Investigation into graduate unemployment

The thing with having a degree in the Arts is this; if you Google “employment in humanities Ireland”, you will find list after list of Postgraduate degree programme, rather than employment. From this, it appears that the only thing to come out of Arts is the next generation of Secondary School teachers. We constantly hear the tales of President Higgins and Graham Norton studying Arts in UCC, but were they two of the lucky few to actually achieve something through their study?

 

Jo, one of hundreds to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts last October, talks to the Express about employment, here and overseas.

 

What did you study and when did you graduate?

 

Bachelor of arts, joint honours with English and philosophy (2.1) and graduated in 2014.

 

How successful have you been in applying for jobs relevant to your degree?

 

Concerning employment, I worked for six months as an intern in a publishing company. It was a great experience but did not pay enough so I had to work two jobs,so also worked in Yankee candles at the weekend. It is difficult to find a job in my degree unless I move to Dublin. I really want to be involved in publishing so plan on doing a masters in September,maybe in the University of Stirling in Scotland.

 

Do you think it is easier, harder or much the same for graduates searching for employment now than say ten years ago?

 

I don’t know what it was like for graduates ten years ago but I know nowadays that a lot of companies expect you to work for free to gain experience,which isn’t always viable. I had to work two jobs and it was mentally and physically draining and I was still poor! I am back in Kilkenny now and will be going to France for a couple of months in April to teach French babies English in a company called babylangues.

 

So, do you think going abroad is the best option for graduates?

 

It is looking that way. If I  want to do something relevant to my degree anyway, not just work in a shop.

 

With many people sharing the sentiment of not wanting three years of study to go to waste working in a shop, or an area of no interest to the individual in question in order to pay bills, it is now more than ever that unemployment in the Arts and Humanities needs to be reduced.

 

The Globe and Mail online have said “The modern B.A. gives students perspective at a time when it’s so crucial to maintain it. A university education is not the means to an end it once was, when a general degree was all a graduate needed to get his or her foot in the door, and it’s why the B.A. is adapting to serve a new role in preparing graduates for the future.” which means that a new generation of Arts students are adapting, taking on roles as Journalistics, Filmmakers, Economists, the list is endless. Given this, is even more unbelievable that so many are unemployed today.

Corner Boy Interview

Having already appeared on the Late Late Show, and looking forward to supporting big acts both in Ireland and abroad, Wexford native band Corner Boy have achieved huge success in the short time they’ve been together. Michael Darcy, lead vocalist and guitarist, talks fame, fortune, and the importance of home.

Today fm last night (Tuesday, April 1st) how did that feel?

It’s mad. Everything’s quite busy with the press at the minute, since the start of the year; the phone’s been ringing nonstop. People didn’t know who we were before last year; we were kinda under the radar. Our music was still there but now since little stuff like that has happened, it’s kicked on and it’s become a different thing.

Wexford seems to be a big theme with you and your songs, like Ghost Town City, why is that?

Yeah, it is. There are not a lot of rural Irish bands that are getting into the limelight. We’re all from Wexford, we all still live here. It’s very important for us all to stay connected to our roots in Wexford. We’re touring, but every time we’re off we’re back in Wexford. It’s where we were born, where we were raised, where we learned music. The whole community is behind us, it’s Wexford that has gotten us to where we are.

You had spent a year in Canada, what was it that drew you back? Did you find it hard to fit in?

Oh no, I was raging that I had to leave Canada, but I had to come back to finish my final year of college, it was either come back or defer it. I wanted to get the education out of the way and really kick off with the music. I was actually doing my thesis, doing the Red Bull Bedroom Jam, and I got a first in my Bachelors of Science and Business, don’t know how I did it. I came home for the year to finish college, and pretty much started gigging straight away. There hasn’t been a week passed where we haven’t been gigging.

It’s a strange combination, a Bachelor of Science and a lead singer of a band..

Yeah, a lot of people were saying that I obviously study music, but no, I’m a complete poser here. I was studying economics and finance, it was mad. I was living in Dublin with some highly motivated people and all the Wexford people living together in Dublin was a very interesting time.

Your band name came from a teacher of yours at school, would you say that you were more music orientated in school?

Absolutely, I went to school in Saint Peters in Wexford, which over the years has produced some literary giants, international best sellers. There’s a massive culture in the school for music

and literature, and an appreciation of the arts. Now, I went in there Happy Hurler, I just wanted to play hurling. By the time I left, I was more well rounded. I met some of lads there and joined a few bands, I think one was a Blink-182 tribute band! You have to start from somewhere. The name came from an old teacher of mine, he saw potential in my short stories, and said I just needed to cop on and apply myself, so he started calling me Corner Boy. When I came home from Canada, I had a load of songs online and a lot of Wexford people were interested so I was asked what I was going to call myself, and a friend of mine said ‘remember when that teacher called you Corner Boy?’ and I went with that one. It has a story behind it.

As you said, you had a lot of interest from Wexford people, in starting a band. Was it just the other members of Corner Boy that came to you, or did others and you just chose the four?

What it was, was I got back from Canada and I had songs, with a lot of instrumentation. The thing about the Wexford music scene is it’s very communal. I was playing gigs with a few friends playing fiddle, and the banjo. Every gig we played, we sounded great and loads of people came to see us. The EP’s were selling out of the shops, things were really kicking. We were getting bigger and bigger gigs, getting festival slots and we figured “sh*t, we’re gonna need a band”. So, these guys who just came in to play with me, ended up just being the band. Since then, the last EP (True North, on itunes), is a collective effort, whereas the first band was just my writing.

How would you say you’re handling the fame?

It’s mad. This time last year we were an underground band. What can happen in the space of a year for a band, as a band we have a high work rate, its intense. We think it’s justified, because we work so hard, we do it every day. It’s a job. We’re going from Wexford, to Sligo, to Roscommon, to Galway, in three days. No band does that. It’s a weird thing for us, we never chased fame. We weren’t expecting to get on tv for another year or too, but it shows that other people in your music, it’s a confidence boost.

Obviously there’s a high caliber of Irish musicians on the scene, like the Script, Kodaline, do you think you could reach that level?

A lot of bands strive to play on bigger stages, being on tv, more coverage, but we look at getting more music out. We’ve only been together a year, we shouldn’t have achieved as much as we have in a year. We’re in a great position, we have some leeway, a bit of freedom to work on our sound. It’s strange, we haven’t thought about it yet. We’ve just been secured to support David Grey in Waterford, an exclusive there for you. We’re playing some nice stages this summer. We’re not about taking over the world just yet. We’re doing a tour of North America and Scandinavia soon, and that’s only because we’ve been invited.

How do you feel about Talent Shows and The XFactor?

I think they’re a great springboard for artists, but myself and the lads are of the old ethos. Oasis were asked how they got big and they said “well, we got into a van and we drove up and down the UK, playing gigs, then we got home and got into the van and did it again, and again, and again. We’re of that variety. It’s not the path we want to take, it takes away the integrity of the thing. If you see an artist who has struggled for years, playing the worst pubs, constantly getting refused for years and years, until they finally make it, then you see someone who signs a form for the Voice of Ireland and automatically sings a load of shows. I think people respect the work we put in. If you are willing to put your life aside and work at it, stuff will happen for you.

During your gig at the Wexford Opera house, you got down into the crowd and performed there. Why so?

We never really liked the formality of “this is us on the stage, that’s you in the audience. We’ll stay here and you stay there.” We kind of like to break down the barriers and make it a nicer experience for everyone in the room, you can chat to people. It relaxes people and makes everyone more at ease. It makes people remember the night, more than anything. We all sing together and tell a few jokes and have the craic together. We care a bit more.

Can you see Corner Boy being a continuous thing? Can you see yourself being in the band for the next few years?

Absolutely, I don’t see why not. We’ve only been together a year and what we’ve achieved is pretty impressive. If we keep going at the trajectory we’re going at, keep writing more songs and gaining fans, we can continue to do this. We’re having the times of our lives. We found a group of people who do it for the love it. We’ll continue to do this for a long time. We set goals and targets and achievements for ourselves, and the ones we set are really unrealistic. We always think “yeah let’s do that, we’ll never manage it, it’ mad” and then we do it! So we recorded a music video, with hundreds of people there, we like doing weird stuff like that. Everyone has this perception that rural bands can’t make it, they have to move to Dublin or London, but we have managed it just through graft and hard work. We’re aiming for an album, and that’s a year away. We have much bigger plans, to do a world tour. In hindsight; we’re making no money, but we don’t care!

The Prince of Pot: Marc Emery

For readers unfamiliar with your story, how would you introduce yourself?

My name is Marc Emery and I am a marijuana advocate, lover of marijuana and, as a consequence of that devotion, I have been dedicating my life for the last 25 years to civil disobedience and advancement of legalisation in Canada and the US by breaking the law in support of our honest, peaceful lifestyle.

I have raised a lot of money and given it away, $5 million in a 10 year period, which attracted the attention of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and they had me extradited to the USA. Five weeks ago I was released after a five year prison sentence that I received ostensibly for selling cannabis seeds to Americans from my desk in Vancouver, Canada. No one else has ever been imprisoned in the US for selling seeds, I mean, there’s no drug quality to seeds.

“That’s a very nerve wracking experience, waiting to be told at any time the appeals were over and I was going to federal prison in America.”

On the topic of seeds, we have a law in Ireland whereby the sale of seeds and all necessary equipment is 100% legal, but once the seed germinates, the law is broken. What do you make of that?

What’s happening there is a criminal intent idea. That is, if you buy those seeds for eating, then that’s okay, but if you grow pot you are breaking the law. I can see why that law is in place but there is a degree of hypocrisy and misunderstanding. I’m glad to see that seeds are sold in Ireland.

You’re nicknamed the ‘Prince of Pot’; how do you feel about that?

I like that nickname. It is only important to me in the sense that people I claim to be a spokesman for think I am doing a good job. If they didn’t think I was doing a good job, I would feel really depressed about being called the Prince of Pot. I take it very seriously. I didn’t call myself that, it was given to me by CNN and it’s been repeated by Time Magazine and others for the past 17 years.

How does it feel to be on both sides of the law: To run for election one year and face imprisonment the next?

I’ve actually been in 12 elections in Canada since 1980, including running for mayor of Canada, and I always enjoy those opportunities even though I probably won’t get elected. It’s an opportunity to educate other candidates who may get elected, as well as the voters at large.

25 years ago there was a complete blackout on anything to do with cannabis, like books, bongs, etc. I think we have come very far, in Vancouver, a very tolerant city, there are 50 cannabis clubs which are unscathed by the authorities. Next year we are hoping for entire legalisation and to have criminal records related to cannabis expunged.

What do you think about the sale of alcohol and tobacco?

They are very destructive things, but I do know that if you try and deny them to the people, they have their ways of getting them. It just causes more social problems when they do that.

We had it in America with prohibition; it did not stop people drinking but led to them making their own alcohol with dubious chemicals. Prohibition corrupts everyone in society; the police and the youths, who are tempted into selling drugs because it will earn them more money than a job in normal society. It makes it a worse place to live in. We are moving towards making the public understand that legalising a substance does not mean condoning it.

If cannabis was legalised, do you think that the same restrictions would be placed on it as on alcohol and tobacco?

Let me say that I think they probably will create a regime like that, but I don’t endorse it. I would accept it, because the most important thing is to legalize pot. It would be discriminatory to those aged 16, who will still try and access the drug. However, politically and socially, we have to go for ages 21 and over.

One of the wonderful things I envision about legalisation is that the price will plummet. Instead of $5,000 a month being spent on pot, you could pay college tuition. If it was €20 an ounce instead of 300-400, that could educate anyone.

You have talked about your release from prison 5 weeks ago; how did it feel to come so far having had a life sentence staring you in the face?

Well, let me put it this way; it was much better to be at the end of it than the beginning, because from 2005 to 2010 there was this expectation that I would be going to jail. That’s a very nerve wracking experience, waiting to be told at any time the appeals were over and I was going to federal prison in America.

During my sentence Jodie was a very dutiful wife. She visited me 81 times for a total of 163 days. Prison only drags when you’re not busy, so I read books and magazines and I was in a Rock ‘n’ Roll band. I did 14 concerts over three years and I was surrounded by very talented musicians, who were able to teach me bass guitar.

“Nothing that’s a genuine crime is laughable.”

Was there a sense of betrayal in being extradited?

It wasn’t like it wasn’t expected. There was a conservative government but procedures were decided by the Liberal Party of Canada. Both parties were upset with me; not for selling seeds but because my campaign for legalisation had so much support. They kept going on about my political activity, nothing I did was dangerous. Both governments were, and continue to be, very upset with me.

In any movie or show, there tends to be a kind of stoner typecast, what do you think of the stereotype?

The stoner representation is present because it is amusing. You can always tell when pot is not seriously regarded as a crime because, often when people talk about it on radio or TV, we all know it’s a crime but we all laugh about it. No one laughs about rape or murder. Things that people really consider crime, they’re not laughing about it. Nothing that’s a genuine crime is laughable.

You’ve said yourself that you live and strive to disobey the law. When you have successfully legalised pot, what is next?

Hopefully pot will be real cheap and I will benefit like everyone else by getting it at $20 an ounce and spending money on more important things. Pot is important but only because it is illegal. Once it is made legal it becomes normal.

Why students deserve a R&G week

Once again, RAG weeks in Sligo, Cork and Galway have reignited the age old question: Are students the pillars of the economy or a drain on it?

Signs were put up around Cork city all last week, warning students that Rag week is not welcome in the area, and to take their business elsewhere. While there have been some instances of unsavoury behaviour during Rag week, here are plenty of reasons as to why it should be welcomed in areas all over Ireland, along with students.

Charity!Yes, charity! People seem to forget that rag week stands for “raise and give.” Last year alone, UCC students raised €40,000 for chosen charities, in just one week. That’s 19,000 full and part time students coming together, taking time out from stressful college work and part time jobs, dedicating their time to raise money for good causes, with no personal gain. (CV filler does not count as a gain.)

Local profitOff licenses, take out places and all munchie/alcohol suppliers make an absolute killing from rag week. Coming from someone living in an apartment of four students, who emptied three black bins bags of empty cans and bottles; anyone who sells alcohol benefits from rag week, and students. That’s just during rag week. Local pubs and nightclubs also thrive on the student body – it’s the majority of their demographic.  I can’t imagine the Savoy or Lockdown doing well in an area full of OAPs.

Student housingAnyone who has ever lived in a student flat or house will tell you the same thing: they suck. There is no way you could put a family of four into an apartment that was previously occupied by four students, and classed as student accommodation. It just wouldn’t be possible. Students pay a lot of money for substandard housing, with little complaint. To renovate a complex of student flats so that you could move in families with kids, it would cost millions.

One doesn’t speak for allOkay, so some students take it too far. We all know someone who has drank too much and puked in a taxi or punched his way through a wall. That doesn’t mean the whole student population as a whole is a total write off. You can’t paint every student ever with the same brush as the extreme few.

Neknominations vs raknominationsWe’re all well aware of the phase a few weeks ago of neknominations: downing stupid amounts of alcohol, then daring someone to outdo you. Well, students decided they have had enough of this and replaced it with raknominations (random act of kindness), ie doing something nice for someone, videoing it and challenging your friends to do the same.

Young people have a more optimistic, hopeful outlook on life, and so our presence should be not only tolerated, but welcomed, in communities.  We all share this planet, folks!

It’s no myth: say goodbye to biphobia

In the 21st century, sexuality is a key talking point in Western society. Now more than ever we are calling out and fighting for equality: in the workplace, in the military, in marriage.

Homophobia still exists, but people are becoming more accpeting. Why, then, is biphobia still so common? Often it’s the very people fighting for the rights of gay people that either undermine or condemn bisexuals.

Biphobia isn’t exactly a black and white issue. It’s not a case of hating bisexual people, more refusing to believe that they exist. In our society bisexuals are either painted as greedy or put in the same category as unicorns – imaginary.

A lot of people disregard bisexuality as being too afraid to come out as gay. They say that it’s just a cover up. Bisexuality is perceived as a stepping stone to coming out as gay or lesbian, something which isn’t fair. Even television shows have been guilty of this, painting their bisexual characters as merely confused.

Olympic diver Tom Daley, for example, recently came out as being bisexual over YouTube. He specifically said that he was still interested in girls, and had never felt romantic attraction towards men before his current boyfriend. It seemed the whole world skipped this part of the video, however, as newspapers and bloggers all hailed him gay, saying that he had “[come] out as gay”. Even when someone explicitly states their sexuality and who they are interested in, they are branded by society’s notions.

Another problem that bisexual people run into is being identified by their current relationship. A bisexual girl in a relationship with a girl is not suddenly a lesbian, nor is she straight if she enters into a relationship with a boy.

The most common metaphor when describing bisexuality is, of course, ice cream. Think of it this way; you like chocolate ice cream right? Does that mean you can’t like vanilla ice cream? Does liking chocolate ice cream lessen your love for vanilla? No. Does having only chocolate ice cream every time you get ice cream for a while mean that you only like chocolate? No.

(I’m sure there are a few sexual innuendos to be found somewhere in that euphemism.)

Something that always annoyed me about biphobia is the gender inequality. If a guy claims to be bisexual, he’s apparently gay and not ready to come out “fully” yet. If a girl claims to be bisexual, she’s apparently straight and just confused or simply looking for attention. So, a lot of biphobic people are not only that, but sexist to boot!

A major Canadian study found bisexual men 6.3 times more likely and bi women 5.9 times more likely to report having been suicidal than heterosexual people.

A large Australian study found rates of mental health problems among bi people to be higher than those among lesbians, gay men, or heterosexuals.

The UK Mind report on the mental health and wellbeing of LGBT people found that bi men and women were less at ease about their sexuality than lesbians or gay men, and less likely to be out.

There’s a shocking lack of coverage of bisexuality in the media. In recent years, shows like Orange is the New Black and Grey’s Anatomy have depicted same sex relationships in a fair light, but there hasn’t been any real coverage of bisexuals. They have been reduced to their current partner.

What does it matter what another person’s sexuality is anyway? If someone identifies themselves as bisexual, then that’s their choice, something which you should accept. Maybe they are only experimenting, which they have the right to.

Finding yourself doesn’t happen like in the movies, where when you have a problem, you mope about it and suddenly some upbeat music plays and everything is fixed. Experimenting and finding yourself is all part of the journey, and oppressing other’s because of that just isn’t right.

Do you know the difference between transexual, transgender and transvestite?

There is often a lot of confusion about what it means to be transgender, transexual, or transvestite. People have difficulty understanding these terms and differentiating between them. This is a major problem, seeing as it’s an everyday reality for some people. You may fit into one of these categories and not even know, or indeed miscategorise yourself. For the rest of the population, it’s still something that needs attention and recognition because it’s something that will effect everyone at some point in their lives, directly or indirectly.

So, this is a crash course in trans* terms. This is the basics of what you should know, more information is of course available from the LGBT society, and if an issue like this is negatively effecting you and you’re struggling with your identity there are services available in the Iona chaplaincy.

Cisgender is the term given to people who are happy with the gender they are born into. They are born with the genitalia that biologically corresponds with what they believe they are. They are born with a penis and feel they are a boy, or vice versa. It’s important to note that sexuality is not considered in these terms. A gay guy can still be cisgender, if he feels like a guy that is just attracted to other guys.

Most of us are familiar with the term transvestite (who could ever forget the evil transvestite lobster from the powerpuff girls?). A transvestite is someone who dresses in what would conventionally worn by the opposite gender, and acts in that manner. Again, this has nothing to do with sexuality.

Transgender is the term given to someone whose gender identity does not match up with their assigned sex. That’s to say, a person who was born with a penis but feels like a woman, or vice versa.

Transexual people also feel that they are not the gender which they were assigned, but this comes from a neurological condition and often needs to treated with medical intervention, including gender reassignment surgeries and hormone therapy.

Transsexualism and transgenderism are not the same, and should not be treated as such. If someone identifies as transsexual, or transgender that is their choice and should be respected.

Intersex is something which is not given much attention today; it refers to someone who is born with genital ambiguity. That’s to say, their chromosomes don’t match a convention man or woman’s, nor do their genitals. They can identify as male, female, or neither and choose to surgically change their genitals to match their sexual identity or not. People who are intersex often have their choices made for them as a child however, as their parents can choose their genitals when they are born.

Even though we live in a developed, educated country in the 21st century, there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding these terms and others like them, which is inexcusable.  Transgender and transsexual people often encounter trouble when it comes to relationships and public restrooms, more often that not experiencing violence and abuse. Every step needs to be taken so that people who fit into these categories feel as accepted and comfortable as possible. It’s a simple human right.

There’s a lot of prejudice surrounding difference in our society. We, as a collective nation, often feel intimidated by change and shy away from it, sometimes even reacting with violence and force where it really isn’t needed. Stopping someone from living their life the way they want to is like going to a restaurant, seeing someone order cake and telling a waiter not to give it to them, because it’s interfering with your cake.

Every year in the States 320,000 to 400,000 young transsexual and gay youths become homeless, ejected from their homes for coming out to their parents. The average age that transsexual children become homeless in New York is 13. At 13, they are left to face the world alone, with nothing and no one to support them. These figures are as real as they are frightening. Transsexual people are also 5.9 times more likely to experience depression and 3.6 times more like to abuse alcohol and drugs than straight, cisgender people.

Transexualism and transgenderism aren’t natural? We live in the twenty first century, in a world where you can talk to someone on the other side of the world as if they were beside you, and drones deliver packages we order on something made up of a lot of 1’s and 0’s that seems to have taken over our worlds.

I think maybe it’s time we redefine our definition of natural.

10 unlikely Irish inventions

Ireland is known across the globe for a lot of things: gingers, Guinness, bad tempers and potato blight to name but a few.

What is underrated about Ireland is our creativity and ingenuity, our ability to spot something that needs making and our drive to go ahead and bring that idea to fruition.

Here are 10 Irish inventions you probably didn’t know were Irish.

1. The Beaufort Scale

This famous method of measuring wind speed was devised by an Irish Royal Navy officer, Francis Beaufort (hence the name). Created in 1805, the scale was officially adopted during the voyage of the HMS Beagle, led by Captain Robert Fitzroy. This invention came about as a result of ambiguity and subjectivity in the measurement of wind speeds. Beaufort’s scale provided a standardised method.

2. The Hypodermic Syringe

Although syringes date back to the Romans, the first hypodermic syringe was created in 1844 by an Irish Physician Francis Rynd. He invented the hollow syringe and used it to make the first recorded subcutaneous injections, specifically a sedative to treat neuralgia. The same syringes are still used today, over 150 years later. So, next time you’re getting a blood test, remember that it was an Irish man that made it possible/is to blame.

3. The nickel-zinc battery

Despite being first patented by Thomas Edison in 1901, it was Dr James Drumm, an Irish chemist that developed and installed the battery in four two-car Drumm railcar sets sometime between 1932 and 1948. These batteries were then used on the Dublin to Bray railway line. These batteries were suggested as an alternative to silver-zinc batteries in military use also.

4. Sudocrem

Dublin-based Irish pharmacist Thomas Smith invented the household favourite that is Sudocrem in 1931. Originally marketed as “Smith’s Cream”, it was not available in the UK until the 1970s. Since then, it has gone on to become the leading baby cream in Ireland and the UK.

5. Chocolate milk

Surprisingly, chocolate milk was created in Ireland in 1680 by Irishman Hans Sloane. This invention is probably the most unusual, seeing as chocolate milk isn’t something we’d usually associate with being Irish, but there we have it.

6. The electron as a concept

It was an Anglo-Irish physicist by the name of George Johnstone Stoney who introduced the term electron as the “fundamental unit quantity of electricity. He introduced the concept between 1874 and 1881, with the word coming at the later date of 1891. Stoney is known to have published about 75 scientific papers in his lifetime.

7. Tattoo machines

The electric pen, invented by American Thomas Alva Edison, was a method of tattoo called stencilling, where the tattoo would fade not long after application. It was Samuel O’Reilly, in 1891, who saw that there was a way to make tattoo’s permanent, by introducing them to the skin. It was originally supposed to be a duplicating service, but as O’Reilly’s idea was better, it took over.

8. McDonald’s

Yeah, that’s right! The fast-food mega power may have been invented in America, but its creators were of Irish descent. Richard and James McDonald franchised the first McDonald’s restaurant in 1953, but their father, Patrick J. McDonald was from Ireland, from where he emigrated in 1877 as a baby.

9. The portable defibrillator

Professor Frank Pantridge pioneered the portable defibrillator, a serious breakthrough in medicine, in the 1960s. Invented in Belfast, the portable defibrillator is arguably the most important tool used in modern Ambulances. Before this creation, defibrillators were not available outside of hospitals.

10. WiFi

Finally, we come to the most unexpected Irish invention. Irish-Australian engineer John O’Sullivan discovered the modern marvel by complete accident! WiFi was developed as a by-product in a CSIRO research project, “a failed experiment to detect exploding mini black holes the size of an atomic particle”. In 1996, he obtained patents for a method later used in WiFi to unsmear the signal.

Does age play too large a role in our society

In light of the future referendum to lower the Irish voting age to 16, the question has to be asked: does age play too large a role in our society?

From the moment we are born, our age plays a fundamental part in all aspects of our lives. It decides at what age we first attend school, regardless of our mental capacities at that age. Why is it that a five-year-old that might have the understanding of a four- or even three-year-old is put into a class and expecting to keep up with more advanced children simply because of age?

One of the most talked about applications of age restrictions is the legal drinking age, mostly because of its variety throughout cultures. If French children can drink wine with meals and Irish teenagers are allowed consume alcohol, why is it that Americans must wait until they are 21? If it clearly is not to do with medical implications, why do we have legal drinking ages at all? And why are they so high?

The most interesting aspect of age’s influence in society is its diversification and often oxymoronic nature. For instance, in Ireland at the age of 17 you can legally have sex and have a child. Can you vote for a government that offers the best future for your child? No, you cannot. Can you go to a shop and buy a knife to cut food for your child’s dinner? No. Can you get a full time job and pay taxes? Yes. If you stole a toy for your child, would you be tried in court as an adult? No.

Our legal system works on the premise that we undergo some kind of magical transformation at the age of eighteen which changes us into mature adults who are capable of deciding how their country is run. It assumes that maturity comes with age, which is both ageist and often wrong.

A Native American chief famously said, “We do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.”

Is it fair to leave the future of our country up to the elderly, when it is the sixteen year olds that will have to face the ramifications?

5 ways to spot a potential catfish

For a generation obsessed with online and instant communication, we are often a little too trusting when it comes to who we talk to online.

We were the kids that grew up hearing “don’t talk to strangers online”, and the teenagers that decided there was no better idea than to do just that. So, here are a few tips on how to avoid having to call up MTV to dig up a catfish. Or, should I saw, “reel” one in…

1. Dodgy profile picturesYou’re never going to marry the girl from Tinder who has her bust as her profiler, that’s a given, but there’s a lot more to it than that. In the age of Instagram, everyone can make their pictures look spectacular, but look out for the particularly model-esque shots. Chances are, it’s not her you’re talking to…unless, of course, you’re unbelievably lucky.

Funny anecdote; I recently joined a site like Tinder, just to see what the craze was. Deleted it days later. But, during my brief online career I came across a girl claiming to be 18 and from Cork, but her profile picture was her standing by an American highway, wearing a t-shirt that said “Seniors 04”. Caught out. Google has a way of searching pictures, so just pop her profile picture into the search bar and see where else on the web it pops up.

2. Only sends pictures in DMsIf whoever you’re talking to will only send you a photo of their face in private messaging or emails, they are more than likely going to be fake. They do this to avoid being caught by the person whose photo they might be using, or just a random stranger that got a bit too nosy. If their profiler is the default photo, or a graphic image, stay away.

3. Mr/Mrs PerfectI read once that one key characteristic of catfishes is that they all seemed to be too perfect to believe. Of course, if a real guy is talking to you, if he wants any kind of relationship with you he can’t lie and say he’s a brain surgeon – his friends will make sure you know he’s not. A catfish will look at your profile and build their whole personality around your interests because they won’t have to physically pretend to be something they’re not.

4. Always cancelling plansObviously, sometimes things happen and we have to cancel a date or meeting with a friend; that’s life. If your dream online romance, however, consistently misses dates, they clearly have something to hide. Especially in the case of sites like Tinder, that shows you mostly locals, there shouldn’t be much of an excuse to miss consecutive meetings.

5. Don’t like talking on the phoneThis one’s pretty self-explanatory. If your dream, beautiful lady friend Sarah, is actually hairy Hal who lives at home with his parents at 40, he’s not going to want to put on a girls voice for an hour to listen to you declare your undying love.

Living with dyslexia and dyspraxia

I think the problem with things like dyslexia and dyspraxia is they can be brushed aside. The word “only” is often attached to them, as if it not frustrating to want to draw a picture but have to stop because your hand won’t let you. As if a calf cramp from walking out your front door is just one of those things. As if forgetting how to spell your own name is something you can brush off.

While there are so many conditions so much more profound and so much more difficult to live with, here’s my shout into the void about what it’s like being a dyslexic and a dyspraxic kid growing up and facing college.

As a baby, I never learned to crawl. As my family so affectionately put it, I bum shuffled along the ground until one day I decided to walk.

When I was seven years old, I couldn’t spell my second name. I couldn’t tie my shoelaces. I couldn’t run as fast as my friends, I couldn’t kick a ball as high.

When I was ten years old, I cried because a boy in my class made fun of the way I spelled soldier. I’m sure I butchered the word.

When I was thirteen, I started to get angry. I started to hate that my body didn’t work like it should. I started to hate that my friends got to run and jump and play in the community games, while I couldn’t run the length of the classroom without getting a cramp.

When I was fourteen, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. Microsoft Word is telling me to correct dyspraxia, that it is not a word. That’s how much information there is about the condition.

I started going to these meetings, where kids where told about the condition and asked to talk about their experiences. I was surrounded by people who were angry, or indifferent. I decided that I was going to be neither.

When I was fifteen, a close family friend went on holiday to Spain. Her balcony collapsed from underneath her. She’s in a wheelchair now. This same lady once said that there is nothing in this life that can be worse. She still believes that.

When I was seventeen, I was in all honours classes, except for one. My teacher couldn’t understand that I knew the formulas and how to solve an equation. It wasn’t my fault the numbers wouldn’t stay still.

When I was eighteen, I was accepted into college, 100 points clear for the course I wanted. I went to my first lecture and my hand cramped. I recorded it on my phone. I finished that module with a 68.

I had my first college exam and got mixed up with all the numbers I had to put on the front of the booklet. I got an invigilator to sort me out. I passed that first year. There is no shame in looking for help.

When I was nineteen, I got shortlisted for an internship with the Irish Independent.

I’m twenty. I am twenty years old and one year clear of graduating university. I am twenty and I am a dyslexic writer. I am twenty and guess what? I still can’t tie my shoelaces.