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INTERVIEW:

LSESU LT Elections: The Aftermath

Features p. 23

News p. 4 Opinion p. 7-9

Margaret Hodge, Labour MP and LSE Alum

Sophie Beland:

LooSE TV secretary, neutral face of SU politics and ‘student of repute’

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Tuesday March 11 2014 | www.thebeaveronline.com | No. 810

Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union

ABSOLUTELY SABB-ULOUS! Full-Time Sabbatical Officers

Part Time Officers

Sophie Donszelmann, News Editor

CAMPAIGNING ON HOUGHTON STREET concluded on Thursday as voting closed and the student body elected the next Executive Officers of the Students’ Union of the London School of Economics.

As polls closed at 7PM on Thursday, the SU reported a total voter turnout of 2,842; a slight decrease from the 2,999 experienced the previous year.

A highly attended election night party was held in the Saw Swee Hock “The Venue” on Thursday evening as the results were announced. Students filled the space, many still donning campaign t-shirts and banners. Members of the crowd included family members of candidates and even members of faculty including Professor Paul Kelly. When asked for a comment on these elections, Professor Kelly replied “no,” while later adding that “the ability to adjust from campaigning to actual policy implementation” was what mattered most in these elections. Rebecca Wembri, who hosted the PuLSE show

described the evening as a “typical Election results night: great atmosphere, lots of people drinking.”

Offices for paid Sabbatical Officers were announced throughout the evening in conjunction with winners of the part-time offices, Board of Trustees and the Democracy Committee.

The position of Activities and Development Officer was won by Alastair Duncan, running under the campaign of voting “A.D. for A&D.” The position was highly contested as he won over “Super” Marnie Gill in the fourth round by a margin of only ten votes.

Duncan was emotional upon hearing the news of his election and cried in his acceptance speech before announcing that this year would be “nnnnn-naughty.”

Community and Welfare Officer was won by a more comfortable margin by Seb Bruhn who secured 734 votes over his two other competitors.

Bruhn later told the Beaver he was looking forward to a “year of progress” for LSESU. Six candidates competed for Education Officer. In the

second round, the candidate who “does things” Jason Wong was eliminated by only ten votes to Dan Martin, to the cheering of many.

Martin, still wearing his signature yellow hard hat, lost by 176 votes to Tom Maksymiw, who was elected the new Education Officer.

“The LSESU General Secretary is the primary representative of LSE students to the School, the media, and the outside world. Sits on the most important committees of the School, working across the Executive to make sure every officer is able to campaign on the issues they are passionate about – and that the School is listening to students.” Arguably the most important race in the election, this was the last position to be announced, as tensions in the crowd were high. RON, Musty Kamal, Abi Aryan and Mengxuan Lonoy Ge were eliminated in the first round. Winning by a margin of only 65 votes over Sam Barnett, Nona-Buckley Irvine was elected the next General Secretary of the LSESU. Continued on page 4

TOP LEFT Tom Maksymiw, Nona Buckley-Irvine, Alistair Duncan, and Sebastian Bruhn were elected as LSESU Sabbatical Officers last Thursday.

BOTTOM Joe Anderson, announced the results in The Venue.

Union Bashō has had a busy week.

We have a new supreme leader:

Nona is GenSec. But closer than predicted, For Backing Barnett.

Education is staying on the rails: Jason defeated.

Thomas the Tank Engine wins.

Choo fucking choo, Wong.

A&D is getting Nortee: A badass MC To help our societies.

Just ditch the tracksuit?

Happy endings all round in C&W: Jade drops out; Seb wins.

At least both will have jobs now.

Everyone happy.

Bashō is the Beaver’s haiku poet. Some say he could do all four sabbatical officer jobs and donate all the salaries to charity, because the LSE provides his lair rent-free, and that if he were Returning Officer the results would be found on the back of a Zoo Bar napkin at 4am the following Thursday. #ZooGM

TheBeaver

Established in 1949 Issue No. 810 - Tuesday March 11 2014 - tinyurl.com/beaver810 Telephone: 0207 955 6705 Email: editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk Website: www.thebeaveronline.com Twitter: @beaveronline

LSESU - Living, losing and leaving.

The election which I lost this week was not really about being Activities and Development officer of the LSESU. Rather, for me at least, it was a doomed last stand against the onset of real life, to be a student for just one more year, to have one last chance to enjoy what nostalgia will inevitably tell me, years from now, were the best years of my life. It was an effort, in the immortal words of Dylan Thomas, to ‘rage, rage against the dying of the light’.

That I, that we all, raged so hard is a testament to how brightly that light has illuminated the past three years of all our lives.

A lot was said in the various election campaigns about making this union a home for students, a place they could enjoy and feel they belonged.

Well, I would echo the mantra of one narrowly defeated candidate: that it doesn’t need too much changing. It has been more of a home to me than I could possibly have imagined, reading those threads on The Student Room three years ago calling it hacky, irrelevant and boring, even if it has occasionally seemed exactly that.

Edward Said has written (Can you tell I’ve been

reading the LRB?) of exile, calling it ‘strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience... the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home’. If LSESU is not quite my ‘true home’, then I hope that rift is not unhealable, but it will, I fear, take time.

The removal of the potential for an extra year on campus on Thursday night brought home, with shocking immediacy and chilling finality, what I have known since I arrived at Rosebery Hall; the LSE - as opposed to the LSESU - is a means to an end for me, and that end is near.

LSESU, on the other hand, has been a far more integral part of my life over those three years.

There was only one way to maintain that relationship, and it was that, even if I didn’t know it myself at the time, that motivated me to stand for election.

So what now? For me as for most of us, the real world beckons; a 2.1, a job, somewhere to live that isn’t a grotty student flat. If I might be permitted a slightly less literary reference, in the words of Blink 182, I guess this is growing up.

We would like to hereby extend a formal apology to Mr Malik.

It was a simple typing error and no offence was intended; we hope none was caused.

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

editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Managing Editor Josh Jinruang

managing@thebeaveronline.co.uk

News Editor Sophie Donszelmann

news@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Opinion Editor Sebastien Ash

comment@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Features Editor Mike Pearson

features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Social Editor Amelia Thomson

social@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Sport Editor Gareth Rosser

sports@thebeaveronline.co.uk

PartB Editor Alexander Fyfe

partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Beaver Elections, Collective Meeting and Awards!

Online Editor Martha Petrocheilos

In Week 10, The Beaver collective will be electing the senior editors for next year:

Advertising Manager Hayley Fenton

Executive Editor (Must have contributed to at least 10 issues of the paper) Managing Editor (Must have contributed to at least 5 issues of the paper)

web@thebeaveronline.co.uk

ads@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Collective Chair Liam Hill

collective@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Online Editor

The Collective:

Design Editor

A Afridi, A Badwe, A Cameron, A Dawson, A Doherty, A Fraser, A Fyfe, A Howells, A Hughes, A Laird, A Lulache, A Manawapat, A Moro, A Qazilbash, A Santhanham, A Tanwa, A Thomson, B Arslan, B Butterworth, B Phillips, B Rogers, C Holden, C Loughran, C V Pearson, C Naschert, C S Russell, C Hu, D Hung, D Lai, D Martin, D Mooney, D Poole, D Sippel, D Wong, E Arnold, E Forth, F Bennett, F Shiner, G Cafiero, G Everington, G Kist, G Manners-Armstrong, G Rosser, G Saudelli, H Brentnall, H Burdon, H Fenton, H Prabu, H Thompson, H Toms, I Mosselmans, I Plunkett, J Allsop, J Anderson, J V Armstrong, J Cusack, J Evans, J Grabiner, J Heeks, J Jackman, J Jinruang, J Mo, J Momodu, J Pelling, J Rosen, J Ruther, J Wacket, J Wong, K Farzad, K Kalaichelvan K Kenney, K Owusu, K Pezeshki, K Quinn, K Rogers, L Hill, L Kang, L Montebello, L Weigold, M Akram, M Crockett, M Gallo, M Harrath, M Jaganmohan, M Johnson, M Neergheen, M Pearson, M Pennill, M Petrocheilos, M Rakus, M Rakus, M Strauss, M Warbis, N Antoniou, N Bhaladhare, N J Buckley-Irvine, N Russell, N Stringer, N Thangarajah, O Hill, O Gleeson, P Amoroso, P Gederi, R Browne, R J Charnock, R Chouglay, R Chua, R Deegan, R Huq, R Kouros, R Park, R Serunjogi, R Siddique, R Uddin, R Williams, S Ash, S Barnett, S Crabbe-Field, S Donszelmann, S Hang Low, S Kunovska, S Parmar, S Sebatindira, S Thandi, T Barnes, T Maksymiw, T Meaden, T Poole, V Harrold, V Hui

If you would like to stand in these elections, please submit a manifesto of up to 250 words for executive and managing editor roles and 150 words for the other roles to editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk by Saturday March 15th at midday.

The Beaver will also hold our annual collective meeting to coincide with the hustings for these elections - all collective members are requested to attend if possible.

In addition, there will be an awards ceremony to thank those who have put their time and effort into The Beaver this year and recognise some of the most outstanding contributions.

This will be followed by one of our legendary Beaver socials.

An email confirming the time and date will be sent out closer to the time.

CORRECTION Last week, The Beaver mistakenly printed an article entitled ‘What Is Morality Without God?’ as having been written by Jasmin Malik. The article was in fact written by Jasim Malik.

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Bernard Levin Award Internship and prize money on offer!

The deadline for entries to LSESU’s annual award for student journalism is March 21st, the last day of term.

Entries should be essays of up to 1000 words on the benefits to students of studying at LSE and in the heart of London.

The panel of judges will consist of Bernard’s friends, journalists and media experts, as well student judges from The Beaver, Clare Market Review and the Literature Society.

The prize for the winner of the award will be £500, a two week internship with the Huffington Post, and a night out in the style of Bernard - to the West end for dinner and the theatre!

Highly commended entrants - of which there were three last year - will be given a tour of the BBC studios in Media City, Salford.

If you do not appear on this list and have written three or more articles, please email: collective@thebeaveronline.co.uk Any opinions expressed herein are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the LSE Students’ Union or Beaver Editorial Staff.

The Beaver is issued under a Creative Commons license.

Attribution necessary.

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Tuesday March 11 2014

News LSE continues to climb world reputation rankings

James Evans, Deputy News Ed.

CONSIDERED THE 24TH BEST UNIVERSITY in the world, LSE is continuing its rise as one of the most renowned and prestigious universities to date. Students at LSE are delighted by the news that the Times Higher Education’s reputation rankings placed LSE above both UCL and Peking University which came in at number 25 and 41 respectively.

The annual world reputation rankings, a subsidiary of the Times Higher Education Guide, are based on the results of the Academic Reputation Survey carried out by Ipsos MediaCT for Thomson Reuters. Carried out every year, many worldwide institutions anxiously wait to see if

they have made it into the top one hundred universitites.

This year London based universities did better than ever, with both Imperial College and the London School of Economics (LSE) moving up a place, to 13th and 24th, respectively. Furthermore, one of the most improved institutions in the entire league table was another London favourite, Kings College rising from 6170 to joint 43rd. It was not all good news however, University College London (UCL) an old rival of LSE performed poorly dropping five places, to 25th.

As in the past with these rankings, the UK has the second highest number of top 100 representatives and they’ve increased since last year - up one from nine in 2013. But the Times Higher Education

argue, the UK’s overall showing has worsened since 2011, when it had 12 representatives and warns of “polarisation between the ‘golden triangle’ (London, Oxford and Cambridge) and the rest of the UK.” Six London universities make the top 100 - more than any other city in the world.

Commenting on the rankings, Bahram Bekhradnia, president of the UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “Given the UK’s size, this survey suggests we are still punching above our weight as far as research performance is concerned: at more than four times our size, the US has only around four times the number of universities in the top 100.

What is worrying though is the apparent deterioration in the reputation of a number of our universities.”

TEDxLSE hosts “World’s Architects Conference” THE LSE TEDx society hosted its annual conference on Saturday where it invited speakers from across the globe to share their ideas on the theme of ‘World’s Architects’.

The event, which was sold out in advance, aimed to “encourage and empower people to be architects of positive change in their lives and in our world”. Hosted by Shnay Chohan, eleven speakers presented their talks which explored themes as diverse as the evolutionary emergence of consciousness to the influence of social media on sexual behaviour.

Held on International Women’s Day, the audience were treated to outstanding poetry from Sabrina Mahfouz who highlighted the realities of life in the sex industry for women, and Zena el Khalil who produced an evocative performance about war in the

Middle East. The theme of empowerment was also pertinent in other presentations with Amanda Feldman, Director of Impact and Innovation at Volans, demonstrating the importance of really understanding the challenges and complexity of designing a programme to support third world communities; and Katerina Kimmorley, a former LSE student and cofounder of Pollinate Energy, who produced an inspiring speech about discarding her career in finance to pursue her passion for bringing sustainable energy to urban slum areas across India.

Although a locally organised event, the TEDx LSE conference lived up to the reputation of the TED brand image with one attendee, Dustin Eno, remarking “every year it seems to go from strength to strength”. ‘Atrium activities’ including a 3D printing machine, community story-

board for sharing ideas and giant Jenga helped to extend the content of the talks and cultivate an atmosphere of collaboration and inspiration.

The conference also benefited from videos of other famous TED talks by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and Ron Finley (the ‘Gangster Gardener’). These talks were entertaining and provided an effective way of bridging the gap between local and global debates.

Other notable speakers include LSE’s very own Tanvir Deol, whose enthusiasm and maturity of mind in the expression of his ideas about overcoming self-doubt were impressive for a man of only twenty years of age. Gavin Esler, an award winning BBC journalist, rounded off the afternoon with a series of fascinating anecdotes regarding the attributes that make a leader successful (anecdotes which included a serious conversation with Bill Clinton whilst he was wearing blue lycra).

Overall the event was tremendously successful with its goal of encouraging change almost realised live on stage as Shnay Chohan revealed the conference was within 100 tweets of trending on Twitter.

“I hope the ideas shared during today’s conference have provoked thoughts on how to realise your ambitions,” explained curator Sijia Li. “By being in London, by attending this event as students and professionals, we have the toolkit to make an impact and truly alter the established blueprint, despite all the uncertainty that surrounds us.

That is why we have organised the event.”

TEDXLSE

Brett Heasman

Many students shared in the glory of this news, Chris Irish, a second year accounting and finance student at LSE told the Beaver that he was “thrilled by the news, with the global job market getting more and more competitive, coming from a world renowned university is more important than ever.”

Not everyone shared this view though, Faye Battye a second year business, maths and statistics student argued, “LSE should be less bothered about a 1 point increase in world rankings and more focussed on increasing student satisfaction and the overall quality of teaching.”

LSE have increased thirteen places since 2011, all other rankings can be found on the Times Higher Education website. w

1. Harvard 2. MIT 3. Stanford 4. Cambridge 5. Oxford 6. Berekely 7. Princeton 8. Yale 9. Caltech 10. UCLA 11. Tokyo 12. Columbia 13. Imperial 14. Chicago 15. Michigan 16. ETH Zürich 17. Cornell 18. Johns Hopkins 19. Kyoto 20. Toronto 21. Singapore (NUS) 22. Pensylvania 23. Illinois 24. LSE 25. UCL

w

LSE to offer forty scholarships to Indian Master’s Students Megan Crockett, Deputy News Ed.

ON TUESDAY 4TH MARCH the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) made up to forty scholarships available to students from India pursuing a Master’s programme at the School; the students must be holding an offer of a place on an LSE Master’s programme by 28th April 2014 in order to be eligible for a scholarship.

The scholarships will range from three thousand to thirtytwo thousand pounds depending on each student’s financial need; it is hoped this will encourage more Indian students to come to the UK to study.

Craig Calhoun, Director of the LSE, recently travelled to India with Prime Minister, David Cameron. He said that the “LSE has enjoyed a strong relationship with India for over a century… this has included welcoming thousands of Indian students to study at the school during this time”.

Cameron used the visit to

suggest there is “no limits” on the number of Indian students who can study in the UK and take up graduate-level jobs after qualifying.

There is already quite a large presence of Indian students on campus; in the 20102011 academic year, students from India made up the fifthlargest international contingent on campus. Despite this Calhoun is still keen to ensure international students know they are welcome to study at LSE, “We want to ensure that LSE’s doors are open to all talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances, and are delighted to cement this relationship further by offering … scholarships, for graduate study, for students from India”.

There is no doubt this scheme is exciting, as it means many students will have the opportunity to study not only at the heart of London, but one of the best universities for social sciences not only in Britain, but in the world.

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Beaver

News Continued from front page Part time Officers were also elected throughout the night as the offices of positions such as RAG Presidency, Women’s Officer and Anti-Racism Officer were filled.

Inclusion within the Students’ Union has recently come under scrutiny, and these elections were no exception. Some students have suggested that the Union does not work hard enough to include ethnic minorities in their activities and elections. Only one postgraduate student stood for a position this year, a great contrast from the several that ran last year.

All the elected Sabbatical Officers are third years.

The role of elections within the student body was also discussed. An unnamed undergraduate student stated, “the campaign is definitely more important. No one reads the manifestos, its all about name recognition.” “Its nothing more than a popularity contest” another student added.

After the elections closed, Returning Officer from the Democracy Committee, Joe Anderson, released the list of bans that had been filed in the election process. There was a

total of five bans, four of which were imposed on candidates for reasons such as campaigning near a computer, candidate sabotaging other’s campaigns, a candidate referring to another candidate’s character and misrepresenting the other candidate. One 18 hour ban had also been imposed on a candidate.

Whether or not the candidates can fulfill their manifestos and the requirements of the position is something that can only be determined in the next academic year.

A very special thanks is owed to our election coverage team: Robyn Connelly-Webster Megan Crockett Jon-Rhys Foster Teodora Peevska Ben Phillips Rachel Chua

Extensive coverage of the night, including tweets from the evening, our editorial blog and photos taken can be found at lsesuelects.co.uk.

Top Tweets - Election Special

All photos taken by Beaver photographer, Alex Fyfe

Students occupy UoL vice-chancellor’s offic in call for his registration Students briefly occupied the office of the University of London (UoL) vice-chancellor today as part of a protest calling on him to resign.

A group of around a dozen protestors entered Professor Adrian Smith’s office via an exterior balcony and left a letter on his desk demanding he “resign immediately”, stop the planned closure of the univeristy’s student union and end police presence on campus.

Student pulls the plug on Robin Thicke A student went down in Club Sandwich history this Thursday for turning off the sound system when the infamous Robin Thicke song, Blurred Lines, began to play. Things turned a little sour, however, as the consequence of switching off the system mid-song was that one speaker, costing £1500, was blown. The song has been banned by several Union’s across the country including UCLU as well as University of London Students’ Union who have said: “We think that student spaces should promote consent and not normalise rape culture and believe that we should start sending out strong messages to those who capitalise on misogyny on campuses”.

The Battle of Husting, 2014 Campaigning for the UCLU Sring Elections is in full swing, and don’t we know it. Anyone who has been on campus recently (and I hope that everyone has - being dedicated students and all) will have been bombarded by the multitude of posters, leaflets and banners that have gradually been spread around the university.

Some are tipping this year to be the most competitive ever.

Student cleared of police assaults but found guilty of criminal damage

A student protester arrested for chalking on University of London (UoL) property was today cleared of assaulting two police officers but found guilty of criminal damage.

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Tuesday March 11 2013

Celebrating Pakistan’s unique culture on campus Anaam Afridi

WEEK SEVEN OF LENT TERM saw the London School of Economics (LSE) inundated with ‘Pakistani’ themed events.

From bhangra runs to cricket matches, from Biryani eating competitions to talks on financial crimes, from a film screening on gender issues in Pakistan to fundraising to build schools in the country, from an evening of traditional music to celebrating Pakistan’s successes, Pakistan week 2014 had it all.

The week started with the Pakistan society taking over Houghton street, first organising a flash mob, then a bhangra run (going round the street doing the bhangra dance). A free ride in a typical Pakistani bus ensued. Adorned with traditional décor, it attracted immense interest from those unfamiliar with Pakistan’s public transport and nostalgic smiles from the Pakistanis a long way away from home.

In the evening one of the most anticipated events of Pakistan week took place - the Qawwali Night. Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music extremely popular in Pakistan. Raza Asif Ali Khan sang the timeless classics of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sabri among others. Taking place in the Venue, the audience were seated in

a traditional manner, on the floor on straw mats – chattais.

The Qawwali night attracted LSE students, as well as many alumni. Free chai and mithai (traditional dessert) topped off the serene music and made it a night to remember with many of the attendees complimenting the “wonderful organisation” of the event. Tan Yung Tsen, a 3rd year student commented on the diversity in Pakistani culture, saying how so much of it is “yet to be discovered by not just the LSE community, but by people across the world”.

After the jam-packed launching of Pakistan Week on Monday, Tuesday saw a lighter schedule with a screening of a cricket match at the Tuns.

Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis alike watched Pakistan battle it out with Sri Lanka to defend their Asia Cup title.

The event on Wednesday evening consisted of two short documentary screenings followed by a panel discussion with the directors, Anca Dimofte and Aatif Nawaz. Dimofte’s documentary “Madam Kazmi and the Drivers” followed the life of the first female taxi driver in Pakistan and touched upon wider debates around gender issues in Pakistan while Nawaz’s “Postcards from Lahore” explored the historical and cultural aspect and also the security situ-

Easier access to UoL resources Megan Crockett, Deputy News Ed.

WHILE MOST OF the Education Officer Campaigns in Houghton Street centred on curbing the effects of Teaching Task Force Two, improving teacher feedback and enhancing study spaces for London School of Economic and Political Sciences (LSE) Students. One campaign in King’s College London sparked some food for thought.

Nik Jovcic-Sas, a candidate standing for the position of Vice President for Education (Arts and Sciences), wanted to make it easier to access University of London (UoL) resources, namely, “lobbying for quicker, easier access to all London university libraries”. He even went as far to suggest a universal library card for all UoL libraries, as this would “[allow] you to make the most of being a student in this vibrant capital city”. He also suggested that it might make it easier for students in Halls as their closest library is not necessarily one of their university’s libraries; a universal UoL library card could overcome this problem.

As a member of the University of London this would have an impact on LSE students if it were to be pursued by UoL. Many boast the merits of being able to use all three King’s College libraries as well as the libraries of University College London, Goldsmiths and Birkbeck among others. Liam Matthews, a first year Social Policy with Government student thought the idea was “Fantas-

tic!” claiming it “could give us more study space”.

However, some have their reservations about the idea as there is barely enough study space for LSE students in the School’s library, let alone students from other universities.

Tom Maksymiw, LSESU’s Education Officer-elect, suggested in his manifesto that we must “work on the planning of the new campus buildings and fifth floor of the library to ensure space for students is maximised”, emphasising the squeeze there is on study space already.

As LSE is part of the UoL, it is already possible for other members of the UoL to gain access to its library, yet there is not an enormous amount of non-LSE presence around campus; therefore, it is debatable whether or not a universal library card, or just easier access to UoL libraries will increase the amount of people in the School’s library; the situation at the moment might suggest it would not.

Nik’s campaign has provided food for thought for all. There is no doubt there is space constraints around LSE campus but it may be the case that easier access to UoL resources could improve all students’ studies and make day to day life easier too.

Nik did not win the election for Vice President for Education (Arts and Sciences) which means this is not necessarily a policy that will be pursued by Kings. However, it could be a debate that will raise its head again in the future across all UoL institutions.

ation in Pakistan.

The event was held to raise money for a non-profit organisation called the Citizens’ Foundation (TCF) – whose aim is to build co-educational schools in Pakistan. So far, TCF has established 830 schools in the country with an enrolment of 115,000 students.

Thursday saw a “PakSoc Carnival” on Houghton Street with over 5 stalls featuring Pakistani food, accessories including bangles and decorations as well as music.

Committee member of the society, Salman Muhajir stated the “purpose of the carnival, and in fact the entire week was to enable people to discover the real Pakistan, which is nothing like what is portrayed widely in the media.”

Mubashir Malik, a British Broadcaster, working for Saudi Aramco (the largest oil company in the world), joined the Pakistan Society on Friday for a discussion on banking in Pakistan. The event served as a prelude to the launch of his book called “Double Standards” aimed for release in the summer. He spoke of his book, in which he examines the behavioural changes in financial regulation in the country and the measures adopted to combat financial crime over the past two decades, whilst revisiting recent banking scandals to compare treatments by the

authorities.

Being a food-loving nation, no Pakistani celebration is complete without indulging in the loved national cuisine and thus, on Friday evening, the Pakistan Society hosted a dinner, an all-you-can-eat buffet at Jimmy’s Spices at the O2 Arena.

The week ended with a celebration of the greatest rivalry in international cricket, that of Pakistan and India with the Annual Indoor Cricket Match at Lords. LSESU Pakistan Society and LSESU SPICE battled it out in a passion-fuelled contest. While the on-field match was intense, off the field supporters of either side tried to out-cheer the other. They waved their flags all evening, sang along to patriotic songs and danced the bhangra to

desi tunes.

Despite India winning the match, the Pakistan team supporters went home equally satisfied for it marked a great, high-spirited end to Pakistan week.

Speaking of Pakistan week, Moeen Mahmood, the President of the Pakistan Society, said, “This past week has not only been about celebrating our unique culture but also about exposing the international LSE community to it. It has been about raising awareness of our issues and increasing participation in order to address them. The attendance for and interest in our events exceeded all of our expectations and we hope to be able to continue projecting Pakistan in a positive light with similar future events.”

Members of LSE SU Pakistan Society adorned in traditional green, celebrate the start of Pakistan Week “Riwaaj” 2014 with a Bhangra Run on Houghton Street.

Indigenous Genius Week A special report by the LSESU Terra

Lina Salih Didi

“WE HAD NO IDEA we needed a legal right to live on our own lands! The land was and is obviously ours. We’ve never doubted that.” - Nixiwaka Yawanawá We, at LSESU Terra don’t doubt it either, and as a society, aim to raise awareness about the struggles facing indigenous peoples, and campaign for the protection of land rights for their communities.

‘Indigenous Genius week’ which took place last week brought many of us together in thinking not just about indigeneity, but also development, and whether it necessarily constitutes progress.

It was interesting to have our panelists at Thursday’s discussion share and emphasise that many indigenous people aspire to move into cities and live modern lifestyles where they would have access to better healthcare and sanitation, the internet, and other conveniences that we have come to take for granted.

It was interesting precisely because I myself had tended to focus too much on the discourse surrounding the fight to preserve indigeneity, perhaps running the risk of romanticizing the indigenous by surrounding myself with one side of the story. The idea

that indigenous people all live in harmony with mother nature and each other, that they all use alternative medicine, and that they all wear ceremonial clothing on a regular basis is as damaging to their cause as economically motivated land grabbing; the biggest indigenous community of Brazil, the Guaraní, had their land appropriated from them and are now forced to live by roadsides.

I learnt so much during Indigenous week, and was moved by the solidarity expressed on and off campus for the rights of indigenous people, but one thing that really struck me as being important to emphasise is this: We have to remember that people and their cultures, like everything in life, are in a state of flux; like all individuals, some indigenous people will choose to continue living the way that they always have, and others will choose to incorporate technology and western culture in their lives. Whether or not they choose to do so is normatively irrelevant, and we have to respect the decisions made by individuals and their communities. Progress is not made by living in a western fashion; progress happens when we realize that people of the world live differently, and that we have much to of-

fer each other in various aspects of life. Instead of merely placing one culture on a pedestal to celebrate and aspire towards, all cultures should be celebrated.

At his sharing, Nixiwaka emphasized the importance of land to the Yawanawá tribe - ‘Our land is our life.’ They have a lot of respect for their land and insist that they have a responsibility to look after it. The destruction that befalls their rainforest land is something that they relate to so deeply such that seeing harm being done to it feels as though they themselves have been hurt physically.

With global warming and climate change threatening to affect irreversible and disastrous change in the near future, it does seem necessary to take aboard the same concern that the Yawanawá have for our planet and its beings.

This can manifest in a variety of ways; we could make alternative energy sources a priority, we could promote reforestation and we could even start to deflate our wants studies have shown that we would require 3 planet Earths if everyone aspired to live like an American.

Nixiwaka anticipates a time when Yawanawá knowledge can be combined with western ideas and this seems like a good starting point.

Tuesday March 11 2014

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Beaver

Literary Festival: short stories or full length novels?

A PANEL OF WRITERS delivered a discussion centered around the significance of prosaic form and the contested value of short stories verses full length novels. This public lecture was chaired by Cathy Galvin, founder and editor of Word Factory, on Saturday 1st March 2014, as part of the sixth London School of Economics and Political Science’s (LSE) annual Literary Festival.

The first guest lecturer was Mary Evans, professor of gender studies at the LSE who described her relationship with short stories as being long and pleasant. She recalls the onset of her predilection for them as having started from a story she read during her adolescence called “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. A brief summary can be given as follows.

A poor couple in 19th Century Paris were invited to attend a ball but were unable to afford the attire. The lady borrows a necklace from her friend and having lost it, spends a decade labouring for a costly replacement only to discover that the original necklace was of meagre value. For Evans, the story was a tale enunciating the terror of losing things and hones in how precious time is, by having the protagonists befallen by its waste due to not having found out key bits of information.

From here, she came to wonder about our relationship with the length of writing, speaking of the difference between a novel that paints “a rich and necessary canvas” and short stories “portraying everyday life”. Our interface with literature is experienced differently according to the form a narrative subsumes. It is worth considering the length of a story and the reasons inspiring this.

For Evans, many short stories are organised around things of value to us and encapsulates our association with it. Literature can act as a portent of future actualities, an expression unveiling ideas and events before other disciplines get there. There exists a common connection with fables where we pin narratives to moral inquiry. A quote comes into mind, that “all that is solid melts into air” is the moral of the necklace story in reflecting the transitory nature of things.

The next speaker, Alex Preston, is the author of an international bestseller “This Bleeding City”. He concurs with Evan’s on the literary premonition observed and cites Fitzgerald’s ‘Babylon Revisited’ as an example of literature that seemed to understand the financial crisis better than economists did at the time.

He started writing short stories as flyers of his longer sto-

ries, a suggestion made by his literary agent. For him, telling our readers less offers a greater scope for imagination.

Through assumptions and uncoloured details, we must envision the creative world for ourselves. By “making an imaginative leap into the story” we work with our readers.

AS Byatt, editor of the Oxford Book of Short Stories and Booker Prize winning author was the final speaker. Having read prolifically throughout her life, Byatt found novels to be the most interesting.

She spoke of the exciting immersion into long stories and much of her work consists of long novels. Her reasons for writing short stories were due to consciousness of her own mortality and the limited time.

Therefore, these were stories by a long writer which had to be condensed by means of the new form and this concords with the ideas of having too much to say but too little

time. In writing this way she came to discover inherent value in short form.

The panel wrapped up the discussion with a debate.

Asked about whether short stories carried philosophical hues more easily by nature of its form, Byatt contends that it has the ability to do so more succinctly and there is the “intense pleasure of knowing the ending at the beginning”. However, there is no room for writing a bad sentence, contrary to a novel due to the cursory read and the concentration of detail offered by the former. For Preston, there is a distinction between moral and philosophical enquiry. From short stories there can emanate philosophical leitmotifs, but its brevity is

insufficient for articulating the finesses of any moral system which demands the time and space of a novel.

Finally, the authors questioned the value judgment made on the distinction between short and long stories.

Evans argued that the hierarchical judgment is unnecessary. The most important thing is the substantive value of the production and what the reader is able to take away from it, although concision of narrative can assist in packaging this. This form, she reiterated as doing a good job of introducing the sense of an ending at the beginning. Indeed, “the more the novel gallops towards the end, the more unreal it becomes”.

LSE

Emma Yuen, Staff Writer

From Left to Right: A. S. Byatt, Alex Preston and Mary Evans at LSE Space for Though Literary Festival event ‘Short Stories, Deep Reflections.’

Chessum claims students “overwhelmingly reject proposals” to abolish ULU

Sophie Donszelmann, News Editor

A STATEMENT issued by University of London (ULU) President, Michael Chessum, claims “plans to abolish ULU are ‘losing credibility’ as students overwhelmingly reject proposals.”

These claims originated from a referendum organized

by ULU, where members of the union were asked whether the “ULU building activities and campaigns continue to be run democratically by students?” 86 per cent voted in favour of the vote, twelve per cent answered “no” and two per cent abstained.

The referendum vote was described as “not just any referendum. It may decide whether or not ULU continues to exist, and it is certain to have a huge impact on how students are represented in

London.” The voting system has been open since 15 November 2013 and closed 7 February 2014.

Four per cent of ULU members voted; approximately 5,000 students voted from the union composed of over 120,000 students.

Michael Chessum, President of ULU, said “the referendum proven what we already knew: that the proposals to abolish ULU have no legitimacy and that management are running out of credibility. The fight to keep the ULU building in student hands isn’t just about ensuring the continuation of vital campaigns and services, it’s also about what kind of education system we want to see: one in which students and workers are part of a genuine community and have the freedom and space to organise, or one in which campuses are

Senate House: the home of the University of London and site of protests late last year against ULU’s planned abolition.

run by unaccountable managers like big businesses.”

The University of London Union building, located on Malet Street in Bloomsbury, is scheduled to be taken over in August 2014. The decision to close the facilities was taken in May 2013. The Times has reported that the ULU building will become a “refurbished student centre offering the same services, including a swimming pool, fitness centre and bars.”

The press release states that the “campaign to save ULU will now focus on preserving democratic student control over the building as part of a pan-London student union, but will also make provision for specific University of London representation within the new structure – likely to be under the banner of NUS London.”

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Tuesday March 11, 2014

Opinion

I Make This Promise To You

It is time to put electoral politics behind us and start acting on student issues

Nona Buckley-Irvine A year’s worth of speculation, gossip, and intensity between friends and foes alike has finally come to an end.

The past two weeks saw an extraordinarily tense election period with many of the positions up for grabs being hotly contested, not excluding my own. My name is Nona Buckley-Irvine, and I am thrilled to say that I am your new General Secretary.

“My name is Nona Buckley-Irvine, and I am thrilled to say that I am your new General Secretary.”

Election season is what brings the SU to life. Suddenly Houghton Street is alive with dodgy gimmicks and garish colours. Deals are made in the strangest of circumstances by people who have never worked together, or interacted before. This election period was brutal for many participants, and notably in the Gen Sec race.

Smear campaigns tried to undermine some candidates

credibility, and endorsement procedures were hijacked by bullying tactics employed by various campaign teams. Student politics can be rubbish.

What this race showed is how truly internalised student politics is at LSE; just a tiny microcosm of activity affecting only a minority of students. Developments twisted and contorted the race each day, completely unbeknownst to the average student walking by on Houghton Street.

This brings me onto the ‘silent majority’. Amid all the political scheming, the ‘silent majority’ was always spoken about as the voters that we needed to reach in order to win the election. And that sentiment was correct. However, it revealed how truly large our student community really is. There are so many anonymous faces who walk by on Houghton Street each day, and it’s not enough to just try and engage the ‘silent majority’ when elections strike.

The SU should mean something to these people. It doesn’t have to mean a lot; it doesn’t have to mean something political, or revolutionary. It should mean an SU that advocates for students and sorts out the “small an-

noyances,” that Ben Phillips so rightly pointed out in last week’s Opinion pages. It should mean a stapler next to the printer in the library, free course packs, up to date Moodle readings. Working on the little things is something I promise to do next year.

“We have so many different communities coexisting with each other at the LSE, but which are not integrated into the main SU.” The SU should also mean inclusion. We have so many different communities co-existing with each other at the LSE, but which are not integrated into the main SU. The BME consultation happening at the moment pinpoints so many of the problems affecting engagement, not only for BME students but for those who do not fall into the hack minority. A challenge we face, and that I want to take on, is opening up our Students Un-

ion so that different groups cease to be on the fringes of the SU. They should be central to it, because our diverse interests and backgrounds are what make the LSE a phenomenal place to be. Working on developing a bigger, more inclusive LSE community is something I promise to do next year.

The SU should also be about just making our lives easier. Sporting members of the AU still have to fight to change their class if it clashes with training or matches.

Students involved in societies also face a lack of empathy towards their various commitments. Muslim and Jewish students still have classes on Fridays. The ‘silent majority’ benefits from advocating greater flexibility, and working on improving student life is another promise I want to make to you.

The SU means campaigning, and fighting for more.

Questions were raised over the credibility of freezing halls rents, or fixing international fees. To that I say: you have to start somewhere.

We need an SU that sets an agenda for students, and then works towards it. We can only make progress if we start to

talk about these huge issues that affect students lives while at LSE, and make the School talk about them with us. Students’ interests will be at the heart of these campaigns.

“Elections are over, and we have our Exec. May student politics be laid to rest until the next election. I’m excited - I hope you are too.”

In my election speech, I said that LSESU changed my life, and I want to change LSESU for the better. Change starts by working with the ‘silent’ majority, and making the silent majority a vocal one.

We can do this by taking a step back and reviewing how we work with one another.

That’s why I ran for this position. Elections are over, and we have our Exec. May student politics be laid to rest until the next election. I’m excited - I hope you are too.

Tuesday March 11, 2014

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Opinion

Who’d Have Thunk It?

Paying homage to hacks Alistair Hughes I often wonder as I wander down Houghton Street on a cold winter’s morning: at what point in LSE’s illustrious history did we sell our community spirit for a free coffee from the people at Barc Cap? As students glumly march from lecture to library, I am reminded of the surreal opening of George Orwell’s 1984. “It was a cold, crisp morning, and the clocks were chiming thirteen”. And then bursting forth like Joseph and his “technicolour dreamcoat” comes LSE’s election season.

Broken is the morning monotony as campus is flooded with colour and campaigning.

Now for many this sudden appearance of desperate students jumping up and down shouting out their candidate’s name is an annoyance; a distraction from the real LSE business of getting your degree. I am here to defend what I consider the greatest week of the LSE year. I believe elections breathe life back into LSE and leading the charge

are the LSE hacks; that body of students who write regularly for this paper and are most involved in the veiled world of SU politics. The hack community is sometimes criticised for being insular, removed from the concerns of the average student. I would point to their campaigning over the past week on Houghton Street as evidence that this is not the case.

“I am here to defend what I consider the greatest week of the LSE year.”

The principal battle of the campaigning week pitted the jolly green giants of the Backing Barnett campaign against the pink panthers of Nominate Nona. It was impossible to miss the dedicated campaign teams who made up these two rival gangs. Nona Buckley-Irvine may have taken the ultimate prize on Thursday night

but both groups must be applauded (even if the Breaking Bad theme of the Barnett campaign went over the head of Professor Simon Hix as he ambled along Houghton Street). It wasn’t just the Gen Sec campaign which took campus by storm: I would like to reserve special mention for Tom Maksymiw and his expertly crafted cardboard Thomas the Tank Engine.

Now the reason these students were braving the elements at all times of the day was for your vote. This was not some fun distraction from the business of getting a degree. Nor was it a pointless exercise in student politics.

Other universities have that: Cambridge Student’s Union is an almost redundant body with little power to effect change. At LSESU, however, we have a union which can really change what LSE looks like in the future. As Jay Stoll and his Sabbatical Officer team have shown this year, whether it be fighting against the new Teaching Task Force or lobbying for better facili-

ties on campus, students do have a voice in how our university will grow over the coming years. The people who were out on Houghton Street this week were showing you their vision of a better LSE and I hope you voted for the candidate who convinced you they could deliver that vision.

Which brings me onto Thursday’s election night itself. I am not suggesting that all people who get involved with student politics are necessarily “hacks,” far from it.

As Thursday’s gathering in the Venue shows, passion for the future of our Union is a feature across all levels of the student body. And what an atmosphere that passion creates. I was at the Lent Term elections last year, held in the Quad and I remember thinking then that I have never felt more part of an LSE community. Thursday proved to me that there is another level.

Forget the trials and tribulations of “Saucy”, the Venue was made for SU election night. The noise as the Gen

Sec results were read out was incredible and the whole experience is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

“So I ask that everyone raise a glass to the humble LSE hack and all those who got involved in the SU elections over the past week.”

So I ask that everyone raise a glass to the humble LSE hack and all those who got involved in the SU elections over the past week.

They have brightened my last spring at LSE. They have brought joy and community feeling back to campus. And the new elected officers will, I am sure, make LSE an even better university for undergrads, postgrads and staff alike.

Elections? What Elections?

It is too easy not to be engaged in student politics Georgia Haigh Walking down Houghton Street during Week 8, it is impossible to avoid Lent Term elections.

The colours, campaign teams and costumes would seem to suggest that the whole of LSE is centred on the Students’ Union candidates and the impending vote. Yet, walk into many of the buildings in the LSE, and there is little to indicate the imminent elections. Indeed, if you don’t know any candidates and avoid Houghton St, you could complete Week 8 barely registering that elections had taken place.

Talking to fellow first year undergraduates just goes to highlight the lack of understanding of the importance of student representation on campus at LSE. Many first years are unaware of the work that elected Sabbs do to improve our student experience.

Moreover, in relation to the current elections, the average LSE student knows little of the candidates running for positions, what they represent, what they have done throughout their time at LSE, and why they should be elected. According to the LSESU Elects website, only 2999 out of 10298 eligible voters voted in 2013; 29% of all eligible. You do not

need to do Maths & Econ to see that this is staggeringly low.

So, is this a problem of lack of interest or lack of communication? I would argue that it is both, but that the lack of interest is linked to the lack of explicit communication. I would say that the average LSE student chose to study here partly because they are, in some way, interested in politics. It is the London School of Economics & Political Science, after all.

Equally, if asked about anything from tuition fees to class sizes, or teaching standards to food prices, most students have an opinion, and these are all issues that the SU deal with. However, I’d argue that the average student does not know how much money RAG has raised this year, who the President of the AU is, what events the Disabled Students’ Officer has put on, what the Democracy Committee is, or exactly what the General Secretary has done for students this year.

If you look at the LSESU website, or Tumblr page, and actively seek out information of recent actions, it is clear that the elected officials work hard throughout the year to improve the quality of student life at LSE. Yet, the lack of active, unavoidable communication be-

tween those at the heart of LSE life in the Students’ Union, and the average student, who hears little of the work that goes on, is a real problem. There exists amongst these students a real lack of awareness and as a result little inclination to vote in SU elections. Each year the Sabbs do some great work, but it cannot be assumed that students will always go looking for evidence of progress – we need more verbal, as well as cyber-communication.

How can this be changed?

Firstly, greater links could be developed between the SU and student department reps, who could increase awareness of events and changes with a quick and occasional briefing at the beginning or end of lectures, or through speaking to friends in classes, providing a clear link between academic and student life. Secondly, there could be an increase in the number of links between the SU and the various LSE

student residential halls committees. Doing so would improve the flow of information on progress and changes made by the SU, to residents, and first years in particular. Thirdly, candidate hustings at LSE need to be publicised far more effectively. At most secondary schools, all students are aware of not only when hustings are taking place, but what positions they are for. This year, far too many of my friends were unaware that hustings had even occurred. If first years will turn up to an LSE100 lecture, then surely they would go to hustings if they were aware.

Before I started in October, a friend told me “LSE is small, but it becomes even smaller once you are here, when you start recognising the same people who get involved.” Yet, it is still easy to feel like a very small fish in a very big pond, and it should not be like that. It is far too easy to avoid election week at LSE. Too many students do not recognise that the issues that the Students’ Union deals with affect all students at LSE, and, by Week 8 of Lent Term, too many are still asking, “what is the point of the SU?” Currently, it is possible to avoid SU elections at LSE. In reality, SU elections should be impossible to avoid.

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Tuesday March 11, 2014

Opinion

Are You Cool Enough For Student Politics?

What it takes to run a student political campaign Christopher Hulm

The majority of students couldn’t care less about student elections. The Opinion section of The Beaver this week could quite appropriately aim all of its pieces at the disconnection, disengagement, and dispiritedness surrounding the politics of Houghton Street, and a sizeable amount of readers would indifferently nod their head to my words as they skim over them.

There’s no doubt that the eccentric t-shirt-and-trainwearing, leafleting, bannerholding, spamming, and Andoemailing activity is confined to the esoteric political anoraks of our institution, but I, for one, am proud to own an anorak. Significantly, I will try very hard to avoid the ubiquitous four-letter word that has been bandied around a lot this week. This term does not do justice for those who have put countless hours in throughout the past month to contribute to someone they believe in.

In fact, I would go as far to say that those who criticise

student politics do so for one of three reasons. Firstly, they may be above the whole thing, and I can accept that this may be the case for all PhD students. Secondly, they may

“There’s no doubt that the eccentric t-shirt-and-trainwearing, leafleting, banner-holding, spamming and Ando-emailing activity is confined to the esoteric political anoraks.” study the dismal science, economics. And thirdly, they may have loved to be able to run for a position, but they weren’t able to mobilise enough friends to put up a good fight.

I don’t intend to come across like an arrogant, egotistical arse, although that plea will probably fall on deaf

ears for many, but after being involved in the campaign team of one of the General Secretary candidates this year, it has been truly enlightening.

Not only do you need over 700 votes to even stand a chance of winning, you need a team of at least 40 people who are willing to give up their entire week to fight your corner, for no personal gain.

Being popular won’t necessarily win you an election, but being unpopular can certainly lose you one, and for those who feel they are too cool to even make eye contact with the campaigners on campus this week, it could be the case that you’re not cool enough. And no doubt, I won’t fear any cyberbacklash after submitting this article because, chances are,

you probably think you’re too cool to read this newspaper as well.

All in all, it’s been a rather peculiar week at the LSE, and despite having had a lot of fun along the way, I’m delighted it’s all over; especially as it means Tom Meaden will stop telling me to “unleash hell” onto Houghton Street. I have every confidence that the newly elected sabbatical team will thrive in their respective roles and I have the utmost respect for all those elected into positions on Thursday evening.

Interestingly, at a society event last week, a fellow student asked me why I would ever want to go into politics, and whether it was for power or because I wanted to change things. I quickly replied, ‘of course it’s the power, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to change things’. For that very reason, I commend all those who gave up their time over the last couple of weeks in an attempt to gain power within the union of this fine institution, because now they can get on and change things.

Getting To Grips With Student Politics

A first year student reflects on their initiation into the hack world Tooba Mushtaq

Studying Government at a university with the most politically active students’ union in the UK, naturally meant that I was amongst a small clique of first year students, who were actively involved, in one way or another, in the LSESU Lent Term elections 2014. I believe that the Lent term elections are far more important than Michaelmas Term elections in terms of the positions candidates stand for, but also because most international students, like me, were struggling the “newness” of the city and university life at that time last year.

“My enlightenment as too what these elections actually entailed came on Thursday 27 February..”

My enlightenment as to what these elections actually entailed, came on Thursday 27 February, a week before election results were to be announced, in the Candidates Briefing. I personally felt that the rules and procedures, so lucidly explained by the returning officer, were

enough to ensure a free and fair democratic election, although I was surprised to find one of the candidates standing for Gen Sec position, who had apparently violated some of those rules by starting his campaign early, was still allowed to stand up in the elections. It was just the start of a long string of revelations that awaited me.

The first four days of the next week saw myriad colours, posters, banners, t-shirts, bands, and badges. The level of innovation in campaign videos and slogans was commendable. However, going through the campaign coverage, the society hustings, Loose TV interviews, the indistinguishable Facebook pages of candidates running for the same positions, and most importantly, their manifestos, made me realize that candidates competing against each other , were actually not very different from each other in terms of problems they highlighted and solutions they offered. Furthermore, solutions like “will work to make SU more representative of its diverse student body,” or “work to improve accessibility of sport facilities on campus,” were so vague and repetitive that they they make Model UN resolutions look like PhD theses. All these solutions are proposed every year by candidates.

The question is then, if there was overlapping and rhetoric in most of the candidate’s manifestoes, on what basis, was the diverse LSE student body voting?

First of all, the voter’s turnout was nearly 3000, which is decent but not good enough given the elevated political climate on Houghton Street. Secondly, based on my observations, I could see voter’s voting on three broad, not entirely distinct grounds. One base was to vote for a friend, blindly and with sincerity. I don’t find that wrong, as the manifestos were so vague that the only way to distinguish one candidate from another was to be able to know them personally. The second base was to vote for whoever your favourite society endorsed. This was particularly true for societies like ISoc and other religious and ethnic societies. The third base was to vote based upon what you have heard from other people, what you have read in candidate’s manifestoes or whose slogan or poster picture you found most interesting. While almost all voters used all three criterions to vote for a variety of positions, there were some who never realized what was happening and on the last minute, ended up voting for someone at random.

Given the whole fiasco around the elections, I person-

ally felt that people who were out of the “inner circle” of students, were better off since they didn’t get to realize the deep rooted realities and loopholes in these “democratic” elections. These elections had far more politics involved than what meets the eye. How many societies endorsed candidates and why were there hardly any international and/or non-EU winners emerging on Thursday 6 March, on results night, are some questions raised by some student, apparently each year.

The analysis and conclusions put forward by the third discussion group of the BME project are worth mentioning here. Whilst agreeing with all the positive outcomes that these elections contribute towards, like raising awareness on issues faced by us and coming up with some form of framework under which these issues are to be tackled with, I heartily believe that some there is a need to address the issue of why some international students, who work just as hard in societies etc., are not winning. I personally believe that there is some engrained cultural thing where home students are truly more affiliated with the whole election process, or can easily slip into and be endorsed by the wider LSE community.

This leads us to the “inner

circle” question. Yes , there exists a cabal of students on our campus, composed of some society heads, media group people, core SU well-wishers and their equally well-acquainted friends and thus, campaigners, who can bring about a successful campaign and ensure their candidate gets the job. As to why BME students fail to be a part of, or have influence on, this “inner circle,” is a question as yet left unanswered.

This leads me to a sad conclusion that the “democratic” elections, I felt proud to be a part of, were, albeit not entirely, a popularity contest. But then again, this is the inevitable reality we see around us in the form of our own country’s district and national level elections, with LSE elections just being a microcosm of the wider world. To end things on a lighter note, I agree with Ben Philips’ article last week that winning candidates should focus on small problems, like those of stubborn library printers, so that something actually gets done. There is a widelyaccepted convention that these elected Sabbs have no power but only influence, through the committees they sit on at LSE with high profile academics. If minor problems were discussed in these committees, this influence could surely be amplified.

Tuesday March 11, 2014

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Opinion

An Apartheid Week On Campus

Why Jewish and Israeli students feel particularly threatened by Israeli Apartheid Week

Jessica Miron Israel Apartheid week is part of a wider campaign promoting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the State of Israel. It promotes a view that the State of Israel is an Apartheid state and adopts confrontational and aggressive tactics to promote its message. In February this year, Britain’s Supreme Court upheld criminal convictions against four BDS demonstrators who chained themselves to the storefront of an Israeli company in London, ultimately causing it to close and in France a similar BDS campaign resulted in the conviction of twenty BDS campaigners for hate crimes.

The confrontational and on occasion offensive tactics adopted by this campaign make for a stressful week for Israeli and Jewish students on campus. It seems that this is not about dialogue or debate but in fact, about who can shout the loudest.

The fear amongst Jewish students is that some of the underlying intentions of this campaign have nothing to do with freedom for the Palestinian people or the establishment of a just solution to the Middle East conflict.

Most of the Jews I speak to believe in a two state solution – A state for the Palestinians living alongside a Jewish state in peace, justice and mutual prosperity. The deep suspicion is that this campaign does not simply want the withdrawal of Israel from the Occupied Ter-

ritories on the West bank of the Jordan River, and that in reality it seeks the establishment of a Palestinian state at the expense of a Jewish state – what is termed a one state solution. One only has to look at what has happened in Syria or previously in Lebanon, to see what inter-ethnic coexistence in the Middle East means. The result would be a bloodbath.

“The fear amongst Jewish students is that some of the underlying intentions of this campaign have nothing to do with freedom for the Palestinian people of the establishment of a just solution to the Middle East problem.”

The BDS campaign is careful not to actually say it is in favour of a one state solution. It does not say it is in favour of a two state solution either. However, BDS and Israel Anti-Apartheid demonstrators frequently chant “from the River to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This is undoubtedly the language of a one state solution and refers not simply to the occu-

pied territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River, but also the whole of the State of Israel, which sits between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea. This chant is not an invention of the BDS campaign, it predates the existence of the campaign and has been used for many years by Hamas and other extremists, who frequently exhort their followers to rid Palestine of all Jews from the “River to the Sea and from the north to the south.” The Hamas Charter makes their views on Jews perfectly clear, calling for Jews to be killed and recycling the old antiSemitic libel of a World Jewish Conspiracy. It is not only British Jews who think this promotes an exterminationist agenda. For many Israelis more than 50% of whom came to Israel as refugees from Arab countries to escape persecution, it is deeply insulting and menacing. If they could not live at peace in Arab countries and had to leave due to persecution, they are in little doubt what a one state solution with a nonJewish majority would mean.

Lest one forget, during the time of the British Mandate of Palestine prior to the State of Israel, in the 1930’s, the British Peel commission considered a one state solution where people of all faiths could live together and concluded that this was unworkable and the two sides could not live in peace. Consequently, the only solution was partition into two states.

This recognised the legiti-

mate rights of both Jews and non-Jews to self-determination.

This ultimately led to the formation of the State of Israel, but since the Arab world was not willing to agree this or recognise that Jews had any historical claim on any part of the land or a right to self-determination, there has been war ever since. As for the Palestinians who became refugees as a result of the first Arab – Israeli war in 1948, they have languished in a “stateless nomans-land,” some in refugee camps and many settled under occupation on the West Bank. Yet in 2000, at the Camp David Summit the PLO was offered 98% of the occupied territories it was demanding, including a share of Jerusalem. Rather than return to the negotiating table, Arafat chose Intifada. Apparently he wanted the destruction of the Israeli State more than he wanted a Palestinian State.

It has made the job of moderate Israelis much harder as well. Virtually all Israelis and certainly Jews in the diaspora want a just peace, however with the rejection of a reasonable offer such as that made at the Camp David Summit in 2000 and the continued terrorist attacks and calls for the destruction of Israel, public opinion in Israel has become polarised and hard-line. This is exactly what the extremists want. It feeds a destructive fervour amongst zealots on both sides that seem to

crave conflict. Of course the way forward is dialogue, or as Churchill put it “jaw jaw,

“Jews and Israelis on campus feel a sense of relief that Israeli Apartheid Week has now passed.” not war war.” War has an inexorable logic that is hard to break. It continues in a spiral until one or other side is exhausted or destroyed. This is a spiral that pre-dates the State of Israel. It stretches back over a hundered years and on both sides peoples’ lives have been shattered.

Jews and Israelis on campus feel a sense of relief that Israel Apartheid week has now passed. The calls of “from the river to the sea” which came from the campaign stall this week are still ringing in our ears and many of us sincerely hope that these were borne out of ignorance of its meaning, rather than a real commitment to a one state solution.

We hope for dialogue and understanding on both sides and for a peaceful resolution to a century old conflict that still rages.

The LSESU Palestinian Society were approached by Opinion to provide a response. At the time of publishing none had been received.

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Tuesday March 11, 2014

Opinion

My Journey To Liberation Why wearing the hijab is an expression of myself

Fathia Begum

To many, the hijab has become a distorted image of oppression and female subordination by a “misogynistic religion.” I have often been bombarded with the same questions as to why I decided to cover my hair with a piece of cloth? Why should I feel the need to cover myself? Surely this is oppression?

I started wearing the hijab two years ago. However, before I decided to embark on this journey and make this commitment, I myself was very skeptical about the act of covering of my hair. To me, it was like removing my individuality. I mean, why should I have to prove and advertise the level of my faith? I should be free to practice my faith the way I chose to do so.

The purpose of the hijab

Photo credit: Facebook: LSE Hijab Day 2014

LSE Peer Support Project 2014-15 LSE is looking for undergraduate or graduate students, including PhD students, who are interested in becoming Peer Supporters. In this voluntary role you will receive 30 hours of training from the LSE Student Counselling Service in listening, questioning and responding skills, plus fortnightly supervision and more on-going training. These skills will enable you to provide emotional support to other students through the Peer Support Project.

Previous Peer Supporters who have completed the Peer Support training said they gained a tremendous amount from it. In addition to meeting regularly and developing close bonds with others who attend the training, Peer Supporters find that they gain an increased ability to listen and respond supportively in all walks of life. Becoming a Peer Supporter offers transferable skills in listening, communicating and relating to others, as well as enhanced learning about yourself

is to guide your chastity and modesty, but I felt I had gathered a stronger feeling of identity and belonging without it. In a society in which you are constantly judged on your appearance, I was very cautious over this fact. However, I wanted to be judged. I wanted to be judged, but not for my appearance. I want to be judged for my beliefs and my faith. I would rather be judged on the character of

my being than the new hairstyle I decided to appropriate.

Before putting on the hijab I had many anxieties, mostly due to the response that I thought I would receive from friends and people I worked with. Did I really want to wear my religion on my sleeve, or on my head for that matter? Would I be treated differently?

How would this decision affect my chances of getting a good job?

When I took a deeper look into my concerns, however, I realised that these issues were only a reflection of my own insecurities. Indeed, unfortunately and inevitably, prejudice exists. But it was up to me to change this. It was up to me to show that women do not have to worry about the way they look but rather focus on the substance of their hearts and minds.

As a deep believer in the need for women’s emancipation, the liberation and the plight of justice and equality for women, I may appear to be a great oxymoron. For, how can one wear such an “oppressive piece of clothing” and yet still be fighting for the equal treatment of the female gender? But this is my way of expressing my individuality, my absolute choice, and myself.

It is a collective endeavour and it has brought about a sense of belonging. This is my identity, and although I do identify myself as a British citizen, that should not mean I have to give up my sense of belonging to Islam. For me, observing Hijab has been a journey to find out who and what I am truly about, and I proudly admit it has been a

within inter-personal and organisational settings.

Being a Peer Supporter is widely recognised as enhancing CV’s, with increased emotional intelligence and social capital.

One of the benefits of undertaking the Peer Support Project training is the possibility of an offer of accommodation within one of six LSE residences for 2014-15: Bankside House, Carr-Saunders Hall, High Holborn, Northumberland House, Passfield Hall or Rosebery Hall. Offers of accommodation will be made after students have attended and successfully completed the training.

Training This will consist of 6 training days to be delivered at the end of June/beginning of July in Summer Term, as part of Maximise Your Potential. Please note: the training will not equip you to become a counsellor; Peer Support is intended to be an approachable, informal and supportive resource for students.

very liberating experience.

It was not easy, and I have even met with sniggers and glares after making my decision, but this has allowed me to see the realities of our society, and this fixation that so many people have on our

“I am proud to wear the hijab for my religion and for myself. It is not something that stands for itself - it is a package.

It compliments my mannerisms, my ettiquette, my behaviour.” materialistic and cosmopolitan look. But I was mostly glad when people questioned me; I wanted them to know why I wear it and not why they think I wear it. It is not a symbol of patriarchy but rather a symbol of choice, a choice that I have made alone, and a choice that has made me feel safe and comfortable.

The hijab is a symbol of empowerment, not oppression. The headscarf may be banned in French schools and the subject of workplace discrimination, but I am proud to wear the hijab for my religion and for myself. It is not something that stands for itself – it is a package.

It compliments my mannerisms, my etiquette, my behaviour – the hijab is just one component of my characteristics as a Muslim woman.

Peer Support Supervision & On-Going Training On completion of their training, Peer Supporters will be organised into supervision groups. These fortnightly meetings are facilitated by a counsellor, where Peer Supporters can discuss issues arising through the support they provide to others. We will be holding an information session with lunch provided on Wednesday 19th March at 1pm. Some of the current Peer Supporters will be attending so you can ask them any questions you want.

Selection Process There is further information on the Peer Support page on the Student Counselling Service website.

If you are interested in becoming a Peer Supporter please download the application form from the website or request an application form from student.counselling@lse.ac.uk. Closing date: Wednesday 30th April 2014. http://www.facebook.com/LsePeerSupport

Tuesday March 11, 2014

the

12

Beaver

Opinion

Welfare For The Well-Off

Why the rich are more dependent on the government than the poor Louise Busson

Our view on the ‘welfare system’ is warped. We think that it takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor. We are told that the poorest in society are the most dependent on government hand-outs.

And so, when times are hard, we are cultured into thinking that socialism is a surplus gift to the bottom of society.

This is a delusion. We are fed this rhetoric to keep our eyes away from the ‘other’ welfare system, the one which is less visible; the one which is taking more money from the taxpayer, and which is lavishing the hands of the wealthy with cash.

“Our view of the ‘welfare system’ is warped. We think that it takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor.

This is a delusion.”

The difference between our perceptions and the reality is significant. When asked by the TUC, on average, people thought that 41% of the social security budget went to benefits for the unemployed when the real figure is just 3%. Respondents also thought that 27% was claimed fraudulently – the true figure is 0.7%. In our distorted culture, it is this mere 3% and 0.7% which is

endlessly debated, vilified on the front-page of our tabloids.

There is a need for a bit of perspective. It is time to look at the welfare system of the other half.

The bailout of the banks, like the £1.4 billion of taxpayers’ money that went to Northern Rock, is just the tip of this elusive iceberg. This was the product of a rare moment in which we got a glimpse into what it meant to be a ‘private’ corporation in our current society: lucrative private profits propped up by the taxpayer.

But this all goes much deeper than just the banks.

Whilst we have privatised rail and energy, we continue to pay opulent subsidies to the private companies running them now. Network Rail’s profits doubled in 2012, whilst its fares continue to rise above inflation year on year. All the while, train firms are receiving £4 billion in subsidies. For what? For a ‘service’ which is now more substandard and more expensive than before its so-called ‘privatisation.’

The energy industry is no better. ‘Private’ gas and oil companies were subsidised to the tune of £3.6 billion in 2010, whilst renewable energy projects received just a third of that. As the poorest of society struggle to pay their rail fares and energy bills, the government is saturating the pockets of these grand corporations.

Then there is the matter of tax. The UK Corporation Tax in 1984 was 52%. It is now just

TheEconomicHistorySocietyJournal2014 The Economic History Society is in the process of collecting items for its Student Journal and is hoping that LSE students will aim to uncover topics of economic and social importance something like these: • When considering the economic impact of the ‘Fatman’ and ‘Little Boy’, the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Japan, on Japanese economic geography, I find it fair to say that there was none.

For that matter I would like to suggest that none of the bombs dropped on Japan during World War Two had any long run effects to Japan’s economic character.

• The form of agriculture traditionally practiced—plough agriculture versus hoe agriculture—affected historic norms and preferences about fertility, and these norms persist, affecting fertil-

20%, the same as the basic income tax for the lowest-earning members of society. This alone would be frustrating.

What makes this disapproval more severe is that only one in four of the UK’s top companies pay their taxes. Such avoidance is stripping us of almost £70 billion every year, a substantial slice more than the mere 0.7% of welfare lost in matters of fraudulence.

Perhaps it would be justified to call these government payouts and tax evasions exceptions to the private sector.

After all, this is still free-market capitalism isn’t it? The answer simply, is no. The biggest corporations across the board are further dependent upon this welfare system, and this comes in the way of wages.

When supermarkets and fastfood outlets pay their staff the minimum pay, the reality is that this £6.31 is not a living wage. It must be supplemented by benefits from the government – which ultimately means the taxpayer is topping up the wages of the employees of profiting companies.

The simple truth is that these are state-subsidized industries, dependent upon government hand-outs for survival – and profit. Our economics are skewed: whilst the poorest grapple with capitalism, the richest are coddled by hidden socialism.

Perhaps we could easily come to blame the big corporate companies, and slander them just as we have the poor. But it isn’t that easy. The

government hand-outs come to our doors as well. In 1999, the US government spent $24 billion on public housing and rental subsidies for the poor.

In the same year it spent $72 billion in home ownership subsidies for the middle class.

The middle class sit in large homes discounted by the government, whilst they ridicule those placed in council housing. Where did this category mistake come from? When did the rich decide they were more worthy? In part we must blame ourselves. It is a moral and psychological mistake: we want to join the club of the rich, so we do not want to hurt them. We do not wish to be poor – and think we never will be – so it is easy to scorn them. But in part it is the doing of the government and the media. The pay-outs to the wealthy are masked, com-

plicated or indirect – whilst the pay-outs to the poor are shouted about, as we are fed the propaganda sludge like ‘Benefits Street’.

The problems of the welfare system may exist, both ideologically and practically.

But the truth is that it receives disproportionate scrutiny and reaction. The government favours the richest, and helps the richest. What it does give to the poorest is constantly scrutinized, demonized and tightened. In the recession we were given a choice: whether money should be cut for the old people’s homes or the free school meals. This was grossly unethical. Although hand-outs to the poor can have their flaws, it is preferable to put bread on their table, rather than shower already rich corporations with government cash.

Photo credit: Flickr: The Prime Minister’s Office

ity and female labour force participation around the world today. To explain: societies that were located on-land and primarily suited for the plough saw lower labour force participation and a preference for fewer children than those with hoes as ploughs needed the strength of men and so the domestic space became the domain of women.

• After the expulsion of the Asians in Uganda in 1972, the manufacturing industry collapsed. Expertise disappeared, plants were no longer maintained, creditworthiness and business contacts disappeared, and the failure to train Ugandans took its toll. Output, by 1979, was 40 percent of what it had been eight years earlier.

These are just some of the facts and insights uncovered by academics studying the history of our economies. From warheads to ploughshares, the way our ancestors have acted influence the choices and problems presented to our genera-

tion. History matters. And the history of our economies, matters just as much in shaping our lives as any other aspect that is studied. This is why the students of LSE have set up their own Society dedicated to discussing economic history.

The Economic History Society is pleased to announce a repeat of our Student Journal. We are looking for contributions from all those interested in topics of economic and social history (loosely defined). We are hoping for essays of up to 3000 words and articles of up to 500 words. The journal shall be posted online at http://lsesueconomichistory. co.uk alongside last year’s edition. The submission deadline is Midnight Sunday 2nd March 2014. Those articles deemed best suited and most relevant will be included in the publication.

We hope to receive your great submissions at lsesueconomichistory@gmail. com.

The Beaver 09.10.2012

PartB

Photo: Alexander Fyfe

11.03.2014 PartB

14

TECHNOLOGY

SOURCOOKIES

She used the tale to stress that commercial uses of data needs be more closely monitored and that privacy needs to become a greater priority for individuals and policymakers.

Ms. Cooper admitted that she was aware that there might have been ‘some cookie buttons to protect [her] privacy’ (aka browser settings) but that like most of ‘us’ she thought it was far too much hassle to press them. Of course, after the pantie advert attack, she paraded the ‘cookie buttons’ and other privacy safeguards as key focuses for policy reform.

Her speech highlighted two important points; firstly, that the average Internet user doesn’t think cookies are worth their time. A quick Twitter search for ‘computer cookies’ brings up gems like “My computer lost weight. Got rid of cookies” or “Cookies on your computer get crumbs all over the keys”- neither of which show particular consideration for potential violations of personal data.

selves from unsolicited marketers.

and browsing habits of the device. At present, the Data Protection Act and the E-Privacy Directive govern the use of cookies in the UK. These provide a fairly comprehensive regime but rely too heavily on the notion of consent to ensure that individuals get the level of protection they want or need.

This situation is significantly different in other European countries. In the Netherlands, for example, users have to actively consent to the use of cookies that collect any type of data. The cookie dispensers, be they the website visited or a third party that placed cookies on the website, have the burden of proving that they obtained consent to track the users.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) stipulates that users must be notified of the presence of cookies on any website and must be given enough information to intelligibly consent to their

Cookies aren’t necessarily bad things, they enable companies to collect data that can be used to improve services and spur innovation within e-commerce markets. The obscure side is that there are various companies placing cookies on each websites; users don't usually know who is collecting the data, who they are selling the data to, how securely the data is being stored and how likely it is to fall in the hands of fraudsters and identity thieves.

The Shadow Home Secretary was "Bombarded with lingerie adverts"

With the number of cookies circulating, most marketers are able to create profiles for individual users that include personal details like name, address, date of birth, mobile operator and utility contracts.

Fake identities can easily be created with this information. One way the thieves have done this in the past is by calling a utility company used by the victim, then registering a change of address, then having a bill sent to the fake address and, finally, using this bill as proof of address to open a bank account under the victims name.

use. However, cookies are set on the user's computer as soon as he or she visits a site, not at the moment at which he or she acknowledges that they are being used. Therefore, internet surfers are subject to an opt-out protection mechanism where they have the responsibility to shield them-

Identity theft is one of the few crimes that has risen exponentially over the past decade. The American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just released figures showing that it was the number one source of customer complaints in 2013.

Similarly, the UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS released figures indicating

Secondly, that the current privacy safeguards need to be revisited.

Cookies are small text files that set on a user’s computer when they browse the Internet and can track both location

Photo: Muppets Copyright

F

acebook just bought WhatsApp, the mobile messenging service, for $19 billion.

It is the largest ever acquisition of a tech startup. By comparison, that price tag is more than 1/3 of the $45 billion price that Comcast, a major US cable company, recently paid for Time Warner Cable, a competitor with a massive electronic, customer service, and business infrastructure.

WhatsApp is a simple app with just a few employees and a host of computer servers. So why on earth was Facebook paying for?

Let's first put these numbers in just a bit of context. WhatsApp has 450 million users.

At 1 dollar per user per year, which is how much WhatsApp currently charges, it would take Facebook 42 years to pay off the sticker price, and that's without beginning to consider all the discounting effects of future income. Even if every person on earth got a smart phone and downloaded WhatsApp, it would still take Facebook about 3 years to recoup their investment.

There must be something more going on. Mark Zuckerberg has already said he doesn't intend to put ads on WhatsApp, and it's hard to see some other business model emerging that

generates orders of more income than the $1 per user right now. One influential tech blogger argued that Facebook is really after WhatsApp's photo sharing, a segment it now leads with 500 million images processed per day. Others point to Facebook's seemingly continuous need to bolster it's mobile presence, which it has struggled to cope with for some time now.

The reality, however, is likely far more nuanced. Sure, Facebook was paying for access to photos, and sure the acquisition gives them instant access to an excellent mobile platform. But more importantly, it prevents a major competitor like Google from making the purchase themselves. If Google were to establish a "beachhead" in mobile, the cost to Facebook's market share could be massive. Facebook is still the king of communication both in reality and in society's conscious. The cost to Facebook of losing that monopoly could make $16 billion look like chump change. While the odds might be low, the stakes are extremely high. And that makes something worth paying for.

MICHAEL GALLO

Photo: Whatsapp

L

ast week at the Demos event in central London, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed that she was “bombard[ed] with lingerie adverts” after trying to buy some underwear online. Apparently, while searching for the perfect knickers, Ms. Cooper was feeding her shopping habits to all the third parties whose cookies she had encountered since she last cleared her browser’s history.

These companies profiled her as a pantie-type and targeted her ads accordingly.

WHATSUPP

that in 2013 identity theft was a component in over 60% of all fraud cases.

Victims of identity theft have reported it to be an extremely distressing experience with serious impacts on their lives and emotional health. Many psychologists also claim that it can have lasting repercussion on a person’s mental health and their ability to function in a society that relies heavily on trust.

It is true that cookies aren’t necessarily responsible for the majority of identity theft cases.

Fraudsters can obtain victim’s data through countless other means. However, barring cookies from dubious third parties that may compromise our personal data seems like a reasonable precaution to take.

Most browser settings have an option that shields from cookies by ‘third parties’ and ‘advertisers’ but allows cookies from the website that the user is visiting. Selecting this option is a good way of enabling e-commerce innovation while largely safeguarding your personal information.

GILLIAN CAFIERO

PARTB EDITORIAL TEAM PARTB

DEPUTIES

FASHION

FILM

Alexander Fyfe

Vicky Hui

Jodie Momodu

Koko Owusu

fashion@thebeaveronline.co.uk

film@thebeaveronline.co.uk

partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Alexandra Lulache partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

FOOD

LITERATURE

MUSIC

TECHNOLOGY

THEATRE

VISUAL ARTS

Neraj Thangarajah Dorothy Wong

Jennifer Ruther

Tom Barnes

Michelle Warbis

literature@thebeaveronline.co.uk

music@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Gillian Cafiero Michael Gallo

Jade Jackman Maryam Akram

food@thebeaveronline.co.uk

techonology@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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visualarts@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The Beaver 11.03.2014

15

LITERATURE

The Baby Boomers on Trial G enerations went head-tohead on Friday at LSE's literary festival. The mock trial, held in a packed-out Sheikh Zayed theatre, saw the Baby Boomers (born 1946-65) stand accused of destroying the environment and wrecking the financial stability of Generations X (1966-76) and Y (1977-94). The requested remedy? Confiscation of Baby Boomer pensions and reinvestment in climate change initiatives, social justice, and the offsetting of national debt. Professor Conor Gearty chaired the event, with Richard Hermer QC presenting the prosecution and Baby Boomer Richard Gordon QC defending.

Professor Judith Rees presided as judge.

The evening kicked off with a vigorous opening statement

by Richard Hermer QC for the prosecution - the Baby Boomer

post-war generation have benefited from the sacrifices of the generation before them whilst using up resources to the detriment of Generations X and Y. Calling on expert witness Bob Ward, of LSE's Grantham Research Institute, the prosecution raised the vital issue of climate change. The Baby Boomers, now heads of industry and government, have failed to reduce carbon emissions and halt rising temperatures, contravening numerous UN treaties, and jeopardising the wellbeing of future generations.

Photos: Flickr, Nestre' and Wikipedia CC Liscence

But it was author Shiv Malik, the prosecution's second expert witness, who struck a chord with the X and Y-ers in the audience. Whilst the Baby Boomers benefited from free university education, support grants, a healthy job market, and affordable housing, many members of Generations X and Y in the audience are forking out upwards of £9,000 a year on tuition fees, facing sky-rocketing rent, an increasingly competitive job market, and a dreaded string of unpaid in-

ternships. The prosecution laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Baby Boomers who, they argued, had failed to replenish social housing in the wake of Thatcher's right-to-

far more opportunities for her than it had done for her mother. Whilst convincing, Bandiera may have lost some of her audience with the assertion that "everyone can afford to

buy scheme, and whose unbridled capitalist enthusiasm has hampered graduate job opportunities in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

buy a four bedroom flat in Leytonstone". With an LSE graduate's average starting salary standing at £28,000 and a four bed in Leytonstone coming in at over £500,000, not to mention the almost impossible task of amassing a deposit whilst living and working in the capital, this comment met with the derisive laughter it deserved.

In a slick riposte Richard Gordon QC, presenting the defence, pointed out that the Baby Boomers themselves first made the world aware of climate change and set up countless NGOs and charities to tackle it (including the Grantham Research Institute). Journalist Emma Soames, the first expert witness for the defence, maintained that the Baby Boomers had been passionate crusaders for peace and justice, and made vast improvements to the impoverished war-torn world they inherited.

Professor Oriana Bandiera, second witness for the defence, continued this theme, arguing that the world held

POETRY CORNER Vladmir Poutine, Wish & Lips

London School of Economics and Political Science fair Price is Right of Return of the King and I, Robot Chicken dinner for two of Diamonds are Forever Young Victoria's ‘Secret Agent Man’ Utd Nations Security Council Tax Russian ‘Revolution No. 9’ Inch Nails on a chalk-’board of directors appoints new chief financial officer’ of the British Empire of the Sun King to C-4 plastic ‘explosive political climate’ of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas odds and ends of the Earth's eco-systems of ‘Power’ by Kanye West-ern Ukrainian People's Republic ‘At the end of the day’ of Thanks-'giving to the poor and widows' in India-n reservations for dinner jacket Potato Famine of 1932-3 -in-One Direction ‘and advice on my thesis’ statement of purpose in Life, the Universe & Everything is ‘gonna be fine’ wine tasting courses in London.

By Nathan Stringer

Aspiring Poet? Contribute to PartB's Poetry Corner!

Email partb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

After some impassioned closing remarks from both sides the jury filed out to deliberate and left the audience to a Q and A session complete with video web-link to the jury room. Enthusiasm was high and despite the verbal sparring the mood was jovial - one woman heckling was found to be in contempt of court and silenced

by Professor Gearty in his role as officious court clerk. There were some encouraging Generation Z voices joining in to voice their concerns alongside

academics from various London universities, LSE students, and representatives of the Intergenerational Foundation.

With such a diverse age range and with both sides arguing forcefully, the audience vote was tight. Before the jury filed back in to deliver their verdict, an online audience poll was conducted and beamed onto a screen behind the stage. The result? Not guilty, by a slim 51% to 49%. The jury was less divided (though not unanimous) in their agreement with the audience vote.

As the inter-generational squabbling continued into the foyer over wine and nibbles, it was clear that one argument from the defence struck home.

Can we really condemn an entire age cohort for actions arguably taken by a handful of politicians and businesspeople? Can we condemn our parents for voting for policies and people that didn't live up to their expectations? Climate change and social justice are ongoing concerns. How will our generation tackle them?

We will need to use all our resourcefulness and ingenuity, and hold our politicians to high account, if we want to avoid similar charges levelled

by Generation Z. In forty years time, what accusations will the charge sheet hold for Generations X and Y? LILY KENDALL

11.03.2014 PartB

16

VISUAL ARTS

KATHRYN PRESCOTT x WHAT MAKES US CARE

L

ondon born actress Kathryn Prescott is best known for her role in SKINS, as the loveable character of Emily Fitch. However, what most people do not know is that she is also an accom-

plished photographer. After a long string of emails, BIAS PROJECT got to catch up with Kat about her debut exhibition entitled ‘What makes us care?’. The exhibition is dedicated to raising awareness for the rising homeless population in London and features a selection of well-known actors and actresses. Whilst the filming for her latest on screen appearance goes on, I got to chat with Kat about the motivation behind her work, the other issues that emanate out of it, her plans for the future and the joys of tripping out on back pain medication…

My first glimpse of Kat was actually of her pyjamas... Despite being ill, she dutifully logged onto Skype with me anyway to discuss her first big photography project. This immediately assured me that her desire to help came from the 'right place' rather than as an attempt to keep herself in the limelight. At first, we laughed and joked about the destabilising side effects of prescription drugs and then moved onto a more substantive topic.

How would you describe your exhibition for those who haven’t seen it?

The best way to describe it would be to tell you why I decided to do it! I was walking past Camden tube station with a friend. He noticed a young man attempting to sleep outside and instead of just walking past he went over and engaged him in conversation.

Upon his return, I asked him about it. My friend told me that he recognised him from somewhere: the other man had previously been a friend of some of his own friends. Rather than ignoring him, as so often hap-

pens, that sense of recognition and connection compelled my friend to interact with him.

Of course, the exhibition is centred around the issue of homelessness but is also aims to question why we stop for

certain people and not for others. So, to summarise, the exhibition has a dual purpose; firstly, it aims to raise awareness about homelessness; and secondly, it questions where that very human emotion of empathy comes from.

What made you interested in the issue of homelessness in the first place?

The Big Issue! I’d always wanted to do some work with them.

The charity, Centre Point, who helped me out with the exhibition were also very influential.

Truthfully though, it is a massive problem in London. You cannot really ignore it as it is all around us. I came to realise that homelessness is often heavily misunderstood. It is also an issue that people are generally conflicted about.

I mean people don’t know whether to give people on the street money or whether they should even engage with them!

How did you come to choose the name ‘what makes us care’?

From my own experiences, I realised that people pay so much attention to celebrities. After my part in SKINS, people who I had never seen before would come up to me on the street and ask me how I was doing.

Of course, sometimes that was really nice… But, I didn’t need random acts of kindness or people just checking up on me. Whilst preparing for my project, I spoke to a lot of individuals who had experienced homelessness themselves. It was overwhelming how many people said that the worst thing was being ignored, they said that they acutely felt the lack of human conversation.

From this, I began to wonder

why people would choose to speak to me even though they didn’t know me at all and often would not speak to people who really needed the comfort of human contact. After that, the name came pretty much natu-

rally as I often found myself wondering why people cared so much to ask about me! kathryn prescott what makes us care.

Did you find using actors problematic, in terms of them becoming representations of the homeless population?

Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I was really worried about that…

Dressing people up to ‘look homeless’ doesn’t sound very nice! Quite a few people said to me after the exhibition that they were surprised that people ‘didn’t look more messed

up’ and ‘not everyone looked really homeless’ - that was really weird. It showed me how people have a very fixed image in their head of what a homeless person looks like. I had been very careful to seek advice from the Big Issue Foundation and Centrepoint before shooting. Rather than criticising me, they actually complimented me on not feeding into these stereotypes…! I was also lucky to have an amazing and very respectful makeup artist and I made sure that everyone involved understood the aims of the project. However, using actors does have benefits.

At large, the homeless population are very vulnerable; many of them have low self-esteem and wouldn’t want their photo taken. Secondly, I would have hated feeling like I was exploiting people or fetishizing them. And, of course, it was necessary to use actors and actresses to try and re-create that sense of recognition from my audience. For me, it was very important to try and create a sense of personality to demonstrate how important it is to see everyone as an individual and a person. In an ideal world, I would have created the exhibition using photos of your own friends and family.

Pragmatically, that just isn't possible. The point was not to dress people up, but to get convey that feeling of recognition. As lots of people watch television using actors was the best option!

Looking back, do you still

think that photography was the best medium to raise awareness for the cause?

Definitely - I often click on articles just because of the picture! Photography is a fantastic way to bring these issues to our attention. Social media has also meant that the speed by which an image can reach people has increased phenomenal amounts. Inherently, I think anyway, people are really visual and can relate a lot more to an image. Facebook and Instagram lets us share thousands and thousands of photos every minute! It isn't even a big deal, it is just part of the way we behave these days. It certainly gives the photograph more power than ever. I am also of the opinion that with a photograph there is less room for interpretation. Photography is much more blatant and I don't think you can argue with it as much.

Any plans for future projects? I promise I won’t publish details…

Ha ha! I want to do something related to mental health.

Through hearing more about addiction, I came to realise that it is a common assumption that people see addiction to substances as personal fault.

This is weaved into a lot of negative preconceptions about mental health which I want to challenge.

JADE JACKMAN

"Dressing people up to ‘look homeless’ doesn’t sound very nice!"

The Beaver 11.03.2014

17

WORLD

Photo: Swing dance society

Why I Love Kicking the Dog!

Tridevi Chakma: My love affair with Swing began when I joined the Swing Dance Society in LSE in the beginning of Michaelmas Term.

Since then, I have completely and irrevocably fallen in love with Swing. In fact some of us from the Swing Dance class loved it so much that we decided to take it a step further. A group of aspiring swing dancers has been training hard since the beginning of Lent term to perform in the LSE Dance Show, Timeless, and the Swing Ball at the end of the term. So why do we love Swing so much? Let’s hear what the troupe has to say…

Verena Liedgens: I love swing because you get to bop and bounce and be silly. Because it cherishes individual styles rather than pushing everyone to conform with what

other people do best already.

Because you get to know people from all walks of life and understand each other without much talking. Because it’s not so hard to get started and people are welcoming to newbies, but once you have started, you just get sucked in and don’t wanna stop. Because as a girl, you get to wear swinging skirts and flowers in your hair. And because everyone seems to be happy when swing dancing – it’s just a happy dance and a jolly good time.

Anson Knausenberger: You thought Harlem Shake was fun? Lindy Hop started in Harlem 87 years ago. I'll let you decide which dance style has lasting power, but I'll place my bet on the one where a girl gets to toss a guy over her shoulder before somersaulting across his back. Not saying

we've gotten to that point with just a few weeks of training, but the fact that dancing to live jazz at a cocktail bar now 'ain't no thang' goes to show the power of learning such a dynamic dance that's just plain fun. It also doesn't matter if you're at least a year or two past your clubbing days; with moves like 'hyper frog', 'kick the dog', 'butt drop', 'airplane bench press', and 'sassy kicks'...what's not to love about Swing?!

Ninni Holmlund: I first experienced swing dancing a few years ago, when two of my friends were - what I thought was - playing around on the dance floor, whilst taking the piss out of ballroom dancing and throwing in hilarious moves. I didn’t realise that an actual DANCE could be that funny, both to the dancers and to a spectator. And true enough, when the leader later taught me the basic steps and swung me around, I was laughing so hard through the entire thing that I actually had a stitch in my side by the end. Since then I’ve been addicted to swing dancing. It is, most simply, an awesome way

to “play around” on the dance floor.

Chima Denzel Ngerem: Describe Swing Dancing: totally awesome. What is Swing Dancing: Probably one of the coolest, jazziest and crowd pleasing dance styles out there.

Why Swing Dancing: It’s easy to pick up. As long as you can walk you’re already there. It’s not too intimate if you’re not comfortable with that, but still very much a partner dance.

Plus, just outrageously fun, the moves, turns and ‘swing-outs’ all seem to blend into one coordinated routine. Final remarks: Impresses easily, easy to learn and so, so, so worth it.

P.s Warning…It’s highly addictive. Once you get into it, it’s hard to stop.

Emanuele Haerens: I have always believed that dancing was not suited for me. I could not bear when my friends dragged me to the disco or group dances. So, I have always avoided dancing, until the day I met swing dance. And, bam! It was love at first sight.

All was so natural. Feelings, emotions and sensations were immediate: pure and thoughtless motion. Everything is spontaneous, instinctive and genuine. That is the reason why I love swing, because it reveals the unfolding of the energy of life. Finally, I could not agree more to the prophet who claims: “and lost be the day to us in which a measure has not been danced”.

Helen Clarke: I love swing dance because it is the perfect remedy to a bad day! It’s pretty difficult to stress about uni work or your job when you’re

being flung around the dance floor to upbeat vintage tunes.

Swing is all about getting likeminded people together to have fun and not take it too seriously. I guarantee that you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who leaves a swing dance class without a big grin plastered to their face. I think the names of the moves tell you everything you need to know… some of the best I’ve heard so far are the “Good Banana” and the “Shim Sham!”

Finally, some wise words from our lovely teacher and choreographer Tom Kerwin: The thought that gets me is that every swing dancer we've ever met wishes they'd started sooner, so if you even have an inkling of a suspicion that you might enjoy partying to some of the greatest music ever written, don't delay!

If you are yet to discover your love for Swing dance, a Swing Ball aimed at people like you might be great place to start!

LSE SU Swing Dance Society, with generous support from the Annual Fund, is organizing the Swing Ball in the grand old Conway Hall on March 20. Our legendary Masters of Swing will teach a free class covering the basics of Charleston and Lindy Hop so that everybody can join in and dance. DJs will spin jumping jazz classics from the 20s – 50s and an extraordinary 18 piece live orchestra will play the most lavish hits from the swing era. Our very own performance group will also show off the result of their month long sweat-drippingyet-super-fun training!

SWING DANCE SOCIETY

11.03.2014 PartB

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FASHION

AW14 Fashion Weeks: The Talking Points Fashion Correspondent Sanya-Jeet Thandi gives us the low down on the talking points from the shows of the past month.

Photo: Fashion catchup

PARIS FASION WEEK Christian Dior OMG there is nothing more chic than Raf Simons at Dior. Going back to his sportswear roots and bringing them to the runway, just as we saw during haute couture week in January is just reinforcing Simons’ vision for the legendary fashion house; a vision of contemporary relevance and youth. Purposeful clashes of pink and red, yellow and black and blue with green added to masculine tailoring and sportswear sums up Dior AW14.

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK Rodarte It is very necessary to focus on Rodarte’s work that was inspired

by Star Wars this season. That sounds absurd, I am fully aware.

Are we talking Princess Leia style revealing swimwear with twisted buns on either side of her head? No. More elegant evening gowns with prints of Luke Skywalker, C3PO and Yoda. Basically these are quite possibly the most awesome and geeky looks this season that British Vogue predicts will garner waiting lists the world over.

LONDON FASHION WEEK Anya Hindmarch This Aw14, accessories stalwart Anya Hindmarch tapped into the commercial world of supermarket shopping. With handbags emblazoned with Tony the Frostie’s cereal tiger and the famous Kellogs cockerel we see inspiration coming from the simplicity of mundane everyday products, similar to the McDonaldisation on the Moschino runway at Milan Fashion Week.

MOSCOW FASION WEEK Moschino Jeremy Scott’s strong ideas about fashion were depicted in his latest collection. Scott reversed right into pop culture as touched on my Britain’s own Anya Hindmarch. He recreated that tonguein-cheek Moschino over the top style with the use of McDonald’s, Spongebob Squarepants and that hipster version of gangster wear that we keep seeing all over the place these days.

LONDON FASHION WEEK Christopher Kane With more ideas than any other designer of the 21st century, Christopher Kane has no choice but to mix it up hugely in this collection. Down the road from LSE at 180 The Strand we see the masculine tailoring that has also been spotted this last week at Dior, contrasted against bright knitwear, patent fabrics and furs and Mongolian linings. Arguable one of his best collections to date there will be something for everyone by Kane.

LONDON FASHION WEEK Erdem Inspired by the construction of couture and the artwork of Velazquez this season we saw an array of noble attire by Erdem resulting in bodices, jacquard dresses and florals by William Kilburn. Erdem’s idea of femininity is always so refreshing. His dresses this season are fit for any women. Couture never looked so chic.

A SELECTION OF OTHER PIECES FROM DIOR, ERDEM, CHRISTOPHER KANE AND ANYA HINDMARCH

The Beaver 11.03.2014

19

THEATRE

I

We Are Proud to Present… 3 Stars

nventive, daring, aesthetic, rhythmical and humorous, yet not entirely satisfying.

We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwest Afrika, Between the Years 1884 – 1915, tells the story of six actors attempting to create a piece of theatre focusing on the first genocide of the 20th century – in South Africa, prior to WWI. The play follows the tense and often agonizingly funny efforts of the actors trying to tell the

story of a little known genocide. The meta-theatrical layer (an inevitable challenge) succeeds partly: Through silliness it allows humour in the rendition of a heavy t o p i c and creates an interesting starting point for sophisticated discussion. However the play ends up only flirting with the deeper questions.

The play begins informally: ‘Black woman’ starts the presentation about the Herero of

to move their bodies; explore emotions and find their characters. Rapidly, this silliness shifts to “prepared” scene with impressive rhythmical narration of the history of Namibia. Throughout, there is a shifting back and forth between these two layers of dialogue, with tense feelings increasing as the play proceeds. The actors start understanding their characters, become familiarised with the events they had never heard of and they start finding ‘reality’.

Inventive, daring, aesthetic, rythmical and humorous Namibia, unprepared. The audience is easily entertained by the silliness of the presentation: Actors not knowing how

The audience becomes the spectator of a struggle in por-

Playwright Jackie Siblies Drury Bush Theatre 1hr30mins Runs until 12 April, 2014 traying inhumanity, but when eventually the actors get there communally, the scenes are tense, credible and rather tough to watch. With minimal props, the actors achieve to create an appropriate atmosphere of aversion towards the

Photo: Bush Theatre

Versailles A s 2014 marks the centenary year of the First World War, it seems entirely fitting that there’s currently a significant increase in interest surrounding the conflict. The BBC’s World War One season is starting to gain traction, with documentaries and dramas either already aired or in the pipeline for the coming months. It’s not only the television that’s seizing the moment: the theatre world is joining in too. Birdsong has embarked on a national tour; Oh! What a Lovely War is playing at Stratford East; The Silver Tassie is coming to the Lyttleton Theatre at the National in April; and War Horse continues to go from strength to strength, recently adding a National Theatre Live performance to its repertoire. World War One is – quite rightly – providing endless source material for theatre, and as a venue noted for its innovation and variety it comes as no surprise that the Donmar Warehouse is exploring this period too, with an examination into the post-war peace process in Peter Gill’s new play, Versailles.

Following the signing of the armistice, life for the Rawlinsons and their friends is slowly returning to as it was before the war. The family’s son, Leonard

3 Stars

Rawlinson, is selected as one of the British delegation sent to Versailles to help draw up the treaty that would define Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world. However, the ghost of a past lover haunts him and Leonard begins to seriously question the choices made in Paris and the effect they will have on millions of people for centuries to come.

With a running time of three hours Versailles is an incredibly long play, almost feeling as though it mirrors the arduous task of drawing up the treaty itself. Luckily however, the production is neatly split into three acts divided by two intervals, beginning in Kent in January 1919, moving to Paris in April and then back to Kent in June. The play is bookended by acts in the Rawlinsons’ lavishly decorated drawing room, and Richard Hudson’s intricately furnished set is a feast for the eyes. There’s no shortage of props from elaborate afternoon tea sets to sewing kits to enormous maps, and the sheer attention to detail makes it a joy to watch. The middle act, following Leonard to Paris, sees the ornate Hotel Astoria, his room transformed into an office to house two delegates for the Peace Conference.

Given the nature of the Peace Conference and the subject matter at hand, it seems obvious that the play would be serious and steeped in history.

However, Versailles is so heavily cloaked in historical facts, figures, and dates that is does unfortunately seem a little like a dramatized lecture at points.

The plot languishes in the overwhelming shadow of the history. In the first act, family friend Geoffrey Ainsworth – a staunch, opinionated Tory – speaks at great length about American President Woodrow Wilson’s ideals of self-determination and a peace based on his Fourteen Points. After a while, the character doesn’t even seem to be forming an argument or advancing the plot, instead merely reciting a narrative of the period. Playwright (and director) Gill has clearly done his homework, and his extensive research shows how literature can be simultaneously enthralling for an audience and historically accurate.

The only problem is that after a while the quest to firmly root the play in a historical context comes at the expense of interesting character development and a more exciting plot.

Versailles does have touching moments in amongst the history, displaying excellent acting. Bright, young civil servant Leonard (Gwilym Lee) is frequently visited by the ghost of his former lover killed during the war – Gerald Chater

REVIEW

(Tom Hughes), a man who appears forever immortalized in his army uniform. These encounters clearly take place in Leonard’s head, and his downward spiral as his anguish grows throughout the play is masterfully executed.

His sister (Tamla Kari) meanwhile contemplates breaking off her engagement to Hugh (Josh O’Connor), and his turn as a man haunted by the trenches but determined to assure everyone he’s “chipper” is brilliant. The mothers at the heart of the scenes in Kent, the bossy Edith Rawlinson (Francesca Annis) and cold Marjorie Chater (Barbara Flynn), play off each other wonderfully, and highlight the generational differences with issues of race and empire.

Helen Bradbury’s Constance Finch has a rousing first act, displaying a woman with a clear command of current affairs and strong opinions concerning war. She’s a modern working woman and it’s a shame that after such a successful first act she’s woefully underused in the rest of the play. One of the most moving performances of the night came from Christopher Goodwin as Arthur Chater – a man who retains a middle class stoicism regarding his son’s death for the majority of the play until

history and leave the audience in shock.

But the second layer is less successful throughout the play.

In the beginning the scenes of dialogue between actors are silly and effectively bring in humour. However the jokes are not particularly smart and become boring rather quickly.

This layer then has to evolve into a forum of sophisticated discussion – The actors pose questions such as: who is most appropriate to tell the story in terms of race, and how do we do just to the survivors of the genocide? Though these trigger the audience’s interest, they fall short of really satisfying anything.

The dialogues are short and generally not unsophisticated.

When ‘another black man’ eventually gets a moment to bring serious content, the scene is quickly shifted away from it. We were allowed to shortly peek at how convincing the individual actors could be, but we did not get more.

Even though this is how the play eventually disappoints it remains also a beautiful, original and charming piece telling a horrifying story in a way that makes it possible to comprehend.

ANNA KOOLSTRA

his façade slips in the most heartbreaking manner. It’s moments like this that thankfully move the play away from the avalanche of statistics and ground it in humanity. Throwing staggering figures of the dead into the text just doesn’t have the same impact as hearing a man weep for his dead son.

Versailles is truly an excellent production. Tackling the Treaty of Versailles was always going to be a difficult task, and Gill has discovered an inventive way to cover it in this beautifully staged and superbly acted piece. However, there’s no denying that it is simply too long and sadly a little dull: a middle class commentary on the post-war period and perceived impossibility of restoring peace in Europe is not enough to sustain an audience’s attention for three hours. Versailles needed more plot and less history, an unfortunately odd concept in a year that is embracing the subject.

EMMA FORTH

Photo: DONMAR THEATRE

The Beaver 09.10.2012

TIMELESS 2014 There is unity in diversity and Timeless is a platform for celebrating the variety of cultures at the LSE. Come along to the Peacock theatre on March 17th at 6:00pm and watch LSE students #raisethegame.

Bringing you DANCE, DRAMA, MUSIC and ART. Powerplay: a satirical tale of hope, control and triumph. Following the lives of a group of university students as they struggle to make their presence on campus felt. Touching on themes such as the danger of unchecked authority and what the meaning of power really is.

Samantha Weya Director and actress, Timeless 2014

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Tuesday March 11 2014

Features SOCIETIES COLUMN Debate Society: Year in Review

Jieun Park

It has been over a year since I joined the LSESU Debate Society. Despite tough contenders like my constant food cravings or rants about evil law reading lists, I’ve always been the most enthusiastic in talking about the LSESU Debate Society than any other pasttime activities at LSE. Like many of my friends, you might be wondering: What is the Debate Society? Who gets involved? Why do you like it so much? I am happy to answer these questions here on behalf of the LSESU Debate Society.

Who we are and what we do We are one of the most established societies at LSE, continuing the legacy of success with diverse and talented individuals joining us every year. We have been leaving our mark in both domestic and international circuits where we primarily compete in intervarsity, British Parliamentary style debating. Although there are some particular tricks of the trade to pick up, the main idea is to allow our members to participate in a structured debate, presenting arguments from different perspectives on contentious ideas and policies.

Events and Training Sessions We kick-started the year with an Exhibition Debate. The guest speakers, comprising of our distinguished alumni and renowned world-class debaters, gave us all a taster of an excellent debate on the motion: This House Supports the Assertive Sexual Identities of Female Pop stars.

We joined the national Big

Animal Research Debate organised by IDEA. We also debated against the LSE Model United Nations Society on the role and ability of the UN which attracted a large crowd from both societies.

Our society holds two regular weekly sessions on Tuesday and Thursday to cater for all our members with different levels of experience. Many people have never debated before but enjoy learning from our helpful training officers and practice debates that are conducted in a rather informal and friendly atmosphere.

The society holds a number of internal competitions for the members to participate in a more relaxed (and entertaining!) environment. The Novice Cup was a fun opportunity for the new start-up debaters to experience a full-day tournament – a friendly teaser before signing up to external competitions.

We also hold themed debate competitions such as our annual Valentine’s Day Cup that had interesting ‘romantic’ motions.

The society also successfully hosted its three main tournaments again this year: LSE Schools, London IV and LSE Open. These tournaments attract a diverse range of participants; London IV and LSE Open, in particular, attracted many excellent debating talents from international circuits. The quality of the adjudication and convening teams allowed all participants to enjoy the tournaments and provided an excellent chance for our members to interact with interesting debaters from other universities.

Success at External Tournaments Our members represent the

society at many external tournaments throughout the year. This year, we have accomplished a number of successes which we are particularly proud of!

Over the Christmas holidays, two LSE teams competed at the World Universities Debating Tournament 2014 in Chennai.

Dan Berman and Elizabeth van Lieshout broke 12th to the OctoFinal out of 340 teams from all over the world. Furthermore, Dan Berman won the Durham IV! Our freshers had a promising start to the year with an excellent performance at the UCL President’s Cup: James Lo and Angus Hally broke to the semi-finals and Daniel Bramble and Harry made it all way to the finals! Frankie and Margaret also broke first to the Novice Finals.

At SOAS IV, Carlo and Dan Berman made it to the SemiFinals and Abel Lam and Lipei Tao broke to Quarter Finals. At the Inner Temple IV in February, Samantha Si and Daniel Bramble broke to the Finals.

We sent a merry bunch of debaters to Manchester IV last weekend and good news arrived swiftly! Daniel Bramble and Saskia broke to Open Quarter Finals and Billy and Alice broke to the Novice Finals.

Debating is always accompanied by opportunities to socialise with other members and this is one of the most attractive aspects of the society. Every term begins and ends with a society-wide gathering. We ended Michaelmas term with a pub quiz and group activities with a debate twist, followed by a karaoke night. The Lent term was kick-started with a welcome back social at the new student centre in addition to our biweekly pub sessions after every

training session!

Why join us?

The society has always aimed to offer its members something more than just being an extra-curricular activity or a CV booster. We seek to provide our members with a sense of community, as well as unique learning and social experiences at LSE. Learning how to debate means different things to different people as it entails a very broad range of skills and knowledge to be gained. For me, constructing arguments under time constraints allowed me to organise my ideas more concisely and logically, as well as encouraged a greater awareness of political and socioeconomic issues around the world.

Picking up debating also helped me to overcome a fear of public speaking and improve my spoken English. This was especially important because I was learning English as a second lan-

guage. The ability to formulate and deliver effective arguments in a team is a tremendously useful skill to as it also forces you to think from different perspectives.

We are a talkative and friendly bunch of people with unique characters and different cultural backgrounds. We come from a diverse range of academic disciplines and level of study, something that is not easily found in the LSE. I hope this has given you some further insights into the LSESU Debate Society. Still, given my clumsiness in expressing affections, the best ambassadors for the society would be the passionate bunch of our existing members and the committee. Why not walk into one of our training sessions or events? Come and debate, come and talk to our members who will take you through their own experiences and their love for the society! Join our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

We hope to see you next year!

LAW SOCIETY: Law On Tour Mandeer Kataria

The Law Society is notorious across campus for its flamboyant events and brilliant career guidance; one might say it is like something out of an LSE student’s dream. Our outstanding repute means every magic circle firm wants to sponsor us, every society wants to be us and every student out there wants a piece of this action. Fuelling the ambitions of our members from day one with endless networking events, career workshops

and opportunities to display their academic excellence, we strive to bring the best out of our budding young lawyers. And every so often we crawl out of the fiery pits of reading hell, to celebrate the struggle that was ten weeks of Duxbury’s Monday evening lectures and Shelley’s constant stream of LLB updates, with a ball that can only adequately be described in these three words: law-on-tour.

Recent opportunities provided by the Law Society are indicative of our on-going commitment to our members. These

range from the Hogan Lovells’ competition, giving students the chance to win £1000 of STA travel vouchers and Farrer’s talk on the intricacies of life as a family lawyer, to the tense annual UCL-KCL-LSE-SOAS Law Debate. Long, arduous meetings between our student representatives and the Law Department have seen a strengthening of ties, with the latter arranging a series of events to remedy the current somewhat nonexistent relationship between the student body and faculty.

The main items on this agenda

are the Pub Quiz between staff and second years, the LLB Assembly, offering a forum for students to influence the direction of the course, and a heavily subsidised Leavers’ Summer Term Dinner at the stunning Inner Temple. The LLB student body’s renowned ‘work hard, play harder’ attitude means this event will righteously see us slaughtered in May. This year’s unique venue for the Summer Ball will be the Hop Exchange, an exquisite listed building in the heart of Southwark. Better men have

come before us and braved a law ball or two, there have been lost teeth, smashed glasses and some got a little too heated as one Christmas party saw a student set her hair alight. In our usual egalitarian manner, we are opening this event to law and non-law students… Yes that is, you can sit with us. So come along for a night of inebriated debauchery on Saturday, 15th March, as for a mere £48 the evening promises a lush threecourse meal, great music, a few exciting performances and a FREE BAR! #Lawgasm

Tuesday March 11 2014

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Features

Uncertainty and Expectation The Burmese Refugees on the Thai Border

T

Mike Pearson

hey are dotted along the seams of the Burmese-Thai border, stuck between a rock and a hard place: a history of ethnic conflict to the West and a foreign government that would rather ignore them to the East. Some 150,000 people live in refugee camps along the border, many preferring this life to the ones they left in Burma. Nine main camps provide a dwelling to generations of the same family, yet not a dwelling many would call home. Whilst the Thai authorities come under frequent criticism for not giving proper attention to the refugees, an entire generation has been born in the camps. With an arguably improving situation in Burma to a quasi-democratic regime from military rule, one could be forgiven for assuming that refugees desire to return. However, a Thai Charity found that only 2% of Burmese refugees on the border want to go back to Myanmar, whilst 60% want to resettle in a third country and 38% want to remain in Thailand.

Alan Clements, co-author of The Voice of Hope with Aung Sang Suu Kyi told the Beaver last year, “George Orwell lived in Burma for a number of years. They say that

the seeds of his book 1984 were born from his years in Burma.” Yet 1984 remains significant for many Burmese people for other reasons.

It was to be the year that changed the Burmese-Thai border for the next 30 years.

Ethnic nationalities – Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon – dominated many of the border regions and had autonomous power over the areas in which they resided. In 1984, the Burmese army pushed this ethnic resistance back to the border with Thailand, releasing the first flow of Burmese refugees into Thailand. Student activists fled Rangoon in the late 80s and the Burmese authorities kept on the offensive in the border regions. Nearly 4000 villages were destroyed, affecting over one million people between 1996 and 2011. With political change in Myanmar, an expectation now hangs over the shadows of the past thirty years; refugees will be able to return home in the foreseeable future.

But it is not only the refugees who live in expectation.

NGOs and governments see political change as an opportunity, not only for Myanmar, but also an opportunity for them to rebalance their priorities; to shift focus away from a country that is ‘heading in the right direction’. The US has all but stopped its refugee resettlement programme

after resettling 7,085 people and many aid agencies have cut their budgets, leaving those on the border with only expectation. Yet, amongst the refugees, expectation is eroded by rumour, the latest of which is of the UN and aid agencies having a ‘‘secret plan’ to repatriate all camp residents to Myanmar government ‘holding pens’’, according to the Bangkok Post.

However, it would appear that the only ‘secret plan’ involves the Thai authorities, not the UN. A Reuters investigation last year detailed how the Thai Police secretly traffics Burmese refugees to brutal jungle camps, or ‘tropical gulags’ on the border with Malaysia. Rohingya Muslims are sold on from detention centre in Thailand to traffickers who demand ransoms from families. The Royal Thai Police call this ‘option two’.

Many of the problems stem from the fact that Thailand never ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention. Refugees have the choice of living in the border camps without prospects or roaming illegally in Thailand without the protection of the law. At a provincial level, the Thai National Security Council encourages refugees to return to Myanmar.

Back in the border camps, uncertainty dominates the green and hilly landscape.

Whilst the authorities, Bur-

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS

2nd

April - the date announced this week as to when ukip leader, nigel farage, takes on Nick clegg of the liberal democrats in a live tv debate

200,000

Pounds - the amount an abortion provider was fined after patient information of almost 10,000 people was hacked, compiled by Tom Maksymiw (2014/15 EDUCATION OFFICER), MIKE PEARSON AND LIAM HILL

mese, Thai or otherwise, discuss the future settlements of the displaced, many on the ground don’t see the point in returning. The older generation still exhibit a deep mistrust of the Burmese authorities, whilst the younger generations don’t see a country that reflects what they want from the future.

The Burmese government says it wants to see a future where the displaced 150,000 can return. “Our collective vision to build a democratic, open and inclusive society is not complete unless we can

45M

POUNDS MORE OF EXTRA FUNDING FROM THE GOVT ON THE ‘INTERNET OF THINGS’

175,000

Number of jobs the us economy has grown by in february

2020

The year nick clegg plans on leading the liberal democrats until (at least)

guarantee that displaced families can safely return home” However, those who Aung Min, a Burmese minister, speaks of don’t see it the same way. One elderly gentleman told the Bangkok Post, “We’re not ready to go back to our village, the army is still there. We don’t want to be army slaves. We won’t go where the government wants us to go. We want to return to our village, but we can’t trust words, if they leave our village we can then begin to trust their actions.”

2482

Number of students who voted in the 2014 Lent Term SU ELECTIONS

10 Margin of VOTES THAT WON ALASTAIR DUNCAN THE POSITION OF ACTIVITIES + DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

65

Margin of VOTES THAT WON NONA BUCKLEY-IRVINE THE POSITION OF GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE LSESU

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Tuesday March 11 2014

Features

the feature interview: Margaret Hodge Labour MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and LSE alum Margaret Hodge MP speaks to The Beaver

Liam Hill

Margaret Hodge is the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She graduated with a BSc in Economics from LSE in 1966.

Last week we had student union elections at LSE. What do you remember from elections while you were at LSE and did you get involved?

I wasn’t involved in student union politics. I was much more involved in antiwar demonstrations and CND stuff, but not really with any of the political groupings. It was a much more issue-based thing and I certainly wasn’t on the union. There was a huge amount of Left politics at the time, a lot of the Left of Labour political groupings that I used to talk to a lot. I think there was a lot more ideological politics then than there is now, and a much clearer feeling that we could really change the world. We thought it was all possible, much more than young people today. I think we were more ideological and more convinced that radical change was possible. I left before 1968 – I always regretted not being a part of the ’68 movement.

Do you think young people being less convinced that they can change the world is a better thing?

No, I think it’s a terrible thing! I think if you can’t be angry and determined when you’re young, you never can.

It’s really important that you should feel that you can, and that activism can lead to a better world. I find it depressing that the generation up from you guys, some of the MPs here, will ask me ‘What’s Labour for?’ and I think it’s absolutely clear. I’m committed to equalising life chances. Full stop. You just see everything through that prism. That gives you a way of approaching every contemporary problem as long as you think what I’m about is equalising life chances.

How much do you think is lost in tax every year? The

Treasury says it is £35bn and some activists say it is more like £120bn.

I look at those estimates, too. The Public Accounts Committee doesn’t do the work on that. What I would say is that the figure from the Treasury has gone up, which I must say is not a very good reflection on what is supposed to be a commitment to chasing down and being hard on tax avoidance and tax evasion.

It doesn’t show that their be-

“There are all sorts of reasons why [businesses] choose to locate here and if you think the only way you can attract them is through a race to the bottom on tax, you will always lose” ing very successful. My view is that it probably lies somewhere in the middle. What I do know is that the Treasury figure doesn’t include, for example, potential tax payments from global companies like Google, because there is some ambivalence as to whether they should be paying tax on the profits they earn from their activity in the UK. I’ve no idea what the figure is, but my guess would be that it is higher than HMRC say but lower than some of the campaigners say.

What is the most single important tax policy that you would introduce in Britain?

I don’t think there is one. If you can’t get the money in that you are owed, and if highworth individuals and multinationals can avoid paying their fair share to the common purse for the common good, there’s something wrong. So I think really bearing down on tax avoidance and tax evasion is the most important thing.

The other thing I would do is have a complete, radical rethink about tax reliefs. We’ve got over a thousand tax reliefs. Every tax relief be-

comes an opportunity for tax avoidance, which is not the purpose parliament intended when it established those reliefs. We spend endless time closing those loopholes, and it’s madness that there are so many. To use tax as the only way to encourage macroeconomic activity is just bonkers.

What do you say to those who say that bearing down on tax avoidance and evasion in the way that you say that we should would put off potential investors in Britain and cause capital flight?

Well, one argument is that this is not about being antibusiness, it’s about being profairness. If global companies can cut their prices because they avoid paying tax, that is not fair to British businesses and British workers. If Amazon fails to pay its fair share of tax then that destroys the community-based bookshops and even the John Lewises of this world, because they can’t compete. Similarly, if Starbucks doesn’t pay its fair share, and therefore they can charge less for their cup of coffee, that will destroy British jobs. It’s not being antibusiness, it’s just creating a level playing field here in the UK and being fair to British businesses.

The second thing to say is that tax is only one of the issues that businesses pay regard to when they decide where to locate. They will care about the market.

T h e y w i l l want to be

located where there is a welleducated workforce, where there’s a good infrastructure, where there’s a pleasant place to live and work in. Britain is attractive because of our language and where we are on the international time zone.

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose to locate here and if you think the only way you can attract them is through a race to the bottom on tax, you will always lose.

You’ve got to have a more sustainable reason for attracting business. This is a probusiness agenda. And Eric Schmidt [boss of Google] was very clear. He said at the time we [the PAC] were doing the Google hearings that ‘whatever you guys do about tax, we will still be here because the market is too important, we can’t opt out of the UK market’.

“There was a muchclearer feeling that we could really change the world.

We thought it was all possible, much more than young people today” Nick Griffin stood in your constituency in Barking at the last election. What do you think contributed the most to your victory over the BNP? We worked for four years.

It

was a long campaign. I completely changed the way I do my politics and I think the real lesson I learnt was that mainstream political parties had lost connection with people. So everything I do now is about helping to reconnect with the people who vote me in, and whose interests I represent. I don’t cut ribbons in town halls, I spend all my team thinking ‘does this help to reconnect with local people?’ The great lesson I learnt was that you’ve got to reconnect to build trust to then prevent people protesting against mainstream parties by voting for fringe, fascist parties on the right.

Do you think that it would be desirable to ban the BNP or any similar party?

I’m actually hugely against that. I think you beat them through the ballot box. You don’t beat them by not giving them the opportunity to participate in democracy. We beat them through the ballot box and by convincing white, working-class people of the wickedness of their purpose.

And we also beat them by ensuring that the great majority of BME voters actively participated in the political process. So democracy is the way you beat them, not by stifling their voice. I’m absolutely convinced of that.

Have you considered running for Mayor of London?

Another lesson I think I have learned from politics is that you concentrate on what you’re doing, and you do it well. You look straight, you don’t look up. I’m obviously flattered by lots of people saying to me that might be somewhere I’d go but for the moment I’m concentrating on doing the best I can in what I think is a really important job, particularly at this time in our history. Public spending is being cut, and getting the best value out of every penny is the taxpayer’s pound is absolutely vital if you believe in the importance of public expenditure and public services transforming peoples’ life chances.

But you’re not ruling it out?

I’m focusing on the day job.

If you would like to write for Features, drop us an email at: features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Tuesday March 11 2014

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Features

The Pocket Philosopher: On Justice

A possible answer to a question as old as philosophy itself

Joel Rosen

J

ustice is an issue which has been debated from the very beginnings of philosophy. It was the main subject of Plato’s Republic, and has remained a bone of contention between many of the greatest political thinkers since. So what is justice? We are offered a barrage of answers, but it seems that some conception of it is carried by every culture. As Aristotle famously pointed out, we are political animals, and we form societies which are necessary for our continued existence.

But justice goes beyond this it concerns itself with co-existence. The underlying question which conceptions of justice are trying to answer is really: if we must live in societies, then under which laws and institutional arrangements could we

best live together?

Now we can divide philosophical thought on this into two camps: the empiricists and the rationalists (but more simply expressed as the objectivists and subjectivists). If you are an objectivist, you accept that there must be some objective truth out there or a deity which can give it to you, thus informing your conception of justice. There are a number of problems with this view. For example, even if you were right and there was an objective standard of justice out there in the universe, your ability to access it is questionable, since everyone seems to have different conceptions of justice.

It implies you are the only enlightened one who knows the truth, which leads to a kind of elitism. Indeed such was Europe up until the Enlightenment. Subjectivists accept that there may not be an objective

truth out there, and justice may be a completely subjective construct.

So what do we do, if everyone has a different conception of justice? Well until we have an answer, we can do what we have always done and rely on convention, which in turn is based on a historically-contingent path of development. This is by no means perfect, and no laws in any society today were methodically thought out by a single author and published at one time as a coherent bloc of justice. We must therefore search for principles of justice to guide us in making laws which best let us live together.

There are a number of competing ideas here, and I will only mention a few. Some suggest that justice is defined by the stronger, and indeed the world system we live in today with its Western-based institutions is largely an Atlantic construct.

However, such a system we could hardly call justice if we expect a form of fairness or redistributive equality out of it.

Others propose that justice is giving everyone their due, but this still very vague and subjective. Every person will come up with their own ideas about what is “due” to them.

It seems we cannot get around the problem of individual subjectivism. For quite a few philosophers, their train of thoughts leads them to the same conclusion, which is also incidentally mentioned in the religious scripture of a number of faiths: do (not) do unto others as you yourself would (not) be done by. If you believe in a right of natural human equality, then you must be the valid measure of justice, for what applies to you must apply to others and vice versa. This seems to be a rational reformulation of an emotion given

to most humans: empathy. Essentially, before we take any ‘other-regarding’ action, we must invoke this formula in our minds when empathy does not get there first. Granted, if you are a psychopath or have little self-worth, you will have a conception of justice which differs from those of others. Naturally, what Hobbes calls “diffidence” or mutual suspicion creates a game in which we would cheat and harm each other were there no common enforcement agency or rules. For those who do cannot perform the rational calculation suggested above, or who are devoid of empathy there will always be laws as fallbacks. But this is a principle of justice towards which we can strive, and could perhaps use to structure our laws and societies. We would do well to re-consider it.

If you would like to write for Features, drop us an email at: features@thebeaveronline.co.uk

THE ESSENTIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT CARD Available from LSESU reception third floor + Online

AND MUCH MORE

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Tuesday March 11 2014

Diary of an LSE Student

social@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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

An Unexpected Combination: The LSESU Economics Society and Timeless This term will see the LSESU Economics Society and Timeless come together for the very first time at the LSESU Brazilian Carnaval Night. It’s also in association with the LSESU Brazilian and Salsa societies; possibly one of the BEST (Brazilian, Economics, Salsa, Timeless) collaborations yet!

Social

The lawyers take on a quiz!

The inaugural second year law pub quiz was held in the Venue this Tuesday with special guest (and LSE law professor) Michael Wilkinson being the quizmaster.

It was an evening of great entertainment and highly enjoyable with law students and law faculty members joining forces in order to quiz. Despite some very difficult questions everyone managed to add something to the teams with the steady stream of free drinks also helping with lucid answers. The prizes of cinema tickets and Waterstones vouchers were very well received with the winners with a tie-off being necessary in order to determine second place. All in all this was a great event and definitely one to be repeated in order to foster collaboration and friendship between all members of the Law department at LSE.

The Brazilian Carnaval Night (Monday 17th March) is being organised by the Economics Society and is the official afterparty for this year’s musical, Powerplay, by the LSESU Timeless Society. The event is at Guanabara, a Brazilian venue in Holborn, less than five minutes walk away from the Peacock Theatre where Timeless is being held. The LSESU Salsa Society, performing at Timeless this year, is also treating guests to another short performance on the night which also features Capoeira dancers and Brazilian Carnaval performers.

The event follows on from a string of successful social events held by the LSESU Economics Society.

The social events division, a new addition to the society this year, sprang to life through social secretary Sanjay Shivaram, a third year economics student.

The year began with a Freshers Boat Party in week 1 of Michaelmas Term, attended by close to 200 people. Numbers almost doubled for the next event, the hugely popular Christmas Masquerade night, held at The Edge Bar in Soho. The bar was filled to capacity, creating a great atmosphere added to by a magician and burlesque dancers performing during the night.

As the last Economics Society social event of the year, the Brazilian Carnaval Night promises a huge turnout from everyone involved in Timeless as well as LSE students in general (of course helped by the fact that tickets are only a fiver and include a free Caiprinha, Brazil’s national cocktail!).

Hopefully the society can carry forward all this positive momentum to next year and match, if not exceed, the success of this year’s events. This could also be a turning point, paving the way for future collaborations between societies; leading to nothing but bigger and better opportunities for LSE students!

LSE in Pictures

chrisdonia

LSE Tweets

Tuesday March 11 2014

Kuster & Wildhaber

Travel

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Indonesia: Home to the rich and the poor

When you say Indonesia, people tend to think of idyllic beaches, tropical vegetation and sunshine. Not many think of crowded cities, street vendors and traffic jams that would make anyone’s bum go numb. Indonesia successfully markets itself as a popular tourist destination, contributing around $9 billion per year to its economy. But, alongside the postcard views and sun seekers exists the fourth largest population in the world, many of whom do not benefit from the national economic growth.

Arriving in an Indonesian city such as Jakarta is like being in two worlds at once. At first glance the multitude of shopping complexes and sky scrappers stamped with bank logos, would almost have you believe that this city was just like any other affluent city in the world. But, follow the side streets for a while and the shopping malls and Mercedes will be replaced by the hand-pulled carts of street vendors and open drains coming from the city slums. This

is the side the travel brochures hide from the rest of the world: children picking up discarded rubbish to earn a meagre wage, beggars dotted amidst the congested traffic, and the smell of burning rubbish in the air. Stay there for longer and you’ll begin

worth of wages, and government subsidised fuel for the poor being used by those who can pay more.

“

The stark contrast of wealth inside the same city, makes you wonder how we don’t do more to support those who have so little

This is the side the travel brochures hide from the rest of the world: children picking up discarded rubbish to earn a meagre wage, beggars dotted amidst the congested traffic, and the smell of burning rubbish in the air.

to notice the concrete pillars supporting a non-existent train system because funding disappeared overnight, poverty cards for the poorest families costing $10, the equivalent of an entire week’s

when we have so much? It’s easy to hide away in our sturdy houses with central heating, while others have little more than a tin roof to sleep under at night. There have been articles recently criticising

the efforts of western volunteers, suggesting that well-intentioned privileged school children do more harm than good when volunteering for projects abroad as they simply don’t have the necessary skills to take part. Although volunteering in this way may do more to soothe consciences than actually help, perhaps it’s a necessary eye opener to remind us that not everyone is as blessed as we are.

However, despite its corruption and inability to support its poorest citizens, Indonesia has many jewels to offer the world.

Its people are among the friendliest and kind natured I have ever encountered, its art is filled with history, culture and vibrant beauty and its streets are bursting with traditional food and artefacts. It’s just a shame that when we think of Indonesia, not only are we blind sighted to the poverty there but ideas of picturesque beaches detract from its other ‘less glamorous’ glories.

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Tuesday March 11 2014

Social

We deserve better teaching The End’s not Hayley Toms

Out of my friends I know no one who would say that they think all their class teachers at the LSE are of a superb standard. I know of none who would say all of their teachers are of a good standard. In fact, I know of no-one who would even say that all their teachers are even of a satisfactory standard. This is not good.

Class teachers at LSE arguably have the biggest impact on your learning experience whilst at university. Although experts in the field lecture us, and help build our knowledge of our discipline, the important learning takes place in the classroom, not the lecture theatre. Without a class teacher to help improve your understanding, ask questions to, and improve exam style all of our grades would be of a much lower level.

But to what level of success are class teachers at LSE achieving this? I would argue to a seriously limited degree.

ficiently and most importantly is clear in their

response to student’s questions. Students in this class will be driven and motivated to do well, but unfortunately this is not the case for most classes. Most classes, unfortunately, are like our second example. The class teacher turns up late, provides limited feedback, doesn’t know all their students names and most annoyingly does not seem able to answer a confused student’s question. Students in this class do not enjoy themselves, and this is reflected in the student registers. Many of my friends have missed 3 or 4 classes already this term, and it’s not just because they are hung-over. I am yet to hear one of my peers on a walk in to campus declaring their excitement for a class.

This should not be the case. We deserve to enjoy the experience of learning. After all, we came to university to do a degree in a subject we are passionate about, so why can’t our class teachers be passionate too? It’s all very well filling out all these forms evaluating our class teachers, but what has actually been done? None of mine or my classmate’s feedback has been listened to- so what was the point? LSE seems to like to act like it cares, without actually backing this up with substance or action.

Since the Teaching task force 2’s suggestion of bigger class sizes, there was outcry among the student population of getting value for their tuition fees; if we are paying £9000 per year for an undergraduate degree, we expect small class sizes to enhance our learning. This outcry, howThere are great class teachers at LSE, and ever, failed to see the bigger picture. Although it is all very well being up in arms about the poten- I’m lucky enough to have one, but this is not the tial future of our class sizes, we should also look case for all. We need to make LSE realise this. I implore other students to stand up and demand to improve what we currently have. better standards, even if it just means taking a Let’s take two situations: One class teacher is bit longer filling out those blinking forms. passionate, engages with the class, marks ef-

near; it’s here.

10 Things to do before the end of Lent Term Now that the London weather is improving: 1. Go for a walk in many of the parks around London. Go to Hyde Park and experience the debates at Speakers’ corner or perhaps head to Green Park and pay a visit to the Queen.

2. Check out some of some of London’s fantastic museums with the permanent galleries being free. At the British Museum the ‘Vikings: Life and Legend’ exhibition has just opened which show cases a vast range of objects capturing in depth the culture of these ‘raiders and traders’.

3. Head out to one of London’s many markets.

Why not try some exotic meats at Borough market or head to the excellent pizza joint of Franco Manca in Brixton market.

Saint Lous University

4. Why not check out ‘The Alternative London Tour’ which reveals East London’s ‘alternative’ side and best of all is free!

5. Following on from the inspiration of the film ‘Cuban Fury’ why not try a new activity such as Salsa! Lots of pubs do free sessions so why not try one out?

Now that the academic year is coming to an end: 1. Write for the Beaver (there is only one more opportunity)!

2. Talk to academics, friends and those in the year above about what topics to revise over Easter and how best to climb the mountain ahead.

3. Even for the non-AUers the final Zoo is quite a sight to behold so it is perhaps worth a visit to the jungle.

4. Print out lecture slides/ notes in order to avoid clogging up your printers at home and incurring the wrath of parents.

5. Go mental with your friends – it’s the last time you will be able to before exams are over and trust me that’s a long way away!

Listings MEXICO WEEK

Saint Lous University

10AM/ Grand Connaught Rooms 61-65 Great Queen Street Scandi Latino Boat Party!

9PM/ HMS President

Check out the week’s events at www. lse.ac.uk/government/Events/Mexico-Week-2014/Programme.aspx Wednesday (12th) Tuesday (11th)

LSE AU Ball 7:30PM/ The Brewery, 52 Chiswell St

Fossil Fuels as ‘Stranded Assets’: Divest, Engage or Hedge? - Trucost and Thursday (13th) LSE Divest 6:30PM/ New Academic Building, Room In conversation with Martin Lewis 2.06 6:30PM/ The Venue LSE SU Energy Society International Conference on “Energy Transitions”

LSESU Accounting Society Annual Dinner

7PM/ Pizza Express, Holborn DESTIN Society’s 5th Annual Industry Dinner 6PM/ Holiday Inn Regents Park LSESU Conservative Society AGM 2014 6:30PM/ CLM 3.04 Friday (14th) Saucy Fridays!!

Saturday (15th) Bhangra Crush 10PM/ The Venue

Tuesday March 11 2014

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“

Sophie Beland: the neutral face of SU politics and ‘student of repute’ Under the summery sunlight of a promising Saturday afternoon, we catch up with Sophie Beland, the secretary of LooSE TV and one of the key masterminds behind this year’s LSESU Lent Term election coverage.

er. (laugh) Afterwards they would be pretending to joke around, but there was no actual friendliness between any of them. But then again, it was a highly competitive position so that’s understandable.

Sophie has been co-creator of the media group’s election website lsesuelects.co.uk, the fruit of a collaboration between LooSE TV, The Beaver, and Pulse radio. At the time of writing, the site has received 1840 unique visitors since it went online last Saturday , and the election live coverage was seen by at least 500 viewers.

Wasn’t there a Gen Sec candidate who proposed working together with the other candidates after the election was over, and that didn’t go down very well?

At the end of the roundtable, one of the candidates, Sam actually, said: ‘shall we set up a facebook group afterwards so that all of us, can share our policies and help each other out?’. He seemed really enthusiastic about that; the other candidates were not as enthusiastic. (laugh) They did do the whole ‘yeah let’s do that’, but in the sort of British way of ‘I’m saying yes but only because I’m being polite’.

This past week must have been incredibly busy for you. How do you feel now that it’s all finally over now?

Very relieved. It was fun working with you and Mike [Pulse Radio’s Station Manager], as well as interviewing all the candidates. The new office where we shared space made it really much easier to just walk across.

But now that it’s finally over, I can relax and do some actual work.

You have done a series of roundtable discussion with candidates for different positions. How did you decide on the questions?

I just came up with some broad questions after looking through their manifestos. The democracy committee was watching over me so I couldn’t really attack any particular candidate or give unfair exposure. (laugh) Did you find having to ask the same question to every candidate limiting?

Yeah, definitely, my roundtable was what I would have called gentle and nice. I would have preferred to do one where I could ask them proper hard-hitting questions, ones involving specific points in their manifestos, as well as their past experience, but unfortunately that wasn’t allowed.

How was it like meeting them in person? This year’s campaign has been, as our new General Secretary Nona Buckley-Irvine described, “very personalized”. Did you detect any tension between the candidates?

With the Education officer, there was definitely tension between Jason Wong and the other candidates.

When we were off recording there were some barbed comments.

The Gen Sec candidates were, what I would call, ‘fake nice’, to one anoth-

How did you choose the panellists for the election night coverage?

It’s more like we reached out to them, so I asked all the candidates and sabbs if they wanted to take part or if they knew anyone who would want to take part. Some of them, like Sally Bonsall, and Tom Meaden, I knew personally . We tried to get a really nice mix of people across the board.

With a highly personalized election, they’d have really strong opinions on their candidates and the election.

With approximately 20 percent turnout in the election this year, do you think democracy at LSE was in good health? What should be the media group’s role in facilitating this engagement?

It was really terrible, and I knew that people were panicking on the last day that the number of turnout was lower than last year’s. With us putting up a big website, The Beaver having a pullout, LooSE TV putting a new video out everyday, Pulse shouting out, there wasn’t much more we could have done.

Did the student body not engage because the candidates’ policies were so similar?

I don’t think so, although it was partly due to the lack of international students standing, which was surprising since at least half the students here are international.

The media group has been accused of being biased since several of its members were prominently in support of particular candidates. Do you think the me-

dia group has done a good job at maintaining political neutrality during this whole event?

I definitely think so. We have worked so hard at maintaining neutrality throughout this entire event. The Beaver, during the weekend, was working non-stop; the previous issue was the bigger-sized edition, but with fewer editors involved. (laugh) They were trying to maintain neutrality, so the criticism was like a spit in the face of what they were doing. I don’t think any candidates could point out to any of the video I made, or any of the article The Beaver printed as biased.

Although media group members were prominently in support of particular candidates, there were other societies, other areas of the SU, who were in support of other candidates. I don’t think it would have made that big a difference. I mean, how influential are we? Are the freshers gonna be looking up to Dennis Mooney [The Beaver’s Executive Editor] and say: ‘I know who that is. Let’s all go vote for him’.

Also we had to run all our preresults coverage through the Democracy Committee.

Yeah. Even when we tweeted about something, we had to ask Joe Anderson; when we reported on Jason Wong withdrawing from the Gen Sec race, we had to put every other candidates’ names in.

This relative neutrality has also made you a ‘student of repute’, and thus a witness in many emergency meetings by the Democracy Committee. What was your role in this?

My role was making up number in the meetings. So Jay Stoll would come down finding people to fill up the emergency meetings, because they need to have a certain quoracy to be able to rule on anything. So if someone appealed against Joe Anderson’s decision on complaints, the democracy committee needed to have a vote on it. They needed the neural people in the meeting because a number of committee members were campaigning for someone.

Recently, the SU was faced with the allegation of exclusiveness and inapproachability. As a selfidentified BME (Black, and Minority Ethnic) student and member of the media group, how do you respond to this?

I would disagree with that in regards

’’

to the media group. LooSE TV definitely had a lot of international students. Our president is Chinese, and he probably self-identifies as BME. Although it’s incredibly problematic for a person of Chinese descnent to self-identify as BME. Pulse is incredibly diverse as well. And with the Beaver, there were a diverse range of people who were writing for it, even though they might not have been in the Ed Board.

There are some other societies, like RAG for example, where I looked at the committee, and it was all white or female apart from two members. And it’s quite a big committee. So that’s the opposite problem from the media group being predominantly male.

And you also see other national societies only having people with that nationality on board. So there’s not that much inclusiveness in those societies either. I don’t think it’s just a problem of the media group, but one that exists across the board.

Do you think introducing the term BME into the discourse helps encourage participation?

Not particularly, since many students for whom the term was designed to include wouldn’t even self-identify as BME. Do you think there’s any way to solve this ethnic, and to an extent, gender imbalance within the SU, without resorting to affirmative action, which could be seen as tokenistic?

I think it needs to begin with students themselves. Instead of societies being seen as exlusive, the issue of students feeling too apathetic to get involved also needs to be addressed.

If you force a tokenistic position on a society, whether based on ethnicity or sex, that would really undermine the meritocratic nature of our SU. Why do you think international students are by far and large indifferent to SU politics?

Most international students who come here don’t even know what a UGM is, and are unfamiliar with the British style of political involvement.

As such, the SU should try to engage international students more during the Freshers’ Week to explain to them how the system works, and what their incentive would be to get involved.

Thank you for your time, Sophie and good luck with your endeavors.

29

11.03.2014 The Beaver

PRIVATE B We weren’t Backing Barnett, and we’re definitely not bitter.

YOUR NEW UGM CHAIR: RAYHAN OODIN

R O F E C I T S U J

E I M JA

‘Greater love hath no man than this; that he lay down his life for his friends.’ - John 15:13 Jamie Taco Chic McSherry Jr, second of his name, Knight Commander of the Banter, Order of Beverage, Defender of the Sovereignty of the Three Tuns, Vanguard of the Lash, failed prizefighter and former CC of the LSERFC, laid down everything he holds dear that his friends may play on.

Despite the Lovecraftian appearance, this ‘whoniverse’ alien species is known for its telepathic sensitivity and sonorous singing voice. Liberated at last from centuries long oppression by mankind, the ood can now reclaim their cultural heritage with pride, their heads kept high, undaunted by anthropocentric, and (literally) xenophobic norms.

The glowy red eyes, far from signifying demonic possession, are actually a sign of telepathic activity, pretty much like a wifi connection in a bar. While the piercing stares may feel as if they drill into your soul, rest assured, the effect is merely metaphorical.

REFUSES TO REMOVE FINGERS FROM EARS; BELIEVES HE MAY STILL BE IN WITH A SHOUT.

We, the undersigned*, hereby declare our full and unbridled support for Justice for Jamie.

We do not condone the behaviour which led to his gallant action. We do not support the actions of the minority of members and former members of the LSERFC which forced him to take said action. We do not support his reinstatement as CC; those remaining have already dived into a new RFC with Poole.

We do, however, fully support his right to attend the LSE Athletics Union Colours Ball. Not only has Jamie been heavily involved in organising the event, but it is the annual celebration of the sporting achievement and community at LSE of which he has been such a vital and vibrant part.

To prevent his attendance is a slight not only on his honour, but on that of our Athletics Union, and we ask only that this is reconsidered.

Yours banterously, Dennis Mooney, Club Captain (Executive Editor) of The Beaver & Insufficiently Nortee Thomas Ian Meaden III, Athletics Union Treasurer & ‘Hachiavelli’ Louis Davies, Democracy Committee & Old Boy Network Liaison Officer Sam Barnett, Academic Board representative & 65 Votes Away Harold Craston, Athletics Union president & Ambassador for the State of California Megan Trethewey, Athletics Union Exec Member & the only (real) female signatory Gareth Robinson, Ex-President of Carr-Saunders Hall & Co-founder of LSESU Album Club Gabriel Everington, E&E officer of LSESU & World’s Laziest Ally of the Workers Mark Malik, Disabled Students Officer (incoming) & Black Country spokesman Sam Lanham, LSESU Squash 2nd team captain & Pogo champion Alistair Lynch, LSECC stalwart & resident angry Scotsman William Carl Essayan Esquire, Eton College & LSE Jon Allsop, former Comment Editor of The Beaver & Busybody (incoming) Jack Tindale, former C&W Officer of LSESU & resenter of letting go Paul Kelly, Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning & submitter of things more than once Paul Kelly, Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning & submitter of things more than once Vladimir Putin, President of Russia & renowned fan of nudity Dmitri Medvedev, PM of Russia & renowned fan of ass-kissing Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany & supporter of reintegration Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat & Fan of all things Cheeky Miley Cyrus, Disney starlet & exhibitionist extraordinaire Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations & noted Lash Hero Ed Balls, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer & supporter of public appearances of Balls *Some or all signatories may be fictional.

WORLDWIDE REACTION TO LSESU ELECTION RESULTS Community voting works to perfection as four middle-class white people elected to be full-time Sabbatical officers of LSESU. Vladimir Putin attacks LSESU for their election of an all-white Sabbatical Officer team and promises military support for BME students.

Nigel Farage dismissive of plans to freeze international fees, suggesting foreign students are the main source of the LSE’s problems as well as contributing significantly towards climate change.

Kim Jong Il praises the Beaver and the LSESU Media Group in general for their fundamentally biased coverage of the elections, also claiming that LSEFC 1st XI could only hold North Korea to a draw earlier this month.

Alex Salmond is critical of the SU establishment and lends his support to a movement

by AU Dissidents to lead C120 to independence, citing cultural and historical reasons.

Finally, after her election as General Secretary, the CIA begins the complex process of tapping into Nona Buckley-Irvine’s phone, but gives up when leaked records emerge suggesting that there probably isn’t much point... (Right)

Tuesday March 11 2014

Squash First Team Profile

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nfirmed, b Barnett. P ut Ethan m lease write ay have b in to geto acked Sam fffacebook if you kno @un w any mo Ethan enjo re about th friended.com ys ‘nubbin is g’ the opp and chund osite sex in . ering all o ver his fla his spare t, sometim time es a whole of mayonn Ethan has bottle a ise. an unhealt you try to hy opposi tion to ba feed him a gels, even gloriously when toasted cr with a ligh eam chee t sprinklin se bagel g of chive .

Clayson

Chung Macario ‘the modest’

sfully pissed until he has succes #Mac will not rest yer ever off every squash pla t kicking balls, whils d an ts ke rac s joy Mac likes throwing en o als c Ma . sh nt at squa also being half dece e of ‘water’ downing a 70cl bottl 2, definitely perial 1st’s number Mac dislikes the Im nd rou y wa not the other

As M C Sherry sat home alone, sobbing gently to the strains of Spandau Ballet’s seminal ‘Gold’, the FC takeover gathered speed. Next year, the FC will hold three of the six positions on the AU executive, including the presidency (perks include a year’s supply of stash, a hairbrush and return tickets to Cali), and the Activities and Development Officer also claims to

have played football once.

With that in mind, Arsenal’s January loan signing Kim Kallstrom decided to celebrate a forthcoming return from injury by spending an evening with another footballing luminary, This Is Your Football Club Captain Speaking. #justcuddles It would appear Harrison Ford’s been poppin’ the blue Vs, as he got hardwood yet again. A netballer was up to sutton for what must be at least the eighth time (eh, eh?). Another netballer came to the fore as she went home with an honorary cricketer (Is he even in the AU? – Ed.) #morecuddles. Meanwhile,

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Peter “ar e you old er than m y dad” Gr iffiths Pete

another netballer ran fahy away from Zoo upon seeing Little Sam (NOT. A. REAL. NAME.)’s activities.

The tennis club captain got with President RADM Lyle Haggerty but allegedly parmed him and was later spotted rap battling Snoop Dogg. Reports that she told him to stick it were the sun does shine (Cali, obv) remain unconfirmed.

Hacking Barnett was seen in the middle of the dancefloor with his arms folded, refusing to leave Zoo until his ragging nemeses did. Of said raggers, one was determined to let his fellow AUers know why the other was wurthy of

r sometim es needs to be re case he ch ills out just minded to breathe in Peter like s inflatable a bit too much Peter disli orange co kes turnin st umes g up on ti excused a me, but th s watches is can be were only just catch he was gro ing on wh wing up. ile

being their General Sexcretary. “Wurds cannot describe how much I wanted him to shut up, but he just wurdn’t stop wurrying – he seemed to think he was doing God’s wurk” said one rugby player.

The Beaver’s finest netball correspondent was in for the wyn. Attempts to christen the AU’s newest power couple proved controversial though, with the public split between ‘Caran’ and ‘Sarwyn’.

Dumbo demonstrated the sort of adventurous nature he would have brought to the Democracy Committee when he woke up on a rooftop without a phone or wallet. Fortunately he was able

to fly down.

Before we bid thee farewell, a public announcement: applications for one of the most important positions on campus are now open: to be the author of next year’s Beverage Report.

No elections here - we can’t possibly take that sort of risk. To apply, please throw your name into the Goblet of Fire, and send a short and excessively banterous writeup of AU Ball to sports@thebeaveronline. co.uk #WelcomeToTheJungle

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Tuesday March 11 2014

BEAVER SPORTS FANTASY FOOTBALL Every week we’ll print the top three, the bottom three and the best performing team.

The TOP...

The Moose Knucklers (Conor Rohan) 1813 Points Strutting Edge (Chris Edgington) 1739 Points South Coast Saints (Tom Jordan) 1701 Points

And the BOTTOM...

Golders Giants (Dave Lewis) 1107 Points Zlatanthropology (Dennis Mooney) 1107 Points Ivan Campesinos (Gabriel Everington) 1102 Points Think you can do better?

970297-228156 SPORT IN BRIEF RUGBY In the match of the round, England defeated Wales comprehensively 29-18 in the 6 Nations.

Elsewhere there were wins for Ireland and France.

FOOTBALL Wigan advanced to the semifinal of the FA Cup, defeating last season’s beaten finalists Manchester City. They’re joined in the semifinals by Sheffield United, Hull and Arsenal.

Tennis 2nds Keep Promotion Hopes Alive Jack Ashfield

Entering the month of March marks the nervous, final countdown to the end of the BUCS season – “squeaky bum time” indeed. With 3 league matches remaining and a cup semi-final taking place, the Mens’ 2nd Tennis Team’s fixture list was more congested than Houghton Street has been over the past fortnight.

Sitting in 1st place in Division 2B the match against 3rd placed Queen Mary’s was a must-win if they were to keep the lead over Imperial 2s (who have a game in hand). Lose this match and regardless of the result against Imperial in a fortnight’s time, title and promotion hopes would fade into, to steal an apt analogy, Arsenal-esque “What could have been?”s. Despite the pressure the team arrived in East London

in good spirits, if not disorientated by the emergence of an unfamiliar weather phenomenon – clear skies. Despite the lack of rainfall the courts still managed to feel as if they were prototype ice rinks in an unlikely Borisbacked scheme for a British bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. In the doubles, however, the partnerships appeared unaffected by the unsettling conditions with David Castells and Joshua Kanjanapas dropping only one game in a 6-1 6-0 trouncing shortly before Roy Murdock and Rodrigo Jafet wasted little time to win in straight sets. Gaining the 2-0 lead was vital given the quality of the opposition and potential banana skins in the singles. Rodrigo, who seems to have forgotten how to lose of late, blew aside his opponent 6-2 6-0 in one of his most dominant performances of

the season. Similarly Aaron Belowich was immense in his first singles match of the campaign to come through first-set nerves and clinch an invaluable 6-4 7-5 victory. At this point, with the tie at 4-0 and beyond the grasp of Queen Mary’s Jérémy Bégard, our reliable Gallic grandee, was faced with the bizarre situation of his opponent waving the white flag at 3-2 down in the final set having decided he had more pressing interests to pursue.

What interests? Who knows?

Avoiding defeat at the hands of Jérémy seems likely.

In the final match of a day with more subplots than the Crimean crisis, Joshua faced an opponent who had surrendered 10 match points earlier this year in the comeback of the season from Roy Murdock. He clearly had a point to prove. Joshua was

a pre-match doubt: he had just flown back from Hong Kong the previous night, and had spent the morning with needles in his arm to immunise him from a plethora of tropical diseases for an upcoming trip. Needless to say, it was far from ideal preparation!

In a hotly contested match that featured maybe 2 unchallenged line calls throughout and played host to some of the most stony glares since the days of Greek mythology, Joshua eventually lost in 3 sets after the ball trickled over the net on no less than three occasion in the final game.

Given his lack of preparation this was a performance to be proud of. With fixtures against bottom-of-the-league SOAS and title-contenders Imperial 2s left in the league the end of the season is now in sight. Watch this space!

Women’s FC Just Can’t Stop Winning Emily Giles

LSE WFC continued their winning streak on Sunday with a 7-3 victory over King’s College Medics to retain their position at the top of the league.

Conditions were harsh, and LSE spent the first half battling against the wind on an incredibly muddy pitch. Failing to adjust quickly enough to the elements, LSE found themselves 3-1 down after just 30 minutes, conceding all 3 goals from corners.

The girls stepped up before the half was over, and got stuck in to a very physical game. Some great team play led to a goal from Martha Glover-Short, and a second goal from Jenny Critchley followed by an excellent lob from Captain Aria Georghiou put LSE 5-3 ahead as the half-time whistle blew.

Getting stuck in right from the off, LSE dominated the second half. Fitness and determination prevailed, and LSE were able to take control of the game

and played with high intensity all over the pitch.

Vice-Captain Dalia Adib and goalkeeper Jenny Hovland-Johnson kept the defence in order, resulting in a clean sheet in the second half.

LSE’s strength and stamina proved to be the undoing of King’s, and some great balls through from midfield led to 3 more excellent finishes: Martha scored twice more to complete her hattrick, and Kariel Parian finished off the victory with a great shot from outside the box to seal a 7-3 win.

Goalscorers Aria and Kariel were awarded Coach’s player and Captain’s player, and the team are looking ahead to a tough game against Queen Mary’s College next Sunday. It’s tight at the top of the table with UCL and QMC

breathing down LSE’s necks, so they’ll be hoping to secure a win

and remain undefeated in 2014.

Is Clay Shooting the Sport for You? Will Duffield

If I had a pound for every student shocked and astounded by the existence of an LSE Clay Shooting Club, I’d be able to buy a year’s supply of cartridges.

Perhaps it is the result of our urban locus, or the widely held misconception that there are no guns left in England, but we are here, and we have a hell of a lot of fun. This year we’ve traveled to competitions in Scotland and Wales, filling the air with lead and broken clays while making friends from around the UK. Every few Wednesdays we travel out to High Wycombe to E.J. Churchill’s shooting ground, allowing our more experienced members to practice, and introducing new

shooters to the sport.

Don’t worry, your complete lack of experience is not a problem, a great number of those who come out with us have never shot before. With lessons offered by the expert staff at our shooting ground and continuing guidance from our more seasoned members, everyone gets on target before too long. The ease of picking up, but not mastering, the sport aside, why would you want to learn? In short, because it is the most fun you can have with 7 pounds of wood and steel, and there is always room for improvement.

Shooting requires a sharp eye and a steady hand. The shooter tracks the flying clay as it leaves the machine and soars through the air, matching its arc

with barrel of the gun, mentally estimating lead before easing back on the trigger. The gun fires with rolling crack, recoiling and sending a steam of lead pellets towards the target. The feedback is immediate, the sailing clay either disintegrates into a puff of tiny orange fragments, or glides, sadly intact, towards the ground. The sportsman breaks the gun, ejecting and replacing the spent cartridges while mentally replaying the previous shot, imagining what minute adjustments might bring the pellets on target before again shouldering the shotgun, ready for another go. The process is engaging and exhilarating, I struggle to think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

This individual experience

only gets better with the addition of friends and travel. There is something incredibly satisfying about braving shrieking winds and driving rain in pursuit of the top score before warming up around a roaring fire, sharing banter, and perhaps a bottle of sloe gin, with shooters from other Universities.

In the wake of the recent AU budget increase, we’re looking forward to greater funding, and cheaper shooting. All we really need are more folks to shoot with, so join us next Wednesday afternoon, March 19th. Guns aren’t scary, recoil doesn’t hurt, and you’ll have a great time.

For more information, check out the LSE Clay Shooting Facebook group, or send me an email at w.t.duffield@lse.ac.uk

Tennis 2nds Keep Promotion Hopes Alive

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Tuesday March 11 2014

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LSE Netball 1sts End Season on High

Lucia Davies

LSE 1sts 40-15 KCL 1sts

What better way to end our 2013 season and for some of us, three years of 1st team netball than with a crushing victory against KCL? Last Wednesday LSE 1sts took on Kings 1sts, ‘away’ (ie. at the ‘other’ Berrylands) in a heated relegation battle. Although promotion to the LUSL Premier division had been secured, a number of rearranged matches and close calls had left our BUCS situation precarious.

Psyched up by our fiery Northern Captain, Amy Trynka, who as well as her incredible karaoke skills and ability to down a pint of Guinness through a straw is also known for her rousing speeches, we took to the court with a good idea of the result we wanted.

Tensions were high with both teams keen to assert themselves

from the off. The first quarter started strongly, with LSE maintaining a lead. Although missing Christie Chapman, it was clear that LSE’s defense was determined to concede as few goals as possible in what shaped up to be a highly physical match.

As it has since 2011, the boundless energy and enthusiasm of Maddy Pearson at Centre kept LSE on track and after a succession of turnovers and impressive shooting stats we ended the first quarter 9-4 up.

The second quarter was a great display of teamwork and determination. Excellent defensive play from Gabby Long in the circle put the pressure on the KCL shooters, giving LSE the opportunity to take numerous rebounds. In doing so we played the ball swiftly through court with sharp attacking drives from Kerry Goodleff upping the intensity of the attack. Despite being up against an enthusiastic op-

ponent, the impressive accuracy and composure of our latest acquisition ‘7 foot’ (not really) GS, Maisie Simmonds saw LSE continue to pull away with a halftime score of 20-9.

Why LSE 1sts have had such a great season so far was apparent throughout the third quarter with strong performances from every player on court. Eve Turner, our ‘flailing’ WD worked tirelessly, continuing to turn over balls and give us opportunities despite some questionable decisions from the umpires and a personal, and slightly threatening warning to “watch it.”

Once LSE had found our momentum nothing could stop us.

In the final quarter, fitness really shone through as we continued to play to a high standard and kept control of the game. Impeccable shooting from our GA and ‘top scorer’ Rosie ‘I LOVE NETBALL’ Dawson sealed the deal and we ended with a final score

of 40-15, with KCL facing a long walk back down to BUCS division 3A. A fitting end to what has been a great season for the 1sts.

While some of us may be hang-

ing up our purple dresses for the last time, with a fantastic new set of Freshers the 1sts will continue to take no prisoners, both on and off the court. Watch this space!

Chaos in Brixton as Harwood escapes from the Zoo! Molly Brien

You’ve probably heard the stories about a certain Zoo dweller circulating the rumour mill this week, and you’d have heard correctly. For the first time this year, the Netball IV girls were graced with the presence of the elusive Miss Ashleigh Harwood, taking a break from her ‘social’ netballing to brave a trip to Brixton for a match against RUMS V Team.

For those of you worried about how Ms Harwood’s wellbeing, concerned about how she would cope away from her natural habitat, fear not, for her minder, the lovely Louise Capon was on hand to assist with the transition from club to court.

[Disclaimer: No Harwoods were harmed in Wednesday’s IV Team Netball Match] Playing on a Wednesday afternoon is somewhat unchar-

tered territory for the fourth team, who are far more accustomed to spending the entire day on the roof terrace of Albany Street, preparing for the night ahead. However, the sun was shining and Brixton really isn’t that much of a hell-hole when you see it in the daytime!

Taking to the court, Harwood exhibited fiery determination throughout- earning her stripes as a true IV team gal, never shying away from the tenacious UCL medics. Despite a few early wobbles and a relative lack of experience in her newfound terrain (we all know how experienced she is in Zoo Bar), Ashleigh’s efforts and perseverance were very much welcomed, and contributed to a lively and action-packed performance by the whole team.

Our ‘fiery’ nature and tenacity was also brilliantly exhibited by pint-sized Billie Selby, who

found herself being put into the ‘sin-bin’- unchartered territory for the angelic IV Team - for reasons we are still unsure of.

Seven minutes later, she was able to return to the court, with the opposition Centre taking the full force of her frustration, in a series of fantastic interceptions and challenges.

Despite our best efforts, we were unable to come away with the score in our favour, however the RUMS girls knew that they had played a tough match, and were lucky to come out of it relatively unscathed. Player of the Match went to Alex Walsh for her untiring energy and commitment through to the final whistle.

All in all, it was a fantastic day for the team, washed down with cider and cake in the sun at the Captain’s HQ, before Tuns and, yes, you’ve guessed it, ZOO BAR!

Captain Alice Thompson (left) welcomes Ashleigh Harwood (right) into the world of actual netball. The kind with a ball, and a court, and opposition. Scary.

Sorry 6s Suffer Yet Another Defeat...

Saran Richards

Just when we all that that it really could not get worse for the sixth team. It did. Royal Veterinary College’s third team (they only have three) destroyed LSE’s sixth team with an unbelievable final score of 96-3.

With RVC encouraging each other to ‘get to 50’ and ‘make it to 70’, the sixth team’s captain Katie James took a realistic approach by begging her team to ‘make it to 3’. Katie’s continuous faith in the girls certainly kept

their spirits up and made the match an enjoyable one, despite the ridiculous final score.

Louise Capon was her usual enthusiastic self, making sure she made herself available to receive the ball at every possible point. Her determination proved key to securing those three goals, despite checking with her opposition if they ‘study vets’.

The woman of the match award was awarded to the excellent Center, Joanne Bywater. In what can only be described as a tragic match, Joanne managed

to maintain her optimism to the bitter end and ensured that her teammates had the best chance of getting their hands on that alien ball.

Making her debut for this year, Sonia displayed some impressive shooting skills and scored two out of the final three goals. It must be noted that Sonia’s refusal to cave to her towering Goal Keeper was nothing short of heroic and encouraged the rest of the team to follow suit.

Perhaps the team’s Wing At-

tack, Nikita Mirchandani, managed to sum the match up pretty neatly when she panicked and yelled, ‘I don’t know anything about this game!’. The final score certainly suggests that this was the case.

Clearly winning matches is not the girls’ forte. (Sports Ed. You don’t say?) However, it will take a lot more than an absolute thrashing from RVC to affect their incredible team spirit and their positive, enthusiastic attitude, on and off the netball courts.

CALLING ALL CRICKETERS

Are you interested in a potential Students v Staff pre-season friendly at Berrylands in late April?

Would you like to play for the LSE Staff team in London throughout the season on Wednesday afternoons?

CONTACT: P.CROWE@ LSE.AC.UK