A BRITISH LIBRARY Of POimCftL & ECOKOMIC SQEHCE " • t ' 1 8J11N1990 NEWSPAPER OF THE LSE STUDENTS' UNION No. 138 FEBRUARY 4th, 1975 FREE Pay now, save later [ Dealing starts —but who holds the cards? DURING talks with the Director, Professor Rait Dahrendorf, student officials received hints of a remarkable deal to solve both the School and Union's financial difficulties. The deal hinges about the present method of financing (the Direct Fee system) whereby the School pays out of its own funds for the upkeep of both the Athletic and Student Unions. After discussing the SU's present requirements, which he admitted were realistic, the professor emphasised the demands of all the other sections of the School, and then produced his "offer". He first framed it by saying, could the SU guarantee that there would be no major increase on this year's budget, next year? The Senior Treasurer, Mr Hoyland, said he could give no such undertaking. The Professor then rephrased his question. If the School made sure the SU went over to the LEA system of financing (where the Local Education Authority pays the students' per capita grant, with the tuition fees) for next year, would the SU use a lot of its reserves this year, to finance its activities? (The advantages of the LEA system of financing are, to the School, it would not finance the SU & AU, and to the two Unions, they would get bigger fees (once the School approves the A & SUs budgets, the LEAs have to pay). Purthennore, the School would be able to recharge the Unions (and thus the LEAs) with some costs they do not bear at the moment i.e. rent of premises. In all the School would gain more than the £23,000 the two Unions cost them last year. As it is the School cannot afford the £45,000 the two Unions want this year. Next year, as the School enters two years of even greater stringency, it will be more than grateful to not finance its rapacious children). Mr Hoyland again said he could not answer that question, but agreed with Tom Bruin, his Financial Secretarj', that because of inflation, even greater amounts of the reserves were being employed to finance trading activities. Mr Hoyland suggested that a separate series of meetings on the LEA system be instituted. The Director agreed, and the first of these meetings began on Friday, January 31. With the School desperate to move over to the LEA system, the talks are expected to be keen, with students pressing for a considerable improvement from their position as the poorest section of any in the School. P.T. Onward Christian soldiers —to Wales! IN Broad Left's list of candidates selected to stand for the NUS Executive elections in April, there are two LSE alumni. They are, for the position of Treasurer, John Carr (ULU President) and for one of the seven posts of ordinary officers. Rex Osborn (Institute of Education). The contest wflll take place in Llandudno. The meeting on Friday, January 24 was attended by 103 "student leaders" who decided on the whole BL slate. In the process there was a three-man fight for the Presidency nomination. Steve Parry, who stood against his Communist Party wishes, was eliminated in the first ballot. In the second ballot rently NUS Vice-President), all posts being sabbatical. For the four offices of VICE-PRESIDENT,. Pete Ashby (Warwick), Jez Lloyd (Liverpool), Trevor Phillips (Imperial) and John Webster (Architectural Association and currently President of the London Student Organisation). For the seven remaining officers. Penny Cooper (South Bank Poly), Mr John Carr Mr Al Stewart Charles Clarke defeated Al Stewart by two votes. The BL press release speaks of "unanimous support" for their candidates, but when John Carr and Chris Hoyland (LSE Senior Treasurer, Broad Left Journal Editor and Communist Party), were asked by Beaverworkers how long it took before there was unaniinity, both declined to comment. The full list is: PRESIDENT, Charles Clarke (King's College Cambridge and currently NUS Treasurer); DEPUTY PRESIDENT, Alistair Stewart (Bristol University and currently NUS Deputy President; TREASURER, John Carr (LSE and currently President of ULU and NUS Vice-Pi-esident) aand SECRETARY, Sue Slipman (Institute of Education and cur- Library O.K. IN the emergency Undergraduate Studies Committee meeting on Monday, January 27th, the Librarian, Mr D. A. Clarke, said he had received no complaints from students about the reduction in the Library service. He went on to give further in-foiTOation about the cuts in the Reser\'e Stack ordering system. He said the cuts would save the equivalent of four full-time staff. When pressed, he said this was worth £10,000 p.a. He refused the suggestion that the Library should be closed on Saturday as an alternative to the present cuts. Th€ reasons he gave were: that if a five-day week was introduced it would be impossible to get the staff to resume Saturday service: many part-time and external readers only have effective access on Saturdays, and that many students who lived in shitty conditions would have nowhere to work on Saturdays. He again emphasised the rabbit-warren nature of the Reserve Stacks, running under the Aldwych at differing levels. After answering questions he left and the USC framed the following suggestions: THAT departments send their reading list^ to the Library before July 31st each year, so that those books in the Reserve Stacks can be placed on open shelves. This would also allow the Librarj- to write do^^Ti the position reference of the book in the Library on the reading lists, invaluable time-saving information for all book searchers. THAT each department appoint one of its academic staff to liaise with the Library on this matter. THAT academic staff have the same borrowing facilities from the open shelves that students "enjoy", i.e. stop them taking those hoohs out of the Library. For the Students' Union. Mx James Mitchell emphasised to the Librarian the point that the solution to the Library problem lay. not within the confines of the Library, but with Government policy, and the overall division of funds by the School between competing demands. He also reiterated the findings of the "Beaver" Library poll that the service ol the Libraries was appalling before the present cuts came into force. IP'T No front page story JULIAN BRUTUS was obviously telling the truth about Sennet (Jan. 29) not having a front page when he spoke to us on Friday, Jan. 24— or at least anything worthy of a front page. Hence the "sensational revelations" concerning Jan. 23rd's "14 day deadline" motion. Sennet failed to point out one of the two most comic aspects of the episode—an ILEA system does not exist and Cockerell's amend- ment added the all important proviso of "unconditionally no support" for the activities mentioned. Sennet also managed to get quotes from Chris Hoyland which he claims not to have uttered. One would have thought the imprisonment of a fellow student under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, for four and a half days without charge, of greater import. It's the reporting that's darger-ous — not the motion. G.H. Mr Charles Clarke Chris Morgan (St. Andrew's University), Rex Osborn (Institute of Education), Howard Smith (Architectural Association), and Jackie Webber (Jordanhill College of Education, Glasgow). It is noticeable that of the 13 candidates BL are putting up for the 17 positions, nine of them are based in London (Clark, Stewart, Carr, Slipman, Phillips, Webster, Cooper, Smith and Osborn). If they all get in, this will obviously cut down the travelling expenses of Executive meetings(!), but may do little to provide them with first hand experience of what the provincial grass roots are feeling. Political observers are now wondering who BL will stand for the ULU Presidency. Will it be Phillips, Webster, Smith or A. N. Other? P.T. Ms. Sue Slipman EEAVEE. Feb. 4tli, 1975—Page Two FT ^^ SIR, — Mr Mitchell's efforts of representing student dissatisfaction with the Main Library's new arrangements are much appreciated. But, in his zeal, may he not forget to moan about the so-called service offered by the Teaching Library. In the 18 months t have been a student here I have not once been able to get a book out of the teaching library without needless procedure and usually two weeks' waiting. If one manages to find the book listed in the catalogue it's a matter of divine providence that one finds it on the shelves, even if it is the most obscure book imagin^ able; and when one then goes through the motions of reserving the book, more times than not the message, to tell you it is in, never gets back to you. There appear to t>e far too many copies of books not in demand and far tcx) few copies of books on every reading list. The time a book is allowed out on loan is far too long — one week would be a far fairer allocation; and the staff employed there would do much better to ensure that books are in order on the shelves rather than answering students' questions all the time as to where the books are. If the Teaching Library service could be radically improved this would take a great deal of pressure off the Main Library and obviously alleviate the fierce competition for books, i, for. one, would certainly be eternally grateful to Mr Mitchell if he could make sure that the Teaching Library doesn't get away with offering 3,800 students a service that would not adequately cater for the; needs of far fewer students. Youre faithfully, Hoonie Feltham DEAR EDITOR, — Picked up a copy of "Beaver" (January 7th) and read reviews. Anna Kavan was (is?) a beautiful witer at her best. French, junkie, possibly, probably — but why nothing about New Zealand — the background of most of her best work? Apart from such details. I do complain that the overall suggestion of the review is that a writer cannot write really well — talent or genius, without drags of one sort or another. This is dangerous and wrong. A writer, a good- one, has a kind of inbuilt mescalin which is a gift and gets things going. Some take drugs off duty, when bored. Many, many, do not. They are too interested in life. Please do not suggest to your fellow "Beaver" writers that they need anything but themselves, insight, the lucky gift, and hard work. Seriously yours. William Sansom DEAR "BEAVER", — The library arrangements at LSE are, in my view, unacceptable and hamper any academic work done by students at the School. By "library arrangements" I refer not only to the new reserve-books retrieval system, but also to the appalling condition of the Teaching Library, where the delay in reshelving books means that one must peer at hundreds of unreshelved volumes, merely to find out if a book you want is in the library. Why can't the School adopt a more imaginative approach to cuts in funding? Why not hire students on a part-time basis to do . routine tasks like re-shelving, handing out government pamphlets, manning the reserve desk, etc.? This would free trained libr^rj- staff for cataloguing and mairitaining the former reserve - retrieval system. Students doing such routine work part-time would not expect to be paid as highly as qualified libarians. ' The only objections I can see to such a scheme are loud cries ;0f "Exploitation of Students", and the possibly more valid claim that the librai-j' would accustom itself to budget for these stop-gap economies, thus perpetuating what should be a temporary' solution. Prodigal returns ? COMRADE EDITOR, — As an ex-Student of this internationally revered institution I occasionally pay it the ultimate compliment and make a personal visit to see if it is still standing. Upon my arrival on January 22nd I picked up a copy of "Beaver" and read the front page article about the new library arrangements. How are the mighty fallen! — this could never have happened in the Good Olci Days. Perhaps I should explain that the Good Old Days are quite recent^ I left in June, '73, perhaps also I should explain that my sadness did not result from any fear BEAVER LIBRARY POLL RESULTS AS promised the results of the Library Poll. Thanks to the 259 kind people who replied. The figures are shown here for your own perusal, and take it from me, the sums are right. It would seem that the people who use the library most consider the new arrangements to be a threat to- academic standards — I'd per cent of the postgraduates and 100 per cent of our large sample of members of staff. In fact, as 41 per cent of the replies came from postgraduates it seems the new arrangements are a considerable problem. The director might take note that many of the comments concentrated as much upon the standard of the library as on the new arrangements. The comments were definitely not favourable. Unforcunatelj the second question did not tu-n out quite as vie intended, it should really have been split. Therefore we could not draw any conclusions from that particu-. lar question. However, a sufficiently large number of people made it clear that they were totally opposed to any reduction in the number of hours the library is open. The third question produced a dead heat. However on closer examination our postgrads and members of staff seem to be our aiost militant section. Undergraduates take note, it's both Union and NUS policy to oppose education cuts of any kind. If you don't think the new arrangements will affect you very much take note of one of the comments supplied to us — "This could' be the thin edge of a very large wedge." The plight of pait-time students was also raised. Imagine the difficulty that they will encounter, and there are over 400 part-time students — not a small problem. V.Tien are they supposed to find time to put in request slips in advance? Whether they are in the library in the morning or evening they v.-iil find hours. of their time wasted just waiting for books. That is surely a threat to academic standards that many should think about. Other suggestions included the hiring of students to work in the library, reducing the heating in Room S which has both the fans and the central heating on at the same time. Far from co-operating in reducing the standards in the library, a great many replies called for the extension of the opening times of the library and even Sunday opening. One reply slip had this pathetic answer to Question 3, "Do you accept cuts of any kind?", "Obviously I must." Why "obviously"? Perhaps you now realise why changes can be effected without many even noticing. One thing is tlear, a large majority do see. the new arrangements as a threat to academic standards and 50 per cent do not accept cuts of any kind. Will we do anj'thing about it? TG QUESTION 1; Do you consider the new arrangements a threat to academic standards ? TOTAL: Yes 62.93^^ (163) No 37.55% (95) Don't Know (1) UNDERGRADUATES: Yes 55.56% (80), No 44.44% (64). POSTGRADUATES : Yes 70.64% (77) No 28.44% (31) Don't Know (1) MEMBERS OF STAFF: Yes 100% (6). QUESTION 2: Would you rather keep the old arrangements and if necessary accept the closing of the Main Library on Saturdays ? TOTAL: Yes 44.66% (113) No 37.55% (95) Don't Know (3). UNDERGRADUATES : Yes 40.28% (58), No 59.72 (86). POSTGRADUATES : Yes 49.54%'(54), No 42.71% (52), Don't Know (3). MEMBERS OF STAFF : Yes 16.67% No 83.33% (5). QUESTION 3: Do you accept cuts of any kind ? TOTAL: Yes 49.80% (126), No 49.80% (126). UNDERGRADUATES: Yes52.08% (75). No 45.83% (66), Don't Know (3). POSTGRADUATES: Yes 45.87% (50), No 50.46% (55), Don't Know (4). MEMBERS OF STAFF : Yes 16.67% (1). No 83,33% (5). Replies as % of total: UNDERGRADUATES ...... 55.60% (144) POSTGRADUATES ......... 41.40% (109) MEMBERS OF STAFF ...... 3.0% (6)- TOTAL REPLIES: 259 There was a 30% reply rate. of falling academic standards but rather because of my astonishment that the unions should give it so much attention as if it was important. In the good old days the academic affairs officer did not know how to get a book from the reserve room because he never used the library, he had to leam the ordering system in order to carry out Union policy ahd disrupt the place in support of a strike by junior library staff. Now the relevant officer sends an outraged letter to the School and "Beaver" treats it as the first step to Armageddon. Students ought to realise that the true worth of university is not to be found in the library or in classes and lectures but in the chance to spend three years at the state's expense doing what you want to and discovering a bit about your- Are students who choose to do such part-time work in fact exploitedf I, for one, don't think so — except by the government which wont give them enough grant money to live on. As for such temporary measures becoming permanent, and the library never being adequately staffed; well, there would have to be a formal agreement that full staffing of the library would be one of the School's top priorities, as soon as it itself began to receive adequate funding from the government agairi. Perhaps all this is naive but it just might work. Yours, Virginia Beardshaw (Postgraduate) self and others, and if you are lucky, drawing a political lesson from the pointlessness of academic activities. I have no great sj-mpathy with these poor souls w'ho now have to wait 45 minutes, read to Lipsey, John Stuart Mill or Dahrendorf ia order that they may get a good degree, a reasonable job, a secura future, alienation, ulcers and aa obituary in "The Times" — perhaps they would be better ocupied in, bombing the Houses of Parliament, getting stoned or trying to force better conditions for librarj' staff. Judging from the present apathetic tone of "Beaver" I do not expect this to be printed bub I would be most pleased if such i miracle should happen-All my love, Bennj« (David Bennie) Ed.: Judging from the past apathy of Bennie, I wonder at Im change after a spell of imemploy-ment. CROSSWORD 12 13 ACROSS 1 1,000 went awkwardly. 5 Highest standard came about. 9 See! It's not high. 10 Domino use is sinister. 11 Queen Elizabeth hesitates, 12 Little devil circled ancient city. 15 Westward! A garden tool. 17 More than more. 18 Shared by monks and convicts. 19 Raise the price of a walk. ? OWN 1 Happy to be nearly in a valley. 2 Negative doctor. 3 Little Maureen and her flower are sullen. « Printers measure me backwards. 5 Northern relative could be a red, or a worker. 6 The general's firm. 7 This cat purrs in Greek! g She sounds like a star. 11 It's fine on the day before call-up; 13 Send it this time. 3 14 Key-note of a scale. 20 Around the rugged rock Craig went, but I stayed. 21 Fed up Egyptian goddess. , 22 Seaman with a mark is really » beetle. ; 25 Sexist island holds this race. 26 Personal soldier. 30 Missed her title. 31 Everj- question has two of this. 32 if a man would clean a bird would . . .? 15 The centre of the Earth is disturbed. 16 Russian lady. 18 Does he pack boxes in a hole? 19 Goes on and on playing those instruments. 20 200 cubic centimetres. 23 Bran stored in here in a heap 24 The first living palindrome! 27 Religious Instruction sounds ironical. 28 I think it's solely mine. 29 Sounds like a wigwam, i 30 Not you; maybe it's Bond's b033 retreating. BEAVER, Feb. *th, 1975—Page Three MAME'S Hall of Fame AQUARIUS 20th Jan. to 19th Feb. THE Aquarius woman is usually slender and of average height with eyes that are haunting and mysterious. The girl you look at in the Three Tuns 'Bar and at lectures. She is zany, ¦changeable and fun, she is always willing to "have a go," "there is an overall experience >of happiness about her. Don't be fooled, she means 'business and it probably has nothing to do with you. An Aquarius female is preoccupied with the future, with what's next on the world's agenda (for-•get the 14 days' notice to Dah-¦rendorf). Her ability to concen-itrate qualifies her as an expert in mind over matter (and looking at the males at the L.S.E. ¦what could possibly matter?). TV, radio or a brass band (?) •cannot distract her from her T)oint of interest. The Aquarius male is exciting '^?), dynamic, brilliant, eccentric, confusing and a thoroughly ^Strange sign of the zodiac. Remember that over 70 per cent of people in the so-called Hall of •Fame were born under this sign .»or have Aquarius ascending, it ds.apparent that they must have something. Well known (?) people born ¦under this sign : Aristotle Onas-'sis, Hattie Jacques, Barry Buck-neM, Charles Dickens, Benny Hill, Somerset Maugham, Hughie Green and Sir Henry Morton St. Aniey (?) and last and definitely least, Brian Cusack (who? oh yes, it's that old ex-erector, who has had to resort to other methods to achieve his status in society. There are rumours that he is the founder member of the cunning and fellationing society). The Aquarian is a blast when it comes to wardrobe, affecting a weird display of flower-child fashions, vest open, gipsy pants with scarf instead of belt. Breasts or hairy chest exposed with careless abandon. WHERE TO FIND THEM Find them ? They are all over the place, in the Shaw Library reading Proust or the Bible, in the Students' Union writing a leaflet about Indonesia, being a combination of all the signs, Aquarians have very varied abilities. PRE-COITUS AND COITUS They look very unapproachable, but experimentation and change are the source of life to them. Once they have got the message there is no need for much fore-play, everything will be fluid. Coitus underwater is a devilishly wonderful thing. While being held in nature's capricious arms, her sea, you're feeling the life of her most ambitious project, the AQUARIAN. As you break the surface of the water together, the dream ends in a shower of emerald green crystals trickling over your eyelids and down your faces as you climax. Where pre-coitus ends and, coitus begins is a fine line, but one which you will easily learn to draw. Sexually exhausted, your Aquarian will sleep until noon tomorrow, you have excited their body and now it is morning, they want to know all about you. Soon your nostrils will be greeted by odours of fresh coffee brewing and bacon frying. You'll soon enough learn that a day without an Aquarian is a day without sunshine. THE YEAR AHEAD FOR AQUARIANS Those who are looking for somewhere to live will find somewhere in March. The general outlook is interesting to say the least, and it seems that your lives will open in many ways; especially with reference to sea travel. You may have to take on an extra responsibility, such as an elderly parent or a child. With a long solar trend plus Mercury in your own sign you have a busy February ahead. Brilliant prospects will open before you. By the way you should be excellent swimmers, otherwise your sex life could be lacking! The propaganda slot In order to give you this amazing (eolumn, a special Agitprop Bureau has been set up in the "Beaver" OfBce. It will fearlessly expose the crimes of the capitalist class, not only in LSE, not only in Britain, but — wait for it! — throughout the entire world. We have a special correspondent in Rawalpindi who tells us that the rate in inflation is incredibly high in Pakistan. Thank you, Annice. We have another correspondent in India who, unfortunately, hasn't written -anything for us yet. A correspondent in Aberdeen tells us that the student housing ¦problem there is getting very, very ¦bad. This is because of the headlong rush of capitalists (led by yankee imperialism) into the North •Sea. Apparently the NUS has agreed to press for a special Aber- deen allowance for students. Nice one NUS! How about doing something about it? One of our reporters has just returned from the racist Republic of South Africa, bearing with him a copy of a newspaper called the "Sunday Times". It seemed very liberal. The supplement on Mozambique was considerably better than the average "Guardian" article. But our reporter told us that the English language press, no matter how liberal, was totally irrelevant as far as the Afrikaaners went, and the Afrikaaners are in power (so far). Our correspondent in France tells us he's finally got out of the army after a three-week himger strike. Congratulations! It almost makes you glad to have a professional army. Certain left-wing parties support national service in Western European countries because they believe that a citizens' army makes coups less probable, Greece notwithstanding. One could say that all armies are much the same, but Portugal and Peru suggest that they are not. Our LSE reporters tell us nothing is happening in LSE, as the entire population has succumbed to a disease known as "false consciousness". This is a very infectious ailment, and has appalling consequences, e.g., alcoholism, careerism, capitalism and drug addiction. Snap out of it folks! Don't let LSE take up your life and infect it with this foul illness! If you find yourself taking the School seriously, then maybe we can produce a few statistics on graduate unemployment for you. Venceremos! J J i A traditional Union view of the School NEXT ISSUE—THE TRAUMATIC LIFE OF PISCEANS—WATCH THE CENSOR'S SAVAGE KNIFE! N.B.—All predictions gnd character assessments have been mathematically calculated by a serious astrological source, embellishment by courtesy of your Beaver sports reporter, who is very short of news and also quite silly ! UCCA and all that APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO A BRITISH UNIVERSITY Y»i of Entry Expccted Yeu of Exit (if different) Ansvtei 'Yes' o» 'No' COLOUR (when washed) Aaycne who f>Us this in wil] be reported to the Race ReUtioDs Board Name (insert.last name fust) Now write it sf^n. legibly this time Oifoal U»e Only Are you relsted to: The Vice-Chancellot?....... The Campus Electrician?. A Course Seiectoi?.......... Che Guevara?.................. Schools attended in the last year (attach c-< Drugpushiog Landiover to Samarkand Bus cooducting Helping Mother ButUns Picketing your old school Trying to pass the odd 'A' }t\el/Ei%bah Language •0')fvel J< yoo have left school, what have you been up to? Delete where necessar>-< Drugpushiog Landiover to Samarkand Bus cooducting Helping Mother ButUns Picketing your old school Trying to pass the odd 'A' }t\el/Ei%bah Language •0')fvel 1} you ispire to paid employment after University, answer the following (questions; (i) Can't you Hnd a hu«band/wife to support you? (ii) Do you think coming to Univetfity will assist you to find (a) a mate? (b) a job? (iii)Can you (a) type.(b) play the guiiar,(c)act inoi write foi TV uu;e,(d) play footbsli? lin here your extracurricular interests. (Our advice to lc«ve the list below as it stands as uiy alteration wiU be viewed with p-ive suspicion. Otherwise it will be ignored) Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze, Silver, Gold and Plutonium Awards Queen's Scout/Guide British Association of Young Scienuscs National Youth Orchestra Young Communist League Vijiting Local Geriatric Ward Dramatic Society Actor/Stxge School Captain Captain of Criclul/LaciosK Team Other.......................................ileave bUnk unless you want an awkward interview) insert aa X here orJy if you havener lead the compktc woiiti ef I j ^ D.H. Lawrence, Marcuse,NevilShute,Kierkegaar(!,Ken:nfway, I..-. —I Wittgenstein and Germaine Greer EXAMINATION ENTRIES AND RESULTS (if «r.y) what the result would have been if you hadn't had hcud Centre Date Sublet •0', 'A' level RefuJl migraine and/or gjafldulu insert aa X here orJy if you havener lead the compktc woiiti ef I j ^ D.H. Lawrence, Marcuse,NevilShute,Kierkegaar(!,Ken:nfway, I..-. —I Wittgenstein and Germaine Greer Now many different teacben did youiave irt your final year? Have you any other excuses? (make them good) Now many different teacben did youiave irt your final year? Have you any other excuses? (make them good) Space for (vain) plea by doting mother ) hereby apply for admisiion to the above named Universitief. If acccptcd 1 most soiemnly rkcu that I shall abide by the Cai Parkiog Regulations currently in force. ....... Date..................... UGHT R£A£»NG SECTION (To be compkted by head of school*) (any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, is purety «oi»f)ctfntal) ^Oon't feel yqu've got to TiB is til thia If you know nothing ab«« rkt wiitc 'ntiifutory* Sicnatur« (if btfiate) THIS BEAVER was produced by Peter Timmins, Gill Hibbert, Sheree Dodd and Tony Greenwood with help from Jim Furlong, Maggie Urry and all subcontractors. ALL opinions in the paper are those of the writers. MEETINGS every Tuesday at 1 p.m. for "business." © London School of Economics and Political Science Students' Unioii, 1975. eEAVER, Feb. 4th, 1975—Page Four 5, 4, 3 Two days to Armageddon THE Union Meeting of the 23rd January passed Business Motion 2 which has committed the Union to take actions "to disrupt the general functioning of the School" if the School did not accept the demands listed in the motion. The demands in full are; (1) an £11.50 per capita grant and to transfer to the LEA system; (2) full nursery facilities to be provided by the beginning of the next academic year; (3) no implementation of the educational cuts; (4) no staff redundancies; (5) a 20 per cent reduction in canteen prices and a return to the Hall, fees of last year. The LEA system of financing Unions is the system used by almost all universities In the country (the motion actually called for the adopting of the ILEA system, which doesn't really make sense but most people knew what IS meant but not what they passed). Under the LEA system the Union receives its finances directly from the Local Education Authorities (hence LEA, and not ILEA). This should have two advantages; The School would lose its control over the Union's funds and the Union should in fact get more money. This transfer to the LEA system has been Union policy for as long as I can remember. In fact the whole of Business motion 2 has already been included in Union policy and demands. What is new is the deadline for the acceptance of demands. The motion gave the School just 14 days to accept or else. This raises a few interesting points. For instance; or else what? How can a meeting of approximately 80 people provide a legiti- mate basis for such a motion. If there had been say, a 1,000 at the meeting, the motion would have more credibility. What then is the point of the motion? It must be noted that the voting at the meeting was roughly for I.S. and ConSoc and against Broad Left. Neither I.S. nor ConSoc have been noted for their constant attention and action over the issues involved. The Nursery Action Committee had an average attendance of three last term, and the involven>ent in the other issues has not exactly been spectacular. The meeting itself seems to have been swayed by Paul Cockerell's speech against the motion, an extravaganza of 'parody' which annoyed more people than it amused. The issues are important. Supporters of the motion claimed they are so important that action should be taken. They were tired of inaction and speeches like Paul Cockerell's. Great, so Where's the action been since the motion was passed. If they consider the Executive to be incompetent, why have they left it to them again? Who's going to disrupt the general functioning of the School? Nobody seems to have been fooled by the motion. Most of the action will probably take place at the next Union meeting when the Executive is asked to explain what happened and why wasn't the functioning of the School disrupted. Next time a motion should be passed asking the School to paint the moon. If it refuses the Union will plant an atom bomb under Houghton St. and blow everything up. Why degrade the issues involved by using them as weapons in a politicos scrap? T.G. Tory tactics A LONG struggle within the student movement has been for the right of students to decide and carry out policies determined by themselves. In L.S.E. we still have a "halfway house" constitution which, upon occasion stops us from fulfilling the wishes of Union General Meetings (for example, "the Con-Mech" payment last year). Part Two of our Union Constitution does state (Section I) that "the Union meeting shall be the supreme policy making body of the Union, and all decisions relating to Union policy shall be taken by the Union meeting", which seems pretty explicit as to where power lies. In addition, Section 4, Kb) defines the responsibility of the Executive Committee as follows: "The Executive Committee shall be responsible to Union for the implementation of Union policy, except in those areas which are specifically the responsibility for some other agency of Union". Consequently, students might not expect their own Executive to try a block policy adopted by a Union meeting. Yet, despite a Union motion passed last term pledging "full support" for the movement to free the "Shrewsbury Two" Tony Brown (Independent/ Toi-y Executive member) opposed the Executive producing a statement explaining the issues involved in the trial and imprisonment of the Shrewsbury pickets, and was against the Executive trying to mobilise support for the National demonstration to secure their release. Tony Brown did not deny that this was Union policy, but stated that he personally was against it. To justify this staggeringly undemocratic attitude towards Union, and in reply to the criticism of others that the Executive Committee existed not to ignore or challenge Union policy, but to implement it, Tony said that he represented the wishes of those who supported his manifesto and that he did not feel any duty to carry out actions of which his conscience did not approve, even though he is not in the same position as an ordinary member of Union. It is noteworthy that the Tories, unable to mobilise support within the democratic structure of an open Union meeting, where decisions are taken by majority vote, have now turned to a policy of opposing those parts of Union policy, with which they disagree by beau-cratic resistance, and a refusal to accept the principle that the will of the Union General Meeting is the supreme body of Union. This attitude allies, Tories, like Mr Brown, with the "hard-liners" in the academic world, who also think that students have no right to involve themselves in politics, or to ask that students should be allowed to control their own affairs. John Cruse Dahrendorf gets fourteen days THE ball is now in Dahrendorf's court. He has 14 days to accept the demands made by the Union on January 23rd. These were for: An £11.50 per capita grant on the ILEA system Full nursery facilities by next year No education cuts No staR redundancies Partial restoration of the real value of the grant increase by a 20 per cent reduction in canteen prices and the return of Hall fees to last year's level. The demands that the Union passed a^-e all justified. The national average for per capita grants (the money the Union receives) is £14.50. LSE gets £5.40 now. Furthermore—the Union's finances are at the mercy of the School—they froze them a few years ago when they wanted to smash grievances here. Our Union should get the same money as others do—and from the same source—the Local Education Authority. "Beaver" reports that four places have been won for children of students in the LSE at a central creche. What is required are not four places but scores. The LSE has very few undergraduates in proportion to the total number of students. Mature students with children are no rarity here. The kind of facilities that are being demanded from the School are widespread in other colleges with far fewer students who have children. Already the School and Dahrendorf, the foreman of government policy, have made cutbacks in the standards of education. The Library moans of its staff shortage and then decides to pass the burden on to the shoulders of students. Books now have to be ordered from the reserve stocks and it can take up to three hours. This is how the cuts will operate—-government's problem, solution at the expense of the governed. There is a general "moratorium" (tight-fisted-ness) on teaching posts in operation. Natural wastage is being allowed to contribute to the problem of unemployment that workers and all you students leaving this year are having to face. The School operates like any other business concern. The sacrifices will come from the people who make it work—the students and the staff. Maybe Dahrendorf's chauffeur will even get his cards. Students hammered a grant increase out of the Government so the School like every other college had a smart idea—raise prices and destroy its value. There is no point fighting for an increase if it gets taken off you in the canteen and Halls of Residence. Prices must come down to previous levels—20 per cent off in the canteen and the Halls back to last year's level. And all students in rented accommodation should worry too. The Labour Government is planning to change the Housing Finance Act and give students less Drotection from eviction—landlords (feeling the pinch) say they are too hard to evict when they graduate and remain on low rents. So this summer not only may you be unemployed but homeless too. The most depressing spectacle at the Union meeting was the attempt of the General Secretary, Paul Cockerell, that crusader for rights and justice to turn the whole motion into a joke. Evidently judging by the amendment he introduced, he thinks that we should not fight for these demands. He said we were planning on murder, arson and so on—that had not occured to me but now I know where I'll start. He said the Union gave no support to individuals carrying out such a policy. "But," I hear you cry, it is already Union policy!" Very true, but will Cockerell pull his finger out and do something ? There is only one way to make sure he does and to win against the School, that's to push them both. Dahrendorf has until Thursday. February 6th to concede to the demands—and that he had better think about. J. MONTGOMERY. Depressing spectacles FIVE long standing Union demands, and 14 days to get them. The motion passed on 23rd sheds no new light on Union's campaign over these .issues, and, equally, offers no new solutions. All it does is put a nonsensical time limit on the School to capitulate. The ball has always been in the School's court — that's why it's never moved. The Union could move it, but only if there was the mass will to do so. And there's the first depressing spectacle — l don't believe that that can be generated and activated within 14 days. "Shopping list" campaigns have never been capable of motivating large numbers of students to action and setting a deadline brings us nowhere nearer to overcoming that. I regard that motion as tokenism and adventurism rolled into one. That was why I put an amendment which would have made a farce of the motion. I would agree now that I was wrong, given the nature of the meeting. And that's depressing spectacle number two. A meeting of 70 people setting a time for disruption of the whole School. The third depressing spectacle was a bunch of about a dozen Conservatives supporting the motion with the sole intent of deriding and discrediting Union, obviously not realising that their own Mr Blundell would then have equal responsibility in carrying it out — that's the insult to Union's just demands. These demands are issues vital to Union. Issues which MUST be campaigned on. Not in the way we saw IS at the beginning of the academic year make a purely token call for Rent Strikes in the Halls. I well remember the work the movers of this motion put into the Grants/Cuts campaign last year — again, purely token. These same people who showed their interest in the Union grant by not even turning up at the budget meeting (the motion even talked of an ILEA system, not the LEA system). Campaigns have to have .mass involvement to be successful, a cliche perhaps but true nevertheless. My efforts will NOT make or break this campaign. Onlj' the students of LSE, whose absence from that Union meeting was so conspicuous, can do that. I have tried, and will continue to try to carry out my mandate from Union, as I hope will the whole Executive. ' PAUL COCKERELL MIXED SAUNA BATHING AT ULU TUESDAY & FRIDAY AFTERNOONS Single sex Sauna Bathing Mon.-Fri. 01-580 9551. SINGLE TICKET £1.50 from ULU, Malet St., WCl. Dress optional. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON BALL ALL NIGHT FRIDAY, 7th FEBRUARY 1975 NAUGHTY RHYTHMS TOUR DR. FEELGOOD : CHILLI WILLI KOKOMO TOT SHOWBAND ETCHINGHAM STEAM BAND CAST IRON ALIBI STEVE LANES SOUTHERN STOMPERS BEAVER. Feb. 4th. 1975—Page Five Mr Pike, the Financial Secretary (guess who rules the L.S.E.) '"Student facilities are well below the norm. In fact he went so far as to say that the student facilities are proportionally bad in relation to those of other departments of the School.' // Directors come and go-when will Pike and Alcock? FOLLOWING the publication of the . article concerning the provision of nursery facilities at the School in the last edition of "Beaver", Mr Pike, the Financial Secretary, and Mr Alcock, the Academic Secretary, were interviewed by "Beaver". The interview was mainly concerned with the pro-Vision of nursery facilities but it wandered over other subjects such 8S School finance and the closure of Houghton Street. 14 Tempo bold BUREAUCRATIC FOG The general impression gained Jrojn the interview was one of the School's officers working within narrow limits set by School finance and amidst a fog of bureaucracy. For" instance no definite answer could be given to us concerning the' actual provision of nursery lacilities since the question of allocation . of space once the library moves to - Strand House is being deliberated by the Accommodation Committee. This deliberation is likely to take an exceedingly long time — Mr Pike only hoped that it would report this session — because the committee is taking into consideration both "priorities" and location. Therefore it is clear that the student body must make its wishes strongly felt concerning the priority of nursery facilities to the Accommodation Committee. Mr Pike was confident that the Accommodation Committee would find that the Student Union had a large priority for space allocation for he admitted that the "Student facilities are well below norm"; in fact he went so far as to say that the student facilities are proportionately bad in relation to those of other departments of the School, Nevertheless, he admitted that any good prospects were for the longer term — it was a different case for the short term. STRAND HOUSE This attitude of looking ahead to a period some years hence is common amongst the School's administration, but it provides little comfort for the students who are here generally only for three years. Most students at the School now are unlikely to see the completion of Strand House: W. H. Smith have not (vacated the premises yet and will be unable to meet their deadline of March. 1975, since their new building is behind schedule. NURSERY FINANCE On the question of the financing of the nursery there was a more negative attitude. Mr Pike argued that:i£ the School were to add to the 30 per cent support grant which the Student Union proposes to give to students who use the nursery fa-cilit^e-s, this would be an interference in the principle of the block grant to the Student Union, therefore im- plying that if the Union wishes to give a larger support grant they must find the money out of the block grant. Mr Alcock explained that certain welfare grants existed which could be utilised in cases of hardship; these could perhaps be used to supplement the support grant if certain students find it impossible to pay the other 50 per cent. Perhaps there is a need for these welfare grants to be more widely publicised. LSE RESPONSIBILITY Mr Pike also stated objections to the ideas put forward that the School should also provide a similar support grant of 50 per cent to its staff. In the first place he asserted that there was little demand from the administrative and academic staff and secondly that problems could arise with the Union, NALGO, which could argue that the provision of nursery facilities might be seen as an attempt to keep wages down. He suggested that those members of the staff who did want nursery facilities should approach NALGO. Nevertheless there are certain spin-off benefits which the School could gain by providing its staff with nursery facilities: in the long run the facilities may allow able staff to continue in employment after having a baby, and they may also provide extra incentive to work at the LSE. In addition it has become an increasing responsibility for employers to provide nursery facilities for staff to give women equal opportunities to continue in employment. SCHOOL AND INFLATION Any action which the School will take will be influenced by the state of its finance. Mr Pike outlined the School's difficulties: problems have been caused by the fact that the School is a labour-intensive structure so that the payment of London Weighting will swallow up the additional Government grant. The School's policy is not to make redundancies but the deficits in the budget have meant that the School cannot fill all vacancies. Mr Pike argued that if no attempts were made by the School to improve the financial situation it would not be in a strong position to demand more money from the Government, but there are only a few areas in which the School can gain extra funds, such as the JjEA and English Research Council grants. Mr Pike concluded that "the School is totally dependent on the Government; we can play about in a marginal way, but so marginal as to make no difference when faced with 20 per cent inflation." IMPROVE ATMOSPHERE Finance will probably effect Mr Pike's hopes for the improvement of Houghton Street once it is finally closed. The temporary closure is likely to be in about seven to eight weeks time, for the GLC have discovered that it needs to take out an order to reverse traffic in Clare Market to allow vehicles to go in and out when delivering to the Student Union. Mr Pike sees the main advantages of the closure coming from the moving of the garage to Strand House and the ability to remove the grills from the library windows which give a 'keep out atmosphere" to the School. The conclusion to be arrived at is that the Union must continue its pressure on the School for the provision of facilities, and in particular on the Accommodation Committee to emphasise the position of the nursery, high on the list of priorities. Sheree Dodd Snidelines LET ME START with a piece of history that rrjtight embarrass that great political machine of Student Unions, the Broad Left. I'll ignore the fact that their long-term aim is to break into national politics and concentrate on personalities. One Rex Osborn was in his third year at the LSE last year, one of the years Broad Left tried to introduce sabbatical officers. That year they also brought forward the elections to the Executive from October 1974 to March 1974. And why ? So that their third-years could be elected to the next Executive, and also be sabbatical, i.e., fourth-years. Now one R. Osborn did covet the post of General Secretary, but the "party" decided that Mr P. Cockerell was more politically reliable. Whereupon Mr Osborn did connive against his party, and put in a secret application for the post. And there we were with the internecine sight of one Broad Left candidate facing another, for one post. Now—and this is where the plot really thickens—when the sabbatical idea was thrown out, Mr Osborn withdrew his secret application and Broad Left never knew anything about it. But we know; and we also know that Mr Osborn, now residing at the Institute of Education, has been adopte^ by the Broad Left as one of their NUS Executive candidates. Who said silence wasn't golden ? MY SOURCES TELL ME that in the ranks of the chosen there is a personality clash. Mr R. Dahrendorf does not see eye to book-cover with Dr D. Clarke, our learned, but rather severe Librarian. Could this be the reason that Mr D. learnt about Mr C's economies at the same time as the students ? Whatever the reason—and some people are backing the non-appearance of Mr D. for long periods at a time in the LSE—its good to hear that both Mr D. and Mr C. are agreed on one thing—that the cuts in Library service are NOT a deterioration in academic standards! THE OTHER MEMBER OF STAFF I would like to feature is the newly entitled Profesor Mishan. It would appear that the noble professor, being acquainted with marginal utility and his new status, is continuing his policy of last term of taking no classes. Many a student who has suffered in the past under the professor will agree with the graffiti, "Mishan Impossible" and heave a sigh of relief. But will the other staff, who have to take up the slack, be so relieved ? 2^ Xi> MR TERRY DONALDSON, the well-known Stalinist, has stopped assaulting young ladies in the course of lust, and has begun to threaten young men. There are some juvenile fools at Rosebery Hall who produce a miserable pamphlet for the edification of its residents, who decided to feature a speech by a A. Hitler (Consoc). Mr Donaldson did threaten the youthful swains with physical violence, even to the extent of razor blades, if they used Union equipment to provide a platform for racists and fascists. Methinks Mr Donaldson has supplied a sizeable number of planks for such a construction by his tactics. AS REMARKED on elsewhere, I.S. actually managed to get a motion through "Union" the other day. What a pity it was factually incorrect.. The Union wants a per capita grant of £11.25 not £11.50, as they suggest. Perhaps the other 25p is intended to go to the Socialist Worker, so we can all have one. The other thing is that they want the Union to change to "the ILEA system" of financing. If it only existed! What they should have parroted was the LEA system. I suggest that they go back to shouting about something they believe—"fight the bosses, sell Socialist Worker, and join I.S."—but don't think! Son of Gaston Gnome SINCE my father has not yet been released by the Gestapo elements in the catering department, I have tried to carry out the - noble work which he so defiantly started. For those of you who have read my samizdat sheet, circulated last week in all the eating ghettos of this torturous place, I have a few words of kindness and warning. Apparently a new organisation has been set up by the catering department to "sell" the mountain of flesh acquired under false pretences at the beginning of the year. As you will recall, my father "exposed" the nature of this mountain and for this he is paying dearly. Together with the "juices" and the "other" that this moun- tain generated; it is being disguised as, "Curry", "Chilli con carne", "Sausages", and various other forms of meat additions. A member of the catering staff who has defected to the WEST (World Establishment of Samizdat Terrorists) has conflnned that the goings-on during the preparation of our meals are too gruesome to repeat. Suffice it to say at this stage that "the bug" is added as flavouring. So far the nature of the "bug" has not yet been fully ascertained. We have, however, sent a specimen smuggled out as a Brussel Sprout to Professor X, a member of Biologist Anonymous and late winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. We await his reply. The Hackney Public Library has so far come up witli a petition signed by G, Poy and C. Freud. These individuals are demanding the release of my father from "COLDISHES'. We are still collecting signatures. To date little news has been heard from my father. Since the last letter, smuggled out as an egg, we have feared for his life. Last week an undergraduate who had bought "Curried Chicken (sic)" in the Robinson Ghetto found a bone resembling the first flange of the little finger of the left hand. Carbon dating of this fossil has put its age at or around 2,000,000 years. This is conclusive pi-oof that these torturers at "COLDISHES" are systematically torturing mj' father psychologically. A ransom note has been found by Dahrendorf demanding £3.8 million for my father's release. Paul Getty is said to be interested in this demand as an economic proposition. Once again Popper, that CIA agent, is trying to refute the existence of my father. We have, however, managed to reincarnate Lakatos to operate against Popper on our side. Dahrendorf is pinning all his hopes on the outcome of the E.E.C. referendum while Margaret thaaattcccherrr . . . I BEAVER. Feb. 4th, 1975—Page Six Abortion law under attack JAMES WHITE, a member of the present Labour Government, has introduced a Bill which will attempt to snatch back some of the limited rights which women won with the 1967 Abortion Reform Act. As the law stands, a woman can obtain a legal abortion if she is physically or psychologically endangered by the pregnancy, or on "social grounds." The decision to allow the termination of a pregnancy is, however, in the hands of the doctor and not the woman, and so stiH denies women the right to control their own bodies. James White's Bill would place further restrictions on the "social grounds" clause of the 1967 Act and would lower the legal limit for abortion from 24 to 20 weeks. It is clear that despite the limitations of the present law. the rights it does assure must be protected against this further attack. It is also clear where the brunt of this restriction on legal abortion would fall—on working women and students. Women with inlormation, time, and spare cash have never had difficulty in getting private abortions, although the profit-hungry, "production-line" methods of private clinics are notorious. Working women and students are those most seriously affected if they have to have an unwanted child, because of the lack of guaranteed maternity leave and job security or automatic reinstatement in a course for pregnant women, and because of inadequate nursery facilities. The impact of the Bill will therefore be still further heightened by the present economic crisis, when bosses are looking for loopholes to introduce redundancies and when social expenditure is being drastically cut. It is clear that the interests of women are to be among the first abandoned : consultants in the northwest, as part of their sabotage of the N.H.S., have refused to perform abortions, which they consider "inessential duties." Organisations like SPUC and LIFE are mounting a massive campaign to pressurise M.P.s to vote for the White Bill. Their propaganda, half-baked and histrionic as it is. is quite effective because of the wide distribution and constant repetition it receives, made possible by the money which backs these organisations up. Anti - abortionists cry that "there is no such thing as an unwanted child" because of the long lists of people waiting to adopt, and yet there are plenty of black children, for example, for whom it is impossible to find adoptive parents. (And this ig-noi-es. of course, the implications of having some women become "breeders" to supply the rest of society, or even the fact that women mighf^ not want to go thi-ough the ordeal of pregnancy to have what then becomes someone else's baby). They claim that if abortion is freely available, women will stop using contraception — patently ridiculous, considering the relative discomforts and inconveniences involved. And they appeal to the xenophobic nationalism being fostered in Britain by other forces as well, raising the spectre of the "Euro Peril"—'hordes of French and Italian women converging on London to drain the resources of the N,H.S. In fact, women who do come to Britain for abortions—and why not, when the alternative is a dangei'ous illegal abortion— go to private clinics and pay through the nose. Certainly the solution is legal abortion in those countries as well, instead of illegal backstreet abortions everywhere. Confronted by these counterarguments. the anti - abortion people can always reti-eat to the basic, gut-level appeals ; "Abor- Not everyone has a fairy-godmother tion undermines the family and therefore the Fabric of Society!" and "People who go and get themselves pregnant deserve to suffer !" And there is the final metaphysical argument that "Abortion is Murder." So, according to some people, is eating meat. Just as people should have the freedom to decide whether or not to be vegetarians, they should be free to follow the dictates of their own consciences regarding abortion. Free abortion on demand forces no-one to give up a child they want. The Lortdon Working Wom- en's Charter Campaign, Abi tion Law Reform, and otb forces are organising a lobbyt Parliament to coincide witht second reading of this Bill ^ February 7th. It is vitally ii i portant that people turn up! counteract the picture of to: approval of the Bill projecf' by SPUC's propaganda, andf protect the rights that worn-have under the oresent law. ALL OUT ON FEB. 7th!! STOP THIS BILL GOIh THROUGH!!! L. MARTINDALE (LSE Women's | Liberation Group! Official Turkish propaganda poster Turkeu — the peace-keeper? 1 THE Turkish Military establishment has won another decisive victory. Callaghan has finally given in to Turkish bullying over the transportation of 11,000 Turkish-Oypriots from the British bases to Turkey and from there to the Turkish-held Northern part of Cyprus to ocupy the homes and land of Greek-Cypriot refugees forcibly uprooted from their homes by the advancing "glorious" Turkish Army. U.S. interests and NATO have also won. Their long cherished wish to dissolve an independent and neutral Cyprus, and prevent it from developing into a "Cuba in the Eastern Mediterranean" whilst imposing a NATO controlled regime in this strategic part of the Middle-East, have almost materialised. In Turkey, chauvinistic sentiments are running high while the Turkish establishment is trying to sell to the people one "national" victory after another — more opium to make them forget the rising unemployment and misery and exploit them further. This sales drive has been assisted by the British. Callaghan professes to be a "humanist". After all it is becoming a very fashionable word these days with Kissinger himself speaking of defeating world famine while using mercislessly, food as a political weapon to oppress and exploit the people of the developing countries. Callaghan and the British officials in the bases first allowed armed Turkish-Cypriot followers of Denktash to intimidate the Turkish - Cypriots living there while promising them a land of plenty in the North of Cyprus. After a while and after a succession of phoney "threats" from Ankara directed against Britain. Callaghan — the "humanist" and of course the "Democrat" — decided to have a "census" and let all those who want to be transferred to occupied Cyprus via Turkey do so. All this we are told — for "humanitarian" reasons. "Humanitarian" indeed: for 11.000 Turkish-Cypriots will occupy the homes and land of some of their 200.000 brothers forcibly uprooted from their land by a foreign invader, helped by American connivance. So, the British in collaborating with the Turks have saved the now familiar seeds of separatism which will set oppressed people against each other. Another Ireland is being created. History repeats itself — and to the "Kissinger Murderer" the Cypriot people now add a "Callaghan Parti-tioner". The 200.000 Greek-Cypriot refugees, desperate beyond any description, know now that armed struggle may be the only decent alternative left for them in order to regain their human rights, and especially the inalienable right of self-determination so blatantly denied to them by the 40,000 Turkish troops. They gain some strength looking at the Palestinian example. And they know that their Turkish-Cypriot brothers and sisters will soon identify the common enemy, U.S. Imperialism, however disguised lurking in nationalistic colours. They know that there will be a fight to free Cyprus because they themselves have seen the real phase of "Enosis" which was nothing else other than another sinister way of bringing Cyprus into the NATO flock. This was dished out for public consumption by reactionary chauvinistic elements in Greece and Cvprus for many years. The slogan of "Taxim" — partition — will soon reveal its true abominable face to the Turkish-Cypriot people. And a reminder for all tho.=e who think that reference to armed liberation struggles is just another "trendy, empty, militant call." or worse for those who think it means violence which is "inhuman": two-fifths of the population of Cyprus have lost everything; their homes, their land, their jobs, their plans to create their lives as they want them. They are living in tents, sleeping on the wet ground or on a plain camp-bed if they are lucky. Five thousand faml|. among them have lost a Ids' per.son, and 3,000 families still looking after six iront in the ruins that is Cyprus,!; their missing relatives. These people cannot lose aj thing else . . . the most tb; can lo.se is a destroyed, hunfl ated life of a beggar. T Cypriot government and pot' know this very well when tk try in vain to hold these peqt back when they attack Brit.. ); and American property [ order to show the unbearak tragedy that has imposed i them. I You don't have to be Cypriot to sympathise these people. Just try to th ¦ of your home — built with ye of sweat and blood — destroy' of your most primitive rig forcibly stolen from you, tl of living away from your lai: your village, your orchr your sea, which are only 1.5 miles away that you can go to or live there. Think being prevented from liv like a human being. Fina think of 20 million of yl brothers and sisters (twoJif. i of the population of UJ' suffering the same fate, i then ask yourself: is there t other alt€:rnative ? Doros Mid s J BEAVER. Feb. 4tli. 1975—Page Seven Dent-oart 4 p). THE Political programme of the May Group statement did not become the guiding thread of unity that we had hoped for. Throughout this last year we * have been dominated by a cam-, paign to achieve only one of its stated aims — "Union to be financially, politically and constitutionally autonomous". Without doubt this campaign has absorbed much, if not too much, of our collective energy. A full assessment of the campaign is impossible here. Indeed the issue is still not decided. To 1 make a premature judgement I on what is, I believe, the longest 5 single issue campaign to have been waged at LSE, would be unwise. Events later this year . (Summer 1972) or even at the I beginning of the next academic year may radically alter the course of things. However, at the present stage of deadlock and stagnation, it might be useful to construct a balance sheet of our activities. Firstly, what was the positive side of the campaign; why were we correct on embarking on it ? (a) The issue was clear and we were asking the right sort of questions — Who should control the Union ? (b) It was a student issue, our struggle, i.e. much nearer to the students' own situation than support for an external struggle. (c) We concluded that both (a) and (b) would readily lead to support among the students. The fantastic election results and the amount of mobilisation for the December 8th "Day of ¦^1 Action" seemed to confirm this. (d) The national situation M lent a topicality and significance H to the LSE struggle. After all, what we were fighting actually was the Thatcher proposals as these were what we already had at LSE. (e) SocSoc was united on the issue (quite an achievement) and gave an air of aggressiveness to the campaign, particularly over such things as conduct of negotiations — always an area in which "moderates" are at home and have a tendency to "sell-out". : bHowever. on the negative side were the following points, pcwhich have emerged more ¦^dearly as the struggle con-'^tinued ; ' (a) Although the question of "control is clear cut. the background to this particular issue is extremely complex. In the beginning, nobody knew the ¦ actual situation as regards finance. constitution, law, etc. These have had to be learnt through struggle. (Which is a side-remark on education and learning!) (b) It was still essentially a "demand" campaign and therefore tended to leave people uninvolved. Aggressive tendencies to direct action (UDI, etc.) helped to overcome this. (c) We overestimated the interest and commitment among students to the Union. It was pei'haps here that we made our most serious error. While the Union question is nearer to cha Students than, say, workers' ilii struggles or racism, it is still not a permanent or even relevant question to many students. The alienation of student life may be expressed through the aspect of dissatisfaction with the Union, but this is not the cause of that alienation. Hence whatever happens to the Union will not affect fundamental problems (see below. Education Study Group). (d) We understand the reactionary nature of the Adams/ Finer gang. Hence, even when we changed our demands from "total autonomy" to "full autonomy allowed by law", insistence on total, alrriost totalitarian, powers left us a little stranded. (e) We never came fully to grips with certain basic questions, e.g. the relation between political and financial autonomy; and also the wider questions of the role and general function of an independent Union. Although the issue is still in deadlock, certain favourable gains can be discerned : (i) Our political position has been, on the whole, ' unchallenged. No right-wing or "moderate" element has gained enough support for ideas of a "sell-out". The collapse of the LSE "moderates" has perhaps been an unnoticed but decisive phenomenon in the past two years. It has contributed to the change in nature of Union meetings and polarised the political camps thus laying bare more clearly the fundamental issues. (ii) The Adams/Finer clique have been exposed for what they are. (ui) The old ways of the Union have, hopefully, been destroyed forever, e.g. it should now be impossible to return to the almost total domination of the presidential office and the practice of a rotating chairman has now become accepted. (iv) We have not been smashed. Although this is mainly because we never launched into an all-out confrontation, it is still true that the left (despite differences over the occupation) is not bitterly divided and crushed as it was after 1968/9. There is still energy left to manoeuvre and, hopefully, positive lessons will be drawn for next year. Year Three Politics and Education a New Synthesis? It is clear that these are all essentially negative gains, and that the basic issue of Union autonomy has yet to be won. However, it is necessary to take into account all aspects of the struggle and that has been the purpose of the above balance sheet. That is all I would like to say about the constitution campaign. A detailed description and full analysis will have to be done elsewhere. Parallel to the constitution campaign there has been a growth of other activities which seem encouraging : the women's liberation group, the education study group, and developments in the departments, e.g. the Soc-Admin Co-op and within the Law Society. For me the activities of the education study group have been the most interesting and significant. The group was started in the first term by four students somewhat dissatisfied by the conventional left critique of education. The fact that the group got off the ground was an indication of a change in SocSoc. for during the past two years attempts had been made to start an education group, and these had collapsed. The traditional response of socialists to the educational question has been that a change in education has to be coupled to a change in society at large. Far from being a conclusion to anything, this was only a starting point for us. At the core of our ideas was that we should begin our critique of society, both theoretical and practical, here in the university because that was where we were. Links with other struggles, although unnecessary, would have to come later, otherwise there would be nothing here to link with ! The group has met fairly regularly throughout the year, attracting a nucleus of about 5 to 15 people. We have discussed many topics — authority in the classroom, the role of the "left" teacher, the ideas of Ivan Illich, free schools, the connection between schooling and the labour market among many others. Slowly, and with the help of people outside LSE. we have built up a coherent theory of education in capitalist society centring around the key concept of the split in the category of labour into mental and manual workers (this division of mental and manual work will probably be the last and most difficult alienation that socialism will have to overcome). But our activities have not been confined to the development of ideas. After Christmas we began a "cheating campaign" to encourage co-operative work. The idea was to collect a library of past tutorial and class essays which students could borrow and use. After all, why should we care about the same old questions which are handed out year after year ? Somebody else has answered the question before, so why waste our time copying out answers from standard text-books ? (This point of duplication was brought home by the collection of sociology essays we received — over 20 were on the same question!) Our scheme was aimed at undermining the essay-treadmill and to encourage co-operation. Students would also be left with more "free" time to follow their own interests. Secondly, we have intervened in the constitution campaign. We tried, both before and during the occupation, to bring out the educational nature of this tactic. In occupying, we were not only striking a blow at Adams, but were challenging what normally went on in the building day by day. The "take over" would give us an opportunity to learn new things in a new way. Although this always happened in occupations, we were trying to give this implicit aspect an explicit expression. In connection with this, we arranged a large meeting/discussion on education and capitalism during the occupation, which proved very successful — never before had 300 people managed to conduct a three hour discussion in the New Theatre without a chairman. Traditional groups like the IMG (see Red Mole, No. 36) criticised us for holding meetings on education instead of on "politics". (Note for traditional Marxists; the relation between education and politics may be expressed in traditional categories in the following way — the change in the organic composition of capital since the war has increased the demand for mental relative to manual labour both to manage the production process itseH and to manage the increased consumption and leisure time of the labour force outside production, e.g. education. advertising, state apparatus, etc. The increasing integration of work and school, and the increased domination of mental labour by capital (and the subsequent "proletarianisation" of intellectual work) is experienced by the student through the aspect of authority. Struggle against the authoritarian relations and functions of the school system is, then, at the same time part of the struggle for the general emancipation of labour : "fighting the class war on the education front" as it were.) Members of the education study group also co-operated with Oxford Solidarity in the production of a leaflet "Who Controls Whom ?". widely distributed at the NUS demonstration on January 23rd. The theme of the leaflet was that, while the campaign for union autonomy raised the correct questions, questions of power and control, the area of student unions was not the most important area for struggle. Only by raising the question of "autonomy in the classroom" could we make our critique both permanent and relevant to all students. The group did not restrict itself to criticism, however. Many members were instrumental in forming alternative classes and attempting to put our ideas about collective learning into practice. Much experimentation remains to be done in this field (see above), although the very existence of these classes is again something new to LSE. , Hence, for me, "politics" and "education" have been synthe-sised throughout my third year. My elemental dissatisfaction with the examination system, and my ideas about alternative learning, have been complemented by a development of my political ideas. I also detect a general change in this direction, certainly at LSE, but also over the whole country : although how far this is correct, and to what extent my experiences are not just an isolated phenomenon, can only be judged by those who read this essay. "Only the truth in your own fist will make you master of this earth." Wilhelm Reich. / decidep TO WHEN I C.AME MEPE... INVOLVE yr ff OTSS TED ! vie UNTIL ; oiscove/icD SMIIKNOFF OfiC,ANIZED ! f * BEAVER, Feb. 4th, 1975—Page Eight Resistance Today in Chile ""jHE fight against oppression has always incurred risks and sacrifices from the workers ol Chile and they have always known this as well as any-t>nei Latin - America in general is familiar with bloody coups and revolutions of one type or another. It is a continent so rich with mineral resources that it is obviously a meaty bone to fight for, not only by the people living in the continent but the rest of the world, the United States in particular. If the terminology of the Chileans grates against our British ears as being over-dramatic, even hackneyed, we should remember that they have often had just cause to shout out against repression, torture and starvation, indeed has been practically part of their jheritage. Thus there has always seen some sort of organised resistance in Chile against the status quo. President Allende's brave bid for a democratically elected government, representing the broad spectrum of Chilean left politics, failed. It failed not because he was wrong; but because of intervention from U.S. capitalism and opposition from within his own country. The internal opposition centred on the underestimated strength of the right wing officers of the forces; fcnd the unrecognised basic need of the middle classes to prevent further erosion of their position. Currently in Chile all classes are dissatisfied with those in power; as thert is no food, no petrol, no luxuries of any sort. A huge concert arranged at the Opera House with an internationally known opera singer was cancelled as only the high ranking members of the junta could afford to buy tickets. I was speaking this week to a refugee who arrived two days before from Santiago. He told me about the increased day-today resistance against the Junta. Wall paintings are now an accepted sight in Chile. They say "WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OP PINOCHET", "THE PEOPLE ARE STARVING", "ARE YOU HUNGRY", "WHERE CAN WE FIND WORK? WHAT DO WE EAT?". He also thought that it was possible that soon there would be "a coup inside the coup". The Junta are now divided against themselves their isolation is growing and with it their sense of paranoia. Senor Mauricio Ruiz, an ardent supporter of the Junta at the time of the coup, was arrested a year later and subjected to the usual Junta treatment (beatings, torture and starvation). He was accused of being "a Marxist threat to 'Fascist Chile'." ("Times", Monday, January 27th.) It is ironic that the Junta have so defined themselves, whm they are at the moment desperately try-, ing to present a pleasant face to the international community. It is true that on the 23rd Jajnuary, 1975, the Chilean Foreign Ministry announced that all Chileans still sheltering in foreign embassies in Santiago would be given saffe-conducts to leave the couiitry. I -think it is important to remember that (a) it is a violation of human rights to be forced to become an exile from one's own country and (b) if and when these Chileans leave the embassies, hundreds will take refuge or attempt to in their place. This so-called "softening lineof the Junta must be seen against their desperate nfeed for investment from o-verseas and foreign capital, also the impending renegotiation of Chile's foreign debt. (^pi)er prices are still fall-' ing and with it the Junta's hopes for survival. Some' sort of spontaneous explosion is bound to occur in Chile, but from what source this will come is merely conjecture. Dangers and risks For the workers of Chile, a strike at this moment in time, is dangerous and fraught with uncertainties, in fact they risk their lives fpr the most minimal rights. Nevertheless there have been strikes and other resistance activities in Chile since the coup. The workers who are dissatisfied, and realistically that means all of them, cannot publicise an intent to strike. Therefore each action happens autonomously in individual factories, so there is no time to launch propaganda campaigns throughout the country, or manoeuvre until the time is ripe for such actiori. Because of the very real danger of informers" from within their The military junta continue to rule by oppression and terror' ranks, any militant action proposed by the workers' is almost certainly reported to the Junta before it has happened. This means that there can be no mass meetings and no organised plan of action supported by large numbers of workers. The Junta has declared it illegal for more than a small group of people to gather together, so plans and information have to be passed secretly from hand to hand. For the few unions that are recognised by the Junta, all agendas of meetings have to be given to the military authorities 48 hours before the meetings, and at the meetings a member of the Junta is present to ensure that the agenda is adhered to. For the unions that are not recognised by the Junta, no meetings at all are allowed. This is the context of the fight against fascism in which the Chilean trade union movement is engaged. Workers force concessions Just after the coup in 1973 the workers on the construction of the underground demanded a wage increase to cope with the increased cost of living in Chile. They put a notice on the manager's office I which set out their demands and said that they would wait a week for an answer. At the end of the week there was no reply from their employers, so the workers refused to work. The army were called in and suggested that a delegation from the workers went to the management to explain their demands. The workers were reluctant to send any delegation, as from past experience, they knew that delegations had been arrested and never seen again. Finally the army officers called a mass meeting and told the men that unless they explained exactly what they wanted they had no chance of getting it. No-one stood out and said anything, the workers stood together in a silent mass and waited. After a long embarrassing silence for the army officers, some workers began to chant "MORE MONEY" "WE WANT BETTER WAGES" and th« chant spread throughout the meeting. They got their rise, because it was vital that work on the underground continued. There have been cases when sections of workers from particular factories have gone on strike and have been immediately dismissed. The rest of the workers have then gone on strike for the re-instatement of their dismissed comrades. Rather than have the whole factory closed down, the employers have been forced to not only re-instate the dismissed workers but pay out bonuses. Acts of destructive isabotage are commonplace, such as the fire' at a television factory and the blowing up of the Dupont explosives factory, which supplies the big opencast copper mine at Chuqui-mata. These acts are probably the work of very small groups, acting more or less spontaneously. But in a number of places there has been "constructive" sabotage, ^ for example in the Luchetti spaghetti factory where the workers started putting an extra 300 grammes of spaghetti into 1,000 gramme packets, as a direct way of helping the poor and hungry people of Chile. Not always does the resistance take the form of united action as in the factories. Informers are killed with knives when and where possible. Military persoimel dare not walk the streets alone, they walk uneasily in groups or preferably travel high up in jeeps. If members from the military get on to a bus, the civilians immediately change their seats away from them. An often used gesture is for the civilians to make a face as if a very bad smell is in the bus; nothing is said, but the hatred for the military is obvious. Resistance in Chile tctfay cannot afford to be open, but it is there, growing inevitably like a huge root underground. The more the military junta continue to rule by oppression and torture, the greater the hatred for them grows and the greater the resistance will become until there is victory and the fascist regime is conqueired. VENCEREMOS! E, Hamilton-Brown 200 CHILEAN SAILORS The fore runners of doom THE Chilean sailors arrested on the 5th August, 1973, were charged with plotting a mutiny. Their so-called "crime" was to oppose a plot being prepared by high-rank-ing officers against the democratically elected Popular Unity Government. How did they know of such a plot? If you were an ordinary seaman it was obvious that something out of the ordinary was being planned. The "Tancazo coup'' as mentioned in the last "Beaver" article on Chile could be interpreted as a method of sorting out "the sheep from the goats". It was a time when you were forced to believe the lies fed to you by some of your officers or to rely upon your faith in the Popular Unity Government and all that it represented. For many members of the armed forces the "Tancazo coup" meant death or imprisonment. Nearly all of the navy was far out at sea at this time and strong security measures were taken to identify and isolate the anti-coup personnel. Opportunities were given for sailors to freely express their views in political discussions on board ship, thus allowing the protagonists •of the September coup to identify their opponents. Most important of all, an internal Naval circular stated that only officers could carry arms. Sub-officers and ratings were relieved of night watch duties and the work handed over to pro-coup officers. In the Talcahuano shipyards, civilians and naval employees were separated. The location of arms stores were changed and the new store rooms known only to officers. The "Tancazo" coup was followed on August 5th by a "falsecoup". Sailors were infoi"med that their superiors had decided to ta'iie power into their own hands because "the government of President Allende is illegal". They were given two hours to get ready and form up in their units. The pro-Allende sailors went straight to their units to prevent the ships putting out to sea. There, waiting for them, were the Naval Infantry and the intelligence experts. This is when the sailors (led by Sergeant Cardenas) for whose lives we are .fighting, were arrested. A picket, called by the LSE CThile Support Committee and the -Working Party on the Release of Chilean Sailors, which took place on Thursday, January 30th, drew public attention to the plight of the imprisoned sailors and their comrades. It is interesting to note that the lawyer who originally defended these sailors in August, 1973, Pedro Enriquez, and who was imprisoned and tortured, has now been released because of international pressure and the indignation of lawyers throughout the world. How dare they imprison a lawyer? Indeed how dare they imprison sailors loyal to the legal government of their country? Try that in Britain at the moment and see where you end up. FREE THE CHILEAhl SAILORS. BEAA^ER, Feb. 4th. 1975—Page Nine The shared wisdom of Sir Keith Joseph and Denis Healey BRITAIN has rarely suffered a deartfi of objective analysis. There was always some one Individual or group who knew, and who had the guts to declare, the true position Britain occupied and the real conditions it enjoyed or suffered. Granted that political realism did induce many politicians, on the right and the pseudo-left sides of the spectrum, to mix half-truths with propaganda, ibut this is far from the absence of political clarity entertained by some political analysts. Disraeli, for example, was neither the first political "observer" nor the last to remark rightly that this country constitutes two nations: say, BRITAIN I and BRITAIN II. What Britain, and particularly Britain II, almost always lacked and continues to lack, is the political will needed at times of acute crisis like this, to take the progressive path and resolutely move forward. Of course, no one is preaching here a SUICIDAL "REVOLUTIONARY" GAME as that proposed by the International Socialists, the Anarchists, the International Marxist Group, the Revolutionary Socialists and other ultra-left groupings. Of course, Volunt^ Unitair and such like propaganda of the Monday Club and other fascists (with a small 'f') is the last thing progressives would advocate. The only solution is the removal of all causes dividing Britain into two more or less distinct nations, in terms of Disraeli, or more accurately two broad classes, as sociologists term it. This removal of class division cannot come the ultra-left or ultra-right way. It cannot be achieved by the policies so far pursued by the Parliamentary parties. For it involves a massive redistribution of wealth and economic power neither the PLP nor the Con-Libs would like to see ; indeed, they are hired to prevent it. And THEY SHALL GIVE WAY TO A TOTALLY NEW POLITICAL ARRANGEMENT, NO LONGER PREVENTING THE ARRIVAL OF A NAKED CORPORATE (FASCIST) STATE, IF THIS MASSIVE REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND ECONOMIC POWER IS SERIOUSLY IMMINENT. (I bet that 1975 is earmarked the Year of Decision for this counter-progressive task to be settled immediately after the results of the forthcoming plebiscite on British membership of the EEC is apparent). Yet cooking up a "revolution", as Tony Cliff seems to advocate in his 'The Crisis: Social Contract or Socialism" (Pluto Press, 75p), is playing into the hands of Britain I. The only sure and revolutionary path to the main task at hand, the breaking down of class division In Britain, is through the platform we progressives have been advocating:— (1) Solidarity of the working people against Fascism, Conservatism, Liberalism and Adventurism. (2) A broad alliance of all wage and small salary earners within the labour movement (the trade unions, the extra - parliamentary Labour Party, and all progressive working-class political organisations including ultra-left groupings). (3) A Socialist Social Compact or Contract (not a wage freeze) that safeguards the living standards of wage-earners, small salary earners, pensioners and students, and at least maintains their share of real national income. (4) An economic strategy that broadens the Welfare State and transforms it into a Socialist state: Real full employment, price and rent freeze thus curbing M3 (the broad definition of the Money Supply), Socialist nationalisation of all monopolies and vital industries particularly banks and foreign trade, renovation of the industrial structure and rationalisation of qualitative economic factors, massive educational and training programme, centralised planning of main economic activities and full accountability of all nationalised 68 paranoia THE other day I was commg into LSE by bus, as is my wont. Suddenly the peaceful, smoky atmosphere of somnambulent workers being carried to their work was rent by the sounds of an angry altercation: "Hey, get a move on, man! Dere's tree people trying to get on dis bus, you know!" The white man preceding the angry black passenger was not much moved by this: "You can't tell me how fast to move. I'm allowed to walk at the speed I want, you silly little man. Don't be so insolent!" "Oh, shut up, man! You don't have to take so long to get on dis bus." "Oh, be quiet!" shouted the slowcoach in desperation, as he scuiTied to the front of the bus. "Oh, you lazy ting! You still sleepy at ten o'clock in de mornin! Some people are in de factories at seven o'clock, you know!" "Yeah, you tell 'im," interjected a tired sounding Cockney. "Tell 'im to get a job of work like everybody else." A chorus of laughter greeted this sally, and the argument subsided. The moral of the story, of course, is that class comes before colour, so now if some pessimist comes along telling me how racist the working classes are I can always remind them that they like the snotty middle classes even less. Well, perhaps it's a little dangerous to generalise from one instance, but you get the general idea. It crossed my mind that perhaps the defender of individual liberty (i.e. the freedom to walk as slowly as he liked and to get in everyone else's way) might have been a CIA agent spying on London Transport. Maybe it was the beginning of an attempt to bring down "the leftist British Labour Government" by economic sabotage! As they say, "OK, so you're paranoid. But maybe they really are out to get you just the same." Well, if the CIA want to spy on the Tube to see how it works, they must be crazy. It hasn't worked properly for years, partly because the wages aren't high enough. Even London Transport admits that to be the case. If the Government really wanted to cut the oil-fired balance-of-payments deficit, surely it would pay the transport workers enough wages to get a decent service running. How can they expect car owners to travel on public transport when the advertised service can't be adhered to? Maybe I'll buy a bycycle. Steve industries to the public. This strategy will involve a rational investment programme that safeguards jobs for all and thus necessitates full' control on the export of capital, heavy cuts in prestige..projects and especially defence and massive taxes on big salaries and on all unearned incomes. (5) A political strategy that widens democratic institutions particularly the channels of selecting parliamentary candidates as well as creating the full accountability of Parliament, the Press, radio and television, and the Civil Service to the public. There is nothing difficult about this platform, but no advantage for the Liberals or left-wing Labour opportunists. Since 1969-1970 Britain II has moved* leftward. The acute crisis of the- present social structure and the unsurmountable difiBculties of Britain I (with both Conservative and pseudo-Labour leadership) have created new conditions for a radical forward move. The Labour Movement at large has embarked on the elaboration of socio-economic and political policies detailing that platform. These policies rest essentially upon a massive redistribution of wealth and economic power in favour of the working-class, Britain II, i.e. the 80-odd per cent of the population, thus undermining the class division that fetters the country and prevents it from enjoying the fruits of technology, science and education. These work-ing-class policies are not designed to remove the existing social privileges from the mind only, as economists and sociologists are trying to do, but also from reality itself. The upshot of this effort has been the two Labour manifestos and the "understanding" between the leadership of the Labour Party and the General Council of the Trade Unions (not implemented) an understanding that works only against the procurement of profits, not against earning wages, pensions and small salaries. Yes! an understanding that binds both parties to the Contract on the side of the working-class interest and thus ultimately on the .side of genuine socialism. This alone has been the justification of the Social Contract which has been attacked by all sections of the Labour Movement on every other ground. The wind, however, does not blow at the whim of the ship. An understanding of that order cannot be implemented without further and even more concerted struggle. Two Labour goveniments were democratically put in. office against the right-wing onslaught of Mr Heath's leadership in order to carry out the vital task of checking Britain's decline into a corporate (fascist) state and reverse the political steering in the direction of the general social shift to the Left. The Grossman Diary aside, every mature member of the Labour Movement knew the weak fibre of the PLP and entertained no squabble about the present democratic system both within Parliament and within the Labour Party. Grossman's claim of a cover-up in our political system was not a novelty to anyone. The Labour Cabinet is never the real seat of power, however powerful it may be. The Labour Government remains a fraud, however much brakes on fraud are introduced upon it from outside. But the dictates of prudence and the awareness of the need for further struggle in the direction of further democratisation of the Labour Party leadership compelled and continue to compel a total support of retaining a Labour government and struggling within it at the same time. There can be no room for Con's, the Lib's and Labour 999,000 women wanted A MILITANT anti-Communist strike-breaking "Women's Army" is being organised from Wimbledon. Already its organiser, Ms Marie de Roland Peele (47) has pledged her infant organisation to support General Sir Walter Walker's "Unison Army", which has similar anti-Communist aims. Although Ms de Roland Peele admits that at present her supporters only number 41, she aims by August, when she prophesies "the crunch will come", to have at least a million anfci-Communists at her command. Ms de Roland Peele, who hails from France herself, boasts of her lifelong struggle against Communism. She instances her patriotic escapades with the French against the Viet^ong. As with recruiting, the "Women's Army Supplies and Equipment Department" has much work to do. Ms de Roland boasts of having £100 of foodstuffs stockpiled, a dagger and a double-barrelled shotgun. And it's just possible, if some tenuous "Irish connection" could be discovered, the local "Plod Squad" will work up an interest in the latter at least. Ms de Roland Peele's neighbours, as she has already discovered, find her "extremism" rather off-putting. After all she's even suggested that they become self-sufficient by digging up and planting the lawns and grass surrounds of their houses. PNS opportunists who advocate the so-called "national government." The leadership of the British ; • working class has a duty towards its rank and file not only to steer well but also to steer safely. Yet if the fascist take-over is certain to be attempted, we on this side of Britain will have to meet it, as we will. The attempts started with Mr Heath's attack on the miners. Although it then failed under the impact of working-class solidarity, it nevertheless continued throughout 1974 (with bangs in the BBC and banners in London last summer). It is now conducted within the Cabinet once more and conducted by our most honourable friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Wilson, everyman to everyone as ever, gave the green flash. Denis Healey carried the task with an overall responsibility for the economic side of inviting fascism on the quiet. The whole orchestra of , Conservative MPs, the BBC, Fleef"^ Street and the Confederation of British Industries joining in. The "simple argument" is that— unemployment could be beaten only by conquering inflation first (sic): inflation is in a Phillips-curve relationship with unemployment and caused by higher wages (sic. Professor Kaldor must be still in their midst); and lower living standards on the part of wage-earners are necessary to reduce unemployment (sic). Such are the pillars of wisdom shared by Sir Keith Joseph and (Lord) Denis Healey and all those who on the side of Britain I, but nobody can be taken in. The propaganda has worn thin long ago and its repetition only proves the bankruptcy of the leadership in Britain I. It is all the same only a prelude to further corporatism and shall be resisted with fiercer determination. The ASTMS general secretary, Clive Jenkins, with whom the NUS signed a fraternity agreement last summer, was quick to expose the Chancellor's move. "Plasticine in the hands of our Treasury mandarins" is what Denis Healey means for C. Jenkins and the whole progressive student and staff communities. Hugh Scanlon, Jack Jones, Bill Kendall and Ken Gill all denounced the "Contract" that lends itself to such interpretation as to be another wage restraint, and all rightly maintained that "high wages are essential for a healthy economy", for the maintenance of employment and for frustrating inflation at the same'time. Any other contention is economic nonsense and will be resisted come what may. Mr Healey may well be clever, informed and polite, but his opportunism and narrow-minded egoism cannot take him and his Cabinet colleagues far. For if the Fascist state is finally installed, he may not even get a pension. But all his corporative designs are doomed to failure. The masses are stronger and he should quit now to secure for his family a pension in old age. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ^ JEWISH TO EAT KOSHER Come along to Room 217 whofG 3-COURSE HOT MEALS are served from 1.10 to 2 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Price 40p. BANNER BOOKS CRAFTS for Progressive Literature— Mao with books from Vietnam Marx, Engels, Stalin, Lenin and and crafts, and Albania—and stationery 90 CAMDEN HIGH ST., NVVl. Tel. 387-5488. Do you like the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Soft Machine or Weather Report ? Then if you don't alrea(dy like Isotope, after seeing them at LSE on February 8th, you probably will. Melo(dy Maker Poll 1974 ; "Isotope" Album 4th. Gary Boyle, No. 1 New Star, No. 3 British Guitarist, No. 6 World Guitarist. Isotope, No. 4 Small Group. Isotope plus A. J. Webber in Concert at LSE, Saturday, February 8th. Tickets 80p. BEAVKR, Fell. 4tli. 1975—Fage Ten Joni Mitchell & The L. A. Express Miles of Aisles Asylum Records Double Album THIS is one of those rare records that you would buy without having heard it. Joni Mitchell belongs to that, elite group of singer/ songwriters that have impeccable voices, poetic songs and to whom music is a way of life. But she has the edge over others of her calibre (like her cousin Judy Collins and Joan Baez) because she can establish a personal relationship with her audience. Of course there's fio suDstitute for seeing the lady live, but this live recording comes awful close. Its complete with Joni's chats to the audience and their raptuous responses. She sails through all her very best songs with practised ease, adding little personal interjections here and there, with what is undoubtedly one of the mo.st sweet and relaxing voices that you'll ever have the pleasure oi hearing this side of Heaven. One of the drawbacks ol live double albums is that they are usually put out by established musicians who have also released collections of their greatest hits (Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys etc.) But Joni has not, and even if you have the songs done here on htr other albums, they are not being done with the backing of the L.A. Express. This group, one of the best to come out of America recently, add what can best be described as a jazz-orchestrated folk backing. (God, you should hear the piano.) They provide such a consistent, swinging back-up that Joni can use her voice to emphasise emotion rather than melody. One of Joni's unique talents is that she can recount very painful personal experiences in such a romantic framework and with such a bitter-sweet voice that you envy her even her heartaches. For this reason I prefer to listen to her over headphones while sitting smoking in the dark."';. But the backing of the L,A. Express gives even the saddest songs ("Last Time I Saw Richard", "Real Good For Free") such an energetic beat that the people in the "Beaver" office were rocking round the floor. All that and it's got some new songs and excellent pictures of the lovely lady too. Amazing stuff. J.B. I The Nuclear Trap-An Escape Route by Robert E. Walters; Penguin tion. The "bomb" will not, unfortunately, disappear overnight no matter how many undersea ships roam under the icecap of the Arctic. Furthermore, it may only lead to a greater dispersal of nuclear weapons. It is not without significance that such undersea ships as the Polaris carry precisely the weapons that Bob Walters would have us believe, is based on a naive strategy. Unless, of course. Mi- Walters believes that we can regress in evolutionary terms and go back to swimming in the sea. The only value, it seems, that will derive from undersea ships would be commercial. To argue that undersea ships will allow the United States to "maintain a judicious balance of power" in the world seems to lay down a blueprint for more, rather than less, Polaris "undersea ships'', if they are to have strategic defensive (sic) roles. It also seems to imply that the U.S. should maintain its policing role in the world. Indeed, as Bob Walters himself says, "In principle, the United States is the one nation in the world which can afford to take a detached view of events . . the United States is the natural (ugh!) arbiter of the world's problems within realistic limits ..." The memory of Bob Walters seems to be short-lived. No-one will forget Vietnam. Neither will they forget Chile. And if that exalted pjTomaniac, Henry Kissinger, can threaten nuclear war as in the case of November 1973, among the crumbling debris of the White House during the Watergate Affair, then Mr Walters can keep the -United States. Do not impose it upon the world. We already have to live with it and the bomb. A.O. Index of Possivilities Published by Clanose Publishers Wildwood House and Arrow Books "The point has repeatedly been made that if war is considered as an instrument of policy, then movement Is of far greater importance than mere destruction. The nuclear engine offers the greatest potential for mobility, and the nuclear-powered undersea ship Is now the capital ship of the modern navy. If this Is accepted, then he who controls the undersea will control the surface." p.l34. IF Bob Walters had given good j-easons for a reappraisal of the .geopolitics of present defence strategy viz. that the Soviet Union is not in a central attacking position in the event of war and consequently strategists should rid themselves of this idee fixe, then his only contribution to defence theory and geopolitics has been to develop another idee fixe. The orthodox idee fixe has been ^•-to play tin soldiers with intercontinental ballistic missiles due to 'the contention that the Soviet "Union occupies a central geographical position on the landmass of the learth, i.e. the Heartland. Western defence strategy has thus been biased on this idea. A direct consequence of this viewpoint has 'been the expensive development of a missile strategy that has led into the blind alley of the possible destruction of life on a large scale. Yet the west (sic.) can sumve if only it could get its generals to think in terms of undersea ships, the idee fixe of Bob Walters. These would destroy the security of the Heartland since the Soviet Union (i) does not have the manpower to patrol its long coastline and (ii) it is more vulnerable because of its size. The technological feasibility of developing undersea ships is now a reality. Since the Arctic occupies such a strategic position in an oceanic sense, and since nuclear powered ships can travel under the icecap, the Soviet Union will be more insecure. Western defence strategy would thus become defensive rather than offensive. Further, the geopolitical effect that this would have will be the generating of "accommodation" policies between the superpowers. Talks of nuclear detente would become obsolete (e.g. S.A.L.T.) since no amount of anti-anti-anti ballistic missile defence systems would make the Heartland fully secure. A psychological kickback of this strategy would be to undermine (sic) the American paranoia about communism. And, of course, such a strategy would also open up the bowels of the oceans to economic exploitation. Unfortunately the tenor of the thesis indicates a distinct lack of political awareness, if not naivety, though it abounds with imagina- £2.50 THIS massive book opens with an account of the theories of the beginning of the universe. The second feature discusses the end of the universe, or in the words of the writers, it indexes the possibilities of the end of the universe. My first random reading of the book left me with the impression of an infinite space filled with atoms that is rapidly expanding as a prelude to contraction. This is the universe, taking millenia to complete its breathing cycle. Meanwhile, on one particular globe in this infinite space, tiny creatures named "ants" wake up every morning, stretch themselves and go about their lives in a highly synchronised system of movements as a result of the conditioning of ants before them. They do this in total ignorance of time, space or even the reason for their existence. This, I think, is what the compilers of this book intended: to give a glimpse of, a signpost to, the endless possibilities and reasons for life in the universe. And they succeed very well, including features on everything from religion and science to the possibilities of human development (mental and physical) and the range of life-forms on our earth. The information has been compiled from every source imaginable: underground magazines, biographies of mystics, teachings of philosophers, quotes from pop songs and the Bible and even a book called "The Sex Life of Insects", to name but a few. I should say a word too about the illustrations, but what can I say about pictures that have to be seen to be believed? The contents of the book accurately reflect the intention to be a stimulating source book rather than a definitive textbook. Most of the topics discussed are printed on one large page which facilitates selective reading and has a host of references for further reading. For me, the most attractive feature of this exceedingly attractive book is the personal touches given to WTite ups of subjects that are usually treated with reverent respect. Here's an example. In the section of telepathy the following account appears: "Baby rabbits were put on board the submarine while their mother was left on land. The submarine put to sea and dived. Electrodes were implanted deep in the mother's brain, then her babies were killed off one by one. As each one died, the mother's brain reacted instantaneously." This is followed immediately by a quote from Blake: "Each outcry from the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear." I'm really pleased with this book, I can't conceive of any book that w^ould be better value for money. I'm tellin' ya man, this book's got EVERYTHING. JI.B. TIME Time, do stop, into the (ieepest ocean I've (drifted. Like a wounded dog, I wail at nights, but time, my unremitting Keeper, unweary of my petitioning Keeps on her winding course; Wind, rain, mud, slime ! Oh how well she does her brutal duty ! I'm afraid. So very afraid ; Strength in his arrogance, angrily, did flee from my weakened frame. "How can I face yon pitfalls," he muttered, "on this flagged horse." Youth, like a butterfly did flit amongst the fields, stained in its delightful hue seeking, seeking . . . that elusive love, life, , , . peace. Age, that lost lover betrayed by his Time creeps into my weary bones, my nights, my days. Oh Time, do stop Save me from my dazed chaos. Harry C^uugalsingh J. S. Bruner The Revolution of Education Penguin Special 70p THIS BOOK, marking Bruner's emergence into the world of Penguin paperback, is a collection of essays written between 1964-1970 and directed variously toward psychologists and educationalists. They are supposed to chart Bruners' ideas as they reflect some of the critical social issues of those years .— Black Power, Vietnam, De-schooling — but don't go to this book expecting any detailed discussion of specific events. The level of argument remains extremely general throughout; it is the overall emphasis that reflects Bruner's concerns. The aim is to stress the (potential) relevance of education to shaping and "perfecting" the growth of the human mind, and of the abstract principles of knowledge imparted through school, to their application in everyday life. Although as ^ psychologist who has espoused the Piagetian tradition, he does assume that children's minds and knowledge mature according to certain fixed principles, this assumption hardly comes across in these essayj at all. The central preoccupation is with how culture affects such growth; he is a psychologist considering education not- just as a legitimate sphere of interest — but as a mandatory one. He is hoping to persuade his fellow psychologists that "developmental psychology without a theory of pedagogy is as empty an enterprise as a theory of pedagogy that ignores the nature of growth." In summary, he is stressing the importance of training on human mental growth, whether it be through general cultural pressu3«ee or through formal instruction, and suggesting we take a more systematic look at what we are doing to children as they grow up. Should this smack too much of Skinner's behaviouristic Utopia, Bruner at least shows he is aware that very basic value judgments are involved: "A theory in instruction a political theory in the propel sense that it derives from consensus concerning the distribution of power within society — who shall be educated and to fulfil what roles". He does not elaborate on this, although there are hints that his suggestions would not be as radical as some — e.g. he assumes the continuation of a highly technological society for which v.e should equip our children. Bruner's style is clear and jargon-free; he manages to communicate the enthusiasm and fascination with which he approaches his subject matter. If he is difficult t,o follow in places, it is because he moves so quickly over a wide range of material — always, however, consistently related back to his central theme. This is particulaafjy true of the essay on "Culture and Cognitive Growth", which contain* a useful brief coverage of his earlier important work on strategies of thinking in children from different cultures. The chapter on "Poverty and Childhood" is a sensitive review of issues in a difficialt field. In sum, you can get a good idea of Bruner's main interests and research from this book, together with some stimulating ideas to set you thinking about problems in this field. Rfary Hamilton BEA^'^ER, Feb. 4th, 1975—Page Eleven SEX AND VD Derek Lleivellen-Jones SEX IS important. Unfortunately, so is VD. While people are prepared to talk about sex, they are not prepared to talk about VD, which is rather regrettable. Gonorrhoea is the world's second most common infectious disease (only measles is more common), 200 million people catching it in 1970. Syphilis, the worst tj'pe of ^T), was caught by 50 million in the same year. In writing on the subject, the good professor has produced a manual that fully outlines VD in a cool, forceful, fully illustrated text. A man kr.ows when he has caught gonorrhoea by the burning feeling when passing urine and a discharge from his penis. This occurs three to five days after sexual intercourse and if untreated could lead to sterility. In 30 to 50 per cent of women there is no symptom that they have caught gonorrhoea, but signs to watch for are painful Bartholins glands and/or infected oviducts or fallopian tubes which lead to fever, headache and pain in the lower abdomen. Both sexes can be infected in the anus. Sj-philis is detectable by ulcers on the penis or cervix and swollen glands of the groin. This becomes apparent 10 to 90 days after sex, though 20 to 25 days is the more usual. If not treated the lesions disappear. but six to eight weeks after sex, a skin rash that will last for six weeks appears on the trunk of the body and forehead. The dangers if untreated are just dying at an earlier age, men 40-49, women 30-49. The other diseases covered are Non-Specific Urethritis (NSU), Trichomonads, Thrush, Genital Warts and Chancroid. Faher 85p So, what do you do if you catch any of those ? Go and see your doctor or if you want to be more direct, a Special Clinic (your doctor will refer you to one anj-way). The University College Hospital (UCH) has a particularly nice one — it's in Gower Street, ask at Outpatients' Reception for directions. They, just like Professor Llewellyn-Jones, regard it as just another disease that is easilj- treated and nothing to be ashamed of. And as the professor says, "Any woman, or homosexual man, who has sexual intercourse with a number of partners should go and be examined by a doctor at regular intervals, so that hidden gonorrhoea or syphilis may be detected and treated." A really necessary reference book for anyone who has ever felt randy. pt LABOUR RELATIONS LAW NOW Perrios THE STATUTE law on industrial relations is now more stable than it has been :or five years — the Conservatives saying they are quite happy with the Act brought in during Labour's minority government — and it is safe for the pundits to start writing again. Brjn Perrins, from Birmingham University, is first to dive in, though from no very great height, with this competent and interesting analysis of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974. To have described it section by section would only have been con- fusing: instead, the author begins with the background and follows the trends into the Act, to see how they have been dealt with. Or not dealt with. In analysing the Act, he tried to be politically neutral (as lawyers and academics like to think they can be) but he left the pages edged in pink. A worthwhile book, if you are one of the half-dozen doing labour law, but you only get 150 pages for your £5. (Published by Butterworths, paperback). ENTS has had a rather quiet beginning or tenn with a fine lunch-time concert from the Kursaal Flyers and a tremendous evening with G. T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars which was unfortunately poorly attended probably due to the. rain that day. We lost £60 on the concert though our arrangement with Revolver Records who were jointly responsible for the promotion means that they'll foot half that loss. However our main promotions of tile term are yet to come and we feel sure that we can bieak even on the concerts again this tenn as we did last term. The first of our big gigs this term is ISOTOPE & Aj Webber who appear at I.3E on February 8th, admission 80p. Isotope as you probably know are now in a uew manifestation. Ex-Sofi Machinist Hugh Hooper is featured on bass, with Laurence I of 'ISOTOPE' Scott late of the Red Buddha Theatre and Suntreader on keyboards joining original members Gary Boyle on lead guitar and Nigel Mofris on drums. They've had twd. very fine albums released, "ISOTOP^:" and "ILLUSION"; the second came out at the end of last year and received very good reviews from all the press. Sounds commented "There are 10 short tracks, so this album is a sampler, a musical manifesto — these are the ideas they are going to work from live, as they are primarily a live band. Illusion is a fine aU^in and a big step forward." There is perhaps a danger of a band of their type becoming too far out in effect, getting too far ahead of their audience. However Isotope won't find themselves out on an audience appreciation limb because they are very much a rock band ivith strong jazz influences. They are Britain's embryonic competitors to the American jazz rock giants such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Weather Report and Larry CoiTyell, having far more impact than Soft Machine. This will be your last chance to see Isotope for quite some time as they head off on their first American sojourn soon after their appearance at LSE and it is also quite likely that it will be your last chance to see the band in a venue such as LSE. Don't miss this fine looking concert that features Isotope, without doubt one of the bands most likely to in 1975. Unfortunately the Splinter appearance at LSE scheduled for Feb. 15th has had to be cancelled and we are currently sorting out a replacement. We hope td feature SNAFU in place of them but watch out for details, RR & MS THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THE REALITY OF NATURE: A REAPPRAISAL DR ARTHUR LIBRARY dodo books, 99p. I TAKE as my starting point Hustle's criteria as to the validity of a diachronic ethno-methodologi-cal paradigm in his investigation of the possible social action mediated by the functionalist , model of Grime's axiom of role conflict. (Hustle, 1968: Grime, 1969). Where does this place us? Firstly, it is important to note that Weincrutch (1965) had already postulated five possible perspectives which enable us, so to speak, to horizontally canalise the "social reality" of any given group of actors in such a way that we can map, with some emphasis on the modality of expression of each actor and, further, with some degree of viable accuracy vis a vis the group as a group parameter, the validity of the paradigm as defined by Eyelid (1957). But is this enough It is certainly enough, if we are prepared to reify consciousness at this particular level of abstraction. But it cannot, I think, be enough if we wish to explode Eyelid's paradigm in order to arrive at a more concretised level of abstraction and so depass Grime's functional model, as many writers, including Writhe, Quagmire and Plug have suggested is necessaify if vi'e are to clarify this particular problem. But does this clarify the problem In my paper on The Concrpt