Pictured at the Lionra event to promote job creation in the BMW region are left to right: Garrett Duffy, Enterprise Development Manager, Regional Development Centre, Mary Adsley: Programme Director, Líonra, Deirdre McCormack, Marketing Director, Mcor Technologies, Denis Cummins, President of Dundalk Institute of Technology and Convenor of Líonra Sean McEntee, Incubation Centre Manager, Regional Development Centre, DKIT Sporting success senior Hurling TEAM REACH ALL IRELAND semi Finals Pages 9 &10 The KMX Beer Goggle Challenge It isn’t every day that you walk around the Civic Square and see students riding KMX bicycles around cones. Well on Monday 1st you could. Fit4Life, a relatively new society at DkIT, organised a ‘Beer Goggle Challenge’ to raise awareness about drink driving, and alcohol abuse, to coincide with Alcohol Awareness Day, which fell on March1ST. Students who came to the display were instructed to put on a pair of beer goggles and ride a KMX bike around an obstacle course of cones. The point of the exercise was to show the students how skewed their spatial awareness can be when intoxicated. One student commented ‘The goggles make everything look like it is further and that’s why I kept hitting cones.’ Well, replace those knocked down cones with people and everyone could get a fair idea of why drink driving is so dangerous. 279 people died last year in road accidents, which is a decrease on previous years, but still an excessive amount. Factors like drinking and driving and not wearing a seat belt contributed to those deaths. Rose Byrne, Heath Promotion Coordinator with the HSE, also visited the campus and set up a Simulation Bar, in order to show people that they could possibly be seriously over-estimating how much alcohol constitutes ‘one drink’ She instructed onlookers to fill a regular glass with what they thought was one shot of vodka, or one glass of wine, Then, after they did so, she would pour the liquid into a measuring cup and tell them how much they actually poured. By over estimating the amount of alcohol for ‘one drink’, people end up with a warped perception of how much alcohol they’ve consumed. Broken glass and bent metal certainly made for a startling display! An Garda Síochana also came to DkIT and with them they brought two cars, both a little worse for wear. These cars had been battered in order to simulate the damage inflicted on cars during a collision, and to show people what a crash scene looks like. It was certainly a poignant image, two cars distorted by the collision and broken shards of the windows piled up on the cushioned car seats. With many people both learning more about alcohol and having fun while doing it, it is safe to say that the Fit4Life Alcohol Awareness Day was successful. Eva Short Rose Byrne, Health Promotion Co-ordinator for the HSE at the DkIT Fit for Life Alcohol Awareness event Getting ready for the photocall. DkIT Caretakers, past and present, pictured with DkIT President Denis Cummins at a retirement function in the Lisdoo Arms on Friday (February 26th) to celebrate the combined service of some 70 years of Fra Clarke, PJ McEneaney and Patsy Mulholland. Evita Evita is inspired by the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, acting career, rise to power, charity work, feminist involvement and eventual death. DkIT Department of Music & Creative Media will stage Evita from March 10th-12th starting at 7pm nightly in the New Black Box Theatre by special licence from The Really Useful Group Ltd. The role of Eva Peron is being taken by final year student Níamh Kerr, of Rostrevor, County Down. Níamh has played significant roles in other DkIT productions including that of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and Dreolín in An Iarlais. The young Evita will be portrayed by second year student Dearbhail Downey from Dublin. The role of Peron is being taken by year 3 mature student Luke Bermingham, who has played substantial roles in The Mikado, Oklahoma, Finian‟s Rainbow and The White Horse Inn. The exciting role of Ché, loosely modelled on the great Cuban revolutionary, Ché Guevara, has been divided between three third year students, Dubliner John Boylan, Mayo tenor David Lynn, and Wicklow man, Ruairí Quinn. Fionán Stapleton, from Roscrea in Tipperary will play the nightclub singer Magaldi, while Hannah Casey from Drogheda will portray Peron‟s young mistress. The accompanying rock band is made up of first year students, Mayomen Daniel Egan and Mike McNicholas with Kevin Cumiskey, (guitar) Kevin O‟Brien (bass) David Flood (percussion) and Richard O‟Neill (drums) and second years David Gallagher (accordion) and Chris Kelly (timpani). The boys are also playing dramatic roles on stage. Mary McCague and Siubhán Ó Dubháin, the production team which breathed new life into The Gondoliers are responsible for staging Evita from March 10th-12th. In addition to the cast of fifty students, the new DkIT Children‟s Choir, will perform for the first time. Originally directed by Harold Prince, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, this amateur production at DkIT is by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd. As such, it cannot be advertised externally, so the support of the DkIT community will be very much appreciated. Seats may be booked by contacting Ann Coffey in DkIT Music Dept at 04293 54505 or [email protected] Left to right: Sam Kagwisagye, Michael Lubwama, Firminus Mugumya, Rosemary Nalwanga, Richard Asaba Bagonza, Mavuto Denis Tembo, Joyce Magala Mpalanyi In January 2010, we welcomed 8 PhD researchers to DkIT on the Irish Aid/HEA funded project „Water Is Life: Amazzi Bulamu‟. The project is funded under the Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes 2007-2011. Dundalk Institute of Technology is leading this project in partnership with Higher Education Institutes and non-governmental organisations in Ireland and Uganda. The overall aim of the programme is to increase the capacity of institutions in developing countries to make an effective contribution to poverty reduction. The eight researchers – 7 Ugandan and 1 Malawian, are currently based in Dundalk Institute of Technology for a period of 8 weeks where they are undertaking a Certificate in Water Resource Management. Over the course of the 3-year programme, each student will spend between 12-18 months in Uganda. For more information please see our website: http://www.dkit.ie/waterislife BURMA VJ FILM SCREENING AT DKIT A powerfully visceral docu-drama highlighting the evils of censorship and the essential need for freedom of speech. Don't miss this opportunity to see the incredible documentary WHAT IS THE FILM ABOUT? Armed with pocket-sized video cameras, a tenacious band of Burmese reporters face down death to expose the repressive regime controlling their country. In 2007, after decades of self-imposed silence, Burma became headline news across the globe when peaceful Buddhist monks led a massive rebellion. More than 100,000 people took to the streets protesting a cruel dictatorship that has held the country hostage for more than 40 years. Foreign news crews were banned, the Internet was shut down, and Burma was closed to the outside world. So how did we witness these events? Enter the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), aka the Burma VJs. Compiled from the shaky handheld footage of the DVB, acclaimed filmmaker Anders Ostergaard‟s Burma VJ pulls us into the heat of the moment as the VJs themselves become the target of the Burmese government. Their tactical leader, code-named Joshua, oversees operations from a safe hiding place in Thailand. Via clandestine phone calls, Joshua dispenses his posse of video warriors, who covertly film the abuses in their country, then smuggle their footage across the border into Thailand. Joshua ships the footage to Norway, where it is broadcast back to Burma and the world via satellite. Burma VJ plays like a thriller, all the more scary because it is true. WHERE CAN YOU SEE IT? The film will be shown in the Whitaker theatre at 3pm on Wednesday the 10th of March at DkIT. The screening will be supported by Burma Action Ireland and Mary Montaut, Coordinator of BAI will open the film with a talk about human rights issues and the conflict in Burma. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and see this amazing film for themselves. TableTable quizquiz The quiz was organised by Jonny McGailey and The DkiT Soccer Team to raise money for Clubs and Societies at DkIT. Over 25 teams took part and on the night and Johnny McGailey mc'd the event. Up for grabs for the winning team were four tickets to the day of the rag week wedding. There was also a raffle prizes on offer on the night, and with rag week in mind, there were a few alcoholic beverages to be won. In the end, the winning team ''Multiple Scorgasms'' defeated the ''Four Horsemen'' who came in 2nd place. The winning team members where Ciaran McKenna, Shane Murphy, Ciaran Lawless and David McGuill. All in all, a great night was had be all, and maybe this could be a monthly social event! Great night up in the college bar and thanks to everyone who came out and supported the event. Huge thanks to the bar staff and to the students un- ion for providing the winning prize of four tickets to the rag week wedding. “All of Us” Celebration inin DkITDkIT on 16th March DkIT is hosting the inaugural “All of Us” event on 16th March.