Beaver 831

INSIDE: LSE 120TH BIRTHDAY SPECIAL EDITION

Beaver

the

Issue 831 | 10.03.15

newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union

No Limits? Record Turnout in Election General Secretary Nona Buckley-Irvine

Disabled Students’ Officer Isobel Clare

Education Officer Jon-Rhys Foster

Anti-Racism Officer Jasmina Bidé

Activities and Development Officer Katie Budd

Environment and Ethics Officer Elena Bignami

Community and Welfare Officer Aysha al-Fekaiki

International Students’ Officer Damien Kemfack RAG President James Wurr

Women’s Officer Lena Schofield

Student Trustee Nadia Raslan

BME Students’ Officer Mahatir Pasha

AU President Julia Ryland

LGBT+ Officer Bryn Laxton-Coglon

AU Executive San Puri Elin Harding Tessa Hutchinson Oliver Strong

Democracy Committee Katie Flynn Jake Fryer Hari Prabu Joshua Ip Fraser Bell

Megan Crockett, News Editor Liam Hill, Managing Editor N O N A B U C K L E Y- I RV I N E was re-elected as London School of Economics (LSE) Students Union (SU) General Secretary, amid a record-breaking turnout for LSESU elections. With over 3800 individual voters, the previous record being 2999 in 2013, the year that Jay Stoll was elected Gen Sec, Jon-Rhys Foster was elected Education Officer, Katie Budd was elected Activities and Development Officer, and Aysha al-Fekaiki was elected Commu-

nity and Welfare Officer.

Buckley-Irvine saw off competition from Maria Cannatella and Indo Vickerson, who won more than 700 votes each in the first round, beating Cannatella in the final round of voting by 1375 votes to 1136. Africa Nasir, Nitish Rathee and Boian Rodriguez Nikiforov were all eliminated in the first round, along Zoe Okoluga, who received 237 votes. In the second round Maria Cannatella beat Indo Vickerson by 882 votes to 861.

In the other races, shock was registered at the considerable success of postgraduate candi-

International Women’s Day Special Feature

Pages 8-9

AU Engagement Officer Jenny Johanson

dates. Ahmed Saleh led in all but the final round of voting in the race to become Education Officer, while Haytham Housa came closest to challenging Katie Budd for Activities and Development. Perhaps the most surprising result in the Sabbatical Officer races came in the Community and Welfare race as LSESU Feminist Society President, Natalie Nunn was beaten into third by Lorcán O-Cathain and Aysha al-Fekaiki, with alFekaiki beating O-Cathain with 1021 votes to 897 in the final round of voting.

The large upturn in turnout

is thought to have been made up from voting by postgraduate and international students, in part because of the large number of postgraduate and international students running. A massive 1,183 more people voted in the election for general secretary this year making the grand total 3,228 compared to last year’s 2,045. There was also another massive jump in the number of people who voted for Community and Welfare Officer, from 1,468 to 2,645, an additional 1,177.

The full results in these four races can be found on page 5.

News & Comment Meat Free Mondays?

Page 5, Page 11

In Liberation positions, Mahatir Pasha, News Editor of the Beaver, faced no human competition and beat RON by a substantial margin to become the new BME Students’ Officer.

Lena Schofield was elected as the new Women’s Officer, beating Taye Le Monier, Robyn Connelly-Webster and Alice Garnier with three rounds of voting.

Isobel Clare was elected as the new Disabled Students’ Officer.

In the race to become LGBT+ Officer, Bryn Laxton-Coglon beat Perdita Blinkhorn, and was elected.

Continued page 3

VS

Room 2.02, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, LSE Students’ Union London WC2A 2AE

Beaver

the

the

Beaver

Executive Editor Alexander Fyfe

editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Managing Editor Liam Hill

Established in 1949 Issue No. 831 - Tuesday 10 March 2015 - tinyurl.com/beaver831 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 Linford-Grayson, 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, Mali Williams, 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, Ronda Daniel, Ryan O’Rourke, Sam Barnett, Sam Povey, Samantha Jury-Dada, 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 censorship, cars and his newest idea: foie gras Fridays WHAT DID I TELL YOU? Being Executive Editor is most definitely a dicey business, and this year was no exception; even before we’d gone to print. As I have a statistics project due, I sadly have no time to take responsibility for every word inked upon these pages this week. Therefore I’m being extra careful to make sure there is nothing the plethora of campus factions can dispute. I’m sure some will take up the gauntlet regardless, and no doubt harangue me for some editorial indiscretion. Despite this, I can’t go further without mentioning last week’s shenanigans, but it’ll be brief, so persevere.

Firstly, I regret the use of such a powerful image to get our message across; we were heavy handed in that respect. I stand by our point however, and say this. As Executive Editor, I took a stand against the limitation of students’ and commentators’ free speech at their elections, in their paper. I wasn’t claiming my personal human rights had been trampled upon; I was standing up for students’ voices, to have

the freedom to comment on issues pertaining to them in their forum. I think the byelaws that were in place last week were misinterpreted, and fundamentally I believe the laws are a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed. We’re working with the SU to clarify them for the future.

And on the topic of Jason Wong, it’s Jason Wong. I’d hope that by diversifying The Beaver’s coverage to include him we could reach out to more students. I also thought that students’ would be erudite enough to recognise who he was, and critically appraise what he said.

Finally, given that everyone seems to have read the offending material, there seems little point to reprint it; particularly given we have a packed issue what with the LSE’s 120th Anniversary and International Women’s Day. If anyone would like a copy, please email me and I’ll get it to them.

Moving on, it was the Geneva Motor Show this week! I’m hoping nobody can take issue with me discussing this; last time I checked there wasn’t a liberation group for

bicycles that would have their voice trampled upon by discussion of petrol so we should be safe from militant keyboard warriors. **** I was planning to finish this article about cars, but as I wrote a new thing grabbed my attention: the UGM proposing Meat Free Mondays. Thankfully the ruling doesn’t look like it’ll affect the delicious pies served in the Saw Swee Hock. I sadly won’t be supporting the motion, chiefly because the proponents didn’t get in touch to see if we could run a join campaign and include a fair milk price clause.

I’d also be tempted to support it if we could have more diverse meat choices the rest of the week, and I hope someone proposes an amendment to this effect. Foie Gras Friday’s anyone? Ptarmigan Tuesdays? The list is endless. No doubt ardent leaf muncher Liam Hill will be in full opposition – sorry Liam, nobody’s up for Tofu Thursdays. If anything, serving insects would be a more sustainable solution.

Enjoy the paper!

Tuesday March 10, 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

DOES YOUR SOCIETY NEED A COMPUTER? We are getting rid of our old Macs, as the annual fund has given us some shiny new ones. The old ones aren’t actualy that old, and if your society would be interested in gettting one for free, email the editor.

The Beaver @beaveronline Jon Allsop is interviewing Alastair Duncan, opening with the vital question “where did you buy your hat?”

The Beaver @beaveronline @JayStoll takes a poo in the green room #celeb

Liam Hill savours being back home in Devon, if only for a day. You’re all invited

From the Managing Editor AS SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE seen from my new facebook profile picture – an image of me ambling over a big chunk of granite – I have been out of London this weekend.

I put up with two five-and-ahalf hour coach journeys to justify about 40 hours actually spent at home or out with my parents. I headed home on Friday to recuperate and to reenergise, but writing this Editorial on Sunday I realise I will probably have to wait until after the end of this term to actually manage that.

I was, perhaps, at my very most relaxed while ambling over the big rock in question – it’s called Haytor, on Dartmoor National Park, if you’re interested. Miles from my laptop, wi-fi or any possibility of picking up some 3G on my phone, I could properly escape from LSE and anything to do with it, if only

for about half an hour. As much as I enjoy being at LSE and engaging with and in the activities of the SU and societies, I am very much in need of a rest and a holiday.

Relentlessly dragging myself back into the real world, I suppose this means I should spend the rest of this editorial complaining about the lack (up until soon) of a reading week; or asking nicely that departments and elected officers ensure that, for the sake of students like me who study courses from more than one department, reading week is the same week for all departments.

But since I have just concisely covered that, all that remains is for me to recommend a break in Devon. Amble over big rocks on Dartmoor, sample genuine Devon cream tea in Widdecombe, visit Ye Olde Cider Bar – the UK’s first (al-

legedly) ever public house specialising in cider – in my hometown of Newton Abbot and, of course, visit the seaside at any of Devon’s (literally) tens of beaches at which an enjoyable time might be had by someone, at some point, presumably. At the very least, you might bump into me doing all of this as soon as Lent Term is over. **** You leave Tofu Thursdays alone, Fyfe. Meat Free Mondays is a fabulous idea based on really important, environmentally sound principles, and I urge everyone to support the motion on Thursday.

As for the the notion that Pie Minister might start serving up grasshopper pie with two mash, peas and gravy, feel free to begin the insectivore revolution if you so wish, Alex, but I’m sticking to leaves for now.

K atie Budd @klebudd “Sleep is the first step” Katie Budd on her plans now she has been elected.

Taheri @RuHLAM @liamjlhill still waiting for your censored content mate Editorial Note: In the unlikely event that the former Beaver feature of ‘Houghton Street Hotties’ returns, Liam Hill will be the first to get his censored content out. Until then, you’ll have to wait.

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News

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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

Continued from the Front page...

In other Exec positions, Elena Bignami was elected as the new Environment and Ethics Officer, Jasmina Bidé defeated Amal Awad to become the new Anti-Racism Officer, Damien Kemfack was elected to serve as the new International Students’ Officer and James Wurr

faced no competition other than RON as he was elected RAG President.

All seemed excited and eager to embrace their new found positions, with Kemfack telling the Beaver he is “so so excited to be working with Aysha AlFekaiki and Mahatir Pasha on BME issues” because “liberation is so important to me!”

Jasmina Bidé was particularly shocked with her victory

as the slide used by the Democracy Committee to present the results was in error, suggesting Bidé had in fact been beaten.

It was not the first technical difficulty of the night, as there had previously been a delay in using the systemised vote counting software. However, despite the delay, the crowd who had gathered in the Saw Swee Hock’s Venue were as upbeat as ever.

Julia Ryland was elected AU President, while San Puri, Elin Harding, Tessa Hutchinson and Oliver Strong were elected to the AU Executive, along with Jenny Johanson, who will serve with them in the newly created position of AU engagement officer.

Nadia Raslan, currently the SU’s Environment and Ethics Officer, was elected to the Trustee Board.

The Democracy Committee election, the first of the results to be presented on the night, was won by Katie Flynn, Joshua Ip, Hari Prabu, Jake Fryer and Fraser Bell, with Flynn set potentially to become the first female UGM chair in a number of years.

For most positions, the terms will begin in July, after Summer Term.

Credit: Joseph Crockett

News

Tuesday March 10, 2015

The Word on The Word on Kanan Parida

Do you want to be our roving reporter for a week? E-mail news@thebeaveronline.co.uk Do you want to be our roving reporter for a week? E-mail news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Beaver Reporters

Thursday 5th March saw the Lent Term Elections in the Saw Swee Hock’s Venue. All four Full-time Sabbatical Officers were elcected as well as twenty other postions, including Part-time Officers, Liberation Officers and Members of the Democracy Committee and Trustee Board. Kanan Parida et along to interview the student body on their views on the elections, asking them what they thought of the way in which elections were conducted and how inclusive they thought Following this weeks Free Education Demonstration, our Beaver reporter took to elections were. We also solved the mystery of the mysterious penguin Houghton Street in order to hear the opinions of those scurrying from the rain. We put the question, “Do you think education should be free?” to those on campus and “Theare buzztheir on campus, and the efforts from all the candidates made me realise I really do love the LSE here responses: culture” Pascalle Palmer, LLB Law “I swear if another person gives me a piece of paper I am going to scream” Peter Jorgensen, General Course Student The question that kept hundreds of LSE students wondering during elections: Who’s that penguin and why is he running for Gen Sec? Interestingly, despite not knowing who the penguin actually was, a huge number of LSE students pledged their firm support to his campaign - to make LSE a more social and interconnected place. As the penguin’s name was unfortunately forgotten on the voting list for General Secretary, LSE start-up “Frizzbee” has hired him and is now giving him another channel, supported by the many current Frizzbee users at LSE, to make LSE a more social and interconnected university.

Florian Dahlhausen, second year undergraduate, BSc Management

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LSE Student Action for Refugees Plan On Lobbying The Government Mercedes Doménech Enseñat Deputy News Editor LSE STUDENT ACTION FOR Refugees (STAR) has revealed that they will lobby the government for reforms to offer asylum seekers and refugees the opportunity to attend British universities as home students. For the time being, the application process for asylum seekers is lengthy and complex given the bureaucratic nature of the immigration system.

During the time it takes to finalise the application, young people can attend the British schooling system up until A-levels, although it is not permitted for them to apply and attend university as home students.

Asylum seekers and refugees are also prevented from taking up any employment, which often leads to asylum seekers living in poverty or economic hardship.

Young asylum seekers in the United Kingdom also do not have any access to financial support, so as they face high fees and living costs which are almost impossible to pay, most asylum seekers cannot pursue higher education to

improve their conditions.

A report by Refugee Support Network (RSN) shows that education is a crucial necessity for many unaccompanied children coming to the UK. Enabling young people- who are often living on low budgets- to attend university as home students, may enable them to improve their own lives and their communities.

Data published by STAR shows that, just in the UK, there were 23,507 petitions for asylum as of 2013. As the General Elections near us, LSE STAR will be lobbying the government to support young asylum seekers planning to attend higher education.

Were such a move to be successful, young refugees and asylum seekers could engage in a more diverse and inclusive environment after having been forced out of their home countries by violence, war and/or persecution.

Over the course of two years, LSE STAR has successfully campaigned for the London School of Economics to provide £20,000 of financial support to asylum seekers. The new lobbying action, as the LSE Students' Union Tumblr page claims, is inspired by this success.

I thought the campaigning process was a great opportunity to see what each candidate could contribute if elected. To see people so passionate about changing the school for the better was great, I only wish the candidates were able to maintain such a high level of dedication and participation throughout their term in office.

Angie Garcia, General Course If I could change anything in the election process I would firstly request more organised debates between the candidates. Perhaps the fact that campaigning was by and large one week, and everything had to happen within that week, it made the likes of integrating debates in difficult. I just feel it becomes way too much about how witty you are with your campaign, rather than the policies you plan to enact. Like take freezing international student fees (for example), how in the world is that doable? Nobody has ever told me, but almost every Gen Sec candidate puts its forward as one of their promises. Also, I wish some clarity on how the election process works was made more public. I only realized this year how important it is to fill in as many preferences as possible. I want to hear not only what would be desirable to have done, but also what CAN be done, and generally - the process by which that’s possible. There needs to be more accountability. I think someone who’s around LSE next year needs to create something similar to PolitiFact - and actually track the various promises made by LSESU officers, and see which ones are actually kept.

Tanvir Deol, third year undergraduate, BSc in Philosophy, Logic & Scientific Method One thing I would have changed about elections is making things clearer. I didn’t know until voting opened that you should only vote for BME/LGBTQ+ if you identify with those minority groups. There was only one tiny line on the voting page informing you of that, so I don’t think it was very effective in ensuring that only those members should cast their vote Anonymous, second year undergraduate, LLB Bachelor of Laws To be honest I think a lot of the election campaigns were run on barrages of “vote meds” over and over again- rather than content. Well, that’s what my Facebook news feed looked like. The campaigns were more about cool posters and aesthetics and getting attention with things like cupcakes and cool logos, or posters of prospects with a picture with an elephant saying “oh look this elephant voting for me so you vote for me!” So to be honest I zoned out for a lot of the elections.

Anonymous, first year undergraduate, BSc International Relations There is a very small percentage of the student body that is actually vested in the outcome of elections. Most students don’t actually care about who is elected for what position and so elections do need to be more inclusive for the student body. There needs to be a way to make the student body interested. As someone who does care about the elections I’d say it’s unfortunate that many people don’t.

Anonymous, second year undergraduate, BSc International Relations and History

In Brief

Library Increases Seating For LSE students THE LIBRARY HAS INCREASED the number of study spaces in the Course Collection and the 4th Floor.

99 study spaces are now available exclusively to LSE students in the Course Collection on the Ground floor of the Library, while 20 additional study spaces have been opened on the Library’s Fourth floor.

The project came following feed-

back from LSE students to increase the amount of quiet study space available to them. The Library has listened and the result is substantial new space dedicated to quiet study for LSE students.

The Course Collection space was made available by removing unused and out-of-date material, although copies of all titles have been retained and remain available to students.

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News

Tuesday March 10, 2015

LSE Meat Free Mondays Campaign Launched Liam Hill Managing Editor THE LONDON SCHOOL OF Economics (LSE) Students Union (SU) Animal Rights Society has launched a campaign to mandate lobbying by Sabbatical Officers that LSE Catering Establishments should not sell meat products on any Monday. The Meat Free Mondays campaign will include a motion to be debated and voted on at Thursday 12th's Union General Meeting (UGM).

This would entail The Bean

Counter, the Fourth Floor Restaurant and Café Bar, The Garrick, Café 54, Plaza Café and the George IV pub serving only meat free options at least one day a week and that “vegan and vegetarian options (would) replace meat-products on Mondays” when practically possible.

The motion is set to be proposed by Sara Hyder and seconded

by Raisa Huq. Emphasising the environmental benefit of a reduction in meat consumption, the campaign will note in its motion that an analysis “by Goodland and Anhang on the

GHG emissions of animal… states that the whole industry is responsible for 32.6 billion tons of CO2 released per year, which is 51% of worldwide (Greenhouse gas) emissions.”

Nadia Raslan, the Environment and Ethics Officer, gave a statement to The Beaver saying: “I definitely support this campaign for Meat Free Mondays at LSE and I’m happy that a society I have worked with and supported this year is leading it. Not only will it raise more awareness about how unsustainable our current level of meat consumption is, but also if implemented, it will

offer LSE students more vegetarian options on campus. I really hope LSE students get behind the campaign too and that the SU will lobby the school’s catering to comply if the motion passes.”

Sara Hyder, President of the LSESU Animal Rights Society, told The Beaver: “There’s been a lot of positive reaction to the campaign from vegetarians and meat eaters alike, which is really wonderful to see! The aim of this entire exercise was to highlight to students how unsustainable a diet that utilises animal products is. Livestock production is literally killing our

environment. I personally love this university, and want to see positive change occur on our campus.

Watching the divest campaign was a delight, but our talk about the environment can’t stop here.

“We need to acknowledge that the meat industry could be the most environmentally damaging industry this university is engaging with, and as such limit our interaction with it. Meat Free Mondays is a great way to keep yourself aware of how your food impacts the environment, and is a great stepping stone towards a diet that is fully sustainable.”

Full Lent Term Election Results

Credit: Joseph Crockett

London Uni Round-up A concise summary of events taking place on other London University Campuses in the past couple of weeks.

K I N G ’ S C O L L E G E London Men’s Rugby team and King’s College London student newspaper Roar News have teamed up to shoot a naked calendar for charity Broken Rainbow UK – a violence and abuse charity for LGBT communities. Photographs from the calendar include ones taken outside the university on the Strand and in the Maughan Library on Chancery Lane and will be released each day next week.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE London Student Union elections came to an end last week after a long week of campaigning. Reports of fraud in these elections have recently emerged. This was as a result of complaints made to the Student’s Union of voter fraud and manipulation, specifically by candidates with University College London Islamic Society affiliation. Exact details of these claims are yet to be confir med

73% OF STUDENTS AND staff at SOAS have backed a call for the school to break its institutional links with Israeli universities in a referendum organised by the Students’ Union. The ballot asked “Should SOAS join the BDS call for an academic boycott of Israeli universities?”; the ‘yes’ campaign said that the result was “a victory first and foremost for the Palestinian students and academics who continue to struggle for the right to education under Israeli occupation and apartheid on a daily basis”.

News

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Kelly and Gaskell come under fire In Brief from LSE400 students

An EU Capital Markets Union Could Foster Growth and Employment

AN EU CAPITAL MARKETS union (CMU) has potential to be the driving force for growth in Europe, according to MP Andrea Leadsom. In a conference hosted

by LSE’s Systemic Risk Centre and Goldman sachs last 23rd February, Leadsom made her comments to Steffen Kampeter, German Parliamentary State Secretary for Finance. In agreement with many of the contributors, Leadsom argued that the creation of single capital markets would help small and medium enterprises. According to the MP, this initiative would expand current practices rather than replace traditional financing.

Kempeter agreed with Leadsom adding that an EU with a functioning CMU would foster growth and employment. The conference closed with a warning from LSE’s Professor Paul de Grauwe, who suggested that Capital markets can be an huge source of instability without trust.

Human Rights And Criminal Law Reforms: Conor Gearty talks to Francesca Klug and Jeremy Holder PROFESSOR KLUG, LSE academic, joined Conor Gearty last Thursday 5th March in a short debate on the Human Rights Act. During the 5minute conversation, Klug argued that the anniversary of the Magna Carta shows how society is willing to celebrate freedom and liberties as said by a ‘medieval document that has no legal impact at all’, although it is uncomfortable for British society to fully embrace a document which actually has an effect on current events.

In his clip released the 26th February, Gearty also put Professor Holder, expert in criminal law, in the spotlight conversing about the Criminal Law reform. In the traditional Gearty style, the session began sharply with the question ‘do we have to many criminals, or too few?’ Their exchange touched upon different issues including corruption amongst MPs and the debate surrounding the criminal law reform. To the question of which crime he would add and which one he would remove, Holder answered ‘I would have a law which makes it much simpler to seize the assets of people who are involved in criminal activity and laundering money’, and he regarding which one he would take away he replied ‘stop not having a TV license a criminal offence’.

Mahatir Pasha News Editor FOUR LSESU OFFICERS have signed a letter sent to the two Chairs of the LSE400 course Professor Paul Kelly and George Gaskell on Friday, expressing concerns about the lecture series. The letter says there is a “lack of representation of both the speakers and the content for the LSE400 lecture series.” It goes onto to say, “In addition, the timing of the lectures excludes a number of Muslim students as it clashes with Friday Prayers.”

Postgraduate Students’ Officer, Mahamid Ahmed, Women’s Officer Gee, Linford-Grayson, Education Officer, Thomas Maksymiw and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Students’ Officer, Samiha Begum were the four Officers who signed the letter.

It was raised in the letter that the timing of the lectures contravenes the ‘Religious Observance Policy’, which states “As far as practicable, teaching and assessment or School-wide events should not be scheduled at the following time: Friday lunchtimes – Muslim prayer time, 1-2pm Friday afternoons after 3pm in Michaelmas and Lent terms Jewish Sabbath

The letter also raises concerns about there being only two women speaking compared to thirteen men with the claim being made that there is “no evidence of an intersectional approach”.

Mahamid Ahmed, who alongside Tom Maksymiw led the letter said, "developing and sending this letter has been an important task for us to conduct as elected Officers. Much of the student body have contacted us expressing concerns with the LSE400 course.

We hope the Chairs of the course reply to us quickly and take swift action."

The full letter, published on the LSESU Tumblr, can be seen below

LSE Broke The News At Saturday’s International Journalism Event Kanan Parida Deputy News Editor ON SATURDAY 7TH MARCH the London Globalist scheduled a conference on international journalism consisting of three individual keynotes, a Guardian masterclass and a panel discussion reviewing this past year in news. With registration beginning at 9:30am, the Venue at Saw Swee Hock was abuzz with students interested in international journalism.

Although there may not have been a huge turn out, the audience was mainly retained until the end.

The conference began with a keynote by Jon Allsop, the former Executive Editor of the Beaver who is currently in his third year at the London School of Economics (LSE). Drawing on his own experiences with journalism, Jon delved into the

virtues and vices of student journalism, picking up on a resonating theme in the conference- the changing face of journalism. Through the course of the conference, the issue of whether technology and social media were threats to the future of journalism or whether they should be embraced any employed to collect data by journalists was explored.

The panel discussion consisted of Richard Gizbert- host of the Listening Post at Al Jazeera, Raneem Hannoush- LSE alumnus and journalist for Al Sharaq Alawsat, Sidin Vadukut- foreign correspondent for Mint and Hindustan Times in India and Carl Miller- social media research director at Demos. The panel began with a cursory glance at the biggest news stories of 2014, where each panellist espoused their opinion ranging from ISIS to the Indian elections to the Rus-

sian occupation of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, after each panellist shared his or her views, the discussion went far deeper, looking at social media vis-à-vis mainstream media, with Miller showcasing the power of social media and Gizbert maintaining that social media could never replace mainstream media but conceding that there must be a sort of “marriage” between the two; though time prohibited a much deeper exploration of this idea.

This theme persisted through the Guardian masterclass, where Jon Henley, a senior feature editor of the Guardian shared his experiences with twitter and social media. With reference to his ‘tweet trip’, Henley revealed how it was possible to have access to a wealth of information through twitter. Whilst in Greece, Henley used twitter to expose not the adverse impacts of the debt cri-

sis, but all the local initiatives that were being taken to help the people. Henley touched on this idea of unbiased journalism being about reporting the positives as well and not just restricting reporting to stories of conflict. He also demonstrated how media, such as photos and videos, could be used to tell a story as in the case of the Australia firestorm.

The conference took a sombre tone with Tom Finn’s discussion of safety with regards to journalism and the dangers most freelance journalists face, particularly in conflict zones.

However, it ended on a positive note bringing back the theme of technology and journalism with Sarah Marshall, social media editor of the Wall Street Journal, who works with Hacks/ Hackers London and Brighton, a group dedicated to filtering through social media to reveal true stories.

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News

Tuesday March 10, 2015

PakSoc Dance The Visual Arts Exhibition Swiftly Qawali Night Away Became A Must Attend ON SATURDAY, 7TH MARCH 2015, LSESU Pakistan Society hosted the Annual Qawali Night, a flagship event that is organized by the society every year. The event was part of the Pakistan Week with a series of events , which saw the PakSoc members dancing on Houghton street in a flashmob, a traditional bus ride around strand and Biryani eating competition.

Despite the time stated on tickets to be 8 p.m, the show started way past 9 p.m leaving the attendees to stand outside Saw Swee Hack waiting for over a hour in the freezing cold. But once the musical programme started, the audience, which was well over one hundred, immersed itself in night of beautiful music along with some chai (tea), paan and mithai (traditional sweet).

Qawali, for those who didn’t know what it was, was described as a style of Sufi devotional

music marked by rhythmic improvisatory repetition of a short phrase, intended to rouse participants to a state of mystical ecstasy. The music fulfilled its promise and towards the end of the show, which was nearly mid night, the audience was on their feet, singing and dancing in parallel to the Qawaal singer and a set of musicians.

The event was covered by Geo Network, a popular news channel in Pakistan, with its anchor, Murtaza Ali Shah, interviewing students about the need organizing such traditional events.

Almost half of the attendees were non LSE students, mostly from City University, Kings and UCL. The Beaver asked some 2nd and 3rd year LSE students on how the event compared to last year’s and heard varying responses, with some saying that the event was more soulful and music more uplifting last year while others suggested that since the tunes were mild this time, they preferred this year’s Qawali night.

Robin Park Sport Editor ON WEDNESDAY 4TH March, the London School of Economics (LSE) Students’ Union (SU) Visual Arts Society organised the now annual Exhibition Launch Party. Promoted as “a celebration and appreciation of the arts”, the LSESU VASoc scheduled four different acts to perform throughout the evening, as well as organising an open mic session, and of course, the artwork exhibition itself.

Held on the top floor of Saw Swee Hock, it was a much more intimate setting than the previous year, where it was held downstairs in Saucy. Free beverages ensured there was a strong attendance, however, this was no drinking freefor-all, as guests were also treated to some of the best artwork from the LSE academic year. There were caricatures by a life drawing instructor, who also continued his work throughout the night. Guests were also invited to contribute to the “What is Art?” project, which

Letter To The Editor This is going to be my last contribution to LSESU. Throughout my three years, never have I seen our community so divided through hate, and I’ve decided that I want out while I can.

I’ve been absolutely disgusted by some of the things I’ve seen during elections, and decided this is no longer a community I wish to be a part of.

First, there was the ‘friendlier than you think’ Feminist Society. When it came to Women’s Officer endorsements, their committee decided to explicitly endorse ‘Re-Open nominations’ above eventual runner-up Taye Le Monnier. If that bullying tactic aimed at a domestic abuse care worker wasn’t enough, a member commenting ‘LOL’ certainly did the trick!

Following this, a friend of mine received an unsolicited message saying ‘just so you know, if you’re elected I won’t support you’ from a fellow candidate, while another was intimidated and pressured by a sabbatical officer’s campaign manager when they refused to pose for a photo.

The scariest part about all of this?

Those behind these forms of behaviour were those elected after a ‘good, clean fight’.

They will see no wrong in any of the above and I genuinely believe they represent the minority of LSESU, but sadly it’s a minority that shouts louder

than everyone else.

So why would I leave? It’s because I cannot be bothered anymore.

I cannot be bothered to continue telling people that it’s contradictory to say you want inclusivity and behave like the above.

I cannot be bothered to continue telling people that alienating individuals is no way to get your point across.

I cannot be bothered to continue telling people that, if you want equality, you can’t say things that you wouldn’t be happy with if they were the other way around.

If I remain a part of the LSESU community, it’s inevitable that I will feel an urge to stand-up for what I believe in, and that’s why I’ve decided to quit while I’m behind.

I’ve left the LSESU Facebook groups, I’ve unsubscribed from their emails, the only place you will see me next year is in the library, in my classes, and hanging out with my graduate friends.

I had a blast in my first two years.

I’m content with the mark I left, relaunching Beaver Online and attracting 100,000 unique visitors in MT. But now, it’s time to say goodbye and good luck to all of you.

I can only hope this article makes some of our newly elected, and appropriately titled, Officers to have a think about what it is they want to acheive HARRY MAXWELL

provided an opportunity to discuss and write down individual perspectives on what art meant. This was then displayed for all to see and it was a unique addition to this year’s exhibition, which gave an interactive element to the evening.

There were also performances

by The Instrumental Variables, The Houghtones, Laure Roux, and a duet by Ho-Shing Mak and Amelia Thomson. The duet was especially well received, with covers of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Robbie Williams getting loud applauses from everyone in the audience. The Beaver was given exclusive access to their rehearsals, and it can be confirmed that only Taylor Swift covers were practised beforehand, and the Katy Perry and Robbie Williams were impromptu.

The exhibition was undoubtedly a huge success and indeed, several guests stayed until the very end of the event. One of the main organisers, Exhibition Officer Raphaëlle de Beaumont, also noted the incredibly “friendly and cheerful atmosphere” and how the

rest of the committee was very pleased to show a small preview of the end of year exhibition. Indeed, it was a fantastic event for everyone who attended, and will no doubt continue to cement itself as a key event in the LSE students’ calendar.

Credit: Rui Ding

Credit: Raphaëlle de Beaumont

Tooba Mushtaq News Writer

International Women’s Day

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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A Message from your New Women’s Officer

Lena Schofield LSESU Women’s Officer 2015-6 MARCH 8TH IS INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day, the theme this year is ‘make it happen’. International Women’s Day is a celebration of women, originally a socialist working women’s day, and a time to call for equality and challenge injustice for wom-

en. This seems apt as this election season has seen the women of LSE make it happen, even in the face of discrimination and prejudice.

I am inspired by the women of LSE all of the time, but particularly this election season where we have seen 3 woman sabbs elected, as well as a woman UGM Chair! It really is an exciting time, and I’m certain we will see great things from them. I am never surprised that the women of LSE are making it happen, because I have never before met so many driven and brilliant women in one place as I have met here at university.

However, despite the encouraging results it is the case that many of those women that ran, and won faced sexism along the way and this reminds us of how far we still have to go. One candidate was told that she would do better in the elections if she wore more makeup, another was told she was too outspoken to

win. Criticisms that would never be levelled against a man.

We should not forget that once in power women face being undermined and harassed simply because they are women.

Nona our general secretary has faced huge amounts of gendered criticism this year. In a UGM a man who disagreed with her decided to express his disagreement not with her ideas but with her dress, telling her that he found her dress offensive but that doesn’t mean he would ban it. She also faced gendered criticism the week prior to the elections in the editorial of this paper, where Alex Fyfe complained about her ‘grotesque sexual prattling’s (sic)’ in an incredibly creepy manner, which amounted to slut shaming.

Our Women’s Officer, Gee, has also faced violence and intimidation simply for speaking out and challenging sexism on our campus. Both Gee and Nona

have dealt with these gendered attacks with more bravery and decorum than I believe I could muster, and for that reason and many others they inspire me.

Feminism for me is often about community and solidarity, women supporting women, and the importance of those strong relationships. To celebrate International Women’s Day a group of us LSE feminists met up for brunch and talked about the issues affecting women today such as xenophobia, sexism, sexual assault, racism, and poverty. It’s these friendships with other feminist women that strengthen my resolve to be an outspoken woman who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. One day of the year isn’t enough to challenge the systems of injustice in society, we must look to challenge them every day in all that we do. So make it happen, and celebrate your friendships

with women, together we are powerful.

Interview with Ani Shah

Ani is President of LSESU Women Leaders of Tomorrow and a Co-Founder of the LSESU Red Lips Project feminism… even I struggle sometimes, it’s not black and white, as nothing ever is more shades of grey. Photos enable us to capture how we feel and express this in a way that doesn’t need words yet people understand how we feel.

The UN Theme for International Women’s Day this year "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!" Does that fit in well with what LSESU Red Lips was all about?

Yes it really does. I think as a young feminist in a time where feminism is becoming fashionable and spoken about openly it’s being moulded to fit into certain social forms and norms. So today I was scrolling through my Instagram and I was amazed at the number of people and organisations instagramming pictures about International Women’s Day. I distinctly remember this time last year not many people knew about the day or even wanted to mark it. I think that for people who are new to identifying with being a feminist it’s difficult to say why they are a feminist, or what they want from

Who are your greatest heroines and why?

The amazing women around me, my mother and aunt are shining stars to me. But the amazing women at LSE. I think we all empower one another; we really have this culture amongst us that we all need to help each other I mean we all have the same aims and aspirations. This was so great during the red lips project, I loved working with Gee, and Steph and the amazing team of WiB! What in your view is the best way to make the AU more inclusive and accessible to women?

I think at the moment it is already inclusive and accessible to women, I mean I am part of the AU and it’s a great experience and arena to showcase amazing sporting talent, team work and drive. Taylor has always supported women’s initiatives and this was evident in the AU backing of the Red Lips Project. I think Julia & the new Executive committee are going to do an amazing job on

bring the AU forward.

More in general, how can LSE become a more empowering community for women?

I think we need to build on the success of the Red Lip project by organising a variety of events that is accessible for every type of feminist. I think social media is a great way to engage with a large number of men and women on campus. I think we need to invite men to sit our table too and educate them too because most men will be affected by women’s issues too. There are so many subtle gender differences in the work place that they need to be aware off. I think feminism should be about empowering women and bringing them up not about bringing men down. I mean like Connie Jackson said at the red lips launch, I know I am fabulous I just need to make everyone else remember that they are also fabulous! I think we also need to create a safe place for women to openly identify themselves with feminism. One of my favourite quotes is from the late Maya Angelou ‘I am a feminist, I have been for a while. It’d be stupid of me not to be on my own side.’

What does feminism mean to you?

At the end of the day it’s equality between genders and I really think we’ve come a long way but there are big gaps in people’s attitudes and perceptions of feminism. The reason why I wanted to do red lips was to educate and remove these stereotypes. Be-

cause at the end of the day any human being can be whoever they want to be no one has the right to stop them so why should feminist women be put into a box? A real woman is whatever the hell she wants to be. No one puts baby in the corner….

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

International Women’s Day

A Bigger Pie: Reflections on Women Supporting Each Other

TO ME, A HUGE PART OF International Women’s Day is about celebrating the strength of women and the profound value that they bring to the world, increasing with the freedoms won as obstacles to women empowerment are torn down. Putting aside all the perks of being on the Women

in Business Society and Red Lips Project committee (free lipstick, great dinners, cocktails and free entry to Saucy, wohoo!!), it is really the aim of supporting women in achieving their career ambitions that makes my strongest motivation. There's something greatly energising and inspiring when I'm in the company of women who are ambitious and so expressly keen on seeing each other succeed.

However, it is not everywhere that we see this and to be honest, at least in my case, it is not every time that I practice support of my fellow women. A study by an Olin Business School professor, Michelle Duguid shows that women in the higher levels of the business world are less inclined to support female newcomers into the industry. An interesting article in Forbes by Lisa Quast suggest that the higher women go in the career ladder, the more hell bent they seem on undermining each other. “Mean girls, meaner women” as psychologist Joan Rosenburg put it.

Their explanations for such behaviours actually resonate with the reasons for some of my actions, and it scares me as much as I wish I can deny these thoughts.

Duguid identifies several reasons that lead women to fracture their

Stephanie Nina Menggu President, LSESU Women in Business sisterhood and one of these is the competitive threat : that being among the few women in a workplace, there’s a higher chance of being compared to other women – one might be the “good one” and the other, the “bad one”.

Quast writes that because women still only have claim over a smaller piece of the pie, they feel themselves to be in competition with other women.

This saddens me and as I’ve mentioned, it frightens me to realize how easily true these feelings are for myself and for many other women. Perhaps being in a maledominated society is to blame, perhaps us women need to rethink our ways of relating to each other.

Perhaps you completely disagree with me and always find yourself, without fail, to be in the company of supportive women and are yourself, ever a supportive one too. If that is the case, then that’s amazing. YOU are amazing and I ask that you spread that gift to the women around you.

Yet with all the research that has gone into it and the multitude of personal experiences to account for it, the fact remains that there is still a tendency for women to hold back in giving other women a leg up in the business world.

If you, like me, find yourself doing this or see it happening, make it change. The women of LSE have proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with over the past year and being from all over the world, making a change right here within ourselves and within the campus may mean a change for all women worldwide.

Let’s not squabble over the small piece of pie that we’ve got right now. There’s always a bigger pie that can be baked, with more

Why We Need Aggressive Feminism

Samantha Jury-Dada Chair, LSESU Labour & Co-Operative Society I’VE STOPPED COUNTING how many times I have walked down the street and been told how nice my tits are. I’ve also stopped counting how many times I have

been called a whore, a slut, a frigid bitch or worse, simply because I chose to ignore their cat calling.

Being a woman is hard, it really is. We need to be strong but not bossy. We need to be leaders, but not selfish. We need to be confident but not arrogant. We need to be friendly but make sure we weren’t ‘asking for it’. Society demands so much from us and often those demands are contradictory.

Being a woman is hard. We are told we should aspire to look perfect and be beautiful 24/7.

We are taught that normal bodily functions are disgusting if you are a woman. However, if you are a man and you fart, you are crowned King Lad. When women can’t even poo in peace, you know there is something wrong!

Being a woman is hard. And being a BME woman means that I have the pleasure of experiencing a racialised form of sexism.

On Tinder, I have been asked numerous times if I’ve ever fucked a White person before. People argue that my success is a result of token-

ism, because not only am I woman, but a Black one too. People say I am lucky I inherited the ‘good features’ of being Black, because they believe in a Western standard of beauty where a wide nose, an Afro and curves are unattractive.

This is not a game of oppression top trumps, but rather an insight into my experiences as a woman of colour.

Being a woman is hard, and this is why we need aggressive feminism. We need aggressive feminism to tackle the aggressive patriarchy. The aggressive patriarchy, which, by the way, affects men just as much as it affects women. It is because of the patriarchy that men suffer silently with mental health conditions because to ask for help would be weak. It is because of the patriarchy that when a man is sexually assaulted they are ashamed to report it to the police.

Feminism is for the benefit of everyone and that is why it is so disheartening to see so much vitriol directed towards the Feminist Society here at LSE. These

women give up hours and hours of their time to improve the lives of students at LSE, even if it means taking on big institutions in the school. A lot of women do not define themselves as feminist, but they are benefiting from the actions and sacrifices of feminists every day. Being a woman is hard, and it is even harder for women who want to change the system, who challenge the patriarchy, who call out sexual abuse on campus, who petition for greater recognition of women academics in the curriculum. And at the end of a day, after all their hard work, -after the name calling and countless accusations-, they have to log into Facebook to find that their post about sexism at LSE has been derailed yet again, by the ‘not all men’ brigade.

Being a woman is hard, but I for one am glad there are women and men out there who will campaign for change, no matter the personal cost. Because of them, one day, being a woman might not be that hard.

The Long Road to Equality: Stats and Facts Earings in the USA For every one dollar paid to a white man in the USA...

A white woman earns 78 cents A black woman earns 64 cents A latina woman earns 53 cents

Longest serving incumbent female head of state Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany

Only 52 countries... ... have explicity outlawed marital rape. The UK only did so in 1992.

And 61 countries... ... severely restrict the right to have an abortion.

80%... ... of all refugees are women.

70%... ... of the population of the world defined as living in ‘absolute poverty’ are women.

60,000,000... ... girls worldwide are ‘child brides’ married before the age of 18, according to the UN. 603,000,000... ... women live in countries where domestic violence is not legally considered a crime, according to the UN. 100... ... women per day are arrested in Tehran for not wearing proper Islamic head dress.

30%... ... of women worldwide have experienced violence by an intimate partner.

2... ... women are murdered every day in Guatemala.

10... ... lesbians in Cape Town are subjected to ‘corrective’ rape daily.

Comment Section Editorial:

Comment

THIS WEEK I HAVE BEEN incredibly vocal about my support for the Meat Free Mondays motion that is being put to UGM this Thursday. I have been a vegetarian for almost five years and in that time have faced a considerable amount of criticism for my life choice. From my family’s constant declaration that it is ‘just a phase’ to the unrelenting cries of ‘but, how do you live without bacon?’, the scrutiny has barely ceased over the years. I have always found this frustrating, as I did not consider my life choice to be something that particularly affected anyone but myself (apart from the friend I travelled to Eastern Europe with, and forced to trail round numerous restaurants until we found one that served a vegetarian option. Still sorry for that).

Sara’s article this week forced me to reconsider my view that my diet only affects myself. In fact, meat free diets affect everyone. The environmental damage that our carnivorous culture causes is alleviated by each individual that chooses to go without meat, whether for one day a week or for a significant portion of their lives. So you’re welcome, world. Not only for smiling nicely and nodding along when you flagrantly disrespect my life choices, but also for doing my bit to help our world’s future, rather than destroying it for no-ones interest but my own stomach.

Apologies to Esohe Uwadiae for the misspelling of her name last week.

Ellen Wilkie

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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

LSE 120: What Would The Webbs Think?

What would be our Fabian founders opinion present day LSE? Ronda Daniel IN 1889, CHARLES BOOTH conducted, with the help of founders of the LSE, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, a monumental ethnography entitled Life and Labour of the People of London, delving into the everyday lives of ordinary working people in London. This study found that the area LSE is situated in was the poorest, deemed ‘vicious’ and ‘semi-criminal’; now, its surrounding area is one of the most affluent in the country.

The Holborn area was a hotbed for social and philanthropic housing at the time of Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Victorian philanthropists soon gave way to councils and states for social housing; however, Britain is now faced with a housing crisis, primarily the result of greed for profit and privatisation. This has to be one of the biggest demographic changes in London. 120 years ago, the Holborn area was inhabited by some of the country’s poorest people. Now, it is used by the richest to rent properties out and occasionally use them when they need fast access to London.

In her ‘Minority Report’, commonly known as the ‘Poor Law’, Beatrice Webb wrote that its purpose was “to secure a national minimum of civilised life ... open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we meant sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged”. She advocated for a national minimum living wage, over a century before Britain’s government introduced one, in 1999. The minimum wage in 2015 for people between the ages of 18 and 21 is £5.13/hour, and £6.50/hour for over 21’s. The average rent price per calendar month is £798; this leaves little room for other essentials like gas, electricity, food and clothes for people earning the minimum wage. In 1895, when the LSE was founded by the Webbs, the average wage was 24 shillings and 7 pence per week; the equivalent to £1 a week. Of course, merely looking at this, you would assume this is a massive improvement; but expenses have shot up. It would be interesting to see what the Webbs would say about zero-hour contracts, that inhibit people from obtaining

other, stable jobs, and receiving any welfare support.

Another thing we could learn in 2015 from Sidney and Beatrice Webb is not to demonise others.

Booth, who later defected to the Conservative Party, concluded from his ethnography, within which Beatrice Webb posed as a seamstress, that poverty was the result of crime. The Webbs, however, among others, contested this, and asserted that this was the other way round. Mr & Mrs Webb were amongst the first social researchers and advocates to argue for the representation of marginalised groups.

In 2015, we could all learn from this: in a media-saturated society, revolving around the judgement and condemnation of people to make a profit. With The Jeremy Kyle Show, Benefits Street and the Daily Mail receiving millions of views and readers from exaggerating the stories of a minority of people to be wide-scale, society needs more Sidney and Beatrice Webbs.

In 1918, when the LSE celebrated its 23rd anniversary, Sidney Webb wrote the original Clause IV for the Labour Party, primarily promoting ‘common ownership of the means of production, dis-

tribution and exchange’ (nationalisation). Essentially, writing the foundations of the party. I think that Sidney and Beatrice Webb would be ashamed of the Labour Party today, New Labour, under Ed Miliband; disassociating itself with the people that built the membership and base of the party, trade unionists, in order to gain funding and votes from corporates. Even its minimum wage that Beatrice Webb devoted so much to promote is lower than other socialist parties such as the Green Party.

Finally, what about the LSE itself- would they be proud of its prestige and achievements in the social sciences, or would they be disappointed with its elitism? As a sociology student, I think that I can definitely speak for Mr and Mrs Webb when I say I believe they would be proud of the LSE’s prominence in social research, and its ability to change the world; particularly in terms of social inequalities, social policies, and environmental policy. Despite its criticism on the grounds of elitism, the LSE has undoubtedly continued the Webbs’ advocation of representing marginalised groups.

More Student Apathy Than Student Activism Does the LSE still live up to its reputation as a highly political university?

Mali Williams “THE LSE, OF COURSE, used to be well-known for its student activism, but more recently it has become somewhat… subdued.” This was what I was told by a somewhat... smug barrister not too long ago on the 30th floor of a Canary Wharf skyscraper.

I asked myself then, as I have again this week, whether it was true; have we become a bland university, mere mutes in churning out a production line of city workers?

This week, as we look back over LSE’s 120 year history, how could we but remember the 1960s at the school, and the infamous Class of ‘68. Inspired by world-wide student demonstrations, these students occupied LSE in protest against the appointment of Walter Adams as Director, the suspension of lecturers, the Vietnam War. They fought the school authority throughout the late 60s, culminating in the ‘smashing of the gate’ in January 1969. And, although their ‘King-

sway utopia’ did not last, their actions set changes in motion which we often take for granted today.

Of course, the broader context should be taken into account: the 1960s were rife with student demonstrations across the globe. Moreover, it would be incorrect to label today’s entire LSE student body as apathetic. The LSESU is, as far as I am aware, the only university student’s union in the UK to hold weekly UGMs. The SU elections last week marked a record turnout with one in three students voting for General Secretary Candidates.

There is a dedicated core of students who are whole-heartedly passionate about politics, equalities, and freedoms at the LSE and beyond.

Nevertheless, we cannot shy away from the fact that only one in three of our fellow-students voted in the General Secretary election.

Indeed, the applause towards the one-in-three figure over the past few days cannot hide the fact that ‘around 35% turnout’ somehow seems significantly lower. This

should lead us to question: how exactly could two thirds of us have avoided Houghton Street over the past week? Are issues such as microwaves simply not salient enough to grasp students’ interests? Why could the majority of us not spare a mere 30 seconds of our time to log on and vote? These are serious questions which the SU seems to have glossed over since the results.

It begs one to wonder what the Class of ’68 would have to say in reply.

Perhaps this low turnout is simply consistent with trends of general apathy towards politics beyond university boundaries. The popular press’s hero of last week, Michael Sheen recounted in the BBC documentary, ‘Valleys Rebellion’, how 175 years ago, 5000 armed working men marched down through the South Wales Valleys to the centre of Welsh power at time, Newport.

They marched because the political system had failed them, they wanted their voices to be heard, and they suffered rank injustices in their daily lives. 22 of these men

were shot dead, and gave their lives for right to vote, just as countless others in our history have too.

Given today’s voter apathy, Sheen asks whether the blood spilt on the streets of Newport was worth the sacrifice. He warns, “Forgetting what was struggled for in the past makes it so much easier to take from us in the present.”

I end, hopefully, as fittingly as Sheen ended his documentary, with this poem by Grahame Davies, and the Class of ’68 in mind: ‘We do not ask you to remember us: you have your lives to live as we had ours, and ours we spent on life, not memory.

We only ask you this - that you live well, here, in the places that our labour built, here, beneath the sky we seldom saw, here, on the green earth whose black vein we mined, and feel the freedom that we could not find.’

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Comment

Tuesday March 10, 2015

Meat Free Mondays: Debate Those In Favour

Moral cost aside, eating meat is devastating our environment Sara Hyder O U R E N V I RO N M E N T I S I N crisis. All of us, our scientists, academics and even our politicians agree that we are on the brink of ecological disaster. If we let the global temperature of our planet increase by just 2°, our environment will be at the whim of a destructively unstable climate. For many it may not be immediately obvious why Meat Free Mondays is an environmentally progressive initiative, but the reality is that livestock production is one of, if not the, leading cause of environmental degradation. Several organisations, including the UN, have now expressed concern about the sustainability of a meat and dairy diet. Recent studies have shown that livestock production is directly responsible for up to 51% of greenhouse gas emissions.

These figures may at first seem surprising, but the truth is that behind every steak, egg or glass of milk there are several environmentally damaging industries at work.

Our rainforests, the lungs of our planet, are being destroyed at a rate of one acre per second by golems of heavy machinery to clear way for cattle that are bred for slaughter. Livestock production is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, habitat destruction and water pollution. One fifth of the human population are born into areas of water scarcity, in a world where we are happy to use 660 gallons of water just to produce one burger. We produce enough grain to feed 10 billion people, yet we take this food out of the mouths of nearly a billion malnourished and starving human beings and instead feed it to livestock. From a sustainability perspective this is catastrophic, if the whole of the world’s population were to eat a Western diet we

would need two planets to supply this demand. We only have one.

All of these problems can be solved with a gradual progression towards a plant-based diet. This would put a lot less strain on the planet and on every level of production is more efficient, ethical and environmentally friendly.

This is why we are campaigning for the LSESU to engage with the Meat Free Mondays campaign, by mandating for all LSE catering establishments to stop selling meat products (including fish) on Mondays. Our motion will be going forward to a UGM on Thursday 12th March, and after that the students and faculty of LSE will be able to vote for or against making Meat Free Mondays an official LSE policy. We urge you to please vote in favour of this motion, as it would reduce our university’s engagement with environmentally regressive industries, and in turn improve our overall carbon footprint.

However, with this strong environmental focus it is too easy to forget that what we are talking about are living, breathing, feeling beings, with extraordinary capacities to develop strong social ties and emotional bonds.

The aim of the LSESU Animal Rights Society is to show people that animals should be given equal moral consideration to that of any human being. So although Meat Free Mondays is not a complete solution to these ethical and environmental concerns, we feel it is a step in the right direction towards a growing consciousness that deems the health of this planet as important, and animals worthy of our care and respect.

Please support our campaign and vote yes to Meat Free Mondays this Thursday!

Those Opposed

Using force to prevent meat intake is not a practical proposal Maurice Banerjee-Palmer PERHAPS I AM AN ENORMOUS hypocrite: I enforce one out of four communal dinners in my flat to be meat-free.

I eat vegetarian or fish meals with uncommon frequency and have an increasing number of vegetarian or vegan friends.

You could say I was a rather proselytising non-practising vegetarian. So why am I opposed to this week’s Meat Free Mondays UGM motion?

To reiterate: reducing our meat consumption is clearly a good idea. It has manifold benefits affecting food prices, water supply, global warming and human health. Eating meat all the time makes you polluting, fat and poor. The facts are well outlined in the campaign’s blog, available at www.lsemeatfreemondays.wordpress. com. Further, the LSE is a hub of progressive thought educating many of tomorrow’s decision-makers – a perfect place to advance the cause.

My beef (excuse the pun) is not with the aim but with the means of achieving it.

Banning things is neither a popular nor the most effective way of improving behaviour.

Students’ unions are becoming increasingly associated with banning opinions or things, leading to being caricatured as left-wing killjoys intent on enforcing their groupthink – not facilitators of a broad experience. (See a 22 November article

by Brendan O’Neill in The Spectator for a rant on this point). We’ve all heard the complaints – I live with three UCL students who have already been subjected to Meat Free Mondays. accurate or not, this motion plays into that narrative.

Maybe it’s worth the SU taking the hit and playing the bad guy. Sometimes ban-

ning things can be highly effective, I’m sure.

The ban on indoor smoking is apparently one of them. But the prevailing trend on how to promote good behaviour through policy is based on behavioural economics best known in the form of ‘nudge theory’.

It is is not immune from criticism and I do not understand it, in reality. But it’s certainly popular – governments around the world are adopting its methods. They are increasingly saying ‘let people make their own choices, but we will help them make the ones we think best’. Banning things is going out of fashion.

Whatever the broader arguments, this is not a practical proposal. I cannot see Meat Free Mondays working at LSE. There must be better options. First, does not apply to Wright’s Bar. LSE Catering, already embattled against the bargain bacon baps, will be hampered if the proposed lobbying is successful. And even if students don’t go to Wright’s Bar they have a panoply of lunchspots from which to choose.

I can see a more positive campaign being effective. LSE students are easily incentived to eat vegetarian food – have you seen the queue for Hare Krishna? Perhaps the Union could propose a tax on meat-based meals to subsidise vegetarian ones (a similar system already exists for bottled water).

Vegetarian recipe guides might be popular with second and third years who are open to the possibilities but don’t know where to start.

I also doubt the grammar – shouldn’t it be ‘Meat-Free Mondays’? That, or I’ve misunderstood and I take it all back. I would love free meat on Mondays.

Photo: Flickr: Martijn van Exel

Comment

Tuesday March 10, 2015

12

But Seriously, What About The Men?

Debates on gender address women’s issues but routinely overlook those that affect men Annie Burgess THE ‘RED LIPS PROJECT Week’: “to remind women students of LSE of their intrinsic strength and power”. Other than hating the phrasing of the Project’s aims (could we not have ‘celebrated’ or ‘reinforced’ our power?), all I could think when I heard about the event was ‘another one?’. It feels to me like there’s been a glut of women’s and feminist events recently. Although I applaud FemSoc and others on campus for being so active, and while I recognise the need for equality and empowerment campaigns, I am starting to wonder where the events focusing on men’s issues are. If feminism wants to be a movement for gender equality, it needs to work for people of all genders, not just women’s rights.

Feminists tend to believe that after hundreds of years of male privilege, men do not require events in the interest of their rights.

A feminist would believe that an event put on for men would be a continuation of the patriarchy and act against the interest of feminism. Whilst occupying the powerful position they do in society, what do men have to worry about?

Women are behind in the professional world; numbers of female CEOs and board members are shockingly low. However in the private sphere men are far worse off.

4,500 men commit suicide in the UK every year - three to four times more than the number of women who do so, despite men and women having a similar likelihood of suffering with depression. Men are

“4,500 men commit suicide in the UK every year - three to four times more than the number of women who do so, despite men and women having a similar likelihood of suffering with depression.” also four times more likely to abuse or become dependent on alcohol, which, like suicide, is associated with depression and anxiety disorders. The higher levels of male suicide and alcohol abuse are very likely to be connected to the fact that men are far less likely than women to seek help for mental health issues - 1 in 4 women seek help for depression during their lifetime, as opposed to just 1 in 10 men. Many doctors attribute this to gender-stereotypes - ‘being a man’ means not asking for help, whereas women are stereotypically encouraged to be in touch with their emotions and are not seen as weak if they admit that they’re struggling. This needs to change - we need to encourage an environment where every

member of our campus feels able to ask for help. We need to make sure that ideas of being a ‘real man’ don’t stop men seeking and receiving help when they need it most.

Domestic abuse is something that has been thought of primarily as a women’s issue, and while the majority of victims of domestic abuse are women, it’s not as big a majority as you might think. Women make up 62% of domestic abuse victims, making men the other 38%. While there are over 400 shelters for women and their children to seek refuge and £60 million is given to local authorities in order to support female victims of domestic abuse, there are just 11 shelters for men and their children, with just 17 dedicated places for male victims across the whole of the UK, and no money given to local authorities specifically for supporting male victims. This means that abused fathers often have to choose whether to leave their children or remain in an abusive situation - a choice that, through shelters and other support, women are now largely able to avoid. If a father seeks a divorce, he is likely to lose his children - mothers win five out of six sole-custody cases, which is again attributed to long-standing gender stereotypes that mothers are better parents.

The conviction rate of cases involving male victims is even lower than that for female victims, partly due to men not being taken seriously as victims. This is - again - in part due to gender stereotypes which makes it difficult for us to imagine a woman as strong enough to overcome a man physically and/or emotionally. We need to make it far easier

for all victims to stand up and be believed, and campaign for funding and shelters for male victims, with or without children. Feminist activism brought domestic abuse to the fore as a political issue. We all need to remain committed to feminism’s basis of gender equality and campaign for and with men for far more support and understanding

“Men may have privilege in professional areas, but in their personal lives they are lagging behind women.” for male victims of domestic abuse.

Men have to deal with far more violence than women in their lives - most physical fights that happen, whether that be on a night out, on a sports field, or during any argument, are between men. This is, in part, due to the lack of treatment sought by men for mental health issues, as outlined above. While women are more likely to express anxiety and depression by harming themselves through self-injury and eating disorders, men are more likely to express mental health issues in a violent way, whether that’s by punching a wall or punching another person, contributing to the 95% male prison population. Changing men’s attitudes to seeking help for mental health issues, as well as in-

creasing access to mental health treatment(s) could reduce violence in our society, including domestic abuse. Seeing violence as a potential symptom of depression and mental health issues could change the conversation around violent crime and domestic abuse. Encouraging men to seek help could have a big impact on their lives and ours.

Men may have privilege in professional areas, but in their personal lives they are lagging behind women. These inequalities can both be associated with the problems of traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity. Traditional masculinity equals power, assertiveness, independence and being stoic and unemotional. Traditional femininity equals being in touch with your emotions, helping others, being gentle and unassertive. The feminist movement has made great strides in redefining traditional femininity, asserting the ability of a woman to have both traditional feminine and masculine qualities, and massively increasing women’s role in public and professional life. It’s time we redefined masculinity too, so that being a ‘real man’ means knowing when to ask for help with mental health issues and domestic abuse, and putting structures in place to help men to do this. A shift in the masculine ideal will benefit all members of society, so it’s time all those committed to equality commit to advocating and campaigning for men’s issues. Men’s issues are real and important; it’s time to work together to solve them, and to give them a place alongside women’s and LGBT+ campaigns on campus.

Casting A Vote Against Sexism In Elections A result where 3 out of 4 Sabbs are women belies the sexism that occurred during SU elections Perdita Blinkhorn LAST THURSDAY NIGHT I was welling up with tears of happiness, as the incredible women I had been backing for Welfare and Community, Activities and Development, Women’s Officer and Anti-Racism Officer all got elected.

This is a wonderful step towards a more diverse SU; 3 out of the 4 Sabbs are women (one being an inspirational Muslim woman of colour), 4 out of 8 Part-Time Officer positions are women and 4 out of 6 of the AU positions are also now women. This is surely an indication of progress and- brace yourself for my feminist roots coming out- a step towards a slightly less patriarchal institution coming out. Right?

Perhaps, but over the past 2 weeks when I was running my own, ultimately unsuccessful cam-

paign for the LGBT+ Officer role I encountered a fair bit of sexism.

I was told of separate occasions by various people that if I wanted to win I needed to appear more feminine, put on a dress and even wear some make-up. My policies, my hustings, my integrity meant very little without the presence of a Feminine Mystique; Betty Friedan would be appalled. While I received a lot of support from friends and various societies, when I spoke with people I wasn’t so familiar with the conversation about votes always seem to drift from campaign tactics to physical appearance. Fun fact: there has never been a female LGBT+ Officer at LSE. This is understandable to an extent as the most vocal part of the LGBT+ community at LSE is overwhelmingly made up of gay men.

But it makes one wonder if the perceived attractiveness and femi-

ninity of women candidates plays a part in any of the election roles.

Throughout the year we have seen the prevalence of misogynist at LSE in particular when it came to the abuse of SU elected officers and even members of the Feminist Society. How can we as a collec-

“How can we as a collective of university students vote in so many women where there is still an environment of sexist hostility towards them?”

tive of university students vote in so many women where there is still an environment of sexist hostility towards them? I would argue that while LSE is by no means the best place to be a self-defining female student, the women who are here are downright powerful when it comes to challenging such attitudes. I use the word powerful deliberately, not only because we have just had the fantastic Red Lips campaign, but also because when some of the Big Feminists on Campus (BFOCs) stand up for what they believe it not only feels like they are powerful but it makes you feel powerful as a woman too. Indeed, perhaps the environment at LSE has even galvanised these liberation advocates to further push for better policy.

I’m sure there are people on campus who don’t understand why what was said to me during elec-

tions was inappropriate, or that sexism really is a “big thing” at all universities, in fact they probably don’t understand why having this many elected women in the SU and AU is important. Those are not the kinds of people I will waste time and words on. We are pushing the way to a more diverse and representative culture here, but there is still a way to go. This year we do have a solid female representation, but there are not enough BME, international, LGBT+ and Postgraduate students running and being elected. We still have to push through the barriers women and other minorities on campus face in everyday life, which can automatically be solved by any number of elections. I did not have an overall good election experience largely for these reasons, but ultimately there is light at the end of the tunnel, and times are a-changing.

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Comment

Tuesday March 10, 2015

FemSoc: Intimidation In Pursuit Of Equality

LSESU FemSoc are using the honourable cause of gender equality to justify intimidation

Umut Bektas THE ATHLETICS UNION (AU) is commonly labelled as being sexist, intimidating and generally obstreperous (feel free to google this word, I used a thesaurus). I am not going to say that the AU is perfect as sometimes these labels are applicable, however it isn’t everything the AU is about.

Besides this, I do not believe that the AU is the most daunting group at LSE, but really that the LSESU Feminist Society has become the very thing they seek to condemn; the intimidators.

FemSoc at LSE is one of the more active societies with a lot of useful input on a plethora of mat-

ters. Whilst a lot of these points certainly need addressing and benefit the majority of the school, these changes do not necessarily come about without intimidating a large amount of people. This will not be an article slating FemSoc, as overall they help a lot of LSE students, but rather it will reinforce the idea that change, if necessary, does not need to come about through coercion. It is also not intended to refer to the entirety of FemSoc, but rather a group of prominent feminists who risk tarnishing the reputation of the society.

LSE is famous for being the university where everyone is very opinionated, however there are concerns that students feel that they are unable to express their opinion, for fear of a backlash from FemSoc; this is even more true on social media sites. As an AU member and an individual who is well-known for speaking my mind, I often find myself silencing my opinion on touchy matters for fear of persecution by the Feminists of LSE, this is not

how our allegedly liberal campus should be operating.

I know countless individuals, males and quite surprisingly a lot of females, who fear that any comment they make, could lead to their expulsion. A netballer who removed a comment she posted said “I’m worried I will get in trouble with FemSoc”. A firstyear at Freshers Fair felt that she

“LSE has been transformed from a campus where free speech was encouraged into a campus where opinions not held

by FemSoc are condemned and oppressed”

was forced to take one of FemSoc’s flyers and said “I was scared to say what I actually thought”.

These are just two examples of intimidation by FemSoc and there are many more alongside it. This should not be occurring; individuals (especially women) should not be fearing a group whose aim is to liberate students.

Another example of intimidation by the Feminist Society was during their “I Love Consent” campaign, an effort to counter the alleged rape culture at LSE. Leading members of the FemSoc were walking around the Tuns, The Venue and other LSE hotspots with stickers labelled “I <3 Consent” asking students to wear them. A female friend of mine felt that her self-respect was being judged when she refused to wear their anti-rape statement. Female students also felt that their male friends, some of whom they had known for years, were being labelled potential rapists. Male students, including myself, subsequently felt compelled to adorn them, as to refuse would suggest

that we condoned rape.

LSE has been transformed from a campus where free speech was encouraged into a campus where opinions not held by FemSoc are condemned and oppressed, that is not free speech!

Everyone should be able to express their own opinion, whether the majority or the minority, without fear of uproar. Although there are scenarios where FemSoc should (and does) step up in defence of something, the other cases need to be better handled to stop feminist witch hunts.

To end on a more positive note LSESU Feminist Society is, on the whole, a group that seeks to better the students of LSE and this is their foremost priority. All that is being asked for is less intimidation by the society and better handling of matters.

Pick and choose your battles, not everything necessarily has to lead to a debate, some things are said in jest and others are not, and it is the latter of these cases where the society should be focusing its energy.

In Response: On FemSoc and Friendly Criticism Choosing mutual cooperation over mutual contempt

Liam Hill SOMEONE WHOM IT IS more than fair to describe as a BFOC – a Big Feminist On Campus – once told me that no-one is a perfect feminist, and that anyone who thinks they are has probably stopped helping their own cause.

In this vein, allow me to reply to Umut.

More generally, I have some sympathy with Umut’s starting point, that free speech and open debate are important, especially in a campus environment. The issue becomes a question of how someone who believes in feminism balances these two. In reflecting on what we believe and why, we all come across competing strands of thought, and this is in some ways a classic example of competition between egalitarianism and liberalism.

This is fundamentally about reconciling (if the editor of this section will be kind enough to leave in the only sentence in this article prov-

ing definitively that in nearly three years at LSE I have studied some philosophy) feminism’s consequentialism (or at least its implications for a consequentialist) with deontological elements of liberalism.

That is to say, we are in the process of attempting to find some common ground between the positions that people shouldn’t be afraid of or preventing from speaking their minds and that speech and behaviour of all kinds has far-reaching consequences that can reinforce prevailing power relations.

Umut comes close to the mark when he says: “change, if necessary, does not need to come about through coercion.” I agree with this in so far as I think organic change born of open discussion and debate is always preferable to contrived change brought about by censorship. However, the idea of “persecution by the Feminists of LSE” – at least to me – seems beyond farfetched.

While I am willing to respect Umut’s experience enough to concede that there may have been times when he has felt intimidated, I urge him to see the broader picture, and to try to react in a positive way, since he recognises himself that FemSoc “help a lot of LSE students.” Remaining disengaged and recalcitrant (bro, I didn’t even use a thesaurus) helps no-one to develop or to recognise that.

As for Umut’s suggestion that

“some things are said in jest and others are not, and it is the latter of these cases where the society should be focusing its energy,” I would say that things said in jest contribute just as much to our culture and our discourse as things said in all seriousness. Fostering and promoting a revulsion towards ‘jokes’ about rape and sexual assault is but one frontier in the broader battle to protect women and girls from violence, abuse and harassment in all forms.

My general advice would be this: tell them how you feel, if you must, in words no stronger than words you require. Do not violate their safe spaces, and do not make your first recourse a public statement condemning their actions or ethos.

There is no doubt that sharing your experiences in a respectful way and suggesting ways in which you and others might be more receptive to a message will get you further than a public denunciation.

Returning to my opening theme, I agree that no-one is a perfect feminist, or a perfect ally. What is important, though, is to try, to admit it to yourself when you make mistakes and to aim to be an openminded critical friend rather than a closed-minded sworn enemy. That way, on both ‘sides’ of this debate, and for everyone in between, we can make some real progress, and make life more bearable for everyone on campus.

Photo: Flickr: Fibonacci Blue

Comment

Tuesday March 10, 2015

14

Censorship Of The Beaver; What Should Be Done Last week’s censorship scandal is a grim reflection of the state of our Student’s Union Ryan O’ Rourke APPARENTLY NOT SO many LSE students actually care that much about Student Union elections. According to the LSESU Elects web page voting statistics, only 19% of all students voted for the current General Secretary. This is itself an appalling statistic, given the salary for that position is £26,582; or to put it another way, roughly 19% of the salary the British Prime Minister earns. However, that such a union, elected by a popular vote, has gone out of its way to interpret the election rules such as to silence The Beaver is beyond despicable. It is a grim reflection of the state of LSE student politics, and regardless of the voting result has unfortunately muted the campaign.

It is certainly true that in the 2015 election rules, it is clearly stated that, “The Media Group, RAG and Halls Committees are not allowed to endorse candidates or positions in elections or referendums, however they are allowed to provide coverage of the elections and name candidates, as long as this could not be interpreted as an endorsement.”

It could be argued therefore that the ‘censorship’ of this newspaper is wholly justified on the grounds of voting rules. Certainly for any of the editors of the newspaper to come out and endorse a specific candidate as a ‘Beaver editor’ would in this case (I would

argue wrongly) be inappropriate; quite clearly such writers are part of the media group. However, to label a student who writes a piece in their own name as part of that same ‘media group’ is a stretch, as is to say an individual opinion amongst many contrasting views shows the paper to be ‘endorsing’ a candidate. The Beaver operates a policy unlike most other universities where anyone can contribute. Such a system is designed so as many views can be expressed as possible without the framework of a rigorous editorial line. Somehow the SU has forgotten this.

However, the SU has supposedly come to the conclusion that such content could affect the out-

“It seems ridiculous to rule that The Beaver cannot take a stance, let alone publish independent views when the SU freely allows Societies to endorse candidates as they choose.”

come of the election given its influence on the student body. This is somewhat a bizarre justification.

First, on a national level no publishing entity is held to impartiality laws. Over the following weeks, many of the national newspapers from the Times to the Guardian to the Sun will express an editorial stance on the upcoming general election. It would therefore seem to be a poor reflection on the SU that it does not want the candidates to come under a similar level of scrutiny as someone running as a MP. Both are elected by popular vote, and both (in the case of sabbatical officers) are paid a salary which in one way or another is funded by their respective electorates. It would therefore seem appropriate such people should be scrutinised through any medium.

Secondly, it seems ridiculous to rule that The Beaver cannot take a stance, let alone publish independent views when the SU freely allows Societies to endorse candidates as they choose. It is not uncommon, especially if you’re a member of a political society, to receive an email which is sent to all members endorsing candidates.

Often it will go as follows; ‘The LSESU X Society officially endorses the following candidates for this week’s LT elections: The committee feels that the election of these candidates will be most beneficial for the interests of our society next year.’

Now, what is more likely to

influence a voting decision? An individual student, writing in a newspaper or a well organised SU society which may have a loyal base of members? It is extraordinary that the SU would think the former would have more sway.

Two things should therefore happen; the quicker the better.

“To label a student who writes a piece in their own name as part of that neutral ‘media group’ is a stretch” It has already been said the post on The Beaver Facebook account has unfairly disadvantaged some candidates since one in particular is running again. The SU should therefore release a statement themselves explaining who made the decision. This would clear up any misunderstanding. As should be obvious to anyone who has followed this story, The Beaver editors are privy to this information, but for legal reasons cannot release it. Nor should it be their responsibility to do so. The Beaver as an LSE institution exists like all other newspapers to hold people to account within the confines of the law; it should not be their job to do

the SU’s dirty work (even though they have released a statement which states no elected officers where involved).

Secondly, the SU should release a statement either explaining that future rules will be changed so contributions and opinions on candidates can be published, or explain why SU societies are allowed to endorse candidates and express an opinion on them whilst contributors to The Beaver cannot. Failing to do so will show the notion that the SU is a democratic institution to be laughable. The extent to which those in power are willing to be subjected to criticism and in turn respond to the views of the majority is a true measure of how strong a democracy is. So far, the SU looks weak.

In many ways, this is what the issue is truly about. The argument has so far been focused around freedom of expression. It shouldn’t be. Rather, it should be focused on how a group of people who have a small amount of power abuse it. On an email sent out recently, the SU, now ironically asked students why they do not vote. This may or may not be the reason. Students, particularly second and third years, believe (rightly or wrongly) that the SU is full of people who have a small amount of power and in turn abuse it (Maybe this explains why less third year students vote than second years, and less second years than first). Censoring The Beaver will only have added to this belief.

America Still Hasn’t Got It Right On Civil Rights 50 years on from the Civil Rights March in Alabama, racial inequality persists in the USA Ronda Daniel MARCH 2015 MARKS THE 50th anniversary to the voting rights march in Selma, Alabama by the Civil Rights Movement. March 2015 also opened with yet another death due to excessive force and brutality on behalf of the police.

John Lewis, renowned civil rights activist and politician, reflected on events in the Civil Rights Movement and police treatment, discussing what he thinks the federal government should do to tackle police brutality against minorities in the USA. ‘We must teach our police officers the way of peace…they should have to attend non-violent workshops’ as the Civil Rights activists did in their preparation for protests.

It seems the police in the USA, both historically and currently, resort to violence before reason.

This history of brutality, particularly against ethnic minori-

ties, is a long one. For instance, in 1963, during the Civil Rights Movement’s famous march in Birmingham, Alabama, saw the use of fire hoses, dogs and tear gas on schoolchildren; media coverage of this shocked the world.

“It seems the police in the USA, both historically and currently, resort to violence before reason.”

In December 2014, the murder of unarmed asthmatic African-American Eric Garner in New York sparked protests internationally, including in London’s Westfield Shopping Cen-

tre in Stratford. A 600-strong crowd laid down together inside the shopping centre, chanting ‘I can’t breathe’, which were the last words of asthmatic Eric Garner as police restrained him in a chokehold. This was just one of many police murders; in November 2014, Cleveland, 12-year-old boy Tamir Rice was shot dead by police whilst carrying a toy gun. The difference between a toy and a real gun is certainly something police who are trained efficiently and trusted by the public to know.

The police merely shrugged off this criticism and argued that he shouldn’t have been carrying the toy, victim-blaming.

The 2nd March 2015 marked just another tally of what will probably be a part of many more murders, where an African-American homeless man, nicknamed ‘Africa’ was restrained by 3 police officer and

“It’s not just murder that is a problem with the police in the USA-it is general brutality. ” shot 5 times, killing him, in Los Angeles. The community Africa resided in had known him, as he was made homeless after spending 10 years in mental health treatment facilities. Mobile phone footage depicts the escalation of his altercation with LAPD police officers, where the 3 police officers dive on him; he then reaches upwards, and is shot 5 times. Bystanders asserted that he was not ‘so much violent’ towards the police, more so

displaying symptoms of being ‘mentally ill’. Not only does this case highlight police racism; it also targets the homeless and the mentally ill.

After Africa’s death in Los Angeles, Obama discussed the need for reform in America’s policing system. But isn’t it too late for the victims’ families? It’s not just murder that is a problem with the police in the USAit is general brutality. The same police officer who held Eric Garner in a chokehold was also sued for ‘frisking a man’s genitals’ and humiliating AfricanAmerican arrestees.

Reform does not necessarily mean that police discrimination and fascism will deplete. Policy cannot govern values and prejudices transmitted in the police.

If this was true, police brutality would have decreased or stopped altogether following the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

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Interview

Tuesday March 10, 2015

In this week’s Alumni Interview, Executive Editor Alexander Fyfe chats to Maya Linstrum-Newman who set up the Prison Harvests Project in Malawi.

Having spent time at LSE both as an undergraduate and postgraduate student, Maya Linstrum-Newman founded the Prison Harvests Project in 2013. The project aims to equip Malawian prisonsers with agricultural skills, tackle food shortages and improve the nutrition of inmates. It’s so far been rolled out to three prisons, and is set to expand further. I chatted to Maya about her time at LSE, the non profit sector and what the UK can learn from her project.

When and what did you graduate in?

Laws LLB 2013 and Public International Law LLM 2014 What do you remember most fondly about LSE - We’ve just had sabbatical officer elections, did you get involved?

Definitely the cheese and coleslaw sandwiches from Wrights Bar and £2.80 pints from The Tuns.

Mostly though, I made the best friends I have ever had, one of whom did run for Gen Sec when we were undergrads. Campaigning for her was immensely stressful but also very fun.

Why did you choose to start in the non profit sector?

Pictures Courtesy of Prison Harvests Project

Should other students do the same?

I don’t really see myself as choosing to start in the non-profit sector as such. I started Prison Harvests Project because I saw a solution to a problem I had witnessed, and felt a responsibility to implement it. Although my full-time job is also working for a charity (the Bar Pro Bono Unit) it is simply that my interests tend not to be ones that you can make a lot of money from.

If your interests are investment banking, the you are going to go to the for-profit sector. My interests are criminal justice and detention therefore I don’t have much of a choice but to work in the non- (or at least minimal-) profit sectors!

Why did you choose prisons in poorer countries rather than here in the UK? I didn’t choose prisons in other countries, or in poorer countries, I chose prisons in Malawi specifically. I was interning at a human rights organisation (Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance) in southern Malawi and working in the adult prison in Blantyre, drafting bail applications for homicide defendants. It was through this legal internship that I learnt about the food situ-

ation in Malawian prisons and began my project. That being said, whilst Prison Harvests Project is a Malawian project, many countries all over the world face similar problems to the ones experienced in Malawian prisons and hopefully we will be able to take this project to those countries in the future.

Do you think the UK prison system could learn something from your project?

I think the UK prison system could definitely learn from the Malawian prison system, and in turn my project, as I try and mimic the positive aspects of the Malawian prison culture. For example, in my opinion there is far less ‘institutionalisation’ and greater flexibility in Malawi. I think the cooperation of the Malawi Prison Service with us as outsiders is a testament to their commitment to improving the lives of their inmates and this is definitely something that is relevant here. Approaches to detention should be tailored to individual needs and flexibility together with working with external actors helps to achieve this. Also, prisoners can vote in Malawi! The UK prison system can definitely learn from this!

Interview

Tuesday March 10, 2015

16

Interview

“The LSE is this fantastic institution that is facing an extremely volatile environment, which is good news as the world needs the LSE more than ever, the bad news is that we’re not rich and the government doesn’t want to give us lots of the money.”

Alexander Fyfe, Executive Editor I SAT DOWN WITH Professor Craig Calhoun, LSE’s Director, to discuss the 120th Birthday of the school.

We started talking about the role of the school, past and present, along with his personal involvement over the years.

“Of the past 120 years, LSE’s biggest contribution to the world has been that students have graduated and gone onto amazing careers in policy, business, social activism and government.

If I’d been around in 1895 I certainty wouldn’t have been predicted everything that has happened. I wouldn’t have predicted that this tiny institution has grown from looking at mainly very local social issues to becoming very global.

We’re now looking at new issues that previously were not on the agenda like climate change, so I’m sure there will be things I cannot anticipate happening over the next 120 years. What I hope will be the case is that we we’ll continue to both be British and global, and we will continue to contribute to the world through our greatest asset, our students. We will continue to equip alumni with great education, connections to each other and an awareness about bringing knowledge to the big

issues of our time.

That said, this is an extremely volatile time for universities, so I would expect the LSE to change. Not simply because we want change, but because the environment in which we operate has and is changing.

You know, if the founders of LSE looked in today, I think mostly we’d get a good report card. I think they’d be surprised at how big we are, and how we’ve become more of a regular very good university than they would’ve anticipated. Perhaps they’d ask where the Fabian heritage was, and whether we’d just become too much of just a very good university. But on the whole, I think they’d be pretty pleased.

I first heard about LSE when I was an undergraduate thinking about becoming a postgraduate. It was very visible when I was a student in the 70s, with big figures like Milliband, Oakshott and Popper. There were a number of larger than life cross-disciplinary figures, and I remember thinking the LSE must be the centre of many great discussions. Whilst this has remained true, it was certainly less so in the 80s and 90s before being rejuvenated by Tony Giddens and a host of big European intellectuals.

I hope to be LSE director until I retire! The LSE is this fantastic institution that is facing an extremely volatile environment, which is good news as the world needs the LSE more than ever, the bad news is that we’re not rich and the government doesn’t want to give us lots of the money. We need to figure out how to work in this new world, we certainly don’t want to lose anything.

There is no question that we will have to keep innovating, so my hope is to stay with LSE as it adjusts to these new challenges; the world certainly isn’t going to get any calmer.

I hope the best moment of this academic year is still to come! But in many ways this year, the worst and best moments came together. I thought the school’s response to the Men’s Rugby Scandal was really positive and really good. It’s prompted a great deal of questions and positive change about our approach to diversity, so this may turn out to be the year that we start to make progress on gender, race and other issues for future years.

This years’ speakers programme is so amazing, so it’s very hard to pick a favourite, but the buzz of the year has to be Thomas Piketty. He suddenly became a rockstar for publishing an eight hundred-

page economics book that nonetheless became a focal point for conversation. Hearing him speak in a packed Peacock Theatre, that was a star moment for me.”

We then moved onto discussing some of the smaller issues on campus; namely, elections, Wrights bar and his house.

Who would you vote for in the Lent Term elections?

“I am absolutely not telling you who would vote for! I just walked down Houghton Street from the library and I was happy to tell every single candidate that I was fully behind them but sadly I couldn’t vote.”

What do you order at Wrights bar?

“Bacon and egg sandwich.”

Why do you have so much exposed brickwork in your house? (Question by Seb Ash) “I love it, it looks great! we have lot of African art that also looks great. You feel the building more than if you cover up the brickwork.”

If there was one thing you could change about LSE, right now, money no object, what would it be?

“I would magically wish the construction of the new buildings was complete and we didn’t have to through the three-year purgatory that is the construction process!”

The Beaver 09.10.2012

COVER: BEAVER #629 (2005-11-15)

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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VINTAGE PARTB: ISSUE 561 (2002-10-15) BUT FIRST, A WORD FROM THE EDITOR! Joining in the 120th anniversary fun, this week's PartB celebrates the old and the new with two vintage pieces back in the days when this section was still called 'b:art' and exciting new content in the sections of Music, Literature, Fashion, Film, Food and Technology. Reminisce the old days with the Clubbing section (that has since disappeared) from the glorious year of 2002 and a b:art original fiction that tells the age-old tale of love! The fun doesn't stop here though, we also have the very first PartB cover from 2005 as our front cover and a pre-millenium b:art cover as our back cover, and boy how far have we come. We hope you'll enjoy this issue! - VIKKI

PARTB EDITORIAL TEAM PARTB

FASHION

FILM

Vikki Hui

Sanya-Jeet Thandi

Jade Jackman Maryam Akram

partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

fashion@thebeaveronline.co.uk

film@thebeaveronline.co.uk

FOOD

LITERATURE

MUSIC

TECHNOLOGY

THEATRE

VISUAL ARTS

Caroline Schurman-Grenier

Gareth Rosser

Jade Jackman Maryam Akram

literature@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Rohan Soni Mallika Iyer

Jon Rhys Foster

food@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Conor Doherty, Will Locke & Dominic Tighe

theatre@thebeaveronline.co.uk

visualarts@thebeaveronline.co.uk

music@thebeaveronline.co.uk

techonology@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

VINTAGE PARTB: ISSUE 543 (2001-11-01)

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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MUSIC

SONG #422+; BLUR RETURN WITH A NEW ALBUM

‘B

ritpop’ is often criminally employed as a dichotomous notion of two competing bands. The label is grossly reductionist, vague and ceased to be relevant by the turn of the millennium, however when using this definition the competition can be seen as a war of attrition. With Oasis’ capitulation to internal divisions in 2009, Blur emerged as victors. The victory was pyrrhic however, as it took so much out of the London four-piece that they never released anything quite as salient as 1994’s ‘Parklife’ or 1997’s self-titled ‘Blur’ again (and really these paled in comparison with ‘Definitely, Maybe’; Oasis were more beautiful in glorious defeat).

Anyway, Blur are putting out another album: ‘The Magic Whip’ which is due for release on the 27th of April on Parlophone. It’s 16 years since their last release as a complete four-piece and it remains to be seen whether this will be a valid contribution to a consistently above-average discography. Far too often it transpires that ageing bands produce music that is the height of disingenuous, although this seems unlikely with a band of Blur’s calibre. Recording for the album began two years ago in Hong Kong making this record a potential fulfilment of 2003’s hauntingly prescient ‘The Universal’. Graham Coxon’s less than charismatic venture as a solo-artist is in stark contrast to Damon Albarn’s magnificent work with Gorillaz and if Blur draw on the latter’s experience then this new album has a lot of potential. Perhaps indicating a degree of disunity within the band, Coxon has been largely responsible for

the music whereas Albarn has provided the lyrics. This is a little atypical of the band, as Coxon has in the past contributed some of the more harrowing lyrics on Blur’s past songs. Consider 1999’s ‘Coffee & TV’: One of Blur’s more memorable singles – probably due to its video complete with cute animated milk-carton – dealing with Coxon’s strife in his battle with alcoholism.

Blur will be headlining at ‘Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park’ on the 20th of June. It’s an immediately striking name for any music festival. It appears the financial sector has managed to appropriate time itself (isn’t this a Doctor Who script? Not content with Sherlock, Steven Moffat is now penning life itself).

Blur releasing a new album, and subsequently headlining at least one festival this summer, is part of a worrying trend in indie/alternative music (loosely defined). It is indicative of the fact that very few artists are coming through within the conventional band format and making notable music leaving a lingering reliance on bands which ceased to be culturally relevant literally in the last millennium. Regardless of this, even at £75 per ticket, it is fully expected that any event with Blur headlining will sell out and their performance will be something special as they have proven time and time again.

CONOR DOHERTY

REVIEW: SWAN LAKE AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

T

wo weeks ago, I made my first tentative venture into the world of ballet, with a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House. I went to test the water and try out experiencing music in a different way. I came away with a better understanding of how already beautiful music can be heightened and given a deeper meaning when accompanied by the visual stimulus of dancing. The image of the white swans as they drift gracefully across the stage as if blown by the wind, combined with Tchaikovsky’s sombre music creates a powerful impression. If you haven’t been to the ballet yet, start here!

So it comes as a surprise that when Swan Lake was written in 1875, it was regarded as a dismal failure; the premiere performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877 was dismissed for its disappointing choreography and staging. Had it not been revived for a successful production by the Imperial Ballet in 1895, it could well have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

die. Siegfried is then confronted with three choices: marry Odile and forsake Odette; marry Odette, which will mean she will be transformed into a swan forever; or die with her, which will destroy the evil spirit. In the tragic final scene, Siegfried resolves to die and break the curse.

The interplay of music and drama in the production powerfully builds up feelings of anxiety and tension. Tchaikovsky uses the idea of ‘divertissements’ meaning that the tonic key is used in the positive sections of the story, but as the action becomes increasingly tense, harmonic angst is built up as the key moves further and further from the tonic. Finally in the resolution it returns to the main key. Another effective aspect is the extremely hummable, but eerily intimidating main theme of the ballet, which captures the tragic inevitability of the death of the young lovers.

I especially liked the costumes, such as that of the evil spirit Von Rothbart. His evil presence is signified by a stupendous black Mohican and regal black and purple robes.

Everywhere he went he was accompanied by two similarly clad skulls, who scurried around looking threatening! A family friend of mine, who is a connoisseur of ballet, regarded this as silly and over the top, yet I do not believe that the humour makes detracts from the overall effect. I do wonder though, how Siegfried didn’t realise something was up when his bride’s father looked so evil!

The world of Swan Lake, like much 19th Century drama, has a mythological flavour to it. Spirits prowl about seeking the conversion or destruction of souls, and evil forces disguise themselves as people! There’s an obvious link to other Romantic dramas, for example, Wagner’s Ring Cycle (1876).

The ‘heroes’ of both stories are strikingly similar; they are both princes called Siegfried who inhabit a quasi-magical world. It was obviously the Zeitgeist!

Swan Lake starts in the palace grounds, where final preparations are being made to the celebrations for the coming of age of Prince Siegfried. It is a lavish party with dances and giving of gifts, in which attention-loving Siegfried revels! Eager to temper his carefree behaviour, Siegfried’s mother encourages him to take a bride and end his frivolous behaviour. At this point our hero seems dampened by his mothers words, but jubilant from the celebration. He heads out to hunt swans, but is shocked when one swan, Queen Odette, tells him not to kill them as they are victims of an evil spirit who transforms them from their natural human form into swans during day. Only at night are they free of the spell. Upon seeing the beautiful Odette in human form, Siegfried expresses his love for her, and his commitment to break the evil curse.

Later, in the second part, Siegfried is led astray by an evil spirit, Von Rothbart, who gleefully persuades him to marry his daughter, Odile, instead. Odette becomes depressed and wishes that she could

pathetically wince for her poor feet!

The dancing itself was incredibly impressive. It was flowing and graceful, particularly during the scenes with a flock of swans floating in the water. At other points it was virtuosic, especially Odette’s solos, which involved extended periods on pointe.

It was truly remarkable to observe, but at the same time I couldn’t help myself sym-

Overall, it was a fantastic evening and a real novel experience. Moreover, if you’re on a student budget, the price is not necessarily prohibitive! If you’re prepared to stand up for a few hours and put up with a bit of neck ache, it is possible to get cheap standing up tickets from £6!

DOMINIC TIGHE

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

MUSIC/LITERATURE THE GREEN MAN INDIE FOLK FESTIVAL Beginning the day’s live music, the Welsh band, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog lulled the crowd with their harmonies and were followed by Georgia Ruth, harpist and singer, who was spellbinding, as ever.

L

ast weekend, the Welsh congregated in Camden as the acclaimed Green Man indie folk festival came to London to mark Saint David's Day.

In celebration of Wales and all things Welsh, the one-day festival inevitably composed of a male voice choir, daffodils and leeks, live rugby, ale, poetry, music, free Welsh cakes, and a twmpath (Welsh ceilidh).

The idiosyncratic singer Sweet Baboo, who was perhaps my favourite act of the festival, charmed the crowd, his velvet voice contrasting with his fanciful, naughty-school-boy lyrics. Finally, the headline act, Teleman, closed the night with a sleeker performance than their predecessors on stage, yet the indie-pop band reeled the crowd onto their feet to dance into the night.

It was perhaps appropriate that (almost) at the foot of Primrose Hill the Welsh celebrations brought the Green Man to life.

Nevertheless, Green Man managed to retain its hippy charm, its stellar line-up, as well as its tradition of encouraging new talent. As a comedy club cracked open downstairs, the poets, Owen Sheers and Patience Agbabi, read from their anthologies, and Radio 1's DJ Huw Stephens opened the afternoon’s soundtrack of musical mirth.

MALI WILLIAMS

IN DEFENCE OF THE SHORT STORY

I

n literature there are few things as divisive as the short story. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, the age of internet and technology has taught us to value information.

When J.R.R. Tolkien created Middle Earth, the level of detail he threw at the reader was groundbreaking, and numerous authors have followed the path he beat. The worlds created by modern authors are breathtaking in their sheer detail; be it the parallel universes to ours envisioned by Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials or the novels of Alice Sebold whose plot is driven by the relationships of the characters. Indeed, for many authors there seems to be a rule of thumb that the more detail they can provide the reader, the better. After all, the editor’s pen can always clear the unnecessary excess.

It’s for this reason that both publishers and readers are so apprehensive of short stories. Rather than describing every last detail of the story, the scene and the characters, they instead focus on the absolute minimum. This isn’t to say that they contain no detail, only that every adjective and verb is carefully selected by the author. Editors have little or nothing to edit, and publishers struggle to market a series of short stories - unless there’s a strong theme it’s hard to sell readers a series of unrelated prose in one book.

But short stories are incredible when done correctly by an author who knows their craft. Consider the work of H.P. Lovecraft, who brilliantly understood just how effective the short story can be as a medium. A prolific horror writer, Lovecraft worked almost exclusively in the short story. He knew that information can be comforting for the reader, and withheld information jealously from his readers. Should you pick up one of his anthologies (and you should) you’ll quickly see how terrifying the unknown can become.

Another more famous example of an author who specialised in short stories is Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. There were only 4 full length novels featuring Sherlock

Holmes; the remainder of his legacy emerged from dozens of short stories.

Although reading the collection provided readers with a fuller picture of the detective and his sidekick Watson, each short story can stand alone as a complete story. The medium again served a purpose, proving the ability of Holmes to solve a mystery from a few basic facts. Readers are shown just how much Holmes can infer from the subtlest of facts; he uses all of the sparse information available to him and the reader to solve his mysteries.

But the most universal strength of the short story is its ability to act as a framing device for the reader. The less information the reader is given by the story, the more they can shape the story in their own image. For Lovecraft, his combination of first person narratives and little personal information allows the reader to become the narrator. The less information given by the author, the more the reader has to provide for themselves, creating stories more personal for each and every reader. This is more work for the reader, requiring more concentration and greater emotional commitment, but the rewards are worth it. Write off short stories at your peril - you’ll be missing out.

GARETH ROSSER

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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FASHION/FILM

COSMIC WARRIOR PRINCESS

I

MANISH ARORA PARIS FASHION WEEK AW15

’ve been sacrificing my love of fashion in the name of academia of late. I regrettably turned down the chance to attend some AW15 shows at London Fashion Week this season to focus my energies on my studies. After being in the midst of the backstage hubub at various shows last season in September it really did pain me to have to decline to chance to go work there again this season! There is one show however, which I just cannot keep quiet about. You can probably guess whose… I have taken a break from my imperative dissertation research right now to write this.

Obviously the only designer I’d take time out for would be the one and only, crazy-clever, incredibly talented, and ultra-inspiring Indian born, Paris & Delhi based genius Manish Arora.

Always unmistakably Indian; Arora’s work is intricate, contemporary and hella avant-garde yet laced with Indian tradition and extravagance. This season we saw a depiction of a warrior princess.

She was urban yet out of this world. A palette of signature gold and pink with reds, blues, and an entire kaleidoscope of colours set the cosmic tone of the show as usual. The non-sequitur collection is summed up by the use of golden Indian embroidery on red jackets and dresses reminiscent of a bridal outfits juxtaposed against the knee high trainers with trims of fur.Head dresses of feathers, helmets like a knight’s and skulls throughout the collection solidify the idea of a warrior princess. Not to mention the models

walking to a remix of the Game Of Thrones theme tune during the finale.

Always strong, always off the wall and always exciting. Manish Arora AW15 was as satisfying a collection as ever! Personally, if I were ever fortunate enough to get my hands on one of the dresses I would definitely style it down and let the garment do the talking in all it’s glory. I’m definitely lusting over the skull handbags and this (above) pink sari-esque dress and jacket look.

SANYA-JEET THANDI

L

REVIEW: LIKE CRAZY

ast Tuesday, the LSESU Film Society organised the screening of “Like Crazy” (2011).

This Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner is directed by Drake Doremus, starring prominent actors including Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence and Alex Kingston.

"Like Crazy" centres on the long distance relationship between Anna (Felicity Jones) and Jacob (Anton Yelchin). Anna, a student from England, and Jacob meet at university in Santa Monica and fall in love with each other. With the typical passion and infatuation found in young love, Anna recklessly overstays her student visa just to stay with Jacob for the summer. This small mistake leads to far-reaching impacts on their relationship, as Anna is not allowed to set foot in America.

This realistic film explores issues relevant to our everyday life and modern relationships, including commitment,

fidelity and compromise. In comparison to the old days when many people were happily satisfied with receiving letters every once in a while from their loved ones, both Anna and Jacob struggle with their commitment to each other in a world where phone calls, text messages, skype calls and plane tickets are readily available, as they become frustrated with compromising their own lives and careers for their relationship, such as by getting married rashly just to obtain a marriage visa. Viewers might sympathise with Anna, who sacrifices her passion for journalism and her long-awaited advancement in career to relocate to America after the visa issue is resolved, where she has to start from scratch. Meanwhile, Jacob is much more reserved in character and reluctant to make sacrifices for their relationship, such as choosing not to move to London to be with Anna and refusing to develop his furniture business in the UK, when moving across the pond would have been an easier route than sorting out the visa.

The film is loosely autobiographical, as it is based on the director’s eightyear long distance relationship with his ex-wife. Filmed with a Canon EOS 7D DSLR camera, which is often handheld in the film, viewers observe how their relationship unfolds as if they are seeing an intimate documentary. Besides, the actors improvised all of the dialogue, which gives the film a realistic and authentic human touch that is lacking in most mainstream romantic films.

The substantial use of cinematic techniques is absolutely impressive in this low-budget film. One of the most visually engaging scenes is when Anna and Jacob spend the summer together.

The director puts together multiple overhead shots of them sleeping and entangled in bed with different clothes and positions, showing time progression and their close intimacy.

Photo credits to: Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush Productions

Besides, there is an extensive use of motifs, such as chairs. As an aspiring furniture designer, Jacob designs his first handmade chair as a gift and a sweet gesture for Anna so that she can write comfortably. After she is forced to return to England, Jacob ships the chair to London as a surprise. Anna’s excited reaction and giddy laughter is certainly heart-warming to the viewers.

In the latter half of the film, Anna’s new boyfriend Simon buys her a classy and sophisticated-looking chair to replace Jacob’s simplistic handcrafted one. With some vague words of appreciation, which are much less sincere than her heartfelt reactions when she receives Jacob’s chair, Anna promptly asks Simon where the old chair is.

These minute moments showcase the director’s dedication to details and illustrate the characters’ mental state, such as their struggle between moving on and being heavily tied down by their past.

Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead also give a top notch performance in the film as Anna’s humorous and caring parents, lifting the film's melancholic mood at times. Many moments of laughter are triggered by their lively actions and words, such as their warm

welcome to Jacob, as well as their obvious distress and comical reaction when Simon awkwardly proposes to Anna after Jacob and her briefly terminate their relationship, not knowing she is still married to Jacob. lift the often melancholic mood of the film.

‘Like Crazy’ is a film that is extremely easy for the audience, in particular for university students, to identify with. In this day and age, many students relocate from different cities or countries for their pursuit of education and work, leaving their partners behind. Whether or not you have experienced long distance relationships in your life, this genuine and thoughtprovoking film is bound to make you smile, laugh, or shed some tears for the moving story of Anna and Jacob. For people interested in film techniques and cinematography, the director's subtle use of techniques, such as motifs and repetition, would also be worthy of attention.

SARAH KU

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

FOOD/TECHNOLOGY

REVIEW: THE JOINT

I

f you are vegetarian, look away now.

I have found the holy land of pulled pork sandwiches. And it’s called the Joint. It opened as a pop up in 2012 and it was so popular that there are now two delicious locations for you to enjoy some good old gourmet fast food. One is in Brixton and the other in Marylebone. The venues are not too big so I would recommend going early at Brixton market, or booking at the Marylebone location. The décor is simple and cozy, making you feel right at home and ready for some Southern comfort food. The menu is tiny and that’s just the way it should be when you go somewhere specialized in one certain food. Their meat is all free range and slow cooked for 16 hours. Oh yes, that’s right. It tastes like heaven.

Let me explain. The presentation of the food is original but in no way classy. That’s the whole point. Your sides come in paper tied together with a string and a tag with the name of your dish. Order the onion rings, just do it.

You will not regret it. Smothered in barbecue sauce, they’re worth the greasy fingers. The sides came first, and when the pulled pork arrived, everyone at the table was pretty darn excited. The brioche buns are handmade and you can tell. Crisp on the outside but soft and once you bite into it, it’s the perfect starch to accompany the pulled pork. Oh the pulled pork. How can one begin to describe it? It’s the perfect amount of barbecue sauce combined with an even more perfect amount of slow cooked pulled pork with some coleslaw because it’s a necessary component to a pulled pork sandwich. Pulled pork can easily be poorly done because people assume that it’s easy to make, but it’s not. You need to have a solid recipe to make it full of flavor, and the Joint definitely surpasses most pulled pork dishes I have ever tasted. I highly recommend it, in case that wasn’t clear enough. It’s a great place for a meal with friends, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a first date (you want to keep in for the 3rd or 4th date and impress the hell out of him or her).

Find them at: Marylebone 19 New Cavendish Street, W1G 9TZ. Brixton 87 Brixton Market, SW9 8PS CAROLINE SCHURMAN-GRENIER http://mademoiselleaventure.blogspot.ca

PRIVACY AND SECURITY IN THE MODERN WORLD: DO WE HAVE TO GIVE UP ONE TO ACHIEVE THE OTHER?

W

ith American Whistleblower, Edward Snowden’s words and allegations still ringing in our heads, the latest privacy violation has surfaced and it is being called the “great SIM heist”.

American and British intelligence agencies allegedly hacked into Gemalto, a Dutch company, which operates in 85 countries and manufactures 30% of SIM cards worldwide. They retrieved a list of security keys form Gemalto which allow them to carry out mass surveillance operations on absolutely anyone.

Even before this, intelligence agencies were monitoring mobile applications like Whatsapp and iMessage.

Although the NSA (National Security Agency) and the GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters) claim that their actions are always legitimized by a legal framework, their actions still seem morally wrong to many people. The campaign group, Privacy International, is engaged in a legal battle with the GCHQ over their continual violation of our rights to privacy.

So what is the perfect balance between achieving national security and maintaining the privacy of in-

dividual citizens? Is there a balance at all?

Those who are in favor with the invasion of personal privacy in the interest of national security argue that as the government’s first and most important job involves securing and preserving the welfare of its people, maintain national security tends to outweigh concerns about privacy. In such a global world, internet surveillance has proved itself to be essential for preserving national security. When threats come from remote corners of the world, the government does not have much choice but to adopt this approach.

Security and privacy are both fundamental rights; however, they must be balanced against each other. In the constant state of war on terror, giving up our right to privacy is a small sacrifice for overall stability and security in a country.

Nevertheless, this infringement of privacy is a horrible crime and eerily validates some of George Orwell’s dystopian predictions of “Big Brother”, totalitarianism, and the loss of freedom. The right to privacy is explicitly stated in the Fourth Amendment of the American Constitution which bans unreasonable search and seizure, yet it continues

to be violated by the government.

The IRS scandal also raises concerns about the abuse of the power governments hold over their citizens, giving rise to the question: how much power do we really want the government to have over us?

Others argue that the privacy versus security debate is largely over. With our rampant usage of cybertechnology in daily life, we have already surrendered our privacy—not to our governments, but to faceless multinational corporations.

Only a two decades ago, we considered most information too personal to be shared on the internet, now our online applications know more about us than we are aware (Facebook, for example). And so, the way in which we use the internet changed, but our expectations of privacy have not.

As Edward Snowden said, “A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.

They’ll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves—an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought.”

MALLIKA IYER

The Beaver 09.10.2012

PartB

COVER: BEAVER #510 (1999-12-06)

Beaver in 50 Shades remake shocker

HOT: Handle With Care

The NAB: RECOMMENDED EASTER READING Bin your reading list, here’s what you need to cite in your dissertation/essay/application form.

“Indispensable: Great for holiday or financial planning alike!” says the LSE’s Craig Calhoun

CONOR GEARTY “Proper boys own stuff, great for planning a campaign against British (American) rule, or simply to raid Calhoun’s fridge” Conor Gearty

Tuesday February 10, 2015

Residential Services

Win Prizes for Yourself and Your Hall The 2014/15 Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey is now LIVE!

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 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.

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!

Vacations

A Great Alternative to London Hotels

020 7955 7676

LSE residences offer good quality, centrally located bed and breakfast accommodation to all during the winter, spring and summer vacations!

Call: or visit our website to make your booking

Ideal for an affordable stay in London, whatever your reason for visiting. In addition there is a ten per cent discount available for bookings made by LSE staff, students and alumni.

www.lsevacations.co.uk

for alumni, staff and current students (Staff, student or alumni ID required)

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

Society Listings Artichok e

Alternat ive Inves tments Confere nce Tickets Online

14.3.15 CLM.4.0 2

ia l L ib e ra li sm a n d S o c De mo c racy L o rd A D is c us s io n w it h

Ne w by

12 M a rch, 6:30pm 32L .LG.02

Newly Elected Sabbs

Nona Buckley-Irvine What were the best and worst moments of the campaign?

The best moment was probably having a flash mob on houghton street and blasting out no limits. Worst moment was every morning having to wake up and go with about three hours sleep!

What was the biggest single factor in your decision to re-run?

The disbandment of the rugby club: it brought to light so many issues that we have been complacent with over the past few years in terms of failing to tackle discrimination. Another year meant I could continue the work and work with part time officers to achieve even more.

What do you hope to achieve with one more year?

I want our Union to be the best SU in the country. I want to tackle the power

dynamics in the school which mean that students are not represented or listened to. I want to get the Schopl to undertake a full cost of living review and make serious headway on this issue and see an increase in students from poor backgrounds coming here. And above all I want to institutionalise liberation issues as being at the heart of our Union.

Meat free Mondays. Yea or nay?

Yes, the environmental impact of meat is enormous and I love a good few vegetables!

What was the biggest difference between this year’s campaign and last year’s?

This year was much more positive and everyone focussed their efforts on maximising votes without getting involved in personal disputes. I had much more

Katie Budd What were the best and worst moments of the campaign?

The best moment was probably coming up with the slogan. We’d been sitting in our meeting for two hours and I was despairing at my lack of inspiration (who knew that Budd isn’t actually very good for puns?!). Someone was speaking about the song ‘you’ve got a friend in me’, someone else said “Toy Story”, another person said “Buzz Lightyear” and then I screamed “BUDD LIGHTYEAR”. It felt like everything falling into place.

The worst moment was the ten minutes before the first hustings. I was absolutely bricking it and my campaign team had to give me a bit of a pep talk. That anticipation for campaigning to start once nominations have closed is generally pretty horrific.

How has RAG President been good training for A&D? It’s difficult to exaggerate how much I’ve learnt being a part of RAG. From event planning on small and huge scales, to leadership and managing a team, to time management, to budgeting properly (not an activity I enjoy). I think the most important lesson I’ve learnt, though, is how to immediately start dealing with a problem by thinking about solutions, rather than agonising over the problem itself. Being RAG President this year has also meant that I’ve worked extensively with a wide range of societies, the AU and the media group. Through this, I’ve learnt how each of these groups work, some of the problems they face, and the ways I can enhance the amazing work they do.

Will there be a Men’s Rugby club next year?

Ultimately, I’m not going to be part of that decision because, as far as I know, it’s

being taken by the Trustee Board before I come to office. My job, regardless of the decision, will be to make sure that everyone at LSE has the opportunity to play sport and that we stay on track with liberation for marginalised groups in the AU. The SU Exec really seized this opportunity at the start of the year, so I plan to build on their great work and make sure that nothing like the Men’s Rugby scandal ever happens again. I’ve really respected the efforts of the Men’s Rugby Working Group, particularly this term with their touch rugby sessions and ‘good lad’ campaign, so I hope this work is consolidated in the long term.

What is your favourite Toy Story moment and why?

There’s a scene in the first film where Buzz is trying to prove he’s a real action hero, so demonstrates his ‘flying’ skills to the other toys. At the end, Woody says: “That wasn’t flying, that was falling with style”. I had a meme of that line saved, ready to use if I lost the election!

Training for society members and event publicity were mentioned during the campaign. What action will you take on these issues?

I want to look at holding full training days for society execs, which are much more comprehensive than the hour meeting they get at the moment. This would include skills-based workshops, as well as training on liberation issues. AU execs had a leadership day earlier this year, so I don’t see why we can’t do something similar for societies!

Regarding publicity, I think that the SU has really drastically improved its communications this year and has started promoting society events a lot more. However, I still don’t think it’s clear to many societies exactly how they can get their events pro-

Tuesday March 10, 2015

widespread support which made campaigning a really enjoyable experience.

Whose idea was the gold jumpsuit?

A combination of myself and Gee - this campaign was about me having fun and being myself !

Will there be a Men’s Rugby club next year?

I can't pass comment this as it is a trustee board decision which is yet to be made.

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paign in response to your claims about LSE halls’ leases?

It was amusing to see Andy get involved in SU

politics yet again, and make vexatious claims against me. It's disappointing that discussions in committees were misrepresented over Twitter but it came as no surprise, as Farrell has been resisting student consultation over the halls leases.

Can we get a response to Andrew Farrell’s tweet during the cam-

moted, so we really need to get the message out there.

solve the problems they face, or whether there are more effective solutions.

Which Toy Story character are you most like and why?

The answer to this should be Buzz shouldn’t it? I like to think I have his talent for leadership and problem solving, at least. There’s an element of Jessie in me as well, passionate and outspoken when I need to be. I’m probably a bit like Rex too, because I’m one of the clumsiest people I know and can be a bit of a worrier!

What is your plan for the Media Group? How can we get the most out of Pulse Radio, LooSE TV and the Clare Market Review, as well as The Beaver?

That’s a good question, because I don’t think the media group received a lot of attention in anyone’s A&D manifesto this year (the 200 word limit makes things tough!). The first step is to sit down with the media group execs and find out what they want from me, rather than make a plan for them.

The Beaver seems to have had a pretty good year in terms of readership and the quality of its pieces under Jon Allsop. I’d love to see how we can really expand some of the alternative forms of media, like Pulse and LooSE, and boost the numbers of their listeners and viewers respectively.

One of your opponents in the race proposed an Arts Union for the creative socie ties. Are you sympathetic to this plan?

I’m certainly not against this plan. One of the first things Becca and I said to each other when I won was that we should sit down in the coming weeks and really discuss each other’s policies, because at the end of the day she received a huge number of votes!

T h e Arts Union was one of the very exciting things on Becca’s manifesto and I think it won her a lot of support. Before making big structural change like that, though, I would want to sit down with all of the arts societies and see if this is something that would genuinely

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Interviews

Tuesday March 10, 2015

Jon-Rhys Foster What were the best and worst moments of the campaign?

Haha, it's difficult to pinpoint individual moments - most of the last week is a sleep-deprived blur. The worst thing was probably just the roller coaster of it all, from one minute to the next your mood can go from thinking you're in with a real chance to questioning what you are doing with your life! By election day you're a bit delirious. Also, being too tired to care about England throwing away another Grand Slam was a low point.

Best thing/moments was just being able to meet so many LSE students who care about our Union - both candidates in my race (who were wonderful) and in races across the board - you develop a strange camaraderie. Also, as a drama geek I had a lot of fun messing about making the videos.

How do you propose to give students more say over their programmes and modules?

This year I think Tom has run some great events as part of his 'Reimagining' series and we really need to push on and expand these and work to get more academics and GTAs coming along. The more contact and face to face feedback we can get the better; a student telling a professor the course isn't up to scratch to their face is much harder to ignore than an anonymous feedback form. I also want to sit down with departments and students to work out what we can to make SSLCs an effective communication tool - they need to be meeting more frequently and should be about more than arranging one of department socials.

Given how tight it was in later rounds, do you owe everything to Liam Hill for deciding not to run?

I feel that I owe not just everything in this election but probably everything in my life to Liam Hill... I am in fact considering starting a 'Draft Hill for Gen Sec' movement.

In all seriousness, running against 4 such excellent and friendly candidates already meant I was on edge, adding another one would have probably tipped me over!!

Has your Australian accent improved since before the campaign?

Hahaha, absolutely not! If anything it's got worse! I would say it's been retired but I vaguely remember promising to break it out for my first UGM...

Exam feedback is a really important issue for students, as shown by

Aysha al-Fekaiki What were the best and worst moments of the campaign?

My worst moment was having a break down after the Labour hustings and losing all confidence in the campaign as the competition was so fierce.

The best moment came the same day as I was picked right back up with fiery strong support from my sisters and re m e m b e r i n g how lucky and privileged we are to be at this university and that we could get real representation if we won!

Three quarters of the Sabb team next year will be women, but you’re the only full-time Sabb who is BME. What more can be done for liberation on campus?

BME students are disproportionately affected by institutionalised racism and this impacts our everyday lives. I want to en-

courage expression through music, dance, art, inter-faith networks and strengthening and expanding existing foundations such as the BME Network.

We should take pride in our heritage, yet we are not a homogenous group, and therefore we do not struggle in the same way. It is vital that we are listened to and are not dictated to as empowerment means different things to different students. I can’t wait to work with Jasmina and Mahatir to improve social mobility and to address the issue of casual racism.

Your cake-based campaign was clearly eaten up by students, but what’s your favourite type of cake and why?

I actually LOVE

the UGM a few weeks ago. How are you going to ensure more is provided by this time next year?

It's going to be difficult but I think we're all up for the fight - Tom has done brilliant work this year and I think has really laid the groundwork. Departments like law have begun to show movement and are willing to pilot it on a small scale.

We need to use this to put pressure on other departments but really we need to make sure we're working with departments like Law so that these pilots are a success.

The recent UGM motion has provided a fantastic mandate and it is clearly an issue students are passionate about. I am going to fully make use of that fact - I need to keep the pressure up on the school but we also need all students, SSLCs and academic student societies to pitch in and keep pushing.

How do you propose to make the curriculum more diverse?

Again this is an issue that I think we are already beginning to see some movement on. The philosophy department have embraced a good practice scheme, meaning 25% of readings have to be by female academics - this is a great start but it isn't enough and we need to push for it across lemon drizzle cake. It’s so sweet, yet sour, and has a burst of flavour! I want to approach the role in a similar way, with love and happiness but will stand up for people when things go wrong, like a sour kick.

Meat free Mondays. Yea or nay?

Absolutely! I really hope we can get this implemented this year, it’s a brilliant initiative and I am in full support of the campaigners. The meat industry is having a horrific impact on our environment, and it’s our responsibility to do something about it. This is a great start.

the school. I want to work with our phenomenal new team of liberation officers and our brilliant societies to make a concentrated effort and campaign for the curriculum we all want to see. This year we're going to be knocking on the door harder than ever before.

How important is it in your role to advocate on behalf of GTAs? What’s the right balance between campaigning on students’ issues and teachers’ issues?

Obviously there is a balance to be struck and my ultimate responsibility is to students. But I think the key thing here is that a lot of teachers issues are student issues - the lack of teacher training and support has a knock on effect on students experience. By working with teachers we make our own case stronger and is something which in the past hasn't always been fully utilised.

You’re outwardly a very mildmannered and affable person, but should Paul Kelly be afraid of what lurks beneath the surface?

I think it's important to develop a good working relationship with Paul Kelly - he's obviously got to balance a lot of things and antagonising the school doesn't help anyone. That being said, when I think the actions of the school are wrong and not necessarily in students best interests I will have absolutely no qualms on calling them out. I'm going to be upfront and make clear that we are working with the school not for them - as long as that's clear from the outset then I'm sure we'll get along fine. as much funding as LSE, yet King’s had a great community on Strand campus nevertheless. I don’t think it’s necessarily about how much funding you have to put on shows and events, it’s about actually interacting and learning from one another to build a more tolerant and understanding community at LSE, which is truly inclusive in all senses of the word.

Yes funding helps to strengthen things like the Women’s Network, and providing grants and bursaries to students who need it; however we have the power within ourselves to also create a more cohesive community.

Do you see Community and Welfare as more of an external, activist role or an internal, support role?

Definitely both. LSE is a global institution which has great national links with other universities and therefore the SU and students have the potential to truly have a positive impact on the world. Students have been the driver of real change in countless domestic social movement’s and even internationally in the Middle Eastern Revolutions and in ending South African Apartheid.

My main priority however will be serving LSE, supporting underprivileged and underrepresented students and communities and working to achieve and promote a vibrant, understanding and more respectful community for the better welfare of all us.

Making halls committees more integrated into the SU has preoccupied your predecessors. Is this something you will continue?

Of course! If this is something the students want, this is what the students will get! I do think this is very important for fresher’s, particularly as we have such a vibrant international community and therefore from day one we should be encouraging this network of support which comes directly from the SU to help support all hall committees as this is the first experience that students get from university life. I hope we can implement a women’s officer and BME officer in halls to help integrate the SU structure within halls to ensure new students get all the support they need.

You studied at King’s at undergraduate level. What are the biggest differences between King’s and LSE? Put simply, King’s has nowhere near

What is priority number one for sweetening the SU? Whatever the priorities of the students are! Bring on the new year!

Tuesday February 10, 2015

Leen Aghabi Online Editor OUR VERY OWN BEAVER will be blowing its Sixty-Sixth candle this coming May! First christened by George Bernard Shaw, one the founding fathers of the LSE, The Beaver acts as a platform for student journalism and free expression in the student community. It was first issued on the 5th of May 1949. What started out as a 4 - pager, underwent several makeovers, survived LSE’s history, and is now a weekly 40 page newspaper, one of the most respected and widely read in the UK. Over the years, The Beaver not only expanded in size, but in

leadership board and the sort of content it covers. Initially, it was governed by a small board of editors who wrote, published and took photographs for the paper. Today, The Beaver is governed by the Collective, a body of students who have contributed three or more written pieces or photographs to the paper and elects the editorial staff. Independent in its reporting, The Beaver publishes 2000 copies printed in Berliner format on weekly bases. It is distributed free of charge over the course of Michaelmas and Lent terms.

When it comes to content, the paper is made up of sections for News, Comment, Features, The City, The NAB and Sport, as well as an arts and culture supplement,

PartB. The Beaver's news section has consistently been among the strongest in UK student media, consisting of LSE, University of London and Higher Education stories from across Britain. As for the comment section, this section publishes opinion pieces discussing issues that are relevant to the LSE community, regardless of whether they have wider social or political implications. Letters to the editor are also published, and the extensive range of articles and letters featured reflects the broad readership of the paper.

The Beaver also has other sections. The Features section which deals with international relations, global politics, while The City section which deals with economics

and business. PartB is The Beaver's arts and culture supplement.

Launched in 2005, it contains sections dedicated to music, film, literature, theatre, fashion, visual arts, food, television and satire. For certain, we cannot leave out the LSE’s Athletic community. Over the years, The Beaver developed a sports section which reports on a mixture of match sports from LSE teams and comment on world sports.

The Beaver’s uniqueness lies in it covering a wide range of topics and interests, to ensure wide readership. Its legacy not only lies in it having been there for sixtysix years already, but also in the prominence of its contributors.

The collective body of contribu-

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tors is all brilliant minded students who have the potential to go far.

This is ensured from the previous legacy established by notable LSE Alumni and previous contributors to the Beaver such as, but not limited to, Richard Bacon, who was a former Executive Editor for The Beaver and is now a conservative member of Parliament for Norfolk South, and Justin Webb, who was a former editor at The Beaver, and now presents the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4.

With every birthday The Beaver celebrates, it only adds up to the legacy it has established, and this year is no different. Happy Birthday our dearest Beaver, we now you will keep on shining for many years to come!

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Tuesday February 11, 2015

In Pictures: 120 Years of LSE

1940s: The menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rugby club keeps clothes on

Inexplicably, the LSE names a train

The AU has a jolly good time

Lloyd Grossman opens Pulse Radio

The library opens

Nona of the 1940s, Kenneth Berril

The founding stone is laid

The gym is installed, probably in the 70s given the shorts

Students study in the Shaw Library

Houghton Street in the 1960s

Sidney and Beatrice Webb

The Old Building in the 80s

Thanks to LSE Library and Archives, more photos can be seen on their Flickr pages.

The City Section Editorial: TWO EXCITING THINGS HAPpened this week: Sunday saw the world unite in International Women’s Day and this week LSE also celebrates it’s 120th birthday. For the latter occasion, each section was asked to put together something using archival material from The Beaver (which the library has painstakingly made available online).

In the course of our research, however, a couple of the other editors and myself noticed something we are not very accustomed to now: women were treated very differently in universities then compared to now. Whether it be a “Ladies’ Page” dedicated to home-making tips in the 1970s, the auctioning of a female student for a date in the 1960s or the “beautiful student of the week” section int he 1950s, these snippets show us how much the position of women in universities has changed.

This got me thinking about an article I read earlier this year by a prominent feminist lamenting the fact that “elite” movements for female empowerment in high-level business have subverted the overall movement, and I couldn’t help thinking that I am still glad these movements exist.

At the start of this term, I had tried to get a feminist comment on this from FemSoc and others, but no one responded. This week an article was suddenly delayed and I decided to write something up, so here it goes!

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

Features: Africa in Focus: Features Special Pages 34-35

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Sport: AU Fight Night Preview Page 40

“Golden Skirts”: Is Female Empowerment in the City Harming the Feminist Project?

According to feminist heavyweight Alison Wolf, the the widder women’s liberation movement is being subverted by urban, elite women.

Mika Morissette Section Editor “FEMINISTS TODAY ARE TOO obsessed with their own elite, metropolitan lives” wrote Alison Wolf in a commentary piece for The Guardian towards the end of January. By “feminists today”, she was referring to what Norway calls “golden skirts”: highlyeducated and active women who campaign for more female participation in the elite spheres of business and politics. In Wolf ’s opinion, feminism has been appropriated by a generation of self-interested elite women who use it to justify their increasing upward mobility at the expense of opening the wider feminist movement to those who need it most.

These “golden skirts” are becoming increasingly visible -- from City women’s mentoring schemes to the page of Sheryl Sandberg’s hugely popular Lean In -- but Alison Wolf ’s criticism is, surprisingly, not new. It is actually pretty much as old as the feminist movement itself. After Virginia Wolf published Three Guineas in 1938, which, although less known than A Room of One’s Own, is perhaps an even stronger call for admitting women into the professions and the political classes, a female reviewer going by the name Q. D. Leavis wrote a scathing commentary on Wolf ’s “self-righteous” book which was only

relevant to “the relatively very few propertied people in our country”.

How, she asked, would this help the average women, who could not afford an education or servants to take over her household tasks?

One of the justifications offered was the classic ‘trickle-down effect’ argument -- that structures would change if they were questioned by those who have the most leverage.

Going back to the Q. D. Leavis article, Leavis expresses shock at how impractical Wolf ’s calls for equality in the work place would be for non-elite servant-less women whose husbands would suddenly need to “from the start work at tending their offspring”.

Almost eighty years later, the thought of it being unheard-of for a man to tend to his child, whether he be the husband of a high-powered banking executive or a that of factory worker, seems ridiculous in large part because of working middle-class women who pushed for joint parental care.

However, Alison Wolf does have a point: the emancipation of highpowered, high-paid women from the home and into long-hour jobs has come less with a ‘return’ of men to the home and more due to the emergence of a new class of low-paid women --nannies, cleaning-ladies, care-assistants, etc -- taking on the same jobs the elite women of the other Wolf ’s time benefited from having taken off their hands. This is a problem, espe-

cially since women working in these jobs (because they are overwhelmingly occupied by women) have very little say politically. My only question is why it is primarily the working wives and mothers who are being blamed for this.

Another justification for movements benefitting elite women is the need for more female role models. I personally find this later argument particularly strong. The majority of men will not live lives of privilege, but many of the people we look up to -political and business leaders, famous scientists and inventors, successful entrepreneurs -- are men. The LSE, with its numerous women in business societies and corporate-based women’s networking and mentoring schemes, is a prime example of the product of such movements towards the empowerment of women as leaders.

What would the LSE be like without these movements? In 1960, the LSE Liberal Democrat society raffled a single woman and for a period in the 50s, The Beaver had a retro version of The Sun’s page three called “Beauty Parlour” (seriously, go look it up on the archives). It is important not to undermine the fact that movements of educated middle-class women have achieved something: universities are more equal than ever and it is not seen as bizarre for the women who leave their doors to then aspire to head a state or a multi-national. OECD

countries are for the first time ever reporting girls outpacing boys in education and university enrolment but this makes the lack of female leadership post-education even more glaring.

Of course, no one, including Alison Wolf, would object to having a more diverse ruling class. She does however, object to the seemingly artificial mechanisms put in place to achieve this such as quotas for female representation on company boards or national parliaments, which she says draw resources and energy away from needier causes. Like all movements, feminism faces the classic challenge of where it focuses its energies.

Female empowerment is important and it needs to happen at all levels. It therefore unfortunate that it has progressed more quickly in some areas than others. This is not particularly surprising, however: it is important to recognise that privilege comes in several forms and often intersects, meaning that although a white middle-class women may be earning 0.70 cents to the male dollar, she also benefits from having her voice heard and her priorities valorised. This is why recognising intersectionality is important. First and Second Wave feminism accomplished some lofty goals, but it is now important for Third Wave feminism to address the challenge of inclusivity which will be no mean feat considering how diverse the 4.5 billion women on this planet are.

Photo credit: Beryl Snw

The City

Mika Morissette

Tuesday March 10, 2015

Are feminists today “too obsessed with their own elite, metropolitan lives”?

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The City

Tuesday March 10, 2015

The LSE at 120: Six Decades of Business and Economics As Seen Through The Beaver 1950s: Keynes and Post-War Growth 1980s: Thatcherism and financial advice

1990s: Rise of the finantial industry

1970s: Oil and a “proto-Occupy” Occupation movements at the LSE

Features Section editorial: WE LOOKED ALL THE way back to an edition of The Beaver dated May 1949 and found a statistical rundown of the State of the Union from back in the day. The title of the article in question was “Wide Open Spaces, Same Old Faces”; we find this surprisingly apt even today. And what else did we find? A shocking decline in vital statistics that highlights a catastrophic erosion of the Union today, such as...

That this vital statistic has been allowed to decline so rapidly is as alarming as it is damning. Shame on you LSE. However, union selflessness is arguably a rare trait today.

Although there is one thing that we believe has conceivably remained the same...

Features

George Harrison & Taryana Odayar

Tuesday March 10, 2015

Section Editors: George Harrison and Taryana Odayar features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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

West Papua: The Struggle for Liberation Rebecca Wembri LSESU Terra Society President F O R OV E R 5 0 Y E A R S the people of West Papua have been resisting the repressive military occupation of Indonesia.

Mass atrocities have been carried out by Indonesian security forces, and human rights abuses continue to this day. The total death toll of West Papuans has been estimated between 100,000 to as much as 500,000. In almost all estimates, under international law the death toll amounts to genocide by Indonesia.

The struggle has persisted for so long in secrecy because of Indonesia’s virtual media black out.

Indonesia has allowed foreign journalists into the region intermittently but subject to government approved applications that are infrequent, with journalists being accompanied by official minders. Foreign journalists have risked their lives going undercover in the region.

The UN has a chequered history in the area, beginning with its involvement in supervising the handover of the former Dutch colony to Indonesia. The Netherlands began its withdrawal and the preparation for West Papuan independence in the 1950s, but a newly independent Indonesia asserted itself over the island. In 1962, a United Nations-sponsored treaty handed interim control of West Papua to Indonesia,

The Papuan Coast. Source: flikr, Taro Taylor

without West Papuan consultation or consent. A key requirement of the treaty was that all 815,000 West Papuans would be allowed to vote in a referendum on independence – The Act of Free Choice in 1969. The Indonesian government rejected the promised plebiscite, and instead handpicked 1,026 tribal leaders to vote on behalf of the entire population under heavy military oversight. The vote was unanimous, and Indonesia’s takeover of West Papua received the UN stamp of approval. This has consigned the fate of West Papuans to live under the brutal control that has ensued. The US National Security Archive since has revealed declassified memos between the Indonesian and US governments detailing US support for Indonesia’s heavy-handed takeover of West Papua despite overwhelming Papuan opposition and UN requirements for genuine selfdetermination.

West Papuans have continued to resist Indonesian control, risking their lives to protect and fight for their land. Papuans face daily surveillance and intimidation by the Indonesian military and police. Reports state that they have been subjected to arbitrary and mass detention, torture, and other cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment. Detained Papuans have suffered electric shocks, beatings, water torture, and confinement in steel contain-

ers for months on end. And yet Indonesia has enjoyed impunity from such human rights abuses.

At the same time the Indonesian government’s systematic program of resource exploitation, destruction of Papuan resources and crops, compulsory and often uncompensated labour and forced relocation has caused pervasive environmental harm to the region, undermined traditional subsistence practices and the social fabric of indigenous communities, and led to widespread disease, malnutrition, and death among West Papuans. Lucrative mining operations exploit the wealth of natural resources, while West Papua remains the poorest and most underdeveloped province of Indonesia.

Those who protest openly do so at great personal cost.

Papuans attending independence rallies have been arrested and tortured, and raising the national flag could land you in jail for up to 15 years. Benny Wenda is a West Papuan independence leader who has dedicated his life to campaigning for freedom for his people. He began by campaigning peacefully in West Papua, but was forced to flee the country after he was arrested, tortured, and threatened with death, and was granted political asylum by the UK in 2002.

The Free West Papua Campaign was set up in 2004 to provide support to Papuans and Papuan organisations involved in demo-

cratic and nonviolent campaigns for independence. The aim of the campaign is to grant the people of West Papua the right to selfdetermination in a fair and transparent referendum.

Benny Wenda provides much of the leadership and direction of their work, travelling around the world and meeting with political leaders and NGOs to gather support. His efforts have been recognised in his nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. Having recently returned from a visit to South Africa, LSE SU Terra Society are excited and honoured to host Benny Wenda at the LSE. Mr Wenda will be join us on Friday 13th March to speak about his experience and the West Papuan struggle. He will also be performing some West Papuan music which he has taken around the world, playing at multiple music festivals, including Glastonbury, to gather support for West Papua.

While media interest and awareness is building internationally, significant international pressure has to be placed to assure self-determination for the people of West Papua. At the very least, pressure must be put on Indonesia to removed controls on foreign media access, and ensue that human rights abuses cease. Students at LSE have the unique opportunity to hear about the struggle for liberation from a West Papuan who has first hand experience.

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Features

Tuesday March 10, 2015

‘India’s Daughter’: The Deeper Meaning Taryana Odayar Features Editor “IN OUR CULTURE, THERE is no place for women.” This was just one of the many vitriolic statements made by defence lawyer, M.L. Sharma, in defence of the six rapists who brutally gangraped and mutilated 23 year-old Indian medical student, Jyoti Singh, in a recently aired BBC documentary titled ‘India’s Daughter.’

On the 16th of December, 2012, Jyoti had just finished her final year medical examinations, despite having battled with many challenges in her young life, such as growing up in circumstances of extreme poverty and a neighbourhood roiling from the sting of patriarchal pressures. The future looked bright; she was confident that she would pass her medical exams and achieve her dream of becoming a doctor, and had told her parents that finally their scrimping and saving to pay for her university fees would come to an end. In Jyoti’s father’s own words in the documentary, “Happiness was only a few steps away.” Little did Jyoti’s parents know that as she sailed out the door that evening to go and see a movie with her friend, that all happiness, future and present, was sailing out the door with her.

According to The Times of India, a 13-year study of criminal data highlighted the shocking fact

that close to 60 rapes are regularly reported across India on a daily basis. And if you break down the statistics further, this approximates to around two rapes hourly, every day, for the last 13 years.

But the magnitude of these statistics was probably the last thing on Jyoti’s mind as she and her male friend accepted a lift from an off-duty charter bus on their way home from the cinema at 8.30pm, where they had just finished watching ‘The Life of Pi’.

The documentary then depicts the horrifying series of events that ensued; wherein the six men on the bus first verbally taunted and then beat into submission both Jyoti and her friend, and then took turns at systematically raping her.

As if this wasn’t enough, one of them used his hand to pull out her intestines, wrapped them in a cloth, and threw them out of the bus, followed by the bodies of the severely injured Jyoti as well as her male friend. Jyoti died a few days later in hospital due to sustained injuries in her abdomen, intestines and genitals.

A word of caution: this documentary is not for the fainthearted. Several times during the documentary, I found myself involuntarily averting my eyes from the film and shuddering in sheer horror and revulsion at the monstrosities committed by these six individuals. But what appalled me even more, were the vitriolic opinions shared by the

rapists and their defence lawyers during interviews conducted by the director of the documentary, Leslee Udwin. According to one rapist, Mukesh Singh, “you can’t clap with one hand”, implying that Jyoti is equally to blame for her rape by virtue of being out at 8.30 in the night. Furthermore, A.P. Singh, one of the defence lawyers, fervently iterates that if his daughter or sister had done as Jyoti did and gone to see a film with a male friend at night, that in his eyes she had effectively “disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character” and that he would “take this sort of sister or daughter to my (his) farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight.”

When I reflect on these misogynistic and backwards statements, it is of no surprise to me that the Indian government has

banned the release and screening of the documentary in the country, requested the BBC to not release the documentary anywhere else in the world, and that the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is removing several versions of the documentary that have popped up all over YouTube.

However, when you peel away the layers of media frenzy, controversy, and emotion surrounding the documentary, what you have left is not the story of one young woman who was savagely raped by six men, but a story of the plight that most Indian women (70% according to The Times of India), face on a regular basis against a deeply-ingrained mindset of misogyny, male supremacy, and patriarchal values that still exists amongst certain groups of the Indian populous. Now I’m not saying that India is a country of rapists; far from it. The world is

full of rapists and other sorts of equally if not more horrendous forms of criminal behaviour.

But what I am saying, is that this documentary needed to be shown despite the ban placed on it, and the fact that it was, hopefully now paves the way for a process of re-education in society, in line with a thought-provoking statement from Jyoti’s mother, that, “Whenever there’s a crime, the girl is blamed, ‘She should not go out. She shouldn’t roam around so late or wear such clothes.’ It’s the boys who should be accused and asked why they do this. They shouldn’t do this.”

Jyoti was the sort of person who once stopped a policeman from hitting a street urchin who stole her purse, and who stood up against the men who raped and subsequently killed her. Indeed, Jyoti Singh may have been India’s Daughter, but first and foremost, she was a fellow human being, much like us, and shared many of our own hopes, dreams and aspirations. Therefore, this International Women’s Day, lets take a stand against the gendered prejudices prevalent not only in India, but in each of our own countries, universities, schools, and even homes, so that there is no chance for any individual, be it man or woman, to feel the need to commit atrocities like rape, and so that even if these atrocities are committed, we do not sit in silence.

Iranian Nuclear Talks Create Political Drama Jordon Trapp Postgraduate Student LAST WEEK, CONGRESS featured a spectacle of political theatre that lived up to its billing as the hottest ticket in town.

Two weeks before facing domestic elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spurred by the emerging prospect of a nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, felt it was a good time to come to Washington and warn America of the grave mistake it was about to make. The P5+1 negotiators in Geneva must have tuned in with some trepidation - just how much damage will this do?

The agreement that these negotiators have been pursuing, Netanyahu made clear, is a fig-leaf: an Iranian ruse to buy more time to push Iran’s nuclear capability beyond the point of no return.

The current path will see the genie escape from the bottle - not only will Iran secure nuclear weapons but inevitably so will Iran’s proxies, setting off a regional arms race. To avert this catastrophe

there is one option; sanctions that will cripple the regime and force it to capitulate - anything less is misguided appeasement.

In Congress the majority of Netanyahu’s audience seemed convinced, applauding the Prime Minister at every rhetorical flourish. Inside the chamber there appeared to be a unity of purpose, the deafening ovation that greeted Netanyahu’s arrival was an affirmation of old vows; America will always stand with Israel.

Yet for all the praise and solidarity shown this was a brazen and cynical stunt that rehashed old arguments, drove a stake into bi-partisan support for Israel and undermined American diplomacy.

Netanyahu’s speech highlighted two key criticisms of the proposed framework. Firstly the deal would not compel Iran to dismantle its nuclear facilities, meaning it could eventually produce enough highly enriched uranium to create a nuclear bomb.

Secondly, the proposal would contain a ‘sunset clause’, meaning the terms of the deal would

last only for 10 years before being renegotiated.

That Iran would retain any nuclear facilities is anathema to Netanyahu. Instead, if you just squeeze them hard enough, they will sacrifice the entire project.

This is patently a politically untenable position. Under the terms of the deal Iran will have to suffer regular intrusions and inspections by international observers. Moreover, it is widely understood that if Iran really wants a to achieve the construction of a nuclear bomb it would eventually be able to do so. Even if the facilities are dismantled or destroyed the intellectual capability, built up over decades, will remain.

In Netenyahu’s defence, it is right to be sceptical of Iran when it argues that it needs nuclear capabilities for power generation and medical purposes. Denouncements and threats against Israel are hardly unusual in the Islamic Republic. Iran’s dependent in Lebanon, Hezbollah is, bluntly, a terrorist organisation opposed to Israel’s existence.

Iranian-made rockets frequently

pepper the Israeli countryside and border communities.

Yet societies do change and progress, who’s to say the regime will still be dominated by hard-liners and institutional antiAmericanism in ten years? Is the election of Rouhani not a sign of progress? Netanyahu certainly believes it is not. But perhaps in 10 years the Iranian public will agree then that the huge resources devoted to a project that invites attack, sabotage and isolation could be better spent on schools, hospitals and roads?

This optimistic uncertainty does not fit the zero-sum worldview that was displayed in Washington. By organising his speech in secret without informing the White House he abandons his relationship with an administration still with 22 months on the clock in favour of deeper ties with a Republican Party that is hardly a shoe-in for the 2016 presidential election. On the international stage the unreasonable demand for the total disassembly of all of Iran’s nuclear facilities while making no concessions is another

example of unproductive cutthroat politics.

Ultimately however, these events in Washington shouldn’t affect the momentum towards a nuclear deal which is expected to be drafted by the end of this month. Both Israel and the P5+1 do not want Iran to get the bomb.

The contours of the framework currently advanced appear to be both comprehensive and verifiable. A binding, if time-limited, agreement undoubtedly will be a much stronger arms control measure than simply ratcheting up the economic pressure. Iran has resisted and suffered under sanctions for years, and would have the determination to resist further - effectively leaving military confrontation as the only option. For Netanyahu if the deal is bad, the answer simply is to walk away. For him this deal is disaster waiting to happen. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that what a ‘bad deal’ is for Netanyahu and what a ‘bad deal’ is for America, the Middle East and even Israel, may well be different things.

Features

Tuesday March 10, 2015

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Examining The Economic Recovery

Just How Sustainable is the Economic Recovery?

Joe Walters Deputy Features Editor I N M Y L A S T A RT I C L E I wrote about how the performance of the UK economy in the hands of Osborne and Cameron has been poor, despite the signs of a recovery in 2014. In this piece, the bashing of the Bullingdon boys will be continued by claiming that the growth we have seen in the past year may not be conducive to a long-term stable recovery, despite their insistence that their “long term economic plan” is working.

My concern with the higher growth we have had since the beginning of 2014 is if it has been driven by increased consumption rather than investment. Is this really something we should be worried about? Maybe not in itself, but the reason for the growth in consumption should cause some alarm, as it appears to be an increase in household debt.

As the above graph displaying unsecured lending shows, households have returned to pre-crisis levels of lending with borrowing increasing to £1.2 billion a

bubble burst and house prices plunged, the families who had accumulated large debts in the preceding boom where left in serious trouble, with some having mortgages worth more than their house (negative equity). Not only did the end of the housing bubble mark the beginning of the recession, the huge amount of household debt in the UK may have been responsible for increasing the depth of the recession. This is due to the fact that at the onset of the downturn households with large debts tried to pay off as much of those debts as possible, because of the uncertainty about their future earnings.

People lend on the assumption that they will make enough in the future to pay their debts off, so when they are no longer confident they will earn enough to do so they become uncomfortable with the debts hanging over them.

So households scrambling to pay off their debt further reduced demand, lengthening the downturn.

This view follows from a 2014 Bank of England paper that found “highly indebted UK households made larger-than-average cuts in spending, relative to income, after 2007”.

row more. When interest rates rise, which they inevitably must, people will be under strain to pay back old debts meaning they will be unable to lend more. In the words of the German economist Rudi Dornbusch “It is hard for a man to establish a relationship with a lender if the estranged wife keeps barging in claiming alimony”. With households paying more back to lenders than they are receiving, spending will drop and the Tories consumption led recovery will start to slow down.

ings they have used debt as a substitute in order to raise their living standards, however, as we saw in 2008, continually using debt to finance spending is not sustainable.

It has been suggested by the OECD recently that the UK could resolve this problem by raising worker productivity. This is in line with standard economic thinking, in that a rise in productivity leads to a rise in wages, which in the UK will mean less reliance on debt for consumption. However the problem with this view is that produc-

reliance on debt will continue for some time to come.

The UK’s overdue recovery in terms of growth has taken a weight off the exchequers shoulders, just as the word ‘depression’ was starting to seem an appropriate term for the performance of the British economy. However the recovery’s reliance on debt is a cause for concern and there is a hint of irony to the fact that the Conservatives’ “long term economic plan” is centred on fighting the spectre of debt, and yet now they

What about my second worry then, that the increase in household debt reflects how the economy is not working for normal people? I suggest this as I am convinced by the argument that the rise in household debt, which has been a feature of many advanced economies over the past few decades, is due to the stagnation in wages. With families not seeing substantial increases in their earn-

tivity growth and wage growth do not seem to be as intertwined in reality as they are in a standard textbook. Since the 70s, productivity has expanded by 114% yet wages have only increased 72%; the divergence between the two is even larger in other countries like the US. So finding a way to raise peoples wages may be harder than an economist would first think, meaning the British household’s

are claiming their plan is working due to a debt-fuelled consumption increase. Although I do not want to contribute too much to the anti-debt fetishism that has become part of our collective consciousness, high levels of household debt have caused serious problems before and we should also be asking, why are the British people are so reliant on debt to fund an acceptable standard of living?

David Cameron and George Osborne. Source: Politicshome

month. This increase in household debt is alarming for two reasons.

Firstly, it may not be sustainable and, therefore, the consumption will decrease when the households try to pay off the debt, and the second is that this large increase in household debt is symptomatic of an economy that is not working for the average family.

Let’s begin with my first concern. In 2008 when the housing

So what are the implications for our current situation?

If households continue to lend, and consequently continue to spend, then we may be alright and, given enough time, investment may start to increase (although Japan has had low investment for almost two decades so there is no guarantee). However, the problem comes when people can no longer, or no longer feel they should, bor-

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

Features

Visiting the Beaver Archives

Bridging the Gap: Beaver Snippets of the Past George Harrison Features Editor AS PART OF LSE’S 120TH Birthday Celebrations, much work has been done dredging up relics from past editions of The Beaver; these can all be found on the website of the LSE library Beaver Archives, although some snippets from the past have been complied here. Looking back at the press can provide an insight into life in a certain time period, and it seems as if the Beaver archives can allow us to do just this. Some of the extracts reprinted here highlight the radically different nature of the cultures that existed at the LSE, and at a national level, many years ago.

They include the first in a string of what one can only assume to be utterly fiendish bridge puzzles, alongside comments about the lack of female representation in the Beaver of the late 1950s; this surprisingly preceded the “A Woman For Sale” advert from 1960, which is reprinted here alongside a plethora of extracts from throughout the decades.

The Beaver understands that the forewarned Liberal coup is yet to occur, although the sandbag reserves have since been supplemented in case such an eventuality were to ever occur.

Sport

Tuesday March 10, 2015

38

Ghosts Of Beverage Past As part of the Beaver’s 120th birthday celebrations, a classic/not-very-good Bev Report has been found from the archives, which is published alongside this week’s report. Freshers, read and learn what your seniors got up to in their primes. Try not to emulate.

THE GAMES MAY HAVE begun at uni with hockey successfully ruining their freshers and the AU Exec adapting the We l c o m e P a r t y O l y m pics into an equally competitive, but purely alcohol based event.

The real scoring, howe v e r, w a s t o t a k e p l a c e l a t e r, w i t h t h o s e s t i l l able to stand making their toga-clad way to Leicester Square.

Ju m p i n g the gun in the quad were two hockey freshers whose Roman hands brought them much attention, whether it was the raw egg in her hair or the Basics vodka, neither of them made it to Zoo. With alcohol from the brutal initiations combining with genuine heat-stroke, it was a messy evening for most, made slightly messier

by the glitzy princess and her use of a semip e r m a n e n t m a r k e r.

With cameras steaming up, physical contact with anyone was best avoided by most Zoogoers. But this did not k e e p t h e c o u g a r s a w a y.

The two not so young ladies who returned to Zoo were definitely on the prowl, taking advantage of two somewhat innocent young footballers coincidentally sharing the same name.

Only one pair managed to convert the Zoo romance despite the other cougar’s best eff o r t s . T h e We l s h L o v e l y taken home like a lamb to the slaughter clearly enjoyed his night as the pair spent the following d a y t o g e t h e r. T h e s t a r t of a romance or will this man-eater leave

AN EVENTFUL NIGHT at Zoo on Wednesday, from hearts being broken to drinks being thrown: the tirade of gossip this week has been more than satisfactory. Candidates were busy scraping together their last few votes and even the jungle didn’t escape campaign week.

him broken-hearted?

Another member of football doing well for himself and not being left asking for more w a s M r Tw i s t , h o o k i n g up with netball fourth b e a u t y, t h o u g h t h e c o u ple parted ways at the e n d o f t h e e v e n i n g.

One hockey Cat, escaping from the heat of the LSE, but not avoiding the attention of those in the smoking area, enjoyed the company of a mystery brunette.

Rowing ag ain ste pped up, finding Kane particularly able with one of our wilder netball girls.

The extremely drunken state of said young lady should not be underestimated and credit should be given to her for her gallant effort in making it to Zoo. The same cannot be

A tennis team member spent a saucy evening with an unknown brunette and a certain runner got Carterd away into enemy territory. Sources have Confirmed that a netball lass was to the Tay-ste of a NOT rugby regular in the dusty corners of Zoo Bar. Once again a messy veteran Hardly made it to Zoo - she definitely wins the chunder queen award this year. A bushy browed lax gal was seen getting cosy with a red-shirted male, adding to her lengthy list of pursuits.

Sadly a Calamity occurred for the Wayne-Subo relationship: if

said for a considerable number of hockey freshers who barely made it t o t h e W e l c o m e P a r t y, managing to stumble i n t o t h e Tu n s b u t l i t t l e f u r t h e r.

The toga dress code confused the generally inept FC and resulted in some unfortunately tight yoga outfits, as their attempt at humour backfired for many including Malibu, whose skin-tight pink lacy top unsurprisingly failed to char m the young ladies at Zoo. The birthday boy d i d m u c h b e t t e r, b e i n g treated to a lap dance

by General Mateer on the sofas. Such a treat clearly wore the poor boy out as he persisted in attempting to nap for the rest of the night, both events being well photographed!

that FCer got a penny for every girl he got with, he’d be a Millionaire. Not all blossoming Zoo partnerships have been doomed for failure though, a Willing NOTrugby Listened to his heart once again this week, good lad.

A fresher Lived up to her reputation and was spotted leaving Zoo with a first team captain, however., unconfirmed reports suggest she had a Little night regardless. On the not-rugby/ snowsports front, it remains to be seen whether the reinstatement of the Men’s Rugby Club has been Gee-pordised this week.

White togas clearly identifying the freshers awaiting corruption presented the Lux with fresh meat and an easy pull, stumbling off the sofas and into the arms of a women’s rugby newbie.

A new personality in r u g b y, N o d d y M c I l r o y ordered by his superior in red - made serious attempts with General M a t e e r.

But even in her intoxicated state she managed to resist his advances, getting neither near her pitcher nor her bed. With only rowing initiations to go, theoretically the worst of the damage should have been done, but unfortunately for some there is much more of the ter m to go and many more tempting hours to be s p e n t i n Z o o B a r. . . . .

#RIPRUGBY2016 #ALONGTIMECOMING The self Esteem of a certain netballer was boosted when she broke her cougar Pattern of preying on freshers. Last but not least one moTIVAted FC gent had a Cic night and a footballer took a Godly fresher back to his Barn, obviously undeterred by her previous conquests.

AU Ball next week, Zoo-goers. Time is running out to get that special someone you’ve had your eye on this year, so seize the opportunity and make the most of the masks.

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Sport

Tuesday March 10, 2015

Netball Teams Up With Active LifeStylE Meg Leitch & Nisha Majumdar LSE Netball Club THIS YEAR HAS SEEN t h e l a u n ch o f t h e ex c i t i n g A c t i ve L i f e s t y l e p ro g r a m m e at L S E , e n c o u r a g i n g p e o p l e t o g e t i nvo l ve d i n s p o r t a n d p hy s i c a l a c t i v i t y a t L S E at a m o re f l e x i bl e a n d re c re a t i o n a l l eve l . N o t o n l y d o e s t h i s p rov i d e a f u n p l at f o r m f o r p e o p l e t o e n j oy s p o r t , i t h a s a l s o p rove d a n e s s e n t i a l w ay t o d e ve l o p i n d i v i d u a l s t o a s t a n d a rd s o t h at t h ey c a n b e c o m e p a r t o f a n AU c l u b.

The LSE Netball Club h ave b e e n p a r t i c u l a rl y l u c k y t o h ave b e e n a b l e t o h ave h a d t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n s fo r t h e 7th team and 8th team. On t o p o f t h i s, A c t i ve L i f e s t y l e g ave t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o

m e m b e r s a c ro s s t h e c l u b t o at t e n d a B e g i n n e r ’s U m p i ri n g C o u r s e.

S o f o u r n e t b a l l g i rl s d ec i d e d t o t r ave l t o To t t e n h a m at 8 a m o n a r a i ny S u n d ay m o r n i n g, u n s u re o f wh at we h a d re a l l y l e t o u r s e l ve s i n for!

The purpose of the c o u r s e w a s t o g i ve u s a b e g i n n e r ’s i n s i g h t i n t o t h e a r t o f u m p i r i n g, w h i ch t u r n e d o u t t o b e a l o t h a rd e r t h a n o n e m ay i m a g i n e. S o n ow w e a re a b l e t o u m p i re l o w l eve l m at ch e s, w i t h t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o p ro g re s s t o h i g h e r l eve l c o u r s e s … . s e e yo u i n a f e w ye a r s at t h e S u p e rl e a g u e.

T h e d ay c o n s i s t e d o f t w o e l e m e n t s : a t h e o re t i c a l c o u r s e wh e re we we re b a c k in a PE department classro o m , a n d a p r a c t i c a l s e s -

s i o n w h e re w e w e re a b l e t o show off our netball and umpiring skills on the court.

T he theoretical part of th e c o u r s e rem i n d ed ( o r ta u g h t) u s s o m e o f n etb a l l ’s key rules – ultimately teach ing us the technicalities of th e g a m e wh i ch a re o f ten ea s y to fo rg et wh en p l ay i n g.

T he most exciting part of the day was the practical session where we got to both play matches and show of f our new umpiring skills, and we all enjoyed the chance to get our competitive edge out on a weekend.

Not only did the day pro vide for some essential Club bonding from right across th e C l u b, we a l s o g o t to p l ay with and network with some of London’s best and most up-and-coming player s, who even taught us some new tac -

ti c s – wh i ch N i s h a ‘ s u c c es sfully’ tried out in our season finale match on Monday.

What we have lear nt from th e c o u r s e i s g o i n g to b e a massive help to the Club. It means that we can umpire our trials and Active Life style training sessions next

year, in addition to the fact th at o u r ow n p l ay i n g s ty l e i s ti g h ter a n d i m p roved .

T hank you Active Life style for the opportunity – see you on court side soon ar med with our new whistles and rule books!

LSE In Pole Position For Future Success Kimmy To LSE Pole Fitness Captain ON SATURDAY 28TH FEBRUARY, the LSE Pole Fitness Club participated in the London Pole Varsity competition, which was hosted at the Imperial Students’ Union, and organised by Imperial Pole and Aerial Society. It is an annual competition for pole societies from universities in London.

The participants this year were pole societies from UCL, Imperial and University of Arts London. Although the Pole Fitness Club at LSE was only set up this year, the club still managed to participate in the competition, however, with the least members of participants compared to the other societies. Despite this, the club was still able to record amazing success and managed to win the beginner category. The winner was Rachael Martel. Steven Hui participated in the intermediate category and Zara Ash was another participant in the beginner category. As club captain, I was a member of the judging panel.

Overall, it was an exciting win for the club, but we have greater ambitions for the next pole varsity and to train enough people in order to participate in other inter-pole university competitions. LSE Pole Fitness Club has a bright future ahead.

SUBMIT A MATCH REPORT AND GET YOUR TEAM’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN PRINT

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Sport

Beaver

Editor: Robin Park Email: sports@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Introducing LSE Cricket 1st XI

Name: Bhavesh Lakhotia Likes: Betting; Nutella Dislikes: Delhi Daredevils Most akin to: Mr Happy

Name: Ed Harvey (c) Likes: Running home from Zoo Bar Dislikes: Being more attractive dressed as a woman Most akin to: Rod Flanders

Name: Josh Hayward Likes: Cheema Dislikes: Initiations Most akin to: Shakib Al Hasan

Name: Richard Ingilby Likes: Rory Davis; Dingleberry Dislikes: Pints without his own chunder in Most akin to: Nigel Thornberry

Name: Dhruv Anand Patel Likes: Getting lovebites Dislikes: Walking from his bedroom to the toilet; buying his own ticket for AU Welcome Party Most akin to: Popeye

Name: Dilan Wijesinghe Likes: Pennies; ULU cricket Dislikes: Bowling Straight; LSE cricket Most akin to: Dillon Ravikumar

Name: Dipesh Tailor Likes: LSE 100 Dislikes: Facebook Most akin to: A blue moon

Name: Harrison Folland Likes: Being a Tough Guy Dislikes: Playing for FC 3s Most akin to: Romeo

Name: Josh Berman Likes: His flamin’ hot body Dislikes: Winning at Fight Night Most akin to: Any hair loss advert

Name: Josh Chauhan Likes: His Mum’s Cooking; Seeing off a pint in a respectable time Dislikes: Fun Most akin to: IT support centre

Name: Max Gumpert Likes: Being injured Dislikes: Men’s Rugby Working Group Most akin to: A Misogynistic Chewbacca

Name: Pranay Rathod Likes: Squash Dislikes: Banter Most akin to: That guy from Slumdog Millionaire

Name: Priyesh Patel Likes: Mascara Dislikes: Being called short; baggy t-shirts Most akin to: Cheteshwar Pujara

Name: Rishi Patel Likes: Eyeliner; Mayfair venuesDislikes: Ronak and Priyesh Most akin to: Ishant Sharma

Name: Ronak Mohanlal Likes: Instagramming Food; turtlenecks; saying things and not following through Dislikes: Vegetarianism Most akin to: Joey Tribbiani (think turtlenecks)

Name: Stan Shillington Likes: BEECE Dislikes: Waspz; taking normal transportation methods to nets; his LSE ID Most akin to: Shaggy from Scooby Doo (still)