VoL XXII - Issue 8 - Broadsheet

uo

Newspaper of the year 2016

The University Observer

above UCD STUDENT LATE FOR CLASS; COINCIDENTLY RAISES MONEY FOR CHARITY PHOTO James Healy

BATTLING SAME SEX HATE HAS RECENT PROGRESS BEEN ENOUGH?

END OF YEAR REVIEW WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR IN UCD AND THE SU

ANOTHER WIN FOR UCD A LOOK AT UCD’S VICTORY OVER SHELBOURNe FC

HELEN CARROLL P5

Patrick kelleher P12

DAVID KENT P28

New UCD hall signals end to RDS exams Gráinne Loughran UCD is planning to build a specially-designated exam centre on campus within the next five years, according to UCD Students’ Union Education Officer Dannii Curtis.

The exam centre will mean that students will no longer be required to travel to the RDS for end of semester exams.

According to Curtis, the building will likely be a multiamenity building that may host a full-sized basketball court, something that UCD currently lacks. “The idea is it’d be, say, a massive sports centre and used for different events throughout the year, but then come exam periods it would just be an RDS empty exam hall… They think that it’ll be

Poetry and Fiction Submissions of poetry and fiction from UCD students

otwo p14 & p15 a multi-amenities building so it won’t just be for exams, and it’ll also bring probably a lot of conferences into UCD just for booking the venue… they’re pushing for having a big basketball arena on campus and it’s something that’ll hopefully be produced over the next five years,” she said.

According to Curtis the idea came about from a committee that was set up by the Registrar, Professor Mark Rogers, and the University Management Team (UMT) for Education to review whether UCD needed to rent the RDS for end of semester exams or whether they could be held on-site. If the plans go ahead, they could mean that UCD

Changes to SUSI Grant to make system more accessible The criteria for receiving the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant are set to be extended, allowing students to earn up to €700 more in holiday pay without it affecting their chances of receiving the grant. Currently students can earn €3,809 in holiday income without it being added to the total calculated family income when grant eligibility is calculated. This has now increased to €4,500.

The announcement comes as grant applications open two weeks earlier than before on April 5th.

It is also expected to be more flexible, particularly for returning or mature students. Students who had previously returned to higher education after failing to finish a degree were financially penalised. Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan notes that “The new scheme will support mature students who do not complete their programme in higher education to return to either further or higher education, after a break of five years, without incurring any financial penalties.”

The organisation expects that the earlier open date coupled with greater data-sharing between government agencies will help it to process more applications.

April 19th 2016 Volume XXIi issue 8 universityobserver.ie

Last year they managed to process 108,000 and awarded in excess of 83,000 grants.

This year they hope to process at least 110,000. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible to prevent delays in payment in September.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) welcomed the move, with President Kevin Donoghue saying “Earning money in part-time or summer jobs empowers students and makes them feel more selfsufficient and independent. The increase in the level of holiday wages a student can earn is a positive step forward in higher education and social mobility.”

The changes are a part of the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015–2019, including a change in the criteria in the special rate maintenance grant.

Donoghue also notes that the change in holiday pay restrictions could see students earning up to €700 more a year. He claimed that it is “a huge amount for students. It could be a rent deposit for some or ease the cost of student living for others. USI welcomes these changes because the

would have the facility to hold in-semester repeat examinations and that final year students who have failed an exam in May could repeat or remediate it before their graduation.

Curtis also said that the on-site exam centre could “drive down repeat fees significantly” for students.

“They were phasing out compensation and now they’ve fully phased out compensation and done a review, so now UCD are open to having a conversation about their repeat and resit fees, which is really exciting.”

Information obtained by the University Observer

Roisin GuyettNicholson

News Editor more funding that goes into student support grant, the more young people who can afford to go to college.”

The increase also follows a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report last September that indicated a significant growth in the number of expected students in higher education. The figure is set to increase by almost 25,000 by 2024.

The announcement comes as the Department of Education confirm that they will not respond to the Cassels’ report on Higher Education Funding until after a government is formed. The report was delivered to the department in mid-March and has not been published yet. However, a draft has been leaked which suggests that the current system of funding cannot be continued.

Applications for the SUSI 2016/2017 grant close on 6th June for renewal applicants and 8th July for first time applicants. More information can be found at www.susi.ie

under the Freedom of Information Act recently revealed that UCD took in over €1.8 million in exam repeat fees last year.

UCD SU President Marcus O’Halloran said that he did not think that the new centre would reduce repeat fees. “I honestly would not say that the repeat fees are going to drop when we go about bringing exams on campus,” he said. “If a new hall is built at the end of the Student Centre or Sports Centre that has an exam hall in it, the reality of it is, what that’s going to cost is going to be the same price as 10

or 15, 20 years of the cost of rental. So there’s payments that’ll have to be made and by the time that conversation comes around, with inflation and everything, that’s just not going to be a option. I just don’t see exam repeat fees coming down.”

Conversations are currently ongoing about how to fund the project. “They set up a committee that will be the campus development reviewing plans. It’s just getting it written into the campus development and, like everything in UCD, getting sponsorship for it, so getting different bodies to buy into it,” says Curtis.

ALL TVVINS INTERVIEW WITH THE INDIE SENSATIONS ALL TVVINS

ADAM LAWLER Otwo P18

UCDSU raise over €100,000 for youth suicide prevention Roisin Guyett-Nicholson UCD Students’ Union have raised over €100,000 so far this year in aid of Youth Suicide Prevention Ireland (YSPI). The charity receives no government funding and is reliant on drives such as this to run. Most of the funds raised were in aid of the skydive which was launched earlier this year.

581 UCD students signed up to take part in the skydive, the first group of which took place earlier this week. UCDSU have stated that they will continue to fundraise until the amount raised reaches €150,000.

As a result of the fundraising a new service will be piloted in secondary schools around the country called Free2Talk, which is YSPI’s new crisis counselling service. This would provide 50 minutes of free counselling either face to face or online. UCDSU’s fundraising efforts will also go towards providing 100 sessions of counselling a week through YSPI in secondary schools.

Around 130 third level students die by suicide each year. Alongside the skydive,

events held by UCDSU to raise funds included a drag race and selling naked calendars.

These were sold across campus and by SU reps, with 450 left by mid-March.

Byrne explained: “The cost of the calendars was minimal so we’ve made a substantial amount off the calendars as well. One of them being my Granny trooping out getting a lot of sales made at bingo. So that, used as a fundraiser as well but the publicity gained that we got for it was really what we’re aiming for and to let people know that we’re doing.”

The calendars cost €10 each.

So far, 90 per cent of the funds raised have gone directly to YSPI, with €10,250 going towards the cost of fundraising. This is largely for the cost of the skydive.

This year has also seen increased pressure on the free counselling service offered by UCD Health Services. The waiting list for a counselling session is a number of weeks, with students who wait for a prolonged period of time being outsourced to Rathmines.

SUMMER’S A COMIN’

GET YOUR LIGHTER RAINJACKETS OUT LUCY COFFEY Otwo P27

EVANNA LYNCH

WE SPEAK TO THE YOUNG ACTOR ABOUT HER SUCCESS PATRICK KELLEHER Otwo P17

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News national news in brief Roisin Guyett-Nicholson

THREE IRISH UNIVERSITIES IN THE TOP 150 YOUNG INSTITUTIONS IN THE WORLD NUI Maynooth, University of Limerick and Dublin City University have all been named within the Times Higher Education rankings’ top 150 institutions under 50 years old. The list was dominated by Asian and European universities, with the Swiss institution École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne topping the list. Asian institutions in Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea also featured heavily in the top 10.

Of the Irish universities, Maynooth performed the best, coming in 68th place. DCU followed in 79th place and UL between 101st and 150th.

Australian universities also placed well, with the US and UK grip on the rankings challenged. Institutions based in the US and the UK tend to do well in rankings lists where older universities, such as Cambridge and Harvard, are included. The University of Aveiro in Portugal also placed 83rd, as non-traditional institutions made an impact. It shared this placement with University of Rovira i Virgili in Spain.

Teaching, international outlook, citations and research output were among the criteria used in finalising the list.

ACADEMIC GENDER QUOTAS INTRODUCED IN GALWAY

Religious participation particularly low at third level Roisin Guyett-Nicholson A Freedom of Information request by Atheist Ireland has revealed that very few students attend religious services at third level despite nearly €1.5 million being spent annually to employ chaplains.

In Cork Institute of Technology there are 12,000 students, but the average turnout for services is often as low as four. Similarly, in Sligo IT, which is attended by 6,000 students, around nine students regularly go to mass. In both cases, the chaplain is a Catholic priest who is paid between €49,000 and €50,000 a year.

The announcement comes after years of cutbacks to higher education, leading to some departments such as libraries being deemed severely underfunded. Atheist Ireland is campaigning for an end to publicly funded religious services, particularly at a time of higher education cutbacks.

Calls for an end to chaplaincies have been met with criticism as these departments also often offer advice to students. In UCD, the chaplaincy has often been

involved in events with the PleaseTalk society. They also offer a variety of Christian services, including Catholic and Methodist. Various prayer groups are also often part of their programme.

Many of these events are attended by members of the religious societies in UCD, such as Livingstones and the Newman Society.

Despite some of the criticisms levelled at religious services in third level, an Irish Times poll of 2,251 voters showed that 65 per cent still believed that chaplaincies should continue to be employed by colleges.

The figures come after the Education Equality movement was launched in December 2015. The organisation aims to end “all religious discrimination in State-funded schools.”

The group hope to prevent any preference for a single religion in school curriculums, instead advocating for a change in the constitution to remove grounds for a student to be refused a place in a school based on religious grounds.

PHOTO: THE UCD CHURCH

President Higgins: Universities Facing ‘Intellectual Crisis’

A report to be released next month

by NUI Galway is set to recommend gender quotas for positions in academia.

In the university, women hold over 50 per cent of ordinary lecturing positions, but this falls to 30 per cent at senior lecturer level and further again to 10 per cent at associate professor level.

Only 14 per cent of full professorships in NUIG are held by women.

The report was instigated last year after the university lost a landmark equality tribunal case against Dr Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington, granddaughter of the famous suffragette Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington.

Dr Sheehy-Skeffington welcomed the news, claiming that the situation for women in NUIG was “appalling”. She also claimed that the quotas should be applied beyond just academic staff.

The quotas are proposed to work in a “cascade approach.” The fulfilment of their gender equality commitments should come from promoting women who are eligible for promotion from a grade below. The proposal would see 40 per cent women on committees and working groups within the university by the end of the year. This is proposed to reach 50 per cent by the end of 2018.

This follows the case taken by Sheehy-Skeffington. It was ruled that she was passed over unfairly for promotion.

It is hoped that the quotas rolled out in Galway may be successfully rolled out in other universities. In UCD, the situation is similar with women holding significantly fewer professorships.

EITHNE DODD

President Michael D Higgins has said universities are facing an “intellectual crisis”.

The President said that the increased pressure of the labour market has led to a negative impact on universities.

Speaking at the annual conference of the European Universities Association held in NUI Galway, Mr Higgins gave a 40 minute address in which he said that the quality of scholars produced across Europe was under threat due to the increased focus on producing graduates solely for gaining employment.

“We must first recognise that we live at a time when the language and rhetoric of the speculative market has become embedded in the educational culture,” Mr Higgins said. “That reductive view has brought us, I believe, to a time of great questioning

UCC PRESIDENT DEFENDS ACADEMIC SELECTION PROCESS The President of University College Cork (UCC) has defended the selection process used in making appointments for the Department of Business. In a case brought by Dr Joan Buckley, the claim was made that the selection process for 10 professorial positions was “tainted” and “flawed”. Dr Buckley brought the case after the university failed to shortlist her for any of these positions.

UCC President Dr Michael Murphy criticised the claims, saying that it was outrageous to make these claims with no evidence. He explained that the reason that Dr Buckley had not been shortlisted was because her research record had not reached the international level required for a professor position.

Dr Buckley is a senior lecturer in marketing and head of Department of Management and Marketing in UCC. She has worked with the department since the 1990s. She described her lack of promotion as “inexplicable”.

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about the purpose of the university – much of which has been corrosive – and perhaps even to a moment of intellectual crisis.”

Mr Higgins said any abandonment or relegation of the humanities in universities would be a “betrayal of the purpose of education,” and would be seen as such by future generations.

Future generations must be provided with an “intellectual infrastructure” by universities and not simply be centres of economic production.

“If we wish to develop independent thinkers and questioning, engaged citizens, our universities must, while providing excellence in professional training, avoid an emphasis that is solely or exclusivity on that which is measurable and is demanded by short-term outcomes,” he said.

He also commented on the future of third level funding, something which

is being considered within government as the Cassells’ report on higher education funding was presented in March.

“Universities must surely be facilitated and supported, made free and funded, so that they may preserve their role as special places for the generation of alternatives in science, culture and philosophy.”

“They must be allowed to flourish as spaces which develop that intellectual courage which allows the rejection of exclusive or excluding ideologies, and encourages the seeking of truth from fact and the production of alternative solutions and action.”

“Fostering the capacity to dissent is another core function of the university.

Third-level scholarship has always had, and must retain, a crucial role in creating a society in which the critical exploration of alternatives

to any prevailing hegemony is encouraged.”

Mr Higgins said we should not view universities as places to teach people to enact specific roles in the labour market. He said that this compromised universities as places of creativity and analytical thinking. He further said that graduates who were capable of creative thinking would be valuable to workplaces as they would be able to bring different suggestions to solve complex problems.

“It is through the encouragement of creative and free thinking that our universities acquired their status in the past, and correctly claim it today as unique institutions that accept the responsibility of enabling and empowering citizens to participate fully and effectively at all levels of society,” he said.

UCC receives over €1.2 million in exam repeat fees Patrick Kelleher

University College Cork (UCC) received over €1.2 million euro in exam repeat fees during the 2014/15 academic year, the University Observer can reveal.

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that UCC collected €1,257,871 during the academic year.

These repeat fees came from 2,415 students who failed one module and the 1,530 students who failed more than one module.

The most failed module between 2014/15 was Introduction to Philosophy, of which 49 students failed. Other modules that had the highest failure

rates included Psychology as Science, Economic Decision Making and two introductory modules to sociology. Also included on the list of the most failed modules are two calculus modules, an Irish language module, software development and business law.

The University Observer recently released information obtained from UCD on exam repeat fees.

It was revealed that UCD received over €1.8 million in the same academic year in exam repeat fees.

When compared with UCD, UCC’s exam repeat fees are significantly less expensive. UCC charge

€35 per five credit module failed, and the total is capped at €245, according to the UCC Students’ Union website. This figure is in comparison to €230 per module in UCD, which is one of the highest repeat fees nationally – something that the University has come under criticism for in recent years.

While UCD received more money in repeat fees during the 2014/15 academic year, this is mostly attributable to the difference in student numbers. UCC has close to 20,000 students enrolled, while UCD has over 30,000.

UCC is one of Ireland’s largest universities, and is also one of the top universities globally, consistently featuring high in international rankings.

USI Call for a Change to Irish Education

Campus News in Brief

Roisin Guyett-Nicholson

Patrick Kelleher

At the Union of Students Ireland (USI) national conference in March, the union passed a motion to support a change in Irish education at primary, post-primary and third-level education. The Vice-President of the union for the Irish Language is set to work with a number of different Irish language organisations, teachers’ unions and teacher-training colleges to conduct a study on how the language is taught nationally.

The aim is that this will result in a report that “would set out a progressive, comprehensive, and multilateral strategy regarding the teaching of Irish at primary and post-primary level.”

Congress determined that there were “long-term failures” in how the language is taught.

They further noted there has been little collaborative effort to address the issue, questioning the impact this could have across the country.

USI President Kevin Donoghue also noted that much of the curriculum is focused on the written aspect of the language, something which he raised as an issue. “There needs to be more of an emphasis on the spoken language. Fluency is best reached through submersion, which is why we’re recommending all students

go to the gaeltacht. USI is concerned about the teaching of the Irish language at secondary level in Ireland and noted that many students believe that the Irish language is not “taught as a language” and that too much focus is put on literature instead of the oral practice.”

While Congress noted that there had recently been a change in the Leaving Certificate curriculum, it stated that this must be in conjunction with other language programmes. They particularly addressed the Common European Framework for Languages (CEF) in examining how languages should be taught, which provided guidelines as to the proficiency of language learners across Europe. It emphasised the importance of the oral side of a language for improving fluency.

USI said the changes in the Leaving Certificate that give a higher emphasis and ratio in the examination process on the spoken word and the changes in the teaching structure are going in the right direction, but need to be improved to be a more attractive subject to students.

Motions among unions for a change in primary and postprimary schools are not unusual.

At UCDSU council this year, motions have also been placed calling for the union to campaign for a change in how sex education

Cassells’ report not to be considered until government is formed

UCD Festival to take place this summer UCD’s inaugural festival is to take place again this summer on 18th June for alumni, staff (current and retired) and the UCD community.

The day will see a number of events taking place across campus, including spoken word events including a talk run by the School of English, Drama and Film called ‘Remembering Maeve’, where friends and contemporaries of the late Maeve Binchy will gather to host a reflective conversation on the author’s life. Other events on the day will include a ‘Women in Leadership’ talk from leading female UCD graduates, as well as ‘Ireland and the Economy’ – a School of Economics hosted event which will feature contributions from leading academics.

The day will also see other events taking place, including live performances throughout campus.

Included in this is a Dragon Dance performance, a traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture, and a Bollywood workshop. There will also be sporting activities such as a 5km run and a panel discussion on ‘Life After Sport’. There will be artisan food stalls throughout campus on the day as well.

Those interested in attending can register their interest on www.festival.ucd.ie UCD Relay for Life raise over €10,000 for the Irish Cancer Society UCD Relay for Life, which took place on Wednesday 13th April, has raised over €10,000 for the Irish Cancer Society. The final figure of the money raised will be announced in the coming week.

The relay took place over 24 hours with a number of events taking place, including a ‘Boy Band Hour’, a Malaysian Society performance, comedy performances, and a show from the Juggling Society. There was also a candle of hope ceremony. The

event continued throughout the night, with a Quidditch Match taking place at 4am and a Disney hour at 8am.

Up to 800 people took part in the event, which went ahead in Devlin Park with 53 teams. The 24 hour event was open to everyone who wanted to attend, however.

All money raised by the Relay goes directly to the Irish Cancer Society.

There are multiple relays for life across Ireland annually to raise funds for the charity, with colleges, towns and small communities running individual relays.

According to the Irish Cancer Society’s website, “Relay for Life is a 24 hour event that brings the whole community together to celebrate the lives of cancer survivors, remember those lost to the disease and fight back by increasing knowledge of cancer and raising money to fund vital research and services.”

Rás UCD takes place Rás UCD has taken place for the seventh year on Saturday 16th April.

The aim of the race is to raise money for UCD Volunteers Overseas, which sends students abroad to help with disadvantaged communities. All proceeds from this year’s Rás will go to the volunteers’ projects in Haiti, India, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Uganda.

The event entailed a 5km road race, and started at 10.30am on Saturday morning. Students paid €12 each to enter and non-students paid €15, with the first 500 who registered online getting a free t-shirt and goody bag.

The event was sponsored by Bord na Gaeilge, Bank of Ireland, Centra UCD and UCD Students’ Union. One of the main focuses of the race is its bilingual approach, and is described on its Facebook event page as “a unique bilingual event through English and Irish”.

The total amount raised has yet to be announced. Race times will also be made available shortly, however at the time of going to print, these had not been announced.

IN photo: PETER CASSELLS

by any of the political parties, before or after the election.

Leaked drafts of the report show that the current method of funding is unsustainable with a possible employer contribution option suggested.

This year the student contribution reached €3,000 and is set to stay this way for the foreseeable future.

Other forms of funding, such as free fees, similar to the Scottish model are likely to be ruled unfeasible.

The formation of a Technological University in the South East is also likely to be postponed until after a government is formed. A proposal to merge the Institute of Technology, Carlow (ITC) and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) has been developed since September 2015. The Technological Universities Bill, which would set out a framework for the implementation of the institution, was firstly debated by the Oireachtas in December 2015. However, the bill was at committee stage and had not yet been passed when the Dáil was dissolved in February.

international News in Brief Roisin Guyett-Nicholson

Roisin Guyett-Nicholson

The Department of Education has confirmed that the report on Higher Education Funding that was completed earlier this year will not be acted upon until a government has been formed.

A statement released on behalf of the Minister of Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, claimed “it is a matter for Cabinet to consider and agree its publication, along with any decision on the Government response to the report. It is appropriate that this be done by the incoming Government.”

The report was commissioned early last year, while the publication of the report has been pushed back a number of times. Last September Peter Cassells noted that it would be delivered by December 2015. However, the report was only presented to the Department of Education in March, after the general election. As a result there has been little discussion on higher education funding

News INDIA RELEASES FIRST UNIVERSITY RANKINGS Earlier this month the Indian government released its first ever rankings of higher education institutions. The list includes private and publicly funded colleges and evaluated 3,500 different institutions. Four different categories were used: research universities, engineering institutions, management institutions and pharmacy colleges.

The rankings were released at a press conference in New Delhi by Minister of Human Resource Development, Smitri Irani. The minister acknowledged that it was the first study of its kind and the first step to bridging the gap for Indian universities in international rankings, where they have historically performed poorly.

The aim behind the domestic rankings system is to push institutions to reach the criteria set out in international lists.

Minister Irani said that this ranking system gave greater transparency for citizens in considering institutions.

Criteria for this list included class sizes, student to permanent faculty ratio, the number of academic staff with PhDs and extra-curricular facilities.

The ministry also specified that there were criteria included specific to the Indian higher education landscape.

The university category was topped by the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, with the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai second. Institutes of Technology and institutes of management dominated in the engineering and management rankings.

DUKE UNIVERSITY PROTEST CONTINUES Students in Duke University North Carolina, USA, have occupied the administrative building in protest over workers’ rights. Nine students began occupying the waiting room of the office of the University President Richard Brodhead earlier this month. Their stated aims included the dismissal of three administrators and an increase in the college’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The sit-in began Friday April 1st with university officials refusing to negotiate by Monday 4th. They claim that negotiations could begin again if students left the administrative building, which was shut down. Students were threatened with both academic sanctions and criminal charges for trespassing.

The protest comes as a result of an incident two years ago between a member of the administrative staff, Tallman Trask III and a traffic attendant. There is an element of racial tension with the protests, as Trask allegedly used a racial slur against the attendant. He has since apologised for the incident.

Students have also criticised the university for not allowing campus workers to be included in negotiations, while officials from Duke claim that the campus minimum wage is $12 an hour, higher than the state minimum.

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO DEBATE BAN ON DAVID CAMERON

Centre of English are currently looking to hire Summer Activity Co-Ordinators (Yellow Shirts) for our Adult and Junior centres.

Minimum age - 20 Candidates must be out-going, personable and have a positive attitude to showing foreign students the best of Dublin.

Good sporting skills is an advantage for our Junior centres Irish dancing or an ability to play a musical instrument are also advantages Starting salary of €350 per week.

Please contact Barry @ dublinsocial@ces-schools.com

Students of Manchester University have submitted a motion to their students’ union calling to ban Prime Minister David Cameron from the campus.

They claim he violates “safe space” policy through his changes to junior doctor contracts. Conservative students have criticised the move, branding it a “ludicrous” move from the “loony left.”

The motion claims that Cameron’s government is “destroying the UK” and Europe, and that as a Tory politician he must be “lying” when he calls for a yes vote to staying in Europe.

Furthermore, the motion claims that Cameron should be prevented from the opportunity of “manipulating” vulnerable students by giving him no platform.

The controversial motion also states that the Conservative government in the UK was undemocratically elected.

“Zero students voted Tory, therefore we must make a stand against this undemocratic regime by banning David Cameron and his Tory government from our democratic Students’ Union and our University Campus,” it claims.

Manchester University has previously come under fire for banning a feminist writer from speaking at a society, claiming that her views on transgender people violated safe space policies.

APRIL 19TH 2016

News

News Analysis: Student Protest Culture – The Vicious Cycle

As US students in Duke occupy a campus building in protest, Roisin Guyett-Nicholson examines why similar things occur less often here in Ireland This month students in Duke University took to their administrative building to protest over the treatment of a campus worker and the basic wage paid to people on campus. The issue involved the alleged use of a racial slur, supposedly by a high ranking official within the university, who has since apologised. It throws into sharp relief a number of different issues, including both student apathy and underlying racial tensions within the US. Students began occupying a building on campus in the waiting room of the President, Richard Brodhead. Only around nine students took part, but they managed to cause a significant disruption. Their aims included the resignation of three members of staff and the change in the minimum rate of pay.

The administrative building

that the group was in shut down completely while the students were there, with security guards posted on each entrance. The ability of students to cause such a disturbance is often seen as a key part of the student experience. In the 1960s, widespread student protests saw connections to civil rights movements in the US and Northern Ireland. In UCD, protests have allegedly had an effect on how the campus was built, with “secret tunnels” and wider steps to make it more difficult to run.

Despite this, mobilising students is often difficult.

Students are currently facing one of the most expensive eras, and with questionable options for employment it should be the exact time

that we protest loudly.

Particularly in Dublin, we face some of the most expensive rent prices in the country, while fees have increased exponentially with little sign from any of the political parties on how they intend to deal with such a crisis.

With increasing student numbers and no clear plan on how to deal with it, students and the services offered to them are facing a serious crisis.

Mental health too seems to be reaching crisis point, with high numbers of students dealing with depression while the services there to help them do not seem to work. With a six week waiting list for people on the UCD counselling service, the options for those struggling with mental health

are being sorely tested.

Ultimately this should be the perfect combination of factors to push students into protest or civil disobedience, yet there often seems to be very little participation in these protests when they are organised. Free fees and res rights marches are not that common and when they do occur, they see lacklustre attendance.

So why do they have such a poor showing? One possibility may be the very reason for the marches themselves. Much of the issues that students face are financial. Therefore, many students need to work a significant number of hours just to make ends meet. As the families of students also face increasing pressure, those needing to rent or even just to pay fees must deal

with the prospect of covering the cost themselves.

Trying to deal with working enough hours to pay your way and then to also attend the classes you need in order to get a degree is immeasurably stressful. With accommodation prices set to rise again in the next few months, students are only going to be squeezed more.

The problem this presents for students is that this leaves them little time to participate in protests for better standards.

Instead they face the prospect of balancing a relatively hectic work schedule and college life.

Alongside this, most students will face the pressure to take part in extra-curricular activities as CV builders.

Thus dealing with the prospect of increasing financial pressure, most students will struggle to

balance all of their commitments, never mind the need for student protest. Therefore a vicious cycle emerges, whereby students must deal with various pressures in order to go to college, and yet this prevents them from exercising their full protest potential.

The small number of students in Duke looking to deal with fairer worker’s rights may be in the minority. This is not necessarily by choice but rather as a result of the greater problems that students have to deal with. Particularly in the US and potentially here too, students will face a crisis of funding and have to deal with either heavy debt for the rest of their lives, or crippling working hours while studying. Not only are neither of these scenarios ideal, they also prevent students from becoming involved in ways to prevent their exploitation.

News Analysis: Fundraising Efforts of the SU As UCDSU take part in a skydive for charity, Ruth Slamon looks at how effective the fundraising efforts have been This year’s Students’ Union, like many of the past, have come under fire at different points in the year about an array of issues. The minutes of SU executive committee meetings have been sporadically updated, while the executive meets weekly and is constitutionally obligated to publish minutes no later than one month after the meeting, but as the year draws to a close, the latest minutes posted online are still from September. The minutes of the last two SU councils have also not been published. The union’s sexual consent campaign, which consisted of a slutwalk in November and a recent survey, has also come under criticism. The fundraising efforts of the SU have also not been free from criticism, with many asking should more

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money have gone to students. And ultimately, was it really worth it?

The 2015/2016 SU mounted a year-long campaign back in November to raise €100,000 for YSPI (Youth Suicide Prevention Ireland) through a skydive challenge and other fundraising events. There is no question as to how vital charities like YPSI are in this country. Ireland has the third highest youth suicide rate in the EU, with young Irish males being more likely to die by suicide than any other cause. YSPI receives no government funding and relies fully on donations and campaigns like this one mounted by UCDSU. Many applauded the choice of charity by the SU, but questions have been raised about the cost

of the campaign, and whether there should have been more of a focus for students on campus.

At the time of writing, this campaign has raised €101,852 for YSPI, with the cost of fundraising at €10,250. No one can deny the impact and help that the money will have on YSPI, but could this have been raised without incurring such high costs?

Skydiving as a charity challenge is a good idea for gathering support and sponsorship, but it is an expensive activity. The cost of paying for 581 skydives amounts for a huge proportion in the cost of this campaign. The SU also made naked calendars in an effort to fundraise. While the Union received a cheap rate

on printing the calendars, their popularity has become something of a joke on campus.

There is virtually no largescale charity campaign that incurs zero costs, but €10,250 is a lot of money, which could have been used to fund much needed mental health services on campus. The current waiting list for counselling services in UCD is unacceptable, with many students being forced to seek help elsewhere. The University has a responsibility to make sure these services are available to students when they need them, and it would be wrong to make the SU responsible for these long waiting lists. However the union, as an elected body

of representatives, has a duty to students to tackle these issues. It consistently raises the question that if the SU are going to raise such large amounts for youth mental health, should a large portion of this not go to UCD students, the people that UCDSU represent? How would €101,852 have driven down waiting times in UCD’s counselling service?

While the effort to fundraise such an amount is commendable, much of the proceeds of the UCDSU drive will go towards secondary schools around the country, not to UCD students.

Despite the criticisms of the campaign, fair or not, over €100,000 has been raised for YSPI. This money will allow

them to introduce their Free2Talk counselling service as well as providing an extra 150 school visits this year. The campaign mounted by the Students’ Union may not have been perfect and there have been legitimate questions raised over the cost, but any way UCD can help YSPI tackle the epidemic of youth suicide can only be viewed as a positive. With the current figures showing that 131 college students die by suicide each year, the SU and everyone involved in the campaign must be applauded for the money raised and the impact it will have.

For anyone looking to donate, the SU and YSPI have created a dedicated fundraising website, ucdsu.yspi.eu, or you can text YSPI UCD to 50300 to donate €4.

Comment

Battling the Same-Sex Hate Despite rapid social progress, LGBTI depression rates are still very high. Helen Carroll examines the situation

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender found that “LGBTI people still face considerable barriers to good mental and intersex (LGBTI) people often health, including bullying at school, suffer from the stigma of those who fear of rejection and discrimination, don’t understand. They have to harassment and violence and fight an uphill battle to be seen as equal to the heterosexual, cisgender negative attitudes and stereotypes”.

This discrimination is bound to majority. They have been gaining have an effect on the community, support hugely in recent years with this concern being confirmed with the passing of the Marriage with much higher rates of mental Equality referendum, showing that health difficulties, in particular the majority of the country believe severe stress, anxiety, depression, in the equal right to marry the and suicidal tendencies. The statistics person you love. Despite all this, there is worrying new evidence that show that one in three have been mental health and suicide rates are threatened with physical violence and one in six with disproportionately “It certainly sexual violence. high in this The higher community. didn’t help threat of violence A that in against them, as groundbreaking new report called recent years, well as bigotry and outright the LGBTI report, certain hatred can lead published by Dr many to have low Mary McAleese countries self-confidence on the 22nd have passed levels. These of March, is high rates are not Ireland’s largest a lot of caused by being study to date of anti-gay gay in itself, but the mental health legislation, the backlash that and wellbeing of occurs as a result LGBTI people disguised of poor attitudes. in Ireland. On as ways of Speaking at a positive note, the launch of it found that “protecting the report, Dr a “majority of public McAleese called LGBTI people the results aged 26 and morals” and “shocking”. over are doing “protecting Mental health well, report difficulties exist good self-esteem the family”. in the population and are proud as a whole, but 60 per cent of those in of their LGBTI identity.” This is the LGBTI community who have selffantastic news, particularly as harmed in the past year have said the the older generations tend to find reason for doing so was in relation to it more difficult to change their their sexual orientation. The younger long-established views about members of the LGBTI community sexual orientation and the family. tend to have statistically higher rates These findings differ across all of self-harm in comparison to the age groups, but it is not entirely older members. The stigma associated positive. The researchers at Trinity with mental health prevents many College who undertook this report

from seeking treatment and even confiding in those they trust regarding these mental concerns.

Ireland has an alarmingly high suicide rate, especially amongst young men. In the past, it has been difficult for the health services to secure funding for mental health programs, with many charities finding it very difficult to continue to provide their cheap or free services to those who need it most.

Levels of anxiety and depression rose dramatically when the housing bubble burst and the Celtic Tiger came to an end, making the strain on mental health services even harder to contain. It certainly didn’t help that in recent years, certain countries have passed a lot of anti-gay legislation, disguised as ways of “protecting public morals” and “protecting the family”.

Bruce Springsteen recently cancelled a concert that was due to play in Mississippi in the US. This was due to a bill passed recently there called HB2 that bans legislation from being passed in local districts granting rights to those who are LGBTI. As well as that, it forces transgender people to use bathrooms that coincide with their birth gender, not the gender they identify with, even if they have undergone gender reassignment surgery.

PayPal has also publicly come out about against a similar bill, stating that they are abandoning a business venture that would have created 300 jobs in North Carolina because they believe “The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture”.

Many of these bills, which are often called “religious freedom” bills, have been vetoed, especially after public backlash. Georgia

was set to pass one extremely far-reaching religious freedom bill that would have allowed religious organisations to discriminate based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

This would mean that they would be allowed to fire an employee or refuse service to someone who was in a marriage they didn’t approve of.

It is said that the media and the corporate world can create pressure against these bills. This includes Richard Branson who eventually convinced Georgia governor Nathan Deal to veto the bill, even though it coincided with his beliefs. This shows that public uproar can and does work to defy bigotry, but many of these bills, as well as TRAP

(Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) bills that restrict the right to abortion have recently passed in the US as part of what many call the “war on Christianity”.

These archaic laws are not restricted to just the US though.

Russia has famously enacted many anti-gay laws to preserve the “traditional family”, which includes a ban on any sort of “gay propaganda”. These laws are purposefully vague, to the point that several gay couples have been arrested for holding hands in public. These sort of laws perpetuate a culture of hate towards those who love somebody of the same gender. It’s mentally

draining and debilitating for those in the LGBTI community to have to hide who they are and tiptoe around laws that exist for no reason except to inconvenience them, or at worst, attempt to write them out of existence.

It is possible that such laws can be a factor that drive statistically high levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in the LGBTI community. This is terrible because of the lasting physical and mental scars it causes people, but mostly because this is entirely preventable.

By repealing these terrible “religious freedom” laws and instead promoting tolerance of others, perhaps we could help those with mental health difficulties, and even save lives.

PHOTO: tHE 2014 lIMERICK PRIDE PARADE, PHOTO BY ORLA CLANCY

A stigmatised STI: the perception of HIV in Ireland Gavin Tracey examines the prevalence of stigma that still exists in Ireland towards sufferers of HIV and AIDS KnowNow is Ireland’s first national rapid HIV testing programme, which has been rolled out in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The entirely free service was launched by GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network), The Sexual Health Centre Cork and GOSHH (Gender Orientation Sexual Health and HIV), in order to combat the spread of HIV. The kits will be available in a variety of places, perhaps most notably in the Pantibar on Capel Street.

The test itself is straightforward, taking less than a minute to deliver a 99.96 per cent accurate result, needing only a small drop of blood taken from a finger. The importance of knowing one’s status is vital, as new drugs and treatments mean HIV is nowhere near as serious a disease, for those living in developed nations, as

it once was. For many people living with it, they take one tablet a day for the rest of their lives, and within six months some can even stop being infectious.

Rory O’Neill (known to most by his drag alter ego Panti Bliss) spoke at the announcement, stating: “as part of tackling the stigma around HIV we need to make it easier for people to be tested, for people to know their HIV status and to know that being HIV positive is manageable.”

O’Neill himself is HIV positive, and wants to raise awareness about HIV, and more importantly remove the stigma surrounding it. He said that stigma around HIV is as bad “if not worse” than that surrounding abortion.

Upon closer inspection, the levels of stigma surrounding those who are HIV positive are astounding. In a report carried out by Stamp Out – a HIV and

AIDS awareness group – people who suffered from HIV and those who did not were surveyed in regards to the attitudes held about HIV in Ireland. The findings were revealing, and it showed just how misunderstood the illness is in Irish society.

The report found that although there was a large amount of public sympathy for those suffering from HIV, 23 per cent would be worried about eating a meal that was prepared by someone with HIV. As well as that, 37 per cent said that if a family member were to contract the virus they would keep the HIV status of him/ her a secret. While there may be sympathy towards sufferers, the lack of understanding amongst the general population is startling.

84 per cent of those living with HIV feel as though they have been discriminated against in the past, or are still being stigmatised today.

PHOTO: Rory O’Neill working with the Knownow programme

“Amongst younger people, HIV is often seen as a disease that used to affect people, or only remains in African countries.”

Niall Mulligan, executive director of HIV Ireland, spoke of the discrimination in an Oireachtas Health Committee in 2015. He highlighted cases whereby those with HIV had been treated unfairly, including one case where a man was fired from his job on a cruise ship once it became known he had HIV. HIV Ireland also had to convince a crèche manager that alerting parents as to the HIV status of one of the children in his care was unnecessary.

HIV is a disease that disproportionality affects gay and bisexual men. According to recent figures from the HSE, males who have sex with males (MSM) make up 47 per cent of those who suffer from HIV. Perhaps most shocking is the discrimination from those who should know better, namely

doctors, nurses and dentists.

The reports highlights that there is a high incidence of doctors and dentists discriminating against those living with HIV, with over one third of people living with HIV answering that this was so. For example, in 2015 it became known that some dentists were referring patients with HIV to community dental schemes.

Patients who contracted the disease via drug use also reported that the nurses who were treating them were highly judgemental of them.

Ultimately the problem lies in a lack of education and awareness around HIV and AIDS. In the past there have been very successful campaigns to educate people about the disease. However these stopped when, after the manufacturing of new drugs, HIV ceased to become a “death sentence”. The lack of education surrounding HIV has led to a rise in the number of cases. Since 2005 the number of people with HIV has increased by 200 per cent, and the average age of someone who has HIV has dropped from 37 to 31 in the same time period. For older generations who were around when HIV was at its most damaging and most widespread, they may be more aware of the disease. However amongst younger people, it’s often seen as a disease that used to affect people, or only remains in African countries.

The stigma faced by those living with HIV stems not from a place of malice or ill will, but from an ignorance surrounding the illness. By educating people about it, both the number of new cases and the levels of discrimination will drop dramatically. Young people need to be more aware of the disease to protect themselves, as well as to avoid discriminating against those who suffer from HIV.

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Britain’s Budget Fiasco In Britain, the Conservative Party’s recent budget left a PR disaster in its wake. Kevin O’ Leary examines the damage “These are the people that I am fighting for, real decent hard-working people, not numbers on a treasury spreadsheet but people whose lives would be impoverished, whose hopes and aspirations would be crushed if we had gone on spending more and more than the country earned.”

Those are the words of British Chancellor George Osborne after the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith from his post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the Westminster Cabinet. Duncan Smith left his post after the announcement of £4 billion worth of cuts to disability benefits, as part of the Conservative Party’s plans to balance the UK budget by the end of the current government’s lifetime in 2020.

Slashing spending has been Tory policy ever since coming to power in 2010 (and their subsequent re-election in 2015), and eradicating what they perceive to be unnecessary expenditure has long played a central role in the party’s economic philosophy. Tory economic ideology favours uninhibited private enterprise over significant government involvement in the national economy. As such, a move towards reducing the level of dependency citizens have on the government is seen as an integral part of Conservative fiscal policy.

The Conservatives have long been viewed as a party for the wealthy that are out of touch with the less well-off in British society. This appears to be reflected in the party’s budgetary decisions. There is a general consensus that Britain needs to reduce its national debt.

What contrasts the Tories with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour or the Liberal Democrats, however, is that they aim to strengthen the government coffers through substantial cuts to welfare, while the other two aim to introduce

higher rates of tax on the wealthy.

This image of the party is only strengthened by the revelations contained in the recently published Panama Papers. Evidence from the papers exposed Prime Minister David Cameron’s involvement in his family’s offshore trust based in Panama, which has enabled them to avoid paying considerable amounts of tax in the UK. Though this perception of the

“The proportion of those from workingclass backgrounds that exercise their right to vote is considerably lower than those from middleincome or high-earning households.”

Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) which comprised the bulk of the £4 billion of cuts in the recent budget would have mainly affected a section of voters who are less likely to vote Conservative than their more privileged counterparts.

The departure of Duncan Smith has raised some eyebrows. Upon leaving office, he stated that the changes to benefits were “indefensible” and that this had prompted his resignation.

This assertion has been disputed

by Downing Street however, with the PM replying to Duncan Smith by saying he was “puzzled and disappointed” with his resignation, before remarking that the cuts had been “collectively agreed” by the Treasury, No. 10 and Duncan Smith before they were announced.

One suggestion is that Duncan Smith’s decision may have arisen from his support of a Brexit.

This contrasts sharply with Cameron’s position, and the referendum as a whole is a source of considerable friction in the party at the present moment.

Though the cuts have been reversed due to the outrage they faced from the general public, a lot of damage has already been done to the government’s popularity and the perception of senior government ministers. Chancellor Osborne has long been tipped as a successor to Cameron, but this is yet another budget PR disaster for him. This comes after similar fiascos with the 2012 budget as well as the reversal of cuts for

tax credits. Inside the part, this has led to the strengthening of the ‘Anything but Osborne’ campaign.

Osborne’s claims that these disability cuts were necessary for reducing Britain’s National Debt were rubbished by Duncan Smith – who claimed they were enacted simply for the purpose of saving money. The necessity of these cuts was also questioned as they were contained in the same budget that gave tax giveaways for businesses and higher earners.

Could we see similar cuts to these in Ireland any time soon? In reality, it is highly unlikely. When the government eventually takes office here, the parties know that moves that appear to represent more austerity would amount to political

poison for them. This has already been demonstrated by the reaction to the introduction of water charges. The prevailing sentiment from voters in February’s election was one of rejection for austerity and so it is hard to envision the implementation of such measures in this state at the present time.

A clear lesson can be learned from the British budget fallout for Irish parties: prior consultation with the relevant groups is essential for cooperation on such actions. The British Government is not proceeding with these cuts, yet the public fallout from the initial announcement couldn’t be greater. Our next administration would do well to heed the warning presented by this sorry affair.

PHOTO: iain duncan smith

party largely stems from the financial background of its more high-profile parliamentarians, there may also be a political arc to their actions.

In last year’s election, voter turnout among the retired was 78 per cent, compared with 43 per cent among 18-24 year olds. The proportion of those from working-class backgrounds that exercise their right to vote is considerably lower than those from middle-income or high-earning households.

The party protects pensioners while cutting access to benefits for the poor who are yet to reach retirement age. In effect, the party powers ahead with austere budgetary measures that make little impact on its core vote. The severe cuts to

The Social Housing Struggle The property crisis has been making headlines around the country. Martin Healy looks at the struggles surrounding council-owned, social housing Recent years have seen a storm around the ongoing property and rental crisis in Dublin, and what that means for students looking to live in the city long-term. While the crisis is undoubtedly a major issue for people looking to privately own or rent a home, the issue is just as crippling for the social housing sector and the Dublin City Council. The situation is compounded yet again by the incredibly slow process of forming a new government.

Social housing accounts for 10 per cent of all housing in Ireland, but significantly more sites, as well as upgrading of existing social housing, are drastically needed in the city’s push to curb homelessness and try to recover from the damage caused by the housing crash.

Simon Brooke, who is a part-time assistant professor at the school of social work and social policy at TCD, stated in The Irish Times last month that the incoming government needs a clear objective for their housing plans. Broad rhetoric like “decent, affordable housing for all” needs to become a practical solution.

He argues that the numbers in social housing should reach 20 per cent over the next two decades. He also notes that the annual housing supply needs to double its output to 25,000, and that the rental market must become a “viable alternative” to home ownership.

Any stigma attached to accepting social housing needs to be combated as the need for it continues. The generations that are studying at UCD now are significantly less likely to buy homes than the previous generations for both financial and societal reasons. As access to long-term, 6 APRIL 19TH 2016

financial viable careers become more scarce for those in their 20s and 30s, plans need to be put in place to broaden the level of council or state-owned housing.

The previous coalition did leave one long-term solution to the situation: the Social Housing 2020 scheme. This scheme represents a rarity for sitting governments, as it pledged to deliver a solution after their time in power has come to an end. They would miss out on, therefore, a majority of the positive PR from any results or

illustration: Dearbhla ross

solutions. Perhaps the former coalition did so on an assumption that they (or at least Fine Gael) would hold onto their position in a majority government.

The scheme, originally announced in November 2014, pledged to build over 35,000 new social homes in association with local councils across the country by the year 2020. In regards to funding, the scheme pledged to mix together funds from the Exchequer alongside “off balance-sheet funding” in

order to be able to begin work on these thousands of new houses. This idea was inspired by the process behind the creation of Irish Water, as both aimed to avoid adding to the general Government debt.

This has become a very delicate situation, however.

According to a letter seen

by RTÉ at the end of March, the idea was that government invited private investors to suggest ideas and plans of how to raise the required funds

through private developers and third-parties. The issue here is that this process has shown no viable results, and the acquisition of these funds was central to the entire scheme, as the letter states that “being able to access funds in a manner that is off balance sheet is considered to be an essential pre-requisite in progressing proposals for new funding models.”

The various government departments (from Environment to Public Expenditure and Reform) will continue to work on the scheme. RTÉ’s sources also found that this idea of creating this funding scheme was both “complex and difficult.”

This is a worrying situation for those in need of social housing. By turning to the private sector, the state runs the risk of creating under-funded and below par housing in an effort to cut costs. This tactic of cutting costs is already blatant in their handling of the funding to begin with, as they also look to alienate the country’s local authorities on the issue. The Irish Council of Credit Unions offered €5 billion for social housing several weeks ago, but no government departments have officially responded.

There is no doubt that social housing is drastically needed around the country, but this is particularly true in the capital.

As homelessness rates climb, the need for social housing is evident for those at the bottom of the income ladder.

Short-term modular housing has been pledged by Dublin City Council for five different sites across the city in order to facilitate demand, but this plan has also become unstuck.

Twenty-two planned modular housing units planned for the

Poppintree area of Ballymun were originally planned to be completed before Christmas last year. They were subsequently delayed to be completed by March, but are now supposed to be completed by the second week of May. The entire modular housing scheme has seen a variety of setbacks like this since June 2015. The goal was to set up over 150 new “factory built” houses in five areas of the city, including Ballymun, by this coming June. The council has cancelled the €20 million tender for the 131 houses (aside from those in Ballymun) as they did not receive enough applications from interested building partners.

While modular housing provides a short-term solution in order to alleviate some amount of the homeless population, they are struggling to find anyone willing to take on the task. The Council has stated they will create a fresh “competition” for the tender, but no details have yet emerged as to what that entails.

Overall, even in areas where new housing is established, the problems only continue.

The creation of new social housing has highlighted the class split over the homes, as a development site in Beaumont in north Dublin has brought the ire and fear of the locals. It is up to the council and the State to figure out the bureaucratic side of the situation, but the social stigma and class divide around social housing may take some time to change.

As one person in Beaumont stated, “you don’t know who’s going to go in there.”

Comment Legislating for Better Education With students facing an ever-changing education landscape, Martin Healy questions the benefits of technological universities PHOTO: DIT GRANGEGORMAN

Funding and development of third-level education has been a very tricky situation in Ireland over the last number of years. In issue five of the University Observer, we discussed the ongoing cutbacks in funding and resources for thirdlevel institutes of technology (ITs).

Since then, a bill called the Technological Universities Bill 2015 attempted to pass in the Dáil. It failed at the start of February due to the dissolution of the Dáil before the upcoming election. The conditions of this Bill signal a massive shift in the third-level sector, and when the bill likely resurfaces in some form under the next government, it is going to be met with serious outcry from lecturers and academics working at ITs. Three weeks ago, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) passed a motion at the annual TUI conference to conduct industrial action by a margin of 85 to 15 per cent. One of the main sticking points of the new bill is the merging of several institutes of technology into larger technical universities. The idea here is that ITs will be rebranded and given university status in order to pool resources, cut back on costs, and most importantly, become more attractive to the lucrative international student market.

A huge swath of ITs are involved in the potential mergers. Two Dublin-based ITs – Blanchardstown IT and Institute of Technology Tallaght – would merge with DIT in their new campus in Grangegorman.

Elsewhere, Cork IT and Tralee IT would merge to become Munster Technological University. Places like Carlow and Waterford would also merge, as well as Sligo, Galway-Mayo, and Letterkenny.

The problems are immediately evident. While it benefits ITs to try merge together in order to create a better learning experience for any potential student, this appears to merely be a cost-cutting measure.

The financial issues surrounding institutes of technology are welldocumented (including recent ‘poor performance’ penalties for GalwayMayo, NCAD, and Dundalk) and

“It makes it difficult for Donegalbased students to keep costs down if they have to travel to Galway for their education.

This situation is hazardous, especially for those living in less economically healthy areas.” by moving a number of institutes together, this gives the institutes a chance to cut down on costs and staff. On top of that, cutting down on the number of ITs in the country removes the regional benefit many enjoy today. It makes it difficult for Donegal-based students to keep costs down if they have to travel to Galway

for their education. This situation is hazardous, especially for those living in less economically healthy areas. Longer travel times may also discourage part-time or mature students from getting a degree.

TUI president Gerry Quinn certainly sees the negative side of the situation, declaring the merge as “a byword for more cuts” at the annual conference. TUI also complained about the pace at which the bill was put through the Dáil. The bill entered the Dáil at the end of January, and has 117 amendments, making it a long and complicated process to complete. The TUI has to hope that new TDs see the negative aspects of the bill in order to stop its passing when the new government is formed.

Given how cutbacks have rolled into third-level education over the last number of years, the Bill will still likely surface again in order to cut costs. The cost-cutting aspect of the merger was critical to the original idea back in 2009 at the height of the recession. The idea of technological universities entered the fray via the 2011 Hunt Report.

The union itself does not necessarily oppose the idea of a merger – as university status is prized by so many third-level institutions – but rather it is how the situation is being handled that draws the union’s ire.

As part of the Bill, DIT would receive technological university status to go alongside its new campus, which looks to move the various schools of DIT into one centre. This too has suffered setbacks. DIT plans to have around 20,000 students enrolled by 2020, but accommodation in Grangegorman will only house 2,000 students, or 10 per cent of the overall student population. The original plan for this accommodation came together eight years ago before bedsits were banned and before the rental market spiked in price for students.

This is a massive operation for DIT as it looks to expand and merge with two other ITs. Complaints have already come in from arts students regarding the new campus, as they state there is not enough room for their department.

These complaints highlight one factor that is being ignored in this entire merger: students.

The mergers could have a negative impact of current or future thirdlevel students. A project like the unified Grangegorman campus is a massive operation for DIT, one that is very likely to end in higher fees for new students. With the spectre of student loans and higher fees on the horizon, the last thing students want

to hear is additional levies in their fees. The overall merger of all these ITs may cost colleges somewhere between 45 to 90 million euro, and it would be very unlikely for students not to bear the costs. Duplicate courses between merging ITs will be scraped, so on top of higher fees, there may also be higher Leaving Cert point requirements in order to even get into these new universities.

Irish ITs, like all third-level institutions, want to compete on the level of big universities. While state funding continually drops, and as colleges and universities have to rely on higher fees to replace that lost revenue, the allure of having that elusive ‘university’ title

seems all the more enticing.

Regardless of the intentions of the Bill, it is likely not in the interests of students. The next five or ten years could completely change the landscape for students in Ireland, with the harsh rental market having already altered student accommodation. There is still the question of whether technological universities could be beneficial to students – or are ITs simply bracing themselves for lay-offs? A new version of the bill will have to be carefully examined and given the time it deserves, unlike the first one, as there is so much at stake for third-level.

Migration woes: Troubled times ahead for Europe’s strongwoman Germany has seen a surge in right-wing parties in recent times. Henry Eviston analyses the situation Last month, three states in the German Confederation held elections to form their parliaments. Two of the states returned a left-wing majority, while the third remained in the hands of the Christian Democratic CDU. The elections established the right-wing, antiimmigration AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) party as a forceful presence in German politics.

Although it did not get into government in any of the three states, the AfD has managed to terrify the political establishment by capturing between 22 and 25 per cent of the vote and is now represented in eight of Germany’s 16 state parliaments.

The CDU, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party and the senior partner in Germany’s governing coalition, was expected to lose support because of its role in dealing with the influx of refugees

into Germany. Last summer, as other European countries began to erect fences on their borders, Merkel announced a plan to accept and integrate up to a million refugees into Germany.

The roots of AfD’s success lie more in the favourable political climate created by the popular backlash against Germany’s policy on the refugee crisis rather than in any particular quality of the party. The refugee policy had already been met with resistance not only from the German far right, which includes groups such as the Islamophobic PEGIDA, but also from within the CDU itself.

Opposition to the policy exploded in January, however, as newspapers reported a wave of organised attacks on New Year’s Eve, mostly in the city of Cologne, during which women were surrounded, robbed and sexually assaulted by groups

of mostly foreign men. If the scale and organised nature of the attacks were not sufficient, public opinion became even more inflamed by police reports stating that the majority of the attackers were asylum-seekers.

The outrage generated by these attacks created space in German political discourse for strong anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the AfD seized on this opportunity to increase its popularity. It was polling at 5 per cent nationally as recently as last autumn, but a poll taken last week put its support at 14 per cent, making it the third biggest party in Germany.

Meanwhile, support for both the CDU and the social-democratic SPD, the CDU’s junior governing partner, has steadily fallen.

The ultimate fallout from the AfD’s rise is uncertain. Its presence inside local parliaments, combined with its strong poll

“The EU was built with many design flaws, which make it unable to cope with severe political crises like those it is facing now.”

IN PHOTO: POLITICAL MJRAL IN GERMANY

numbers, makes it increasingly unlikely that it will be a short-lived phenomenon. Some commentators have argued that the party’s appeal lies not only in its anti-immigration stance, but also in its anti-liberalism, anti-Euro and anti-establishment positions. The continued persistence of both the Eurozone and refugee crises, which have been exploited by other rightwing groups in other countries to advance their agenda, will probably provide fertile ground for the AfD to plough.

Though Merkel’s leadership is still unquestioned, and her immigration policy is supported by major parties on the left, such as the Social Democrats and the Green Party, she may need to modify her position on many issues if sustained pressure from the AfD and factions inside the CDU cause her coalition to continue to slide in the polls.

Opposition of Merkel’s open border policies is not confined to German politics: the AfD’s rise is part of a Europe-wide resurgence of the far-right, which has been accompanied by increasing intolerance towards immigration. The Hungarian government, for example, has protested against proposals for redistribution of migrants amongst EU member states, and Austria has recently imposed a daily cap on the number of migrants it allows through its borders.

Merkel’s domestic popularity, combined with Germany’s strong economic performance, has allowed her to become the dominant political figure in Europe. Germany has always been a very strong supporter of the EU and its institutions and has consistently favoured increased integration amongst member-states. During the entire migrant crisis, and even in the aftermath of the Cologne attacks, Merkel and her allies in the SPD have constantly reiterated their commitment to the European project and their immigration policy.

She is now finding it difficult to maintain her pre-eminence in Europe’s politics, however: Germany’s leadership role during the Eurozone crisis and the immigration crisis has antagonised many European leaders, and its handling of the crises has created a lot of resentment towards Germany and the EU in national electorates.

While during the Eurozone crisis, the EU could control states’ behaviour more forcefully by restricting their access to emergency funding from the ECB (as it famously did last summer during its negotiations with Greece), it has been almost powerless to prevent member states from erecting fences on their borders and using violence to prevent refugees from entering their territory.

Perhaps even more worryingly, while the economic crisis has divided Europe into North-South factions, the migration crisis has split it into EastWest factions, as countries in the Balkans rushed to close their borders.

The EU’s clear inability to find a consensual solution to the crisis resulted in its striking a deal with Turkey to try to stop the influx of migrants: in exchange for €6 billion in financial aid, looser restrictions for obtaining visas to the EU and reopening talks on integration into the EU. Turkey has agreed to allow EU countries, mainly Greece, to return refugees to Turkey. For every Syrian refugee returned to Turkey, one will be resettled in the EU. Negotiations on the deal began in the week after the German state elections: under pressure to sign a deal with Turkey, Merkel dealt directly with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and cut out the EU institutions, alienating them even more.

The EU was built with many design flaws, which make it unable to cope with severe political crises like those it is facing now. Chief among these was the construction of a European free travel zone without a corresponding border enforcement agency or a mechanism to cope with mass immigration. The EU has shown a remarkable ability to repeatedly shoot itself in the foot over the financial crisis. This last crisis may just have been one shot too many.

APRIL 19TH 2016

features

Rejecting Extreme Elements within Islam As Irish Muslim leaders issue a declaration of anti-extremism, Roisin Guyett-Nicholson looks at how effective it could be Terrorism has become increasingly associated with Islam. When terrorist atrocities occur in Western Europe, the mass media usually attributes the attacks to Islamic radicals.

There is a growing association in Europe that Islam is not a “religion of peace”, as a debate held earlier this year by UCD’s Literary and Historical society concluded. The actions of a tiny minority of Islam often have an effect on the wider religious community. The number of people arrested in connection with terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris is miniscule compared to the amount of Muslims in the world, which stands at around 1.6 billion.

The disparity in these numbers is not always recognised. Last year, prominent media mogul Rupert Murdoch tweeted that all Muslims should take responsible for the “jihad” element of the religion which allegedly led to the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices. Such attitudes have sparked efforts to combat this assumption.

Earlier this month, the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council (IMPIC) released an anti-extremism declaration that it proposes all visiting clerics sign. It claims that the signatory would “unequivocally reject, disown and condemn all terrorism committed in the name of Islam by any militant group.” The declaration also includes a stipulation that they would not encourage or recruit anybody to join a conflict in another country in the name of Islam.

Already signed by prominent South African Muslim scholar, Shaykh Fakhruddin Owaisi, Chairman of the Council of Sunni Imams in Cape Town, the declaration has also received support from the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

Shaykh Dr Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri, the chair of the IMPIC, explains that the reasoning of the declaration was in spreading the message that Muslims do not condone

PHOTO: the islamic cultural centre of ireland mosque in clonskeagh

“While events like this and the declaration are designed to open up conversation, Shaykh Umar also explains that it is important to note the difference between condemning and apologising.” terrorism. “First of all, because people need to know the majority of the Muslims do not agree with what is going on and they don’t believe that the religion Islam that they

adhere to condones such violence.

So this declaration is important to show the public, the larger public, that there [are] indeed Muslims that absolutely disagree and condemn

all the violence that is happening in the name of Islam… Secondly, it is to ensure that those that are radical and extreme, that have these ideas, distorted versions of Islam,

they are unveiled, they are exposed within the Muslim community.”

Auditor of the UCD Islamic Society, Shadi El-Morsy, commended the declaration, saying that “what is outlined in the declaration are basic teachings of Islam. I would imagine most Muslims would not find anything there to be unexpected. It makes sense at a human level, without the need to quote scripture. However given the recent events and the narrative that we live in, it does not harm to remind Muslims and to let the community around us know what exactly our stance is on this topic.”

One of the driving forces behind the declaration is the desire to undermine potential clerics who visit countries simply to recruit Muslims to join conflict in other states. Dr Andrew Pierce, Assistant Professor in the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin says that there is a vulnerable element in this regard. “Islam is a thoroughly diverse religion, and lacks any centralised teaching authority. In recent centuries the scholar class that provided a venue for debates over what is/is not lawful has lost its traditional voice; hence Islam is more at risk from occasional ad hoc guest speakers whose credentials may not be those of a true scholar.”

Yet this raises the possibility that by having such a declaration at all ties Islam to terrorism. The very fact that it needs to be refuted suggests that it is a significant issue in itself, as a growing threat among Muslims.

Pierce accepts this but states that in order to fully combat extremism the declaration is an important part of encouraging a discussion. “Irish kids have travelled to conflict zones, they have been sold the pup that this is a religious duty, and so the Irish Muslim community needs to clarify that this is not so as best it can,” he says. “The framers of the declaration are quite realistic; they know that an

unscrupulous visitor could sign up to the declaration as a cynical way of ensuring access to an audience.

What matters to them more, however, is that in a society where casual Islamophobia already sees Islam and terror as closely interlinked, this is a public conversation that Irish Islam is having with itself.”

Pierce further explains that this declaration cannot be viewed in isolation. While it opens up a discussion on the more extreme elements within Islam itself, in order to have a significant effect it needs to be viewed alongside other events. Two weeks ago, the Islamic society held a Discovering Islam Week in the Old Student Centre in UCD which included stands showing henna, Arabic calligraphy and how to wear the Hijab. Stalls were also included where people could ask questions about Islam.

“I believe that these types of events are one of the keys to reaching harmony and peace,” El-Morsy says. “These events such as Discover Islam Week are a great opportunity for the communities to interact and understand each other. Once we can understand each other the peaceful nature of Islam will become clear.”

While events like this and the declaration are designed to open up conversation, Shaykh Umar also explains that it is important to note the difference between condemning and apologising. “We are not apologising at all and I don’t think that any community should apologise for acts that are committed by a minority from within that community… but we are condemning and condemning is necessary…

To unconditionally express this condemnation is important to show within the community also, wherever there is ambiguity, to get rid of that ambiguity; that it’s wrong and never justified in the name of Islam.”

Graduate Profiles Eithne Dodd speaks to some of UCD’s upcoming graduates about their time in UCD and their future plans Benjamin Mangan – Mechanical Engineering

Illustration

: Louise f

lanagan

year project. It has been our first real taste of proper academic research and I have found it absolutely enthralling!

What degree are you studying?

Bachelor in mechanical engineering

How would you describe your experience of studying your degree in UCD?

Did you find your degree stimulating?

Yes. Especially in 3rd and 4th year.

1st year was really generic and not specific to engineering at all How would you describe your experience of studying your degree in UCD? Often interesting, but usually it is just exam focused. Most of our labs we did not get to carry out any of the experiments ourselves.

More and more students are doing engineering so classes are getting bigger without an increase in TAs or other support. As a result some of the labs and/or tutorials that previous years got were not provided for us as our class was too big.

Do you have a job lined up for after graduation?

No, nothing at the moment What is your ideal career?

Something based in Ireland, preferably Dublin or Wicklow, That allows me to use the skills I have learnt through my engineering degree.

How helpful do you think your degree will be in getting a job like that?

It’s helpful in getting an interview but not of much more use than that!

Rory Sullivan – Mathematics What degree are you studying?

I’m studying mathematics (through science).

I would say my time at UCD has been highly enjoyable. I think there is a great atmosphere around the campus, there’s always loads going on and so many opportunities to try different things. One highlight for me has been the sports clubs, there is a great diversity of clubs available and all the clubs I have been involved with have been very friendly and welcoming. It is through the sports clubs that I have made some lifelong friends and had many memorable adventures. It has really made my time in UCD special.

Do you have a job lined up for after graduation?

No unfortunately not, but I haven’t really been looking or applying.

your experience of studying your degree in UCD? I’ve loved every minute of the time I’ve spent in UCD, choosing UCD on my CAO was a great decision.

Do you have a job lined up for after graduation?

Not yet What is your ideal career?

Law or maybe politics How helpful do you think your degree will be in getting a job like that?

In terms of getting a job in the legal industry, a B&L degree is highly regarded David Winn – Psychology What degree are you studying?

Psychology Did you find your degree stimulating?

What is your ideal career?

I’m not sure to be honest, I still don’t really know what I want to do. At this point I’d like to take a year out and travel for a while, then come back to college (possibly to UCD, possibly to somewhere else) and do a PhD. After that I would consider pursuing a career in academics, but that’s a long way off yet!

How helpful do you think your degree will be in getting a job like that?

Certainly I would hope that my degree will help me secure a PhD position, further than that though and I cannot say.

Richard Looby – Business and Law

At times. Some modules were great with some really interesting topics – others a bit dull. Often there was an excessive amount of overlap between certain modules which meant quite a bit of repetition (and it was usually the stuff that was boring the first time around anyway!).

How would you describe your experience of studying your degree in UCD? I realised I wasn’t really interested in working in the field of psychology so it became a bit frustrating for me as I couldn’t afford to drop out. In terms of studying in UCD, we were fortunate enough to have a small class size which was nice but I’d say it would have been extremely bleak if not.

Do you have a job lined up for after graduation?

What degree are you studying?

Did you find your degree stimulating?

No. Further study in a different field.

Business and Law

Yes, absolutely! I’ve always found my course very interesting, I particularly enjoy the problem solving aspect of it. We are constantly challenged to think in new ways and solve new problems which I personally find very interesting and engaging. I think my favourite aspect of the course has been my final 8 APRIL 19TH 2016

What is your ideal career?

Did you find your degree stimulating?

Filmmaker.

I found the business modules were more stimulating in terms of creativity and using your imagination/new ideas.

How helpful do you think your degree will be in getting a job like that?

How would you describe

Not at all!

features

Modern day slavery: tackling’s Ireland’s human trafficking problem Human trafficking is often considered to be a problem far removed from us in Ireland, but as Gráinne Loughran discovers, the problem is far from gone here.

Most of us would say that slavery doesn’t exist in modern day Ireland.

It is often described in the past tense, and spoken of in terms of the US and other countries. The truth is that modern day slavery exists in most countries across Europe and the world, including Ireland, and it does so in the form of human trafficking.

Human trafficking is a secretive but lucrative business in which people are threatened or coerced into travelling for the purpose of being exploited by another person or group of people. They may be forced to work for unfair pay or no pay, under poor working conditions or in sexually exploitative situations such as prostitution. It is difficult for the authorities to give exact figures on the number of people who are trafficked to Ireland each year, given the secrecy that is involved and the fact that there is little way of knowing how many cases are not identified by the authorities. The most recent available government statistics on the Blue Blindfold website state that the authorities identified 46 suspected trafficking victims in 2014; nearly one person per week.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) have done significant work since they began fifteen years ago with victims of human trafficking and campaigning for changes in legislation. Gráinne O’Toole from the MRCI says that human trafficking is a “significant problem” in Ireland: “We have dealt with over 220 cases of trafficking for labour exploitation in the last seven and a half years. This would be trafficking and forced labour in the domestic work sector, construction, in the mushroom industry, in restaurants, circuses, care; so all the sectors that are under-regulated and where there’s no trade union membership.

More recently, we’re seeing it in the last number of years, cases in car washes all around the country, the issue of au pairs, and we also see it in the cannabis production industry as well, that’s more around criminal exploitation which is a form of forced labour as well. From the trends here and across Europe, we think we’re only at the tip of the iceberg.”

A shocking 32 of the 46 suspected victims of trafficking identified by authorities, according to Blue Blindfold, were suspected to have been forced into sexual exploitation.

Ruhama is a Dublin-based NGO that helps women who have been affected by prostitution and sexual exploitation. Ruth Breslin, Policy and Communications Manager with Ruhama, says that “The most recent research data we have indicates that there are up to 1,000 women in the off-street sex trade in Ireland (i.e. in premises that operate as brothels).

The same research estimates that up to 97 per cent of women in off-street locations are migrant women. This is not to say that all these women have been trafficked, but certainly a significant proportion have been.

Ruhama supports women who have been affected by prostitution, whether now or in the past. Every year we work with around 300 women, and typically about one third of these will have been trafficked into prostitution. Our last official stats are from 2014 – that year we supported 304 women, 88 of whom had been trafficked. We are currently working on our data for 2015 – where these numbers are very similar.”

Due to the secretive nature of human trafficking, national organisations as well as NGOs like Ruhama are usually reliant on victims of trafficking coming forward to ask for help; not an ideal situation for helping victims, or identifying cases. Although networks among workers are constantly being built, generally the MRCI hear about trafficking cases through concerned civilians. “The way we hear [about cases of trafficking in domestic work] is through our network of domestic workers, because we’ve built it up, so there is some infrastructure there, it’s not all by chance,” says O’Toole.

“Because of our work there, we’re very likely to get cases from there because we’re very well networked in, but it is often like that, for example, it could be that someone contacts us if they have concerns. They’ve seen cleaners brought in who have been living next door, who can’t speak English, they seem to be there long hours. Or the car washes for example, we would have heard of those through another NGO. Or a farm for example, a few weeks

ago on a daffodil farm, someone, a example, we have forty cases at local person who had gone working the moment,” says O’Toole. “A big there, realised the conditions were problem was that au pairs were awful and reported it to us.” fearful of coming forwards because Once trafficked to Ireland, the they weren’t treated as workers.” conditions can be horrific. Victims The word “fear” crops up again can be highly controlled through and again in discussions about threats and coercion, and those with human trafficking. The world of a family dependents at home can feel human trafficking victim can be one trapped in their situation due to the of fear and entrapment, and it takes need to provide for their family. “For a lot of work to free people from such the women we support who have situations. O’Toole describes the been trafficked – they are often process that the MRCI use to help very isolated, their movements are people escape from these situations. monitored by their controllers, and “We would help people escape, if you very few know where to turn for help, like, from places, so what we would especially if they are unfamiliar do is usually we try to get a mobile with Ireland and speak limited or to the person or if they have a mobile no English,” says Breslin. “They we would start saying to them ‘look, are often advertised online (with you can leave this’. We help people ads arranged and managed by their realise that it’s okay to leave the controllers), and they are regularly situation, that there is help out there, moved from brothel to brothel all because some people would have around the country so that they never absolutely no knowledge of the system. get to put down any roots or have the So then it would take a number of opportunity to seek help. Some may months of work, we would go and be experiencing ‘debt bondage’ – i.e. meet the person at an agreed time an inflated debt that they must pay that they feel safe and their employer back to their trafficker, some get to may not be around, and they may not keep some of they money they earn come with us that time, they may get (usually to send home), others do not scared. But when they do come, no and are entirely reliant on those who matter what time of night we would control them. Many women live and go and help them collect their bags, sleep wherever they sell sex; they and bring them into a safe place. We have no specific place to call ‘home’.” would notify An Garda Síochána “The au pair industry for if we were doing that, and if we

were concerned that there were safety our work is about helping to rebuild women’s lives after the trauma issues the guards would be there.” of being controlled and sexually Unfortunately and horrifically, exploited,” says Breslin. “So via escaping from a trafficking situation our casework service, we offer does not always mean an end to unfair treatment for a victim. O’Toole support and advocacy with a range of practical issues – physical and says that the people they take out sexual health, housing, social of situations of trafficking are often welfare, immigration etc. But we given accommodation in direct also work with women to rebuild provision centres until they can access further services for them. “It’s their strength, their resilience, and their independence – through very poor and it’s not fit for asylum counselling, personal and seekers or victims of trafficking, but people are placed there and you want professional development courses, trauma healing work, and support to move them out of there quickly with accessing/returning to and you want to move them on.” education and the workforce.”

The next step in moving on from a trafficking situation is a difficult one on From a legal standpoint, often the a personal level. “It’s a difficult journey,perpetrators of human trafficking are not prosecuted and Ireland what we recommend is that people need to be identified very quickly as was behind the times when it came victims of the crime per se, but they’re to legislating for it. The Criminal Law Trafficking in Persons Act only victims in the legal sense, that people need to move on with their lives,”2008 officially recognised human says O’Toole. “In labour cases it’s very trafficking as a crime, with the much about trying to find work because former legislation never bringing in many cases the people we work with about a successful prosecution will have a family at home reliant on for trafficking. It was not until them, which is a huge source of stress…2013 that forced labour was criminalised in Ireland, as a result regardless of the situation they’re in, they should be identified quickly, of campaigning by the MRCI. offered services, because that reduces “In terms of prosecutions, Ireland trauma or revictimisation in any way.” has a very poor record in this “As the main support agency working regard – I don’t know the exact latest with women who have been trafficked figures but very few convictions for trafficking have ever been secured into prostitution in Ireland, a lot of

for trafficking in Ireland since the relevant legislation came in in 2008,” says Breslin. “Where a trafficker does end up in court, the charges are often reduced to other charges related to controlling prostitution, but that have a lesser sentence than for trafficking. This is a very problematic situation in that it gives traffickers the message that they can operate with ease in Ireland and are likely to avoid serious convictions. Given that the vast majority of prostitution in Ireland is run by organised crime gangs, there is certainly a sense that sexually exploiting vulnerable women for gain here is essentially ‘easy money’ for them.”

“The human trafficking legislation came out in 2008 and we quickly identified that it wasn’t strong enough or clear enough to be able to prosecute forced labour to the full extent,” says O’Toole. “Last year was the first time we saw arrests of people, so people were arrested and charged with crimes under the [2013] legislation. The full extent of that, we don’t know yet, but it was the first time there were any arrests in relation to that, and we’re happy to see progress being made.”

When it comes to ending the problem of human trafficking, there are no easy answers. Breslin says that ending sex trafficking specifically has to come down to breaking down the business model.

“We need to tackle the business model of pimps and traffickers (who as I said are running most of the prostitution in Ireland as part of criminal gangs/networks).

In short: ‘no buyers, no business’.

So we want to tackle the demand side of prostitution – the fact that a market exists of customers (almost exclusively men) who want to buy sexual access to women’s bodies, purely for their own sexual pleasure. On this basis, prostitution is obviously highly contrary to the achievement of gender equality.

We believe that buyers should be held to account for their actions, especially given that so many of the women they are purchasing are very vulnerable. For many years now we have been calling (as core members of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign) for laws that decriminalise those who sell sex (so that no vulnerable people in prostitution are arrested/punished and given criminal records), while at the same time criminalising those who purchase sex.”

O’Toole says in relation to labour exploitation that “These kinds of practices need to be tackled head on and I think the whole issue of trafficking for labour exploitation needs to be seen in the broader framework of labour rights, otherwise we see it just as a criminal activity on the severe end of the continuum of labour exploitation, when in fact, we’ve got to really get our preventative tools right and our regulations right and make employers come on board to arrange an initiative.

Because unless we change the behaviours, we can have all the laws that we want. We have great human trafficking and forced labour laws in Ireland, yet recruitment of fishermen, human trafficking was occurring under our noses. So now we have an opportunity to fix that.”

Breslin is hopeful that the Sexual Offences Bill will help towards reducing sex trafficking in Ireland by fining buyers. “The punishment for buyers is just a fine – but it has a ‘chilling effect’ on the market, as has been shown in other countries, for successfully deterring many men from purchasing sex – primarily because they don’t want to get caught, their families to find out etc. These laws form part of the new Sexual Offences Bill, which was before the Dail and very close to being passed just before it was dissolved for the general election.”

The upcoming Sexual Offences Bill and the 2013 legislation on forced labour are just the beginning in ending labour and sex trafficking in Ireland. The legislation is there and the will to end trafficking is there; but only time will tell whether their implementation will succeed. O’Toole is hopeful for the future: “When we get to that level of confidence across our policies and procedures we can end trafficking. The tools are available to us.” Ending human trafficking can’t happen soon enough.

APRIL 19TH 2016

features Can we fix the Seanad?

Billy Vaughan gives us an overview of the issues of representation in Seanad

In 2013, the Irish public were given the opportunity of abolishing the upper house of the Oireachtas, known as the Seanad. The referendum resulted in a no vote in what was seen as a major embarrassment for the government.

Promises were made to reform the upper house, but smarting from the defeat and with little other incentive to act, no further action was taken.

The Seanad is an institution that, save for a brief interlude in the 1930s, is as old as the Irish State. One of the main reasons it came into being

was to give more representation to several diverse social groups such as farmers and minorities (such as Protestants). The intention was that an alternative chamber to the Dáil could be created, where political partisanship mattered less than honest debate based on principles.

Decades later, and the chamber has been gutted by decades of political neglect and indifference.

Many would argue that in the present day, the upper house has become exactly what it set out to fight.

Today, it is an uneasy mixture of liberal firebrands nominated by the Taoiseach and the Universities, and failed or prospective Dáil candidates nominated by the panel system. This often results in the heated and often outrageous exchanges we have seen in recent years, which are great theatre, but get the debate nowhere. In theory, most Seanad members should be experts in a certain field, and most of the others should be representatives of certain social groups. It is supposed to allow the exchange of debate and information between two groups who might otherwise find getting elected difficult and lend a different perspective to the legislative process. Unfortunately, in reality it has become a mere rubber stamp.

The principle of ‘one man one vote’ is an issue that is very relevant to Seanad reforms, considering that it is possible for a university graduate to have votes in other areas. A working group report from last year has recommended that graduates choose between retaining their university vote or choose to elect the new panels. Senator Ivana Bacik is a supporter of these reforms.

“University graduates could opt for a vote on the University panel instead of the National language, culture, literature, art and education panel,” she said, cancelling their perceived unfair democratic advantage.

Representation of minority interests also feature highly in the aims of those who are pro-reform. The Seanad, according to them, could once again be transformed into an open forum for groups who may find it difficult to succeed (or cannot succeed) at the ballot box, such as travellers or the Irish diaspora.

Of course, major reform in how the Seanad is elected would be needed in order to open up the institution to other social groups. Universal suffrage did once apply to the Seanad, but only for its first ever election in

1925. The process was seen as so cumbersome that the entire

such proponent is Senator Bacik, who believes that many improvements can be made. “Some provision should be made for gender balance in the panels,” she says, “for example by reserving 50 per cent of the seats in each panel for each gender.” She also believes that universal suffrage to the vocational panels is the key to making it more inclusive.

“All those entitled to be on the local election register should also be entitled to vote in the Seanad general election.

Each person entitled to vote would have a separate vote for candidates on each of the five panels.”

She says that a two part approach is needed for reform. “I believe that the constitutional convention should be reconvened to consider changes through constitutional amendment, and other changes can be made through legislation alone.”

Ostensibly professional bodies representing thousands of Irish employees are supposed to play a big role in the make up of the Seanad, giving a voice to workers who are not university graduates.

“There are indeed a large number of professional and other bodies with the power of nomination but they have no power to vote and no independent representative has ever been elected through this system,” says Senator David Norris.

He says he recalls one occasion “on which the President of the Royal Irish Academy was nominated by that body but did not receive one single vote.”

“It is supposed to allow the exchange of debate and information between two groups who might otherwise find getting elected difficult and lend a different perspective to the legislative process.

Unfortunately, in reality it has become a mere rubber stamp.” system was thrown out in favour of the obscure nomination and panel system that we have today.

The five vocational panels, in particular, have been the subject of serious criticism and calls for its reform are almost unanimous. One

Diary of a Presidaft Fiachra Johnston 07/04 It seems Enda has left his diary in the chambers this morning.

He’s not in the best of ways recently (what with this whole hung parliament). So I doubt he’s in the mood to fill in a diary. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt for this to become the Presidential Journal for a while, just until they find a suitable candidate to take over for him. One who might actually appreciate some poetry from time to time So, what should I write about while Enda’s away? I could take this opportunity to make him look like a fool. I’m sure the last few posts in here make him out to be some sort of golden god.

But it would be cruel of me to kick on someone when they’re down. If it wasn’t, I would’ve kicked him many, many times throughout the last four years.

Perhaps some of my critically acclaimed poetry? I have some new material that has been a real knockout at dinner parties here in the Áras. Literally, people are so blown away that by the time I’m done they’re unconscious in their seats. But maybe the world isn’t ready to experience such beautiful work yet. I’ll save it for another time.

No, I think I’ll start with the basics, and write about what I do.

After all, everyone thinks all I do is look sit at home and have tea and biscuits while the Taoiseach runs the country. Which isn’t true at all. Jaffa Cakes aren’t biscuits.

08/04 So, if the Taoiseach is busy running the country, what do I get up to? Well, I obviously appoint the Taoiseach after elections, as well as the first parliament members.

And whenever someone wants to resign, I have to be the one to say, “yep, off you go”. I mean, granted, I can’t actually say no to any of this, but it’s just nice they would ask me. I can even dissolve the Dáil if I wanted (not literally dissolve 10 APRIL 19TH 2016

it, that would make me some kind of Bond villain). Well, not if I wanted, more if… the Dáil wanted.

Again, really, it’s just nice to be included in the decision, even if there’s not much of a decision to actually make on my end.

Of course, when it comes to vetoing bills… I can’t do that either. I can send it to the courts to check it, but really, I leave the bills to the TDs. Far too insignificant for the President anyways. I’m too busy representing Ireland abroad.

Even though Enda is the one who goes to the White House every year, and all Irish Ambassadors sign in my name for me so I don’t have to come out all the way to do it myself. Very thoughtful.

I’m Supreme Commander of the Defence forces, of course, and I have complete control of any and all Irish military personnel, at the recommendation of the Minister for Defence. Coveney is a lovely gentleman. Knows I’m too busy with other Presidential matters, so he does it for me.

Doesn’t even phone me. He knows the line is always jam packed.

Of course, I do have some limits to my power. Technically, I can’t actually leave Ireland without the government’s permission. So no sneaky holidays to Ibiza anymore, sadly. I also can’t actually make any addresses to the nation without their consent either… now that I think about it, the Government does seem like the President’s overbearing father: “Don’t leave your room”, “Don’t talk out of turn”, “You could do all this, but I’ll do it for you. It’s easier that way”, “No, Mr. President you can’t throw a house party in the chambers”.

Alright. Maybe I’m not really a “leader” as such, but damned if I’m not the only one who hasn’t been doing much around here. And since this isn’t really an address to the nation, I can say whatever I please, can’t I? 09/04 Things aren’t going too well in

the Dáil right now. I know, you must think “when do they ever?”

But for the past month every time I pay a visit down there it’s chaos.

No one knows who’s in charge.

The last time I checked they had changed their political parties into gangs and started fighting over the dwindling resources left in the desert with radically modified cars and trucks. Or maybe that was that Mad Max film that they were showing on RTÉ last night.

Even so, it’s quite a nightmare down there. I’ve never seen so much panic in the Dáil since Minister Wallace came in dressed in a shirt that wasn’t salmon coloured.

Everyone is asking when things will be sorted and they can go back to their jobs full time, and I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure myself.

It appears that Enda has up and disappeared in the last few days since he got back from America.

Perhaps he had had enough of being Interim Taoiseach and decided to leg it while he still had time.

Perhaps the CIA had something on him and he decided to go underground. He might’ve been a crack spy under the guise of the world’s least interesting world leader. It wouldn’t surprise me. After all, by day, I’m just a humble Irish President. But by night, I spend my time handcrafting some of the greatest pieces of Irish poetry known to man (never mind what Ms Carol Rumens might think…). But as I said, I’ll save that for another time.

Whatever the case, and whoever we have next, we should be strong.

Our ancestors didn’t bleed for us so we could complain about not knowing what to do next. Perhaps these last few years have been unkind for us, but I know as long as we don’t forget who we are and what we’ve come from, that this is just a road bump on our way to greater things. We’ve done well for ourselves, and can only do better. Like my favourite musician once said, “We started from the bottom and now, we’re here.”

Illustration: louise flanagan

“Everyone thinks all I do is look sit at home and have tea and biscuits while the Taoiseach runs the country. Which isn’t true at all. Jaffa Cakes aren’t biscuits.”

Another area that many agree needs reform is the university panel.

Currently only Trinity College and the National University of Ireland can elect members, excluding the thousands that are graduates of Institutes of Technology and other third level institutions. “The representative element needs to be strengthened by extending the franchise to other third level institutions,” says Norris. However, he believes that including all post-secondary education in one massive “super constituency” would create huge numbers of voters that would turn the process into a political one. He suggests a split between Dublin and the rest of Ireland. “This would keep these constituencies within manageable proportions while extending their representative capacity.”

Something seen as a major obstacle to the overt purpose of the Seanad as a chamber is the fact that its elections take place 90 days after that of Dáil Éireann, allowing many failed Dáil candidates to be co-opted in. There is a “need to break the link between Dáil and Seanad elections” by “legislation providing that the Seanad election takes place on the same day as a Dáil election”, according to Ivana Bacik.

Senator Norris proposes a different solution, that of fixed five year Seanad terms. “This would end the scandal of situations where every high-office holder in the Seanad had all been rejected in the preceding elections.”

Overall, it is clear to most people that the Seanad is in dire need of serious reform. Most agree that the chamber can become a tool for a more socially inclusive democracy in Ireland. Unfortunately political movement on the issue is likely to remain stagnant for some time.

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UCD END OF YEAR REVIEW

UCD Students’ Union: Year in Review The Students’ Union speak to the University Observer about their term in office to pick up and go with the next idea and hopefully you do it better. But obviously if you [were given] a second tenure at it you’d be, you’re thinking you’ll be done in the summer and everything can just roll out from there. The biggest problem with this job is you spend three months in the summer finding your feet, and you actually don’t find your feet at all.”

Perhaps one of the biggest failures was in their failing to update the SU website – something that is constitutionally required of them. “Bottom line is that the structure that’s in place now is far from ideal,” Byrne says of the issue. “When there’s a problem I shouldn’t have to call up someone in England and be put on a waiting list for a hand. I’ve brought it up internally that a training day is needed for C&C Officer and certain staff members that they can go over and be fully equipped to deal with what sprouts up. It’s one line in the constitution that says that you keep hold of the website, but the actual doing of that, you’ve to have half a degree to do the website. The issues are being dealt with internally about how this can be dealt with so we can give Luke [Fitzpatrick, incoming C&C Officer] and everyone else the tools they need to do the job at hand.”

Other failures include the lack of a voter registration drive ahead of the general election, which O’Halloran admits was an oversight. “I think collectively we’ve to stand up and we’ve to take the hit for our voter registration drive. I don’t pin that on Cian whatsoever, it’s as much my fault as it is his, or Dannii’s, or Clare’s or Hazel’s. As a team we kind of gave oversight to it and it wasn’t on purpose. Literally so much was going on that we didn’t prioritise that at the time, and as a result people weren’t happy about it. That’s one thing that collectively as a team we let slip.”

It’s been a busy year on UCD campus. Students have continued to work towards achieving their degrees, while around them, the Students’ Union continue to work with the aim of making life better for UCD students. This has manifested itself in a multitude of ways this academic year.

From the unusual campaigns to constitutional breaches, it’s been a busy year for the sabbatical officers that occupy the SU Corridor in the Old Student Centre.

Those sabbatical officers – Marcus O’Halloran, President; Dannii Curtis, Education Officer; Clare O’Connor, Welfare Officer; Cian Byrne, Campaigns and Communications Officer and Hazel Beattie, Graduate Officer, have been working this year with some basic intentions, including improving life for students on campus, providing assistance for them where necessary, while also making some kind of an impact on campus – creating an atmosphere that is engaged, sociable and diverse.

Events and campaigns Perhaps this year’s sabbatical team’s most prominent work has come in the form of their campaigns and events. From their sexual consent campaign to the controversial cancellation of UCD Ball – which has not gone ahead now for two years in a row – it’s been a busy year.

Cian Byrne, the SU’s Campaigns and Communications Officer, believes that they’ve made an impact in this fostering of a community atmosphere. “As a general student I think through a lot of the general campaigns and events we’ve done were to instill the sense of community.

So from Christmas Day, College Christmas, Rag Week which embodied 20 different events, 20 different societies, and even the youth suicide campaign where 521 students have gotten involved, the Union’s more of a chance that you can take part and get involved on more of a day where it’s open to everyone, it’s no longer that bubble, that niche [of] ‘they’re the SU’, it’s ‘what event is the SU putting on for me?’” Byrne believes that “We’ve made noise this year, so it may be a little bit difficult for next year because they have to step up to the plate because people have an expectation now.”

Marcus O’Halloran, President of the Students’ Union, believes that their consent campaign has been particularly effective, as has their fundraising for Youth Suicide Prevention Ireland (YSPI).

“The consent campaign has really helped make UCD a better place for students,” O’Halloran says. “I think the consent campaign is probably going to be something that we look back on in a couple of years and we’ll have made a real difference, exactly like the skydive campaign. Youth suicide is the biggest claim of young males lives in colleges and in secondary schools so I think to raise the awareness that has been done this year, that has been an absolutely incredible effort. I think those couple of issues have really they’ve given students the idea that we’re here for the bigger picture as well as the smaller picture.”

On the welfare side of things, the SU Welfare Officer, Clare O’Connor, has led a drug awareness campaign this year, which she says is her proudest achievement of the year. “It’s something I came into the job and I saw and thought a lot of students on campus were doing drugs,” she says. “I feel there was this kind of gap where there was no information available for those students that do decide to do drugs. So yeah, that was actually my biggest achievement in getting a realistic campaign effort that was both educational and kind of veering away from the don’t do drugs campaign, because the ‘don’t do drugs’ doesn’t seem to be working really, and just letting students [who] do drugs know

12 APRIL 19TH 2016

how can we keep them as safe as they possibly can be and reduce the harm that’s being caused to them.”

This year also saw the return of Raise and Give Week (RAG week) to campus, something that the Students’ Union take pride in. The return of RAG week to campus received criticism from some students after they raised just over €10,000 during the week – a result that was only half of their goal, and one that was much smaller than some other colleges’ results. “The goal of RAG Week, number one, was to just create a community, and that was something we set out at the start of the year to create a community spirit,” O’Halloran says. “Now people have their different opinions on how RAG Week went here and there but we had something for everybody in the audience during that week, and I think that we accomplished what we set out to do, and it’s obvious the template’s there for future years to take it and do whatever they want with it and as with a lot of the stuff we’ve done this year.”

The year also saw the disappointment that UCD Ball would not be going ahead for the second year in a row. The Ball has become a source of endless consternation for the sabbatical officers. It hasn’t taken place on campus now for several years – with both University management and the Gardaí voicing protests.

After attempts to source a location for this year, the SU eventually conceded that it would not be happening again.

“We looked at having it all over Dublin in different venues, and in the end it was a massive disappointment because we started working on it back in July or August, and we said to ourselves once we have this nailed down before Christmas we’re in a good place,” O’Halloran says. “We got to November and things were not moving at the pace they should have been and we said ‘right, we’re giving ourselves a deadline here of the first week of February. First week of February came, no go and we said the 19th. And once the 19th came we just said look it, pull the plug on this.

We can’t waste any more time on this because we’re not giving adequate time to everything else as a result of this. It was a massive disappointment more than anything because we had put so much effort into it, and I suppose bringing the proposal to University management as well, that was hugely disappointing that it didn’t pass because that plan was actually fifteen pages longer than the event management plan for Marley Park for

Longitude, and it was a better one.”

Fees and funding: accommodation and the cost of college As always, the sabbatical officers offered their attention to the cost of college, with O’Halloran saying his work on accommodation is his biggest achievement of the year. This year, students have found themselves immersed in one of the worst rental crises Dublin has ever seen, with a massive shortage of places to live and constantly rising rent prices. However it has also been a year of changed direction for the SU. There have been no campaigns for reduced or free fees, despite the fact that this year marks the highest the fees have ever been, now standing at €3,000 for most undergraduate students, before the Student Centre Levy is factored in.

On his work on the accommodation crisis, O’Halloran says: “I sought a meeting with Alan Kelly, got it and since then a housing industry has been announced by the government that’s coming into effect at home in UCD… The formation of a new government would be extremely helpful for that because we’re at nothing at the moment. But the campaign is obviously going to continue, and it’s something I’m going to help Conor [Viscardi] and the team with as much as possible next year because it’s something that really, really needs to be just tackled head on, on a national level and here in UCD.” Despite these measures however, the basic fact remains that little has actually been achieved this year. Perhaps O’Halloran was fighting a losing battle from the start on this front. No Students’ Union President can possibly undo a housing crisis by themselves – but at the same time, a housing crisis cannot be solved entirely by meeting politicians and writing open letters either.

While the campaign may continue into next year, it certainly looks as though O’Halloran will finish his term with few specific achievements to point to in this regard.

On the issue of fees, the sabbatical officers have done little. Speaking of the issue, Cian Byrne says that they have proposed a graduate tax, but little else has been done and nothing has been achieved. “We still maintain a stance of free fees at entry level. We also proposed a graduate tax to the government as another option, but as it stands they’re not releasing anything. We

know what the students want and we want education accessible for everyone, but we just don’t have answers from them unfortunately.”

Successes Each of the officers feels that they’ve done something unique and worthwhile for the Union this year, as well as their work as a team. Dannii Curtis, Education Officer with the Union, says that one of her biggest achievements this year has been in making the UCD system understandable for students. “I think other than events, one of the biggest achievements I’ve had has been dumbing down the UCD system for students,” she says. “I think the UCD system is really intimidating for students, like having to sit down and fill out an extenuating circumstances form and write on the form why you feel like shit… So to produce a dummy guide and really break it down in small terms for students of what goes where and what information you need, as well as producing a consolidated postexam guide to help students navigate their initial results especially for first year students who haven’t got a clue how a GPA works, and really engaging with the appeals and complaints process in the university and trying to make that and disciplinary hearings and plagiarism hearings more streamlined for students rather than a student just getting this email being like ‘you’ve been called to this disciplinary hearing for this issue’ and students panic.” On the Education side, Curtis also lists the Undergraduate Research Summit as one of her biggest achievements.

The other officers list campaigns as their biggest achievements, such as O’Halloran’s work on accommodation, O’Connor’s drugs awareness campaign, and Byrne’s work on youth suicide prevention fundraising.

Beyond this, O’Connor also notes the addition of two new student advisors as a major achievement for the Union.

Failures The Union are willing to accept that it hasn’t been a perfect year, as O’Halloran acknowledges. “I’d happily put my hands up and say we haven’t had a perfect year,” he says.

“We missed the boat on different things. Looking back, it’s easy to say it all in hindsight, but at the time you deal with what you have at the time and if you mess up, you mess up, and you literally just have

Challenges One of the major challenges the Officers faced this year was in dealing with the University. “The university have been incredibly difficult, be it getting meetings with… [or] getting listened to and being taken seriously has been incredibly tough,” O’Halloran says. He notes that most of the issues come from Tierney. “I found it tough at times. I found they do not listen to students as much as they should. I found it tough to get meetings and I think that reflects back in the increase in accommodation this year as well that students aren’t being listened to… So for me the university have been difficult and I think that the university need to really listen to the SU and the students going forward because we’re not being heard and I don’t know, it has proven very difficult, for many different reasons.”

Other challenges noted by the Officers include defining the role of Welfare, something that O’Connor is keen to note. Many people continue to view the Welfare Office as a supplementary counselling service, something that none of the Officers want to continue. They believe the role needs further clarification, and should be seen more as a support or referral service.

End of another year As the academic year comes to a close, it’s not entirely easy to judge the work of the Students’ Union this year. Controversies like the UCD200 and the lack of adherence to the constitution highlighted their weaknesses, while their strengths lay in public campaigning and awareness-raising. However, it will be for their public campaigning that this year’s sabbatical team will be remembered, rather than the administrative, judgement and organisational flaws along the way.

Words: Patrick Kelleher Additional reporting: Gráinne Loughran Contributors: Aoife Hardesty and Karl Quigley

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UCD END OF YEAR REVIEW

LOOKING BACK: THE YEAR THAT WAS IN UCD In an end of year review, Gráinne Loughran, Patrick Kelleher, Aoife Hardesty, David Kent and Megan Fanning sum up the highs and the lows of the year for UCD Rankings It was a mixed year for UCD in the world university rankings. In October the Times Higher Education (THE) released their world rankings in which UCD leapt 53 places to 176th in the world, leaving UCD just sixteen places behind Trinity College at 160th. THE also ranked UCD as the 74th “most international” university globally, dropping seven places from joint 67th place last year.

In the QS world rankings however, UCD fell fifteen places and out of the top 150, from 139th place to 154th. UCD were ranked as first in Ireland for citations per faculty at 201st place globally, with Trinity College following at 203rd place.

In the QS rankings per subject, UCD placed in the top 200 in 30 subjects (out of the 39 subjects UCD offers which are judged in the rankings), with Veterinary Science placing at 31st globally.

Although different metrics are used to judge universities by the THE and QS, one area in which UCD fell down in both lists was its staff to student ratio.

“This fall has been flagged for some time and demonstrates the urgent need for a new funding model that can address the needs of the university and the sector,” said UCD President, Professor Andrew Deeks.

Smurfit Business School has also risen in the rankings, with its MBA improving in both The Economist and the Financial Times Executive MBA rankings.

The MBA jumped to 56th in the world from 63rd last year as judged by The Economist, and to 82nd place from 94th in The Financial Times. In the Financial Times Top 100 Global Full-Time MBA rankings, Smurfit placed 79th.

“Our scholarly impact is strong and indicators covering academic papers per staff, research income per staff and citations impact have all climbed considerably… What is keeping us back is the deficit in State investment in our universities in comparison with other countries,” said Professor Deeks. –GL

Science, Research and Innovation UCD has had an extremely productive year regarding Science, Innovation and Research, with a number of high profile events, collaborations and publications.

In February, UCD announced collaboration with Bekaert (a Belgian steel manufacturing company) that would see the launching of the Bekaert University Technology centre within the School of Materials and Mechanical Engineering.

The aim of this technology centre is to develop advanced next generation steel wire products.

Science Foundation Ireland have invested in a €26 million Geosciences research centre, located within the O’Brien Centre for Science. The research centre, named iCRAG was launched in December. ICRAGg’s purpose is the discovering and sourcing of materials critical to the country’s economy such as raw materials and energy and water resources.

The third TEDxUCD took place in December in the UCD DramSoc Theatre, featuring a number of speakers from among the Science Schools. The talks covered such topics as environmental science, cognitive science, linguistics, HIV and ecology.

The UCD High Energy Astrophysics group, a founding member of the international VERITAS Collaboration, studies quasars and blazars. These are structures believed to be formed at supermassive black holes at galactic centers.

The group, alongside NASA and MAGIC, published results in December regarding the detection of very high energy gamma rays believed to be emitted from a blazar located 7.6 billion light years away. Such research is integral to learning more about these structures.

14 APRIL 19TH 2016

In April, UCD’s O’Brien Centre for Science held the finals of the ENGAGE seminars. These seminars allow PhD students a chance to hone their public speaking and presenting skills The students are tasked with clearly explaining their research and its implications to a public audience with, in most cases, no prior knowledge of the topics. The event was hosted by Dr. Aoibinn Ní Shúilleabháin, and the winner was Martin Parsons from UCD’s Conway SPHERE research group for his presentation entitled “Brain Blobs in your Blood” which describes his research studying the role exosomes may play in multiple sclerosis. -AH

Sport It’s been another fantastic year for UCD sport. It started with sadness with the passing of Dave Billings last April, but the perfect tribute was paid to the UCD GAA stalwart when captain Jack McCaffrey led the men’s team to the Sigerson Cup (with seven inter-county stars in the squad).

McCaffrey himself was the driving force of Dublin’s All-Ireland wins and won the coveted Player of the Year.

Not to be outdone, Ciara Murphy captained the ladies to an O’Connor Cup in Tralee and in the process secured a historic double for the College.

We had no less than seven representatives with the underage Irish rugby teams with Josh Van Der Flier making Joe Schmidt’s squad for the Six Nations and making his international debut. The side have also led the All-Ireland league for the majority of the year with some great victories.

UCD Trampoline, Boat, Lacrosse, Fencing and Rowing were among a number of clubs that won intervarsity medals. In soccer, UCD defied its second tier status to make League of Ireland history and reach the second round of the Europa League, qualifying for the first time in the club’s history, as well as reaching the promotion playoffs. In basketball UCD Marian made another appearance at the Champions Trophy only to be defeated by UCC 75-71.

UCD Hockey have qualified for the EY Hockey League playoffs. The Belfield campus has hosted a number of national and European competitions in sports such as shooting, mountaineering, and volleyball.

Eoin Morton continued his impressive record on the cycling track.

To top it all off, UCD will be represented by no fewer than nine students and graduates appearing at the Rio Olympics in the summer,

with more qualification to be held over the summer. The future certainly is bright for UCD Sport. –DK

Societies It’s been a busy year for UCD societies. Over the last year, there have been noticeably increased membership numbers and activity among smaller faculty societies, with most increasing in size, while some of the larger societies have faltered in many regards.

The L&H has had fewer recipients of the James Joyce Awards than in recent years, and is focusing more on its reputation as a debating society, with Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair winning the individual award at the Irish Times debating competition.

The likes of Law Soc have also seen it revert to its roots with fewer big names than before but more appropriate faculty guests (such as Robert Fisk) and law-based events.

Arts Soc has had quite a tumultuous year with rumours of disbandment going around campus, having failed to reach the membership numbers it has previously seen or to run events in its first semester.

The society auditor was impeached and Arts Soc has since been rejuvenated by a science student.

FilmSoc has gone to strength to strength, with successes in membership numbers and consistent events and screenings throughout the year, including their recent week-long festival. DramSoc also saw success recently at the ISDAs, taking home the awards for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Sound and the judges’ discretionary award for Best Ensemble. MusicalSoc saw success with their performance of Legally Blonde, as well as their hosting of the first Musical Theatre Intervarsities.

LitSoc has increased its presence on campus with the launch of their literary journal, Caveat Lector and frequent events. Similarly, DrawSoc have come to the fore with their recent Limitless: exhibition, while Belfield FM have come back from the brink to increased listenership and two nominations at this year’s Student Media Awards. -GL and MF

Controversies The most major controversy that UCD faced this year were revelations about the so-called ‘UCD200’ which emerged in February. An article in The College Tribune suggested that roughly 200 Agricultural Science students were involved in a Facebook group chat sharing inappropriate

photos and comments about female students. However it was not until national media got involved that UCD began to respond to the accusations, and launched an investigation.

In an email to all students, Professor Mark Rogers said that “the investigation found no evidence of the existence of such a group where UCD students were posting nude photographs of female students and then rating them,” and said that the article had been “based on hearsay”.

However this was not before the story had been covered and commented on in numerous national and international media outlets.

In October, a former Head of the School of Maths and Statistics threatened to cut the grades of his STAT10010 students for using electronic devices in class. In an email sent by Dr Patrick Murphy to students, he claimed that there had been “observers” in class noting which students had been using electronic devices, and stating that unless these students presented a sealed letter of apology to him in class they would lose the full attendance and contribution grade for the module.

Following intervention from the School of Maths and Statistics and the Students’ Union, it was confirmed that there would be no reduction in students’ grades. Dr Murphy issued a letter of apology which said that his previous email had been “borne out of frustration and a regrettable attempt to get students to put away their phones.”

In a controversy uncovered by the University Observer, it was found through the Freedom of Information Act that UCD received €1.8 million in exam repeat fees in 2014/2015. The information also revealed that 16 modules had a 100 per cent failure rate that academic year. UCD did not comment on how the money was used. –GL

Arts, Music and Film To say that it’s been a big year for UCD students and alumni in the arts, music and film is an understatement. The university has been making a huge impact internationally in all three areas.

Emma Donoghue, the acclaimed Irish writer and UCD graduate, adapted her novel Room into what became one of the year’s biggest films.

Brie Larson went on to win the Oscar for Best Actress, and Donoghue herself was nominated for best adapted screenplay. Colm Toibin, another acclaimed Irish writer, saw his novel Brooklyn being adapted into one of

the year’s most critically acclaimed films; it also received a number of Academy Award nominations.

It was also a big year for current students in the arts. UCD Choral Scholars have continued to flourish this year. Their video for ‘Mo Ghille Mear’ received nearly two million views across different platforms, and they performed the song on The Late Late Show in March. UCD’s Dramsoc has also continued to produce plays of a standard often not seen in professional theatres, let alone in student productions.

UCD was saddened by the loss of one of its alumni, renowned actor Frank Kelly, in February. Kelly most recently returned to UCD in 2013 to receive the Lifetime Achievement award from Dramsoc, and was one of its most succesful alumni.

It’s been a major year in Ireland with the 1916 centenary taking place.

UCD has been at the fore of remembering the Rising, from university’s official programme to the work done by students and alumni. A number of UCD graduates, including Emma Donoghue, Marina Carr and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, teamed up with Professor of Creative Writing at the University to write Signatories, a play with made up of monologues examining some of the leaders – both known and lesser known – of the Rising. Dramsoc also took part in the centenary celebrations by performing across Dublin City in RTÉ’s ‘Reflecting The Rising’ event. It’s been a stellar year in the arts for the UCD community. - PK

Students’ Union It’s been a mixed year for UCD’s Students’ Union. From its campaigns to its day-to-day operation, things certainly could have been better – although the year was not without its successes.

Some of the major campaigns run by the Students’ Union this year include their fundraising for Youth Suicide Prevention Ireland (they have currently raised over €100,000), their ‘slutwalk’ and sexual consent campaign and their What’s in the Pill campaign.

The campaign to raise money for YSPI has been a huge success, with 581 students to skydive in aid of the charity. The campaign has not been popular in all quarters, however, with some students criticising them for not raising money for the Welfare Fund in UCD, or for working towards some more campus-specific changes.

The sexual consent campaign has been one of extreme highs and lows.

At its height was the ‘slutwalk’, where students walked through campus in revealing clothing to spread awareness of the damaging rhetoric around sexual assault that blames victims. Unfortunately, turnout wasn’t particularly high for the event. Since then, the campaign has collapsed somewhat. It was damaged severely by the ‘UCD200’ controversy, which saw criticisms leveled against the Union for not doing enough for campus consent. Most recently, the promised sexual consent survey has received around 4,000 responses to date, but has received some criticisms for being heteronormative and assuming partipants are heterosexual, cisgender students.

Throughout the campaign, the Union’s focus was mostly on garnering national media coverage rather than in engaging students with it – a flaw which was ultimately its downfall.

The What’s in the Pill campaign has been one of the most invisible campaigns run by the Union on campus. It saw a move from the ‘Just Say No’ campaign, which discouraged drug use, but instead accepted that students were already taking drugs, and aimed to spread information on safe drug-taking. The campaign saw UCDSU team up with DIT, TCD and the Ana Liffey Drug Project. Unfortunately, as the events generally took place off campus, there was little student engagement in UCD. Despite the poor marketing and implementation, the campaign shows an original and engaged approach on the part of the Union to the issue of drugs amongst students.

The mixed reception to the SU’s campaigns has been accompanied by a weakened sense of engagement on campus. Student apathy has long since been a problem, and perhaps one of the SU’s greatest failings this year has been in their inability to engage those who are on campus every day. - PK

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Gaeilge Gaeilge agus Pop Cultúr Amharcann Niamh O Regan ar iris Ghaelach nua, agus ceistíonn sí cén luach atá ag an teanga i bpop-chultúr an lae inniu Le déanaí tá iris nua as Gaeilge tar éis foilsiú, ach ní haon gnáth iris atá ann. Is iris ar líne é agus, iris pornaghrafach. Tháinig an smaoineamh ó grúpa daltaí meán timpeall na tíre, bhunaigh siad an iris don craic ach ag braith ar rath a iris, b’fhéidir go dtiocfaidh plean fadtéarma as. Ón bhfoilsiúchán áfach, tagann ceisteanna chun cinn; cé comh tábhachtach is atá ról an Ghaeilge i bpop chultúr, agus an é iris pornaghrafach

an slí is fearr chun úsáid na teanga a chur chun cinn?

Níl ach mion ról an Ghaeilge i bpop chultúr faoi láthair, ach tá ról aici ann agus tá an ról ag fás.

Tá coincheap ait ann, gur gá don Ghaeilge a bheith “cool”, agus faoi láthair nach bhfuil sí. Is fíor ait an rud é a rá go bhfuil stádas sóisialta ag baint le teanga. Is minic a feictear ar an nGaeilge mar ábhar seanfaiseanta, traidisiúnta, atá oiriúnach do amhránaíocht sean

An Radharc Ón dTúr Uisce

Agus muid ag druidim le deireadh an seimeastar, caitheann Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin súil ar an t-airgead go léir atá baillithe ag UCD i mbliana, toisc gur theip muid uilig, is dtócha

Fáilte ar ais go dtí an Túr Uisce, don uair dheireanach don bhliain seo! Tá súil againn gur bhain sibh uilig sult as an nuacht agus an tuairimíocht a bhí againn. Is cinnte gur bhain muidne sult as an eolas a bhailiú.

Bá onóir é scríobh don pháipéir seo le linn na bliana, (agus, an bhfuil a fhios agat, is é an páipéar ollscoile is fearr sa tír).

Roimh a fhágann muid slán libh, agus téann muid ar saoire ar feadh cúpla mí, sula musclaíonn muid i mí Mhean Fomhair gan morán cuimhne againn faoin tsamhradh, tá scéal amháin eile daoibh. An eagrán seo cháite, rinneadh fiosrúcháin ar na táillí a íocann muid chuig na hollscoile, an iomlán den €1.8 milliún dóibh. Bhí ionadh agus fearg orainn uilig le cloisteáil an iomlán sin, ach tá tuilleadh tar éis teacht isteach chuig an oifig, agus is é sin cad a tharlóidh leis an t-airgead sin uilig.

Ar an forógra seo ón mbord airgeadais anseo in COBÁC, tá cúpla smaointí anseo maidir le cén tslí a caithfear an t-airgead breise seo ó na táillí. Ar an tí a ritheann an caipéis seo go timpeall is 100 leathanach, roghnaigh muid roinnt de na smaointí ab fhearr linn.

Uimh 13. Tógfear bloc eile d’Áras na Mic Léinn. Cuirfear na táillí suas 50% eile chomh maith. An cúis? Is féidir linn.

Uimh 27. Leabharlann eile, chun an brú a bhaint den leabharlann James Joyce le linn uaireanta gnóthach.

Uimh 36. Cur 560 crainn nua.

Uimh 37. Nó ceard faoi 567?

Uimh 50. Ceard faoi cúpla dealbh nua? (Pleananna fá chóinne 20 nasctha).

Uimh 55. Tóg loch nua.

Uimh 56. Tóg dhá loch nua.

Uimh 60. Éadaí a cheannach don dealbh lasmuigh den fhoirgnimh Sutherland.

Uimh 61. Teiripe do chách a bhí orthu amharc ar an dealbh lasmuigh den fhoirgnimh Sutherland.

Uimh 68. Meaisín a cur i Centra chun “chicken fillet rolls” a dhéanamh níos gáiste.

Uimh 75. An leabharlann a leagadh. Cén úsáid atá ag mic léinn le leabhair ar aon nós?

Uimh 75a. Loch eile a cur ina áit.

Uimh 78. Leag an tÁras Newman, agus cur áit pairceála ina háit.

16 APRIL 19TH 2016

Faoi seo, tá cúpla nótaí eile: Tá sé de smaoineamh táillí scrúdaithe agus áthscrúdaithe a cur suas.

Chomh maith le táillí pairceála.

Tá sé sóiléir go bhfuil na smaointí seo an suimúil ar fad, agus, i ndairíre, níl clú da laghad againn cad a tharlóidh leis na táillí uilig ó áthscrúdaithe. Níl orainn anois ach fanacht le fáil amach.

Ar aon nós, sin a ‘bhfuil ón Túr Uisce i mbliana. Táimid chun dul chuig an mbear anois chun samhladh cad a dhéanfad le €1.8 milliún. B’fhéidir gur chóir do na húdaráisí an cinneadh a cur chugainne anseo san oifig? Anois... cé mhéad pionta árbh fhéidir leat ceannacht le milliún euro?

nós, bothántaíocht timpeall na tine agus scéalta don shaol atá thart. Ach de bharr gur teanga beo atá ann, cén fáth nach féidir léi a bheith páirteach i bpop chultúr na tíre. Bliain i ndiadh bliana taifeadtear dlúthdhiosca le amhrán as Gaeilge air, ó cheoltóirí Éireannach, tá raidió Rí-Rá ann, leabhair foilsithe in nGaeilge agus rud amháin eile, ach is minic nach tugtar an aithint chéanna dóibh. Is é an rud faoin

nGaeilge sa pop cultúr ná, de barr an mionlach a labhraíonn Gaeilge, is iad an mionlach céanna go mbeidh a fhios acu cá bhfuil an Ghaeilge ar fáil. Tá sé seo ag athrú áfach, le fás Seachtain na Gaeilge thar na blianta (go b’fhiú Coicís na Gaeilge a glaoch anois uirthi) tá suim sa Ghaeilge scaipthe do dhaoine nach raibh ach cúpla focal acu. Páirt mór de phop chultúr is ea na féasta ceoil a tharlaíonn i rith an tsamhraidh agus i mbliana tá féasta trí Ghaeilge

ar siúl i bhfoirm Ravelóid, cé nach mbeidh gach uile amhránaí nó bána ceoil ag canadh as Gaeilge, is í téama an féasta an Ghaeilge a chéiliúradh.

Ag an am céanna, d’fhéadfadh go mbeadh ról níos tábhachtaí agus níos lárnaí ag an Gaeilge i bpop chultúr.

Ní cheart go mbeadh an fócas ar fad ar an nGaeilge i Seachtaine na Gaeilge amháin. Ach tá meon ann i measc roinnt daoine nach bhfuil luach ann sa Ghaeilge agus nach fiú airgead a chaitheamh ar cur chun

cinn teanga nach féidir le éinne eile a thuiscint. Leis an meon seo, stopfar rath an Ghaeilge agus ní mhúsclaítear daoine a gcuid tailin leis an teanga a úsáid chun cuidiú leis an Gaeilge sa pop chultúr. In ainneoin an meon diúltach ag daoine áirithe, tá an ról ag fás, agus má cuirtear an ról chun cinn in ollscoileanna, i mean scoileanna agus thar an mean cumarsáide go ginearálta, d’fhéadfadh an mion ról a athrú go ról suntasach

Cén buntáistí a mbéadh ann d’Éireann dá bhfágfadh an Bhreatáin an t-Aontas Eorpach?

Agus an Breatain ag lorg slí amach ón t-AE, amharcann Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin ar na himpleachtaí mhaithe a d’fhéadfadh a bheith ann dúinne anseo Is cinnte nach bhfuil Breatainaigh ag smaoineamh orainne anseo in Éirinn agus iad ag caint faoin vóta ar an m“Brexit” níos móille sa bhliain. Ach, is cinnte go mbeidh éifeacht ar an tír seo má fhágann an Bhreatain an t-AE. Ach an mbeidh sé uilig olc? Samhlaigh é seo ar feadh cúpla bomáite...

Oíche Chinn Bhliana atá ann, an oíche roimh tús na bliana dhá mhíle is a seacht deág atá ann. Tá an am atá fágtha ag an Bhreatáin san Aontas Eorpach chóir a bheith thart, leis an meán oíche ag druidim linn. Is cuma cén áit ina seasann tú ar an “Brexit”, mar a thugtar air, ní féidir ach a admháil go mbeidh athraithe móra ann don oileáin bheag seo i lár an t-Aigean Atlantaigh.

Agus, ní droch rud iad na hathraithe seo uilig.

Fan soicind, a deir tú. An é seo atá a rá agam ná go bhfuil buntáistí ann d’Éireann maidir leis an “Brexit”? Is cinnte go bhfuil. I gceann cúpla nóiméad, ag tús an bhliain úr, athróidh cursaí dúinn. Ar dtús báire, tá na mílte duine tagtha ó Thuaisceart Éirinn mar imircigh. Tá cuid díofa anseo mar gheall ar an pholaitíocht, ach, sin ráite, tá scaifte eile anseo agus iad ag lorg na pásanna Eorpacha atá acu a choinneáil. Íocfaidh siad cáin. Rachfaidh an cáin sin ar strae ar feadh bliain nó dhó, mar is gnáth do a dhéanamh sa tír seo, agus ansin, rachfaidh na h-iarsaoranaigh Breatannacha seo glán ar mire, toisc go mbeidh

orthu íoc ar son oideachas agus curaim sláinte agus cúpla rudaí beaga eile nach mbeidh ar fáil dóibh anseo i bPoblacht ná hÉireann.

Beidh an raic agus ruailebuaile ar sráideanna ár bpríomh chathair. Beidh áth-chóiriú cáine ann, agus feicfidh muid athraithe sa chaoi ina dhéantar rudaí sa tír seo. Hú-ré!

Ar an lámh eile, beidh buntáistí eile ann, gan dabht. An mbeidh faiseáin nua ann maidir le turais mic-léinn tras-teorainn go dtí Tuaisceart Éirinn? Nuair a trasnaíonn duine an teorainn, tá méid airithe d’earraí saor ó dleacht. Is iad dhá ceann de na rudaí seo ná tabac agus alcol, dhá rud atá measartha costasach anseo. Is féidir liom é a fhéiceáil anois. Tacsaithe

lán d’alcol saor ó dleacht ag teacht trasna an teorainn, tágtha ó Asda nó Tesco? An dtarlódh sé? Gan aon srian ar an méid a fhéadfadh iompar (gan an riail faoi na buidéal 100ml bearránach sin a bheith i bhfeidhm fá chóinne taisteáil talaimhe), is cinnte go mbeadh roinnt airithe tráchta de vadca srl.

Cinnte, nílim a rá, go mbeidh sé uilig breá, agus sin ráite, ní cheapaim gur smaoineamh mhaith é don Bhreatain an t-Aontas Eorpach a fhágáil. Anseo trasna an teorainn, ní féidir linn a gháth a dhéanamh ach fanacht ar an vóta.

science

Humankind and the Whale Aoife Hardesty dives into the matter of whales, and the nature of our interactions with these underwater giants Mankind has had a rather curious relationship with whales throughout history. For years, all information on whales came from fishermen who killed them for their meat and their fat; only if a whale became beached, which was a rare occurrence, would the average landlubber lay eyes upon one.

In the past, these gigantic creatures had a reputation as monsters, as a careless captain could find his ship destroyed by whales.

Indeed, the famous story of Moby Dick was inspired by the sinking of the 28m long Essex in 1820 after it was rammed by a sperm whale.

Today, most people would tell you that whales are really rather intelligent. We now know them to be mammals and not fish, and they could probably tell you that whales can be trained to perform tricks.

Some of the more well-known species include the giant blue whale, the humpback whale and the sperm whale. Orcas, commonly called killer whales, are actually not whales at all, but are dolphins – the largest dolphin species in fact. However, since the general perception of them is that they are whales, they are being treated as such for this article.

The call of the humpback whale

can be as low as 20Hz and travel as far as 10,000 km. Songs of the Humpback Whale is an album made entirely of humpback whale vocalisation, published in 1970. It is the bestselling environmental album of all time, having been certified triple platinum. It was the first album to feature the whales on lead vocals, and sparked huge interest in “Save the Whales” movements.

The blue whale’s song can be inaudible to humans as it can be as low as 10Hz, whereas the normal lower limit of human hearing is approximately 20Hz. It is believed that whales learn to sing early in their development, as their songs may play a part in the courtship and mating process. Whales develop a sound that is unique to each individual, a sound that identifies who they are. Every single pod of whales has a unique style of singing; this

strengthens the group and serves to identify them against outsiders.

Whales can travel phenomenal distances each year. The humpback whale migrates approximately 5000km each year with virtually no break, travelling at 5-14km/h, whereas the killer whale does not travel as far, but can move up to 48km/h for short bursts.

Since it was founded in 1964, SeaWorld has credited itself with the world falling in love with whales.

However, the conditions at SeaWorld have fallen under heavy scrutiny in recent years, largely due to the documentary Blackfish. SeaWorld critics maintain that the living conditions at SeaWorld for the whales have been inappropriate and have literally driven several whales mad, resulting in whales injuring and killing humans, as well as each other.

Flights of Fancy

Aoife Hardesty explores the imaginative ways mankind has used to fly Grounded to this earth, mankind has long looked to the heavens for answers to many of life’s problems.

In envisioning our gods, we have invariably placed the good ones in the skies. Looking up, our ancestors saw an unexplored world, full of mysteries and never-ending blue. The night time skies speckled with stars inspired stories across the globe.

Today we can take flight for granted. The invention of the modern aeroplane by the Wright brothers has led to affordable travel across the skies for all.

But the history of aviation did not begin with airplanes, and the earlier and innovative ways with which humans first took to the skies can seem like a madman’s flights of fancy.

Kites were first developed in China where they were used to carry messages, and execute prisoners. Records from the sixth century detail an execution method by the tyrant Gao Yang.

Prisoners were brought to the top of a 33-metre-high tower and were each strapped to a kite. They were then forced to jump and the kites would theoretically provide a means by which they could fly away. Of course, practically all prisoners just plunged to their deaths. The practice was cruelly called “the liberation of living creatures”.

One prisoner who survived the jump succeeded in flying 2.5 kilometres away from the tower. He was Prince Yuan Huangtou, the son of the emperor overthrown by Gao Yang. Using his kite, he successfully glided on an air current away from the death tower before returning to land. He was subsequently

captured and promptly executed.

Prince Yuan Huangtou’s flight is the earliest record of human flight by kite, but it was not until the 1800s that the western world began to develop man-lifting kites. Rather than being used for flying distances, the primary objective of such kites was to carry a man up into the sky. Hopes at the time were for using such a method for reconnaissance during war times for spying on enemy camps.

Alas, hot air balloons, dirigibles and airplanes provided much better military uses, and so the development of manlifting kites slowed and fell out of fashion.

The Greek myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus is well known throughout the globe. To escape Crete, Daedalus built huge wings using bird feathers and wax. Together Daedalus and Icarus flew away from their prison. But Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted, his wings fell apart, and he plunged to his death into the sea below. Daedalus was forced to fly home alone, without his son.

Ornithopters strongly resemble the wings of Daedalus. An ornithopter is a flying machine that flies by flapping its bird-like wings. In the 1400s, Leonardo Da Vinci designed an ornithopter in which the airman would use a system of pulleys and levers to flap large strong wings of the machine, allowing flight. Ornithopters were developed to fly either like da Vinci’s by manpower, or by engine.

Nowadays, ornithopters are generally small and unmanned, and used as hobby aircraft. The advent of the dirigible brought with it many economical uses.

The word dirigible may remind some people of the Lovegoods’ dirigible plums in Harry Potter, but dirigibles are actually airships.

Dirigibles include non-rigid, semirigid and rigid airships. Non-rigid airships are commonly referred to as blimps, and do not have a structural support to maintain the shape of the airship, whilst rigid airships (such as zeppelins) do have a structural support. The airships are lifted into the air by means of gas bags filled with a lifting gas. In order for a gas to lift the ship, the gas used must be less dense than the surrounding air.

Dirigibles became used much like aeroplanes today. They were used in war and used for transatlantic transport.

Following the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 in which a dirigible caught fire and was destroyed, killing 35 of the 97 people on board, dirigibles were no longer used for people-carrying and are now used primarily for advertising.

The Montgolfier brothers invented the first manned hot air balloon. The first manned flight took place in October 1783. But before they could launch humans into the air, they launched a test flight using a sheep, a duck and a cockerel to test the effects of the atmosphere on living creatures.

Hot air ballooning took off and became widely popular during the 1800s, and although its popularity decreased, hot air balloons are still prevalent throughout the world today.

The primitive construction of hot air balloons rescued two families from East Germany in 1978.

Strelzyk and Wetzel lived in East Germany, and together dreamed up a plan to build a hot air balloon large enough to carry both their families over the Berlin Wall into West Germany. In secrecy they researched and worked until they successfully built a balloon, but the balloon failed.

Wetzel pulled out of the project as he feared for his life and that of his family, but Strelzyk persevered. He

While parks such as SeaWorld have inspired many people about the beauty of whales, and have led many people to fall in love with them, the overwhelming opinion nowadays is that we do not have the facilities nor the right to raise such creatures in captivity, as they would have a better quality of life in their natural habitats. In one day in the wild, orcas can travel up to 160 kilometres.

In captivity, orcas are not able to travel these distances, and are confined to the same surroundings. When confined to one area, animals will often exhibit signs of boredom, including biting and other anxious behaviours.

Whale watching is a popular tourist attraction, particularly in countries with many whales such as Iceland. The group hops onto a boat and are brought to a known location and can see the whales.

In recent years however, experts have raised concerns about such activities.

It is an unregulated activity, so anyone can take people out on tours, and if proper care isn’t taken, whales can be struck by the boats causing injury.

Secondly, groups are typically brought to areas with high concentrations of whales, and the disturbance can lead to some groups leaving the area. This can mean a loss of food and extra energy spent to find new feeding grounds for the animals, both of which are detrimental to their wellbeing.

Indigenous tribes in many parts of the world have held great respect for whales. The Maori people of New Zealand believed whales to be sacred and whales play important roles as messengers of gods and as symbols of hope in many Maori legends.

Whale hunting has been an integral part of Inuit culture for centuries. Indeed, up around the Arctic circle, whale hunting has proven necessary to their survival. Traditional whaling is of a very different nature to commercial whaling.

In Canada, commercial whaling is outlawed, and at the turn of the 20th century, the population of bowhead whales had fallen almost to extinction.

Inuits are provided with strict quotas to ensure appropriate herd levels are maintained. In 2014, an Inuit tribe successfully

hunted a bowhead whale for the first time in roughly 100 years bringing great pride to the tribe.

Perhaps surprisingly, Greenpeace supported this hunt, as they support sustainable and traditional hunting.

Japan remains the most notorious country for commercial whaling.

Archaeological evidence suggests the Japanese have consumed whales since 12,000 BC. Early methods of hunting were primitive, and included the use of harpoons. It has only been in the past 200 years that whaling has been modernised. Modern Japanese whaling was modelled on Norwegian methods, using cannons, exploding harpoons and engine ships. Controversy surrounds Japanese whaling nowadays as it is generally believed that the whalers do not stick to their quotas.

The modernised hunting techniques led to a dramatic decrease in whale populations around Japan, leading to the necessity of factory ships to allow the Japanese commence whaling near the Antarctic. For many years, Japanese officials refused to sign agreements to place quotas on whale hunting. A large problem was that for millennia whaling had been ingrained in Japanese culture. As committees were set up to place order on whaling, to ensure sustainable whale populations and continuation of the whaling industry, quotas were implemented, and on many occasions throughout the 20th century, Japan blatantly ignored these quotas.

During the 80s Japan came up with a method by which they would continue whaling unimpeded, by launching research expeditions to take the whales for “scientific purposes”, the validity of which is highly disputed.

So what is the human opinion of the whale? It seems to be largely dependent on culture. Where whale hunting has been traditional, whales are viewed in a more economic light.

In cultures where whales caused damage and cost lives, they were seen fearfully, and nowadays, in western culture, whales are generally seen romantically, as gentle giants.

But, maybe the question we should really be asking is not how do we view the whales, but in what light do the whales see mankind?

built a hot air balloon large enough for himself, his wife and their child, but the balloon failed whilst in the air and they crash landed just short of a series of mine bombs placed before the wall.

The Strelzyk family were lucky enough to escape the site and return home, but feared they would be identified by the balloon wreckage within a matter of weeks. At this point, Wetzel reunited with Strelzyk. Together they worked around the clock and after six weeks, the two families took to the air. During their ascent, they were caught in the spotlights and bravely lit up the gas to carry their balloon higher and with more power into the air. The light could be seen from far off in the distance and was a majorly risky move. After flying for a mere 28 minutes, they landed safely in West Germany.

One of the more fantastical images of flight was created by Pixar: the image of a house flying with the aid of helium filled balloons. In all actuality this image is not as fantastical as you might think. Cluster ballooning is a method of flying by which the airman is attached to a cluster of helium-filled rubber balloons via a harness. By deflating balloons or dropping weights, the balloonist can control their flight.

The current Guinness world record for longest flight by cluster ballooning is 19 hours. Adelir Antonio de Carli, a Brazilian priest, attempted to break this record in 2008. In January, using 600 balloons, he reached an altitude of 5300 metres. His second attempt in April ended in disaster. Sitting on his harness chair, with 1000 attached balloons he soared into the sky. He rose as high as 6000 metres after which contact with him was lost. Unable to operate his GPS, he was unable to find the crew who had been sent out to his rescue. Three months later, the remains of his lower body were found floating 100 kilometres off the coast of Brazil in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Mankind has flown so high that we have made it into space. We have built aeroplanes as fast as 3,530 km/hr, we use flight as a mode of transport and for entertainment. We have realised the dreams of inventors of the past. The imagination of scientists and engineers have created so many weird and wonderful ways of flying, so who knows what the future of aviation may bring?

APRIL 19TH 2016

science The Research at the End of the Universe Danielle Crowley investigates the research going on in UCD into the frontiers of outer space “Space is big,” said Douglas Adams. “You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.”

The space sector is expanding, along with our insatiable desire and curiosity to explore the universe in which we live. It may surprise some to learn that Ireland actually has a thriving space industry of its own, and has had for quite a while. We had the world’s biggest telescope for all of the second half of the 19th century, housed in Birr Co. Offaly. Forty companies now work in this sector and we are a member of the European Space Agency (ESA), with Irish companies and researchers being involved in projects such as the Rosetta mission, which aims to monitor the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that a lot of this research is affiliated with UCD. Parameter Space Ltd (which is a spin-out company from the physics school founded in 2014

by Professor Lorraine Hanlon and Dr Sheila McBreen, who lead the UCD Space Science and Advanced materials group and between them have thirty years of experience with space missions) received an €800,000 contract from the ESA for a three year project to develop new software that will be able to handle the

sheer volume of data from the ESA’s satellite Gaia.

Gaia is awesome. Its goal is to create the most accurate 3D map of our galaxy yet by monitoring over a billion stars and it will record their brightness, temperature, composition and motion about seventy times a day, which works out as an average of 40 million observations a day. Gaia is also expected to discover hundreds if not thousands of asteroids and comets, 7,000 planets outside our solar system, tens of thousands of brown dwarves (“failed” stars), 20,000 supernovae and hundreds of thousands of distant active galaxies, or quasars. It will also test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity as well dark matter, the mysterious, invisible substance that together with dark energy makes up over 90 percent of the known universe. At the end of its five year mission Gaia will hold 1 Petabyte of data, or the equivalent of 200,000 DVDs. The ESA has also tasked UCD engineers to develop new ways to reduce vibrations of rockets during lift off, too much of which could be detrimental to the rocket’s structure. Vibrations also affect the rocket’s trajectory,

which results in the course having to be adjusted, which reduces the forward thrust and wastes fuel. As Dr William O’Connor says, “Our work aims to design more stable launchers, giving improved performance and a smoother ride than is currently possible.”

Another area of research is gamma ray detection. Gamma rays come from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei, and are a force of electromagnetic radiation. They are most well known for their use in the fight against cancer, but astronomers are on the hunt for them too.

Gamma rays come from the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe, such as collisions, supernovae, black holes, neutron stars (the smallest and densest stars) and pulsars (magnetised, rotating neutron stars). Gamma ray bursts occur at random and may be due to colliding neutron stars or massive stars exploding. They allow us to piece together what on earth (or off earth rather) is going on in our universe and how these effects shape it.

And that’s not all. You may be aware that our bodies are composed of “star stuff”, elements created in the wake of exploding stars. These specific substances leave gamma ray “fingerprints” behind in the

debris. By picking up on these, space scientists can discover more about the formation of these elements.

It was UCD students who came together to create a petition in order to put pressure on the government to join the European Southern Observatory and CERN, which as former Physics Society auditor

Laoise Fitzpatrick says, “would be a fantastic resource.... (and would) give students fantastic training and education opportunities.” This survey has over 1,750 signatures. The final frontier is out there, and Ireland and UCD are preparing to meet it, with the soundtrack to The Force Awakens playing in the background.

PHOTO: the team behind parameter space ltd

Becoming more Socially Aware about Autism With April as Autism Awareness Month, Louise Flanagan takes a closer look at autism spectrum disorder

Autism is a complex neurological condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate with others, understand and comply with social conventions, grasp abstract concepts, and process physical or emotional sensations from the world around them. They can also be irritable in certain situations, for example in large crowds, and may feel most comfortable when following a routine but can become very distressed if this routine disrupted. However not everyone with autism will have all of these symptoms, and no particular one of these symptoms means that you have autism.

Individuals are often diagnosed with autism when they are toddlers.

People with autism don’t look any different from anyone else, so there’s no physical attribute to explain why an autistic person acts in ways that are outside of what most perceive as “normal” behaviour. This can sometimes cause people to see them as “weird” or “strange” and can lead them to be excluded, often because people just don’t understand the condition, despite the fact that most people have heard of it. Bullying is a common occurrence for those with autism.

ASD really is a spectrum. High functioning individuals generally have average or above average intelligence and can be seen as having the ability to integrate more easily into society, while individuals at the other end of the scale may be non-verbal and could require full-time care. There is some debate about the use of these terms at all though. They have been assigned by the “normal” or neurotypical people in society based off the way that people with ASD fit into this neurotypical world.

Despite years of research and much investment, it is still not clear what the causes of autism are.

However, underlying genetics and the environment a foetus or baby is exposed to both seem to contribute to its development. Many areas of the brain are affected in people with autism. The brain regions affected and extent of these effects tends to differ from person to person. Within these regions, either extra or reduced connections occur between brain cells.

In recent years there has been an attempt to move away from the medical and research focus

of autism to instead look at the individuals themselves, to help them achieve their full potential despite the difficulties that growing up with autism might bring and be accepted by society as they are.

Adam Harris, founder of AsIAm. ie, a website to inform the public about autism and to provide resources for those affected by autism, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when he was five years old. He started off attending special schools but later entered mainstream education. He counts himself as lucky to have had early intervention and now feels it is his duty to give back to the rest of the autistic community; he set up the website to do just that. The website has many tools and resources for parents of children with autism, autistic individuals themselves, and for the general public who want to find out a bit more about ASD. Getting the help required for autism in Ireland can be difficult depending on the resources available in the area. In principle, integrating autistic children into mainstream schools is a good idea, but not all schools are equipped to deal with

autistic children. Special needs assistants (SNAs) can be central to the success of a child with ASD in a mainstream school. However dropping numbers of SNAs in schools makes such schooling even more challenging for those with ASD. The need for resources does not stop after school. Autistic children grow up to be autistic adults and still need support. Unemployment rates are high amongst those with ASD, despite many having excellent qualifications. According to Harris, the most important things that can be done right now to improve the lives of those with autism are getting extra supports from the government to help people with autism achieve their full potential, and also for society to respond to these changes in a positive way. Society needs to be willing to be inclusive of members of the autistic community and know how to include them.

While we may not understand the causes of autism at present, we do need to make an effort to understand the individuals with autism, to listen to their stories and make our society more inclusive.

Tesla Model 3, evolution of the electric car The Tesla Model 3 will be released next year, Laoise Fitzpatrick takes a closer look at what the car will be like

“The newest electric car to be produced by Tesla Motors has brought in over 320,000 orders, despite the fact that the car will not be released until late 2017 at the earliest. “

18 APRIL 19TH 2016

Those who keep on top of automotive news are by now no doubt aware of the Tesla Model 3. The newest electric car to be produced by Tesla Motors, brainchild of South African billionaire and innovator Elon Musk, has brought in over 320,000 orders, despite the fact that the car will not be released until late 2017 at the earliest. So who are Tesla Motors, and why are people so excited for this car?

Tesla was founded in 2003 by Elon Musk. Musk is the founder of companies such as PayPal and SpaceX as well as Tesla, and made his fortune from the sale of PayPal to Ebay for $1.5 billion.

Tesla was created as an attempt to make popular, affordable and safe electric cars a reality. The motivation behind this, according to Musk, is the role that cars play in increasing atmospheric CO2 levels, and the effect of this on global temperature. At the launch of the Model 3, Musk spoke of this year having record high CO2 levels of 403 parts per million, as well as the fact that there are over 53,000 deaths per year in North America

linked to combustion engine emissions.

The company’s first car, the Tesla Roadster, was a proof of concept.

Expensive, and only produced in small numbers, it nevertheless excited car enthusiasts for its speed, looks, and above average performance for an electric car. The company continued the trend with its current flagship car, the Model S. While still by no means cheap, the Model S was a more affordable car, on par with high end BMWs or Mercedes, although its features put it in a league of its own. It achieved the highest ever marks in safety testing and was named by Consumer Report as the “Greatest Car Ever” for its speed, safety and technological innovation. It contains such features as its 17-inch touchscreen display, which controls all of the car’s systems, and an autopilot system which detects lane markings on roads to semi-autonomously control the car.

The Model 3 is set to continue the trend. Where the Model 3 differs however, is the cost. The basic model will start at $35,000, putting it in the range of middle class car-buyers.

Despite the low price, Tesla is convinced it will far outshine any similar sized car at this, or any, price point. It will go from 0-100km/h in less than six seconds, seat five adults comfortably and travel at least 345km on a single charge.

The main issue people have with electric cars is the impracticality and time needed to charge them. Tesla has avoided this issue entirely through the use of their super-charger network.

Though yet to be introduced to Ireland, this consists of thousands of charging stations across North America, Europe and Asia, capable of charging the batteries completely in 30 minutes. The battery technology is becoming ever cheaper as well thanks to Tesla’s new “Gigafactory” which when fully operational will produce more Lithium Ion batteries than the rest of the world combined.

The Tesla Model 3 is an exciting prospect for car enthusiasts and environmentalists alike, but what is most exciting is Tesla’s, and indeed Musk’s, innovation and commitment to technology that will improve the environment and quality of life for everyone.

Business & careers

The Largest Financial Scandal Of Our Time James Alkayed looks at the recent leaking of the Panama Papers that see many politicians’ careers put in jeopardy

The Panama Papers are a bizarre leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. Firms like Mossack Fonseca host shell companies that hold financial assets. Although they can be used for legitimate reasons, they can also be used to hide scandals and avoid taxes. The information was leaked by an anonymous source, which then led to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) sharing them with a huge network of news organisations – and then the story boomed. Before the leak, not many people had heard or had any idea that the Panama based firm even existed. The leaks uncovered by seventy-six journalists revealed hidden details of celebrities, politicians and many notable figures in society.

The leak of documents gives us a wider view and shows the reality of how the rich can exploit and definitely gives us an insight on how the rich stay rich. The documents collectively cover a period of roughly 40 years and extensively detail every aspect of the transactions and every piece related to the tax avoidance, but some are only a few months old.

They contain details of thousands of companies that are offshore, trusts and foundations used by Mossack Fonseca. There were twelve political leaders involved in the scandal along with 143 politicians. It is considered to be the biggest leak of financial data in history. Wikileaks

was at a size of 1.7GB and the Offshore Secrets of 2013 were at 260GB, whereas the Panama papers are at a whopping 2.6TB. The most notable person involved in the scandal is Vladimir Putin. A $2 billion trail of money and transactions leads to Vladimir Putin. A close associate of the Russian President, a cellist called Sergei Roldugin, is in the middle of the controversy.

Despite everyone else involved in the leak, Putin’s closest friends, family members and even his friends’ family members are involved. Although the documents are not directly linked to Vladimir Putin, the numerous links to his inner circle make the evidence of his involvement clear.

Among Putin, other high profile names are among the aforementioned. The king of Saudi Arabia, President of Argentina and even the Prime Minister of Iceland are part of the list. The story became all too much for the Prime Minister of Iceland and resulted in Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson’s resignation when it became clear that he was putting money for his wife in these offshore accounts. Roughly 20,000 people had protested to remove him from office, and considering that the population of Iceland equates to around 330,000, the number is significant. They succeeded and the Prime Minster has been on leave since April 7th.

Europeans are not the only ones who are deeply involved. China’s president Xi Jinping was also indirectly mentioned in the leaked

documents. The Chinese officials did all they could to dismiss this as anonymous hearsay, but when it came to censorship, they had an extensive amount to do. The files suggest that some of China’s highest-ranking families and notable people were involved in the scandal. Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, who is a tycoon in the property industry, was reported to have owned two companies. He and his wife, Xi Jinping’s older sister, ran businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars and were profiting on unprecedented levels due to this.

According to the ICIJ, China make up a huge amount of Mossack Fonsecas clients and it doesn’t come as a surprise due to the fact that China’s highest ranking politicians and officials are also among the wealthiest. Regardless of the fact that none of what was done was technically illegal, it has created a negative portrayal of the Chinese government to its people.

These collectively are minuscule pieces of information in the 2.6 terabytes of information leaked. There is still much more to be leaked and dealt with and will most likely host some interesting information. The ICIJ themselves have been leaking pieces of information at a time, and more information will undoubtedly be revealed before long.

What Are We Worth?

Megan Fanning looks at the value of life, how it’s calculated, what influences it and what socio-economic factors affect it Time and time again, the question is asked: ‘what is the meaning of life?’ While this is a great and profound question, it is very different to what this article asks: ‘what is the value of life?’ How is our worth calculated, how do we justify our worth and how should our lives be valued as opposed to how they are?

Calculating a sum is usually quite straightforward, and there can only be one answer.

However, calculating the value of our lives is not as simple. In recent research there has been great variation in answers. Some organisations value us at $56,000 and some at $9,000,000, with many estimates in between. Can we simply say that our value is equal to the assets we own, or is it a matter of the expenditures it costs to sustain life? Or does the value of our life alter dependent on what age we are and our contribution to economic growth?

Is a middle-aged working person worth more than a child or a retired elder? Or is it that we, like

most assets, depreciate over time?

To ask how much we are worth is a difficult question and will inevitably result in many different answers, so a better question is, ‘who decides how much we are worth?’ Governments must intervene in healthcare in order to ensure that it is an equitable system and that it is distributed equally across the population. Essentially, the government must equalise the playing field. Whether you have a low or a high-risk lifestyle, your value should be treated the same. In insurance, it is known as ‘community rating’, where the insurance companies cannot discriminate in premiums based on various factors such as age, gender, health status or other risk factors.

All individuals are treated the same regardless of life choices. So, if our premiums are of equal value, then surely our value of life is the same too? How much I’m worth should be the same to how much an elderly man in Mongolia should be worth.

Again though, it is not that simple.

The international standard for private and government run health insurance plans comes out at

approximately $50,000 per annum, and this figure is used to determine whether or not an insurance company will pay out for medical procedures or not. However, this estimate is considered to be outrageously low and Stanford University economists calculated the average value of a year of quality human life is actually closer to $129,000 per annum.

A term known as ‘rationing’ is used to describe a situation where health care intentionally chooses not to provide care to everyone who needs it, thus voiding the aforementioned concept of equity in the value of a human life. As it currently stands, rationing within insurance companies affects about 15 per cent of the United States population – those who are either too poor to afford health insurance or those who are unwilling to pay.

However, that automatically reduces their value of life as they are now without a structure to protect them should they become ill or injured.

Insurance companies have an incredible amount of power when it comes to determining the value of our lives.

Another major factor in the calcula-

tion of the value of life is where we are from. Does it and should it make any difference if somebody is from a developed country like Ireland, or if one is from a developing country such as Honduras? It is cheaper to save a person’s life in a poor country than it is in rich countries. It is estimated that it costs the United Kingdom’s National Health Service about $160,000 to save a life, but yet a doctor in India can afford to perform heart surgery for $1,800.

When it comes to the value of life, our economy is not efficient. In a developed country it costs hundreds of thousands to save a life and only a few thousand to save a life in a developing country. Our economy does not allow for the maximisation of lives.

In 1975, the Preston Curve was developed. This curve looked at a cross-country relationship between life expectancy and income per capita. It was shown that among poorer countries, an increase in average income is strongly correlated with an increase in life expectancy, but for wealthier countries, there was diminishing returns, so the

increase in income resulted in a smaller increase in life expectancy as it flattens. So, should this curve hold then that means that the value of one’s life in a developed country would cost more, as it is more costly to sustain and it has a greater influence on the global economic growth.

A man who is doing his most to increase the value of a life is Dr Devi Shetty, an Indian cardiovascular surgeon who is the founder of Narayana Health, a chain of specialist heart hospitals around India, originally founded in the outskirts of Bangalore.

Dr Shetty is reducing the costs of heart surgeries for his patients. With heart surgery costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the United States, Dr Shetty has reduced it to $1,800 in India simply by lowering the cost structure for the procedure, enabling him to charge less for surgeries. He has further ambitions to reduce the surgeries to $800 per surgery by 2020. The doctor has also partnered with the Indian government to establish Yeshasvini, the world’s cheapest comprehensive health insurance scheme (20 cent

per month) for poor farmers of the state, over four million people are covered under the scheme.

For Dr Shetty it is not about earning money, it is about raising human life value. A question regularly posed in the study of human life is why this method can’t be applied across the board – why can one country raise its human life value so easily compared to another? There is no conclusive answer that research can give other than budget constraints, the labour market and to what extent the government can intervene.

It is easy to say that the value of life should be equal for everyone, whether you are an investment banker in London, a wine producer in Argentina or a teacher in Kenya.

However, whatever way it’s calculated, the factors do not allow for it.

It is easy to say that local economic effects should not influence one’s value, that a life anywhere has the same value, but there are many budgetary restraints that prohibit this; to give equal value to each life would be too idealistic.

April 19th 2016

call for applications for editorial team 2016/2017 editor Applications are invited for the position of Editor of the University Observer for the academic year 2016/2017.

The Position: The Editor of the University Observer is responsible for all aspects of the newspaper. The Editor is responsible for the management of the newspaper, the publication and distribution of the newspaper, the content of the newspaper and is responsible for the co-ordination of the newspaper’s writers. The Editor is responsible for all internal appointments (with the exception of the Deputy Editor and the Designer) within the newspaper as well as any disciplinary matters that may arise (with the exception of the Deputy Editor and the Designer).

The position of Editor of the University Observer is an extremely demanding one and applicants for the position should be aware that the role involves working unsocial hours in a highly pressurised environment.

The position includes working alternate weekends.

The Editor is responsible for all deadlines being met by the newspaper.

The Candidate: The candidate should exhibit a serious commitment to journalism.

Ideally, the candidate should have experience working for a newspaper or media organisation.

It is preferable but not essential that the candidate is/was a registered student of University College Dublin.

The position is a full-time one and the candidate should be aware of the pressurised environment under which newspaper editors operate. The candidate must be in a position to prove to the interview panel his/her ability to meet fixed, non-negotiable printing deadlines whilst working at speed and under pressure.

The candidate should exhibit a clear sense of duty towards the newspaper, combined with sharp commercial acumen.

A strong knowledge of social media is essential in order to manage the demands of The University Observer website and online resources.

The University Observer is editorially independent from the Students’ Union, as enshrined in the Union constitution.

The Editor has complete authority over the content of the newspaper, proviso to the standard regulations governing newspaper content (e.g. defamation etc).

Remuneration: Wages currently stand at €583 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are expected to be published) and some expenses incurred during production of the newspaper may be reclaimed. Wages for the academic year 2016/2017 are to be confirmed pending discussions.

Application Procedure: Applicants for the above position must submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae and a detailed proposal outlining how the candidate intends to operate and manage the University Observer. The proposal must include a comprehensive outline of strategic changes that can be made to improve the newspaper. Specific areas where the newspaper can be improved should be dealt with in some detail. The applicant should also outline his/her proposals for the day-to-day organisation and management of the newspaper.

Applications should be sent as a pdf file to editor@universityobserver. ie or to the following address: Gráinne Loughran, The University Observer, Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Applications are invited for the position of Deputy Editor of the University Observer for the academic year 2016/2017.

The Candidate: The candidate should exhibit a serious commitment to journalism.

Ideally, the candidate should have experience working for a newspaper or media organisation.

It is preferable but not essential that the candidate is/was a registered student of University College Dublin.

The position is a full time one and the candidate should be aware of the pressurised environment under which newspaper editors operate. The candidate must be in a position to prove to the interview panel his/her ability to meet fixed, non negotiable printing deadlines whilst working at speed and under pressure.

The candidate should exhibit a clear sense of duty towards the newspaper, combined with sharp commercial acumen.

A strong knowledge of social media is essential in order to manage the demands of the University Observer website and other online resources.

The Position: The Deputy Editor of the University Observer, upon direction from the Editor, is responsible for all aspects of the newspaper. The Deputy Editor, subject in all matters concerning the newspaper to the direction of the Editor, shall be responsible, with the Editor, for the management of the newspaper, the publication and distribution of the newspaper, the content of the newspaper and is responsible for the co-ordination of the newspaper’s writers.

The Deputy Editor is appointed for the full academic year, 2015/2016.

Applications are invited for the position of Art, Design & Technology Director of the University Observer for the academic year 2016/2017.

Remuneration: Wages currently stand at €525 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are normally published) and some expenses incurred during production of the newspaper may be reclaimed. Wages for the academic year of 2016/2017 are to be confirmed pending discussions.

Application Procedure:

Applicants for the above position must submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae and a detailed proposal, outlining how the candidate intends to The position of Deputy Editor of the operate and manage the University University Observer is an extremely Observer. The proposal must include demanding one and applicants for a comprehensive outline of strategic the position should be aware that the changes that can be made to role involves working unsocial hours improve the newspaper. Specifics in a highly pressurised environment. areas where the newspaper can be improved should be dealt with in The position includes working some detail. The applicant should alternate weekends. also outline his/her proposals for The Deputy Editor is responsible for all the day-to-day organisation and deadlines being met by the newspaper. management of the newspaper.

The University Observer is editorially independent from the Students’ Union, as enshrined in the Union constitution.

The Deputy Editor has authority over the content of the newspaper, subject to the standard regulations governing newspaper content (e.g. defamation etc).

Art & Design Editor

Note: • Applicants are only permitted to enter this competition individually. Joint applications will not be accepted.

• Canvassing members of the interview panel is forbidden.

Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

• No formal training is offered to successful candidates.

• Applicants should make it clear in their cover letter whether or not they would like to be considered for the role of Deputy Editor as well as Editor.

• Applications should be no longer than 5,000 words.

Closing date for applications is 5pm, 29th April 2016.

The Editor is appointed for the full academic year, 2016/2017.

Deputy Editor

Applicants with further queries should contact Gráinne Loughran, at 01 716 3835, weekdays during business hours, or at the above email address.

Shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview, where they will be expected to answer any questions raised in relation to their proposal.

Members of the interview panel will include the current Editor, two previous Editors of the newspaper, a financial representative of the Students’ Union and the current Union President.

Applications should be sent as a pdf file to editor@universityobserver. ie or to the following address: Gráinne Loughran, The University Observer Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

The Position: You will be responsible for the design and layout of the newspaper, working in conjunction with the editors and contributors in producing and sourcing high-quality imagery and related media. The position requires an understanding of visual culture, and the integral role it plays in journalism.

The position will require work at alternate weekends, whilst working hours during the week are flexible. Although this work is highly demanding it is also highly rewarding. The successful candidate would be expected to constantly strive to improve the overall design of the newspaper.

The Art, Design & Technology Director is to report to the Editor and Deputy Editor.

The Candidate: The successful applicant will have excellent computer skills and be proficient in Adobe InDesign as well as Adobe Photoshop. Experience in photography, illustration or graphic design is essential. A knowledge of video production is an advantage.

It is expected that the candidate will have a good understanding of the modern media context and an enthusiasm in taking part in what is a defining era for print media.

As a person you should possess ability to meet tight deadlines and

Applicants with further queries should contact Gráinne Loughran at 01 716 3835, weekdays during business hours, or at the above email address.

Short-listed candidates will be called for an interview, where they will be expected to answer any question raised in relation to the proposal.

Note: • Applicants are only permitted to apply for this position individually.

Joint applications will not be accepted.

• Canvassing members of the interview panel is forbidden.

Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

• No formal training is offered to successful candidates.

• Applicants should make it clear in their cover letter whether or not they would like to be considered for the role of Editor as well as Deputy Editor.

•Applications should be no longer than 5,000 words.

Closing date for applications is 5pm, 6th May 2016.

manage a large workload. You must also have the ability to meet technical guidelines in print and digital media and a basic knowledge of the production/printing process.

Remuneration: Wages currently stand at €525 per issue minus taxes (eight editions of the paper are normally published). Wages for the 2016/2017 academic year are to be confirmed pending discussions.

Application Procedure: Applications should be sent as a pdf file to editor@universityobserver. ie or to the following address: Gráinne Loughran, The University Observer, Student Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Note: • Applicants may be required to present a portfolio of work upon request.

• Interviews may be conducted using modern communications media for candidates who are not able to attend in person.

• Canvassing members of the interview panel is forbidden.

Candidates who canvass members of the interview panel may be disqualified from consideration.

• No formal training is offered to successful candidates.

Closing date for applications is 5pm, 13th May 2016.

OPINION

Another Abortion Article Maebh Butler highlights the problems associated with Ireland’s strict abortion laws, in the wake of a young Belfast woman who was given a three month suspended sentence after taking ‘abortion pills’ On Monday the 4th of April a three month suspended sentence was handed down to a 21 year old woman from Belfast after she took pills which induced her to miscarry. On finding the 10-12 week old foetus in a bin, the woman’s housemates called the police. The woman was 19 years old at the time, and had been attempting to save up money to travel to England where she could have access to a safe abortion.

In the Republic of Ireland, a person can face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty of inducing an illegal abortion.

Despite being a part of the UK, Northern Ireland’s abortion laws are on a par with our own.

Can we really be surprised then, that a young woman who took these ‘abortion pills’, now has a criminal record? If she had lived anywhere else in the UK she could have dealt with this privately and with the options of nearby medical and counselling support services.

A recent article in The Irish Times saw Breda O’Brien attempt to use this situation as a reason why abortion should be abolished “in all its forms”. O’Brien’s arguments

are built up on sensationalism and exaggerations as she uses images like “dead babies in bins” and mentions the “shock and trauma” the housemates felt when they found the foetus. O’Brien then mentions how pro-choice campaigns have failed to mention Jade Rees, a young woman who, with a history of depression and anorexia, took her own life after having an abortion. O’Brien claims that the UK’s laws on abortion were the reason for this young woman’s suicide.

A young woman’s suicide is not the result of abortion. Suicide is an issue that is the result of our failure to tackle mental health issues appropriately, and her argument gets lost in emotive language and hypocrisy when she admits that she believes “little is to be achieved in prosecuting the young woman.” O’Brien’s attempts to appeal to liberal opinions are fooling no one. Attaching the word “feminist” to someone who is “pro-life” means nothing, and mentioning ‘liberal’ issues like the decriminalisation of prostitution in the same argument on abortion is irrelevant.

Abortion happens. It is something that cannot be ignored anymore, as the truth of the matter

is, women, and trans-people also, may find themselves pregnant and may not want to carry out that pregnancy.

Whether the result of a failed contraceptive or an incident of rape, we should have the right to decide whether we are ready to have a child or not. It is infuriating to hear the argument that adoption, as the young Belfast woman’s housemate seemed to suggest, is the answer to abortion – as if pregnancy is no big deal. Our bodies are more than just a vessel and we need to understand the emotional and physical implications involved in pregnancy in order to understand why abortion should be an option.

I find it devastating that this young Belfast woman’s story is now a new addition to the debate on why Ireland’s abortion laws are dangerous.

They are dangerous for her and everyone else in her situation because they are being judged across the media. They are dangerous because it tells us that we are not in charge of our bodies, because it tells anyone who has had an abortion that they should be ashamed, and dangerous because people are

dying. How many more Savita Halappanavar-like cases will have to happen before we realise that the laws in Ireland are causing more damage than anything else?

Let’s all put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and imagine the shame and isolation they must feel when they read comment after comment on Facebook, on Twitter, on the back of a bathroom stall door, in which people are debating whether they had the right to decide if they wanted to be pregnant or not.

Many of you may be rolling your eyes while reading this.

“Not another abortion article!”

I don’t blame you, because I am also rolling my eyes. I am also sick and tired of hearing the same debate over and over again while absolutely nothing is being done about it by our non-existent government. I want to underline this: put it in bold and highlight it with a million exclamation marks until people understand.

This is not an advocacy for abortion. This is an advocacy for choice, and until this is changed we will continue to have this argument, and we will continue to read and write articles, essays and blogs on abortion.

From education to exploitation: Ireland’s internship culture Increasingly in Ireland, young people are expected to work for free in order to get experience for their dream job. Eimear Conroy argues that this culture is not just unfair, but also exploitative Who wants to work full time for free? In my experience, practically nobody. However, slap the name ‘internship’ on this unpaid labour and suddenly it goes from undesirable in the highest order to an opportunity scrambled for by eager students every summer. Over the generations, the internship has mutated from a valuable learning opportunity to an exploitative prerequisite for even entry level jobs that most can’t get even if they pay for it.

The biggest problem with internship culture as it stands is the two-tier employment system that it creates. In stark contrast to the ideals of a capitalist society where people are led to believe that any measure of personal advancement is achievable with enough hard work, the idea of working for free as a prerequisite for employment is inherently exclusionary to the poor. As any economist will back up, even investments that don’t involve the exchange of capital have opportunity costs – costs that those struggling financially simply cannot afford to pay.

By taking up an internship, the intern necessarily sacrifices time working for free that could have otherwise been spent earning a wage. As a result, today’s youth find themselves in the ludicrous situation where they are remaining dependent on financial support from parents for extended periods of time, while at the same time investing their time working for free. However, this arrangement is unsustainable for the less well off, who cannot afford to amass extracurricular accolades in place of earning a living wage.

This system of relying on “added extras” such as internships as means of differentiating job candidates is a symptom of a larger issue in today’s economic system. With education levels rising and university degrees as standard among young people, the margins of difference between job applicants become narrower with each passing generation.

The result of this is that, in stark comparison to our parents and grandparents, a college education and previous work experience is no longer enough to secure employment, particularly in the private sector.

In response to this, those with the right means find themselves reaching to greater and greater heights

in order to stand out in ways that are increasingly inaccessible to all but the wealthiest and best connected. In an economic system based on perpetual growth and no decline, standards and expectations will only rise as everyone strives to climb to the top. Supply and demand also plays a central part in establishing internships as a standard. Nowadays, with work difficult to come by and the pool of jobseekers so saturated with qualifications, those who can afford it lean on any distinguishing factors they have at their disposal in order to be sure of obtaining employment.

The outcome of this is that nowadays, young people find themselves in the ridiculous situation where it is even becoming challenging to find an employer willing to take them on for free.

Young people, and especially recent college graduates are finding themselves in a “hamster wheel”, where previous experience is required to obtain a position in order to gain work experience.

However, what goes up will eventually go down, and this bubble will inevitably burst.

How to rectify a system where the young people of today are being forced to live through an extended adolescence, forced to depend on financial support from parents long after the desire to do so has waned? First and foremost, as a culture we need to recognise and garner more respect for work done by students that can pay a living wage. Bartending, waiting tables and retail work are some of the toughest jobs out there, however the communication, problem solving and teamwork skills cultivated in these roles are perpetually overlooked by employers in favour of a few weeks of unpaid labour in a consultancy firm or laboratory. Young people deserve the opportunity to strike out on their own for independence, and a shift in attitudes reflecting this is long overdue.

Without question, unpaid work experience has its place, particularly in highly practical and specialised vocations; there are some things that cannot be taught in the classroom. In the field of education and training, one cannot overestimate the benefit of having practiced challenging skills before being released into the workplace. However, when such unpaid experience becomes simply a prerequisite for employment, internships move from education to exploitation. In a trying economic climate where graduates discover too late that higher education is no longer enough for employment, employers shamefully take advantage of a new market of free labour. Young people deserve more than this, and it’s high time that this was recognised.

Intensive beginner level course for students and staff, 23 - 27 May, 08:00 - 10:15am Enroll here: http://www.ucd.ie/ bnag/en/applicationformforcourses/ APRIL 19TH 2016

OPINION

A Creature On Campus For students, college can be the making or breaking of our self-image. Adam Lawler examines the reasons behind our obsession with imagining flaws We all have an issue with our appearance. Whether it be our weight, height, acne, or how our cuticles look in fluorescent light, there’s always something. With constant exposure to Instagram models, self-described makeup artists, fitness experts and celebrities whose stylists are on steroids, comes increased pressure to be on point all the time; to be beautiful and perfect and to have an incredible eyebrow game. Our obsession with little flaws isn’t surprising. What is, though, is how much it affects us, especially young people in college.

If secondary school is the incubator for self-image issues, college is when the virus is released.

School was a safety net of sorts, a place where we had routines we followed, ways of hiding what we didn’t want to deal with at the time.

We ignored how uncomfortable we felt in our uniform. We ignored the anxiety we felt when we had to wear our own clothes. We ignored everything, and these issues didn’t as much vanish as they did float to the bottom of the ocean of our minds. Issue upon issue, accumulating on the ocean floor, the overwhelming pressure crystallising them into a lump of general anxiety that we can’t pick apart or understand. We’re on a knife-edge when we reach college, and that’s why we see two kinds of people; the ones who say “eff it,” and transcend their hang-ups, and the ones who succumb to them.

What do we blame for our obsession with our bodies? Usually the brunt of the blame is laid on society’s stigmas. If that’s the case, shouldn’t we blame ourselves, as those who form our society? We support our friends, but we’re also judgmental as sin; we automatically judge newbies in the gym as if the only two types of gym-goer are

Before and After. This could be a result of our projection of our own insecurities onto others; have you ever assumed that someone who wears baggy clothes is trying to hide something? Or that someone who wears tight or revealing clothes is trying too hard to show off?

Did you ever consider that this mightn’t be the case, that your perception is influenced by your own self-image?

This is Ireland; the form judgment takes is less outright bullying, more silent begrudgery, and it’s easy to see how much it’s seeded in insecurity. For example, we are collectively terrified of gaining weight. We’d think of ourselves as lazy, failures, or unable to control ourselves. We hate it in ourselves, so we hate it in others for the same reasons.

Negative body image is a swirl of catch 22s. We want to go to the gym to bulk up or lose weight, but we feel our bodies would be judged, so we don’t go. We want to buy flattering clothes, but we’d need to get that job collecting glasses in the local and that would involve being looked at all day. It never ends. What we need to understand is that our view of ourselves doesn’t necessarily reflect reality. A study published in the journal Sex Roles reveals that a young woman’s body image concerns are influenced by what her friends thought of her body rather than what she actually thought.

It’s all about perception. The same study revealed that actual body weight is unrelated to body image concerns.

What does this tell us? We’ve tricked ourselves into a negative mindset, trained ourselves to recoil at the thought or mention of our appearance like Pavlov’s dog and its food bell.

What do we do? Destigmatise. Tell yourself that everyone, no exceptions, has felt the way you feel now. We have to start with the person in the mirror, and stop seeing the mirror as one of those image-distorting carnival attractions. No one should feel the weight of a hundred eyes buckle their shoulders; no one should feel like a creature on campus.

PHOTO: Pavlov’s dOG AND ITS FOOD BELL

Remembering a culture of care: my time at UCD As many students prepare to graduate from UCD, Roisin O’Mara reflects on her time at university, and how it has helped her in both personal and professional capacities Thinking back four years to my first day in Midwifery, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine what my life would be like once I almost completed (or almost survived) four years of University.

Had you told 18 year old me that by the time I was 22 I would have delivered over 40 babies, held people’s hands as they cried, scrubbed in and assisted on surgeries, made friends from every faculty on campus, written for the university newspaper, spent weekends at debating competitions arguing motions that don’t go further than the room, run for the Students’ Union

executive and had the time of my life, I’d have called you mad. And I would have asked you how the hell I find my way around campus because I really didn’t know where the Health Science building was.

I came to UCD from a small school in Tipperary. Not many of my friends from school came to UCD – in fact, few of them even came to Dublin. While my friends in Cork and Galway had the safety net of school buddies behind them, I was branching out on my own, in a city I had never been in, enrolled in a course I wasn’t sure I was going to like. Sounds like a recipe for disaster really, doesn’t it?

Luckily, I managed to fall on my feet and in my second year, I got a job with the Student Ambassadors, and from there, met the most incredible group of friends and acquaintances who have supported every crazy idea I’ve had in the last four years.

These friends who celebrated and commiserated with me, who answered my phone calls at three in the morning because I was stressing about exams. They also bought me a pretty cute handbag for my 21st.

Solid group of friends, right?

Although I found the practical elements of my degree challenging, what I will say is that I got fantastic

experience from my clinical placement, looking after pregnant women and their babies, and where I matured out of need (both for myself and the women I helped), as well as out of environment.

It comes as no surprise to people who know me well that while I enjoy my course, my heart’s desire has never been to be a midwife. So, a great thing about my four years in UCD is that through meeting so many different people, from so many different faculties is that I’ve been exposed to different courses and professions, so can think about my options post-Midwifery.

I’ve thought about an MCL, a MSc, A PhD, a BA or another BSc, ( I also thought about just adding random letters after

my names, I’m sure nobody will notice the difference) before finally deciding to while away the next four years of my life studying Medicine (the graduate route, I’m not a total masochist). I feel as though I’m sitting my Leaving Cert again, hoping that the hard work I’ve put into my degree will allow me to secure a place in a graduate medical programme somewhere. Really, I’ll go anywhere to do the degree. I might even think about going somewhere exotic… like UL. The thing about my time in UCD is that after four years here, I feel very much at home. I am equally excited and apprehensive about leaving the network of people and routine I’ve constructed over the last four years behind. Although

I will be in UCD for the upcoming academic year as Welfare Officer in the Students’ Union, I have no clear indication as to where I’ll be the year after. As a hyper organised individual, the agonising knowledge that I don’t know where I am the following year is excruciating. I’ll have to wait until May 2017 to get a good indication as to where I will be. Regardless of where I do end up though, I know that while my love for healthcare and my compassion for people may not have started in UCD, it was certainly fostered and reinforced here.

The one thing is that I will celebrate come graduation is that I’ll never have to wear a midwife’s uniform again. Thank goodness; white really isn’t my colour.

PHOTO: UCD GRADUATES OUTSIDE OF O’REILLY HALL

22 APRIL 19TH 2016

Quinn’s Bizzness

OPINION

As the academic year comes to a close, Jess Quinn reflects on the recently launched sexual consent survey, and reminds you of your looming exams “Are you ready kids?” Aye, aye Captain. “I can’t hear you!” AYE AYE CAPTAIN. “Oooooh, who lives with a GPA under a C?” Coll-ege Stu-dents!

“Who’s living with stress induced anxiety?”

Coll-ege stu-dents!

“If wanting to drop out is something you wish.” Coll-ege stu-dents! “Then take a long nap and watch some Netflix….”

Whoooooooooosh!

What’s that? That’s the sound of another semester after flying by. Just when you’ve finished recovering from your Xmas break, assignment deadlines and exams come out of nowhere.

JOHN CENA! If only you had purchased an SU Nude Calendar to keep track of all your errands.

Speaking of the SU, they’ve attempted to push another fun night down our throats.

Terminus sounds like the Penney’s version of the UCD Ball, which once again has failed to come to fruition.

The name literally suggests “terrible” and “minus craic”.

So I guess it could have been used to describe any of the SU’s events this year. I can see it now: the half filled venue with people bopping awkwardly to acts they’ve never heard of, cursing the charismatic SU rep that roped them into buying a ticket. I imagine that’s how our sabbatical officers felt after they were elected. Their friends told them to run for the banter and once the fun campaign and Facebook likes were over, they realised they had to do a job that is more than wearing blue t-shirts, posing for photos and handing out bags of Skittles in the RDS. The SU aren’t all-bad. I mean

they have eliminated every form of sexism and harassment on campus by creating the much anticipated Sexual Consent survey. We’d simply be lost without it. That’s what the S on Superman’s chest stands for yeah, survey? The questions were pretty strange. Especially in the case where the girl had drank ‘more than she would usually’. Oddly enough we were told to assess or judge the appropriateness of her behavior. Considering the fact that this was in the context of sexual assault, it seems almost like they were trying to glean the student population’s response to the suggestion of victim blaming. Also with the heteronormative, cis-only scenarios the survey was super inclusive and fun. If a girl wants the D, give her my midterm.

I find that the SU vs. “lad-culture” in UCD is like Superman vs. Batman. Both are different, but kind of the same thing, and you don’t know which is better or worse. Being a “UCD lad” must be like being a puppy. Everyone likes you and thinks you’re great even when you hump everything and pee all over the place. But even a puppy knows the meaning of no.

Being in university is kind of like being in the Hunger Games.

People remind you constantly how you’re privileged to be here, yet you can’t help but think why you volunteered to do your course. I recently had to write a diagnostic report on erectile dysfunction. The critical symptom is when the anaconda don’t want none regardless of the presence or absence of buns. If you feel bad because you’re not doing well in college, fear not.

Just remember there’s someone

in your hometown trying to become a rapper. Sometimes I scream really loudly in my head and see if anyone flinches so I can catch out any mind readers. In my History elective I learned about an archeological excavation in an Egyptian pyramid. A Mummy was found covered in chocolate and hazelnuts. They believe it to be Pharaoh Rocher. Auto-correct is so crazy. My Mam tried texting me “I love you” but instead she said “you’re a disappointment”.

That’s pure gas altogether.

Time Zones are amazing. It’s a different time all around the world. For example some places in the US it’s 1950. Recent laws passed are allowing individuals and institutions to deny services to LGBT people on religious grounds. It’s a bit weird that people feel persecuted if they can’t persecute people that are already being persecuted. If that wasn’t enough of a tongue twister, here’s another. There’s bipartisan support in US senate for legalisation of marijuana for arthritis. So, there’s joint support for joint support for joints. We can look over at the US and see that that they are daft from our cushy little backwards island. I mean how outrageous is Donald Trump? He said that women who desperately seek medical care in the form of abortion should be punished and treated as criminals.

Whoa, how misogynistic and intrusive is that?! Oh wait… What’s that? Oh yes, hello Eighth Amendment, didn’t see you there.

For many students, now is the time of year that societies and clubs finish up and you remember that you came to college to get a degree, not be

PHOTO: JOOOOHHHHNNNN CENA

on the committee for a society that shows screenings of Mulan, throws Frisbees and hosts coffee mornings at 3pm. If only there was an easier way to make friends, the “squadratic equation”. I have finally left the LGBTQ+ Society, so sorry ladies, I guess that means I’m straight now or something. I’m going to spend the rest of the semester vising. I would say revising but that would imply that I’ve seen these lecture slides before. My piece of study advice is when you’re waiting for the bus to go to the RDS, get on

the Aircoach instead. That way the whole world is your escape route! Instead of turnin’ it up, you need to get learnin’ it up. Textbooks and skillz, not Netflix and chill.

Life is like a box of chocolates, half way through it you begin to hate yourself.

There is nothing left for me to say, so here are some puns. There is a sign on the lawn of a drug rehabilitation centre. It says “keep off the grass”. I don’t want my kids to study music in

college, there’s too much sax and violins. How do you get holy water? Boil the hell out of it. I don’t trust stairs, they’re always up to something. When I get naked in the bathroom, the shower usually gets turned on. I got fired from the calendar factory. I took a day off.

Why we shouldn’t repeal the eighth amendment Abortion is the hot topic right now, but is it just a vocal minority demanding it be available on demand? An anonymous contributor adds their voice to the conversation Abortion legislation in Ireland is a touchy topic.

It used to be thought that a woman should never have a child outside of marriage and if she fell pregnant, it was her fault and she should have to carry the baby. The baby did nothing wrong by being made exist, so why should it have to pay by dying?

Abortion punishes the unborn child who committed no crime. Attitudes have changed in recent years, and there is a strong consensus to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, but it is still a vocal minority.

This amendment puts the life of the mother at equal status to the unborn child, effectively making abortion illegal in Ireland. Whilst many on the pro-choice side would advocate that this is barbaric and that it is too extreme a measure to make abortion illegal, there is a strong argument for why there should be restrictions on the service. Many fail to acknowledge that Ireland already permits abortion in a small amount of cases, through the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act of 2013; women whose lives are at risk may already access abortion in Ireland, whether this is due to health complications or they are at risk of suicide.

Maternal and paternal instincts make us feel compassion for the weak and vulnerable in society; those who cannot speak for themselves. There is nobody weaker and more at the mercy of other’s choices than an unborn child. They cannot speak and are dependent on another organism to live and grow, and we want to give everyone the best possible chance in life. Everybody is pro-life, because nobody in their right mind advocates the killing of others.

The most recent poll I could find about people’s thoughts on abortion was conducted by Newstalk in January 2016.

It found that “78 per cent of voters were in favour of allowing abortion in cases when the pregnancy arose as the result of rape or incest, 76 per cent when there is a fatal foetal abnormality, 61 per cent when there is a significant foetal disability or non-fatal foetal abnormality, 59 per cent when the pregnant woman has suicidal feelings as a result of the pregnancy and 41 per cent in any circumstances felt necessary by the pregnant woman”. This shows that, while many want abortion access in Ireland to be expanded, it’s a minority that want it available on demand. Many of us don’t want it, but it’s a vocal minority that wants a woman to get one whenever she asks, regardless of circumstances.

Abortion isn’t legal in most countries in the world, and there are restrictions around it in almost every country it exists in. We are innately uncomfortable with the idea of terminating what some consider a life. Killing a baby is morally reprehensible in almost all cultures, religions and societies, and by contending that a foetus should not be killed in utero, we are staying morally consistent. No civilised society in the modern world allows one human to intentionally harm or kill another without punishment, and abortion is no different.

Those who claim to be pro-life do not want the mother or the foetus to die, and this is for many reasons. It is usually to do with morality and a conflict of conscience. It also is to do with how we define life and what it is to be alive.

Those who are pro-choice believe that the foetus does not “live” until it has left its mother, but why are they less of a person? Why do they not deserve the protection of the law? What makes them less worthy? People have

claimed it is due to their comparative lack of size and/ or development, but we don’t value those with disabilities any less than those without.

The law and words that the pro-choice movement use are extremely finicky – why does the foetus suddenly become a person only when they move to a different physical location?

A foetus is considered a living being when you consider the scientifically agreed characteristics of life. By allowing the termination, or killing, of a person because they are inside an organism instead of outside it, it blurs the line between what murder you consider moral and immoral. Who are we to “play God” and decide whom we can and cannot kill?

An abortion, whilst fatal to an unborn child, can be risky for the mother too. An abortion can result in medical complications later in life. The risk of ectopic pregnancies doubles, and the chance of a miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease also increases. Abortion should not be used as another form or substitution for safe sex practices and contraception.

In the statistically few instances of rape or incest, proper and prompt medical care can ensure a woman will not fall pregnant.

Abortion is not the magical answer to the problems of anyone who falls pregnant at a time when they don’t want to be. There are alternative courses open for them and counselling and support available to get them through this potentially very stressful time. There is adoption for those who really do not want anything to do with the child once it is born, but for those who decide to keep the child, there is medical, financial and emotional support that they can access. Abortion is a medical procedure, and like any other procedure, it should be unnecessary or very rare.

APRIL 19TH 2016

student voices

Postcards from Abroad: Amsterdam

Niamh O Regan recounts her experience of Erasmus in Amsterdam, and reflects on everything from the cycling to the food The Dutch do things differently. Their hospitals look like airports, their train stations have freestanding pianos in the middle of them and not everywhere can accept Visa. It is altogether wonderful (apart from possibly the last one).

In the Universiteit van Amsterdam, there are two semesters split into three blocks each. Modules are all either six credits or twelve credits and take either one or two blocks respectively. Almost every course involves at least one presentation. Active participation is expected and all except one module I have taken, has had classes of less than 40. Essays are on topics completely of your own choosing and in theory, you could have eight weeks to write one. Theories are lovely.

I realise that having an extralong academic year with strict attendance and participation really does not sound like a fun time, but I swear to you it is.

Lectures might be two or three hours long, but they’re not that bad. Students swear freely, TED talks sometimes substitute readings and occasionally your lecturer will join you in the bar after class and pay for not one, but two rounds.

They do beer differently too.

Glasses, not pints, as standard, although considering some personal past experience with the strength of the Belgian beers on offer, smaller servings probably exist for a reason. They also serve beer in the cinema. Cheese also as you may have guessed, different. Cheddar is difficult to locate, but if you’re in the mood for a red pesto with cumin, a coconut or a caraway and parsley Gouda, you’re in the right spot.

One less than wonderful tasting choice however, was a lavender flavoured goat’s cheese. Then there are the wonderful Dutch inventions of bitterballen and krokets, deep fried and fabulous.

The latter is a baton of deep fried cheese while the former is delicious, not vegetarian friendly, goes well with mustard and I have no idea what on earth is in it.

And the mayonnaise; it’s just better. First of all it’s a more believable colour for a product that contains eggs, and it also just tastes so much nicer. Most places to eat and drink in Amsterdam would be dubbed as hipster if plonked in Dublin, but here they’re just places. Coffee

Company and Bagels and Beans are Dutch coffee chains, but they don’t monopolise the market by any means.

Independent, rough and ready or minimalistic “concept stores” where you can buy the chair you’re sitting on isn’t anything out of the ordinary, and the coffee is top class. Eating out feels at times more expensive than home, but quality seems more consistent. My one complaint is the difference in their tea. As a lover and purveyor of tea I am open to all flavours and mixes, however size is an issue. Standard black tea, from what I have found, comes at most in a 40 bag

box. As someone who consumes vast quantities of tea, 40 tea bags last at most two weeks, much less if there’s no herbal about.

As cliché as the bike may be, it is a massive part of life here.

Cycling was, at first, a wonderfully frightening experience, mainly due to the scooters and the strange tiny two person cars which, allowed or not, use the cycle lanes. My single most terrifying experience of being here still involves a bike. My bike has no gears, pedal breaks and naturally, is adjusted to my height.

A friend of mine who only uses hand breaks, has gears and is a foot taller than me, cycled it home one evening, with me on the back clinging on for dear life (and giving

my abs one of the best workouts they’ve received since stepping off the plane in August).

My bike is one of my most loved possessions. After six days in Amsterdam, while mildly hungover on a blistering Saturday near the end of August, I bought my darling definitely-stolen-before bike from a man at a market. I proceeded to struggle amazingly with it: my pedal break, balance while signalling and not hitting my head off the handlebars every time I locked up. Seven and a half months later I still struggle with the last one. But the bike, oh my, the bike! It has taken me from

flat to flat, to class every day, to every rugby match we watched in de Pijp, all over Amsterdam Noord when we got lost trying to find the ferry that ran all night.

It took me to a Thanksgiving dinner of epic proportions in the Negen Straatjes prepared entirely in one of the smallest kitchens I’ve ever seen. It took me on long rambling cycles to help fix a broken heart. To nightclubs, jazz bars, improv nights and numerous museums. It once took me right into an opening car door. It has taken me perilously close to tourists and pigeons, but I haven’t run over either of them – yet.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Sarah Towers

The Rebirth of UCD Chess UCD has no formal chess society, so Mariana Verdes decided to set one up. She writes about why chess is important, social and fun, and why she is aiming to get society recognition When I came to UCD, I couldn’t believe that there was no Chess Society.

After many years of doubt and procrastination in my own relationship with chess, I finally decided to patch things up. The break-up was too long, it was stupid and I was wrong.

I decided to build up the courage and bring together the wonderful minds of chess in UCD; after all, I needed some competition.

I knew there would be a lot of chess players on campus; all I needed was a plan to find them – time, and some enthusiasm. I was a determined Master’s student, filled with regret from my lack of involvement in my undergrad but determined not to repeat past mistakes.

Of course being older and wiser, the social stigma associated with chess didn’t bother me anymore and life in secondary school was well and truly behind me.

Chess is cool to me and that’s all that mattered. So, the rebirth of UCD Chess began and so far it’s been a wonderful journey.

On the 9th of February we had our very first club night, which despite my pathetic organisation and flimsy paper chess sets was a huge success. I was amazed at how many people approached me wanting to get involved or thanking me for organising it. This only gave me encouragement to keep going. With time, MathSoc kindly adopted us and so our underground chess club began to meet weekly, growing stronger and stronger every week.

The Society is still awaiting official recognition from the University, yet despite not being official we have about 120 signatures and 90 Facebook members

24 APRIL 19TH 2016

on our UCD Chess Club page (please join the page if you are interested). The club meets regularly in Ag1.01 on Wednesday from 6pm until our brains are too frazzled to think anymore and revenge is postponed until the following week. The club has members of various standards from complete beginners to very strong players. All are welcome.

Students come from various academic backgrounds: science, maths, medicine, law, languages etc. and from various stages; from first years to PhD and research fellows, everyone is bound by the wonderful battles of chess.

On the second of April, five of us travelled to Cork where UCC held the Irish Chess Intervarsity. While no trophies were brought back, it was an amazing experience. Our members did very well, and participation was very rewarding for us all. As one of our devoted members said our duty was to assess the competition and prepare for the battles next year when we are confident that our success will only grow.

A major achievement for UCD Chess came when we were approached by the Irish Chess Union who wants UCD Chess to host the Irish Chess

Championship from July 1st to the 10th. This event will host the best players from Ireland and our club members will be playing in it also.

The benefits of playing chess are limitless. Chess improves cognitive abilities and problem solving as well as developing creativity, memory and concentration.

And of course it’s a very fun game to play and a great way to meet new people.

Despite all of this, there still exists a negative social stigma around chess. As I recall, joining the chess club in a girl’s secondary school

“The benefits of playing chess are limitless. Chess improves cognitive abilities and problem solving as well as developing creativity, memory and concentration.”

(to quote Mean Girls) was ‘social suicide’. Why is this?

I learned to play chess when I was about six years old, back in my home country where winters can be so harsh that electricity wires snap from ice. The dark winter nights were filled with the sweet smell of beeswax candles and sunflower seeds beside my father, my older brother and our chessboard. I’d watch them play for hours until I finally learned the game myself. Sometimes, the games against my brother ended in crocodile tears, as he

would take my coins or sweets after encouraging betting chess.

As a child, chess was, to put it in black and white, just a fun game we played in my family. It wasn’t until secondary school that I found out that the boundaries of social life and chess don’t mix. As the doomed teenage years crept upon me and the desire to fit in took priority, I found myself drifting away from the game. I enjoyed playing tennis, teen discos, and birthday parties, playing with make-up and eventually sipping on Fat Frogs. The compatibility between both sides just wasn’t there. You either chose the “typical” chess route, which apart from playing on the computer, wasn’t really one open to me, or social life and what other teenagers did.

The thing I realise now however is that there is no such thing as a typical chess player. The social stigma around chess is a baseless prejudice and stereotyping someone is like reading the back of a book: you may know what the book is about but you are missing the bigger picture. Chess players come from all walks of life and have various personalities. People can be sociable and good at chess.

Chess is in fact a very social game and almost has its own language layered in wittiness and sarcasm. Two people can comfortably sit in silence, feet almost touching, for hours. While competing, communication is through a shrug, a half smile, a sigh and gentle finger taps on the table. When the game is finished, conversation easily flows about mistakes and potential strategies one could have taken. Players can be from any corner of the world, from different cultures, young or old, yet still be able to find a common language, a unique bond through chess.

When my own friends found out I intended to start this society many were incredibly surprised I even played chess. It looks like stereotypes don’t always fit.

editorial

editorial Something I have heard again and again during this year at the University Observer has been “Print media is dying.” Other such encouraging statements have been along the lines of “But it’s all online these days,” “No one reads it anyway”, and “I’ve seen students bundle copies of your newspaper into the back of cars to use to light fires.”

It hasn’t always been the most encouraging of environments in which to publish a student newspaper, and it won’t ever be. But being a part of the University Observer, to me at least, is much more than writing for a newspaper. It’s a place for students to publically voice their views on affairs in UCD, on Irish issues that affect their lives, and to write about what they’re passionate about. It gives writers, photographers, illustrators, models, designers, musicians, stylists, poets, debaters, Gaeilgeoirí, and countless other talented people a space to show their work. It’s a space for young journalists (I hope) to hone their writing skills, whether it’s for enjoyment or in preparation for a future career. Even more than that, it’s a community of many of the most talented people I’ve ever known and had the pleasure to work with.

This is what we try to remember during the sixty hour-long working weeks, the 4am Beroccas during production weekend and the endless editing. But it’s the contributors, and most particularly our section editors, that year in, year out, make the Observer what it is. It’s certainly reflective of their work that the University Observer recently won Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year at the National Student Media Awards, accolades that we are extremely proud of. But awards aren’t what the Observer is all about, and I think most of the people on our team would prefer if the University were to respond to our requests for quotes once in a while instead of using these awards as selling points on the UCD website homepage.

The most difficult aspect of working with the newspaper isn’t getting people to read it. Nothing is more rewarding than when the newspaper is released and we see people picking it up and looking through it as soon as we set it on a stand. The tricky bits are most often the lengths of bureaucratic red tape that exist in UCD, whether you’re trying to get a quote from someone (who invariably redirects you

to at least four other people) or arguing about how many stacks of newspapers you should be allowed to put in each building. One of our major achievements this year was managing to get signposts for the Observer up around the New Student Centre, which took about five months. Another major achievement was when we got the air conditioning fixed. That took even longer, but unfortunately it promptly broke again.

There are plenty of great things about UCD, but this newspaper, I hope, has succeeded this year in showing you some of the less amiable qualities it has as well as celebrating its successes. Issues like exam repeat fees and gender inequality are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the injustices committed by this university, and I have no doubt that the Observer will continue to ask important questions of UCD’s establishment.

If the newspaper this year has provoked you, has made you think, has made you angry or has made you nod in agreement, it has done its job. I have no doubt that it will continue to do so in the years to come. I hope that you have learned something while reading the University Observer this year, whether it was about the university in our news section, planes in our science section or

Northern Irish writers in our arts and literature section. Most of all, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed editing it.

With thanks to: Eugene McGrath and all at Smurfit Kappa, the SU, UCD Societies, the Student Centre staff, Georgina Dwyer and UCD Sport, the School of English, Drama and Film, The Forum Office, Paddy O’Flynn, The Newman Fund, Clár and all at Bord na Gaeilge, Michael O’Sullivan, Pat Leahy, Rosita Boland, Samantha Libreri, Madeleine Keane, Cormac Duffy, David Corscadden, Kevin Beirne, Killian Woods and all former editors and deputy editors of the University Observer (whose support has been invaluable), all of our family and friends who have kept us relatively sane this year, and our readers.

Talleyrand A final hello, worms, What a year it has been! It saddens me that this will be my final column before you all scuttle off to the RDS for dreaded examinations. Remember that I, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, will be watching as you scrawl the notes you started studying seven hours previously under the influence of Red Bull. Remember, the person beside you always knows more than you do.

For my last column, I will look at some of my favourite unfortunate quotes from this year in a brief review of SU incompetence. Perhaps the best one was from our own Cian Burnout, who when talking about what he was most proud of this year, said in unfortunate phrasing: “I would definitely say the youth suicide campaign.

That really took on a life of its own.” Poor Burnout, he made the best of his horrific decision to send students to jump out of planes in aid of youth suicide.

In a similar fashion, our dear Danniiiii Curtis has spoken frequently, evidently not realising how ridiculous she sounded, of “dumbing down education”.

Because truly, that is what students come to university for; a dumbed down education. I think most things coming out of the Education Office this year were dumbed down anyway, seeing as they were coming from Danniiiii.

Another notable quote this year was from our President Elect (well – if you can say that he was elected, with a

30 per cent RON vote and low voter turnout) Conor Bacardi in his pre-election interview with this very publication: “I think one of the biggest challenges is what will be, in a sense that, when I talk a lot about issues in terms of academic funding and engagement, I think a lot of that, when you look at the different interest groups that try to promote it, when you look at the University and you look at the SU, by what they’re actually mandated to do, by what the SU is mandated to do and what the University stands for, is both to represent students’ interests.

I think it’s not a challenge, but it’s something that might be taking a different kind of aspect, kind of planning and implementing different initiatives, and projects, despite collaborating with the University as we’ve already done. In my own case, Arts and Human Science Officer is a very positive thing. But to grow that to campus level that might be a challenge.” If you can make sense of that, send answers on a postcard to Talleyrand and throw them into the wind – they will find me there.

Personally I was rather delighted to see Conor Bacardi playing dressup as James Connolly in reading the Proclamation outside the Newman Building. He did choose a rather odd date to do so – April 14th. Perhaps he misread the date of the actual Rising on his brief Wikipedia jaunt beforehand (April 24th) and thought the Rising had happened on that day? Perhaps he was just trying to be alternative, as Arts students are wont to do, and commemorate the Rising on a totally irrelevant date, ridiculing himself in the process? Again, please send answers on a postcard.

The most interesting thing Clare O’Copout has done all year, her What’s in the Pill and What’s in the Powder campaigns, have landed her in the Mansion House again and won her the Lord Mayor’s praise. Sadly, no UCD student will ever know what is in either the pill or the powder, seeing as none of this information was ever visibly given to students. What are in these pills and powders that Clare refers to? Do these pills even exist outside of a press release by the Students’ Union or a campaign launch with the higher-ups? Is anything I write worth listening to at all? Ah dear friends, if only I knew the answers to those questions.

I have not forgotten our current SU President, Marcus O’Housing Crisis who has been finding himself in endless sticky situations as the year has progressed. Recently RON for UCDSU in wonderful throwback fashion found a post from our President on the UCDSU Facebook page which complained about the SU, saying that “instead of nights with the saw doctors and dj rankin we now have a load of yellow tshirts…yeve some neck demanding votes for this and that and not even having a facility to go for a pint in”.

Too true, Marcus. I too am sentimental for the glory days of DJ Rankin. ‘I am a Raver’ has never summed up an SU President quite so well. I bet you wish you had stayed in Tipp now, which is indeed much closer to the N17.

I look forward to my summer’s hibernation before the return of you rotten students to my campus. To those of you who are returning next year, good luck. To those who are leaving this university for good, good riddance.

TALLEY OUT

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APRIL 19TH 2016

sport Going for Gold: UCD at the Rio Olympics UCD have a proud record of producing Olympic qualifiers. With qualification tournaments still to go, David Kent takes a look at the current crop that are on the road to Rio Ciara Mageean – 1,500m Mageean burst onto the scene as a 15-year old at the National Indoor Championships in 2008. Her aim at the time was surely to the Games in 2016. A calcaneal bone spur in her heel threatened that, however.

It would take almost 15 months after surgery for the Portaferry native to recover fully and get back on the track, but under the guidance of former Irish Olympian Jerry Kiernan, she’s found her top form again. After making Olympic standard in September last year by clocking a race time of 4:06.09, her place on the plane was confirmed in December. Since then she’s broken the national record in both the 1,500 metres and the mile lengths.

All while juggling the final year of her physiotherapy degree, an impressive feat to say the least.

Ciara Everard – 800m Like Mageean, Ciara Everard is studying for a Master’s degree in physiotherapy. This comes in handy as she currently works in UCD’s high performance gym. Training where you work is ideal for an athlete, particularly one that’s had the meteoric rise that Everard has. 2015 saw appearances at the European Indoor Championships, World Championships and University Games for the 25-year old, who set a personal best of 2:01.21 last May. That was Olympic standard, which means the Kilkenny runner (who is also a brand ambassador for PUMA) is set to appear at her first Games in the summer.

Mark English – 800m A third Ad Astra scholar will feature on the track in Rio in the form of Mark English. The Medicine stage three student completed his exams in the early spring but injured himself in a typically Irish fashion by stepping into a pothole. That left him in a protective boot for a month, but luckily enough the European bronze and silver medalist had already qualified for the Olympics after running a time of 1:45.49 at the Anniversary Games in London.

Arthur Lanigan-O’Keefe – Modern Pentathlon Lanigan-O’Keefe qualified for Rio in stunning fashion by becoming the first Irishman to ever win gold at the European Championships in 2015. To put that into perspective, of the last thirty Olympic medals, 28 of them have been European. The 23-year old performed sensationally in the modern pentathlon, which consists of fencing, 200m of freestyle swimming, show jumping, shooting and a cross country run. He recently hit the headlines after Aer Lingus removed him from a plane for having his epee in the luggage.

We doubt they’ll make the same mistake in August. The Sport and Exercise Management scholar will continue his studies after his second appearance at an Olympic Games.

Annalise Murphy – Laser Radial Also making her second appearance at a Games is Annalise Murphy. She will be hoping to go one better than London in 2012. Having led for the first four races and the majority of the sixth, Murphy was on course to place and win Ireland’s second ever sailing medal at a Games. Slips on the final three laps allowed Evi van Acker of the Netherlands to sneak into the bronze medal position. Giving an emotional interview afterwards, Murphy’s determination to correct her mistake was already brewing.

Good performances at the World Championships in 2014 and 2015 won her the chance to fix it at Rio. Having graduated with a Science degree last year, she has had the time to focus on the challenge.

Paul O’Donovan and Claire Lambe – Rowing (double sculls) Murphy won’t be the only one taking to the water at the Copacabana in August as a pair of UCD Ad Astra scholars join her in the form of Paul O’Donovan and Claire Lambe. O’Donovan rowed his way to Rio alongside brother Garry by literally a split second. Needing to finish in sixth position at the World

Rowing Championships in France, the siblings pipped the team from Greece to sixth by 0.28 of a second.

It was a very fine margin with the Greeks contemplating a complaint but it was enough for O’Donovan. At the same event, Lambe, alongside partner Sinead Jennings, finished third behind China and Poland to qualify for the Games. Despite being 14 years younger than her compatriot, the Mechanical Engineering student showed the hunger needed for Rio, particularly after just missing out on an appearance in London four years ago.

Ones to watch: Adam Byrne, Barry Daly and Harry McNulty (men’s sevens rugby) For the first time since the 1924 Games in Paris, rugby will be represented at an Olympics in the form of the sevens games. The only difference between this and the rugby we’re used to is that it’s seven a side. Ireland have made it to the final qualification stage which will take place in Monaco. Both Byrne and Daly have already made their mark with UCD and Leinster this season, helping the Collidge to a playoff place in the All-Ireland League and both making appearances for Leo Cullen’s side. All three have been previously capped at underage level for the Irish rugby team and will be hopeful of making it to Rio with a victory over 15 other nations in June.

Hannah Tyrell (women’s sevens rugby) Not to be outdone, the Irish women’s will have a shot at qualifying as well.

And they’ll get to do it on their own turf as the final qualification for the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Olympic Repechage tournament will take place on the 25th and 26th of June – in the UCD Bowl. It’s the first time that a tournament of such prestige will be held in Belfield and our own Hannah Tyrell will be part of the sevens squad to try and secure the last remaining spot at the Games. History and Geography were her specialties during her studies at UCD and her story is made even more impressive by the fact she didn’t pick up a rugby ball until 2014. Making it to Rio would represent a huge achievement for the 26 year old.

IN PHOTO: Mark english in action for UCD

Top level soccer caught in doping crossfire

After UCD graduate Mark Bonar named three Premier League clubs in a doping scandal, Sports Writer of the Year Conall Cahill investigates just how it’s come to this

IN PHOTO: DR MARK BONAR

There are many methods to get away with doping, some of which are fairly shocking and a bit unsettling.

One such method is filling a condom with clean, unaffected urine. You then stick this condom up your anus and make sure that the rubber tube attached to the condom is well glued to the underside of your crotch. Then attach a few hairs to it to disguise the tube. Now you are ready to pass a drugs test.

This method was only one of several devised by Belgian former Festina cycling team soigneur Willy Voet. When Voet was stopped with a car full of performance-enhancing drugs on the way to the 1998 Tour de France it marked a fork in the road, a chance for cycling to cure itself.

But along came Lance Armstrong the next year to win the Tour, stand on the podium in Paris and declare, in the now infamous words: “I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry 26 APRIL 19TH 2016

that you can’t dream big. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.”

It’s becoming very hard for us to believe in miracles in sport. When we dare to dream, when we dare to live in innocence, we are left cynical and bruised. When we believed in Stephen Roche and his heroism on La Plagne. When we roared with pride at Michelle Smith in Atlanta and cursed those who didn’t believe in her. When we suddenly became fascinated with the sport of show jumping and groaned as Waterford Crystal brushed a hurdle. When doping controversies crop up, they make it harder for us to keep loving sport.

And so we come to soccer. Perhaps Dr Mark Bonar was deluded. Maybe he just felt like saying something outrageous. But for some reason, he decided to boast to what he thought was just another client (in reality a Sunday Times plant) that he had supplied performance enhancing drugs to more than 150 sportspeople in the UK and abroad, including

footballers from Leicester, Arsenal and Chelsea. While there is as yet no concrete evidence behind his claims, they have made a far greater impact that they would have a year ago, when Leicester were languishing in fourteenth, six points ahead of the relegation zone and producing utterly unremarkable performances.

Bonar’s comments have had a ‘smelling salts’ effect on the naive, generally unquestioning gaze with which we analyse the sport. The sour glare of the betrayed cycling or athletic enthusiast may be shared by football fans before long.

It is not as if there hadn’t already been funny smells emanating from the dugout.

Despite former Real Sociedad president Iñaki Badiola’s claims that between 2001 and 2007 the club spent over €300,000 on drugs supplied by notorious doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, despite whistleblower Jesús Manzano stating that he witnessed Spanish national football stars frequenting Fuentes’ premises, and despite Fuentes’ claim that he worked with Real Madrid and Barcelona, anti-doping authorities are nervously awaiting the results of an appeal against a Spanish judge’s decision to destroy around 200 blood bags seized from Fuentes’ clinic. Tennis players, boxers, cyclists and athletes are said to be amongst the samples as well as footballers. Even the ordinarily benign Andy Murray called the seemingly bizarre decision a “cover-up”.

In 2009, out of 32 hair samples (certain hormones disappear quickly from blood or urine but remain in the hair) taken from French First and

following in the footsteps of athletics Second Division footballers, and cycling in its treatment of what seven showed clear signs of even a cursory glance reveals to be a steroid use. In 2007 a Juventus deeply embedded problem. A month club doctor was judged to ago the BBC reported that Scottish have committed “sporting football had conducted only eight fraud” by administering legal drugs tests in nine months, and none drugs to players for reasons in three months. The reliance on the of performance enhancement media and whistleblowers to investigate (he had initially been given a the possibility of doping in the sport 22-month suspended sentence is all too familiar and disturbing. Last for supplying performance year, UEFA commissioned a study enhancing drugs). The Italian into the levels of testosterone amongst Court of Appeal let the club mainly Champions League and Europa off the hook due to insufficient League players. Nearly eight per evidence but concluded that cent of players possessed an unusual Dr Riccardo Agricola “could testosterone level. UEFA’s response not have acted alone”. was to insist that no real conclusions The investigation against could be drawn from the study and to Juventus was instigated after deny any suggestions of a doping issue comments by then-Roma coach in the sport. What, Zdeněk ‘’There’s no then, was the point Zeman, who of commissioning expressed such thing as the study in the concerns first place? at a doping miracles in In an era when we culture look set to witness a within Italian sport’’. ‘’Eight World Cup in Qatar football, where hundreds of declaring workers have died alarm at the percent constructing stadia, physiques of of players when the rotten (at the time) core of the sport’s Juventus tested leadership has stars only recently been Alessandro high for exposed, football fans del Piero and Gianluca testosterone’’ perhaps need to wake up from the naive Vialli in belief that the world’s particular. richest sport is free from doping and His comments came around demand answers. The announcement the same time that media of an independent governmental reported a leaked police enquiry in the UK is a start. report that counted 21 of 25 Last year Arsène Wenger expressed Parma players with strangely frustration at football’s lethargic high red blood cell counts attitude to doping. The Arsenal – a warning sign of possible manager summed up the potential EPO use. Former Argentina consequences fairly succinctly: international Matias Almeyda “Ten years later we realise the guy described being able to “jump was a cheat. And during that time, as high as the ceiling” after the one that came second suffered.” taking what he was told were I’m sure Lance would agree. “vitamins” while at Parma.

Football appears to be

sport

The matters of the mind: psychology in sport Following a debate in the media between two top sports pundits, Conall Cahill asks what exactly sports psychologists do Trevor Immelman, American golfer and Ian Madigan, Irish rugby player – two names that seem far removed from each other. But what connects the two? An American sports psychologist by the name of Dr Bob Rotella is the answer. Immelman credits Rotella with playing a huge part in his victory at Augusta. Madigan cites picking up Rotella’s books as a turning point in his own psychological preparation for matches, and an increased mental strength that saw him slot a crucial penalty a minute after coming off the bench in Ireland’s final World Cup group game against France in October.

The position of place-kickers and golfers in the sporting landscape is often comparable to that of a climber embarking upon a precipitous climb without the aid of ropes. When producing flawless displays of mental steel and accuracy they are held up as the doyens of sportspeople, their cool gaze seeming to direct their drive or kick straight and true. But have one bad moment and they fall helplessly off the cliff, doomed to spend a sleepless night drenched in sweat and regret as the entire world watches and re-watches their misfortune with sick fascination.

Hence, the mental state of these lonely figures is constantly a source of journalistic and public curiosity. And this is where that slightly mysterious figure, the ‘sports psychologist’, enters the discussion.

The ever-controversial Joe Brolly drew the ire of the sports psychology community at the end of last year when he implied they were merely

capable of “dressed-up statements of the obvious”, only made effective by a tendency to “repeat them in the manner of Moses arriving back down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.”

Brolly’s article prompted criticism from sports psychologist and journalist Kieran Shannon, who wrote that Brolly might “have frightened off more than one coach or player suffering with confidence issues that would otherwise have contacted a sport psychologist that could help.”

Perhaps a quick research of studies in the area would have made Brolly think differently regarding the importance of focusing on the mental side of performance. One study as far back as 1977 into cognitive patterns for US gymnasts attempting to qualify for the Olympics showed that successful gymnasts “were more self-confident” and “talked to themselves more extensively during training and competition” than their unsuccessful teammates.

Interestingly, the victors’ precompetition anxiety levels were higher, but in-competition levels lower than the losers’.

This practice of “self-talk” is a common technique used in mental preparation for sporting performance. Another study, published in the ‘Journal of Sports Sciences’ in 2008, saw elite athletes report that self-talk “increased their motivation to succeed by reminding them of previous successful performances”.

One athlete featured in the work said that they, prompted by a sports psychologist, “would rehearse routines in my head in bed, on the way to college, and before the competition itself”.

Another outlined a practice of “setting a pre-performance routine so that I was thinking about my

IN PHOTO: Dan BIGGAR OF WALES DOING HIS PRE KICK ROUTINE

competition, rather than the crowd or things happening outside sport.

It worked by minimising the competitive situation and making sure I prepared myself with the right focus”. Such pre-performance routines are familiar sights for sports fans. Rugby followers will be familiar with the idiosyncratic prekick routines of Jonny Wilkinson and the particularly distinctive Dan Biggar of Wales, whose ritual is tiring to observe even from the comfort of one’s couch.

One figure who came in for specific criticism from Brolly was Enda McNulty. The Journal of Applied Sport Psychology published a report in 2002, the same year that McNulty won an All-Ireland with Armagh that defined mental toughness as “having the natural or developed psychological edge that

The badger

Firstly, let the Badger state that the death of Joao Carvalho was an absolute tragedy. This is not an attempt to start an argument on his passing.

I’ve previously scribbled about my grievances against this shambles of a ‘sport’.

If someone goes out and punches a man nine times in the head in the street, he gets

arrested. If that person subsequently dies, you’re looking at a murder charge. But no, this is a sport – there are rules. It’s regulated thuggery.

There’ll always be the same arguments supporting MMA. “There are some trained professionals, one fight doesn’t reflect an entire sport, people can die in boxing and in rugby as well.”

enables you to...generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, and lifestyle) that sport places on a performer.” This definition, in essence, sums up why McNulty is so respected in sporting circles: he is only preaching what he has already practised. McNulty has described watching opponents drink shots and stumble into takeaways on student nights out in Belfast while he and his Armagh team-mates drank water, discussed winning the All-Ireland and went home early – clearly fulfilling the ‘lifestyle’ requirement of mental toughness outlined in the Journal.

McNulty is a subject of discussion in Irish sport because he appears to be Ireland’s answer to Dr Steve Peters, who

helped Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy among others achieve Olympic gold in 2012. There is a certain intrigue and mystery about just what McNulty does in the time he spends chatting to O’Driscoll, David Gillick or Madigan that makes such an impact on their performance.

But in a time when professional sports teams and individuals are seeking any possible edge over their opponents, they are also intolerant of individuals that do not contribute to that edge within their setup. So the employment of McNulty by the likes of the Leinster and Ireland rugby team as well as golfer Shane Lowry suggests that both he and the area he specialises in are taken very seriously at the top level of modern sport.

Boxing and rugby are recognised sports.

MMA/UFC is not. It’s a glorified version of what you’ll see outside Coppers on any given weeknight. When you see a ‘professional’ literally be killed after a fight and you have to defend that, you know there’s something wrong. The Badger won’t claim that the entire sport should be banned. It’s too late for that, because there’s already hundreds and thousands ‘training’ in it because of the actions of the Notorious Nobhead Conor McGregor.

Illegalised? Probably won’t happen, even though the Badger wishes it would. You’re encouraged to strike a man that is in prone position on the ground in MMA/UFC. Think about that for a second. A defenceless human being and you’re ‘trained’ to continue hitting until the refs call it.

In boxing, you have the three knock down rule and a stoppage if one falls. Not in this ‘sport’.

It’s probably taken you 28 seconds to flick through this column so far. It was in those 28 seconds on Saturday night that Joao Carvalho was struck nine times. All for the entertainment of violent, bloodthirsty morons with a quest to make their own lives more entertaining.

That’s not all that’s been happening in sport of course of late. The Best League in The World Ever, Shut Up There’s No League Outside Of England (copyright Sky Sports) has become entrenched in the latest doping scandal. As you’ll read elsewhere in this section, Dr Mark Bonar has claimed that he gave performance enhancing drugs to a number of players from clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Birmingham City. Now, no one really cares about Birmingham because they’re crap at football, when doped up or not. But it’s the first two that have supposedly raised the ire of the English and Irish Premier League fans.

‘How dare they try and cheat to win? To try and get advantage over the other competitors!

Perhaps it is no coincidence that a month after Brolly’s indictment of the entire area of sports psychology (“absurd self-help gurus”) his ‘The Sunday Game’ colleague and former on-field opponent Colm O’Rourke used similar language in the same newspaper to criticise the mental toughness of today’s players: “There was a time when players at county level trained hard, played a high level of football, held down responsible jobs and did not need a shrink, guru or life adviser to tell them how to lead a better life.”

One does not suspect that Colm or Joe will be pondering Dr Bob’s writings in their pre-show discussions this summer. But then, neither of them ever won The Masters.

Where’s the spirit of sporting ideological and competition?’. It’s not like these lads are paid 150,000 pounds per week and can spend it however they please, or deserve their wage?

Save the Badger your faux outrage. You’re just another spoke on the wheel to these people. Players, managers and club owners don’t care about you. The Badger sees claims that you’re angry – you’ll still buy their shirt, shout at the telly with your Sky remote, pretend that you’re one of the lads and cheer on these ‘cheaters’. You don’t really care.

You’re just pretending to care so you’ll fit in with the lads in the pub as you waste your life away wishing you had the opportunity to play professionally. Sit down and shut up.

There’s an incredible amount of crap happening in sport these days. No one cares about the European Champions Cup in the rugby because Leinster, Munster, Connaught and Ulster are out. You know, we don’t care about actual rugby and tactics, we care about the sesh. Another spring GAA season and another pointless Allianz League tournament. Low attendances, more dominance by the Dubs and ‘strong’ GAA counties like Westmeath, Tyrone, Armagh and Down clearly not caring.

Thankfully, this is the last time the Sport Editor has disturbed the Badger’s peaceful set. But it’s not like the students in this terrible university actually care.

Attendance at the GAA games, particularly the women’s, was down, club memberships in the most case have dropped and the debacle surrounding Hall A have meant it’s a bad year for sport in UCD, bar the obvious victories in the Sigerson and O’Connor Cup. Now go back to your pitiful lives and dope yourself up. The Badger is off for his annual hibernation.

Sports Digest A round-up of the sporting happenings around UCD Cycling UCD’s Ian Richardson bolted late to fly home and take the national road series race in Stamullen. He completed a one-two for UCD as Eoin Morton followed up in second.

Rugby Garry Ringrose had a big game for Leinster against old rivals Munster in the Pro12 derby. His 18th cap for the province led to him being called into Joe Schmidt’s latest training squad ahead of Ireland’s southern hemisphere tour in the Summer.

Rowing UCD Boat Club managed to win the Men’s Senior Eight race at the National University

Duathlon student rowing championships last weekend. Winning by about a length and a half over colours rivals Trinity College, the nine person team of Eoin Gleeson, Piers Ryan, Turlough Hughes, Andrew Griffin, Eoghan O’Connor, Max Murphy, Shane Mulvaney, David O’Malley and coxswain Orlagh Reid finished strongly to take yet another intervarsity.

The Ladies took the novice race by a comfortable margin also from Trinity College. Hannah McDevitt, Helen Kirrane, Sophie Melvin, Clíodhna Goodrich, Emer Finnegan, Gersende Youl, Rachel Ryan, Katie Murphy and coxswain Síne Ní Fhinn would’ve been delighted with the performance as they equalled the men’s achievement.

Cian O’Reilly finished 2nd in the Duathlon National Championships.

Understandably, after a 2.5km run, followed by a 12km cycle (3x4km laps) and another 2.5km, O’Reilly was exhausted but should be quietly confident of reaching the Rio Olympics.

Golf Chloe Ryan won the Women’s event of the annual R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament in St Andrews.

A level par final round of 72 was enough to give her a two shot victory ahead of Queens University’s Jessica Ross. The Old Course at St. Andrews is considered one of the hardest to navigate in the world of golf. As a result of her victory, she’s earned a starting place in a Ladies’ European Tour Event later in 2016.

APRIL 19TH 2016

sport

Hotshot Kouogun at the double as Students see off Shels on the banks of the Tolka

UCD see a 2-1 victory against Shelbourne in historic Tolka Park. David Kent reports You can get a sense of history as soon as you walk through the turnstiles at Tolka Park. The ground has hosted Ireland internationals, Champions League games, UEFA Cup and Europa League matches and has been the home of Shelbourne FC, one of Ireland’s most historic and successful clubs for many a year. 602 spectators were in attendance as UCD rolled up to Drumcondra having only lost once there in the last decade.

Collie O’Neill was disappointed after another lacklustre home performance against Athlone Town the previous Friday. His side were yet to record back-to-back victories coming into the game in Tolka. Shels were looking to bounce back after becoming the latest team to take a tonking from Limerick who even at this early stage are looking odds on to return to the Premier Division.

O’Neill knows all about Tolka Park, having spent a brief spell as manager of Shelbourne after plying his trade there during his career. For this game he made three switches from the draw with Athlone with Greg Sloggett, Adam Harney and teenager Daire O’Connor coming into the starting XI. Kevin Doherty was forced to put together a makeshift Shelbourne defence after his side were wracked by injuries in Limerick.

UCD’s intensity was clear from the first whistle. Dylan Watts’ crunching tackle won possession for the Students with the ball eventually finding its way to the feet of Ryan Swan. The hero of last season’s Europa League odyssey dawdled on the ball for perhaps a second too long and shot flying wide of Greg Murray’s post; a warning for Doherty that the Students weren’t there to take any lessons.

In typical First Division fashion, the opening period was scrappy

with chances for both sides. Cian Kavanagh was causing havoc for the home side with a dangerous amount of whip on his crosses.

Jamie Doyle’s contract wasn’t renewed by O’Neill and he was threatening to show the UCD boss just what he was missing out on after connecting with Kavanagh to force a save from Niall Corbett.

Kavanagh’s resulting corner saw a goalmouth scramble with both Doyle and Adam O’Sullivan having chances before the ball was hacked clear

by Maxi Kouogun.

It was a wakeup call for UCD as they took control of the game. While Kavanagh was pulling the strings for Shelbourne, it was the experienced Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters doing so for the Students. His free kick was blocked away by Daire Doyle with 14 minutes gone but from the resulting corner UCD struck first. There’s a list of things you just shouldn’t do in football and top of that is give a centre back a free header from a corner.

Shelbourne did just that for Kouogun, allowing the defender all the time in the world to bullet home a header and to score his

third goal of the season. Not bad for a man who’s just turned 20 (and who has previously attracted the attention of Shamrock Rovers).

Having opened the door, O’Neill’s side looked to smash their foot through it and double their lead.

Swan almost latched onto a Waters’ through ball before the midfielder himself had a curling effort brilliantly saved by Murray. Shels weren’t playing badly either though, with most of their attacks coming from the feet of Doyle. It was his pass that put Lorcan Shannon through against Corbett only for the midfielder to tamely shoot into the arms of the keeper.

But Shels did manage to break through and equalise with just over half an hour played.

Sodiq Oguntola was one of the stars of Cabinteely’s debut season in the League of Ireland last year and the Nigerian showed why Doherty signed him to Shelbourne in the build-up. Having blasted a good chance wide, it was Oguntola’s lay off from a Kavanagh corner which fell perfectly into the path of Jamie Doyle. A neat finish into the bottom corner and the game was level.

Waters would again test Murray as

“In their haste to find an equaliser, Shels were left very exposed at the back, something which UCD should’ve capitalised on.’’

UCD finished the half stronger.

They started the second half as they both started and finished the first – on the attack, only this time it led to what would turn out to be the decisive goal. Waters again powered forward with the support of O’Connor and Sloggett.

His ball in was sliced by O’Connor but it fell perfectly into the path of Kouogun. The centre-back looped his header perfectly over a helpless Murray and UCD had the lead. From there, they never looked like relinquishing control of the game. O’Connor showed great experience for a youngster to find space on the left wing with an hour gone. His cross to the far post was

perfect for Waters. However, the 26-year got himself all in a muddle and somehow managed to skim the ball over the bar from inside the six yard box, with an open goal, the ball appearing to come off his shin.

Doherty switched to three at the back in an effort to grab another leveller with Oguntola stretching Doyle and O’Connor apart in an effort to find an opening. He had what looked like a certain penalty denied by referee Robert Hennessy. Brian Shortall certainly made contact with the striker but his theatrical fall probably didn’t help his case. Sub James English should’ve made it 2-2 moments later but couldn’t hit the target

from the edge of the box.

In their haste to find an equaliser, Shels were left very exposed at the back, something which UCD should’ve capitalised on. Both Waters and George Kelly went through one-on-one but were denied by Corbett on both occasions. Jamie Doyle was sent off late on as the Shels challenge faded and UCD escaped from Tolka with another three points and a win which temporarily left them top of the table. The Students now have a run of three straight home games with a visit from Bluebell United in the Leinster Senior Cup next week.

Club Focus: Judo After a successful weekend at Connemara, Aisling McGuire gives us an insight into the diary of a Judo club member

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon as three cars, brimming with people in white pyjamas, arrived on the wild and exotic Connemara coastline on April 1st. After nearly a cool five hours of driving cross country, we arrived at the quaint judo club founded

by Luigi Nieuwenburg.

UCD Judo Club was reborn in 2011, and has since had a steady increase in members. This year however saw a noticeable boom in new members.

Pleasantly, this boom also saw the arrival of many new female members, enhancing the dynamic of the club. So, it’s not just one 5 foot 3 girl at 50kg (yours truly) fighting <70kg men, which was a weekly occurrence last year.

We train twice a week, each at two hour sessions.

We cover stand up judo: ‘Tachi Waza’ and ground work: ‘Ne Waza’. We also do extra workouts to help strengthen our core and leg muscles. Break falls are also taught comprehensively to ensure safety when fighting.

This means that judoka are not afraid to fall and being thrown isn’t painful. For ‘Tachi Waza’, we teach leg throws such as ‘O Soto Gari’ and hip throws such as ‘O Goshi’. Sacrifice throws are also taught, such as ‘Tomoe Nage’, but only after members are able to roll out or land safely. For ‘Ne Waza’, we teach strangles such as ‘Nami Juji Jime’, hold downs such as ‘Kesa Gatame’ and arm locks such as ‘Gyaki Juji Gatame’.

We have been training with Sensei Luigi Nieuwenburg from the Connemara Judo Club for a few years now. When I started judo he told me to simply fight. I had no techniques and no idea what to do, but it was the 28 APRIL 19TH 2016

perfect way to begin. Judo is centred on realising the direction of your opponent’s strength and using this to your advantage.

Counter techniques are used in this manner. For example, somebody is trying to throw you forward in a hip throw, you use their momentum and throw your leg behind them and push them backwards.

This is something that Luigi elaborated on with the members of UCD Judo Club during our trip to his club in Connemara.

This year we have been blessed with opportunities such as fighting in various competitions around Ireland and training with

other universities and private clubs. Recently we trained with Trinity College in their gym, forming a fortuitous relationship and alliance between the two clubs. Following this successful outing we organised a trip to the Connemara Judo Club in Co. Galway, which would not have been possible without our platoon of consistent members.

Nobody can quite explain that euphoric feeling of being thrown over another’s hips successfully. You soar through the air, creating a gentle breeze and then dramatically slapping onto the floor. You experience the peacefulness that is synonymous

with Judo, whilst illustrating the dramatic image of an ippon (ten points). The aforementioned throw is an O­Goshi throw, one of the first hip throws you will learn when you join UCD Judo Club. Throughout the weekend, Sensei Luigi perfected and corrected our work, both standing and groundwork. Luigi is a 76 year old mountain of a man, former member of the Dutch commandos and former Dutch champion in judo. He’s basically Dumbledore, if Dumbledore had been in the Dutch Special Forces. He’s a

ILLUSTRATION: aisling mcguire

total champ and will tell you if you’re doing awful or simply fantastic when fighting. Blunt, but seriously effective.

The moment we arrived, we gobbled down some scrumptious shepherd’s pie.

We were sleeping on the mats in the dojo so after dinner, we all piled in there and started messing around and throwing each other. One thing led to another, and we had somebody with their ulna and radius surpassing their own elbow. Essentially, a dislocation. He was hurried off to the Clifton hospital and we suggested that if anyone else wanted to injure themselves, they should do so at that moment for the convenience of a single trip. Our members are very obedient apparently and the next guy decided that he was going to discover a dislocated and fractured finger. He briefly followed behind, heading to the Clifton hospital. Turns out they both needed the Galway city hospital so one of the committee members kindly went to drive them in for the night, right after he punctured his tyre, en route of course.

Do not fear however – these were our first two injuries in two years, they just managed to happen within five minutes of each other.

The following day, after a morning of training, all of our patients had returned and they proceeded to join us in hiking a mountain.

Yes, we train our members well, hiking after a night out in the hospital. Afterwards, we proceeded to go and have a fillet steak barbeque on the beach. UCD Judo does things properly. Later on we had another late night rambo in the dojo, injury free. We then all slept like a bunch of children in preschool at nap time. On the Sunday we had a morning training session followed by an internal

competition between all the trip attendees which contained many ippons, wazaris and one particular spectacle of a fight, ongoing for six minutes.

Overall, the trip was a great success and all of our members improved significantly.

Judo has massively enhanced the confidence levels of many of the judoka in our club, especially my own. Confidence on a social as well as a physical level, it also teaches you patience, perseverance and humility.

Judo is an individual’s journey, you find yourself feeling ridiculously frustrated one moment, followed by joyous success. Learning to react quickly and to be constantly relaxed simultaneously is something worth getting used to. I may not be a complete ninja yet, but I am significantly stronger, fitter and healthier.

I can actually do a press up now… well, try thirty.

I only ever did ballet prior to judo, and that may have given me awesome leg muscles but my upper body strength wasn’t worth a penny. Starting a new and more physical sport gave me the determination to try out more sports that I would have assumed myself to be incompetent at beforehand. It gave me a boost in my mental certainty too. Instead of being as shy as I once was, I am now comfortable in chatting people up at Fresher’s week in order to grab their attention.

The versatile dynamics of the club allow women to fight each other and to fight men also, allowing us to experience a higher level of physicality and have the courage to fight men. I may not yet be capable in taking on six fully grown men in a self-defence situation, but I now have the readiness for physicality and I wouldn’t freeze in shock at the idea. Not bad for someone at 5 foot 3 and 50kg.