The University Times - Vol. 6, Issue 3

SUPPLEMENT

RELIGIOUS CROSSROADS

SPORT

Get Rich

A Double Take on Religion

Don’t be a Journalist

In a special section, Niall Guinan takes a look at the recent Vatican Synod on the Family, while Ciannait Khan argues for a more nuanced discussion around religion in opinion, page 10 »

James Larkin talks to Financial Times sports columnist Simon Kuper about getting a break in sports journalism and the realities of working in an industry where the future is more than a bit murky in sport, page 15 »

We detail how to get it and how to spend it, and we tell you how to keep it once it’s finally in your wallet. Yes, we’re talking about money, and we’ve got it covered.

Magazine

www.universitytimes.ie

Volume VI, Issue III

Half a Million Left for Student Services After Under-budget 24-hour Library Extension Carla King-Molina JUNIOR EDITOR

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he cost of developing the Ussher tower into a 24-hour study facility has come in €36,000 under its initial budget, The University Times has learned. This leaves more than €500,000 still unallocated in a College fund for student services infrastructure.

The final bill for the conversion of the second, third, and fourth floors and the rearranging of desk space came to €64,000, well under the €100,000 set aside for the work.

These developments are the latest in the phased allocation of a fund originating from a state fine against the College.

On the 20th of July 2012, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) imposed on the College a fine of €603,709 for “unauthorised allowances”, namely the payment of a monetary stipend to College tutors.

A core stipulation of the fine was that it was to be used to create a fund for projects to support student services. The College has allowed Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and the Graduate Students Union (GSU) to determine how the money is spent. The organisations have not been allocated the money.

Rather it rests in a College account awaiting direction. The first project was proposed on the 14th of December 2012. The costs amounted to €138,000 to provide a 24-hour library for ten weeks. €38,000 was allowed for staffing costs for a pilot study in three of the main

campus libraries during the 2013 Summer examination period. The Berkeley Library was open 24 hours from March 4th to April 8th and remained open during the five-week summer examination period with costs totalling €19,000. The BLU Complex was then open 24 hours from April 8th to May 10th with total costs of €19,500. €100,000 was allocated to add the second, third and fourth floors to the 24-hour space, but ultimately the costs added up to €64,000. The fund now stands at €501,209.

The Ussher alterations will see the three additional floors become available on a phased basis. The pilot study found that there was no considerable demand for the space after 12 am or before 8 am.

The HEA also fined several other universities for the payment of similar allowances and overpayment of particular academic staff. Other universities have opted to spend the money on promoting positive mental health (UCD) and maintaining clubs and societies (UCC).

Speaking to The University Times, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), Education Officer, Katie Byrne commented that there are no “definite plans outlined as [of] yet but we would hope to have something outlined before Christmas.”

“We’re raising the fund at council next Tuesday [November 18th] as a discussion item to get feedback from reps on how they think the fund should be managed, but also to make them aware of its existence.”

The GSU did not respond to a request for comment.

Wading Through the Waters of Voter Registration

Edmund Heaphy visits Trinity’s Plato Centre, a centre run by Philosophy and Classics which invited Senators to hear about Plato PAGE 8 »

Sinéad Baker says that it shouldn’t be this hard to vote in an important referendum, looking at what it takes to put yourself on the register PAGE 12 »

Moving Forward

Photo by EDMUND HEAPHY FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

A Wedding in Trinity Jessica and David Irwin, who graduated from Trinity in 2007, married on Saturday in the College Chapel.

College Investigates Tax Avoidance Measures for Online Education Jack Leahy NEWS EDITOR

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he fulsome text of the recently launched strategic plan for Trinity began its translation into realisation this month when the College Board discussed a high-level proposal for a new online education division.

Confidential documents from the meeting held on November 5th reveal that the College Secretary and Associate Dean of On-

FEATURES

SPORT

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CULTURE

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MUSIC

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FOOD & DRINK

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This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Students’ Union, but maintains a mutually agreed policy of editorial independence.

The documents offer a thoroughly developed business case for the project. Based on the recruitment of 1,000 online-only students across 19 programmes, an initial investment of €2.1 million to establish the company is projected to generate an annual profit of more than €1 million per annum in 2019/20. The projection assumes fees of €3,500 for a postgraduate certificate, €5,500 for a postgraduate diploma, and €10,000 for a postgraduate masters. While traditional taught and research programmes distinguish fee liability based on whether the

the “traditional” student cohort, and as such the contribution to such services reflects a possible increase in demand. Achievement of target recruitment would see services receive €3.5 million over a five year period from 2015/16.

The remaining 55 per cent of fee revenue will be allocated to teaching costs, with a phased investment of €644,000 considered necessary to establish the appropriate visual learning environment. Both the academic and business cases for the online education division cite the benefit of recruiting specialists in online instruction, for

The division will lose money until 2017-18 if 25 per cent of fee income returns to the schools €1,030,274

€1,000,000

€575,166

€0

OPINION

Editor: Samuel Riggs Volume 6, Issue 3 ISSN: 2013-261X Phone: (01) 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Website: universitytimes.ie

The strategic plan for 2014-19 specifically cites the potential of online education to develop the College’s “global reach”.

The College does not currently incur a tax bill for its fee revenue, given that it accredits its “traditional” courses in accordance with national frameworks for the awarding of qualifications. However, it is not clear whether fee revenue from self-accredited courses would be liable for tax. In order to ensure complete exemption, it is proposed to apply for charitable status and establish a relationship whereby students would pay

Projected Operating Income of Trinity Dublin Online

– €514,594

– €611,000

– €1,000,000

– €1,015,700 2014-15

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Tuesday 18 November, 2014

€87,286

How Senators can be Philosopher Kings and Queens

NEWS

The mood in a city on the frontier of the Islamic State conflict

To contact The University Times write to: The Editor, The University Times, 6 Trinity College Dublin 2

line Education have proposed the establishment of ‘“Trinity Dublin Online” – a separate legal entity that would assume responsibility for the provision of online-only education. Should the Board approve, the College would apply for charitable taxation status on behalf of the new subsidiary, which would grant exemption from tax on revenue from fees.

The documents express an optimism that the Revenue Commission would grant the subsidiary charitable status, given that its objectives support that of the College as stated in its strategic plan.

2015-16

2016-17

fees directly to the College, and the College in turn would pay the subsidiary company for “services rendered”.

A new company could also exist outside of the College’s designation as a public body, by virtue of which its staffing levels are subject to the public sectors Employment Control Framework (ECF). While those responsible for the College’s compliance with such frameworks remain unsure that public body designation would not extend to a subsidiary company, the prospect of exploiting a loophole is evidently an attractive one.

2017-18

2018-19

student can be classed as “EU” or “non-EU”, the proposed online course fee represents a flat rate for all students.

The same projections deem “viable” a funding model that would see a school earn a 25 per cent share of revenue for courses designed by its academics. A further 20 per cent of fee revenue would be made available to student support services such as the library and the Student Counselling Service. If proposals are approved in their current form, all online students will enjoy the same student status and service entitlements as

2019-20

Return to Schools Two options were presented to the Board – a return of either 25 per cent or 40 per cent of fee income to schools. Savage said “a 25% return of fee income to the appropriate School represents a viable model.” An operating profit in the 40 per cent model would be returned in 2019-20.

The 25 per cent option requires about €2 million in investment, while the 40 per cent option would require more than €3 million.

which a cost of €4.7 million over five years is proposed. It is proposed that these staff are assisted in programme design by the College’s existing academic divisions, the return for which represents 25 per cent of the fee revenue for the particular course.

The draft agreement between Trinity and the company shall place all academic matters relating to the company under the auspices of the Board of the College (and the University Council).

As such, governance of “Trinity CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

News

Online this Week Visit www.universitytimes.ie for the full stories Trinity Scientists Hail Parkinsons “Breakthrough” Trinity scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding Parkinson’s disease, the College has announced.

The new understanding centres around Parkin – a protein that regulates the repair and replacement of nerve cells within the brain. This breakthrough generates a new perspective on how nerve cells die in Parkinson’s disease. The Trinity research group, led by Smurfit Professor of Medical Genetics, Professor Seamus Martin, has just published its findings in the Cell Press journal, Cell Reports.

Rabble Rousing With a Cause Trinity is increasingly pandering towards corporate trends and placing a new emphasis on teaching students skills for the tech industry, while young people are becoming disaffected with established politics. James Shaw investigates how leftwing student organisations are run, what their function is, what attracts people to join, and how political activism marries with student life.

Healthcare is Now in Our Hands Conor Toale examines the role of web technology in medicine, and concludes that Internet-based technology will continue to do for patients what it has already done for consumers in other fields: address the information imbalance between expert and customer, thus empowering patients to make educated decisions and take control of their own health care.

Graduation Photographers Defend €30 “Facial Slimming” Option The photography company hired by College for the graduation season has defended its decision to offer “facial slimming” editing for €30. Students who have their official graduation portraits taken by Lafayette Photography have the option of requesting the service when ordering prints from the company’s website. At €30, the service is at a considerably higher price point than other similar services including teeth whitening and skin tone editing, which are available for €10.

College Seeks Charitable Status for Separate Online Education Entity to Avoid Tax « continued FROM page 1 Dublin Online” would borrow the model of The Lir Academy, another wholly owned professional secretarial company of the College. The Lir is effectively self-governing where the day-to-day is concerned, but must report to established College structures for new course proposals and matters of compliance.

The cited academic case for the increased provision of online-only teaching aligns with the language of the strategic plan, which prioritises the College’s global profile. The proponents express a will to “enhance Trinity’s global reach through the provision of high-quality, openaccess courses” through professional development and postgraduate courses that can be studied at the

student’s convenience through an online teaching portal.

The impulse to establish the College in the growing market for flexible online qualifications can be traced to Professor Timothy Savage’s appointment as Associate Dean in 2012/13. His work to date has involved championing at various committees the business and academic cases for investment in such programmes.

Professor Savage, who contributed to a number of academic considerations of the strategic plan, has also helped establish Trinity’s first-ever open-access, online-only course. Irish Lives in War and Revolution was established as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in September and ran for six weeks, with over 10,000 participating.

Bed-bug Infestation Sees Goldsmith Hall Apartment Evacuated by College Samuel Riggs EDITOR

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number of residents of Trinity College Dublin’s Goldsmith Hall have been removed from their apartments this week due to an infestation of bed bugs, The University Times has learned. The residents, who

were housed in house 69, vacated the premises last week due to complaints of an infestation.

Although the infestation was contained to only one bedroom in the apartment, all residents were asked to evacuate as a matter of health and safety, and to prevent further spread of the bed bugs to other rooms, and other residences. For the duration of the evacuation, the residents were moved to Dub-

lin City Apartments on Granby Place, which is located behind the Convention Centre. College has since embarked on attempts to decontaminate the apartment and make it safe to live in.

Bed bugs, however, are known for their staying power, being able to survive for as long as a month without feeding, and with one pregnant female having the ability to restart a largescale infestation.

First Update to College Alcohol Policy since 2002 to be Proposed at University Council on Wednesday Jack Leahy NEWS EDITOR

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n updated College alcohol policy will account for a rise in substance abuse among College students and changing trends in alcohol consumption. The policy will be proposed for approval at University Council on Wednesday along with the report of a working group led by Dean of Students Dr. Kevin O’Kelly.

Among the high-level action points of the updated policy – first approved in 2002 – are the establishment of a student counselling post with a specific brief for substance use and a peer-led initiative for alcohol education through the Student2Student framework.

The updated policy recognises a changed context from that which rationalised the 2002 plan. Adult per capita alcohol consumption in Ireland has seen a marked decrease in

the past ten years, falling from 14.2 litres in 2002 to 11.7 litres in 2012. College’s cultural composition has also evolved, and the policy recognises the shift in focus to the recruitment of students from countries where high levels of alcohol consumption are less culturally normative.

A number of imperatives in the implementation strategy for the plan rely on the co-operation of the Student Counselling Service, reflecting the ever-growing role that the service plays in student life. Indeed, most actions aimed at preventing the alcohol-related deterioration in mental wellbeing rely on the service’s provisions or that of its peer mentoring programmes.

The policy also targets drunken behaviour on campus and in halls of residence, unprotected sexual activity following excessive drinking, physical health problems caused by alcohol consumption and mood disorders to which alcohol is a contributor.

Retaining its original fo-

Speaking to The University Times, Ian Mooney, Welfare Officer for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, stated that bed bugs regularly arrive in luggage, furniture, or through other routes, and may have been dormant in one place for quite some time. “The incident is completely isolated,” he added, “and as far as I am aware, every precaution is being taken to ensure that it spreads no further.”

Bed bugs, or cimex lectularius, although incapable of transmitting any long-term illnesses or diseases, can cause great discomfort to anyone who is bitten, with skin rashes and symptoms similar to allergic reactions being the most common indicators of an infestation.

Jack Leahy, Sinéad Baker and Edmund Heaphy also contributed reporting to this piece.

TCDSU Confirms Partnership for Women for Election Initiative Paul Glynn SEnior staff writer

cus on the provision of an atmosphere free from pressure to drink and the promotion of low-risk drinking, the policy continues to offer recommendations intended to govern the role of alcohol in student life. Student societies will remain restricted to serving beer and wine at alcoholic receptions, and the Pavillion Bar shall be the only venue on campus licensed to serve alcohol to students.

The policy’s main technological update will see the further promotion of e-PUB, a counselling service resource that helps student assess their level of drinking.

Working group members also considered the possibility of considering expressed preferences for alcohol-free accommodation, without designating particular blocks of accommodation as alcohol-free.

In September, The University Times reported that the demand for “dry” accommodation in University College Cork had doubled year-onyear.

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rinity College’s Students’ Union (TCDSU) has announced it will soon be partnering with the “Women for Election” initiative. Women for Election will work with TCDSU to encourage women to get involved with student leadership and to run for elected union positions through their INFORM programme, which is aimed at thirdlevel institutions.

The partnership is being organised by Katie Byrne, Education Officer for TCDSU. Byrne told The University Times that she was “really looking forward to working with Women for Election this year”. She added that “they have had great success with similar campaigns at a national and university level in the past and we are hopeful that they we will be able to benefit from expertise to address the perennial problem of underrepresentation of women in sabbatical roles”.

Women for Election has previously worked with UCD and St. Patrick’s College through the organization’s INFORM programme to offer leadership training and encouragement to women to run for positions in their student un-

ions, with much success. For example, the 2013/14 year saw a 55 per cent increase in the number of women contesting sabbatical officer positions in UCD, with a 60 per cent increase in women being elected to these positions.

Similarly in St. Pat’s, the number of women running for sabbatical office rose by 66 per cent.

An increase in women running for class rep positions was also noted, with 52 per cent of UCDSU class rep positions in 2013/14 being contested by women, up from 46 per cent the previous year.

Founded by Michelle O’Donnell Keating and Niamh Gallagher, Women for Election is, according to its website, “a not-for-profit, non-partisan organisation whose vision is of an Ireland with balanced participation of women and men in political life”, with a mission to “inspire and equip women to succeed in politics”.

Based on its three-point aim to “inspire”, “equip” and “inform” women interested in going into leadership roles, the group offers tailored programmes, networking opportunities and support, while also engaging in advocacy and campaigning on the issue of women’s representation in government “to promote the concept of gender balance in elections and ultimately in Councils, the Dáil and Europe”.

Trinity to Launch New Gender Identity and Expression Policy Next Year Sinéad Baker CO-EDITOR-AT-LARGE

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rinity College Dublin is to launch its new Gender Identity and Expression Policy in 2015. The policy, which was approved by the College Board on the 25th June 2014, aims to protect students, staff and all visitors to College from discrimination based on their gender and/or sexuality, and aims to “provide an inclusive environment which promotes equality and values diversity”.

The policy, which was produced with consultation with groups including staff and student representatives and the Equality Committee, “outlines the College’s formal commitment to recognise and support an individual’s gender expression and gender identity so that all members of the College community experience a positive and tolerant environment where every member is treated with dignity and respect”.

The document is the first of its kind in Irish universities and is expected to inform other policies of its kind across other institutions. The policy highlights the lack of legislation around

“

This policy creates essential provisions for Trans* and Intersex individuals to tackle current exclusions

TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

Gender Identity and Gender Expression Policy

Stephen Hatton, former LGBT Rights Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union

Gender Recognition in Ireland and formalises College’s commitment to “foreseeable future legislative initiatives in the area of Gender Recognition”.

The policy applies to student applicants, students and alumni as well as applicants for employment, employees and former employees. It will also apply to service users in Colleges – visitors, customers and clients of the College. The policy

TCD Equality Committee June 2014

also covers conduct that takes place on College property, at College functions and activities that involve those who represent the College. It also covers the usage of electronic communication in these situations.

Speaking to The University Times Stephen Hatton, an intercalated masters student and a former LGBT Rights Officer for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, described the policy as “a significant step in the direction of full gender recognition and equality in Irish universities.”

“This policy creates essential provisions for Trans* and Intersex individuals to tackle current exclusions regarding accommodation, student records, participation in sport, supports when transitioning and much more.”

“The first policy of its kind in an Irish third level institution, Trinity can be proud to be at the forefront compared to other Third level institutions in Ireland and even the Irish State.

This policy is planned to be reviewed and revised continually so it can best serve the students, staff and visitors of Trinity College Dublin.” Hatton was involved in consultation for the policy during his term of office in 2013-14.

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

News

Provost to Address SU Council in January Bernard Ryan SENior staff writer

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he 44th Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Patrick Prendergast, has accepted an invitation to address a meeting of Students’ Union Council on January 20th next. This will mark the second time in three months, and the third time since his election in 2011, that the Provost will have attended an event organised by the Students’ Union.

This will also be the second time that Prendergast has attended a meeting of SU Council, the most recent occurrence being the last meeting of the academic year 2009-10, in his capacity as Vice-Provost. The address is reflects Prendergast’s escalated efforts to address a perceived deficit in consultation between the student body and decision-makers in College.

Issues expected to be discussed at the meeting include the escalating accommodation crisis in Dublin, cuts to the five capitated bodies, queries regard-

ing the recent unveiling of College’s five-year Strategic Plan and the proposed introduction of increased levies for commencement ceremonies, replacement student cards and a flatrate fee to sit supplemental examinations.

At the most recent engagement, a question and answer session facilitated by the University Philosophical Society and the Students’ Union on October 6th, Prendergast was in defensive mode as he frequently interjected to correct misunderstandings and inaccuracies in questions put forward by students. He told one journalist from Trinity News that she could use “a lesson in College history” in response to a question regarding funding for a Student Centre allocated in the the last Strategic Plan. Plans for a student centre were voted down by students in a Students’ Union referendum in February 2011.

At the Q&A event, TCDSU President Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne noted that, while Prendergast was in defensive form, it represented another landmark

in relations between College and the student body: “In my three years in Trinity, I have already seen an alarming degradation in the dialogue between the people who govern this college, and the people on whom it depends – its students”.

Speaking to The University Times McGlacken-Byrne said: “The Provost’s attendance at SU Council can only be seen as a positive step towards better relations between college authorities and the students, particularly the Students’ Union.

It’s a clear committal to listening to student’s voices, and a re-focus on internal communications, with a more personal touch. We’re delighted to welcome the Provost to Council, and look forward to engaging in healthy debate over student issues.”

Prendergast was due to speak at first meeting of SU Council of the academic year, which took place on Tuesday October 21st, however he was forced to cancel his appearance ahead of the launch of the College’s Strategic Plan which took place the following day.

TCD COMMUNICATIONS PHOTO

Faculties Respond to Scholarship Marking Changes Paul Glynn SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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he three College faculties have each reacted to new guidelines set out by the Central Scholarship Committee on marking criteria for the Foundation Scholarship exams.

The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) faculty, as well as that of the Health Sciences, have approved the proposed changes to the criteria, while the faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Sciences (EMS) has yet to come to an agreement.

At a meeting on October 10th, the Central Scholarship Committee agreed on a proposal to require that candidates for the Foundation

Scholarship obtain a first in a majority of their exams, as well as a score of at least 65 per cent in the remaining papers. The proposal also stipulated that candidates cannot get a result of under 65 per cent on any paper. These suggestions were then sent to panels in the AHSS, EMS and Health Sciences faculties for approval.

The faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is in agreement with the proposals, responding that it was “the only way to reduce the overall numbers” being awarded the scholarship. The faculty added that “there should be one paper in which the candidate may get over 65 per cent and all other papers should be a first”.

The Health Sciences faculty also agreed with the proposal, however they additionally indicated their support of raising the cut-off point for the

award to 70 per cent across the bar for all courses in the faculty. However, the faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Sciences were unable to reach a unanimous agreement on implementing the new rule. The faculty states that the suggestion of the new rule actually “split the review panel, who could see both the advantage and disadvantage of the 65% rule”, adding that the issue “would merit further discussion before being implemented”.

The recommended changes to the score criteria are set to be implemented fully by the 2015-2016 year, along with that of a “general paper”. The general paper offers a context for the new marking criteria, which respond to academic concerns about the paper’s consequence for the academic rigour of the examinations.

PHOTO BY EDMUND HEAPHY FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

News

Philosophy MPhil in Final Stages of Planning Edmund Heaphy DEPUTY EDITOR

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rinity’s Philosophy Department is in the final stages of planning an MPhil in Philosophy, The University Times has learned.

The MPhil will have a common core

and two strands – a strand in ancient philosophy and a strand in analytic philosophy. A source within the Philosophy Department said that Trinity’s Plato Centre, a research centre jointly run by the Philosophy and Classics departments, will have an “involved role” in the ancient philosophy strand.

It is understood that the degree has been somewhat approved by both the

Head of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Dean, and will proceed to a meeting of the Graduate Studies Committee in December. It will then go to University Council and the College Board for final approval in January.

Speaking to The University Times, the Head of the Philosophy Department, Pro-

fessor Vasilis Politis, said that “all going well, [the department] would be able to start advertising at the end of January”, but said that it was hard to predict what could happen at the various committees.

He said he still had to “sign some things in [his] blood for people to be satisfied that they won’t lose millions or even hundreds of euros through this initiative.”

Investigation into Rape at Trinity Hall Concludes Without Charge Edmund Heaphy and Jack Leahy

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n investigation into an alleged rape in Trinity Hall has concluded without charge, The University Times has learned.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into the allegations had taken place in Trinity Hall, and that after a thorough examination, the matter concluded when the woman withdrew her allegation.

A College spokesperson said that they do not comment on any individual cases “in the interest of student confidential-

ity”, but that it was the College’s policy to “encourage victims of any crime to immediately report such incidents to the Gardaí for investigation”.

She went on: “Specifically in relation to any student who has been the victim of a sexual assault or rape, support services such as counselling are among a range of services provided for those impacted.

College is committed to the implementation of its policy of Dignity and Respect and in providing an environment where every member is treated with dignity and respect.”

The President of the JCR, Susanna Breslin, declined a request for comment.

In the Supplement Launching your Business Paul Glynn looks at the increasing number of support systems present for those who want to start their own business, and examines Launchbox, Trinity’s on-campus business incubator S3

In the Magazine Dublin’s Underground Artists “the atmosphere of painting in a train yard is like no other experience I think I’ve ever had in my entire life. It’s as if you’ve been taken out of reality and plunked into some ridiculous action movie… you feel like James Bond, trying to evade security.”

— Julia McConway M10

Sinéad Baker contributing reporting to this piece.

UCCSU Registers a Thousand Voters in One-day Marriage Equality Drive

SU Café Reports Drastically Improved Figures Olly Donnelly STAFF WRITER

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Patrick Lavelle college affairs editor

University College Cork Students’ Union (UCCSU) and UCC LGBT* Society successfully registered over 1,000 students to vote in a single day during a voter registration drive that took place on 30th October.

The one-day “Voter Registration Blitz” aimed to ensure that as many UCC students as possible

were registered to be able to cast their vote for the same-sex marriage referendum in 2015.

Over the course of the following week over 1,000 more UCC students registered, with the overall figure for the campaign just short of 3,000.

Speaking to The University Times, Mark Stanton, President of UCCSU, put the success down to UCC’s “very strong LGBT*Q Society over the years and the organisation of the drive”. He said, “There was a huge amount

of work from all involved in getting the message out about how important the Yes to Equality campaign is”. However, he emphasised that this was only “half the battle” and that “next we need them to get out and vote!”

UCCSU’s efforts come as the 25th November deadline to register to vote approaches. Registering after this date involves a variety of added administration difficulties, notably that the form must be signed by a member of an Garda Siochána, mak-

ing organised voter drives very difficult to successfully pull off.

The news of UCCSU’s successes comes as Trinity College Students Union (TCDSU) is running its own voter registration drive this week. Volunteers are present in the Arts and Hamilton Buildings, the School of Nursing and Midwifery on D’Olier Street and in St. James Hospital to register students from all faculties to vote.

Speaking at the weekend to The University Times, President of

TCDSU, Domhnall McGlackenByrne, said: “Looking at Cork’s success over the course of just one day, it’s exciting to imagine what we can do over a whole week. I believe the passion and drive is there amongst the community of students in Trinity to really harness our potential in the upcoming referendum. The appetite is there amongst the student body, on a local and national scale, to make sure our voices are heard, we just have to mobilise”.

he financial fortunes of the Students’ Union-run café have improved dramatically since its controversial name change, The University Times has learned.

Figures confirm a €3,017 surplus for the first six weeks of the year, compared to a surplus of just €52 at the same stage in the 2013/14 academic year.

The café is funded and managed administratively by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) but its day-to-day management is co-ordinated by a de facto cooperative.

A motion to TCDSU Council to change the name of the café from the “JCR Café” proved controversial in November 2013. Members of the café’s staff attended the meeting to oppose the name change, arguing that a break with its revered identity would have a negative impact on the café’s sales. Proponents of the motion cited a confusion between the JCR Café and the JCR at Trinity Hall as a reason for the name change as the two are not connected. Despite the motion passing, no further development was apparent for the rest of the year.

TCDSU President Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne commented that “relationships weren’t great in previous years between sabbatical officers and café staff at times”, but iterated his belief that relations had improved to mutual benefit.

The café is praised for its cheap lunch deals and for being an employer of students within College, but faces significant challenges, including a non-central location in Goldsmith Hall, which is on Westland Row – just off campus.

In spite of these challenges, a renewed promotional effort has seen the café’s business increase in the early months of the current academic year.

Commenting on improved figures, McGlacken-Byrne identified the relationship as a positive one, claiming that “already this year both parties have seen the benefit of people knowing we’re connected.” He identifies the union’s distribution, during Freshers’ Week, of thousands of free lunch vouchers as a particular example of the strengths of this relationship.

The café’s Head of Administration, Ciaran Cusack, told The University Times that this year “The café is running very efficiently and we’ve improved the quality of our service”, and claimed to be “very happy with how it’s going this year”.

Although not run for a profit, and with minimal price increases so far, the café, according to Cusack, is “going to have the most profitable year [they’ve] had”, should business continue at the levels from the first half of Michaelmas term.

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6

The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

In Focus Breaking Down the Union’s Budget

The Union’s Income and Outgoings Where its €1.5 million revenue stream was distributed last year Income/Profit-maker Expenditure/Loss-maker

Other

€6k Capitation Grant

€341k Student Services

€117k

Mohamed Alsaffar looks at last year’s Students’ Union budget, and talks about the issues it raises.

Mohamed Alsaffar Contributing Writer

T

rinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) took in and spent €1.5 million in 2014. The breakdown of where this comes from and, more importantly, where it goes, can be difficult to decipher. The union has undergone some restructuring in recent years. However, there is still a lack of regulation at the top which, other than highlighting a stark inconsistency in the union’s constitution, may leave the large funds a little too much at the mercy of the integrity of individuals within the organisation. Since the vast bulk of the union’s funds are sourced from the students who it exists to represent, there is a demand for greater transparency.

Sources of Funding The SU gets one grant from the university, the capitation grant of around €340,000. The Capitation Committee is responsible for distributing funds of around €1.2 million to Trinity’s five capitated bodies: TCDSU, the Graduate Students’ Union, the Central Societies Committee (CSC) the Central Athletics Committee (DUCAC), and the Publications Committee. This fund was cut by just under 5 per cent for the last academic year and 5 per cent for this year and is said to come directly from the student contribution. However, Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne, the SU President, contests this, stating that the student contribution is collected along with the rest of Trinity’s funds in a central pot, the contents of which are then redistributed throughout the college. This would reduce the legitimacy of labelling a fund as being for a specific purpose. For example, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) wlevy is €8, with €5 going to the USI and €3 towards costs associated with the USI that are incurred by the SU. This would be fine if the €3 exactly covers the costs it is supposed to, but if these costs add up to less than €3 per student then the money left over sits ambiguously in the pot mixed with the other €268 million, ready to be spent on any other college division.

To be fair, TCDSU also works like this, with a centrally controlled budget rather than each division clearly having an exact budget.

The union-owned travelcard business has somewhat of a monopoly on the city centre, charging €12 for a card and €3 for the picture on the card.

The travelcard business is the most lucrative venture of the SU making €116,000. The union also has shops in House 6 and in the Hamilton Building. The House 6 shop, which sells Trinity merchandise, made a profit of €52,000 and the Hamilton shop, which does not sell merchandise, made a loss of €4,000. McGlacken-Byrne commented that “the low profits of the shops from selling goods other than clothes is because the aim of the shops is to provide student prices and not to make profit”. As part of the research for this article, a small reporter’s notepad was purchased. I can confirm that it was indeed a steal. Profits have decreased considerably in recent years, however, due to what McGlacken-Byrne describes as “mitosis of an

external competitor”. The combined profits of the shops decreased by €34,000 from the previous year, a decrease of 42 per cent.

Ents revenue stands at €106,000, while revenue from the SU café stands at €73,000. Both make minimal profit or small losses.

Who has Control?

In 2012 it was reported that UCD Students’ Union had accumulated €1.4 million in debt due to some truly awful accounting practices that suggested an incredible lack of foresight and experience. This was epitomised by the student-run UCD bar which ran under the banner of Ents. Despite being the only bar on campus, it managed to accumulate €90,000 of debt, leading to its own closure. It also led to the removal of the post of a student Ents officer. The union now employs professionals to run that side of the union. In any case, the sabbatical officers of a given year will have little or no experience in managing large sums of money. Coupled with the fact that they are effectively relieved of their responsibilities after one year, it would be difficult to justify a completely free reign for the students.

In TCDSU, the money is constitutionally controlled by the two cotreasurers of the SU: McGlacken-Byrne, and Simon Evans, an accountant who has been the SU Administrative Officer for the last twenty years. According to McGlacken-Byrne, Evans produces the budgets and gives his opinion on the feasibility of proposals made by the officers. When asked who has the ultimate power in decision making on expenditure, McGlacken-Byrne replied: “I am the highest authority in the SU and I can overrule Simon [Evans] if he is averse to a proposal”. During this interview the President’s office reeked of the stench of Evans being overruled. The puppy room that Evans initially had objections to had just taken place and the territory had been marked. Whilst Evans creates the budgets, the sabbatical officers are in fact, within reason, essentially given as much money as they need. It appears that the “reason” is provided by Evans, a man McGlacken-Byrne describes as “the glue which holds the place together and one I would at my peril completely disregard”. I must say that it was quite difficult to pin down the exact level of influence that Evans has in the union.

When I did manage to speak to him, he stated that he “could refuse to provide money for an event or purchase provided there was a significant reason”. A hypothetical example of this was a refusal to cover an insurance claim on a lost mobile phone in the event that an insurance company would refuse to satisfy the same claim.

He could not provide any real examples despite being “quite sure over the years that [he’s] been asked to pay for things, and [he] would say that [he] would not pay because of X, Y and Z”.

He did add that the sabbatical officers make the final decisions, his role is an advisory one, and that he would “be well able and confident to argue his point” against a proposal by the sabbatical officers that he disagreed with, “but equally able and confident to go ahead with it” if they overrule him.

His experience seems to be very much valued within the union and he provides the continuity the sabbati-

SU Shops

Adverts

€48k

€31k

Officer Accommodation

Officer Salaries

€56k

€92k

Staff Salaries SU Councils

€188k

€8k Publications

Welfare

€27k

€19k

€27k

Elections/Referendums

€11k

€16k €8k

Click.ie Shop

€5k

Class Rep Training

Phone/Postage

Ents

€2k

SU Café Freshers’ Week

€1k GRAPHIC BY EDMUND HEAPHY FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

cal officers cannot. Whilst his importance may often take precedence over the superior power of the President, his importance is also critical to the stability of the union.

Salaries, Ents and Rainy Days – Where Does it all Go? Looking at the SU accounts, the biggest expenditure is on the travelcard business – almost half a million. This, along with the income that this business makes, highlights a significant reliance on travelcards, one which had to further increase from the previous year to compensate the cuts to the capitation fund.

Almost 20 per cent of the total budget of the SU goes to salaries. They are divided into sabbatical officer salaries and staff salaries, the latter of which incorporates the salaries of the staff in the front office of House 6. In 2014 the SU officers’ salaries totalled €92,400 and staff salaries totalled €188,300. While the Trinity sabbatical officers are often touted as having low salaries compared to other universities, the total money spent on each officer by the SU is around €30,000 as the officers enjoy free accommodation and phones amongst other compliments. €30,000 is much closer to the salaries of the SU officers in the other Irish universities who do not have the same benefits. The union refused to provide The University Times with an actual breakdown of staff salaries as they said salaries are “a matter between staff and employer” but it includes Evans’s salary amongst other full and part time staff.

Ents, especially with Trinity Ball, seems like it could be a potential money spinner for the union. In actual fact, it aims to break even as it runs under the philosophy of a student service rather than a commercial one. The financial model of Ents is quite unique in the SU in that it is not provided with a budget from the SU funds. It initially has no money and has to generate its own operating profits to sustain it throughout the year. Ents makes a significant amount selling wristbands in Freshers’ Week for nights out. If the wristband sales are particularly unsuccessful or if an event makes a significant loss then

the Ents budget curtails, explaining any decline in quality of events as the year develops.

Regarding Ents, McGlacken-Byrne stated: “In years gone by there were rumours questioning the integrity of Ents officers with regards to money made at events because they dealt with such large sums”. Whether or not these rumours had any basis, the level of financial scrutiny today with regards to Ents events is higher than before. For example, on-the-door reports outlining attendances at events such as club nights are much more rigorous today than they were a number of years ago due to health and safety reasons. These reports are taken along with other receipts and compared with the Ents officer’s report

by Evans. The money made is then promptly lodged in the SU account.

Finn Murphy, the current Ents officer, aims to further increase transparency with the introduction of electronic payment systems later this year.

Trinity’s class reps are trained for €16,000 and eight times a year they are invited to vote on policies, elect committees and hear the sabbatical officers’ work reports at the SU council meetings. These cost a lot, €1000 a pop last year, most of which was spent printing agendas for the reps.

Drinks tokens and food are also included in the cost and last year two sign language interpreters were also hired. McGlacken-Byrne contests the startling costs, arguing that the class reps are unpaid, and the hours they put in for their duties, as compared to the hourly salaries of the sabbatical officers, more than make up for the cost of training and council. He also adds that the cost of meetings should be less this year because they do not need to hire interpreters and they will source their food from the Pav rather than external bars.

Other expenses include the expenses of the shops and café, printing The University Times, welfare expenses, campaigns and elections. Notably, up to €10,000 is lost each year to students not returning the €100 welfare loan handed out by the welfare officer. Elections and referendums cost €19,000 last year, almost double the previous year, in part due to a record

number of seven referendums. Freshers’ Week is another expense, comprised mainly of €6,000 worth of free food vouchers for the SU café.

As a reserve, the union has €407,000 in the bank which McGlacken-Byrne stated it “could dip into on rainy days”. The money is largely made up of profits made by the House 6 and Hamilton shops over the last few years. It went down €100,000 last year because the union lost this much investing in renovations to House 6 and establishing Click. McGlacken-Byrne also mentions some potential future investments including the “possibility of opening a new student centre or shop in the new Oisín House” and “paying consultancy fees when setting up [his planned] strategic plan”. These are, however, just early ideas and in particular he states that he will look into cheaper alternatives to consultants. However, as the capitation fund is cut, and the profits of the shops shrink, and the union becomes ever more reliant on selling travelcards, further investments may leave the union’s residual firepower increasingly more vulnerable to a light drizzle.

Lack of regulation?

As the budgeter of the SU, Evans commands the movement of money in many directions including the payment of his own salary. McGlackenByrne technically does the same and states that “the heads of companies control money and pay their own salaries but there is a board of trustees which has the power to step in if they are taking the piss. The idea that any company would not have a board is insane”. The SU board of trustees is clearly outlined in article 4.10 of its constitution. The problem is, as mentioned by the President, it does not have one. A board should be there to provide an objective analysis of the union and to provide the President with advice on matters regarding it.

This may decrease the autonomy of the President but it would, McGlacken-Byrne said, “provide expertise as well as accountability” and thus increase the structural rigidity of the union.

Historically, the union has experienced fluctuating financial fortunes.

In the early 2000s, the SU was making losses year on year. It had hired more full-time staff and was running unsustainable activities that included the travel agency DUST, which was initially successful but was later out-competed by professional travel agencies.

As part of the 2006 restructuring of the SU under the then-President, John Mannion, redundancies were made, DUST was shut down and six-figure loan was taken out to cover the losses.

In 2013 the then-President, Rory Dunne, invited a review panel of educational dignitaries from both Ireland and the UK to perform an external review of the union. The panel identified the need for a strategic plan in outlining the direction of the SU. They also identified the need for a board of trustees consisting of students and professionals in developing the plan and in providing a long-term continuity that the sabbatical officers cannot. Other aspects of the review which stand out include a concern about “a lack of routine financial reporting” described as “unusual for an organisation of the size and turnover of TCDSU”.

McGlacken-Byrne and Evans do, however, state that it does occur, but in a less formal manner. The panel also mentions that there is no evidence of risk management or financial scrutiny and that there should be a management structure that includes “performance indicators, a job description, appraisal and general oversight of the work of the Administrative Officer (Evans)” which could be carried out by a board. Renaming the role of Evans from Administrative Officer to Strategic Development Officer or Chief Executive is another suggestion of the panel and both McGlacken-Byrne and Evans agreed that this would better reflect his actual role in the union.

Currently the students’ trust in the integrity of the SU may lie a little too much in the integrity of the President and Administrative Officer. However, McGlacken-Byrne does have the aim of of establishing a board and of course producing a strategic plan. While the whole process may take some time, it is certainly a step towards making the SU more transparent and consistent in years to come.

7

The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

In Focus

Making Your Own Decisions About Your Drinking Patterns The Student Counselling Service’s online tool draws a link between your mental health and alcohol usage.

Katie Boucher Contributing Writer

I

t is nothing new to suggest that we have a culture of drinking in Ireland. Much of our socialisation is centred around alcohol, and this is perhaps even more pronounced among the student population. And with good reason. Drinking is fun, it’s relaxing, it’s sociable, and there’s no mystery as to why it is referred to as a “social lubricant”.

It lowers our inhibitions, and while too much of this can be undoubtedly harmful, in moderation this can facilitate social bonding by enhancing our mood and encouraging us to let our guard down a little. In the dating world, it is rare in some circles for the first move to be made unless the person is under the influence of alcohol.

Even for those who have been close friends for years, normally any effort to take a relationship to the next level happens in a drinking context. Alcohol is ingrained and embedded in our lives, it is not going to go away anytime soon, and nor should it.

However, it cannot be denied that alcohol does have a number of fairly serious downsides. Amy Colla, an assistant psychologist working in the Student Counselling Service in Trinity, argued that one of the biggest things we have to watch out for when it comes to drinking is its complex relationship with mental health. Following a night of heavy drinking, it is extremely common to experience “the fear”, or post-alcohol anxiety.

Often this involves feelings of regret and embarrassment for something you said or did, but other times it may be more of a general anxiousness that cannot be traced to any one particular action. Alcohol is a depressant, so it can often exacerbate pre-existing feel-

“

50 per cent of suicides in Ireland occur right after the person has consumed alcohol

ings of anxiety or depression. This can have extremely serious implications for some people, with over 50 per cent of suicides in Ireland occurring after the person has consumed alcohol.

Clearly, alcohol needs to be enjoyed in moderation, otherwise it can cause health, social, and psychological problems. However, it is difficult to know how much is too much, seeing as each individual’s perception of what is acceptable is socially constructed by what others in their circle of friends are doing. e-PUB, or the Electronic Personal Use Barometer, is a self-monitoring online tool that is being promoted by the counselling service as a way to examine your personal drinking habits and get feedback about whether they are considered healthy and normal compared with the rest of the student population. It is derived from the E-CHUG (Electronic Check-Up to Go) program, which is the original American version, but uses Irish drinking norms among college students as its comparative data. It is available in a number of different universities across Ireland, with some even making it a compulsory step during registration.

This is not the case in Trinity, however.

According to Colla, who is the main promoter of e-PUB this year, the counselling service feel that it is far more effective to allow people make their own decisions about monitoring behaviour, rather than forcing someone into a particular course of action. This service has been available to Trinity students for around two years, and its user traffic tends to fluctuate. Higher numbers of students tend to use ePUB following email campaigns advertising the service. Most recently, following the email campaign during mental health week, over 350 students completed e-PUB, which would suggest that many Trinity students are interested in examining their relationship with alcohol.

As someone who never would have thought much about my own drinking habits, I decided to complete the e-PUB program out of curiosity. It takes approximately ten minutes to complete, and gives detailed feedback afterwards. It begins by gathering some general demographic information such as age, sex, weight, and year in college. Following this, it asks some questions about your typical drinking

“

The feedback also informed me that I spend approximately €2,000 a year on alcohol, cheerily noting that with that money I could have bought a plasma screen TV habits, such as how much you would drink on a standard night during a typical week. It also asks questions about how much you would estimate the general student population drinks on average, how much you know about the effects of drinking, and how motivated you are to change your own drinking. All questions were straightforward, aside from the difficulty in deciding what exactly constitutes an average week, and I was confident that I was fairly average with regards to my drinking habits.

Apparently not. The old definition of binge-drinking was “a period of continuous drunkenness lasting two days or more, during which time a person neglects his or her duties and responsibilities in order to become intoxicated”, which is admittedly very generous with regards to what constitutes excessive drinking. However, the new definition terms binge drinking as having six or more drinks in one sitting. While that may still sound reasonable, bear in mind that one pint of beer would be considered two standard drinks. To me, at 5 ft 2 inches tall, three pints would certainly have an effect, but I would imagine that it would affect a 200-pound 6 ft man differently. So when I saw that I drink enough to be considered “binging” at least once a week, I didn’t take it too seriously, convincing myself that it was too stringent of a definition, that it was fundamentally flawed, and that 95 per cent of other college students do the exact same thing. I was also wrong about that. College students seem to drink less heavily, and less

UNIVERSITY TIMES FILE PHOTO

“

Following a night of heavy drinking, it is extremely common to experience “the fear”, or postalcohol anxiety.

Often this involves feelings of regret and embarrassment for something you said or did frequently, than I thought they did.

While the exact stats should be experienced on the site for oneself, suffice

Laptops | Tablets | Accessories | Servicing | Repairs | Advice 15 Stores Nationwide - Call into our on campus service Centre in TCD SU, House 6, Tel: 01 6468434

to say my estimations were way off.

The feedback also informed me that I spend approximately €2,000 a year on alcohol, cheerily noting that with that money I could have bought a plasma screen TV. Bleak. Other highlights include the fact that the calories in the amount of alcohol I drank last month is the equivalent to 23 cheeseburgers, and that it would take me 11 hours of continuous running to work that off.

Luckily, I went for a 30-minute jog last week, so I only have 10 hours and 30 minutes of intense exercise to go. Apparently during my most intoxicated period last month, I had a blood-alcohol concentration level of about 0.18, which is enough to cause confusion, stupor, and impaired sensory perception, and is over three times the legal driving limit. It takes approximately twelve hours to completely sober up from a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18, meaning I wouldn’t have completely sobered up until around 2 or 3 pm the following day. Finally, my risk of developing future alcohol problems is “medium”.

These facts and figures, along with other pieces of information included in the comprehensive feedback, are real eye-openers. This isn’t a scare tactic but rather gives each person the information to deal with things as they need. As someone who never would have considered myself to be a big drinker, it has certainly made me more aware of my own habits. e-PUB is free, it does not take too long to complete, and it is entirely confidential.

It may give you the push you need to re-evaluate your drinking, or it could just be a way to get some interesting feedback about your own relationship with alcohol. It is being endorsed by both the Student Counselling Service and College Health Centre, and they would encourage anyone who has concerns about their own drinking, or who is just interested to see how they compare to the college average, to give the e-PUB service a try.

You can book an appointment with the Student Counselling Service by calling the following number (01) 8961407

8

The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

In Focus

Senators as Philosopher Kings and Queens

Trinity’s Plato Centre and a groundbreaking event of sorts.

Edmund Heaphy Deputy Editor

I

n a research university that aspires to be among the world’s best, departments need to have a real research presence – over and above the research activity of its individual members. This was the crux of Professor Vasilis Politis’s thoughts on what Trinity needs to do to consolidate its position on the world stage. The way to do this, he says, is “by having a research centre as an arm of the department”. Professor Politis is the Director of Trinity’s Plato Centre, a research centre jointly run by the Philosophy Department and the Classics Department.

Two weeks ago, the Plato Centre hosted a groundbreaking event of sorts. Politis called it an event he “would like to think is the first of its kind in Trinity”. I’d hazard a guess and say that it’s likely the first of its kind in the world. As in, it’s unusual for a large contingent of a house of parliament to arrive at a university to hear about Plato. The event, entitled “Senators as Philosopher Kings”, invited members of Seanad Éireann to a discussion about what Plato can teach us today, and particularly how Plato can teach Senators to be kings or queens of philosophy, taking them out of the metaphorical cave. The cave is one of the aspects from the Republic – Plato’s seminal work on the definition of justice and how the state should be

structured – which seemed to grip the senators. Professor John Dillon, the founder and Director Emeritus of the Plato Centre, described the cave on the night as a portrayal of “ordinary people as prisoners sitting in a cavelike dwelling”. The people are chained to their seats, watching a shadow puppet show, and they think that this shadow puppet show is all there is to the world. And all they discuss are the shadows on the screen in front of them. Dillon said it was the job of the Philosopher Kings to “come down and tell the rest of us: you think you know how the world really works, but you are just staring at shadows in a cave. We will now explain to you how things could be structured.”

One senator drew a distinction between the types of shadows they see from the cave that is Seanad Éireann – the temporary shadows in the form of government ministers, and the permanent shadows in the form of the people in the civil service who seem to perpetually run government departments. Dr David Horan, a post-doctoral scholar in the centre who is working on a twelve-year project that will see him complete a singular translation of all the dialogues of Plato, provided the senators with a list of six suggested maxims on the Socratic Method, a method of asking and answering questions so that critical thinking can be stimulated. The method was developed by Socrates and formalised by Plato, and the whole point is that this critical thinking should illuminate the best ideas. Some of the maxims I thought would, or perhaps should, be obvious to the senators. For instance, it was suggested that they should “be willing to be proved wrong if found to be in error”, and that “good questions are more powerful than lengthy speeches”. But there is no doubt that following these maxims would lead to a better Seanad, and a better society as

a whole.

Speaking to Professor Politis this week in the Plato Centre, which is located in what he calls the dungeons of the 1937 Reading Room, he told me he was “kind of overwhelmed by the event”, saying that it was the kind of event that they had been thinking of for some time, an event that shows “Plato is relevant in today’s world”.

The response to the event was extremely positive. On the night, Senator Gerard Craughwell – the Seanad’s newest member – said that he was “extremely sorry that it had taken him sixty years to find Plato”.

The Plato Centre was founded in 1997. The premises that the centre has in the 1937 Reading Room, however, go “back more or less exactly ten years”, Politis said. Until it had a premises, the centre was just a “name”, and its members met in Professor Dillon’s office. In 2004, the space for the centre was provided by the then-Provost, John Hegarty, partly in response to Dillon’s donation of 2,500 books to the centre. Politis, who is also Head of the Philosophy Department, took over as director of the centre in 2005 after Dillon’s retirement. Politis said that they consider the Plato Centre as “having a home in two departments, the Philosophy Department and the Classics Department”. Coming from a family of architects, Politis says that it is the centre’s premises that are special to him.

When Politis said that he was going to take me to the Plato Centre, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The centre, which he calls a “living, daily space”, is far larger than I had imagined. Initially, we sat in a medium-sized seminar room where weekly reading seminars are held. Politis described the rest of the centre as “basically a series of corridors”. It’s in these corridors that the centre’s 3000-volume library is kept.

The corridors that the Plato Centre

ILLUSTRATION BY ISEULT MCCARDLE FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

has use of actually wrap the whole way around the back of the 1937 Reading Room. Politis wasn’t sure whether to call them room-like corridors or corridor-like rooms, but one part of it is so wide that there are shelves containing thousands of books and space for seven postgraduate students to work. Aside from the countless

visiting speakers the centre brings to Trinity, its annual Stephen MacKenna lecture, and its annual reading week, it really is this space – more or less unique in Trinity – that establishes the Plato Centre as a centre of excellence. On top of this, the centre has significant involvement in working with postgraduate students and post-

Students Are Revolting Charlotte Ryan Deputy Features Editor

I

n the type of education the majority of us will have received, the activist always came first. Be it because, as children, we were too young to understand the complex strains of thought at play when we learn about history or because every kid loves a superhero figure to root for, the names of the men and women who fought the battles of society were always those that lingered longest. Their Batman symbols were the grainy black and white pictures we saw in history books, whether it be Rosa Parks resolute in her bus seat or Martin Luther King Jr.’s sad eyes gazing out over a devoted crowd.

These colossal figures made protesting seem like a calling, yet today it is immersive in our society. From Facebook posts and Twitter hashtags, to personal blogs and the walls of bathroom stalls, protesting has pervaded our interactions in ways most of us aren’t even aware of, making it easier for passionate thinkers to find a platform.

College students have often been on the ground for significant political and social movements and, with all our enthusiasm and caffeine problems, we’re the ideal pro-

Charlotte Ryan looks to student protests both historical and recent and speculates about what can be learned from their example. testers. For almost as long as universities have existed so have student protests. One of the earliest examples of the student protest occurred at the University of Paris in March 1229 when, following a rowdy night of drinking during the carnival of Paris, a dispute broke out between a group of students and the tavern owner. Despite the students being protected by the ecclesiastical courts, the university authorised the punishment of the students. This decision led to enormous protests. The unease lasted two years, the end result being a number of student deaths and the independence of the university from local authorities.

Paris was the setting of another historic series of protests. In May 1968 protests kicked off after the closure of Nanterre University in Paris which came after months of conflict between the administration and far-left student groups. In response to the closure, some 20,000 protesters marched to the University of Sorbonne, and were met by startling police brutality.

This heavy-handed response by the government sparked country-wide protest, which

“In May 1968 protests kicked off after the closure of Nanterre University in Paris”

“On October 8th between 250 and 300 students participated” PHOTO BY Tomasz Szykulski FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

at its height virtually brought the entire nation to a standstill.

While the May ’68 riots succeeded as a “social revolution, not a political one”, as stated by Alan Geismar, one of the leaders of the protests, it proved that powerful student-led political reform is possible and has merit.

The protests currently ongoing in Hong Kong are a perfect demonstration of this. Organised by Occupy Central and the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism, what started as a sizeable group of students protesting the proposed restrictions on electoral candidates in the 2017 election has grown to include tens of thousands of

pro-democracy supporters as well as the thousands of global supporters witnessing one of the most extraordinary and significant political movements in recent history. These studentled movements are testimony to the fact that, when young people are educated, opinionated and, most importantly, passionate about a cause they have the clout and strength in numbers to elicit real and lasting change.

Contrasting the peaceful and systematic form of protest that has been so integral to the success of the Hong Kong student uprising are the more extreme and radical examples that have peppered history. Following the

doctoral fellows. It did strike me, however, that the centre doesn’t interact much with undergraduate students.

Indeed, I wouldn’t have really known about the centre if the senators event hadn’t caught my eye.

Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, who had been given a similar tour of the Plato Centre during the summer, was one of the proponents of the “Senators as Philosopher Kings” event. Senator O’Donnell told me she suggested that the centre should “try and reach out” after meeting Politis and Dillon in the centre and that maybe “senators should come and hear what Plato had to say”. She said that the “Plato Centre and the Seanad were a perfect match” and said “all senators know they have a lot to learn”. The Plato Centre opened up the doors to “a different structure of thought in the way we bring ideas together”. O’Donnell was emphatic that the Plato Centre was not just a place for Senators, but that a place where maybe bankers, media or tycoons could go to to learn. For the Seanad in particular, she thought the centre offered a way out of territorialism. The reaction from senators, O’Donnell said, was overwhelmingly positive.

Senator John Whelan, O’Donnell said, felt that the event gave him back “a sense of the quality of what he should be doing.”

Near the end of our discussion, Politis said that “in an ideal world, the philosophy department would have three research centres, not one.” It wasn’t invented, he said, just because they felt “now we need a research centre, so let’s invent one”, but that it grew “organically through the interests of its founding members, and today a research centre is what it is”.

He said: “I’d love to be able to say it’s just one of the department’s research centres, but at the moment, it’s the one we have.”

“

Students have been on the ground for significant movements and, with all our enthusiasm and caffeine problems, we’re ideal protesters. kidnapping of 43 teaching students by local police in Iguala, Mexico and the subsequent discovery of mass graves containing what are largely believed to be the charred remains of at least some of the victims, frustrated locals took to the streets to burn government buildings in retaliation. While the anger fuelling the move is justified, the violence of such acts merely exacerbates the mounting tension and fractures trust between the sides. Even more extreme is the practice of self-immolation as protest, as done by Kostas Georgakis, a Greek geology student studying in Genoa, in 1970.

The act was a demonstration against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopolous, head of the Greek junta that ruled the country from 1967-74 and, while tragic, served little purpose other than to rid a political oppositional movement of one of its fighters. It’s evident that for a student movement to carry any weight the protesters must act responsibly and avoid being cast as the overeager reckless rabble rousers.

Of course, this kind of more

radical student activism isn’t exclusive to just a few countries. Trinity has had its fair share of radical protests and demonstrations that push at the boundaries just enough.

On V-E Day, May 7th 1945, fifty students scaled to the top of Regent House and strung up a Union Jack in celebration of the Allied victory. Hearing of this, a group of students from UCD stormed down to College Green to remove it and clashed with the Trinity students. Also punctuating our history are what can only be called the urban legends of Trinity, such as the tale of a group of Phil members that murdered the Junior Dean over a dispute.

Myths and rumours of murder aside, Trinity’s track record for fostering student activism has been rocky in recent years.

In a rally organised by the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) in 2011, which addressed government plans to cut the student maintenance grant, 1,000 Trinity students marched through the streets in protest.

However, at another rally in 2013 there only marched 25 students, an embarrassingly low amount. Even in the most recent of marches on October 8th between 250 and 300 students participated – a definite improvement, but not enough of one for us to be satisfied. So how do we fix it? Do we point fingers at the USI for lagging in their organisation? At the student body for simply not caring enough?

Do we shake our fists at a society that would sooner accept disillusionment rather than demand change just because it’s easier? If the mentioned successful protests are anything to go by, it’s pretty simple: get educated, get angry, and get heard.

The rest will be history.

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

In Focus

T A Spoonful of Sugar Rossa James Gallagher Staff Writer

“Women on Web is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide women with the access and means to safe, non-surgical abortion.”

ILLUSTRATION BY Caoilainn Scouler FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

he posters are all over Dublin, stuck to street lamps, walls, fences and bathroom doors.

There are more than a few inside Trinity and chances are you’ve probably walked past them without noticing. The problem is that they don’t stay up for long. They are quickly torn down, defaced, or otherwise made unreadable. Visually striking, the stickers are seeking to promote awareness of the digital community Women on Web and draw attention to one of the most of the most controversial issues in Irish society and politics today: abortion.

Based in the Netherlands, Women on Web is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide women with the access and means to safe, non-surgical abortion. Visitors to the website are referred to a survey and receive a consultation from an online doctor, consisting of about 25 questions. Applicants that meet the criteria are asked for a donation of €90 and two to three weeks later receive either the drug misoprostal or mifepristone in the post, commonly known as the abortion pill.

It seems a relatively simple process and is designed to be so, but it’s complicated by the fact that in Ireland the sale of prescription-only medicines by mail-order is illegal and all found drugs are seized. Under the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill, any person

found attempting to “intentionally destroy human life” faces up to fourteen years in prison. In short, ordering these pills means breaking the law. Women on Web however, along with a growing number of pro-choice groups and activists, have chosen to fight these laws and in doing this, the steps they’ve taken have become bolder. The “Abortion Pill Train” is just one example.

On 28th of October, thirty pro-choice activists, including four TDs and various civil rights movements, travelled to Belfast by train where they picked up, brought back to Dublin, and publicly swallowed these abortion pills in order to demonstrate their safety. The event was heavily publicised on social media and was christened the ‘Abortion Pill Train’. Organised to fall on the second anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar, the woman from the controversial X case of 2012 who died after being refused an abortion as she miscarried, the rally sought to draw attention to the strict regulations regarding abortion in Ireland under the 8th amendment, where an abortion is only obtainable when the woman’s life is at risk.

Organisers of the rally disembarked the Belfast train at Connolly station to applause from waiting crowds – both independent pro-choice supporters and various lobby groups. Participants were from

a range of Irish pro-choice groups including ROSA (For Reproductive Rights, Against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity), Action for Choice, Real Productive Health, as well as a number of TDs and councilors from People Before Profit, Socialist Party and the Anti Austerity Alliance. Supporters turned up in droves despite the pouring rain to hear speakers demonstrate against what they believe constitutes unfair, hypocritical legislative practice by the Irish

government under the 8th Amendment.

According to the press statement, the purpose of the rally was “to defy Ireland’s medieval abortion laws which criminalise women.” Participants in the rally did just this, publicly swallowing a number of these pills to a frenzy of photography, in order to demonstrate their safety.

The rally also bore strong resemblance to the famous

contraception train in Ireland back in 1971, when forty-nine members of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement travelled to Belfast to bring back then-illegal contraceptives.

A conscious parallel, participants of the rally were keen to link the two together, declaring that the influence of the Catholic Church is still

very much present in the Irish Constitution and that only in repealing the 8th Amendment could women be accorded basic civil rights. Ruth Coppinger TD, attacking the amendment, asked: “How can politicians justify maintaining a Constitu-

The ‘Hamster Wheel of Precarity’ in Irish Universities An interview with The Third Level Workplace Watch.

Ciar McCormick Junior Editor

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n the 17th of September, a small contingent from the Third Level Workplace Watch (TLWW) stepped on to Front Square to draw attention to the inadequate working conditions of junior faculty members in universities all over Ireland. These working conditions include precarious and seasonal work as well as temporary and zero hour contracts. Precarity and casualisation is commonplace across many sectors of work, the university is no exception.

“We were nervous… it wasn’t like attending an organised protest… we were catching people off-guard…we weren’t actually kicked out of Front Square… but if the security knew what we were doing, they would have… we are invisible workers and this made us visible.”

Dressed in the academic attire of the gown and cap, their faces masked, they stood out among the crowds while the hustle and bustle of Freshers’ week continued around them. They handed out leaflets in the form of mock degrees for the fictional “Discount University”. The degree illuminated the importance of the plight of junior academic staff: “Our working conditions are your learning conditions”.

The TLWW advocated on their leaflet several shocking claims about the work-

ing conditions in Irish universities: that the average rate of pay for corrections of exams and essays is between €1 and €2, that teaching assistants are only paid by the hour for classroom time, (therefore consultation with students, lecture preparation, and module design are done for free), that teacher numbers are down 12 per cent whereas student numbers are up 15 per cent, and that Irish universities are employing researchers under the JobBridge scheme.

I met with three members of the TLWW not long after their demonstration in Front Square, in Lanigans Pub on Eden Quay. They asked to remain anonymous: such is the environment that their working conditions provide, they can be let go at any time.

Their goal is to protect the precarious workers in academia, to highlight the working conditions of this workplace and to win rights and entitlements for these workers. They explain to me that there is an inflation of salaries for solicitors and administrative staff tied to the college, but for the junior academic staff it is a race to the bottom with regards to wages. “Students and teachers are necessary, but administration is not”, yet these essential staff members are not being rewarded for their vital role in the university. TLWW claim that “the work is there, the need for academic staff is there due to the increase in students numbers, but instead there has been a decrease in staff”.

TLWW internal research suggests that the average annual salary of the academics they researched was €10,000, and 63 per cent of participants relied on hourly paid work. One interviewee spoke of an experience of being asked to “speak on [their] interest in return for book tokens”, another recalled “people signing on to the dole whilst teaching at master’s level, because the wage provided by the college wasn’t enough to live on”. A

“We were nervous… it wasn’t like attending an organised protest… we were catching people off-guard” PHOTOS BY THE THIRD LEVEL WORKPLACE WATCH

former tutor in the School of English, in an email, divulged a similar experience: “I was too fed up with the prospect of scraping by on terrible pay with no job security as a TA or occasional lecturer, so I left Ireland”. Their research also indicated that 57 per cent of these casual workers in academia are recorded to be doing this precarious work for five years or more and that the average time spent working hourly and seasonal work in academia was eight and a half years. Their study also suggests a gendered element to these precarious working conditions with 62 per cent of casual work being done by females.

They continued by explaining to me the stigma and embarrassment expe-

rienced by a junior academic: “There is a perception that once you work in academia you are well paid… The idea is that this is your chosen vocation and you are to work hard until you make it… you are led to assume that if you don’t make it, that it is some fault of your own.” The reality is that this perpetuation of temporary and precarious work is not due to a lack of effort, or skill, or talent, but because of how universities are run nowadays. “There is a carrot and stick theme that is common in academia” they tell me. “You are always told one more year of a shitty contract before you get a permanent position… it’s an empty incentive. Hiring policies need to be changed.”

In communication with the appropri-

tional Amendment now thirtyone years old and on which no women of childbearing age had a say? This action must be the first of many more to force this government to hold a referendum to scrap the dangerous 8th Amendment.”

Both domestic and international pressure has mounted on the government to reform abortion legislation in recent years. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland had violated convention by failing to provide an effective and accessible procedure whereby a woman can find out whether or not she qualifies for an abortion or not. The X case in 2012 shined a politically uncomfortable global spotlight on abortion, leading to the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. The Y case in 2014 served to reveal the inadequacies of that bill. The “Abortion Pill Train” rally is just the latest in a series of public demonstrations by pro-choice activists and will by no means be the last. Over the issue of abortion though, Ireland remains a deeply divided society.

One look at a defaced Women on Web poster will tell you as much.

ate staff in Trinity College Dublin, over the space of two months, there was a reluctance to provide The University Times with any substantial information on the employment of junior academics in the College. The only information that was passed on was an assurance that the faculty of Arts and Humanities, the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and the Law School do not employ researchers on the JobBridge scheme. In frustration at the lack of transparency displayed by the college, at a Q&A late in September, I decided to quiz the Provost on whether he knew of the temporary and precarious work the college was providing its TAs and junior lectures. He replied, “this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Retaliation to the unacceptable working conditions in Trinity College Dublin has already begun. In this term Postgraduate students in the School of Chemistry, responding to a proposed pay cut, undertook a “go slow” on corrections, only correcting lab reports for the hours they got paid. The School of Physics is also understood to be considering a similar strategy. Actions like these have been adopted by other universities departments, suffering similar conditions, in France, Scotland and the U.K. I asked whether the goal of the TLWW is to unionise academic workers and they replied with a resounding ‘no’.

They explain: “The unions [in education] are fighting for the rights of permanent staff… we want to create solidarity across a nature of precarious workers within academia. We want to provide a critical voice from outside universities, on how they are run”. The casualisation of work in academia is a symptom of the current running of universities, neoliberalisation of third-level institutions has meant that universities are taking on a new form, in which the college has been ‘industrialised’ through the commodification of education, the applying of corporate principles, and the process of privatising.

TLWW claim the results of Irish universities continuing this model are threefold. Firstly, the resulting jobs will be a “hamster wheel of precarity” for academics. Secondly, providing only precarious jobs for those who might fill these positions will lead to high levels of poverty in certain academic circles.

Finally, learning conditions will worsen as those employed are not being paid enough to do their job properly.

The organisation is calling for other precarious workers in academia to share their experiences and concerns in order to collectively organise this ever-increasing sector of the workforce.

10

The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

Religious Crossroads

Above, and left: A daily session of the Synod; Swiss Guards salute the Pope as he arrives for a morning session

Seasickness at the Synod on the Family Niall Guinan looks at the liberalconservative split within the Church and argues that changes will come slowly – but that’s the way it should be.

Above: Pope Francis at one of the morning sessions at the two-week Synod in the Vatican

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ever was the word “omnishambles” more appropriate than in describing the recent, cumbersomely named “Synod on the Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelisation” which took

place in the Vatican last month. Amidst a farcical media circus, Catholic bishops bickered chaotically for a fortnight on subjects such as homosexuality, cohabitation, and the reception of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried people. The publication of an interim report that gave a great deal of hope to, among others, those of us who are LGBT Catholics, was quickly followed by its withdrawal and modification. It has exposed, in dramatic fashion, the scale of Pope Francis’s task in reconciling conservative and liberal factions in the Church.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, an 81-year old German cardinal, horrified his conservative colleagues at the beginning of the year by calling for the upcoming Synod to allow Catholics who have been divorced and are now civilly remarried to receive Holy Communion. His call

was picked up by the liberal media, provoking a great deal of excitement and misguided expectation about what last month’s Synod would bring. The media paid less attention to Cardinal Kasper when he suggested that African bishops appointed under the previous two conservative Popes were somehow ignorant and close-minded in relation to family issues. In many ways he epitomises the German church, which is enormously wealthy despite facing mostly empty churches on Sundays. It is also enormously arrogant, especially in pushing reforms that do not sit comfortably with Catholics in regions where the Church is actually strong and growing.

American Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke was the conservative figurehead during the Synod. A noted proponent of the Traditional Latin Mass, Cardinal Burke is known for wearing extravagant vestments which, while beautiful and consistent with liturgical norms, look to the uninitiated observer as though they straddle the line separating shameless gaudiness and drag. One of Ameri-

“

The vestments which look to the uninitiated observer as though they straddle the line separating shameless gaudiness and drag

ca’s fiercest opponents of abortion and same-sex marriage, he has frequently courted controversy for asking other bishops to refuse Communion to politicians who support abortion and what he calls “anti-family” policies. He also called for Irish politicians who supported the 2013 abortion legislation to be excluded from the sacraments.

Between these two intransigent factions lies the humble Jesuit, Pope Francis, who reportedly remained silent during the heated rows on the Synod floor. He concluded the event by giving a speech in which he begged for reconciliation between the factions he described as “the traditionalists” and “the progressives.” This plea was greeted with a rapturous standing ovation by the gathered bishops who, by all accounts, remain just as uncompromising in their views as ever, rendering any such reconciliation doubtful.

It is very clear with which faction the Pope’s sympathies lie. Shortly after the Synod, he demoted Cardinal Burke from his prestigious position on the Apostolic Signatura (essentially the Supreme Court of the Church) to a new, comparatively insignificant role as patron of the Order of Malta, a profoundly humiliating change of fortunes for the Cardinal.

It does not appear to be the Pope’s intention to split the Church. He, being the humble man that he is, recognises that his role is as a guardian of tradition, not a radical revolutionary. Monsignor Basil Loftus, a leading “progressive” voice in the Church has written of a “Franciscan Revolution” as transformative as the French Revolution, apparently forgetting that the bloody democide which followed the French Revolution was a calamity for French Catholics who were martyred in the thousands. Such radical change will not be a feature of this pontificate or indeed any other. It is the nature of the Roman Catholic Church to be a cautious, Burkean institution, rather than a radical Jacobin club, when it comes to reform.

It is appropriate that this shambolic Synod ended with the beatification of Paul VI, who was unlucky enough to preside over one of the most chaotic periods in history since the Reformation of the Church. In these stormy times, Pope Francis obviously sees Blessed Paul as something of an inspiration. Cardinal Burke has spoken of a sense of seasickness within the Church. He might take comfort in the passages of the Gospels where the Apostles are feeling seasick.

On both these occasions, including the well-known “walking on water” miracle, Jesus comes to comfort the Apostles and calm the storm. It is to be hoped that Jesus will similarly calm the storm at next year’s Synod and inspire the delegates, without bowing Church doctrine to the vicissitudes of public opinion, to explain the Church’s teachings in a way that is more compassionate and more in tune with the those of the Nazarene Carpenter, “meek and humble of heart.”

Niall Guinan is a Contributing Writer

Falling Out With Religion Ciannait Khan argues the type of dismissal of religion that has become so common needs more substance.

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tudies done in 2012 showed that Ireland was abandoning religion faster than almost any other country in the world. In 2006, 69 per cent of Irish people described themselves as religious, a number which had dropped to 47 per cent merely six years later. For those of us who grew up here, such statistics are superfluous. It doesn’t take an expert in Irish sociology to notice, or understand, the downward trajectory that religion has taken here in recent decades. One glance at Father Ted and its incredible resonance with the Irish people sums it up quite nicely.

Bemoaning religion has become highly fashionable. In Ireland particularly, we have some terrifyingly good reasons to criticise the Catholic Church, but there is a similar level of scepticism often aired about religious teachings in general. I’ve heard people dismiss the Bible as a book of fables, with Jesus an imaginary character akin to Santa Claus. Like many young teenagers, I went through a hardcore atheist phase during which I worshipped the Flying Spaghetti Monster and brushed religion aside as a cult for the deluded. While many adopt more moderate views as they get older, it remains the case that

most young people don’t take religion very seriously.

Something about this casual dismissal of religion doesn’t sit well with me. Like most others in my generation, I’m resentful about how religion was forced upon us in school. I’m angry about what the Church has done, and strongly oppose many of the stances it continues to hold. But religion, in some form, is almost a constant throughout human history, and has had the ability to mobilise and inspire people like little else can. That’s because religion has always served an important function by giving meaning to life. The mistakes made by corrupt organisations and corrupt people do nothing to diminish the desire that human beings have to seek answers to divine questions.

A society that is completely without religion may certainly be possible, and maybe even desirable, but if we are going to move beyond religion it must be for the right reasons. Such a major societal development should evolve organically, rather than as a

habitual reaction out of anger and resentment. Although we’re on the right track, the sharp and drastic turn we’ve taken against religion is largely a red herring. The transition won’t be as simple as a seamless decline in religiosity until it completely falls off our radar. We must consciously decide that we no longer need religion, and understand what has actually changed to make this so. If religion has been the opium of the masses, it is worth considering what the new opium might be.

In line with Marx’s view, the fact that Ireland is experiencing more wealth than ever before could be one reason that we no longer need religion. Basic needs such as food, shelter and education are taken care of for most, and thus we no longer need to look to a god to reassure us that life is worth living. But if we, meaning particularly the younger generations who may not have experienced much hardship yet, are going to declare that we have no need of religion, we must stick to our guns through good

times and bad. Finding meaning in life may not be difficult when everything is going well, but it might be quite another story in the depths of despair, such as for those facing a war or an epidemic.

It is also possible that we, as a population, have simply become too ‘rational’ to believe in afterlifes and omnipotent deities. But while scientific advancement and education are likely a factor in religion’s decline, we shouldn’t look upon people from the past as primitive fools incapable of exercising their faculty of reason.

Humans always have, and always will, behave irrationally in seeking to satisfy their emotions and desires, and one of those desires is often to find a source of greater meaning. Even with the decline of religion, our conversations are still rife with semi-spiritual ideas about what is “meant to be” and various “signs” pointing to something or other.

Our dismissal of religion is often far too superficial. How many of us who object to religion have actually

studied the sacred texts before deciding that we disagree with them? Or can say for certain whether Jesus, or any other prophets, were real people, or what historical evidence exists concerning those debates? Fewer still have read up on the philosophy of religion in an attempt to understand the “big” arguments for and against God’s existence. Before we move on, we must lay these issues to rest, rather than remaining blissfully ignorant of them.

It’s easy to think of our society as finally being “done” with religion, with a strictly atheistic population being the inevitable and desired end.

But religion is no trivial matter. We shouldn’t confuse our anger towards religious institutions and fallible individuals with our feelings towards religion itself. Before we accept this major societal change, we must be sure we have good reason to do so, and I don’t believe we’ve given religion quite enough thought just yet.

Ciannait Khan is a Contributing Writer

11

The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

Mandela House, 6 Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2 Phone: (01) 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Samuel Riggs, Editor Edmund Heaphy, Deputy Editor Sinéad Baker, Assistant Editor & Co-Editor-at-Large Jack Leahy, News Editor Conor Murphy, Features Editor Daniel O’Brien, Opinion Editor Cormac Shine, Co-Editor-at-Large Carl Kinsella, Sports Editor Rachel Lavin, Magazine Editor Jane Fallon Griffin, Deputy Magazine Editor Tom Myatt, Supplements Editor Esmé Montgomery, Copy Editor Benedict Shegog, Photo and Illustrations Editor Caelan Rush, Creative Director

IN THE MIDST OF BUREAUCracy, REMEMBER THE END GOAL OF VOTER REGISTRATION As we are confounded by long Facebook posts describing the voter registration process this week, it’s important to remember exactly what the end goal is: marriage equality. The immediate goal of getting people registered is obviously one of the most critical parts of getting out the youth vote and winning the referendum, but from the outset it needs to be clear that, by being on the register, you have the opportunity to participate in the civil rights movement of a generation. As union representatives roam the Arts Block with clipboards and class reps bombard Facebook pages – the necessities of any campaign like this – the worry is that the perception may be of a typical union campaign filled with what’s often perceived as bureaucracy. Getting people out to vote shouldn’t be modelled on a typical sabbatical officer election campaign, which is marred by apathy and relatively low participation, but instead be built on reminding people that this kind of thing really is a big deal, and that it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity – not a gimmick whose goal it is to get someone elected for a year. A sense of focus from the union is obviously admirable – as all that can be done now is get as many people as possible registered – but that doesn’t mean we have to forget why people need to register to vote.

The chance to participate in a movement of this scale should outweigh the annoyance that anyone might feel by being asked to fill in a form or being approached in the Hamilton. The thirty seconds that it takes to fill a document should be dwarfed by the fact that we now have a chance to get a referendum of this size passed, and that we won’t have to campaign for years for this opportunity to come around again.

The responsibility of reminding people in Trinity of this falls on the Students’ Union, because if they don’t take up the mantle, no-one else will.

Not only this, but it is a long-term investment in their own future – more students registered to vote means a greater sway in political decisions in the future, and can be used as leverage when negotiating on important issues like student fees, accommodation and better funding for colleges.

Never forget that what politicians want are votes, and if the double whammy of many students registered to vote and a high voter turnout is achieved, we suddenly have a lot more swaying power in government than before. Voter registration is incredibly important in the short term, as it allows us the chance to make an immediate and monumental impact, but an informed and registered electoral pool means that we have the biggest chance of seizing control of our own future. So if someone pesters you to register this week, just do it.

Trinity HAS relied on its reputation FOR FAR TOO LONG

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rinity seems to occupy a special place in the Irish consciousness – a place that is directly linked to prestige, a historical reputation for excellence and the ingrained idea that, somehow, if you go to Trinity you’ll be “better”. For far too long, Trinity has relied on its reputation to get by, and to attract new students. While other third-level institutions send representatives across the country to visit secondary school classrooms and encourage students to attend their open days, Trinity rests comfortably on its laurels, safe in the knowledge that it still tops the rankings every time in Ireland. However, down this path lies ruin – if the College does not start actively encouraging students to come to Trinity, failing to put a friendly human face to the College, there’s a danger this reputation could change to one of coldness, aloofness and elitism – a reputation we already flirt with.

The situation is somewhat reversed when we look at the situation internationally. Trinity has representatives in India, China, America and all of the larger feeder countries. This emphasis on attracting global students is impressive and, in the new strategic plan, College has just committed to another four years of building on what is an already rapidly growing international community. However, this only serves to highlight the lack of effort put into student recruitment within Ireland.

Trinity needs to refocus its energies on bringing new students into the fold for a more diverse range of reasons. Although it has a passable online presence aimed at attracting new students with sites like TCD Life and Study at Trinity, it’s unlikely you’ll find a student citing what they read on these websites as a reason for coming to the College. The value of initiatives such as TAP cannot be underestimated in what they bring to the table, in terms of a more diverse and lively campus, however more of these types of initiatives are needed, and the importance of face-to-face interaction in making a genuine connection with prospective students cannot be underestimated. If we do not start trying to actively entice students to our campus we are doomed to stagnate as we become a piece of history, rather than making it.

www.universitytimes.ie

Tip Your Buskers Recognising the value of buskers requires considering how they earn a living.

PHOTO BY Tomasz Szykulski FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

Daniel O’Brien Opinions Editor

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The inherent mystique of busking comes from its proudly independent nature, the romanticised struggle to find success against the odds in a vastly competitive world.

f it’s not raining too hard, and there aren’t too many tourists, and you’re not in too much of a hurry (an admittedly unlikely convergence of circumstances), Grafton Street is among the most romantic spots in Dublin. A number of factors make it so: the feeling of relentless energy and excitement combines with visually stunning architecture to create a unique blend of cultural heritage and thriving modernity. On a December evening, with the Christmas lights lit, it can even top the quays for places you’d go out of your way to see.

There’s also a less obvious factor at play, one that is subtle, but inextricably linked to the idea of Grafton Street. It’s the music, coming always from somewhere but seemingly from nowhere, providing a real life soundtrack to the day’s adventures. We have buskers to thank for this.

I use the term busker here to refer primarily to musicians, although it more accurately reflects an entire array of street performers. This will be useful for two reasons: first, because I personally derive the most enjoyment from musicians, which is a key point of this article, and second, be-

cause their music is more or less directly experienced by everyone within earshot. Participation is of the opt-out rather than the opt-in variety.

Whereas some of the more esoteric performers can be annoying or even terrifying (I’m thinking of the statue-men in the first instance, and the chanting shaman person in the second), street musicians are almost unequivocally ‘good’. I mean that not in terms of talent, but rather that I have rarely (or more likely never) encountered a situation where I would be happier if a musician stopped playing or singing. A possible exception is when tourists form an unnecessarily large circle of viewership and block all available walking space, though that is hardly the performer’s fault.

But the fact that everyone can, or indeed must, experience the music without paying for it raises the question of how the work of the busker can be sustainable.

Even if we assume that talented buskers make more money than less talented ones, it seems inevitable that their compensation will fail to match the benefits they provide.

Those benefits come at a personal level, from the unquantifiable improvement to your day that comes from experiencing something moving, inspirational, or simply incredible. They also come at a societal level, from the aforementioned charm that accumulates around places like Grafton Street, attracting spending to local businesses and building an international reputation for both city and country.

One solution would be for the government to pay buskers with public funds, in the same way it

provides parks or policing services. Schedules could be regulated along with wages, ensuring that performers are properly distributed both in terms of talent and location. This solution holds a certain theoretical appeal: skilled buskers could make a full-time living of it, society would have an optimal supply of public music, and never again would one enterprising lad with a guitar struggle to be heard over another who just so happened to bring an amp with him.

But while all of that may be ‘ideal’ in a sterile, economic sense, it rightly comes off sounding a bit overly contrived, and maybe even counterproductive. The inherent mystique of busking comes from its proudly independent nature, the romanticised struggle to find success against the odds in a vastly competitive world. Turning an expression of anti-authoritarianism into another tool of the state risks draining any unique value derived from the activity. At that point we might as well just have PA systems playing pleasant background music on every corner.

The struggle, then, is how to more closely reconcile the busker’s compensation with the value he or she provides, without undermining the source of that value by doing so. The solution is fairly simple on paper, but far more difficult to implement in practice. Try to keep in mind the exact benefit that you derive from any specific performer, and consider what exactly you are doing to perpetuate that benefit. Pay more attention to, and wherever possible actually pay, the buskers from whom you gain particular enjoyment. Yes, even if that means the statue-men, robot dancers, and sand sculptors.

In Defense of Overseas Volunteering Niall Robertson Contributing Writer

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s we delve ever deeper into the academic year, it is gradually becoming more socially acceptable to ask “what are your plans for the summer?” While many will opt for the standard J-1 adventure in the U.S. and others will opt for a “stayat-home” summer and find work in Ireland, there will inevitably be a large group of people who will choose to volunteer in a developing country.

As the majority of volunteer programmes require some fundraising before departing, it is this group of people who will have to be well prepped to face the inevitable questions such as “Where is this money going exactly?” and “Are you really doing anything good for the world or is it just an elaborate holiday?”

It is, of course, extremely important that these questions are asked, and that issues around “voluntourism” are appropriately addressed.

But equally important is accepting that, for many volunteer programmes, there are in fact perfectly valid answers to these questions and well-thought-out policies to address these issues.

That is not to say that all volunteer programmes abroad are

infallible and should be free from criticism just because “we’re a charity.” It is probably fair to apply the concept of “voluntourism” to many NGOs. However, we must be extremely careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and place an unfair label on completely transparent and well thought through volunteering projects such as the Suas Volunteer Programme.

As almost all of the several hundreds of volunteers who have worked with Suas will tell you, this volunteer programme is not a holiday. It is an intensive ten-week teaching placement in India or Kenya with rigorous pre-departure training. Volunteers work 40 hours a week as teaching assistants in extremely under privileged schools and are often involved in running extra-curricular activities with the schools as well.

It is all too easy to throw cynicism at the concept of students who aren’t primary school teachers becoming English teachers for the summer. A much harder task is to carefully analyse the work of Suas volunteers and what it can offer to local communities in India and Kenya.

When deciding how much good volunteering abroad is doing for local communities, it must be remembered that it is the partner organisations in India and Kenya who run the schools that are asking Suas to send over enthusiastic

volunteers who speak fluent English. It is not the other way around.

So who is best qualified to decide whether volunteers are doing useful work or not? Surely it is the teachers and charity workers who run the schools in India and Kenya on a daily basis, and it is at their request that volunteers teach in these schools.

A skill held by every Suas volunteer is fluency in English, something which is lacking in the vast majority of teachers. While many of the children that volunteers work with are extremely good at recognising individual words, conversational English is all but non-existent. As anyone who went to Irish or French college during secondary school will tell you, the most effective way to learn a language is to have no option but to speak it constantly.

So when there are 30 excited children enthusiastically participating in a game or lesson that this new, foreign teacher has introduced, the only way to play the game or enjoy the lesson is to listen intently to the instructions in English, and to constantly attempt to speak in English.

The benefits of volunteers are not limited to improvements in fluency however. Attendance in schools increases significantly while enthusiastic volunteers are working there and, while it is not permanent, this increase is observed for several weeks after vol-

unteers have left.

English is one of the three main languages in India and as a result teachers are expected to be, in theory, trilingual. Since this is rarely the case, fluent English speaking volunteers are a valuable aid to teachers.

It is not true that volunteers do work that should otherwise be done by paid employees, as has been wrongly noted in the past.

Volunteers work as teaching assistants, and are an additional resource available to teachers. Most importantly, volunteers help to reduce the student:teacher ratio, allowing teachers to focus on the needs of individual students.

As for the question of where the fundraised money goes, Suas is about as transparent as you can get, with the financial statement being freely available at www.suas. ie.

It’s great that we live in a society where people care enough to criticise volunteering projects that might not in fact be doing any good for the world. But when we ask the question: “Does volunteering abroad actually do any good for local communities?” we must accept the fact that the cynics inside of us may not hold the correct answer and that for many organisations the answer might well be “Yes, it does”.

Niall Robertson is the Secretary of Suas Trinity

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

The Champagne Socialist Takes On Irish Water Russell Brand, and his empty revolution.

Danielle Courtney Contributing Writer

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s Russell Brand at the forefront of a revolutionary political movement, or just promoting his new book?

For the most part I’ve been blissfully ignorant of his recent controversies, but the general public have not.

This week YouGov.com named Brand as the most despised celebrity political commentator in the UK, at 42 per cent negative contribution to political debate with a positive rating of only thirteen per cent.

Yet his positive approval is higher than many other “activist” celebrities which face significant public apathy like Bono, Leonardo diCaprio and George Clooney.

In fact Brand’s positive score is only points behind public idol Emma Watson’s sixteen per cent.

In his most recent appearance on BBC’s Newsnight, Brand heavily plugged his “True News” video series along with his new book. The series debuted on Youtube in February 2014, and has put out 189 episodes so far, one of which recently addressed the Irish water charges. While on the side of the Irish public, he fails to make a cohesive argument for the entirety of the eight minute video. With a scarf draped through his armpits, over his shoulders, and around his head – a conservative nod as he normally appears shirtless – he starts the video by mocking the Irish accent of the BBC reporter whom he will proceed to quote extensively, gets confused by changes in currency between dollars and euros, and then reads erroneous summations of Ireland’s financial crisis from his ever present wad of stray notes. Everyone has their point up to which nonsense is tolerated, and mine came seven minutes into his video when Brand references Africa as being a country, immediately after reading it aloud as a continent.

He fails to understand that many first world countries have neglected to invest in their infrastructure in the last thirty years, including the United States, and should the Irish government wish to, it could siphon the two billion euro to fix the entire water supply system from its budget, unlike the developing “country” of Africa that, in many places, suffers from crippling tax evasion and corruption.

We don’t need to change our corporate tax system, which has brought countless jobs and industry to the country in

recent years, to fix an unrelated systemic problem overlooked for decades. The only valid point he makes is that €86 million shouldn’t have been spent on consultants for Irish Water, but anyone could tell you that.

Especially irksome is his insistence that the poor in Ireland don’t have any means to rebuke their government. We do: it’s called our vote (not to mention the tens of thousands marching and protesting).

We vote on who represents us in different assemblies every two years. A single landslide wipe out for the ruling party in local elections would ensure unilateral reversal of unpopular decisions. Wasn’t Sinn Féin always anti-water tax? We effect change by voting en masse, not least of which because people died for our right to do so.

But in light of Brand’s stance against voting, I suppose it makes sense for him to think we can’t respond to our government in this way. In an interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, Brand addressed

his right to political comment despite never voting as follows: “I don’t get my authority from a pre-existing paradigm which is quite narrow, and only serves a few people. I look elsewhere for alternatives that might be of service to humanity” before admitting he had not “invented those alternatives yet.”

Watching Brand’s interviews, I often find myself jotting down the linguistic complexities he seems to fluidly adlib. His mastery of language is brilliant, helped by regular alliteration and the occasional slang word like geezer. His wild humour and often facetious rebuttals to serious questions make him accessible, especially to the under twenty-five demographic who, according to YouGov’s poll, absolutely love him. Students, despite studying at the very type of elite institutions he ridicules, are paradoxically his largest supporters, presumably due to our equally apathetic view toward voting and politics. As Brand says to Paxman, “There

“

While on the side of the Irish public, he fails to make a cohesive argument for the entirety of the eight minute video

are not genuine changes and genuine alternatives being offered … Why would I encourage a constituency of young people that are absolutely indifferent to vote?”

With three-fourths of the British cabinet made up of millionaires, it’s interesting that Brand has so ignored the political system which could offer him a new, and arguably more useful, career path. According to the Telegraph, only 3 per cent of non-university educated Brits are millionaires, and now we have one who is also politically conscious. But on yet another Newsnight appearance (did you know he has a book out!), he quashed Evan Davis’ interrogation of why he wouldn’t run for office with a confused rant about not believing in the system. His technologically savvy escapades have brought him millions of followers, but if a revolution happens outside they’ll all be missing it. That is, at least as long as Russell Brand is busy making shirtless YouTube videos about Irish Water.

“With a scarf draped through his armpits, over his shoulders, and around his head he starts the video by mocking the Irish accent of the BBC reporter whom he will proceed to quote extensively.”

It Should Not Be This Hard to Register to Vote Sinéad Baker Co-Editor-at-Large

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n September of this year, Deputy Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland, James Doorley, released a statement about the current voter registration system in Ireland, claiming “the current voter registration system is outdated and failing and must be overhauled… many young people who do want to vote are prevented from doing so because they are not registered in time.”

Calls for a reformed voter registration system are not rare. An Electoral Commission was promised both by this government and the previous one, and so far neither has delivered.

Even if this does occur, it may be too late considering the referendums due early next year whose outcomes depend heavily on the youth vote.

That the outcome of the referendum on marriage equality will de-

pend strongly on the youth vote is news to no one, but neither is the fact that the youth vote is typically underrepresented. In order for this referendum to be truly representative of the nation’s views, the entire population must engage with the voting process, not just those who typically do so.

This is all the more important in a referendum that deals with basic human rights.

Ireland’s current voter registration system remains entirely inappropriate if we want votes to be truly representative. For one thing, the government fails to promote to citizens that they must register to vote. Although one could argue that the responsibility to be an active citizen should fall entirely with the citizen themselves, this argument ignores the reality that, in most democratic nations, older generations and those from the middle class that are always the most likely to vote, and our current system only serves to further that bias.

A large proportion of the population is unaware of the need to register. People show up at polling stations every year assuming that, as a citizen, they are automatically entitled to do so.

Many countries don’t even require you to register in order to vote. In France you are automatically registered when you turn 18. The entire concept of having to register to vote

seems incompatible with the idea of a democracy, in which all eligible members are supposed to participate equally. Automatic registration is advocated by the National Youth Council, and it is one that has resulted in higher voting rates in most countries where it has been tried. In countries where voting is elective, those with stricter registration laws see a strong correlation with lower voter turnout, in particular amongst young people and those who come from lowerincome backgrounds. Under these circumstances those who have the most aggressively held views, or have been brought up learning the importance of voting, will be most likely to engage with the process,which guarantees that the outcome will not be representative of the electorate.

Regardless of your feelings toward radical reform, the current system is an organisational nightmare that is riddled with flaws. At present, you can only be registered to vote in one constituency, which means filling out a new form whenever you move to a new one. There are currently four separate forms that relate to registering, which undoubtedly puts people off the process. It also makes voter-registration drives, which aim to increase the number of young people registered to vote, more difficult to organise. Two of the forms – the RFA 2 and the RFA 3 – require a Garda stamp and signa-

ture as well as photo ID, which makes them incompatible with registering outside of your local Garda Station.

The RFA form is preferable because it lacks these requirements, but it registers you on the basis of household rather than as an individual. Thus, if you register to vote at an address you then knock everyone else registered at that address off the register. This is obviously particularly problematic in student accommodation and apartment complexes where young people often live.

The only form that avoids both of these issues, and thus the only form that is in any way useful for its intended purpose of registering people in a logical manner, is the RFA1. But this form is only accepted from the 1st until the 25th of November. Thus, if you attempt to register outside of this timeframe, the system remains unnecessarily complicated.

The system is also entirely decentralised, with 28 separate County Councils and three City Councils in charge of building and managing their own records that are established via these forms. These councils don’t even have a standardised approach – some allow for online registration, some are hesitant about accepting certain forms – nor do they reliably communicate, potentially leaving a person registered in more than one constituency.

If we believe in voting as a duty, or even if we believe that voting should be easy and accessible for those wishing to cast their vote on a particular issue, then we must pursue a system that is as convenient, accessible and welcoming as possible. Even the fact that the process is paper-based makes it outdated in a world where we do our banking, taxes, and bills online.

These issues have become stark in light of the marriage equality referendum. Many LGBT organisations have come together for the YesEquality campaign, which is holding voterregistration drives across the country, including one on campus with TCDSU this week. YesEquality has created an “Action Pack” to simplify these drives.

It includes copies of the RFA1 form, a full list of addresses where these forms are to be sent, details on how to fill it in correctly and the dates until which the forms are accepted. That the responsibility for clearly laying out this information has fallen to an external group proves that getting people registered is simply not a priority of the government. The campaign is also limited by the nature of the forms, as the RFA1 form, the only suitable form, is not accepted after November 25th.

Blame cannot solely be assigned to apathetic voters. The flaws in our voting system do not accommodate the mobile lives led by so many citizens, and particularly by young peo-

ple. We don’t know exactly when the referendum will take place – or even who will ultimately decide the date. If the referendum were to take place in June rather than in May, for example, all of the above work becomes fruitless, since the process of registering becomes increasingly more difficult once authorities stop accepting the RFA1 form.

The solution appears obvious. Ireland needs a system in which the registration process is centralised, where registration is automatic and linked to your status as a citizen, and where you can update your details and your address quickly and easily online. For the system to be otherwise is for the system to be inherently biased.

Many nations have managed to make voting as easy and accessible as possible to all members of society.

Our government must fulfill its promise to bring around electoral reform.

Students are often criticised for being lazy or apathetic, but it cannot be said that the youth vote is the only one that is generally underrepresented.

We must acknowledge that existing structures make it considerably more difficult for certain groups to vote than it is for others. As Tiarnan Brady, Policy Director at Glen, stated: “If you were to design an electoral register with the specific goal of disadvantaging young voters, this current system is exactly what it would look like”.

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The University Times | Tuesday 18 November, 2014

Debunking the Rape Myth Aisling Curtis questions the dangerous burden placed upon rape victims to conform to society’s accepted narrative for victimhood.

Rape in Ireland The most recent statistics about reported rape in Ireland are from 2010. However, they suggest that reporting of rape is on the rise. The Central Statistics Office figures show an increase of 27 per cent between 2009 and 2010.

The people who have lived through the issues are the ones to listen to.

Aisling Curtis Senior Staff Writer

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espite evidence that around 90 per cent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows, the contemporary myth is nevertheless this: a stranger in a dark and isolated place, brutalising a woman who wandered into an attack. This clichéd victim has become the standard against which the media, the law, and the average person evaluate claims of rape, a stereotype as outdated and deeply unhelpful as representations of the uncolonised savage or the ditsy housewife or the all-powerful white man.

These other inaccurate depictions have largely fallen into disrepute as remnants of a more bigoted time. Yet the stereotyped rape victim remains.

Politicians and journalists misconstrue events time and again: former congressman Todd Akin asks whether women regularly lie about rape – those strumpets! – and Tucker Carlson of Fox News seems perplexed by the notion that men can be rape victims too. They, and many others, are operating under the mistaken assumption that only the cases that align with their myth can be considered real sexual assault, as if there’s a litmus test for it and being male or sexually active means you cannot get the right result.

I fail to understand how somebody can believe that they have the right to stand on their soapbox and tell a traumatised victim that their rape is not “Real Rape”. That if your partner or your ex did it, or if you happen to be promiscuous, or even if you are just a man or an older woman or somebody who identifies as LGBTQ, or you fail to align neatly with the young, female, virginal caricature – as so many of us don’t – that it’s not “the same”. This constraining criteria bestows a false sense of security: it allows a legitimisation or complete denial of sexual assault, gives the perpetrators an easy escape from responsibility and guilt, and leaves victims unsure whether or not they’ve really been hurt.

In 2009, Ireland’s conviction

Samuel Riggs Editor

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ILLUSTRATION BY ISEULT MCCARDLE FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

rate for sexual assault was a bare seven per cent, implying a worrying mystification about what exactly “rape” is. Studies further suggest that between 75-90 per cent of victims do not report following their attack.

According to the US Department of Justice, 27 per cent of those who stay silent think the police won’t find their claim serious enough. Failure to conform with the traditional myth evidently leaves victims unsure whether anyone will believe them, whether anyone will help them, and whether they can seek justice in the murky waters of the Irish judicial system.

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he most recent statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggest that reported rape in Ireland is on the rise, with 377 cases brought to the police in 2009 and 479 in 2010 – an in-

Is Brussels Selling Out? John Bethell looks at the EU’s expansive new trade agreement.

John Bethell Contributing Writer

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Letter from the Editor

he Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a new free trade agreement between the European Union and the

United States, has caused much controversy. In short, it aims to remove trade barriers (regulations, tariffs, investment restrictions, etc.) in economic sectors in order to link the the world’s two largest economies – the United States and the European Union – which, in 2013, generated $16.8 trillion dollars and $18.1 trillion dollars of GDP, respectively.

Proponents argue that it would promote multilateral economic growth by liberalising global trade, thus generating millions of new jobs. Evidently this is crucially important, as the two areas strive to cut painfully high unemployment levels in the aftermath

crease of 27 per cent. But if under-reporting statistics are extrapolated based on this data, an additional 1,437–4,311 rapes may have gone unreported in 2010 alone. Men and women are not talking about their experiences with sexual assault, and this is largely because they don’t think others will perceive a crime, even if they themselves feel that one has occurred. The rape myth muffles traumatised victims, forces them to work through it alone, and lets attackers reoffend.

We must expand our understanding of “acceptable” narratives available to a victim. We must acknowledge that it can happen to the promiscuous and to the reserved, to those in relationships and those not, to both men and women, to heterosexuals, homosexuals, and those who identify whichever way they choose. And that it need not be perpetrated by

of the 2008 financial crisis. Moreover, Brussels has argued that such an agreement would strengthen the geopolitical standing of the Transatlantic bloc against the rising economies in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

The deal, if sealed, would prove lucrative. An economic assessment prepared by the Centre for Economic Policy Research in March 2013 estimates that a comprehensive agreement will result in annual GDP growth in the EU of between 68 and 119 billion euros by 2027 and annual GDP growth of between 50 and 95 billion dollars in the USA. To put this into perspective, this would mean that the GDP growth estimates, if shared equally among the populace, would translate into additional annual disposable income of 550 euros for a European family of four, and 650 euros for a family of four in the USA. While these statistics appear dazzling, they are clearly optimistic. And even if such growth occurs it must be viewed alongside several consequences. From a European perspec-

strangers, but also friends and family and partners and exes and anybody, no matter how nice or social or friendly they may seem.

The prevailing and antiquated narrative must be allowed to die, for this myth does us all a disservice. Sexual violence is perpetrated by those from every social, racial, ethnic, economic and age group upon those from every background, and it’s detrimental to presume otherwise. Allowing for a wider range of possibilities would encourage more people to seek justice and psychological help.

It can enlighten the many men and women who don’t realise that their actions are wrong, and perhaps in the long run increase the number of perpetrators punished for their attacks.

Maybe then fewer vulnerable victims will slip through the net, traumatised, silenced, and confused.

tive, farmers will suffer from cheaper manufactured American imports and, broadly speaking, many of other industries will be hurt by the increased competition. In a 2013 Guardian article Dean Baker, of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in the US, pointed out that with trade barriers between the EU and the USA already low, this deal is more about powerful industry lobbies in both areas attempting to dodge regulation.

The deal will also drastically affect food standards in the European Union. This last point has caused the most controversy. Though GM foods hold much promise for the future, in terms of increasing the actual volume of food that the world can produce (allowing development of droughtresistant crops and massively increasing crop yields) a reduction in their regulation would be highly unpopular. Of particular concern is the fact that hundreds of untested GMOs will enter the European food market if this agreement is made. Jamie Oliver called the TTIP deal “dangerous”

t an abortion rights march in August, a speaker from Anti Racism Network Ireland bravely stood before a crowd of about two thousand people, and firmly addressed the men in the crowd. “This is difficult to say,” she explained. “I want to talk to all the men who made placards and banners. I want to talk to the men today who have made countless articles to show their support for the right of women to have body autonomy. And I am saying to all you men, know your place!” The crowd fell silent, with a very tangible sense of discomfort amongst the congregation, that had previously been so boisterous and outraged. “Know your place, because this is a women’s movement! You must support them, you must listen to them. Your debate is my life!”. You could cut the tension with a knife – a spattering of applause, some scattered but enthusiastic cheering, but by and large the crowd was silent. I admit, I felt decidedly awkward at the time, out of place and belittled. I had come out in full support, believing I was doing the right thing, a self-styled martyr of abortion rights, and to be yelled at because of my gender when I was trying to do the right thing felt awful.

But days later, whilst nursing my wounds, I got to thinking about it again. I got to thinking about platforms, and how awful it would have been for me to be standing up there talking about abortion, saying why it needs to be legal. Why? Because although I believe it should be, and my support is needed for it to become legal, I cannot know the truth of a life where I have to go through an abortion. I can read all the studies I want, and look up articles, and even listen to speeches and go to marches, but I can never truly know.

To have me standing up there would have taken away a platform from someone else, a woman whose story needed to be told. And all of a sudden, it became baffling to me that any decision, be it social, political or otherwise, be made without the consultation of those who have lived the lives of those they are making decisions on behalf of. Not just in the case of women and abortion, but in all things – LGBT* rights, race rights, religious expression, and more. All of a sudden, the fallacy of a bunch of men (and, let’s not be naive, it is mostly men) sitting in a house on a hill delegating to the people below genuinely irritated me – making decisions about my life, my rights, my future, and those of the people around me.

In a world with an ever-increasing population, representation is so important. It’s vital that we allow the right people to talk about issues at the times that it really counts – we all have the ability to express our opinion, the inalienable right to do so, for better or for worse. But what must be understood is that at the marches and the protests, in the policy-making sessions and when crafting legislative changes, we work hard to involve those to whom it is directly relevant. So swallow your words and give up your platform to someone who really needs it – lend support, but know that your place might be looking up at the podium, rather than speaking from it.

for this reason. It would be a shame to sacrifice Europe’s strong record in consumer safety, which is largely due to the “precautionary principle,” which ensures any new products meet strict health and safety guidelines.

The biggest concern is that formulation of the agreement has lacked transparency. Noam Chomsky drew attention to this in a speech at Durham University in May 2014, where he accused the negotiators of secrecy, and argued, “They are not secret to hundreds of corporate lawyers and lobbyists who are rating the detailed regulations. You can guess what they are and why they are secret.”

Furthermore, attention has been drawn to the way that the agreement will allow corporations too much power. The “investor-state dispute settlement” is an instrument that allows an investor to bring a case directly against the country hosting its investment, without the intervention of the government of the investor’s country of origin. A coalition of 200 environmentalists and labour unions on both

sides of the Atlantic responded to this, claiming that such a settlement is simply a one-way street, by which “corporations can challenge government policies, but neither governments nor individuals are granted any comparable rights to hold corporations accountable.” George Monbiot, writing for the Guardian, summarises the consequences neatly – this settlement would “let rapacious companies subvert our laws, rights and national sovereignty.”

Though the possible economic benefits of this deal are enticing to say the least, the ramifications seem far too serious. Anything that allows corporations to threaten democracy is a bad thing, and to jeopardise the safety that the European Union brings for the sake of uncertain GDP gains is nonsensical. And if the fears about future under-regulation in food safety, worker rights, and the environment are correct, not to mention the the potential for abuse that may be inherent in the trade agreement, we should all be very concerned indeed.

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The University Times | Tuesday 18th November 2014

Sport Tartan and Feathered

We Need To Talk About Oscar

Davy Gorman STAFF WRITER

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reland have succumbed to their first defeat in their Euro 2016 qualification campaign away to Scotland. It leaves them three points behind Poland in Group D, and level on points with Scotland and Germany.

The 1-0 loss was a frantic encounter from start to finish. Both teams adopted a physical approach, and were lucky to finish the game with ten men. Shaun Maloney’s winning goal was one of the few moments of class in the entire game, with an incredibly smart set-piece routine. However, Scotland were well worth their three points.

While the game quickly fell into a derby atmosphere – at times it felt like an Old Firm match – some worrying trends emerged during the game. Tactically, Martin O’Neill went back to basics. They lined up 4-4-2 with a ‘big man-fast man’ partnership up front, consisting of Shane Long and Jonathan Walters, and pacey wingers instructed to put in crosses, James McClean and Aiden McGeady.

This was a traditional tactic for a traditional game between two products of the ‘British’ style of football.

This strategy lacked nuance.

Darron Gibson and Jeff Hendrick’s non-showing in midfield can be attributed to this tactical set-up. It differed from the trend of O’Neill’s matches so far before where he has played 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 at home while playing a tight 4-5-1 away from home. Gordon Strachan set up Scotland with a traditional winger in Anya, but with Maloney and Naismith dropping into the pocket, it caused Ireland difficulty. It left Ireland outnumbered in midfield and they struggled to get any hold on the game. Ancelotti’s Real Madrid have brought a traditional 4-4-2 back in vogue, but it helps when you have two superb technical centre midfielders who can keep the ball as well as three could, technical wingers that can drop into the centre at ease and strikers that make clever runs, one of which is the best forward in the world. It also helps when the team cost several hundred million euro.

Ireland do not have such luxuries, and lack the fluidity to suc-

Lucy Gaynor CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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his October, Oscar ‘Blade Runner’ Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp. The social media response was uproarious, with the Twittersphere calling for everything from 10 years to a death sentence. What these outraged tweeters and Facebookers seem to have overlooked is that the world has witnessed the ‘death’ of Oscar Pistorius too – on television, in newspapers, and on social media. There are two things that bother me about the whole affair: the media attention around the case, and the lack of knowledge, sensitivity and compassion shown by the general population on social media.

Firstly to the trial. From the outset, tabloid newspapers outraged the general public with blazing headlines about how Pistorius ‘murdered’ his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. At that stage we knew no such thing. He had shot his girlfriend, yes, but not necessarily murdered. There are always sensationalist headlines when it comes to crime, but for some reason nobody backed down – the general media had decided on the ‘correct’ verdict for the Pistorius case within seconds.

This made the decision to televise the trial even worse. Of course, the Judge made the decision for the correct reasons – to prevent corruption in courts notorious for underhand activity – but that’s not the effect the coverage had. Instead the world could tune in and out to watch a man break down in tears and vomit on numerous occasions.

Those among us who had already decided he was guilty barely even listened to the proceedings, or the arguments of each side. All they did was self-righteously sneer at this murderer, this evil human being, and think that he deserved everything he got.

This case became one of the most talked about trials since we have entered the social media age. What many people regularly fail to realise is that while freedom of speech is a magnificent thing, the true beauty of social media is freedom of debate.

That was certainly the case with Oscar Pistorius. Social media sites became

“

Those among us who had already decided he was guilty barely even listened to the proceedings, or the arguments of each side. All they did was self righteously sneer at this murderer. forums to angrily type about what an arrogant, hot-headed murderer he is, and places to scream down, and in some cases, verbally abuse anyone who tried to argue otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of people arguing otherwise. However, because they did not argue with the same angry self-righteous venom of those who believed Oscar Pistorius was guilty, they were drowned out.

Secondly we come to the verdict – five years, with the possibility of parole after two. Again, social media erupted, with newspapers such as the Metro Herald even printing some of the outraged twitter reactions. While on the face of it five years seems short even for culpable homicide as opposed to murder, these outraged tweeters are forgetting something

– this man is dead. The world has watched him broken by legal fees, anxiety problems, and yes, social media reaction. This man who overcame so much to inspire so many has run his race. It is the death of an icon.

The death of Reeva Steenkamp is undoubtedly a tragedy, but there is more than one tragedy in this case. The end of Pistorius’ career, and no doubt the end of any chance he had of continuing to lead a normal life, is also a tragedy – there can be no denying that. In that regard I think the media need to show a little more sensitivity.

It could not definitively be proven that this man committed murder. No amount of angry conviction and opinions can change those facts. Therefore, the punishment is, in a sense, life. The Steenkamp family themselves said that if Oscar knows a truth different to the one that came to light in court, it is he who will have to carry that burden for the rest of his life. If he really did murder his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, there will be no psychological recovery from that trauma.

And if he didn’t? If, shock horror, this man did not intend to shoot his girlfriend? He still has to live with the fact that in a split second he made a decision, the wrong decision, which ruined his life, his career, and took the life of Reeva Steenkamp, a woman he dearly loved. He will have to carry that burden with him.

Whether an accident or deliberate, there has been justice done in return for the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.

In your next moment of anger just take a few seconds to think about that before you send your angry, condemning, social media update.

Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team Reach IV Final Jessica Dolan Contributing Writer

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aturday the 8th of November was an important date in the Trinity Ultimate Frisbee Club calendar, as it signalled the beginning of the Ladies Indoor Inter-Varsities 2014. One Trinity women’s team, made up of six experienced members and three beginner members, travelled to Cork to compete in the tournament with support from their coach Heather Barry.

Entering the tournament with a second place seeding, the expectations placed on the shoulders of the nine ladies as they arrived at UCC’s Mardyke Arena were high. On top of this, with thirteen teams entered in to battle it out for the first place spot, the competition was fierce. However, in the face of these challenges the Trinity ladies remained undeterred, with each member of the team bringing their very best from the get go.

The first two matches of the tournament saw Trinity come out on top

against DIT (14-1) and UCD1 (10-2).

With another spirited and teamdriven performance, the team’s final match of the day against UCC5 ended 14-0 in Trinity’s favour, putting them through to the quarter finals – truly a display of Trinity women’s long-established history and experience in Irish Ultimate Frisbee.

After a hard-earned night’s sleep the Trinity ladies were rested and ready for another intense day of Ultimate. Being in the quarter final stages they knew that Sunday’s matches would be even more challenging than the day before. A 9-4 win against NUIG saw the team really rising to the challenge, exhibiting great levels of precision and communication throughout.

With it all to play for, the next match saw Trinity battle it out with their rivals UCD1 for a spot in the final. The teams were very evenly matched and it was anyone’s game for the majority of the match.

However, a combination of composure, solid defence, and some great grabs from both experienced players and beginners alike saw Trinity come out on top with a score of 9-5. Now all

that was left, after a motivational pep talk from the captain Jessica Weitbrecht, was to face UCC1 in the final and play for the title of Ladies Indoor IV Champions 2014.

The level of intensity the host club’s first team brought to the game from the very beginning let Trinity know that this would be their toughest battle yet. The first few series of play saw UCC working the disc up the pitch really effectively and getting some early scores on the board. Some great cutting and accurate passing by Trinity saw them counterattack, to bring it to 3-2 in the first six minutes of the game.

UCC’s experience then started to come to the fore and they stretched their lead to 10-4 by the twelfth minute.

Trinity still fought tirelessly to the end, displaying both the sense of camaraderie and self-belief they developed throughout the tournament. A final score of 13-5 meant UCC1 were crowned Ladies Indoor IV Champions for the third year running.

Although they may have been defeated in the final, the Trinity women came home with second place medals and were joint

“

A combination of composure, a solid defence, and some great grabs from both experienced players and beginners alike saw Trinity come out on top.

‘Spirit of the Tournament’ winners for the tournament with UCD1, great achievements for a team mostly made up of reasonably new players. Most Valuable Player, Most Spirited Player and A-Game Awards were also presented to Sarah Melvin, Aiste Guob and Catriona McAllister, respectively.

With such success in their first tournament of the year the future looks bright for Trinity Women’s Ultimate.

ceed in this set-up. McClean and McGeady struggle in the middle and do not tend to drop in to help the midfield. They are also not the type of players that make incisive, creative passes. In attack, Long offered nothing to build up play which left Walters the only Irish player that came anywhere close to operating in the ‘hole’ that so often decides games. The only player in the Irish squad that makes the impact required from that position is Wes Hoolahan who was out due to injury.

Ireland were made to look second-best in the midfield department with Scotland’s Charlie Mulgrew one of the star players on the night. Wes Hoolahan was a big miss for Ireland. More than anyone else in the team he transforms the way Ireland play. Whether Hoolahan would have started the game is questionable – he has been left out in the two previous away games – but he would have more than likely been brought on in the second-half when Ireland were 1-0 down. James McCarthy certainly would have started the game and his absence was a massive loss for Ireland. His Premier League experience for Everton would have been useful, as Jeff Hendrick let the occasion get to him and he looked a little lost. McCarthy always comes deep to collect the ball from his defence and that was missed tonight.

Ireland were horribly lacking in guile, but it reflected the style of game. Like derby games in all the British and Irish divisions, they often revert to classic ‘kick-andrush’ game in this situation. The intimidating atmosphere was also increased by the consistent jeering of McGeady, a Scottish-born player playing for Ireland. With this in mind and with key players out, it isn’t surprising that Ireland failed to play attractive, effective football. O’Neill’s logic for playing Jon Walters is understandable and Walters relished the physical battle. Walters summed up Ireland’s performance: industrious but lacking in finesse.

One player who gives O’Neill options for the future was Robbie Brady, who showed that he has a lot to offer the team with his cameo in the second-half. Brady has proven on more than one occasion for Ireland that his delivery is outstanding from set-pieces. Most of Ireland’s best chances in the

second-half came from Brady’s left foot. They almost nicked yet another last-gasp goal at the end with sumptuous Brady delivery.

On a positive note, Richard Keogh was one of Ireland’s best players on the night in defence. In what was his first competitive start, he consistently threw his body on the line in the first-half as Ireland nearly squeezed a result out of the game. They will also look at the league table and consider seven points from four games a decent return from three away games.

Other than that, it was a concerning night for Ireland. Given the standard of Scotland and Poland at the moment, it is plainly obvious that Ireland have a fight on their hands to qualify from this group. There has to be more composure in their game, and that will not just come from one player, it starts from the back. Smarter kicking from David Forde as goalkeeper, to possession at the back and midfield, right through to greater awareness from the forwards. Unless this happens, Martin O’Neill’s men may see more disappointing nights like this one.

“

Ireland were made to look second best. With key players out, it isn’t surprising that Ireland failed to play attractive, effective football.

Sport in Brief Hockey Trinity’s Hockey Club have had an excellent month both on and off the pitch, having launched their partnership with Fusion Business Solutions this week. One third of the way through the season and DUHC’s first XI sit atop the Leinster Division Three league table, having won six from six. They’re currently a comfortable four points ahead of Glennanne II in second place. Johnny Lewis has been the team’s star man so far this season, leading the goalscoring charts with a blistering 8 goals in 6 games.

Basketball It has been a month of mixed emotions for Trinity’s basketball teams with the Ladies’ team having picked up two wins, while the Men have suffered two defeats after starting the season so brightly. The Ladies registered a nail-biting win 33-31 over UCD, before comfortably seeing off UUJ, with a comprehensive 72-41 scoreline. Unfortunately, the Men’s A team have lost their last three games on the trot with UCD knocking them out of the cup and slip-ups against Leixlip and the Bray Bullets in the league.

DU Boat & Ladies Boat Club DU Boat Club had success this week at this year’s Neptune Head of the River event in Blessington, retaining the Inter 4+ pennant. The two other teams competing beneath the DU Boat Club banner came in second and third, marking a victorious week for DUBC. In addition to this, three of Trinity’s scullers finished in the top ten of the Inter x1 event. The Ladies Boat Club took it one step further, racking up wins

Carl Kinsella

15

The University Times | Tuesday 18th November 2014

Sport

‘Don’t Get Into Journalism’

James Larkin sits down with Financial Times sports columnist Simon Kuper to talk about his career, getting a start in sports journalism, and where it’s headed in the future.

James Larkin DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR

JOURNALISM is undergoing a rapid transformation. With the growth of online media over the past ten years, an industry that was structured around the printed newspaper has failed to adapt, and perhaps it can’t.

I spoke to Simon Kuper, Financial Times sports journalist, at length, to talk about free press, football economics and the future of sports journalism.

JL: How did you get into journalism?

SK: I did History and German, but in those days it was all much easier because if you liked football and you wanted to find out the results of the game you had to buy the paper. If you wanted to find out what time Match of the Day was on you had to buy the paper. In order to read a Ferguson press conference you had to buy the paper. So people bought papers; there was money. I started writing for World Soccer when I was 16. I did a monthly piece on Dutch football from 1986-87 and they paid me something like thirty or fifty quid a pop which, when I was sixteen or seventeen, was a lot of money. It was good. And then I kept writing freelance stuff, and then I joined the FT when I was 24 and it wasn’t particularly difficult. A lot of very mediocre people got jobs in journalism then.

JL: Why did you go into journalism, as opposed to German or History?

SK: I had brief thoughts about becoming an academic, but I realised I wouldn’t have been a particularly good one. In those days there were jobs in academia, I’d have gotten a job somewhere and now I’d have tenure, because it wasn’t that difficult. I would’ve been contributing not very much and I thought I could be better as a journalist, I’d have more to add.

JL: So you think you contribute as a journalist?

SK: I think journalism is mostly pretty useless. It doesn’t help people much or change society, each individual article. Obviously having a free press is great for a society.

JL: Are you keeping the press free by being a journalist?

SK: No. If I weren’t writing that piece in the FT, somebody else would be.

JL: Exactly. So do you think you are contributing as a journalist, or are you adding to the noise?

SK: I try never to add to the noise because whenever something happens there’s a lot of people saying the same thing. So, for example, people are saying that Obama didn’t protect American power enough, and that’s why ISIS and Putin and all these people are getting uppity. Now, that may be true (I don’t think it is, but let’s say it’s true), but it’s still pointless writing that article because five hundred other people

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I think journalism is mostly pretty useless. It doesn’t help people much or change society. I try never to add to the noise, because whenever something happens there’s a lot of people saying the same thing.

have written that.

JL: But perhaps, by many people writing it, it gets it more into the public consciousness. People think that it’s a better idea because they hear it all the time.

SK: Yeah, but it’s a deeply humiliating and unsatisfying position to be in.

JL: You write about the statistics of football in Soccernomics. The misinterpretation of these statistics can be a huge part of the noise. Does that really frustrate you?

SK: Well, it’s good for me because I need that noise to write something different. I want to know what most people are saying because I’m a contrarian, so I’ll try and say why that’s wrong, why that manager is actually fine, why he’s not the problem. I mean, for example, last year about Moyes, I was saying he’s not the problem. And the thing is, if you’re one of the people who is saying Moyes must go, there’s no money in it, because they can find other people to say Moyes must go.

JL: Yeah, but if you’re already in the position then your employers want you to write that article.

SK: Yeah but then they’ll sack you because you get all the more expensive, and they won’t give you any more money because you’re just writing the same stuff as everyone: Moyes must go, England can win the world cup etcetera. In that kind of commodity journalism where you go to the press conference and you write the same story everyone else does, you either get nothing for it or, if you’re amazingly lucky, you’ll get a low salary, and I’ve never wanted to. One of my business strategies is not to be a commodity journalist.

JL: So where do you think sports journalism is heading?

SK: Where it is now is people doing it for free, which gives them pleasure and it’s fine, and it destroys the jobs of people who used to do it for money.

And I think where it’s heading is people will be doing it for clubs and for sponsors. Manchester United increasingly hire journalists who write.

JL: Is that journalism?

SK: Well it’s a kind of journalism, when you go and interview Rooney for the club TV channel and then they

“

We write stuff, we write honestly what we think, we’re not trying to bullshit anyone, and it helps people back at home if we’re at a World Cup. put it out and you write a piece to go with it. And obviously you can’t be critical of him or anything, but that’s employment: writing, access, all-access will be that. Or Audi will hire you to write World Cup “content” they call it, for their website.

JL: But doesn’t that create a complete bias?

SK: All these companies are starting to realise that ads don’t work so well on your generation. In my day you had to watch the ad as it was during the TV programme. People don’t like watching ads anymore, they think it’s an invasion, and so the company doesn’t want to make an ad, it wants to write content that people will read. So they need people like you to write interesting content. It can’t just be banal stuff, ‘World Cup’s coming, we’re all very excited’. They’d like a really good piece. I did one for a bank – I did a series for a bank on football economics. It was on their website. I didn’t mention them in the piece, but I addressed themes that they wanted addressing, like for example the difficulty people have in saving for old age.

JL: And where would you draw the line then?

SK: I wouldn’t endorse anyones product. I don’t know, was I over the line? I don’t think so.

JL: Did you agree with all the things in the piece?

SK: Yeah, everything I wrote was true, they just said to write football economics stuff about how clubs think about buying players or how clubs think about long term invest-

ment.

JL: And with those kind of things, football economics, have you ever considered going into a practical role?

SK: I’ve been asked by clubs to come and brainstorm, and they don’t want to pay, and clubs are used to not paying, because people want to be part of it. So the club says come and talk, and with two clubs, with Everton and Juventus, what I did was I said okay, I’ll come and talk. But then you have to give me interviews at the end.

JL: So something of a payment?

SK: Yeah, you give me access. But obviously the brainstorming is off the record, but then actually what you find during the brainstorming is they talk about the same thing as during the interview, except during the brainstorming they’ll mention a couple of names that they don’t mention during the interview. It’s been useful for me to get access, but not a useful way to make money because they don’t want to pay someone like me, they want to do it themselves. They just want my thoughts.

JL: Do you think there is a bias towards hiring certain types of people in sports journalism?

SK: In sports journalism there is a massive bias against women, and on TV women tend to be hired to be pretty in these kind of lower jobs: interviewing players, standing on the sidelines.

JL: And do you think that will change in the future?

SK: Very slowly. I mean football is becoming less kind of backward and discriminatory but there are no black managers, almost none. There are no women managers, which is stupid because why couldn’t a woman manage a football club?

JL: So what do you plan on doing in your future?

SK: I’ll write until somebody cans me, which of course can happen, and you know I’m one of the few overforties still working in journalism. I mean, my peers, many of them, have become PRs. It’s a much bigger industry than journalism so I feel like I’m a survivor. I’m hanging on and I’ll hang as long as, you know, until they throw

me off the cliff.

JL: Well surely there’s something to be said for having a brand name in journalism? People might read your articles because Simon Kuper wrote them.

SK: You know Patrick Barclay? He was a football writer in England. He’s written various books and was a journalist. Now he’s over sixty five, and he said to me, “in this business you don’t get better or worse, you’re in or out of fashion.” And so at one point when I’m out of fashion an editor will say “Oh that boring stuff Simon Kuper writes, I know someone who could do it much better”.

JL: What about the economics of writing books? Will it get worse with Amazon almost monopolising the industry?

SK: Well, Amazon could actually benefit writers like me because if you publish with them they will give you seventy percent. Right now if I sell a book for fifteen pounds I get one pound. So if I can sell a book on Amazon for five pounds then I can get something like three pounds eighty, so what I need to then do is drive readers to that website so that they will buy that book.

JL: So is that your plan for the future?

SK: I think it’s something all writers are considering. Do we need publishers? Do we need the truck that drives the books to the bookshop?

JL: So perhaps instead of authors going out of business it will be pub-

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Football is becoming less discriminatory and backward but there are no black managers, almost none. There are no women managers, which is stupid.

lishers?

SK: That’s what they’re very worried about. There will always be authors because people always want to write books, but can you make a living out of it? I think it’s going to get better because we will keep more of it ourselves. It’s crazy that I write the book and I get about 7% of what the customer pays and that’s happened in journalism as well, people really want to write an article about Manchester United so you get nothing for writing the article. A friend of mine, a well respected journalist, has written books, wanted to do a piece for The Guardian, which he has written for a lot, and they offered him eight pounds.

JL: Perhaps it is the case that getting your name in The Guardian makes your name worth more the next time you write?

SK: I haven’t seen much evidence.

You can become a very big name through football journalism, I mean someone like Gabrielle Marcotti has, I think, half a million followers. I’m sure Gab does make good money, and he should, but you can get an enormous amount of exposure and it will never translate into money for most people.

JL: Do you think what you do makes people happier?

SK: I think it actually does, not me specifically but, for example, there’s this German friend of mine, a sports journalist as well. And he said, you know, we write stuff, we write honestly what we think, we’re not trying to bullshit anyone, and it helps people back home if we’re at a World Cup. They can understand the World Cup a little bit better because we’re here, they’re not there. We have a bit more experience of football than they do and he said it makes them happy, and that it means it’s a worthwhile activity. That’s what I like to think.

JL: Great, I think that’s all I wanted to ask!

SK: Good luck, and don’t build a lot of hope on sports journalism.

JL: Luckily I wasn’t planning to.

Hope you have a good night.

SK: Yeah, maybe I’ll make about three pounds from book sales.

16

The University Times | Tuesday 18th November 2014

Sport Lack of Clarity for Luce Hall Clubs

PHOTO BY SINÉAD BAKER FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES

Carl Kinsella and Sinéad Baker

S

ome Trinity sports clubs have expressed discontent at the lack of communication from College, facing the prospect of displacement due to the planned demolition of Luce Hall. The demolition of the hall is to take place in order to make space for a new Business School.

A review of the Department of Sports and Recreation, published earlier in the year by the Quality Committee of the College, recommended

an “early resolution to the facility and storage deficit for clubs resulting from Luce Hall demolition”. However, it seems the clubs affected by the proposed renovation of the location – DU Boxing Club, DU Squash Rackets, DU Rifle Club (as well as Kayak and SubAqua, who use Luce Hall for storage) – have so far been left out of the resolution-seeking process.

“Luce Hall being demolished has been a great source of stress for a while now,” admitted Gemma McGee of the DU Boxing Club executive.

McGee went on to tell The University Times that “there has been a lack of communication between the club

and the College” regarding the proposals for relocating the club. While the boxing club have been promised a new location by the College in TTEC (an off-campus, Trinity-owned building), the club’s requests to see the room have been, thus far, ignored.

Furthermore, McGee has expressed dismay at the oncoming displacement, as DU Boxing has historically been based on campus for many decades. In spite of the suggestions of the Quality Committee there has not yet been a comprehensive solution put forth to the DU Boxing committee, “there are many questions we have about the move and the College have

only answered a handful of them”.

Contact with DU Squash closely reflected DU Boxing’s feelings of frustration with College, who seem to have provided minimal information to DUCAC and their clubs at this stage in the process, though it is worth noting Luce Hall has been slated for renovation since as early as 2010.

Men’s captain and club captain of DU Squash, Conor Ringland, asserted that DUCAC and the Department of Sport would be keeping the club up to date, but that, for the time being, the bodies responsible for sport in the College “don’t know anything”.

Most of the discussion surround-

ing the displacement and subsequent relocation of the Luce Hall clubs has been dealt with in vague terms so far, and not all details are readily forthcoming. DUCAC maintain that “the Head of Sport is working with DUCAC, the relevant clubs and the College to try to achieve the best possible sports facilities for these clubs”, however it is clear that this message is at odds with the frustrations expressed by DU Boxing in the face of their oncoming relocation, and the lack of specifics available to the club. Head of Sport Michelle Tanner told The University Times that “although there may be some short term disruption to some

clubs, I am confident we will be better able to secure facilities for sport in the long term”. At this time, however, neither DUCAC nor its clubs are aware of what their post-Luce Hall fate will be, nor have they been informed of the short term solutions the Department of Sport have in mind.

Trinity College will be investing €70 million into the redevelopment of the Luce Hall site into a new Business School, a venture that is estimated to reach completion in 2017, alongside the opening of Oisín House as a Trinity College building containing student facilities and accommodation.

Recruitment is the Key to DUUFC’s Bright Future Stephen Dawkins CONTRIBUTING WRITER

O

n the weekend of the 1st of November, Dublin University Ultimate Frisbee Club (DUUFC) sent two teams to compete for the Open Indoor Intervarsity title in The Watershed in Kilkenny, run by the University of Limerick.

Trinity’s first team was initially seeded 5th out of 16 teams, and in Group D with UCD’s and ITB’s first teams as well as Maynooth University’s second team. The team was composed of a number of very experienced players, several second year players, and a few beginners.

The first team ran in comfortable wins against Maynooth and ITB, 12-7 and 14-6 respectively, with Robert Holland, Cormac Bourke, Daniel Purdy and Enda Kelleher demonstrating their years of experience, and all new players involved demonstrating fantastic potential and talent. These matches proved to be a warm-up for what would undoubtedly be a hotly contested affair against old rivals UCD. After trading points throughout the match, the game ended in a 10-10 draw with some fantastic personal battles on display. This result lead Trinity 1 into the quarter finals of the competition.

The quarter final was against a determined and well drilled DIT team, with great ambition for this tournament.

The match was a great contest, with both teams playing scintillating offence. Unfortunately, DIT were more

patient and maintained more possession, despite a late surge for Trinity.

The game finished 10-7 as a result.

This meant Trinity 1 needed to win their next two games against a strong University College Cork 2 team, and an established Queens University Belfast side, in order to retain seeding.

Everyone on the team was required to step up to the challenge in order to make this happen, and sure enough the first team players dutifully complied. The games finished 15-5 and 18-4 respectively, both results demonstrations of a strong Trinity backlash following the disappointment of not reaching the final.

The second team had a much more developmental approach to the competition, with the team consisting primarily of second year and first year players. Trinity 2 were seeded 14th entering the competition, and found themselves in a group with the first teams of Maynooth and DIT. The day started with a tough match against 2013 runners up Maynooth.

Maynooth’s experience and ruthless approach won them the game 13-2.

The second match was against DIT, and they raced to a 5-0 lead before Trinity 2 brought them back to 6-5.

Both teams traded points until DIT won on ‘Universe Point’ (Golden Goal). This was a great result for the team considering that DIT went on to finish 4th overall in the competition.

Fantastic leadership was on display by a number of newer players, including the team’s captain and second year player Stephen Dawkins.

Trinity 2 faced a quarter final in the second division of the competition against ITB, probably the most im-

proved college team at the tournament. Once again, keeping with the attitude and passion of the second team, the match was a highly physical affair and went down to the wire.

However ITB pipped Trinity 2 just short of the line, winning the match 9-8 in sudden death.

Our final game was against the UCD second team. After both teams seeing their respective 1st teams draw earlier in the day, bragging rights were there for the taking as Trinity looked to prove themselves better than their old rivals. As Trinity 2 demonstrated throughout the tournament, no match was considered a foregone affair and the match proved to be intensely physical with a number of players getting injured. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for Trinity 2 as the UCD team, consisting of some wellestablished players, managed to win 10-7.

The tournament was a massive success for the club, as not only did all our developmental players demonstrate fantastic attitude and ambition, but Trinity 2 managed to win ‘Spirit of the Tournament’, a prize awarded to the team which demonstrated the best sportsmanship throughout the competition, and another trophy for the cabinet. As an added bonus, Trinity 1 finished second in the Spirit of the Tournament rankings.

All in all, it was a great weekend for the club. Placing such an emphasis on the recruitment element of the club over the past two years has resulted in a depth of youth and potential talent acting as the backbone to the club not only now, but no doubt for the years to come.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DU ULTIMATE FRISBEE CLUB