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The University Times Irish Student Newspaper of the Year TUESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2010
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LEAKED SURVEY DAMNS RESTRUCTURING Suppressed survey of academics on restructuring yields dismal results for Hegarty and Prendergast Rónán Burtenshaw Deputy News Editor An academic survey obtained by The University Times has delivered a damning verdict on College’s restructuring process. The survey was designed specifically to be “in line with the reasons cited for change of the University’s governance structures.” The exercise was carried out in March of 2010 in advance of a broader mid-term review process. It contained nineteen positivelyframed statements for agreement or disagreement in three sections entitled “general”, “the formation of Schools” and “the formation of new Faculties”. The results were staggering. In not one of the 19 categories were the results positive. Academics were given the chance to rank their agreement with the statement posed between a range of one to five; with one meaning “strongly disagree” and five meaning “strongly agree”. There was also an option called “unable to judge” which was listed as zero. The “rating average” for each category was negative and below the central option, number three, which was “no significant change”. The highest score
for any category was for the statement “there is greater opportunity for cross-College activity”, which polled at an average of 2.54, almost exactly between “disagree” and “no significant change”. Alarmingly, however, seven of the nineteen category responses were between “strongly disagree” and “disagree”, with the lowest being “budgets have been devolved sufficiently to simplify decision making”, which polled at 1.58. The average of all of the poll scores reflects the mood of the academics surveyed, at 2.15 it is clearly negative. The survey also showed pockets of resounding disapproval from academics, with over 30% “strongly disagreeing” with statements on budget devolvement, simplified communication with College, time for research and teaching, duplication of tasks, connection with central decision-making processes and administrative support. The “no significant change” option polled at over 30% on issues like inter-institutional collaboration, crossCollege academic activity, developing new academic Continued on p2
Provost John Hegarty chats with Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Conor Lenihan at the Minister’s less controversial launch of the last few weeks. Photo: Dargan Crowley-Long
Law Soc threatens to sue Hist as Under 40% of reg fee society mailouts are censored spent on services Ronan Costello News Editor Societies were in disarray in the run-up to Freshers’ Week as College authorities blocked the mailing of some flyers, brochures and adverts by student societies to incoming Freshers. An argument over the fees charged by The Hist to Law Soc, who were ultimately excluded, got nasty on Friday of last week, with fiery Law Soc Auditor Grace O’Malley threatening to sue the Hist over the €300 charged. Ultimately, Hist Auditor Huw Duffy relented and gave back the cash, “pending discussion of the costs”. The mailout, organised jointly by The Phil and The Hist, was a massive operation with upwards of 15 people working in CSC offices over a period of a week to fill the envelopes. The project began on Monday last and continued throughout the week, but ran into choppy waters quickly as the Student Records office informed the organisers that some of the content of the mailout was not consistent with College policy. The mailout comprised material from over twenty different societies, of which three,
DUBES, Comedy Soc and Law Soc were deemed unsuitable for the eyes of Freshers. Societies complained that the guidelines on printed materials were not made readily available to them in time. Charlotte Broadhead, Comedy Soc Auditor said “They recycled it before we even knew about it. We sent them a digital copy that they were going to send to the censor but that never happened. Meanwhile, Duffy disclaimed any knowledge of the College guidelines, on the part of The Hist at least: “The first we heard about it was on Monday” when the Comedy Soc brochure was pulled. “Comedy Soc were dealing with The Phil.” However, Comedy Soc Auditor Charlotte Broadhead says that when she was notified by CSC of her publication’s exlcusion she rang Duffy who claimed he had no knowledge of CSC’s objections. When questioned further by The University Times Duffy admitted that the Hist’s Treasurer had in fact been the one who had liaised with Comedy Soc in regard to payment for inclusion in the mailout. Bizzarely, Duffy could not recall the total cost
of the mailout to the Hist and the Phil, nor could he say what portion of the cost would have been covered by the other societies’ inclusion in the mail out. The Comedy Soc brochure featured a series of three images of bananas, manipulated to simulate genitalia. Broadhead said “We were dealing with The Hist. They knew our mailout had been pulled but we only found out about it on Thursday by chance, and by then it had been recycled by CSC.” We spent about €850 on printing and The Hist was looking for €900 from us for inclusion in the mailout - we should be asking them for our printing costs back!” Law Soc’s mailout was censored due to advertising its “Sue me or Screw me” party, while DUBES fell afoul of the College Alcohol Policy, claiming that “drinking during the day is encouraged” on their trip to Barcelona this year. Law Soc Auditor Grace O’Malley was subjected to a lengthy dressing down at the hands of Joe O’Gorman, Honorary Treasurer of the Central Societies Committee. O’Gorman called the leaflet “obnoxious and promoting an
undesirable lifestyle” and a ‘piece of filth”. Mr O Gorman was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press. O’Malley says that this conversation was a one-way rant during which O’Gorman disparaged the Law Soc’s publication. She also notes that the Phil were given the opportunity to alter their publication with black marker, the same courtesy not being extended to any other society. She claims that the College and CSC showed clear favouritism towards the Phil in allowing them to do this. CSC Treasurer Matt Smyth said that there was very little that could be done about the loss of money to the societies involved. He cited the controversy over the Philander and its perceived anti-semitism two years ago as an example of how seemingly innocent and humorous publications can cause offence. On Friday, O’Malley met with Duffy to discuss the issue. In what sources say was a heated argument O’Malley threatened to sue The Hist, saying “I could easily seek professional legal advice.” O’Malley claims that Duffy had told her that he couldn’t
return her money as to do so would preclude negotiations with the other two societies who had been left out. It was at this stage clear to The University Times that DUBES and Comedy Soc had not at that stage paid for their abortive mailout inclusion. In an earlier interview with The University Times, O’Malley had made clear her intentions to bring a legal case against The Hist if not compensated. Phil President Declan Meehan then approached O’Malley, Broadhead and Zach Eustace, Auditor of DUBES, in order to organise a meeting after Freshers’ week during which the issue would be discussed fully. Both O’Malley and Broadhead are adamant that neither the Phil nor the Hist will get a penny to cover the cost of the mailout. Additional reporting: Tom Lowe
Barra Roantree College Affairs Correspondent Figures obtained by the University Times show that less than 40% of the €14.6m collected from the student service charge is being used for its stated purpose. The majority of the revenue is instead used to cover the cuts in the main funding the College receives from Government. The student service charge, sometimes called the registration fee currently stands at €1,500 and is paid by all EU students. The Students’ Unions have long complained that the charge was being used to fund core academic facilities such as the library instead of student services such as the health centre or careers advisory service. While relevant legislation is vague on what the charge covers, the admission is at odds
with figures presented to the Oireachtas Education Committee by the College in January this year, which claimed that expenditure on student services of €31.1m in 2008/9 far outstripped income from the charge. The figures obtained by the Times show the comparable amount as €4.8m, and no longer includes academic services such as library costs. The figures were compiled as part of a new agreement by the College on the presentation of the controversial charge. This arises from a report by the Working Party on the Student Registration Charge, chaired by the Dean of Students. The report’s recommendations adopted by the College Board, established a Student Services Charge Consultative Group, with 50 per cent student representation, which will consider the composition and disbursement of the charge revenues in
The University Times
Editor: Tom Lowe Deputy Editor: Tommy Gavin Volume 2, Issue 1 Phone: 01 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie
This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Students’ Union.
future. Speaking to the University Times, Student’s Union President Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem welcomed the establishment of the consultative group, saying “at least now Trinity is being honest that the student service charge is being used as fees by the back door”. The Union’s Education Officer, Jenifier Fox said that while “the acknowledgement from the Provost that the student registration charge is being used to soak up the reduction in the core grant” was to be welcomed, it was still a “blatant misuse of students’ registration fees”.
SU Education Officer Jen Fox
The Editor, The University Times, 6 Trinity College Dublin 2 Website: www.universitytimes.ie
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Tuesday, September 21st 2010 | The University Times
TimesNews The Best of Freshers’ Week
Tuesday Society to check out: Comedy Soc Event: Comedy Cavalcade Experience the best of Irish student comedy with 5 of Trinity’s favourite stand ups, including the up-and-coming Conor O’Toole who recently finished an impressively ballsy run in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. These clowns are not to be missed! Time: Davis Theatre, Arts Block @ 7pm
Wednesday Society to check out: The Hist Event: Debate, “This House Would Get High” The Hist is one of the two most prestigious debating societies in college, the other being the Phil. This Wednesday they will host George Hook, he of the Sky ad fame and a formerly credible commentator on rugby and current affairs. What Hooky will have to contribute on this most contentious of issues is worth a look. No doubt it will be surreal and slightly cringeworthy. Much like his appearances on The Panel. Time: The GMB @ 7pm
Thursday Society to check out: Trinity Orchestra Event: Trinity Orchestra play Radiohead Due to phenomenal demand Trinity Orchestra are resurrecting their ‘now legendary’ performance of Radiohead’s greatest hits. Trinity Orchestra has developed a reputation for adapting contemporary music and fitting it to their classical stylings. This event is free to all members so those who wish to attend are encouraged to sign up during the week, ensuring discounted rates for future events. Time: The GMB @ 5pm
Friday Society to check out: The Law Soc (in association with Comedy Soc) Event: The Hardy Bucks Live in the GMB The 77 year old Law Soc team up with the Comedy Soc to bring you Castletown’s finesht in the GMB. Ahead of their new RTE series, the Bucks will play a live gig in the GMB, the central theme of which will undoubtedly be “drinkin’, shmokin’ and fightin’”. A must for those Freshers up from the shticks. Time: The GMB @ 7pm
Anyone who tells you that the current system of funding is sustainable is either a fool or a liar. Declan Harmon, p16
Restructuring receives low marks from lecturers Continued from p1 specialisations, growing and innovating inside disciplines, academic opportunities and accountability for educational and research outcomes. On the other side, there were few positives for the management team. The highest score in the “agree” column was 28.2% for “greater local management” but only one other category came in at above 25%. The “strongly agree” option failed to record any doubledigit scores, ranging from 0.7% of respondents on “duplication of tasks has been removed” to 4.6% on “more control of academic planning”. The remit of the mid-term review as a whole was to “consider the effectiveness” of the restructuring in three areas; devolution arrangements, communication structures and new administrative roles. The survey, however, was carried out by a Steering Group comprising Prof. John O’Hagan, Prof. Cecily Begley, Ms. Patricia Callaghan, who is Academic Secretary, and Prof. John McGilp as Chair. They created the survey to exactly match nine specific reasons given by College for the change of governance structures. Mike Jennings, General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) was willing to give The University Times his personal reaction to the story. “My first reaction, regardless of the caveats is that the overwhelming negativity should make people pause. Any exercise perceived so negatively must have limited chance of success. One of the biggest negative votes was in the area of “more time for teaching and research”. If the university isn’t taking this into account, what is the purpose of the restructuring?” In fact, one of the nine stated aims of the restructuring process was to “release academic time to focus on teaching and
research”. Among the other aims were simplifying communication and decision-making and the failure to address these issues was also highlighted by Mr. Jennings. “Two of the highest negatives were on the issues of lack of clarity and duplication of tasks. That is what progressive restructuring should be about; making structures more efficient and clear.” Mr. Jennings also felt that the survey itself was divorced
from the purpose of a university. “I felt more that I was looking at an industrial study, like a clipboard survey of factory work. It felt very mechanistic. Where was the spark that makes universities different? I didn’t see anything about the joy of learning, the passing on of knowledge or the pushing of boundaries.” The College Communications Office had “nothing further to add” to the
Planning Group proposes 5% cut for 2011 Measure to deal with projected deficit in 2011 Barra Roantree College Affairs Correspondent The influential Planning Group, headed by the ViceProvost Patrick Prendergast, has recommended a 5% reduction in pay and non-pay expenditure across the three College faculties in 2011. The Planning Group was established to manage
implementation of the College’s Strategic Plan and includes some of the College’s most senior officers. The published minutes of the most recent College Board meeting show that the Planning Group report included a proposal to “reduce pay and non-pay costs by 5% in 2011, in addition to savings already achieved” to deal with a projected deficit in the College’s funding. This would be achieved through either pay cuts or staff reductions in addition to those already required by the Government as part of the
recruitment moratorium. Unions have cautioned against any moves to cut pay, their members having already had their pay reduced by between 5 and 10 per cent. Speaking to the University Times, Mike Jennings of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) warned that it would be “completely and utterly unacceptable … if Trinity has any ambition to implement cuts above and beyond those already in place” and that IFUT members would resist any further cuts. The College did not respond to requests for comment.
Freshers’ Week
A celebration of students
F
reshers’ Week. It’s the storm before the calm - five days of pent-up enthusiasm being released orgiastically across the cobbles of Front Square before we all settle down to a twelve week term of lectures, coursework and just enough revelry to keep us sane. Or at least that’s what we’ll be telling the parents anyway. In the time-honoured tradition, hapless Freshmen and Sophisters alike will be harangued by deranged,
sleep-deprived society hacks, many more emotionally invested in their organisation than their degree. Expect to see sheaves of flyers, rivers of “refreshments”, a full treachery of hacks (the Oxford English Dictionary informs me that it is the collective noun) and if you’re lucky you’ll spot at least one marquee take flight aided by the wind. Competition for the hearts, minds and membership fees of Fresher-than-fresh meat is fierce, and tempers will no
“
five days of pent-up enthusiasm being
released orgiastically across the cobbles of Front Square
”
doubt flare as rumours and disinformation spread about which society’s club night hasn’t sold a ticket yet and which one will charge you €5 for a pint (€7 after midnight!) While in previous years the advertising has been mostly confined to the area between the Campanile and Front Arch, in recent years the a new theatre of combat has opened - Facebook. Even in the month before Freshers’ Week, most students will find their page bombarded with information about the
“best nights out during Freshers’ Week”. Indeed, Ents Officer Darragh Genockey had already sold out his allocation of wristbands for the week by Sunday by promoting them on Facebook and through the SU’s mailout. Whatever happens this week, it remains one of the finest showcases of the organisational flair of our students outside of lecture theatres. Enjoy it - hopefully you’ll only see four.
correspondence of Professor John McGilp, Chair of the Steering Group, to his colleagues. Professor McGilp advised reading the survey in the context of a “25% response rate” and “no test for bias” being carried out on respondents. Even though College clearly expected a higher response from academics, Mr. Jennings said that a response rate at this level was not particularly low. “If you got 40% responding in
a survey, you would think that was very good. Usually when the likes of MRBI conduct polls they assume that those who don’t respond, by-and-large, fall into the mould of everyone else who was taking the poll.” “But”, he asked, “even if the vast majority were indifferent, and fell into the “no significant change” category most of the time, why push ahead with something so polarising?” That question is likely to be
posed of the Executive Office in the wake of the mid-term review. The lofty goals of further growth, innovation and creativity in a climate of greater accountability and simplified structures seem a world away now. Negative survey results, low response rates and dissatisfied academic staff were not the intended results of the restructuring process. But they may be what College is left with.
Long Room Hub opens Fíachra Ó Brádaigh Staff Writer The College’s high standard in the arts and humanities, underlined by its scores in the recent QS rankings, led to the construction of the new Long Room Hub. According to a spokesperson for the project, its aim is to “feed into Ireland’s smart economy” through research and development. This is reflected in what Poul Holm, the academic director of the Long Room Hub research institute, said in support of the arts and the humanities, “The arts and humanities are key to success in the global marketplace. Conventional wisdom is that technology and scientific discoveries are the main drivers of modern societies. Those working in the arts and humanities see things differently. The thought, the intention is primary to human action. The arts and humanities deal with the most driving force of all: motivation.” The Hub, which cost €6 million to build, is vital, says Dr. Holm, because “very few people speak up for the arts and humanities.” He believes that especially true at the high-powered tables where far-reaching decisions are made, and where too often the arts and humanities are treated as the “ethical appendix”. The Long Room Hub is intended to challenge this opinion towards the arts and humanities. The intent was to create a ‘‘nerve centre’’ for multi-disciplinary creative endeavour and advanced research, challenging existing approaches to the arts and humanities and introducing technology and creativity. Holm also highlighted the modern and non-traditional areas that the arts and the humanities have spread into, such as medical and environmental humanities. These expanded
areas, he feels, are ones that arts and humanities departments should be increasingly consulted in. Provost Dr John Hegarty said the creation of the centre reflected the university’s fundamental belief ‘‘in the power of the arts and humanities to advance and enrich society at every level’’. There has been a further €4.5 million, not counting private donations, invested in the Long Room Hub to initiate the research. The Provost continued by emphasising arts and humanities’ importance to future economic development. ‘‘It also endorses the emphasis placed by the Trinity Long Room Hub on the imagination and cultivation of both creative and far-seeing graduates that will help define and drive a sustainable future.” In the Hub’s first year there will be 150 academics and 300 postgraduate students employed. Among these will be 35 academics from international universities who will conduct research, collaborate and address the application of the arts and humanities in the world. One of the more noteworthy aspects of the research institute is the transformative role it plays in involving the library in active research. Tim Keefe, head of digital resources and imaging services, digitised versions of an expanding catalogue of the institution’s priceless artefacts. These are available online, which is driving up numbers of visiting researchers keen to study documents rarely found elsewhere. The Hub will employ six staff and six digestion staff working on various library projects. The Long Room Hub, labelled “iconic” by Dr. Hegarty, has been short listed for the world building of the year 2010, and will be open to the public on the 24th of September in line with culture night.
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The University Times | Tuesday, September 21st 2010
TimesNews
Scathing review of new academic units Arguments at Board over future of restructuring project Rónán Burtenshaw Deputy News Editor The mid-term review of restructuring, initiated in January of 2010, has recommended fundamental changes to the new structures in the wake of negative survey results from academics and a string of problems and inefficiencies uncovered by the reviewing team. The team comprised two reviewers, Dr. Luc Weber of the University of Geneva and Dr. Sybille Reichart of NorthRhine Westphalia. The aim of the review was to “consider the effectiveness” of the restructuring measures in “devolution arrangements for decisionmaking”, improving College’s “communication structures” and implementing “new
administrative roles at School and Faculty level”. The recommended alterations were widespread and significant. The Faculty structure was criticised. College had originally planned to remove all Faculties in favour of a better School structure. Under pressure from particularly strong Faculties, College reneged and instead decided to streamline the Faculty structure. Failure to do remove this completely was criticised as it was seen as creating unnecessary complications and bureaucracies. This pattern of complicated administrative structures also continued in the area of Departments. Professor Reichart found in her research that an unintended hybrid arrangement existed in certain cases where departments remained as budget holders even though School structures were in place. All of this led to a “duplication of administrative duties at School and Faculty level”. Failure was also noted in the strategic objective of creating
a clearer connection between academic decision-making in Schools and the rest of the College. It was recommended that, in the next phase of the restructuring process, it should be established that the link between the Executive of College and the rest should be the Heads of Schools. Although not in the direct remit of the team, they also considered the College’s proposed new Academic Resource Allocation Model (ARAM). Now defunct, ARAM was an attempt to make the distribution of funds between Schools more transparent and rational. Using a weighting system it sought to incentivise certain desirable attributes, for example giving extra points to PhD students as against undergraduates. Championed by Dr O’Hagan, who was also on the Steering Group which conducted the ill-fated academic survey, its apparent rational basis in seeking to reform an outdated system was undermined by flaws and disagreements in
the weighting system. In one example, arts and humanities disciplines were left dissatisfied by what they saw as a structural disadvantage placed on them by their comparatively low number of PhD students. In order to address this, College drastically lowered the points score of these students, thus angering disciplines who had sought to radically increase their pool of PhD students in order to gain resources. An additional problem was with the fixed nature of the government grant. In theory, even if all areas of the College improved by the guidelines, someone would still have to lose out. “Undue emphasis” on the impact of this system, which has now been replaced by a new one, was also criticised in the mid-term Report. An issue that caused some disagreement was that of the interdisciplinarity of the School structures. The Report recommended that all Schools be made interdisciplinary. This was the original intent of the restructuring but was met
by fierce resistance by some strong disciplines like Physics, Chemistry and English, who were permitted to remain as single-discipline Schools. The multi-disciplinarity of Schools is seen as an asset in attaining lucrative grants, particularly those from the European Union. The fact that the reviewers seemed to come into the process with a pre-conceived theory in support of this was, however, questioned at the Board Meetings where the Report was presented, on June 30th and July 2nd this year. The final significant suggestion of the Report was that the role of the Provost and viceProvost be more clearly defined. The vice-Provost in particular looks set to have his role reduced, essentially to academic affairs in the mould of the old Senior Lecturer position. Financial concerns about this process were also raised at the board meeting. One board member was unable to support the new recommendations because he did not feel that they
offered value for money. It was noted generally that the reviewing team were not asked to consider the economic context in which the College operated. This is particularly significant when one considers that a dismantling of structures put in place just in the last two years at a significant cost will probably not play well with the government in the run up to the next Budget. However, the board agreed that the current structure was not sustainable and they were supported in this by the Students’ Union. College has established a Task Force to implement the changes supported in the Report. This Task Force will consist of Profs. David Singleton and John McGilp and two Heads of Schools; one from a single-disciplinary one and the other from a multi-disciplinary one. It was agreed that these changes should be deliberated over carefully, given current circumstances, and not implemented urgently as the Report suggested.
News in brief
Genockey “on the red line” with lucrative sponsorship deal Students’ Union Entertainments Officer Darragh Genockey has struck a deal with Vodafone to promote their services to Trinity’s students, The University Times has learned. Rumours abound about the exact figure the deal is worth, but sources claimed that it was in excess of that paid to Meteor last year, known to be €18,000. The sponsorship funds will be used to book live acts for Trinity Ents’ major events during the year, including the Freshers’ Ball and Hallowe’en Ball. Vodafone have been guaranteed a presence on campus for the coming year and their SIM cards were very popular with arriving international students at Trinity Hall over the weekend. Vodafone will be title sponsors for Freshers’ Week’s Campus Carnival, which will see campus turned into a playground this Friday, with live bands and inflatables.
Trinity falls in world university rankings Trinity lost ground in a major world University ranking, although maintained its status as Ireland’s best university in recent weeks. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, based on figures from 2007, before the current round of spending cuts had been implemented, showed Trinity slipping from 43 to 52, while UCD moved from 89 to 114. Other Irish universities, such as UCC, NUIG and DCU, rose in the rankings, with UCC breaking the 200 mark for the first time. The drop by Ireland’s premier universities is sure to reignite the debate over third-level funding, with Provost Dr John Hegarty decrying the level of national investment in the third-level sector.
Ponderbox launches charity poster sale Student company Ponderbox is launching a charity initiative to improve and renovate recovery centres for members of Dublin’s homeless community who have struggled with addiction and who are trying to get off the streets. The company, founded by Junior Sophisters Anna Cosgrave and Niall Morahan, also runs the “Electric Relaxation” event in The Bernard Shaw on occasional Sundays. The initiative, titled “Where I’m From” will involve artists, designers, photographers, bloggers and writers resident in the city creating unique posters which will be sold around the city, as well as online. The money raised from each poster will be going towards supplies for the renovation of centres by volunteers from Dublin’s universities. For more information, or to volunteer to help with the renovation of the centres, or with the iniative, go to WhereImFrom.tumblr.com, or mail PondrBox@Gmail.com.
Cancer Society committee members Lucy Whiston and Eleanor Mulloy at Trinity Hall on Saturday. Photo: Tiernan Kennedy
Staff Listing
Energy switch increases emissions Barra Roantree College Affairs Correspondent
Editor Tom Lowe Deputy Editor Tommy Gavin News Editor Ronan Costello Features Editor Tommy Gavin Opinion Editor Marykate Collins Sports Editor Manus Cronin Deputy News Editor Rónán Burtenshaw Deputy Opinion Editor Eugene Reavey Web Editor Conor Smith Design AND INFOGRAPHICS Richard Conway
Three years after announcing its move to green energy, the college has dropped Airtricity as its electricity provider citing cost grounds. The two year contract for the majority of the College’s electricity requirements was tendered through the e3 energy reduction programme which includes Trinity, UCD, DCU and DIT. The change of provider has resulted in a significant increase in College greenhouse gas emissions from electricity as the new provider, Energia, supplies significantly less renewable energy than Airtricity. The latest official statistics show that emissions from Energia’s fuel portfolio were 159 per cent higher than Airtricity, at 0.526 tonnes CO2 per MWh. This would translate into an increase of around 11,000 tonnes of carbon for the academic year 2008/9. In a statement to the University Times, the College responded that they had a “commitment that 50% of the supply would come from the renewable portfolio of the suppliers”
and pointed to its involvement in the e3 energy conservation programme. However, an energy policy consultant the Times spoke to said that the key figure in comparisons was the “overall fuel mix of the electricity supplier”, meaning that Energia are not able to designate the renewable portion of their energy for use by Trinity. The move has been strongly criticised by green activists on campus as an abandonment of the College’s Sustainable Development Policy, in which the College committed itself to achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Speaking to the University Times Kevin Gaughran, the Student’s Union environmental officer condemned the move as “an inexcusable disregard of the College’s environmental responsibility. As such a large consumer of energy and an important educator, Trinity are not setting the bar high enough.” Michael O’Callaghan, chair of Trinity Young Greens called for a full carbon audit of the College and a commitment to making Trinity carbon neutral by 2020.
Maynooth SU snubs Hanafin visit Maynooth Students’ Union last week refused to attend the opening of its new Humanities and Social Sciences building by Minister Mary Hanafin. Protesters arrived at the new building at 11:30am to highlight its grievances with the government, over four issues including possible increases in the Registration Fee, cuts to the Maintenance Grant, cancellation of the Student Assistance fund, and rising graduate employment. NUIMSU President Aengus Ó Maoláin wrote in a letter to the university President, Prof. John Hughes, “this Government has shown no compassion whatsoever for students’ well-veing. The cabinet is considering further cuts to basic student services... It is unclear to us why the university should be honouring the Minister at this time. We cannot applaud any member of this cabinet while our students and graduates remain so vulneravle and will not be attending the opening ceremony.”
Timessports Our Sports Editor, Manus Cronin, talks to Captain of Rugby Scott Lavalla on p24
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Tuesday, September 21st 2010 | The University Times
TimesNews
Campus rent exceeds norm by up to 25% Trinity accomodation charges up to €100 more per month than private sector equivalent Rónán Burtenshaw Deputy News Editor
The votes cast in last April’s referendum may have been cast in vain if the College doesn’t recognise the overwhelming result. Photo: David O’Dwyer
Senior Lecturer and Vice Provost ignore student voice Referendum results gain little traction with senior College staff Ronan Costello News Editor
On the 6th, 7th and 8th of April the Student Union held a referendum, asking students if they wanted the SU to campaign for the introduction of Christmas exams. This referendum came on the back of an online survey, commissioned by the former education officer Ashley Cooke, which served as a litmus test of the reaction students had to the newly semesterised academic year. The survey had been carried out following discussions at SU Council, the result of which was that Cooke was mandated to gauge how semesterisation had affected the students. The results of the online survey prompted Cooke to report the following to Council: “The number of replies on the system has been unprecedented. In the first few days we
had over 1,000 responses from students. It seams that roughly 90% of students feel that their workload has increased and the vast majority are in favour of Christmas Exams.” In order to adequately translate this sentiment into policy to be pursued by the Student’s Union, it was felt that a collegewide referendum was required in order to give every student the opportunity to express their opinion on the matter. Of the 1767 students who voted, 1591 voted in favour of the new policy with only 174 voting against. Cooke then presented these results to executive officers of the college, feeling that he had a definitive mandate from the student population. The Senior Lecturer and the Vice-Provost rebuked this assumption, saying that the relatively low turnout was not sufficient to represent the true opinion of the student body. Current education officer Jen
Fox argues that this position is extremely porous. Firstly, students vote in much smaller numbers at the National Representatives and second, a support of 90% in favour of Christmas exams is not to be ignored, regardless of whether the turnout meets the arbitrary quota of the Senior Lecturer and the Vice-Provost. The SU’s original, and somewhat surprising position, was to oppose the introduction of Christmas exams. Senator Ivana Bacik of the Law School said that as far as she was aware this policy had been taken so as to avoid a scenario where the entire academic year would be exam orientated, something that the SU had believed would be undesirable to Trinity’s students. Education Officer Jen Fox states that this position was formed by a very small group of students and that the issue was never put to referendum,
instead being put through various committees on which only a few students sat. However, Fox does say that this position was most assuredly come to in the perceived best interests of students at that time. Speculating on the rational behind it, Fox says that there was a significant amount of restructuring happening at the time and that it may have been felt that to disrupt the students’ lives anymore would be detrimental to their studies. The SU persisted with this position in the knowledge that a significant proportion of students would end up sitting exams for modules which had been ostensibly completed four months previously. Whatever the original thought was behind the old policy, the SU must now seek to reverse that which it fought to have.
The motion that was put to students •
• •
•
That the current annual examination structure should be replaced with a fully semesterised structure, where workload, assessment and examinations will be evenly distributed between the two teaching terms, in so far as possible. Christmas examinations would be introduced in an effort to reduce the workload at the end of the academic year. This will be applicable to all courses and modules unless it is determined, in discussions with College authorities, that the quality of the course would be negatively impacted upon (e.g. professional accreditation, placement, practical and final year project modules, etc.). Any changes to the timing and structure of the Supplemental and Foundation Scholarship examinations as a result of replacing the current annual examination structure should preserve the idea of balanced workload.
Result: 1591 in favour 174 against
Semesterisation’s effect on exam results
Claims of soft marking and grade inflation precede official report to be released next month Leanna Byrne and Katie Teahan Staff Writers Trinity College will be releasing a report on Semesterisation and its effect on students’ exam results this year next month, according to the college’s Communications Office. Last year was the first year in which all Trinity students were required to familiarize themselves with the new semesterised terms. Semesterisation was introduced to organise the academic year into two terms, with each term containing different modules and assessment for each term. This replaced the traditional structure which consisted of three terms; namely Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity. The Trinity term is now a non-teaching term which runs from April to early July and incorporates a pre-exam study period and the exam period itself. Introduction of the
semesterised terms can into effect almost immediately after the government, through the HEA, threatened the college with “massive budget cuts” if they failed to put in place the new two-term system. However, many students had to adjust to a heavy workload and an intensely crammed examination timetable due to the unbalanced structure of assessment in each course. Exams taking place during Reading Weeks became a major concern as students did not have sufficient time to catch up on course work. This issue was discussed by the Students’ Union at the last Undergraduate Studies Committee which took place on the 21st of April. Courses with large numbers such as Medicine and BESS had to tackle the worst summer examinations timetable as certain students’ had to cope with the pressure of sitting five exams spaced between five days and many faults with the
distribution of the papers. The director of BESS, Prof. Francis O’ Toole sent an email to JS BESS last year giving them an early warning that the exam timetable may not work in their favour and to be prepared for consecutive exams. Students studying these subjects were also the first to sit the exams due to the volume of corrections that were necessary for these courses. Despite the various complaints that students have made about this “halfway house” system and the many problems incurred, it is yet to be seen whether grades have been affected, or whether a policy of “soft marking” and grade inflation was employed during the marking of the papers this year. The recent release of league table results also present difficulties as regards exam results. The QS World University Rankings show Trinity has dropped. It held the position of 43rd for
the past two years, but this year took a dive outside the top fifty to 52nd. This fall in the QS rankings, widely considered to be the most important tables, will no doubt put pressure on Trinity to improve these rankings in the future. Student exam results play a role, though not a wholly decisive one, in determining where in the league table a university lies. Given the negative backlash from the student body with regard to last year’s changes, it would be plausible to suggest that lecturers may have been inclined to mark papers more generously, in order to save face and show that the transition to semesterisation has had little to no effect on the ability of Trinity students to perform well in exams. A recent investigation into grade inflation has also caused concern amongst the Presidents of Irish Universities as it called into question the quality of the degrees awarded to
students. The Irish Universities Association claimed that the data in an internal TCD study on “soft marking” was overstated and misrepresented the level of increase on students’ grades. Speculations that soft marking was exercised this year due to high stress levels amongst students still continue as figures such as 100% pass rate in Junior Freshman English Studies emerge. Although college officials claim that the higher proportion of students passing summer exams is due to factors such as the use of advanced information technology, an increase in mature students, semesterisation and a greater interest in higher education throughout the population. Claims of grade inflation can further be disputed by the fact that external examiners are appointed to mark all exam papers in JS and SS cycles, to ensure that all papers are marked in a fair and equitable way that
is based upon the curriculum taught in each course. Evidence of such a process at work was noted by the Irish Independent on June 19th, which it reported how exam results from Trinity’s School of Education, which is linked to the Educational Colleges of Marino and Frobel, were delayed because the external examiner had found discrepancies within the papers. With the difficulties that came to light last year with TCD’s new semeseterised terms, legitimacy of students’ grades will be called into question with the release of the report next month along with the new system itself. College officials deny that the release of the report will have any indication as to whether semesterisation last year had a negative effect on students’ performance.
The recent Daft.ie Rental Report for the second quarter of 2010 details falling prices for rentals in Dublin and across the country. According to the Report, national rents are down 20-30% from their 2007 highs, with Dublin rental costs falling at a greater rate than anywhere else, over 30% in that time. This means that average rental costs for Dublin city apartments are between €323 and €404 p/m for single rooms and €402 and €501 for doubles. The Report opened with an introduction by USI President Gary Redmond heralding the end of the days when “students paid more for accommodation”. While this may be the case for some students, it is certainly not the case for those of Trinity College. The cost of renting a Trinity College property in Dublin city for a month in 2010 comes in at an average of between €515 and €615, judging by the figures presented in the 2010 brochure. These prices have risen slightly since 2007, despite large national falls in that time. Tony Dempsey, the College Accommodation Officer, says that these rents “are set annually at a level that covers the full economic cost of operating residences.” He added that “while some note is taken of the private sector” the price differential of well over €100 a month exists because the “cost base and level of services” provided by College exceeds that of the private sector. These services would include the wardens used in some facilities, highlighting the extra cost of operating supervised accommodation. Semesterisation, according to Mr. Dempsey, has placed additional pressure on the accommodation system because “residential income has decreased without corresponding decreases in overheads or fixed costs”. However, the reluctance of College to lower the cost of accommodation, despite enormous decreases in the employment level of third-level age students, is something that should be “reconsidered” according to Steph Fleming, the SU’s Welfare Officer. “Students in general feel that the cost of Trinity housing is too much. The Accommodation Office has made little effort to reflect the change in the market. Students have less money than they have had in recent years and the costs in College just aren’t competitive.” She also told The University Times that the SU will be raising this issue in the coming year. Neither the Daft.ie nor the Trinity costs include utilities. While the vast majority of rental properties in Dublin meter these charges, Trinity
continues to apply a blanket charge. Mr. Dempsey put the failure to meter water or heating charges down to a system that used large, communal boilers instead of smaller, individual ones. This, he said, was “far more energy efficient.” However, electricity is also subject to blanket charges. This differs from U.C.D., U.C.C. and other large Colleges where students staying in residences are charged per usage. In this case the Accommodation Officer claimed it was not “practical or economic” to meter readings, saying that experience showed that electricity was a “relatively minor” part of utility charges and there was a “limited variation in consumption” between rooms. This argument seems to disregard the potential large difference between rooms that could exist if metered charges were applied. Students seeking to save money or those who were made more conscious of their energy usage would have the opportunity to use less. A background to this is the increased questioning of Trinity’s commitment to fighting Climate Change. Steph Fleming highlights Trinity’s recent involvement in the e3 strategy, a drive to reduce energy consumption by 10%. “Trinity did not reach this target”, she says, “despite aiming for it in just 8 buildings. Trinity is meant to be promoting a climate friendly environment and telling students that they have as much energy as they can use is hardly in line with these aspirations.” The core of the problem appears to be College’s prioritising short-term cost at the expense of long-term gains. The cost of its accommodation is adding pressure to students, with grants down 5% and a 69% increase in student service charges in the last 12 months. The discrepancy in costs also leaves College potentially vulnerable in a competitive rental market. But the issue of metering seems to be an area where policy is a net loss to everyone. Its savings compare poorly with failures to promote a culture of energy responsibility or live up to its promises in the field of the environment. An adjustment here would go some way to tackling both problems, according to the Welfare Officer, because it would provide “an excellent opportunity to save money and an incentive to save energy.” This short-term thought is doubtlessly influenced by the tough nature of the economy. The drive to cut costs has picked up pace in the last 12 months. In a recent address to the education sector, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan spoke of the need for them to get “more for less”. If patterns in the College continue, however, it is clear that students will get less for more.
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University Times | Tuesday, September 21st
Structural Flaws
How did we get here? The Provost’s restructuring plans lie in tatters at the end of his tenure. In this article, News Editor Ronan Costello charts the development of the project from electorally victorious start to dismal end. budgetary decisions. Indeed it’s not difficult to imagine the level of resentment that Heads of Schools might have to the college authority making decisions for them on any issue. Another compelling reason for the streamlining and grouping of disciplines is that it more easily facilitates interdisciplinary study. This broadens the student’s curriculum and offers them a range of choices for branching out, much like the undergraduate experience in prestigious American a. An avaexample of these merging disciplines is the partnership between the School of Law, School of Business and the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy in offering the Law and Business and Law and Politics degrees. Not only does this offer more choices to the student but, crucially, it also opens up new revenue streams for the college, as it begins to welcome more and more students interested in combining disciplines. With this crossover between disciplines Professor Hegarty also hoped that there would be a significant increase in postgraduate studies, as the advantages of interdisciplinary study became obvious to the student community.
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he statistics haven’t been good for Trinity lately. We’ve dropped from 43 to 52 in the University world rankings and the University Times has revealed that a significant proportion of Trinity’s academics think that academic restructuring has had little effect and may even have damaged the academic infrastructure of the college. These statistics are intrinsically connected. The academic restructuring, heralded in the Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 (hereafter referred to as The Plan), was supposed to be the mechanism of change that would bring about massive leaps in the college’s performance. Yet now we see that the academics are unimpressed with developments and see hardly any truly positive changes. The Plan (which was updated in 2006 and was recently replaced by a plan for the period 2009-2014) set out a number of aims which sought to improve a variety of aspects of the college with the primary goal being to improve Trinity’s ability to compete on an international scale with institutions that benefit from far greater funding and resources. This feature is not concerned with every aspect of The Plan. In light of the revelations about academic dissatisfaction with the changes that have been implemented, we will look at what the reasoning was behind the restructuring of the academic infrastructure, the hopes that went with this restructuring and finally we will ask why the changes wrought have gained little approval within the academic community.
Obstacles to change and the new reality The above arguments seem compelling. They seem well thought-out and Professor Hegarty’s ambitions were well-intentioned. It is acknowledged by all that the restructuring of the college’s academic units has been a true reformation, the likes of which Trinity has not experienced in a long time. Perhaps this goes some way in explaining why the academic reaction to restructuring has been so negative. A cosy academic community such as Trinity’s is naturally resistant to change, particularly change as bold as this. During the restructuring there were significant upheavals and obstacles. In 2005, Professor Hegarty gave an interview in which he touted the idea of having clusters of schools instead of faculties taking the role of overseers. The head of each cluster would sit at his table and represent the schools within that cluster. This idea never became a reality. There was much dispute as to how the representative from the cluster would be selected. Would it be through appointment or election? Indeed, it seems that Professor Hegarty’s plans in this respect were foiled by heads of faculty whose roles would become redundant under the new system ofgovernance. The defeat over the issue of clusters is indicative of the struggle faced by the Provost throughout this entire period of reform and the diluted results, which differ from his original intentions in no small way, may account for the current disillusionment among those who are now working under the new system. For the new system is neither entirely new nor cosily familiar. It is a mixture of Trinity’s oldest traditions and its newly fledged ambition to climb those all-important league tables.
A new Provost and his ambition Professor John Hegarty was elected the 43rd Provost of Trinity College in August 2001. The man from Claremorris was elected on a promise of reform. Here was the man to rid Trintiy of its multilayered bureaucracy and staid academic traditions that had seen comparisons between it and its once sister universities, Oxford and Cambridge, become moot. While the Oxbridge universities had spent the 20th century forging ahead in numerous fields of research, Trinity had languished in the past, relying on its ancient reputation. Professor Hegarty saw the beginning of a new millennium as an opportunity to reform college management, which he described as ‘un-transparent’. Indeed, Professor Hegarty’s career prior to his election had set the ideal aims for the modern academic. On his return to Ireland from America in 1986 he was appointed Professor of Laser Physics in Trinity, going on to produce over 140 publications and numerous patents. He was a co- founder of Optronics Ireland and of campus company, Eblana Photonics. Through these endeavors he raised significant sums of research money for the college. It’s no surprise then that by the time of his election he had come to regard the unhelpful management of Trinity as a hindrance rather than a facilitator of progress. To reverse this position Professor Hegarty launched The Plan.
The reasoning and hope behind restructuring Prior to the restructuring of the academic units of the college there were no Schools and significantly more faculties. This was a diffuse and complex system of governance, which led to academic stagnation. In reforming the academic institutions of the college Professor Hegarty sought to emulate the success of more successful institutions such as Harvard and Yale. The practical effect of restructuring is that a number of disciplines were put together in Schools, 24 in all. Three faculties were created to oversee these Schools. The reasoning behind this streamlining of academic units was that decisionmaking would be put in the hands of the Schools and they would also have control over their respective budgets. The potential benefits of this are not hard to see. Heads of School naturally know more about the best direction for their school to take and so are better equipped to make
Provost Prof. John Hegarty stands beside election opponent Prof. David McConnell at the last Provostorial elections in 2001. Photo courtesy of Trinity News
Restructuring: A Timeline Professor John Hegarty is elected Provost on a mandate of sweeping change.
2000
2001
2002 The Strategic Plan 2003-2008 is launched.
2005
2004
Major overhaul of the academic infrastructure undertaken. 24 Schools created and three faculties formed to oversee these schools.
An update of the Strategic Plan 2003-2008 was launched, outlining progress made.
2006
2003
2007
2008
Survey carried out by the college prior to the mid-term review of college restructuring reveals significant academic dissatisfaction with the restructuring process.
2010
2009
2001: Professor John Hegarty is elected Provost on a mandate of sweeping change. 2003: The Strategic Plan 2003-2008 is launched, announcing the college's restructuring ambitions and outlining the path Trinity wanted to take to compete with global institutions. 2006: An update of the Strategic Plan 2003-2008 was launched, outlining progress that had been made and signaling that major restructuring would happen in 2008. (Also a big deal. The biggest deal, one mights say) 2008: In January a major overhaul of the academic infrastructure of college was undertaken. 24
Working with the new reality The job of restructuring proved a clumsy and stubborn affair. But in this respect, on the evidence, it would seem that the academic community only have themselves to blame. Too safe to change and to obstinate to adapt quickly, they now face a system which none of them fully wanted to begin with. No School is completely happy with the changes. This is illustrated by the fact that only 1.6% of the respondents to the survey of progress on restructuring said that the creation of schools had improved communication between disciplines and the central authority of college. This statistic is compounded when one sees that 56.5% of the respondents disagree with the proposition that the formation of new faculties has clarified the role of faculties with a further 15.8% saying that there is no significant change. Worse still is the response to the proposition that the creation of faculties has enhanced the connection with the centraldecision making process, with 57.6% disagreeing. These statistics are clearly damning. The question now is what can be done to rectify the situation. How can academic harmony be restored? Is there such a thing? This must be disheartening result for Professor Hegarty, having dedicated his tenure to achieving positive change. His time is nearly up. No doubt his successor, whoever it might be, is sweating.
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Tuesday, September 21st | The University Times
TimesFeatures
Who are the Freshers? James Hagan reflects on the defining moments of the class of 2014 as a generation. Every year Beloit College, Wisconsin releases its “mindset list”, which it describes as “a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college”. The list aims to provide insight into the way each set of new students think by examining the societal differences surrounding their young lives and those of older generations. It ranges from major economic and historical changes to minor c u l t u ral differences, this y e a r ’s i ncluding both “Korean cars have alw a y s b e e n a staple on American highways” and “Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High”. The list is mostly based around generational differences but even looking at the differences between the formative years of final year students and incoming freshers can be interesting, helping to illuminate how much the world can change in as short a space of time as four years. Incoming first years who were born in 1992 will never be able to say they drank at a Pavillion Bar without its recently added wings or that they went to a Trinity that didn’t have a Long Room Hub. All night clubs have always had to close at half two and they’ve always had to rush to the off licence before ten. They’ll never have gone to legendary club night Antics (unless Antics ever let any underagers in which is of course extremely unlikely). The will have very few memories of using the punt and will be immune to the charm of the huge, seven sided 50p coin. They’ve never been old enough to walk to the shop on their own and buy penny sweets which actually cost a penny. They don’t remember any Irish Eurovision wins. The lifting of the ban on divorce in 1995 means that they are much more likely to have grown up outside the typical nuclear family. Homosexuality was decriminalised in the first year of their life and has had less of a stigma for them growing up. Haughey resigned as taoiseach in the year they were born but they won’t remember ever living under a government
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that’s not headed by Fianna Fáil. They have also never lived under a male president. Many of them will never have bought a VHS or cassette tape. They’ll be hard pushed to remember a time when only good episodes of The Simpsons existed. They won’t remember a world without mobile phones and rigid, user friendly social networking websites were in full swing by the time they
RENT: a student’s foray into flying the nest. Jay McDonnell shares the liberating experience of moving out for the first time.
Few of the class of 2010 are able to remember the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The class of 2014 will always have always been able to text each other.
All night clubs have always had to close at half two and they’ve always had to rush to the off licence before ten
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started to use the internet- very few of them will have had a geocities site or a xanga, or even a myspace. Most of them will have played a Playstation before a SNES. For some of them, The Catholic Church has been officially cool with Galileo for their whole lives. The first Gulf War has always seemed like it took place in the distant past and they only remember one controversy over refuelling at Shannon. To them, The Birmingham Six have always been free and Northern Ireland has always had the Fair Employment Act. The nostalgia of Italia 90 is lost on them. The USSR was entirely dissolved and the first McDonald’s opened in Moscow before they were born. Margaret Thatcher wasn’t in power in their lifetime. Nelson Mandela has always been a free man and apartheid in South Africa has always been a thing of the past. Overall, a look at the lives of people born four years after current final year students shows that the world has changed quite a lot in a short space of time- while obviously not as drastic as the generational changes found in the Beloit list, the youngest students of Trinity have grown up in a world that is much more commodified, technologically advanced and fundamentally different to the one the older students experienced as children. However, the parallels between the gulf war, which they didn’t experience, and recent warfare in the Middle East helps to illustrate that some things haven’t changed.
Student Life
Facebook was lauched in 2004, the year most of the class of 2014 would have been 12, and therefore too young to join.
To anyone who has yet to move away from home for the first time, the thought of independent student living brings to mind such exciting perks as smoking indoors, not cleaning up, and oh-my-god-finally-a-placeto bring-girls-back-to. Indeed, the allure of what seems to many as a nine-month free gaff was always going to be a primary motivational factor in my moving out. Oh sure, there were practical concerns such as being closer to college and yes, I know it can’t be party all the time and I still have to wake up in the morning, but still, MY OWN HOUSE? A house where, freed from the vicissitudes of parental holidays and siblings who lame it up for everyone, I can decide on a whim to have people back to after a night out? This is surely a seismic shift in my social life. This is going to change the way we think about wasting our youth. At the time of writing I have been living in my new place for less than a day, and though still flush with starry-eyed optimism about the blank slate of parties, seshes, party-seshes, pre-drinks and after-parties that the coming year holds, I must confess that in the wave of excitement, there have been a couple of oversights. Bins, for one. Seriously, did not see that coming. Electricity sure, but you mean I have to pay you to have my rubbish removed? Because since rubbish is the kind of thing landlords hate (I would imagine), you’d think they’d be eager to deal with it themselves rather that leave public health at the mercy of a bunch of feckless 21 year olds,
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The class of 2010’s world-view is influenced through having grown up as the “war on terror” was waged, and they were 9 when the World Trade Centre was attacked in 2001.
At age 7, the class of 2010 may well have gone to see Star Wars Episode 1: the Phantom Menace, and have been wildly impressed. They could then have gone home and played the underwhelming PS1 tie-in game.
Bins, for one. Seriously, I did not see that coming.
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because honestly, those overflowing wheelie bins in the front garden? well, they’re gonna bother you a lot more than they’re gonna bother me, Mr. Landlord. On the subject of tenant-landlord relations, another thing that springs to mind is the possibility of using existing defects with the house as leverage against any potential future complaints. Were WE being too loud last weekend? Well maybe YOU should do something about that horrible fungus in the shower. Emotional Blackmail. It’s what I imagine much of the adult world to be about. Waking up in time for college is another thing. Although one might think that getting out of bed in the morning is a skill to have been mastered sometime around the age one masters using the toilet properly, 21 years of living in a house where everyone gets up at 8 has created in me a debilitating dependence on my parents telling me to get up. Seriously, wikipedia “toxic co-dependency” and that’s pretty much me they’re describing. This is obviously a worry, as failure to set a good behavioural pattern early on is what ends up condemning people to a solid year of nothing but smoking joints and playing COD. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful for the interesting year that is doubtless in store. An era of new friends, better parties, and self discovery of the-hopefully-nontraumatic-kind awaits. Your first real steps into the adult world probably shouldn’t be this fun.
Previous years according to to the Beloit College Mindset List Beloit College in Wisconsin U.S.A has been releasing a list of cultural touchstones that are relevant to the year’s incoming students since 1998. Originally created as a reminder to staff to avoid dated references, it quickly became a catalogue of the changing worldview of each generation. Below are some of the references to previous classes. From www.beloit.edu/mindset
Class of 2010
Class of 2006
• They were mostly born between 1987 and 1988
• They were mostly born between 1983 and 1984
• A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.
• A “hotline” is a consumer service rather than a phone used to avoid accidental nuclear war.
• Reality shows have always been on television.
• Hip-hop and rap have always been popular musical forms.
• Thanks to pervasive headphones in the back seat, parents • Barbie has always had a job. have always been able to speak freely in the front. • Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age. • Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
• China has always been a market-based reforming regime. • When they were born, Madonna was still a radiant woman holding a beatific child
Class of 2002 • They were mostly born between 1979 and 1980 • Their lifetime has always included AIDS. • They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged. • Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them • They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the Cold War. • They were born the year Walkmen were introduced by Sony Jay and four friends have moved into a house in Stoneybatter, the shangri-la of student accomodation. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique
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The University Times | Tuesday, September 21st
TimesFeatures
All changed, changed utterly for print media Tommy Gavin
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nyone with any small familiarity with journalism and Internet has the opportunity to change the way news is distribthe print media will confidently be able to tell you that the uted and received for the better, in a way that television and radio industry is, if not doomed, then in a calamitous state of af- never did. fairs. Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of the New York Times comFirst though, some brief history. In the autobiographies of jourpany, which owns the esteemed paper, recently announced that nalists and editors, there is a penchant for remembering the perieventually it would be forced to cease publishing a printed news- od between the 1950’s and 1970’s as some kind of romantic goldpaper and move entirely online. The trouble the New York Times en age for journalism. Supposedly, during this epoch, journalists faces is neither exclusively American, or recent. The Irish Inde- were heroes of the people who drank for breakfast, slept through pendent began outsourcing sub-editors, who correct copy before lunch, then got the scoop and typed it up in a haze of cigarette it goes to print, in 2007. In 2008, The Irish Times were forced to cut smoke just before the deadline. However, according to Patrick 60 jobs. Kinsella,”there is a tendency to get dew eyed when talking about While 86% of the Irish population say they still regularly read the past. in reality, The Irish Times, for example, went through newspapers, circulation has slowly dropped over the last half- several successive crises over the years, this could just be considdecade as people increasingly get their news online. According ered one of the worse ones” to Patrick Kinsella, Chairman of the Programme Board for DCU’s It is true though that at that time, the primary challenge was to BA in Journalism and freelance journalist, “There are good jour- produce quality editorial content, rather than new business modnalists doing good work, the problem is that more is being done els — the burden of today’s editor. If not a golden age, the print with less, and that means a lower quality. What I would suggest in media was at least sustainable. a situation like the current one would be to increase the number However, professional journalism really existed only since the of journalists and increase the amount they have to work with, so 1920’s, and journalism as we understand it now dates only to the that you end up with a higher quality product that people are will- 1850’s. For it to have materialised, certain factors were necessary. ing to pay for.” Three of the most important of which were the idea of a public The global receswho have a right to be sion and the Internet informed, the rise of the Journalism and news media seem to are two favourite culperiodical press, and prits for the decline the device that made have been on a trajectory that was alof print media. The instant global commusometimes-acknowlnication possible for the ways aimed at what would become the edged, but ultimatefirst time; the electric Internet ly more responsible telegraph. third offender is the When looked at from discipline of the market that treats journalism as simply another this perspective, journalism and news media seem to have been business. While news media can be profitable, it can have the an- on a trajectory that was always aimed at what would become the noying tendency to engage inw costly activities such as long-term Internet. How this is going to work depends on how several issues investigative reporting, and the employment of foreign stringers resolve themselves. The most obvious one is financial viability. and bureaus. Big media conglomerates such as Rupert Murdo- Rupert Murdoch has introduced paywalls (where users must pay ch’s Newscorp and the Irish based Independent News and Media to read content) on the majority of NewsCorp papers’ websites. (INM) are often inclined to regard these practices as unnecessarThe Guardian has opted for a more open approach where all of ily expensive, and have been instituting cost cutting measures its content is free, and depends on great influx of users beholding since the early 1970’s. the advertising. It does have a paid-for iPhone app, but content is The decline of newspapers predates the Internet, but the free once installed.
The Irish Times will have to react to the new realities of the media landscape or perish. Photo: Dargan Crowley-Long The Financial Times hasa made a success of its online presence, where it allows web users to view just a few articles each month before asking for money. The FT said that revenues from digital subscribers rose by 30% in 2009. In Mr Kinsella’s opinion, “there are several different models which are being tried but we don’t yet know which one will succeed. Maybe it will be paywalls, or maybe it will be more of a co-operative model. In any relatively new platform you see a lot of chaos and anarchy in the different distributors before it gradually gets regulated, gradually gets monopolised. I think that will happen with the Internet.” However, some of the best online journalism has come from non-profit sources such as Pro Publica, which was the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year. Wikileaks is also a non-profit organisation that has attracted significant attention for accepting leaks about anything of “ethical, political or diplomatic significance.” According to Adrian Monck, Managing Director & Head of Communications and Media at the World Economic Forum and former journalist, “Wikileaks is interesting raw material, but hugely labour-intensive and sometimes of no real interest to the general public. And being of interest is the first hurdle you have to jump... But it’s good that it’s there, despite being no less quixotic.” Wikileaks does however have the opportunity to be a permanent Watergate-era Washington Post by
regulating its releases, specifically publicising reports or war crimes submitted by combat soldiers in the field. Instead of unloading everything it is sent into the public domain, it could be an institution of accountability and transparency in government, in the spirit of the highest-minded journalism. Another worry associated with the Internet is how it is going to be regulated. The problem is local as well as global. According to Patrick Kinsella, “There has been a case in the last year where the Data Protection Act has been used to stop papers from not even publishing, but retaining information. The person in question has been trying to use the Data Protection Office to destroy records and photos to prevent the ability of newspapers to tell a potentially damaging story. It is very worrying that this case may be used to curtail press freedom.” Ultimately though, the future of news media will be online. News and journalism will suffer in the interim, but it eventually means a greater role for consumers, who are becoming active participants in the way it is discussed and distributed. The print industry is not necessarily doomed and high-end newspapers like The Economist and Financial Times will not stop printing, at least not until e-readers are cheap and ubiquitous, at which point printing will be the unnecessary expense, rather than costly hard-hitting journalism.
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Technology: Twitter and the iPad
iPad is fun but limited
Twitter’s not just for the self-absorbed “@BethORafferty is on twitter because of a newspaper article. NB. i hate twitter.” This is my foray into the Twittersphere, and I think that my first Tweet is good; concise, explanatory and lets you know a little something about me at the same time- mainly, that I hate Twitter. Not with a burning passion, but with a hatred that is born from being bombarded on the internet about news of Kim Kardashian’s latest Tweet: “There’s no such thing as a perfect man, or a perfect woman...just perfect
for each other ;-)” I don’t about your thoughts on soul mates Kim, and the 4,776,578 people who follow you shouldn’t care either. Slowly though, as I find more people on Twitter, I begin to realise that I don’t hate the social networking site because it’s not a good resource, but because of how it endorses celebrity culture so much. And I’m a big hater of modern day celebrity culture. So slowly, I shake off my extreme repulsion, and find people to follow. The first person I follow is @RogerEbert; purely for his
insightful, witty and plentiful Tweets about everything from film to politics, his Tweets fill up my feed fairly rapidly. I investigate other people to follow and settle on @Newsweek for concise news updates with interesting links; @LadyGaga for the utter randomness of her Twitpics; @KanyeWest for some insight into the mind of a bonkers maybe-genius; @KristinReiter for my fashion fixes. I enjoy reading all of their Tweets; my problem is I can’t think of any of my own. I have zero followers (which I don’t
mind) but I still hate putting things out on the internet because it still seems so self indulgent. Who am I to assume anyone would want to read my varying levels of mundane Tweets? Then I have some kind of Twitter-epiphany: I don’t really have to Tweet. I can throw out the odd Tweet about how work is or how much I hate random torrential downpours, but essentially I can just use Twitter for instant updates and the ability to pose questions to people like @JesseJoBlue or
@TheOnion who, let’s face it, I have no access to in my daily life. If you use Twitter in the right way, you can gain everything you want from it without feeling like you’re being incredibly exhibitionist for no good reason. Now that this article is written I shouldn’t keep my Twitter, because I won’t be Tweeting anything; but I will keep my Twitter, for the instant access it gives me to news, fashion, and culture in a way that’s never been seen before. Beth O’Rafferty
v
This week they said: what celebs and the rest have to say on Twitter
@50cent, Rapper
@stevemartintogo, Actor
@glinner, creator of Father Ted
@neiltyson, Astrophysicist
@universitytimes, Periodical
“ Ok I’m asking every man on twitter to join forces with me to fuck every women in the world’s pledge of allegiance to latex and dive in”
“My publicist is nervous about my becoming a Tweeter. He says celebrities tend to make such monumental gaffes. He’s such a typical Wop!”
“Do you think Ryanair hires a brilliant creative team to make their newspaper ads look like the work of a barely literate, rich shithead?”
“Been wishing on first star you see at night & your wishes not coming true? That’s because it’s a planet: Jupiter”
“And @Trinity_News is gone to print. Now we can work without the overbearing smell”
T
he iPad’s release this summer was accompanied with the usual fanfare that marks the release of almost every Apple product. Now that the dust has settled, we can ignore the plethora of Apple executives claiming that the iPad truly is ‘magic’ and see if it has lived up to expectations. The biggest question with the iPad is what should it be compared to? Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive of Apple, claims that it fills the gap between a smart-phone and a laptop computer. Under this classification Jobs would seem to suggest that with the iPad he is targeting the netbook market. On the contrary, Apple has insisted that netbooks belong somewhere else. Apple claims that the iPad belongs to a group of products that primarily are used for browsing, sending emails, watching videos, listening to music, and playing games. It seems then that the iPad is much closer to a laptop then to a Smartphone. It seems natural then to compare the iPad to netbooks rather then the somewhat fledgling market of tablet computers.
The iPad weighs only slightly less then the lightest netbooks (but not that much less) and one has to pay a higher price for a much less powerful machine. It is much more fun to use then a netbook and watching films, viewing images and using the Internet is so much better on the iPad. But it is difficult to write an essay or send an e-mail; the keyboard is much smaller than standard and without caution mistakes are easily made. On top
of this, the amount of space on an entry-level iPad is tiny (enough for only 15 films or 3,000 songs) which limits its ability as a method of viewing media. This is compared to the netbook that has on average fifteen times the capacity while still being much cheaper! While the iPad does a number of tasks better than a netbook, or a laptop for that matter, it does not do enough to justify the price. Manus O’Donnell
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Tuesday, September 21st | The University Times
TimesFeatures
Evolution, creationism and lovely girls At the book launch for the antiscience title made popular by by the Minister for Science Tommy Gavin Author John J May, seen here with Charles Darwin, King Kong and lovely girl. Photo: Derek Walsh
M
aking my way to the conference room in Buswells Hotel on Wednesday night of the 15th of September, a man made room for me and sarcastically remarked “go on in, sure, you’re probably one of them.” We were there for the book launch of The Origins of Specious Nonsense by “poet and street-philosopher” John J May. The contentious antievolution title captured the imagination of the Irish public, as it was supposed to be launched by Minister for Science Conor Lenihan. Perhaps a PR savvy aide insisted that it would look ridiculous for his office being seen to promote such a book, or perhaps it
was because of the intense media pressure upon him, allowing for the possibility of an ingenious disguise, he was not in attendance. Those who were, could be divided into 3 groups; friends and family, sceptics and journalists, and creationists. The last group were clearly in the minority. The evening began with a lecture on “How evolution made monkeys out of man,” and featured actors dressed as King Kong and Charles Darwin, along with the obligatory lovely girls. Despite the pacifying presence of a graciously provided wine table, the lecture and book launch quickly descended into an argument
Seachain an Ghaeilge
Tús úr nua don Ghaeilge as Fíodhna Ní Odhráin Ní Mhurchú
Caithfear admháil go bhfuil pobal Gaelach an-láidir anseo i gColáiste na Tríonóide. Is dream bríomhar ach cinntithe iad muintir an Chumainn Ghaelaigh agus déanann siad a ndícheall an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn i measc na mic léinn. Ina theannta sin bíonn dheis ag Gaeilgeóirí a bheith ina gcónaí le cainteoirí líofa eile sa Scéim Chónaithe: bríonn tríocha duine ag maireachtáil trí mheán na Gaeilge, scaipthe idir Halla na Tríonóide agus Botany Bay. Ach ní bhíonn cainteoirí líofa amháin páirteach sna ghníomhaíochtaí Gaelacha atá ar champas... Mar gheall ar an gcomhphobal fáiltiúil, tá daoine gan Gaeilge in ann freastal ar Oireachtas na Gaeilge nó a bheith páirteach in imeachtaí éagsúla cosúil le ‘Scóráil Sciopaidh’ ag foghlaim cúpla focal de réir a chéile. Agus cinnte dearfa, ag am Éigse na Tríonóide, bíonn gach mac máthar bródúil í a labhairt, t-léine Gaelacha a chaitheamh nó damhsa céilí a dhéanamh. Beidh neart imeachtaí ar siúl i mbliana a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge. Tá sé ar intinn agam Feachtas No Béarla a dhéanamh le linn Éigse na Tríonóide, d’oibrigh go h-an mhaith leis i COBÁC agus mothaím go bhféadfaimis é a dhéanamh níos fearr fiú! Chomh maith le sin beidh Bál na Gaeilge eagraithe ag an gCumann Gaelach) ar siúl ag am Nollag. Le turas go Ciarraí i mí Dheireadh Fhómhai le haghaidh an Oireachtais, céilithe, díospóireachtaí, dramaí agus oícheanta den scoth, is fiú go mór a bheith páirteach linn! In ainneoin na h-iarrachta iontachta anuraidh, bhí easpa Ghaeilge sa pháipéar. Ach, tá athás an domhain orm sibh a chur ar an eolas go mbeidh alt as Gaeilge i ngach eagrán den pháipear i mbliana. Is é Pádraig Schaler a mbeidh ag tabhairt faoin gcolún, tá sé ina dara bhliain sa choláiste ag déanamh staidéir ar an Nua-Ghaeilge agus Stair. Tá post aige mar Oifigeach Foilseachán leis an gCumann Gaelach chomh maith. Ina cholún nua san University Times, beidh sé réimse leathan d’ábhair á phlé aige – cúrsaí reatha, saol na mac léinn, cúrsaí gaeilge srl. An post atá agam i mbliana mar Oifigeach na Gaeilge do Aontas na Mic Léinn ná an teanga a spreagadh agus a fhorbairt. Leis an fhírinne a rá, motháim go bhfuilim ag dul sa treo ceart. Is iontach an rud é go bhfuilimid in ann ár dteanga dhúchais a fheiceáil i bpáipéar oifigiúil Choláiste na Tríonóide. De réir an tseanfhocail: tús maith leath na hoibre!
between the author and the audience. It began civilly, as the most science-literate of the latter, corrected the former’s failed understanding of biological, chemical and physical concepts, and were at least polite. Things eventually got more heated as one man employed the classic “typical fuckin’ religious people” argument, and being so incessant about it that he was eventually escorted out of the hotel by security. Thinzgs calmed down after that, but the tone had already been set, and it was clear that many, if not most of the audience were there as bemused spectators, as I realised I was. The author, a genuinely likeable
and charming man told me afterwards that while he didn’t know what to expect in terms of who would show up, he wasn’t surprised by the hostile reception. He expressed regret that his friend the minister couldn’t come, and didn’t want to get him in trouble. However, he was reluctant to accept that there might be a conflict of interest given the minister’s position. Mr. May wrote the book after thinking about how the theory of evolution seemed contradictory to his theistic “common sense.” I posited that surely the law of conservation of energy; which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, is far more
contradictory to the idea of a creator and that someone should write a book attacking that, but he said that he was ignorant of thermodynamics, and became annoyed. I did learn though, that he had left school at 14, was a bible teacher for Jehovah’s witnesses, and now hates organised religion. Following the conclusion of the launch, the same heckler who was removed was in the smoking area, and apparently felt that he hadn’t sufficiently proved his point, squabbling with anyone who would argue with him. Ethel, a very pleasant Baptist lady who had come to the launch out of interest, tried to calm him and seemed to
have a pacifying effect. Inevitably though, the argument continued, a drink was spilled, a fight nearly broke out, the Gardaí arrived, and he was forced to leave. The book itself is more like a first generation blog than anything else, a 250 page ramble full of lists and full-caps sentences punctuated by exclamation marks. Semi-coherent at the best of times, it rambles on with no discernable evidence to back it up beyond dubious and poorly thought out appeals to “common sense.” Published himself and financed mostly by his wealthy brother who shares his creationist beliefs, the lack of an editor is
glaring. Even the sceptics I talked to really only objected to the idea of the minister for science attending, after that, there was little left that was concrete enough to be sceptical of. Had the minister not pledged his attendance, the headlines would have read “eccentric poet and street philosopher selfpublishes own book refuting science,” but I cannot think of a paper that would run it. However, the minister did get himself involved, and brought us all along for the ride, Darwin, King Kong and all. And of course the lovely girls.
A message from your Education Officer
Be a leader, not a follower The Students’ Union could not operate without the work of the Class Reps. Each year and course in College can elect at least one Class Rep to represent their views to the Union. Class Reps are voting members of SU Council and can use this to direct the SU’s activities and work. A Class Rep can be as effective as any Sabbatical Officer in dealing with the problems that their class may encounter. It is the Class Rep’s job to talk to lecturers if there is a problem or to get an extension on an assignment for their class. A Class Rep can organise parties for their class and use the Union’s resources to get deals and discounts. Class Reps can be voted onto different committees which are set up by the Union to look at particular issues facing students, whether it is how to make the College more environmentally friendly or how to make RAG week even better. The Class Rep is a way for students to tell the Sabbatical Officers what they should be doing and what they are doing wrong. Being a Class Rep involves working closely with both College staff and students. It is a great experience and a fantastic way to throw yourself head first into college life. It’s also one of the best ways to make friends from all across the College. You’ll get to know your class, emailing and speaking with them regularly, and working through problems. A Class Rep is essentially the Welfare, Education, Communications and Ents officer for their class. So hand up the nomination form to the left there during Freshers’ Week and represent your friends and colleagues in your SU. It’s a great way to get involved in College life and really make a difference for your peers. Jen Fox Education Officer, TCDSU
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The University Times | Tuesday, September 21st 2010
TimesOPINION Driving off into the sunset
Letters to the Editor
Letters should be posted to “The Editor, The University Times, House 6, Trinity College” or sent by email to letters@universitytimes.ie We cannot guarantee that all letters will be published. Letters may be edited for length and/or style.
Consider the Seagull Sir, As you have no doubt noticed, Trinity College has for the past year been terrorised by an arrogant and cunning seagull who seems to revel in playing high-jinks on various members of the college community. She is a formidable bird who brazenly struts about on the Fellows’ Square grass (blithely flouting a fundamental campus rule, if I am not mistaken) like something out of the popular ‘70s band The Bee Gees. On one occasion she shat, rather spectacularly, on the redhaired Law sophister John Condon. I am mindful that, as we begin a new academic year and college is once again steeped in the bright-eyed ignorance of renewed, ephemeral enchantment, both Freshman and notso-Freshman should remember that birds like this are out there, among us. Campus security has sadly failed so far to make any attempt at controlling this beast and it is impossible to be sure how many of her kind are out there. The bird, who seems to consider herself “cock of the walk”, must be destroyed, or at least banished. In an abject abdication of their duties to the college community, the security team has routinely failed to make this seagull a jailbird. At large, the seagull remains top of the pecking order, unfettered by the Junior Dean, despite her (the seagull’s) frequent dirty protests. Yours etc, Luke O’Connell JS History & English
A Talbot coupé idles beneath the Campanile following the Wedding of Annelise Berghenti and Colin Dreyfuss on Saturday 11th September. Photo: Tom Lowe
The University Times’ role Sir, Since the University Times change from the tabloid format of The Record to its current broadsheet form it has struggled to differentiate itself from Trinity News. Both papers have the same target market, the same pool of writers to select from and report on the same stories. If this two paper system is to continue I think a stronger editorial mandate will be needed in order for each paper to establish its individual personality. Since the The University Times is partially directly funded by students it should therefore focus entirely on matters effecting the Trinity students and leave matters of foreign affairs and the like, to other publications. This way students will receive more bang for their buck. Yours etc, Darragh Haugh JS Law
Student’s View: Darragh Haugh
We have abdicated our political responsibility W
e are all aware that Ireland is in a state of flux these days. Our banking system is ranked somewhere around 129th in the world, unemployment is at a twenty year high of 13%, no one has any real faith in the current establishment, and the weather is still appalling eleven months of the year. So a lot of bad news really, and an abundance of bad news only leads to one thing, people playing the blame game, which has recently overtaken GAA as our national pastime. We heap scorn at bankers, politicians and corporate executives as if they are ex Big Brother house mates. We are so eager to blame that a lot of us seem to have missed the problem a little closer to home; us. We are the apathetic generation. Come on, be honest with yourself, when is the last time you really took a genuine interest and were actively involved in Irish politics? Also before you ask, getting hammered and going to a no fees protest with the lads or joining a college political party so you could score one of its members doesn’t really count. The obvious evidence of this is we, as a nation, have the lowest voter turnout in Western Europe, below
50% for local elections. We seem to think that the outcome is predestined, that our vote is completely pointless, because in the end, sure isn’t it all going to work out for the best? Hell, I actually don’t know if I can explain the fundamental political differences between Fianna Fail and Fine Geal. I just know that since my parents vote for one, then so should I. Simply put, we have abdicated our political responsibility. So why don’t we care? Maybe since most of us grew up during the greatest period of Irish prosperity in history, effectively making us the Irish equivalent of the baby boomer generation. Since we had money in our pockets there was never anything to campaign for. Growing up in such a climate of relative contentment meant our political spirits became atrophied. Then again, maybe the increased interest in powerful and influential foreign governments, through the advent of the internet and dozens of 24 hour news networks, made us lose interest in the relatively humble Irish system. Why watch RTE 6.1 news report on Brian Lenihan’s almost endless meetings with Anglo-Irish executives when we can watch Cameron and Obama
Do you want to write for the University Times? We’d love to hear from you. See www.universitytimes.ie/apply
set the agenda for western democracies? It’s only natural that we become more interested in the world stage. So what is to been done, how can we kick ourselves out of this a-political funk? I’m not suggesting that we become militant to the point where we march at the drop of a hat, because that would only make us French. Firstly, ask what you want out of this country. What in particular about this nation should be handled differently? Whether it’s the current economic tail spin, crime and punishment or the endless labyrinth otherwise known as the Irish health system. Then it’s time to educate yourself, simply reading the cover of a newspaper while you wait in a queue to buy a chicken fillet roll isn’t enough. As college students we’re supposed to be pretentious know it all’s, why not put it to use and research your topic? Make an opinion that is unique to you and not borrowed from a deep breathing caller on the Joe Duffy show. Then please God, go out and vote. It’s a bit of a bother, but how much of a burden is taking a couple of hours to have your say on a national level. However, this alone doesn’t give you the right to
constantly complain, because taking an interest every few years really isn’t taking an interest. Regardless of whether you’re on the winning side of a vote, you should stay involved. Your TD works for you and they should earn every cent of their wage so get to know them. Call them, otherwise they are unlikely to keep all those wonderful promises they made around campaign time. Most importantly don’t be afraid to talk about your beliefs and concerns with friends. Don’t worry about sounding uniformed because most of us are. Outside of that, I really can’t say. You could join a political party in college or make friends with a couple of anarchists. It doesn’t really matter as long as you stay involved at some level. Becoming a political activist probably won’t immediately improve the state of the country but it certainly won’t make this a worse place to live. We have absolutely zero reasons not to care. Our future is always open to change, but it must start somewhere. Whether you’re looking for a revolution or simply an evolution speak up and don’t be so quick to condemn without knowing the facts.
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Tuesday, September 21st 2010 | The University Times
TimesEDITORIAL
The University Times On Registration Fees A
s Trinity’s ranking among the world’s universities slips, much has been made of the need for another way to fund third-level education in Ireland which meets its financial needs. People have called for a full-blown return of fees, a student loan system, a better grants system which covers more people but leaves the wealthy to cover their own costs and many more solutions have been proposed.
This newspaper opposes any requirement placed on students which diminishes access to third-level fees, and as such, considers many of these ideas difficult to stomach. However, none is so poisonous as that which has been quietly fed to us without any major change in policy by the government, merely a drip, drip, drip of dropping equitability. The Student Services Charge, commonly
known as the Registration Fee, was a charge brought in with free fees to allow third-level institutions to provide services to the student body as a whole without affecting its expenditure on the business of teaching. It was meant to cover things not essential to the running of a college but that were there to provide a better experience to its students. This fee has been completely abstracted
from its original intention, jumping several hundreds of percentage points in the last five years. Finally, students have received an admission from College of what we have known all along, that the Registration Fee is being used as a sort of “unofficial fee” - to balance the reduction in the government’s grant to colleges across the country. There is a direct line of causation that
amounts to the government charging students the equivalent of a €1,500 tax. As the government cuts funding for our university, it is simultaneously allowing it to charge us the difference, without ever acknowledging what’s going on. This policy is not only duplicitous, but inhibitive to those students who want to learn but lack the funds. These are the students who need the most help and this government is failing them.
Diary of a Future Taoiseach: Declan Harmon
Welcome to Trinity. Please pay on the way out
I
Opponents of the Park 51 project protest in Manhattan against the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”. Photo: The Daily Caller
Islamic centre a test for America and pluralism Eye on America
Eugene Reavey
A
s the summer drew to a close and the days shortened in New York, the most famous city on earth once again found itself under the glaring spotlight of the world’s media. Nine years since the tragic terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, however, in Lower Manhattan on the corner of Liberty and West St, where Ground Zero is situated, tensions and emotions are still running as high as ever. The controversy surrounds the proposed development of a new Islamic cultural centre and mosque two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. The debate has thrust the perception of Muslims in America into the spotlight, and the growing intolerance of Islam in the land of the free. The debate on whether the mosque should be allowed has often become disorientated; varying from rash religious intolerance to carefully reasoned legal opinions, with very little discussion on the broader and more important social and cultural issues that the controversy prompts. Planning permission for the mosque was initially granted, and for some time the proposed mosque went unnoticed. That was until the story was brought to the public consciousness by the far right internet blogger Pamela Geller.
Her blog post, “Monster Mosque pushes ahead in shadow of World Trade Centre and Islamic Death and Destruction,” could hardly have been any more inflammatory, and it awakened a conservative backlash against the proposal. Many political leaders in the U.S have failed to clothe themselves in glory during the controversy, and there appears at best to be a worrying carelessness in some of the remarks made. The argument against the mosque runs that it would be offensive to the memory of those who perished in the 9/11 attacks, and their surviving relatives. It cannot be disputed that this is a valid concern, however, the language in which this argument has been couched is a cause for some worry. Protestors were seen carrying signs that read, “Everything I need to know about Islam, I learnt on 9/11,” while the Dallas pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress has recently claimed on prime time American television that Islam is a religion that encourages paedophilia. The leading Republican Newt Gingrich has compared the plans as the equivalent of placing a Nazi memorial at Auschwitz. One inescapably jumps to the conclusion that whatever the intellectual capabilities of Dr Jeffress, a man in Newt Gingrich’s position really should know
better. To use the language of equivalency in claiming that a mosque should not exist at Ground Zero until there is a synagogue at Mecca, not only conflates the issue, its inherent philosophy crumbles in the face of the democratic principles that America is so keen to export around then world, as well as the Constitutional separation of Church and State that is so jealously guarded by the American Superior Courts. The proposed mosque has brought into the spotlight the wider treatment of Muslims in American society. Groups calling themselves the Freedom Defence Initiative and Stop the Islamization of America have sponsored advertisements offering Muslims a “safe” way to give up Islam, while a Floridian pastor recently made headlines for organising a burning of the Koran. What message is the ordinary Muslim in America invited to take from such intolerance? The message coming from those on the right seems to follow the logic that American Muslims are Muslim first and American second, while it appears that they are carelessly, or worse, deliberately blurring the distinction between Islam and terror. The right in America should carefully note that they find allies in the above activities in the shape of Al-Qaeda. They have been known to freely proselytise the prominence of Islam over nationality, while their blurring of Islam and terror needs no introduction. However, it would be too easy to brand the American right as Islamophobes. First, it is true that the proposed site for the Cordoba Mosque could easily cause offence to the families of 9/11. Time Magazine
has reported that a senior Muslim cleric feels that in the battle to build the mosque, Muslims might win in the court of law, but lose in the court of public opinion. Secondly, the term Islamophobia is in itself inherently problematic. It connotes that any grievance with the teachings of Islam must necessarily be phobic. It is obvious that this is not the case, the treatment of women, and the sometimes galling consequences of Sharia law cannot be ignored or explained away. Human rights abuses in Iran and other Islamic countries are rightly condemned; however, one could convincingly argue that such crimes have more to do with the regimes in place in these countries, rather than the religion of Islam. The proposed mosque has induced comment from nearly every political figure in the United States including President Barack Obama, who merely stated that the organisers had a constitutional right to build the mosque, but did not comment on the wisdom of the location. The Economist has opined that, “Every single argument put forward for blocking this project leans in some way on the misconceived notion that all Muslims, and Islam itself, share the responsibility for, or are tainted by, the atrocities of 9/11.” Such a view might be simplistic given the grief and pain that still haunts the families of the 9/11 tragedy, however, one must feel whatever the outcome of this controversy, the religious intolerance and Islamophobia that has been prompted by the proposed mosque is a worrying development, and one that the US government should ignore at its peril.
f you are one of our 4,000 incoming Freshers, welcome to Trinity. Having worked so hard to get here, it may surprise you to find out that you’re not as great as you think you are. Had you entered here three weeks ago you would have been a student of one of the top 50 universities in the world according to the QS World University Rankings. Now, you will have to settle for being part of the 52nd best. While the system by which the QS rankings are determined is questionable, the trend is undeniable – Trinity and other Irish universities are slipping after a decade of rapid improvement. There is only one reason for this: a shortage of money. The government simply can not afford to continue to fund the third level sector to the extent it has until now. At the same time, our third level institutions have to cope with an expected increase of over 55,000 students in the next ten years, as well as raising standards to bring about the ‘smart economy’ that is crucial to our economic future. Providing higher standards for more students while having your funding cut is simply impossible. Irish students supposedly benefit from free tuition fees at third level. Of course, the fees are not ‘free’, they are simply paid on your behalf by the State. In addition, you pay a €1,500 ‘registration charge’, which everybody except the Minister for Education accepts is a tuition fee by another name. The idea behind the introduction of ‘free fees’ by the Labour Party in 1996 was to increase participation in third level education by the disadvantaged and to provide sustainable funding to the institutions. It has done neither. Instead of being a hand up to poorer students, ‘free fees’ has simply been a hand out to middle and higher income parents. If we want to begin to raise standards in our universities again, the institutions are going to have to draw money from a wider range of sources. The government should always be a major investor in higher education. There is a role for the private sector also. However, there is no getting away from the fact that if we really want a world class education, then us students are going to have to start contributing more financially. A graduate loans scheme is an attractive option in this regard. While it would not resolve the immediate funding crisis, it does provide a medium and long-term solution. It allows for education to be entirely free at point of access and it places the burden of payment on the person that benefits most from the education: the student. None of us like the idea of having to pay. But unless we want standards to continue to drop, the status quo is not an option. Politicians of all parties are too afraid of the ire of middle class voters to admit publically that it is simply not possible to fund our higher education system to the level it needs to be funded without some form of student contribution. Any politician – including the politicians in training in the Students’ Union – who tells you that the current system of funding is sustainable or that standards can be maintained without students paying something towards it is either a fool or a liar. The next time one of them tries to, ask them which they are.
Check out Declan’s blog at declanharmon.universitytimes.ie for more rabble-rousing, home truths and SU-bashing
online
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The University Times | Tuesday, September 21st 2010
TimesOPINION News analysis: Gaza Peace Talks
Peace talks to nowhere invite comparisons with the North Everyone already knows the plan, but the composition of the parties is not conducive to a lasting peace in the region, argues Rónán Burtenshaw. This month Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were renewed amid much media fanfare in Washington, D.C. But the optimistic tone put forward by both the Obama administration and the media belied the intense scepticism towards the process from those living in the region. A salient question for this round of negotiations underlies the most integral problem with the parties involved, “how far will [they] proceed before someone declares “the emperor is naked?” That was the question put forward recently by columnist Moshe Arens of Ha’aretz about President Mahmoud Abbas. President Abbas was initially against beginning these negotiations. His Fatah party wanted Israel to abide by previous agreements before entering into new talks. That would mean a total settlement freeze, a condemnation of illegal settlement activity, a lifting of the blockade on Gaza and a resumption of the path to peace negotiated in the Oslo Accords. He fell into his current position after intense pressure from the Obama administration encouraged the Arab League, one of his strongest backers, to support negotiations. The problem is that President Abbas’ capitulation to this pressure has sent him to a negotiating table to argue the case for a people he has scant mandate to represent. Elected in 2005 as leader of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Abbas has twice seen his term expire without calling for new elections. His support in Fatah and the PLO for entering these talks is insufficient. These talks begin amid open opposition from the people of the West Bank, the more moderate Palestinian territory, whose freedoms had to be curtailed by the Palestinian Authority to prevent widespread demonstrations. Agreeing to enter this process was a desperate attempt to remain relevant by going alone. It was also a process of, as Human Rights lawyer and former PLO negotiator Diana Buttu called it, “a leader who had always been weak further weakening himself.” And what of Hamas? When Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of how it was essential to have the hardliners at the table in peace negotiations, he was right. He just wasn’t applying that standard to his own negotiations. The current peace process is attempting to negotiate a two-state solution without the democratically-elected representatives of 1.4 million people of the 3.3 million living in the second state. Without Hamas at the talks any outcome will be resoundingly rejected by Gazans and a sizeable proportion of those living in the West Bank. Any deal relies on the ability of the Palestinians to guarantee security for the people of Israel and this will be impossible without the support of Hamas. Peace in Northern Ireland could not be secured without the DUP and Sinn Féin negotiating. Many said that this was impossible; that Sinn Féin were absolutists and that discussions were out
Away from the negotiating table, the human consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are evident. Photo: Rafah Today of the question while they continued to follow the path of violent These peace negotiations could not offer a more stark contrast. Republicanism. Comparisons between Sinn Féin and Hamas are Hamas are excluded outright. Support is tepid at most in mainfar from exact, but the affirmation this month by Hamas’ Head of stream Palestinian politics. Avigdor Lieberman and the far-right International Relations Osama Hamden that they would accept a in Israel are now major players and their voices don’t appear to two-state solution if the majority of Palestinians voted for it shows be involved much. The same can be said of the parties of the prethat they too would be willing to vious, Olmert-led govcurb their absolutism if brought The current peace process is attempting ernment. Republicans into genuine negotiations. The role in the U.S. will heap to negotiate a two-state solution without enormous pressure on of the DUP might be even more comparable in all of this, they did the democratically-elected representa- Obama for any deal an about-turn on the process and he strikes that even tives of 1.4 million people of the 3.3 mil- slightly disadvantages the Good Friday Agreement once they felt their position underIsrael. Politics are very lion living in the second state. mined their power. Expect Hamas much a part of this to do the same in the future if the process. Palestinian people scent a genuine But other similarichance at self-determination. ties with the Northern Ireland situation might be more signifiThe peace process in the North also managed to divorce itself cant. It is generally acknowledged that an important factor in from politics as much as possible. All major parties in the Republic the success of those negotiations was the role of the Americans. were onboard, as were those in the U.K. The Irish situation was not While the British were the most powerful players on the ground something that Clinton was likely to be attacked on by his Repub- and were seen as favouring the Unionists, the US was central to lican foes over in the U.S. In Northern Ireland itself all of the sig- the negotiations and provided a pro-Nationalist counterbalance. nificant political voices were at the table, bar the DUP. They quick- This prevented one side from being too powerful in the process, ly joined in once they were voted into power. which would mean that they could simply step back from the
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negotiations at a whim in the knowledge that their opposition was weak. In this case, the US is squarely on the side of the Israelis. They are incapable of acting as moderators, and a peace process can only continue when this is recognised. The US must be seen as a power-broker with a stake in the region, but one who is on the side of Israel and needs to be strongly counterbalanced. Anyone who doubts this need only view President Obama’s 2008 speech to AIPAC where he asserted that Jerusalem must remain the “undivided capital of Israel.” That is the kind of rhetoric usually reserved for staunch or extreme Zionists. He is joined on the moderating team by Hilary Clinton, his Secretary of State, who is widely known for her pro-Israeli views. Add to that the Egyptians, the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in the region, and Jordan, burdened with six million Palestinian refugees and desperate for any resolution, and you have a thoroughly one-sided and therefore incapable set of moderators. One option for a counterbalance, as evidenced by the Freedom Flotilla episode, is Turkey. But they are still seen as incapable of standing up to the Americans. Another is Saudi Arabia. The Saudis hold considerable sway in the US and elsewhere and their opinions are respected by those within Palestinian politics. They have the benefit also of having authored a peace plan for the region supported by influential figures on the American side like Zbigniew Brzezinski and Thomas Friedman. The plan, known as the Arab Peace Initiative, was presented to the Arab League in 2002 by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and unanimously endorsed. It offered Israel not only Arab recognition for a Jewish state but Arab assistance in assuring security. It was based around the internationally agreed 1967 borders and has been readopted by the Arab League on several occasions since. But, to a large extent, the content of this plan and the impending agreement from the current round of talks is irrelevant. That is why these talks will fail. We already know the basic agreement. The 1967 borders, with a degree of land-swapping involving a small amount of settlement in the West Bank for a channel between the two Palestinian territories. Palestinian refugees will be given a limited right of return and Jerusalem will not be under the exclusive control of Israel; it will either be divided or mutually administered. Peace talks for the region don’t need to come up with a new plan, or a new proposal. The most important part of any peace talks is getting the parties to agree to a framework for implementing what everyone already knows is the deal. The framework will have to stand the test of an undoubtedly difficult introductory phase. This round of negotiation is a million miles away from delivering that. It is being pushed forward not by the people in the region but by the Obama administration. This is so much the case that even the Israeli government doesn’t know what their Prime Minister will tell his Palestinian dialogue partners. That is why President Obama has been entirely unable to instil in either Israelis or Palestinians his patented brand of hope. And that’s also why these peace talks are going nowhere.
Your guide to Ireland’s potential Presidents Although the race for the Áras is not due to conclude until November 2011, the presidential election is heating up, writes Dan Finnegan Nominations to succeed President McAleese are being sought and planned by politicians and public figures, while the rest of the country asks - Is there any significance to the Park at all? Joycean scholar Senator David Norris was first out of the traps declaring his interest in standing for election and this seems to have forced others to either declare themselves or at least consider their hand. Some might ask if the politicians and media should be bothered with this news item at all, considering the 450,000 unemployed in Ireland or the taxpayer’s most recent invoice for the split of the toxic Anglo Irish Bank. However, this is a race that is shaping up to be interesting and entertaining considering some of the heavyweights in the frame - certainly the race will be much more interesting to an Irish public overfed on a diet of NAMA and developers at this stage. The role of the President has been described as an ‘ambassadorial role’, criticised as a costly position simply to represent Ireland. However, the President is, amongst other things, the head of the Irish state, the commander-in-chief of the Irish military forces and the person with the power to dissolve Dáil Éireann. The President also has the important function of signing Bills into law, including the often controversial power to test a Bill’s constitutionality before he or she signs it into law. Ms McAleese, who is a former lecturer in the School of Law, has been the President of Ireland since 11 November 1997 and is coming to the end of
her second term, having been re-elected unopposed in 2004. Here is a selection of her potential successors.
Senator David Norris The flamboyant senator is a seasoned gay rights activist and frequent attendee of Trinity wine receptions. Norris is focusing on his record in the Seanad and the obvious advantage that he is not a member of a political party. Voters will react positively to this, but without a party backing, Norris will not even be on the ballot paper. The nomination of a political party is the main avenue to Áras an Úachtarán but with Labour having its own contest now, Norris will struggle. A formidable debater, David Norris would be an entertaining addition to the presidential election. He may not be everybody’s cup of tea but he is straight-talking, a trait desired by an electorate tired of jargon and BS. Replacing a female president with a gay one would definitely cement Ireland as the accepting, liberal country we claim to be.
Mairéad McGuinness The popular MEP has consistently been mooted as the obvious Fine Gael nomination for the election. She is well-regarded within the party, admired outside of it and has not been tarred with any expense scandals or other black marks on her record. When asked if she intended to run, Ms. McGuinness replied “I haven’t ruled it out, but I haven’t been asked by the party.” This is not entirely surprising, given that Enda
Kenny is busy enough trying to topple the Government and avoid his young frontbenchers toppling him. McGuinness has a solid career behind her, serving in the European Parliament for a second term, but was rejected by the people of Louth in the 2007 general election. She may not have universal appeal to those outside the Fine Gael circle, but McGuinness can hold her own in a political fight and will not be shouted down by her opponents.
Michael D. Higgins Mr. Higgins is a Labour TD for Galway West and is a former Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. Higgins has declared his interest before, hoping to secure the Labour nomination in 2004, but the party ultimately decided not to run a candidate. This time around, Labour are almost certainly going to run a candidate and Michael D has again thrown his cultured hat into the mixer. He has Cabinet experience as an asset and is a very well-spoken and personable member of the Dáil, which would suit the Presidency’s ambassadorial nature. He is known for his human rights work, which has built him up a bit of a cult following, but at 69 years of age, his opportunity may have slipped away. The Presidency is a role demanding energy and while Higgins travels from his Galway constituency, the role of President demands so much more, with Mrs. McAleese registering Russia as her most recent destination.
Fergus Finlay
Like Mr. Higgins, Fergus Finlay is seeking a nomination to run from the Labour Party.Though not an elected politician, Finlay is very much in the public eye, often offering political commentary through the media. He is the chief executive of children’s charity Barnardo’s and an ardent campaigner for children’s rights and social justice - something that would sit very well with a Labour party ethos. As a former spin-doctor, Finlay knows how to get someone elected but it may be very different with his own name on the ballot paper. A lack of experience is a difficulty that he must overcome but with ‘fat cat’ politicians yet to feel the full fury of the electorate, there may be a gaping opportunity for Finlay to seize his chance and bring a fresh, independent attitude to the Áras.
Bertie Ahern Love him or hate him (and he has upset more than a few applecarts), Bertie is one of the most significant political figures in Irish history. Bertie played a major role in the Good Friday Agreement, where a framework for power-sharing in Northern Ireland was agreed.Ahern also presided over the Celtic Tiger boom years as Taoiseach and has come out of the economic meltdown largely unscathed, with current Taoiseach Brian Cowen shouldering the majority of criticism. However, Bertie is no stranger to scandal and his financial irregularities haunted him until his resignation in April 2008. The Mahon Tribunal is still no closer to reaching a
conclusion but it is clear that it doesn’t buy his ‘the money was just resting in my account’ story. Ahern is a charismatic figure, with strong links to foreign diplomats but his flawed legacy leaves far too many targets for potential opponents to exploit. One thing is certain; there will be many twists and turns in this presidential race. There is over a year remaining until election day so candidates being dismissedd now may yet push on ahead or fall at one of the many hurdles. It is too early to pick a favourite from the above frontrunners and it is certain that more names will be thrown into the mix before all is said and done. Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil is known to be a popular choice within the party, as is Mary O’Rourke. Gerry Adams and Trevor Sargent are other disregarded names but the sense is that the electorate may prefer a President that is not embroiled in the corrupt and dishonoured political circle. Even Tony Blair has offered an opinion in his recently released memoirs, stating that Bono, who represents Ireland abroad for a living, “could have been president or prime minister standing on his head.” Only time will tell who ultimately achieves victory, but from a TCD point of view, it would be nice to have another President with strong connections to our historical university.
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Tuesday, September 21st 2010 | The University Times
TimesOPINION
New generation is the answer to our woes Now is the time to channel the spirits of Trinity’s late greats and reimagine Ireland writes Dr Elaine Byrne
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ome of the world’s most influential political philosophers and political activists were students of Trinity College Dublin. Their contributions to public life were such that statues were erected in their honour around the cobbled campus. Imagine that! Pieces of bronze and stone delicately and patiently crafted into commemorative works of political art for the edification of Irish citizens. Today’s student body are understandably not too bothered about historical or contemporary political icons and
certainly not predisposed to commissioning statues to remember their memory. Ireland, for instance, recorded the largest jump in unemployment of the 25 leading OECD countries in 2009 with a 57% increase. Emigration has become that normal everyday journey once more. Most of us are disillusioned, disappointed and disheartened because the very possibility of politics has been confronted by apathy, lethargy and inertia. But statues were built to inspire. To remind us about the consequences of naked ambition, idealism, imagination and persistence. So here’s an idea. We have the youngest demographic profile in Europe and this brings with it the opportunity for a new generation to instigate a fundamental and cathartic transformation within every aspect of Irish public life. Irish history has been defined by young men and
women who gave their lives to politics. Dotted around Dublin are the statues of Robert Emmet, Charles Stewart Parnell and James Larkin. Emmet was 25 when executed for his part in the failed 1803 rebellion. Parnell was one of the youngest elected members to the House of Commons at 29. Larkin was 36 when he co-founded the Irish Labour Party. The first governments of Independent Ireland were comprised of Ministers in their thirties. Michael Collins was 31 when he died. Seán Lemass was 27 when he co-founded Fianna Fáil. Perhaps the most influential of them all was Henry Grattan. His statue, like his memory, is obscured by trees on College Green. It stands opposite the front gate of Trinity with a hand outstretched as he looks towards his old parliament – now occupied by a bank that we, the people, partly own.
In the Ireland of the late eighteenth century, Grattan was the emphatic symbol of the politics of patriotism. His political apprenticeship began when still a student at Trinity. These formative years aroused him to radically reinvigorate politics. In his celebrated 24-page “Letter to the citizens of Dublin”, in 1797, Grattan wrote that in order to “save the country… it was absolutely necessary to reform the state”. The “continuation of the old system”, he believed, would lead to Ireland’s downfall because the people no longer had confidence in parliament. He was right. A year later the 1798 rebellion occurred and the Act of Union was subsequently introduced which robbed Ireland of legislative independence for 120 years. Grattan was punished for trying to reform politics and his portrait was removed from the Hall of Trinity College.
Now, more than ever, It is time to restore his memory to the halls of Trinity College. The Dublin of Grattan’s era was alive with political clubs, associations and debating chambers and he was a prominent member of the influential patriot club known colloquially as the ‘Monks of the Screw.’ Why not re-establish the patriot clubs on campus? Why not bring the philosophies of the statutes alive? Trinity students study in the geographical heart of Dublin city in the political centre of Irish public life. But what contribution will they make to their country, in this time of extraordinary crisis? But do Trinity students recognise the potential and capability that they have within them to reimage Ireland like the statues before them? Liberate the spirit of Grattan’s audacity!
Conservative revival damages democracy Jack Farrell
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onservatives and the Republican Party seem willing to do anything they can to prevent the Democratic Party from achieving any legislative success. Regardless of the issue at hand, they are willing to position themselves in opposition to Obama et al., bring democracy to a standstill, and do whatever they think they need to be successful in future elections. Democracy by nature is a progressive concept, constantly evolving since it’s inception, keeping with the times, and reacting to the wants and needs of the people. This growth has been stunted by the resistance to change, meaning that the US has been left behind by its democratic contemporaries. Modern democracy is fundamentally socialist and Europe can thus be regarded as the true bastion of modern democracy. It encompasses many things but comprises three fundamental principles; universal healthcare, education and freedom of participation. When Obama took office in 2009 we expected to see a more liberal, progressive America. “Change” was going to happen and America was going to regain its position as the global democratic standard bearer. This idea has stalled due to the insecurities of the American people, and these insecurities have allowed a new wave of conservatism to emerge. These new Republicans lack constructive ideas and in order to try and stem the percieved liberal tide, they have embraced fundamentalist nationalism. The Tea Party movement has shot to prominence since Obama came
to office, funded by a group of right-wing billionaires whose agenda is to oppose the Democrats at every opportunity regardless of the issue. Freedom of Speech is a founding principle of American democracy but this freedom has allowed an extremely partisan media, with consequent mass misinformation of the American people. For example, 20% of the population believe that Obama is a Muslim. I don’t have an intrinsic problem with conservatives; the problem I have with the
The Tea Party movement is funded by a group of right-wing billionaires whose agenda is to oppose the Democrats at every opportunity
Tea Party movement and the politicians who support it is their resistance to change and their unwillingness to accept a legitimate argument. Universal healthcare seems to be an ideal that is a moral absolute, and therefore it seems strange that a responsive Democratic government would not a have stronger public healthcare system, but when steps are taken towards universal healthcare conservatives respond with buzz-words such as “socialist” in an attempt to scare the American
people with cold war rhetoric. Glenn Beck is a brash and intensely “patriotic” talkshow host, often tearing up at the thought of America suffering. He is an idiot. His patriotism is not founded upon a love of all that is great and good but instead, on suspicion and xenophobia. Propagandists such as Beck and Sarah Palin are cynical in their opposition to issues such as healthcare; they deliberately fail to see the wider picture, and they fail to recognise the damage that they are causing both to America itself and to its perception in the wider world. Conservatives argue, for example, that the proposed Park 17 Cultural Centre, dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque” by the media would be a victory for Al-Qaeda; this portrays all Muslims as extremists. This has nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11; this is an issue of religious freedom, the extension of the olive branch to a marginalised portion of the population and a necessary step if America is to restart social progression. The resurrection of conservatism in the United States has lead to the government stagnating. Conservatives are willing to cripple and demoralise their own country in order to make Obama fail; they need to put their country first. As was the case for the Boston Tea Party of 1773, this tea needs to be dumped.
Dan Ferrick on grade inflation
“We are being coddled and lied to by the system”
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he rate of First Class Honours degrees being awarded by colleges has increased by more than 100% since 1994. You may think that seems reasonable since the quality of teaching techniques has improved over the last 16 years, and the number of students going to college has also increased, yet that doesn’t explain the stark rise in grades being received. Yes, it accounts for part of the increase but not for the figures we are seeing today. First off, if you increase the number of students going to college this should really only keep the percentage the same; the bell curve should remain stable. The more random numbers you put in the more of the average you should see. Even in the Leaving Cert, if an unusually large number of students fail a subject they change the marking scheme so that the results that come out are within a close comparison to the previous year’s results. But this is not the case if students perform unusually well. They hock improved results up to better teaching and better students. It would be nice to say yes students are just getting smarter but it’s simply not true. Even now, looking back, I feel that the Leaving Cert is being dumbed down. Just look at he new log tables - they now include all the formulae. When I did it, I had to learn all those formulas and be able to apply them as well. A Fresher reading this may feel like I just undermined their CAO points - well that’s what’s happening to our degrees. According to The Irish Times, Google, along with other major multinational companies, were concerned with grade inflation in Ireland’s colleges and the lower quality of graduate they are turning out. I personally don’t want to turn up to a job interview only to have the potential employer turn around and say to me “hmm... I see you got First Class Honours in 2012. Well that was during a period of major grade inflation so that really only equates to a II.1 and the minimum requirement for this job is a first”. It’s a major issue and it needs to be dealt with now. In effect we are being coddled and lied to by the system. We need a fair education system, one where the top get the recognition they deserve and the bottom get the help they require. It’s insulting to be told that you’re right when in fact you are wrong. They might as well pat us on the head when they hand us the degree while at the same time cashing their cheque for turning out such high performing students. That’s what it really comes down to. That’s what it is all about; improving the status of college, so that it looks more appealing and receives a higher ranking, and thus more money for courses filled. For some they’ll be happy to take their results even if they didn’t deserve them. Others will be annoyed to be awarded the same degree as Johnny No-Study. So where should the blame fall? You could look to lecturers who wish to appear as brilliant educators or Heads of Department who pressure staff to turn out higher results, or the Government for not providing adequate funding. However, we have no time for the blame game. We are in this situation and it must be resolved. In the long run it’s we students who will lose out. Batt O’Keefe requested an investigation into grade inflation last year. It’s evident that it is occurring and ever growing. It must be stopped and results must be brought back to a realistic assessment of performance. It may mean some people facing a harsh reality but you’ve got to face the music sooner or later. I want the grade I earned not the one that looks good for Trinity.
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online With ideologues like these, who needs ideas?
In defence of the restructuring project Prof. James Wickham
Students have probably heard some academic staff moaning about “restructuring”. However, I believe that Trinity’s restructuring is already benefitting the College as a whole. Teaching is one area where this is clearly the case. After all, for students what probably matters most about their university is the quality of
the teaching. Restructuring makes the key unit of College the School and not, as before, the individual Department. Under the previous system each Department was a world unto itself. Small departments could only too easily become isolated, develop their own bizarre ways of doing things, and in the
worst case become personal fiefdoms of the head of department. Departments could exist simply because they had always been there, even if they had few students. Equally, good departments – and there were lots of them – kept their ideas and their innovations to themselves. For students the obvious result was that bad teaching could continue from one year to the next - even from one decade to the next! Now each School has an undergraduate ‘Director’ who is responsible for the quality of
Lecturers may need a PhD, but they don’t need any qualification in actual teaching.
the teaching and he or she can identify the problem and force the department to tackle it. In the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy we have now introduced twice yearly online student evaluations of all our courses. There was a lot of pressure from students for this, but interestingly, also a lot from some younger members of staff. They know that a good lecturer needs feedback from their students. However, our real problem is not the very few really bad teachers; it is that lecturers are untrained.
Lecturers may need a PhD, but they don’t need any qualification in actual teaching. Even worse, lecturers can go for years without ever bothering to find out about new methods of teaching. Other professions have to continually update their skills, but lecturers only update their research. Often good lecturing is confused with entertaining students. Of course there are some individual lecturers who make the effort to keep up to date with what is going on elsewhere, but so far we’ve left this to individual initiative.
Increasingly, universities elsewhere are expecting lecturers to gain a professional qualification in third-level teaching before they can have a long-term contract. Accordingly, the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy are now committed to encouraging all staff to gain a professional qualification. We are not prepared to leave this to chance. A School can take initiatives like these because we can work across departments. We can learn where we do something well and disseminate it across the School, we can identify where there are problems and
tackle them. Crucially the School structure makes the School executive into a clear management team. Within that team the School undergraduate director has overall responsibility precisely for improving the quality of teaching and learning of undergraduates. If we can just do that, restructuring will have been worthwhile.
Freshers’ Ball Line Up Announced This Week The Academy 30/09/10 Fancy a pimped out college pad? Freetext TCD and your name to 50308
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Monday, September 21st | The University Times
Timessports dan bergin tries...
Introductions Hullo fine readers. My editor was short colum inches so he asked me to crank out some tripe. Here you are. Enjoy it. (By which I mean, discard this paper on your bedroom floor as soon as you get home, then re-discover it two months later.) This paper also makes excellent lining for Hamster cages. My hamster, (Officer Snaggleberry) is particularly fond of peeing on the sports pages. And eating carrots. For those of you wondering what exactly my point actually is: My name is Dan Bergin and for the next nine months I will be avoiding my PhD by doing every weird sport I can. From caber tossing to bed racing and beyond. I’ll be wasting my time (and that of others) for the sake of college journalism. Yes, adding to the wealth of unpaid reporting. I’ll be chronicling my adventures here. In this very paper. So keep a sharp eye out for Dan Bergin – Alarmingly Real Sports Ethuasiast. (A.R.S.E.) Also, be sure to check The University Times’ website for video of me making a fool of myself, or offering more solid gold tips on Caring For Your Hamster. If you happen to know of an obscure (and possibly dangerous) sport which you’d like to see an idiot try out, e-mail my editor and pimp: Manus ‘The Slot Machine’ Cronin, at sports@universitytimes.ie.
The GAA’s indifference to the wishes of grassroots supporters will prove destructive in the long run.
Clampdown at Headquarters Eugene Reavey Deputy Opinion Editor
My name is Dan Bergin and for the next nine months I will be avoiding my PhD by doing every weird sport I can
DUAFC on the rise While it hasn’t yet become part of the mainstream sporting culture, American football is now one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland both in terms of participation rates and television viewing figures. This trend is supported by the fact that the Irish American Football League was the only sporting organisation in the country to actually receive an increase in fiscal funding in last December’s budget. The league in Ireland is made up of a mixture of university teams and otherwise. Dublin University American Football Club (DUAFC) is one of eleven teams currently competing in the full eleven-a-side format of the sport in Ireland. Having graduated from the 8-a-side development league, the club offers students of Trinity College the opportunity to test themselves against the best the Ireland has to offer and also compete against international teams. The club has grown steadily since is modest founding in 2007 to establish itself as one of the best university based teams in the country. Players have come and gone since the club’s inception but the upward trend has continued with the club’s player base increasing year on year. Last year DUAFC managed a credible third place finish in the inagural Intervarsity
Those fans lucky enough to acquire a ticket for last weekend’s All-Ireland Hurling final witnessed a spectacle they are likely never to forget. The skill, tenacity, courage and sheer passion exhibited by the players from both sets of players was a joy to behold. The early exit of Henry Shefflin played a significant role in the eventual downfall of the Cats, but not before the remaining players emptied their bodies in their fanatical quest to achieve the historical and almost mystical 5 in a row. If the match itself showed everything that was good about the sport of hurling, then the post match celebrations showed everything that was wrong with the GAA. Thousands of elated Tipperary fans were denied the chance to celebrate on the field with their heroes, and instead were cooped in the stands, the distance between themselves and their heroes
zapping the elation and excitement from Croke Park with every passing second. Instead we were treated to an array of cheap confetti and the waving of an over-sized Tipperary flag, and told that this was the responsible way to celebrate. The contrast between the brilliance of the players on the field, and the controlling incompetence of the top administrators in the stand could not have been more stark. Last Sunday’s game was one of the greatest games of hurling ever to be played in Croke Park, it deserved to be celebrated in the manner of the great victories of the past. Clare’s victory in 1995, and Armagh’s maiden win in the football in 2002 are examples that spring instantly to mind. Instead, the loyal fans in Hill 16 were penned in behind an ugly 2.8 metre Perspex barrier, while the supporters in the stand were faced with orange mesh raised to discourage any movement towards the field. Hordes of highly visible security personnel mobilised around the field, creating a tense
atmosphere which simply did not belong to the occasion. The GAA treated their fans with a startling distrust and disrespect. The security operation which kicked in ten minutes before the final whistle belonged in Toronto at the G20 meeting, not at Croke Park where players and fans alike showed to the world everything that was good about our organization. The final whistle begged for the exaltation of old, cried out for the continuance of tradition, yearned for the union of player and supporter, bound in the knowledge that each has played their role in making this day special for the organization. The GAA has in the past few years showed a worrying indifference to the opinions of the grass roots. One only has to think how inadequate the response of GAA President Christy Cooney was to the outrage caused by the farcical new hand pass rule. Grassroots supporters are becoming increasingly irate at being told that they are wrong and that the men wielding the levers of power know best. The current
clamp down on pitch invasions was brought about in the interests of health and safety. This is undoubtedly a worthy cause, however, it is inconceivable that with the amount of hired hands we seen last Sunday to hem the crowd in, that they could not have managed a controlled and managed entry onto the pitch for the organization’s loyal followers. One must surely feel that the real health and safety scare will come when fans unwilling to accept their imprisonment behind the new Perspex barrier begin to test its rigidity. If fans in the stands are allowed to enter the field while the supporters in the hill remain trapped, then the GAA really will have a health and safety issue on their hands. It is to be hoped that whoever picks up the Sam Maguire trophy, be it Cork, or be it Down, that they walk down the traditional route, and celebrate in style in the company of their heroes, and send a message to Croke Park that they care too much to see this greatest of traditions lost to the expediency of ‘progress.’
Hurlers follow Carson’s footsteps to Stormont Seamus Conboy Special Contributor The first weekend in August saw members of Trinity Hurling Club travel to Belfast to participate in an historic event. Poc ar an Chnoc, part of Belfast’s Féile an Phobal, saw hundreds of hurlers, young and old, take over the Stormont estate, seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly, for a sunny Saturday afternoon. The day opened with an under-10 tournament for Belfast clubs, played to the tune of traditional music blaring from a PA system around the grounds. This was followed by a celebrity Poc Fada (long puck), featuring Gerry Adams and Marty Morrissey amongst others. A number of Trinity representatives then participated in the Open Poc Fada, and were not far off the pace. The biggest cheer of this event was for an on-duty member of the PSNI who was persuaded to have a go. The highlight of the day was the Senior Men’s Poc Fada, the Carson Cup. Competitors had to negotiate a 3.5km course around the lawns of the Stormont estate in as few pucks as possible, including two trips up and down the famous treelined avenue guarded by a defiant statue of Sir Edward Carson. Naming a hurling competition after the leader
Championships in Limerick. A championsip revamp should see Trinity emerge as strong contenders to challenge for the title held by UL. The club’s good form continued into the IAFL regular season with a surprise opening win against the well established DCU side. A closely fought defeat against the champions-to-be Dublin Rebels was followed with another big win against the Belfast Giants. The team was to unable to build on its strong early season form and was unlucky to miss out on a playoff berth in its debut season at 11s football. Next season the team plans to increase its roster size to 45 and improve on last year’s performance. Entertainments Director Stephen Carton has been planning an international tour so the team can test itself against teams abroad. Also planned are a colours game against rivals U.C.D, and games against touring US colleges. These games will provide an opporunity for new players to learn the game and improve themselves in time for the competitive fixtures. With a website overhaul, the arrival of team equiptment and an increase in coaching staff, it promises to be an exciting season for one of Trinity’s most active and interesting sports clubs.
of Ulster Unionism in the early 20th Century may seem a touch ironic, but Carson’s career in Trinity in the 1870’s paints a different picture. In addition to debating with The Hist, Carson was a member of Dublin University Hurley Club, from which the modern Hurling Club traces its roots. He was even mentioned in The Irish Times in 1877, having ‘distinguished himself considerably by his good play’ in a hurling match which took place in College Park in October of that year. The current Trinity captain, Kilkenny U-21 player Martin Phelan, represented the club in the Senior competition. He was up against a strong field, including former greats Kilkenny’s James McGarry and Clare’s Davy Fitzgerald, as well as recent All-Ireland Poc Fada winner Graham Clarke of Down. Phelan completed the course in a respectable 37 pucks, but it was Clarke who ultimately took home the silverware once again, beating McGarry by less than one puck. This was the first time Stormont has been opened for such an event, and it was a huge honour for Trinity Hurling Club to be invited to participate. The club resumes training next week under the management of Double All-Ireland winner Clare’s Stephen McNamara. The first match of the league will see the Senior Team return to Belfast to face St. Mary’s College on 12 October.
We need sports writers. Just look at the state of this section. Apply now sports@universitytimes.ie Trinity Captain Martin Phelan takes his opening puck in the Carson Cup Poc Fada in Stormont
Life is hard, and it’s a lot harder if you’re stupid
When asked about the state of rugby in America at the moment, Scott is optimistic “there’s a lot more awareness of rugby in the states now than ever before, the international sevens and the Churchill cup were both televised nationally and there are a lot more kids interested in playing” Outside of Rugby, Scott is a avid reader, he’s currently reading a lot of sports psychology books and feels they
are a huge help to his game. He hopes at some point soon to go back to playing piano, which he did for 10 years before coming to Ireland. He’s a fan of outdoor pursuits such as hiking fishing and camping although he says it can be difficult to find time for these things between college and rugby commitments. Scott’s commitment to rugby is also the source of his current injury “tendonitis is the kind of thing you have to rest but in the run up to the Churchill cup i was single minded and trained through the pain”. He’ll be out for a few more weeks but hopes to make a full recovery. He’s philosophical about his situation though and thinks the team’s prospects for this year are good. “We finished mid-table this year but we lost a lot of games by very small margins” a fact illustrated by trinity haveing the largest amount of losing bonus points in the division. “If we turn some of those narrow losses into wins, promotion is a realistic aim”. He signs off the interview with some good humoured advice for any aspiring rugby player “Life is hard, and it’s a lot harder if you’re stupid” working with Eddie O’Sullivan and his prospects are good. He played for the Ulster Ravens in the British & Irish cup last year and all going well will do so again this year. Scott hopes his future in rugby is in Ireland with a permanent contract with Ulster being the ultimate goal.
As training draws to a close, Scott Lavalla is one of a group of a small group stragglers finishing off some individual drills. Despite being on the injured list due to a bout of tendonitis, the enormous former gridiron footballer from Olympia Washington is among the last to leave the training pitch. This kind of dedication goes some way to explaining a career that has seen him go from complete rookie to fully fledged international in only a few short years. He is beginning his second season as captain of Trinity’s rugby team And yet it could have all been so different. Scott began playing rugby relatively late at the age of 16, joining local under 19 side the Bud Bay Barbarians. “I wanted to start when I was 15 but my mom wouldn’t let me” he says “she thought i was too delicate”. Hard to imagine anyone mistaking him for delicate now but the years delay doesn’t appear to have proved overly detrimental to his development as a player. A talented football player all his life, Scott showed versatility playing in both the offensive and defensive lines. He gave serious consideration to attending the University of
Oregon to play football. When Asked if he thinks his background in football helped with developing his rugby skills Scott replied “The two game are a lot more different than you might think, in terms of preparation for rugby, you’d be better off playing soccer, wrestling or playing basket ball” As it happened, a trip to the under 19 world cup in Belfast right after graduating high school proved to be the catalyst for Scott’s move to Trinity. He sees this move as positive on both sporting and academic fronts as he is enjoying his studies almost as much as his rugby. This Year’s Churchill cup completion saw Scott win his first international cap against Russia, when asked about his experience at the completion he jokes “it was a bit like the training montage in rocky IV, the Russians went all high tech but we mostly ran up mountains in the snow, shouting our opponent’s names at the top, we single handedly defeated communism.. you’re welcome”. When asked about his goals in the future he is deadly serious however, the world cup in 2011 is his goal and if he can stay clear of injury it’s a reasonable goal. He’s enjoying playing internationally and Manus Cronin Sports Editor
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Th f a su eg ha pm m 00 eve nt art ag lly oa lo furb an r h le co fo th Th ty in y io w nidGe 3’d re ub y w it ng th m hy en ela libra ak ve nbo- ill a B ve s oll 0 lo ’s ,0 d e . ep b n in tsh 2ts be cl e C 0 ve ley 4 re m 09 r si Ir w sa nd ’ D are nu nd de re itie g ir U ro Jo alo ow ts in d op in ers h m en ctiDou ltwh u n e s th na ip e 00,0 de Au €16 the part 08/ s fo d e ets an e a nt e to cil din th ins ired B o rdae ld sh ee ske ry ies lallrgin ic xp rue iceha r nrog re in n sh Th €6 re Mc at to De 20 on ta a ts’ Ó enngts Sfotu .’ou g th m ‘Th dg ed itte ce sid fa fun .’ fe r fu esm A bra it sCo wh e steg whh uuteri h t e th d r in ti d e sh n le n a ct n re a ti a ch n bu rov m er t a rts d cts re ents fo ob g u ti li á ers hte eor o Coll ,d mpd Ussye th r th r. Intes cate d fo cts oca the the jects o as anedle ee pro de ón st‘ac Frin p om t p se spo see je e ud te tr nt in niv itKya nadgit e m e co ce ts e ic ffi fo fa a llo n je all of ut ro em ace vo in e C aitsy hy ehn, t- m e C igh is g e pro f th st u rinry a E er e thY spdu ss econ th m Ou so dic a t fu pro al n b e p m . a u e ud 0 to in rg w cit rg d is th e nd n id l o e IT o e d f e gsst a mty h n T n u a a Tr in e b bsiu th d M toepu ry d RthS udytr ccstu rcoad into r en ’s tu tio le th e ort is nfu x isti rov pit xt th o yo rt th l st f €7 tio of in p dPinre At sse em rbe pm ort ac ibu ilab of th Sp D bra ce E sts in e ra flooa ilpdly r ufors e p ca te to ‘D po ua o tra E IV e g u o f Sp e tr va s in of ese e co use cu p nn e is hip u e m asu tee to ew e ut ds N rha eipfo erin f Bl apcadten de pla o Th dis t a st d tor th r th ho su a arg reg ers ll st eg re it rt, U hno u rg sw wm oil l n tuth dis y n Th p a co e c of fo at o ue oll T m o at li thea loco tosrw w ilP a eslSy yin e m re to f an ch e b r a ert r C the om Sp th nE d ke th re n ted tail Dir st st bo ch thee efece isg G Thu saowe du 007 SU n o ntre h th em fo oh rite L n oo rge D a ma de e rge n co ew A t to C of s ce to m e th Dire Thin le.v io ,t h duo 2 CD tio ce it rl s W th la o a n ti re nio y C a pay s w en ntr ren Th ek oPpre eene y co RN n nce tor ate rts d pT uc s Ca ew a om e illi of 2 fr nt e eas se ps.e tem ’ U le t ch to ort TE se ina ec st o use lo d d ort aid op s ce e N d fr Th 5 m on e steare hean eicst IN um F Dir ley, f sp g deve use to sp e p for ort nts Ash en d sp d se io in 2 ti pag rt N d e g st w wuitrr seerv b e sp de r, ud se e A ran f th e cAu nt be re d is po rm po om xase as €1. ruc ed c oor ll ubrsle fe e ts?’ Stu ce e st e u of th th l n f S te o ro s st nu M ce is a pro n e e to cre w fC hnoa Inic th en e Offi th b ip e om y er e pit fu t o ium in it e re e nti ort d t ly is ps th d ll u d Th th rv a h n e a ce u s fr err t p m ca This en ed n e Sp se Co be s se deep at ro for nd of tio th o ers ha sin Th d e pri an a T igh inco a d. rtm m S th e g e te n . Th are ca id uld mb e 77 07. sse it rer’ h e e te n pa nd . f th m e 7, d t sa ho e .’ et th oic in tio tive es arg € 20 a a su it t tr rea t fu De a cts o co th f €7 ve in is ta u e ill ‘s r m e ch to in t p th rea n w tha c en e ort je rity e is and o pro n c tick all ch is w e a es T o d e p m n- 8 fo ntr e 70 d se xe min th ct m y th sh pro ajo m e n eir a ra ce Th € ce th uir e ltati an th he th . Th pre e e no b nd s m co hip arg s du o 50 u tive te fle th n . re w te ve fu ort e ’s in ers t ch wa ren em are du c om d m q th e cu ri re th fr tro du re by nsu nio na cuti re on f th able xe rew to ate E sp Th tre b en h fe m re gra bli e. un xin ren rge ed co ’ U m ic re ’s e 4 pu tr e nsu s o ail e to n d th in e y en e ud h e a ag in nts ere e ub ils av ew d tio reeat m n C f m l st w nt ley t th 99 6 cen stu d w ent reb uch an ce de cl eta yet n ate itu ag ut ee veth o ua rge de Au tha , d 19 s al se s s e r m ffi Stu d ot e nd nst s oy. Thth y n a stu Mc s ers an ort nu e u ort o ub urr h st la O e k cl c w s, a g u otn Th a co gesold a ing sa sp n b Sp n d ch y ate b , e e m c an M n n zumma n th b 007. st em ers the e a uld t of de e lth th re tive re is tu d s’ ole ti u l e a be uc chuin g in e N il 2 um m mb of th o en ma issu Co : at h ctu cu d a it t ‘s e ce D e ng tinly stmecy ‘w acc d aff e ers if sh m y he e th w it ru xe an r, a titl the th en n st e th Offi thPe eente e Lu ve ore st te m b d rge art le d o ve eve s ow y o a f m a th : ti a em ske a ep Au ea gh ns sh app ve tw uti ow ute tly on e l o rtu of oto cu ts m ed thya m A t ch D Mc st rou tio h h cuti is xec . H in ec ti ew in d a a kenfo P exe un ’ n re rf si n gre m s. n e th e o e a ve s. s e ic tr u a co ub e r de fu cts ent, to rm th ent uti the p y p ve.’ nt n Be mas ub eh cl Th be to roje m emde mu e re an ti ave refo‘A nd w cl Timit a d xec o ca p m ntek m th e d in ts a for cu s h ows a d) e ity w le s als ub co e stlia Co at nts e en n exe ub tosh reture Thers ps p art cl ba ge th ou st d ru ac cl edy tu ic n. nivrou xam ial om r fr fo . to le ys cc e co tre to uc e mme ruc (p ru U g e rt a n is r is C r a m it e e ve te D Th h sa y ly th e g racoc stsuentf T ed s fo m ina mb uti ps. e n of s ce e ate d a c arg . eg e o nt ort on du and , proh’sucguinudre oform ub an om me xe rou lect m k ch n ll ytD n st e g e cl p n e e tio Co arg ce sp al gra s ea s Sm peit , cave ar u d on e ch to th fla e l ch er the ion , hip p sse rw he ers a il gro an ps n th su ed c in Th ua y p g it taff ers off cla so he . T rm h sim A , u o een re d b s en g y on ort A p ro n att st o nn ft nin d ‘s m ie fi a u a g be r G o a sa n m e it nt, sp Sp ap fift d r M gu erf e s s gro eir siti re ave ve cto ce fo f ru th fro c m cil me d d Au e p wa s ise d of nd an an in ha do €4 th po a h ort ran is othrt o nd ed bli e fa uip an a in d ure ra fun he t ac a rsp o a nd a ere ey nt er ,th f Stop a is pu th eq s fig een nt o as hoe e re dy, en ed F n e h uc m pe gh ru a l Th Th ra nd of f rse estn r eod D eir ey sen e m re by rd a pm is d eg to bo ene s b e em h l-no f su a ire o u y tuorn alla W oll ng g C tee th eg ha pm m 00 eveo nht ie ay th art ag lly oa lo furb an r G odra reect e e 9. h le co w ng t th pre fo a B ve s oll 0 lo ’s ,0 d D -C f C pti in y it ey ep g C 0 ve ley 4 reert m hn 2ev3 Deir the mo ha f re on sa nd ’ D are nu nd de re itie g in 0 r o m rn rsit m th ay ub tin w o ts Jo raTr itldyb s nD lt h a ip e 00,0 de Au €16 thoeb paortr- 08/ s foER dtte ove ive om at w A e ets an e a nt e to cil din ee r re in it h n. as ck en e e a ng sh Th €6 re Mc at to R Dedit 20 onMB na s-ir g n C th the . llin of nts D oinu ‘Th udg ed itte ce sid s fa fun .’ fe r w la d . w U s em d g dep-ge fo shTr eg a h uri a y h th d r E in tiU afure ee Co u at e d g ru s a b rov m er t a rt d cts re ents fo od ye th oll th r th r. Intes cate d fo cts ocaN thbse theethjeclitsn o tic y sa w it ture tinstu ca in as nd te itor ha ein cern as r st tive of p om t p se spo see je e ud te tr nt C ced ts c eeity b Fr w , a fo fa a llo n je all A of u ut iz roub emle e d Ka Ed vo in e b n ed fo cu tes ro th st C h is g e Y du en mic ud d to ry ty so dic a fu ro l n cl ban pD mAth . Th a e ru min clurghh rgh Stu nt u e xe u co d e p t u eig nd tin v id al p of e iv a st n 0 sfi . e n u e t rt SIT tro u ad to st e in een en ’s tua tio ble g thee el oc) M epu ce tio ac min isti -is a Tr s b hicbu n d he fu x is ro pit xt th o yo rt th l st f €7 tio of ER in r st ac ply urs em rb pm ort ac ibu ila of Th tha Spca issa coanc as ort in wdinrre resi ys aD ta uc e e p ca te to ‘D po ua o tra c n IV s w sp y E cu P sa g ap n se o f Sp e tr va s in tr of u edse euc use D Th p nn e is hip stu e m asu tee to w e ut s N ha fo e a o r (D io d rg st in l th o Th e e o re eg re it rt, U his Un y t D hre ne Th p ad su n a a reg ers all dis ot a co d cto f ath m il n th s ue e o fora at e five M th n wh e e oll T m o at lin arg co s w P a sly eve m re to f a ch e b r ert r C the om Sp th nub y E d ke th re n ted tail Dir st st th boTh ty in by nio in tsid ts’ ch e fee g G u ow du 007 SU n o ntre h th em fo oh rite L cl e ir n oo rge U ro u en D a ma de e rge n co ew A t to C of s ce to m e th e in v io , h om e th 2 CD tio ce it th ins ired rl s W B o d th la o a n ti re th s nio y C a pay s w en ntr Th ek Pre ee con RN n nce tor ate rts d pT uc s Ca ew a om e illi of 2 ta cha ts’ n Ó ting Stu ct.’ ng lem fr t e at se s. ’ U le t ch to ort TE se ina ec st o use lo d d ort aid op s ce n á e N ti b d fr Th 5 m on e ere en e st IN um F Dir ley, f sp g deve use to sp e p for ort nts Ash en d sp de ón ‘ac as ele ee pro d se it o in 2 ti pag rt N d e w urr eg b e sp de r, ud se e C as y ent- m e A ran f th e cAu nt be re d is po rm po om xase as €1. ruc ed c oll ble fe e ts?’ Stu ce e st e u of th th l n f S te w acit d is th o ro s st nu M ce is a pro n e e to cre w fC na ice th en e Offi th b ip p resi t th ed e om y er e pit is fu nt o ium in it re e nti ort d is ups th ed all u rv d Th on at nly h P A uss s ce e th e fr err t p m ca Th e ed e Sp se Co se ept at ro for nd of c ti th o ers ha sin 7. Th ed it b r’s e pri an a T igh inco a d. rtm m S th e g e te n . Th are ca id uld mb e 7 dis e e te n a nd . re it h t ic in o ve f th m e 7, d rg 7 00 ass t sa o e t s € e o ti a 2 th a su tr rea t fu Dep a cts o co th f €7 ve in is ta uti ee ill ‘sh r m e.’ ch to in t p th rea n w tha c en e ort je rity e is and o pro n c tick all ch is w e a es T o d e p m n- 8 fo ntr e 70 d se xe min th ct m y th sh pro ajo m e n eir a ra ce Th € ce th uir e ltati an th he th . Th pre e e no b nd s m co hip arg s ndu o 50 u tive te e e th n w ate ve re th e le. cu w ri refl th fu ort e ’s in ers t ch wa re em are du c om d m q fr tro du re by nsu nio n cuti re on f th ab xe re to at u sp Th tre b en h fe m re gra bli e. un xin ren rge ed co ’ U m ic re ’s e 4 pu tr e nsu s o ail e to n d in e y en e ud h e a ag in nts ere e ub ils av ew d tio ree m e C f m l st w nt ley t th 99 6 cen stu d w ent reb ue th ch an ce de cl eta yet n ate itu ag o ua rge de Au tha , d 19 s al se s s e r m ffi Stu d ot e nd nst s y. Th y e n a stu Mc s ers an ort nu e u ort o ub urr h st la O e cl c w s, a g u otn Th a co ge a g sa ak sp n b Sp n d ch y ate b , e e m c an M n m n th b 007. st em ers the e a uld t of de e ls th th re tive re is tu d a be uc ch g in eeti ill e 2 um m mb of th o en ma issu Co : at h ctu cu d a it t ‘s e ce D e tin m ‘w acc d aff e rs if sh m y e e th w it ru xe an r, a titl the e th st th st te m be d rge art le d h th Offi en on ee e ve re o ve eve s ow y a m f th uti mo a em ske a ep Au ea gh ns sh app ve tw uti ow ute tly on o xec nts ed e m A ch D Mc st rou tio h cuti is xec . H in ec ti ew re th e in a e k u s.’ n q nt nd e th ere e ve m erf osi ag rm a bs co ub e re de fu cts ent, nt nic m u h th ent uti the p y p ve.’ cl Th be p to roje m me mu re an ti ave refo nd cl it a d xec o ca w p m te m a e e d in ts a for cu s h le s als ub co sta Co e en n exe ub to res Th ps p art cl a ge d ru ac cl e tu n. rou xam ial om r fr fo . le to uc e mm c ru g e rt Co D Th ra stru t d for ma ate ber tive s. g c en e s d in m cu p a pro uc ud rm ub an m me xe rou lect D st fo r cl p no ne e e g e it ave ila rou nd o th ch d to h m g a ps n n su e u o ee re si A A p, g G rou gro tion fift a s g eir si re ave as w th po a h ort rort c ain sp o a ere ey , f Sp uca m er- oe e re dy, p Th Th est r o D eir ey sen e oh f eg to bo enW o on ie oll g g C tee y th ay th D h C tin in or ect w g t th pre y it e g rt -C e on a re on ev Dir y of p rn it m th A m wh of R em ve ers m t th wa be r-in tin r Tr y ts ee Ro ito D init BE att go niv Co tha e it h n. as ck en of th . w la d . M ir w Ed Tr U em d y u U re e g s d g ru s a th N s a th n c sa it h re n ap s ha ein cern as r st tive of A ub ize ubli leti ey w ctu eeti b c wa b n ed fo cu tes cl an D th Th ed ru m u h Stu t A . co iv n exe u cl ic t en sfi st a g e e ce tio ac min Th al cac) sati c is s rts wh en sid s h ta uc e rr re y ca tr u is ca wa spo y D Th cu P sa is ion (D re d Du a a at ere five M the n ho h Un s th Th ty in y io w ide ’ ub y b n in ts ts cl e ir U ro u en e s th th ins ired B o d ta a ts’ Ó ng Stu .’ g th m ct tin ble ch en án cti s d ón ‘a a ele ee pro C as y ent- m e w acit d is th p resi t th ed P A uss c dis
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16 The University Times | Tuesday, September 21st 2010
speaks to Rugby Captain Scott Lavalla
BEAM ME UP SCOTTY Sports Editor Manus Cronin