Making Drugs Safe: What would drug testing look like if introduced in Ireland?
In a relatively recent 2014 Eurobarometer poll, psychoactive drug usage among 15 to 24-year-olds in Ireland was shown to be the highest in Europe. The needless deaths of Irish teenagers, like that of 19 year old Jack Downey at this…
Opinion: UCDSU’s Climate Hypocrisy Is Unacceptable
On October 2nd, UCDSU held a €2 Pretty Little Thing sample sale. Backlash from students who were disappointed in the Union’s willingness to work with a company well known for its contribution to climate damage and labour abuses had been…
Reaching Across the Aisle: Interviewing the Editors of the University Observer
(Note: Elements of this interview are satirical) In a dimly lit College Tribune office on a wet Friday afternoon, history was made. Members of UCD’s two illustrious newspapers sat down together as Observer editors Gavin Tracey and Aoife Mawn spoke…
Social Media VS Social Change: An exploration of whether social media activism is harming rather than aiding its causes?
When considering the use of social media for activism, it is important to keep in mind our engagement with social media platforms outside of the political sphere. It is estimated that out of the 3.196 billion people actively using social…
Arts VS STEM: An examination of the deepening schism between STEM and Arts in Universities.
When I tell people that I’m studying English, I’m often met with ‘So you’re going to become a teacher?’, followed by ‘You went to Dublin for that?’, and then I’m ultimately reassured by a variation of ‘Well sure, if you…
Opinion: Faux Moral Outrage Will Not Save The Amazon
‘The Lungs of Our World Are Burning’, a common phrase uttered by many in the recent media coverage of the Amazon fires, would have one believe that we inherited the Earth as it is and that the Amazon was our…
Letter to the Editor: In Response to “You don’t have an Anxiety Disorder (Probably)”
To the Editor, I will begin by acknowledging that Dupuy makes two valid points in his article “You Don’t Have an Anxiety Disorder (probably)”. He rightly addresses the points that; stress is not the same thing as an anxiety disorder…
IASA: Where Your Aviation Career Could Take Off
The Irish aviation industry is renowned worldwide as a centre of excellence and is arguably the pinnacle of this industry worldwide. For such a small country, Ireland is home to the largest aviation lessors and financiers. The sector directly employs…
Society Spotlight: UCD Northern Society
UCD’s Northern Society is a new Society aimed at promoting and spreading the positives of Northern Ireland and its culture. I sat down with NorthSoc Auditor Shannon Bas to find out what’s on offer for their members this year. ‘[NorthSoc’s]…
University and Happiness: A look at student mental health during the transition and experience of third-level education
Upon beginning in UCD as a freshman, what will be surprising to many is the degree of loneliness that can be felt on campus. Compared to a school environment, it’s suddenly a lot harder to catch up with friends. As…
9 to 5! An Examination of the American Work Ethic
There is a general sentiment amongst Europeans that Americans are lazy. Every country has their unsavoury stereotypes. The Irish are drunks and British have a stick placed in a rather distasteful area. While these generalisations are nothing more that caricature,…
Clickbait, Skewed Facts And Media Mistruths
In today’s media landscape we’re presented with numbers, graphs, charts and statistics on a daily basis from numerous sources across the political spectrum to explain phenomena on the world’s stage. Buzzwords like ‘fake news,’ ‘alternative facts’ and ‘post-truth’ tend to…