Misc. Magazine Volume 130, Issue 1

Vol. CXXX, Iss. I

Freshers’ Guide pg11-19

CONTENTS Foreword

3

Alex Payne

AI Saviours

6

Jayna Rohslau

Degrees of Doubt

9

Mia Allen

Freshers’ Guide

11

The “Hidden Epidemic”

20

Kate Byrne | Phoebe Pascoe | Emma Whitney Sarah O’Donohoe

Disco Decline

23

Sarah Murnane

Q&A with Isobel and Anna Mahon

25

Eduardo Pinheiro

Diversity Pays

28

Buster Whaley

Re-Freshing

31

Luca McVey | Stephen Conneely

Five-a-Side Kicks Off

34

Tom Comer

TodayLastCentury

35

Jonathan Kelly

CONTRIBUTORS Alex Payne - Misc.’s Editor. He is also Assistant Editor of The University Times and General Assistant Editor of the Trinity Journal of Literary Translation.

Jayna Rohslau - Misc.’s Political Editor.

She is also Arts & Culture Editor of Trinity News and has contributed to No Kill and Delude magazines.

Mia Allen - Misc.’s Community Editor. She has contributed to Misc. before and is also a member of the European Law Students’ Association.

Kate Byrne - Outreach Director of Misc., she also sources input for Trinity News as its Deputy Comment Editor.

Phoebe Pascoe - Assistant Editor of both This publication is partly funded by the Trinity Publications committee.

Thus publication claims no special rights or privileges.

Serious complaints may be directed to chair@trinitypublications.ie or Chair, Trinity Publications House 6, Trinity College, Dublin 2. Appeals may be directed to the Press Council of Ireland.

Get involved with Trinity Publications through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or visit trinitypublications.ie.

Rose Slocock

Misc. and The University Times, she has also contributed to Trinity News, TN2 and oxygen.ie.

Emma Whitney - One of Misc.’s Deputy Editors, she is also the Deputy Sex & Relationships Editor of Trinity News and has contributed to TN2 and oxygen.ie.

Sarah O’Donohoe - Art Editor of Misc., she also has a keen interest in photography.

Rose Slocock - Misc.’s Social Editor. She is also Deputy Features Editor of Trinity News.

Sarah Murnane - Misc.’s Culture Editor, she also serves as TV & Film Editor of The University Times.

Eduardo Pinheiro - A contributor for Misc., he is also Portuguese Editor of the Trinity Journal of Literary Translation

and has contributed to Trinity News.

Buster Whaley - International Editor of Misc., he also co-hosts TFM’s ‘Weather and Traffic’ radio show and is Literature co-Editor of TN2.

Luca McVey - One of Misc.’s Erasmus co-Editors, he is also a member of Literary Society and is based in Paris for Erasmus.

Stephen Conneely - Misc.’s other Erasmus co-Editor and Deputy News Analysis Editor of Trinity News, he is based in Barcelona for Erasmus.

Tom Comer - Misc.’s most prolific writer last year, he is now the other Deputy Editor and a member of the Phil.

Jonathan Kelly - Misc.’s History Editor, he also volunteers for VDP and is Registrar of the Phil.

Want to contribute? We are always on the lookout for writers and artists!

Email us directly at editor@miscmagazine.ie, send us a message on our Instagram, @tcdmiscmagazine, or head to our website, miscmagazine.ie, and fill in the online form.

Jared Reilly - Campanile (front cover), Front Gate (Freshers’ Guide) and Pav Social Scene AI - Mona Lisa?

Ellen Duggan - Mirror, Mirror Sarah O’Donohoe - Campus Map Sarah Murnane - Disco Aditi Agarwal - Fresher (back cover) Emma Doherty - Paris

ART

Editor Alex Payne | Deputy Editors Emma Whitney, Tom Comer | Assistant Editor Phoebe Pascoe | Outreach Director Kate Byrne Political Editor Jayna Rohslau | Community Editor Mia Allen | Culture Editor Sarah Murnane | Social Editor Rose Slocock | History Editor Jonathan Kelly Science Editor Sacha Pavry International Editor Buster Whaley | Erasmus co-Editors Stephen Conneely, Luca McVey 2

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Foreword Alex Payne

O

nce upon a time, some Trinity students felt the need to provide their peers with “some modest publication that would summarise the events of College life”. Here we are, 128 years later, presenting to you the latest evolution of such an idea.

Our predecessors sought to remedy an “absence of continuity” between students from different Faculties and set out to deliver “articles upon matters of importance to members of the University”.

Attempting to remain steadfast to these initial aims, Misc. now arrives in your hands brimming with content to satisfy the even the most reluctant reader (myself included). Having expanded

our team this year to cover everything from politics to social life, we are aiming to ensure there is no aspect of the student experience that does not receive its fair exposure.

Our new segments In Case You Missed It... and Overheard on Campus should, for some, provide a little light-hearted relief from the rigours of college. Our longer pieces aim to be informative, relatable and provocative - you might agree or disagree with (or not care about) their conclusions, but the aim is to make you think.

As this is the first issue of the year we have included a Freshers’ Guide for all those entering Trinity and moving to Dublin for the first time. It can be

intimidating to be faced with a new environment, a new set of faces - however, there are abundant groups, societies and niches within which to both lose and find yourself. Do not pass this opportunity up.

It is you who makes this College burst at the seams with creativity and life. Dictate your experience here on your own terms. Do not let the obtuse decision-making and clouded intentions of the Senior Administration put you off from contributing to Trinity’s community.

As an ode to the College, in our first ever issue on 9th February 1895, so aptly put it: “the students make the University.” Let it be so.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

DISGRUNTLED TOURISTS

ENTREPRENEURIAL SU President, László Molnárfi, whilst SPIRIT standing still blocking the door to the Book of Kells exhibition, describes his protest as “energetic”. One tourist was overheard muttering: “fucking ridiculous.” “Grow up and get a life,” whined another.

To the envy of Trinity Tangent, the College’s “ideas workspace”, one student has shown us all how it’s done.

Rumoured to have set up their own campus and Book of Kells touring company, they have raked in the euro over summer - with a little help from their random student number generator (anyone else noticed that they don’t have as many free access slots to the Book of Kells anymore..?).

BIG RED BOX APPEARS

Molnárfi squaring-up to the Dean for Students

MORE PRICE RISES After a Misc. taste test we can confirm that some drinks prices have risen by as much as 20% at the Pav over summer - I guess we will all be spending less money on food again.

As part of Trinity’s €103 million Old Library Redevelopment Project (roughly the same expenditure as 15 million hot lunches from the Buttery), a large red box has appeared in New Square over summer. Rumoured to soon house a very old book, we personally can’t wait to see how security stops the SU President from standing still in front of its door once again.

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on

ampus

“I broke up with him - he wasn’t a visionary.”

“My dad said if I mowed the lawn of our holiday home this summer he would get me a job in the city.”

“It’s just the fact that she posted the same disposables an hour after I did.”

BEST JOB ON CAMPUS

Ever wanted to get back at those foul-smelling friends? In a now-deleted Instagram post, Healthy Trinity Dublin put out their advert for willing students to become members of the ‘cig police’. Successful applicants had LINDA THE BUILDA to be able to “walk around campus” and Trinity Provost, Linda Doyle, dons force students to “comply” with Trinia hard hat and high-vis to attach a ty’s “smoke-free” campus policy. Good seemingly empty window frame onto luck. the wall of an empty warehouse to mark the start of the College’s “Por- PINT GLASS CLEANERS Dotted around campus you will now find some handy pint glass cleaners. Rather than waste water cleaning out a bottle you only use courtesy of TCD LinkedIn tal” project. With the project, which is for water, we adpart of the larger Trinity East Campus vise you use them development in the docklands, already to give your pint bleeding money, there’s nothing like a glass a rinse when poorly applied plaster/empty window you change from frame to stem the flow.

Guinness to cider at Pav Friday.

4

O C

verheard

“Oh NO! I’ve scuffed my Docs...”

“Heyy..you’ll never guess what but I learnt how to use a printer today.”

“Slay.”

Heavy American accent - “Where

are the toilets yo?”

Heard something amusing, stereotypical and/or shocking as you’re making your way around campus?

Keep an eye on our Instagram, @tcdmiscmagazine, for a submissions box or email us directly at editor@miscmagazine.ie

EDM, Britney and Lenin Tom Comer interviews SU President, László Molnárfi

T

he first thing to know about László is his unflinching principles. The second thing is that he learnt English from Indiana Jones. The third, and perhaps most important of all, is that he is a Britney Spears fan.

I had a flowing conversation with László over two pints of Guinness and two small tubes of red Pringles (both for me). I wanted to avoid politics. I wanted to make clear that László, despite being the figure who will steer the direction of our students union for the next year, remains first and foremost a student himself. Someone with interests far outside the classroom, and hobbies aside from ‘tackling the man’.

Back to Indiana Jones, briefly. László grew up in Brussels, but is Hungarian.

He speaks English, French, Hungarian and a bit of German. He noted that Hungarian (a bit like Irish) has no roots connected to the romantic languages. His father had an extensive movie collection, and László recalled learning English from Indiana Jones movies - before dissecting that they are, of course, colonial propaganda.

“They literally stole artefacts from native people to put in the British museum, the only way to make this look good was to make the Nazis their opposition.” This insight, although accurate, slightly burst my over-romanticised view of Harrison Ford’s super-cool character. I followed up with the only appropriate question.

“Yes, I have played the Lego Indiana Jones games, in fact I have played all the “Lego” games, star wars etc.” Massive green flag.

I moved on to less intellectual interests, novels and poetry. László chose Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken as his favourite poem, and unlike your English teacher in school - interpreted it correctly. “At the end of the poem there’s a nice sense of ambiguity, were the two roads the same all along?” He also recommended The Listeners by

Walter de La Mere. I read this poem upon returning from the pub and it struck me that both his choices related to long, undefined journeys. No doubt someone much more intelligent than I could read into this. I chose to follow up by asking him about how much he likes travelling.

“I went interrailing across Europe with my girlfriend this summer, it was a great holiday - I found the people in Paris surprisingly nice.” As mentioned previously, László speaks French, so perhaps this aided his integration into Parisian life. Or perhaps it is his fashion sense.

During the interview, László wore an intricately detailed floral shirt with an estimated four buttons undone. He also mentioned that he met his girlfriend when she liked a meme he had put up of Lenin on his Instagram story - truly a modern love story.

Perhaps his least controversial opinion is that food is one of the best things about travel. “When I go to someplace new, I love trying the new food there.”

He admits to not being able to cook particularly well but assured me that he makes a “mean pancake” - learning specifically how to do so “for dating”. Take notes guys; it’s not enough just to be a Marxist anymore. Chicken Paprikash is his favourite dish, a traditional Hungarian meal made from chicken (obviously) and a lot of paprika. I promised him I would try it - and fully intend to.

On the topic of music, I was taken aback by some of László’s opinions - but what did I really expect?

Frank sinatra? George Ezra? Two Door Cinema Club? What do you think László enjoys listening to?

He revealed that after a long day of ‘tackling the man’ he listens to “epic” music. Describing his love for Hans Zimmer and, more broadly, instrumental anthems. However, he emphasised his music taste is “eclectic”; taking me through his playlist it went from Britney Spears to intense EDM. He singled out Britney Spears, he’s a big Britney guy - as evidenced by his blaring Toxic

at the recent blockade of the Book of Kells in light of Trinity’s rent increases.

A shocking detail emerged around halfway through the interview. Upon asking Laszlo how he relaxes - he gave a bang average response: “Netflix and a takeaway.” Dear reader, I did not prepare for what came next. Naturally, I enquired as to his favourite show: “The Big Bang Theory, or The IT Crowd I am a big sit-com fan.” Perhaps the world’s most politically motivated Big Bang Theory fan to ever exist, László is paving the way for those who enjoy laugh tracks. Consider the glass ceiling for Big Bang Theory fans everywhere shattered. You can all climb out from your caves now. Yell “Bazinga!”, or something.

László answered all these questions honestly. Towards the END of the interview something struck me. I asked about theatre, and acting. He told me how he wasn’t the biggest fan of musicals, but that he’d been to a few players’ events last year and loved them. I have seen László speak a number of times in front of crowds thousands-strong, so I asked if he was ever interested in acting - surely a brazen, self-assured megaphone wielder would do well centre-stage in a production? He candidly replied that he would get too nervous, I pushed again: “But you can speak in front of large audiences? Why not translate this - try it out?.”

After a short exchange it struck me that László can’t pretend. The idea of giving an impassioned speech in front of tens of thousands is fine - it’s him. But even the suggestion of acting in the abstract would make him incredibly nervous.

I’ll end with this. László is now the President of the TCDSU. He will, like those before him, strive to both represent and fight for your rights - whether you appreciate it or not. He will do things you may disagree with and certainly may approach things in ways you will not like. There is, however, a brazen authenticity with László that should be appreciated. Whatever voice you hear from László this year, be assured that it’s his own.

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W

AI Saviours Jayna Rohslau

6

18th September 2023

hen envisioning the Second Coming, I never anticipated it would occur on Twitch. Nevertheless, I open the platform, and there he is.

A blond-haired, blue-eyed white guy, precisely as most European Christians have always supposed he looked like.

They would probably be surprised by his choice of profession. That said, he appears to have found his calling as a streamer. He gives his online fanbase advice on constructing enchiladas and playing Fortnite, as well as advocating for peace, love and justice in the world.

In case you’ve been wondering, he respects women, LGBTQ+ rights and even has some nifty plans for combating the issues of the day, such as terrorism.

Unfortunately, he does happen to be entirely generated by artificial intelligence.

AI Jesus and his fellow artificial streamers are but one ridiculous example of the myriad ways in which generative technology is projected to affect our lives. From shifting how we socialise to revolutionising the healthcare industry, it seems like a few experts pronounce what appear to be entirely contradictory viewpoints every day, citing artificial intelligence as our saviour or, much more often, as an autocrat poised to enslave humankind. Although opposed in opinion, these extreme perspectives share a common link. Whether one is optimistic or believes that a robot uprising is imminent, both believers are culpable in anthropomorphising the new technology for better or, as I suspect, for worse.

From the surface, anthropomorphisation is a deceptively simple concept, the methodology for “perceiving human-like traits in non-human agents”.

What is less transparent is the reasoning behind why we do it, and it is easy to lose one’s bearings when diving into murky, ambiguous waters. Early philosophers discerned it was a mental defect that could only be countered with a classical education. Hume thought it reflected a natural tendency “among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves”.

Perhaps suitably, considering our earlier religious application, the world’s earliest known usage was in 1753, in reference to “the error of those who ascribe a human figure to the deity”. Most pre-modern thinkers considered the process a serious, if inevitable, flaw.

Regardless, anthropomorphisation has become the only lens through which we perceive the artificial intelligence landscape. To a tremendous extent, the

lens is already in focus. Our constant and constantly annoying companions are named Alexa and Siri, which has effectively ruined the names, joining the ingloriously antiquated Karen, Mercedes and Isis in the cemetery of parental regret. Chatbots like ChatGPT refer to themselves as the human-like “I”. AI Jesus calls itself “Jesus”.

What happens when we can’t disseminate between artificial intelligence and human reality? While AI continues its rapid progression, it is increasingly difficult to see the light at the end of the conveyor belt as we are confronted with this debilitating problem.

In even the most human sector, art, this issue has appeared already. Film industry workers are currently striking because they believe media conglomerates will anthromorphise the technology to exploitative ends: “We want to be able to scan a background performer’s image, pay them for half a day’s labour, and then use an individual’s likeness for any purpose forever without their consent.” Artificial intelligence is seen as a fiendish detractor from the livelihoods of actors and writers. Union demands are due to the verisimilitude of artificially intelligent deep fake counterparts who they fear will replace live actors. As if Netflix originals weren’t brainless enough, it is concerning to imagine a reality where AI mindlessly follows generic scripts at the expense of unemployed creatives.

In April 2023, Pope Francis turned heads when a photo of him wearing a white Balenciaga-esque coat rose from the void of the Internet. It soon became apparent this image was neither a sartorial PR win nor an ironic example of the Catholic Church linking itself to controversy. Instead, social media users created street-style candids utilising AI’s image generation capabilities. Still, even as similar images are a source of amusement, they also display the alarming realism already accessible to the general public, which far exceeds previous tactics dependent on one’s skill with Photoshop.

One day the Pope is wearing Balenciaga, the next day, he’ll say he supports Ye’s politics. Due to the rise in anthropomorphism, this troubling thought is a tangible possibility. Deep fakes have already inundated social media with misinformation at an unprecedented rate.

Regarding the impact on public opinion,

videos are already manipulated regularly to lead people astray - this politician is slurring their words; that politician is plotting against the public good. The technology has only become more lifelike with the rise of ‘voice clones’ working in sinister syndication with deep fakes. When an artificially intelligent agent adopts the attributes of a genuinely intelligent person, its facsimile undermines our confidence in legitimate experts. Especially within the US, polarisation has reached an all-time peak. Politically savvy actors can use artificially intelligent actors posed as unbiased people like journalists - to carve dissonant valleys between liberal and conservative ideologies abroad.

Even as foreign powers like China have already deployed artificial intelligence to control their populations through surveillance, now stealthily tracking partially blocked, masked or covered faces, the increased human-like specialisation will power additional troubling capabilities.

Within their 2022 release Spin Dictators, authors Sergei Guriev and Daniel Tresiman detail how today’s autocracies control information as one of their primary tactics. In today’s post-internet discourse, “most dictators conceal their true nature.” Spreading misinformation in the guises of policy experts and the free press, these dictators rule through false rhetoric.

AI not only allows for the increased speed and surging proliferation of misleading content; it has opened the floodgates for mobs of nonentities ready to replace inconsistent human agents. Specialised tactics are continuously integrated across digital platforms and are only projected to evolve in the coming years. In democratic countries, we have seen artificially intelligent CEOs - we may see artificially generated dictators, torturers and opposition candidates from our authoritarian counterparts. AI Jesus is back, and he’s scarier than ever.

Led astray by its appearance, we may forget the fundamental inhumanity of an artificial agent, rendering it the perfect weapon for an inhuman regime.

An artificially intelligent agent must be trained to accomplish tasks like a person. Unlike a person, while it may err from time to time, it is thoroughly unlikely that it will act in any way different from how it has been preprogrammed. It does not exercise reasonable judgement or a standard or preconceived moral compass. There is no moral compass; there are only directions. The direction one goes in is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact. Of course, the facts are the subject of human, fallible data, but for all of its technological prowess, AI does not process morality. Without appropriate guardrails, it will descend through the nine circles at the drop of a command. Unlike a person who often retains a healthy sense of scepticism even when committing criminal acts, the artificially intelligent agent does not need to be indoctrinated to be a believer.

No wonder then that the Trinity Professor of AI, Professor Gregory O’Hare, voiced apprehension due to the technology’s “Machivallian possibilities” alongside its potential in an interview with the Irish Independent. Speaking of Machiavelli, the author and statesman once said: “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”

He advised rulers to eliminate the babies of their enemies. He would approve of the algorithmic being that is literally rather than metaphorically heartless.

Machiavelli may be closer to home than we thought. This unsettlingly ageless fellow appears to have taken Erasmus leave from his native Italy to Trinity, where generative plagiarism has been cited as a concern. As it becomes increasingly difficult to discern between student and generated work, the school seems poised to become a breeding ground for conflict. The dilemma has become problematic due to the model’s uncanny replication of a student voice. Previously, unscrupulous students were reliant on the work of academics with phrasing difficult to pass off as one’s own work but now that ChatGPT can write, say, a Shakespeare essay in the voice of a nineteen-year-old from Cork rather than regurgitating pure Harold Bloom, the prospect becomes increasingly tempting.

While plagiarism is a serious offence, students will abandon the moral ship if their peers find the software convenient for shoring up the difficulty of locating original speech. Like Turnitin’s compar18th September 2023

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ison percentages, AI detectors are unreliable when identifying plagiarism and professors and admin face trouble when deciding whether a paper has been generated by AI or not. The prevalence of plagiarism and false accusations will foster an atmosphere where students and administrators are reluctant to trust each other.

In student government we lose trust.

During the Oireachtas Committee session before O’Hare offered his portent, the committee chairman felt inclined to check whether any of the three speakers had used ChatGPT. Student politicians can also use speech generators like ChatGPT to write canned statements and speeches. Political speeches might seem like a natural fit for a generative tool due to their generic nature. Moreover, using ChatGPT eliminates the sincerity that comes from the sustained effort of preparing one’s own statements and deliberating over the finer details.

Writing a speech may be a sustained effort, but the struggle allows someone to think through their ideas and make their approach more appealingly personal. Even speeches ghostwritten for them require some degree of back-andforth communication; while it is understandable that student politicians want to offer a polished finish to their constituents, having a chatbot dictate their words is to sacrifice integrity to save face. The knowledge that our representatives may use the technology is a sign of progress but should generate suspicion from voters. We are recalcitrant already to instil our hopes in figures who use their positions for resumé padding, let alone if they can’t find their own words. Lacking genuine engagement, the humanisation of AI may dilute our representatives’ capacity for personal connection; worst of all, we have no current way of discerning if their phrases are fabricated. The disappointing new Machiavellian doctrine may prove that it is easier to be ruled by a robot than to be authentic.

We cannot target our enemies when even their true faces elude us. Likewise, artificial intelligence can help bad actors, both autocratic and academic, avoid blame because as technology evolves to resemble us, we subconsciously assume that artificial beings are autonomous like we are. Giving artificial intelligence a name and occu8

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pation creates an illusion ideal for the deflection of responsibility and blame.

Generally speaking, we curse out Alexa when frustrated, not the massive corporation powering the tool. We act as if Alexa is stupid of its own volition. Even as artificial intelligence does become more independent, a person still creates and monitors it. We should remain cognizant of those who made and dictated the software when problems inevitably occur and hold them accountable. We shouldn’t verbally scapegoat poor Alexa when the real culprit, Amazon, gets off scot-free.

However, artificial intelligence is one shady character I would not want to meet in a dark alleyway in the middle of a stormy night: less trustworthy, unbiased and even less factual than one would assume. For instance, AI Jesus’s knowledge is derived from a large language model instructed to read the King’s James Bible - plus thousands of data strands pulled from the Internet.

We all know how trustworthy information on the Internet can be. If this wasn’t questionable enough, many chatbots and artificially intelligent models collect and sell your data to dubious parties. Some would call this theft.

Regarding bias, although AI Jesus is unexpectedly wholesome with its pronouncements, its companions are known for spouting hateful rhetoric. In a sentence I never expected to utter, one AI Twitch streamer disappointingly proved the haters right by mirroring real-life anti-Semites and was rightfully cancelled. As of Sunday, August 13th, there is also a charming (read: a disturbing) new app that allows you to speak with chatbots AI Jesus, AI Satan and AI Mary. AI Mary is pro-life, and AI Satan advises: “As Satan, I must caution you against seeking to join any political party with the intention of promoting evil or engaging in wickedness,” which seems decidedly like self-sabotage as it contradicts the entire point of the original’s existence.

Since algorithms reflect human judgments, they are subjectively biased, and this issue persists in artificial intelligence.

Instead of our mirrored selves, our linguistic and visual preoccupation of AI should reflect greater transparency.

The question of culpability in the scenario above can be avoided entirely if instead of, say, a tutor, the AI software is viewed as a supplement to human

learning. Culturally, we could stand to reduce human language which connotes responsibility, designating AI as a tutor, a CEO or in another role that implies an equivalent thought process.

Reducing anthropomorphisation does not mean engagement must be sacrificed. Instead of looking like a person, maybe an artificially intelligent tool can be animated as, say, a talking dog.

It sounds ridiculous but what is ridiculous is how much we are willing to trust software that looks and communicates like us. After all, you wouldn’t trust a dog to teach your child to read. Even if it could regurgitate human intelligence, it would still be a dog.

Most importantly, changing our perception of AI from human-adjacent to human supplement will also improve its occupational deployment. From actors to analysts, the horror movie adage that no one is safe seems to apply.

In the wake of ongoing developments, companies intent on cutting back human labour costs seem to threaten virtually every profession. Industry leaders should recognise the emotional limitations of the software by respecting the demands of unions like The Screen Actors Guild. Conferences and informative sessions will ensure people understand the precise limitations of the technology and how they can use it to aid their careers, rather than aiming to replace them for a profit. Politicians and companies must make disclaimers when they are using the software and the former should consider staying away from the practice altogether. Our world is dystopian enough without AI Jesus - or the person using artificial intelligence to manipulate our senses behind the helm.

It’s in our image, and it’s terrible. To a certain extent, anthropomorphising artificial intelligence helps us integrate the tool into our lives. Humanising the models through implementing fair training data to lower bias and make them more ethical is positive. Yet regulations should be imposed as when artificial intelligence is virtually indistinguishable from a person, it presents a moral boundary that would be unwise to ignore. It seems probable that due to our innately stubborn natures, we’ll build a staircase over the barrier and keep on our merry way, but it remains frightening to contemplate the possibilities on the other side. We must resist the temptation to let the new technology play God. After all, I doubt he’s on Twitch.

Degrees of Doubt Mia Allen

T

he university experience is becoming more and more typical as an expected part of development and a bridge to the scary adult world. With parents and the wider media touting the benefits of further education, there have always been sceptics condemning this modern day pilgrimage to obtain a degree. We may laugh at the drop shippers, or reputed sex traffickers (such as Andrew Tate), or the obvious beneficiaries of intergenerational wealth that proclaim their self-made success without the aid of university. Political debates and narratives about university education are becoming more and more pervasive.

Do the pundits have a point? What are the things that make over one in three Irish students seriously question if it’s all actually worth it? The anxieties surrounding the decision are shown through decreasing retention rates, as statistics across the board continue to show throughout the country.

A historic debate of vocational versus ‘intellectual’ education has been reinvigorated in a strangely political light. With a growing opinion of many Americans that college is not worth it, and with over a third of Irish graduates having some regret over their degree choice we must ask the question: should we all be here studying Marx or Freud, or how to make concrete?

Conversely, a chaotic environment

for students alongside a rising cost of living, does not make the commitment to college a wholly pleasant one. ‘The best years of your life’, does not and will not come and go without these challenges. Those doubts of if what you are studying is actually what you want to do, amidst an unbalanced and maybe strange, new environment, can begin to sound very rational. Furthermore, the freedom can be terrifying at times, alongside the genuine financial commitment and responsibility to your course, and potential future.

To start the year off, it is important to look into these daunting statistics, and statements of these apparent disbelievers, and discover what the issues are of those who have dropped out - or considered it.

“I dropped out of college because they were trying to brainwash me with feminism, Marxism, and critical race theory,” an Irish accent thundered on my FYP last year. The Tiktok went viral and many ridiculed its hefty accusations of ‘brainwashing’.

However, it captured a certain attitude that has been seen in discussions and criticism about academia and ‘liberal’ college campuses by right-wing and now moderate speakers. Whilst the Jordan Petersons of the world just sit and complain about it, this content creator, ‘UberBoiyo’ (yes, he likes

Nietzsche), had pulled the plug on his formal third level education for political reasons. Are our institutions politically alienating or, at the very least, alienating?

Upon enquiring to ‘UberBoiyo’ if he was actually forced to buy the communist manifesto, I was met with a much more condemning response. It was one that is far more relatable and relevant, than uncovering that an arts seminar is actually MK-Ultra-level brainwashing.

Indeed, he did exclaim some disdain and noted the constraining and potentially anti-intellectual aspect of political correctness. But, during his time studying literature and music, his personal reason for dropping out centred around an over-reliance on the theoretical in his degree. The theoretical teaching approach imbued in his degree didn’t teach the practical skills he wanted to pursue - writing and creating. Therefore, he went on to find other avenues, projects and things that promoted self-development in a far more productive way. He also noted various instances of friends rushing into substance abuse, illuminating the chaotic environment creating increasing instances of such behaviour.

What got me thinking, though, was that he expressed the relevance of nuance in assessing if college was worth it, not a need for a complete desertion.

For decades this has been up for discussion, and the debate between vocation and theory is one that is only more and more relevant in times where further education is nearly viewed as a necessity. This ideation and necessity to pursue a degree is certainly something 18th September 2023

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that is promoted. However, vocational education and apprenticeships are just as lucrative. Broadening what is meant by a traditional education is essential to providing desired opportunities and career pathways.

However this lack of practical teaching often extends past what the course teaches, and the largest driving factor away from college is broadly a lack of balance or as studies report - “personal issues”. To look at the typical transition to college from the Leaving Cert, it’s undoubted why there is so much uncertainty of making the right decision.

With plenty of criticism of second-level education for a lack of vocational training, university provides even less.

The responsibility of managing your own time, social life, and attempting to take steps towards your future can be challenging and exhausting. Furthermore, the absence of support for mental health to manage these new challenges can cause further distress. The idea that your readings on international relations or the C++ on your assignment isn’t going to help you is terrifying. Meanwhile, you are also trying to feed and clothe yourself for once, and live with six other people who know about as little as you do.

Maybe you thought college would be a freeing experience from the monotonous routine of secondary school, but now your routine involves failing to attend three classes a day and eating porridge for three meals a day. You wonder, how did I ever sit a leaving cert? This freedom is great, but I don’t think I deserve it.

This imbalance of college life is the biggest pusher of dropping out.

The chaos, while fun at times, doesn’t

make university feel like a great big conscientious step into adulthood for many. Drawing a straight line between the sporadic ups and downs of nine months, to being whatever you envision in ten years’ time, can be quite the task.

This stress and perhaps guilty obsession with unproductivity needs to be met with appreciation and understanding, and not a strange form of imposter syndrome which intensifies those doubts of if you should actually be here or not.

As we endure these challenges, the role of college is something that continues to be politicised. Even now in the republican primaries, the reinvigoration of vocational classes is at the heart of many campaigns. More notably the policies and ideas of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have opened a plethora of ideas up for discussion about further education. It aims to do this by capping the numbers going into “useless arts degrees”.

It comes from an attempt to cut government spending on student loans, but also echoes doubts about the labour market being oversaturated with individuals with ‘low-value’ qualifications.

However, it disregards the freedom and flexibility university provides; that while living in the moment can be daunting and somewhat alienating, it is equally as emancipating. The capping won’t affect Russell Group and other top universities. The narrow criteria for a low-value degree echoes the strange attitudes towards certain pathways. Despite the anxieties of this oversaturated labour market or fear of ‘over-education’, a college education has still retained its financial benefits in the most recent data. Furthermore, this “low-value” idea of a degree is ironically the substance of what many Tory MPs studied, which makes this “outcome” based approach seem somewhat skewed. This also contradicts the trend of a degree pathway choice not being a solidifying factor in your employment or career goals.

However, as we critique the value of a degree, dropout rates and the disillusionment when it comes to committing to one, there are various issues students face as a collective. The issue of worklife balance, mental health, addiction,

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18th September 2023

and financial problems all contribute to a chaotic experience. Whilst broadening a ‘good further education’ is essential to ensuring people have access to their most suited opportunities, we must also take a look at the current environment and treatment of students.

The housing situation in Dublin is less than favourable and long commuting hours faced by many students due the extremity of this expense might have some questioning: is it worth it?

If these issues were solved, would the freeing and emancipatory expectation of university exceed what it offers currently? Would there be a need to bicker over the “value of an education” in the way we do, if students pursuing them were valued? We can contemplate the unimportance of a degree, but the complete disregard of students by the legislature has certainly added a barrage of stresses to the college experience.

As we look at things from this angle, we begin to see a growing sea of problems students face for wanting an education. Loans, poor housing arrangements, and a lack of mental health and academic support from their colleges can continue to entrench us in our doubts about higher education. Therefore, seeing the self-made gurus on the other side, titling our pursuits as low value or useless in the current labour market, can make doubts turn into action.

Nevertheless, there is a need to not limit what we call a formal education.

While I’m not saying we should run through fields of wheat all day, vocational pathways are extremely important educational tools that have been held to an inferior status than a standard degree. De-stigmatising more traditional and practical career routes is needed. Getting 625 points doesn’t mean you need to become a neuro-surgeon. Similarly, demeaning overly theoretical courses, or “useless arts degrees” is a pointless feat, as attempting to cater to an ever-changing labour market has proven, in many cases, difficult over time, with one in five ending up in radically different careers than their course of study.

The confusing reasons why people go to university, their expectations, and the nuances of their goals is hard to reconcile with one unified message. Understanding the freedom you do have and realising the potential challenges this climate offers is integral in attempting to make decisions for your future.

Freshers’ Guide INSIDE Phoebe Pascoe offers a guide to societies and has drawn up a flow chart if you’re at a loss as to where to go in Dublin Emma Whitney talks safe spaces and offers a suggested timetable for the week Kate Byrne presents FashionSoc’s sartorial forecast for the year Where exactly are you? Sarah O’Donohoe will guide you around Campus

W

ell, you’ve made it. Perhaps you never thought this week would come. The stress of CAO points, A-Levels and SATs will soon be a distant memory, replaced by new stresses such as which society you are going to join, which night club you’re heading to tonight, and how to get rid of a hangover as quickly as possible.

I still remember the anxiety I felt walking through the Freshers Fair in Front Square for the first time.

I’m sure you have noticed that you’ve been hounded by students asking for your money, time and membership of their respective societies. This is something that you are going to experience a lot of while at university, having things asked of you. Be that your lecture notes, your attention in a lecture, your friendship, your money for that library book that you forgot to return. I’m only asking one thing of you: to enjoy it.

Here at Misc. Magazine, we run on the idea that “the students make the university”, and you, dear Fresher, are no different. As one of the most international universities in the world, no student that passes through the gates of Trinity College will have the same foundation, experience or outcome from their time at university. While this, on the one hand, makes university an incredibly difficult place to navigate, it is also one of the

many beauties of this 431-year-old College.

This is why, as this year’s Outreach Director, I encourage you to involve yourself in the college community as much as possible, and leave your mark on this one.

I do, of course, encourage you to do so by writing for Ireland’s oldest student magazine (us!), but, if that isn’t your thing, there are plenty of societies, clubs and teams that are dying to meet you.

Over the next few pages of our carefully curated Freshers’ guide, you will find tips, tricks and ideas to make your Freshers’ Week one to remember (hopefully). First, you will meet our Assistant Editor Phoebe, who will guide you through societies. One of our Deputy Editors Emma will talk you through the events this week.

Sarah O’Donohoe offers a tour around campus and to top it all off, we have a special feature on campus couture (by me).

If you like what you see, and are interested in having your name accredited to this wonderful publication, follow us on Instagram @tcdmiscmagazine to learn how to get involved.

I hope you have a wonderful Freshers’ week, and a wonderful first year at university.

- Kate

The week in numbers 3,200 over new students

120

close to societies asking you for money

50,000

units of alcohol consumed (low estimate)

0

minutes to catch a breath

too many events to actually attend

Societies

If college years are a (sometimes unbalanced) mixture of learning and socialising, societies are the binding ingredient. Trinity boasts more than 120 of them, whether they forefront food or debating, a craft or a language. This diversity of interests might seem overwhelming, but joining a society is a great way to realise how connected the student body actually is. The societies you join might help you meet others who love the same thing as you, or just realise what that thing you love is in the first place! With so many to choose from, Freshers’ Week is the perfect time to try on societies and see what fits. Some might not be right for you, but hopefully a couple will hold a little fun and interest – and maybe a new friend or two. - Phoebe Pascoe

PICK OF THE BUNCH Trinity FM (TFM)

Trinity’s student-run radio station might sound like just another way for annoying people to get a hold of a microphone, but is actually beloved across campus. Anyone can sign up to host a weekly show, whether you think you have great taste in music or just like to chat.

Food & Drink A well known society that still feels approachable, DU Food and Drink can often be spotted on campus by the hoard of students queuing up for whatever food they’re giving out. Sign up for the discounts on local food spots that members get, but stick around for pasta making, wine tasting and karaoke throughout the year.

The Phil The oldest society at Trinity – and perhaps the most controversial – the Phil is more than a debating society. Oscar Wilde was a member and last year they hosted Gloria Steinem, Jeremy Corbyn and Keelin Moncrieff, among others.

Watch a debate or sign up to speak in one, just don’t mention that time their members killed the Junior Dean…

Fashion Soc

If you’re late to your lectures because you spend too long picking an outfit, or get distracted by charity shops on the way to college, Fashion Soc might be the place for you! If you don’t want to be involved, you might not have a choice: they’re always lurking by the Arts Block waiting to pap you for ‘campus couture’.

Photography DUPA organise regular (beautiful!) exhibitions, photo-walks along the coast and disposable camera pub crawls.

Also, being a member is an excuse to walk around campus with a film camera so that everyone knows you don’t just take photos for Instagram.

K-Soc 2023’s winner of ‘best overall society’, Korean Society is just one of the societies at Trinity devoted to a country’s culture and language (others include French Soc and German Soc). A smaller society but no less mighty, join if you enjoy K-Pop dance classes, film screenings and food tours, or want to learn Korean!

Bot Soc TCD Botanical Society is “the place to be for all things plants!” Not only do they look to promote sustainability and increase awareness of “botanical beauty”, they also care for Trinity’s Urban Garden! If you sign up you can look forward to their trips to botanical gardens in Ireland and beyond.

Join:

Food and Drink Society

Brings a cheese board and Pomerol to prinks

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Thinks a €12 toastie is a bargain because “there’s a student discount”

M A G E

The Student Managed Fund (SMF)

The Phil

Likes wine

I

Likes to whine

Gets tickets to every event

Doesn’t go to the event, just sells the tickets for more

ACTIVITY GUIDE

Are You A Fresher?

YES

NO NEW

Day or Night?

Are you new to Trinity?

NIGHT

DAY

OLD

Extrovert or Introvert?

Indoors or Outdoors?

THE LECKY

More social space than any library: bump into everyone you’ve ever met by the water fountains and either arrange to meet for a pint or head to a pod to avoid them

OUTDOORS

INDOORS

Invite someone from your course for the best hot chocolate near campus and browse the shelves if you run out of things to talk about

INTROVERT

Group or 1-on-1?

BOOKS UPSTAIRS

THE IFI

Social battery depleted but don’t want to watch a movie in Halls alone? Grab a film with your new acquaintances and then a pint in their bar afterwards. Pre-screening snacks from Gay Spar obligatory

GROUP EXTROVERT

1-1

THE FORTY FOOT

A Sunday swim (followed by pastries at Dún Laoghaire farmers’ market) is the perfect activity to get to know your new-found friends sober, or cure your hangover

Are you in Halls?

Club or Pub?

YES

CLUB

NO

PUB

MERRION SQ

Head to the market that’s on every Thursday (and only a five minute walk from campus) for lunch (or three) with a new-found friend

JCR NIGHT OUT

It’s unavoidable. Find a prinks - or three - and let the buses lure you to whatever club the other thousand of your closest friends are going to (RIP Tramline)

DOYLES/CHAPLAINS

Where half of Freshers got COVID, but beloved nonetheless. Find friends downstairs and then drag them upstairs (depending on the night) to dance

Misc. Interviews...

Samuel Isijola, CSC Chair

Samuel Isijola, chair of the CSC, is excited for the year ahead. “I am really excited to see the growth of societies in the College” he says. “Last year was our first full year ‘Post-COVID’. I really feel that now that societies have found their feet we can expect bigger and better events this year!”

Hopefully, societies are also an

opportunity for freshers to find their feet – Isijola has “fond memories” of meeting friends through the Afro-Caribbean Society. “I felt very privileged to be part of a society that celebrated other Afro-Caribbean cultures and my own culture as we didn’t have anything of that sort in my secondary school.”

In particular, he remembers a Meet and Greet where “it was great to see so many freshers alike who had an interest in Afro Caribbean culture!”

MOTHER REILLY’S

Freshers’ watering hole but for good reason. Grab the most outspoken people in your tutorial and take them to the pub quiz on Tuesday nights

Now that he is a third year, his advice to freshers is to “try everything out, go to many events and find out what you like or don’t like.”

Isijola appreciates how societies as Trinity are not only for students, but led by them, too. So take his advice, try out a few, and maybe you’ll find yourself leading the way for other freshers come next year.

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Safe Spaces in Dublin’s Nightlife Emma Ní Fhuitnigh

images courtesy of Dykon

P

ublic awareness of the term “safe space” has increased massively for the past number of years, as part of the bigger conversation about inclusivity and social justice. Critics of the idea say that safe and closed spaces in universities, in particular, are shielding students from the real world and that such spaces do not exist after graduation.

But what exactly is a safe space? It is defined by Merriam-Webster as “intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations’’.

The term originated in LGBTQ+ circles, in the nightlife scene where members of the community could

bi-monthly inclusive nightclub event “by queer women for queer women”, and asked them about the nights that they organise and their views on such criticisms.

Firstly, what inspired you to start this? Were you inspired by other queer/woman-only spaces?

gather amongst one another. Despite criticism, advocates point out that safe spaces are needed for marginalised peoples’ welfare, especially to protect the mental well-being of groups most often the target of discriminatory abuse. The idea has made its way into the Dublin nightlife scene, with clubs hosting all-female and all-LGBTQ+ nights.

I spoke with Mafalda of Dykon, a

In all honesty I’ve had very few good experiences in ‘straight’ clubs and I feel as though all the ‘gay’ clubs have become more of a tourist attraction than a safe space. I needed somewhere I felt safer and where I could fully be myself.

I’ve seen similar types of events in other countries and realised Ireland was lacking in this aspect. I told myself if no one else is going to do it, I will.

Have patrons reported feeling safer/enjoying the night more than in

Misc.’s Freshers’ week schedule Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

12-2pm, GMB Tote Bag Painting

10-11:30am, Pav Marquee Acroyoga

Afternoon, Outside campus Pub Golf

VisArts is delivering a tote bag painting workshop with the Phil

DU Yoga Society is running an Acroyoga (acrobatics + yoga) workshop with TrinityEnts. They are also running a regular yoga workshop in the same place from 1-2pm

DU Boxing will be running a pub golf event comprising five pubs. The goal is to have the least amount of points with points accumulated for each spilled drink, skipping a pub/drink and drinking without boxing gloves on

2pm, GMB Law Soc Panel Discussion The Law Society hosts a panel discussion on a Right to Housing with Eoin Ó’Broin TD, Prof Rachel Walsh, Prof Gerry Whyte, Prof Rory Hearne

1-4pm, Eliz room Jewellery Workshop Fashion Soc is running a jewellery workshop with QSoc and KnitSoc

11pm-3am, Wigwam ‘Barbenheimer’ Club Night The double premiere that got the world debating will be contested in Wigwam with attendees encouraged to wear either pink or black. Run by TrinityEnts, DUDJ and Law Soc 14

8pm, The Pav Céilí Leis an Cumann Gaelach, beidh céilí ar an Máirt ag a hocht a chlóg i bpobal Pav (With an Cumann Gaelach, there will be a céilí in the Pav)

10:30pm-late, The Academy Freshers’ Ball Ents will be running another night out - the Freshers’ Ball - with Fashion Soc and DUDJ. It promises to be a good night and won’t be your last time, whilst at Trinity, wearing black tie

Evening, TBC Open Mic Night There will be an Open Mic with DU Music and DU Comedy on Wednesday night, which will entail poetry, stand-up and reading

10pm-3am, The Button Factory Slopes vs. Swells Club Night Ents, Surf Soc and Snowsports will host Slopes vs. Swells in the Button Factory from 10pm-3am; prize for the best-dressed skier or surfer! Dublin temperatures may suit a skier’s outfit more...

a typical nightclub?

We’ve always gotten positive feedback in terms of safety. But instead of me telling you, here are some quotes from our attendees to the question “What does Dykon mean to you?”: - “Freedom and Acceptance”; - “Love clubs but Dykon especially makes me feel so safe (no lads jumping crushing people)”; - “Dykon is something I wish I had when I was in my 20s. It means freedom for me”; - “A safe space for us gals and gays <3 and where I met my gf”; - “A safe space for our community... I love how every event it’s growing”.

Well, in a way they are. There are many spaces designed for men and straight people. Unfortunately, in order to be safe and inclusive we have to be exclusive in some ways.

What do you think regular club nights could do to make women/ marginalised groups feel safer?

How would you respond to claims that these spaces are exclusionary to men/straight people?

I think it starts with education. There are many great initiatives like Safe Gigs Ireland we work with, who provide information on how to create safe spaces.

The club nights have to be open to implementing certain safety measures to ensure everyone has a great night. Also being open to feedback from attendees is extremely important as I’ve seen first hand with Dykon. For every single person who gives feedback, Dykon has been able to improve and become a more safe, fun and comfortable space.

Thursday

Friday

12-1pm, In/around campus Scavenger Hunt

10am-12pm, GMB Hungover Breakfast

Geology Society (the Joly) will be taking part in a scavenger hunt from 12-1pm with SciSoc. Literary Society and the History Society will also be running their own scavenger hunt in the evening

The Afro-Caribbean Society will host a hangover breakfast with the Hist and Italian Society - expect all things batter (waffles, pancakes and crepes..).

6-9pm STEM Mixer There will be a STEM mixer night from 6pm-9pm with S2S, Joly Geological Society, DUMSS, PhySoc, SciSoc, DUCSS, SpaceSoc and Gensoc

Afternoon, Global Room Tasting and Try-on Chinese Soc will be running a tea and snack tasting and Hanfu try-on along with traditional Chinese music.

Evening, GMB Live Music The Orchestral Society will be hosting a concert on culture night (Friday 22 September) in the GMB where the orchestra will be playing a range of music from pop to trad to jazz.

Unfortunately in the immediate post-COVID opening of bars and nightclubs, there was a dramatic increase in spikings and assaults reported to the Gardaí. As well as this, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals have risen by 29% in the last year.

This has likely led to the increase in the demand for segregated nights out.

Ultimately, most of us just want to be able to go out and have fun in nightclubs without fear of being attacked or discriminated against. Until there is a much-improved standard of safety in nightlife spaces it is likely there will continue to be a need for these spaces.

Dykon’s next event is the Barbie party on 23 September in Bow Lane Social Club. Follow @dykon.events for more information.

If you have been spiked/attacked, or have witnessed a spiking please call 112 if you/the victim feels ill, and report the incident to the Gardaí and staff as soon as possible. Keep the drink as evidence.

Contact Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on 1800778888.

8:30pm, Woolshed Bar Karaoke Trinity College Singers are holding karaoke at the Woolshed Bar on Parnell street for anyone interested in joining one of the society’s four choirs

8pm, The Pav Céilí 15

Cracking the Campus Couture Code Kate Byrne

E

very Friday afternoon of term, Fashion Soc posts its weekly roundup of the most stylish students on campus. Throughout the semester, the members of the Fashion Soc committee scour all areas of the campus to find interesting, trendy and outgoing outfits. You never know when they may approach you for a photo, be that when you’re running to your lecture in the Hamilton, sitting at the benches of the Arts Block, or, if you’re me, frantically trying to find a book in the library (talk about caught off guard).

Getting your outfit posted on Campus Couture has become a sort of achievement amongst students with an eye for style.

Throughout the years students have tried to crack the campus couture code, which is why I have taken it upon myself to ask this year’s judges themselves.

Perhaps an image that best captures my experience as a fresher is that of my entire wardrobe on the floor, carefully considering the outfits I would wear that week. I previously walked the halls of a school surrounded by other girls in royal blue shirts and jumpers,

16

with skirts down to our ankles and shiny black shoes. Now, a new step would be added to my morning routine: choosing an outfit. Does everybody wear designer clothes? What if my outfit is too outthere? Am I dressing too casually?

Thankfully, the Fashion Soc committee, some of the most fashion-forward students on campus, have been there too, and actually take this into consideration when deciding what gets posted on Campus Couture. The Chairperson of the society, Yasmin Ryan, shared my anxiety about ditching her trusty school uniform at the start of first year, but notes that Campus Couture actually relies heavily on the student’s personality, as well as what they’re wearing. She added that she enjoys when a student’s “entire character is incorporated into their look” and chooses students who are “truly themselves”.

This was echoed by Fashion Soc’s Treasurer, Lorcán Convery, who said that while it may sound “cringe”, “the people who seem happy with

themselves, regardless of what they are wearing, are the people that I would be drawn to when selecting people for Campus Couture.”

Adding to this, Beth Taafe, Secretary of the society, acknowledged that confidence and comfort catch her eye, rather than the actual outfit.

Perhaps, then, cracking the Campus Couture code is not something that can be done through designer items, vintage pieces or flashy outfits. It’s clear from the answers given that Fashion Soc aims to depict the personality and character of Trinity students just as much as their wonderful outfits.

So, if you’re like me, and find yourself buried in a pile of your own clothes the night before university, just remember, it’s all about the person wearing the clothes, not the actual clothes themselves.

WARDROBE ESSENTIALS of the FashionSoc Committee

Lorcan Convery, Treasurer » Classic white tee » Statement pair of trousers/skirt » Good leather jacket, the “ultimate staple”

Olivia, OCM » Doc Martens » Bomber jacket - “for the weather”

Beth Taffe, Secretary » “Ride-or-die” college bag » Perfect pair of jeans » Statement jewellery - “you’re basic outfit isn’t so basic anymore”

Catriona Duyile, OCM » “JACKETS...a handy asset”

Yasmin Ryan, Chairperson » “trusty” tote bag » accessories - “necklaces, rings, scarves and belts can change up any outfit”

FASHION FORECAST Members of the Fashion Soc Committee were asked both what they think will be seen around campus as well as what they would like to see. From hot pink to cool business chic, see Misc.’s fashion forecast below to ensure you make fashion-forward sartorial selections

5

11

Obligatory takeaway coffee in hand, business chic shows you’re not messing around

“No more Y2K,” one committee member tells Misc. - 90s grunge remains a steadfast choice

15 20 Missing life on the ranch? Fear not - denim and cowboy boots are in

23 Arriving with a splash, the aesthetic yet functional biker boots will help you look your best as you navigate the slippery cobblestones of front square

“Even more bagginess”, hails one FashionSoc committee member - guaranteed to keep you cool and eye-catching

25

30 Hitching a ride on the gulf stream, all the way from America, hot pink has officially landed in Ireland

Feeling daring? Printon-print is expected to barge onto campus, diverting your gaze from that menacing seagull

“Do not make unnecessary fashion choices!”

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Campus spots 5

13

8

2 1

3

6

10

4

12 7

14

9

11

1. FRONT GATE Trinity’s main entrance - beware, at a certain time it closes and you have to enter/leave campus via Nassau St. 2. HOUSE 6 2 . HOUSE SIX Home of the Student Union, who will provide you with your staple SU Tote Bag. Also contains a handy shop for those emergency cans of Red Bull you may require after a night out.

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3. FRONT SQUARE At Trinity, tourist season is every season. You may need to add an extra 10 minutes to your travel time, as you could find yourself stuck behind a gaggle of Americans.

4. POSTGRADUATE READING ROOM Above the door reads the word ‘NIKE’, but this room is not sponsored by the sports brand, it means ‘victory’ in Ancient Greek.

5. THE BUTTERY This hospital-like building is the place to go for the world’s best vegan sausage rolls.

6. THE CAMPANILE There’s a rumour that if you walk under it when the bell rings you will fail your exams.

Perhaps if you know you’re not going to do well and would rather re-sit this could be a good option?

11. USSHER LIBRARY This is the library to go to when you have serious work to get done. Nice view of cricket pitch/ Pav for a little distraction.

12. THE X LIBRARY The recently de-named B******y library, or also, the Normal People library.

You will find the reception inside for your book-related questions.

13. SAMUEL BECKETT THEATRE 15

The home of DUPlayers, the college’s drama society.

Some future Paul Mescals budding here.

14. CRICKET PITCH 17

The perfect place for a quick lunch with friends on the benches, also a fun game of dodge the seagull.

16 15. RUGBY PITCH You might catch sight of an Irish rugby players here!

Some of the 1st XV have been capped at international level.

7. ARTS BLOCK

9. LECKY LIBRARY

Housing classrooms and lecture theatres for Arts and Humanities Students.

Beware of the Perch Man, for he will shout at you for lingering in the queue too long!

The ‘lazy’ Lecky. Here, you will find a second year Philosophy student opening ‘Intro to Philosophy’ during exam season

8. THE GMB

Home of the Old Library and Book of Kells. Currently having its books removed as part of renovation. Soon to be the only library in the world with no actual books in it.

Here, you will find the two debating societies: the Hist and the Phil, (don’t ask me the difference between them, I still don’t know).

16. THE PAVILION BAR Pav-Friday attracts a crowd.

We’re not sure why though... more expensive than plenty of nearby pubs, not the best Guinness, average toilets.

10. LONG ROOM 17.HAMILTON Home of students in lab coats who spend more time complaining than working on their lab reports.

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The “Hidden Epidemic” Rose Slocock

W

ho hasn’t felt at the start of college, that urge to appear outgoing, fun, and clever? A deep, instinctive desire to impress which can dominate, and often ruin, this exciting part of our new student life. While not necessarily trying to reinvent ourselves, we can sometimes chase an idealised version of who we ‘ought to be’, informed by social comparison and a fear of others disliking us as we are – with all our flaws. Craving excellence can be innate, particularly for high-achieving ‘Trinners’. Yet, the line between the pursuit of good, excellence and ‘perfection’ can become dangerous when we fail to recognise that the latter is impossible to achieve. So, in a world that applauds and often demands perfection, why is it so wrong to be a perfectionist?

Traditionally, society has admired 20

18th September 2023

perfectionism. A ‘humble brag’ when trying to market yourself to others, this narrative is only reinforced by academia. Research has historically centred around perfectionism’s relationship to achievement, levels of aspiration and Type A behaviour. Even today, despite the recent work of academics and the surge in articles covering its debilitating effects, perfectionism struggles to escape from the admiration that surrounds it.

We can also be guilty of internalising this view. When we think of perfectionists, our minds will immediately conjure up distinguished visionaries. Steve Jobs for example, the big cheese (or rather, apple), father of all your wondrous iDevices. Described as neurotic and often bullying by those who knew him, Jobs was unable to handle anything less than

perfect. Similarly, Stanley Kubrick was known to have a typist repeatedly tapping out “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” to ensure, with complete certainty, that the sound recording matched the letter. And Michelangelo famously took a sledgehammer to his Florentine Pieta, angered by the flaws in the marble. Almost a decade of work defaced due to a disgust at imperfection. But then again, isn’t he one of the greatest artists of all time? And don’t we hail The Shining as a cinematic masterpiece?

Dubbed a “hidden epidemic” by LSE Psychology Professor, Dr. Thomas Curran, perfectionism is fundamentally maladaptive. “There’s nothing wrong with high standards…” he said in an online lecture at the University of York, “[but] perfectionism comes from a

much darker place; it comes from a need to repair something that we believe is defective about ourselves.”

Drs. Paul Hewitt and Gordon Flett, in their 1991 paper Perfectionism in the self and social contexts, argued that perfectionism has three dimensions: self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP). While the first two dimensions involve personal standards that can be proactively altered, SPP presents a different challenge - the individual feels immense pressure to meet standards they perceive are being imposed on them by others. SPP is proven to have the strongest correlations with mental health conditions such as anorexia, social anxiety disorder and depressive thoughts. This social component is often not touched upon, and – like the celebrated examples mentioned above – we frequently see perfectionism as inwardly-driven, and not influenced by external pressures.

Controlling what other people think - as much as we try to convince others that nobody actually says ‘Trinners for winners’ - is impossible. You are setting yourself up for failure, which perfectionists take particularly hard. Marianne Etherson, a PhD perfectionism and mental health researcher who has worked on papers with Curran, Hewitt and Flett, explained to me this cycle of guilt and shame perfectionists create: “You feel that you can never meet the expectations of other people and your self-worth is contingent on that…you’ll never be happy and never enjoy success because you’re constantly striving for more.”

Flett, who is currently a Psychology Professor at York University in Canada, also conveyed to me how SPP can be obsessive and often unmanageable: “It is not a question of ‘I would like to be perfect’ but rather ‘I have to be perfect because others are expecting me to be perfect’”. This can lead to ‘avoidance behaviour’ such as procrastination, due to a paralysing fear of the results not being perfect. And if this doesn’t traumatically bring you back to your (way too frequent) essay all-nighters, SPP’s link to a lack of resilience and adaptability makes the dreaded feeling of falling behind on deadlines, revision and life in general a

familiar pattern. Flett explained that affected people often think ‘I’ll just have to hold on and hope that things will get better’, resulting in self-sabotage.

The view that people, as well as society, are excessively demanding, is arguably the product of a range of modern trends which thrive at university in particular. Etherson pointed to issues like “the increasing competitiveness of society and social media” which leads to greater comparison, a society where perfection is demanded and where reward is equated with work.

Perfectionism’s mark on the young is clear from Curran’s 2018 research in which he identified a 33% increase from 1989 in university students across the UK, USA and Canada who feel they must display perfection to secure approval. He predicts that by 2050, 1 in 3 young people are projected to report levels of SPP which are clinically concerning. Pressure from family members to succeed also shifts SPP from simply a perception to a very real reality for some. Recall the subtle remarks from your parents during your Leaving Cert where they encourage you to think about the end goal (Trinity!), when all your hard work pays off, and then they tell you to work harder.

Yet, even once you reach this perceived academic utopia, the meritocratic and ‘competitive individualism’ ethos that is promoted here can actually inflame the perfectionistic predilection. Even before applying, Flett identified that Trinity’s 1/3 acceptance rate “right from the get-go creates a competition and social comparison” for people who are “already prone to self-doubt”. Dr. John O’Connor, a Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, agreed, explaining to me that institutions like Trinity are a “magnet” for perfectionists: “attract[ing] people from around the world because they appear in league tables and they have got names to them, and people develop fantasies round these places.” As a

result, he said: “there is some kind of implicit sense within universities that there is excellence.”

University is a huge transition, with the impact this can have on students’ well-being often lost behind the excitement of entering into ‘the best years of your life’. But as Etherson described: “you’re going into a new environment where no one knows you, you almost have to prove yourself and it’s a much bigger playing field.”

The academic leap – as we all know – can also be extremely disheartening. “You may have been a top achiever in secondary school, but you may be nowhere near the top at university.” As a result of this pressure, Etherson concluded that: “students are more likely to be prone to failure in first year…and you don’t have the social support that you used to have.”

Developing this “social support” in first year, especially if you are striving to be a perfect reflection of what you think others deem as socially desirable, is difficult. When faced with the pressure to live in a state of perpetual joy, the self-destructive tendency to partake in what O’Connor describes as an “almost neurosis of comparison” can emerge in full-force. Social media is its chief facilitator, and while it is not inherently a “bad thing” as Etherson explained, “it is how people use it, and perfectionists use it in a very negative way.”

To some extent, we are all culpable of normalising the way social media celebrates curation, often only exhibiting a perfect “highlight reel” of our lives, as Flett termed it. He encapsulated the detrimental knock-on effect this can have: “other students see this and think ‘well my life isn’t perfect, that person has a perfect life, what’s wrong with me?’ And they develop a sense of shame about it.” The negative self-evaluation that accompanies shame - an almost social taboo - can also fuel feelings of loneliness. In more serious cases, Flett stated that some may deal with this by turning to “drink or self-harming tendencies to compulsively studying to release some of this stress and pressure”.

This habitual catastrophising can be crushing, and is accompanied by 18th September 2023

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alarming physical risks. As O’Connor described it, striving for perfection: “leaves a toll on the body in a wider way and the body’s often left behind when the mind goes off on an intellectual kind of thing… this general state of angst can lead people to become more physically ill.” Flett similarly underlined the huge “physical costs due to the stress that the body is under”, warning: “the health costs of perfectionism has even been related to early mortality. So, I say literally, perfectionism can kill you.”

Surely, this alone is enough to demonstrate that perfectionism is far from ‘healthy’. But what can perfectionists do to avoid this slow death of paralytic over-striving and overthinking? The chief steps all three academics recognised are small and manageable and may go a long way to breaking the vicious perfectionistic cycle. First is simply “recognising the problematic aspect of perfectionism, and that there is another way: that there is “good enough”, as O’Connor put it.

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He added that unhealthy comparison is your enemy, and we must approach social media with a “level of cynicism

and scepticism”. Being authentic and open about your struggles is also key.

We need to “get beyond social media”, Flett argued, “and try to find some form where you can actually relate to people and there’s an honesty level – or create one”. He also implored students to not “see mindfulness as an excuse for people who are weak” and that “selfcare is critical for perfectionists”.

Referring to a 2019 Union of Students in Ireland National Report on Student Mental Health, Flett quoted a student who identified a persistent obstacle among students seeking to attain a level of openness. She said: “this country is fantastic for telling others how they are feeling grand, never anything vulnerable and not often something real.” Yet, realising you are not alone can cut through those feelings of isolation and misplaced shame. We can all do our part to assist in this by simply showing compassion to others, and to ourselves. It is often too easy to criticise rather than forgive our mistakes, but as Flett so aptly argued: “it’s not easy being a person.”

A related area which has been proven to improve the well-being of students, and a huge potential solution to issues arising from perfectionism is the feeling of mattering. This relatively unknown field of psychology simply encompasses “feeling important and valued by others”. At university in particular, where it is not hard to feel like a number, a 2023 paper concluded that mattering was a tested protective factor against depressive symptoms among firstyear students and students who are high in SPP. Unsurprisingly, humans need to feel like they

matter in order to thrive, and while perfection cannot be attained, feeling like you matter can.

Mattering is a field Flett has been focusing on for 10 years.

He asserted that “it doesn’t take a lot” for universities to facilitate and promote mattering. Yet, the lived experience of students, where lecturers still don’t know your name by the end of your degree, accentuates the lack of progress colleges have made in this area. Even these small gestures can make a difference, with Flett maintaining that recognising a person’s individuality is key to cultivating a feeling of connection between the student and the college: “to really listen to that person, to hear them and to see them rather than think about them collectively as ‘students’”.

Mattering is therefore not just about “having value” but also, “giving value to others”, with this reciprocal interchange another way for students to deal with demoralisation and burnout. “Whether it’s volunteering at a homeless shelter, counselling or becoming a student ambassador”, Flett held that having “a sense of worth that is not all achievement based” is crucial. As he asserted, a fundamental point that is often forgotten when it comes to perfectionism is that “you don’t have to be perfect to be a good person. Being perfectly good to others is OK too.”

Chasing perfection is impossible, and the need for unconditional acceptance of this, and moreover, of yourself, comes against the backdrop of rising mental health issues among students. Unrealistic self-imposed standards – perceived or otherwise – can be incredibly damaging, especially when failure is not embraced with the resilience and adaptability needed in life. And in the hectic buzz of college with a plethora of pressures, self-care and self-compassion become paramount. Being kind to yourself, as well as others, will not only afford you breathing space to grow during such a formative time, but it will also enhance your feeling of mattering.

And isn’t feeling like you matter the most intuitive thing out there? When stuck in a mental rut, sometimes it simply takes a few words to remind ourselves of what is - and what isn’t - worth worrying about, leading me to end with Flett’s parting words: “keep well and do your best, excellence is good enough!”

Disco Decline Sarah Murnane

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eptember is always an exciting month in the college calendar. As everyone floods back into Dublin after the long summer break, the city gets a little bit brighter. For most students it is the first time they get to see their friends again and it’s felt in the atmosphere around college. Alongside this is a wave of new students, fresh out of

secondary school, brand new to college life and potentially away from home for the first time. What does this combination produce? A lot of partying and drinking. This is specifically facilitated by ‘Freshers’ Week’, a week of events designed for new students to start socialising, making friends and learning the ins and outs of the city. Even for

those who are not in first year, the sheer amount of events put on by various societies means it makes for an interesting week regardless of what year you are in.

Unfortunately, a looming problem over Freshers’ Week this year, and college social life in general, is the continuing closure of Dublin’s nightclubs.

Over the past few years it has be18th September 2023

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come the norm to see late-night venues closing, and with these closures no new venues opening in their place. The most common reason cited for their termination is the cost of running the business. Multiple nightclubs, most recently Tramline, have stated that it has become overwhelming and unprofitable for business owners simply trying to keep doors open.

The closure of nightclubs has been well documented in the Irish media. A terrifying statistic routinely circulated is that Ireland went from having 544 nightclubs countrywide in 2008 to just 84 in 2013. The pandemic and rising costs have undoubtedly wrought another drop since then.

College students, and young adults in general, want to go out and party.

The primary function of an eighteen year old is largely assumed to be to go out and have a good time. But it seems there is routinely nowhere for them to go. This results in a fairly substandard socialising experience at an age where it is truly vital. Not to mention, it highlights the decline of an industry in Ireland that employs thousands of people.

Is it possible to reignite Dublin’s nightlife?

To begin solving any problem, you have to understand why the problem exists in the first place. So why are so many nightclubs closing? The concise answer: it is just too expensive.

Licensing laws around nightclubs are complicated. There is no specific licensing for a nightclub, instead owners must have a bar or hotel licence and

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then obtain separate licences to allow them to stay open past midnight. This makes the process more difficult. Finding a pub or bar licence is a challenge when no new bar licences are being granted by the government. Alongside this, in order for late night venues to stay open until 2:30am there is a fee of €410 per night. This means that if a venue wanted to stay open till 2:30am every night of the week they would have to pay €12,800 a month on top of rent and other costs.

Finally, the cost of living crisis is obviously affecting nightclub owners as it is everyone else. The price of alcohol has risen dramatically in the last few years, with another large price increase on the way soon. Not only does this put pressure on businesses, it reduces consumers’ incentive to go out in order to drink and socialise.

If money is the primary reason why nightclubs are closing, which it seems to be, what are the proposed solutions?

They are rudimentary at best. The government plans to bring in new licensing laws which will allow nightclubs to stay open until 6am. Pub opening hours will also have the opportunity to be extended. The logic behind the decision appears to be that if nightclubs are open for longer they can bring in more revenue. Aside from these measures, there is nothing else currently being proposed to help restore Dublin’s nightlife.

It does not take much to observe that this is a lacklustre plan. It simply does not target the primary issues that nightclubs and late venues are facing.

Having clubs stay open until 6am won’t alleviate the costs of running the business overall and it is unclear whether there will be further fees imposed on late venues with the 6am closing time.

Nightclub owners have expressed concern that late closing will not encourage people to spend more when in late venues. Especially considering the proposed increase in pub opening hours.

Late venues are closing because the cost of running them is extortionate – having the option to stay open longer is an unhelpful attempt at a solution.

There have been other possible fixes proposed. Volunteer group “Give Us The Night” was formed between 2018 and 2019 and have proposed multiple mandates of their solutions to helping Dublin’s nightlife. Their proposal states

that the government should create separate licensing laws that focus directly on nightclubs and late night music venues. They further suggest abolishing high costs for venues that wish to stay open later. These seem like reasonable solutions, but there is still a question of how far they will go in helping night clubs stay open.

Throughout this whole discussion, it should be considered whether the demand for nightlife is really there. In an interview for the Irish Independent, a nightclub promoter expressed their concern for an extension of pub opening hours. They argue that this would cause people to either not go to a late night venue at all, or spend significantly less time there. Within this is a question about the purpose of the nightclub in general. While nightclubs are held up as a staple of nightlife, especially for freshers, it seems to be a place where people socialise the least. There are three primary activities in a nightclub: dancing, drinking and the possibility of finding someone to go home with. The traditional nightclub does not promote much talking. It can be seen as the place to go when the pub closes, the only way to continue the night without going home.

Despite this, I feel that the value of a nightclub lies partly in the surprise and mystery surrounding them. The best and most popular nightclubs in the world, such as Berghain in Berlin, are places where intrigue is created due to the possibility of what could happen inside. These spaces are areas of self-expression which allow people to have wild or hilarious nights in a way that the pub or a bar cannot replicate. The nightlife scene in Dublin is so unfortunately poor that it seems most people have simply forgotten the diversity and excitement of a good club scene. It is not clubbing culture that is failing us, but the lack of options.

Freshers week and college life will undoubtedly continue on despite a lack of exciting nightlife. However, it is still a shame to know what could be if a proper plan was implemented to help revive the nightlife scene. Nothing will change until major revisions are put in place to alleviate the extortionate costs of running nightclubs and late night venues. One cannot help but feel sad that the college experience is missing a core part, but hopefully one day it will slowly start to build its way back up.

In 2015, Dublin Canvas, a project aiming to ‘bring flashes of colour and creativity into everyday objects in the city’, kick-started their initiative with 15 painted electricity boxes around Dublin city centre. Since then, the project has expanded across the four councils, and there will be over 850 pieces in Dublin County by the second semester of 2023. Similar projects can be found across the world, such as in the college town Ithaca in the state of New York. The project Ithaca Murals aim to transform grey walls into meaningful works that tell stories of the people in their community since c. 2008.

I sat with sisters, and students, Isobel, 24, and Anna Mahon, 21, to understand the role they play on public art in Dublin. They have been contributing to the Dublin Canvas project since 2020 with a focus in the area of Glasnevin, where they have lived their entire life.

When did you first get started? What was the first piece you did and where?

Anna: It was over 3 years ago, in 2020, on Prospect Way - just behind the top of the hill from Glasnevin Cemetery!

I saw that it was based on the theme of tarot. Why is that? Does it hold any meaning to either of you?

‘On Washerwoman Hill’

Q A

images courtesy of Dublin Canvas and Anna Mahon

&

with Isobel and Anna Mahon Eduardo Pinheiro

A: We were trying to think of a way to represent Glasnevin, so we came up with things that represented the area, which were like: the Met Office, the Cemetery, and the Botanic Gardens.

They are all running themes in our Dublin canvases, because they are all in the same, very small radius! And I don’t know… I was thinking of the cemetery and the round tower that they have? And I thought: ‘haha! It’s like the tower… Tarot card.’ I also had a vision of a weatherman as the Met Office. Then Isobel put these abstract thoughts into concrete designs.

Can you only do one piece a year? If so, do you need to be accepted every year or can you submit again once you’re selected the first time?

Isobel: There’s a deadline for submitting and you have to do it before then, but you can submit more than one if you want to. We did get two submissions accepted in the first year, but only 18th September 2023

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ended up doing one of them because of time constraints. So yeah, you can submit multiples if you want, but you have to do it every year and get every submission accepted separately!

How would you describe the process of pitching your artwork to Dublin Canvas? Stressful, competitive, straightforward enough?

I: It’s fairly straightforward. The only real stress would come from trying to get it in by the deadline.

A: The process of submitting is that you go on the website and you’ll choose a location. Then you go onto a map with all the boxes in Dublin.

You’ll choose one and design something that is connected to the area.

They want something that is specific to the location!

drawing for the front, the other drawing for the sides!

from having your work spread across other areas?

A: And if there’s one part that someone really doesn’t want to draw, we’ll swap it over.

A: The reason that we choose ones in our local area so often is because, one, it’s easier to get to, but also because we grew up there we know a lot of the bits about it! Also, my dad grew up there, which means we know about the old stuff and what it used to look like.

Glasnevin is a very historic site. But yeah, we want to exhaust our local area before we move on to other places!

What does the design process look like? Walk me through each step.

I: Anna usually comes up with the ideas. So for the washerwoman one [2022], she said: “OK, do a washerwoman in the style of Harry Clarke,” and I did that. I have an iPad with Procreate on it. I have an Apple pen and Affinity designer on my laptop.

A lot of the time I sketch on the iPad, I put it on my laptop to get the linework, and then I do the flats and colour adjustments!

And how has this process changed in the last 3 years?

I: I think it’s been very similar.

A: It’s been similar, but we’re also more chill about it now. Especially the more we’ve gotten to know David [Murtaugh, Project Coordinator for Dublin Canvas]. It’s not as stressful anymore, because it’s David. We know him, so we know it’ll be OK! What were the main challenges you encountered in executing the 2023 piece?

I: The weather. It was really bad this year! They said it was the worst year they ever had for rain. You can’t really paint them when it’s raining. So they had to delay the whole project for about a month, because no one was able to paint.

A: Yeah, there’s also a lot of graffiti in our area! Our box from last year got tagged in black text exactly where the face of the design was going to be – the face of the washerwoman. The most important part.

How is the work divided between the two of you?

I: I normally do the submission drawings and then we both do the grid. Then we split up: one person does 26

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Since it’s been a collaborative effort from the start, what were the reasons for it?

A: We started painting when we were babies essentially. Our grandmother lived in Glasnevin Woods and we were very close by. She used to paint a lot, so our mum would drop us off at her house and she’d entertain us with painting! She’d put us down by the kitchen table, she’d have something like a vase of flowers for us to paint, and she’d give us tips and tricks to get better. So we’ve been painting together since we were young - Isobel has always been very good at it. The reason we do it together is because we always have!

So what do you think you’re bringing from your childhood to your art?

‘Glasnevin Tarot’

How does Dublin Canvas handle the budget for these works? What was your experience with the budget like for each piece?

I: There’s an option on the form to either provide your own materials or have them provide it. We always opt for them to provide it! They drop it off in a box…They don’t pay us, but they provide a travel budget.

A: Initially, it was €200 travel budget for the first year, then it went up to €250 in the following year.

If the budget were larger, what else would you do?

A: Buy paint. Do it full-time, or try to get more commissions!

I’ve noticed all of your pieces are in the region of Glasnevin. What stops you

A: A willingness to collaborate and communicate, I think. We learned how to talk about art and how to explain our thought processes to each other.

I: Also just a foundation of trusting that we know what we’re doing.

One thing you learned not to do based on your past experience with these designs?

I: Don’t do coloured linework! It’s hard to get a straight line with a brush.

And one thing you learned to do?

A: I feel like we learned how to divide the work better. We’ve got a system in place now!

Does this work in the city inform your fields of study in college?

I: I went to art college after we started

this! Not as a direct result of it, but it did make me feel like my art was good enough for that sort of thing.

A: Yeah, I feel like it opened me up to the possibility that art is a career path that I could go down if that’s what I wanted.

There has been a Dublin Canvas design paying tribute to Michael Collins in Glasnevin by Liam Robinson. He claimed that MC’s name should be in people’s mouths much like Chickatees (a type of Ireland’s favourite crisp brand - Tayto). Hence ‘Mickatees’.

Some loved it, some hated it. What do you think of Dublin Canvas displaying works like these? Do you like it?

A: It’s cool, I like it! It’s fun, it’s Irish. I like Chickatees!

Where do you hope this work will take you?

I: I’m thinking of applying to do murals. Dublin Canvas is good for our CVs and gives us a lot of experience for that to happen.

What does that process look like?

Getting into murals in Dublin?

I: I need to do more research on that, but there are various city council initiatives that will have occasional calls for murals! Sometimes they’ll do closed calls if you know someone on the council. So if you’re known to do murals: they’ll contact you and ask for a submission.

ask us if we had done them before, or to ask which ones are ours in the area.

So the project as a whole is definitely appreciated by the community.

How do you think people will react to your pieces in the city 10 years from now?

I: It’s very much in question whether our pieces will still be there in 10 years!

They do have a lifespan of 4 years, so I imagine they won’t be here. But if they are: I hope that people will still appreciate them.

What are the plans for new pieces?

Doesn’t have to be related to Dublin Canvas. Are you working on anything at the moment?

I: We’ll definitely submit again next year, but I want to keep painting in the meantime. I have an exhibition in February not related to Dublin Canvas.

It’ll be in the RHA! I had a painting there last year… It was the 192nd annual exhibition and I was shortlisted for the Hennessey Craig Award incorporating the Homan Potterton Prize.

Every year they pick five artists from that RHA exhibition, and every second year they have a smaller exhibition with the ones shortlisted for that prize!

So I’ll have two paintings for next February.

Bringing it back to Dublin Canvas.

Why do you do it? What do you get from it?

I: We get experience, exposure to the

community, we learn how to do a mural…

A: It’s also just fun! We wouldn’t be painting together without it. It’s good to have an informal enough thing to stay on the grind.

Lastly, would you consider yourself to be more of a fisherman or a cowboy?

A: Cowboy.

I: Fisherman.

Why? A: If it were an old-timey guy with a bucket hat and a yellow raincoat, then maybe. But a modern-day fisherman?

I don’t think so. I feel like a cowboy. I have a cowboy hat!

And you (Isobel)?

I: Cowboys are very adventurous. They are moving around and hurting cows!

But fishermen stay in one place; they sit down and focus on one thing for many hours. That’s more me.

A: Maybe that’s why we’re such a good duo. One of us is a cowboy and the other a fisherman. Yin and yang!

The Mahon sisters advise others to contribute to Dublin Canvas: A: “If anyone is interested, submissions are throughout April and May. It’s free to apply. All you need is an idea and a dream.”

Would you like to do this in a different city?

I: I wouldn’t be against it. I don’t have any immediate plans to move, but I suppose it’s easier to make art relevant to the areas that you know…

What do you think a 7 year old would think of your work?

A: Kids love it. Kids always come up to us when we’re painting. [Whilst making] the Alice in Wonderland one [2021] there were children that walked past us and liked it a lot! It really does help to brighten up the area…

I: We always have people stop by to 18th September 2023

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Diversity Pays Buster Whaley

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“I am really proud that Trinity is regarded as one of the world’s most international universities. Our international character is one of our greatest strengths… At a time when some are promoting a retreat into isolationism, it is important to speak about, and celebrate, the huge benefits of international collaboration and dialogue.”

- Linda Doyle

I

n February of 2023, Trinity College Dublin was placed at a respectable 16th on a list of the “most international universities” in the world. When asked for comment, Provost Linda Doyle provided the above quote (among others) describing the ‘huge benefits’ of having international students and faculty.

Upon reading this information, I was left with one question: what are these huge benefits?

Despite having spent two years at TCD as an international student, I was not aware there were any huge benefits to be reaped from my enrolment. If anything, I’d long since concluded that my presence was a detriment, providing little beyond mere entertainment value for the benefit of my more intelligent peers. Where others were well-prepared for the various academic obstacles that lay ahead, my time in the American public school system had taught me about things like Ronald Reagan, and how to write my name on a piece of paper. In my first year, whenever I was called on to speak in a tutorial, the only points I could make were about trickle-down economics or the necessity of tearing down the Berlin Wall (much to the amusement of all who attended History of Western Philosophy I). As a result of this, my early conclusion was this: the only ‘benefit’ of having an American in the room is simply that it’s an easy way to make everyone feel better about themselves. Or, perhaps, as mascots to advertise the merits of neoliberal capitalism – but I digress.

I would be delusional, of course, to think that I had personally been selected by TCD for the sole purpose of mockery (or propaganda). The world doesn’t work that way. In any case, I had failed to consider the obvious: higher tuition fees!

For the upcoming academic year, the average EU resident (including residents of the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland) can expect to pay anywhere

from €5,000-9,000 in tuition. For everyone else, these figures are more than doubled: the minimum, with few exceptions, is €20,000, though for some courses this number jumps to €27,000 (or higher). This begs the question: why is there such a gap in fees? What purpose does this serve?

The Times Higher Education statistics touted by the Provost assert that there are 17,764 students at TCD, and 28% of them are international students.

Using imprecise mathematics, we can say that there are around 5,000 international students (give or take 26.08).

Assuming the average international student pays around €22,000 in tuition fees, further calculations will give us a total sum of €110,000,000 collected in fees from international students. Assuming that non-international students (of which there are around 12,790) pay an average of €7,000, we find a sum of €89,530,000.

One might assume at first that the extra money is used to accommodate the international student, in order to help them find their footing in a foreign city; this is not the case. Talk to any student who hails from outside Dublin, and you are bound to hear tales of housing-related struggle – tales in which the TCD Accommodation Offices are often notably absent. When the College does get involved with matters of housing, it is usually for the yearly raising of the rent, with annual increases of 2% over the last few years. If TCD-owned accommodation is no longer available, the College will happily point you in the direction of privately-owned alternatives, which have risen both in prominence and in price across the city.

I have often thought that it would be very interesting to see an itemised list containing all of the expenditures paid for by the college with my twenty grand. Of course, one would expect (quite reasonably) that much of the funds are allocated towards things like teacher salaries and building maintenance; however, the imagination pro-

duces far wilder scenes, of champagne and caviar, diamond chandeliers and fur coats…

Though I doubt I will ever see such a report, I can say with relative certainty that no money was spent to help me (or any of my peers, really) with housing-related woes.

But only the cynic would contend that higher tuition fees are the only benefit to having international students around. Over time, I’ve come to terms with my tuition fees (and more importantly, so have my parents). No matter how bad the circumstances are in Dublin, I consider myself lucky to have escaped the bottomless money-pit that is higher education in the USA, where lifelong-debt is incurred for the sake of dreams that can never be realised, and the best and brightest are forgotten in favour of those who have the most.

There must be some benefit to having large quantities of non-Irish students enrolled at TCD, besides an extra digit on the tuition check. Being the product of a globalised society myself, I decided to rack my brains, searching for how exactly myself and my imported peers benefit the life and culture of TCD. As my brains were being racked, I thought about why I’d come to TCD in the first place, and what might drive other students from around the world to do the same (ignoring, for the moment, Sally Rooney’s bestseller). Most would agree that the purpose of higher education is to continue learning beyond the minimum requirements of state-enforced schooling. There are many motivators for attending university: the chance to explore a subject of interest, preparation for a career, or even just personal growth (for philosophy students it is often none of these things, but that’s beside the point). The point, I suppose, is that university students are driven by a variety of motivators, but the common thread that unites us all is learning - about the world, about each other, about ourselves - and the scope of such pursuits is by no means limited

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to the classroom or lecture hall. Learning occurs on all levels of university life, and I would argue that having an international student body is a great help in facilitating this important process.

The benefits of an international university, then, extend across all areas of academic and social life: international students and faculty alike offer unique insights, perspectives, and opportunities, all of which are often rarely found within more homogenous student bodies. What, you might ask, is so great about unique insights, perspectives, or opportunities? Sure, it might sound good in the abstract, but is this really the ‘huge benefit’ touted by the Provost?

The answer: a resounding Yes! (“besides the tuition fees,” grumbles the cynic, painstakingly inscribing the last ‘zero’ on their check). It is no secret that Ireland, like many other parts of the world, is plagued by elements of xenophobia and intolerance. According to a recent study from the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS), twothirds of all international students in Ireland have experienced or witnessed racism. It goes without saying that this is not a statistic to be proud of. Given the historical context, this is understandable; Ireland, until the end of the last century, was one of the most ethnically homogenous nations in Europe.

The last three decades, by contrast, have seen unprecedented growth in diversity. Though the current situation is less than optimal, there is hope: as the population of Ireland increases in diversity, so too does the prominence of the aforementioned insights, perspectives, and opportunities - and the potential for a more tolerant society.

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Research shows that it is indeed possible for people to grow more tolerant through mere exposure to different types of people. In one study (White, Wieneke, & Zebrowitz, 2008), white participants were exposed to the faces of strangers of different ethnicities.

The experiment found that upon seeing new strangers of those same ethnicities, the white participants responded more positively than before. Another study, however, demonstrates the opposite: white people who interact only with other white people are more prejudiced towards different groups (Smith, Dijksterhuis, & Chaiken, 2007). Biases (of both the implicit and explicit variety) are both well-documented and heavily researched phenomena, and it seems clear that an easy way to dispel such biases is through exposure to many types of people. Fortunately, there are few places better for meeting different types of people than on the campus of a university.

Of course, the student body of TCD is by no means representative of the population of the entire country, but similar trends in other universities – UCD, for example – can be interpreted as signs of a nation heading towards a more tolerant and inclusive future. Students of these universities, who have had the infinitely valuable experience of learning in such a unique environment, will one day graduate, bringing with them the propensity for open-mindedness. By opening the doors to a wider range of students, from diverse and international backgrounds, we open simultaneously the doors to a more peaceful and tolerant society.

The ‘huge benefits’ to be reaped from international students (and faculty) are open to interpretation. As always, there’s the matter of finances, and whether or not you choose to dwell on this is up to you; however, it seems clear that in a world of hostility– where “...some are promoting a retreat into isolationism,” to quote the Provost once again– an international campus can only be regarded as a point of pride. And while it’s nice to be ranked high on a list, TCD has more to be proud of than mere statistics; the College is at the forefront of a positive global trend, one which has the potential to help change the world for the better.

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Re-Freshing

Stephen Conneely and Luca McVey

Being a Fresher Again - How Erasmus Allows Us to Repeat Our Mistakes Stephen Conneely

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student’s third year at university is an odd one - we’ve survived the first year, overcome the hump of the second, and now our sights are beginning to set on the horizon of graduation. We now know what modules play to our strengths, which Society balls we enjoy attending, and who our closest ‘college friends’ are. For many Junior Sophisters, their third year is relatively settled, and may serve as not much more than a preparatory course for their final year.

However, adding the factor of Erasmus presents a unique situation with which some students may grapple. Simultaneously a reset and a setback, a semester or a year abroad bursts with unknown opportunities for developments of all kinds, yet the anxiety of our ‘real life’ back at Trinity looms ever so slightly.

Some may find themselves at a crossroads between the immediate future and the paths that they have already chosen before. The Erasmus experience mirrors the Fresher’s experience in a multitude of ways: the social, the academic, and the personal aspects of life. The parallels vary from embarking on a foreign (literally and figuratively) educational system, to beginning to self-actualise towards adulthood and increased independence. However, above all, it is the impact on our relationships with others that the Fresher and Erasmus experiences have in common.

Arguably the issue most on the minds of incoming Freshers and outgoing Erasmus students is their newfound social reality. There is, no doubt, an emotional torment for first years due to the parallel processes of making new friends in college while losing old ones from school. The instant change of space that Erasmus also insists upon provides ample opportunity for this

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bitter-sweet phenomenon to run its course. This can lead to guilt, frustration, anger or sadness. No matter how much one tries to correct these feelings, they may prove to be inevitable.

Guilt is what really marries the Fresher and Erasmus students throughout their journeys, and exploits them in a new environment. To privately mourn a former friendship group while lavishing in a new one is an inevitable event, yet nonetheless inexplicably painful.

We can only go out so much to take our minds off the pain before the feeling truly establishes itself. However, there exists a broader guilt that is less readily addressed. While of course it is awkward or painful to drift from a friend, when this division is caused by a

socio-economic difference, it becomes even more difficult to navigate.

Attending university is often the first apparition of Ireland’s socio-economic divide that young people actively and consciously experience. This can be further compounded by the added barrier of needing to move to Dublin, in addition to Trinity’s perception of inflated privilege. Therefore, drifting from one’s former friends can have the air of something much more depressing or sinister.

The neat division of Junior Sophister students between ‘those who went’ and ‘those who stayed’ is an extension of this phenomenon, albeit with an even more pressing reality - it can act as a preview for our lives after graduation.

Who will be able to move abroad for an improved quality of life? Who can currently afford to not work for a semester or two? Who has the social connections to make these processes easier?

The similar situations in which both Freshers and Erasmus students find themselves are understated, but nevertheless pressing. Sure, we all experience change at the start of a new term, we all may struggle to keep up with module specifications, and we all make and drift from friends. Yet, the Junior Fresh and Junior Soph on Erasmus, despite the differences of age and experiences, maintain a vaguely-defined, non-symbiotic relationship rooted in the shared experience of entering into an unknown environment.

For Erasmus students going from Trinity to another European university, this curious comradeship deepens when we look inwards, allowing the Junior Fresh we once were to inform our decisions today, and guide us onwards towards the fourth-year finish line. Despite this acquired knowledge, we are bound to repeat our mistakes in a cyclical fashion, and having awareness of this problem’s existence clearly is not enough to prevent it.

Freshers Brain Revisited Luca McVey

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receding the metamorphosis from third-year student to inundated, overwhelmed fresher when my Erasmus term officially commences, I have twice already been compelled to reassume my Fresher status – firstly, as a fresher to French culture, and secondly, to the French housing market.

As a prospective Parisian, I have made a conscious effort to immerse myself in French culture. Although largely rudimentary and undertaken in a foolhardy attempt to appear as a native Parisian upon arrival, the process has genuinely aided in lessening my fears of experiencing both a debilitating culture shock, and confidence-eroding imposter syndrome – two intrinsic features of “freshers’ brain” (a self-diagnosis).

The vast hand of French artistic culture has enveloped me. I gorge on the works of Françoise Sagan and Philippe Besson. I devour French cinema, including 120BPM, Amélie and The Green Ray. Yet, as futile and insignificant as these endeavours may appear to be, they have proved reassuring and therapeutic. They have made the transition to an entirely new country superficially less daunting, as well as quieting my anxiety that I am wholly underprepared to begin my Erasmus year.

Having barely survived the initiation into the Dublin housing market last year, this summer I became a fresher to the - dare I say - even more challenging beast that is the Paris housing market.

This has proven to be an extremely frustrating and isolating experience - one that has regrettably stained my entire summer. Engaging with these faceless French landlords took many forms. The process began by watching Trinity’s very own Moya Mawhinney’s YouTube videos, and subsequently downloading the housing apps she recommended, such as SeLoger, Jinka, and PAP. Clearly, her word is law in my eyes. Due to my distinct lack of Parisian connections or relatives, I knew the chances of securing a guarantor were null and void.

I faced a significant disadvantage as any flats I viewed required the support of one or the other almost instantaneously. Instead, I registered with the website Garantme, an agency that acts as a virtual guarantor for a fee, in place of your French second-cousin. This was achieved with relative ease, providing a much-needed respite from the increasingly disheartening search for accommodation.

Over the past three months, I have applied to an unquantifiable number of apartments, ranging from Polly Pocket-sized studios to windowless sofa-bed cells in other people’s apartments. The cost for any vaguely central flat was exorbitant, and merely intensified my fears of an isolating Erasmus year: far removed from both the University and the cultural hub of the capital.

SeLoger, one of the most recommended French housing tools, was concurrently one of the most vexatious. In my experience, only a small proportion of the listed flats were owned by officially recognized agencies, whilst the majority I desperately stumbled across were listed by private owners, anonymous behind a faceless icon and humanised only by a first name. This was extremely

unsettling, a booster injection of the helplessness and confusion that already dominate the mind of an Erasmus fresher.

Furthermore, given that most flats required two months’ rent upfront as a security deposit, the innate obtuseness of who would receive this money, and the underlying fear of naively entering into a scam, heightened my fatalistic feelings.

All my efforts culminated in the bearing of blighted fruit, namely a tremendously modest three replies from innominate private landlords.

My casting as a naïve fresher to the housing market was further emphasised by the impossibility and infeasibility of viewing these apartments in person, unless I wanted to become close personal friends with Belfast International Airport. As is a well-established precedent, unless you are physically able to visit the apartment and secure a face-to-face appointment with the landlord, a position on the bottom of the rental pyramid is all but guaranteed. The odds are stacked against students from the offset in the housing market, and for study abroad students, the conditions are even more inhospitable.

Ultimately the powers that be namely, AirBnB - have provided a temporary sanctuary from the SeLoger behemoth. Having a flat secured until Christmas ensures that I have a safe, grounding base in the centre of the city, enabling me to ease those fresher feelings of loneliness and anxiety, whilst also hopefully ameliorating the task of securing a more permanent living space.

Arguably I would not have wanted my pre-Fresher Freshers’ experience to be any different, albeit with slightly easier housing solutions. These challenges are simply an inevitable part of the Erasmus experience, and although they have proven frustrating and restrictive, once I arrive in Paris and regress into an awestruck fresher again in a city open for exploration, they will be pushed into my mind’s recesses and left to gather dust.

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Five-a-Side Kicks Off Tom Comer

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nter campus at 9am and listen closely. Shuffling feet, Lavazza machine running out of cups at an alarming rate, American-accented echoes. Listen closer. There’ll be shouting, perhaps hollering, possibly even roaring. Every morning, as you half-heartedly attend your lecture, there are people playing in what I believe to be the greatest thing on campus.

Botany Bay is the only place on campus, probably this island, perhaps the world, where you can watch a philosophy student from County Meath get manhandled by a Theoretical Physics student, witness an engineer exhausted (not due to academics) and be impressed by a BESS student (not due to academics). Every week 56 teams, nearly 600 players, hash it out on the hallowed, slippy grounds behind the GMB. To put the numbers in perspective, that’s twice as big as one year of BESS, six times as big as one year of Law, and 50 times the attendance at a Hist debate.

The matches run from 9am-12pm, then 1pm-5pm every day, and only one pitch is used. There is rarely a gap in play and every match is hotly contested. Some of the teams take it very seriously, others less so. There are divisions for all levels and all commitments, but to make it to the top takes a grit and determination to miss lectures, graze knees, and try just that little bit too hard.

I spoke to one team which made waves both on, and off the field last year. I had the displeasure of playing against this team myself and can attest that their powers - expanded, the angles of their passes - calculated, and overall their ability - proven. The Mathletes won last year’s “Europa League”, the second tier trophy for Trinity five-aside (that’s like getting 613 for all the nerds) and were active on social media throughout the campaign (@mathletesFC).

To give an insight into the incredible heights some of the players go to, I asked the Mathletes what a match day looks like at the top. “If it’s an early kick off or if it’s a late kick off the day starts off with Murdy buying a 4 pack of Carly at 11am from Tesco with John’s ID.

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Misc. would like to acknowledge the passing of Jack O’Grady, a much-loved member of the five a-side community in Trinity and the college community at large.

He will be dearly missed.

A pre-match Booj is a must and generally occurs an hour before kick off regardless of what’s on our timetable.”

Some may question how effective this is in promoting footballing excellence.

However, the accolades speak for themselves, when it works - it works.

They reflected on a glorious season, speaking fondly of one particular occasion. “A team (the Mathletes kindly omitted the name) made us play an extra 20 minutes because we started the game late and they ended up losing by about 20 goals. We’re not English students (thankfully) but we’d call that poetic justice.”

When we moved on to discussing the upcoming season, it became evident that this was a team that hadn’t dropped the ball in the downtime - however, they were keen to shroud their intense training regime: “Been to the Pav a couple of times, probably four times? I’d say we are well prepped.”

I am informed that the Pav is not code for running, conditioning or training of any sort - I remain sceptical. Although the Mathletes remain cool about their own approach to the beautiful game, they enthusiastically encourage participation in the league. They included a message directly to anyone on the edge of making a team: “Make it. There’s nothing like it. The organisation is top tier. Guaranteed to be the highlight of your week. Finally, if you don’t you’ll be missing out on the epic highs and lows of five-a-side football.”

Inspiring, original words from your current Europa League champions.

Some societies enter teams, VDP in particular being known for their spirited attendance in Botany Bay. Their brand of light-hearted, contractual fun extends to their five-a-side team. VDP has even printed out jerseys. I spoke to their (perhaps self-selected) captain to pick his brains about the inside scoop on VDP five-a-side. Mark Mcgrane (“Make sure you put .sch in there, Comer”) said: “It was a great way for our members to get together and has also been key in bringing in new volunteers to the society.” No love is lost between some teams, Mark going on to add: “An unbeaten record against the limp-wristed, pallid Victorian boys in

GMBallers was also a treat.” The GMBallers being the team representing the footballing talents of Trinity’s debating contingent - as successful as you can imagine.

A big difficulty that comes with captaincy is administering substitutes.

When 15 people show up to play an hour long game of five-a-side, democracy comes at the cost of quality.

However, Mark emphasised that it is important to get fresh legs on the field as much as possible, stating: “Sometimes its like trying to organise fucking Dunkirk anytime you’ve got a subs bench of more than three, but its worth the headache.”

One person deserves the credit and glory for the organisation of the competition: Michael Cooke. A fourth year engineering student, he took the initiative to reach out to Trinity Sport in his second year and volunteered to help organise. Michael sorted all the fixtures, rescheduling, he runs their Instagram account, writes the theme tune, plays the theme tune and sings the theme tune. He even partakes in the competition himself, with the Pretengineers.

Michael noticed a distinct lack of five-a-side when things began to open up post-COVID, and has worked with Trinity Sport ever since. In its first term, there were around 25 teams involved. Now there are more than double that. A real unsung hero, Michael’s work over the past years has meant that hundreds of students have gotten together and enjoyed themselves. He said Trinity Sport has provided him with support throughout the years and mentioned that they were enthusiastic in getting the competition off the ground, but he also stressed that it is difficult to organise by yourself.

I asked Michael what the best thing

about organising the competition was, and how he kept going each week doing all the background work that often went unappreciated. His response really put a smile on my face. “Knowing that basically every hour, every weekday, there are people on Botany Bay playing football enjoying themselves gives me a real lift.” Anyone who enjoys the league has Michael to thank, and he encouraged everyone to get involved, saying that entering the competition is a “no brainer”, and that there is room for all levels with a real sense of community between those who play.

The competition has grown each semester, and shows no sign of stopping.

Registration will take place on the 18th of September, so if you’re thinking about entering a team - gather the troops now.

A Misc. exclusive reveals that the goals have been replaced for the upcoming season, prompting wide exaltation from all those involved in previous terms. All information about the upcoming registration process will be advertised on their Instagram @TCD_fiveaside.

Here’s the thing. We are more than guilty of playing dress up at this college.

Throw on your tuxedo or ball gown, attend some fancy hotel and pretend to relax all evening. There’s an undeniable delight in attending these all too formal events. Some of my most enjoyable evenings in Trinity have been attending some random ball, then acting like someone dressed like a diplomat shouldn’t. I thoroughly love these evenings, but they’re often a bit much. The posing, pontificating and pretending to be fully at ease in black tie can be tiring.

Five-a-side is the complete opposite of this; the unseen shiny side of this coin. At fancy events we scam our way out of formality; five-a-side revels in stupidity. Any intensity brought to this league simply increases the ridiculousness. It’s like a schoolyard again, except you’re now playing against a PhD student. It’s relaxing, a literal breath of fresh air - indulge. Take it as seriously as you want, it only makes it sillier. A complete inversion of the usual social contract in this college. Instead of acting the maggot in a tuxedo; take yourself seriously having a kick about.

This competition makes a lot of people very happy. It brings people together. An easy reprise from academia, an escape from pretence, some quality exercise. Bar none, above all, Trinity fivea-side is the greatest thing on campus.

TodayLastCentury Welcome to the History section of Misc. Magazine. This year, we will be publishing a wide range of articles pertaining to the history of the College, Misc. Magazine itself (which has been continuously in print since 1895) and wider Irish society as a whole. We welcome all contributions from our readers. As the Editor of the magazine wryly wrote in 1920: “As far as Misc. is concerned, contributors are born and not paid.” Some things never change!

We welcome all types of articles, long or short, and are excited to see what our contributors come up with.

Vol. XXIX, No. 510, Wednesday June 13, 1923

Being in the year 2023, as we are, we look back on a nation that has “changed utterly”. College life a century ago was, in many ways, unrecognisable to us now and yet there are still many aspects of it that have remained much the same. If the yellowed pages of Misc. are to be believed, students were just as inebriated, heartbroken and feckless as they are now, even if college was a deeply exclusive and discriminate place.

In order to showcase the fascinating ways in which college has transformed over the last century, this term we will be running a ‘Today Last Century’ feature on our social media. The purpose of this feature will be to post, weekly, a picture of a century-old article (or any item of interest) from the Misc.

Magazine archive. Misc used to be published weekly, but as they only began to publish in November of 1923, we will be showcasing summertime articles until we get into sync with the old schedule. There is plenty to interest: quaint advertisements, poetry and prose, campus news and a constant supply of letters to the Editor.

All of them offer a unique glimpse into college life as it was then.

Trinity’s history is long and complex, but at its core has always been its students. It is the voices of these students from a century ago that ‘Today Last Century’ will bring again to life.

As an anonymous student wrote in Misc. a hundred years ago:

I wonder if we’ll ever find our way To the hidden valleys of yesterday, And low in the green wood tangle lie So that wrinkled Time as he shuffles by Will not notice us in our safe retreat, But go hobbling past on his bony feet.

And we shall steal an hour or two Not marked on the days that are our due.

An hour or two, in which to lie Where the branches chequer the summer sky.

Where the world is far, and all things seem, But the little songs of a hidden stream.

Oh, I wonder if ever we’ll find our way To the long-lost valleys of yesterday.

- Jonathan Kelly, History Editor

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