CIT Students’ Union Magazine Volume Nine - Issue Two Freshers Week Latest CIT Photos News Top Ten Competitions Horror Movies & Great Prizes expliCIT editorial CIT Students’ Union Rossa Ave, Bishopstown Cork, Ireland. Telephone: 021 493 3120 Fax: 021 454 5343 Email: [email protected] expliCIT Staff Editor - John Lane Design & Advertising - Philip O’Reilly Contributions John Lane Glynis Dennehy Séan F O’Leary Caitríona Foley Mick O’Mahony Philip O’Reilly Dan Collins John Grant CIT Arts Office CIT Societies CIT Students’ Union President - Brian O’Sullivan ([email protected]) Vice President Education - John Grant ([email protected]) Vice President Welfare - Caitríona Foley ([email protected]) Entertainments Officer - Eoin McInerney ([email protected]) Projects Officer - Gearóid Buckley ([email protected]) Hi All! Communications Officer - John Lane ([email protected]) It’s great to see that Freshers Week was a complete rip-roaring success. I’d like to thank everybody for coming along to the events and all the organisers who put in so much effort over the past few months. Print The day time shows had the highest levels of attendance ever and the parties by night were a complete Barnaville Print & Graphics LTD hit. Freshford, Kilkenny. Now to move on. No longer have we excuses to miss classes, and if anybody is in the same position as Advertising Opportunities me, there is already a lot of catching up to be done two weeks on. It’s fantastic! CIT has almost 17,000 full and part-time students with over 1,500 supporting staff. Why not use expliCIT to This issue is full of exciting articles on many subjects, but concentrating especially on Welfare Week. This promote your business to this large audience? is a very rare chance to see what support facilities are available around Cork and Ireland and that unfor- Copy deadlines, advertising rates and technical specifi- tunately people don’t seek out until they are in trouble. Our good friends at The Revenue cations are available from our website www.expliCIT.ie Commissioners will also be on campus, so go along to their stand if you want to ask about avoiding tax or upon request from the Publications Office. and screwing the Government, but please don’t ask in these blunt terms! expliCIT magazine is published monthly by CIT We should, and hopefully do, all have class reps elected at this stage. Make sure that they organise a Students’ Union. The views expressed in the magazine few class parties over the coming weeks so as to allow all the classes to bond, even though I’m sure are those of their authors and are not necessarily those you all have already. Don’t be afraid to give suggestions, and remember that you can always do more of CIT Students’ Union. All articles and pictures are the than just going to the pub for parties. property of their respective owners and should not be reproduced without their permission. Can I also ask that any issues that arise over the following months be reported to either the Students’ Union or myself at [email protected]. We are setting up a panel of people to help out with expliCIT, either writing articles, taking photos, or just helping out in general. I will be delighted to meet anybody interested so send me an e-mail or just stop me in the corridors. We Need You! Well, I hope that you all enjoy the magazine, the next month, and life in general. If you would like to contribute to expliCIT please contact Philip in the Publications Office, 1st Floor, Wishing you all the best, Student Centre or email: [email protected] John CIT Students Crowned ‘College Entrepreneurs of the Year 2007’ ’APRI-COT’ Scoops ?15,000 Top Prize at The 2007 Student Enterprise Awards, Ireland’s Biggest Student Awards! Sponsors Enterprise Ireland, Ulster Bank and Invest NI were delighted to Ruth became well known following her 2006 appearance on The Apprentice, announce that students from Cork Institute of Technology have been awarded narrowly missing out on the chance to work with Sir Alan Sugar to fellow con- the prestigious top prize at the 2007 Student Enterprise Awards, Ireland’s testant Michelle Dewberry. Since the show, Ruth has gone on to establish her biggest third level business awards, at a ceremony in The Royal Collage of own firm, Ruth Badger Consultancy, as well as starring in the Sky One Show Physicians, Kildare St, as well as the Cruickshank Technology Innovation Award. The Big Idea, and currently her own show Badger or Bust where she attempts to turn some of Britain’s most struggling sales teams into high performing busi- Students John J Barry, Orla Houlihan, Niamh Brady and Regina O’Donoghue of nesses. team Apri-COT from Cork Institute of Technology beat off stiff competition from hundreds of third level students across Ireland with their business proposal. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ruth said: “It has been extremely encourag- Apri-COT is an apparatus that acts as a therapeutic sleeping aid for infants, and ing to see students taking part in an enterprise-focused competition such as scooped the coveted ?10,000 top prize and title of ‘College Entrepreneurs of this. The quality of the business proposals has been exceptionally high and a The Year’, and the ?5,000 Cruickshank Technology Innovation Award. positive reflection on innovation and entrepreneurialism in Ireland. I can safe- ly say that this year’s finalists presented the judges with a very difficult decision” An Award of Merit was earned by Padraig O’Shea, Josh Walsh, Tadhg Lynne, Dermot Deane, Helena Fleming of Cork Institute of Technology, the team of Mr. Brendan Flood, Manager, Regions & Entrepreneurship, Enterprise Ireland Ulnar Ltd. UlnarPal Ltd. is a medical device development company that is said. “The Student Enterprise Awards play a key role in discovering and devel- designing, patenting and marketing medical devices related to the ulnar nerve oping the entrepreneurial talent which exists in our third level institutions. The palsy niche markets. Ulnar Nerve Palsy is a condition that occurs when the winning students, and indeed all our finalists, epitomize the excellent innova- nerve that travels from the shoulder down to the wrist has been damaged due tion that exists within our third level sector which must be harnessed and com- to prolonged pressure or trauma to the ulnar nerve. UlnarPal Ltd. is therefore mercialized to create winning indigenous companies the success and long designing a glove which will give the patient more stability and speed up recov- term strength of Ireland’s economy is directly impacted by the establishment ery. The designers believe that their product will be a success since they are and growth of Irish-owned companies that have the potential to become thriv- operating in a nice market and also doctors are urging for a new treatment ing international businesses”. method to come to the market. Each team who won an Award of Merit Paul Brush, Head of Entrepreneurial Development, Invest NI said: “Invest NI received ?2,000 have been a co-sponsor of the Enterprise Ireland, Ulster Bank Student Awards for the past number of years. These unique awards are an excellent opportuni- Now in its 24th year, the Student Enterprise Awards - which were designed to ty to identify and cultivate our future business leaders. The winning students foster and promote innovation and entrepreneurship amongst third level stu- and finalists represent innovation that is essential in the development of the dents across the Island of Ireland - had a celebrity entrepreneurial expert on entrepreneur sector throughout the island of Ireland”. the judging panel in the form of Ruth Badger, star of the hit BBC show, The Apprentice, as well as Sky One’s Badger or Bust. Would you like to be a part of our team? We need feature writers, news, reviews, photos etc....... Email [email protected] or you can call in directly to the Publications Office, 1st Floor Student Centre Nite Bus Service to Ensure Student Safety Cork Institute of Technology She added, “a nominal fee of just e2 will be charged to students using the serv- Students’ Union (CITSU) is urging all ice. Both Students’ Unions are heavily subsidising this service. We hope that this students to be vigilant and consider will encourage students who might be on their own and who cannot afford a the saftey of themselves and friends taxi to avail of the service. We strongly urge all students to use the service and when out at night. All students are not walk home alone”. being asked to avail of the NITE-BUS service which operates from the city Meanwhile also this month, Cork City Centre saw the launch of a new pilot centre, should no alternative safe latenight bus service ‘LateLink’. Operating initially on two routes LateLink will means to transport be available. service passengers on Friday and Saturday nights on City Centre to Douglas and City Centre to Bishopstown routes. Each bus departs from Patrick Street at The NITE-BUS service ia a joint initia- 1.30am, 2.30am and 3.30am; the fare, ?4 per person. ‘LateLink’ will be oper- tive by CITSU and UCCSU and will ated by SkyLink, Cork’s airport shuttle service which operates a Cork Airport to run each Tuesday and Thursday night Cork City service normally on the now familiar yellow shuttle buses. LateLink of the academic year. The first bus is being supported via grant-aid from Cork City Council. leaves South Main Street, near Subway, at 1:45am and then every 30 minutes until the last bus at 3:15am. LateLink aims to enhance the transport options for customers heading home at the end of the evening.