, Murphy showed up to the office

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER TEAM

COLUMNISTS Veronica Rozynek Andrea Andres Matthew Tannam-Elgie CONTRIBUTORS Jade Wilson Conor McCloskey Shivani Shukla Aoife Mawn Elliot Savage Alice Breen Michael Regan Heather Reynolds Stephanie O’Connor Shruti Juneja Evelyn Elias James Donaghey Lillian Loescher Janice Lau Robert Treacy Eli Blunt Andrew Dempsey Eoin Leeson Odhran McDonnell

SPORT Dublin’s old boxing venues, and their stories Colman Stanley delves into the intriguing history of the Dublin boxing scene.

The Sweet Science - a compilation of boxing articles by legendary journalist A.J. Liebling- was described by Sports Illustrated as the best American sports book of all time.

There are stories of greats such as Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano, and settings such as Madison Square Gardens and Yankee Stadium. Also taking its place in the seminal work, is a piece entitled Donnybrook Fair.

The unobtrusive suburb in Dublin, which once held an infamous fair, and which lends its name to “a scene of uproar and disorder”, had enough intrigue and charm for Liebling to make the journey to write about it in 1955.

Donnybrook Bus Depot is a place I have passed by many times a week for many years. However, until recently, I have never given much of a thought to it and its history.

Unless you were a devoted bus enthusiast, it is a place where the 46a and 145 go to get washed and serviced seems as boring and benign as it gets. The building however, like many other forgotten places of Dublin, has its own unique niche in Irish boxing lore.

The event in question was organised by well known promoter Jack Solomons, and was purposely held in May, to coincide with the An Tóstal festival. Headlining was a bout between Derryman Billy ‘Spider’ Kelly and Ray Famechon, with the Frenchman defending his European Featherweight Title. Kelly looked likely to be declared the winner, but under the low-smokey ceiling, Famechon’s arm was raised. A journalist with the Irish Press described it as “one of the biggest shocks in Franco-Irish history”, and large parts of the crowd of 10,000 were in uproar. They booed for ten minutes, with some breaking their seats in protest, and some looking to assault the Dutch referee.

At 42 Pearse Street, formerly Great Brunswick Street, lies one of the cities’ most picturesque buildings. Once known as the Antient Concert Rooms, it is a place whose rich history ranges from years of classical concerts, to James Joyce, and of course, to boxing.

Joyce’s Ulysses is the setting for more boxing history, where we read about “Dublin’s pet lamb”, Myler Keogh, defeating the “Portobello bruiser”, Sergeant Major Percy Bennett, at Portobello Barracks. While it is a fictional fight, it is based on a real event between M.L. Keogh and Private Garry of the 6th Dragoons, at Earlsfort Terrace Rink, another historic boxing venue that is no longer with us.

There you would find bouts with names that seem almost comical now, such as ‘Corporal Arthur’, or ‘Driver Knox’.

One of Irish boxing’s best stories involves the old La Scala Theatre and Opera House, known as Capitol Theatre before being demolished. It was a time when bombings and shootings were a daily occurrence in the city, as the Irish Civil War raged. Nevertheless, a World Light Heavyweight

Championship bout between French-Senegalese man Louis Mbarick Fall, better known as Battling Siki, and Clareman ‘Bould’ Mike McTigue was organised.

World Champion Siki was a flamboyant character and was known to parade down the Champs Elysee with his pet lion cub and a string of women on his arm.

The fight was scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, a huge risk for the outsider Siki. Certain figures in the Catholic Church and IRA did not want the fight to go ahead, out of respect for the executed prisoners, and for the feast day of the country’s patron saint. The government, however, were determined to proceed, and show that they would not bow to outside pressure. Early on in the night tensions were heightened, as a bomb was exploded on nearby Moore Lane, audible from inside the LaScala. The fighting inside the Theatre also raged on as McTigue emerged victorious

“In this case it is boxing, which acts as the elixir for these nooks, a sport which has an extraordinary habit of producing stories full of charm, humour, and historical significance.” after a closely fought 20 round battle. To fittingly conclude an already fascinating tale, a small gunfight broke out on Sackville Street around the time crowds were leaving the venue.

Other notable theatres include the Theatre Royal, which in 1908 played host to a World Heavyweight Title match between Wexford man Jem Roche, and the famed Canadian champion, Tommy Burns - Roche was to be Ko’ed in the first round.

The stadiums of Dublin also had a role to play, and they provided some of the most compelling occasions in Irish boxing. In 1943, Dalymount Park served as the venue for Jack Doyle’s final two bouts. Doyle, known as the “Gorgeous Gael”, had been a celebrity of the time.

At 19, he had fought in front of 85,000, for the British Heavyweight title, at White City Stadium in London. His tenor voice had filled the London Palladium, and he had leading roles in Hollywood films. At the time of the fight he was married to Movita Castaneda, the future wife of Marlon

Conor Crowley hoping to make his mark on 2019 with UCD AFC Andrew Dempsey speaks with UCD AFC midfielder Conor Crowley ahead of the Students return to Premier Division this month.

The hard work never stops at UCD AFC. Just days after winding down their 2018 League of Ireland campaign, the prospect of intervarsity football loomed large on Belfield for this exceptionally talented young side. Now the 2019 season is already upon us and so has the prospect to top 2018 at the UCD Bowl. As you can imagine, there is huge excitement building around the club upon their return to the Premier Division.

One man who is looking forward to the season starting is UCD midfielder Conor Crowley. Crowley previously played for Dublin schoolboy kingpins Cherry Orchard before working his way up through UCD’s age grade sides. He is now hoping to make his mark on the Premier Division after promotion from the First Division last term.

UCD return to the Premier Division after four years of struggle in the second tier, blighted by misfortune and false dawns. Led by Drogheda native Collie O’Neill, this group of scholarship students took the second tier by storm to win the league in front of a packed-out Bowl on 14th September.

“I’m looking forward to playing in the Premier Division”, Conor told The University Observer on the eve of the club’s return to the top flight of Irish football.

“Obviously, it’s going to be a test after getting promoted last year. It will be a completely new experience for us but we’re looking forward to it.”

There has been some notable departures ahead of the new campaign. Greg Sloggett has moved on to pastures new with Derry City, and the lively Daire O’Connor has joined up with 2017 FAI Cup and league winners Cork City. Despite that, 20-year-old Crowley is confident that the squad’s strength in midfield positions will make up for the voids left by both Sloggett and O’Connor. “Daire (O’Connor) and Greg (Sloggett) are two very good players and they’re going to be a big loss for us. However, between myself, Paul Doyle, Richie O’Farrell, Timmy Molloy and Gary O’Neill, I think we have enough strength in depth in midfield to do well and hopefully replicate what we did last year.”

Highly regarded for their open and expansive style of play, akin to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at times, the 2018 Collingwood Cup winner noted that there is no plan to deviate from the style of play which has served them so well thus far. “We won’t really change our style of play too much. I still think we’ll want to play as much as possible and keep the ball. We might have to be a bit more patient because we won’t get as many chances as we did last year in the First Division. Defences will be better and teams will be more organised in the Premier Division, that’s a given.”

Pre-season is different at UCD compared to many other League of Ireland clubs. Since the students are the league’s only third-level side, there is an expectation to succeed in the intervarsities during the so-called ‘off season’. This often gives the Belfield boys an edge when the real thing starts in late February, as seen last year with UCD flying out of the traps in what was an impressive start to their season. The young Dubliner, with the football world at his feet, admits that it does give the squad an advantage in terms of preparing for competitive senior League of Ireland games: “Between the Collingwood and the CUFL, they’re all competitive matches which helps us a lot when we prepare for the new season. Friendlies can often be of slow tempo and not as realistic as a game you would get in the middle of the season. They’re all pressure games in the Collingwood and CUFL because we’re expected to win in each and every game. Therefore, it’s probably better for us doing that over pre-season games instead.”

And finally, after 141 days of waiting, Crowley and his UCD teammates will finally get their chance to play some competitive League of Ireland action, a prospect which most certainly wets the appetite of the well-spoken former Templeogue United schoolboy: “We just want to do as well as possible to be honest. We got promoted for a reason for playing the way we did, and we just want to keep expressing ourselves, try do as well as we can and let’s see where that can take us.”

Brando, and the couple had been touring the music halls and opera houses of the UK and Ireland, to huge success.

23,000 spectators filled into Dalymount Park to watch an inebriated Doyle take on a part-time farmer from Mullingar, Chris Cole, a huge underdog. The fight was described in the Irish Times, “[he was] knocked silly in the first round. The fight lasted just a minute and a half, and for about half that time Doyle was lying on the ropes or being pummelled with smashing lefts and rights.” A few months later he had his last fight. Albeit with far less fanfare, Doyle managed to KO Butcher Howell, and finish his boxing career victorious.

Eight years later, Doyle would return to face Tony “Two Ton” Galento in an exhibition wrestling match, in Tolka

Park Stadium. The fight mirrored Doyle’s career at the time - a mockery - as both fighters ended up falling through the ropes. Galento could not continue, and Doyle emerged the victor, in what was a shallow win when compared to the turmoil of his life outside the ring.

The speedway stadium in Chapelizod and the aforementioned Earlsfort Terrace Rink, are other venues largely unknown and forgotten. Long gone, but like many of the places I have mentioned, they live on through sport. In this case it is boxing, which acts as the elixir for these nooks, a sport which has an extraordinary habit of producing stories full of charm, humour, and historical significance.

Club Focus: Sepak Takraw on the rise Rory Clarke talks to the P.R.O. of the newly-reinvigorated UCD Sepak Takraw club to hear how the club is going from strength-to-strength.

Sepak Takraw is one of the newest clubs to join the university’s sporting scene. For many, the first question to ask is “what exactly is it?”. Luckily, Ife Chinaka, the club’s enthusiastic Public Relations Officer, was on hand to provide the answer to this question, and the (many) questions which followed it, clarifying both the technical and social points of the game. According to Chinaka “it’s a sport native to Southeast Asia, which involves the use of a rattan ball [a hollow ball woven of a native flexible wood]. It is similar to footvolley in that you can only use feet, knee, head and chest to control the rattan ball.”

How it is played competitively is broadly similar to games of football tennis, which many of us have played in training around the country - as a session-ending lark or competition. Although it originally began as a mutual admiration for people’s skills (and indeed, this art-based form of the game is still prioritised in Myanmar): formal rules, along with a net, were introduced in the 1940s.

The game has risen from abject obscurity in Ireland (and UCD) to a passing knowledge of the name - without any idea of its contents, its name is, in its own way, quite instructive. “Sepak” is the Malay word for kick, whilst “takraw” is how the rattan balls are described in Thailand.

It does what it says on the tin (‘kick a ball’), albeit in a different language.

Despite, as Chinaka freely admits, taking people “out of their comfort zone,” sepak takraw also echoes with the nostalgia of past days of keepy-uppies on the street.

“It is a fun, new sport If you want to try a new sport with transferrable fundamental skills - football skills will do you well!” Clearly this pitch has been, and continues to be successful.

The UCD Sepak Takraw has grown exponentially in recent years. Since being founded several years ago, by

a group of Malaysian students who wanted to play one of their native sports while abroad, the tradition has become fostered by a passionate group of UCD students. Chinaka agrees that “we [the students] have taken it over, continuing what they started”. Having saved the club from a premature end last year, the determined committee has managed to more than triple their membership this year, revamping their social media presence in the process, reaching 2,500 likes on their club’s Facebook page. This is all the more remarkable for the club’s lack of official college funding thus far. It has been promoted and maintained, nearly in full, by the hard work of these admirable students.

To combat this crippling lack of funding, the club has taken to hosting a number of fundraising events, most notably a table quiz in Semester 1 which was a “very successful evening for the club and the turnout was very good.” Chinaka speaks fondly of this night, a highlight of his in the club, “seeing everyone turn out for an event we put a lot of effort into preparing was great and very rewarding.”

The club praises its social aspect, particularly given that due to their solo status as a 3rd level sepak takraw team in Ireland. I’m told that “most of the committee are close friends which is how most got started with sepak takraw. This friendship between us allows us to create a club that has a very good balance between the social and more serious aspects of the club, whilst retaining that welcoming feel.”

The club has a training session every week from Wednesday at 5-7pm. Chinaka encourages anyone who’s interested in giving the sport a go, or even seeing in person what it’s like, to come down and chat to one of the committee.

19TH FEBRUARY 2019

19

SPORT The dangers of doing things differently Odhrán McDonnell asks if Athletic Bilbao’s Basque-backing principles are sustainable in the modern game.

Athletic Bilbao have always prided themselves upon their sustained success despite only fielding players of Basque origin, but can the relegation-threatened football giants sustain their model in a world of increased globalisation?

The football world has become accustomed to the concept of collapsing former powerhouses, with the likes of AC Milan, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa suffering dramatic declines in recent years. The common denominator in these demises is generally money related – new owners who do not understand how to invest their millions, a drying up of funds, or even flirtations with administration.

However, none of these scenarios can be attributed to the struggles of Athletic Bilbao this season. They are a club with a proud history of relative success in Spain and even on the European stage, with six appearances in the last eight seasons of the Europa League. Unfortunately, this season has seen Athletic fighting at the opposite end of the table, with only four points separating them and the relegation zone at the time of writing. The thought of relegation is unimaginable for the supporters of this unique club – they are one of the only three sides to have never been relegated from the Spanish First Division (along with Real Madrid and Barcelona).

For most clubs in a similar situation, January’s transfer window would have provided an opportunity to bolster the squad with a new striker to fire them up the table, or a defender to steady a leaky back line, but Athletic are no ordinary club. Their long-standing tradition of only buying players of Basque origin prevents them from shopping on the world market for talent. Instead, they must continue to rely on the talent of their academy and the Basque regions of Spain and southern France for inspiration.

While many clubs would feel obliged to reshape their club policies in order to maintain their league status in the modern era of inflation and global markets, Athletic have always prided themselves on doing things differently. This sentiment is evident among former players and presidents alike, who are strongly opposed to breaking from club tradition by signing foreign players. Unai Bustinza, a former Athletic player who now plies his trade with Leganes, said that he would rather see Athletic “in the second division than to see them change the philosophy.” Former President Jose Julian Lertxundi went even further when questioned about reshaping the club philosophy, responding that “there are sweeter ways of committing suicide.”

Athletic have continued to insist upon their unique principles despite the changing climate of Spanish football.

The influx of money from TV rights has been shared more evenly among Spanish teams than previously, and this has increased the financial muscle of Athletic’s smaller competitors. As a result, Spanish sides have been able to spend more money on importing foreign talent to compete

with Athletic’s Basque players. This strengthening of the opposition coupled with the shortage of Basque options available has left Bilbao living dangerously while lesser known teams such as Alaves chase Champions League qualification. Athletic’s insistence on being different instils an incredible loyalty into its past and present players. Ibai Gomez, a former Athletic player, felt obliged to abandon high flying Alaves half way through the season to return to play his part in Athletic’s fight against the drop.

Another strange aspect of Athletic’s situation is that unlike many teams battling against relegation, they are unbelievably wealthy. This financial power is a result of the expensive buyout clauses which they insert into the contracts of their players. They are notorious for not budging from the terms of their buyout clauses in transfer negotiations. In 2012, Bayern Munich paid £30 million for midfielder Javi Martinez. Bayern made a lower initial offer but were ignored by Athletic until they agreed to pay the full amount of Martinez’s buyout clause. Manchester United were similarly frustrated in 2013 when they could not reach a deal for Ander Herrera. They eventually

they enjoyed four consecutive top seven finishes between 2014 and 2017 before a worrying 16th place finish last season. There is time to salvage the current season, but any prospect of challenging at their recent levels appear to be remote at best.

They may have to delve into their vast financial coffers to bring past stars back to stave off relegation former players Ander Herrera and Fernando Llorente were identified as January targets (although neither were

subsequently signed). In addition, they must find a way to instil enough loyalty into their current crop to retain them in the long term. Winger Iker Muniain has set the tone on this by signing a contract with no buyout clause, pledging his future to the club. The immediate future of Athletic Bilbao as a Spanish footballing power may be uncertain, but this proud club will never exchange their identity for results, something which cements their status as a truly unique institution.

“this proud club will never exchange their identity for results, something which cements their status as a truly unique institution.” finalised the transfer a year later, but not until Herrera had paid his own compensation fee for breaking his contract.

In recent years, the trend has continued; Aymeric Laporte and Kepa Arrizabalaga have departed Bilbao for Manchester City and Chelsea for eye-watering figures of £57.2million and £71 million respectively. The problem facing Athletic is that they have nobody to spend their vast sums of money on. Buying direct replacements is nigh on impossible - there are no Basque players at a similar level who would be willing to move to Athletic. Instead, each departed star is replaced by the most promising player of the same position in the Athletic academy. This model has been effective for them thus far, but the last two seasons have seen Bilbao usurped from their position of relative comfort, by former minnows who now have the financial means with which to vastly improve their squads.

Unfortunately for Athletic, it seems naive to believe that they will be able to maintain their status as heavyweights in the Spanish league while the rest of the league continues to improve around them. The warning signs are there –

The dangers of sportswashing Eoin Leeson examines the widespreath growth of ‘sportswashing’ in the modern world.

In a world where political strife and accusations of power and human rights abuses are rife, a term has grabbed the attention of the Oxford English dictionary to help us confront one of the most prevalent issues in our society today. ‘Sportswashing’ is defined as the ‘deceptive, insincere and opportunistic appropriation’ of sport. In other words, corrupt leaders are using sporting icons, events, and teams, to mask the fact that their states are committing heinous crimes.

Although this may be a novel term, the practice has been around since the beginning of civilisation. Take the Roman Empire, who used the promise of ‘bread and circuses’ to distract the masses from the activities of their rulers. As the first ever instances of genocide took place, Romans delighted in grand showings of sport, oblivious to what was going on around them.

Dealing with this issue is difficult and is compounded by the fact that in some ways, sport is its own worst enemy.

The people behind the regimes that support human rights abuses are smart, and they know the magic of sport is something they can tap into. The World Cup provides us with the best examples; before the 1978 tournament in Argentina, several teams raised concerns about playing in a country where a military dictatorship governed the

Photo: tourprogolfclubs.com

20 VOL XXV, ISSUE 6

people. Despite this, they all took part and once the first pass was made, any pre-tournament concerns faded away.

Russia 2018 was no different. There were widespread misgivings about attacks against political activists and the torture of members of the LGBTQ+ community, but once the enchantment of football set in, those misgivings dissipated. It seems that Qatar will follow in a similar vein in 2022. The country has an atrocious human rights record and innumerable workers have died constructing stadiums, but history suggests that all of that will go under the radar once the sporting heroes of that year start showing off their skills.

Sport naturally draws our attention away from these issues, but how much are FIFA at fault for how sportwashing has become part of our society today? I’d be inclined to say a staggering amount. Whether you believe football’s international governing body are corrupt and are purely motivated by money or whether they are simply reluctant to mix football and politics, they have the power to stop these issues but have done next to nothing with it.

If you need recent evidence of FIFA’s failure to protect the innocent then just take a look at the recent case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini footballer who fled his home country in 2014 after being tortured. He was

detained in Bangkok in November while on honeymoon and was released only last week following the intervention of a Thai court. This situation had presented FIFA with the opportunity to save al-Araibi. They have previously applied sanctions if it is found that a government has interfered in the running of a national association, and with Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, the President of the Asian Football Confederation, also a member of the ruling Bahrain royal family, FIFA could have leveraged the Sheikh’s position for al-Araibi’s prompt return. However, in a scarcely believable shirking of responsibility, FIFA said it could only express concern over the situation, despite the fact a man’s life was in danger.

Unfortunately, it has to be acknowledged that the sports stars we love also have a role to play in creating the growing sportswashing culture. Many professional athletes forget that as some of the biggest icons in the world, they have a responsibility to promote good causes and act against bad ones.

Mohamed Salah’s decision to accept honorary citizenship from Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechen Republic, was questionable at least, given the horror accusations of abductions, killings, and an anti-LGBTQ+ pogrom in the region.

Saudi Arabia, a country responsible in all but name for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was deemed an acceptable place by WWE to hold a major wrestling event last November.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal announced plans to play an exhibition match there the very day after Mr. Khashoggi was murdered. The match was later called off due to Nadal undergoing surgery, but the issue remains that neither player had pulled out until then. Interestingly,

“As the first ever instances of genocide took place, Romans delighted in grand showings of sport, oblivious to what was going on around them. “ Roger Federer turned down the opportunity to play in the lucrative match because he “didn’t want to play there at that time.”

Justin Rose has also recently come under fire for playing in the Kingdom after it became the latest stop of the European Tour. He declared that he’s a ‘golfer not a politician’, but his decision to play there given the Khashoggi controversy, and the fact women are effectively second-class citizens, is borderline inexcusable.

The players seem to forget that they are the ones being used. These countries haven’t improved their behaviour or stopped violating human rights just because they are hosting a big sports tournament. They are simply taking part in ‘reputation laundering’. They affiliate themselves with the respect these stars have accumulated to make themselves look better than they are. This is apparent in the cases of Manchester City and Paris St Germain, two massive football clubs, that are bankrolled by some of the most powerful people in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively. The better these clubs do, the more people begin to associate those countries with titles and success rather than the crimes and human rights abuses they are guilty of behind the borders.

There is an argument that sportswashing should be tolerated. The main point for this is that success in sport can bring such joy to a country and its people. Qatar have just won the Asian Cup while Syria featured in it, their first international football tournament in eight years of war. It has given the people an escape from the controversy and violence that plagues their countries and has helped unite the people in support of a common goal.

Nobody wants to ruin the fun. These sporting events are watched and supported by millions of people who enjoy them and derive such happiness from them. Why should we put a halt to that? The answer is that sport is not politically neutral, no matter how much we might want it to be, and we can’t let sport cloud our vision when it comes to confronting the regimes and practices that need to be halted in our world today.