BRITISH LIBRARY OF POUTICAL S ECONOMIC SQENCE N5S 18JI1N1990 NEWSPAPER OF THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS' UNION No. 114 DECEMBER 9th, 1971 . Tlot'a. 67 ^2 i i i i m k 1 I i iloint this out and to urge students not to antagonise theiir authorities by militant acticn but to fight alongside them against the DES. This is all balls I If studentf. support the authorities then the authorities will not need to oppose the DES! They do not give a hang about the threat to union autonomy, only the threat to their own peaceful existence. It is only by putting pressure on the authorities through militant action that they will b€' forced to oppose the proposals. Once again NUS have got tHic wrong side of the stick, aiitill once again students will have to go it atone. Unemployment march rj(WENTY - THOUSAND workers took to the streets last Wednesday to protest the galloping unemployment and worsening economic conditions engendered by the Tory Government's policies. INSIDE COMMENT ............ P. 2 ARMAGEDDON ...... P. 3 DEMO TACTICS ..... P. 4 DEPT. NEWS ......... P. 5 A/U PAGE.......... P. 6 ECON BOOKSHOP... P. 7 ROBBINS ............... P. 9 CON/SOC and U.C.S. P. 10 What began as a peaceful, law-abiding demonstration sponsored by the TUC developed into a militant confrontation when a group of workers suddenly ignored the orders to rtiaintain a safe distance from Parliament. Instead, they broke off the approved route and streamed towards Westminster. An Impromptu police blockade was easily broken, and thousands of marchers followed the initial deviants through the breach. Among the earlier sedate chants had been one which went: "If you hate Edward Heath, clap your hands". By the time the marchers reached the sea of blue coppers guarding Parliament, the chant had somehow become; "If you want a revolution, clap youj' hands". (Picture reproduced by courtesy of Keith Bailey, "Seven Days".) BEAVER, Dec. 9tli, 1971—Page Two Thatcher—where we stand THE already confused issue of LSE Union autonomy has been confused further by Ma Thatcher's proposals. The present position is best summed up by saying that LSE students are now fighting to get into the position of those student unions who are now fighting to prevent getting into our position. Understand ? Our opposition to the present Union set-up in LSE is also an opposition to the DES proposals—they being one and the same thing. We go one better, however. It appears that Walter Adams doesn't ask the LEA'S for any money to finance our Union. He finances it himself from School funds. This generosity of heart tr-eans that Union is simply a figment of his imagination. He doesn't owe us anything and doesn't give us much. It's remarkable that this state of affairs has lasted so long. Why haven't we demanded before now our right to exist as a separate legal entity, entitled to subscriptions from Local Authorities ? It can only be because the present arrangement of the constitution cobs us of all power to question the set-up. It is no wonder Union is in such a bad state—it is not so much a political and social organisation but more of a charity for needy bureaucrats. RHODESIA ISN'T it nice that dear Ian Smith has finally agreed on an acceptable settlement with sweet Alec Home and that Rhodesia an^d England have settled their irreconcilable differences over a lovely cup of tea. And won't that nasty old United Nations be mad when they realise they've been diddled. At the last U.N. meeting, only two v/eeks before, they voted overwhelmingly against any settlement outside the five principles. There were only three countries against: South Africa, Portugal and—you've guessed it—Britain. So, of course. Britain was the only country who could possibly have negotiated on the basis of the five principles. That stupid "test of acceptability" will not be such a stumbling block as it appears either. It is obvious that those silly old blacks cannot possibly know what is acceptable anyway and so a three-man Commission will decide for them. To prove how liberal we are, we've even allowed one black on the Commission. (Will there 1)2 a Minority Report?). The settlement has found favour with the very moderate governing Rhodesian Front party anyway. A survey of all their parliamentary members before the settlement showed that 89 per cant were against any settlement based on those nasty old five principles. The remaining 11 per cent, however, wei'e in favour of accepting all the principles and throwing the whole lot out as soon as sanctions had been lifted. The question is ; who won ? M.W. LETTERS I.R.A. Students Committee, Clann na h'Eireann, 14 Tollington Park, N.4. ^ CHARA,—In ''Beaver" No. 112, you included a report on the large Anti-Internment League demonstration in London (which had two demands, End internment and British Troops Out of Ireland). This report stated, in reference to a speaker (who was Mike O'Kane not Paddy Hamlin), "the provisional or fighting wing of the IRA." This is a distortion faithfully nurtured by the bourgeois press. The official Republican Movement which has no organisational ties to the Provisional Alliance includes the official IRA which has been fully in action in the last years of struggle. For instance they were the only force protecting the Lower Falls in August 1970 and fought many battles in the recent internment attacks of the British Army. The Provisionals have, of course, been fighting extensively too and many rank-and-file Provisionals have carried out joint actions with the IRA. However, the official IRA is not a Six county movement but one operating against Imperialism throughout Ireland, north and south. To this end the IRA has been in action in the 26 Counties during the Silvermines strike (blowing up a company transformer), attacking two Royal Navy boats and destroying land clearing equipment in a fight against the absorption of arable land in the interests of capital. The official Republican Movement is a socialist one and all its actions are part of the struggle to achieve a 32-county Socialist Republic. This is why the British and Irish ruling classes suppress the real role of our movement and why it was official Republicans who were aimed for in the internment attacks. Their crime is socialism —the greatest and only threat to British Imperialism. Is Mise, CONVENER, STUDENTS' COMMITTEE Later means never On December 16th the Board of Governors meets. Union has made it clear that we expect a definite yes or no answer regarding the new constitution. It is not unlikely that the Governors will in fact ask for more time to consider the matter. If this is the response, we must see it as the timeworn delaying tactic that it is and be prepared to take direct action at the beginning of next term. Later means never: independence now! J.S. All opinions welcomed '¦JJ^HE editors have been receiving complaints to the effect that "Beaver" is a partisan newspaper, a biased rag, a onesided distortion of straightforward facts, and basically just another Soc-Soc mouthpiece. This is a lot of crap ; every issue we have had to defend ourselves against this type of accusation and we're getting sick and tired of it. This is the last time I, for one, am going to respond to similar unwarranted rubbish. "Beaver" is a newspaper of the Student Union and as such our first and only concern as editors is to give a fair account of all Union proceedings, as well Mr Tuckett and his unlovely friends COME of you may have read "that scruffy little broadsheet" L.S.E. magazine, and in particular the article by Mike Tuckett (ex-Senior Treasurer extraordinaire) entitled "Mr. van Straubenzee and his unlikely friends." In this his second article for the magazine, Tuckett once again proves himself to be hand-in-glove with the School authorities (which we knew all along). He attacks N.U.S.. the L.S.E. "Union Handbook", the Union itself and "that scruffy little broadsheet, 'the Agitator'," and praises Ma Thatcher's proposals for controlling (doing away with) student union finance as long overdue. He writes : ". . . my quota of £22 or so from the local authority . . ." and ". . . speaking for myself, I'd rather the extra £22 in my pocket ..." What £22 ? It appears that during the entire long, weary, frustrating, obnoxious months Tuck-in was Senior Treasurer of Union he never learned that we are allocated only £2.82J per student per year, not £22. The fact of the matter is that Tuckett spent over a year in office mystifying and obstructing Union and hiding behind the coat-tails of Gareth Pryce (his alter ego) and the skirts of Mary Moxon, the Finance Secretary. He was finally booted out of office only after some very unseemly tussling. The resignation of the rest of Union Council failed to bring him down. Since nobody had voted him into office, nobody could move him out again and the only solution proved to be to appoint someone else over his head and to change the locks. His whole article is a smear campaign against Union in general and SocSoc in particular and is made up of incomprehensible innuendoes, lies and hali'-ti-uths from beginning to end. Even his opening words are inaccurate: "Not being a member of the National Union of Students"—I have bad news for you, Tuckett. In his article he shows his opinion of students by calling them "a right bunch of morons" and refers to "generally inquor-ate union meetings" (two out of 14 meetings were inquorate last year and those two were at the end of the summer term). If this sounds like a smear campaign against Tuckett, it's because it is a smear campaign against Tuckett. Any time "that grubby little broadsheet" Tuckett wants a punch on the nose, he knows where to come. MAGGIE WELLINGS as to provide an indiscriminat-ing medium to any and all members' of Union who want to express themselves through these pages. ANY AND ALL OPINIONS ARE WELCOMED : Indeed, we do more than welcome them, we ask for them, we plead for t*iem. THE ONLY CRITERION WE USE IN JUDGING CONTRIBUTIONS IS THAT OF QUALITY AND CONCISENESS, I.E., WE DON'T WANT TO PRINT LONG-WINDED, INCOMPREHENSIBLE HOG-WASH. Yet, you may ask, why has the majority of material printed to date been left-wing oriented ? This is because just about the only contributions received to date have been left-wing orientated material. Why this is, God or perhaps Jacques Arnold, only knows. I don't know how many times I and other "Beaver" editors have gone up to members of Con Soc to ask them for material. On most occasions, our efforts were met with a vague "Well, yes, we'll think of something." Mr. Arnold told me last time that we had an agreement to the effect that he could read all our contributions before they were printed in order to answer them, and that up to now he had seen none of them. But Mr. Arnold has not, to date, moved his arse up to our office to try to read any of them. The agreement still stands, Mr. Arnold, as it stands between us and any other member of Union, so why don't you come up and read our material if you and yours are so unoriginal as to be unable to think up anything off your own bat ? All we want is readable articles with food for thought inside. Everybody who disagrees with "Beaver" material without replying in kind is either labouring under a strange misapprehension, pronounced apathy, or a singular dullness of wit. It's up to YOU to disprove this. G.F. Yuleogy JQEAR READERS,—With what great enjoyment did we read the last two issues of "Beaver"; what fulsome pleasure they offered ; what inspiring contact; what noble sentiments expressed ; what masterly command of the language displayed ; what sparkling wit; what pungent invective ; what joy! We can only attribute the success of these superlative productions to the unsurpassed talent and vivacity of its superb staff. More we say, More and yet More. Let there be no end to this delight called "Beaver." It only remains for us to wish a very merry Christmas to all our bleeders. Editors. Russell Kahn's letter arrived too late for publication and wilH appear next issue. AISEC 'J^EAR EDITORS.—The gossip columnist giving the low-down in "Inside Information" last week about AIESEC is just about due for retirement. Apart from spelling AIESEC incorrectly, he obviously has no idea of what pur organisation does. AIESEC is not a travel buteau: it does not "earth-shriiik^' or "Skytour" or "Silver-wing" anywhere. We provide jobs abroad for students in summer vacations \ and after graduation. \i As for the false suggestion that we might have connections with the C.I.A,, our books show us in the RED—you can't get much further than that from the C.I.A.! Perhaps the columnist volunteered this piece of "inside information" in the hope of some free travel for himself ... P. Hiarris. We worked on this J. Sydnor Maggie Wellings George Foy Louise Jacob Rosie Hurst Bob Dent Robin Widdison issue of "Beaver" ; Keith Jinks Nigel Willmott Graham DoweK M. Ganther Rodwell Jones Dave Kenvyn Soc./Admin. Co-op. BEAVER, Dec. 9th, 1971—Page Three nKfnfis Our glorious heritage "The day before, Mr. Webb learnt that, by the will of Mr. Henry Hutchinson, he had been given the duty of directing the expenditure of a sum of money. He and Mrs. Webb woke early, had a long discussion, and at breakfast told us that part of the money would be used to found a School in London on the lines of the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, in Paris... (from the L.S.E. Students^ Handbook, 1925). \ "Webb had decided th^t at least half was to go to\^e founding of the L.S.E., on whose behalf its first Director promised to the London Chamber of Commerce that 'the School would not deal with political matters and NOTHING OF A SOCIALISTIC TENDENCY would be introduced'." —quoted in Margaret Cole's "The Story of Fabian Socialism." APOLOGY It has been pointed out that "Beaver" misquoted Margaret Kennedy in the Armageddon column in the last issue. Miss Kennedy in fact made no reference to Pass-field cleaners' wages, and the Editors express their sincere apologies for their error. Who owns what ^HERE has been some heated reaction on the part of LSE Liberal and Soc/Soc students to the decision by the Economist bookshop not to stock "The mini manual of the Urban Guerilla", by Carlos Marighela, published by Penguin. It will be interesting to see in future whether Penguin will withdraw the book altogether, in the light of certain information which "Beaver" has dug up, concerning Lord Cowdray. Lord Cowdray has just been made Chairman of Penguin. He is also a substantial shareholder in S. Pearson industries Ltd., who own the Financial Times (of which Lord Robbins is the Chairman), The Economist and naturally the Economist Book shop. THESE are quotes from Dr. David Martin who wrote the letter which appears on page 5. "Students have no experience of life or of the precarious basis of such civilisation as we have. They are supported in conceptual luxury by a wider society which they then abuse in total defiance of all conceivable likelihoods." "Students moralise freely because they moralise at other people's expense." "The policeman is anal, all his ^ywictions are controlled. The student is pre-anal: his fu tions are spontaneous. "Anarchism and vitalism are excellent attitudes for social parasites but are not serious political philosophies. It is the puritans who make revolutions even in England." OVERHEARD IN A BAR NOT A MILLION MILES FROM PASSFIELD "The trouble with Walter Adams is that he's too Left--Ang." Bridp;e^ y QUOTES FROM^HE POLICE JOURNAL "TT is ironic that those who do so much for the protection of of their fellow citizens and their liberties should on occasions have to wear and carry protective equipment. They are never happier than when they can put it aside and concentrate on those other duties in the performance of which they acquit themselves so well." "During the past few years the use of public demonstrations as a means of achieving aims has gained in popularity and the demonstrations themselves have been progressively more violent. "The violence is due partly to the activities of a small number of individuals who make use of demonstrations, either as a pretext for the advancement of political subversion or as a cover for indulgence in vandalism or violence, but the whole movement is also symptomatic of the deterioration of communaction within societv. die." "Without an uninhibited intercourse of ideas, democracy would "Government, as well as trying to improve social dialogue must take firm action to combat the activities of the violent minority. A continually increasing disregard of the law by persons who after all, are merely trying to advance their own opinions or forward their own interests, can lead only to anarchy." The writer of these pieces extracted from the police journal was the author of an essay entitled "Is Democratic Society Ungovernable," which won the Queen's Police Gold Medal Essay Competition for 1970. moon f: f) I. SMOKE-SCREEN £40 Million a Year Windfall, by William Kay. gRITAIN'S balance of payments may get a £40 million a year boost if today's settlement leads to a complete resumption of trade with Rhodesia. This is the figure that Sir Alec Douglas Home put on the price of sanctions a year ago. Up to 1965 our tobacco companies bought nearly a third of their leaf from Rhodesia. MOTH-BALLS "Rhodesian tobacco is of a very high quality," a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco, the Player's, Wills and Embassy group, said. "We are very pleased that a settlement has been reached. Our set-up over there has been in moth-balls all this time." —"Evening Standard," Nov. 24. Che 6Do$t of Crcasurers past? The Story of the five Toes Do you know why the big toe is so thick, and all the other toes so thin ? Listen and I will tell you. The smallest toe went out into the forest one day to look for firewood. The second toe caught a hare, the third toe brought it back home, the fourth one cooked it and the nasty horrid big toe ate it all himself. Was that fair? Of-course not, and that is why the four little toes keep apart from the big toe to this very day. THE END. (Composed by Barbara MacDonald, aged eight years). '/ BEAVER, Dec. 9th, 1971—Page Four DEMONSTRA TION TACTICS Three recent examples T S.E. students have participated in three recent demonstrations —against internment in Ulster, against the Green Paper on student unions and against unemployment policies. What can we leam from these experiences? ANTI-INTERNMENT On the Irish demo, a contingent of about 50 of us marched from Passfleld to join the main body at Speakers' Corner. We went down Tottenham Court Road and up Oxford Street. By some freak, we had about 3,000 leaflets in our possession. We leamt that a small noisy demonstration, combined with the distributing of literature, can be as effective as any mass procession. We also learnt that in avoiding the police (no-one knew that we would be marching along Oxford Street), we were much freer and in more control of our own tactics, e.g. we were able to change sides of the street as heavy traffic built up on one side. Under police surveillance tactical manoeuvring is much more difficult. On the student demonstration against the "Thatcher proposals" we learnt the danger of accepting the leadership of "official stewards." This hit us even before the main march began. On the way up from L.S.E. we followed a contingent from Kings College. We were heading for U.C. To our amazement the lead banner did not turn left from Russell Square into Montague Place towards Gower Street. Instead it continued straight on. But perhaps they would lead us through S.O.A.S. grounds and on to U.C. that way? Unbelievably the lead banner continued round Russell Square, turning right at the top end. We were now heading in exactly the opposite direction from U.C.! It was clear that the police inspector at the head of the march wanted to lead us in a very roundabout way indeed. After a quick on-the-spot assessment the L.S.E. banner was swung left into Redford Way, breaking away from the march. Because it was patently clear why we were doing this, the marchers behind followed on. We were now free of the police and taking a much more logical route. The stewards had arranged that the marchers would assemble in two places—outside U.L.U. and in front of U.C. This had the effect of splitting the marchers and enabling them to be more easily controlled by the police; for when we moved off stewards assisted the police in holding back one section while the other moved off, keeping to one side of the street. In fact there were enough demonstrators present, had we all set off together, to take the whole width of Gower Street. Tactically, the demonstrators were at an advantage as it was clear that the police had not expected these numbers. However, the plan between the police and the stewards did not allow this advantage to be exploited, so it was left to groups of militant demonstrators to encourage the marchers, with considerable success, not to allow the police to break them up into manageable sections. This was accomplished in the face of opposition from stewards. The militant break-away (or in Moral hangups T^HY bother about Morality? I * * suspect that a lot of "A.W." 's objections (Beaver, No. 113) are not to moral principles as such, but to a "moral code" that stifles creativity, initiative, natural curiosity, etc. He speaks of natural desires being "rigidly controlled" and the "imposition" of restrictions on man's behaviour for his own good. With much of this I entirely agree—and so would, I think, the Judseo-Christian tradition which has (when true to itself) maintained that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath": i.e. Laws exist for the benefit of man and the fulfilment of his deepest desires—in effect, to make him more human and not less, himself as much as possible. One or two further thoughts . . . (1) Many of my desires are less than human. I'm a victim of cultural prejudice; in the present society I can't help being brainwashed by the media and all the pressures of the world of Admass; I see things in short-term, not long-term perspective and go for quick results, the immediate benefit etc. (2) I may not have "an infallible set of principles": to that extent "security" is denied me. But I do believe that Love is an absolute principle and that if my actions are inconsistent with its demands I must think again. Also, that my conception of Love is inadequate: so I need a standard, a model, outside myself, over against my private judgment, (which I find, as a Christian, in the Gospels) with which I can compare my blinkered, self-interested, sense-bound conceptions. "The good I would do, that I do not: the evil that I would not, that I do . . ." "No-one in this world ever loved too much: only in a wrong way, and all in too short a measure." The last temptation is the greatest treason; To do the right deed ior the wrong reason. (3) This long-term view applies not just to personal, but also to inter-personal, social and political morality. Hence I can demand consistency, rationality and integrity of my—and my Government's —policies and behaviour. In a condition of "Total Amoral-ity" I have no basis for questioning Mr. Wilson's Facing-Both-Ways, Backing-Each-Way policies, for example. Not that I demand "Absolute Honesty" in MRA terms. Not that I reject all compromise in the Interests of the ultimate good. Though I do recognise that not all means justify the end and some actually vitiate it (e.g. interrogation methods in Ulster). And I .do look hard and critically at the ends Test of Acceptability \ Up against the wall. Mother-country !" The Spirit of Popper QUESTIONER: "Under what conditions would you give up Marxism ?" being pursued and expect the means to be at least consistent with their realisation. (4) Lastly, "A.W." says: "No-one seems quite sure what morality is." True—but what about this, to start and not end the discussion; The pursuit of universal imperatives, working through the relativities of an historically conditioned situation? And the only absolute imperative I know is Love. Which includes, and in no sense supercedes the imperatives of peace and justice. GRAHAM DOWELL. this case, storm-ahead) meant that large sections of demonstrators were free from the police. And there ensued one of the largest and most militant student demonstrations of recent years, causing the largest traffic hold-up in memory. However, the stewards were not defeated yet! Within a mile of Parliament, student-stewards were encountered using police vans and loudspeakers to tell the demonstrators to lay down their banners and walk in groups, rather than march, towards Parliament. Had we had more collective self-confidence we would have told these student-policemen where to go and continued marching. As it was we "did walk to Westminster. But the collective solidarity was sensed as literally thousands walked across the park to "lobby their M.P.'s." Outside Westminster, thousands blocked the traffic and expressed their disgust with the government in militant chanting. Great cheers were raised as a banner which had been sneaked through was raised in defiance of the one-mile law. The final ignominy was to see stewards using police equipment to appeal for its removal. UNEMPLOYMENT The T.U.C. march against unemployment on November 24th showed some similarities. Everything went smoothly until we turned on to Waterloo Bridge instead of marching down the Strand towards Whitehall. Clearly, another behind-the-scenes pact had been arranged. An attempt to reverse the march and head towards Parliament failed but the attempt itself signified a militant potential. At the southern end of the bridge, trades council and union banners were moving across the road and the cry to take the whole street was taken up. The militant potential was developing. On the south-bank end of Westminster Bridge there is a roundabout. The lead T.U.C. banner and the police van immediately in front of it skirted round this and turned left into Lambeth Palace Road with the intention of leading the marchers away from Parliament and keeping them "safely" on the South Bank. However the militancy was now such that when a Claimants' Union banner kept on round the roundabout and headed for Westminster bridge, everyone behind fol- lowed, leaving the police and the stewards gesticulating and shouting that theirs was the "official" route. But to no avail. Such a beautiful sight not seen for many years! BLOCKADE A hastily-summoned police blockade across the bridge was unable to withstand the collective determination of the marchers and we streamed through; banners flying in defiance of "their" law. The police by this time must have been scared stiff because as we neared St. Stephen's entrance we could see nothing of the inside of the building because of the superabundance of blue helmets. Police were literally packing the entrance so that no-one could either enter or leave. The workers were much more militant than students had been the previous week, when no attempt was made to block the road. But even here there was a steward trying to clear the road of demonstratcfrs! The militancy was such that mounted police were moved in to disperse the crowd. They were greeted with deserved hostility. The self-directed activity of the afternoon must have been a great embarrassment to the T.U.C. leadership. Had the official route been followed, everyone would have been happy—Vic Feather, the Labour Parliamentarians, the police, the press—everyone, that is, except the marchers who collectively wished to express their disgust at the unemployment situation. At it was, they took their chance and turned a lukewarm demonstration into an effective protest. LESSONS What can we learn, therefore, from these experiences? This can be summarised as follows:— (a) Beware of official stewards; they usually end up as police agents. (b) Be self-reliant; be self-confident. (c) Collective militant action can succeed. (d) Ignore or avoid the police where possible; they only serve to emasculate your protest. (e) Small breakaways can be effective; leafieting can enable this. (f) Be prepared for tactical manoeuvres—we can decide at will, the police can only follow orders. We must make more use of this advantage. R.D. Dr. M^szdros: "Only if there was a complete change in the basis of society." Q : "That hasn't answered the question." Dr. M : "It has but you have not accepted my answer because it doesn't fit into a Popperian framework." Q : "But how will you know when the basis of society has changed ?" Dr. M : "I suppose the spirit of Popper will come to one in a dream! I would analyse the concrete social structure." TI SocSoc meeting on Thursday, 18th November, produced one of the more interesting discussions heard in this place for a long time. Istvan Meszaros spoke on "Marxism and Philosophy" which was afterwards forcibly challenged by resident Popperians. Meszaros's talk was admittedly hard to follow. It needed some grounding in philosophy, and was made more difficult because he is not yet completely relaxed in English, He dealt with three main concepts: the dialectic, base and superstructure, and socialism as a science. Concerning the dialectic, he showed, using the "Thesis on Feurbach", what this meant giving two sets of principles in which the second set developed from and were implicit in the first. The implication, however, is not the strict logical implication. Which led him to his second theme ; that whereas philosophy had a relative autonomy, it , could not be understood in isolation. The formation and change of concepts depends on concrete social developments. He pointed out once again that the relation between base and superstructure in Marxism is not a one-to-one relationship: the relative autonomy of the spheres can mean a great deal of separation—but never complete separation. Lastly, he dealt with the claims of Marxism to be scientific. Reiterating Marx's aim to create one unified science of man, he pointed out that in practice natural and social sciences must separated. Natural science was able to make such great advances because it did not need to challenge fimdamentals since they were well established. In social science, fundamentals had never been clearly established. Marxism, he claims, was scientific in trying to make explicit the fundamentals of its structure of all social science, i.e. to show how liberalism grows from an implicit acceptance of concrete property relationships, and that Marxism postulates a different set. but makes these explicit. When challenged on this division in the discussion, he interestingly enough came close to Kuhn's concept of the paradigm. The discussion developed mostly on the themes of his talk. Other questions included the connection of Marxism and Stalinism. He rejected entirely that Stalinism was inherent in Marx. On the contrary, he felt it represented the very negation of the Marxist method, i.e. continued questioning of fundamental concepts and the operation of society. On morality, when questioned by a Bangla Desh supporter, he pointed out that, though Marxism was not a morality, it implied a moral. A choice of the best course of action at any time depended on acceptance of humanitarian principles, together with an understanding of the situation. In fact the "is" does imply the "ought." Finally, he was asked whether he believes there could be a radical social viewpoint which was not Marxist. Yes, was his answer, there could be, but it could only operate in a very restricted way without merging into Marxism. M^szaros represents very much the humanitarian Marx, and amply demonstrated this. In fact his thesis (as is Marx's "Concept of AUena-tion") is that the humanitarian Marx is the only one. That although Marx concentrated on economics after the 1840s, the philosophical presuppositions of his early "humanitarian period" are implicit throughout his whole work. He represents a major attack on all those—left and right—who take Marxism to be a dogma of economic determinism. NIGEL WILLMOTT DEPARTMENT NEWS rPHIS page has proved very effec-¦ tive in putting pressure on various departments. Unfortu-ately, people will always take more notice if it is in print than if it IS word of mouth. Please let "Beaver" have your thoughts on your particular department. Geography Is God on our side? There are rumblings in the murky depths of the Geography Department. Since we Drewett to their attention, the staff are getting Wise to some of our criticism. Our Reesent article has proved a Thorne in their sides. However, some remain rather Board or are they keeping us in suSpence? Rodwell Jones. Soc. Admin. The last Soc. Admin, report referred briefly to the inflexibility and remoteness of the social work course. As many students on other courses in the department are applying for next year's social work courses and as most people in this college have little idea of the nature of these courses, we believe it js time their real function is discussed. PLACEMENT This year the social work staff have excelled themselves, showing how unwilling and unable they are to permit the possibility of change in their out-of-date theory approach so that any dissident voice encounters a further resistance. Students have little control over the selection or type of placement and one student was forced to resign from the course largely through this inflexi-Dility. These courses are a law unto themselves, protected against critical examination by the overriding professional ethics of social work, themselves a protection from facing reality. The social work profession is committed to self-perpetua-tion and thus the status quo, rather than attacking the basic characteristics which create such problems as poverty, housing and unemployment. FREUDIAN To enable the profession to continue the myth that social work is 'Helping people " (beyond the short-term flrst-aid of enabling someone to come to terms with his situation) it is necessary that the academic "body of knowledge" on which the profession is based does not entertain any wider appreciation of the problems to which they express a commitment. Instead they restrict themselves to considering psychological methods, "the nature of health and disease," casework theory and-other carry-overs from the days of total Freudian analysis. Several students have complained about the low academic standard and one, seconded from employment, has written to his Director of Social Services. The teaching on the courses fully reflects the autocratic image of many social workers in the community; the staff refuse to consider the viewpoint of the people they teach and are not prepared to allow any erosion of thpir total control. UNBALANCED In addition to this, their methods lie shrouded in a mist of professional secrecy; it has been alleged that they have not respected the confidentiality of tutorials, presumably on the grounds of a collective professional confidence. This charge arose when information, apparently gleaned from a tutorial about the student's attitude to law and order, is supposed to have been sued by the department to support their argument of his unsuitability for the course. It is also widely rumoured that an attempt was made to record the same student as mentally unstable on his secret academic and professional file, because of his conflicting position. These statements may well be inaccurate, but the rumours pers-sist; It is impossible for any student to obtain accurate information and it is unlikely that further discussion is possible. It is imperative that the department categorically states that tutorials are confidential and that no staff meeting has the power to secretly label anybody. DILEMMA More important, social work in the community is facing increasing conflict—can social work help create change and is this likely to be achieved by building itself into a great indispensable profession? Perhaps the internal unrest and apparent inflexibility is being aggi-a-vated by a refusal to face up to this dilemma; the time has come for a constructive reappraisal of the role of the social work courses. Soc. Admin. Coop. History Tucked away amongst the corridors of the L.S.E. is the B.A. History group. You have probably never heard of it, and you shouldn't let this worry you as some members of staff have never heard of it either. It is very small without even departmental status which means that it is one of the smallest degree groups in the School. This gives students certain advantages. For a start we have almost personal tuition from four members of staff who teach us and, providing you have the initiative and brass nerve to ask the help of someone who has never seen you before and may never see you again, we have access to the whole teaching staff ¦ of the Economic and International History Departments. This places a wide range of knowledge and experience at our disposal, if we are prepared to use it. Also we have probably the best facilities in the Library considering our numbers, as all the books in Rooms A and V are at our disposal as well as the calendars of State Papers and other manuscripts collected in Room J. We are thus in many respects amongst the most fortunate erouDS in the School. MISFORTUNES Our misfortunes derive in part from the Board of Studies in History who insist upon an exam even in political thought. Now LSE should be the place where the history student would get the best tuition in Political Thought, but unfortunately no-one takes this subject really seriously until the approach of finals. In the first year we had one lecture per week and one class per fortnight, in the second year one lecture a week at UC, which the timetable made it virtually impossible to get to. The best advice we were given was to go away and read the texts and it was our history tutors who told us that(!) By the third year panic struck and it was too late for any constructive work to be done. Fortunately students at all the other London colleges were in the same position. Admittedly BOSH had attempted to relate the political thought course to the rest of our studies by setting questions asking us to relate the texts to their political context, but with inadequate knowledge of the texts this was of little help. Either students must be given adequate tuition in this subject, which means a lecture and class per week throughout the three years based upon the individual colleges, or the iDaper must be abandoned. It is not fair to expect students to trek across London in the space of about five minutes for communal lectures arranged by the University. Or the timetables must be co-ordinated properly and the lectures given at some central point like Senate House. TIME Another point is that we don't begin our special papers early enough to deal adequately with all the documents we need to have a thorough understanding of the times, events and historical circumstances of the particular period of the paper. We need more than two terms even to read the volumes once, let alone analysing the documents properly. It would not harm the study of the outline courses if we began the study of the Special Paper two terms earlier, just after the commencement of our Optional Course. It is easy to settle internal problems. Simply ask that a staff-student forum be convened to discuss whatever is wrong, and don't be afraid to speak up. Otherwise we will never achieve any reforms of the degree or teaching structure, as it is the staff who control the whole degree structure through the Board of Studies in History and the students of the University have no representation on that committee and will not while ULU remains an organisation that is incapable of co-ordinating students throughout the colleges of the University. CAMPAIGN There is an informal group of BA History students that meets fairly regularly to co-ordinate our ideas for changes in the degree and present them to the Board, but this is second best. Until there is a campaign, however, for student representation on all the committees of the University then this is the only way we have of influencing our academic life. For want of anything better we must use it, but we must not see it in any way as legitimising the power structure of the University. We must remember that we are not negotiating—we are asking a favour from those set in authority over us. BK.-VVER, Dec, 9th, 1971—l*age Five WORK COLLECTIVELY NOT COMPETITIVELY '"J^HE Soc. Soc. Education Study Group is starting to build up a library of essays and notes covering all subjects taught at L.S.E. The aim of this project is to make available to all students notes and essays useful for "passing exams" and "completing the course" so that more time can be spent studying and discussing topics which they find more interesting and relevant. In order to get the Library off to a good start we would ask a'il students, but especially third year and graduate students, to contribute whatever they can to it. Please hand all notes, essays etc. ,to Mervian Hunt at any Soc. Soc. meeting or leave them in c/o Soc. Soc. Education Study group at the Union Office (S102), N.B.: A pamphlet outlinitrg the aims of the group has been produced and will soon be on sale. THE GARAGE The garage in Clare Market Building must legally remain a garage until Houghton Street is closed (if ever), and even then it might not be closed if there is limited access to Houghton Street. At the moment parking places are given to certain indi- viduals (Adams for one) and the remaining eight places are auctioned off each term in the Senior Common Room, fees paid going 50 per cent to the Staff Beneficiary Fund and 50 per cent to the Director's Discretionary Fund. WANTED UNWANTED ITEMS ; Books, Clothes, Furniture, etc. Anything for a Bazaar. Send to or contact "Advise," 313 Upper Street, N.1. (Phone 226-9365/6 or 226-8615. Alternately, contact I. Ubani through U/G Pigeonholes or Carr-Saunders Hall, room 411. HELP US TO HELP OTHERS ! Before December 11, please. Another find from the files : Letter from Dave Martin (Convener of Sociology Dept.) to Rosemary Nixon (Admin.j THERE are three components to Conferences (a) Union, (b) Entertainment, (c) Introduction to the School. The first thing I should say is that I'm not sure of the extent to which these three necessarily belong together. As regards (c) in particular, we were involved in a planned infiltration by Soc. Soc. which we fought off successfully and which proved counterproductive for them. Nevertheless, the atmosphere created was unpleasant. Going through the other items in turn, I'm not sure that the Communist porter's criticisms of what he called "the trendy left" are particularly meaningful to freshers, though he did at least indicate the possibility of a more serious form of politics than the adolescent silliness which used to mar the life of the School every now and again. Dudley Baines did a good, carefully prepared piece on London life and how you view his particular style is a matter of taste. The "discussion" session was lively, but I have my doubts whether it means much to freshers : the educational issues on which it turned are subtle and the public rhetoric of four combatants inevitably crude. The freshers joined in, but partly to complain about Soc. Soc. attempts to dominate and to say that they were bored with invocations of class. Hilary Street spoke sensibly on "how to be a good student," though almost everything she said was on "how to be a good member of union," an important subject but not the purpose of the session. The session with departments and students was very worthwhile and is in my view the most useful thing we do in the Conference. We discussed the sort of range of things that Mrs. Barker's list of suggestions indicated and I believe they benefited very much. I omit any comment on the Union and Entertainment side ; though I believe the latter has its own momentum which rarely fails. As ever, DAVID MARTIN. To all members of 'C squad. Freshers' Conference Div. THE above important communique between enemy agents has fallen into our hands. The mortal combat referred to in this document resulted in the loss of two of our best men. However, we inflicted severe casualties on the opposing forces before being repelled by their superior numbers. I am sure you will join with me in honouring our fallen comrades who bravely pitted their strength against overwhelming odds. It is apparent that the planned infiltration of the Conference (Operation Hogwash) was detected by their intelligence network and that they are laying plans to prevent another such massive breakthrough. Such being the case, Contingency 731/A will be operative at the next F.C,—REPEAT: Contingency E31/A operative. All agents should report for intensive training immediately after the summer term. The document in our possession makes mention of a "Mrs. Barker." This is an obvious reference to one of their top agents, known to be very close to 'M', the writer. It is suspected that the enemies' defences would be seriously breached if this agent were "erased." Commit these instructjpiis to memory and then swallow them. SOC. SOC. G.H.Q. BP:AVKR, Dec. 9tli, 1971—Page Six THE ATHLETIC UNION Secret society ;^OME WHERE south of the Thames four weary figures i.-nerge out of the twilight gloom, o'aggering along a tree-lined piece o: open ground carrying a heavy bad. They drop these, occasionally re-i:;-.oving a stick-like implement and i:r,ake a determined swipe at the round resulting in the removal of ' sizeable piece of turf, proceeding iV;ien to stagger on. Who are they, j.:'.d what are they doing? REVEAL The time has come to reveal the ustivities of an exclusive band who 'unction under the title of the Golf ^Club. The club has a group membership &: 12 students at the New Maiden i.~-olf Club, Traps Lane. We have access to the course on p;iy of the five weekdays. Those r.:3mbers of the club wishing to I-.ay, generally do so on Wednesday .afternoons. Transport to the coursc is courtesy of British Rail via Waterloo, or by car. Golfing activity is carried out on a completely informal basis, nothing so crude as inter-personal competition is indulged in—due to the en-liglitenment and ability of the present members. The club is at present the proud possessor of a collection of antique golfing implements which amount to our "spare set." Our current year's A.U. budget includes an allocation for the purchase of two half sets of clubs and with this addition we shall be able to cater for the enthusiast who suffers from the dreadful complaint of being clubless. At present there are vacancies for a few additional members—those with clubs being most welcome. If interested, I can be contacted through the U.G. pigeonholes or the A.U. Office. J. FORKER. SUCCESS AT LAST 1| T'S finally happened, the L.S.E. Women's Hockey team have managed to '• win a gan^e. On Wednesday, November 25th, they beat Guy's Hospital i—0 at New Maiden. This day will long be remembered in the annals ot the Athletic Union. The news of the win spread like wildfire throughout the School. Rumour has it that the goal was scored by your very own P'.ssident of College Hall, Sue (the stick) Trussler. What was kept very quiet was the fact that Guy's Hospital had nine i:\ theii- team to L.S.E.'s ten. Funnily enough, Guy's Hospital were short •K" a goal-minder, which may explain L.S.E.'s success. DRAG So now the club which last year had to struggle to find seven for a t ;am of eleven find themselves in the unenviable position of having to drop i;;ayers left, right and centre because too many turn up. Could it mean that the men's Hockey team of last year are now turning up in drag? Surely their captain, Sue (Keyboard) Baigeni, must be the secret of their success. Who else could have brought them from obscurity into tlie hmelight? Another of the "local girl makes good" series of bedtime stories. A MIXED MANEOUVRES QUR Keep Fit Club has finally got off tfie ground. After a lot of hard work we have come up with an excellent instructress, all the way from across the water, who goes by the name of Gayie Dyckhof. A MURAKAMI WOLF BIZARRE PRODUCTION FRANK ZAPPA'S '200 MOTELS STARRING jHE MOTHERS OF invention RINGO STARR THEODORE BIKEL MUSIC PERFORMED BY; THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION . FRANK ZAPPA MARK VOLMAN / HOWARD KAYLAN IAN UNDERWOOD/AYNSLEY DUNBAR , GEORGE DUKE AND THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA MUSIC COMPOSED AND ARRANGED BY FRANK ZAPPA STORY AND SCREENPLAY 8Y FRANK ZAPPA CHARACTERIZATIONS DIRECTED BY FRANK ZAPPA VISUALS DIRECTED BY TONY PALMER PRODUCED BY JERRY GOOD AND HERB COHEN UnitBd Artists I ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK ALBUM AVAILABLE ON UNITED ARTISTS RECORDS AND TAPES I COLOUR FROM THURSDAY DECEMBER 16 PICCADILLY CIRCUS TEL: 437 2380 She started her first class on Tuesday at 5,00 p.m., ably assisted by L.S.E.'s answer to Mrs. Mills, Jean Graham. However, this class was badly publicised and less than a dozen women turned up. Now she tells me that she wants men to come to her class as well. She intends to start off with some basic exercises, then leading on to some classes in movement. Women who went to last years classes will find that this year they are starting ofl' rather differently, but with persevei'- ance (if he joins the class) they find that by the end of the year they have mastered more than they previously managed. The classes will take place eveiy Tuesday from 5.00-6.00 p,m, in the Gym, leaving you plenty of time to eat before going to the film (if that's going to be your excuse for not turning up). Anybody who's interested, men included, should come along to the Athletic Union, where we'll give you more details. Classified Ads. AGITPROP BOOKSHOP, 248 Bethnal Green Road, London, E.2. Books, Posters, Pamphlets, Papers, Badges and Coffee. Revolution in the Congo, 25p; Birth Control Handbook, 7^p; Bust Book, 25p; Conversations with Allende, £1.05; After Image—Third World Cinema, 30p; By Any Means Necessary Malcolm X, 80p ; Women Workers Struggle for Their Rights— Kollontai, 16p; (and many, many more). Come and see us; 2 minutes from Bethnal Green Tube or send s.a.e. for full list. ANDY WRIGHT. Who wants to play Ice Hockey ? PADDY SMITH wants names : 1 Bolton Road, N.W.8. Ring 624-4406 after Dec. 31. TWO PLACES in Modern Putney Flat available Dec. 10th - Jan. 10th. Free electricity and heating. £5 per week.—Apply S.110. WORK AVAILABLE in Market Research Company. Coding and questionnaire analysis. — E n -quire A. R. Barfield, MRT Marketing Ltd., 72 Fleet Street, 353 4396. SIMMONDS UNIVERSITY BOOKSELLERS Our shop is not the biggest in London, but it is among the best. And it's a place where you will obtain individual attention. 16 FLEET STREET LONDON, E.C.4 (opp. Chancery Lane) 353 3907 JEWELLERY AND WATCHES 20% - 25% DISCOUNT to all NUS members and Unl^yersity staff DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RINGS. Gold—Wedding and Signet Rings. Gold and Silver—Cigarette Cases. Powder Boxes. Bracelets, Necklaces, Charms, Brooches, Earclips, Links. Silver and E.P.N.S. Tea-sets, etc. 10% • 20% DISCOUNT to ail NUS members and University staff on all Branded Goods—All Swiss Watches* Clocks, Cutlery, Pens, Lighters, etc., and on all Second-hand Jewellery. Remodelling and repairs to all jewellery and repairs to watches GEORGES & CO. of Hatton Garden (Entrance In Grevllle Street only) 88/90 HATTON GARDEN, E.C.1. Showroom Open Weekdays 9-6, Saturday 9 - 12 Special attention to orders by post or 'phone: Q1-405 0700/6431 E 71RIDAY 26th we interviewed the Manager of the Economist bookshop, mainlj' with the intention of getting his reply to the critical motions passed by the Union meeting of the 23rd. Briefly, the motions read: But isn't that unusual ? (referring to anal sex.) It all depends on how you look at it. From a homosexual's point of view he is doing the best he can. Mother Nature didn't see fit to provide him with a vagina so he gets his fun where he finds it. _EYAWTKAS (1) Union demands that the LSE shareholders of the EB insist on the withdrawal from sale of Dr. B. Reuben's book Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (!?!), on the grounds that it viciously libels homosexual people, etc. (2) Union noting that the EB is (a) refusing to sell Carlos Marighela's selected works, and (b) leading a boycott campaign against the book, therefore calls upon its members (amongst other things) to go to the EB and attempt to purchase the book. In reply, Bartlett first defined the policy of the bookshop; as part of the oommunications network, he felt a responsibility to preserve freedom of expression with a balance of views—even if contradictoi-j'. He emphasi.sed that the EB stock over Couldn't homosexuals just be born that way ? A lot of homosexuals would like to think so. They prefer to consider their problem the equivalent of a club foot or birthmark, just something to struggle through life with. 10,900 items covering a wide spectrum of political opinion; for example—the "Little Red Book" is sold alongside the "Little White Book." On the specific questions of the GLF's objections to Reubens' book, he conceded that, having now read it, he took most of their points. He explained that he had written to GLF at Caledonian Road (after a critical piece appeared in "The Bookseller") offering to display a notice alongside the book for the duration of its sale, outlining their views. He refused however to withdraw it from sale or to put an insert into each copy. Anyhow, on the practi- BOOKSHOPPED An interview with Gerald Bartlett, manager of the Economist Bookshop BEAVER, Dec. 9tli, 1971—Page Seven cal side, only five copies of the original 25 ordered were now left, and as the book was a slow seller there would not be a restock—thus the issue gets neatly tucked away. "We suggested that his attitude towards the book mentioned in the second motion, Marighela's "Mini Manual of the Urban Guerilla," called into question the basic policy expressed above, and that in fact he was breaking his own liberal rule about giving expression to all points of view. The "Guardian" (17-11-71) quotes him as being the spokesman for "an action group embracing half the university bookshops in Britain," which has pressured the Booksellers' Association into circularising its 3,000 members pointing out the supposed dangers of the Mini-Manual. Wasn't this an attempt at censorship? Bartlett claimed that this was factually incorrect: "1 have no wish to organise a ban." What then? He admits to having seen Patrick Gib- son, the new Chairman of Pearson Longman (Penguin's parent company) to complain aoout the company's policy. In effect, he blames Penguin for their bias, and is refusing to stock it as a sop to his own liberal conscience, replacing their bias with his own. How to change (!) If a homosexual who wants to renounce (sic) homosexuality finds a psychiatrist who knows how to cure (sic) homosexuality he has every chance of becoming a happy, well-adjusted heterosexual. of consumers. The crunch comes w'ith Bartlett's flat admission that policy must remain in his hands as Manager. Admittedly, it isn't feasible to rim a bookshop with 3,000 managers, but neither do we feel It right for one man to arbitrarily refuse to distribute any one book. J. SYDNOR, K. JINKS Liaison Committee for the defence of Students' Union following is a statement of our position :— The common ground of the LCDSU's lies in its conviction that the basis of the proposals approved by the NUS Conference are inadequate in three respects ; (1) Because of their reformist nature they are totally inadequate to defeat the Government proposals. (2) A campaign fought on the basis of these proposals will not involve radicalised students in the colleges to defeat the Government plans. (3) They encourage collaboration with college Authorities—such collaboration cannot be consistent with the demand for Student Union Autonomy. Therefore, we propose the following specific action proposals to be presented in as many student Unions as possible :— NO TO FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY ! FOR TOTAL POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE : TOTAL REJECTION OF THE GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS : NO TO NEGOTIATIONS ! NO TO CLARIFICATION! NO TO COLLABORATION WITH COLLEGE AUTHORITIES! FIGHT TO EXTEND STUDENT AUTONOMY! FIGHT FOR STUDENT-WORKER SOLIDARITY ! Signed by Delegates from LSE. Although he is aware that the book can be bought elsewhere, he feels better for not selling what he considers is bad in his bookshop. Which brought us to the final point about who dictates policy, and in particular the right of students as the largest coherent body, not only of owners (through LSE as a 50 per cent shareholder i but also ENTS REPORT OW that the term is drawing to a close it might be appropriate to look forward to the entertainments which will be coming your way next term. Most of the bills were booked with the constraint in mind that Ents have even less grant now for booking bands and that the cost of entertainments is soaring rapidly. Since a big ticket price increase goes against Ents policy, booking next term's bill has been accompanied with the usual hassles of our agent trying to bargain prices downwards. It is very fortunate that L.S.E. is considered by many bands to be a prestige venue and this has always put us in a good bargaining position. Next term's bill opens on Januay 22nd with Ralph Mc-Tell. This will be Ralph's first date in London since November 11th. Accompanying him on the bill are COB who feature Clive Palmer who played with the original Incredible String Band. Bronz Chear, who play jugband music, are also on the bill. On February 5th America's own original M.C.5 will be playing along with Spirogyra who played at the all-nighter. This is followed by a rare venture with London College of Printing, where we are jointly presenting the Jell Beck (5roup. ap-few This will be Beck's first pearance in London for a years but, because of his price and because of the small capacity at LSE, the only way out is for us to put him on with another college who have a bigger capacity. On February 19th there will be a double-headed bill with two very up and coming bands, Barclay James Harvest and Quiver. By the time this "Beaver" goes to press a line-up for March 4lh should have been arranged. Possibly we may be able to present an American band. But looking ever further forward the School have agreed to an all-nighter for April 28th, which is the first Friday of the Summer term and will hopefully feature a very prominent American band. Prices will be 60p for January 22nd and Saturday 5th. The February 19th date will be a bargain night at 50p. ENTERTAINMENTS COMMITTEE INSIDE BRUNEI TUDENTS at Brunei are running a Collective,, Work Campaign. At the mocnent it is confined to the Social Science department but they hope that the campaign will spread to other departments in the university. As such, they are not running alternative courses, but have taken their demands for collectivising work into the class rooms. In some cases they have met with a hostile response, not the least vociferous being from the students, in other instances the idea has been taken up by the class as a whole, occasionally including the lecturer, and a "Collective" has been set up. Each "Collective" aims to investigate a particular problem and to produce a collective piece of work. At the moment there are groups studying subjects such as. The Role of Women. Ulster and Political Sociology. Obviously, if the work a student produces is part of a collective product, the student as an individual cannot be assessed upon it. The Brunei students are actively engaged in a struggle against the individualisation of learning; by their actions they render the examination system irrelevant and the tutor superfluous. The students see this as only the beginning of the struggle, their aim is to break down both the special form of division of labour that operates under wage labour and capitalism, and also the social grading that goes with it. REFECTORY ONCE IN ROYAL WALTER S CITY STOOD A LOWLY CATTLE SHED J^VER been to the SCR to see how the other 10 per cent live ? If you were labouring under the illusion that the school is some kind of "academic community," one look up there will soon put you wise—if you can get in that is: entry only under invitation or business. The area needed for the handful of academics who aren't dining out on someone's expense account corresponds roughly with the refectory and serving area. Its standard of furnishing is well up on the factory-floor look of the refectory, whilst crammed conditions experienced every day by students are a nonoccurrence in the academics" haven of civilised peace. And, of course, they have table waiters service to ease their aching arms. You could be forgiven for thinking that all these touches would cost them extra. In fact, a recent investigation of Welfare files by "Beaver" brought several interesting facts to light concerning the financing of catering arrangements in LSE. It was discovered, for Instance, that the food bill for the refectory during Aug./Dec. 1970 was £9,760 while that for the staff dining room during the same period was £3,676. Fair enough —except that our food bill covered over 75,000 meals while their's covered only 9,400 meals. This means that the actual cost averages out at 13p per meal for the refectory and 38.6p per meal for the staff dining room. Well perhaps their eminences cannot be expected to eat the swill that we eat, but—interestingly—in the same three-month period, the refectory lost £6,904 whilst the staff dining room lost £2,347. This means in fact that all refectory meals are underpriced by .09p (given the present level of productivity) : more students poncing off state subsidies no doubt. The academics however have to scrape by with a mere .25p meal effective subsidy. Anybody for a Government enquiry into fringe benefits for academics ? CALENDAR THIKSI)AV. DIX'. y ENTS; MEETING 1-2. CON. SOC. 1-2. 8.319 CND FILM. 3-4. WELFARE MEETING. 1-2. S.117 PLAY : Incabus Theatre. 7.30 - 10.30. O.T. FRIDAY. DEC. 10 HUMAN RIGHTS DAY. 1 p.m. Dr. Colin Morris: "A Christian Critique of the Left." Incabus Theatre. UNION MEETING. 4.15 p.m. O.T. SATURDAY, DEC. 11 ENTS. BENEFIT FOR LIAISON COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENCE OF STUDENT UNIONS. 7.30 - 11.30. O.T. .MONDAY, DEC. 13 GAY LIB. 1-2. S.067. LEGAL AID. 1-2. S.IOIA. MUSIC SOC. & CHRIS. SOC. Carols: Benelit for Shelter Christmas Appeal. TUESDAY, DEC. 11 ANG. SOC. CHRISTMAS PARTY FILM SOC.: The Fixer. BEAVER MEETING. 1 p.m. S.116. BEAVER, Dec. 9th. 1971—Page Eight B*R*E"A*K*D*0*W*N THE LSE has, over the years, gathered a formidable ¦ reputation for its sterling work in the field of social sciences. Such a reputation throws into stark contrast that same institution's total inability to come to terms with, or even recognise, the results of the various stresses and strains it imposes on its staff and students. It may seem remarkable to people outside this university that one of its students can be allowed to reach a point where he publicly exhibits all the symptoms of advanced schizophrenia without the slightest notice being taken. Yet this is precisely what did happen recently, and not until the very last moment was the matter brought to the attention of the student health authorities. In what was probably a final plea for help, the student began '•to attack school property. Cups were broken in the refectory ; glasses were smashed in the bar. A window in Room D of the library was twice broken. At this point the powers-that-be showed a minimum concern. They banned him from the library. Later a school psychia-' trist, the school doctor and the student's supervisor, Professor Macrae, were informed. Both Professor Macrae and the psychiatrist were aware of the student's past history of mental disturbance. Despite this, no attempt was made to ease him gradually back into the same environment that had precipitated a previous breakdown. In theory, under the existing system a student with non-academic problems is expected to confide in his tutor. In practice, this just does not work. This may be partly a function of personality; but the main reason is that all members of the staff are, by the very nature of the universities, research orientated. Success for them lies in writing books, NOT in achieving a good staff-student relationship. Part of a recent survey by Tessa Blackstone showed that 70 per cent of the staff in universities put research before students. The organisational unit responsible for the health and welfare of its students is the Student Health Service, Anyone in trouble, given the inadequacy of his tutor/super-visor, is expected to make his own way to the eighth floor of Connaught House, where—at the appropriate honr—they can make an appointment. This may work very well for dire cases of halitosis, but it is rather unrealistic to expect anyone on the verge of a breakdown to seek help in such a manner. The causes of mental disturbance in any one individual are many and varied. The particular difficulty of the L.S.E. is that far from alleviating such problems, it often contrives, by the very nature of its structure, to make them worse. It used to be said that the L.S.E. was a microcosm of society. The usual retort was: God help society. However, it would be surprising if it did not inculcate some of the values of an achievement orientated society. The other side of the coin to success is, of course, failure, and the L.S.E. attitude towards it is similar to that of the society from which it was spawned; it regards it almost as a sin. An institution with "thou Shalt not fail" as its first com- f mandment is hardly likely to make life very easy for its inhabitants. Examinations loom annually, and are accompanied by the usual crop of breakdowns. It would be interesting to discover fust how many people leave quietly each year ; unable to face the pressure any longer. The ethos of the place is exacerbated by other more down to earth conditions. The lack of any real unified centre for student activities; the poor stafT-student relationships; the abysmal quality of social life and the impersonal atmosphere of the institution as a whole all militate against anything that might approximate to a genuine community. As a minimum concession to the human condition, what is needed—and needed desperately by some students^—is a basic fail safe mechanism that bridges the gap between the student in difficulty, and the appropriate help he may need. A start in this direction would be the setting up of a student-jstaif study group to discover the extent of this institution's failure to solve its own students' problems. Perhaps the most appropriate department to carry out this work would be the Social ,Administration Department. Working on a broader canvas, there is a general need for a more supportive environment at the L.S.E. Students pitched on to the tender mercies of London often feel bewildered and unable to come to terms with the scale of the place. The L.S.E. should provide some kind of genuine social focus so that students can gradually make the necessary adjustments. Given the present conditions at the L.S.E., there must be many lonely people about, who, for reasons of temperament, appearance or personality, find it difficult to make contact and communicate with other people. To solve problems of these dimensions will need drastic action. At the moment the Students' Union is fighting for control of its own affairs. This is a crucial issue, the resolution of which is central to the problems outlined. Only with this kind of autonomy can we begin to move towards the kind of radical restructuring t^at is essential to the development of a true community of the L.S.E., with a genuine concern for all its members. Tony Harrison and Penny McGuire. This is what's left of the "7 days" office in Haymarket, which was set fire to last week along with the offices of Frendz. '£10,000 damage was done. Perhaps "Beaver" will be next in the Radical journal line. What has your Union been doing? '¦"PHE insistence of the new social-ist Council on introducing an element of democracy into Union affairs has perhaps shown itself most noticeably in the increased number of Union meetings, which have been running at an average of two a week since they took ofHce. The following is a resume of motions passed by Union meetings— i.e. current Union policy. (If you want to understand what all these simplistic statements really mean, come to the meetings!) WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10th : The most crowded meeting yet (is it the word "action" on announcements that got the people out, or just the fact that there was no march this week ?). Eighteen calls for order, five procedural motions and umpteen defeated amendments later. Union officially accepted the following list of actions as our contribution to the first national day of actions protesting IVIa Thatcher's plans : 1. Withdrawal from academic affairs. 2. Demonstrations in Houghton Street, to be accompanied by records and bands. 3. Setting up of an ad-hoc Open Strike Committee, chairman and member to be elected at Union meeting. (Since you can't "elect" an "open" committee, the first six members were nominated and admitted. Their duty is to call the first meeting, where anyone who wants to can come!) 4. Union staff to strike in sympathy, should be paid. 5. Requests should be sent to University staft to stop teaching. 6. Production of a document for circulation to students, analysing our position vis-a-vis the Green Paper. 7. Packet lines to be estab-lii^^hed at the entrances to all School buildings. (Di$cr>ssion agreed that these were to be massive but non-vioient.) Of interest: Bob Dent announced the receipt of Sir Walter Adams' regrets that he is suddenly unable to meet with Union the coming Friday (precedes Day of Action) as previously scheduled, but will be glad to come the following week. Hoots and applause for the Director's cowardice. The Director has also failed to reply to Union's request that he close the School on December 8th. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26th: Council Reports (a democratic sharing of the woes of bureaucratic duties with everyone): Dent read a letter Council sent to Adams, inviting him to a Union meeting and informing him officially about the new constitution (the Director had found merely being sent a copy of the constitution too "unofficial"). Phillipa Duggan, Welfare V-P, passed on the word that the Refectory is redecorating and open to suggestions. Any frustrated interior designers around? (A later motion requested that the Refectory spend the decorating money on improving its food instead.) She also announced open Welfare Committed' meetings, every Thursday at 1 p.m. in the V-P's office. Student "welfare", from provision of housing to meeting the needs of blind students and lots more, is now pretty nonexistent, so anyone who feels like helping should come along. Nigel Wilmott, External Affairs V-P, reported on the NUS conference at Margate. Apparently their executive is bureaucratic and reformist, as were many of the delegates, and the meeting proved incapable even of voting support to the struggle in Ireland—at which point most of the delegations from Irish colleges walked out. (For more on Margate, keep reading.) Paul Philo, Senior Treasurer, announced the institution of office hours, in order to leave himself some time to straighten out the unbelievable mess that Union finances were left in by his predecessor. He will repyort any and all progress to Union meetings. Motions passed; (1) "Union agrees to send a telegram of support for the occupation at Swansea College of Education." (The issue there is the suspension of a student on unsuccessfully-hidden political grounds.) (2) "Union, whilst supporting the N.U.S. call for a day of action against the Green Paper on December 8th, believes that these proposals and the whole N.U.S. policy are inadequate to defeat the Government proposals and therefore supports the Committee for the Defence of Students' Unions (that's a militant inter-college liaison committee set up by dissidents at Margate) in its campaign both within and outside the N.U.S. structure to form an opposition to the Green Paper based on the mass mobilisation of students within each institution. "Union therefore votes 20 to go to the L.C.D.S.U. to organise its campaign, and supports the Benefit (that's Dec. llth, everyone!) arranged by the Entertainments Committee to raise funds for the L.C.D.S.U. "Union proposes the following arrangements within LSE: (a) to demand that the Director cancel all lectures on Dec. 8th; (b) to organise meetings to discuss the Green Paper and its implications; (c) ask the A,U. to cancel all sports fixtures on Dec. 8th in order to achieve greater support; (d) propagandise the Day of Action by posters and leaflets; (e) ask for support from the Westminster Trades Council and other Trade Unions." (3) "Union deplores the Tory s«ll-out to Rhodeslan racialism and: First, demands the resignation of Lord Goodman from the Court of Governors and if he refuses calls on Sir Walter Adams, who knows Rhodesia well, to propose his expulsion from the Court. "Second, deeply regrets that an Associate Union Society (i.e. Con Soc) has Sir Alec Douglas-Home as its Honorary President and requests that society to remove him from his post. "Third, calls on Union members to support the torchlight demonstration to Downing Street this Sunday." TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 23rd; The Economist Bookstore was the big issue, regarding which two contradictory motions were blithely passed; 1. "Union demands that the LSE Shareholders of the Economist Bookshop insist on the withdrawal from sale, by the Economist Bookshop, of D. Reuben's 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex! (But Were Afraid to Ask)'. On the grounds that it viciously libels homosexual people, in such a way as to produce and reinforce popular myths about homosexuality, which are responsible for much of the hatred, attack, and murder that homosexuals suffer." Second motion: "Union noting that the Economist Bookshop is: (a) refusing to sell Carlos Mari-ghela's selected works, and (bl leading a boycott campaign again.'^i the book, calls on Union membe-s to: (a) go to their local libraries and order the book; (bi go to the Economist Bookshop and attempt to purchase the book: and (c) mandate the Union to look into the possibility of purchasing copies of the book, and selling it in LSE and other London colleges." Next, an urgency motion was passed that "Union authorises the Senior Treasurer to pay the sum of £100 to Mr. Jim Airlie as a fee for speaking to the students and contributing an article to Beaver and for his travelling expenses on Nov. 24th, 1971. Union also agreed "to elect delegates to attend the Trades Council meeting in Westminster in accordance with recommendations made by the TUC. (At a following meeting Tim Potter was elected delegate, and mandated to report back to Union about these meetings.) Also, the use of capital fund expenditures to pay for office equipment for the Union secretaries and a camera for ¦Beaver" was ratified. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th: Annual budget meeting pre-ceeded the regular Union meeting. Confusion reigned. Eventually, a motion was passed to accept the overall budget, on the grounds that something is better than nothing. Most grants were cut in half, with the left-over money going into the "reserves" of each of the seven sections (i.e. publications is one self-contained! section, societies another, welfare a third, etc.). Individuar groups within each section who want more money can bring a motion to any Union meeting, saying how much they want and what for, and Union wilt make the decision. (Copies of the current budget are available through Union office.) BEAVER, Dec. 9th. 1971—Page Eight B*R*E"A*K*D*0*W*N THE LSE has, over the years, gathered a formidable ¦ reputation for its sterling work in the field of social sciences. Such a reputation throws into stark contrast that same institution's total inability to come to terms with, or even recognise, the results of the various stresses and strains it imposes on its staff and students. It may seem remarkable to people outside this university that one of its students can be allowed to reach a point where he publicly exhibits all the symptoms of advanced schizophrenia without the slightest notice being taken. Yet this is precisely what did happen recently, and not until the very last moment was the matter brought to the attention of the student health authorities. In what was probably a final plea for help, the student began '•to attack school property. Cups were broken in the refectory ; glasses were smashed in the bar. A window in Room D of the library was twice broken. At this point the powers-that-be showed a minimum concern. They banned him from the library. Later a school psychia-' trist, the school doctor and the student's supervisor, Professor Macrae, were informed. Both Professor Macrae and the psychiatrist were aware of the student's past history of mental disturbance. Despite this, no attempt was made to ease him gradually back into the same environment that had precipitated a previous breakdown. In theory, under the existing system a student with non-academic problems is expected to confide in his tutor. In practice, this just does not work. This may be partly a function of personality; but the main reason is that all members of the staff are, by the very nature of the universities, research orientated. Success for them lies in writing books, NOT in achieving a good staff-student relationship. Part of a recent survey by Tessa Blackstone showed that 70 per cent of the staff in universities put research before students. The organisational unit responsible for the health and welfare of its students is the Student Health Service, Anyone in trouble, given the inadequacy of his tutor/super-visor, is expected to make his own way to the eighth floor of Connaught House, where—at the appropriate honr—they can make an appointment. This may work very well for dire cases of halitosis, but it is rather unrealistic to expect anyone on the verge of a breakdown to seek help in such a manner. The causes of mental disturbance in any one individual are many and varied. The particular difficulty of the L.S.E. is that far from alleviating such problems, it often contrives, by the very nature of its structure, to make them worse. It used to be said that the L.S.E. was a microcosm of society. The usual retort was: God help society. However, it would be surprising if it did not inculcate some of the values of an achievement orientated society. The other side of the coin to success is, of course, failure, and the L.S.E. attitude towards it is similar to that of the society from which it was spawned; it regards it almost as a sin. An institution with "thou Shalt not fail" as its first com- f mandment is hardly likely to make life very easy for its inhabitants. Examinations loom annually, and are accompanied by the usual crop of breakdowns. It would be interesting to discover fust how many people leave quietly each year ; unable to face the pressure any longer. The ethos of the place is exacerbated by other more down to earth conditions. The lack of any real unified centre for student activities; the poor stafT-student relationships; the abysmal quality of social life and the impersonal atmosphere of the institution as a whole all militate against anything that might approximate to a genuine community. As a minimum concession to the human condition, what is needed—and needed desperately by some students^—is a basic fail safe mechanism that bridges the gap between the student in difficulty, and the appropriate help he may need. A start in this direction would be the setting up of a student-jstaif study group to discover the extent of this institution's failure to solve its own students' problems. Perhaps the most appropriate department to carry out this work would be the Social ,Administration Department. Working on a broader canvas, there is a general need for a more supportive environment at the L.S.E. Students pitched on to the tender mercies of London often feel bewildered and unable to come to terms with the scale of the place. The L.S.E. should provide some kind of genuine social focus so that students can gradually make the necessary adjustments. Given the present conditions at the L.S.E., there must be many lonely people about, who, for reasons of temperament, appearance or personality, find it difficult to make contact and communicate with other people. To solve problems of these dimensions will need drastic action. At the moment the Students' Union is fighting for control of its own affairs. This is a crucial issue, the resolution of which is central to the problems outlined. Only with this kind of autonomy can we begin to move towards the kind of radical restructuring t^at is essential to the development of a true community of the L.S.E., with a genuine concern for all its members. Tony Harrison and Penny McGuire. This is what's left of the "7 days" office in Haymarket, which was set fire to last week along with the offices of Frendz. '£10,000 damage was done. Perhaps "Beaver" will be next in the Radical journal line. What has your Union been doing? '¦"PHE insistence of the new social-ist Council on introducing an element of democracy into Union affairs has perhaps shown itself most noticeably in the increased number of Union meetings, which have been running at an average of two a week since they took ofHce. The following is a resume of motions passed by Union meetings— i.e. current Union policy. (If you want to understand what all these simplistic statements really mean, come to the meetings!) WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10th : The most crowded meeting yet (is it the word "action" on announcements that got the people out, or just the fact that there was no march this week ?). Eighteen calls for order, five procedural motions and umpteen defeated amendments later. Union officially accepted the following list of actions as our contribution to the first national day of actions protesting IVIa Thatcher's plans : 1. Withdrawal from academic affairs. 2. Demonstrations in Houghton Street, to be accompanied by records and bands. 3. Setting up of an ad-hoc Open Strike Committee, chairman and member to be elected at Union meeting. (Since you can't "elect" an "open" committee, the first six members were nominated and admitted. Their duty is to call the first meeting, where anyone who wants to can come!) 4. Union staff to strike in sympathy, should be paid. 5. Requests should be sent to University staft to stop teaching. 6. Production of a document for circulation to students, analysing our position vis-a-vis the Green Paper. 7. Packet lines to be estab-lii^^hed at the entrances to all School buildings. (Di$cr>ssion agreed that these were to be massive but non-vioient.) Of interest: Bob Dent announced the receipt of Sir Walter Adams' regrets that he is suddenly unable to meet with Union the coming Friday (precedes Day of Action) as previously scheduled, but will be glad to come the following week. Hoots and applause for the Director's cowardice. The Director has also failed to reply to Union's request that he close the School on December 8th. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26th: Council Reports (a democratic sharing of the woes of bureaucratic duties with everyone): Dent read a letter Council sent to Adams, inviting him to a Union meeting and informing him officially about the new constitution (the Director had found merely being sent a copy of the constitution too "unofficial"). Phillipa Duggan, Welfare V-P, passed on the word that the Refectory is redecorating and open to suggestions. Any frustrated interior designers around? (A later motion requested that the Refectory spend the decorating money on improving its food instead.) She also announced open Welfare Committed' meetings, every Thursday at 1 p.m. in the V-P's office. Student "welfare", from provision of housing to meeting the needs of blind students and lots more, is now pretty nonexistent, so anyone who feels like helping should come along. Nigel Wilmott, External Affairs V-P, reported on the NUS conference at Margate. Apparently their executive is bureaucratic and reformist, as were many of the delegates, and the meeting proved incapable even of voting support to the struggle in Ireland—at which point most of the delegations from Irish colleges walked out. (For more on Margate, keep reading.) Paul Philo, Senior Treasurer, announced the institution of office hours, in order to leave himself some time to straighten out the unbelievable mess that Union finances were left in by his predecessor. He will repyort any and all progress to Union meetings. Motions passed; (1) "Union agrees to send a telegram of support for the occupation at Swansea College of Education." (The issue there is the suspension of a student on unsuccessfully-hidden political grounds.) (2) "Union, whilst supporting the N.U.S. call for a day of action against the Green Paper on December 8th, believes that these proposals and the whole N.U.S. policy are inadequate to defeat the Government proposals and therefore supports the Committee for the Defence of Students' Unions (that's a militant inter-college liaison committee set up by dissidents at Margate) in its campaign both within and outside the N.U.S. structure to form an opposition to the Green Paper based on the mass mobilisation of students within each institution. "Union therefore votes 20 to go to the L.C.D.S.U. to organise its campaign, and supports the Benefit (that's Dec. llth, everyone!) arranged by the Entertainments Committee to raise funds for the L.C.D.S.U. "Union proposes the following arrangements within LSE: (a) to demand that the Director cancel all lectures on Dec. 8th; (b) to organise meetings to discuss the Green Paper and its implications; (c) ask the A,U. to cancel all sports fixtures on Dec. 8th in order to achieve greater support; (d) propagandise the Day of Action by posters and leaflets; (e) ask for support from the Westminster Trades Council and other Trade Unions." (3) "Union deplores the Tory s«ll-out to Rhodeslan racialism and: First, demands the resignation of Lord Goodman from the Court of Governors and if he refuses calls on Sir Walter Adams, who knows Rhodesia well, to propose his expulsion from the Court. "Second, deeply regrets that an Associate Union Society (i.e. Con Soc) has Sir Alec Douglas-Home as its Honorary President and requests that society to remove him from his post. "Third, calls on Union members to support the torchlight demonstration to Downing Street this Sunday." TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 23rd; The Economist Bookstore was the big issue, regarding which two contradictory motions were blithely passed; 1. "Union demands that the LSE Shareholders of the Economist Bookshop insist on the withdrawal from sale, by the Economist Bookshop, of D. Reuben's 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex! (But Were Afraid to Ask)'. On the grounds that it viciously libels homosexual people, in such a way as to produce and reinforce popular myths about homosexuality, which are responsible for much of the hatred, attack, and murder that homosexuals suffer." Second motion: "Union noting that the Economist Bookshop is: (a) refusing to sell Carlos Mari-ghela's selected works, and (bl leading a boycott campaign again.'^i the book, calls on Union membe-s to: (a) go to their local libraries and order the book; (bi go to the Economist Bookshop and attempt to purchase the book: and (c) mandate the Union to look into the possibility of purchasing copies of the book, and selling it in LSE and other London colleges." Next, an urgency motion was passed that "Union authorises the Senior Treasurer to pay the sum of £100 to Mr. Jim Airlie as a fee for speaking to the students and contributing an article to Beaver and for his travelling expenses on Nov. 24th, 1971. Union also agreed "to elect delegates to attend the Trades Council meeting in Westminster in accordance with recommendations made by the TUC. (At a following meeting Tim Potter was elected delegate, and mandated to report back to Union about these meetings.) Also, the use of capital fund expenditures to pay for office equipment for the Union secretaries and a camera for ¦Beaver" was ratified. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th: Annual budget meeting pre-ceeded the regular Union meeting. Confusion reigned. Eventually, a motion was passed to accept the overall budget, on the grounds that something is better than nothing. Most grants were cut in half, with the left-over money going into the "reserves" of each of the seven sections (i.e. publications is one self-contained! section, societies another, welfare a third, etc.). Individuar groups within each section who want more money can bring a motion to any Union meeting, saying how much they want and what for, and Union wilt make the decision. (Copies of the current budget are available through Union office.) BKAVKR, Dcc. 9tli, 1971—Page Ten Conditions for blind students THERE are two blind students doing undergraduate degrees at LSE. The LSE Magazine (Nov. 1971) says that "Blind students now have a study fitted with tape-recorder and 'talking-book' facilities and an internal telephone to make easy contact with tutors. "There are, incidentally, always volunteers to record on tape any needed article or chapter to meet blind students' requirements." Th is is partially untrue and very misleading. At least one of the blind students (John Dowling) does not have nearly enough readers. The "study fitted with tape-recorder" is a dirty closet in the basement of the East Building in which Louis Dogbe usually keeps his own recorder. Neither this room (E31) nor the room facing Houghton Street (E167) are quiet enough for good quality recording. The school will soon double-glaze the windows in E167; if they would now purchase a recorder and really set up a decent 'study fitted with tape-recorder', they will have finally fulfilled part of the responsibility implicitly taken in accepting blind students. If anyone has time to spare for recording please contact myself (J. Sydnor), Claire Poz-ner or Phillippa Duggan. Both John and Louis are doing sociology options for a B.Sc. Econ. THE BAR A new pinball machine and a new selection of 45's for the juke box are in the bar. Billiard cues will soon be in the Porter's Lodge. Redecoration should begin in the immediate future—bring suggestions to the Bar Management Committee, c/o Union Office. Attempts are being made to I'evive Friday night bar socials next term— see Martin Kersh if you can help (S118). AGENCY FEES Legal Aid (Mondays and Fridays, 1-2 in SIOIA) referred me to the case of Crouch & Lees vrs. Haridas (1971 3AER 172) in response to my request for information regarding the legality of agency fees. This case suggests that agency fees are illegal, but short of direct action (such as picketting or boycotting a particular agency) there seems to be no way to pressure agencies to stop charging one or two weeks rent for finding a flat. Here is the summation they gave me of the case : "In consideration of the plaintiff's supplying him with particulars of the flat the de-fendent agreed to pay 10 per cent of one year's rent in the event of his taking the lease of the flat. "Held : that the plaintifis had demanded payment of a sum of money in consideration of supplying particulars of the flat within Sec. 1, Subsec. lb of the Accommodations Agencies Act 1953 and accordingly the agreement was illegal and uninforce-able. It was immaterial that no part of the commission had been demanded or paid in advance." The Big Debate OR Guess what Con/Soc's giving Soc/Soc for Christmas : An Injunction JAMES AIRLIE, Clydeside convener at U.C.S., spoke at an L.S.E. meeting two weeks ago. He talked about the situation at Clydebank, and the miserable conditions which the workers had been subjected to over the last ten years. A preceding Union voted to Qonate to Jimmy Airlie £100, which comprised travelling and speaking expenses. This is the only reason it got through Union, and was perfectly constitutional. We now reproduce for the delectation of those who have been following the actions of Mr. Jacques Arnold and Con/Soc. members to bring an injunction against Union Council for passing the motion to pay this amount to Jimmy Airlie, a Con/Soc. Press release which went out to all nationals last Thursday. Before we do this, however, we will remind you that Northern Polytechnic and Sussex University have been faced with injunctions for similar donations, the only difference being that our actions were perfectly legal. Stop press: Although Mr. Arnold circulated most of the Fleet Street dailies with this statement, Beaver in fact was the only newspaper to print it. Con-Soc Press Release Statement issued by Jacques Arnold, chairman of the London School of Economics Conservative Society, commenting on the finance motion passed by the L.S.E. Student Union. BACKGROUND DETAILS THE L.S.E. Student Union has passed a financial motion to pay ¦ "expenses" of £100 to Mr. Jimmy Airlie of the U.C.S. Another motion passed proposes to give a further iElOO to a speaker from Plessey of Alexandria. The financial motion was put as an urgency motion with no previous warning in the second half of an adjourned Union fleeting. The meeting was at one stage found to be inquorate, but resumed when sufficient students were gathered up. The decision was taken by consder-ably less than two hundred students out of a total of three thousand at the School. The proposals to make these payments must be considered against the background of the Union's most recent budget, in which the Welfare Section and the Publications Section (except, notably, "Beaver") are among those suffering cuts. STATEMENT We most strongly object to what we regard as the misuse of funds provided by the public. Our Union is an educational charity and its stated objects are to "promote the welfare and corporate life of students . . . and to represent [them] . . ." We believe that these payments go blatantly against this. The only course open to us to prevent this, is to take legal action. This should not be incumbent upon us, as we want, as students, to attend to our studies. The students who hold power in the Union, and who moved this motion, have at their disposal all the resources of the Union. Robert Dent (Soc.Soc.), Student Union President, has admitted that this was a political decision and has arrogantly added that he expects no action from us as we "have not the guts to do it." As indiidual members of the Union, as students, and as members of the Conservative Society we have got the financial resources to take legal action. We have been advised that legal aid is not open to us, and legal aid from the N.U.S. is unlikely. The attitude of Mr. Dent and his friends appears to be all too reminiscent of the arrogance and intolerance of fascism. This case will inevitably bring odium on the reputation of students; but we ask the general public not to react to this case by outright condemnation of all Unions. We do suggest that all students and members of the public with the interests of students at heart should call on their M.P.s to support the proposals for a Registrar of Student Unions which would provide for independent unions subject to the safeguards imposed on all spenders of public money. Reply from a member of Council n ATHER than being contradictory to the stated objects of the Students Union the payment of the expenses of Jimmy Airlie of U.C.S. does indeed "promote the welfare and corporate life of students" As a collec tive body we made the decision to show our solidarity with the struggle of the workers on the Upper Clyde in a tangible manner. The decision was taken because we recognise the need to align ourselves with the organised working class in its fight against the Tory Government if we are to achieve any meaningful social change. Within the context of capitalist society, resting as it does on the alienation and exploitation of the vast majority of the people, an all-pervasive system of social control is necessary. Only through organised political action can people rid themselves of the mystification perpetuated by this social control. Students have in the past shown themselves capable of collective action to pursue aims incompatible with the academic institutional structures of capitalism, by challenging the form and the content of the "education" they encounter and by contesting the internal power structure of their institutions. Such struggle has raised the consciousness of students in that it has forced them to see that the solution to their problems cannot be envisaged within the context of capitalist society. However, the only group in society capable of challenging the power and the control of the capitalist state, is the organised working class. Therefore, students must link their own struggle with that fought on the shop fioor; our express solidarity and tangible support of the U.C.S. workers is a first tentative step in this direction and thus does promote the welfare of students. The decision to pay the expenses of Jimmy Airlie was made at a well-advertised Union meeting and was passed overwhelmingly. It is indeed unfortunate that the Conservative Society, while mouthing the values of democracy, feel themselves unable to support this operation in practice, and seek to destroy such collective and autonomous democratic decision-making by supporting the establishment of a Registrar. To describe the action of Socialist Society as reminiscent of fascism is a ludicrous claim when seen in the context of the proto-fascist system in which we live today and which Mr. Arnold and his colleagues actively serve and perpetuate. A.J. N.U.S. CONFERENCE I T'S fair to say there has been a definite shift to the Left and to politics in the NUS. A CP-dominated executive can now get ovei-whelming support for most of its motions. Only two Conservative delegations (Royal Holloway and Merton) were in sight. Some qualifications should be made though. Many of the delegations still voted for the executive because they were the most moderate. Often they had no clue that the executive was CP (and even, one suspects, wouldn't have known what it was anyu'ay). It is a fine point what exactly the difference between a Labour and a Communist Executive is, so it was a great pity that the Left opposition was not more organised to force a more explicitly radical platform. The main resolutions were on Autonomy, Ireland, Accommodation, Grants and Unemployment. The autonomy motion was obviously the most important. The substantive came from Aston and despite compositing, 15 amendments (five Executive) were put to it. All the Executive amendments were successful making a final motion which combines the original explicitly political and radical principles with much less radical (reformist ?) policies. The Left's reaction to this I will come back to at the end. The other two student-orientated motions. Accommodation and Grants, laid down some important policy statements. On accommodation it was accepted that policy must be formed in the light of the overall housing situation, not as an exclusive student matter. The important principle that students have no more right to housing than other groups was passed in the final motion. On grants an amendment by the Executive accepting the results of their last negotiation was defeated. The final motion commits the NUS to a principled stand on discretionary grants before negotiating any other increase. The wider issues of Ireland and unemployment met widely different fates. The Executive Unemployment motion put by Dave Winn was carried. One important amendment only narrowly defeated (supported by LSE) was to Printed by Ripley Printers Ltd., Ripley, Derby. Published by L.S.E. Students' Union, ^t. Clement's Building, Claremarket, London, W.C.2A 2AE establish support for the principle of no nationalisation without workers' control. The Ireland motion was meant to bring the NUS policy up-to-date. It was however a totally inadequate motion. It neither gave full support to the IRA or established clearly enough the policy of a United Socialist Ireland as the only solution to the situation. A stronger amendment was defeated and then an amendment abhorring the use of violence watered down the motion even more. After this all the Irish colleges withdrew support for the motion and as a result the motion was not .even put to the vote. It was a clear victory for the Executive who obviously did not want to be embarrassed by a militant motion on Ireland. (More evidence that it wants to negotiate on the Green Paper ?) THE LEFT OPPOSITION All those delegates dissatisfied with the NUS motions, especially autonomy, met on the final evening to discuss tactics. It was agreed that the Executive, from all that was said, as rnuch as from their actual motion, meant to compromife on Student Union autonomy, gaining as much as possible by mobilising students through NUS. It was felt we must try firstly to tie the Executive to their conference mandate, which includes no negotiation on the Green Paper; secondly, to make sure that there was an organised opposition to any future attempt to agree a negotiated settlement which includes ANY loss of autonomy. To this end 25 delegates agi'eed to form a Liaison Committee for the Defence of Student Unions, aiming to mobilise all militant unions and groups (Soc. Socs. etc.) to prevent a sell-out. This committee it was agreed should work both inside the NUS structure, so all groups are in support of the day of Action called for December 8th. It is imperative that this be as effective as possible. On future attitudes to NUS, LSE, as one of the most radical unions, must tackle within it to pull the whole policy to the Left. If this fails then maybe we shall have to reconsider our relationship with NUS again. N.W.