The University Times - Vol. 1, Issue 4 by The University Times

The University Times www.universitytimes.ie

November 25th, 2009

MOCK & ROLL

Eoin Rafferty examines Taking Woodstock and the spirit of the 60s.

Culture p14

Strikers will alienate public

West Brit Style Rachael Shearer takes a look at the Jack Wills “lifestyle”. Features p8

Jonathan Wyse discusses the public sector strike and its consequences. Opinion p16

Oireachtas to investigate spending of registration fee

SU considering sit-ins to protest against library budget cuts

SU President presents college accounts to education committee

Officers call for class reps to participate in ‘alternative action’

Carl Doherty News Writer

Marykate Collins Deputy Editor

The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee will discuss on November 26 if Trinity’s Student Service Charge is being used to top up the College’s core grant. The Committee will discuss that matter in a closed session. The Joint Education and Science committee heard that only a third of Trinity’s student service charge for 2008/09 academic year was spent on student services. The accounts produced by Trinity College were sent to the chairman of the education committee and Green party TD Paul Gogarty. Gogarty told the committee that the accounts sent to him by Trinity SU’s president Cónán Ó Broin revel that much of the student service charge is being used to pay for cuts in the Government’s grant to the College. The student service charge is supposed to be ring fenced for student services, exams, and registration. The charge has increased this year to €1,500 from €900 the year before. Ó Broin says that the documents that he has sent to the Oireachtas education committee show that of the €1,500 student service charge ‘less than thirty-five per cent is actually being spent of student services.’ Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes, TD has said that he has written to the Comptroller and Auditor General and asked for an immediate investigation into the student service charge Hayes told the education committee that the student service charge is ‘tuition fees through the back door.’ The estimate accounts for 2009 show that of the €900 charge only €593.75 was being spent on student services the rest was being used to make up for cuts in the core grant given to the College by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The HEA wrote to the College in 2002 and said that there would be a €250 reduction in the College’s grant. Then again in 2008 the HEA told the College that there would be a further reduction which, when calculated on 2009 figures, amounts to €56.25. The College is making up for this reduction by taking these amounts from the student service charge. This was ‘direct evidence that students are being

Trinity Students’ Union is planning action in response to a €650,000 reduction in the book buying budget. Ashley Cooke, the Education Officer of Trinity Students’ Union told a meeting of class representatives on November 17 that sit-ins in the library are being considered in response to what they say are a number of short comings in the library service. In the library accounts for the year 2008/09 there was a reduction of approximately €650,000 in the book buying budget. The College said that the decrease in the book budget ‘was as a result of an overall reduction in funding to the Library along with the cost of Sunday opening hours.’ Cónán Ó Broin, Students’ Union president told class representatives that ‘alternative action was needed’ in the Union’s library campaign. Cooke said that some of the alternative actions planned were a ‘last resort.’ Ó Broin took a straw poll of the representatives present at the meeting on the question of if they would be willing to participate in a sit-in in the library. The result was unanimously in favour of a sit-in. Asked by The University Times about a purported increase in staff costs in the library the College said that it was successful in getting funding on a matched basis for a number of strategic projects, including cataloguing of collections in the Old Library which was part-funded by the Mellon Foundation. The College says that the ‘additional staff costs for these projects came from generated income.’ Cooke says that he prepared a document that outlines the opening hours of Trinity’s library compared with the libraries of other Irish universities in which the Trinity library came joint last with National University of Ireland, Maynooth both only opened for seventy one and a half hour per week. He said that he furnished a copy of this document to the College and he says that ‘it was basically thrown in the bin.’ The return of Sunday opening hours is also the focus of the Union’s library campaign. The library no longer opens

Continued page 2

Staff of the college picketing outside the front gate shortly after the strike began at midnight on Tuesday. Photo: Dargan Crowley-Long

Public sector strike renders College effectively shut down All lectures and labs cancelled as staff participate in nationwide work stoppage Carl Doherty News Writer Trinity College staff picketed the College on November 24 in the national day of protest for the public service sector. The College was severely disrupted by the one day work stoppage. All lectures and labs were cancelled on the day due to an ‘unacceptably high’ risk to health and safety. The College said that it carried out an assessment of risk to health and safety and the professional advice was that lectures and labs should be cancelled. The stoppage was the result of a national day of protest with many of the College staff participating or supporting the protest. The lecturers’ union Ifut says that it ‘expects that there will be huge support for the one day strike’ and ‘nearly all non-academic and back up staff will support the stoppage so it is hard to see how the University can function in any normal way.’ The Chief Operating Officer of the

College sent an email to all staff and students saying that ‘several categories of staff will be absent by choice from work’ on November 24. From 7am to midnight on November 24 access for vehicles and pedestrians was via the Pearse St gate only. All the other gates were locked and secured from normal closing time on Monday, November 23. The Registrar of Chamber informed residents that ‘overnight guest arrangements are suspended for the nights of Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24.’ College residents were not able to sign in guest to their rooms. As well as causing the cancellation of all lectures and labs on the day, the strike, caused the closure of most of the College services and facilities. The library was closed because of the strike as there was a lack of staff to open and run the library services. However, the new twenty-four hour study space remained open for students to study in. The Department of Sport also closed the sports centre and told those that had bookings on the day to contact the

centre to make alternative arrangements. The College Catering Service or Information System Services helpdesk was not open. The College Health and Counselling Services were available to deal with cases requiring urgent assistance. Other colleges were affected by the strike including UCD which said ‘some students had assessments and/or assignment submissions scheduled.’ UCC was scheduled to close because of the strike but due to the flooding the college will remain closed and the staff will help out with flood relief. A facebook event was set up to encourage students to ‘to take advantage of the lack of grounds men, staff, security and tourists and enjoy Trinity’s grounds to the full.’ A full report of the security measures are not yet available but are expected to be forthcoming. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has released a statement saying that it supports the strikes by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu). The USI’s president Peter Mannion says ‘we are

impelling the students of Ireland to demand a better future for themselves. Our students will be tomorrow’s graduates and any changes in pay or working conditions in the public sector will directly affect them in years to come.’ The national day of protest not only affected colleges, all Siptu members: nurses, teachers, government and State employees including fire, ambulance and emergency workers joined the strike and picketed their places of employment for the day. Unions representing public sector workers, including Siptu, have argued that Government plans to take a further €1.3 billon in costs out of the public service through a six pint eight five per cent pay cut and reductions in pensions are both ‘unfair and counter-productive.’ Ifut say that ‘it is important to note that even though the primary issue at this time is the threat to make even more cuts to the pay of those working in the University (and the wider public service), our members are also angry at the underfunding of the Higher Education sector.’

Continued page 2

Trinity Students’ Union to withdraw from Forum for University Students’ Unions Simone Hall News Writer

SU President Cónán Ó Broin who put forward the motion to withdraw from Fusu at SU Council

Trinity Students’ Union will secede from the Forum for University Students’ Unions (Fusu). The motion was passed at a meeting of the Students’ Union’s Council on November 17 by a unanimous vote. Under the terms of the motion the President of the Students’ Union is mandated to ‘take the necessary steps to withdraw from the Fusu.’ The Fusu was setup as a discussion forum between the seven universities. Four of the universities are constituent organizations of the Union of Students Ireland (USI) while University of Limerick (UL), National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI, Maynooth), and Dublin City University (DCU) are not affiliated with the USI. The President of Trinity Students’ Union, Cónán Ó Broin told the Students’

Union executive that the Fusu was ‘not an effective organization; having meetings with no agenda and no leader.’ After a discussion at Students’ Union executive it was resolved that the only advantage of Trinity Students’ Union’s membership of the Fusu was the contact it gave to Trinity with the members of the Fusu that are not constituent organizations of the USI. Ó Broin told the executive that while working on the fees campaign he worked with the Fusu closely and in his experience they were an ‘ineffectual organization.’ During the fees campaign a full-page advertisement was taken out by most of the students’ unions and the USI. It was agreed between the unions that payment for the advert would be based on the numbers of students they represent. It transpired that after the advert was

taken NUI, Maynooth have refused to pay their contribution to the cost of the advert. UCD Students’ Union paid for the full cost of the advert and were reimbursed by all except NUI, Maynooth Students’ Union. The University Times asked NUI, Maynooth Students’ Union’s president, Brian Murphy to comment on their decision not to pay for the advert but he did not answer.

Editor: Robert Donohoe Deputy Editor: Marykate Collins Volume 1, Issue 4 ISSN: 2009-261X Phone: 01 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Website: www.universitytimes.ie

UCD Students’ Union has also decided to leave the Fusu in a motion put to its Students’ Union Council which was held on October 27. The motion calling for the withdrawal says that the Fusu ‘takes no formal action on any policies, is merely a “talking shop” for Students’ Union officers and in fact undermines the strength of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) through its inaction.’ Fusu was established in 1997 by five universities that had just disaffiliated

This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Students’ Union. It is set in 9pt Utopia and Whitney – a classic newspaper typeface and a modernist sans serif respectively. It was printed by Mortons Print Ltd.

from the USI with the hope of establishing a forum for communications between their students’ unions. Fusu does not have any officers or staff to administrate its operations unlike the USI which employees elected officers to campaign and run its services. Trinity Students’ Union’s president says that he will be formally notifying the students’ unions around the country that Trinity is seceding from the Fusu very soon.

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

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesNews

“Public servants have had it too good for too long.”

www.universitytimes.ie Upcoming events Wednesday 25th NOVEMBER

Forum on Violence Against Women DU Amnesty 7.30pm, Ui Cadhain Theatre

Hollywood Night

Comedy Soc & DU Players, in aid of Trinity Fringe Festival 10.30pm, Spy

Jonathan Wyse, Opinion p16

VOX POPULAI

“What improvements do you think could be made to the College’s library services?”

Thursday 26th November

Spanksgiving: A thanksgiving celebration Trinity LGBT 8pm, GSU Common Room

Futurecop!

Trinity Ents 11.30pm, the Button Factory

Friday 27th November

Very Merry End of Broadcast Week Party Trinity FM 8pm, Eliz Rooms

SATURday 28th November

Zander Sirlin

Eoin O’ Giollain

Laoise Mullane

Padriac Schaler

Emma Finlay

Nina Holden

Kate Danaher

Ciaran Lyng

Chris Britton

Declan Faulkner

Cliodhna Burke

Christian Wethered

SF Film and English I think more books should be available on LEN.

Colours Snowsports - Trinity v UCD

SF Engineering I think the library has improved a lot. I’m happy with the service.

DUSSC Bus leaving at 3pm from Nassau street gate

MONDAY 30th November

JS Business Studies The online system isn’t really working at the moment. I know that they’ve recently opened the 24 hour study room and that should be done a bit more across the board.

JF History and Irish Sometimes people hide books so more books should be available. Also, If a lecturer puts a book on the reading list, it hould be available in the library. That doesn’t always happen.

SF Engineering The library should be open on Sundays. That’s the day you’re going to get the most work done. I would definitely use the library on a Sunday.

SF Physiotherapy You should be able to keep renewing your books online. At the moment you can’t and you just keep building up fines because you forget about it.

The Wailers

Trinity Ents 10.30pm, the Button Factory

TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER

Stand Up Graduation Gig Comedy Soc 8.30pm, 4 Dame Lane

‘Thrust Us’ Launch Party Trinity FM 10.30pm, Basebar

WEDNESDAY 2nd DECEMBER

Mistletoe Ball

DU Amnesty 8.30pm, Trinity Adams Hotel, Dame Street

Thursday 3rd December

Ice Skating Trinity LGBT

SF Physiotherapy The library should be open on Sunday and it should have later opening hours. Even an extra hour would be great.

MONDAY 7th DECEMBER

SF Law and German I think there should be Sunday openings and it should be open a lot later than 10 o clock. Some universities in America have 24 hour openings. Also, more books should be made available on LEN.

Dead Cat Bounce Trinity Fringe Festival 9pm, Players Theatre

JF Drama and Theatre Studies One problem I have is that there’s a serious shortage of plays that we have to read for our course so I’ve had to buy them myself. Even when there are copies are available you can only read them in the library.

JF German and Russian I think they should allocate a subject librarian to each floor because there isn’t always somebody there to answer questions about books in your subject.

JF European Studies The rules and guidelines for the library should be made clearer for first years!

SF French I think the library should be open on a Sunday and it should be 24 hour opening.

Tuesday 8th DECEMBER

Keith Farnan

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

WEDNESDAY 9th DECEMBER

College insists fee is spent on student services

Trinity Fringe Festival 4pm, Players Theatre

Christmas Party Trinity LGBT 8pm, Eliz Rooms

Frisky and Mannish Trinity Fringe Festival 9pm, Players Theatre

THURSDAY 10th DECEMBER

Improv, She Wrote Trinity Fringe Festival 4pm, Players Theatre

Ardal O Hanlon Trinity Fringe Festival 8pm, Goldsmith Hall

Friday 11th DECEMBER

Closing Concert with DU Orchestra, JazzSoc and Singers Trinity Fringe Festival

WEDNESDAY 16th DECEMBER

“Halo: Variations on Sacred Music” Boydell Singers Winter Concert

Continued from page 1 fleeced and the charge is not related to student services,’ Hayes said. In a letter to Gogarty explaining Trinity SU’s argument on the student service charge Ó Broin says that the Minister for Education is on record saying that the student service charge is ‘solely for the provision of student services.’ ‘The Minister is either wilfully ignorant of this situation, or else has been deliberately misleading the public,’ says Ó Broin. The College says that the ‘student charge supports

on average up to eighty to eighty-five per cent of the full costs of providing student services. The balance of the funding for the student services in Trinity College is met from income generated by the College.’ UCD’s students’ union released a statement saying that only €505 of their €1,500 student service charge is spent on student services. UCD students’ union’s president Gary Redmond said that ‘students are paying more in their registration fee each year, but seeing less of a return.’ The HEA said that they would be happy to receive

details of the claims made by Trinity Students’ Union and UCD students’ union. They then went on to say that in many cases, the student service charge did not meet the non-academic costs of education. Ó Broin has received a letter from the Joint Committee of Education and Science to the Minister for Education asking him to respond to the issues raised in the documents. The student service charge was introduced in 1996 when the Government started to pay tuition fees. A charge of £150 was paid by students for services, registration, and

examinations. The Department for Education circular on the student service charge says that examination and registration fees have always been regarded as a separate issue. ‘Second level students pay an examination fee for sitting the Junior and Leaving Certificate examination,’ the circular says. The estimates for 2009 say that the College collected €8,283,371 from student service charge. The estimates also indicate that the College budgeted €1,351,000 for examinations and €1,435,425 on the costs of registration for 2009.

Trinity library service joint last in country, says education officer Continued from page 1 on Sunday as it has done in previous years. The College say that this is because ‘Trinity has larger libraries and more books to manage which makes running the library here more expensive.’ Cooke says that opening the library on a Sunday would cost the College about ‘€50,000 - €60,000 per year.’

Another service that Cooke suggested might be under threat is the Friday counter service in the library. Cooke said that the borrowing and return service may be removed on a Friday because the College say it is not being used. A final plan on action has not been prepared by the Students’ Union but it says that no options are off the table.

Information

Trinity Singers 7.30pm, Trinity College Chapel

Editor Deputy Editor

Robert Donohoe Marykate Collins

Complaints

Apology

ThurSDAY 17th DECEMBER

Life Features High Culture Books Fashion Popular Culture Film Music Television Opinion Sport Photographs Illustrations Website

Kate Ferugson Lily Power Bobby Nolan Katherine Reidy Emma Keaveney Eoin Rafferty Conor Sneyd Michelle Doyle Niall Donnelly Fionn Cafferty David O’Dwyer Sinead Mercier Conor Smith

If you have a complaint about The University Times please direct it to the Editor at the contact details on the front page. If you are unsatisfied with the response then you may complain to the Press Ombudsman.

The University Times wishes to correct a factual inaccuracy in our last issue. In our article entitled ‘Trinity lecturer hits out as UCD claims to be best in Ireland’ we made reference to Dr Gerald Morgan in connection with an allegation of sexual harassment. This was a mistake on our behalf. We wish to apologise to Dr Morgan.

Christmas Concert

Trinity Singers 8pm, Trinity College Chapel

Have your event featured

Every issue The University Times features upcoming student events for the coming three weeks in this coloumn. If you would like to have your event featured here email deatils of it to events@universitytimes.ie Please provide us with the time, date, location and host of the event. All efforts are made to ensure that this events diary is correct at time of publishing. However all event details are subject to change and we suggest you contact the sociecty in question to confrim the event details.

All editors can be contacted at firstname.surname@universitytimes.ie

The University Times is a member of the Press Council of Ireland and abides by the Code of Practice. To contact the Press Ombudsman go to www.pressombudsman.ie

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesNews College authorities seek power over student publications Carl Doherty News Writer A working group setup to redraft a section of the draft Terms of Reference for the Capitation Committee is to recommend that the Capitation Committee not have the power to confiscate copies of publications. The working group was established at a meeting of the Capitation Committee on November 12 to review section 4.6 of the draft Terms of Reference that would have given the Capitation Committee the power to confiscate any publication produced by a body that receive

funding from Capitation. This power was then delegated to the Senior Dean who could exercise it on behalf of the Committee. The draft Terms of Reference were written by the Senior Dean, Junior Dean, Dean of Students, and the College Secretary. The draft Terms of Reference were added to the agenda of the Capitation Committee the day before. A Students’ Union spokesman said that the ‘Students’ Union was deeply unhappy that there was no consultation prior to this motion being brought to Capitations,’ continuing he said ‘the Union was very concerned with the

ad hoc nature it was added to the agenda.’ The Capitation Committee currently does not have the power to seize publications. The Senior Dean has previously seized copies of a publication acting in his capacity as Senior Dean not as Chair of Capitations. Section 4.6 also required all bodies receiving money from the Committee and that produced any publication including books, newspapers, leaflets, and posters to become members of the Press Council of Ireland. Robert Kearns, Chair of the Central Societies Committee said ‘the wording of

section 4.6 suggested that anyone producing a poster on campus would have to be a member of the Press Council. From a CSC point of view, this would be highly impractical as we have over 100 societies producing such materials.’ After objections from the Committee about section it was agreed that a working group be established to redraft section 4.6. The working group to be chaired by Joseph O’Gorman, Honorary Treasurer of the Central Societies Committee (CSC) consists of a member from each of the capitated bodies namely the Students’ Union (SU), Graduate Students’ Union (GSU),

Publications, Dublin University Central Athletics Committee (Ducac), and the CSC. A spokesman said that the ‘Students’ Union always values student freedom of expression and looks forward to the working group returning a draft section that better reflects the core principles of freedom of expression.’ Luke Maishman, Chair of Publication said that he ‘was concerned that the new proposed article did not appear to contain any student input, having been drafted by a committee of College staff members. That this addition was made known to the capitated bodies less than

twenty-four hours before the meeting at which it was to be proposed hardly allowed time for a considered student response.’ The Capitation Committee apportions money it receives from students as part of the Student Service Charge to the five capitated bodies. The Committee at its meeting also approved the accounts of the capitated bodies and distributed this year’s grant. The working group for reviewing section 4.6 will present its recommendation to the next meeting of the Capitation Committee in December.

Dublin City Council temporary suspends College Green bus gate Leanna Byrne News Writer

The new study space located in the Ussher library. Photo: Patrick Theiner

New 24 hour study space opens in BLU Simone Hall News Writer A new twenty-four hour study space opened on November 18. It is situated on level one of the Ussher library. The study space consists of the seating area of the on level one of the Ussher library. The seating area will be partitioned off from the bookshelves. Access to the study space will be via the already twenty-four hour swipe access computer room at the Ussher. An email was sent by the Deputy Librarian, Jessie Kurtz to all staff and students informing them that the

twenty-four hour study space would open on November 18. The library had originally told the Students’ Union that the study space would open on November 16 but it revised this date to November 18 because it needed to install CCTV cameras for safety and security reasons. The library says that it has worked ‘closely with the Students’ Union to facilitate this enhanced service.’ The library says that there is room for 100 people to study in the new space which is funded out of the library’s budget. The library needed to install shutters to separate the reading room from the rest

of the library. They also erected new glass panes to prevent people trying to climb between the reading room and the bookshelves, over a two storey drop. Readers will be asked to leave the library when it is closing. The staff will then collect all the books from about the library and readers will be allowed to enter the twenty-four hour study space ten minutes after the library closes. Ashley Cooke, Education Officer of the Students’ Union says that ‘the Students’ Union has been working hard on this for a few years’ and he is ‘happy to see the library offer this new service.’

Dublin City Council has announced that it will lift the bus corridor around Dublin’s College Green during the Christmas shopping period right through to the January sales. This follows pressure from city centre retailers who say that the gate negatively affects their sales. Last month, Students’ Union Environmental and Ethical Trading Officer (EETO), Barra Roantree, organized a protest with students in College Green against the proposal to lift the evening traffic restrictions. Despite the protest, Dublin City councillors voted to suspend the ban on private cars passing through College Green. Until last week, cars have been excluded from the bus corridor from 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday since July of this year. However, the morning restrictions on cars will still be implemented. Speaking to The University Times, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said he was ‘disappointed at the decision taken by Dublin City councillors to temporarily scale back the College Green bus gate’, but, he welcomes the fact that a fixed date has been set for its reintroduction Roantree has also expressed his disappointment at the Council’s decision, stating it ‘was the wrong decision made with no evidence to back it up.’ According to Roantree, the bus gate was working and had ‘slashed commuting times, had more than doubled average bus speeds in the City Centre’, while making the city a ‘cleaner, greener place to work and do business’. ‘The only consequence of this move will be longer commute times for bus, car and bike users,’ he said. ‘The car park lobby won out over evidence backed policy.’

The Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) is to receive a recurrent grant from the Students’ Union in a deal that was approved by the Capitation Committee on November 12. The grant is intended to help the GSU support its second full-time sabbatical officer that was introduced

to meet the growing needs numbers of postgraduate students. The GSU says that it since then ‘it has been in a financially unstable position.’ The changes were announced to the Capitations Committee by the president of the GSU, Ronan Hodson. In a statement he said the ‘agreement represents an increase in GSU funding and resources of approximately fifty per cent.’

The SU will be providing more than just financial support to the GSU, it will also be offering administrative and office support. The Graduate Students’ Common Room keys are now available from the Students’ Union office in number six. Ashley Cooke said that ‘our recent decision to help the GSU support two sabbatical officers on an ongoing basis will, we believe, be to the

It ensures our financial stability for the foreseeable future. Ronan Hodson, GSU President

DUSSC ski trip sells out in record time DU Snow Sports Club is delighted after 180 places for its January ski trip sold out in twenty minutes. Sign-up for the trip to the French resort of Val Thorens was to take place on Sunday the 8th of November with the online booking system opening at 6 PM that evening. Twenty minutes later the trip was sold out and by 8 o clock that evening there were 130 people on the waiting list for the trip. This unprecedented level of interest prompted the DUSSC committee to organise an extra 105 places in the hotel, opening bookings to the first 105 people on the waiting list and increasing the number of people on the trip to 315; a seven bus convoy to France. Gary Ward, Captain of DUSSC, said to The University Times that although the trips have always been really popular, “nobody could have predicted this level of interest. We tried to keep the price as low as possible as well as encouraging beginners to try skiing/boarding for the first time and the response has been unbelievable!” Ward added that the club has some big plans for the week and hoped to ensure that “everyone comes back in one piece.” Emma Keaveney, Senior Writer

Trinity Cancer Society launch naked calendar

Supporters of the bus gate protesting. Photo: David O’Dwyer The bus gate continues to be the subject of High Court action against Dublin City Council as numerous retailers, including Brown Thomas and Louis Copeland, have said that the bus gate has been accountable for a thirty per cent fall in trade since the introduction of the restriction in July. Traders have also claimed that many recreational shoppers have moved to shopping centres such as Dundrum Town Centre. Objections to the lift on the bus gate have not been abandoned as Roantree said that ‘the lifting of the bus gate will make the City Centre a less attractive place to shop over the Christmas period.’ Studies from Goodbody Economic Consultants have shown that over eighty per cent of shoppers in the City Centre use public transport to do their shopping and shoppers who use public transport spend more per week then car shoppers. According to statistics from Dublin City Council, footfall on College Green has increased by six per cent since the bus gate was initiated. In addition, cyclist traffic on O’Connell Street has increased sixty four per cent, while average speed in the city centre has increased

from five kilometres per hour to thirtenn kilometres per hour. For Trinity students, Roantree stressed that the lift on the bus gate would mean longer commute times by bus and that students could ‘look forward to a more dangerous cycle home’. The bus gate will be reinstated for January 15, 2010.

benefit of all Trinity’s students and will allow the GSU to focus on the important issues that postgraduate students face.’ The deal was finalised after a number of negotiations took place between the GSU and the SU this year. The GSU was investigating the possibility of separating the postgraduate membership of both unions earlier this year. The new deal means

Trinity’s Cancer Society launched its annual naked calendar last Friday the 20th. The calendar, which is in its second year, is sold to students throughout the college with the view to raising money for the Irish Cancer Society. The calendars cost just 6.99. The photographs ranged from DU Sailors hiding their modesty with just a sailing hat to a very relaxed looking dental student taking pride of place in the dentist’s chair. The photographs were taken throughout various parts of the campus including one particular one which pictures model Ciara Shiggins on top of the George Salmon statue in front Square. The calendar was printed by Gary O’Reilly of Reads Nassau Street free of charge. Last year the society were unable to get free printing therefore some of the proceeds inevitably had to go towards the printing costs, yet the society is delighted with what it has achieved with this year’s calendar. The Cancer Society, chaired by Ed O’Riordan this year, is Trinity’s largest charity society and has raised over €150,000 for the Irish Cancer Society since its inception a few years ago. The launch night took place at ‘Mash’ in Basebar where there was also a free champagne reception. O’Riordan said he was; “very happy with how the launch went and also with how the calendar turned out. I hope people enjoy it.” Marykate Collins, Deputy Editor

The only consequence of this move will be longer commute times for bus, car and bike users. The car park lobby won out over evidence backed policy. Barra Roantree, SU Environmental and Ethical Trading Officer

GSU to receive grant from the Students’ Union Emma Keaveney Senior Writer

News in brief

retention of the current form of membership while increasing the resources of the GSU. The GSU says that the deal ‘ensures our financial stability for the foreseeable future.’ The deal is currently being trialled and is due to be reviewed by the Capitation Committee at the end of Hodson’s term and then again in three years at which time it will become permanent.

Wikipedia founder to visit Trinity College Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, is to become an honourary member of the University Philosophical Society here in Trinity. Wales will deliver a special public lecture on Friday November 27th in association with Silicon Republic, Delta Partners, the Dublin City Enterprise Board and the Digital Hub. Wales will also be taking questions from the audience. After speaking at The Phil he will be heading across campus to the Ed Burke theatre to give another lecture as part of a series of talks from Lectures Ireland, an organisation founded by former Trinity student and exPresident of the Phil Paddy Cosgrave. Wales is expected to discuss a range of issues, including the story of Wikipedia, mass collaboration and the future of Wikipedia and the Internet more broadly. Wales is regarded as one of the most influential figures of the 21st century. In 2006, Time magazine named Wales as one of the world’s most influential people, and as the most influential in the category of ‘Scientists and Thinkers’. More recently, Wales was named by Esquire Magazine as a member of the “Esquire 75 – the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. He has also been honoured by The World Economic Forum, spoken at TED Talks and is the founder of the Wikipedia Foundation. Marykate Collins, Deputy Editor

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesNews

“The co-op performance acts almost as a debutante “coming out” ceremony for future Players regulars,” Emma Keaveney p12

www.universitytimes.ie

Venture capitalist honoured by the Phil

News in brief

Leanna Byrne News Writer

Photo: David O’Dwyer

Med students hit the town for charity Trinity held its annual Med Day on November 6th last. The event is an annual fundraiser run by fourth year Medicine Students from the College in aid of causes within, or associated with our teaching institutions. They have raised over 400,000 euro since the event’s inception in 2002. The two main benefactors for Trinity Med Day 2009 are Mental Health Recovery in Dublin and Stroke Services in St. James’ Hospital. Last year med day raised in excess of 60,000 euro. This year students were seen fundraising tirelessly through the various mediums of slave auctions, singing at talent contests and dancing at their night out.

Last week, Trinity College welcomed Timothy Draper, the Founder and Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and one of the World’s most successful venture capitalists, to speak as part of the Lectures Ireland Technology series. Draper also became an honorary patron of The College Philosophical Society, making him part of an elite group of patrons that includes Senator John McCain, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and actor Al Pacino. Draper is known worldwide as the capital backbone behind well-known technology companies Hotmail, Overture, and Skype and is perhaps the only third-generation venture capitalist. In 2008, Always On magazine ranked him as the number one venture capital deal maker in the World. His original suggestion to use ‘viral marketing’ in webbased applications to geometrically spread an internet

product to its market has been adopted as a standard marketing technique by hundreds of businesses. Speaking to Trinity students, he confirmed that this innovative idea was the catalyst behind the fastest growing consumer product in the World. Draper gained further success when he recognised the potential in the telephone company Skype, eventually sold to eBay; online advertising company Overture, sold to Yahoo; and Chinese search giant Baidu. However, Draper acknowledged that he made his fair share of mistakes, naming business ventures such as eBay, Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft as some of the few opportunities he overlooked. ‘In life, the things you didn’t do are the mistakes,’ he said. As an advocate for entrepreneurs and free markets, Tim Draper stressed to budding tech start-ups and entrepreneurs that an entrepreneurial society is essential to continue economic growth. He highlighted the need for forums between

entrepreneurs to spread a community of dynamism and can-do attitudes. Commenting on the recession, Draper sees the state of the economy as a ‘purifying process’, giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to make inspiring innovations. He affirmed that the free market should be left to run its natural course and it was no secret that Draper is a critic of President Obama’s stimulus package. He articulated his objection to $787 billion that has been fuelled into the American economy, stating ‘sometimes the Government gets in the way of what it wants to promote.’ Tim Draper is a firm believer that some of the best companies start during an economic crisis and have gone on to become key players in the World’s markets. Also, students should consider themselves lucky, according to Draper, as the recession will give many graduates the motivation to put a company idea in motion. ‘You have to go out and do

crazy things,’ Draper advised Trinity students. Draper only has high hopes for the future of entrepreneurship, claiming that there are many entrepreneurs out there that have the

‘passion, energy and drive in their blood.’ Draper concluded with a reminder to all students that ‘if you have that thing breaking out of you that you have to do, then call us at DFJ.’

Simone Hall, News Writer

Union of Students in Ireland celebrates fifty years Marykate Collins Deputy Editor

Photo: Robert Donohoe

GAA invades the cricket pitch After tireless lobbying by Students’ Union President Conan O’Broin, Trinity’s cricket pitch has been granted GAA goalposts. The cricket pitch, which has obviously never been used for GAA, has been the grounds of the Dublin University Cricket Club (DUCC) since the 1820’s. It is the intention of the the GAA club in Trinity to use the pitch for training purposes only as only one goalpost has been put up. The cricket pitch is also too small for any other matches to be played on it. Speaking about the goalposts O’Broin said he was; “delighted at this achievement”. It will also give the GAA club a place to train on campus rather than having to travel out to Clanna Gael. Simone Hall, News Writer

Photo: Dargan Crowley-Long

VDP panto takes to Belvo This week sees the staging of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, a Christmas panto production that has been a term-long collaboration between Trinity’s branch of Vincent de Paul and young children living and attending school in the city centre. Written by Trinity student Clodagh Nic Gabhann and featuring songs from tweenie favourites Miley Cyrus and High School Musical, the panto aims to appeal to young children while also encouraging VdeP involvement in the local community. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was performed in the O’ Reilly theatre in Belvedere College this past Monday and Tuesday. By all accounts the VdeP players put in a great performance and numerous legs were broken. Emma Keaveney, Senior Writer

The Union of Students in Ireland celebrated its 50th anniversary last Friday the 20th. Celebrations took the form of a gala banquet at which President Mary McAleese was present. A host of former Presidents and Officers spanning the 50 years of USI also attended the event, many of whom have gone on to become household names. The USI is delighted to have celebrated 50 years of working tirelessly for the rights of the students of Ireland. The union has successfully fought on a wide range of issues, such as increases in the availability of grant aid, the abolition of tuition fees and many other social concerns affecting students. Peter Mannion, President of the USI, said: “For fifty years USI has been demanding a better future for our students and the country.The organisation

has a truly colourful past and given that the USI is fifty years old this year, it is important to mark the occasion. USI has secured real change in this country with campaigns as diverse as contraception availability, free and accessible education, and protecting the rights of students. The organisation will continue to look forward while paying tribute to those who have made USI the vibrant tool of change in Irish society.” SDLP’s Mark Durkan, Labour’s Eamonn Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte, Joe Duffy and Chief Justice John Murray are all former officers of USI and played considerably significant roles in the union during their years there. However, perhaps the most famous USI incident involved RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy who, as president in 1983, had been leading a national protest over the withdrawal of the medical card for students. “My argument at the time was that, if they take it away and we give

it up without a fight, who are they going to target next?” says Duffy. “Students are generally healthy – I don’t think I ever used my medical card – but letting them take it away would have opened the sluice gates.” Duffy and four others ended up occupying the offices of the Eastern Health Board. The students were arrested and jailed for contempt of court when they ignored a High Court injunction against them. “In order to withdraw the medical card, they had to write to students to inform them,” he explains. “The letters were being written and sent from those offices. If they couldn’t send the letters, they couldn’t take the cards. We took a principled stance and we knew the consequences.” The union has always had its critics. While USI is the only national student representative body with a seat on the Higher Education Authority and other national bodies, it does not represent all students. DCU and

President McAleese at the USI gala last Friday. UL students’ unions, for example, are not members and other unions reaffiliate and disaffiliate all the time. Some argue that membership of USI should be compulsory for all unions so that all students will have a national voice, but that inevitably leads on to another perennial problem – money. Most of

USI’s funding comes from the €5 subscription that each fulltime student pays. The organisation looks forward to many more years of campaigning for a better education system, fairer student support, diversity in access to education, and adequate funding for all students.

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesNews News in brief

Students’ Union launches new social interaction and note sharing tool The Students’ Union has launched the latest addition to their new website. Students will now have access to class pages, which will allow them to post discussion items, class notes, or even just have a chat with other members of their class. They will also be able to see who their class representatives, school convenors and faculty convenors are. Students’ Union Technical Officer Conor Smith, who designed the website, explained that the purpose of these class pages was “to increase communication between members of the same class. It can also make things a lot easier for them as if one student misses a tutorial, then one of their friends will be able to post the notes online.” Some students will have access to multiple class pages, such as those taking subjects under the Two Subject Moderatorship banner. To access your class pages just log on to tcdsu.org and register. Once you sign in you will automatically be directed to your class page where you can view all the latest posts. Marykate Collins, Deputy Editor

Photo: David O’Dwyer

Mo’ Money, Movember Trinity’s finest males discarded their Mach-3’s and their Gillete Fusion Powers this month all for a good cause: Prostate cancer awareness. Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer. During Movember each male (or Mo Bro) effectively becomes a walking billboard for men’s health. They raise essential funds for Action prostate cancer and the Irish Cancer Society. Movember is being administered by the Cancer Society in college yet participants can also log onto Movember.com to register themselves and to make their

donations. At the end of the month a series of gala parties will be held to thank the participants for their support and fund raising efforts. The idea for Movember came about in 2003 when a few mates were having a beer in a small bar in Melbourne, Australia. Inspired by the women’s health movement, it was recognized that men were lacking a way to engage and actively involve themselves in their own health. During a conversation about fashion and past trends, the idea came up to bring the moustache back for one month, and in doing so, have some fun, raise a small amount of money and hopefully encour-

age men to talk about their health with each other. Since this time, Movember has continued to grow and grow each year, both in terms of participation numbers and funds raised. In its first year, 30 Mo Bros took part in Movember and last year, across the globe more than 173,000 Mo Bro & Sistas got on board, raising more than 14 million euro across the Movember’s men’s health partners gloabally. Marykate Collins, Deputy Editor

CSC launches the Dorian Gray Project

College comedy magazines ready to launch

Emma Keaveney Senior Writer

On Monday the 30th of November Trinity students and staff are invited to take part in the Dorian Grey Project, a time capsule initiative being administered by the Central Societies Committee. Named after the title character of The Picture of Dorian Grey, the project sees portraits of the college community being taken in the Examinations Hall which will be stored in a digital time capsule. The photos will be kept for a decade and then released to each participant, via their college email. Oscar Wilde is one of Trinity College’s most famous alumni and his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is the inspiration for this dual stranded College wide project. It is a tale of youth and beauty retained in reality whilst the scars of time and dissolution are contained in counterfeit. “This digital time capsule will preserve the perennial youth of the College and although it is unlikely that any individual will have the good fortune to retain unblemished youth like Dorian Gray, each participant will have the chance to capture an instant in time for that historic moment in 2019,” commented Joseph O’Gorman, Honorary Treasurer of the Central

Both of Trinity’s satirical magazines are due to be published in the next couple of weeks. Piranha, which sites itself on the Trinity Publications website as “the official satirical newspaper on campus” will be pitted against Goldfish, the official magazine of DU Comedy, a magazine which proudly declares that it is “like Piranha, but not shit.” Piranha, founded in 1975 and funded in part by a grant from Trinity Publications, has struggled to be published in the past number of years due in part to a stringent censorship battle with the Junior Dean, Emma Stokes. Teaser posters were recently released by Piranha editor Jonathan Wyse which attempted to re-establish Piranha’s claim on the title of Trinity’s “official” satirical magazine. The poster reads “In 2008, the Piranha was publishing harmful and offensive material which threatened the harmony of the college community. If it were not for the timely intervention and censorship of the Junior Dean, it is certain that terrible things would have happened! The Junior Dean disposed of the troublesome, irreverent former editor and installed new, glorious editors loyal to the mighty and terrible Junior Dean!”

Societies Committee. The second element of the project is to manipulate each of the portraits so that they are rendered into a miniature format. Each miniature will act as a tile to produce a large scale mosaic portrait of the College. This montage of portraits caught, in an instant of time, symbolise the living element that embodies College life and will act as a testimony that College is more than just bricks and mortar, quads and cobbles. The Dorian Gray Project is open to all members of College and registration can be done online at

trinitysocieties.ie. Participants are encouraged to either dress up for the occasion or capture their current ‘look’ for future reference.

Each participant will have the chance to capture an instant in time. Joseph O’Gorman, CSC Honorary Treasurer

How to get involved... These portraits will be stored digitally and kept for ten years before they are released again to each individual using his or her TCD e-mail address. It is unlikely that any individual over the course of a decade will have the good fortune to retain unblemished youth like Dorian Gray but none, it is fervently hoped, will have reached the depths of his depravity.

To participate in the initiative, which is of course completely free, simply go to the Exam Hall between the hours of 10am and 8pm on Monday November 30th. For further information on can be found online at www.trinitysocieties.ie or by emailing dorian.gray@csc.tcd.ie

Twenty four students graduate from College’s NIID certificate course Students of the pioneering university course for people with intellectual disability graduated at a formal awards ceremony on November 17. A total of twenty four students were awarded with the Certificate in Contemporary Living at the graduation ceremony. The two-year course run by Trinity’s National Institute for Intellectual Disability (NIID), is the first full-time course of its kind in the university sector in Ireland and is recognised internationally as being unique. One of the key aims of the course is to promote lifelong learning for people with intellectual disabilities and to ensure that this third level education leads to appropriate employment opportunities. There are three aspects to the certificate – academic learning, personal growth and career development. Over the two-year certificate, students complete modules in English and Spoken Communication, Mathematics and Financial Management, Social Studies, International Awareness and Music among other areas. Commenting on the aims of the course, NIID Director, Dr Patricia O’Brien said: ‘People with intellectual disabilities are one of the most marginalised groups in Irish society. Specifically with regard to education, the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities have been underestimated and as result their potential has often remained dormant. ‘It is internationally recognised that lifelong learning is an essential requirement if full participation and inclusion is to be achieved. Through NIID’s pioneering Certificate in Contemporary Living we have developed a course which aims to enable the development of the full potential of the students with intellectual disability.’ Steve Higginson, News Writer

Trinity professor wins Best in Class award at ITC awards 2009

The frontpage of the new teaser for Comedy Soc’s Goldfish magazine, which purports that the Students’ Union sabbatical team plan to form a boyband. The poster continues by encouraging those who are interested in writing “about events taking place throughout the campus as dictated to you by the Junior Dean” to consider writing for Piranha. The staff behind Goldfish have also released teaser material in advance of their first issue, due later this term.

The four page preview flyer, printed in black and white, announces itself as “The News-Rag of the Dublin University Comedy Society” and features articles on the Thierry Henry controversy, the SU Sabbatical Officers and the ‘Goldfish Guide to Doing a Job Interview.’

Professor Igor Shvets of the School of Physics was recently announced as the winner of the Best in Class award during the 2009 Industrial Technologies Commercialisation Awards in Dublin. His research led to the successful commercialisation of a 3D imaging device that can measure skin damage and be used for both cosmetic and dermatological applications. The Best in Class award is made annually to a researcher who has shown both scientific excellence and an awareness of industry needs. The award not only stresses innovation of technology itself but also application, commercialisation and market potential and in making their decision, the judges also examined both licence and promotional efforts made. Professor Shvets was selected as the overall winner from a list of ten researchers who had successfully commercialised their research in the past year. Steve Higginson, News Writer

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesFeatures

No sex ed please, we’re Irish Emma Keaveney examines sex education inititives around the world and finds that Ireland’s approach is sorely lacking

ast Wednesday, sex education stormed back onto the political radar as the British government announced that sex education and evolution were to be made part of the curriculum for five to eleven year olds in Great Britain. The new curriculum, designed after a widespread consultation process by the government’s chief primary advisor Sir Jim Rose, will come into effect from September 2011. The British Schools secretary, the rather comically named Ed Balls, also announced that all 15-year-olds will have to attend a year of sex education classes, with detailed instruction on contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and gay sex. Meanwhile in Spain, officials in the Spanish region of Extremadura have launched a campaign aimed at teaching young people about “sexual self-exploration and the discovery of self-pleasure”- or, in layman’s terms, the joys of masturbation. Sex is once again big news. This time, however, the focus has shifted from the magazine articles about chasing the elusive female orgasm or “Why bad sex is shortening your life” (apparently an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away. But don’t quote me on that.) to musings on the correct age to have sex and what we should be teaching our children. Except in Ireland, that is. In the past few years, sporadic articles on sex education in Ireland have failed to generate interest or any level of institutional

change. Officially, there is a sexual health program in place in Ireland but, frankly, its existence was news to me. Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in post-primary schools has been part of the secondary school curriculum for the last thirteen years. However, a 2008 report on RSE showed that, alarmingly, only forty percent of schools implemented the programme effectively, thirty-six per cent with moderate levels of implementation. So, what happened to the final twenty four per cent of schools in Ireland? Reliable statistics on sexual behaviour in Irish teenagers are hard to come by; there have been no nationwide studies so any variations between the East and West of the country, between city and rural areas can only be assumed or imagined. Surveys from three health boards show that twenty five per cent of Irish teenagers are sexually active by the age of fifteen. Meanwhile, the Crisis Pregnancy Agency has conducted several small-scale studies that have interviewed teenagers about their sexual behaviour. Most reported having their first sexual encounter at the age of fifteen and between twenty to thirty per cent of teenagers said they had experienced full intercourse. However, the problem here isn’t that teenagers are having sex in the first place. The problem is that they haven’t been equipped with the proper information to have sex safely. The survey from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency highlighted the level of

“

I just feel sorry for teenagers growing up today... hormonal teenagers are being sent incredibly mixed messages

ignorance among young people: teenagers stated that although the biological aspect was taught in their schools, there was no discussion about the emotions and relationships surrounding sex and little to no information on contraception, emergency contraception and the Irish laws on sex. The survey also revealed binge drinking as a big influence on their sexual behaviour. “The first time it wasn’t done properly, like. It was just when I was drunk… And I didn’t remember the next morning. I was told a week later”, was a typical comment from one youngster. Peer pressure is also a huge problem. Boys consider themselves more macho when they have lost their virginity and girls often do it so as not to be considered frigid and to please their partner. When Irish teenagers are having sex for the wrong reasons in such alarming numbers, I believe it’s safe to say that sex education has failed dramatically in this country. In my 19 years of public education in this country I have never come across formalised sexual education. In primary school, my headmaster ensured that we had a sex education evening in 5th class at the age of 11. A woman came in to talk to us, armed with a projector and a slideshow of anatomical maps of body parts. Our parents were also invited and together we all sat in a darkened classroom; a room full of boys and girls who had yet to encounter deepening voices, masturbation and menstruation. This meeting formed the basis of all my prior knowledge on and encounters with sex and I will always be thankful that my primary school principal had the foresight and intelligence to organise it. When it came to secondary school, we didn’t have any formalised sex education. We did, however, have a chastity talk. Even as a wide-eyed girl of fifteen I knew that this going to be as helpful as praying for sexual guidance. Luckily, I bought magazines like Bliss, Sugar and Seventeen. The manager of my boarding school thought they were unsuitable for us but we hid them under our mattresses all the same, reading the agony aunt pages out loud to one another. “I’m going out with a guy who’s two years older than me and last night he asked me to give him a blowjob. The problem is I don’t know what a blowjob is. Please help!” It was those few years in the early noughties where the internet had yet to reach ubiquity: these problems might seem quaint now, but the truth was that we had just as much knowledge on the subject as the girls who wrote in to the magazine and, despite our occasional

bravado, we needed sexual guidance as well. Unfortunately the issue of sex education gets even more complicated when you cross the Atlantic. Under the administration of George Bush, annual funding of 168 million dollars was allocated for abstinence-only education. In the ten years between 1996 and 2006, America spent almost 1 billion dollars on abstinence-only education. Government funded programmes aside, abstinence movements are a veritable cultural phenomenon in certain parts of America, with groups such as ‘The Silver Ring Thing’ reaching popularity levels among young people previously reserved for sports teams or pop groups. Leslee Unruh is the founder and president of the National Abstinence Clearing House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and her take on the matter is typical of the (taxpayer funded) abstinence-only advocaters: “Sex after marriage is great. We’re not against sex, in the right place at the right time.” Condoms, she continues, are overrated. “We tell them condoms won’t protect your heart, that latex won’t stop human papilloma virus.” Unruh’s heart may be in the right place, but she is ignoring the fact that teenagers are going to have sex, whether you warn them about it or not. According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly half (forty-six per cent) of all 15-19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once and of the 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year, 9.1 million (forty-eight per cent) occur among 15-24-year-olds. One could assume that with the democrats in the White House, Obama might spearhead a new sex education programme. His previous affirmations on the subject would certainly indicate a healthy disdain for abstinence-only education. Speaking in 2007, he said “Keep in mind: I honor and respect young people who choose to delay sexual activity. I’ve got two daughters, and I want them to understand that sex is not something casual. That’s something that we definitely want to communicate and should be part of any curriculum. But we also know that when the statistics tell us that nearly half of 15 to 19 year olds are engaging in sexual activity, that for us to leave them in ignorance is potentially consigning them to illness, pregnancy, poverty, and in some cases, death.” However, Obama said this in 2007 when he was still a Senator and it remains to be seen whether he will be willing to risk approaching this political hot potato during his stint in the West Wing. I could probably fill this entire paper with statistics and surveys from all over the world that back up my argument. However, statistics aside, I really just feel sorry for teenagers growing up today. Sex is everywhere. It’s in the newsagents, looking down from the

cover of men’s magazines. It’s on our tv screens, it’s in our music videos. It’s on our computer screens, tempting us to “click here”. We live in a highly sexualised culture; a candyland of sex. Yet behind this shiny sexy surface image lurks a more troubling reality. Young people – hormonal teenagers – are being sent incredibly mixed messages. On the one hand they are encouraged to consume this culture, to inhale the music videos, the Playboy merchandise, the sexy magazines. But on the other hand, there is no formalised structure within which they can learn about sex, and where there is it is, more often than not, telling them that

they shouldn’t even be having sex. Without a proper sex education programme that is implemented in 100 percent of schools, this country is doing a disservice to its young people. Sex is a fundamental part of being human and as such we need to be equipping young people with the right information: developing their emotional intelligence as well as the physical ins and outs (oho!) of the act itself. Instead, look but don’t touch is the mantra. This approach is evasive. It’s hypocritical. And it’s just unfair. Emma Keaveney

“They have the plant but we have the power” Marykate Collins looks at yesterday’s strike by public sector workers and sees a sense of camaraderie not seen in many years

Trinity Hall staff on strike yesterday in Darty. Photo: Stephen O’Connell

009 has been a year of significant political upheaval and if the Irish Public has their way, this shows no signs of stopping. The beginning of this year’s social unrest occurred last February 22nd when over 100,000 Irish citizens marched in protest of the Government’s handling of the financial crisis. It was the largest anti-government demonstration since the early 1980s, when tens of thousands of workers took to the streets protesting against the country’s tax system. This year over 70,000 marched in Dublin in a massive display of anti-government anger. Cork had over 15,000 marching, Waterford 10,000, Galway 5,000, Limerick 5,000 Tullamore 4,000, Sligo 5,000, and Dundalk 1,500. Hundreds attended rallies in several places in the north too. The ICTU organized rallies in Belfast, Derry, Newry and seven other towns. The focus of anger there was the cuts in public spending and the need for more jobs in all sectors of the economy. The government is planning a further €4 billion cut to public expenditure in the December Budget which will involve 1.3 billion cuts to public sector pay. That’s a pay cut of around 6.5 per cent. So what is the Irish Public sector to do now? Surely it is aware that our Government is trying to pitch them against the Private Sector? Hoping to divert attention away

from the crisis they have found themselves in by playing a game of divide and conquer. This proved unsuccessful on November 24th as the Public Sector pulled out all the stops; a one day strike was held across the country in which the majority of the country’s 300,000 Public Sector workers picketed their places of work. Of course there was much issue surrounding the strike, in particular that of the disruption which would be caused. In fact IBEC even came out as saying that the strike; “would not create a single job nor make any existing job more secure”. So is that really the issue at play here? Surely the issue is that public sector pay workers can’t be expected to take further pay cuts? Why should the people of this country not rally together and show the Government (and the rest of the world for that matter) that we are no longer prepared to be taken for a ride? It is high time that we started getting embarrassed by the state of our appalling government and actually did something about it. As much support as there was for the strike, typically there were the inevitable nay-sayers labelling it; ‘farcical’, ‘morally wrong’ and an ‘attempt to hold our Government to ransom’. How exactly is it ever ‘morally wrong’ to defend one’s right to a decent wage? I must be hearing incorrectly when they say that

“

The focus of anger was the cuts in public spending and the need for more jobs in all sectors of the economy

a strike is ‘morally wrong’, yet it is acceptable for our politicians to continue living their utterly hedonistic lifestyle. These protesters were not just striking for themselves but rather for their fellow countrymen and women. That was patriotism, all of our country rallying together against what seems like an imposter, ‘foreign’ Government who are more interested in bank bail-outs than looking after ordinary citizens. Surely if they were patriotic and the true leaders they attest to be, they should lead by example and take pay cuts themselves? Yet I digress, as always we are aware unfortunately of what this country has allowed itself to become; a nation where cronyism rules. Ours is a Government which would rather see the rich restored to their ‘rightful’ place at the top of the hierarchy, whilst the less well off remain the underdogs, whimpering away until someone throws them a scrap. Being reduced to this base level has taken its toll, and as far as the strike goes it seems these dogs have been let starve far too long. A government as set in its ways as ours has only one outcome; failure. And I would go as far as to say that seeing this government fail might not be such a bad thing. Marykate Collins

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesFeatures

Where did all the money go? With the current questions surrounding it, Nathaniel Forde delves into College’s spending of your student service charge

he Treasurer’s annual report of 2007/2008 records the latest express articulation of Trinity’s financial policy. The position states that ‘responsibility for the billing and collection of all tuition and other fees in the region of €91m from the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Local Authorities, students and others’ is firmly within the purview of the Treasurer’s office and affiliated departments. Their capacity for these duties is demonstrated by the fact the fees successfully processed in 2005/6 totalled €77m and in 2006/7, €81m. In the Finance Committee’s minutes dated October 1, 2008, it is noted that the HEA advised an ‘increase of two point six per cent to the undergraduate tuition fee for 2008/09 and also the increase in the student registration fee from €825 to €900’ for the purposes of bringing ’the amount contributed by the students more into line with the cost of providing these services.’ But the recorded contribution for 2008 is €575.00. There is a notable discrepancy in the amount registered as student fee income and the fee actually paid. On average, students all over the country have been requested to pay a figure of €1,500, and Trinity is no exception, but the income/expenditure estimates for Trinity 2009 record a student contribution of €593.75. The rest is used to make up reductions in the HEA’s grant to the College. When one looks at the figures provided in the 2009 estimate for student services one sees that the College got €8,283,371 from the student registration fee. Its expenditure report shows expenses of €9,870,583 on student services.

Trinity claims to have been operating at loss with regard to student fees and corresponding services since 1999 at least. The College say ‘the student charge supports on average up to 80%85% of the full costs of providing student services. The balance of the funding for the student services in Trinity College is met from income generated by the College.’ According to the Trinity’s figures the deficit incurred between student related income and expense stood at €576,599 in 1999, while it is currently estimated that there will be a deficit of €1,587,212 in 2009. The current estimate would be a saving on last year which set-

“

keep going. Yet, even this principle is not a future goal it is an ever present pressure - the means by which they conduct themselves. It is not aims or goals which motivate administration but rather, activity for its own sake and for the benefit of being seen to be active. Administrative ‘achievements’ are no more than the recursive completion of assigned tasks. Administrative failures delay completion, and necessitate repair thus opening the machine to outside scrutiny. There are no phrases which instil more terror in a bureaucrat than the terms ‘departmental review’ or ‘reform’. Hence the national inquiry into the al-

The national inquiry into the allocation and spending of student registration, proposed by Brian Hayes TD, is at least likely make a few people squirm

tled at a loss of €1,679,189, this would buck the trend of increase that has been gathering momentum since 2001. One could ask why there has been no significant action to counter this uninterrupted stream of financial loss, but that would be to perpetrate the fallacy which accredits administrations with ends and goals. Administration is all about means and as such leaves a lot of loose ends. There are lax strategies and plans proposed by every purely administrative body but without fail each strategy can be translated into the phrase – Don’t screw up noticeably, and

location and spending of student registration, proposed by Brian Hayes TD, is at least likely make a few people squirm. The first item of expenditure included on the report is Examinations for €1,351,000 which is up from €1,280,132 the year before. The cost is to cover examinations which the HEA say are not covered by tuition fees in a similar way that second level students must pay for the cost of their Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations. The Cost of Registration comes next at €1,435,425. This expense heading includes the cost of registration and the

cost of running the Fees, Admissions, and Records offices. The estimates for 2009 present a saving on the actual costs for 2008 that is €1,455,174. The next three headings are Careers Advisory Service with €883,054 up from €827,026 the year before; Student Health Service €829,085 up from €665,745, and Student Counselling Service with €976,015 up from €942,078. Capitation is the next heading on the accounts. Capitation is money that students pay for the five capitated bodies in College namely, the Students’ Union, Graduate Students’ Union, Central Societies Committee, Publications, and Dublin University Central Athletics Committee. The capitation grant was €1,170,561 up from €1,152,921. The money is administered by the Capitation Committee chaired by the Senior Dean. Sports and Recreation receives €436,000 which is down from €533,397 in 2008. This money is separate to the sports centre levy. The College charges space costs for student services based on space data provided by the Director of Buildings. The costs are based on a per sq meter basis with the unit costs adjusted each year. The charge for 2009 is estimated at €1,498,990 up from €1,455,330 in 2008. The final heading is Student Services which gets €1,290,453 up from €969,105. This heading can be broken down into sub-headings that is Tutorial Expenses (€697,000), Disability (€79,700), College Deans (€144,000), Day Nursery Grant (€235,277), Accommodation Office (€62,705), Chaplin (€13,000), and Miscellaneous (€173,771). Nathaniel Forde

We are hiring Are you hard-working and committed with an interest in writing, editing or photography? We are a young and ambitious newspaper and we want you to be part of our team. e Un e Un iver iver s sity i ty T Spo S Tim t r ime sh ike m spe rts fee es sCo ut dow ay un ndin Sep

tem

ber

21st,

ELE CTR IC P ICN IC: BRA YT RA Irish Hubie GED med Dav Y ia’s ho ison o

Nov embe

200

ur o n th Opinf sham e ion p1 e 6

scruder g tiny

Que st spo ions ra rts c entr ised ov e lev e y fu r alloca nds ti to o on of ther st ‘ pro udent jects easu

Carl News Doherty Writ er AN IN oran TERN dum AL sent to th e Tr

r 3r d, 20

DRO

Em backma Keav of th at on eney e su e of th looks mm er. C e highlig ultu re p1 hts 2

P IN

Kate hom Ferg mic eopathuson p rosc u ope y unde ts . Fe aturer the s p6

THE

OCE

w.u niver sity

FRE SHE RS’ WE EK S PEC IAULn p7 io

Eve ry from thing to h what you ne ed ow to the surv societi to know ive fi es a nan re do ciall in y Fe g ature s

es.ie

lleg

e n

wor ns agr k sto ee t ppa o na ge N tion ove wide mbe r 24 th

Mar Depuykate Co ty Ed llins itor TR IN and IT Y CO prop ed sta ar LLEG by ceed osed publ the e sure E stude on str secto ic sectorecent to be a nts lege wi Noveike ac ly pr ect- dure ll ha r mbe tion r un a na pr ve s ion pay cu op r on Tu tionw s have ts. Pu osed serv ice to mai in plac 24, Co o- ha s any ntai s le pr blic esda ide 24 ag n oc de not em and y, No -hou reed to occur erge to re essent e- th cide onyet ha plan e d un vem r str e pr the durin ncies spon ial ta lk s for th ions ber 24 ike opos their a chan str s wi ike. g th that d to ce al to resp e co th the str ike discus th. m have onse to urse ay e De follo sed a na as pa rtm wing of tion ent of

Lib to rary Sunclose day s

SE REFNATE N ORM EE DS

Eliz abo abeth litio May n. O e op pinio pos n p17 e

tim

SOC I

ETI

ES S

Rac the hael S coll nature hearer ege . Fe of cliq examin ature ues e s p7 in s

w.u ni

HUN

vers

itytim

es.ie

NIN

APPLICATION DETAILS We are currently seeking individuals for the following positions: • Features Editor • News Features sub-Editor • Theatre sub-Editor • Food sub-Editor • Science & Technology sub-Editor • Photographers • General writers

APPLY AT www.universitytimes.ie/write

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesFeatures

One brunette per floor

Columns

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be Autumn in Charleston Road: the chestnut trees let fall conkers that land softly in spiked- green armour at my feet and the damp orange leaves slide in the sludgy wind. It brings me right back to age 7 in the kitchen, where my mother and I pierced and connected with toothpicks our enormous collection of chestnuts, forming lengthy caterpillars which we brought in the following day for the school nature table. There is no season with the same sting of nostalgia: Autumn, when things are beautiful and sad. It’s awe-inspiring how memories morph as they age. Some become gentler, others omit details and there are those that change completely. There are moments when a smell steers me back to a cloakroom, or a relative’s house or a feeling of listlessness transports me back to my early teens. The Greek nostos (homecoming) and algos (grief) describe etymologically the melancholy that accompanies the return to that which was once familiar. For many, our cub’s demise means leaving behind the familiar. Families on the beach in Australia some years from now might think back with a smile to the turkey they carved in Dundrum or to the icy plunge they took at the 40 foot on Christmas day. A young professional may return from their American job and wonder why the old ‘gang’ is scattered about, intermittently getting married and moving in different circles. In turn they might have to justify their new drawl and flashy smile. I tried to capture nostalgia once. I was 16 and staying with my two best friends in a chalet in the snowy French Alps. I had never seen such beauty: snow-topped trees, slopes of endless white and a charming village where you went to get your ski boots fitted. ‘This is lovely’, I said to myself once; ‘nevertheless, right now I am feeling neither young or carefree yet possibly that is how I shall remember this experience’. Of course, I fell into my own tautological trap: I am nostalgic about my rumination on nostalgia. Those very things that I didn’t focus on at 16 are those that capture best the part of me I miss. The freedom of endless pondering outside of an academic curriculum. The conviction that 18 was pretty ancient. How I had the same 10 or so close friends in my life every day and how the biggest leap was from transition year to fifth. Yet there is also something extraordinarily comforting about nostalgia. While there is sadness in the sense of a familiarity that has become strange, there is also an immense reassurance in that very act of recognition. When we remember with fondness, we travel back to a time and mindset and when we become sad we do so because we had almost forgotten a part of ourselves. A chestnut bounces past me and I smile. Almost. Kate Ferguson

Insomnia’s essay It is four o’clock in the morning. You are writing one of those essays that if personified you’d stab in the eye with a blunt knife. You’re doing the second all nighter in a row and it has resulted in a number of things. Firstly, never before had you realised that watching the cursor blink on and off for a whole five minutes was actually quite intriguing. Secondly, you can’t allow yourself to think about sleep as when you do your mind enters into a Star Wars centred fantasy where sleep plays the part of the force and your essay the part of Darth Vader, meaning that instead of researching what you should be, you’ve ended up loosing 25 euros for a one month subscription to the Star Wars fan club.

“

You’re writing an essay that if personified you’d stab in the eye with a blunt knife

As if all of this along with losing the will to live was not enough, physically your body has stopped working. Although it can still manage to do some of the basics (if you call basics lifting up your hand to forcibly open your eyelids), the real problem is with your mind to body co-ordination. For example if you want to write the sentence “In the year 1916 a contract was signed enabling a change to be made within the grounds of society” what you get is “society of grounds the within made be to change a enabling signed was contract a 6191 year the in”. You are literally about to collapse onto the keyboard when a light shines at the end of the tunnel. That light is the new 24-hour study space that you have just ventured through the hordes of rain and wind we’re experiencing at the moment to get too. When you reach the light you may not find enlightenment, but you will find a bunch of other students just as disorganised as you, all watching their cursors in an insomniatic state. Although they may not be able to help you with all aspects of your essay, it does help knowing that you’re not the only one stupid enough to leave everything so late. And it’s always a bonus when they can help you decide whether to go as Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia to your first Star Wars convention. Catalina Blackman

British outfitters Jack Wills have opened a new store in Dublin. Rachael Shearer examines how they have targeted Trinity students to partake in the “Jack Wills lifestyle”.

ack Wills, “University Outfitters”, has finally decided to grace Dublin City with its presence. Having teased us with its store in Kildare for almost a year, we were relieved to hear that it was due to open a new store on the oh-so-bohemian Harry Street which wasn’t exactly a shocker as this British line has already set up stores in other such “quirky” spots like Chelsea and Notting Hill. However, is a “bohemian” theme really in keeping with these “Outfitters to the Gentry”? Perhaps we would understand such a decision if we had actually heard of the brand before their arrival. Few had even been to the Kildare store to spread the word of this exciting new addition to Irish retail. Famed for their exclusivity, Jack Wills are even rumoured to have refused Vogue access to a select few items of clothing for a photo shoot. In fact, they don’t advertise in fashion magazines at all, only producing in-store brochures featuring their clothes and recommended “looks”. The turn-out at their launch party last month in Pygmalion proves that they were successful in their choice of location .It was a somewhat sickening but impressive turn-out; kudos to Dubes. Their involvement no doubt spurred the success of the launch party and also added a stomach twisting awkwardness in the form of a VIP area which was monitored by a lonesome bouncer beside a seemingly accessible set of stairs which when one attempted to ascend without a VIP pass was utterly mortifying. With the entire VIP area able to

see your embarrassing refusal of entry, it was a tough decision between casually laughing it off and turning scarlet before making a dash for the door. Surely such elitism is unnecessary for the launch of store of an already firmly established brand where the only ones who could qualify as VIP were your mates on the Dubes committee and the newly hired staff. The staff members were hired for their supreme knowledge of fashion, retail and customer relations by submission of CVs and recommendations from previous employers. Or, actually, they were chosen because they are attractive and have the right attitude to comply with the Jack Wills lifestyle. A few beautiful and honestly, wonderful friends of mine were lucky enough to be spotted in Trinity by staff scouts and given the job (that treats them to an 85% discount and two “looks” for €30 each) and during their days of staff training they revealed some of the more interesting and somewhat amusing mottos of Jack Wills, including the requirement for the girls to have “I’m sorry” hair which was later established to be an abbreviation for “I’m sorry I’m so beautiful that I can get away with my hair looking so messy”. While it has to be said that the staff aren’t exactly a hideous bunch, one cannot help but notice the abundance of blondes. This is explained by the circulating rumour that they only employ one brunette per floor. With three floors in store and my inside sources informing me that there are currently only three brunettes employed, one cannot help but notice the startling level of

truth attributed to said rumour. The actual garments, as individual pieces, aren’t all that bad. There is the occasional pair of leggings or shorts, a jumper a jacket or jodhpurs (why?) that one could imagine adding to an existing wardrobe of clothes that doesn’t match the cover of every issue of Horse and Hound. However, the “looks” that the in-store brochure provides are often laughable. The girls section has the occasional gem but the boys are left with a choice between tracksuit bottoms paired with a blazer (really?) or a pyjama-like jumper paired with tartan pants which we simply don’t need nowadays, or, possibly, ever. With the staff discount at an alarming 85%, one cannot help but imagine the size of the mark-up price on these outlandishly expensive clothes which leaves their quality somewhat questionable. However critics’ main issues with Jack Wills don’t lie with the garments. It’s the lifestyle. Their online lifestyle section is cringe worthy to say the least. Their alleged

“

Their alleged appreciation of unsigned bands is clearly a ploy to attract the more “trendy” students

appreciation and promotion of unsigned bands is clearly a ploy to attract the more “trendy” students, their online library consisting of reviews on the contrasting works of D.H. Lawrence and Jilly Cooper is simply confusing and irrelevant but probably a supposed attraction for the “bookish” types and the Parties section consists of countless identical photos of a generically posed “night out”. To propose that anyone who reads, enjoys music or goes out with their friends is leading the Jack Wills lifestyle is preposterous and quite frankly offensive. Who are they to patent literally everything that students partake in as their idea? Time will tell whether this “lifestyle” will survive in Dublin City and whether their targeting of Trinity students will have fared well for them. Despite having had no idea who they were before they arrived other than that they are a brand largely associated with England’s “sloanes” and public-school elitists, they seem to have made quite a splash and are somehow getting away with their boldly English everything. I can safely say I have no interest in feeding their monster of a University lifestyle that incorporates homeware into its product range; what “student” needs a £89 Highwood Dressing Gown or a £100 Richmond Blanket? Who or what are Highwood and Richmond? Do we care? Despite my and many others’ protests to this brand and the lah-tee-dah “lifestyle” that comes with it, I fear that Jack Wills is here for the long haul and that they could actually out-fit this University. Rachael Shearer

Night Shift The Industrious Revelation Kate Ferguson on working nights in a city that never stops drinking. Ranelagh Luas Stop Vodka swishes in their Evian bottles and amidst ‘Is Jack coming?’… ‘Yeah I texted Alice but she’s baby-sitting or something’ their phones buzz incessantly. Their toes point to the carriage floor: their heels hoist them far above me. They smell honey sweet. It’s post pre-drinks and The Palace is free in. They hop off at Harcourt and I lose their trail. Sailing down Harcourt Street There is a group of English girls and they are dressed as sailors who would freeze at sea. Having built up an enormous appetite crossing the Irish channel, they lean into the Chinese man behind the counter of a hot dog van. Intimately and with an air of confession they seek from him a double cheese burger. He obliges as they navigate their way through foreign currency, stumbling and biting, excited and raring to explore uncharted waters. I approach him with caution and request the price of a hot chocolate. It is extortion-

“

King of Security: Grafton Street He’s enormous in his reflector jacket and he won’t let me into Burger King with my can of 7 Up. I stop at the entrance and explain that I’m a student, from just over there, who would love to ask him about his job. He regards me a moment: ‘You understand, I get paid to work, to protect this place and not to have chats’. He has a point and so I apologize. He looks at me quite kindly as I make to walk away. The Rickshaw Driver Our paths cross again. ‘It’s a handy student job’, he tells me. ‘I’m employed by a company from which I effectively ‘rent’ the rickshaw. When times were good, you could earn €300400 a night, but that’s gone down recently. Still, the money’s not bad’. But what about the stories? ‘There are too many to tell’ he laughs. ‘Once I ended up hoisted up with my rickshaw into the garden of somebody’s party.’ Is it not dangerous? ‘I only take direct routes. Generally I stay around the city centre. I don’t go

Horse and cart drivers feel we’re taking their business away and so they have tried to run us off the streets

ate and so I buy a 7 Up. I stay there watching. ‘Do you like your work? I ask him finally. ‘Not much’, he mutters. ‘I just saw those girls’ I offer. The insinuation is lost in his worldliness and he replies, ‘at this time it is still okay, later on, people are even drunker and then they become difficult and break things’. One pregnant pause later he walks away to the corner of his van where he talks to a co-worker. I wander away. The Rickshaw Driver: Grafton Street He’s got a UCD hoodie and a cart. Before I give him a proper look, I have begun my spiel: ‘Hi… I’m writing a feature on people that work at night… I would love to know what it’s like pulling a rickshaw’. ‘No problem, Kate’, he grins. Scarlet, I recognize him as a former colleague. (Memories are context dependent). Redeeming myself I offer him a take-out coffee in exchange for a chat: ‘No, no, you’re grand’ is his gallant reply.

down back roads and lanes. There’s enough work around here not to make it worth it’. Since he has enough work to be getting on with, I leave him and tell him to look out for the sailor girls. The Ladies in Doyles I drain the can and bin it outside Doyles. Inside, a hand assembles a row of deodorant spray cans behind the wash-hand basin. A mass of Chupa Chups and gums are piled already in a little wicker basket: sweet and fresh. I emerge from the toilet cubicle and she hands me a paper towel. I take it, awkwardly. ‘It’s getting cold’ she says remarking on my purple winter coat. I smile in agreement ‘Yes, it’s that time of year again’. ‘It’s still quiet here’ she says. ‘It’ll pick up in an hour or two’ I reply and imagine heels and lollipops and deodorant and tissue paper on the floor. I wonder if she knows winter from home and whether her family waits up for her.

The Rickshaw Driver He’s sure doing his rounds. We wave and he’s kind enough to stop, again. What’s the relationship with the other rickshaw drivers like? I want to know. ‘It’s great fun’, he tells me ‘we know each other and greet one another on the way’. The problems we have had are with the horse and cart drivers. They feel we’re taking their business away and so they have tried to run us off the streets. At one point, the Guards had to come and sort out the trouble. It’s quite competitive out here. There’s a lot of money to be made from this kind of thing.’ Temple Bar A can of Bavaria bathes in a pool of vomit and an entrepreneur challenges punters to ride a colourful bicycle past a line of white sellotape. They queue in an orderly fashion and fall off, one by one. ‘Come on now, four goes for a fiver to win 20 quid if you pass the line’: ‘oye could do da. Gissa shot!”. ‘It looks easier than

it is: the handlebars are reversed’ remarks a shrewd young woman: ‘that’s why it’s so hard!’. A bronze blond in a puffy red jacket hands out fliers for a lap-dancing club. It pays the rent. The Rickshaw Driver He’s just dropped off another group of satisfied customers. ‘You must be exhausted’. ‘Ah, I’m okay’. Are you sure you won’t have that coffee?’ Ah, go on so’. A Maccy D’s muffin and a double espresso later, he’s stoically avoiding the 1 am slump and we’re discussing how to pimp his ride. I’m back at the hot dog van in Harcourt Street. An intoxicated passer-by bashes in the door and leaves the vendor pick up the pieces: he has seen it all before. The night is only getting started but I toddle soberly home. Kate Ferguson

The University Times | Wednesday, November

25th

Arts & Culture

“Twilight’s harshest critics have been fans of the bands who feel that their favourite acts are in fact too good to be associated with the franchise.”

Conor Sneyd, p13

Music Feature

Eternal Youth Sonic Youth’s career has spanned three decades and in the build up to their gig in Vicar Street this December Michelle Doyle looks back at the band’s influence over mainstream alternative rock.

ince releasing their eponymous debut album in 1981, Sonic Youth have been hailed as one of the most important and accomplished bands of the ‘80s, the ‘90s and currently the ‘00s; 2009 seeing the completion of their sixteenth studio album to date (as well as a backlog of singles, videos and bootlegs). Band-member Thurston Moore once proclaimed “we’re going to stop after a thousand albums”, and given the band’s longevity and ability to withstand the testament of time, this looks more and more likely to be the continuous goal at which the band keeps plugging in the future. Sonic Youth burst onto the scene in the ‘80s, presenting violent imagery alongside the sheer noise of similarly violent guitar. Taking the post-punk hardcore scene by storm, they saw their success culminate in 1990 with their 7th studio album, ‘Goo’ - a record which deals with pop culture and subsequent pop worship, alongside social issues like anger, anorexia, religion and consumer

“

“Goo” to a Sonic Youth fan is “Nevermind” to a Nirvana fan - a mainstream masterpiece which all out there should beg, steal or borrow immediately if it is not already a member of your record collection

culture, to name but a few. In fact for the last few years ‘Goo’ has been continuously touted by critics, being hailed among Hot Press’ ‘Top 20 Albums all College kids should listen to’. Subsequently, and with a heads up to the people in the Hot Press offices, I too would have to agree that ‘Goo’ to a Sonic Youth fan is “Nevermind” to a Nirvana fan - a mainstream masterpiece which is a jewel to behold, and one which all out there should beg, steal (well, not steal) or borrow immediately in the event that it is not already a firmly-planted member of your record collection. However, unlike many other underground rock bands who broke into the foyer of popular mainstream music, such as aforementioned Nirvana, Sonic Youth are still going strong, with regards to recording as well as touring. This December, Dublin will welcome the fourpiece ensemble to the intimate venue of Vicar Street - the first time the band has performed in Ireland since Electric Picnic 06. Tickets for the show are now sold out, which to me signals the integral importance of the band in music’s history; as well as their ability, as a result of 21st century accessibility to music via YouTube and the downloading culture, to rile the excitement of an older generation of once-teenagers and post-adolescents, as well as a newer, younger audience who still identify with the Youth’s penchant for volume, distortion effects, loud tones blended with soft tones, and techniques which sound - to put it simply - like the unleashing of a frenzied nervous breakdown, running past you in the street. It is for these reasons that Sonic Youth can be seen as none other than the grandparents of modern music. As it stands, Sonic Youth are difficult to pin down in terms of musical genre. Although considered ‘alternative’ by HMV and iTunes, the truth is that this title does not do justice to the band’s plethora of genres and sub-genres. Sonic Youth sound like confusion and anxiety set to the backdrop of an avant-garde Velvet Underground record, with a type of chaos that is almost primal and yet oddly polished. Each song sounds as though the band knew exactly what they were doing - managing to pin-point that chaos, noise and explicit content in a

way that it is then thoroughly mapped out in three minutes of rock, which plays by nobody else’s rules but the band’s own. As each decade draws to a close, Sonic Youth continue to remodel themselves, refusing to linger in the annals of time and become known as ‘that band’ from the ‘80s who had ‘that song’ in the ‘90s. Instead, 2009 sees the band barrelling on down the tracks with their new album ‘The Eternal’ - an album that critics are hailing as a movement back towards the band’s underground roots, as well as a marker of their place as fore-

runners in modern American music. ‘The Eternal’ is a definitive gesture of what the band stands for: lengthy guitar jams, a brief history of modernity, and the downfall of modern consumer culture. This album breaks away from the pop-grunge that became so prevalent in the ‘90s and sees the band reclaiming their roots as an underground group who play music for themselves and their fans, rather than for a record label and

Electric City Jenna Toro is a breath of fresh air on the Dublin music scene that is destined for major success if her songs up until now are anything to go by. She is one of a few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument (this stemming from her adoration of Tori Amos, naming Winter “as the most amazing song to me”). Jenna is a Dubliner, hailing out of Kiliney, with Spanish roots (hence the name Toro). She has been playing

piano since she was four and wrote her first song at the tender age of eight after her dog died. “I write to express myself and to sort out my own problems. It’s how I deal with personal issues”. Jenna has an extremely broad range of influences from Radiohead to Rachmaninoff to Lykke Li and Regina Spektor which adds to her off-beat, quirky sound. There is a huge buzz surrounding the twenty one year old and it’s easy to see why with the quality of her voice giving so much more to the emotionally charged lyrics of her songs. Electric City, her debut single, is released on iTunes and Amazon on November 20th. It has been getting radio play recently and was named download of the day by Tony Fenton on Today FM, with him proclaiming “she has the

Kim Gordon performing at the Primavera Sound Festival in 2005 (right). Photo: Michael Morel Sonic Youth performing in Stockholm (below). Photo: Anders Jensen-Urstad

their gruelling contract that states ‘X’ amount of albums must be sold by ‘X’ time this year. This in itself propels the album forward as one of the most independent that Sonic Youth has made in almost twenty years. Just as we toll in two decades since the fall of the Berlin wall - commemorating that poignant moment when East Berlin was united with West - so do we recognise almost thirty years of Sonic

looks and the voice; I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from this girl”. Jenna has just done a string of radio interviews with FM104, Today FM, Beat and Dublin’s 98 to name a few. Oxegen was brilliant for Jenna as she played the IMRO stage bringing a huge number of soaked festival goers into the tent she was performing under and from the response she received, I think a lot of people were converted. She has also played Tripod, the Trinity Freshers’ Ball in the Academy, The Waterfront, Ulster Hall and The National Concert Hall in the last year. Keep an eye on her website and MySpace page for upcoming gigs which should be experienced. In the meantime, you should indulge yourself in the snippet of the brilliant Electric City (and the remix

Youth, a group who have been so highly influential on mainstream alternative rock. As December edges nearer, the ability to listen to the new album live gets closer; and as winter engulfs us in its rain, hail and sleet, it is a silver lining among the dark clouds to know that the vitality and life expressed on this record is just around the corner. In the meantime, whether or not you have tickets to see Sonic Youth in Vicar

by Dublin-based DJ Hubie Davison if that’s more suited to your taste) on her MySpace. David Murphy Electric City, was released 20th November and is available on iTunes and Amazon

Looking for more? You can find more about Jenna Toro online: www.jennatoro.com www.myspace.com/ jennatoro You can also find more from Hubie Davison online: www.myspace.com/ youbearmusic

Street, be sure to check out ‘The Eternal’ - Sonic Youth’s next stop on the totem pole towards the top of that one thousand mark, whence they will finally rest. In the meantime though, Eternal is proof that the group are just beginning to embark on a new path in a very long and successful career. Michelle Doyle

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesCULTURE

David Koma’s got the X Factor After his dress’ recent appearance on Cheryl Cole, Katherine Reidy discusses fashion designer David Koma. A few weeks ago my Saturday night was spent like any other, in pyjamas in front of the TV happily giving into an hour of ‘X-Factor’ indulgence. But that week, something changed. I found that my inner critic wasn’t concerned with the performers but with Cheryl Cole’s dress. My mother was perplexed and somewhat distressed by Ms Cole’s choice–a black body-con dress with metal tubing detail. I, on the other hand, was inspired. It was mesmerizing. It was fashion-forward yet wonderfully flattering. Sometimes designers take one step too many into the realm of ‘originality’, their endproducts resembling costumes from a pantomime or an opera more than anything else. Though the dress was, arguably, bordering on this line, it wasn’t so far-fetched so as to render it completely impractical. I was eager to find out who had designed it. That person, I soon learned, was David Koma. Originally from Georgia, Koma moved to England a few years ago to study at Central St Martins College. He graduated in March of this year with distinction in MA fashion and in the same month won the Harrods Design Award (an award which Christopher Kane had previously won in 2006) for

his graduation collection which boasted many black and flesh-toned body-conscious dresses with metallic tubing and colourful chain embellishments. The collection showcased his signature style which focuses on strong shapes and tries to convey a powerful sexuality. The collection will be available to buy from Browns Focus from February. Koma catapulted into the fashion world when he won the Vauxhall Fashion Scout (VFS) event last season with his S/S ‘10 collection which was inspired by the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi. VFS is the UK’s largest runway and presentation event for young emerging designers held during London Fashion Week each season. Over the seven

“

Though I’ve decided thus far that I’m quite a fan of the powerful sexuality embodied by his designs, I’m won’t be running into Browns anytime soon

Spalding to Cambodia Brian Flanagan examines the film adaptation of the late Spalding Gray’s monologue ‘Swimming to Cambodia’ “I’m not making up any of these stories I’m telling you tonight.” Spalding Gray addresses us directly. “Except for the fact that the banana sticks to the wall when it hits.” He’s sitting at a wooden desk with a notebook and a condenser microphone. He’s performing a monologue. The monologue is Swimming to Cambodia. It was written and performed in the mid 80s by Spalding Gray, a sometimes actor and monologuist who leapt into the East River in 2004, and adapted to film by Jonathan Demme in 1987. The adaptation, though, is hardly that: Barring the almost unbearably 80s prelude, Demme does little more than document Gray’s absorbing performance. (It’s more Stop Making Sense than Silence of the Lambs.) It’s all monologue, and it’s perplexingly engaging. Swimming to Cambodia is ostensibly about Gray’s experiences in Thailand shooting Roland Joffé’s preachy The Killing Fields in which Gray played a bit part. But he is unstuck in time. The structure of the narrative could, with equal conviction, be called lackadaisically whimsical or pressingly thematic. He leaps capriciously between the film shoot in Thailand, his girlfriend’s loft in Manhattan, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, the bar carriage of an Amtrak train. If there is an conscious thematic strand running from beginning to end, it’s well disguised. Empathy is perhaps the most conspicuously recurring motif. Gray frames discussion of the Cold War with an anecdote about a raucous neighbour in Manhattan with whom he was unable to find peace: “There are people [in the apartment building] saying we should start a collection to hire a vigilante to off this woman – to kill her – and I find I’m not saying ‘no’. That’s how New York has changed me: I’m willing to put money into the pot.” His subject matter is almost exclusively politically charged, but he hardly draws any definite conclusions. He conveys, rather, bewilderment: “How does a country like America – or rather, how does America, because certainly there’s no country like it – begin to find the language to negotiate or talk with a country like Russia or Libya, if I can’t even begin to get it with my people on the corner of Broadway and John Street?” It is moral ambiguity that allows Swimming to Cambodia to remain timeless, while The Killing Fields fades from relevance. Gray paints in neither black or white. He discusses, without condemnation, the American bombing of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge, Thai prostitutes (‘There’s a saying that Thais are the nicest people money can buy’),

“

It is moral ambiguity that allows Swimming to Cambodia to remain timeless trigger-happy Cold Warriors. Even his discussion of Pol Pot, a man by most accounts responsible for the death of about two million Cambodians, hardly casts aspersion. He places the blame, rather, on the cosmos: “perhaps an invisible cloud of evil that circles the Earth and lands at random places like Iran, Beirut, Germany, Cambodia, America, set the Khmer Rouge out to commit the worst auto-homeo genocide in modern history.” It is the business of his monologue to consider geopolitics within a framework of, primarily, emotion. In a resonant episode, we are introduced to an officer in the US Navy named, or called, ‘Jack Daniels’. Daniels is a delightfully dogmatic anti-communist whose rhetoric includes: “The Russians are stupid people; they’re backwards. You know on their ships, they don’t even have electrical intercoms? They still speak through tubes?” Gray tells us: “Suddenly, I had this enormous fondness for the Russian navy, for all of Mother Russia. The thought of these men, like innocent children, speaking through empty toilet paper rolls, empty paper towel rolls,

seasons which it has run so far, the event has showcased over one hundred and thirty designers including William Tempest. The collection consists of bold, futuristic dresses with daring shapes and cutouts. While neutral tones and black and white dominate, they are sharply contrasted with bursts of vibrant colours, pink and orange. Many of the dresses are reminiscent of tennis dresses, summery and playful. By keeping the designs simple with attention focused on single details, Koma manages to maintain his signature modern, cutting-edge chic. It’s not just Brits who are obsessing over this young talent, Megan Fox and Lady Gaga have also been spotted sporting dresses by David Koma. Moreover, Beyoncé recently wore an off-the-shoulder dress designed specifically with her in mind to the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin. It was similar to Cheryl’s, but with an even greater abundance

where you can still hear doubt, confusion, brotherly love, ambivalence, all those human tones, coming through the tube.” Spalding Gray’s magnetism is difficult to distil. He’s an enthusiastic observer. And there’s a charming neurosis about him. (He’s been aptly dubbed the Wasp Woody Allen.) He’s appropriately self-conscious and insecure. “All weakness tends to corrupt,” he says. “Impotence corrupts absolutely.” He’s scared of commitment to Renee, his long term partner, and, in roughly equal measure, to America: “I can’t even look at a weather map anymore! It’s too big! That’s why I moved to Manhattan – I wanted to move to an island off the coast of America.” Gray exhibits a mercurial ability to place in harmony emotional pathos, political rumination, and stand-up comedy. But it’s his perpetual bewilderment that’s most engaging. He makes no claims to understand anything fully. Or even remotely. The world is too complex for coherence. In lieu, he shares inchoate thoughts, semi-truths, half-judgments and deep-seated fears. To demand more is hubris. This thesis is most succinctly articulated by (or, at least, attributed to) Spalding Gray’s friend, the South African playwright Athol Furgard, towards the end of Swimming to Cambodia: “The sea’s a lovely lady when you play in her. If you play with her, she’s a bitch. Play in the sea, yes, but never play with her. You’re lucky to be here. You’re lucky to be alive.” I endorse Swimming to Cambodia. Watch it if you can find it. It’s entirely beyond criticism. Brian Flanagan

Gray’s Anatomy Spalding Gray produced four monologue films between 1987 and 1996, the first of which was Swimming to Cambodia. Gray continued to work as an actor up until his death in 2004. Gray’s death was suspected to be suicide after his body was found in New York’s East River two months after he went missing. Authorities believed that he jumped off the Staten Island Ferry due to increasingly deep episodes of depression he’d suffered since being injured in a car accident in Ireland in 2001. The following is a brief synopsis of Gray’s other three monologue films.

Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure

Monster in a Box

Gray’s Anatomy

Terrors of Pleasure is a 1988 filming of another monologue written and performed by Gray. The monologue chronicles the adventures he shared with his girlfriend, Renee, in a less-than-perfect cabin he purchased in the Catskills in Upstate New York. The cabin lacked any foundation whatsoever and its furnance was located in the attic.

Monster in a Box is a 1992 filming of one of Gray’s monologues. The monologue focuses on the trials and tribulations Gray underwent while writing his first novel, Impossible Vacation. The soundtrack to the film was composed by experimental performance artist Laurie Anderson, who also scored Gray’s first film Swimming to Cambodia.

Gray’s Anatomy is a 1996 filming of a monologue directed by Steven Soderbergh. The title was a nod to Henry Gray’s 1858 textbook of the same title. The monologue follows Gray’s dramatic and humourous investigation into alternative medicine to treat an eye condition (Macular pucker) that he had developed. This was the last of Gray’s theatrically released monologue films.

of metallic embellishment. When asked how he felt about celebrities such as Beyoncé wearing his clothes, Koma expressed that he was both proud and privileged. And let’s face it, who wouldn’t be? With stars as big as her and Gaga wearing his designs at a time when he’s still trying to make his name known, who knows what the future holds for this young, emerging talent? Koma currently has his heart set on winning the LFW NewGen. The New Generation Scheme is run by London Fashion Council and sponsored by Topshop. Its aim is to showcase young, budding fashion talent, to provide marketing and business assistance to designers and of course to provide a launch pad for them to an international market. Already Koma has started on his A/W 2010/2011 collection which he hopes to showcase at NewGen. Though I’ve decided after perusing his collections thus far that I’m quite a fan of the audacious contours and powerful sexuality embodied by his designs, I’m not sure I’ll be running into Browns anytime soon. With skirts around £500 and a beautiful black coat at over £1,700, his prices are just a little outside of my range. One day perhaps… Until then I shall gaze dreamily at the hallowed pages of Vogue and continue my debates, defending the bold, imaginative designs of David Koma. Katherine Reidy

Spooning with Simone

Thanksgiving Treats Sweet Potato Mash Ingredients • 1-2 potatoes per person, depending on size • Butter • Salt and pepper Method 1. Peel and chop potatoes into quarters 2. Put in saucepan and cover with plenty of water 3. Bring to the boil 4. Turn down to a simmer and cook until tender, about 10 mins 5. Drain the potatoes and put back into saucepan 6. Add about a dessert spoon of butter 7. Salt and pepper to taste 8. Mash until smooth

Cranberry Sauce Ingredients • 1 bag of cranberries, they are usually Ocean Spray, no-one else seems to do them • Juice of half a large orange • Tablespoon of water • Sugar to taste, any thing from a teaspoon (if you like it tart) or tablespoon for sweet Method 1. Put everything into a saucepan and put on a medium heat 2. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally 3. The cranberries will start to burst and pop 4. Remove from heat when most of the berries are popped 5. Leave to cool 6. Stir and put in fridge to chill

Roast Squash Ingredients • 1 squash • Drizzle of olive oil • Teaspoon chilli powder • Teaspoon of cinnamon • Sprinkle of nutmeg Method 1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius 2. Peel and deseed the squash 3. Chop into ½ inch squares 4. Put in baking tray 5. Drizzle over the oil and spices 6. Use hands to make sure the squash is covered evenly 7. Put in the oven until soft and tender, about 20 to 30 mins Simone Cameron-Coen

The University Times | Wednesday, November

25th

TimesCulture

Thanks to God and the gays Ciara Barrett looks at pop star Stefani Joanne Angeline Germanotta, better known to the masses as Lady Gaga On November 23rd, Lady Gaga released ‘The Fame Monster’, a repackaging of her previous and first hit album ‘The Fame’, plus 8 more tracks collectively and tellingly entitled ‘Monster’. First Lady Gaga found the secret to fame, and now, like a wild-styled, hip-gyrating Dr. Frankenstein, she gets to mess around with the grotesque pop culture icon she created in her own image. How to describe the Gaga Monster? YouTube’s heismanBEAST may be sum it up best: in response to a video posted of Lady Gaga performing ‘Paparazzi’ on the MTV Video Music Awards in September, heismanBEAST observes succinctly, “She is a good singer but she dresses and acts weird”. Indeed. At the end of the performance in question, Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, 22) had already performed a lush and dynamic pop routine, and with (fake) blood pouring down her middle Carrie-esque, she had herself hanged from the rafters. To top it all off, later accepting her own VMA for Best New Artist Lady Gaga wore head-to-toe red lace complete with a face-covering headpiece that she doffed for her speech (during which she thanked both ‘God and the gays’). In the context of her recent performance, the red lace appeared more gorey than glamorous. Observed angelbrimhall on YouTube, “dang she is bloody o.m.g. she is gross”. Of course, for every ‘weird’or ‘gross’ she elicits on YouTube, Gaga also gets an ‘amazing’, ‘cool’, or ‘soo unique’. She’s already got a cover on Rolling Stone

(June, 2009), for which she posed seminude, clad only in plastic bubbles. But unlike so many other artists who have tried to mix the ‘weird’ or the ‘gross’ with the ‘popular’ and ‘cool’, Lady Gaga has managed to impress both the critics and the fans with her idiosyncratic style, publicity-mongering, and – yes – her artistic vision. Even if it weren’t commonly known that she studied at the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University, the proof is in the pudding (or maybe the muffin) that Gaga is the auteur of her own pop perfection. It helps that she has the credentials, if not the actual degree, of being Tisch-affiliated, but just watch a selection of any two or three Lady Gaga music videos and it is clear from the continuity of musical and visual styles on display throughout that there are some

“

She turns something simple and globalized – the pop star icon – into something ambiguous, even uncanny

serious Themes (with a capital ‘T’ for artistic pretension’s sake) being worked out here. Her first album ‘The Fame’ is about a self-conscious desire or need for popular recognition and approval. As she sings in ‘Paparazzi’: ‘I’ll follow you until you love me’ – addressing both the love interest in the song/video, her public/ fans outside the video, and the paparazzi both within and without the video at the same time. It is, perhaps, the most ‘meta’ of her songs within the album, when compared to the relatively basic pop fare of ‘Just Dance’ and the racy ‘Love Game’. Standard as they may sound when played on the radio, however, singles like ‘Just Dance’, ‘Love Game’, and ‘Poker Face’ are performed quite differently by the onstage Lady Gaga than by the radio-and-video Lady Gaga. Gaga on tour is appealingly – and, it would seem, intentionally – rough around the edges. Her voice (and it her voice, live), no longer studio-smooth produced, is rich, even rock-raspy at times. Instead of performing burlesque-inspired dance moves like in many of her videos (she was an actual burlesque dancer for years), she stamps the floor and flails about the stage. Performing ‘Poker Face’ on Jonathan Ross this autumn, Gaga looked and acted more like Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs than Christina Aguilera, to whom she was compared and often mistaken for in her early days. Left to her own devices onstage, the lady is a vamp. So if this is the raw, unfiltered Gaga – the artist performing directly to the

audience – is this then the ‘real’ Gaga? Indie, avant-garde, performance artist Gaga? It would mean that the decadent pop star persona has been bait all along, luring us into her weird and wonderful world of the grotesque and all-consuming meta-artistry. …That’s a phrase you don’t see often in YouTube comments. But that’s also not to say it isn’t there. Without making a qualitative judgment of either end of the spectrum, positive responses to Lady Gaga range from those of pop interest to the intensely academic. Online you can find a lengthy essay on the occult imagery used in the music video for Gaga’s latest single, ‘Bad Romance’. For the record, I found no explanation for the weird gold things on that guy’s cheeks. That’s a gripe, but it’s also the essence of Lady Gaga’s cultural significance. She turns something simple and globalized – the pop star icon – into something ambiguous, even uncanny. We’ve seen it all before – in Madonna, Bowie, Queen (from whose song ‘Radio Ga Ga’ she got her name) – but in Lady Gaga it’s all just short of familiar. Lady Gaga comes to Dublin this winter and is scheduled to play the O2 on the 1st of February, 2010. Until then, she can be seen making the MTV rounds in ‘Bad Romance’, and, as ever, on YouTube, fashion blogs, arts and culture blogs, blogs about blogs, and probably coming soon to doctoral thesis on meta-performativity. Ciara Barrett

Win a free Trinity Ball ticket with just one email! All you have to do is sign up for an Ovi account - giving you access to eight great services - and use it to send an email to TCDcompetitions@ovi.com answering this question: How many services are included in Nokia’s Ovi platform? a) 2 b) 5 c) 8 Closing date for entries is Wednesday 9 December Please note: only entries received from @ovi.com addresses will be considered

www.facebook.com/nokiaconnectorTCD nokiaconnectorTCD@ovi.com

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times 12

TimesTHEATRE

The Players Freshers’ Co-op in all its illogical brilliance Photos: David O’Dwyer

The co-op performance acts almost as a debutante “coming out” ceremony for future Players regulars

“

Ages of the Moon runs in the Abbey Theatre until Saturday November 28th

elevates this play and keeps the relationship captivating. Stephen Rea’s Ames is bizarrely comic in an often unnerving way. His facial contortions and exaggerated physicality verge on the ridiculous but never quite cross the line. He teeters on the edge of believability in so successful a way as to endow Ames with a license to do almost anything he pleases. When he runs for the shotgun, chasing his best friend through the barren countryside (imagined of course, for only the blank stage lies before us) none of the atmosphere is broken. These dynamic changes in energy serve only to reflect the volatility of this reluctantly aging man. Ames dominates the drama, conserving all the nervous energy for himself, while Byron sits calmly, offering up momentary nuggets of philosophical introspection that only incense Ames further. The balance

fan, humming drowsily, stopping erratically, and finally building to a bursting climax. Ames has brought Byron to his lonely retreat in an unnamed place, following the break up of his marriage. The stately Byron answers his old friend’s desperate plea and makes the three day journey by Greyhound bus, fearful that Ames is on the brink of suicide. They begin to wind down a road of nostalgia, drowning their sorrows in local bourbon and soft downy memories, but end up stumbling upon rockier topics of conversation. Musing over their current sexual prowess, Ames describes the unfulfilling liaison with a younger woman that led to his exile while Byron laments his own failing libido. The conversation travels on, sometimes fluid and often discordant, as complex memories of hidden rivalries between the two resurface. It is the pace of the dialogue that really

Emma Keaveney minutes long, Combat Baby attempted to give a line or a bit part to every member of the cast. The numerous sketches and songs set in wildly differing historical eras and worldwide locations gave opportunities for showing off comedic talent, unfortunately at the expense of dramatic cohesion. Even having seen the play, I’m finding it difficult to explain the plot (although this extreme whimsicality might be ‘the point’). According to the promotional event info, “The quest focuses on the search for the legendary gauntlet of the god Combat Baby. Our heroes search through war -torn Europe for this relic which could bring an end to the terrible war. With the help of many different characters along the way, we hope that our brave men (and women) will succeed in recovering the gauntlet and defeating evil.” I consider myself a smart girl but I didn’t get grasp this quest against evil at all – I absorbed clever set pieces and moments of brilliance but an overall “plot” eluded me. “Good has finally triumphed over evil”, we are told. Really? I can’t even tell anymore to be honest. However this is not to take away from the inherent enjoyment of the play: after a while I stopped trying to follow the plot and just let the whole experience wash over me. Scenes that deserve a mention include a pitch perfect iceberg-making factory and a scene depicting a group of hyperactive nuns who lived by the gospel I for one wasn’t complaining. DU Players is a great society. Founded in 1932, it is now in its 77th session. They put on forty productions a year (that’s roughly two a week if you’re doing that math) as well as holding many special events such as the Fresher’s Festival, the Players Ball, Stars in Their Eyes, New Writers Week and the 24 Hour Musical. Last year, they also collaborated with Comedy Soc to give the college community the first ever Trinity Fringe Festival, a successful collaboration they are renewing once again this year. Even a casual observer like myself can see that Players members are hard-working, dedicated and (probably most importantly) talented. With forty productions a year, and a full theatre to run on a daily basis with production, costume and props departments, a dedicated membership is really the only way the society could keep going from year to year. The Fresher’s Co-op seems to be a crucial cog in the running of this operation. Open to Freshers as well as those who have no previous involvement with the society, the scheme takes the uninitiated and moulds them into both players and ‘Players.’ The Co-op performance plays an important part in this process, acting almost as a debutante ‘coming out’ ceremony for future Players regulars. This year’s show certainly didn’t balk from the formula. At 2 hours and forty ’m not going to lie to you; the Players Coop show was a surreal, but lovely experience. Not the usual way to begin a review, I’ll grant you that, dear reader. However, if you had likewise experienced Combat Baby: The Juliano Incident you would agree that “surreal but lovely” was strangely fitting. I took my seat in the Players Theatre to the strains of ‘All That Jazz’ being played by the house band while, on stage, the cast was resplendent in Roman togas. The juxtaposition of the jazz standard with young Trinity students in togas, suggested more than a hint of hedonism and I couldn’t help feeling that a giant orgy was about to erupt at any second. Well,

Lily Power

Okay. Okay. Okay Okay Okay…….OKAY! Ames begins, emptying his last drop of bourbon as he struggles to tell his story. So starts Sam Shepard’s melancholic, humorous foray into the tangled minds of Ames and Byron. Alone together in an alien landscape, two old friends wrestle with their personal demons, and then do a bit of fair bit of wrestling with each other. A relationship of confusion, violence, resentment but ultimately affection unfolds on one long whiskey drenched day, in anticipation of a lunar eclipse. Shepard’s play returns to the Abbey this month until the 28th, after a sellout run last year. He wrote the parts for the two Irish actors, Sean McGinley and Stephen Rea, who’s American drawls prove faultless. The actors are two and the premise is simple.Brien Vahey’s minimalist set consists of a dusty wooden porch, two chairs and a table. Presided over by the ever ‘finicky’ overhead

t, 1s

pte

e ba f th o

: IC N IC

: IC CN PI ICoks hlights12 TRney loe higlture p ECeavee of ther. Cu ELEmmcakKat osnumm

AY BR

h Iris

.u w

.ie

tim

ity

ers niv

L IA EC SP K y EE ar e W g res p7 br os ys S’ knowre doinFeatu Li o cl nda ER d to es a ially Hou neeocieti nanc t u ESing yt the srvive fi S FREverymthwhwa to su o o Y the fr to h EDon ofnshamnep16 AGie Davhisour Oo pinio TRHmubedia’s

sc ge ar ch

o sc ge ar ch

lth ea H

ac olt uc v D o re ith bs t r w lu ge s c An rive d

lth ea H

ac olt uc v D o re ith bs t r w lu ge s c An rive d

p7 g res ow oin atu kn e d Fe to s ar lly ed e cia ne ti n u ocie na yo s fi g e e in t th rviv yth ha su er w to Ev om ow fr h

to t e th e en on am 16 ud st cts on sh n p f vis r o io of je n ro Da u pin io p ie ho O at er ub ’s H edia oc oth m all to h er s Iris ov nd d fu ise y ra lev ns re io nt st ce ue rts o sp

t en ud st cts of je n ro io p at er oc oth all to er s ov nd d fu ise y ra lev ns re io nt st ce ue rts o sp

lth ea H

IA EC ac olt SP uc rev y EK ar e D o br loitshayss t c d b Li o w tr un lu ge S s c An rive d

L IA EC SP K y EE ar e W g res p7 br os ys S’ knowre doinFeatu Li o cl nda ER d to es a ially Hou neeocietitnanc t u ESing yt the tsruvivdenfis S FREverymthwhwna toofssuroject p o io o Y the llfroctoathother EDon ofnshaomnvepe16r ands to AGie DavhisouraOoispeindiovy fu TRHmubediatio’s ns rntre le h es s ce Iris Qu ort L sp

AY BR

es m Ti ity rs ve ni eU es e m fe Th ts ng Ti or di ty Sp penrdseir tiny s vuen ru ni sc es eU im

t, 1s

be ts m s gh ok hli 12 lo ig p ey e h ure en th ult av of r. C Ke e e a on m m at um Em ack e s b f th o

pte

t, 1s

be ts m s gh ok hli 12 lo ig p ey e h ure en th ult av of r. C Ke e e a on m m at um Em ack e s b f th o

pte

Th TRIC P ts feentgy TSHERS’ WE EC EL i or rdsi FRE Sp pveen AeGErDY iny nsiBuRAnY TdcR rut e UICNIC: s Th TRIC P ts feeng EC EL or di Sp en er ny sp nd uti u cr s

ry ra ed lib sk de A ea th n. (R y Li ry of aria are ut ra t. s ep lib ex ur Libr Pe , D e nt Ash as or tz th co r, ho e ‘w liG th ev ur at at ce e IN by r, Tr K ok in th Offi nion in n yc er N io t pe ssie ‘lo s n ’ U ion Jo rit ew ct PE x W O vi Kee d Je d to sion atio ents ct .’ du d ou le s re e du A ew Li an ha ci uc ud re es re an AY r N y the D de is th ) ey e de Ed St y rv ic a in N es th on e an se ed ng :45. eput on ose SU e un t th rv ic id mak ni th d ow ki cl es ar ou Se sa d ’ U that w ith an sh ec at 16 d D ke to ut ke ab s’ ian ’ an ts id d urs te ch g an ista n min ta t er ar et en sa ne ho si for osin r m io n mis . br dg Stud ke er g web es cl pe a tent ee e te men ish bu e oo nc in ry ic as Kee as in fift Th si cu Ir st Th y C co en ra rv n e is w no an ry. web do in t la k le ry y op lib r se ow th th as th ra e a urs in wee to ve ar e te sh d, at w e lib th g ho jo r s it br Th un it is aske th ere mor e d on arin g is s pe tend hen th y co s; n id th ly ge ep in it ur in w or r in ok he sa d ices e of an pr en in ho e ee H itt po he bo W ian an rv os ch is op Tr lf g ot at of s th ar te r se cl he n ch ha h. m in br ebsi te the beenys so hi d a ot om m w ithsaid book li- s w un re e sa ri w an no y C or rf red ge e the ha co fo sinc ke mpa in e May ar pe pa le mor g ge four e . s, on be s br ol I, ha Coo e co sitie nt y U e Li ober y is com e C d in olle ty orat of N an nn C en rp rt e th er ve th ct it s th on iv se ith to -O Trin ur d ries ru The a tw co d pa th d un ith g w is id ho an ra es e. of in , on t. w on th in m why en Irel lib mak iv n ill an ry t lis re a .ie nd ed y ns tio w om ra al ow ts op in er ec es sh ee sked ry es larg ch pe uc ch r ro r lib oj a hu su pp s is ha ur m A ra ti s whi e ex tr hi te he pr tim lib ersi ha e or ns w pu ss ’s an has be g ho af ity in iv it y ag m e co ace, com e U ffice e th ot in an un in an re e th sp ss th O or nion ‘n en of ers Tr m y he th y ce of gs r m U w ill op n o r in ’ ry io to ud ar ac fo it ts ed niv ra ov is br ac st ipe floo ild ter en at t Pr .u os pl ur er Bu ca ud th lib pr w ov om ho e sw low r of ill St ng n in the w Pr y C to w e yi io t th e at ew th irec is . Th t sa ct ou ’ Vic brar th D Th le en redu ith ace. e Li on the e ni w op y sp th pe atem an ices y ng th ’ U in t st ith rv ud ti ir of ts ion ed w se s st mee ha en ct stat r lib or ur a t, C ud du ke ho In as e St re oo on ee a C on rg th itt de ld e of s. cisi m d to ar hour de om se w g e a C po in ak ar y ly op m br ng Li ro st Ed in e th nue t at ve ou the ld in ’ so en um ns ol uz ui st N ry ng y cy ra ed Pe ntel Lu lib sk dof ua o: e A ea th n. (R y Li ry al fort Phot of ia e ut ra t. tray un . to s brar ar ep lib ex ed Be as mes d ur Li or Pe , D the cont Ash as yR ‘A w Ti e ke ho e r, ‘w litz ar th ts lin ow red) rsity G t ha G th ev ur at at ce at sh e no th be IN by r, Tr K ok in th Offi nion in n th coun cost re y ictu nive e yc er ie ‘lo s n U n N ra to io t rit U (p se ed ’ io e Jo ys ac e nt is ct PE ew pe ss c is oum it e x W to rs sa ly th ce O vi Kee d Je d to sion atio ents ct .’ du d co le s su- Th n5 ey te ge re e du A ew ge on of ts on ua d €2 a nuc co w- ar an ha ci uc ud re es re an s n Li of AY r N d D de is th ) ey e de Ed St y rv ic a inyth’ ngui y re the ch ion. olle ge cent spor m ad an ak, N es th ge e ri ho un n s e C ar on e an se ed ngSm :45.peeputcaon ose al gr ps ar se hiat ed co ai SU e un t th rv ic id mak ni th th flat e ch r the on , hi pe se rd ow ki e D ers, cl es ch 0 to yc at t m ti ff rs off as so ar ou Se sa d ’ U that w ith an sh ec ewat 16 ke to ut ke in Th al y pe g Th d t en €1 ps st en re ab s’ ian ’ an ts id d urs te chatth g t. anormista n min ta nu ft in di ‘sta be ies t, cl on y or t be , r a CD stud ld em lit er ar et en sa ne ho si forM osinus r rf m io n mis . an r fi nn e ad sa sp Sp ap e on ed ve ctor fo U e wou br dg Stud ke er g web es d clAug pee pea tent ee e te men ish fo ru th fromic m ci en d s ni of d nc an re rais nd ha do €40 on. th ice bu e oo nc in ry ic an asis Keeth as in fift Th si cu Ir st of d ed bl e fa uipm an an na d t ’U t fu he a d ti at rv Th y C co en ra rv er n th e tois w no an ry. web do in t la k an is pu th eq s ts ci figu en t o s en ed Fi an en h s in ee to gh ow n thed th as th ra e a an lta th se le ry y op lib r se ra d of en de be en em ha lse w tm re by rd pm is d su er ng ge s ve ar e tealla shy ru d,rnat w e lib th g hour jo r s it an re of ur ud e ul ar ag ly oa lo rb an r le ha pm ’s m 00 deve ent tu e or e on in g is pe nd n St th ns ev lli . br Th un Git isdaaske hi le co fo e ,0 lo re th ol ep e al B ve fu s se ee CD ted co or C 00 ve ey 64 re tm /09. r cohn s; 23 n be id ther es m th ged epar in it y urs inte whe sa d ’ D ar nu d de re ie g s.i ly of r th en sa d or Dub fr U or ing th in Jo ok an ip e 00,0 de ul €1 the ar 08 s fo a e see e ets an e an nt e to cilit in e renau ss al ng ts bo r W held n an rv ic ose an is pr op Trin lf ho H lin nd re cA at ep 20 po he at in pp sh Th itt ou to fo ch €6 ia ‘Th dg ed itte ce id fa fundm fe ge ot r M he ol ri en g of .’ s ar. te se cl m su r be ge nece l th d r D in tion fu es at e bu ov m r t as ts in le ida thdu ud ge sh ar si r e en he n ch a ha h. C r ok ye ts ytits re ts fo te lle a ba th r th r. Intes cate fo ts ca the the ects o st Frin and br eb te th be ys so whi d noot atCeomito m Cwolithed pr om t pe se spor seedit ec e uden te tro- t sa tsbo ice lien s icco as to k oj th w un re e sa ri fo fa ca lo nd ojec allo of t oj em or K an e C gh is ity h h, st u vo e in en to y y y Ed rf T Yred uc e rs ha rv ge en w s ac co fo sinc ke mpa in e Mayarar so di al t fu pr al in rg bu pr m or emth stud a ur es ud ei nd ting id e l pr of e Tr bu burg ha tb s m adg to ge e se yo t th st €70 on ta fo rv ice the be s oo co s, y on I, Mbr erut. is pe SIpa trolodlestud in en en t’s tu tion ble the e ort. is fu is ov iv ep ti pi xt th in in cu ro ERms einC r d ac inplyolle rsty seorat toof the e ha C e sitie nt U e Li Dob em rbe m or ac bu la of th Sp e con- e y co ex pr nca te to ‘Do or al of ra p of N m su e Ed th er ve ac unu op Sp e stri ai s in of es e us st t s th fo an g nn e C nueneserp ert atthe e er e th ct it IV to .u te ge du w es de pa on iv se ith to -O Trin UN of Th di t av st d tor th r th ho ur dha geriesminruillThap adtwthco wnew The pu ads supp an argeregi rshi l st le Trea it ort, w ty co an in erd im es id on d al ey uan m un is ho at w th ra of w fo ch be re e at t. ol an to lin om ec ar g ith m e er r ak esive. GnP ofusillly evanicrycl, th C the om Sp th wnEd ke w on th in m why en Irel chlib emco th e no ed taileDir t st bo lis re. Fra ents w du 07 SU n of ntre h th em fo oh riter L att ainnd ed C of omomra ec al ow ts ar mat de e rges n co w A m re op in er th e fens gtio iow, ho ge ppy s on oo ge 20 D io ce it lD W th nthu N nt to e r ates ts ce to lib oj uc ev th la io a ne sh ee sked ry es larg ch Thpeek in ti e s ch r ro on ni C ar y arsu stud w en nt TC ct ts Car ew U ley ch pa ts ER se nc to st or ed lopte ec r ed pr aia chis ha ur r m A ra ti s whi e ex se tr Prhi free ar 2 e ill ce id ’ of T st du om s ec . ed te op us na w or ho f, N an e pu tsshestceat’s m ts Ash ent to spor lib ersi ha e or conses fr Th 5 m n ge IN m Fi Dir ey sp g deve us t to sp pa for orts th -ohahotlabe ing af d U geffi to m i-e ace, werm rreen of in in iv it y ag osed pa N du e .2 io e ee be e sp ’ uden r, ud used e se e d A an th e cAul nt be re is or rm fr on 7t‘n en an un in an opre emth -sp ss cocuth leO leor ni th €1 ruct ea as fe e s? St ce e st ue ol m esU rill op n of he th ex or of th M ce is tal fund Sp m te . Pr of Tr m pr ffi st cr it w ref- e ts y no of th nt e e y toce of C gs ab r ic be w tin r th be e in O of p l r er om y io t e ry in pi to or iu isar ps e e th unfo rvts’ emit is de Th on at ly hi ed thudedac al s fr rr t pe m ca This en ed Sp ised t Pr mitt Con ac for stndipe of floo e ild ter seen ptat libra ov at br ou ti th on rs ha sinc . Th ed it be r’s e Te gh inco a . tm m an os rtw e ud Seth pr th e grplce ur tesw wer ofThBuarca ca id uld be th mpr e 7, a ei e te nd ar d . ov ombe re h ge 7 07 ss on e.r s ill St ng n in the sa ho em .’ et th oi hothine tilo Pr y C Ro he itn ar €7 20 pa at su w it at tr ea t fu Dep t an ts y of co th €7 ed in is tae ecivto eew e illyi io t eth ea ‘s r m re ch to in r: at Ed cr en e or ec it e is and of prov tick all r ch is enth ecirut Su ic brar th inis Th wsa e ct ou ’ at es Tr on d th fo nt e 0 ito utey 1 m th sh proj ajor m p ge ap um an 8 e n ei es D mTh . t thdu tith e. V ce Th €7 ed th ir e tati an or 50 th he th Th pr e ex no ople iveen tey re flecw e ac the e Li ni Edon th me‘a by nd ts m co hi ar uc 2 ri rees thy sp th U Dinep luthat :se m qu th ul on w te ive. re th e e.pe utemwan fu or e s in rs t ch was rend em are adu- ic om fr trod du re by ns ni na ut re on th bl stecat re torv ic atud utes tingwir of ts’ ion Vo sp Th tre’ be en ch fe m e gr bl . ry ed SN un in en ge ed co ’ U re re ’s er ec su s of aila ex tow ith se s st inee ne at ISra on e ex ts 4 pu en em ud hi m ha ud-ene ct st lib Ph er ar ag in ts ed m er en ub ils av w d tioronreur C m st w t ey th 99 6 cent stuee a e C ac du en w ent reby uch an ce ed cl ta yet ne te titu agho Ine tht, theSt thre ke on m th E of al ge en ul that , d 19 ts al s r us ts oo on ee m ffi Stud y as e toa rs de t e da ns s . Th rg nu ar stud McA ub rr he st la tby es be , an spor nu be or no sa eth leof s. C ill O e cl cu w , a no Th an co ge ay de ch wcisi allmitt d Sp . at e e e es gu no ld ib M ng mak m th by 07 st em rs the e an ld t of e ed se th th ur iv re is ‘stu to ss e ur e ac an be uc ch in eeti ill cewar g ho iva deakCeom epo 20 m m be of th ou en mad issu Col : ed at h ct ut d a , it em rs if sh ce at titl e D e ting m ‘w ac in ute my h th op du thry it ru ec e aff th ra an w er ak he ex th ec ar ed st it ly th Offi th ee e ive ore st e m be en ge tm ey d lib sky ed- o ive ev es ow br t wng a exm to m th ut m at em sked ar epar ul ea h ns - ut ow ut tly n on A ivea tw sh e pp edLi ro of ec ts ed e m A ch D McA st roug io th ha - w ir ee n. ut st (R ey isLi ry ec H in ec tio re th e in th at ex un s.’ Edne inqu m nt nd ex ivt.e. m rf si of aria arece er ut ra ic ag rm ak s co ub thee e re ains 3 de fu ects ent, t s m ub h th nt ep lib ex th-e e pe y po e.’ en un cl atTh nu ve fo to oj m e ntut sh ur Libr Pe , D de ge be pt m as r an utiv ha re and cl w it a or tz th excoec r,inA ar ve ca pa ho e pr m em t e so e e s‘w fo lid co stat Com ce on G th ev ur at at ed nt inn exec ubs to es Th ps pl arts ou thal club ue e ld in a ge IN by r, Tr K ok in th Offi ni om tin yc er ie ‘lo s n U de nru ac iocln tme ctur n. grou examtial ’ so N fr enfor um le ’ ioto uc cte m ru ru Jo rit r e. PE ew pe ss Con x W O vi Kee d Je d to sion atio ents ct .’D duTh draou st t ed for mar uiatnse stbeol Nivuz . le s re du A ew y cyut ps t og ac Lien s d ngin elem AY r the an ha deci uc ud re ices a re pran ec ou ec erm m N ud ub Lu y Ed an Pe D uc m St y de in rv is es) they e N D utst thfo r ecl p ofno uaent eo:ex gr el on e an se ed ng :45. d os ot ch to on ila itep ve SU e un t th rv ic id mak ni th d ow ki cl esou anald forton Phth su ed on ha to ay ps . ar ou Se sa d ’ U that w ith an sh ec at 16 d D ke m A utgr trke m un eson een re to ab s’ ian ’ an ts id d urs te ch g an ista nsi mAin ta asou ed to Bep, m t ft ag d er ar et en sa ne ho si for osin r m io nG ‘Amouis w r. gr en y R ve tiTionhe fi ve e nt ke eb te ity ts br dg ud ke er g cl pe th ar t a teas ee owegr sid)ei th ts msi ar is lin G t ha er or - bu e St oo nc in w ices as eeor as inw fiftn Th reth cu rspo Ir e lastha at sh r-. eb ve sp reor , Th y C co en rary rv nt, e KSp w noac mai k no th ge a in be er t ey th un cost yry ic-wtu nido oe e is uc ran pe dy s co ee op se th ra of re ge ar to le ow to se D ei th eyedra th(p oh ene Ua Th inTh e ys ac e nt is le to bo en e very ar y e lib ter shWesd,or th was ch y is e m it ege ur jo r w s it lib es to rs on ef sa ly th ce ol g g C kect that weay gorth tco eth su non Thinth ho 5 pe nd n D hi pa C in in y itte ey te br Th un it isorasire ge m sth re ndpr ofar g y is s te he ge on of ts on ua d rt -C on €2 a nuc co w- of pt rn it m they ay ar co s; evn D id theer m ly ge reepon enin tiitng ur in w d es h’hangofui R tem ve rs be r-in ch ion. olle ge cent spor m ad an ak, or r w in okr Trheity sa hdth ic A eytwof an ts ge see atri ho un n capr s eein ho He ittee e C ar Ro ito BE at go ve Comthat e al gr ps it n. po he in n an ck s,is rv Sm en op mTr lf osas pe of bo D W th flat e ch r the on , hi pe se rth . M e eir Uni Ed Traria tew ru g ot that schar to hi ated t co mai of se ewclw a elachhe y ud e. U ti ff rs off as so in Th al y pe g n che ha h. m in sid gr ns e Then mster cs sa it h ed ng pok li- 0 psyc st en re t N s ar th v br eb iv ofhith d a ot om th m w ithsaid boen ha inte er th t.as be or nu ft in di ‘sta be ies t, cl on €1 ys riso y or A ub ze ublin leti ey w ctur eeti ca was w no C ha or rfr ut un Mnc e , rs a CD stud ld use fo u- w be sa em lit reat ed an r fi nn e ad sa sp Sp ap e cl ni D th Th fied ru m ub rf red ge e bethor ha ec utines e an ay ar y ou pe mpa on , St t co co fo siivugnc ed A cl fo ru th fromic m ci en d s pe pa le orve g ct ge0 fofo.urU e e e w ga e eke ex A on ni on s, on I, M br er. ). is st a ts hich t iden he anbed ce of d nc an re rais nd ha indo le€4 on at th ic of d ed bl e fa uipm an co min is m ol d m tioo ac is s th y Th al ac at is an na d en t ’ U si b t fu he of er- thha totaC thuce sietie ti orat rt rv an is pu th eq s nt NU e Li ob it y co e C an nna Cold enty ts deci d tr uc diss ac was spor w rr Pres ys ca figu en t o s e en ed Fi an en h n ed D Th s th an lta rpth se er ve th ct sa lasgh ruon ra d of be en em ha lse (D e Duc e ay cu pa th uden e ulte s, tm re by rd pm is d on iv se ith to -O Trin ur d ries ru The a tw su co ge s er dng an re of ur w is id ar at er five M the ho alhi Uyni rn s un ie ar ag ly oa lo rb an r le ha pm ’s m 00 deve ent ho an ra es e. of in ev ith g , on t.St d th ns it hi le co on w Ge ’da retu ub fo ,0 lo th Th ty in ol ep e al B ve fu s w on th in m why en Irel lib mak iv n - ill seanlli ry. t lisD tered aco or y m by ni n tshnid 23 C 00 ve ey 64 re tm /09. r sa d ’ D ar nu d de re ie g ee C nd edg yth ir ns Dub w U oi Jo aents be e cl they al ow ts th om ra ar fr ecU or nan ip e 00,0 de ul €1 the ar 08 s fo e ets an e an nt e to cilit in th ins red ed op in rgers ch pe uctio ld th s Br tsou r sh cA chal ro lib oj hu suin ppau sss e re nd re ry ep lin r ee in ng es ud pp sh Th a ta €6 is ai be ‘Th dg ed itte ce id fa fund .’ fe ha urce rnc r M that d to r D in 20 on fu ess’ Ó in eng Stfo sht.’ou ng lem m Ask ra siti sClaol whi e ex nsletrgewahihe teri hearr. pr su ge ti at e ch nt án ud ho tela bu ov m r t as ts ts re ts fo ge ec ti pudu ss ce’sts an hatesr be lib er hae e r or ol e, ha lle ga ne af th r th r. Intes cate fo ts ca the the ects o thas aneld ee prob de ón st‘actFrin m U ye en pr om t pe se spor seed ec e uden te tro- t C ac ed ts in iv itKyat agito m e co in an ba t- m e oj th fo fa ca lo nd ojec allo of t oj em co e ic ffi eic es ‘notcoenas to ks ene C as Ed C gh is ity ty h en h, st u vo e in en to un iny an e w ofs al fu y re e TthY sp ucss en th Oud orrv on so in bu pr ac ni th rg a m di is rg pr t ci ud ei nd ting id l pr of e he ar od m 0 . Prth id Tr ud of em gsst mse U ic ille op n Trw bu in en en t’s tual tion ble the e ort. is bu th d M toeputar y thSIudytr ce ofss ee fu is ov pita xt th o yo t th st €7 tion of st r ad into re ’ rv wth rye isio ha cutb ro in pa Pr ines At se em rbe m or ac bu la of th Sp e con- e edER in ac ac ply r fors tsse itto rath Pr ittof D br ex pr ca te to ‘D or al of ra p e tac us m su e Ed e ov mnt a acIV sts e r flgoo apild ene ate lib op Sp e stri ai s in of es e us t s tenu es er pp nu ge st hi stuto w e sc te plN ha ipfo erin Bu ge thdu at prw ese os omde w of Th di t av st d tor th r th ho cad ud U ho ur sw di ne Th pu ad su an ar regi rs all e ov le Treamit ort, ge wm ofill an im ey ty co St th nger nclin uth Prom y C he nd e at th ol lin thear loco torw w ill ec of fo at m re to an ch e be r er e ly yiev ts at io t th C the om Sp th nEd ke es GPThus th e no ed taileDir t st bo ch thee ec n icedu 07 SU n of ntre h th em fo oh riter L . Frbrar saw ct ic en th Su n C of ar mat de e rges n co w A m re th Dire feThinisg le. io ,t ho duomiththouat e.’ai Vge on oo ge e ‘a 20 D io ce it lD W N nt to e r ates ts ce to nt e Liud th la io a ne ti e s en reon w ac ni y C ar pay w en nt Th ek opPrev ee TC ct ts nc to ed pai th ar e st on th at Car ew ts ar om e ill of 2 fr yec es ed sp se pe. eem ’ U le ch TER se na ec , st or us lo ed m ngf-ch thst Uni in th ser du or id op ce N ts Ash ent to spor at ant icstat y ti-o fr Th 5 m n ofla ts’ n ed ry ge es ster IN m Fi Dir ey sp g deve us t to sp pa for orts ed en ud d i of in io pa N du e .2 io ge st to ee irh w w ith os irr rv be e sp ’ uden r, ud used e se d A an th e cAul nt be re is or rm le sle mfreeCrha7t en ct stat libra eets th €1 ruct cu orolse op m ea as fe e s? St ce e st ud du ue ur aes t, or of th M ce is tal fund Sp m te st pr no e ex to cr w fts C hoab th nt e Offi th be p of tin r e pi ic as bee St re ooke on m theo er om y t of iu in e it e re the or is ps th ed all un rvIn rgem a C on ee on de Th on at ly hi s fr rr t pe m ca This en ed Sp ised Con se dept th of s. si mitt d byD at ou for nd of The e ti th on rs ha sinc . Th ed it be r’s e Te gh inco a . tm m an rt M Se told e ur ci th e gr ce te ca id uld be th mpr e 7, a ei e te nd ar d . re it h be r: ge 7 07 ss e. s ar ar ho a de om pose em sa €7 et oi in tion at ito 20 iv th w ar C su tr ea t fu Dep t an ts y of co th €7 ed in pa Ro at g w e su is ta ill th ea ‘sho r m re.’ ch to in r: Ed Is in ak ar y ly op cr en e or ec it e is and of prov tick all r ch is en ecut inee w e at es Tr on d th fo nt e 0 m br ng ito ut y e 1, -2 th t m th sh proj ajor m p ge ap um an 8 e n ei m es e ce Th €7 ed th ir e tati an or 50 th he th Th pr e ex no Li roEd ep m 09 by nd ts m co hi ar iv te ec e uc m qu th ul on w te ive. re th e e. ut w ri refl th D lu : 20 01 st fu or e s in rs t ch was rend em are adu- ic om fr trod du re by ns ni na ut re on th bl ec re to ate Edutesin w Vo SN e: sp Th tre’ be en ch fe m e gr bl . un in en ge ed co ’ U re re ’s er ec su s IS on l: of aila ex to e ex th in e 4 pu en em ud hi er ar ag in ts er en ub ils av w d tionreedat m nue ne ac e Ph ai C m st w t ey th 99 6 cent stuen w ent reby uch an ce ed cl ta yet ne te titu ag t ee veth the th Em eb of al ge en ul that , d 19 ts al s r us ts m ffi Stud rs de t e da ns s ou. Thth y e to W nu ar stud McA ub rr he st la till es be , an spor nu be or no O e cl cu w , a no Th an co gesold ayin sa ak ible ch w all Sp . at e e e es gu no M m th umm by 07 st em rs the e an ld t of e ed th th ur iv re is ‘stu ac an ’ olenting e e e uzill cess ad issu ol : be uc chuins in 20 m m be of th ou iv ed at it h ct ecut d a , it C ce ng st ee N ut ak th at tl e D ‘w ac du aff em rs if sh en m he e y ru th e m ti cy w ec m it h st ex e an er th enti th th Offi thPengeentel e Lu ive ore st e m be ge tm ey d o ev ow y on a ex to t w at em sked ar epar ul ea h ns of mua tho: ut m sh pp ive tw utiv ow utes tly n d. w ired ee ed eal rt of ot ec ts m A ch D McA st roug io ha ut e is ec H in ec tio on p re thay e fo . Phex un s.’ ne qu m in at e. m rf si nt nd ec th ex m er ak s ic ag co ub e re ains 3 de fu ects ent, tot rm trm unmesh th nt utiv the pe y po e.’ ed to e an iv ve fo‘A Bed wasclub cl Th be pt to oj m den mune ge de ec Ti it a y R ve e re pa em pr m ke so ca th ar ex in s ar for ecut s ha ow and) e ity w e ts th ts d G t ha er d al ub co stlinat Comat ed nt n ex ub tosh esture Thrs ps pl ar ue no th ge cl bea ge th un st de ru ac cl e y uric n. niveou am al om r tin e co co re ra ar it to le ys se e to uc e mmedruct(p ru U gr ex ti fr r fo e. ac e nt is ch y is Con r ar e to rs D Th ra mstsuit t The sa ly th ce fo m at be iv . n5 pa ey te ge ogs coac n enof ed s d in em ut ps t ge on of ts on ua d €2 nu co - ar w rm a ec h’ ou ui ec m pr c d ch ion. olle ge cent spor m ad an ak, ytDucng studre fo club p an no e m ex gr el ge e ri ho un n s e C ar al gr ps Sm peit s, cave r ou d on the ch to ar se hiat ed co ai th flat e ch r the on , hi pe se re er su ed ch 0 to yc at t m ha mila gr an ps ti ff rs off as so in Th al y pe g ew n t ve th t. Th orm si A A p, ou on ee re en €1 ps st en re nu ft in di ‘sta be ies t, cl on y or ha a at be , r a CD stud ld G ou r gr tion fift ag em lit an r fi nn e ad sa sp Sp ap e M us rf on , ed gr ei si e ve ve ctor fo U e wou fo ru th fromic m ci en d d Aug te pe was n s ts ni on of d nc an re rais nd ha do €40 on. th ice th po e ar ha or an is or of d ed bl e fa uipm an th an na d t ’ U si by t fu he ac ai rsp reor , a d ti at rv a er ey er th Sp to an is pu th eq s ts ci d oe figu en t o s dy en ed Fi an en h uc r m pe gh esnt, ed of an lta th se ge Th Th ra d of en de te be en em ha l-oh se D ei ey en e la y ru le to bo en e tm re by rd pm is d or rn su er ng ge s ef an re of ur ud e ul s, es th al W ol g g C ay th ar ag ly oa lo rb an r le ha pm ’s m 00 deDveonenhit tu G or St th ns itie ev lli . C in in y itte ey da rect hi le co w g t th pr fo ,0 lo ol ep e al B ve fu s -C 9. pt e on re on ev Dire se ee CD ted co or y m C 00 ve ey 64 rert tm hn 23 sa d ’ D ar nu d de re ie g in /0 r of m rn rsit m th ay ub be th A m wha of ting Jo raTr ity fr U or ing th ar it s nD alth an ip e 00,0 de ul €1 thebe arr- 08 s foR te ve ve om at w ts e ets an e an nt e to cilit in au ss e ee r in ld re in lin it h n. as ck en pp sh Th €6 re McA at to RoDepito 20 onMBE endat -r go ni C th the . ofents foD Trou m ‘Th dg ed itte ce id fa fund .’ fe ge he ng . r w la w su r be ge nece lanc v y h ed th d r Ed in tiU arfu esei ts U Col r ud e. the le a duri ar ts at e d g ru ns a bu ov m r t as ts ts re ents fo oge sh ud pe ye ol te lle a ba ha th r th r. Intes cate fo ts caN thse theth eclin in d tics sa w it ur ting st ca ha in er as r st iv of te tr t pr om t pe se or ed ec e C ed ts ic en icat ito Fr wasan ec loA ub ze leo ut co ct fa nd fo ey oj K t ee ub lo as be to Ed nc C gh is sp e se proj th stud vo in en to of ity fo uc ubh h, uy th Th a fied ru min ec es en em ud rv es w s acks the so dica al t fu proj al al cl bunie prD mAem u e ud 0 TY co ived cl rg rgt St ent ei nd ting id l of e ar y ex ut SI trod ud ad to st e se rv ic the ha tb ss U in en en t’s tu tion ble gath e e or).t. isatis is st a Trts buhich buen id he M eput ce tion ac min fu is ov pita xt th o yo t th st €7 tion of ncu ro of ER in r st ac ply rs se to the e em rbe m or ac bu la of Th thal Spac ess coac D ta uc e e as or in wEdinrr es ys caex pr ca te to ‘D or al of ra p m su e e e e er ac nt IV s op Sp e stri ai s in tr of uc esdi euc usw sp t s D Th cu Pr sa s on pp nu ge st hi stuto w e e at N ha fo g ap nu es te ge de of Th di t av st d tor (D the r thD hoe ve May e U ge min ill and th er du im w es ne Th pu ad su an ar regi rs all le Treamit ort, ar ho hi Uni ty er fi co s th ue at ol lin ar co w P ly ev cl they th om ts ec of fo at at w e m re to an ch e be r er C the om Sp th nub Ed ke th e no ed taileDir t st th boTh ty in by nion n tsid ts’ ch e fees g G us w ic at n . Fr en du 07 SU n of ntre h th em fo oh riter L cl ey ir s d C of U oi io ho om ar mat de e rges n co w A m re th e in e th on oo ge 20 D io ce it lD W th ai ge ud N nt to e r ates ts ce to Br ou en th la io a ne th in re ti e s th s ni y C ar pay w en nt Th ek Prev ee, on ed aint ar st ud TC ct ts nc to ed pCar ew ts ar om e ill of 2 ta chai s’ Ó ing St t.’ ng lem se . e fr t ec at m f-ch st ’ U le ch TER se na ec , st or us lo ed du or id op ce nt án N ts Ash ent to spor ec ti fr Th 5 m n ge es er en st IN m Fi Dir ey sp g deve us t to sp pa for orts ed -o la de ón ‘act as el ee prob d pa N du e .2 io w rr ge to ee 7t h t- m e os mi- ul of in re is or rm be e sp ’ uden r, ud used e se as C as ty d A an th e le fr th st €1 ct nt be cu op ru ea fe r e ue w s? St ce e ol le ci iden is th or of th McA ce is tal fund Sp m te st pr no e ex to cr w fts C ab ices be th nt e Offi th be p of oh tin r e pi pa es t th sed er om y t of iu in e it e re the or is ps th ed all un rv em de Th on at ly hi on Pr A us s fr rr t pe m ca This en ed Sp ised Con D a se pt at ou for nd of The e ti th on rs ha sinc . Th ed it be r’s e Te gh inco a . tm m an sc rt M Se th e gr ce te ca id uld be th mpr e 7, a di ar ei e te nd ar d . re h be r: e ge 7 07 ss sa ho em .’ et th oi in tion ive. s ar €7 20 pa at su w it at tr ea t fu Dep t an ts y of co th €7 ed in Ro ito su is ta ut ee ill th ea ‘s r m re ch to in r: Ed Is 6 cr en e or ec it e is and of prov tick all r ch is en w e in at es Tr on d th fo nt e 0 ito ut y 1, -2 th t m th sh proj ajor m p an 8 ge e n ei Th es exec m e ce Th €7 ed th ir e tati an th ar ap um or ec th co Ed ep me 09 6 by iv te pr 50 nd e no uc hi he e ts m m qu th ul on w te ive. re th e e. ut w ri refl th D lu : 20 01 fu or e s in rs t ch was rend em are adu- ic om fr trod du re by ns ni na ut re on th bl ec re to at utes w Vo SN e: in sp Th tre’ be en ch fe m e gr bl . un in en ge ed co ’ U re re ’s er ec su s IS on l: of aila ex to e ex in 4 pu nt uen em ud hi er ar ag in ts er t by en ub ils av w d tion ed m e ne ac e Ph ai s C m st w t ey th 99 6 st en re w e t ch e ed re tu ne an te en cl uEm eb ta th th of al ge en ul that , d 19 ts ce al s r us ts m ffice Stud rs de t ye e da nsti s ag . Th y e th to W nu ar stud McA ub rr he st la till es be , an spor nu be or no O e cl cu w , a no Th an co ge ay sa ak ible ch w all Sp . at e e e es gu no M m th by 07 st em rs the e an ld of e ed th th ur iv re is tu ac an in ting m ss e e e ‘s be 20 m m be of th ou ent mad issu Col : iv ill ed ce at h ct ut d a it uc ch ut ak th ce D e ting mee ‘w ac du aff em rs if sh th w it ru ec an er, at titl the he the ffi th en ec m it h st ex e th ee e ive ore st e m be ge tm ey d O o ev ow y on a ex to t w m th ut m at em sked ar epar ul ea h ns sh pp ive tw utiv ow utes tly n cA st ug io w ired ee of ec ts ed e m A ch D is H tio ha ut M in ec ec re th e in thro at ex un s.’ ne qu m nt nd ec ere ex ive. m rf si ’ ic ag rm ak s co ub e re ains 3 de fu ects ent, t m th nt ut the pe y po e. en un e an iv ve fo d club it h cl Th be pt to oj m ge de ec m w ea ut ha re an e pa pr m em so ca ex in ar r s d al ub co stat Com ed nt n fo exec ubs to es Th ps pl arts ue cl a ge de ru ac cl e ur n. ou am al om r tin le to uc e mm ruct ru gr ex ti fr r fo e. Con r ar e D Th ra st t fo m at be utiv ps. t og ac en ed s d in pr uc ud form ub an m mem ec ou ec ex gr el cl p no e D st it ve ilar ou d on the ch to su ed ha m gr an ps n si A A p, ou on ee re G ou r gr tion fift ag gr ei si e ve as ts t w n th po e ar ha or or ac ai rsp reor , a er ey Sp t, oe dy uc r m pe ge Th Th es of D ei ey en e oh le to bo en e W or es th on ef ol g g C ay th D hi C in in y itte or ct w g t th pr rt -C e on re on ev Dire of pt rn it m they ay th m wha of R tem ve rs be r-in ting w r Tr ee Ro ito D inity it h n. A as ck ents BE at go ve Comthat e of m th . w la M e eir Uni w Ed Tr y ud e. the U d g ru ns a cs sa it h ed ng pN s ar th ha in er as r st iv of A ub ze ublin leti ey w ctur eeti ca was be nc ed fo ecut es ucl ni D th Th fied ru m ub St t A co iv cl ga e ex ut ). is st a ts hich t iden he ce tion ac min Th al ac at is w en es ys ta uc e rr ca uc ss ac was spor D Th (D e di Duc e ay cu Pr sa s on ar at er five M the ho hi Uni s on w e th Th ty in ub by ni n tsid ts’ cl ey ir U oi e th th ins red Br ou en th ms ta ai s’ Ó g Stud t.’ ng le ch nt án ctin ec ti de ón ‘a as el ee prob C as ty ent- m e w ci id is th pa es t th sed Pr A us sc di

Do you want to write for The University Times? We’d love to hear from you. See www.universitytimes.ie/write

“ Emma Keaveney visits the Players Theatre to view and review the culmination performance of the Players Freshers’ Co-op.

shifts dramatically towards the close, however, when Byron lets go a bleakly poetic monologue. The two men sit uncomfortably close for this final section, as Ames crouches down in a pathetic attempt to lift his friend onto his back and Byron unexpectedly spills his revelation of loss. Shepard’s dénouement is ambiguous, as is the overall sense of place and time in the play. The audience is left to judge what is most significant. Friendship? Mutual desperation? The subjectivity of memory? Or perhaps a simple mortality crisis? As Ames and Byron passively watch the lunar eclipse they have been awaiting, we are left to watch them, and to wonder.

Ages of the Moon

Lily Power reviews ‘Ages of the Moon’, Sam Shephard’s two man play, as it returns to the Abbey this month

The play was an irreverent, illogical, ahistorical romp that was punctuated by moments of brilliance

Caution: Freshers at Play

according to Beyonce (“if you liked it than you should have put a ring on it!”) Songs included “Everything’s ok in Ancient Rome” and the brilliant burlesque parody, “Somebody please just sleep with me” and there were some brilliant one-liners to remember: “Blacksmiths don’t battle. We don’t have the metal!” My favourite scene, however, and one that will stay with me for a long time: after the heroes of the piece (inexplicably) wash up on a tropical island populated entirely by mermaids we are treated to a hilarious take on their imaginary Sex and the City lifestyle. Sipping cocktails and dissecting the office flirtation with the “guy from accounting” one of the mermaids dishes the dirt on their proposed night of passion, “so we were just getting down to business, when he suddenly realised...” everyone chimes in with “you don’t have a vagina!” Unfortunately, the experience was soured (if only slightly) by the audience on the night, a very small number of whom felt it necessary to shout out to the players on stage, turning their input into a running commentary that, I think it’s fair to say, not many audience members appreciated. I am sorry to say that this was not the first Players performance which has, for me, been tainted by overzealous audience members who seem a bit like kids at a panto, over-stimulated on sugar. Ultimately, it’s to the credit of the performers on stage that they were well able to deal with any (even well-intentioned) heckling quite professionally. Written and directed by Manus Halligan, Sam McMullen, Matthew Smyth and Norah Ward, the play was an irreverent, illogical, ahistorical romp that was punctuated by moments of brilliance. It could have done with being significantly shorter, but if it’s an excuse to show off Fresher talent I suppose nobodies complaining.

The University Times | Wednesday, November

25th

TimesMUSIc

A new moon on the indie horizon

… and the News

Former Oasis members sticking together, witout Noel

Conor Sneyd discusses the use of indie music in the soundtracks of the Twilight series

s nice as Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are to look at, it’s no secret that the Twilight franchise is not often taken seriously. However since the release of the New Moon soundtrack in October, this fact has been steadily changing, at least in terms of music. Boasting a host of distinguished acts (including Muse, Thom Yorke, Death Cab For Cutie, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver and the Killers) the soundtrack firmly establishes the series’ indie/alternative credentials. Rather than taking the lazy approach and throwing together a few used old hits, the producers took the longer route, and excepting a remix of Muse’s ‘I Belong to You’, all the tracks on the album are entirely original and previously unheard. Ranging across the spectrum of indie rock, the pervading mood of the album is dreamlike melancholy, especially on tracks such as ‘Meet Me On The Equinox’ and ‘Satellite Heart’; though the likes of ‘Friends’ remind the listener that the main characters are teenaged(ish) high school students. Although how they’re used within the film remains to be seen, New Moon will presumably follow standard practice and the majority of songs will only feature in shortened form – briefly fading in for a minute or so then fading back out. As such an interesting aspect of the soundtrack is that, as original songs by popular artists, the tracks transcend their position within the film itself. Finding their way onto radio waves, CDs, YouTube, torrents, etc., the

songs attain their own cultural identities, but all the while carry New Moon’s with them. Repeating its sentiments and motifs over and over again to the millions who will inevitably become listeners, the tracks spread New Moon far beyond the cinema. Of course other soundtracks have obviously done the same thing before, but none have ever done so with a roster of artists as popular and esteemed as New Moon. While the wide range of artists featured on the New Moon soundtrack is one of its main strengths, some producers choose to go the other way, sticking to a smaller number of contributors. The soundtrack to Spike Jonze’s upcoming Where The Wild Things Are takes this approach, with Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O leading the project. Accompanied by a choir of children and a select few fellow indie rock stars, the inherent cohesion of O’s songs creates a sense of familiarity and intimacy. Although this will presumably work strongly to its advantage within a film based on a children’s classic, it makes the soundtrack album far more dependant on the film than New Moon’s is. In direct contrast to New Moon, other soundtracks take the approach of using songs which already have their own independent existence, bringing their external cultural significance into the film. The 2006 Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette features the anachronistic use of post-punk and New Wave classics by the likes of the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bow Wow Wow and New Order to accompany its setting in 18th Century France. Besides adding their energy, spirit, and decadently romantic sensibilities to the film, the songs also carry their social concerns with them; with lines such as “the problem of leisure – what to do for pleasure?” the tracks are clearly used in a more political way than New Moon’s, contributing to the film’s exploration of subjects like youth, materialism and responsibility. While some may dismiss its treatment of them as immature (and even slightly creepy), the Twilight series clearly deals with the big issues - love, loss, life, etc., and this is clearly reflected in its soundtrack. Other films such as the Saw series, which is primarily concerned with simply being as horrific as possible, use their soundtracks as more

Indie artists such as Grizzly Bear (above) and Thom Yorke (below-left) have contribued to the soundtrack of New Moon (left).

During a recent interview with an Italian radio station, Liam Gallagher confirmed that himself and other former Oasis members were definitely working on new material together. After Noel Gallagher officially quit the band in late August, claiming he could no longer handle working with brother Liam, the band officially dissolved. Although Liam and Noel’s fighting has disrupted band performances several times in the past, it look like this time things are over for good. Liam definitively asserted that “Oasis is done”, and his new project with Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock won’t bear the old name. He also claimed that they should be up and running with gigs in the next few months. Meanwhile Noel is set to pursue a solo career with new material, claiming his work is, as usual, nothing short of brilliant. Conor Sneyd

of a musical backdrop. Comprised mainly of nu-metal and metalcore numbers, the recent Saw VI’s soundtrack serves less to make any sort of commentary and more to mirror the on-screen action by being as violent and aggressive as possible. Although these songs do their job well, they lack the radio friendliness and mainstream appeal which pervades those found in New Moon, and as such it’s highly unlikely that a Saw soundtrack will ever find the same popularity as New Moon’s. Speaking of popularity, in commercial terms the New Moon producers’ approach certainly seems to be working. From “overwhelming and unprecedented” demand prompting them to release the album four days earlier than originally intended, to a debut at number one on the UK compilation chart to the number one spot on the US Billboard 200, the album has had remarkable

“

commercial success. Although critical reactions have been varied, most have been generally positive, with the harshest critics being fans of the bands who feel that their favourite acts are in fact too good to be associated with the Twilight franchise. As an interesting side note, MTV recently announced that Peter Murphy, former frontman of the legendary post-punk/goth band Bauhaus, is set to cameo as a blood-sucker in the third film in the series (Eclipse). Although doubtlessly enjoyed as a guilty pleasure by many (if not most) people, Stephenie Meyer’s brand of vampires have suffered a poor critical reputation up till this point. Meyer’s vampire-romance-novelist predecessors may have long-ago stripped vampires of their ability to be taken entirely seriously as monsters, but at least they usually let them keep their sex. Meyer has taken even that away, rendering them as high school students with nothing to do but play baseball and throw around creepy significant glances. Thanks to Murphy’s involvement the Twilight characters may now find themselves enjoying a bit of respect. As the band who in 1979 released a nine-minute long single about arguably the most iconic Dracula-portrayer ever (‘Bella Lugosi’s Dead’), Bauhaus certainly know their stuff when it comes to vampires. As such, if Meyer and co were looking for someone credible to vouch for her creations, they certainly made the right choice with Murphy. Conor Sneyd

Twilight’s harshest critics have been fans of the bands who feel that their favourite acts are in fact too good to be associated with the franchise

The Strokes: best of the decade? With the decade drawing to a close, a flood of “Best of The 00s” lists is upon us. Among the most prolific is NME’s, which, although predictably focused on the more popular end of the indie scene, offers a comprehensive look at many of the most popular and influential albums of the decade. Coming in at number one is The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’; the 2001 garage-rock-revival classic, which was met with nearly universal acclaim, and has fared similarly well on other best-of-the-00s lists (including the number seven spot on Pitchfork’s). Following The Strokes in NME’s top ten are The Libertines, Primal Scream, Arctic Monkeys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, PJ Harvey, Arcade Fire, Interpol, The Streets, and Radiohead. Conor Sneyd

Analogue Magazine re-launches online Analogue Magazine, the respected Dublin-based indie-focused music magazine has officially been relaunched online. The magazine went out of print earlier this year. Analogue was created in 2007 by then-Trinity student Brendan McGuirk and was initially produced under Trinity Publications. After several issues the magazine broke away from Pubs and became an independent Dublin-wide music magazine. Analogue has found its latest incarnation in the form of a bimonthly web series. Episode 1 was launched on November 6th, focusing on the Kronos Quartet, Patrick Kelleher and So Cow. Although the future can never be certain, as Analogue’s history proves only too well, it looks like the publication will continue delivering dedicated, professional coverage of the Irish music scene for the time being. Conor Sneyd

Album Reviews

Julian Casablancas

Weezer

Animal Collective

Phrazes for the Young

Raditude

Fall Be Kind (EP)

Label Rough Trade (UK), Cult Records via RCA (US & Europe)

Label DGC/Interscope

Label Domino

Julian Casablancas, one of the leading lights of the punk revival scene, has gone pop! And electronica, and soul, and country... All these genres and more are touched on in Phrazes for the Young, the first solo record from the man of Strokes fame. While the album lacks cohesiveness, it has no shortage of unpredictability; this is not a safe record. The pared-down stylings of Is This It are almost completely abandoned here in favour of layered, intricate arrangements, with swathes of synthesisers and even a horn section (on closer “Tourist”). Guitar-pop and synth-pop alternate and merge, while electronic rhythms are never far away. The results are mixed. “Out of the Blue” kicks things off in style, offering a supremely catchy slice of Ramones-y pop-punk complete with the New Yorkers’ trademark contrast between sunny melodies and dark lyrics. “Left & Right in the Dark” continues things in a similar poppy vein, with a great ‘Wake up’ vocal hook. “11th Dimension”, despite being the album’s lead single, is nowhere near as engaging,

falling into the trap of repetitiveness. After this the album takes an experimental turn. “4 Chords of the Apocalypse” is an odd piece of plastic soul that fails to convince, while “Ludlow St.” is even odder, with an avant-garde intro morphing into a country shuffle with an occasional jarring syncopated beat thrown in – “Nobody’s Child” remixed by Modeselektor. “River of Brakelights” is excellent, managing to fit dark, skittering electronica and soaring Strokes-y choruses into the same five minutes. Following this peak, Phrazes for the Young goes downhill: the synthy “Glass” is pleasant enough but monotonous, while “Tourist” is largely unremarkable, despite boasting an ear-catching combination of contrasting beats. But all criticisms aside, Phrazes showcases a Julian Casablancas who has lost neither his creative drive nor his ear for a good melody, ready to challenge and to experiment. What’s next? Justin McCann

Weezer are a tricky little band, straddling two worlds in opposites. They ride high in the public consciousness due to their ubiquitous single “Buddy Holly”, the stoner anthem “Hash Pipe”, and the radio-friendly track “Island in the Sun”, yet despite their mainstream popularity, they also occupy a large space in the heart of every once-geeky hoodied rock fan due to their much-loved 1996 album Pinkerton, which achieved cult status and is highly regarded by their ardent fans. These die-hard fans, in fact, have had to prove their loyalty to the Church of Weezer ever since then really, because the LA band have taken a much different musical route in recent years. And this leads us neatly up to their new record, Ratitude. It’s ten tracks of sing-along sunny choruses, guitar-driven verses and simplistic male-seeking-female lyrics. That’s right, you read correctly, just ten of the same song again and again. The stand-out track is definitely the lead single, “I’m Your Daddy”, which is ever so slightly grimier than the other feel-good

upbeat tracks. I have to say, after song after song of repetitive identikit riffs and choruses I did fact get slightly bored, so the frankly bizarre song “Can’t Stop Partying” (which features Li’l Wayne) was a welcome – if not to say technically brilliant – interlude. Overall, it’s just a little uninspired – and thus uninteresting. It’s definitely still the same old disappointing Pinkerton-departure for most fans, but in my reckoning it’s just an inoffensive slice of mindless pop-rock and what harm? It’s sing-along and infectious, but ultimately completely forgettable – most certainly nothing to set the fanboys’ hearts racing. In fact, the only outright offensive thing about the whole affair is a group of forty year olds crooning about being “boys” and trying to slow dance some “girls”. One of the songs is called “In The Mall” and repeats those same words endlessly, for crying out loud. Grow up, guys. Fiona Hyde

Continuing a trend of their last few releases, Animal Collective’s latest offering leaked online days before it was officially released. This gave their dedicated fan base a much needed hit not experienced since the release of Merriweather Post Pavillion at the beginning of the year. Fall Be Kind is only a five track EP, but it’s enough to tide fans over until their next album. Of the five tracks only one could be described as disappointing (track three, “Bleeding”), similar to “No More Runnin” on their last album and “Seal Eyeing” on Water Curses. By no means were any of these bad songs; they simply don’t have the ability to become your favourite song of all time for a brief period, like most of this group’s tracks. The EP opens with “Graze” (originally called “Grace”), a classic two-tiered Animal Collective track that starts off slow and then breaks into what can only be described as synth panpipe cheese. “What Would I Want? Sky” follows with a nice bouncy feel reminiscent of a mellow take on “Water Curses”.

Track four, “On a Highway” is my favourite song on the EP, though others have been slow to warm up to it. It has joined one other Animal Collective song (“Loch Raven” off Feels) as the only things I would ever describe as ‘hauntingly beautiful’. The percussion that comes in half way through the track and the non-lyrical vocal segments imbue a sense of being lost in a tribal urban landscape. The EP finishes up with “I Think I Can”. The consensus seems to be that this is the best track on the album. The song opens with a very Battles-like sound, but quickly twists itself into the Animal Collective mould with a very epic sense about it. As an Animal Collective release, I don’t feel that Fall Be Kind has a chance of toppling Water Curses as their best EP. However, it still contains four absolutely amazing tracks that I look forward to listening to over the coming months. Conor Smith

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesFILM

Faking Woodstock A

ng Lee’s Taking Woodstock, a comedic account of Elliot Tiber’s attempt to organize the festival that became the iconic Woodstock, has recently been released in cinemas. While for Lee, dealing with a given historical period is something of a specialty (The Ice Storm: 1970s, Brokeback Mountain: 1960s-1980s, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Qing Dynasty) the Woodstock years and the Rock and Roll era in general has been the subject of numerous representations, for better (Almost Famous, Spinal Tap) and for worse (so much worse: The Boat That Rocked). The release of an addition to this mini-genre prompted me to explore the problems and pitfalls of Hollywood’s take on Rock music, because few of these films avoid seeming awkwardly contrived. Maybe it’s just because it takes a really crass, sentimental mindset to even bother to

“

make a period film like this that they frequently fall flat. But films like Goodfellas and Boogie Nights lay down a pretty appropriate framework that these films could try to mimic; it’s not as if formal innovativeness is what most of these filmmakers are aiming for. Since it’s pretty clear that Rock n’ Roll consists mainly of affectation and performance, and cinema likewise it seems kind of pointless to suggest there is a loss of authenticity or reality when Rock and Roll is depicted onscreen. Actually, the greater scope of representation that cinema allows surely makes it ideal for Rock and Roll. However, while what we call authenticity, the true Rock and Roll spirit or whatever, is or might as well be a total act, insincere to the bone, this doesn’t mean that this act and its milieu is any easier to reproduce onscreen. There’s not much in rock music itself that necessarily suggests the bulk

What we call authenticity, the true rock and roll spirit, is, or might as well be, a total act

of narrative film that takes it as its subject matter; much of it is just made up and subsequently incorporated into the larger iconography of Rock and Roll. This point has been made before in relation to things like genre and history, but it also applies to Rock and Roll and cinema. So, as often happens with cinema, our idea of what Rock and Roll is comes not only from the music but also from whatever films have been devoted to it; we cannot distinguish our sources and it doesn’t really matter anymore. Mythology is mythology, whether it comes from apocrypha concerning The Rolling Stones in some debauched hotel room, lyrics, music, biography or film. We measure the strength of films like Almost Famous and Taking Woodstock not on actual authenticity but whether they can either effectively reproduce their chosen mythology or add something new, perhaps changing it forever. I’m talking only about comparing these films to Rock and Roll as a concept; character and plot still matter. I should distinguish documentaries like The Last Waltz from something like Almost Famous. Such documentaries are interesting cases. Usually, “truth” in documentary is something to be sceptical of, but in the case of concert footage we might let our guard down a little. After all, it’s not as if the camera will be much more of a distraction to a rock

Bunny and the Bullshit Mighty Boosh director Paul King has taken his first step into feature length filmmaking but Oshima Fawkes finds it less than mighty Bunny and The Bull tells the story of a young man called Stephen (played by Edward Hogg) who has not left his house in a long time. Over the course of two days the support structures that keep him almost hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world begin to collapse and he begins to dream, hallucinate and recall how he became the recluse he is. Over a year beforehand, Stephen and his charismatic, unreliable, lazy and hedonistic friend, Bunny (played by Simon Farnaby) went inter-railing in Europe. There, the two friends met a Spanish girl, Eloisa (played by Verónica Echegui) and helped her get back home in time for fiesta. Stephen became enamoured with Eloisa and Bunny became fixated with the idea of fighting a bull. These two happenings gave rise to serious trouble in their relationship that would ultimately have a catastrophic effect on

both their lives. This is Paul King’s first work as screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the director of the comedy series The Mighty Boosh, and I have no hesitancy in prefacing this piece by saying that this film suffers immeasurably from its association with that show. I’m not only speaking of the two awful cameos from Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding (who come off as very poor actors when compared to Simon Farnaby and Edward Hogg), but of the entire style of the comedy, the setting and most of the dialogue, which seems to have been plucked directly from that series. One such area where the influence of The Mighty Boosh is particularly heavyhanded is the scenery within the film. The scenery for all the flashbacks is made almost entirely out of various forms of artwork (such as a bookies made out of

“

Eloisa comes off as a loose amalgam of all the characters Zooey Deschanel and Penélope Cruz have ever played

“

Our idea of what rock and roll is comes not only from the music but also from whatever films have been devoted to it

paper and a Ferris wheel made out of trinkets) and could be deemed original. However the word ‘original’ would imply that it is a better film than it actually is. It is unclear what the point of the artwork is: it could be a form of memory distortion inherent to the story, or it could just be something that gives the film a very singular flavour, but it ends up functioning as something that distances the characters from their setting and makes their (relatively normal) actions and dialogue seem strange. As well as this, cinema-goers will remember the highly effective use of artwork in the work of Spike Jonze and other postKaufman films such as The Science of Sleep. Bunny and the Bull suffers from the inevitable comparison. The film could have capitalised on this surreal setting to get some laughs, but instead the comedy just feels horribly out of place and is a lot more miss than hit. It’s almost as if a mature tragedy met The Mighty Boosh and decided that they’d meld together perfectly. They don’t. There are two films playing at once: a worthwhile film charting Stephen’s character arc (a torn young man drawing out of his shell again and again, only for the world to disappoint him) and a poor film based on how wacky some people can be (some heinous crimes against comedy are committed, such as a scene where an Eastern-European tramp is shown to have a sexual relationship with a pack of dogs). As well as this, nearly every character bar Stephen and Bunny is poorly sketched: Eloisa is a stock character type, coming across as a loose amalgam of all the characters Zooey Deschanel and Penélope Cruz have ever played. What’s most annoying about the mixture of all these disparate elements is that they obfuscate some wonderful ideas and themes that the two leads personify. Bunny is essentially free. The bull he feels he must fight functions as his symbol for the good and bad consequences that come with his daring way of living.

Eoin Rafferty takes a look at the rock and roll spirit of Taking Woodstock and finds that this nostalgia is rolling away from us group performing for thousands of people. The way the camera moves around the performers is hugely suggestive, but I think we could consider camera movement to be just another performer in the band. I haven’t seen This is It, the latest Michael Jackson cash-in, but it’s possible that it’s a pretty accurate reflection of how the man was on stage. The case of Woodstock the documentary is somewhat different, as it provides interviews of individual audience members, as well as employing highly stylised techniques such as split screens during the actual performances, which does impact on our reception of the event. That said, it’s a film with such an abundance of insight and material that not all of it has yet been appropriated as Rock and Roll iconography; some of it is, perhaps, too subtle, too shocking. It’s a wonderful film, actually; the most satisfying that I’ve seen that deals with Rock music as subject matter. Reiner’s Spinal Tap, Stone’s The Doors and whichever Wayne’s World they stage a concert in; these are all highly sophisticated films and I’m not suggesting the filmmakers aren’t aware of the issues at stake. Sometimes they’re not, though, and not everyone notices. For an idea about how awfully wrong this can turn out, watch the cloyingly, insufferably, alienatingly “nostalgic” The Boat that Rocked; I literally think this is the worst

“

film I’ve ever seen. But please, do watch it. The Rock and Roll of the 1960s that Taking Woodstock attempts to evoke is totally inaccessible for us now. For various reasons, no one is going to be making films about most of the best pop/ rock music of our day, or at least not fiction films. Diablo Cody’s recent Jennifer’s Body (a film about music and culture as much as sexuality) includes a parody of a contemporary, affable Indie band, the joke being that they are secretly Satanists. Up to now, the joke has been that an ostensibly Satanic/terrifying band turn out to be quite pleasant and friendly. So the mythology surrounding rock music now has become less potent, more diffuse and as a whole, doesn’t appear to admit dramatic rendering. Does this mean we’re going to see lots more films hell bent on recreating the Woodstock era? But also, if much of what we see in these films is made up, then why couldn’t someone invent a mythology for contemporary music? Inevitably, this also runs the risk of sentimentalising; however a version of Almost Famous for our generation would be worth checking out. Eoin Rafferty Taking Woodstock is currently on general release nationwide.

It’s as if a mature tragedy met the Mighty Boosh and decided that they’d meld together perfectly. They don’t.

Stephen acts as his counterpoint, essentially trapped by his own shyness and phobias. His symbol is the peephole, looking out onto the scary world from within a shuttered house. This film actually manages to answer the question “With all that is wrong with the world, why participate, why leave the house?”. This is quite an achievement. Bunny and Stephen’s relationship is also interesting. They love each other, yet hate the traits in each other that make them who they are. They need to separate, but can’t survive without one another. And, as it turns out, they need

to become more like each other to get by. This symbiosis is perfectly executed in the last ten minutes of the film as the thread of their friendship that runs throughout the story comes to an end. These are the things that the film does right, but in the end it’s not enough to salvage the damage already done by the awful comedy, the cast of caricatures and page after page of bad scripting. Oshima Fawkes Bunny and the Bull is released in cinemas on November 27

The University Times | Wednesday, November

25th

TimesTELEVISION

Recession Television

Box News

ABC announces start date for final season of Lost

Michelle Doyle examines the recession’s growing impact on our favourite shows

bsolutely Fabulous is a show that were I re-sitting leaving cert English I would probably use as a convoluted metaphor for how the Celtic tiger, fuelled with its money, extravagance and over-estimation of its own self worth allowed us to loose the run of ourselves, go into decline and become, like Patsy and Eddie, a modern day parody of the last days of Rome. “Sweetie, I can’t give my clothes to charity! The homeless have ENOUGH to deal with without being seen in last seasons’ Dior!” And just as Absolutely Fabulous came to a close in 2006, we saw the economic climax reach its peak before it began its barrelling descent towards total collapse. It was similarly during this period that we saw some of the final instalments of classy TV shows in which our favourite stars engaged in whirlwind romances, bitter divorces and seedy relationships in great clothes, fast cars and big houses. Indeed, before ‘recession’ parachuted into the ‘top most-spoken word’ category of 2008 (only to be replaced by ‘Jedward’ in 2009), there continued to be a plethora of TV shows throughout 2007 that exaggerated wealth, sophistication and projected the idea that money equals happiness (unless your Marissa Cooper, of course). The ideology was similar to

“

TV has stopped being a projection of a lifestyle to crave and instead has become a mirror image of what people are facing in everyday life

a game of Sims whereby our internal and televised programming was constantly telling us that purchasing power equalled personal happiness and growth. Such shows that aired during this period and personified this ethos were of course the OC and better still, Gossip Girl. And what’s more, ‘You know you loved it…’ Two years later and knee-deep in recession however, I have to ask, where did my TV shows that were so beautifully cloaked in Juicy Couture and capped off in MAC makeup skulk to? TV has stopped being a projection of a lifestyle to crave and instead has become a mirror image of what people are facing in everyday life – and I’m not talking about wearing the same outfit twice, either, oh no! As the recession worsened, I decided to ignore current affairs programs and give up watching the news (all part of my new year’s resolution). Yet despite my efforts it seems that the economic crisis teemed alongside relative poverty are still being projected at me but this time via TV shows - and that’s not including the Wire or the Corner! As this economic global-warming situation that we have all been catapulted into becomes more exacerbated and our investments continue to disappear faster than polar ice caps, I can’t help feeling bad for the unemployed and those caught in negative equity. Similarly, my heart-strings are tugged by the underdogs on TV shows like Ugly Betty. As the series develops, the magazine Betty works for, MODE, suffers at the hands of embezzlement, resulting in major internal economic difficulties, not so different to the situation faced by many people in real life. Even Will from the Inbetweeners was forced to go to a non fee-paying school following his mum’s divorce. And if all that isn’t enough dramatized reality for the time being, I have recently received word that the first few episodes of series seven of Entourage allegedly start with a heads-up to the foundering economy. Fantastic. Despite our favourite sitcom personalities feeling the credit crunch on screen, it seems

TV protagonists these days have to use more extreme measures to get by, such as Ray of Hung (left) resorting to prostitution and Walt of Breaking Bad (above) producing and selling crystal meth.

that Autumn 09 oversaw the launching of a new series of shows that focus on the impact of the recession on their protagonists. Such shows including HBO’s Hung, a 30 minute introspect on the life of a failed academic who resorts to male-prostitution and AMC’s Breaking Bad whereby a teacher takes up the seedy, double life of a meth dealer. Similarly, Bored to Death focuses on a poor and lazy writer who leads an undercover job as a detective. And where I thought Recession-itus had gotten enough PR as it was, surfacing in resident shows and newbie series alike, it has now transpired that as kids continue to ask that age old question ‘Where is Sesame street?’ that Sesame street too recognises the effects of the credit-crunch on children, warning little ones to stay positive and enjoy having mommy and daddy at home for the duration that their parents are out of work.

Even on this side of the pond, RTÉ shows have had reference to the economic whimper of a once roaring Celtic tiger on their list of TV shows. The best and most current example being the fist shaking, finger pointing man who heckled Pat Kenny for almost five minutes on his chat show The Frontline last week. Television popularity is rocketing, as we become more cash-strapped and cut expenditure with the knock on effect of staying in rather than going out. Pubs, which once did roaring trade on weekends are now finding it hard to meet quotas, what with ‘Jedward’ mania sweeping the country and an estimated 50% of people opting to stay in to catch their Saturday and Sunday instalment of ‘Jedward bromance’ than head out for a few well earned pints on the weekend. Whatever you say, whatever you do, it seems you just can’t win. Personally I think addressing the recession on television is a wise step forward among TV writers and producers. By setting out relatable situations teemed with funny dialogue, TV execs can hone in on a target audience who can relate to these personalities. As the economy further declines, followed by recovery, these shows will have the ability to create identifiable personas that the working class hero can relate to. That is not to say that I don’t still crave a little OC every now and again though. Michelle Doyle

know that I can watch I’m A Celebrity... or Strictly Come Dancing because I can maintain an critical distance. It’s just a question of knowing.” She places special emphasis on knowing. Emily seems to know an awful lot. With her enthusiasm for critical engagement in mind, we prod her to continue: “People don’t understand that there’s a relationship between the media and society as a whole, particularly television. Even conventional programmes with a mainstream target audience should always aim to be progressive! Look at Sex and the City, for instance: it’s so popular, but it still has a really valid sociopolitical message.” We ask her to elaborate on this... “Representations of women have traditionally been tied to gender stereotyping, but with Sex and the City, those conventions were subverted. There’s no reason why women can’t be independent entities. I admire Samantha the most, ‘cause she can be the boss in a man’s world, but still beautiful and sexual. It has real resonances with Simone de Beauvoir for me. I mean, men are there to be looked at in Sex and..., which is a nice change. For once, women are the centre of attention and can be the fashionable, sexually liberated instigators. And obviously the clothes are amazing too!” Emily laughs loudly at this, her triceps jiggling as she throws her arms in the air in mock elation. At this point we are beginning to worry that Emily is indulging in more recent stereotypes that have evolved from those of old, token gestures from writers and producers to pacify the liberated woman of today. She quickly moves to quell our fears. “There is no problem in expressing or indulging in your own sexuality and femininity. It’s empowering if anything and is good for women as a whole, I think. There’s no problem in having an interest in fashion and shoes as

Man shouts in Temple Bar, gets television show Dave McSavage, the Irish comedian best known for launching his career by busking in Temple Bar, can now be seen on Irish TV screens every Monday night. His new show, The Savage Eye, was commissed by RTE last year and after a brief stint on RTE Two in January of this year, has returned to the channel. The show, produced by Blinder Films, is written by and stars Mcsavage and functions as a satirical documentary probing the binge drinking culture in Ireland. The Savage Eye uses vox pop interviews, archive footage, satirical documentary and sketches and features many well known actors and comics including Declan Rooney, Aidan Bishop, Pat McDonnell (Father Ted), and Gerard McSorley. The show has aired to mixed reviews and whether it will prove to be a successful addition to RTE’s scheduling of Monday night comedy remains to be seen. The Savage Eye airs on RTE Two at 10.25 pm on Monday nights.

John and Edward finally leave the X Factor

Oisín Murphy and Cathal Wogan talk to fictional Trinity student Emily Deakin about the merits of “lowest common denominator television” hadn’t been voted off.” This vague allusion to “some people” seems a bit condescending; we ask her to elaborate. With a shrug of her shoulders, she assures us she doesn’t mean any offense. “I mean, clearly it’s lowest common denominator television, but if you’re aware of that then it’s no big deal. I’m not sure I agree with everyone watching it,” she continues, placing special emphasis on everyone, “but it’s interesting to see the public reaction to it. I find it interesting how wrapped up and attached people get to the characters, and that’s part of the fun for me.” Emily is clearly a girl with a real social conscience. She seems to have an awareness that is lost on the “everyone” to whom she has referred. She drinks the melted Calippo juice that has accumulated at the bottom of the tube before continuing, relating to us her theories of casual spectatorship amongst the collective: “The majority of people just sit there and absorb what they see on TV. You have to remain conscious of it at all times, then you can watch whatever you want. For example, I

Conor Smith

Emma Keaveney

LCD TV Today, we sat down with Emily Deakin, a Trinity student and television buff, who was eager to speak to us about reality television and the culture that surrounds it. Getting past the usual banalities, it became clear that we had found someone far more enthusiastic than we could have imagined... “Television is a great way to unwind at the end of a hard day,” says Emily, “just to switch your brain off after college. I’d say I spend a couple of hours at least in front of the box every night! It’s the perfect way to finish my day.” Emily takes the lid off her first Calippo of the day, blithely winding her tongue around the frozen, orange confection. As we continue to talk, Emily seems only delighted to speak about her favourite TV shows. “There’s a lot on at the moment, but my primary viewing is the X Factor, probably. Obviously it gets a lot of criticism, but I don’t see the problem with it. It’s just entertainment, at the end of the day, I think everyone knows that. I mean, Jedward were just taking the piss out of the whole thing, showing it up for the popcorn viewing that it is, not the serious competition some people see it as. I wish they

ABC have confirmed that the final season of their hit TV show Lost will premiere in the US on Tuesday February 2nd with a two hour opener. This is the sixth and final season of the hugely successful show that began in 2004 with forty people surviving a plane crash on a mysterious island. The regular cast for season six was also released. Emilie de Ravin, who played Australian Claire Littleton in the first four seasons, will be returning to the cast after her absense during season five. Other frequent guest stars have been promoted to regular status. These include Nestor Carbonell, who has played the ageless Richard since season 3, Jeff Fahey, who plays cynical pilot Frank Lapidus, and Zuleikha Robinson, who was introduced in season five as the mysterious Ilana.

In a week that has come to be defined by disappointments to Ireland’s already fragile ego, the dynamic duo colloquially known as Jedward left The X Factor on Saturday night. John and Edward are eighteen year old twins from Lucan who shot to fame in Britain and Ireland after auditioning for The X Factor and graduating through the audition rounds to the live finals. Mentored by Irish pop supremo Louis Walsh, the pair were among the last six acts in the competition. Their appearances were marred by controversy as they were accused of being ‘talentless’; even Cheryl Cole stating on one night that the pair “can’t sing. Fact!” Despite this, Jedward garnered a huge and loyal fanbase that loved them for their energetic performances and sense of fun. John and Edward were voted off the ITV show on Sunday night after finding themselves in the sing-off with favourite Olly Murs. It’s not all bad news for the twins themselves however. The Daily Mail reports that a string of deals are already being set up which will see the pair back on our TV screens. Unconfirmed rumours of a £2 million contract have been circulating and one TV exec has apparently dubbed them “the next Ant and Dec.” Love them or loath them, it would appear that Jedward won’t be disappearing from our collective cultural consciousness just yet. Watch this space. long as you maintain your integrity and intelligence as you do so. “It is all about irony at the end of the day. When observing, you have to keep an ironic awareness of your own position. What you do doesn’t define who you are. Liking the X Factor doesn’t mean that I’m just a consumerist drone. It’s not all just black and white.” Full of smiles, Emily stares out the window, tonight’s television no doubt preying on her mind. What a total cunt. Oisín Murphy Cathal Wogan

Emma Keaveney

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesEDITORIAL

Letters

Handbags and Gladrags

to the Editor

Letters should be mailed to ‘The Editor, The University Times, 6 Trinity College’ or sent by email to letters@universitytimes.ie We cannot guarantee that all letters will be published. Letters may be edited for length and/or style.

Éirígí decision unjust Dear Sir, In reply to your recent article, ‘Republicans éirígí denied society status,’ we regret to inform your readers that the CSC executive did indeed refuse our application for recognition, despite the fact that we followed all their rules and regulations, received over 100 student names and ID’s and are a recognised political party. We in Éirígí TCD feel that the decision by the CSC executive to deny our members, who are students of our college, the right to assembly as a recognised society was a politically motivated and unjust decision which establishes a very dangerous precedent for future and existing left wing political societies in our College. Put simply if an executive consisting of unaccountable individuals, can overrule the wishes of a sizable number of students who wish to establish a society, and have received over 100 signatures and IDs in support of their right to do so, simply because it dislikes their politics the future of freedom of speech in our college is greatly endangered, and as students in our college we must all have open minds and live by the principle ‘ I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend your right to say it.’ In your article last week it was correctly stated that the members of Éirígí TCD intend to appeal the decision of the CSC executive at the CSC’s term general meeting in January. According to the CSC executive in your article, we have not officially begun the process as of yet. This I regret to state is untrue. Éirígí TCD had sought to appeal the decision of the CSC executive, approaching the CSC willing to answer the CSC executive’s arguments as to why we should not be recognised as an official college society. This offer to answer and challenge the decision of the CSC executive was refused by that body. We believe this to show that the CSC executive is aware that its decision to refuse us official recognition as a society is shallow and greatly illustrates that the CSC executive is unable to defend its own decision through open discussion. If the CSC executive was moved to defend its position on Éirígí TCD, it would grant our membership at the least five minutes of its time to challenge its decision or would debate it publically with us allowing the student body to make up its mind as to the position of Éirígí in our college. It has been stated by the CSC executive that Éirígí TCD would not contribute to college life. This stemmed from its experience with similar small political societies in our college. As a position we in Éirígí TCD feel that this is incorrect, and regret that the CSC executive has come to this decision and refused to allow us challenge a very wrong statement. We appeal to the CSC executive to reconsider this position. In our defence we cite the existence of the Socialist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Anarchist society as small political parties who have contributed to the life of college. We furthermore ask as to why if these small left wing parties are allowed recognition as student societies has Éirígí been refused recognition? Surely as members of a recognised political party with a large membership, elected representatives and policy papers we are entitled to this? Éirígí TCD has done everything that has been asked of its members to setup as a society in our College, we collected over 100 names and student IDs as part of a petition to establish us as a recognised student society, and received large interest from the student body in our politics. We state that it is our belief that if we are given the opportunity to organise as a recognised society in our college we will make a valuable contribution to student life and to our College. It had been stated by the CSC executive that our aims were covered by existing societies. We ask how can this be the case? Éirígí is a recognised political party. A political party is a group of individuals organised for the purpose of taking part in politics, running in elections and sharing similar opinions. On this basis alone to claim that the aims and objectives of Éirígí TCD are covered by existing societies is wrong and discourteous to the membership of Éirígí. We the members of Éirígí TCD feel that this position is akin to telling the members of Fianna Fail in our College that they cannot organise as an existing society because their objectives are covered by Fine Gael. We feel this position is akin to telling members of the Socialist Party in our College that they cannot organise because their objectives are covered by the existing Socialist Workers Party society. We feel this position is akin to telling members of the Green party they cannot organise because of the existence of the environmental society. Or telling the Hist they have no right to organise because of the existence of the Phil. Put simply to ask a member of éirígí to join another political party with differing political philosophies and leaderships, because his/her political party has not been given recognition within our College would not make sense. Furthermore to refuse us recognition on the basis of existing societies which enjoy wholly different leadership structures, philosophies, membership and elected representatives, to deny us the right to appeal the CSC executive decision to the executive in order to answer its argument, and make us wait until January is horribly discourteous to our membership and counter to the student experience and the importance of societies in college life and student development. We in Éirígí TCD believe that we have as much a right to organise in our college as any other recognised political party and firmly believe that precedent has been established through the existence of differing small left wing political parties for our right to existence as a society in our College, and we request that the CSC executive reconsiders its decision not to grant us recognition as a society and allows us freedom to organise within our college, and call upon all students, irrespective of political difference, to support our right to organise and be recognised in our college. Siobhan Kelly, On behalf of Éirígí TCD

Corrections The University Times would like to make to following corrections: In Volume One, Issue Three: on page three in the article ‘Trinity lecturer hits out as UCD claims to be best in Ireland’ it is stated that Dr Gerald Morgan was accused of sexual harassment by a female colleague; Dr Morgan was never accused of sexual harassment; on page twelve the article ‘There is something wrong with your television set’ should say, under Dexter, the Sopranos rather than the X-Files; on page twenty four the word compiled was spelt incorrectly.

Sinead Mercier, Illustrator

News analysis: Public Sector Strike

How To Lose Friends, And Alienate Tax-Payers T

he public sector strikers might as well be protesting against the recession, as though such a beast could be tamed by opprobrium. They seem to be confusing the dire economic circumstances facing the state and public finances, with some discretionary government policy that can be reconsidered. Quite simply, the government has to cut back on public sector pay, and quite significantly so. According to the Department of Finance, the Irish government has suffered a €26 billion deficit in expenditure over revenue thus far in 2009. Next year, it could be worse. Government spending rose far too much during the Celtic Tiger years, and at a faster pace than the economy was growing. This was a consequence of unprecedented tax revenue coming into the government coffers. Naturally, Fianna Fáil took advantage of the situation by buying off special interest groups and initiating exciting new ways of wasting tax-payer money. The lack of pressure on public finances resulted in less oversight and today’s bloated civil service. Meanwhile, the government became reliant on sources of tax revenue that were not permanent. The stamp duty cash cow of the construction boom is gone, and it isn’t coming back. This permanent fall is tax revenue, coupled with increased expenditure, brings us to today’s fiscal disaster. There are cut-backs in government spending across the board. Now we are faced with the prospect of laying off public workers, and reducing pay to levels commensurate with the private sector. Is that fair?

Absolutely. Public servants have had it too good for too long. During the boom years, there were very little complaints from the civil service – but only because they almost invariably got what they wanted. Collectively, public sector trade unions were capable of exercising sway over the political establishment because they were an organised, politically-engaged group of voters. Job

“

Taking a day off work doesn’t communicate their message any more effectively. Meanwhile, tax-payers are starting to look enviously at public sector job security, guaranteed pensions, and extremely generous pay levels. If the recipients of such gifts start earnestly complaining about their awful conditions, it might be the last straw. Public sector strikes today present

Government spending rose far too much during the Celtic Tiger years. This was a consequence of unprecedented tax revenue coming into the government coffers.

security, high wages and generous defined-benefit pensions were guaranteed. The government was able to give into their demands at minimal imposition on voters who were enjoying the good times, and happy enough to spread the wealth. But that has all changed. Today’s voters are very much turned on to the difficulties facing the government finances. They are well aware that they will have to pick up the tab unless public pay starts reflecting the reality of our desperate situation. This starkly contrasts with past industrial action by public sector trade unions, and it explains why yesterday’s action was ultimately pointless. The government knows that public sector workers are going to be discommoded by the public pay cuts necessary to reduce the deficit.

the government with very different options and incentives, when compared with the past. In this sense, public sector trade unions may have miscalculated if they thought the government could be blackmailed. Recent evidence from the ESRI points to the enormous pay gap between public and private sector workers. Although public servants are providing a public service, they’re certainly not doing it for the public good. In fact, they’re not even giving us a discount. Meanwhile, with unemployment over 13% last month and rising, it’s better than ever to be employed by the state. You’re more difficult to fire, even if you’re no longer productive. Private sector employees enjoy no such privileges. More importantly, the public have become aware of this and it has become a point of contention in public

debate. Since yesterday’s public sector strike imposed costs on voters, the public is likely to lose sympathy for civil servants. Everyone else in the state is suffering pay cuts, increased job insecurity, and firms going out of business. Why shouldn’t public sector workers take some of the burden too? Private sector workers aren’t complaining because this is the reality of our economic situation, and whingeing won’t change that. But public sector workers are responding to the recession with a complete abrogation of their responsibilities to Ireland’s citizens. But why should they be insulated from the effects of the recession? They can claim that it wasn’t their fault. But the hideous state of public finances is more due to their excessive demands than anything else. They’re at an advantage to begin with, and they government probably won’t do much more than erode it slightly. Moreover, it’s not my fault either. Nor is it the fault of most tax-payers. Truth be told, most of the people that are suffering during these recessionary times are not guilty of much wrong-doing individually. But saddling future generations with debt is no more just. Government expenditure needs to fall, and especially unsustainable public sector pay levels. Those workers have been doing pretty well for a while now though, which is why this commentator has least sympathy for them. Jonathan Wyse Jonathan Wyse blogs under the pseudonym ‘The Free Marketeer’.

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesOPINION

The University Times Correct Change Please t is the belief of this paper that when a person is charged I for something then that charge

should only be spent in the spirit in which it was taken. If the documents provided by the Students’ Union president Cónán Ó Broin are accepted as proving the claim that the Student Service Charge is being used against its

expressed purpose, then serious questions need to be answered by the College, the HEA, and the Department of Education. Regardless of the merits or demerits of how we fund our education system or the arguments about fees–it is fair to say that when a fee is levied with the authority of law then it may

only be used for its stated propose. To allow otherwise permits the idea of certainty of law to be reduced to a point where it means nothing to be told what one is paying for. If the claims of the Students’ Union president are vindicated by the Comptroller and Auditor General or the Public Accounts

Committee then will we see the College refund the money it took ultra vires? If we are fair, the College cannot afford to refund this money. But what it will need to do is reduce this fee in the years to come to an amount that reflects the true costs of what it is supposed to pay for. There cannot be an attempt to

spread the scope of the fee in the coming years. This would be a fee of the sort that was explicitly ruled out in the new programme for government. The matter will finally be settled when the bill arrives on your door mat next September; the amount that it will be for will be determined in the weeks to come.

From the frontpage

Off the Record The University Times is a new and distinct newspaper that operates from an office with a history of newspaper making. The most recent of these newspapers is The University Record, which had twelve volumes produced between 1997 and 2009. Articles from past issues of The Record have been reproduced here as they appeared when first printed. Compiled by Conor Smith

College and government sting students • Students to pay £300 • College AND government dodge blame • College Treasurer REFUSES to speak to The Record to justify fee decision

tudents are being forced to pay a £300 charge for student services without seeing ANY of the money going to student run services. The fee was £150 last year but in July the Minister for Education allowed colleges to charge an additional £100. Trinity students voted in a referendum in May to pay £50 a year for a new sports hall, a fee which is now due. The total is £300. And neither College nor the government will accept full responsibility for the new levy. According to SU President Dave Moore, Bursar PJ Drudy blames government underfunding for the charge, claiming that the Department of Education is forcing College’s hand in charging the fee. Yet according to Peter McDonagh, adviser to the Minister, the Department of Education only introduced the fee at the demand of the Universities and the charge is optional. Universities do not have to charge the full amount, and NCIR in Dublin are not

raising their fees at all. The Minister stated that a condition of the granting of the charge was that Colleges increase the accountability and transparency of the allocation of student services funds. Yet College Treasurer Face Dempsey REFUSED to speak to The Record about the charge. College will not answer to the students through their media, and in negotiations simply blames the Department of Education’s funding cuts. Moore commented that “it appears that College are prepared to talk to representatives simply so they can claim they have consulted the students but quite obviously they find it difficult to launch a public defence of their actions.” No concessions College will not even consider allowing students to pay fees in instalments, a move which would alleviate the problem of having to pay an

The front page story of issue one, volume one of the University Record called out both College and the government over a £100 rise in the student registration fee. Since the introduction of the registration fee, intended to cover student services, registration costs and examination costs, it has risen year after year. At the time this article was printed Trinity’s Bursar claimed that these services “always cost £300”. The continued rise in the registration fee has caused controversy since this article was printed and still is. See pages one and six to read more about the registration fee today. unexpected £300. Moore claims the Treasurer, Bursar and Senior Dean rejected the proposal out of hand in negotiations because it was too costly “both in terms of money and of administration.”

was assured that the accounts were audited twice, one of which times is by the Controller and Auditor General, and were therefore accurate.

Jumping figures

Many students are outraged at the charge, and Students’ Union staff report many distressed callers concerning the charge. Students who do not pay the fee, however, will not be allowed to register, and this will prevent them receiving a degree. Moore stated that “College have the ultimate stick to beat students with. They can take students’ money off of them and then if they won’t pay, refuse to give them a degree.”

Bursar PJ Drudy claim that the services provided have always cost £300, even though they will only receive £250 per student for this purpose. But the document produced to prove this, when compared with past accounts, show a sensational jump in one year of £160,000 in the supposed costs of exams, from £320,000 one year to a staggering £483,000 the next. This has sparked speculation in student political circles that the accounts have been made to conform to a figure which would justify the charge by College. Moore claims that when he challenged the Bursar PJ Drudy on this he

Non-payment

Not attributed

The first ever all-Ireland meeting of the Forum of University Students’ Unions (FUSU) was held in Trinity on 10th August. Since the establishment of FUSU in 1997, only the Southern universities had taken part. The August meeting was attended by five representatives from the University of Ulster. Explaining why TCDSU felt it was important to involve the Northern colleges, SU President, Averil Power, said “We felt that it was important to develop real all-Ireland cooperation between the universities. The Northern universities are far better funded than their Southern counterparts, and in general their services are better developed. The University of Ulster Students’ Union have long had complete control over their oncampus canteens and bars. Their experience should provide invaluable

information to the Southern universities on developing improved services.” FUSU was set up in 1997 by five universities which had disaffiliated from USI and wished to establish a forum for communication between their students’ unions. Since 1997 FUSU has proved to be an invaluable forum for discussing the issues of concern to university students and passing information and ideas between students’ unions. Issues on the agenda for the Trinity meeting included the development of campus alcohol policies, recycling initiatives and voter registration. Averil Power October 1st 2001

Last year then-President of the Students’ Union Cathal Reilly wrote a piece on the registration fee for issue one of volume twelve of the University Record. The piece focused on the reduction of Trinity’s core grant from the government being in line with rises in the registration fee. €983 was the figure that greeted students of Trinity College when they received their details for payment of their registration fee last month. In 1995 the government phased out tuition fees for students; instead financing them for everyone from the exchequer. With this, they introduced a £150 charge for examinations, registration and student services. Since then, this has increased by a whopping 374% to what it is today. The biggest increase in the registration fee was in 2002 when it rose by €274 to €670. The Higher Education Authority, responsible for the increase, informed the college that because of this increase, the government grant to college that year was to be cut by €250. Students were essentially being taxed €250. This year they once again increased the registration fee, this time by €75;

Library dispute solved: It’s Over For six years the students of Trinity College had to deal with a reduced library service caused by a SIPTU dispute. Issue five of volume five of the Record announced the end of the long-running pay-related dispute. In the seven years since the dispute ended, students have still found problems with the library, as you can read on page one of this issue.

October 1st 1997

Trinity SU Hosts FUSU Registration Rip-Off Meeting This article appeared in issue one of volume five of the University Record. At the time that this article was published Trinity Students’ Union was not a member of the USI, having disaffiliated and cofounded Fusu. Conversely, the Union has since re-affiliated to USI and is in the process of leaving Fusu. See page one of this issue to read more.

The University Record, Issue Five, Volume Five. Photo: Conor Smith

and again they’re taking most of this (€56.25) back in the way of more cuts from the state grant to the college. The biggest ‘slice of the pie’ is being taken by the government. As you know, there has been recent hype about the re-introduction of third level fees but if the rises in the registration charge continue as they’re going, it won’t be long before we’re paying as much as fees would be anyway. Of the €983 that you pay at the beginning of the year, the government takes back over €300. This is a sneaky way of charging students for no apparent reason. It is a student tax that the government are getting away with. Cathal Reilly September 29th 2008

‘As long as everyone is happy, no one has lost anything’. The Education Officer, Dave Memery, sums up the general feeling of Trinity College and members of the SIPTU Union now that the library dispute is finally at an end after six years. As Bill Simpson, the Head Librarian at the college explains, ‘SIPTU’s vote in favour of the deal was not unanimous, but they are reasonable happy.’ Tony Carey, a member of said union who works on-campus, comments ‘As far as we’re concerned, the issues we considered to be contentious have now been solved and everyone is happy.’ On Thursday, 17th January Mr Simpson received official written confirmation from SIPTU that they have accepted the terms of the agreement. In November of last year The Record reported on another failed attempt to put paid to the disagreement, and at that point it looked set to continue indefinitely. Dr Kieran ‘Jack’ McGinley, the SIPTU Library Section Committee secretary, comments, ‘Somebody had to be hurt before people would listen. This was a very slow-burning fuse. When other workers groups take strike action they can stop the trains, or stop the buses in order to make their point – we weren’t in a position to do that.’ Tony Carey also says of his union, ‘We are not a faceless organisation. These are

just ordinary people who felt aggrieved.’ Although Mr Simpson was hesitant to put forward his own feelings on what has been an extremely drawn-out process, he does say, ‘My personal view is one of total regret. I’ve been amazed at how long it has taken. Of course I deeply regret all the inconvenience that library users have been caused in that time.’ We are assured by the Head Librarian that, ‘In the next couple of weeks full service will be completely resumed.’ Books that were previously unavailable to students are now available, although Tony Carey points out to library users that the computer system is not yet fully adapted to the changes, during the next couple of weeks student should inquire at the counters as to the true status of books which are marked as ‘Unavailable’ on the system. Bill Simpson adds, ‘As the agreement is now in place we are able to implement the technology to provide improved services in the library.’ He also states that SIPTU are co operating with regard to the move into the new Ussher Library, due to be in full use by the summer of this year. Paul Caffrey January 22nd 2002

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesOPINION

The world is not enough Niall Donnelly

“

he University of Dublin is considered to be one of the best University’s in the world. One can be forgiven for thinking that this claim may contain a small insinuation of bias, but the opinion is readily expressed elsewhere. A simple search into the archives and one will discover

highlighted fact that Trinity has cemented its place in the world’s top fifty universities, sitting at an impressive 43rd. The three aforementioned are only a small example of the available rankings; one can easily discover an abundance of facts and figures about every aspect of a university from research quality to how good the food

I am going to ask the question at the centre of this: are university rankings reliable and more importantly are they of any significant use? that Trinity’s School of Business has recently been honoured as the 21st finest in the world. Moreover, Political Science has been awarded a place in the Higher Education Group of Excellence. These recent allocates can be combined with the much

is. At this point I am going to ask the question at the centre of this article, given the mass literature available, are university rankings reliable and more importantly are they of any significant use? The body that awarded Trinity the position of

43rd best in the world is the QS World University Rankings. They state that their purpose in providing a definite guide to the vast majority of universities in the world is informed by the time we live in. The age of globalisation is present and multinational corporations search ruthlessly for the most talented individuals to enhance their companies. Universities provide a great number of these talented individuals and hence their search is centred here. Corporations and other bodies, such as Government, hunt through various faculties, locating and investigating for fresh pools of talent. University Rankings and League Tables are here to aid their search. A comprehensive investigation and conclusion on an individual university, based on research quality, graduate prospects, teaching quality and International outlook, can provide a valuable insight into that institution, especially when judged and compared with similar investigations of other world universities. Thus universities that score highly under this criterion will attract the attention of potential employers. However, this system is not all one sided, it is apparent

a cyclic state of affairs is occurring; highly ranked universities are attracting the attention of multinational corporations, thus increasing the level of graduate prospects, which in turn attracts potential undergraduate students. In light of this system, universities invest highly to ensure that their institution is best equipped to deal with an influx of students and can provide the academic excellence they are seeking. However, this situation has lead to the downfall of University Rankings. The cyclic scenario described previously, has resulted in undergraduate candidates and parents alike to become obsessed with the status of a university. The closer to the top of the list, the better it will be to attend. However, rankings can be

The dangers of liberation Claire Dunne Between the 1980s and 90s the term Yuppies was coined. A Yuppie, by definition, is a ‘Young Urban Professional’, recognisable by their desire and ability to be free, indulge in luxurious and unnecessary accessories and generally enjoy life. Without validation their fun times and possessions would be entirely redundant therefore the Yuppie must ensure people notice them at all times enjoying life. Hedonism serves as a much less glamorous analysis of this lifestyle, sounding more menacing than the comparatively light-hearted ‘Yuppie’. In 2008, some twenty years after the development of the Yuppie, Canadian-born white guy, Christian Lander, launched a blog named Stuff White People Like. He intended it as an intimate project to be read by his friends in which they could publicly air their disenchantment with the stereotypical suburban white upper-middle-classes (also known as Yuppies). Depending on the sensitivity of the reader and the level of seriousness with which Lander’s list is read,

Stuff White People Like could be either entertaining or offensive. Regardless, it is an undeniably cutting observation of our society and at times an uncomfortable read. The list is so comprehensive and measured that, after brief consideration, I confidently concluded that there is not a single person I know who wouldn’t nestle comfortably into at least one category on the list. Indeed, in between ‘yoga’, ‘coffee’, ‘travelling’ and ‘thinking they know what’s best for poor people’ I find myself entwined several times in an inescapable stereotype of a generation. Lander himself notes that people are naturally uncomfortable when they find themselves stereotyped, understandable when we are taught from birth to believe in our own individuality, value and uniqueness. At seven years old I believed wholeheartedly that I was put on earth to somehow save the planet. Single-handedly. I interpreted (entirely inaccurately) the concept of unconditional love as licence to smuggle as many sweets from my sister

as possible without repercussion. I also efficiently developed a swagger Kanye West would be proud of, in preparation for the world’s unanimous acknowledgement of my greatness. In due course I realised that the world is actually much bigger than I had first calculated and perhaps it was too much effort to save it by myself after all. I decided the swagger should stay. Although comforting and effortless, the ideal of a free, indulgent lifestyle is ultimately flawed and, as history has proven, destructive when taken to its extreme. As a generation we stand at a unique place in history, in which we have been given more unchecked freedom and autonomy than any other. What’s more, we have been encouraged to embrace and enjoy this freedom. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “We have a suffocating sense of luxury and no sense at all of liberty. All the pleasure-hunters seem to be themselves hunted. All the children of fortune seem to be chained to the wheel. There is very little that really even pretends to be happiness in all this sort of harassed hedonism”. Profound words and a chilling reminder of the necessity of perspective and balance. The satirical novel (later a film) by Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho, depicts Patrick Bateman as the archetypal Yuppie, trapped in a stifling nine-to-five existence whose satisfied material

“

As a generation we have been given more unchecked freedom and autonomy than any other. What’s more, we have been encouraged to embrace and enjoy this freedom.

easily interpreted wrongly and their accuracy has been called into question. Rankings have a strong bias towards traditional and long-established universities in developing countries, indeed universities in South America and Africa rarely feature in World rankings. Thus the attractiveness of these institutions on the mentioned continents is unlikely to increase, thus increasing the gulf between universities in the developed world and the developing world. Furthermore, the criteria utilised to assess universities is misleading. Ellen Hazelkom, a leading figure in the Higher Education Research Unit, states the quality of research is one of the key criterions of assessment, but most rankings only perpetuate a single definition of quality,

at a time when third level educational institutions are diversifying. She also suggests that disciplines, such as Engineering, that do not publish vast numbers of citations will find it harder to score highly in league tables. The failure to investigate a university on broader grounds can lead to a ranking system, failing to take account that a university can promote excellence in many different aspects. As a result, a university with a poor ranking will not become attractive, not only to potential employers and undergraduates, but also to PhD student and partner universities. Thus, when claiming that you attend the 43rd best university in the world, be careful, and take a moment to ponder what does this really mean?

“

Photo: Pablo Pérez

Rankings only perpetuate a single definition of quality, at a time when third level educational institutions are diversifying

Does Northern Ireland deserve a better class of politician? needs prove to fall tragically short by way of satisfying him. Haunted by the hollowness of his existence he turns to hysterical fantasies of brutal crimes by which to vent his frustration at overwhelming emptiness of his reality. Of course, this is used as an extreme example, and it is impossible to criticise an entire generation. We have evolved into a society laden with comfort, luxury and extravagance, surrounded by instant results, technology and gratification. When coupled with the relentless message of selfworth we are all subject to, therein lays a potential for gluttony at best and tyranny at worst. As such, it seems deeply necessary that we maintain a sense of awareness, the ability to evaluate, and re-evaluate our motivations and utilize for the right reasons the overwhelming liberty we have been granted. We should recognise this eternally as a gift, not an indivisible right. If not, there is always the risk that, unchecked by humility, one will assume superiority of their own being over someone else’s. I live in eternal child-like hope that one day I will save the planet. I guess though, as quoted by J.D. Salinger, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one”. Or, in other words, there’s a world of difference in leaving the swagger behind.

The other evening as I watched the latest edition of the BBC Northern Ireland programme Spotlight, I was reminded of ills that continue to beset Northern Irish politics. The show itself involves a number of politicians fielding questions from members of the public on issues of importance in the North. The esteemed panellists on the show included Jim Allister, representing the Traditional Unionist Voice, the Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, Sammy Wilson of the DUP and the Alliance Party’s David Forde. The first question to be parried regarded the highly contentious issue of devolution of policing and justice from Westminster to Stormont. A lively opening was guaranteed. First to respond was Mr Allister who fiercely rejected any such move while Sinn Fein remained in power. He then proceeded into a heated “diatribe” which amounted to nothing more than a scathing indictment of the republican movement for its role in The Troubles. This then led on to an attack on Gerry Kelly for his own personal involvement in the bombing of the Old Bailey and the Maze breakout in the 1980s openly referring to him as a “murderer”. Mr Kelly responded forcefully emphasising the role of the security forces in the Troubles referring pointedly to the events of Bloody Sunday as one such example of police brutality. The remainder of the programme continued in much the vein with most of the participants engaging in the well-trodden

path of blame and rebuttal, without making a great deal of headway on the substantive issue at hand, policing and justice. I fully understand that the past still bears an indelible mark on the political landscape of Northern Ireland and indeed it would be churlish to argue otherwise. I also understand that some our elected representatives have been involved with paramilitary groups and carried out unspeakable acts. However, I fail to grasp why politicians in 2009 are still engaging in sectarian slagging matches and allowing old resentment come to the fore. May-

“

sort of authentic governance for Northern Ireland. Look at the progress that has already been achieved, namely the Good Friday Agreement, when politicians come together and with the aim of seeking a compromise. One could argue that it may be unfair to judge the political class on the basis of a few benighted politicians but I would submit that what was on show was a microcosm of the political system as a whole in Northern Ireland. The problem is that many of these politicians carry much of the emotional and psychological baggage from what they witnessed

I fail to grasp why politicians in 2009 are still allowing old resentment come to the fore.

be I am being naïve but have we not heard all of this before. When will Northern Ireland’s politicians be able to discuss “real” political topics such as housing and education without having draw attention to the seemingly immovable sectarian elephant in the room? The only ray of hope amongst the tribal squabbling came from the Alliance Party leader David Forde. He was the only politician who possessed the maturity and foresight to acknowledge that although Northern Ireland has had a dark past, the only way forward is to forget such differences and work together in order to provide any

and endured throughout the Troubles. They are too deeply enmeshed in these dark days where bitterness and hatred was the norm. This is especially true for those such as Gerry Kelly, who played an active part in violence. Even though he may have turned away from these acts, he is unlikely to be regarded with anything other than contempt by some within Unionist politics. I fear that it will take an entire new generation of politicians in order for there to be significant progress, a generation not so deeply scarred by the horrors of the relatively recent past. Conor O’Donnell

The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesOPINION

Hanging back on abolition

t has been fifty-five years since a criminal was executed in the Republic of Ireland. Yet, during my short stay in Japan over the summer, three men were put to death by this state. While I was in a car heading from Kobe to Toyooka, convicted murderers Hiroshi Maeue, Yukio Yamaji and Chen Detong were hanged until dead. The smokescreen of a rich, technological and westernized country hid from me the inhumane methods used to deal with rapists and murderers, and the hospitable, unassuming and peace-mongering nature of the Japanese people fooled me into believing they would not tolerate such unnecessary cruelty. Yet, capital punishment still prevails. At a cultural exchange programme at Chuo University in Tokyo, I spoke to Japanese students of my age. We discussed international relations and attitudes to social issues, but I was most curious to ascertain their views on capital punishment. I asked them to put up their hands if they favoured state execution of serial murderers. All hands went up. Noticing my surprise at the amount of support, one of the students told me that over 75% of the Japanese public

“

Physical abuse and sleep deprivation can weaken detainees to the point of confessing to a crime they did not commit

advocate capital punishment in the most extreme cases. He explained to me that strong punishment is required to deter their repetition, and related to me how the Japanese value strong law and order and are proud of their peaceful society made possible by zero-tolerance policies. It is not an ideal solution to prevent murder, but is essential for families of victims who demand justice by having their loved one’s death avenged. I completely understood their argument. If my mother or father were murdered, I’d imagine that I would want to see the killer behind bars, and maybe even dead. However, what if the accused were innocent? Can the deaths of ten guilty people justify that of one innocent person? No. I do not think so. A miscarriage of justice is an even greater crime than the original crime itself. “Listen,” said the guy who spoke before. “In 1995, there was a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Twelve people died and many more were injured.” He paused, as if to make sure I had absorbed what he had said. “When something like this happens, something has to be done.” Emile Durkheim argued that crime is an important factor that consolidates society, as it brings people together in opposition to a common evil. In this way, the death penalty is a public condemnation of murder and upholds a general moral order, which contributes to social solidarity. This student was telling me that capital punishment was important for bringing a society together in pursuit of justice. I question whether this justice could be championed if the person executed were actually an innocent father or mother. Could society function if it was stained with blood in such a public way? Could people trust the penal system if it mistakenly murdered someone who was completely innocent?

I thought of the famous case of the Guildford Four. Innocent people, although not executed, spent half their adult lives in prison. This was due to the need for the British government to find a scapegoat for the IRA bombing of a Guildford pub in 1974. These people and their families suffered for many years for no good reason. The government cannot give them back those years, and if a Japanese government were to execute an innocent person, they could not begin to compensate for that person’s life. These thoughts were on my mind so that I could not help but raise the topic later as I was having dinner with my host family. At first, my host mother was silent, but she soon described how inmates spend years on death row before being hanged. This is a double-sided coin. On the one side, the length of detention and opportunity for appeals help to ensure that execution is not carried out too lightly. On the flip side, physical abuse and sleep deprivation during interrogation can weaken detainees to the point of confessing to a crime they did not commit. Thereafter, the prolonged stress of waiting for death can instil a sense of helplessness and paranoia that has an adverse impact upon the inmate’s mental health. Limited contact with family, lawyers and even fellow inmates can drive them over the edge. They have no friends. They do not even have a TV for company. Should a convict be denied basic human rights? Is such suffering really deserved? Even though I have left Japan, I have not left behind concerns for how many more prisoners will die on death row. The belief that losing one’s life is a commensurable punishment for taking someone else’s is understandable. It is unsurprising that the families of murdered victims want justice. However, I was not persuaded of the merits of capital punishment. Surely, justice is not a synonym

for punishment, but also includes the prospect of rehabilitation. Society will continue to breed murderers if it does not offer the opportunity for actual and potential criminals to learn to live as civil citizens. Punishment is a necessary deterrent, but reintegration of past criminals is important too. Also, the idea that the wrong person is convicted and imprisoned is too much of a nightmarish injustice to face, never mind the possibility that they might be put to death by the same laws they have abided by their whole life. There are some promising signs that Japan will change its death penalty status. Keiko Chiba, a graduate of the same university I visited during my time in Tokyo, has now the responsibility for the death penalty. She is the new Minister of Justice since she took up her post with the DPJ-led government in September, and she is known for her outspoken opposition to capital punishment. If she can convince the Japanese public of the irony that one of the most industrialized nations on the planet still retains the death penalty, then there is hope that the Japanese penal system will embrace positive change. Until then, over a hundred inmates wait, wondering in fear whether tomorrow morning will be the last time they see the rising sun. Oísin Kearney

News analysis: Free Fees

Why fees aren’t free Jonathan Wyse

he decision by the Irish government to repeal the reintroduction of fees has been met with joy by students around the country. But ‘free fees’ promotes inefficiency and propagates inequality, by not imposing the true cost of education on students. Those who criticised the reintroduction of fees claim that students couldn’t afford to pay them, and that access to education would be limited as a result. Unfortunately, inequality in educational opportunity may stem from differing financial conditions – but free fees does nothing to stop this. As long as wealthier families can gain an advantage through spending, either through private tuition or grind schools, they will continue to do so. In the absence of fees, rich parents simply purchase the educational advantage elsewhere. A financially disadvantaged student won’t have to pay fees to the most prestigious universities in the country, true. But only if they manage to overcome their disadvantage and gain admission. Under the status quo, the same inequality subsists in education that free fees sought to eliminate – statistics and anecdotal experience show that access has not significantly improved for the poorest. But there are state schemes to improve access, I hear you say. If these other programs to increase education amongst the disadvantaged are working, why do they require free fees for everyone? After all, there are certainly students who can afford to pay. Meanwhile, the state can simply subsidise fees for the poorest. There’s no need for more involvement than this – just give them vouchers, and income is no longer a limiting factor in access to education. If necessary, there could be a sliding scale. Problem solved.

The truth is that much educational spending as it is today is highly wasteful. The Cato Institute highlights the problems inherent in trusting the state to decide on matters of education. In China, heads have been rolling as graduates are educated at great expense, only to find themselves jobless and without any way of employing their skills. However, if students are forced to pay for their education directly, they have a strong incentive not to waste educational resources. Since students who choose subjects with low employment opportunities tend to be wealthier, this is a regressive saving. If you want to study philosophy, how is it fair for everyone else to pay for it? There is limited public benefit. Fees mean fewer drop-outs and unproductive graduates, which are waste of the tax-payer’s money. Instead, students will direct their efforts towards subjects that yield the highest return in the employment market. Because they will have to pay back their students loan later, they are also more likely to complete courses. Happily, these kinds of subjects are those that the state is currently begging and bribing young people to study. Why waste the effort when self-interest and the market does this naturally? Fees mean more efficient decision-making by prospective students. But in the absence of state support, would students under-invest in education because many would find it so hard to get a loan for it? Liquidity constraints may be a problem, although this is not immediately obvious. Without huge state spending on education, there’s a lot more money to go around. But it is true that in the presence of risk aversion and reluctance to take on debt, students may be wary of taking on a loan to pay for

their education. After all, what if they don’t end up reaping the rewards in employment or end up dropping out? In that case, it may prove profitable for universities to offer a partial deferred payment scheme to their students. This solves both problems. With the co-operation of the state in enforcement, students could be expected to pay part of their fees after graduation and entry into employment. If you don’t end up getting a job, you might pay slightly less. Since universities are competing for your custom, they will formulate payment plans to make it easier for you to pay them and thus make their programs more attractive. The market strikes again. There is some moral hazard here, but this can be tempered by only deferring some fees and requiring students to still take on some debt. Unfortunately, the price of discouraging today’s rampant moral hazard is that some risk-averse students will be discouraged from getting an education. Another problem with ‘free fees’ under the status quo is that topearners have their training provided by the state. How is it fair to provide free education to doctors who expect to eventually earn €200,000 off the state? If fees are introduced, the prices of these courses could be raised to reflect their true value to the consumer. Fees mean high-earners will pay for the benefit they receive. They might also precipitate an increase in the places available. After all, students will demand and pay more for the most valuable training,

“

If you want to study philosophy, how is it fair foreveryone else to pay for it? There is limited public benefit.

so universities would want to provide it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Irish education system was churning out enough doctors to satisfy the increasing demand for health care? This would improve the health system and reduce costs, by eliminating the monopoly these health care professionals currently enjoy. Fees mean no more closed shops, courtesy of government control. Universities will also start making their investment decisions based on the return to the university and the students. As things stand, availability of funds determines the ability of universities to reinvest, and without any modicum of cost-benefit analysis. They are also competing for funding from the state, rather than voters. Fees means responsible capital investment by universities, who will be competing for students. If students are paying fees by choice (as opposed to having their fees taxed off them by the state), they will critically only seek education in Ireland if it’s really the best option for them. Currently, there is a strong bias through this obligated payment to attend university in Ireland. But if students can choose to take their money with them to another country, universities in Ireland will really have to compete with foreign shores for students. Fees foster competition and improve standards of education in Ireland. Free fees are imposing costs on students, even if they don’t realise it. They promote wasteful decisions by students. That’s bad for the education system. They necessitate higher taxes later in life, which will go unpaid as the highest-earners emigrate from the country. That’s a cost on everyone else. They necessitate higher taxes which are especially less of an imposition on the doctors who got their training for free. That’s hardly fair. They put Irish educational institutions at an unfair advantage in competing for Irish students. That promotes poor educational standards in Ireland. Finally, they encourage under-investment in education, by limiting their revenue streams to the state. That’s especially bad for Ireland’s future. ‘Free fees’ aren’t free. Far from it.

Éirígí Dangerous subversives or champions of free speech? The recent decision of the Central Societies Committee (CSC) executive to deny the right of Éirígí to form and organise as a society was one which should have been of keen interest to all political enthusiasts in college. The official reason given was that on balance the CSC felt that Éirígí’s aims were catered for by existing societies, and furthermore, they did not believe Éirígí were capable of making a valuable contribution to college life. Éirígí states on its website that it is an Irish, Socialist Republican, political party committed to ending the British occupation of the six counties and the establishment of a 32 county Democratic Socialist Republic. The association was founded as a Dublin based Socialist Republican Campaigns group in April 2006, coinciding with the ninetieth anniversary of the 1916 rising. Was it on foot of these aims that the association was denied the right to form a society? One suspects not. Éirígí have been consistent in claiming that they are not involved with any armed organisation, however, a closer look exposes some worrying links.

“

Éirígí have been consistent in claiming that they are not involved with any armed organisation, however, a closer look exposes some worrying links.

Éirígí in response to the recent shootings of two British Army soldiers and Constable Stephen Carroll of the PSNI issued a statement claiming, “While supporting the right of any people to defend themselves from imperial aggression, Éirígí does not believe that the conditions exist at this time for a successful armed struggle against British occupation.” One can carefully groom the entire statement issued by Éirígí on this occasion, but nowhere will you find a condemnation of the recent upsurge of violence. Furthermore, the man charged with the murder of the two British soldiers Colin Duffy was a prominent Éirígí member. It must be pointed out that the party have distanced themselves from Mr Duffy, claiming he left the party; however, a quick search of the name Colin Duffy into Google will still bring up live links on Éirígí’s own website describing him as a “prominent activist.” Several other former Éirígí activists have recently been arrested in connection with dissident republican activity. Whilst, it must be stressed that no current Éirígí members have been arrested in connection with paramilitary violence, there does appear to be a worrying cross-over of personnel. There are those who would claim that any group that is prepared to sanction violence of any form should be barred from organising in any meaningful fashion, especially in such a well respected establishment such as Trinity, however, one needs to think carefully about the consequences of such a stance. Éirígí have collected over 100 potential members within Trinity, should we merely cast these fellow students, and their viewpoints aside? Should we deride them as extremists, and continue to deny them the ‘oxygen of publicity’ that allowing them to form would necessarily entail? John Laws, a respected jurist, commented that in his view an extrem-

“

Whether some people like it or not, Éirígí is a political party with elected representatives, and if they are refused the opportunity to organise in college this has serious implications for free speech.

ist opinion “is one that admits of no exceptions. Its hallmark is the claim to a monopoly of the truth. Extremism may be found in the substance of a base opinion, but it may consist as surely in a preparedness to suppress views at variance with an opinion which is in of itself essentially decent. In both cases, a monopoly of the truth is urged.” Who then are the real extremists? We the morally outraged political moderates or those like Éirígí scrapping for survival on the fringes of the political spectrum? Whether some people like it or not, the facts speak for themselves Éirígí is a political party with elected representatives, and if they are refused the opportunity to organise in college this has serious implications for free speech. In the view of this writer free speech is not something that can be compromised, if it is not to be denied, then it is to be permitted. The college authorities may shirk in horror in their politically correct cocoon at the thought of an organisation like Éirígí organising and contributing to college life, however, as a recent visitor to Trinity Noam Chomsky so eloquently put it, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” If one considers that the CSC has managed to find room for a Socialist Party and a Socialist Workers Party, their claim that Éirígí’s views are sufficiently well represented is likely to ring a bit hollow. The current writer like many reading this article is no friend of Éirígí’s, however, the time has come for the College authorities to decide whether they are in favour of free speech, or whether they are happy to engage in this continued censorship. For all democrats, there is surely only one answer. Eugene Reavey

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesSCIENce & Technology

Why Chrome OS is no threat to Windows Instant boot-up times? Everything in the cloud? Chrome is the next gen OS, right? Trouble is, everybody still wants to do more with their PCs. As we’ve seen with the Linux netbooks that have shrunk into the background, people still want their PCs to come with Windows. Don’t get me wrong – Chrome looks really exciting and Google is completely right to pitch it at the second PC market, but people still want complete flexibility and expect to be able to do everything on a device they’ve just paid a couple of hundred pounds for. Cheaper devices? Well, there could be a tiny market there. But in retail non-Windows netbooks have been a complete disaster, contrary to what everyone thought. Remember the stat that 1 in 4 Linux netbooks were returned? What’s more the netbook market is changing. Sure, you can still get budget models, but the move towards larger screen sizes (10.1inch is the norm) and better specifications means that prices have crept up and capabilities are increasing. Windows 7 Starter netbooks are already appearing – the Asus Eee Seashell with Windows 7 is simply stunning in terms of price and specification, while extra bells and whistles such as Nvidia’s HD-capable chip are putting focus on laptops in the €400-€600 bracket and even above. It’s difficult therefore to see where Chrome can get a foothold in the market – especially as we’ve now had the news that you’ll only be able to buy it pre-installed rather than download it yourself. Perhaps if Windows 7 hadn’t been as frugal with resources as it has been, netbooks would have had to stick with Windows XP. In that case, there would have been plenty of opportunity. And although Microsoft was hardly quick to close the gap, the fact remains that Windows 7 Starter is cheap enough for system builders to turn their backs on XP. And, by the time Chrome OS hits home late next year, Windows 7 will be everywhere. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the market could change by the time Chrome devices hit the streets – who could have predicted the rise of the netbook would be so huge when Asus released the first Eee two years ago? What’s more, Google isn’t alone.

Plenty of people are designing netbooktype devices running Android and Linux derivatives and plenty more people want to get a slice of the pie, like Symbian and Intel Maemo. So here’s a thought. Instead of marketing Chrome OS as an operating system proper, what Google should do is to market it as a second instant-on operating system installed alongside Windows. Just like the proprietary Linux-based instant on OSses we see all the time from different manufacturers. By saying Chrome is definitely a “second PC” OS, Google is clearly already trying not to antagonise Microsoft - after all if Microsoft says to its partners “we’d rather you didn’t sell Chrome” then they’re unlikely to - but it could go further to massage Microsoft’s ego and pretend it is leaving well alone. Whatever Microsoft says, as a corporation it’s still all about the desktop. Google, on the other hand, is all about the web and could use Chrome as a Trojan Horse to get in alongside Windows. The result? People will gradually realise they use their browser for more things than they imagined, and need to boot into a full desktop OS less than they expected - and that has to work in Google’s favour. Steve Higginson

Nanobytes

Go to page 888 YouTube is to introduce automatically-generated captions to its videos, which will be rolled out across the site over the coming months. Initially captions will be generated in English, but there is scope for other languages. The first wave of these computer-generated captions will be made available on thirteen channels, including National Geographic and most of YouTube’s own channels. YouTube already offers users the option to caption their own videos, but the feature is rarely used for actually adding subtitles to videos. Ken Harrenstien, the software developer behind this new addition to YouTube, is himself deaf. The technology is not one hundred percent accurate yet, but Harrenstien says that it “will continue to improve with time.” Conor Smith

Large Hadron Collider back online After Fourteen months of repairs the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cern is up and running once again. The twenty-seven kilometre long particle accelerator was heavily damaged in September last year less than a week after it was first launched. An electric fault caused a tonne of liquid helium to leak, causing massive damage to some of the LHC’s electromagnetic components. The gargantuan machine was restarted last Friday, a few hours earlier than expected, and has since done more than it did during its initial run last year. The extra year has also given Cern scientists the time to develop more advanced instruments and software for dealing with the data the LHC produces. Cern researchers built the LHC to try to recreate similar conditions to those just after the Big Bang. Among what they hope to learn from their experiments is the discovery of the theoretical Higgs boson, the only particle in the Standard Model of particle physics not to have been observed. Steve Higginson

T s M

Biz blo aga cha E ny lin the Jou S pla “ra ing pli of sin M has le a Ne sul

iP th

An sho ste mo Ap Th ces The wa com cha wo

ma na Hy

Sports

21 Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

“I have personally seen grown men storm off and leave the pub in anger over something so ‘trivial’ as the Keane vs Vieira discussion.”

Fearghal Hughes, p23

Henry hugs Dunne as match ends in Paris. Photo: Inpho

Gavin Moran looks at the infamous match in Stade De France and laments the loss of Ireland’s world cup hopes once again Paris, 18th November 2009. A date that will remain etched in Irish minds forever. What should have been this country’s finest victory since beating The Netherlands to qualify for the World Cup in 2001 turned into arguably the most controversial sporting moment in Irish history. As fine a performance as this generation may ever see from our football team has been overshadowed by both a travesty and a tragedy. Thierry Henry’s hand stole the dreams of a nation and denied Ireland a deserved chance to compete in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup. Firstly though let’s focus and what happened pre-Henry. Dublin, 14th November. A sell-out crowd at Croke Park contains more Irish than originally expected, the French failing to sell their allocation as almost 20% of their tickets are returned to the Football Association of Ireland. Irish fans happily sung along to ‘La Marseillaise’ and welcomed the few French fans that had travelled with open arms, a kindness which was not to be reciprocated. After a close and undeserved loss, many believed that having to travel to Paris and win was a step too far for Giovanni Trappatoni’s side. In stark contrast to the French’s inability to shift all 6,000 of their quota conservative estimates believe that 20,000 Irish fans travelled to ‘The City of Light’. Pre-match media coverage led you to believe that this would be a formality, that the plethora of stars available to France’s manager Raymond Domenech would have far too much quality for Ireland’s mixture of solid club professionals and journeymen. What was to follow confounded all conventional wisdom as the so-called lesser players outplayed and outfought the French in their own home. An entirely dominant first half display by Ireland was capped off by a fabulous team goal as Damien Duff was released wide on the left he looked up and delivered an accurate pass to captain Robbie Keane who accepted Duff’s offering gladly slotting the ball

past the outstretched arm of French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The second half was to follow a similar pattern to the first with Ireland again in the ascendancy. Chances were spurned as often as they were created with John O’Shea the first to miss badly as he blazed over from six yards out. Worse was to come from Ireland’s point of view though. First Duff was put through by a defence splitting pass by Liam Lawrence, with the whole of the goal to aim for and under little pressure from the defenders chasing him he shot tamely into Lloris’s arms. Robbie Keane was the next player to rebuff a chance to seal Ireland’s passage to South Africa. Slid through Keane rounded the French keeper but his initial touch was too heavy and he carried the ball out of play much to his and Ireland’s despair. The full time whistle was greeted with loud boos and whistles from the French faithful who were less than happy with their side’s showing in normal time. Extra time and possibly penalties would be required to separate the side who were level after 180 minutes. Tied they were but only in score, Ireland had the upper hand in effort, possession and chances created over the two legs but failed to make the advantages count. Extra time began in a dull fashion with neither side willing to commit men forward as both tried to consolidate and not surrender an easy goal. The first talking point occurred ten minutes in as Anelka utilisied his pace in an incisive French break culminating in him taking on Shay Given one on one. Tipping the ball by Shay, Anelka crashed to the floor in agony claiming a foul by the Irish keeper but referee Martin Hansson was unmoved. Two minutes later arrived the key point in the tie. A hopeless punt forward by the French defence was rewarded with a free kick due to a needless push on Henry by St. Ledger. Substitute Florent Malouda’s free kick appeared to be well overhit mid-flight but it in real time it appeared as though Thierry Henry had unbelievably kept the ball in,

managed to control it perfectly and place a cross on William Gallas’s head. Magic from Henry again. Or so we thought. The Irish players surrounded the referee and protested before a replay was shown much to the fans bemusement. What was shown in the next few seconds will haunt Irish people for years to come. The ball was in fact over hit and Henry handled the ball not one but twice before deftly flicking the ball into Gallas for an equaliser. Half time in the extra time. The French had finally found their voices. There was however another 15 minutes of play left as the second period of extra time began but at this stage Ireland had become ragged, they had lost their heads. The best chance of the last half actually fell to France as Ireland were pushing forward for an equaliser a sharp counter attack with Sidney Govou scooping the ball over from six yards out much to the disbelief of the rest of his team mates. The final whistle was preceded by ugly scenes French officials and players all standing on the touchline whistling at the referee and waving their arms animatedly signalling for the final whistle which followed a dreadful free kick by Aiden McGeady. Cue exuberant celebrations around dejected Irish players. A squad who believed their own hype through to the World Cup and a squad disbelieving their luck out. Justice does not always prevail as advertised. I can understand why Henry handled the ball. In fact he said it best himself with his comment ‘I exploited the exploitable.’ He should have admitted what he did. He had the chance to show hundreds of millions of people around the world that cheating is bad and honesty is an important part of the game. Wrong as his actions were on the field though it’s what occurred after the goal which has damaged his reputation irrefutably. The profuse celebration of the goal. The patronising commiserations the Irish players were subjected to after the game. Most disheartening of all though have been his comments in the days proceeding the game. ‘I didn’t mean it, it was accidental’ and ‘I think there should be a replay’. The first of these two comments he cannot truly believe and is an insult to the intelligence of a football fan. A ball travelling at that velocity, with

the hardness of the ball itself would have knocked his hand firmly backwards and gone out for a goal kick had it been ‘accidental’. The truth is he guided the ball with not one but two strokes of his left hand directly onto his right boot to seal Ireland’s fate. Cheating in this era appears now to be acceptable but couple with blatant lying is a poor display from a man once held in high esteem by many on these shores. The latter quote was intended to be a clever piece of PR for Henry. Ireland were struggling for supporters for their plight in France and Thierry would swoop in and give his considerable backing as France captain to give fresh hope to the Irish. How it actually unfolded was embarrassing for all parties concerned. His admission that he believed a replay would be best after Fifa, the FAI and the French FA had all declared a rematch would not occur was a desperate attempt to save face by a man whose reputation has been irreparably damaged. Undoubtedly a great on the pitch his dishonesty off it will prevent him from being remembered fondly as one of the greatest strikers ever seen like he should be. There was never any chance of a replay. And the factors which unfortunately decided Ireland’s fate were not related to sport at all. It was for financial purposes that a replay was never in question. Rough estimates state a figure that France’s qualification is worth up to eight times as much

“

Fair play may not be something you would associate the French people but it was actually one of their own, Arsene Wenger who offered the most important gesture of fair play seen in the past decade

to Fifa than if Ireland had reached South Africa. Herein lies the reason why seeding was introduced at such a late stage to the qualification process. Discussions about seeding teams for the playoff were non-existent until it became apparent that major nations such as France, Portugal and Russia would fail to reach the World Cup through their respective groups. Panic set in and a rash decision was made to try and ensure that the so-called ‘glamour sides’ would get a preferential draw in the playoffs. Fifa’s grand plan almost worked to perfection, Slovenia’s elimination of Russia on the away goals rule the only disappointment they suffered. Surely now after this mistake by the officials and the uproar that has been subsequently caused it is time to introduce new rules to prevent this sort of scenario form arising again. Two options have been discussed and both are viable. Goal line officials reminiscent of GAA umpires are the first choice on the table and video technology is the second. Personally I would be in favour of the former option as it still retains the much loved opinion based decision making where a call is made as it appears in real time, albeit now with an extra two officials to help assist the more difficult rulings. Action must be taken quickly to help soften the blow football’s reputation has taken in the aftermath of this situation. Disappointingly, according to reports it appears that French manager Raymond Domenech was the driving force behind the refusal to grant the FAI’s wish to have a replay. The French Football Federation were willing to consider the request but Mr. Domenech was adamant that there would be no rematch, perhaps an €850,000 qualifying bonus was a factor in influencing his decision. Fair play may not be something you would associate the French people with after what has transpired this past week but it was actually one of their own, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who offered the most important gesture of fair play seen in the past decade. Arsenal were playing away to Sheffield United in a 5th round FA cup game and it was deadlocked at 1-1. In the final stages of the game one of United’s players required treatment for an injury and the ball was put out of play for an

The infamous handball that cost Ireland the game. Arsenal throw in. Expecting the ball back which is standard procedure in football, United were ill-prepared as Kanu threaded the ball through for Overmars to slot home what he and the majority of the football community thought was the winner. Not so. Directly after the game Wenger offered Sheffield a replay due to the contentious circumstance in which it had been won. Such a display of fair play was unprecedented and is rarely replicated in the modern game. The implications of this incident are far more damaging than just failing to reach the World Cup in South Africa. Perhaps one of the most serious elements of the debacle has failed to receive much media coverage strangely. As a consequence of our elimination we have again been placed as third seeds for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. It’s a vicious circle unfortunately and it means Ireland will face an uphill battle to reach a major international tournament for the foreseeable future. On paper it appears that this team as failed in its objective but the courage, heart and determination shown in Paris will not be forgotten quickly. The enduring images of Damien Duff sitting on the turf in tears and Shay Given’s constant apologies to the Irish faithful are ones we will carry with us forever. Over two million people tuned in to watch the game the biggest viewing figures for a sporting event in this county since Italia ’90. With that support behind the team, the passion showed by the players throughout the qualifying campaign and a manager who is able to get the best out of what little he has to work with don’t rule out the boys in green fulfilling the potential shown these past two years by getting to Poland/Ukraine in 2012. Gavin Moran

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesSPORTS Sports Illustrated with Conor O’Toole

At least we’re still the best at GAA

watched the match on Facebook, because football bores the shit out of me. That was way better. Everyone France V Ireland was getting excited because the Irish team (I’d refer to Ireland: some amount the team as ‘us’ but we lost France: more than that so I’m gonna go with ‘them’) winning a match against a team that clearly had played this game before, and by all accounts, they were doing quite well. But then people got angry. That’s when the bad words started getting posted. At first I assumed people were just being foul because France was better than us at football. From what I understand a Frenchman called Henry used his hand to touch the ball (you’re not allowed do that in football) but for some reason the referee didn’t notice and then Henry scored a goal. It’s clearly a fault in the football regulatory system that allows hundreds of people to see (even whilst drunk) that a foul was committed, but because looking at a camera is considered blasphemous by the football authorities the ‘ref’ can’t do anything. It’s not Henry’s fault that football is fundamentally flawed, imagine if Roy Keane got away with a handball and scored a goal that would’ve won them the match but then pointed out to the referee that he made a mistake and in the interest of fairness and good sportsmanship he couldn’t allow the goal to be counted. He’d be lynched. Some of the stuff on Facebook is a bit unnecessary though.

Like all other football players, Henry has two arms which, if you spend most of your time focusing on your feet, flail about wildly. Like all other football players, Henry has two arms which, if you spend most of your time focusing on your feet, flail about wildly. They’re on a ball and socket joint for heaven’s sake! I’m assuming seeing as he beat Ireland, I’d like to think Henry is at least ‘quite good’ at football, and you’d imagine players of a high calibre would not intentionally cheat at the job, whilst being watching on television. Unless football is either not really that hard to be good at, or the sport of bastards. It was probably a very silly impulse that he wouldn’t have indulged had he more than a microsecond to decide, get over it. C’mon like, Facebook groups called “I Hate Thierry Henry The Cheating French Frog“ is just racism. Fair enough, the team did get screwed over but if the rules for governing a football match were abided by there are no real grounds for an appeal. As Henry himself said, “I will be honest, it was a handball. But I’m not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him,” he said. In football the referee’s decision stands. If you don’t like it, take up Ultimate Frisbee or something. They’ve got a method of self-governing which means there is no ref, and it promotes good sportsmanship. It’s still a stupid sport, but not much more than any other sport. Except extreme ironing, that rules. I can honestly say that at least three good things (for me)

The price of French wine has dropped, which I am very happy about. Hot damn cheap French wine makes me very happy indeed. And drunk. have come out of us losing that match. First of all, I had something to write my column about. Otherwise you’d probably be reading about me urinating on tiny goalposts or something. Don’t worry, that’ll almost definitely be in the next issue. The price of French wine has dropped, which I am very happy about. Hot damn cheap French wine makes me very happy indeed. And drunk. But anyway. Sport. Sorry. The third advantage of the Irish losing is that we don’t have to have a poxy world cup summer where everyone talks about the world cup for fucking months and I’d have to write about it and it’d be so dull. Everyone’d have those wall charts and junk and get all excited and someone’d claim we’d a chance of winning and then when we don’t everyone’d be all like ‘GUTTED AAAAHHHH SOO CLOSE!!1!’ Sure you sports section readers might enjoy that, but it’d just be a pain in my arse. Crisis averted. It looks like we have to put up with people being racist on Facebook, instead of using it for it’s original purpose, talking about John and Edward. Rob told me I had to write more than this, but I’ve run out of ideas, so: Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders. Screw Flanders.

DUUFC retain women’s intervarsity title Trinity retained their women’s indoor intervarsities title with a convincing performance in the final against DCU having upset tournament favourites UCC in the semis. The open team however finished second losing to UCC in the final due to a few sloppy points at a crucial point in the match which took the game away from them. The open division (no gender restrictions) took place in DCU on the 14th of November with Trinity in the power pool with all of the top 4 seeds, the winner of the group getting an automatic spot in the final. The first game of the day was against a strong UCC side who played a zone defence which is very unusual for indoor games. Trinity managed to play through it with relative ease but some unforced errors resulted in the game becoming very close. Cork took the lead with less than a minute to go and a last second blade from Ian French to Cian Quinn left the game as a 5-5 draw. Second game of the day was with the old rivals from Belfield. A lackluster UCD team met a fired up Trinity and never got into the game. Their turnovers were punished quickly with many of Trinity’s goals coming directly from dropped discs. Trinity win 10-5. This left Trinity with a game against DCU to potentially win the group. Unfortunately the game was played on a bigger pitch than the earlier games and DCU were able to utilise the extra breakside space a lot better

than Trinity and were able to pull away towards the end of the game to win 8-6. This left UCC in first, UCD last and Trinity and DCU tied with Trinity going ahead on goal difference. This left a crossover between Trinity’s first and second team to decide who gets a spot in the semis. Despite the second team’s best efforts they couldn’t match the first team’s disc skills and more structured offence and lost the game 11-5. The semi finals were set up with a rematch between Trinity and DCU and UCC taking on DIT with new recruit and former UCD captain Dave McAlester giving them a huge boost both offence and defence. This time around trinity were able to pull through with an absolutely staggering performance from the unanimously decided MVP Cian Quinn. Scoring eight and assisting with three of all eleven goals Quinn was unstoppable near the endzone winning countless aerial battles against some far more experienced opponents. Quinn’s outstanding performance carried Trinity through to an 11-8 lead and a place in the final against UCC. UCC once again played with their unorthodox zone defence which had proved unbeatable all day was brought to its knees by Trinity’s patient offence and frequent break throws. After conceding three or four points UCC changed their defence to a man marking system for the

Photo: Paul Cronin first time in the day. The teams traded with one break each to 7-7 but a dropped disc from a risky blade by Ian French allowed UCC to go a break up and take the lead. Two more breaks followed to give Cork a three point lead which they extended to five by the end of the game winning 15-10. Impressive performances by Ian Lau and final MVP Brian T. O’Callaghan anchored UCC to their first indoor varsity title since 2006. Women’s indoors followed the next day. Early losses to UCD and DIT didn’t bode well for the defending champions who were missing their most experienced player and last year’s MVP of the final Sparky Booker. Jen Kwan was playing out of position all day as a handler due to low numbers but performed exceptionally well throughout the day and provided a solid base to the team’s

offence at all times. Captain Heather Barry was strong as always at the back assisting in many of the team’s goals. New recruits Helen Hobson, Emma McGahey and Rebecca Wall all played amazingly well despite being new to the sport and all caught their fair share of goals. The stand out performance of the day undoubtedly came from Sarah Campbell. Though she hadn’t played since March she proved unmarkable all day with scores and assists totalling forty of the team’s fifty two goals. The semi finals pitted Trinity against tournament favourites UCC. Trinity came out strong though, obviously having regrouped after the group stage defeats and were able to shut down much of Cork’s offence, special mention must go to Jen Kwan who ably marked top scorer for the tournament Meabh Boylan throughout the

game keeping her tally to only one goal. Trinity’s superior offence carried them to an 11-7 victory in the biggest upset of the day and earned them a final against long standing rivals DCU lead by former Ireland captain Fiona Mernagh. DCU’s isolation offence which had been effective both last year and during the earlier games on the day looked static against Trinity’s strong defence and forced risky throws which resulted in plenty of turnovers. These turns were punished severely and Trinity stormed into a 5-0 lead. An offence change and a slight resurgence from DCU wasn’t enough to combat Trinity’s solid offence who were able to maintain their lead through to the end to win 13-7. Outstanding performances from both Sarah Campbell and Helen Hobson gave Trinity 7 goals and 7 assists and earned Campbell the prize for

MVP of the final. A pleasantly surprising result from the weekend was Trinity’s spirit scores. Given ultimate is a self refereed sport every team is graded on their “Spirit of the Game” in order to reward team’s who play fairly. Despite Trinity’s reputation for poor spirit in Ireland (a reputation which is quite the opposite abroad) the new spirit scoring system which is geared more towards competitive play resulted in Trinity being the most spirited club averaged across all teams in the two divisions. In the open division the first and second teams came second and third respectively whereas the women’s team came joint first with UCC, Trinity were deemed winners though due to finishing higher in the tournament. Sam Mehigan

GAA and History Society commemorate anniversary

From left to right: James Sweeney, Arlene Crampsie, Brian Bonar, Andy Hartnett, Mickey Harte, Mike Foley, Ger Carragher.

Trinity GAA Clubs in conjunction with the History Society hosted a lecture on Monday 2nd November in the Arts Building. Panel members on the night were former Trinity student Arlene Crampsie, now with the GAA Oral History project, Mike Foley deputy sports editor of the Sunday Times and legendary Tyrone Manager Mickey Harte. A lively debate ensued on the night where Trinity students availed of the rare opportunity to quiz such GAA celebrities. It was great to hear

Arlene speak about the Oral History Project, which aims to reach out to as many people as possible in order to investigate the social impact the organisation has had on Irish life. Mike Foley highlighted the challenges facing the GAA going forward and his experiences growing up in Cork and how the GAA played a massive role during his formative years. And last but not least the legendary Mickey Harte spoke passionately for about 20 minutes on what the GAA means to the people of Tyrone and

how the GAA organisation undersells itself. Mickey believes gaelic games ought to be marketed on a worldwide basis. There were over one hundred and twenty people present on the night and many availed of the opportunity to purchase signed copies of Mickey’s book. After the panel fielded questions from the floor they posed for photos with members of Trinity GAA clubs. Eoin Vaughan

Trinity secures win over Greystones Ladies rugby team look for a victory Greystones v Trinity Trinity: 25 Greystones: 12 November 14th, 2009 Trinity won their first league game of the season in five starts on Saturday. This was a highly motivated performance on Saturday by the students after some close losses in the previous weeks. Due to adverse wet weather conditions, the game was moved to Santry on the recently widened pitch there. Trinity started in fine style boldly taking the game to Greystones with ball in hand, The students played their best rugby in the first 25 minutes with forwards and backs linking to stretch the visitors all over the field. The first score came in the fifth minute from a line out close in Trinity forwards

showed impressive power when they drove the visitors back over their line for a try which hooker Mark Murdock scored. Trinity followed this up with some superb running rugby and it was only a matter of time when after some quick recycling with explosive prop James Gethings particularly prominent, captain and flanker Johnny Iliff split the Greystones defence with a devastating burst of speed to score by the posts. 12-0 up after 20 minutes Trinity kept attacking, and another superb movement featuring several players resulted in left wing Shane Hanratty being bundled into touch three metres short of the line by the scrambling Greystones defence. Trinity missed two penalty kicks which would surely have seen them out of sight in the opening quarter. Greystones inevitably came back and experienced out half Barry Lynn took a nice opportunity to slice through the home defence to score against the run of play just on half time to put his team back in the game.

In the second half “Stones” did launch some attacks but the Trinity defence swarmed all over them and kept them in their own half. In the final quarter Trinity upped their game and turned the screw on the visitors. Trinity full back Andy Wallace kicked two penalties to put the students more than one score ahead 18-7. With five minutes to go inside centre Conor Mills was up to support his captain Johnny Iliff to score by the posts after the home side had camped on the Greystones line for what seemed a considerable amount of time. After this score Trinity were intent on attacking from everywhere in the quest for a bonus point for scoring four tries. But a loose pass resulted in Greystones turning them over close to the Trinity goal line and the County Wicklow team scored a consolation try in the last play of the game. This was a much deserved win for the students. Who now take a two week break from AIBL action. Kay Bowen

DUFC News Last Sunday (November 22nd) the team travelled to Oxford University in the annual challenge match. Oxford University, of course ,is only a few weeks away from their “Blues” game against Cambridge so should provide formidable opposition. In the J1 league, Trinity seconds upset top of the table St Marys College, in terribly wet and windy conditions 9-3 in Templeville road. On Friday November 13th in wet conditions, UCD won the first leg of the U20s colours 6-5. In a game Trinity U20s led with only five minutes to go after scoring the only try of the game through scrum half Mick McLoughlin. This was a brutal way to lose for the young up and coming Trinity team who looked set to win the game only for the home team to kick a 30m penalty into a strong wind.

Old Belvedere v Trinity Old Belvedere: 17 Trinity: 5 November 8th, 2009 Trinity visited the arch enemy that is ‘Belvo’ on Sunday November 8th for a grudge match. Trinity were looking for revenge after their defeat last year in the same fixture. Trinity, carrying a few injuries, started the match well against an experienced Old Belvedere side. Two early tries from Belvedere saw them take an early lead and more pressure saw them score another try just before half time. Trinity started to take a hold of the game before half time and this was brought through into our play for the second half. Fair play to the squad,

they regrouped at half time. The team talked about taking the game to their pack and getting the ball down in there half as much as they could. Some great work in the back line from Emma Doyle and Therese Morely saw Trinity pin Belvedere down the pitch. Some great tackling from Fiona McGinty and Michelle O’Brien put more pressure on the Belvedere back line. The pack, captained by fearless leader Kiva Brennan, led from the front and took the ball to the pack and some warrior work from Maeve McCutcheon and Maria Farrell really shook the Belvedere pack and finally broke down their defensive line. A penalty quickly taken by Brennan saw Trinity set up a good ruck position, the ball went out the back line and some good hands from O’Brien saw the squad’s newest member Kyra O’Sullivan cross the line to score a well deserved try. Sarah Molan

Centre Half Rio Ferdinand Fantastic ball playing centre half who plied his trade with West Ham, Leeds and Manchester United.

2 t, 1s

pt Se

e ba f th o

: IC N IC

: IC CN PI ICoks hlights12 TRney lohe higlture p ECeavee of ter. Cu ELEmmcakKat osnumm

AY BR

be ts s gh em pt ok hli 12 lo ig e p Se ey e h ur en th ult av of r. C Ke e e a on m m at um Em ack he s b ft o

2 t, 1s

be ts s gh em pt ok hli 12 lo ig e p Se ey e h ur en th ult av of r. C Ke e e a on m m at um Em ack he s b ft o

Right Back

Peter Schmeichel

Gary Neville

Centre Half

Sol Campbell

John Terry

Left Back

Right Wing

Central Midfield

Denis Irwin

Cristiano Ronaldo

Roy Keane (c)

Left Midfield

Forward (Right)

Forward (Left)

Ryan Giggs

Eric Cantona

Thierry Henry

.ie

tim

ity

s er niv

.u w

.ie

tim

ity

s er niv

.u w

ry ra ed lib sk de A ea ith n. (R L ry a of ri are puty bra xt. ra e e li urs Lib r P D e nte sh s ho e vo z, t th t co r, A ‘wa li G th re urt k a a ce n e r IN by , T K oo in th Offi nio in yc te er ie ‘l s n U on N on t Jo ri n o ’ ti cti u PE w ep ss x W O v ie Ke d Je d to sio ti ents uc ’ du d o le s re e n ha ci uca d d s. n A ew Li- e a y de d tu re ice a re a AY N E D er th e N nd is es) th ke n e S any rv ed g in 5. uty th se SU re u ut th rv ic id ma nio t th h d se ow in 16:4 Dep e on clo tes a o Se sa d ’ U a it an sh eck at d k to u ke ab rs’ an an ts id th d w urs te ch ng an ista on min ta t e rari get’ den sa e ho bsi for osi er m ti n mis . b ud Stu ke cern g we es cl ep s a ten ee e te men ish b e oo n nin ry ic as Ke a in fift Th bsi cu Ir st Th y C co pe ra rv w n e is w no an ry. we do in t la ek le ry o lib r se o , th th as th ra e a urs in we to ve ry e te sh ed at w re lib th g o jo r s d e n n bra Th un it is ask th ere mo e d o ari g h is p ten hen co s; n id th s f th ge p in it y urs in w e in ok he sa d ice o a n pre pen n ho e bo W an an rv ose ch is f o Tri alf . H itte g ri te se cl n e o h h th m r h n in bra ebsi nte the bee ys so hic d a oo om w w u re ce sa ari w an yn C orm d co efo sin ke mp in ne Ma ry erf are b as oo co ies, o I, ibra er. is p p oll h C e it nty NU e L ob y com e C a th ers ve h th ct nit th s on niv se it to -O Tri ours nd rie u ith g w is id y h la bra ke w lon th in m wh en Ire li ma a ow ts d op in er h en sh ee ske ry ies larg ic xp m A ra it s wh e st lib ers ha e ore n in niv it y nag e m e co ace u rin a er e th sp s T m h th y e to rary d ud acc b lace r st ipe flo p ou er h e sw low r o th e cto th ire is D Th p o pe st

L IA EC SP K y EE ar e W g res p7 br os ys S’ knowre doinFeatu Li o cl nda ER d to s a ially Hou neeonciet tienanc t u ESing ytstthuedsrevivtse fi S FREverymitohnwhowaf ptorsoujec ot o r Y the llocfar toothhe EDon ofnsohvaemnr epan16ds to AGie DavrhisaouisreOodlpeinvyio fu TRHmusbteidoian’ss entre c uhe ts IrQis or L sp

L IA EC SP K ry EE W g res p7 ra ose ys b S’ knowre doinFeatu Li o cl nda ER d to s a ially Hou neeocietienanc t u ESing yt the srvive fi S FREverymthwhwa to su o o Y the fr to h EDon ofnshamnep16 AGie Davhisour Oo pinio TRHmubedia’s

h Iris

es m Ti ity rs ve ni eU es e m fe Th ts ng Ti or di y Sp pendserittiny s r vuen ru ni sc es eU im

2 t, 1s

lth ea H

IA c lt EC ca vo SP y u re EK ar eD o br tohs ys t Li owcil ndabs rt u lu ge Ss c An rive d

d ón ‘a a e ee pro C as y ent- m e w acit d is th p resi t th ed P A uss c dis

ac olt uc v D o re ith bs t r w lu ge s c An rive d

ac olt uc v D o re ith bs t r w lu ge s c c An rive lth d ea

p7 g res ow oin atu kn e d Fe to s ar lly ed ie cia ne t n u ocie na yo s fi g the ive hin t rv yt ha su er w to Ev om ow fr h to

t en ud st cts of j e n ro tio r p ca he lo ot al to er s ov nd d fu ise y ra lev n s re io nt st ce ue rts o sp

t th e en on am 16 ud on f sh n p st cts vis r o io of j e Da u pin n ro ie ho O tio r p ub ’s ca he H edia lo ot m al to h er s Iris ov nd d fu ise y ra lev n s re io nt st ce ue rts o sp

lth ea H

so s’ in o gu st ry en tely Lu ra ed f P an : lib sk dl o rtu oto e A ea iya fo Ph th n. (R L ry a tra un s. to of ri are puty bra xt. Be as ime d rs ibra Pe De e li nte sh‘A w T e ke ou L r A as w d) ity th z, h lin e ts o vo t th t co r, ‘w lire at n sh tu ivers G th re urt k a a ce n be th ou cost e e r IN by , T K oo in th Offi nio in dy ic n to yc te er ie ‘l s n U on N oen t (p U ys acc e ntr is is Jo ri n o ’ ti sa ly th ctim uit he PE w ep ss y e x W O v ie Ke d Je d to sio ti ents uc ’ duco d osu f T e n of s ce ne ate d le s re e n ha ci uca d d s. ’s nin o iarg . rt o u n A ew eg e o t a y de d tu re ice aytreh nagu re L e AY ch n ll rg n o m d a k, N E D er th e e 5,.ca uty th e tio Co a ce sp al gra s ea s N nd is es) th ke n e S any rv eSdm gpin th fla e l ch er the ion , hip p sse rp n se SU re u ut th rv ic id ma nio t th h d se oeww in he 16e:4rs De e o clo tes in Th ua y p g it taff ers off cla so a bo Se sa nd ’ U tha w it an ttshh e.ckT aotrm k to u ke d n ft in dd ‘s b s y on ort in ta a rs’ an a ts id d urs tea ch ust grf an ista n an r fi nn e a m em ilitie ent, sp sa d Sp ap t e rari get’ den sa e ho bdsiM fourg osipne er m tio n m mis . e ce fo f ru th fro c m c m d s n e e en of nd an an b ud Stu ke cern g waen eiss A cl re rais nd e o nd ed bli e fa uip an th ep a te e e te m h a in d t t b e oo n in r ic as e as in ft Th bsi u Iris st u g u n fu h n fi K th e to a n c q th is e t p o fi en ed F n e h as Th y C co pe raghry rvn wend e is w no an ry. we do in t la ek ra nd of f e rses be en m h lm re by rd a pm is d b r seru orn , th th as th ra e a rs in we to le ry o lialla ge as m e 0 ve t a ire o u y tu d t w u b th art ag lly oa lo furb an r ve rary eG ndtea sh e a lle h p ’s m 0 e en . re li n ng o jo er ds h co fo a B ve s ep b hThn 2u3 iteisre ask th ere mo e d o ari g h is p ten hen .ie salend ’ Co0,000 evelouley 164,0e redartm 8/09 for D are nu nd de re itie g Jo aco s;b n id th s f th ge p nin it y urss in w nsa ip e 0 d A € th p 0 e ets an e a nt e to cil din d ts inr oooukld he sa nd ice o a n pre pe rin hollin e tee ree in sh Th €6 re Mc at to De 20 ons n s‘Th udg ed itte ce sid s fa fun .’ im fe ge r en e fo sh fu e b W an a rv ose ch is f o T alfCo. H it th d r in ti at e b rov m er t a rt d cts tre ents fo ori te se cl n e o h h lle g ud g th r th r. Intes cate d fo cts oca the the jects o te th or m Co in d r h n st Frin and p om t p se spo see je itey ud te tr nt bra ebsi nte the bee ys so hic d aKa oodit om ce w fo fa a llo n je all of ut ro em vo in e ro sth st C h is g e ity h h, Y orm w u re ce sa ari w anry yn E C d to du dd so ic a fu ro l in rg u e b p . a m d ty n p t a u eig nd tin v id al p eorf e a p ry 0 n in e co e u fo Tr bu burg SITerftroareu in en en ’s tua tio le the e ort is t th yo th st €7 on f fu x is ro pit xiv be as si ook com ies, on MI, DMepibra er. ERis pin p stolla in din em rn to ‘Do port nual e of trati ip o u- be opm Sporte ac tribu ailabs of th of Sp ese e conuse e p ca te h C e it nty NU e L ob IV y as comfore Cg E p a e m asu e to w e.u t s is v in th rs N it h te ct in ve s e th th n e h eg re it rt, y ne Th w puread su n ancharg reg bersh all st u- of The dis ot a cost ed ector of thfor th at ho on niv se it to -O UTrilin oursrgnd mriew il oll T m o at ert r u ith g w is id y hcha la cobraes keG C the om Sp th n- wwdum 7 U to of a e the em for E d ke th re n ted tail Dir st st bo oh rite L a e e co w w n th m wh en Ire e li fe a g n oo e C of s 00 S n ntr h D a A e to m e ce d to D e rg 2 o it t alo ow ts in d op in therTheh m tr rl s W th larg on a n k inen tim re nio y C a pay s RN n nce tor ate rts d pTC ucti s ce w en n sh ee ske ry ies larg icsee xp Pr Ca ew a om e illi of 2 ’ U le t ch to ort TE se ina ec st o use lo d d ort aid op s ce m A bra it s d wh re ees. nstr e N fr Th 5 m on IN um F ir y, f sp g eve use to sp p r rt nts sh en d rs ase e i- o A sp ag e li d D le h 2 o e p rt ti in d N d e be e fo spo de r, ud se e in niv it y ponagme mx- e cowacec A ran f th e cAu nt be re d is po rm ase as €1. ruc ed fe e ts?’ Stu ce e st e u of th th l n f S te u rinpro a noer e e th o ro s sp st nu M ce is a cre w fth en e Offi th b ip Tis mps hthe thd toy ll es e om y er e pit is fu nt o ium in it re e nti ort d d Th on at nly h s ce e th be to u ry d e ud a cc fr err t p m ca Th e ed Sp se Co at ro rafor cend st of e a eflo ti th o ers s ha sin Th d e pri an a T igh inco a d. rtm m th e g be pla teur n ip. Th ca id uld mb r ar e 77 07. sse it rer’ h e e te n pa nd . f th m e 7, d t ve wes o sa ho e .’ et th oic inho tioe sw arg € 20 a a su it t tr rea t fu De a cts o co th f €7 ve in is tath uti lo eetor ‘s r m e ch to in t p th rea n w tha c en e ort je rity e is and o pro n c e tick all ch is a es T o d e p m n- 8 fo ntr e 70 d se xe thminirec is m y th sh pro ajo m e n eir a ra ce Th € ce th uir e ltati an th he th . Th pre e e no D Thtive b nd s m co hip arg s ndu o 50 u th n w ate ve re th e le. cueopw fu ort e ’s in ers t ch wa re em are du c om d m q fr tro du re by nsu nio n cuti re on f th ab xe p re sp Th tre b en h fe m re gra bli e. un xin ren rge ed co ’ U m ic re ’s e 4 pu tr e nsu s o ail e to sto en e ud h g re e ts y e a in e a e n C f m l st w nt ley t th 99 6 cen stu d ub ils av w d ti w ent reb uch an ce de cl eta yet ne ate itu a o ua rge de Au tha , d 19 s al se s s e r m ffi Stu d ot e nd nst s n a stu Mc s ers an ort nu e u ort o ub urr h st la O e e cl c w a u tn Th a b p n sp s, ch y n g S d ate b , e e m c co ang M no th b 007. st em ers the e a uld t of de e lth th re tive re is tu d a be uc ch g in e 2 um m mb of th o en ma issu Co : at h ctu cu d a it t ‘s e ce D e tin m d aff e rs if sh m e e th it ry ru xe an r, a titl the y w d ra e th st th st te m be d rge art le d h th Offi en on ee e ow ylib e od- ve eve s a m f th uti a em ske a ep Au ea gh ns sh appe veAsktw a utii- ow ute tly n o xec n ed e m A ch D Mc st rou tio h th utin. is(Re c L . H in ec tio re th e in ry c xe a si e a k u nt nd th of e ri earere t peutytive ra mt. erf o ag rm a bs co u de fu cts ent, nt nic m ra the ne u lib e x p- y p ve.’ cl ve fo d clu it h a n to roje m me mu urs Lib r P deD ce thnteare Ash aas uti ha re an e w p m te m ho e vo z, etxeth in t co r, for‘w c - s le s co sta Co G th re urt k a ed a ntsce n n exe li b to res Th ps p art a ge e r IN by , T K oo in thdOeffi runioac in clu men ctu n. rou xam ial om r yc te er ie ‘l s n toU con e fr fo N le o so mcti ruut ru g r e art Jo ri n o ’ uti PE w ep ss er x W O v ie Ke d Je d to sio ti ents Duc Th ’ rau st o t d fo m ate b s’ tio le s re e n ha ci uca d d s. g d cnd en ei- s d in muin ust A ew a y de d tu re ice paroreucaa ud formL ube an om mneg xelyc r AY N e E D er th e N nd is es) th ke n e S any rv ed Dg in st5. utyr nclthupse n nfe P eanetech:gLu it :4 aveepila o ro o nd s ol o thu oto d SU re u ut th rv ic id ma nio t th h d se ow in 16 s rt su g cl aute pya h e a o Se sa d ’ U a it an sh eck at hd D mkeA to , in uake onnfo enP re ta ab rs’ an an ts id th d w urs te ch ng an si to is A n up gBro eistrtaons u fifttees. ag e rari get’ den sa e ho bsi for osi er s m Gtio ron mir m d im tiw.a Ten s re aveh e b ud Stu ke cern g we es rtcl ep wsa a ten gee e‘eA osi) te ke ort rw p dsi citauymy hIris st th ts b e oo n nin ry ic paos Ke ac a ainin r- fift othTh lin rs e sp o . a reeb ere la , f nS e uc w mno e n - sh at n Th y C co pe ra strv oe e re dy, be p y ry icetuw ThivdeoTh in t eek th ou cost e le ry o lib r ese roow , th Dthiseiras ey thasednra na rs in w to oh f eg to bo en- e e to o ed ay t thw ys acc e ntr is on ie ve rary e nrteW ctsh oll g g C lieb th (pth e Ug ou jo r s a g e thorepre is D h C tin in y itte ey sa ly th t coem nsuoitn Tahring g h is pe nd en y b Th evuo itireis aske wthoner e rt -C e n of s ce ne ate d y of p rn it m oed fp n in y rs te h hsa mf ’sre co s;D id f th in arg . rt o u n R em ve ers m t th wa be r-in eg e o t r Tr ky en th m th w e ytoho tsgung repreoeetien nit hou e in e w ch n ll rg n o m d a k, p ri Ro dito Din inoito h it hn san.aAnd as ic ckse BE att go niv Co tha e H itte eenna , ca of e tio Co a ce sp al gra s ea s is mf o T alf th d. M ir U E Trb W wria rute s wserv lacl Smo dpch g y th fla e l ch er the ion , hip p sse rU re e g s d g si r awe sthueen vee.hrse thne o ich a h th. m in N s a th n c sa it h re n ap s in Th ua y p g it taff ers off cla so e Tbe ti ofso h d oo om habraeineb cenrnte ahsth A ub ize ubli leti ey w ctu eeti b c wa w r . uorm d ys s ri w n n C b s tt fostce y b w n u edare on ort orm d a y nn fift nin ad ‘s m ie t, tu t cl n D th u ed ru rfc sa te a rf m a Th e it S a sa p ry n n sp h m re Sp ap n co A co cl d r iveMfo nusigun epxe e sfi st a . ga e kee um s, in one M ra r. pe a ic t e e ce fo f ru th fro c m cil me d s ise d ce I, ib e is mp Coll ndb tioaAs acoeo min Th al cac) sati c is s rts wh en sid s h of nd an an n o nd ed bli e fa uip an C e e co itie ty U L b a in d rr re y ca r a taish uc th ure ra fu he tr u dis ca wa spo y t nt to Thth ers ven N the cto nit y co the s a a is pu th eq s cu P sa is iohne n th D fig een nt o as en ed F n e h (D re Du a ra nd of f rse n g ru ed on niv se ith to -O Tri ours nd rie m re by rd a pm is d e s b e em h la at ere five M the n ho h Ulla srn a ire o u u ith g w is id y h la bra ke eg ha pm m 00 eve nt art ag lly oa lo furb an r th Th ty in y io w ide ’ Ga day ubtu y h le co fo w lon th in m wh en Ire li ma b n in ts tsn 3 clre e a B ve s oll 0 lo ’s ,0 d e . ep ir U ro u enh 2 ebe th C 0 ve ley 4 re m 09 r sa nd ’ D are nu nd de re itie g a ow ts d op in er h en th ins ired B o dJo na ip e 00,0 de Au €16 the part 08/ s fo d e ets an e a nt e to cil din sh ee ske ry ies lainrgs ic xp ld ms ta a ts’ Ó ng Sntuts .’ r a g uth re in n sh Th €6 re Mc at to De 20 on m A bra it soll wh re e nstge fo o le ‘Th udg ed itte ce sid s fa fun .’ fe r ch en án cti s de ct fu ese tin b th d r in ti at e li ers haC er o lle b rov m er t a rt d cts re ents fo od ón ‘a au einleg eed shpro o ced th r th r. Intes cate d fo cts oca the the jects o in niv itayte naitgo e m eCco t- man e p om t p se spo see je e ud te tr nt C as yy stenFr a fo fa a llo n je all of ut ro em vo in e u rinK aEd er e Yth spuces C igh is g e pro f th st w acinitit d h ish, th so dic a t fu pro al n b e p m . a u e ud 0 to Tary m ty h thIT yod ed sirg thrg d e nd n id l o e p n n u a e u Tr in e M etopu rary dRS udtr astccu en ’s tu tio le th e ort is nfu x isti rov pit xt th o yo rt th l st f €7 tio of Pinreb Aintb uss em rbe pm ort ac ibu ilab of th Sp D b laceE r sstiniper floa e p ca te to ‘D po ua o tra Ed isc rg o f Sp e tr va s in of ese e co use p IVouha fo in p nn rge is hip stu e m asu tee to w e ut s N d r th th o sw e rilo is a st o Th w e h h eg re it rt, U y ne Th p ad su n a a reg ers all d e m ot co ed ecto of for at ue oll T m o at lin tharg ecolo cstow m re to f a ch e b r ert r C the om Sp th nE d ke th re n ted tail Dir st st bo ch th du 007 SU n o ntre h th em fo oh rite e iree isG L a de e e co w n oo rge D a A to C of s ce to m e th De fe Thg e 2 D o rg it in n t tr rl s W th tim re nio y C a pay s la o a n Th ek ePorp RN n nce tor ate rts d pTC ucti s ce w en n Ca ew a om e illi of 2 se s.p ’ U le t ch to ort TE se ina ec st o use lo d d ort aid op s ce e N d fr Th 5 m on e estr IN um F Dir ley, f sp g deve use to sp e p for rt nts Ash den d sp ag d se ie 2 o o p rt ti in N d e e w se u r, b d e A ran f th e cAu nt be re d is po rm po om xase as €1. ruc ed c fe e spts?’ Stu ce e st e u of th th l n f S te o ro s st nu M ce is a pro n e e to cre w fth en e Offi th b ip e om y er e pit is fu nt o ium in it re e nti ort d is ups th ed all d Th on at nly h s ce e th be fr err t p m ca Th e ed e Sp se Co at ro for nd of ti th o ers s ha sin Th d e pri an a T igh inco a d. rtm m th e g e te n . Th ar ca id uld mb e 77 07. sse it rer’ h e e te n pa nd . f th m e 7, d t sa ho e .’ et th oic in tio tive es arg € 20 a a su it t tr rea t fu De a cts o co th f €7 ve in is ta u e ‘s r m e ch to in t p th rea n w tha c en e ort je rity e is and o pro n c tick all ch is a es T o d e p m n- 8 fo ntr e 70 d se xe min m y th sh pro ajo m e n eir a ra ce Th € ce th uir e ltati an th he th . Th pre e e no b nd s m co hip arg s ndu o 50 u tive th n w ate ve re th e le. cu w fu ort e ’s in ers t ch wa re em are du c om d m q fr tro du re by nsu nio n cuti re on f th ab xe re sp Th tre b en h fe m re gra bli e. un xin ren rge ed co ’ U m ic re ’s e 4 pu tr e nsu s o il e to o e y en e ud h g in ts e a b s va ere w a e n C f m l st w nt ley t th 99 6 cen stu d ti d a il u w ent reb uch an ce de cl eta yet ne ate itu a o ua rge de Au tha , d 19 s al se s s e r m ffi Stu d ot e nd nst s n a stu Mc s ers an ort nu e u ort o ub urr h st la O e cl c w s, a g u otn Th a co ge so sp n b Sp n d ch ate b , e e m n th n M by 007. st em ers the e a uld t of de e lth th re tive re is tu d ac a s’ o be uc chguing inste 2 um m mb of th o en ma issu Co : at h ctu cu d a it t ‘s e ce D e en tin lym d aff e rs if sh m y e e th w it ru xe an r, a titl the th n e te Lu st e th st te m be d rge art le d h th Offi e o ve eve s f P e an e : ow y on a a em ske a ep Au ea gh ns l o m u thotouti sh app ve tw uti ow ute tly on ed eya rtof h c m A t ch D Mc st rou tio h cuti is xec . H in ec ti re tha ke nfo s. Pexe un in th a n nd e ere t e ve m erf osi ag rmBetr aas ubs e t nic co u de fu cts ent, dnto m u imh th en uti the p y p ve.’ cl to roje m kmee mu e re an ti ave refo ‘And ) w cly T it a d xec p m liten m th ts e d in ts a for cu s h ow ared e it w le s co besta Co at un st e en n exe ub toshres tu Thiversps p art e th o d ru ac cl eedy tu(picn. Unrou xam ial om r to a leg ys cc e co tre fr fo a to uc e mmm rucit ru e g e rt n is is sa ly th y e D Th ra co st su t Thd for ma ate ber ti e n of s ce ne ate d g ’s c in en of e s arg . rt o u n d in m cu eg e o t a proythucnguud reform ub an om me xe r ch n ll rg n o m d a k, e g cl p n e e tio Co a ce sp al gra s ea s m D e st ca , p S e n r u th fla e l ch er the ion , hip p sse rw he it ersave ila ro nd o th ch in Th ua y p g it taff ers off cla so he . T rm h m A g , a ups on n su ed d b s y on ort si A p ro n att ust rfo nn fift nin ad ‘s em ie t, ee gre it a sa a u n n sp m e Sp ap g d r g M G o e fift ce fo f ru th fro c m cil me d d Au e p s ise d s gro eir siti re ave as of nd an an n an is rtth w in o nd ed bli e fa uip an a in d th po a h ort rure ra fu he t nt er , th Sptoo cac ma ra is pu th eq s sp o a ere ey fig een nt o as oe en ed F n e h n fd gh ru e re dy, ra nd of f rse u pe m re by rd a pm is d Th Th e s b e em h ol-h est rrnoe D eir ey sen e eg to bo en- e a ire o u alla ay tu o eg ha pm m 00 eoven niet f art ag lly oa lo furb an r oll g g C th G rdW ay th ct h le co fo a B ve s re oll 0 lo ’s ,0 dD meh 9. f C tin in y itte ey ep w g t th pre C 0 ve ley 4 e re g hn 23o iree sa nd ’ p rn it m D are nu nd de re itie g rt rt -C 0 ro e on a re on y Jo Tra ev Db s nth m h f a ip e 00,0 de Au €16 th R dem ve ers m t th wa be par-in 08/ fo tin e ets an e a nt e to cil din ts forr oituyld it h . A as w o nts re in ee e sh Th €6 re Mc at toRo Ddeito 20 onBsE antt s-go niv Co tha e llin in ‘Th udg ed itte ce sid s fa fun .’ ck fe n w r ofden e D m eg th . w th d rE in tiM e refu eeir tsU Tr la de Co at e b rov m er t a rt d cts re ents fo oe cn cs say it h red ngstuap-ings nd sh ad g ru s a stu ve. the a th oll th r th r. Intes cate d fo cts ocNaU th te itor oti s p om t p se spo see je e ud te tr nt C ced c h ein cern as r ti of fo fa a llo n je allA ouf b uizt eth ro Ka Ed bjeli m vo in e le y w tu eti y Fr a , a C igh is g e pro f th st Y u b n ed fo cu tes p u mthe .The aed ruc meinitubrgh wrgh tu t so dic a t fu pro al n cl abn e D u e ud 0 to n e nd n id al o e IT od d ary ty xe u n u h S n A co cl u o u rt iv n S n in ’s . e e tr M e o istisfi nis- st a Trs inbhic bunt de e fu x isti rov pit xt th o yo rt th l st f €7 tio of tu ti leg the l e pc) ep ce tio ac min ER in r st a em rbe pm ort ac ibu ilab ofTh th D e p ca te to ‘D po ua o tra a Sa sa ac seas ort wEdinrre si ys h ata uc e IV s re g o f Sp e tr va s intr ouf c deisse ecco c n p nn rge is hip stu e m asu tee to w e ut s N ha e fo in r th thu ouw sp ay cu P sa D Th o Th is a st (D io h is eg re it rt, U D y ne Th p ad su n a a reg ers all d il m ot co ed ecto oaf re foatr oaetre five M the n uho h Un e oll T m o at lin arg co s w s m re to f a ch e b r ert r w e C the om Sp th nE d ke th re n ted tail Dir st stth bTh ch e fee g G ub y du 007 SU n o ntre h th em fo in by nio in id ts’ oh rite L n oo rge cl e D a ma de e rge n co ew irty s A to C of s ce to m e th e in U 2 D o it uts n th t e tr rl s W th ti nio y C a pay s la o a n th in ired Bro o de Th ek Pr RN n nce tor ate rts d pTC ucti s ce w en n th ms Ca ew g tu are om e illi of 2ta a ’ rt se s. ’ U le ch TE se ina ec st o use lo d d ort aid op s ce e ch nts n Ó tin S ct.’ ng ble N ts sh nt to o d fr Th 5 m on e er IN um F Dir ley, f sp g deve use to sp e p for ort e ná c s le eti ro ag d se ien A de d sp 2 o a p rt ti d in ‘a e N d e e w e se u r, b d p ó e A ran f th e cAu nt be re d is po rm po om xase as €1. ruc C as y ent- m e ed c fe e spts?’ Stu ce e st e u of th th l n f S te o ro s st nu w acit d is th M ce is a pro n e e to cre w fth en e Offi th b ip e om y er e pit is fu nt o ium in it re e nti ort d p resi t th ed is ups th ed all d Th on at nly h s ce e th be fr err t p m ca Th e ed e Sp se Co P A uss at ro for nd of ti th o ers s ha sin Th d e pri an a T igh inco a d. rtm m c th e g e te n . Th ar ca id uld mb e 77 07. sse it rer’ h e e te n pa nd . f th m e 7, d dis t sa ho e .’ et th oic in tio tive es arg € 20 a a su it t tr rea t fu De a cts o co th f €7 ve in is ta u e ‘s r m e ch to in t p th rea n w tha c en e ort je rity e is and o pro n c tick all ch is a es T o d e p m n- 8 fo ntr e 70 d se xe min m y th sh pro ajo m e n eir a ra ce Th € ce th uir e ltati an th he th . Th pre e e no b nd s m co hip arg s ndu o 50 u tive th n w ate ve re th e le. cu w fu ort e ’s in ers t ch wa re em are du c om d m q fr tro du re by nsu nio n cuti re on f th ab xe re sp Th tre b en h fe m re gra bli e. un xin ren rge ed co ’ U m ic re ’s e 4 pu tr e nsu s o ail e to o e y en e ud h e a ag in nts ere t e b s v w C f m l st w nt ley t th 99 6 cen stu d ti b d a il u w ch an ce de en ere u- r cl eta yet ne ate itu a o ua rge de Au tha , d 19 s al se s s m ffi Stu d ot e nd nst s n a stu Mc s ers an ort nu e u ort o ub urr h st la O e cl c w s, a g u otn Th a co ge sp n b Sp n d ch ate b , e e m n th n M by 007. st em ers the e a uld t of de e lth th re tive re is tu d ac a be uc ch g in e 2 um m mb of th o en ma issu Co : at h ctu cu d a it t ‘s e ce D e tin m d aff e rs if sh m y e e th w it ru xe an r, a titl the th n e e st e th st te m be d rge art le d h th Offi e e o ve eve s ow y on a m f th uti a em ske a ep Au ea gh ns sh app ve tw uti ow ute tly on o xec n ed e m A t ch D Mc st rou tio h cuti is xec . H in ec ti re th ke in th a e u n nd e ere t e ve m erf osi ag rm a bs co u de fu cts ent, nt nic m u h th en uti the p y p ve.’ cl to roje m me mu re an ti ave refo nd cl it a d xec w p m te m a e e d in ts a for cu s h le s co sta Co e en n exe ub to res Th ps p art a ge d ru ac cl e tu n. rou xam ial om r fr fo le to uc e mm c ru g e rt D Th ra stru t d for ma ate ber ti g c en e s d in m cu a pro uc ud form ub an om me xe r e g cl p n e D st it ave ilar rou nd on the ch d h m g a ps n n su e si A A p, rou n o ee gre G rou g tio fift a s g eir si re ave as w in th po a h ort rort ac a rsp o a ere ey Sp , oe f e re dy, uc m pe Th Th est r o D eir ey sen e oh f eg to bo en- e W o on ie oll g g C th ay th D h C tin in y itte ey or irect w g t th pre g rt -C e on a re on ev y of p rn it m D th A m wh of R em ve ers m t th wa be r-in tin r Tr y ts ee Ro dito D init BE att go iv Co tha e it h . as ck n of th d. M re ir Un w run s w la ude . E Tr em y e U g s d a g th N s a th n c sa it h re n ap s ha ein cern as r st tive of A ub ize ubli leti ey w ctu eeti b c wa b n ed fo cu tes cl an D th Th ed ru m u h Stu t A . co iv n exe u cl ic t en sfi st a g e e ce tio ac min Th al cac) sati c is s rts wh en sid s h ta uc e rr re y ca tr u dis ca wa spo y D Th cu P sa is ion (D re Du a a at ere five M the n ho h Un s th Th ty in y io w ide ’ ub y b n in ts ts cl e ir U ro u en e s th th ins ired B o d ta a ts’ Ó ng Stu .’ g th m ct n le ch en án cti s le ti b

ThECTRIC P ts feenitgy TSHERS’ WE EL or drsi FRE Sp pveen AeGErDY iny ns iuBRAnY TdcR rut e UICNIC: s Th TRIC P ts feeng EC EL or di Sp pender tiny s un cru s

Do you want to write for the University Times? We’d love to hear from you. See www.universitytimes.ie/write

Fearghal Hughes

Striker Gianfranco Zola The mercurial Italian captured the hearts and minds of fans around the country. Quite possibly the most universally liked foreign player in the Premiership. Currently manager at West Ham.

Midfield Patrick Vieira Arsenal midfield enforcer and fantastic captain. Only Keane is more worthy of the position of captain.

Winger Robert Pires Arsenal winger and FWA and PFA player of the year. Capable of playing on both flanks hence why he beats Beckham to this spot.

Not the most talented player, not the most loved either but this man could put the ball in the net. He is the Premiership’s all time leading goal scorer with over 250 goals and over 370 career goals in total for Southampton, Blackburn Rover and Newcastle United. The best way to describe his brilliance is that it was his goals that single-handedly dragged a not very fancied Blackburn side to the title in 1995. It is certainly no coincidence that Blackburn went downhill when Shearer left to play for his boyhood club. In 2002 he was named Overall Player of the Decade, Domestic Player of the Decade, Outstanding Contribution to the Premier League and Top Goal scorer. Those awards and accolades themselves surely cement his place as this team’s figurehead striker.

Full Back Ashley Cole Best full back in the country for the past five years.

Midfield Steven Gerrard The sole Liverpudlian. A natural talent and the only reason Liverpool have been anywhere near the top of the table for the past five years. Goalkeeper David Seaman Arsenal stalwart only beaten by Schmeichel.

Alan Shearer

I realise that there will be calls for Pallister, Bruce, Adams and even Rio Ferdinand. However, after checking the stats and discussing it with other people well educated on the subject, I feel it would be completely wrong of me to leave Terry out. Terry has won two Premier League titles and in a team where money is no object he still managed to come through the youth system and establish himself as the mainstay of the team’s defence as well as club captain. His own individual honours speak the loudest: Fifa Best Defender three times, one PFA player of the year award and three Uefa team of the year awards. I think those honours themselves say it all. Campbell has had 485 league appearances for Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth. I realise this inclusion will spark massive discussion but I feel I really can justify this. Campbell came through the academy at Tottenham becoming club captain in the mean time before joining arch rivals Arsenal on a free transfer. He made his debut aged eighteen in 1992 and became England’s second youngest captain in 1998. He also was part of the ‘invincibles’ the infamous Arsenal team that went an entire League season unbeaten and a solid defence are the foundations on which such success is built. His honours read rather impressively: three PFA Team of the Years, two Premier Leagues, four FA Cups as well as one League Cup. Finally he was part of the Arsenal Team that reached the Champions League in 2006.

mention, not even Torres who has the undoubted ability to one day be mentioned in the same breath as Henry. He simply hasn’t been plying his trade in the Premiership long enough. After countless hours of consultation, one of the greatest pub debates has come to a close. What is it about these topics that leads to shouting matches across the empty glasses that by now flood the table. This argument will rage on into the night and will never come to a satisfactory conclusion but after careful consideration this is as close as we are ever going to get before this paper goes to print. So there you have it. After seventeen long and memorable years you have just seen the best of the best, the crème de la crème of English football.

At this stage many of you reading may think that in leaving out the likes of Matt Le Tissier, Denis Bergkamp and Tony Adams this article should be declared null and void. However, all these decisions were carefully discussed and the choices analysed to give a well balanced team. This squad is very much dominated by Manchester United players, both old and current. Yes, I will admit I am a United fan however in the seventeen seasons so far United have won eleven titles and as such their players are naturally going to dominate this particular team. Purists from Merseyside will claim that my position as a United fan has swayed my decision making ability hence why only one Liverpudlian (Steven Gerrard) has made the squad. However Liverpool have never won the Premiership title and on current form don’t look likely to do so any time soon. Also, no Liverpool player (bar Gerrard) is worthy of

On the bench Striker

When I originally wrote this article ‘‘the incident’’ had yet to occur but excluding his cheating ways and looking purely on a footballing basis I can’t see anyone arguing with this decision. Fantastic with both feet, great touch, pace, strength. He had it all. He has sullied his name over the past week but his genius can never be called into question. He only won two Premier League titles in his time with Arsenal and three FA Cups but the fact that he was part of the PFA Team of the Year for six consecutive years from 2001 to 2006 says everything that needs to be said about the class he oozed once he crossed the white lines. He also topped the scoring charts four times during his time in North London not to mention the number of chances he created for his teammates. Arguably the best player of the noughties (were it not for Zidane), definitely the best striker of the noughties – without question. Many people forget that Cantona only graced the world of the Premiership for five seasons, yet he is still spoken about with a little bit of wonder by those who saw him play. Those who were lucky enough to see him strut his stuff at Old Trafford realised they were witnessing greatness. The infamous Alan Hansen quote “you don’t win anything with kids” may have not have been too far from the truth were it not for Cantona taking them under his wing. He will of course be remembered for his kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan but it is a goal he scored where he delicately chipped into the far top corner after he weaved his way through the defence that I hope history chooses to remember him for. Where would Manchester United be were it not for the genius of that mercurial Frenchman. Four Premier League titles and three FA Cups in his five years at old Trafford says it all really. Giggs is the most successful player in the history of the English game has won eleven Premier League titles, two Champions League and three League Cups as well as a host of other smaller cups. He also holds the record for number of appearances by a Manchester United player with over 800. In an age where player turnover is at its greatest Giggs longevity is something to be admired and he holds the record of playing in every single Premier League season. In these his later years he still plays a pivotal role in Manchester United’s march for a fourth consecutive title. I think there is only one player who could challenge Giggs for this position and that’s Robert Pires, but even then Giggs wins this by a country mile.

Goalkeeper

Fearghal Hughes looks at the FA Premiership and attempts to settle the greatest pub debate of all time

Centre Half

great. As the mountain of glasses pile up on the table and the bar staff have decided to leave well enough alone as opposed to clearing them away the question is inevitably asked: “Lads, if you had to name one, who would be your greatest Premiership team of all time?” As foolish as this sounds it isn’t quite as vague and random as it first seems. Firstly the Premiership is only in its infancy in terms of League status as the first Premier League campaign only came into effect in 92/93 season and as such is less than seventeen years old, which narrows the pool down considerably. Also, true football genius and greatness are so rare that those worthy of mention or even inclusion in the team are few and far between. Finding those who “left their mark” on the League itself narrows down the field even further. After much discussion it was decided that I write this article and try to put across the consensus of all those who found it necessary to offer their two cents worth of info (and let’s be honest, there were a lot of you). So here’s the definitive list of the greatest Premiership team of all time (4-3-3).

It may be the fact that he’s Irish but I just can’t leave Keano out. Some may call for Steven Gerrard to be included but with the balance of this team already looking very attack minded I think Keano is a safer bet. Could you have a better captain than Keane, a man who leads by example, dragging everyone else’s performance around him up to a different level. (Just remember that semi final against Juventus.) Others will call for Patrick Vieira, but I think the statistics speak for themselves: Seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one Champions League, four Community Shields and the personal honours of PFA Player of the Year and FWA Player of the Year. Keane has made the Fifa 100 list of the greatest living players as well as being inducted into the FA Hall of Fame in 2004. I can hear the daggers being drawn at this very moment. Never before has a player been so wildly hated and despised by a huge majority of the populace. Some will say he disappears on the big occasions but let’s just look at facts: 292 Manchester United appearances, 118 goals (that’s good for a striker, never mind a mid-fielder). He was and is the only Premiership player to win World Player of the year, the highest individual honour there is. His forty-two goals in one season earned him the Golden Boot from midfield. He won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups and a Champions League, as well as the Fifa World Club Cup Championship. He made a telling contribution to Manchester United’s dominance over the past three years. Those of you clambering for the inclusion of Ashley Cole will undoubtedly be disgusted by this decision. However I feel justified in placing Irwin in this squad for two reasons: the honours he won and his versatility. His honours include seven Premier League titles and a Champions League. With regards to his versatility, Irwin can play either side of defence and do so with minimal fuss. Maybe I am blinded by the need to have an Irish player in defence however I think his record speaks for itself.

Neville has had 383 League appearances for Manchester United dating back to the 93/94 season and has been at the top of the game for almost all sixteen years. He’s the current club captain of Manchester United (85 caps) and is the most capped right back on the English squad. His honours include: eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, three Community Shields, one League Cup, two Champions League, one Intercontinental Cup and one Fifa World Club Cup. He was also included on the PFA Team of the Year five times. There’s no question here. His last game for Manchester United was the infamous Champions League Final and the final game to win the Treble. He often tops polls for the greatest goalkeeper of all time with five Premier League titles, one Champions League, three FA Cups and one League Cup. Definitely the greatest keeper to grace the Premiership, no argument whatsoever. magine the scene: you and a few friends sitting around a table littered with empty pint glasses after Sky Sports “Super Sunday” when yet another spanner was thrown into the Premiership title race and it’s now anybody’s guess as to where the crown will end up this time around. Then, as with everything else amongst friends, the debates begin: “Is Rooney a better all round player than Torres?” “Who would you have as your captain, Ferdinand or Terry?” These are the questions that seem to plague gatherings of fans throughout the nation whilst they sit sipping on their latest pint that everyone seems to have lost count of. The question of whose round it is, is somehow lost and tempers flare when debating the ins and outs of Premiership football. I have personally seen grown men storm off and leave the pub in anger over something so ‘trivial’ as the Keane vs Vieira discussion. Despite sounding childish and nonsensical it has taken up hours of thousands of fans’ time and, to be honest, most would refer to such debates as merely part and parcel of what makes an afternoon watching the footie with the lads

23 The University Times | Wednesday, November 25th

TimesSPORTS

The best the English game has to offer

Wednesday, November 25th | The University Times

TimesOUT

Murphy’s Law

Sudoku Easy

Hard

“Before the finger is pointed – I was there”

T Please submit any completed sudokus to the Students’ Union front office in House 6, care of Dáire McNab.

Scribble Box

The winner will be selected at random from correct entries and will be announced in the next issue of the University Times.

Cartoons

hroughout the last few days I have listened to a huge array of opinions on Thierry Henry and ‘Le Main de Dieu,’ most of them from angry Irish fans or embarrassed French supporters. I must admit I have been shocked by the vast majority of it. And before the finger is pointed that I don’t care enough or just don’t get it - I was there. I sat in the stadium long after the final whistle with tears in my eyes, overwhelmed by the immense pride I felt in the players and sadness, anger and regret at the injustice of it all and by what might have been. In the aftermath and the mass hysteria I cant help but feel that a few things have been forgotten, possibly even conveniently by the Irish people. First of all, I am quite surprised at the vilifying of Thierry Henry by so many people, not just the Irish media, but the French and much of the English press as well. Don’t get me wrong, as he raced away celebrating the goal, I wanted to smash his face in but that is a justified reaction for an Irish fan at the match, swept up in the emotion of it all. After the dust has settled, however, I can see that Henry has become an easily identifiable target, with a big red cross on his back for all sorts of Irish resentment. Yes he cheated but why has the reaction been so strong? In football where do we draw the line on what is cheating and what isn’t? Is every foul cheating? Every tug of a jersey? Every nudge in the back? Are we to start calling for replays of every game where someone has broken the rules? Or is it only when the foul is as blatant as Henry’s? But surely the blatancy of the foul only indicts the referee and his assistant, not the perpetrator? There are plenty of cynical fouls every week in every premiership match and every Sunday league game across the country and people are not branded cheats for it, certainly not by their owns fans. The main reason is because the fouls don’t go unnoticed, free kicks are given, cards brandished, players punished for their attempts to get away with cheating. It is the referees fault and the assistant referees fault that the goal stood. It is not for Henry to decide. What he did wasn’t right or just but he did what many others do every week, at every level and what I, along with many other Irish supporters, would have been happy to see Robbie Keane do if it meant boarding the plane to South Africa at the expense of the French.

In football where do we draw the line on what is cheating and what isn’t? Is every foul cheating? Every tug of a jersey? Every nudge in the back? Are we to start calling for replays of every game where someone has broken the rules?

Justin McCann

In Style What follows is an extract from the University Times Manual of Style, compiled by editor Robert Donohoe.

Abbreviations and Symbols Abbreviations fall into three categories: only the first is technically an abbreviation, though the term loosely covers the three and the guidelines of their use overlap. • • •

Abbreviations are formed by omitting the end of a word or words (VCR, Lieut.); Contractions are formed by omitting the middle of a word or words (I’ve, Shan’t); Acronyms are formed by using the initial letters of words (Nazi, radar) which in turn form words themselves.

Acronyms

An acronym is distinguished from other abbreviated forms by being a series of letters or syllables pronounced as a complete word: Nato and Uefa are acronyms, but MI6 and RTÉ are not.

Symbols Do not start a sentence with a symbol: spell out the word or recast the sentence to avoid it: Sixteen dollars was the price, The price was $16.

General principles

The indefinite article with abbreviations

Abbreviations and symbols may be used in some circumstances:

The choice between a and an before an abbreviation depends on the pronunciation, not the spelling.

• •

where space is scarce; where the abbreviation is so well known it would be foolish to spell it out (USA, TV, UN); • where the word or words are repeated so often it is easier for the reader to absorb. Abbreviations should be spelled out at first mention in copy followed by the abbreviation in parentheses: European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). If the abbreviation is familiar with the intended audience it need not be spelled out. Where it is possible to refer to a previously mentioned full name by a more readable shortened form that is preferable: the Commission rather than the OC for the Oversight Commission.

Contractions Place an apostrophe in the position corresponding to the missing letter or letters (I’m, ha’penny) Avoid use of common verbal contractions (I’m, can’t, won’t). There are no apostrophes in colloquial abbreviations: bike, demo, flu or plane.

A BA degree A Unicef card An MA

A U-boat captain An IOU An MP

Possessives and plurals Abbreviations form the possessive in the usual way, with -’s: CEO’s salary, VIPs’ entrance. Most abbreviations form the plural by adding -s: DJs, SOSs. When an abbreviation has more than one full point then the -s is put after the final one: Ph.D.s, M.Phil.s, the d.t.s. When it has one full point put it before the full point: eds., nos. Some abbreviations have irregular plurals: Messrs., Mmes.

e.g., i.e., etc. Prefer ‘for example’ and ‘that is’ in running text. Print the abbreviation ‘etc.’ in lower-case roman type with a full point. It is preceded by a comma if it follows more than one listed item: sparrows, finches, etc., sparrows etc. The point can be followed by a comma or other point but not another full point to avoid double punctuation.

Matthew Le Tissier was asked on Sky Sports if he’d ever cheat in golf, and if not, why was it OK to do it in football. There is no referee watching everything a player does in golf and there is an inherit code of honesty involved. This code doesn’t exist in football. The referee is who decides what is a foul and what is not. I loathe divers and am disgusted at what Henry did but the question still has to be asked about what is intelligent gamesmanship and what is cheating. Also, those who say that diving and other forms of cheating are a new thing in football are wrong. Diving may be on the increase but for as long as the game has existed, players have tried to get an advantage over their opponents without the referee catching them. That’s just the way it is. That is what happens in sport, especially when there is huge amounts of money and rewards involved. This is not cheating by the same token as an athlete taking performance enhancing drugs, methodically, over a long period of time in order to get an unfair advantage over the opposition. These are split second decisions that happen all the time and if it had been the other way I don’t think we would complain too much. In fact, even in this competition, we were awarded a dubious penalty, while 1-0 down to Georgia. We went on to win 2-1, counted our lucky chickens, sighed in relief and moved on. We didn’t feel sorry for Georgia or embarrassed by our victory. We didn’t apologise or offer to repay the match. Nor should we have. If Fifa went down the route of re playing football matches if there was a wrong refereeing decision than we’d never have a result. In this case it was the most blatant foul in the world and the stakes were so high but it would still set a precedent. Who’s to say a foul not given by a referee and then a goal scored 10 minutes later could not be blamed on that decision and a replay called?

I think some Irish people are delighted with the outcome. We go out, unjustly after a truly magnificent, gutsy, Irish performance. We can whinge and moan, talk for years to come how were cheated out of a world cup. It hurts. I know it does but we do have to move on. We rode our luck and played poorly at times during the group. We played reasonably poorly in the first leg in Croke Park. Anelka might have had a penalty. Not only that but it seems to be forgotten that we still would have had to win a penalty shoot out. I think some Irish people are delighted with the outcome. We go out, unjustly after a truly magnificent, gutsy, Irish performance. We can whinge and moan, talk for years to come how were cheated out of a world cup, although we still had a lot to do to get there and we’ll never know if we would have. I don’t want to go down the Roy Keane road (who went way down in my estimations after his most recent rant) but we had our chances to win the game, Paul McShane wasn’t goal side, the ball bounced in the box when it should have been cleared and even if we’d been given the free out, we still had an awful lot to do to get to South Africa. I’m gutted we never got that chance. I’m heartbroken that a handball denied us that opportunity. I’m immensely proud of one of the best ever Irish performances. I’m just slightly bemused by the reaction worldwide to it. I understand the clamour for video technology and believe it should be used but that is about it. I don’t think Henry is to blame for our exit - the referee is. I don’t think there should or will be a replay. I don’t think the claims from people who say they’ve lost faith in football our justified. It was a dark night for Irish football but we need to pick ourselves up and get over it. Thanks for an amazing performance lads, a truly memorable night and restoring my faith in Irish football. barry@universitytimes.ie