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Fashion and the ethics of Photoshop

INTERVIEW: Dallas Buyers Club stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto

OPINION: p. 10

PartB: p. 16 INTERNATIONAL WEEK

The

Beaver Tuesday February 4 2014 | www.thebeaveronline.com | No. 805

FREE Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union

Get Your Own Hack!

LSESU RAG

Dennis Mooney, Executive Editor

‍ ښ‏RAG Week raises over ÂŁ5,000 ‍ ښ‏Tough Guy contributes ÂŁ3,700 ‍ ښ‏Gunge event loses money deVSLWH /6( VWD૸ FRQWULEXWLRQV

A SLICE OF 90s TV nostalgia returned to LSESU on Friday as Dave Benson Phillips, host of the legendary Get Your Own Back, gunged several students and one SU official in aid of RAG. The event was the culmination of RAG week, which also saw LSE students complete the Tough Guy challenge, make origami cranes en masse, sell cakes, salsa dance DQG GRQDWH WKHLU OLEUDU\ னQHV in aid of RAG’s three chosen charities for this year: Spires, Make A Wish Foundation and )RRG&\FOH 7KH ŕŽ‹DJVKLS %DWWOH of the Halls event, however, is yet to be rescheduled following cancellation, as reported in last week’s Beaver. Taking place in The Venue, Get Your Own Back was a repeat of last year’s successful gungefest in the Quad. The additional capacity of the new facility was not put to use, however; Benson Phillips made repeated references to the poor attendance, calling for the attention of ‘ladies, gentleman and that big bit of HPSW\ ŕŽ‹RRU RYHU WKHUH‍ ڑ‏ The Beaver has also learned that despite donations approaching last year’s ÂŁ800+ total, RAG in fact lost money on the event due to Benson 3KLOLSV‍ ڑ‏VLJQLனFDQWO\ KLJKHU appearance fee of ÂŁ1000 this time around. The vast majority of the money raised was pledged in support of the gunging of RAG president Nona Buckley-Irvine and the ‘Saw Swee Hock Fire Alarm Technician’; given that such a position does not H[LVW D VHQLRU 68 VWDŕŽ‰ PHPber bravely stepped into the tank instead. Both were praised by major

donor and long-time supporter of RAG Andrew Farrell, the LSE’s Chief Financial Officer, who donated nearly a quarter of the overall total raised by the event. Buckley-Irvine, who has vocally opposed the recent Teaching Task Force 2 recommendations, also received a special donation message from Professor Paul Kelly, Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning, who suggested that ‘89% of the 2,780 students on my survey said they would accept bigger class sizes if Nona got Gunged!’ She told The Beaver that the experience was ‘humbling’, adding ‘It was great to be supported not only by my friends but by political foes such as [noted right-wing hack Jason] Wong and Kelly’.

Athletics Union Treasurer Thomas ‘Brand’ Meaden, who had a particularly spectacular exit from the gunge-tank, slipping on the gunge and landing with quite an impact, made a vague threat of legal action against Benson Phillips, but The Beaver understands

he will not be pursuing it; he was unharmed and in any case does not have a sporting career to be threatened. Meaden, who was present at last year’s gunging, commented: ‘It was a pleasure to be reunited Dave Benson Phillips; it’s just a pity the event wasn’t better attended.’ Also gunged were Environment and Ethics officer and former president of CarrSaunders hall Gabriel Bonaventure Everington, his successor as president Frederick Derbyshire - who received a donation from ‘Jilted Fresher’ - and controversial lowercase events promoter Ranny Wei, who lived up to his billing by commenting, having been covered in gunge, that he ‘could now sympathise with women’, prompting a sharp collective intake of breath amongst spectators. Wei was also labelled as ‘the only person more annoying than me’ by DBP’s cohost, RAG committee member Alastair Duncan, who was operating his alias ‘MC Nortee’. His entrance to the event was considered sub-standard by Benson Phillips, who demanded that he try again, and Nortee also incurred the displeasure of his president when he revealed her romantic history with a fellow gunge-ee. The money raised by Get Your Own Back will be added to the ÂŁ3700 from Tough Guy, ÂŁ220 from the RAG Bake Sale, ÂŁ143 from Salsa dancing and WKH DV \HW XQFRQனUPHG WRWDOV from Library Fines and Origami. RAG estimate that, with Battle of the Halls still to take place when the ongoing issues with Saucy are resolved, RAG week has raised at least ÂŁ5,000.

LSESU Amnesty International Launches China Campaign Joseph Grabiner

THE THIRD WEEK of the Lent term saw The London School of Economics’ Student Union (LSESU) Amnesty International Society take to Houghton Street as they launched their China Campaign. The aim of the campaign was to raise awareness of Chinese Human

Rights issues. The group deYLVHG DQ DFWLYLW\ னOOHG ZHHN on campus to bring this message to the masses. On Wednesday night the group showed the acclaimed documentary Ai Weiwei - WithRXW )HDU RU )DYRXU 7KH னOP tells the story of Ai Weiwei, one of China’s most famous contemporary artists and ac-

tivists who was arrested by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and subsequently released after 11 weeks. Throughout the week members of the LSESU Amnesty International Society VWDŕŽ‰HG D VWDOO RQ +RXJKWRQ Street where they provided information about certain issues and talked to passerbys.

They tried to engage people in one aspect of the campaign by JHWWLQJ WKHP WR DGG WKHLU னQgerprint to a poster to signify they were in favour of the lifting of the one-child policy in China. Even the rainy weather couldn’t stop the activists enthusing the LSE community. Silke Xenia Juul-Sorensen, D னUVW \HDU %6F 3KLORVRSK\

/RJLF 6FLHQWLனF 0HWKRG VWXdent, commented, “It’s been really great to learn a bit more about Chinese Human Rights abuses this week. I’ve been happy to try to help by adding P\ னQJHUSULQW WR WKH SRVWHU ‍ڕ‏ Continued on page 3

8QLRQ %DVKÄ? Couldn’t help noticing the ambivalence to gunge: Benson Phillips came, But it seemed no one wanted To get their own back.

Care needs to be WDNHQ ZLWK WKH $8 Budget: Give them more money, But don’t let them spend it on Drinking alcohol.

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2Q WKH $8 %XGJHW 0RWLRQ ‘Oh, no one comes to LSE to play sport.’ If I were to add up the number of times I have played sport at LSE, it wouldn’t even get close to the number of times I have heard some variant of that exclamation. In fact, I’ve heard people go further. The most damning critique? ‘People don’t come to LSE for the sporting prospects; they come here in spite of them.’ This week, you have an opportunity to take the னUVW VWHS RQ WKH URDG WR FKDQJLQJ WKDW $ PRWLRQ is due before the Union General Meeting on Thursday lunchtime which proposes to increase the AU budget by 15%, to just under ÂŁ100,000. A ÂŁ15,000 increase sounds like a lot, but taking into account the amount of clubs it is intended to fund, the locations and facilities those clubs are forced to use as a simple consequence of being in London, and the cost of non-AU sporting activities, it is absolutely essential. The AU is often criticised for cliqueyness and

not encouraging participation enough. These accusations are not unfounded, but increasing the budget will help reduce this by providing VFRSH IRU FOXEV WR RŕŽ‰HU VRFLDO VSRUW UDWKHU WKDQ being forced to channel all their funding into the people who actually represent the school competitively. The recently relaunched Sports Ambassadors program means elite sportspeople should now be well catered-for; this initiative is about ensuring more people can play sport who play for fun, for stress release and for the normal human interaction which is frequently absent from normal LSE life. Whatever you think of the AU socially, sports FOXEV DUH KXJHO\ EHQHனFLDO WR 8QLRQ PHPEHUV and expanding them will go a long way towards creating a more rounded university experience. With that in mind, I urge you all to support the motion.

$Q DSSHDO IURP $8 3UHVLGHQW +DUROG &UDVWRQ Please make your vote count at this week’s UGM on increasing AU funding. The Christmas Cup highlighted the active interest for social sport opportunities among our student body. However, before the AU can commit funds to providing similar, more regular events we need to ensure that our competitive clubs are adequately provided for. We are talking basics here: training facilities, coaching fees, kits. LSE sports teams have delivered outstanding achievements in recent years, especially considering how small our university is. To name a few: Women’s Hockey won their league last season without dropping a point and our Athletics Team are current ULU champions. RFC 1st XV won their league, as did FC 1st XI the year

before. Our Tennis team competes in the BUCS Premier division (alongside Oxford) yet has a minute fraction of the budget. This year saw large membership increases across several clubs. We also welcomed new clubs. We cannot continue to hold our breath until December for the arrival of Annual Fund money. If anything, the overwhelming success of Annual Fund applications this year acts as proof that the SU supports our sporting ambitions. A 15% budget increase would mean that our clubs could start the season with the correct equipment, kit, training facilities etc. This motion is long overdue. The money is there. This really is a no brainer.

Yeah, writers do hate writing... 3KLOLS 6H\PRXU +RŕŽ‰PDQ

23,1,21 (',725 (/(&7,21 Congratulations to Sebastien Ash who is elected to the post.

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Room 2.02, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, LSE Students Union London WC2A 2AE Executive Editor Dennis Mooney

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Tuesday February 4 2014

News Respects Paid at Holocaust Memorial Commemoration Megan Crockett, Deputy News Ed.

seum focusing solely on the Holocaust”. They described the “Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations” which they felt gave “glimmers of hope from others” and they were “humbled” as to how kind nations can be to one another. Another part that resonated with them was the shoes they saw, which reminded them that these peo-

ple “weren’t just numbers”, which is sometimes forgotten when studying this period in time. The memorial was closed with Robert Schumann’s “Märchenbilder for Viola and Piano” and then two minutes of silence, for all there to show their respect; “…if one were to be silent for a minute for each victim of the

Shoah, one would be silent for eleven and a half years”, Stoll said. It is important that this terrible event be remembered, as Eli Weisel said, “because I remember, I despair. But because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair”, and Monday’s ceremony was an excellent way to do so.

LSE FAITH CENTRE

THE SAW SWEE HOCK’S new faith centre held its first commemoration service on Monday 27th January, as students gathered to pay their respects and remember the victims of the Holocaust. The Chaplain, Reverend Dr James Walters began the service by talking about the theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial, namely “Journeys”, from “death marches” to the journeys refugees took into “exile”. Jay Stoll was next to speak, commenting on how rare it is to have a “Jewish General Secretary of the Students’ Union”. He suggested two practical reasons for the School to “commemorate the atrocities associated with this day”. The first being “our history” and the second “our general mission to be the best social science institute in the world”, linking these to the Jewish ideas of “Zachor, to remember and Shamor, to observe”. Stoll suggested that “Zachor” came from the School’s decision during the 1930s “to accommodate many ex-

iles from European Jewish communities and… other persecuted groups”. Many of these people “remained as academics at the School such as Moritz Bonn and Sir Otto Kahn-Freund [and]… perhaps most famously… the great Karl Popper”. The aspect of “Shamor”, Stoll argued, can be seen in “LSE’s very mission statement – ‘to understand the causes of things’”; going on to suggest that this means a “distinct leadership role” in ensuring there will be a safeguard “against similar threats”. Stoll said that that the Union must strive “for a better student experience [and] continue to pack a punch on issues facing the world beyond Houghton Street… Through this ‘Shamor’ prism … [we can] make sure the Holocaust is never trivialized.” After the performance of the poem, ‘First they came …’, it was time for Mariah Wilde and Sofia Jamal, two of the eighteen students who went on the interfaith trip. They focused mainly on their visit to Yad Vashem, a “mu-

Continued from front page In its most recent report the non-governmental organisation, Freedom House, described China as ‘not free’ giving the country a score of 6.5 on its freedom scale. A score of seven represents the worst or ‘least free’ countries. However, the specific issues that the LSESU Amnesty International wanted to highlight over the week were: the death penalty and the Chinese criminal justice system, problems of freedom of speech, press and the “Great firewall of China”, China’s controversial onechild policy, the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, and the repression of citizens right to culture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. As well as the stall and the documentary screening other events during the week included a panel discussion, an improvised drama session, and educational workshops.

“If just one person comes to any of our sessions or workshops this week and leaves with a sense of initiative to actually do something to tackle human rights abuses… that would be a success” Roshan Melwani, campaigns officer for the LSESU Amnesty International Society

ANNOUNCEMENT Statement from the LSE Financial Support Manager regarding the delay in the payment of bursaries for UK students “We have been informed that there was a technical issue with payment of some of the Lent Term instalments of the LSE Bursaries (UK students only). The issue has been resolved, and payment of the bursaries should happen by mid February. The School has an interest free short term loan facility which students are welcome to apply to if this delay causes any difficulty. Please contact financial-support@lse. ac.uk or come to a Financial Support Office drop in – 1-2pm each weekday in the Student Services Centre.”

Tuesday February 4 2013

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Panelists unpack Russian тАЬgay propagandaтАЭ law

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Chloe Holden, Deputy News Editor

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Two LSE research groups named 2nd best university think tanks in world Sophie Donszelmann, News Editor

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the

Beaver

5

Tuesday February 4 2014

News

Beaver Survey: SU Recognition Revealed work the SU does to support students, but it raises the question of whether students should have to go looking for these services or whether they should already know where to go.

they are doing so. Perhaps the problem is not with just recognising each Sabb, but recognising the hard work the SU does. Stoll believes the “new building will allow us to

“I think the SU should do more to support and publicise the work of the parttime officers� There has been a “dramatic increase in both democratic engagement and society membership, a record of 14,500 this year�, Stoll told The Beaver. Students are clearly using the SU and their services, but are seemingly unaware

do some new and exciting things to publicise the range of things we are delivering to students�, an opportunity the SU should take with both hands, if the results of the survey are representative of the LSE student body.

There is no doubt the SU contributes greatly to the School and the lives of the students who study here; however, they may need to do more to publicise themselves and their services in order to get the recognition and respect they deserve. For the full list of SU officers go to http://www. lsesu.com/yourunion/yourreps/ Full survey results available upon request Image by Alex Fyfe

DO Â YOU Â KNOW Â YOUR Â SU?

The Beaver 09.10.2012

KEY:

YES SOME NO

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ALTHOUGH SOCIAL MOBILITY was on the agenda, Thursday 16th January’s Union General Meeting raised another question, whether or not the students of LSE know the positions of the Student Union (SU) officers and who fills them. The question was raised in accordance with the motion of forming another part time sabbatical officer (Sabb), namely one for social mobility. One student suggested this was a ludicrous idea, as he could not even name the existing ones. When questioned about this issue further Jay Stoll, Secretary of the SU, said that recognition is “obviously ‌ something we address and think about regularly as we [the Sabbs] are elected to represent our membersâ€?. He continued to suggest that it is “easy to fall into the trap of linking officer recognition and SU effectivenessâ€?, adding that, “increases in one does not necessarily lead to increases in anotherâ€?. ‘The SU does such a variety of activities, supporting over six thousand students in societies, two thousand in sports clubsâ€? as well as “running advice servicesâ€?. However, in response to a survey run by The Beaver, one student wrote, “I honestly don’t know what they do or who they are. They seem to disappear after their campaigns are doneâ€?. It seems as if the SU are not getting recognised for the valuable contributions they make to LSE life. The survey showed that only thirty per cent of students could name all of the five full time Sabb positions and only 31 per cent could actually name the people who hold them, de-

spite posters around the School and the fact that they are elected representatives. More shocking still is that only twenty per cent of people could name the positions of the eight part time SU officers, with only fifteen per cent stating they could name the people holding those positions. One survey participant wrote, “I think the SU should do more to support and publicise the work of the part-time officers�. Another person suggested, “greater information about services available by each position would be great. Like Jay is doing, making people aware of vital things�. Their campaigns and triumphs at last summer’s elections and their names on their campaign posters should stick in students’ minds, yet one student suggested, “the SU officers only take note of the student body come election time�. They went on to say, “that is the only time I have ever seen, heard from, or interacted with any of the SU Officers�. Perhaps the problem is that once they are elected Sabbs tend to drop off the radar. One student suggested a solution to this problem, “it would be nice to have some meet-and-greet sessions with the Sabbs and part-time officers, as well as a chance to engage and hold more interactive discussions�. This could prevent the Sabbs from being forgotten during the Michaelmas and Lent terms and keep them within student attention. Another student suggested “people only feel concerned about [knowing the Sabbs] when a problem comes up and they need them, otherwise they don’t care�. This does not detract from the excellent

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Megan Crockett, Deputy News Ed.

Tuesday February 4 2014

the

6

Beaver

New social work grad scheme draws from top universities FRONTLINE, a social care organisation based on the model of Teach First, is attempting to attract LSE graduates away from the City and towards children’s social work. Frontline’s new leadership development programme intensively trains its graduates for five weeks before sending them out on the ‘frontline’ for a year of supervised education and training. The trainees will then be able to practice for a second year as fully qualified social workers. At the end of two years, the graduates will have earned a Master’s degree and started their new career. The scheme has been pioneered by Josh MacAlister, an alumni of the Teach First programme; his aim is to distance social work from the stigma that it has faced

in the last decade. This has arisen from the nationwide controversy caused by the death of “Baby P” in Haringey and the councils’ failure to protect children such as Daniel Pelka who was starved to death by his mother and her partner. Social care, as a sought-after graduate prospect, has inevitably suffered and MacAlister has gained support from politicians and the press with his proposal for raising the profile of social workers. Graduates from Britain’s top universities are at the core of this ‘revamp’ and it is clear from recent figures that LSE graduates are leading the field. The Recruitment Director of Frontline, Katie Purser, has revealed LSE’s positive contribution to the first batch of trainees, “We’ve been particularly impressed by

the standard of applications from LSE. Of the fourteen LSE students and graduates who applied, 10 were selected to attend our Assessment centres and three of these have been offered places on Frontline’s first cohort”. These statistics indicate the ratio of LSE applicants to offerees is higher than the national average and there seems to be nothing but positivity from those that have been successful. Jack Evans, an LSE graduate who has recently been accepted on to the Frontline programme, said, “After three years on the Civil Service FastStream I realised that I did not want to spend my working life in an office producing meaningless analysis – and that getting out and helping real children and families who face incredibly tough

circumstances was what I wanted to try to accomplish”. Frontline has obviously already had the intended effect of creating a new, more desirable image for social care as a profession. Despite LSE graduates’ success, the application process is not an easy one. Applicants must go through four stages: a self-assessment activity, an application form, psychometric testing and finally, the assessment centre. Psychometric testing is based on a similar tool used for selection to MI5 and MI6. This process ensures that academic rigour must be matched with a suitable psychological aptitude for a career that is, without doubt, one of the most challenging in society. The organisation is not bound to the government yet has support from all

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three of the main party leaders. The Prime Minister has pledged his support for the scheme and emphasised that social workers are as important to the country as teachers, doctors and lawyers. With the prediction that the demand for social workers will outweigh the supply until 2022, jobs in social work may become increasingly attractive to students. As David Cameron has said, “A job with, if you like, the biggest bonus of them all: transforming people’s lives.”

© 2014 KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International.

Robyn Connelly-Webster

the

Beaver

7

Tuesday February 4, 2014

Opinion Sexual Harassment - Totally Unacceptable Hannah Richmond, Activities and 'HYHORSPHQW 2ૻFHU This Wednesday I went out to Mr LSE and then on to Zoo Bar. Anyone who knows me will know that I love Zoo; it can do no wrong in my eyes. However after this Wednesday I’ve started seeing the ZKROH WKLQJ LQ D GLŕŽ‰HUHQW light; maybe it’s my old age but when was it ever become acceptable for guys to harass girls? When you become a student, one of the most exciting parts is being able to go out to proper clubs. But what awaits them when you get there is pretty shocking. Allow me to elaborate: There are a number of different manoeuvres that I’ve come across whilst being a VWXGHQW 7KH னUVW RI ZKLFK , call the ‘Surprise Grind’. This is when you’re happily dancing with your friend and some guy comes behind you and starts grinding heavily on you. This is almost always unsolicited and as the title suggests, very much a surprise. You haven’t met this person, you have no idea what they look OLNH DQG \RX GHனQLWHO\ GLG QRW invite them to rub up against you. It’s not pleasant. The look of shock and disdain in your friend’s eyes tells you every-

thing you need to know. A recent survey by NUS which came from a broader piece of research on ‘Lad Culture’ found that women expect to be groped on a night out. This Wednesday, one Zoo Bar attendee used manoeuvre number two, some sort of pinch and dash game, where every time he walked passed he would grab me before runQLQJ RŕŽ‰ :KHQ , FRQIURQWHG him about it I was told that I should take it as a “compliment.â€? This perception, that women should take sexual harassment as a compliment should not be tolerated. Saying no to sexual harassment does not mean I’m playing hard to get - it literally means “no.â€?

“The third manoeuvre is the ‘Pin and Hope’. In this instance, a guy will either pin you into a corner or against a wall before dancing with you.� The third manoeuvre I’ve seen employed is the ‘Pin and Hope’. In this instance, a guy

Photo credit: Flickr: David Domingo

will either pin you into a corner or against a wall before vigorously dancing with you. This is probably the worst of the lot as it involves being intimidated by someone bigger and stronger than you. It can escalate quickly from feeling slightly trapped to being physically restrained especially when the guy gets fed up with your lack of interest. There are undoubtedly, PDQ\ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW ZD\V WKDW ZRPen are made to feel uncomfortable on a night out. This can start with ‘cat calling’, but can

also involve being groped by bouncers (who may ‘pay you RŕŽ‰â€Ť ڑ‏ZLWK D IUHH GULQN , KDYH EHHQ D OLWWOH ŕŽ‹LSSDQW KHUH EXW this is a serious issue. It is often scary to be put in this position; at the end of the evening you can leave feeling sullied, like it was your fault and that there was something you were doing to lead people on. This is never the case. What a girl wears does not give you permission to do anything to her. No matter how drunk she is, there is never an excuse for sexual harassment.

Change isn’t going to happen overnight, but moving forward, women need to feel comfortable in reporting sexual harassment and when it is reported proper action needs to be taken. Men need to understand that shouting at women, following them, groping them, physically intimidating them and threatening them for sexual favours is impermissible. It should go without saying, but it’s a shame that people need to be constantly reminded of what is and is not acceptable.

In support of increasing the AU budget We should be supporting student life beyond the lecture theatre Gareth Rosser Sports Editor This year has seen a clash at /6( EHWZHHQ LWV VWDŕŽ‰ DQG WKH Students’ Union in a way unseen since the rise of tuition fees, with many of the battles frequently taking place in the pages of this paper. In particular, the recent conclusion of Teaching Task Force 2 review and its potential repercussions have been the focus of intense scrutiny, with both sides hoping to increase the quality of teaching at the LSE, albeit by GLŕŽ‰HUHQW PHDQV The importance of quality of teaching for both students and VWDŕŽ‰ REYLRXVO\ JRHV ZLWKRXW saying, but it is possible that this debate obscures another equally more important facet of student life. Teaching feed-

back and quality is only one contributing factor to student satisfaction, and this week will hopefully see the spotlight turned to another: the life beyond the lecture theatre. This week sees Harold Craston President of the Athletics Union propose a motion in the UGM to increase the budget of the AU. If passed and approved by the Trustees - their budget will increase by 15%, up to ÂŁ99,845.19 from ÂŁ86,821.90. For a school with LSE’s money, an increase of ÂŁ13,000 for its biggest student society is the least it should be doing. This is particularly relevant for a school whose reputation for student satisfaction is poor. How many times can the phrase “Is it true that LSE has no social life?â€? be seen on websites such as the Student

Room? For that matter, how often can students be heard asking the same question in the 2ŕŽ‰HU +ROGHUV‍' ڑ‏D\" %HIRUH WKH stellar work of RAG and the Halls’ committees to arrange a coherent timetable of events IRU IUHVKHUV GXULQJ WKHLU னUVW week this year, students genuinely arrived at LSE believing that life beyond the lecture theatre was non-existent. Every time a student overcomes their doubts and decides to attend the LSE, the VFKRRO DQG LWV VWXGHQWV EHQHனW from the presence of a student who wants to get involved in every facet of student life. And every time a student decides WR DWWHQG D GLŕŽ‰HUHQW XQLYHUVLW\ one seen to support its students in their extracurricular lives in a way that LSE doesn’t, we all lose out. It is for this reason that the

motion to increase AU funding fails only in so far as it doesn’t go far enough. LSE should be demonstrating to its current and prospective students that it acknowledges that student life is about more than academia. If it fails to do so, it will struggle to continue to attract the high calibre of students that it currently does. And if the LSE loses its reputation, everybody associated with it VXŕŽ‰HUV 2I FRXUVH it is right that our 68 DQG VWDŕŽ‰ IRFXV RQ improving student sat-

isfaction through improving teaching quality and feedback, but it must be remembered that there are other ways of in-

creas-

Tuesday February 4, 2014

the

8

Beaver

Opinion

Towards A Global Citizenship

Globalisation is a force for good in the modern world Bryan Thor Globalisation: noun, the process by which businesses or other organizations develop internationDO LQŕŽ‹XHQFH RU VWDUW RSHUDWLQJ on an international scale. (Oxfored English Dictionary) Globalisation is omnipresent within the 21st century – largely consisting in increasingly networked communications, rapidly developing technologies and the international integration of cultures. It is a widely observable process whereby people ZLWK DOO WKHLU LGHDV DQG GLŕŽ‰HUHQW activities from various parts of the world come into contact with each other. A simple glance at the LSE campus reveals a highly international student body with over 145 countries represented, demonstrating not only the fading of traditional national boundaries, but also humanNLQG‍ڑ‏V HPEUDFLQJ RI GLŕŽ‰HUHQFHV and change. The economic impact of globalisation has led to vast improvements in standards of living, brought about by an increase in income levels. With efficient transportation, communications and reduced barriers to trade, globalisation has given birth to the idea of a global market and economy.

The open policy not only allows producers to source the cheapest raw materials and labour, but also provides with consumers a wider variety of goods across the world. Take food, for example. One can already notice the countless chains of international brands along Kingsway, from Starbucks and Burger King within 100 metres of each other. The competition between firms is also encouraged, whereby only the most efficient firms will remain to deliver quality goods and services to the consumers, hence serving as an eventual benefit to society. With regard to the environment, some argue that globalisation has brought about increased degradation and worsened global warming. Conversely, it has also made people more aware and better informed about environmental management. The mere conservation of energy is insufficient to salvage the harm brought about in pursuit of improved living standards. Globalisation has brought people who share similar environmental concerns closer, empowering them with a larger voice in promoting understanding and also a greater say in implementing conservation efforts. At present, the Organisa-

Percentages of LSE students by continent

tion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) serves as a vital platform for dialogue amongst its thirty member countries. It focuses on the handling of environmental issues, covering sustainable consumption and production alternatives, the use of chemicals and the reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies. It is only through such forums that world-leading economies will be pressured or convinced to adopt the ‘greener’ yet inherently cumbersome measures. Essentially, the greatest impact of globalisation on our gen-

eration is how it has brought individuals from previously geographically exclusive locations under one global citizenship. The advent of technology KDV DOORZHG H[SRVXUH WR GLŕŽ‰HUent cultures and history through WUDYHOLQJ VXUனQJ WKH ,QWHUQHW and watching foreign movies. As members of academia, we VWDQG WR EHQHனW IURP WKH LQWHUaction we have with our peers, allowing us to appreciate global LVVXHV IURP FRPSOHWHO\ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW perspectives. This not only develops culturally rich individuals but also grooms potential leaders who are open to a wider

worldview.

Visit LSE’s Global Village where societies will be showcasing their respective cultures, proYLGLQJ னQJHU IRRG DQG D YDULHW\ of memorabilia. Jointly organised by the LSESU, AIESEC LSE, European Society and Itchy Feet, the event promises a fun and eventful afternoon where you can immerse yourVHOI LQ WKH PDQ\ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW ULFK cultures of the world. It is being held TODAY (Tuesday 4th Feb 2014), from 11am to 3pm, at the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre.

A Force In Need Of Reshaping Globalisation threatens our individuality and our way of life. Ching Hu For a term for which no two people – or at least, no two social scientists – can provide the VDPH SUHFLVH GHனQLWLRQ JOREDOLsation has been very widely utilised and, indeed, experienced. Yet what exactly are the consequences of this seemingly unstoppable phenomenon? There is little doubt that globalisation FDQ DFKLHYH WDQJLEOH EHQHனWV across many dimensions – economic, environmental, and social, amongst others. But the form of globalisation which we are experiencing today is far from delivering these positive goals. And there is urgent need for us to recognise this. There is general consensus among economists that the libHUDOLVDWLRQ RI WUDGH DQG னQDQFH will increase global economic efficiency. But these benefits come with immense distributional costs, with widening inFRPH LQHTXDOLW\ FRPLQJ னUVW WR mind. A report published by Oxfam in January 2014 established that the richest 85 individuals in the world control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population (3.5 billion people)

put together. This startling statistic does not happen naturally, but is rather fuelled by globalisation, which entrenches the position of the wealthy with the VSUHDG RI னQDQFLDO GHUHJXODWLRQ tax havens, and anti-competitive practices. At the same time, the earnings and job security of unskilled workers – particularly those in the global North – are falling behind their more highlyeducated counterparts. With respect to the environment, the impact of globalization is at best ambiguous, and at worst devastating. Take the case of international trade liberalisation. Barriers to trade and transportation costs are at unprecedented low levels, while world trade to GDP ratios are at a record high. But the globalisation of trade comes at the expense of the global ecosystem. Consumers are enjoying wide product choice variety, but only because Mercedeses are shipped halfway across the world to Tokyo and Hondas are ferried over to Berlin, releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere during the SURFHVV ,Q DGGLWLRQ னUPV DUH relocating their manufacturing

facilities to developing countries where they face little regulation on environmental standards. As a result, the air in Manchester may be clean enough for lightcoloured peppered moths to ŕŽ‹RXULVK ZKLOH PLOOLRQV RI &KLnese citizens are choking on industrial smog. To be sure, the very same advances in transport and telecommunication technologies have facilitated gatherings of world leaders and given greater voice to environmental activists. This could, at least theoretically, enhance the probability of achieving global cooperation on environmental issues. But the reality is often less rosy – the ODVW VLJQLனFDQW JOREDO WUHDW\ RQ environmental protection came more than two decades ago in the form of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which curbs the emission of ozone-depleting chemicals. With enhanced globalisation, expectations of ambitious global environmental deals were raised, but – as demonstrated by the dire previous episodes of climate change conferences – has only served to disappoint more than deliver. In terms of social interac-

tions, conventional wisdom dictates that globalisation must surely yield net positives. We live in an age of seamless cultural exchange, because Ryanair tickets cost less than a

“If we stick to today’s version of globalisation, we are playing a dangerous game.â€? pint at George IV, and because Mark Zuckerberg’s website has enabled people to connect with ‘friends’ from across all seven continents. But once again, the expectation cannot be further from the truth. How many of WKH னOPV SURGXFHG DQnually by India have we seen? (Slumdog Millionaire does not count, because it is British). A world where cinema-goers are more acquainted with Jennifer Lawrence’s latest hairstyle than DQ\ RI WKH 1LJHULDQ னOPV produced each year is not a globalised one but an Americanised one. We are far from exchanging each other’s cultures on an even

SOD\LQJ னHOG UDWKHU ZH DUH DOO tacitly accepting a single dominant cultural prescription as the global norm. If we stick to today’s version of globalisation, we are playing a dangerous game. Failing to understand that today’s globalisation leads to winners and losers in the economic arena will lead to social resentment. Failing to realise the negative environmental consequences of today’s globalisation will result in ecological degradation. And failing to appreciate the cultural diversity of the billions of people who are too impoverished to rival the cultural dominance of today’s globalisation may lead WR WKH HUXSWLRQ RI FRQŕŽ‹LFW %XW globalisation can change. And we can build a better version of globalisation for tomorow. At the LSE, we can begin this process by better understanding each other today. Where do we come from? How do we differ in our views? And why is this so? The LSE Global Village is a great initiative which presents us with the opportunity to tackle these questions. We should all attend it.

the

Beaver

9

Tuesday February 4, 2014

Opinion

Finding Democracy In Thailand A brief look at the meaning of ‘democracy’ in political rhetoric Sebastien Ash Opinion Editor In last week’s Beaver we published an article by frequent contributor Martha Petrocheilos who, in analysing the difficult and developing situation in Thailand, saw the essence of democracy at the centre of the demonstrations by the anti-government protesters. Popular demonstrations, it was argued, are the expression of the public’s continual right to be heard by the government. But I wonder whether we should be so strident in asserting that a mass demonstration against the abuse of power strikes to the core of the democratic ideal. If we take a step back from what our passions and our be-

liefs might suggest to us are the true principles of democracy to take a look at the wider debate, we might see the multiple ways in which democracy is being conceived by individual Thai people. In the article a procedural understanding of democracy was quickly eschewed. Though there was discussion of the wish amongst protesters to reform institutions before a return to normality none of this was taken to be at the core of the issue. But this is hardly the case for some Thai people wanting to participate in the elections being pressed forward by the government. Last week, anti-government protesters blocked entrance to polling stations for significant parts of the electorate and disrupted the distribution of bal-

lot papers to the southern region of Thailand. Turned away from his polling station by the protestors, Pruettha Jampathong, a middle-aged manager protested himself: “This is very unfair. They violated my political rights.” (NYT, Jan. 26) Clearly Mr. Pruettha felt his democratic rights were to be best represented by a cross on a ballot paper. Admittedly this would fail to be a suitably detailed explanation of what it is to be democratic. Elections are too often a cover-up for abuses of power, the like of which we have perhaps seen in the current government’s alleged corruption and the amnesty that would have seen Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s brother Takshin released early. The

government has not been very accommodating to the portion of the population shut out by Ms. Shinawatra’s sweeping electoral victory last time around. Democracy is a big word and one which has been used by both sides to bludgeon the other. The protesters have called for the foundation of “People’s Councils” to reassert the rights they claim. But it is difficult to forget that Ms. Shinawatra was elected in legitimate elections. The idea that democracy is fulfilled by popular demonstration is one that is seductive but it also takes too narrow a view of what is to be done to make sure that muchtreasured ‘democracy’ is maintained. In this debate I make no claims to have a penetra-

tive understanding of either democracy or the Thai protests. I have intended only to highlight the precautions we should take when using those words which have the greatest power to stir our emotions. Big rhetoric takes asserts an absolute truth and obfuscates the shifting middle ground, the space in which meaning coincides with use. In the end, we may wrangle over what it is to be democratic but democracy in Thailand will find it difficult to escape the conceptions of the individuals on the ground.

This article was a response to “The Democracy of Protesting” by Martha Petrocheilos from issue no. 804 of The Beaver. To find the original article, go to www.thebeaveronline.co.uk .

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Tuesday February 4, 2014

the

10

Beaver

Opinion

The Ethics of Photoshop Why the LSESU Fashion Society refuses to photoshop its models Joel Rosen Ethics was not the first thing I thought of when I took on the job of Chief Marketing Officer for the LSESU Fashion Society. But it was what I had to consider when we were organising our upcoming fashion show. The executive of the society and I have mainly been focused on the painstaking tasks of selecting the models, directing the photoshoots, getting a comprehensive strategy in place, and designing the material. My work consisted mainly of those three tasks, but upon receiving the pictures from the photographer I felt the most immense burden: these pictures would be seen by thousands of people and I had to make them look great. I have been a photographer since the age of twelve, and started graphic design work more recently. So, I have had my fair share of experience in picture-editing, and of course in “shopping” and “airbrushing”. If you are a photographer today, there is usually a burning desire to enhance your own work; after all everyone is doing it, and you at least want to play on the level of the competition. Even casual photographers using Instagram or Facebook are encouraged to apply filters and other enhancements available on smartphones. This time, however, I felt no

desire to do any such thing; quite to the contrary, I felt an ethical obligation to keep our pictures as natural as possible. Why should I even care about modifying my photos, when today’s world-renowned photographers and designers are rendering their models nearly unrecognizable? The true reason is that I believe we live in a sick society, one whose condition I do not wish to worsen by any degree. Our culture has established an objective standard of perfection which we are supposed to measure ourselves against (both women and men alike). We express these standards within society through our models, whom we hold up as the epitome of perfection and excellence; the telos towards which we are all supposed to evolve ourselves. But bear in mind, our contemporary standards of beauty and perfection are by no means innate to us: the Venus of Willendorf was a rather voluptuous model of beauty for her admirers around 28,000-25,000 BCE, and our notion of beauty and perfection has fluctuated back and forth in shape via Botticelli’s curvaceous Venus in the early Renaissance to the slim Kate Mosses of our day. Our standards are clearly cultural, which is actually good news, since it means we can alter them with enough momentum.

However, the 21st century with its leaps and bounds in technology – not least in photography and computing - has instigated the greatest danger of all. The objective standards of perfection we see in Vogue and Men’s Health are not even real anymore! The airbrushed products in the glossy ads look nothing like the models they are supposed to depict, let alone the rest of the population. Postmodern diseases such as anorexia and bulimia have begun to sweep our populations of vulnerable young adolescents, just coming to terms with their new bodies and trying to understand them in relation to false “normals” and “perfects” which we establish every day in advertising, marketing, and the press. I have personally known people who have suffered from this, and it only takes you one recent story of an incredibly photogenic and perfectly healthy fifteen-yearold who leapt under a train at St. Pancras because she was so dissatisfied with her own appearance to understand the absurdity of what the industry is doing. She had compared herself to people who did not exist. Photography was once a bastion of truth – a departure from artistic representations of the world which left the orbit of reality with such velocity, as in the case

of impressionism, that they distorted it entirely with an infusion of emotion (leaving us with beautiful artworks, but alas only the reality of the beholder). It seems that even photography is to be subsumed to the emotive and cultural forces which once lapped like waves over the art world too, warping reality beyond recognition. The new powers of the photographer are becoming fatally harmful.

“The new powers of the photographer are becoming fatally harmful... I would like to instead help push an ethical agenda for the future.” Far from advocating a luddite’s approach of denouncing progress, I would like to instead help push an ethical agenda for the future. Our power and ability to do impressive things does not always justify the use of such skills. The Fashion Society executive and I sat down in the Garrick and decided consciously that we were not going to alter the appearances or shapes of our models. I simply de-saturated the pic-

tures of all their colour, and re-balanced the exposure; no “shopping,” “airbrushing,” nip or tuck jobs. The job would have been impossible anyway, since I could not have imagined any way of further “perfecting” our models – nor for that matter anyone else at the LSE. That would require an intangible standard of absolute perfection in my mind (which would still inevitably be a subjective one). As a student of philosophy, I believe each person should be their own standard of perfection, and should not have to defer to a non-existent culturally-defined standard of virtue. As a matter of fact, the people with whom I am working on the Fashion Society’s exec are intelligent and philosophically-minded. Whilst we don’t believe our models are better or more perfect people than anyone at LSE or the wider world (nor, I am sure, do they), we have recognized our responsibility towards those who may see the posters we release, and who would perhaps take it as some sort of standard with which to compare themselves. The true beauty of the posters we have released lies in the fact that they are real and natural. We want people to look at them and recognise that same intrinsic natural beauty in themselves.

the

Beaver

11

Tuesday February 4, 2014

Opinion

Don’t Hate the #Gate

A reply to Gregory Kist To the Editor of this most excellent newspaper! Having read the recent tirade launched by the young gentleman, Gregory Kist in his opinion piece last week, I have, in these early hours of the morning and with a disgraceful degree of procrastination, put aside my dissertation to defend this fine paper against these terrible allegations. I am sure that most of us would agree that the “hashtag” has been over-used over the last few years as we

have entered the age of twits, as these internet messages are called. The most annoying it gets is when people use them on The Facebook – something I have adamantly refused to do. I agree with the complainant that most of us are bored to death of it, and no longer see it as a novelty or as anything trendy. But woe betide he who underestimateth the power of the hashtag! This seemingly innocuous symbol has swept forward the tides of revolution from the Arab Spring, to the London Lootings, and even pervaded protests in Turkey

and Kiev. It is a symbol of a trend, a rise of popular will per se, as expressed through our newfound worldwide interconnectivity. The hashtag is democracy. Now let me turn to the gentleman’s complaints about this newspaper’s use of the the scandalous suffix “-gate” for the recent incident at the so called “Saucy Friday” night. First of all, and in reference to my first point, the hashtag is entirely appropriate to be complemented by “–gate”, since the symbol undoubtedly looks much like a gate. Second

of all, the disputed suffix’s use is justified since “Saucygate” did indeed involve a gate - a number of gates, actually, which were almost all pushed over, and a door/gate which remained shut for the first few hours of the operation of “London’s best new superclub”. Hence I would argue that in this instance the way the title presented was entirely appropriate, and the editor was merely reporting the facts on the ground. Furthermore, I dispute the sweeping claim that “-gate” may only be used with refer-

ence to the Watergate Scandal. In the case of “Plebgate”, for example, Andrew Mitchell MP did actually have an unfortunate encounter with a real gate, and an even more unfortunate one with the staff manning it. I would argue that such cases are even more deserving of the apparently hated suffix than the scandal from whence it originated. Yours sincerely, Joel Rosen

VENUE: New Academic Building, LSE, London TIME: Saturday, 8th February 2014 REGISTRATION: www.lsecds.org

Celebrity Culture and Charity Why being led by the modern cult of personality might be a good thing Martha Petrocheilos Anyone can be a celebrity. From the stars of Made in Chelsea to big movie stars and mathematicians, United Nations Ambassadors and politicians; some vacuous and brainless, others accomplished and inspiring. ‘Celebrity’ is not necessarily something worthy of being praised for. Inevitably, not all of them will possess those high qualities that people should aspire to. Inevitably, not all of them will prove to be a noble example for others to emulate.

“It is human nature for people to feel more engaged in their own personal problems, more concerned with their own family, and consequently, PRUH LQGLૼHUHQW to other people’s pains.” Certain critics would argue that it is genuinely depressing to think that it is only by celebrity endorsements that the general public is ever able to give its atten-

tion to the big problems that afflict the world. But nonetheless, it is true. It is human nature for people to feel more engaged in their own personal problems, more concerned with their own family, and consequently, more indifferent to other people’s pains. Especially when they will never get to meet them, it seems unreasonable to be expected to care. Celebrity endorsements might then help us fix that disparity in people’s concerns. That isn’t to say, however, that all celebrity visits to poorer, suffering countries in, say, Africa are noble and honest. Arguably, all they do is reinforce the stereotype that Africa is just one undifferentiated and poor place, when in reality it is consists of 46 countries, each with their own particular problems and needs and culture. Westerners who want to help should be conscious of these differences when they deal with African countries. It is patronising to assume that the particularities and different political structures are the same everywhere. True, it might be an easy story to digest. But take a moment and think: how many NGOs - not as well known as the celebrities who put their fame to good use - have put in the double or even triple amount of work for the same

onto important issues around the world. Some people need to be induced, and encouraged to take a look at the hardships undertaken by strangers. This, thankfully, is by no means the general rule. Only politically disengaged people need Angelina Jolie’s latest trip to Somalia, to remind them that there are people

Photo credit: Flickr: Gage Skidmore

cause? They will never get credit for it they deserve. For the most part, it is these anonymous contributions that matter. In comparison then, are we bad people? Are we waiting for celebrities to engage us to wake up to worthwhile causes? If this uninformed vision of reality were taken by us to be true, if we were to think of female circumcision, human trafficking, and water poverty only in terms of the recent trips of Angelina Jolie, then where does this leave us? Collectively we need to push a little bit more. It is human nature to admire, look up to, and imitate what we have come to call celebrity culture. And to be honest, I would rather look up

to someone who has it all, in terms of fame and financial means, but still sacrifices a month or two a year to pay a visit to those countries, than someone who spends it all on his personal pleasure and rehab centers. If we are going to devote ourselves to celebrities, then they might as well be good role models. It is easy to view celebrity’s “charity trips” as nothing but an insensitive extension of the red carpet, parading down to Africa for a couple of photo opportunities with those having hard times. Being in the public eye does not necessarily equal access to greater knowledge or a deeper sense of empathy. What it does amount to however, is the ability to influence others, and turn the spotlight

“Deep inside, no matter how charismatic, we are hungry sheep waiting to be fed; and fed by the right shepherd, then so be it.” out there suffering. Truly, there are people like this, but it is better for them to be motivated than to let them forget it. We are not living in a fantasy world— altruism and compassion do not grow from trees. Society is based on competition, and we impenitently lead our lives in a Darwinian culture of ‘survival of the fittest’. Deep inside, no matter how charismatic, we are hungry sheep waiting to be fed; and if fed by the right shepherd, then so be it.

Tuesday January 28, 2014

the

12

Beaver © 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved.

Opinion

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PartB

Artwork By: Ahsan Iftikhar If you are an artist, we would love to feature your work on the front page of PartB. Email partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

14

04.02.2014 PartB

FOOD

LONDON'S STREETS AND HEARTS: SATURATED WITH AMERICAN DINERS

Careful attention has been paid to the detail in decorating

Jackson and Rye, and where some establishments try so KDUG WR UHFUHDWH D GLŕŽ‰ HUHQW era in their premises to the point of looking too polished and forced, Jackson and Rye appear to have made it seem HŕŽ‰ RUWOHVV 7KH PRGHVW GÂŤFRU is more reminiscent of Django than Pulp Fiction; waiters/waitresses are dressed in Christoph Waltz-style waistcoats, the chairs are upholstered in an autumnal green and even the mirrors were made to look old-style, brushed at the edges with wire wool. The only stereotypically American feature of the restaurant is the portion sizes, not always a bad thing – after all, my grandfather still

reminds me in my twenties that I’m a ‘growing lad’. Jackson and Rye has a bar RQ VLWH RŕŽ‰ HULQJ D VLPSOH EDU menu, with these drinks extending to table service too. We were fortunate enough to try a dark and stormy cocktail and the house draught beer, brewed exclusively for Jackson and Rye. The Dark and Stormy was balanced, using a not too sweet ginger beer soda, which can cause cocktails to fall short in most cases, whilst the house IPA was light and smooth, both complemented our meals greatly. Fortunately Jackson DQG 5\H RŕŽ‰ HU PRUH WKDQ MXVW \RXU EXUJHU DQG IULHV RŕŽ‰ HULQJ an extensive list of appetisers, mains, and grilled dishes. For example, plenty of seafood is available on the menu, from sea bass, to cod, to tuna steaks, whilst the sides also H[WHQG EH\RQG IULHV RŕŽ‰ HULQJ up olive oil mashed potatoes, griddled baby gem lettuce, and delicious creamed corn grits – a dish made of ground corn, usually cooked in stock and cream.

All Photos: Jackson & Rye

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ondon is becoming saturated, heart cloggingly so, with American styled restaurants, serving up burgers, ‘dogs’, and shakes. My knowledge of American diners is limited to jukebox-drenched caricatures from Pulp Fiction, TGI Fridays and that late night diner somewhere in Central London where you end up at 4am reeking of regret. You can imagine our pleasant surprise then, when we entered Jackson & Rye in Soho, transporting us from the grey bustle of Soho’s busiest street into really quite a beautiful diner.

7R VWDUW ZH KDG WKH 7UXŕŽ? HG Mac and Cheese; it was subtle, soft and delicious, complemented by crispy baked Parmesan breadcrumbs on top. We also ordered the Chilli Shrimp with Grits, which were spiced in a way that wouldn’t go amiss in a Japanese restaurant, topped with chopped chilli and spring onions, but placed in a bowl of grits, which balanced the spiciness of the shrimp. The main, sea bass on a bed of grilled baby gem, served with a caper sauce, was seasoned perfectly and was ordered with a side of olive oil mashed potato upon our waitress’ recommendation; the mash was possibly the creamiest mashed potato we’ve been fortunate enough to try. Meanwhile the RWKHU PDLQ D PDUNHW ன VK GLVK of the day was a seared Tuna steak, fresh from Billingsgate market, placed on top of crunchy green beans, new potato wedges, warm cherry tomatoes and rocket. The dish

was simple and delicious, complimented by a herb sauce. For desert we shared a rather large blueberry cobbler, the American version of a crumble, where instead of a biscuit topping, the topping is cake like. However, here we should probably criticize that size was an issue, in that the portion was large enough for more than two to share. Finally, the pretzel shake straddled that ambiguous category between a desert and a drink. If you

want a greasy shake soundtracked by a nearby group of tweens with too many of their parents’ twenty pence pieces, then maybe check out some of the lower priced chain restaurants around. However, Jackson & Rye presents an unpretentious, reasonably priced, highly polished alternative to this worn out formula. NERAJ THANGARAJAH ED BAYES

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15

The Beaver 04.02.2014

FOOD

Eat  WEll,  Eat  Fresh,  Eat  Latin

outhbank Centre, just a bridge’s walk away from LSE, boasts quite a number of artistic options. Last week, we explored some of their dining ones, paying a visit to Las Iguanas, a Latin American kitchen which boasts a motto of “Eat Well, Eat Fresh, Eat Latinâ€?. The restaurant was cheerfully full and lively with the chatter of diners. Couples, groups of friends and small families tucked away into their Sunday lunches amid bright and bold furnishings. Stairs lead down into a cavernous extension built into the hollow underneath the old bridge,where pains were taken to preserve the original bridge architecture, exposing the brickwork and arches that once supported the weight of GDLO\ WUDŕŽŒF

Since Latin American kitchens are much more than just tacos & burritos, we went for some of Las Iguanas’ recommendations: (Mains) The Extraordinary XinXim, Henrique Rapadura 6WDUWHUV &DODPDUHV &UD\னVK Salad We also took advantage of an ongoing two-for-one cocktail promotion, available Thursday to Saturday 12:30 to 7:30pm,

and Sunday to Wednesday allday.

The Henrique Rapadura is Lamb Henry – slow cooked economical cuts of lamb, in this case the shoulder – in an awesome sticky sweet sauce starring the fragrant star anise, soy, mint, guajillo chilli, sesame and its namesake Rapadura sugar. Our lamb shoulder was quite divided between strips of pure fat, browned and caramelized goodness, and slightly dry meat that nevertheless went well with the savoury molasses-like sauce. Served with twice-fried spuds, thoughtfully cubed into small squares, solving the problem of crisp potato skin ratios. Counter the heaviness with the accompanied small salad of beetroot, spinach and red onion. The Extraordinary XinXim, (or XinXim de Galinha as it is commonly known) is like many Latin American dishes, a fusion of native and early immigrant cuisines. Tender, moist lime chicken breast strips in a creamy peanut sauce with FUD\னVK RXU ;LQ;LP ZDV NHSW warm in an earthen pot over a candle. Served with rice and toasted coconut sprinkles, it

was the deepfried sweet plaintains that were unexpectedly good and very moreish. Calamares involved taking fresh squid, dredging them in cassava and deep frying them to a chewy crisp. Thankfully, Las Iguanas does deepfried without the grease and soggy batter nightmares, despite the lunch rush, with a great proportion of batter to jaw-gentle squid with a creamy aioli dip.

7KH ODUJH &UD\னVK 6DODG ZDV very fresh (did we mention how their motto of freshness was executed with all seriousness), with a generous portion RI FUD\னVK RQ D EHG RI VSLQDFK mixed leaves and cucumber batons. Tossed with a light and tangy ginger, sherry & sweet chilli dressing that was simple and refreshing.

Calamares

XinXim RAPADURA CrayFISH Â salad

Las Iguanas surprised with the quality of the ingredients and is a great introduction to the wider world of Latin American food . A simple concept without pretentiousness, the food and service were worth the price point.

Photos: Authors own

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Las  Iguanas:  A  Simple  Concept  Without  Pretentiousness

DOROTHY WONG

COMPETITION L

FANS OF SHERLOCK (AND ALCOHOL) ook closely. Aren’t these familiar? If you’re a fan of The BBC’s hit series Sherlock, you might recognise them as the graduated measuring cylinder glasses that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman drink out of in The Sign of Three.

Win an Aeropress Coffee Maker!

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he last time we teased you with the AeroSUHVV D FRŕŽ‰HH PDNHU VR VLPSOH WR XVH it’s revolutionary. This time we’re going to dangle one in front of your noses, courtesy of Cream Supplies UK (www.creamsupSOLHV FR XN DQG WKHLU JHQHURXV RŕŽ‰HU RI DQ $HURSUHVV =DSDWLVWD *URXQG &RŕŽ‰HH J Fairtrade) for one lucky reader.

We know that 2 years is a very, very agonising time to wait, so why not spend it clutching a comforting piece of Sherlock? Or rather, a comforting piece near identical to a piece of Sherlock. Best of all? 7KH\‍ڑ‏UH RQO\ e HDFK DQG DUH WKHUHIRUH DFWXDOO\ affordable (Cumberbatch’s Belstaff coat is north of £1,300), possibly cheaper than um, the box set itself.

Let’s refresh your memory on why we think you need one: 3URGXFHV ULFK ŕŽ‹DYRXUIXO FRŕŽ‰HH TXLFNO\ DQG easily. 0LFUR னOWHU IRU VPRRWK YHOYHW\ GULQNV ZLWKout grounds and grits, so you can savor every last drop It’s only ÂŁ19.99 (on creamsupplies.co.uk), ZLWK னOWHUV WKURZQ LQ IRU IUHH 7KDW‍ڑ‏V DOPRVW D \HDU‍ڑ‏V VXSSO\ DW S SHU FXS EHIRUH the grounds. It’s so sleek it makes your inner minimalist purr. The small footprint is a lifesaver for cluttered-desk pressed-for-space people.

Whether you intend it for purposes of tinkering with your states of intoxication a la Sherlock or to stake your claim in fandom, find them again on www.creamsupplies.co.uk Cream Supplies UK is a purveyor of professional – and dare we say experimental – cafÊ, bar, restaurant equipment and ingredients to the home consumer and gourmand. Our heads are still spinning from Rotary Evaporators, Ultrasonic Homogenisors, but they have something for every level or lack thereof of food scientist. We may never get a shot at El Bulli, but at least we can dream among the product offerings at Cream Supplies.

We have one up for grabs, just an entry away. Will the coffee gods smile on you? Email your name and currently affiliated institution to food@thebeaveronline.co.uk with the subject <CREAMSUPPLIES> by the 9th of February. You do not have to be affiliated with the LSE to enter.* *Our easily readable T&Cs: - One entry per person. - The Beaver will pick a winner and forward their details to &UHDP 6XSSOLHV DIWHU HPDLO FRQனUPDWLRQ 2XU GHFLVLRQ V DUH னQDO - The Beaver reserves the right to pick another if the winQHU GRHV QRW FRQனUP ZLWKLQ ZRUNLQJ GD\V - Cream Supplies reserves the right to substitute or withdraw the prizes and competition at its discretion. - Your information will not be shared, unless you’re the winner, of course. Copyright Aeropress

Photos: BBC and Cream Supplies

16

04.02.2014 PartB

FILM

Dallas Buyers Club

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et’s get one thing straight - Matthew McConaughey may just be the most exciting actor currently workLQJ LQ னOP 6SHDNLQJ WR PH alongside his co-star Jared /HWR LQ WKH SOXVK VXUURXQGLQJV of Claridge’s Hotel, London, KH FXWV DQ LQWHQVH DQG LPSRVLQJ னJXUH 6XLWHG DQG ERRWHG IRU WKH 8. OHJ RI WKH SUHVV MXQNHW WR SURPRWH WKH DZDUG ZLQning, Dallas Buyers Club, the SDLU DUH OLNH D FRXSOH RI PLVFKLHYRXV VFKRRO FKLOGUHQ னQishing each others sentences and generally relishing time in RQH DQRWKHU‍ڑ‏V FRPSDQ\ Bursting onto the scene in the early 1990’s with southern charm and classic leading man looks, McConaughey’s PHWHRULF ULVH ZDV VKRUW OLYHG In the early 2000’s a series of straight to video Rom-Coms and big budget junk reduced him to the covers of B movLHV LQ WKH VDOHV ELQ DW +09 $Q\ERG\ UHPHPEHU 6DKDUD RU WKH DEVROXWHO\ WUDJLF 6XUIHU 'XGH" 'LGQ‍ڑ‏W WKLQN VR

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as a second chance so much DV D QHZ FKDSWHU LQ WKH VDPH ERRN ‍ڕ‏

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An interview with Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto

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into TV shows, music, art and RWKHU FUHDWLYH SXUVXLWV" /HWR a musician, artist and director himself, says, “Your question reminds me of a quote that I ORYH IURP $QG\ :DUKRO /DEHOV DUH IRU FDQV QRW SHRSOH If you’re creative you need to H[SUHVV \RXUVHOI LQ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW ZD\V :LWK PXVLF DQG DFWLQJ \RX FDOO RQ GLŕŽ‰HUHQW IDFHWV RI that creativity and that’s what I love about moving between WKH YDULRXV RXWOHWV ‍ ڕ‏ “Arguably there are better dramas on the small screen than WKH ELJ VFUHHQ DW SUHVHQW ‍ ڕ‏ VD\V 0F&RQDXJKH\ ‍ڔ‏, UHFHQWly worked on True Detective DORQJVLGH :RRG\ +DUUHOVRQ DQG ZKHQ , JRW WKH VFULSW IRU WKH HLJKW HSLVRGH VHULHV , knew how incredible it would EH WR H[SORUH WKHVH FKDUDFWHUV RYHU D ORQJHU SHULRG DOPRVW like dealing with an entire XQHGLWHG QRYHO 7KHUH LV QR longer that feeling that cinema LV EHWWHU RU PRUH SUHVWLJLRXV WKDQ 79 ,W‍ڑ‏V D ZDWHUVKHG PRPHQW 7KH VFDOH RI SODWIRUPV WR H[SUHVV DUWLVWLF FUHDWLYLW\ LV H[SDQGLQJ ZKLFK LV UHDOO\ H[FLWLQJ IRU DQ DFWRU ‍ ڕ‏ :KHWKHU LQWHQGHG RU QRW Leto and McConaughey are FXUUHQWO\ FOHDQLQJ XS DW WKH DZDUGV WDEOH 2Q 2VFDU QLJKW LI they win nothing, and Bradley &RRSHU LV DZDUGHG IRU $PHULcan Hustle, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the $FDGHP\ %XW ZH NQHZ WKDW DOUHDG\ Dallas Buyers Club is on genHUDO UHOHDVH QRZ FHUWLŕ­˝FDWH 15). ,$1 3/81.(77 Rating: 5/5 Runtime: 117mins Dir: Jean-arc Vallee

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17

The Beaver 04.02.2014

3KRWR %DQN RI (QODQG

LITERATURE/THEATRE WHYYOU SHOULD

VAULT VAULT Festival Festival 2014 2014

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18

04.02.2014 PartB

VISUAL ARTS/MUSIC

THE RACIALIZATION OF SPACE: THE CASE OF MUSEUMS M useums are viewed as spaces within cities that bring people together through the medium of DUWV DQG FXOWXUH 7KHUHIRUH museums can be viewed as a SODWIRUP RQ ZKLFK GLŕŽ‰ HUHQFH diversity and importantly mulWLFXOWXUDOLVP DUH SURPRWHG +RZHYHU FRQWHPSRUDU\ PXVH ums arguably racialized; they increasingly demonstrate the lack of awareness of multiculWXUDOLVP 7KHUH DUH PDQ\ VXEWOH ZD\V E\ which museums exclude minority communities: they may not challenge racism in the

type of exhibits that are programmed, the venue's spatial location may be far away from areas of minority settlement, and the design and symbolism of buildings and language used may be predominantly DQJORFHQWULF

Still, museums have potential to act as a hub for showcasing minority communities' contriEXWLRQ 7R FKDOOHQJH UDFLDOL]D tion, we should celebrate how museums such as the Museum of Slavery in Liverpool and the 7RSRJUDSK\ RI 7HUURU LQ %HU lin use space to exhibit culWXUDO GLŕŽ‰ HUHQFH %\ DQG ODUJH

however, museums continue to be closed spaces for minority communities at a time of LQFUHDVHG OHYHOV RI GLŕŽ‰ HUHQFH DQG GLYHUVLW\ 7KHUH LV D QHHG to create new narratives that both record and showcase the history of minority communities and establishes multiculturalism as the norm rather WKDQ DQ H[RWLF DEHUUDWLRQ

Museums have been considered an important civic instiWXWLRQ IRU FLWLHV 7KH\ KDYH collected and preserved collections of arts and artifacts and viewed themselves as promotLQJ OHDUQLQJ LQ WKH FRPPXQLW\

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7KLV GHன QLWLRQ GLVSOD\V WKH continuation of the museum mission established in the 8. RI WKH QLQHWHHQWK FHQWXU\ +RZHYHU WKH GULYH KDV EHHQ towards greater transparency and openness in many societies and this has placed the museum as being associated with the past rather than the

Museums could play a role in promoting social inclusion by being inspiring places that bring people together as well as serving as a catalyst for reJHQHUDWLRQ DQG UHQHZDO 0XVH ums need to stop being institutions, which lead to formation, according to Bourdieu, of cultural capital and increased inHTXDOLW\ ,QFUHDVLQJ UHSUHVHQ tation of minority communities in the arts industries is necesVDU\ 6LPLODUO\ DQ DZDUHQHVV RI WUXVWHHV DQG VWDŕŽ‰ DW PXVHXPV to consult and connect with the rich artistic supply coming from minority communities in music, art and culture should EH HQFRXUDJHG $GGUHVVLQJ racism in museums can meet the museum mission of public LQWHUHVW DQG HGXFDWLRQ 0XVH ums need to see themselves as part of society where multiculturalism and diversity is the norm rather than the exotLF H[FHSWLRQ ,Q WKLV ZD\ WKH\ will become truly inclusive and space will cease to be as UDFLDOLVHG

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7+20$6 %(,'(5

SON LUX - LIVE REVIEW L

ubricated with two free low-proof glasses of white wine and a pint of lime soda, my housemate and I positioned ourselves next to the bar at the Lexington in Angel to watch Son Lux, the alias of Ryan Lott, begin his ன UVW HYHU /RQGRQ VKRZ :H KDG DUULYHG late, meaning we had drawn the short straw, forced to stand in the midst of the toilet/bar thoroughfare with the spectre that haunts British music venXHV WKH ORQH PRG 7KH RQO\ SRVLWLYH to this was that the breeze from the swishing of his dusty sideburns gave us temporary relief from the overpowerLQJ VPHOO RI EHHU DQG PDQ Son Lux took to the stage amid woops DQG FKHHUV RI ‍<ڔ‏2 ‍ ڕ‏IURP WKH PRG +H entered into a slow, woozy rendition of KLV ELJJHVW QXPEHU ‍Ú?‏/RVW LW WR 7U\LQJ‍ ڑ‏ before cruising through a few numbers IURP KLV EDFN FDWDORJXH 7KHVH ZHUH interspersed with tracks from his latHVW DOEXP ‍Ú?‏/DQWHUQV‍ ڑ‏ZKLFK ZHUH WKH EHVW UHFHLYHG HVSHFLDOO\ ‍(Ú?‏DV\‍ ڑ‏$V KH FURRQHG ‍\Ú?‏RX GRQ‍ڑ‏W KDYH WR EH DIUDLG‍ ڑ‏ IURP ‍ڑ‏V ‍Ú?‏:LWKHU‍ ڑ‏,DQ %URZQ‍ڑ‏V ghost breathed inane facts down our QHFN DERXW 0U /RWW‍ڑ‏V SURGXFWLRQ FUH GHQWLDOV EHIRUH UHDOLVLQJ KH KDGQ‍ڑ‏W VKRXWHG ‍<ڔ‏2 ‍ ڕ‏LQ D IHZ PLQXWHV 7KH EDQG ன QLVKHG ZLWK DQ H[WHQGHG YHUVLRQ RI ‍Ú?‏/RVW LW WR 7U\LQJ‍ ڑ‏FRPSOHWH ZLWK DQ

amended bluesy bridge that got the whole crowd of bobbled-hatted twenW\ VRPHWKLQJV VKXŕŽ? LQJ DQG VZLVKLQJ WKHLU IULQJHV LQ JOHH From a technical point of view, they ZHUH D WDOHQWHG EXQFK 7KH JXLWDULVW VHHPHG DOPRVW RYHU TXDOLன HG IRU WKH modest surroundings of the LexingWRQ OLNH 5RQDQ DW D %R\]RQH UHXQLRQ +H SURYLGHG D WKURZEDFN WR WKH JOLWWHU drenched hair metal scene of the late V HDUO\ V ZLWK KLV ன QJHU WDSSLQJ solos and persistent jumping up and down that made me want to get on VWDJH DQG PDVVDJH KLV FDOYHV (TXDOO\ talented, the drummer twitched and convulsed making use of trigger pads and electronics to try and recreate the SROLVKHG VRXQG RI WKH DOEXPV ‍ڑ‏V ‍Ú?‏/DQWHUQV‍ ڑ‏PL[HV ZHOO SURGXFHG ZRRG wind with bionic beeps and whistles ‍ ڋ‏ZKDW WUXVW\ :LNLSHGLD FDOOV ‍Ú?‏DOWHUQD WLYH KLS KRS‍ ڑ‏ZKDWHYHU WKH IXFN WKDW PHDQV ‍ ڋ‏EXW OLYH WKH\ GLGQ‍ڑ‏W TXLWH SXOO LW RŕŽ‰ ,W‍ڑ‏V ZRUWK JLYLQJ D VSHFLDO PHQWLRQ WR WKH VXUSULVH WDOHQW RI WKH HYHQLQJ 0U /RWW‍ڑ‏V GDQFH PRYHV %HWZHHQ YRFDO KRRNV KH ZRXOG OHDQ EDFN DQG ŕŽ‹ H[ KLV muscles or mimic mixing at a turntable, a move I remember well from my VFKRRO GLVFR GD\V 'HVSLWH WKH DSSDU

ent absurdity of all of this, no one apart from my housemate and me appeared WR QRWLFH WKLV VWUDQJH EHKDYLRXU 7KH\‍ڑ‏UH EDFN LQ /RQGRQ DJDLQ RQ :HGQHVGD\ WKH VW RI 0D\ SOD\ ing a bigger show in XOYO but would I recommend you go? On UHFRUG WKH\‍ڑ‏UH JUHDW EXW RQ stage something was missLQJ $VLGH IURP WKH TXHV tionable dancing, their stage performance was TXLWH XQLQVSLULQJ 0\ housemate described the whole experience SHUIHFWO\ DV ‍Ú?‏LQGHன Q able lyrics, added to LQGHன QDEOH QRLVHV‍ ڑ‏ +RZHYHU LW‍ڑ‏V D WHQQHU DQG LV RQ D :HGQHVGD\ so will probably be better than a forgettable night in ZOO bar but perhaps a better investment might just EH WKH &' Son Lux performed at The Lexington on January 23rd 2014 (':$5' %$<(6 Photo: Son Lux

19

The Beaver 04.02.2014

TECHNOLOGY

CICADA3301 T

here is immense joy to be found in watching someone do something better than anyone else in the world. Sport works on this principle -- Messi is fun to watch because he achieves incomparable feats. But few fields are so transparent. Catching an investor in the midst of a massive trade would be difficult (building security would see to that). Hackers, gloriously, do things in open source. And Cicada 3301 might just be the closest thing today to a Champions League of cryptography. Cicada 3301 is a massively complicated, mysterious internet and real-world scavenger hunt that has captivated armies of hackers since the inaugural contest emerged from obscurity in January 2012. The third iteration, which began Janu-

ary 5, is currently under way. Clues are hidden online and in the physical world. Solv-

i n g them requires no small amount of cryptographic savvy, literary knowledge, hacking skills, and pure

doggedness. But what has emerged from the challenge is a concerted code-

breaking effort rivalled by few other open-

Reflections Monday 24 February – Saturday 1 March 2014

© Michael Trevillion

The London School of Economics and Political Science’s 6th Literary Festival will explore the distinctive qualities of the social sciences’ and the arts’ approaches to understanding the world around us, with a series of events, free and open to all, bringing together award-winning authors and academics.

MELVYN BRAGG

SEBASTIAN FAULKS

TRACY CHEVALIER

© Laurence Cendrowicz

© Rob Judges

A S BYATT

STELLA DUFFY

MICHAEL ROSEN

KENAN MALIK

MARGARET MACMILLAN

Full programme online lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought

source projects. All sorts of online communities have sprouted to help hackers collaborate a n d

m o v e through the contest. This week members of an Internet Relay Chat discussed the best way to crack a code that had been encrypted using RSA, one of the most important kinds of encryption techniques and indeed one that underpins almost all internet security. One user suggested using brute force to guess the key. But that would require complicated factoring of humungous numbers, and that would require loads of computer power. Another user pointed out that they could borrow time from PrimeGrid, a distributed computing project that specialises in factoring large prime numbers. The consensus was that was a great idea. Meanwhile, a custom wiki keeps track of all codecracking progress. It probably was not supposed to be like this. To be fair, the contest itself is shrouded in mystery, so saying what it was supposed to be like is anyone’s guess. No one knows, for example, who exactly is behind Cicada 3301, but it appears to be an Anonymous-like collective. The backers claim to promote privacy and freedom of the internet, with the contest emerging as a way to recruit new members. A few of the masses presumably make it all the way through, but no one knows for sure because everyone who seemingly completes it disappears from the internet shortly thereafter. Hackers are a unique bunch. In most other fields, the elite practice in a forum resembling a mainstream. It is difficult, for example, to find an expert on credit default swaps who is not currently employed by a bank. But there’s a reasonably good chance that the

best hackers are not working for the NSA. They instead seem to congregate around a good challenge, and none seem to be better right now than Cicada 3301. Puzzles are diverse, convoluted, and obscure. In the first contest, physical clues simultaneously appeared in Okinawa, Dallas, Moscow, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Take the first puzzle in this year's contest. It was broadcast from a twitter handle discovered via a clue during last year's. It is a jpg image with white sentences on a black background. "Hello," it reads, "Epiphany is upon you. Your pilgrimage has begun. Enlightenment awaits. Good luck. 3301." The image hid a clue using a technique known as stenography. Cold War spies writing with invisible ink exploited a version of the technique, which is the practice of hiding messages in plain sight. In the computer age, stenography often works by embedding the message in some other media, such as a picture file. To the naked eye the images are identical. But examine the bits that make up the image and there are subtle differences, and those differences reveal the message. One post on the wiki outlines how the first puzzle was ultimately solved. Passing the image through special stenography software inverted the code and showed the true message text. That text in turn referenced an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a sequence of numbers pieced together the URL of a website using letters from the essay. By collaborating users solved at least the first 4 steps in just a couple days. The organisers clearly have an affinity for prime numbers, palindromes, literature and spiritual texts, and from the internets emerged experts ready to tackle each. Image processing specialists analysed the graphical properties of images while cryptographic experts weighed in on the encryption used. Mathematicians swooped in when theoretical questions emerged. And it’s all there, in a slew of online chat rooms and wikis, for everyone to see. Sky Sport could hardly cover it any better. MICHAEL GALLO

The Beaver 09.10.2012

PartB

Copyright: Sebastiano Tomada—SIPA USA, REX Features

the

Beaver

21

Tuesday February 4 2014

Features THE SOCIETY COLUMN features UN Society

If your society would like to be featured in THE SOCIETY COLUMN e-mail: features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Model UN Conference ‘in crisis’ as it re-enacts the Cuban Missile Crisis Ben Phillips UN Society

T

he rooms are booked. The placards are printed. The issues are on the table. The London Security Exercise 2014 is almost here! Coordinated by the LSESU United Nations Society, the London Security Exercise (LSEMUN for short) is a conference for resolving international problems and debating all things political. In two weeks’ time, we will be welcoming 120 delegates from around the world, including students from Germany, Russia, Cameroon and even KCL. LSEMUN is a Model United Nations conference with

a twist: it is entirely ‘crisis based’. Rather than preparing for predetermined topics and debating them endlessly, delegates are tasked with responding to sudden international disasters, which evolve throughout the weekend. Placed in the cabinet of a nation or an International Governmental Organization, delegates are thrown into a simulation of urgent policy making. Each crisis is constructed by our devious conference staff, who provide delegates with a constant stream of imagined developments. Intense debate and ruthless executive action tends to follow! This year, we are running three exciting crises. The first is a simulation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Participants will take seats on the Soviet

Politburo, the United States National Security Council and the Cabinet of Cuba. Will the events of 1962 repeat themselves, or will history be rewritten? Stalemate or resolution, war or peace: our delegates will decide. As well as re-enacting such an important historical crisis, our simulation will allow delegates to play the part of such figures as Nikita Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy and Fidel Castro. For those who hold economics and current affairs closer to their heart, there’s also our simulation of the World Trade Organisation. Participants will discuss the future of agriculture and global trade facilitation, representing key WTO member states. Opposing pressure groups will need to be appeased on the road to a revo-

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS The number of Lib Dem MPs with a knighthood

7

The number of Lib Dem MPs who are female

South, making it the wettest January on record

LOSERS AT MR. LSE

(and none of the women are dames)

52% The fall in the sale of ipods in the last year

30

20

The time it now takes to minutes create a stem cell after a ‘groundbreaking’ discovery by Japanese scientists

compiled by Mike Pearson, Liam Hill and Tom Maksymiw

er struggles and mutiny are common place. In political terms, delegates will need to get their hands dirty. So, if there’s one thing to say about LSEMUN, it is that we are a proudly Machiavellian conference. That said, the arguments held during the day tend to be offset by our evening socials, where conflict is replaced by companionship platonic or otherwise. In fact, the UN Society’s aim is to give like-minded people an opportunity to discuss the issues which interest them. Through a weekend of arguing, friendships will be made at LSEMUN. After a lot of war, there will be at least a little bit of love.

175mm of rainfall in january in the

13

number of al-Jazeera journalists on trial in Egypt, including 2 Brits

lutionary global agreement. At LSEMUN, we don’t just discuss the world economy’s problems – we solve them. Add to that our second historical crisis: The Struggle for Indian Independence, 1930. Socialists, untouchables, Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Bose. All of these and more will be represented by our delegates. The myriad divisions within the independence movement will be encountered once again. Fiery debate is expected, but will it lead India closer to independence and, if so, in what form? The crisis format ensures that these questions will be answered through the actions of our delegates. Even if external conflict is resolved in each of our three crises, participants face further danger from within their cabinets. Rivalry, pow-

4%

RISE IN UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS IN PAST YEAR

$33263

THE AMOUNT DONATED TO THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM IN “DOGECOINS” - an online currency based on the “DOGE” internet meme

10

YEARS TODAY SINCE FACEBOOK WAS BORN

£130m

The amount premier league clubs spent

on players this january, bringing the 2013/4 season’s total to a record

£760m

£ 1,073,990 The price of the average property on the market in London WC2

Tuesday February 4 2014

the

22

Beaver

Features RAG Corner: RAG Week Diary 2014 Molly Brien

U

nless you’ve been living in a hole for the past week, you will probably have noticed the increased presence of cake bakers, music makers and bucket shakers on Houghton Street, which can of course mean only one thing‌RAG Week came back with a bang in 2014! Here’s a run down of some of our favourite moments‌ Sunday Braving the rain and wind, Sunday morning saw a coach full of LSE’s Toughest Guys (and Gals!) head to Wolverhampton to take part in the Tough Guy challenge. Faced with arctic conditions, Team RAG negotiated the 32-obstacle assault course (including flooded underground tunnels and monkey ropes) with determination and tenacity, asserting LSE dominance over all 12km of muddy track! A huge thanks to all those who took part- your efforts raised over £3600 for RAG’s chosen charities! Monday All those who managed to drag themselves to their 9am class this Monday will have had their day significantly brightened by the presence of LSE Baking Society on Houghton Street, selling a fantastic range of cakes and biscuits in aid of RAG, a perfect sugary pick-me-up! Their efforts raised over £200 for the three charities that we are supporting this year. Tuesday Houghton Street certainly turned up the heat on Tuesday

with an appearance from the LSE Salsa Society, who raised a fantastic ÂŁ143.33 with their Latino moves! Wednesday Wednesday saw RAG take to the Escape area in the Library, selling a whole host of RAG related goodies! Throughout the course of the week, we have collaborated with the LSE Visual Arts Society to offer LSE students the opportunity to fold an origami Crane for Make A Wish Foundation. An ancient Japanese legend promises that the folding of 1000 cranes will result in the granting of a wish by a Crane. We hope that the money raised from this folding will result in the granting of a wish for an child with a life threatening illness at the Make A Wish Foundation. Thursday On Thursday RAG once again camped out in the library, joined by one of the three charities we are supporting this year, Foodcycle, who were on hand with free fruit and lots of recipe advice to prevent food wastage. Our EconB revision packs (made in association with the LSESU Economics Society) sold like hot cakes, requiring regular dashes to the RAG Store Cupboard to restock- who said bankers were greedy?! A HUGE thank you must be said to Will Matcham, the mastermind behind the revision booklet content, who generously grants all proceeds to RAG. Keep your eyes on the RAG Facebook page for more opportunities to pick up this invaluable guide! RAG also co-hosted a screening of ‘The Pavement Perspective’, a short film di-

LSE Salsa Society raise ÂŁ143.33 for RAG by dancing on Houghton Street

From left: LSESU Baking Society raise ÂŁ200 for charitty and RAG shaking their bucket at public lectures

rected and produced by LSE Law student Frankie Bennet, exploring the stories behind London’s street community. One of the charities featured in the film is Spires, a London-based charity helping homeless and disadvantaged people all year round, which RAG have selected as one of our three chosen charities this year. Friday What better way to wave a fond farewell to RAG Week 2K14 than seeing our very own RAG President covered in gunge by the Almighty Dave Benson Phillips?! Alongside 5 more of LSE’s BNOCs (Freddie Derbyshire, Gabriel Everington, Tom Meaden, Ranny Wei and an SU Official, representing the no-

torious SSH Fire Alarm Technician), our gungees were huddled into the infamous gunge booth and covered in green and yellow slime. A special mention must be made to Tom Meaden who demonstrated exactly how NOT to play it cool after a gunging- keep your eye on the RAG page for a video replay of his magnificent fall from grace coming soon! Throughout the course of the week we have also been present at LSE Public Lectures, raising awareness of the causes we are raising money for, whilst collecting spare change for charity! A big thank you must also be given to the LSE Library who have donated any fines that were paid in cash over the course of last week to the

RAG charities. Unfortunately, we are unable to report our grand total just yet (due to the many societies and events that have generously contributed, it’s taking a while!) However, we will post an update as soon as we know! Until then, take note of the exciting events that RAG have planned for the remainder of Lent Term‌ Notes for your diary: Just because RAG Week has officially come to an end, it doesn’t mean that our work and events are over‌ 6th Feb- RAG Skydive information meeting: 6pm 32L.G.08. 12th Feb - Charity Leg Wax. 13th Feb - LSE Fashion Society Fashion Show - proceeds go to RAG.

)URP OHIW )UHGGLH 'HUE\VKLUH 5DQQ\ :HL 7RP 0HDGHQ 'DYH %HQVRQ 3KLOOLSV DQ 68 2૿FLDO *DEULHO (YHULQJWRQ DQG 1RQD Buckley-Irvine pose for a photo after “Get Your Own Backâ€? in the LSESU Venue

Would you like to write for Features? :KHWKHU \RX ZDQW WR ZULWH DQ DUWLFOH DERXW SROLWLFV ZRUOG DૼDLUV EXVLQHVV PHGLD RU WHFKQRORJ\ RU LI \RX KDYH DQ LGHD IRU DQ LQWHUYLHZ IHHO IUHH WR GURS XV DQ HPDLO DW IHDWXUHV#WKHEHDYHURQOLQH FR XN

the

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Tuesday February 4 2014

Features Ed Miliband’s Radical New Centre Ground?

Ed Miliband wants to change the terms of debate in British politics. Can he? Liam Hill, Collective Chair

H

ow does a politician go about shifting the centre ground? This is, after all, one of the fundamental goals of most political actors, to make an irreversible impact not only on a policy but on the terms of debate. It is a question I expect Ed Miliband has been asking himself for the last three-anda-bit years since his election as Labour leader, if not well before that. Miliband wants to transform Britain into a more socially democratic nation; he wants to take on the ‘vested interests’ and ‘predators’ in the economy, from energy companies to banks. He wants a state that actively reforms failed markets. So what are the best precedents in modern British political history for radical changes to the centre ground? Clement Attlee’s transformative postwar government gave Britain the NHS, the welfare state and nationalized large portion of industry, two out of three of which have survived broadly intact nearly seven decades hence. The Thatcher government reversed some of this with its embrace of neoliberal economics and privatisation DQG LWV GHUHJXODWLRQ RI WKH ஊnancial sector. These policies, in the case of both governments, may have been partly caused by a shift in voter preferences, but their implementation made that shift almost irreversible, in the sense that no opposition that went on to win an election dared to oppose them. Winston Churchill’s Conservatives accepted that much of the Attlee govern-

ment’s reforms could not be reversed, and the Labour government only lasted six years, whereas the Labour opposition to the Thatcher and Major governments lasted 18 years, only ended by a Labour Party whose leaders had accepted much of Thatcher’s legacy. These examples are, of course, of governments and their policies shifting the centre ground, and oppositions having to shift with it (or lose). So can oppositions shift the centre ground? Could Miliband, by starting a debate about ‘responsible capitalism’ or promoting populist policies like the energy price freeze or the living wage, force the government onto his territory and set the political agenda? In small ways, this has been the case. Ed Miliband is, in many ways, is about as powerful as an leader of the opposition can be, in no small part because we have a hung parliament and coalition politics; but Miliband can point to his small crusade over phone hacking and BSkyB and his opposition to intervention in Syria where he has PDGH D PHDVXUDEOH GLஉHUHQFH

“Ed Miliband is as powerful as an opposition leader can be” How much, though, can he shift the centre ground to the left? In many ways, it is more difficult for Miliband to set the political agenda than for previous opposition leaders. The Liberal Democrats, now a party of government and essentially an opposition within government, have a much greater platform than pre-2010 and the strength of UKIP’s voice as the fourth party of British

politics seems unlikely to dim any time soon. Labour being squeezed out of public debate means Miliband has less opSRUWXQLW\ WR GHஊQH /DERXU‫ڑ‬V agenda to the public. Populist proposals like the energy price freeze and bringing the 50p tax rate are more likely to be known by voters than more nuanced proposals like funding a cut in business rates by cancelling a planned 1% cut in corporation tax, for instance. The limited space in the public debate means that many of Labour’s announcements pass the public by, so while Labour is creating a coherent ideology for its manifesto, the public only hears a few of the individual proposals. From opposition, Ed can only set the agenda in a limited way. The public’s focus is taken much more by actual legislation and events within SROLWLFDO UDPLஊFDWLRQV WKDQ E\ DUWLஊFLDO ‫ڐ‬FRQYHUVDWLRQV‫ ڑ‬SROLWLcians attempt to engineer for political gain. There should be no surprise at this, since legLVODWLRQ DQG HYHQWV DஉHFW SHRples’ lives. Oppositions have very limited power in this respect. It is governments and their policies, not oppositions and the public discussions they manufacture, which instigate major changes in voters’ political preferences. 7KDWFKHU GLGQ‫ڑ‬W DஉHFW SXElic preferences from opposition. She created change through her radical programme in government, by selling council houses and promoting free enterprise. In her own words, ‘Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul.’ If Ed Miliband wishes to change the heart and soul of Britain, his goal must be to do so from

government. Only by showing how government intervention LQ WKH HFRQRP\ FDQ DஉHFW SRVLtive change in broken markets and in people’s lives as well as in the economy generally can he capiture public support.

“He must show how WKH VWDWH FDQ DૼHFW positive change” Miliband, like Thatcher, might be lucky in this respect. Thatcher’s modest 44-seat majority in 1979 was followed by the Falklands War, the SDP’s split from Labour, and Labour at war with itself. While it is difficult to see in advance what kind of event analogous to the Falklands War which so entrenched Thatcher’s authority and popularity might benHஊW (G 0LOLEDQG LI KH EHFRPHV prime minister, it is easy to imagine the chaos that might engulf the Conservative party if it chooses a successor to David Cameron in 2015 considering its unruly backbenchers and the threat posed to the Conservatives by UKIP. Many of those who once thought a centrist leader was a necesVDU\ VDFULஊFH WR REWDLQ SRZHU again now view David Cameron’s attempted modernisation of the Tory party as a failed experiment. Frustrated with coalition and scared of UKIP usurpation, the Conservatives might well choose whichever candidate stands as on a purist platform of uncompromising conservatism. This would be a gift to Ed Miliband, much as Michael Foot’s leadership of the Labour party and its ifit-moves-nationalise-it agenda was a gift to Thatcher. Ed Miliband intends to

change Britain. Whether or not he secures the keys to Number Ten will depend on a number of factors: the referendum on Scottish independence, the extent of UKIP defections from Conservative voters in 2015, the tentative economic recovery, and how much Miliband can convince voters that Labour has a credible, costed economic plan. In theory, though, the bar for a Labour victory is not very high. Labour leads in the polls primarily because millions of people who voted Liberal Democrat in 2010 expected not to be voting for a Conservative government, and are now supporting the only other mainstream left-of-centre party available to them, and because the Conservatives have lost votes to UKIP. Low turnout in safe Labour constituencies and high concentration of Tory voters in the rural South means that Labour need a relatively small lead to secure a majority. The arithmetic for a Labour majority is certainly plausible. But what Labour does with power could be far more interesting even than the election that might install Ed Miliband to Downing Street in 16 months. We could see a truly radical Labour government that reshapes the role of the state in the economy or a Labour government with its reformist instincts tempered by a compromise with an electorate sceptical about Labour’s credibility. What we know is this: if Ed Miliband wants to take the voters with him, and shift Britain’s centre ground, he will need more than just favourable circumstances; he will need the courage of his own convictions to change the heart and soul of the nation.

The Pocket Philosopher: A Question of Identity +RZ LWV QRW \RXU RZQ DQG KRZ RWKHU SHRSOH GH૽QH XV Joel Rosen

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n the age of the selfie and the rise of self-centered (anti-)social networks, our personal identity seems more important to us than ever. You consider your identity as uniquely you, something innate and irreducible; and most importantly it belongs to you. No-one has a right to interfere with it, nor does it form any contract or obligation to the wider community you live in, right? Wrong! I am about to argue that who you are has very little to do with you, and everything to do with everyone else. As a matter of fact, you are tied to your community by this fact and hence even have certain obligations towards them. Your identity is not as much

formed by who you are, as by who you are not. To understand what I mean, do the following thought experiment. You are floating out in space on the edge of the universe in complete darkness since not even starlight can reach you. You have no knowledge of humanity or of other humans, nor any knowledge at all of any other entity than yourself. You only know your thoughts exist in some form. So who are you? Any person in that situation could likely not give any answer (nor in any coherent language for that matter, since this too is constructed by societies). Such a person would not have a personality or even an identity, since individual identity is by definition a deviation from the identities of others. Identity exists as a dialectic,

and it is formed by differentiating yourself from others. I know who I am because I am not you (and I can tell you in what way I am not you).

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Your identity is inherently socially constructed. It is a lesser known fact that newborn babies initially struggle to separate their identities from those of their mothers’; they have spent nine months in the womb in almost the same conditions I described in the above thought experiment. Both Plato and his disciple Aristotle based their theories on the notion that humans could barely live outside of societies, and could barely improve or develop themselves without the division of labour and the living standards which political communities guarantee. We are “political animals” (meant here in the social-communitarian sense). So next to knowing that you wouldn’t be you with-

out a community around you, it is fairly certain that you wouldn’t be able to survive in the first place. What does this mean for us as individuals? Well the point is that we are not complete individuals – our individuality still being defined and shaped by a collective. Therefore we have various obligations towards that collective, and we should devote great efforts to helping and sustaining our fellow man or woman, since he or she is vital to our individual identities and survival. The next time you sit with your friends in the Garrick, instead of thinking how special you yourself are, ponder instead how your friends make you special - for without the people around you, you would have no identity at all.

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Features The case of www.Lexbase.se

What a Swedish website can tell us about the transparency and privacy balance

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he launch of a new website containing records on citizens’ criminal convictions last Monday has sparked controversy in Sweden. With Lexbase.se, it only takes a few clicks to find out whether one’s neighbour is a criminal. All that is needed to attain this information is the person’s name or social security number. The page further reveals the geographic location of lawbreakers in the country, identified by red points on the map of Sweden. For an additional fee of 79 SEK - less than eight pounds sterling - the website will even reveal exact details on the criminal offense. This data became available for free. However, only two days after the launch rumours spread that the site had been hacked, resulting in 100 000 cases of data leakage, estimated by the broadsheet Dagens Nyheter. After this hacker attack was confirmed, the website was taken off line for progress evaluation until further notice. Within the two days of its existence, Lexbase has scored 1.5 million hits. The public reacted critically to the new service, many are worried about a lynch system and a general atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion.

Concerns also touch on the authenticity of the data. Several citizens who were on trial and then declared innocent are still branded as criminals on Lexbase. Those living in a house previously inhabited by a criminal also have to live with the red dot, as addresses are not being updated. Former convicts who have served their time in prison are now facing a kind of second punishment. The website does not take any responsibility for how the information displayed is used: “It can, just like anything else, be abused.” Doubts about the integrity of the two minds behind the page, owner Jonas Häger and speaker Pontus Ljunggren further added to the general disapproval. Dagens Nyheter uncovered that Häger had not paid his taxes since 2007 and that he had been involved in business transactions with criminals in the past. Ljunggren conceded last week that he was aware of potential risks regarding data protection but argued that the benefits of the site are still weightier. He told the Swedish paper Expressen that “One of these benefits is that women who meet men on dating websites can do research on their date’s potential criminal convictions, for example rape.” Ljunggren and his family received death threats, prompt-

ing him to resign from his post the following day. The public principle of transparency has been an important part of Sweden’s society for hundreds of years. Everyone has access to public documents, for example information on individuals’ tax payments and debt. Generally this is supported and tax evasion and fraud are uncommon as a consequence. In contrast to this transparency, laws for the protection of the individual are in place to protect privacy and to avoid the publication of sensitive personal information online. These regulations are easy to evade: the right to freedom of the press allows people working in media and press to buy publication entitlements that effectively cancel out the protection law that safeguards the sensitive data. In addition it is then possible to make a profit by selling the information – this is what Lexbase.se

has done. Regulators’ hands are tied as the practice is not unlawful. Senior lawyer Anne Ramberg explains that “in Sweden the right of free speech and opinion stands above the right to privacy” and that Lexbase.se was a cynical abuse of the constitution. The only option is a change in the Swedish constitution, which would take years. Still the chairwoman of the Data Protection Board Kristina Svahn Starrsjö pleads for exactly this. Her request is a response in the name of hundreds of falsely accused who are contacting the board, currently without a chance of rectification. Even though the site is currently down, the hacker attack that leaked large amounts of data has caused harm that is in many cases irreversible. A system of complete transparency that has worked well for many years monitoring tax payment and financial fraud has led to

abuse and public resistance when it came to personal and fundamentally defamatory information on individuals’ criminal history. In a democracy the execution of justice ought to be in the hands of the government, not under the control of individuals. The Lexbase scandal is a further incident putting pressure on the international debate on the handling and protection of information. Even in countries like Sweden where individual freedom of speech and transparency are valued particularly highly, the ease of access and abuse of sensitive data on the Internet makes regulation changes increasingly likely. The quest for the right balance between transparency and privacy has been on policy makers’ agenda for years and, as more loopholes are exposed, one thing has become clear: it is there to stay.

Lexbase

Camilla Naschert

Lexbase’s logo. Translates as: “Sweden’s largest database of legal information about individuals and companies”

Cyberbullying: A Taboo Destroying Lives Asha Tanwar

Cyber-bullying is on the rise. It is estimated that around 1 in 13 children and teenagers in the UK are affected and yet few of them officially report the incidents. It seems to have become a trial of our society to provide helpful connections to make them see that there is indeed a way out. “It made me feel so mad, it was like I couldn’t get away from it all so I self-harmed and it kind of made me feel better.” (Girl, 13) states the first page of the 2012 report on cyberbullying by the BeatBullying Organisation. The BeatBullying report goes on to state that overall, 20% indicated that fear of the bullies made them reluctant to go to school, 19% experienced reduced confidence and self-esteem and 14% did not feel safe. At the more extreme end of the spectrum, 5% self-harmed and 3% reported attempting suicide as a result of their experience of cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying puts intense pressure on young people, often isolating them from their friends and family and result-

ing in psychological agony, preventing them from asking people for help. Depression and anxiety, combined with the pressure of society to remain quiet about mental torment, leads to some young victims to take their own lives. There were several high profile cases last year, such as Izzy Dix, 14, who hanged herself after reportedly being bullied online, Hannah Smith, 14, and Daniel Perry, 17, whose mother said there were no signs prior to his death and that he was “not depressed and the last type of person you would think would take their life”. Such assumptions themselves give away the way our society considers those suffering from pain which is not physically observable. Since there were no obvious indications, those around Daniel believed there could be nothing wrong.

Hannah and Daniel were both victims of a Latvia-based social networking website called Ask.fm, where users can ask other users questions, with the option of anonymity. After their death, it was discovered that people on the site had chided them into taking their lives. One of the messages read “kill yourself mate” while another said “you

need to let a blade meet your throat”. However, because of the nature of the threats, which are often based on private images and videos shared online, it is often not reported to the police. Last month, the death of 19-year-old freshman Madison Holleran, a successful athlete at an Ivy League college,

rocked the UPenn community. Reading through some of the comments at the announcement of her death, more commenters were shocked that someone who seemingly ‘had it all’ could do such a thing. That she was a beautiful, popular and successful young woman seemed to be at the forefront of all. It is a cliché that there is a particular ‘type’ of person who suffers from mental illnesses. Beliefs a b o u t w h a t ‘type’ of people may take their life is often a barrier for those people to reach out for help, as it invalidates their feelings, because they may have ‘no reason’ to feel a certain way. It is often taboo to discuss mental pain and suffering. Though it can be just as painful as many of the physical illnesses, it leaves no visible physical scars, and

stigma and discrimination can add to the suffering associated with mental disorders.

“It is a cliché that there is a particular ‘type’ of person who suffers from mental illnesses. ” A 2009 survey found that admitting to a mental health condition was deemed harder than confessing to having a drink problem or going bankrupt. Of the 2,000 people surveyed across Britain, almost 30% said they would find it difficult to admit publicly to having a mental illness. With such statistics it is no surprise that the young people feel like they have no way out. The importance of encouraging victims to come forward and talk about their problems must be the goal of all mental health activists. The belief of a ‘type’ of victim must be eradicated. And most of all, those who are struggling must be given all the help they need, in the hope that no more young lives end before their time.

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Tuesday February 4 2014

Diary of an LSE Student

social@thebeaveronline.co.uk

LSE events and gossip - know something is going on? Email us.

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From the Beaver’s Archives

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Beaver Kuster & Wildhaber

Travel

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Blast From The Past: Alternative Eastern Europe Belgrade is certainly much more than Soviet architecture and communist-style backwardFor many students planning a summer of ness. For the adventurous traveller (in other debauchery and freedom abroad, the idea of words those who are willing to take a trip to partying from dusk till dawn in a Berlin under- post Milosevic regime Serbia), Belgrade is a JURXQG FOXE RU ŕŽ‹\LQJ DURXQG 5RPH RQ WKH EDFN bustling metropolis of students, culture, and for of a Vespa, is tempting. However, such clichĂŠd those requiring a taste of home, a McDonalds romanticism of everything Western has result- that would put the best London bistro to shame. ed in many typical jaunts losing their mystery The lively club boats are a must (personal expeand charm. For those who are willing to branch rience dictates however that it is never recomRXW DQG H[SORUH IXUWKHU DனHOG WKLV KDV SURYHQ mended to stumble from a club and attempt a a blessing, with cities such as Krakow, Bucha- ‘quick paddle’ in the Danube). For those able UHVW DQG %HOJUDGH ‍ ڋ‏W\SLFDOO\ IXUWKHU RŕŽ‰ WKH to tear themselves away from the tiny Serbian Saga holiday tourist trail – allowing an experi- EDUV னOOHG ZLWK DJLQJ ORFDOV VKRXWLQJ WKDW \RX ence of old world charm, hedonistic nightclubs, really must try the local fermented spirit, the and cultural enlightenment at a fraction of the cost encountered in even the cheapest of western dives. Jessica Coxon

WK FHQWXU\ )RUWUHVV RŕŽ‰HUV D UDUH JOLPSVH RI both the Sava and Danube. So, when planning a summer getaway from WKH RFFDVLRQDOO\ VWLŕŽ‹LQJ DQG RYHUO\ IDVW SDFHG atmosphere of central London, try and look a litWOH IXUWKHU DனHOG :KLOH WKHUH PD\ EH PRPHQWV of regret (such as when the Polish public transport system fails you, and you are left stranded at 1am, deep within rural Poland, missing your connection to Budapest), on the whole it should prove to be an enlightening and refreshing experience, full of cultured days, and decadent nights.

For those who consider an all-inclusive lads trip to Malia to be the height of sophistication, it is perhaps wise to consider Krakow as an introduction to eastern culture. With its infaPRXV YRGND EDUV %DQLD /XND RŕŽ‰HUV D VHOHFWLRQ RI ŕŽ‹DYRUHG YRGNDV DQG WUDGLWLRQDO SROLVK EHHUV for just 1 euro), ridiculously cheap hostels (the Marxist themed Goodbye Lenin comes highly recommended), and the eerie draw of lingerLQJ 6RYLHW DQG 1D]L LQŕŽ‹XHQFHV .UDNRZ LV YHU\ much an up and coming tourist spot. For those who are willing to venture a little IXUWKHU DனHOG WKH XQH[SORUHG UHJLRQ RI VRXWKHUQ 5RPDQLD LV D JRRG FKRLFH ,W KROGV D VXUSULVing number of parallels to the French Capital, with its wide boulevards, very own Arc de Triomphe, and abundance of parks, alfresco dining, as well as quaint bars. While it certainly does not live up to the ultra-cosmopolitan cultural mecca of Paris, it has plenty of charm. Not only is it much cheaper than its western counterpart, but it also has a surprisingly laid back approach. Highly recommended is a walk along the Boulevard Unirii to the Palace of the Parliament, the most expensive and largest administrative building in the world, for a glimpse into the country’s lingering communist past.

Listings INTERNATIONAL WEEK Tuesday (4th) Tuesday Music Night 8PM / THE TUNS

Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania

,V /6( VH[LVW" 3DQHOLVWV LQFOXGH %DURQHVV *OHnys Thornton, Shadow Equalities Minister in the House of Lords and LSE alumnus. Wednesday (5th) LSE Re-AUnion 7:30PM / THE VENUE

“We Called That Homeâ€?, annual Malaysian Night theatre production by LSE SU Malaysia Club 30 2/' 7+($75( Tickets are ÂŁ8 and all proceeds go to Women’s Aid Organization (WAO).

LSE AU welcome back old friends and alumni for a memorable night. Thursday (6th) UGM: The AU Budget Should Be Increased 30 2/' 7+($75( Friday (7th)

Confronting Sexism at LSE by LSESU LSESU Labour & Cooperative Society and LSESU Feminist Society 7-8:30 PM / CLM7.02

Thinking of Standing for Election Session 10-12AM / TW1.1.04 Saturday (8th)

‘Journalism in Action’ Conference 10:30AM / 32L.LG.03 Presented by the LSESU London Globalist Society. Tickets can be purhcased at the LSESU website and the event is free for members and ÂŁ2.50 for non-members.

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Tuesday February 4 2014

Social The Smartphone Assumption: The Story Of Falling Behind Laura Weigold

On May 22nd last year, I made a bet with a friend: if I didn’t lose another phone until the same date the following year, he would buy me an iPhone. Some might think this was a foolish bet on his part, but on the 28th August the very same year I lost that phone, with it having lasted a whole (impressive) 3 months since the bet. So, my chances of getting an iPhone remain slim. This is probably for the best given my track record of losing things, but I am becoming increasingly aware of how this puts me at a disadvantage in our ever-smartphone-savvy society. Don’t get me wrong; I completely see the appeal of smartphones and all their weird and wonderful features: maps to make sure you can never get lost, Snapchat to make sure you can capture every moment instantly, and the latest addition, Tinder, which aims to set you up with people in your local area. It seems that, short of ensuring that you impress on your Tinder-arranged date, there is very little that a smartphone can’t do. So, no, my issue isn’t with smartphones; it’s with the ever-growing assumption that everyone has one. This morning I rang my bank to ask whether I could retrieve emergency cash, having blocked my bank card, to which I was told ‘of course you can, madam, right – have you got the mobile banking app?’. When I replied ‘no’, WKH DVVLVWDQW VDLG ‍Ú?‏WKDW‍ڑ‏V னQH \RX FDQ download it now and you’ll be able to

get money out right away’. That’s when I dropped the bombshell, my dirty little secret: I don’t own a smartphone’. I was then told that unfortunately I would be unable to get money out today but that I could ring back once I had acquired the little device, i.e. if, and when, I decided to become a fully functioning member of society again.

Intel Free Press

But it isn’t just this case which led to my annoyance at the smartphone assumption. It’s walking into H&M and VHHLQJ ‍Ú?‏6WXGHQW 'LVFRXQW RŕŽ‰ WRGD\ only’ signs plastering the walls and just as my eyes are beginning to light up, seeing the news that every brick-owner dreads, ‘valid only with the UniDays app’. Or, to draw on a friend’s experience, it’s walking around Freshers FayUH DQG னQGLQJ D VWDOO JLYLQJ DZD\ IUHH cakes (a good spot for a hungover and VXJDU KXQJU\ VWXGHQW RQO\ WR னQG WKDW signing up with your e-mail address no

longer makes you eligible for this small who was just too ‘kl’ for family photos slice of sugary goodness: ‘you need to any more, that I found the answer. Once GRZQORDG RXU DSS னUVW ORYH‍ ڑ‏ P\ IDFH KDG னQDOO\ UHWXUQHG WR LWV QRUmal colour from a crimson blush, I quesIt was only after spending some time tioned my grandparents on why they mulling over my annoyance, boring my felt it was appropriate to still display, let ŕŽ‹DWPDWHV IULHQGV DQG TXLWH IUDQNO\ DORQH DFWLYHO\ VKRZ WKHVH KRUULனF SKRanyone who gave me a minute to vent tos. They simply replied ‘ooh, but that’s my anger, with these stories of, what I the most recent photo we have of you’. believed to be, examples of great injus- When I mentioned those e-mail we send tice against non-smartphone users, that through once a year with family photos, I realised something. I realised that this let alone the possibility that they could must be exactly how our grandparents, check my Mum’s facebook for updated perhaps even our parents, felt when the photos, I was met with blank expresinternet became a widely spread phe- sions. nomenon, or when e-mail became the main form of communication. There are So maybe this is just what happens so many things now which rely on the whenever a new technology develops. internet and e-mail: job applications As soon as the use of that technology which need to be submitted online, ac- becomes widespread, those who are cess to internet shops such as the giant without it suddenly feel excluded, remiAmazon, companies which only list e- niscent of that sinking feeling you get mail addresses as their contact details. when your primary school friends sudI realised that the same shock I am denly decide that TIG is now a ‘twonow at the receiving end of when tell- player-game’. But, perhaps, despite my ing people that I can’t simply put their own personal anger at this, the moveSRVWFRGH LQ DQG PDJLFDOO\ னQG P\ ZD\ ment towards a complete smartphoneto their house because my phone barely DJH FRXOG EH EHQHனFLDO :KR NQRZV has a colour screen, let alone Google Either way, I for one am beginning to maps: I’d seen this shock before from realise that it’s time to discard my Samthe older generation. But in this case, it sung E1170 (yes, it’s the one without a had been me who was in shock. camera and yes, you probably did buy it as a token ‘crap’ phone to take to GlasIt was when I went round to my WRQEXU\ DQG VKRUW RI D PXVHXP RŕŽ‰HUgrandparents house and they found it ing a great sum of money for such an appropriate to show everyone photos antique, it looks like I’d better get savof me, aged 14-15, commonly known to ing for my very own smartphone. ‘If you my entire family as my ‘awkward photo can’t beat them, join them’ never rang stage’ due to a disastrous combination so true. (Perhaps it’s those new and imof braces, a stab in the dark at “fashionâ€? proved speakers on the iPhone 5C.) and the awkward grimace of a teenager

Up and down, round and round we go - Having a job while studying Hayley Toms

I couldn’t help but think, whilst filling in the LSESU Economics Society survey on the student labour force at LSE, that my response was going to be in the minority: I have a part time job. Now, at most universities, this wouldn’t cause anyone to bat an eye, but at LSE (as is the case with many things) the story is different. I am one one of the three people in my halls whom I know have term time jobs. I’m not saying there aren’t others, but the percentage of ‘employed’ students at LSE seems to be a darn sight lower than at any other university in Britain, barring perhaps Oxford and Cambridge. The LSE workload is intense. Really intense. Juggling academic work, with my job, whilst trying to maintain a social life is an achievement; however, this also has the unfortunate

side-effect of making me feel like a something breaks that steadfast rou- talk to me and thank me. I like being circus performer. tine? All hell will break loose. a member of a team. I like earning money.’ My life has becomes as follow: So why, people often ask me, do I keep the job? I have had many a conIt’s not all fun though. When eveMonday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: versation with fellow students who ryone else heads out on Friday night, On campus. simply can’t comprehend that I am sometimes I’m left behind - knowing Monday, Wednesday, Friday evenings: employed during term time. After my 12 hour shift the next day would In clubs. having had the conversation perhaps be intolerable on a 3 hour sleep and a Saturday: work day shift and even- ten times, I am now well versed in my hangover. When I’m getting shouted ing shift in my job as a waitress at a response: at by my manager for making a misrestaurant. Sunday: catch up on the take, others are catching up on work. work that everybody else got done ‘I am financially independent, oth- Or even when a customer decides whilst I was at work. er than the basic student loans given to give me a hard time, many of my to me by the government. My rent is friends are having a nap. But yet I My weekend has now become covered by my student loan, but other choose to stay. Many wouldn’t, and I Wednesday during the day. Minus than that: it’s up to me. No grants, understand that different people have the 1 hour I spend in the EC102 sup- no ÂŁ250 a week from my parents, no different wants and needs that make plementary session, and the 1 hour sponsorship program; just me. Sure, having a job awkward for them. But spent going to Sainsburys. Oh and I have savings, and I work during the I’m not them, and they’re not me. not to forget the hour doing the wash- holiday time as well, but I want to be ing. My free time is worth more to me in work. It’s important to me to have So yes, I’ll moan about having no than gold. I’ve started to plan my free other elements to my life other than free time. And yes I will curse the job hours meticulously to ensure I am not LSE work and getting drunk. I like every Saturday for ruining my social wasting any of my scarce time. And if going to work and have customers life. But the truth is: I like to juggle.

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Social

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Mae I Help You?

Crossword

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DOWN 1 Insectivore that’s often recognisable? Not entirely (6) 2 Most strict, keeping one’s woman in order (6) 3 Craft shop’s closing and left a bit too untidy (5-4) 4 With yours truly absent, teaches class about mounting special electrical items (12) 6 Necktie accepted by Hamish? (5) 7 Spice sexual excitement up with married man (8) 8 Determined to rule out taking pills (8) 11 We had a celeb dancing outside hotel, maybe right on the Strand? (7,5) 15 Cut short street party that’s getting noisier (9) 16 One cuts corners, sloppily producing chemical used in dyeing (8) 6DWLVÀ HG E\ LQWHUSUHWDWLRQ RI (URLFD except the last bit, which is very fast (8) 19 Refuse to take exam again around start of semester (6) 20 Fresh money to support soldiers (6) 22 Opera for La Scala at heart? (5)

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29

04.02.2014 The Beaver

PRIVATE B

“More ironic than it raining Alanis Morissettes on your wedidng day�

TheBeaver

BECAUSE Â REAL Â NEWS Â IS Â BORING Â AND Â HARD Â TO Â FIND

NEW THIS WEEK: PAGE B GIRL! PHWOAR! Ranny, 20 (ish) from ShefனHOG VD\V ‍Ú?‏, ORYH D JRRG gunging! Now I know how girls feel (extremely sic)!’

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IN OTHER NEWS ‍ ښ‏LSESU has attempted to raise awareness of its campaigns and breakthroughs this year with a ‘State of the Union’ video. Unfortunately, it seems to have been about as well received as Obama’s real thing, having so far gleaned only 105 Youtube views, 53 of which were Paul Kelly. ‍ ښ‏38/6( 5DGLR‍ڑ‏V EULHI ŕŽ‹LUtation with relevance has EHHQ DEUXSWO\ FXW RŕŽ‰ LQ WKH last fortnight, as the speakHUV LQ WKH QG ŕŽ‹RRU ODQGLQJ were removed. Apparently the nearby Faith Centre didn’t appreciate ‘Journey to the Centre of House’ , ft. DJ STVS. This week's edition compiled by Tam Banters Col. Honey-Badger Captain Hack Sparrow OOOHHH Brian McDermott

it TV personalities last Friday. LSE students charitably agreed to make up an audience for David Benson Phillips, has-been extraordinaire, so he could feel important again for a few minutes. RAG was unDEOH WR னQG HQRXJK YROXQWHHUV to maintain the illusion, and poor old DBP was stuck with a nearly empty room. Fortunately, AU Treasurer Tom Meaden was able to make sure the RAG committe weren’t the RQO\ RQHV ZKR IHOO ŕŽ‹DW RQ WKHLU IDFHV DV KH GXWLIXOO\ DWH ŕŽ‹RRU after his soaking, keeping everyone amused for a few more painful minutes. Rumours that RAG took a bath on the event, and have had to turn to the Take A Wish foundation to get their money back from sick children, remain XQFRQனUPHG

SAUCYGATE WORD CLOUD: WHAT STUDENTS THINK OF LONDON’S BIGGEST NEW CLUB NIGHT REVEALED

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Beaver

31

Tuesday February 4 2014

BEAVER SPORTS FANTASY FOOTBALL

The Top... The Moose Knucklers (Conor Rohan) 1,511 Strutting Edge (Chris Edgington) 1,441 South Coast Saints (Tom Jordan) 1,418

The Bottom... Ivan Camposinos (Gabriel Everington) 890 Menton Marvels (Jon Allsop) 878

England coach Andy Flowers resigned as the fallout from England’s 5-0 Ashes defeat continues.

SUPERBOWL SCORE (If you’re reading this in the paper, blame the editor)

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The 6 Nations tourQDPHQW NLFNHG R૸ over the weekend with wins for Wales, France and Ireland.

with a view of making that deal permanent in the summer for £15.6m. Whilst struggling Premier League teams represented most of the business done on transfer deadline day, certain clubs like Newcastle will be disappointed they didn’t sign anyone. They failed to replace Yohann Cabaye, who left for £19m to French giants PSG. They only brought in Luuk De Jong, and neither Swansea nor Tottenham made any major signings to help them push on this season. Its fair to say that any deals that did not happen now will be put onto the backburner until the summer. It will be interesting to see which signings have the biggest impact on what is setting up to be both an exciting title race and even more exciting relegation battle!

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Mangala and Fernando. In fact, &LW\ KLUHG RXW D SULYDWH MHW WR ஋\ the pair to Manchester but the ஋LJKW WXUQHG EDFN KDOI ZD\ EHcause City refused to be drawn into paying more than £40m for the pair. A fairly large outlay for a club that doesn’t really need more depth in the squad. Liverpool on the other hand spent most of the day chasing Ukraine winger Yevhen Konoplyank. Reports suggested that he had undergone a medical, but due to the complications of dealing with Ukrainian club Dnipro, the deal fell through. Had he signed, his £15m signing would have been the most expensive of the ஊQDO GD\ Some big named players also left the league yesterday. Dimitar Berbatov made a move to AS Monaco, while Dani Osvaldo was loaned out to Juventus after UHFHQW Rஉ ஊHOG problems,

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SPORT IN BRIEF

The January transfer window slammed shut at 11pm on January 31st, with Premier League clubs spending £130m, shattering the previous years spend by £10m. It was a great transfer window with lots of players moving clubs, with some clubs breaking their transfer records to do so. What remains to be VHHQ LV KRZ PXFK RI D GLஉHUence these signings can actually make for their new clubs. Manchester United stole headlines as they concluded a £37.1m deal to take Juan Mata from Chelsea. Manchester United were forced to break their record fee to obtain Chelsea’s player of the year for the last two seasons. However this was David Moyes’ only transfer of the window, with more faces leaving Manchester United than arriving! Wilfried Zaha ஊQDOO\ FRPSOHWHG KLV ORDQ PRYH WR &DUGLஉ in search of more playing time, whilst other youngsters 5\DQ 7XQQLFOLஉH DQG Larnell Cole completed permanent switches to Fulham. Fulham and Crystal Palace were GHஊQLWHO\ WKH WZR EXVLest teams on transfer deadline day. Fulham were involved in one of the biggest deals

of the day, signing Olympiakos striker Konstantinos Mitroglou. The Greek forward had been ZHLJKLQJ XS RஉHUV IURP :HVW Ham and Fulham but in the end Rene Meulensteen got his man. Fulham also signed talented (QJOLVK PLGஊHOGHU /HZLV +ROWE\ on loan, as well as John Heitinga from Everton for free. Meanwhile Crystal Palace shored up their squad with no less than 5 players. Jason Puncheon made his earlier loan move from Southampton permanent, while Palace also signed Joe Ledley, Scott Dann and Wayne Henessey. Maybe one of the most sought after players of the window, Tom Ince, also completed a loan move to Crystal Palace. Chelsea and Arsenal were relatively less busy during the window. Chelsea signed highly rated Kurt Zouma as a potential replacement for John Terry, but loaned him back to AS Saint-Etienne. Amid Arsenal’s growing injury list, Arsenal fans wanted two signings, but Arsenal only signed experienced 6ZHGLVK PLGஊHOGHU Kim Kallstrom. As well as completed deals there were a lot of ‘almost deals’ to keep fans guessing. Manchester City were in the market for Porto pair Eliaquim

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League Number 970297-228156

Ameya Badwe

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January’s Transfer Window Excites Again

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Introducing... LSE Sports Ambassadors Sports Editor Gareth Rosser speaks to James Frewin, a 3rd Year BSc Accounting and Finance student. Name: James Frewin Degree: BSc Accounting and Finance 3rd year Sport: Fencing (Épée)

JF: I’m currently looking towards the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. As I’m already a member of the team GB squad I want to really cement my place and make help us qualify. In the more short term, I’d like to become number one in Britain in my specialism.

GR: Hi James, welcome to the Media Centre. I suppose the ૹUVW TXHVWLRQ , KDYH WR DVN LV how did you get involved with fencing? JF: Well I suppose it was chance really. My best friend’s dad was a keen fencer, and so when my friend started learning to fence I took part too. I was probably 7 years old at the time. It just kind of escalated from there - I was involved at county level by the time I was 10, and by 13 I was competing in my ஊUVW LQWHUQDWLRQDO FRPSHWLWLRQ LQ Germany. GR: So if you’ve been fencing for the majority of your life! What are the highlights so far? JF: Well, there have been a few. Winning the Under 17 and Under 18 national championships are moments that stand out for me. I also managed to bring home a gold and a silver medal from the Under 20

GR: And did you get an opportunity to be involved with the 2012 Olympics in London? Commonwealth Games, which was brilliant. But becoming one of the youngest fencers in my specialism in Team GB when I was 17 has to be the best moment in my fencing career so far. GR: Your specialism? -) :HOO WKHUH DUH GLஉHUHQW GLVFLplines within fencing: the foil, the sabre and the épée. I specialise in the épée, whereas the other fencers in the LSE’s Sports Ambassadors programme (Amol Rattan and Marcus Mepstead) compete in the foil. GR: And where do you see yourself going in the future?

JF: Having the Olympics in London was great as a sportsman, even as somebody who wasn’t competing. I got to be a part of the volunteer team; I was a cameraman in the fencing venue. As somebody who knew a fair bit about fencing I was able to ensure my camera was always focussing on the right part of the action. GR: So do you think it’s curious that 3 Sports Ambassadors in LSE are all fencers? Do you think there’s a reason for that? JF: Most fencers continue to improve until they’re in their midto-late 20s, and there’s a reason for that. Not only do you need to

develop physically to be good at fencing, but you need a level of maturity. Fencing often gets described as “thinking chess”, which is a pretty good analogy to describe how tactical it can get. Just being the biggest or the fastest doesn’t guarantee the win; you’ve got to be able to outthink your opponent. Fencers are always trying to think one ‘move’ ahead of their opponents, just like chess players, trying WR ஊQG WKH RSHQLQJ WKDW FDQ OHDG WR a win. GR: And how has the Sports Ambassadors’ programme helped you here at LSE? JF: It’s been a big help for me, both LQ VKRZLQJ Rஉ WKDW LW‫ڑ‬V SRVVLEOH WR compete at the highest level and still be able to study at a top university. It’s also been great in helping fund my equipment and training FRVWV LW‫ڑ‬V GHஊQLWHO\ EHHQ EHQHஊFLDO to my fencing. GR: Well thank you very much for taking the time to speak to me James, and I look forward to hearing more from you soon.

Sport beaveronline.com/sport

January Transfer Window Excites Again

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Tuesday February 4 2014

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Fun, Pecs and Suspicious Fire Alarms one rugby player had a house in the country with a pet otter and a footballer can’t swim; so far, so predictable. The net result of this inanity was cream meeting faces; RFC favourite Freddie Derbyshire would probably have to have been wearing the one ring to be interesting enough to avoid a pie-ing, and the Ultimate Frisbee candidate proved what we all suspected; if you can’t play a real sport, you probably don’t have real chat. There was one other departure at this point, but he was insufficiently memorable to earn a bitchy quip. 1H[W XS ZDV WKH GDQFH RŕŽ‰ these men may have some of WKH னQHVW KDQG H\H FRRUGLQDtion in the AU, but if this display was anything to go by, they may not. Based purely on merit, the contest should probably have EHHQ FDOOHG RŕŽ‰ DW WKLV VWDJH EXW the judges, clearly lacking the ruthlessness of Strictly, claimed only one victim; Jon Roome was the unlucky recipient of dairybased moisturising. Chat-up line time followed swiftly; maybe our aspiring eligible bachelors (they were all undergraduates, as it happens #AcademiaJoke) relied on their lingo, rather than their limbo, for their apparent appeal? If so, we despair of the literary standards of AU ladies; the lines deployed ranged from awfully predictable - ‘You know what my shirt’s made out of? Boyfriend material’ - to predictably awful - ‘There’ll only be seven planets left in the solar system once ,‍ڑ‏P னQLVKHG ZLWK 8UDQXV‍ ڑ‏-XVW as an aside, sexual violence is never funny. End of. - Ed) In true AU fashion, however, controversy proved PRUH SRSXODU WKDQ FRQனGHQFH Mulligan and his steady-going shirt were forced to depart.

Photos credited to LSE Athletics Union

Wit. Charm. Honour. Gentlemanly conduct. These are just a few of the many values conspicuous by their absence from last Wednesday’s iteration of the now-annual Mr LSE contest. Yes, those lovely lads of the /6( $8 VWUXWWHG WKHLU VWXŕŽ‰ LQ D series of ethically questionable challenges, as both mental and physical abilities were tested over the course of two frantic hours in The Venue, after some traditional AU timekeeping saw the organiser turn up just 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to start. The evening proved attritional for the contestants; of FRQனUPHG HQWUDQWV RQO\ PDGH LW WR WKH VWDJH IRU WKH னUVW round and they were swiftly whittled down, the time-honoured method of paper plates full of whipped cream to the face delivered by the judges proving a suitable coup de grace to the bullish antics on stage. Following some brief advice from previous winners James Broad and Erik Tate, and a stage invasion from Tim Ankers - whose attempt to strawpedo a bottle of wine meant he spent longer up there than he ever has on a rugby pitch - the contestants were each asked to provide an interesting fact about themselves. Even allowing for the sigQLனFDQW SURSRUWLRQ RI )& FDQdidates, this produced poor results; the highlight was arguably the claim made by an Old Etonian rower that he used to share a bed with Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge and the future Queen of England. Were our judges impressed, intrigued or even scandalised? Evidently not; ‘I don’t care’ was the most vocal response that could be elicited. Other astounding revelations included the fact that

In blithe ignorance of peerreviewed evidence, contestants were then asked to demonstrate D WDOHQW 7KH னUVW ZDV D GHFLGedly sub-par impression of AU club-hopper Ali Lynch (I could literally do sooo much better an impression than that. - Ed) and the second and third were indistinguishable as talents; Rohit WRRN KLV FORWKHV RŕŽ‰ ZKLOVW VRPH music played, but given that’s what he’s done every night out ever and no one has ever thought it was impressive, the intention was unclear. Without a hard act to follow, Sam Lanham, 2nd team squash captain, might have been forgiven for taking an easy option on the talent, but, in a stunt much-hyped in the days approaching the contest, he decided to raise, or perhaps lower, the bar. Disturbingly identical twins Monopoly and Minerva were introduced to the stage, along with a pogo stick. Egged

on by the crowd, he circled the prostrated twins, making several abortive attempts to leap them, but the combination of his inebriation and the slippy stage got the better of him at the third time of asking; fortunately, he had enough momentum to avoid ‘squash captain’ becoming a literal description. +H ZDV KHOSHG RŕŽ‰ DQG WKH twins were replaced on the VWLFN\ ŕŽ‹RRU E\ +XJR &ROHPDQ who, in a bizarre Apprenticestyle twist, had recruited fallen comrade Jon Roome to back him up. Much like the Apprentice, however, there were technical issues, very little substance and leadership confusion despite, or perhaps because of, braying poshos; however, the judges clearly saw something we didn’t, as Coleman made it through to WKH QH[W URXQG 6R GLG WKH னQDO remaining contestant, whose rendition of Wrecking Ball was almost as terrifying as his Cyrus-

LQVSLUHG RXWனW 3LHV IRU 6ODQKDP and the Lynch-impersonator, and we were down to three: Coleman, the Carrot (Rohit) and Miley Cyrus. No messing about with the penultimate round; a straight-up boat race to sort the men from the boys. Coleman was fastest by a considerable margin, meanLQJ 5XJE\ ZLOO EH LQVXŕŽ‰HUDEOH every time pints are involved for ever more - no change there then. Fortunately, Miley Cyrus spared us the prospect of an DOO 5XJE\ னQDO E\ RXWGULQNLQJ Rohit, who was desperate to avoid leaving the spotlight and tried to Kanye the microphone of RFCC McSherry; appropriately, the Master of Ceremonies was having none of it and banished the carrot-costumed fresher from the stage, proving two more home truths: Scottish people don’t like vegetables, and no one likes a try-hard.

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