Byline Editorial #4

I write this at noon on a Friday, just after an exam which will be my last of this semester; all I have left to face is approximately 20,000 words worth of assignments and an in-class presentation – breezy (I’m kidding, of course, but I dislike exams more than I do assignments because of my inability to perform well under time-pressure, so I must admit I am relieved). I’ll enjoy the relief for the weekend; it being Jazz Weekend, I intend to make the very best of it. As a passionate lover of music, I’m very excited about finally, for the first time, getting to experience Jazz Weekend in Cork. You’ll be reading this after the fact, I realise, so I’ll hold back my Jazz discussion for the next issue. (Spoiler).Over the past few weeks, University Express has been carrying out some very important research, which we reveal the results of in this issue. The aim of the research was to find out to what extent racism is an issue on campus; if people of various ethnicities experience racism first-hand or are witness to it, and also if students of UCC feel that racial issues, when they do arise, are well dealt with by the college. Ciaran Dineen, News Editor, reveals the findings of the Racism Survey, while Fergal Smiddy, Features Editor, delves into a deeper discussion on what the findings mean and tell us about racism, how prevalent it is and our approach to it, in UCC.Although the response was relatively low (137 of 20,000 students), we believe that the research was successful in highlighting some of the issues that do arise in UCC, as well as opening up a discussion on racism. This discussion is important because racism still exists. Seems like an obvious statement, but we don’t talk about it as much as we do other social issues, which isn’t good enough.In other news, tomorrow is Halloween. I was always fascinated by the way dressing up for Halloween, although becoming incredibly un-cool between the ages of about 10 and 18, spikes in popularity in college. You feel un-cool, or rather like you’re trying (and failing) to be cool, when you go out in normal going-out clothes on Halloween night. Every year I am impressed by the cleverness of some students, and the clear effort they put into their costumes. Because of a lack of organisation or want to put in the effort (I confess my motivation for dressing up when going out on a normal night is low, not to mind on Halloween night), I always take the lazy route. One year I attempted Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction) and ended up looking like a drunken secretary who had come straight from work and had left her suit jacket in the pub she was in before the club. And that was the year I made an effort. I’ve promised myself I’m going to try this year. I will let you all know how it goes. Until next time. Yours,Ciara D.