Education, social justice, and LSE Comment special 9-12 The Beaver 25th November 2008 Newspaper of the London School of Economics Students' Union Michael Deas Too LGBT for LSE? The poster a School official didn't want you to see >>5 Fears over slow rise in LSE state school admissions The Israel society removed a poster showing two kissing men from Houghton Street at the behest of a LSE security guard last week, sparking outrage from Union leaders and the president of the LGBT society Union General Secretary accused of 'tyrannical rampage' at UGM > > Anger at "disregard" for meeting rules > > Tempers rise over referendum motion Chun Han Wong Students' Union General Secretary Aled Dilwyn Fisher has been accused of abusing his power at the Union General Meeting last Thursday. In a show of "severe disregard" for protocol, Fisher contravened the Union's Codes of Practice in trying to bring forward a motion for discussion, despite objections from some students. The motion, which proposed the creation of a referenda mechanism for decision-making on "important and controversial" issues, constituted an amendment to the existing Codes of Practice. Union regulations state that such amendments could only be discussed with four weeks' notice. The amendment could only have been discussed at the UGM this Thursday, since last week constituted the fourth week of the required time of notice. The Constitution and Steering Committee (C&S), responsible for upholding the Union constitution, blocked Fisher from discussing the amendment. Fisher then circumvented their ruling with an emergency 'change order' motion, which would bring forward his proposed amendment by a week and thus nominally comply with the Union's Codes of Practice. His move was not permissible under Union regulations, but C&S failed to rule The UGM earlier this term. Meetings have since suffered from a lack of attendance Photo: Erik Lang against it. Only two members of C&S were present, and both were unfamiliar with the Codes of Practice, which governs UGM proceedings. Fisher then proceeded to discuss the amendment, despite objections from other students at the meeting. Residences officer Helen Roberts, who led the objections, explained: "In the absence of clear direction from C&S, it should not be left to one person to decide the details of the Codes of Practice." The amendment was about to voted upon when the UGM was brought to a sudden close, after a student called for a quorum count. It had emerged that fewer than > > Continued on page 4 The LSE is still failing to reach the government benchmark for the proportion of UK undergraduates which come from state schools. Provisional figures released to The Beaver under the Freedom of Information Act show that 67 per cent of UK undergraduates beginning their studies this year attended a state school. The benchmark set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the 2006 entry cycle set the LSE a target of state school students of 77 per cent. The 2007 and 2008 targets have not yet been released for public consumption, but are likely to be higher than 77 per cent as the target conventionally rises each year. Head of Recruitment and Admissions Catherine Baldwin said that the LSE does not accept the methodology by which the benchmark is calculated and "does not regard the benchmark as a target for admission of state school students." The LSE does not set an internal alternative target. Students' Union Education and Welfare Officer Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, said, "If the LSE is serious about widening participation in higher education then it needs to take the benchmark seriously. Private school pupils have had a better chance of getting into university than those from state schools." Last year only six of the top twenty UK universities met their benchmarks. Also state school admissions do not tell us every thing about widening participation. The LSE has not publicised its benchmark for admissions to those from low participation neighborhoods." However, Baldwin says she is pleased that the proportion of state school students is increasing, "We are pleased that the provisional data for 2008 indicates that the increase in state school admissions from 59 per cent in 2005 to 66 per cent in 2006 appears to have been sustained." Baldwin also explained that each ap-plication form was marked with information on the percentage of 5 A*-C GCSEs achieved at the candidate's school. "The lower the average performance of the school, the more weight may be given to the candidate whose past examination performance significantly exceeds their school's average performance," she said. Union Jack UGM sketch Jack is the Beaver's anonymous mole at the Union General Meeting, every Thursday at lpm Hulk smash! Hulk destroy! Hulk can count to four! Hulk want bizarre extralegal change order motion! General Secretary Aled Dilwyn Fisher took a walk on the angry and exasperated side this week. As one, the Union General Meeting joined him. And boy, didn't Jack love every minute of it. It started out well. Every UGM does. The Union great and good trundled up on stage, as usual, to field questions from the great unwashed. As usual, a feckless fresher began the long trudge toaGenSec '11 bid in a C&S by-election. The lovely Priscilla's headlong dive into every rhetorical cliche in the book earned a standing AU ovation, not so usual. C&S, all two of the Union's flaccid judiciary who could be bothered to show up this week, stumbled into action mere minutes after Fisher took to the stage with a dodgy referendum motion, as usual. Sort of. You're a week too early, they bleated. And then everything went a bit Napoleon Bonaparte. Fisher had clearly left his political reverse gear at home. Probably in the same place as his sense of constitutional propriety. He wouldn't take five weeks or the Codes of Practice that keep this Union barely legal for an answer. Never mind the hilariously self-righteous Marvel Comics impersonator up there: genuine rage was stirring in Jack's heart. This was his UGM. It's your UGM. It's even the UGM of the alcohol athletes slathered across the Old Theatre balcony. Jack doesn't care about how "important or controversial" the issues are. Earth to Aled: student politicians have the belief hardwired in tiiem that every small spat of their sad little lives is the most important and controversial issue in history. This slow-motion coup just kept getting closer and closer, no matter how many grizzled Union politicos threw themselves under the sabbatical tank- treads. Jack was starting to sweat. He saw a dark future ahead of him. Empty UGMs stripped of their good old legislative venom and electric charge of debate. Hallowed generations of LSE politicos betrayed. Well, that was the normal dark future. But Union politics was in real danger of being shunted, in a new, foul, retrograde plebiscitary form, to the sordid show-business of Lent term elections. Where was the Students' Union's saviour to deliver it from this dystopia? Where was its shining white knight? "Quoracy!" Step forward Joe Mead-way. Conscientious Beaver scribes swivelled their heads in fervent relief. They'd been running out of candidates to make the call to Save the Union and cap off the news story that - thanks to Fisher's pig-headed political judgement on stage -had just kept on giving and giving. It was all over. His credibility face down in the Union swimming pool in any case, Fisher obviously lost the will to carry on after Meadway's exercise of the nuclear option with his resounding clarion call. Meeting not just adjourned, meeting wound up and scratched out of official existence, as if we all wanted to pretend it had never happened in the first place. It had been necessary to destroy the UGM in order to save it. But Jack won't forget. It won't be Year Zero for him next week. We still have to ratify the minutes. Priscilla's bid for power may yet be saved. And Jack is going to treasure the memory of leonine nursery-saver Fisher mutating into the Incredible Sulk. Having steamrollered the last hapless C&S head, the great sabbatical centralisation juggernaut collided head-on last Thursday with a couple of judicial rodents and a few mangy Union dogs of war. And the roadkill won. $1?^ Beaver is y printed on 100% ' recycled paper. In 2006, recycled paper made up 79% of UK newspaper raw mate- 1 rias. Please recycle your k c°py The Beaver | 25th November 2008 Collective Raidev Akoi; Hasib Baber; Fadhil Bakeer-Markar; Vishal Banerjee; Wil Barber; Peter Barton; Ramsey Ben-Achour; Julian Boys; James Bull; Rochelle Burgess; Sam Burke; Mike Carlson; Jess Cartwright; Victor Figueroa-Clark; Joseph Cotterill; Peter Currie;Holli Eastman; Ossie Fikret; Aled Dilwyn Fisher; Lizzie Fison; Charlotte Galvin; Justin Gest; Charlie Gluck-man; Erica Gomall; Lucie Goulet; Aula Hariri; Yisum Heneghon; Charlie Hodgson; Emiliano Huet-Vaughn; Tahiya Islam; Felipe Jacome; Daniel Jason; Lois Jeary; William Joce; Yisum Heneghon; Naeem Kapadia; Bernard Keenan; Pooja Kesavan; Sadia Kidwai; Eric Lindquist; Bea Long; Ziyaad Lunat; Eric Lundquist; Fiona Mackay; Nada Mansy; Jamie Mason; A1 Mansour; Nitya Menon; Irian Merali; Libby Meyer; Anna Mikeda; Ravi Mistry; Ali Mous-savi; Deotima Mukherjee; Utsa Mukherjee; Aditi Nangia; Rachael O'Rourke; David Osbom; Aba Osunsade; Erin Orozco; Phil Pacanowski; Anup Patel; Rajan Patel; Will Perry; Chloe Pieters; Alice Pfeiffer; Danielle Priestley; Joe Quaye; Rahim Rahemtulla; Dominic Rampat; Anjali Raval; Ricky Ren; Joe Rennison; Sacha Robehmed; Charlie Samuda; Thienthai Sang-khaphanthanon; Amrita Saraogi; Dan Sheldon; Andre Tartar; Sam Tempest-Keeping; Kerry Thompson; Metyem Torun; Angus Tse; Molly Tucker; Gregor Ulm; Vladimir Unkovski-Korica; Subash Viroomal; Simon Wang; Tom Warren; Jonathan Weir; Greg White; Tom Whittaker; Sean Whittington Roy; Christine Whyte; Chris Wilkins; Chun Han Wong; David Woodbridge. The Collective is The Beaver's governing body. You must have three articles or photos published in the paper to qualify for membership. If you believe you are a Collective member but your name is not on the list above, please email edi-tor@thebeaveronline.co.uk Editorial Board Executive Editor Joseph Cotterill Managing Editor Michael Deas General Manager Lucie Goulet News Editor Ali Moussavi Comment Editor Sean Whittington Roy Features Editors Chun Han Wong Daniel Jason Social Editor Erik Lang Sports Editors Sam Tempest Keeping RobLow Partb Editors Josh Heller Holli Eastman Photography Editor Zeeshan Malik Design Editor George Wetz The Beaver would like to thank the LSE students who contributed to this issue. The Beaver is published by the London School of Economics' Student's Union, East Building, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE. Printed at Guardian Print Centre, Rick Roberts Way, Stratford, London E152GN. The Beaver uses pictures from flickr.com which have been issued under a Creative Commons license. We would like to distribute the Beaver under a similar license - we'll keep you posted. You can browse through the pictures we post to flickr at: flickr.com/photos/beaveronline. Contact The Beaver East Building info@thebeaveronline.co.uk LSE Students Union 02079556705 London WC2A 2AE Students' Union campaigns Nursery Focus turns to efficiency in Union fight for nursery Srikanth Narayamohan The Students' Union campaign to save LSE's nursery will hold meetings this week to discuss a proposal to make the nursery more efficient by reducing its deficit and maintaining its level of quality in providing child care. Students' Union General Secretary Aled Dilwyn Fisher said: "We will look at possible ways of getting rid of inefficiencies, but we're against getting rid of the deficit. We might look at piecemeal changes here and there, but those would only take £50,000 off a £250,000 thousand deficit. We don't want to do anything that compromise the high level of quality offered by the nursery, if anything we want to improve it." Over the course of last week the Students' Union operated stalls in the Quad and Houghton Street asking students for submissions to be made on postcards which were designed by children in the nursery. The School's Academic Planning and Resources Committee (APRC) began a consultation on the nursery's future at the beginning of term. As a result, the Nurs- ery Consultation Committee, consisting of student representatives and parents, has canvassed for student opinion as well as writing to academic departments and service divisions to lobby for support and submissions to the consultation. Fisher pointed out that while there has been significant student support, there had also been major unexpected involvement from parents and nursery staff. "A lot of the impetus has come from the student parents and they're fully involved in the campaign." he said. "My suspicion was that student parents would have no time, but in reality the nursery staff and parents are the forefront." According to a paper circulated by the Students' Union and posted on the nursery's website, the School financially supports the nursery with approximately £290,000 a year, of which eight per cent comes from the Students' Union. In his termly appearance at the Students' Union General Meeting two weeks ago, LSE Director Howard Davies pointed out that this worked out to approximately five to six thousand pounds per child per year. The campaign hopes to submit.proposals on better efficiency to the LSE by the end of Michaelmas Term, along with student submissions for the consultation. Library Twenty-four hour library campaign revived something he would continue to work towards achieving. He acknowledged that some time was needed for reflection since last year and that campaigning had recently been more focused on the nursery than the library, since that campaign had been of greater urgency. In campaigning for improved library opening times, Fisher plans to communicate more student opinion than before to the School. One area of possible improvement which Fisher pointed out was that the petition from last year did not show depth of student support for a 24-hour library and that the Students' Union would use the techniques of the nursery campaign to gain a broader range of submissions. These, he said, would explain why the library should have more flexible opening hours. "Longer opening hours are crucial to students, and have been demanded for many years," Fisher said. "There are times when 24-hour opening is necessary: at other times, longer hours will suffice. The issue of Summer opening also needs to be addressed." Ali Moussavi The Students' Union Executive plans to relaunch last year's campaign for a 24-hour library on campus. Last year, the campaign sought to restore 24-hour opening times at the Library which, after being trialled in the 2006-7 academic year, were reversed due to low demand. The campaign, which was previously led by former General Secretary Fadhil Barkeer-Markar, ultimately did not achieve this aim last year. Union General Secretary Aled Dilwyn Fisher sent an email last Friday to last year's campaign mailing list to call an open meeting on Monday in order to restart the campaign. Fisher has stressed the importance of more flexible opening hours for postgraduates during the examination and dissertation season. When running for General Secretary in the last Lent Term, the 24 hour library was one of Fisher's campaign promises as LSE STUDENTS' I ¦ i • I ¦ u# International Food Fair FREE ENTRY, The Quad 7-1OPM, Tuesday 25th November Allow yourself to socialise with people from different cultural backgrounds and satisfy your culinary desires! <» News 3 The Beaver | 25th November 2008 Israel-Palestine at LSE Houghton Street PR offensives test term of cooperation Both the Israeli and Palestinian Societies set up stalls on Houghton Street last week, only a few days after LSE's One Voice event that brought the two groups together for a peaceful discussion. The presidents of both societies claim the groups were campaigning for reasons irrespective of the other society, and that there is no tension between the two groups. The Palestine Society was campaigning as part of its National Right to Education Week, organised by Action Palestine, a UK-wide student group that promotes the Palestinian cause on campuses across the country. Palestine Society President Zainub Chohan said: "We're trying to raise awareness of the right to education of Palestinians and how Palestinian students are prevented from getting their education within the occupied territories." As part of the Week, the Society hosted five students from the West Bank who studied under Israeli occupation. The students spoke to students in Connaught House on Thursday about their experiences. The Society also conducted a blindfold protest on Monday and asked students to write on a small wall they set up as a prop on Houghton Street, in addition a checkpoint manned by members of the society dressed as Israeli troops. Only metres away the Israeli society was promoting its People Not Politics "Everybody's eyes are so focused towards the conflict that they forget that Israel is a forward-thinking, visionary part of the international community and should be celebrated by itself." Sam Cohen Israel Society President week, which they had planned weeks prior to the One Voice event. Israeli Society President Samuel Cohen said that the campaign was "projecting a positive Israeli presence on campus. Everybody's eyes are so focused towards the conflict that they forget that Israel is a forward-thinking, visionary part of the international community and should be celebrated by itself!' He added that the Society hopes that people gained a more "representative view" of Israel's character through last week's campaigning. During Friday's wall display, the Israeli Society handed out pamphlets titled "Apartheid vs. Israel's Security Fence" which sought to highlight the differences between the apartheid in South Africa and Israel's security fence. Cohen said this was the only thing the Israeli Society did in direct response to the Palestinian Society's week-long protests. Students manning the table at the Israeli Society's booth said they hoped to emphasise that people in Israel are concerned about many things besides the conflict. According to both Cohen and Anti Racism Officer Seph Brown, the One Voice event was successful helped reduce the tensions between the two societies. Brown said: "This was about organising the One Voice event in tandem and agreeing to sit with each other for the first time, and that in itself is a success." Cohen said the two groups are currently in dialogue and may begin informal working sessions to gain "personal understandings of one another." This bring the societies together, he said. Flickr user edmittance Real Ale lands in Three Tuns 4 The Beaver | 25th November 2008 News Change needed for financial journalism, says LSE academic Ali Moussavi Massive changes are needed to modern financial journalism, a LSE report said last week. The report, which was written by LSE academic Dr Damian Tamhini and published by the LSE-based Polis media think-tank, calls for an overhaul of existing practices of reporting on financial markets. It identifies four key areas which affect the industry: the speed of financial news, the complexity of issues, the increased power of PR strategy and the limited resources of time and skill. The report argues that it is getting harder for financial journalists to cope with the responsibility of predicting and analysing financial news, in an age when markets are increasingly affected by their reporting. It says that the industry must "open a dialogue" to improve its methods. One of the interviewees for the report was BBC business editor Robert Peston, who came under fire for a lack of caution in his reporting of the collapse of Northern Rock. Tambini said that it was increasingly important that journalists verified all their information, since in the current climate their reporting on markets may be manipulated by parties pushing certain interests and hoping to achieve certain results. He said: "It is clear that understanding the processes through which rumours are reported upon, how financial news is processed and received and how investors make their decisions is crucial. Members of the public turn to the media as trusted sources of information. Interviewees agreed that financial journalists have to have a firm filter against being used." The Director of Polis, Charlie Beckett, said that all journalism can be subject to groupthink and that in the case of financial journalism specifically, financiers have incentives to promote a "herd mentality". The report was launched atthe LSE last Monday at an open research seminar with Gillian Tett of the Financial Times and Ed Wasserman of Washington University. UGM referendum vote dispute to continue >> continued frompage 1 the required 150 students were present, which warranted an immediate closure of the meeting. The validity of the amendment was discussed by C&S yesterday after the Beaver went to print. Joe Meadway, former UGM chairperson, had called for the quorum count to frustrate Fisher's actions. He said: "I thought Aled was being incredibly arrogant and conceited in assuming such a level of self-importance that he thought he could ignore the proper procedure." "The [amendment] is intended to increase the validity of Union policy through increasing voting participation. Passing this through an inquorate UGM is a little ironic, and to try and bulldoze this through has a whiff of hypocrisy about it," he added. Former returning officer James Bacon, who also voiced objections at the UGM, described Fisher's actions as "a fundamental abuse of his role as General Secretary." "I had hoped, in the appropriate week, to challenge [Fisher's amendment] but was almost stopped by his endeavour to take the [amendment] on a tyrannical rampage up the order paper," he said. Fisher acknowledged that his actions did contravene Union regulations, but argued that he acted according to precedent. "Many Codes of Practice amendments Students protest DWP Living Wage at careers event Sofia Zabolotskih in recent memory have been done that way, and it would seem strange to invalidate them now," he said. "The [amendment] should have been heard this week by this standard, as they have been done in the recent past." Fisher also defended his use of the 'change order' motion, claiming that Union regulations did not state clearly that the motions could not brought forwafrd in this manner. Bacon was not convinced by Fisher's arguments. He said: "Aled needs to reflect on his actions, which showed both poor judgement and a failure to listen to students." Students from the LSE Students' Union Citizens for Social Justice Society infiltrated a Department for Work and Pensions careers presentation last Tuesday in a bid to ask why cleaners working there were not paid a 'living wage' of £7.45 per hour. After a presentation on opportunities within the Human Resources department of the DWP, the campaigners, who formed about half of the audience, questioned why the living wage was not paid. Both representatives admitted to not being up to date with DWP's progress but were "sure it's being worked on". One suggested that the fact that cleaners' jobs were often outsourced might be contributing to the delay in implementation. When approached after the meeting, one of the presenters said that she "would be shocked if the DWP didn't pay the living wage." Sadia Kidwai, one of the protesters who asked questions at the meeting, said: "I find it bizarre that the speakers didn't seem to be aware of this issue, despite the fact that one of them has been working in the DWP for twenty-five years. I don't see any reason why the DWP shouldn't pay their workers a living wage, especially when the London Assembly and the Department for Children, Schools and Families are part of the organisations that do." One student who attended the presentation said of the campaigners: "I found this action random and pointless as I don't think it will make any difference to DWP policies." Kidwai said that it would make a difference. "These speakers will have to report back to their superiors so we can make a change if we put pressure on them," she said. Last year, LSE campaigners succeeded "I don't see why the DWP shouldn't pay the living wage, when the London Assembly and the Department for Children, Schools and Families do" Sadia Kidwai Protester in persuading Citigroup to pay their cleaners the London Living Wage after protesting and handing out leaflets at a careers event. The LSE is currently phasing in a living wage for all its employees, to be completed by May 2009. After the meeting, campaigners sent emails to the speakers to make sure their concerns were not forgotten about. Shauna Cunningham, one of the presenters, has responded by assuring concerned students that she has passed their questions onto the DWP's pay and rewards department. The DWP helped to create the London Child Poverty Pledge, which sets out actions that organisations can take to combat child poverty. This includes enabling London parents "to earn a decent wage". The Department of Work and Pensions press office did not return calls for comment. Real ale finally made it to the Students' Union last week, after a hard-fought campaign by the Lager and Real Ale Appreciation Society (LARA). The Society passed a motion at the UGM mandating the Union to start selling a variety of ales. The boxed beers rapidly sold out, but more stock is expected to arrive on Friday. Charlie Dougherty, President of the LARA Society, said, "The arrival of Real Ale in the Tuns is a step forward for our society." "As regards the quality of the ale, the fours beers provided are of a good quality, especially the golden ale. When the absurd popularity of real ale becomes apparent, then we can begin the transition to the hand-pumped ale that was agreed to in the original UGM resolution. However, in retrospect, boxed ale might be the best compromise. We already know how poor the Guinness is in the Tuns, and we can only imagine what they would do to our real ale," he added. Words: Michael Deas Photo: Erik Lang Students outside the Old Building entrance on Houghton Street last month. Students' Union leaders plan to use Court to press student concerns News ' 5 The Beaver | 25th November 2008 Court of Governors centre of Union important to students • 9 I 1 • on the ground are bid to promote student experience Jt * in great detail at the highest levels, so we Student representatives to decide strategy for top School body must be Vocal and Ali Moussavi Student representatives on the Court of Governors, one of the LSE's highest decision-making bodies, held their first meeting last week to discuss their strategy for the year ahead. Students' Union General Secretary Aled Fisher intends to highlight the "student experience" more in Court meetings. Fisher has raised concerns that the Court of Governors has tended to focus on more strategic issues at the expense of discussing more day-to-day student issues. Among these issues, Fisher has particularly identified LSE Residences and Estates as areas where Court could hear more from student representatives on how the strategic issues affect students. Student governor Dan Sheldon said that one of his aims over the course of the year is to ensure that the new Students' Union building which has been approved will "actually be usefiil for students". Sheldon also signaled his intent to present a paper at the first Court meeting Anger at 'inappropriate' LGBT poster removal Houghton Street Beaver Archive Ali Moussavi An LSE security guard demanded that a Israeli Society poster depicting two homosexual men kissing be taken off Houghton Street last week. The poster was put up by the Israeli Society as a part of their 'People not Politics' campaign, which sought to highlight positive social aspects of Israel. The point of the poster in question was to stress the diversity and openness of Israel as a country where homosexuality is permitted. The unnamed security guard asked that the poster be removed because he felt that the image was not appropriate. The student to whom the security guard spoke did as she was told by the security guard. Students' Union General Secretary Aled Fisher said: "If it turns out that an LSE staff member found a picture of two men kissing inappropriate or offensive, then this is extremely serious and worrying. There is no place for homophobia on campus among students or staff. LSE is beginning to take LGBT issues seriously but there is much work to do to improve the culture of tolerance within this institution." Several weeks ago, the Students' Union General Meeting passed the motion 'LSE is LGBT too' which underlined that at present, LGBT issues are dealt with directly and explicitly within the Students' Union and that there is no direct LGBT representation on the School's Equality and Diversity Committee (EDC). Students' Union Education and Welfare Officer Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang has highlighted the narrow scope of the EDC and has said that he will push for increased student representation on the EDC, particularly by the LGBT Officer. At present, other than Education and Welfare Officer, the only other student rep- resentative on the EDC is the Anti-Racism Officer. The motion at the UGM also highlighted the lack of briefings or training for LSE staff on LGBT issues. LGBT Society President Sean'Whit-tington Roy said: "This case illustrates how important it is that the School listens to the demands being made by the Students' Union. Had this member of staff been aware of the School's position on LGBT issues they would not have caused this offence." It was not good enough for the School to simply have a position on LGBT students and staff, Whittington Roy said. "They also need to make sure that it is consistently implemented and that appropriate support is available." he said. "The School regularly makes a point of the diversity of the staff and student body, but it is clear they still have some way to go in terms of diversity awareness with regards to sexual orientation." of Lent term in early March which would outline key 'student experience' issues. Student governors will also continue to push last year's academic affairs agenda by focusing on following through on the recommendations of the Teaching Task Force and pushing for more student access to exam re-sits. Sheldon acknowledged that while there was a Student Affairs Committee (SAC) which did discuss such matters, the non-student governors on Court would be more interested in hearing from students and so there is an opportunity to put student affairs on the agenda. "I hope the Student Governors can be more proactive as a group this year," Fisher said. Without that kind of attitude, he said, "key issues for students will not appear at the top level. The issues important to students on the ground are generally not heard in great detail at the highest levels, so we must be vocal and bold in our approach." According to its terms of reference the Court of Governors "has influence in the School through pre-decision discussions on key policy issues," while traditionally the LSE Council is where ultimate decisions are taken. Patten lecture looks to world future Phyllis Lui Lord Chris Patten delivered a public lecture at the LSE last Wednesday, in which he expressed optimism about the 21st Century, and voiced his approval of US Presidentelect, Barack Obama. Patten, the Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle universities and until recently, the European Commissioner of External Relations, promoted his new book "What Next? Surviving the Twenty-first Century". He spoke about his views on the "new world" of which the new US administration would be the "principal architect". He further commented on the generational shift in politics, as Obama is "unencumbered by baggage", which he hopes would bring "fresh thinking in solving world's problems". Patten believes that America will still remain one of the superpowers of the world in terms of moral authority and that the European Union will need to "stand up to the plate" as it faces the problems of an ageing population. Patten also spoke of the social equality problems that China could face in the century. Patten did not view the transforma- Flickr users (clockwise) closelyobserved.com, Yukon White Light, Burns! tions of China and India as "rises", rather than "phenomenal" adventures. Similarly, the domestic policies in the West, Patten said, produce international problems. In the context of drugs, he pointed out the "Daily Mail sense of blame on Afghans and Colombians." Identifying global warming and climate change as key challenges of the century, Patten said that it would take "more than Versailles" to solve it, but that the prospects for progress were less worrying with the incoming Obama Administration. LSE Director Howard Davies, who chaired the event, asked Patten how he perceived Russia and whether it is "storm in a teacup". Patten responded by pointing out Russia's present health demographic statistics, arguing that he did not think that it would be a major player. However, in the context of Eastern European security, Patten did raise concerns over NATO being treated as a "tennis club", saying that it should not have offered membership to Ukraine. Instead it should have offered membership to the European Union states. Lord Patten addressed the question of the United Nation's relevance by saying that it while its influence would be limited, major reforms are needed in Security Council. bold in our approach" Aled Dilwyn Fisher Students' Union General Secretary Former student governors have voiced concerns about the increasing centralisation of School governance. This included reforms which have moved power away from the much larger Court of Governors, with approximately one hundred members, and given more power to the smaller Council - with approximately thirty members. Student representatives form six of the Court's hundred members. However, a student governor who wished to remain anonymous pointed out that most governors are dissatisfied with the shift of power away from Court and towards Council, saying that the reforms weakened Court and that they had turned the body into a "training ground for getting on to Council." PULSE RADIO TAKEOVER ALL THIS WEEK FROM 12 GET WWW.PULSE.DJ ADDICTED 6 The Beaver | 25th November 2008 News MON: OTHER UNIS TUE: THE BEAVER WED: ACADEMICS THU: STAFF MEMBERS FRI: ATHLETICS UNION Global Markets & Investment Banking Global Research I Global Wealth Management Merrill Lynch inspiring colleagues global reach Merrill Lynch is a leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory company with offices on six continents. Graduating in 2010? Summer Internship Programme Gain hands-on experience of our business through our structured programmes in Global Markets, Investment Banking, Global Wealth Management, Global Research, Technology and Human Resources across Europe. Apply by 15 December: ml.com/careers/europe Graduating in 2011? Merrill Lynch Challenge Take the Merrill Lynch Challenge and your team could win a place on our London based week-long insight programme in April and a €5,000 cash prize. Register your teams by 31 December: ml.com/careers/challenge E5E2I AWARDS/" |f|]jr|T|] EB5a2008> ml.com/careers/europe Merrill Lynch is an equal opportunity employer. world-class training News The Beaver | 25th November 2008 Inns of Court society falls foul of Union law LSE fnns of Court Society TextSi2e f- '¦:+) type here and press enrer to searc HOME EVENTS MOOTING INTERNATIONAL LINKS CONTACT FORUM § I1I1H -'" » -' >» • f* > '•• ; 3 sperm, sick+ sexy speech film -----> 6 contraception + the indian army theatre -----» 7 revolution + tutus music -----> lo + n emmy the great + 2008 mixtape + reviews food -----* 12 aphrodisiacs + figgy pudding telly -----» sex on t.v literature -----» lolita journeys -----> mongolia identity -----» sexy clothes + the importance of nookie sex & gender -----» sex education + the female orgasm captains - liz cheesborough - trent maynard - lois jeary - j. boys +1. mclaughlin - sophie marment angela chow 13 13 - torn simpson 14 - graeme birrel 15 - louisa evans 16 - helen reeves Dear Auntie Shaw, I've been at LSE for three years now and am yet to fulfill my desire to get intimate with the course collection. My tutor says I have to, otherwise I'll fail my degree! Help. 3rd year, Anthropology student O' car)ol jo)o\>y >ur words you never want to Is that someone at the door? hear 3C^§or ^fterl? lit \>ack Sr>a relax I love you. tfe voyeur How can we keep it fresh? Make it a ritual and get people to watch. This is a bit sticky., probably because we are made of jelly. ) f page ten november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight i joshheller wins an ennny Immediately I fail to ingratiate myself with Emmy the Great. She is smiling and more than willing to talk, but press-fatigue is evident in her voice as another ignorant journalist snatches her sound and tries to pin it down in the handy box of definitions he brought along. "Anti-Folk was in New York in the nineties, but that, again, doesn't apply anymore. When something happens that is a reaction to something, or is vital and crucial for a moment, it dies out really quickly." Suitably schooled, I avoided further talk of definitions and movements. I had tried to wrestle her music into a little box called folk, but she wrenched it from my grasp and set it free in a Narnia-sized wardrobe named "indie." The topic of genre rarely fails to irritate musicians, so I threw the letter D in there and asked if Emmy was particularly conscious of gender when she writes music? "Well, all my songs recently have been about a break up, it's from the female perspective." Her songs range from the playfully rude to the sexually explicit. Perhaps people react differently to this frankness because she's a woman? "I have a male friend who said he heard my album and he felt defensive on behalf of men, he said we're not all that bad. No you're not all, but it was just this one person whose character I was trying to assassinate. I found it really interesting that my male friends would listen to my music and get bridled." Readers of the award-winning music magazine The Stool Pigeon may know more about Emmy the Great than they think. For a year now she has been writing sporadically under the dastardly cunning pseudonym of Emmy Moss. Although she harbours no ambitions to be a journalist, "it's really helpful being on the other side. It gives you real insight; I know when not to probe, and I would never be rude to a journalist because so many artists have been rude to me. It's like, how great do you think you are? I'm interviewing you because you're in a really cool band and I think you're really good, don't be an arsehole about it." A colour-fid but short article in the October issue of The Stool Pigeon demonstrates such behaviour. Emmy had tried and, due to his temper, soundingly failed to interview Yoni Wolf (of the band Why?). Even though he'd pre viously agreed to do the in- terview he was unhappy and had, she wrote, "the look of a caged animal about to be experimented on, or someone who is being asked to hand over I an internal orgari." Although she displays re-| markable empathy when discussing it, "I completely understand, he was in a really bad mood, but you can't then be an arsehole and expect someone not to write that you were an arsehole. Sure you're playing the worst venue in Brighton but surely you want to be written about? You make music surely you want people to hear about it?". Emmy doesn't want to take the journalism thing much further, " if you go too far to the other side you will never be a Jedi." The dark side? "It's not the dark side it's just the other side. When you're a critic you're always observing and not just enjoying. When you're playing music you don't want to have to see other bands like that you want to be able to interact with them. You have to stop being a critic when you're playing music." With an album out in February, her confidence is only growing. "I started taking responsibility for my songs. I used to be like, the song will come out, I'm not gonna look at it, it's gonna come out and then I'm just gonna play it. Then I started looking at them and saying, I don't like that and putting something else in because I didn't like that that line. Taking responsibility for it." A reputation for spiki-ness had preceded her, but Emmy proved thoughtful and funny. I for onecan'twaitfor herfirstalbum... it'll be great! we round up the best songs of the year «.TDK Pete anD ihe Y\mti rviR. unpeRS-tanDirid cali-Pomia girts SbLltZen TMPVtfL rnoQviBi ~ & B t c & b vampire- J c november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight page eleven sachinpatel transmits from planet funic New York five-piece TV On The Radio were in triumphant form at their Shepherd's Bush Empire concert last Wednesday: not even a shortened set and some slightly worn out vocals dampened what was an impressive and engaging performance. Taking to the stage in front of a bookish yet ap -preciative crowd, the band immediately launched into fan-favourite Young Liars, taken from an early EP of the same name. It was a propulsive rendition, making best use of drummer Jaleel Bunton's considerable talent, and set the tone perfectly for the rest of the set. Most of the bands I'm drawn to in the live environment depend on some kind of sonic warfare in order to captivate the audience, but it was to TV On The Radio's great credit that, mostly, the appeal came instead from a focus on the funk elements of their oeu-vre, occasionally interspersed by the howling guitars of Dave Sitek. With a set that leaned heavily on the more upbeat new album, Dear Science, the band held the crowd spellbound - Golden Age was transformed into a hypnotic groove, while Red Dress replaced the brass from the album with virtuosic guitar work of Sitek and Kyp Malone. Throughout, de-facto front-man Tunde Adebimpe (the groom in the latest Anne Hathaway movie) provided much visual spectacle, whether ricocheting across the stage or clapping furiously across Gerard Smith's fluid bass and keyboards. To an extent, this drew attention away from the fact that his usually jaw-dropping vocal range and tone was somewhat lacking in volume - perhaps the rigours of touring have shot it to pieces? Nev- ertheless, with more of an emphasis on second vocalist Malone's equal talents, the band rattled their way through a few more mellow songs such as Dirtywhirl, which featured melodica and beat-boxing, and Stork & Owl, which sounded a little sparse; bereft of the saccharine string section that nails it on the album. ¦'m \ ' • Because the band avoided the more sonically dense, aggressive songs from their second album, Return To Cookie Mountain, along with much of the material from their debut LP, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, the end result sounded exactly like the "carnival" of Red Dress, and the gig emphasised the band's newfound love of funk. At times, and this is entirely in a good way, they sounded like Kool & The Gang. Having closed the main set with the blistering early favourite Satellite, the quintet returned for a three-song encore, presumably cut down on account of Tunde's exertions. The first, Crying, came across like a lost Prince masterpiece; then, Let The Devil In roused the crowd with its thunderous rhythm section. Finally, to end the show, they played a magnificent version of Staring At The Sun that saw the floor of the Empire transformed into quite a dancefloor, helped along by strobe lights and, once again, the cracking drumming of Jaleel Bunton. More than anything else, he represents their massive evolution from the early four-track EPs to their current incarnation as a proper band, willing to mess around between songs, and then just as willing to conjure up inventive arrangements of songs that, in the studio, rely on months of production by the knob-twiddling genius of Dave Sitek. On stage, the renowned producer seems transformed - not at all surly, he bashes his Telecaster with all manner of percussive shakers, often hanging a set of wind chimes from the neck. It's a funny trick, but it's no gimmick. One of Brooklyn's undoubted gems, TV On The Radio are committed album artists, but the levity of their persona circumvents this. If you've not heard any of their material, drop Golden Age at a party, and then go and see them live. They only played for an hour and a half but, in that time, they proved how far they have come: from a four-track recorder in a Williamsburg loft to a sell-out carnival at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. sachinpatel reviews the diva's new album One half expected Grace Jones to leave the planet at the age of fifty bound for Venus, strapped onto the back of a rocket. Instead, the creator of the seminal 1985 album, Slave To The Rhythm, has fashioned at the age of sixty an at-times groundbreaking work, though unfortunately it falls short of the high watermark expected of a Jones release. At times she appears to have lost none of her alien, robotic, hyper-sex -ualised charm as in the growling, snarling 'This Is', and in the worryingly futuristic single 'Corporate Cannibal'; at other moments, the listener is forced to question the point of a vapid reggae-lite aesthetic in light of her previous work. It is not only the lyrical vacillation between pent-up fury (sample lyric from 'Corporate Cannibal': "I'll consume my consumers, with no sense of humour") and motherly, anecdotal reminiscence, as in 'I'm Crying (Mother's Tears)', which lends Hurricane an unfocused, rushed feel. The music too is inconsistent, ranging from the won- derful industrial dub/trip-hop of'Devil In My Life' and 'Corporate Cannibal', to the cast-off reggae of 'Well Well Well' and 'Love You To Life'. While SRACEJONES HURRICANE the former category displays everything that one desires from a Grace Jones album - bizarre experimentation, in this case seemingly gratuitous squalls of industrial noise and warped guitars -the latter category has the air of pointlessness. If you'd never heard her Compass Point albums - notably eighties Warm Leatherette -then something like 'Sunset Sunrise' would be a pleasing surprise. Set against the backdrop of her former glories, about half of Hurricane sounds strangely anodyne, as if the Freedom Pass-earning Jones has now settled into a semi-retirement of electric blankets and a villa in Spain. This new-found sense of motherhood and familial warmth most definitely does not suit her. As the closer, 'Devil In My Life', ends in a soaring triumph of static and strings, I wish only that the rest of the album could have so readily married a personal, haunting lyrical theme with such a daring sonic palette. An opportunity missed, then, but let's hope that Jones hasn't resigned herself to a boring retirement just yet. I oh page twelve november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight I moofood j sophiemarme nt becomes the food sexpert If 'aphrodisiac' were to pop up in the word-association game I'll warrant the majority of people would say 'oyster.' Historically an aphrodisiac was a substance used in the belief that it would improve sexual desire and sexual experience, with the word itself deriving from the Greek 'Aphrodite,' the goddess of sensuality. Medical science has found no grounds to support the theory that certain foods increase sex drive and the belief is widely assigned to the connotations associated with certain foods. Oysters and avacado (the Aztec translation means 'testicle tree') apparently gain their reputation from their shape while tiger's penis is associated with the virility and aggressive nature of the animal from which it is sourced. Nevertheless, the power of food to influence sexual desire has been documented since the times of the Greeks and Romans, and who are they to be trifled with? Apart from the obvious oysters, caviar and truffles, you can find aph-rodisiacal properties in pretty much any food. Given that, here are a few of the lesser known aphrodisiacs to watch out for next time you're going to your partner's for dinner... Asparagus: three courses of this phallic-shaped vegetable were served to 19th century bridegrooms due to its reputed powers. Watch out though as those who eat a lot of asparagus are also said to have many lovers. Serving suggestion: steam, cover in butter and serve with hollandaise sauce. Almonds: one for the girls, as the aroma is said to arouse female passion. Almonds are also a symbol of fertility. Serving suggestion: as snacksorflaked in a lamb stew. Marzipan fruit are also a great way of getting your almond intake. Figs: the seasonal crop was celebrated by the Ancient Greeks in a frenzied copulation ritual. An open fig is meant to reflect the female sex organs. A man eating a fig in front of his lover is mean to be a highly erotic act. Who knew? Serving suggestion: serve fresh and use your fingers. Oooh la la. figgy pudding easiness - 5/10] tastiness - 6/10 cheapness - 6/io| stuff that goes in it: 4 oz butter, at room temperature] 2 eggs 8 fl oz golden syrupi 16 oz dried figs, stems removed, chopped finely 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel 8 oz buttermillq 4 oz walnuts, chopped 20 oz all-purpose flour] 1/2 tsp baking soda' 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt] 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmegj 1. Grease a 8"x4" souffle dish and preheat the oven to 170 degrees C, gas mark 3. 2. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. 3. Add the eggs and golden syrup and beat until smooth. 4. Add the figs, lemon peel, buttermilk, and walnuts and combine. 5. In another bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the liquid mix into this and fold until combined. . 6. Pour the batter into the souffle dish and place in the oven for 1 hour. 7. Serve with whipped cream. L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ J Strawberries: described as 'fruit nipples' this berry is full of antioxidents. As a symbol of the Roman goddess of love, Venus, this is the fruit of love. Serving suggestion: always best eaten with your fingers. Celery: one for the boys. Eaten raw celery is meant to strengthen the male sex organs due to its high mineral composition. Chilli peppers: a key source of endorphins, chilli quickens the heart rate. Chilli was one of the key ingredients in Moctezuma's pre-harem morning refreshment. Serving suggestion: any kind of curry, let's be honest. Chocolate (cacao bean): dubbed 'nourishment of the Gods' by the Aztecs, chocolate can do no wrong. Banned from some monasteries in medieval times and the preferred payment of Aztec prostitutes. Serving suggestion: dark chocolate dipped strawberries. Banana: a fairly obvious contender in the phallicly shaped food competition, the banana is full of vitamins which promote the production of sex hormones. In Islamic mythology after Adam and Eve succumbed to the 'apple' they covered themselves with banana leaves rather than the traditional fig leaves. Serving suggestion: barbecue in tin foil with a slice of Terry's chocolate orange in the middle. Ginger: stimulates the circulatory system and has a sensual aroma. The French mistress of Louis XV, Madame du Barry served ginger to the King and her other lovers as, she claimed, it led them to a state of total submissiveness. Serving suggestion: grate into a stir-fry. Coriander: in the tale "The Arabian nights' a merchant who has been childless for forty years is cured by coriander. Serving suggestion: sprinkle ground coriander into mashed potato for a really wonderful fla- Coffee: caffeine is well known for its stamina-enhancing ability. It stimulates both the body and mind, so drink a little before partaking of an 'all-nighter'! Wine: wine, like most alcohol, has a relaxing effect which lowers inhibitions. Do remember though that too much wine may make you too drowsy for any after-dinner action! 1 I I november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight page thirteen hot under the collar cherieleung minds the minors You might have been mildly troubled (if at all) by the occasional unexpected and excessive sexual depiction on television; that is mainstream television, excluding porn channels or channels that are X-rated by nightfall. But is it possible that there is not enough sex on television? The answer in the shoes of TV producers would be an affirmative yes. The well known fact being: sex sells. On a mission to clear my TV backlog last Saturday night; I nearly swallowed my marmite toast, unchewed. I had never seen head being given on television before, and certainly would never have expected such an act to be shown on an ITV programme (namely Secret Diary of a Call Girl). Call me old-fashioned but the manner in which the scene was shot, where the man's member was conveniently concealed by Billie Piper's bobbing head, was all a little raunchy for my taste. Admittedly, it was a programme about a high society prostitute and the scene was thrilling. How-r ¦» ever, even period dramas have been given the makeover, a sexing up. Goodbye, chaste m Elizabeth Bennet; hello, virile Henry VIII. The Tudors series was nothing more than Jonathan Rhys Meyers mock copulating in Tudor costume (repeatedly), rather than portraying the life of the indulgent monarch, even with the least bit of accuracy. Perhaps some of you classic literature fanatics would remember the racy adaption of Fanny Hill? All these programmes are serving up the same marketing proposition - sex. And lots of it. The content can barely be qualified as hardcore. The actual'genitalia and intercourse may not be in sight within the TV screen, but almost everything else is. It's so flesh-filled; these programmes might as well be labelled soft porn. We are all aware that the wall fencing off explicitness is being thrusted inwards by these provocative storylines and we are not overly concerned about it. The effortless accessibility of the most extreme forms of pornography has made people accustomed to sexual debauchery. But check this: an Of-com research found that viewers in general would be less offended by sexual imagery than profanities. So what is the problem then? The minors. Let's be realistic here. How many ' of you, hand on heart, learned about the facts of life through sex education in school? I certainly did not because the media taught me everything. Nowadays, teenagers are hurled into this world of everything sexualised and parents are not too bothered by it. So what of the watershed then? Is it the righteous guardian of children's innocence or just merely a device to save parents from speechless embarrassment? Note: there is still hope for the younger viewers, if you substitute watershed with 'Bed Time'. The point is that TV programming taking the approach of sex is nothing special, and that it happens casually every day, hence our indifference to the graphicness of it all. Such an approach drains the emotional significance and sacred intimacy out of sex, out of the making of love and trans-;'j., forms it into just another i marketing device. You , may like your TV shows * ' slightly bawdy and risque, but in the broader sense, this is an attitude which we will all regret. alizehkohari can see more Lolita -Vladimir Nabokov Her name isn't Lolita. It's Dolores, Dolores Haze. (But that's hardly of any consequence. Lolita is what Humbert, the protagonist and her lover, calls her and what the world knows her by. 'Lo. Lee. Ta,' he drawls, slowly, sleepily, almost stealthily. And it is as if a creature is stirring from sleep, shrugging its shoulders and stretching its arms in a lazy arc above its head. She's twelve. He's forty. Lolita is the story of their love affair, if it can be called that. Humbert Humbert is a European with a dubious past and a penchant for young girls - nymphets, he calls them. Nymphet-gazing is his favourite past-time. Nymphet-catching? Even better. And so he proceeds to lay his hands on young Lolita, staying on as a boarder in her mother's home, marrying the oblivious mother, and then plotting her death so that 'ol' Lo' can be left at his disposal. Fate smiles at Humbert: the mother dies of her own accord and he dons the role of a shattered widower and oh-so-concerned step-parent. Lolita, it turns out, isn't as milky-white as you'd imagine either. But that's just Part One. Part Two contains a murder and a ramble through the heartlands of America. Read it. And, in case you're wondering, yes, those scenes with Lolita are described in painstaking, albeit gleeful, detail. But Lolita's prose, perverse as it appears, is hauntingly beautiful, indescribably so. Again, I say: read it. Moreover, it wears a plumage of metaphors: pluck them out, one by one, and what remains is a story that has little to do'with sex. There is a bit in the novel, just two lines, no more, where the barber cutting Humbert's hair admits that he continues to mourn for his long-dead son. The passage is fleeting, scarcely more than a ripple when the novel is viewed as a whole - but Nabokov claims it took him 'a month of work' to fit it in. Why was that single sentence so important, we wonder - and why ever so difficult to write? Per- _ haps because (and you and I can only guess) it is in those two lines and many such others speckled throughout the book, cheerfully elusive - that the truth of Lolita lies: there is life outside the story Humbert so meticulously constructs for himself, just as there are worlds outside our own cocoons of existence - worlds with childless barbers and a host of other silently suffering people. No, Lolita is not about sex. And so, the fact that Lolita is not really Lolita, is actually Dolores, becomes monstrously significant. She isn't merely Humbert's plaything; she is a person in her own right, with a life before Humbert and a life after - though the after is mere flotsam (she dies in childbirth). Humbert wanders tantalisingly near this realization, but veers off: 'In this wrought-iron world of criss-cross cause and effect, could it be that the hidden throb I stole from them did not affect their future?' Criss-cross cause and effect - an interesting concept and one that gives rise to another: how many lives do we encounter and irrevocably alter - wittingly or unwittingly - day after mundane day? It might do us well to ease a while on our fixation on all things sex and ponder over that for a bit. editors designers think you can do better? writers We need you. Arts at LSE isn't dead, help us lead the revival. We want to make your juices flow. Be a part of something amazing. You can write once, twice or every week, it's up to you. Come to the office, so we can embrace you into our partb bosom. You'll love it. We need sub-editors: design tech 11X'H d 0 ?JlsUJ iiii _j_ page fourteen november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight from here to mongolia alexboyce is genghis khar Ten thousand miles. A one litre car. Two mechanically inept government and economics students. Yes my friends, it's the Mongol Rally. The idea is simple enough: teams must drive from Hyde Park to Ulan Bator - the capital of Mongolia - via whatever route they decide upon with no support teams or outside help. Furthermore, adequate preparation is actively discouraged. It wouldn't be an adventure if you knew what you were doing now would it? Apparently not. At least that's my reasoning for agreeing to take part in what will likely be the most dangerous expedition of my life. It began when I received an 'urgent' answer phone message from friend and teamate Joe Coney claiming that something very important needed my atten- . — ' tion. Naturally I thought a housemate had died. However, upon call ing him back and •being greeted with a shout of "Mongol Rally!", both our fates were sealed. The combination of male bravado and youthful optimism lead to the daydream of an idea spiralling completely out of control until we both bit the bullet and spent all our summer earnings on the entry fee. Thus, team Genghis Khar was born and the scale of what was ahead of us became apparent. Its been two months since the idea was conceived. Thus far we have just about managed to get together an information pack containing such enticing delights as the route (which is incredibly indirect and will be fully explained in a future article), the charity we support, the blurb from the website explaining how incredibly dangerous the rally is as well as a pair of rather dashing pictures of myself and Joe. All this work and time has amounted only to a mighty five pounds towards our target for charity being met, a grand achievement by any account. While pressure over the organisational aspect mounts up, the time to get a car becomes ever closer. Yet again we have no idea what we are doing. For some reason the Mongolian authorities have specified that the car must be ten years old or less. Even the mechanics from my backwater town in Dorset can't come up with anything suitable. And by suitable I mean cheap. Nevertheless, we are confident that come the time when everyone else is pulling their hair out at a mind numbingly boring internship, Genghis Khar will be pulling their hair out over a fire that has spontaneously combusted in the passenger seat, or fighting off a particularly malicious goat. Believe me, nothing is impossible... We will keep you up to date on our haphazard plans and organisation throughout the course of the year. In my next article I will show you the least inspired route you have ever seen. Believe me, its terrible. If you would like to see our progress on a more regular basis or donate anything to our cause (which would be great!) you can check our website at (http^/mongoliaMyog.theadven-turists.com/genghis_ldiar.) As time passes it will hopefully blossom into something wonderful and when the rally begins will give people the chance to keep track of the team and see if we are still alive. Until next time... ! page fifteen november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight i louisaevans asks if we get it In case it wasn't already obvious, I'm going to be talking about sex. I spent a few very fascinating hours chatting to different people about their views on sex. Some of the questions I asked were boring, some thought-provoking, all were revealing. So, just how important is sex? The answer: very. But why? Well, for starters, sex influences us in a whole host of ways. Just about everything in the market these days is sold with sex: half-naked men shaving with the best razor, half naked women putting on the bestmoisturiser, playing 'footsie' under the table to sell Uncle Ben's express rice, air-freshen-ers - you name it, sex can-sell it. And yes I know, from a practical point men have to be half naked to sell razors, no one shaves fully clothed and you don't exactly moisturise your jeans, but rice? Really? Boy, advertising has come a long way in the last years. So, is it any wonder with sex on every billboard (how could you possibly miss that Erotica Fair poster?), TV and magazine that it has influenced the way we go about our lives? The way we dress, for example; whether to impress boyfriends/girlfriends, the competition or an attempt to snare some unwitting fool on a night out, we keep in mind that at some point that day/night we might, just might, end up naked. Our sex and sexuality can change the way we present ourselves. A large majority of the girls I spoke to would, at some stage use sex, the act, as a way of getting what they wanted - dare I say it at work, or even if it is just as 'punishment' for the fact that 'Barry' has yet again gone to play Pro-Evo on the one night that week you have off together. Girls too, would use their femininity as a way of drawing attention to themselves, getting help, whatever. A guy can't resist a damsel in distress, right? However, there does seem to be a blurring of sexual responsibilities. As predicted, outrage from some corners of our community reared its ugly head again at the Miss LSE pageant. It would seem that there is an all too prevalent belief that any hint of cleavage interferes with one's thought process. For a bloke maybe, but boobs don't stop girls from being intelligent, dedicated and thoughtful people. I would be the first to tell you that a girl playing dumb is tragic, in fact I have been told myself if I were a little less opinionated I might get me a man. But femininity is an awesome thing, all the people I 'interviewed' agreed with that. It is, in its own right, a very powerful tool. Be that as it may, general consensus would have it that in this world of equality, women should be the ones to 'ask guys out'. Yet not many girls would actually be comfortable with doing that. Double standards? or the symptoms of a society that is desperately trying not to be repressed but having difficulties letting go of its conservative origins? Protected sex too, it was agreed, is the responsibility of both the guy and the gal. The Sex. Ed. stall on Houghton St. this week gaive away free condoms, including some scary looking girl condoms. While I can't see those catching on any time soon, it shouldn't be only the guy thinking about contraceptives.Girls are the ones with the bigger problem if one of those little buggers gets past. So why did so many people scurry past looking the other way? Despite the fact that sex sells and is consequently just about everywhere, we are still relatively reluctant to talk about sex. I am not suggesting we all share the intimate details of our relationships down the pub nor am I suggesting that religions that prohibit promiscuous sex- are wrong, just that maybe we should be a bit more open about sex. Yes it's private, but we all do it at some stage. And maybe being more open about it might make people more aware and less embarrassed about prioritising their sexual health. The only question we couldn't agree on? Sex vs. food. It's just not fair. hot or not katiejanepeek dresses for herself ? Sex sells. Or so the mass media has led us to believe. But is this true in the world of fashion? Are there particular outfits perfect for ensnaring the opposite sex? Leaving Ann Summers costumes out of the equation, it appears unlikely. Men and women seem to have very different perceptions of what's sexy and what's not. And these days, are women overtly dressing to impress men? The short answer seems to be 'no', or at least I hope it is. In this day and age, fashion-forward ladies are not only focused on impressing the opposite sex. The era of miniskirts, cleavage-baring tops and bare midriffs is being eclipsed by a new sense of individuality and personality expressed through.clothes. Women are increasingly dressing first and foremost to please themselves, secondly to impress other women and lastly with men in mind. This trend is complemented by the Autumn/Winter focus on glamorous dressing - particularly with the party dress time of year fast approaching and the back-to-basics influence of ever-sophisti- cated black this season. The alluring but refined image of femininity presented on the catwalks has been successfully reflected in the high street, with sophisticated and chic outfits'at affordable prices. This swing back to old-school glamour is providing women with a chance to embrace a stylish fashion stance, while remaining sexy at the same time. And really, with chic fashion on the cheap (I'm even advocating Primark here people) there really is no excuse for women not to follow suit. And what's the male opinion of women's sexual fashion-liberation? While the most fashion-forward support this step into a less obvious but more interesting and eclectic approach, Mr Stereotypical is not so sure, with this season's trends leaving him in a state of confusion. Gothic style dresses transform a potentially sexy women into Morticia Adams while coloured tights merely provoke a discomforting memory of a seven year old child. And don't even mention layered thick-knit cardigans for fear of being scorned: 'You look very bulky today.' I fear that Mr. Stereotypical is adverse to change and maybe he honesdy prefers a blatant approach to sex appeal. Perhaps I am being too optimistic about the present and future of women's fashion, and its capabilities in general. Sex does sell and there will always be the girl in the tight top and short skirt catching every man's eye. But maybe that's the point: that girl is promoting temporary physical attraction whereas the female who dresses for herself is not a mere object but a confident and attractive individual. And so, while sex may sell sex, fashion sells a positive and durable image of femininity - apt for the alpha female of the twenty-first century. - ^ november the twenty-fifth two thousand and eight page sixteen bethashtonhopsontop In the summer there was much outrage over the new sex education video being shown in schools. It showed, heaven forbid, a ghastly, perverse and horrendously liberal sexual position - the woman was on top! I mean, this is the twenty-first century, not the twenty-fourth! Who did she think she was taking over in the bedroom? Who did the government think they were, planning to show and encourage this type of dreadful behaviour in schools? My outrage to the situation was however, in response to their outrage. The main problem those offended seemed to encounter was that this depiction of sex suggested that it was fun and thus detoured from the essence of sex - making babies. Oh dear! Who are these outraged people and where are they hiding? Surely they have grasped by now that their darling children will at some point encounter the idea that sex should be fun, and that if it isn't, they are doing it wrong? Whether that be from accidental early exposure to Sex and the City, Friends or even the odd episode of Hollyoaks! Maybe 1 am mistaken, but I am currently under the impression that the majority of teenage pregnancies are not planned and thus happen accidentally during the enjoyable art of love-making and therefore that the perception that sex is fun is faking it colletterose wants the real deal The first time I watched When Hariy Met Sally and Meg Ryan performed her famous fake orgasm in a New York cafe, I had no idea what she was on about. In later years, I watched the film and started enjoying the scene because of the power dynamics; Sally proving to Harry that women can actually 'trick' men into believing they are having an orgasm. But here's the ques- tion I ask myself today: Why should we fake orgasms? If the sex isn't up to par, then it just isn't. Aren't we just setting ourselves up for disappointment? After all, we're sending the message that a particular sexual position or practice is good and should therefore be repeated. People surely fake orgasms for many reasons - perhaps to reassure a partner, or because they feel guilty for taking too long - but the way I see it, when two people have sex, it should be just as satisfying for both. By that I mean both should be able to orgasm, which seems pretty basic to me. But that is often not the case. Why are so many women not having orgasms? And when we are not having orgasms, why do we feel like we have to pretend oth- I am constandy surprised when I watch mainstream movies or TV shows with a heterosexual sex scene because more often than not the missionary position is assumed and the woman achieves an orgasm incredibly fast. There are exceptions, of course, but what I learned overall from consuming popular culture in my teens was that the most common sexual practices are missionary sex and 'blow-jobs', and that women are expected to achieve orgasm through mere vaginal penetration. More importantly, given my own sexual experiences and those of friends, I gather that these presumptions are in fact held by many heterosexual women and men. Many societal taboos have been broken since the so-called 'sexual revolution', even just in the past ten to fifteen'years. But, in an age where sex is shown in mainstream entertainment all the time, I find it revealing that most of the sex shown is still that which is most pleasurable for men and not necessarily for women. One major exception was Sex and the City, which for all its faults was so refreshingly candid on women's experience of sex: from oral sex and masturbation to sex 'outside the box' and faking orgasms. In her classic text "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm", Anne Koedt posits that "we must begin to demand that if a certain sexual position or technique now defined as 'standard' is not mutually conducive to orgasm, then it should no longer be desired as standard." So if we don't like missionary, let's start asking for something else. And if we're not having an orgasm, let's not fake it. It could be as easy as that. i 4 f-s one rather widely strewn, even at a youngish age. My own experience of sex education was somewhat rather typical of a GP's daughter. My dad brought a pack of three condoms: one for my sister, one for me and one for my brother. He took us each aside at the ripe age of twelve and taught us how to roll it onto a banana before barbecuing it for pudding. At school we watched funny videos which would send us into fits of giggles, and were shown alarming diagrams which sparked curiosity of why people would want to carry out this gruesome act. However, this topic was brought up at the dinner table on a recent visit home by my little sister, who, living with three significandy older siblings, perhaps has a wider knowledge of sex then most eleven-year olds. Having just started secondary school, she followed "Beth, can you pass the potatoes?" with "and what position do you have sex in?" My mother choked and we all laughed, but I think this open attitude towards sex is the healthiest and the best. At eleven, she knows that later in life she will enjoy this amazing act, which does have consequences. And, thanks to this new video, she knows it can be done in a variety of positions for varying pleasurable results! She isn't afraid of harbouring a gross curiosity; she is knowledgeable about the situation, and can make her decision from there. Surely that is the essence of sex-ed? I guess the one thing - that can be taken from the outrage to this video is that the woman being on top is assumed as depicting "funner" sex than when she is not. I sleep better knowing this fact of life is appreciated on a national scale!