University Observer Volume XVII Issue 9

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VOLUME XVII ISSUE 9

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15th February 2011

IRELAND’S AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER

8 VOLUME XVII ISSUE

1st February 2011

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IRELAND’S AWARD-WINNIN

WE EXAMINE THE WORK PERFORMED BY SUICIDE HELPLINES. Page 9

Williamson issues apology to Ó Súilleabháin KILLIAN WOODS O-two Editor

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EducaCD Students’ Union James tion Vice-President, a full Williamson, has issued Ó Súilapology to Donnacha of his predecessor’s leabháin for his criticism Officer last year, performance as Education the Students’ of during the last meeting

G STUDENT NEWSPAPER

COMMENT

FEATURES

ARE CAREERFOCUSED DEGREE COURSES THE WAY

SCIENCE

THE HISTORY OF AT MEDICINE IS LOOKED AGES FROM THE MIDDLE TO THE PRESENT. Page 19

t Strong suppor g on for Labour ams student voter FORWARD? Page 13

Union Council. criticized the former Williamson heavily last year in the Education Vice-President elections and queslead up to the sabbatical ability to fulfill the tioned Ó Súilleabháin’s of specific parameters role. He highlighted failÓ Súilleabháin was the job that he felt and tackled him ing to perform adequately to take on any failure about his perceived had proposed on issues that Ó Súilleabháin his manifesto. also covered Ó Williamson’s criticism of Science Day Súilleabháin organization that went missing funds the issue of charity during his tenure. criticism campus. While initially Williamson’s last Tuesday on on said that they during Ag Week negatively impacted 80 per cent of students of Ó Súilleabháin UCD enjoy the festivities has sought The students of the upcoming election Williamson deserve it considering would be voting in their relationship, is failing us, but we and made a full they feel that the said: “We have themselves as not bewhile 72 per cent saying to atone for his criticisms Union Council. how we voted.” Another cent of students class the for a positive effect on at all while only 12 that after fighting election will have apology at the last Students’ Observer, Wilshown the world ing engaged in politics we as 81 per cent said that AMY BRACKEN hundreds of years, regarded themselves Speaking to The University future of the country. independence for per cent of students in situation will make it for one hundred engaged. that his apology was the state's financial News Editor liamson explained cannot even hold onto of being heavily politically by The Uniof him [Ó Súilleabvote, yet a number that 85 per cent of survey conducted them more likely to light of his “criticism The survey showed years. We’re not capable.” quesattitudes toas Education Officer response to the queswould like to see not to answer that versity Observer on There was a diverse respondents chose háin] and his ability those who responded that to election has keen to emphasize give their ideas on how younger politicians wards the general tion. last year” but was tion where asked to the introduction of cent of stuto Students' Union policies they would economic situation of their opinion of shown that 24 per When asked what the apology was made to change the current the Dáil. When asked following the upstudent said: “Hard intended to it to solely in Irish politics, one Labour. like to see introduced council in that he in the country. One the role of students dents would vote for such as reduced to his role as Educathe most popular they should play as in education, reducing coming election, answers cover criticisms relating work, investment This makes the party student said: “Ideally to reform were respondent grouping in of their nearand not with regards fees and electoral welfare,” while another UCD students ahead of a role as every other student tion Vice-President social much among vipoliticians to a reduction in Soother issues: politics, idealism, and Independent/Othcommon, in addition Science Day or any said: “End to party Irish society but unfortunatelyof students.” est rivals Fine Gael heavily on other stuff 20 per cent. Sinn (charisma), inspiration opinions “I do criticise him cial Welfare. sion, leadership tend to dismiss the er candidates who polled rest from across all subyear and he still knows with Europe and they regarded them11 per cent while Fi210 UCD students that happened last (media), closer ties Another student said Féin came third with solutions and Day, but that has group, and said: Party scored the in the survey between as part of a lobby Fáil and the Green ject areas took part that. Including Science of world. End to short-termIdeas regarding selves anna council or of last week. the interview per cent respectively. students.” Tuesday and Friday nothing to do with small minded thinking.” “No-one listens to lowest with 5 and 4 Dáil attendance thing altogether,” exasked to comment towards politicians, because it’s a separate Students were also taxation and compulsory Regarding attitudes in they both felt let down today’s political state plained Williamson. were also prevalent. on their opinion of 88 per cent said that judge“Politics of his predecessor student responded: and didn’t trust their One As part of his criticism politicians Ireland. by what he perceived revealed that 11 per Williamson highlighted ment. The survey also Propoor dealings with as Ó Súilleabháin’s the previous academic “I would like to gramme Officers in not come into fruition: realise that takdealings with Donnaas I SVP Society to produce year. “I had very little apologise to all of you the proposal by the hard because the Education aware of any legal iscalendar is a really has reason to believe cha and that is weird ing part in a naked this Calendar, I’m not sity Observer that he we the the Programme the SVP, thought that with the Auditor of reasons involved in Officer should be overseeing contact with thing to do. We, in sues being discussed there may be legal DAVID FARRELL very poor We thought that the asked about the refusal Officers. There was by UCD had all areas covered. SVP society.” When prohibiting of the publication. and the other Pronude calender made being published or to be published, Niall SVP auditor Conor myself and Donnacha Paul Society decision of the calendar Officer and not In an email sent to to allow the calendar I issue year… nobody really Saint Vincent de it was strange but “there is a separate gramme Officers last from not lay with the Societies Fahy said: “I thought Tonry, Butler said: (SVP) has been prevented on whether or the hierarchy of UCD that the University knew what he was doing.” Officer, the those who are in probably couldn’t comment and set of circumstances University Observer publication by Societies and set of circummoment, entirely sepaWilliamson told The leand the 'separate issue not it was justified.” is dealing with at the a result of perceived of the calissue the apology based that I would never but which could be Richard Butler, as that he decided to Tonry said of the cancellation it. It was stances' was something rate from the calendar, its publication. The the role of Education of work into such a venture.” gal issues surrounding on his experience of have foreseen. endar: “I put a lot originated with affected negatively by I must and that he informed want to make excuses the last few days, I accept that they nude calendar proposal Vice-President to date "However I do not Tonry said: “Over disappointing but were taken before he was going to make that I am the audireason. Different and the most inthe SVP and the photos Ó Súilleabháin that for myself. Considering have had a good enough contacted a lot of people at the moment of society members to the Council our fault. prior it’s comprising have found this him to suppose should that I I is, Christmas a an apology tor of UCDSVP colleges do calendars. formation that I got university. However, leSo if you feel angry issues. They were unfrom all across the number of different meeting. stuff out, but I didn’t. We didn’t realise these UCD are fighting a then efforts to push calendar was not given this whole situation while these disputes draft copy of the He cited Ó Súilleabháín’s or disappointed by foreseen.” gal battles and felt that to Butler, who told and tutor teaching be a good idea to to the calendar parapproval when sent through demonstrator Tonry sent an email you can blame me.” are going on, it wouldn’t “I decided that it would as one of the aspects Observer calendar the University requirements why The be standard ticipants to explain bring out a naked calendar.” was based on for the calendar to tenure he would praise decision was not appropriate of Ó Súilleabháin’s Mr Butler said “the as the difficulty produced.” and cited what he perceives through forty SVP told The Univerhas to go The auditor of the of his role when “it

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“Legal issues” stop

publication of SVP

nude calendar

YOUR STUDENT MEDIA UNDER THREAT Motion to remove Article 16 from SU constitution

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committees”.

Promotional texts spark student outrage SARAH DORAN

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Chief News Reporter tudents have been angered by promotional texts sent to them from both UCD Ents and third parties despite never giving out their contact details. The third parties, including Dublin nightclubs Krystle and Citi Bar, have been sending out texts to students in recent months. Suspicions have arisen as regards the legality of the manner in which these organisations obtained the phone numbers. One student told The University Observer: “Just today I received another text from Citi Bar, even though I have never set foot in that place. I have certainly never given out my number I any other club so they could not have gotten it that way. A friend of mine read somewhere that her Dad is her emergency contact on the SIS system and that on occasion he has also received similar texts, so it seems possible that that’s where they got them.” The texts normally fail to include an ‘opt-out’ clause and are sent from a nonumber facility, a fact which appears to place the organisations behind the promotional messages in direct violation of the rules and regulations set out by the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland. The University Observer understands that The Commissioner’s Guidelines on Unsolicited Direct Marketing state that if “a valid address to which you can send an opt-out request has not been provided” the sender of the message is in violation of Data Protection guidelines. If individuals did not initially refuse the collection and use of those details, then the marketer is entitled by Data Protection Code to continue to send these texts. However this only applies on the provision that the receiver is given an option to opt out at the time of each subsequent communication. Prior consent is also a legal requirement for the purpose of direct marketing through any form of electronic mail.

Actor Michael Sheen receives the James Joyce Award from Literary and Historical Society Auditor Niall Fahy.

IUA expenditure rises amid universities’ financial crisis AMY BRACKEN News Editor

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he Irish Universities Association (IUA), of which UCD is affiliated, had close to a €2 million increase in both income received and expenditure against a backdrop of education cutbacks between 2008 and 2009, The University Observer can reveal. Based on its size, UCD is understood to be the largest university contributor to the IUA, a limited company with seven university presidents as its Board of Directors, in terms of financial contributions. A representative from the UCD Academic Staff Association said: “I had no idea that the IUA had the type of budget that it has. Everyone I showed those figures to had assumed that the IUA was a relatively small organisation providing some form of secretarial support to the seven presidents.”

The representative added: “What exactly does the IUA do? That’s another question, which is why I was absolutely gob-smacked when I pulled down the numbers…they’re a fig leaf for anything the universities want to do.” Official documents obtained by The University Observer show that funding received by the IUA rose from just under €3 million to €4,841,846, while expenditure rose from €2,912,894 to €4,517,503 from 2008 to 2009. The IUA obtained in the region of €1.5 million in funding from the universities over the years 2008-10. A spokesperson for UCD said: “The UCD portion of this funding was €329,223 for 2008, 2009 and 2010.” The official documents state: “The company is primarily dependent upon the universities for funding.” A breakdown of figures provided to The University Observer by the IUA Chief Executive show that in 2009 the seven universities con-

tributed €1,555,510 of the €4,841,586 income receivable stated in the documents. This rise took place during the same period in which universities’ deficits became public and programmes of cutbacks were introduced. Chief Executive Ned Costello said the work of the IUA includes “specifically sectoral projects involving all of the seven universities”. He stated that other income derives from the HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) and DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) projects and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation. The company states on its website: “As an organisation in the public domain the action of the company and/or its members are open to public scrutiny… the organisation must be seen to operate on the most appropriate standards of governance, accountability and value for money.” However, The University Observer understands that because of their status as a limited

company, the company is protected from any requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), Mike Jennings, said: “As I understand it, the IUA is an association of the presidents of the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland… they don’t have a statutory role. They don’t have a governing board which represents anybody other then the university presidents, as I understand it.” The official documents also show that the IUA hired two extra administration staff in 2009. During that same period, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) imposed restrictions on hiring staff across the third-level sector, and also instructed universities to make several waves of cutbacks in all academic and non-academic areas. Costello confirmed that their office premises located in Merrion Square is rented but refused to comment on how much it cost per annum.

An open letter to the students of UCD With a motion which threatens the very existence of student media set to be proposed at next week’s Students’ Union Council, cofounder of The University Observer Dara Ó Briain writes an open letter to UCD students highlighting the importance of student media. Hello you. I’m that bloke off the telly. No, not that one, the other one, the one who went to England. That’s the one. More pertinently, I’m also a UCD gradu-

ate and in 1994, along with afriend of mine, Pat Leahy, I founded The University Observer, the paper you have in your hands at the moment. We felt that the college needed a professionally run, regular newspaper that would use the best student journalism to do all the things a great newspaper can do; to campaign and entertain and investigate. Right from the start we said that while this paper would be funded by the Students’ Union, it would be editorially independent from it, even if that independence often led to clashes with the Union. Editors have been fired and editions have been threat-

ened with being pulped; this is all part of the fun of working in a student newspaper. Even though we had our clashes however, the paper has kept going for 17 years now, making it something of a college institution. Now though, some within the Union want to take this part of college life and shut it down. They are proposing a referendum to be voted on by yourselves, to remove their obligation to fund a newspaper for you. They want you to help them to kill off this paper. Now, I have no idea what the specific beef is with the paper. These fights come and go, almost as fast as Union officers, and newspaper editors, come and go. Importantly though,

these squabbles and spats have never threatened the long-term existence of the paper. No short-term gripe has been deemed sufficient to close down the college paper. That is, until now.I am so very, very old now, and probably unlikely to see another summer, but please take this long-term advice from me; a strong college paper is a Good Thing, and it makes UCD a better place. Our university has always been vibrant and discursive and filled with competing ideas. And it is no coincidence that the national debate in Ireland is dominated by UCD. Economists, historians, journalists and, yes, television hosts and comedians, all graduates

of this, the most important University in the country. The University Observer has had its part to play in these debates, and could continue for many generations of students. I am deeply proud of the talent and energy and almost 20 years of student effort that have gone into building this paper. You should be proud of it too. In fact, all within the Students’ Union should be proud of it. If it comes to a vote, I hope you can remind them of that. Thanks for reading this, D. See full story: page 5. Editorial: page 2. Timeline: Page 21.


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