Volume XX – Broadsheet – Issue 9

The University Observer

HEAD TO HEAD Should elite athletes get Leaving Cert points top-ups?

Liz O’Malley & Donal O’Cathain p7

THE PAIN GAME A look at how science may be able to alter our pain thresholds in the near future

TOMMY BOWE The Irish international rugby player talks about injuries, shoes, and becoming a Lion

Michael O’Sullivan P12

Shane Hannon P18

UCD’s student to staff ratio hits 23:1 Figures released in the latest Higher Education Authority (HEA) report has highlighted a national trend that the ratio of students to staff in Irish universities is higher than those in the United Kingdom, and is significantly affecting Irish university rankings on a global basis.

The report that profiles Irish third-level institutions ahead of the implementation of a National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 shows that UCD has a student to staff ratio of around 23:1, ranking UCD fifth among Irish universities in numbers of staff to complement students and 24th when including all national third-level institutions.

Of the seven Irish universities, Dublin City University (DCU) has the lowest student to staff ratio (20:1), while NUI Galway (21:1) and University of Limerick (21:1) are joint second respectively. UCD’s ratio, meanwhile, is on par with that of Trinity College Dublin.

» Report shows

UCD ranks 24th out of 27 Irish third-level institutions in terms of student to staff ratio

» Students to

staff ratio accounts for 4.5% of Times Higher Education university ranking index

This trend in Irish universities is in contrast to those in the United Kingdom, where the ratios are much lower. If UCD were in the UK, it would rank 113th among universities for student to staff ratios, not including the four Irish universities with a better ratio.

Commenting on the significance of these ratios, UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) President, Mícheál Gallager said, “Student-staff ratios are important in two regards, [they] improve the quality of learning for the student, especially in complex subjects. Secondly, it is a key indicator in THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings in the teaching ranking section.”

Under their World University Rankings 2013-2014 methodology section of their website, The Times Higher Education website outlines that “the results of the survey with regard to teaching make up 15 per cent of the overall rankings score.”

The teaching and learning category is further broken down into different parameters, using student to staff ratio as a method for assaying teaching quality. This measure is worth 4.5% of the university’s overall ranking score.

Gallagher also remarked that this is a contentious issue that will be brought up at the next Students’ Union council, saying that this is an example of reduced government spending on education impacting negatively on students.

“As well as having an adverse effect on teaching and learning, the current government policy is putting students through financial hardship. A specific problem is the high cost at the point of access to third level education.”

Gallagher continued and reiterated how this ratio is unacceptable and is an issue that may require a UCDSU policy referendum in the near future. “I don’t think these figures are acceptable for Ireland’s largest university.

Jailbreak teams poised for weekend challenge UCD students are being encouraged to support participants in the upcoming Jailbreak 2014, a charity event that challenges students to travel as far as possible across the world within just 36 hours and without any money.

The 36-hour event will commence at 9am on Saturday, February 22nd in Kilmainham Gaol.

Each year the “jailbreakers” raise funds for two chosen charities before they depart, with Amnesty Ireland and St. Vincent de Paul set to benefit from this year’s event.

Jailbreak 2014 is set to be one of Ireland’s largest ever student charity events, with over 100 active participants coming from four Irish universities; UCD, Trinity College Dublin (TCD),

NUI Galway (NUIG) and University College Cork (UCC). Previously, participants have managed to travel to Singapore, Argentina and Australia within the allotted time.

This year’s event sees the introduction of the Jailbreak Rat, who will travel somewhere in Europe and snapchat their location to contestants under the username TheJailbreakRat. The first team to grab a picture with the Jailbreak Rat will win the #SnapChatRatRace, but the Jailbreak Rat will be deemed the winner if he is not found.

The uniqueness of the challenge has led to increased media attention over the years, with RTÉ News reporting on the travels of TCD students last year.

Due to the demand, each univer-

sity can only enter 40 teams of two, which were chosen last month based on video submissions. Would-be “jailbreakers” were challenged to create a video explaining why they were the best candidates for the task.

Each team selected to participate is given a sponsor.ie page for donations, and they are aiming to raise at least €200 per team. Several teams have been running campus-based events in an attempt to raise funds, like the team of Tom Williams and Trisha Fitzpatrick, who are aiming to surpass that minimum threshold and raise “a couple of hundred euros on top of that.”

Speaking to the University Observer, Williams said he would love to reach Angel Falls in Venezuela. “We based our application video on the

movie UP, so the dream is to get to Angel Falls in South America where much of the movie is based, but realistically anywhere outside Dublin airport would be super.”

Another one of UCD’s teams, team Keiller & Carlos, have taken their campaign online. Speaking to the University Observer, Roisin Carlos explained how Leinster Rugby’s Mike McCarthy donated an “official Irish rugby kit and signed ball” to her and her partner, Caroline Keiller, to auction off.

They are taking part in Jailbreak as the event is for them a “different and fun way to raise money for charity.” Team Kellier & Carlos, who dressed up as superheroes for their nomination video, are ready to travel as far as possible across the world.

uo

february 18th 2014 Volume XX issue ix universityobserver.ie

above Two players pause for breath in UCD’s Fitzgibbon Cup win on Tuesday

st. Vincent The irrepressibly talented Annie Clark chats about creative isolation

photo Killian Woods

Rebekah Rennick otwo p12

Killian Woods deputy editor “Currently [since the 2011 funding preferendum] UCDSU adopts an approach supporting student contribution charge, but I am of the belief that this policy must be changed. UCDSU should hold a funding policy referendum in October, following the IUA’s (Irish Universities Association) symposium on the issue this coming September.”

Within the report released by the HEA, it is stated that this represents their “efforts to promote greater transparency in higher education policy and practice, this report is intended to highlight the scope of the existing evidence-base, and to open up discussion about how this can be developed and refined into a performance evaluation framework for Irish higher education that is cognisant of the experiences of other countries in this area.”

MINORITY PRIORITY A look at the representation of minorities on television

Ruth Murphy Otwo P8

THE 1975

Matthew Healy of The 1975 speaks about avoiding the fame monster Emily Mullen Otwo P14 Cian carton Reflecting upon the challenge involved, Carlos said, “With the current weather like it is, we’re dreaming of going somewhere far away and warm.

“The dream location, if luck is on our side, would be somewhere no other team has made it before, perhaps a country in South East Asia? A more realistic answer might be Southern Europe though.”

You can keep up to date on Jailbreak 2014 through their Facebook and Twitter pages or on the hashtag #Jailbreak14. To track the progress of UCD students, follow @UCDJailbreak, while the Jailbreak Rat can be found on Twitter and added on snapchat @TheJailbreakRat. Donations can be made to any team through their sponsor.ie page.

ucd weather

UCD FASHION SHOW

A preview of this week’s Fashion Show Otwo P20

by cathal nolan

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Partly Cloudy

Possible Rain

Likely Cloudy

Probable Clouds

Heavily Cloudy

Probably Rain february 4th 2014 1

News international

News in Brief Emily McMorrow

Student visa tests put on hold over cheating scandal BBC Panorama’s investigation has captured immigrants cheating on English language tests in a leading global firm, ETS. The resulting video evidence has led to the Home Office suspending all examination sittings for visa purposes.

Panorama investigators posed as non-EU citizens with poor English seeking this fraudulent service.

Undercover footage showed several agents charging fees to carry out this fraud as they guaranteed an exam pass for £500; three times the cost of an exam.

Visa applicants were substituted for fluent English speakers who took their oral and written ETS test while the impostor sat their exam and immigrants waited to have their photo taken. On a subsequent occasion, candidates sat a second exam this time and invigilators read out all accurate answers. The applicants were then awarded with their TOEIC certificate making them eligible for a UK student visa.

Home Secretary, Theresa May, said the government would change the “out of control” immigration system by introducing in-person interviews and urging the educational sector to counteract fraud.

New York Judge allows for early bar exam Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has proposed that in exchange for free legal aid, law students will be enabled to take their Bar Exams early. Instead of waiting until summer after graduation, students can now sit exams in February of third year.

With declining lucrative career prospects and crippling student-loan debts, US law school enrolment declined to 1977 pre-economic crisis levels, resulting in a collapse in supply of lawyers providing legal aid to the poor. To meet demand for free legal aid services Lippman seeks to implement this “cornerstone for the future of legal education.”

Lippman’s annual address to the judiciary has been met with caution. Namely its success depends on the quality of external practical training and time constraints for students studying for the bar.

Head of the American Bar Association, Randall T. Shepard, has praised the proposal as it is voluntary. However, this pro bono work experience does not directly target the more prevalent economic issue that there is high unemployment in this sector.

President Obama has endorsed a more extreme two-year programme for the Bar Exams, thus enabling students to avoid unnecessary costs by taking the bar exam after two years of college and leaving if they are offered employment.

Significant number of Indian students feel unwelcome in UK In a 3,100 sample of international students’ attitudes, half felt that the UK government was “not welcoming” or “not welcoming at all” towards overseas students.

The National Union of Students (NUS) study showed even more negative experiences of Indian PhD students in the UK as 63% felt unwanted; this figure was consistent with both Japanese and Nigerian students. The UK earns almost £8 billion annually from international students.

Unesco’s Institute for Statistics shows a yearly increase in the world’s international student numbers of 12%. The UK is the world’s second largest overseas student destination.

The hostility felt by international students may be a contributing factor to the 340,000 students taking UK degrees in their home countries. This may account for a 70% increase in cross-border studies this past decade.

Two in five revealed what irked them most was landlords checking their visa status. While almost 75% said a National Health Service charge would make it impractical for them to continue studies in the UK. Unsurprisingly there has been a 23% decline in Indian student enrolment in UK third level education since 2010.

2 february 4th 2014

Students develop highly detailed UCD map app Donal Lucey

UCD students, Rong Sheng, Ma Peijie and Damilare D. Fagbemi, undertaking the Advanced Engineering Masters program in the School of Computer Science and Informatics, have developed an Android smartphone application called UCD Navigation.

The app aims to help people who are either current students or staff, or visiting the campus, who find it can be quite problematic to find their way around Ireland’s largest university campus.

UCD Navigation features searchable lists of buildings, schools, services and entrances, with walking time estimates for every destination an included feature.

All you need to use the app is a GPS-enabled android mobile device.

When asked what made them decide to develop the app, Fagbemi said, “We took the Android course last semester and decided to develop an app that solved a problem. When we noticed the optional navigation project suggested by Dr Alex Ufimtsev, the lecturer, it piqued our interest. We decided to do it because we wanted to do something beneficial to all UCD student, lecturers, and visitors.”

The app offers several unique

features that are not included on Apple Maps or Google Maps. There is a complete navigation functionality offline so international students and visitors do not have to incur high roaming charges while they use the app. It displays walking time to all destinations illustrated on the map with real time updates.

The developers have told the University Observer that they are already planning to add new features.

In the short-term, additions include providing details concerning free and premium parking for car owners and details concerning the Dublin buses available at each UCD entrance.

Speaking about further developing the app, Fagbemi said, “[We] hope to secure some funds to support development and maintenance for our long term goals… [and] look forward to receiving suggestions on features and improvements from users.”

Their long-term aims for the app include adding an online mode where users will be able to avail themselves of real time information concerning conferences, events, sales as well as digital coupons for all UCD shops.

The app is currently available on Google play store and an iOS version is expected to be released in the near future.

Gallagher and Breslin secure places on Washington Program Jonny Howson Current UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) President, Mícheál Gallagher and his predecessor, Rachel Breslin, have been accepted onto the Washington Ireland Program following their successful applications to the scheme that aims to develop the participants’ leadership skills.

The program relocates a selection of young people to Washington DC for a six-month period each year. The central aspect of the program is the eight week stint in the US capital, during which the successful applicants to the programme will be given

the opportunity to gain experience through professional internships in Congressional offices, government departments, media outlets, nonprofit organisations, diplomatic offices, and finance institutions.

Participants are expected to gain valuable experience and exposure to the challenges of leadership, skills that are involved in organisation, and to learn from leading political figureheads.

This experience garnered is expected to aid their future attempts to develop innovative methods for contributing to their societies.

Speaking to the University Observer,

an SU Spokesperson said, “We here in UCDSU believe that all people who get involved, at any level from class representative to executive committee, have a significant advantage when applying to this particular programme. Having two UCD students who have served as UCDSU President being selected for the programme is evident of that.”

Gallagher will depart for the Program once his tenure as UCDSU President finishes in June.

Speaking about his success in obtaining a place, Gallagher said, “It’s been an absolute delight holding a leadership role in the UCD

community over the last year and half.

I would like to thank everyone who’s supported me along the way. I wish anyone who is considering running for executive committee positions in the upcoming elections the best of luck.”

The Program branches out into three unique phases; pre-departure and preparation phase, placement phase, and return and re-entry phase.

At the end of the Program, the students are expected to undertake an active role in the 450 alumni that make up the wide network of similarly-minded people and apply their leadership lessons learned to their relative areas of expertise.

As part of the pre-departure phase, the participants receive training and the support they need to maximise the potential experience they can garner from working in Washington.

Phase two sees the participants begin their placements in Washington and fulfill the extensive leadership curriculum alongside their peers.

They are also expected to compete for individual work placements.

Upon the completion of phase two, the participants return home and it is hoped they have amassed enough experience from their placement to help them develop their approach to challenges that face their society.

94 scholars join the UCD Ad Astra Academy Lucy Ryan At a ceremony in the O’Reilly Hall, 94 new academic scholars were inducted into the Ad Astra Academy for the 2014 academic year. The scholars were welcomed into the Academy and will join the existing 61 academic, 22 elite sport and 11 performance arts scholars, amounting to a total number of 210.

To earn the Ad Astra award, candidates must score six A1s (or equivalent) in their Leaving Certificate or final state examination.

Additionally, it is also available to a number of existing students who excel academically in their final

year with at least a first class honours.

The area of Medicine drew the most novice Ad Astra scholars, totalling 11, while Engineering brought nine new candidates to the scholastic ranks.

Among the new scholars inducted were, David Hayes, Stephen Heffernan and Cathal Tobin O’Brien from CBS Clonmel, Donal Ó Catháin, Cathal Ó Dulacháin, and Conor de Paor from Colaiste Eoin in Dublin.

While Sarah Egan, Jennifer Freeley and Romy Lynch from Mount Anville College in Dublin were also added.

Liceo A Pigafetta, a school located

in Vicenza, Italy, earned two Academic Ad Astras, one in Agricultural Science (Eva Ziggiotto) and another in English and Drama (Carlotta Fanton).

Among the new Ad Astra elite recruits, nine sports are represented; including canoe/kayak, equestrian, handball, hockey, hurling, rowing, rugby, soccer and swimming.

Swimming contains five of the athlete scholars with paralympian gold medallist Darragh McDonald from Gorey Community School, who is currently studying Commerce, getting recognition. The performance arts attracted immense success also, with six

scholars in music and five in drama.

The launch of the Ad Astra Academy in 2011 was an initiative designated to identify and nurture exceptional students internationally. The awards recognise the achievements of current students based on academic, sporting and performing arts.

Since its unveiling in 2011, 434 scholarships have been awarded, with 274 for academic accomplishment, 146 for sport feats and 41 in the performing arts. The entrants benefit from a scholarship, discipline specific supports, guidance and the opportunity to partake in develop-

ment and liaising opportunities.

UCD President, Professor Andrew Deeks, announced at the awards ceremony, “Through the Ad Astra Academy, UCD aims to introduce our scholars to an array of opportunities designed to support their personal, academic and performance development.

“We set out to build skills, to encourage creative thinking and to foster a sense of society in these students so that not only do they achieve great things for themselves, but that they make a valuable contribution to the wider world.”

Consumer confidence on the rise according to UCD Smurfit and MII report Lucy Ryan The 2013 final quarter Consumer Market Monitor, jointly authored by the Marketing Institute of Ireland and the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, demonstrates that consumer confidence is at an “exceptionally high level”, complemented by positive reports on employment, peaking retail figures, and an increase in property sales.

Consumer confidence rose considerably throughout 2013, with purchasing assertion up five points in the first half of 2013, compared to that identical period in 2012.

Professor Mary Lambkin of UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business, and one of the authors of the report, noted that it “was appalling how far it sank, to about -30 in the bad times.”

However, the second half of 2013 witnessed an increase, achieving a seven-year high point of +5 in December. This successful momentum continued into 2014, with consumer confidence reaching +10 in January 2014.

The Monitor bases its review on the average consumer, which examines economic variables such as the purchaser’s income levels, taxes, interest and exchange rates which inevitably effects consumer confidence with a domino effect across consumer behaviour including purchasing, saving and borrowing.

The survey is conducted throughout every country in the EU, every month.

The report also consists of six questions posed to the consumer regarding their general economic situation. It is based on a compilation

of data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Central Bank, the European Commission, and various other secondary sources.

Prof. Lambkin said, “The whole point of our consumer market monitor is that we bring together data from absolutely loads of different sources to give a composite view. Our contribution, you could say, is by bringing all these things together and seeing in the round what they add up to.

“Also, by tracking them over a long period of time, you get to see the big picture as opposed to what happened just last month, which is what you usually read. Our unique contribution is to try to turn that data into useful information by putting it all together and by presenting it in a format where the trends are really visible.”

Lambkin also reflected enthusi-

astically over the student input into such a project. “What’s nice is the collaboration with students. That it’s a group of students each quarter from the Master Marketing Practice who do the actual compiling of the data for me. It’s a very nice example of what can be achieved between staff and students collaborating together.”

Explaining how these figures mean good news for the Irish economy overall, Lambkin continued, “Consumer spending accounts for over 60% of GNP in Ireland and is a critical factor in driving any recovery of the economy. ”Consumer spending is affected by the combined influences of how much money people have available to spend coupled with their confidence in spending it. Disposable incomes for households are still under pressure,

but a number of factors have led to an increase in consumer confidence.”

Lambkin credited “positive news in the employment and property markets, strong retail sales in December, better economic stability following our exit from the bailout and an easing of fears about austerity measures” as the main reasons behind such an increase in the consumer confidence index.

Tom Trainor, Chief Executive of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, concluded, “Improvement in the jobs and property markets, combined with perceptions that the economy is improving since our exit from the bailout, are contributing to consumers’ willingness to spend more. While there is a sense that the overall economy is improving, disposable incomes and personal finances are still a major concern for many.”

Community Musical a ‘huge success’ killian woods

The UCD Community Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, completed its run of six shows last Saturday evening, with the musical’s producer, Sarah Hall, claiming the production was a huge success.

Jesus Christ Superstar, a rock opera by Tim Rice, with music by Andrew Llyod Webber, was selected as the UCD Community Musical last year, following the successful production of The Phantom of the Opera from the previous year.

The musical is loosely based on the Gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus’ life, opening with the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem and culminating in his crucifixion.

Highlighting the effort put into preparations, Hall recounted the hours of work put into making the show a reality. “We did a two-week intensive bootcamp over Christmas where we do the bulk of rehearsing and then we lash into recruiting students into our orchestra.

“We have a full student orchestra, we have a full student crew. They start with props making and we start costume making. Also, the hair and make-up aspect of the show has been quite intense, such as the blood for Jesus and the crucifixion and the lashings, bruisings, so we had a team of four students that were doing that as well.”

Hall was also keen to commend the musical’s director for bringing the show into the year 2014, with some unique quirks. “Sean [Gilligan] our director is just fantastic. We’ve really modernised the show.

“As everyone knows, it’s a biblical show and we’ve brought it up to modern day by having things like Twitter going on. It’s set in modern America and set as if you were in a museum. So, we’re bringing you on a guided tour of the life of Jesus Christ rather than it being set in biblical times. We really tried to be more relative to the audience that are coming in.”

There were many performances

worthy of commendation in all departments of production, but Hall singled out Wallace Hamilton-Felton, who played Pontius Pilate, for special praise.

“Wallace who is playing Pontius Pilate, which is traditionally a male part, brought it right up to modern day. Wallace just blew us away with her audition and we cast her as Pilate and got rave reviews to the point of people saying she should be on the West End in the next two years.”

Hall did express some minor concern about attendance being slightly lower than usual at Thursday and Friday’s performances due to

weather, but feels that was made up with increased numbers at the Saturday matinée.

“Ticket sales were really good. Obviously the weather and different things like that haven’t been helpful. A lot of our cast are from far down the country and they have had trouble with their parents and families getting up to see the musical.

“So, we actually had a bigger crowd at the [Saturday] matinée from people that couldn’t make it over the last two nights. Overall it has been really well received and it is a really positive future for the Community Musical.”

Syrian social media study reveals demarcation between secular groups Sinead Conroy

Two academics awarded ERC grants up to €150,000 Siobhan Copeland Professor Frederick Dias from the School of Mathematical Sciences and Professor Debra Laefer from School of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering have been awarded supplementary funding for their research as part of the European Research Council’s (ERC) the Proof of Concept Awards.

The two academics already hold ERC grants, but have received further funding to bring their ‘blue sky’ project closer to the market.

EU Commissioner for Research Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan Quinn showed her enthusiasm for the project saying, “The funding will help turn ideas into innovation. The ERC ‘Proof of Concept’ grants encourage a new type of thinking amongst researchers, backing them to make the most of their blue sky research. This mindset will help European recovery and improve our quality of life.”

Prof. Laefer has described her research as being “committed to

helping solve the growing problems of urbanisation.” She defined the purpose of her research as protecting above ground structures during sub-surface construction; to help prevent the present issues arising around the use of CAD for engineers. These issues include data loss and data corruption.

She also described her long-term goals to go from laser scanning to the 3D printing in the same way we go from laser scanning to the computer models. She described the grant awarded research she has been working on since 2006, as a high-risk task. “Chances for failure is higher, but if you succeed, your chance of having a bigger impact is higher. High risk for a high reward.”

Prof. Dias described his wavebased research, stating, “I have two big projects, one on wave energy and the other one on the modelling and the prediction of extreme wave events; especially rogue waves.”

He suggests that his research will change the way we measure and study

waves. “These events we are studying are rare; they are quite localised in space and in time. That means that if we want to understand the statistics of these events, we need to do a lot of experiments, which can be done in optics, but it cannot be done in the ocean.”

Prof. Dias suggested that our current methods of studying waves are inefficient due to wave buoys only measuring waves up to ten metres and very little data being collected.

He describes his doubts about the statistics from these wave buoys due to the data being already processed. He also explained the various benefits that will come from his research that will benefit both his academic research, but has commercial applications too, such as “harbour and coastal monitoring, coastal engineering, offshore design and operations, maritime traffic control, and climate change.”

Derek O’Callaghan of the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics has released initial interpretations of the three years of data collected while studying the use of social media during the Syrian conflict, with his findings revealing that many factions exist in the conflict, each with an agenda specific to their personal cause.

O’Callaghan and his team explored the use of social media by two distinct sides in the conflict, however, the findings showed a far more convoluted trend.

The international team of researchers, led by O’Callaghan, studied more than 600 Twitter accounts and 14,000 YouTube channels linked with the conflicts in Syria. The study began in 2011 with the expectation of finding two parties with which they expected to draw parallels between other two-party conflicts, such as the Republicans and Democrats in the US and the Islamists and secularists in Egypt.

Research eventually revealed that four distinct groups exist within the conflict. Each group was made up of smaller communities all focused on one common side or area of the conflict. Their use of social media reflected only their view: publishing photos, videos and links representing one aspect of the conflict.

In addition, the four groups targeted very specific audiences through both language and content.

Their findings showed that the moderate opposition and the radical Islamists shared the largest social media presence. These

two groups differed hugely in the coverage of the conflict, painting entirely different pictures of the events on the ground on Syria.

The Islamist accounts featured photographs of “weaponry and attacks, also close-ups of ‘martyred’ fighters and a small number of individuals holding up severed human heads,” according to the authors of the study. This group, who mostly communicated through Arabic, targeted local and regional audiences.

In contrast, the moderate opposition’s feeds were in English and aimed at a worldwide audience in order to draw international attention to the conflict. This was seen most notably in the 24 hours following the August gas attacks in Damascus.

More than 440 videos of the consequences of the attacks were uploaded immediately, trying to command the wider world to focus on the problems in Syria.

Complementing the powerful presence of the Islamists and moderate opposition on social media, O’Callaghan’s group also discovered a notable input from a group portraying the war from a Kurdish perspective and a small active community portraying the current government’s view of the war.

As their study continues, the authors state that they hope to engage in “further analysis of these groups, with a view to monitoring the flux in group structure and ideology.”

Their study to date has captured the trends of more than 1.7 million tweets relating to the Syrian conflict, highlighting the many factions within its society.

Dr Prencipe awarded prestigious oncology prize Rachel Meagher

Irish Cancer Society researcher and UCD post-doctoral scientist, Dr Maria Prencipe, was awarded the distinguished St Luke’s Young Investigators Award at a ceremony last month.

The award was presented only a few days prior to World Cancer Day on February 4th, with the prize aimed at honouring young oncology academics and their research into different cancer fields.

The judging process considers the research elements of clinical, basic and transitional research when deciding who is given the award.

Dr Principe’s work focuses on prostate cancer and explored the treatment of CRPC (castrate resistant prostate cancer), exploring a particular

protein that enables the spread of the cancer from its point of origin.

Speaking to the University Observer, Dr Prencipe said, “I felt thrilled.

This is a very competitive and prestigious prize, it was good enough to be shortlisted but to win was just unbelievable! I am delighted.”

She continued, “I have been working on this project for three and a half years, here in UCD. The first three years I was a postdoc within Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland working with Prof. William Watson. This led to my successful application for an Irish Cancer Society research fellowship, which will allow me to progress my work on novel therapeutic targets for prostate cancer as an independent researcher.”

Her thesis, entitled ‘A New Molecular Target for CastrateResistant Prostrate Cancer: Negative Feedback Loop between SRF and AR’, was delivered on the evening and was chosen ahead of three other promising young researchers’ work.

The award is supported by the Irish Royal Academy of Medicine, and St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Unit in Dublin, and all nominated researchers will be awarded an academic bursary respectively to advance their research in their chosen, specific oncology fields.

The St Luke’s award annually recognises new generations of promising researchers in oncology, and now in its 11th year, the award strives to honour high-achieving

cancer research from up-andcoming, bright researchers.

UCD alumnus, Professor John Fitzpatrick, head of research at the Irish Cancer Society, was delighted with Dr Prencipe, but also with “All the finalists who represent a cohort of future research leaders who will keep the field of cancer research vibrant.”

Dr Prencipe will now receive an educational grant, and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland Bronze Medal from the St Luke’s Award.

The Italian researcher completed explorations into the prostate oncology field in UCD, from which she has a PhD, which in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society, allowed for Dr Principe’s achievement in the prostate cancer treatment research.

The award-winning research focused on “defining the mechanism of resistance” and the research was successfully collected “using a combination of transcriptomics and bioinformatics analysis” in the words of Dr Prencipe.

Talking about her long-term goals with regards to her research, Dr Prencipe said she simply hopes to make a difference in the treatment of prostate cancer.

“I hope that my research will lead to novel therapeutic options for patients with advanced prostate cancer, which is very challenging to treat. With my research I want to make a difference, bringing tangible benefits to patients and their families.”

News national

News in Brief Alanna O’Shea

Dublin Universities may revise entrance criteria for Northern Irish students Several Dublin universities may change their admission requirements to make them more accessible for Northern Irish students. Northern Irish students make up just over 1% of the Republic of Ireland’s university system.

Under the current system, the most popular courses in the Republic’s universities are inaccessible to many students from the North, and now Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Dublin City University (DCU) are looking to improve accessibility for these potential undergraduates.

The problem arises due to the comparison of two different exam systems. While Leaving Certificate students study at least six subjects, most Northern Irish students only take three A-level subjects. Despite this, many of the Republic’s courses require students to study at least 4 A-level subjects.

This means that students who earned the highest possible grade in 3 A-level subjects in 2013 would not have met the minimum entry requirements for UCD courses such as science, law or engineering.

TCD’s Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Patrick Geoghan, said that he would like his university to consider a new scoring system for Northern Irish students. DCU has gone further, stating that it is exploring “a special entry route mechanism for Northern Ireland students.”

Computer thief caught in “comical situation” A DCU student convicted of stealing computers told the court he wanted to use them to create his own game called “Angry Pigs” to compete with the wellknown Angry Birds gaming application.

In December 2012, DCU security guards found Femi Adekele and another man taking computer equipment from the computer labs.

In an attempt to evade the security guards, Femi Adekele and his friend chose to jump out of a window.

Adekele sustained a broken leg in the jump and his accomplice ran ahead, leaving Adekele overnight in a bush. The accomplice came back and attempted a rescue the next day, carrying the injured party away in a wheelbarrow, only to be stopped by security guards again.

Hearing the story in Dublin Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan remarked that he thought it was a “comical situation.”

Adekele, of The Maiston, Ballymun, pleaded guilty to attempted burglary at DCU, Glasnevin Avenue, on December 1st and December 22nd, 2012. The engineering student had no previous criminal record and was given a suspended sentence of two years.

GMIT Announces New Head of Mayo Campus The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology has appointed Dr Deirdre Garvey as the new head of its Mayo Campus. Dr Garvey began working in the GMIT Castlebar campus as a senior lecturer in 2008 and was responsible for the GMIT’s Lifelong Learning area.

Dr Garvey joined the university after working as a strategic specialist in the Irish Management Institute (IMI).

She also has worked in connection with the US and European companies, previously working for Microsoft, where she managed an international strategic outsourcing team, and the US service provider Stream.

After receiving an undergraduate degree from the IMI, Dr Garvey went on to receive a Masters degree from the UCD Smurfit Business School and a postgraduate degree from TCD. She has also worked in an associate capacity with such institutions as The Open University, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT).

Speaking after her appointment, Dr Garvey said that the campus’ 20th year anniversary will be a milestone year. She also emphasised the campus’ contributions and collaborations with both the region and external organisations are fundamental to its future progression.

february 4th 2014 3

news analysis

News Rules for student engagement is an increase in student participation recently, but those who are keen to get involved and have their voices heard are still in the in Brief There minority among their fellow students, believes Megan Fanning Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin

JDIFF returns to UCD Cinema for 2014 The 2014 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival sees the return of a film screening to the UCD campus as part of the event. After the success of last year’s screening of Basque comedy Bypass, the project returns to campus for a second year. This year’s offering is We Are The Best!, a Swedish drama, directed by awardwinning director Lukas Moodysson.

The film, which is based in some part on the graphic novel Never Goodnight (Aldrig Godnatt), was written by the director’s wife and follows three 12 to 13-year-old girls in 1982 as they decide to form a punk band. It has already earned critically acclaim, winning the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival, as well as prizes at the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Reykjavik International Film Festival and the Guldbagge Awards.

Bypass also boasts a series of audience choice awards and is described by one critic at Time Out New York as “euphorically funny.”

We Are The Best! will be shown at the UCD Student Centre Cinema on Friday, February 21st at 18:00.

Tickets available now at www.ucd. ie/studentcentre/ucdcinema/ Cernam acquired by IT services company Daybreak NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at UCD, last week announced that Cernam, a business specialising in digital evidence and investigations, and based at UCDNova, has been acquired by Daybreak, providers of IT services to the biomedical sector.

Cernam, a company that focuses on the forensic collection and use of online data as evidence, is part of a rapidly growing market that is currently worth in the region of $1.4 billion, and has a projected worth of $2.9 billion by 2017.

Daybreak is based in San Matteo, California and Dublin, and provides vital IT services to the biomedical industry, allowing for research and advances that improve patients’ lives on an ongoing basis.

The move, which aims to generate revenue of in and around $10 million over the next three years, will also secure employment for 12 additional employees in Dublin and California.

attention to the world surrounding them and encouraging other likeUniversity is minded students to do the same. more than just It gave students access to some going to classes; of the world’s leading figures in the it’s about domains of economics, energy sustainability and climate change. It allowed challenging for students to think and partake in yourself and discussions on issues that affected not your opinions. only them, but their environment.

Broadening Co-ordinator of communications your horizons, for the event, Francis McNamara, spoke of student participation saying, forming your “University is more than just going own opinions, to classes, it’s about challenging allowing yourself and your opinions. Broadendialogue ing your horizons, forming your between own opinions, allowing dialogue students and between students and lecturers.

A two-way dialogue, which a well lecturers. rounded education is all about.”

A two-way Not only are UCD students begindialogue, which ning to pick up pace when it comes a well-rounded to awareness of their surroundings, education is all students are starting to develop consciousness when it comes to their about own health, both mental and physical.

Last week the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) had their regular house debate with one of the motions being “This House Would Neknominate”, raising questions around a topical concern to our generation.

Students are becoming aware of the On a ‘vibrant’ and ‘exciting’ cam- dangers of peer pressure and binge pus, the UCD student body has access drinking and it’s this type of discourse that will generate more awareness and to some 150 clubs and societies, and activation in student participation. this number is ever-growing with the In recent years, there has been new societies and groups such as Econan insurmountable increase in the Soc and groups like Thinking Big vying for some form of permanent status. amount of mental health cases, from Actively participating in student life depression to eating disorders to is considered important and a priority suicide, and students have stood up to fill the void left by a lack of an by many UCD students, but by others who represent the majority, there is still infrastructure to support such issue.

This student-wide movement to apathy that seems reluctant to budge. promote mental awareness by offering But is there perhaps a shift towards active participation in recent months? support from one student to another was evident at the Love Yourself UCD has seen a surge in studentevent that was held last week at An organised events, such as the aforeCuas in the Newman Building, with mentioned Thinking Big, which the initiative primarily aiming to demonstrated that students are in raise both money and awareness for fact showing awareness and paying

mental health with free hugs, photo booths and manicures on offer.

Yet, despite all of this, there still remains a certain indifference towards taking part in college life. It might be similar to the reasons we see low voter turnout among young people, both at a collegiate and national level. There’s simply a lack of interest and belief that one voice won’t make a difference.

It’s often the minority of college students who take part and usually only partake when the issue is directly relevant to them, as we saw at the end of last semester with the UCD Students’ Union’s (UCDSU) #ResRightsNow campaign.

To make an impact, the student body must stand its ground and stick firmly to it rather than limply making their case. Students, to express their needs and wants, must be involved both with societies and those who represent students on a variety of different platforms.

An example of such an endeavour to get behind would be EconSoc, which wants to build a direct link with the School of Economics, to be the representative for the large amount of students studying the subject.

Yet it doesn’t just want to involve economic students exclusively, but would rather students from all different schools got involved and participate in topics that affect daily lives.

Is student apathy at an all-time high? It is clearly evident that there is an increased level of participation among UCD students this year alone and an increased level of awareness around topics that are relevant to them, but this still remains the minority of students.

When presented with a large-scale issue that affects either students directly or their friends, such as with #ResRightsNow, it seems the answer is that it’s still considered uncool to participate. But with time comes increased interest and increased awareness, and someday students will realise the high impact that they can have.

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For more information or to apply visit www.tcd.ie/business/masters 4 february 4th 2014

comment Letting toys be toys With the recent move by some retailers towards gender-neutral toys, Anna Carnegie asks whether it’s time to wave goodbye to the classic pink and blue binary

‘Sugar and spice and all things nice…’ Many of us will recall this rhyme from our childhoods; with girls being aligned to all things sweet and serene, while their male counterparts get the dubious honour of being associated with ‘slugs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails.’

It may seem like a slightly ridiculous nursery verse, and yet until recently it has captured the tone of how those in the advertising world conceptualise children’s gender roles. No more so is this the case than when it comes to childhood toys.

Despite the fact that we live in a world where women are increasingly becoming the family breadwinners, toys that simulate homemaking, such as mini ovens, ironing boards and the like, are almost exclusively targeted at females.

The opposite can be said of toys that are more adventure or construction focused, including racing tracks, train sets, anything associated with the army or the police force.

Toyshops too are largely segregated by gender. Those who are unsure if their chosen item falls into the male or female toy category, in the eye of the designers of course, need only look around and see whether they are enveloped by ‘boisterous’ blue or ‘pretty’ pink.

With such defined segregation from a ridiculously early age (even baby grows are colour-coded) it is no wonder that traditional gender roles become strongly embodied by the time these children reach adulthood.

And yet, for those of us buying the toys, the parents, the uncles, aunts and family friends, it is so easy, despite knowing all this, to fall into the stereotypical gender trap.

You might try to be as neutral as possible, but there is always a niggling sense of doubt, ‘No way would my five-year-old nephew use a

cake maker’ or ‘My daughter seems much more into Bratz than Star Wars Lego’. We may long to defy these conventions, but ultimately, we are all a little worried about getting it wrong. Ever given a child a present they detest? It’s not a pretty sight.

Now, however, there may be a solution that’s out of our hands; pre-designed gender-neutral toys.

Designers have begun to push the traditional gender boundaries, and retailers are taking note.

US company Goldieblox are one example of an organisation attempting to change the status quo.

Boasting the tagline ‘toys for future innovators’, their aim is to inspire a new generation of female engineers with their creative action sets.

The intentions are admirable, though it could be argued that this still maintains the gender divide, through its sole focus on females.

Nonetheless, it is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

Retailers in Sweden have gone even further, by producing a gender-neutral toy catalogue, in which boys are pictured playing with dolls and girls run around with laser guns. Closer to home, retail giant Marks and Spencer, in response to a complaint from British MP Stella Creasy about certain items being labelled ‘boy’s stuff’, have pledged to make all their toys gender neutral by spring 2014.

The UK based ‘Let Toys Be Toys’ campaign is made up of a group of parents who want all retailers and manufacturers to take this idea on board and brand their toys according to function, rather than tailoring them to a particular gender.

But is all this really necessary?

Have countries like Sweden gone too far by showing boys playing with dolls houses and vacuum cleaners? Is it even realistic?

While it may be slightly unusual to

see this ‘role reversal’ in the pages of a catalogue, it’s not that unheard of in daily life. In fact, when toddlers get together for play dates, it’s actually quite commonplace to see a small boy pushing a toy pram, or a little girl acting as the captain of a pirate ship.

As they age, this neutrality does tend to subside, but why wouldn’t it, given the bombardment of messages children receive which attempt to pigeonhole them into one box identity, including not only gender, but also race, ethnicity and class?

Moreover, children themselves are beginning to speak up, and very eloquently too, to tell those in charge that it’s time for a change. In a fantastic letter to the toy legends Lego, whose ‘female-centric’ toys are somewhat lacklustre, a seven-year-old girl told the company in no uncertain terms that she wanted to see more female Lego characters, ones who “go on adventures and have fun” rather than sit around all day or go shopping.

14-year-old McKenna Pope also managed to get Easy Bake to produce a gender-neutral oven, after her online petition garnered 45,000 signatures. She was inspired by her little brother who wanted to cook, but felt that Easy Bake Ovens were only supposed to be for girls.

Could it be that it is we, the older and supposedly wiser, who are pushing our pre-determined ideas about how the world works onto the younger generation? Given the evidence before us, it seems likely.

What would happen if we stopped thinking of toys as male or female, and instead selected items based on variety, learning potential and genuine interest? If the move towards gender-neutrality grows amongst toy retailers, it would make our job a lot easier and hopefully, lead to children who are more informed, skilled and fulfilled.

Toyshops too are largely segregated by gender. Those who are unsure if their chosen item falls into the male or female toy category, in the eye of the designers of course, need only look around and see whether they are enveloped by ‘boisterous’ blue or ‘pretty’ pink

Turning point In the aftermath of the RTÉ payout to individuals labelled as homophobic, Pat de Brún asks if this is a watershed moment for gay rights in Ireland

The perceived silencing of Panti moved hundreds to take to the streets in protest.

Liberal media commentators rallied in support, and it became clear that the homophobia debate was to take centre stage

Over the past number of weeks, the people of Ireland have been forced to look inward and ask, ‘Where do I stand on homophobia?’ The debate, sparked by drag queen Rory O’Neill’s (aka Panti Bliss) contribution to The Saturday Night Show, has dominated the media ever since.

With a referendum on marriage equality seemingly imminent, rights campaigners and conservatives are battling it out for the hearts and minds of the voting public.

Could Panti’s contribution prove to be the defining moment for LGBT* rights in Ireland?

When certain journalists, and members of the Iona Institute, decided to initiate libel action against RTÉ, it was presumably with the intention of benefitting their anti-same-sex marriage cause. The outrage that has been sparked by RTÉ’s decision to pay out a settlement of €85,000, however, appears to have achieved the exact opposite effect.

The perceived silencing of Panti moved hundreds to take to the streets in protest. Liberal media commentators rallied in support, and it became clear that the homophobia debate was to take centre stage.

It was Panti’s seemingly innocuous assertion that those who oppose equal rights for LGBT* people are homophobic that set the wheels in motion.

For many, however, Panti’s most valuable contribution to the current conversation was an incredibly powerful speech at the Abbey Theatre. The video of the speech went viral overnight, attracting more than 400,000 hits on YouTube within a week.

In an emotional address, Panti explained the oppression felt by LGBT* people living in a society riddled with homophobia. The speech prompted The Irish Times journalist Fintan O’Toole to call it “the most eloquent Irish speech since Daniel O’Connell was in his prime.”

This move on Panti’s part was followed up by a show of public support from public figures such as Madonna, Graham Norton and

Stephen Fry to name but a few, as well as garnering significant international media attention.

‘Pantigate’ has already had a significant impact on the political world. It provoked a Dáil debate, in which many politicians voiced their constituents’ anger about RTÉ’s decision to settle the case so quickly.

The most powerful speeches came from the two openly gay members of the House, Jerry Buttimer and John Lyons. The former recounted how he has been “beaten, spat at, chased, harassed and mocked because of who I am.”

These brave contributions from prominent individuals who have been personally affected by homophobia have radically altered the nature of the debate on LGBT* rights in Ireland.

Panti described previous debates as “a panel of people, nice people, respectable people… having a reasoned debate… about whether you are capable of being a good parent, about whether you want to destroy marriage, about whether you are safe around children.” The veil of reason and respectability that masks antiequality arguments was left in tatters

by Panti’s honesty and eloquence.

While public opinion in Ireland has steadily been moving in favour of marriage equality for a number of years, this latest contribution has challenged us to think beyond equality in the strict legal sense.

If opinion polls are to be believed, Ireland is likely to join the growing list of countries that have legalised same-sex marriage. However, the real underlying issues surrounding the current debate neither begin nor end with the ability to marry.

The notion that gay equals abnormal, the acceptance of words such as ‘faggot’ and ‘gay’ as derogatory terms and the stereotypes associated with LGBT* people are much more subtle, yet equally powerful, forms of oppression.

For most LGBT* people, marriage equality is an important step along the way to a much more important goal. The true aim is

recognition of equality that begins in law, but extends to the street, the classroom, the football pitch, and ultimately the public psyche.

Yet that day appears quite a distance away. As Senator David Norris recently contributed in the Seanad, “Homophobia is rampant in this country.” The experiences of Panti Bliss and Jerry Buttimer serve to highlight the enormous difficulty faced by LGBT* people on a daily basis, whether they are ‘out’ or not.

Figures from GLEN (The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) tell us that 28% of LGBT* people in Ireland have self-harmed, and a staggering 18% have attempted suicide. We can safely assume that these are conservative estimates, with even more victims suffering in silence until it is too late.

Human nature dictates that we internalise the events and norms in the world around us. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that so many LGBT* people are pushed to the edge. Equally, however, it means that the current ‘Pantigate’ saga can act as a catalyst in changing how we perceive homophobia.

Every successful equal rights movement in history has depended on a variety of complex factors, but one constant has been the presence of inspirational leadership that has come at a turning point in history.

Panti Bliss has firmly established herself as a voice for the oppressed, an advocate who refuses to be silenced, behind whom a movement can grow in strength and numbers.

Joined by public figures such as gay hurlers Donal Óg and Conor Cusack, as well as TDs Buttimer and Lyons, the LGBT* rights movement currently enjoys unprecedented public support.

The force of momentum behind it should be enough to ensure that RTÉ’s payout will be nothing more than a consolation prize for the anti-same-sex marriage movement.

As Senator Norris put it, “The homophobes have had 2,000 years on the stage. I think we’re entitled to a few words now and again.” february 4th 2014 5

comment

Culture of tolerance With the accusations of Woody Allen molesting his stepdaughter re-emerging, Kate Purcell asks why famous people seem to be above the law

The gulf between cases concerning celebrities or institutions, and lay abusers, lies in the ability of these people in positions of financial or societal power to stop any hope of a trial in its tracks

In an open letter to her one time stepfather, Woody Allen, this month, Dylan Farrow wrote that when she told her mother and countless doctors of the time he’d abused her while telling her to play with her brother’s toy trains, she discovered that sexual abuse claims against the powerful “stall more easily.”

This is an unfortunate truth.

However, with the current wave of feminism gathering speed, there is no doubt that as a society we are becoming more aware of both its prevalence, here and abroad, and the lasting effects abuse leaves on victims.

The recent spate of celebrity abuse claims have raised the question as to whether society and our legal system have in the past provided a manner of immunity to abusers, allowing them to claim victims with relative freedom based on their financial or cultural power.

The gulf between cases concerning celebrities or institutions, and lay abusers, lies in the ability of these people in positions of financial or societal power to stop any hope of a trial in its tracks, be the allegations true or entirely fabricated.

This predominantly occurs through enormous civil settlements, by employing expensive expert witnesses to render the evidence provided by the victim unreliable or, more indirectly, by using victims’ reluctance to deal with the intense media coverage and public scrutiny during and following the trial to discourage them from giving evidence.

Civil suits were developed by judges as a means of more efficiently settling non-criminal charges.

However, the judicial system has yet to effectively respond to the use of loopholes by financially successful celebrities and institutions as a means of avoiding trial.

One need look no further than 1993 to find the first true legal settlement of this kind, with Michael Jackson offering a mother and her son $15.3 million so he could secure their silence at a trial regarding claims of sexual assault.

Without the teenager’s testimony, in spite of a lengthy investigation and 400 willing witnesses, the trial could not continue.

Such civil suits continue to occur in a world where celebrities may use their finances to avoid trial. In 2008, the prolific rapper R Kelly came up against charges of sexually assaulting an underage girl. It has never been made entirely clear as to whether R Kelly’s underage victim refused to testify on the grounds of her reluctance to face the rapper in public or based on a private settlement.

Her testimony would have been instrumental in securing a conviction.

R Kelly has successfully settled charges of sexual assault put forward by four women out of court.

Woody Allen used a similar tactic in dissuading Dylan and Mia Farrow, his stepdaughter and ex-wife, from pressing charges of sexual abuse against him. Allen put forward an unsuccessful custody suit and paid large sums to expert witnesses to portray the young girl as confused and Mia Farrow’s claims as an attempt to slight his character.

The ensuing media explosion reportedly intimidated his young stepdaughter and his ex-wife, dissuading them from pursuing their claims. Allen lost his custody battle to Farrow, but the damage caused to herself and her daughter in the long run by this media circus turned the criminal case Dylan and Mia Farrow might have pursued that would no doubt have gone on for years and severely damaged Allen’s reputation, into a civil suit

Chipping off the old blok As Ukraine is rocked by civil unrest, Steven Balbirnie examines the roots of the nation’s problems and why major world powers are getting involved

Ukraine is currently facing its greatest internal crisis since the dissolution of the Soviet Union over 20 years ago. The government has unleashed a brutal police crackdown on protestors who feel aggrieved by the rejection of a trade deal between Ukraine and the EU, and has attempted to implement laws that would prohibit the right to protest altogether.

Meanwhile, the opposition have made it clear that nothing short of the government’s resignation will satisfy them and the spectre of even more serious violence hangs over the streets of its major cities.

On the surface this would seem to be a black and white issue, but this ignores the underlying problems that have dogged the state since its independence. Ukraine suffers from endemic structural and political problems, which shed light on its current civil unrest and why similar outbreaks are to be expected in the future.

Ukraine is not an ethnically homogenous state and its linguistic divisions generally match its political divisions. The west of Ukraine is predominantly ethnic Ukrainian and is the most western leaning part of the country. The east and south of Ukraine are largely, on the other hand, ethnically and linguistically Russian, while Crimea also presents a third element due to its Tatar population.

The Russians of Ukraine, and the mainly Russian-speaking Tatars, naturally gravitate eastwards in their political affiliations and unlike western Ukraine, the industrial economy of their region is tied to that of Russia.

This links into Ukraine’s political problems. During ‘Orange Revolution’ of 2004, citizens protested in the aftermath of the presidential election, which was said to have been rife with corruption, voter intimidation and electoral fraud. Civil disobedience, strikes and sit-ins forced the Supreme Court to annul the original results and hold a closely monitored re-election.

The shortcomings of this ‘Orange Revolution’, however, are apparent; as corruption scandals have been a part of political life regardless of which parties are in power.

6 february 4th 2014

Yanukovych, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have all had questionable attitudes towards democracy, with the defining characteristic of successive administrations simply being whether they were proRussian or instead leaning toward Europe and the United States.

The current protests shaking the country have been largely motivated by public outrage at the almost universal political corruption in Ukraine and the government’s deference to its oligarch backers. However, some opposition groups, particularly in western Ukraine, have sought to hijack the movement for more sinister objectives and exploit the country’s ethnic fault lines rather than unite in nationwide disgust at the political class.

Ultra-nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups have been gaining a presence among the protests, threatening to subvert the original anti-corruption message of the majority and instead propagate a minority view based on racial hatred that could further destabilise the country.

The mutual banning of political parties by both the government and the opposition in the local administrative areas under their respective control has further fanned the flames of conflict. The country’s military staff has chillingly warned that “further escalation of the confrontation threatens the country’s territorial integrity.”

So, why are so many outside powers wading into what is essentially a domestic political issue? The answer is that it boils down to the cynical world of geopolitics, where Russia, the European Union and the United States all have a stake in Ukraine’s future, with the outcome potentially a major windfall or strategic setback for any of the concerned powers.

Ukraine has long been identified as a space of great strategic significance.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former national security advisor to US President Jimmy Carter, identified Ukraine as one of five Eurasian geopolitical pivots (along with Azerbaijan, Iran, South Korea and Turkey) which are the key points on “the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played.”

The importance of Ukraine to Russia is obvious. The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet is based in the Crimean port of Sevastopol under a leasing agreement that lasts until 2042. Ukraine also acts as a buffer between Russia and the nearest EU and Nato member states to the west.

A western leaning Ukraine with Nato membership would be a strategic disaster for Russia, as it would be able to provide military and air bases that could be used by American personnel right on Russia’s doorstep.

The presence of Nato bases in Ukraine would be as alarming to Moscow as hypothetical Russian bases in Nova Scotia would be to Washington. The link between the EU trade deal and Nato’s security strategy was explicitly drawn by Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen when he stated that, “an association pact with Ukraine would have been a major boost to Euro-Atlantic security.”

The EU has also taken a strong stance in the dispute, with President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, claiming that, “the future of Ukraine belongs with the European Union.” This is not to say that Ukraine is being offered EU membership, this option is not on the table, but the EU instead seeks to bring Ukraine into an association agreement with the EU similar to that which exists between the EU and Turkey.

Europe’s interest in Ukraine is focused on the issue of energy security, as Ukraine is the main transit point for oil and gas pipelines serving central and western Europe. The EU does not want to see a repeat of the January 2009 gas crisis when a dispute between Russia and Ukraine led to Europe losing 30% of its gas imports for two weeks.

As Ukraine’s internal political disputes become increasingly tangled up in a tug of war between outside powers, it is difficult to see a positive outcome for the Ukrainian people.

It can only be hoped that the three external powers can set aside their selfinterest to help bring about a solution that will benefit Ukrainians rather than perpetuating the cycle of political cronyism that has been crippling the state’s potential for two decades.

Ukraine is not an ethnically homogenous state and its linguistic divisions generally match its political divisions. The west of Ukraine is predominantly ethnic Ukrainian and is the most western leaning part of the country. The east and south of Ukraine are largely, on the other hand, ethnically and linguistically Russian

that lasted a mere 12 months.

The courts have yet to recognise the use of civil settlements as a means of avoiding alleged victims from testifying as witness tampering, however, in the future there is hope that they will. Not only would this provide a safety net for victims, but would also discourage those following false allegations of abuse so as to be paid off by the celebrity, as seen in the case between Louis Walsh and a dance teacher who accused Walsh of groping him outside a nightclub.

Gag orders, which restrict the information available about a trial, could be used to stop alleged abusers from intimidating victims with the threat of constant media attention.

The downside would be the removal of the media’s ability to keep celebrities in check by reporting on instances of witness tampering. However, excess media coverage seems only to prohibit the pursuance of an impartial trial by the jury and to discourage victims.

In truth, society is still a long way off from creating a safe environment in which victims of sexual abuse can feel confident in their ability to testify and be taken seriously, be the perpetrator a celebrity or not, and where celebrities are free to pursue the high-profile life without the fear of their reputation being battered by false accusations.

In Ireland, we have a long and terrible history of belittling those who have been abused by people in positions in power. However, slowly the tide is turning in favour of the victim. With time, there is hope that our generation, backed by changes in the legal system, will be standing up for damaged little girls and boys, perhaps playing with trains, who suffered the horrific and long-lasting effects of their abusers and were too frightened to come forward until well into their adult lives.

comment

Head to Head—Should Students Be Given Up To 60 Extra Points if They Are Elite Athletes?

pro Focusing on the flawed CAO system, Donal O’Cathain argues in favour of giving elite athletes on scholarships top-up points to make sure they get into their desired course The CAO system decrees how undergraduate college courses are dished out to students who have completed their Leaving Cert. The points are awarded purely on the basis of results in the academic exams of the Leaving Cert, apart from one or two exceptions.

It is a bit of a joke to be honest, unless it is the case that people getting to do the college courses they want to do should be based solely on how well they can perform in two-and-a-half-hour exams. Awarding bonus points to elite athletes would actually go a long way to levelling the playing field.

Perhaps opposing argument is that if we open the door to recognising sporting excellence then we will have to find ways to allow for dramatic, artistic and all other forms of prowess to be acknowledged by the CAO system, but we do not.

The ideal solution would be completely scrapping the CAO system as it currently stands. But seeing as any one person has the power to do this, making the accommodation for sports people is as good as we can do.

It is somewhat of an open secret that the Leaving Cert is more of an endeavour in memorising than in learning, although this should be qualified by saying that learning things off by heart is a necessary part of acquiring any knowledge. Getting to grips with French irregular verbs does not come effortlessly to some, for instance.

All too often in the senior cycle, however, people find themselves struggling to rote-learn nonsense.

The problem is that the rote-learning approach is the optimum one to take.

Apart from one or two notable subjects, a method of committing vast reams of words to memory is one that will lead to near-guaranteed success.

Many view their Leaving Cert as a means to an end. If you are confident that you will have enough points for your course of choice, any additional effort you make above and beyond what was required is for the sake of your pride, CV, and to try and obtain a scholarship.

It’s doubtful that anyone does it for the benefit of the Leaving Cert in itself.

Written exams only measure one kind of intelligence, that of an academic kind. To say that your value as a person can be distilled into your IQ is a ludicrous notion. This is essentially what the Leaving Cert is doing.

In fact, it is even worse, as regurgitating material with no understanding of it does not come into play in IQ tests. People’s interpersonal, intrapersonal, muscular, and musical talents are being largely neglected and ignored by the current system.

Admittedly, arranging for 30,000 students to enter college courses of their choice is a colossal logistical task, but still it could be done in an equitable, infinitely better way than the CAO system. A suitable counter option to the CAO framework is the UCAS system, whereby students send a personal statement to universities they would like to attend and then let their getting a place on their desired course be based on a fifteen-minute interview.

What defines you more as a person? A mark based on a two-hour performance after two years of work, or your physical presence and having a chance to give a description of who you are. Is there any doubt here, folks?

Apart from the special HPAT multiplechoice test for medicine hopefuls, some portfolio grading for artistic souls and a few other course-specific requirements, points are a one-size fits all type of thing.

What use is linguistic competence for a course in mathematics and vice-versa?

To become an elite sportsperson, a serious amount of training is required, likewise to become a world-class musician or artist of any kind. This is time that can’t be spent studying. If elite sportspeople were to spend the time they spend perfecting their craft on their studies their results would improve by far more than 60 points.

They should be compensated for their stupendous efforts, not hindered.

rebuttal The CAO points requirement for courses do not necessarily reflect the difficulty of them. Moreover, the points a student obtains in the Leaving Cert is not even indicative of their academic capability.

Some of the cleverest people we know did not excel in their Leaving Cert, even though they are far more creative and quickwitted than some of their harder-working counterparts who outperformed them.

The question then is which should be more important in deciding who gets the college course of their choice: ability to rote-learn, or real-life abilities? An

Written exams only measure one kind of intelligence, that of an academic kind. To say that your value as a person can be distilled into your IQ is a ludicrous notion

John goes into physiotherapy.

He’s surrounded by people who have gotten 60 more points than him in the Leaving Cert, and therefore are more academically adept. He finds the coursework difficult, especially with all the extra training he’s doing given his elite athlete status

con Making the case for those who accrue the necessary points to get their college course and require no top-up, Elizabeth O’Malley says the Leaving Cert gives the taste of college students need Jane really wants to get into physiotherapy. The points for this course are quite high at 545. Jane is committed to her goal. She gives up her extra-curricular activities, such as the violin or debating or hockey, in order to focus on doing well in the Leaving Cert. She cuts back on meeting up with her friends. She studies hard.

Let’s say that Jane succeeds, and she gets 545. The points have gone up slightly this year, but she should be able to get in on the second round. However, Jane doesn’t get in.

John gets in instead. John is on the rugby team and is one of the most promising players in the Senior Cup. He wants to play for Ireland. John got 485 points, but was given an extra 60 points in order to attract him to go to UCD. Yes, only eight people will be allowed these Rugby Club scholarships along with the other 60 in the Elite Athlete Academy (EAA) who are allowed up to 30 points derogation, but this means that 68 people who were more deserving for places in these courses lost out.

John goes into physiotherapy. He’s surrounded by people who have gotten 60 more points than him in the Leaving Cert, and therefore are more academically adept. He finds the coursework difficult, especially with all the extra training he’s doing given his elite athlete status. Because John is in the EAA he gets a special academic mentor and flexibility with his timetable in order to play with international teams.

There are two problems with this.

First, if John starts to fail his course, will John be kicked out? Or will UCD, realising the time, money and energy they have invested, give John a lot more leeway than other students? At which point is there much reason for John to put any effort into the course at all?

Second, why does John get this help and flexibility when other students don’t, despite the fact that they may also be taking part in extra-curricular activities that increase the standing of UCD? Where others are expected to learn to balance the different parts of their lives, or sacrifice their interests, elite athletes

receive support other students do without.

If Jane had gotten into physiotherapy, she probably would have worked hard, maybe taking hockey or debating back up when she got into college. She would have made time for her course, and graduated. She then probably would have gone on to become a physiotherapist.

Instead, John got the place and is getting a degree simply because he wanted to have one, rather than any particular desire to practice in this area.

We must ask ourselves, is this fair?

Is John equipped to do a course where students got significantly better grades than he did? Does John deserve breaks and support that other students don’t get? Is this a waste of an opportunity for a person who could be genuinely committed to doing a particular course?

Why are we holding sport above other activities? While there are Ad Astra Scholarships for other students, these scholarships provide monetary compensation rather than extra Leaving Cert points.

Additionally, activities such as choir are taken into account in their timetable for example, by having one of their modules covered. These modules are supposed to account for the time given by the student.

They do not then also receive special treatment in the form of mentors, or leeway if they start failing their course.

Leaving Cert points make sense.

Yes, there are flaws in a system that requires you to sit an entire subject in one two-hour exam. But this is the system currently in place in university as well, and therefore a good guide of whether you are able to meet the standards of your degree. Are you academically able for the course you are applying to?

Being a good athlete does not make you a good student. Perhaps extra-curricular activities should be taken into account in some way. This way is not fair to the students who do not get the course they want despite getting the points they needed, and it’s not fair to the other students who are not given special treatment.

rebuttal interview-based system would give people the opportunity to display all their qualities.

So what if these sport athletes are treated well? The only sure way to be disappointed with one’s lot in life is to compare yourself to others. The benefits provided to them to enable themselves to fulfill their full sporting potential does not hinder other students.

It is unfortunate that Jane doesn’t get to study physiotherapy and John does, but that’s life. Perhaps John’s zeal for sport and real-life experiences would even outweigh his inferior Leaving Cert in making him a better physio than Jane.

How exactly does giving athletes special treatment level the playing field? By making everyone else work harder by comparison? We didn’t get any sort of argument that says athletes have any reason to be treated differently apart from ‘they put in a lot of effort’.

For example, a person working on the musical or a play is expected to give up every spare moment for rehearsing and putting the set together in the run up to opening week.

If you are on the committee of any society, whether it be the L&H, Lawsoc or Filmsoc,

you are expected to go to meetings, events, postering and give over a lot of your time.

If you’re an athlete, but don’t get ‘elite’ status, as is the case with the majority, you could spend the same amount of time at practice, but still not get any breaks.

These special athletes get opportunities and support the rest of us don’t get because they might improve UCD’s status, forgetting of course that other societies do the same thing.

Sure, the CAO may be flawed. But it involves essays, projects and exams. Guess what you end up doing in college?

february 4th 2014 7

features

Fighting Fit

Liam Heavin of DBC Physiotherapy talks to Ciara Leacy about the importance of regular physiotherapy treatment for athletes

At the first sign of any kind of problem, be it an achilles issue, or hamstring, or back or whatever, it’s worthwhile going to see a physiotherapist and getting checked out

Many things are necessary to build an elite athlete. Natural talent, motivation and environmental factors each play a role. However, with advancing research into sports science gaining increased media attention in recent years, many athletes are now looking to laboratories in order to gain even the slightest edge over their opponents.

Regular physiotherapy forms an integral part of any sportsperson’s preparation for competition. Regardless of the sport in question, an expert’s opinion can be the difference between months on the sideline and a rapid return to training.

On the UCD campus, a state-ofthe-art physiotherapy practice and sports medicine clinic can be found in the Newstead Building. First established in Finland over 20 years ago, DBC Physiotherapy was brought to Ireland 12 years ago by Liam Heavin, a chartered physiotherapist who is currently the Director of Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation in UCD’s Institute for Sport & Health.

DBC works closely with UCD’s Elite Athlete Academy to provide cutting edge assistance to the Academy’s members. Heavin explains, “This place was set up to provide a real platform for [athletes] so that they could have all of the expertise and services that any professional athlete would need; be it laboratory testing, physiotherapy, sports medicine or strength and conditioning.

My job, and the job that we’ve had, is to try and put in a world-class sports medicine and physiotherapy practice to try and support them in what they do.” Athletes from all areas of sport, including rowing, swimming and athletics, as well as the more mainstream rugby, soccer and GAA, benefit from the top class facilities on offer in the practice.

Aside from the typical physiotherapy practice, DBC offers a very specific rehabilitation service. Specialist assessment of any physical problems is followed by the use of specially designed equipment in order to measure and correct any weaknesses.

This system, developed by group of Finnish scientists in the 90s, is intended to provide treatments, which are specific to certain injuries.

Heavin outlines the process. “We have specialist equipment for back, neck, upper limb and lower limb rehabilitation. Patients come in here, they have an assessment, and we put them through a series of exercises which are very controlled, and the devices… allow us to be very specific with the movements and the muscles that we’re trying to activate.”

This precisely measured and monitored approach is clearly beneficial to any injury-plagued sportsperson, but is not only the preserve of elite athletes. “We would see all sorts of patients now, from professional rugby players to people who’ve had surgery, or surgery that has failed… people who are involved in recreational sport, the students and staff of UCD obviously, and then the members of the general public,” Heavin clarifies.

The clinic is not only utilised by athletes who are sidelined by injury, however. As well as the highperformance gym on site, there are also extensive laboratories in which testing and research are carried out. The clinic offers VO2 max testing and diagnostic ultrasound, as well as using an isokinetic machine and a DEXA scanner.

These machines are used to measure precisely the fitness and strength of an athlete, and are invaluable not only to elite athletes, but to anyone who is passionate about their sport, and who wishes to perform to a higher level.

These services are available to all, with discounted rates for UCD students and staff, and further discounts for members of UCD sports clubs.

In addition to the cutting edge technology available in the clinic, DBC Physiotherapy also offers standard chartered physiotherapy services in its practice. Deep tissue sports massage, dry needling, and other forms of manual therapy are offered by chartered physiotherapists on site.

These services are old staples in

Student Capital Fund Students are invited to apply for a grant from the Student Capital Fund which is administered by the Student Consultative Forum. Applicants are not confined to recognised clubs or societies but grants are available strictly for capital projects and not for current funding.

Recent successful applications have included: Furniture for the student area in the Agriculture Building Equipment for Sports Club Replacement computers for student media Disability access facilities All applications or queries can be emailed to: Elizabeth.Cronin@ucd.ie or sent by post to the Forum office, Student Centre, UCD, to arrive not later than Tuesday, 4 March 2014, 5.00pm

8 february 4th 2014

any sportsperson’s arsenal, and are used commonly to stave off injury.

Heavin suggests that early treatment of any problems arising is vital to prevent long-term damage and a longer layoff from physical activity. “At the first sign of any kind of problem, be it an achilles issue, or hamstring, or back or whatever, it’s worthwhile going to see a physiotherapist and getting checked out to ensure that you can be given some strengthening exercises.”

Heavin also outlines the fact that physiotherapy can be used to ease any pain caused by postural problems, even in sedentary people. He explains that students “spend a lot of time studying or in the library. All that sitting and the postural problems that come with it, it’s always worthwhile coming to get it checked as well.”

As Karl Fullam, another chartered physiotherapist working in DBC, points out, “In order to qualify as a chartered physiotherapist, you have to do a thousand hours [of clinical placement] in hospitals throughout your four years of academic training.” This means that chartered physiotherapists are particularly suited to detecting problems that may not necessarily stem from a sports injury.

Heavin agrees, explaining that during their training, physiotherapists gain “quite an overview, from cardio-respiratory to neurological to paediatrics. Not just orthopaedics, and not just sports medicine… A lot of the time you might find that some of the problems that look like a muscular-skeletal problem could indeed be neurological; could [even] be something more sinister.”

It is clear that the physiotherapy and rehabilitation services offered

by DBC are invaluable, not only to the members of UCD’s Elite Athlete Academy, but also to general sports and fitness enthusiasts, and even to less than active members of the student body. As Heavin concludes, “This is not just a service for the elite athletes, this is something that’s available for all of the students.”

features Photo james brady

CEO of Barnardos, Fergus Finlay, claimed in 2012 that the charity only received an average of two complaints a month on this topic. It would seem that there are little or no official complaints against chuggers, despite the public uneasiness towards them

A Krug awakening After receiving his James Joyce Award, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman talks to Kevin Beirne about the Irish economy and being recognised by his peers

The fees have risen, which is very, very bad.

It means that, increasingly, unless you come from a family with sufficient resources you cannot actually get a good education, which is both leading to a lot of wasted human potential and perpetuating inequality. So, I’d hate to see Ireland go down that road

“A blur.” This is how Paul Krugman feels he can best describe the moment that changed his life. For an academic, there is arguably no higher validation than to be award the Nobel Memorial Prize in your field of study.

Talking to Paul Krugman, it is clear that he is a man who takes his work very seriously and takes great pride in what he does, but he is cautious to buy into the hype.

In fact, he readily admits that what one might think is one of his fondest memories is actually a time in which he cannot recall. “That whole period, from getting that call to arriving home after the ceremony, I hardly remember a damn thing.”

In his own words, the Nobel Prize itself gives him “instant credentials,” although in the same breath he argues that “it doesn’t actually change anything about my work or anything but everyone knows what that means and so it opens doors and makes life easier.”

Krugman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences back in 2008 for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. In the most simple terms, his work sought to explain international trade and the distribution of wealth around the world.

He is probably best-known by the general public for his op-ed columns in The New York Times, where he is somewhat of an authority on financial crises and often talks about currency volatility.

He is often framed as the man who can break down complicated economic processes for public consumption. As far as the average person goes, there are many misconceptions about economics out there. Large parts of economic study are counter-intuitive.

When asked about the most common misconception the average person has about economics, Krugman is quick in his response.

“I would say that the main thing is that people imagine that running an economy is like running a business.

“They even think that corporate chieftains are the people you should turn to for advice on how to run

the economy and it’s completely different. Among other things, a business sells to other people and an economy mostly sells to itself, and that changes everything. So, you constantly have the misapplication of business-y ideas… that lead to terrible mistakes like belt-tightening in the midst of recession.”

Ireland is certainly no stranger to this way of thinking. Since the economic collapse of 2007, the Irish government was forced to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) in search of funding to keep the country going.

The so-called troika agreed to provide Ireland with money, so long as the government implemented severe cuts across the board. As Ireland exits the bailout in 2014, it is often held up as the poster-child for troika-backed austerity measures, but Krugman believes that such harsh cuts are bad for the economy in both the short and long term.

“Ireland has paid a huge price for the unconditional full bailout of the banks, which it didn’t have to do… Of course, if Ireland hadn’t been on the euro, it could have done an Iceland; they have unemployment below 5% now.”

Iceland famously decided to let its three major banks fail instead of making a guarantee like Ireland did. At the time, it was seen as an incredibly risky and dangerous move. Since then, Iceland has restructured their banking system and even arrested many of those responsible for the crisis.

Relative to the size of its economy, the Icelandic banking collapse was the largest of its kind by any country throughout history. Ireland, on the other hand, guaranteed the banks completely and now, more than five years on, the Irish unemployment rate sits at around 12.4%.

This figure for Ireland, however, is somewhat misleading due to high levels of emigration. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), for the 12 months between April 2012 and April 2013, 89,000 people emigrated from Ireland, an increase on the 87,100 that left the year

before. That works out at around one person leaving the country to live somewhere else every six minutes.

Krugman knows that figures like the unemployment rate don’t give the full picture. “I like to first look at employment [levels],” he says, “and Ireland has had some gains, but not much off the bottom. It’s only recovered a small fraction of the losses.”

Speaking directly about the emigration rate, Krugman believes that “It’s not necessarily a bad thing to cope through emigration. US states do it a lot. Florida’s unemployment is way down, and a lot of that is because workers have left Florida.”

In Ireland’s case, however, Krugman sees the difficulty. “It’s okay for a US state, it’s not quite as okay for a European country…

That [the Irish unemployment rate] is that bad despite all of the emigration, especially among the young, is a bad sign.”

But finding a job isn’t the only issue on young people’s minds.

There have been talks over the last few years of reintroducing full fees for third-level education, a move which Krugman harshly criticises.

“I do know that in the United States, one of the very worrisome things that’s happened is that we used to have quite a good system of quite inexpensive, mostly staterun universities and students with limited financial means could get a very good education.

“And that’s been steadily eroded with reduced funding. The fees have risen, which is very, very bad. It means that, increasingly, unless you come from a family with sufficient resources you cannot actually get a good education, which is both leading to a lot of wasted human potential and perpetuating inequality. So, I’d hate to see Ireland go down that road.”

Education, he argues, is paramount to a healthy economy. It is no surprise that he would prefer a cheaper system of education, given his opposition to the austerity budgets Ireland have been forced to implement over the last few years.

If Ireland were not a part of the Eurozone, Krugman believes that the last few years would

have been a lot different, as we could allow our currency to devalue and therefore increase the competitiveness of our exports.

“Ireland, even with all its openness, if Ireland had not joined the euro it would be in better shape today than it is. Okay, that’s a very different thing to leave once you’re in. There is actually no country not on the euro that I would recommend to join, even the Estonias and Latvias. I hear that there’s a serious movement for Poland to join, and they’re out of their minds.”

Still, Ireland has an advantage globally that few other countries seem to have. Thanks to a diaspora that spans seemingly the entire western world, Ireland has received arguably more praise on an international level than its situation actually warrants.

“This is the third time by my count since 2008 that Ireland has been pronounced really on the road to recovery, and this one is a little more convincing than the last two.

There’s never been a time when Ireland gets less positive press than it deserves,” explains Krugman.

“On the contrary, it’s consistently gotten more positive press than it deserves. If you read the newspaper articles, for the most part, in the United States, you would think that Ireland is really clearly on the mend, not this kind of ambiguous ‘things are a little bit better but still terrible’ situation that you see for real.”

It’s not all doom and gloom though.

Although things are still bad, and have been bad for a few years now, there are signs that the ECB has reevaluated and changed its policies.

An organisation that was once obsessed with controlling European inflation, often while ignoring other much larger problems, has become more receptive to new ideas.

Krugman is hopeful that Europe has learned from the previous six and a half years, although he also notes that these lessons could have been learned just by looking to the east at Japan and its socalled ‘lost decade’ in the 90s.

“We know that [the ECB] have been historically too obsessed [with controlling inflation rates]. We know

that they have repeatedly have a history of raising [interest] rates at the first whiff of inflation, and then having to back down later on after discovering it was a mistake.

“I don’t think current management is the same. The ECB has changed a lot since [Mario] Draghi arrived [as ECB President], and it’s not just him. One of the things I’ve learned, as best I can make out, the institutional culture at the ECB is now substantially more open-minded than it used to be.”

Krugman says that of the infamous troika, the ECB is moving towards the thinking of the IMF moreso than the thinking of the EC, a switch he describes as “a good thing for Europe.”

As for what this means for the future of Ireland, it points towards a likely decrease in the emphasis on controlling inflation. This means that there will hopefully be lower interest rates, allowing greater investment in the Irish economy.

While Ireland has a long way to go before the prosperity of the Celtic Tiger will be experienced again, there are certainly signs that things are improving. As for Krugman, the present seems to be a good place to be.

Ireland, even with all its openess, if Ireland had not joined the euro it would be in better shape today than it is.

Okay, that’s a very different thing to leave once you’re in. There is actually no country not on the euro that I would recommend to join february 4th 2014 9

features

The J1 experience Summer is fast approaching, and what better way to spend it than in the good old US of A. Nicole Casey looks at the benefits of a J1 Exchange Visa for Irish students

Having a job prearranged has many advantages… participants only have 30 days once they arrive during which to locate employment. A prearranged job means beating out approximately 40,000 other participants to the better job

A J1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States government to exchange visitors participating in programmes that promote cultural exchange.

The J1 Exchange Visitor Visa Programme was first introduced under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, in order to strengthen relations between the US and other countries. It initially brought scholars into the US temporarily for specific educational objectives, such as research conducting and teaching.

It was then extended to include several other programmes that shared the same objectives, such as the au pair, Government Visitor, and Work and Travel USA programmes.

In Ireland, the most common type of J1 visa is the J1 Summer Work and Travel Programme, which allows full-time third-level students to enter the US, travel and work there legally, for up to four months.

Final year students are eligible to apply, once they can show their intention to return to Ireland at the end of the exchange programme. And for students not in their final year?

There is no limit to the number of times you can visit the US on a J1 Summer Work and Travel Visa.

There are many ways for Irish students to spend their summers: parttime work, travelling, and internships are all obvious and widely used options.

But what makes the J1 Work and Travel USA programme so appealing to Irish students is the fact that it can be a combination of all three. A J1 can be whatever you choose to make it.

For final year Commerce student Eoin Blaney, participating in a J1 to San Francisco last summer was a chance to fulfill his ambitions of travelling before settling into a full-time job. “I did a J1 because I didn’t want to go into an internship, or anything too serious.

There’s plenty of time for serious after graduation. I really want to travel and I want to do it before I get tied down by a job or some other commitment.”

While many students choose to participate in a commitment-free J1, others use the opportunity to further their future career prospects, such as third-year social care student in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Aoife Kerrigan.

Kerrigan is travelling to New York this summer to work in a summer camp for children with special needs, as it complements her college course and the work she hopes to do once she graduates.

“I decided to go on a J1 because

10 february 4th 2014

I’m interested in a summer abroad.

I was looking at party destinations, but I realised I would spend the same amount of money on a J1, and gain so much more from it. Going on a J1 would have endless benefits for me in the long term as well.”

Irish students participating in the J1 Summer Work and Travel Programme need not have a job before departing for the US, although J1 Visa Company USIT do recommend that participants begin job hunting prior to their arrival into America.

Highly populated areas like the west coast, and big cities such as New York or Boston are just some of the areas where it is more difficult to locate work once the summer season begins.

The type of work you can undertake when in the US is vast and diverse, but must constitute seasonal work to ensure visitors are not taking work from American citizens.

According to USIT, “The typical Summer Work Travel job is in seasonal or resort areas in a seasonal business.”

For Irish students, this work can be anything from bar work to working in a golf club or holiday resort for the summer season. The possibilities are endless, and it is important to remember that for the most part, the point of working is to fund your cultural experience.

For Blaney, seasonal work took the form of working in America’s Cup Park. “My job was to stop people in the park and talk to them about the beer we sold in the bar. There’s no better way to sell alcohol than to put an Irish guy on the job.”

The work Kerrigan will undertake this summer will be exceedingly different to the common bar and restaurant work undertaken by most students, but is still seasonal work, in keeping with the regulations of the programme.

“I signed up to a company called Camp Leaders and they offered me a job in a summer camp just outside New York City. Based on my interview, they decided I would be best suited to work with young children with severe autism and aggressive behaviour as a camp counsellor for the summer.”

Having a job prearranged has many advantages, especially when you take into account that J1 visa participants only have 30 days once they arrive during which to locate employment.

A prearranged job means beating out approximately 40,000 other participants to the better jobs, and will also help you in locating accommodation in the USA. But finding a job when you are thousands of miles away can seem

like a daunting task. USIT offer a jobs database to all of their applicants, and this is an excellent resource to help you secure a prearranged job. Apart from this, they encourage students to complete their CV early and start applying for jobs online, with the help of their handy Programme Handbook, which all participants receive. USIT also have strong links with US employers, who hire large numbers of USI participants during February and March each year.

For Kerrigan, the fear of not being able to find a job once she arrives in the US this summer had a direct effect on her decision to apply for a camp counsellor job. “I chose this type of J1 because the other type (the standard type) wasn’t for me. I don’t want to go to America in May and start looking for a job, being completely unsure of what’s going to happen. It’s a scary idea. Being prepared and knowing what’s going to happen when I arrive really puts my mind at ease.”

Immigration officers in the US require that all J1 participants have a certain amount of money to finance them when they enter the USA. With a prearranged job, participants must have a minimum of $800 available, but those without a job in the USA must have a minimum of $1,200 available, proving once again that a prearranged job is of great benefit to anyone planning a J1.

Deciding to go on a J1 exchange is an easy decision, but the process that follows can often seem complicated and daunting. Booking through a reputable company, such as USIT or Go4Less, can make the entire process significantly simpler for students wishing to embark on the J1 Summer Work and Travel Programme.

The first step to starting your J1 journey is paying your programme fee, which can include things like free exam failure insurance, free stopovers, free date and route changes, and access to an extensive job service, depending on who you book with.

Exam failure insurance can prove invaluable to students who may not have achieved the results they expected or hoped for in their summer exams. With this insurance, failing an exam does not have to mean the end of your J1 experience.

The company can help change your flight schedule to accommodate your repeats, meaning a failed exam doesn’t have to ruin the entire summer.

Irish people, especially students, often face a bad reputation when travelling abroad. As a nation, we can sometimes be known in other

countries to be loud and abrasive, especially when fuelled by alcohol.

Blaney believes this to be only partly true. “I made some American friends and they loved the Irish almost too much, with 90% of Americans claiming to be Irish by some distant relation.

We did become locally famous towards the end of the trip, however, for getting quite drunk. Americans rarely drink spirits, so we were a bit of a shock to their system. They still loved us though.”

Kerrigan is hopeful that the preconceived notion of the Irish alcoholic won’t ring true when she travels to New York in a few months’ time. “I want to make loads of new friends and travel around America in my free time. I really hope that the people I meet don’t have this idea in their heads that because I’m Irish I just want to have fun and get drunk. This J1 could really benefit me in the future and I want to make the most of it.”

The advantages of a J1 are numerous, and almost uncountable.

Independence, work experience, and the chance to travel to new and exciting locations are just some of the benefits J1 participants can hope to gain. Blaney agrees, believing the advantages to be immeasurable.

“What I gained from my J1 can’t be quantified. I gained a sense of independence. I proved that I could live on my own, hold down a job, and provide for myself. Of course I also became more cultured, because Americans lead a completely different life to Irish people, but it was all beneficial.”

Although she hasn’t even left yet, Kerrigan can already notice the benefits that her J1 will provide. “The camp are going to put me through a course in special needs education, and have also offered me the option to do courses in life saving and sign language.

“My accommodation and food are both free, and they have programmes set up to help me travel at the end of the summer. I can go back next summer, and in between I can work in their Dublin offices helping other people to sign up.”

Is a J1 for everyone? Of course not.

There are many ways to spend your summer: internships, InterRailing, island hopping, or even just staying put in Ireland. Still, Blaney is adamant that travelling and seeing the world is the best way any Irish student can pass the exceedingly long summer vacation. “Spend your money on experience, rather than material.

Get out, travel, rent a car, stay in horrible places while you can.”

science

Genetic alterations

With specific genes now being altered in primates, Conor de Paor believes a Gattaca-like future may be more feasible than we think

Researchers in China have recently bred twin monkeys with targeted mutations in their genetic code. The team in Nanjing University successfully removed specific genes in the monkeys’ DNA without disturbing any surrounding genes, avoiding what are known as off-target mutations.

While they did not look at specific diseases, the group targeted three genes in the experiment that are associated with human conditions.

One for regulating metabolism (Ppar-gamma), another involved in maintaining the immune system (Rag1), and finally one for governing stem cells and determining sex (NrOb1). This breakthrough could become invaluable in modelling and correcting human genetic defects in the future.

Up to now, methods for altering genes in primates relied on viral techniques, which produced unpredictable results. As well as this, according to Guoping Feng, a neurologist of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), while researchers had inserted foreign genes into primates before, none had ever successfully altered the primates’ own genetic makeup until now.

The team in China used a geneediting tool known as CRISPR/ Cas9. The tool exploits a method that some bacteria use to fight off viruses and other pathogens. It can be thought of like a scissors, whereby the DNA is snipped and corrected at a particular site using the enzyme Cas9, which results in a disruption to the gene’s activity.

The CRISPR/Cas9 technique was used to alter the genes mentioned above in over 180 single-cell monkey embryos; 83 of these embryos were then implanted into female macaques. Only 10 pregnancies were established, two of which

The director of the Centre for Neurobehavioral Genetics at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Nelson Freimer, says that while researchers have used mice in the past to model human diseases, brain disorders are too difficult to replicate in the brain of a mouse

miscarried and another of which successfully delivered female twins with two of the desired mutations.

The team is still awaiting results from the seven other females.

The twins, called Mingming and Ningning, were born on November 11, 2013 with simultaneous mutations in two of the genes mentioned above, yet the team was unsuccessful in disrupting the third gene; the one for governing stem cells and determining sex.

Arising directly from this study, many believe that this is the first step towards eradicating human genetic diseases. We could simply snip out some genetic defects in people and replace them with altered DNA. It is believed that such a method could usher in cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and HIV as primates are genetically closer to humans than mice, allowing the diseases to be modeled more accurately in the lab.

The director of the Centre for Neurobehavioral Genetics at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Nelson Freimer, says that while researchers have used mice in the past to model human diseases, brain disorders are too difficult to replicate in the brain of a mouse.

“People have been looking for primate models for a whole list of diseases, but in the past it’s been either completely unfeasible or incredibly expensive. This is saying we can do this relatively inexpensively and quickly, and that is a major advance,” explains Dr Freimer.

However, according to Rudolf Jaenisch, a stem cell researcher in MIT, that while the results are significant, establishing deliberate genetic mutations in humans is still a long way off. This is reinforced by the fact that when the researchers were attempting to

disrupt the three specific genes in a monkey cell line they were only successful 10-25% of the time.

In addition to this, when the research team were injecting the embryos, the Cas9 enzyme only started altering the genes after the cell began to split. This resulted in some cells containing the mutations while many were left unaltered. These are all serious concerns that need to be addressed if this technology is going to advance in the future.

The use of primates in medical research is also a controversial subject amongst many groups, an issue that could hinder its use in the future. Many researchers are looking into other ways of using the CRISPR/Cas9 method for human diseases without the use of primates.

In one case, George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard University, co-founded Editas, a company which proposes to use the CRISPR/Cas9 technique for human conditions. One approach the company purports to use is to grow small amounts of human organ tissue and subsequently cause the tissue genetic defects with CRISPR that could then be studied humanely.

This idea is also supported by Dr Andrew Bennett, a scientist with the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments. “If you’re working on human disease, then it is necessary to use human-derived material to predict human responses.”

Dr Freimer comments that, “you want to use all the alternatives before you propose animal research.

This will be reserved for terrible diseases for which it offers hope that cannot be gotten any other way.”

For the foreseeable future, the use of primates, it seems, will be resorted to, but as Dr Freimer acknowledges, it will be a last resort; giving hope for a progression away from this testing in the future.

CRISPR approach to personalised medicine Exploring the advances in DNA research, Michael O’Sullivan explains how investigations into CRISPR sequences is kick-starting the personalised medicine revolution

You’ll find yourself hardpressed to find anyone who has never heard of MRSA in this day and age; the super-bacteria that has arisen as a direct result of humanity’s over-dependence on antibiotics.

Before we begin, let it be clearly stated that antibiotics are possibly the greatest invention of the 20th century. They completely revolutionised the way we treat illnesses and stopped people dying from simple, minor infections that spread because people had no way of fighting them. The time has come to say farewell, however. As with all other good things, the era of the antibiotic has come to an end.

Through a combination of overuse and misuse, we as a species have created several strains of bacteria that are antibiotic-resistant, making them incredibly difficult to kill off. This effectively sends us back to square one. If the current trend continues, our best efforts will simply not be enough in the fight against infection and people will begin to die in greater numbers from illnesses that were completely treatable 20 years previous.

As a result, there has been a recent push for research to be carried out into alternative treatments for bacterial infections, and finally, the fruits of humanity’s recent labour are beginning to show.

Recent research from the University of North Carolina (UNC) has come up with some promising results. The team at UNC looked into turning the bacteria’s own immune system against themselves in a novel attempt to treat bacterial infections.

Surprised to hear that bacteria have an immune system? Bacteria have a set of RNA strands called CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced

short palindromic repeats) strands that they use to recognise foreign invaders. These RNA strands can pick out the DNA of foreign systems and mark them for destruction.

Because they detect invaders at the most basic level, it makes these sequences highly useful.

Bacteria use these CRISPR sequences to identify the DNA of foreign invaders, but what if we were to alter these CRISPR structures to directly target a specific bacterium, but not harm others?

The human body contains a veritable treasure trove of bacterial species, many of which we have a symbiotic relationship with; meaning they have a beneficial use to us such as boosting our immune system and aiding in digestion.

Every time you go on a course of antibiotics, you kill off these bacteria as well as the ones that are making you sick, effectively causing an overall weakening of your entire immune system. This recent research into CRISPR sequences could change all of that.

The team altered CRISPR sequences to be selective for particular strains of E Coli, and then introduced the strains to the modified bacteria. What they found was that the CRISPR sequences recognised the invaders and immediately set about murdering them with extreme prejudice. These sequences were incredibly selective, able to identify differences between different strains of E Coli and only kill the ones that they believed to be invaders, instead of just killing all strains of the bacteria.

What this means, in a real sense, is that with a bit of tweaking, it may be possible to introduce CRISPR sequences into a person

that specifically target the DNA of the bacteria that is causing their infection. This would eliminate any possibility of the bacteria gaining resistance since the treatment targets their DNA and also gets around the issue of damaging the good bacteria already present in the body’s natural immune system.

This is effectively personalised medicine, because it is now relatively cheap and easy to sequence genomes and getting cheaper and easier all the time. It wouldn’t be difficult to sequence the genome of a bacterium infecting a person and then create a CRISPR sequence to directly attack it.

More and more, research is swaying towards easily personalised solutions to health problems, as it eliminates the old scattergun approach that has left us with so many other problems, be it from side effects that vary by person or the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

All that is left is to perfect a delivery mechanism for the CRISPR sequences that is viable in a human host and the treatment method can begin clinical trials, which means that, depending on how fast it can be perfected, we could be seeing personalised antibiotics on the market within the next decade.

Though we may be slightly behind where we thought we would be 20 years ago (where the hell are the hoverboards?) we live in an exciting time. Science is progressing at a greater rate than ever before.

Diseases that were previous death sentences are now basically minor inconveniences to those affected and we are beginning to see the first steps into generating true robotic humanoids. The future is here, and it’s going to be one fun time.

More and more, research is swaying towards easily personalised solutions to health problems as it eliminates the old scattergun approach that has left us with so many other problems, be it from side effects that vary by person or the rise of antibioticresistant bacteria

february 4th 2014 11

science

Solving the stem of the problem A new development in the production of stem cells has opened the door for newer, less controversial harvesting methods. Aoife Hardesty investigates

Stem cells have been a controversial and contentious area of science for a long time. These are cells that have not yet become specialised cells for specific roles.

They are pluripotent, meaning that they have the potential to develop into all the kinds of body cells and they are the precursors of all the different types of body cells, for example brain cells, muscle cells and skin cells.

Stem cells have played an important role in scientific discoveries about cancer, embryonic development and many diseases, but for years, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest the cells from donated embryos or from artificially fertilised eggs. This raised the issue of morality and whether this was an ethical way of conducting potentially life-saving medical research.

In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka developed a way of reprogramming mature cells back to pluripotent cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (or iPS cells), subsequently winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this research in 2012.

This breakthrough seemed like the moral issues of embryo use would be eliminated, however the technique has proven time-consuming and so has not been the perfect replacement for harvesting stem cells from embryos it was hoped to be.

Since Yamanaka’s discovery, scientists have been striving to trigger mature adult cells to reprogramme into pluripotent cells using highly complex techniques and have not managed to improve upon the process of creating iPS cells. So, it was with great surprise that Haruko Obokata and her colleagues of the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology, Japan and

Stem cells have played an important role in scientific discoveries about cancer, embryonic development and many diseases, but for years, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest the cells from donated embryos or from artificially fertilised eggs

Harvard Medical School, published a journal in Nature on January 30th revealing the success of their attempts to induce pluripotency in developed cells using a simple method of subjecting them to stressful conditions.

Developed mouse cells were put in an acid bath with a pH of 5.7 for 30 minutes. The cells were then grown in the lab. A particular gene, Oct-4, is only expressed in pluripotent cells and this gene was tagged with a green fluorescent marker. After a couple of days growing in the lab, the fluorescence began in some cells, showing they were expressing Oct-4.

This fluorescence became even brighter and more widespread as time went on, until day seven when two thirds of the cells were glowing green, showing a stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency in the cells, christening the cells, “STAP” cells.

To be absolutely certain that the cells used were fully matured and not pluripotent, T-cells were used. T-cells are white blood cells and when they mature, their genes rearrange themselves and so their maturity was certain and definite.

Successful transformation of mature cells to pluripotent ones was not just limited to cells from young mice.

When the technique was applied to cells from older mice, a green glow could be seen in the growing cells, although not as bright as the glow from cells of newborn mice. However imperfect, this opens up the possibility of using this approach to transform fully developed cells into STAP cells.

Growing the STAP cells under certain conditions in lab dishes allowed the cells to grow into foetal tissues. Under other conditions, STAP cells were able to become

Breaking the pain barrier Scientific evidence has arisen to explain why some people are such babies when it comes to pain, writes Michael O’Sullivan

Have you ever been told to temperature at which they removed stop being a baby after losing half their hand out from the laser’s path. your leg in a horrific see-saw related What they discovered was that incident on the playground? Well, DNA methylation on the promoter it seems that the scoffing attitude “switch” for the TRPA1 gene caused of your evil and dastardly peers to people to feel pain at roughly 2oC your tears of anguish has finally lower than those of their twin. been proven as cruel and heartless TRPA1 controls the expression as you have always deemed it. of ion channels on cell surfaces Recent research carried out at that detect and react to pain and King’s College London has shown it appears that the methylation of that different people actually have the DNA that leads to this genes different tolerance levels to pain. expression somehow caused the The cause? Epigenetics. So, take gene to be less tolerant to stress. those childhood bullies. Sissiness is To test if this was indeed the cause entirely out of our control, so you had of lower pain tolerance, the team no right to tell us we were less than then tested a group of unrelated human when we were crying over individuals and then checked their the positively gigantic stab wound DNA for methylation at the TRPA1 left in our hand by those thistles. promoter sequence. What they found For the uninitiated, epigenetics is was that the methylation of this the study of differences that occur in promoter not only causes differour DNA caused by environmental ences in twins’ pain threshold, but factors throughout our lifespan. actually affects the pain tolerance This usually comes in the form of the general population too. of DNA methylation, which is the No significant difference was addition of small chemical groups found between men and women, to certain parts of the DNA. however, so those of you looking What epigenetics essentially to end that debate once and for all means is that no two peoples DNA will have to wait. Still, this is a will ever be exactly the same on significant study in other respects. the basic chemical level. This is Not only in the fact that is has almost impossible to test for, as the finally given all of us an excuse for added groups do very little to alter our babyish behaviour, but also in the the overall chemistry of people’s doors it opens. With this discovery DNA, they do express themselves, into the method of control of the however, by varying the expreshuman pain threshold, it could lead sion of certain gene activators. to possible treatments in the future.

Essentially, these slight chemical What if we could elevate a person’s changes cause certain genes to be pain threshold to the level that we expressed slower or faster dependcould immediately give them relief ing on the degree of methylation from incredibly traumatising and to that person’s DNA. Because painful injuries, simply by raising this process is largely random their ability to cope with the pain and determined by environmental without becoming distressed? factors, it means that everyone is There is also, as with every slightly and identifiably different. discovery in modern science, the The researchers involved in possibility for exploitation. It’s not too the study used identical twins; much of a stretch to believe that one whose basic DNA structure is day some crazed, maniacal dictator almost exactly the same. They then could have a group of people grown exposed them to a standard pain in test tubes and genetically modified test, by shining an intense laser to have a huge tolerance for pain. on their skin and measuring the Instantaneously, an army could

12 february 4th 2014

For the uninitiated, epigenetics is the study of differences that occur in our DNA caused by environmental factors throughout our lifespan. This usually comes in the form of DNA methylation, which is the addition of small chemical groups to certain parts of the DNA

arise with an unnatural ability to take a beating and keep on going until they are no longer physically capable of anything. As far-fetched an idea as it sounds, science is progressing at such an incredible rate that it’s entirely possible that science fiction will become science fact fast enough to have completely changed the way the world works within our lifetime.

So, the next time you come across someone who simply can’t deal with their shinbone poking directly out of the front of their leg and screaming in pain, you can have some comforting words for them.

In a few decades time, they could be genetically engineered to be able to tolerate moving on such an injury and continuing their dream of becoming Olympic sprint champions despite the fact they are hobbling like the marauding pirate their inner child always wanted to be. A success story if ever there was one.

placenta precursor cells. Another batch of STAP cells was injected into mouse embryos where they were expected to incorporate themselves into the developing tissue.

This they did, but they also integrated themselves into the placenta, forming parts of the placenta. No other stem cell has ever achieved this, and all of these accomplishments suggest that STAP cells may be totipotent, meaning they may have the ability to form a complete organism.

If STAP cells are totipotent, they could be used in fertility treatments.

The cells could be implanted into the uterus where they could form the placenta as well as developing into a foetus. But with the possibilities of taking adult cells and transforming those fully developed cells into STAP cells, the issue of cloning arises. Cells taken from an adult and transformed into STAP cells still have the exact same genome as the adult from which they were taken; so implanting such a cell would be cloning.

The future possibilities for STAP cells are endless. If the cells prove to be as successful as these experiments have demonstrated, they could completely replace all other methods of obtaining stem cells. The STAP cells could be used to create model organs for researching diseases or they could be used to grow organs for transplant patients from the patient’s own cells, completely eliminating any issues of blood or tissue compatibility.

They could also be used to grow transgenic animals or to study cellular process or embryonic development. In short, the uses for these cells are endless, and they could bring about an entirely new era of stem cell research without the controversy.

science

Psycollegey —Eating disorders

within arm’s reach With recent advancements in prosthetic technology, Michael O’Sullivan tells us that the Terminator may not be such a distant vision at all

Not only did the arm respond to the mental commands of its wearer, Dennis Aabo Sørensen, a victim of a firework related accident; it also allowed him to identify exactly what was grasped in the bionic hand by giving him the ability to feel through it

Given the sheer complexity of the human nervous system, it’s no surprise that it is only recently that we began to fully understand how the nerves in our body connect and send signals to each other. Before we could ever move onto the sci-fi movie trope of semi-sentient metal limbs performing complex actions on mental commands, we first needed to understand the basic mechanism behind our body’s movements.

This intensive and exhausting research has just recently led to some amazing advances. Just recently it came to light that a European team of scientists had created a bionic arm that fully connected to the nerves in a patient’s arm. Not only did the arm respond to the mental commands of its wearer, Dennis Aabo Sørensen, a victim of a firework related accident; it also allowed him to identify exactly what was grasped in the bionic hand by giving him the ability to feel through it.

A collection of electrodes attached

As one of the most complex and misunderstood problems of modern society, Louise Dolphin investigates eating disorders

Much publicised in the news last week was the results of a study in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal, which found the average age of admission for children with anorexia to Temple Street Children’s Hospital had dropped to 13.5 years

to the nerve endings on what remained of Mr Sørensen’s arm generated electrical pulses every time his prosthetic hand made contact with an object. This allowed him, while blindfolded, to tell the difference between various objects, including a bottle and a cotton ball.

Not only that, but it provided him with enough sensory information to be able to tell the difference between an orange and a baseball.

Many prosthetics until now have allowed people to differentiate general shapes, but never have they provided the accuracy to differentiate surface texture.

Though Sørensen was the only person trialed on this particular prosthesis, it stands to reason that it would work similarly with anyone who was to wear it. The news has been rife with stories of improved prostheses of late. Last year, a paraplegic woman was able to feed herself using an arm she controlled by thought, a feat that wouldn’t have

been out of place in science fiction just over a decade previously.

What all of this shows is not just the improvements human technology has made of late, but also the advances made in neuroscience and physiology. To control a prosthetic limb directly by thought takes an incredible understanding of the human nervous system.

For example, there are different signals for each tendon and muscle in a human arm, and a large portion of these signals had to be identified, studied, replicated in the lab and then converted to the language of computer code and complicated robotics.

Each and every single step in this process can take years of research.

People across the globe have gained doctorates for simply identifying minute parts of each of these steps.

What this recent research shows is an advancement of human knowledge as a whole, as we have learned to take several disciplines of science that aren’t necessarily related

and combine them to produce something that can exponentially increase the quality of life of many of the world’s population.

This technology is still in the testing phases, however, it will be some time before we have cheap and widely used prosthetics that can substitute for the real thing. It does open up other areas of ethical discussion though.

For example, if we were to produce a limb that could function better than a human limb in some way, by being stronger or perhaps providing a gymnast’s flexibility to an average person, what could be done to stop people lopping off their own appendages in order to replace them with mechanical creations that perform better than anything a human could achieve on their own?

Think about that when you’re being arrested by Robocop in 50 years and marvel how far humanity has come in your lifetime.

The final flight of the Flappy Bird As Flappy Bird is pulled from all online app stores, Ellen Murray examines its impact on mobile gaming

Online commentators gave Flappy Bird scathing reviews, with one App Store commenter writing that the game was “life ruiningly addictive” before quickly coming to the conclusion that “Flappy Bird is Satan”

Ever since its release in May 2013,] Flappy Bird has delighted and infuriated its millions of users with its immensely difficult gameplay yet deceptively simplistic 2D graphics.

Created by Vietnam-based game developer, Dong Nguyen, Flappy Bird rose from relative obscurity to having over 50 million downloads within the space of ten months, making it the most popular free download mobile game on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store.

Hardcore gamers and casual players alike found the challenge of Flappy Bird irresistible. The

aim of the game was to guide a bird through the gaps of various pipes that came in its way by tapping the screen to make the bird’s wings flap upwards. The more you tapped, the higher the bird would go. Touching one of the pipes meant instant death and it happened… a lot.

In fact, the gameplay proved so difficult that many began to question if Nguyen’s intention all along was to make a game that was impossible to complete. Or at least, complete without murdering anyone out of frustration.

Online commentators gave Flappy Bird scathing reviews, with

one App Store commenter writing that the game was “life ruiningly addictive” before quickly coming to the conclusion that “Flappy Bird is Satan.” The game also drew criticism for its visual design, with many claiming the game was shamelessly ripping off Mario Bros.

Despite this angry feedback, or perhaps because of it, Flappy Bird still succeeded in earning up to $50,000 a day in advertising at the height of its popularity.

Considering the notoriety and financial success the game brought to its creator, the world was shocked to hear Nguyen’s announcement

on February 8th that the game was to be removed indefinitely from all online app stores.

“I cannot take this anymore,” he explained on his personal Twitter account, suggesting that the intense public attention his game had received had proved to be too much of a burden. Within hours of the game being removed online, iPhones with the game still downloaded were selling on Ebay for up to $80,500. It seems that if Flappy Bird has taught us anything, it’s that we are gluttons for punishment.

Next week marks the 2014 Eating Disorder Awareness Week, with activities and events planned to increase understanding of eating disorders.

In Ireland, the Department of Health estimates that up to 200,000 people are affected by eating disorders. However, this statistic is dated and many Irish health professionals believe the number may be a great deal higher.

Much publicised in the news last week was the results of a study in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal, which found the average age of admission for children with anorexia to Temple Street Children’s Hospital had dropped to 13.5 years. Looking to admissions in other care facilities, HRB data from 2008 on child and adolescent psychiatric admissions in Ireland showed that eating disorders represented the second highest level of diagnosis at 18%.

Eating disorders are serious and complex mental health conditions with the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders. Despite this, they are frequently misunderstood, and there are many misconceptions about what an eating disorder is.

The main categories of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia is characterised by a refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height.

Intense fear of gaining weight and disturbance in how body shape is experienced are also features.

Bulimia is characterised by repeated episodes of binge eating followed by behaviour aimed at compensating for this (e.g. fasting, self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercising).

Most people are aware of anorexia and bulimia. Fewer know that binge eating disorder is also diagnostically classified as an eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is characterised by periods of binge eating or overeating (at least once a week for three months) without compensatory behaviours, although phases of dieting are common.

A major misconception is that only young, westernised women are affected by eating disorders. Firstly, an eating disorder is by no means a gendered disorder. A nationally representative Harvard study published in 2007 estimated that 25% of bulimia and anorexia cases in the US are male, alongside almost 40% of binge eating disorder cases.

The consequence of eating disorders being tagged as a “woman’s disorder” can be twofold, in that the stigma this brings can be an obstacle for a male acknowledging that they are experiencing an eating disorder both to themselves, and to others. In addition, men with eating disorders could fail to be diagnosed, have a delayed diagnosis, or receive a misdiagnosis (e.g. suffering depression with associated appetite changes).

Secondly, eating disorders are not something that only young people experience. While some cases of eating disorders in older populations had an initial onset in adolescence, a 2001 study found that eating disorders can also have an initial onset after the age of 40.

Finally, eating disorders are not unique to western culture. A 2001 study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders compared a group of female Iranian students living in Tehran to students of Iranian descent living in Los Angeles. There was no difference in disordered eating between groups. The researchers concluded that exposure to western media and acculturation to western norms does not necessarily predict the development of an eating disorder.

However, evidence does suggest that increased body dissatisfaction is linked to the unhealthy portrayal of the female body in the media.

Research shows that even three minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine can cause up to 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty, and shameful.

Just last year, MEP Nessa Childers called for mandatory labelling of airbrushed photographs in magazines for young people.

Undoubtedly, being constantly bombarded with photoshopped and digitally manipulated images of beautiful people doesn’t do much to serve our self-esteem, but preoccupation with media blaming can allow us to overlook that many other factors contribute to the actual development of an eating disorder.

An eating disorder develops from a combination of factors (biological, socio-cultural, familial and psychological) that are particular to each individual. Certain people can pinpoint a time or event after which the behaviours began, but others cannot.

Arguably, more pressing than the question “why did it start?” is the question “why does it continue?” What function do these seemingly self-destructive behaviours play in a person’s life?

The crucial thing to understand about eating disorders is that controlling food or engaging in disordered eating behaviours (skipping meals, repeated dieting, restricting food intake, vomiting, bingeing, over exercising) provides the person with a sense that they can cope with something they are experiencing as overwhelming or distressing. For a variety of complex reasons, the eating disorder helps the person to feel safe and secure.

It is the ethos of Bodywhys (The Eating Disorder Association of Ireland) that eating disorders should be seen as a way of coping with emotional distress, and as a symptom of underlying issues. Therefore eating disorders are not primarily about food and weight.

According to Jacinta Hastings, CEO of Bodywhys, “Nobody just wakes up one day with an eating disorder. These are conditions that develop over time, sometimes over years and often at a point when life changes bring fear and insecurity.”

Understanding that an eating disorder is a person’s coping mechanism helps those around the person to realise how frightening and difficult it is for the person to let it go as they recover.

That leads to the final and most important point. People with eating disorders can, and do, recover. It is a gradual process and recovery has a very individual meaning for each person.

Like recovery from many illnesses, it is a learning process involving steps forward and steps backward. Alongside appropriate treatment, sensitivity, compassion, respect, and patience, are needed from family and friends if a person is to be successfully encouraged and supported on their journey towards recovery.

For more information on eating disorders, support services, and treatment options, visit www.bodywhys.ie february 4th 2014 13

opinion LGBT* Outreach—‘There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy’ Society’s view of gender as binary concept is harmful to those who don’t conform to a “normal” gender, writes LGBT Outreach contributor, Onna

As we are all probably aware, there has been a recent ‘Pantigate’ scandal that has been doing the rounds in the media. I must admit I have found it very entertaining to watch and I have been proud to see folk like Rory O’Neill standing up against bigotry.

The general public seems to be more in favour of marriage equality and gay rights than ever before, but when people think of the LGBTIA community, they primarily think of the L & G, that is gay and lesbian folks. B (bisexual), T (transgender), I (intersex) and A (asexual) identifying people rarely get a mention, if in fact they are mentioned at all.

These other groups often suffer homophobia just like the L & G folks, but they also face discrimination from inside the LGBTQIA community. The intersex community can often be roped in with the trans* community, although they are generally quite different, so the discrimination faced can often be a lot worse.

Personally, I guess I identify with the BIT at the end: bisexual, trans & intersex. I’ll explain the latter further down. I often feel like the BIT that doesn’t really belong.

I do think people like to think of everything as black & white, 1 or 0, as it’s easier to understand. In fact this just isn’t true, because nature is stranger than we can imagine.

Most people now have come to view sexuality as a spectrum with all of us somewhere on that spectrum. Most don’t realise that gender can be a spectrum too, and almost nobody knows that biology is also a spectrum, and that last part is something that most people particularly don’t understand. As an intersex friend said to me, we are like unicorns amongst the horses.

I had some birth defects when I was born. At first, my mother was told I was a girl, and then she was told I was a boy. I looked

more like a boy, so they decided to go with that, although I never agreed. Some surgeries later, ‘Hey presto, normal child!’ (sarcasm).

I later found out that I do have sort of DSD (Disorder of Sexual Development) or intersex condition, which I’m still trying to find answers to; best guess so far is I have some form of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or AIS. The reason I am talking about this is simple. There are a lot of people out there who have experienced what I have experienced and worse.

About 2% of the population or more is intersex. Most may simply not know they are intersex and maybe will never know. And most intersex folk are not trans* or gay, but of course some can be.

The old word for intersex was hermaphrodite, which gives the wrong impression and makes it too simple; it gets people back their box. Intersex can be quite varied, (physical variations, karyotype, etc.), but pretty much what it boils down to is that as we all start off as being female in the womb (well, kind of), we develop into male or female corresponding to our genes and our exposure to androgens, but some of us just get stuck somewhere.

The three major forms of intersex conditions are AIS, CAH and Kleinfelters. AIS stands for Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. It can be somewhere between mild and complete. Most people with complete AIS or CAIS are viewed as normal women, however, have internal testes, and no ovaries or uterus. They usually identify as women, while other forms of AIS create a mix of genitalia with male and female features.

CAH stands for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. This is when the child in vivo is exposed to too many androgens (male sex hormones).

Often surgery is carried out on girls to make them look “normal”, but they may not actually identify as girls.

Klinfelters (47xxy) are usually raised as males but may not identify as male. This person has an extra chromosome and will have a mixture of male and female secondary characteristics (e.g. large hips, breasts, and little body hair).

There are many, many other types, including ovo testes (true hermaphrodite), mosaicism (a mixture of different cell lines, xy, xx, xo etc). Of course, this all simplified and I am still learning.

Society generally is not okay with intersex children and has demanded that intersex kids be either one gender or the other.

Society has even provided surgeries to make them look “normal”, to make them look like a gender they may not want to be.

Incredibly, this still happens every day across the world and it’s quite frankly criminal. People are slowly starting to become more aware of it, but it’s one of the greatest human rights abuses of all time.

So, this is something that has been bugging me a lot lately. For me, as a trans person, it’s darkly amusing, because when I hear people constantly playing ‘Guess My Gender’ (as they usually have nothing better to do), they seem to think they know what I am.

The thing is, I don’t even know.

But, like other intersex folks I’ve talked to have said, it makes no difference what your body looks like. You know who you are.

Going back to homophobia, it’s not just about gays and lesbians.

Homophobia also affects the others on the LGBTIA spectrum, including people who often may not be gay but are perceived to be because they look different.

I am very proud of Rory O’Neill and Senator David Norris for standing up to tyrants and bigots, but I hope we won’t all forget that there are other minorities who are affected by all of this.

Society generally is not okay with intersex children and has demanded that intersex kids be either one gender or the other. Society has even provided surgeries to make them look “normal”, to make them look like a gender they may not want to be

How to be cool with Conor O’Toole The Art, Design & Technology Director has a hard onanism day and everyone feels sorry for him

Not only is it good for one’s reputation to be an environmentalist, but it will also give your good memory a little longer to potentially exist. That is, of course, assuming the end of humanity is our fault. I mean, we’d all like to think that when we go it’ll be when we decide it’s time, and not in some random accident involving a meteor or aliens.

No, when we die out, it should be a symbol of all we were. Possibly, it will be due to a dumb error made by an intern on his first day at the fusion plant. He forgets to close a hatch and dies while eating egg mayonnaise. Or perhaps a collective decision would be best. Maybe finally the world will agree on one thing; that it should put itself down. We could release opiates into the air and go out on a high.

But hopefully that won’t be for many, many years. In the meantime, I have developed some strategies to reduce my carbon footprint.

Step number one; cease intake of carbonated beverages. That’s right, from now on I will only be drinking flat 7up. Conveniently, this will also make me impervious to all disease.

There was a guy in my ‘hood, the ‘hood of Greenhills, who got shot while he had a bottle of 7up in his pocket. It didn’t stop the bullet, and alas it was still fizzy, but he was able to replace the blood with the 7up and stay alive until he got to a pot and boiled off the bubbles. Then he was fine and now he’s a paediatrician.

I’m slightly paranoid that recycling is a scam. Using the green bin is cheaper, and makes my tummy feel happy, but the maths of it just doesn’t 14 february 4th 2014

add up for me. I spend a few minutes cleaning out milk cartons and chuck them in with a bunch of tins and plastic and all sorts of stuff, and then somehow they re-distribute my rubbish at the factory?

Are there blokes, papercut to the nines, going through the recycling with magnets to remove the tins and then some kind of magnet for yoghurt pots and then a sieve to get rid of all the actual waste the people try and scobe into the green bin instead of the black?

I mean, that’s fine for my limited amount of cartons, but what about the other two million people who live in Ireland? How do they find the time to process all that rubbish?

Seriously, what are they doing with all the recycling? They only need like ten tin cans to make those carnival stalls, and there are only like two carnivals in the country.

That’s less than thirty cans gone!

I reckon there’s a case to be made that somewhere out there, someone is building a super-structure or fight-robot made of ready-meal cartons, beer cans and corrugated cardboard. What the hell else could all that stuff possibly be used for? In order to protect against this sort of robot attack, I suggest that everyone attach springs to the bottom of their green bins.

I don’t even recycle all the things I could. I keep my plastic soup containers, for some reason.

I’ve got so many in the house now that I could probably set up my own soup business. Or, I could bootleg soup, put it in the Cully & Sully containers and sell them to Tesco. Stupid Tesco jerks. Tesco

On a Windows computer if you delete a file, it goes into the recycling bin.

Wow, thanks Windows. I’m so glad those Guns n’ Roses MP3s aren’t going to end up in landfill is the worst shop you guys, don’t shop there! You might even end up buying chopped carrots floating in flat 7up masquerading as soup.

I think it’s funny when companies try to make themselves seem more environmentally friendly than they are. On a Windows computer if you delete a file, it goes into the recycling bin. Wow, thanks Windows. I’m so glad those Guns n’ Roses MP3s aren’t going to end up in landfill. Like all my Guns n’ Roses CDs did.

Microsoft is so conscious of the environment they’re going to take that file, send it to Africa, and recycle it into a WAV of some drum music. In fact, I think that’s called upcycling.

So please, please recycle your things! Or don’t. I’m not sure which is morally correct. It’s probably the former, but if you know better let me know. My Twitter username is @ConorOToole, send me a message.

You can also commend me on not making a joke about reducing my carbon footprint by wearing smaller shoes. Oh shit, I did it accidentally! Balls balls balls!

Editorial

Editorial

At the most recent UCDSU Council, the SU announced their plans for the upcoming executive elections. Nominations are expected to open next week, while voting is due to take place on April Fools’ Day and the day after.

This process is a crucial part of any year for the SU, but it feels particularly significant this year.

SU President, Mícheál Gallagher, has made a conscious effort to encourage as many people as possible to run for every position. These elections will give an indication of the success or failure of the Women for Election campaign.

An increase in the amount of options at election can only benefit UCD students. Last year, there was only one true contest; the battle for Welfare. In fact, one of the full-time executive positions, that of Post-

Graduate Education Officer, was forced to re-open nominations after no one put their name forward for it.

In the end, Dylan Gray was elected with a pathetic 42 votes, which represented 68% of all the votes cast.

If there is a similarly poor turnout this year, will the SU consider scrapping the position after just two years? It would certainly be embarrassing for not just the SU, but the students of UCD. It’s all well and good to complain about the SU, but it all feels a bit false if you don’t go out and try to fix any of it.

Gallagher, to his credit, appears to be making progress in his attempts to have every election contested. This desire extends beyond just the executive level, all the way down to the convenors and those on the Campaigns Forum.

A suggestion, however, which

was shot down at a previous meeting of SU Council was to restrict canvassing locations.

Contested elections will make the SU, and Gallagher in particular, look good, but they are pointless if the current system prevails.

At the moment, elections are less about the policies and more about which candidate’s friends can harass the most people into voting for them.

Having been part of a campaign previously, I have seen it firsthand.

People are sometimes literally dragged to the polling station by a canvasser, while a wall of people on the same election team block off the opposition from getting a word in.

Besides being incredibly annoying for students who often don’t care about the outcome of the election, it is an incredibly childish way of acting.

Why not restrict canvassing spots

to only being outside of buildings?

Or how about banning people from harassing people altogether?

Instead of a sea of canvassers, you could allow only the candidates to canvass for themselves on election days. Sure, you’d get a lower turnout, but you’d get a more honest reflection of what people want.

At the moment, voter turnout numbers are skewed by the fact that many people vote simply to get one of the magic ‘I have voted’ stickers so that canvassers will leave them alone. Many students cast their ballots without having any idea what policies they are voting for.

By making voting into a relatively pro-active endeavour, you will get a much better representation of what people want. Surely we can all agree that a more representative SU is a good thing?

This would also open the door to people from outside of the SU to run.

At the moment, there is a common belief that in order to win an SU election, you have to do it from the inside. Instead of campaigns based around targeting specific polling stations at specific times, you can have campaigns that are actually based on the formation of ideas that could improve the SU. By removing the current reliance on last-second canvassing, you would increase the focus on the ideas of the candidates.

For as much sense as (I think) all of this makes, it’s doubtful it will happen. For many in the SU, the harassing of apathetic or confused students is just part of the fun of an election. Considering a paid, full-time job representing the students of Ireland’s largest university is at stake, they should

probably just grow up and leave the childish popularity contest behind.

In fact, with the advent of social media, there are fewer reasons than ever before for last-second canvassing.

If people want to know about your policies, they should be readily available on your campaign page; a page that voters can read at their own leisure. Yes it is much easier to ignore an invite to like a Facebook page than it is to avoid an actual human being desperately trying to make eye contact with you, but maybe that’s a good thing.

Let people change their profile pictures to include as many Twibbons as they like. Let the candidates lecture address and share their ideas. Encourage people to come to Hustings and ask questions. The only thing that would changes is that people would actually be voting for people they want to vote for.

the university observer

talleyrand

Editor Kevin Beirne Deputy Editor Killian Woods

Ahoy cunk stains,

Big Brother, but without being in any way entertaining to watch and Shock and awe spilled all over featuring far more awkward sex.

Hellfield this week as the incredible One can only imagine how story of athletes getting preferential Bressie will deal with living with treatment broke, surprising no one in her opposite, Satan himself, who particular. It appears one can receive word has it has also been accepted an additional 60 CAO points for being into the programme. I’m on his a fat bastard who can break legs in newsletter, if you must know. rugby, 40 points for being able to Talleyrand imagines it’ll be less run a lap of UCD without vomiting bizarre than Herr Gallagher’s on your own shoes and 10 points for house, in which a sweet, sincere catching a ball in one hand. This young man, who fully supports the may seem unfair, but it will prevent Northern Ireland Peace Process, UCD from getting a reputation as a lives with the UCDSU despot. university full of nerds, dorks, and From reading his post, Talleyrand people who can spell ‘University’. has started to get to know the Leading the dork parade is UCDSU zany life of President Deeks.

President Michael Gallagher and He’s a man who loves a magazine former UCDSU Bresident Rachel subscription, I’ll tell you that much Breslin who have been accepted for nothing. Whether it’s Science into an American project called Now!, Cool Surfer Quarterly, or the Washington Programme, in Modern Magazine Reader Magazine, which participants are forced to live Deeks is in to it, just like you! with persons with whom they have In his outgoing mail, Talleyrand also conflicting beliefs. Somewhat like found some communique he has had

with the staff of the UCD Restaurant.

“Top class stuff!” says Deeks. “Really nice cutlery too!” It seems all is well in the life of President Deeks.

Unfortunately, the STFU Elections are coming up, and while it’ll be nice to see the back of the current ‘krew’, it’ll be nigh-on-unbearable to have to watch these new UCDSUFactor hopefuls step up, with their colourful faces and impossible ideas.

If you’re thinking of running for election, don’t. You’d be shit at it, and you’ll have no time all year to indulge your first love, reading the back pages of student newspapers.

Think about how much you’d miss that. You massive loser.

Also don’t enter the Jailbreak, you’re not going to make it to New Zealand, and you’ll have to pay for your own flights back from Heathrow when you get stranded there and no English people will help you. The only way Talleyrand will be impressed by a

letters to the editor Send your letters to editor@universityobserver.ie

Jailbreak is if you get yourself incarcerated in Kilmainham before the start of the contest.

Apparently, the UCD Student Centre has become sentient. It has a Twitter account, which it used this week to complain to an Irish Times journalist about something he wrote about it.

Talleyrand would have thought that deconstructivist architecture would be used to criticism by now, but apparently not.

The building types in all lowercase, if you’re curious.

Talleyrand would also like to add a couple of criticisms himself while he has the floor; the students are ugly, the bathrooms smell, the food is ugly and smells, and revolving door doesn’t operate unless you are a human, so this columnist has to wait around until some society hack comes along to get in if it’s past five o’clock.

Sort it out, y’ugly building.

Art, Design & Technology Director Conor O’Toole Comment Editor Elizabeth O’Malley Features Editor Nicole Casey Science, Health & Technology Editor Michael O’Sullivan Sports Editor Shane Hannon Chief Sports Writer Amy Eustace Otwo Co-Editors Steven Balbirnie Jack Walsh Games Editor Niall Gosker Film & TV Editor Laura Bell Music Editor Rebekah Rennick Fashion Editor Emily Mullen Chief Otwo Writer Emily Longworth

Dear Sir, You report that the president of UCDSU would like the union to “move in a direction that sees it constantly adopting international cutting edge examples of best practice.” His jargon is certainly up to speed, though he left out “intelligence-led” and “evidencebased”. He also forgot to say whether the survey they are allegedly conducting will allow for student freedom to choose whether to join the Union or not, or what union to join. Why should they have a monopoly, and a Stalinist, closed-shop one at that?

If the Students’ Union were like other unions and like societies, it would be a lot more “cutting-edge”. It would have to compete for members and make sure it served their interests.

Yours, etc.

Mike Norris 2nd Year Arts

Staff Writers Cian Carton Conor de Paor Louise Dolphin Eva Griffin Sean Hayes Dónal Ó Catháin Kate Purcell Karl Quigley Laura Woulfe

Chief Stylist Christin McWeeney Thanks Alex, Sorcha and everyone at the L&H. Orla Gartland. Foil, Arms and Hog. Orla and Rory at MCD. Eugene, Maeve and Stephen at Smurfit Kappa. All the Student Centre staff. Alison. SAUCEFEB.

Contributors Anna Carnegie Andrew Carolan Sinead Conroy Siobhan Copeland Pat de Brún Megan Fanning Aoife Hardesty Ciara Leacy Donal Lucey Emmet Lyons Orla McEvoy Anna McGlynn-White Eleanor McLaughlin Emily McMorrow Rachel Meagher Ian Mulholland Ruth Murphy Ellen Murray Róisín Murray Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin Esther Shan Lin Hor Cian O’Neill Alanna O’Shea Colman Stanley Lucy Ryan Illustrations Rory Mullen Emily Longworth Michael Vance Photographers James Brady Erica Coburn James Healy Rory Mullen Joanna O’Malley

Special Thanks Michael. Aoife.

february 4th 2014 15

sport

16 february 4th 2014

sport

Amy Given Tuesday

In her latest column, Amy Eustace decides that the Sochi Winter Olympics haven’t been half bad so far

The cursed favourites The favourites tag can weigh heavily on the shoulders of some, says Donal Lucey as he looks over three specific incidents where the burden was too much for the front-runners to handle A sporting capitulation occurs when a team or competitor surrenders what seemed to most to be an unassailable lead. It is usually brought on by pressure and in particular, the pressures arising from being labeled with being the favourite.

Before every big game or contest in any sport, the bookies and fans alike speculate on who the favourites are. This is an aspect of sport that will never go away. Very often this favourites tag leads to more pressure being placed on that team, which can lead to surprising results on the day.

A prime example came a few weeks ago in this year’s Super Bowl.

Denver Broncos went into the game as most people’s favourites. Not only did they go in with the league’s number one offence, but they also had Peyton Manning at quarterback.

Manning came into the game having earned a record-setting fifth NFL MVP award on the back of the best statistical year by a quarterback in the history of the NFL. So the Super Bowl would come down to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time that had just completed one of the greatest seasons of all time throwing the ball against the numberone ranked defense in the NFL. Most pundits predicted that Seattle would be able to run and pass the ball some, but not enough to keep up with Peyton Manning if he put up big numbers. It was surely destined to be the game that old man Manning finally got the win and second ring that would define his legacy.

All the media scrutiny was on one team and one player. So how did being designated as favourites work out for Denver? The Seattle Seahawks produced one of the most dominant Super Bowl performances ever seen as they battered the Broncos 43-8 to win their first Vince Lombardi trophy.

From 12 seconds in, it was all one-way traffic and Peyton Manning was reduced to being

a passenger for the majority of the game. The favourites looked nervous throughout and, in truth, got bullied by the sheer physicality of their opposition. Whether it will be remembered as the capitulation of Manning’s Broncos or an astonishing performance from a hungrier, younger team remains to be seen.

A capitulation that permanently exists on different scale to that measuring the downfall of the Broncos is that of Rory McIlroy at the 2011 US Masters. On the morning of Sunday, April 10th, 2011; third round leader Rory McIlroy had been installed as the 8/11 favourite to win the US Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National, Georgia. Many looked forward to the final round being the anointing of a new young king; the next Tiger Woods perhaps.

Instead we witnessed a meltdown that was almost too painful to watch.

His overnight lead had disappeared after only two holes as he bogeyed the first and the second, but the real carnage wouldn’t begin until he turned the corner for the back nine.

Somehow McIlroy was still leading as he stepped onto the 10th tee and was still tipped to recover and hold on for the win. But with one agonising swing of the club this all changed.

Hooking his drive into the pines, he took a wood for his next shot and went wildly left once more. His attempted pitch caught the limb of an overhanging tree and, suddenly, it was all he could do to chip and putt for a triple-bogey seven.

He looked like bouncing back on the 12th, as he pinged a crisp nine iron onto the par three green, but then took four putts to find the hole. The image that stands out for many is on the 13th, when after hooking yet another tee shot, he leant on his club and looked on the verge of tears. His close friend Graeme McDowell summed up how most people watching felt when he tweeted, “Thinking about switching

my TV off. This just got ugly.”

The 2011 Masters will always be remembered for McIlroy’s meltdown and not for Charl Schwartzel’s stunning finish, which is really testament to how fancied a favourite Rory was.

In football, one must go back to 1996 to what was possibly the most epic Premiership title race of all time. You could talk about occasions like Liverpool in 2005 or United in 1999, but they were once off games and this was a capitulation on a far greater scale with arguably longer lasting consequences.

In January 1996, Newcastle United defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at St James’ Park to move 12 points clear at the top. It seemed like a lead that would be beyond even Sir Alex Ferguson and his band of superstars. There had never been so much attention and expectation surrounding a team. The Sky Sports experience was still new and people were really getting behind Newcastle’s exciting style of play.

It is hard to know where it all went wrong. Some people put it down to Ferguson’s mind games. They transformed Kevin Keegan from a confident motivator to the man we saw in the infamous “I would love it” rant following the Leeds United game.

Some quarters point to the January signing of Faustino Asprilla as the catalyst for their demise. Signing the Colombian meant Beardsley was pushed out to the right and Ferdinand, who had scored 21 goals in 24 games, found the net just four times in the decisive final 13 games. Perhaps the real reason is that Manchester United won 13 of their 15 remaining games.

It is clear that some individuals and teams carry the favourites tag easier than others. Whether it really does add pressure is too hard to know, but one thing’s for sure, being the favourite doesn’t always mean you’ll be the victor.

The image that stands out for many is on the 13th, when after hooking yet another tee shot, [Rory McIlroy] leant on his club and looked on the verge of tears.

His close friend Graeme McDowell summed up how most people watching felt when he tweeted, “Thinking about switching my TV off. This just got ugly”

Olympic games, summer or winter, ought to be about the athletes. In the build up to Sochi, the attention was so rarely on those competing and too often on the other pressing matters.

Important and worthwhile issues have come under fierce media scrutiny. Subjects as diverse as LGBT rights, corruption and animal welfare have sprung into the spotlight, and rightly so. With the competition now underway, the spotlight has switched to the business of medals.

It may seem fickle that the world at large has toned down its protestations in favour of enjoying the spectacle. The blowback has not been as strong or as loud as expected, but the resistance to Russia’s anti-gay laws hasn’t stopped.

It goes on in more subtle ways.

The US delegation includes openly gay former Olympians Bille Jean-King, Caitlin Cahow and Brian Boitano. Out lesbian snowboarder Cheryl Maas thrust a rainbowbedecked glove at a camera after her run. Meanwhile, gay dating app Grindr has reported a tripling of activity in the Sochi area.

Of the seven openly gay competitors at Sochi, the first to win a medal was Ireen Wust, a Dutch speed skater, who won gold in the 3,000m event. She earned herself a hug from LGBT public enemy number one, Vladimir Putin. “He congratulated me and asked if everything was okay in Russia and I congratulated him on Olga Graf (Russian speed skater), of course, for her third place,” said Wust.

“He was happy to see me, but then he had to leave again. But I cuddled him.” Wust later added a silver medal to her tally, making her the most successful Dutch athlete in Sochi.

The games have gone largely without major incident. Figure skating, ever prone to dramatics, has suffered allegations of fixing.

L’Équipe, a French sports newspaper, suggested that the US and Russia were trading votes in the teams, pairs and ice dance competitions.

Russia won the team event and are hotly tipped to win the pairs. If the allegations are true, it calls into question any of Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s achievements at the games. Both countries vehemently deny the claims, but their closest competitors, Canada’s Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, may have been second guessing themselves entering the competition if their efforts would end up to no avail.

Evgeni Plushenko, the Russian figure skater who led his country to the team victory, pulled out of the singles event due to injury.

Plushenko has had 12 surgeries, recently had screws inserted into his back and pulled up during the warm-up for the short program.

Team Ireland, even more adept at utilising the ‘granny rule’ than Irish soccer, includes athletes based in Utah, Ontario, Vancouver and Birmingham.

Ireland’s best shot at a Winter Olympic medal was snowboarder Seamus O’Connor

Of the seven openly gay competitors at Sochi, the first to win a medal was Ireen Wust, a Dutch speedskater, who won gold in the 3,000m event. She earned herself a hug from LGBT public enemy number one, Vladimir Putin

He subsequently announced his retirement from the sport.

Plushenko’s withdrawal seemed so inevitable that it prompted criticism. Detractors asked why Plushenko hadn’t pulled out of the individual competition in time to let Russia find a replacement as soon as his back began troubling him. Plushenko responded by claiming that he had offered to withdraw but that Russia were unable to replace him.

It’s not the first time a coveted Olympic spot has been wasted at Sochi. Another favourite, US snowboarder Shaun White, pulled out of the slopestyle event citing a fear of injury. White had already broken his wrist in practice. He stated his intention to focus on bringing home his country’s third consecutive gold medal in the half-pipe.

Despite the problems with the track, the next handful of snowboarders in line for White’s spot expressed their annoyance.

15-year old Kyle Mack was one of them. He tweeted, “Love how shaun [sic] drops out of the Olympics. That could have been my spot.” Karma may have played a part in White’s failure to medal in the half-pipe event.

That perceived selfishness hasn’t been the norm in Sochi. American biathlete Lanny Barnes fell ill during Olympic qualification. Her twin sister Tracy won a place, but Tracy gave up her spot so that Lanny could compete. In speed skating, Canada’s Julio Gilmore sacrificed his chance to take part in the 1,000m race. Gilmore was already going to Sochi to compete in the 500m. He gave his place to Denny Morrison, who had suffered an unfortunate fall in trials.

Team Ireland, even more adept at utilising the ‘granny rule’ than Irish soccer, includes athletes based in Utah, Ontario, Vancouver and Birmingham. Ireland’s best shot at a Winter Olympic medal was snowboarder Seamus O’Connor. He reached the semi finals of both the half-pipe and slopestyle events.

Sean Greenwood, Ireland’s representative in the skeleton discipline, finished 21st in his first heat. He was derailed by a crash in the second and a 27th place finish in the third heat on Saturday ended his participation. Meanwhile cross-country skier Jan Rossiter came 82nd in his race, while alpine skiers Conor Lyne and Florence Bell will compete this week.

With the Winter Olympics more than half over, while it pains me to say it, Sochi hasn’t actually been half bad, but that’s down to the athletes, the good will and the natural draw of the Olympic spectacle. Still, it certainly could have been better appointed in a less terrifying country, and that will always be engrained in people’s memories when we look back on Sochi, despite the sport.

february 4th 2014 17

sport Another string in the Bowe With Ireland’s Six Nations campaign off to a flying start, one Ulsterman is chomping at the bit to be back involved. Tommy Bowe talks injuries, shoes, and lining out for the Lions with Shane Hannon

I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a winning Six Nations Irish team and I’ve won the league a couple of times, but the Heineken Cup, to be part of a winning team that you train with day in day out and to have seen Munster and Leinster do it so many times, I’d love to get to that stage

Tommy Bowe made his senior rugby debut for Ireland in the 55-6 trouncing of USA at Lansdowne Road in the 2004 Autumn Internationals.

The then 20-year-old Bowe even scored a second-half try, and although that try and game have now likely faded from the memory of even the most ardent Ireland fan, it signalled the start of a flourishing career for the first Monaghan man to play rugby for his country in over 80 years.

Bowe played underage rugby with Monaghan RFC, but with the Farney County not exactly recognised as a rugby stronghold, he went to school in Armagh where he played with the renowned Royal School.

To describe Bowe’s rise in the game as meteoric would be justified.

“My A-levels maybe didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I was actually hoping to head off to Scotland or down to Dublin, but luckily, Allen Clarke, who is head of the Ulster Academy, kind of had an eye on me. I think he maybe chatted to my school’s coaches and took me into the Ulster Academy. And then only a year or two later I got my first cap for Ireland.”

Any international sporting star is unlikely to forget the day they first line out for their country. Tommy Bowe is no different, and he remarks of that treasured day in November 2004.

“That was definitely a moment that will always stand out for me. I grew up watching Ireland in Lansdowne Road.

I’d always get schoolboy tickets and my Dad used to take me down when I was 10, 11, 12-years-old, so it was always the dream [to play for Ireland].”

Bowe’s next port of call was south Wales in 2008, where he spent four successful years with the Ospreys.

On reflection, the winger comments, “I loved it at the Ospreys. It was a great experience for me, I got on really well with the people over there.”

Bowe won two league titles in his

time with the Swansea outfit, and scored a club-record four European Cup tries in one match against Treviso.

He remarks that “Whenever I left [Ulster] there was no bad feeling about me leaving, I just wanted to go and experience something different.”

Coming back to play for his home province was always going to be an attractive option for Bowe and in March 2012 that’s what he did, “Home is Belfast and home is Ireland. Ulster are my home club and they put a lot of effort into me in the academy stages and were very keen to get me back.”

Ulster got all the way to the 2011-12 Heineken Cup final without Bowe, and although they were well beaten 42-14 on the day by Leinster, that tournament is high on his own list of priorities.

“That’s the one, that’s what I want.

I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a winning Six Nations Irish team and I’ve won the league a couple of times, but the Heineken Cup, to be part of a winning team that you train with day in day out and to have seen Munster and Leinster do it so many times, I’d love to get to that stage.”

With 26 Heineken Cup tries to his name, Bowe currently lies 5th in the competition’s all-time try scorers list, the only Irishmen above him are Shane Horgan and the legendary Brian O’Driscoll.

With O’Driscoll currently taking part in his final Six Nations campaign, Bowe had some impressive things to say about his international teammate.

“I think he’s absolutely the greatest ever, having done what he has done so consistently over the years.

“No one can speak highly enough of Brian. He’s the ultimate professional. It always surprises me how someone who has been around for so long can get so up for training sessions, he gets stuck in more than anyone and demands higher standards from everybody around him.

That’s the kind of guy you need on your

team and he’s going to be a huge loss to Ireland when he does hang up his boots.”

Bowe also speaks very highly of new Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, whose time at the helm has got off to a flying start, “He’s been a real breath of fresh air since he came into the Irish camp. I think that comes with any new coach, they bring in new ideas, new thoughts, and a real air of enthusiasm.”

The Ulsterman also emphasises, “It’s not rocket science what he’s doing, but Joe’s attention to detail really drives the players. The step-up in intensity has been one thing that’s been incredible since he’s come in.”

With 26 tries in his 54 caps to date for Ireland, Bowe has experienced numerous memorable moments in an Irish jersey.

However one try in particular stands out for him. “You’d have to think the one against Wales in the Millennium Stadium in that last game [in 2009] was one that I’ll not forget too quickly.”

The win that day propelled Ireland to their first Grand Slam triumph in 61 years, and the fact that Bowe managed to outpace Shane Williams for his crucial score made the moment even sweeter.

“I was a teammate of Shane’s at the Ospreys at the time so it was nice to have some bragging rights over him.”

When quizzed on the greatest player he has played against, Williams’ name appears once more. “A nice guy on the pitch and a nice guy off the pitch.

He’s a player I’ve always looked up to. A totally different player to me: small, quick, nimble. He’s the type of player I dread playing against.”

Without doubt the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon a rugby player from Britain and Ireland is a call-up to the Lions squad, and Bowe has experienced two tours. “Playing for Ireland was always my dream, always my goal, something that from a young age I’d always dreamt of. Playing for the Lions was something beyond that.”

Bowe was a crucial figure in the

Lions’ test series victory last summer, the first series win for the touring party since 1997. “The first time I got selected to go on the Lions tour it just felt surreal. To actually go and put on the red jersey in my first test match and then go and win a series like we did in the summer was just something else.”

Bowe actually broke a metacarpal bone in his hand against the Queensland Reds in 2013 and was pretty much told his tour was over. But a Lazarus-like recovery saw him back in training within two weeks and very much part of that magnificent Lions series victory.

Undoubtedly diet and nutrition is crucial in any sport, and this aspect is one Bowe is himself keenly aware of.

He is a recognised Subway ‘FamousFan’ and while the commercials may be described as cheesy at best, the message behind them is key. “When Subway came and approached me about it they were bringing out new, healthy subs and I thought it was a natural fit; a sportsperson promoting healthy eating.”

Diet is paramount in any sport, and rugby is no exception. “They say rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes and it really is, and diet is a massive part of that. We have a full-time nutritionist for Ireland and Ulster who are constantly asking us about our diets. We have to weigh in a couple times a week, we get our skin folds taken every couple of weeks.

There’s no hiding place unfortunately if you have a big Christmas.”

Off the pitch, Bowe feels it is essential to keep himself occupied with nonrugby business. He currently has very popular shoe (Lloyd and Pryce) and clothes (XV Kings) collections available for purchase, but what inspired him to get involved in the world of fashion?

“It was through a friend of mine who knew the guys who run Shoe City in Castleblayney. I knew that they were wanting to launch a new shoe range and that they wanted to have a sportsperson

With the shoes and clothes it’s given me a real insight into how the business world works.

When hanging up your boots you need something to really dig your teeth into, because there’s nothing that can replace the adrenaline rush of running out onto a pitch

involved in it. And being from Monaghan they thought I’d be an obvious fit.”

Bowe reveals that so far the venture has paid dividends. “They asked me to come on board and I didn’t know much about shoes, but we’ve gone through our third year now and things have been going really well. The shoes are flying, people are really starting to go into shops looking for them and stuff so it’s great.”

The business side of the endeavour in particular has caught Bowe’s attention. “The boys are very talented and they work very hard. For me it’s been a real insight because with the training and everything we do it’s nice to have something to take your mind off the rugby and it’s something I’ve found really enjoyable.”

Bowe himself has a Construction Engineering degree from the University of Ulster, Jordanstown and just recently the same institution decided to award him an honorary Doctor of Science degree (DSc) for his contribution to sport. “To be able to add a doctorate onto the end of that will be something else. ‘Dr Tommy Bowe.’ My family and everyone I’ve told about that have been in stitches.”

Bowe is in good company for next summer’s graduations too. “When you hear the list of people I’m along with, the likes of A.P. McCoy, I’m obviously honoured to be selected and I’m looking forward to receiving it.”

Bowe has been sidelined since November with a groin injury picked up in Ireland’s agonising defeat to the All Blacks. “With about 20 minutes to go I could just feel I’d torn something. Then I went and got it scanned and I had a tear in the top of my adductor and the bottom of my stomach muscles too.”

He turns 30-years-old on the day Ireland play England at Twickenham, but won’t be back in action for Ireland on the day. “Hopefully I’ll be back playing that weekend, but I’ll need a few games under my belt before I’m back playing for Ireland again.”

Bowe has fond memories of Twickenham as he scored two tries there in February 2010 as Ireland famously beat the English 20-16 and he went on to receive the Six Nations Player of the Championship award.

Looking ahead to the future, Bowe asserts, “I just want to get a few years now injury-free again. I was very lucky the first eight years of my career with no injuries. I pretty much played week after week. The last two years have been so tough. I see my body as still in decent enough condition and I’d hope to have another four or five years, all going well.”

Beyond that he explains, “I think I’d like to get into a business of some sort. With the shoes and clothes it’s given me a real insight into how the business world works. When hanging up your boots you need something to really dig your teeth into, because there’s nothing that can replace the adrenaline rush of running out onto a pitch.” Here’s hoping Tommy Bowe is running out onto pitches in a green jersey for many more years to come.

You can view Tommy Bowe’s Lloyd and Pryce shoe collection at www.lloydandpryce.com and his XV Kings clothing collection is available from www.xvkings.com

18 february 4th 2014

sport After successfully defending both the 100m and 200m titles at the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt declared that he was “the greatest athlete to ever live” and he certainly is a living legend of sport

Luge is one of the most dangerous sports in the Olympics and the athletes who race down the icy, high-banked track can travel at up to 140km/h

Celebrate good goals, come on!

Sometimes a celebration can supersede the spectacle and take on their own place in people’s hearts, writes Emmet Lyons

Over the years, we have watched some of sport’s biggest stars achieve moments of triumph.

Many of these victories have become more iconic for the resulting celebrations of the stars rather than the tremendous desire, skill and athleticism that brought them to that point. The following are some examples of the most memorable celebrations in sport over the years.

One of the most famous patented celebration moves in sport, the ever charismatic Usain Bolt first displayed his lightning bolt gesture as he burst to international prominence following his two world-record breaking gold medals in the 100m and 200m sprints at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Bolt’s aptly titled surname and TIM TEBOW—TEBOWING record-setting pace has made Now a free agent and fading into this probably the most perfectly obscurity, the young quarterback appropriate celebration for one made a splash in the 2011 NFL ERIC CANTONA—GOAL VS athlete. After successfully defending season, his second season as SUNDERLAND, DECEMBER 1996 quarterback with the Denver Broncos, both the 100m and 200m titles at the Undoubtedly a sublime goal, the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt declared when he celebrated every touchdown then Manchester United captain that he was “the greatest athlete to the Broncos scored by bowing chipped the ball over the bewildered ever live” and he certainly is a living and kneeling down in prayer. The Sunderland goalkeeper’s head and legend of sport. The self-professed celebration made Tebow a beloved into the top left corner of the net “fastest man on the planet” certainly media darling amongst the fickle US from 25 yards out. However, it was has the celebration to match. news stations for several months.

Cantona’s celebration, or rather It looks like, having been his lack of one, that defined this MO FARAH—THE MO-BOT released by New England last as a great sporting moment.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Farah April, Tebow’s NFL career is all With his famous collar flicked up became the first British athlete to win but over, but the legend of the now as per usual, there was no emotion on patented ‘Tebowing’ celebration gold in the 10,000m and followed the Frenchman’s face as the ball hit it up with another gold medal in will live on for some time to come. the back of the net. Instead, he calmly the 5,000m. However, nothing was turned around and stretched out his more heart-warming than seeing the USAIN BOLT—LIGHTNING SIGN arms to his teammates in the ultimate display of arrogance and commanding superiority. It was a celebration that defined Cantona’s playing career; a leader, a superstar, and a charismatic enigma. No wonder Manchester United fans dubbed him ‘The King.’

London hometown hero performing his signature ‘Mo-bot’ move whilst beaming in front of 80,000 proud British fans at the Olympic stadium.

In an even more significant moment, Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, both gold medalists on the same day, paid tribute to each other by performing each other’s signature celebrations, providing fans present in the Olympic Stadium that day with a truly special memory.

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR TAUNTS ARSENAL FANS, SEPTEMBER 2009 Renowned more for its notoriety and lack of sportsmanship than anything else, this performance from Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor will be remembered for years to come, although not for the right reasons.

Having joined rivals Manchester City from Arsenal the previous July in a £25million deal, Adebayor received the standard torrent of abuse from the hardcore away Arsenal support when the two sides clashed in September

of 2009. Where most players remain gracious to their former employers and choose to handle the insults of their former worshipping fans with grace and dignity, Adebayor emphatically did not.

After scoring Manchester City’s third goal in a 4-2 victory, the striker proceeded to run the full length of the football pitch and slid on his knees to celebrate in front of the horrified Arsenal away section.

This act of goading caused chaos among Arsenal supporters and no doubt, this provocative celebration will be remembered as the time Adebayor actually put some effort into running around a football pitch.

Pity it was for the wrong reasons.

ROBBIE KEANE— CARTWHEEL/TUMBLE This one is renowned among all Irish sports fans and nobody will ever forget the moment that Robbie scored that last-gasp equaliser against Germany at the 2002 World Cup in Japan.

Keane now uses the celebration for his club, Los Angeles Galaxy, and he has managed to give those fans of his in the States plenty of opportunities to see his traditional cartwheel and tumble. It may be basic gymnastics, but Keane can celebrate in whatever fashion he likes as far as Irish football fans are concerned, he is our top goalscorer of all time after all.

PAT CASH—CLIMBING THE WIMBLEDON STANDS When Pat Cash won the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title in 1987, beating the likes of Mats Wilander and Jimmy Connors along the way, he celebrated by doing something no one had ever done before him.

After he defeated the then world number one, Ivan Lendl, in the final, Cash climbed the stands of Centre Court to embrace those sitting in his box, which included Ian Barclay, who had been his coach since he was 11-years-old. It was a famous sporting celebration that has since been replicated by numerous Wimbledon champs, including Andy Murray.

The Badger This week, our knowledgeable furry friend, The Badger, longs for an Irish Winter Olympic champion, lauds Ireland’s rugby heroes and laps up the title race The Badger is having a wonderful time watching the Winter Olympic Games on the telly these days.

Those downhill skiers, lugers, and speed skaters really do have balls, and the Games are great entertainment value so far.

Maybe someday the Irish will have a Winter Olympic gold medalist, perhaps in the curling. The Badger doesn’t know what curling actually is, but it sounds like hurling so surely Henry Shefflin and the boys would bring back the gold.

The Badger has no problem admitting that his passion for Ireland to win medal at the Winter Olympics is mainly because the BBC shove down our throats all their success at the games.

British athletes are performing very well. Or at least their all-day-every-day coverage of Lizzy Yarnold going fast down a hill would have you believe.

Yarnold was fantastic in the skeleton though, following in the footsteps of her compatriot (and landlady) Amy Williams who won Britain’s first individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics for 30 years in 2010.

We get the odd bit of winter snow

over here and the Badger is going to start training for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the next time there’s a downfall of the white stuff.

While The Badger is secretly a bit pessimistic about the possibility of Ireland ever performing well at the Winter Olympics, one sport in which there are no worries whatsoever is rugby. The Badger is finally enjoying watching Ireland in the Six Nations.

The Wales game in particular was a fantastic display from the boys in green, and the Badger thought it was great to see Rob Kearney all fired up for his country by not bowing to Mike Phillips’ intimidation after Ireland’s second try.

The Badger has a well-placed holiday home underneath the Aviva Stadium turf and would have had no problem popping up to take on Phillips himself if it came to it. Although, if the Badger does go head-to-shin with Phillips, he mightn’t have any fighting spirit left to donate to Arsenal.

Monsieur Wenger got on his red telephone to the Badger last week as the humiliation just tipped into unbearable territory after that 5-1 mauling against

Sports Digest Esther Hor

Table Tennis

winning streak of any UCD club.

A hard-fought 9–6 scoreline reflected the nail-biting finale UCD Table Tennis continued between UCD and main opposition, their fine form by dominating the UCC. Their Cork opponents started Irish Universities Championships in off strongly, but UCD rallied back Galway on February 1st and 2nd. The to gain a 7-5 lead in the singles men’s team rightfully returned to the rubbers, before confirming victory by top of the podium for the 15th time taking 2 of the 3 doubles rubbers. in a row, extending both their records The ladies team, seeking their 6th of the Hubert Wine Cup consecutive title in a row, were narrowly beaten wins, and the longest current varsity 4–6 by UCC who were the losing

Liverpool. “Badger! Mon ami! We ‘ave conceded four goals in 20 minutes.

What is going wrong? I want Robert Pires back! I’d even take Eboué.”

Anyway, the conversation was something along those lines.

Desperation is a hard emotion to convey on paper, but the Badger feels the last sentence helps to portray Wenger’s anxiety on the other end of the phone.

The Badger doesn’t like to play favourites with football managers, so he was forced to give the same advice he gives to all young budding managers who somehow get a hold of his digits, saying, ‘Go down to the bookshop and look for a book by Patrick Barclay.

He’s one of the Fleet Street Cheats.

Barclay has a really book out called Anatomy Of A Winner. It’s a book that profiles the rise of a young whippersnapper called Jose Mourinho.’

The Badger was waxing lyrically about this Mourinho lad down the phone so much that he missed the moment when somehow the line got disconnected. If you are reading this Arsene, please call back.

Badger Out.

finalists in 2012 and 2013. It was a final that could have gone either way, as the final doubles match went down to the wire with UCD going 4–5 down. The Dubliners attempted to take the match into a deciding doubles, however, UCC exhibited greater strength in-depth by taking the final rubber on a 3–2 scoreline.

The singles championships also resulted in a toss-up between UCD and UCC. In the men’s tournament, UCD’s Kieran Reilly lost to UCC’s Declan O’Brien in the men’s final. In the ladies singles, Club Captain Sarah Timlin claimed her 3rd consecutive singles title; notching up a 3-0 victory over UCC’s Xie Chen in the final.

Football UCD AFC underlined their dominance in varsity football by capturing their third Irish Universities Harding Cup in four years at University of Limerick. Fans were left on the edge of their seats until the very end when a late Connor Cannon goal sealed victory for UCD against NUI Galway. Galway had drawn first blood through winger Eoghan Walsh in the 18th minute.

Unperturbed, UCD pressed on and were eventually rewarded when Dean Clarke leveled with 15 minutes remaining on the clock. The game

was then held up for a further 15 minutes when Galway’s Patrick Eviston sustained a back injury.

When play resumed, Cork native Cannon struck almost immediately to gift UCD the win, picking up the player of the tournament award in the process for his outstanding form.

Hockey

Rovers, where Ulster brought home both the men and women’s title, Ireland’s under-21 coach, Jonny Caren, named his 18-member strong squad. A further seven players were added to the under-21 training panel in an effort to bolster the squad.

Those chosen from UCD are Nick Burns as captain, Ravin Nair, Kirk Shimmins and Peter Brown. Ross Canning and Jeremy Duncan were named as reserves.

Four men from the UCD Hockey Club were selected to represent Ireland in the Home Nations tournament in Mossley after three days of the under-21 interprovincial tournament.

In the tournament at Three Rock february 4th 2014 19

sport

Photo james healy

UCD eke out victory to reach Sigerson semis kevin beirne

UCD hurlers progress to Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-finals Shane Hannon

UCD squeezed past a gutsy DCU side to secure their place in the Sigerson Cup semi finals against the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, who knocked out reigning champions Dublin Institute of Technology in their quarter final last Thursday.

The two Dublin teams met at the same stage last year, with DCU running out ten-point victors on that occasion, but UCD were ready for them this time.

The win keeps UCD on track for their first Sigerson Cup title since 1996.

The home side started the game with an electric pace, blitzing the DCU defence with an intensity they were not ready for. Incredibly, UCD opened up a 2-2 to 0-0 lead after just four and a half minutes.

Ryan Basquel opened the scoring on the day after he redirected a clever cross into the DCU net using his fist after only twenty seconds of play.

This was soon followed by point and then, with only about two minutes on the clock, All-Ireland winner Jack McCaffery slotted home to give UCD their second goal before DCU had even registered an attack.

The visitors needed something to give them hope, and they got it when Craig

Dunleavy hit the back of the net from Conor McGraynor’s cross in an almost identical fashion to UCD’s opening goal.

Despite their dominance in the centre of the field on kickouts, the visiting DCU side were plagued by a series of wides which saw them only register two scores in the opening half. UCD, on the other hand, were much more clinical.

DCU’s Davy Byrne and Fintan Kelly led a series of attacks on the UCD goal, but their forwards were wasteful.

The first half was truly dominated by the hosts, as they went into the break with a 2-9 to 1-1 advantage and one foot in the semi final.

In spite of the favourable scoreline, UCD could be excused for feeling somewhat hard done by when it came to the officiating, with a few questionable calls going in favour of the visitors, especially in the late parts of the game.

The second half saw DCU gain the wind advantage, which was flowing towards their left corner forward for the rest of the game. Whatever was said in the half time team talk by the DCU coaching staff seemed to rouse the visitors into action, as they dominated after the interval.

Four minutes into the new period,

ucd 3-11 dcu 3-10 McGraynor made sure that a goal was the opening scores in both halves.

He slid in and tapped the ball past Eoin Keogh after UCD failed to clear their lines. Although they still trailed by eight points, the travelling side could feel their luck changing.

Ten minutes after McGraynor’s goal, DCU found the net again. This time Byrne’s looping shot fell just short of goal, causing confusion in the box, and Conor McHugh was on hand to finish it off and draw DCU to within a point, with the scores at 2-10 to 3-6 in UCD’s favour. A minute later, Kelly’s point brought the teams level.

This seemed to wake the home side up, as they sprang back into action and attempted to salvage a game that should have been won a long time ago.

They immediately responded with the sixth and final goal of the game.

Mark Hughes shaped to shoot, but his attempt was blocked, but he still found the net after he was quickest to

react to the boucning ball. Although it remained close for the rest of the game, UCD maintained the lead for the closing 13 minutes.

In the end, DCU’s inaccuracy was their downfall. Had they taken their chances, they could have won this game by three or four points. In the end, their efforts fell just short.

With the last play of the game, every UCD player on the field stood shoulderto-shoulder on their own line as McGraynor lined up a free in from just outside the box. Trailing by two points, DCU needed a goal, but McGraynor’s attempt was deflected over the bar for the final point, and the referee blew his whistle from the resulting kick out.

The win means UCD march on to the semi finals of the Sigerson Cup, which will be held in Queen’s University, Belfast this weekend. The team will be in search of their first final since 2003, where they were comprehensively beaten 1-8 to 0-9 by NUI Galway.

dcu

ucd

James Farrelly; Edwin Murray; Donal Wrynn; Ciaran Cafferky; Gary Sweeney; Fintan Kelly; Pete Dooney; Eoin O’Connor; Tom Flynn; Davy Byrne; Craig Dunleavy; Michael Quinn; Conor McHugh; Conor McGraynor; Gary Kelly.

Eoghan Keogh; Ryan Wylie; David Byrne; Rob McDaid; Paraic O’Harnan; Jack McCaffrey; Ciaran Lenehan; Matt O’Hanlon; Con Sheridan; Mark Hughes; Paul Kingston; Brian Fenton; John Maloney; Paul Mannion; Ryan Basquel.

Subs: Jack Smith for Murray (15); Colm Begley for Kelly (22); Fiontan O’Curraoin for Dunleavy (half time); William Lowry for O’Connor (54); Fionn O’Shea for Dooney (58).

Subs: Conor Downey for Kingston (21); Josh Hayes for Fenton (43); Paddy Reilly for Lenehan (49); Colm Driver for Basquel (51); Shane McEntee for Sheridan (54).

Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath).

UCD 2-16 UCD’s hurlers continued with their decent Fitzgibbon Cup campaign so far last week by overcoming Mary Immaculate College (MIC) 2-16 to 1-8 in Group B of the competition. The result from that game at Belfield means UCD have clinched second place in their tough group and progress to this week’s quarter-finals.

Walter Walsh grabbed UCD’s firsthalf goal with only two minutes on the clock, and that early strike hinted at a potential drubbing. However, Jamie Wall kept MIC in touch with three well-taken points. The teams then swapped scores with John Power pointing for UCD and Colm Galvin kept the scoreboard ticking for Mary Immaculate.

UCD then began to pull away with further scores from the influential Jack Guiney, Walter Walsh, Cathal Keane and David Treacy. However, with the game looking all but beyond the Limerick side, a goal from Jamie Wall ensured there were only three-points separating the two teams at the break; not a bad outcome for MIC considering UCD’s lightning start to the game. At half-time the scores stood at UCD 1-8 MIC 1-5.

Once the second half got underway, UCD began pulling away with quickfire scores from Cillian Buckley and Guiney, with the latter notching up two.

Mary Immaculate seemed to drop their

Mary Immaculate College 1-8 heads after these scores and a beautiful point from Keane on 60 minutes and further scores from Conor O’Shea and Guiney ultimately sealed the victory for this promising UCD side.

Jamie Wall of Mary Immaculate top scored with a personal 1-5 haul, but it was all in vain as his team’s backline struggled to cope throughout with UCD’s superior firepower.

Guiney’s accuracy from the dead ball was one of the key factors in UCD’s victor. Of his eight points, four came from frees and two from a 65. The goalscoring exploits of Walter Walsh and Cathal Keane also heaped further misery on the side from Limerick’s South Circular Road.

In this week’s quarter-finals, UCD face a stern test as they travel to Cork to take on reigning champions University College Cork (UCC). The Rebel County team had earlier clinched their place in the quarter-final with a comprehensive 5-25 to 1-6 win over St. Patrick’s – Mater Dei. That result ensured UCC topped Group A. Among the goalscorers was Clare’s All-Ireland winning hero Shane O’Donnell, who grabbed the first goal after just seven minutes in his first start for UCC this year. UCD were undoubtedly impressive in their drubbing of Mary Immaculate College, but a tougher test lies waiting this week.

Marian dent DCU top four hopes COlman stanley

UCD Marian 84 DCU Saints 73

Photo killian woods

20 february 4th 2014

UCD Marian dealt DCU Saints’ top four hopes a blow after an 84-73 home victory. It also solidified Marian’s top eight standing, which will see them qualify for the League Cup. Although the Saints came into the match four places higher in the league, only six points separated them. And, with home advantage as well as derby bragging rights at stake, there were no clear favourites coming into this one.

There was a good turnout, and as AC/ DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ was blasted out, Marian’s team joker, Barry Drumm, had some pre-match chatter with the opposing team. This made for a good atmosphere, which set the tone for an entertaining match.

Marian began in breathtaking fashion, with their quick tempo catching the Saints by surprise.

Captain Conor Meaney led the charge

with the first points before combining nicely with Terrance King on a couple of occasions. Chubb also played an important role, starting where he left off against the UL Eagles, where he and Meaney clocked up 43 points between them. Marian led 30-18 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all Saints, as they fought back to 37-35. The large, tattooed frame of Martins Provizors was as always a fearsome presence, and he duly notched up point after point as the momentum shifted. Marian would have been thankful to hear the buzzer at halftime, as they led 46-41.

Inevitably, the Saints drew level at 56-56. However, the introduction of Alex Moorehead for Marian, would prove to be instrumental.

He scored a crucial two pointer to make it 58-56. The Saints would not draw level again. The quarter

ended at 60-56, with Marian looking to be firmly in control.

The first half of the fourth quarter was encouraging for the Saints as they bit at the heels of Marian, keeping the score to within a consistent five points. Neil Baynes of Marian offered up two emphatic blocks, which got the crowd involved and it acted as a trigger as they began to pull away. Marian’s two best players on the day, King and Meaney, were brought back with four minutes left and ten points the difference, with the job 90% done.

King, who in appearance could pass for an NBA All-Star, offered up a huge dunk that rallied the supporters and marked an end to any hopes of a Saints comeback.

The match finished 84-73, offering faint hope of a top 4 finish for Marian, and with it a place in the Champions Trophy.