CIT Students’ Union MagazineVolume Seven - Issue Four

Sod TSod Turned on urned on €2.5m2.5mSporSports Fts Facilityacility

Lots of PrizesLots of Prizes& Competitions& Competitions

TThe Battlehe Battleof Tof The Sexeshe Sexes

Conferring Conferring PicturesPictures

CIT Students’ UnionRossa Ave,BishopstownCork,Ireland.

Telephone: 021 493 3120Fax: 021 454 5343Email: info@expliCIT.ie

expliCIT StaffEditor - Caitriona FoleyDesign & Advertising - Philip O’Reilly

ContributionsMichael Loftus Michael O’ConnorCatriona Foley Michelle BouseTolu Miriam DeasyEoin Deane Stuart DonaldsonPatrick Tuilte Andrew DineenBarry O’Sullivan Niall DantonSelf Help Africa Floppy SocSUAS Society Fine Gael Society

CIT Students’ UnionPresident - Jeremy Ó Murchú(supres@cit.ie)Vice President Education - Michael O’Connor(sueducation@cit.ie)Vice President Welfare - Sinéad O’Connell(suwelfare@cit.ie)Entertainments Officer - Charles Daly(suents@cit.ie)Projects Officer - Wesley Kiely(suprojects@cit.ie)Communications Officer - Caitriona Foley(sucomms@cit.ie)

PrintBarnaville Print & Graphics LTDFreshford, Kilkenny.

Advertising OpportunitiesCIT has almost 17,000 full and part-time students withover 1,500 supporting staff. Why not use expliCIT topromote your business to this large audience?

Copy deadlines, advertising rates and technical specifi-cations are available from our website www.explicit.ieor upon request from the Publications Office.

expliCIT magazine is published monthly by CITStudents’ Union. The views expressed in the magazineare those of their authors and are not necessarily thoseof CIT Students’ Union. All articles and pictures are theproperty of their respective owners and should not bereproduced without their permission.

expliCIT editorial

If you would like to contribute to expliCIT pleasecontact Philip in the main SU office (C143) or

email: info@explicit.ie

We Need You!

Hi boys and girls,

(Hmmm…I was thinking about this opening line recently, and the connotations that come with thewords ‘boy’ and ‘girl’, especially now that we’re all consenting “adults”. Well, it occurred to me thatmaybe you all don’t like being called boys and girls, so if I have offended anyone with this phraseplease take as an apology the article which you’ll find inside…hope you like it! And if you recognisethe phrase from a certain kid’s program, it’s out on DVD. Go Bosco!)

It’s December! It’s time for me to start singing ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham yet again. Well done all, you’vesurvived your first term of the year. I hope everyone enjoyed Arts Week as much as I did last month,and before I say anything else I must of course give my congratulations to our new EntertainmentsOfficer, John Grant - well done and good luck with the next few months. Christmas Day went very wellhere with lots of thrills and spills all over CIT, and it was a great way to unwind before those lovelyChristmas exams that are on our doorsteps.

A big thank you now to all the people who have started sending us submissions for explicit (finally!),and we’d really appreciate getting even more stuff for the magazine. Remember, you can send us any-thing - articles, jokes, photos from college events, artwork, and reviews on anything from CDs to pro-grams about fishing, if that’s what floats your boat. So keep them coming, it’s a nice feeling to knowthat thousands of people will read your opinion or see how talented you are! E-mailsubmissions@explicit.ie with your work or for more information.

Now I know I usually give my recommendations for the month here but instead we’ve put a gift guidefor those of you who still haven’t started your Christmas shopping on our website (Yes, of course I haveall my presents already…ahem). Check it out on www.citsu.ie. So from all of us here at the Students’Union, have a brilliant Christmas, Winter Solstice or Hanukah, or whatever your direction may be, makethe most of your holidays and mistletoe, and best of luck with your exams!

See you in 2006Jingle bells,Caitriona

Hawkes Road Pharmacy, Hawkes Road, Bishopstown (Near DeansHall / Outpost Bar). TEL: 021 4348331

• Passport Photographs €4.00• Photograph Processing• All Prescriptions Dispensed• Stockists of Gosh, Vichy, RoC

& La Roche Posay Cosmetics

Opening Hours:Monday to Friday: 9:30am - 18:30pm

Saturday: 9:30am - 6:00pm

HAWKES ROAD PHARMACY

Cork Institute of Technology awarded their annual Sports Bursaries and MunsterCouncil GAA Scholarships at a largely-attended function in the Imperial Hotel,South Mall on Tuesday 22nd November.

These awards were instigated eight years ago to highlight the achievements ofthe young athletes attending CIT. It is hoped that the recognition will encouragethem to continue to train at the levels required and to continually strive forexcellence in their chosen sports. While also hoping that it will act as a furtherencouragement for them to continue their academic studies and realise theirfull potential.

The Guest of Honour on the night was Donal Óg Cusack, All-Ireland winningCork Hurling Goalkeeper. You could hear a penny drop as Donal in an inspira-tional speech, encouraged people to “go for” their chosen sport and let noth-ing stand in their way.

Other speakers included Donal O’Rourke, Chairman of the Governing Body ofCIT, Eithne Lydon, Sports Officer, Sean Fogarty from the Munster Council andBrendan Goggin, Registrar of CIT. The citations detailing the outstandingachievements of the recipients were read by Sports Officers Miriam Deasy andLouise Cavanagh.

Among the recipients were GPA “Hurler of the Year” John Gardiner, fellow Corkteam-mate Martin Coleman whose home club Ballinhassig are currently

involved in the Munster Intermediate Hurling Club championship, CathalNaughton who has played with the Cork minor hurlers for the past two yearsand continues to play a pivitol role for Newtownshadrum in their quest for theMunster Senior Club title, Bryan Sheehan who recently won an AIB Kerry SeniorFootball championship medal with South Kerry and along with fellow countyteam-mate and recipient Darran O’Sullivan won Munster Medals with KerrySeniors this year, Colin O’Reilly who plays basketball with UCC Blue Demonsand this year scored an Irish record of 52 points in a national league game,Christopher Kelleher of the Sundays Well swimming club and currently a mem-ber of the Irish Senior squad, Andrew Gray who has represented Ireland inhockey at U16, U17 and U18 level, Donna Hosford who is the current NationalSenior long jump champion, David Ryan who has represented Munster atYouths, U19 and U21 level, Revelin Minihane who was first in the 1720 SailingNationals and bowman on the Antix- “Irish boat of the Year”, Conor O’Brien whohas represented Ireland in the World Junior Championships in Poland.

A large gathering of students and staff of the Institute, parents, team-mates andcoaches of the recipients enjoyed a very pleasant evening and were very opti-mistic for the future success of sport in CIT considering the wealth of talent andachievements of the students being honoured.

Miriam Deasy,Sports Officer.(see page 6 for more photos)

CIT Bursary Awards toHighlight Achievements

of CIT Athletes“..It is hoped that the recognition will encourage them to

continue to train at the levels required and to continually strivefor excellence in their chosen sports. While also hoping that it

will act as a further encouragement for them to continue theiracademic studies and realise their full potential...”

At a ceremony on Monday, November 7th theChairman of the Higher Education and TrainingAwards Council, Professor Ciaran Murphy, and ChiefExecutive Mr Seamus Puirseil, granted to CorkInstitute of Technology the authority to make itsown awards up to and including PhD level.

Authority to make awards at the top level of theNational Framework of Qualifications followed a rig-orous evaluation by an international panel andplaces Cork Institute of Technology on a par interna-tionally with universities.

The Chairman of CIT's Governing Body, Mr DonalO'Rourke, congratulated the staff and students ofthe Institute saying that this achievement was arecognition of its excellence.

The signing took place prior to the conferring of 150Graduates of the Crawford College of Art andDesign and the Cork School of Music, constituentcolleges of CIT.

CIT PhD Awarding Powers Signed into Effect

Revelations in recent weeks that the Government'sChief Science Advisor, "Dr." Brian McSweeny, hadreceived his PhD from an online institution calledPacific Western University, has now escalated withfurther investigations into top officials and aca-demics’ credentials. US authorities have described

the University as a diploma mil and according to anofficial US probe, almost 500 government employ-ees there were found to have dubious qualificationsfrom three unaccredited universities, including PWU.

Mr McSweeney has since been moved sideways to anewly created post as research co-ordinator in theDepartment of Communications. He will retain the€120,000 salary that he presently earns. He has main-tained throughout this controversy that he had noinkling of problems concerning Pacific WesternUniversity's standing. He said he stood over the work

he submitted to gain his PhD title.

The Tánaiste defended the Government's decision toappoint Barry McSweeney as the Government's chief sci-entific advisor. Mary Harney said a doctorate was nevera requirement for the post.

The Labour Party says many questions are still unan-swered, among them the manner in which BarryMcSweeney was appointed. Fine Gael has called it an“embarrassing debacle”. It says the Government clearlydid not check their facts when making the appointment.

University College Dublin (UCD) is to review its proce-dures following revelations that one of its senior aca-demics and a former part-time lecturer received a PhDfrom the Pacific Western University. Recently, the IrishExaminer newspaper revealed the second most seniormember of UCD’s School of Physiotherapy, Dr Mary FMcAteer, obtained a Doctorate from California-basedPacific Western University (PWU) in 1987.

In addition, a former part-time UCD lecturer and currentInstitute of Public Administration (IPA) lecturer, Dr

Cedric Chau, also received a PhD from the same placein 2001. Both academics defended the qualification say-ing they had done nothing wrong.

Despite calls for an audit of all universities recently, theDepartment of Education ruled out the measure saying,“It would not be possible to definitively investigate allonline awards available throughout the world.”

Another well-known holder of a doctorate from theunaccredited Californian institution was Mr Con Power.In his time, he has been chairman of the FinancialServices Ombudsman’s Council, vice-chair of IrishNationwide building society, and chairman of theNational Roads Authority, director of economic policywith employers’ group IBEC and a director at theRegional College in Sligo. In justifying his doctorate fromPacific Western, Mr Power argues that he had five yearsof solid academic work behind him.

Labour Education spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan called foran immediate investigation into the “legitimacy or oth-erwise of all third-level qualifications awarded by onlineinstitutions”. “It is clear now that the furore surroundingthe legitimacy or otherwise of the degree held by formerGovernment Chief Science Adviser Barry McSweeneyfrom Pacific Western University was not a one-off.

“Day by day further stories are emerging of academicsand public appointees holding qualifications from PWU,and the existence of other unrecognised online bodiesthat refer to themselves has also been uncovered,” MsO’Sullivan said.

Ms O’Sullivan said the continuing revelations weredoing untold damage to the Irish education system andthe reputation of those who work within it. “TheGovernment cannot sit complacently on the sidelines.They must ensure that the public has full information inrelation to all institutions that award academic qualifica-tions so that Ireland’s excellent reputation in this fieldcan be maintained,” she said.

What’s the Frickin Pointin Studying?

“...Day by day further stories are emerging of academics andpublic appointees holding qualifications from PWU, and the

existence of other unrecognised online bodies that refer tothemselves has also been uncovered...”

Email us your Letters & Comments.submissions@explicit.ieor you can drop in directly into the SU office in C143

My 20yrs of life-timeexperience in seekingGlobal Domination,

coupled with the $800 fee,was all I needed to obtain

my Phd!

In November the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) published "An Agenda forEducation in 2006", and called on the Minister for Education to seek addition-al funding for students and institutions before Budget Day (Wednesday 7thDecember). USI's proposals include the expansion of options for part-timestudy, reform of the maintenance grant system, capital investment in thirdlevel facilities, support for migrant workers and immigrants within higher edu-cation, and a realistic level of day-to-day funding for universities and collegesacross Ireland.

Tony McDonnell, USI President, said: "This Government has a chance to utiliseits substantially increased income for the benefit of present and future stu-dents. Rather than continuing with inadequate levels of funding for our stu-dents and our third level institutions, they could choose to make sound invest-ments in the future social, economic and cultural successes of our nation, byimplementing real reforms in further and higher education in time for the nextacademic year.

"The Estimates published last week are tame and fail to provide anythingclose to the investment third-level institutions are desperately in need of.They do not represent a forward-thinking approach to education and research.Challenges like fixing the shambles that is the grants system or ending thedelay in providing much-needed buildings and facilities have been sweptunder the carpet. Students are today calling on the Ministers for Educationand Finance to 'think big' and to incorporate our proposals in the upcomingbudget".

USI's proposals include:· Part-time tuition fees to be abolished for low earners and incentives to

be introduced for part-time and distance education, including improvedtax breaks and State funding

· Reform of the maintenance grant schemes, including the adoption of afairer assessment model, along the lines of the new medical card system(i.e. looking at all the circumstances of an applicant, not just income)

· Improved support for migrant workers and other non-EU citizens who wish to study in Ireland

· Phasing out of the means-tested student registration fee, which currently stands at €775

· Implementation of the 'Kelly Report' proposals on capital investment inthird level institutions

· Investment in teaching as well as research and development· Better provision for support services, which assist the most vulnerable

students to complete their education· Realistic current funding of higher education institutions, with a target of

2% of GDP (in line with many other European states)

The booklet entitled An Agenda for Education in 2006 can be downloadedfrom the USI website (www.usi.ie) in pdf format. The contents of the docu-ment is divided into ‘supporting students’ and ‘developing our institutions’and will be distributed to colleges across the country.

CIT and the Tyndall National Institute were awarded prizes at this year's annu-al IT&T research conference. Paul Walsh, chairman of the IT&T Conference,announced the winners for best paper and poster at the National MaritimeCollege in Ringaskiddy, Cork on 27th October.

Olivia Brickley from CIT won 'best paper' award out of 24 presentations for herresearch paper on Enhancing QoS WLANs and John Buckley, from the TyndallNational Institute, took 'best poster' award from 30 posters displayed.

Officially opened by Dr Brendan Murphy, Director CIT and Eugene O'Leary, chiefexecutive TecNet, over 120 delegates from 3rd level institutes and industryattended the event which took place in the impressive surroundings of theNational Maritime College, Ringaskiddy, Cork ( 26-27 October).

Olivia's paper entitled 'Enhancing QoS in IEEE802.11e WLANS Using CellBreathing' was well received by judges and fellow presenters. Her supervisor DrDirk Pesch, CIT, was there to receive the award on her behalf. Olivia's presenta-tion will be available shortly on the IT&T conference website.

The role of research was top of the agenda this year with keynotes such asLawrence Cowsar, executive director Lucent Technologies Bell labs, highlightingthe importance of research to the growing economy. The panel discussionwhich involved Dr Tim Creedon, director of IT Tallaght, further discussed the rel-

evance of research to economic development and the role of the governmentin making the research career an attractive one.

Nuala O'Shea conference organiser with TecNet said ''we are delighted with theturn out at the event, it's great to see researchers so enthusiastic about present-ing their work. The programme featured something for everyone and the intro-duction of an industry track session was highly regarded.''

''The conference provides researchers with a forum to present their results andto be peer reviewed is important to them in order that their work is recognisedand published.''

''Researchers meet with a view to collaborating with the industry sector. Thewhole driving force of the conference is the fact that it provides a congenialmeeting point. This is important especially in light of government policy whichfocuses on research and development with both sectors working in conjunctionwith each other. The conference differs to other national conferences whichtend to focus on either ICT or Telecommunication areas or else they tend to beinternational. This conference provides a national forum catering for all areas''said Ms.O’Shea.

www.tecnet.iesubmitted by Michael Loftus

USI Urges Ministers to Think Big with Future of Education in Budget

Cork Scoops BothAwards at IT&T

Research Conference!“...Olivia Brickley from CIT won 'best paper' award out of 24

presentations for her research paper on Enhancing QoS WLANs...”(L-R) Paul Walsh, Conference Chair presenting the award for Best Paper to Dirk Pesch, CIT accepting the award on behalf of his student Olivia Brickley

WIT to make case for changeto University status

Senior academics and management at WaterfordInstitute of Technology (WIT) Are chasing universitystatus for the college. A submission will be madewithin weeks to Government, to the Minister forEducation & Science and to the Higher EducationAuthority, the body which has responsibility for plan-ning and development in the higher education sec-tor. The submission will set out the return-on- invest-ment to the Exchequer.

College board chairman, Redmond O’Donoghue, said.“A key economic strength of our argument is that thecampuses for a regional university in the south-eastalready exist and there are not anything like the samecosts associated with an upgrade of WaterfordInstitute of Technology as there would be with theprovision of a greenfield site that involved very costlyland acquisitions, planning and construction.

In addition to the exceptional facilities at our CorkRoad and College Street campuses, we have a 150-acre land-bank at Carriganore, where an enterprisecampus is already taking shape.” “The additional costto the Exchequer of designating the institute as a uni-versity will be a relatively small fraction of the returnthat can be expected to accrue to Government andIrish society over time”, Mr O’Donoghue added.

Goodbody Economic Consultants estimated in theirAugust 2005 report for Waterford Chamber ofCommerce that if WIT were to become a university, itwould generate over 700 new direct and indirectjobs. The university would also generate nearly €100million for the regional economy, equivalent to thelocation in the south-east of two new large-scalehigh-end industries, the report added.

Mr O’Donoghue said the case for the upgrade is clear.“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind and, impor-tantly, in the minds of numerous external reviewersfrom this country and overseas who have examinedthe institute in forensic detail, that Waterford is readyfor the transition to a university.

Indeed, a key strength of the argument for a regionaluniversity in the south-east is the existence of anestablished institute with a strong earned reputation;an institute that competes successfully with existinguniversities despite the unique restrictions placed onit”.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has described WIT as“the jewel in the crown of the IT sector” but saidthere are no plans by the current administration tochange its status. Locally though, Transport MinisterMartin Cullen has described the case for a universityin Waterford as “clear cut”.

Minister for Arts, Sports & Tourism, Mr JohnO'Donoghue T.D., officially turned the sod for thenew €2.5m sporting facilities building at CorkInstitute of Technology. The building will includeDressing Rooms, Ancillary facilities and a viewingstand for 400 people.

Ancillary facilities in the building will include ref-erees changing areas, storerooms, first aid rooms,weights room, meeting rooms and warm up area.The new building will be located adjacent to theInstitutes GAA Pitch and will provide much need-ed facilities and services to over 20 teams com-peting for the Institute.

Guests at the ceremony included members of theCork County Boards of the GAA, Camogie andLadies Football, the Munster Branch of the IRFU,

the Munster Senior League, Horgan & LynchConsulting Engineers, Architects RKD, CITGoverning Body and the officers and coaches ofSports Clubs in CIT.

This new facility will also help to service the twoof the five new playing pitches in Rock Farm(across the Curraheen River) which have comeon stream this year, the remaining pitches aredue to come on line in September 2006.

"We are delighted with the commencement ofthis construction”, said Senior Sports Officer,Eithne Lydon, “it is testament to the Institute’songoing commitment to the development ofsport for our students, we are developing thefacilities in CIT to ensure that they are among thebest in the country".

Bright Future for CIT Sport as Sodturned on New €2.5m Sporting Facility

Donal Cusack, Cork Senior Hurling Goalkeeper;with Rugby Bursary recipients David Ryan, BattDuggan and Timothy Ryan

Pics: Neil Danton / News Digital & Miriam Deasy

John Gardiner, Hurling, Miriam Deasy,

Sports Officer, Eithne Lydon, Senior

Sports Officer, and Donal ”g Cusack,

John Gardiner, Hurling, Home Club Na

Piarsaigh; and Guest of Honour Donal ”g

Cusack, Cork Senior Hurling Goalkeeper

Andrew Gray, Hockey,Donal ”gCusack, and Billy Lynch, Hockey

Deirdre Delaney, Camogie, Home Club Freshford,Kilkenny; Donal ”g Cusack, and Brenda Hanney,Camogie, Home Club Killimor, Galway

Miriam Deasy and Louise Kavanagh,

Sports Officers, making a presentation

to Paddy Oldham, Senior Caretaker, on

the occassion of his retirement

Caroline Hayes, Badminton, at theCIT Sports Bursaries & CIT / MunsterCouncil Scholarships 2005 / 2006ceremony at the Imperial Hotel

Christmas is nearly here and I know some ofyou have started exams already so hope theexams are going well for you and best of luckwith the rest of them. There were some greatevents staged in CIT since my last address,especially Christmas Day. Christmas Day was aphenomenal success in all campuses, everyoneenjoyed Wallmark,Santa and the Snow Ball inBlu Bambu. Well done to Mick and the enter-tainments crew for a fantastic day enjoyed byall here in CIT and Bishopstown.Congratulations to everyone who graduated on

the 14th and 15th November. Hope everyone enjoyed the Graduation ball inSilversprings.

In the past month we have finally seen the first stages of construction of themain courtyard floor in the Student Centre. In last month’s edition I mentionedthat the Students’ Union was seeking ways to pay for the under floor heatingof the courtyard floor, since apparently there was no more money available forthe Centre. At the Union’s AGM, the student body gave approval for theExecutive to fund the heating and furniture for the building. Finally progress hasbeen made so we hope to move over to the new building after Christmas.

CIT has always had a proud tradition in the computing and engineering fieldbut there has been an influx of complaints in relation to the computer facilitiesaround the college in the past month. These complaints have ranged from lackof access to computers to lack of printers. This current state of the computerfacilities around the college is a great concern to us as a Union and has

remained an unaddressed issue for many years. If any student has any prob-lems please come and advise us of them. We are currently dealing with theissue.

The students of Crawford College of Art and design CCAD are still waiting foran announcement from the Minister for Education and the Director of theInstitute on whether the CCAD will be relocated to another location in the city.Lately the impression that the Institute are giving to the students and staff ofthe college is that, YES it will be moving to another location. Well if that’s thecase we the Students’ Union are categorically opposed to any such move whichin turn will see a major reaction from the students of Crawford and the wholeof CIT alike.

I believe that the Institute has an obligation to the students of CCAD to facili-tate their interests as art students. The Institute must understand that student’seducation will be dramatically effected if moved from their current location,simply due to the fact that students need to be in close proximity to city Centreand art galleries which collectively contribute to the inspiration and educationthat they need as art students.

The Institute does not seem to comprehend the hardship that students in CCADface everyday due to substandard facilities that exist there,so it is because ofthis hardship and a belief in the preservation of a college that has contributedto heritage of Cork for the last 150 years that we, the Students’ Union, will beescalating our campaign to save Crawford.

Jeremy

CIT Students’ Union Vice President Welfare

CIT Students’ Union President

Please feel free to call to theSU prefab should you needany advice or even a quickchat over tea. 021 4933123

Hi everyone, I hope that you’re all keeping well and that theCity supporters out there (me included) are well recovered afterthe Derry game. Just the Drogs next and hopefully anotherinsane night of celebrations

Moving on to something to do with my job, the office has beenbusy enough, as per usual the main complaints are relatedaccommodation issues. Remember that if you’re not happywith where you’re living you can always give your 28 daysnotice and go, it’s well within your rights.

With the Christmas season almost totally on top of us I have abit of advice, everything in moderation. It can be very easy to

overspend, over drink, overeat and overindulge this time ofyear, listen to the angel on your shoulder.

For those of you that don’t know (and those that do and are try-ing to keep it secret!) there’s a shuttle bus service to the busstation that leaves the bus stop behind the new Tourism build-ing every Friday at fifteen minute intervals from 1.00 pm, this isa free service for all those getting connecting buses.

Until next time have a great one!

Sinéad

CIT Students’ Union Entertainments OfficerHi, my name is John Grant and I was recently electedEntertainments Officer at the annual AGM. I'm looking forwardto working in the Students' Union for the forthcoming year andI will do the best I can for you guys to improve and maintainthe great events in CIT. If you have any ideas or want to havea chat, feel free to stop me when you see me.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks with the three cups (CorkLadies Football and Camogie, Cork Men's Hurling) visitingRafters a few weeks ago and fire dancers in Redz as well.Christmas day was a blast that few will soon forget; great

laughs during the day and the Red Hot Chilli Feckers rockedthe house in Blue Bamboo. Kudos to Wallmark for putting on agreat show that day.

Like all good things these days come and go in a blur of funand music but fear not all the bars have great parties comingup before college breaks up for Christmas. So enjoy yourselveslads and if you get a chance check out the Prodigy's new remixof Voodoo People (Pendulum Mix).

John

It’s me again! Before we start off I want to con-gratulate John Grant on getting himself electedas our new Ents Officer. He’s only at the job afew weeks and he’s already done a lot of work,keep it up.

Right here we go, God almighty, Christmas day,what can I say about it? Some day for one day.Too much excitement for one person to han-dle. Where do I start? Personally Santa arriving

in the helicopter was the best part for me, but that was only the beginning.After arriving, Santa met all the little kiddies from the local schools, and pro-ceeded to hop onto his scooter and tore into the college. He then entered hisgrotto where he spent most of his day meeting and greeting the happy, joyful,“young at heart”, students of CIT. If that wasn’t enough, Wallmark were in thewest atrium shaking the walls off our fine Institute and left the crowd, as everygood entertainer should, wanting more.

After we had all stuffed our faces full of the gorgeous food, which the lovelypeople in the canteen provided for us, the local watering holes began to fill tobeyond capacity with festive CIT students.

A big thank you to The Outpost, Btown Bar and our new arrival The Loft for put-ting up with us. Then if you managed to survive the pubs, we moved onto theChristmas Day Ball aka “The Snowball” in Blu Bamboo where the Red Hot ChilliFeckers rocked the Club to its foundations. A great night had by all, BRING ONTHE NEW YEAR. As always my hat must go off to the fine work of Mick andJohn and the rest of the Ents team.

I was delighted that we met up with our brothers and sisters from NMCI, CCADand CSM for the celebrations also.

OK now guys you’ve had your fun, as always its time for the serious stuff.Just a few small things for you all to note, if you look carefully you will seebrand new cigarette bins outside the Library and external door of the college. Iwant the Tourism and Catering students especially to notice the bin outsidetheir building. Please use them lads, the place looks really bad with fag buttsall over the place, it’s the little things that make a huge difference in the longrun. As well, try and throw your chewing gum into the bins too.

OK, now I’ve said it in every address since September, yes you’ve guessed it, it’sthe Canteen again. I cannot understand why people can’t just pick up their traywhen finished and put it in the tray racks provided. I mean seriously, there isnothing worse than looking for a table in the canteen and the only one tablethat is free is covered in dirty plates and food, it’s disgusting! I’ve even seenpeople eat around the mess. It’s crazy. Next time when you’re done pick upyour tray and put it in the racks, if you see someone leaving without doing it,ASK THEM TO. If this situation is not sorted in the next few weeks, lads, actionwill be taken by the college and it’ll be totally out of our control. Consider your-selves warned.

Now, on a completely different matter guys, I just wanna let ye all know aboutone major role in my job. Organising strikes. OH YES, I hear you say, strikes!Now, we have the possibility of major strikes happening in the near future, Ineed people who I can call on to come out and dedicate their time to thecause, whatever it may be. If you are interested email me suprojects@cit.ie, orjust stop me in the corridor. Or if you have an issue which you feel may needStrike Action or even an Awareness Campaign, EMAIL ME.

OK that’s it, if I don’t see ye, have a great Christmas and an only OK new year!Get yourselves ready for the Society Balls when your back and dare I say it….RAG WEEK! Good luck in your exams,

Wez

And the days just roll on by.

It’s almost Christmas time again and the 25thwill soon be here, Santa has stiffed me over thelast few years but I’m hoping my good work inthe Union will soften old Father Christmas’sresolve and he’ll finally give me what I want.

I had the pleasure of graduating this year and I’dlike to thank everyone who made the day pos-sible. Donal Dempsey, Barry Leach the stewards

and the rest of the conferring committee.

Well by now most of us are about to delve into the seedy underworld of exam-time, just remember, “Don’t PANIC”, the Students’ Union is at hand to help youthrough. If you feel the pressure you can always call into us for advice, neverforget that its never too late so if you’ve slipped up, you can still salvage valu-able marks by getting the head down now and sealing yourself off from distrac-tion. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you’ll all get the results youdeserve

The initial H-Dip deadline has now passed, good luck to all of you who applied;those of you who haven’t can still apply until 6th of January. However there isan increased fee to be paid. Anyone who is thinking of applying for graduate

programmes, masters be it research or taught, now is the time to start show-ing interest and getting to know what’s available. For information on the oppor-tunities available to you call into me here at the prefab or into the excellentCareers and Counselling Office.

Christmas Day was a great laugh; I really enjoyed it from start to finish. Asalways respect to the crew and the Ents Office for the great job they did. BluBamboo played host to the Red Hot Chilli Feckers and in true style they blast-ed into the night. I might add that I saw someone kissing Santa but it wasn’tmy mammy and I think Santa may have been taken advantage of, I saw himsome time later holding onto a lamppost for dear life. I hope we haven’t ruinedChristmas for all the kiddies.

So here it goes, enjoy Christmas eat, drink and be merry. Spend time with yourloved ones and recuperate the energy for the months ahead. I can’t wait forChristmas it’s my favourite time of the year, the smell of home cooking thatlingers in the house for days on end just tantalises the taste buds. Plus it’s theonly season where having a few extra pounds is ok. Yes Christmas at long lastbring it on I say.

With that I bid you adieu.

Mikey

CIT Students’ Union Vice President Education

CIT Students’ Union Projects Officer

Would you like to get involved with expliCIT?info@explicit.ie

or you can drop in directly into the SU office in C143

INTERESTED IN MEDICALRESEARCH?

WE REQUIRE HEALTHY MALES & FEMALES AGED18 - 50 TO PARTICIPATE IN CLINICAL STUDIES.

PARTICIPANTS ARE FINANCIALLY COMPENSATEDFOR THEIR TIME AND EXPENSES.

FREE PHONE 1800-201365TEL: (021) 4505933 (BETWEEN 9AM-4PM)OR E-MAIL: jean.conway@shandonclinic.ie

www.shandonclinic.ie

The following are some methods, which can be useful when learning thoseawkward bits of information. Just bare in mind that there is no point spend-ing two hours thinking of an acronym when you could have covered half thetopic for the exam.

Acronyms and Acrostics: (for information involving key words). An acronym is an invented combination of letters. Each letter is a cue to anidea you need to remember. Example: BRASS is an acronym for how toshoot a rifle-Breath, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze.

An acrostic is an invented sentence where the first letter of each word is acue to an idea you need to remember. Example: EVERY GOOD BOYDESERVES FUN is an acrostic to remember the order of G-clef notes onsheet music--E, G, B, D, F.

Rhyme-Keys: (for ordered or unordered lists).First, memorise key words that can be associated with numbers. Forinstance, bun with one; shoe with two, tree with three, door with four, hivewith five, etc.Next create an image of the items you need to remember with key words.For example, if you had to remember the four basic food groups- diary prod-ucts; meat, fish, and poultry; grains; and fruit and vegetables- imaginecheese on a bun, livestock with shoes on, a sack of grain suspended in atree, and opening a door to a room stocked with fruits and vegetables.The Method of Loci: (for approximately twenty items).Select any location that you have spent a lot of time in and have easilymemorized. Imagine yourself walking through the location, selecting clear-ly defined places- the door, sofa, refrigerator, shelf, etc. Imagine yourself put-ting objects that you need to remember into each of these places by walk-ing through this location in a direct path. Again, you need a standard directpath and clearly defined locations for objects to facilitate the retrieval ofthese objects.

The Image-Name Technique: (for remembering names).Simply invent any relationship between the name and the physical charac-teristics of the person. For example, if you had to remember Shirley Temple'sname, you might ingrain the name in memory by noticing that she has"curly" (rhymes with Shirley) hair around her temples.

Chaining: (for ordered or unordered lists).Create a story where each word or idea you have to remember cues thenext idea you need to recall. If you had to remember the words Napoleon,ear, door, and Germany, you could invent a story of Napoleon with his earto a door listening to people speak in German.

Careers and Counselling Launch WebsiteThe CIT Careers and Counselling Service is pleased to announce that its dedicat-ed student website is up and running. The site will contain the most up-to-dateemployment opportunities available to students/graduates, as well as a NewsSection, Library Referral, Company Listings, FAQ sheets, as well as other relevantdata.

Dan Collins, the Head of the Service, would appreciate it if people spread theword about the site and he encourages CIT students to keep visiting to see themost up to date vacancies, news etc. Users should feel free to send feedbackusing the Feedback Form located on the site. www.careersandcounselling.com

CIT Graduation Pictures 2005

pics: Barry O’Sullivan, Audio Visual Dept. CIT

pics@expliCIT.ieEmail us you pics of class parties to be printed here!.

Please send all pics in high resolutionBEWARE OF OUR CAMERAS IN CITSU CLUBS!

Prepare to read an article, which will have you nodding yourhead and murmuring “So true”. And remember ladies, ifyou’re ever in a situation you really can’t get yourself out of,take a leaf out The Simpsons and bat your eyelashes whilesaying, “Don’t ask me, I’m just a girl!”

MaturityWomen mature at a much faster rate than men. Most 17-year-old females can function as adults. Most 17-year-oldmales are still trading baseball cards and giving each otherwedgies after gym class. This is why school romances rarelywork.

GroceriesA woman knows how to shop for food. Shemakes a list of the things she needs, and thengoes to the store and buys these things. A mandoes not shop on a frequent basis. He waitsuntil the only items left in his refrigerator are anopened can of Bud and an odd smelling pieceof chicken. Then he goes food shopping. A manbuys everything that looks good. By the time aman reaches the checkout counter, his cart ispacked tighter than the Clampett's car on theBeverly Hillbillies. Of course, this will not stop him fromgoing to the 10 items or less lane.

MagazinesMen's magazines often feature pictures of naked ladies.Women's magazines also feature pictures of naked ladies.This is because the female body is a beautiful work of art,while the male body is lumpy and hairy and should not beseen by the light of day.

HandwritingTo their credit, men do not decorate their penmanship. Theyjust chicken scratch. Women use scented, coloured station-ary, and they dot their "i's" with circles and hearts. Womenuse ridiculously large loops in their "p's" and "g's." It is aroyal pain to read a note from a woman. Even when she'sdumping you, she'll put a smiley face at the end of the note.

BathroomsA man has 6 items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, tooth-paste, shaving cream, a razor, a bar of soap and a towel thatthey “borrowed” from a hotel. The average number of itemsin a typical women's bathroom is 437. A man would not beable to identify most of these items.

Going OutWhen a man says he is ready to go out, it means he is readyto go out. When a woman says she is ready to go out, itmeans she will be ready, as soon as she finds her other ear-

ring, makes one phone call and finishes putting on hermakeup.

MirrorsMen are vain; they will check themselves out in the mirror.Women are ridiculous; they will check out their reflectionsin any shiny surface, mirrors, spoons, store windows, toast-ers, or sometimes, bald men’s heads.

OffspringAh, children. A woman knows all about her children. Sheknows about dentist appointments and soccer games andromances and best friends and favourite foods and hopesand dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people

living in his house.

Directions If a woman is out driving, and she finds herself inunfamiliar surroundings, she will stop at a petrolstation and ask for directions. Men consider this tobe a sign of weakness. Men will never stop andask for directions. Men will drive in a circle forhours, all the while saying things like, "Looks likeI've found a new way to get there." and, "I know

I'm in the general neighbourhood. I recognize that Spar."

Dressing Up A woman will dress up to: go shopping, water the plants,empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, get themail. A man will dress up for: weddings, funerals.

ToysLittle girls love to play with toys. Then when they reach theage of 11 or 12, they lose interest. Men never grow out oftheir obsession with toys. As they get older, their toys sim-ply become more expensive and silly and impractical.Examples of men's toys: little miniature TV's. Car phones.Complicated juicers and blenders. Graphic equalizers. Smallrobots that serve cocktails on command. Video games.Anything that blinks, beeps, and requires at least 6 "D" bat-teries to operate.

Finally, for the artists among us…

CamerasMen take photography very seriously. They'll shell out 4000quid for state of the art equipment, and build dark roomsand take photography classes. Women purchase KodakDisposables. Of course women always end up taking betterpictures.

Adapted from: www.arkworld.com by Caitriona Foley

“...A woman will dress up to: go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage,

answer the phone, read a book, get the mail.A man will dress up for: weddings, funerals...”

The nerves were beginning to develop within the last twenty minutes beforethe test. My fingers agitatedly tapped the steering wheel and the butterflieswere prancing around my stomach. “I can do this”, I told myself over and overbut then my imagination ran riot on me and images of crashing the car orknocking a cyclist down floated around my mind.

BEEP! BEEP! My reverie was interrupted by a last minute “Good luck” text mes-sage. Ten minutes to go now, I gave the windscreen one blast of the wipes andwiped the windows furiously with a cloth and then it was time to sit this nervewrecking driving test.

In the waiting room the nerves could be sensed. A woman in her early thirtiessat in the corner crossing and uncrossing her legs clutching her bag tightly, ayoung guy slouched against the wall and another woman who was taking hertest on a motorbike annoyingly paced the floor.

A tall balding man came to the door and called my name. “Let the fun begin”I joked with the other waiting candidates. He asked those expected rules ofthe road questions and then it was time to hit the road. The driver testerslipped into his high visibility vest and followed me to my beloved Opel Corsa(Okay, it mightn’t be a Ferrari or anything but it’s MY car and I love it).

In his stiff voice he told me to turn left and off we went heading towardsSarsfield roundabout. The silence in the car killed me, I mean I wasn’t accus-tomed to the absence of sound while driving usually I had the radio blaring.

In my mind all I could hear was my driving instructor saying “Mirrors, mirrorsMichelle, observation is crucial”. I felt like a programmed robot looking to myright, to my left and looking up to the back mirror and then I did the unthink-able, I didn’t look in my left mirror when I was switching lanes on a round-about. I cursed myself as I could see the tester marking an X on that dreadfulcolourful sheet they have.

The rain pelted down as the wipers swished from side to side. My three pointturn was excellent as was my hill start (If I do say so myself) but the one I wasdreading the most was the reversing around the corner. I had a nasty tenden-cy of always catching the kerb. I took a deep breath and reversed like a snailaround the corner (remembering my observation) and as I steadied up I couldsee that there was enough space between me and the kerb to fit another car,oops! Another bout of cursing myself in my head followed.

I pulled back into the testing centre I was relieved it was finally over. He toldme he would give me the result inside. I couldn’t understand why he couldn’tjust say the four lettered word instead of dragging it out longer than needed. Ifollowed him in with my head bowed low trying to calculate when I could takemy test again if I applied immediately. I perched myself down on the seatacross from the driving examiner awaiting the news. He took off his jacket everso slowly (probably on purpose) and commented on the bad weather. Itreminded me of “Romeo and Juliet” (remember that from school) when thenurse arrives back from a meeting with Romeo to an eagerly awaiting Julietwho had no interest of hearing of her aches and pains but only of what herlover had to say.

“I didn’t pass did I?” I blurted out unable to handle the suspense. He laughedgently and told me I had passed.

“WHAT I passed! Are you sure?” He smiled at my disbelief and gave me a formto sign I quickly scribbled my name and skipped towards my car. As the rainpoured down on me I peeled my hated “L” plates off and jumped into my car.

“I passed” I had to tell myself again. I couldn’t believe that I had actually passed.Several text messages were sent to spread the good news just before I zoomedout of the testing centre no longer a learner driver.

Michelle Bouse

Would you like to get involvedwith our magazine expliCIT?We are always looking for students to submit articles and photos for our magazine. If you are interested in submittingnews, reviews, feature articles, photos, sport or societies infothen please get in contact with us now!

Email: info@expliCIT.ieTel: 021 4933124

Meet: SU Shop - C143

The Driving Testby Michelle Bouse

“...I can do this, I told myself over and overbut then my imagination ran riot on me

and images of crashing the car or knockinga cyclist down floated around my mind...”

Levitation suggests a floating and free sense of musicand emotion. The latest contemporary jazz releasefrom Irish guitarist, Mark O’ Leary, in collaboration withworld-renowned trumpeter, Tomasz Stanko, anddrummer, Billy Hart. This fourteen-track compilationtakes the listener through a sonic voyage where eachtrack holds true to the idea of the title with differentemotions and thoughts expressed through fluidimprovised dialogues. With tracks such as a theme Iused to play with its ethereal ending of floating chordsagainst a terse drum groove and the title trackLevitation where the guitar gives a discourse on mod-ern contemporary improv juxtaposed with virtuosotrumpet and polyrhythms. The lyrical explorations ofthis contemporary improv terrain Is very articulate andwill surely reach out to vast array of music listeners.

The insert allows a deeper meaning of interpretationof the tracks, each one comes with a back story suchas the title track Levitation, ‘Even if we have no directexperience of defying gravity through levitation, thedesire to rise above circumstances is a common feel-ing most of us experience from time to time.’ It is thisquote, which shall sum up this c.d. as it demonstratesthe artists need and will to be free and allow a totallyunbounded creative flow to emerge through out eachindividual track.

With close dialogue between the trio and fusing awealth of influences they shift moods from day tonight with a technical precession while keeping thespontaneity of the musical idiom to portray their mes-sage.This cd is the consummate eclectic mix, with a wideranging dynamic that will engage the discerning jazzlistener.

The instrument combination is not unique, but theway the music is carefully presented and crafted, withsome beautiful moments of contemporary improvisa-tion, coupled with vivid imagination is inspirational.

The music Levitates.Patrick Tuite

CD Review:

LevitationMark O’Leary Guitar,Tomasz Stanko Trumpet,Billy Hart Drums

Leo records 445

It was 8.00 pm on Saturday evening when thephone rang, and my buddy John asks ”Do youwant to go to The Prodigy tonight?”, “You’ve tick-ets?” I bumble; “offered by the band themselves,just served them in the bar” he replied. Can youimagine the look on my face? “They’ll put us onthe guest list” said John. . .what a glorious cre-ation, the guest list. “Hell yeah” was myresponse. John, Colin and I can’t believe ourluck, Christmas has come early.

Fifteen minutes later all three of us were in a carspeeding towards Millstreet in a state of pureglee, how sound are these guys, absolute leg-ends. The curtains were due to go up at 9.15 pmon the button and the opening was supposed tobe incredible. We had a time schedule to keepand by God we kept it, pulling into the GreenGlens Arena at 9.10 pm. We raced towards thedoors and ‘politely’ asked the first steward wherethe guest list was to be found

Once inside we approached the info desk andwith a triumphant smile released onto the world“we’re on the bands guest list”. We were guidedto our seats and sat with moments to spare. Thecrowd was thick with anticipation knowing themoment drew nearer as every second slid by.

At once the stage blinded us with light! Smokeflowed from the ground and then The Prodigybounded onto stage. The crowd erupted as a seaof people tossed and rolled up in front of me,within minutes I was amongst the crowd movingever forwards and ever closer to the stage. The

sound was surreal a sense of euphoria oozedfrom every note as we became ever more entan-gled in the spiders web. Each of their hard-nosedclassics beating out from the roof mountedspeakers to the fans below.

This is the “Their Law” tour; the album compris-es all the singles from 1990-2005. I was sur-prised at just how energetic the performancewas by the band, each member hardly stoppedmoving over the entire two hours. Each songcharged out over the crowd, every blast of strobesent people into frenzies and the pure emotioncould be tasted in the air.

I have been to a lot of gigs but I must say therewas something different, maybe it was the fact Ididn’t have to pay, maybe it was the fact thatevery person there came to see The Prodigy, Idon’t know, but whatever it was the band felt ittoo. The following morning when recovering overbreakfast the band commented to John whoworked in the hotel they stayed in “that thecrowd last night were brilliant” and that it wasthe best of their Irish gigs to date.

Here’s to The Prodigy, real salt of the earth leg-ends. If any one doesn’t believe me I have theirautographs to prove it.

“Their Law” Special 2 CD Edition is on Play.comfor €16 Inc P&P. It’s an ideal stocking filler for anyprodigy fan.

The Best Things In Life Are FreeCD Review: The Prodigy “Their Law” by Michael O’Connor

New Team, New Ideas, the theme running throughout the Fine Gael, NationalConference 2005 held in the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet. This conferencewas attended by over 3,000 Fine Gael members and delegates to discuss partypolicy and to get the troops revved up for the upcoming General Election in 18months time. And revved up we certainly were by the time Enda Kenny and theother speakers were finished.

The members of CIT YFG were in attendance, from early morning well into thenight. After meeting up in the city centre, the branch members went on to theSilver Springs Hotel where many enthusiastic party members boarded buses tothe venue, somewhat delayed by some of the YFG members cycling to theevent to raise money for charity, a bit too early for such exertions for some ofus!

The day was structured in a series of workshops or sessions on various topics.These sessions were designed to outline new party policy and to hear fromexperts in each area. ‘Irish Agriculture- A growing Business?’ addressed byDenis Naughten TD, spokesperson on Agri. and Food, followed by a questionand answers session.

‘Healthcare-First things first’ addressed by Dr Liam Twomey TD, spokespersonon Health and Children. Improving the health service will be a key challengefacing the next government, Dr Liam Twomey TD, outlined his vision for primaryand secondary community care, promising free GP services to the under fives,a critical time in any child’s development. A full and comprehensive NationalScreening Programme for Adults, something promised but not delivered by thecurrent regime. A strategy to tackle the GP manpower crisis and other key areasin the health service.

The keynote address was given by Richard Bruton, Deputy Leader and financespokesperson. This man knows his finance brief backwards, putting many adent in the governments armour, most notably over the wastage in publicspending after exposing the bungling failed PPARS and PPP’s computer system.He promised to not increase personal, corporate or capital taxes and to try andreduce all the 32 stealth taxes introduced by FF/PD’s, to increase the powersof the Comptroller and Auditor General and to rebalance the inequality in ourtax laws where the richest pay none, while 47% of ordinary workers are in thehighest tax band.

Other areas addressed were Childcare with significant advances proposed inthese areas, €3,500 assistance for the first years of a child’s life, increasedparental leave and proper training for childcare professionals. Future Energy,the party was informed of many of the tough new actions needed to avert afuture energy crisis. Also there was a talk on anti-social behaviour measures,addressed by Corks own, Bernard Allen TD and a very entertaining and inform-ative speech given by the ever popular Jim O’ Keefe TD.

Naturally the day wasn’t all about these serious and weighty issues. It also gave

many a chance to meet friends old and new from other branches, and enjoy apint or two while stealing, furtive glances at the disastrous Irish rugby match.

Of course the climax of the day was the keynote address made by Fine GaelLeader, Enda Kenny. With delegates settled in their seats, Mairead McGuinnessMEP, kicked off the evening with some entertainment.

Introducing various party members and a roll call of FG local authority leadersand reviewing our recent electoral successes. Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Deirdre Clune,got a rousing welcome. As to the very apt tune of; Send In The Clowns, a seriesof photos and video clips of various FF/PD cabinet members, doing what theydo best, one more devastatingly hilarious than the next. All this got the crowdwarmed up and raring to go. Enda Kenny, finally appeared to rapturous wel-come.

Enda Kenny was in fine voice. Exuding an aura of authority, he was in good spir-its throughout proving very popular with the grassroots. His speech outlined forthe nation the contents of the party’s policy as addressed during the day, high-lighted the failings and ineptitude of the current government, cementing thepact with Labour offering a viable and vibrant alternative and sounding thestarting shot of the next election for the party faithful. Enda definitely nailed theparty’s colours to the mast here, less could be said for Fianna Fail who could-n’t even fly the right flag at their Ard Feis, I hope Bertie doesn’t think he’s leaderof the Ivory Coast. The real Republican Party, I don’t think so.

FG under Enda Kenny has built up a momentum and is now a serious con-tender for government something most felt impossible three years ago. Theparty’s steady showing in the opinion polls has given members more self con-fidence and a realistic hope that a return to power is clearly coming within theparty’s reach.

Enda Kenny also outlined the key role YFG have to play in the upcoming bat-tle. YFG nationwide is celebrating the success of its largest ever recruitmentcampaign, which has raised membership to over 4,000 members. That’s a600% increase since 2002 and an increase of 600 college members since2004. The eye-catching poster campaign featuring the slogan ‘Political PartyAnimals, received a great response from over 20 third level Institutions. Thissuccess is evident in CIT, where membership is dramatically up from last year.We are in the process of organising many fun, social and important events forthe year. If you are interested in joining our branch contact any of the membersat underthebridge@eircom.net or andrewdineen1@eircom.net, come along toany meeting, Wednesdays 7.30pm B251 or log on to www.yfg.ie. We are alwaysinterested in hearing from our fellow students, so if you have any issues orproblems you would like highlighting or assistance with, don’t be afraid to ask.We might be ‘Political Party Animals’, but we don’t bite, normally!

By Andrew Dineen, CIT Young Fine Gael Secretary

New TeamNew Ideas

by CIT Young Fine Gael

“...Enda Kenny was in fine voice. Exuding an auraof authority, he was in good spirits throughout

proving very popular with the grassroots...”

Too early to plan your social calendar for2006? NEVER!The jingle bells of Christmas have just aboutstarted to ring and Santa is approaching hismost hectic time of the year. The party season isabout to swing into action, as are you; and atthis busy time we ask just of one little favourfrom you.

All you have to do is focus, remember the datewe give you, store it in your head and keep itfree for what promises to be one of the bestnights of 2006. March 15th: Remember thedate. March 15th: Keep it free.

March 15th: Your chance to help those less for-tunate than ourselves (they won't haveChristmas), while having some fun yourselves.

Of course there's the added benefit of seeinglots of gorgeous people strutting their stuff onthe 'catwalk for charity'.

Clothes from many of the leading fashion shopswill be on display that night and what betterway to herald the eagerly anticipated long hotsummer of 2006 than to see what styles are onoffer for the next season.

Saves you on all that pounding of pavements in

an effort to find the perfect summer outfit toshow off those lithe bodies we are all going toattain following the excesses of Christmas.

TEMPTED...You should be!

March 15th promises to be a night of fun, fash-ion, festivities and frolics. Help others to helpthemselves and play your part in working forlong-term change in Africa. This is a very worthycause and all the people involved in this fashionshow are doing so on a voluntary basis. SelfHelp is an Irish charity that focuses on long termfamine prevention. This charity works with com-munities to promote sustainable and lastingchange by helping Africa regain their independ-ence and become self-sufficient.

Please support this very worthy cause by keep-ing March 15th free and joining us at theSilversprings Moran Hotel, Cork. Every littlehelps.

Have a happy, peaceful Christmas and a pros-perous 2006 and let your number one New Yearresolution be to join us on March 15th in thefight against poverty.

Thank you and see you all there.

JOIN SUAS AT CITSuas is the Irish word for ‘up’ and is the name of a newsociety at CIT. Suas is a youth and education focusedorganisation, which gives young people the opportuni-ty to address educational disadvantage in Ireland andoverseas. Through our various programmes and activi-ties, we aim to foster a strong sense of global citizen-ship. Suas is a secular registered charity and has a net-work of societies throughout Irish colleges.

Four key themes run through all of our activities.

· Realising potential: Investing in young people to fully realise their potential to create a better futurefor themselves and their communities.

· Service to others and Social engagement: ‘We getthe society we earn’. We promote the involvementof individuals in creating a better society – locally and internationally.

· Global citizenship: We believe that we live in aninterdependent world in which we share rights and responsibilities as citizens, and a common future.

· Leadership: Developing the commitment and thecapacity to make a positive difference.

In other words, Suas hopes that young people willchannel their commitment to help others throughinvolvement with our activities at CIT. We run fundrais-ers, are organising a homework club for children in dis-advantaged areas and send students on voluntaryplacements to India and Kenya each summer.

We will also be participating in the “make poverty his-tory campaign” this Christmas. We need you to getinvolved! Suas meets every Wednesday at 1.15pm inB227. All welcome! For more info on Suas go towww.suas.ie.

Self Help Africa Fashion Show 2006

The Management & Staff of the Rochestown Park Hotel would like towish all new and returning students to CIT the best of luck with the year ahead. Thank you for once again making us your number 1 Ball Venue for 2005

Would you like your Society or Club Here?submissions@explicit.ie

or you can drop them directly into the SU office in C143

Early in November CIT/NMCI took to the field for a competitive sporting fix-ture for the first time ever when the newly formed NMCI RFC took on CarlowIT in ICRU Div 2. Faced with the long trip to Carlow and the fact that a num-ber of players pulled out on match day through injury NMCI pulled out anexcellent performance and were very unlucky not to win.

At a windswept Oak Park NMCI opted to play into the wind in the first half.Carlow started the brighter of teams and put a number of phases togetherbefore a stray hand in the ruck gave them a penalty chance, which they con-verted. Five minutes later they scored another penalty to leave it 6-0 and thatwas the way it stayed until half time. Other than penalty chances Carlowrarely threatened the NMCI line in fact they only managed to get into theNMCI 22 on three or four occasions throughout the whole match. The NMCIpack had the Carlow scrum under fierce pressure for the whole day winningfive or six balls against the head, while the lineout was a bit of a mixed affair.The scrum gave a good platform for the backs, which allowed centres StuartDonaldson and John Keeshan to make good ground. Testament to NMCI'sdefence was the fact that Carlow had to replace five players after hard but fairtackling by both forwards and backs alike.

In the second half NMCI scored early though a beautifully struck DavidHarman penalty. He also used the wind effectively with his kicking from hand,which gained NMCI huge ground. Carlow defended well in the second halfand repelled a number of attempts on their line. David Harman was unlucky

with a second penalty attempt midway through the half, which just shadedthe right hand post. The wind had dropped at this stage which enabledCarlow to quick another penalty to leave the score 9-3. With fifteen minutesremaining NMCI had a lineout ten metres outside the Carlow 22. An excel-lent maul by the NMCI forwards led to Jason Losty driving over the line in theleft corner. Stuart Donaldson was unlucky to miss the resulting conversion.

NMCI attacked with fervour for the last 15 minutes so much so that Carlownearly broke away out wide bar for an excellent try saving tackle by full backDon Quinn. In the dying minutes NMCI won a penalty on the halfway line outon the left. A huge kick by out half David Harman rebounded off the cross-bar and Carlow cleared it away. Just minutes later the final whistle went.

All in all NMCI can be very proud of their first run out, for a team that has verylittle time or training together they did well. In the dressing room afterwardsthe Carlow captain said his team couldn't believe they had won. Bodes wellfor the future of NMCI rugby.

Team: 15. Don Quinn 14. Barry Shaughnessy 13. John Keeshan 12. StuartDonaldson (c) 11. Gavin Lynch 10. David Harman 9. Donal Keane 8. JasonLosty 7. John O'Riordan 6. Jason Clohessy 5. Stephen Stack 4. Aedán OHuallacháin 3. Adam Rahilly 2. Rob Coneely 1. Daithi Magee

Subs: 16. Victor Murphy 17. Ian Power

Today was a day which showed how far rugby has come in the last two yearshere in CIT Two teams, that only a year ago never existed, contested an AllIreland league Division 2 game on the CIT Rugby pitch that was also only madeavailable to us this year after a long long ......... far too long exile. The day wasperfect for a free flowing game of rugby as harsh weather of late had now beenlong forgotten and the Sun peeked its way through the frosty looking clouds atthe far side of the pitch. The two teams ran out onto the pitch raring to go ....in my opinion there is nothing like the first 10-15 minutes of a game betweentwo teams from the same club. It can be a ferocious affair sometimes but most-ly it is just a real genuine effort to dethrone the perceived better team.

This is exactly how the game started as The Mariners threw everything at CITand were very unlucky not to break the CIT defence in the opening minutes. Amarker for their effort was that it wasn't until the 15th minute that CIT got intothe Mariners half, but unlike NMCI, CIT came away with 3 points from the bootof Colin Corkery. Bouyed by this CIT attacked again straight from the kick offand were in under the posts through Peter Martin after two quick phases. Thiswas again converted by Colin. The Mariners tried to rally but were hit badlywhen, while on attack, Colin Corkery intercepted and then offloaded to John

Caughlan who raced away for another try under the posts again converted byCorkery. Just before half time Peter Martin got in for his second try, whichCorkery failed to convert. HALF TIME CIT 22 NMCI. 0

The second half started as the first finished with The Mariners putting in a hugeeffort to get themselves back in the game, however their only reward for somereally hard endeavour was a penalty from the boot of Dave Harmon ten min-utes into the half. CIT then upped the tempo and scored three more tries fromColin Corkery, Alan Jennings and Paul Memory (whose name I almost forgot J).All these tries were converted by Colin Corkery to leave the FINAL SCORE CIT43 NMCI 3

Alas, none of these players may merit a bursary but through their endeavourand the enjoyment they achieve from playing sport at this level in CIT bodeswell for not only the coming season but for the future growth and success ofRugby in the Institute

Eoin DeaneTeam Manager

Rugby ReviewCIT Senior 2 vs NMCI/CIT Senior

(43 - 33) by Eoin Deane

“...The Mariners threw everything at CIT and were very unluckynot to break the CIT defence in the opening minutes...”

Rugby Match report on NMCI Rugby Carlow IT 9 - CIT/NMCI 8Game Played 2nd November - NMCI Game Reporter: Stuart Donaldson

Hello from the FloppySoc, CIT Computer Society. It’s been a mad year for us sofar, we organised a great Halloween Party on the 26th October and also had avery successful Soccer Tournament (more about that later). We also revampedour website, http://www.floppysoc.com, and included a new gallery andforum. The gallery is already filling up with hundreds of embarrassing photos.

The FloppySoc, Business & Accounting Society and the Architecture and InteriorArchitecture Society will, combined, have organised the biggest event thismonth in CIT. We hope to see you all at our Christmas party in theBishopstown Bar on Wednesday 7th of December where you can visit Santaand tell him if you’ve been a naughty girl/boy. You may also be lucky and pickup one of our many spot prizes on the night. If the last party at Halloween wasany thing to go by, it’ll be a great night.

There’s plenty of proof of a scary night in our gallery on the web site, which youcan find at http://www.floppysoc.com and selecting the gallery link. See do yourecognise any faces in the gallery. You can also add your own pictures after youregister.

Another important date for your social diary is the James Bond themed, 007Ball on the 1st February 2006 in the Rochestown Park Hotel. Society Balls areoften the most memorable and enjoyable college events, as you may remem-ber from the extremely successful Masquerade Ball last year. Hope to see allthe new 1st years and everyone else there. No doubt there will be plenty ofPierce Brosnan look-alikes. This year we’re pleased to announce that BlueMoose will be playing for the Computing & Chemical Engineering departments.We’re also looking forward to organising a good laugh around this year’stheme; leave your view on the forum.

Once again, the annual FloppySoc Soccer Tournament was a great success forall involved. In the end it was ‘Bob the Builders’ who won the tournament fol-lowing a very controversial semi final against DCOM4. A dismal refereeing per-formance by Willy Power marred the occasion and he had to be escorted fromthe pitch by armed Gardaí. Former Eurovision representative (for Croatia) David

Collins was a shining light in the DCOM defence, however it was retired actor,Padraigh O’Herlihy who picked up the player of the tournament and his prizeof a lifetime supply of Cadbury products. Many thanks must go to theBishopstown Bar for a great night after the final and already there are rumoursthat Mike Bassett’s Dream Team are already in training for next year’s tourna-ment.

Upcoming events include a paintballing trip, PS2 Pro Evolution Tournamentand a table quiz so keep an eye out.

We also plan on running a competition for 1st years during rag week (6th ->13th February) called RoboCode. Details on the competition can be found athttp://www.floppysoc.com, but basically Robocode is a program that enablesstudents to program their own battle tanks, and battle them against each other.Robocode features cleverly programmed graphical tanks that manoeuvre,search and destroy other robot tanks on screen. The human programmermakes the tanks smart enough to fire intelligently and evade fire quickly. In aseries of 30-second battles, the tanks drive around an arena without any kindof manual control. A special forum has been set up on the FloppySoc forumsto help the students involved and for anyone else who might be interested inRoboCode. Everything you need to start up can be found in the RoboCode.zipfile.

We plan on organising a few seminars in the New Year so keep checking thewebsite for the latest FloppySoc information.

Feel free to sign up to the increasingly popular forum, and keep up to speedwith any future events. Also provided on the new webpage are useful links toprogramming tutorials and past exam papers, which, before we know it, we’llall be looking for.

Regards,FloppySoc Committee

007 Ball1st Feb 2006

Fill in the grid, ensuring that each column and row andFill in the grid, ensuring that each column and row andevery 3 x 3 boevery 3 x 3 box contains the numbers 1x contains the numbers 1-9. -9.

(T(The same number cannot appear twice in any rowhe same number cannot appear twice in any row, column, columnor 3 x 3 boor 3 x 3 box at any time).x at any time).

Could it be love in the first place?

To love is to care . . .To care is to share . . .To share is to love . . .

I don't believe in loveCos people just fall in and out of

loveThe only type of love I trust and

believe in, is the type I have for mydad,

mum, brothers and sisters.

But I do believe in care.You just can't stop caring about

someoneEven when things go wrongYou will always and still care,This is what I call Loving-care

REAL THOUGTSEveryday people fall in love . . .

Everyday people fall out of love . . .Could it be real love?

Cos love is kind, sweet, gentle, notselfish

Love does not look for its owngood,

Tells the truth, love is not partial . ..

True love never ends even afterbreak-ups.

So how and why can people whoreally loved fall out of love,

with their loved ones?

Tolu

Self Help Africa SocietyFAIRTRADE Week, 7TH-11TH of November

During the week of the 7th-11th of November a Fairtrade week was under-taken by the members of the Self Help Africa Society in the college in asso-ciation with the Chaplaincy. The main objective of this Fairtrade week was tocreate awareness throughout the college of Fairtrade and what it stands for.A Fairtrade promotion stand was set up at the beginning of the week, onwhich extensive information was available on Fairtrade, it’s products and theSelf Help Africa Society itself.

Many people in Third World countries are not poor because they do not pro-duce anything, but because they often receive little of the retail price value.This is why Fairtrade works for fair wages and decent working conditions forfarmers in Africa. These farmers produce crops such as coffee, tea, cocoa andbananas, which are exploited by multi-national companies and sold cheapin the Western World. This results in farmers in Africa attaining prices for theircrops that no longer cover production costs.

On the stand, set up during the week, the percentage of what a farmer getsout of one banana was clearly shown. Fairtrade products such as bananasand chocolate were sold at the stand throughout the week, and the choco-late in particular proved a great success with the students. A Fairtrade coffeeand tea day was also held on Wednesday the 9th of November in the can-teen, which also proved a great success amongst the student body. Ourthanks to the canteen for their cooperation in the matter, and in the futurewe hope to introduce Fairtrade tea and coffee as a permanent product in thecanteen.

Poetry Corner by Tolu

Word Search Puzzle http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/code/BuildWordSearch.asp

1 of 1 27/11/2005 15:37

W H O I P S T P Y O V D A R S D E C E M B E R R O M T J T M Y H H Y S X C I T E N A N T Z N Z F U G O H N T A S E S I C N J N D N K N U S E D E N U X P Z W T I M O E S U I S N B A A Y G M T P L O T T T C S T P R P Y Z E I O S X I I E O I S T P T Y E R G U T D A C Z S Z I A C O R K Y U U S N O I N U E H T R G L T Y O W V T C O O S O Y H R E M N O L J B D A A D A N M I Z S E H B S K K L Q S A M T S I R H C P C S X Y D U O R A B F O U M U P W Z I X

CHRISTMAS

CITSU

CORK

DECEMBER

GREETINGS

HAPPY

INSTITUTE

PARTIES

PRESENTS

SANTA

SEASONS

SOCIETIES

STUDENTS

TECHNOLOGY

UNION

15 of 15 words were placed into the puzzle.

Created by Puzzlemaker at DiscoverySchool.com

SEASONSGREETINGS

HAPPYCHRISTMAS

CORKINSTITUTE

TECHNOLOGYSTUDENTS

UNIONDECEMBER

PARTIESPRESENTS

SANTASOCIETIES

CITSU

This Month’s Prize:LimitLimited Edition expliCIT Rugby Jerseyed Edition expliCIT Rugby Jersey

Competition Closes 5pm Wednesday 15th December 2005Last Months Winner: Kieran McNamara - DME2

Competition Rules: All Entries to be returned by deadline to Students’ Union Main Office (C143) on official form. Winner MUST be a CIT Student and one entry per person.