811

‘Asking for a flat out rent freeze is a stupid policy’

The Best Coffee Around Campus

C&W Officer Anneessa Mahmood investigates the pricing of LSE Halls

PartB p. 15

No To Rape Apology: Why George Galloway should not be speaking at LSESU

Beaver

The

News - Special Report p. 6

Opinion p. 8

FREE

Tuesday March 18 2014 | www.thebeaveronline.com | No. 811

Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union

Women’s Library @LSE Opens

THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS welcomed the opening of the Women’s Library @ LSE. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday to open the reading room on the fourth floor of the Library; Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights opened the room.

In a meeting with the Beaver, Elizabeth Chapman, Director of the British Library of Political and Economic Science, discussed the collection and what it means for the library and the LSE as an institution.

The collection was described as particularly unique in the way that it is complemented by existing collections, especially the Liberal Party Archives.

Visitors to the library will now have the opportunity compare sources from suffragettes petitioning for the vote, and the internal governmental documents discussing the denial of their franchise. The collection is composed of books, journals and digital archives as well as several museum pieces such as badges and banners.

The existence of the collection dates back to the 1920s, which is, according to Chapman, “remarkably modern history... We must think about the new wave of feminism,” she elaborated. “If we don’t collect what is happening now, how will people be able to research it in the future? We want to be able to collect the lives of young women.”

As the “oldest and most extensive collection of women’s history in Europe” Chapman suggested that “in one sense we are lucky to have it, but it is right to have it at the LSE,” as it complements existing materials and propels the university as a progressive institution.

Chapman also discussed the development of “Women’s Walks” a mobile app detailing walks starting from the LSE campus that take the user

through London on tours to places relevant to women’s history. The app is being funded by Arts Council, the first time the Council has funded a development at LSE and will bring up digital archives from the Library’s collection. It is currently undergoing beta testing and will be released later this year.

To commemorate the opening, the LSESU Feminist Society recreated the iconic image of the Suffragette movement passing by what is now the Towers on Clement’s Inn, and was formerly the headquarters of the Women’s Social and Political Union. President of the LSESU Feminist Society, Sally Bonsall, highlighted the historic connection of the LSE with the movement to obtain suffrage, and explained the thinking behind their tribute. “Thankfully, women have the right to vote in the UK nowadays, but there’s still work to be done. So, FemSoc decided to highlight fair representation for women in the media and positions of power. It was really cool to pay tribute to women who have gone before us to fight for our rights.”

Imogen Young, LSESU Women’s Officer, told the Beaver “the Women’s Library is a fantastic facility and a testament to the brilliant work of those who work at LSE library. As LSESU Women’s Officer, I am very proud that LSE is home to such a phenomenal collection, and hope that it not only ensures that the efforts of the women documented are not forgotten, but may also act to inspire the voices of tomorrow.”

There were reports of a planned protest from the Save the Women’s Library Campaign due to their concerns regarding the “accessibility to the collection,” but these protests did not hinder the opening ceremonies.

An exhibition space and teaching room for the new collection will be opened later in 2014. The new 40 seat Reading Room will be open to students and the wider public from 31 March 2014.

LSESU FEMINIST SOCIETY

Sophie Donszelmann, News Editor

The 40-seat Women’s Library @ LSE Reading Room is the newest academic research facility on campus, on the fourth floor of LSE Library.

It was founded in 1926 as the Library of the London Society for Women’s Service, a non-militant organisation led by leading suffragist Millicent Fawcett.

LSE LIBRARY

The collection includes • 60,000 books and pamphlets • 3,000 periodical titles.

• 500 archives • 5,000 museum objects

From top: LSESU Feminist Society March, the original suffragette march, the 40-seat Reading Room, guest speaker Mary Robinson and LSE Library Director Liz Chapman open the Reading Room.

Pavement Perspective Wins Funding Sophia Crabbe-Field, Staff Writer

A THIRD YEAR LAW STUDENT at LSE, Frankie Bennett recalls her initial surprise at the number of homeless people she noticed upon her initial arrival in London.

During her first couple of years in the city, she observed the problem worsening along with the economic climate. Through various conversations with the frontline staff working with homeless people across the city, Frankie was inspired to make a short film on the issue, aptly titled the Pavement Perspective. The film was produced in the hope of shedding a more personal light on the problem, by detailing the stories of individual homeless people living in London. This past Monday, Frankie and her collaborators announced that they were the recipients of the IdeasTap Innovators Fund Award.

According to Bennett, “the first aim of the project is try and combat mass desensitization towards those living on the street, through personal stories.’ The second goal of the project is to highlight the fact that ‘statistics don’t work and people aren’t pulled into an issue nor sparked to take action about an issue when they just get statistics.’ The result of this is focus is that we tend to group all homeless people into one narrative, a problematic misconception. As Bennett added, ‘there is no typical one homeless person, there is no one story, there are no trends.’

With each screening of the film, the project has tried to compel viewers into four main ‘actions’.

The first Frankie describes as ‘acknowledgement’, something she says is often complicated by our misconceptions, such as the commonly held stereotype that all homeless people are to be found begging on street corners.

In many cases, a person’s lack of residence is in fact more conspicuous than we imagine. As she explains, ‘not all people who beg are homeless and, equally, not all homeless people beg.’

Bennett does not yet know exactly how the project’s new funds would be used, but said that their focus will most likely be on furthering the project’s campaigning efforts.

Union Bashō UGM may have been short-sighted: Galloway coming?

We voted down No Platform...

Oh what have we done?

Limbo approaches: Learning is over.

Too long before exams start.

Allow revision.

Nostalgia descends:

Last Beaver ever, For Editor who must leave.

Too emotional.

Bashō is the Beaver’s haiku poet. Some say he graduated years ago but still has a key to the Media Group office because he’s friends with the security guard, and that LSE Conferences won’t allow him to book a room for his elections because his lair is in fact a room that they gave him to hold a Poetry Society AGM in 1997.

Beaver Elections, Collective Meeting and Awards!

Collective members, please do your electoral duties: Turn to page 20 for the manifestos for our upcoming elections and the shortlist for the Beaver Awards 2013-14.

Hustings will be held TONIGHT (Tuesday March 18th) but we’re not quite sure where yet - keep an eye on your emails and our Facebook event!

Voting will then take place online for 24 hours, and results will be announced on Thursday morning. If you can’t vote and think you should be able to, email l.a.burley@lse. ac.uk!

TheBeaver

Established in 1949 Issue No. 811 - Tuesday March 18 2014 - tinyurl.com/beaver811 Telephone: 0207 955 6705 Email: editor@thebeaveronline.co.uk Website: www.thebeaveronline.com Twitter: @beaveronline

Beaver and Out...

Another long weekend. Another takeaway pizza. Another late night, and another rushed editorial. Does the knowledge that this is the last make it harder, ramping up the pressure to write something pithy and memorable? Or is the impending relief driving me to just scribble 250 words of nonsense, shut the laptop and try to grab six hours sleep before I have to go back to the office? I guess you’ll have to be the judge of that.

Let’s get the soppy stuff out of the way first.

This paper has been my life for the past four months, since I took over from Chris, who’s life it was before.

Firstly, I want to thank him publicly for putting in all the hard work of budgeting, managing and redesigning the paper; I was lucky to take over and be able to build from a strong platform.

Secondly, I owe a huge debt of gratitude and several rounds of drinks to Josh and the rest of the Editorial Board who have supported me tirelessly, deputised ably when I managed to find even more of a vanity project by standing for election, and only took the piss fairly gently when I lost.

Thirdly, thanks to everyone who has supported them by contributing, whether once or weekly; your efforts have made my job worthwhile.

Fourthly, thanks to the SU, without whom, ultimately, the paper wouldn’t exist; we may not

have seen eye-to-eye on everything but we managed not to look past each other.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, thank you to all of you who have read the paper every week, and particularly to those (few) of you who read my editorials…

I have complained, loudly and often, about the pressures of this job, the time commitments required and the responsibility and all the rest of it. I stand by all of it, but I also have to take this opportunity to clarify that it has all been worth it. I have taken more from twelve issues of The Beaver than I have from twelve LSE modules, and that is in no way a comment on the History department. The process of putting a paper together from scratch over a weekend and seeing the fruits of that labour in actual paper form on Tuesday is immensely rewarding, and if that sounds incredibly vacuous and sickly (it does but I’ve spent 20 minutes trying to think of an alternative way to phrase it and drawn a blank), I can only apologise.

In short, I’ve loved being editor and I wish I didn’t have to move on. I hope my successor finds it similarly rewarding, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed my efforts as much as I have.

Ok, that was all soppy, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that writing a proper editorial every week is hard. Sadly, I’ve run out of chances to practice.

DENNIS MOONEY

And our little life is rounded with a sleep

Instead of telling you how it ends, let me tell you how it all began.

My involvement with this esteemed paper began with my first submission: a predictably pretentious theatre review of a play called Love and Information, written by Caryl Churchill and performed at the Royal Court. Essentially, the piece was about how we are bombarded with so much information from multiple technological apparatuses, that at the point of reception none of them emotionally registers.

Flashforward to today, and that statement still holds true. Living in an age where data is easily accessible though a few clicks on website links, we seem to know more but feel less. In making sense of the world and forming our normative moral judgement, we are forced to rely on representation: Syrian civil war deaths abstracted into statistics, Arab spring crystallised into tweets, and Ukrainian revolution distilled into a series of photographs. While this reductive approach is no doubt inevitable, one cannot deny a certain arrogance in this pretension to knowledge. Not only do we pretend to know more than people who are physically there, but we also dare to think we should have a say in matters for which any tangible impact to our own well-being is likely to be at best minimal.

All these views regurgitated from the interpretation of others, all from the comfort of firstworld platform.

However, this reliance on representation in making judgement is also detrimental in a context closer to home. Having edited the paper during one of the most emotionally involved SU election in recent memory, one cannot help but notice that much of the generated animosity between various camps largely stemmed from caricaturisation. As such, it can sometimes be a little disheartening when someone has decided in their mind that they know what kind of person you really are, even disliking you for it, despite not having had any substantial conversation with you at all.

And then there are people who intentionally turn themselves into simplified representations out of political necessity. There can be power and unity in the emphasis on a single common aspect of one’s identity, evident in the success-

es of various liberation movements throughout history, whether based on gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or others. However, one must recognise the limit of this. As the LGBT movement has come to realise recently, any further addition of acronymous sub-group is hardly a viable long-term solution, as no amount of letters can accurately and comprehensively represent the fluid, multifaceted, and fundamentally unstable quality of human sexuality.

In this sense, the LSESU BME (Black, and Minority Ethnic) Officer, the creation of which will be proposed in the upcoming UGM, is radical in the sense that the community which it represents defines itself not as what it is, but what it is not. If passed, the position will use the Institute of Race Relations’ definition of term, which states that BME consists of being of ‘nonwhite descent’, and also that ‘other groups who feel they are historically oppressed and face institutional barriers in society based on ethnicity may also self-define’. While the inclusive spirit of this definition is much applauded, great effort needs to be made by the officer in question to clarify the acronym. For example, a person of Chinese, Native American, or Irish Travellers descent may not intuitively consider herself to be ‘Black’, and thus needs to be informed that the term was indeed designed to accommodate the ethnicity of which she is a part.

All kinds of discrimination - racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, Islamphobia, antisemitism etc. – derive from the inability or unwilliness to empathise; a dehumanising line is drawn between ‘us’ and ‘them’, creating a mental dichotomy where none formerly existed. Thus a cure for this is a kind of connection, one that allows us to transcend the illusion of discrete selves. As such, words, despite their nature as reductive representation, function as one of many ways to facilitate that, bridging the gap between subject and object. And I hope, in my time as editor, that I have done more good than harm in that regard.

As to my successor, whoever that may be, all I can say is: ‘now it’s your turn’. This paper is nothing but a platform; use it well.

JOSH JINRUANG

Beaver

The

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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

Online Editor Martha Petrocheilos

web@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Advertising Manager Hayley Fenton

ads@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Collective Chair Liam Hill

collective@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The Collective:

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 Hulm, 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 Tighe, 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 Babarinde, 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 Parida, K Pezeshki, K Quinn, K Rogers, L Hill, L Kang, L Kendall, L Mai, L Montebello, L Weigold, M Akram, M Banjeree-Palmer, M Brien, M Crockett, M Gallo, M Harrath, M Jaganmohan, M Johnson, M Malik, 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 Beland, S Crabbe-Field, S Donszelmann, S Hang Low, S Kunovska, S Parmar, S Sebatindira, S Thandi, T Barnes, T Maksymiw, T Meaden, T Mushtaq, T Poole, V Harrold, V Hui, W Duffield

If you do not appear on this list and have written three or more articles, please email: collective@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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Beaver

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Tuesday March 18 2014

News

In conversation with “Money Saving Expert” Martin Lewis Liam Hill

TO CELEBRATE THE OPENING on the Saw Swee Hock student centre, LSE and the Students’ Union have organised a series of events involving LSE alumni. The latest in this series consisted of a discussion with Martin Lewis, journalist and creator of moneysavingexpert.com, a site which offers money saving advice to consumers and makes available template letters for reclaiming money. Lewis studied Government and Law at LSE in the early nineties, and was the Students’ Union’s General Secretary from 1994 to 1995.

The event was hosted by LSE’s Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics, who began by praising the Saw Swee Hock student centre and thanking those whose generosity allowed for the new building’s completion.

Professor Barr praised Martin Lewis’ “passion for the underdog” and called him a “marvellous representative of LSE values.”

Lewis, now a Governor of the LSE, described how the Union General Meeting used to took place during his time

at LSE, especially how much paper-throwing used to take place, that “seven black bags of paper” were picked up after his speech at General Secretary hustings. He also explained that where people sat depended on their importance and their political views.

Asked by Professor Barr about his proudest achievements, Martin Lewis cited the success of his campaign against the old regime of bank charges, which most banks have reformed in recent years. Lewis said that bank charges “maliciously designed to entrap” consumers.

Lewis also brought up his campaign since 2006 over mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), which he called “the true quantitative easing in this country” as well as “a fraud”. “I do think a good chunk of economic recovery is down to PPI,” he said. Furthermore, Lewis mentioned up Card Protection Payments (CPP) and council tax reclaiming, other campaigns which he has spearheaded. CPP, “an insurance policy that didn’t cover you for anything,” he said, could be worth £1.3

billion in redress to claimants.

Lewis also referenced his campaign for financial education, which will soon make it onto the national curriculum. He described financial education as “the biggest change that we can have to our society,” and attacked the “middle class… snobbery” of those who oppose financial education on the grounds that parents should be responsible for the financial education of their children.

Lewis described what he believes is a “mortgage ticking time bomb” in Britain.

He criticized the government’s Help to Buy policy.

“It staggers me we’re encouraging people to buy houses with only five per cent deposits,” he said. A lower base rate has led to higher marginal interest rates on mortgages, he said, and predicted that within a few years people could see the interest on their mortgage repayments reach eight per cent. He warned, “economic recovery will be great unless it’s killed by the fact that we’re going to have a nation in mortgage arrears and under repos-

LSE research: recessions increase racial prejudice Marine Strauss, Deputy News Ed.

RECESSIONS INCREASE racial prejudice and inequality in the UK, according to new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). In periods of high unemployment, more people recognized being racially discriminated against and ethnic minorities disproportionately suffering in the job market.

Dr. David Johnston and Dr. Grace Lordan, from the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, argued that racial employment and wage gaps increase with unemployment and that recessions exacerbate existing racial inequalities.

In their article, When work disappears: racial prejudice and recession labour market penalties, the authors investigated self-reported prejudice data over 27 years, using British Attitudes Data.

They found that the proportion of people who felt “ a little prejudiced” increased slightly in times of higher unemployment.

According to the research, self-reported prejudice increased particularly during recessions among the highly educated, full-time employed, middle-aged white men. This group, most likely

to be managers or employers in the work place, showed the greatest increase in self-reported prejudice. For them, a one-percentage point increase in unemployment leads to a raise in selfreported prejudice of 4.1 percentage points.

The research also finds that highly educated population is less likely to express racial prejudice than others.

This also concerns white females, where an increase of four percentage point in unemployment leads to an eight percentage points increase in racial prejudice.

“During a recession people who are normally in secure, well-paid jobs suddenly find their position under threat. Our study suggests that this increased insecurity may turn into an increase in prejudice towards ‘others’ who could be perceived as competitors.” According to Dr. Lordan, also a lecturer in health economics at the LSE. The paper also suggests that this growth may lead to greater social and economic inequalities for ethnic minorities. With the British Labour Force Survey, the authors found that racial employment and wage gaps increase with unemployment.

As a result, the effects for wages and employment are

greatest for highly skilled Black workers. For example, the authors found that a onepercentage point increase in unemployment “increases Black-White employment and wage gaps for the highly educated by 1.3 and 2.5 percentage points.

These results imply that non-White individuals disproportionately suffer during recessions, in terms of lower incomes and fewer job prospects.

In conclusion, the researchers argued that attitude changes and labour market results support their hypothesis that increased labour market competition between racial groups in times of economic uncertainty and job scarcity drives racial prejudice, among other elements.

They added “policy makers need to be mindful of how recessions can disproportionately penalise minority individuals and should develop policies to avoid these harmful effects in the future. As well as lowering the standards of living and wellbeing generally, recessions disproportionately harm Black and other ethnic minority communities, who are less likely to be employed or fairly paid at the baseline.”

sessions because they cannot pay their housing bills, and we will soon straight be back in bust.”

His future campaigns, he said, would include a drive to support people with mental health problems who get into debt. 49 per cent of people with mental health problems, he said, have had crisis debts, compared to nine per cent of the general population.

Lewis was not modest about his achievements. “My

website, not me, has been one of the greatest causes of social change in the last ten years,” he said. The event was well-received and Lewis was in much demand from audience members after the conversation had finished.

Next week: on the 20th of March, LSESU will host ‘In Conversation with David Finkelstein’, in which General Secretary Jay Stoll will interview Times columnist, Baron and LSE alum.

Martin Lewis during his time at LSE, taken from Beaver archives: Issue 405

Tuesday March 18 2013

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Beaver

News Visual Arts Launch Party SPICE’s Economic Forum for India Camilla Naschert

The exhibition, which can be admired in the Atrium in the Old Building from April 28, features art by LSE students and ranges from modern art to sketches and photography.

This year marks the third year in which the Visual Arts society gives students the chance to display their artistic talent in an exposition format. The project and the launch event were sponsored by the LSE Annual Fund.

Attendees at Monday’s event caught a sneak peek at some of the artworks, and were deeply impressed by the creative talent around the LSE. The sleek ambiance of the Venue proved to be the perfect display for the students’ art, and the atmosphere was buzzing.

The performances of sev-

enchanted the audience with their remarkable talent, performances including some of their own arrangements. Groups of LSE Music Society members also performed contemporary music, adding to the relaxed vibe of the event.

The Visual Arts Society also invited a portraitist, so that those who wanted could even take home an arty souvenir.

Visual Arts president Sonia Wang was happy with the outcome of the event, explaining that improved marketing proved successful in arranging an even bigger event than in previous years. Overall, the evening was inspiring and entertaining, as well as an anticipation booster for the official exhibition coming up in late April.

Kanan Parida

For the first time since its conception, the LSESU’s SPICE society organised the Economic Forum for India at LSE 2014, (EFIL) a multidisciplinary approach to India-centric economic growth.

EFIL was inaugurated by Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Ranjan Mathai who lauded FDI into India in comparison with China and proclaimed, “India must be doing something right”. He went on to point out that issues such as corruption, unequal distribution, etc are key places where India needs to do right.

Followed by the Inauguration, Infrastructure Nasser Munjee gave the opening keynote address talking about the need to cut through India’s system by proposing the establishment of an infrastructure commission. This was followed by a panel based on entrepreneurship in India.

Distinguished experts like Chairman and Founder of Cobra Beer, Lord Karan Bilimoria, Dr. Akil Khan, Dr. Devi Shetty and Mr. Pankaj Chaddah (founder of Zomato.com) all contributed to a heated discussion on encouraging entrepreneurship.

Then followed a panel discussion on ‘Growth and Finance’ with Mr. Deepak Lalwani as the moderator

EFIL

SONIA WANG

On Monday March 10, the LSESU Visual Arts Society, hosted a launch party in the new Student Centre Venue to christen this year’s Visual Arts exhibition.

eral LSESU societies also contributed greatly to the memorable and enjoyable evening. The Swing dance group and Salsa Society showed off their impressive choreographies and the LSE’s very own accapella ensemble The Houghtones

and distinguished speakers from India such as law firm partner Mr. Saurabh Bhasin, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s Legal head Mr. J. Ranganayakulu, Mr. Sameer Kaushal and Mr. Akhil Bhardwaj. Engaging with the audience, the panel was unanimous in saying that doing business is made difficult in India and policy must focus on creating a more conducive environment.

Lunch followed by an SPICE’s own mirch masala, an interview with the Bollywood actor Mr. Abhishek Bachchan who was in conversation with Professor Daya Thussu. While starting with the actor’s career and preparation for his diverse roles, the conversation soon took an economic turn and the actor was asked about the “Indian-ness” of Bollywood when it comes to foreign investment and

SONIA WANG

EFIL

the increasing corporatisation of the film industry.

With Bachchan as the keynote speaker, the audience broke out into laughter.

Next was a panel on ‘Elections and Politics’, significant considering that the Indian General Elections are due to happen next month. Moderated by Dr. Mukulika Banerjee from Department of Anthropology, LSE, the panel consisted of Lord Meghnad Desai, Mr. Shantanu Bhagwat (ex-AAP Party), Mr. Sandeep Gupta and Professor Sumantra Bose of LSE. The general theme revolved around the views on prime ministerial candidates, inter-party democracy and difficulties in joining and participating in politics in India.

Air Chief Marshal (Retired) Anil Tipnis gave the closing keynote on ‘Defence Perspectives on India’s future’ chaired by Professor Sumantra Bose. ACM Tipnis talked both from his perspective as a retired officer and his experience in the field during the Kargil War (between India and Pakistan in 1999).

An engaging conference, SPICE intends to make it an annual affair. As Director of Content, Prachi Johri propounds, “SPICE has quite a challenge to match up the standard they have set for themselves. We hope to make EFIL bigger and better in the future.”

Women’s Library opens, lower ground library desks removed James Evans, Deputy News Editor

LSE STUDENTS were outraged to discover that over 50 per cent of the lower ground seating area was emptied of desks, chairs, beanbags and computers for the upcoming opening of the Women’s Library on the 11th March. Those wanting to work in the library to complete imminent deadlines for coursework, dissertations and final assessments discovered on Wednesday that the majority of the lower ground area was cornered off.

The reason behind the

disruption was for an event which would declare the opening of the women’s library which intends to “document all aspects of women’s lives, with a particular emphasis on the lives of women in the UK…” Prior to the closure of the vital study space the Library did offer a discreet statement explaining the disruption. Speaking on the Student Union website they said: “The work to clear the space for the Women’s Library opening event has started today [Tuesday 11th] due to the amount of work that needs to be com-

pleted in time for the event on Wednesday.” They went on to recommend accessing PCs in the new Saw Swee Hock building; however this did not go down well for students.

David Schofield, a second year Economic History Student expressed anger at this statement: “it’s kind of them to remind us about the new student centre; it’s a pity they didn’t think to use this vast space themselves when planning for this inconvenient ribbon cutting ceremony…”

These disgruntled sentiments continued. Richard

Clifford, a History and IR student said: “This is typical LSE putting students last, of all the huge spaces they have available to them, they chose to conduct this ceremony in the middle of our only real working space.”

But the Library did insist that their actions will benefit the student body in the long run: “The Library is working hard to secure more space for study within the Library building, particularly spaces with access control for LSE only. The opening of the Women’s Library Reading Room on floor 4 is an important first

step, and I hope will demonstrate the quality of new spaces that could be created in the Library” The opening of the highly anticipated women’s library, which will hold over 60,000 books, pamphlets and 3,000 periodical titles, may have beeen somewhat overshadowed in the eyes of students by these interruptions. On Friday 14th March, the lower ground study space was still not operational, anonymous library sources told the Beaver that they were very aware of the irritation caused.

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Tuesday March 18 2013

News

Saw Swee hot or Saw Swee not?

Megan Crockett and Shu Hang Low

THE 6th JANUARY 2014 marked the opening of the new Students’ Union (SU) building, the Saw Swee Hock, at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). Critics called the building “richly considered and finished”, “eccentric and deeply satisfying”,

“fantastically individual” and “a fold-out marvel [and] lesson in architectural origami”. Despite such positive comments from different newspapers and journals, the same cannot be said of some of the opinions around campus.

The Beaver carried out a survey to get to the bottom of LSE students’ thoughts towards their new building; the results were a mixed bag. Stu-

dents had plenty of positive comments about the Saw Swee Hock, “It’s unique to the LSE, not corporate … it feels like a Students’ building” one student told The Beaver. In addition, it seemed to be common opinion that the building has bought “more spaces to work”, which is extremely important, as study space across campus is tight.

The design of the building

has also been rated by many students; one said they liked the “striking nature and appearance of the building” with many others citing the “modern design” as one aspect of the building that they liked.

However, this opinion does not seem to be unanimous among students; many suggested that the design has caused “a ton of wasted space”. There has also been concern raised about the

“glass windows” in the counselling rooms as many think it does not provide the privacy one may want when they are attending counselling sessions.

Another concern that was raised on more than one occasion is the fact that students are unable to eat their own food in the Denning Learning Café and Weston Café. It is important to note students are allowed to eat food they have bought from home, such as a packed lunch, but not food bought from other food outlets, like the many on the Aldwych. The price of food in these cafés is also up for debate, as one student pointed out “a Twix is 95p [in the Saw Swee Hock] yet a Twix extra is 75p in the SU shop”.

The survey also asked students to rate certain aspects of the building and their experience with it so far. Perhaps the area of biggest contention is the “constant fire alarms”; so well known that the “fire alarm technician” was voted to be gunged in Raising and Giving’s “Get your own back”.

The fire alarms, along with the Saucy cancellations, leaking roofs and broken lifts were deemed “teething problems” by fifty three per cent of survey responses while sixteen per cent suggested these are not problems at all. This provides some consolation to the SU whose first few weeks in the building was somewhat of a bumpy ride.

Seventeen per cent of those who responded to the survey suggested that the new building has made “no difference to [them] and [their] time at the LSE” while six per cent suggested their “student experience is very much improved” by the new building. Once again, the results were extremely varied with many students suggesting they are indifferent to the new building.

Forty two per cent of students said that the building’s environmental rating is very important to them; this is inline with the aim to achieve a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology “outstanding” rating for the building.

There is a reclaimed water system that collects water from the recycled rainwater and grey water drainage system.

This serves the toilet cisterns, watering points, irrigation system and Plantroom wash down to reduce mains water usage.

The survey also asked students to rate the new Three Tuns and the gym facilities from one to ten. Thirty four per cent of those who answered the survey rated the gym facilities at a mediocre five. Fifty four per cent of those who answered the survey rated the new Three Tuns at five or below, with many people suggesting that it is “not as big as it used to be” with a “lack of seating”.

It is clear from the survey that students’ opinions about the Saw Swee Hock differ hugely. Despite some initial teething problems, and concerns about the lack of space throughout the building it is hard to refute that many students are, similar to the critics, impressed with the Saw Swee Hock. However, it seems the transition to a smaller Three Tuns and lack of “affordable” food will remain a point of contention with those on campus.

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News Andrea Lobata Meeser

LSE Celebrates Mexico Week and honored for being the creator and biggest supporter of Mexico Week. Professor Philip has taught and mentored over 30 generations of Mexicans at the LSE, he has been a great example and a friend of Mexico.

During the framework of Mexico Week the LSE signed an agreement with the Tec de Monterrey (ITESM). The LSE and the ITESM will collaborate in a program starting this summer, June 2014 to bring Mexican students to the LSE and have an intensive week in the subject of Energy Policy. This is a major opportunity for both institutions that in the future will be able to trigger higher collaboration in both academics and research.

This year the event was a huge success, and will set a bar high for next year’s Mexican Week that will be during the framework of the year of Mexico in the UK and the year of UK in Mex-

Speaker and students at LSE Mexico Week 2014 LSE MEXICO SOCIETY

The 15th edition OF Mexico Week was celebrated at the LSE on March 11, 12 and 13. “Let’s talk about politics and policies in Mexico” brought Mexican LSE alumni, academics and public officials for three days of talks witch highlighted the most current issues facing Mexico.

An impressive list of speakers lectured during seven panels on topics such as Economic Policies and Public Finances, Electoral Issues and Reform, Political Values, Political Communication, Security, Congress, and International Challenges. As a celebration to Mexican culture, British Photographer Anna Bruce set up the exhibition The Narrative of Mezcal. Keynote speaker OECD Secretary General, Jose Angel Gurria explained his point of view in the Economy and Development in Mexico stressing

that “Reform has to be a state of mind”, he celebrated the current Reforms that the country has undergone, nevertheless highlighting that the job is only halfway done; now the challenge is to implement the Reforms and continue on that innovative path. At the closure Ambassador to Mexico in the United Kingdom Diego Gomez Pickering talked about the great opportunities facing Mexico in becoming an economic and cultural leader in the region and Mexico’s image in the world.

As it is now tradition Mexico Week was organized by the visiting fellow of the Government Department, Yolanda Meyenberg and the LSE SU Mexican Student Society with the support of the Government Department, LSE Public Events, LSE Enterprise, LSE Alumni, and the Mexican Embassy. Professor George Philip was celebrated

TOP Gabriel Farfan, Karla Pedraza, Fernando Guerrero, Yolanda Meyenberg, Reyes Rodriguez, Amalia Garcia, Jorge Buendia.

BOTTOM Susana Berruecos, Enrique Diaz-Infante, Elvia Villareal, Andrea Lobato Meeser. ico. On each edition more and more LSE students have gotten involved, not only Mexican but from the entire student body,

and surely next year Mexico Week will continue this tradition that has been so important for Mexico and the LSE.

LSE Halls Rent Increases: What’s the story?

A Special Report by Community and Welfare Officer Anneessa

Residences User Group is a forum where halls representatives, wardens, LSE Residences and other departments in the School meet to act upon feedback from halls reps. In my last meeting there, the room was told that halls fees would rise at 3% from last year. We were told that this was “slightly lower” than most years’ increases. We were also told that because of our relationships with third party providers, Kings Cross Urbanest, Lillian Knowles and the University of London halls fees increases are decided either by nominations agreements or contracts at the time of tender so contain agreed inflators. We have no say over the rent increases there.

So, how does the School set our rent rates for LSE controlled halls? Is it a fair process? Are affordability and value for money at the heart of this decision making process alongside financial viability?

The residences are a ring fenced operation which means the cost of running them must come from the income they generate. (Broadly speaking, the School does not make a profit from its halls of residence.)

The summer vacation operations (where the hall operates as a hotel) in some halls subsidises prices for LSE students during term time.

In order to keep LSE halls at a decent standard, regular maintenance and refurbishment is required.

With costs of refurbishment rising, increased pressures on bed spaces and not having to close a hall for a year, refurbishment must be incremental. In High Holborn, the School are refurbishing one floor (300 rooms) a year, so some students would be moved into these new rooms at no extra cost over Christmas. From this, I gathered that maintenance of halls was a priority and needed to be paid for.

Additionally, each individual residence needs to be self-financing over a 10 year period. Not every hall is self-financing. Carr Saunders and Passfield operate at a loss, Roseberry just about breaks even and Butlers Wharf operates at a loss. Passfield is the only hall the School have given permission to run at a deficit. In next years budget, the School may be proposing a £6 million spend on refurbishment, IT maintenance and lift maintenance.

My next question was about the range of accommodation offers. Do students really have a choice in paying rent they can afford or are students limited to only being able to choose the pricier ones? The most expensive room at £246.40, (excluding Gros-

venor House studios and any double rooms) is a single room at High Holborn Residence which is a self-catered hall. It’s not hard to see why the general perception is that LSE halls are too expensive and certain students are unable to take up LSE’s accommodation offer. However, the School has found that demand for halls with the highest end spec is 6 requests for every bed. This didn’t match my experience of students saying they can’t afford to live in LSE halls and do not want the high spec rooms.

After a while, I found out that a few years back, the central cluster of LSE halls rent prices went up much higher than the northen cluster. The northern cluster of LSE halls, the ones without en-suite bathrooms (Passfield, Carr-Saunders and Rosebery) are cheaper and offer 31 week contracts instead of 40 weeks. Typically, in these halls you could look to pay between £121.10 and £174.30 a week, meals included. This is how the School tries to cater to students who don’t want the most expensive rooms. My advice to students for whom budget is a big issue, is to put rent/affordability as the number one consideration when you apply for a hall place.

This of course, does not absolve anyone from the responsibility to ensure that LSE accommodation is affordable and good value for money. Residences management need to constantly look at value for money and ensure their cost remain competitive. Any new developments, nominations agreements, leases or third party partnerships should keep cost of living for students at the centre of the decision making process.

How does the LSE actually set rates? Prices are benchmarked against last years prices of similar offerings in other universities and hall providers. They try to make as many types of rooms as inexpensive as possible and are bounded by the policy that each hall should be self-financing. In previous years, there have been flat percentage rates increases across all types of rooms and halls which means that hall accommodation may have seen a larger increase than if each type of room/hall was judged independently.

This time around, LSE has taken each type of room in each hall independently which means that although the range of halls rents increases are from 2-6% next year, most (bar one or two) rents will increase 2-3% next year. A 2-3% increase is much lower than previous flat rate increases.

And where do students get an input into rate setting? Well, while halls reps are informed what the rates will be at the termly Residences User Group

Mahmood

meetings, they can’t really influence the process or the outcome. Sabbatical Officers may have sight of the proposal at finance committee (which is effectively rubber stamps proposals) but aren’t included in any discussions before the paper is taken to the committee. If they don’t agree they can dissent but that’s about it.

So, my conclusions are as follows: 1) LSE aren’t even attempting to make a profit from halls of residences. They just about manage to keep them open and up to standard.

2) Asking for a flat out rent freeze is a stupid policy.

It means that vital refurbishment and maintenance work would just not happen and the halls would eventually not be value for money.

3) The School is completely on the right track in working with the Union to provide more support to students looking for Private Accommodation 4) The School needs to tell students how, for example, £220.50 for a single en-suite room at Northumberland House (40 week contract) results in x% amount spent on maintenance, y% spent on food, z% spent on utilities etc. etc. I don’t think this can happen overnight but certainly something the School should seriously look at doing.

5) The School needs to communicate better its financial process and reasoning as well as allow Sabbatical Officers to the table at the rent setting/nominations agreement forming stage. It’s important in terms of transparency and also ensuring students interests are being represented where it counts.

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Tuesday March 18, 2014

Opinion

LSESU Needs A BME Officer

Rayhan Uddin

Anti-Racism Officer In the recent LSESU Lent term elections, students elected several full and part time officers.

Among the part time officers were three liberation officers: women’s, disabled students’, and LGBT. Only those who selfdefine as being members of these groups were able to run, and since passing the community voting motion, only they were able to vote for these liberation positions (though the fact that almost half the total turnout voted for an LGBT officer, when the LGBT Alliance has around 130 members, leads me to believe that the implementation of community voting needs to be far better).

All of this is great; LSESU has led the way on several liberation issues, and our part time liberation officers have done a fantastic job. However, many students have felt that one position has been agonisingly missing: that of a BME (Black and Ethnic Minority) officer.

The National Union of Students (NUS), the University of London Union (ULU), and the vast majority of Student Unions across the country have 4 liberation officers: women’s, disabled students, LGBT, and BME. How LSESU, one of the most progressive SUs in the country, has overlooked the

latter for all these years is something that has bewildered me throughout my time at LSE. While UCL has a full time paid BME Officer, we do not even have a voluntary part time one.

Many readers will be thinking right now “Oh, but we have an Anti-Racism Officer!”

We do indeed, but anti-racism and BME liberation are two very distinct things. The role of the Anti-Racism Officer is to “eliminate and counter all forms of discrimination based on race, religion or nationality”. The Anti-Racism officer accordingly runs awareness campaigns on issues such as Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, casual racism and other forms of discrimination, whilst also being a point of call for students who may be victims of racism. What the job description does not outline however, is tackling structural barriers that BME students may face.

For example, BME students have been vastly underrepresented in the LSE Students’ Union executive, and other elected positions. They are also underrepresented in academia: of the 18,500 professors in the UK in 2013, only 85 (0.4%) of those were from African and Caribbean background, despite people from African and Caribbean backgrounds making up 3.3% of UK population and 5.9% of the UK

student population. Another barrier faced by BME students is in the job market: an NUS study found that graduates with African sounding names were 25% less likely to get a job than their peers with British sounding names, while those with Asian names were 18% less likely. The list could go on. There are so many structural barriers faced by BME students in today’s society, many of which may not necessarily constitute “antiracism” per se.

While the anti-racism officer may choose to do some work on structural barriers, they are by no means constitutionally

obliged to. Surely, we cannot leave tackling such pressing issues down to the chance of whether the anti-racism officer feels like doing it. Even if they were constitutionally obligated, the workload would be too much for a voluntary part time officer. As the current Anti-Racism officer, working on awareness campaigns and dealing with individual cases throughout the year has taken up most of my time. Adding long-term work on BME representation and wider engagement to this would be a tough ask for a full time student. The roles of anti-racism and BME liberation are distinct, and it

makes sense on all fronts for both to exist in their own right within our Students Union.

The recent BME at LSE engagement group showed that self-defining BME students found our Students Union to be “cliquey”, “white” and “middle-class”, and SU elections to be dominated by “hacky inner circles”. The BME Officer would work to make our Students Union more inclusive, and ensure that concerns such as those brought up in the selfdefining focus groups are at the heart of decisions made by the SU executive. Just as women, LGBT students and disabled students are able to take control of their own liberation campaigns, BME students should be able to do the same.

The establishment of this position is not tokenistic. We are not just trying to tick a box to ensure that we have one BME person on the SU executive (indeed if we were to be truly representative of the student body, at least half the Exec should be BME). This position is all about the longterm work the officer will put in to ensure that over time the SU is more representative of BME students. Of that, there is a lot of work to be done. Help us overcome the first hurdle, by going online this Thursday and voting YES to introducing a BME Officer at LSESU.

tive group, how can we expect them to want to get involved in the future? If that said person had turned up to the Politics & Forum General Secretary debate this year, for example, and heard the chair ask the question “should the hacks be disbanded?”, rather than focus on policy, how can we reasonably expect them not to be put off?

The perceived dominance of the hacks is also deeply concerning for representation and inclusivity in our student union positions and the media group. The hacks are hardly a diverse club. Not a single woman comes to mind who would define themselves as one. Moreover, the most recent BME discussion group report on engagement reflected a perception that SU elections are dominated by an ‘in group’ which can put potential candi-

dates off.

As such, the pervading hack culture is damaging to the quality of our SU politics both in discourse and in practice. The people who really stood out for me last week were those who were truly passionate about their campaigns, who thoroughly thought out their manifestos and fervently gave the case for their policies at hustings and endorsement meetings alike. Yet many of these candidate were marginalised from the ‘inner circle’ of student politics and seemed to suffer the most as a result during election time. Many of these candidates did not identify as hacks or even know what the term meant. The hack culture is currently a barrier holding people back and that cannot be an acceptable state of affairs.

Hit The Road ‘Hack’

‘Hack’ culture is damaging to LSE student politics Katie Budd Houghton Street was said to be flooded with them. This newspaper was full of tributes to them. The back pages made in-jokes about them. The topic of their existence even entered the Gen Sec debate.

In short, the term ‘hack’ has been thrown around so much in the last few weeks that I might scream.

What exactly does hack mean? Very few people are able to pin it down. A self-proclaimed hack once defined the term to me as a person who is willing to give up their principles for power. That’s what a lot of student politics here seems to have become: power and political games over ideological principles. As far as I’m concerned, this hack culture optimises what is wrong with LSE student politics. Its

existence is no more apparent than during election time, with game playing, smear campaigning, pre-election horse trading and secret deal making in abundance.

“The hack culture is currently a barrier holding people back and that cannot be an acceptable state of affairs.”

I am by no means arguing that ‘hacky’ individuals, themselves, do not work extremely hard. Many care more about the future of the Students’ Union than anyone I know and make a huge contribution to life here. Instead, the prob-

lem is that the term ‘hack’ is reserved for a small, exclusive club who, as a collective, seem to see themselves as the king makers of student politics. The term is not used to describe individuals depending on the extent to which they are interested or involved in making LSE a better place. As a result, the self-congratulating use of the word ‘hack’ serves as a celebration of this political game playing.

In reality, the hacks alone do not hold a great deal of power within the student body.

The use of the word hack to describe this ‘in-group’, however, automatically and perhaps quite unintentionally puts off everyone else. Therein lies the issue; If the first impression of someone new to the world of student politics is that all power lies with this exclusive and unrepresenta-

Tuesday March 18, 2014

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Opinion

Say No To Rape Apology In Our Union

George Galloway should not have been invited to speak at the LSE Students’ Union Gabriel Everington

Environment & Ethics Officer This Wednesday, George Galloway MP will speak at an event organised by the LSE Students’ Union Politics and Forum Society. The event claims that the purpose of the talk is to address ‘what role should Britain play in Europe and across the world,’ but of course the subject is irrelevant. This is merely a disgraceful piece of political posturing by the society’s leaders.

In August 2012, Galloway claimed that ‘not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion,’ insisting that ‘it might be... bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape.’ Of course, that is in fact rape. Galloway is another man in the public eye who propagates myths about rape, and contributes to the pernicious rape culture that women (and also men, but predominantly women) have to contend with in this country.

His anti-intellectual ramblings and associations with repressive regimes and terrorist groups in the Middle East, not to mention the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which is recognised by the NUS as a racist organisation, have contributed to the British Left undermining the legitimate points it has to make on the situation in Palestine with anti-Semitic dross. A misogynist and a racist with little, if any insight into the (arbitrary) topic of discussion; just the sort of person we want speaking at our union.

It has also come to light that the Students’ Union will be paying for Galloway’s ‘security.’ In so doing all the

SU does is pander to a rape apologist while implicitly condemning its own members.

As if an alienating, potentially triggering event like this weren’t enough, survivors and protestors will now be intimidated by security heavies. On the Union’s dollar.

Whether they realise it or not, Politics and Forum are helping to perpetuate rape culture, and they are doing so just to score what they see as easy political points.

The clueless, patronising response they gave to protests on social media alluded to the ‘no platform’ policy that was debated by the UGM in Michaelmas term, underscoring how this is a cheap, clumsy attempt to make some ill-defined point about supposed freedom of speech, a concept they themselves utterly misunderstand. In order to garner themselves a brief moment of acclaim from a small coterie of privileged student commentators, Politics and Forum have compromised the safety of their fellow students.

“You do not have to be a proponent of ‘no platform’ to realise that Galloway should not be speaking at an LSE Students’ Union event.”

You do not have to be a proponent of ‘no platform’ to realise that Galloway should not be speaking at an LSE Students’ Union event. You don’t have to ban him, you just don’t have to invite him.

Don’t invite him because his

Photo credit: flickr: KNLphotos2010

views on rape are abhorrent and dangerous, because he is yet another man in a position of privilege perpetuating myths about sexual assault and consent, myths that affect LSE students on a daily basis. Don’t invite him because his rabid, ill-informed dogma brings nothing to the sort of debate LSE students should be demanding from their union. Don’t invite him because the safety of our members and real academic discussion are more important than five minutes of notoriety for the leaders of the Politics & Forum Society.

This is a callous, cowardly attempt at making an ultimately empty statement, and it is embarrassing. It is sick that Politics and Forum rub their hands together with glee as students are set to suffer; a betrayal of our union’s val-

ues, its duty to provide safe space, and of general human decency. Such wanton disregard for the wellbeing of their fellow students is testament to the inability of the society’s leaders to see beyond their own privilege, and to the fact that they have no interest in doing so.

“It is sick that Politics and Forum rub their hands together with glee as students are set to suffer a betrayal of our union’s values.”

Inviting this man to speak does not strike a blow for

free speech. It is an uncompassionate, anti-academic move by a group of smarmy, self-important, overgrown schoolchildren. Perhaps their attraction to Galloway is understandable, given they share the same unwavering belief in their own superiority. The fact that this enclave of cloistered petit-bourgeois tedium is what constitutes a forum for political debate in our union is a disgrace.

To the Politics and Forum committee and whoever else was involved in this decision: shame on you for inviting this man into our union. Tony Travers, shame on you for sharing a platform with him. Politics and Forum got it wrong.

There is still time for them to cancel this event. If they do not, I urge all of our union’s members to join the Feminist Society’s protest.

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Tuesday March 18, 2014

Opinion

All These Things That I’ve Done-szelmann

A call to arms after a year as News Editor of The Beaver Sophie Donszelmann News Editor

I have been News Editor of this paper for almost every issue of this academic year.

I would like to preface this piece by saying that it has been a true pleasure to have worked with the lovely writers at The Beaver.

I have learnt many real-life lessons as News Editor; lessons of accountability for what is printed in my section and, a particularly tough one for me.

Sometimes reporting the news objectively means you can’t always be everyone’s friend.

I have gone through all ends of the emotional spectrum; I have been accused of censorship, had to reply to writers with my tail between my legs when I have printed an error and experienced the euphoria of seeing my name in print.

It’s been a wild ride, and to those of you who have written for News this year or even read what we have printed, I thank you.

Despite trying to cover everything that occurs, we at The

Beaver don’t often discuss the “behind the scenes” of how we compile each week’s issue. So much work is put into these thirty-two pages from behind the bricked-up windows of the Media Center of the Saw Swee Hock building and in the Michaelmas term, the small but much loved office we held above the Quad in East Building.

“I’m-trying-tobe-friendly-but-Ireally-hope-you’lltake-me-seriously.”

I recently tallied the number of hours I have devoted to The Beaver this year which have been filled with: researching events and issues for articles, sending e-mails, answering questions, replying to texts from our Executive Editor with reassurance them that yes, we would have enough content for this week, replying to inquiries from writers with the persistent

“I’m-trying-to-be-friendly-butI-really-hope-you’ll-take-meseriously” request to have your articles in by Friday evening. Fact-checking, checking the style guide, relaying information to be checked for libel, article writing, putting the articles onto the pages, often forgetting to credit photos and then rinse and repeat the whole process all over again for the next week.

The people who work on The Beaver are incredibly dedicated students and the whole editorial board has been assisted by equally talented deputy section editors. It’s a small number of people that put in the hours; an incredibly small number when considering the high caliber of students at this university and the pool of talent that lies within our student body. However few students choose to share these talents with this widespread medium that is so readily available to them.

Perhaps this is because the Media Group has recently come under criticism as being “white” “middle-class” and

“hacky” and I think its possible that people may feel intimidated in approaching us to write. I feel that people would be a lot less intimidated if they knew who was actually replying to them from behind the curtain of the news@thebeaveronline. co.uk e-mail account; this girl sitting in her pajamas, writing three different drafts of the same message to make sure it doesn’t come off as too rude or

“Writing for The Beaver, in any section, is a worthwhile and valuable experience and I cannot reccomend it enough.” demanding. We really are not as cliquey as people may perceive us to be, and perhaps inclusion is something that we, as an editorial board, need to work on next year.

The Beaver truly is a great

publication, and has been run by an enthusiastic team of students. In a school as great as the LSE, I find it so hard to understand why so few students contribute to this student run publication. I cannot emphasize enough that whether you write one article or whether you contribute every week, your contribution is valuable.

Perhaps this call to arms, to convince you to write for us and to urge you to truly make the most out of your university experience, comes too late.

This is the Beaver’s last issue of the academic year as unfortunately we don’t publish in the Summer Term. But it is the go-getter, can-do spirit in me that says it’s never too late. Rising second and third years now have some experience under their belt to write for next year. This year I also had the pleasure of including news articles written by alumni. Writing for The Beaver, in any section, is a worthwhile and valuable experience and I cannot recommend it enough.

I hope to hear from you next year.

Who’s Afraid Of The UGM?

A lack of engagement is hamstringing student politics at the LSE Kabu Senapitak Most students in LSE don’t really care about Student Union elections nor do they care about the notion of student democracy. The fact that the most recent SU elections had a 2846 vote total or a 25% turnout is absolutely appalling. So the question is, with political apathy skyrocketing, roughly 0.25% of students going to UGMs, and many voters voting only because the person running is their friend, does student democracy matter at all at the LSE? At LSE, many commitments that students have tend to be career-driven or related to improving their CV. But as a result, many subconsciously identify the actions of election candidates as opportunistic means to improve their CV and thus increase their employability. But some people do run with genuine passion to bring about change. Yet, this is unfortunately underappreciated by the wider student population.

Also, whilst many of us at LSE uphold liberal values like freedom of expression and representation, not many students seem to exercise them at UGMs. The turnout is dis-

turbingly low with around 20 or 30 people at each meeting.

This makes debates unrepresentative and reduces the vibrancy of ideas at our SU. Nonetheless, the logic of why people don’t come is simple.

You can choose to spend an hour listening to a motion on SU policy or an hour working on your problem set or hang out with friends. The answer seems obvious.

Likewise, while around two thirds of the LSE student population are international students, most people who are engaged in SU politics, UGMs and SU elections are not international students.

This lack of diversity reduces the legitimacy of student democracy and makes politics less vibrant.

So it is certainly true that in many aspects, student democracy currently appears to not matter for many people.

However, just like national politics and global politics, student politics does matter for a multiplicity of reasons.

At LSE, most of us will have had at least one thing that we want to express our opinion on whether it is LSE100, classes, lectures, study space, finances, visa or even student democracy itself. Student de-

mocracy allows for a deliberation of ideas and gives you a platform to actually push for real change whether it is through UGM motions or being elected onto the Academic Board, Court of Governors, NUS delegate or other positions.

As it stands, the current electoral system is flawed and inhibits student democracy.

There is a lack of avenues for candidates running to express and distinguish their ideas which makes each candidate’s policies seem identical. Likewise, there is a lack of outreach towards international students and national/cultural

Photo credit: LSESU Tumblr

societies; hustings seems to deter international students due to cultural differences.

“Writing for The Beaver, in any section, is a worthwhile and valuable experience and I cannot reccomend it enough.”

But most importantly, it is the political apathy and alienation which overshadows

student democracy preventing representative elections and a healthy political system. LSE students tend to not vote because they lack confidence in the system, they feel it’s a waste of time and they feel democracy in LSE is unhealthy and is just an outlet for CV opportunists. But people do not realise that it is a vicious cycle. Unhealthy democracy compels you to not participate. But, when you do not participate it leads to an unhealthier democracy. So indeed, student democracy does matter, but many people unfortunately do not realise this.

Tuesday March 18, 2014

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Opinion

The Economics Of A Free Lunch Why we should pay more gratitude to Hare Krishna

Laura Mai Arriving at the LSE, most economists will have at least one of their fundamental life orthodoxies blasted: TINSTAAFL, “There is no such thing as a free lunch,” one of the first lessons in every high school Economics course, turns out to be a fundamental lie to everyone faced with the Hare Krishna wagon for the first time. “Sorry, how much does this cost?” I hear baffled newcomers ask the men at the wagon in the beginning of each academic year. “Oh, I don’t charge,” is the answer, leaving students who just stumbled out of their lectures teaching them about rational choice and utility maximisation utterly perplexed. So there is such thing as a free lunch. Strange.

“By this time of the year most of us have come to accept the free daily vegetarian food.”

By this time of the year, most of us have come to accept the free daily vegetarian

food as part of our daily life.

We have stopped wondering about the strangeness of it; why someone would voluntarily cycle a heavy wagon full of cooked food to a school full of students who could all very well afford a paid lunch, and spend hours giving out the food completely without discrimination to absolutely everyone who lines up, irrespective of whether they care or don’t care about the ethical, religious or animal welfare motivations behind it. Most of us have stopped recognising the people and the effort that goes into this. We see right through them, through everything, avoid making this a social experience by fixing onto our phone screen while waiting in the queue, ignoring the donation box, ignoring the sign that asks us to bring our own Tupperware box, avoid making eye contact with the person handing us our food, just reach out to receive a loaded paper plate and disappear as quickly as possible. It’s a free lunch, after all.

But, if we reconsider our economics properly, we must admit that even if something appears to be free, someone always has to pay for it somehow. Costs are externalised; I

hope you can allow this slip into economic jargon. This lunch is paid for by the few people in the queue that have not ignored the donation box, by the revenue from the Hare Krishna charity shop at King’s Cross that also relies on donations, and most of all, by the time and effort of

“ ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch,’ one of the first lessons in every high school Economics course, turns out to be a fundamental lie to everyone faced with the Hare Krishna.” the people involved in Hare Krishna. This commitment goes beyond the two hours that you see them standing on campus each day, it starts with going around shops regularly to ask for food donations, with cooking the food from the early morning on, packing it, cycling it through the city, and it ends with cleaning the food containers each afternoon.

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Photo credit: blogs.lse.ac.uk

Why do they do this, you wonder. And if this is the first time you’ve wondered this, this article has definitely reached its goal. We can all go through life and mindlessly receive supposedly free things that are given to us, but we will gain much greater insight if we stop to contemplate on, and appreciate all the effort that has gone into providing these things to us. Basically, engage with the market externality; even your Econ teacher will tell you that. If you wonder why the Hare Krishna guys are sacrificing all this time and effort for us, why don’t you actually talk to them and find out? Give something back, in

the form of a smile, a “Have a nice day!” to appreciate them as the volunteers who don’t get anything out of this except for what we give them. If you can, don’t look past the donation box, even some change will help keep the project running. Bring your own Tupperware box and spoon, this helps Hare Krishna dramatically reduce costs and invest more in the quality of the food. If you have time to spare and you see that the line is busy, why not offer a helping hand in serving the food, it’s a great way to have a chat during lunch break, see lots of people and, in a way, “pay” for your free lunch.

not God or Islam, therefore it is foolish to give this practice a religious semblance. These trends and practices need to be challenged once again.

Despite the seeming oppressiveness of Islam regarding women when analyzing texts at face value, nothing could have been farther from the truth. From the question of four marriages to that of the hijab, inheritance and equality, much misunderstanding remains. I hope to do justice by clarifying some of these. Beginning with the easiest, for me at least is the injunction to cover. This fits in with the entire stress of Islam, and for that matter of many religions including Christianity and Judaism, on upholding modesty. Indeed, the command for men to lower their gaze precedes this. It is about the dignity of women so they are not perceived as simply objects but are respected for their intellect and discourse in society. As for multiple marriages, a condition of maintaining equality and agree-

ment of all parties concerned is a prerequisite. It is about men taking responsibility for their actions and not going wild on adventures, dumping and taking women on whims.

Islam and Feminism

Islam has a long history of being progressive Fazeela Jahangir Islam is a feminist religion, albeit in its own distinctive way; which is in no way inferior to any other type of feminism.

Indeed, for millions of women around the world like me, it is the cause of their liberation from oppression and objectification. Unfortunately, the concept has also fallen prey to radicalist tendencies so that women cannot drive in Saudi Arabia and a girl, Malala Yousafzai, striving to educate herself and others like her is shot in the head. This has nothing to do with Islam, no matter how much the Taliban or the critics may want to convince us that it is. Our legacy indeed is that of Fatima al Fihri, the woman behind the establishment of the University of Kairouan, the first university in the Muslim world and by implication the world itself, in the ninth century. It is the legacy of Zubaida; the queen who overlooked the construction a 900 mile long canal, all the way from Kufa

to Madina as early as the 8th century. We are enamored by the knowledge of Aisha, the trading skills of Khadija, the humility of Fatima bint Mohammad and the chastity of Mariam the mother of Jesus, peace be upon them all. The list can go on and on.

“The feminist movement in Islam came much ahead of its occurance elsewhere- in the seventh centuryand revolutionized the role of women.”

The feminist movement in Islam came much ahead of its occurance elsewhere- in the seventh century- and revolutionized the role of women.

Mothers were to be obeyed and adored many times more than a father; we grew up learning that ‘paradise lies un-

der the feet of a mother’. The prophet Muhammad himself never beat a women in his life.

Islam allowed women to own and inherit property and be in control of her own decisions, thus making them a legitimate part of commercial activity.

They were a part of the political system as they did ‘bait’ or cast their vote as we say today. Even today, examples like Benazir Bhutto from Pakistan stand out. The general condition today though is one of misery, which is why Muslim women still need feminism to reclaim their rights.

The pitiable situation today is also linked to the basic poor socio-economic condition of most Muslim countries generally. When governments spend less than around 2.5% of GDP budget on education, both men and women suffer. Due to a disproportionate balance of gender representation in scholarly circles, where men dominate, rulings lean in their favor. Culture has had a bad influence; tribal chiefs kill women in the name of ‘honor’ and

“It is about time we shake ourselves free of dogma and stop using Islam as a pretext for our own failures.”

As a concluding remark, it is sufficient to say that God is Just and likes justice. Such an entity cannot have biased leanings in any regard. Some differences exist in the rights and responsibilities of both genders but they are in light of the different roles they play in society. They are different but not unequal or inferior to the other. It is about time we shake ourselves free of dogma and stop using Islam as a pretext for our own failures.

the

Beaver

11

Tuesday March 18, 2014

Opinion

Settlements, Settlements, Settlements A critical look at the facts about Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Erik Tate

At the core of the IsraeliPalestinian peace talks is the issue of settlements. The creation of a viable Palestinian state and the establishment of the two-state solution hinges upon these as the facts on the ground.

Israeli settlements beyond the “Green Line” marking the country’s pre-1967 borders are contrary to international law as outlined in the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied territory. However, now there are more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in over 120 illegal settlements situated in the West Bank. What is particularly troubling about the situation is that settlement construction is continuing and even accelerating. Earlier this month, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that 2013 was a record year for settlement construction in the West Bank, and that the beginning of 2014 has so far seen a rise of 123% from 2013. Not only does this seem to be heading in the wrong direction, but, as many of the new settlements were state-sponsored, it seems to suggest that this is not necessarily in conflict with government policy, despite the ongoing peace talks.

Indeed Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has repeated his refusal to stop building settlements in the West Bank or to negotiate the 1967 borders, call-

ing both of these unacceptable “preconditions” for talks.

However, contrary to Mr. Netanyahu’s belief that the suspension of settlement activities “would serve nothing,” it represents a crucial way to fill the gap between political rhetoric and reality that frustrates so many observers of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This failure to restrain the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank indicate that in fact the peace “process” is going in reverse.

Comprehensive peace in the region not only requires the freezing of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but also a reduction in their number. It is not enough for the Israeli government to passively support the two-state solution without tackling the real problems confronting it.

Part of this active engagement must include the relocation of at least some of those who have settled permanently in the West Bank, in one way or another. Yet at the moment there is no clear indication that any Israeli coalition is willing to roll back the occupation to boundaries that would make a Palestinian state viable.

It is important to emphasise that peace is in the interests of both parties involved.

Not only would the creation of a concrete Palestinian state satisfy the inalienable rights to freedom, equality and statehood for the Palestinian people, but it would also have clear benefits for

Photo credit: flickr: The Advocacy Project

Israel. I am not simply referring to a reduction in the number of suicide bombers and rockets targeted at Israeli civilians, but something much more fundamental to Israel; its core identity.

Without the creation of a neighbouring Palestinian state, the Arab people of the West Bank would eventually be absorbed into a greater State of Israel. Using information from the CIA World Factbook and the Israeli Bureau of Statistics, this combined population would currently number approximately 4 million Arabs and just over 6 million Jews.

When also taking into account the higher birth rate of the Arab people compared to the Jewish population,

this new arrangement would provide serious problems for those concerned about the preserving the identity of Israel. The Israeli legal definition of the nature and character of the State of Israel is “a Jewish and democratic state.” The de facto annexation of the West Bank would seriously put this status into question. Israel would risk either losing its character as the Jewish homeland, or it could become the apartheid state that its supporters so vehemently oppose. Shimon Peres, Israel’s president, has cautioned that unless the occupation of the West Bank ends, or the Palestinians are given full voting rights in Israel, it risks becoming a “pariah” state just as South

Africa was during its era of apartheid.

It is therefore important to recognise that an enduring peace is in everyone’s interest, and also that in a debate that is essentially about territory, the restriction of settlement construction and the progression of peace talks go hand in hand.

There are many obstacles to peace, but none so visible as the structures of Israeli sovereignty being erected illegally in the West Bank.

I support the existence of the State of Israel, but if it wants to remain a democratic, Jewish state then it will have to actively pursue and fight for it. This fight is for a just peace with the Palestinians.

between leaders. The PD is a conglomerate of people that used to place their allegiance in the late Communist and Catholic parties. It is therefore only natural that its members have different views. But such disagreement is inevitably detrimental to citizens.

In addition, the new Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, is even less left-oriented than his predecessors, and many accuse him of being a man of the Right. His first move has been to agree on a new electoral system with Berlusconi who is suspected of having favoured him during his campaign to become Mayor of Florence, by choosing a weak candidate within his own party.

All these elements, plus the

fact that the last three consecutive governments (none of them legitimated by elections, by the way) were led by a coalition of “Left” and “Right”, make a distinction between the two really hard to discern within Italy.

The PD and Forza Italia both had troubles placing themselves within the European scheme of parties. The distinction between Left and Right in the rest of Europe is much clearer, but with a European Parliament likely to have a majority of Eurosceptic forces, alliances will be crucial, and the distinction between Left and Right will probably be replaced by a distinction between Europeanists and Eurosceptics.

Which Way Next For Italy?

Italy doesn’t have a left or a right anymore Guido Long With European Elections planned for next May, there will be a lot of disscussion as to whether Europe is “right wing” or “left wing.” There will be many queries wondering whether it will be the European People’s Party or the Party of European Socialists that manage to obtain a majority within the European Parliament. It should be interesting to see what way each European nation falls for.

Despite this, I come from a country where, unlike in other European countries, the difference between left and right is becoming more and more blurred. In fact, in

Italy there is no Left and no Right. Traditionally and theoretically, the Right should be represented by Forza Italia

“Unlike in other European countries, the difference between left and right in Italy is becoming more and more blurred.”

(Berlusconi’s Party) and the Left by the Democratic Party (PD). However, the vast majority of the electorate are not

represented by these two parties as they might be by two main opposing parties in any other nation.

These voting results come from the fact that, as mentioned, the Left is not left and the Right is not right wing. A right wing party is supposed to promote conservative economic policies and fight to decrease taxes. In Italy, the Right equals Berlusconi, and his party only does what is best for Berlusconi, not what is best for the country – nor his electorate, for that matter.

A left wing party is supposed to represent workers and protect the more vulnerable categories of people. The Democratic Party, however, only cares about internal quarrels

Tuesday March 18, 2014

the

12

Beaver

Opinion

There’s No Place To Hide

Surveillance reduces individuals into pieces of data Josh Jinruang

It is extremely difficult to talk about surveillance without coming off like a scarily paranoid, overly cautious, and Orwell-idolising conspiracy theorist. After all, we are living in a country where there is one CCTV for every 11 people, and yet various acts of public indecency remains regular feature on an average Friday night; a country where its own intelligence agency, the GCHQ, was revealed to have stored webcam images of millions of Yahoo chat users, yet similar communication applications remain widely popular; a country where every link you click, every Google search you make, every dodgy tumblr pages you visit are potentially monitored, yet the majority of the population remain resolute in their browsing habits. In other word, no one really seems to care.

Even the Snowden NSA revelation came and went without so much as a perfunctory outrage; speculative fiction, in which the state spies on its people through algorithmoperated machines, is exactly that – a fiction – at least in the mind of the population at large.

On one level, this is understandable. Firstly, the immediate harm that comes from such a large-scale surveillance practice feels abstract.

It is unlikely that an average person will be suspected of terrorist activities and have their emails intercepted.

The negative consequences

caused by such policies, such as those from Prevent strategy or UK border control antiimmigration stance, both of which involve racial profiling, affect a section of population that is already by its very nature marginalised; the lived experience of these ‘other bodies’ does not carry as much psychological weight.

Secondly, the elevation of social media as a primary medium of non-physical communication has universalised the awareness of being watched.

If anything, we are so used to giving away our sensitive personal data for the whole world to see, that this level of multi-directional surveillance – from the state, corporations, not to mention other individuals – does not register as a privacy violation.

More nefariously, however, is the effect that this surveillance mentality has on one’s behaviour. So afraid we are to take risk with our words and behaviours, for fear that the record of these norm-breaking actions might circulate perpetually in the online world, with adverse implications for our career. Excessive drinking, or rowdy behaviours, instead of being perceived as a silly milestone of youth, are instead employed as evidence for bad character. This type of background check, as often utilised by corporations, discounts the fluid, changeable nature of human identity. We are no longer assessed as human beings, but a bundle of qualities, forever represent-

Photo credit: Flickr: DogFromSPACE

ed but never representing: a context-free simplified model of a human being.

In these past two weeks, two separate individuals have approached me asking for online archived content that pertains to them to be

removed, both for reasons of career prospects. One cannot help but be worried that such form of self-censorship, as Foucault would call ‘docile bodies’, is dangerous to liberal democracy, in which social progress and moral

norms are decide through the expression of opinions. What is the point of public debate, for which this newspaper is but one platform, if all participants cannot freely make voices heard?

NOMINATIONS CLOSE TOMORROW!

The Beaver 09.10.2012

PartB Photo: Flickr, Experimentus.

18.03.2014 PartB

14

Photos: wikimedia commons

VISUAL ARTS/MUSIC

Born in Switzerland to highly creative par-

ents, Klee's work transcends movements of expressionism, cubism and surrealism in a way few other artists have ever managed. Tate's exhibition charts his experimentation with different styles and mediums across his life course, from his early days to some of his final pieces.

watercolour and oil works, referencing his inspiration from graphic artist Alfred Kubin.

Klee then moved into more abstract forms, creating pieces such as the ‘Castle and Sun’.

Most of his now famous works came from this period, and latterly his movement to the Bauhaus until 1933.

Seeing Klee’s oeuvre in its entirety does give you a new perspective on the progression of his work. Previously I had not appreciated the distinct phases in his output, instead believing the chronology to be as diverse as the works themselves. Instead, there is a development from more sparse

Having now being diagnosed with wasting disease, Klee’s final seven years of work addresses his own fate, and the political situation of the time.

As the Tate’s exhibition shows, here his work encompasses all of his previous artistic themes; block lines, bright colours and assorted representations of the

La fille du regiment

DONIZETTI'S MASTERPIECE HAS RETURNED TO LONDON

O

rphaned maidens, Tyrolean peasants, the rat tat tat of the Napoleonic army’s guns. 'La fille du regiment', Donizetti's masterpiece has returned to London, in an amusing, effective production by the Royal Opera House.

La fille du regiment, first performed in 1840, took the Paris of its day by storm. In Berlioz’s words, “one can no longer talk about the lyric theatres of Paris, but only the lyric theatres of Monsieur Donizetti.” The Italian born composer captured the mood of the day perfectly, with evocative military images, and staged action around life in the regiment. This preyed on the deep sense of nostalgia for the Napoleonic ‘glorious’ era no comma that pervaded France at this time.

While the underlying sentiment may have been to boost French confidence in their past, the plot of the opera itself is light and amusing. It is a soppy love story, where the lovers go through adversity and pain, but are eventually reunited! The plot focuses around Marie, the ‘daughter of the regiment’ who travels around with the 21st regi-

ment of France. Having been abandoned on a battlefield 12 years before, she now spends her time cooking, cleaning and looking after the soldiers. Inevitably, Marie finds love, however she falls for the wrong person; not one of the soldiers as was intended, but with Tonio, a young Tyrolean peasant. The regimental commander objects, but everyone is thrown when Marie’s long last aunt turns up and demands to take Marie away to her castle.

Marie leaves, but in a tragic twist of fate, Tonio simultaneously signs up to the regiment and ties himself down. The second act focuses around the lovers struggle to get back together, with Marie fending off an arranged marriage to a rich duke, and Tonio persuading the regiment to rescue her. In the final scene the lovers are reunited, and live happily ever after.

La fille du regiment may have a classic silly operatic libretto, but in some ways is unusual.

Unlike the Italian style, French opera comique, includes much speaking. Rather than recitative, as in Italian opera, arias and duets are interspersed by periods of dialogue between

the characters. In this production, the added element of speech certainly gave another dimension to the characters – more insight into their personalities, and more flexibility to adapt their words for comic effect. For example, Kiri de Kanawa, who plays the ludicrous Duchesse de Crackentorp (mother of man Marie is betrothed to marry), frequently lapsed into English, and at one point called her butler “mate”.

La fille is a great romp of an opera and the singers certainly did it justice. Juan Diego Florez (Tonio), stunned the audience with an electrifying rendition of Ah mes Amis- the aria from which Pavorotti gained the sobriquet ‘King of the High C’s’.

Florez easily reeled off 9 successive C’s with startling ease, the sound of his voice reverberating through the auditorium. Perhaps these high notes are so thrilling because there’s always a sense of risk that they might go wrong, however imagined this may be. The added drama pushes you to the edge of your seat! The most notable dramatic performance was that of 46 year old coloratura soprano Patrizia Coifi (Marie),

who fooled me into thinking she was a young maiden, with her agility and graceful movement. She stunned us by pulling the incredible feat of singing an entire aria lying on a mattress.

The staging was also something to be remembered. The main area of the stage was taken up by a crinkled map which symbolised Napoleon’s army trampling across Europe.

Meanwhile the tank, used for comic effect as Tonio comes to rescue Marie, gave a modern twist to the production. It is a quirky addition and fits in the lighthearted tradition of the opera comique.

If I had one criticism of the production is would be the visual restrictions.

The main stage was slanted such that most of the action took place on the

human form. Increasingly Klee incorporates stick men into his works, perhaps a macabre joke towards his own medical condition. Alternatively, some argue he was inspired by tribal and cave art, incorporating elements into his works.

Tate’s exhibition was exceptionally well thought through, yet personally, I felt it was badly hung. Walls were black or white; a juxtaposition that at times detracts from the colours Klee uses. Overall, it was extremely enjoyable and had I got to it sooner, I would definitely have returned.

ALEXANDER FYFE off prompt side of the stage.

Meaning that people – like us, on the off prompt side - were often left not being able to see anything, or leaning dangerously over the railings in order to get some view!

However, despite this drawback, overall it was a brilliant afternoon, and I would highly recommend future performances at the Royal Opera House.

DOMINIC TIGHE

Photo: Royal Opera House

D

writers churning out content every week, and having me no time to put pen to paper after the section is finished on a Sunday night.

However, the inevitable final issue has arrived, so I found some time to visit the Paul Klee exhibition on its final weekend at Tate Modern. So although I have actually written an article, it's pretty redundant anyway as by the time you read this, the exhibition will be closed.

espite editing PartB for the p a s t ten weeks, I am yet to actually write anything myself for the section. I think this is probably a result of the fantastic team of

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

theatre@thebeaveronline.co.uk

visualarts@thebeaveronline.co.uk

The Beaver 18.03.2014

15

FOOD/WORLD

COFFEE TO FUEL YOUR REVISION As we come to the last issue of the Beaver this academic year, it felt right to recommend the best places to run to in pursuit of that caffeine fix to fuel your library all nighter. Rather than ‘escape’ to the giants on Kingsway, why not travel the extra five minutes – trust me it will be worth it. The following three recommendations are all a ten minute walk from campus, and are either brand new, or established London coffee favourites.

NERAJ THANGARAJAH

o s s e r p s E e t t Silhoue ATOWN OURT CHIN SilhouNEWPORT C off Charing Cross Road, , coffee rt e pl ou C m si ing a ewport Located in N is a brand new stall serv . Led by a musirs o ette Espress g different coffee roaste ace to is a great pl in te ur et at ou fe ilh S , menu small ee ff e ssion for co y coffee as th t the cian with a pa ning process in specialt A . as st ri ly ba ar coffee, start your le teraction with the friend us Has Bean ffee, in io s w lic lo de al l g al in st rv co se e on er is w re he ng they ts. The focus ing time of writi lection of trea important as the last us . se a h it w g rs as te alon is as nt ro ne ee po com e coff where every urced milk and reputabl organically so

Workshop

Coffee Co

Having est HOLBORN VIADU CT, ablished tw ringdon a o incredib HOLBORN nd ly tunately fo Marylebone, Work successful cafes in sh r Faru op Coffee s d e cided to o Workshop Co. have pen co and servin ntinues to be dedic a coffee bar in Holb forg the best a o a simple y coffee poss ted to sourcing, roa rn! et cated to g delicious assortme ible. Expect great sting, co re n on Holborn at coffee. Situated t of food, and a tea ffee, m dediin the new viaduct, th A shop even is is a mu st for LSE mazon building won best independe students nt café in Europe la Workst year.

WITNESS SYRIA

T

A Poignant Project Worth Viewing

he Guardian has launched a new interactive page, where those affected by the Syrian conflict can upload photographs and share stories. The pictures which are predominantly portraits display the variety of experi-

ences of those affected and the subjects become more than victims of a civil war. The stories included range from three year old Ashraf who celebrated his birthday in a refugee camp uploaded by UNHCRC photo unit, to a CT of a ten year olds skull which a bullet has torn through. Many of the photos depict refugee children, one contributor highlighted that for a younger generation, their lives are and will continue to be defined and determined by the bloody conflict they were born into.

Some are shown sitting on the streets Turkey Kilis near the border of Syria. Other children are shown playing with shot gun shells as their abandoned school stands desolate behind them.

What is interesting about the Guardian witness page is that it displays how modern photography has evolved to be accessible, interactive and increasingly a medium of news in a world that appears to be shrinking as images miles away become instantly available. Karen Strassler’s analysis of use of photography in the Indonesian student protests termed ‘reformasi’ in 1997 raises interesting issues of photography as journalistic medium and as a commemoration of history. What Strassler highlights and which perhaps is important to remember, though does not detract from Guardian’s project, are the conditions of production and consumption surrounding individual photographs. The idea ‘that a photo’, overlooks the context and intention of the photographer. The stories accompanying the photographs

on the Guardian witness page highlights the subjectivity of photography, as with any other art form.

Furthermore, the photographs allow views to become witnesses to the effects of the Syrian conflict and raise awareness

for those affected. The power in these photographs lies in their ability to create a crosscultural community influenced by the same images, despite the range of interpretations generated.

MARYAM AKRAM

Photos: Guardian Witness

WARDOUR STREET, SOHO r n open for well over a yea T-A-P’s third store has bee ee coffee thr the Of ite. our fav o now and is already a Soh st e, T-A-P places the heavie recommendations listed her house, in de ma ads sal of ge ran emphasis on food with a is a sandwiches on offer. This delicious baked goods, and erse clidiv the tch wa ple peo great café to zone out and ed at coffee. T-A-P has the add entele whilst drinking gre t of ugh tho the e bar ’t can ply bonus of Wi-Fi if you sim s. for more than thirty minute abandoning your devices

Photos: Compainies Own and Shutterstock

T A P Coffee

18.03.2014 PartB

16

THEATRE

USHERS

Recently opening at the Charing Cross Theatre, original new musical Ushers charts a single shift of a Front of House team. It’s Lucy’s (Carly Thoms) first night as an usher, and she joins the theatre as fictitious company Theatre Nation – run by the controversially named Sir Andrew Lloyd Mackintosser – is premiering a new Britney Spears musical, Oops I Did it Again. Her colleagues attempt to show her the ropes, from how to use a float to how to record the show illegally (hiding a camera phone in West End Producer’s new book, dear), all the while evading the wrath of failed

T

he panel debated how and why we form sexual partnerships, as part of The Big Idea, it aimed to offer audiences ‘radical thinking’ and ‘provocative discussion.’

Everything necessary for success was there: The chair was Libby Purves, a major columnist of The Times, broadcaster and author. In the panel were professor Sophie Day, an anthropologist at Goldsmiths (University of London), Alecky Blythe, a playwright, Lynne Segal, academic and activist and prominent human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, and a proper audience. Everything necessary for success was there except that exact ‘radical thinking’ and ‘provocative discussion.’

This was partly because the attracted audience seemed already rather informed and difficult to radically shock on this issue, but also partly because of the reluctance of the panel.

Discussion was missing from

Charing Cross Theatre Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays

opera-singer and lecherous manager Robin (Ralph Bogard). There’s also appearances from potential new love interest Stephen (Ross McNeill) and trouble in paradise between Gary and Ben (Daniel Buckley and Liam Ross-Mills). It’s hilarious and occasionally alarmingly realistic, with brilliant original songs and endless jokes poking fun at the profession, the industry and the audience.

From the wildly entertaining opening number ‘Welcome’ to fantastically choreographed ‘Spend Per Head’ to the sentimental ‘Dreams & Ice Creams’, James Oban and Yiannis Koutsakos’s songs are the real highlight of the night. The musical numbers really capture the trials and tribulations of working in a theatre, with nods to difficult customers, hideously overpriced theatre cocktails and the stereotypical stage school background of most ushers.

The stand out performance of the evening was from the fabulous Ceris Hine as ditzy, leading-man obsessed blogger Rosie. Her comedic timing was perfect, and she seemed to revel in the audience’s every reaction and use it to her complete advantage throughout the evening. A shining example of comedy gold: a star is born.

It’s a very funny show, but there’s no getting away from the fact that some aspects need serious attention. A particular scene between longterm couple Gary and Ben by the bins stands out for all the wrong reasons, verging on melodrama and being more

until 19 April

Photo: Charing cross theatre

A

s an Usher you’re consigned to the fact that your stage is not the actual stage, but the foyers, bars and corridors surrounding the auditorium.

You may be able to hit every note of ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked, know the choreography of A Chorus Line inside out, and have practiced dying on a barricade (the back of a sofa) at home for when the call comes to join the cast of Les Misérables, but that doesn’t matter. Once you don the uniform and fix your fivestar smile everything stagey is left behind and your focus is diverted to selling programmes and directing patrons to the toilets. Ambitions of taking to the real stage are held under lock and key until your stock is sold and the house is empty. It’s therefore utterly refreshing to watch a musical that turns the often-overlooked profession of Front of House into the subject of a West End show.

review 

ridiculous than romantic.

Some of the songs, too, were a little pitchy at times to say the least. The low production budget explains the small sparsely dressed set – save for a rudimentary merchandise kiosk and copious eyecatching fuchsia feather boas – but it looked empty rather than minimalistic, and there were very few props. Several scene changes were truly awful and need to be a lot slicker if the show is to be lifted to a more professional level. It does, however, show a lot of potential. The concept, origi-

nal music and script are truly inspired and with minor revisions could go from merely good to excellent. As a cast made up of new musical theatre stars they are all destined to go on to bigger and better things in the future, and Ushers is certainly a solid foundation for them to build upon.

Despite its faults, Ushers is an energetic and hilarious production, fit to bursting with Front of House in-jokes.

It’s the ideal production for theatre aficionados as there’ll certainly be something that

resonates and stands out for everyone in this exposé behind-the-scenes of the most professionally happy people in theatre. It may be rough around the edges but it’s undeniably charming. The second the house lights came up after the cast had finished singing the final ensemble piece ‘Goodbye’, they immediately took to the exits, directing patrons outside and waving us off with a smile.

Clearly once an usher, always an usher.

THE BIG DEBATE

EMMA FORTH

SHOULD WE CONTRACT OUR SEX LIVES Anna Koolstra heads to a debate at the royal court

the first question onwards: “Why do we form sexual relationships?” The panellists were on completely different levels, talking over each other: Professor Sophie Day was talking about the merit of a sexual contract, whereas Peter Tatchell proposed a new way of engaging in a contract besides the standard context of marriage.

The ‘provocative discussion’ could have been better described as an exhibition of provocative (nevertheless interesting) thoughts: the engagement between the panellists, necessary to facilitate dicsussion, was missing entirely. They seemed all there only to present their own views, having not doneand any preliminary research on their colleagues’ works.

Ideas of meaningfulness of choice to go into the sex industry, the (necessary) criminalisation of the sex industry, the empowerment and vulnerability, the role of education and media, and the (inevitable) combina-

tion that s e x u a l contracts form with emotions, were all addressed partly through input from the audience.

Eventaully this caused some direct clashing of ideas, re-

quiring elaboration. But all attempts to go more in depth were cut-off rather quickly by funny (but eventually annoying) remarks by the chair, who was obviously wanting to keep the aspects of the discussion light and quick.

The whole evening was slightly messy: Panellists failed to speak eloquently using many filler words such as ‘sortof’ and ‘like.’ They were often failing to directly answer questions posed by the chair, who in turn did not know the exact time-frame of the debate and got cut off by the crew after an hour.

However despite this, and despite the fact the discussion went slightly off-track a couple of times, several interesting ideas were posed and got us hooked. We walked

DEBATE SEASON AT THE ROYAL COURT away with our doubts about monogamy but the problem was that for many people these doubts had already been there. The overall liberal audience had not gotten any opportunity to find their views clearly being opposed nor elaborated on.

ANNA KOOLSTRA

Photo:Royal court

The Beaver 18.03.2014

17

THEATRE

TRICYCLE'S 'THE YOUNG COMPANY' MICHELLE WARBIS CATCHES UP WITH RACHEL OF THE YOUNG COMPANY interview

As a group of 11-25 year olds in NW London get set to take over the Tricycle at the end of the month, Michelle Warbis catches up with Rachel, to find out what the group is all about.

Tell me a little about The Young Company.

Do you have a lot of outreach in NW London? Is there a particular ‘kind’ of person that gets stuck in, or do you find that that you a broad mix.

It’s a very diverse group.

We’re from different parts of the country, though we all live in London now. I’m from the North East, there’s a guy from Sunderland, there are a few people from North and South London too. There is a London focus I suppose, but there are a few of us from outside, which is really great because you get all these different backgrounds

Photo: Tricycle Theatre

I’m in the 19-25 group – it’s the oldest age group in the company. We’ve been together since the end of September, so coming up for 6 months. We had an audition to get in – a three-hour audition in groups, and from that 18 people were chosen, and we’ve been working together since then, once a week. Up until December we were doing workshops together; getting to know each other, drama techniques, physical stuff, speech and voice work.

We also worked with Suhayla El-Bushra [a well known London play write] so she could get an idea of what we, as actors, wanted to be involved in and from that she went away and wrote a play. She brought

us back a first draft and we’ve been rehearsing that since December, working towards the final performance. It’s been about building our acting techniques and theatre making in general.

We’re not just actors though: I’m a writer – we have a few directors, people who are interested in comedy… The young company brings all of that together, and makes a performance from it.

THE ONE O

pening with the scene of a couple having sex on their red living-room sofa - bodies wholely touched but eyes firmly fixed at the porn playing on the screen - The One immediately presents itself as a play uninterested in pulling any punches. Having directed an emotionally lacerating work such as Jack Thorne's Mydidae (2013), Vicky Jones is definitely no stranger to exploring the sadomasochistic overtone of domestic dysfunctions. This piece - her debut as a playwright - demonstrates meticulous sensitivity to the rhythm of natural speechs, which plays a key role in enhancing the piece's static quality with barbed,

seamless, wrinkled tion.

stylisa-

The couple in question consists of a scarily spontaneous, manically confrontational, twenty-nine year-old Jo (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and an unbearably pedantic, casually misogynisitic Harry (Rufus Wright), who have been together in cohabitation for at least a few years.

The former used to read English under the tutelage of the latter, which gives context to origin of their relationship.

As the story progresses, we learn that the current situation is a remnant of their somewhat more romantic past; 'maybe it's how much you used to love me at the

coming together. Also, because it’s 19-25, obviously there’s a big difference in life stages.

There are a few students who are doing dissertations and things like that, there’s a guy doing a drama degree, so this really helps him. A couple of us work in offices, so we do this around our day jobs, there’s a couple in bar jobs – yeah it’s a very diverse group.

How important do you think it is for people to get involved in performance art?

a platform for opinions to be voiced. We do a lot of outreach, and its so diverse; so many different voices come together, and all of us understand the importance of a place where you can come, feel safe and try out things. And you realise you’re not the only one trying to forge a career in this industry.

What do you feel you’ve gained the most, or most benefitted from due to being a part of the Young Company?

I think it’s a really important thing. What the industry has gone through and the way it has developed in recent years has helped me understand that.

Before I came to London I did a lot of performance teaching, working with younger children and it was amazing to se the difference that getting involved in the arts through these sorts of groups can have on their social skills.

In another theatre, not Tricycle, we had a guy come to us in a project I was working on.

He was 13 years old and he’d been bullied a lot at school, and as a result having serious confidence problems. His mum brought him along, and said she wanted him to get out there and meet new people. After about 3 months he did a show and he had so much more confidence – he’d really grown.

Theatre and really, any form of the arts is a really good way for people to gain confidence and be able to express themselves. It’s therapeutic, and groups like Tricycle Young Company provide

For me, it’s made me realise what the industry is really like.

I’ve always wanted the career in performance art, but tis made me realise how much I want it I suppose.

At The Young Company you’re treated like a real actor – if you’ve learned your lines your questioned why. We have some great, inspiring people come to chat to us. They give us the same treatment as they would any other actor, and really that has allowed me to realise that this is what I actually want to do – I am cut out for it after all. They way we’re treated as professionals rather than just young people who are interested in theatre has made me realise that I want to be part of it.

door', says Harry to Jo as an off-hand remark, with the immediate effect of tying up their banterous one-upmanships. When Kerry (Lu Corfield) close friend of Harry's comes calling in the dead of the night, with claim of sexual assualt from her own boyfriend, the cracks in their relationship starts to become apparent.

ering of a child frames the play's events as a necessary sequence towards spiritual rebirth. Sometimes one partner needs to have the courage to walk away, so that everyone survives.

Jones has created a world in which lovers constantly test limits, not only of social acceptability but also their love for each other. They tell each other how they truly feel, but only under the veneer of jokes. Resentment, the kind that usually emerges after couple becomes bored of each other in long-term relationships, seems to be the theme at large. The conceit of comparing their current romantic crises to Jo's deliv-

What’s on the agenda for the take-over at the end of March?

Physically the Tricycle are handing over the theatre to us for the entire week. Which means they’re giving us the main space of the theatre. A lot of professional actors have been in that space before us which is a massive boost of confidence for us, and a moti-

Waller-Bridge was imminently watchable as an entitled, novel-seeking, quintessentially middle-class type, with part of her audacity evidently emanating from youth. Her bright, erudite disposition is undercut by an underlying sense of nihilism, stemmed from unfulfilled potential which results in implosive self-destruction. Wright is believable as an old-world, paternalistic, confused literature professor with a masculinity crisis; his exaggerated, performed machismo is no doubt a compensation for the barely concealed fear of his own impotency. Cor-

THE YOUNG COMPANY TAKE OVER! MARCH 24TH ONWARDS TRICYCLE THEATRE v a tion.

‘The Kilburn Passion’ which I’m in, is headlining that. ‘The Kilburn Passion’ is the only play of the week to have been commissioned specifically for Tricycle Young Company – its great because the play was written for us. It was also unusual because we didn’t audition for a specific part as you would normally, instead it was the other way round: That was an interesting process. And that play is the centre point – the finale of the take over. It’s a great piece to end on. Like I said its called ‘The Kilburn Passion’, and it’s about the world outside of theatre and trying to find your feet. There are 18 of us, playing 18 characters, but we’re all part of the chorus as well. It tells the story between characters, as well as individually, filling in gaps about the daily grind, and the way in which the lives of the everyman on the street collide.

The week leading to that performance there are some other smaller shows going on, dealing with the idea of empty connections. There’s also a lot of other arts going on – there’s a mural being painted, getting lots of young creative people involved, we’ve got an illustrator, there’s music: It’s about giving the space over to us and letting us do what we want with it. It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.

Want to get involved in The Young Company at Tricycle?

Head over to http://www.tricycle.co.uk/young-people/ MICHELLE WARBIS

field, while appearing in only two scenes, is magnificent at gradually revealing the layers of this initially meek character: self-effacing yet at the same time with a tangible aura of contemptuous superiority.

While the play does not entirely succeed at providing catharsis, with its resolution desolving into a fairly simplistic explanation for the current dysfunction, the dramatic path towards that ending is surely worth the entry.

JOSH JINRUANG

Soho Theatre until 30 March

18.03.2014 PartB

18

TECHNOLOGY/FAREWELL

SAFEWARE

L

ast weekend the Cyber Security Challenge Masterclass took place in Churchill’s WWII bunker under Whitehall. The Masterclass, sponsored by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, brought together the most talented amateur cyber-security enthusiasts. It then asked to them to respond to a fictional cyberattack that is posing a national threat to the UK. The exercise was the product of a collaboration between BT, GCHQ, the NSA, Jupiter Networks and Lockheed Martin.

It is part of the government’s plans to strengthen the national cyber-defence arsenal. The idea behind it is to recruit smart, techsavvy individuals that will be able to protect the UK from any potential cyber-invaders.

The National Security Strategy categorises cyberattacks as a ‘Tier One’ threat to national security on par with international terrorism.

The justification for this is that the interconnectivity of critical infrastructure creates a variety of vulnerabilities that can be exploited by rogue states, cyber-criminals, and terrorists.

However, not everyone is convinced that building military cyber-capacity should be a

top concern for government.

Increasingly academics and industry insiders have been voicing concerns about the “alarmist rhetoric” associated with cyber-security.

Assessing the risk of a national level cyber-attack is not a straightforward matter. On one hand, as noted by Peter Singer, author of Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs

to Know, “squirrels have taken down the power grid more times than the zero times hacktivists have”. It follows that the government should be reassessing its ‘wildlife’ security strategy if protecting critical infrastructure is its pri-

POPCORNTIME

mary concern.

On the other hand, the aftermath of the 2007 DDoS attacks in Estonia still provides a powerful example of what can go wrong if states don’t invest in cyber-security. Here, the operating systems of most banks, ministries and broadcasters were compromised for several days following a series of mass DDoS attacks allegedly launched by Russian activists. No one reported any physical damage as a result of the attacks. But, their cost was a hard blow for the Estonian economy and the possibility of a devastating cyberattack became very real.

There can be no harm in incentivising young, talented people to develop an interest in cyber-defence. However, it is also important that investment in cyber-security is carried out wisely and in way that directs it against both actual and potential threat-agents.

Therefore, if the Cyber Security Challenge Masterclass is repeated in 2015, it might be sensible to invite along some biologists and spend some time considering how critical technological infrastructure can be protected from its rodent enemy.

P

opcorn Time may not have been the most downloaded mobile app (though it was exceptionally popular), but it was almost certainly the most controversial. And now just a day after its creators announced they were shutting it down, it appears that a new site, YTS, is taking over support.

ticularly intriguing was that the project was open source, meaning any member of the public could contribute code, and it all came together in just a matter of weeks.

The app itself was quite simple. It provided a user-friendly interface for navigating and downloading movies from the shady torrent universe. With a few clicks and under a minute, a user could be watching new blockbusters like The Wolf of Wall Street or 12 Years a Slave.

Popcorn Time was just as easy to use as Netflix.

Those volunteer programmers achieved what no studios in Hollywood has been able to -a simple, user-friendly way to distribute recent-run movies to private devices. That they were free is in some way beside the point. One of the major driving forces behind piracy is that it's often the easiest thing to do. Netflix has proved that people are willing to pay money for content if that content is easily accessible. Many users are now calling for "Netflixification" of new movies. That would allow moviegoers to watch the movie in their own time and in their own homes.

They're often even willing to pay for it. But because studios have not given users a legal outlet to consume content, the users move to illegal means.

None of those are easier than Popcorn Time. And despite rumors of an early death, it appears to be back.

What made Popcorn App par-

MICHAEL GALLO

Popcorn Time allowed users to stream movies simply and elegantly to their mobile device. Sounds illegal? It almost most certainly was. But Popcorn Time, like other backwater movie streaming services, skirted the issue by claiming that their software itself was not illegal, even if the typical way people used it may be.

GILLIAN CAFIERO

"I’ve been really lucky this year to have had such an enthusiastic and extensive group of theatre writers, spanning all walks of LSE life. Not only have I had the fun of being able to see a variety of theatre and conduct interviews with writers, actors, directors etc myself, I’ve been able to share the experiences with 15 other people as well, and it’s them who have made it so rewarding, exciting and challenging. I hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed being one of the Part B team. Now it’s time for me to find drama elsewhere."

Jennifer Ruther - Literature Editor Coming to London completely under the pretence of studying history at the LSE led me to the ignorant presumption this university would be able to offer me little in the way of my preferred career direction in music. I can safely say however that my two years as music editor for The Beaver has proved the complete opposite is true.

Highlights have included reviewing some of the finest live music the capital has to offer, from Esperanza Spalding at the Royal Festival Hall to Audiojack and Marc Kinchen at the Sidings Warehouse. We also enjoyed a number of high-profile interviews, including You Me At Six and Enter Shikari, and had the pleasure of crashing Bonobo’s The North Borders album launch party.

Without a doubt however the zenith of the past two years was covering Soundwave Festival Croatia 2013. Sets from Submotion Orchestra, Eliphino, Craig Charles, DJ Shadow, Bonobo, Hiatus Kaiyote, Nubyian Twist and The Drop against the stunning backdrop of The Garden in Tisno will be what I remember most fondly when I think of my degree in international history.

It has been nothing short of an absolute privilege to work for this brilliant student paper. Many thanks to Josh, Dennis and Alex for running everything so smoothly, and I hope the music section, PartB and The Beaver continues to go from strength to strength.

Tom Barnes - MUSIC Editor

"I’ve been really lucky this year to have had such an enthusiastic and extensive group of theatre writers, spanning all walks of LSE life. Not only have I had the fun of being able to see a variety of theatre and conduct interviews with writers, actors, directors etc myself, I’ve been able to share the experiences with 15 other people as well, and it’s them who have made it so rewarding, exciting… challenging. I hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed being one of the Part B team. Now it’s time for me to find drama elsewhere."

Michelle Warbis - Theatre Editor "Our year as PartB’s Technology Editors has been a fun ride. We got a good deal of adventures out of it- from expeditions into the dark world of DIY Bio labs in Hackney to leisurely strolls through Harrods’ Spy Museum in Knightsbridge. We also met lots of interesting folk- notably Alessandro Acquisti and Joe Cross, who reassured us that LSE grads are always welcome in the sector. Above all, this year allowed us to build on each other’s backgrounds to develop a comprehensive picture of how the tech world works- from programming through law, we covered it all. Here are three bits of wisdom for all those thinking of following our footsteps: keep an open mind, double-check everything and fear nothing."

Thank you all for reading our work and keeping us going… Happy end of term!

Gill and Mike - Technology Editors

The Beaver 18.03.2014

19

FASHION

GENDERED TREND UPDATE: SPRING SUMMER 2014

Fashion correspondent Sanya-Jeet Thandi has picked the most feminine of this season’s trends, the most flexible and potentially androgynous, as well as the down right manly. Something to reflect every part of the gender spectrum.

PINK - MEN'S Anything and everything pink as seen at Tom Ford and Paul Smith. Jon the force in breaking stupid social norms, colours are not restricted to the lines we impose on gender in the western world.

'S N E M O W FUN -

Feminine printed florals on impossibly delicate chiffon at Nina Ricci, traditional embroidered florals at Oscar De La Renta and bold applique and digital prints at Mary Katranzhou and Prabal Gurung.

FULL SKIRTS - WOMEN'S

There is nothing more flattering than flared skirts that accentuate the slimmest part of your body, the waist.

A slimming silhouette that makes you look and feel like a princess. The ideal wardrobe update to sync with the glorious weather and add to this list of things that make you feel great these days! Flattering on every figure, versatile and easy to pull off; this is forgi ving fashion.

CAMO - MEN'S

men F or OTC kit young Dig out your old CC les…) ru the st ain might be ag (I’m not sure if that n Man is tio Ac r! eu rig de ain but camo is once ag masculinity. s season. Effortless your inspiration thi

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PHOTOS: MOSCHANO, MOSS, DIOR, MCDONALDS, WIKIPEDIA CREATIVE

X E S I N ITE - U

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SAN

of the ahead g in e globb d for igners t of e s lt e u d fa d e enc cen ’t be You can p art has influ ctions reminis dom to e o e e P ll . o fr e c e 14 n gam s th the AW f fashio iving u ally for dy Warhol, g expressions o eek and n l W 1960s A fun and nove York Fashion ace your e br embrac odarte at New summer em iously. is R er as per o at Milan. Th ourself too s y Moschin ty, don’t take frivoli

EDITORIAL ELECTION: THE MANIFESTOS EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Jon Allsop

Whilst my priority would be preserving what’s great about a great paper, there are areas where ‘The Beaver’ needs to be better.

Firstly, whilst it’s important that every section has a distinctive identity, we should standardise design around a revamped and more cohesive format, include important or excellent articles from throughout the paper alongside news stories on the front page and run opinion pieces next to the story they’re referencing where possible. Secondly, we have to revitalise the paper’s website to make it slicker and more relevant. The PDF edition of the paper should be immediately obvious, whilst breaking news stories and blogs should keep it continuously up-to-date. Finally, we have to make contributing inclusive and social by holding regular events, ensuring more face-to-face contact time with editors and reaching out to societies and clubs when we’re looking for writers on issues that affect them. In addition to these priorities, I would also look to make Social more focussed and fun, introduce ‘News in Brief’ to give the School and students a mouthpiece for short press releases and appoint a satire editor to keep Private B funny whilst broadening its appeal. I believe I have the skills, experience and commitment for this role. As Opinion editor, I successfully reorganised the section into themed weekly columns to make it more coherent, whilst as co-founder and president of Politics and Forum Society I extended political debate on campus by holding regular events and editing a 250 page inaugural journal.

Gareth Rosser My name's Gareth, and I would like to be your executive editor for the upcoming year. During my time as writer, Deputy Editor and Editor of the Sports section, I believe I've gained some insight into how we as a paper can move forward.

I would like to make the Beaver more accessible for students, both as contributors and as readers. There are writers within the Collective who don't even know where the Media Office is; I want to change this. I would use Freshers' Fair to reach out to other societies, speaking to them in person to ensure that all of LSE's students, know that they are welcome in the Office. To jumpstart this process, I would use the Give-It-A-Go sessions to produce a mini-edition of the Beaver for new writers. By doing so I hope to provide an opportunity for any students, fresher or otherwise, who want to contribute but haven't yet.

I would also provide opportunities for aspiring editors to receive training in InDesign and Photoshop – the Beaver looks good, but it relies too much on the knowledge of a few individuals. I would change this.

Finally, I believe we should be generating more of our own content in the Beaver. In issues such as the changes in class sizes, we should be actively creating news rather than simply reacting to it.

Thank you for reading this, and if you have any questions about my manifesto, please feel free to email me on g.rosser@lse.ac.uk.

MANAGING EDITOR

ONLINE EDITOR

Alex Fyfe Having been PartB Editor for six months, I feel I have the experiences necessary to make a great Managing Editor if elected. With PartB being the largest section of the paper, and the most design focused, I have gained a lot of experience in managing sub editors and using InDesign. I want to apply this knowledge to the whole paper and further improve the look of key sections. I also want to make it easier for deputy editors to gain experience in using InDesign and run tutorial sessions at the start of the new term to facilitate this. Alongside editing PartB, I have contributed photos and satire pieces throughout the year, something I hope to continue. I also want to use my photoshop skills to introduce some more complex design elements to the paper.

Harry Maxwell Why Me? Experience writing engaging blogs for online news outlets including Yahoo! and Reveal Magazine, with articles receiving up to 60,000 unique readers per post Experience developing WordPress sites, utilising SEO and keywords, and promoting via social media, from both my journalism experience and launching online business ventures Manifestos?

Improve the design of Beaver Online to create a more digestible and engaging layout of news Launch a 'Student Bloggers' initiative with regular blogs, exclusive to the online offering Increase promotion of Beaver Online through LSE social media channels Distinguish more between news/opinion/features and Part B, catering to the varying news appetites within the LSE community Ensure the website is updated daily, with metrics actively tracked to ensure appropriate article positioning on the homepage

In terms of specific improvements, overall I want to make it easier for all students to contribute articles to the paper. I would work with the Online Editor to develop a system for online submission, where any LSE student could instantly send in an article. The piece would then be forwarded to the appropriate section editor, who would decide to publish it or not. I also want to see big improvements in The Beaver’s social media presence, and ensure that The Beaver is the place LSE students go to online and in print for the latest news regarding the school. I hope you will give me your vote!

Liam Hill Hi I'm Liam. I have written for the Beaver since October 2012 and have been Collective Chair since last December. As your new Managing Editor, I would seek to make The Beaver more fun and inclusive.

I would make the Ed board bigger by filling currently vacated positions and making some section Editor positions open to more people, because editing sections well can take up a lot of time and it would be great to get more people involved, as well as making life easier for section editors.

We should also increase the number of Deputy Editors for some sections, especially Features, to increase content and to provide more opportunities for people who wish to contribute.

Next Michaelmas, we need to hit the ground running to get lots of Freshers on board as early as possible.

In terms of content, I will work with section editors to make sure we get the most out of each section. I think most sections are great as they are, but we should always be thinking about ways to improve our content. I think we can also do more in terms of outreach to societies to make sure our content is reflective of LSE's diverse community.

I would also like to have more Beaver socials to get editors and writers together and to make sure The Beaver provides the whole LSE society experience.

DESIGN EDITOR Alex Fyfe Having edited PartB for the last ten weeks, I believe I have the required experience to become Design Editor. PartB is the section that has always had a distinctive, design focus; with me creating six pages from scratch on a weekly basis. I’ve gained a significant experience from this, particularly in using InDesign to make PartB as visually impressive as possible. I have also designed three infographics for the news section, and would like to continue this in the future. If elected Design Editor, I want to fundamentally overhaul a few sections. In particular, Social and News could do with a visual refresh, something that would definitely make the paper more appealing. I would also like to explore the possibility of using a new font throughout the paper. I think a more modern, cleaner typeface would significantly improve the look of The Beaver as a whole.

Liam Hill My main role as Design Editor would to solve small problems and iron out the small but noticeable faults, to make sure the sections are designed coherently and similarly, and to work with the new Executive Editor on how front page is redesigned.

I also think we should bring back having people's faces with their articles, at least in the Comment section, and, depending on next year's section editors, perhaps in more. I would be happy to make this a part of my role as Design editor.

Finally, the front page should feature a lot more of the content within, especially if that content is related to the front page story.

Showing readers how diverse our content is should encourage more people to pick the Beaver up and read it.

Next term, the Beaver is going to have an election for Features editor, PartB editor, and Collective Chair

THE BEAVER AWARDS SHORTLISTS BEST ARTICLES

NEWS 'UoL Occupation prompts police backlash' - GABRIEL EVERINGTON (801) 'Food for thought: oil drilling in lands of uncontacted tribes' - HOLLY BRENTNALL (804) 'Panellists unpack Russian gay propaganda law' - CHLOE HOLDEN (805) 'Equality and Diversity Action Plan 2014-2017 - MARINE STRAUSS (807) 'Saw Swee hot or Saw Swee not?'

- MEGAN CROCKETT and SHU HANG LOW (811) OPINION Reagan Era Republicans come Back From The Dead To Inhabit The Bodies Of The LSESU Sabbatical Officers And Turn Their Ends To The Propagation Of A Stridently Neo-Liberal Agenda Through Progressive Indoctrination Of The Student Body - SEB ASH (799) 'A British Mining Company's Exploitation of Sierra Leone' ISABELLA MOSSELMANS (800) 'Sochi's Shame' - JOSH JINRUANG (806) 'The Economics of the UGM' - ROBERT DEEGAN (808) 'The "Small Annoyances" Manifesto' - BEN PHILLIPS (809) 'My journey to liberation' - FATHIA BEGUM (810) PARTB 'A junk shop full of bitches, boobs, and the human toilets' - ERIKA ARNOLD (793) 'Utopian state of mind' - IAN PLUNKETT (797) 'War reports: LGBT rights in Russia' - BENJAMIN BUTTERWORTH (799) 'An afternoon with Tony Kitous' - DOROTHY WONG (800) 'Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War' - JADE JACKMAN (801) 'David Bowie: a birthday tribute' - ANURADHA SANTANHAM (802) 'Symbolic violence on wounded bodies' - JOSH JINRUANG (803) 'Which LSE are you?' - SANYA-JEET THANDI (804) 'Franco Manca: Not a chink in the six strong chain

- NERAJ THANGARAJAH (807) 'Hacktivism 101' - GILLIAN CAFIERO (807) FEATURES 'Stalemate in Ukraine: The Maidan So Far' - WILL DUFFIELD (807) 'The Bo Xilai trial - the coming age of rule of law' KEXUAN GUO (793) 'A right to education' - ANAAM AFRIDI (798) 'The Hollande case: Is the tradition of privacy in France being eroded' - JEFFREY MO (803) 'The case of www.Lexbas.se' - CAMILLA NASCHERT (805) '#sosvenezuela' - CRISTINA ESPINAL (808) INTERVIEWS Joseph Garcia by MICHAEL TAVARES (792) Nick Cohen by LIAM HILL and TOM MAKSYMIW (797) Alan Clements by ELIZABETH STOUT and MIKE PEARSON (801) Nigel Farage by LIAM HILL (804) John Woodcock by TOM MAKSYMIW (806) SOCIAL 'Have university relationships lost their magic?'

- OLIVIA GLEESON (801) 'A whole new world: the mysteries of Marrakech' - CHING HU (806) 'The ‘T’ is silent but Metz is a place worth making noise about' - SEB ASH (809) SPORT 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' - GABRIEL EVERINGTON (797) 'The Lows and Lowers of England in Wembley' - ARIS MORO (799) 'LSE Judo Goes from Strength to Strength in its First Year' - JACK KELLY (802) 'Saints Rocked by boardroom turmoil' - AMEYA BADWE (803) 'Standing up for sitting down' - SEB ASH (807) 'Red hot pawn hits West Brom' - ANUP DESAI (809)

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTORS MARYAM AKRAM ALISON CAMERON GILLIAN CAFIERO MEGAN CROCKETT KAVEH FARZAD EMMA FORTH JADE JACKMAN JEFFREY MO CAMILLA NASCHERT MARTHA PETROCHEILOS JOEL ROSEN MARINE STRUASS NERAJ THANGARAJAH MICHELLE WARBIS DOROTHY WONG Special mention: JANIE TAN

BEST DESIGN 2014: the year ahead page - MIKE PEARSON (802) 'Calhoun Comfortably Compensated' infographic - ALEX FYFE (803) Theatre section - MICHELLE WARBIS

MOST IMPROVED SECTION Opinion Features

the

Beaver

21

Tuesday March 18 2014

Features

bridge over the river, why?

I

Simon Hicks

n the closing words of his buoyant address to the LSE last December, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, drew considerable attention to plans for a new central London River crossing aptly named the Garden Bridge. This bridge will serve as a pedestrian-only link between the Temple Underground Station on the North Bank, and a patch of lawn outside the IMB offices on the South Bank. Though the project is fantastical, stunningly presented, and a triumph in engineering and design innovation, one must question to what exact purpose the bridge serves, and to whom such a significant infrastructure project will benefit.

The project is the result of a British innovation partnership between designers, Heatherwick Studio – of Olympic Cauldron fame; and engineers, ARUP – of Gherkin prestige. The pedestrian-only crossing will be impressively supported by two structural trunks – to use vernacular in keeping with the project – from which two organic

structures will grow outward and meet in the centre of the Thames. The structure will further expand perpendicular to the river, with the intention of creating two public parklike spaces upon the bridge.

The designers emphasise that the new crossing will not simply become a linear progression from A to B, as in the Millennium Bridge. Routes across the bridge bend and intertwine through areas of planting. Smaller platforms are unevenly dispersed around the periphery of the two enormous steel trunks with the intention of framing picturesque views down the Thames vista.

Through its creation of spaces for exploration, contemplation and viewing, the bridge becomes a location to visit in its own right. Indeed, the bridge as a whole will even market itself with reflective metal alloy cladding and significant presence on the Thames riverside.

It is a public attraction more than it is a public pathway.

For all its merits as an iconic emblem of British innovation and design expertise, the Garden Bridge further won’t reflect the logistical transport challenges presently faced by

London. The designers they hope the crossing will link into the Aldwych loop, and provide a much needed footfall to Temple – a presently underused central London Underground station. However, it is hard to identify any significant demand for a river crossing at this location in London. Waterloo is an ordinarily uncongested bridge within 350m of the new proposed crossing. Additionally, the Garden Bridge desperately fails to respond to the growing demand for more pedestrian crossings in East London beyond Tower Bridge.

Out beyond Bermondsey, your options as a pedestrian are limited to the Emirates Airline cable car (at a cost), or the Woolwich Free Ferry.

Building bridges in the East is admittedly problematic for a number reasons; including river width and larger height requirements for haulage ships. However, the Garden Bridge, due to its complexity and design innovation, has been estimated to cost in the region of £150 million, with running costs pointedly higher than your average London bridge.

It is clear that the Garden Bridge, if constructed, will feed into the London’s image as a world cultural capital.

During London’s highly coveted sunny days, the Garden Bridge will likely serve to become yet another of London’s over prescribed, tourist laden, expensive manifestations of its

world city status. Indeed, the Mayor has a history of vanity projects that create grand exhibition with limited functionality (see The Orbit Tower, for example). In Boris’ own words from his speech to the LSE, “People will continue to come to Britain… and they will come to London first just to see the beautiful garden bridge.” Other than a minority of students from Sydney Webb who might reduce their average walking time to the LSE by 3 minutes, the usefulness and functionality of the bridge appears to be limited – especially when an infrastructure project of such scale is so desperately needed in the East. On the other hand, I’ve also never seen a full-size tree grow on a bridge before!

The Garden Bridge will span 370m from Temple Underground Station to the South Bank with completion scheduled for 2017

UNREST IN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

DEFYING DAYTON

Freya Nowell

Whilst the world was watching Ukraine for the latest in nationalist-driven unrest, it shouldn’t have been so quick to ignore the significance of that taking place a little further south. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the politically dysfunctional lovechild of NATO and the former Yugoslavia’s powerful war criminals, was busy having its own ‘spring’ marking widespread discontent with the bleak future its population faces.

Peaceful protests broke out in early February in the northern city of Tuzla, a former industrial stronghold. Here, the spark was the closure of yet another factory and subsequent job losses after several large companies were gradually privatised and subsequently declared bankrupt.

Protesters, predominantly students and political activists, demanded swift action from the local government on jobs, unpaid salaries and pensions. The unrest quickly spread to twenty other major cities, turning violent in many places. Crowds expressed similar discontent with their own administrations and increasingly included members of an older generation, many of whom wanted to ensure the movement would not be written off as attributable to young hooligans bent on vandalism. Hundreds were hospitalised as a result of clashes with police forces. In Tuzla, Mostar, Zenica and the capital Sarajevo, government buildings were set ablaze, marking the worst violence in the country since the 1992-95 war. The Presidents of four cantons (regional administrations), from a total of ten, an-

nounced their resignation.

The fragile Balkan state is comprised of two political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Bosnian Croats primarily inhabiting the former and Bosnian Serbs the latter. The entities are roughly equivalent in size and based largely on the territories held by the two warring sides at the time of the internationally negotiated 1995 Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country still riddled with the ethnic divisions that fuelled its brutal war, not least due to its archaic governance structure. However, the nature of these protests marked the significant progress of the Bosnian people away from nationalist antagonisms and toward united disenfranchisement with their

inefficient and undemocratic state.

The legacy of Dayton extends beyond entity borders.

The Agreement left a plethora of problems in its wake, not least a powerful political class with a penchant for salary self-indulgency, reckless privatisations and political paralysis. However, Dayton cannot be solely blamed for the inability of those political elites to master capable governance. Many Bosnians feel there is little hope for their country’s future and even less hope for its European future if the decentralised and dysfunctional system of power-sharing that haunts its progress goes unchecked. Circular talks on constitutional reform, as well as pervasive patterns of corruption within the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and many other private and public bodies ren-

der the economy in constant neglect. Whilst its neighbour Croatia recently became the 28th member of the EU, one in four of the Bosnian workforce is unemployed, rising to rates of over 60% amongst young people.

Although protests have now subsided in the majority of cities, the grievances behind them have not and protestors have organised themselves into plenums in a number of cities. Meetings are regular and two cantonal administrations are actively negotiating with plenums on issues including non-partisan participation in local government. Many Bosnians remain hopeful that the unrest will open up new modes of political organisation which better represent the population of modern day Bosnia and Herzegovina and work towards their progress.

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FRENEMIES: GEORGE BERNARD SHAW AND G. K. CHESTERTON

G

Nathan Stringer

eorge Bernard Shaw was one of four who founded our school in 1895. Compared with Graham Wallas, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Shaw certainly has the greatest name recognition of the Fabian Society. A prolific writer of many genres, Shaw won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925, and for adapting his canonical play Pygmallion to the screen he remains the only man to have also won an Oscar. Less well known, however, is his long-term frenemy-ship with fellow author G.K. Chesterton.

‘Frenemy’ is the closest word to describe how the two viewed each other, but it is not the most appropriate. Urban Dictionary defines ‘frenemy’ as “an enemy disguised as a friend,” but Shaw and Chesterton were fast friends and enemies only by nature of their disagreements, i.e. on everything from economics to literature to theology.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote a popular series of mystery short stories centered on the character of Father Brown, a rural parish priest.

He was best known for these stories and for being an extraordinarily large man, but Chesterton was also a columnist and wrote short histories and biographies—including one of Shaw. He also authored apologetic texts. An atheist when he went to arts school, he circuitously came to Christian faith and was eventually confirmed in the

Roman Catholic church.

Chesterton regularly attended the public debates LSE hosted in its first decades, and in 1928 Shaw joined him to discuss the redistribution of wealth. Adamantly opposed to socialism, the exuberant and famously corpulent Catholic could not have been a stronger contrast to Shaw the Fabian, reserved and gaunt atheist. Simply titled “Do We Agree?”, Shaw begins the debate candidly addressing the audience: “I suspect that you do not really care much what we debate about provided we entertain you by talking in our characteristic manners. The reason for this, though you may not know it—and it is my business to tell you—is that Mr Chesterton and I are two madmen... uttering all sorts of extraordinary opinions for no reason whatever. Mr Chesterton tells and prints the most extravagant lies....

The mere fact that Mr Chesterton and I may agree upon any point may not at all prevent us from debating it passionately.”

Shaw makes the deliberately outrageous opening claim that those who won’t equalize their wealth should be killed. Chesterton attributes the radical, negative impulse to abolish private property as the same impulse that would prohibit alcohol, tobacco and meat, “characteristic of his school, of his age [era].” He responds to Shaw in equal measure, claiming that “human beings [are] creatures quite outside the purview of Mr. Shaw and his political philosophy.”

Left: Writer, theologian, poet and dramatist, G.K. Chesterton. Right: One of the four LSE foudners, George Bernard Shaw

This is a typical, good-humored conversation between the two. It is fitting with their other quotable exchanges such as when Chesterton told Shaw “To look at you, anyone would think there was a famine in England,” to which Shaw wryly replied: “To look at you, anyone would think you caused it.”

They cherished each other’s friendship even more than they admired each other’s intellect. Although Shaw was 18 years his ‘frenemy’s

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS

senior he outlived him, and Chesterton died in 1936. In his letter of condolence to Chesterton’s widow, Shaw offered to help her financially in any way she needed. Though never sharing his faith, he concluded: “The trumpets are sounding for him.”

The chair had concluded their 1928 debate about wealth redistribution: “In a very few years from now this debate will be antiquated.”

The ascendancy of Lionel Robbins and Friedrich Hayek

50,000

countries now supporting Tube Drivers’ salary will rise Malaysia in its search for above this figure as a result of missing flight MH370 the most recent deal brokered by NEW RECORD: number of chicklate RMT boss Bob Crow en wings eaten in one sitting

by Molly Schuyler at ‘Wing Bowl’ - Philadelphia’s annual potential number of homes in a chicken wing eating contest of voters in crimea support new Garden City in Ebbsfleet, Kent joining russia, officials say announced by George Osborne numbers of years Tony Benn spent as a member of parliament

25 15,000

363

96%

47

in the next decade prove that statement true. But for Shaw and Chesterton, their -isms were never as important as their relationship.

LSE is founded on the Fabians’ almost excessive belief in democratic processes, and this is reflected in our constant voting and protests, ubiquitous unions and collectives. But may we never lose sight of another founder’s value: love that passes all convictions.

4,400

Number of nuclear weapons Ukraine agreed to give up in order to guarantee the protection of its territory in 1994

100+ number of people killed in attacks across the Nigerian state of Kaduna. Religious motivation alleged.

compiled by Tom Maksymiw (2014/15 EDUCATION OFFICER), MIKE PEARSON AND LIAM HILL

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Tuesday March 18 2014

Features

A New Chapter in Thai Politics?

Are Declining government protests good?

O

Kabu Senapitak

ver the past few weeks, Thai antigovernment protests in Bangkok - which had held incredible momentum in the past four months - have subsided considerably. Originally, the protestors vowed to “shut down” the world’s most visited city of 2013. Demonstrations under the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have thus far failed to oust the incumbent Yingluck government. Many protest sites in Bangkok have been dismantled, previously occupied streets cleared and the National Security Council suggests a “very high chance” that the state of emergency imposed two months ago would soon be lifted.

Anti-government senti-

ment escalated notably from October 2013. That month, the House of Representatives under Yingluck’s premiership passed a highly controversial amnesty bill which was a “blanket amnesty” exonerating those accused of political crimes from 2004 to today – including former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. While the bill was ultimately rejected by the Senate, the movement led by Suthep Thaugsuban escalated into one to oust Yingluck’s government.

With the backing of the Democrat Party (the main opposition party), on 8 December 2013, all 153 Democrat Party MPs resigned. Yingluck dissolved parliament the following day with elections scheduled for 2 February 2014. To disrupt these elections, the PDRC has since then attempted to “shut down” Bangkok, block polling stations, obstruct

Above: one of the main protest leaders, Suthep Thaugsuban, who has called for an unelected People’s Council to reform the political system in Thailand

registration of election candidates and occupy government buildings.

Whether it was dampening consumerism, investment or tourism, the protests have financially devastated the Thai economy. Estimates from the Faculty of Economics at Rangsit University claim that, consequent economic losses could reach $30.77 billion and result in a 0.5% shrink in the country’s economy. The Bank of Thailand’s earlier slashing of interest rates to 2%, the lowest level in three years, reflects this dire economic situation.

What exactly do protesters want that would even allow for such economic damage? Fundamentally, they want to oust the current government due to alleged Thaksin de-facto control and corruption. But that is not all. The PDRC asserts the current political system is too susceptible to corruption and to correct this, there must be electoral reforms conducted outside the current system. To do so, they believe in establishing an unelected interim government under a so-called ‘People’s Council’ with nonpolitically affiliated experts to reform electoral laws. Critics argue this is undemocratic, authoritarian and prone to power abuse.

Therefore, declining antigovernment protests may ostensibly be for the best. After all, there is a ‘one man one vote’ democratic system already in place and the economy can begin recovering. But Thai democracy is in many ways, systemically flawed.

Electoral fraud is deep-rooted in Thai politics. Corruption is endemic: from the Royal Thai Police to the military to government ministries. Votebuying is a culture even at the grassroots level. Populism dominates policymaking and the rural lower-classes are unaware of its shortcomings.

With eighteen constitutions since 1932, vicious cycles of elections and coups and uncompetitive elections domi-

Above: Yingluck Shinawatra, current Prime Minister of Thailand. She is the sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted from power in 2006

nated by the Pheu Thai Party, Thai democracy is clearly failing. Maintaining the status quo will certainly not resolve this. Transparent electoral reforms are necessary. Whether this is through the PDRC or otherwise, is a different question. Nonetheless, relying on the current circle of politicians who have not sought to address this for decades and may possess corrupt tendencies themselves, is questionable. Despite its risks, perhaps the protesters’ proposal is the lesser of two evils.

Yet, Thailand is also deeply divided politically and economically. The CIA World Factbook classifies Thailand as the most unequal country in Asia. Any real solution must reconcile these political divisions: lower-class pro-populist Northern/Northeast Thailand and middle-class rightist Central/Southern Thailand.

Whether a ‘People’s Council’ is

established or Yingluck retains office, more power-sharing arrangements and increased reconciliation are pivotal. But with ingrained divisions in today’s political impasse, this seems unrealistic.

Whilst protest movements have subsided considerably, Yingluck’s government cannot rest yet. They must fight against legal pressures challenging the government ruling, despite lack of quoracy in parliament and deferred elections in some provinces. Yingluck similarly has to defend herself before the National Anti-Corruption Commission on charges over alleged dereliction of duty on the government’s disastrous rice subsidy scheme. Protest strongholds in Bangkok are still active despite reduced protest sites and people. This chapter in Thai politics has not ended yet. We have simply turned over to the next page.

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The Pocket Philosophers

The Paradoxical pointlessness of acadaemia

Joel Rosen

W

hy we can only be right if noone listens to us.

We face a fundamental paradox every day as academics and experts in our fields. We are scientists, and not here just for the sake of knowledge – we are expected to come up with applicable solutions to the world’s big problems. As social scientists we observe large-scale interactive phenomena, analyse the patterns, and come up with predictive models which could potentially help us avoid or change certain events from happening in the world. The problem is that when you predict the future and someone of influence (such as a policymaker) takes it seriously, they can intervene in the future and open up a branch into alternative reality, diverting your linear prediction.

Take for example an economist who predicts a collapse in emerging markets. There are three possibilities here: she is right but remains in obscurity, and the markets collapse; she is taken seriously

and the markets collapse because of her prediction undermining confidence in the markets, which makes her right but for the wrong reasons; or she is taken seriously and action is taken to avert the crisis, making her prediction wrong. The long-term implications are significant too. If she is taken seriously every time and the future is changed, her predictions will have been wrong (and one cannot prove otherwise without taking the plunge and letting the markets collapse), and she loses all credibility. Then there is no-one to predict a crisis, and it happens.

Here’s another problem.

When a prediction is made, and action is taken to avert a negative outcome, the action taken can actually precipitate unpredictable side effects and spark other crises into life.

The future has been shifted and it creates ripple effects across the system. One could naturally try to plan for these, but if we were right about them and it was taken seriously, they would be averted and we would be wrong again.

So every time we come up with a predictive model and

it is taken seriously by those who have influence, the model becomes invalidated and we have to come up with a new one taking into account the evasive actions taken as a consequence of the last model. We are left with a choice: come up

with a predictive model that remains correct but remain in obscurity, or be taken seriously and be proven wrong while having to create a new model each time. The former model is socially useless, while the latter is unsustainable. You

can be right but useless, or believed, wrong and overworked.

Herein lies the paradox of academia.

Let’s hope no-one important ever listens to us, because then we at least have a good shot at being right.

The Pocket Philosophers Should Dead People Tell Us What To Do?

D Ben Phillips

on’t worry. I am not of the belief that we can contact the dead.

Once people pass away, they cease to hold a physical presence around us.

Whether cremated or buried six feet under, they will no longer directly influence our lives.

That said, how about their legacy? Each and every generation preceding ours has contributed to a mass of laws and rules around the world.

The bodies of politicians and statesmen may fade away, but their legislative work lingers on and affects us daily. In almost every country, the majority of laws governing everyday life have not been composed by those living now. Rather, they are the products of past politics and past people. For many, this is merely an inter-

esting if unsurprising fact.

Yet, on the subject of historically conceived laws, there is a further question: is this fair?

From birth, we are subject to a particular nation’s rules. We did not conceive them. Nor, in fact, did anybody of our youthful age conceive them. We cannot choose to ignore these rules. Every person, therefore, is immediately and inexorably bound to a set of rules which they did not create and to which they did not assent. Our parents, grandparents and ancestors may have contributed to the creation or choosing of rules, but should this generate an obligation from us?

Thomas Jefferson, who daydreamed about this sort of thing when taking a break from founding and then governing the United States of America, didn’t think so. For him, the living are no more bound to the wishes of former generations than a nation is bound to the wishes of any

other nation. Generations, like countries, are separate and mutually independent – we owe no legal commitment to those who came before us. Our obligation to obey the law in

the present cannot be derived from the past.

Perhaps there is an easy solution to this problem: if we don’t like a country’s historically conceived laws, we can leave. Citizens may be obliged to obey their nation’s laws but, in most cases, they are not obliged to remain in their nation. Sadly, there are two issues here. First, it is rarely easy to pack up and leave one’s native country.

Practically and financially, the exit option is far too exclusive. Secondly, even if all citizens could leave with ease, they could only travel into another nation. Another nation with laws created long before our generation came around.

Wherever we go, the deceased will (indirectly) tell us what we can and cannot do.

So much for principled objections; let’s try some pragmatism. How would we prevent people from being bound by past generations’ rules?

One solution might be to allow the easy repealing and resetting of laws. Rather than allowing historical legislation to remain, current generations could be offered the tools rebuild laws from the bottom up.

The almost certain result of such an approach would be chaos. We would see a world in which law, and therefore order, is in a constant state of flux. The historically developed foundations of legality, while not consented to by those alive now, are essential to the stability of all nations.

To constantly destroy and replace the rules of the past would be disastrous for the welfare of those living in the present.

Indeed, maybe this subject is characteristic of many philosophical proposals: compelling in principle, unthinkable in practice. Jefferson had a point, but the practical consequences of his theory seem too dangerous for reality.

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Tuesday March 18 2014

Diary of an LSE Student

Social

social@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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

Revision Tips

As Lent Term winds to an end the inevitable cloud that is exam time looms. With seemingly there being no silver lining to the Easter holiday and Summer Term fun of revision here are some tips to help you on your way: 1.

Decide which topics to revise based on the notes you actually made, the classes you attended and the lectures you paid most attention to. More likely than not these are the topics you find more interesting and thus will be able to revise more effectively.

LSESU CathSoc

After 2 terms of hard work Catholic Society’s music group ‘Jubilate’ came together for an evening of food and fun at the Catholic Chaplaincy at ‘Newman House’.

The group has gone from strength to strength over the year with Wednesday Mass now celebrated with joyous music played by 2 violins, a flute and a handful of singers. To celebrate the group prepared fajitas to share followed by delicious French Apple Tart. This success of Jubilate and the celebratory meal is testament to how much LSESU’s Catholic Society has grown from strength to strength this year.

2.

Make savvy choices with your revision topics and technique. A little planning at the beginning goes a long way so ensure that you look through past papers to decide what to revise and make a plan on how to do this which you will actually stick to.

3.

Rigid timetables are probably not going to work. Rimmer from Red Dwarf exemplifies this point perfectly. He spent all his time making a revision timetable and thus never had any time for revision. Having a more flexible yet equally enforceable timetable is probably superior.

4. Have breaks! Plan a fun activity a day or else your brain, soul and happiness will fade.

LSE Tweets

SpirosAndreou

5.

Try not to freak yourself, or other students, out by constantly asking other people how their revision is going, reciting facts, dates or equations at them when you see them or burdening them constantly with how little revision you have done. Just go do some then...

The Beaver’s guide to summer music

Robin Park

As Lent term comes to an end it’s time to look at the bank account and realise how big an overdraft will be needed to fund going to a music festival. Going to a festival is akin to a right of passage. Where boy becomes man. Girl becomes woman. Children become responsible, independent adults. So to celebrate this inevitable and realistic transition into maturity, here’s the Beaver’s guide to summer music festivals.

Location is very important and this will significantly dictate the kind of experience you will have.

Festivals such as Benicassim (FIB) and Rhythm & Vines (R&V) have made

themselves known globally for being next to a beach in picturesque surroundings. In contrast, there are also gigs such as Lovebox, Reading + Leeds and V. Much less about the beach and more about open fields and questionable summer weather.

Perfect conditions for pacing yourself and constantly complaining about the rain all weekend (though that’s not to say you can’t pace yourself if you’re on the beach…)

Headliners are also somewhat important. For fear of being lynched by my legions of readers, I will not make a judgment call on the strength of the headline acts of every festival I’ve heard of. Though it must be said Isle of Wight and T in the

Park look rather promising this year. What really matters though is looking at the headliners and figuring out the general kind of music played at the festival. For example, Hard Rock Calling has tended to lean towards classic rock (Bruce Springsteen is a good example).

Whereas Rhythm & Vines is mostly a drum & bass gig.

Very obvious advice but still it’s still worth mentioning.

If you don’t think you’ll get along with a drum & bass crowd, don’t go to a drum & bass festival.

Non-headline acts are also just as important. Look out for the bands that you might become big in the future and you can say to your friends, “hey I saw the Horrors back in 2008” or “did

you know the Naked & Famous toured in 2007? I was there. I saw them live. THEY WERE AMAZING!” It’s massively satisfying to rub this sort of chat into your friends and also genuinely good to see up and coming acts play their first gigs in massive environments.

Proximity to a supermarket is also a critical factor.

That’s not even an exaggeration. The law of stupid behaviour dictates that no matter how much beer and vodka you bring with you to the campsite, you will run out of beer and vodka. And it’s very faux pas to steal from others. Some might say very illegal. Even if you don’t beverage, you will want to have a ready supply of soft drinks, plus all

the other supplies you need throughout the weekend. If the festival you’re interested in is in the middle of nowhere, be prepared to bring as many supplies as possible. Better to have supplies left over than being left scrambling for things to eat on the final day with only £10 left on your debit card, which by the way will barely buy you a sandwich at a festival.

Final advice from the Beaver office: just enjoy yourselves. If you’re going to a festival, no matter what happens, you’ll still probably have a ridiculously good time. Stay out of trouble and do all the sensible things as well. Like drinking water and wearing footwear. Sweet as.

Tuesday March 18 2014

On the Inca Trail

Dennis Mooney - Executive Editor

Fly from London to Lima, on to Cusco, take a minibus out towards Ollantaytambo, pass through the tiny town nestled in the empty hills of south-east Peru, along a rocky track towards the starting point of the Camino Inca, and you’ll see a sign by the side of the road just before a cluster of houses bearing the words ‘Zona Urbana’. You will, as I did, laugh casually and speculate that nothing could possibly be more remote. You will be, as I was, utterly and spectacularly wrong. Strap on your backpack, grab your walking poles and say hello to your porters and guides, and within a couple of hours anything as modern and administrative as a signpost will be unthinkable.

After a gentle start parallel to the railway which is the alternative and much quicker route to the fabled Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail becomes more remote, and more amazing, with every step.

The trail, 26 miles long and well over 4,000 metres at its highest point, is part of a historic route taken by Inca pilgrims from Cusco, their capital, to the important religious site of Machu Picchu - ‘old peak’ in Quecha - but today it is purely a tourist attraction, to the extent that the Peruvian government strictly limits access. Only 500 trail permits per day are issued, which means only about 200 actual tourists given the porters and guides necessary to undertake the expedition; if you want to go, be prepared to book at least 5 months in advance. It’s not cheap either; my trip was a 21st birthday present but expect to pay somewhere between £400-500 for the full four-day itinerary. Considering that this includes food,

accommodation, guides and porters as well as entrance to Machu Picchu and transport between Cusco and the trail though, it would be pretty good value even if the experience weren’t so spectacular.

I don’t know if JRR Tolkien ever visited Peru - I suspect not - but he could very well have modelled the back way into Mordor on the Inca Trail. At times it soars, rough steps hewn from cliff faces and majestic vistas complete with Inca ruins spilling out below, and at others it plunges mischievously through forests and between boulders as though attempting to throw those following it off the scent. The ascent to the 4,200m Warmiwañusqa, or ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’, takes the breath away in a very literal sense; even the porters, native to the area and accus-

tomed to the altitude, chew copious amounts of coca leaves. The porters, incidentally, are almost as impressive as the scenery. As someone who considers themself in relatively good shape, carrying somewhere in the region of 8 kilograms, I found myself needing five-minute breaks every ten minutes on that ascent; these guys carry well over their allotted 20 kilograms and don’t stop all day, except to cook your meals, put up your tents and generally take care of you.

On the trail, you will regularly hear calls of ‘Porter!’ and the insistent scuffling of battered trainers on scree as another diminutive Quecha farmer laden with tent poles or a gas stove comes up behind you. They are, naturally, incredibly fit; one holds the speed record for the trail -

roughly the same length as a marathon but over extraordinary terrain and with a cumulative elevation of several thousand metres - at under four hours.

To rush through so quickly would be to miss the spectacle, however, and one might not appreciate the glory of Machu Picchu after such exertions. Rising before five in the morning for the fourth consecutive day - early starts and early nights are the way of life on the trail - I was somewhat skeptical about my own prospect of fully absorbing the majesty of what Hiram Bingham, who discovered the ruins in 1911, called ‘the finest and most amazing structures in ancient America… The lost city of the Incas’. Another hour waiting at a checkpoint in the pre-dawn Andean mist didn’t help, but

Top: The author at Machu Picchu, and Inca ruins from a vantage point on day one of the trail. Above: the Dead Woman’s Pass.

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I needn’t have worried. Approaching the Sun gate as the sun itself pushed through the clouds, the trail climbs steeply towards the ridge, with the last few metres a suitably childish scramble, hands and feet clawing at the rocks in a desperate bid to be the first to glimpse the ruins, the view that everyone knows from a thousand pictures but that no one who hasn’t seen it for real can truly appreciate.

Machu Picchu, bathed in morning sunshine, defies words; the expressions on the faces of those drinking in the experience are a combination of astonishment, wonder and relief, but nothing can quite capture the enormity that inspired the Inca pilgrims centuries ago and will continue to inspire tourists for centuries to come.

Walking around the ruins, that sense is only heightened by the scale and bombast; stone blocks weighing tonnes meticulously aligned to create temples and farming terraces carved from the peak, the whole thing a cascade of civilisation over an outcrop of incredible and inaccessible natural beauty.

Descend the steps to the entrance, take the tourist bus down the hairpins to the emphatically tourist town of Aguas Calientes that has sprung up to support those thousands who reach Macchu Picchu daily by more modern methods, and take the train back along the valley floor to Ollantayambo, marvelling at the heights you scaled and the steps you took, and you will have come full circle, as I now have. Do fly to Lima, to Cusco, do take the bus through the empty hills and laugh at the signpost, and do scramble up to the Sun gate and drink in the view. Do the Inca Trail, because there is quite literally nothing else like it.

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Tuesday March 18 2014

Social

Reflections on the LSE Experience Jonathan Hough

Since becoming a student over 900 days ago and exploring what LSE has to offer, I have positive views of my time here as I start to enter my final exam season.

This is just a brief look at some of the highlights and observations from my past three years: Year 1 Little did I know that picking Carr-Saunders on the accommodation system would end up being one of the best decisions of my life.

I almost decided against coming to LSE purely due to its reputation of having a bad social life (like I’m sure many people do) but I was pleasantly surprised that it went a long way to matching the experience I was expecting. It’s probably fair to say that unlike other universities where you’re almost guaranteed to have a universally good time whichever hall you choose,

Listings

there’s a substantial disparity between residences at LSE which goes on to affect your entire time here.

I also soon realised that I was hopeless at managing my money - even though I am an Econ student and nights out were cheaper than I was expecting. Online lecture recordings meant more time in bed and work definitely took a back seat which I paid the price for later in year by staying in the library until 3am (two years later and I’m still in the same situation). It’s fair to say the amount of studying required definitely took me by surprise and also the fact that a world-class institution doesn’t necessarily mean that one gets worldclass teaching. Despite this I still managed to pass the year.

Year 2 Like many students, I couldn’t avoid catching the internship bug. The vast majority of my first term involved sending off appli-

An Insight into a Career in Criminal Defence 5:15PM/ CLM 1.01 RAG

Farewell

LSE Spring Concert 7:45PM/ St Clement Danes Church

The Games II- LSESU Gaming Society 3:30PM/ LSE Campus An event with George Galloway MP - What Role should Britain play in Europe and across the world?

3:30PM/ Old Theatre Thursday (20th) Swing Dance Ball 7PM/ Conway Hall

LSE student. I also went on the Ski Trip to Val Thorens which was such an amazing week and a reminder there are so many new experiences at university; I even started volunteering and not just to put it on my CV. Along the way there was also that course called LSE100 but, well, there’s not too many positives to mention. While a great idea in theory, the reality of balancing yet more classes and reading just becomes an unwanted chore which doesn’t really work.

Year 3 There was a somewhat failed attempt to shift focus towards work this year.

Clubbing started to become tiring and repetitive but I got more involved with societies which takes up an unbelievable amount of time, mainly due to all the bureaucracy that comes with it. Getting to meet so many new people and truly benefitting from LSE being so diverse and international is something

£5 for LSE students

Wednesday (19th)

Tuesday (18th)

The Houghtones Concert 7PM/ The Venue

cations and sitting through countless online numerical reasoning tests - something which I will hopefully never see again. It became the topic of countless conversations and the pressure, not to mention the competition, to secure one took me by surprise. Love it or loathe it, this is a huge part of the LSE experience. The big advantage is that despite all the effort, being successful and securing a full-time job took a lot of pressure off final year - unlike many of my friends at other universities who still have nothing planned upon graduation.

I never really got into the AU and the ‘cliques’ that come with it; the lack of a middle ground where you can play sports more socially without the huge time commitment is definitely something that could be improved. The few times I ventured to Zoo Bar will definitely always stick in my head (mainly for all the wrong reasons) but it’s definitely a part of being an

Global Brigades End of Term Party 7:30PM/ The Three Tuns £3.00 (Early bird) The Graduate - Postgrad night 10:30PM/ The Three Tuns £3.00 (Early bird) £4.00 (Standard) Friday (21st)

that otherwise gets lost in the clearly defined social groups here. Shamefully, I only recently really discovered the temple of Wright’s Bar which could have gone some way to solving my initial overspending in year one. In addition, there was the opportunity to explore London a bit more - something that I never really had time for before. Aside for that, things were very much the same as prior years which basically involved trying not to fall behind by too much.

LSE is a very unique institution where work undoubtedly dominates but you can have a really rounded university experience - the only downside is you have to actively search for it. Ultimately it really depends on what you are looking for but there is so much more than just getting a degree and a job.

Saturday (22nd) RAG Hitchhike to Croatia Don’t forget to sponsor the brave Beavers taking on this challenge!

LSE Choir St John’s Hospice Fundraising Concert 5PM/ Church of Saint John of Jerusalem, St John’s Wood

The End Party 5PM/ 29-30 Maiden Lane £11.00 (Basic)

Where is there to study at LSE? there. From here one could head to 32L but once again the hiked up temperatures and noisy atmosphere is hardly suitable for work. So should one venture to the dungeons of Kingsway to find a quiet spot? Perhaps this is an option but frankly a depressing one as there is no sunlight or actual life down there. Indeed the lifelessness is so much that if a war broke out you would be unaware. The new Saw Swee Hock building is hardly improving the situation as despite boasting 6 floors there is nowhere to study!

Apart from an out of place section of computers and a café where apparently you are no longer allowed to eat your own food (another issue by the way – where is there anywhere for students to eat food from home and socialise at lunchtime?)

cold. So perhaps to Lincoln’s Inn field for a park adventure. This may be fun, good for topping up on Vitamin D and chatting but let’s be honest not many people are going to get anything done work wise.

So why is there nowhere to study on campus? The list above is obviously only a select number of places but I challenge anyone to suggest somewhere they actually want to study.

Come Summer Term campus study spots will be even more manic than usual as the library becomes a war zone of who can get a seat and stay there the longest.

Moreover there just simply are not enough study zones on campus for the number of students LSE has, let alone if expansion plans for undergraduate student numbers go ahead. This issue has to With the weather improv- be addressed. For the sake ing, outside is an option of LSE students and my sanhowever the minimal out- ity. side furniture of the NAB is quite uncomfortable and

John and Melanie

at other universities talk about homely study spots where the hours just seem fly by whilst productivity As I come to the end of to is high. my second Lent Term at LSE too!We deserve that at LSE it seems I still have not found the perfect place to The library is hideous. study on campus. Indeed I It is about 40 dequestion whether anyone greesnormally ,there has. It is not too often that is not centigrade enough space for I meet someone who says seemingly any of the LSE ‘I love studying on campus, students, the stairs literworking in x just works so ally take the life out of you, well for me’. Normally the there are not enough plug reason giving for slogging points for laptops and by the away in the library is that time you have found a suitthe other students there able seat it is time for you give some sort of incentive to leave again. So then perto the person attempting to haps one should go to the work that they should per- Shaw Library, which indeed haps get off Facebook and is a lovely spot, however one try some of this studying has to traipse up the stairs or malarkey. A sort of social wait an inordinate amount guilt shall we say. However of time for the lift just to get I would say that a) this is of- to the sixth floor, then there ten an ineffective tactic as are normally no chairs or you end up meeting friends rather people are sleeping in the study spots and either in the chairs (because they chatting for hours or what- are too comfy) or you have sapping if you are in a silent to trudge back downstairs zone and b) we really should due to the fact the library have a place where we want is out of action all day due to study. Countless friends to an event taking place in Amelia Thomson

Tuesday March 18 2014

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Social

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Mae I Help You? (An end of term bumper special) Dear Mae, I broke up with my boyfriend about 6 months ago. He made a big thing at the time about how he wanted to stay friends and we were at first. I made the mistake a few weeks ago of drunkenly texting him saying I missed him and since then we haven’t spoken and he’s been avoiding me. It makes me really sad that we’re not speaking and I want to be friends but I want to make it clear that I don’t want to be in a relationship with him. Is there anything I can do to make it better again? Or should I drop it?

-Moving On Trouble Dear MOT, Navigating a break up can be difficult! You’re not the only one out there having trouble figuring out how to remain friends after ending a relationship, so hopefully I can help.

Unfortunately, you did make a mistake by drunk texting your ex and telling him you miss him. I’m sure you know this. According to you, the staying friends was going well until this happened, so I have to assume that this was the catalyst for the change. I think he may just be confused now about what you want. It could have hurt him a bit hearing something so nice from you after you have made it clear that you don’t want to be with him. After all, if you continue to tell him you miss him it will be hard for him to effectively move on. So, in the future try to refrain from texting or calling him when drunk. It is a precarious path!

But how can you make this better? I think you should try to meet up with him and have a talk in person. Try to message him or call him again and ask if you can meet up for coffee or something. You can apologise to him for the drunk text – after all it must have hurt him in some way if he hasn’t contacted you at all since then. You can also try to establish your friendship again. I think there is hope! Hopefully an apology can go a long way. However, you have to come to terms with the fact that your ex may not want to be in contact with you anymore. I know there’s always a want to be friends but if he is in a place now where he doesn’t want to be friends anymore then you have to respect his wishes. If you ask him for coffee for a chat and he still doesn’t respond then he obviously wants space. Give him

space and maybe in another 6 months he’ll be ready to be friends again. Good luck!

--------------------------------------Dear Mae, I’m living in halls at the moment and agreed to live with five other hallmates. I worried I might end up living on my own or with random people otherwise so I quickly jumped on the chance to live with them. There’s one guy I’m not looking forward to living with.

He acts quite odd and is obviously interested in me. When we go out as a group he tries to get close to me all the time and asks me random personal questions which makes me feel uncomfortable. I signed the contract for the house before I really got to know this guy, now I’m beginning to regret it.

Do you think I should just try to avoid him next year?

-Worried About Next Year Dear WANY, You have a few options.

First, you can try to get out of the contract now since it’s very early. Ask around to see if any other friends have an open room and you can probably still make it work.

However, I suggest you go a different route. You need to talk to this guy! Tell him that sometimes he makes you feel a bit uncomfortable and also tell your future flatmates. If he continues to make you uncomfortable after you talk to him then hopefully your future flatmates will back you up in any kind of confrontation. If once you’re living together there is something really uncomfortable that happens then you will always have the option to find a sublet and to move out.

But I really do believe that if you talk to this guy then it will be better. Not everyone you live with needs to be a best friend. I am sure you can avoid him enough to make this living arrangement work. Communicate and it should work out!

--------------------------------------Dear Mae, So I went for a coffee with a girl I met recently and we were getting along really great and I really liked her. About halfway through, I found out that she was a smoker. The conversation shifted there and I told her I don’t drink or smoke or do drugs. She accused me of

being a ‘straight edge’, and she said I was weird for not drinking or smoking.

After this encounter, I’m becoming afraid my not drinking/smoking is going to hurt my chances with girls. What should I do?

class and dignity on nights out then why doesn’t she just drink less? There’s a difference between drinking for some fun and getting drunk. Do I have the right to be angry with her?

Or should I just chill out?

-Worried that Abstaining from Partying will Ruin Love

-Dreading Relationship Unfolding, Not Keen

Dear WAPRL, I’m sorry you had a bad experience with this girl. On the one hand I can see why she said it was “weird” that you don’t smoke or drink because at uni it can seem that everyone is constantly drinking.

However on the other hand, if she made you feel bad in anyway for these decisions then that’s not okay! We all want to be with someone who spends their free time in similar ways as us, so I can understand why she may have thought it could be problematic for you two to date. But, in the end it shouldn’t be a defining feature. I am currently doing an alcohol free Lent, and can say from personal experience that it is possible to still have fun with friends at the pub or on a night out while not drinking.

So people shouldn’t assume that you’re incapable of having fun because you don’t drink.

WAPRL, I want to encourage you to keep on dating, though! Don’t let this stop you. This girl doesn’t sound like the kind of girl you would want to date anyway!

The thing is, when there is something different about ourselves it can actually be a blessing in disguise. Of course, it may be a bit harder for you to find someone to date, but revealing that you don’t drink or smoke will actually allow you to immediately weed out the people who are don’t deserve to be with you. Look at your not drinking as a superpower! It will allow you to find the good people more easily. Good luck!

--------------------------------------Dear Mae, My girlfriend goes on nights out with her flatmates and naturally drinks and has fun (which I encourage!).

However, sometimes she gets too drunk and inevitably has less than dignified behaviour.

The next day she’ll always tell me how she remembers being flirtatious and touchy with people. She tells me she feels disgusted with herself but nothing has changed. This is what gets me pissed off. If she really doesn’t like losing her

Dear DRUNK, This is a tough situation. Of course you cannot and should not tell your girlfriend to stop going out. It is very healthy for her to continue hanging out with her friends while you two are together obviously. But I can also understand your frustration with her. It is easy to see our significant others as reflections of ourselves. I can understand that you are annoyed that when she goes out and conducts herself in a less than dignified way that you feel personally annoyed (and I’m glad we’re avoiding some negative language here…). It is also easy to understand your possible fears that she may one day get to a point where she goes beyond being flirtatious while drunk.

You say that she gets disgusted with herself after her nights out and that you get mad, but nothing has changed.

DRUNK, I hate to break the news to you but I don’t know if things will change anytime soon. Usually this behaviour is something that will be grown out of and changes with maturity, but do you want to wait around for that while being in a relationship that makes you angry? I think you may need to consider ending the relationship and perhaps revisiting it when both of you have matured a bit. Let her go out and have fun while single without making her feel guilty and meanwhile you can perhaps find someone who is a bit more your speed. Someone who doesn’t go out and get drunk frequently. Basically, I think at this point you two just aren’t compatible. Maybe in the future that will change but I think if you continue to stay together and wait for her to change, then you may end up disappointed and angry.

Want to help like Mae?

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18.03.2014 The Beaver

PRIVATE B If we haven’t been censored, we weren’t doing it properly...

BARNETT FLIES THE NEST

In a move that no one saw coming, narrowly defeated GenSec candidate Sam Barnett has fled the country, leaving his LSE life behind for a fresh start.

Unconfirmed rumours suggest that he may be setting up as an actual meth dealer in New Mexico, or that he may have taken his campaign against #IAW to the next level by joining the IDF. Barnett, 21 and originally from Leeds, appears to have embezzled as much as £40 of campaign funding from the Union and may have burnt down the HQ of his former political strong-

hold, the LSESU Liberal Democrat Society, for the insurance money, reported to be in the region of £7.50.

The old Beaver Office, where Barnett’s unsuccessful campaign was based, was found in a state of disrepair, with ‘FUCK RAG’ and ‘Hackz woz ere’ scrawled on the walls. All that remained were scraps of shredded green t-shirts, some unused cardboard and a laptop, open, with the screen displaying an email rejecting an application for an MSc in Environmental Policy.

He will be missed.

COUP PLOT REVEALED!

the organisation, led by a mysterious figure known only as ‘The Condor’, was attempting to organise an infiltration of the Students Union.

‘What, you actually thought we’d let the people you lot elected take power? Don’t be ridiculous!’ scoffed spokesman BNOC Powell.

THE BALLAD OF MCSHERRY POSE&POUT

PrivateB can exclusively reveal that The Beaver has for the past year been under the control of ‘ProjectB’, an elite group who are now seeking to pass the hack torch on to their kin.

The B has obtained access to leaked campaign materials, pictured below, which suggest

(MAN ATTENDS BALL, HOSPITAL) His name was Brave McJamie We will never forget his deeds.

He was born of Stirling, Scotland And he captained the RFC. He was banned from AU Ball, Because alumni cocks were on display, But he lay down his life for his fellows, So that on the team could play.

Then justice it was granted, And Jamie he was repreived.

He put on his Tuxedo, And for the ball did leave.

But all was not well on Wednesday, There was a problem with Jamie’s guts, Caused this time not by drinking, But a pudding containing nuts…

His neck it was a-swelling, A swift exit needed he, A taxi it was called for, And he headed for A and E… After a quick diversion, When he seemed to be in a pinch,

To UCH he did arrive, In the company of brave Lynch.

He got a quick injection, And though he had to stay the night, Lynch saw that he was safe, And back to the ball took flight.

But Jamie’s night was not finished, Another visitor had he.

Arriving with a cry of ‘SORRY!’ It could only be Will Ski. Back at the party venue, ‘Where’s Jamie?’ people ask, But it was not a problem, For there were many masks.

He put himself through the ringer, After his defeat in the ring.

So what can we learn, good people, From Brave McJamie’s suffering?

Careful when on school premises, If you’ve over-quenched your thirst, And if you want to avoid hospital, Then check the menu first.

Tuesday March 18 2014

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The Most Successful LSE 1st Squash Team in History Ethan Thornton

This academic year has been home to the finest year of LSESU Squash in the recent past.

The Women’s 1st Team, having been relegated from the top South Eastern Division for the first time in a decade rebounded in style. Having lost no students to graduation, and bolstered

by a number of General Course students, the team went 8-0 and won their league 27 points clear of their nearest rival. There was also a strong performance in the LUSL premier division; however team logistical problems caused losses taking the title of London Champions away.

Likewise, the Men’s 2nd Team, captained strongly by Samuel Lanham also had an impressive year. He had this to comment: "In the BUCS league the Men's Second Team earned themselves a crucial promotion to the 3rd division, but our main success this year was the huge improvement in our players. I would also like to congratulate Timon Lentz on an unbeaten season at number 2!”

However, this was the season of the Men’s 1st team. After 2 years of disappointing League

and Cup finishes, it was time for a change, and the renewed spirit brought by Captain Tom Bearpark did exactly what was required. Michaelmas term was a domination of both BUCS and LUSL, with the team claiming 12 straight wins, including a big early victory against the King’s 1st team in the LUSL Cup. The beginning of Lent term saw a similar story, with the first 3 weeks providing another 4 wins.

Unfortunately, the season was not to be unblemished, and a closely fought loss to UCL became the only dark spot on an excellent season. This loss however, only served to spur on the team further. By week 7, BUCS division 2B was won with a match to spare, and the team would finish the term 46 points clear.

Then came the London Cup

Final: the second match up between LSE and UCL. Despite a valiant defence of their title, it was not to be UCL’s day, and the LSE first team claimed the Championship. ‘Champions of London’, a title LSE has not held even in the long career of Charlie Birkin, the team’s veteran number 2. Jonny Clayson, the undefeated Social Sec and the ‘lynchpin’ of two important cup victories against KCL and UCL, described the day as ‘one of the finest moments the 1st team may ever see’.

With 24 wins in 25 matches, the season is all but over. Nevertheless, one final trophy is still to be claimed, The South-Eastern Conference Cup. The 1st team will travel to Portsmouth in the next two weeks to claim their 3rd and final title of the year.

When asked how he felt

about the season, Club Captain Alex Veness noted: ‘It's been a fantastic year, and a pleasure to see our 4 teams do so well - a brilliant way to top off my three years playing squash at LSE. For such a small university we have done hugely well to make this a high quality centre for squash in London.’

As for myself, after 3 years of representing the University and the Men’s 1st team, I will go on court for my 83rd and final appearance next week. The last 3 years have given me many great experiences, both on and off court with the club that will always be remembered. It has been a pleasure to play with those I have, both in Loss and in Victory, and hopefully the next few years will see the team rise to even further heights.

Dam They’re Good; Hot Sweaty Beavers Smash Regionals Rachel Williams

Suffering a crippling defeat in the LSEAU “Take Me Out” competition, with candidate Nate Scheperle savouring the creamy taste of defeat after only one round, the LSE Ultimate Frisbee team has been raring for success - which arrived in the form of last weekend’s South East Open Outdoor Regional tournament.

Sporting a new team kit and flag (thanks to Force Ultimate clothing and designer Tom Reichlin, but with no thanks to AU funding), the Beavers brought the ruckus at Harlington playing fields, placing highest in the tournament for the past four years.

The weekend saw the Beavers decimate UCL 1 and 2 (10:1 and 13:2 respectively), Roehampton (13:3), Kings (10:0), Chichester (9:3), Kent (9:2), Royal Holloway (11:2) and Surrey (10:1); suffering only two defeats from Sussex 2 (who finished 2nd in the tournament) and Imperial, in a

Rumours of a waiter masquerading as a member of the AU Exec failed to derail AU Ball. With all the wine flowing on Wednesday, doubtless a glass slipper or two was forgotten somewhere. The AU’s ballers put numbers on the boards as the formal event of the year quickly loosened its tie. Suiting up did not lead to antisocial behaviour though – it turns out that was just rugby’s fault all along. #Bah It’s none of your warbusiness

close game which ceased due to light conditions late on Sunday afternoon.

Predicted to finish 6th of 23 teams, the Beavers exceeded expectations to finish 4th, which takes them close to the top of national division two. Team Captain Alessandro Kadner-Graziano expressed his delight, saying: “Even aside from the great results, I had a fantastic weekend playing with the team. All of Sunday night in my head I heard our chant ‘Got the juice, got the fire, got the juice got the fire got the hot desire’ - over and over again!”

The Hot Sweaty Beavers’ success is indicative of the rising profile of the LSE Ultimate team, which has developed considerably over the past few years; along with the spread of the sport internationally. This August will see LSE Beaver Will Smith compete at the Mixed World Ultimate Club Championships in Italy.

Pfft, and they said this isn’t a real sport.

who a certain FC Elder got with at one point in the night, but his other transgression was less discreet – there’s never a duli moment with him.

Captain Lee was loking to try and make President Bryan Cranston (#BackWhereWeStarted) jealous at the AU’s most prestigious event of the year, and a women’s rugby player was happy to oblige.

El Prez, meanwhile, ended the term in familiar fashion, and must surely now be rowing under the bridge into relationship territory or at least a steamy break to Cali.

One netballer allegedly took a break from being social to put her secretarial skills to use in the library, riding the beer

Top row L-R: Jonathan Koh (aka Blade); Michael Zanko (aka Wanko); Will Smith (aka Gramps); Amrish Patel (aka Scooby); Robert Marten (aka Doc); Florian Dahlhausen (aka Dahling); Nate Scheperle (aka Schep); Scott Jeffreys; Will MacArthur (aka Gatsby); Miew Ling (aka MewTwo).

Bottom row L-R: Drew Hopper (aka Pablo); Will Raich (aka Judd); Alessandro Kadner-Graziano (aka The Smiler); Phil Coyle (aka Phildo); Rach Williams (aka Mother of Dragons).

horse to a bright academic future. We can only applaud the rigorous dedication shown by her and her study buddy.

Meanwhile, a netballer niked in to pull the broadsword from the stone.

We hope one AUer nose her way around the ring, after she dived into the Poole. Get Yer Dick In Son reportedly took things up an octave.

In a dark week for the FC, a certain elsomeone will surely be being read the last rites sometime about now. Ouch.

Our Dear Leader’s night stalled (ey!) early on, as he failed to make it to Saucy #HesOnlyLittle #ServesHimRightForNamingItSaucy. It was a peanut, however, that did for

MC Sherry. “But MC Sherry is seven feet tall!” I hear you say. Unfortunately on Wednesday he consumed the peanuts with fireballs in his eyes, and it led to bolts of lightning from his arse. #ThatsABraveheartReference #ALBAGUBRÀTH. Determined to save his comrade, Willski sprinted around emergency rooms looking for him for close to an hour, before realising he was in a different hospital #OnlyTwoBottlesOfWine.

It’s safe to say that Cinderella found her prince. If

by Cinderella you mean a glammed-up horde of inebriated students, and by prince you mean bantz. What a year it has been: twenty weeks of

dancing, debauchery and dialling your mum to cry the next morning. The jungle was hot, sweaty and treacherous, but we made it out the other side. # I Wa n t To T h a n k M y Fa n s #WithoutYouNoneOfThisWouldHaveBeenPossible #ActuallyItWouldHaveBeen #ThisThingWritesItself #CanYouBelieveThesePeopleAreLikeTwenty Yours eternally, William Henry Beverage, 1st Baron Beverage xoxoxoxo

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Tuesday March 18 2014

Women’s Rugby; Ruck With Us At Your Peril The Great Britton, Team Captain

It all started at Fresher’s Fair.

Last week we had what some would deem to be a rucking phenomenal previous year, and we were keen to make a big impression. AND BOY DID WE. During recruitment we managed to entice over 65 new potential players with our brilliance, with over 40 girls turning up to our give-it-a-go session on the 5th of October. This record turn out was mind-blowing because lezbihonest not many people are aware that women’s rugby even exists. Yet, with our boundless enthusiasm and the Great Britton’s incredible pick up lines we managed to secure a stellar line up for the year. It all began with Millwall, a friendly, so nobody cares that we lost. Moving on, we lost against Canterbury. Nobody cares since they all study sports anyhow. BUT THEN we played Queen Mary, a delicious team from some poly in London. It started well, with LSE managing to put 20 points on the board before it ended with a bang... on our Prop Yiing’s neck. As she was carted off in the ambulance we were forced to abandon the game and reschedule, knowing that we would unleash the beast on another occasion.

The following game could only be remembered as POSSIBLY THE BEST MOMENT OF ANYONE’S LIVES EVER. Playing against our archenemies Middlesex (inside sources whisper they use us as motivational material for tackling

training), we stepped onto the professional Saracens pitch with high hopes and a killer attitude. Safe to say we brought them hell, breaking one nose, two collarbones and sending one off with a concussion. Amateurs. By the final score of 17-5 we knew that we were firmly back in the league. BOOM. The next match was against little known agricultural college Writtle, as part of a cup match that saw us travelling to deep, deep rural Essex. As us city girls rocked up with big expectations, we were confronted with a barrage of farm boys and wellies, supporting their ‘team’. Their support and inexpert flirting failed to distract our girls, beating these poor farm girls 41-0 on their own (farm)land. Our rematch with Queen Mary followed, and with Yiing’s neck firmly attached to her head we proceeded to smash them 22-0. Did someone say #poly? The next game was a cup match against UEL, one which saw a comfortable 15-5 win, despite the practical tsunami of conditions we played in. As the rain and winds pelted our faces with unrivalled ferocity, we gave them an absolute seeing to, now placing us in the top 8 IN THE (south eastern part of the) COUNTRY. Our forwards were killing machines in this match, with our calls of Zoo and Tuns done justice – big shout out to Mayhem! Following this epic win we were set to play Queen Mary again, expecting them to return with vigour that could only come with constant loss.

But as you’ve guessed it, we won,

smashing them 29-7 with our star number 10, Rachel Low scoring a modest four ‘team’ tries. Our next two matches were against Hertfordshire, the unbeaten team in the league. Despite losing we have never played better, putting our team on the scoreboard - which was unreflective of our play anyway due to a certain Wingbridge tripping over herself on the try line - and prompting them to recognise that we were “the toughest team they have played all year”. Safe to say I agree, because after forming a team with what can only be described as the craziest, most epic, brilliant girls in the world, we became a family. And nobody messes with family.

Our antics on the pitch could only be rivalled by those off it, whether it was causing a scene at initiations or scaring Kings at club dinners, where we did the Haka with Coach Buka and chants with Coach Keith. This year has seen the complete and utter domination of Women’s Rugby, earning our always seen always heard mentality (man! I feel like a woman!). Whether we are smashing the Tuns karaoke or wrecking HAVOC in Zoo Bar, we are always there. Initiations and Church saw us arrive on the scene with considerably more tolerance/love for alcohol than the previous year and we stormed into the Tuns with a promise. Armed with plastic fish every second year was more than ready to drop it into a fresher’s glass, forcing them to down the contents of their drink despite the

becca Windemer , Vicky Wei and Tze Ni Yeoh) and our men (Rob Willoughby, Anson Knausenberger and Lauri Kytömaa).

For the run heats LSE competitors were together and motivated each other to deliver strong times – the men all below five minutes. Everyone got a good start and pushed hard in the swim, achieving sub 4 minute times. At the time of writing the overall results had not been published, however all team members raced well.

As term ends the LSE Triath-

lon season is just beginning. We have a host of races we’ve been preparing for since September.

The BUCS sprint distance triathlon (750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run) comes first on 4th May, followed later in the month by the BUCS standard distance triathlon (1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run). Training is intensifying and we’re developing our open-water swimming. Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with our progress at @LSEAthleticsTri

LSE’s Competes in First BUCS Biathlon Maurice Banerjee Palmer & Rebecca Windemer

This weekend the LSE Triathlon Team travelled west to Oxford to compete in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Biathlon. The 1500 meter run and 200 meter swim test an athlete’s ability to maintain a fast pace over short distances; being shorter than normal this event tested the team outside its comfort zone. Universities across the UK sent some tough competition for our ladies (Re-

volume… This resulted in what can only be described as carnage, ensuring that many a rugby girl went home with few memories and even less dignity. The following social event (apart from full attendance EVERY WEDNESDAY #latenessisrudeness) was the one and only Carol. Opting to drink as much as possible before 9AM, forward-born-again-back Viv had just enough time to see off a good bottle of wine and half a bottle of vodka. Good effort. The new term saw the arrival of refreshers, something that the oldies relished in possibly more than the freshies.

This brought a number of events: Mr LSE, which the glamorous now First Lady of the AU presented with grace, class and unbelievable beauty and some would say unrivalled gorgeousness. Then saw the

fight of a lifetime from our own D Chan. Although she lost the match she won the hearts of the audience, meaning she didn’t have to buy a drink all night. The following weeks have seen a record turnout in Zoo Bar, with our talented back Miss Asian gLow (pass the heartburn pills please) deciding that A.B.S.I.N.T.H.E is her new drink of choice and proceeding to make everyone (mostly the First Lady) see everything off with her. This has resulted in some very unmemorable (but memorable) Zoo Bars for many-a-person, particularly for our most loved Cheriot of Fire.

P.S. We would like to congratulate one of our girls-now-a-lady, Eliza Eaton on her recent propposal!

The Ballad of WFC

Aria, our el capitano, with Arsenal-worthy football skills, Has provided us with free Chipotle vouchers that really saved our bills, Dals, the VC and joker of the crew, is such a cutie, But you don’t want to play against our defense when she’s on duty, Jenny funnily enough is a true keeper, With her dedication to the game and Zoo we will look to her to be our leader, Sara our Social Sec is always at least two hours late, When chatting to her in the smoking are you’ll find a real mate, Meg, for our team, on the pitch, she’ll run a mile, But trust me when she goes out, she’ll get down Jay Sean style, Emily scores whenever she chooses, But after a Wednesday it’s in Leicester Square cinemas that she snoozes, In Flynn we found a late and talented addition, Her skills on the pitch are undeniable; all of her plays come into fruition, Laura is sweet, calm and collected, In her approach as a winger, this is reflected, Keri, used to be a Zoo bar regular buying so many shots it was lame, Now she has settled down, and is strangely enough very tame, Leo, our freshie, is excited and keen, And at Carol she was the drunkest minion we all had seen, Mara N, is passionate and competes with Brazilian fire, She’ll stop at nothing to scare her opponent because she will never tire, Mara B holds it down in midfield, with foot skills so stable But on WFC nights out this German will drink us all under the table!

Kariel is unreal and impressive, whether on defense or attack She also runs marathons- so yeah. Watch your back!

Julianna never fails to express how she feels And makes us chuckle during warm-up when she lies down on the field…

Martha drops goals and hat-tricks when she gets in the zone, And never fails to buy “walkies” for the train journey home Kat G is fearless and tough as any defender could be She also has a dedicated BF who comes to cheer for WFC!! *(SHOUT OUT TO OUR FANS! WOO!)* Tizi, you can tell, has been playing for years When she touches the ball, opponents drop in fear MB is our dark horse, the unexpected partygoer, Who sings karaoke to spice girls - you’d be lucky to know her Alex always rocks up to training in pink hot pants, But in fact most days she’s at the library, so limited bants.

Caroline is loud and bubbly, a true bundle of fun, But if you meet her when she’s on defense, your play will be done, Shivali, Maud, Sandra, Fadilah, Keina, Zara, and Omaro Add depth to the team, so when they can’t make it-- we feel sorrow Tom, our coach, is the man of the team, what a lucky guy, To be surrounded so often by chicks this fly, As for me, well I’m just the humble author of this little poem, Who is lucky enough to have WFC as her team and her home.

Naida Hadziomerovic & Meg Beattie

Hot Sweaty Beavers Smash Regionals

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The Ballad of WFC

The B Beaver Tuesday March 18 2014 everag e Rep FREE! ort - A U Bal l Spec ial! the

Women’s Rugby; Don’t Ruck With Us

Are You Watching Moyes? FC 6s Win Back-to-Back Titles Jay Stoll - General Secretary

In an uncanny repeat of their final almost a year to the day, LSE FC 6th team beat Royal Holloway to retain their status as LUSL Champions in a 2-1 victory, secured after a dramatic extra time period. With the sun shining down on South London and a mammoth attendance of around 30 spectators, this highly charged affair will be one that sticks in the memories of all involved.

The game had everything.

High drama, high tackles and apparently high officials, with two penalties from Saro ‘Sick Guy Saz’ Djerrahian making the difference on the scoresheet.

However, it was the rock hard defence, with Sam (Andy) Murray at its heart, that ultimately proved the real difference between the two sides.

The day started ideally, with glorious sunshine and all the boys making the train on time.

Although skipper Cicurel will claim otherwise, his nerves were evident, with his face closely resembling that of a toddler about to discharge their bowels. On the whole though, it was business as usual, with Pocket Bolderson’s pre-match ‘dreadful chat’ routine going ahead as (he) scheduled.

Creeping anxiety turned to complete adrenalin as the boys stepped out onto the Honor Oak

pitch. As is often the case with games at this level, atttentions were split between what we believe to be a proper warm up session and detailed discussions on how many ringers the opposition had brought with. However, there were certain differences that one would expect for a Cup Final. A BUCS banner decorated the side of the pitch, acting as a fitting background for our two official linesmen, who had a combined age totalling Jamie Hurley’s time at LSE (centuries).

The 6s lineup promised much, with 4 out of the 5 midfielders winners in last year’s competition, however the first half largely fell flat. Demola and Stoll switched wings in order to force a breakthrough, but it was Holloway who took the lead with a wonderful free kick. It would be their only shot on target for the entire 120 minutes. The half time team talk by Rabbi Cicurel was largely based on that timeless mantra of LSEFC, “Raise it boys, let’s f*cking raise it”.

We did indeed raise it. The second half saw renewed urgency from LSE, with the captain’s words, Calhoun’s tweets and our shameless self-promotion on Facebook weighing down on our shoulders. The sixes obliged and the second half can only be described as an onslaught, orchestrated by the ageless Jamie Hurley. Tired old legs were replaced as full use of the squad

was made.

The equaliser came from a penalty as Holloway’s centre back thought he had turned up to a Netball cup final. The moron was promptly dismissed, but the controversy had just begun.

Demola stepped up and dragged the penalty into the keepers hands. But wait... what’s this?!

The linesman is flagging! “Take it again” he says, “the keeper stepped off his line”, he says. Unbelievable scenes. Saz promptly obliged and sent the ball home.

1-1. Extra time.

Now, due to the amount of drinking that followed the game, I can’t really remember when the second penalty happened, nor why it happened. It was something to do with Saz... it usually is. However it was an exact replica of the earlier scenes. First attempt missed, linesman flags for a wandering keeper, we score on the second attempt. Cue the celebrations in the stands, closely resembling scenes from the streets of Croydon in summer 2011. #riots The remainder of the match was a blur - the drum was banging on the touchline as the ultras were baying for Holloway blood/the full time whistle and soon enough the louts got their wish. Cheap champagne was flying, with FC regulars getting extremely wet in the process.

Double meaning here intended.

By the way, if anybody gets a

chance to ask Nick Osborn how he is feeling, please do so.

Last year it was a team of ‘Mizrahi’s Mates’, this year it was almost an entire squad of freshers picked by Cicurel -

however one chooses to generalise about them, there have only been two trophies won in the past 2 years for LSEFC and they both belong to the Sixes... ‘GEDDINNNN’ (Parmar, 2014).

The Post-Craston Nation: A State of the AU Address Meg Trethewey & AU Executive

This year we have had the privilege of being your Athletics Union Executive and what a year we’ve had. We have had some of this Union’s most memorable events, successes and drama filled nights, and we have loved every minute of it. We started the year with a giant intake of newbies who were keen to start with a bang. The beach-themed Welcome Party and initiations took over Houghton Street with some Hockey members getting slightly messier than intended, and a lot of rugby boys covered in cold baked beans.

With such a positive start to the year, the successes began to roll in. Men’s Rugby 1sts started the year by beating KCL, with similar wins following for Women’s Hockey 2nd team, who ended the season undefeated. By the end of the year, it was clear that the Union was on a high.

Our FC 6s and Men’s Squash took home the LUSL Cups, with the Men’s Tennis team coming second in their cup and Women’s Squash dominating their league with 8 matches undefeated.

We tried harder than ever this year to integrate the Union with the rest of the LSE. Harold successfully put on the first annual Christmas Cup, inviting departments and societies to play against one another, with Geography taking home the coveted trophy. We also hosted successful a LGBT Pride Wednesday with AU teams showing their support during the day on the field, as well as on the night.

This culminated in our successful UGM Motion to increase the Union’s funding by a much needed 15%. We smashed the online voting record with the whole AU getting behind it and painting Facebook purple.

Snow machines and an elusive bucking reindeer made appearances at this year’s Carol, where the Union displayed just how seriously we take fancy dress. Highlights included hosts of David Bowies and the Rowing Avatars. The night saw the taking off of the AU Twitter page, which hosted many a drunk Tweet from Nino and some excellent live coverage rivalled only by the Beaver. Shortly after we were introduced to our bril-

liant photographers, Daniel and Michael who have covered Facebook with weekly reminders of our Wednesday nights.

Fight night was once again a massive success as Jamie showed us how it’s really done in our new Venue. The Boxing club’s contribution was greatly appreciated, and notable appearances from both Danette and Priya saw Fight Night’s first AU Women’s fight. The AU later

hosted FemSoc for International Women’s Day, plastering themselves in “I <3 Consent” stickers and suffragette colours.

Last but not least was the AU Ball. This year saw the Union ‘shock’ the Brewery, with excellent performances from the ULU Big Band and this Union’s Presidente who somehow failed to make it to the Venue afterparty. The night’s big awards went to Rebecca Windemer and

Chris Anguelov for their incredible contribution to the LSE AU. Despite the unfortunate allergies, everyone’s year ended in a somewhat classy and truly memorable evening, which we are proud to have hosted.

Safe to say, we have loved being your Exec and it is a sad day for us as we step down and pass the reins to the next sorry bunch. We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have.