EDITOR: ANGELA SHORT

ASSISTANT ED: MARGARET CLARKE

HISTORICAL ED: SEAMUS BELLEW

Congratulations to Adam Burke, a graduate of Community Sports Leadershipat DKIT, who arrived in Port St Charles, Barbados this morning as partof a six man crew who have set a new world record for rowing theAtlantic Ocean.

'Not only have they achieved this goal by taking 10 hours 36 minutes offthe old record set by Team Hallin only yesterday, they have also set anew world record for rowing more consecutive days over 100+ miles thanany other boat in history. The old record which was set by the 07/08 LaMondiale crew stood at 9 days, Craughwell and his crew managed asuperhuman effort to extend this out to an incredible 12 days.'

See the press release athttp://www.oceanrowing.com/Oceanrowers/Sara_G_Press_release.htmfor details of this incredible feat of endurance.Suffice to say we are delighted for him and wish him a safe journey home.

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Win a Bicycle worth 150.00Dundalk IT has recently become one of the National Transport Authority's Smarter Travel workplaces, following on from our commitment to the Go Dundalk initiative.

Being a Smarter Travel Workplace means that Dundalk IT is committed to helping our staff and students help the environment, reduce the stress caused by their daily journeys, save money and improve the health of our campus users.

While many of us use cars to come to DkIT, our focus now is on addressing other forms of transport such as public transport, walking, cycling and car sharing.

Over the coming months you will see a range of travel options promoted to staff and students, but first of all, we need to gather information on your daily travel patterns and your thoughts on those alternative modes of transport as well as the journey by car.

Please click on the link below to access the survey. It doesn't take long to complete and all completed surveys will be placed into a prize draw to win this fantastic prize.

A Bicycle to the value of €150.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dundalktravelsurvey

The higher the response rate to the survey the more tailored any new travel measures will be, so please show your support by completing the survey by 18th February 2011.

Do you have a flair for

photography? New initiatives and activities are transforming our campus into a more

sustainable place to study and work. The Sustainable Living Institute is

looking for photographs that best describe our “Green Campus” to use on the

banners of our new website.

Prize- New Apple iPod Nano 8GB

The closing date is February 28th 2011(after green week)

Submit entries to sustainableliving@dkit.ie

Check our website www.dkit.ie/sustainable for more details

Green Week at DkIT 21st to 25th February, 2011.

In the past months Dundalk Institute of Technology has begun to engage with An Taisce on the Green Campus Programme in order to work towards the prestigious international ‘Green Flag’ award.

Green Campus aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of the Institute by endeavouring to extend learning beyond the lecture theatre and develop responsible attitudes and commitment on campus, at home and in the wider community.

The Implementation of the Green Campus Programme is based on the Seven Steps methodology:

1.The Formation of a Green Campus Committee: To include students, academic staff, administration staff and representatives from estates.

2.Environmental Review: Looking at the environmental impacts of the campus in order to set targets for action and improvement.

3.Action Plan: Specific and achievable targets are set with proposed completion dates.

4.Monitoring and Evaluation: Targets are checked, amendments made and success is celebrated.

5.Curriculum Work: Data generated from the examination of environmental aspects of the campus should be used in course work where possible.

6.Informing and Involving: Ensuring the campus and wider community are aware of the work being done and can become involved.

7.Green Charter: A statement and procedures that commit the Campus to improved environmental performance are drawn up.

The Green Campus programme does not aim to reward specific environmental improvement projects, what it does require is the successful implementation of the Seven Steps programme and a demonstration of commitment to the continuity of the programme on campus. Application must be submitted yearly for the retention of the Green Flag once it has been awarded.

One of the criteria is that Dundalk Institute of Technology hold a GREEN WEEK as part of its ongoing commitment to the Green Campus Programme.

This is being held from 21st February to 25th February and includes the following events:

• Green Campus themed Photography Competition

• Bike Workshops and display stands

• Smarter Travel Workplaces stand

• Growers Group planting with REHAB/Simon

• Talk by the Heritage Council “Climate Change and Ireland’s Heritage”

• Car Free Day

• Poetry and Writers Group reading

• Talk by Sinead Pentony TASC, “The Role of the Economy in a Flourishing Economy”

• Film screening

• Launch of DKIT’s CAR POOLING WEBSITE

For more details please look at www.dkit.ie/sustainable

So if you would like to get involved with the Green Campus Programme please contact Moireen Taggart at moireen.taggart@dkit.ie or Sonya Rice at sonya.rice@dkit.ie

THE SCHOOL of INFORMATICS

The official opening of the Carroll’s Building due to take place on Friday 11th affords us the opportunity to look back on over forty years work on the Dublin Road or Hoey’s Lane. DKIT opened its doors in 1969 to the first students, then known as Dundalk Regional Technical College it was one of the five first opened in the country. The RTC grew out the thinking from the Lemass and Whitaker era. In 2001 the Library building was officially opened and named in honour of Ken Whitaker. Patrick Hillary as Minister for Education oversaw the development of the plans for the RTC. He was succeeded by Donogh O’Malley who is also renowned for the introduction of ‘free second level’ education. The next Minister was Louthman, Mr Padraig Faulkner who officially opened the RTC in 1971 and so has come to pass forty years of Third Level Education in Dundalk. The departments in the college emerged in the seventies followed by schools in the early eighties.

The School of Informatics and Creative Arts was founded in September 2004 with Denis Cummins as Head of School. He later became Director/President of the College in 2006 and the current Head of School is Dr Bob McKiernan. The arts-based disciplines of Creative Media and Music were introduced to the Institute in the Humanities section (later in 2002 becoming a department) in the School of Business & Humanities - Creative Media in 2000 and Music in 2003. The first programme in Creative Media, the National Diploma in Humanities in Communications in Multimedia, was validated in 2000 and the first taught Music programme, a 4-year honours degree in Applied Music, was validated by HETAC in 2003. A taught Masters degree in Music Technology was also validated in 2003. An add-on honours degree in Creative Multimedia was validated in 2004. The two disciplines came together in the new department of Music and Creative Media in 2004 and were incorporated within this School upon its foundation in September 2004. A Masters in Future Communications in Creative

Technology, developed in association with the School of Art and Design at the University of Ulster and funded under the Peace 2 Programme, was validated in 2005 as well as a level 5 Certificate course in Creative Media in conjunction with O’Fiaich College. Dr Eibhlis Farrell has been Head of Department since it was founded and currently Caroline O’Sullivan is Head of programmes in the Creative Media and Adele Commins in Music.

The history of computing emerged over a number of years before the formal establishing of a department specialising in Computing. Mick Rogers (Civil Engineering) who was in the college from the start now retired from NUIG was probably the first to use computers for teaching. His students used punch cards that had to be sent to UCG to be processed, a long way from the on line processing we have grown to know and love these days! When John Connolly became Head of School of Engineering in 1974 one of his first major purchases was a Digital Equipment Corporation Model PDP 8/e Minicomputer. PDP was the acronym for Programmable Data Processor. This purchase was significant in those days and would have been equivalent to buying about 20 new Ford Cortina MarkIII ['Coke Bottle'] cars. Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital for short or more popularly, DEC, had set up a manufacturing site in Galway sometime earlier and our machine had been made there. John and Paul Sliney were the recognised experts on computer hardware and high and low level programming. Soon Jim Maguire was on board. John Keane led programming language development in the college and he taught BASIC in the early courses. This laid the foundation from which computing courses in the College developed.

In 1977 the first computing course was started in the college. A one-year cert was run initially but soon it got changed into a two year national Certificate. The PDP-8 machine was not powerful enough and was now linked in with the CDPS of the State’s Finance Department in Kilmainham. The information would be transferred down the telephone line at a transfer rate of about 300 Baud or 20 characters per second! The arrival of Kate Ó Dubhchair followed by that of the late Ann Commins (R.I.P.) in 1979 saw further

development through their expertise. By 1981/2 the Computing Department was established and it bought its own PDP-11/34 as part of a national purchase scheme for the RTCs and NIHE, Limerick. Despite being considerably advanced compared to the PDP8 soon the lack of power became apparent. Next came the CP/M based system with an early PC type environment. This system had been assembled in Dublin and looked rather like a computer in a dustbin. Columb Collins admits that he was to be seen working on these with screw drivers, fixing loose connections and generally keeping the ‘show’ on the road. Those early days were full of innovation. Ann Commins’s expertise straddled the

boundary between systems analysis and COBOL programming and RPG and the more scientific/mathematical world of BASIC FORTRAN and ALGOL. She also worked with Seamus Kelly on the first IBM UNIX box (AIX 1) acquired by the college. The first in-house degree programme in Computing started in 1995.

The mathematics section is also part of this school where the maths people teach maths throughout the college in the three other schools. The first maths lecturer in the college was Frank Carney who was definitely there the first day the college opened in 1969, whether he was the first person in, the jury is out on that one. Frank played a pivotal role in establishing the college even before the first the first principle arrived – Dr Sean McDonagh whose key contributions to all sections of the college is widely acknowledged. It was not long before some more of the mafia arrived from the west.

Columb Collins became the first head of School of Science that encompassed the disciplines of Science, Mathematics and Computing. Kate O’ Dooher served as first Head of Department until 1986 when Columb took over that role until 1991. Those who have lead the department since then were John Keane, Denis Cummins, Bob McKiernan, Shane Dowdall and Gerry Gallagher. The current Head of Department is Prof. Dr. Christian Horn who arrived in November 2007.

CAN ANYONE IDENTIFY THE FORMER STAFF MEMBER IN THIS CARTOON?

The Peter Rice medal competition took place in DkIT on Wednesday 19 th January. The event was organised by Sinead Kelly from the School of Engineering and was run in conjunction with Engineers Ireland North East region. The Peter Rice medal commemorates the local Dundalk man, who was one of Ireland’s outstanding structural engineers and the award is made annually to the best presented Level 7 Engineering student project in DkIT.

At this year’s event, four candidates from a range of Engineering disciplines competed for the award, with a panel of judges from Engineers Ireland selecting the overall winner. The finalists were Yi Jian Zhang (Monica) from Electrical and Electronic Systems, Kevin Martin from Construction Technology, Eugene Kelly from Civil Engineering and Eamonn McCluskey from Building Services Engineering. The judging panel selected Monica as the overall winner for her project on the “LCD display of a Weight Logging Scale”. Monica is currently continuing her studies at DkIT and is undertaking a one year add-on Honours Degree in Sustainable Design Engineering.

Congratulations to Monica and all the finalists who took part in the competition!

Pictured in the photo with Monica:

John Iliff, John Brannigan and John Quinn from Engineers Ireland.

DKiTalk Radio Blog

RAG Week has been announced folks and it’s looking like our best one yet. This week we gave you a run-down of the schedule and some top tips for getting the most out of RAG week.There are some top acts on their way, for the full official release from the Students Union head over to http://dkitsu.ie/latest-news/500-lineup-for-rag-week-2011.html.

Now RAG week is the highlight of the college calendar. It’s the week that everyone looks forward to. But we have some top tips to keep you going and getting the full enjoyment you can from it.

1.Get your tickets early. Events like the Wedding always sell out quick so make sure you get the tickets you want!

2.Pace yourself. Both financially and physically. It can be easy to get carried away with all the fun and find yourself burned out or broke.

3.Be respectful. While RAG week is about raising money and having the craic, please remember that not everyone around you will be participating. So be mindful of neighbours.

4.Enjoy yourself! While it may sound simple, make sure you go out and enjoy the experience.

This week’s live music came courtesy of Katie-Anne Bolger who performed two original tracks which were nothing short of fantastic. If you liked Katie-Anne’s sound and want to hear more or want to hear it for the first time then head down to the Spirit Store on the 17th February where you can see her live!Now we won’t be back for two weeks folks. So enjoy yourselves and stay safe!

DKIT Students Say Have a Heart This Valentines Day

A group of DKIT students will hold a 70s Love Train Valentines disco for charity, on the 11th February 2010 in Radius night club at the Imperial Hotel Dundalk sponsored by The Home Bakery. This event is in aid of Aine Lawrence McCormac and her charity “I’ve got what? “, which supports young sufferers of cancer.

The group of students from third year Applied Cultural Studies decided to give ahand to this young woman who has been fighting cancer for the past four years and to raise awareness of her recently established foundation. Her charity has been steadily gaining support through various fund raising nights and events over the past number of months.

Tickets for the event are priced at €10 and are available at the door on the night, or from Gerard Cotter (0876574137). Attendees are encouraged to come in fancy dress in line with the seventies theme. For those romantically minded the night will also include a special slow set courtesy of DJ Deirdre Keelan.

Dundalk Institute of Technology supports events like this every year by students of Applied Cultural Studies who undertake a module in event management as part of their curriculum. Aine herself is a former student of this course and is well known amongst both faculty and class mates.

In a hurry? The Library has installed 2 Express Lane PCs beside the printers on Floor 1.

These PCs are for short term use only (10 minutes only). If you need to quickly access your H drive or send a document to print these PCs are what you need.

Whittaker Theatre Feb 16th

1pm€2 admission

Proceeds go to SOSAD charity

One of the 5 lucky couples will be Bride and Groom of

R.A.G Week!

DkIT Men’s Basketball 2nd February 2011

Blanchardstown IT 53 - 71 DKIT

The DKIT squad completed a great away win against a good ITB team. DKIT welcomed in Z. Zelnys for his first start of the year and contributed well in the first quarter with some great drives and assists. Kev Lacey opened the scoring for DKIT with two free throws, which were a common occurence from this game for the DCU Saints player. A big three from John Rafferty put six points between the teams before Blanch IT opened their account. Great rebounding by K Norwak and set up some easy fastbreak scores for the Ravens which led to a 12 - 6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started again brightly for DKIT with scores coming from Lacey, Rafferty and Zelnys. Though DKIT were dealt a blow when Ravens guard AJ O'Neil picked up his third foul early in the second quarter which meant the coach took him out to make sure he was good to play in the second half. This didn't halt DKIT one bit with strong play coming from E Ryan and C Martin who were able replacements. At half time the Dundalk lads led 26- 18.

DKIT had alot to do in the third quarter to make sure the win was theirs and they went score for score with ITB. Kev Lacey carried the bulk of the scoring in this quarter hitting 10 of his 30 points to help put the DKIT team up 42-34 going into the final quarter.

The final quarter was almost easy for DKIT as they scored 29 points in this quarter alone, helpped with big threes from E Ryan who hit two and A O'Maolagain. Z Zelnys also contributed with some great fast break points and was well assisted by AJ O'Neil.

The win sets up a big game away to top of the table Dublin Business School. With a couple of scholarship players and a well coached team this will prove a great test to see how far the DKIT basketball team have come this year.

Top Scorers

K Lacey 30Z Zelnys 11J Rafferty 8

Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir/Madam

Jason Harris (indo 7th Feb) makes a valid call for educating the electorate on the nuances of the vote counting PR system. When one considers in the last few elections how seats have been won and lost over a handful of votes the need to provide accessible answers to questions such as Mr. Harris raises is a public service necessity. As part of my work in creating Reusable learning objects in the Third level educaiton system I was fortunate, after the 2007 General Election to record a four part podcast with an election mechanics expert which explains the voting and count system in detail.

This podcast is available at

http://ww2.dkit.ie/about_dkit/podcasts/dkitalk/seamus_bellew_explains_the_pr_proportional_representation_systemas an open source public service resource freely available to all.

SincerelyLiam Ó GógáinRetired Lecturer DkIT1 MuirhevnaDublin RoadDundalk

Next week will be the start of Fit 4 Life 2011!

Being S.H.A.G week, the theme is sexual health awareness.

The following events will start on Wednesday the 16th of February. Hope to see you all there!

� Wee for a Wii (Chance to win a Nintendo Wii)� Take me out Wed 16th Whitaker 1pm (Free S.H.A.G packs!)� Boots packs on Thursday

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SSeenndd yyoouurr ccaappttiioonnss ttoo eeddiittoorr@@ddkkiitt..iiee

"Yep guys, I'm definitely high up in the poles for this election"

Congratulations Michelle Clark CYW

and next weeks...