Coming Up: Semester Two Schedule | University Observer

By Eithne Dodd | Jan 22 2017

With the new semester ready to go, Eithne Dodd previews the upcoming calender of events throughout Belfield.[br]TYPICALLY, more events take place in the second semester of the year than in the first. Society committee members are more established in their roles and duties and as a result more things get planned. Intervarsities, competition, elections and awards all happen towards the end of the year. Here is an extensive ist of all the major student events coming up in the next 14 weeks.[br]Beat the Blues Week For all science students and staff ,a week of mental health and mindfulness has been organised. There will be events held every day from Monday the 23^rd to Friday the 27^th of January. Events include Yoga and Pilates classes as well as lunch time talks on mental health and mindfulness. Refreshers’ Day Refreshers’ day will take place on the 31^st of January this year. All clubs and societies will be in the UCD Astra hall enticing new members to join them. Film Society Re-Freshers Project For people who missed the opportunity to get involved in production in semester one, there will be another opportunity to get involved in FilmSoc with the Re-Freshers Project. Students will be put into teams to write, direct, shoot, and edit their own short films which will be screened in the UCD Cinema upon completion. The CavernLitSoc will be hosting The Cavern on Tuesday the 24^th of January at 6pm in the Newman Basement. The show will feature spoken word poets, acoustic music performances and stand-up comedians and finish up with an open-mic segment. The 24 Hour Musical: Little Shop of Horrors On Friday the 3rd of February at 7pm, DramSoc members will perform an entire musical that they only started rehearsing for at 7pm the Thursday before. The cast and crew work through the night to perform a musical in front of the Astra Hall the next evening. UCD Internship Fair Organised by the Careers Development Centre ,an Internship Fair will be held for all UCD students on Wednesday the 1^st of February between 1 and 4pm in the Astra Hall, Old Student Centre. Battle of the Bands (Music Society) The UCD Battle of the Bands 2017 will take place this January. Semi-finals will be in the Clubhouse on Wednesday 25^th and Thursday 26^th. The most talented bands in UCD will then battle it out for the live finals. RAG Week In week 2, we have RAG (Raising and Giving) week. This year’s RAG week is in aid of Pieta House. You can sign up to volunteer here and here is a promo video from last year’s RAG week. Tickets are €10.On Tuesday there will be tag archery, puppy cuddling and Foil, Arms and Hog will do a show in the evening. On Wednesday, there will be an Xbox FIFA tournament, a mixology class and a Wexford Wednesday with Aslan. And on Thursday there will be a donut fair, Stevie Starr from America’s Got Talent and will finish off with RAG Ball. Introduction to Virtual RealityOn Thursday 2nd of February, Elecsoc will hold an Intro to Virtual Reality event featuring SUPERHOT and The Lab. Attendees will be able to play around with virtual reality games and chat with VR aficionados. The demo this week will feature SUPERHOT, the unique shooter where time only moves when you do. LitSoc Poetry Slam As part of RAG week, LitSoc will be hosting their second poetry slam of the year. There will be two rounds and a final featuring 12 UCD poets. Anyone can sign-up by emailing LitSoc at englishliterary.society@ucd.ie, poets can also sign up on the night. UCD Fashion Show Now in its 30^th year, UCD Ents Office and the SU will be providing the annual opportunity for UCD students interested in fashion and modelling to take part in a fashion show. This year, the Fashion show will be in aid of the youth mental health organisation; Jigsaw. Tickets cost €12 for students and €15 for everyone else. The launch for the show will be taking place on the 1^st of February with an afternoon on campus with a well-known designer. Film Festival FilmSoc’s annual film festival will take place for the entirety of week 3. There will be a range of guests from the film industry to give talks and workshops relating to all things film. These will be followed by drinks receptions and free pizza. There will also be screenings of all the recent filmsoc productions. Along with a film quiz night and Netflix and Chill (sort of an extended breakfast morning but with Netflix). Graduate Opportunities DayIn week 3 there will be a Graduate Opportunities Day organised by UCD Students’ Union. Liam Madden Speaks to ElecSocOn Tuesday the 7^th of February at 6pm Liam Madden, VP at Xilinx, will address the Electricity Society on the topic of machine learning. Skills for Working Life Course Beginning on Wednesday, February 8^th, UCD Career Development Centre will be running an eight week 2 hour information interactive session, teaching people how to build their employability skills. Contact the Career Development Centre for more information and to enrol. Talk and Workshop on 3D Printing by Shane KeaveneyOn Thursday the 15^th of February, ElecSoc will be hosting Shane Keaveney, Post-Doctoral researcher at UCD in the areas of advanced manufacturing. He will give a talk on designing for 3D Printing and running their 3D printing workshop. The talk will be followed by a hands on Workshop, you may even leave with a 3D printed object of your own. SHAG Week Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance week is aimed at discussing sex openly and shamelessly. In the first semester, there was a SHAG day in October. In previous years there has always been a sexual health week run by the students’ union and last year, in semester 2 there was a “sex out loud” week focusing on consent. UCD Malaysian Night 2017UCD Malaysian Society largest annual event will take place on Friday the 24^th of February. Members of the Malaysian Society will come together to give a performance that showcases the diverse and unique culture of Malaysia. The event will take place in Astra Hall from 6.30pm to 10.00pm. “In The Heights” Musical In week 6, Musical Society will run In the Height by Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer, composer and star of international phenonenom Hamilton. The show will run from the 28th of February to the 4th of March at 7.30 pm each night in the Astra Hall. Tickets are €8 for musical society members and €10 for all other students. Group discounts are available. University Observer Election SpecialOn Tuesday the 28^th of February, the University Observer will publish our Election Special Issue. Inside all candidates for the 5 Sabbatical positions in the SU will be profiled and their manifestos scrutinised. Those running for college officer positions will also be analysed. HustingsHosted by the editor of the University Observer, hustings will take place this year on week 6 in the Fitzgerald Chamber. Here is where those running for sabbatical positions in the Students’ Union will debate against each other and campaign for the votes of students. All are welcome to attend. UCD Volunteering Fair On Tuesday the 28^th of February, the UCD Career Development Centre will be holding a volunteering fair available to all UCD students. The fair will take place in the Global Lounge between 12pm and 3pm. UCDSU Elections UCDSU Elections for sabbatical officers will take place on week 7. Generally UCDSU elections are held over two days, with different schools and colleges been given different voting times. Irish Student Drama Awards FestivalDuring the midterm break, from Monday the 13th to Thursday the 23rd of March, UCD will be hosting the Irish Student Drama Awards (ISDA) Festival. Over the course of the festival, the drama societies of colleges from all over Ireland will be performing their best shows. During the festival, there will be at least two shows a day and an event every evening. Society and Club Intervarsities Some societies and nearly all clubs have a competition between other universities in Ireland that generally take place in the latter half of semester 2. DramSoc has the ISDAs, LitSoc has poetry slams; Chess Society has chess matches, Musical Society sings.As well as that nearly all clubs will hold a match or other competition to showcase UCD’s skills and athleticism against other universities. Vocal Group ShowcaseThe work of Musical Society’s vocal group’s rehearsals (taking place every Monday in the New Student Centre) will be on display on Wednesday the 29^th of March in Astra Hall. Society and Club AGMS Annual General Meetings of Societies will generally take place between weeks 8 and 11 of the second semester. This is where next year’s committee members will be voted in. anyone who is a member of that society can attend the meeting and vote for the next committee. Masquerade Ball FilmSoc’s Masquerade Ball will be taking place on Wednesday the 6th of April. Tickets for this masked event (FilmSoc will provide the masks and also hold a mask decorating workshop for those interested in making their own) will go on sale mid-semester. Mind Body and Soul Mind Body and Soul festival will return to UCD in week 11. This is a festival of culture, arts and wellbeing organised by the SU. All events will be free and non-alcoholic. UCD Presidents’ Awards In week 11 or 12, UCD students deemed to have made a significant and positive contribution to the UCD community will be honoured with the highest award they can receive as a student in UCD. UCD Society Awards In week 12, UCD Societies will present awards to the best societies of the year. The award categories are: Society of the Year; Small Society of the Year; Poster of the Year; Publication of the Year; Event of the Year; Photograph of the Year and Social Media Presence of the year.[br]