“Down the Rabbit Hole”Connaught/Ulster 2011

A very, very unbirthday to you!!

Set in picturesque town of Monaghan, we hope that your time at EYP adventure will rival even that of Alice’s in Wonderland. Just as she tentatively fol-lowed the rabbit down the rabbit hole into Won-derland, you too have followed the Mad Hatters to Monaghan and come to this session.

Now, the choice is yours.

Before you make a choice, ask yourselves, what would Charlie Sheen do? He would challenge boundaries, refuse the ‘shackles of oppression and chains of injustice’. Don’t let you shortcom-ings ever hold you back at the session, as Mi-chael D Higgins has shown you don’t need to be able to put your head above the parapet to get your head above the parapet. Stick it to the

MAN, (insert feminist quote here).

Y o u are cordially

invited to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!

Be yourself, be different, and most importantly, don’t trip on the way down the rabbit hole.

Lewis & CarrolThe Editors

Y o u can follow the

Rabbit further into the depths of Wonderland, face

your fears, and loose all sense of reality. After all, you are talking

to a cat and we all know cats can’t talk, even Chesh-

ire ones.

Welcome to the Connaught Ulster ses-sion of the European Youth Parliament 2011.

‘Down the Rabbit-Hole’ is the first issue of the ses-sion newspaper. A paper prepared for just for you,

the delegates

SEDEFiachra Maguire reacts to the impact of European internal terror

Friday, the 22nd of July, I was in France, in Lyon, in the regional parlia-ment, sitting in a brand new council room, attending my second in-ternational session of the European Youth Parlia-ment.That morning there was an explosion in central Oslo. It’s hard to describe the effect that these things have. The Nor-wegian delegates that in my committee were distraught. The shock that anything this evil could occur in their own country, in their home, was evident. However, the explosion was only a precursor of the further terrorism to come. Later that night word filtered through of the Utøya massacre. What began as disbelief soon became fear. If terror was what Anders Behring Breivik was trying to achieve, he did. All of the delegates felt a shared sense of loss and fear.

This could have been anyone anywhere. It was cruel and unpredict-able. These victims were innocent young people involved in a youth organization just like ourselves, another time,

Thus a democratic misunderstanding arises when these groups are condemned. It is just that certain branches of so-ciety are allowed to hold their opinions and to express their views pro-vided they do so within

the political structures that exist. The right to freedom of expression is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights. A line is crossed when members of a group use or threaten to use illegal means to enforce their opinions. Disagree-ment with far-right and far-left wing ideologies should not lead to the prejudice that those who hold these views are terrorists or extremists. Returning to the BNP, the recent development in Trinity College Dub-lin, where Nick Griffin (leader of the BNP) was prevented from speak-ing at an event due to intimidatory and ag-

gressive actions by those who disagree with his views. This should never be confused with acts of terrorism or extrem-ism. While the threat of internal terrorism may be growing in tune with support for far-left

and far-right wing par-ties across Europe, it is important that govern-ments and the European Union focus solely on combatting those who intend on carrying out these actions. For many people Norway, a rich and prosperous country, would be the last place one might expect a ter-rorist attack. However it shows us that there are no boundaries to extremism and that it is a constant threat. I hope you all enjoy discover-ing ways to combat this problem over the week-end, because it poses a greater challenge to us than we presume.

“These victims were innocent young people involved in a youth organisation just like our-selves.”

another place and that could have been us. This left us all feeling very hu-man. I for one had never experienced this before. This one action brought to bear the threat which is posed to european so-ciety by those who hold extremist views and are willing to use extreme actions to impose and spread these ideas. While these people or groups may not always be at the forefront of politi-cal discourse, they have dedicated supporters who believe absolutely in these extreme values. On the whole, these values often contravene basic human rights and sociably accepted moral standards. It is of upmost importance that these groups are prevented from acting on some of the views that they hold. In terms of preven-tion of terror attacks, it is counter-productive that the member bases of some growing far-right wing (and far-left wing)

political parties have chosen to align them-selves with what consti-tute ‘extremist groups’. The relationship between the British National-ist Party (BNP) and the English Defense League (EDL) springs to mind.

17 November 2011

AFET IICraig Allen takes a look at the simple but far from easy task the EU faces in Libya.

“It has fallen to the EU to protect the newborn Libyan state’s growth towards adulthood”

The European Union has a catastrophic crisis to deal with outside of its borders, in Libya.Considering the proxim-ity of Europe to the war-torn country, coupled with theinvolvement of EU na-tions in the Libyan Civil War, it has fallen to the EU to protectthe new-born Libyan states growth towards adulthood. Unfortunately for the European Union, Libya is a sovereign state outside of the EU’sinfluential sphere. Consider the anger and outrage of the Irish and Greek populationsas the EU and IMF is-sued their respective governments a series of ‘targets’ anddemands. Attempting to intervene in a states sovereign right to govern itself is, atbest, extremely difficult, however it is a path that

the EU must take to guaranteeboth, a peaceful transi-tion of power and the continuation of a demo-cratic system ofgovernance. It falls to the European Union to ensure that the actions taken by NATOprove effective in a po-litical setting. The western military intervention in Libya has been hailed as one of the mostsuccessful NATO op-erations in existence, the engagement proved the effectivenessof both the new Eu-rofighter Tycoon and the American B2 Stealth Bomber. The EUmust continue to prove instrumental in the Libyan political sphere; establishing Libyaas a universal success story both militarily and politically. The European Union mustact to prevent Libya from

regressing, if Libyan de-mocracy collapses, then all previoussuccesses, including NATO interference, will be frowned upon glob-ally, preventingwestern powers from acting in future revolts against dictatorial re-

andprestige. Unfortunately the Libyan society is also discriminatory against the sub-Saharan population, creating a humanitarian problem. Considering the underlyingtensions of the Libyan

gimes. The European Union’s intervention in Libyan affairs is pivotal in pre-venting asegregated society. The National Transitory Council has united the country, howeverthe unification of Libyan tribes can be associated with the common goal they hadin ousting Gaddafi. As Gaddafi has been re-moved from governance, tensions havebegun between different tribes and different cities claiming rights to power

political sphere coupled with the possible dis-criminationagainst it’s sub-Saharan ethnic minority; the EU must act as an arbitrator in thefounding of a new Libya, however we must be cautious in attempting to solve thisdelicate issue. The EU’s task is simple, provide support, advice and judgement in access-ing theLibyan nation, while upholding the current establishments integrity and sovereignty.

17 November 2011

CULTAndrew Bathe wonders if funding for the Arts be diverted to more “essential” services.

In times of economic downturn such as we find ourselves today, many governments choose to re-evaluate the services to which they provide funding to. Dur-ing this process certain services will be deemed either “more essential” (hence more deserving of funding) and others “less essential”.

Often it will be deter-mined that areas such as Healthcare, Transport and security are more important to the wel-fare of the people than the Arts and thus the budget cuts that follow will inevitably reflect that opinion. But it must be asked whether the Arts is

The Arts can be thought of as vast subdi-vision of culture, com-posed of many creative endeavors and disci-plines, and so the arts can encompass: music, literature, theater, film, the visual arts etc. the list is endless, but per-haps most importantly the Arts can embody the culture of a people, if

funding were to be cut to the arts would all of this begin to slip away? What effect will it have on a nation without any art-ists, poets, playwrights or composers to call their own? Of course a case can be argued in favor for the arts, there is no doubt of that. But if you were to

ask the average tax payer especially those that are unempoyed or on social welface benefit who are usually worst affected by government cut backs, they would likely disagree. After all is it a sad fact that in times of economic down turn cuts must be made and money saved.

In Ireland alone it is intended for the 2012 budget (to be published this December) to raise at least €3.6 billion be-tween spending cuts and

tax increases. Is it fair for Irish government to ask the HSE to suffer greater cuts while it protects the funding of the Arts and other “less essential” services? But perhaps there is the possibility of balance

but I for one keenly wait to see what solutions they come up with.

“The Arts can embody the culture of a people.”

“But perhaps there is a possibility of a balance being struck?”

been struck between the two extremes? Is it possi-ble for the committee On Culture and Education to find a way of protect-ing and promoting the Arts but in a more cost effective manner? Or will a choice have to be made between the Arts and the “more essential” ser-

Or will a choice have to be made between the Arts and the “more es-sential” services? Indeed this committee has a challenge in their hands,

17 November 2011

EMPLDominic Gallaghar expands on the adage “mol na hóige agus tiocfaidh sí”

The youth are a large part of today’s society. We are the future, but due to the mess made by our current leaders we are suffering. Educa-tion costs are rising, class sizes are increasing, our schools are in a bad state, unemployment is on the rise, and if we do manage to get a third level edu-cation, (which may be impossible with the pro-posed rise in college fees in the upcoming budget) we are not guaranteed to get a job. It seems that us, the youth, the voiceless in society are being bom-barded by the recession’s austerity measures/cut backs, and that we are paying for the mistakes of our past generations. In my eyes, and the eyes of the youth this is totally and utterly unfair. This is what contributes to the youth’s pessimism and instability. We can see the prob-lems that occur as a result of this instability. The youth have become helpless, and in rage they have started to turn to stealing, anti-social behaviour, abusing drugs & drink etc. The youth of today are angry at the unfair deck of cards which have been dealed our way. This anger can be seen through the Eng-lish riots last August . . .

Who are discontented? According to the Guardian the rioters were overwhelmingly young, male and often unemployed. Over 500 under 18’s were arrested on Rioting Charges. A Liverpool Univer-sity urban planning lecturer, Alex Singleton, found that the majority of people who appeared in court lived in poor neighbourhoods, with 41% of suspects living in one of the top 10% of most deprived places in England. Researchers found that in almost all of the worst-affected areas, youth unemployment and child poverty were significantly high, while education attainment was significantly low. “Child poverty rates in local authorities where riots flared are stubborn-ly high,” he stated. What needs to be done? Discontented youth do not come from mid-dle class or privileged backgrounds. They come from poor, working class areas, where educational attainment is low, and unemployment is high We need to focus on the poorer disadvantaged youth and try to put in place policies which are inclusive, and make them feel like they have a place and a say in society.

Education is the key! “Education is more than a luxury; it is a re-sponsibility that society owes to itself.” (Robin Cook) Governments can build houses, or nice play-grounds for disadvan-taged communities but the main way forward is to make sure everyone achieves a high level of education, rich or poor. So what policies should be put in place? First and foremost, Education Fees should be low, and Grants should be available for poorer families. Perhaps we should base European Education Models on the Scottish Model, with totally free Third Level education, and student loans provided at low interest rates, which are manageable for students

youth and to prove that the youth are truly repre-sented in our Country’s Establishments? Furthermore, organisa-tions, such as EYP, which all of you fine young people are taking part in, should be promoted and subsidised to help educate and raise aware-ness about how we are ruled and governed and to allow youth to have a medium to voice their opinions, through exer-cises like our GA. The Youth should not be ignored; we should be educated, involved and developed into fine model citizens that don’t feel the need to lash out in anger, as the English youth did last August. Embrace the youth and we will feel wanted & included, and as a result we will find our place in society.manage-

able for students of all social groups. Maybe the vot-ing age should be reduced to 16, to show that Govern-ments are inclusive to the voice of

17 November 2011

LIBEKieran McNulty shares his thoughts on recent phone tapping scandals..

“Because it is, truly, a complete invasion of privacy.”

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

The motion given to LIBE makes me think of a climactic scene in the now-classic film the Dark Knight, in which Batman creates a ma-chine that is able to tap into every phone in Gotham City. While this invasion of privacy did stop the fiendish Joker, it was an uncomfortable forecast of how unsafe our private affairs are in this technological age. Of course, that was a superhero movie. However, it was not as

contrary. The numerous instances of phone hack-ing that have emerged created a public backlash of disgust and fear. The main result of this was the demise of the News of the World paper, which was the main pub-lication associated with the scandals. There were also court tribunals and very public arrests (this also lead to the frankly hilarious assault on the chairman of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, and the quick slap response

fantastical as it may ap-pear; the very much real press scandals that have dominated the public consciousness this past summer speak to the

from his wife). Overall, this issue is quite con-troversial, and it will be interesting to see what is done in regards to weed-ing out the practice of

illegal phone hacking. Because it is, truly, a complete invasion of privacy. The role of the press is to seek out the truth and report it, but at what cost? You could perhaps give the argu-ment that celebrities and politicians should be armed against the press trying to access their secrets, but how about families of victims of ter-rorist attacks in London? Should the press commit crimes? The answer lies in how much a country-

So what to do? This contentious issue is indeed pressing (please ignore the pun) and demands a definitive solution. The choice is between letting the press continue to operate il-legally or to introduce measures to restrict them. Both options have pros and cons so indeed striking a balance be-tween the two may prove ideal. Where the line must be drawn in regard to how freely the press can work will prove to be

ror indeed Europe- wants to regulate the press. The current laws governing the press are unclear but hint that sometimes engaging in illegal methods could be

a most interesting debate in GA! It brings to mind another a line from an-other superhero movie, this time Watchmen: “who watches the watch-ers?” i.e. the press. That

justified “if only in the public interest”. However this is murky and could indeed be twisted to al-low the press to operate illegally.

That is you, the com-mittee on Civil Liber-ties, Justice and Home Affairs. The best of luck this weekend to you

17 November 2011

Introducing the Mad

Andrew Forde (ENVI)

Is a lovely young man who is so environ-mentally conscious that he doesn’t check his Facebook account on a regular basis.

Fiachra Maguire (SEDE)

Fiachra ‘I’ve got connections’ Maguire is related to an (in)famous political dynasty but in true policital form refuses to tell us which one. It’s widely thought he has plans to overthrow president of the session Ailbhe under the guise of being her journo.

Dominic Gallagher (EMPL)

The press team’s very own ‘Humpty Dumpty’. Dominic fell off of a forty foot climbing wall and lived to tell the tale. We love him.

Oisin O Callaghan (TRAN)

This Kerryman thinks he has high fived some-one who was technically on another continent. We told him Cork was just another county and even if it was outside ‘The Kingdom’ it didn’t count.

Craig Allen (AFET II)

Should chairs Lucy and Sandra ever need a ‘handy man’ in the committee room, Craig was showing ability from an early age, fix-ing his mum’s dryer which the electrician couldn’t fix with just 3 simple crayons.

Kieran Mc Nulty (LIBE)

Sharing his birthday with Bilbo Baggins is no surprise as Mc Nulty has the ‘gift of the gab’. He’s even conversed with the lead singer of coldplay. Should you have problems conversing with any other delegates you know who to call.

Hatters of the Session!!

Andrew Bathe (CULT)

Hasn’t read Alice in Wonderland or watched any of the film adaptions. We are not sure why he is even here..

Matt Brazel (ECON)

This journo should come with an explosive warning. Not only has Matt managed to blow up his school lab, but this Halloween he managed to build a rocket from just 2 bottles of detergent and a few fireworks. If you see him with any form of chemical sub-stance report it to the editors immediately

Ipek Kahraman (LIBE)

Dedication is Ms.Kahraman’s middle name. Not only has she flown all the way from the land of Turkish delight to come to the session, she’s even waited 3 hours for U2 in the lashing rain in Istanbul. We forgot to mention that we were lying when we said Bono was the guest speaker for opening ceremony. Sorry.

Megan Smith (AFET I)

As one of only three cailín bána in the press team, Megan wanted to show her ability to ‘rough it’ with the lads. Instead of just deciding on one of the ten colours she’s had in her hair, she went to her grand-dads house and calved a cow. Well done Megan.

Zeynep Ozarda (ECON)

Zeynep is the pressroom’s answer to the Queen of Heart’s Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. She can’t stand being late. She can’t even go to bed with a watch because of the constant ticking noise it makes reminding her of her need to be on time, all the time.

Mickey Finn (ITRE)

Mickey ‘the badass’ Finn stole his parent’s car and crashed it while they were on holidays at the tender age of 13. Ladies, watch out.

17 November 201117 November 2011

ENVIAndrew Fords explains the role of the Committe on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

The European Un-ion plays a leading role advancing international environmental cooperation. Many European

states have been reluctant to introduce envi-romnetal legislation as it may not be politically relevant or popluar. The European Parlament has not been as laxed. It is the major source of envi-ronmental legislation in all its member states. The European Parliament has enormous potential to shape the direction and content of national envi-ronmental policies, par-ticularly since the intro-duction of co-decision in 1993, a procedure giving it more influence in the legislative process. The European Parliament has long been regarded as a positive force for envi-ronmental change in the EU, It’s goal is to protect preserve and improve the environmental stand-ing of Europe. The EU has some of the highest environment standards in the world, developed over decades to address a wide range of issues. Today the main priorities are combating climate change, preserving bio-diversity, reducing health

problems from pollu-tion and using natural resources more respon sibly.

How does it do it? Well, recently there has been some really cool and positive legislation passed 1) In a landmark deci-sion in December 2008, EU leaders approved a comprehensive pack-age of emission-cutting measures. The plan aims to reduce greenhouse gases at least 20% by 2020, raise renewable energy’s share of the market to 20% and cut overall energy consump-tion by 20% (compared with projected trends). Within the drive for more renewable energy, it was agreed that 10% of fuel for transport should come from biofuels, electricity or hydrogen. It was a really bold decision by Europe and the Com-mittee played a huge part! 2)A pillar of the EU’s climate change strategy, the emissions trading system was introduced in 2005. The scheme rewards companies that reduce their CO2 emis-

“The EU has some of the highest environmental standards in the world.”

emissions and penalises those that exceed limits.

3. Sustainable develop-ment has long been one of the overarching objec-tives of EU policy. EU leaders launched the first EU sustainable develop-ment strategy in 2001 and updated it in 2006 to tackle shortcomings and take account of new challenges.

Closely tied to cli-mate change and energy policy, the revised plan stresses the importance of education, research

and public funding to achieve sustainable pro-duction and consump-tion patterns. Since then there have been significant efforts in terms of policy. Now the focus is on putting policy into practice. In 2009, the committee proposed a package of measures to promote eco-friendly products, including greater use of energy ef-ficiency labels like those found on wash machines. It’s a very productive Committee and really relevant in today’s time!

17 November 2011

ECONMatthew Brazel analyses the effects of the financial crisis on the eurozone.

different story. In Ireland we decided to pour bil-lions into our financial sector, to try and keep our new “zombie banks” alive in an effort not to burn bondholders and lose the credibility on the markets. This has been to the detriment of our country’s debts and now we are taking huge loans from both the ECB and

domino effect that would result could devastate the whole of Europe, pushing us further back into recession, and most assuredly showing that the Euro currency was a failure. The weight of France and Germany’s stability is be-ing measured against the building chaos in the pe-ripheral countries. Right

Money. It makes the world go round. In this regard, Europe seems to be at a standstill. Political paralysis and uncertainty in markets have stran-gled economies across the Eurozone, so much so that it is now on the brink of collapse. The question remains, will the Euro survive this near-death experience? The true source of our woes is obscure and to be honest fairly complex. What began the world recession, however, dates back several years ago, to the property bubble-burst in the United States. Basically, lax financial regulations lead to banks lending out too many “bad” loans, which were not good invest-ments. This arose from the idea of “derivatives” which, put simply, were methods by which banks would make more mon-ey based on how many mortgages they could lend out. Derivatives were compiled together and sold from bank to bank, so that eventually, when people began to realise they were bad in-vestments, they decided to pull out and sell their stocks in these massive financial institutions such as Lehman Broth-ers. The blow all of this caused to these financial giants was too much to

handle, and one by one they all fell down. This, of course, is only one half of our epic tale. The giants I speak of were so well connected that when they fell, corporations, businesses, other banks and even whole coun-tries which had invested in and been lent to by these crashing banks, felt the shockwave. This fur-ther caused similar “bad banks” to go into melt-down across the rest of the world, like here in Ireland, and Iceland. Gonewasthe capital for these es-tablishments, and justly so, their trust from the markets. Where we are today with this on-going problem has been influenced by how each different na-tion has dealt with their banking crisis. In the U.S.A, they simply let some them fall, merged weak ones together and bailed out certain oth-ers. This decisive action has slowly put them back on the path to financial growth, leading out of recession. In the Euro-zone it’s an altogether

IMF. Greece is in a simi-lar situation, but with a more prominent risk of default, and a lot more public uproar.How does all of this affect the euro? Well, if Greece or Ireland happen to default, this potential-ly has the ability to cause panic on the markets that perhaps another peripheral E.U economy will fall. In markets, sadly fear often becomes reality. Our common currency means that the fates of all Euro-zone countries are even further tied together. The

now, as society is falling apart in Greece, I believe we are on the verge. It’s of my opinion that either the E.U will have to take a stronger stance against the political stagnation of the sovereign states, or we let the Euro fall and leave this failed experi-ment with new-found wisdom. So I guess it’s just a choice between the United States of Europe or national sovereignty.The decision is yours!

17 November 2011

ITREMicky Finn investigates possible energy alternatives for the future.

Our energy sources are being further de-pleted every day. The people with the money are unwilling to invest in the development of sustainable sources. Oil companies control a great proportion of our economy and prefer to allow prices to rise since we have no alternative. We must use our own capital to finance the de-velopment of new tech-nological developments to diversify and end our dependence on fossil fuels. Science has already provided us with many different options.

For many years, renew-able seemed the most feasible option. Wind, Solar, Hydrolectric, Tidal and Biomass energy all provided pathways that would be both sustain-able and clean. However, none of these systems have been sufficiently developed with poor efficiency making them uneconomical to name one of the many obsta-cles facing them. This year, a report was published which suggest-ed that the limitations of renewable energy were far lower than the gen-eral public and media had ever considered. It suggested that renew-

able energy would only ever be able to supply approximately 40% of the Global energy sup-ply, without adding the growing demand from developing countries to the equation. This report was based on the Law of Conservation of Energy which suggested math-ematically that if renew-able sources were to be used for any more of the supply, nature would be affected and regional climates would spiral out of control.What other avenues of action are left? One op-tion has been a cont

roversial topic for many years is Nuclear Power. Nuclear is often advertised as being dangerous but I beg to differ. Nucle-ar is dangerous when or-ganised poorly. Germany and Switzerland have de-cided to phase out their Nuclear Energy sources, a mistake in my opinion. Nuclear produces 75% of French electricity and has worked perfectly there. Nuclear Fusion is still in continous develop-ment with ITER expect-ing to achieve plasma by November 2019. This model will produce 10 times more energy than it consumes.

Nuclear Fusion is still in continous development with ITRE expects to achieve plasma by No-vember 2019. This model will produce 10 times more energy than it con-sumes.Efficiency is also an issue. Europe is calling for a single energy grid - per-haps with the integration of “Smart Grid” Technol-ogy. This technology is a computerised energy system which links each countries energy supply making electricity a com-mon market and analys-ing consumption data to avoid over production of electricity at off-peak times. The Smart Grid has already been introduced in several regions across the Globe with each project featuring different

adaptions to the general theory. The problem lies with its protection. It has highly private and useful information for potential burglars and so must be encrypted to an extent that people trust it. I sug-gest matrice encryption and polynomial encod-ing. Much research is being conducted in Energy Storage. Many options are being explored with just one of these catching my attention - Thermal Energy Storage. Ther-mal Energy Storage has achieved 99% retention of energy over a 3-year timeline which, in my opinion, suggests it de-serves further investment so it can be implemented to avoid unnecessary energy losses.

“Science has already provided us with many different options.”

17 November 2011

TRANOisín O’Callaghan uncovers the “convenient truth” about European transport.

Transport in Europe has become a necessity. It is how our food ar-rives in our shops, how you get to school/epic

road transport accounts at the moment for over half of all nitrogen oxide emissions with each per-son in the EU generating

but how would European Governments go about implementing these changes? Transport in Europe

consumer, for example it is much cheaper for a party of more than 1 to travel anywhere on this island by car rather than by bus, train or plane. The level of carbon emissions in Europe to-day is simply unsustain-able. Over the last 100 years the worlds mean temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius, over the next 100 we expect another 1 degree increase. While that doesn’t seem like much, just pause to consider the cataclysmic weather patterns we have seen in the last 10 years. 1 degree is a LOT. However there have been some posi-tive results from recent efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Europe now has a pollution standard index of 20, which is Eu-rope’s lowest ever reading and is regarded excellent on this particular scale. The task at hand is not impossible. What a con-venient truth.

currently facilitates the movement of over 700 million people. Any drastic changes to the lives of this many citizens is sure to inspire some controversy. And even when some changes are made they may be counterproduc-tive. Such as more 50 seater buses running but only holding 5 pas-sengers, or cost for the

on average 1.79 tonnes of Co2 a year solely on transport in 1994. Trans-port emissions have risen by approximately 4o% since then. So how should future road transport policy look? We know that a reduction of speed limits, an increase in public transport and more fuel efficient cars would all be beneficial,

EYP sessions, its how anyone and everyone gets from A-B. The EU has developed a web of interdependence so dense that it is implau-sible that any European Economy could operate independent of contact and movement with each other .It is clear that we cannot simply abolish all transport. So how should a new green transport So how should a new green transport policy look? Well first of all we must identify the issues. At present every major Eu-ropean (or World) City has some level of trouble with congestion i.e. too many cars on their roads. This has to be addressed as an idling car con-tributes massively to air pollution. We know that

17 November 2011

I Don’t Care!!Struggling with Committee work? Don’t worry, Ipek Kahraman has some ideas to help you make the most of your discussions and really engage with the topic at hand!

Sleep.

A classic one. Also very useful since in EYP nights can be pretty long and tiring… Of course from the work that is done.

Shout random things.

You can say the things which are interest-ing but no one really knew or care. For example:“Look its Spiderman!Opps! You’re too late now”

NB: This may frustrate your chair, margin-ally....

Write a love note anonymously and leave it on the table.

Self-explanatory.

Spend time on your hobby.

Or find a new one. Maybe you love to draw, play football or write. You can make a paper football and play with it. If you are an artist/writer; those scribblings on your paper may help you create a masterpiece later on

Try actually researching for the topic.

Some topics might seem boring on the outside but when you discover interesting facts about it, the results may even surprise you. So if you haven’t already done so check a website on your phone while you are on coffee break or say you’ll go to restroom but actually search for the topic. You can be creative for this one, it’s all for educational purposes.

17 November 2011

!!EYP: A guide for parents!!Zeynep Özarda has a few things to say to parents struggling to deal with thei child’s involvement in EYP!

Learn what EYP is.

As supportive parents, however, it is probably a good idea to learn what EYP is, either through

direct questions or by listening to the stories of your children; maybe even through your own research. That will save your family many unclear conversa-

tions and open the doors for more sharing about EYP, since your child doesn’t have to worry

about explaining everything before telling a story, and thus, decid-

ing not to tell it.

Know that EYP

will take time.

Whenever you tell your kid to go to bed, or come back from a fellow EY-Pers house, or shut down that com-puter, the answer will be the same:

“A little bit longer! I need to do this (insert document

n a m e ) ! ”

Never think that once the work

is done, so is EYP.

EYP is a whole with it’s after-session parties, games, occasional hanging

outs. Try not to deny your kid the right to “shake it off ” af-

ter a hard day of work.

Always know that for a true EYPer, the

work is not a burden.

If you start pitying your child for staying up late to write a resolution, it will return to

you. A teenager will not only remember that you pitied him/her for having to stay up

late, but will also use this weakness of yours to his/her advantage when the

fun EYP work is done and the boring school work starts.

17 November 2011

Be Creative and have some MAD HATTER Colouring Fun!!

There will be prizes...