830

THE NAB: The Daily Mail

takes over THE NAB for one week only

Beaver

the

Issue 830 | 03.03.15

newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union

Hall Rents To Rise 0.2%

• Excluding Rosebery, which will be fully catered, rents will fall 1.2% • Weekly increase below inflation • LSE competitive against King’s and UCL Sebastien Ash, Staff Writer Alexander Fyfe, Executive Editor Liam Hill, Managing Editor EXCLUSIVE ACCESS GIVEN to Beaver reporters by School sources reveal the proposed costs of LSE halls of residence for the 2015/16 academic year. The document reflects the final budget made by LSE Residences, which will be suggested for approval by the LSE Finance Committee on Wednesday March 4th.

Over the length of their contracts, students moving into LSE

halls of residence this September will mostly, based on these figures, see their rents stay very similar to those paid by the previous year’s cohort. Contract costs will rise by a meagre 0.3 percent.

Such modest decreases however, reflect amendments made to the structure of the academic year at LSE. The shortening of Summer Term to 7 weeks from 10 results in the shortening of Halls contracts for residents. While 50 week contracts will remain the same length, contracts that were previously 31 weeks long will become 30 weeks long, and contracts previously 40

weeks long will become 38 weeks long.

The modest rises in weekly rates, therefore, is nullified by this fall in the length of most contracts.

Therefore, the average annualised figure for halls rents is falling from 2014/5 to 2015/6, while the average weekly rent is rising slightly, an average rise of around a 3 percent can be expected in this figure across all LSE halls.

Closer inspection of the numbers however, reveals a diversity not conveyed by the headline figures. The results are by and large skewed upwards by disproportion-

Features

The World’s Strangest Political Parties

Page 35

ately large increases in the rates for Rosebery Halls. Costs for the whole year will rise by 6.7% at Rosebery, a £345 a year cost rise for students. This works out at an annualised increase of 12%.

Excluding Rosebery, whose residents will become entitled to 7 meals a week as opposed to the current 5, a change which accounts for the discrepancy between the price rises at Rosebery compared to other halls, annualised contract costs for most students will in fact fall by 1.2%.

Furthermore, the fact that only 50 week contracts are offered at But-

ler’s Wharf, a postgraduate hall in Southwark, accounts for the fact that most contracts there are rising by approximately 4 percent.

In the forthcoming year the LSE will also be offering rooms in the Urbanest Westminster Bridge development next to Waterloo station, though this doesn’t figure in the comparative statistics for other LSE halls. Comparative to other LSE Halls, however, urbanest Westminster Bridge is expensive, with the lowest cost for a 38 week contract at £8394.82, considerably more than most...

Continued page 3

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Beaver

the

the

Beaver

Executive Editor Alexander Fyfe

editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Managing Editor Liam Hill

Established in 1949 Issue No. 830 - Tuesday 3 March 2015 - tinyurl.com/beaver830 Telephone: 0207 955 6705 Email: editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk Website: www.beaveronline.co.uk Twitter: @beaveronline

managing@thebeaveronline.co.uk

News Editors Megan Crockett Mahatir Pasha

news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Comment Editor Ellen Wilkie

comment@thebeaveronline.co.uk

PartB Editors Jade Jackman Vikki Hui

partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The City Editor Mika Morissette

city@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Features Editors George Harrison Taryana Odayar

features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The Nab Editor

nab@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Sport Editor Robin Park

sports@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Design Editor Ellen Wilkie

design@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Online Editor Leen Aghabi

web@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Collective Chair Dorothy Wong

collective@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The Collective:

Abir Qazilbash, Alec Howells, Alex Leung, Alexander Fraser, Alexander Fyfe, Alexandra Lulache, Amelia Thomson, Ameya Badwe, Anuradha Santhanham, Ben Phillips, Bronwen Mehta, Camilla Naschert, Ceri Morgan, Chloe Holden, Choudhry Azizuddin, Christopher Hulm, Daniel Sippel, Dominic Hung, Dominic Tighe, Dorothy Wong, Ellen Wilkie, Ellie Peake, Gabrielle Beran, Gaia Manners-Armstrong, Gareth Rosser, Gee LinfordGrayson, George Greenwood, George Harrison, Gregory Kist, Hari Prabu, Hayley Toms, Isabella Mosselmans, Jack Hodsall, Jade Jackman, James Evans, Jasper Heeks, Jennifer Ruther, Jodie Momodu, Joe Grabiner, Joe Walters, Jon Allsop, Jon Foster, Julia Wacket, Kanan Parida, Katie Budd, Kavita Kalaichelvan, Khushboo Khanna, Koko Owusu, Laura Weigold, Leen Aghabi, Lena Schofield, Liam Hill, Louis van der Linden, Mahatir Pasha, Malvika Jaganmohan, Mark Malik, Martha Petrocheilos, Maryam Akram, Matthew Pennill, Maurice Banerjee-Palmer, Megan Crockett, Mercedes Domenech Ensenat, Michelle Warbis, Mika Morissette, Mike Pearson, Milan Neergheen, Monopoly Rakus, Molly Brien, Minerva Rakus, Nona Buckley-Irvine, Ollie Hill, Perdita Blinkhorn, Phoebe Amoroso, Rachel Chua, Rahat Siddique, Raisa Huq, Rayhan Chouglay, Rayhan Uddin, Rian Watt, Richard Serunjogi, Robert Charnock, Robin Park, Rohan Ahlawat, Rohan Soni, Ryan O’Rourke, Sam Barnett, Sam Povey, Sanya-Jeet Thandi, Saran Richards, Sebastien Ash, Sophie Donszelmann, Suyin Haynes, Taryana Odayar, Tom Maksymiw, Tooba Mushtaq, Vikki Hui, Zita Chan, Zwan Mahmod.

Any opinions expressed herein are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the LSE Students’ Union or Beaver Editorial Staff.

The Beaver is issued under a Creative Commons license.

Attribution necessary.

Printed at Mortons Printing.

From the Executive Editor

Alexander Fyfe on elections, diversity in The Beaver and Tommy Robinson Being the Executive Editor of The Beaver during elections is a terribly dicey business. For candidates slipping in the race, the paper has always represented an easy target to blame for their regression. Shoot the messenger, who cares if its erroneous, it’s appetisingly expedient for the embattled candidate.

The Beaver has come under plenty of specious and trifling assaults over the years, and despite it being fruitless to object, I make a plea for criticism of us to be kept responsible. I genuinely struggle to think of a society that receives as much scrutiny for what it does, and thus I was deeply saddened by the reactions to the last edition of the paper from some vocal quarters at this university.

Some shrieked that we’d become the Daily Mail, a criticism we respond to later in the paper, so I won’t discuss that allegation here. However, I will take issue with Rayhan Uddin, who has decried that we have a diversity issue. It’s quite remarkable that the former anti-racism officer cannot spot the diversity he loves to espouse. Jon Allsop and I have

spent a year working on The Beaver’s inclusivity and succeeded.

To stand up and claim we have diversity issues is simply untrue, but sadly it’s a convenient outlet for some pent-up fury at the printing of views Rayhan disagrees with, of which more later. Don’t believe that we’re diverse? Look to your left. See that list of section editors? I can tell you with considerable certainty that of the fourteen elected positions, nine are held by women. Six are from ethnic minority backgrounds, one of whom is standing for BME Students’ Officer. Look through the paper, Rayhan, actually open your eyes and look. You tell me we have a diversity issue, where’s the evidence? Jon and I have reached out time and time again across the last year to every identifiable group on campus, and championed their campaigns and events; again, evidence for this will require you to look but it’s clear as day and available for everyone to see.

Now to Tommy Robinson, a man Rayhan and I both agree on. Robinson makes me angry; his shallow views cut no ice here.

However, my role as Executive Editor is to promote responsible debate within The Beaver’s pages and encourage students to engage critically with views they may disagree with. A newspaper is a conduit for dialogue, and as George Greenwood elucidated in his piece, Robinson’s dialogue needs to be engaged with and challenged. If you’re offended or upset, I am sorry. But as an Editor, I’m here to promote the rigorous, academic debate of issues; something the majority of student’s expect from their paper.

So in conclusion, no, The Beaver is not turning into the Daily Mail. No, The Beaver is not in the business of playing politics.

No, The Beaver does not have diversity problem. Do hold us accountable and challenge us, we’re elected after all, but don’t dare make specious claims about the integrity of our office. Don’t make small-minded allegations that are completely unsubstantiated. Most of all, don’t take us and the effort we put in for granted.

Keep your criticism responsible, as we keep our journalism.

Liam Hill on why student politics is, maybe, less like House of Cards than you think

From the Managing Editor I did CONSIDER WRITING an editorial this week that had nothing to do with LSESU elections. If you have not already been accosted on Houghton Street or invited to myriad events on Facebook, you probably will be have been by the end of the week.

Alas, I gave up on this endeavour fairly soon after having set myself such an ambitious task.

I could also have tried to write an editorial without mentioning House of Cards, which happens, at the time of writing, to have dominated the last 8 of my waking hours. I won’t spoil any of season three for anyone, but rather than trying aimlessly to skirt around either topic, I thought I could combine them.

Having thought about it, I can definitely imagine some of our elected officers and candidates breaking the fourth wall, turning to an imaginary audience, and bemoaning the incompetence, dullmindedness or stupidity of their colleagues and nemeses. For the most part, imagining them speaking in Kevin Spacey’s southern drawl is where a line is crossed, the situation becomes absurd and I resolve to stop daydreaming.

It would not be wrong to say that student politics is, at times, low and Machiavellian. People and societies plan campaigns months in advance, hold personal vendettas and scheme to ruin their enemies. The Beaver has had a decent idea of who would

run for most Sabb positions for a while now, and we guessed fairly well in most cases.

While this element exists, I think a better representation of LSESU elections is walking down Houghton Street at its busiest during the election itself: the colourful t-shirts, the leaflets, the friends roped in to campaign for candidates. Sadly for me, I imagine it’s something I might actually miss when I eventually decide to let go and leave LSE (yes, I am applying for a Master’s).

Anyway, walk down Houghton Street this week, speak to the campaigners and the candidates, make your minds and, for God’s sake, vote. Democracy is not so overrated.

Tuesday March 3, 2015

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Beaver Elections Coming Up After LSESU elections are over this term, with some of our staff graduating this Summer, we will be looking for some new editors. We will want: News editors x2 Comment editor x1 PartB editor x1 The City editor x1 Sport editor x1 Online editor x1 Collective Chair x1

The Beaver would like to thank the LSE Annual Fund, whose generous financial support will soon allow us to replace our existing hardware. We intend to redistribute our existing Macs within the LSE community, more details to follow.

K atie Budd @klebudd Why on earth has @beaveronline given a fascist (Tommy Robinson) a platform this week?! And a double page spread at that..

Anthony Phillips @antpips67 @klebudd @beaveronline in issue of fairness they have had members of Al-Mujaharoun talk at the LSE before LSE Students’ Union @LSESU Follow the excellent @beaveronline for full coverage from today’s Sabbatical and Part-Time Officer hustings! #LSESUelects #LSESUhustings Rumah @rumahmusic @beaveronline Giving a platform to a vicious fascist thug!?HE stood shoulder to shoulder with Nazis to abuse Muslims, Absolutely disgusting!

Rumah @rumahmusic @beaveronline discussions fielded abt “extremism” at LSE by BME organisations, but the official paper is aloud to interview a known fascist?

The Beaver @beaveronline Nitish Rahee: “If I become Gen Sec, the first thing I will do is raise money for [Hare Krishna], so they can continue to give us free food.”

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News

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Section Editors: Megan Crockett and Mahatir Pasha news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

This week saw the annual Literary Festival take to campus, holding events all week including talks from poets and artists as well as film screenings and workshops in a multitude of skills, such as teaching philosophy to children. (Right) Chinese New Year was celebrated on Houghton Street with costumes, food and general merriment.

Hall Rent Facts: The Breakdown Hall of Residence

Bankside Butlers Wharf Carr Saunders Grosvener House High Holborn Northumberland House Passfield Rosebery Hall Sidney Webb

Continued from the front page ...most rooms at Bankside.

This new hall, on the LSE website, boasts “its own pool and comes with a private Health Suite with a gym, sauna and fitness studio; as well as a café, roof terraces and free bike hire.”

In London as a whole, LSE halls continue to be competitive in comparison to other university’s halls. This year the average LSE hall cost a student £6,702 whilst rates at comparable University of London halls were £8,257 and £11,208 for private halls of residence.

This is partly the result, again, of longer contract lengths at

Average Contract Lenght (Weeks) 38 50 33 38 38 38 31 34 42

other University of London halls, although LSE continues to offer a cheaper option.

The condition of LSE halls is under review for the coming decade. Some LSE halls are held on leases or nomination agreements that vary in length from 5 to 25 years. A number of these are due to expire in the next few years, although sources close to the School suggested that these were likely to be renewed. A proposal to redevelop Bankside Hall to add 1000 additional beds is also currently under consideration with Southwark Council. No timetable has been given for the completion of this project.

Average Rent p/week 2014-15 (£) 190 152 150 284 206 188 155 143 155

Average Rent p/week 2015/16 (£) 195 158 163 325 213 193 159 160 162

% Change

3 3 2 4 3 2 2 12 4

News

Tuesday March 3, 2015

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Red Lips Project Takes Over Campus

Suyin Haynes Deputy News Editor ON TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY, the London School of Economics (LSE) Students' Union (SU) Women Leaders of Tomorrow Society, the LSESU Women in Business Society and Gee LinfordGrayson, the LSESU Women’s Officer, launched the LSESU Red Lips Project with great success at their event in the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre. With personalised cupcakes emblazoned with the phrase “We Are Powerful” as well as lipstick-print cards, the event was an informal affair, free and open to members of the LSE community.

Ani Shah, Women Leaders of Tomorrow President, started the evening by saying that “I wanted to do this campaign because I personally think that women are powerful…

We’re overhauling the very concept of power, influence, clout and

control”. Stephanie Nina Menggu, President of Women in Business, added that the cooperation and collaboration between the different societies in the SU to help the project come about “really embodies” the spirit of the project itself.

The main event of the evening was the speech by Connie Jackson, LSE alumni and general manager for UK and Europe at Fashion Fair Beauty Products, a cosmetics company created in 1973 for women of colour. Jackson opened her talk with the moving comment that “this school means so very much to me…I can’t put into words the experience”. She then quoted Aditi Kulkarni, the founder of the original Red Lips Project at Stanford, in that “women are intrinsically powerful, but I realised that many of the women in my life did not have the space to express that power” as the impetus for starting the photo project itself, based on red as a colour associated with power. In inspirational fashion, Jackson drew on her personal experiences of avoiding red lipstick in her youth because of her self consciousness, particularly in the beginning of the 1980s investment banking career that she started off in, noting that

“all the femininity was pushed out when I was trying to blend in… the suppression of the authentic Connie began to wear me down”.

Asking of society “what is this need to force us to suppress ourselves?”, Jackson’s explorations and anecdotes of the women with extraordinary power in her life in Chicago drew upon the common theme that they each had their own signature shade of red lipstick. Speaking of the founding of Fashion First, Jackson noted that “I’m the lucky beneficiary of the world my predecessors created, before black markets were considered ‘real’ markets”, and encouraged audience members to “push to broaden the norms of beauty”.

The event was a triumph with audience members and organisers alike, with many staying late into the evening to meet others and speak with Jackson herself. Sasha Tyan, Women Leaders of Tomorrow Head of PR said “it seems so surreal. I feel powerful when a small idea turns into 70 people sitting in a room and listening. Our committees have worked so closely on this project; it’s about working together and making that change together”.

Ani Shah’s Lips: “Sealed” No More THE BEAVER SAT DOWN with Ani Shah, President of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, to speak a bit more about the London School of Economics (LSE) Students Union (SU) Red Lips Project.

So Ani, how did the idea for the Red Lips project come about?

Sasha sent a link on our Women Leaders of Tomorrow (WLT) page when we were trying to think of cool campaign ideas for the year. A simple photograph with red lips is powerful; the key point of the campaign that really stood out to me is that it is just so simple.

“It’s not imposing, there’s no activist approach and it’s very personal for every individual” I then messaged Gee [LinfordGrayson, Women's Officer] over Christmas with the idea, and then sat down and thought “can we make it any bigger?”. That’s when I approached Steph, the Women in Business President. The problem with WLT is that we have grown so rapidly over the past year that we just don’t have enough funds to be able to do the kind of projects our-

selves on a large scale. We have 475 members, last year we had 250 at the end of the year, and the funding hasn’t changed at all to kind of represent that increase. Steph was looking for ideas and ways to collaborate, helped us with the funding and was a great person to sound ideas off with. We got Gee, Nona [Buckley-Irvine, General Secretary of the SU] and Alistair [Duncan, Activities and Development Officer] involved, who were all totally up for it, and it’s just escalated into something great.

Something that’s been great is how interactive the campaign’s been; the LSESU Red Lips Project has had a big social media impact – how important is this to you as part of the campaign?

From the beginning, I said that if we were going to do this project, we were going to do it properly. I didn’t want it to look messy or haphazard or an attempt. The reason why we wanted Instagram to be a big part of the campaign is because we have a lot of ghost members who don’t see everything we do, but in this way, we are still maintaining a presence. We wanted all different types of social media because I wanted to keep the secretive hype; we didn’t have anything on our Facebook page apart from “our lips are sealed” and had already gotten

100 likes. Having created the hype, we got people to see the campaign through. The key part of the whole campaign was making it accessible to everyone, and this is why everything has been free. We have tried to make it worthwhile; from the personalised cupcakes to the free Kiko lipsticks, we wanted to make it something proper. We also wanted to do it in the Student Union because it’s more of a relaxed feeling in a more chilled out space. It was

the same with Fight Night; with the history of events earlier this year, I thought this would be a great campaign for the Athletics Union (AU) to get involved with. Taylor [Rampton, President of the AU] was very supportive, and every single round, our presence was there with the LSESU Red Lips Project boards saying “Get Powerful”; even in Zoo Bar they had the little lips as lights! Just getting people to understand what the project is about, even if they didn’t take a photo, was so important.

Talking about creating space for women to assert their power, how do you think we can implement that more on campus?

In my first year, I did not get involved in anything. Not because I didn’t want to or didn’t know how to, but because I felt that there wasn’t anywhere for me on campus. At my school, I had a lot of different leadership roles and I sat down and thought “I can’t let these things go to waste”, so that’s why I put myself forward for President of WLT. I’ve seen female contribution towards empowerment grow massively, and people are engaging with it. Something that I’ve aimed to do is go about things in a different way to get those people that would just walk past a stall or flyer engaged, because women’s issues are issues for every single woman. No woman can say “this isn’t to do with me”; so we’re trying to get those people that don’t want anything to do with

it to get involved. I think that’s what this project aimed to do; to get those people that wouldn’t necessarily identify themselves as being a feminist or even wanting to think about it, to get involved. The reason why I launched the LSESU Red Lips Project was because I wanted to get across the point that ...

So what’s next?

I just wanted to create a hype, and I hope it continues. The project at LSE is only a week long, but it would be great to make it an annual thing. I hope it sticks and that people remember why they’re powerful; not just for the duration of the campaign but all the time. When you don’t feel powerful, like Connie Jackson said, that’s the time to remind yourself why you are. This isn’t just relevant to gender issues; sometimes LSE can be a lonely place where you can feel quite powerless, and this just reminds yourself that you can actually do it.

“You don’t have to be part of WLT, or Women in Business, but just care about female empowerment.”

And finally, what makes you powerful?

This! Having an idea given to me that was meaningful but tiny, and being able to implement it in a way that has spread so rapidly across campus that has empowered both men and women and encouraged people to think about gender equality, as well as doing it in a way that hasn’t caused any scandal and has been done with so much support.

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News

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Peter Crouch Weighs 31 participants. 1,069 miles.

In On Gen-Sec Race One Destination: Budapest.

Kallum Pearmain News Writer STOKE CITY FOOTBALL Club striker Peter Crouch has weighed in on the race to become the next General Secretary of the LSESU. In an eight second clip posted first by Jamie Caplan, and shared by several supporters of Maria Canatella’s campaign to become General Secretary this week, Crouch says: “Hi, I’m Peter Crouch. I’m backing Super Maria for General Secretary.”

The former England striker, who scored 22 goals in 42 caps for the England national team, appears to be travelling first class on a Virgin train.

Jamie Caplan told The Beaver: “I was travelling back from Manchester on Saturday evening when I noticed I was sitting back to back with Peter Crouch.

When I told my girlfriend and she asked if I was going to get a selfie. I told her that “no, I just wanted him to endorse Maria’s campaign.” I congratulated him on scoring the winner and asked if he would help out. Kindly, he couldn’t have been more supportive and wished us the best of luck with our endeavours!”

It remains unclear whether any other candidates in the election, Africa Nasir, Boian Rodriguez Nikiforoff-Kharinsoff

y Vega, Indo Vickerson, Nitish Rathee, Nona BuckleyIrvine or Zoe Olukoga are planning to publicise endorsements by other h i g h - p ro f i l e Barclays Premier League footballers.

Jon Allsop, former Executive Editor of The Beaver asked: “Since C ro u ch ’s endorsement, I completely expect fellow Stoke Striker Bojan Krkic to come out in favour of Boian, or at least give him a second preference.”

James Wurr RAG Vice-President IN JUST THREE WEEKS TIME, some wonderful RAG hitchhike participants will find themselves trekking across Europe in an attempt to reach George Ezra’s “hidden treasure chest,” Budapest.

This year RAG is fundraising on behalf of War Child, which does some incredible work in conflict affected areas including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In these areas, it provides life-changing support to the most vulnerable through protecting children from battlefields by creating safe spaces, helping young people learn vocational skills to earn a sustainable income and getting children into school after conflict or poverty. This is truly a fantastic cause so please support our RAGlets by donating money and offering moral support!

James Wurr, RAG Vice-President Challenges, has some valuable tips for those taking part in the European Hitchhike. “Having participated in the Hitch to Zagreb last year, I can say that it is one of the best, most terrifying and rewarding charity events to get involved in. I thought I would offer my top five tips based on my experience.

Firstly, get used to sleeping in service stations. My team spent

three long, cold, stranded nights in a variety of different service stations. These included one near Amiens in France, where I spent the night planning our route to Zagreb with a truck driver who spoke no English and another in the Alps where the crazy service station attendants attempted to (literally) freeze us to death.

Secondly, play on the fact you are British/study at a British university. This came in handy when we were stuck in Paris, only for an elderly French bloke to pull up in a Morris Miner and offer us Brits a lift in order to repay Winston Churchill for liberating France during World War Two. [I’m] not sure it was quite a repayment for D Day but we certainly weren’t complaining!

Thirdly, make friends with train conductors. Trains are the quickest, easiest and possibly dodgiest way to get across Europe. We experienced both the highs and lows of hitching on trains; the highs when we travelled the width of Germany overnight and the lows when almost being kicked off the train on the way from Ljubljana to Zagreb.

My fourth piece of advice would be to wear some ridiculous form of clothing. Especially a pink hat. This helped us get probably our best lift from Munich to Salzburg with a lady who not only let us fall asleep in the backseat but also sent us off with a crisp 100

Euro note to boot.

And finally, don’t be me. I will pull no punches here. I was the smelliest, most miserable, least enthusiastic hitch participant ever.

I spent most of the time with a face like thunder, waving at cars in a desperate attempt to get a lift, speaking terrible French and sleepwalking in service stations. I have no idea how my two teammates, Katie [Budd, RAG President] and Nona [Buckley-Irvine, SU General Secretary], managed to put up with me but somehow they did and after four long days we finally made it to Zagreb.

Despite these top tips or perhaps words of warning, hitching to Zagreb is one of the hardest things I have ever done but one of the most rewarding. Not only did we raise over £7,000 for Spires as a group but I personally had a fantastic bonding experience with two of my closest friends. Therefore, please make sure you support our RAGlets in their adventures by tracking their progress, providing moral support and most importantly, donating to War Child. #NoRAGrets!”

Sadly, sign up for the event closed on March 1st. Hzowever, for more information about the event or how to donate, visit the Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/ events/1419732034986302.

LSESU Elections Kick Off With Hustings UGM Megan Crockett News Editor THE UNION GENERAL meeting (UGM) this week took the form of a Hustings for candidates for the four full-time Sabbatical positions in the upcoming London School of Economics (LSE) Students Union (SU) elections.

Chaired by Martha Petrocheilos and Laura Weigold, two of the three remaining remembers of Democracy Committee since Rayhan Uddin and Lena Schofield have suspended themselves, nearly half of the time spent on the Hustings was taken up by speeches from, and questions to, candidates standing to be General Secretary.

Out of seven candidates who nominated themselves for the position, six attended the Hustings. Boian Rodriguez NikiforoffKharisanoff y Vega, Indo Vickerson, Maria Canatella, Nitish Rathee, Nona Buckley-Irvine and Zoe Olukoga outlines their priori-

ties for the job and the personal experiences that might make them suitable.

Sitting General Secretary Nona Buckley-Irvine’s decision to re-stand had been widely anticipated, and her main challengers – based on social media and street presence so far – are thought to be Maria Canatella and Indo Vickerson.

The Hustings for Education Officer was attended by candidates Ahmed Saleh, Gareth Rosser, Jon Foster and Laura Mertsching, most of whom, notably, made a commitment to make the curriculum more diverse. The final candidate, Sandra Toften, according to Harry Maxwell, was at the time on her way back from “a surprise holiday in Morocco.”

The Community and Welfare Officer Hustings was the only one attended by all candidates, as Aysha al-Fekaiki, Lianne Mizrachi, Lorcán O-Cathain and Natalie Nunn all took to the stage, and outlined their own planned

campaigns and initiatives for LSESU next year.

Finally, the Activities and Development Officer Hustings were attended by Becca Brooks, Haytham Mousa, Katie Budd and Umut Bektas.

Hustings also took place for other positions – Democracy Committee, Trustee Board, parttime, including liberation, officers, and AU positions – also took place, in the Weston Café in the Saw Swee Hock Centre.

All of the candidates’ nominations, and their manifestos can be found in the LSESU elects pullout on pages 13-27 of this edition of the paper. Voting in LSESU elections opens at 10am on Wednesday 4th March, and closes at 7pm the following day. Voting will be followed by a Results Night – organised by the remaining members of Democracy Committee – further details of which can also be found in the LSESU elects

News London Uni Round-up

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Pros Help Students with Prose at Seventh Literary Festival Amy Scoville-Weaver News Writer

TAY L O R S W I F T G AV E a shout out to King’s College London after winning Best International Female Award at the Brit Awards on Wednesday. Speaking backstage after the event she said “I started out playing King’s College London and eight years later I’m getting ready to play Hyde Park.”

Swift played her first ever UK gig in Macadam Building on the Strand in 2008, around the same time of the release of hit single “Love Story”.

DESPITE HAVING ALREADY been warned by Imperial College Union, more emails sent to the ICU Rugby Football Club have been exposed as containing misogynistic language. Describing players on the IC Netball team as “too loose”, and RVC netballers as “easy pickings”, the ICURFC’s Social Secretary has been identified as the person responsible behind the emails, which were sent to the entire ICURFC mailing list.

Editorial Note: The Beaver would like to apologise for any offence caused by the title that appeared in the print edition of The Beaver above last article. The title should have read the above, not ‘What Do Trans Women Need Feminism For? A Discussion at LSE’. This was accidental, and no offence was intended. We will be reviewing our titles and sub editing practices to ensure this kind of mistake does not occur again. Apologies.

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SOMETHING FRESH WAS present in the air last week on Houghton Street. Was it the first whisperings of spring or something more “novel?”

Students, staff and the widerLondon community attended the London School of Economics (LSE) seventh Space for Thought Literary Festival over a six-day period last week. The festival featured evening lectures, as well as children’s events, movie screenings and two creative writing workshops taught by renowned writers.

The Festival featured a wide variety of subjects all based within the central theme of “Foundations” – a call for attendees to explore and think critically about what forms the roots of knowledge and thought in society. “This year’s theme was partly a response to the many anniversaries being marked in 2015, from the continuing commemoration of the First World War, to Magna Carta, Waterloo and also the School’s 120th year,” LSE Events Deputy Manager Louise Gaskell said. It was also prompted by reflection on LSE’s motto “to understand the causes of things” and the wish to celebrate this idea at the heart

of LSE of seeking understanding through learning and of examining the foundations and causes of issues.”

The week began with a quite appropriate talk on the power of language and identity delivered by writer and activist Raja Shehadeh and chaired by Director Craig Calhoun. “We will be exploring the foundations of knowledge, society, identity and literature as well as those of LSE itself,” Calhoun said on the opening night of the event. Shehadah spoke about the importance of language to Palestinian identity as explored in his new book, Language of War, Language of Peace. Monday’s talks were followed by talks ranging from how to teach philosophy to young children, to how art can depict mental illness and the link between development and modern fiction.

This year’s Festival was also the first one to feature official Fringe events, or side events sponsored by other departments or student-led. The Foundation of Faith event, sponsored by the Faith Centre, featured novelist Sarah Perry and Oxford Divinity professor Dr. Graham Ward exploring questions of faith and love. Perry received critical acclaim for her debut novel, After me Comes the Flood and Ward for his latest book on faith, Un-

believable: Why we Believe and Why we Don’t.

“Sarah Perry was a brilliant speaker and her appreciation of both the creative and destructive power of words shone throughout,” MSc student, Suyin, said after exiting the event. “Her writing is so alive and having heard her discuss her experiences of belief at the LSE Faith Centre makes it so much more meaningful.”

Saturday’s events featured two creative writing workshops taught by writes Jonathon Gibbs and Shelley Silas. These events focused on helping attendees explore why they write, as well as helping to find their own creative process whether for creative or academic writing.

The chosen theme was also a nod to the 120th Anniversary of the school and its strong liter-

ary foundations. Tuesday night featured a talk and showcase on the history of the school and the role of the founding Fabian members, such as the Webbs and George Bernard Shaw, in its development. “Shaw himself was an embodiment of the mutual benefit that literature and the social sciences offer each other,” LSE Gaskell said. The question of why literature and art in general is important within a social science institution is something that the Festival, in part, attempted to answer throughout the week.

“Art and literature are not just a tool for social change, they provide a vital way of talking about the world and our place in it” Gaskell said. Which is perhaps the perfect summary of the week’s events.

Careers Panel Event Organised by LSE Laywer’s Alumni Group Robin Park Sport Editor THE LONDON SCHOOL OF Economics (LSE) Lawyers’ Alumni Group organised a careers panel event on Monday 23rd February, which focused on careers in international law. The LSE Law Department is sometimes criticised for having too much of a commercial law focus in the curriculum. Thus, it was very refreshing to see an event being organised that was less focused on the commercial aspects of law, which also catered for students from non-law backgrounds, such as international relations.

The event was chaired by Mona Wright, an alumni of the LSE, currently working as a lawyer at the international commercial law firm, White & Case.

Whilst her employer is a notable commercial law firm, Wright’s specialisation in international

investment treaty disputes made her a qualified and interesting speaker for all students interested in inter-state trade and treaty dispute resolutions. She was joined

by Arezou Yavarianfar, also an alumni of the LSE Law Department, and a practising lawyer at Bentleys, Stokes and Lowless, specializing in maritime and international trade law. The final speaker was Dr. Devika Hovell, assistant professor of law at the LSE Law Department, specialising in public international law and specifically, the use of armed force and the United Nations.

Nicholas Roberts, senior associate at Berwin Leighton Paisner, was unable to attend the event, which perhaps gave an unintended indication of the unpredictable hours of practitioners working in the field of international arbitration.

After introductions, Dr. Devika Hovell was the first speaker of the event, who enthusiastically addressed the primary concern

of most graduates interested in a career in international law: which international organisations hire graduates? The simple answer she provided was that there was no set application process.

Whilst there are traditionally well-known organisations such as the United Nations, vacancies are rare and positions are often oversubscribed. The UN in particular was noted by Dr. Hovell as being notoriously difficult to secure graduate opportunities, partly owing to the organisation’s excessive bureaucracy. Her recommendation was to search a wide variety of organisations, and not to focus too intensely on a few well-known places, such as the ICJ and UN. Arezou Yavarianfar discussed careers in maritime and international trade law, which introduced the first hints of commerciality in the event. A point which she made in passing, regarding specialisation in international

law, was of particular interest for many who attended the event. In the past, Yavarianfar noted that many international law practitioners were generalists, however, now this has become increasingly rare. Most international lawyers specialise in a very particular area of law, she said, and indeed, all the panelists were specialists in different fields of international law.

Mona Wright was the final speaker, who discussed her transition from being a practising barrister to working in international commercial law firms. She discussed the work-life balance of practitioners in international law, as well as the changes in the field of inter-state disputes in international investment treaties.

The event concluded with a drinks reception, where there was an informal question and answer session with students and panelists on the issues covered during the event.

Comment Section Editorial:

Comment

THIS WEEK THERE HAS been something of a drought of Editorial topics this week. Features Editor George Harrison spent about an hour wandering around the office whinging about his lack of inspiration before falling back on his regular theme; climate change denial. Now I don’t hold particularly strong views on the environment, aside from my smugness about the environmental merits of my vegetarianism, so I will be falling back on my own regular editorial topic; my own life.

As regular editorial readers will know, last week I had a cold and was desperate to go home, eat shortbread and cuddle my dog. Whilst I am still yearning to see my dog and continue to live with an insatiable hunger for shortbread, I now feel that I can cope with 3 more weeks at LSE prior to enjoying those home comforts. I hope this settles minds.

This week I had my phone stolen by Seb Ash and Gareth Rosser who proceeded to message an array of BNOCs and friends.

They caused severe damage to my Facebook street cred by, amongst other things, accusing a fellow Beaver Editor of being a ‘tantric motherfucker’. My apologies go out to anyone affected by their tomfoolery. That wasn’t, to be fair, the worst thing that happened on Friday night though.

Ellen Wilkie

Tuesday March 3, 2015

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Section Editor: Ellen Wilkie Deputy Editors: Ella Sun, Mali Williams comment@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Caught Up In A Clash Of Cultures

Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital has been a comfort to me in elitist LSE Artenisa Qosja “I’M A REAL FOODIE”, “I’m on the Rowing team, the Netball team and do a spot of jogging on the weekends”, “Does anyone recommend any good theatre shows?”, “I was debating the concept of human capital with my mother last night”, “I’m off to Germany for the weekend, and then Paris the week after that”. These are just some of the commonplace conversations I have come across at LSE, and whilst they all have

“I cannot blame those who hold a form of cultural capital so valued and embedded within our institution, that it becomes invisible.”

appeal, there is one commonality they share- none of them apply to me.

It is not because I don’t enjoy trying unique pallets from the hidden gems of London. Or that I don’t wish I could get involved in just half of the sports available on campus. Or that I don’t secretly wish I could understand the essence of The Phantom of the Opera. Or engage in stimulating academic conversation, other than in my classes. Or that I don’t want to take multiple spontaneous trip to Europe.

It is that I can’t, or rather, that these things are not so natural to me. I do not embody them. In fact, prior to attending LSE, they were alien to me. I was warned about the cultural clash I would be susceptible to on arrival at the LSE, but nothing can really prepare you for the daily reflection checks you become implicitly subject to.

Those moments when you sit quietly in the library, in your classes, in your group meetings, and frustrate over the fact that you ‘just can’t relate’.

Now, let me make this clear.

I do not wish to place blame, or to victimise my personal position, and demonise the innocent student population who cannot help their upbringings, who cannot help their exposure to etiquette, language, art, travel, and so the list goes on. I cannot blame those who hold a form of cultural capital so valued and embedded within our institution, that it becomes invisible.

Invisible to the majority, that is, but quite stark to the minority.

“The need to overcome your hidden insecurities, is a constant challenge.”

This, in fact it is so significant to the minority, that it forms a barricade: to your ability to offer an opinion in class, to your initial impulse to post a comment on the Course Facebook group, or your desire to join the

Cartoon By Jack Hodsoll

rest of your peers on their latest outing. But more significantly than simply preventing action in the space were the dominant culture operates, it also affects your psyche. The need to overcome your hidden insecurities, is a constant challenge.

You become a chameleon.

Engaging in a reoccurring pattern of adaption, never really feeling settled.

Bourdieu’s infamous notion of cultural capital has become a theoretical place of reassurance for me. It explains the disparities in the level of valorisation that become attached to a given culture in a specific context.

How institutions and wider systems perpetuate this exclusivity both formally and informally, consciously or unconsciously, and its unfortunate reality that lead to divisions; the birth of unfamiliarity for some and complete ease for others.

Despite this, my dissimilar culture has also enabled in me a greater sense of drive, a greater motivation to ease the clash between the two cultural spheres, and form a hybrid within myself.

Comment How Free Should Our Speech Be? 9

Tuesday March 3, 2015

There is a line that must be drawn between what we can say and what we should Ina Selimic I LOVE WORDS. I ENJOY poetic flare and the fact that you can say the same thing in so many different ways. In fact, one of my favourite novels, 1984, highlights the importance of words. George Orwell’s idea of Newspeak involves the dwindling down of language to the point where individuals are unable to adequately express themselves or, most importantly, unable to attack the totalitarian regime that looms over them. It is true that the pen is mightier than the sword. Ergo, words should also be used with caution.

“It is perfectly plausible to defend the right to freedom of speech without believing somebody has the right, for example, to be racist.”

Freedom of speech is not negative, hate speech is negative. The two do not have to co-exist in order for freedom of expression to be fully realised. Oppressive regimes limit free speech by actually preventing the platform for debate whilst simultaneously discriminating against certain sections of society. To speak out against hate and oppression in these circumstances is what is prevented; this is where free speech is truly restricted.

Every right has its limits, and in most democratic societies, the line for free speech is drawn in law. However, I feel there is also a moral limit, specifically in regard to the right to offend. This line is slightly more vague, but this is increasingly important, especially today when there are sections of society that are marginalised.

Sometimes, the line is merely one of taste. But it is perfectly plausible to defend the right to freedom of speech without believing somebody has the right, for example, to be racist. When the right to offend is exercised, the effect this has on minority groups already facing discrimination leads to resist-

ance and radicalisation, which has unfortunate and tragic consequences. The right to say something also comes with the responsibility to know better.

Sometimes the opinion isn’t needed and only adds to the problem. Offence can so easily become vilification or abuse, and just because the line is a fine one does not mean it should not be drawn.

I think too often we are keen on dissecting ideas in order for intellectual advancement that we forget there is sometimes a person behind the idea. Are you attacking ideas or people?

I would say that allowing someone to be racist is not opening up debate and intellectual stimulation or advancement of any kind. Allowing someone to deny the Holocaust is not the same as telling someone you disagree with their political alignment and eloquently explaining why. The Holocaust was not an idea. It happened.

By taking away these people’s right to ‘offend’ and discriminate is not conducive to making them a martyr. You can only make a martyr out of someone if you sympathise. I do not sympathise with those who attack people, even if they only do so verbally.

You can be an ardent believer in free speech without allowing people the right to spew hate. Because that is not a right. It is wrong. Even if, hypothetically, free speech were totally absolute and even vile opinions were allowed to be expressed, what would then be the next logical step? To condemn them? This is obviously the aim here, because no one would agree that we should just tolerate contempt of any kind. If this is the aim, why wait for it to be said? Why allow the offence to be caused?

Why allow the seed of hate to be sown further?

“Speech inspires, speech angers, and speech leads to action” I’m lucky to live in a State that will allow me to write this, and express my opinion, but that does not change the fact that all over the world there is great disparity between those who are deciding what is allowed to be said and those who want to talk out against injus-

“Allowing someone to deny the Holocaust is not the same as telling someone you disagree with their political alignment and eloquently explaining why.” tice (which is what freedom of speech is truly for, not for hatred). And yet, free speech has been restricted. It has been restricted by those who have the ability to choose what is going to be presented as right or wrong. During the Iraq War, none of Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets spoke out against it. Alice Walker, who has long supported the rights of the Palestinian peoples, was disinvited from Michigan University in 2013 as sponsors of the event were able to pick and choose what their funding would support-or in this case, not support. The KKK, even if just a shell of its former organisation, is still allowed to have a website open to the public.

Charlie Hebdo had previously fired one if its writers for antisemitic content, but disproportionately published Islamophobic content. I obviously did not condone the killing by mentally deranged sociopaths, but that did not make me want to self identify with the magazine.

Who actually decides what speech is correct? Denying injustice is not free speech, it distorts the access to information we have and instead creates, as Alice Walker said, ‘censorship by purse-strings’.

It is easy to argue where the boundaries of free speech lie for the sake of intellect, but when you are fighting for your life because the line is drawn too late it is something very different indeed. When you know the difference between right and wrong why get caught up in the technicalities and analysis - this just distracts from the real issue, it distracts from making any sort of real change.

Human beings are social creatures and look for endorsement, so if we allow people to use speech to incite hate we

are only supporting the people who want to use that and turn it into vilification, persecution and discrimination; this is why totalitarian regimes abolish the freedom of speech. Speech inspires, speech angers, and speech leads to action. I want to leave bigots in the shadows.

If you bring them out into the sunlight to play with the rest of us then they grow to look just as appealing as anything else. When you shine a light on something that has grown in the dark it is twisted and grotesque and you will see it for all it is worth, but that is different from giving it sunlight.

If there is anything history has taught us, it’s that allowing disgusting views to be held only leads to the targets of such hatred to be used as scapegoats in times of political and economic instability. Indeed, the world said ‘never again’, yet is has happened multiple times since.

In 1995, for the first time in Europe since the Holocaust, 8372 innocent boys and men were systematically massacred in Srebrenica. The right of free speech was not restricted for the leaders there because nobody could have imagined that history would repeat itself.

It all happened so quickly because the hate was swept under the rug and allowed in the name of free speech.

“ If we allow people to use speech to incite hate we are supporting the people who want to use that” I looked into the eyes of a mother who had lost her entire family in the Srebrenica genocide. They were brutally slaughtered because of hate.

She said to me that I must never hate anybody. She told me hate does not achieve anything. Hate is destructive. Instead she told me to educate myself, learn the truth and learn how easy it is for hate to spread. She was a mother who gave birth to a son. A living, breathing boy made of flesh and energy and ambition. He was murdered, and she waited for years to be reunited with him. When she finally was, all she got back were two bones.

A mother gave birth to a child

- she buried two bones. How dare anybody allow someone the right to discriminate and deny such horrors because they think a cold and calloused analysis of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is important.

“ The right to be offensive is tenuous, and there are moral limits. It should never be greater than the right each and every individual has to feel safe.”

It’s not okay to treat women like they are worthless, it is not okay to persecute someone because they are attracted to their own gender, it is not okay to attack somebody (physically, as well as verbally) because they call their god by a different name, or do not believe in God at all. It is not okay to trivialise and mock rape, or terrorism and the link it may have to religion. Allowing these forms of differentiation do not create platforms for debate, especially when presented in such a lighthearted way.

Here, taking offence seems out of place. Querulous, even. The right to be offensive is tenuous, and there are moral limits. It should never be greater than the right each and every individual has to feel safe. The jokes sting so much more when you know what they can become.

A mother who lost everything was able to tell me not to hate anybody, including the murderers of her family. Living a life of comfort, away from the heart of tension and warfare and persecution gives you a romanticised outlook on free speech; that it is absolute and entails allowing discriminatory viewpoints in order for them to be discussed and shunned. This is not what happens. You have the right to hold an opinion, you even have the right to express it, and this is a great feature of contemporary, democratic society. But in certain circumstances you need to shut up, sit down, and instead: begin to listen. I love words, however I love people more.

Comment

Tuesday March 3, 2015

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Pink Buses Not Patronising Or Patriarchal Harriet Harman’s ‘Woman to Woman’ buses have been subjected to unecessary criticism Ronda Daniel IN THEIR AIM TO REACH out to female voters, the Labour Party’s ‘Woman to Woman’ buses travelled on a 70-constituency tour in the hope of ‘kitchen table discussions’; note, Harman said ‘about the kitchen table’, not ‘around the kitchen table’. However, responses from opposing parties and TV pundits have done nothing but ridicule the colour of the vans – I cannot recall any positive publicity about the vans – overlooking what they are trying to do.

It’s fair to say that the Labour Party have talked the talk about women in politics, but they have not walked the walk.

For instance, their party leader, general secretary, majority of senior shadow cabinet members, their manifesto writers and their

funders are all men. In comparison to other parties though, Labour has 86 female MPs, whilst the Conservatives have 48 and the Lib Dems have a measly 7. As well as this, the Labour Party actually has a women’s campaign, unlike the latter two.

“It’s fair to say that the Labour Party have talked the talk about women in politics, but they have not walked the walk.”

Regarding the colour pink, Harman has asserted that, “It is the correct colour. This is a One

Nation Labour colour”. In fact, the party has, for years, had a bright pink union flag design for its conference and speech backdrops. She even admitted to trying the colour red to represent the Party’s rose, but “it looked the same as everything else”.

I don’t believe for one second that Harriet Harman chose the colour pink solely to attract female voters, not whilst her colleague Stella Creasy continues her campaign against gendered toys. Labour’s critics have conveniently overlooked this.

Aside from the colour pink, the campaign’s aims have faced criticism. To elaborate, this campaign is to inform policies, in time for the General Election, about the representation of women in the workplace, equal pay, domestic violence, childcare and the care of the elderly. Why is it such a huge

The NHS Is A Bevan-tastic Service!

Let us not forget the value of our National Health Service Esohe Owiage I COME FROM A FAMILY where a trip to the doctors is the last resort; we literally only go when Google and the passage have failed to heal us and whatever it is that is ailing us shows no sign of relenting. As a result, I can count on one hand the number of trips I’ve made to my GP in the last 5 years: 4. Two of these were vaccinations, one was for a really bad experience with the flu and the final one was last Thursday, a trip that ended with me limping out of Minor Injuries with crutches and a broken metatarsal bone.

“My Mother didn’t have to worry about me because we live in a country where the majority of health services are provided by the government and paid for by taxation.”

When I called my mother that morning to inform her of my injury and my GP’s insistence that I get x-rayed, her only concern was whether I had enough money on me for a cab to the hospital. She didn’t have to worry about whether or not it was covered by our insurance or whether I had the relevant documents on me.

She didn’t have to worry about these things because we live in a country where the majority of health services are provided by the government and paid for by taxation.

Many people are angry with the NHS. The biggest complaint at the moment are the waiting times with reports of handovers taking 30 minutes (it’s meant to be 15 minutes max) and trolley waits of over four hours. Whilst these are valid complaints, I think we should take a moment to remember that this is the price we pay to have a national health service. Time is the price we pay so we can always have access to medical assistance regardless of our socioeconomic status or the severity of our health problem.

So when you accidentally break a leg or burn your arm whilst going about your day, remember to be grateful that the NHS is there. It is not perfect but at least people aren’t dying because they can’t afford to pay.

problem that primarily women have been asked about this?

It isn’t sexist to assume that women will know more things about this, not because of stereotyped gender roles, but because women do actually know more about these things. It would be futile to ask people their opinions about issues they know little or nothing about, and which do not affect them.

Looking at the bigger pic-

“I don’t believe for one second that Harriet Harman chose the colour pink solely to attract female voters”

ture, does this affect Labour’s chances in the election? I doubt it. It would be pretty difficult to be more unpopular than the coalition parties, with bigger issues than the colour of a van. This widespread disapproval was fleeting; now, the focus is on the Green Party’s Natalie Bennett, who made the very human mistake of stuttering and not recalling particular policies. It seems the ridicule of opposing political parties and the British media are very momentary, not to mention rather harsh and selective.

Ultimately, I think it is understandable that the choice of colour has sparked criticism; however, the reasons behind the colour shouldn’t be ignored, as well as the aims of the campaign in the first place. Who cares about the colour of a van as long as everyone is represented?

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Comment

Tuesday March 3, 2015

It’s High Time That Drugs Were Decriminalised The ‘War on Drugs’ has failed; to reduce harm the best option is decriminalisation

Sam Parry ON THE 17TH OF FEBRUARY, John Collins from LSE Ideas, in association with Central American Student Association, gave a talk titled “Guatemalan Drug Policy and the War on Drugs.”

The talk was very insightful in explaining the irrationalities of international drug policy and the differences between the intended and actual outcomes of these policies. After Collins’ lecture, I concluded that we need a radical rethinking of our drug policy with decriminalisation being the end goal.

The following paragraphs explain why I believe this is necessary.

The term “War on Drugs” is in itself problematic and draws comparisons to the War on Terror. By calling some states intrinsically evil, the United States closed all avenues for diplomacy and dialogue. Similarly, calling drugs intrinsically evil has led to irrational policy implementation. For example,

there is a lack of discussion on creating a public health framework to help those addicted because it doesn’t fit neatly into the agenda of “getting to 0”.

There is also a larger question about the role of the government in personal life.

Should states have the right to criminalise the consumption of drugs? I argue that they should not. They may educate the public of the harmful side effects of drug consumption as they do with tobacco and alcohol, however, I believe that the final say should be left to the individual. Even if we think states should have the right to prohibit drug use, there is no clear framework for minimising consumption. Therefore, what we need is a way of minimising the negative externalities that come with drug consumption and creation such as violence, incarceration and ill health due to needle sharing.

The reality is that there are huge disproportionalities in who bears the burden of the UN convention on drugs. Richer states are the consumers of drugs whereas poorer states are net exporters. A situation has arisen where it is expected that poorer states should pay the price for the drug consumption of the West, due to the policy of tackling supply rather than demand. In the long run, this policy has had no effects on the price or supply of illicit drugs.

If supply is disrupted and de-

mand stays unchanged, the price of drugs increases. This price increase incentivises supply, an increase in supply then suppresses prices through competition and you have a return to equilibrium. The only difference may be the increase in violence. By suppressing actors who may not be violent, you create a vacuum for more violent actors to emerge. The current global strategy has therefore failed on its own terms. It has not decreased supply or demand for illicit drugs and has, if anything, made these poorer, more unstable countries even more unstable and violent.

“Decriminalisation could drastically improve the lives of the rural in poor regions such as Bolivia.

Statistics show that when wages decrease in Bolivia, coca production increases.”

A prime example of disproportionality between the con-

sumption of illicit drugs and bearing the costs for others’ consumption would be Costa Rica. It is well known that Costa Rica has not had a standing army since 1948. However, it has a “Special Intervention Unit” whose purpose is to prevent terrorism and drug trafficking (I’m sure you find the absurdity of conflating drug trafficking with terrorism as funny as I do). In 2014, Costa Rica spent $10 million dollars on drug traffic prevention. In Costa Rica, statistics state only 4% have ever used cocaine and 0.1% for heroin. Of course, actual numbers are probably higher although it’s pretty obvious illicit drug consumption is not endemic in this country; it is instead bearing the burden of US’s drug consumption.

The current strategy also does not consider the socioeconomic reasons behind why some people export illicit drugs. In Bolivia, it is the peasantry that grow coca. Coca is necessary for the peasantry as it makes it easier for them to work at high altitudes. Additionally, exporting coca is the peasantry’s way of rationally acting within the world market. The world market (unfortunately) dictates that Bolivia and many other Latin American countries mainly export primary commodities. Coca is probably one of, if not the most lucrative primary commodity the peasantry can sell.

Decriminalisation could drastically improve the lives of the rural in poor regions such as Bolivia. Additionally, statistics show that when wages decrease in Bolivia, coca production increases. Perhaps a better strategy of reducing the production of coca would be to improve the living standards of the Bolivian peasantry so that they do not have to sell coca as a way to survive.

The main reason that we should turn towards decriminalisation is that where it has been implemented, it worked.

Marijuana in Uruguay is well regulated and it is not commercialised like tobacco so that people are not enticed into trying it. Perhaps most important for those who wish to dampen the supply side of drugs is that due to heavy regulation it has become much more difficult for it to be exported. Additionally, the health impacts of decriminalisation are huge. In Portugal, HIV infections fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003 and heroin related deaths halved in the same period. There was no spike in drug use either, with the rate staying relatively stable. Changing the demand for drugs is almost impossible, and the war on drugs has failed.

However, what we can do as a society is minimise the negative externalities that come with drug use – decriminalisation seems to be the best policy to tackle these externalities.

Photo: Flickr: Pete Zarria

CENSORED Dear Readers,

We had prepared a selection of articles and interviews to cover the elections because we thought students might like to know what other students and alumni think about the elections.

However, the Students’ Union doesn’t think that The Beaver exists to inform students and has censored a large amount of this week’s content.

We cannot name the people responsible for this censorship because Students’ Union bye-laws prevent us from naming, and by extentsion holding accountable, SU staff.

We apologise that the paper is lacking in content in some sections, and we’ll be printing all of the banned material and more next week. The Editorial Board would like to register their dismay and outrage at the Students’ Union’s actions and will be following their authoritarian behaviour up in future issues of the paper.

Yours, Alexander Fyfe, Executive Editor Liam Hill, Managing Editor

Residential Services

Win Prizes for Yourself and Your Hall The 2014/15 Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey is now LIVE! All you need to do is complete the survey to be entered into a prize draw to win Amazon vouchers, bottles of Champagne, cocktails in The Shard, iPads and more.

Residential Services is also giving away £250 to the hall with the highest participation rate, to be used towards entertainment for your end of year party.

15_0185 Advert for Beaver.indd 1

If you live in halls, please take the time to tell us what you’re happy with (and what you aren’t) so that LSE residences can keep improving.

All current residents have been emailed a personalised invite and an individual link to the survey. To take part, please click on the link you were sent.

Email residential.life@lse.ac.uk if you didn’t receive the link, or if you need us to send you another one!

11/02/2015 14:19

lsesu elects 2015

lsesuelects.co.uk

lsesu elects 2015 lsesu elects 2015: Website: www.lsesuelects.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/ lsesuelects E-mail: 2015@lsesuelects.co.uk Twitter: @lsesumediagroup #lsesuelects

Ever wondered who the ‘Sabbs’ are, what they do or how to vote for them? Are you already a keen watcher of student politics? Or do you just want to know a bit more about the policies and personalities behind all those people marching up and down Houghton Street in coloured shirts with tacky slogans? Whatever your answer, LSESU Elects is for you! Throughout the election week starting on Thursday February 26th, we will be guiding you through everything you need to know about the SU elections, providing you with candidate information, short videos on why the elections matter and how you can get involved, and LIVE election night coverage from our team of roving reporters and expert panellists in The Venue.

Your vote really matters

How the voting system works and how you register your preferences

Founder, web design: Mike Pearson Pullout editor, election anchor: Jon Allsop

The team: Tooba Mushtaq Hari Prabu Shanice Khoo Suyin Haynes Gee Linford-Grayson Sophie Donszelmann Usama Shoaib Sebastien Ash Lodewijk Vriens... ...and you? there is still time for you to get involved! If you want to be an election night runner, technician or even do something in front of the camera then let us know ASAP by emailing 2015@ lsesuelects.co.uk

From the Democracy Committee

This year your Democracy Committee has got more creative than ever before!!

For the FIRST time ever, and because no it’s not all about winning, we have organised a series of awards to incentivise people during campaign time. More details to follow, but they include (and are not limited to) “Best Campaign”, “Best Slogan”, “Best Creativity”, “Best Newcomer”, “Best Team Effort”, “Best Graceful Surrender”, “Most Amusing Moment”. Those will be announced on the day, in-between announcing winners.

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Welcome to lsesu elects 2015!

The team:

Creatives, technical director: Jade Jackman

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Laura Weigold

Returning Officer Hi, my name’s Laura Weigold, I’m a third year Philosophy and Politics student and I am this year’s returning officer, which just means that I am your main student point of contact surrounding the procedural aspects of this year’s elections.

So, how does the voting system work for the Students’ Union elections?

Whereas British parliamentary elections use the First Past the Post method, whereby the candidate with the most votes after one round of voting wins, we use the Single Transferable Vote method. Very simply, this ensures that winning candidates for SU positions must win a ‘decisive majority’ of votes to be elected.

How does this work in practice? For each position you will be invited to rank the candidates in order of preference. This does not mean you are obliged to rank every candidate: if you like you can indicate a first preference and no others, a first and second preference and no others, and so on.

If one candidate wins over half of the first preference votes cast, then they are elected. However, in races with lots of candidates this is very unlikely to happen. If no candidate reaches this threshold on first preferences, then the last-placed candidate is eliminated and their ‘second preference votes’ are reallocated. This just means that the candidates ranked second by all the people who cast their first preference

vote for the last-placed candidate are counted.

If one candidate wins over half of the votes once first preferences and these second preferences have been counted, then they win. If not, then the candidate who is now in last place is eliminated and their second preference votes are counted. This continues until one candidate has won over half of the votes cast.

Why does the SU use this method? The idea is to motivate candidates to campaign broadly and to try to get a message across to voters even if the candidate believes that specific voters are

“Whereas British parliamentary elections use FPTP...we use the Single Transferable Vote method” committed to another candidate as a first preference.

For elections with multiple places to be won, such as those for Democracy Committee, Trustee Board and AU Executive, a very similar system is used, except the threshold for winning is set differently. Instead of having to win a majority of all votes cast to be successful, candidates must reach a number of votes calculated by the number of positions available plus one: for example, if 1200 votes are cast and there are 5 positions available, then you divide 1200 by 6 to get 200 as the threshold. The election proceeds exactly as we have already outlined, and is over once 5 candidates have reached the threshold.

Again, second preferences are taken into account if all 5 positions are not elected on first preferences alone.

Remember, your vote really matters!

Frequently Asked Questions 1. WHY SHOULD I BOTHER RANKING CANDIDATES? If all of the candidates for whom you express a preference pass the threshold or are eliminated then your vote is ‘exhausted’ and no longer counts, and the threshold is duly reduced to take account of fewer votes having an impact on the eventual winner. So ranking more of the candidates by your order of preference will make your vote count more.

In hard fought campaigns for multiple positions, the difference between winning and not can more often than not be measured in tens of votes rather than hundreds, so every vote counts.

2. WHO IS ‘RON’ AND WHY HE IS STANDING FOR EVERYTHING? Very simply, RON stands for Re-open nominations.

So, if you don’t like any or all of the candidates running you can vote ‘RON’ to express your preference for having the election rerun. You can rank RON as any numerical preference: above all the candidates, above some, or above one.

If RON wins a majority of votes under the system we explained earlier, then the election must be re-run.

3. WHAT IS ‘COMMUNITY VOTING’?

Community voting means

Above: Jay stoll wins the Gen-Sec race in 2013

that for certain positions, you can only vote if you ‘selfidentify’ as a member of the community that the officer is mandated to represent.

This means, for example, that you can only vote for the Women’s Officer if you self-define as a woman, or only vote for the LGBT+

“Community voting means that for certain positions, you can only vote if you ‘self-identify’ as a member of the community that the officer is mandated to represent.“ Students’ Officer if you selfdefine as LGBT+. You will be clearly reminded of this when you vote online.

4. HOW DO I VOTE? Voting is conducted online and every registered LSE student is eligible to vote: you do NOT need to register separately to vote. To vote, go to lsesu.com/vote, log-in using your student username and password and vote away. Voting will open at 10am on Wednesday March 4th and will close at 7pm on Thursday March 5th. The results will be announced on results’ night, which will take place in The Venue (the basement of the student centre) from 7pm on the Thursday. All are welcome, even encouraged, to turn up for what is always a fun and thrilling evening. If you can’t make it, then go to www.lsesuelects.co.uk for live coverage, panel discussions, exclusive interviews and much more.

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lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Campaigns, controversy and close calls Looking back on elections past in 2012, 2013 and 2014 bivalence to comment.

Hari Prabu The Lent Term Elections are a time-honoured tradition at LSESU and over the years the campaigns never seem to cease in their energy, the controversies continue to be plentiful, and the contests remain closely fought. Let’s take you through the last three years of all this jazz.

2012 One more year!

In the same year as Obama came to win a second term, then General Secretary Alex Peters-Day decided that she would not be a one term Gen Sec and successfully managed to hold off Mohammed Morley by just 28 votes. Like current General Secretary Nona, Peters-Day was also RAG President. Will history continue to repeat itself?

He did things…

Returning Officer Josh Still felt compelled to recommend that the Democracy Committee disqualify Jason Wong for remarks regarding other candidates that were considered to breach the newly passed motion “Stop Anti-Semitism Now!”.

Wong’s prior record of being disciplined by the school and barred from running for his Hall Committee, due to what the Beaver reported

to be “sexist, racist and classist” remarks, was alleged by some to have caused the decision despite Still’s am-

Labour-Pirate Party Coalition In his campaign to become Community and Welfare Officer, Jack Tindale formulated an inspired pirate themed campaign which included wearing cocked hats on Houghton Street and coming up with the slogan “Making your Union Ship-Shape”. It worked… somehow.

2013 “There are no words to describe how I feel about her”.

Such is what Jay Stoll said to Nona Buckley-Irvine in 2012 after seeing Peters-

Day win again. This healthy relationship between the two could only have added to Stoll’s enthusiasm in running to be her successor. In the end the bright yellow “Don’t Stall, Vote Stoll” campaign accumulated 1100 votes amidst a record turnout of 2999 votes cast overall.

“Yo, still the biggest feminist on campus”.

Sally Bonsall’s Facebook status (as reported by the Beaver) after her loss to Imogen Young for the position of Women’s Officer followed the argument that the absence of community voting in the election had swung the result away from that which the majority of women wanted.

“Pulling the Jew card” Remarks by General Secretary candidate Izmir Bajrami that Jay Stoll had won by “pulling the Jew card” naturally did not go down well

either and were described

by Jewish Society President, Olivia Jacobs, to be “blatant old-age anti-Semitism”.

Don’t ignore the importance of the invisible primary

SU campaigns start long before you see the candidates on Houghton St.

2014 Backing Barnett v the Nona Nomination The bright pink (or should that be magenta) campaign of Nona Buckley-Irvine was juxtaposed on Houghton Street against the malevolent shade of Sam Barnett’s Breaking Bad green. Sam managed to command the support of one of the most formidable campaign teams seen at LSE for some years with Tom Meaden, one time member of the Court of Governors, becoming chief-whip of his self-coined ‘hackerati’. The hazmat suits and Jon Allsop’s singing though were not enough to beat Nona’s non-alcoholic embracement of the ‘Neck Nominate’ tradition (ice cubes symbolising freezing hall rents, Red Bull for reenergising sporting life etc.) who scraped past with a 65 vote majority.

The Small Annoyances Manifesto During election week last year, the Beaver published an article by Ben Phillips which stated that the way to win is to avoid making “too vague” and “far reaching” promises and instead

to make pledges to deal with the “small but frequent annoyances endured by us regular students”. In the heat of this year’s contest, this plea may be all put forgotten but perhaps it will be looked back upon alongside motions such as that calling for exam feedback as the turning point for LSESU politics.

Sebastien Ash It is a fact of LSE student politics that any good campaign is fought on three different battlefields. The first two are relatively self-evident. They’re the ones that you’ll have encountered as a regular student at LSE. The first is on Houghton Street or wherever a candidate might hand out leaflets. Getting your face out there being a presence for a short week in Lent Term is unsurprisingly crucial to winning election. And in this respect it goes hand in hand with the second area of contestation: Facebook.

You are limited on Facebook to who you know and who your friends know in a way that you are not on Houghton Street but it is nonetheless necessary to jam people’s notifications full of election materials and to create a buzz around the campaign. The third is a little less well known to those who do not get their hands dirty in student politics and, if anything, somewhat not in the spirit of the elections themselves.

The idea of the ‘invisible primary’ is reasonably well known in American political circles. The basic notion is that presidential campaigning begins even before the polls have opened in New Hampshire or even before the candidates have declared their intention to run. The same is broadly speaking true of LSE student politics.

It is a sad fact that the people who end up running the Union aren’t necessarily those who are brightest or best suited to it. Often they are the ones with the most political nous, greatest resources, or the right poli-

cies. Much as campaigning might only start on a Thursday at one, the people who put themselves in the best position to win are those who decide early on that they want to take a significant role in student politics, those who run for that society position, or get involved with RAG. It’s about belonging to a group and building a base. The right (read: winning) candidate does not appear out of nothing with great new ideas to reform your Union, they emerge out of and take on the collective political sensibilities of a particular group. A lot of the time, whether you run or not is going to be determined by whether you feel like you can run or not.

There is a period building up to elections in which candidates weigh up their chances. They’ll talk to their friends, found secret Facebook groups, and generally test the waters. Who have I got? Who could I have? In theory - and as stipulated by the electoral rules - societies endorse once the campaigning period has opened. But then of course the rules do not really apply if you are not really campaigning, do they? The truth of the matter is that most of these will have been locked up, or thought to have been locked up, before you’ve even submitted a manifesto. That is what all the jostling is for.

The invisible primary of the Students’ Union is a sort of rumour filled twilight zone. You are weighing yourself up against candidate X and thinking about who’s vote they’ll split, working out how they might be doing with societies. Someone will drop out because they do not think they won’t have any meaningful support and someone else will suddenly emerge to throw everything up in the air.

And then once les jeux sont faits, you just sort of run because often what matters most putting yourself in the right place, not being the right person.

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

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General Secretary BOIAN RODRIGUEZ NIKIFOROFFKHARISANOFF Y VEGA YOU DESERVE MORE, I’LL DELIVER YOU DESERVE MORE, I’LL DELIVER. Elect me and for you, I’ll WORK FROM DAY ONE. I’ll plan a team strategy in MARCH, consult on it in APRIL, revise it in MAY, plan implementation in JUNE so that in JULY-AUGUST, your Sabbs team can get the training, roll out and test efficient and effective work. And you can BENEFIT FROM DAY ONE. Campus is changing, like never before the union must SUPPORT STUDENTS. I’ll ensure independently, proactively collected safe feedback and listening to you so LSESU WORKS FOR YOU. WE CAN DO IT, COLLECTIVE ACTION IS REAL POWER.

REAL ACTION: COSTS We are priced out of food, housing, living: we need PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS. At LSE, we have know-how: campaigning is not enough.

71% of us pay their FEES in international currency. I’ll work for real stability in costs.

63% of us live outside Halls, I’ll strive for AFFORDABLE HOUSING including private.

REAL ACTION: CAMPUS LIFE I’ll secure at risk FREE IT-TRAINING. I’ll ensure STUDENT REPRESENTATION for each programme, and support POSTGRADUATES and PART-TIME students.

I’ll ensure DIGNITY and OPENNESS in debates, with LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE. VOTE BOIAN #1 CHOICE 4 GEN SEC #boian2015 facebook.com/boian2015

INDO VICKERSON - INDORSE INDO ENDORSE CHANGE As a former halls president and current International Students officer, I’ve seen our SU from the inside and out. I have the experience, commitment and vision to push our voices FORWARD. I’ve heard your opinions on…

SOCIETIES: Too many activities are held back by poor administration and advertising.

1. END BUREAUCRACY. Reimbursement and invoice payment claims shouldn’t take weeks. I’ll introduce an online claims process and extra staff.

2. SUPPORT. We need annual fund application feedback and transparent criteria.

3. REFORM WHAT’S ON. I’ll set-up clear and consistent campus-wide communication publicising events.

STUDENT LIFE

MARIA CANNATELLA

REMEMBER RATHEE • Expand subsidised non-AU sport • Create an arts network for Dance Club and other arts based societies.

International- A Global School • More foreign exchanges • Lobby for post-study work visa • International student advice/helpline run by international students • International ‘meet and greets’ Postgrads – The New Deal • ‘Registration Reform’; streamlined and centralized • Tailored Postgrads Freshers’ Week • More postgrad networking opportunities • Instigate Postgrad dialogue with faculty Accommodation- Feel at Home • Lobby to FREEZE HALLS FEES and create NEW BURSARIES • ‘Where Next Scheme’; Reform post-halls accommodation network • Inter-Halls sports and Inter-Hall events @MaZcanna

NONA BUCKLEY-IRVINE NO LIMITS NONA

Experience matters. I’m rerunning because this year we’ve achieved a lot, but we need to achieve so much more. *My record* I’ve been a decisive leader, making difficult decisions when it mattered most. I’ve secured a rent guarantor scheme, prioritised liberation, increased society and club funding by £50,000, reduced food prices, added new microwaves, spoken on a national level on sexism and the counter terrorism bill, secured squash courts, and delivered the biggest Orientation period yet. *My vision* •Foreign exchanges for LSE students •Better pay for GTAs •Streamlined society funding, so it’s easier to access more money

FACILITIES 1. CHARGING DOCKS. for mobiles and laptops throughout campus.

2. FOOD. catering will be cheaper and more varied.

NITISH RATHEE

#SUPERMARIACAN Student Democracy- Our Union • Society Online Training – No more time consuming meetings • ‘What’s Going On?’ Information via a Societies’ timetable intranet system • ‘Vote Reform’: Extended UGM voting period • ‘Show Me the Money’ – Transparent funding • ‘Sabb Surgeries- Better Q&A’ Equality- You Matter • Co-ordination between the BME and Anti-Racism officers and mutual accountability -creating a sub-committee to aid this process • Powerful Women – Celebrating female achievements and supporting ambitions.

• ‘Fresher Parent Scheme’; reform of mentor system • Creating a position for LGBT+ and Anti-Racism officers on Halls Committees • More study space for ISSA students AU- Sporting the Difference • Publicising AU fixtures and achievements • Regular meetings between the Sabbs and AU executive

1. ACCOUNTABILITY. It’s not clear what our elected officers do.

I’ll create a centralized live listing showing what all Sabbaticals and PTOs are up to, have accomplished, and have yet promised to achieve.

2. CAMPAIGNS: largely fail to engage students We need an SU that empowers students by taking the lead on issues students care about, like the re-instatement of the Post-Study Work Visa, liberation campaigns and teaching quality.

3. QUALITY TEACHING. GTAs need consistent teaching materials directly from the department; students deserve regular, actionable feedback opportunities.

•Continue to increase sponsorship for the AU •A full social calendar; most postgraduate events, Mocktail Mondays, society socials •Cut the cost of living, with more bursaries, halls discounts, and scrap the Masters Application fee •Continue to prioritise liberation, supporting work by liberation officers and national/cultural societies Plus, we’re going to lose nearly all of our halls in the next decade unless we take action. As your Gen Sec I will oppose this and lead the way on getting the best student residences at LSE. To hit the ground running, experience DOES matter. No limits with Nona: vote Nona #1 General Secretary! @nonajasmine

MSc Comparative Politics International Postgraduate Student and Athlete I Solemnly Swear That I am Up To No Good.

• 2% sQuid Loyalty Reward on ALL Tuition fee payments • 2 Pound Meals – Cooked and Healthy – On Campus • Alumni Careers Service Access For 5 Years After Graduation • Feedback – Within 3 Weeks • 1 Pound Cappuccino and Latte

• iPad and Kindle to Rent from Library • Rework Venue Booking Fees for Societies • More Part-Time Jobs • I Stand for Prices like Wright’s Bar Why Should our Non-Profit Charity Cafés charge High Street Prices?

Why Should We Wait Months For Academic Feedback? #RememberRathee www.facebook.com/RememberRathee

AFRICA NASIR

NO TAGLINE SUBMITTED No manifesto submitted

ZOE OLUKOGA SHE HAS THE ZO-LUTION

I am a third year undergraduate Anthropology and Law student. I was the President of the Women Leaders of Tomorrow Society 20132014 and Vice-President of the Gospel Music Society, 2013-2014. I currently serve as an Anthropology and Law SSLC course representative.

Community, Unity, Diversity (THE CAMPUS LIFE) -Raise awareness of the successes of clubs and societies and also the collaboration between different clubs and societies through publishing a ‘Society Review’ e-journal.

-Create a forum specifically for society presidents to network and discuss ideas for collaboration.

-Celebrate campus diversity through Arts and International Student festivals.

Engagement, Representation, Transparency (THE SU) -Increased post graduate student engagement

and representation, particularly through another postgraduate representative.

-SU led collaboration and engagement with societies and clubs in order to tackle issues and increase student integration on campus.

-Increased transparency and efficiency regarding general decision making and allocation of funding to clubs and societies.

Accountability, Support, Guidance (THE LSE INSTITUTION) - Costs: On-campus food prices lowered and Halls fees frozen.

- Educational support: Personalised examination feedback offered in more departments and liaison staff made mandatory for degrees straddling two departments.

-Careers: Increased awareness of and diversity in the opportunities offered by LSE careers.

Vote Zoe Number 1

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lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Education AHMED SALEH

GARETH ROSSER

EVERY VOICE MATTERS

Why Ahmed for Education?

I experienced diverse education systems first hand; Palestine, USA, UK. I excelled in all the education environments that I have been to and developed a critical eye of what works and what not when it comes to teaching methods, professor-student relationships, and extracurricular activities. I am now studying MSc finance and Accounting.

Rising from an impoverished background and defeating the harshest circumstances, I surely know the value of education to individuals, societies, and nations. This prior knowledge makes me fully committed to help every single student to achieve her/his educational goals.

Policies: • To further enrich the education process.

VOTE INSPECTOR GARETH FOR EDUCATION 1. Faster and tailored feedback from professor to each student.

2. Facilitate mock exams.

3. Increased support from advisors by decreasing the student/faculty ratio.

• To create a more engaging and fun educational experience outside the classroom.

1. Diversify the curriculum based on student’s interests.

2. Support the start-up culture at LSE. 3. Chat zones around LSE (“Tea for We”).

4. More space and facilities.

• To increase access to education 1. Assist students from unprivileged backgrounds to strengthen their application to LSE and campaign for more financial support for those who in need.

2. To widen foreign exchange opportunities.

JON FOSTER FOSTER- GOOD CALL

LSE is a leading university, but our education is inadequate. As a 3rd year student, and NUS delegate, I know things need to change. As Education Officer, I’ll work to make LSE the educational experience we deserve.

1. TEACHER TRAINING – Teaching is substandard; GTA’s receive little support. I will lobby for increased investment in teacher training, and regular events between GTA’s and students exploring what makes good teaching.

2. EDUCATION BEYOND THE CLASSROOM – Education isn’t just reading lists and problem sets. I will expand the SU’s employability projects, integrating with Careers and the Teaching & Learning Centre, so LSE students have greater access to personal development outside the

classroom.

3. ACADEMIC ADVISORS – The current system is flawed – Academic Advisors should be more active, with emphasis on the pastoral role, and increased contact time.

Regular meetings between advisors and all advisees, would facilitate a greater student support network.

4. THE FUNDAMENTALS – I will fight for compulsory Exam Feedback – it’s an academic right.

– I will support the cap on class sizes.

– I will lobby the school on predominantly white, male curriculums pushing for greater diversity of lecturers and reading lists.

We deserve better – for an education that lives up to the LSE name, VOTE JON FOR EDUCATION

what the jobs involve...

General Secretary

Education

As General Secretary, you would be one of LSESU’s four full-time, paid Sabbatical Officers.

The Sabbatical Officers represent all students and lead on major campaigns, strategic developments, projects and events.

Specifically, your role involves negotiating and setting the agenda with the School and LSESU. As the external face of LSESU, you will deal with press and media enquiries and will represent LSESU when liaising with external organisations.

You will actively promote the ideas and needs of students and lead on the development and delivery of campaigns.

You will also sit on School decision-making bodies, including the Court of Governors; Council; Finance Committee; Equality and Diversity Committee; and Estates Committee, which is concerned with the purchasing and preparation of new buildings at LSE. You will also be Chair of the Trustee Board, which has the ultimate legal and financial responsibility for the Students’ Union.

As Education Officer, you would be one of the Students’ Union four full-time paid Sabbatical Officers. The Sabbatical Officers represent all students and lead on major campaigns, strategic developments, projects and events.

You will be specifically responsible for leading change in teaching and learning within LSE. You will raise awareness of academic issues, liaising with students, Course Representatives, academics and the directorate to ensure that they have a voice and representation within LSESU and the School. You will also take the lead on national education policy and issues You will sit on School decision-making bodies including the Academic Board.

All Sabbatical Officers are also members of the Trustee Board, which has the ultimate legal and financial responsibility for the Students’ Union.

VOTE GARETH FOR THE EDUCATION YOU DESERVE: HELP US LEARN: FEEDBACK, PRINTING CREDITS AND EXAM TIMETABLES -This year students have made it clear that we want exam feedback, and I will campaign to get us the feedback we deserve.

-We pay small fortunes to study at the LSE and so deserve at least £10 printing credit per term. I will fight for departments to provide these credits for every student.

-I will lobby to have exam timetables released sooner so that students can start planning their summers earlier.

PROTECT OUR STUDENTS -I will support you as the academic year (January

Exams and Reading Weeks) changes drastically next year.

SUPPORT FOR JOINT DEGREE STUDENTS -I will ensure students don’t miss out on opportunities available to their peers just because they are based in a different department.

DIVERSITY IN EDUCATION -LSE students deserve an education which reflects their diversity. I will lobby the School for greater diversity in both course content and academics.

-I will lead the SU in organising a series of public lectures and classes dedicated to exposing interested students to new theories outside of our Eurocentric curriculum.

VOTE INSPECTOR GARETH #1 FOR EDUCATION

LAURA MERTSCHING LAURA’S SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS LSE ranks among the best universities in the world. But while we’re all proud to be here doesn’t relief the university of its duty to deliver top education standards. Student satisfaction at LSE ranks very low comparatively. LSE therefore needs to make changes.

Vote for Laura’s School of Economics and there will be: - early EXAM SCHEDULES which will improve your ability to structure your summers - more and quiet STUDY SPACES, which is especially important with the coming constructions work next year

- exam and dissertation FEEDBACK and generally more support of teaching staff, which should also be available during the summer - more POSTGRAD REPRESENTATION at the Students’ Union as we are by far the biggest community at LSE, e.g. we should have a full-time officer for a specific postgrad offers of socializers, societies and career events - FREE coffee and PUPPY stress relief sessions to get you through revision.

As Mature and Part-Time Student’s Officer, I gained a lot of experience in lobbying the university for improvements. Vote this experience to change LSE for your own good. Vote Laura’s School of Economics!

SANDRA TOFTEN VOTE ST FOR EDUCATION BEYOND THE FT - Lobby for all departments to provide summer exam RE-SITS. - Campaign for all lectures to be RECORDED. - Encourage departments to adopt INTERDISCIPLINARY MODULES in collaboration with different institutes, such as the Gender and European Institutes.

- Work on creating more opportunities for programmesSTUDYING OR RESEARCHING ABROAD, including postgraduate research and dissertations.

- Collaborate with departments to ensure they provide a BROADER CHOICE OF MODULES, particularly when some are made ‘unavailable’.

- Encourage all departments to provide consistent PRINTING CREDITS. - Improve the mentoring scheme to ensure real communication and integration between first years, their mentors and their department.

- Increase language course funding by departments.

- Provide more STUDY SPACE with power supplies.

- Lobby for ONLINE ACCESS to all essential readings.

-Use RECYCLED PAPER in printers.

- Strengthen the relationship with course representatives and ensure the departments ACT UPON THEIR CONCERNS. - Advocate for LSE100 lectures to be one hour long.

- Work with LSE Careers to increase vocational training and career planning sessions for students.

- Launch a regular series of talks given by successful LSE alumni from different walks of life.

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

18

Community and Welfare AYSHA AL-FEKAIKI SWEETEN UP THE SU, VOTE FE-CAKE-KI Hi, my name is Aysha Fekaiki studying MSc human rights, and I am running to be your Community and Welfare Officer! I am passionate about giving underrepresented students a platform and creating a more inclusive SU community. Here are a few of my policies: 1- WOMEN and BME! Empowering politically Black students and women: supporting underrepresented societies within SU and diversifying the AU. Black HER-story month: events on politically black women and movements in history and working closer with NUS Black Students Campaign.

Working with the Education Officer to launch official campaign to change Euro-centric school curriculum.

2- ETHICAL INVESTMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY!

Freeze and divest from fossil fuels, and any other non-ethical/ sustainable investment sources.

Return of human rights and anti-bribery to the Ethics Code, greater transparency and wider student consultation and ridding of confidentiality contracts from Ethics Policy Committee.

Subsidized food, and halal and kosher hot food available throughout the school.

3- POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS! More Postgrads involved in SU community by participating in elections and societies.

Postgrad inter-departmental cultural festival: more integration and understanding from each other outside our departments through art, music and dance to encourage a SU postgrad community. @ayshafekaiki To Sweeten up our SU, Vote Fe-Cake-Ki!

LIANNE MIZRACHI A NO.1 PLAN, VOTE LIANNE Unity · Work closely with the Woman’s Officer and the LGBT+ Officer to promote equality. · Regularly interact with the BME and Anti-Racism Officers, ensuring that they are working towards common goals. · Host regular interfaith forums to encourage groups to unite by learning about each other’s faith. · Plan a calendar of events, that all students can take part in, for international and religious celebration including Chinese New Year, Holi, Eid and Diwali.

Support · Promote funding opportunities available for students from middle-income backgrounds, who don’t qualify for bursaries but equally struggle to find alternative sources of financial support.

LORCÁN O-CATHAIN

NATALIE NUNN

LORCAN SURE CAN Lorcán is a former international sprinter, passionate about student poverty, mental health and building a lasting community that goes beyond our time at LSE. During his time at LSE he has endeavoured to do this through a number of roles: - As President of Butler’s Wharf, he has worked to build an inclusive community in and between the different Halls, organising the university’s biggest inter-hall party set for the end of term.

- As Co-Founder & Treasurer of the LSESU Irish Society he has aimed to delink stereotypes surrounding national cultures and organised the first St. Patrick’s Day’s celebrations to occur at LSE on the 17th of March.

- Student Staff Liaison Committee programme representative COMMUNITY AND WELFARE: What does the job involve?

As Community and Welfare Officer you will be one of LSESU’s four full-time, paid Sabbatical Officers. The Sabbatical Officers represent all students at LSE and lead on major campaigns, strategic developments, projects and events.

· Lobby for increased bursaries for students from lower-income backgrounds. · Provide greater support to students during times of assessed coursework and exams. · Ensure that the peer support initiative is closely integrated with the SU, and ensure that it has a presence on campus. · Support international students with visa applications and administrative difficulties.

Halls · Provide more support and social opportunities for those in non-LSE accommodation and those commuting from home. Including further integration with the university mentoring scheme. · Work towards making halls contracts more flexible, benefiting students in terms of long term planning and budgeting. · Work with the Environment and Ethics Officer to promote sustainability in halls.

ALL FOR NUNN, NUNN FOR ALL - Founder of OSA Ireland, an emerging non-profit focused on athlete welfare across all Olympic sports If elected Community & Welfare officer he will: • Establish an LSESU recent graduate network, bringing final year students, postgraduates and graduates together, creating a sense of community beyond our time at LSE; • Introduce a termly Squid & printing allowance for all students; • Develop mandatory mental health & wellbeing training for all Hall & Society committees; • Enhance existing structures to create a better mentor scheme for first years.

Twitter:@Locathain Website:https://votelorcan.wordpress.com/ Specifically, as Community and Welfare Officer, you would be responsible for creating and sustaining the LSE community and being an active voice on student welfare issues at LSE. You will undergo negotiations with the School to improve issues such as Halls of Residences and increased off-campus housing support; catering; equality and diversity issues; and ac-

As Feminist Society President, I have seen the power of students uniting in community to make LSE a brighter and happier place to be.

over holidays at term time price -Freshers’ support pack outlining available wellbeing services and how to report harassment.

TLC: -Introduce on-call counselling for students struggling with mental health issues -Champion peer supporters -Targeted peer support for students without English as a first language -Promote ISSA’s.

Liberation: -Make the whole campus accessible for disabled students -Break down stereotypes in sport, make an active lifestyle accessible for all students -Online anonymous reporting forms, with the option of being contacted further.

Lifting the Financial Burden: -Fight against above inflation rent increases in halls -Lobby departments for printing credit -Book exchanges -Cheaper food on campus (not 3.95 for a salad) -Discount food before closing.

Food: -More water points -More options for students with dietary restrictions, including Halal and Kosher.

Halls: -Establish food co-operatives, getting students better value for money -Rent your room

Exams: -End pass-level fit to sit policy -Guarantee an ability to resit exams with extenuating circumstances -Fun and social relaxation evenings.

All for Nunn, NunnForAll.tumblr.com

cess to higher education. You will work hard to maintain good campus relations, for example with the faith, national and cultural communities on campus through the Interfaith Forum.

You will also work closely with the Part-time and Liberation Officers on their campaigns and projects.

You will sit on various working groups and com-

mittees concerning communities and student wellbeing, including the Executive Equality and Diversity Working Group, the Good Campus Relations Group, the Residences User Group and the Audit Committee. All Sabbatical Officers are also members of the Trustee Board, which has the ultimate legal and financial responsibility for the Students’ Union.

Athletics Union Executive

ALICE MERRITT

FOR AU SPIRIT, VOTE FOR MERRITT AU FOR ALL – Everyone should have access to sport which means free Wednesdays for Postgrads and more LGBT-collaborative events. The AU should be an open space for all clubs, no matter their size, to voice opinions.

AU Pride – We should take pride in the success of all teams with more publicity of weekly scores and matches so everyone is a part of AU success.

AU Celebrations – Sport comes first but that doesn’t mean that AU celebrations aren’t important. I want to make Wednesday nights what we want them to be and support more inter-club socials including non-alcohol alternatives.

The AUer – AU Spirit comes from each individual AUer – the AU should represent us and not what people assume of us.

I’ll listen to what you want from the AU and

make sure that’s what we have – contact me at A.E.Merritt@lse.ac.uk

ELIN HARDING

EXCELING TOWARDS A BETTER AU SPORT • Athlete of the month award - Nominated by club captains - Interview in the Beaver to promote success - Prizes, ie meal vouchers, through sponsorship • Social participation - Encourage more clubs to hold social sessions with promotion through AU social media pages - Allows people to experience the AU in an inclusive environment SOCIAL • Refreshing Wednesday night events - Casino night, Stand-up Comedy, Boat Party • Non-alcoholic events such as pizza and movie

nights • Joint club socials to create inclusivity between clubs • Reducing the cost of events such as AU Ball through sponsorship SUPPORT • Weekly drop-in session with a member of the Exec - Opportunity to discuss concerns and ideas - Work with women’s officer to hold sessions specifically for girls - Encourage attendance of the sports co-ordinator for support • Exec yearly visits to each club • Engagement with societies - Outreach and volunteer programmes - More fundraising for RAG

GEORGE BETTSWORTH AN AU FOR EVERYONE

As a member of the Athletics and Running club,

I have regularly participated in AU social events and I have competed for the University in 8 competitions this academic year. I have enjoyed being a member of this excellent organisation and this has inspired me to run for a position on the AU Executive Committee. I would bring a positive attitude to the committee and would ensure the AU’s continued success. As well as this I would be aiming to increase participation in club training sessions, competitions and AU social events where this is required. This could perhaps be done by ensuring that all clubs are welcoming, by selecting captains who are experienced and know their sport well and by ensuring that AU socials are affordable and inclusive.

The AU is the one of the University’s best assets, that’s why it should an AU for everyone.

JOANNE MAURE

NO TAGLINE SUBMITTED No manifesto submitted.

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Activities and Development BECCA BROOKS

HAYTHAM MOUSA

VOTE BECCA B FOR A&D!

DON’T SAY NO TO MOU

Becca B- Bringing unity to the LSE Community…

EXPAND -Create ‘LSE ARTS’- a new union linking dance, drama, music, arts etc. Think joint socials and events!

-Improve club inclusivity by responding to feedback surveys and regular meetings with liberation leaders -Promote links across major groups (e.g. RAG, LGBT+, AU) through joint events and campaigns -Change club membership to ‘social and full’; increasing club inclusivity and revenue.

- Actively develop and continue give-it-a-go and Active LifeStylE programmes CELEBRATE -Organise an inter-university all-sport annual competition. Think Varsity/Tri-University (Wizard) Tournament.

-Organise a Winter/Summer Ball and regular quiz at The Tuns; social occasions for all stu-

dents!

-Make Saucy Better! Stop outsourcing and use the cost reduction for better acts/cheaper deals.

-Increased celebration of sport/society achievements via a weekly SU email and public recognition.

-Regular postgrad targeted events.

MOTIVATE -Launch a volunteering initiative. Students give back to the community whilst developing their skills.

-Co-ordinate and launch a motivational speaker series; inspiring students through others’ success.

-Lobby for better access to local and campus facilities, such as 44LIF and Lincoln Inns Fields.

-Streamline LSESU’s reimbursement process through the creation of more than one payment run.

-Launch training sessions for club and society committee members.

Growing up in a conflict zone, Gaza, life has never been as easy. However, living there I learned how to be passionate, ambitious, and to always try to be part of the positive change. I worked 3 years voluntarily at community-based NGOs. I have been involved with start-ups and with sports; I was on the football team of my school.

I have the passion and the experience to help make LSE a better place.

My goals: More involvement and inclusiveness: We need more engagement from the wider LSE student body. I will work on having representatives in the different programs to help the students get more involved in activities.

More on-campus facilities and activities.

KATIE BUDD

Celebrate our diversity: One of the greatest features of LSE is its great diversity. Why not celebrate that from a school-wide perspective not only societies perspective?

Support the entrepreneurial and the voluntary spirit.

Better accessibility and resources for our disabled colleagues.

More media coverage of our different events.

For a more inclusive environment that celebrates diversity. Don’t say no to MOU, Vote Haytham MOUsa

UMUT BEKTAS

BUDD LIGHTYEAR: TO ACTIVITIES AND BEYOND As RAG President, women’s rugby player and Court of Governors representative, I’ve gained a broad insight into LSE life. I have the experience and determination to deliver genuine positive change to student activities.

• ENHANCING SOCIETIES: REFRESHERS FAIR IN LT. Giving you an opportunity to rediscover societies and making them accessible all year round.

INCREASED SUPPORT. Comprehensive training away days for committees, regular societies forums, faster finances, and priority venue booking.

ARTS WEEK. Cooperating with a range of societies to showcase our fantastic arts and engaging everyone in workshops, trips and shows.

• INCLUSIVE SOCIAL LIFE: DEPARTMENTAL SOCIALS. Working with course reps to give everyone an opportunity to get to

More net-working and getting to know each other: more interaction between different clubs, societies, programs, and student halls.

Umut: putting the YOU in Union I work in the SU and understand the society creation process; I perform the banking for the ARC and know the finance process. I’m an exec for LSE Snow and have been on the SSLC for 3 years.

Getting students more involved: Launch volunteering initiative in the local community Events for everyone: Comedy nights/pub quizzes/FIFA/COD tournaments/live music Equal footing for every society Expose societies to the bigger student body with events ? film night with film club etc.

Weekly de-stressing activity ? petting-zoo/massages/yoga/crafts Easier access to society budget Bigger platform for inter-society sports Improve Saucy and create an LSE priority queue

know course mates.

BIGGER CAMPUS WIDE EVENTS. Innovative non alcoholic socials and a summer formal.

MORE POSTGRAD EVENTS. Held regularly, from the very start of the year.

• SUPPORTING SPORTS: SPORTS NETWORK. One online platform bringing together all sporting opportunities, promoting upcoming fixtures, results and active lifestyle sessions.

SECURING LONG TERM FUNDING. To boost all clubs, big and small, and ensuring everyone can get the coaches and equipment they need.

WORKING WITH THE AU. To create a more inclusive sports culture and partner in lobbying the school to take sports and facilities seriously.

Utilise ‘reading weeks’ for GIAG Streamline the reimbursement process Offering greater transparency Less bureaucracy in the society creation process Meet societies and clubs in week 6 and 11 of each term Make the budget more transparent, where is the money going?

Lobby the school for more funding for societies and clubs Offer online and more comprehensive committee training If someone has already completed training in a previous year, test to complete before asking for re-training Restoring and improving the AU Build on ActiveLifeStyle More opportunity to support LSE Teams An AU Blog with video footage

ACTIVITIES AND DEVELOPMENT: what does the job entail? Page 21 AU Executive Continued...

TESSA HUTCHINSON NO TAGLINE SUBMITTED

Being committed to both sporting and social aspects of the AU, I can improve the AU experience for all as part of your AU exec. From my dynamic experience being Hockey 2nd Team Captain, participating in Tough Guy, and enjoying many a Wednesday night, I’ve developed a passion that I can bring to your AU Exec. So here is how!

REPRESENTATION – Each club overseen by an allocated AU exec member, acting as a clear point of call PUBLICITY – Positive promotion of the AU and Active lifestyle through Facebook, Twitter and Beaver articles; creating an AU YouTube channel and Instagram, PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSIVITY – Uniting the AU on Wednesdays, and beyond by including major sporting events (like Wimbledon), inter-club fitness sessions and greater efforts to creating a stronger, integrated AU PERFORMANCE – Highlight the long-term benefits of participation in sport, Increased incorporation of Sports Ambassadors and Focus Teams in the AU

JACK GREENWOOD

SAN PURI

- I will endeavour to improve the outdated AU expenses system which consistently frustrates AU members across the board irrespective of their club affiliation - In line with my belief that sporting participation is a crucial aspect of university education, I would like to amend the negative image that the AU has developed, by showcasing the many positives that we have to offer as a union to ensure that recent events do not dissuade people from joining us - If elected, I will strive to increase the integration of non-AU members through the organisation of more inclusive and accessible sporting and social events, in the hope that initiatives such as the LSESU WFC Mixed Mini World Cup will become more commonplace

As a prominent member of the Men’s Rugby Working Group I have worked hard to change the culture of the Rugby club. Now I want to work hard to help change the AU for the better.

Policies: 1. Lobbying the Sabbatical Officers into being MORE TRANSPARENT with policies and procedures and releasing TIMELY statements when important changes are made to the AU. 2. Liaise, co-ordinate and organise further MIXED SOCIALS between AU clubs.

3. Increase the variety of AU events by planning NON-ALCOHOL related events.

4. MOTIVATE non-AU members in halls to stay active by organising of tournaments and game days.

5. UTILISE the power of the social media by increasing media coverage of important sporting events in order to SHOWCASE the achievements of the AU. 6. Create an anonymous feedback form with the aim of improving the AU and its events based on YOUR feedback.

SWIPE RIGHT ON JACK GREENWOOD

VOTE PURI FOR A SANSATIONAL AU

HARDWORKING. DEDICATED. PASSIONATE .

OLIVER STRONG

VOTE OLI FOR A STRONG AU INCLUSIVITY of SMALLER CLUB I endeavour to include and integrate all clubs of whatever size to make every member of the AU feel welcome. This includes working closely with RAG, liberation groups and halls to promote participation. Being a 2nd year member of the Exec would allow me to be used as a point of contact and fully integrate the younger years.

EXPERIENCE & GUARANTEEING BIGGER & MORE DIVERSE EVENTS Having already worked closely with the Exec this year I will transfer this experience into better future events, guaranteeing we will receive even more external backing such as the free food at Carol.

SUPPORT OUR TEAMS The Exec needs to promote attendance at big sporting matches to give our teams the support they deserve! This includes more recognition of sporting excellence throughout the year.

MORE POWER FOR THE AU & CLUB CAPTAINS

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

20

Part Time Officers

Women’s Officer

alice garnier because we’re worth it As a first year undergrad, I still retain a fresh view of the campus environment. As such I will offer unbiased, independent and objective opinions and solutions to real issues women across campus face daily.

CHEAPER PERIODS - Lobbying LSE for tax-free sanitary items EDUCATION AT LSE -Strivingforequalrepresentationoffemaleacademics (includingPOCacademics)atLSE,inreadinglistsand public events.

- The deeper worldwide issue can be tackled at LSE by expanding the Women’s Network, and

increased incentives to encourage women to pursue academia.

EDUCATION WORLWIDE - Encouraging further studies for girls in disadvantagedbackgroundsinternationallythroughscholarships and summer programmes INCLUSIVITY FROM DAY 1 -Workingwithhallcommitteestoensurecommunal areas are an open environment for all -Implementingcompulsoryconsentworkshopsatthe beginning of the year VoteAliceGarnieras#1tobeyourfreshface,forafresh start!

LENA SCHOFIELD lean on lena *Intersectionality* To represent the experiences of all self-defining women at LSE I will provide a platform through the Women’s Network for women of colour, sexual minorities, disabled women and women from lower socio-economic backgrounds so that their voices will be heard. I will make the effort to listen to women on campus about their own experiences, and what they need. *Reporting* The School’s reporting procedures are woefully

equalitaye - progressive not aggressive feminism

wanna be heard? Robyn’s Your bird

Communication Networking events for committee representatives from societies and sports clubs each term.

Let’s work together to make campus a better place for all women. This communication should

*Outreach* Many problems for women on campus begin in halls. I will speak at all LSE halls during freshers week introducing myself to new women students, so that they know that they can come to me with any issues they may be having and for advice on reporting procedures. I will host consent classes for students who wish to take them.

taye le Monnier

robyn connelly-Webster

Positivity I want to celebrate women at LSE with a Women’s Achievement Awards ceremony at the end of LT, Sportswoman of the month and an LSE woman of the week.

inadequate. I will lobby the school to reform their procedures for dealing with sexual harassment and assault drawing on NUS best practice.

start from day one with a women’s officer freshers’ fair stall and socials to ensure everyone can make friends in and outside of halls.

Ready to listen The women’s officer should represent every single woman on campus. I want to hear from you all. I will have weekly surgeries to listen to any problems, concerns or rants you need to put out there. I will make it my job to take your issues up with the SU and the School.

Why Me? • Trained women’s support worker at a women’s refuge • Experience in leadership in work, university and college EqualiTaye • Refocus on promoting and achieving gender equality • Progression of women’s rights based on mutual respect and cooperation between all students and staff • Recognise that gender issues affect female and male students LiberTaye • Free sexual health service on campus • Create an environment permitting freedom of

choice and expression without fear of discrimination • Run the women’s forum and introduce a men’s forum to encourage participation from both sexes in gender issues • Confidential point of call service – provided by myself as well as training staff and students for the role InclusiviTaye • Dedicated support for a women’s rights charity in developing countries, in partnership with RAG • Encourage all students and staff to participate througha‘monthlyfocus’forlectures,workshopsand events • Mentoring scheme with LSE alumni for courses where there is gender imbalance

Anti-Racism Officer

ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVENESS: * Well-publicised, weekly drop-in sessions. * Set up a system for anonymous complaints with transparent investigations and results. * Work with LSE catering on a wider range of Halal and Kosher food on campus. * Highlight the fact that racism is not limited to Black and South-East Asian students.

INTERSECTIONALITY: * Greater collaboration with the Liberation Officers on social events and campaigns, such as Anti-Bullying Week and Black History Month. * Attempt to eliminate both overt and institutional racism.

AMAL AWAD

JASMINA BIDE

AVADA KEDAVRA RACISM

JOIN JASMINA FOR ANTI-RACISM

SOCIETIES: * Work closely with the Interfaith Forum to effectively engage with religious discrimination personally. * Ensure that societies working on race-orientated projects are well supported and well funded to engage students.

WIDER CONTEXT: * Use the LSESU platform to combat racism in the wider London context, for example that involved in the police Stop and Search policy. * Increase the availability of voluntary opportunities for LSE students to learn about and work against racism in London.

Surprisingly, LSE’s amazing diversity doesn’t always translate into an inclusive campus environment. As anti-racism officer I will proactively address this through Accountability: Pushing the School to set targets for addressing institutional racism, with a focus on attainment levels for minority groups and representative academic staff.

Developing a simple and transparent procedure to report incidents of racism, and ensure decisive action from the School.

Interaction: Aiming to establish close relationships between marginalised groups on campus through building a tradition of intersociety events, such as culture and national society AU and LGBT+ nights.

Holding a year-long campaign to raise awareness and address casual racism on campus.

Accessibility: Working with societies and liberation officers to achieve an increased Union presence for minority groups disenfranchised by, and underrepresented in, the SU.

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LGBT+ Officer BRYN LAXTON-COGLAN

PERDITA BLINKHORN

AN ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY 2015/2016

A PERDI GOOD CHOICE

My first manifesto point is to focus on promoting existing mental health and wellbeing services at LSE within the LGBT+ Community, as well as looking at how they could be improved for LGBT+ students.

Mental health issues can disproportionately affect members of the LGBT+ community and LSE should be a safe space where students can get help without being judged for their sexuality and gender identity.

Secondly, I will promote better awareness of Trans* issues on campus through various

events and poster campaigns, as issues around gender identity can often be overlooked when dealing with LGBT+ as a homogeneous group.

Finally, I would work to help inspire LGBT+ students in business and work; LGBT+ people can often feel intimidated and apprehensive about their sexuality and gender identity when entering the world of work.

I want to provide more opportunities to be inspired and gain business confidence for these students.

Dear all trans, gays, spidermen/women, bisexuals, lesbians, really confused people, asexuals, even those amongst us who are just sexually frustrated. Thanks to the new little plus beside the LGBT+ Officer title, the responsibility of the role has shifted from acting on behalf of a small scope of people to celebrating sexual diversity more generally. I want to represent all of you who are lucky enough to be anything but ordinary!

social events and poorly attended panel discussions that I was able to help organise as LGBT+ Alliance Welfare Officer, but through education If elected, my first priority will be to establish a gender, sexuality, and sexual assault workshop for first year students in halls to educate on all aspects of sexual life. Moreover, I promise a great year!

With your help, I will continue to dismantle the hereto-normative frameworks that dominate the school, not only by continuing the fabulous

Disabled Student’s Officer ISOBEL CLARE

JAMES CLARK

ACCESS ALL AREAS

PUT YOUR MARK NEXT TO CLARK

My priorities:

ryone can ACCESS their lectures*

ACCESS for everyone!

*Ensure that all provisions agreed upon for disabled students actually happen – ISSAs are followed through on and extra exam arrangements put into place*

*Campaign against the proposed cuts to the Disabled Students Allowance to ensure that all students can ACCESS university* *Lobby the school to improve ACCESSIBILITY around the current campus and with all new buildings* *Work on the de-stigmatisation of mental health, and better provisions for our students* *Work with the Education Officer to ensure that lecture capture is an opt-out system so that eve-

*Organise more ACCESSIBLE activities/clubs/ events to bring disabled students together as a community* I am very involved in campaigning for disabled students, this year I have been to an NUS Liberation Activist Training day, attended the NoDSS meetings about accessibility for the new LSE building, and tutored two students with severe dyslexia.

I am a second year Management Student, who wants to improve experiences at LSE for Disabled Students.

What do I WANT to do?

ACADEMICALLY − Campaign for Summer Resits for Students across ALL departments in unprecedented situations. − Increase awareness and improve the implementation of ISSA’s amongst Academic Advisors and Teaching Staff. − Campaign for more academic flexibility for Disabled students.

SOCIAL & SUPPORT − Continue and raise awareness of Disabled

Student’s Assemblies. − Organise more events on Campus to raise the awareness of the range of disabilities and reduce the stigma. − Work with other liberation officers to overcome corresponding issues. − Campaign for better support systems from the LSE for disabled students.

CAREERS − Organise Career Events orientated for Disabled Students.

I want to represent all disabled students with all disabilities (both invisible and visible), so remember to PUT YOUR MARK NEXT TO CLARK

SELBI SASIOGLU ULISES MORENO SUPPORT SELBI SUPPORTING YOU Hi, my name is Selbi and I’m running to be your Disabled Students’ Officer. Having both a longterm health condition and a mental health condition, I know that living with disabilities can be tough.

REPRESENTATION: The most important aspect of this role is representation. Disabilities are diverse, which means needs are also diverse. I want to ensure that every voice is heard, and I will do this by holding drop in sessions and making sure there is time for every single one of you, whilst campaigning

ACTIVITIES AND DEVELOPMENT: What does the job involve?

As Activities and Development Officer, you will be one of LSESU’s four full-time, paid Sabbatical Officers.

for your rights.

MAKING OPPORTUNITIES KNOWN: There are many opportunities for disabled students, but sometimes we don’t know about them. I propose that we start a network of information: sharing information about ISSA’s, DSA’s and internships especially for disabled students.

DISABILITY AWARENESS DAY: Let’s create an opportunity to be open about disability, to celebrate our differences and break

The Sabbatical Officers represent all students at LSE and lead on major campaigns, strategic developments, projects and events.

DISABILITIES LIBRARY FOR LSE AND BEYOND I want to create a library by and for students with disabilities. That’s my primary goal but cannot and do not want to do this alone.

cal documentation of disabled student life at LSE; a sense of reflection is necessary to identify areas that need improvement and advocacy.

What this library might look like needs to be a collaborative vision, but there are two projects I am interested in developing.

The building of this library is important because there would be a go-to place for LSE students and anyone interested in issues of disability from an interdisciplinary standpoint.

The first of these projects is collecting, organising, and annotating literature about issues of disabilities (perhaps published on a blog?).

The second project would be to build a histori-

You will be responsible for the development of LSESU sports clubs and societies; the student Media Group; volunteering programmes; and events and exhibitions. You will organise events such as

With your help this project can be sustainable while building a sense of continuity and community for LSE students with disabilities and beyond.

the Freshers’ Fair, Varsity, the Welcome Ball and the AU Tour.

You will also chair the Activities Committee and sit on School decision-making bodies, including the Finance Commit-

tee.

All Sabbatical Officers are also members of the Trustee Board, which has the ultimate legal and financial responsibility for the Students’ Union.

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

22

Part Time Officers Continued International Students’ Officer Amaima Fatima Your Culture, Your campus, your victory Being an international student and a committee member of a national society, I can relate to the experiences of every individual living away from home. Currently, a SSLC Course representative and a communication officer, I have the skills and motivations to make LSE more inclusive for International students.

POLICIES: * Campaign to reinstate the Post-Study Work Visa. * Provide better quality Halal, Kosher and Vegetarian alternatives. * Promote integration in the foreign environment through campus or hall events, society col-

Boris turkin In-Stalin boris, just putin the vote

laborative events, increased participation in the AU, (any ideas that YOU might have).

* – Improve the service provided to international students.

* Campaign for better funding (scholarships) for international students at all levels.

* – Provide an easier way for international students to voice their opinions.

* Campaign for more accommodation facilities and priority for International students in halls in their second or third year.

* – Arrange meeting every two weeks where international students will get the chance to express their university experience and then appropriate steps will be taken based on priority.

* Improve career guidance, specifically for international students from their first year.

Vote AMAIMA as YOUR #1 International Students’ Officer, Since, it’s YOUR Culture, YOUR campus and will be YOUR Victory.

like to implement a feedback system where you can personally share your experience at LSE with new international students and what you would like to improve. * – Help international students to involve in various Student Union activities. * – Rename Student Union as the Politburo. * – Annex Saw Swee Hock Student Centre for Russian Federation.

* – Work together with many international societies to enable a productive cultural & social exchange between local and international students. * – For current international students I would

* – Freeze International Fees.

Fazeela jahangir

damien kemfack

let’s be cosmo, vote fazeela

Hey, are you voting damien? samien!

I am campaigning to transform the International Officer role into one that promotes inclusiveness and diversity in the LSESU, and importantly ADVOCACY for the rainbow of ethnicities (races, religions, lived experience) that comprises the international student population at the LSE. ADVOCACY - fight for an international student tutition fees to freeze at the rate of their year of entry - continue lobbying the new government for more progressive visa policy for international students, with a particular regard to reinstate the Post-Study Work visa

LIBERATION - continue partnering with multicultural and liberation societies (ACS, I-Soc, FemSoc, J-Soc, PalSoc, LGBT) to provide avenues for international students to report harassment.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OF ALL SEXES, GENDERS, AND EXPERIENCES DESERVE TO FEEL SAFE ON THEIR CAMPUS. CELEBRATE OUR DIVERSITY - organise cross-cultural events with diverse su organisations and societies

Hi! I am a second year undergrad studying History and IR. I have gained invaluable experience and loved working with various societies on campus. As the International Officer I would strive for: * Greater Inclusivity and Representation – More egalitarianism in the LSE International Student intake and academic teaching- Africans and Latinos are roughly only 1/10th of the American and Asian intake. I aim to challenge this working with various national societies and lobbying academic departments for greater pluralism in courses taught.

* Celebrating Culture, accommodating Diversity – In addition to expanding upon brilliant existing initiatives like the Global Village Week, I aim to ensure greater consistency e.g. frequent and more welcoming, culture sensitive socials and AU environment, speaker events and so on. * Careers and Fees – Lobbying the school for a fees freeze and prevent further curtailment of our rights through changes in the law such as the Tier 1 Visa.

RAG President

BME Officer

JAMES WURR

MAHATIR PASHA

BECAUSE YOU’RE ‘WURR’TH IT As Vice-President Challenges, I have seen RAG grow exponentially this year. However, I believe improvements can be made in several areas to increase RAG’s fundraising abilities next year.

• Creating a bigger and better RAG week by engaging with clubs and societies.

• Attempting a world record whilst building on the success of current challenges.

Events/ Challenges RAG can only continue it’s good work if we include the whole student body in fundraising. To do this, I propose:

External Funding RAG needs external funding to ensure that 100% of fundraising goes to charity and to keep sign-up costs as low as possible.

• Building TEAM RAG by engaging with more students on campus.

• Running new events including Pub Quizzes, a Winter Ball and a Battle of the Bands competition.

Local Charities RAG should fundraise for more local causes to promote engagement with charities and to fund projects rather than media campaigns. @JamesWurr

VOTE FOR PASSION! VOTE FOR PASHA! I’m Mahatir Pasha, a Government and History student running to be your BME Students’ Officer. As an elected student representative serving on the LSE Court of Governors and the LSE Council this year, I have gained invaluable experience and have become well informed about issues surrounding the school.

I’m PASHA-NATE about: * ENGAGEMENT: I’ll expand the recently launched BME network by securing more funding. Through the network, I’ll organise events discussing intersectional race issues and also proactively support minority group societies

with access to resources and further funding. * REPRESENTATION: I’ll create a BME committee with representatives from all BME groups.

This will ensure efficiency and allow all BME communities to be properly heard. * OPPORTUNITY: I’ll organise career networking events for BME students. I’ll also work with the NUS Black Students campaign to ensure LSE BME students are first to hear about opportunities and liberation campaigns. @mahatir_pasha www.facebook.com/votemahatirpasha

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lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Environment and Ethics Officer

LSE’s environmental and ethical attitudes must change. With momentum growing behind the DIVEST and LSE’s Ethics Code campaigns, now more than ever we need strong and reliable support for Environment and Ethics related societies, activities and events at LSE. I am a passionate campaigner, having won LSESU Activist of the Year and Best Initiative to Influence the School and being featured in the Guardian’s ‘eight ways students changed the world in 2014′. With this experience and the following policies, I can bring real change over the coming year:

CELIA FRANKEL

CHOUDHRY AZIZUDDIN

VOTE CECE FOR E&E

GREENER LSE NICER LSE

1. SU website resources on campaigns, fundraising and volunteer projects.

2. Termly E&E forums connecting societies for events and volunteering projects, raising awareness of activities, campaigns and events and fostering a sense of community.

3. SU support for E&E related events for all societies, including help with advertising, venue hire and funding.

ETHICS: A MUST NOT AN OPTION

Re-love store. I will extent the system of furniture and item donation to all LSE halls; I will strengthen the Re-love centre on campus for students living in independent flats who want to get rid of refrigerators, printers or kitchen tools. This will incentivise recycling and guarantee items at affordable prices.

• I will strive to make LSE more sustainable, creating a feasibility study for using solar and renewable energy and finding ways to reduce energy consumption such as through better insulation.

competitions. I will also aim to attract jobs related to the Green Energy sector to the LSE. • I will campaign to for a wider participation on fighting climate change, figuring out ways in which we can consume electricity efficiently in our daily routines.

• I will campaign against drug and racial abuse through pamphlets. I will also launch a social media campaign.

• I will encourage student enterprise with regards to a cleaner environment by conducting

ELENA BIGNAMI

As your Environment & Ethics officer I will focus on three points.

I am a first year student doing a BSc in Management. I want to run for this position because I am concerned particularly with the impact of Greenhouse gases. I am also concerned about the impact of drug abuse on students. I hope to tackle these issues as part of my role.

LSE Divest campaign. I will support the LSE Divest campaign to freeze the university’s investments in fossil fuels. I will request more involvement of LSESU, including the Environment and Ethics Officer and the Sabbaticals, with the Finance Committee, and push to change the Ethics Code to re-instate compliance with sustainability issues.

Vegetarian, halal & kosher options. I will meet with catering services to increase the variety of food options in LSE dining facilities.

HARRY MAXWELL HMRC - HARRY MAXWELL, RIGHT CHOICE - Invite high profile environmentalists, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, to talk at LSESU.

sion of kosher food on-campus as well as hot, healthy lunches.

- Propose a business case for a Houghton Street Smoothie Shack, promoting organic and fair trade, and oversee a trial process and its implementation.

- Campaign for all media group publications (like The Beaver) and LSESU promotional material to be printed on recycled paper.

- Make Green Week a bigger deal with awareness raising parties planned every night in conjunction with societies like the AU. - Continue to lobby LSE following the hard work and UGM motion passing of LSE Divest.

Ethics: a must, not an option.

- Work with LSE Catering to provide the provi-

- Explore the possibilities of LSE Estates only supplying recycled paper for printers.

- Conduct and execute a full investigation into campus energy usage and make recommendations accordingly.

- Encourage societies to stop making social media attacks on one another.

the part timers: what the jobs involve part 1...

Anti-RacismOfficer

BMEStudents’Officer

Disabled Students’ Officer

LGBT+Students’ Officer

Womens’Officer

The person appointed to this role is part of the Union’s Student Executive, who having been elected by the student body, represent LSE students and shape the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all issues surrounding anti-racism. As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other LSESU events.

To represent members and to campaign on issues that relate to BME liberation.

The student appointed to this liberation role is part of the Union’s Executive Committee, who having been voted in by the student body, represents LSE students and shapes the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all issues surrounding disability. As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other Union events.

The student appointed to this liberation role is part of the Executive Committee, who having been voted in by the student body, represents LSE students and shapes the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all matters surrounding LGBT+ issues. As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other LSESU events.

The student appointed to this liberation role is part of the Executive Committee, who having been voted in by the student body, represents LSE students and shapes the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all matters surrounding women’s liberation. As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other LSESU events.

Key responsibilities:

Key responsibilities:

Key responsibilities:

To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to disability.

To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to LGBT+ issues

To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee.

To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee

To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to women’s liberation.

To be accountable members

To be accountable members

Key responsibilities: To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to anti-racism To be an active member of the Student Executive To be accountable members

to

your

Key responsibilities: To lead LSESU on delivering students’ priorities related to BME issues. To open up relevant dialogues and debates related to BME issues. Discuss ideas and run campaign. Organise and coordinate initiatives to create an environment that is inclusive and free from discrimination To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee To hold regular assemblies or student meetings to feed back actions to students. To update students regularly via emails, blog posts and other methods. To attend Student Executive meetings and other LSESU and LSE meetings

to

your

to

your

To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee To be accountable members

to

your

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

24

Democracy Committee CHOUDHRY AZIZUDDIN

NO TAGLINE SUBMITTED

No manifesto submitted.

GEORGE BURTON DO YOUGM!?

As a regular ugmer and member of several student societies if elected to Democracy Committee I will: Campaign for UGM for all, where this time is protected and all students are able to attend and there are no lectures and classes at this time, Aim to make it easier to submit a motion to the union general meeting, Help societies set up their constitutions,

Increase awareness of Student Union policy, Encourage greater turnout at UGM, including working with liberation officers to ensure everyone feels supported in getting involved with the SU, Get more people involved in the elections process, including increasing participation, Make sure everyone is emailed when a motion goes online for voting, Attend every UGM.

JAKE FRYER

NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME As a member of the democracy committee, I’d hope to widen participation and amplify the voices of those who are less represented. Having past experience setting up a society, and also working as part of the Labour society committee, I have first hand experience in understanding the workings of

the SU, and societies within it.

My main three goals would be too: – amplify – widen – and make the SU more inclusive Nothing will be the same.

Shout to Drake

KATIE FLYNN

FRASER BELL

BACK BELL FOR DEMOCRACY COMMITTEE My name is Fraser Bell and I am a second year Government and Economics student passionate about improving our SU. Here are my main policies: ACCOUNTABILITY Ensure students know who they are voting for, how to vote, and what it means for them. Make sure process is run fairly and efficiently INNOVATION Make UGMs more visible using Facebook and Twitter. They need more publicity, especially

HARI PRABU

IT ALL STARTS WITH A UGM I will deliver a more accountable, engaging and accessible Student Union democracy.

Accountability Ensure that course and hall representatives are meeting with the students they represent and are taking account of their views and problems.

Make the attendance of elected Union officials at Union General Meetings compulsory.

Mandate the Sabbs’ priority campaign through an online vote on a shortlist of campaign options.

Engagement Have only three UGMs each term. Hold each on an evening,

GET FLYNN IN!

I’m Katie and I’m a second year International History student. I believe I would make an excellent member of the Democracy Committee, and if I am elected I will help improve the work done by the committee by: – Striving to include and engage students with the democracy process by maintaining and improving social media presence, making UGM motions known to as many students as early as possible – Encouraging students from liberation groups to engage

with the electoral process through interaction over the year and working with liberation officers, potentially running work shops for interested unrepresented candidates – Increasing attendance of UGM by especially targeting first years that show a political interest via LSE’s various societies, as the UGM’s are currently attended by predominantly second and third year students.

GET FLYNN IN! Vote Katie #1 for Democracy Committee!

online. I’ll make this a priority.

Continue the use of online voting.

ENGAGEMENT Get more people interested in SU politics and decision making. Help replace the cliquey perception and get new proposers of UGM motions and new candidates in SU elections to come forward.

For more information or to discuss these ideas with me visit www.facebook.com/fraserdbell or contact me at f.bell@ lse.ac.uk

debate up to four motions and create a social atmosphere alongside the serious business of policy-making by serving nibbles and drinks.

Promote Union democracy directly to societies’ members at their first meetings and on Houghton Street in the week in which any UGM takes place.

Accessibility Create an online form with a built-in template for policy motion submissions.

Produce a simplified, plain English version of our constitution and bye-laws to increase students’ understanding of Union procedure.

JOSHUA IP

I WANT THE D! DEMOCRACY. • It is time for everyone in the world to SAY WHAT YOU WANT, whatever you believe in IRRESPECTIVE of your religion, sexuality, gender, your skin colour the list goes on and on.

I know that it is difficult. Let’s not give up and reach our dream together!

• Have the right to BE WHO YOU ARE. Nobody, nobody should judge you by what you wear, what you look like

• LIFE IS SO IMPORTANT. Make sure everyone around you, you love them and they love you for who you are.

Not who they want you to be, and not what they’re trying to make you.

Just make sure you are happy.

• BE TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE. VOTE FOR JOSHUA IP and we can step forward to our world of REAL DEMOCRACY. • I want the D! Democracy.

25

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Democracy Committee Continued...

Net Chittmittrapap

NO REGRET, VOTE FOR NET

We are blindly voting for policies we only understand based on face-value.

We have NO IDEA why some people argue for and against them.

Around 50 students out of 9,000 LSE students attend the UGMs! LSE is diverse, but are the body of representatives?

How can rules be fair if elections and policy are passed illegally?

Vote for me and I will change this.

There will be more TRANSPARENCY in the policy- debating

and imposing processes.

More people will vote.

Policies will represent TRUE DEMOCRACY not just 0.5% of the students.

There will be more DIVERSITY within the representatives body.

Voices of people from UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUND will be heard There will be FAIR and ACTIVE ENFORCEMENT rules and regulations Election and policies will be passed according to the laws of LSE. NO REGRET, VOTE FOR NET!

ZEUS PATEL

TRANSPARENCY. INCLUSIVITY. CHANGE. I am running on the following three key points: Transparency - making a genuine effort to ensure that the SU is transparent in all its undertakings.

Inclusivity- attempting to increase the student participa-

tion in the SU decision making process.

Change - attempting to enact positive change within the SU in all ways possible so as to ensure a properly functioning, efficient and accountable SU.

TIMOTHY ASPIN

LET’S TAKE THE SU FOR A SPIN Tim for the win. UGMs happen.

Trustee Board HARRY MAXWELL

NADIA RASLAN

HMRC - HARRY MAXWELL RIGHT CHOICE

TRUST ME FOR TRUSTEE * I’m Nadia and I’ve been the SU’s Environment and Ethics Officer this year so I have experience in liaising with the Union and staff at the School to act in accordance with students’ demands: Ensure the Students’ Union uses their finances responsibly and with student’s interests at heart Boost

greater

transparency

between the Union and students.

I will promote channeling resources towards empowering students in welfare and political campaigns, welfare services and representation support.

Ensure the integrity of the SU’s governance procedures by holding the Sabbatical Officers and Senior Management to account.

Make LSESU’s disciplinary decisions more transparent.

They impact everyone and this needs to be crystal clear to

students. And that, my friend, is why Harry Maxwell would be the right choice. @HarryMaxwell

FRASER BELL

NO TAGLINE SUBMITTED Does not want to submit a manifesto for Trustee Board, just for Democ Committee

what the jobs involve...

Democracy Committee

Trustee Board

TRANSPARENCY. INCLUSIVITY. CHANGE.

Ensure that LSESU functions in a democratic way, in according with the Constitution

Ensure that everything LSESU does benefits students

• Agree dates, rules and regulations pertaining to elections and referenda

I am running on the following three key points:

tion in the SU decision making process.

• Assist with promoting elections, Union General Meetings and other democratic structures

• Ensure that LSESU remains in good financial shape, including approving the annual budget

Transparency - making a genuine effort to ensure that the SU is transparent in all its undertakings.

Change - attempting to enact positive change within the SU in all ways possible so as to ensure a properly functioning, efficient and accountable SU.

ZEUS PATEL

Inclusivity- attempting to increase the student participa-

• Attend meetings approximately twice per term • Attend UGMs • The student who receives the most votes has first refusal as UGM Chair • The Returning Officer (with responsibility for elections) is also selected from the Committee

• Ensure that LSESU does not break any laws or regulations • Interpret the Constitution, Articles and Byelaws • Attend all Trustee Board meetings • Read relevant reports and papers prior to meetings

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

26

Athletics Union President BILLIE SELBY

JULIA RYLAND

SELBY FITS THE BILL

CROWN JULES YOUR AU PRESIDENT

The AU should be more about S.P.O.R.T: Socials: A new AU-card that will be used for more AU-wide options, including meal deals, discounts on bowling, Zoo Bar and partnerships with venues whose main theme isn’t alcohol!

Participation: Including more Post-Grads and International Students by offering them an additional AU welcome fayre.

Opportunity: I’ll include new sports and teams – an American Football Team in partnership with the USA Society perhaps?

Reputation: I’ll involve PhotoSoc for more sports journalism – using the Beaver to highlight weekly Hall of Fame members from each Club, more celebration of/publicity for LSE team and individual successes. Also, starting a weekly AU Blog Online.

Transparency: The AU Code of Conduct and complaints procedure will be publicised for better accountability, with emphasis on zero-tolerance for sexual harassment. Club Captains will be provided with previous budget information. I will work with the SU for more clarity on potential Club sponsorship.

Your AU President should be experienced, inclusive, approachable and make positive progress.

As Club Captain of Women’s Rugby, I’ve shown I can do this.

I can do it again for the AU. A UNITED AU –Dedicated outreach officers for every club will build links with societies, liberation groups and other clubs.

–Regular club captain meetings so each club – small or large – gets the support it needs.

INCLUSIVITY –A wider variety of socials, not exclusively on Wednesdays (eg post-grad specific, or non-alco-

hol events).

–Coordinated, more frequent, give-it-a-go sessions to encourage wider participation.

–I’ll lobby to free Wednesday afternoons for Post-grads.

CELEBRATING SPORT –Let’s focus on sporting successes.

–A university-wide AU newsletter that will create awareness of events and matches and celebrate the achievements of clubs and individuals.

–Facilitate supporting each other’s teams in competitions.

LET’S WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THE SCHOOL AND THE SU PROUD OF OUR AU!

Athletics Union Engagement Officer AHMED CHEEMA Hope, Change, Inclusivity Vote AU Cheemtivity LSE students come from diverse backgrounds and play various sports. I believe the AU has the potential to provide a platform to unite us and ensure our experience at LSE is memorable one.

If elected, I shall endeavour to: Secure more funding for clubs that promote inclusivity, accessibility and diversity.

Work with the SU and LSE Sports Ambassadors to increase participation in sports via ‘touch’ sessions, intra-department & staff vs student matches.

Hold monthly meetings with AU clubs to resolve any problems they face.

Increase participation by female, minority, LGBT+ and disabled athletes.

Set up a student run charity and work with RAG to raise more funds for Liberation campaigns.

Invite professional athletes to share their experiences at seminars with AU clubs.

Organise intra-club events e.g. wine tasting, to increase interaction within the AU. Reform and democratise the AU by holding referendums to resolve issues that impact the student body.

JENNY JOHANSON Vote for a JENuinely inclusive AU As an international student with experience from leading a minority sport (women’s football) as the club captain, I JENuinely want to ensure a more inclusive AU through the following measures: organising open discussions and forums to encourage positive and mutually beneficial relationships across the different areas of LSESU Sport and the LSE Student body actively engaging with the wider LSE community, such as societies, liberation groups, part-time officers and staff, to increase inclusivity and diversity in the Athletics Union breaking down barri-

ers that prevent students taking part in the AU by ensuring a welcoming Freshers’ Fair encouraging clubs to organise multiple trials and taster sessions, arrange non-alcoholic events and inter-club socials, and further collaborate with the ActiveLifeStylE programme to increase participation in sports at LSE further extending the ‘AU for ALL’ campaign and run other sports related campaigns on campus, to encourage underrepresented groups to join the AU @jenhovjoh

the part timers: what the jobs involve part 2...

AUExecutive

AUPresident

Environment and EthicsOfficer

International Students’Officer

RAGPresident

This person will have to:

This person will have to: Represents all AU Club Members

Work with the Activities & Development Officer and SU to develop sport at LSE

Work with the Activities & Development Officer and SU to develop sport at LSE

Support AU Club Captains and Club Execs

Support AU Club Captains and Club Execs

Lead the organisation of AU events

Lead the organisation of AU events

The student appointed to this role is part of the Executive Committee, who having been voted in by the student body, represents LSE students and shapes the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all issues surrounding international students. As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other LSESU events.

This person will have to:

Represents all AU Club Members

The student appointed to this role is part of the Executive Committee, who having been voted in by the student body, represents LSE students and shapes the Union’s decision making. Specifically, this role addresses all matters surrounding environmental and ethical issues.

As well as representation and campaigning, you will also have the opportunity to be involved in other LSESU events.

The President chairs the weekly Exec meeting

The President chairs the weekly Exec meeting

Key responsibilities:

Key responsibilities:

Manage a committee of 17 students

Liaises with the SU on all large AU activities and events

Liaises with the SU on all large AU activities and events

To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to environmental and ethical issues.

To lead the Union on delivering students’ general and political priorities related to inernational students’ issues.

Act as the main point of contact for charities looking to fundraise with LSESU

To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee.

To be an active member of the Student Executive Committee.

Provide support to any LSE student who is undertaking fundraising for a charitable cause

To be accountable members.

To be accountable members.

Take the lead on organising RAG Week

to

your

to

your

Facilitate and support student fundraising within LSESU by leading RAG Facilitate events such as Freshers’ Week events, RAG Band, Welcome Ball and the Postgraduate Ball as well as challenges such as the Mount Kilimanjaro trek

27

lsesu elects 2015

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Election facts and figures Top 10 Voting Nations at LSE 1. British

2. American

3. Chinese

4. Malaysian

5. German

Somewhat predictable given that the British make up the largest nationality grouping at the LSE with 3074 students last year. That works out at 46% turnout – well above the overall turnout for elections last year which was only 27%.

Although they are the 2nd highest voting nation at the LSE, the total number of registered American students at the LSE last year was 844.

This works out a small 19% turnout.

Contrary to common LSESU political stereotypes, the Chinese constituency is the 3rd largest in absolute numbers. Having said that, there were 1098 Chinese students at LSE, equalling 10% turnout.

The Malaysian vote at LSESU is one of the highest in absolute numbers, and also in terms of proportion of this constituency voting. 33% of all Malaysian students (312) voted last year. Represent Malaysia.

Coming in at 5th are the Germans.

Given that there were 490 Germans at LSE last year, this represents a comparatively below average turnout at 19%.

6. Indian

7. Singaporeans

8. French

9. Pakistani

10. Canadian

Below average turnout by 6 percentage points on 21%, the Indian vote is still crucial for hopeful Sabbatical candidates. If you’re an Indian student, you can also register to vote in the UK General Election, don’t forget!

Singaporeans are more actively engaged in SU democracy than the average student, statistics show. Last year, 29% of Singaporeans voted, that’s 79 out of 268.

Our friends across the Channel make up our fair chunk of the student population, with 343 French students at LSE last year. However, only 22% of them voted

One of the best voting constituencies of the Students’ Union, 44% of all Pakistani students’ voted last year, that’s 44 students out of a total of 111. That’s well above the SU average of 27%!

Rounding off the top ten are our Canadian students with a below average turnout of 19% of Canadians voting last year, that’s 46 out of 242.

1403 voted last year

84 voted last year

159 voted last year

79 voted last year

110 voted last year

102 voted last year

75 voted last year

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

49% of all undergraduates voted in 2014. This is the exact same percentage of undergrads that voted in the previous year

Only 10% of postgrads voted in 2014.

That’s 670 postgraduates out of a whopping 6186.

Accounts for most voters

BUT, this percentage fluctuates widely. In 2013 it was considerably higher at 836 postgrads voting (that’s 14%), but in 2012 it was considerably lower at 482 postgrads voting (11% turnout)

Postgrad Taught

Postgrad Research

Only marginally better than research students in percentage terms, 11% of postgraduate taught students voted.

In absolute numbers, they vastly dwarf research students with 632 votes to their 42 votes.

Only 5% of postgrad research students vote, the lowest turnout of all types of LSE students. This is slightly higher than the 4.6% of research students who voted the previous years, but in actual numbers, that’s 2 votes more.

female voters in 2014, 24% voted Of 5501 eligible

Turnout 2008-14

Voting by year of study

male voters in 2014, 28% voted

Low turnout

However, undergrads account for 76% of all voters last year. Last year, 2172 undergrads voted, the highest number in the last 3 years.

Lower turnout

Of 5150 eligible

46 voted last year

Lowest turnout

Voting by level of study

Voting by gender

49 voted last year

92 voted last year

First years

Second years

49% of all undergraduates voted in 2014. This is the exact same percentage of undergrads that voted in the previous year

Only 10% of postgrads voted in 2014.

That’s 670 postgraduates out of a whopping 6186.

54% voted last year

However, undergrads account for 76% of all voters last year. Last year, 2172 undergrads voted, the highest number in the last 3 years.

49% voted last year

BUT, this percentage fluctuates widely. In 2013 it was considerably higher at 836 postgrads voting (that’s 14%), but in 2012 it was considerably lower at 482 postgrads voting (11% turnout)

Third years

29% voted last year Only marginally better than research students in percentage terms, 11% of postgraduate taught students voted. In absolute numbers, they vastly dwarf research students with 632 votes to their 42 votes.

For even more statistics, go to:

lsesuelects.co.uk

lsesu elects 2015

lsesuelects.co.uk facebook.com/lsesuelects #lsesuelects

INSIDE: the mail looks at all the candidates

FREE

for use as a handy tool to blame for literally anything on campus you don’t like

HIDEOUSLY DIVERSE BEAVER

HORROR AS STUDENT PAPER IS ACTUALLY FAIRLY INCLUSIVE Phwoar: Comment Editor has hots for Ex-Comment Editor, Ex-Exec and Liam Hill.

Big Spoons night, but no spooning to be had Scoop: Ex-Comment Editor has hots for Comment Editor, ExExec and Liam Hill.

Big Spoons night, declared best kisser

by Liam Hill.

Scorcher: Liam Hill has hots for Comment Editor, ExComment Editor and Ex-Exec.

Big Spoons night, left with the hump.

Diversity revelation means Rayhan Uddin has nothing to talk about anymore.

Inside: Uddin remembers good old days when paper was white, male and mystical.

Cripes: Ex-Exec has hots for Ex-Comment Editor, Comment Editor and Liam Hill.

Robyn who?

ALSO INSIDE: VIEWS YOU WON’T AGREE WITH.

NEXT WEEK: CRAIG CALHOUN CAUSES CANCER

WHO SHOULD YOU VOTE FOR? THE MAIL CHECKS OUT THE CANDIDATES, SO YOU DONT HAVE TO

Probably foreign.

Probably foreign.

Probably foreign.

Probably foreign.

Probably foreign.

Probably foreign.

NEXT WEEK: the SU’s very own Simon Heffer wraps right-wing duct tape round the mouths of journalists.

(Yes, that’s right. We had better satire than this and we were censored at the eleventh hour. Bastards.)

31

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Society Listings

arch Tuesday 3rd M 7:30pm Tickets: £5

RESULTS NIGH T SABB and PTO p ositions announced Thursday 6 Marc h 19:00 The Venue

Lse SU ASH a in m is r la u c e S f o e r u ‘The Fut Multi-Ethnic UK’ TW1.G.01 18:30 03.03.15

Features

Tuesday March 3, 2015

32

Section editorial:

Section Editors: George Harrison and Taryana Odayar

FOLLOWING ON FROM my less than praise-laden discussion of Natalie Bennett’s policies the other week, I was delighted to listen to her “car crash” interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari. The painful interview highlighted just how out of its depth, idealistic and cynical the Green Party is; the Green’s string of impossible to fund policy initiatives has previously been celebrated blindly by devout party supporters, although even the most stoic supporters of Bennett’s party will find themselves at a loss to justify THAT interview.

Punctuated by hacking coughs and extended, excruciating periods of crushing silence, Bennett soldiered through the interview about how new state housing would be funded, clearly without having any facts regarding, or understanding of, the issues at hand. Her valuation puts the cost per house at £60,000, teing up Ferrari’s killer quote: “What are they going to be made of ? Plywood?!”

As flimsy as plywood abodes may be, Bennett’s policies will always be flimsier.

Truly a timely reminder that the party is not even ready to be interviewed on radio, let alone be in government.

#Be the Change: The Challenge of Engaging Young People in the Political Process

Features

George Harrison

features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Leen Aghabi Beaver Online Editor WITH LESS THAN 100 days left until the upcoming UK General Election in May, we see political candidates running their manifestos and seeking votes from citizens and party members. But, what about the youth? Only 44% of young voters aged 18 – 24 exercised their right to vote at the ballot box last General Elections.

Critics have labelled young voters as an apathetic generation.

But young people do engage in politics. Once we are informed what it is all about, how it affects us personally and how we can influence decision makers – an interest in politics arises. Young people are actually actively engaging in politics like never before. Young people are setting up social enterprises, running social-action campaigns, running as political candidates, in the aim to get involved and shape our country’s politics. Young people do have a burning desire for change but this passion is not being ignited. Yes, young people

are disillusioned with politics but who isn’t? Young people want a fair deal of policies on issues they care about such as employment, tuition fees, and housing.

For this reason, a coalition of leading organizations in the UK launched an independent campaign this February entitled #BeTheChange. This independent, non-partisan campaign aims to empower young people in the run up to the general elections in May, 2015. The objective is to promote an interest in politics and a better understanding of the British political system to the youth of Britain, while strengthening their interpersonal, analytical and public speaking skills.

The campaign will encourage youth participation in politics, and debates centred on some of the key issues of 2015’s election, consequently enabling them to make informed and responsible political decisions.

The campaign will enable dialogue between young people, the private sector, civil society and the UK government as well as providing a platform for the

Deputy Section Editors: Zita Chan, George Greenwood and Joe Walters tweet @beaveronline

youth to voice their concerns in the run up the general election.

The hope is to further youth discussion, by organising and hosting a series of events in the period prior to the elections, in settings where young people are present and able to actively participate. The help and support of MPs and the UK Parliament, as well as the integration of online/social media platforms into the campaign’s operations, will contribute positively to the way in which young people engage in politics.

The campaign will allow the youth who participate to form their own report, which will act as a catalyst in encouraging participation and educating them in the understanding of the dynamics of policy making. By creating focus groups that deal with a number of important areas, such as housing, immigration and employment, participants will be given the chance to integrate themselves into the policy making process and further educate young individuals on their place within it. The information

garnered through this aspect of the campaign will further contribute to our report and the way in which we approach certain operations. The significance of this report is that the information will be directly sourced from young people’s contributions gathered through debates, focus group research and surveys.

The effectiveness of the campaign will be dependent upon the efficient and extensive use of online social media platforms, such as Twitter and YouTube.

The use of these tools is important in order to make many of our events more accessible and interactive, as well as extend the campaign’s reach to youth in all parts of Britain. Not only will these outlets increase awareness about the campaign and its existence, they will provide young people with a place to voice their opinions and concerns through online participation in debates, forums and video posts.

Isn’t it rather brilliant to have such a forum and campaign to allow for a bottom-up, all-inclusive engagement in politics?

33

Features

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Learning From Khojaly

The Khojaly Massacre: A Tragedy Unknown Murad Muradov & Araz Borchaly Postgraduate Students THE DAY OF FEBRUARY 26, 2015 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Khojaly massacre; the most atrocious occasion of civilian bloodshed happened during the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

As Azerbaijani students at LSE, we perceive it our duty to raise awareness about this horrendous crime against humanity among the multinational community of LSE which embodies the values of peace and justice- which we, Azerbaijanis, aspire for so much.

It is important to be familiarised with the historic context.

The tension between then Socialist Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territorial status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous republic historically and territorially belonging to Azerbaijan but populated mostly

by Armenians, arose in 1988; as the Soviet Union was moving towards disintegration, it gradually turned into a full-fledged war, especially after Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its “independence” in September 1991. In fact, since the very beginning of the armed combat, the military personnel of the Republic of Armenia, as well as foreign mercenaries, were fighting on the separatists’ side.

Military success in the winter of 1991-92 was shifting between the both sides, involving more and more troops. Khojaly, an Azerbaijani-populated town with the population of 6,000, represented an important target for the Armenian forces as it had the only airport in the region and could serve as a comfortable foothold to attack the downhill regions of Azerbaijan. The siege of the town started in February 1992, gradually bringing it to the humanitarian collapse. But hardly could the peaceful inhabitants imagine what would happen to them a few days later, when the Armenian side managed to wear down resistance and enter the town. Many of those people who were unable to leave the town were brutally murdered, while the procession of those fleeing from the occupation were fired upon by an Armenian military post. The overall death toll, according to most estimations, equalled 613 people, many of whom were children, women and the elderly.

Soon after the tragedy, international observers came to the place. In its report, Human Rights Watch confirmed the facts

Soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh

of a vicious murder of peaceful citizens, blaming the Armenian forces in neglecting the norm of minimising civil casualties. The Memorial Group was even more pronounced on the atrocities committed in Khojaly. The British media also didn’t leave the tragedy uncovered; “The Times” journalist Anatoly Lieven who arrived to the place a couple of days later, confirms that most of the victims were murdered in a very brutal manner. Helen Womack from “The independent” leaves no doubt about the perpetrators of this horrible crime.

The Khojaly massacre marked a watershed in the history of the conflict. Two ethnic groups had long lived along before the conflict erupted, and thus retained strong intercultural and personal ties. If before Khojaly many people believed that it was possible to find a mutually beneficial agreement and stop violence, the mass

killing of civilians alienated the two peoples for long years ahead.

The most bitter side of the tragedy was that never did anyone from the responsible party admit the crime or attempt to apologise.

The British journalist Tomas de Waal, who is the author of “The Black Garden”- by far one of the best studies of the whole conflict, according to Serzh Sargsyan, the current President of the Republic of Armenia who at the time happened to be one of the commanders of the Karabakh forces (to the question of the “independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh), who in quite an audacious manner interprets Khojaly as “a message to Azerbaijanis indicating that we were not going to joke with them”. No sign of grief or repentance. Armenian mercenaries, who tended to be the most brutal and merciless against Azerbaijanis, unambiguously claimed it to be “the act of revenge” and proudly

A Burned-out Tank in Nagorno-Karabakh. Source: Flikr, ogannes

recalled having stabbed to death civilian peoples. Just to inform you, these people are still venerated by the official propaganda of the Republic of Armenia as an embodiment of Armenian patriotism and spirit. In an intellectually dishonest and deceitful manner, the events of 1915 are interpreted as a “proof ” that it is the Azerbaijanis- i.e., the Turkswho are a priori responsible for any conflict with Armenians, and every crime committed. Indeed, their side still revokes the mistakes of the Azerbaijani commandment, or its deliberate mishandling of the exodus- as if it can in any way excuse a series of blatant atrocities against peaceful people.

The above-mentioned “Memorial” was unable to find any evidence suggesting that the major Armenian claim, namely that they had allowed local people to leave through a secured corridor, even from the Armenians themselves;

no leaflet out of those claimed to have been distributed to Azerbaijanis, was shown either.

However, the Azerbaijani side has been firm in its policy of reaching out foreign governments with the truth about Khojaly. This far, four states, besides Azerbaijan, officially recognised it as a massacre, those being Columbia, Pakistan, Mexico and Sudan, as well as 15 of the U.S. states, including Texas, Florida, Massachusets, Georgia and Arkansas. Indeed, the behaviour of the Armenian commandment may be classified as assistance to the separatist forces in committing a crime against humanity, i.e., the alleged unwillingness to prevent the slaughter from happening. It is still an open question whether the crime of genocide can be invoked in this case; indeed, the Legislative organs of Mexico and Pakistan along with the Islamic Cooperation Organization, recognise it as such, and, according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide adopted by the UN General Assembly, this crime is attributable to the state co-opting in its commitment.

What lessons can we all draw from Khojaly? The Ukraine today, in our view, is the best answer to the question. People all over the world should understand now much better who inspires separatism all over the Post-Soviet region and lends it its direct support- and how bloody and destructive this separatism happens to be. If the situation in Donbass stays the same, it will likely look like a bigger version of Nagorno-Karabakh now: a region without a proper economy, with ruined cities, infrastructure and cultural objects, turned into a hotbed of international crime. It is little secret that the 366th Motor Rifle Regiment of the former Soviet army, stationed in Armenia, took an active part in the attack on Khojaly and subsequent events- and of course, never did its commandment assume any responsibility for the personnel’s behaviour. The conflict between two South Caucasian peoples remains a major undermining factor which prevents the region from getting more economically and strategically independent from various foreign pressures. It is a natural thing that liberal-minded Armenians are mostly willing to relaunch, at least, an open discussion with Azerbaijan in order to establish piece and restore justice; these people are currently the only hope for Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve the conflict to the good of the both sides.

Features

Tuesday March 3, 2015

The Pocket Examining The Eurozone Crisis Philosopher: The Seman- EU Negotiations: Extremism tics of Logic

34

Prevails

Joe Walters Deputy Features Editor

Alexander Howells Pocket Philosopher LAST TIME I WROTE ABOUT Frege’s Philosophy of Language: moving from Direct Reference Theory (DRT) to a distinction between the ‘Sense’ and ‘Reference’ of a proper name. Today I’ll look at an alternative: Russell’s Theory of Descriptions (ToD). Quick recap, DRT says that the meaning of a singular term is only that which it refers to.

Unfortunately it runs into many problems including an inability to deal with empty names and the significance between true statements of the form ‘a=a’ and ‘a=b’.

Bertrand Russell also disagreed with DRT. Instead of looking at proper names, however, he wrote about definite descriptions. Definite descriptions are sentences, roughly in the form ‘the such and such’, which denote a single object, for example: ‘the LSE library’, ‘the Director of LSE’.

Russell was searching for a logic of the word ‘the’, and thought his ToD indirectly revealed its role. He contended that all definite descriptions are actually abbreviations of longer lists of properties which uniquely identify the individual.

Let’s take an example: ‘The Director of the LSE is a man.’ Russell’s typical formula for uncovering the abbreviation would say that this sentence consists of the conjunct sentences: 1. ‘There is at least one person who is Director of the LSE.’ 2. ‘There is at most one person who is Director of the LSE.’ 3. ‘The Director of the LSE is a man.’

Russell claims that the truth of all of these sentences is a necessary condition for the truth of the original sentence. They are also only sufficient if taken jointly. He believed it was the logical form of the original sentence.

Russell’s theory does appear to solve the problems of DRT. For empty terms the first conjunct of the typical formulation is false. If there were no Director of the LSE then ‘there is at least one person who is currently the Director of the LSE’ would be false. Therefore the original sentence would also be false.

The Identity Problem falls away because the statement ‘a=b’ reveals a property of ‘a’ to us in its logical form whereas ‘a=a’ does not. For example ‘The Director of LSE is Craig Calhoun’ contains, in its logical form, the conjunct ‘whoever is currently Director of the LSE is one and the same as Craig Calhoun.’

T H E N E G O T I AT I O N S between the newly elected Greek Government and the other Eurozone states have been a battle between pragmatism and extremism. On the one side we have the far-left Greek Government headed by Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. Their aim has been to secure a short term loan whilst negotiations continue over a deal that would honour the country’s obligations to its creditors but end the austerity imposed on them by the Troika, (the IMF, ECB, and European Commission), which has led to the disintegration of the Greek economy. On the other hand we have the extremists, a group of countries who for ideological reasons refuse to give any ground and are adamant that Greece must continue with the conditions of the bailout agreed by the previous Greek Government, despite the inestimable harm they have done. The Greek side has tried to come up with reasonable ways in which both sides can get what they want. For example the suggestion of bonds being issued that are based on GDP growth, hence making Greek growth in the interest of everyone.

However with the recent renewal of the previous agreement the hardline extremists are getting their way.

The agreement between Syriza and the Eurozone extends the current bailout for the next four months. The IMF, ECB and European Commission will continue to oversee the implementation of the reforms demanded by the existing deal, which is quite a defeat for the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who had claimed the Troika was dead. Although they won the

Anti-Austerity Riots. Source: Flikr,Murplejane

election on an anti-austerity ballot the Greeks also appear to have yielded on this point, with the Eurozone statement claiming “The Greek authorities commit to refrain from any rollback of measures and unilateral changes to the policies and structural reforms that would negatively impact fiscal targets, economic recovery or financial stability, as assessed by the institutions”. It is unclear at the time of writing exactly how big a surplus they will be required to run, but it seems clear that there will be little room for new public spending. Also to add insult to injury the agreement stipulates that funds, which have been earmarked for bank recapitalisation, will be taken out of Greek hands to remove the temptation to use these funds for other purposes.

Although Tsipras and Varoufakis may use the four-month extension of the current agreement to

negotiate a fairer deal in the long term, for now their task of relieving the Greek people of the perceived draconian form of austerity that has been thrust upon them is not going well. The imposition of austerity on Greece thus far has had quite disastrous consequences. In 2010 Greek public debt stood at about 130% of GDP, after 5 years of austerity it is now pushing towards the 180% mark. This can be said to be a quite damming indictment of austerity when you consider the whole point of the policy is to balance the Governments books. The reason this has happened is as austerity measures have sent the economy into a deflationary spiral, with the inflation rate falling from under 6% at its height in 2011, to deflation since 2013. This explains why in the fiveyear time period unemployment has went from around 10% to over 25%. To give a further idea of the social costs of austerity disposable income in Greece has decreased by more than a third, and youth unemployment currently stands at above half.

However it has been argued that Greece has a moral and legal duty to repay its creditors promptly regardless of the consequences for the domestic economy and the general population. This view however is based on a distorted idea of what happened prior to the crisis. Yes the Greek Government borrowed recklessly, but that also means their creditors lent recklessly. It is naïve to assume that some of the biggest financial institutions in Europe lent money without realizing the Greek house was not in order. Such lenders would have been very aware of the situation but the presence of the IMF as a lender of last resort to heavily indebted states creates a moral hazard. The best-case sce-

nario is that the Greeks pay you back, however if things go wrong the IMF bails the Government out and you get your money back that way. It is important to remember this when you hear claims that the Greece’s obligations to its creditors must come first. Their creditors lent recklessly and were then bailed out.

To add to this the recklessness of these creditors means a cessation of funds to Greece would cause a panic within the European banking system, which lent so uninhibitedly.

So the claims by the Eurozone states that they would cut Greece off if the old agreement is not honoured is incredibly dangerous.

It is also worth noting that the leader of the austerity pack, Germany, has benefitted from the Greek demise. The downward pressure the faltering Greek economy has put on the Euro has given German exports a boost, which has certainly contributed towards their strong recovery. This is a perfect example of a currency union gone wrong, with the strong benefitting due to the problems of the weak.

The countries with a trade surplus (e.g Germany) are benefitting from a weaker currency, but are reluctant to recycle some of the gains from that surplus to the deficit states (e.g Greece).

It is apparent then that for now extremism is prevailing over pragmatism. What the Greek economy needs is breathing space. I personally see no way for the Greek economy to recover without some debt relief but for the moment this does not seem politically feasible. The most we can hope is that the Greek electorate will give Syriza more time to negotiate a better deal, but if they do not it is likely we will see real extremists emerge in Greece, and this will not benefit anyone.

35

Features

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Niche Political Parties: A Spotlight

On Undead Rights and Votes for Hedgehogs: The Oddest Political Parties in the World George Harrison Features Editor UPON THE DECISION OF comedian Al Murray to stand against Nigel Farage in South Thanet at the general election later this year, it was made clear that politics and comedy can go hand in hand; in fact, many believe that substantial value lies in the opposition of serious parties by not so serious parties as an act of protest. Britain has seen the Monster Raving Loony Party as something of a staple of political protest humour, although I was eager to find out more about the even lesser known, stranger parties that bring a dash of humour

to the often dry world of politics.

One such party is the “McGillicuddy Serious Party”, a satirical party in New Zealand that operated until 1999, with the intention of adding a dash of colour to the seemingly bland political process and a jester as the party logo.

The party’s best ever election result came when the 0.61% of the total vote was won in 1993, with street performers and comedians constituting the majority of electoral candidates fielded. According to the Party’s Wikipedia page, candidates were typically selected through “trials by combat”, in which hopefuls duelled using water balloons and paper swords, with the losing combatant achieving candidacy. The selection

process later evolved to a large scale game of musical chairs, in a large spectacle that took place in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square.

The Party’s manifesto reads like a Monty Python sketch, with the key election pledge routinely being the promise of a return to a medieval lifestyle. Reading further down their manifesto yields policy gems that include the planned abolition of money, which was to be replaced by sand upon the event of the party claiming victory. Restricting the vote to include minors only, the provision of free dung by the state, the introduction of “Hedgehog Suffrage”, the imposition of perpetual good weather and the carpeting over of all major highways are num-

HUNGARY FEATURES a joke political party called the Two Tailed Dog Party; founded in 2006, the party fields only electoral candidates with the name István Nagy, one of Hungary's most common names.

Although their registration for the 2014 Hungarian parliamentary elections was rejected, party members continued their satirical crusade regardless by distributing their own mocking campaign material, emblazoned with the slogan "More Everything, Less Nothing", and by spraying city-wide graffiti to criticise the political class.

The party stands on a policy platform that includes the promises of eternal life and world peace, doubling the number of daily sunsets to two, smaller levels of gravity and the construction of a mountain on The Great Hungarian Plain. If elected, Hungary would leave the EU and open negotioations for the EU to join Hungary.

A string of lawsuits has plagued the party over the last few years, including one by the Hungarian state rail company, which pressed charges following the spraying of graffiti over carriages.

CITIZENS FOR UNDEAD Rights and Equality (CURE) is a British political party that is focuses on the extension of full rights to the undead, which simultaneously acts as a platform to mock the political class, and an electorate alienated by mainstream politics. Four candidates were fielded by CURE in the 2010 general election, with a total of 317 votes being cast for the party, and a whopping 0.2% of the total vote in the constituency of

Hitchin and Harpenden.

Popular policies include raising the retirement age to beyond death, finding a cure for zombie bites and granting the same rights to the undead and the living. Cemeteries are also to be made more comfortable, the marriage of the living and the undead is to be permitted and social stigmatisation of being undead would end under a CURE government.

As party enthusiasts marched in

Westminster , the leader of CURE said: “With the coalition treating the electorate as zombies, we thought we’d illustrate the strength of feeling by bringing our cause direct to Parliament”.

The party manifesto concludes with the deeply political promise never to waste taxpayer’s money by claiming expenses on moats and duck ponds, highlighting the degree of seriousness that exists behind the silly facade.

bered amongst the Serious Party’s further pledges. The party also once attempted to stand a dog for parliament; the dog’s main policy was listed in a local newspaper, the Northern Advocate, as the abolition of cars.

THE ENGLISH “FANCY dress party” contested the 1979 UK general election on the platform of using a smaller font size, if elected, in order to reduce unemployment statistics. The party satirises the election process and is considered to be the forerunner to the Monster Raving Loony Party, although it has evolved today to include a plethora of ridiculous policies, such as the rapid construction of new schools using revolutionary inflatable classrooms and the reduction of class sizes to 3’x2’6”. The party contested the 2010 general election on that platform, although unfortunately without success; the legacy of the party can be seen today in the manifestos of other British satirical parties.

I N C A NA DA , T H E “Rhinoceros Party” exists as a frivolous alternative to the mainstream options; the relatively new party was registered in 2007 following the prior success of the Rhinoceros movement; a protest movement laden with satirical political promises, the most popular of which being the promise not to keep any promises if elected. With regards to party leadership, a real life rhinoceros called Cornelius from a zoo near Montreal is listed as the head of the party. The Rhinoceros Party’s policy platform varies depending on the election being contested and the policies of the opposition candidates, although recurring themes include a pledge to repeal the laws of gravity, counting the Thousand Islands to ensure that they are all still there and building taller schools to promote higher education. The party is, however, yet to record an electoral victory.

The City Section Editorial:

CARROTS AND STICKS, OR, in the words of political philosopher Hillel Steiner, ‘throffers’ – we’ve seen a few recently.

This week, The City Section focuses on some political economy., which involves a lot of (promised) carrots, and a few very stern sticks.

For one, we’ve produced a nifty timeline of the Grexit crisis so far in the hopes of streamlining some of the mess of threats, counter-threats and offers (or simply throffers, which as you can see is my new favourite word) into an easily readable format for busy LSE students.

On top of that, I’ve tried to look at one General Election carrot which is often overlooked – Labour promises to dramatically increase apprenticeships as a tool for reducing the bane of youth unemployment. Whether they be Alexis Tsipras’ promise to end “five years of pain and humiliation” or claims in the upcoming LSE election to completely reform the LSESU from the inside, it’s interesting to see what happens to all these carrots once the ballots are cast and the new leaders are firmly in place.

Will they continue to seem as delicious once the cost of producing them becomes clear?

Sport: Clash of the Antipodean Titans Page 38

Section Editor: Mika Morissette city@thebeaveronline.co.uk

36

Sport: Fight Night: A Review Page 40

Grexit: What You Need to Know The past few months of the Grexit crisis summed up for your busyLSE student convenience.

10-15 Feb 2015

Speculation grows that Russia might offer Greece a loan.

Ultimately, however, the fact that Russia could only offer the loan in Rubbles, a currency currently facing instability, put an end to such plans.

31 Dec 2014

“Greece is not systematically relevant to the Euro.”

Quote by German politician Micheal Fuchs revies speculation about Grexit.

17 Feb 2015

“ The Euro is an oldstyle marriage where divorce does not exist.”

EU commissioner Joaquin Almunia may have said this a decade ago, but by midFebruary Greece buckled under pressure and conceded the need to negociate an extention to the EU bailout loan set to expire at the end of February.

28 Jan 2015

Alexis Tsipras promises to end “five years of pain and humiliation.”

Amid criticism that Germany was trying to tamper with the Greek flash elections through intimidation, a Syriza victory is announced. Speculation grows that the far-left party will reject austerity, thereby breaking the conditions of the EU bailout and pulling Greece out of the Euro.

20 Feb 2015 Greek and EU ministers agree to an eleventh-hour bailout extention, thereby saving the Greek government from bankruptcy for another six months, on condition that Greece could submit a satisfactory proposal for economic reform within 24 hours.

9 Feb 2015

“A Greek exit from the euro would be very difficult for the world economy and potentially very damaging for the European economy.”

Chancelor of the Exchequer George Osbourne at the G20 meeting in Turkey.

Back in London, David Cameron convenes a meeting on the potential impacts Gexit would have on the UK, increasing European anxiety.

21 Feb 2015

“Don’t be fooled that Grexit is now impossible.”

Martin Vander Weyer for The Telegraph.

Syriza submits its economic plan which is accepted by the EU creditors. Despite the fact that Germany showed increasing acknowledgement of the need to work with Greece rather than attempt to pull the austerity strings and risk defection, there are still comments that the actual Greek economic plan was vague an weak.

The Apprenticeship Panecea?

‘Guaranteeing’ apprenticeships to all school leavers is a major part of Labour’s platform for the oncoming election, but are apprenticeships really an economic ‘cure-all’, and what does this mean for us uni students?

Mika Morissette The City Editor GUARANTEEING APPRENTICESHIPS to all school leavers who “got the grades”, said Miliband on the 16th of February, would be a big part of Labour’s response to the Conservatives’ ‘long-term economic plan’. In Miliband’s words, increasing apprenticeship opportunities to British youth is “based on the idea that it is only when Britain’s working families succeed that Britain succeeds.

Not the old idea that it is only from the top down that wealth flows.”

Is this really such a radical break from the so-called ‘old’ (read ‘Tory’) idea, however?

Critics say is that this is by far not original – the Tories have in fact already been trying to target apprenticeships since the early 2010s. The issue of apprenticeships indeed seems to rear its slippery head every time youth unemployment becomes a problem, either real or perceived, with The

Economist labelling apprenticeships a British “obsession”.

After years of Conservative administration, there are currently 400,000 young people going to university compared with 520,000 having started apprenticeships. What Miliband has to add to this, however, is twofold.

On one hand, only 20% of current apprentices fall in the 16 to 18 category, and Labour wants to open up more jobs to young leavers. On the other hand, Miliband wants to increase high quality apprenticeships in places like engineering firms, accountant offices and even the Civil Service which he wants to make at the expense of the graduate level Fast Track system.

Over the past few years, there have indeed been moves to extend the definition of ‘hands-on’ jobs which benefit from being learnt through doing to a number of positions usually filled through Graduate Schemes for candidates with university degrees, no matter how unrelated.

Major banks, accounting firms,

engineering companies and the business administration departments of several City law firms are all advertising apprenticeship openings. This fall, the streets of London were covered in an add campaign showcasing apprentices in various high-level employers including Transport for London, a string of fashion houses and PwC. If someone with a degree in English is seen as just as eligible for a Grad Scheme at a Big Four accounting firm by virtue of ‘showing potential’, why not extend the schemes to candidates who show potential despite not having a university degree? Soulsearching over the real value of a university education is, of course, an endless debate, but the real question is whether increasing apprenticeships to cut down on the extra level of economic inefficiency of needing a degree simply to qualify rather than to be qualified, can really be effective.

Critics remain divided, in large part because few would argue that the sole purpose of a

university degree should be to be trained for an employer. It will be interesting to see how the apprenticeship debate pans out as the election approaches, however, not least of which because many see it as a ploy by Labour to avoid discussing tax evasion, a subject students at the LSE seem much more interested by.

Photo Credit: Tom Lancaster

The City

Mika Morissette

Tuesday March 3, 2015

14-15 MARCH 2015・VINOPOLIS, LONDON

Edward Snowden George Clinton (NSA whistle-blower) (Parliament/Funkadelic) Jon Ronson Matthew Herbert Owen Jones (author) (musician) (author and columnist) Baroness Helena Kennedy Morgaine Gaye (human rights lawyer) (food futurologist) Plus Neurosis: the world’s first neurological thrill ride Paul A. Young’s Sweetshop of the Future and much more

www.futurefest.org #futurefest

futurefest@nesta.org.uk FutureFest is a registered trade mark of

www.nesta.org.uk

Sport

Tuesday March 3, 2015

38

Clash Of The Antipodean Titans Robin Park Sport Editor

S w e a t, t e a r s a n d unmentionable bodily fluids all played a part in an intense evening last Wednesday. Congrats to all participants, though I think the ladies were disappointed that a snow-sports

handedly destroyed Tim Southee. Warner was batting as if the kookaburra had Joe Root’s face carved in. It was disdainful, aggressive batting. Brendon McCullum, a man who looks as if he’s about to spit out an Australian most of the time, was looking particularly pissed off. Finch and Warner were producing a masterclass in ODI batting and the muchlauded Southee and Boult had no answers. Until Dan Vettori was sent in. To put into context how crazily good Vettori was, you need to remember that this match was played in Eden Park, one of the smallest grounds in international cricket. Vettori got figures of 2-41 off 10 overs. He completely outfoxed Warner and made Shane Watson look like Shane Watson.

And then came the lightning

Boult express. He didn’t make the ball swing, but Boult managed to extract just enough seam movement to get careerbest figures of 5-27. Australia all-out for 151.

Now normally, 151 at Eden Park should be easy. Indeed, New Zealand extracted 11 runs off the FIRST ball of their chase. But this was no ordinary match. Mitchell Starc ripped through the New Zealand middle order as if it were made out of Chris Cairns. Not satisfied with his initial massacre, he decided to pull apart the tail, until Trent Boult, no.11, ended up facing the hat-trick ball of a World Cup match. I once saw a very similar situation, but in a test match, between Australia and Sri Lanka. Muralitharan, on a hat-trick, only had Glenn McGrath to get out to secure

a lead for Sri Lanka. Glenn McGrath mishit the ball to the boundary for four. Somehow, Trent Boult managed to block out a 150km/h yorker from Starc to do something equally remarkable. Finally, Kane Williamson, hit a six in his next ball. It was easily the most nerve racking and tense match in World Cup history. It was also a match full of records, befitting a match of this caliber: the highest number of wickets for left-arm bowlers in an ODI (11); the third fastest ODI 50 in history (21 balls by Brendon McCullum); and the second lowest ODI score by Australia in history. A match all cricket fans will remember. The sort of match that will be replayed by Sky Sports on rain delays, and posterity will talk about for generations. It was simply the best.

Photo credit: flikr, Mike Cox

On Saturday, 28 February 2015, the good people of Auckland and all lovers of cricket witnessed the greatest world cup match in history. Not the greatest ODI of all time. That honour goes to the ‘400+’ match played out in Johannesburg in 2006, where Australia posted the first ever 400-plus total in the history of ODIs (Ricky Ponting scoring a scarcely believable 164 from 105), only to lose by one wicket in the end. But in the World Cup, the match inside the Garden of Eden is the best anyone will ever see. Not even the 1999 World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia comes close to this match. There will not be another match even close to this for another 100 years. It was quite simply unbelievable.

The build-up was almost as tense as the match itself. Australia, after having crushed England in the MCG, was full of confidence, in spite of the fact that they missed their in-between warm-up match against Bangladesh. The fact that there was considerable debate as to whether Michael Clarke, a man who averages 44.67 in ODIs, should come into the team is evidence of the batting depth of this Australian side. Although it’s not the best Australian team, even in the last 10 years. The triumvirates of Gilchrist, Hayden, and Ponting, backed up by Martyn, Bevan, and Symonds, were true vintage. Still, in local conditions, Australia is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the competition. The strength

of this New Zealand team has been discussed to death, but it’s worth repeating in the context of this match. Unlike Australia, New Zealand has rarely been blessed with an outstanding cricket generation. There have been a few genuine world-class players in the likes of Hadlee and Fleming, but rarely a generation of world-class players.

But in the broad shoulders of Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Dan Vettori, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, and Trent Boult, a genuinely outstanding team has been assembled

by New Zealand Cricket. The match between these two cohosting superpowers was massively anticipated for good reason.

And what a match it was.

Aaron Finch almost single-

vice pres kept his shirt on - we’re not in the Alps now bro. Shout out to the legendary ring man who joined us in zoo.

Juicy gossip ensued with usual FC antics; a Salty FC gent received a Lukewarm reception at tuns For spreading secrets. Another footballer’s night started on a Low note then improved To reigniting flames with an ex, but he finally hit the Jack-pot with a non-LSEer. We all know Zoo Bar can be like Sardines in a can, but nothing is more

embarrassing than if a certain fish rejects your Meat. Let’s not forget to mention a certain second team member who was on Point, and Greeno enjoyed his night with a blonde beauty. FC tried to continue their lucky streak, but one lad who tried to show his Machoism failed to Liv the dream.

As always our regulars did not let us down: Subo and Wayne made it a second week in a row, but does she know that this time he Sampled another flavour first? One netballer lived up to her rep and certainly went

Hard, managing to projectile outside Zoo Bar. Miraculously she still managed to get in.

There was no Doubt that a certain NOT rugby was on a chirpsing marathon and one of the lucky ladies even got a lap dance - as they say, boys aren’t Loyal. And finally a rugby lass Silently crept off after a run-of-theMill kind of night.

We look forward to next weeks antics - a barrage of keen AUers will be excited to prove themselves as future execs.

39

Sport

Tuesday March 3, 2015

Upcoming Active LifeStylE Events Robin Park Sport Editor A lot of events are being organised in the coming week by LSESU Active LifeStylE. Make sure to check them out and get involved!

Classified Results

TUESDAY, 3 MARCH Boot Camp (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 1.15-2pm): New time for boot camp sessions. If you’re looking for a mid-day break to get your heart pumping, meet at the gazebo in Lincoln’s Inn Fields for a workout you’ll remember.

Yoga (LSE Badminton Court, 2-3pm): For two sessions a week, we have five free tickets available for beginner students

to come along and try a yoga session. To reserve your place, please email su.activelifestyle@ lse.ac.uk.

WEDNESDAY, 4 MARCH 5-a-side Football League (Powerleague Shoreditch, 1.305.30pm): For more information on how to get involved with the football league, email su.activelifestyle@lse.ac.uk. If you’re interested in something more casual, check out our Friday night pick-up sessions at the same place!

Tennis (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 2-5pm): Every week, it’s a chance to try your tennis skills on the courts just here on campus! £2.50pp.

Netball (Elephant & Castle, 1-2pm): Come along to join the

social side of netball and learn a new sport! Open to complete beginners, this session is a great opportunity to try something new in a casual setting.

Urban Cycling Skills (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 1-3pm): Partnering with Camden Council, we’re offering a series of lessons on gaining confidence to cycle in the city. If you’d like some free tuition from a trained instructor, this is your chance!

Shooting Give-it-a-go (A1 Shooting Club High Barnet, 1-3pm): Join the LSE Shooting Club for two hours’ worth of instruction from a trained professional.

1.30pm): Practise your putting and chipping skills in this free, creative golf skills session right in the heart of campus.

Zumba (6th Floor Studio SSH, 3-4pm): After a brief break, we’re back for another zumba session!

Part dance, part exercise, 100% fun.

Hula Hoop (6th Floor Studio SSH, 4-5.30pm): Whether you’ve hooped before or just looking for

something completely new to try, this might be your opportunity with an hour’s class.

FRIDAY, 6 MARCH Belly Dancing (LSE Old Gym, 12-1pm): Join us for this weekly class on belly dancing: fun and energetic, we guarantee a good time and a fun workout Visit LSESU Active LifeStylE on Facebook for more information.

THURSDAY, 5 MARCH Golf Skills Session (Houghton Street, 12.30-

Men’s Football

Men’s Table Tennis

Netball

Men’s Badminton

LSE 1s 0 - 0 Cambridge 1s (Game cancelled due to waterlogged pitches)

LSE 2s 7 - 10 Middlesex 1s

LSE 2s 29 - 45 Portsmouth 6s

LSE 1s 7 - 1 Kent 2s

LSE 3s 34 - 44 King’s 5s

LSE 3s 4 - 4 Essex 2s

Men’s Basketball

Men’s Hockey

LSE 1s 59 - 66 Hertfordshire 1s

LSE 1s 9 - 2 Essex 1s

LSE 2s 4 - 0 St George’s 1s LSE 3s 2 - 0 Royal Veterinary 1s

Women’s Table Tennis LSE 1s 3 - 2 Surrey 1s

BEAVER FANTASY FOOTBALL UPDATE Only 11 points separate the top two, as Dynamo Chicken Kiev continues to top the Beaver League, with Black Hand Gang a very close second. Bayern Bru has consolidated third place, while top 4 is a six-way battle between Sava AFC, Shahab’s XI, Red’s XI, Liquid Football, Sandalecht, and Get out Micah! Noo. Recently elected Managing Editor, Liam Hill, is languishing in 22nd place, but is well placed to climb higher thanks to Ivanovic and the prolific Harry Kane.

Gareth Rosser is also on the verge of avoiding the wooden spoon, thanks again to Kane and future Liverpool captain, JH.

Sport

SUBMIT A MATCH REPORT AND GET YOUR TEAM’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN PRINT

the

Beaver

Editor: Robin Park Email: sports@thebeaveronline.co.uk

AU Fight Night Review

Kamran Miah Boxing Captain THE LSE FIGHT NIGHT is one of the most exciting events

on the LSE calendar. Over 400 people were present, ready to witness what was to be one of the best nights of the year.

To kick off the event members of the LSE Boxing Club got into

the ring and demonstrated their skill in three exhibition matches.

This was followed by three fights from members of the Athletics Union (AU), involving fighters from Rowing, Women’s

Rugby, Men’s FC, Hockey, Snowsports and Boxing/MMA. Everyone at the LSE boxing club would like to thank Taylor Rampton and the members of the AU that helped organize this

Sam-Carter Allison v Femke Bolle This was a brilliant southpaw vs orthodox matchup. The girls didnt waste any time engaging the action and that set the tone for the rest of the fight. Both demonstrated beautiful counter punching abilities and both scored some fantastic shots on each other. Inside training Sam and Femke spar each other on a regular basis, but both brought some new surprises for each other and stepped up their games accordingly in this brilliant match up. For 3 highly entertaining rounds it was Femkes right hand vs Sams left hand firing down the middle to find their mark.

In the process of setting up these shots we were treated to a fine display of footwork, head movement and punching versatility. Neither girl gave an inch, their technique was crisp and sharp from the first bell until the last and when it was time to stand and trade the girls certainly did not disappoint.

Kate Khmaruk (WRFC) vs Becca Brooks (Rowing) With both ladies fighting for the pride of their respective clubs, this was always bound to be an intense encounter.

Both girls had a fast start, throwing shots without seeming to take a break. Kate was able to overcome Becca’s height and reach advantage by closing the space well and applying pressure. As the fight wore on, both were visibly fatigued and it took a lot of willpower for both fighters to keep going.

Josh Berman (Football) vs Conor Rohan (Hockey) In some ways this fight was probably the most dramatic one of the night. By the third round both fighters were bleeding and had each taken some hard shots. There were moments where each of the fighters looked like they were finished, but the crowd’s support was enough to bring them back from the edge and right back into the fight again.

Winner – Kate Khmaruk

Verdict - Draw

Raza Rizi v Jang Gun An interesting clash of styles, Jang Gun was the aggressor, he threw punches from many different angles and used unpredictablity to overcome Raza’s brilliant reaction speed. The tension was palpable, as both boxers tried to anticipate the other’s next move. Jang Gun showed his aggression, variety of punches and speed, while Raza showed his ring experience and boxing fans recognized his masterful use of a slick counter-punching style. It was a great showcase of boxing skill.

Photo credit: flikr, Michael J. Needham

Kamran Miah v Stevie Kim This was a matchup that had the level of action that makes legends of men in the pro game. There were no million dollar pay checks, no bad blood nor any trash talking, but these two warriors battled it out for 3 action packed rounds like the LSE version of Gatti vs Ward. Both landed heavy leather and both showed slick and slippery defence. With cracking blow after cracking blow the crowd cheered with a feverish pitch and rightfully so. Both fighters came out like a bull out of the gate and neither took a backward step for the entire 6 minutes. Showing beautiful boxing skill mixed with the perfect amount of toe to toe action this was a fight that not only did the fighters and LSE Boxing proud but the sport of boxing itself.

event, all the boxers who participated for their hard work over the last few months and especially our coach Ian Streetley for the time and support that he dedicates to the club.

Peter O’Donnell (Boxing) vs Will Gurney (Snowsports) If you came to see a scrap, a lot of aggression and a topless Geordie, then you were at the right place.

The first round was quite a scrap, as both fighters were fired up, but they settled down a bit in the second and landed some cleaner shots. Most of the fight was difficult to call, so no-one was sure whose hand would be raised at the end of the fight. Credit to Peter for taking up the fight with less than a weeks notice.

Winner – Peter O’Donnell