The University Observer Issue 5

VOLUME xViI ISSUE 4

Ne quid false dicere audeat ne quid veri non audeat

2nd November 2010

IRELAND’S AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER

FEATURES

COMMENT

SCIENCE

Acceptable in the 80s:We investigate the huge increases in graduate emigration

Is sterilising drug addicts an acceptable way to prevent child abuse?

The final frontier: How space travel continues to be a political activity

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Students left waiting more than 14 weeks for grants Amy Bracken News Editor

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tudents are being left waiting for prolonged periods of time to receive decisions on grant applications, The University Observer has learned.

New figures released from the Students’ Union have shown that Meath and Mayo County Councils fare worst in paying grants to students, with both councils paying final instalments on January 29th 2010. Similarly, students who have applied for grants are still being kept waiting on decisions and are facing numerous delays.

The implications of this for UCD students, aside from the obvious struggle to pay rents and fees, include the fact that students who have not paid their fees cannot borrow books from the library or receive exam results.

The University Observer spoke to a postgraduate student from South Dublin who has been affected by the delay: “I’m a Masters student in Arts and Celtic Studies. I applied for my grant in August. Because I’m a postgraduate student, my grant would cover both my tuition fees and give my money in the form of a grant.

“I sent in all the official documentation that they required when I applied, but now they’re looking for more detailed documentation such as my earning and my current status of employment, so obviously that takes a bit of time to come through. I sent them that about a month ago, and now they’re coming back and saying they need more stuff.”

Continued on p2>>

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Students left without UCD Connect over Bank Holiday Natalie Voorheis News Editor

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CD students faced mass disruption on their UCD Connect accounts over the Bank Holiday weekend as a result of a major UCD Connect outage.

Students were unable to access the website throughout the weekend and full service was not restored until Tuesday 26th October at approximately 1:20 am.

IT Services declined to comment specifically to The University Observer about the matter, but released a statement in which they apologised for the inconvenience caused.

IT Services cited “an unexpected technical issue with UCD Connect” as the reason for the disturbance.

The University Observer understands that the majority of the student body is unaware of how to access Blackboard via a URL address, which operates even if there is a UCD Connect outage.

IT Services have now posted links to email, connect files, Blackboard, SIS web and CORE Portal ESS facilities on their website, in case of such an outage reoccurring.

IT Services acknowledged that direct logins are an important tool for students and that there is a need for them to be publicised among the student body, stating that that they are “currently reviewing the outage and intend to make direct logins to these services permanently available, the details of which will be posted on our website”.

The University Observer spoke to a number of students affected by the outage.

Ann O’Doherty, a third-year Veterinary student, told The University Observer: “I feel really annoyed at IT Services about the outage. No email of apology was sent out after the site went live again and I really think they owe it to us.”

Another student, Thomas O’Connell,

Ballygowan place flamingos on the lake in an effort to promote UCDSU’s Women’s Week.

a final-year Arts student said: “I was unable to get on to Blackboard at all over the weekend, I had counted on the long weekend to get on top of things, now I’m more behind than before, it’s such a nightmare.”

James McKenna of second-year Social

Science expressed his concern to The University Observer: “It’s a real worry, I own a Mac so I can’t download Backpack so am dependent on Blackboard to function.

I’ve heard of this happening a good few times before and can only imagine the stress if it happened during exams.”

UCD students can access information regarding scheduled and unscheduled outages from the service announcements available from the IT Services website.

IT Services also said in their statement that they “do not anticipate any further problems at this time”.

Confusion surrounds School of Medicine’s extenuating circumstance policy Amy Bracken

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News Editor decision taken by the StaffStudent Committee of the School of Medicine requires medical students to have an official correspondence between their physician and a medical professional within the School of Medicine in order to be eligible for extenuating circumstances in relation to assessment.

The University Observer understands that this decision will represent a new

policy for the School of Medicine.

This contrasts with the policy held for students of other disciplines, in which a letter from a student’s personal physician confirming that they are ill is sufficient for them to be eligible for extenuating circumstances.

A medical student told The University Observer: “To be eligible for extenuating circumstances, they will have to ask their physician or their GP to write a note on their behalf that is a communication between two health professionals.

“That’s a departure from the norm,

first of all, but it’s also a vast contrast from what other colleges and other schools within UCD require.”

The student expressed his belief that this generates a disparity between medical students and students of other disciplines: “Another way of looking at it is that medical students are being held to a higher standard.”

“For Engineering students who want a sick note, that’s decided by their GP. But now for medical students that require a sick note, the validity of that is going to be decided by the people in charge.”

The student stated that he feels that the decision was taken in light of the fact that a number of medical students are related to members of the medical profession and thereby can easily acquire a sick note where they seek extenuating circumstances: “A lot of medical students have parents or uncles or aunts, a lot of which are medical professionals, so it’s very easy in a lot of cases for medical students to get sick notes.”

However, a spokesperson for the university claimed: “There has been no change to the Extenuating Circumstanc-

es Policy approved by Academic Council on 10 December 2009. The UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science does not require specific medical notes from doctors.

All medical certificates will be accepted and considered by the Examination Board. The Programme Board merely clarified that it regards a doctor’s note as a communication between health professionals and therefore should be of a professional standard. This will be communicated to students, as is normal practice.”

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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

News News in Brief • Scavenger Hunt winners announced Carmel Connolly and Aine Elliot have won the first SU Scavenger Hunt.

Despite having a significant number of original competitors, only four entrants submitted their efforts before last Monday’s deadline.

UCDSU Campaigns and Communications Vice-President Pat de Brún believes this low turnout was as a result of the deadline for the competition being too far into the school year.

The prize for first place is an Ents gold ticket, which allows the student free access to all Ents events throughout the year. Second place wins tickets to all of the seasonal balls, while third and fourth secure two tickets each to the Halloween ball.

The scavenger hunt was aimed at first years to allow them “explore the grounds” of UCD. The tasks included getting a picture with Hugh Brady, licking the Ents Officer and getting published in The University Observer.

The initiative’s creator, Campaigns and Communications Officer Pat de Brún, was ‘’absolutely delighted’’ with the outcome of the competition.

• Michael Smurfit School ranked 31st in MBA rankings The Economist has ranked UCD’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School 31st in its annual list of the world’s leading full-time MBA programmes.

The magazine chose 132 leading business schools from around the globe to participate in a two-stage survey, which required the opinions of the schools themselves as well as students and alumni.

Of these 132 schools, only 115 were ranked as the remaining 17 schools were either unwilling to take part, provided insufficient data or had no full-time programme.

Trinity School of Business was not ranked as it had failed to provide sufficient information.

The ranking was based on the school’s ability to open career opportunities (35 per cent), the educational experience and personal development (35 per cent), the increase in salary that came about as a result of graduating from the programme (20 per cent) and the potential to network (10 per cent).

Professor Tom Begley, Dean of UCD Smurfit School, expressed delight that “the School’s full-time MBA programme continues to rank amongst the global elite”.

• Welfare Crew forms Welfare Council SU Welfare Officer Scott Ahearn has allocated an informal budget to his Welfare Crew.

Members of the Crew proposed ideas suggesting how the money could be spent at the first-ever Welfare Council held on Wednesday the October 27th.

Proposals included a mural wall, a ‘Kleenex couch’ outside the library and renting out bear costumes to give out hugs in order to spread the “message of comfort,” according to Ahearn.

After a vote of Welfare Council, it was decided that the mural wall and bringing in a hypnotist would go ahead. However, Ahearn insists that the other ideas, including a question and answer session on suicide, will also be implemented.

Approximately €1500 has been allocated to this idea, though Ahearn insists that the amount is informal.

He added that he wants to “engage with peoples’ ideas” and will hence initiate the voted-on plans through his budget.

These ideas will be implemented during Welfare fortnight in midNovember.

-Katie Hughes

news@universityobserver.ie

Students’ Union defend budget to SU Council Amy Bracken News Editor

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CDSU President Paul Lynam came under scrutiny from class representatives at the second SU Council meeting of the year, following the release of the 2010/2011 SU budget figures.

Lynam was questioned on issues such as funding for class rep training, the increase in staff salaries and also on why class rep hoodies were free last year, but this year require a €10 supplement, in spite of the fact the same amount of money has been allocated to them.

Lynam said: “The SU budget isn’t just about balancing a budget. Of course it’s important; it allocates resources. But it also sets out your priorities as a union.”

The two main areas that received increases in this year’s budget were staff salaries and the Welfare Fund, which was doubled.

In terms of new additions to the budget, money has been pumped into the anti-fees campaign and into hiring more experienced staff to work in the Students’ Union: “We’ve allocated €20,000 extra

Third interfaith religious gathering set to commence on campus Katie Hughes Chief News Reporter

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CD chaplain Fr Leon Ó Giolláin is hosting an inter-faith meeting to discuss the afterlife in St Stephen’s Chaplaincy Centre on November 17th.

This will mark the third event of this kind, with the first having taken place during International Week last year. The evening consists of an informal gathering of members of different faiths on campus in which they discuss their respective beliefs.

Catholics, Muslims and Jews were among the representatives of religions attending, with about 30 people attending in total.

Fr Leon explains that “we have a lot of international students who come from a variety of religious backgrounds. We’d like to reach out to them and show that we’re interested and that we respect their faith and would like to know more about it”.

The second meeting centred on the themes of peace and tranquillity and appropriately enough, it was held in a period coming up to exams. Members of the Baha’i faith led the dialogue, while members of other religions read from their respective devotional texts, such as the Qur’an, the Bible and the Bhagavad Gītā.

The topic of the afterlife was chosen as “it’s the month of November and in the Christian faith, that is when we remember our dead,” says Fr Leon. The two meetings were a great success as Fr Leon explains: “What emerged, after particularly the first meeting was that there are lots of lines of convergence in the many religions; we saw that there is a link between living life on earth and reward in the afterlife – it varies in different religions.”

Fr Leon added that similarities were found in the value of prayer, in the belief in the importance of justice and peace in the world and in “the golden rule: treating others as you would like to be treated yourself”. These are all seen as possible themes for future gatherings. Fr Leon addressed the idea of clashes between various religions, saying that “there was a focus on what unites us rather than what is different”. He sees great importance in the coming together of different faiths; he believes that “we need to build a united world, where there is strength in unity”.

to the fees campaign – the ‘Education not Emigration’ campaign, and we’ve increased wages, not just for sabbatical officers, but for our staff to bring in more professional staff with a proper professional background.”

A number of areas of the budget have also been cut, such as the NightBus, which has been replaced by USI. “It’s been replaced by the USI one which charges a nominal fee of €2. This has led to a saving of €15,000 which has been put into the fees and grants campaign. Obviously our phone bill is dramatically down, expenses are curtailed.”

Lynam was keen to emphasise areas where savings had been made: “We’re delighted that class rep training is 50 per cent cheaper than it was last year, and 100 per cent on previous years.”

Lynam spoke of his desire for his sabbatical team to seek extra funding throughout the year: “What we’ve asked all Executive Officers to do is come up with a clear and precise plan for the year, and that they’re seeking sponsorship, because I will not fund a blanket funding of a campaign, that is only participated in by union people. It has to have involvement; it has to meet its targets. So everyone has

SU President Paul Lynam defended the budget at the second meeting of SU Council.

to have a plan that comes forward.”

Lynam added that the nature of the campaign would determine where this sponsorship is sourced. For example, the Irish language campaign will look to areas such as An Cumann Gaelach for help in funding its campaign.

Lynam said: “Obviously, we’ll continue supporting these campaigns, there’s no question of that, but people will have to have bothered to look for sponsorship.”

The budget has been published online and is available at www.ucdsu.ie.

Continued from p1>> The student explained the implications of not having paid your fees yet: “If my fees aren’t paid, I can’t get my exam results. My exam results will presumably be out in January sometime, and at this stage I don’t know if my local authority will have paid my fees by then. So quite possibly, I won’t have my exam results.”

However, the immediate issue for students who have not paid their fees is being unable to borrow books from the library: “This has proven really stressful, obviously, for postgraduate essays we have to have a significant amount of secondary material sourced and a significant amount of reading done for our essays.”

He added: “I have an access card to the library which enables me to sit down and read books, which is good, but I really need to be able to borrow books and avail of the postgraduate facilities in the library and I can’t do that at the moment.”

The student also explained the implications involved in that they cannot begin thesis preparation without being able to borrow books from the library.

The difference between county councils in paying grant instalments is considerable. Last year, Waterford City Council was 26 weeks ahead of Meath and Mayo in terms of payment.

UCDSU President Paul Lynam added: “The gap between the best and worst county councils is something that must be addressed immediately. Students cannot suffer financial hardship based on what county they live in.”

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

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News

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Lynam debates fees SU meet with with Senator David Hugh Brady to Norris at SU Council discuss reforms Amy Bracken

Matthew Jones

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News Editor

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ensions were high at Students’ Union Council on October 19th as SU President Paul Lynam and surprise speaker Senator David Norris were engaged in a verbal battle over the issue of third-level fees.

Senator Norris was invited to give a short speech at SU Council as a ballot for the election of a Sports Officer was underway.

Senator Norris, a potential candidate for the presidency of Ireland, said of the issue of third-level fees: “I think it’s inevitable and I think it’s also fair.”

Mr Lynam stood up to address Senator Norris, speaking of his perception of the unfairness of the introduction of third level fees given the high level of graduate tax currently being paid: “It is the graduates and students of this university, and colleges across this university, will have to pay the debt that this government and these politicians have left behind. We will do so because we pay 78 per cent more in tax than people who don’t go to third level education.”

Lynam also spoke of the high wage being earned by politicians, which was not disputed by Senator Norris, who admitted: “With regard to being overly paid, yes, that’s possibly true.”

Additionally, Senator Norris did not dis-

Senator David Norris, pictured at a USI protest, stated that he was in support of thirdlevel fees at SU Council.

pute Lynam’s claim that the student registration fee is a form of third level fees: “You mention the registration fee. That’s not disguised as fees, but that is a fee. €1,500.”

Lynam said of Senator Norris’ suggestion of the necessity to means test fees: “Means testing fees will never work. Means testing has never worked and I’ve never heard you talking about means testing pensions.”

Senator Norris said of Lynam: “I don’t agree with this man, but you have a leader there.” Further, he said Lynam’s endorsement of the November 3rd protest that is due to take place this week: “I’m not in

Miriam O’Callaghan visits UCD for Women’s Week Brady hoped a successful figure like O’Callaghan would encourage more female students to become actively involved TÉ Primetime presenter Miriam at UCD and explained that she plans to O’Callaghan gave a talk in the run a campaign to get women involved Student Centre last week to ofin the UCDSU elections: “By the end of ficially launch UCD Students’ Union’s the year if I didn’t have girls running for Women’s Week.

Sabbatical Elections I’d be disappointed.”

UCDSU Women’s Officer Regina Fundraising for this year’s Women’s Brady was happy with Women’s Week, Week was in aid of the Marie Keating despite being interrupted by a Bank HolFoundation: “We picked the Marie Keatiday and falling on a week when a numing Foundation because we just found so ber of faculties have a reading week: “It’s many people were affected by the charity reading week and essay week as well, so and they were willing to work with us,” it was a tough week, but I think it was said Brady. The campaign had raised over okay, because sometimes a week is too €200 at the time of going to press. long anyway.”

Brady said the aim of Women’s Week “We did realise at the time,” she re2010 was to “open everything up to girls”. calls, “they asked did I want Semester 1 The team behind the campaign aimed to or Semester 2 and I did want Semester 1 eradicate the stereotypical portrayal of and it just happened.” certain events being specifically aimed at Of O’Callaghan, Brady said: “She’s a men and others at women. graduate of UCD herself. She was lovely The events organised for Women’s and so down to earth and she gave a great Week this year included an introductory speech.” lesson in disk jockeying for girls with DJ Soc, a gender inequality debate hosted by the L&H and a charity Slave Auction. Brady was eager to emphasise that the Slave Auction was “just a name” and explained that it was just a “case of people doing things for charity”.

Brady attributes much of the success of the campaign to the support awarded by the Marie Keating Foundation and Ballygowan, who placed bright pink flamingo models in the lake to attract attention to the cause.

SU President Paul Lynam, Campaigns and She stated: “In previous years people Communications Vice-President Pat de Brún, haven’t really known that Women’s RTE presenter Miriam O’Callaghan and SU Week was going on whereas this year, I Women’s Officer Regina Brady at the launch think it’s all down to the pink flaminof Women’s Week. gos, everyone’s talking about [them].”

Sarah Doran

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favour of pandering to a movement unless I’m fully convinced of it. You haven’t quite done that.”

In light of the protest this week, Lynam said: “November 3rd will be the beginning of when the students fight back. I promise you, fees will not be introduced without a fight.”

Senator Norris addressed the Council as a whole before departing, saying: “I’ve always taken unpopular decisions, and I still got elected. I certainly am running for the presidency and I hope to get your support whatever I say about the fees.”

he five UCD Students’ Union sabbatical officers met with UCD President Hugh Brady last week for the bi-annual discussion of UCD’s agenda for the year.

The meeting involved discussions on the library, accommodation, health insurance, the health centre, the UCD Ball and Fashion Show, a job placement scheme, the student services charge and the budget reform committee.

When asked about these issues, SU President Paul Lynam told The University Observer that the SU was pushing to have the library open seven days a week, stating that it is a “top priority of the Students’ Union”. Lynam also mentioned that there was discussion over how best to fund these extra hours, but as of yet, no decision has been made on this issue.

A discussion of the Residences fiasco that occurred at the start of the academic year, in which students were temporarily live elsewhere while their rightful accommodation was being renovated, was also discussed.

“We had a more detailed meeting with the head of res and commercial services today, we also wanted to look at the prices of res, and also the possibility of instal-

ments for res.”

Speaking in relation to student health services, Lynam told The University Observer that the SU has requested that the option to avail of health insurance should be included in the registration fee. The Union, said Lynam, has “re-emphasised the necessity of keeping counselling free,” and that “in a time of cutbacks and austerity measures, the health centre is so important for a student’s health.” Lynam also spoke of the SU’s desire to have the Health Centre open during lunch time hours.

Lynam added that he would like to see a transparent breakdown of the student services charge, so that students know what their money is being spent on: “We just want to have it breaking down more transparent, so the students know exactly where their money is going.”

A proposal to have the SU involved in a Budget Review committee was also raised at the meeting: “We just wanted to involve ourselves in all things associated with all charges that may come to students, in terms of post-grad charges, masters charges, in advance, so that we don’t have situations where we have to roll back, and campaign against them, but be part of the process and see how fair and transparent it is.”

Cars not being served with sufficient notice for clamping Amy Bracken News Editor

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number of UCD staff and students have reported shorter grace notice than is required being placed on cars that are liable to be clamped on campus. Some individuals are reporting that in some cases no notice is given at all.

A user of the UCD car parks said: “They’re supposed to give you a warning time. They put a notice on my car at twenty to one, and when I went out it said half twelve.

So where they’re supposed to be giving fifteen minutes notice they’re only giving five minutes notice.”

The driver in question has frequently been in this situation, and spoke of one incident in which he watched as the clamper proceeded to take a clamp out of his van without having served any notice on the car: “He went to the back of his van to get a clamp, but he didn’t have a sticker on my car at all.”

The University Observer spoke to another driver who has reported finding notice stickers on their car with no time written on them: “This morning there was a notice put on my car with no time printed on it.

“As far as I’m aware, and I’ve looked into this, because I’ve obviously ran in with them a few times, that voids their right to clamp. They have to give you significant notice; there should be a time on that sticker.

“If they’re going to provide a clamping service they should perform it properly. They’re not giving people significant warnings; in some cases they’re not putting stickers on cars, they’re just clamping them straight off.”

The driver believes that the issue is

related to the minima availability of parking spaces in UCD, and claims that a lot of parkers in UCD are not students or staff.

A spokesperson for the university said: Parking management services at UCD are currently provided by NCPS. The company also provides services to the Dublin Dockland Development Authority (DDDA), Dublin City Council, Irish Rail and several other Higher Education Institutions. The university periodically reviews all of its

services contracts, to ensure a quality of service to students, staff, and visitors.”

The spokesperson went onto defend the clamping practices, stating: “Clamping helps to regulate parking across the university campus, which in turn ensures the appropriate use of disabled parking spaces; fire and emergency access roads are left unobstructed; and campus amenities are not damaged by parking.”

NCPS declined to comment on the matter.

Drivers have reported little or no grace period being given by clampers.

News

news@universityobserver.ie

Disappointment for UCD in Undergraduate Awards Amy Bracken News Editor

UCD scholars excel in international award program

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here was disappointment for the 289 UCD applicants to the Undergraduate Awards of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as there was just one UCD student among the winners.

Eamonn Kennedy, a student of Physics, was the winner in his category for a paper he wrote entitled: ‘Vortex dipoles: ordered structures from chaotic flows’. Kennedy was the sole UCD recipient, in contrast with last year, in which eleven awards were presented to UCD students.

The awards were presented last night at the Royal Irish Academy, with former Irish President Mary Robinson attending as a guest of honour.

Programme manager Louise Hodgson told The University Observer that UCD had the second highest number of submissions to awards, with a total of 289.

“Last year we had 489 applications submitted from UCD, so there was quite a drop this year,” she says. “But I can think of a few factors for that. First of all, we opened quite late for the 2010 programme; we opened this year in February, whereas for the 2009 programme, where there were higher numbers, we would have been open all year round.”

UCC had the highest number of submissions to the awards, with 317 applications.

Hodgson explained that the submission process has changed since the inaugural competition: “Last year we were only open to universities, while this year it’s universities and ITs.” Hodgson explained to The University Observer about the submission and judging processes: “The categories are divided up into different subject areas, and the likes of Law and English are very popular given that there are studied by a lot of people who do essays. The submissions consist of essays or projects. We have a word limit of 5,000 words for various reasons, mostly to do with the judging process, so that we’re

UCD Fashion Show set to be reinstated

Katie Hughes Chief News Reporter

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UCD students and staff were awarded ten out of the 23 Irish Fulbright awards.

Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson was the guest of honour at this year’s Irish Undergraduate Awards ceremony.

not comparing essays of 2,000 words to dissertations of 50,000 words.”

The submissions have to have been already graded and submitted as part of coursework, and must have received a high grade: “It has to have received a 2:1 or above.”

“From there, we arrange a panel of judges. We ask for lecturers and professors from around the country,” she says, “so it’s as fair as possible. They’re recognised in their fields, and the panels can have three lecturers and some can have 13.”

Hodgson explained that each judging panel has a chairperson and that the panel is decided based on the topics and nature of the submissions that the panel will be judging. “It’s a fairly long process to try and pick a winner out of all of them, but thankfully we’ve got some really great judges who put aside their summer to do it for us.”

Applications for the 2011 Undergraduate Awards of Ireland and Northern Ireland are currently being accepted. Details are available on www.undergraduateawards. com.

Keira Gilleece

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en UCD students and staff have been given the chance to spend an academic year in the US; either studying, researching or teaching, after winning a full scholarship at the Irish 2010-2011 Fulbright Awards.

Among the UCD recipients was Dr. Emilie Pine of the UCD School of English, Drama and Film. Dr Pine has chosen to continue her Irish Studies at the University of Berkeley, California, for the next twelve months. In her research she aims “to highlight the role of both Irish emigrants and Irish culture on the west coast of the States” while developing her knowledge of American culture at the same time.

Dr Pine told The University Observer that securing a scholarship like this in UCD is becoming increasingly difficult.

“A semester of research and teaching in Berkeley would otherwise be impossible for me at this point in my career, so the Fulbright is a beacon of opportunity. I would encourage students and graduates to think about how they might use the Fulbright awards as a way into a new context, and a way to enhance their research abilities and profile.”

Dr Pine added: “It is a real privilege to be given the opportunity to work and teach in Berkeley and I hope to bring elements of UCD

to that institution and to use the experience to enrich my research and teaching on my return.”

Senator J. William Fulbright established the Fulbright Program in post-war America in order to give academics an opportunity to further their education abroad while strengthening relations between the United States and other countries. Since its introduction in 1946, 300,000 students, teachers, artists and scientists in over 155 universities worldwide have been chosen to participate in the program.

The Fulbright Commission in Ireland is responsible for the allocation of 23 scholarships, which are awarded for academic excellence in all disciplines, including Arts and Humanities, Business, Law and Science. The Award entitles its recipient to spend six to twelve months in the US on a $25,000 scholarship, also covering insurance and J-1 visa costs.

Previous recipients of the Fulbright awards include Sylvia Plath, film writer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff and director Christian Fillipella, as well as 40 Nobel Prize winners.

The 2011-2012 Fulbright Awards will be accepting applications until November 30th this year.

Other UCD recipients include Paul Alexander, Michael Casey, David Comerford, Dr. Katherine Curran, Ian Hastings, Siobhán Murnane and Ronan McGovern.

he UCD Fashion Show is set to go ahead next semester after a two-year hiatus. UCD Students’ Union Ents Vice-President Jonny Cosgrove said that the beginnings of a committee have already been put together and a full committee is going to be assembled in the next few weeks.

In spite of the show’s absence for the past two years, Cosgrove disagrees that it has declined in popularity, insisting that he gets “constant emails about it”. He adds that any decline would be down to the event being run by people outside of the university, as he believes that “an event for students should be run by students”.

Bringing back the Fashion Show is a priority this year, as it made an appearance in both Cosgrove and SU President Paul Lynam’s election manifestos last year.

Efforts have been put into bringing back the show over the summer, “with an awful lot more organisation than in previous years” going into it, says Cosgrove. The auditions for dancers and models are set to take place in the next few weeks.

Part of the funding for the show will come from the Ents budget. There will also be sponsors on board this year, assures Cosgrove, and the event will be “self-standing and self-funding”.

Cosgrove is not seeking monetary backing from the university. He has, however, received approval for the project to go ahead and assurance that the university will “provide as much help as they can.”

Stereotyping and objectifying women and men has been an issue with UCD’s Fashion Shows, though one that “does not apply this year,” according to Cosgrove, as “it’s not about models trying to win contracts and dancers trying to show their stuff”.

Cosgrove has expressed annoyance at the event’s absence from campus for the past two years. However, he has great expectations for the coming show, promising a “spectacle” will be put on, as he wants it “to come back with a bang because UCD students will not stand for something bland”. Prizes for the show will be announced in the next few weeks. In previous years, the show has taken place in the RDS, but this year it will be held on campus, with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

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15,000 students UCDSU create position expected to march of Sports Officer against fees Caitriona Farrell

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USI organised a successful protest against third-level fees in 2008.

Aoife Brophy

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Chief News Reporter team of debaters from Trinity’s Historical Society won the UCD Literary and Historical Society’s (L&H) Vice-President’s Cup last weekend. Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin and Colm Denny beat off competition from teams from a variety of insititutions.

The event, which was held in Astra Hall, draws debating teams from universities across Ireland and the United Kingdom, with over 70 teams competing over the weekend.

L&H auditor Niall Fahy told The University Observer: “Because UCD send debating teams around Europe, we invite teams from all of Ireland first of all, as well as Trinity, Galway, Limerick, Cork and teams from the Kings Inns as well. He also stated that: “Teams from Oxford and Cambridge and a few other places in England come along.”

Fahy went on to explain the structure of the competition: “There’s five rounds, and I think it could be called a round-robin system. Each round had four teams in it.”

Fahy explained that the finalists are submitted to a public semi-final, which is received by a large audience, before they progress to the final on Saturday evening.

Fahy told The University Observer that every university hosts a major debating weekend at some point during the academic year and that the competition is named is in honour of the Vice-Presidents of the L&H

over its 156 years.

The competition has been running for many years but still faces funding issues and the society has had to carefully control its budget in recent years: “A lot of the competitors will be sleeping on floors of people who live in UCD; I have probably four people sleeping on my floor. But some get hostels as well.

“We try and cut our costs down as much as possible, based on the registration fee that each team has to pay. So they pay a registration fee, and because of that we can buy food in bulk, and we can buy some alcohol as well for the social element on the Saturday evening. But the competition usually does fund itself. In better economic times we have been able to get sponsorship for it, which means we’ve been able to splash out a bit more.” A catering van was hired by the society for the event, which The University Observer understands cost €1,210.

Fahy was keen to commend the L&H committee for their preparation for the event: “All the committee are working very hard and obviously making a lot of sacrifices, putting people on their floors or just being in and judging five debates. I’m got two conveners, Christine and Derbhla organising this and they’ve been organising it since May.” Fahy also spoke of the importance of the competition for the society: “When the name of the competition is associated with esteem and prestige then it’s good for the L&H and we’re very happy about that.”

CR

Katie Hughes

E

Trinity debaters win L&H’s Vice-President’s Cup

W R LFA WE

he Union of Students’ Ireland (USI) are rallying the students to march in Dublin tomorrow, November 3rd, in protest against the proposed cuts to third level funding.

The “Education, not Emigration” protest is being held in response to revelations that the government is planning to double the registration fee to €3,000, cut grants by ten per cent and increase the threshold for qualifying the grant by ten per cent in the December budget. The protest is also to focus on the lack of efforts made by the government to fight graduate emigration and unemployment.

UCD Students’ Union have ordered 50 buses to transport student from campus to Parnell Square, where the protest will begin. When asked if he thought the buses would be filled, UCDSU President Paul Lynam stated: “I would hope so” and that “there isn’t union who has put as much money, has put enough time, has put as much effort into what we’re campaigning for. I’m proud of that”.

Lynam also discussed the effect that the recession has had on some students and the effects that even harsher cuts to grants will

have on future students. “There’s a certainty that if the grant is cut there are students who won’t be in UCD next year. There is a certainty that if the funding of our institutions continues to get cut, the abolishment of the student assistant fund and the scaling back of the student welfare fund, there will be students who will not be in UCD next year.”

With 15,000 students expected to march between Parnell Square and Government buildings, huge disruptions can be expected in Dublin city centre. When questioned about the inconvenience that will be caused to the public, Lynam responded, “If people are annoyed about the disruption, well so be it. We’re annoyed the decisions being made haven’t even considered the future of the country.”

This will be the third time in six years that students have marched against rising cost of third-level education. Lynam maintains that protests do work: “When fees were to come back in 2004, they marched and fees weren’t brought back in. In 2008 again we did march and fees weren’t brought back in.”

Lynam believes that now, more than ever, there is a necessity to march against fees: “In 2010 circumstances are a lot worse.

This isn’t an ideological left versus right.

This is about the registration fee doubling.”

CD Students’ Union Council passed a motion to create a new executive position. The position of Sports Officer was filled by election at SU Council on 19th October.

Business and Law student Brendan Lacey was elected by the SU Council as the first person to take the new office.

Lacey told The University Observer that he is “delighted that the role has been created. I’ve been looking froward to seeing something like this in the union for a long time.”

Lacey is hoping to make the annual Newman Games bigger than ever, but also emphasised that he hopes not to interfere with the sports clubs that already exist on campus.

There was just one objection at Council to the creation of the office, from Smurfit School os Business representative Gemma McCahill, who is currently studying a Masters in Accountancy. McCahill said: “I opposed the motion because I felt that whilst we need a Sports Officer, the motion was put to Council when I felt it was too vague.”

She added: “For me it looked like just

creating a postion for the sake of saying we have this position.”

Speaking to The University Observer, UCDSU President Paul Lynam said that there is a void where a sports officer should be and that therefore there is a necesity for such an office to be created: “I figure a sports officer fills that gap, that much The Sports Officer will help with the Newman Games, of which needed gap that’s the prize is the Newman Cup, pictured above. there.” tertainment through the “facility of sport” Lynam explained for students between lectures. that UCD is one of the last universities to Lynam hopes that the creation of activicreate such a role: “Most universities down ties such as 5-a-side football tournaments, the country have a sports officer. pool tournaments and other sports compeI think it’s important that we have daytitions, will encourage student participation time entertainments through the facility of in sport on a social and non-competitive sports to match the already successful night level. time entertainment in UCD.” Lynam is also happy with the benefits the He was also keen to emphasise the gap creation of the office will have for the SU, between daytime and nightime entertainas it is “something proactive we can do with ment in UCD, and expressed his belief that costing too much money.” a Sports Officer would create daytime en-

The Please Talk Candle lit Vigil is taking place this Tuesday at 5pm at the lake. The UCD community will come together to hold a minutes silence for all those who have died by suicide and remember those who have passed away.

Don't forget to apply for the Student Assistance Fund through your SIS account before November 12th and ensure that you have proof of income for 2009 along with receipts so you can submit it to your local student adviser.http://www.ucd.ie/advisers/ Avail of the great discount offers we have - You can get discounted driving lessons from OBdrive. contact him on info@obdrive.com We also have Emergency Dentist Discounts rates offered by Belfield Dentists, you can contact them on 01-2693164

Save our Student Assistance Funds March on November 3rd

Pop into Scott, our Welfare Officer in the Student Centre or contact him at welfare@ucdsu.ie & phone 017163112

6

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

News

news@universityobserver.ie

Wardrobe Malfunction Chief News Writer

Following cancellations of the event in the past, Katie Hughes looks at the chances of this year’s Fashion Show going ahead

W

hether or not UCD’s Fashion Show will actually go ahead this year is questionable given the “will it, won’t it” controversy surrounding it in previous years. However, the prospect looks promising, with Students’ Union Ents Officer Jonny Cosgrove already hard at work on the initiative, along with others.

The Fashion Show was last planned for the 2008-2009 academic year, and despite having to cope with a lack of sponsorship at the beginning of the year, it was still expected to go ahead before being cancelled in mid-February due to time constraints.

Cosgrove, then auditor of Arts Society, insisted at the time that despite the event being cancelled, there was going to be a focus on “setting up committees and laying the foundations for the following year”. However, 2009 came and went with no Fashion Show. This may indicate that 2010 is the year for the show’s big comeback, or the next in a growing chain of cancelled Fashion Shows.

The UCD Fashion Show was previously run in part by people outside of the university, something that is not going to happen again this year, with the students’ show actually being run by the students.

The Down Syndrome Centre project managed the Fashion Show in 2007-2008 before the event was handed to the Arts Society, which had just been re-instated

after a break, in September 2008.

The event is no longer under the umbrella of the Arts Society, but is more of an independent event “like UCD’s Community Musical,” according to Cosgrove.

The committee, which will be finalised in the next few weeks, is open to students across campus, as are positions for models and dancers.

It’s all well and good to say that a lot of preparation work went into the Fashion Show over the summer, but what evidence of this have we seen on campus?

The Deputy Chair of the UCD Fashion Show in 2008-2009 and last year’s Ents Officer, Mike Pat O’Donoghue, decided not to advertise the event before Christmas, saying that starting advertising after the break would “give a run up that leads to a crescendo”. Hopefully that won’t be the mentality taken this year, given that the reason the show was cancelled in O’ Donoghue’s year was, in fact, due to time constraints.

Whether or not bringing back the Fashion Show in recessionary times is a good move is questionable. Looking for sponsorship for an event as sizeable as this may prove difficult. The lack of sponsorship in 2008 was blamed on the economic downturn. Similarly, the show was cancelled in 2006 due to financial and organisational difficulties. However, with Cosgrove’s backing, a huge amount of sponsorship

may not be necessary.

In some ways, it appears that the Fashion Show is running under the auspice of UCD Ents this year, with a part of Jonny Cosgrove’s Ents budget going towards the show. This is the first year that UCD Students’ Union will have such a large stake in the Fashion Show. Will putting the Union’s name to the Fashion Show make the event any more likely to happen?

Given the success of Ents events in the past few weeks, there’s no reason why the Fashion Show shouldn’t be the “spectacle” that Cosgrove promises.

With Vodafone secured as one of UCD Ents’ main sponsors this year, we have reason to hope that the Fashion Show will be a great success.

In previous years, the stereotyping and objectifying of men and women alike was seen as a considerable drawback of the Fashion Show. Cosgrove, however, believes sexism won’t be an issue this year.

While it is easy to get caught up in the hype of the Fashion Show, we must remember that there are both students and members of staff that hold objections to the event.

There is great hope for UCD’s Fashion Show this year, and with preparation and groundwork that the organisers insist has already been laid down, one can only hope that what looks to be a very promising event will actually take place.

The planning of the UCD Fashion Show has had mixed results in recent years.

Failing to Connect The failure of IT services to apologise for their slow response in dealing with the problems afflicting the UCD Connect website was unacceptable, writes Amy Bracken

T

h e UCD Connect website’s lack of availability News Editor was the cause of much student consternation last week. The outage affected the system for almost the entirety of the Bank Holiday weekend.

IT Services cited technical difficulties as the reason for the outage, which was not resolved until the early hours of Tuesday morning. As a result, students could not access their UCD Connect email accounts or Blackboard for the duration of the weekend.

Occurring as it did at this crucial stage of the semester, and given that it happened on a long weekend, many students endured weekends fraught with worry and upset in lieu of mid-term assessments, and particularly mid-term essays.

Additionally, the majority of students were unaware that Blackboard is accessible through a URL address that still functioned during the outage. IT Services should surely take responsibility for failing to make it clear to all students that this was available to them.

If you type ‘UCD Blackboard’ into Google, then the first result that pops up is usually a link to Blackboard. Yet as UCD students, we are taught to access Blackboard through UCD Connect. The University Observer asked a number of fellow students if they were aware that it could be

accessed in this way, and the majority said they weren’t; that they relied solely on accessing it through UCD Connect.

Nowhere on the UCD or UCD IT Services websites is there a link to the Blackboard URL and there is no communication on the website for what to do in the event of an outage. IT Services were horrendously unprepared for a situation that could have implications on student’s grades.

This is not the first time students have been unable to access coursework and therefore, the necessary precautions need to be communicated to students so that they are able to access their course materials at all times.

The timing of the outage, last Bank Holiday weekend, accompanied with the mid-semester panic that the majority of students can relate to in terms of essays and mid-term exams, was undoubtedly stressful for many students. Yet there has been little communication from the University on the matter, which is surprising.

If it had happened at exam time, there would be a mass outcry and the university would be among the first to condemn IT Services on the matter.

In addition to the particular inconvenience of the outage occurring on a holiday weekend, the problem was exacerbated by the fact that there appears to have been no immediate steps taken to resolve the problem when students first began to discover it at the start of the weekend. If we consider the time that the outage was rectified – in the early hours of Tuesday

The tendency of the UCD website to crash at crucial periods has been a common complaint voiced by students in recent years.

morning – then we can’t help but jump to the conclusion that there are no procedures in place to swiftly mend such a problem should the situation arise.

This begs the question of what would happen if the outage occurred on a weekend during the exam period. Would IT Services take the steps necessary to resolve the problem as it happened, or would they yet again leave it until the end of the weekend?

IT Services surely deserve criticism, given that they failed to even circulate a proper apology to students. Many students were left in distress as a result of the

outage, being unable to access the necessary materials for their coursework. The least that is expected of IT Services is to offer an apology by email to all who were affected by the disruption.

The only attempts at apologising came in the form of a statement to the university media that was not directed at the affected students themselves. This is hardly sufficient. Understandably, the problem was a technical fault, so that was out of IT Services control. However, their failure to provide information on their website as to the correct procedures to take should the situation arise cannot be excused. More-

over, this is unlikely to be the last time UCD Connect crashes.

IT Services have had years to prepare for situations like the occurrence over the Bank Holiday weekend. They need to accept responsibility for the mishap and provide information to students on the other means of access to Blackboard, as these circumstances will inevitably arise again at some stage in the future. What they appear to be in denial of is the fact that student grades will be affected by the outage. The first step they need to take is to provide students with a proper apology for this unfortunate situation.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

7

Features

features@universityobserver.ie

Leaving on a Jet Plane As the obsession with economic revisionism escalates, Sarah Doran investigates the latest trend in the 80s revival and dives into the matter of emigration

“P

eople often talk about how the 80s were awful, well we’re in the 80s right now,” declares USI Deputy President and Campaigns Officer, Cónán Ó’Broin.

Indeed it seems that the 1980s have experienced something of a revival in recent years: Marty McFly and Doc Brown once again grace our cinema screens and The Commitments are poised for a return to the Dublin stage. And with 80s nostalgia at every turn, it seems we’ve taken our own spin in some sort of hot tub time machine.

Of course, one of the most memorable aspects of the 1980s was the emigration of thousands to foreign shores. With the current economic downturn forcing companies to close their doors and driving unemployment rates upward, emigration is becoming a concern for a new generation. For those students taking their first tentative steps into third-level education, the concern is arguably reduced: for those in final year or those who have already graduated, however, the issue is markedly more troubling. So why exactly are graduates choosing to leave the country?

“We’ve got unemployment at 14 per cent, and if that wasn’t bad enough, we’ve got a public sector recruitment ban in place as well,” explains Ó’Broin. “So what that means is that there are absolutely no opportunities for graduates to get the experience that they need in order to get jobs in future years. They quite simply have to make the choice to leave the country and get that experience elsewhere.”

He expounds that things are particularly difficult for those “who would have intended to go in to the public sector. There is no recruitment going on in the public sector and it’s unlikely that any is going to happen in the next two years. That means that they emigrate, and whilst some will inevitably come back, an awful lot won’t.” Ó’Broin’s sentiments are echoed by UCD graduate Rory Geraghty, who has moved to London to study for his masters at the London School of Economics. He attributes his move to the prospect of “more opportunities”.

“Most of my friends who are over here don’t want to be doing a masters, they want to be working,” Geraghty explains. “But there [are] just no jobs in Ireland, so they came over here to do a masters basically to get contacts, to build up a network of employers. Obviously the London universities in particular and the Oxford universities have a huge amount of contact with employers, and it’s easier to get a job if you’re referred on from one of those universities.”

Though for Geraghty the move to London was a choice, for many of his friends it seems it was practically a necessity. A return to Ireland is likely for Geraghty at some point. “Rain, hail or snow I will be on a plane coming home to vote in the next election,” he declares. However, he admits that not everyone will make the journey back to the green nation: “People are too scared to go home for fear of just going straight onto the dole queue.”

But is the domestic situation truly dire?

With news bulletins deeming the country doomed until 2014, are we facing a brain drain similar to the one that occurred in the 80s?

“The USI estimates that there’s about

USI’s Deputy President Cónán Ó’Bríon believes that graduates will continue to emigrate unless the government takes action to stop them.

one thousand graduates leaving per week,” claims Ó’Broin. “I would say it’s worse than the 80s.”

However, recent statistics suggest that we are in fact losing a lower percentage of our skilled workforce now than we were in the 80s. There were only around 40,000 students in the Higher Education System in the 80s: there are now over 145,000 in third-level academia, an increase of almost 400 per cent.

An article published in the Irish Independent in January 2009 alleged that the country was losing 30 per cent of third-level graduates by the end of the 1980s. Moreover, in August of this year, a Higher Education Authority survey of last year’s graduates suggested that the country lost 100 graduates a week through emigration, losing ten per cent of level-eight degree recipients in 2010.

According to a September report from the Central Statistics Office, the current level of unemployment in Ireland is 13.7 per cent, whilst long-term unemployment has increased to 5.9 per cent in the past year nationwide. 6.7 per cent of those who hold third-level honours degrees or above are unemployed. This figure has dropped from ten per cent the previous year. Perhaps things aren’t quite so reminiscent of the dark decade just yet.

Who is to blame for the loss of graduates to foreign economies? The common consensus places the responsibility with the

government. Geraghty states his opinion on the matter: “Essentially the government ruined what was a very strong economy that was handed over to them from the late 90s when they first got into power. Fianna Fáil effectively, over the last few years, have ruined that by complete mismanagement.” Ó’Broin adds that the USI is calling for Government endorsement of an internship programme. “Graduates would take up a placement in either the public or the private sector and they would continue to be able to claim social welfare payments up to the maximum level of the jobseekers allowance, which is about €197 a week.

“Essentially, they’d take up an unpaid position and continue to be paid the dole.

It would give about 20,000 graduates the opportunity and ability to get experience in the workplace. If and when things do get better, they will then have the experience that they need to go out and get a solid job for themselves and have a stable future for themselves in Ireland.”

The USI will also hold a protest march in Dublin city centre on November 3rd entitled: ‘Education not Emigration’. “We’re campaigning against an increase in the registration fee, we’re campaigning against a cut to the grant,” Ó’Broin states.

“Every single euro you increase the registration fee or by which you cut the grant for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, you’re turning more and more people away from third-level education and you’re turn-

ing them on to the dole. They’ll have very slim prospects of getting employment, they’re going to fall into long-term unemployment and inevitably they are going to emigrate.”

But with Eurostat deeming Ireland the country with the highest budget deficit in 2009 at 14.1 per cent of GDP and the government committed to reducing this figure to three per cent by 2014, we must ask where the funding for such a programme will come from? Though it would undoubtedly prove unpopular, cuts to grants and an increase in the registration fee could provide a source of capital: perhaps paying more for education would ultimately benefit students in this instance.

With our gaze fixed firmly on the economy, many now view our country as anything more than an unbalanced budget.

“When was the last time you heard them talk about anything else?” asks third-year English major Emma Alken. “You do have to obviously talk about the economy but yeah, possibly not just the economy.”

Have we lost our Irish identity as we have sunk into what Geraghty deems “a collective depression”? The Ireland that fought through the hard times in the 80s seems to have retracted its Celtic Tiger clipped claws, adopting a decidedly defeatist attitude.

When news of the decline first broke, we claimed we would defiantly ‘Session through the Recession’ as we had in the 80s.

Yet we are now content to mourn the loss

of affluence and pay more attention to the markets than to ‘yer man’ next door, basing our ideas regarding the state of the country on statistics rather than on personal experience. Many have yet to experience the full effects of the downturn, though that is not to deny that the recession has claimed its victims.

“This is the 80s all over again, in fact it’s probably worse than the 80s,” says Ó’Broin.

However, the recession in the 80s pushed unemployment to 17 per cent and was not preceded by an economic boom. The Celtic Tiger brought prosperity that Ireland had never experienced before, along with a plethora of privileges. Are we now too busy mourning the loss of the privilege to select our profession and to accept that we may need to take on whatever job we can get?

Considering that the majority of current students have spent between five years and five days living in the 1980s, who are we to decide? Alken seems to be of that opinion.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t born in the 1980s, but I did run into a woman at work who said: ‘well, at least the banks had money then.’”

So what does the future hold for a new generation of graduates? Will students continue to emigrate or will recovery herald a return home? Only time will tell. Marty made it back to 1985 unscathed, but it seems Doc Brown had it right 25 years ago: something definitely has to be done about his kids.

8

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

FEATURES

features@universityobserver.ie

Baby, It’s Cold Outside With the possibility of another big freeze to hit campus and country alike, Meabh Ní Choileáin looks at how fashion can often champion function.

A

s the temperature drops and we embrace the coming winter, it seems many of us still make our way through the UCD campus in a little-to-the-imagination summer wardrobe. So, are we immune to cold Irish weather or just attention seeking?

With tales of our many adventures in Ios and Thailand now relevant only to the photo album archives of Facebook, we put summer behind us and welcome the bitter winter headed our way.

As our pathways clutter with leaves and foliage, the windows of our favourite highstreet shops adorn themselves with the fashion trends of the coming season. From buttery-soft leather and thick cable knitwear, we prepare to layer ourselves appropriately for the coming months. By now, we should have hung our bikinis and board-shorts, to allow the bodies that once graced them to temporarily vegetate, as we fill up on extra portions of stew and hot chocolate.

Yes, this time of year should earn us the right to skip a jog or three – it’s cold outside and our hoodies hide the evidence anyway.

Yet, a walk along the concourse of UCD might lead you to believe that we’re scurrying to the library in the name of summer exams, not Christmas.

Believe it or not, flip-flops, hot pants and even crop tops, in some cases, are still donned by many here at UCD. And being no exception to goose bumps or purple kneecaps in cold Irish weather, one can’t help but wonder, what is running through their minds as they dress themselves in the

morning?

While fixing myself in a bathroom mirror last week, I had the good fortune of bumping into one lady, sporting khaki shorts and ankle-boots. She explains: “I was out last night and came straight from my mate’s [house] this morning. My heels are in my bag.” Fair enough. Nobody likes throwing away attendance marks. Still, I keep my eyes peeled for similarly dressed girls, unsatisfied that a rough night before is the only reason behind the trend.

Another student also spoke to The University Observer. Heading towards the Newman building, the second-year law student, dressed in leggings and a fitted t-shirt, comments: “I drove in and honestly didn’t feel the cold until I left my car. I wish I brought my cardigan.”

Though under-dressed campus trotters are a minority amongst the many different followers of fashion in UCD, they certainly have not gone unnoticed by fellow students. Opinions varied on the matter, with some more accepting than others.

“They’re attention seeking,” says Philosophy student Annabelle Hadfield. “We live in Ireland, it’s far too cold to get away with hot pants.” Given the current climate, this would be the assumption of many female students, but what about the male perspective? If under-dressed women are in fact striving for attention, surely it is designed to grab the attention of the opposite sex?

Final-year art history student Robbie Field offers a fresh perspective on the matter, claiming it to be a good way of know-

Above is an example of the most appropriate attire for UCD for the upcoming months.

ing when first-year students are about. He explains: “They’re straight out of school uniforms and rebelling. Older students still doll up, but not to the extent of hot pants et cetera. They’re definitely first years.”

When the weather doesn’t excuse her, it is all too easy to judge a barely dressed girl and write her off as an attention seeker who seems to be building up self-esteem based

on the second glances she gets from fellow students.

And yet it becomes all too easy to allow judgement to reign. After all, it seems most really are as casual about their fashion sense as they let on; it is often a case of simply embracing life without a bottle-green wool skirt. If this is the case, and they just so happen to drop a few jaws in the process,

then fair play to UCD’s very own fashion gurus.

How you dress is a personal choice and being comfortable in your own style is the name of the game. However, we might suggest you pack a pair of tights and some gloves in your bags, ladies. Sniffles season is among us and in times like these, function tends to overrule fashion.

Life after UCD: Marketing With the Irish economy looking more and more ominous, Amy Bracken talks to UCD graduate Conor Feeney about securing a career in marketing

News Editor

“M

ake sure you’re voice is heard, and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.” Conor Feeney gives advice to business graduates hoping to embark on a career in the marketing industry. “Never voice an opinion without having some facts to back it up.”

Feeney may sound like a lecturer in some respects, but this advice is coming from a commerce graduate who is now working in the marketing department of food company Unilever, which markets products such as Pot Noodle, SlimFast, and Knorr. Feeney completed a masters in marketing following his commerce undergraduate degree before moving into the world of marketing.

When asked about the application process, he speaks of the importance of the interview techniques for graduates applying to workforce in a time when interviews are few and far between.

“Put as much effort and work in; put in the research, the background, everything you need to do to make sure you’re as well prepared for the interview to give you a great chance when you’re at it.”

Feeney speaks of the paucity of job interviews today and actually cites landing one as the most difficult part of the whole process.

“You really don’t know when you’re next chance is going to come up, so make the most of the chance when it arrives.”

Today, interviews do not simply involve being asked a number of questions by a panel; as Feeney emphasises, you must complete the necessary research in order to stand out from the crowd in the highly competitive world of job seeking.

“My specific one involved giving a presentation which was competitive in that there was a lot of other people doing the same presentation,” he explains. “The person who gave the best presentation, convinced the people watching – who were experienced marketers working in Unilever – that you knew what you were talking about and that you could bring something to the company when you actually started working.”

Feeney also fondly recalls his experience in UCD, and in particular, his degree in commerce and masters in marketing, which he cites as being crucial to him landing the job at Unilever.

“I did the masters in marketing,” he says.

“So following the B. Comm which was great for the masters; it really grounded me in what I wanted to do, moving forward. So I would advise [that] anyone interested in whatever area it is they’re working in should move forward and do a masters, and really ground themselves on what it is they’re looking to do.”

However, he stresses the whole experience in the workplace is a learning curb and that in reality, he is only building on what he learned while at UCD. Many of the most important skills in relation to marketing, says Feeney, are the ones you learn when you actually start a job.

“It’s down to what you learn when you’re here, so I’m delighted to have the opportu-

nity to learn from the experienced people that are around me, and I’m looking forward to gaining some valuable insight and moving forward.”

On the work itself, Feeney emphasises that in reality, no job simply involves working nine to five: “You should expect to work as long as it takes to get the job done. It’s a huge shock to the system that I’m still not used to. But I’m getting there slowly but surely.”

Feeney is relatively optimistic about the current economic situation in relation to university graduates, but emphasises the importance of getting involved in student activities for landing a job in the workforce.

“I’d hope that if you put the effort in when you’re in college, you’re going to have the opportunity to put some effort into whatever it is you want to do.”

As regards his UCD classmates, Feeney emphasises how they have made the best of a bad situation, opting for emigration or further study if they have not found employment: “They just seem to be dealing with the situation as best as they can.”

Given the significant number of business students and business graduates in the country today, landing a job in the industry in an area with such a high graduate unemployment is even more difficult, as it is much more competitive than most other industries.

But there are jobs out there, and as Feeney emphasises, the importance of making yourself standout and grasping every opportunity, as well as not being afraid to start at the bottom of the ladder when you do land a job in your given industry, is key to securing long-term employment.

The Pot Noodle Road Show comes to UCD on November 10th.

Feeney gained his undergraduate degree from the UCD Quinn School of Business.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

9

Features

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Protesting Times?

With the upcoming student march on November 3rd, Sean Finnan questions the efficiency of mass protests and asks why they are rarely seen in Ireland

T

wo weeks ago, UCD Students’ Union staged a rally in the Student Centre. This was a precursor to tomorrow’s protest, which the SU and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) are hoping will raise the profile of student issues as well as attracting a large number of students to the protest.

At the time of going to press, it was unclear whether or not the response from students would be positive. However, the government have continued to target students in budget cuts. Some consider tuition fees to be simply inevitable. Does this call into question the effectiveness of mass protests and the power of the people? The University Observer spoke to Campaigns and Communications Officer, Pat de Brún, on the effectiveness of public protests and the upcoming USI march on November 3rd.

“If they are done well I think so. A march alone is not enough. I think you have to

have effective lobbying beforehand, effective lobbying after and you need to show that the people you are representing care as well.” This is what happened two years ago in 2008 when student marches outside Kildare Street helped steer the government away from their proposals of reintroducing fees.

This year however, there is a mixed reaction from students to the upcoming march organised by the USI against the doubling of the registration fee from €1,500 to €3,000 as well as cuts to grants and assistance funds.

The march also aims to raise the issue of a lack of employment opportunities available to graduates. The USI is predicting 25,000 students from across the country will be attending the march. De Brún is confident that the march will be effective in its agenda.

“We have been lobbying TDs, writing to TDs and the tellyourtd.com campaign has proven to be really effective. Also, this will be the only pre-budget march on the Dáil and that gives us some extra weight and some extra gravitas and I’m hoping that will work. People said that in 2008 a march wouldn’t be effective and it wouldn’t work. People said that fees were guaranteed to come back in, but we came out in huge numbers and fees didn’t come in, so I have a lot of faith in it.”

UCD students interviewed, however, were sceptical about the student march in achieving its aim. First-year Arts student Michael Walsh tells The University Observer: “No, I don’t think that protests are effective at all. I will be attending the march on November 3rd, but only for the craic.”

A second-year Engineering student had a slightly different view on the march: “Of course I will be attending the march.

I think it’s vital that every student goes to the march to really emphasise our county’s situation.” When asked whether the protest would be effective in its goals, she adds: “I believe it did a few years ago so I think it should have some impact even though the government can’t really do anything about it.”

A well-known rumour in UCD is that

the campus of Belfield was designed with a view to prevent the congregation of a mass student body anywhere in the central area of the campus. Although perhaps just speculation, it is worth noting that the area most central to campus and also spacious enough to hold a huge congregation of students is the area of the lake in front of the James Joyce library.

“It’s never been confirmed to me,” says de Brún. “But I have heard a lot of times that the entire UCD campus was designed to prevent that kind of thing in light of the massive student protest in Paris back in the 60s or 70s. Luckily, it’s not UCD we’re marching on.”

In a time when there is arguably a great need for a change in how our society is managed, it is surprising that there seem to be so few marches and demonstrations occurring on our streets. While the live register hits 13.7 per cent and controversial cuts in education, health care and social welfare are planned for the December budget; there is a noticeable lack of protests and demonstrations occurring on the streets of Ireland.

Perhaps people have accepted the fact that cuts are needed to get Ireland’s deficit under control, but there is also a notion that marching, protesting and striking would not have any impact on government proceedings even if people were to hit the streets.

There have been some demonstrations such as what became know as the ‘Cementgate’ incident on September 29th.

But while catching the nation’s intrigue for a day or two, this interest often dwindles out quickly. The University Observer spoke to a number of students asking why Irish people are more reluctant to take to the streets compared to other nations.

“I think it’s the Irish mentality. I think we’re a bit laid back, we are a bit more relaxed,” says Masters student Sean Burke.

“My mother’s generation had it tough and kind of suffered through things a lot more than we do. Our generation complains about stupid things; it’s our mentality.”

Evin Joyce, a Masters student who lived in France for three years, comments: “I

reckon [the French] have a better mentality. It goes back to history. Their trade unions were way bigger there all the time, so whatever the government puts out they will automatically contradict it, no questions asked. It’s a reaction like that. They kind of shape the government policy in that way, whereas we’ll sit down and complain about it in the pub, they’ll complain about it outside on the streets.”

Joyce continues: “You will have national strike day in February. It’s a national event.

Doesn’t matter what exactly the issue is, but they’ll be out on the streets and striking about it. Now it also makes it impudent, because it happens so regularly, but I think it’s a more healthy society. [It’s] more involved with politics than it is here where it’s just passive, where we’ll complain about it together, but we won’t go out on the streets and actually do anything about it.”

Despite the predictions above, on the infrequent occasions that Irish people do take to the streets of Dublin to air their anger, there have been mixed results. Two years ago when the government, for their early October budget, took away the automatic entitlement for persons over the age of 70 to have a medical card, over 25,000 pensioners and students protested on Kildare Street in solidarity against the cuts.

The government were then forced into an embarrassing climb down, announcing they would reassess their decision.

Moving away from Ireland, there have been many memorable examples of ‘people power’ success stories. Protests, such as the ‘March on Washington’ organised in 1963 for jobs and freedom for African Americans (notable for Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech), were credited with passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The movement also demonstrated a

burgeoning solidarity between black and white communities who marched on Washington that day – between 200,000 and 300,000 protesters marched for equality, showing that the power of the people can often make a difference.

The Student Protests of 1968 in France (that quickly escalated to riots) is another example of what people can achieve if they unite together under one cause. What began as a small group of students protesting at the Sorbonne University in Paris against class discrimination, quickly escalated into a huge general strike involving 2 out of 3 French workers.

The resulting strike brought the economy to a virtual standstill, and the protesters saw it as an opportunity to highlight their dissatisfaction with Charles de Gaulle’s government at the time. Although the march was ultimately a political failure – with de Gaulle’s government returned to power after a general election that followed the protests – it was seen as a watershed moment in shifting the social consciousness from conservatism to a more liberal outlook. On a side note, it also heavily inspired the philosophies of musicians from The Rolling Stones to The Stone Roses.

“Carla, now we all know what it’s like to be screwed by Sarko” was one of the many messages scrawled on placards showing the anger of the French nation. If the strikes and protests of the French people do prove successful, it could serve as a catalyst for demonstrations across Europe, as many European leaders are preparing severe budgets for the future year.

Don’t be surprised if Ireland’s streets see a resurrection of protests over the coming year. Whether successful or not, people have a right to be heard. It is one thing being screwed by Sarko, but thoughts of Biffo on top may just prove too much.

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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

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The Art of Zen

With stress, physical ailments and mental health all at risk in such turbulent times, Leanne Waters treads into the world of yoga to find some muchneeded relief

I

’ve never been a carefree person.

You know those friends we all have that just seem to take life with ease and in Features Editor tremendous stride?

That’s not me. Indeed, when stress and anxieties start to climax, we each have our own individual rituals that take us to that holy and seemingly mythical state known as nirvana.

For me, said nirvana comes in the form of a Marlboro Lights pack and a hot cup of tea. And so when it was suggested to me that I should try to find some sense of calm in my life, via the route of yoga, I laughed and put it to the back of my mind.

Nevertheless, I recently found myself caught up in an apparently holistic and altogether traumatising experience. When debating which yoga class to undertake for this piece, my thoughts ventured to beginners’ courses and what I envisaged as breathing in and out for thirty minutes at a time. I even considered a fake pregnancy and/or child to qualify for post-natal yoga; a little extreme, I know. As it happens, all considerations were ultimately in vain.

In the midst of what were to become fruitless deliberations, I landed myself in a conversation with a doctor. An advocate of the yoga-inspired life of Zen, I almost

instantly qualified this doctor in my head as a modern Miyagi. This association having thus been established, when the now suitably-named Miyagi invited me to a yoga class, I thought, how hard could it be? If the Karate Kid could do it, so could I. A quick drive home to get changed into suitable clothing and I was rearing to go.

Having been advised not to eat anything before the class, I ticked over on two litres of water and two sneaky cigarettes – something I knew I’d regret later. One final trip to Harold’s Cross in Dublin and I had made it to the Bikram Yoga studio.

Bikram Yoga was founded by a man from Calcutta, Bikram Choudhury, who began his spirtitual endeavours at the age of five when he was taught Hatha yoga by Bishnu Rajashree. According to the Bikram Yoga website: “At twelve years of age he was the youngest ever National Yoga Champion of India, holding the title for three consecutive years. Bikram went on to pursue an athletic career as a marathon runner and to compete in Olympic-style weight lifting. He (now) oversees more than 700 affiliated Bikram yoga schools worldwide.”

And yet despite having previously researched all this information, all I could think about was that Miyagi had mentioned something of extreme sweating. I wished I had paid more attention to that detail. After turning up late (always an ominous omen) and rushing to my spot in front of a fulllength mirror, I realised something; it was very hot. So hot, in fact, that I began sweating before I even attempted movement. The classes were held in extraordinarily high temperatures – picture a sauna void of gushing steam sounds. I felt instantly sick.

Several positions – or asanas – into it and I had long since regretted what I believed to be a spur-of-the-moment and terrific decision to attend. I was perspiring beyond what I deemed humanly possible and my stomach was in an argument with my head

According to yoga lore, if you free your body then your mind will follow.

as regards whether or not it should jump through my throat. My aching muscles were starting to spasm and, inevitably, I was incredibly short of breath.

I recalled being a child in P.E. class and how there was always one slightly plump classmate who would go red and struggle in great angst with the class. On this occasion, I was that kid. Only 60 minutes into it and I had to pack it in. Visions of looking at a ceil-

ing and hearing the words, “She fainted!” were too much to bear. And so, with my tail between my legs and the back-of-theneck glare from an extremely unimpressed instructor, I took some air and finally, relished in a Marlboro reliable. My career in yoga was over.

However, even with what turned out to be a terrifically dismal experience, I certainly would not encourage anyone to turn their

nose up at the concept of yoga. Though personally catastrophic, I couldn’t help but notice my surrounding yoga-yoyos, as well as Miyagi himself. There I found utter determination and what later seemed like genuinely deep satisfaction. Yoga, I discovered, is more than a class taken by fad-addicts such as myself. Rather it is a lifestyle and a devout commitment; one that even I believe can have tremendous benefits in time.

Postcards from Abroad: Lyon With riots and protests in France bombarding the headlines, Postcards from Abroad columnist Matt Gregg is forced from his studies to witness the effects of protesting in France.

I

t’s the day after the night before. Rue de la République has been completely transformed.

Every bus shelter has been kicked in, every bin liquefied into a pool of orange plastic and every street corner guarded by fully armed gendarmes.

Welcome to Lyon, France’s second largest metropolis.

We’ve just hit our eighth straight day of grève réconductible – basically the French unions way of saying they’ll be striking indefinitely. The main source of their ire is the controversial pension reform bill, which would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67.

The French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, insists the reforms are essential to French prosperity but the population at large clearly disagrees. Large parts of the country have been brought to a standstill, as protesters demand the reforms be dropped. Nowhere have these protests been more vehement than in Lyon.

Not surprisingly my university sent me an email saying all lectures had been suspended indefinitely. A second email swiftly followed, warning all foreign students to avoid heading into town because

French demonstrations have a habit of getting out of hand. Naturally, I felt dutybound to conduct my own field studies and report from the frontline at Place Bellecour.

Most public transport is not running and all the main stations have been shut down so the 15-minute journey from the top of Fourvière has to be made on foot. In hindsight, it’s just as well we walked. Other students ended up getting stuck on the underground for over an hour while protesters clashed with riot police and one friend even got punched in the melee.

Place Bellecour, located between the Saone and the Rhone, forms the focus point of Lyon and much of the demonstrations – the largest pedestrian square in Europe, the area is distinguished by a 25-foot statue of Louis XIV. Today, hundreds of demonstrators swarm around the statue’s base and across the normally vast open space.

The yellow flags of Confédération Générale du Travail, France’s largest trade union, float high in the cold autumn air and the customary blare of megaphones can be heard over the din of the steel drumming group keeping the protesters entertained.

Littered amongst the crowd of varying ages and ethnicities are kebab stands, feeding the hungry masses.

Were it not for the almost random stoning of the luxurious shop fronts that enclose the square or the riot clad gendarmes keeping watch, it would be hard to distinguish this gathering from the music festival of la

Lumière that Bellecour played host to just two weeks ago. It hardly seemed like the warzone the email had made out.

Circling overhead is a helicopter. From a distance, it’s hard to make out if it’s to keep the rioters in check or merely a TV station coming in for a closer look. It hovers above us, surveying the crowd, the Parachute Insignia of France’s National Guard now crystal clear along the fuselage.

Loud chanting and the steady beat of a drum attracted my attention to the large column of protesters filing into the square from the north-east corner. Easing our way towards the growing crowd, which we can now see stretches out of Bellecour and back across the Rhone, it’s hard not to be impressed by the French determination not to work those extra two years.

Of course, the influx of people into the already packed square was always going to significantly increase the tension, but I was not prepared for what happened next. There was a scuffle as protesters pressed themselves against the on looking gendarmerie and it all kicked off. The helicopter swooped down on the roof of the McDonalds and gas canisters spiralled from the sky, engulfing the square in a thick cloud of smoke.

Chaos ensued. The gas leaves you choking for breath, your eyes streaming and your nostrils burning. Everywhere you looked, people were desperately trying to cover their faces with anything they had or fleeing the scene. Wisely, we swiftly followed

suit. Down every street we ran, we were met by riot police, who were linked together to form a sort of 21st century Roman Tortoise. The oncoming walls of shields forced everyone back towards the square, back towards the gas. In the end, we had to double back.

That was the 19th of October. For two weeks, protests and strikes have dominated French life. The French senate have now voted through the bill and it seems only a matter of weeks before things calm down.

But it will take a lot longer to clear up the mess and repair the damage.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

11

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Cé a bheidh an chéad Uachtarán eile?

Déanann Bríd Doherty measúnú ar na príomhiarrthóirí d’oifig an Uachtaráin, roimh an toghchán in 2011

A

r feadh na mblianta, ní féidir a shéanadh ach go raibh oifig an Uachtaráin mar phost oinigh do pholaiteoir shean a raibh ag iarraidh críoch a chur lena shaol polaitiúil. Ní raibh na huachtaráin fadó chomh gníomhach agus páirteach i saol na hÉireann ná mar a bhí uachtaráin i dtíortha eile.

D’athraigh an seasamh sin le hinsealbhú Mary Robinson. D’úsáid sí a post chun aird mhuintir na hÉireann a dhíriú ar chearta daonna anseo in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. Ina dhiadh sin, thóg Mary McAleese post an Uachtaráin. Thiomnaigh sí í féin do phróiseas na síochána i dTuaisceart na hÉireann. Chomh maith le sin, thug sí feasacht don bhochtanas atá anseo in Éirinn.

Le breathnú ar na hiarrthóirí ata is mó i mbéal an phobail don toghchán uachtaránachta 2011, gan amhras, tá go leor daoine suimiúla faoi chaibidil mar iarrthóirí don oifig. Tá buntaistí ag gabháil le chuile iarrthóir agus beidh toghchán tarraingteach ag tarlú an bhliain seo chugainn.

D’fhógair Seanadóir David Norris go bhfuil sé chun dul san iomaíocht i gcoir Uachtaráin na hÉireann. Tá go leor buntaistí ag gabháil leis. Tá cuid mhór taithí aige sa pholaitíocht. Is ball de Seanad é le fada agus d’oibrigh sé leis an gcomhcoiste um Gnóthaí Eachtracha.

Ar feadh a shaoil pholaitiúil ar fad, throid sé ar son chearta na mionlaigh sa tír seo. Rugadh agus tógadh é mar phrotastúnach deisceartach, an mionlach is sine in Eirinn. Chomh maith le sin, is fear aerach é a chuireann cearta an lucht Leispiach, Aerach, Déghnéasach agus Trasinscneach (LADT) chun chinn.

Duine eile a léirigh go bhfuil suim aige

é féin a chur mar iarrthóir ionchasach don uachtaránacht ná Bertie Ahern, iarThaoiseach na hÉireann. Gan amhras, tá taithí aige sa pholaitíocht agus mar cheannaire ach deirtear nach mbeadh seans dá laghad aige teacht i gcomharbacht ar an uachtaránacht.

Is dócha go bhfuil sé sin mar gheall ar an bpáirt a ghlac sé i bhforbairt an cúlú eacnamaíochta sa tír seo. Níor admhaigh sé go ndearna sé botúin agus chomh maith le sin, níor ghabh sé leithscéal as a ról i dteip eacnamaíochta na tíre seo. Chomh maith le sin, níl daoine cinnte go mbeadh sé neamh-chiontach nuair a fhoilseofar tuairiscí na binsí fiosrúcháin.

Ceapann go leor daoine go roghnóidh Fianna Fáil Brian Crowley, Feisire de Pharlaimint na hEorpach (FPE) ó Chontae Chorcaigh, mar iarrthóir don uachtaránacht in ionad Bertie Ahern. Tá sé mar FPE ar feadh blianta fada. Ina shaol féin, fuair se an lamh in airde ar go leor constaicí agus gan amhras, is duine cróga é.

Níl cumas siúl aige agus tá air usáid a bhaint as chathaoir rothaí. Oibríonn sé ar son chearta daoine faoi mhíchumas anseo in Éirinn agus san Eoraip. Is duine a bhfuil gnaoi an phobail air agus tagann scath mór daoine amach chun vótáil dó i ngach toghchán ina bhfuil sé mar iarrthóir. Tá sé óg go leor agus tá sé soléir gur duine tarraingteach é do dhaoine óga.

Tá Michael D Higgins ag lorg an ainmniúchán ó Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre. Is sóisialaí é a bhfuil suim aige i gcearta daonna ar fud an domhain a chosaint agus a chaomhnú. Tá sé ag iarraidh ealaíon agus cultúr a fhorbairt sa tír seo agus braitheann sé go bhfuil tábhacht mór ag baint leo i saol na laethe seo.

Gluais

Is gné iontach é de formhór na niarrthóirí ná go bhfuil cúis á thacú acu.

Seachas Bertie Ahern, tá gach duine ag iarraidh aird an phobail a dhíriú ar chearta mhionlaigh, ar chearta daonna agus ar bhochtanas anseo in Éirinn. Is rud iontach é go mbeidh Uachtarán againn a bhfuil ag iarraidh an post a úsáid chun cúrsaí a fheabhsú. Is féidir leo an phobail a spreagadh.

Níl ról gníomhach sa pholaitíocht ag Uachtarán na hÉireann agus is mór an

trua é sin toisc go mbíonn daoine leanta go rialta san oifig ar nós Mary Robinson agus Mary McAleese. Níl sé sin chun athrú go luath ach is féidir leis an Uachtarán gaol a chruthú leis an gnáth phobail, gaol le tíortha eile a fheabhsú, feasacht a spreagadh ar chúiseanna soisialta. Tá súil agam go roghnóidh muintir na hÉireann duine úr, gníomhach a bhfuil ag iarraidh difríocht a dhéanamh sa tír seo fad is atá se no si ina uachtarán.

Oinigh – honourary Feasacht – awareness Cúlú eacnamaíochta – Economic recession Gníomhach – active Tiomnaigh – dedicate Insealbhú – inauguration Binsí Fiosrucháin – tribunals Iarrthóirí – candidates Cearta Daonna – human rights Mionlaigh – minorities Daoine faoi mhícumas – people with disabilities

The Golden Ticket?

With the new UCD SU loyalty card campaign having launched recently, Chief Features Writer Natalie Voorheis examines the scheme’s merits and shortfalls

U

Chief Features Writer

CD SU President Paul Lynam promised the introduction of an SU loyalty card as part of his election manifesto. The scheme was originally based on that of NUI Galway’s SU loyalty card.

Lynam tells The University Observer that he wanted to introduce the card to afford students a reward for using SU facilities and adds that he had initially thought: “If it worked in NUIG, why can’t it work here?”

In UCD, the new SU loyalty card scheme affords students a one per cent return on their spending – i.e. one euro back for every one hundred euro spent.

In comparison, at NUI Galway, students spending in their cafes and bar enjoy a four per cent return and in their SU shop, a return of two per cent.

Lynam, aware that this is a small return for UCD students, stresses that this fact was certainly “not the real selling point of it” and explains that the card affords different kinds of rewards to students.

Such rewards include a free eleventh coffee when you purchase ten and a monthly draw rewarding eight users, one from each program within UCD. In addition, Lynam was keen to stress

that although the scheme has been officially launched, it is still in its preliminary stages and that students should shortly expect a reward scheme involving dinners similar to that of the coffees and more.

Lynam was optimistic about the scheme, saying that he expects it to be part of the UCD “furniture” once its implementation phases were complete.

The exact nature of the physical loyalty card has caused some confusion among the student body. The UCD SU Loyalty Card does not exist as a physical card as such, but once you have registered your details online at the SU website, your student card serves as a loyalty card and is scanned at the tills when you purchase something. In general, registration is quick and easy and definitely worth it, as it means less junk to carry around.

Lynam explains how “your student card is transforming”. Accordingly, the UCD student card has become more than just the bearer of bad news that you owe the library a tenner and is now something of a smart card.

During Freshers’ Week, an average student amasses more than their share of plastic cards, most of which lie forgotten within a week. The SU, recognising this inevitability, have made a move towards the branding of the traditional student card as a smart card with additional functionality. Residence students now use the student card to get into their rooms and one swipe of the card transforms it into your SU Loyalty Card.

The University Observer ventured out around campus to ask students their opinion on the new scheme. Unfortunately for the SU, most of the interviews proved wholly unsuccessful, with the majority of

students unaware of the scheme or how it worked.

Those students who were able to speak to us gave mixed reviews. Many were positive about the scheme. Fourth-year Economics student, David Lyons, expressed his satisfaction about how the SU were working towards new schemes regarding finance for the student. Similarly, thirdyear Social Science student, Niamh Dolan says: “I spend a lot of money in the student shop so the reward is going to build up.”

In contrast, teething problems resulted in frustration for Cathy McCabe, who is in her final year of a Social Science degree.

She comments: “It won’t work. I tried to sign up for it and it said that my Students’ Union card is already being used. I’ve already emailed the Students’ Union twice and they haven’t got back to me. It’s quite annoying. Clearly they’re not interested.”

So what really are the benefits of the scheme for students? Well, as Lynam points out enthusiastically on multiple occasions in the course of his interview with The University Observer, the scheme is free to sign up to. However, its ease of access is the case with all normal loyalty cards, so this initiative is hardly surprising and, not exactly a benefit.

Nonetheless, Lynam’s message is clear.

He maintains that “the important thing to point out is that this year is a launch year,” indicating how we can expect bigger and better things from the scheme in the future, while adding that: “It doesn’t cost the students anything. It’s free sign up.

Support your shops now and you will be rewarded. Thus, he concludes: “The first phase is to launch, we’ve done that and the second phase is to add to it.”

The SU loyalty card was launched in September and can be used in all SU-affiliated outlets

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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

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Doing it for the Kids Is the sterilisation of drug addicts an immoral procedure or a laudable measure? Sinead O’Brien and Phillipa White debate the issue

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arbara Harris is an American crusader on a mission to highlight the problem of drug addicts and alcoholics exposing their unborn child to drugs during pregnancy. Her campaign has recently reached the UK, where her presence has caused some controversy, as her policies and ideals are subject to much criticism.

Harris is the founder of a non-profit organisation called Project Prevention. This organisation’s existence in the UK is a contentious issue, because it offers to pay drug addicts £200 to undergo sterilisation procedures, or to commit to long-term birth control. This is in line with Harris’s strong belief that addicts should not have children and she has made the point that the sterilisation, particularly with regard to female addicts, is “about preventing child abuse”.

Those opposed to the objectives of Project Prevention claim that it violates these women’s right to have children. Others argue that the offer of a financial reward is exploitative of those who are vulnerable, and that the remuneration will only be used to feed their habit.

There are doubts as to whether an addict is capable of giving informed consent to the procedure, but Harris states that it is left to a medical professional to judge whether their patient is able to make a rational decision about something as life changing as sterilisation.

Those opposed to the work of Project Prevention have compared it to the eugenics movements of the Third Reich and in the US in the 1920s. They claim that in advocating the sterilisation of drug addicts, Project Prevention aims to eliminate the undesirables in society and is targeting African Americans in particular. This argument is laughable, as Barbara Harris is in fact the only white face in her family. Her husband is African-American and her children are consequently mixed race.

The arguments made against the sterilisation of drug addicts are somewhat superficial, and avoid the pressing issues that Project Prevention is trying to battle. In arguing against the sterilisation of addicts, nobody has come forward with an alternative solution to the problem of children being born with serious withdrawals and addictions to heroin and cocaine.

To date, Project Prevention has paid 3,600 addicts in the US to be sterilised, all of whom have experienced the trauma of having their children taken away from them and realised that they were not responsible enough to be parents.

The unavoidable truth is that addicts are unfit to have children. If they are irresponsible enough to take drugs, one can hardly claim that they are in any position to have children. Pregnancies are an afterthought for addicts, and often come as a result of them soliciting for sex to gather enough money together for their next hit.

The average number of pregnancies had by the women that took advantage of Harris’ s scheme was three, but this is a misleading statistic. When looking at individual cases, the numbers are far more disturbing.

One woman who took advantage of the payment had had 21 pregnancies. 16 others had 16 pregnancies. Twelve had been pregnant 15 times. 19 were pregnant 13 times and 401 women had five pregnancies.

Of the last 20 women Project Prevention paid, prior to them undergoing tubal ligation, between them there were 121 pregnancies, 24 abortions, an average of four living children each. In total, 78 of their children remain in foster care and may be

Barbara Harris is the founder of Project Prevention, which offers drug addicts money to get sterilised.

reclaimed if their mothers clean up their act.

But the prospect of that happening is highly unlikely.

Each year, women in the United States give birth to nearly half a million babies who have been exposed to illicit drugs in utero. The annual medical cost of caring for cocaine-exposed babies across the US has been estimated at $33 million for neonates, and as high as $1.4 billion during the babies’ first year of life.

While it may be unfavourable to put a price on a life, the fact is that many of these babies die prematurely and have the most miserable quality of life. These are babies that never should have been born. But as a result of their parents’ irresponsible behaviour, they enter this world in total anguish and the public incurs great expenditure just to keep these children alive for a few months or a couple of years.

The children who do survive and are handed back to their drug-addicted mothers or parents, in all likelihood experience serious neglect and maltreatment. They eventually become addicts just like their parents did and the cycle repeats itself.

To take a realistic look at the problem, one will realise that rehabilitation is often only temporary. The sterilisation of drug addicts is a realistic and effective solution to a very serious problem that affects the lives and wellbeing of millions of children.

- Sinead O’Brien

P

roject Prevention or CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity) as it was formerly named, is an American organisation that offers drug addicts money to undergo sterilisation or another method of long-term birth control. The idea behind the initiative is that babies should not be born into family setups where a parent is dependent on drugs during pregnancy, or after. This aim of child protection is honourable, no doubt, but on closer inspection, this organisation is offering society something that is in fact insidious.

Firstly, a person in the midst of a drug addiction is not in the right state of mind to be making life-altering decisions, particularly decisions that are, for the most part, irreversible. $300 is a seductive enough price for their fertility. Persuading people who are at their most vulnerable to do something you want is one thing.

Persuading vulnerable people who are under the influence of drugs to give up their ability to have children in exchange for cash, however, is a contemptible act of manipulation.

Secondly, although drug users are present in every class in society, from royalty to the homeless, the simple fact of the matter is that this campaign is directed at the poor. With a cash incentive of $300, or £200, since the inception of Project Prevention UK in June 2010, behind

the offer of sterilisation, an unemployed heroin addict is going to be a lot easier to enlist than a middle-class professional cocaine addict.

Indeed, the facts do not belie this: the overwhelming majority of the 3,600

Drug addicts are essentially being labelled as hopeless cases

people who were recruited by Project Prevention have been poor, uneducated and mainly African American women from disadvantaged areas in the United States.

What can be drawn from this is that a form of social engineering is being executed. If it is predominantly impoverished African-American female addicts who are being branded as unfit to have children and sought out to undergo sterilisation, and are thus not reproducing themselves, what makes this project different from any other eugenics campaign in the past?

The message that Project Prevention is broadcasting is that drug addicts are not fit to be parents. It is not in dispute that babies who are born to drug-addicted mothers suffer adverse health risks, such as drug addictions, low birth weights and premature births. Furthermore, it is true that some drug addicts who become parents neglect their children. However, to argue that all drug addicts should be denied the right to ever have children is an extreme and deplorable idea. If the welfare of the child and the rights of the unborn are the only priorities in mind, then why not sterilise alcoholics, smokers, gamblers or anyone else who may not be the perfect parental candidate? Indeed, men and women from families with histories of genetic disorders would have to be sterilised as well if one truly wanted to ensure that absolutely no children suffered after birth.

One of the most perturbing aspects of Project Prevention’s campaign is the utter devaluation of the drug addict’s life. Reversing sterilisation is, in most cases, not an option. Reversing a tubal ligation or a vasectomy is only possible in a minority of cases and these surgeries are often not even successful.

Therefore, sterilisation is mostly for life and drug addicts are essentially being labelled as hopeless cases. It implies that addicts are unlikely to ever reform, at least not during their fertile years and become stable enough to raise children and start a family. How can an organisation that advocates so strongly and sincerely for the rights and welfare of children lack any sense of compassion or hope for the addicts they claim to be helping?

When she is not driving around in a motor home bedecked with images of dying children, Barbara Harris, Project Prevention’s founder, is actively recruiting addicts outside family-planning centres, or on the streets of disadvantaged areas across the US and now Britain. “To me, it’s about preventing child abuse,” she insists. As sincere as she may be, it appears that Ms Harris has lost sight of the bigger picture.

If a child grows up surrounded by drug abuse, unemployment and crime and becomes involved in these vices later on in life, few within society are surprised.

These people, however, need education and drug therapy, not sterilisation. If you want to stop the cycle of drug addiction being passed from generation to generation and prevent innocent children from suffering, there are other ways of achieving this.

Alas, making one generation of drug addicts infertile so that they cannot produce another generation of neglected children and would-be addicts is not the method of choice for any human being who possesses an ounce of tolerance or integrity.

A long-term solution to address the social issues underlying the problem is needed, and not a crash course in Eugenics 101.

- Philippa White

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

13

Comment

comment@universityobserver.ie

Vive la France?

The French are known for striking, but this time their cries may not be heard, writes Marianne Madden

T

he French strikes are a neverending saga. The protesting instinct is deeply embedded in the nation’s psyche and they appear to strike as a knee-jerk reaction to any cutbacks to their comprehensive social system.

The current strikes have generated much intrigue but low levels of international sympathy. The workforce is protesting against proposals to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018, and to raise the full pension age from 65 to 67. The question is whether the French are simply getting worked up instead of, well, working.

French workers receive extensive social security benefits, enjoy a 35-hour week and five weeks compulsory vacation. The French have a life expectancy of 81 compared to the Irish life expectancy of 78. So, under the new policy, the French will work three years less than the Irish, while living an average of three years longer. Accordingly, the longer people live, the more they cost the state in health and pension expenses. Indeed, it is the success of the social system in providing such comprehensive healthcare which helps people to live longer.

A shifting demographic renders the current system unsustainable. A larger workforce is needed to contribute, but they are refusing. The social system is therefore a victim of its own success.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in France in order to oppose pension reform.

Could Sarkozy have it right for once? The French president has backed his political career on the pension reform and his popularity has fallen as a result. But in the face of emptying coffers, this reform may be more a question of necessity than of policy.

Irrespective of how costs were cut, the French would have taken to the streets regardless. There is irony in that the controversial president might end his political career on a measure that is actually beneficial in the long run. The Socialist Party has promised to return the retirement age to 60 if elected in 2012. Public dissatisfaction with President Sarkozy proves that people should be more careful who they elect, as not every inept leader can be bullied. Pension reforms have been met with strong disapproval in the past – strikes were successful against Chirac’s similar proposals in 1995.

But this time the government will not back down; the problem is that neither will the people. Consequently, a confrontation has

ensued, with Sarkozy ordering the opening of barricaded fuel depots.

The strike represents a modern-day Bastille, a standoff between French citizens and their leaders – essentially, this has always been how the country has achieved social change. Indignant cries of ‘non!’ may have inspired nations to follow the example of French revolutionaries, but in a modern context we are left looking blankly on. All nationalities complain; the difference appears to be that the French expect something to be done about it.

However, public vigilance is what creates favourable social policy in the first place.

The French are demanding, passionate and some would say annoying when it comes to enforcing their socialist ideals. Unions have mobilised large sectors of society. Students in particular have taken to the streets in huge numbers, protesting on behalf of parents and grandparents.

The French are struggling to maintain the

current retirement age because lowering it in the first place represented such a victory for the Socialist Party in 1983. The reform represents a step backwards, with social benefits achieved by past generates being dismantled. The strikes seem ridiculous from an international perspective, but are somewhat rationalised in a domestic context.

Disruptions are widespread; imposing fuel shortages, cancelling flights and taking students out of the classroom. A law has been established ensuring that minimum service levels in sectors such as transport are maintained. Consequently, the effects of the protests have not been as damaging to the economy as they could have been, while airlines and oil refineries have been the worst hit industries.

However, if students are to inherit an economy similar to the one they grew up in, they might do well to recognise the growing financial burden of pensions and the crushing cost of long-term strike action on pri-

vate enterprise and on the state. The French are reacting as any indulged child would when their playtime is cut short – by having a good bawl. But with riots and economic self-harm among the possible repercussions, can we not expect the oldest population of Europe to finally grow up?

How the latest mobilisation will end remains to be seen. The senate has passed the bill and the government is hoping that the finality of the reform will settle the riots.

People power appears to have failed, having become something of a modern myth.

Maybe working the French harder and longer will leave them with less energy to devote to the popular national pastime of taking to the streets. One thing is for sure though, the costs of the disruptions will have significant repercussions. Principles aside, the question remains: is two years extra paid work in a lifetime worth the additional wounds in an already flailing economic beast?

Cannabis for California?

California is set to vote on a measure that would legalise cannabis. Eoin Brady examines the potential consequences of this scheme

T

he Terminator runs it. It’s home to the Silicon Valley and some of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions, including Berkley and UCLA. If it were a country, it would have the seventh largest economy in the world. And today, November 2nd 2010, California is voting on a ballot that could launch an extraordinary social experiment.

Proposition 19 would make it legal for adults to grow, possess and recreationally use cannabis. This legal position would be more permissive than any other developed country’s.

Up until the last few weeks, polls had been showing that the proposition would pass with a small majority, but recently sup-

port has swung in the opposite direction, pointing to a narrow loss for pro-cannabis lobbyists. This swing is likely to have been influenced by a statement from US Attorney General, Eric Holder, who stated that federal cannabis laws would be “vigorously enforced,” even if California passed the measure.

As it stands, cannabis is available in California from licensed dispensaries for individuals with doctors’ recommendations.

Registered growers can legally sell their produce to these dispensaries. Cannabis is accessible, not taboo and widely used – a statewide survey reported that 63 per cent of the city of Berkley’s eleventh graders had smoked cannabis. Despite the high levels of use prevailing, the legal changes in the proposition would be more than merely cosmetic.

British philosopher John Stewart Mill asserted: “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” He believed that if an adult wants to harm himself without affecting others, the state should have no role in preventing such behaviour – to do so would be an unjustifiable intrusion into an individual’s liberty.

Mill’s idea has credence with voters and

politicians of almost every hue, even in an environment as bipartisan as the US. It would be of tremendous ideological significance for California to move from the murky light-touch enforcement that currently prevails to an unambiguous application of the liberal principle.

However, some groups opposing Proposition 19 – for example, the California Chamber of Commerce – argue that the legalisation of cannabis is not an issue of an individual’s sovereignty, that it would have implications for others, apart from the drug user.

The Chamber has produced an ad urging the listener to “imagine coming out of surgery, and the nurse caring for you was high.

It could happen in California, if Proposition 19 passes.” Proponents have been quick to point out that behaviour like showing up to work high, or driving while high, would remain just as illegal as it is now. No luck for George Michael, then.

Drug use in the US has significant responsibility for the current situation south of the border. Proponents of Proposition 19 suggest that by legalising production, Californians would replace Mexican cannabis with their own version, thereby depriving Mexican drug cartels of the both the motivation to pursue the gang warfare that has killed 28,000, and the means to pay for it.

In the long term, the liberalisation of drug policy in the US will not provide a solution to Mexico’s drug problems as only 20

Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is opposed to the proposed legalisation of cannabis in the state, as is the US Attorney General.

per cent of the cartels’ revenue is from cannabis. Legalisation in the US of production of the sources of the remaining 80 per cent of revenue (cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin) is not a realistic option.

RAND, a non-partisan policy research institute, projects that tax revenue from cannabis could amount to $1.4bn annually – a considerable sum for a state that’s running a deficit of over $19bn. However, projections of this nature are fraught with difficulty because of the sensitivity of projections to variations in the unknowns. High levels of tax evasion, for example, could change the picture dramatically.

Billionaire financier George Soros, the man who “broke the Bank of England,” has

come out in support of the proposition and donated $1m to the cause. He characterises it as a civil rights issue.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Soros points out that even though black Americans use cannabis no more than their white counterparts, they are three to ten times (depending on the city) more likely to be arrested for it. He goes on to highlight the harm done to civil liberty and social cohesion by imprisoning otherwise law-abiding citizens for a relatively harmless act.

Though opposed to the measure himself, it remains to be seen whether Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be forced to say, “Hasta la vista, ineffective, punitive and discriminatory drug policy.”

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THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

COMMENT

comment@universityobserver.ie

The Melting Pot Boils Over

The recent arguments against multiculturalism invoked by several European countries contain prejudicial connotations, writes Cormac Duffy

A

s always, there is some sort of spectre haunting Europe. But this time it is not a political conflict, a looming economic collapse, or a rising power. It is a slowly changing mindset. Europe, especially the institutions of the EU, has always considered itself a champion of tolerance, a seeker of a harmonious brand of multiculturalism that would suit the world over. A glance at the current politics of the continent gives a completely different impression.

Since clashes between police and Roma last July in the French town of Saint Aignan, Sarkozy’s government has stepped up its anti-Roma policies. By shutting down illegal camps and encouraging Roma to return to their home countries, the French government has been attempting to minimise the number of non-nationals in the country. After scathing criticism from the EU, the offensive has been rolled back somewhat, but the tensions still remain.

France is not alone. Just over two weeks ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that “multiculturalism had failed” in Germany and that immigrants needed to do more to integrate into German society. She may have a significant amount of the population behind her, with recent polls suggesting that 30 per cent of Germans believe that immigrants are entering the country in order to abuse the welfare state and 50 per cent believing that Muslims are a burden on the economy.

The Netherlands is experiencing a similar rise in anti-Islamic and anti-immigration

attitudes. Geert Wilder’s controversial Party for Freedom have become the third largest party in recent elections, after promoting policies to tighten immigration regulations and introduce anti-Islam legislation.

The source of the opposition to multiculturalism is changing. Usually the fare of racially motivated far-right parties, it is now coming from established moderates like Sarkozy and Merkel, and from selfdescribed liberals like Wilders. It is shifting from the fringes to the mainstream. So just what is happening to European attitudes?

There has always been a paradox in the European mentality – it holds the ideals of democracy and human rights as sacrosanct and universal (even when, let’s face it, they are western values), but also declares its support for tolerance and multiculturalism.

This unresolved dichotomy is beginning to make its uncomfortable presence known.

Take the Netherlands for example. The notoriously liberal country has reached a stage where politicians like Wilders are asking if this liberalism ought to apply to il-

Opinion polls suggest that 65 per cent of the French population support the expulsion of the Roma people

Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has been condemned for attempts to expel the Roma population from France, while Angela Merkel claims that multiculturalism has “failed” in Germany

liberal groups.

Having seen prominent figures like politician Pim Fortuyn and filmmaker Theo Van Gogh assassinated for expressing views that some might consider as anti-Islamic, as well as an increased radicalisation of the Islamic community, the nation has had to ask itself some questions. Can it support the existence of a community that opposes its core values of free speech and civil liberties? Can it tolerate a culture of intolerance?

The same sort of cultural clash reared its head in France. A statement from the president’s office declared Roma camps “sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime”. This was a huge shift in discourse from the usual legal and economic arguments against the presence of Roma to an attack on their culture.

It is strange that in a state that prides it-

self on providing high standards of living for all, there exists a group with limited access to both social and economic capital, and where life is difficult for anyone born into this community. Furthermore, opinion polls suggest that 65 per cent of the French population support the expulsion of the Roma people.

There is a legitimate issue here. It is no longer the paranoia of the conservative fringe, but a concern about values that are being popularly expressed. Sadly, politicians still depend on demagoguery to convey their message, while already elected leaders are resorting to drastic policies because of a lack of other options.

This immobility can easily be linked to the lack of public discourse on the topic.

Due to the sensitive nature of the subject, it is extremely difficult for a fair debate to take place. Political correctness has meant that few people are willing to raise the is-

sue, for fear of being accused of prejudice.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding dared to say that the French expulsion of Roma reminded her of World War II, leading to justified outrage from the French government, backed up by Angela Merkel.

All this lack of real debate has led to is a confusion of the issue, a confusion that right-wing parties such as the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom and Hungary’s Jobbik have manipulated for their own electoral gain.

Worst of all, seeing these parties gain support has caused established leaders to respond with ill-conceived statements and policies. If we want to tackle Europe’s multicultural crisis, there is one thing we need; free and open discussion, unaffected by bigotry, excessive political correctness or bitter accusations. If the continent is mature enough for that, maybe we are mature enough to foster cultural co-operation.

A Diseased System Cystic fibrosis is a disease which receives neither enough public attention nor governmental support, writes Kate Rothwell

C

ystic fibrosis.

If you d o n’t know anyone who suffers from it, then you may not be Comment Editor aware of it. Or maybe you’ve heard the term crop up now and again in the news, being mentioned alongside words such as “HSE”, “hospital” and “funding”.

You might think that cystic fibrosis is just yet another cause that could always do with more support and will always have a few people running in the name of its research in charity marathons. Furthermore, one might assume that it will, from time to time, be the reason behind RTÉ’s latest heartstring-tugging report of a child suffering from a debilitating disease on the Six One News.

For those who have never known anyone who lives or has lived with CF, it might all seem like more of the same – another worthy cause, another illness that we are grateful to have been spared from. The outlook of those who have first-hand experience of CF however, is markedly different.

Cystic fibrosis, or mucoviscidosis, is a life-threatening inherited disease that mostly affects the lungs and digestive system. Those who suffer from CF face malnutrition, constant chest infections and a greatly reduced life expectancy.

There are over 1,100 people with CF

living in Ireland, meaning that we have the highest proportion of CF patients in the world – four times the rate of other EU states or the US. Moreover, almost half of those who have CF in Ireland are children.

The disease gets steadily worse, and while the life expectancy of CF patients has increased over the last number of years, the life expectancy in Ireland still lags behind that of Britain and the US. Few people with CF will live in to their forties, while women with CF generally have a life expectancy that is even three to five years lower than that of men. The facts and figures are forever changing but mean little to those who must face the prospect of ever-worsening health until an eventual all-too-early death.

The contract for the building of a cystic fibrosis unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin has, after significant delays (the need for such a facility was identified in a report in 2005), finally been signed.

The development, which comes at a cost of over €20 million, is due to be completed in April 2012. The unit is bound to be an excellent facility, but it will not by any means be the end to all of Ireland’s CF woes, as only 30-35 of the 100 single en-suite are to be dedicated specifically to CF patients.

Funds are limited, and there are of course plenty of patients with other conditions, in this case pertaining to liver disease and cancer, in urgent need of the treatment that will be provided at this fa-

cility.

The provision of individual units will reduce the risk of cross-contamination, which is a huge and dangerous issue for patients with CF. The current conditions for CF patients in St. Vincent’s Hospital, which is the national referral centre for people with CF, have been subject to heavy criticism. Only eight of the 554 beds at the hospital are single rooms dedicated to CF patients.

The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland is urging for the current conditions at the hospital to be improved, while also calling for more isolation rooms to be installed.

Meanwhile, the new unit is being built, but they are also stressing that patients should continue to visit the hospital for treatment, in spite of the poor feedback that the facilities have received.

Orla Tinsley gave an insight into her own experience of having CF in an article in the Irish Times in 2005, and has since become an identifiable face for people with CF in Ireland.

In another piece printed in the Irish Times last month, Tinsley made the vital point that while the facilities at St. Vincent’s Hospital are unacceptable, this is not the fault of the staff who work there.

The system in place puts staff in a situation where they cannot facilitate patients in an ideal manner, simply because they have not been provided with the resources which would enable them to do so.

Orla Tinsley has become a prominent campaigner for the cause of cystic fibrosis patients in Ireland.

Considering that the medical facilities available to CF patients were inadequate even at the height of the Celtic Tiger, it is hard to imagine how these patients will fare post-Budget 2011. An overdue unit has been promised, but it will be at least 18 months before it is operational – as to whether funding or staff shortages will interfere with its development in the mean-

time, only time will tell.

Fears that a state grant of €1 million that goes towards medical research will be cut in the upcoming budget seem legitimate and such a move would not bode well for the years ahead. The current conditions for cystic fibrosis patients are objectionable; the future prospects are that of an improved, but still wholly unsatisfac-

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

15

SCIENCE & HEALTH

science@universityobserver.ie

The Medical Revolution

From the discovery of penicillin to contemporary problems, Sean Naughton analyses the considerable influence antibiotics have had on modern medicine

I

n one of its first major uses, penicillin proved highly effective preventing wound infections in soldiers in World War Two. In 1920, if you got a cut or a graze that became infected, there were only two things you could do – the first being to hope that your immune system could fight it off, the other was pray.

With no effective treatment for bacterial infections, many ailments that are now considered simple to treat, could quickly lead to death. One form of bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes, caused half of all post-birth deaths and was a major cause of death from burns. Another common form of bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, was fatal in 80 per cent of infected wounds and the tuberculosis and pneumonia bacteria were famous killers.

Everything was to change however, in 1928, with a chance observation by Alexander Fleming. On returning from holiday to his laboratory, he noticed that one of his bacterial cultures, which he had left by the window, had become contaminated with a fungus. More interestingly however was the fact that the bacteria immediately surrounding the fungus had been destroyed, whereas those further away were unaffected.

Fleming realised that this fungus was producing a chemical that could kill the bacteria on his plate and after some months of calling it “mould juice,” he named this new substance penicillin.

Fleming ran into problems turning penicillin into a drug, because he was unable to purify and concentrate the substance. That could have been the end of the discovery, but in 1940, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain began to experiment with penicillin at Oxford University.

After many experiments, the duo succeeded in purifying penicillin, and began testing it on mice. Seeing that it caused few side effects in the mice, they began testing it on humans. With the outbreak of World War Two and great numbers of soldiers with wounds that were ripe for infection, the need for a bacteria-killing agent was greater than ever. Florey and Chain’s team of workers rushed to develop penicillin in large quantities.

By 1942, penicillin was being produced en masse by British pharmaceutical companies. Many soldiers were saved from infections that developed after they were wounded in battle. Penicillin also reduced the rate at which people died from bacterial pneumonia – where once pneumonia killed 60 to 80 per cent of the people who came down with the lung infection, penicillin lowered the rate to between one and five per cent. In 1945, Fleming, Florey and Chain were awarded the Nobel prize for their revolutionary discovery.

The golden age of antibiotics had begun and soon floods of new natural and manmade antibiotics were being produced to combat a host of different illnesses that caused bacteria. Antibiotics were hailed as wonder drugs because of their stunning record for safety and effectiveness.

Between 1944 and 1972, human life expectancy jumped by eight years, an increase largely credited to the introduction of antibiotics. Many could be forgiven for thinking that man had finally conquered bacteria.

Indeed in 1969, the then US Surgeon General, William Stewart, boldly told the US Congress it was time to “close the books on infectious diseases”.

However, things were not quite so simple.

As early as 1949, drug resistant strains of bacteria were being noticed. In 1953 during an outbreak in Japan, the strain of the bacteria responsible was isolated and found to be resistant to multiple drugs. Despite these problems, in the 1950s and 1960s, resistant bacteria seemed to matter little since there was always a new antibiotic being developed

Former US Surgeon General William Stewart’s (far right) controversial stance on antibiotics was greeted with extreme scepticism. to combat them.

Resistance is not a problem while new antibiotics are available, but by the end of the 1960s, the development of new classes of antibiotics was stagnating. Instead, most work involved slightly altering existing antibiotics to reduce toxicity and to revive drugs rendered ineffective by the emergence of resistance. Drug companies had turned their attention elsewhere to areas such as viral infections. By the 1970s, penicillin resistant strains of one of the most common causes of pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumoniae, as well as many venereal diseases spread around the world.

Bacteria are subject to the same natural selection pressures that shaped human evolution, namely ‘survival of the fittest’.

Millions of individual bacteria in the same colonies are competing for scarce food and energy resources, and those with genetic advantages that help them survive will flourish at the expense of less well-adapted bacteria.

There are however two important differences between bacterial evolution and human evolution. The first is that bacteria reproduce at a comparatively rapid pace, with some colonies doubling their numbers every thirty minutes. This allows for the rapid selection of the most resistant bacteria. The second is that bacteria have ways of passing antibiotic resistant genes between each other. In a process known as horizontal transmission, these resistance genes can be passed between non-related bacteria and become incorporated into their DNA. With ample means of developing resistance and multiple cases being identified, you would think that sufficient precautions are being taken to avoid the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics.

It has always been known that the key to preventing the development of resistance is to limit the use of antibiotics to when they are really needed and to ensure that an adequate length of treatment is given to ensure all bacteria are killed. Adherence to these guidelines would greatly slow the emerging problem. Unfortunately, these guidelines have been roundly ignored.

Bacteria are subject to the same natural selection pressures that shaped human evolution, namely ‘survival of the fittest’ Of all the antibiotics produced, humans take only 30 per cent. The remaining 70 per cent are used in animal feed, not just to treat infection, but to promote growth. This sets up enormous scope for the development of resistant bacteria.

In Denmark in 1995, following years of using antibiotics in chicken feed, it was found that 72 per cent of chickens were infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria known as VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococcus) – bacteria that also affects hu-

mans. In fact, in all the areas where this antibiotic was being used the most in animals, the rate of VRE in humans was highest.

In contrast, in the US, where this antibiotic had never been approved as a growth promoter in animals, detection of VRE in the community was rare. Following a ban on the animal use of this antibiotic in Denmark, the number of chickens carrying the drug resistant VRE fell to five per cent in 2000.

Human use is still a major problem however, due to poor prescribing practices and little knowledge among the public with regard to the limitations of antibiotics. For example, antibiotics are useful only for treating bacterial infections; they have no effect on viral illnesses such as the common cold.

Despite such findings, a third of people believe that they are effective for this purpose and often feel they have not got value for money from their doctor unless they leave with a prescription for something. It is this mentality which causes doctors to prescribe antibiotics that they know will have no effect, because they do not have the time to explain why they are unnecessary.

A recent study showed that doctors were more likely to prescribe an antibiotic for a viral case on a Friday evening than they were on a Monday morning, because they were less inclined to refuse the patient’s request at that time. There is also the temptation to use them as a placebo, as many know that simple viral illnesses will be self-limiting and that having any medicine will be a comfort to the patient.

Patient practices are also implicated.

When patients are prescribed antibiotics for bacterial infections, they often fail to complete the course of drugs by stopping once

they feel better. This provides ample opportunity for the remaining bacteria to rebound and flourish.

The emergence of bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics is a truly frightening prospect. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (which first appeared in the 1960s) is now commonplace. MRSA accounted for 37 per cent of fatal blood stream infections in 1999 in the UK, up from just four per cent in 1991.

The only antibiotic effective against MRSA was vancomycin. However, in 2002 vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) was documented in the US. This left the newly developed linezolid as the only antibiotic with any effect against this bacterium. In 2003, linezolid-resistance in Staphylococcus aureus was reported. As Joshua Lederberg, a well-known molecular biologist, said in 1994: “We are running out of bullets for dealing with a number of infections. Patients are dying because we no longer in many cases have antibiotics that work.”

The development of antibiotics heralded a new era in medicine. It freed us from the constant threat of infectious diseases. It allowed the development of chemotherapy and radical surgical procedures without the fear of opportunistic infections. It increased the average lifespan by ten years. In contrast, curing all forms of cancer would only extend the average lifespan by three years.

Therefore, there are advances that we risk obfuscating if we do not change our use of antibiotics. Alternatively, if such initiatives are implemented, we can perhaps avoid a future where the only things we have to use against bacterial infections are our rosary beads.

16

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Old Wives Tales Debunked: Carrots Help You See in the Dark?

science@universityobserver.ie

Mission to Mars The space race is intensifying and China seems to be many people’s favourites to reach Mars first, writes Science, Health and Technology Editor Alan Coughlan

Mars has become the new target for space travel and tourism.

Carrots: undeniably tasty and they help you see in the dark. Sort of.

This fortnight, Alison Lee discusses carrots and their supposed ability to enhance your vision

I

’m sure once upon a time you were urged by your granny to “eat up your carrots, they make you see in the dark”. Maybe you have traumatic memories of wolfing down carrots and waiting impatiently for superpowers worthy of the average X-Man to be conferred upon you. Then you ended up feeling betrayed when you developed short-sightedness and became the kid with the thick glasses.

But no, your granny wasn’t playing a malicious trick on you. The carrot, that humble, phallic, orange vegetable, is packed full of beta-carotene. This is converted to retinol (the storage form of vitamin A) and stored in the liver, from where it can be mobilised whenever the body needs it.

Why does the body need vitamin A? This chemical is essential for proper formation of rod cells in the eye. These cells contain photopigments made of retinal (a slightly modified version of retinol) and proteins called opsins. Together, they form a complex called rhodopsin and are sensitive to light. The rod cells are adapted for night vision – they’re highly sensitive to light of all wavelengths, though they’re not so good at picking up the direction from which the light comes.

In contrast, the cone cells of the eye, which are adapted for colour vision, are less light sensitive but they’re better at sensing the directionality of light. So yes, if you eat your carrots, you’ll have more

retinal in your body, and therefore you’ll have more sensitive night vision.

Bizarrely, this myth originates from the First World War. The British Royal Air Force, wanting to conceal the fact that they had developed airborne interception radar (AI), circulated the rumour that their pilots were fed carrots to improve night vision.

This hit the papers at the time and helped propagate the myth. The fact is they didn’t want the Germans to know how they were intercepting their bombers even in the depths of night.

Myth aside, you can get beta-carotene from plenty of other foods. Orange fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes or apricots are rich in beta-carotene and if vegetables aren’t your thing, then pig out on fish, liver and eggs.

Night-vision isn’t all carrots have to offer. They could also provide a healthy and less streaky alternative to fake tan. That’s because if you overdo the carrot eating, the beta-carotene pigment builds up in your skin and turns you orange. It’s the San Tropez of the recession!

But beware of eating pure vitamin A – beta-carotene, the vitamin A precursor, is non-toxic. But large quantities of preformed vitamin A, found for example in liver, can cause vitamin A toxicity. This involves a whole range of nasty symptoms like hair loss, headaches, nausea, anaemia, and diarrhoea. Bad news for all the foie gras fans out there, but congratulations to all the carrot lovers.

I

n July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on another world. Being that it was our moon, a vast sphere of rock and dust with no atmosphere, there was no point in or possibility of staying.

This first step, despite coming a mere eight years after Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, may one day be viewed as the beginning of our salvation.

At the time of the Apollo program, Nasa were confident in the continuation of space exploration and had their eyes firmly set on a manned landing on Mars by 1986.

However, budget cuts meant that the Apollo program was cut short after Apollo 17 and no one has set foot on the moon since 1972. In fact, no one has been that far from Earth since then.

The program was scrapped due to the huge financial strain it had put on America and now that they had beaten the Russians to the moon, there seemed little need for more posturing on the international stage.

Not only was this a huge blow for Nasa and science in general, it put humankind firmly back on the ground with little prospect of ever venturing upwards and outwards again.

In today’s economic climate, it is almost impossible to argue for money to be spent on space exploration. With the wealth of the planet being so unequally spread along with the great threat of climate change, one could be forgiven for wanting all time and effort spent on the ground solving more real and tangible problems. For many though, space exploration is not merely a dream or fascination but a means to a far greater end than any of us could ever imagine.

Earlier this year, President Obama announced the cancellation of Nasa’s constellation program, which would hope-

fully have put humans on Mars. It was adventurous and meant that human space exploration would reach a new level, but fiscally, it seemed ludicrous. It has been estimated that $1 trillion, used properly and efficiently, could effectively rid the world of hunger. To spend so much money on space travel now seems foolish, but Nasa seem to persevere with their explorations.

In the wake of Obama’s cuts, Nasa has unveiled plans to put humans onto an asteroid near Earth, which could potentially be just as much of a leap forward as a trip to Mars.

A-type asteroids contain many precious metals that could in theory be mined and used as a stepping-stone to the stars. In fact, only recently Nasa announced plans towards launching a manned orbit of the moon from the international space station.

This is to test the viability of assembling spacecraft in orbit.

If one was to bet on who will reach Mars first, “the smart money is on China,” according to Dr Duncan Steel, a space technology expert. China has a goal to achieve, not only domestically, but also internationally. They have hunger for Mars in a similar manner to how the US and Russia had a thirst for the moon. Even though they have no real opponents at the moment, there are more space-faring nations than ever before.

Couple all of this with the emergence of private enterprise (Virgin Galactic, the Ansari X prize) into the mix and we do really have a new space race. The price of space technology has plummeted in recent years, and we can hope that ideas will flow more freely now, so that more people than ever can literally reach for the stars.

Space exploration has become as much a political activity as an exploratory one.

During the Cold War, the race to the moon became one of many conflicts that

Russia and the US were engaged in. With China entering the space race, this new superpower looks set to make its mark, both politically and in space.

Space exploration may not directly or wholly enrich any singular generation. Essentially, it is something that will need to be treaded out across centuries, if not millennia, with each new generation achieving something greater than that of the preceding one. It is only in small steps towards escaping the local neighbourhood of our own solar system that the human race can be guaranteed survival.

As Stephen Hawking says: “Spreading out into space will completely change the future of the human race and maybe determine whether we have any future at all.” In the grand and vast expanse of time, Earth’s ability to support life is limited.

Whether we as a race destroy ourselves, the planet or even live to when the sun expands and scorches us alive, our long-term survival and destiny lies elsewhere. What rightfully seems irresponsible in terms of spending now, could very well be the first steps towards that survival. One cannot talk about this in simple terms. There has to be a grand vision involved. A vision coupled with humility that we don’t and cannot know what the future holds, but also what can be achieved.

Who, at the beginning of the 20th century, could have ever imagined possible or even conceived of commercial flight, atomic power or even a man on the moon?

It is only through deep reverence for these achievements that the small steps, from Earth to moon to Mars or beyond, reveal their significance. Perhaps it should be worth concentrating on one simple idea: that the achievement of migration towards the stars might just allow the human race to survive indefinitely.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

17

SCIENCE & HEALTH

science@universityobserver.ie

Life After Death Henrietta Lacks’ story was ultimately an inspiring one which has brought hope to millions, writes Ethan Troy Barnes

H

enrietta Lacks may not be a name that you are familiar with, but she has caused innumerable breakthroughs in medicine since her death in 1951 and prevented countless others’ deaths the world over as a result.

Lacks was born in Virginia in 1920, where she lived until she married her cousin David ‘’Day’’ Lacks and moved, with him and their children, to Baltimore, Maryland. Both she and her husband worked there to support their family, who were more than accustomed to life below the poverty line.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She underwent radium treatment, which involves placing radioactive tube inserts that act at the site of the cancer to destroy the malignant cells.

Unfortunately, Lacks also suffered from venereal disease and this exacerbated the cancer. She eventually died in John Hopkins Hospital in October 1951 of acute kidney failure.

However, the most remarkable part of Lacks’ story happened after her death.

While in hospital, some cells from Lacks’ tumour were removed. The cells were grown, or cultured, in a Petri dish by scientist George Otto Gey. Bizarrely, unlike other cells that were treated in this way, Lacks’ cells kept growing, forming a cell culture showing the cells to be biologically immortal. This means that the cell culture will never naturally stop dividing. Normally, all cells will eventually stop dividing. This is because cells need to make a copy of their DNA whenever they want to make a copy of themselves, or divide.

Inevitably, DNA defects occur as a result

of the DNA being copied again and again and again, causing any new cells made to be unstable, and the cell culture to stop dividing. This is analogous to making a copy of a cassette tape, then copying that copy, and so on. The sound quality eventually ends up deteriorating, until any new copies sound completely distorted. As a result, it was impossible to grow a tissue culture from most cells. This was not the case for Lacks’ cells.

Why was this finding such a revolutionary breakthrough in medical science? Scientists need human cells; to allow them to test whether or not new drugs will work, or if a certain substance is toxic. However, scientists must first remove the cells from a person in order to use them for testing, as testing an unknown chemical on cells inside a live human could harm, or even kill, the person.

Previously to Gey’s discovery of Lacks’ immortal cells (dubbed HeLa cells after their donor), it was impossible to culture cell samples for scientific studies. But, with the advent of HeLa cultures, scientists could now grow cell cultures for research.

In addition, scientists were now able to produce cell cultures indefinitely, and on a large scale. These cells were also all the same. All of this meant that medical research across the world could take a leap forward, with potentially masses of identical human cells available for any scientist who wished to carry out medical research on cells.

The availability of HeLa cells has paved the way for groundbreaking research. They were used by Jonas Salk to test the first Polio vaccine. They have also been used in the mapping of the human genome, AIDS research and cloning. They were even sent

into space to test how cells would be affected by zero gravity.

By 2009, the cells had been used in over 60,000 research studies. Furthermore, they are destined to continue to be used in broadening our medical understanding, with upwards of 300 (and rising) research papers per month basing their claims on findings using HeLa cells.

Sadly, the story of Henrietta Lacks also has an unsavoury side. The Lacks family never gave permission for their mother’s cells to be used for any kind of scientific research. In fact, the family didn’t even know that cell samples had been taken until the 1970s, and as well all the good that has come from HeLa cells, there are also some who have made a lot of money from the HeLa discovery.

Pharmaceutical companies have made fortunes from the drugs developed from the HeLa cells and cell banks have prospered selling ready-made HeLa cultures.

All of this occurred while the Lacks family were struggling to get by, having lost half of their income after their mother’s death.

To this day, the Lacks family have not received a single penny of royalties and still struggle financially with one of Lacks’ sons even becoming homeless. This raises many issues, of course, like who has the right to ownership over a person’s biological material?

Moreover, do scientists and doctors have the right to use discarded cells, such as with Lacks’, for research without a patient’s consent? Who ought to profit from scientific findings, the scientist who discovers them or the patient from which they originate?

These subjects must be explored through progressive discourse, and may never be truly resolved.

Henrietta Lacks has saved countless lives worldwide due to her immortal cell line.

The tale of Henrietta Lacks, of which we know so much thanks to Rebecca Skloot’s work and her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is an inspirational one. It demonstrates how science can flourish in the right circumstances.

The findings also demonstrate how

Super Macs A

pple’s announcement of its new products was met with the typical excitement. Often, people who don’t use Mac see the hysteria that surrounds new products as needless and childish. This could not be further from the truth. Simply put, once you go Mac, you never go back.

There seems to be a mentality among certain technology users that aesthetics are not hugely important. Before comparing performance, Apple beats its competitors in terms of aesthetics so simply and so easily. The newly previewed Macbook Air looks simply stunning.

While Macbook Air has not taken off as Apple had hoped it would, its new images are still suitably impressive. They portray a single hand, holding the computer at its end, showing off both its insignificant weight and its elegant tapered shape. In comparing any Apple product to its next bestselling counterpart, the aesthetic differences are so clear. Apple’s clean, concise and fun designs consistently beat out competitors. Although aesthetics are not the most important thing in regards to technology, Apple’s clean lines add to the accessibility of their products.

To focus on aesthetics would be pointless, because even though they are so obvious, Apple’s true victory over its competitors lies in the sheer simplicity of its software. Upon first using a Mac, I was struck by how quickly I became used to its operating system. The ease at which I transitioned from PC to Mac was startling.

Apple has previewed its new line of hardware and software and, according to Bridget Fitzsimons; Mac is the only way to go

I really am not known for my technological prowess, but very soon, using a PC became a laborious chore. It seemed as if my laptop at home was riddled with technological boundaries, set simply to waste my time and trip me up. I missed the shortcuts and easy searches of the Mac, as well as how easy it was to place things, drag and drop and find programmes and applications. It wasn’t long before I had near-bankrupted myself to get a new Macbook. I definitely saw it as an investment.

This is why Apple is so enduring and superior and their new hardware and software reflects this. In addition to them being extremely aesthetically pleasing, the way in which Apple products work is so user friendly. It seems as if other operating systems and softwares go out of their way

I really am not known for my technological prowess, but very soon, using a PC became a laborious chore

Apple’s new Macbook Air combines sleek aesthetics with a smooth-running and accessible operating system.

to be obtrusive. Only a Mac user knows the frustration of having to use a PC after a long, blissful period of using your trusty Macbook.

In terms of the new software announced

by Apple, the most exciting is clearly Lion, which will be the new operating system.

Lion will follow on from Snow Leopard to make Mac one of the most easy and innovative operating systems. New layouts mean that Lion will make Macs more like

much we have yet to discover in the world of science – the reality that we still do not even know for sure why HeLa cells are immortal. The story also reminds us that there are many ethical lessons still to be learned, which is something that we cannot and must not ignore.

an iPhone or iPad. What Apple call the Launchpad will be available on a Mac desktop and will make accessing apps far easier. Of course, because it’s Apple, everything just looks a bit prettier than the operating system before it.

Lion seems to add far more accessibility to what is already a highly accessible and easy to navigate platform. On this vein, Apple have also released previews of the upcoming iLife ’11, which seems to

have had each of its facets improved. Like Lion, appearance and accessibility is key, thus cementing Apple and Mac at the top of the leaderboard in terms of accessible computing.

In addition to the two software updates, the Macbook Air, mentioned above, has far more going for it than you may think.

An improved trackpad is promised. While it is easy to be dismissive of a laptop that has no CD drive, it is important to remember that Apple were the first to get rid of the now redundant floppy disc drive.

It’s almost as if Apple are computing gods, deciding what technologies are renounced as redundant.

In addition, the removal of the CD drive allows for a sleeker design as well as a lighter laptop, which leads to ease of transport. We all know the pain of carrying a heavy laptop around classes all day.

Simply put, Apple is king of computers.

Sure, there are issues surrounding gaming, but this is becoming easier as more companies are beginning to release versions of games that are supported by Mac. It is baffling that people continue to use PCs. Given that there are barely any viruses for Macs, the move is logical. There is extra cost involved, of course, but this pays back in dividends with the lessened stress you will feel as a Mac user.

Both iLife ’11 and Lion are set to be released next summer and the new Macbook Air is available now. It’s time to stop selling yourself short and make the leap to Mac. You’ll never look back.

18

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

EDITORIAL

editor@universityobserver.ie

Grassroots Talleyrand Movement Salutations suckers,

Eamon Gilmore is one of many current TDs with a background in student politics.

Students must play a vital role in resolving the future of the nation’s government if we are to recuperate from the current crisis, writes Liz McManus TD

I

t began as a mathematical formula as follows: If the government runs its full term in 2012, I’ll have been a TD for 20 years. My oldest child will be 40, my youngest child will be 30, my oldest grandchild 22 and my youngest grandchild two. My life as a public representative, 33 years, will be one year longer than my life not as a public representative, 32 years.

The magic of figures convinced me it was time to make the break. I announced that I would retire at the next election whenever it is called. Does that make sense? Not really, I know. The truth is that it is not always possible to know all the reasons why one makes a decision. Too many factors and influences, I suppaose, but I can state one reason without equivocation.

Ireland is in an economic quagmire and the up-and-coming generation holds the key to getting us out of the mess. Younger people are bearing the terrible price of Fianna Fáil’s incompetence and corruption as well as the greed of developers and banks.

The toxic triangle of vested interests has been exposed but, in particular, their poison seeps into the lives of younger people – those who are getting hit by redundancy, or graduate unemployment or having to pay bloated mortgage repayments.

These are the people who have to take an undue burden of the pain and, in my view, they are the people who should be in Dáil Éireann making the decisions and creating the policies to guide us forward. I don’t argue that you have to be under-40 to be in Dáil Éireann, but I do believe that it would be great if a lot more people under the age of 40 get in at the next election.

To make that happen, my generation have to give way to an extent. I’m choosing to jump. Other older TDs may join me out in the cold without a choice. They may find themselves being swept out by the voters’

intent on change.

Democracy has its own dynamic. It is a pitiless but vital force. Just ask Fianna Fáil when they face the wrath of the public.

There is a deep anger that will be evidenced at the ballot box. It will be a war of attrition but it will also be a fresh start for our society. The opinion polls show that Labour will do very well in the next election.

For the first time ever, we can argue with credibility for a Labour-led Government.

That would be the strongest, most potent message that the old regime is gone and that the people are sovereign.

We know that even under a Labour-led government, times will be tough. It will take five, seven or maybe ten years to get back on our feet properly. The sad reality is that we’ve been here before. Fianna Fail bankrupted the country and Labour and Fine Gael had to govern our way back into solvency. When we left office in 1997 for the first time, there was a Budget surplus delivered by a Labour Minister for Finance, Ruairi Quinn TD. A thousand new jobs were created every week, a record number of new homes built and, for the first time, third-level college fees were abolished.

The abolition of third-level fees was an important step in public policy. It was proof that Labour’s commitment to equality could be translated into effective action.

It established the importance of third-level education as a bedrock part of any person’s education, regardless of class. It has already been eroded by Fianna Fáil and the Greens in government. The current obstacles being put in the way of students, whether in delays in paying grants or upping the charges, should be eliminated in order to ensure that our young people have easy access to education just when they need it most – during a recession. It is particularly hard to stomach the threat of access to third level when billions of euro are being

shovelled into the black hole of the Irish banking sector.

In other countries they seize oil refineries and set fire to the buildings. In Ireland, all we do is phone up Joe Duffy and whine. That is the commonly held view of the public mood. I disagree. I’m old enough to remember the marches of the Dublin Housing Action Committee when students and homeless people came together and marched in their thousands in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the huge PAYE marches gave the government food for thought and in the 2000s, the pensioners came out in droves and brought their Zimmer frames with them. At that time students were marching in Dublin too.

The young and the old were out. To what end, you might ask? Well, the pensioners forced the government to do a U-turn; the PAYE tax reforms happened and the housing programme in Dublin was enhanced in the early 1970s.

We are in for a rocky time and we are in it together. What a Labour-led government will do is provide a programme that is fair to all, unafraid of vested interests and is capable of rejuvenating this country.

As an inspired leader, Eamon Gilmore TD will – I hope – be the first Labour Taoiseach. He learnt his politics early as a student leader. He had the vision and tenacity to shine in the bear pit of student politics.

That experience holds to him now.

Such momentous change will not happen easily. The parties of the right – both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – will fight tooth and nail to stop such a transformation taking place in Irish politics. Whether as a TD or an ex-TD, I will be fighting hard to help make it happen. It will be a new start for Ireland, a new hope and a new generation.

Liz McManus TD is an Irish Labour Party politician.

What a wonderfully ghoulish time of year has just passed us. Ghosts, monsters, tricksters, gargoyles. Talleyrand does enjoy it so. The hacks were sure to make the most of it, seeing as they fitted in quite well with all the haunted, horrid and hideous costumes prowling around Dublin over the weekend.

Talleyrand did pick one particular reveller out of the crowd; a delicate fellow – a cloud, if you will – adorned head to toe with the fur of a cat. That’s right, dear reader, it was none other than Chief Welfairy Scott “Are you mad at me?” Ahearn. Running around petting people’s faces and purring softly to himself, Talleyrand understands that the old History graduate even sleeps with the costume. Is that normal? Probably not. Talleyrand recommends professional help. And a scented candle.

Old Ahearnia has been too busy with political machinations of his own to even ponder his worrying fetish for cats and other animals. All the wheels are in motion for Welfare to secede from the grandly glorious Union, with Scott “Jackie says you’re mad at me” Ahearn poised to lead the land of Welfaria. His Welfare Council has established itself as the legislature of this new Scottocracy, and his senior penguins will form his cabinet. Talleyrand hopes Fine Gael’s Brutonites are watching closely. This is how you pull off a coup.

And what perfect timing it is. There’s rumbling in the camp over the Union’s ‘budget’. €40,000 for a campaign? €2,500 for the Vom-munity Musical? €125,00 for USI? Talleyrand hates to break it to you, but there’s more chance of the Government finding €15 billion in their back pocket than there is of the Union sticking to that creative piece of fiction delivered to Council.

It would appear that Slynam’s creative accounting hasn’t entirely gotten past his Exasperating Executive. With their probing, detailed questions fueled by political posturing, this crowd is one to watch. They’re not even safe from one another, or the aura of amore that has surrounded them. Talleyrand hopes it just doesn’t affect their performance in early March. Or not.

The Eager Execs seem to want to tick all the boxes ahead of the elections next semester. They’re even better than their ‘superior’ sap-batticals at turning up to postering. Talleyrand’s looking at you, James “Lick the condom, Scott!” Williamson and Scott “Why are you mad at me? I’m sorry. What did I do?” Ahearn.

Postering is an incredibly important and vital Union activity, don’t ya know? And with societies doing next to nothing this year, there’s plenty of space on the concourse to be snapped up. All hands on decks, lads. Talleyrand expects it from Scrott, who has allergic reactions to manual labour, but Willy Boy? Talleyrand had no idea you were so lazy.

Then again, Scottie-too-Hottie probably thought his night spent cruising on Killiney Beach for ‘pebbles’ earned him some time in bed. And he wasn’t feeling too well, either. Must have been something he ate. He should know better than to trust what strangers feed him in the beach dunes under the moon’s rough grasp.

Lewd Lynam can’t afford to have his Lads off sick or engaged in other activites with the week that’s in it. “This Union will not let the side down”, according to Belfield’s Barack. With that motto in mind, Patty La Belle has been rallying the plebs up and down the campus to take to the streets on November 5th. It’s so important that students get out there and show the Government that we won’t take cuts – and all it will cost you is the princely sum of €3. That’s right folks, you’ve to pay to attend a march to demonstrate how financially strapped students are.

Talleyrand would consider attending also, if the truth behind the march wasn’t known to this humble commentator. Is it truly about student hardship? No, it’s just a step on the way to Wicklow County Council 2014 for a certain USCry officer. And before you can say Loguey Bear, remember, he can’t even get a job as a butcher in Gorey. What hope does he have for a local election?

For all the effort the Goonion seem to be injecting into this march, it’s a wonder none of them turned up to help make some placards over the weekend.

Perhaps too much fun was had at the Halloween Ball, what with half of the venue made up of guest list spots?

Talleyrand will watch with enthrallment how the 8th of November march pans out. It will either make or break USWhy. It will either make or break UCDSFool. It will either make or break Scott “I know you’re mad at me. I’m sorry!” Ahearn’s back – God knows he’s not used to walking very far. Remember, remember, the 16th of November!

Talleyho!

Talleyrand

Quotes of the Fortnight: It’s not about models trying to win contracts and dancers trying to show their stuff UCDSU Ents Vice-President Jonny Cosgrove defends the reputation of the Fashion Show Where they’re supposed to be giving fifteen minutes notice, they’re only giving five minutes notice.

A UCD driver questions the legality of methods being imposed by clampers in UCD car parks I sent in all the official documentation that they required when I applied, but now they’re looking for more detailed documentation A UCD postgraduate student bemoans the protracted process of securing a grant from a local authority

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

editor@universityobserver.ie

Editorial

L

ast week marked Women’s Week, the Students’ Union’s annual week dedicated to issues pertaining to women. The usual events took place. There were collections for charities such as the Marie Keating Foundation, coffee mornings, a table quiz and Miriam O’Callaghan was invited to preside over the launch of the week.

However, calling three days a ‘week’ is something of a stretch. It does not say much for UCDSU’s representation of women when one of the quietest weeks on campus, Reading Week, is selected to highlight women’s issues. In addition, events only seemed to happen on three days of the week, with a little-publicised nightclub event occurring on the Bank Holiday Monday and nothing happening on the Friday. Health Week was given a full week, so why not women? Given that women make up over half of UCD’s population, why has their week been sidelined?

Given that feminism has been granted more of a spotlight in Irish media and in general discussion this year, why did this year’s Women’s Week completely neglect the topic? Women and men should be invited to come together to discuss important and relevant issues pertaining to women and gender equality, instead of being forced to engage in the same tired activities that seem to make up almost every campaign week that UCDSU runs.

While the charity work that Women’s Week does must be commended, the week could be utilised in a far better and more efficient manner to encourage discussion of women’s issues around campus.

We should be discussing informative and salient matters and organising new and exciting events for Women’s Week.

Gender quotas, reproductive choice, and pay gaps – these are the issues that an exciting and relevant Women’s Week should be discussing. The women of UCD should not be left with half a week, which does both them and the Women’s Officer Regina Brady, who has worked diligently in organising this week, a disservice.

UCDSU has too long allowed women’s issues to slide by the wayside. Given that this is the third consecutive all-male SU, women’s issues are more relevant than ever. Where, for example, are the workshops encouraging women to run for sabbatical positions? The SU’s responsibility is to provide proper representation of students, so Women’s Week should be prioritised.

Perhaps next year’s Women’s Week will facilitate a proper discussion of women’s issues that we direly need, instead of a bland representation that does not even encompass a full college week.

R

ecent questioning of the Students’ Union budget is to be encouraged, as it is a relevant issue. The SU is our biggest representative body and should be completely transparent in regards to budget and conduct. The SU budget is published annually and available to whoever would like to view it on their website, but can we say the same for the other institutions that use students’ money?

As well as demanding full accountability from our Students’ Union, it is

important that we demand the same from our clubs, societies and other campus groups that use students’ money to provide a certain service. There are countless societies that simply do not publicise their budgets and overheads as the SU do. Societies usually provide budgets at the end of the academic year at their Annual General Meetings, but their budgets are not analysed and subjected to the same scrutiny as the SU. Last weekend, for instance, the Literary and Historical Society (L&H), hosted an intervarsity debating competition. The competition was not advertised hugely around campus, yet €1,210 was spent on the hiring of a catering unit to supply the debaters with food.

Of course, a society as big as L&H will have more disposable income than most other societies, but no one is questioning their income and expenditure in public forums. These societies are supposed to exist for the benefit of students, so students should question them just as aggressively as they do the SU budget. After all, societies exist for students, not for their own sake.

Societies and clubs do not exist in ivory towers, and so should be active in making students aware of their inner workings. As well as being more accountable and transparent, this will allow a greater number of students to ascend the ranks of societies and open them up from the same tired cliques.

Accountability should be a top priority for everyone and should be actively enforced by each body on campus that takes money from students.

Letters to the Editor Madam, I write in response to Conor Murphy’s presumably well-meaning but misinformed and offensive article ‘Mess is More for HSE’. While the article makes some valid points about the great inefficiencies within our health service, the analysis is lacking and the conclusions it draws are greatly deficient and frightening.

As someone who unnecessarily lost a loved one due to the failings of our health ‘service’, I find Murphy’s dismissal of situations like the one my family has faced as ‘tabloid attracting’ grossly insulting.

Citizens like us who desperately want to change our health service often have little recourse other then to seek publicity in order to shame the government into providing one of the most basic human rights: access to medical care on the basis of need.

Personally, I did not enjoy being blinded by the flash of cameras as I stepped out of the church after my mother’s, Susie Long’s, funeral service, but if I could go back, I would not change this. At least my family were able to put human faces on what is unfortunately a common occurrence in this country.

In his article, Murphy says “to start a

19

rational debate on this matter, you must not give a damn about that one sick mother or father or child.” This completely misses the point. Part of the problem with the health service is that “sob stories” such as mine are not listened to by the people who should be preventing them in the first place. Mary Harney is not a bad Minister for Health because she cares too much about human pain, but because she cares too little. In her reckless bid to cut costs and privatise our health service, she has trampled over the rights and lives of countless people. When you are talking about the health service, you cannot take emotion out of the equation. It is an intrinsically emotive issue. Neither is there any reason why emotion and rationality need always be mutually exclusive.

I also find Murphy’s assertion that placing someone like Michael O’Leary in charge of the HSE would somehow improve it deeply ironic. If there is anyone in the Dáil who mirrors O’Leary’s neoliberal political stance, it is Mary Harney. It is her imposition of these political principals onto the health service that is partly responsible for the mess that we are in now.

You can either run a health service for the benefit of business and profit or you can run it for the benefit of people. You

can not do both. Rather than labelling Harney as unintelligent, incompetent and oblivious I would argue the opposite. She has intelligently, competently and consciously run our health service for the benefit of private health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry and other powerful vested interests.

I do not have space here to go into the details of what I think is wrong with the health service and what should be done to fix it, but the greatest single cause of the deficiencies of the health service is lack of funding.

The health service urgently needs massive investment. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be happening. The coming budget cuts will cost many lives.

I do not claim to be an expert on health care policy or to have all the solutions, but I do know that the day that Michael O’Leary becomes Minister for Health is the day I emigrate for good.

Yours, etc. Áine Nic Liam, 3rd Arts

Letters should be sent by email to letters@universityobserver.ie or by mail to: The Editor, The University Observer, UCD Student Centre, Belfield, Dublin 4 All letters are subject to editorial approval. The Editor reserves the right to edit any letters.

Clarification and Corrections It is the policy of The University Observer to rectify any errors as soon as they arise. Queries and clarifications can be addressed to info@universityobserver.ie.

Contributors: Volume XVII, Issue 3 Editor

Geoghegan, Ciara Gilleece,

Bridget Fitzsimons

Matt Gregg, Imelda Hehir, Laura Hyson, Matthew

Deputy Editor

Jones, Daniel Keenan,

Paul Fennessy

Elaine Lavery, Alison Lee, Sophie Lioe, Marianne

Art and Design Director

Madden, Liz McManus,

Jenn Compeau

Fadora McSexypants, George Morahan, Catherine

o-two Editors

Murnane, Kieran Murphy,

Emer Sugrue

Mystic Mittens, Sean

Killian Woods

Naughton, Meabh Ni Choileain, Sinead O’Brien,

News Editor

Gordon O’Callaghan, Jason

Amy Bracken

O’Mara, Rachel O’Neill, Conor O’Nolan, Talleyrand,

Chief News Reporter

Ethan Troy-Barnes, Aoife

Katie Hughes

Valentine, Philippa White.

Features Editor

Illustrator:

Leanne Waters

Olwen Hogan

Chief Features Writer

Photographers:

Natalie Voorheis

Jack Fox, Emily O’Hanlon

Comment Editor

Special Thanks:

Kate Rothwell

Peter, Ian, Tim, Malcolm, Ade, Jonathan, Dave,

Science, Health and

Emma, Jed, Bob, Steve

Technology Editor

(and the robots) at Trafford

Alan Coughlan

Park Printing; Paul at Higgs; Eilis O’Brien and Dominic

Sports Editor

Martella; Colm, Sabrina and

Ryan Mackenzie

Rory at MCD Promotions; Bernie Divilly at PIAS; Mary

Music Editor

Kate Murphy at EA; Giselle

Grace Murphy

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2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

Sport

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From AIB to PGA Irish caddie Ronan Flood speaks to Kevin Beirne about his illustrious career alongside the most successful golfer this country has ever produced

T

o casual golf fans, the name Ronan Flood means very little, yet he has won back-to-back British Opens in 2007 and 2008. A victory in the 2008 US PGA Open brings his career total to three majors and two Ryder Cups and still the man remains almost anonymous amongst fans of the sport. The way in which golfing enthusiasts probably know him best is as ‘Padraig Harrington’s caddie’.

A UCD graduate, Flood has been Harrington’s caddie since he left his job in AIB in 2004. The two had known each other since childhood and are now brothers-inlaw, yet it still seems like a career that Flood stumbled upon by accident. “At the time, he asked me if I would do a few weeks for him,” he recalls, “because he was changing caddie and he didn’t want to approach someone on tour and take their caddie mid-season”.

He accepted the offer and took a career break from AIB to spend, at most, six months caddying for Harrington until a replacement was found. However, by the end of the season, both were happy with the situation and Flood agreed to continue on a permanent basis. With over six years experience, Flood has been a part of some great victories. “To do two majors back to back was unbelievable. The first [Open] was probably the most exciting and enjoyable, because it was the first one and the way it looked like he had thrown it away.”

Despite the immense pressure on the player during the closing periods of such tournaments, Flood can’t allow himself to feel it. His job is to do the exact opposite.

“Generally we just talk about everything and anything, bar golf, between shots.”

At the beginning of October, Harrington and Flood travelled to Wales for their third Ryder Cup. “The Ryder Cup is something totally different and special to anything else,” Flood says of the unique format of the tournament – a format which makes it unusual and challenging for a caddie, as many games are played with a golfing partner: “We played three matches in a pair so you’re talking to someone else about slopes and putts.”

Although his career consists of constant travel between exotic locations, Flood says that he rarely gets to see more than the airport, hotel and golf course. Despite

T

to feature on it.

The award represents the merging of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football’s Ballon d’Or – otherwise known as European Player of the Year – and is the first of its kind.

The world’s superstars populate the list, although there are a few surprises, most notably Ghana international and Sunderland’s record signing Asamoah Gyan. While Gyan was impressive at the World Cup during the summer, at which he scored three goals, his form at club level has been inconsistent.

The shortlist is dominated by attacking

SPORTS DIGEST HOCKEY The UCD Ladies Hockey team secured the Chilean Cup during the October bank holiday weekend. UCD won the intervarsity tournament by defeating last year’s champions the University of Ulster 2-0 in the final, having overcome UCC in the previous round. The team are currently joint top of the Division One Leinster League and are currently in preparation for their upcoming cup clash with old rivals Trinity.

GOLF The annual match between UCD and Iona College, NY, occurred early last month.

The match took place over the course of three days. This year, the locations of choice were Winged Foot, Cherry Valley and Sleepy Hollow, respectively.

Following the opening two days of action, UCD led their American opponents by the slightest of margins, holding a 4.5 - 3.5 lead. In the subsequent 24 hours, wins from Colum Kenny, Richie Maher and Stephen Walsh in the singles ensured that captain Gerry Kelly was able to acquire the final point, confirming UCD’s triumph by a score of 9 - 7.

Since he began caddying for Harrington in 2004, Flood has witnessed the zenith of the Dubliner’s career.

the next three stops on the agenda being Shanghai, Singapore and Dubai, he feels that “it sounds a lot more glamorous than it is”. However, he does appreciate how lucky he is, admitting: “It’s hard to beat being out in sunshine, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, travelling all over the world.”

Most recently, the pair visited Malaysia, which saw them win the Iskandar Johor Open – Harrington’s first victory in a rank-

ing tournament since the US PGA Open of 2008. Despite waiting over two years to win the first major, neither Harrington nor Flood ever felt like there was a problem that needed addressing. “It’s more people on the outside looking in talking about the monkey off the back,” he says. “Winning is funny, because you can play well one week and not win, and then other weeks you can play badly and win.”

The Spanish Revolution h e shortlist for the new FIFA Ballon d’Or was published last week, with FIFA choosing 23 players

21

players. Only four defenders have been selected and Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol is the only centre-back included. Puyol’s partner in central defence at club and international level, Gerard Piqué, strongly warrants selection.

FIFA and France Football seem to favour flair players, yet some nominees are probably undeserving of their place on the shortlist and made it on reputation alone.

Cristiano Ronaldo springs to mind in this instance. The Real Madrid star had an atrocious World Cup for Portugal and failed to outshine Lionel Messi during their El Clásico encounters.

Arsenal’s creative force in midfield, Cesc Fabregas, made the list despite being injured for the last two months of the season and failing to start in any of Spain’s World Cup matches.

An argument could easily be made for

England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney to be there in the Spaniard’s place.

With 43 goals and PFA and the Football Writers Player of the Year awards, the gifted young player had a wonderful season worthy of recognition.

Spain dominate the shortlist, with seven Spanish internationals selected, and Barcelona have the highest number of players featuring on the list. However, it appears that FIFA have based their selection on the performances of the World Cup. No English, French or Italians feature, reflecting the disappointing performances of these countries in South Africa.

Truly, this decade of football looks set to be Spain’s. Since La Roja broke their championship hoodoo by winning Euro 2008, they entered the World Cup in the summer as favourites.

Although they may not have played the

Hopefully, from an Irish supporter’s perspective, the two can build on this success and acquire more championships in the future. In this current economic environment, the caddie seems to have found himself in a highly enviable position, compared to his former AIB career. With Harrington finding his form and a baby due in December, it is bound to be a busy 2011 for Ronan Flood.

Rugby The UCD Fencing Club garnered medals in each discipline in which they competed in the West of Ireland Open recently. NUIG were this year’s hosts, and all fencers who had been permitted an Irish Fencing Federation license were eligible to enter the competition. The weekend got off to an excellent start. UCD Captain John Wyatt came second in Men’s Foil, while Treasurer Shona Carey also secured silverware, following her thirdplace finish in the Women’s Sabre.

UCD’s fencers were similarly successful on the final day of the event, with Modern Pentathlon Scholar Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe triumphing in Men’s Epée. In addition, Joana Ramalho also performed with distinction as she placed second in Women’s Foil. Finally, UCD Alumnus and ex-captain Stephen Concannon capped off a fruitful weekend for the college by winning the Men’s Sabre.

- Stephen Devine

With Spanish players dominating the recently announced shortlist of Ballon d’Or nominees, Sam Geoghegan discusses whether their ubiquity is justified

free-flowing football we have come to expect from their incredibly talented team, the Spaniards ground out results in a clinical and professional manner en route to a deserved first-ever title. Each shortlisted player merits selection, with the exception of Fabregas.

While Barcelona were unable to defend their European crown, they did retain their La Liga title by overcoming the galácticos of their big-spending arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Los Cules look capable of dominating European football for years to come. An exceptionally gifted young manager in Pep Guardiola leads them, and the majestic Lionel Messi spearheads their attack on the pitch. They have also added Javier Mascherano and arguably the favourite for the Ballon d’Or, David Villa, to an already starstudded squad.

Real Madrid will also be right there domestically and on the European front at the

end of the season. The second generation of the galácticos is in place, and in two-time European Cup winner Jose Mourinho, they have a coach capable of handling the pressure and expectation of the unforgiving Real fans.

The Premiership has fallen behind La Liga in recent seasons, and the gulf appears to be widening. Manchester United and Liverpool are debt-ridden, Arsenal haven’t won a trophy in five years and Chelsea’s big spending budget has been curtailed significantly in recent years by owner Roman Abramovich.

Spain’s clubs are at the top now, but it might not last. History has taught us that a national league’s domination of European football is cyclical. However, it may be some time before the rest of the continent catches up, while Spain’s international side are the real deal. It will take something special to knock them off their perch.

22

THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER 2 November 2010

Sport

sport@universityobserver.ie

November Rain May Dampen World Cup Hopes With the autumn international series beginning this Saturday, Daniel Keenan discusses how these games could potentially affect Ireland’s World Cup preparations

Most Memorable Moments in Irish Sport #3 – Ray Houghton’s goal against England. Stuttgart, 1988 It was profoundly appropriate that an Irish side disparagingly known to many as the ‘England-B team’ were drawn against the English in the opening match of the nation’s firstever major tournament.

What ensued was the stuff of dreams, writes Sports Editor Ryan Mackenzie

The scrum has been a continual source of weakness for the Irish team in recent matches.

A

utumn internationals tend to loom over the head of club coaches. Intensive, hard-hitting internationals await their better players, while local managers are left to throw together teams from fragmented squads.

Some question the point in playing these futile Tests in the middle of tournaments like the Magners League and Aviva Premiership, which are also interrupted for the Six Nations.

This year, however, the November Internationals are more important than any domestic league, simply because in September of next year, Ireland will kickoff their World Cup campaign in New Zealand. Should they hope to have any chance of lifting the cup in Auckland next year, every morsel of international rugby has to be geared towards the biggest competition in world rugby.

Marc Lièvermont of France was heavily criticized for his squad rotation policy early in his tenure, but now with a Grand Slam under his belt, he leads the only Northern hemisphere side with a realistic chance of winning the World Cup. His French team were all-conquering in the Six Nations last year, after they struggled in their previous two tournaments to find consistency, or even to field a regular team. Lièvermont was famously criticised for using 56 players in 2008, yet never naming a regular starting line-up.

Well, it seems there was a method to his madness after all. Morgan Parra, Thomas Domingo, François Trinh-Duc and Mathieu Bastareaud are just some of the players who have made their debut during his reign as French manager. Six Nations

competitions and tours abroad were occasionally sacrificed for the greater good.

Declan Kidney must use Lièvermont’s idea as a blueprint for the approaching November internationals and subsequent Six Nations tournament. There has been a monkey on the back of Irish rugby since 1987 – our inability to reach the semifinals of the World Cup. Ireland still have some of the best players in the world in Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Stephen Ferris. The obvious problems, however, lie in the front row, where Ireland have been embarrassed in the past.

Cian Healy needs more time to adjust to the power of scrums at this level, which should be granted during these upcoming internationals. Meanwhile, the seemingly eternal question about John Hayes’ ability to compete at his age still remains and France have shown just how important it is to dominate the scrum. It is no secret that Hayes can no longer physically withstand 80 minutes of rugby. In addition, he has never been the most prolific scrumager, even in his heyday.

Kidney needs to choose the best alternative for Hayes quickly and try players out in these upcoming tests, because the rock that is John Hayes has started to erode. Tom Court and in-form Tony Buckley will vie for the spot.

Results are always moral boosters, but performance is what counts in these tests.

Coming out with four fortuitous victories would do nothing but pave over the cracks which need fixing in the Irish team.

If Ireland were to play the World Cup now, against the four teams – Australia, Italy, Russia and USA – in their group

next year, they would most likely score easy victories over group whipping boys Russia, and Eddie O’Sullivan’s USA. Italian physicality would always pose a threat, but Ireland would surely still secure a positive result. The real test is undoubtedly Australia.

Like France, the Wallabies have been focused on the World Cup since their elimination in 2007. Disappointing results in the Tri Nations have masked a steady improvement in Australian rugby, as head coach Robbie Deans has gradually assembled a squad that will challenge for the World Cup next year.

If Ireland were to meet the Wallabies in the World Cup tomorrow, they would probably lose. Therefore, South Africa would most likely be their opponents in the quarter-finals and would also presumably edge out the Irish.

Realistically, Ireland do not have much hope of winning the World Cup in New Zealand. However, should Kidney use the upcoming season as a building block for the World Cup, then the side could at least cause a few upsets.

Some sacrifices will have to be made, such as Jonny Sexton being chosen over Ronan O’Gara, and Devin Toner getting a chance at international level. If that means a poor autumn series, so be it. A successful World Cup is worth far more than any November victory.

So the question remains: can Ireland match the preparations of the bigger nations? If so, the Irish camp must look to a long-term plan, no matter how tempting it may be to put one over the Springboks or the All Blacks in the Aviva Stadium in the coming weeks.

P

rior to the appointment of Jack Charlton as manager, Irish football had seldom experienced success on the international scene.

Aside from a brief run in the 1964 European Nations’ Championship preliminary rounds, a major tournament remained beyond the team’s reach until 1988. However, Jack’s army dispelled our dismal tradition by making it to the 1988 European Championships in Germany.

Treading in unfamiliar territory, the Irish team were pitted against the cream of European football. Alongside powerhouses of the game such as Italy, Holland, Spain and World Cup runners-up Germany, our small nation was further dwarfed. Little was expected of the newcomers.

Rather fittingly, the opening match of our first-ever tournament was against our old rivals, England, in Stuttgart. The Irish team boasted so many English-born players that they were satirically known as the ‘England B-team’. Furthermore, they were led by an English manager who had helped his native country win their only ever World Cup in 1966 on home soil. And so, the stage was set for the boys in green to defend the country’s honour and show our neighbours that we could compete with the best in the game.

Amidst a time of social and political turmoil in Northern Ireland, which placed Anglo-Irish relations in a fragile state and a crippling economic recession in the Republic, this match provided a rare glimmer of optimism to the people of Ireland. The country was filled with pride at the sight of its team stepping onto the pitch in Stuttgart’s Neckarstadion Stadium.

Known for their tentative attacking and tight defending, the Irish team could never have imagined the start they were to get.

With only five minutes gone, Charlton’s side were awarded a free-kick just inside their own half.

Defender Kevin Moran took the kick and the ball was launched forward in typical Irish style. It dropped around the left-hand side of the English box, where it was hooked speculatively in and dealt with poorly by England defender Kenny Sansom. The ball was launched high into the air and bobbled around the box before finding its way onto the head of Liverpool and Ireland midfielder Ray Houghton.

With exceptional poise, Houghton directed the ball over the helpless Peter Shilton in goal, and into the back of the net – a stunning start to the game and an iconic moment in Irish football.

The Irish team then faced a difficult task. With nearly the entire match still to be played, they would have to defend against the onslaught of the English attack. Led by England’s record goalscorer and Barcelona star, Gary Lineker, the English began to constantly threaten the Irish goal. For Irish fans, the match was a painful exercise in counting down the clock, in anticipation of a famous victory.

The outcome hung in the balance right until the end, when the final whistle was drowned out by the eruption of the Irish fans in the stadium. This response was no doubt echoed across the country, as our first-ever tournament began in aweinspiring fashion.

While the team failed to make it out of their group and into the knockout rounds, their wondrous success in the opening match still exceeded most people’s expectations of what they could achieve in the competition.

The result stood for more than two points. It marked the moment in which Ireland defied their footballing status as the humble and inferior neighbours of Britain and emerged as a true footballing nation, capable of surpassing its small stature.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

23

Sport

sport@universityobserver.ie

Students Slump Fenno in Season Finale on Sport UCD’s soccer team were dealt a heavy defeat by an impressive Sporting Fingal side on Friday evening. Sports Editor Ryan Mackenzie reports on the side’s last match of the season

Paul Fennessy assesses the legacy of Lance Armstrong as the controversial cyclist’s retirement looms

I

Ciaran Kilduff has been one of UCD’s most consistent performers this season.

O

n a cold October night in Morton Stadium, UCD suffered a disappointing 4-1 loss away to Sporting Fingal to end what has otherwise been a relatively successful season.

With the home side looking for a win that would grant them the three points needed to secure a Europa League spot and the Students safely positioned out of the relegation zone, the scoreline was rather easy to predict. In fact, the difference in motivation levels was evident from the opening kick-off, which saw Fingal assume an offensive approach.

So overwhelming was this surge, that after only three minutes the home side were in front. A well-directed corner from winger Conan Byrne found its way onto the welcoming head of midfielder Glen Crowe, who placed the ball in the UCD net with relative ease. The home fans erupted and it appeared obvious that a long night lay ahead for the Students.

Things worsened for the visitors two minutes later when their opponents found the back of the net once more. A clever cross by former UCD captain Ronan Finn was whipped dangerously from the right wing into his former teams box and onto the head of striker Gary O’Neill. The ball was guided coolly into his opponents net to give his side a commanding early lead.

It was at this early stage that the perpetual battle between Fingal’s right-winger Conan Byrne and UCD left-back Brian

Shorthall began to spring to prominence.

Unfortunately for Shorthall, it was his opponent who won the contest by skating past the defender on numerous occasions with impressive skills and devastating pace.

The home side continued to focus their attack down the right side of the pitch, noticing a clear weakness in the Students’ defence and it wasn’t long until they were rewarded for their clever play.

On the 25-minute mark, a cross was drilled in once again by Finn. This time the talented midfielder slid the ball along the ground from the byline to once again find his teammate O’Neill, who was waiting eagerly around the six-yard box. The in-form striker tucked the ball neatly in the back of the UCD net, leaving the Students with a 3-0 deficit to chase.

The rest of the half continued in similar fashion, with the home side enjoying most of the success. The Students entered the changing room at the break with nothing but a disappointing 45 minutes to lament.

Much to the surprise of the Fingal contingent, it was UCD who started the second half the brighter. The Students adopted an attacking mentality and began to threaten the previously untroubled Fingal goal. Ciaran Kilduff, the college’s star striker, who had been frustratingly quiet up until this point, spearheaded the attack.

It was as a result of a terrific long distance shot by Kilduff that the Students were given a much-needed lifeline, with roughly 15 minutes gone in the half. A

parry from the Fingal goalkeeper Brendan Clarke gave UCD a corner, from which they converted their first goal of the match.

The ball was driven low into the Fingal box and met spectacularly by college defender Michael Leahy, who dived flamboyantly to meet the ball with his head and slot it in his opponents net. The home fans were stunned silent and the Students were spurred for a comeback.

Momentum shifted in favour of the visitors and they continued to break the home defence. Weaving runs by Chris Mulhall down the left wing posed all sorts of problems for the Fingal defenders. The Students were finally beginning to demonstrate why they belong in the top flight of Irish football.

However, against the run of play in the 75th minute, Fingal’s Glen Crowe scored a potential goal of the season to sink any hopes the visitors had of a late comeback.

From the edge of the box, the midfielder took a pass on the side-volley and blasted the ball into the top corner of the UCD net to complete his brace. The stunning shot was the highlight of the match and was the last goal-bound effort of the night.

Although the result was not an ideal way for UCD to close the season, they will no doubt be more interested in their terrific achievement of earning another year in the Premier Division. Competing in their country’s top flight is a rare accomplishment for university sides, and the Students will look to build upon their success next season.

n the fortnight since my last column, sporting greats of past, present and future have come under the spotlight. Gareth Bale and Jack Wilshere emphasised their enormous potential with exceptional Champions League performances that belied their youthful demeanours, Wayne Rooney conducted himself poorly during his successful ploy to garner exorbitant wages, and Maradona and Pelé celebrated their 50th and 70th birthdays respectively.

And not forgetting Paul Gascoigne’s latest brush with ignominy in the form of his drink-driving arrest, in addition to Roger Federer equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 64 titles by winning the Stockholm Open.

However, out of all of the aforementioned names, the sportsman who has arguably achieved the most impressive individual feats of all has been given the least amount of media coverage. Last week, Lance Armstrong revealed that he would finally be ending his extraordinary international cycling career. The 39-year-old announced that his participation in the Tour Down Under in January 2011 would be his last professional cycling appearance outside the US. Never has a cyclist’s career involved so much success and controversy in equal measure. Armstrong’s story constitutes the archetypal underdog tale, while encompassing the type of highs and lows that a Hollywood studio would consider too farfetched if his life were a movie script.

The demons that Armstrong has been consistently forced to fight have been well documented. Over the course of his career he has endured a bout of testicular cancer, the death of his friend and teammate Fabio Casartelli and a marital breakdown, along with several failed relationships. Yet more often than not, when competing on the cycling track, the Texas-born athlete has prospered.

Having been given only a 40 per cent chance of survival following life-saving surgery, Armstrong went on not only to recover, but to win an unprecedented seven consecutive Tour de France titles.

He has continually helped raise awareness for cancer treatments and has also founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support.

Yet Armstrong is hardly considered a national icon despite his series of superhuman feats. Put simply, there is a reason his prospective retirement was not considered front-page news and instead, consigned to a few small sentences in the sports section of most papers.

Firstly, this is the second time Armstrong has retired. He initially did so im-

mediately following his astonishing acquisition of that seventh Tour de France triumph. In hindsight, it is difficult to argue that Armstrong’s return to the world of professional cycling was anything other than a mistake.

Though Armstrong demonstrated occasional glimpses of his past brilliance, most notably in the 2009 Tour de France in which he finished third, his recent exploits have been largely fruitless. The disappointment marking the past two years of Armstrong’s career culminated with the 2010 Tour de France, which he began in impressive fashion, only to be blighted by several crashes before floundering to a 23rd place finish.

However, several sporting legends – including Maradona and Pelé – have had careers which have ended with a whimper rather than a bang, and yet their iconic legacies have endured. Armstrong would surely be forgiven for ill-advisedly prolonging his career, like so many other greats before him, were it not for the endless accusations that have relentlessly threatened to tarnish the cyclist’s image irrevocably.

Armstrong has accused his critics of resorting to the very worst excesses of tabloid journalism, but reputed broadsheet scribes such as Paul Kimmage and David Walsh have been at the forefront of the case against Armstrong. While these claims were quashed owing to a lack of clear evidence, an inordinate number of ex-Armstrong associates have added further credence to these allegations.

Therefore, the relative media silence over Armstrong’s latest announcement spoke volumes and was a clear indication of many people’s underlying attitude towards the cyclist. The conspicuous refusal to use his imminent retirement as an excuse to glorify someone who could otherwise be legitimately thought of as the greatest cyclist of all time, signalled the thinly-veiled suspicion which lingers whenever Armstrong’s successes are mentioned.

Even David Millar, a fellow cyclist and former close associate of Armstrong, said in the lead up to the 2009 Tour de France that: “He is very good at channelling every single element of his being into doing one thing. I don’t know him well enough to know if that costs him anything else in the rest of his life.”

On the last occasion he won the Tour de France, Armstrong was given the opportunity to address his critics, while basking in his success on the podium. He delivered the following statement: “I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it, so vive la tour.”

One can only hope, for the sake of the man himself and for the credibility of professional cycling writ large, that Armstrong means what he says and that the cacophonous cries of wrongdoing prove unfounded. Yet sadly, in keeping with cycling’s flailing reputation, time is likely to judge Armstrong harshly. And for once when forced to choose, the Hollywood scriptwriters will surely pick the truth ahead of the legend.

2 November 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVER

24

sport@universityobserver.ie

SPORT

VOLUME xViI ISSUE 4

2nd November 2010

PAGE 21

PAGE 22

PAGE 23

Kevin Beirne speaks to Padraig Harrington’s caddy, Ronan Flood

Discussion of upcoming Irish rugby internationals

UCD Soccer: Season ends with a whimper for students

UCD Secure Fourth Consecutive Rugby Win UCD’s convincing 47-24 victory over Belfast Harlequins marks a promising start to the season, writes Gordon O’Callaghan

U

CD made it four straight wins from four in the All-Ireland League last Saturday with an excellent bonus point victory over the Belfast Harlequins. This victory encompassed six tries past the visitors, including a wonderful hat-trick for hooker David Doyle.

Belfast started the game well by putting the Students under heavy pressure early on.

Within the first few minutes, UCD rightwinger John Conroy was forced to prevent a seemingly inevitable try with a vital interception. The college defence also managed to hold up a Harlequins player over the line and turned over possession in the resulting scrum.

However, Harlequins were not be thwarted a third time, as inside-centre William Stewart was able to break the line and feed right-wing Matthew Holmes for a try in the corner. Harlequins’ scrum-half Michael Heaney was unable to convert the kick, leaving the score at five to nothing.

UCD’s response to the opening try was emphatic. Straight from the kick off, the Students managed to secure possession in an attacking position. Inside-centre David McSharry barged through the Belfast defensive line and off-loaded to full-back Michael Twomey to complete the task of crossing the line for their opening try.

Unfortunately for College, out-half James Thornton was unable to convert, and thus the score remained five all.

The frantic pace of the game continued after the opening scores and both teams exchanged penalties with Thornton con-

verting for UCD from 45 yards out and Heaney once again missed for the visitors.

After being the second-best team in the opening minutes of the game, the home side found themselves ahead by three points.

Belfast refused to let going behind impede their style of play and continued to move the ball wide as quickly as possible.

They soon saw the benefits with a fine backline move off the set piece, resulting in a try for full-back Miles O’Hagan after good work from Holmes.

It was not shaping into a good day from the tee for Heaney, as he was unable to convert the try, putting his kicking tally at 0/3.

The pendulum swung in favour of UCD straight after the restart again, as captain and outside-centre Andy Cummiskey threw a massive skip pass to hooker Doyle, who took advantage of the overlap and crossed the line for his first try.

Belfast’s lack of concentration at the restart was costing them dearly in a game where they should have been leading.

Thornton again slotted the kick over, pushing the scoreline to 15-10.

UCD started to grow in confidence from that moment and began to dominate the game, slotting over another penalty.

Belfast were able to pull a try back though, when a fine chip on the right and an error from Twomey saw number 13 Michael Allen cross the line for Belfast. The score moved to 18-17, after Heaney’s first successful kick of the game.

There was to be just enough time for

The Students continued their impressive early season form in last weekend’s encounter. Photo: Jack Fox.

one more try from UCD before the halftime whistle, as Conroy stepped inside the Belfast cover and passed to Twomey for his second try of the match. With a successful conversion, the home side went into the half-time break leading 25-17.

The second half started in much the same fashion as the first, with Belfast Harlequins applying the pressure inside the College 22. This time though, UCD were able to soak up whatever was thrown at them and managed to turnover possession and clear their lines.

Belfast’s inability to convert their pos-

session into scores seemed to affect their confidence and from that moment on, the Students ran away with the game, scoring two tries in quick succession through the in-form Doyle.

The hooker’s second was the try of the game, and possibly the season, as the Students started the move inside their own half, passing the ball through six sets of hands, before Doyle crossed the line for the score. UCD now led 37-17.

Harlequins fought back with a consolation try through substitute Tim Morton after a drive from the lineout. The home

side again fired back with their last try of the game, as Conroy crossed the line for the score.

With another try from Doyle and a lastminute penalty from replacement Niall Earls, UCD completed the rout, running out 47-24 winners.

The Students next call of duty is in Towns Park, where they will face a strong Middleton side. A win for their opponents will see them overtake UCD in the league, so a fifth consecutive win for the College is imperative to keep this stellar season on track.

F1 Races to Frantic Finale With the Formula One season coming to a close, Amy Eustace takes a look how the championship has unfolded

W

ith only two races left in the Formula One calendar, the battle for first place is already boiling over. The Brazilian Grand Prix takes place in Sao Paulo this weekend, before the championship comes to a close in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight. Presently, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leads the pack off the back of his impressive victory in Korea, followed by Red Bull’s Mark Webber, whose crash in Yeongam, South Korea, saw him slip behind first place by eleven points.

The talented young Lewis Hamilton sits in third, ten points behind Webber, while his McLaren teammate and reigning champion Jenson Button is in fifth, 17 points off

fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel.

The title race swung dramatically in Alonso’s favour in rain-soaked Yeongam on October 24th. Webber crashed out early and his teammate Vettel’s engine blew, leaving the Spaniard free to take full advantage of Red Bull’s double DNF. Alonso’s fifth win of the year puts him top for now, but not comfortably, and Ferrari will surely look to take advantage of the Red Bull team’s strained relationship this year.

Vettel and Webber are both challenging for the top prize and although the Australian has the upper hand, the Red Bull technical team have made it clear that they will continue to support both drivers equally.

Ferrari, on the other hand, seemingly have

all their hopes pinned on Alonso, as his Brazilian cohort Felipe Massa languishes behind in sixth – a massive 88 points behind the championship leader.

McLaren, too, are more than up for the title fight. Hamilton’s second-place finish in South Korea sees him keep third place in the overall standings and more than capable of mounting a title challenge.

The apparently united stance he and fellow Englishman Jenson Button maintain could prove invaluable in the final stretch.

Despite that, however, Button could only achieve a disappointing twelfth place in South Korea, and will no doubt seek to rectify the dent that this lacklustre performance has placed in his championship ambitions.

The two Britons, former and current world champions, have been subject to much comparison over their careers. Their first year as teammates has been largely successful for both, but it is Hamilton who has the edge over his older countryman, affirmed by a number of stunning displays over the course of the championship.

The competition this year has seen much change to whet the appetites of F1 fans – the departure of some old favourites, the arrival of new blood, and even the return of a bonafide racing legend.

Michael Schumacher returned to the grid with Mercedes GP after a three-year absence. While he has by no means set the championship alight as he once did with

Ferrari, the 41-year-old German currently stands in ninth place – a respectable position despite being 56 points behind teammate, Nico Rosberg, and out of title contention for some weeks.

At the tail end of the table, three newly formed teams have demonstrated just how difficult it can be to compete in Formula One, by failing to put a single point on the board to date. Lotus, Virgin and Hispania Racing have all struggled with mechanical woes in their debut season.

The always-dramatic F1 finale is set to take place in Abu Dhabi’s impressive Yas Marina Circuit on November 14th, and as things start to really heat up, it is sure to be a close and gripping contest.