The Beaver: Week of February 12th, 2013

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THE JASMINE REVOLUTION | LIGHTING IT ALL ABLAZE | REMOVING THE SECOND AMENDMENT

TheBeaver

12.02.2013

Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union FREE

RAISING AND GUNGING

ties, raising over ÂŁ800. On Tuesday, the three core RAG Charities gathered Last week, LSESU Raising and Giving (RAG) hosted on Houghton Street for the RAG Week 2013, raising RAG Week Charity Fair, a over ÂŁ2,000 pounds for the new feature to the RAG Week charities Find Your Feet, The Program that allowed stuHaven and Richard House GHQWV WR ன QG RXW ZKHUH WKHLU Children’s Hospice through money would be going. Repstudent fundraising activities resentatives from Find Your Feet, The Haven and Richard on campus. 7KH ZHHN NLFNHG RŕŽ‰ ZLWK House Children’s Hospice a Rowathon on Houghton spoke to students throughout Street, with AU Rowing Club the day and watched the AU members putting in the kilo- Netball, Rugby and Football meters to cover the distance teams battle it out in a charof LSE to Luxembourg, rais- ity netball tournament. Merchandise stalls and ing ÂŁ175 in the process. For bake sales on Wednesday the duration of the week, the LSE Library agreed to allow and Thursday were crowned students to donate their li- with an evening of live muEUDU\ ன QHV WR WKH 5$* &KDUL sic in the Quad, in an event Arisa Manawapat

that brought together RAG and the Music Society, who will be working together on LSESU Battle of the Bands later this term. This year, LSESU RAG and Volunteer Centre @ LSE Careers have teamed up with City Year London to bring together student fundraising and student volunteering to an ever larger audience. On WKH ன QDO GD\ RI 5$* :HHN City Year London, a charity which targets student interventions in more deprived London schools, brought 100 of their Corps members to Houghton Street to show ‘Physical Training’ activities that help motivate and inspire their young people.

The “Gunge a Big Name on Campus (BNOC)â€? show on Friday night, hosted by television presenter Dave Benson-Phillips, raised over ÂŁ800 pounds. Nominations opened a week earlier for LSE students to suggest those big-names-on-campus they would like to see in Dave’s eleven-foot tall gunge tank. Those who received the highest value of donations would be thrown into the tank. After some last minute donations that tied some of the candidates, two memEHUV RI VWDŕŽ‰ RI WKH 6WXGHQWV‍ ڑ‏ Union who cannot be named, the four Sabbatical Officers (Matthew de Jesus, Jack

Tindale, Duncan McKenna and Alex Peters-Day), Beaver Managing Editor Matthew Worby, and Josh Stacey, prominent member of the LSE Football Club found themselves covered headto-toe in Benson-Phillips’s lumpy neon green goo. Tindale said, “It was a pleasure to have Dave Benson-Phillips’s hot sticky mess all over me.� LSESU RAG Spokesperson Katie Madgwick noted the whole week’s events were “well attended and successful�, and added “A big thank you to everyone who got involved, particularly anyone who got gunged!� Continued on page 3, col 3.

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Editorial

2

Editorial Board Executive Editor Liam Brown

editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Managing Editor Matthew Worby

12.02.2013

7KHBeaver Established in 1949 Issue No. 786

managing@thebeaveronline.co.uk

News Editors Hayley Fenton Arisa Manawapat Shu Hang Low news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Telephone: 0207 955 6705 Email: editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk Website: www.thebeaveronline.co.uk

Comment Editor Jon Allsop comment@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Features Editor Nona Buckley-Irvine Chris Rogers features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Social Editor Vacant social@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Sport Editor Dennis Mooney

| The Beaver

Collective A E Dawson, A Doherty, A Fyfe, A Krechetova, A L Cunningham, A L Gunn, A Manawapat, A Moneke, A X Patel, A Peters-Day, A Qazilbash, A Riese, A Sulemanji, A Wright, A Young, B Arslan, B Butterworth, B Clarke, B Nardi, C S Russell, C V Pearson, D McKenna, D Ming, D Yu, E Beaumont, E Delahaye, E E Fraser, E Firth, E S Dwek, F Bennett, G K Chhina, G Manners-Armstrong, H Brentnall, H Burdon, H Dar, H Fenton, H J Sheppard, I Lorandou, I M Silver, J Allsop, J Attueyi, J Austin, J Curtis, J M Palmer, J M Still, J R Peart, J Stoll, J Tindale, J V Armstrong, J Wacket, J Yarde, K C Hughes, K Kenney, K Pezeshki, K Rogers, K Singh, L A Yang, L Atchison, L Aumeer, L Brown, L Kang, L Slothuus, L Vardaxoglou, M C +H૸ HUQDQ 0 )OHWFKHU 0 -HQNLQV M Veale, M Worby, N Antoniou, N J Buckley-Irvine, N Jaroszek, N Mashru, N Mateer, N Russell, P Gederi, R A Coleman, R Chouglay, R Al-Dabagh, R Browne, R Cucchiaro, R Gudka, R Hamer, R Holmes, R Illingworth, R J Charnock, R Serunjogi, S Chaudhuri, S Desai, S Gale, S H Low, S Lindner, S Newman, S Nissila, S Poojara, S R Williams, S Sebatindira, S W Leung, S Hang Low, T Barnes, T Poole, V A Wong, V Chan, X T Wang, Z Sammour

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Online Editor Vacant

The Beaver would like to thank the LSE students who contributed to this issue. Any opinions expressed herein are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the LSE Students’ Union or Beaver (GLWRULDO 6WD૸

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EDITOR ELECTIONS Despite the fact that the Beaver just held Editor elections this past week, we will be holding two more elections this week. The positions available are those of Social Editor and another News Editor position. For more information on these elections, please email collective@ thebeaveronline.co.uk.

BERNARD LEVIN AWARDS Come out to the launch party for the Bernard Levin Awards, an annual writing competition for LSE students with a grand prize of ÂŁ500 and a two-week internship at the Huffington Post. Launch party is on Thursday Feb. 14th in CLM.2.02 at 6PM.

The Beaver is issued under a Creative Commons license. Attribution necessary.

Say my name, say my name /6(68 VWDŕŽ‰ DUH FRUUXSW Okay, well no they aren’t. But if they were, this newspaper would not be allowed to report the names or even poVLWLRQV RI WKH VFRŕŽ? DZV 6HUL ously, the people that made the Bye-Laws of the LSESU wrote in to the documents WKDW WKH\ DV 8QLRQ VWDŕŽ‰ FDQ QRW EH QDPHG RU LGHQWLன HG by any organisation in the Media Group - that means Pulse, LooSEtv, the Clare Market Review, and this notorious rag of a newspaper. It is funny, really, because we have to send all of our content to the Students’ Union prior to publication, in order for them to check for libel and sometimes articles DERXW 8QLRQ DŕŽ‰ DLUV HVSH cially elections - get pulled for reasons so incoherently explained that we cannot help but bend to their will. %XW XOWLPDWHO\ WKH 6WDŕŽ‰

will ensure that anything so overtly libellous that it will spur a Murdoch-esque chain of lawsuits is taken out or at least heavily edited. The inability to name VWDŕŽ‰ LQ WKH 6WXGHQWV‍ ڑ‏8QLRQ though, extends beyond simple anti-libel restrictions. We are able to name students, DOXPQL /6( VWDŕŽ‰ DQG RI course, all elected members of the Student Executive (even if certain Returning Officers refuse to disavow WKHPVHOYHV RI 8QLRQ VWDŕŽ‰ LQ terference), so why are these people who make our Union run (admittedly, the vast majority of them they do a very good job, so this editorial is QR UHŕŽ‹ HFWLRQ RI WKHLU HŕŽ‰ RUWV LPPXQH IURP LGHQWLன FDWLRQ" The reason, ostensibly, is that the Sabbatical Officers are the ‘spokespeople’ of the SU and therefore all questions must be answered by

them. Now the LSE have a press department, but even the most apathetic reader of this paper will see quotations and references to speFLன F VWDŕŽ‰ ZLWKLQ WKH 6FKRRO Often the Sabbs will not have DQVZHUV WR VSHFLன F RSHUD tional concerns, also, if some nefarious business were to take place in the East Building, it would only be fair to identify the person responsible and not have untrained recent-graduates completely responsible for damage control. The LSE Students’ Union, for all of its faults, has great VWDŕŽ‰ EXW QR PDWWHU KRZ good they may be, they do not deserve to be held above the scrutiny others face on a daily basis. We hope that SU VWDŕŽ‰ ZLOO UHPRYH WKHLU LPPX QLW\ IURP LGHQWLன FDWLRQ DQG will continue to work hard for the students of the LSE.

2ŕŽ‰ HQGHG" (PDLO us! editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

8QLRQ %DVKÄ? Getting Back If J-Wanke were gunged, he’d probs enjoy it. A Sabb in the making?

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News

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

Drama Society Impresses With KhrishnanтАЩs Dairy Sarah Essa

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3

EVENTS IN BRIEF Languages Day - Tuesday, 12th February 7KH 6WXGHQWVтАл ┌СтАм8QLRQ DUH KDYLQJ D ODUJHU WKDQ OLIH -HQJD *DPH RQ +RXJKWRQ 6WUHHW ,Q WKH HYHQLQJ WKH 68 DQG WKH /DQJXDJH &HQWUH ZLOO EH KRVW LQJ /DQJXDJH 6SHHG 'DWLQJ DW SP LQ &/0

LGBT History Month - 1st-28th February /*%7 +LVWRU\ 0RQWK DLPV WR KLJKOLJKW WKH FRQWULEXWLRQV RI WKH /*%7 FRPPXQLW\ WKURXJK RXW KLVWRU\ DQG UHLQIRUFH WKH IDFW WKDW GLYHUVLW\ DQG FXOWXUDO SOXUDOLVP DUH SRZHUIXO DQG SRVLWLYH IRUFHV

тАШOne Billion RisingтАЩ - 14th February, London Eye 2pm 7KH /6(68 )HPLQLVW VRFLHW\ LQ FRRUGLQDWLRQ ZLWK .&/ DQG 62$6 ZLOO MRLQ RQH ELOOLRQ GDQFHUV DURXQG WKH JOREH LQ D GDQFH WR UDLVH DZDUHQHVV DERXW YLROHQFH GLUHFWHG WR ZRPHQ

Green Week, 11th - 15th February ,QFOXGLQJ 0XVLF /DXQFK 1LJKW LQ WKH 4XDG IURP SP RQZDUGV ZLWK GULQNV DQG PXVLF IURP WKH /6(68 0XVLF 6RFLHW\ 6HDUFK /6(68 *UHHQ :HHN RQ )DFHERRN IRU PRUH GHWDLOV

The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, Masculinity - 12th February 2013, 7:15- 8:15pm, KSW 1.04 /6(68 6RFLDO 3ROLF\ 6RFLHW\ SUHVHQW WKH роК IWK HYHQW LQ RXU VHULHV WR FRPPHPRUDWH WKH FHQWHQDU\ RI WKH GHSDUWPHQW

Thinking of Standing as a Candidate Meeting - 14th February, 1pm, Old Theatre ,I \RX DUH WKLQNLQJ RI VWDQG LQJ DV D FDQGLGDWH IRU WKH /HQW 7HUP HOHFWLRQV FRPH DORQJ WR WKLV PHHWLQJ WR роК QG RXW PRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ DQG DVN DQ\ TXHV WLRQV \RX PD\ KDYH

Timeless - 18th February 7-10:30pm Lyceum Theatre 7LPHOHVV LV D RQH QLJKW WKH DWULFDO SURGXFWLRQ WKDW LQ FRUSRUDWHV DOO RI WKH VWXGHQW SHUIRUPLQJ DUWV VRFLHWLHV DW WKH /6( %X\ WLFNHWV RQOLQH DW ZZZ OVHVX FRP

GOT A SCOOP? Got a story that you think we should be printing? Send us an e-mail: news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

4

News

12.02.2013

| The Beaver

Selina Parmar

Tanni Grey-Thompson, former wheelchair racer and winner of multiple Paralympic medals, gave a talk at the Underground last Thursday. Grey-Thompson was in fact christened as Carys but her sister called her ‘tiny’ when she was born, pronouncing it as ‘tanni’ and so has been called this ever since. Grey-Thompson spoke of her disability to a captivated audience; being born ZLWK VSLQD ELன GD D FRQGL tion where some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused. At the age of seven, Grey-Thompson became paralysed. Grey-Thompson talked about the importance of her dad in encouraging her to VWD\ ன W DQG KHDOWK\ “It was through this that I realised my love for competing.â€? Grey-Thompson’s decisions since the age of seven became focused around her love for sport and she attended Loughborough University in order to continue competing. While at university, she won a bronze medal at the Paralympics in Seoul in the 400m wheelchair race, and went on to achieve four golds and a silver in Barcelona four years later in 1992. She also won multiple medals in At-

lanta, Athens and Sydney. Sport became part of everything Grey-Thompson did DQG DŕŽ‰ HFWHG KHU GDLO\ GHFL sions The wheelchair racer trained on the morning of her wedding day, and did not compete in the race that morning only because her mother had her banned from it. On her honeymoon, the newlyweds visited the National Squad training camp in Switzerland. Grey-Thompson warned WKH DXGLHQFH DERXW WKH ன QH line between focus and obsession. When planning for D FKLOG WKH ன UVW WKLQJ VKH looked at was her competition schedule - she wanted to compete in the Commonwealth Games, and then counted back six months for recovery and another forty weeks. For her, sport had became more than a full time job. Grey-Thompson was heavily involved in London 2012 from the bidding stage to the execution. Despite the overwhelming view that Paris would win, a lesson she had learnt from sport was “you have got to try.â€? She talked about the incredible feeling when London won the bid, completely forgetting the message from the PR team that they should politely applauded Paris, instead jumping up and down ecstatically. Following the bid, Grey-Thompson was involved

in consolidating the ParalymSLFV UDLVLQJ LWV SURன OH DQG ensuring funding. Grey-Thompson spoke of one of her favourite memorable moments of the Paralympic Games. “I started talking to the PRWKHU RI D ன YH \HDU ROG double-amputee. Her mother said that before the games, her daughter had preferred to be in a pram and have people think that she was a baby, than to walk on her prosthetic legs and people to know she was disabled. “Since watching the games, her daughter had decided to walk everywhere on her prosthetic legs.â€? Post-retirement, GreyThompson became a Life Peer in the House of Lords and is currently heavily involved in welfare reform. She is involved in looking at antidoping and how athletes who fail drug tests can be rehabilitated as well as being part of the National Disability Council, sitting on the board of UK Sport, and is a patron for a number of charities including Sportsleaders UK. In terms of sport, GreyThompson spoke of her desire to see a greater focus on school sport, especially for girls. She expressed hope that there will be wider coverage of the Paralympics in the future, drawing attention to the fact that the USA had no coverage of the Paralym-

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Paralympian talks success

pics in 2012. Grey-Thompson spoke approvingly of the expansion of the Brazilian Paralympic team over the past few years and how she hoped this would help raise the proன OH RI WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV LQ 5LR 2016. Dennis Mooney, a second

year BSc History and International Relations student, said, “the talk was really interesting. It was fascinating to see how someone who devoted their life to top level athletics has been able to transition into top level politics.�

From Poverty to Happiness Sophie Donszelman, 6WDૼ 5HSRUWHU

The LSESU Social Policy Society hosted Jonathan Bradshaw as part of their centenary celebrations for a talk entitled “From Poverty to Happiness.� Chaired by Julian Le Grand, the Richard Titmuss professor of Social Policy at LSE, the discussion focused on child poverty, although not exclusively, and affirmed the event’s description that “we know a great deal about poverty but very little about happiness.�

The discussion, held on Thursday evening, was the fourth event in a series hosted by the Social Policy Society celebrating the department’s 100-year anniversary at LSE. The society aimed to organise events that “include some of the most important issues that social policy as a discipline is discussing and studying today.� Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, from the department of social policy at the University of York, has served as an advisor to UNICEF, and a trustee to the Child Poverty

VINOTH CHANDAR

Action Group, amongst other positions. In his talk, Bradshaw guided the audience through a structured qualitative andquantitative analysis of WKH GHன QLWLRQ DQG PHDVXUH ments of poverty and its implications in domestic and international contexts, touching on research spanning from Roundtree to the current day. Supported with empirical evidence, Bradshaw noted that the league table on general wellbeing, made up of a variety of widely encompassing factors, ranked Britain at the bottom for general happiness. In contrast, the speaker surprised many with the statement- African children score in the top 80th percentile of happiness despite being some of the poorest in the world.â€? He further added that the Netherlands seemed to be at the top of every happiness and development index. The assertion that “girls have always been much less happier than boysâ€? prompted many follow-up ques-

tions and discussion. Social networking, he added, was greatly changing the pre-existing social dynamics. The speaker was impassioned about the current direction and development of measures of poverty as he noted that the multi-dimensional poverty indicator that Iain Duncan Smith has recently proposed for the British government is the “most awful command paper that has ever been written in my life time.� However, he did praise other British poverty indices, stating that they were “the best of any country in the world� as both relative and absolute measures. The professor would, however, increase the poverty gaps measure over the poverty rates measure, which in his opinion would improve the welfare system. Both Le Grand and Bradshaw agreed that the reintroduction of the Educational Maintenance Allowance and the Child Trust Fund should be high priorities. The speaker acknowledged

that the current government was on track with its poverty reduction targets and circumstances had improved under the Labour government. Despite this, in an ominous warning, he cautioned that without further and improved action, “child unhappiness is almost certain to increase.� Audience members said Bradshaw “proved his point quite well,� and despite some disputable points, they found it to be “very thoughtprovoking.� Alex Rennick, a second year student and the LSESU Social Policy Events Officer, said she was very pleased with the turn out to the discussion and was looking forward to similar successful events. The next event in the centenary commemoration of the LSESU Social Policy Society is a conversation with Dr Coretta Phillips on “The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, Masculinity and Social Relations Among Prisoners.� This will be held on February 12th.

News

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

5

LSE releases teaching survey Shu Hang

Data released by the London School of Economics (LSE) reveal that students are most satLVன HG ZLWK 3KLORVRSK\ DQG ,QWHU national History courses, and OHDVW VDWLVன HG ZLWK /6( Every term end, the School carries out a teaching survey on most undergraduate modules, ZKHUH VWXGHQWV DUH DVNHG WR FRPSOHWH D IRUP E\ UDWLQJ WKH FRXUVH LQ WHUPV RI PXOWLSOH FUL terias, such as course content, FRXUVH PDWHULDO DQG IHHGEDFN UHFHLYHG $ UDWLQJ RQ D VFDOH IURP RQH WR ன YH ZDV JLYHQ IRU HDFK FULWHULD ZLWK RQH EHLQJ WKH PRVW SRVLWLYH UHVSRQVH $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH VFKRRO ZLGH UHVXOWV RI WKH 0LFKDHO mas Term teaching survey obtained by the Beaver, students ZHUH PRVW KDSS\ ZLWK WKH FRQ WHQW RI WKHLU FRXUVHV $Q DYHU DJH UDWLQJ RI ZDV JLYHQ RQ WKLV DUHD 6WXGHQWV ZHUH OHVV VDWLVன HG ZLWK FRQWDFW WLPH DQG WKH UHOHYDQFH RI WKH IHHGEDFN UHFHLYHG LQ SUHSDULQJ IRU WKH H[ aminations, giving it an average D UDWLQJ RI When it comes to satisfacWLRQ ZLWK FODVV WHDFKHUV VWX dents rated their teachers’ ‍ڔ‏VSRNHQ (QJOLVK‍ ڕ‏KLJKO\ JLYLQJ LW D PHDQ UDWLQJ RI 6WXGHQWV ZHUH OHVV LPSUHVVHG ZLWK WKHLU WHDFKHUV‍ ڑ‏DELOLW\ WR PDNH WKH

class “intellectually stimulatLQJ‍ ڕ‏DQG ‍ڔ‏SURYLGH KHOSIXO IHHG EDFN ‍ ڕ‏JLYLQJ ERWK DUHDV D PHDQ UDWLQJ RI On average, students gave class teaching in general a ratLQJ RI The LSE has also released the teaching survey results for XQGHUJUDGXDWH FRXUVHV $FFRUGLQJ WR DQ /6( 6SRNHV SHUVRQ WKH 6FKRRO LV XQDEOH to release the results of all the courses surveyed as “releasing the course score results for those courses taught by a single teacher might be in breach of WKH 'DWD 3URWHFWLRQ $FW‍ ڕ‏LI QR SULRU FRQVHQW IURP WKH WHDFKHUV LV REWDLQHG $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH UHVXOWV VWX GHQWV ZHUH PRVW VDWLVன HG ZLWK FRXUVHV KHOG E\ WKH 'HSDUWPHQW RI 3KLORVRSK\ DQG WKH 'HSDUW PHQW RI ,QWHUQDWLRQDO +LVWR U\ 0HDQZKLOH /6( SHU IRUPHG UHODWLYHO\ SRRUO\ LQ WKH survey, obtaining a mean score RI RQ TXDOLW\ RI IHHGEDFN FRPSDUHG WR VFKRRO DYHU DJH DQG RQ FRXUVH FRQWHQW FRPSDUHG WR VFKRRO DYHU DJH 1HYHUWKHOHVV /6( FODVV WHDFKHUV ZHUH UDWHG DERYH the school average in many reVSHFWV 'U -RQDWKDQ /HDSH DGPLW WHG WKDW /6( LV ‍ڔ‏EHORZ WKH 6FKRRO DYHUDJH ZLWK D SDU

WLFXODUO\ VKDUS GLYHUJHQFH RQ FRXUVH FRQWHQW ‍ ڕ‏1HYHUWKHOHVV /HDSH DSSHDUHG QRW WR EH ID]HG E\ WKH ORZ VFRUH ‍ڔ‏7KH 6FKRRO LV DZDUH WKDW WKH FRQWHQW RI /6( LV H[WUHPHO\ FKDOOHQJLQJ UHTXLULQJ VWXGHQWV WR ZRUN DFURVV VRFLDO VFLHQFH GLVFLSOLQHV /6( LV ன UPO\ RI WKH YLHZ WKDW WKLV LQWHOOHFWXDO GLVFL SOLQH ZLOO VHUYH VWXGHQWV ZHOO ‍ ڕ‏ KH VDLG /HDSH DOVR ZLVKHV WR GUDZ DWWHQWLRQ WR /6( ‍ڑ‏V UDWLQJV RQ LWV FODVV WHDFKHUV ‍ڔ‏7KH FODVV WHDFKHU HYDOXDWLRQV IRU /6( DUH LPSURYLQJ DQG H[FHHG WKH 6FKRRO DYHUDJH LQ HYHU\ UHJDUG 7KH UHVXOWV IRU ‍Ú?‏KHOSIXO IHHG EDFN‍ ڑ‏FRQன UP /6( DV D OHDG LQJ H[DPSOH RI EHVW SUDFWLFH LQ SURYLGLQJ VWXGHQWV ZLWK KLJK TXDOLW\ IHHGEDFN WR VXSSRUW WKHLU OHDUQLQJ ‍ڕ‏ 2WKHU SRRUO\ UHFHLYHG FRXUVHV LQFOXGH (& *< 0* (& DQG 25 The School is currently considering releasing the results of the teaching surveys on the LSE ZHEVLWH EHJLQQLQJ QH[W \HDU ZKLFK ZLOO DLP WR JXLGH VWXGHQWV RQ FKRRVLQJ ZKLFK PRGXOHV WR WDNH 7KH %HDYHU LV FXUUHQWO\ ORRNLQJ LQWR WKLV 'HSDUWPHQWV UHFHLYLQJ OHVV WKDQ UHVSRQVHV ZHUH H[ cluded from the analysis, such DV WKH $QWKURSRORJ\ GHSDUW PHQW

Survey results by departments (scale of 1 to 5, 1 being most positive response)

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News

12.02.2013

| The Beaver

LSE celebrates Pakistan Week Anaam Afridi

Last week saw the LSE beLQJ ஋ RRGHG ZLWK ‫ڔ‬3DNLVWDQL‫ ڕ‬ WKHPHG HYHQWV )URP EKDQ JUD UXQV WR FULFNHW PDWFKHV IURP %LU\DQL HDWLQJ FRPSH WLWLRQV WR WDONV RQ .DVKPLU IURP D ஊ OP VFUHHQLQJ RQ DFLG DWWDFNV WR IXQGUDLVLQJ WR EXLOG VFKRROV LQ 3DNLVWDQ IURP DQ HYHQLQJ RI WUDGLWLRQDO PXVLF WR FHOHEUDWLQJ 3DNLVWDQ‫ڑ‬V VXF FHVVHV 3DNLVWDQ :HHN KDG LW DOO 7KH ZHHN VWDUWHG ZLWK D FULFNHW PDWFK EHWZHHQ WKH /6(68 6RFLHW\ IRU WKH 3UR PRWLRQ RI ,QGLDQ &XOWXUH DQG (WKRV 63,&( DQG WKH 3DNLVWDQ VRFLHW\ 7KH PDWFK PDUNHG D WUDQVLWLRQ EHWZHHQ ,QGLD ZHHN KHOG WKH ZHHN EHIRUH DQG 3DNLVWDQ ZHHN :KLOH WKH RQ ஊ HOG PDWFK ZDV LQWHQVH Rஉ WKH ஊ HOG VXSSRUW HUV RI HLWKHU VLGH WULHG WR RXW FKHHU WKH RWKHU 7KH\ ZDYHG WKHLU ஋ DJV DOO HYHQLQJ VDQJ DORQJ WR SDWULRWLF VRQJV DQG GDQFHG WKH EKDQJUD WR GHVL WXQHV 'HVSLWH ,QGLD ZLQQLQJ WKH PDWFK ERWK VLGHV ZHQW KRPH HTXDOO\ VDWLVஊ HG IRU LW PDUNHG D JUHDW HQG WR ,QGLD ZHHN DQG D IDQWDVWLF VWDUW WR 3DNLVWDQ ZHHN PRE WKHQ D EKDQJUD UXQ 2Q 0RQGD\ WKH 3DNLVWDQ ZKHUH PHPEHUV RI WKH VRFL VRFLHW\ WRRN RYHU +RXJKWRQ HW\ ZHQW DURXQG WKH FDPSXV VWUHHW ஊ UVW RUJDQLVLQJ D ஋ DVK GRLQJ WKH EKDQJUD GDQFH $

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The Beaver | 12.02.2013

7

Students pay ÂŁ30/h for own tutors 7XWRU DW $[LRP LV FRQனGHQW in the business’ success: More and more LSE stu- “based on last year’s expedents are seeking services rience, the demand is high of a private tuition company at LSE, with expectations of compiled largely of their further growth. We believe own peers for help on their that all our current tutors will be fully booked by the studies. The phenomenon raises end of March.â€? Until now, the business concern of LSE’s lack of academic support, especially has been advertised by considering the recent tri- word of mouth alone, and pling in tuition fees. Axiom often on recommendation of Tutoring, founded by recent their tutors – “I like the fact LSE graduates and employ- that the company is LSELQJ RYHU WXWRUV RŕŽ‰HU oriented. I’ve had contact tuition for undergraduate with most subjects taught courses at LSE, UCL, King’s within the Economics deand SOAS amongst other partment, either as a stuLondon universities. The dent or a class teacher and most popular courses for have recommended Axiom LSE are MA100, EC201 and to several fellow postgraduST102, with rates ranging ate students and teaching from ÂŁ35-80/hourly session. assistantsâ€? says I.C., one of Axiom employs students Axiom’s Gold-level tutors. “Since our up in January that have scored a 2:1 or a 1:1 in the module they are- 2012, we have built a cliwishing to tutor, with some ent base of over 40 people, having achieved over 90 per mainly at LSE,â€? says Execucent. Revi Panidha, Head- tive Assistant, Mina PanidAleona Krechetova

ha. “We were motivated to start up a tutoring company tailored primarily at LSE because we have noticed that students, particularly attending London-based inVWLWXWLRQV னQG LWGLIILFXOW WR னQG RQH RQ RQH VSHFLDOL]HG help.â€? 0LVV 3DQLGKD FRQனUPV that LSE’s low student satisfaction scores may have a role to play in Axiom’s success; “LSE is a prestigious, world-renown university which, from my own experience, has outstanding academia and research resources. However, teaching disVDWLVIDFWLRQ UHVXOWV UHŕŽ‹HFW that students are now more demanding than ever and universities need to make sure they are meeting their expectations.â€? LSE came 35th in the Complete University Guide league table for student satisfaction in 2012, whilst

occupying 4th place in the league table overall. Only 38.4 per cent of VWXGHQWV ZHUH ‍ڔ‏VDWLVனHG‍ ڕ‏ with the amount of contact time with teachers for their courses. Universally poor rankings and results for student satisfaction have been an increasing concern at LSE for a while, with the Students’ Union spearheading a campaign to increase Graduate Teaching Assistant’s pay and advocating for better feedback for students’ work. The Students’ Union is submitting their report to LSE at the end of the month. “I’m fortunate to get quite decent feedback from my teachers, but then again my expectations are probably quite low, given my other friends’ experiences,â€? said third year LLB student, Olivia Hulse. “Because of how few contact hours we get, I’m not at all surprised

that they’re a tutoring company aimed at LSE students – what’s more shocking is the cost of tuition.â€? $ னUVW \HDU (FRQRPLFV student, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said, “I’d love to work for them – imagine what they’d pay the tutors if they charge ÂŁ40 an hour for a session! Besides, I help my friends with problem sets every week anyway – I might as well get money for it.â€? Axiom’s former tutees speak highly of them, commending their “excellent and highly professional serYLFH‍ ڕ‏$Q XQGLVFORVHG னUVW year LSE student said it “provided exactly the level of tutoring required to help SDVV DOO H[DPV LQ னUVW \HDU and build a strong foundation going in to the second. Highly recommended for students who need a bit more help or are unsure going into the exam period!â€?

The Big Bad Pharmaceutical Industry Last week, award-winning writer and broadcaster Ben Goldacre scrutinised the $600 billion global pharmaceutical industry in a public lecture at the Peacock Theatre. Goldacre is a medical doctor, academic and writer who specialises in unpicking the wrongdoings the pharmaceutical industry does to the public’s knowledge of medicine in the UK. Until 2011 he wrote a column for the Guardian called “Bad Scienceâ€? and has published three books, the most recent of which, Bad Pharma, came out last September. The talk investigated why numerous clinical trials were missing in action and how the pharmaceutical industry hurts its patients. The smiley 39-year-old began with an acknowledgement that it isn’t bad people who prevent clinical drug trials telling doctors what they need to know, only bad systems. His friends crossed over into “that worldâ€?, he said, and “none of them would punch an old lady in the face, apparently.â€? However, they work in a system WKDW GLVWRUWV னQGLQJV DQG trials with a result not too dissimilar from punching an old lady in the face. Most of the lecture was lent to describing the clinical trials missing in action, in particular the withheld data at every stage of clinical trials. Trials with positive results are twice as likely to be published than

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Krysia Woroniecka

trials with negative results and only half of all the clinical trials for the drugs in use today have been published. “I would call that Research Misconduct, would you agree?â€? Goldacre asks the audience. This then becomes the னUVW RI WKH HYHQLQJ‍ڑ‏V SDQWRmime-style exchanges and the murmurs are coaxed into a unanimous “Yes.â€? However, the Ethical Stand-

ards in Health and Life Sciences Group (ESHLSG) did not agree and stated that the problem does not exist and herein lies the issue. “It isn’t just the $600 billion global industry that covers up the trials and thus prevents doctors and patients getting the information they need, but it’s also the regulators that are letting us down.� Goldacre described

cover-up after cover-up of drugs, many of which are familiar names, including 5RVFKH‍ڑ‏V 7DPLŕŽ‹X D SDUticularly interesting case of withheld information that resulted in an embarrassing end for the British Government who spent half a ÂŁbillion on the drug and didn’t quite know when to back down when it turned out it didn’t quite do what it said on the tin.

Goldacre explained that withholding trials is not the only way that the degree to which drugs do what doctors think they do is withheld. There is a long list of Bad Methods. This includes misrepresenting results by comparing them only against placebos rather than what doctors currently prescribes- useful if the next best drug is a placebo but almost never is that the case. Another method mentioned was ghost writing. According to Goldacre, it was statistically possible that LSE academics could have ghost authored industry reports, not in return for money but to escape the perils that come with unpublished works. With so many of the audience academics, or in some way related to health services of pharmaceuticals the audience was extremely jovial considerLQJ KRZ PDQ\ னQJHUV ZHUH pointed. The talk ended with an optimistic review of how things have changed for the better since the book was published, including a campaign by Alltrials.net for increased transparency. Audience members said the talk was “really entertainingâ€? but that it focused heavily on non publication bias. A member who wished to remain anonymous said, ‍ڔ‏QR ZRQGHU WKDW SHRSOH னQG it so shocking if they haven’t heard it beforeâ€? before explaining that he was a closet fan of Goldacre’s who works for Rosche.

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12.02.2013

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Comment Leader: Rachel Alexandra Chua on why blaming rape victims has to stop

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The Beaver | 12.02.2013

9

The gay marriage vote: good for equality, bad for the church-state relationship Owen Alun John thinks that the gay marriage vote marked a momentous day for equality

Ben Phillips on why gay marriage shows that church and state need a divorce

It was surprisingly quiet in Parliament Square last Tuesday. There was no big rally, no American-style prayer vigil nor indeed hoards of straight married couples wailing in the streets at the impending demise of their relationships. Given the hysterical shouting match that built up to it, the parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage was surprisingly modest. I was almost a bit disappointed that when I joined the NUS LGBT Campaign for a photo outside Parliament, the biggest reaction I got was a thumbs-up from some kids on a passing school trip. Confused, upVHW DQG WHUULன HG DW HQFRXQWHULQJ VRPH real actual gay people they were not. Inside Parliament things looked equally measured. Yes there were some very angry Tories and yes one of them did mention incest about ten minutes in, but it was far less of a homophobia free-for-all than many expected. I would even go as far as to say that it was moving at times. Whilst I am fairly easily moved, with the X-factor ன QDO XVXDOO\ HQRXJK WR WLS PH RYHU WKH edge, there was something genuinely poignant in what many MPs, particularly gay and lesbian ones, said. They spoke about growing up, about FRPLQJ RXW DERXW IHHOLQJ GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW DOO their lives and longing for acceptance. About harassment, about being bullied and about falling in love. Politics today really is pretty gay. A key reason that the youth wings of all three parties support the Bill is that a number of their young members are lesbian or gay. Speaking personally, I’ve gone to Labour conferences, interned in Parliament, and being gay has never been anything other than accepted and celebrated. And so it’s very easy to forget what lots of gay MPs went through. The constant lying to voters, their party and in some cases themselves for decades, often whole careers. Those who were out faced vile abuse and entire election campaigns aimed solely at their sexual orientations. That MPs like Margot James, Mike Freer and Nick Herbert – all Conservatives – actually stood up in Parliament to speak honestly about who they are and who they love is a sign of how far their party and the country has moved. So too the fact that ministers like Theresa May and Maria Miller – who had never voted for an LGBT equality measure throughout their careers – actually championed the rights of gay people this time round. The debate hasn’t, of course, just been one big gay love-in. Just a few weeks ago a Conservative opponent of the bill casually observed that “most parents would prefer their children not to be gayâ€? and subtle but clear referHQFHV WR JD\ FRXSOHV EHLQJ ‍Ú?‏GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW‍ ڑ‏ and ‘separate but equal’ punctuated the debate on Tuesday night. More generally, the fact that nearly 200 , mostly Tory, MPs still feel that their moral or religious judgment on others is a valid reason to restrict minority rights in a liberal democracy is seriously worrying. We don’t live in a theocracy, nor get our social policy straight from the Bible. Minority rights are something we value in Britain, HYHQ ZKHQ ZH ன QG RXUVHOYHV LQ WKH PD

The state and the church are awkward bedfellows at best. The former constantly pushes for social change, seeking either ideological goals or cynical GLŕŽ‰ HUHQWLDWLRQ IURP LWV SUHGHFHVVRUV The latter proudly clings to principles which, by their nature, can’t really change at all. It’s a dysfunctional reODWLRQVKLS ZKLFK EHQHன WV QHLWKHU VLGH Perhaps it’s time the Christians and the politicians took a break from each other. In fact, why not separate them altogether? The UK’s religious demographics are changing beyond recognition. The proportion of the population describing itself as Christian has fallen by over ten per cent in the last ten years, while atheism has seen a parallel rise in prevalence. For many, the UK has become a secular nation, or at least is well on its way to becoming so. Despite this, Britain’s church and state remain XQLன HG WKH HVWDEOLVKHG UHOLJLRQ LV WKH Church of England, the monarch must be both Anglican and married to an Anglican and the House of Lords contains 29 ‘Lords Spiritual’ (high ranking members of the Church of England) who hold real legislative power. In a sense, these institutional connections are mere formalities, but they have led to the impression that the church and state are somehow responsible to one another - that their actions should coincide. This strange relationship has been and will continue to be problematic for both sides. Take gay marriage. Among the many issues encountered by the bill passed in the House of Commons this Tuesday was the fear that Anglican churches might be

MRULW\ 03V ZRXOG GR ZHOO WR UHŕŽ‹ HFW RQ this before again opposing equal treatPHQW DW WKH ELOO‍ڑ‏V ன QDO YRWH I managed somehow to make it into the Commons bar after the result was announced on Tuesday. Truth be told there were so many gay men in Parliament that evening that I could have been on a night out in Vauxhall. I got chatting to one senior Tory MP who is gay and came out relatively late in life. He echoed his colleagues in the chamber when he told me that at the start of his career the idea that he could be open about himself seemed totally unimaginable. That he would one day be able to actually marry the person he loved, and that his party would help make that happen, was beyond his comprehension. Being gay can still be difficult, but the anxieties and the raw fear that he GHVFULEHG GRQ‍ڑ‏W GHன QH PRVW JD\ SHR ple today. Yes there is still discrimination and serious bullying in schools, and same-sex marriage isn’t a silver bullet for all homophobia, but we live LQ D IXQGDPHQWDOO\ GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW WLPH Aspiring politicians today don’t need to worry that being gay will hold them back and most straight people our age see that as self-evident, intrinsically fair and long overdue. This enormous shift is why there was no great shock when the vote was won,and no dramatic scenes outside Parliament. The debate on Tuesday was just a modest, understated and really a very British way of saying that gay people won’t be excluded anymore. Owen Alun John is Equalities Officer of LSESU Labour & Cooperative Society

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forced to marry gay couples. The churches were up in arms, furious that the state would dare to encroach upon their religious liberty. The consequence of the uproar is a crucial caveat to the gay marriage bill, that it will be illegal IRU WKH &KXUFK RI (QJODQG WR RŕŽ‰ HU JD\ marriage. This disagreement needn’t have occurred at all. The notion of the state forcing the churches to marry anyone would not be considered were it not for the church-state connection still present in the UK. The very religious liberty which the churches were seeking to protect this week will be threatened as long as there is unity between church and state. A separation between the two would render the Church of England an entirely free religious institution, the policies of which would be as safe from government clutches as those of mosques or synagogues. *D\ PDUULDJH ZDV QRW WKH ன UVW LVVXH over which the church and state have GLVFRYHUHG D GLŕŽ‰ HUHQFH RI RSLQLRQ ZLWK female bishops the previous cause for squabbling, and will not be the last. The two surely recognise that their ideals are becoming ever more dissimilar and that they are following two entireO\ GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW GRFWULQHV $V WLPH SDVVHV disagreement will arise more and more often over increasingly fundamental issues. Before this happens, both sides might do well to separate. Any form of XQLன FDWLRQ ULVNV WKH VWDWH IHHOLQJ WKH QHHG WR IRUFLEO\ UHGXFH WKH GLŕŽ‰ HUHQFHV between itself and the church. Separation is the only means of ensuring complete self-determination. This is no anti-theist manifesto. The Church of England is an enormously important part of the UK’s institutional make up and remains an affiliate of more than 60 per cent of its population. That is precisely why it should separate itself from the state. The church should be able to set out and pursue its own path, unconcerned by the ideals of any government. Its current attachment to the government of the day leaves it vulnerable to deviation from ZKDW VKRXOG EH LWV RQO\ REMHFWLYH SUR viding a beacon for British Christians. Entanglement in statutory questions of gender equality and gay marriage will only detract from that. The crucial role of the church in British society will endure only if it is separated from the State. In this sense, both the state and WKH FKXUFK ZLOO EHQHன W IURP VHSDUD tion. The state will be able to pursue its own policy path, unhindered by the concerns of any religious institution stitched onto it. Just as importantly, the church will be able to operate with true independence, detached from issues which no longer threaten or interest it. So maybe it’s time the UK’s churchstate relationship came to an end. Currently, they only bother one another. Separation would end the wrangling which accompanies any issue that might provoke state intervention into the church. It would allow both institutions to pursue their very distinct policy aims, free from obstruction or impediment. Gay marriage was a historic breakthrough this week. It should be followed by an even more groundbreaking event - a divorce between the church and the state.

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12.02.2013

| The Beaver

DICEY

Abi Malortie

Chris Huhne: Texts, Lies and Videotape It started with a lie. And it has ended (though the trial continues) with the resignation of an MP and cabinet member who now faces up to a life sentence in jail. In 2003, Chris Huhne’s car was caught speeding at almost twenty miles per hour over the limit. His wife, Vicky Pryce, claimed that she’d been driving and so took the points on her licence. In 2010, a few years after his election as an MP, the couple’s 26 year marriage ended with WKH UHYHODWLRQ RI +XKQH‍ڑ‏V DŕŽ‰ DLU ZLWK another woman. In an act of calculatHG UHYHQJH IRU KLV LQன GHOLW\ +XKQH‍ڑ‏V ex-wife conspired with a journalist to expose him, alleging that he had been driving the car and that he had coerced her into taking the points instead of him. When the allegation became public in 2011, both were charged with perverting the course of justice, which both vociferously denied. Huhne resigned his cabinet seat although he continued as an MP, declaring his innocence and intention to clear his name. Then, in a dramatic volte-face at the start of the trial last week, Huhne changed his plea to guilty, resigned from his constituency seat, and now awaits sentencing. His ex-wife continues her trial and it will be for the jury to determine whether she was indeed coerced by Huhne in 2003. It is not unheard of for politicians to fall from grace. Indeed, there is often a great deal of cynicism about politicians when it comes to wheth-

er the public can really trust them to tell the truth. Some have even served prison sentences for their indiscretions and lies. And some have had remarkable turnarounds through the experience of being caught in the act – former MP Jonathan Aitken became a Christian whilst in prison and now shares widely his story of forgiveness and grace. Yet it is the evidence of the capacity for human beings to destroy one another that seems most prominent in this particular case. DeFHSWLRQ DŕŽ‰ DLUV GLYRUFH manipulation and revenge all roll up into a story that has provided compelling fodder for the media and their public. Perhaps the most devastating account takes the form of text messages between Huhne and his teenage son; the latter’s anger and contempt for his father

UNION

brutally succinct. The nuclear consequences of the breakdown in their relationship are painfully on display. Little media attention has been focused on the behaviour of the journalist at the heart of the original expose of the lie. Perhaps that is hardly surprising, based on the counter-argument that the public demands such stories. Yet the glee evident in the conversations between journalist and ex-wife at the possibility of both scooping a story that ends the career of a cabinet minister and exacting public revenge for the adulterous end to a marriage is deeply disturbing. The explicit objective of both women was to enhance their own careers and positions without a thought for the collateral damage to the family as sordid details were raked over in the process. There’s an old saying that RQH OLH EHJHWV DQRWKHU 5HŕŽ‹ HFWLQJ on the little white lies we ourselves might have told over the years would perhaps make for an uncomfortable awareness of the truth of that statement. Of course, D MXVWLன FD tion is always read-

ily at hand – usually that no one was harmed by our lie. In fact, the lie was designed precisely so as not to harm the person who might otherwise have discovered the truth, notwithstanding that concealing the truth helpfully serves also to protect us from the anger of the other person. In this case the lie was then perpetuated, with the public, the media, the government and even the courts of law (not to mention the lawyers appointed to defend Huhne) all becoming dupes in the process. And, as with many lies, it took the repeated threat of the truth being forced into the open IRU WKH SHUSHWUDWRU ன QDOO\ WR DGPLW KLV guilt. Many are shaking their heads at the failings of those in the public eye, appalled at the scale of the deception. For we (rightly) expect high standards of those in trusted positions of public, private and civic office. Chris Huhne will face the consequences of his criminal actions in the justice system. Yet we are still left with a tricky question: where does one draw the line with lies? Are there some lies which are okay, and others which are not? Is it permissible for some to lie, but others not? Where and how do we draw the lines of distinction? There are a ORW RI ன QJHUV SRLQWLQJ DQG ZDJJLQJ right now. But I wonder, also, how many of us need to remove the planks in our own eyes before we pass judgment on the indiscretions we perceive in others.

Joe Anderson

Streamlining our broken UGM When the Beaver ran a cartoon a couple of weeks ago of the UGM’s gravestone saying “1897-2013... Rest in Peaceâ€?, I could barely disagree about the meeting’s death. With a quorum of 250, an attendance of seven renders the Union General Meeting defunct. As the Chair, such an attendance is frankly embarrassing, both personally and to the Union. I do not have any nostalgic memories of the supposed golden days of the UGM. If these golden days ever did exist, they easily pre-dated my WLPH DW WKH /6( , DP IDLUO\ FRQன GHQW that the photographs of the UGM, with people actually turning up, were taken a few years before I started at the School. Being perpetually inquorate, the UGM cannot pass policy, nor can it HŕŽ‰ HFWLYHO\ VFUXWLQLVH WKH ZRUN RI WKH 8QLRQ‍ڑ‏V H[HFXWLYH 7KH HŕŽ‰ HFWLYH UH moval of online voting last year was an extremely poor decision and has just further paralysed the meeting. I fail to see how anyone could reason that increasing the opportunity cost of participation would increase it. Still, the removal of online voting was likely more a symptom of the UGM’s

death than its cause. The current state and problems of WKH 8*0 DUH HDVLO\ LGHQWLன DEOH EXW what are much harder to identify are the solutions, assuming solutions are QHHGHG ,Q RUGHU WR ன QG D ZD\ IRUZDUG for the UGM, we need to look at the reasons the UGM exists (or existed). From there, we can then look at what structure works. I see the UGM as having two key DLPV 7KH ன UVW LV WR SDVV SROLF\ WKDW UHŕŽ‹ HFWV WKH YLHZV RI WKH 8QLRQ‍ڑ‏V members. The second is to hold our sabbatical and part-time executive officers to account. 6RPH ZRXOG DUJXH WKDW WKH ன UVW aim does not require the existence of a body like the UGM, since our Union’s Executive is popularly elected on a relatively large turn-out, and as such is much more representative of the student population than any UGM. I am not convinced by such an argument. Policy positions change; individuals on the executive will ன QG WKHLU YLHZV FKDQJLQJ RYHU WKH course of their term and these may QRW UHŕŽ‹ HFW WKH SODWIRUP RQ ZKLFK WKH\ stood. Furthermore, new policy questions will be posed throughout execu-

tive members’ terms of office as a result of external factors, such as the government or university introducing new proposals. On these new issues, I think that executive members cannot necessarily presume that their views ZLOO UHŕŽ‹ HFW WKRVH RI WKHLU YRWHUV The second aim, of holding officers to account, does certainly require the existence of some sort of democratic structure separate to the executive. Whilst it has not occurred at LSE during my time here, there have been LQVWDQFHV ZKHQ VWXGHQWV ORVH FRQன dence in officers. I would not want the executive to be the body which votes to censure or pass motions of QR FRQன GHQFH LQ RIILFHUV DV VXFK D power could so easily be abused. With these two aims, I see two potential solutions. One would be to adopt a council-based structure, as used at KCLSU and UCLU, or the alternative would be to continue to use a UGM-style system, as used here and at SOAS. Whilst I initially favoured this proposal, I believe that LSE is too small to justify the existence of a council system and that this would further complicate the bureaucratic structures of the Union. We clearly,

though, cannot continue with the UGM in its current state. We need to streamline the UGM. A weekly UGM is unnecessary, so we should only require there to be one or two UGMs per term plus additional ones if there is business to be discussed. Online voting must be brought back to reduce the cost of participation. Quorum should be reduced by over 50 per cent, so that students actually feel that there is a chance that their motion could become Union policy. The executive, whilst still reporting to the remaining UGMs, should continue to use other forms of communication to engage with students. Finally, we should seriously consider incentivising societies and sports clubs to participate within the Union’s democratic structures. I fully anticipate and hope that a referendum will occur at the same time as the Lent Term elections, seeking to amend the Union’s bye-laws and constitutions so that our democratic structures can function once again. Joe Anderson is chair of the LSESU Union General Meeting.

Comment

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

11

COLUMBUS

Ben Rogers

Popular sovereignty in the Falklands Monsieur Hollande has made a clear statement of intent, directed squarely at London, that France will within the next twenty years recover sovereignty of the Isle of White. The French foreign minister, echoing his President’s announcement, has said WKDW WKLV LV QR OHVV WKDQ D ன JKW DJDLQVW colonialism. Just as British imperialism has been rolled back across the vast swathes of Africa and Asia that the Union Jack used to oppress, the liberation of the Isle of Wight is the ODVW EDVWLOOH \HW WR EH VWRUPHG WKH ன nal entrance into the breach in the name of liberty and the much awaited denouement of a deformed ideology that by all rights should have perished in the Fuhrer’s bunker. The French government have begun to lobby at the United Nations for backing for its noble cause as well as marshalling support from its allies within continental Europe. Movie VWDUV IURP $PHULFD KDYH ŕŽ‹ RZQ DFURVV the Atlantic to Paris to lend their names, and more importantly their extensive historical knowledge and expertise in international relations, to France’s move to reclaim the territory which is rightfully theirs. This is QRW WKH RQO\ IURQW LQ WKH 35 RŕŽ‰ HQVLYH being launched by the French, with British tempers riled during the summer when the French Olympic team released a promotional video before the games featuring French athletes

training on the Isle of White next to British war memorials and stating that they were “training on French soil to compete on British soil�. The British move to conduct a referendum amongst the island’s occupants to allow them to decide if they wish to remain British citizens has been scorned by the French government as an irrelevant side issue distracting from the end of British colonialism in the channel. Many have speculated that this latest move is an attempt by Monsieur Hollande’s government to draw attention from French domestic politics, which aren’t panning out as smoothly as he might like, and a sabre rattling strategy to raise national morale. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has made clear that he doesn’t believe the referendum to be binding either and that America is neutral in wanting both parties to get round the negotiating table. For the less astute amongst you, the above is not true. The tricolour is not on the march, even if it certainly does pay to keep an eye on it. It becomes true, however, if the word ‘Argentina’ is inserted in the place of ‘France’ and the Isle of White is substituted for the Falkland Islands, whilst still more than retaining its full measure of ridiculousness. Minus the failed belligerent attempt to take the Islands by force of arms in 1982,

the French standing towards the Isle of White is exactly the same as Argentina’s towards the Falklands. The French have never had sovereignty over the Isle of White and there have never been any French occupants of the Island. Neither has France’s geographical proximity to the island ever been recognised by anyone, including the French, as a reason why it should be handed to France. The above parody can and has been made about others, such as American control of Hawaii or its hypothetical will to annex parts of Cuba. Importantly, it can in fact be made about any piece of territory which a foreign country might decide it has the right to own regardless of the will of the current occupants. The great irony in this glib and unlettered move by the Argentinians is that they are trying to seek their goal with the help of the United Nations, an organisation that was primarily founded on the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination. This is a right that the Falkland Islanders have made clear they would wish to exercise in the face of Argentinian advances, no matter how those Argentinian advances might be carried out. This is why the Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman’s claim that this is an issue of colonialism is facile, to put it politely. Timerman, who believes that the more

accurate comparison is not with the Isle of White but instead with the extinct British colonisation of India, seems to forget that colonialism requires the existence of a people oppressed against their will in order to vindicate the accusation. Call David Cameron old-fashioned, but I think he’s right to recognise this detail as somewhat indispensable. When called for by inhabitants, Britain has relinquished control over all of her former colonies no matter what their geo-strategic importance or the resources that might lie beneath them. There is no reason to suspect that it would not do the same if the Falkland Islanders voted for such a departure. The great betrayal in this piece is that the other half of our ‘special relationship’ with America can’t bring itself to recognise this fact. President Obama isn’t alone in this either, as George Galloway also seems to believe that the right of a people to their clearly expressed desire for self-determination is open to negotiation. Ultimately, I believe that there is no claim to negotiate with Argentina. Hopefully the British people and our elected representatives will continue to form a united front on this issue. If not, another announcement might be soon received with regards to ‘l’ile de Wight’.

Sabrina Lakhani

Time to get rid of America’s Second Amendment 7KH ன HU\ GHEDWH RYHU JXQ FRQWURO within the United States waves on. While some have called for heavier restrictions, others claim that instituting policies against gun possession would be highly unconstitutional based on the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. It is clear that in recent years, the US has experienced some pretty horULன F JXQ UHODWHG FULPHV ,Q people were murdered at Virginia 7HFK 8QLYHUVLW\ ,Q ZH VDZ WKH shooting of Representative Gabrielle *LŕŽ‰ RUGV RI $UL]RQD DQG HLJKWHHQ RWK ers. Three died in Alabama. There was an attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Twelve were shot and killed at a movie theatre in Colorado. %HWZHHQ DQG WKHUH KDYH EHHQ VKRRWLQJV WKDW KDYH RFFXUUHG in schools. In response to this, the FKDLUPDQ RI WKH 1DWLRQDO 5LŕŽ‹ H $V sociation has suggested that every school should have armed security guards, because it makes sense that in response to increased gun violence, we should give out even more guns, right? While demands for greater gun control followed each event, nothing ever successfully passed. However, the debate was once again revived in

the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in which twenty FKLOGUHQ DQG VL[ DGXOW VWDŕŽ‰ PHPEHUV were shot dead. Now, more than ever, the US is facing harsh criticism for its rather lax gun control policy. Last month, in response to this disturbing incident, President BaUDFN 2EDPD DQQRXQFHG H[HFXWLYH orders and three major initiatives intended to curb gun-related violence. Highlights of this reform included comprehensive and universal background checks and the banning of assault guns containing more than ten rounds. The chances that these new proSRVDOV ZRXOG KDYH D UHDO HŕŽ‰ HFW RQ gun violence, however, are rather low. Whilst stronger gun policy is certainly necessary, even if passed there is a good chance that any reform will be brought before the Supreme Court as a violation of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. Therefore, why not repeal the Second Amendment? It seems like it’s causing more problems than it’s solving. This statement would probably elicit some heavy response from many of my fellow Americans. I think it’s also important to say that as a US citizen, I have great respect for my

country and its Constitution. I understand that these principles have acted as the foundation for our country for hundreds of years. However, I have even greater respect for human lives and when citizens can no longer be trusted to own guns without massmurdering little children, then it’s time for the amendment to be amended. The US government must modernize and accept that sometimes policy can be more destructive than benHன FLDO 7KH 6HFRQG $PHQGPHQW RU the ‘right to bear arms’ was created at a time when it was needed and relevant. Men needed guns in order to protect their families from invasion from foreign threat. At the time, the government needed the support of citizen militias in order to ensure security. However, the US obviously does not need militia armies anymore and hasn’t done for a long time. Furthermore, the writers of the Constitution could not have foreseen the invention of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, which have been involved in all these mass shootings. Even calls for banning these types of weapons are being met with strong resistance. The men that drafted the US Constitution were some of the brightest

minds of their time. While it was created in a way that would be difficult to change, they realized that sometimes, change is necessary. This was WKH FDVH LQ ZKHQ WKH 7ZHQW\ ன UVW $PHQGPHQW UHSHDOHG WKH (LJKW eenth Amendment to end Prohibition. Provisions are in place to make repeals, and should be used if deemed appropriate. The US has quite a record. AcFRUGLQJ WR WKH 8QLWHG 1DWLRQV 2ŕŽ‰ LFH on Drugs and Crime, 66.9 per cent of all homicides in the United States inYROYHG WKH XVH RI D ன UHDUP ,Q WKHUH ZHUH GHOLEHUDWH DQG DFFLGHQWDO QRQ IDWDO JXQVKRW injuries in the US. The rate of death IURP ன UHDUPV LV HLJKW WLPHV KLJKHU LQ the US than in other advanced modern countries. The homicide rate per FDSLWD LV WLPHV WKDW RI %ULWDLQ DQG Australia and ten times higher than that of India and Switzerland. There DUH ன UHDUPV SHU SHRSOH LQ the US. We do not need all these guns. and more guns are not the solution. What the US needs is a policy that will protect the people when they cannot protect themselves. If that means the Second Amendment needs to go, then so be it.

12

Comment

12.02.2013

| The Beaver

Islam: the misunderstood religion Jasim Malik, Ali Issa and Rayhan Uddin on cutting through Islamophobia When it comes to Islam, like theatre, everyone’s a critic. We are constantly bombarded with stories of Muslim miscreancy that vary from the lightly condescending to the overtly pernicious. The fuel for this all-consuming னUH LV WKH UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ RI Islam in the media. ‘Britain goes halal’, ‘Muslim plot to kill pope’ and ‘Muslims tell British to go to Hell’ are examples of headlines found all too frequently in the printed press. These claims are sometimes made without an iota of truth behind them, as could be seen when the Sun described the Breivik massacre as “Norway’s 9/11â€?, linking the attacks with al-Qaeda and Muslim extremism. Seldom is there a news story that portrays Islam in a positive light and the tragedy of this is how LW KDV DŕŽ‰HFWHG WKH %ULWLVK public’s perception of Islam. According to the latest study by Exeter University, 47 per cent of Britons see Muslims as a threat, and 58 per cent of Britons associate Islam with extremism. The same study shows that 82 per cent of Muslims wish to live in a diverse community, whereas only 63 per cent of non-Muslim Britons wish for the same. The media onslaught on Islam has penetrated the minds of the general British public. This impasse in opinion has increasingly culminated in violence against Muslim communities by far-right groups like the English Defence League. With hostility growing on both sides, it has never been more important to inquire about an issue that is now part of the fabric of British society, yet often deemed a stubborn stain. In our view, the media often falsely deems events that occur in the wider Islamic world to be as a consequence of Islamic values in general. When Islam appears in the news, the large majority of stories concern events taking place in the Middle East or Asia. Often the events that occur in these countries involve ‘militant Islamists’ or ‘fundamentalists’ who express anti-Western sentiments. These minorities carry out acts, sometimes towards fellow Muslims, of an ‘extreme’ and ‘radical’ nature. Through the excessive media coverage of these minorities, however, they cease to be minorities in the public

eye. Rather than being an unrepresentative section of the Muslim community, the ŕŽ‹DJ EXUQLQJ HPEDVV\ RFFXpying mob becomes synonymous with Muslim identity. Images that should be associated with geopolitical issues unfortunately become tangled with religious ideology. The portrayal of Islam as a monolithic adversary to WKH :HVW KDV KDG WKH HŕŽ‰HFW of eroding the harmony between British communities. Upon further examination, this perception of hostility is unfounded: in our view the Quran proclaims that the unjust taking of a single life is as bad as taking the lives of all mankind. This statement alone should be enough to nullify the connection between violent extremism with Islamic values. The image that the ‘silent majority’ of Muslims would have hoped to portray is that of a much more positive view of Islam. For example, Muslim women are often depicted as oppressed individuals who have to wear certain clothing against their own will, incarcerated beneath sheets and shackled there by draconian values that inhibit their freedom. Not only is it true that most choose to take up the hijab, it actually serves to ensure that they can be judged for their character and intelligence rather than outward appearances. Moreover, it is the overriding principle of modesty and purity that both men and women in Islam strive to uphold, in the interests of living a life of commitment and loyalty. Islam is also sometimes falsely perceived as nothing more than a restrictive set of rules and regulations, dictating to Muslims how to live every aspect of their lives. Indeed, whilst it may be odd to some, from a Muslim perspective the laws of Islam pave the way towards a pure, wholesome and fulனOOLQJ H[LVWHQFH 7KRXJK LW appears that the focus is on outwardly adhering to the laws of the religion, the true essence of Islam that captivates hearts and minds is its liberating focus on person’s LQQHU EHLQJ WKH SXULனFDWLRQ of the soul. Far from enforcLQJ D PXQGDQH FRQனQHG lifestyle upon us, Islam encourages us to keep an open mind and heart and contemplate the many beauties of the world around us. More

tangibly, the values of compassion, patience and servitude make up the essential core of Islam. The epitome of this is the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) saying that “none of you are truly a believer until you love for thy brother what you love for thy self�; a statement indicating the obligation of caring for all those around us, irrespective of religion, race or gender. Often it may be misconceived that Islam is all about beards and burkas, but in reality it is more so about dutifulness to parents, having the best of manners in dealing with people, and gratitude to God. Whilst some fringe extremist groups may advocate fer-

vent hatred of ‘the West’ and all it entails, not only do these groups have next to no support amongst the majority, but such a stance also contradicts the undeniably humanitarian outlook of Islamic values, encapsulated by the fact that in Islam even a smile is a charity in the eyes of God, according to an authentic saying of the Prophet. Given these fundamental values that Muslims hold so dear, the concerns amongst the British public that Islam and Muslims are fundamentally opposed to and incapable of coexisting peacefully with non-Muslims in British society are misplaced. In an article called ‘Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain’,

Dr Leon Moosavi of Liverpool University highlights that “since 9/11, Muslims have increasingly become seen as ‘outsiders within’, who are imagined as not belonging in Britain because of their assumed alien values.� Surely values of compassion, modesty and generosity cannot be alien to British society? What is clear is that as a collective body of communities, Britain needs to focus on the common shared values of its Muslim and nonMuslim citizens. This is vital in order to further the interests of a vibrant and socially cohesive society that is built on mutual understanding and respect above all else.

The Beaver 12.02.2013

P A R T B

13

14

12.02.2013 PartB

B. OUR

VALENTINES!

VALENTINO: MASTER OF COUTURE

PartB

JOSH JINRUANG JANIE TAN partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

SOMERSET HOUSE

Fashion

LSESU FASHION SOCIETY fashion@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Film

VENESSA CHAN

ஊ OP#WKHEHDYHURQOLQH FR XN

Food

food@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Literature

RACHEL WILLIAMS

literature@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Music

TOM BARNES EMIR NADER

PXVLF#WKHEHDYHURQOLQH FR XN

A

Private B

GINGER WHOREBY

privateb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Technology

MICHAEL PEARSON

technology@thebeaveronline.co.uk

n unmissable exhibition is currently open at Somerset House, celebrating both the life and work thus far of one of Italy's most famous exports, the universally admired designer Valentino Garavani. On display are over 130 haute couture de-

VALENTINO GARAVANI VITRUAL MUSEUM

VALENTINO GARAVANI VITRUAL MUSEUM

LAURA RANDLE

FURTHER LEFT 1992 1993 Fall Winter HC Black velvet evening dress white ribbons. Worn by Julia Roberts. LEFT 1995 Spring Summer HC Romantic evening gown silver grey silk.

signs worn by icons such as Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It's a beautiful exhibition, and a comprehensive guide to Valentino's exquisite couture collections and romantic red carpet gowns. From his initial studies in Paris to the crea-

tion of his eponymous label, Valentino established himself as the top designer in Italian haute couture. His infamous 'no-colour collection' in 1967 was ground-breaking, ignoring popular decadent colour palettes and instead opting for beige, white, and ivory hues. Valentino presented his final ready-to-wear show during the spring/summer 2008 fashion week in Paris to critical acclaim, before returning to Rome. Now retired and in his eighties, he very much remains an exceptionally influential and well respected figure in the fashion industry. The exhibition itself is divided into three sections; beginning with a view of Valentino's world through documents from his personal archives, including letters from Anna Wintour and signed photographs of Princess Diana. Displays of press cuttings, personal Polaroid photographs and editorials adorn several cabinets, filled with original covers of Vogue, Time and W. It's an intimate look into the private world of the man himself. The exhibition then unfolds upstairs into a fashion show, where visitors walk a catwalk flanked by an enormous selection of his haute couture designs. Notable pieces include the white ecru georgette evening dress with

lace appliqué detailing worn by Jacqueline Kennedy for her wedding to Aristotle Onassis (S/S 1968) and the black velvet and tulle evening gown with white ribbon detailing as worn by Julia Roberts to the 2001 Oscar Ceremony (A/W 1992/3). Mannequins are colour-coded by decade with themes such as animal prints, florals and pastels (to name but a few) from across his entire career grouped together and placed alongside empty chairs with name-settings for Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Mademoiselle Audrey Hepburn and other well-known Valentinowearing women. The final section depicts the art of crafting couture, accompanied by the astonishing wedding dress of Princess Marie Chantal of Greece, featuring the work of les petites mains, who sewed each stitch by hand. The majority of the designs on display are sourced from private collections and have not been seen outside of the Valentino atelier before: thus this is a perfect and unique opportunity to admire the intricate detail of these sartorial masterpieces in person. .

% Emma Forth

FROM COUTURE TO HIGH STREET T

Theatre

LAURENCE VARDAXOGLOU

theatre@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Video Games

PHILIP GALLAGHER

YLGHRJDPHV#WKHEHDYHURQOLQH FR XN

Visual Arts ERIKA ARNOLD

visualarts@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Cover Art

BY SAKSHI MITTAL

B.

he love bug has officially swept across the high street, infatuated with the Valentino touch. It’s the label adored by fashionistas across the globe, this designer brand has redefined romanticism, as demonstrated in the 2013 Spring collection. Reinforcing the classic beauty of the feminine shape with a subtle touch of androgony and structure, Valentino brings Ms Valentina into the 21st Century, with high street brands following suit. The true definition of fi-

nesse, Valentino continued their legacy of feminine romance within their 2013 Spring collection, exhibiting faultless craftsmanship and precision within each look. Exuberating a sense of infinite beauty, the haute couture range rejoiced romanticism in conjunction with the season of love, with intricate embroidery, and lace detail to give attention to the feminine silhouette, whilst maintaining an austere simplicity. The fashion guru has truly reinvented the definition

of love with a modern twist, and the high street have followed suit in true admiration. Still reinforcing a nude and white palette, Valentino focuses on the radiance of the Valentino women, with midi length dresses, and faultless templates. The high street’s Spring Collection range has clearly grasped inspiration from Valentino’s monastic, yet romantic collection, with lace, sheer, and nude colours becoming a recurring fashion trend in stores. Lipsy have done a solid enactment of the

Valentino flair by not straying away from his trustee palette of classic nudes and whites to add emphasis to the natural hourglass shape, subtlety coveted with sheer and lace to complement the natural subtle seductiveness of a woman. Reminiscent of the Renaissance Age, the high street brand injects some needed modernisation by using the bodycon dress; the reinvented LBD.

% Jodie Momodu

ZARA

The Valentino touch trickles down into daywear and accessories, with Topshop embodying the Baroque trend, giving every woman the chance to strut down the street with the poise of a fashion’s most fierce supermodels. Topshop replicates the divinely studded nude shoe, as seen on fashion icon Alexa Chung, emitting the Valentino charm a woman yearns for.

LIPSY

VALENTINO FOR VALENTINE'S GET THE LOOK!

LIPSY

LEFT TO RIGHT Topshop £55.00 Zara £39.95 Valentino $995

TOPSHOP

Shoes

VALENTINO GARAVANI VITRUAL MUSEUM

LEFT TO RIGHT Lipsy £42.00 Valentino Spring 2013 Collection (£4000+ range), Lipsy £80.00

VALENTINO GARAVANI VITRUAL MUSEUM

Dresses

The high street rocks the Valentino legacy in true style, at a fraction of the price. The spring pieces are a true embodiment of the classic female hourglass shape, showcased with tailored yet simplistic nude dresses, and sheer panelled garments to add a sensual touch. Whether or not a fan of the Valentine season, embrace your inner Ms Valentina at a budget price!

15

The Beaver 12.02.2013 LESS IS MORE

G

iven that the idea of writing about love seems a risky and unrewarding task to go about it seems writing about writing about love ought to be a waste of time. Representations of love abound in literature and elsewhere and for each reader the description of the sensation—or whatever it is we want to call it - will be effective only insofar as it matches up with something real to them. The drawn-out courtships which occur with dull frequency in canonical English literature are elucidated in sterile torrents of passion, sung and unsung, longing and 'true' emotion —we read and know what is going on for our lovely wellmeaning socially-straitjacketed characters, but hardly feel a murmur of our own when their hearts are broken. Instead, perhaps leave all this grim psychology in the background, and foreground the interactions betwixt the loved and (usually unrequited) lover, as Nabokov does. Leave the inner lives of (some) of these figures there to be sought out by the reader, if she wishes—this is often where the real heart of the story is played out, in Dolores Haze's nights spent sleepless sobbing or Sonia Zilanov's mourning once the pages of the novel have run out. Or have our couple nev-

er meet: in Death in Venice boy Tadzio —the object of our narrator's feeling—is only ever examined and fixated on from hazy distance, the sickness resulting manifesting itself both mentally and then biologically. The depictions of love here are so consuming just because they evade direct representation on the pages of the book: we never come fully face-to-face with what we're being shown. Although, true, they are hardly depictions of love similar to those we are used to... Those we are used to are the kinds of dismal slogans intoned in romantic fonts from the cards displayed in the Students' Union shop, on sale to be purchased and dispatched unto one's muse for the Feast of Saint Valentine. These are the most unimaginative and least impressive representations of love —if they are even that—we could encounter, and yet for people who may or may not exist they are the currency of it for one day out of all of them each year. Anything these cards are successful in communicating isn't worth thinking, let alone saying; warped product of words given meaning only by our own watered-down expectations regarding love, when it is manifested in forms like this. Perhaps we are drawing an unfair contrast here, but both greetings cards and novels feed into the

way we think about these things, channelling our own thoughts and behaviours down lines which may or may not be entirely our own. It is tiring enough sitting writing this much about love: let's try something less arduous, more objective. Do academics write about love? A quick (0.04 second, actually) search on Scholar for that word brings up as first result The Sequence of the Human Genome, authored by, along with the wonderfully named Liliana Florea, Ni Ni Tint and Knut Reinert, one Amy Love. So what? I make no claim to have read all forty-nine pages of this article (or even one of them) but if its title is not some poor joke within the paper should be some DNA sequence corresponding to some sort of urge or instinctual lust towards our prospective partners, inherited from those loping anthropoids skulking the Earth millions of years ago, ancestors not tied up with all the representations and expectations of love we've gotten from language and content or whatever. Perhaps their way of doing love was best, guided on the go (we might suppose) by action and sense—this was successful for them, after all: the less we say about it the better.

Pink Floyd

LOVE IN CONFLICT

IN DEFENCE OF THE ROMANTIC NOVEL

W

a protagonist called Champagne D’Vyne. I then proceeded to devour it in under two hours. I’d like to think that I’m a pretty smart kid, and whenever I’m the target of some contemptuous comment about my literary tastes and the apparent correlation between romance novels and idiocy, I don’t appreciate it. Romantic novelists are some of the brightest, wittiest writers in the industry. Author Julia Quinn is a Harvard graduate; Carly Phillips practised law before finding her work as an attorney unsatisfying; Rhoda Baxter is a former scientist who now works in intellectual property alongside her writing pursuits. Romantic novels can be just as witty and astute as any other novel of note, and it’s sheer pomposity that prevents this simple truth from being revealed. The book industry needs romantic novels. They provide us with an emotionally satisfying escape, a validation of the triumph of good over evil, and a happily ever after. To stigmatise them is to perpetuate literary elitism to such an extent that we’re defeating the whole purpose of reading: to learn to love books. It’s time to stop being ashamed of what you want to read. So here goes. My name is Malvika, and I read romantic novels. Anyone else out there?

Malvika Jaganmohan

For events listing and ticket information, please visit lse. ac.uk/spaceforthought.

REBECCA P

ublished in 1938, Rebecca remains in the hearts of many because of the unbreakable bond between Maxim De Winter and his second wife (whose name is not given). The relationship begins in Monte Carlo, where Maxim, a wealthy Englishman, encounters his future second wife. Maxim then abruptly proposes she return to his countryside manor, Manderley, as his wife. The rest of the novel follows the struggle of the second Mrs De Winter to adapt to her new role while in the shadow of Rebecca, Maxim's ‘perfect’ deceased first wife. At the same time, the marriage is tested as revelations of Rebecca’s death appear. One aspect of Rebecca I admire is the element of mystery. In a time dominated by social media, where people expose their hookups, breakups and anything else intimate about themselves to the world, there remains so little curiosity in the courting process. As soon as you have met so-and-so, five minutes later your already typing their name into Facebook to stalk them. If we switch back to Rebecca, there is a beautiful uncertainty that accompanies Maxim and his second wife’s first encounter. Coming from separate worlds, and meeting on a vacation break with the additional problem of Maxim’s second wife's obligations as a lady’s companion, time and freedom are limited. The thread of ‘impossible love’ is thus skilfully developed. Du Maurier reminds us of their courting constraints, notably when Maxim's second wife has to use the pretense of tennis lessons to fool her employer to go on drives with Maxim. As a reader, we are aware of the precarious nature of this courtship but like the future Mrs De Winter, we just want to enjoy it while it lasts. The sense of enigma about the future is what makes the relationship between Maxim and

his second wife so exciting to read at this stage. In an age, where mobile phones or Skype didn't exist, it’s extraordinary to think how Maxim and his future wife may lose contact completely but are choosing instead to relish every present moment. This heightens the surprise when Maxim proposes on a breakfast table, when the future Mrs De Winter has to leave Monte Carlo unexpectedly upon the wishes of her employer. There’s something so appealing about Maxim’s blunt marriage proposal, while he is spreading marmalade on toast. How often do we wish in real life, we could put aside all our doubts about what looks ‘cool’, or ‘smart’ and just say what’s really in our head? While we're on the topic of frankness, ‘Rebecca’ has been criticised by some for the lack of honesty in the relationship between Maxim and his second wife, which we discover after their marriage. However, to sight this instance of keeping information is to overlook the power of their unison. Without giving too much away, Maxim is carrying a dark secret and as this unravels; their relationship is grinded against the forces of the law and revenge. This struggle brings out the equality in the relationship, with both supporting each other. Du Maurier’s tale remains unpredictable in its development of the relationship between Maxim and Mrs De Winter. What we see is a love story that isn’t fairy-tale but one that tumbles and falls but ultimately endures, soothed by the gentle balm of love and trust.

Sarah Haji-Essa

HARPERCOLLINS

hen I was thirteen, I discovered the romantic novel. At an age where I still giggled at the relatively PG kiss scene in Noughts & Crosses and made a show of hiding behind a cushion during the steamy moments in the latest film, the romantic novel was… an eye-opener. There was something exceedingly naughty about reading them, and I felt like I was finally being inducted into adulthood with tales of all the sexy things that I had yet to experience. There was only one problem: I couldn’t possibly tell anyone about it. I would frequently stick to E-books because I couldn’t wander around with a novel depicting a scantily-clad duchess being ravished by a handsome scoundrel on the front cover. My friends would wrap their copies of Fifty Shades of Grey with a printout of some other novel so that they could read them in public. I would scoff at all the appropriate moments when someone read out a naughty extract, because it simply wouldn’t do to admit that I would lower myself to such a standard of literature. There’s a culture of feeling ashamed for reading frothy, feel-good romance, and very rarely do I see anyone around campus reading anything except The Changing Constitution or Referen-

dums: a comparative study of practice and theory. Reading a romantic novel is hardly considered ‘intellectual reading’, and I’m perfectly content with that. For me, reading isn’t always about ‘broadening horizons’ or ‘enriching the mind’—sometimes, it can just be good oldfashioned fun, with no real effort required on the reader’s part. Unfortunately, not many people seem to agree with me. But the romantic novel industry produces billions of dollars annually, so despite the derision and the scepticism, someone, somewhere, must be reading the books. When I came to LSE, I buried my novels under a copy of Public Law, covertly reading them in the safety of my room, where only my roommates would know of my secret indulgence. For all intents and purposes, I was exploring the key debates surrounding EU supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty. I anticipated another three years of sly giggling under my bed covers and smothering a smile at the word ‘manhood’. This week though, I discovered hope. Whilst rooting through the discarded textbooks and novels carelessly strewn in the Passfield Hall common room, under a copy of Who really caused the Rwandan genocide?, I uncovered what was undoubtedly a romantic novel, complete with a title in gaudy script, a satisfyingly pink cover and

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n-keeping with our romantic literary theme: what’s the reward for five years of marriage? Wood. Whatever that may say about the progress of marital bliss (if you thought that was a pun, shame on you), the 5th anniversary of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival offers an exploration of the theme ‘Branching Out’; also paying homage to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Denis Diderot—the bright spark who developed the figurative system of branches of human knowledge. Fostering the growth and spread of literary discussion across campus, the festival looks set to deliver a breath of fresh air (pun intended, this time).

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12.02.2013 PartB

MONEY THE GAME SHOW

BUSH THEATRE until 2 Mar 2013 Written and directed by Clare Duffy Starring Lucy Ellinson and Brian Ferguson

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BUSH THEATRE

oney the Game Show is not your conventional play—to begin with, the audience are not passive observers but game show contestants who drive and ultimately decide the conclusion of the play. Prior to entering the theatre the audience are divided into two teams led by the two hosts, Casino (Brian Ferguson) and Queenie (Lucy Ellinson), both ex-hedge fund managers. After being given a pep talk by their team leader, they are then led into the theatre to play games with £10,000 pounds in (genuine) pound coins which are piled on the stage at the feet of their hosts. The stage itself is set up exactly like a TV game show, complete with a red carpet, cheesy theme music and lighting. Throughout the play two teams compete against each in interactive games in which they make long bets (betting on good outcomes), short bets (betting on bad outcomes) and finally ‘hedge’ their bets (betting against their own team), mirroring Casino and Queenie’s gambles during the

audience is being lectured on the same old themes (money can't make you happy/greed is bad/no more business as usual after the crash), but Money the Game Show does manage to present these ideas in an innovative, engaging way and even introduces some new concepts —the best being ‘Zombie Banks’. Zombie Banks are banks that continue to exist after the crash, but fail to trade as normal—not quite alive but not yet dead.

financial crisis. Between each gamble, the pair outline their own stories and how they were affected by the global financial crisis. The main message of the play is that we give money its value (as evidenced by the ‘promise to pay the bearer’ written on our bank notes), and as the audience experiences the thrill of the games the £10,000 does indeed seem to lose its value and becomes just a play thing—mirroring the way that many hedge fund managers viewed money at the time of the boom. However, when the bust comes towards the end of the play, the audience is reminded what losing can mean for the real people who have to pick up the pieces. The penultimate scene where we see what happens to both the winner and loser of the audience’s gambles is fantastically executed and well directed; jumping from the conclusion of Casino and Queenie’s story to a surreal and pessimistic portrayal of the current global financial situation. The subject matter might seem a bit tired, especially for anyone who has had to sit through an LSE100 ‘financial crisis’ lecture, but Money the Game Show manages to do the improbable by making the financial crisis seem even more serious and fundamentally damaging than it did before. It also manages to do the impossible: make the audience feel sorry for a hedge fund manager. Admittedly, at certain points it feels like the

Tom Maksymiw

COMPETITION COMPETITION COMPETITION COMPETITION

Par tB is giving away two tickets to Money the Game Show (see the rest of this page) QUESTION: Which musical has had the longest run in the West End? ANSWERS: a) Shrek b) Cats c) Les Miserables Send your answers to theatre@ thebeaveronline.co.uk

INTERVIEW: HARI RAMAKRISHNAN TIM EL E S S pr e se nt s

LOST IN HO LYW OOD

What is Timeless? Timeless was first set up as a talent show in 2007, and slowly but surely some form of narrative has been incorporated to provide more of a link between all the acts—but it’s never been done properly. So, this is the year? This is the first time it’s all linked, yes; everything is there for a purpose.

What’s the story this year, then? It’s called Lost in Hollywood. It follows the lives of three main characters: one is a girl who has never suffered any financical troubles, but by no means is her life easy because dad is never there. So, daddy plays a big role in her life. The second story is a guy from an underprivalged community who is trying to break out and make something of himself but it’s a lot harder to do that given the position he is in , and everyone's doubting him. The third is an Englishman adopted by

£10 / £12 Written and directed by Hari Ramakrishnan Starring London's Franklyn Addo

TIMELESS 2013

to purchase tickets, visit www.lsesutimeless.co.uk

Indian parents; he’s going through some kind of cultural crisis. You see them through childhood right to the characters as adults.

Do their paths cross? Yes! They overlap with one another and all mayhem breaks loose. And across the different mediums of the arts? Yeah, they meet up together and there are various different ways that the acts join to tell the story. The idea for this story; where did that come from? I’ve been writing a story, something related to a homeless person’s life, watching people pass him by, and he can see a stranger’s entire life happen before him, straight from childhood. It’s something I’ve wanted to take to the West End, or see on film, since I was seventeen. I’ve adapted it and used it for Timeless. How is that project coming along? Timeless is too big to have

TIMELESS 2013

LYCEUM THEATRE 18 FEB 2013 7PM / DOORS 6:30 PM

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caught up with the creator of Lost in Hollywood (The Timeless 2013 production), Hari Ramakrishnan.

time to do anything else! You’re literally timeless. Everyone’s been making that joke. Finally, why see Timeless? There’s just finally something artistic at LSE I mean, there’s nothing here; you need some sort of escapism, and I think it’s just an incredible story.

Laurence Vardaxoglou

17

The Beaver 12.02.2013

INTERVIEW: CLARE DUFFY

credit default swaps and collateralised debt obligations; there’s so much jargon— even words like short and long can take quite a bit of time to understand!

The title is probably enough to arouse the interest of LSE students, but can you tell me a bit about the show? Money tells the story of key events that led up to the economic crisis in 2008. The show is about money, and tries to ask fundamental questions about what money is; ultimately, is it possible for us to make money better? When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt there was a moment where it could have been that all the money that we had stopped working. What would happen then? I suppose what inspired me was to think what would happen if the ATM stopped working, what would happen if everyone’s savings stopped having value. What kind of world would we be left with if money stopped working as we know it?

Are you trying to make a statement about money? The idea is to be provocative, specifically choosing hedge fund managers as the conduit for exposing and demystifying is to ask questions from a provocative standpoint. We live in a globalised capitalist system, so there is a strong logic to the point of view of a hedge fund manager who says, "I’m going to try and make as much money as I possibly can out of it".

A better world? Maybe, I mean it’s an exciting question. It’s certainly a dramatic question. The show is absolutely saying that money is what we believe it is; it’s our faith in the value of a commodity, or belief that someone else is going to give us something of value. Our faith in money is partly why the collapse happened; the banks just said, ‘We don’t believe anymore’. The show follows two characters, Queenie and Casino, who decide to bet that house prices will start to fall. If house prices do start falling then that would mean that the bubble will burst. The audience is divided into two teams, and each team has a hedge fund manager, and it’s as if the audience is the client of the hedge fund manager. Those two hedge fund managers take their teams through a series of competitive games, which outline the basic principles of what a hedge fund manager does. What kinds of games? Well, I can tell you this game because it doesn’t give too much away. Each hedge fund manager blows a bubble through the air, and for as long as the bubbles are floating through the air, team members are able to run with money in their hand from one side of the stage to the other side and put it in suitcases, which is their ‘fund’. You collect as much money as you can, you place a long bet and a short bet and then you hedge, playing short and long together. Is the point of show educational? It’s an attempt to demystify hedge funds. [Hedge funds] are really unclear and often people say that it’s almost deliberately unclear through the language that is used. There are things like

Do you think that’s ok? Well, that’s a question that the show asks, I suppose. It’s up to the audience to make up their minds. You’re not leading the audience? I’m more interested in the audience making a more informed decision. I suppose what I’m interested in is our relationship with the current global economic situation. To some degree none of us get to live outside capitalism; we all have to pay rent, or buy houses, or food. We all now have to deal with austerity. It’s too simplistic and not necessarily the most useful question to place blame because I don’t think there’s any one sector of either the financial services industry, politics or even the ordinary person on the street who can be held to account. We’re all connected, we all use money. I’d have to say the responsibility lies more with financial institutions than with the man on the street. Does it? I don’t think that being a cog in the system means you are at fault. Yeah, but I’m less interested in working out who’s to blame, and more interested in looking at what we do about it now. At LSE, we will all get a job in a bank. From your experience, can you offer a piece of advice or word of warning for those of us who have not yet experienced hedge funds? You might work for a really powerful institution, like a bank or a large hedge fund company, but you’re still a citizen and you still need a hospital when you’re sick, you still need a neighbor to have a cup of tea with; these things are valuable things too. Money is not everything? No. it really isn’t everything, and it might be nothing.

Laurence Vardaxoglou

CONER OBERST//LIVE T

onight’s concert is a strange one—Conor Oberst is in London with no album to support, touring as he seldom does under his own name with no backing band. Unsurprisingly, for someone who two years ago sold out the Royal Albert Hall in under an hour with his main band Bright Eyes, the show is long sold out—and indeed when he takes to the stage at half eight, there is not an empty seat in the cavernous Barbican hall. First though, Simone Felice meanders his way through an odd set, half music and half poetry, neither of which are particularly memorable. His

voice is wonderful. If he could just perfect the lyrics that are clearly so important to him, then perhaps he could ascend to the heights that Oberst has sat at for years now. No one has ever listened to Oberst for a wonderful voice, but the moment he opens his mouth on opening song ‘The Big Picture’, the crowd is awed into complete silence. Tonight feels like a celebration of his whole career, the songs ranging from brand new tales of old insomnia to the kind of songs that made his name in the first place, with him attacking his guitar and filling the whole room with his strained screams. It’s the clas-

songs are too verbose and the dark subjects are too often handled in clichéd terms, which is a shame as when things do click, the images he paints are haunting, his sincerity is ever present, and his

sics like ‘First Day of My Life’ and ‘Lua’ that receive the most rapturous responses, but the standout songs tonight are the lesser-known ones. ‘Going For the Gold’ is an early-day highlight and ‘White Shoes’,

TRUE ENDEAVORS AND FRANK PRODUCTIONS

Clare Duffy set up the Unlimited Theatre Company in 1997 with friends from university, and has not looked back since. We sat down last week to talk all things Money.

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from 2009’s Outer South, is the surest demonstration of Oberst on top form, teetering on the edge of complete emotional breakdown, every word whispered with such conviction it’s hard not to feel like you've lived the pain yourself. Of course, this has always been the appeal of Oberst: He writes songs that speak like no other to the people of his generation; he has grown up with them, and documented every broken heart and miniexistential crisis that they went through as well. When he returns to the stage for an encore featuring a joyous ‘Make War’, it is clear that Oberst, for all the rumours of him giving up Bright Eyes, has no intention of leaving the musical world anytime soon. He maybe getting older (one new song aired tonight is about how all of his friends are having children), but his choice of set-closer is telling: ‘Waste of Paint’ is ramshackle; the words are shouted not sung, but it is nothing but glorious. It the perfect encapsulation of his youthful songwriting. He may not be the most musically gifted, but his sincerity and his words ensure that every single person in the hall leaves the room glowing with happiness, reminded that to be young, free and in love is all they could ever want from life.

Ɖ

Alistair Burlinson

PARQUET COURTS

ood musicians are a lot like good comedians. If Gordon Brown was given the best comedy material ever written, the likelihood is, he's still not going to get many laughs. Personality, timing and expression are as important to telling a joke as the joke itself. The point is—delivery is everything. Parquet Courts' début album, Light Up Gold, is such an outrageous success, not because it cleaves yet another 'unique' quasi-genre in the now great landscape of musical variety, but because it's an unadulterated rock album, expertly delivered. With all four band members originating from Texas, Parquet Courts were formed in 2011 in Brooklyn, New York. Lead vocalist Andrew Savage dislikes the typecast associations of being a New York band, proclaiming Parquet Courts “could do it anywhere”. Nevertheless, the city and its musical history course through the album. Post-punk influences of The Ramones and The Feelies characterise the intense, almost primitive musical style, whilst Big-Apple culture permeates

the tracks. The group manage to walk a fine line between living in the past and living in the moment, heaving the brash punk-rock of the 70s and 80s into the present with remarkable contemporaneity. Light Up Gold embraces classic rock and roll minimalism, exploiting the room for innovation and individuality that the simple mix of guitars, drums and vocals affords. This head-on approach, too often eschewed by highly stylised, over produced new-comers, is refreshing and stimulating in its simplicity. Savage claims he is interested in “the duality of things being really ugly and being really pretty”. He couldn't have captured the feel of Light Up Gold better, balanced between an adolescent affection with the group's boisterous sound and an appreciation of the craftsmanship in their witty and insightful lyrics. Brevity is the name of the game for Parquet Courts. The album comes in at just over half an hour and songs rarely exceed the two and a half minute mark. No track outstays its welcome and, if anything,

the likes of 'Careers in Combat' and 'Light Up Gold I' finish before they muster enough energy to assert themselves. Nevertheless, Light Up Gold speaks volumes over its short duration. The album thrives off its personality. Savage delivers his lines with same thrashing attitude as the fuzzy guitars and pounding drum-lines whilst the song-by-song narratives entertain and amuse. Stand-out track 'Borrowed Time' and the raucous two-chord 'Stoned and Starving' give a flavour of Light Up Gold, but the album is only properly experienced when played front to back. The real success of Light Up Gold is that it manages to do nothing new, originally. The album is teeming with the kind of understated brilliance which lifts certain bands out of obscurity in a seemingly inexplicable fashion. Parquet Courts may not have revolutionised the face of modern music, but they are a paragon for the frequent truism: less is more.

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Vince Harrold

18

12.02.2013 PartB

FOLIE DEUX

THE GRILL

À

7 Perfectly Legitimate Reasons for Resenting Your Friend’s Relationship

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1. They think they are cute. Couples, especially those in their infancy, are positively obsessed with their own adorableness. They’ll make you assess the cuteness of the second-grade-quality art projects they exchange on their three-weekiversary (only acceptable answer: “the most cute”). You’ll be expected to repress your gag reflex and delightedly exclaim “Aww!” every time they drool lovingly on each other’s faces. And, worst of all, you’ll wear out your fake-smile muscles as you suffer through countless hilarious tales about how you’ll never believe it, but their boyfriend puts pepper on EVERYTHING and isn’t that so weird and funny and beyond super-cute. And don’t even get me started on that facebook album of self-taken kissing photos… Uh oh, here comes that gag reflex again. 2. They’re shameless. Those overwhelming feelings of love and affection must short circuit the part of the brain that understands social decorum, because couples will literally do whatever they feel like doing right in front of your face. They will start making out halfway through your story about your dying grandmother. They will whisper and giggle and paw at each other’s genitals on public transportation. They will even scream at each other for never doing the dishes while you try in vain enjoy the end of Disney’s Mulan. Couples

don’t care. They’re like that honey badger everyone loves so much, minus the “everyone loves so much” part. 3. They drank the Kool-Aid Remember when your friend was single, and together you used to call BS on all those trite, Hallmark-inspired platitudes beloved by brain-dead simpletons? Well, this is Invasion of the Single-Snatchers, and your formerly discerning friend has been replaced by a lovebot who says smug, self-congratulatory things like “Don’t worry, it will happen eventually. Just when you least expect it.” Is your friend referring to love, or when you push him out of this moving vehicle? 4. They come as a set. Quality time isn’t important to you in a friendship, is it? Good, because you won’t be getting any now that your friend is in a relationship. Every invitation you offer your friend is automatically extended to that oh-so-significant other. Don’t expect to be warned in advance, so just assume that he’ll start showing up to your long-standing, once-private brunch dates. Don’t question it, either, because clearly this should just be ok and if it isn’t then you must hate her boyfriend and she simply can’t be friends with someone who doesn’t support her. To help you adjust your expectations, simply imagine your ideal bonding experience—whether it be over cocktails in Hackney or ice cream at home—and then add an awkward, uncommunicative blob grunting in the corner. Kind of like a gorilla who flings humourless nonsequiturs instead of feces. Basically, kiss those tearful heart-to-hearts goodbye, unless crying in front of perfect strangers is something you’re into (and hey, if it is, more power to you). 5. They won’t make time for you. ...but you must make time for them: Despite the fact that your friend will clearly indicate to you that he has a lot less time because he has a lover now and thus can’t be bothered with trivial matters like your feelings, you are nonetheless expected to function as a 24-hour crisis hotline during times of relationship turbulence. You must listen patiently while your friend describes what any textbook would only term emotional abuse without ever mentioning the fact that your friend seems significantly less happy than when he was single. Instead, you must offer disin-

genuous sentiments like “I’m sure it’s just a rough patch”, and then pretend not to hate the SOB when your friend returns to his lobotomy-like state of relationship bliss. At which point you may NOT reasonably expect the same availability because they are going to sleep early now and under no circumstances can you call any later than 9:00 pm because they’re going on a nature walk tomorrow so they really can’t afford to be tired. 6. They can’t be trusted. You know that extremely personal story you shared with your best friend under the strictest of confidence? Well, she told her partner. Because, you see, they share a soul so it doesn’t really count as telling. Don’t bother trying to get confirmation; people in couples are proven liars. While you may never know if she used it to fill a relationship-threatening ten-second silence or just blurted it out in the throes of sexual ecstasy, you can nonetheless be sure that nothing is sacred anymore. Remember, couples share everything, including the intimate details of YOUR personal life. That embarrassing one-night stand you had with that guy who went to clown college? He knows about it. And yes, he is judging you, no matter how much your formerly trustworthy friend tries to convince you otherwise. 7. They take up too much space. What is it about coupledom that makes you believe you’re entitled to the entire sidewalk? London is crowded enough as it is without having to make room for the extra two feet couples feel they require to hold hands. Couples also seem to think they’re exempt from the darting and dodging us single folk must engage in just to navigate the streets. Next time you see this happening, I recommend the following strategy: walk directly at the couple’s linked hands like you’re playing Red Rover. See if that gives them the motivation necessary to get out of YOUR way for once. I’ll conclude by stating that not all couples exhibit these bad habits. I would like to give special recognition to the three friends I’ve known in my life who managed to sidestep these friendship landmines completely. As for the rest of the couples out there… Happy Valentine’s Day. We can’t wait to hear all about it.

< Josh Ellman

*%+ O]kl Keal`Ú ]d\ Dgf\gf =;)9 1BP 020 7246 0900 @gmjk Mon - Fri 12:00-0:00, Sat 12:00-1:00 9n]jY_] kh]f\ £40-70 for two (with drinks) J]k]jnYlagfk Yes

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f you’ve not been around Smithfield Market before, I’d recommend it as one of the “must dos” on the list of cultural things in this great city of ours. The site was originally a livestock market (back in the day when a large part of what we now know as London was actual real countryside), but by the nineteenth century the mayhem of all kinds of fourhooved animals jostling to be the plumpest offering in the pen proved too much for the area. The decision was taken to transfer the livestock to a market in Islington (North Londoners, I rest my case…), and plans were executed to turn the site into a market for cut meat. The Victorians, typically not wishing to miss out on any opportunity to display their aptitude for elaborate architec-

THE BLACKHOUSE GRILL

f you’re perpetually single like myself, you’ve inevitably experienced the anguish and frustration of suffering through your friends’ relationships. Most of us never express this dissatisfaction, lest be we labeled as jealous, unsupportive, or that scarlet A of single shaming—bitter. Frankly, if we’re bitter, then they made us this way. The fact is, there are a myriad of perfectly legitimate reasons to resent couples, and it is a symptom of our culture’s obsessive desire to pathologise singles that our legitimate complaints are dismissed as personal failings. Well, no more! In honour of Valentine’s Day, also known as that completely gratuitous holiday on which couples delude themselves into thinking that they aren’t routinely celebrated every single moment of every single day, I vow to expose those truly annoying tendencies of the romantically entwined. Call it my valentine to all the single ladies (and gents) who deserve better than an anthem performed by a married lady.

ON THE MARKET

ture, constructed a vast cathedral to Meat, made of cast iron, stone, slate and glass. Partly destroyed by fire in 1958, the current structure was built in its place. With centuries of heritage behind it, then, there is a certain weight of culinary expectation justifiably assigned to any restaurant opening its doors in such historically-auspicious surroundings. A litany of gastropubs and upmarket eateries set the tone, and The Grill on the Market is no exception. The restaurant provides two types of dining experience—in the more private and quieter restaurant at the back of the venue, or in the buzzing main bar with its dimly lit tables and colourful drinks display. We opted for the latter. I couldn’t quite place the décor theme— a cross between a front room, a hallway and a smart living room, with palm trees, wooden tables, a coat stand and leather armchairs. Anyway, the feel of the space certainly wasn’t deterring the suited and booted post work City crowd—the post-deal drunken celebrations, and the unmistakeable awkward office drinks outing where the grey-haired male partners hold court, the (much) younger female members of staff and newest recruits hanging onto his every word, and laughing even when the joke isn’t that funny. A plate of plump and juicy olives kept us going as we deliberated over the expansive menu. My friend opted for salt and pepper chicken in a sweet ginger sauce. It came tender if not quite melt in the mouth. The extravagant foodie in me couldn’t fail to be drawn by the allure of Scottish mussels served in cider and chorizo. An astonishingly large plateful kept me picking away for

a good while, the mussels deliciously meaty, set off by the tangy cider sauce and spicy chorizo. We were accompanied by a smooth Chilean Chardonnay, which neutralised the saltiness very nicely. The immensely accommodating waiter helped my (nonred meat eating) companion select a composite dish off the menu, of chicken and roast vegetables. For a unique creation, the presentation was impressive, the detail of a sweet sauce drizzled around the edge of the plate proved that design matters to this particular chef. The recent renaissance in eating “local” food seems quite apt (rather than bandwagon-y) in a location where livestock used to be traded. It therefore seemed appropriate that I select a fillet steak, of the Belted Galloway variety from Summerhill Farm in Carlisle. I was slightly surprised not to see the name of the beast on the menu as well. My friend’s parents run one of those organic rare breed type places and I’m sure he once told me they bestow a name on each of their cows. Daisy is a common name, apparently. Cooked medium rare, deep red, farmyard-y and salty, what looked small on the large plate in fact almost beat me. Almost. The hand cut chips came skin on as if to prove their “localness” too. The side of asparagus with béarnaise sauce provided a welcome vegetable balance to all those carbs and protein. By this time, the somewhat dominant music pumping through the sound system had given way to a live jazz singerpianist, a nice touch for its being unnecessary to the style of the bar. The music was recognisable, if not quite discernible and provided the backdrop to the one disappointment of the evening—the dessert. My homemade ice cream tasted as interesting as “salted caramel” sounds, but by the time it arrived at our table, the substantial part of it had melted. A small quibble. I was grateful for the fresh mint tea to finish. I don’t know if it’s just a placebo effect but it felt like it helped the digestion of a fantastic meal, and if I ate too much I have only myself to blame. It’s a meal that comes with a decent price tag attached, but that nonetheless represents good value with excellent service. Just don’t try and ride a bike home afterwards. Lastly on a side note, Grill on the Market offers a decidedly tempting offering on Saturdays. Order anything off the brunch menu and be treated to unlimited complimentary Prosecco throughout the duration of your meal, for a maximum of 2 hours (reservations essential.) They are also offering a rather indulgent Valentine’s Day deal for singletons, throwing in a bottle of rose for diners who bring a minimum of three friends to dine on the 14th.

Æ Abigail Malortie

19

The Beaver 12.02.2013

BACK TO

remains to be seen. Although they claim they have over 70,000 apps in their store, the real question is: How many of them are apps you actually want to download? In its first week, the phone has sold ‘solidly’ in the UK. Will it be enough for BB to catch up with iOS or Android phones? Almost certainly not. The Z10 and Q10 feel like they’re catching up with the game, and although are impressive in their own right, fail to take on the mantle of a technology ‘gamechanger’, that BB were hoping for. However, if developers start to write high-quality apps, then who knows? Maybe BB can hold onto their seat in an already over-crowded theatre of technology giants.

BLACKBERRY?

T

hrough a recent series of announcement videos, Nintendo has unveiled a line-up of new titles to be released on the Wii U, a console which had previously been lacking the impressive library we’d all been hoping for. Such epic announcements include a new Mario platformer, Mario Kart and Legend of Zelda, but can this redeem the Wii U, or will it only excite Nintendo’s closest fans? The two titles set to star Nintendo’s mascot are going to appear as playable demos at this year’s E3, as will the upcoming addition to the Super Smash Brothers series. The newest Mario platformer is being developed by the team behind the Galaxy series and Super Mario 3D land, and although little has been revealed as of yet, this certainly inspires confidence. A lot of Nintendo’s older fans will be happy to hear a new side scrolling Yoshi game. Yarn Yoshi is set to be a cross between the gameplay of the N64 game, Yoshi’s Story, and visual style of the Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and is currently being

BLACKBERRY

T

welve months on from Thorsten Heins taking on the top job at Research In Motion (RIM), the company have rebranded to simply Blackberry and are hoping to reclaim their once prominent status in the smartphone market with not one, but two flagship phones: Z10 and the Q10. Their continued fall from grace has been a result of numerous factors. Apple and Google creating slick software with nice hardware to go with it. A lack of innovation from RIM. Consumers demanding more from their phones. Not merely content to check their e-mails, tech-heads and regular Joe McDougal started demanding slick and fast third party apps, which became the focal point of the smartphone package. Enter the Z10 and Q10. With the Z10 appearing to have come out of the same hymn-singing cloud as the iPhone, the physical similarities between the two are there for all to see. However, delve into the hardware and it’s hard to knock the specs of this sleek bit of kit. Boasting more RAM than both the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S3, it comes with an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of storage, optional microSD card, Near-Field Communication (NFC), 4G, a 4.2-inch screen and genuinely looks like a Blackberry fit for the 21st century. More importantly, the user experience feels smooth and has all the flow of an Amazonian tributary. Peek at your messages with a simple swipe to the right. Venture to “The Hub” which puts all of your message streams (SMS, Facebook, BBM etc.) into one list, helping you to stop you switching back and forward between apps. Forget about a “Home”

TOP 5 APPS OF THE WEEK 1. Table Top Racing Platform: iOS/Android—£1.99

Inspired by PS1 Racing Games such as Micro Machines, TTR is an instantly addictive racing game that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

2. YPLAN - LONDON

Platform: iOS—Free

A great app to help you find gigs, theatre and general going out shenanigans in London. Book in the app, and be spontaneous!

² Michael Pearson

3. PICTION APP

Subway's social media size stickler

Take photos and add a caption. Simple concept really. Sleek interface with a nice choice of fonts to get you started.

Platform: iOS—£0.69

screen, the epicenter of your interaction with the Z10 comes from a screen that shows you all of your open apps, allowing you to multitask, and appealing to the busybodies that tend to have Blackberry. These busybodies will also be pleased that BB have siphoned off your work life from your personal life with a dual interface that allows users to separate work and personal profiles, keeping work emails secure, whilst allowing you to keep your actual friends in

" THE USER EXPERIENCE FEELS SMOOTH AND HAS ALL THE FLOW OF AN AMAZONIAN TRIBUTARY " your ‘personal’ space. For the other main customer base of Blackberry’s, the

young demographic can now look forward to BBM featuring video calling. The camera also boasts a fine new feature called “Time Shift,” which captures a burst of photos and allows you to pick the best, and replace the faces of people with their facial expressions milliseconds before, making sure you never get a person blinking in your photos again. Blackberry also manages to keep their keyboard experience up-to-date on the touchscreen. The smart keyboard learns how you type, corrects regular mistakes and predicts your next word which you can insert with a simple swipe. However, the new phones suffer from one major pitfall— Apps. Like Windows Phone 8 before it, new operating systems find it hard to attract developers to write high quality apps for their new smartphones. However, these smartphones require high quality apps to add value to a smartphone. Whether BB can beat this ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem

"Size doesn’t matter". Well, apparently it does for one young Australian teenager who wasn’t quite satisfied with the 11 inches he was sold. Matt Corby took to Facebook to show that a ‘footlong’ Subway sub was actually 11 inches, and has since received over 100,000 likes. Subway fought back and assured customers they always do their best to ensure standards. However, this wasn’t enough to hold back a number of lawsuits against Subway in the US, with Nguyen Buren seeking $5m due to the company being “fraudulent” and “deceptive”. Good luck Nguyen.

I heard it though the vine Twitter has launched a new app that allows user to take short 6-second micro-videos. Vine, launched in late January, has already caused a storm on social networks with the app gaining notoriety for hosting pornographic videos.

NINTENDO REVIVES

developed under the supervision of director Takashi Tezuka. Though from the same series, platformers starring Yoshi have traditionally differed in many respects from their Mario counterparts, with unique features ranging from trademark attacks to charmingly, childish aesthetics. It is certainly refreshing for Nintendo to finally revive the green dinosaur for a console release after fifteen years. In addition to these brand new releases, a HD remake of the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker has also been announced. Anyone who remembers the Gamecube’s fantastically rich ocean exploration adventure will be overjoyed with this one, and the Wii U’s visual capabilities are definitely shown off to the fullest through the gorgeously stunning images of Windfall Island that were revealed in the an-

nouncement trailer. According to Eiji Aonuma, the man behind a number of past Zelda titles, its release will be something for us to ‘play in the meantime’ whilst the newest Zelda game is completed. This future instalment is intended to ‘rethink the conventions of Zelda’; That is, concepts such as being able to complete dungeons in different orders and even multiplayer modes are being experimented with. The released footage, showing Link fighting gigantic Gohma like spider in a ruinous temple, looks as impressive as could be expected for the first of the series to appear on the new console generation. The prospect of experimentation for the series is definitely a welcome concept. For all its quality, the core features of the Zelda series have barely changed since 1986. The inevitable comparison between the

newest Zelda release and the unique design and exploration of Wind Waker ought to be the perfect test of Eiji Aonuma’s words. And for anyone who only recognises Marth from the last two Super Smash Brothers, you’ll be pleased to find that a new addition to his own series is also in development. Leaving few clues, a short reveal video showed that Fire Emblem and Shin-Megami Tensei, the series that inspired the successful spinoff Persona, will be partnered in a crossover title, though details about gameplay have yet to be revealed. After the remarkably unimpressive library of the Wii, and the disappointing release titles of the Wii U, it looks like Nintendo is finally heading in the right direction. However, given the unimpressive graphical quality of the Wii U compared to Nintendo’s competitors,

4. RBS 6 NATIONS

Platform: iOS/Android—Free

RBS 6 Nations Championship App with great ingame stats and info and all the latest news, this is the only app you’ll need to keep up with the 6 Nations.

5. MY RUN

Platform: WP8—Free

Having trouble with that New Year's Resolution? My Run will track your running, keep a log, help you commit to a running program, and even give you a live map of your run.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO WRITE FOR THE TECHNOLOGY SECTION OF PARTB, EMAIL technology@ thebeaveronline.co.uk these new games will have to be pretty impressive to save Nintendo in the long run. The company recently slashed the expected sales for the rest of the financial year for both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS, and just last year Nintendo reported its first ever annual losses in all its years as a public company. Worse yet, the casual market Nintendo has been targeting for the last few years is turning swiftly from the consoles towards smart phones. With the Xbox 720 in development, and the Playstation 4 set to be revealed at E3 in June, it remains to be seen if Nintendo can save the Wii U and re-establish itself as a genuine competitor on the home console market. The potential downfall of such a beloved company is a saddening prospect, but having spent so long being unable to compete in a market that demands high quality, it wouldn’t be much of a shock.

¦ Philip Gallager

20

12.02.2013 | The Beaver

ILLEGAL SMUGGLING RING AT THE LSE Unnamed Interpol agent

In a move that threatens to destabilise the BBC even further, the B has been informed that the notorious “allegedâ€? scumbag Benjamin Buttons Phillipshead exploited the LSESU RAGCIST Society during his mass gunging attempt last week. By using the freedom of PRYHPHQW DŕŽ‰RUGHG E\ ODVW week’s charity event, Benjamin was able to transport upwards of eighty Strand Polytechnic from their accommodation above the kebab shop on New Kent Road as part of his people smuggling/removal company. Under the pretext of “ensuring I have enough clammy gloop for Putin-Dayâ€?, Mr Phillipshead was able to HŕŽ‰HFWLYHO\ FLUFXPYHQW /6( 6Hcurity, resulting in the greatest breach of the School’s defencHV VLQFH WKH MRLQW HŕŽ‰RUW E\ ,UDnian and Rhodesian ‘observers’ to monitor the last batch of SU elections. Whilst it would be inappropriate of us at the B to criticise people for wishing to receive an actual education, rather than just colouring in maps of the world, we are concerned that the smuggling operation was clearly achieved with the explicit complicity of members of RAGCIST, with many of them being in a position to SURனW IURP LW GLUHFWO\ ,QGHHG given the position of RAGCIST within the Students’ Union, it is obvious that most mem-

bers would have reason to do so, given that many of the socalled ‘volunteers’ claim not to receive a salary. Corruption is said to run to the very heart of RAGCIST. Although rumours of wild cocaine induced binges funded by charitable donations remain just that, the B has been informed of the existence of receipts that could prove that such actions were undertaken

at the Tower Hill Shilton. General-Sexretary Alex Putin-Day claimed to be “Well jelly at teh hatars� when interviewed at the Singapore Hilton as part of the Aldwych Group, NUS Conference or other similarly legitimate organisation. The School informed the B that a number of concerned students had raised suspicions regarding the Polytechnic as early as Monday morning. A

number of allegedly trafficked people garnered enough attention to prompt immediate reactions from students. “I just cannot understand how such a Wanke-stain could have managed to meet the entry requirements that the LSE demands� one furious Second Year said. “There I was, contributing to the discussion in the Anthropology Class that I took purely because I wanted to shoe-horn

Ayn Rand into every essay for no reason whatsoever. Before I knew it, this guy had stood up, vomited on the desk and then attempted to eat his shoes. I noticed the signs of the Strand Poly-er straight away.� Putin-Day released an immediate press statement condemning Mr Phillipshead’s actions, despite being gunged for her protests. “This is all teh illeghal immigrents taking urh jobs innit� she said, washing her cardigan in a toilet. Following a brief accostment from the Metropolitan Police, she called for a “wall to be built up to stop these peeps from hurtin our rep.� It is unclear if Putin-Day is aware that a society she once headed was the one most indicted within the controversy. She was unable to give the B a sober response at any point before we went to print. The LSESU were quick to disavow these clearly drunken comments and reaffirm their undying support of the international workers republic waterworks. In a preprepared statement, Calhouligan detailed the School’s “long-standing commitment to all those who are in need of rescuing from intellectual impoverishment. That and people who want to have a lecture theatre named after them in order to give them a small amount of international forgiveness in the event of them accidentally/allegedly trivialising the holocaust.�

TUNS FOOD NOT TAINTED - JUST BAD John Massivesap

In a foregone conclusion, meat from the Three Tuns was seized for testing last week as a direct result of the recent controversy over horsemeat. Following the 975th random inspection from a Westminster Council Asbestos Inspector, he received what he claimed to be “a sandwich that seemed to present itself as a new, and rather un-Saif, attempt at biological warfare� and immediately informed the Food Standards Authority.

But in a surprise turnaround the test results seem to indicate that the meat being served by the LSE is, in fact, 100 percent beef. Although 98 percent of this is either crushed neck vertebrae, brain matter or bone marrow gently steamed from the carcass, this is still falls within acceptable levels under the latest European Union regulations. %DU VWDŕŽ‰ ZHUH FODLPHG WR EH ‘shocked’ by the revelations. One was reportedly heard saying “I knew the hooves were

GHனQLWHO\ EHHI EHFDXVH WKRVH were cloven when I put them into the blender, but I insist that the spinal cord looked way too big to be part of a cow. We all assumed that it came from a narwal or something.â€? “I wish to reject the allegations that the Union would consider placing a spinal column in a bapâ€? an irate member of the LSESU Catering Team inIRUPHG WKH % ‍ڔ‏,W ZRXOGQ‍ڑ‏W னW for a start, although we are considering purchasing baguettes in the near future.â€?

A new sandwich, the LSE100 per cent beef, has gone on the menu in celebration but has yet to be ordered. Sadly WKH % FDQ FRQனUP WKDW QRW HYHQ 0.00001 percent of this will be ground up Leaple-Bizzle, as the restrictions on serving human DUH VWLOO னUPO\ LQ IRUFH XQWLO the “Prevention of Child Abuse Actâ€? enters into law in July. This change has not entirely removed the risk of health disaster away from the Three Tuns. Whilst the meat came back as 100 percent beef, this

leads to the possibility of a BSE epidemic amongst LSE students. While most of the students could arguably be said to KDYH WKH னUVW VHW RI &UHXW]IHOGW‍ڋ‏ Jakob disease symptoms, the B has been assured by the relevant authorities that the hallucinations and memory loss are almost certain to originate from the Library, probably connected to the paint fumes from the redecoration that is currently being completed to the ORZHU JURXQG ŕŽ‹RRU

Features

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

The World this Week European Union agrees a historic budget cut $IWHU WZHQW\ ன YH KRXU ORQJ negotiations this week, the member states agreed its ன UVW EXGJHW FXW RI ۲ billion. David Cameron will be feeling victorious after pushing for budget cuts. Horse meat scandal gallops on Further investigation into horsemeat, following revelations of horsemeat in Tesco burgers, has seen D SRVVLEOH PDன D QHWZRUN involved in replacing beef with horsemeat. It is FODLPHG WKDW PDன DV KDYH been intimidating vets and abbatoir workers into signLQJ RŕŽ‰ KRUVHPHDW DV EHLQJ beef before sending meat to food profucers.

Features

21

Gay marriage: Cameron’s political challenge Politically, gay marriage is a problem for David Cameron. More than half of his MPs, many of whom are increasingly frustrated with his leadership, voted against it, eight junior ministers and two cabinet ministers. In spite of this, David Cameron needs gay marriage. He QHHGV LW EHFDXVH LW LV WKH ன nal remnant of his modernisation of the Conservative Party. When 39-year-old David Cameron became leader of the Conservatives in 2005, he promised to modernise the Tory party, which was still reeling from its third

if he is elected, reviving the debate about Europe within and beyond the Conservative Party for many years to come. Cameron and the Conservatives have carried on “banging on about Europe� emphatically, especially in government. On climate change, Cameron has failed to live up to the promise “vote blue to go green� and proved the husky and wind turbine gimmicks to be precisely that – gimmicks – and little more. On the issue of class, a difficult one for a Conservative party headed by an Old Etonian and two former members of the Bullingdon Club, Cameron and Osborne

“hug a hoodyâ€? speech. All of which brings us to gay marriage. Cameron’s modernisation project lies in ruins, but for this one exception. That is why gay marriage is so important, even necessary, to David Cameron. Ironically, though, it is SURYLQJ D VLJQLன FDQW SURE lem for him. Many of his backbenchers and other traditionalists within the party are vehemently opposed to it. 139of his backbenchers voted against it. Conservative MP Edward Leigh said the Conservative Party is “alienating people who have voted for us all our livesâ€?. Roger Gale MP called the

leadership, and having to share government with the Liberal Democrats. Neither the split in the party nor the undermining of David Cameron’s authority will look good to voters, either, but there are more important issues, namely the economy, on voters’ minds. A greater threat to David Cameron, considering gay marriage, is not the unpopularity of the policy with voters – a majority of the electorate back the change – but the potential hazard involved in irritating his MPs. There are already enough Conservative MPs who want to bring down their leader to trigger a leadership election.

consecutive electoral defeat at the hands of arch-moderniser, Tony Blair. Cameron might not have chosen his words carefully when he called himself the “heir to Blair� but it revealed something crucial about the intentions of his leadership. So what about modernisation now? What happened to the husky-loving, hoody-hugging, cosmopolitan liberal David Cameron? David Cameron told his party they would have to stop “banging on about Europe�. In practise, however, David Cameron has moved his party into the rightwing grouping the European Conservatives and Reformists from the EPP, wielded the ambiguous “veto� and promised a referendum on renegotiated membership of the EU after the next election,

have resorted to making the distinction between “workersâ€? and “shirkersâ€?, “striversâ€? and “skiversâ€?, and stereotyping people in receipt RI EHQHன WV On the economy, George Osborne said before the recession that they would spend more than Labour. Now, the Chancellor is cutting the public sector faster and deeper than any other Chancellor is living memory, and it is unlikely the Conservatives are going to produce progressive and modernising principles on the economy while committed to deep cuts to public spending. The Conservatives have also reverted to type on immigration and law and order, with little rhetoric that sounds like David Cameron’s 2006 speech which was caricatured in the media as his

proposals “almost Orwellianâ€?. Peter Bone even called it his “saddest dayâ€? as an MP. These hyperbolic objections create the opposite effect that Cameron desires. Rather than making the Conservative Party look modern and at ease with modern, cosmopolitan, tolerant Britain, it makes the Conservatives seem more backward and traditionalist than the other main parties – which they are, but that is not what David Cameron wants. Not only do the Conservatives now look backward compared to the other parWLHV EXW WKH KLJK SURன OH disagreement within the party will damage the Tories. It will have a negative HŕŽ‰ HFW XSRQ WKH PRUDOH RI WKH parliamentary party, many of whom are already deeply GLVDŕŽ‰ HFWHG ZLWK &DPHURQ‍ڑ‏V

They may not be enough to bring down their Prime Minister yet, nor is there an obvious candidate around ZKRP WKH GLVDŕŽ‰ HFWHG PDVV in the parliamentary party could back, although backbencher David Davis, former Defence Secretary Liam Fox, and Adam Afriyie, a selfmade millionaire from the 2010 intake, could all do it. 7KH RQJRLQJ ன JKW RYHU gay marriage might unite enough Conservative MPs under an anti-Cameron banner to pose a serious risk to the future of his leadership, and the Conservatives could commit regicide for a third time since 1990. Few will dispute that David Cameron is on the right side of history on gay marriage, but what will it cost him?

Liam Hill, Politics Columnist

ERIN M

Gay marriage is legalised in the United Kingdom A historic vote saw the British Parliament grant WKHLU FRQVHQW WR legalising gay marriage. Cameron saw serious divisions emerge within his party as 136 members voted against the proposals. The bill is yet to go through the Lords, but it is expected to pass easily due to the strong majority in Commons. Chris Huhne pleads guilty The Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change may be going to prison, after it was revealed that he perverted the court of justice. Huhne ‘made’ his ex-wife Vicky Pryce take the blame for a speeding ticket that Huhne was responsible for. He has since stepped down from his position as MP for Eastleigh. Gove makes a U-turn on GCSE policy Gove this week made a Uturn on his proposals to scrap GCSEs. He had advocated the Ebacc, comprising of ‘traditional’ subjects. He now concedes that arts subjects need to be included, causing celebration by the arts world.

22

Features

12.02.2013 |

The Beaver

Marriage as a right for all Gurmeet Kaur

Welcome It is Week Five - where on earth has the time gone?! Now that we are mid term, the pressure is piling on and nights out are far and fewer between I’m sure. Nevertheless, there has been so much going on in the news this week. It is LGBT month this February, which chimes appropriately with the passing of the Bill concerning gay marriage. Check out our LGBT section this week! If you have a topic you would like to write about please drop us an email: Features@thebeaveronline.co.uk 1RZ RQ WR PXFK PRUH LQWHUHVWLQJ WKLQJV 6OLJKWO\ RŕŽ‰ WRS LF WKLV ZHHN ZDV WKH LVVXH RI EHQHன W FXWV WKH ‍Ú?‏EHGURRP tax’ and general attack on the welfare state. What I would like to redress here is the stigma surrounding the welfare state, which both Labour and Conservatives are using to justify cuts. Recently, we have seen new ‘strivers versus skivers’ rhetoric emerging from the lips of the increasingly unpopular George Osborne, appealing somewhat to the notion of ‘deserving and undeserving poor.’ This rhetoric, along with regular ‘news’ stories by tabloid newspapers KDV EHHQ XVHG WR SHUSHWXDWH WKH YLHZ WKDW EHQHன WV IRU the country’s most disadvantaged should be curbed and slashed. However, this view is based on the premise that the SHRSOH RQ EHQHன WV DUH WKH OD]\ JUHHG\ DQG FKRVH QRW WR work hard. Somehow, people forget that unemployment is not just the fate for the ‘lazy’, but for the recent graduate from the LSE who did not get a job through a graduate VFKHPH WKH IRUPHU SROLFHPDQ ZKR KDV EHHQ PDGH UHGXQ dant through budget cuts. This is noted by James Angel, New Economics Forum, who states in response to the ‘strivers versus skivers’ schism: “There aren’t a lot of jobs around: last year there was an average of eighteen applications for every job vacancy.â€? So when there is this shortage of jobs, it is unfair to FODLP WKDW SHRSOH RQ EHQHன WV DUH QRW KDUGZRUNLQJ DUH QRW strivers, are people who do not deserve state support. At the end of the day, the welfare state can be seen as a Rawlsian safety net for everyone in society. The government are also trying to tackle the serious SUREOHP RI EHQHன W IUDXG ,W LV VHULRXV EHFDXVH LW LV FRVW ing the taxpayer and our economy a lot of money, so they VD\ )LJXUHV IURP HVWLPDWH EHQHன W IUDXG WR KDYH cost the economy ÂŁ3.4 billion. That is a serious amount of money, of course. But thankfully there is a stark contrast to be drawn ZLWK WD[ HYDVLRQ :KLOH EHQHன W IUDXG LV FODLPHG WR EH D serious, pressing problem, the government seems less eager to tackle the ÂŁ70 billion of tax evasion, ÂŁ25 billion tax avoidance, and ÂŁ25 billion of unpaid tax (according to ன JXUHV VKRZQ RQ ZZZ HFRQRPLFVKHOS RUJ , DP GHன QLWHO\ not an economist by any means, but it appears that there LV D VWURQJ GLVSDULW\ EHWZHHQ EHQHன W IUDXG DQG WD[ HYD sion, with tax evasion being the real problem that we are facing. However, perhaps the issue lies with the lack of representation of poor people in Parliament. Of course, an unHPSOR\HG EHQHன WV FODLPDQW KDV QR YRLFH LQ VRFLH\ XQOHVV it is through a seemingly distorted tabloid article about the unemployed and their millions of children. Whereas on the other hand, businesses, companies, and wealthy individuals can wield true power upon our elected officials - particularly by threatening to move themselves and their wealth abroad. These are serious issues to think about when our welfare state is being curbed. It appears that the strivers rhetoric has perpetuated mainstream public opinion to the H[WHQG ZKHUH ZH DUH SHUPLVVLYH WRZDUGV EHQHன WV FXWV ZH are permissive towards workfare, and we are generally SHUPLVVLYH WR WKH ZHOIDUH RI SHRSOH RQ EHQHன WV 5DWKHU WKDQ ODEHOOLQJ WKHP OD]\ LW LV IDU PRUH EHQHன FLDO WR UHFRJ nise that anyone could be put in that position given cerWDLQ FLUFXPVWDQFHV 7R EUXVK RŕŽ‰ DQG GLVUHJDUG SHRSOH LQ true need is to create a ‘them and us’ society. Meanwhile, let’s think more about tax evasion and the civil duty to pay your tax - because that is where the real problem lies at the moment.

With the approval of same sex marriage in the House of Commons last Tuesday, there was a barrage of responses from those opposing the bill. Social media was expectedly ன OOHG ZLWK LW JD\PDUULDJH was trending on Twitter and controversial debates taking place on Facebook status’s. Barring all the emotive and provocative comments that were being posted, there was one view that gave the VXSHUன FLDO SUHVXPSWLRQ WKDW it was based on a logical argument rather than beliefs, centering around the idea that marriage is not a civil right. It was asserted that ‘marriage is not a right but a decision between a man and woman, a union that is “unsuitableâ€? for gay couples.’ Although the idea that marriage is not an inherent right presumes that we are not all born with the right to marry i.e. it is not a natural right, this comment neglects the notion that marriage is a civil right for members in a particular society. While not everyone wants to get married – some choose to get civil partnerships, some stay as long-term partners and simply don’t want to marry. But PDUULDJH GHன QLWHO\ UHPDLQV the right of the couples who do wish to get married and it is simply this choice to marry that is denied to homosexual couples. Those on the opposition may further argue that there is no need for this bill as civil partnership has been legal VLQFH JD\ FRXSOHV KDYH all the legal rights as a heter-

osexual married couple. Thus, WKH VXSSRVHGO\ ‍Ú?‏UHGHன QLWLRQ‍ ڑ‏ of marriage (which is what the church is opposing) is an unnecessary debate that the state does not need to involve itself into. Living in a secular, western democracy, it is possible to see the strength in this argument. Indeed, it is argued that the state has no business to involve itself in the matters of church - so in this case that gay marriage is against Christian teachings. However, the symbolism of this bill is far vast than is allowed in this argument. By giving gay couples the right to choose to marry, their union is seen equal to the love of a heterosexual married couple. Although legally gay couples have the same rights as a heterosexual couple, the label of marriage is important in breaking down the superiority that is somehow linked to the traditional notion of marriage being between a man and a woman. It is important to re-assert the case for egalitarianism and the importance of granting fundamental civil rights to a minority group in society that has thus far been denied. The struggle for gay rights must be viewed in a larger framework of the civil rights struggle in society, along with ன JKWLQJ IRU ZRPHQ‍ڑ‏V ULJKWV disability rights, ethnic minority rights, and every other marginalised group that deserves the right to be able to fully realise him/herself as a member of society. By not allowing homosexual couples the basic right to celebrate their love and have that union be seen as equal

to the love of a heterosexual couple takes away some of their civil liberties. For Christian homosexuals, the choice to marry in the presence of God may be a way of expressing their faith – the law should allow them the right to celebrate their love with God. To be denied the right to choose to marry in this way is denying the practise of your faith. Let us not forget that religious practises and principles are highly subjective and based on personal percepWLRQV LI \RX DV D &KULVWLDQ believe your faith forbids homosexual relationships, it is likely that another Christian may disagree with you simSO\ EHFDXVH RI GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW LQWHU pretations of the teaching. To blindly argue therefore that gay marriage ceremonies in the church is against Christianity is too absolutist. Everyone should be allowed to practise their faith in the manner WKH\ VHH ன W ,W VKRXOG DOVR EH kept in mind that no church is being forced to perform the marriage ceremonies – any church has the right to opt out if they do believe it is against their teachings. Ultimately, having a partner in life is basic human need and to not be able to celebrate your love in the way you want, whether that is a civil partnership or a wedding, is taking away your rights as a citizen of a democratic state. Everyone has the right to choose to marry and WKRVH DJDLQVW WKLV ‍Ú?‏UHGHன QL tion’ of the traditional notion of marriage must stop fearing society progressing onwards.

Nona Buckley-Irvine Features Editor MARC LOVE

Features

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

Rocky road to equality John Peart

History is rife with examples of people asserting their dominance over one another; white colonialists over black slaves, men over women, royalty over their subjects. And over the course of history, societies have changed, people have adapted, and attitudes have shifted. For LGBT people around the world, the long road to legal and societal equality is still being tread; and it’s riddled with pot-holes and winding twists and U-turns. Today, only nine countries around the world have full legal equality for LGBT and straight people alike. At the same time, we have other countries that mute the discussion and ‘promotion’ of homosexuality, others that threaten their citizens with the death penalty, and yet others that follow through with that threat. In between, we have countries that claim they welcome LGBT people with open arms, whilst failing to live up to that rhetoric in the way they govern their countries. And so in many ways, the 21st century is even more illiberal on human rights than humanity has been in the past. The prejudice and persecution that many LGBT people face in their daily lives didn’t always exist. In fact, in many early cultures, it was celebrated. Hindu and Vedic texts, dating back to ancient India, have long shown depictions of deities breaking our modern gender stereotypes and norms. Several deities, including Vishnu and Shiva, have been shown to manifest in male, female, and transgendered forms. Some are even considered patrons of the so-called “third sex�; rituals have been created in honour of these gods and goddesses. And in other cultures too, such as ancient Greek and Roman culture, same-sex relations were commonplace. Indeed, in the Roman empire, homoeroticism was seen as an assertion of masculinity by male citizens, and something to be proud of. But the world changed. We somehow moved from an era of celebration of homosexuality, to an era of disdain, distrust and disgust for LGBT people. The stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, depicted in Genesis, show how homosexual rape led to the downfall of both cities. Likewise the Laws of Moses – the Torah – are said to forbid homosexuality in Leviticus. If one thing is clear from history, it is certainly that societies and cultures gave LGBT people mixed signals. As the world moved from BC to AD, the rights of LGBT people very slowly became formalised and more restricted. In 1533, the Buggery Act was enacted, completely outlawing same-sex sexual activity, along with the criminalisation of zoophilia, across the entirety of the British Empire. Like in many countries across Europe since the popular adoption of Christianity, breaking this law resulted in the ultimate punishment – the death penalty – and

it wasn’t until 1861, in the Offences Against the Person Act, that execution of the death penalty was stopped in Britain. It was still illegal to engage in same-sex activity, so homosexuals were imprisoned instead. Other countries across Europe were far ahead of the British Empire at this stage in recognising the rights of LGBT people. Luxembourg, Belgium and France were among the ன UVW WR OHJDOLVH VDPH VH[ VH[ ual activity in the late 1700s, whilst the British Empire was still in the process of restricting the rights of LGBT citizens. Perhaps oddly, many countries, including the UK, only legislated to restrict the rights of gay PHQ VSHFLன FDOO\ OHVELDQV ZHUH rarely the explicit targets of anti-gay legislation. The turn of the twentieth century was when everything began to change. The early part of the century saw a change for the worse as Europe was consumed with war. The Nazi war machine moving across the European continent brought with it not only the genocide of millions of Jewish people, but of countless LGBT people too. A pink triangle, worn with its tip facing down, was the label given to those that were to lose their lives at the hands of Hitler’s fascist ideology. Today, that same triangle, inverted, is ZRUQ DV D VLJQ RI GHன DQFH DQG pride for the LGBT communities around the world. But, with Hitler defeated at the end of the second World War, country after country, like dominoes, across the world, including the majority of European nations, began to start the debate about decriminalising homosexuality. In the UK, in 1957, the Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution – better known as the Wolfenden Report – was published. Contained within it were radical ideas; for WKH ன UVW WLPH D SDUOLDPHQWDU\ committee was recommending that “homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a FULPLQDO RŕŽ‰ HQFH ‍ ڕ‏7KH UHFRP mendation was based partly on a notion of civil liberties – that the state should not intervene in the private lives of individuals, but instead should protect WKHP IURP LQGHFHQF\ RŕŽ‰ HQFH and corruption – and partly in response to the growing number of well-known men (such as Lord Montagu, Michael PittRivers and Peter Wildeblood) being convicted and imprisoned for their sexuality. It was also a response to new evidence that, contrary to popular belief, suggested that “homosexuality cannot legitimately be regarded as a disease, because in many cases it is the only symptom and is compatible with full mental health in other respects.â€? Ten years later, the Sexual 2ŕŽ‰ HQFHV $FW ZDV SDVVHG into law, backed by the Church of England, and homosexual acts were legalised in EngODQG DQG :DOHV IRU WKH ன UVW time since 1533. Scotland and Northern Ireland followed suit over a decade later, in 1979

and 1982 respectively. The UK was not alone in this march of change; other countries were reforming their legal systems too, and by the turn of the millennium, nearly every country in Europe had repealed laws banning the private relations of LGBT people. Across the pond, in the United States of America, the LGBT ULJKWV PRYHPHQW ZDV ன QGLQJ its feet. On 28 June, 1969, police raided a known gay bar – the Stonewall Inn – in New York City. The raid triggered a series of spontaneous and violent riots that spilled out onto the streets of the city. These riots were the ன UVW WUXH UHVLVWDQFH WR LQVWL tutionalised oppression of the LGBT community in the USA. In the wake of these riots, the Gay Liberation Front was born ZLWK LWV 8. ZLQJ‍ڑ‏V ன UVW PHHW ing held in a basement classroom at LSE) and on both sides of the Atlantic, the GLF fought for the rights of LGBT people as well as the rights of other oppressed groups including those RI GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW JHQGHUV DQG UDFHV Twelve months later, in June 1970, gay rights activists held WKH ZRUOG‍ڑ‏V ன UVW 3ULGH PDUFK ‍ ڋ‏ a public demonstration of the LGBT community’s resistance to institutional oppression at the hands of government and society; over 40 years later, those same marches continue around the world – from the 86$ WR 8JDQGD ‍ ڋ‏LQ GHன DQFH RI homophobia. For European countries, the journey from the end of World War II to now has not been an entirely upward trend of improvement for LGBT people; to this day, LGBT rights remain a political football. In the UK, legislation has been passed to equalise the age of consent for LGBT people, to allow same-sex couples to have civil unions and as recently as two days ago, started the legislative process allowing same-sex couples to get married, to allow them to adopt children, to allow people to change their legal gender and to ban discriminatory behaviour based on sexual orientation, gender and gender reassignment, but it’s not been a straight-forward trajectory. Perhaps one of the more dark times for LGBT people in the UK in recent years has been the introduction of Section 28. For years prior to its introduction, the UK wing of the GLF, as well as many gay and lesbian activists in the Liberal and Labour Parties had been successfully pushing back against heteronormitivity by local authorities; small wins like showing gay families as normal through children’s books were creating waves around the political spectrum. Section 28, was introduced by the Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s in retaliation to this societal shift, and stated that local authorities could not “intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexualityâ€? or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of

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The emotional war What doesn’t kill you, could still ruin your life as you know it. Could make you fragile and vulnerable until you have no more layers of strength to protect you. This is not a piece about how since the summer I’ve been through hell and back; how I was ‘outed’ to my father; how I KDG WR ZDWFK KLP VXŕŽ‰ HU DQG VXUYLYH D KHDUW DWWDFN ZKHQ KH FRQ fronted me about it; or how I had to stay by his side, despite his inability to understand. This is not about how I had to go through an emotional war between the irrational side of me that felt guilty for nearly killing him and the rational one, which did not tolerate the privacy inIULQJHPHQW WKDW ZDV LQŕŽ‹ LFWHG RQ PH RU DERXW KRZ WKH RQO\ WKLQJ I could take for granted -my parents’ love- was taken away from me. It is certainly not about how I had to come out to my mother QRW RQFH QRW WZLFH EXW WKUHH WLPHV RQ GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW RFFDVLRQV RU DERXW KRZ WKH ORYH RI P\ OLIH ŕŽ‹ HZ WR &\SUXV WR ன QG PH ZKLOH , was a prisoner in my own house. It is not even about how my parents created a monstrous image of the only person that has made me feel whole, the only person I can truly say I have loved. Maybe putting everything down on paper and sharing it with people will somehow rationalise the situation. But I won’t. And it won’t. Because, this is about equality. This is about how everyday I put on my ‘day face’ and move on ZLWK OLIH , WU\ WR PHQG P\VHOI (YHU\WKLQJ LV ன QH ,W KDV WR EH $QG then I get a sudden urge to weep and realise that the trauma is deep under my skin. Someone, somewhere always has it worse. But when you grow up in a small conservative community, such as the Cypriot one, even the best-case scenario is going to have a lasting impact on you. In a Hobbesian sense you do have choices: either stay in the closet and go back home or leave, start up a new life elsewhere and never go back. But what sort of a society forces a 21-year old to choose between their home and their freedom? Since it didn’t kill me, I wanted it to make me stronger. I wanted to forgive my parents. I wanted to justify my culture and explain why it has to be so hard for LGBT in Cyprus. I wanted to make sense out of my sexuality. To convince myself that one day , ZLOO EH IUHH DQG WKDW OLIH ZLOO EH GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW 2U ‍ڋ‏GDUH , GUHDP EHW ter. I promised myself that it would stop hurting, that I would go on with life. But this is not how it works. This is not how it should work. The problem lies with having to be discriminated against LQ WKH ன UVW SODFH +DYLQJ WR FRQVWDQWO\ GHQ\ \RXUVHOI WKH SOHDVXUH of the everyday things that everyone else takes for granted. To never be able to look into the future and stare at anything else other than a concrete wall. It lies with not having the satisfaction of letting the whole world know about how happy you are at last, now that you’ve found yourself. It lies with being denied equality. What doesn’t kill you should make you stronger. But there is no guide for ‘worst moments in life’. I should have chosen my freedom, my happiness, and my own path. Rationally, I should ZDQW WR FRQIURQW WKLV DQG ன JKW IRU P\ ULJKWV %XW FXOWXUH KDV D very lasting impact on us; it is almost embedded in our essence as human beings. At times, the guilt of not conforming with the Cypriot norms weights me down and coping seems impossible. But damn it, think about the scars we collect throughout life and the way we push through the pain. How we go on with life. We pick ourselves up. We go to school. We go to work. We eat. We breathe. We love. :H GHVHUYH EHWWHU :H VKRXOG ன JKW IRU EHWWHU homosexuality as a pretended family relationshipâ€?. In essence, the legislation was a gagging order on the discussion of LGBT issues and a homophobic move by Thatcher’s Government. Whilst breaking Section 28 was never D FULPLQDO RŕŽ‰ HQFH WKH JXLGH lines created over a decade of self-censorship on LGBT issues. The Blair Government eventually repealed the legislation, despite continued opposition from the Conservative party, then led by William Hague, but its spectre still lives on. Whilst the legislation was a considerable diversion on the journey to equality for LGBT people in the UK, it has once again become a reality for others across Europe as countries such as Russia, just twenty years after legalising homosexuality, introduce new gagging laws. These laws don’t just target local authorities however, they target anyone who speaks out in public – and arrests have already been

made. The road to equality for the LGBT community across WKH ZRUOG LV QRW PXFK GLŕŽ‰ HU ent in 2013 AD as it was in 2013 BC. Societies’ view on LGBT people still isn’t solid; it’s constantly changing as different groups vie for attention and supremacy in the eternal quest for peer-domination. No doubt we will continue to see homophobic and transphobic legislation pass through the halls of Westminster and other legislatures around the world. But the important thing to remember is this: it’s not where we have come from, but where we are headed, and when you look back at where we started and where we’ve arrived so far, there’s a lot to be hopeful about for the future. John Peart is currently LGBT officer at the LSE. For more information, please contact j.r.peart@lse.ac.uk.

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Features

12.02.2013 | The Beaver

The Jasmine revolution in crisis Dominic Hung

Where the Arab Spring appeared to falter in the face of Islamist hijacking, persistent social unrest and poor economic performance, Tunisia had stood out like an island of calm amidst the likes of Egypt and Syria, where the bloody process of revolution has only led to more questions for the future than answers. That has changed, however, with the assassination of Shokri Belaid on 6 February when gunmen on a motorbike shot him four times in the head and neck as he was leaving his home. Belaid, leader of the secular Democratic Nationalist Party and part of the Popular Front alliance, was a prominent secular politician and vocal critic of the Islamistled government, currently controlled by the Ennahdha party. It has, however, been accused of allowing Wahabbis and other extremist groups to dominate Tunisia, desecrating shrines and holy sites considered that are considered idolatrous under the strict interpretation of Wahhabism. Since the Tunisian revolution two years ago, twenty such sites have been desecrated across Tunisia, with QXPEHUV ULVLQJ VLJQLனFDQWO\

in recent months. Belaid has repeatedly condemned the Islamist party as a threat towards democracy – the assassination, therefore, has only reinforced that charge, true or otherwise. The reaction from Tunisian society was immediate. Never before had such a cowardly act been perpetrated in the country, not even during the period of Ben Ali’s dictatorship – tens of thousands of supporters of the secular opposition

nous political crime� and that its perpetrators were “enemies of the country, democracy and Islam�, it has rejected calls by its own prime minister, Hamdi Jebali, to dissolve government and reform it with a cabinet of unaffiliated technocrats and opted to call its supporters out onto the streets in counter-protest. Tunisian popular opinion is rapidly swaying to the conviction that Islamists were behind Belaid’s murder, En-

proposal, and will only bring Tunisia greater uncertainty until his success or failure is determined. The paths forward for Tunisia are worrisome. Should it prove to be true that Belaid’s death was engineered by his political opponents, any failure to counter the JURZLQJ LQŕŽ‹XHQFH RI ,VODPists within Tunisia will be PDGH VLJQLனFDQWO\ PRUH GLIனFXOW DQG ZLOO RQO\ LQVSLUH more political repression in the future.

Belaid’s killers wanted them to degenerate into. The perpetration of such cowardly and criminal acts is not a signal for Islamists to become legitimate targets for YLROHQFH RU MXVWLனFDWLRQ IRU reprisal – the reality is that Belaid’s murder was believed but not proven to have been conducted by hardline Islamists. Conversely, supporters of the Ennahdha party must not succumb to the paranoid fear (as some already have) that there is some international conspiracy afoot to destroy Tunisia led by none other than their old colonial master, France. Now more than ever is the time for clear-headed, rational thinking, when so At the same time, street much is at stake. Protest protests, strikes and revo- and call for change, but not lutions are not ways to sus- for blood or revenge beyond tain a functioning and stable the rule of law for when even democratic society, as Egypt that framework is removed, has found out at great cost. another supporting beam While their anger and sus- of the nation is removed. If picions are undoubtedly jus- Belaid’s vision for Tunisia is WLனHG %HODLG‍ڑ‏V VXSSRUWHUV to be honoured, his supportmust realize that constant ers must never follow a path escalation will only take Tu- that he himself would have nisia to the brink of political condemned. How the peochaos again as battle-lines ple of Tunisia respond to this between Islamists and secu- FULVLV ZLOO GHனQH WKHLU FRXQlarists are drawn. try’s progress towards a staMost crucially, though, ble, peaceful democratic sothe people of Tunisia must ciety – and, if Tunisia falls to understand that they must violence as Egypt has done, never fall into the trap that if they will reach it at all.

Street protests, strikes and revolutions are not ways to sustain a functioning and stable democratic society poured out onto the streets, calling for the removal of the Islamist government and for a second revolution, evoking images of the very same street protests that toppled the country’s dictatorship two years ago. At his funeral, up to a million Tunisians walked alongside BeODLG‍ڑ‏V FRIனQ DV LW ZDV FDUULHG through Tunis, clashing with riot police along the way as they cried ‘dĂŠgage’. Ennahdha’s reaction has not done anything to help its rapidly sinking position: while its leader condemned the assassination as a “hei-

nahdha or otherwise. Tunisia’s crisis shows no sign of easing – as of the writing of this piece, Jebali has threatened to resign from government if his proposal is rejected. Only two months prior, he had been proposing the formation of a national-unity government in response to growing frustrations with Ennahdha’s rule. Symbolic as it is, the move is a dangerous gamble that will not help a country wracked by political destabilization of this magnitude should his party reject the

Features

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

25

The case for German efficiency When debating how Germany has managed to escape relatively unscathed from the global recession, more often than not the stereotype of Germany efficiency surfaces. There is a belief that the German economy runs much like the German transport system - with precision. Indeed these ideas are perhaps not just stereotyping but to a certain extent realistic. According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average German works 256 fewer hours a year than their British counterpart and yet still manages to be more produc-

stated that ‘compared with other countries, the German job market is solid’. In light of this, the question remains as to what the Germany economy is doing right, and what the United Kingdom, in a period of slow economic growth, can learn IURP ‍*Ú?‏HUPDQ HŕŽŒFLHQF\‍ ڑ‏ The UK has the largest debt of any European country, in terms of proportion of GDP, bar Greece, with WKH UHSRUWHG னJXUH VDLG WR be around 460 per cent of GDP. In comparison German GHEW LV VLJQLனFDQWO\ ORZHU DOWKRXJK WKLV னJXUH LV FOLPEing as bank bailouts for Eurozone countries increase. Despite this, the German idea of only spending money

ple enter the employment ladder. The success of these schemes is perhaps highlighted by Britain’s recent call for the improved provision and worth attached to apprenticeship schemes. The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee report on apprentices in November 2012 called for equal worth to be placed on apprenticeship schemes as a university education, with the chairman of this committee stating that ‘the apprenticeship programme can play a key role in resolving some of this country’s most pressing issues’. However even despite these reforms those in work

facturing, however is often overlooked when it comes to international deals. This is where Germany’s strength lies, with exports bringing in more than $1 trillion every year. Controversially the German company Siemens was awarded the £3bn contract to build new trains for the southeast Thameslink line ahead of Derby-based Bombardier which put nearly 20,000 UK jobs in the sector at risk. In terms of corporate excess the stories of Fred Goodwin, the boss of RBS from 2000-2008, are all too familiar in Britain. Indeed at the height of RBS’s interest rate rigging Mr. Goodwin accepted a £6 million bonus. In

this has brought many arJXH WKDW WKLV EHQHனW V\VWHP comes at a human cost. It has been held that the Hartz payments are â‚Ź36 too little a month and violate basic human dignity. The fact that people are forced to accept the next job WKH\ னQG IRU IHDU RI ORVV RI EHQHனWV PHDQV WKH\ FDQQRW escape their dependence on state welfare as they will perpetually be in low-paid and part-time work. In Britain similar reforms are planned for 2013 which will see a one SHU FHQW IUHH]H LQ EHQHனW LQcrease and an attempt, according to George Osborne, to be ‘fair to the person who leaves home every morning to go out to work’. Fear

tive. From a starting point of complete economic ruin post-WW2 in 1945 Germany has managed to withstand and even improve during the recent economic recession. Despite some economic contraction during 2012, with production of basic goods declining 0.7 per cent in November, the German economy far outstrips that of any other European nation. Figures for January 2013 show that production had risen 0.3 per cent from November which is 0.1 per cent more than had been predicted by economists. Further to this the unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent which matches a two-decade low. Alexander Koch, an economist from UniCredit Research in Munich

you actually have plays a role LQ NHHSLQJ WKHLU GHனFLW GRZQ Indeed the recent calls for a closer European Union have been in an attempt to stop the wealthier countries paying the debts of others. Moreover, youth unemployment (16-24) stands at 20.5 per cent in Britain whereas in Germany the னJXUH LV D ORZ SHU FHQW The explanation for this discrepancy is found partly in the German belief in apprenticeship schemes as compared to the British fallacy that university education is always necessary for a successful life. In Germany the core of mid-sized manufacWXULQJ னUPV ZKLFK RŕŽ‰HU DSprenticeships are well suited to ensuring that young peo-

in the UK are seeing their salaries eaten away due to LQŕŽ‹DWLRQ VWDQGLQJ DW SHU cent, according to the Consumer Prices Index, whilst wage growth remains at 1.8 per cent. This means that people have less available money to spend which leads to poorer re-investment and growth in the economy. When comSDUHG WR *HUPDQ\ WKHVH னJures seem poor indeed. In 2012 wages rose on average 2.6 per cent in Germany which is 0.6 per cent above LQŕŽ‹DWLRQ 7KLV LQ WXUQ PHDQV people have more available cash to spend and re-invest in the economy and future of Germany. In terms of trade Britain is strong in terms of manu-

Germany these misdemeanors have been somewhat less as despite the recent rise in salaries for top bosses in Germany the misuse of bonuses at the highest level has not been seen. )XUWKHUPRUH WKH EHQHனW system and culture in both Britain and Germany also have a role to play. Britain spends on average 2.4 per cent of GDP on disability EHQHனWV DV FRPSDUHG ZLWK only one per cent in Germany. This lower cost in Germany comes as a result of the Hartz reforms, ten years ago, which state that the ‘jobseeker’ has to accept whatever work they are given. Despite the decreased unemployment and expenditure

shrouds these reforms as there are worries of them going too far, and to the detriment of the population as a whole. Thus these varying policies highlight the road which *HUPDQ\ KDV WDNHQ WR னQDQcial success. A road focused on reducing debt, creating opportunities for youth, improving trade and cutting back on expenditure. In attempting to follow the GerPDQ SDWK DQG னQG D ZD\ RXW of the current economic disaster it should be noted that Britain should endeavor to retain its own unique culture. This culture is admittedly not as efficient as the German one but this does not mean it is without merit.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

Amelia Thomson

26

Features

12.02.2013

Beyonc├й: What does a name represent? Marion Osborne

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| The Beaver

Adam Wright interviews Owen Jones, columnist at the Independent What did you want to be when you were fourteen years old? 8QWLO , ZDV роКIWHHQ , ZDQWHG WR EH VRPHWKLQJ WR GR ZLWK VSDFH IXQQLO\ HQRXJK , KDG WKLV LGHD RI EHLQJ DQ DVWUR SK\VLFLVW EXW , GLGQтАл┌СтАмW NQRZ ZKDW WKDW ZDV 7KHQ , ZDV NLQG RI LQWHUHVWHG LQ DVWURQRP\ 6R , ZDQWHG WR EH VFLHQWLVW , VRUW RI WR\HG DERXW ZLWK роКFWLRQ ZULWLQJ , XVHG WR ORYH ZULWLQJ роКFWLRQ , ZURWH UHDOO\ ORQJ UDP EOLQJ VWRULHV ,Q IDFW ,тАл┌СтАмYH JRW RQH DW KRPH P\ KRXVHPDWH ZDV ULGLFXOLQJ LW WKH RWKHU GD\ , ZDV UHDOO\ SURXG RI LW DW WKH WLPH WKRXJK 6R , ZDVQтАл┌СтАмW UHDOO\ LQWHUHVWHG LQ SROLWLFV So did your family play a big part in your interest in politics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роКOWUDWHG WKH /DERXU SDUW\ DQG WKH\ PHW WKHUH LQ WKH ODWH V 0\ GDG HQGHG XS WKH VRXWK <RUNVKLUH RUJDQLVHU RI WKH 0LOLWDQW IRU DERXW WHQ \HDUV LQFOXGLQJ WKH PLQHUV VWULNH KH ZDV DW WKH ID PRXV EDWWOH RI 2UJUHDYH 6R WKDW DOO PDNHV LW VRXQG OLNH ,тАл┌СтАмP EUDLQZDVKHG %XW DFWX DOO\ WKH WKLQJ LV , JUHZ XS LQ D KRXVHKROG ZKHUH LW ZDVQтАл┌СтАмW DOO DERXW VRFLDOLVP EHFDXVH WKH OHIW ZDV VR EDGO\ GHIHDWHG LQ WKH V 0\ SDUHQWV KDG VSHQW WKHLU ZKROH OLIH DURXQG EXLOGLQJ WKH OHIW DQG WKDW FDPH FUDVKLQJ GRZQ LQ WKH V 'XULQJ WKH V WKHUH KDG EHHQ WKLV LGHD WKDW KLVWRU\ ZDV RQ WKH VLGH RI WKH OHIW E\ LQ WKH V LW ZDV FOHDU WKH OHIW ZHUH EHLQJ V\VWHPDWLFDOO\ GHIHDWHG RQ HYHU\ IURQW )RU WKHP WKH WXUQLQJ SRLQW ZDV WKH GHIHDW RI WKH PLQHUV WKHQ ZLWK DOO WKH RWKHU GHIHDWV WKDW IROORZHG

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The Beaver | 12.02.2013

RYUDICOLOUS

27

Confessions of an anxious wreck Jiayi Fan writes about her anxieties and how she copes with them

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ometimes I wish I could be a robot: being well programmed, behaving appropriately, and QHYHU EHLQJ LQŕŽ‹XHQFHG E\ inside emotions. However, as a sentimental human being, I have the tendency to think too much. It is a habit of mine to predict the reVXOW RI HYHU\ VLWXDWLRQ , னQG myself in, especially when travelling. After listing both positive and negative sides, my anxiety takes me over in just the blink of an eye. I begin to worry about whether I have made the right choice or not, whether I have made HQRXJK RI DQ HŕŽ‰RUW WR FKDQJH the consequences, or even whether I should stay here waiting for the result or just FDUU\ P\ VXLWFDVH DQG ŕŽ‹HH My best friend Zhuolun and I were busy applying for our Schengen Visa in order to have our perfect Easter vacation. Both of us fell into the throes of anxiety during this whole process, from the beginning when we were booking tickets and hotels online to going to the Schengen Visa Center to submit documents. She used to describe our anxiety in a vivid

way: “Jiayi, do you feel we are like soldiers? Every morning when we wake up, ZH DUH RQ WKH EDWWOHனHOG UHDG\ WR னJKW XQWLO WKH QLJKW FRPHV RXU RQH GD\ னJKWLQJ comes to an end. The next day is just the repeat of toGD\ :K\ GR ZH QHHG WR னJKW everyday?â€? I answered honestly: “Well, I guess, we just னJKW DJDLQVW OLIH ‍ ڕ‏ 7KH DQ[LHW\ RI னJKWLQJ against life reached its highest point when she came out from Schengen Visa Center in Manchester and I left Schengen Visa Center in London. We sound exhausted on the phone. I sighed: “I guess that officer just has had a bad day. He is not kind at all. I mean, I don’t own him money. I came and applied just to increase the income of Europe by tourism!â€? Zhuolun agreed: “Same up here. Do you think we can get our visas?â€? I said: “I’m not sure. My problem is the bank statement which is less than three months old. Besides, the officer said I hadn’t had my account for long enough. Well, I have my credit card already. Why do I need to use this debit

card? It is so ridiculous that I opened an account in United Kingdom just to meet the requirement of applying for a Schengen Visa.â€? Then our conversations were nearly the same, beginning with “What if‌ this and that happened? What would we have done?â€? Two originally optimistic Aries girls turned to pessimists by letting anxiety crawl into our thoughts. In the end, we went to pray. And I guess that was the only thing we can do before being informed of the result. Anxiety occupies us not only in situations such as waiting for results of exams or applications, but also among graduating students who have to say goodbye to their school life and seek actual careers. This is when, to me, it seems that everyones’ social identities have totally changed. I still remember when I was a senior student ready for my Masters program, my friend Xuying in Beijing was extremely anxious about looking for a job. She was a diligent and serious student who just kept sending out her CVs, going

to interviews, and comparing which occupation was the most suitable for her. One day, when Xuying was walking on the street, musing about her career aspirations, she suddenly lost her balance, fell down, and got a deep cut near her right eye. The brave girl went to hospital by herself and had it sutured. When I heard this, I was shocked. She is a careful person and the reason she got hurt lies in her anxiety towards the uncertainty about her future. The phase of anxiety over careers is the necessary step a person needs to experience. Xuying has a good job now while Zhuolun and , QHDUO\ னQLVK RXW 0DVWHUV programs. Yes, it is our turn to be anxious and indeed we are. Last time talking with Zhuolun online, we tried to comfort each other although both of us felt it was nearly impossible to get a good job. She typed: “Jiayi, you are the most excellent friend I’ve ever had. Don’t worry. You will have a good job with good pay. Just don’t worry. See what you have achieved before! You got your Bach-

elors degree with honours in the United States! You were a writer even before you turned eighteen! Just be FRQனGHQW <RX ZLOO EH னQH ‍ ڕ‏ Ironically, I told Zhuolun nearly exactly the same thing. When the anxiety is so strong inside of us, sometimes it takes the care of our closest friends to get us through. The reason anxiety exists must be to exercise our minds. Maturity is not only about being independent economically, but also remaining calm and peaceful mentally. Emotions are hard to control, but after experiences and practices, at least ZH FDQ னQG VRPH ZD\V WR relieve anxiety. My method is both through prayer and by telling myself “everything will be all right.â€? If it is not working for you, think about Corrie ten Boom’s words: “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength, which is carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.â€?

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Social

12.02.2013

| The Beaver

ACS: Lighting it all Ablaze

Joshua Oyeyinka on the coming Afro-Caribbean cultural spectacle

T

his academic year, the LSESU African Caribbean Society brought you “Rep Your Nation” (a welcome party where the theme was to dress in traditional African/Caribbean clothing). In partnership with the Anti-Racism Officer, we also presented you an informative discussion on Racism and Football with the prolific ex footballer; John Barnes and the Chairman of the Football Association; Clarke Carlisle. In addition to this, we hosted Black Ascent a debate on issues affecting the Black community. In this debate of the year, tension flared, arguments were put forwards and people voiced their opinions on issues affecting the black community and wider society. Through all these events, we always kept Ablaze in the back of minds. Ablaze is our culture show, which will be held on February 23rd. It aims to celebrate the all work we have undergone this year. In a very light hearted way, you will be able to experience this through Ablaze’s focus on cultural significance. This will be a display of African and Caribbean talent through music, poetry, drama, dance and fashion. Built on a large LSE based cast, both amateurs and profes-

sionals with skills, are given the opportunity to present to LSE and our diverse Students’ Union. The host for this year is the UK comedian; Eddie Kadi who in rated as being in the Top Five UK Comedy Talent by Channel 4 and Best Male Comedian Nominee - BECA Awards. Also performing are the CEO Dancers, who many people may recognise as the dancers from the music video Oliver by international star D’Banj. As you can probably tell by now, The Ablaze Cultural Show is largely why the ACS exists. It is a platform on which we display the significance of our culture. It is also a chance for people to learn a thing or two

about black culture. This will result in a more diverse experience for people who come to watch. The theme this year will be – Stolen Identity. We will have two stories that run alongside each other. One set in premodern Africa at the beginning of slavery, an examination of how culture and traditions affected the lives of people in this period. The other is based in modern day London, exploring how this contemporary setting affects how African/ Caribbean culture is expressed. All acts performing will be interwoven into this theme. This will give you a more entertaining and balanced experience, the central

point will remain a celebration of African and Caribbean culture. Ablaze is also a way of thanking our sponsors, our charities and our students who have jointly made the show possible. The ACS is proudly sponsored by Deutsche Bank, Travers Smith LLP, Citibank, Barclays and PwC. These organisations have understood our purpose and it is one they identify with, that purpose is the celebration of culture that you will experience in Ablaze. Some of the proceeds from Ablaze go to our charities; Street Child Africa and Facing Noma. Their support has been immense and we have been motivated by their ethos. Lastly, our committee of thirteen dedicated students have worked hard to bring you Ablaze and the show is equally a celebration of our work. That’s why we couldn’t resist throwing in a party. The show has been known to bring a lot of students together and you are invited to celebrate a night of cultural awesomeness with us. For more information about LSESU ACS, visit our website: www.lsesuacs.co.uk or check us out on Twitter @lsesuacs and on Facebook.com.

Travel Guide: Jamaica’s North Coast Liam Brown gives you a tour of the beautiful Jamaican north coast

U

nfortunately, Jamaica gets a bad rap. Drugs, violence, and an outlaw culture are just a few of the preconceived notions that many travellers have before venturing to the Land of Wood and Water. Admittedly, there are fewer cities in the entire world more dangerous than Kingston - especially the notorious Trench Town, birthplace of Bob Marley. But Jamaica has much more WR Rஉ HU WKDQ MXVW WKH YLROHQFH ever-present in the country’s capital. From Montego Bay to Ocho Rios, the north coast of Jamaica provides the weary traveller an oasis of sand, sun, and spectacular vistas overlooking WKH QDWLRQ‫ڑ‬V IDPRXV FRஉ HH SUR ducing Blue Mountains. There is much to do - beyond the requisite lounging on the beach sipping fruity umbrella drinks - on the north coast. When I went, between December and January, we stayed in the town of Rio Bueno, just DERXW ஊ YH PLQXWHV GULYH ZHVW of Discovery Bay, the location of Christopher Columbus’ ஊ UVW ODQGLQJ RQ WKH LVODQG )XQQLO\ enough, Columbus picked the one bay in all of Jamaica that contained no fresh water. After searching through the jungles, he and his team

had to up and leave for another bay - one with fresh water. At Discovery Bay, beside the Columbus memorial park is a great jerk pit with, perhaps, the best view on

ter food can be found, but drinking a cold Red Stripe or Dragon Stout while appreciating the magical view of Discovery Bay cannot be beat. Further east on Highway A1 is

Grab some jerk chicken, like this guy is preparing, as you drive down Highway A1. Photo courtesy: Eilam Gil

the island. Scotchies, which also has locations in Ocho Rios and Kingston serves up cold beer, great jerk, and the ever present ‘festival’ - basically a type of savoury doughnut. Bet-

the town of Runaway Bay. Any scuba divers in the area will likely be using the facilities of the numerous dive shops along the beach in Runaway Bay, such as those of Jamaica Scuba

Divers at the FDR Resort. Christian and his team have been operating daily dives out of the location for years and do everything from training to intro dives to more advanced wall and wreck dives. After your dives, or beachbumming at the beautiful beach just outside town, hit up Sharkie’s, an excellent little seafood spot that will allow you to pick \RXU ஊ VK VWUDLJKW IURP WKH beach. There are only a couple RI WDEOHV DQG VLQFH WKH ஊ VK LV cooked to order it can take a while, but the time spent relaxing on the beach with a beer in hand will do well to make the wait eminently bearable. Perhaps the best advice for tourists on the north coast is to ஊ QG D WD[L GULYHU WKDW \RX FDQ rely on. Once you have ‘your guy’ you can explore at your own leisure without worrying about how you are going to get back to the hotel. Just make sure to agree on a price before \RX VHW Rஉ Despite the bad reputation -DPDLFD VXஉ HUV IURP WKH GUXJ and gang culture of the country’s capital city, there is so much to experience. Go out, meet the people and enjoy the laid-back nature of the Land of Wood and Water.

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

29

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037848-415x287-LSE.indd 1

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30

Sport

12.02.2013

| The Beaver

LSE RESULTS THIS WEEK Mens Rugby 1s 74 - 7 UCL 2s Mens Rugby 3s 20 - 5 UWL 1s Womens Rugby 5 - 39 Kent Netball 3s 23 - 9 Roehampton 2s Netball 4s 12 - 20 KCL 4s Mens Football 1s 3 - 2 UCL 2s Mens Football 2s 2 - 4 Royal Holloway 3s Men’s Football 4s 3 - 1 RVC 1s Womens Squash 3 - 1 Swansea 1s Men’s Squash 1s 2 - 1 Queen Mary 1s Men’s Table Tennis beat Essex Uni 2s Mens Badminton 1s 0 - 8 Brunel 1s Womens Basketball 1s 55 - 37 Kent 1s Women’s Volleyball 3 - 0 Chicester Uni Ultimate Frisbee 1s 15 - 7 UAL Men’s Hockey 1s 0 - 3 Imperial Medics 1s

With the old boys and girls making an appearance at reAUnion to show the freshers how it’s done and no doubt enjoying the opportunity to return to their much missed nightspot, the evening had much promise for some classic AU misbehavior. One of the biggest members of the rugby alumni found a Rich selection in Zoo but took a particular fancy to the smallest member of the AU exec. The pair made a hasty exit together and from the smile on her face the next day it was a very enjoyable evening for both parties. Another old-boy, this time from the Highlands managed to convert a young lady who has been the main source of this term’s gossip. Keeping it classy CTR was converted by her ex-bf with his haggis charms once again proving too irresistible for this young lady. Waking up on Acton Street in

the arms of a Scotsman, still in the possession of a rugby fresher’s tie can be deemed an appropriate way to (hopefully) னQLVK RŕŽ‰ KHU YHU\ RZQ WRXU RI the rugby team (past and present). Consideration should be given to the cookie monster, the owner of said tie. While he has strongly protested that not a single tear was shed for the loss of his lady, whatever his vibe this Wednesday night he was going home alone. There was also rumoured to have been the unexpected pairing of Willski and a fellow member of ski committee. AlWKRXJK VWLOO XQFRQனUPHG GLG KH $QWZLVN KHU RŕŽ‰ KHU IHHW IRU a night of romance? Flirty Birty found the Honeyman ever so sweet to taste, taking his home for dessert. After weeks of merely havLQJ ŕŽ‹HHWLQJ PRPHQWV ZLWK JLUOV in Zoo, this week witnessed the beautiful if not inevitable conversion of Miss Jones by Cap-

tain Craig. Just managing a quick pull of Weaves earlier on in the evening Captain Craig was in no mood to go home alone yet again and Miss Jones was the perfect target. A night of passionate bnoc sex awaited them #bnocbaby....? After failing to pull on his victory night winning Mr LSE, Tate managed to pull this week with none other than Good னUVW WHDP IUHVKHU 7KH FRRNLH monster missing out on yet another opportunity. He might have failed to impress at Mr LSE but he didn’t Passe on the opportunity to get down and dirty this week. They might have thought they were safe escaping upstairs in Zoo, but straddling a guy against the bar anywhere is Zoo will get spotted. Blame the Pri drinking but this netball seconds girl had only one thing on her mind. She may have been gunged on Friday but it was a good

Day (or night) for this northern lass on Wednesday with a return to her honey badger, this epic romance persisting against all odds. With a high conversion rate this week our General Mateer would ordinarily be leading the way. This week however her life took a dramatically less well-endowed turn. Not only did she initially leave without the company of a young man but woke up without her phone, no shoes, a ÂŁ110 receipt for Chinese, a random suit jacket, a random guy’s credit card, a $1 bill and as she put it ‘no dignity’. There is speculation that her night did not end with the Chinese, stumbling across a wayward Malibu in the early hours. The fact that our President has lasted three years of Zoo being in the state she always is, without ending up arrested or in hospital demonstrates how perfect she is to lead the AU.

From the Eyes of a Ginger

Matthew Worby

Fame and fortune are two things that are part and parcel of most relatively decent sports career these days. Any “Bâ€? or “Câ€? rate player is likely to be recognised by someone out on the street, or if that isn’t enough for them they can always get involved in a twitter spat. With the development of social media sportsmen, and politicians, are getting more and more exposure. Examples can range from the Rooney threat in 2011 to the proliferation of the %controversy that Chris Long began last fortnight. Even in the short two years that sportspeople have been highly active on twitter there has been a distinct divergence between English and American sports stars using the platform of twitter. In the UK tweets have been actively controlled, and the onus is clearly on the player not to make an absolute boob of themselves. In the USA there seems WR EH D GLVWLQFWO\ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW path being forged. While it might be the fact that there are simply more sports stars in the US, and that twitter is seemingly more popular across the pond, there seems to be many more frequent controversial tweets than back here in

blighty. And then, of course they have to be walked back on the very same platform. I’d point to the infamous Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks, and the entirety of this season. Whether it is his constant attempts at claiming he’s better than Revis, the defense of his substance abuse or that bizarre Tom Brady baiting, his twitter ac-

to each team, but that’s life. Getting an insight into Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s life has truly enriched mine in ways i didn’t think were imaginable. But in some respects this has also made them too human. Gone are the days of the legendary athletes. It was a great shame to see that in actual fact most of the supposed sto-

count would have long since HDUQHG KLP D னQH ZHUH KH a player in the English Premier League. Initially I thought this was a positive thing, while I னQG PRVW WZHHWV IURP VSRUWV players inane it was fascinating to see what made them tick, all without a media representative hovering in the wings ready to pull the plug if they said something inappropriate. I imagine this has proved to be an absolute nightmare for the media people attached

ries surrounding Balotelli are completely fabricated. Indeed, the current crop of living legends are noticeably those that don’t use social networking much at all. Tom Brady, Paul Scholes and Ronnie O’Sullivan all have little to no twitter footprint. The unknown is what makes them even more interesting, the fact that other players spread their legend is what adds to their appeal. We know Sherman is a pretty good corner, and gets up to amusing things

on the training ground, but him telling us ruins it. or, at least it does for me. But Ronaldo telling the story of Paul Scholes pointing out a tree 50 yards away and being so precise in his aim as to hit the tree dead on, a feat even Christiano could not immediately replicate captivates my attention in a far greater fashion. Of course, there is a distinct correlation to age, that the younger athletes that naturally go on twitter more are yet to build up this body of achievement. But a simple counter to this is Chad Johnson/Ochocinco. A potential candidate for the hall of fame, always tantalisingly promising more, but for the lack of a decent quarterback tossing him the rock, he has played his career out, and there are some fantastic stories about him, but constantly tweeting about trivialities such as Call of Duty and Fifa have reduced any interest I had in him as a player or a person. ,W‍ڑ‏V D னQH OLQH DQG ZKLOH I’m probably just a grumpy eighty year old man in a twenty one year old body ,‍ڑ‏P னQGLQJ WKDW WKH LQFUHDVing information I get isn’t really a good thing. But at least it reduces the boredom RI WKH RŕŽ‰ VHDVRQ VRPHZKDW

Sport

The Beaver | 12.02.2013

Sound Investments?

the theme of the second half of the season. This seems most true at the top of the Premier League, where Manchester United’s nine point lead (at the time of writing) looks increasingly unassailable. Sir Alex Ferguson rarely uses WKH -DQXDU\ ZLQGRZ UHJDUG less of his side’s plight, although this year he must be HVSHFLDOO\ FRQன GHQW WKDW KLV existing attacking options will be enough to ease his team to the title. This is indicated by the fact that the one player he did buy will not feature for them this season, with mercurial winger Wilfried Zaha loaned back to Crystal Palace. Whilst there is nothing surprising in a promising youngster being sent out on loan, Zaha is an England international who would surely have contributed a few important goals given Ferguson’s commendable propensity to ensure that stars of the future don’t lose momentum rotting in the reserves. United’s title win also looks depressingly secure in light of their chief rivals’ in-

only to tantalise reporters through his wound down car window. In the end, however, the Hoops had mixed transfer window fortunes.

YOUR SPORT, IN BRIEF

for the drop despite their recent upsurge in form. Southampton will probably stay clear because of WIKIMEDIA

Loic Remy represents an outstanding acquisition, but he will have to shoulder the brunt of the goal-scoring EXUGHQ ZLWK 'MLEULO &LVVH IDUPHG RXW -DPLH 0DFNLH tenacious but far from proOLன F DQG 3HWHU &URXFK DQG Odemwingie staying put in the Midlands (even if the latter didn’t exactly stay put on deadline day). His other additions should add some solidity, with Christopher Samba likely to give muchneeded steel to a decidedly second-rate backline, alWKRXJK MDGHG MRXUQH\PHQ -HUPDLQH -HQDV DQG 7DO %HQ Haim will hardly inspire fear in opponents. Ultimately, Redknapp’s inability to seriously boost the quality of his squad could see his team SD\ ZLWK WKHLU WRS ŕŽ‹ LJKW VWD tus, even if he will undoubtedly man-manage them to a spirited rally. The window’s other big spenders Newcastle show all the signs of a second-half ன JKW EDFN KDYLQJ DGGHG precocious talents Yoann *RXŕŽ‰ UDQ 0DSRX <DQJD Mbiwa and Moussa Sissoko, although they were arguably never serious relegation contenders anyway. Among the other sides battling to beat the drop, reinforcements were few and far between. Returning fans’ fa-

a managerial change, with 0DXULFLR 3RFKHWWLQR‍ڑ‏V ன QH start vindicating the Saints’ decision to part with the unfortunate Nigel Adkins, whilst Norwich’s early-seaVRQ IRUP ZLOO SUREDEO\ MXVW be enough to keep them up as long as Luciano Becchio’s JRDOV FDQ ன UH WKHP WR D IHZ more points. Aston Villa, meanwhile, must rely on WKHLU FXUUHQW SOD\LQJ VWDŕŽ‰ to save their skins, with Yacouba Sylla and Simon Dawkins uninspiring additions. Ultimately, however, I still believe that a team spearheaded by Christian Benteke, Gabby Agbonlahor and the revelatory Andreas Weimann will have enough quality to pull clear come the end of the season. In the end, there was nothing really game-changing DERXW WKLV VHDVRQ‍ڑ‏V -DQXDU\ transfer window. Newcastle added most impressively but were already due a reversal in fortunes given the quality in their squad. The mid-table pack were largely happy to keep their current vourite Paul Scharner will squads in place, with the do his damnedest to keep few additions made unlikely Wigan up, although their to propel any of them into failure to add other top- European contention (save ŕŽ‹ LJKW H[SHULHQFH KDV GRQH possibly Daniel Sturridge at little to reverse the impres- Liverpool). Most of the topsion that this will be the sea- ŕŽ‹ LJKW‍ڑ‏V WZHQW\ WHDPV PXVW son when their brave resist- face the second of the half season having, intentionDQFH LV ன QDOO\ HQGHG Reading will hope that ally or not, passed up their lower-league signings Hope last chance to change their Akpan and Nick Blackman hand. Their managers and can emulate the remark- fans must hope that they able progress of Adam Le have don’t regret that come Fondre, although the Roy- May. als must still be favourites WIKIMEDIA

WIKIMEDIA

For those clubs in contention at the top and bottom of the Premier League, the -DQXDU\ WUDQVIHU ZLQGRZ always slams shut with a VOLJKWO\ GDXQWLQJ ன QDOLW\ Come February 1st, managers up and down the country take stock of their options, either glad to have reshufŕŽ‹ HG WKHLU SDFN KDSS\ WR have stuck with their existing squads or regretfully ruing the star signing that got away. February is a critical month in any season, as the revitalised runners and riders begin to thin out across WKH ன HOG MRVWOLQJ IRU SROH SRVLWLRQ DV WKH ன QLVKLQJ OLQH begins to lurch into view for WKH ன UVW WLPH ,Q OLJKW RI WKH post-transfer window state of play this year, however, it seems that continuity rather than transformation will be

ability to seriously strengthHQ :KLOVW ன QDQFLDO IDLU play rules have undoubtedly squeezed Manchester City’s ability to add to their already extortionately-assembled roster, their current plight is probably more attributable to a lack of conன GHQFH WKDQ SOD\LQJ TXDOLW\ with their squad roughly the VDPH DV WKH RQH WKDW ன UHG them to the title last season. Unless Roberto Mancini can reinvigorate his fragile squad with another improbable late surge of form he FDQ H[SHFW WR ன QG KLPVHOI RXW RI D MRE LQ WKH VXPPHU Chelsea, many people’s early-season tip for a surprise title crack, will surely EHQHன W IURP WKH DGGLWLRQ RI WKH SUROLன F 'HPED %D EXW cannot realistically hope to pip United given their recent chokes. Spurs, meanZKLOH ZLOO VXUHO\ MXVW EH happy to secure Champions /HDJXH TXDOLன FDWLRQ ZLWK a threadbare strike-force, with Andre Villas-Boas hoping that Emmanuel Adebayor has returned from Africa looking more interested than when he left. They will QHHG WR KROG RŕŽ‰ WKH SHUHQ nial late-season push from Arsenal to secure a place in Europe’s premier competition for next season. The Gunners will be hoping that the erratic Olivier Giroud and lethargic Lukas Podolski can recapture their best form to propel them into fourth, having only moved in -DQXDU\ WR UHSODFH WKH GLV astrous Andre Santos with promising left-back Nacho Monreal. The more exciting transfer window movement came at the bottom of the league, where things are a lot tighter. QPR predictably spent big as Harry Redknapp wheeled and dealed in and out of Loftus Road, stopping WIKIMEDIA

Jon Allsop

31

ENGLAND REMAIN UNBEATEN Stuart Lancaster’s men ground out a tough win on a soggy Sunday afternoon in Dublin. Meanwhile Wales caused an upset, beating the French 16-6 in Paris, and Scotland romped to a stylish 3410 win over Italy. In the women’s championships, Ireland are undefeated, with England and France challenging for second place in the table.

BALOTELLI WATCH Despite minor controversy over remarks made by AC Milan’s vice president, Mario has scored three JRDOV LQ KLV ன UVW WZR DS pearances for the Italian giants.

NADAL LOSES IN CHILE FINAL The Spaniard marked his comeback after over 7 months out by storming through the early rounds of the Chile Open, showing no signs of his knee trouble as he dominated on his favoured clay. Until falling 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 to Horacio Zeballos.

NIGERIA WINS AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS The Super Eagles won the cup for the third time, deservedly defeating Burkina Faso who were making their maiden appearance LQ WKH ன QDO 7KH RQO\ JRDO RI WKH ன QDO ZDV VFRUHG E\ Sunday Mba resulting in a tense and close fought ன QDO

CHAIRMAN GIVES MANAGER ASTON MARTIN 0DQVன HOG &KDLUPDQ -RKQ Radford had bet the car against Paul Cox’s side VFRULQJ ன YH JRDOV LQ WKH ன UVW KDOI DQG KDQGHG RYHU the keys when they were 5-1 up after 45 minutes against Barrow.

Sport

32

Sport

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| The Beaver

Inside ‍ښ‏:KDW +DSSHQHG ,Q =RR %DU ‍ښ‏6SRUWLQJ 2YHUVKDUHV ‍ښ‏3UHPLHU /HDJXH 3UHGLFWLRQV

$ 63,&< HQFRXQWHU

Dennis Mooney reports on the LSE’s take on the biggest rivalry in cricket One of the sporting world’s greatest rivalries was played out in microcosm last Sunday at the home of cricket. The Marylebone Cricket Club’s indoor school played host as representative teams from LSE SU’s SPICE and Pakistan 6RFLHW\ FODVKHG LQ D ன HUFH EXW good-natured encounter. The match had been symbolically organised on the weekend between LSE’s India week and Pakistan week in order to highlight the friendly nature of the rivalry; there was a certain edge to proceedings however as PakSoc were looking to exact revenge for last year’s match, in which India’s then-captain Bhavya Bishnoi fatefully struck the ZLQQLQJ UXQV IURP WKH ன QDO ball of the match. Innings of sixteen eightball overs per side were crammed into two hours of frenetic action. The indoor form of the game, where runs are scored for hitting the ball against the surrounding netting, batsmen play in pairs and wickets mean runs taken away from the score, is faster and sometimes lends itself more to crowd interaction than the longer outdoor form. The large audience however, made up of members of both societies, friends and relatives of the players, a few slightly bemused MCC net users and interested neutrals like myself, needed little encouragement. Chanting began from ball one and was kept up with an intensity and volume that would not have shamed a full India vs Pakistan match in Islamabad or New Delhi. 3DNLVWDQ EDWWLQJ ன UVW made a reasonably strong start, with Bilal Ghori striking some lusty blows for their second pair. A tight seventh over for India, bowled by Udit Gadkary, slowed the scoring rate, and a sharp piece of ன HOGLQJ E\ 0DVWHUV VWXGHQW and restaurant-reviewing entrepreneur Neel Ghose reVXOWHG LQ D UXQ RXW WKH ன UVW wicket of the night. Pakistan were pegged to a reasonable 113 at the halfway stage, but India had still to unleash the major weapons of their bowling attack. Bishnoi came into the fray for the third Pakistan, economical despite some harsh umpiring from the im-

SDUWLDO 0&& RŕŽ‰ LFLDOV :LWK SUHVVXUH EXLOGLQJ D ன QH HGJH was neatly caught by SPICE wicketkeeper and this year’s team captain Sarthak Sawlani in the 12th over. This meant that with three-quarters of their allotted overs used up, Pakistan had scored 181; they faced a difficult task if they were to post a competitive total. The tension started to VKRZ DV FKDQFHV IRU WKH ன HOG ing side became increasingly frequent. A spectacular but uppish GULYH ŕŽ‹ HZ KDUG DQG IDVW EXW was neatly pouched by Bhavya DW PLG RŕŽ‰ EHIRUH D UDWKHU OHVV elegant cross-batted slog, which would have had any 0&& FRDFKLQJ VWDŕŽ‰ SUHVHQW reaching for their coaching PDQXDOV ULFRFKHWHG RŕŽ‰ WKH netting and was gratefully grasped in Sawlani’s gloves. $QRWKHU FDWFK RŕŽ‰ WKH QHW WLQJ LQ WKH QH[W RYHU UHŕŽ‹ HFWHG the desperation of the Pakistan batsmen; this was exacerbated in the 15th over when :DTDU 0HKPRRG EDWWLQJ LQ WKH ன QDO SDLU EDGO\ LQMXUHG KLV knee going for a quick single. Unable to continue, Mehmood was replaced by Mohsin ‘Mr Pakistan’ Rasheed, who up until that point had been assaulting the eardrums of nearby spectators in leading the Pakistan Society chanting. 208 runs on the board and one over to go; there was only one man for the job. Bishnoi’s ன QDO RYHU ZDV XQVXUSULVLQJO\ more expensive than his previous attempt, but went for only seventeen runs, not a bad return in this high-scoring

form of cricket. The Pakistan 6RFLHW\ ன QLVKHG ZLWK IRU six, a net total of 225. The injury delay meant the inter-innings break was shorter than had been planned, and the action was soon back underway. In true Indian style, the SPICE team made a bruWDOO\ HŕŽ‰ HFWLYH VWDUW 9LUHQ der Sehwag himself would have been proud of some of the ball-striking as captain Sarthak and sneaky, guestrepresentative Bangladeshi Areez Rahman piled on the runs. Ghori opened the bowling for PakSoc and was treated with disdain, before RahPDQ VWUXFN WKH JDPH‍ڑ‏V ன UVW six (the ball hitting the net behind the bowler without having bounced) in the second over. The scoreboard wasn’t so much ticking as whistling, with the pair amassing 72 IURP WKH ன UVW WKUHH RYHUV DQG 97 before they were replaced after four. Any batsmen would have struggled to maintain that momemtum, and so it proved,

DV WKH ன UVW ,QGLDQ ZLFNHW IHOO LQ WKH ன IWK RYHU DQ LQVWLQF tive one handed catch at midRŕŽ‰ 3DNLVWDQL ன HOGLQJ SURYHG somewhat erratic however, as the next over saw a relatively simple drop. The PakSoc side might have felt as though fortune wasn’t favouring them as a sharp chance was held in the seventh over, only for the Umpire to call a no-ball; they clawed back some impetus though after a run out in the eighth. The two Gs, Ghose and Gadkary, teamed up as SPICE’s third pairing, coming in with the score standing at 165 from the eight overs. Although the run rate picked up again, wickets continued WR IDOO ZLWK D GHŕŽ‹ HFWHG GULYH leading to a run out in their ன UVW RYHU EHIRUH 1HHO ZDV clean bowled. Again pressure caused errors and another run out in the tenth over saw the Pakistani supporters in the crowd start to believe again; their cheering went from loud to deafening when the reintroduced Ghori once again found a way through Ghose’s deIHQFHV :LWK RQ WKH ERDUG and four overs to go, the game seemed to hang in the balance. 63,&( ZHUH FRQன GHQW feeling that they had saved the best til last; PakSoc however hadn’t lost heart. A run RXW IURP WKH ன UVW EDOO RI WKH ன QDO SDLULQJ DV VWDU EDWV man Bhavya tried to force the pace, saw Pakistani excitement momentarily threaten the structural integrity of the building. India though were always odd’s on favourites at

this stage. Even against determined bowling, fourth pair Bishnoi and LSE Cricket Club captain Karan Shirgaokar guided the defending champions home. They moved steadily towards the target, Shirgaokar putting India ahead from the ன UVW EDOO RI WKH ன IWHHQWK RYHU with a lovely drive for four, an almost identical repeat of ZKLFK VDZ WKH VFRUH ŕŽ‹ \ SDVW 250 an over later. The huge roar from the Indian contingent seemed to inspire Bishnoi, who freed his arms, smashing a six back over the bowler’s head, and leaving InGLD ZLWK D ன QDO VFRUH RI a 40-run win which looked on paper a lot more comfortable than it had on the MCC’s astroturf. A triumphant Indian team (and token Bangladeshi), as well as their magnanimous Pakistani opponents, were swiftly ushered out of the nets to allow the next booking in. The presentation took place on the viewing gallery and involved the biggest star of the evening, former Indian test captain and one of the most successful One Day International cricketers of all time and now member of the Indian National Congress, Mohammad Azharuddin. In a brief but well-received VSHHFK KH FLWHG WKH GLŕŽ‰ HU ences between the modern game and when he had played and said how pleased he was to have been able to attend. Praising the cooperation between the two societies, as well as the spirit and atmosphere of the game, he joked that had Pakistan not turned up, India wouldn’t have had anyone to beat. He then presented the trophy for the winning team to Sarthak, who also took home the ‘Best Batsman’ award, and the trophies for both best bowler and best ன HOGHU WR 3DN6RF‍ڑ‏V 0XKDP mad Munib Puri. The Man of the Match award, perhaps ன WWLQJO\ ZDV ZRQ E\ QHLWKHU Indian nor Pakistani, going to Areez Rahman. A fantastic evening’s entertainment, then, and a demonstration that sport and sporting rivalries at all levels can EH DW RQFH ன HU\ DQG IULHQGO\ No doubt PakSoc will be even more hungry for revenge next year.

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