Volume XXI - Broadsheet - Issue 3

uo The University Observer Religion in schools We examine the impact of catholic doctrine in irish secondary schools

soccer our match report from ucd afc’s crucial win over drogheda

David norris an interview with the senator, survivor and scholar

Ruth Murphy p4

ciarán sweeney P20

shane hannon P9

October 28th 2014 Volume XXI issue 3 universityobserver.ie

above colin doran, ciarán gallagher and johnny walsh rehearse for dramsoc’s ‘art’ photo James Brady

Call for Reform of Societies Recognition process after Socialist Party rejection Megan Fanning

tom vaughan-lawlor The love/hate star on the magic of the theatre

shane hannon otwo p14 A potential Socialist Party society were denied society status following the latest Academic Council’s Society Recognition Committee meeting on October 10th. As of going to print, no formal reasoning has been given for the society’s rejection. The lack of formal recognition by this committee means that the group is excluded from postering on several areas across campus and cannot organise events in campus buildings.

Yvette Kelly, a postgraduate student in UCD’s School of Social Justice, has been involved in the campaign to establish a Socialist Party society. Speaking to the University Observer, Kelly says that the society’s experience with the process in gaining recognition has been “negative” with “bureaucratic obstacles.” Kelly says that their documentation (including a constitution, a mission statement, signatures of students and an annual

activity plan) was submitted in early September 2013. The University Observer has learned that subsequent enquiries into the status of their application sent via email to those involved in the process were ignored.

Following this lack of response, Socialist Party TDs Paul Murphy, Ruth Coppinger and Joe Higgins, all graduates of UCD, wrote to the Registrar of the University, Mark Rogers, to express concern over delays in the society’s application being processed. Kelly says that Rogers was “sympathetic” and stated that he would raise the issue with the Chair of the Recognition Committee, Feargal Murphy, the Vice-Principal for Teaching and Learning in the College of Arts & Celtic Studies.

The potential society was contacted to appear before the Committee on the 10th October, over a year after their application had been submitted.

At this point, the potential society

had missed two possible Freshers’ Weeks because of the delay.

Kelly says that she felt the meeting was conducted in a “formal manner in which they seem to grill students instead of creating an encouraging atmosphere”. She added that she “felt there was no support and the whole process ultimately discourages students.” After she was informed of the potential society’s rejection of application, Kelly sought a formal reason for their rejection.

No reasoning was received, but the Chair of the Recognition Committee, Feargal Murphy, did respond with a list of ways in which they could “strengthen” their application for the following year. To apply again, the aspiring society would need to re-submit all documentation, as there is no appeals process for societies who do not receive recognition.

According to Kelly, Murphy went on to say that in his understanding,

Health Committee to discuss e-cigarettes

it was still possible to organise on campus despite no recognition by the committee, a fact which is incorrect.

Murphy cited the example of recent Pro-Choice Society events held on campus. The Pro-Choice Society is also an unofficial society that has struggled to gain recognition, and have been only able to host events due to support from other recognised societies, including UCD Socialist Worker’s Party.

Eoghan Murphy, Chair of the Societies Council, has indicated that given this and other recent examples of aspiring societies struggling for recognition “change is inevitable” and says that the change needs to ensure that the system works.

Under current guidelines, Recognition Committee meetings are convened by the Chair at his discretion. This has meant that, despite the accumulation of potential society applications, only

four applications will be in front of the committee at any one meeting. Since January 2014, the committees have only sat three times (8th April, 10th October and 24th October), with the Economics Society, Biological Society, Sinn Féin, Africa Society and the Harry Potter Society gaining recognition.

It is not yet known if any societies gained recognition in the most recent meeting on October 24th.

The Committee is made up of eleven members, including Eoghan Murphy, UCDSU President Feargal Hynes, two Societies Council representatives, and six academics who are elected according to Academic Council standards, and the Chair of the Committee who is appointed by the President of the University.

the antlers frontman peter silberman talks brooklyn and life on tour

Continued on Page 2

séan hayes Otwo P16

UCDSU To Join Repeal the 8th Movement Séan Hayes

Cormac Duffy The UCD Health Promotion Committee is set to formulate a policy on e-cigarettes at its next meeting, the University Observer has learned. The Committee, which consists of UCD staff and faculty members, were behind the Smoke-Free Campus initiative that is currently being rolled out across campus. Having been given the support of UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) following a referendum held last October, the first steps of the policy included a ban on the sale of cigarettes in all SU shops on campus. It is expected that steps will be taken to extend non-smoking areas to cover the majority of campus over the coming year, though many have raised doubts about the feasibility of the scheme.

The Health Promotion Committee does have not a policy on e-cigarettes at the present moment.

Dominic O’Keefe, Director of Student Services and Facilities has said that “It will be raised at the next meeting”. According to O’Keefe, it is unlikely

that the Health Promotion Committee will endorse the use of e-cigarettes as a substitute for conventional cigarettes. “On speaking to the Director of the Student Medical Centre her opinion and recommendation is that the committee will not endorse this form of smoking as the long term health implications have as of yet not been established”, O’Keefe stated in discussion with the University Observer.

He went on to add that “The risks associated with these devices have to date not been clarified. It is way to make smoking more socially acceptable and anything that is detrimental to a student’s health is unacceptable.” It is not yet known if the Committee will take a negative stance in relation to e-cigarettes as well as choosing to not endorse their use.

In spite of the absence of an official stance by the Health Promotion Committee, one e-cigarette company has been using the Smoke-Free Campus initiative to promote their product on campus.

Nyx Electronic Cigarettes,

a Dublin-based e-cigarette manufacturer, have been advertising to students with the slogan “Proudly Supporting a Smoke-Free UCD!” The company is also the title sponsor of Belfield FM, and has been targeting UCD students through social media advertising.

Speaking to the University Observer, Aaron Sheehan, a representative of the company has said “We have decided to come into UCD and onto other campuses around Dublin and Ireland because we see an opportunity in the market for electronic cigarettes, especially in UCD with the SmokeFree Campus initiative coming in.” Regarding the discussion of e-cigarettes by the Health Promotion Committee, Sheehan added that “Our cigarettes have no tobacco and are pretty much just water vapour, so we don’t see a problem. We’re supporting a smoke-free UCD.”

UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) Council has passed a motion to make official links with the coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment and to actively campaign for a woman’s right to choose. The motion, raised at a meeting of Council on Monday October 20th, noted concern with UCDSU’s lack of active involvement in the national campaign. The motion follows from the results of last October’s preferedum on UCDSU’s stance on reproductive rights. 47% of the total valid poll voted to adopt a pro-choice policy of supporting the legalisation of abortion in Ireland “upon request of the woman.”

The 8th Amendment introduced a constitutional ban on abortion in 1983 and a repeal cannot be legally or constitutionally recognised until Article 40.3.3 is removed from the Irish Constitution.

The official links which UCDSU have agreed to establish are in line with the involvements already in place with other Students’ Unions with similar pro-

choice policies, such as Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway.

Speaking after the passing of the motion, a spokesperson for the UCDSU stated, “We will work to articulate this pro-choice mandate and will liaise with those organisations that are working to repeal the 8th amendment.”

The motion also acknowledged conscientious objectors and noted that “no member morally opposed shall be forced to engage in active campaigning.”

The UCDSU spokesperson added, “In relation to the conscientious objectors, we of course recognise that there are those in the university who object to our pro-choice stance. Simply because we have a pro choice stance does not in any circumstances mean that we would turn anybody away who would hold positions that diverge from ours.”

The motion was proposed

by Grace Williams, Gender Equality Coordinator of UCDSU who said that it was the “logical step” and that it was a “natural

progression to question what that pro-choice stance meant for the SU” and believes “it is the place of the SU to campaign to protect those who are most vulnerable within the student body”. The motion was seconded by Sam Blanckensee, LGBTQ+ Coordinator. Speaking after the motion was passed, Blanckensee added, “I was so glad it passed because I don’t believe that just providing information is acting on the referendum which gave us a stance as a pro-choice union. I believe this gives us a platform from which to act on one of the most important human rights issues in Ireland.”

Furthermore, the motion allowed for the inclusion of “not only those who identify as women but all those who are female assigned at birth”. On this, Blankensee added, “I am also glad that the motion was extremely trans* inclusive because that is quite unprecedented in Ireland.

I wouldn’t have seconded a motion that wasn’t.”

survival horror

immerse yourself in this halloween’s most terrifying releases games Otwo Pages 8 & 9

street style

the best of campus fashion Otwo P21

October 28th 2014

News

national news in brief

Hollaback! Dublin Releases Results of Street Harassment Survey in UCD Lucy Ryan

Lucy Ryan

Waterford IT pulls out of merger with IT Carlow Waterford Institute of Technology has pulled out of negotiations to merge with IT Carlow. The move comes one week after the two colleges signed a memorandum of agreement affirming their commitment to the process.

Waterford IT said it was suspending all activities relating to the merger as it believed it would hinder its tender for technological university status and delay the process for several years. Independent councillor and member of Waterford IT’s governing body, Mary Roche, confirmed there had been “a lot of unhappiness” in Waterford about the anticipated union.

Under upcoming legislation, the only way for Waterford IT to gain university status would be by way of a merger with Carlow. President of IT Carlow, Dr. Patricia Mulcahy, said “their decision to suspend the negotiations has surprised us and really disappointed us.”

Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, called the senior management of Waterford IT to Dublin for an emergency meeting after the story broke.

TCD Professor Defends Trial Admission Scheme A professor at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dr Patrick Geoghegan, has defended a trial admission scheme the university launched in August, after it received a further bout of criticism.

25 students who failed to meet the points requirements for their chosen courses were assessed by way of 4 alternative criteria. The students were examined by way of relative performance to their classmates, an essay submission, special circumstances or achievements not reflected in their applications.

The news of the trial provoked a strong response from defenders of the current points system. In an opinion column for the Irish Times, former Central Applications Office (CAO) general manager, John McAvoy criticised the procedure, calling it an “ill-judged action” and an example of “arrogance” by the university.

Responding to those claims in the same newspaper, Geoghegan called some elements of McAvoy’s use of language “intemperate” and “regrettable”. He argued that a holistic admissions system was the best method for the future, and that the trial was designed to stimulate debate over a controversial part of the Irish education system by way of action, rather than merely condemning it.

College funding per student falls 24pc to €9,000 The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has said that third-level institutions will receive €9,000 in funding for each student next year, a 24% decrease from funding of €11,800 per student in 2007/08.

The continued decrease ignited another call from the HEA for a funding system that will maintain higher education in Ireland at its current level. HEA chief executive, Tom Boland, warned that Ireland risked moving to a low-quality system that would be incapable of meeting the collegiate supply and demand. Boland said that in order to prevent a further decline in third level education, urgent funding was required, combined with measures to improve efficiency such as increased autonomy for the colleges to manage their financial affairs.

Emphasising the value of thirdlevel education, Boland referred to a 2012 report from the Central Statistics Office that stated disposable income for the average third level graduate was €29,600, compared to €18,000 for those who had just finished secondary level. According to a study at the School of Business in Trinity College Dublin, Irish universities and institutes of technology contribute €10.6 billion to the economy each year, which led to the authors of the study calling them “value for money.”

2 october 28th 2014

Last week saw Hollaback!

Dublin, a movement dedicated to counteracting street harassment, release the results of a short survey at it carried out at UCD’s Mind, Body & Soul Festival on the 25th of September. 110 students participated in the study on the culture of street harassment.

Despite the small sample size, the group has claimed that street harassment is an acute problem throughout Dublin, and even occurs on college campuses.

Those surveyed included 88 females, 19 males and three who

identified themselves as nonbinary. Of the 88 women, 87.5% revealed they had witnessed street abuse in Dublin compared to 68.4% of men and all three of the non-binary individuals.

Contrasting those who have been on the receiving end of harassment in Dublin, 64 women said they had been abused, alongside all of the non-binary individuals. Two males in the sample said they had experienced harassment.

Regarding harassment locations, campus as opposed to the streets of Dublin ranked relatively low,

as only 22 individuals of the survey sample had observed its occurrence. 96 of the 110 students that contributed to the survey claimed that they had never engaged in such any such harassment towards others.

The group offers an expansive definition of harassment. For them, it covers a broad span of non-contact experiences including catcalling, groping, sexual invitations, fondling, vocal abuse regarding one’s appearance, stalking, or any other type of sexual or gender-based harassment

from individuals. The abuse can provoke feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness in the victims.

Global studies have linked this issue to claims that between 80-99% of women experience street harassment at some point during their lives. The most prevalent manner of sexual violence for either men or women is non-contact unsolicited sexual encounters, involving harassment and other types of abuse.

Hollaback! is a movement that aims to end street harassment. It has chapters in 79 cities across

26 countries which strive to ignite public debate on the issue. Its Dublin branch is run by a team of community leaders. Hollaback! has partnered with Cornell University on the study of street harassment on an international spectrum, from which they have produced an online survey.

Individuals who experience street harassment in Dublin can also share their stories at dublin.ihollaback.org.

Call for Reform of Societies Recognition process after Socialist Party rejection Megan Fanning

Continued from Page 1 None of the academics who sit on the committee have any involvement in societies in UCD, with many lacking societies in their faculties. While many faculty members have an involvement with societies in Senior Treasurer positions, none of these have involvement in the Recognition Committee.

According to Eoghan Murphy, applications are chosen on a first come, first served basis.

Yet while Sinn Féin Society submitted their application no

less than five years ago, others, such as the Harry Potter Society, have submitted their application in recent months and received review by the Recognition Committee in the same sessions. Eoghan Murphy has said that delays in application processes are often due to a lack of information provided by applicants, adding that it can also be due to difficulty in contacting the representatives of potential societies due to students coming and going from the University.

Concerns have been raised about the criteria that potential society must meet when completing

their application While there are criteria that all societies must meet, these are often not articulately clearly to the relevant applicants.

Several aspiring societies have been told that they must submit 30 signatures of students supporting the application, while others are told they need a minimum of 50.

The University Observer has learned that the committee members receive the documentation of a potential society only when the Chair calls the meeting, which by conduct should be minimum of seven days in advance, but an undisclosed source has said that this length of

time can be “temperamental”.

When asked what the Recognition Committee is looking for in societies, Eoghan Murphy said that the priority is for a society to be “student-focused” and “studentrun”. He added there may be some concern raised in meetings about the level of influence external entities have, or are “perceived to have” over a society. He stresses that the University is ultimately responsible for the society and that “if people want to get involved in external groups, they can get involved in external groups.”

This comes after the rejection

received by the Socialist Party society recommended that not being affiliated with an external group was a factor that would “strengthen” their application.

Kelly said that “we had previously been an active society from 20012010 and it was clearly stated in the Recognition Committee meeting that we are independent to the party; being a member of the Socialist Party Society would not make you a member of the Socialist Party. We were also told that no appeals process exists and to simply apply again next year.”

Campus News in Brief David Corscadden

UCDSU Launch Comedy Festival UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) has announced the launch of the UCD Comedy Festival 2014. The three day festival, which will take place in Astra Hall on 4th, 5th and 6th November, will see comedians such as Des Bishop, Bernard O’Shea and Karl Spain perform gigs on the campus.

Commenting on the festival UCDSU President Feargal Hynes said “We believe that this event is excellent value for money.

Anywhere else in the country Des Bishop is playing for at least €20.

We have him in UCD for €10. Our

Wednesday night gig which has some of the best young talent in the country is only costing €5 euro and if you want to see all three nights we have a special price ticket of only €20.”

UCD named as one of five new SFI research centres UCD has been named as the lead on one of five new research centres announced under a €245 million investment project. The substantial investment will see five new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centres open to support cutting-edge research in critical and emerging sectors of the economy which have been deemed key for job creation in Ireland. The funding announced will be provided

over the next six years, 2014-2020.

UCD will lead on the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG). Professor John Walsh has been named at the lead investigator in of iCRAG. Walsh will spearhead research in to finding and harnessing resources such as Zinc and hydrocarbon, which Ireland boasts high quantities of, in an a manner which is judged environmentally sustainable.

Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, commented on the importance of the new centres saying, “These five new SFI Research Centres were selected following a highly competitive and rigorous international peer review

Café Brava and The Grind to remain closed pending new licensees alanna o’shea

Two popular eateries in UCD have recently ceased trading on campus.

Cafe Brava Ltd. has closed both Cafe Brava and the sandwich bar The Grind in the old Student Centre.

The company resigned their license for the unit with UCD a few months ago, citing economic issues.

Cafe Brava Ltd. also run several other services on campus, including the Poolside Cafe and the food service within the Clubhouse bar.

Both the Poolside Cafe and the Clubhouse Bar are reportedly fiscally healthy and will remain open. The increasing amounts of cafes and restaurants on campus seems to have affected their business; it is thought that Cafe Brava was facing competition after the opening of their own Poolside Cafe, the SU

process which screened for scientific excellence and assessed potential economic and societal impact.”

Little Green Cars to play free gig for UCD Students In an anouncement designed to create a level of excitement with students on campus, a surprise preformance by an popular Irish act was announced by UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) on 16 October.

The identify of the act, set to take the stage in Astra Hall on 29 October, was kept a closely guarded secret howvever until Sunday 19 October when it was announced that Little Green Cars would preform for students.

The event aims to untilise UCD

Ent’s newly launched app, with student having to download the app and obtain tickets through it, instead of the usual manner of buying tickets to events in SU Shops on campus.

Speaking about securing Little Green Cars as the event’s headline act, UCDSU Entertainment and Event Manager, Paul Kilgallon described it as “a real coup” for UCD to have them for this free intimate gig.

UCDSU President Feargal Hynes states that this announcement proves that UCDSU are striving to have a wider choice in entertainment on campus for students. He says “From the Academic and Cascada at the Freshers Ball to the Comedy Festival with Des Bishop and Bernard O’Shea we really want to have something for everyone.”

UCDSU adopt stronger stance on Marriage equality Eithne Dodd

Fresher’s Shop and the new Pi restaurant in the science block.

The Student Centre management team are currently exploring options for a replacement to Cafe Brava which should be in place soon. A notice was issued on the UCD e-procurement website about the availability of the locations, the deadline for which was the 3rd of October. The Student Centre management team will appoint a panel to review the requests and report back to the management committee. These panels usually consist of representatives for UCD, the Student Centre and a student representative. The management team hope to have something in place in the coming months.

In the last week’s UCD Student Union’s (UCDSU) Student Council meeting, three council motions were put forward. The first motion was put forward by Sam Blanckensee, the UCDSU’s LGBTQ+ Coordinator.

The motion notes that the UCDSU’s stance on marriage equality was close to expiring and recognises that the majority of UCD students support equal civil marriage.

The UCDSU will campaign strongly in favour of the equal civil marriage referendum by putting up posters and pride flags at UCDSU events until the referendum has been voted on. The motion was seconded by Maeve DeSay, Welfare Officer of the SU and was passed upon vote.

However, Tom Williams, the 4th Year Engineering Class Representative, proposed an amendment of “where applicable”, meaning that the SU was not expected to display a pride flag at all events. The motion passed with the amendment, though was opposed by some who initially supported the motion, including Conor Rock, the SU Arts & Celtic Studies Convenor, who said that he “didn’t like the

wording of the amendment” and that it “left it too open.” Rock says he doesn’t believe there’s a situation where it would be “inappropriate.”

Rock has indicated he will propose a motion at the next Council meeting to determine what situations will be affected by the amendment.

In the same Council meeting, Student’s Union Executive also committed to preparing a list of food and drink available in SU shops that is Halal, Kosher or Vegan after the second motion put forward by Matthew Carroll, the SU’s International Students Coordinator, in recognition that UCD is home to many different cultures and nationalities that have specific dietary requirements and it is important to provide information as to whether certain foods can be consumed by them or not. The motion was passed with amendment to the motion, which would include “and other dietary requirements” after the listing of Halal, Kosher and Vegan.

News Analysis : Youth Leadership in the Modern World The One Young World Conference sought to discuss some of the challenges facing the international community. James Brady looks at issues faced by the conference in representation, big business and human rights.

News international

News in Brief Melissa O’Sullivan

University of Zimbabwe Bans Kissing on Campus Authorities from the University of Zimbabwe have introduced a new code of conduct for students staying in its halls of residence.

The eleven point code, announced two weeks ago, includes rules such as the prohibition of students from bringing members of the opposite gender to their accommodation.

Some of the rules have been described as particularly strict, including one that states any student found “loitering in dark places outside the sports pavilion or lecture venues” would be punished.

The most controversial one is the ban on kissing in public places.

President of the Zimbabwe National Student’s Union, Gilbert Mutubuki, believes that the purpose of the new rules is to impose a restriction on students’ freedom of assembly. He called the code a series of “security measures” that were designed to “limit students from associating.”

The code is being linked to part of a wider government mechanism to curtail students’ right of association, as the ability of Zimbabwean students to protest has been severely restrained in recent years by restrictive security laws.

kofi annan speaks to the delegates of the one young world conference. photo: James Brady

As former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson shared the stage of the One Young World Conference with Kofi Annan to discuss intergenerational climate justice and the inequity facing the world’s poorest people on the main stage in the Dublin Conference Centre, downstairs in the demonstration hall, Pepsico, Volkswagen and Lenovo stands were manned by teams of promotional staff who were working to provide the most positive perspective of their companies. Upstairs, at the panel discussions, a broad swathe of some of the most well-known representatives from the sphere of human rights spoke on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people to young people between the ages of 18 to 30 from over 180 countries on local and global problems.

In a conference with as stark contrasts present as this, it presented some of the worst and best aspects of the contemporary situation regarding unrestricted capitalism; that the

private automobile industry would use the opportunity to market to the future generation of sociallyengaged future leaders, as ethical visionaries encouraged them at the same time and in the same building to work for a fairer future.

Within this mix of speakers and private promoters, there was no clear guiding principle on where the organisers of One Young World stood regarding their conference. This lack of a clear direction lingered in their attitude towards attendance.

Tickets to attend the conference were priced at over €3,400 and delegates hoping to attend were advised by the conference to seek sponsorship to help cover their costs.

Instantly, those who can’t afford the fee or who live in countries where the ticket price is several times the average yearly wage face a noticeable barrier from attending.

Dylan Kaplan, a delegate from

Washington DC who was recognised by the organisers for his winning essay on technology and the public in government and the possible methods for reducing barriers to participation was someone who was fully aware of this dichotomy, “It’s creating this idea of exclusivity that makes people want to come, so they’ve to figure out how to fund themselves to come. If they said that this (the One Young World Conference) was completely free, as crazy as this sounds, they would probably have less people coming. So people want to pay more money; they want to find someone else to pay for it”. Many of the speeches were available through a livestream and were archived to view online.

The conference also promoted the use of online media to access some of the ideas being shared.

Hugh Gardner, an urban planner from Australia, spoke on what he perceived as setting One Young World

apart from other conferences, “The things that we go to, it’s all corporate and really you don’t get that diversity of views. I think what I like a lot about coming here is that you get exposure to so many forms of change and so many different organisations and ways of doing things.”

With speakers like Amir Ashour, who campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights in northern Iraq, those at the front line of human rights defence were represented at the conference.

Ashour, who grew up in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah in the northeastern region of Iraq spoke to the conference on the extreme violence used to target individuals in the gay community in annual campaigns in the region. Speaking to Ashour afterwards, he spoke about the need for the revaluation of human rights in media coverage of violence, “Don’t only focus on those that are terrorists, because

those terrorists are damaging the life of those Muslim countries as well. It’s not like they’re only affecting life in Western society. They’re affecting the local society as well.”

Amongst this group of wellfunded and supported young people, those that we spoke to were unanimous in their desire for a fairer world. Global business clearly wants to remain a part of the lives of those involved in the shaping of the social and economic structures of the future. While the ethical considerations of partnering with groups like Diageo at a conference for positive social development is uncertain, there was clearly a strong demand from the individuals involved for a more equitable society.

News analysis: a less perfect union With the news of a referendum on a United Ireland in Queen’s University Belfast, Cian Carton looks at the link between it and UCDSU’s stance on national issues.

By the time you read this, Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union (QUBSU) may have taken a pro-United Ireland stance over the issue of Irish unity. A Northern Irish university considering such a controversial issue demands attention, for it bears striking similarities to the situation south of the border, particularly in UCD. Queen’s University Belfast’s (QUB) Sinn Féin Society received 700 signatures in a petition it started just two weeks ago, which equates to over 2.5% of the university’s student population, enough to trigger a referendum before QUBSU. The youth wing of the Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) formally declared its support for the referendum, while the Student Broad Left has being calling for a “yes” vote through its social media pages. Stormont Trade Minister, Arlene Foster, called the vote an irresponsible move by Sinn Féin, while several unionists have also hit out at the decision by university officials to allow the vote to go ahead.

The announcement provoked the formation of the QUB Neutral group, which has succeed in getting a motion for QUBSU to remain neutral over the issue onto the same ballot paper. The fact that QUBSU could be both for and neutral towards a United Ireland is farcical.

It would be borderline comical, if the issue was not so serious.

The most interesting comment in the debate comes from Frederick W Boal, Professor Emiterus at Queen’s, in a letter he set to the Belfast Telegraph. He said that young people, straight out of (presumably

17 Students Arrested at the Scene of a Violent Clash at Istanbul University Riot police had to break up a brawl between leftist and pro-Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) students at Istanbul University, which saw 17 students being arrested. Armed police approached groups of masked, stick wielding students at the university’s Faculty of Science, after reports that a fight had broken out. Most of the detained students were members of the Muslim Youth Group. They shouted “Live long, Muslim students” and “We did what was necessary,” as they were led away by officers.

The incident is part of an ongoing dispute between the two groups at the university, which began in September, when students wearing masks broke into anti-ISIL booths and attacked students. Pro-ISIL students attacked anti-ISIL students again while they were hanging up anti-ISIL posters around the university. Following this attack, three pro-ISIL students were brought into police custody on October 1st, after a further altercation between the sides.

The violent clashes have mirrored the unrest in Turkey over the government’s stance on the plight of the Syrian border town of Kobani, which is under ISIL attack. Over 40 people were killed in violent demonstrations at the beginning of the month, as Turkish Kurds attacked government buildings over Turkish inaction on the issue.

Over 3,000 Students Implicated in University of North Carolina

Queen’s university, belfast. Photo courtesy of flickr user william murphy

segregated) schools, are being “plunged into a deeply divisive issue” before they barely have a chance to interact with others from different backgrounds. His opinion has universal application, and particularly fits in with the abortion debate currently raging in UCD. One year ago, former Deputy Editor of the University Observer, Killian Woods, noted the trend of Students’ Unions in taking stances on issues. In the aftermath of UCDSU adopting a pro-choice stance, he argued that “even if 8% of the total vote represented a pro-life view, this 8% should be entitled to their view and a right to hold it. Now these students are a member of a union that holds a view on abortion that is exactly the opposite of their own.”

At a recent Council meeting, UCDSU noted that members have a right to conscientious objection and that no one will be forced to “engage in active campaigning” over the issue. What is active campaigning, and is it different to “passive” campaigning? One could say that all members of UCDSU are passive campaigners for the pro-choice position because their union adopted this position in the referendum.

The move will see UCDSU devote some of its limited time and resources towards promoting the pro-choice agenda on a national level. The opportunity cost of this move must be considered.

UCD students voted to disaffiliate themselves from the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in early

2013. It was claimed that this would allow for UCDSU to better concentrate on campus-based issues. UCD President, Andrew Deeks, encouraged UCDSU to follow the path of Students’ Unions in the UK, who focus on campaigning for better services on campus. These sentiments were echoed at the time by then UCDSU President, Michael Gallagher.

So, has anything changed?

On October 8th, USI held its pre-Budget rally for education in Dublin. USI President, Laura Harmon, extended an invitation to participate to UCDSU President, Feargal Hynes. UCDSU’s Executive Council voted against attending it.

Hynes told the University Observer that they decided not to attend in

order to “focus on our aim at the start of the year to build our presence on campus and to concentrate on re-engaging students in Belfield.” However, campus issues like the price increases for accommodation in UCD and the Licence to Reside challenge have both seemingly been thrown aside.

Three weeks after Hynes’ comments, it appears that the gates of Leinster House are now part of the Belfield campus as UCDSU gears up to fight a national campaign. Are there any hypocrites in the house?

The University of North Carolina ran a “shadow curriculum” that allowed for student athletes to benefit from phoney coursework between 19932001, according to a report by a former Department of Justice official.

The report revealed that over 3,100 students had enrolled in classes that either never took place or ones they were not required to show up for.

These paper classes were carried out in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies at the university. The secretary at the department, Deborah Crowder, would grade the students’ papers, giving them a grade which would allow them to remain eligible to play sports.

Little regard was paid to the quality of the assignments, with many papers containing just an introduction and a conclusion, filled with “fluff” in between. Department chief, Julius Nyang’oro, allowed for the deception to occur with “indifferent oversight.”

The university’s Chancellor, Carol Folt, said she is “deeply disappointed in the duration and the extent of the wrongdoing.” At least nine members of staff at the university have been fired or placed under review. The university’s sports teams may also face disciplinary action.

October 28th 2014

comment Catholic Politics in Catholic Schools With most secondary schools in Ireland being Catholic, Ruth Murphy looks at the damaging effect Catholic views are having in Irish schools Due to the large number of Catholic schools in Ireland, many Irish teenagers find themselves going to religious schools. When a parent chooses to send their child to a religious secondary school the reasons are generally related to getting a good education and not about religion. As these schools weren’t set up by the state but by the Catholic Church, the state doesn’t have full control over the schools even though in many cases they pay the staff’s wages. It is amazing that the Catholic Church would take so much time and effort to set up these schools. Nevertheless, the church’s present hold on these schools may be having negative effects.

Sexual education (Sex Ed) is very important in secondary school. Where else is a teenager to learn how to use contraceptives, how to treat STIs, the importance of consent and a wealth of other issues relating to sex? SPHE stands for Social, Personal and Health Education and Sex Ed of course comes under these headings. Some may say it also comes under Science and Home-Economics courses.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a secondary school in Ireland that has taught Sex Ed thoroughly and correctly. Many schools exclude Sex Ed entirely from their curriculum.

Some students may be taught about condoms, if they’re lucky, and even then it is extremely rare that students would be shown an example. In this modern age this can lead students who want to have sex learning about it in one of two ways. They can have sex without a condom or any form of contraceptive or secondly look it up online and find out for themselves.

The negative results of both of these are glaringly obvious and yet schools don’t seem to pay attention to them.

Girls in one Dublin school were heavily encouraged to use ‘natural contraception’. This means to only have sex when they weren’t ovulating.

We know now that this method doesn’t work. The teacher also stated that this was the best method because it is the only form of contraception that the Catholic Church approves of. What the Catholic Church thinks should have no bearing on what contraceptives a teenager uses.

In a school in Limerick girls were taught that if they had sex before they reached 18 they would get cervical cancer, only when disagreed with did the teacher change their statement to say that they had a higher chance of getting cervical cancer, which is also untrue. The risk of getting cervical cancer is increased if you become pregnant before the age of seventeen or have sex before you receive the vaccine. Schools across the country are both leaving students in the dark and misinforming them.

How schools manage to ignore the matter of teenage pregnancy while it may be literally walking its halls is a great feat. It is both ridiculous and unacceptable that schools would leave out such huge issues when they know how damaging this can be to their students. How is a student to avoid illnesses they’ve never heard of and to use contraceptives they’ve never seen?

Following on from this, abortion is another issue often swept under the rug and, when it is taught about, the lesson is rarely without flaws.

Many schools following on from their great teaching of abstinence say that if, somehow you may have become pregnant, possibly by immaculate conception, you should not under any circumstances have an abortion.

Some teachers have compared abortion to murder. A Home-Ec class in south Dublin was given a talk against abortion. The class were given pins the size of a foetus’ feet at the time that it would be aborted and were encouraged to wear these on their school jumpers. In an education system where students are expected to take in and accept everything teachers tell them this sort of pushing of political opinions is ridiculous and unjust. In another school when a student asked “what about abortion in the case of rape victims?”, the teacher explained that God has a plan for everyone he creates and that it is not our place to intervene. This is blatant pushing of one point of view on to students. No matter the views of any teacher or school shouldn’t students get to hear both sides?

In a non-denominational school in Tipperary despite the lack of religion it seemed that abortion was only discussed in religion class. It seems that the Catholic Church is such a large part of our culture that

4 october 28th 2014

illustration: Roisin mcNally

A 2012 online survey, for an LGBTQ+ organisation called ShoutOut, of 624 respondents, found that 92% of students think their secondary school did not provide enough information and support on sexuality.

How schools manage to ignore the matter of teenage pregnancy while it may be literally walking its halls is a great feat

few schools can escape its views. The class, who were lucky enough to hear both sides, always heard much more from the pro-life side. This seems to be a common occurrence across Irish secondary schools. In another school students doing a project on abortion had to be reminded that as a catholic class “we believe life begins at conception”. Students are not being taught the details of abortion nor are they given the chance to make their own opinions on the matter. A school has no right to tell a student where to stand on an issue like this.

A school should try to be unbiased in all its teachings. SPHE and Religion are no exception to this.

Another issue often ignored or skipped over in secondary schools is the existence of different sexes to male and female and different sexual orientations to heterosexual. The idea of teaching Sex Ed in relation to non-heterosexual relationships appeared to be out of the question.

Most students can’t recall every being taught anything about sexes that don’t fit the gender binary. This is hugely damaging to the transgender or otherwise non-cisgender person sitting in the class having no idea how people might react to them and possibly not knowing who they are.

Most LGBTQ+ students have similar problems sitting in an SPHE class taught for the straight, cisgender student. A 2012 online survey, for an LGBTQ+ organisation called ShoutOut, of 624 respondents, found that 92% of students think their secondary school did not provide enough information and support on sexuality. As with pregnancy and sex, we all know that the LGBTQ+ community exists so why can’t we talk about them? What help to a student’s mental health is it to avoid discussing the topics that are worrying them?

LGBTQ+ students are more likely than straight, cisgender students to have mental health issues, to

consider suicide and to drop out of school because of their mental health and/or bullying. Expressions such as “that’s so gay” are often let slide by school staff. If students can’t tell themselves to cop on it’s the job of the teacher to tell students that words like “faggot” are not ok, just as any other derogatory term would be punishable by a teacher.

Some may still argue that these issues are not the responsibility of a religious school to educate on.

Religion, however, is something that Catholic schools must teach on. We can all understand that if a student attends a Catholic school they may be expected to uphold a Catholic ethos. A student may be expected to attend a few masses and sit through religion classes that are from the point of you of that school’s religion.

In one Catholic school although students who identified with a religion other than Christianity were allowed sit out of religion classes those who simply lacked religious faith were slightly mocked by the teachers and forced to participate.

Multiple schools hold confession where students would have to sit in a room with priests and a teacher.

The student would have nothing to do other than to confess their sins and everyone else in the room could tell if they didn’t. Many schools teach students to neither use nor bow down to peer pressure and yet in this way they use it on their students.

In one South Dublin school a teacher who is also a well-known journalist in the national press often on television discussing Catholic issues showed students several presentations in response to recent accusations placed on the church. This included a slideshow explaining the goodness of Pope Benedict, research on the Magdalene laundries explaining how they had been depicted as worse than they were and supposed

evidence that the cases of Savita Halappanavar and other victims of Irish abortion laws were the fault of the hospitals and not religious state law. This sort of behaviour from a teacher is outrageous. A religion class is not a chance for a teacher to spread their opinions.

Many teachers it seems are discussing issues with the church in mind as they genuinely fear for their jobs. One teacher in a South Dublin school admitted that as a teacher in a Catholic school they could not recommend the use of condoms. This same teacher when asked why their class didn’t do as much as another class explained that they were not permanent and didn’t have the same flexibility.

Teachers fear that if they do not uphold the Catholic ethos they will be fired. This isn’t surprising when we consider that Irish law allows schools to take “action which is reasonably necessary to prevent an employee or a prospective employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution”. Without a clear definition of “religious ethos” schools are free to punish teachers who teach their student ideas that in anyway oppose views expressed by the Catholic Church.

Teachers should be unbiased and let students decide their own stance on issues. In some cases, teachers do just this. Some teachers are perfectly, unbiased and open.

Some whole schools are like this.

Each school is different as is each teacher. With some teachers giving the correct education on these important matters it’s clear that not all teachers need fear punishment for such actions. Also, in many cases it may be the principle who decides how important a catholic ethos is and teachers are forced to comply with this.

With teachers fearing discussing certain issues a lot of social

education is taught through retreats.

Workshop co-ordinators should have less fear as they will not lose their job if they don’t uphold a wholly catholic theme. They are only in the school for a short while so discussing these issues shouldn’t be a huge problem, right?

Unfortunately no, many of those who give retreats don’t want to say anything in their retreats that would anger the school as they may be told to leave, they may not be allowed to return and the school could tell other schools not to accept them.

Teachers, workshop givers and students are silenced while Sex Ed, abortion and LGBTQ+ issues are badly taught or brushed aside and religious views are pushed upon students. With Irish law allowing schools to discriminate against teachers who don’t uphold a school’s catholic ethos there’s little to stop this continuing. Retreat groups may decide to teach what’s most important but may not then be allowed into schools. This sort of misinformation is unacceptable and damaging to students. A student’s faith should not be defined by the school they go to and a student should not be expected to act upon the views of the Catholic Church. The only hope is that the law will change, schools will get new teachers and management and slowly loosen their grip on the term “religious ethos”.

Comment Misandry and Feminism: A False Equivalence With so many women fearing being identified as ‘feminist’ Tara Hanneffy investigates this fear and the true meaning of feminism

When asked in an interview if she was a feminist, Shailene Woodley, star of The Fault in Our Stars, replied: “No because I love men, and I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance.”

It is nobody’s right to tell anyone else that their opinion is wrong, but Woodley’s opinion could be classified as misinformed. Woodley is perfectly correct when she says that “you need balance.” Balance equals equality.

Yet she is mistaken when she says that feminism is the idea of raising women to power and taking the men away from power. According to the old reliable, Oxford Dictionary, feminism is “The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” In lay terms: the movement for the sexes to be equal. Can you have equality if you strive to achieve rights for one sex while taking the power away from another? Absolutely not.

The problem is this: over time, this incredibly important movement has earned itself an undesirable label. That label is ‘man-hating’, or misandry. Due to this label, people are choosing not to identify as feminists. People are neglecting what is a very real and prevalent issue in our society. Where did this misguided understanding of feminism come from? There’s a few reasons why people think that being a feminist means you hate men. It’s because a few feminists hate men.

In actuality very few feminists hate men, a tiny minority. In fact, people who hate men are called misandrists, not feminists. Many believe that feminists view every man as evil, chauvinist oppressors. Feminists, in fact, don’t. There are a few who identify as feminists who do believe these things. The minority doesn’t equal the majority, it never has and it never will. So just because a small group believe in these radical ideas doesn’t mean that every feminist does.

Feminism being identified with misandry becomes a problem as soon as people are reluctant to identify as feminists. In particular, women are afraid to identify as feminists.

illustration: Roisin mcNally

They fear that they will be viewed as man-haters: radical, angry women who are seeking to bring the male race down. It is a ridiculous, but very real fear. Sadly, a lot of males also think like this. It’s not uncommon to come across a male that’s wary of his female friends because they’re feminists. What they don’t realise is that feminism affects them nearly as much as it does their female counterparts, and that instead of being afraid of the issue, they too should embrace it and make a change.

The relevance of the movement to mean should be obvious. Firstly, feminism is about equality between the sexes and therefore supports men just as much as it supports women. Secondly, every male, unless they live under a rock, knows a female: a sister, a mother, a cousin, a girlfriend, a wife, a friend. One would hope that an issue that affects those close to you would affect you

too. It’s their problem and that makes it your problem too. Surely males don’t want to live in an unequal society. Surely, in 2014, battles and misconceptions such as the ones faced by feminists should not exist.

Surely, one would hope that after 200 years, people would know what feminism is by now but sadly not.

Avoiding all dictionary definitions, stripped down to the bare minimum, feminism is the desire for gender equality. Gender equality meaning that every person, male, female or otherwise is treated equally. Now, how can feminism be misandrist if it’s the desire for equality? You cannot, under any circumstance, achieve equality if you’re bringing another person down. This would defeat the entire purpose. So therefore, feminism is not man-hating because you can’t achieve equal rights for women if you’re bringing men down.

You can’t achieve feminist goals if

How can feminism be misandrist if it’s the desire for equality?

you don’t respect men as much as you respect yourself and your own gender.

Emma Watson gave a beautiful, passionate speech at a UN event last month, defending the need for feminism. In her speech she highlighted the importance of feminism by stating that unless we all do something, then it’ll be 75 years “before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work.” Nearly 16 million girls will become child brides. Most

worryingly of all it won’t be until 2086, that all rural African females will finally be able to receive a secondary school education. This is why feminism should exist. Feminism should exist because women are still receiving harassment in the streets.

Feminism should exist because of Twitter and Tumblr accounts such as ‘womenagainstfeminism’. Feminism should exist because it’s 2014 and gender inequality still exists.

Why should you be a feminist?

Nobody chooses to be born a certain sex, and just because you were born a female does not mean you shouldn’t have equal rights. It doesn’t mean you should be paid less, or viewed as ‘weaker’ or ‘less able’. No male feminist should be viewed as ‘less manly’ because he supports the rights of females. Does supporting the rights of females mean that you don’t support the rights of males? No, it absolutely does not. Does wanting

women to be equal to men mean that you hate men? No. Equality is balance. You can’t have balance if you’re bringing down someone else to achieve your own rights.

Hillary Clinton, Beyoncé and Emma Watson are all proud celebrity feminists. Yet there are some celebrity feminists afraid to use the ‘f-word’ for fear of attracting negative attention. They are afraid to call themselves feminists because they feel it might attract bad press.

The problem of those valuing image over issue is a completely separate problem, but the problem here is that these celebrities may not fully understand what feminism is. That’s ok, not a lot of people do. Now is the time to start understanding. As is said, if not now, when? It’s not just a female problem, it’s a male problem too. It’s everyone’s problem.

Hong Kong: Human Rights and Wrongs With the Hong Kong student riots showing little sign of resolution Jack McCann looks at why this protest is necessary

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. China took control of the region in 1997, after 155 years of British rule. At the south-eastern tip of China, Hong Kong covers Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories, including 262 outlying islands.

The region has approximately 7.18 million inhabitants, many of whom have spent the past month protesting over the Hong Kong leadership elections due to take place in 2017.

Hong Kong, is one of China’s most prosperous commercial and business areas. Understandably the Chinese Government do not want to loosen control over it as it is a major factor as to why the Chinese economy is the one of the biggest in the world today.

Hong Kong is ruled under the principle of “one country, two systems’’, whereby China and Hong Kong are seen as the one country but Hong Kong is ruled under slightly different rules which entitles it to a “high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs”.

The Hong Kong citizens are protesting, not for the fact that elections are taking place in 2017, but for the fact that the top legislative Committee in China have said that they are going to restrict the election to only two or three potential candidates. Any candidate would have to secure the support of more than 50% of the nominating committee that is being put together by the Chinese Government, before being able to run in the election. The protesters fear that the Government will use this committee to remove any candidates that do not conform to their rules, regulations and ideals.

With the number of candidates being so small, China may find it easier to

find candidates that suit their criteria and to help to create a government that will not defy China in future.

The two main groups involved in the democracy protests are Occupy Central, led by Benny Tai an associate law professor at the University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism. Since the protests started, the violence has steadily increased, with the police getting more and more aggressive in an attempt to prevent people congregating in the Times Square.

Reports also say that there are many people, reportedly being paid by the Chinese Government, to stir up anxieties and emotions.

The violence took a nasty turn, when reports and video footage emerged of a handcuffed protester, Ken Tsang, being brought away from the crowds by several plainclothed police officers and severely assaulted. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security, Lai Tung-Kwok, later announced the officers involved in the incident had been “temporarily removed from their current duties.”

Many people in Hong Kong were extremely surprised at how the police in the video, 2 inspectors and 5 constables, acted in such a brutal way. There is no doubt that the actions of these police officers was unnecessary and uncalled for.

Should we, as students here in Ireland, join in supporting the protests 9,935 kilometres away? The answer is a resounding yes. Students, anywhere, not just here in Ireland should want to join in supporting in any way possible. As Nelson Mandela said “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” The people of Hong Kong are being denied freedom of expression, something many western

societies consider a basic right.

In his article from October 15th, Guardian journalist Owen Jones described democracy as ‘a universal right, not a privilege reserved for westerners’. Democratic rights are what the citizens of Hong Kong have been protesting for the past month. Here in Ireland and the West we have been used to democratic rights. We, as citizens of Ireland and the EU are fortunate enough that we have constitutions which set out certain rights for each citizen.

The European Union Constitution under Title 2, Article 11, point 1 states that the institutions ‘shall, by appropriate means, give citizens and representative associations the opportunity to make known and publicly exchange their views in all areas of European action.’ Two fundamental rights of the Irish Constitution are the ‘Freedom of expression’ and the ‘Freedom of assembly’. The communist system which Hong Kong is ruled by through the Chinese government makes such fundamental rights illegal or severely suppressed at the very least.

The One Young World (OYW) Conference was held in Dublin recently. One of the main themes of the whole event was human rights.

As great an initiative as OYW is, the situation in Hong Kong was hardly mentioned. This makes the treatment of the Hong Kong protesters even more abominable. Had it been talked about at length, if at all, during the three day conference more external pressure would have been placed on the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to step in, in a different way to before. If people were allowed to vent their feelings and express their opinions in a peaceful way as they had been doing

protestors gather in the city centre. image courtesy of flickr user hurtingbombz

Democratic rights are what the citizens of Hong Kong have been protesting for the past month.

Here in Ireland and the West we have been used to democratic rights.

at the beginning, events may not have spiralled as much as they already have.

Reports in the last couple of weeks, from the likes of Reuters, have said that student/Pro-democracy and Government leaders are preparing for a second round of talks aimed at ending the near month long protests. However, the report states that ‘expectations of a breakthrough were low’. One protester in the report stated they ‘will keep doing this until the government listens.’ All reports and comments coming out from the situation in Hong Kong suggest that a peaceful solution may be a long way off.

October 28th 2014

comment

Head to Head: Should we have a water charge? pro With water charges becoming a reality Colin Bell looks at why these are not just another tax.

We cannot view the water charges being rolled out this month across all households nationwide as ‘just another tax’ on income earners. Nevertheless, many of the thousands out protesting through the capital’s streets on the 11th of October have claimed this. We have always paid for domestic water, albeit indirectly. Irish householders used to pay domestic water rates to the local authority up until the 1970s. When the newly elected Fianna Fáil government of 1977 came to power, they simply scrapped water charges nominally, and funded the utility through increased Income Tax and VAT rates.

Government grants and a percentage of motor tax also supplemented the costs of such a vast utility network.

One of the most obvious reasons for the water charges has to be water conservation. It seems senseless that households nationwide are not liable to a financial consequence for excessive water consumption. If water charges were not to be implemented, (without concerning ourselves with ethical issues), is it fair that people who use different amounts of water should pay the same amount of tax? Take a two-person household that consumes, 150,000 litres of water per annum and another two-person household along the same street which uses 175,000 litres, should both pay the same amount for their water indirectly through other tax measures? With water charges in place, these economic and ethical inconsistencies can be remedied.

The best, and arguably the only way, to incentivise people to conserve water is by creating a customer out of the consumer and charging them accordingly for over-usage.

Concessions to the average householder have been made too. The government have allowed for 30,000 of the 78,000 litres that the average single person in Ireland consumes annually to be exempt from the charge.

From the funds accrued from these charges, Irish water will be able to begin an extensive upgrading of water pipes across the country.

Local authorities have been deprived of funds to deal with the shameful loss of 40% of our treated drinking water through leaks in the network. Many of the water pipes used today were installed in the Victorian era.

Irish water being a private utility means in future years, financiers can invest in the company. Future investment means that along with each household’s tariff, we will finally have the financial resources required to upgrade the water networks and treatment facilities. Upgrading is desperately needed. One only has to cite Galway or Roscommon as examples of the appalling quality of the water. Here households are forced to boil the water and cool it before drinking it. Irish Water themselves have admitted the current funding model used by the Local Authorities is not sustainable.

According to there website “Despite the good work of the Local Authorities, much greater investment nationally is needed to address weaknesses in the water system, including high leakage rates, varying quality standards, and disruptions to supply.”

Another argument against the implementation of water charges is that water is seen as a human right and therefore we should not have to pay for it. Many who took to the streets of Dublin in protest were brandishing such signs. Interpretations of the noun ‘water’ and its definition in this

con

The best, and arguably the only way, to incentivise people to conserve water is by creating a customer out of the consumer and charging them accordingly”

debate are fluid. On one level access to water may be described as a human right. On another however, one can argue that the water that flows from our sinks and showers, taps and toilets is actually a commodity, one that we have developed purposefully to its current and unreserved usage everyday. We may have a right to access water from our rivers, lakes and seas, but the clean water we admit into our house and the wastewater we flush away again both have to be treated to ensure environmental safety. This commodity should be paid for like other utilities.

Implementation of water charges in Ireland has proven controversial on many levels. However, the notoriety surrounding the set up of Irish water: bonus payments, consultancy expenses etc. should not take away from the wider concerns at play here. Water is a scarce resource. This may be difficult to comprehend considering that we live on an island. The World Economic Forum has predicted through analysis that the world will face a 40% global shortfall between forecast demand and available water supply by 2030. Without saving water now, as the World Economic Forum indicates, the world could reach a crisis point regarding access to water in many regions, which will cause global economic ramifications of precarious proportions. Water conservation should be a priority for Ireland, to ensure our image as a clean, economically viable country open for both foreign and domestic investment.

Water charges have also proved controversial due to the times of economic austerity in which we live. One may argue however, that water charges should always have been in place – long before the economic downturn even took root. Water charges are not and should not be simply a product of austerity cutbacks and tax increases. The issue of conservation transcends our current economic climate. One only has to look to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to see that Ireland is in fact the only member state in which householders have not been obliged to pay for domestic water usage directly. If citizens in the US, the UK, France, Spain, Germany and the many other countries that make up OECD’s 34 member states all pay for water consumption according to their needs, isn’t it justifiable that Ireland do the same?

As water charges increase burdens on the poorest in society, Donal Swan argues that access to water should be a human right.

Illustration: Rhea Cassidy

We should be developing informative and educational programs for the people, and leave the financial anti-waste incentives to the businesses

Irish Government spends about €1.2 billion on water every year, most of it in water treatment. This may be an awful lot of money but the horrors of the cryptosporidium outbreaks in Galway and Roscommon only a few years ago have shown just how essential it is that we take water treatment incredibly seriously. We need to invest whatever money is required to maintain a safe water supply. We are utterly and totally reliant on this supply. This fact just emphasises that the money supporting it should be raised in a manner which does not risk the average person’s ability to avail of this essential service. We are playing a dangerous game with the most essential resource in people’s lives.

It all really depends on what we think our government is there to do. We expect it to pay for our education and We can survive a lot of our healthcare from general without food, sleep, our taxes without (too many) specific favorite TV shows and even charges. How can we then expect ice-cream for long periods, the government to restrict access to but we cannot survive without something as basic and essential as water. Water is an essential our water? Ireland may have moved “closer part of everyday life and is an essential to Boston than Berlin” over the course of resource to every member of the human the Celtic Tiger, but we still maintain the race. So why are we all up in arms as basic trappings of the European welfare to whether or not we should have to model. Ireland has not been responsive pay for it? Why should we be charged to the US ideas regarding some of these for using something that fall from kinds of essential services. Our healthcare the skies and fills our oceans? Why and our college fees, for example, aren’t should the government charge us for privatised in such a way that the poorer something we’ve been using for free in society can’t afford them. We as a for many years? Surely we should society value these things as essential be entitled to it as a right. services which should be available to It’s quite remarkable that all. Water is even more essential. It water availability and should be treated similarly to other water charges haven’t essential services and if anything been particularly serious should be more freely available. political issues in our It is absolutely true that as a country before this country we should be wasting point. They are very less water than we do right now. major political concerns We have always had a relatively around the world. Sao cavalier attitude towards Paulo is currently being water usage. This is probably hit by drought, with major because we’ve never had to pay water rationing in place. In the for it by the litre before. Financial hotter parts of the world this is likely to incentives to stop this kind of wasting are become more common with the advancement powerful tools, and can be very effective in of climate change. Nevertheless, we tend curbing wastefulness. However, this doesn’t to take water for granted in this country. make them right. We should be developing The great John B Keane play The Field is a informative and educational programs for the tale of a farmer in the West of Ireland who people, and leave the financial anti-waste manages, through years of toil, to turn barren incentives to the businesses. There is a big soil into fertile land. The great Marcel Pagnol difference between drawing funds from novel Jean de Florette, set in the south of general taxes and charging for water directly.

France centres around one man’s quest to While one allows us to spread the burden of find a source of water for his land. Both deal an essential resource across the entire state, with the struggle of growing and nurturing direct water charges make unreasonable life on land which others had dismissed as demands on the poorest in society. unworkable. In the Irish context the cultural There is a big problem in apportioning a mythology is about the fertility of our land as free minimum for any essential service. It is often we take water for granted. In the south of inevitably determined by a cold, bureaucratic France, on the other hand, access to a source government procedure, collating data to come of groundwater is everything. These are just to a fair average. This is an excellent and stories, but they do show just how much rain efficient method for the distribution of a lot and water are parts of our lives, our culture of government services. However, the more and our country. Here, we don’t need to worry essential the service, the more essential it a lot about water as it just falls from the sky. is that it should remain free to all, wherever Water is something we have in abundance possible. Access to properly treated, clean, in this country, but it does not flow straight potable water is a human right. We as a from the cool streams of the Wicklow society need to help every single person Mountains into our taps and showers. The gain access to the water that they need.

rebuttal

rebuttal

Donal Swan examines Colin Bell’s arguments

Colin Bell responds to Donal Swan’s main concerns

People don’t pay the same amount of tax for the same service when it comes to healthcare, education, welfare and a host of other government services. It is often based on need. Forcing people to pay the same flat fees for water targets the poorest in our society and restricts provision of an essential service. While proper

The main argument against water charges is that they ‘make unreasonable demands on the poorest in society.’ Budget 2015 has clearly been reasonable with regard to water taxation. Every household will be able to claim tax relief on their water charges to the value of €100 per annum. There are further payment support systems in place for those most vulnerable in society.

The current system, financed through

6 october 28th 2014

conservation of our water consumption and improvement of nationwide water facilities are desperately needed, funds for these should come from general taxes. This should not be dictated by private incentivisation which allow unnecessary private control over one of our most precious resources.

‘general taxes’ and operated by local councils has proven disastrous in terms of the service and quality of the water provided to the Irish people. Capital is required to develop water infrastructure.

This can only be realised through a private water utility, which can collate revenue directly from the users alongside shareholder investment.

Gaeilge

7

Sláinte Meabhrach i gceantar tuaithe na hÉireann Labhraíonn Valerie Ní Thiarnaigh faoi na ndúshlán breise a bhaineann le sláinte mheabhrach, agus daoine ina chónaí faoin tuath Is léir go bhfuil galar meabhrach eindéimeach in Éirinn- deirtear go mbeidh taithí de dheacrachtaí sláinte inchinne ag 25% na pobail ag pointe éigin agus is léir go huimhir fhíor- ard é sin. Ach, is léir freisin go bhfuil mórán tar éis athrú maidir le cúram sláinte meabhrach in Éirinn. Glactar faoin am seo go bhfuil an tsláinte inchinne mar rud ilfhachtóiriúil, le raon fachtóir, ó bheith fostaithe, go muintearas a mhothú. Don chuid is mó, tá tuairimí tar éis athrú, chomh maith le níos mó seirbhísí a bhunú. Ach, tá sé le feiceáil go bhfuil fadhbanna le sláinte inchinne fíor coitianta faoin tuath, agus tá an chuid is mó de na háiseanna nua sin lonnaithe sa chathair. Is léir ó shin go bhfuil míchothromaíocht, agus níos mó fadhbanna á chruthú.

Tá mórán cúiseanna a bhaineann leis na rátaí níos airde a mbíonn le feiceáil faoin tuath. Ar dtús, tá na pobail níos lú faoin tuath. Cruthaíonn sé sin roinnt fadhbanna- bíonn daoine níos iargúlta, cé go bhfuil na pobail beag. Ní féidir le daoine casadh le cairde nua chomh héasca, nó buail le daoine le suimeanna cosúla.

Freisin, de bharr na pobail bheaga, is minic a bhíonn eolas ar gach duine ar a cheile, agus scaipeann cúlchaint go tapa. Bíonn eolas ag gach duine ar ghnó gach duine eile, agus uaireanta, tá sé deacair rudaí a coimeád príobháideach. As sin, is dócha go ndéantar rudaí níos deacra le haghaidh daoine le fadhbanna sláinte inchinne- b’fhéidir go bhfuil sé níos deacra caint le daoine, as ucht easpa dlúth cairde, nó ar fhaitíos go scaiptear d’fhadhbanna timpeall an pharóiste go léir.

Sa dara cás, tá easpa áiseanna le haghaidh caitheamh aimsirí faoin tuath- de ghnáth, níl mórán seachas an club CLG. Is rud soiléir é go mbíonn daoine níos áthasaí, agus caitheamh aimsire acu, cé go bhfuil rud éigin (a thaitníonn leo) chun díriú air. As ucht an easpa áiseanna, níl mórán rogha, agus cruthaíonn sé sin

Oileán acla. iomhá: james brady

bunús le haghaidh leamhas, a oibríonn mar bhunús le haghaidh dúlagar.

Chomh maith le sin, is léir go bhfuil easpa deiseanna fostaíochta faoin tuath. Fós, tá roinnt mhór den phobal mar fheirmeoirí, agus is minic a mbíonn brú ar an mhac is síne dul i gceann feirmeoireacht- agus fiú easpa súim aige, níl mórán rogha tugtha, as ucht fonn an chlann an talamh agus na hainmhí a cóiméad sa teaghlach.

Cuireann an easpa rogha ardbhrú ar daoine agus leis an strus de bheith gafa i bpost deacair, le beagán seans d’éirí as, go háirithe go mothaíonn siad brónach. In éineacht le sin, ní bhíonn raon mór comhlachtaí, agus le sin, poist ar fáil. Go minic, bíonn sé deacair post a fháil agus fiú post seasmhach a bheith acu, mar is minic an cás go bhfágann tionscal ceantair tar éis tréimhse, chun monarchana a

as ucht an easpa áiseanna, níl mórán rogha, agus cruthaíonn sé sin bunús le haghaidh leamhas, a oibríonn mar bhunús le haghaidh dúlagar.

bhunú i dtíortha le forchostais níos ísle, agus bíonn ar dhaoine roghanna deacair a dhéanamh. Bíonn ar dhaoine a teaghlaigh a fhágáil, agus dul chuig an mbaile mór, nó dul ar imirce go tír eile ar feadh am fada chun fostaíocht a fháil. Cuireann na fíricí sin strus ollmhór ar dhaoine, agus is minic a bhíonn cásanna féin bhás tar éis poist a chailliúint.

Freisin, tá meon de choimeádachas le feiceáil faoin tuath. Tá sean tuairimí faoi shláinte mheabhrach forleathan, agus is féidir leis an rud sin bheith fíor fritorthúil. Is minic a cheapann an pobal gur duine buile iad na daoine a mbíonn deacrachtaí sláinte inchinne acu. Déanann sé an-damáiste do dhaoine, nuair nach bhfuil siad aige féin, agus nach dtuigeann daoine go bhfuil an duine atá ar aithne acu fós ann- seachas le fadhbanna acu ag an bpointe ama

sin. Chomh maith le sin, uaireanta bíonn ar daoine glac le róil inscne thraidisiúnta, rud a chuireann fíor strus ar daoine- ní bhíonn sé normalach chun athair fanacht sa bhaile, agus an mháthair dul amach ag obair ar an bhfeirm mar shampla. Má tá súim agat rud difriúil a dhéanamh le do shaol, is minic nach dtaitníonn an rud sin leis an phobal- agus mar a léirítear cheana, nuair a bhíonn na pobail beag, agus daoine ag caint idir a céile, is féidir bearrán a dhéanamh ar dhuine.

Ar deireadh, tá sé deacair seirbhísí meabhairghalair teacht air faoin tuath. Is minic nach mbíonn dochtúir san áit, seachas dochtúir ginearálta amháin. Is pointe tosaithe maith é an dochtúir ginearálta, ach cad a tharlaíonn nuair atá seirbhís shainfheidhmeach atá ag teastáil?

Bíonn ar daoine taisteal chun síciatraí

a fheiceáil- de ghnáth tar éis bheith ar liosta feithimh. Níl an fhadhb mar an gcéanna sa chathair, cé go bhfuil níos mó dochtúirí agus níos mó seirbhísí ar fáil. Is rud dainséarach é nach bhfuil sé éasca teacht ar na seirbhísí seo, mar nuair atá dúlagar, nó riocht eile ag duine, agus níl siad ag fáil chóir leighis, méadaíonn an seans de féin bhás go mór.

Cad ba cheart dúinn a dhéanamh chun na fadhbanna seo a shocrú?

Ar dtús, caithimid na sean tuairimí a chaitheamh as an bhfuinneog go hiomlán- cé gur rud deacair é, mar tá na tuairimí sin go daingean sa tsochaí- mar is rud uafásach é go bhfuil brú ar daoine as ucht gnáis an phobail neamhshrianta. Chomh maith le sin, tá gá le háiseanna agus seirbhísí breise a chur in áit, ar nós áiseanna sóisialta, agus ionad pobail, le raon leathan roghanna ranganna agus eachtraí chun daoine a cóiméad gnóthach, agus mothú muintearas a fhostú. Tá gá le hinfheistiú a dhéanamh, agus oideachas a chuir ar daoine, ionas go mbeidh siad in ann poist a fháil. Ach, b’fhéidir an rud is tábhachtaí ná tá gá le níos mó seirbhísí meabhairshláinte an Rannóg Sláinte Poiblí a lonnú i gceantair iargúlta, faoin tuath.

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features

Life is the great teacher

Shane Hannon sits down with Senator David Norris, senator, scholar and survivor, to discuss his fight for human rights, battle with cancer, and that Presidential election

“To learn one must be humble.

But life is the great teacher.” It was Mr. Deasy who observed this in James Joyce’s iconic novel Ulysses, and David Norris, a Joycean scholar himself, will attest to those words. A teacher in what feels like a past life, having been a lecturer and tutor at Trinity College between 1968 and 1996, Norris’ political and public life has been dominated by his campaigning and activism for various issues that are close to his heart.

As the first openly gay person ever to be elected to a national parliament, Norris has always been a keen advocate and ambassador for LGBTQ+ rights. He wrote in his 2012 autobiography A Kick Against the Pricks that he was “born a criminal”, pointing out that “From the moment of my arrival on this planet my essential nature defined me as such.”

In some areas of the world the issue of equality for LGBTQ+ groups has a long way to go; countries like Sudan and parts of Nigeria even carry the death penalty for the ‘crime’.

Norris has always campaigned for equality no matter what someone’s sexual orientation may be, saying “It’s not an inherent trait to hate people because they are gay.”

When quizzed on the intriguing title of his book, he is refreshingly honest. “A prick is a goad, it’s used to push an animal in a direction it doesn’t want to go. And I found society, authority and institutions were always pushing me in directions I didn’t want to go. Of course I used it in the other sense. Not the sexual sense, just in that there are an awful lot of pricks around that need a good kicking.”

Growing up gay in Ireland fifty years ago can’t have been an enjoyable experience, and Norris confirms that. “Nobody mentioned the word homosexual. I didn’t know the word gay, I just knew I was some kind of monster.” He points out that “As a gay person you didn’t feel real. You weren’t actually a real person.” One extraordinary event stands out- when he was younger he fell ill with a suspected heart attack.

After being rushed to Baggot Street Hospital, Norris was told it was down to anxiety and sent to a psychiatrist.

Incredibly, he was merely informed that homosexuality was illegal in Ireland and to move to “somewhere like the South of France”, as though it were his sexual orientation that was the problem. To Norris it seemed that “In order to be Irish you had to be white, heterosexual, Roman Catholic and Republican. Well I only scored one of those, I was white!”

Norris was ultimately drawn into the world of politics, having been influenced by figures like Noel Browne and British Labour politician Tony Benn, who died earlier this year.

He says it was figures like Browne and Benn who would “tell the truth no matter what trouble it got them into” and that is clearly the way in which Norris has approached his own political career. “I was always an organiser. The first time I got into politics was when Mary Robinson went for the Senate for the first time and I learned how it was done.”

The North Great George’s Street resident was first elected to Seanad Éireann in 1987, and he has been re-elected at every sitting since. “It took me six elections over ten years but I got in. They were very suspicious of me because they thought I was a one-issue candidate, that I was only going for election because I was gay. That was to a certain extent true at the beginning but it quickly broadened out a lot.”

Norris has never been one to shy away from the controversial issues, and in 1977 he mentioned abortion on a political manifesto. His views are unquestionably left-wing and he is of the opinion that it is a pity Communism died out. “I think the right implantation of Communism is Christianity. Communism says ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’

Well what’s wrong with that? I think that’s wonderful.” In 1988 a fourteen-year struggle culminated in Norris helping to overthrow the criminalisation of homosexual acts law, which he claimed at the time pushed Ireland “towards a more tolerant and plural society.”

Norris is also keenly aware of other major issues facing the modern world.

“The biggest problem facing the planet is overpopulation. In my lifetime the

Illustration: Frank Kehoe clearly a man who enjoys and is passionate about what he does, and he attributes this to figures like Pope As the first Francis. “The people I admire most openly gay are people like the present Pope – he has a sense of humour, he can laugh, person to ever he doesn’t have to be pompous all the be elected time. Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai to a national Lama – I think they too are wonderful, parliament, wonderful people.” He adds that Norris he is “a deeply serious person who has been committed to and been has always successful on some very serious been a keen issues of human rights, but it doesn’t advocate and mean I can’t laugh and have fun.” ambassador Many will recall the Presidential for LGBTQ+ election of 2011 as one of scandal, rights suspicion and finger-pointing. The media circus attempted to dig up dirt on most of the seven candidates, and Norris himself had topped numerous opinion polls during the election race. Ultimately however his campaign fizzled out thanks largely to a media man-hunt seeking to dig out skeletons in his closet.

He eventually finished fifth out of seven candidates with 6.2% of first population has trebled, it is absolute preference votes, having left and then madness.” He refers to ethologist re-entered the race. “Each of the John B. Calhoun’s coining of the other candidates got one slap, more term ‘behavioural sink’ to accurately or less. I got it every single day - I describe the collapse in behaviour was described as a cocaine addict, that resulted in his experiment on an alcoholic, I was blind, an income rats when overcrowding came into tax fraud, a pension cheat… then play. “Once the population of animals it was said that I openly advocated gets above a certain level they sex between a parent and their own start exhibiting neurotic behaviour, children. That’s about the vilest thing including compulsive masturbation, you can possibly say about anybody.” cannibalism and neurotic isolation.

Norris firmly believes the media’s This is what’s happening to the behaviour during the election human population, even if that’s a campaign was “rank homophobia” very crude way of describing it.” and a “deliberate political Although he is a prominent member assassination”. Things took a sinister of the Church of Ireland, Norris is an turn for the Senator when some admirer of the “absolutely wonderful” newspapers hired their crime editors Pope Francis, who he feels is making to report on him. “They followed much more progress than his me to Cyprus and took photos of me predecessors as Bishop of Rome on getting out of my car and going into certain important issues. “He looks my house with shopping bags!” He at things that matter like injustice plans to set things right however and and inequality and he’s not obsessed has several libel actions outstanding; by sex. He identifies with the poor he also plans at some stage to pen and the marginalised.” Norris is Volume Two of his autobiography

and wants to push through privacy legislation. “I haven’t finished with those bastards, believe you me. The media in this country have made an enemy in me. There are some people who are decent, I could count them on two hands. The rest are despicable and I won’t speak to them.”

Although he was unsuccessful in his presidential run three years ago and has no plans to run again, Norris was clearly pleased with the outcome. He describes Michael D. Higgins as “a President of whom we can be justly proud” and maintains that “I said to him if I wasn’t running myself I’d have been on a bus campaigning for him.” In the election President Higgins received 60% of Senator Norris’ Number Two votes, and vice versa.

The stress of the Presidential election run clearly took its toll on Norris’ health, and he has revealed since that he had a nervous breakdown and suffered from depression in the aftermath. “I got through it but my doctor told me afterwards that I had been through

“I was described as a cocaine addict, an alcoholic, I was blind, an income tax fraud, a pension cheat…”

in the country because of poverty, we have evictions, we have soup “Communism kitchens, we have people being told says ‘from each to jump up and down in schools because they can’t afford the heating. according What are we talking about? What to his ability, are we celebrating in 2016?” to each Norris plans to continue his according to role as a Senator and voice for the his need.’ Well people of Ireland, with plans to once what’s wrong again go for election in 2016. When asked what the Seanad does for with that? I the country, he points out that one think that’s need only look at its record and the wonderful.” amount of legislation that has been introduced. “We had no Foreign Affairs Committee, and I managed to get that pushed through the Senate… we were the first group to address the question of AIDS. The Dáil were wetting themselves, they were too cowardly to do it.” He feels the Seanad’s work is often “technical, not sexy” that their job is to “support the government in improving legislation.” a major nervous breakdown on my Having openly discussed his feet, and that’s what triggered my funeral plans, Norris is a man with cancer, I have no doubt about that.” a clear idea of how he wants to live He began treatment for liver cancer his life, as well as the legacy he last year which he attributes to the desires to leave. He describes the stress of the last few years, as well Presidential campaign trail as a as viral hepatitis contracted from wonderful experience because he tainted drinking water on unpaid “saw the nobility and decency of the government business in Eastern Irish people.” The same nobility Europe in 1994. The tumour on his liver was inoperable, so he underwent and decency can be seen in Norris himself through his campaigns for a successful six-hour long liver human rights and equality. There transplant operation in St. Vincent’s is a line in ‘The Ballad of Joe Hill’, Hospital at the start of the summer. one Norris plans to have playing at Norris is adamant one need only his funeral in the hopefully-distant look at Ireland’s past to show what future, which sums him up quite it is capable of in the future as a eloquently. David Norris is a man nation, and points to the country’s contributions to science as evidence. who genuinely is “as big as life.”

“Every child on the planet knows Boyle’s Law, but none of them know he was Irish. Nobody knows we had the largest telescope in the world for most of the 19th Century in Birr, that we invented the language of computers, Boolean algebra, down in UCC.” He claims however that we have to first focus on injustices and human rights. “Now we have people below proper nutrition levels October 28th 2014

features A new beginning: the war of wealth in Gaza With many countries recently pledging funds to rebuild Gaza, tasks what impact they will really have on the future of Palestine.

During a recent visit to Gaza, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the after-effects of the recent conflict, stating that what happened in Gaza was a “source of shame to the international community” and that the destruction of the territory was “beyond description.” Since the outbreak of hostilities in July, there have been countless numbers of homes and neighbourhoods destroyed, while Action Aid UK states that half a million people have been displaced.

Since the open-ended ceasefire was declared, the international community have agreed to donate US$5.4 billion/€4.3 billion at a donor conference, held earlier in October.

Ireland has pledged €2.5 million while the US has promised to grant $212 million to Gaza’s cause, in spite of their largely pro-Israel stance. It has been stated that these funds will go towards rebuilding war-torn Gaza and also to supporting the budget of the Palestinian Authority until 2017. However, the trouble is far from over for the people of Gaza and questions over the risks behind such an uncertain investment are at the forefront of many a political mind.

Some diplomats have expressed concern over such pledges, stating that until there is a clearer political solution, any aid is a risk. Norwegian Foreign Minister, Borge Brende, stated that although Norway contributed to the relief fund, European countries were becoming concerned that any funds invested in rebuilding Gaza now will be worthless if hostilities break out again.

National Coordinator of the IrelandPalestine Solidarity Campaign, Kevin Squires, agrees. “The pledging of funding in and of itself means very little if the funds cannot be used to reconstruct Gaza. A similar donor conference following the 2008/09 Israeli ‘Cast Lead’ slaughter in Gaza unfortunately resulted in very little rebuilding due to the illegal Israeli siege, and the economy remained

strangled, despite the pledging of a similar amount of money.”

Without any political solution on the cards for Gaza are these pledges just money being thrown down the drain?

Previous conflicts have resulted in similar donations to war-torn areas but have not had the desired effect. As Squires says, “While international money for rebuilding is to be welcomed as a potential relief for people in Gaza, it is absolutely no substitute for international political and economic sanctions against Israel aimed at ending its occupation, apartheid regime and associated human rights abuses, international law violations and war crimes.”

The experiences of non-nationals travelling to Palestinian Territories have also highlighted Israeli attitudes to aid being sent to Gaza. At the beginning of this summer, medicine students from Trinity had trouble travelling to the West Bank to volunteer in hospitals. Accounts state that they were detained and questioned about visiting Gaza during their trip, with some even asked about their personal views on the Gaza-Israeli conflict. It is very possible that money being pledged to the region by certain countries is coming under a similar line of enquiry by the Israeli government.

This concern is further compounded by the fact that Israel is heavily involved in the rebuilding of Gaza.

Materials for rebuilding have come through Israeli territory and some see this as an extension of Israel’s control in the area. A further concern is held with the fact that Israel seems to be profiting from this construction project.

As Squires says “Israel is set to greatly benefit from this donor money. It appears that much of the rebuilding materials will be sourced in Israel, so we will see the spectacle of the Israeli economy reaping the rewards of the brutal onslaught on Gaza. With such dynamics in place, there is simply no incentive for Israel to end its cycle of violent attacks on

Photo: Courtesy of Iyad al baba/oxfam international

Gaza, and Palestinians in general.”

With Israel continually voicing concern over the building of tunnels under the border from Gaza, it is clear that there is an inherent fear of attack from Palestinian militant group Hamas. However, this attitude

Until there is a clearer political solution, any aid is a risk

often creates anger in Gaza, leading to stronger support for such militant factions. With Hamas unlikely to be removed from power any time soon, it is difficult to see how a sustainable political compromise can be found. This is a sentiment that is reflected with continued Israeli settlement on Palestinian lands.

Squires states that “the building of illegal settlements continues in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), as do demolitions of Palestinian homes and agricultural land.” He adds that “There can never be a true and just peace until the Israeli occupation has ceased and Palestinians enjoy their full rights under international law. As long as these conditions are not met, as long as Palestinians are the subjects of Israeli oppression and occupation, then there will be Palestinian resistance to that state of affairs.”

Lilia Kaehm, Auditor of Amnesty

UCD agrees. “We are obviously concerned about all the cruelty that is happening in Gaza…but our main concern when asking about the future or solution to of the problem is that violence will end and that there will be peace and security for Palestinian and Israeli citizens.”

If Gaza is to see any benefit from these pledges it is necessary that some sort of political stability is found. If the international community were to put more effort into creating a strong two state system, then it is possible that there could be stability in the region. Although the UN voted to give Palestine nonmember observer status in 2012, some countries such as the USA came out in opposition to this.

However in Europe this position is changing, with Sweden recently recognising the Palestinian Territories as a nation-state. If the international attitude and actions

towards Israel were to continue to change, then perhaps there could be a longer lasting peace in Gaza and the territory could rebuild with long-lasting hope.

Although some countries have expressed concern with giving money to Gaza, it is a concern that could be undone if they put more support into a political solution.

Although a large amount of funds have been pledged, Gaza may never see most of it. Even if these pledges managed to make their way to Gaza, will they have a limited effect at best? If, as Squires suggests, there can be no solution as long as Israel has no incentive to stop attacking Gaza, it is possible that in such a precarious situation this aid without strong political action may even do more harm than good to the citizens of these war-torn lands.

Beating Bullying Too often imagined as an issue confined to our secondary schools, bullying can be a significant issue for many college students. Eithne Dodd looks at UCD’s attitudes and policies in the area Research has said that bullying affects 14% of students in Irish universities. With a total population of approximately 25,000 it is hard to imagine that bullying is not present here in UCD in one or more of its forms- physical, verbal, relational, cyber, prejudicial and exclusionbut according to many sources, it appears that bullying remains largely unreported by students in UCD. UCD has no shortage of support structures and bodies ready to help the victims of bullying and harassment. From Please Talk to the UCD Counselling Service, the Welfare and Education Officers as well as Student Advisors, the UCD Chaplaincy and the LGBTQ+ Welfare Officer, a victim of bullying has many different bodies to seek help from. So with all this help and support structures in place, how big a problem can bullying be? “Based on my contact with students, I don’t think bullying is a big problem here,” says Kieran Maloney, a UCD Student Advisor. “Secondary schools have a more proactive approach to bullying than they used to, so students come to UCD with more of an awareness of what constitutes bullying and how it can affect people.”

UCD’s policy, On Harassment, Including Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Racism, defines bullying as “behaviour of a physical, verbal or a psychological nature which is unwanted and unwelcome and which could reasonably be regarded as offensive. The bully, intentionally or unintentionally, misuses the power of position, knowledge or personality to domineer, intimidate or humiliate others.” This document also provides definitions for harassment and sexual harassment and then detail the procedures it would take to prevent bullying and/or harassment as well as providing a list of support colleagues within UCD. Maloney says he may come across an incident of bullying just two or 10 october 28th 2014

three times a year in his role. Gillian Kingston, chaplaincy representative for Arts, Celtic Studies and Human Sciences, says that after seven years in her position no student has ever reported a case of bullying to her. “I have not either experienced or heard about bullying in UCD, but it would be naive to suppose the issue doesn’t exist. Bullying can be very subtle and people often suffer silently. This issue needs to be aired so that people are alert to it.” This either suggests that UCD has beaten the odds and incidents of bullying here are very rare, or that bullying in UCD goes by and large unreported and neglected.

Karen Mulligan, a representative of Niteline, a listening, support and information service run by and for students, would suggest that the latter is more likely. “Our statistics from 2012/2013 indicate that relationships/ bullying (encompassing romantic relationships and family) make up 23% of our call volume. We record calls according to subject but this can be slightly inaccurate as most calls and online chat can encompass multiple issues, and only the primary available to students what happens and secondary issues are recorded.” if someone claims they have been With all these helpful services bullied? Maloney explains his role as a Student Advisor, “First and foremost, my role is to listen – to offer space for someone to talk and to help them articulate how they are feeling...

When people are being bullied they often feel helpless because they think they have no options, so my work with such students will focus Either UCD has on what options and choices exist for beaten the odds them. There are always options.” and incidents of Mulligan says more or less the same bullying here thing: “Our volunteers would help the caller in exploring their feelings are very rare, with regard to the issue, and provide or bullying them a safe, empathetic environment in UCD goes in which to do so, and thus potentially by and large touching on difficulties with peers, unreported and friends, roommates etc.” While Kingston says, “Should a student neglected come to me about bullying, clearly, I would listen carefully; I would confer

Possibly the most damning statistic from the research was the fact that two thirds of university students didn’t know if their college had a policy on bullying

with colleagues on the chaplaincy team; in particular, I would confer with the relevant Student Advisor. If necessary, I would refer the student to the counselling service.” All say that they would focus on the feelings of the person being bullied and support them by listening.

None of these three bodies would force a student to admit who his/ her perpetrators were. Maloney says, “Just because someone may come to a Student Adviser does not mean that they are making anything official.

It’s important to remember that.

Knowing that you can simply talk things through without it necessarily going any further is important. In fact, it’s in everyone’s best interest if a solution can be arrived at locally before an issue escalates.”

If a victim of bullying did decide to pursue a case of bullying there is a defined and strict structure in place

which is clearly laid out in the UCD Policy On Harassment, Including Bullying, Sexual Harassment And Racism. First, if you wish to make a formal complaint you must do it in writing. This written document must contain details of the person(s) against whom the complaint is being made and details of the alleged acts. All formal complaints will be referred directly to an Assessor appointed by the President and investigated confidentially.

To this document Maloney adds, “As well as being covered by the Policy on Dignity and Respect, bullying is also considered a breach of discipline under the Student Code. The consequences of such breaches vary depending on the circumstances. The University can issue warnings, fines and in extreme cases students can be expelled from the University. It should be noted

here, however, that all people involved in an allegation of bullying are treated fairly. There is no assumption of guilt simply because someone reports bullying. All processes, informal and formal, involve what’s known as the principles of natural justice – that is that all parties have the right to be heard and alleged perpetrators have the right to reply to allegations. The University takes very seriously allegations of bullying but it also takes very seriously the principle of fairness. It’s important for these two principles to coexist.”

UCD appears to cover the topic of bullying quite comprehensively but with one in seven university students across Ireland having been bullied while at college and one in five having witnessed incidents of bullying, it is quite unlikely that bullying is not an issue in UCD. Possibly the most damning statistic from the research was the fact that two thirds of university students didn’t know if their college had a policy on bullying.

Perhaps this may explain why so few incidents are reported on campus.

features

How appropriate is cultural appropriation?

As Halloween approaches, the old debate about the social acceptability of certain costumes is raised once more. Gráinne Loughran looks at the complicated history of cultural appropriation and costumes Cultural misappropriation has hit the headlines recently alongside such well-known names as Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne, as twerking women from the “hood” and cute Harajuku girls became the backdrop for entertainment across the world. With Halloween approaching fast and Muslim terrorist and Native American costumes hitting the shelves once again, the question of whether cultural appropriation can ever be appropriate has been blasted by websites and blogs determined to propagate cultural dignity rather than allowing costume-party goers to misappropriate other cultures. But as we look around and see Chinese, Italian, American and many more ethnic restaurants being proudly run by those not of their appropriated nationality, salsa, hiphop and Irish dancing taught by many people who haven’t so much as visited the home country of their chosen medium, it is time to wonder whether cultural appropriation hasn’t gone too far or whether it was ever really an issue at all. Halloween has become a time of the year when we dress up as everything from policemen to pirates, ghosts to gardeners- surely there is very little that could either cause offence without intending to or would cross the line of what is appropriate and inappropriate.

There is a very definite difference between non-politically correct and racist. But should a line be drawn between the two for Halloween?

Cultural appropriation has been an issue for more than a century, the most well-known case of this being the use of “Blackface” makeup for vaudeville and stage performances in America and elsewhere in the nineteenth century. However it is interesting to note that the practice has not fallen completely out of vogue today in spite of its racist connotations. America saw this in 2012 as Ashton Kutcher was lambasted for wearing brown make-up on his face to impersonate an Indian in an advertisement, which was later

Photo: Katy perry was criticised for her use of Japanese themed costume and set design

removed following the uproar. However, the issue has not been tackled as a real racial problem, perhaps due to the lack of clearly defined lines between non-political correctness and cultural appropriation. It is also important to note the difference between cultural appropriation of costumes and those which are outright racist.

There are many who would claim that the lack of intent to cause offence does not excuse anyone dressing up in what they deem to be an inappropriate manner. Costumes such as those of Native Americans and geishas, while they may not be in any way offensive in the eyes of the person wearing them, can be construed as cultural appropriation by others for many different reasons. For the Native Americans, this is largely due to the decimation of their homes and population by white people. The commodification of their culture for

consumption by the very race who removed it from them can be seen as extremely insulting. Katy Perry’s performance at the AMAs dressed as a geisha caused outrage because of its sexualisation of Japanese women.

However there are no statistics in

Would an Irish person, for instance, be more insulted by an English person dressing up as an “Irish leprechaun”

relation to cultural appropriation- no estimates of numbers of culturally appropriated items in shops or of those who have either been aware of the appropriation of their culture or have appropriated someone else’s- and very few studies into the facts and the figures behind cultural appropriation; why? At the moment there are numerous occurrences of cultural appropriation being recognised in the media but the issue will either fade into commonplace culture and non-academically examined, as seems most likely at present, or be recognised quite possibly as a form of racism in the future, and it is interesting to consider the possibilities.

On visiting a Halloween costume shop in Dublin, I took a quick look at the costumes that surrounded me.

These included the typical witches, pirates, vampires, nurses, clowns,

priests, Indians, geishas, flappers, terrorists and others. However, a quick Google image search of “Irish Halloween costume” heralds more results than I thought it would of people dressed as leprechauns and Irish dancers clutching pints. This prompts an interesting question.

Does the level of insult of cultural appropriation depend on the nationality of the person who is doing the appropriation? Would an Irish person, for instance, be more insulted by an English person dressing up as an “Irish leprechaun” than an Australian, given our troubled history with England?

The Native Americans never had any problems with the Irish- would it therefore be more acceptable for an Irish person to dress up as Pocahontas than a white American?

Perhaps the appropriateness of

appropriation exists as a scale rather than as right versus wrong.

Though it can be said that cultural identity is extremely important to people, there is also the argument that other types of identity are appropriated as often if not more than racial. For instance, occupationsnurses, firemen, policemen, priests, nuns- are arguably as often if not more often appropriated and more obviously insulted at Halloween. The “slutty nurse” costumes, the “nutty professor” look are ones we all know well but are accepted by society as reasonable and normalised costumes by those wearing them and those in the nursing and science professions alike. Claiming the inappropriateness of appropriation for the reason that is an attack on personal identity is certainly questionable, for the same reasons that comedians such as Louis CK are half condemned, half celebrated- matters of personal taste cannot be dictated to the individual.

There are no laws against cultural appropriation, and I have yet to see a public place with rules forbidding the use of cultural appropriation during Halloween. We have all seen costumes on the other hand, online and elsewhere, of people with fake bodies of children sellotaped to be hanging off tshirts, of the Twin Towers and of children dressed up as condom wrappers. Halloween is a time of fun and jest. Unfortunately it so happens that as with a lot of comedy, whether tasteful or tasteless, somebody is probably going to be insulted. Dress-up for one day of the year is possibly one of the less valid reasons to do so.

Diary of a Taoishmuck

17/10 Ugh. Another day, another dollar.

Well, another €712.88 based on a five day week. That’s what I keep having to tell myself to get through. I just wish it could be rounded up to €715.

Noonan and I are delighted with the Budget. We are surfing the white wave of blank cheques on our way to re-election. It is absolutely fantastic that we can be good cops and leave the Germans to be the bad cops. They’re good at that. They have a bit of a history with it. Sure you can tell to look at that Merkel one she wouldn’t be averse to one or two Nazi ideals.

She certainly has the moustache going. Bit like that David Norris saying he’s for Communism. He forgets he wouldn’t be able to be an upper class wanker under a Communist state. Now I think about it, maybe Communism wouldn’t be so bad.

I did tell Michael that the Robert Frost quote might have been a bit much, but he’s always had a bit of a poetic streak. I told him that the road less travelled was a bad analogy to make though. All those roads less travelled were the reason why we built all the motorways a few years back. Too many potholes in the ones nobody else used.

20/10 The EU’s trying to reduce emissions from 40% to 20% between 2020 and 2030. I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell them at this conference.

Agriculture is a major part of our economy. Not major enough for me to think or care about other than hoping the Farmers from the Country keep providing me with my free spuds for the dinner (Fionnuala’d kill me if I pissed them off enough to not get free spuds), but without methane emissions I won’t get as many steak dinners either. And sure between Moan Burton blowing hot air and Eamonn Gilmore being old enough to be able to pass a

constant stream of his own brand of gas out of more than one orifice and pass it off as “political commentary” (the Dáil Chambers are just not big enough to avoid that stench- all I can say is at least the Greens are defunct) I’m starting to think it would be easier to find some way of powering the Senate with it.

23/10 I do think Alan Kelly is asking for too much when he looks for people of “calibre and experience” to apply for the positions on the board of Irish Water. You get whoever you like to go on those boards. It’s only if they’re running for some form of election in the next while that they actually need to have either calibre or experience. Calibre for the board of a company? Phhh, whatever. The only thing you really need to have calibre for is a good cycle through the plebs at the front of the Dáil campaigning against water charges.

None of them look very dehydrated if you ask me. They have enough saliva in their mouths to spit at me anyway, so they’re fine. I don’t know how they expect to have free water anyway. It’s not like it falls out of the sky.

24/10 Lucinda Creighton’s on for joining the Technical Group time slot in the Dáil so that she gets more speaking rights in the Dáil. I don’t think the Technical Group wants her. Can’t blame them. Somehow she gets more airtime than anyone else and still she manages to say absolutely nothing. That’s what happens when people desert the party and I stop telling them what to say- everything just turns out to be a disaster.

26/10 I’m soooo excited for Halloween. I LOVE Halloween. The sweets, the dressing up, ducking for apples- and that’s just for me and Fionnuala. I love dressing up for work though.

Every year I go as a different Sesame Street character. I got a great joke in with Mary Lou McDonald the other day. She asked me whether I was dressing up as Kermit the Frog this year for Halloween. “Ah, because you’re already dressed up as Miss Piggy is it?” I said. She stormed off, but I know she was laughing on the inside. I’m awful funny. And sure, she loves slightly misogynistic jokes. All women do, they just don’t want to admit it. Fionnuala doesn’t like it when I try to tell her that though. Doesn’t like it at all.

I’ll have the last laugh though. I’ve been working on my costume for weeks, and it is going to be fantastic.

Big Bird hits the Dáil, and he’ll do it in style. I have a great big yellow feather poncho and I spent the weekend sewing more yellow feathers onto an old pair of cycling shorts so I’ll even be able to cycle into work- and it’ll be good for visibility. I made a great big mask with a beak and everything that’s actually big enough that it’d fit Michael Noonan’s head, so no one will even know it’s me until I do my big reveal later on.

Gerry Up the RAdams will probably be some sort of teddy bear. He likes to pretend he’s all soft and cuddly on Twitter. I like to think it’s some sort of an alter-ego. It makes me think that he’s easier to argue with.

You can’t argue with a teddy. Not for long. But I continue to channel Count Von Count for help. Here is my Count Von Count motivational quote for the day. “When I am alone, I count myself. One count!” It reminds me that I am the most important person in the room at any one time.

October 28th 2014

science

Nobel Prizes 2014 The Nobel Prizes for 2014 were announced recently and Alanna O’Shea discusses the research done by the winners in chemistry, physics and medicine and the importance of their discoveries.

It may seem like the Nobel Prizes are awarded to the smartest people in the world but the prizes are not an intelligence contest. The prizes are actually awarded based on whose work has benefited mankind the most. This year’s Nobel Laureates in the sciences have certainly contributed to making the world a better place.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner for their work in improving microscopy.

Microscopes became widely used in the 1600s and allowed scientists to observe the complex world around us in a way they never had before. There was a limit to what scientists could see, this being determined by the acuity of the microscopes.

According to the scientist Ernst Abbe, the optical microscope would never yield a resolution better than 0.2 micrometres or 0.2 millionths of a meter.

This meant there was little improvement in the resolution of optical microscopes for hundreds of years until the work of this year’s Nobel Prize winners. It is important to note that electron microscopes have offered much greater resolutions than optical microscopes for many years. The expertise and time required to use electron microscopes however, means many researchers cannot use them in their work. Many of the new techniques pioneered by this year’s prizewinners will be widely applicable to scientists that require superresolution in their work.

The scientists’ work used fluorescent molecules to create the new discipline called nanoscopy, which is microscopy but on an unbelievably small scale. The prizewinners developed two different

the new discipline called nanoscopy, which is microscopy but on an unbelievably small scale

techniques which nanoscopy relies on. One of the techniques uses the switching on and off of fluorescent molecules to form a picture of an object. The scientists have already used it to study nerve synapses and cell division in embryos.

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura. These physicists also solved a long-standing problem in their field. For years scientists have strived to make LED lamps as they would be more environmentally friendly and longer lasting than their current incandescent counterparts. In a traditional incandescent bulb, most of the energy is converted into heat and a small amount is converted into light. An LED however, directly converts electrical energy into light which is what results in its efficiency.

If you are reading this article online you are probably using LEDs right now as the technology is used to backlight many laptops and mobile phones.

A white LED lamp is made up of diodes of three different colours; red, green, and blue.

While red and green diodes have existed for decades, it was not

illustration: Mattias Karlén

until the 1990s that these Nobel Laureates developed the blue diode, which was the last puzzle piece in producing white light with LEDs. The laureates developed blue LEDs using gallium nitride as a semiconductor. Semiconductors are materials with a specific electrical conductivity which are the basis of LEDs. Researchers had used gallium nitride as a basis for an LED before and found that the intensity of the light produced was much too weak to be useful. The scientific community had all but given up on using it as a semiconductor.

The laureates persevered however, developing their own techniques for using gallium nitride and eventually developed the blue LED. The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists this year; John O´Keefe, May-

Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser.

Collectively, they discovered what is being called the “internal GPS.” The researchers discovered how the brain encodes where we are in space and also the way in which it allows us to remember how to get from one place to another.

In the 1970s John O’Keefe discovered that a specific nerve cell in a rat’s hippocampus fires when the rat is in one part of a room. When the rat moves to a different area of the room another nerve cell fires. The coordination of the firing of these cells allows the rat to form a map of the room.

In 2005 the husband and wife team of May-Britt and Edvard I. Moser made a further discovery in this area. They discovered another type of nerve cell, known as “grid cells”, which allow rats to position

themselves in space. These cells allow rats to continuously update their position based on new information.

The importance of these hippocampal cells is still being uncovered. Current research shows that these types of nerve cells are also found in humans. One of the reasons these cells are so important is that they are implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. The spatial confusion which occurs early in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease may be due to damage suffered by these nerve cells in the hippocampus.

The work of these scientists may provide a key to helping those suffering from the condition.

One of the Nobel Laureates, John O’Keefe, will be visiting UCD at the end of this month. He will be speaking at the Regan Symposium on Neuroplasticity on the 30th of October.

Feeling is Believing With the recent announcement of a prosthetic limb that allows patients to regain their sense of touch, Aoife Hardesty discusses how these prosthesis communicate with the human body.

People have been trying to find suitable ways of replacing lost limbs for years. Conjure up an image of a pirate in your mind and I’m guessing that that pirate will have a hook for a hand and a wooden leg. Well hooks and peg legs have actually been the standard model of prosthetic for years and are still in use today. In fact, the oldest evidence of prosthetics is a prosthetic toe made of wood and leather which was found on a 3000 year old mummy in Cairo.

Life is made very difficult for those with missing limbs, which is why researchers attempt to design better and more efficient prosthetics. Since people started using replacements for missing limbs, many improvements and updates to the replacements have been made as the technology advanced. Nowadays prosthetics are made out of advanced plastics and are moveable thanks to electrical technology. Now, as revealed in an article published in Science Translational Medicine on Oct 8th 2014, a research team has been successful in allowing amputees to feel sensations through their prosthetic limbs.

First of all, let’s have a look at how we perceive touch. When you brush your hand off a surface, receptors in your hand send electrical signals via nerves to the brain. These signals are sent to the part of the brain that deals with sensory processing where they are perceived to mean the surface you are touching is soft, hard, bumpy etc. If you were to lose your hand, the receptors would no longer be connected to the nerves that travel up your arm to your spinal cord and to your brain, and so your receptors would be unable to send signals along these nerves to the brain. However, the nerves would still remain. So, if you were to stimulate those nerves in certain ways, theoretically you should still 12 october 28th 2014

be able to transmit signals along the nerves to the sensory component of the brain. Even after a hand or other body part is lost, signals continue to be sent along the nerves and this is what causes phantom limb pain.

The experiment was conducted with two individuals who had prosthetic hands. They were fitted with a cuff of electrodes that surrounded the three main nerves that transmit sensory information from the hand. In one individual, two cuffs were implanted in his forearm, allowing him to feel 19 points. The other individual had three cuffs implanted in his upper arm providing him with feeling of 16 points. Signals can be sent via the electrodes to stimulate the nerves into sending electrical signals to the brain. At the beginning of this study, the initial stimulations were perceived by the subjects as tingling or prickling sensations, but the success was in the fact that they didn’t perceive these sensations to come from their arms where the electrodes were stimulating the neurons, but rather from their missing hand.

Simply restoring some sort of feeling wasn’t all the researchers had in mind; they wanted to make the subjects feel they were sensing real objects, so they developed algorithms which were able to convert information from sensors attached to the patients’ hands into different complex patterns of electrical signals which were transmitted via the electrode into the nerves and then sent on to the brain. The brain was then able to perceive these signals.

So when the prosthetic hands were brushed with cotton balls, for example, the sensors picked up this input and sent signals back to a computer where a computer algorithm produced an electrical pattern to simulate the correct sensation. This electrical pattern was then sent via the electrode into the nerve and

image: T Dennis Aabo Sørensen using the prosthetic hand developed by Silvestro Micera and his team in italy.

Photo courtesy of Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma

The subjects were able to tell the difference between various surfaces, such as sandpaper and smooth and hard surfaces.

along to the brain which was able to perceive it as the soft touch of a cotton ball. In order to ensure the subjects weren’t just looking at what they were being touched with, they were blindfolded to ensure they were relying purely on the signals their brains received from the electrodes. The subjects were able to tell the difference between various surfaces, such as sandpaper and smooth and hard surfaces.

The feedback of sensory information allows for the development of finer motor control of the prosthetic hands. In a test, one of the subjects was unable to pluck cherries from their stems because they could not gauge the right amount of pressure to hold the cherries with.

However, when they had the sensory information being transmitted, they were able to adjust their grip on the cherries to hold them tight enough so that they could pluck the cherries off the stem without squashing them.

An unexpected result of the test was that the subjects’ phantom limb pain reduced until it was non-existent.

This is most likely due to the fact that nerves that were sensing the missing limb were once again receiving actual signals, and so were happy once more. Essentially what the study has shown is that these people can experience sensations through their prosthetic hands with the help of an electrical interface connecting the hands to sensory nerves in their arms. At the moment this test has

only been carried out in the lab, however the heads of the study are hopeful that it will be developed for home use within 5 years. For the people in the test, the results are amazing; they can feel things with their hands once more, allowing vastly improved motor skills and ultimately, a higher quality of life.

“is there a researcher in the house!?”

science

Conor de Paor talks to Ian Woods, a PhD student researching nanofibre structures that are revolutionising the world of medicine

What is your research about?

Tissue engineering is the idea that we can use a patient’s own cells to develop replacement tissue and organs to treat a range of conditions, from atherosclerosis to heart failure. I specialise in designing biodegradable nanofibre structures to help cells grow arteries with the Flanagan Tissue Engineering Group in the School of Medicine. The nanofibres form biodegradable fabric with a pattern that encourages cells to form specific structures. As the cells degrade the nanofibres, they replace the structure with a biological structure like human tissue. The goal is to create implantable arteries which can be used to help children born with heart defects. Only tissue engineered structures can grow with young patients, which is really important for neonatal patients.

How did you become interested in your area of research?

I always wanted to do medical research, but didn’t want to study medicine. I picked UCD because of the biomedical engineering program which lets you study loads of cool topics across a really wide range.

Some days, I’d be doing robotics, other days, nanotechnology or neuroscience. After I finished I wanted to work in a broad field and also work on something where I thought I could make a direct impact

on people. In tissue engineering I get to work with nanotechnology, design biological structures and work with electronics; it kind of brings every aspect of what I studied together. Plus, I liked that it was a fairly new field.

Why are you doing a PhD? I hate mornings and money. But more seriously, a PhD lets me travel, work my own hours and work on something I’m passionate about. I wanted to do research and keep learning about engineering and biology and a PhD seemed to be the best way to do that.

What’s the hardest thing about undertaking a PhD? It has some serious ups and downs and you never know whether what you’re doing will work out.

You can go for months without feeling like you’ve accomplished anything and it can seriously wear you down. The most important quality for a PhD is patience!

How do you undertake your research?

There’s a few things that come together. First I design structures for the cells to grow on, generally tubular structures made out of reconstituted blood proteins. I grow cells in a flask and then seed them onto the tube. They’re allowed to grow for a while and then you stop

the process and section the “artery” into different pieces for analysis.

Some of the pieces are torn apart to see how strong they are, others are imaged for a visual structure using scanning electron microscopy and immuno-fluorescence and then we use assays on the rest to determine the quantity and type of protein making up the structure.

Put it together and you can estimate how close it is to a natural artery.

What do you use for your research in terms of materials and equipment?

We use everything! There’s a lot of wet bench work for the biochemical analysis, then sterile work with cells. So you use the usual pipettes, assay kits and cell stuff. But for the engineering side of things, I use everything from duct tape and hammers to 3D printers and soldering kits.

Do you find funding difficult to acquire?

Well, I didn’t acquire it. My supervisor, Dr Tom Flanagan, applied for the funding from the Children’s Research Centre, in Crumlin Children’s Hospital and I interviewed for a PhD position in his group.

What applications do you see for your research?

Well, ideally we want to produce a graft that can be rapidly grown and is strong enough for implantation.

If we can do that then the project could lead to clinical trials and a real therapy for children who need it.

When can we expect Doctor Who-like nanobots in our bodies?

We already have a lot of nanotechnology in medicine, but I’d say somewhere in a DARPA lab or in Area 51 something like them already exists!

Do you enjoy teaching undergraduates?

I don’t actually do much teaching! I supervise summer research students and work with some MSc projects but most of my work is in the lab!

What are your plans for when you are finished?

Invent something fantastic, patent it, profit. Failing that, I’d like to stay in research for a few years and work internationally in different labs so that I can travel but also keep learning.

Would you undertake any more academic research after your PhD? Maybe you can ask me again after the PhD. Right now, I think I will but in two years, maybe not!

A piece of nanofibre graft. photo: Ian woods

A drop in the Ocean The availability of clean drinking water is becoming a major worldwide issue and it is time to realise that we should not take this scarce resource for granted, writes Louise Flanagan with the UCD Eco Soc

Looking at earth you wouldn’t think water availability would ever be an issue. The planet is covered in the stuff, and this blue mass easily overshadows the land that us humans populate and call home. However, the reality is that water is in short supply, and for a number of reasons.

Water is central to our daily lives.

Many of us take it for granted. We can just turn on the tap and out comes clean, flowing water. We can take as much of it as we want. There is nothing in our way (except maybe for those incoming water charges).

We use it for almost everything, from brushing our teeth in the morning, to keeping ourselves clean, and hydrating us throughout the day. While it may not be directly obvious, large proportions of water are actually used in industry and agriculture as well.

On a much more primitive level, water is required to survive. The prospect of life on other planets is often postulated by the presence

of water. It is thought to be one of the vital ingredients of life and it is literally part of who we are, with human bodies consisting of up to 65% water. However, the importance of water is not restricted to humans by any means. Water is essential for all life, ranging from the birds and the bees to the weird looking plants and fish at the bottom of the ocean. Water also has a central role to play in weather and has an influence over climate too. It can also have devastating effects as can be seen in the many flooding and tsunami events that happen across the globe. It cannot be denied that there is something inherently special about water.

With earth’s populations increasing, pressure on water supplies is always on the rise. At present approximately 700 million people suffer from water scarcity across 43 different countries and it seems this will only become worse with time. It is predicted that by 2025 this number will have

risen to over 1.8 billion people.

Strange as this may sound, the amount of water available is not the crux of the problem. The key instead seems to be water accessibility, distribution and purity. According to the 2006 UN Human Development report, there is enough water on the planet for 7 billion people, just about enough to cater for our current population. All of this water appears to be coming from a relatively small proportion of the world’s water supply though.

Portable drinking water for humans can only be easily accessed from freshwater locations and according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, only 2.5% of the planet’s water supply is freshwater. The other 97.5% of the earth’s water is salt water, and is largely contained in the oceans. Of the freshwater, 69% of it is locked up in glaciers, 30% exists as groundwater, and 1% is found in rivers and lakes. This does not leave us with a lot to

use it seems. Although as stated before, it should be enough. The problem is that water is being distributed unevenly. Much of it simply goes on to become polluted or unsustainably managed.

As with many other environment related issues, there is an uneven distribution of effects across the planet. By 2025 it is predicted that there will be a 50% increase in water withdrawals in developing countries compared to an 18% increase in developed countries like Ireland.

Water stress seems to affect Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

This has come about because of a variety of reasons including, poor water infrastructure development due to lack of funding, colonial borders that have caused social conflict over shared water resources, and droughts, which are experienced by 13% of Africans once a generation on average.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a region with a rapidly growing population.

Many countries within the region are becoming urbanised and many parts are under constant threat from desertification. Coupled with poor water infrastructure (limited access to aquifers and groundwater), weak governments and disparity between water resources across different regions and you have a recipe for high water stress, sanitation issues and political unrest.

Water and sanitation are essential for economic growth, but without the funds to input infrastructure, access to safe water cannot be acquired, leaving these countries in a Catch-22 situation. How can this problem be fixed? It is clear that improvements to water infrastructure must be incorporated into economic development, but responsibility needs to be taken by countries and governments outside of Africa too.

Places like the US and Europe are the least affected by the problem of acquiring clean water but it could be argued that they are contributing to the problem the most. For example

a person from Mozambique uses less than 10 litres of water a day compared to a person from the US who would 575 litres in the same day.

According to the UNESCO-IHE 2011 report, we need to take a more worldwide view of water consumption and exportation. Focusing purely on local and national water concerns is leaving us blind to global consumption patterns. These patterns can help us pinpoint regions where water exportation is having damaging effects and is seriously decreasing the supply of potable water to the local population. Some Northern European countries get much of their freshwater from external resources despite water not being scarce in their own country. Ignoring these patterns could prove to be detrimental to future water problems.

The bottom line is that water is a finite resource. We need to take responsibility for it and we need to protect it.

Contact: ecosocucd@gmail.com

Google launches Telemedicine platform Google has recently launched an online service where users can obtain advice about medical issues from qualified doctors.

Duncan Wallace investigates

Google is currently running a to enhance established services, and temporary trial of a new Google to work in conjunction with brickHangouts feature that provides and-mortar hospitals and clinics. a popup asking people, who are As such, most telemedicine occurs searching for medical advice on “behind the scenes”; and in the rare Google, whether they wish to also instances that patients are presented connect with a physician for an with an opportunity to engage with online consultation. This feature it, the service is presented in the represents Google’s fresh bid to context of communicating with venture into telemedicine, following individuals, or institutions, that their failure to excite interest in the patient has had an existing and their data collaboration system, persistent relationship with. Even Google Health, back in 2008.

Google Health, which wound up Telemedicine, or the use of in 2011, was designed to merely telecommunications technologies augment users’ local healthcare to deliver health-related services through the creation of a permanent and information, is nothing personal health record in the cloud. new. In particular, asynchronous It was the lack of tangible return communication (such as sending for the creation of such a personal MRI scan images by email) has record, combined with the latent become increasingly common. In fears that putting such sensitive Ireland, in 2007, a comprehensive information into the cloud presents, survey conducted by Craig et al of which doomed Google Health to Trinity College Dublin found that the obscurity of being used almost some 25% of Irish hospitals engaged exclusively by Google employees. in telemedicine, with the majority The Health section of Google actively using teleradiology. Today, Hangouts, or Google Helpouts institutions such as Tallaght Hospital as it is being branded (Google promote Virtual Reality Outpatients, Hangouts, but HIPAA compliant) a Skype based consultancy tool. forms a different role. Ostensibly However, most current at least, rather than an extension telemedicine ventures are in place of a patient’s ongoing treatment or

care, Helpouts is designed more as a support for users who are attempting to find answers online.

Google Helpouts is a recent addition to the Google franchise, having been established only in 2013 as an amalgamation of multiple former Google projects, but already covers a wide range of subjects from fitness to programming. Users of Helpouts, through their Google accounts, are able to connect by video call and instant messaging to experts or peers in their field of interest. While some of this collaboration is free, the majority of Helpouts is pay-per-use, making much of the system a form of online private tuition. While Google’s Health based Helpouts is going to be free during its trial period in the US, it too will feature a transaction fee from the New Year.

But while Helpouts is implicitly designed as an alternative to searching, (whereby users pose their questions to a human instead of a search engine) in reality it is likely to form a role which will, to a certain extent, compete with local health services. Although Helpouts will not have the capacity

in its current form to provide either prescriptions or referrals, it may nonetheless reduce potential business for general practitioners.

Would-be patients may find that no follow-up action is required on the foot of their Helpouts consultation, and therefore avoid contacting their GP. Of course, the system has the potential to conversely generate new patients, hitherto reluctant to visit their doctor, who become motivated to do so based on the feedback from such consultation.

Whether the public will ultimately prefer, or shun, the relative anonymity provided through such a facility as Helpouts, or whether security concerns or lack of consumer confidence will spell its failure, is yet to be seen. Telemedicine has almost certainly got a strong future ahead of itself - the only question is whether, and to what extent, this future is shaped by ventures such as that pursued by Google.

October 28th 2014

student voices Look After Your Mental Health With LGBTQ+ suicide rates much higher than for the rest of the population Tadgh Dolan looks at mental health in the community The stigma that comes with mental illness can be almost as debilitating as the disease itself. Those who suffer, do so in silence. Those who are at risk, remain so, by denying that what they are experiencing is ‘real’. There are very few people I have met in my life as brave as those who battle with their personal affliction, or illness if we want to call it that. The purpose of my writing is to shed some light on this mass stigmatisation, with a particular focus on the LGBTQ+ community.

“Look after your mental health”, is a slogan which has permeated Irish society over the last number of years, prompting the government to boost its funding to mental health services in Ireland to €35 million in 2015. It’s safe to say the stigma towards mental illness has somewhat diminished in this country, but when we look at the alarming rates of suicide, and those who suffer from depression (estimated at 300,000 people according to the Irish charity Aware) it is clear to see that there still exists a major problem.

Growing up as a LGBTQ+ youth puts additional strain on your mental health as we live in a society that is laden with homophobia and transphobia. ‘Faggot’, ‘Dyke’, ‘Tranny’ or simply ‘that’s gay’ still echo across the playground and may even be heard in the workplace, but only behind closed doors as adults must be more civilised than children when it comes to being homophobic.

Being gay myself, I can see how one’s mental health is at risk, especially during your days in secondary school, when all you desire is to ‘fit in’. I did what many do and shut the closet door, only daring to be myself from the comfort of my room. I hung around with a group of lads, and when the word ‘gay’ surfaced I would retreat, back in to myself, so as not to upset the order of gay-bashing that would proceed. ‘You’re such a faggot!’

they would say to one another, almost affectionately, as if it bonded them closer together. When they glanced my way, I wondered if they could see past my feigning smile, and smell the fear that was seeping from my skin.

As a closeted individual you live in perpetual fear of being discovered.

Each day becomes a mission, to work out how to keep that part of your life secret. From this perspective it is easy for me to see why gay teens are so at risk.

According to The Trevor Project, a US based LGBTQ+ support service, LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts, a startling statistic that highlights the need for more education in schools.

This is an initiative which has been taken on by Irish based LGBTQ+ support groups, such as GLEN, BeLonGTo and ShoutOut. GLEN, the gay and lesbian equality network, aims to bring equal civil rights to gays and lesbians living in Ireland. They have helped Ireland achieve a range of legislative and policy changes including: decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993; recognition of sexual orientation in refugee law in 1996; inclusion in Employment Equality in 1998; Equal Status in 2000; and most recently, comprehensive Civil Partnership in 2010.

BeLonGTo, focuses on LGBTQ+ youth, launching its ‘Stand up!’ campaign to combat homophobia and transphobia in schools and the workplace. ShoutOut are an organisation that give workshops in secondary schools to help fight stigma around LGBTQ+ issues and to discourage homophobia and transphobia. From researching and speaking to LGBTQ+ friends, I have

Photo courtesy of scott cawley

come to draw a few conclusions on LGBTQ+ mental health in Ireland.

Firstly, we live in a homophobic world, it’s a fact that despite our best efforts is simply unavoidable. In 81 countries it is illegal to be gay and in 10 of those countries being gay is punishable by death. In Ireland homosexuality was criminalised until 1993 and considered a mental illness until the 1970s. We come from a history where being gay was forbidden and punishable under state law. It was a delusion of the mind, a perversion of God’s will that we must marry a nice member of the opposite sex and procreate. Fortunately, with increased awareness and education and with figures like Senator David Norris paving the way, we now live in a society that has become open

to the idea that LGBTQ+ people not only exist, but are equal, functioning members of society. We are visible, now more than ever. Look at Laverne Cox, the first transgender woman to win an Emmy Award for the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. The look at Tom Daley, he came out as being in a relationship with a man and did the world stop?

No. Many who fancied him were sad to see that he was taken though!

It is impossible for me to give this topic the full attention it deserves.

Throughout my research I found it difficult to get statistics and figures when it came to the LGBTQ+ community. I did however come across an amazing study carried out by GLEN and BeLonGTo in 2009 entitled ‘Supporting LGBT

Lives: A study of the mental health and well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people’ which can be found online and is well worth having a look at if you are interested in reading the hard facts.

I do however want to offer some advice to those who are going through a difficult period. It can be easy to move inward when things get too much but do talk to somebody. There are incredible support services in this country for the LGBTQ+ community including organisations such as BeLonGTo, GLEN, LGBT helpline, and Aware. For those of you in college, UCD offers a free counselling service which can be accessed through the UCD website and the SU welfare officer and the LGBTQ+ committee are always there to listen.

Don’t suffer in silence, take positive

steps and remember that although it can be tough to be LGBTQ+ it really does get so much better.

Pop over to our coffee mornings for tea and a chat! If you ever want someone to talk to you can contact our Welfare Officer, Tim, at welfare. ucdlgbt@gmail.com or email the society at lgbt.society@gmail.com

AMNESTY WRITERS’ CLUB: IS TORTURE A THING OF THE PAST? Amnesty Writers’ Club is a new initiative launched by the University Observer and Amnesty International UCD to showcase the best student writing on human rights. This issue, Rosa Walker looks at the modern world’s continued use of torture Gerard David’s 1498 painting depicts the flaying of a man accused of corruption. It was hung in Bruges town hall as a deterrent. Today we regard this as a reminder of the barbarism of the Middle Ages, when physical torture was common.

“Lucky that we live in more civilised times,” is what you may be thinking. In fact, the reality is far from comforting.

Between January 2009 and May 2013 alone, Amnesty International received reports on torture in 141 countries. Brutal, barbaric methods of torture, like we see in this painting, are a part of the present, not just the past. Although torture was outlawed by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights international law, torture has been flouted by many authorities around the world. The 1984 Convention against Torture (CAT) has been adopted by 155 countries, but Amnesty International has reported that 79 of these countries tortured individuals in 2014 alone.

Moreover, 32 UN member states have not adopted CAT. In an Amnesty International survey of 21,000 people in 21 countries, 44% stated that they still live in fear of this horrific abuse.

Torture, as definied by CAT, is any extreme suffering or pain, physical or mental, inflicted as a method of punishment and as a way to interrogate, obtain information, or force people into confession.

Between 2013 and 2014, Amnesty International recorded a minimum of 27 techniques of torture used worldwide, many of which have been used systematically for years, from beating, rape, mock executions, and stabbing to victims having their joints drilled and many other vile methods.

Recent examples are particularly horrifying. In Mexico, since 2000, more than 7,000 torture complaints have been made to the country’s own Human Rights Commission.

Forms of torture have included beating, rape, suffocation and the use of electric shocks.

In countries where homosexuality is illegal, such as Cameroon 14 october 28th 2014

and Zambia, individuals suspected of having engaged in gay sex have been subjected to forcible anal examinations.

In April 2013, three individuals in North Darfur, Sudan had their right hands removed after being charged of stealing cooking oil, after a trial where they had no legal representation. A man arrested in Brazil in July 2014 died as a consequence of torture carried out by Brazilian police authorities after being illegally detained.

Former countries of the Soviet Union have used torture methods such as beatings, rape, forced suffocation, suspension from ceiling hooks and many others. Earlier this year, a “wheel of torture” was discovered at a police safe house in the Philippines. Police officers were using it as a “fun way” to decide how to torture detainees.

To write this off as an issue confined to countries outside the western world is sadly mistaken. Many countries in what is considered the “civilised” world have been guilty of dreadful examples of torture and ill-treatment as well. Although the current Spanish government categorically denies the use of torture, the Euskal Memoria Foundation has reported over 9,600 cases of torture in the Basque Country in the last 50 years.

The United States military and intelligence personnel have also routinely used torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in recent conflicts. These include the degrading treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, justified by the USA in the context of its “war on terror”, and on prisoners at Guantanamo in the form of forcefeeding, which the UN Human Rights Commission has defined as torture.

The technique of waterboarding, which involves pouring water over the head to create the sensation of drowning or suffocation, was used by the CIA to interrogate Al Qaeda suspects, and although the US authorities only admitted to three instances in 2003 and 2004, on 15 October 2008 it was reported that the Bush administration

image: Flaying causes the subject to go into shock. Death occurs mainly due to blood loss, shock as well hypothermia. The Judgement of Cambyses

According to former CIA officer Bob Baer, “If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria.”

had issued a secret memo explicitly endorsing waterboarding and other torture techniques.

It’s also not so long since the United Kingdom used sensory deprivation and other forms of torture to interrogate suspects in Northern Ireland. The “advantage” of such torture techniques from the interrogators’ point of view is that while they can create incredible pain, stress and anguish, they leave no physical evidence.

Torture has also been documented in other parts of the European Union, with some countries failing to carry out effective investigations of joint guilt in torture executed in counterterror operations, led by the US. Another major issue here is the practice of “extraordinary rendition” whereby so-called “civilised” countries transfer a prisoner to another country to be

tortured. According to former CIA officer Bob Baer, “If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear – never to see them again – you send them to Egypt.”

In addition to the humanitarian issues, torture can have a negative impact on the rule of law, as we saw in the UK in the case of Abu Qatada.

Confessions and evidence obtained through torture are unsafe because a person subjected to physical pain or mental stress is likely to say anything they believe will end their suffering.

In 2008 the UK Court of Appeal ruled that Abu Qatada could not be returned to Jordan for trial as there was a strong probability that evidence obtained by torture might be used, which would be in breach of the UK’s obligations under the European

Convention on Human Rights. This led to many years of legal wrangling.

Amnesty International’s Stop Torture campaign involves initiatives to raise awareness, lobby governments and show support for victims and survivors of torture. Our position is crystal clear: torture is barbaric and inhumane, it is banned under international law, it corrodes the rule of law and undermines the criminal justice system. It can therefore never be justified.

Governments often choose to invest more effort in covering up or denying cases of torture than they do investigating complaints.

This is unacceptable. Torture is not a just a thing of the past.

Nor is it just a regional problem.

It is a global tragedy that needs to stop. Together, we can take action and put an end to it.

Graduate Postcard: Chicago and the U.S Midterm Elections The Midterm congressional elections mark a time where America reflects on its political climate. Francis McNamara reports on the election season from Chicago Chaos reigns in American politics.

The two U.S. Houses of Congress are gridlocked, refusing to work with each other. Both parties spend more resources trying to defeat each other than actually trying to govern.

People are tired and angry; faith in democracy is being severely tested.

This U.S. Congress (elected in 2012) is the least productive Congress, passing the fewest laws, in modern history. It is the most dysfunctional and unpopular Congress since the American Civil War with nine out of ten citizens unhappy.

When I watch television Senators and Congressmen are constantly making powerful statements on how America should proceed. Yet their words are not followed with action. We have realised that Congress isn’t actually going to do anything. This depressing situation means that Congressmen have the ability to make extravagant statements and big promises knowing full well that they will never need to deliver on anything.

The political divides are made even worse by the American media.

Different stations, with various political agendas, report different facts to the American public. People can choose whatever truth they want to believe. America’s two-year Congressional election cycle means that Congressmen are constantly fundraising and campaigning with almost no time left to govern.

Their role more closely resembles that of a media personality than a public representative.

Republicans usually receive large donations from millionaires and companies to fund their campaigns.

Democrats receive fewer donations from millionaires and companies (many companies donate millions to both parties to be certain of a friendly congress) and Democrats rely on small donations from people like me. I’m a member of the Democratic Party and as a result my email inbox is clogged with automatic emails asking for me to donate. “Hi Francis” an email reads, “Are you in? This could be the most important election of our lives.”

Donation fatigue has set in among low income Democrats like me, who already donated a lot in 2012 and are weary of being asked to donate more, particularly given that this is not a Presidential election year.

So, given that 90% of Americans hate Congress, how is President Obama’s approval rating? Not good! Partly, the problem is that Americans feel that Obama is not doing enough to fix the dysfunction in Congress. In truth, I think that this is unfair given that Congressional politics’ evolution towards non-stop total war has been growing steadily since President Nixon. Obama has failed to fix this enormous problem but he didn’t create it.

But mostly Americans just feel unloved by Obama and it’s easy to see why. Americans want to be swept off their feet by a dashing Kennedy or a charming Reagan. In 2008 Barack Obama promised a romantic soprano but delivered a constant monotone. On television, he comes across as detached and narcissistic. When he speaks he sounds like a university professor who believes that he is lecturing to a group of idiots. Don’t get me wrong; I believe that President Obama is doing a good job in difficult circumstances.

He’s not perfect, but I never expected him to be. But I do miss the time when it was cool to like Obama.

Most Americans, from both parties, believe profoundly that they live in the greatest county in the world. There is a powerful emotional connection to the notion of America being the leader of the free world.

Americans have a nostalgic desire for President Reagan on the Berlin Wall thundering “TEAR DOWN THIS WALL.” No one sees Obama filling this role. The tragic fact is that Americans disliked six years of Bush’s thoughtless action, and now Americans dislike six years of Obama’s thoughtful inaction.

The 2014 election hinges on the Senate, currently controlled by the Democrats. The Republican Party, due to gerrymandering, controls the House of Representatives. The

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Democrats received more votes than Republicans in 2012 yet the Republicans enjoy a comfortable 33-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Each individual state government redraws the House election districts every ten years, so gerrymandering has been common throughout US history. But, in U.S. Senate elections, one Senator is elected by each state and because state borders are fixed gerrymandering is impossible. As a result, the Senate elections are now the only competitive elections in the USA. Despite the fact that a Senator for Illinois is up for re-election in 2014, there’s not much campaigning going on where I live in Chicago. This is simply because the incumbent Democrat is guaranteed to easily win re-election and is running against token opposition. The Democratic Party machine has dominated Illinois since the fifties, and it has mostly been a one party state. Machine politics always breeds corruption and four of the past seven Illinois Governors were convicted of corruption and put in prison.

In contested swing-states across America, the result hangs on a knife-edge. The Republicans need gain six Senate seats to win control of the Senate. Current opinion polls have the Republicans ahead and Democrats are very worried. Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate Majority leader, is flying from state to state, from fundraiser to fundraiser, trying to keep up Democratic momentum.

These could be the final weeks of his political career. In one rare happy event, former President Clinton missed a fundraiser in Colorado to be present at the birth of his granddaughter in New York.

Nevertheless, Clinton Skyped himself to the fundraiser from the hospital. the re-election of Senator Roberts, In an unlikely twist, the most which was originally taken for important state election is Kansas, granted, seems less likely every day. the Republicans need to keep Kansas Roberts is 78 years old and doesn’t to win a Senate majority. They even own a home in Kansas, he have won every election in Kansas fulfils the residency requirement since 1932, and it is historically the by renting a room in the state.

USA’s most Republican state. But Young millionaire businessman

Visit ucd.ie/residences or check your email

Win cash prizes! €1000 €500 €100 x 5 ends Mon 3rd Nov Independent Greg Orman is running an energetic campaign that portrays Roberts as grouchy and out of touch. If the Republicans lose Kansas they will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

It really is too close for anyone to know which party will win control of

the Senate. The media talks about the election incessantly. How does the exhausted American public feel? . To quote Shakespeare “A plague on both your houses!”

MY FIRST DAYS IN DUBLIN: AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE In collaboration with UCD’s International Students’ Society, Tamara Tomanic looks at her experience settling into life in Ireland

The first time Ireland really caught my attention was actually through a friend. A friend who is extremely keen on drinking - preferably Guinness.

While I would be struggling with my first pint, he would be finishing up his third, teasing me for being so weak.

So I decided to improve my drinking abilities and teach him a lesson.

After arriving in Dublin, I stayed in a hostel for the first couple of nights.

Paddy´s Palace, right at the back of the Customs House. Very “paddy”, but not as much of a “palace” as I hoped it would be. Staying in a mixed ten dorm was quite an experience though! I met both extremely interesting and extremely odd people, ranging from their twenties to (roughly estimated) their sixties.

The first days were amazing. Armed with an umbrella, I strolled around the city centre, enjoyed relaxing tunes on Grafton Street and discovered all the little restaurants and cosy pubs on Dame Street. It was a great feeling leaving all one´s cares behind and being completely free.

However, after two or three days, I could not wait for university to start.

My curiosity first led me to the main campus in Belfield. I soon ran into people who looked just as lost as me, so we teamed up and explored the campus together. The Global Lounge was one of our main stops. I had lovely chats with fellow international students, each of them having another reason for choosing Dublin and UCD. After a couple of hours, I decided to return to my palace, pitying myself that the MScBusiness modules are on the other campus - far away from the gym, the swimming pool and all other major events.

When I arrived at Smurfit for orientation the next day, all these feelings crumbled into dust. The brick buildings surrounded by giant trees made me fall in love with the place

image: Harsha Vardhan

right away. Creativity and ease were in the air. Much smaller than the Belfield campus, I soon felt like being part of a family. In just a couple of hours, I met more people than within the last few months. Some of them have become my dearest friends. One fellow student heard that I was staying in a hostel and, without even knowing me at that stage, invited me over to her place.

It was one of the nicest things I have ever experienced! So I returned to the hostel, grabbed all my stuff and called a “tacsai”. It was approximately 10pm when I left, and 11.30pm when the driver actually found the address that I asked him to drop me off. In between,

Twice, we stopped at a pub, fully convinced that this was the place I told him to go to. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time

he asked random people on the street for directions several times. Twice, we stopped at a pub, fully convinced that this was the place I told him to go to. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time. By accident, we finally found the right address.

So I stayed with my new friend for a couple of nights, and we had a blast. We went to the city centre, attended “Thirsty Thursday” and had a delicious Lebanese dinner at The Cedar Tree. With mixed feelings, I moved into my new home three days later. The elderly Irish couple gave me a warm welcome, opened a bottle of wine, and we had a nice chat.

My room looked as lovely as in the

pictures: A huge window right next to the bed, a study table and a wardrobe – what more could a student wish for!

On the following day, I joined the Wicklow daytrip organised by the International Students’ Society.

Our first stop was Wicklow jail; an interesting, but as well quite scary place. The guide acted as a prison guard, bringing history literately back to life. Then, we went to the Avoca village – the oldest surviving working mill in Ireland, dating back to 1723. On that very trip, I met my future housemate for the very first time. He told me that he was quite desperate because

he had still not found a suitable accommodation, an issue I was able to relate to too well! So I texted my landlords, knowing that there was a room available in our house.

He moved in right the next day.

Quickly, the serious side of life started, and the first assignments were due. I have to say that the lecturers – at least the ones I have – are amazing. They all know exactly how to communicate their knowledge so that every student understands it. It is really a joy to listen to them! However, the Irish way of studying is somewhat different to what I am used to. In Austria, we would have specific examination weeks, usually three each semester.

All examinations account for 100 per cent of the final grade, so that we are basically off during the rest of the term. In Smurfit, however, lecturers continuously examine the progress of the students by assigning group work, essays, and smaller exams. Even though there are only three subjects per semester for MSc International Business, it is hard to keep track of all the deadlines.

Likewise, group assignments are sometimes difficult to handle, as the groups change for each subject.

However, living and studying in Dublin has been grand so far. In four weeks, I gathered plenty of new experiences: Drinking my first pint of Guinness, getting lost in suburbia, trying to understand the public transport system, settling down and meeting plenty of grand people! And in the end, it’s not the place that counts – it’s the people you meet! I am thankful for being a part of UCD, and extremely excited about what is still ahead of us!

October 28th 2014

editorial What we talk about when we talk about mental health

There is an ever-growing conversation around mental health in our country, a fact for which we should be extremely grateful. A topic long held as taboo is slowly coming into the light, and not a moment too soon.

While we have a long way to go, more and more individuals are feeling that a growing societal understanding of mental illness is making it easier to open up about their struggles and seek help. To be able to do so without facing stigma or shaming is such a basic requirement for a healthy human life that it is really incredible to consider how long it has taken us to start approaching this point.

The history of our understanding of mental illness is one of the darker undercurrents to our society’s development. Superstitions about demons and possession limited naturalistic understandings by

dogmatically providing a supposed solution. Even as psychiatry became more dominant, mental illness was still seen as something to hide away. Those trying to hide their own problems quickly became those to be put out of view of society, institutionalised in dehumanising conditions and often subjected to extraordinarily primitive and unsound treatments. These ranged from the widespread implementation of the brutal frontal lobotomy in the US to early attempts at psychiatric drugs that often took huge tolls on the physical health of the patient without alleviating mental illness.

Many policy efforts taking place now are often positive steps not taken far enough. Mental health campaign groups in Ireland welcomed funding allocated to the development of services under Budget 2015, but anyone can see

that it falls short of what is needed for comprehensive reform.

On a more local level, UCDSU have hosted Mind, Body and Soul, their attempt to publicise wellbeing issues, including mental health, and are planning to create a Mental Health Co-Ordinator position with the union. The problem with these kinds of initiatives, as well as with the general “Please Talk” culture that is so prevalent in students’ unions policies on mental health is that it doesn’t take into account how difficult it is to understand our own mental health, let alone that of others. We need to do a lot of work to make it okay for people to talk.

If there is one perspective that most inhibits a positive conversation about mental health, its one that looks to quickly allocate responsibility and blame. The history of psychiatry is, somewhat understandably, a list of

culprits. When one is going through mental agony and turmoil that is often so difficult to understand or explain, finding explanations can be great comfort. Humanistic psychologists often blamed our modern society and its unenlightened attitudes to work, freedom and happiness. Freud’s willingness to blame the patient’s parents for everything has been become iconic to the point of being comical. Our modern tendency is to place the blame on our biology, a cruel trick of our inheritance that leaves us with chemical imbalances that can make our day-to-day life an exhausting struggle.

The real importance of these statements aren’t in their respective scientific credibility (or lack thereof).

They matter in that they firmly rebut the foolish, yet still sadly prevalent idea that mental health difficulties

are something that the individual chooses, either directly or by refusing to “just get over it”. I find it unlikely that there is anyone who has dealt with mental health issues that hasn’t run into this insensitive attitude at least once, possibly even from an otherwise understanding person. No one should ever be treated as if they are to blame for their struggles. Regardless of the inaccuracy of that approach, its drastically counterproductive to the treatment process.

People are impatient when it comes to explanations. We want to attribute our issues to something soon and get past the unpleasant sense of the unknown, or else we want to do the same for others whose suffering can be unbearable to watch. Yet many of the explanations we come up present us with as problems as they solve. Some are just frankly

incorrect and send us in incorrect treatment routes. Others, while providing comfort initially, may fail to articulate the importance of our own autonomy in the treatment process, or lean so hard on biological expectations that we neglect the fact that anyone can struggle with mental health issues at anytime in their life.

The truth is that our mental health is as complex and elaborate as we ourselves are. Our personalities are influenced by so many different factors, from our biology and upbringing to the culture we live in or the company we keep. We may not fully understand mental health, either our own or the general idea, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have frank and open discussions about it. It is healthy for us a society to open up about our experiences and begin the process of coming to terms with them.

the university observer

talleyrand

Editor Cormac Duffy Deputy Editor David Corscadden

TALLY HO, YOU OF THE UNWASHED MASSES!

sponsorship stuffed inside privilege stuffed into your debs outfit. Consider it a turducken of crony capitalism.

Oh, what a glorious time it has been And the photos of the event, so kindly to be a part of our forsaken institution shared on UCD Ents social media, these past few weeks. Midterms have made me wonder how they managed finally come and gone for our new first to fit so many high-contrast wax years, and it is always an irrefutable models into the room! There’s nothing pleasure to see the richest of the I love seeing more than unabashed rich experience a deep poverty of crimes against aesthetics and the soul! Your father’s high-ranking decency, unless its unabashed crimes role in Irish Water will not save you against the initial perpetrators! from caffeine-induced dehydration!

Their next high profile events, Your haute couture wardrobe will their “Comedy” Festival and an not leave you exempt from the allure appearance from Little Green of the library tracksuit! Your whole Cars, seem less events and more a privileged existence has collapsed desperate plea to get people using in a furor of sweat-stained statistics their new app. Sure, the obvious notes, a crippling sense of your own criticism is that it shows an unusual average intelligence and a growing, lack of wits to assume all have almost sexual, interest in finding a monied access to smartphones, but silent space in the library. It really my real concern is what said app is a invigorating scene to behold! does? Does it scour your texts for It has also been an exciting time pro-life sentiments and remind you for UCD Ents. That is to say it has that you are a fool and the Union is been as exciting a time as a group of proud to continue to fail to represent socially challenged adult men can you? Does it see if you are the have providing tragically uncultured monster who perpetually breaks the nightclub events to the plebian toilet roll dispensers in the Student classes of South Dublin. Just look at Centre bathrooms and arrange an the Domino’s Ball! The event is much extraordinary rendition for you? like something the sponsors would I’ve heard whisperings that the provide as a “special” dish, except app has developed sentience and is instead of sauce stuffed inside meat having its first experience of shame stuffed inside bread, its corporate after attending Concrete Jungle.

What can one even say about SU Council? Tally has seen the rise and fall of countless empires, kingdoms, communes, republics (I even saw our Graduate Education Officer do some work once; I deceive you not!), and never have I seen such a monstrosity.

To simultaneously be the glorious ideal of fascist bureaucracy and the immoral chaos of savagery is no mean feat. What glorious topics for debate they raise! Two student representatives failed to include coeliacs in their list of those needing food labeling in the SU shops. Tally hears on the grapevine that they were heartbroken to have their plans of a gluten-fuelled genocide scuppered.

A motion to further their wholly unnecessary stance on reproductive rights was an overwhelming success.

When a political organisation is not capable of running a small University ball without making a loss the size of Malta’s GDP, the clear step is to get them involved in one of our country’s most divisive debates.

A motion to fly a pride flag at each Union event became an immediate source of consternation when the lone intelligent member proposed the amendment to include those vilely sensible words, “where appropriate”.

This modicum of common sense led to the ten minutes of debate, the most

Music Editor Sean Hayes

TALLY OUT, YOU JACOBIN SWINE!

Fashion Editor Sarah O’Shea

Danielle Clarke wrote a curious article discussing Ireland and abortion in your last edition.

My body is my body when I’m deciding whether or not to get a tattoo, another piercing, what clothes I want to wear or the quality of food I nourish myself with. It is not ‘my choice’ when it affects the life of another human being or even adopts the power to take that life. We accept this philosophy with all other aspects of life; are we so open to allowing the destruction of

a two year old child’s life, or that of an 18 year old as a solution to any other problem? What makes the life of an unborn child any different? Basic biology teaches us the fundamentals of early human life and whilst ‘alien-like’ in appearance, how can we delude ourselves that a baby developing in the womb is just ‘a clump of cells’?

Ireland has been in the top five out of 171 countries for maternal healthcare for the past twenty five years, with an average maternal mortality rate of 6 out of 100,000 live births, half the rate of the UK

and a third that of the US. Savita Halappanavar’s tragic death was tremendously distorted by major political and media figures, more concerned with liberalising Irish abortion law than accurate reporting. Several enquiries show that this tragic case was never about Ireland’s ‘barbaric’ abortion laws, but medical negligence.

The clamour for abortion under Savita Halappanavar’s name is an appalling instance of degrading opportunism.

Where is equality in a society that encourages women to choose

News Editors Megan Fanning & Cian Carton Comment Editor Ruth Murphy Features Editor Gráinne Loughran Science, Health & Technology Editor Conor de Paor Eagathóir Gaeilge Valerie Ní Thiarnaigh Sports Editor Ciarán Sweeney Otwo Editors Rebekah Rennick & Shane Hannon Games Editor Karl Quigley Film & TV Editor Aaron Murphy

Arts & Literature Editor Patrick Kelleher

letters to the editor Dear Editor,

Art & Design Editor James Brady

nonsensical discourse seen in the Fitzgerald Chamber since UCD LawSoc thought it was acceptable to bring unrepentant terrorists in for a debate. No, not the kind folks in Sinn Féin, but the Union of Students in Ireland! It was good to see a group so incompetent that our own incompetent union felt the need to disaffiliate from them.

On the motion that the house would fight for free fees, the USI took a brave stance of “Well, we would, but, like, effort.” A salute to them and their constant provision of entertainment.

A final congratulations to UCD’s Confucius Institute for receiving an allocation of €3 million euro in the recent national budget. The cultural institute is receiving a revolutionarily high amount of support from the Government.

One could almost call it a Cultural Revolution. It really looks set to be a Great Leap Forward! Taiwan’t to wish them the best of luck, and I’m willing Tibet the scheme is a great success!

between their baby – planned or unplanned - and their education or career? It is a misnomer in itself that women feel they have no choice but abortion for the sake of their education or livelihood.

It is time we separate fact from fiction and have an honest and real discussion.

Yours, Kathryn Freney

Words Steven Balbirnie Colin Bell Fergus Carroll Stephen Connolly Shannon Corrigan Barbara DeKegel Eithne Dodd Tadgh Dolan Saul Fidgeon Louise Flanagan Aaron Flood Eva Griffin Tara Hanneffy Matthew Hanrahan Niall Hanton Aoife Hardesty Bronagh Kieran Alan Maher Vera Mascoli Jack McCann Francis McNamara Ian Mulholland Roisin Nicholson Siofra Ni Shluaghadhain Eanna O’Gorduin Maeve O’Neill Niamh O’Regan Alanna O’Shea Melissa O’Sullivan Lucy Ryan Sinead Scully Donal Swan Tamara Tomanic Rosa Walker Duncan Wallace Illustrations Rhea Cassidy Mattias Karlen Frank Kehoe Emily Longworth Roisin McNally

Columns The Badger Talleyrand Conor O’Toole Mystic Mittens Immanuel Kant

Models Avril Collins Aoife Gilrane

Photos Scott Cawley James Healy Laura Iorgulescu Joanna O’Malley William Murphy Ian Woods Harsha Vardhan

Thanks Eugene, Maeve, Andrew and all the folks at Smurfit Kappa.

Makeup Artist Aoife Chan

October 28th 2014

sport

TENNIS: SEASON REVIEW With all major tournaments finished for 2014, Ciarán Sweeney looks back over the season and how the key players performed With all four grand slams finished in the 2014 calendar, the tournament that everyone is beginning to turn their attention to is the annual ATP World Tour Finals in London. With only the current top eight players in the world invited to this end-of-year event, all players in the top 10 or 12 in the world are fighting for their chance to squeeze into the top eight and those currently in the top eight are trying desperately to stay there. Currently at 8th in the world is Andy Murray, who started the year at 4th, but whose season has been hampered by injuries in a year that had the potential to be so promising. 2014 for Andy Murray was a year where many predicted he would comfortably go toe-to-toe with the ruthless trio of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. Between 2012 and 2013, Murray won the US Open, Wimbledon, gold in the Olympics as well as being a finalist in Australian Open. With every tough final loss or deserved victory, he was evidently growing as a player both physically and mentally and, together with Coach Amelie Mauresmo, he had all the ingredients to stamp his authority on this year’s tour. However, to turn good performances into victories at the top level, Murray needed to be 100% fit and frustrating injuries offset the Scot’s hopeful year.

One significant feature of tennis this year was the hard court grand slams producing winners from outside the apparently untouchable top three. With Nadal and Djokovic finishing off the 2013 year in good form, and Federer rolling back the years to produce effortless wins, the script for the Australian Open in January was supposed to be for these three heavyweights to continue their reign of dominance. However, Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka had other ideas. Churning out some incredible performances, Wawrinka managed to overcome Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Nadal to win his first grand slam and become the first player since Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009 to win a grand slam

ranked outside the world’s top four.

This statistic is a testament to the power of the world’s top 4 and to this extent, the most recent grand slam, the US Open, yielded results and performances that not even the experts could have predicted.

Although Djokovic was heading into the US Open with a slight dip in form, having appointed Boris Becker his new coach, it was still expected for the Serb to triumph at Flushing Meadows. Rafael Nadal had already pulled out due to injury, Andy Murray was only beginning to find form again after his injury, and mutterings of Roger Federer becoming a spent force led people to believe that this could be one of Djokovic’s most straightforward grand slam wins to date. Djokovic further emphasised this when he saw off Murray in the quarter-finals, to leave a seemingly routine semi-final match with Kei Nishikori, while Federer was set to face Croatian Marin Cilic.

However, the world stood up and took note, as the two underdogs, Nishikori and Cilic made light work of their opponents to set up a final of their own. This became the first final with two players outside the top 4 since 2003 when Federer took on Mark Philippoussis in the final of Wimbledon. It was not simply the results of the semi-finals that surprised people but the manner in which the results came about.

Federer didn’t even get close to challenging Cilic, whose consistently lightning serves damaged any hopes the veteran Swiss had of progressing to the final. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Djokovic, who is one of the best groundstroke players in the world, was being played off the court stroke for stroke by Nishikori.

At only 5’10”, Nishikori is one of the smaller players on the tour circuit, and thus, similar to Spain’s David Ferrer adopts a groundstroke attacking play as opposed to the likes of Cilic or Ivo Karlovic who simply out serve their opponents to win.

The progression of Asian tennis has been evident for the past few years in the women’s game more so in the

illustration: frank Kehoe

men’s game with former women’s world number two Li Na put Asia on the tennis map, with performances and victories in big tournaments such as the Australian Open and the French Open. However, Nishikori has been the answer to his native Japan’s long wait for a successful tennis player, and became the first Japanese player to ever reach a Grand Slam final after beating Djokovic. Similarly to Federer however, Nishikori fell victim to the ferocious speed of Cilic’s serving game, to give the Croat his first major title.

The year cannot be reviewed without noting the incredible achievement of Rafael Nadal, who won his beloved French Open tournament at Roland Garros for the ninth time in 10 attempts.

With many experts believing that

Nadal’s unique adoption of a top-spin game as well as his speed around the court, means that anyone trying to out-hit him will fail

Djokovic would eventually stop the Spaniard in Paris this year, Nadal once again pulled out some magic performances, including in the final, where he beat Djokovic in four sets.

The Spaniard’s superior fitness on the tennis circuit as well as his tennis style, underpinned by a heavy use of top-spin which is helped by the nature of how high the ball bounces up off the clay, has made beating Nadal at Roland Garros an incredibly hard task. To emphasise this, only one man-Swede Robin Soderling, has ever accomplished this. Despite any form that the reigning Wimbledon champion Djokovic brings into the French open, the style of play on clay courts is very different to playing on hard court or grass-these surfaces favour a much faster tempo of game and helps big servers and players that hit a flatter-ball. Nadal’s unique

adoption of a top-spin game as well as his speed around the court, means that anyone trying to out-hit him will fail because the clay slows the ball, and anyone trying to beat him going stroke for stroke will fail because of the ruthless top-spin he gets on the ball, helped by his very wristorientated style of left-handed play.

Overall, the year has been as exciting as ever, with the ATP Tour Finals still to come. I would ignore any whisperings of Federer getting too old to compete for these titles, and would give him just as much of a chance as Djokovic or Nadal of winning in London. With the world’s best continuing to prove their worth, and with many others from the world’s top 10 starting to box at the same weight as them, 2015 is a year that no tennis fan should dare to miss.

THE DYING ART OF STRIKE PARTNERSHIPS Once a consistent feature of many of Europe’s most successful teams, strike partnerships are becoming harder to find, as Niall Hanton writes When you look through many of the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga top sides there seems to be a growing trend to play a lone striker upfront. If you were picking 11 players to play on a Sunday morning with friends you would go for 4-4-2 formation without a second thought. However, teams setting up today are no longer rigidly abiding by the law of 4-4-2, opting regularly to play one forward and trying to dominate possession in the middle of the pitch.

Any Manchester United fan remembers the excitement of watching Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke link up with one another. It came instinctively to them and it was one of the highlights of the treble winning season of 1998/99.

They scored 53 goals between them that season and it was a joy to witness the movement, touches and the chemistry that occurred when these two charismatic players combined. However, this sort of partnership is not present in the English top flight this season.

Even looking back at last season, Liverpool had the ‘SAS’ duo of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.

They were almost unstoppable with their individual pace and technical ability mixed with their positioning and clever link-up play. Between them the pair scored 55 goals and but for a lack of quality in defence (and a slip from Steven Gerrard) they could, and maybe should, have won their first ever Premier League title. However, with Suarez gone to FC Barcelona they no longer possess a strike partnership to match what they had last season.

Elsewhere, Chelsea now have Diego Costa to play upfront on his own with support from attacking midfielders such as Eden Hazard.

Arsenal have struggled to find two main strikers to remain fit for a decent run of matches and Manchester City tend to play either Aguero or Edin Dzeko in big games

18 october 28th 2014

but rarely the two on a consistent basis. Manchester United have three world class forwards in Rooney, Falcao and Van Persie, but few would consider them to have developed an understanding of each other’s game yet. However, this is not just a feature of English football, in Spain, Ronaldo and Messi have run the show for the last few seasons with their individual brilliance.

So what is the reason for the almost sudden decline of strike partnerships? It is impossible to blame one element of the game but a combination of factors such as transfers, money, Jose Mourinho and Spanish football have all played their part in a lone striker now being a popular choice for managers, particularly in big European ties.

It is becoming very rare in the modern game now for a player to remain at a club for his whole career, or even for several consecutive seasons. Recently AS Roma striker, Francesco Totti expertly slotted home a goal against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. Totti has been at Roma since 1989. However, one of the consequences of the dramatic rise in transfer fees for footballers is that teams are now taking time to build up a solid squad, and as strikers become more in tune with each other’s style of play as a result of this building, teams often get the best out of these players. For example, Newcastle’s best run of form in years occurred at a time when Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé were both playing up front together during the 2011/2012 season.

Both players have similar playing styles and played off one another to score 29 goals, helping Newcastle have their best campaign in years finishing 5th and qualifying for the Europa League. However, during the next season this partnership was broken-up when Newcastle continued their pattern of selling off their top players with Chelsea

swooping in to buy Ba. Since then, Newcastle have yet to come close to repeating the form of that season.

One of the reasons why Arsenal were so successful in the late 90s and after the turn of the century was because they had two world class strikers consistently in their squad, Thierry Henry and Denis Bergkamp. Henry scored 226 goals for Arsenal over eight seasons whilst Bergkamp netted 120 times for the Gunners. The apparent telepathy between these two prodigies was a catalyst for a string of successful seasons for Arsenal, including three Premier League titles and an unbeaten season. Since then,

without a replication of any such strike partnerships, Arsenal have struggled to imitate this dominance.

Jose Mourinho coming onto the football scene has massively impacted on formations in football.

He has always favoured a more defensive team set-up, particularly in relation to Champions League matches and rarely plays two out-right strikers upfront. His Inter Milan side were set-up in the 2010 Champions League final against Bayern Munich to counter-attack.

They let Munich have most of the possession but defended well and Diego Milito scored twice on the break. Barcelona and the Spanish

national side have also had a lot of influence over playing styles and formation in world football over the last seven years or so. Barcelona’s “tiki-taka” style of play puts a lot of emphasis on ball retention. Under the then manager Pep Guardiola, we watched on as midfielders such as Iniesta and Xavi kept possession with short quick passing, often sideways and backwards, in order to tire out the opposition and wait for one chance to fall to the clinical Lionel Messi. The Spanish national side really dealt the idea of strike partnerships a blow in the European Championships in 2012 when they lined-up in some

matches without a recognised striker.

The game has changed dramatically over the last ten years and will perhaps continue to evolve in the coming years. Big knock-out club games in Europe are extremely tactical affairs nowadays with big money to be gained by progressing in the competitions. With this in mind managers are reluctant to throw caution to the wind and attack, especially when playing away from home. For the moment however, we will just have to live in hope that a new strike partnership is allowed to develop to excite us once more.

sport

Crime and Punishment

In the wake of the suspension handed down to Ben Flower for his actions in the Super League Grand Final, Fergus Carroll examines sport’s notorious bans, and asks whether the punishment fits the crime The scenes that saw Wigan’s Ben Flower sent off in the Super League Grand Final have been broadcast around the world with the evidence against Flower damning.

Video footage clearly shows Flower retaliating to a cheap shot from St. Helens’ Lance Hohaia with two punches of his own, the later particularly brutal as Flower followed the out-cold St. Helens man to the ground where he struck his eye.

The Rugby Football League has taken swift action and suspended Flower for six months, or thirteen games, and penalised him £300.

Despite the suspension equating to the second longest suspension handed out in League and the looming possibility that Flower could face criminal prosecution, there have been many suggestions that the ban was too lenient.

This incident comes as Luis Suarez’s four month ban for biting Georgio Chiellini comes to an end in time for El Clásico. It is true that Suarez had courted controversy before the transgression that brought a premature end to his World Cup campaign but when both his and Flower’s cases are viewed in tandem, it can be debated whether Flower’s brutal punches were only worth two months more in seriousness compared to Suarez and his third bite? When discussing sports suspensions that appear harsh, it is perhaps best not to use the case of Luis Suarez, who most likely lost the last of his public sympathy after his second recorded bite during a Premier League match in 2013. However, there are many examples across sport to further highlight this point.

Rio Ferdinand may not be as polarising a figure as Luis Suarez, but he is not far behind. Only this month the QPR man was charged with misconduct by the FA for using offensive language on Twitter.

However, this was was not Ferdinand’s first run in with footballing authorities. In 2003, Ferdinand left Manchester United’s training grounds without taking a scheduled drugs

test. Despite claiming that he had simply forgotten, and passing the rescheduled test the next day, the FA handed down an eight month suspension to Ferdinand. One year later, Adrian Mutu received a seven month suspension after failing a test for cocaine. Moreover, the mercurial Frenchman Eric Cantona was given one month more than Ferdinand, and 120 hours of community service for his notorious Kung-Fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan in 1995 after responding to heckles from the crowd upon his sending off. Perhaps it is overly simplistic to take these events and view them on a comparative level, but there does appear to be a certain level of disparity in the suspensions handed out compared to the offence committed.

A more recent example of irregularity in sporting officiating can be seen in the United States this past summer and the Ray Rice scandal. In February, TMZ released video footage of the Baltimore Ravens dragging his unconscious fiancée, who he had struck, out of an elevator of a casino in New Jersey. The criminal charges resulting from the incident were eventually dropped, the NFL initially suspended Rice for two matches despite widespread claims of leniency. It was only when the footage from within the elevator was released and Rice shown brutally hitting his now wife that the NFL were forced to backtrack and suspend Rice indefinitely and the Baltimore Ravens terminated his contract. The Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, was subject to widespread media criticism for his handling of the saga, and the journalist Bill Simmons found himself suspended three weeks, one more than Rice’s initial suspension, by ESPN for comments he made about Goodell.

If there is any solace that Goodell can take from the Ray Rice scandal, it is that only one player from his league was involved in the incident.

One decade earlier, US sports were rocked by a scandal that reached similar, if not greater coverage from

Cheating is just as commonplace in sport as it is in other walks of life, though the penalties it carries in this arena vary dramatically

the bleachers struck him, he charged into the crowd, and was quickly followed by teammates. Artest was suspended for a total of eighty-six games and was fined approximately $5 Million for his actions and the general consensus was that the severity of the punishment was justified by his role in the brawl.

Cheating is just as commonplace in sport as it is in other walks of life, though the penalties it carries in this arena vary dramatically.

Lance Armstrong is one high profile athlete to receive a lifetime ban for doping, but the sentence was only handed out following the conclusion of his ‘comeback’ and will offer little to the, admittedly few, cyclists who competed clean during his

era in the sport. What then of the dopers who return to sport? 100m runner Justin Gatlin has served two bans for doping but after his most recent comeback has set record for fastest sprint times by a man in his thirties. His presence in the sport is hardly positive, and recently the University of Oslo presented research suggesting athletes could still be benefitting from doping even after their bans have ended.

Ben Flower is not the first athlete to break the rules, and nor will he be the last. However, this case does once again bring to light the disparity that exists between sports bans and the ability of sporting bodies to hand out reasoned judgements in these cases.

With Halloween fast approaching and November just around the corner, the Badger only has a few more rants left before the ice-cold winter hibernation is upon us. Speaking of ice-cold…

Roy Keane. Everyone knows that Roy Keane is like a bad rash, and the more you itch a rash, the worse it gets. Keane likes to pick out the worst aspects of every situations and while most people view life with a glass half-full, Keane’s glass is nearly always empty. So, weren’t we all delighted to hear of the arrival of Keane’s new autobiography, The Second Half.

The main motive behind the publishing of the book was Keane’s unwillingness to sit idle and take the abuse of Sir Alex Ferguson, who was as vociferous as ever about Keane in his own autobiography published last year. So, considering Keane likes to rant regardless of how

positive a situation is, now, given an excuse to hit back at Ferguson, Keane’s book is essentially like reading the near-300 page diary of a girl going through her period.

As Keane slams many teammates, opponents and especially former managers, the book is a mood killer for even the most positive person deluded enough to pay for it in a shop. An excerpt from the book in relation to Keane attempting to sign Robbie Savage epitomises his need for perfection and his unnecessary yet inherent need to nit-pick any situation. Keane noted: “Robbie’s legs were going a bit but I thought he might come up to us [at Sunderland], with his long hair, and give us a lift. Sparky (Mark Hughes) gave me permission to give him a call. So I got Robbie’s mobile number and rang him. It went to his voicemail: ‘Hi, it’s Robbie – whazzup!’ like the Budweiser ad. I

never called him back. I thought: ‘I can’t be f**king signing that.’”

He also referred to his progressively frosty relationship with former team-mate Dwight Yorke; “Yorke was probably my best signing, [but] he took his eye off the ball once or twice, and I left him on the bench,” stated Keane, who often made him train with the reserves. “Maybe I should have pulled him aside and said, ‘Yorkie, come on – pull your finger out’.” On leaving Wearside, the crumbling of their relationship became evident. “A few days after I left Sunderland, Yorkie text me: “All the best”, he said. I texted him back: ‘Go fu** yourself’.” Standard response from the Cork man.

With winter hibernation around the corner for the Badger, the Badger would love if Roy Keane also took a hibernation. Not a winter one, just a lifelong hibernation, and never comes back.

UCD Graduate Sports Scholarships

the media and resulted in nine NBA players being handed bans totalling 146 games and being fined $11 million dollars in salary. The episode in question was the notorious ‘Malice in the Palace’, when an on-court flight spilled into the bleachers and resulted in a massive brawl between players and fans. It is perhaps inconceivable to imagine that a man who took the name Metta World Peace, and who is currently in the process of changing it again to The Pandas’ Friend could be the instigator of such an event, but the artist formerly known as Ron Artest played a central role to the Pacers-Pistons brawl. His hard foul in the dying moments of the game began the initial melee on the court and after a cup thrown from

The badger Winter comes early for the Badger, as he looks at the highlights of Roy Keane’s frosty new autobiography

Sports Digest David Corscadden Fencing

Cycling

Basketball

GAA

The Irish Intermediate competition took place in the UCD Sports Centre on 11th and 12th of October. The competition, which saw entries from around the country, is a junior competition for fencers who have not come first in any senior event before. Of the three different categories contested during the event, UCD was well represented with 12 students taking part. Of those 12, two left the competition with trophies. Igor Brigadir took first place in Men’s Sabre competition while Aoife O’Mahony took third place in Women’s Epee.

A contingent from the UCD Fencing team were also in action this weekend at the West of Ireland Open which took place in NUI Galway. (At the time of going to print no results had been announced from the competition.)

UCD Cycling Club won the Spirit Skoda Intervarsity RR Championships on 11th of October bring to a close the club’s most successful season to date. In the main race at the event both first and second place were claimed by UCD students. Ireland’s number one ranked A1 rider, Sean McKenna claimed the gold medal and he was followed closely behind by his teammate Jamie Noone. Third place was claimed by DIT’s Craig Arrigan.

UCD were also well represented within the women’s race at the event with Niamh Stephens out-performing her competition to take home gold.

UCD also came out victorious in the team race taking first place.

UCD Marian claimed their first win of the season, beating Templeogue by a margin of 23 points overall at fulltime. The game which took place in the UCD Sports Centre on Saturday 18th October left UCD Marian with one win and one loss in the season so far. The game, which resulted in a full-time score of 79-56, marked an improvement in the performance of the team since following two narrow defeats by Killester and Dublin Inter in previous weeks. They followed up the victory this Saturday 25th with a 67-65 road win against Belfast Star. Preston Ross III top scored with 21 for UCD Marian. These two victories leave UCD third place in the Men’s Premier League.

The UCD International Ladies GAA team made history by competing in the 2014 Fexco Asian Gaelic Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The team, sponsored by ESB International, Bank of Ireland and O’Neills, was made up of 12 non-Irish students from UCD and were coached by Brian Mullins. The team, many of who had not played GAA competitively before, secured a semi-final finish in a competition which saw 48 teams made up of 530 players from 24 different nationalities.

The UCD team had a successful first day at the tournament winning three out of their four games. The second day proved harder and, while they won one game to get them into the semi-finals, they were knocked out of the competition by Taiwan. The UCD Team’s success at the games was topped off with an All-Star Award for American student Aisling Kerr on the final night of the competition.

The UCD Graduate Sports Scholarships for 2014 have been announced by UCD Sport and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. In total four recipients were named in the inaugural scholarships.

The recipients of the awards were Matthew Hanlon (Wexford Senior Hurling caption and UCD Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup Player), Stephen Murphy (UCD Rugby 1st XV player), Joseph Lyng (Kilkenny Senior Hurling Panellist and UCD Fitzgibbon Cup player) and Gordon Frayne (UCD Rugby 1st XV player).

The scholorships are designed to allow students competing at a national and international level to pursue a graduate course in UCD at the same time. As well as a number of sporting supports put in place for the recepients, they are also awarded

October 28th 2014

sport

UCD AFC survive to play another day Ciarán Sweeney

conor cannon beats the defence. Photo james brady

UCD AFC: 1 Drogheda United: 0 The nearer the end of the season comes, the more important the matches become and with teams down the bottom of the table fighting for survival, it can often come down to a case of which team wants it more. With Athlone Town breathing down the necks of UCD at the foot of the SSE Airtricity League, College boss Aaron Callaghan would have breathed a huge sigh of relief when UCD overcame Derry City last week and kept their survival in sight.

A week on from that game, and with Drogheda already safe, the pressure was on UCD to make this game count. Despite the heightened significance of this game for the college, their performance was often stale and lacking any real bite to it, particularly in the early stages of the first half. The long season looked to be taking a toll on some of the UCD players, and a lethargic performance to start the game from the College gave the home support little to cheer about, and it was the away fans who were making all of the noise for the first half an hour.

With not much action in the first few minutes, a Robbie Creevy strike

was the first test for Drogheda keeper Dylan Connolly, but the chance proved to merely warm up the keeper rather than test him. Two further shots were to come for College in the next six minutes, another from Creevy was sliced wide and a free-kick from 25 yards out for UCD, after some good running from midfield by Robbie Benson, was also scuffed wide.

With a quarter of an hour of the game gone, Benson, trying to lead from the front with a captain’s performance, alongside Gary Burke and Samir Belhout were the only three UCD players showing any signs of life. One of the reasons why these two sides are at the wrong end of the table at this stage of the season is their inability to retain possession for more than three or four passes. With mild conditions and a dry pitch, there were no excuses for some of the terribly misplaced passes from both teams early on. One dispossession or interception led to another in the early exchanges, as the sluggish start to the final game of the season for the College continued.

As the home fans started chanting “we are staying up” with half an

hour gone to try and instill some life into the team, captain Robbie Benson was doing the same from the pitch, leading by example with some hard running deep from midfield, creating space and chances for UCD. After missing a free-kick narrowly over the bar, Benson then made another good run from midfield and was proving to be a handful to defend against for Drogheda.

With UCD slowly starting to move up a gear, the dynamic of the game changed when the home side made their pressure count and broke the deadlock through striker Conor Cannon. The move started down the left wing through Gary Burke, who played the ball back for Timmy Molloy. Molloy’s cross was sublime, finding the feet of Cannon perfectly. Cannon, using his strength to hold of the Drogheda centre-backs, then turned onto his preferred left foot and from an awkward angle, drilled a low hard shot, across the body of Dylan Connolly into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0 UCD after 39 minutes.

With six minutes left of the first half, both sides spurned glorious opportunities. The first came from Drogheda, who were given the chance to equalise when a long

ball was launched up the pitch, which was knocked down into the path of Gary O’Neill, but as O’Neill got his shot away, UCD goalkeeper Conor O’Donnell rushed out and made himself big to block the shot.

On the stroke of half-time however, it should have been 2-0 after UCD’s best spell of possession in the game so far. Having picked up the ball on the right wing, Samir Belhout crossed it in for Cannon, who laid the ball off for Gareth Matthews. Matthews played a first time ball to Benson, who found space in the box after a smart one-two interplay with Cannon, however the captain couldn’t get the ball out of his feet from 6 yards, and Connolly scrambled out of the Drogheda goal to collect the ball conclude the first half.

It took 10 minutes for the first real chance of the second half and again Benson was the driving force behind it. Picking the ball up from inside his own half, Benson ran at the United defence until reaching the box, where screams of a penalty from the home side were waved away by referee Paul Tuite after Benson went down. The ball eventually fell to Belhout, whose low, driven shot rattled the bottom of the post.

Another good chance came from another moment of brilliance from Cannon. Having held the play up well for UCD, Cannon was released by Burke. He drifted past Alan McNally at centre-back for Drogheda, and drilled a low shot at a tight angle at Connolly, who got down well at his near post to deny Cannon his brace.

Half chances for both sides were squandered and in the 85th minute, Drogheda passed up their best chance of the match. Another long ball up the pitch for United was headed down by O’Neill into the path of midfielder Gavan Holohan, and from inside the box, his shot was superbly saved by the ever reliable O’Donnell between the posts for UCD. With only seconds on the clock in injury time, Drogheda then passed up another golden opportunity for an equaliser, as O’Neill played a low cross from the right into Michael Daly, but his volley from 10 yards out was ballooned over the bar in the final minute.

To survive in this league, teams need to ride their luck sometimes and UCD have done that not only in this game, where on another day, Drogheda would have buried their chances, but also throughout the season. However, with Athlone

only managing a draw against Bray Wanderers, UCD have ensured a relegation-promotion two-legged play-off with Galway FC starting on Monday. If UCD can show the hunger over these two legs that they showed glimpses of in this game, if Benson can lead by a captain’s example again and if Cannon can be as clinical as ever, I have no doubt that we will be seeing College back in the SSE Airtricity again next season.

UCD AFC 1 Conor O’Donnell 2 Gareth Matthews 3 Mark Langtry 4 Ian Ryan 7 Gary Burke 8 Robbie Creevy 9 Dean Clarke 10 Robert Benson 12 Timmy Molloy 22 Samir Belhout 24 Conor Cannon

DROGHEDA UTD 40 Dylan Connolly 2 Michael Daly 3 Shane Grimes 5 Alan McNally 8 Gavin Holohan 10 Gary O’Neill 12 Ciarán McGuigan 13 Stephen Maher 14 Carl Walsh 18 Dáire Doyle 19 Declan O’Brien

Reserves 5 Tomás Boyle 13 Daniel Tobin 15 Sean Coyne 16 Niall Corbett 17 Colm Crowe 25 Greg Sloggett

Reserves 16 Micheál Shlingermann 4 Paul Andrews 6 Paul Crowley 7 Cathal Brady 24 Roy Kierans 26 Garreth Brady 27 Adam Wixted

Substitutions Daniel Tobin on for Mark Langtry: 57th minute Colm Crowe on for Samir Belhout: 83rd minute Greg Sloggett on for Conor Cannon: 85th minute

Substitutions Paul Crowley on for Stephen Maher: 65th minute Cathal Brady on for Declan O’Brien: 65th minute Paul Andrews on for Dáire Doyle: 83rd minute

Captain’s blog: ucd women’s hockey With the Women’s hockey team enjoying a very successful season last year, and with this year’s season up and running again, Ciarán Sweeney talks to captain Katie Mullan about the start UCD have made to the new season and the year to come You enjoyed a fantastic season in 2014, winning the Irish Senior Cup, the Irish Hockey League, the Leinster League and the University Championships.

Will that go down as one of UCD Hockey’s most successful seasons and how do you motivate the team going forward?

It was definitely our most successful season. We won everything we could.

I think the hunger is there in the team to go out and win again and it’s not necessarily at this stage about winning the cups, it’s about motivating the girls to win each game. It’s not about how successful we’re going to be at this point next season, it’s just about going out and winning every game that we play.

You play for both the UCD team and the Irish team. Would you approach an Ireland game differently to how you would approach a UCD game?

It’s a different mindset, but you go out, whether it’s Ireland or UCD, to win and to play well, but it’s different individually in terms of our roles on the team. For UCD, the international players would have to step up to the mark and show their experience and pass on their knowledge to the less experienced players. But in terms of how a game is approached, they are both approached with the same thought and preparation.

Photo: The ucd Women’s hockey team celebrating last year’s senior cup win

Is it hard to keep the team in the present and approach each game one at a time?

Yeah, when you’re going out against a team that maybe we didn’t have a tough game against last year, it’s hard to re-motivate the team but it’s something we do every Saturday. We all come together and when it comes to crunch time and we always seem to step up to the mark.

You started off the season with two wins again Ards, one in the IHL and the other in the Irish Senior Cup, how important was it to get off to such a good start to this season, to keep up the momentum from last season?

Very important. Ards would be one of the strongest teams in the country at the minute and they beat us a couple of years ago in the IHL. So it was a potential banana skin as it

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was the start of the season. I think that everyone knows when it comes to the IHL or the Irish Senior Cup, it’s anyone’s game on the day and it has to be the better team on the day that will win. Nothing better than that will get you through.

As a result of winning the IHL last year, your team are going out to Bilthoven in the Netherlands to play in the EHCCC in April. What exactly is that tournament and what others teams are playing in it?

The EHCCC is the European competition that teams qualify for by winning their domestic league. So because we won the IHL last year, we qualified for the Europeans’ this year. This is the second time an Irish team will go to the top division in

Europe, normally what happens is an Irish team would float around the B division. However, last year Railway went and they did well enough in order to keep us in the top division. So now we are going over to play against essentially the best club teams in Europe. The teams from Netherlands, Germany and the UK will all compete. It’ll be a far superior competition that anything we’ve done before. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us but we’re very excited for it.

Where do Ireland fit in at the moment on a global or European scale compared to countries like Belgium?

In Holland and Belgium there’s huge amounts of money in sport which we unfortunately don’t have

in Ireland and definitely in club hockey there would be a huge gap.

But international-wise we’ve managed to close that down. There is a huge difference between club hockey in Belgium and here purely because of the money. They’re able to bring players in from overseas and promise them things that aren’t available in Ireland.

What’s the key to being a successful captain for this season?

I don’t know about being successful just yet! There is as I said a lot of experience in UCD so while I may be the named captain there are a lot of wise experienced heads on the squad which makes life a lot easier for me.

The key ingredient is to make sure we can get the best out of the team in every performance each Saturday. It

is often hard with so many of us away training with the national squad, but it’s just about motivating them to go out and play for UCD and to go out and play as a team every Saturday.

In your opinion, what is the key ingredient behind the recent success of the team?

I think a lot of teams used to look at college teams and think they had a lack of experience but I think, as a squad, we all have experience of playing top standard hockey. Although there’s not really the age difference, there is a difference in experience on the team and I think that’s shone through in the last few years. Teams haven’t been able to push us off the ball or walk through us because we’ve been that bit tougher and stronger than college teams used to be in the past.

How tough is it to combine Hockey at such a high standard with a college course?

It’s very tough. There are times when you do struggle and you just want to throw the towel in, but it’s worth it for the days you win and when you’re playing alongside your best mates or people you’re in college with every day. So it’s definitely hard to balance, but a huge thing is that there are so many of us doing it that we spur each other on.

What are the team’s aspirations for the next season?

I definitely think that we are as good if not better than last season so there is no reason why we shouldn’t have the same success. Hopefully we’ll put ourselves on the map in Europe and get other club sides in Europe to start taking Irish club sides more seriously and give them more respect.