BRITISH IIBRARY OF POLITICAL S ECOHOMIC SW
1 8J11N199Q
NEWSPAPER OF THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS' UNION
No. 110
JUNE 17th, 1971
SOLD DOWN THE I
RIVER
The state of the Union
Bar Steward has resigned. The bar has been closed, right in the middle of the examination period. No Union grant has been negotiated for next year — and that, children, simply means no money. The administration is slowly but surely eroding Union's autonomy. The Honorary Treasurer has exceeded his mandate and tried to encroach upon our privileges. Council are doing damn-all. The Director is biding his time. And last but hardly least, our Union President has sold us all down the river.
Nearly all of these problems are connected one way or another with the relations between Union, the Finance Office and the School, with Union represented by its Council officers.
There can be no doubt that the Student Union has sunk to its lowest point in years, to the extent that its very purpose and existence may be legitimately questioned.
In an effort to clarify some of the problems that have arisen, the editor of "Beaver" had a telephone interview last Monday with Dr. Adams, the LSE's Director. His answers to specific questions illuminate both the School's position and the evolution of our current problems.
The most important issue is probably the one of the Union grant for 1971-72. For the last three years the Union grant has been negotiated on a trennial basis, and it was due to come up for negotiation again this year. The negotiations, upon which Union activities depend for the next three years, were due to be caiTied out between the Union President, the Finance Office and the School.
These negotiations came to a grinding halt after the new Council was elected in February. The Director says he has heard nothing further from Mr. Camlett since that date. Questioned about this, Mr. Camlett confirmed he had done absolutely nothing to continue negotiations, and acknowledged that "what 1 know about the Union grant can be written on a postage stamp."
Furthermore he said he did not intend doing anything about it in the future. Such faithful applicatipn of campaign promises is really rather commendable.
In view of the lack of negotiations, which he has done his best to promote in the face of Union indifference, the Director says that if he does not hear from the serendipitous Mr. Camlett he will have to use his own discretion over next year's grant; this probably means we
shall get something like this year's grant.
The other officer involved in these negotiations is the Senior Treasurer. However, it is hardly a secret that this position has been somewhat in the air for the last four months. To recapitulate briefly, the new Council reappointed Michael Tuckett at the end of last term. At the beginning of this term, Tuckett's appointment was not ratified in the course of that rather irregular Union meeting.
Council then reversed itself and disposed of Tucket on rather shaky constitutional grounds and appointed Simon Rabinowitz. The Director in turn refused to accept this appointment because of the "irregularities" involved. At a subsequent meeting with Rabinowitz, the D.P., and two other students, the Director said he did not recognise any person as Senior Treasurer, and that Council should reappoint a Treasurer in a more orthodox fashion. Last Wednesday, Council again appointed Rabinowitz.
Meanwhile, a clash developed between Council and the Honorary Treasurer. The Honorary Treasurer's post is essentially an advisory one on Union finances, for which he is nominally responsible.
According to section IV, para 5 of the constitution, "Council is bound to accept his advice on all matters concerning the financial procedure of the Union.
"Financial procedure In this context shall mean all matters specifically relating to the bookkeeping of the Union and the holding and banking of cash in hand."
At the beginning of this teiTn a recommendation was sent to Council excluding members of the Bar Committee from employment behind the bar. This directive makes little sense in the present context, since just about the only students who know anything about bar management and are qualified to serve on the committee are precisely those who work there.
From the wording of the constitution, it is immediately obvious that the Hon. Treasurer's mandate does not include a ruling of this sort, which has nothing to do with Union finance.
Union now faces a fight with the Director, who is upholding the Hon. Treasurer's directive. The actual quarrel is relatively minorwhat is at stake is the principle of Union autonomy.
This Union is already very much under the thumb of the School in most matters; it would be a gi'ave mistake to accept this dictate, thus relinquishing yet another part of our limited autonomy.
As a further complication, the Bar Steward resigned last week leaving us with no replacement. The Director immediately offered to I'elease Ray Edwards, who is employed by the School, from his duties in order that he might take on the job of Bar Steward, but only — catch 22 — if the Hon. Treasurer's directive was implemented. Meanwhile, the bar remains closcd. This bit of gentlemanly blackmail is unlikely to do much for student-school relations. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that it should be resisted, despite Mr. Camlett's attitude at the June 8th Uijion Meeting, in the course of which he declared himself perfectly willing to disregard Union interests providing the bar facilities were restored immediately.
Note: Since going to press, Camlett agreed to implement the Hon. Treasurer's recommendations for the duration of this term. Accordingly, the bar was opened on Monday. Camlett's action may be unconstitutional as the decision was not taken at a formal or even informal Council meeting. The essential fact remains that the President has given in to the Admin's threats. He has taken the easy way out and left the next move to his successor whose bargaining power will be correspondingly reduced.
JOHN STATHATOS.
INSTRUCTIONS
A S yet a further example of BEAVER'S service to its readers, we are publishing a copy of the official Part II examination grading instructions.
The fairness or otherwise of the grading system described in this document is a matter of personal opinion ; to us it seems reasonably flexible, provided one accepts the essential validity of the examination process. In any case, there seems little point in keeping students in the dark as to the method by which their performance is evaluated, and it is in the hope of allaying at least some anxieties that we present the Final Instructions to Examiners.
Instructions on marking scripts:—
(a)	Each script is to be given an independent mark by each of the two examiners, who will then agree a mark to be returned to the University on the Official Mark Sheet. Where there are more than two examiners for a paper, the marks must be agreed also by the moderator of the paper.
(b)	Scripts are to be assessed by marks on a scale 0-100; 70 and over to correspond to a first class; 50 to 69 a second class (60 to 69 being the upper division of the second class) ; 40 to 49 a third class; 30 to 39 a pass; 29 and below, fail.
(c)	The borderline marks, 69, 59, 39, 29 are only to be used by the examiners as an indication of their willingness to raise the mark if sufficient excellence is shown elsewhere. Each case of this kind will be considered on its merits at the group meetings (the various examiners for each paper attend meetings to discuss the marking —Editor), where such marks will be eliminated. Marks such as 68, 58, 48, 38, 28 will not be regarded as borderline marks.
Classification of candidates. The following advice has been received by the Chairman of the Board of Examiners from the Board of Studies in Economics
(a) That in classifying candi-
dates no distinction should be made between the general and the special papers.
.(b) That no candidate who has failed in four papers or less should be failed in Part II without reference to his Part I marks.
(c) That the preliminary classi* fication of candidates in each group should be undertaken by the examiners at-tMiding the second Group Meetings. These classifications will be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee and the Final Examiners' Meetings. The rules used by the Board of Examiners since 1965 are as follows 5X=X
4X=X if two are X-f-1 X if one is X+1 and supported by one X—1 =X if supported by two X—1*
=X if supported by one X—1 only where X=1 (on the grounds that there is no Xfl grade in this case and that some papers are marked effectively to a maximum of 74. It was also considered that the requirement of 50 per cent first class marks plus a further 25 peif cent upper second class marks was too stringent a requirement for a first-class honours degree, as compared to previous years). 3X: X if two are X+1 and supported by two X—1, except that this rule shall not be applied when there is one failure.
If X; III, and hence X—1*: P. this rule does not apply, i.e. a III degree requii'es a minimum of 5 III marks unless there are at least two II marks.
Effect of failure in one or more papers:—
One failure condoned .without loss of class. Two failures X—1, except that where X P, the candidate may pass if there are two X-l 1 marks.
Three failures=F.
The level of a failure mark was not in fact taken into account in the classification of the degree.
University Challenge
TT is hoped that L.S.E. will be represented in the next series of "University Challenge."
In the past L.S.E. has won the radio version of this series as well as being represented in the television version (we lost). . . , Those selected will have a free trip to Manchester (and back) as well as expenses for i travel and incidental items. The i T Jnion itself will benefit to the .
tune of £80 for every appearance the team makes (limited to three).
All those interested are urged! to hand their names in to Union Office; sometime next term, probably the end of October, there will be a series of heats to determine who will actually represent the school.
JOHN ANDREWS
Union Publicity Officer.
fSKAVKK. June l~tli. 1S71—Page Two
Letters
"CALLING ALL REVOLUTIONARIES"
EAR EDITOR. — Concerning Robert Harris' article ("Calling all revolutionaries") in the last edition oi" "Beaver," I would like to'ask him first of all whether he really ('eels justified in using Chile as a 'precedent for the solving of South Africa's racial problems. Perhaps social change, revolution, whatever you want to call it, can be achieved by "peace,-constitutional methods and the law of the land." but I doubt whether this is possible in South Africa, and Rhodesia for that matter.
In both Chile and South Africa you have examples of exploitation, but. on the one hand, you have what is the relatively more" straightforward (?) problem of developing a .socialist society, and, on the other, you have the racial manifestations of capitalism. To me the
latter would appear to be a much more difficult situation. A man can be given equality in terms of land, etc., but one cannot change the colour of his skin.
When Mr. karris talks of apartheid his emphasis appears to be on area segregation. Admittedly people may wish to live in their own communities— and no doubt this is true of many African.s—but surely the point is that people should be given the freedom to decide for themselves. The Africans in South Africa had no Sjay in drawing up the apartheid policy, and the other, aspect of apartheid- is in fact this social inequality — the question of whether the African will ever be treated on a par with. the European. Does Mr.. Harris really think that it will only be a matter of time before the Afrikaaner, and many of those of English origin, will cease to think of themselves as superior to the African ?
Mr. Harris suggests that organised. peaceful movements within South Africa may help bring about an improvement in the situation. But how effective are these going to be ? At the moment they consist of a handful of people. It is not in the
interests of the majority of Europeans, and, at the same time, does Mr. Harris appreciate how difficult it is to oppose Government policies. The existence of a police state may not be apparent to the ordinary European in the streets of the Republic (a dubious term !), but it soon emerges when the voice of protest is raised—even when there are peaceful demonstrations of the sort which are so common in this country.
Mr. Harris also raises the point about the Government plan to allow "coloured" wor-' kers to move into previously Eui'opean dominated trades. Perhaps economic integration may lead to social integration, but again the point is that this is a purely economic move on the part of the Government. The South African economy depends upon African labour, and to move people back to the "homelands" was self-defeating —especially in the face of a current shortage of skilled European workers.
One specific point I would like to raise, and that is the fact that the Europeans were not the first people to settle in the Cape area. '^Vhen they arrived the Cape v.'as occupied by Hottentots and Bushmen. The Bushmen, who were not able to "adapt themselves" to the ways
of the European, as the Hottentots had done, were hunted down or pushed into the North-West. Also, South Africa consists of more than just the Cape, and there is evidence to show that Africans were living in what is now the rest of the Republic from at least 1500—long before the Europeans got there.
I agree that the South African situation is very complicated, and needs much more understanding (both inside and outside the State)—as do most problems in the world today— but the possibilities of change in South African society under the present system look far from encouraging. If the European gives the African any more freedom then he is endangering his own position.
At the same time, however, it should be added that the possibilities for revolt developing within South Africa do not look » very . encouraging either—at least on a large scale. This is because of the tight control which the Government has over the people, especially over any possible leaders, and also because it would be very difficult to organise the African peoples, who speak a variety of languages and are scattered throughout different areas.
Yours faithfully, NIGEL DOTCHIN. Geography Dept.
nAakeyourgrant
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GOVERNMENT &
STUDENTS' UNIONS
I \EAR LIZ,—Peter Clarke's letter in the last "Beaver" shows one approach to Student Unions. He is not, however, the spokesman for Bradford CON SOC.
In my article on Industrial Relations. I did not mention Student Unions because there is no parallel between the two.
Fortunately Mr. Clarke's approach does not reflect the' thinking of our own CON SOC, the F.C.S., or the Conservative Government. Student Unions are a valuable part of University life, and are viewed favourably by most Conservatives. Opting-out of part of one's University education is hardly constructive.
The Conservative Government gives great importance to student affairs. One of its early measures has been to make the ¦ biggest ever increase in students' grants. We have a great friend of students in the Under Secretary of State concerned with higher education, Mr. van Straubenzee. He has been closely concerned with the affairs of the F.C.S. and the N.U.S. for many years.
However, we must all recognise that progressive reforms are necessary. The Government is making inquiries and is formulating ideas, which will be discussed with the "Vice-Chan-celloi's and student organisations. I hope that when these proposals become known, there will be reasonable and detailed discussion inside the L.S.E., so that we can all have an influence on the final reforms.
Yours, etc.,
J. A. ARNOLD.
Chairman.
L.S.E. Conservative Society,
BEAVER PEOPLE
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LAST OF
BEAVER, .rune 1971—Page riirce
I SUPPOSE that it is rare to find that a person whom one has long admired because of his writings and his various activities actually lives up to the picture one has of him. It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to find that Professor Richard Titmuss displays in his conversation that same humanity and wide range of interests that characterise books such as "Commitment to Welfare," "Income Distribution and Social Change" and "The Gift Relationship."
Richard Titmuss has long had a great influence on the formulation of social policy, both here 'and abroad. I therefore thought an understanding of this man and what motivated him was important, especially to those interested in the workings of society and the state (I don't think Titmuss sees any dichotomy tfetween these two) and the provision it makes towards the jfuality of the life of its citizens.
However. I found the first interview rather unsatisfactory because Professor Titmus is a very shy man and I elicited very few spontaneous remarks from him.
He spoke with- great warmth of his daughter—like many introverts he seems very attached to his home and family. He was very conscious of the prevailing atmosphere in the School and the Union and asked me numerous questions about the latter. Indeed, he later remarked that he interviewed me rather than the other way round.
He did not share my pessimism ; the school had been very much the same when he first came in the early 'fifties. He saw no reason why students .should not use the S.C.R.. but noted disparagingly that certain of his colleagues aspired to the Oxford high table style of life.
On representation, he considered that his experience on numerous commj'ttees had taught him that they achieved nothing. Professor Titmuss is a firm believer in the continuing value of the informal contacts between staff. and students which long characterised the school.
He said an active Staff-Student Committee in the Soc. Admin. Dept. had not detracted from these, despite its valuable achievements in evaluating courses, exams etc. I was dubious, saying that this might be true in a small integrated department such as his but that this sense of community did not exist in the large Economics Dept. for one.
iVIy second interview was entirely different^—Professor Titmuss talked at length on numerous topics, so interestingly that I did not notice time passing. He had been sufficiently interested to read my file, as I realised later.
I did not ask any of the questions I had prepared in advance, the conversation being led by Professor Titmuss, speaking of hi,s interest in developing countries : his views on education. and of the beliefs which underlie his public stand.
He has an especial interest in Tanzania, where he once taught, and a great t.dmiration for his friend. President Julius Ny-erere. He believed that, con-
trary to their own opinion, we could learn much from Africans.
"The world outside Houghton Street" could fairly describe ¦Richard Titmuss' attitude towards academic life. He thinks university students live a very privileged existence, being free to read and meet people but deplores the fact that many know-so little of life ovitside the college walls.	«
He has decided and pt)ssibly unorthodox views on education. He thinks the imiversity should be sufficiently flexible to allow in people with few or no academic qualifications, yet who are often extremely interesting and have a valuable contribution to make.
. The non-graduate diploma course in social administration is something very dear to him and he is proud that L.S.E. is rather more outv^'ard-looking than other universities.
He thinks the rural settings of the new universities was a disastrous planning" error, encouraging a retreat into an ivory tower. He recounted the story of a recent visit to York University where he was entertained to a sumptuous luncheon by the Social Science Dept., which consists entirely of graduates. "Graduates!"' Professor Titmuss repeated, horrified.
He contrasted this with a visit the next day to a training school run by the Supplementary Benefits Commission (of which he is Vice-Chairman). in Stockton-on-Tees. He thinks post-entry training should be a vital part of a flexible educational system.
Many of the Commission's officers reflect the prejudices of their working-class background in dealing with their clients: the training school uses the latest techniques too in an attempt to correct this cultural bias.
He is particularly concerned with the education of women, seeking always to advance it— whether it be as the governor of a technical college sending trainee hairdressers to Paris or as a member of the Commission on Medical Education.
He thinks a woman is a better wife, mother and citizen if educated and the opportunities for a middle-aged wife to re-
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turn to her old job or to train for a new one should be greater. He told of an experiment in which , two women had one job in the S.B.C., arranging between them.selves when each should work, taking account of their family commitments. Of course, the economic costs of this are greater, but Professor Titmuss considered these to be far outweighed by the social benefits.
I felt very drawn to him at this point—I feel he has an appreciation of wom.en which is unusual even among "educated" men. Indeed, they seem important in his defining of himself.
Professor Titmuss thinks academics have a responsibility to
the world at large because they are first and foremost citizens in society. This explains why he is so active in public affairs. The stand he takes can be ascribed to his identification with the Engli.sh Labour Movement.
He is a social den'.ocrat to the core, which explains his humanity. his outward-looking atti-tu'de, his wish to rid the educational system of its appendages of privilege and a certain streak of authorit.Trianism, He was vehement in his claims that the S.B.C. was .lust and generous in its claims, he was eager to make it ^ven more humane but was equally convinced that the system	need not be
questioned.
We talked animately about the Labour movement and the Labour Party. He spoke admiringly of Tawney attending" ward party meetings until his death because he recognised that socialis.Ti is nothing ii' not a grass-roots movement: this is an expression af principle for Richard Titmuss.
Arrogant he may be to a certain extent; some might call him hypocrtical, he possibly has a certain social-democratic capacity for self-deception. I found him extremely sympathetic.
It is reassuring to find someone who continues the tradition of Laski and Tawney. and has indeed made it also his own.
LIZ FAULKNER
Flying Buttress . . .
"SCANDALOUS . . . SHOCK-w
* ING . . , OUTRAGEOUS . . ." No. they're not talking about the Immigration Bill, Longford's latest Revelations of London Lechery, the museum charges, or Labour's local landslide victory. It's the state of dear old Mum, the C. of E., no less, as "revealed" in all her weird and wonderful decadence on B.B.C. "Panorama."
It was indeed a strange picture. A few (inevitable) old ladies singing "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken'" in a vast East London mausoleum : dama-tic, almo.st Dionysiac dances and multi-participation moments of myster\' in (could it be ?) nuclear-family Morden subui'bia.
A clergyman singing hits from the 'thirties in an East London pub on a Sunday night : a team discussing a realistic approach to social and pastoi'al problems in South London. A housing officer crying out for clergy to visit homeless families : a Bishop explaining exactly why it was impossible to deplo\' manpower and resources available to ensure that are ^nd not where they ai'e not any longer.
Now don't think the C. of E. lacks schemes for reform. The famous Paul Report (Leslie Paul was the sociologist who wrote the original "Angry Young Man" book) was a realistic attempt to put Mission before Privilege and Peo'ple before Establishment. It was shelved as too drastic.
The much-vaunted Synodical Government recently launched
¦aiaaik
ith fanfares in Westminster Abbey v. as meant to make democracy work and give the Church ii machinery of government that would liberate Mum from her creaking stays. It seems already to have succumbed to the Babylonish captivity of the bourgeoise. The colonels of Tunbridge Wells and the commanders (R.N., retired) of the Portsmouth Line are still, it seems, in command.
There are, too, great schemes for using the valuable plant, the centra] sites, for purposes that might measure up to the demands of the 'seventies. But while the law>'ers labour on, hope dies asphyxiated by red-tape, pink string and sealing-wax.
Not that \'ou should judge any institution (especially the Church which is people) by its buildings. Would \"ou. lor instance. judge the state of the film industry by the Odeon's decaying around the North Circular'? Let them fall into the lap of S. Bingo and the Blessed A))ostles of bov.ling alleys. Films go on and blessed are the film-makers, for theirs is the kingdom of the imagination.
The trouble is—if you appear to be refuting the Prophets of Doom and Disaster, you lay yourself open to charges of complacency. But if you join the cynics you may end up riding the Four Horses of the Apoca-l.vpse or just "standing idly by," watching the Gadarene Swine careering do\\"n the inevitable slopes to perdition.
There seems to me more point in watching for signs of resurrection, putting what insights and energy you have behind the forces of renewal, reform, revolution (whichever flag you're flying). Better to light a candle than curse the darkness, as the Moslem saying goes.
There is an old story somewhere about mustard seed gro\\'ing where no one was looking : in unlikely places like uitiversities, cellars staffed by Samaritans, ghettoes manned by uurus, small groups where bread is broken and the faceless find identity. Equally scandalous, shocking, outrageous, perhaps, in their way. Might make, come to think of Jt, an equally pro\'ocative "Panorama" programme ...
G.D.
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BEAVKU, June 17th, 1971—Page l our
SLAG
Royal Court
J ^AVID HARE, the resident dramatist, has written a scintillating play : a i-ealistic story with philosophical- undertones depicted in a fast-moving production \s'hich highlights the drama. There is no slackness in "slag." The drama is fraught with tension. Each scene picks up one motive, develops it and reaches climax. By the end of the sixth scene you have been prepared in various ways for the final outcome, but the consequence still remains a surprise.
A staff of three women run an exclusive girls' boarding school. Brackenhui'st. The number of pupils diminishes from eleven to one, giving the teachers time on hand to castigate each other. Women's Lib is something they all aspire to, but each in her own particular way. Anne, the skinny and spinstered headmistress, most convincingly played by Anna Massey. seeks masculine, self-sufficiency. Elise, delightfully played by Barbara Ferris, titillates the company by her urge for sex. Joanne abrasively seeks complete freedom for women in an all-female community based on ¦Marxist principles and free from the oppression of men. Lynn Redgrave's performance is magnificent. She is brutal, violently aggi-essive. yet childish in defeat. One cannot help but admire her for her energetic idealism, yet despise her schizophrenic assaults.
Three women confined in one house to look after other girls is a strange environment likely to produce oddities, but the extravagances of illusory pregnancies and female love-making ai'e farfetched.
I wondered whether all the laughs depended on scrubbing the biological parquet for every sexual piece of wax, but am convinced that the humour lies in the reaction to outlandish statements, usually by Joanne, i-ather than the volley itself.
THE CRITIC AS ARTIST
Open Space
^ ^SCAR WILDE'S essay makes excellent theatre. The collection of thoughts are skilfully produced with the ease of genius. Both Timothy West as Gilbert and Peter Davies as Ernest enact the dialogue with the conviction of the original conversation. Timoth.y West is particularly convincing with the mannerisms of the effete intellectual, graced with elaborate taste and scented with homosexuality. Peter Davies is weaker, but as the younger student in the art of life and literature he can afford the naivete.
The essay comes alive, stimulates and entertains superbly with its memorable lines.
THE MAIDS
Aldwych
'J''HE Nuria Espert Company compensated for the French author.
Genet, by waving gloriously befoi-e us Victor Garcia's production of "Les Bonnes." The subtleties of Genet's play are lost in Garcia's flamboyant production but the issues are clarified.
Clah-e and Solange resent their humiliating position and take out their vengeance on their mistress by performing a ceremony in which one imitates Madame while the other plays the maid. Their hatred is physical and their companionship sensual.
Genet's play in its superlative dialogue is firm enough to carry the resentment, as well as the admiration of the two women for their mistress. Garcia exaggerates the hatred and introduces elements of violence not implied in the script. The result is to make the play more Spanish and more passionate, but less subtle and clever.
The general impression is of strength. The maids are not only miserable rough-kneed servants, but women of temperament and fire. Their movements, pacing and crawling around the steep-sloping stage reflect the acceptance of roles which they have demanded to play. Both are stronger than Madame and though they fear her and her lover's knowledge of the truth, they fear their own power to strangle and poison much more. Both women are very similar and the finest parts of the play are those in which they discover themselves in each other.	,
Genet, fearing that women had not the strength for his •bonnes" wanted men to play their parts, but Nuria Espert and Julieta Serrano have the power and strength to impress one with their extraordinary characters. Garcia's production undoubtedly vitalises Genet's play and gives it new dimensions beyond the author's conception ; this is to be welcomed.

OLD TIMES
Harold Pinter, Aldwych
T l AROLD PINTER'S latest play is now on at the Aldwych, brHliantly acted out by three members of the R.S.C.
In usual Pinter style, the plot is built up from the trivia of conversation ; Kate's (Dorothy Tutin) old room-mate, Anne (Vivien Merchant) comes to visit her and her husband (played by Colin Blakely) after a separation of 20 years.
! Absent and present. Anne's personality dominates the household. A conflict between Anne and the husband for the "possession" to Kate, develops and
with subtle, verbal blows the personality of each character is constructed.
Although the presentation is very passive, it drew a very active response from the audience. There is repulsion at the trivial level of conversation, the fantasising and downright dishonesty which takes over from politeness as the cut-and-thrust element gathers momentum.
The same scenes are also rather pathetic, and at times funny, until the level of nasti-ness in Anne is exposed. Some themes in the dialogue were carried on too long, and since
there Vv-as an added subtlety to the plot, things became a bit boring.
The various elements of the situation are-real but together they add up to an artificial whole, which tends to detract from enjoyment of the play.
The acting is excellent. So much of what is unspoken is conve.ved in facial expressions, or the wave of a hand: the three perfectly complement Pinter and director Peter Hall.
There are certain questions about the situation which come to mind—like the exact relationship between Kate and Anne, and the meaning of the closing minutes.
JOHN BULL'S OTHER ISLAND
Bernard Shaw, Mermaid
''^"'HIS is one of Bernard Shaw's lesser-known plays, and with good reason. In an Irish setting he examines Liberal hypocrisy. Catholic oppression and the morality of capitalism, his favourite themes which are treated with ten times more subtlety and wit in "Major Bai"-bara" and "Pygmalion."
Patrick McAlinney of "Oh Brother I" fame plays a narrow-minded old priest who rules his flock with the fear of the Lord, and leads the cast in acting skill.
Heroes Tom Broadbent (Christopher Benjamin) and Larry Doyle (Edward Petherbridge) arrive from England to disrupt the happy but stagnant scene.
The play, which also includes a three-cornered romance problem, proceeds with a succession of .long monologues, inter-
spersed with occasional bouts of buffoonery which palled somewhat after the first 15 minutes.
Director Alan Strachan could have afforded to put far more imagination into the production, particularly in movement and lighting. The Mermaid Theatre potential for an unconventional approach which is usually well utilised was wasted in this production. The script could also have been polished up, which might have drawn more than a mediocre performance from most of the cost.
UNDER MILK WOOD
Arts Theatre Club
'pHE full beauty of Dylan Thomas's poetrj' seeps through the audience in this excellent production. The six performers remain seated on high stools with their scripts resting silently in front of them. There is little movement and no scenery. From the beginning of the poem in the deep sleep of Milk Wood it is the changing light which indicates the passing of time. Thei'e is peace. Then one is awakened by the actors, who in gaelic tones begin the tale of Milk Wood, the fairytale village of Llaregyb.
The inhabitants with their dreams of fantasy and day-to-day activities come alive, thanks to the original language and the clarity of the actors. Mr. Pugh. reading "The lives of great poisoners" while sharing a meal with his tiresome wife is most amusing. .^'Ir. Edwards, the draper with his love for Miss Price, is touchingly romantic. The images are enchanting and the scenes irresistibly : >iay.	I
The acting by all is superb, with Marion Grimaldi's versatility ' giving us a special performance. The production is first class and j its utter simplicity enables the full lyric beauty and homeliness t ul' the poetry to speak for itself. ,
CORRUNA
Theatre Upstairs 8°
1
far the traffic between electric music and the theatre has been entirely one way . . . "Corunna" is the first attempt of which we are aware to make such a play and then take it to the various halls in which a pop group normally appears."
Thus the introduction in the programme to "Corunna" which is based on the music of the electric folk group Steel Eye Span and tells of the campaign
jof Sir John Mors in a Spain occupied by Napoleon n army.
I must say that I enjoyed this —the informal atmosphere, the audience sitting at tresle tables round the stage; the songs and dialogue revealing the feelings of the common people when confi'onted by war and social and politin-il chansic ; the comic French general; and the glimpses of the heroic John More watching his army disintegrate on the long retreat.
But, despite this, I doubt if the play suceeded in its aim. The singing of Steel Eye Span
contrasted oddly in its professionalism with the acting of the group's members and the actors seemed ill at ease working with them.
The dispariiy was very clear when contrasting the flat and wooden Maddie Prior and Juliet Aykroyd, "actressy" in the ways this word implies.
I wonder if "Corunna" will convert Steel Eye Span's fans to the theatre. I feel ventures like R.S.C.'s Theatre-go-Round ai'e posibly more credible—and valid- -in this respect.
FORGET ME NOT LANE
Apollo Theatre
A play for those with nostal-
iHHitiiiiiii
Rodgers) now divorced, looks back to his childhood in the wai*. For those who reckon that the best days have gone and regret what they misunderstood, this is a relevant, tale, for the
a provincial museum.
The acting is good and the production whips through the many ages of man, anxious not to omit crucial moments. Some are amusing, but many ai'e outworn.
J-
cinema
FLESH, by Andy Warhol.
"¦pHIS is the first film I've seen directed by Warhol, and probably very little material to judge him on. but according to more experienced Warhol followers "Flesh" is his most representative film.
My first impression of 'Flesh' was that I'd just seen a very sick film. Nevertheless I tried to put my feelings aside and tried having a talk with other people that had seen it. I do not deny the fact that everything in Warhol's film is perfectly ti'ue and real, and however revolting it is we all know it's part of life. So ih itself the subject of the film is not shocking.
What makes it a sick film is the direction. Every two minutes the film is interrupted, and one goes through the different sexual experiences of Joe the hustler.
I would have sincerely wished to see "Flesh" in an underground cinema where the atmosphere would have been more appropriate. I will, in any case, give Warhol the credit for making nudity absolutely acceptable and even beautiful on the screen. I regret one thing : that the censor didn't get his hands on the last scene of a pregnant woman making love to another girl under the indifferent eyes of her lover. IGE, King's Cross Cinema.
newsreel effect of this film makes the subject more authentic. The film technique is crude and clumsy, but this unprofessional quality does convey reality.
There is disarming sincerity •in the struggle by an urban revolutionary group to set up a network apparatus for an offensive against the established social system ; they lack leadership, are suspicious of new members and are inadequately equipped. They are a bunch of amateurs. Yet they are dedicated people who by their very inccfmpetence show the real difficulties and unromantic work that must be done to achieve their goal. Within the movement there is minimum disagreement, rather one is struck by the close co-operation and brotherhood. It is a film appropriate to the present and the future, taking place at a time when the U.S. is engaged in a war of aggression in Mexico while suppressing freedom at home.
The scene in which they address a group of tenants, explain their aims and admit the fearful repercussions is very good. It is frank and clear with good sound projection for once.
Had this been a documentary television film—the established media broadcasting the terrifying ffuth. the film would have caused a sensation. Robex't Kramer, the director, working outside the system, has produced a film which tells of reality. He is a radical who used the film to communicate the war, restricted freedom, brutality and impending revolution to people. He may or may not be prophetic, but he describes the actual with sincerity.
From the maker of ''The Edge" and other films, it was unnecessary to give the film an amateurish quality. The film technique is very bad with under-exposed scenes, elongated"^ sequences and unintelligible sound. It reminded me of a ¦'home-movie" with all the irritation that produces. But perhaps this is the message of ICE : for Kramer it is precisely that.
DIANA VILLIERS.
QUEIMADA
FTER 'The Battle of Algiers,' "Queimada" appears as a very weak and uninteresting film. G. Pontecorvo did not have, on this occasion, such a good subject to work on, there is none of his successful methods of docutnentary in "Queimada."
"Queimada" is the story of a British agent sent to a Caribbean island to help it gain its independence, and then make it available to British economic interests. The first part of the film, and probably the best, is the storj' of independence, the fight against the Portugese colonial i-uler with the help of the idealistic British agent (Marlon Brando).
But he soon realises that the black government is helpless, and disgusted he returns to England where he becomes a notorious drunkard. . A few years later he is asked by a British sugar companj' to go back to the island to defend its "interests there. He then has to destroy the man with whom he'd fought for the island's independence.
It is a messy film, where the spectator feels totally left out and even ignored. The only thing attceptable about it is Marlon BranSo's performance, who tries very sincerely to explain by his acting the dilemma in the British agent's mind. It is a technically poor film, where Pontocorvo could have made much better use of his camera as he did in "The Battle of Algiers.
ballet
BE.AVER, .!une 17th, 1971—I'age Five
JEOFFREY and BEJART, at the
London Coliseum
INETEEN SEVENTY - ONE has been a prosperous year for modern ballet in London. The season opened with Ballet Rambert, whose success we have already talked about in the previous issue, and now we have the opportunity of seeing two of the most original modern ballet companies in the world : The J^ofrey Ballet and the Twentieth Century Ballet of Maurice Bejart.
It is difficult to say what is the best aspect of the Jeofrey Ballet, for everything was perfect and professional. Their best piece was "The Clowns," where you can find some inspirations of Fellini's film. The movements are a pure delight to the eye and the mind for they become a natural way of expression.
But the greatest opportunity of watching ballet, and by this we mean excellent Ballet is Bejart and the Twentieth Century Ballet. "L'oiseau de Feu" and the "Sacre du Printemps" are the most exciting experience any modern ballet fan can go through. Do not miss it! (Opposite picture.)




/s
opera
VERDI. Otello, Covent Garden
Opera. May 25th, 1971.
A T first this production got off' to a very bad start. The thrilling storm scene was ruined by a chorus which was inaudible, brass which were unsure and thunder which had a quite startling lack of correspondence either with the lightning flashes or with the cues in "Verdi's score.
And when this was followed by a brindisi and a drinking song which radiated neither spirit nor menace one felt that one was in for a rather sorry evening. And yet that evening was saved by the Otello and Desdemona, James McCracken and Gwyneth Jones. McCracken has admittedly a very baritonal voice rather than a heroic tenor, but this is not without relevance to a character like Otello. Gwyneth Jones floated her Willow Song most beautifully, and rode over the ¦ ensembles with great power, despite some squally moments.
But the rest of the cast was pretty mixed , Peter Glossop an lago whose singing was quite meaningful, but whose big moments were not realised ; David Hughes (another pop singer Cassio) made a remarkably colourless character add insipidity to his list of vices. The orchestra under Aide Ceccato was variable, but rose to moments like the end of Act Three. But please can we not have the valve-trombones for which "Verdi wrote, and a corresponding increase in security in those difficult ringing trombone scales in the storm scene and the Credo ?
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Clare Market Review
Vol. 66 No. 1 Summer 1971
On Europe
ARTICLES
Geoffrey Goodwin F. S. Northedge Peter Calvocoressi P. J. de la F. Wiles Stephen Holt Peter Oppenheimer Rosemary Galli
Paul Taylor
Nicholas Sims Geoffrey Stern
Peter Coffey and John Presley
Europe Renewed—But Divided
Anglo-European Relations
Russia over Europe
Quorum Pars Minima Fui
West Germany in Europe
Europe and the Common Market
The Politics of the Common Agricultural Policy
Relations between Western and Eastern Europe
The.Diplomacy of Disarmament
"Capitalism," "Communism," and "Convergence"
European Monetary Integration —Implications for the U.K.
Semi-annual journal of the LSE Students' Union
(Founded 1906)
Price : LSE only twenty new pence.
Others - forty new pence.
MAVER, June 17tlt. 1971—Page Six
ERIN GO BRATH
"The Secret Army : A History of the I.R.A. 1916-1970," by J. Bowyer Bell. (Published by Anthony Blond, £5.) "'Barry's Flying Column: Ttie Story of the I.R.A.'s Cork No. 3 Brigade 1919-1921," by Ewan Butler. (Published by Leo Cooper, £2.75.)
•' I RELAND only half free will neve.r be at peace as long as she still has a son left to pull the trigger," wrote Sean O'Casey in Juno and the Pay-X'ock back in 1925. Fifty-five years later, Ireland still remains "only half free." The former road-worker Johnny Cassidy who later became O'Casey the playwright was quick to realise that only one thing would remove the British from Irish soil —Force ! He himself became a .member of the Irish Republican Army as a pamphleteer and witnessed some of its most splendid days between 1916 and 1921.
Ireland is steeped in mytho-Jogy and folk-heroes and the I.R.A. has certainly played its .part in throwing up a few of ¦these heroes—James Connolly. Padriac Pearse, Michael Collins, McBride, Kelly and De Valera. to name but a few, whilst her poets — Yeats, O'Casey. Synge and Behan— have immortalised the heroisms of its citizens' army.
Bowyer Bell's history of the I.R.A., The Secret Army, is certainly the most sympathetic and detailed biography of the Army that has yet appeared. Each event and theoretical battle is analysed and dealt with in detail including a thorough account of the ^present predicament in Ireland and the divi-,sion within the I.R.A. itself.
The movement today still faces the problem with which James Connolly confronted it— Nationalism v. Socialism. As Connolly tried to explain; "What is the use in hoisting an Irish flag over Dublin Castle if exploitation is to continue." But not until 1963 did the socialists begin to make headway against those "W'ho wanted to husband the past, not mould the future." Today the division IS seen most prominently between the provisionals and the regulars.
Cathal Goulding, the current Chief of Staff of the I.R.A., recently declared (New Left Review, No. 64) ;
"We believe that political power must be our objective, whether we get it through physical force or through the ballot box or' by agitation. The means are immaterial. Of course we believe, as a revolutionary organisation, that the people can't get real political power by simply having representatives elected."
Goulding's policies now appear to have gained the upper hand. There have been three basic reasons for the split. One, the reluctance of middle-class Irish families in the movement to sacrifice their privileges and class position. They constitute the nationalists, traditionalists and sentimentalists.
The second reason was. a disagreement over parliamentary participation with many of the revolutionaries believing that the movement might deteriorate from a revolutionary one into a reformist one. The third belief was that the Army had become too political and was afraid to fight, shying away from the real fight in Northern Ireland.
Under Goulding's .leadership it appears that the Army, will now concentrate its policies not only towards uniting Ireland but also to bringing about socialism.
Tom Barry is one of the old brigade of the I.R.A.—a nationalist who was Commander of the Cork No. 3 Brigade, which, in its time, was one of the most formidable units of the I.R.A. Barry became Commander of the Flyirvg Column, as it was known, when only a young man of 21 and led the brigade into a number of daring encounters with the British Army between 1919 and 1921.
Ewan Butler's Barry's Flying Column is the story of Tom Barry and the Cork No. 3 Brigade and whilst it might not be the most brilliant of books, it does provide a very readable account of how guerrilla warfare was successfully applied in Ireland. The terrain of Ireland was, of course, ideal for such tactics, with its mountains, lack of roads and communications and sparsely populated areas, and Butler gives detailed accounts of the day-to-day running of the organisation including the now legendary adventures which they got up to.
Not since the 'twenties has the I.R.A. been as active as it is today. With this current resurrection perhaps we shall have a repeat of the "Patriot Game."
'Tis barely a year since 1
wandered away With the local battalion of the
bold I.R.A.;
I'd read of our heroes and
wanted the same To play up my part in the
Patriot Game.
This Ireland of mine has for
long been half free Six counties are under John
Bull's monarchy.
And still De Valera is greatly
to blame For shirking his part in the Patriot Game.
STEPHEN F. KELLY.
Men of War and Peace
Peace and love!
"We Are Everywhere," by Jerry Rubin. (Harper & Row.)
SELF - AWARENESS IS TRUTH.
THE MEDIA PREVENTS SELF-AWARENESS.
AMERIKA talks peace and practices war. Amerika loves blacks and destroys blacks. For us it is this dichotomy, this hypocrisy, (hat is-the only obscenity.
The history of the white man has been a history of plunder and theft and the construction of religious and value systems which justify this rape.
Our schools are shells to keep us busy. We do not learn from school. School turns us into intellectuals, driven by guilt.
We do not learn the skills necessary for survival. High school and college train us psy^ chologically to be word machines, intellects without experience. School is a place where society brainwashes its children with the lies of the past.
We must teach ourselves.
We must learn from our brothers and sisters in life experience. We learn by doing.
If you bury your head in your books, you' won't hear the screams of the nigger down the Street.
THIS BOOK SETS OFF ENERGY IN YOUR HEAD AND BODY.
Read it. I love you.
J. Sydnor.
"Politicians at War," by Cameron Hazlehurst. (Published by Jonathan Cape, £3.25.) "Lloyd George : Twelve essays," edited by A. J. P. Taylor. (Published by Hamlsh Hamilton, £3.75.) A LTHOUGH Lloyd George was arguably the most professional British politician of this century, no aulhorative biography of him yet exists. Cameron Hazlehurst's book is an excellent attempt, in part, to rectify this serious omission. Politicians at War is the first part of a trilogy dealing with the complicated span in British history from July 1914 to the downfall of Asquith in December 1916. This book outlines the political events preceding the first world war to the forming of the first coalition under Asquith in iVIay 191,5, with Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions.
Hazlehurst's a.ssessment is a sensible and balanced one and armed with a vast battery of research material he paints a convincing picture of events. He maintains, with justification, that the factor of Belgium was an excuse rather than the cause of war as far as the majority of the Cabinet was concerned.
Committed by military and diplomatic exchanges at top-level Belgium was, in the words of Churchill, "a casus belli which everyone here would understand." Asquith and Grey acted skilfully to bring a party, traditionally opposed to European intervention, to approving a declaration of war. When it came to the point only Morley and Burns resigned from the
Cabinet with the outbreak of war (August 4th. 1914) and they were supported by only a handful of back-benchers.
Lloyd George was crucial to any hope of a major Liberal revolt against intei'vention, and his decision not to lead the antiwar lobby, as he had done over the Boer War, was paramount. He had. it is true, always fought for limited service expansion and alwa5'S championed social reform, yet his position over Agadir (1911) had shown that he was not for peace at any price.
After the Marconi scandal and Cabinet reversals over the 1914 Budget his position at the top was less secure, although a very reluctant, belligerent Lloyd George found the conditions of large-scale warfare entirely suited to his brand of politics.
As the conflict developed, most of the Liberal leaders became increasingly discredited. Asquith, in particular, seemed to exhibit, for a man so talented, a growing lack of control. He seemed to become more and more dependent on the decanter and his coixespondence with Venetia Stanley. Apart from Kitchener, Lloyd George was one of the few politicians who realised that the v^'ar would be a long one.
His genius for organisation and negotiation became increasingly apparent in his shipping plans and his relations with the trade unions. The Shell scandal and the melodramatic circumstances of Fisher's resignation precipitated a coalition under
the panicked Asquith. Lloyd George became, with his appointment in charge of munitions, the heir apparent to Asquith.
Hazlehurst sees the coalition more the creation of Asquith than the "plottings" of Lloyd. George.
This is a book by an academic for academics and the author expects his readers to have a fairly detailed knowledge of the period. Its excellence is marred, in part, by the author's obsession to disprove, in the last .50 pages, the bizarre theories of Doctor Stephen Koss (apart from Doctor Koss and, apparently, Doctor Hazlehurst, few others take these views very seriously). The result is rather like trying to kill a gnat with a shot-gun—a great deal of energy wasted with little gained.
A. J. P. Taylor is the agent provocateur of historians.
No-one of his stature has annoyed the establishment quite so much. It is nice to see, therefore, that he is also encouraging the younger generation, by editing 12 long papers by relatively unknown academics on various aspects of Lloyd George's career.
All of them are of a high standard and some even cross swords with the editor (who on two points backs down—other famous historians plea.se note). Of special interest to L.S.E. readers are three essays by ex-students M. L. Dockrill, H. V. Emy and Sidney Aster.
A book well worth reading.
J. FvT. G. Kirkaldy.
You won't read this article—it's about rock music
I F I hadn't been sub-edited in the last issue I would have been able to tell you that in this article I will concentrate on ENTS' plans for the future and specifically for next term.
Four Saturday concerts are planned (Groundhogs, Wishbone Ash and Steeleye Span are already booked), two Friday concerts (one folk, one jazz) to tie in with the proposed Festival—November 13th and the long-cherished. much asked after, yes we can hardly believe it — ALL-NIGHTER, " October 8th.
It has been suggested to me that a timely visit of the U.G.C. prompted the School's A.O.K. but it was really a question of producing adequate plans and suitable guarantees to the soon-to-retire Mr. Collings (Bursar).
The drawback is that it is a difficult affair booking groups for all-nighters four months in advance. Instead of having a big-splash " name" group (expensive and none available/not working) we will probably produce a number of. hopefully, "rising," relatively cheap, good and entertaining groups (plus disco, folk singers, jazz, sideshows and theatre group(s) ) capable of sustaining even 800 ¦ of you lot's (and you are coming. aren't you ?) interest from 10 till 5.30 for about £1. Given the night spirit and atmosphere in the first week of the new year it pi-omises to be a great affair.
It is a normal feature of these columns to "review" albums. This is a con all round. We con "them" for L.P.s (not many— I've had five) on the pretence of conning you into buying them. Fortunately we don't
know enough about them and are so glowing in oiu- praise for them that you lot don't even read the column. Right on.
Anyway, Stone - the - Crows "Ode to John Law" has given me many hours of enjoyment (many things have) and Mountain's "Nantucket Sleighride" is a "heavier" Disraeli Gears, and they've a fat guitarist.
Records are very expensive what with tax, high costs of recording and Angela Rumble's wages to pay. Too expensive. Last term I was invited to a "reception'' for the music industry to celebrate the birth of NEON (out of "VERTIGO) with whose label are the valuable waxings of Andy Fairweather-Low" and Brotherhood of Breath adorned.
All the usual crowd of money-boys and hangers-on (plus me) were there. , We must have worked our way through at least £1,000 of best booze and another thou of delicious food.
in between not-enjoying the groups—and in one of the citadels of "progressive" rock' music too—Imperial College, London. All these terrible tax-saving throwaways are at our expense. Kinney and the Holding Company are the biggest group in the world.
All concerts, festivals and little gigs are ultimately pi'o-fiting the shareholders (the group gets bigger by being seen and sequentially sells more over - pficed - double - fold -out - cover £2.40 throwaway album).
I reckon albums could be around £1.50 with economy on the labels and without even tax reductions. How about some genuine music for the people at prices we can afford, all you groovy people in open-plan, offices. It might be, as some say, "a nice one." Or maybe we could start doing something about the situation ourselves.
Clive Attenborough.
Social V.-P.
SIMMONDS
University Booksellers
Our Shop is not the biggest in London, but i1 is among the best.
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We stock most of the books on your syllabus.
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CAUSES AND THE RATINGS
BISAVEK, June 17th. 1911—Page SevM
\\riIAT will the next trendy cause be ? Pornogrophy ? Or population, as Alan Watkins, anticipating the select committee report, suggested recently. Perhaps a cause still "undiscovered" awaits i'or champions, but these speculations hide a more fundamental weakness in our society. There have always been political fads and burnig issues of the hour but increasingly since the Second World War these ha\'e become more and more predicable in their course.
A list can easily be made— Vietnam, germ warfare, student revolt, homosexuality, apartheid. women's lib., and so on. The pattern is the same—agrita-tion by comparatively few supporters is suddenly followed, by growing mass media coverage and the bandwagon gains mometitum.
Books are written, questions are asked in Parliament, colour supplements expound, panels of experts ''explain'' and discuss, and earnest youTig men in floral ties will interview devotees. Thei'e may well be letters to "The Times," protest marches, private members" bills and certainly loud and pi'olonged denunciations of the status quo.
Then suddenly and seemingly as mysteriously as it arrived, interest will flag and a new cause wil be born. A few reforms ma.v well be made, a few people will make a lot of money and very likely nothing of real importance will be done.
Take, for example, one of the causes of the moment—environment. For years a few zealots explained to a largely uncomprehending and totally dis-inlei-ested audience that if you slo\\ly exterminated many species of wildlife, poisoned the air and polluted the oceans, existence (if the world's major parasite survived in the process) was going to be unpleasant, to say the very least.
All at once, so it seemed, all the world appeared to be discussing environment and very belatedly even the politicians joined the swelling lobby. Compare this with an example of the recent past—C.N.D. ; it is nearly 10 years since its heyday but none of the factors behind the cause have changed.
Behind this phenomenon lies two important factors. Firstly, there is the growing blanket effect and scope of mass media ; for a cause to be taken up it is no longer enough for its proponents to be articulate and organised. Increasingly it has also to be good copy. Think of all the issues that have come and gone recently , they all had one thing in common, instant viewer appeal.
fiow woufd, for example, the Anti-Corn Law League have come across in the age of instant comunication ? One of the reasons that the promised Common Market debate has never got above a propagandist's whimper, although hours of in-termidable discussion have taken place, is that the topic is not visually exciting or compelling reading.
Instant mass media is in-¦,3atiable for fresh. topics. Anything. with the exception of the $taple diet of romance, sex. tieath, violence, sport, knitting -patterns, and the Royal Family,
APOCALYPSE
ing cynicism towards politicians. People have been, and hopefully always will be, a little cynical towards politicians' promises. The collapse of Kennedy's Camelot and the cooling of Wilson's white-hot technological revolution, has, however, intensified this process. What has finally killed many of- these crusades of the hour h'as been the institutionalisation of these causes by the politicians and subsequently by the Establish- I ment.	|
When the history of the en- j vironment movement comes to be written it may well be found that its end, as a protest movement, was hastened by the first few mouthings of appro\'al by Heath and Nixon and their even fewer minor palliatives designed to placate" rather than cure this major problem.
The second factor is largely the result of the first. Even allowing for the fact that the present crop of politicians is in no way a vintage one, the general feeling of cynicism stems largely from the growing realisation that statesmen are to be judged in terms not of policies (even worse' ideas) but consumer appeal. Thus, commentators, like Theodore White, see one of the turning points of the 1960 American Presidential Elections as whether or not Nixon used "Lazy Shave" for his T'V debates with Kennec^.
Like protest movements, politicians are now being increasingly judged on images and consequently can be easily replaced when interest dies or is jaded. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to find that the Nixon publicity advisers all received their potted version of Marshall McLuhan before the. campaign !
It may well be that this process is not so far developed in this country, but it seems to be well on its way. Nothing is guaranteed to get British politicians clucking quite so much as .allegations of bias in the B.B.C. or a smear campaign in the Press.
Too many good causes are ¦'dying" after a short blaze of publicity. Many pressure groups in the age of a social welfare and interventionist state have been surreptitiously taken into the governmental process. Any genuine protest movement that becomes too much involved with the Establishment must surely die. Any democrat and anybody who wishes, to change the established order must be alert to the increasingly arbitrary way in which mass media control issues of the moment.
More and more, mass media power holds the waj' to people"s minds and if .anybody disbelieves this, or thinks it does not matter, they need only see what Gobells achieved in Nazi Germany.
In this country comunications are increasingly being controlled by a small group of men, who are looking more and more at opposition not in terms of truth, but the cash register. Not all protect movements are worth\-of consideration, there will always be gimmicks and crackpots, but we must not stifle dissent with the need to titillate and amuse the people of this country, and we must not raise them on a diet of contrived and spectacular causes which fade when the ad-man's imagination fails. Anybody form a protest
STRIPTEASi
I'FHREE politicians were sit-ting in a football stadium. The first owned a- large manufacturing company, the second came from a peasant background, and the third was a C.I.A. agent.
The first socialist had a secret desire to be a spy. however, he was already employed by the K.G.B. so ills chances of ever becoming a Trappist monk were limited.
The second socialist, although a peasant, was not happy with his social position and in private was studying to be a chartered accountant, and his wife beat him.
The third hated America—he had joined the C.I.A. because he liked travel, but had become bored with the routine. His love of red underpants was making yfe increasingly difficult and he was behind on his H.P. payments with regard to his American accent.
Question : If one assumes that a love for blue underpants ¦ could make it impossible for the third to become a monk, and that the second was secretly in love with the first (assuming the manufacturing company was exploiting the peasants, including the second), can it be said that the fact that the third flagellated at frequent intervals in any way obstructed his love for the second.
Answer : On a postage stamp to IBIZA. P.O. Box lAA lAA.
MAN CHASED BY MiCROPHONE
MR. S, BHOOT,
49 Wellesley Road, Slough, Bucks.
above-named person is a factory worker who is also
an evening class student at Slough College.
For approximately six years (since 1965) this man has been forced to live with microphones in his lodgings, and has been kept under 24-hour surveillance. He has been forced to change his lodgings several times to try to escape the microphones.
—This man is not a criminal.
—He is not a member of any political party.
—Why is he subjected to fear and harassment 24 hours of the day ?
If this man has committed an offence, why has he not been formally charged and publicly brought to coui't ? If he has NOT committed an offence, why is he harassed so much that he is unable to lead a normal life ?
Since 1969 the police at Windsor Castle have been in possession of a letter which states that this man is not to be allowed to enter the castle when the Royal Family is in residence, but giving no reason. This letter has been seen by independent witnesses. What is the reason for this ?
To end the harassment, this man has sworn openly at the Royal Family since 1970, hoping the police would take action and prosecute. The police have not done so.
He is an ordinary working man and wishes to come forward in a public inquiry to obtain justice and freedom— nothing else.
Would you kindly help to open a public inquiry to end this bizarre state of affairs, and help end the harassment of this innocent man ?
Should you wish to help, .you. can do so by :
(a)	Writing to your M.P about this.
(b)	Writing to the Commissioner of Police.
(c)	Writing to the newspapers.
This letter is being widely circulated to bring the mattei-into the open and to help a man live an ordinary, peaceful life.
Thank you for your patience in reading this :¦ any help yoo may give will be gratefully accepted.
WOMEN'S LIB.
(Bang)
Recently the President of the' Central African republic ordered the release of all women held in jail to mark Mothers' Day. At the same time he ordered the execution of all men jailed for murdering then wives.
BIRTHS
Mephisopheies: A son and. heir, brother to Chris.
PERSONAL
For Sale: Union Council, going cheap, cheap.
Wanted ; Sanity in all depts.
T.J.; Congratulations on youi long service medal.
DEATHS
fan, C.; On June 3rd. 1871, whilst on a sweep over Stamford Bridge, sadly missed by all true believers in the absurd.
Robbins : For the sixth time, of asking.
Collins: Nee Collings, "hSl came, he saw, he . . .
IN MEMORIAM
Quorum : To the dear memory of the Union quorum, much loved b,y all politicians and now sadly missed. After a long illness bravely borne since 1968;
A BRITISH LION PRESENTATION
Not ftir the squeamish...


^ tow..-'-/ I




Ifwghte®;
^ EASTMAN COLOUR
PETER BOYLE AND DENNIS PATRICK IN "JOEx WITH AUDREY CAIRE • SUSAN SARANDON ¦ K.CALLAN
• PAT MCOERMOTT. DAVID GIL. "T'JOHN G. AVILDSEN.SDENNIS FRIEDLAND AND
CHRISTOPHER C.DEWEY
MUSIC COMPOSED ANDCONDUCIEOBY
BOBBY SCOTIA" GEORGE I NORRIS.^r NORMAN WEXLER.
PRINCE CHARLES
EPARATE' PERFORMANCES Miinto 5?at MO fir's Pnn Run R-w ann /I#ff xMr f
BEAVKR. June Htli, 1971—Page Eight
TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE S.CR.
Cuckoo in the Nest
The 3rd floor refectory is six times as crowded as the S.C.R. eating facilities. The paucity of stafT-student social contacts, for which meals could proved a context, is a major factor in the mutual lack of understanding between staff and students. The arguments advanced in support of the present arrangements amount to a defence of dysfunctional privilege. Such privilege is divisive, and has no place in a shared academic community.
For entry-
The arguments in favour of the motion fall under three headings:
First equity. The common room eating facilities occupy roughly 550 square yards, of which 200 square yards are in the bar area. (The S.C.R. itself occupies a further 280 square yards). There are 45 seats in the bar area, and 132 in the waitress service area .On average (Lent term, 1971) the snack-bar provided 56 lunches, the buffet 32 and waitress service 115.
Compare the refectory, plus Barley Sugar Room. The third floor area is 490 square yards, in which there, are 370 seats; the average number of lunches served was 1,096.
What this means is that the density of seats per area is twice. as great on the third floor ; the number of meals served per seat is three times greater. So the number of meals .served per square yard occupied is between 5.5 and 6 times greater in the refectory than on the fourth floor.
These figures merely quantify what is available for all to see each lunch-time. They dispose effectively of the S.C.R. committee's reported view that "the size of the S.C.R. was probably only marginally inconsistent" with its membership.
It would not be necessary to reduce the S.C.R. facilities to the level of crowding of the refectory in order to provide some effective relief. By way of illustration,. 300 seats would still leave the fourth floor with a substantial advantage in seat density; if 50 of these" were waitress sei-viced, and the othei-s provided a superior self-service (say two meals per seat), theri 550 meals could be provided— an increase of 350.
In this way equity can be combined with variety in the levels of comfort (and price) provided.
Communication between members of staff from different departments has been claimed as an argument for the status quo. Certainly ease of informal contact is an important lubricant in any formally-organised social institution. But this is .lust as true for staff-student as for staff-staff contacts. At present contacts between staff and students occur almost exclusively in structured situations—lecturer and class, tutor and student, staff-student committee, foi-mal sherry parties. Informal contacts over lunch and coffee could be a valuable counter-balance. Not all the mutual misapprehensions held by staff and students could survive if there were a freer social interchange.
None of these arguments will convince those with a simple authoritarian model of the relation between staff and students. For them, an easing of informal contacts is precisely what should be avoided. There are, however, many of ug, who would like to see the School develop in the direction of community; a community in ---.
which differences of function will remain, but unified within a shared and jointly recognised purpose. Unnecessary, trifling and divisive internal restrictions impede such a development, and we believe the present segregation of the Senior Common Room to be such a restriction. So v>e hope that a vote ill favour of the motion will be.seen (and meant) as modestly symbolic of an attitude towards the School as an academic community.
Against unity
One group of objections to the motion could be categorised as functional. One of these was the need for confidential discussions between staff members on such matters as "the latest developments in their subj'ects, curricula and examinations." It is not clear why any of these matters except examinations needs to be confidential from students, nor why such confidential discussions as are required could not take place in staff's own rooms or by telephone. In any case, our experience is that conversations of such a confidential nature are vanishingly rare in the S.C.R.
Another objection was that the S.CsR. is a place where staff ''can be sure of meeting colleagues to transmit business and reach decisions with minimum delay." Given that only some half of S.C.R. members use the Common Room on an average day in term, and that some members virtually never go there, it is to be hoped the School's smooth running is not too dependent on this' mechanism. Luckily more efficient means are available. If it were to be argued that casual, unplanned meetings between staff have great value, we would agree. However, the same is true for such meetings between staff and students. Nor is it clear why the admission of students should prevent casual
meetings between staff members.
A forceful case can be made for the need to hold working luncheons with visitors from outside organisations. For this purpose a section of the dining room could be kept for waitress service and reservable seats (at an economic price)—though this facility should be available to staff and students alike.
The othel- group of objections may be called social. It has been claimed that admission of students would spoil the common room atmosphere. A more extreme view has been aired that students have not developed socially to the point where their behaviour merits gracious surroundings. We believe this last view reflects • more on our colleague who advanced it than on the students he purports to describe.
With regard to the present atmosphere of the S.C.R., we believe we are not alone in regarding it as always unreal, often stuffy, occasionally funereal. If students can be persuaded to enter such a place it would be improved greatly.
A more sophisticated argument is that it is "unnatural" for students and staff to be in social proximity. We hope this is not so, or that such mutual feelings can be eroded.
One last argument is that staff need a bolt-hole to escape from students—a curious priority in any case, but particularly so when advanced to justify sole occupancy of virtually the whole of the fourth floor. The defence of the present arrangements is a defence of privilege, and should be seen as such.
This is a paper prepared by -Jonathan Rosenhead and Hilary Rose—putting forward the case for opening the SCR to students. When the SCR members voted on this issue, the figures were: for 72, against 204 and 14 abstentions.
Beaver triumph
WHO said "Beaver" never sets the world on fire ? The leading article in the last issue, which attacked the exam system and reported that many Part 1 students were thinking of boycotting those facile feats of memory certainly worried our masters in Connaught House. Shortly afterwards, every first year economics student received a copy of the following letter:
May 28th, 1971
Dear Student,
"Beaver" carried a front-page article last week about a petition for the immediate abolition of the B.Sc.(Econ.) Part I examination which, it was reported, had been signed by nearly 400 students, many of them candidates for Part I. The petition and the examination itself have been discussed in the Committee on Undergraduate Studies and the views expressed will be taken fully into account in the review of the B.Sc.(Econ.) degree which is now proceeding".
degree are determined by the University and a major change can be made only after due notice and with the approval of the University. This can not be done this year.
In their own interests, therefore, students should be aware that it is necessary to pass Part I in order to be admitted to he final examination for the degree.
Yours sincerely,
J. ALCOCK, Academic Secretary.
To all students who are due to take Part I of the B.Sc.(Econ.).
It is important, however, that students who are due to take Part I this summer should understand that, even if there were complete agreement within the School on the matter, it would not be possible to abolish the examination straightaway. The regulati^ns,^^^_the
TheWitond Wisdom of Walter Adorns
On the Union Constitution ; "Words.
C)UR union politicians are at this moment waxing hysterical at the thought of the Director attacking the autonomy of the Union. But just how independent has the Union ever been ?
I am not going to talk about the Director and the Court of Governors; the curious method of financing the Union means they always have an undue influence—in fact the present system allows us rather more choice—actually to decide how much monej' we want from them. In the past they decided I I'm not even going to talk about the Pryce-Crouch-Keohane etc. clique; their interest is now largely historical.
No, I intend telling you about the eminence grise behind those past heroes, namely the financial secretary of the Union.
She has long had what ap-pears to be an almost personal feud with the BMC, and this year she found a petty minded President of almost incredible spitefulness who allied with her in an attempt to smash what they contemptuously referred to as a clique.
That they themselves form another clique has not struck them. The upshot of that was the recommendations of the Honorary Treasurer and the resignation of Ben, pushed out by Gareth Pryce, who made certain unsubstantiated allegations concerning his honesty. At least one person who worked behind the bar acted as their spy.
Moreover much of this took place after Gareth had lost office, although if you had happened to go into the finance office, you wouldn't have realised it because he was always there.
They threatened Ian Camlett into voting for Mike Tuckett as Senior Treasurer saying that if he didn't he would lose his drinks allowance.
school over the present tragic farce concerning the Senior Treasurership and the bar. Certainly in the latter case she gave Adams an excuse to interfere in the Union's affairs on dubious constitutional gi-ounds.
In the former she told me that the Director would negotiate with Mike Tuckett as the last undisputed holder of the office, but Adams denied this, saying this was a matter concerning the entire Union Council. ,
Mary dislikes radical students. She considers us irresponsible, ¦ especially in financial matters, as if money were the determinant of all; she piously says that the Union reserve is for such a venture as Union-owned student housing and that she must protect from those who would fritter it away on African freedom fighters or striking trade unionists, yet she gave John Fisk short shrift when he broached such a scheme.
It is quite clear that we must reform the Union ^:>efore we can attack, with any hope of success, the government of the school. Part of the trouble here is that we are very much dependent on the school m financial matters—the appointment of the Finan-'ial Keo.i't.tary is subject to their approval. But as a first step would it not be possible to have our permanent staff responsible solely to us ?
The presence of someone whose feet are in both camps could even, conversely, be a bai'-rier' to communication and understanding between the Administration and the Union, as it certainly appears to have been up until now. This is perhaps the heaviest charge that can be laid at the door of the finance office.
LIS FAULKNER.
END OF TERM REPORT
''J'HE session ends with the Union in such a state that one almost begins to wonder if it will survive into next term. The advent of a new council has done nothing to lessen the apathy of the mass of students, and indeed their actions have possibly increased it. We have a joker President who seems to have taken a sabbatical from the union; very few members of council have any enthusiasm or ability for their posts; the feuds continue, albeit rather muted.
Rumours are flying around that the Administration are planning either to smash the Union or to make it even more subservient. One can only say that Union Council and the students who never come to a Union Meeting have only played into their hands.
Council members who fail to do the job they were elected to do and the students who fail to ensure a quorate mtetii-jg are only getting what they deserve.
Many will now be asking, why bother if Union does seize up. It is now more than ever the preserve of a happy few, eager even for its hollow power. The answer to this is obvious. The school is still run by a few representatives of big business, aided and abetted by their
among the senior academics.
The Director has been reappointed for a further three sessions and the Governors are to set up a committee of governors and academics to choose Adams' successor. This decision was communicated to us in the most cursory way ,and of course we have had and will not have any say in the choice of a new . Director.
The only good thing to happen this year is the death of the idea of token representation; the worst is the failure to take any action on the new constitution, which would possibly have strengthened both the Union's bargaining power vis-a-vis the school and have made it more credible to the average student.
We should realise that om' position is analoguous to a trade union within this institution, and seek to ally with other workers, although not all our aims will be necessarily synono-mous.
With graduate unemployment rising, and with many others taking jobs which a few years ago would have been considered to be below their ciualifications, can anyone still say that students' interests are those of the ruling and not the working class ?
___US FAULKNER