Why I don’t drink

I am sixteen years old. I don’t drink and I’ve never been drunk. For some reason, that seems to come as a surprise to some people. Maybe it’s because my friend, age 15, has been to multiple AA meetings and my other friend, age 14, once found a half empty wine bottle in the bushes in Stephen’s Green – and then started drinking what was left in it. Maybe it was because of my friend who didn’t even make it to Junior Night, because he passed out before he got there.

As I got into my pre-teen years, my mother always told me never to put stuff up on the Internet that I didn’t want my future employers to see. Now, when I go on Snapchat, the stories are filled with my friends drunkenly screaming the words to songs from Hamilton and there are actually some images up on Facebook of people, age 14, 15 and 16, holding beer bottles and talking about the ‘sesh’ they had last night.

I always thought that if I did that, I’d be arrested because underage drinking is illegal and I was under the impression that the Gardaí actually did things other than suspiciously watch teenagers drink alcohol out of a 7-up bottle.

So why do young people drink?

They’re under the impression that it’s fun, because they see all these people on Facebook looking like they’re having a great laugh with their Vodka. They’re under the impression that it will take away the stress of exams and school in general, it will fix their problems temporarily. I personally think the reason most teenagers drink is for the experience. They see their friends drinking it and nothing horrific happening to them like in the documentaries we were shown about alcoholism in school. So they think, ‘Well, I could do that too’.

I grew up believing that alcohol is a reward of some kind. Something went well at work? Celebrate it with a pint. Your favourite football team won the match? Off to the pub you go! You’ve been stressed all week and finally get some time to yourself? Pour yourself a glass of wine and watch your favourite TV show. Teenagers see this in their own parents and on TV and begin to use it to apply to themselves. Got good results in your Junior or Leaving Cert? Results Night, a night filled with alcohol and regret! It’s your birthday and you’ve got a free gaff? Thank God, you’ve got that one friend who magically has alcohol wherever they go! Your best friend from another county is in Dublin for the first time in months? Take them to the pub.

I have no problem with my friends who drink. They, hopefully, understand the risks and consequences and they have made the decision to drink themselves. That has nothing to do with me so I’m hardly going to tell them not to do it.

How we talk about addiction

I have a problem with it when they start joking about have an addiction to alcohol. Addiction is not funny and it never has been. It can ruins lives and it can tears apart families.

Romanticisation of mental illnesses is already such a dangerous issue and we cannot afford to begin romanticising alcoholism and drug addiction. Being addicted to any form of drug whether it be illegal or legal is not cool, fun or entertaining. It is an issue that should not be taken lightly and it’s not something teenagers should feel is badass or rebellious.

Yes, I may sound like the annoying, sober friend, but why is that a bad thing? When did sobriety become uncool? I shouldn’t have to feel bad for not drinking, I shouldn’t have to feel like I’m missing out.

Thirty year old pop superstar Lady Gaga was the victim of body shaming after performing at the 51st Super Bowl half-time show for wearing a crop top that showed her "muffin top" and a "beer gut", according to critics.

Gaga took to Instagram to combat her critics and wrote a very powerful message attached to a photo of her half-time show outfit that will help all women struggling with body image. "I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That’s the stuff of champions. Thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, gaga" (Instagram)

The nasty comments made toward Gaga just goes to show that people will try to tear down anyone to bring themselves up, even the most famous people in the world.

If you are struggling with body shaming don't listen to your critics, listen to yourself. Change your body because you want to, not because someone else wants you to.

As Gaga said, "Be you, and be relentlessly you. That’s the stuff of champions."

 

I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions. thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, gaga

A photo posted by xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) on Feb 7, 2017 at 8:38pm PST

February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, so I thought I’d share my experience on this topic. I’ve always been interested in science, since I was a little kid. I always used to collect those chemistry kits that let you do fun experiments and I’d never stop asking questions! So it was a no-brainer that I’d be doing science when I got older. For my Leaving Cert I took chemistry and biology. Due to lack of demand, there was no physics option available in my school during my year. I wanted to get into a general science course but the Leaving Cert didn’t go as planned, and I ended up in a Nanotechnology course.

Nanotechnology is the study of really small science, manipulating matter on the atomic scale. It has so many different career options, and the possibilities of nano are endless. It’s heavily based in physics and chemistry, with nano tying the two subjects together. Physics isn’t popular at all with girls, and because of that there were very few girls in the courses compared to the number of guys. This can be a bit intimidating at first, especially since I attended an all-girls secondary school. It was as if I went from that to an all-boys college! The chemistry courses had a much more balanced ratio of boys and girls, and the biology course was mostly girls. 

This is something I’d love to see changed. Girls seem to be afraid to pursue physics, chemistry, engineering and maths. They view them as too masculine, or get scared off by the equations or maybe even by the number of boys. It’s not an easy choice, regardless of gender, it’s just boys are more willing to take the leap of faith. I think schools should put more emphasis on these subjects, to show girls that they’re not as intimidating as they appear and to show the amount of amazing things that can be learned by studying them.

I’m not going to pretend that studying physics has been easy, but I’ve learned some really interesting things from my physics modules and it’s something that I can notice everywhere in everyday life. Most of the lecturers in physics are male, most of the lab supervisors are male, the entire school of physics is basically just guys, with a few girls scattered in there. I want to see more girls there, I want to see more girls teaching physics and leading the way in STEM. 

When I went on my work placement, it was the same story. I was working in a big company in the Microscopy lab, which is all big instruments that are built off the principles of physics. I was the only girl in that lab, it was a lab full of guys before I arrived. However, if you walked down the corridor to the Analytical Chemistry labs, you’d see the opposite; it’s mostly girls, with a small group of lads. As well as that, out of the 11 interns who got accepted into that company, 9 of them were male. This has nothing to do with who’s more capable, I think it just reflects the ratio of the applicants. More men applied for these internships, so more men got them. My internship was brilliant; I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I just wish that more girls could see that side of the science, that side of physics and chemistry, instead of being scared off before they even get a chance to learn. 

Being a girl in science isn’t always plain sailing, of course you get the occasional person looking down on you because of your gender, or being surprised that you don’t study biology instead. This is all the more reason to get more girls into STEM! The International Day of Women in STEM is here to highlight the achievements of women in this field, because too often in history they’ve been overlooked due to gender. It’s a day to acknowledge and remember all those women who have paved the way in science and ensure they get the recognition they deserve. It’s also a day to work towards eradicating discrimination against women in pay and recognition within STEM.

In my opinion the best way to do this is to get more girls involved in STEM, show them how rewarding it can be and ensure that girls don’t feel too intimidated entering into these careers. Women are just as capable as men in STEM, it’s time more girls rise to the challenge and show the world what we’re made of.

“Fake news” is a term that cropped up during the 2016 US presidential election. Since then, it’s been blamed by some for electing Donald Trump and by the president himself for undermining his policies in office. With so many conflicting claims of what “fake news” is, how can you make sure you’re keeping yourself informed without accidentally reading lies?

What is “fake news”?

Fake news is tough to define, especially because different people use the term to mean different things. In a nutshell, fake news is any story or article meant to deliberately misinform the reader: to make them believe things that the author knows not to be true.

Any news story may turn out to be incorrect, whether because of a mistake the writer made or because of a simple misunderstanding. This doesn’t make it’s fake news, which is deliberately written to trick people. Satirical “news” sources like the Onion also aren’t fake news as they’re meant to entertain people rather than mislead them.

Fake news is also not what Donald Trump says it is, i.e. any news story that a person happens to disagree with. You may not agree with the opinions expressed on a news site, but that doesn’t mean you can just write them off as lies. Trump has gone as far as declaring all negative opinion polls to be “fake news” just because they go against his personal interests as president. This is an unhelpful distortion of what the term is meant to mean.

Why does fake news exist?

You might well be wondering why anyone bothers writing and promoting incorrect stories. There are a number of reasons why a website would choose to publish false news stories.

Making money

One of the main reasons is money: websites will often get more money from advertisers the more people they can attract to their site. Churning out impossible-sounding stories is a way to draw in readers and therefore increase ad views.

Propaganda

Another reason is propaganda. Governments and other powerful organisations might dislike the coverage they get in the mainstream news and pay someone to publish what they want to see. Fake news can be a powerful tool for attacking political opponents or influencing public opinion at home or abroad.

Influencing elections

Fake news may also be used to influence voting decisions. If a particular site or group of people would like someone to be elected, or want to prevent someone from being elected, they may intentionally publish false news articles to influence the way readers view that person, which influences the way they will vote.

How to identify fake news

No matter what the source of your news, it’s important to always be a little critical. Every news source has an agenda, whether it’s to make money, attract more readers, or advance a particular point of view. When in doubt, never assume a story is true just because someone’s published it on a decent-looking website.

Although there’s no definitive test for fake news, here are a few steps you can take to lower your risk of being duped:

Be wary of clickbait

Always be wary of “clickbait” headlines that are deliberately misleading or sensationalist. Remember that not all clickbait leads to fake news, but almost all fake news will appear as clickbait.

Be sceptical of big stories about celebrities or well-known public figures

Fake news will usually be about famous people doing unbelievable things. Always be sceptical about any news story that revolves around major celebrities or big political figures acting strangely or promoting a particular agenda.

Learn more about the news source

If you don’t recognise a news source, it’s best not to automatically trust it. Take some time to look around the site and see how many of their other stories are bizarre or unbelievable, and do a google search to find out if they have a history of publishing fake news.

Research the story

If you’re doubting a story, try googling any quotes or figures used. You can also search to see if any other websites are running the story: in today’s world, news travels fast and if the story is true it won’t be long before it turns up on other, more familiar websites.

Think about why you’re seeing it

Never believe a story just because you want it to be true – fake news stories are often targeted at people based on their likes or interests. Learn more about targeted advertising on social media.

Avoid sharing something unless you know it’s true

Try not to share news stories on social media unless you’re fairly sure they’re accurate. It’s better to take a little time to check things out rather than spread fake news to your followers.

When you experience a crime, it can greatly impact your daily routine. Replacing stolen goods costs money, injuries from an assault can leave both physical and emotional scars; harassment can make you feel unsafe in your home, school, and workplace. These feelings don’t just disappear the moment the criminal does or after you file a Gardaí report and sometimes they won’t go away by themselves.

If this has happened to you, you are not alone. The Crime Victims Helpline is a source of non-judgemental support and information following a crime. This can be a scary, confusing and debilitating time for many and we want to help you through it. Remember; seeking help is a sign of strength.

How can the Helpline help you?

If you are over 18, they can listen and discuss the crime with you.

The Crime Victims Helpline also provide information on the judicial system and will follow up any questions you have about it. They can also tell you who you can contact for face-to-face support as well as counselling options in your community. Informational leaflets on coping with the effects of crime can be posted or emailed to you as well.

How to get in touch?

The helpline offers support in a variety of ways and you can contact them in the way that is most comfortable for you.

The Helpline operates Monday: 10.00 am-7.30 pm, Tuesday through Friday: 10.00 am-5.00 pm and Saturday and Holidays: 2.00 pm-4.00 pm. You can still call and leave a message or email/text outside of these times and someone will contact you back during the next Helpline operating hours.

If you would like to know more or hear from some of the volunteers, check out the video below.

 

Transition Year students from Newtown School, Waterford are organising a unique fundraising experience with the Solas Centre. Thirty-eight students and guest teachers from Newtown School and Waterpark College have started an intense training programme in order to dance like professionals in the Youth Dance for Life. The group who are participating in a Young Social Innovators programme have engaged in many different activities in order to raise both funds and awareness for the Solas Cancer Support Centre. The students have integrated many different fitness activities into their school and community programme under the theme of Action for Life, including cycling, running, yoga and dance.

Students are also hoping to spread the word about the importance of 150 minutes of exercise per week for adults by selling luminous orange laces in their Laces For Life initiative. Guest speakers have raised awareness about a healthy lifestyle and cancer prevention. Consultant Medical Oncologist WUH Dr. Miriam O’Connor has described the project as “an excellent project that will have lasting benefits for the students and the community”.

Tickets for the Youth Dance for Life on the 6th of April 2017 in the Theatre Royal will go on sale on the 24th February from the Theatre Royal box office.

The Solas Centre provides free cancer support services to the people of Waterford and the South-East of Ireland. These services include counselling, relaxation therapy and group support. The Solas Centre relies 100% on fundraising and donations. 

The internet has in the last decade become the prominent hub in which people of all ages, colours and creeds engage with one another through a network of ever expanding channels. With the internet being such an open ended platform for digital activity, it invites both benevolence and malevolence in equal measure. Children now have easier access to the internet than any previous generations, it is an all-enveloping, inescapable force of modern technology. This makes it difficult to shield children from the darker recesses of the web. It also allows for the easy operation of monetary scams, hacking and other activities such as trolling. 

It's important that you are informed about the dangers of the internet. There is then the issue of cyber-bullying. A horrible contemporary problem that has plagued society for some time now. This isn’t actually down to the internet though, it’s down to the child not understanding the damage that bullying can actually do. Any child can get a hold of someone on social media or find out their number and harass them. It is down to the parent to ensure that, online or no, their child understands the grave ramifications bullying can have.

For teenagers the internet can prove to be even more of a treacherous landscape. Social media is largely used by teenagers and young adults for most things, sharing content, consuming news and even dating. This opens them up to practices such as trolling, catfishing and it further opens the floodgates for potential abuse from other users.

Catfishing for example can be humorous on MTV but it can in fact be emotionally scarring in reality. Tinder is an immensely popular app among young Irish people and underage girls and boys have been known to lie about their age in their bio, as the required age for use of the app is eighteen.  This could make for a troubling meet-up with an older man or woman. So be careful who you interact with on dating apps and be particularly prudent with anyone who wants to meet you if you are under eighteen.

Trolling is another activity that has encompassed the internet in a labyrinth of bad taste and provocation. The cure for these so called “trolls” is to simply ignore them. They require a reaction as fodder for their arsenal and if you give them nothing then they have nothing to sustain their absurd past-time. Without a retort the troll has effectively just made an obscene statement that could get them into trouble with site regulators regardless. If the comment is offensive, don’t reply, just report it and get them removed or cautioned by the website administrators.

Be wary of hacks. Random messages on Facebook, clickbait links that you’ve noticed circulating among your friends, any advertisement that asks you to invest money. Facebook and similar forums have algorithms set in place to combat this, nonetheless some of this rubbish will seep into your messages or onto your news feed. Curiosity might demand that you find out what the video with your face as the thumbnail is, but you must have resolve and ignore it. Once again you can always report it. It will help diminish the number of dubious links that make their way onto these sites in future.  

In conclusion the primary defence mechanism against illicit or unethical activity online is good, trusty common-sense. If someone you’ve never seen before wants to be your friend or starts talking to you out of the blue, don’t engage them. Websites that inundate your monitor with pop-ups, overzealous or hyperbolic ads that flash big money, listen to your intuition and avoid these. You will be better off for it.

Be active, be safe, be the change.

 

If there is an election coming up in Ireland, you may want to exercise your right to vote. This might make you curious about how the Irish voting system works.

Ireland’s system for voting works differently than many others around the world, and this guide explains how.

How does the Irish voting system work?

The Republic of Ireland uses a voting system called Proportional Representation with a Single Transferable Vote (PR-STV) for its elections. This includes European Parliament elections, general elections, presidential elections, local elections and more.

In the Irish voting system, general elections, European Parliament elections and local elections are conducted across multiple constituencies, also known as electoral districts. Your constituency is the area you live in where you are registered to vote. The Irish presidential election is one set of candidates voted for in every constituency across the country.

The PR-STV system is also used in Northern Ireland to decided Assembly and local council elections.

How do I fill out my ballot paper?

Election ballot papers will have every candidate running for election in the area listed in alphabetical order. The candidate’s name, a photo of them and whatever political party they are running on behalf of will be on the ballot. If the candidate is not running for a particular party, they can be listed as ‘non-party’.

Voters can rank candidates by putting a ‘1’ next to their first preference to be elected, a ‘2’ next to their second preference, and so on.

Do not mark a ballot paper with an ‘X’ or tick the box next to the preferred candidate. Marking a ballot paper this way spoils your vote and makes it invalid, meaning it won’t be counted.

It is not required to rank every single candidate, but putting numbers next to multiple candidates is the only way that a vote can be transferred from one candidate to another in the event that it is required. A more detailed explanation of PR-STV can be found below.

What is PR-STV?

Proportional Representation with a Single Transferable Vote (PR-STV) allows voters to vote for multiple candidates, ranked by preference. A vote can be transferred from one candidate to another depending on the preferences given on a ballot paper.

In the Irish voting system, a candidate’s goal is to reach the quota. The quota is the total number of valid votes divided by the total available seats plus one. A one is then added to this number, and any remaining fraction in the calculation is disregarded.

For example, in a constituency with 25,118 valid votes and four available seats, 25,118 votes would be divided by five (four seats plus one), giving you 5,023.6. One is added to this number, giving 5,024.6, and the fraction 0.6 is disregarded, giving a quota of 5,024.  If a candidate reaches the vote quota on a count, they are deemed elected.

How do vote transfers work?

Votes in the Irish voting system may be counted multiple times. There are always several distinct “Counts”.  At the end of each Count, the Count Rules are reviewed and the course of action to be taken at the next Count is determined. This might be distribution of a surplus of votes belonging to a candidate, or it might be the exclusion of one or more candidates together.  

For example, candidates who get enough first preference votes on the first count are automatically elected. Their extra or “surplus” votes may then be re-distributed to each voter’s next available choice.  There are detailed rules for determining if a surplus should be transferred. 

Votes that are transferred from one candidate to another are called transfers.

If these extra votes lead to another candidate being elected, the process is repeated until there are no extra votes to be reassigned.

How does candidate exclusion work?

In a similar way, there are detailed rules for determining when candidates should be excluded, and their votes transferred to other candidates.  The candidate or candidates with the lowest numbers of votes is or are excluded. 

When a candidate is excluded, all their votes are transferred to the next preference that is available on each ballot paper in the same way a surplus is. This process continues until all the available seats are filled. 

Sometimes, candidates who don’t make the quota can still be elected. For example, if there are three seats in a constituency, and only two have made quota after numerous rounds of counting votes and excluding candidates, the remaining candidate with the highest number of votes would get the final seat. 

An example of how PR-STV works

If all of this sounds hard to follow, don’t worry. Here’s a hypothetical example of the process in action.

Suppose we have five candidates standing for three seats. Oisín and Marie are standing for the Blue Party, Claire and Tricia are standing for the Yellow Party, and Cian is the only candidate for the Pink Party.

As it’s a three-seat constituency, the quota is the total number of valid votes (votes that aren’t spoiled) divided by four (three seats plus one), plus one. In this example, there were 1,000 valid votes, so 251 is the quota.

Here are the results of the first count:

Oisín has exceeded the quota by 50 votes and is deemed to be elected. 50 of his votes are taken as his ‘surplus’ and are re-distributed. 

In order to determine how many surplus votes each candidate gets, all 301 of Oisín’s votes are checked to see who got second preference. Most of Oisín’s votes show a preference for another candidate but 61 do not and are “non-transferable”.  Therefore, 301-61=240 are “transferable”. 

 A number called the ‘transfer factor’ is now calculated, which is the surplus divided by the transferable votes: 50/240=0.20833. 

A total of 178 voters showed Marie as the next preference, so she gets 178 x 0.20833 = 37 votes from Oisín. 

A total of 62 voters show Cian as the next preference, so he gets 62 x 0.20833 = 13 votes from Oisín. 

So, a total of 37  + 13 = 50 votes are transferred from Oisín to other candidates.  These are only Transferable votes.  Oisín is left with his quota of 251 votes. Claire and Tricia got no votes from Oisín. 

Here are the results of the second count, which was the distribution of Oisín’s surplus: 

As you can see, no candidate has the 251 votes they need to join Oisín and be elected. 

The thirid count will be the exclusion of Tricia of the Yellow Party.  So, all her votes will be distributed among the other remaining candidates:  Marie, Cian and Claire.  Oisín is already elected and so will receive no further votes.  

Here are the results of the third count, which was the  distribution of all of Tricia’s votes: 

51 votes transfer to Claire; 

35 votes transfer to Cian; 

10 votes transfer to Marie, and 3 votes were non-transferable. 

This is the final result. 

As we can see, Claire now has just the right amount of votes to be elected.  There is no surplus to distribute, and two candidates remaining with one seat to fill, so the highest remaining candidate, Cian of the Pink Party is deemed to be elected without having reached the quota, and therefore all seats are now filled, and the election is finished.

Youth groups of all sizes are invited to take part in the National Youth Citizenship Awards, organised by Foróige, in proud partnership with Aldi. 

Do you know or belong to a youth group that has made a positive difference in your area? If the answer is yes, then don't miss the opportunity to be part of Ireland's largest celebration of youth in the community.

Deadline for registration for your pack is 10th March, 2017 and the entry deadline is 7th April. The Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards celebrate the work of young people in their community, empowering them to use their unique skills and abilities to make the world a better place.

So, if your group, club or project has done work you are proud of, don't miss out on the opportunity to shout it from the rooftops and be part of this action packed event. Click here for your registration form but don’t leave it too long. If you need more details on the Programme, click here.

The Awards take place in the City West Hotel, Conference and Event Centre, Saggart, Dublin, 29th April 2017.

The 2016 Winners

The overall winner of the 2016 Citizenship Challenge was the Killimordaly Kiltullagh Foróige Club in Galway. This group mobilised their local community in the use of defibrillators via hands-on courses, information leaflets and battery maintenance. They raised a huge amount of money and created massive local awareness around defibrillators and how to use them.  

It's the beginning of February and the romantic pinks and sultry reds are to be seen in most shops. Sweet Valentine’s Day cards to that special someone, adorable me-to-you bears and all kinds of cute little things. I want them all. As soon as I walk into a shop and see an ‘I love you’ bear wearing a tiny little red jersey and holding a big red heart, I want it. I don’t know why I want it because there are loads of cute teddies that I don’t want, but these special Valentine’s Day’s ones I really want.

Now in March and April and the rest of the year, my boyfriend and I agree that it’s an incredibly commercial holiday and that material things aren’t important at all but for some reason during the few weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, I suddenly develop a desperate desire for pink and red presents and sparkly jewellery.

Valentine’s Day has become a very materialistic holiday but the fairy-tale romance of it still draws people in. Getting flowers or jewellery or chocolates makes people happy but I don’t think that that feeling should be associated with romance – birthday presents make people happy too but there’s nothing romantic about getting a birthday present. The definition of romance is different for everyone but the general idea is that it can’t be bought and isn’t meant to be associated with material or physical things. Valentine’s Day however is in my opinion associated with chocolates and jewellery and presents which leads naturally to the idea that love is shown with gifts and not actions.

There’s nothing wrong with celebrating your love and relationship of course, that’s what the holiday is for after all but I feel as though it puts pressure on people to have a fancy meal and buy expensive gifts when maybe they can’t afford themselves that luxury and would rather spend the money on something else.

My boyfriend and I are both college students and while I love presents (and I know that he does too) and get a little flutter of excitement in my stomach when I see sparkly necklaces and earrings and rings and adorable little teddies, we’ve both agreed that Valentine’s Day isn’t a holiday that we’re going to make a big deal out of because at the moment we aren’t really able to afford it.

On the other hand, though, I feel as though the expense of it is part of what makes the day sexy and romantic. Which really isn’t fair. A dazzling Pandora ring sounds a lot more glamorous than a movie night (which is what we did last year) but that doesn’t mean that one couple is better than the other.

This emphasis on gift-giving is what puts pressure on young couples on Valentine’s Day and the cute little teddies and sparkly jewellery add to it. I think that the pressure stems from both people in the relationship wanting to make the other happy and wanting to give the other what they believe they deserve and for them to receive a gift like everyone else is.

If it were acknowledged more often that not everyone believes in this holiday and that not everyone puts an emphasis on buying presents that it would take some of the pressure off young people who worry about disappointing their significant other. Valentine’s Day should be about the relationship and how much someone loves you shouldn’t be measured by what they’ve bought you on the 14th of February.

What is The Electoral College?

It is a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of U.S. citizens.

Who are the electors and what do they do?

The electors for each state are chosen by each candidate’s political party. After the election, the electors vote in their respective states for the President and Vice President. There is no law that requires the electors to cast their vote according to their state’s popular vote, however, that is often times the case.

How are the electoral votes split up?

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. The number 538 is the total of the nation’s 435 representatives, 100 senators, and the three electors given to the District of Columbia. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to redeem the presidency.

Every state is given a number of votes equal to the number of senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress. Two votes are given for its senators in the U.S. Senate plus a number of votes equal to the number of members in the U.S. House of Representatives. The District of Columbia is given three electors and for all intents and purposes for the Electoral College is treated like a state. The state with the most electoral votes is California with 55, and the states with the least amount of electoral votes are tied at 3, which are, Alaska, Delaware, D.C., Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

How come a presidential candidate can win the popular vote but not become the President elect?

Because of the way the electoral college works, there is essentially no national election, rather, a state by state election because each state has variations of weight to determine the president of the U.S. Therefore, a candidate can win the majority of the people’s votes, but not the majority of the states electoral votes, which is what occurred in the 2016 Presidential Election: Trump vs. Clinton. Trump won the electoral vote with 306, but Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million people, yet, did not win presidency because the states that she won did not hold enough weight in the Electoral College.

ECO-UNESCO Ireland, in conjunction with UNESCO is running the Flagship UNESCO ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Youth Leadership’ training on the 21st and 22nd February. 

This joint UNESCO and ECO-UNESCO training is part of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) and aims to empower young people to inspire and mobilise others to take action towards a more sustainable and just future. The deadline for application is Monday 6th February.

The training will take place 21-22 February at the Clock Tower, Department of Education and Skills, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, Ireland and is open to young people (18-35) who are interested or engaged in sustainable development. Participants will engage with the theory and practice of ESD in order to build their capacity as ESD leaders. The training covers themes including; Sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals, ESD; Systems Thinking; Conflict Transformation; Leadership; Visioning; Communication; Facilitation; Networking; and Monitoring and Evaluation. Course material and an online session will be provided prior to the training.

Following the training it is envisaged that participants will become part of a UNESCO Global Network of Youth Leaders who will carry out activities, develop projects and continue links to UNESCO.

The training is free of charge, and travel, accommodation, and meals will be provided. Places are limited, and the deadline to apply is February 6th. For further information please contact [email protected] or call +353 (0)1 6625491.

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