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TheBeaver

Wannabe bankers undeterred

Continued on page 6, col 1.

LSE Students’ Union

Students celebrate Obama’s victory | page 4

2 13.11.2012 | The BeaverEditorial

Editorial BoardExecutive EditorLiam Browneditor@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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CollectiveA E Dawson, A Doherty, A Fyfe, A Krechetova, A L Cunningham, A L Gunn, A Moneke, A X Patel, A Peters-Day, A Qazilbash, A Riese, A Sulemanji, A Young, B Arslan, B Butterworth, B Clarke, B Nardi, C S Russell, C V Pearson, D McK-enna, D Ming, D Yu, E Beaumont, E Delahaye, E E Fraser, E Firth, E S Dwek, F Bennett, G K Chhina, G Manners-Armstrong, H Brent-nall, H Burdon, H Dar, H J Shep-pard, I M Silver, J Allsop, J Attueyi, J Austin, J Curtis, J M Palmer, J M Still, J R Peart, J Stoll, J Tindale, J V Armstrong, J Wacket, J Yarde, K C Hughes, K Pezeshki, K Rogers, K Singh, L A Yang, L Atchison, L Au-meer, L Brown, L Kang, L Slothuus,

Fletcher, M Jenkins, M Veale, M Worby, N Antoniou, N J Buckley-Irvine, N Jaroszek, N Mashru, N Mateer, N Russell, P Gederi, R A Coleman, R Al-Dabagh, R Cucchia-ro, R Gudka, R Hamer, R Holmes, R Illingworth, R J Charnock, R Serun-jogi, S Chaudhuri, S Desai, S Gale, S H Low, S Lindner, S Newman, S Nissila, S Poojara, S R Williams, S W Leung, S Hang Low, T Poole, V A Wong, V Chan, X T Wang, Z Sam-mour

The Collective is The Beaver’s governing body. You must have contributed three pieces of work, or contributed to the pro-duction of three issues of the paper (editorially or adminis-tratively), to qualify for mem-bership. If you believe you are a Collective member but your name is not on the list above, please email the Collective Chair at:

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The Beaver would like to thank the LSE students who contributed to

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Attribution necessary.

Front page image courtesy Leon Puplett.

Second termsP-Day thinks Barryshould see her as a modelfor re-election.

is the Beaver’s haiku poet. Some say he’s illegal in thirteen US states and that once, preposter-

Cain.

us!editor@thebeaveron-line.co.uk

Established in 1949Issue No. 777

Telephone: 0207 955 6705 Email: editor@thebeaveronline.co.ukWebsite: www.thebeaveronline.co.uk

Over the past number of days, the Beaver has heard rum-blings that LSE Students’ Un-ion General Secretary Alex Peters-Day has asked the Un-ion Shop to pull The Sun from their newsstands.

Apparently, it is for econom-ic reasons. However, we asked shop employees whether The Sun was the most poorly per-forming newsstand item and very quickly we found that there are other magazines and newspapers that lose consid-erably more money than The Sun.

So why is it then that The Sun is, quite possible, going to be pulled from the Students’

ic reasons required the pulling of the nation’s most read news-paper there would have been

a detailed report that also ad-vised the dropping of a number of other titles from the Shop. To our knowledge, The Sun is the only title to be dropped from the Shop, and even more disturbingly, it seems to be to-tally at the behest of Alex Pe-ters-Day.

We, as editors of a newspa-per (admittedly with 0.07 per cent of the circulation of The

ing. If there are solid economic reasons behind dropping The Sun from the Shop then we have no problem with that ac-tion being taken. What does constitute a problem, in our

(this is not a policy of the Sab-batical team as a whole) acts unilaterally and without even consulting the wider commu-

nity as a whole.Peters-Day and other mem-

bers of the Union executive have proven before that they

and tamper with its most vital organ, the Press. Earlier this term they removed and altered the London Student to con-form to their viewpoint, when a debate on gender-neutral toilets included a provocative piece from Jason Wong. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

If you do not agree with a newspaper, an article or point-of-view just don’t read it. Sim-ple as that. It is officials who feel obliged to decide what we can and cannot read that threatens our society far more than a page three spread ever could.

The girl with the thorn in her side

STUDENT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

The LSE Students’ Union has a weekly meeting called the UGM or Union General Meeting.

This meeting is designed to allow all members a forum to debate issues and hold their elected officials to ac-count.

UGM is held at 1:00pm on Thursdays in the Old Thea-tre and is open to all.

If you have would like to learn more about UGM

a motion, contact Laura

TheBeaver

3News The Beaver | 13.11.2012

Last Saturday, 22 students from the London School of Economics “got lost” in Skegness, a seaside town in East England in aid of Chil-dren in Need, in an event called “RAG Gets Lost.”

The Raising and Giving society hosted this fundrais-er, which involved driving students to a mystery loca-

then allowing them to make their own way back without spending any money.

Blindfolded until they reached their destination, the volunteers were shocked

when they realised that they had landed on the Lin-colnshire coast.Upon arrival, the race be-gan to get back to Houghton Street, with teams using var-

ious tactics to travel for free.A lot of students man-

aged to blag themselves a free bus ride from Skegness to Boston, whilst others de-cided to try their hand at hitchhiking out of the some-what deserted coastal town.

Jamie Pelling, a second-year History student was one of the unlucky few who had to stick their thumb out for a ride.“It was hard. Harder than trying to do an econ b [sic] exam on heroin. So hard that I could have taken Mr T

ed by LSE students donning RAG t-shirts, with tempers

getting high between teams as it appeared teams were stealing each others lifts.

down cars and then another group would run into the car

and pinch it.Most teams were back by seven o’clock, where they were greeted by a RAG team who had been monitoring their progress throughout the day.

With a travelling time of

team were back in the Old

The winners were The Free Switzerland Youth League, comprised of three Bankside freshers, Katie Budd, Gus Mclaren and Con-nor Vasey.Katie Budd said: “It felt amazing to win! We didn’t think we had a chance at the beginning, a team of three, with one of our members al-

one the night before. Most of our pick ups were down to pure luck, but we think the great cause, good conversa-tion and the amount of times we said thank you persuad-ed most of them to take us further than they originally planned.”

Team 1 were the last to arrive safely in London, hav-ing taken a route via Lin-coln, Newark-On-Trent, Pe-terborough, Bedford, South

central London.An online map was used

by RAG to charter the pro-gress of the lost students throughout the day, with a link to their pages to raise money.

So far, collectively the

teams made £1363.79 for charity, with donations still being processed.

Danette Chan and Shaz Aziz were the top fundrais-ers of the day, raising a total of £460.01 for the cause.

All proceeds go towards Children In Need, the an-nual BBC fundraiser that

raises money throughout the year in order to give grants to charities.

The event forms part of the four “Challenge” events that RAG hosts throughout the year. The other three events are “Hitchhike”, “Skydive” and “Tough Guy.”

RAG Gets Lost in Skegness

UNION JACKAll the way from Jinxland, the for-mer Prime Minister and now King, Phearse.

First, though, a brief announce-ment from the Guardian of the Gates: three Sabbs will be growing mustaches in support of Movember. What a worthy cause! What an op-portunity to make jokes about Doro-thy!

Onto the oration of the mighty Phearse. Phearse and others from Jinxland want all the Ozites to come on a protest in favour of education. We think. Two years ago, Ozites went on another Jinxland protest that ended up with much naughti-ness. Phearse agreed that a repeat would be most unbecoming.

Apart from that, the last protest had ‘too many minutiae’. To avoid that, this protest will focus on not

sending a message to the media, saying that MPs lied in their election prospectuses, the false dichotomy between fees & EMA but EMA is more important if we have to make a choice, begetting the next genera-

tion of student activists, not just hav-ing occupations and demonstrations, education, employment and empow-erment, young people, fees, mobilis-ing, Nick Clegg is naughty, and a list

even have time to scribble down,

gripped his pen.So, under no circumstances

should the message for this demon-stration be described as confused,

ganisation that is half-composed of Munchkins wanting to bring about the revolution, some of whom have started on dubious ‘art’ courses so they can keep reappearing at the annual Jinxland Parliament, with the other half full of wanton career-ists with both halves so full of fac-tions that getting a single, coherent message is like getting money out of Jack’s wallet.

Jack was disappointed in the re-buttal to Phearse’s speech from Sir Hokus of Pokes. Sir Hokus wore his colours on his sleeve and, indeed, the rest of his rather attractive blue

sweater. The good knight was at pains to appear moderate and rea-sonable, with a speech that belied his origins in the Debate Hall. Jack knew that Sir Hokus didn’t quite under-stand the politics of Oz when he said that a rational decision should be

Jack supposes. When Sir Hokus started talking about mandates and

knew something was wrong. Long gone are the days of foaming-at-the-mouth soundness that used to grace the stage. Phearse dealt with a cou-ple of the points well enough by bat-ting them away – the mandate came from the election of officers, so that the last motion passed in support of Jinxite protests was two years ago doesn’t matter. It should, however, matter, but we don’t seem to be do-ing motions any more. That, and the government is naughty because it doesn’t have a mandate. Oh, and

similarly – the government’s cost-

is sure that style of argument would

go down very well on Question Time. The last point wasn’t touched at all; Phearse hopes that there’s no repeat of last year and, er, that’s it.

We did have a written report from

Brick Road. Jack notes with some disappointment that we have not heard this year from Jack Pumpkin-head, who arrived late this week, the Patchwork Girl, Tik-Tok, the Good Witch of the South, the Good Witch of the North, the Wicked Witch of the West or the Wicked Witch of the East. We’ll give the Patchwork Girl, Betsy Bobbin, John Dough and Eureka the Cat a pass for the time being, but the other Munchkin Leaders had better start showing some reason not just for their having been elected, but why we need those positions at all.

Anyway, Jack must go now. He has been listening to Die Antwoord and the new album has just dropped onto his doormat. Rest assured, though,

“JACK”

Jasmine Goodheart

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4 13.11.2012 | The BeaverNews

Liam Burns, the President of the National Union of Stu-dents (NUS) spiced up the Union General Meeting this week with a debate about whether the London School of Economics Students Un-ion should participate in the NUS demo.

Burns started his time on stage with a presentation about the NUS and the role that the NUS should be play-ing, particularly in job crea-tion.

However, primarily his focus was on Demo 2012, which has the motto “Edu-cate, Employ, Empower”.

The President discussed the importance of student unions across the country joining in with the demo, say-ing: “There is no parliamen-

at the Demo – it’s more about getting students involved in Students Unions.”

He claimed that the demo had importance in uniting students and reigniting the student movement through-out the country.

After his presentation

was opened up to debate as to whether the LSE Students Union should participate on Wednesday, November 21st.

Burns debated against Samuel Joynson, Chair of the LSESU Conservative Society.

Joynson raised various points, such as the fact that a mandate did not exist for the Students’ Union to go ahead with the demo.

This was based on the fact that the demo was part of the “Freeze the Fees” campaign,

launched two years ago.LSE students who would

have voted for this have since graduated, so Joynson argued that the mandate be-hind the campaign was now gone.

It was criticised that “LSE students don’t want to de-bate politics with Westmin-ster, they want to work for Goldman Sachs.”

However, Burns argued that after student demos, “SUs come back with activ-ists ten times [sic] more in-vested in the student move-ment.”

The SU then put this to a vote in the meeting, asking whether students thought that the demo could make a

59 per cent voted for “This

whereas 41 per cent voted that the demo could not.

It was then decided that the SU would be joining the NUS demo later in Novem-ber.

With a turnout of around forty people, the poll was not representative of the LSE as a whole, although the lack of attendance by the rest of the student body suggests over-all apathy.

Eden Dwek, a third year Geography and Economics student said, “It’s nice to see such a debate and that the Union can do things like this because it engages students

more than procedural mat-ters ever could.”

Having Burns speak at the meeting forms part of a longer term plan to improve attendance at the UGM.

Alex Peters-Day, Gen-eral Secretary of the Stu-dents Union tweeted: “Bril-liant speech by @NUS_Liam speaking about #Demo2012 at Lsesu Ugm”.

The demo being held on Wednesday 21st November will see SUs across the coun-try travelling down to central London in order to protest about cuts to education.

It is focussing on the crea-tion of opportunity through education and defending this creation against government cuts.

On the eve of US Presidential election, the London School of Economics Students’ Un-ion hosted an election party at The Three Tuns. The party saw the bar’s interior packed to the brim with over 700 people and a deluge onto Houghton Street. As people pushed and shoved to buy jugs of beer and catch a bag of free pop-corn, live cover-age of the Presidential elec-tion struggled to make itself heard.

Nathan Helman, an MSc Public Administration stu-dent who hustled his way

commotion was expressed surprise at the turnout. “I knew it was election-day but I didn’t know people cared enough to have an event like this.”

Despite the fact the clink-ing of beer glasses overpow-ered the voices of the CNN reporters, the essence of the conversation was still fo-cused on the US elections, albeit with a few drunken drawls and slurs.

polling results came through, there were whispers of a tie

or a win for Mitt Romney. Nick Brock, a BSc Economic History student was positive with the development, saying that if the results came to a draw, the US could see Mitt Romney as President and Joe Biden as Vice-President and that this might “break the deadlock” in Congress.

Arguments over Rom-ney’s policy on China, Russia and the economy dominated the conversation. However, it seemed that from all the “O-B-A-M-A” chants that not-

withstanding the debates over the two candidates’ policy, the Tuns’ occupants

camp. An LSE alumna, Na-dia Choudhury, was puzzled by the absence of Romney support, asking the Beaver “Have you met any Romney supporters?”

Perhaps the Republicans’ silence was more indicative of the demographics of the

pro-Obama sentiment in Eu-rope. Two French students,

Bertille Gallas and Sawsan Honman, shared with me their concerns over a possi-ble Republican win. Sawsan apprehensively remarked “for Europe, it’s a bad thing, nobody wants to think about the option of Romney,” both expressing their fears over his foreign policy in the Mid-dle East and the repercus-sions this might have.

As the night progressed and the crowd of rowdy stu-dents turned the Tuns into a pungent sauna, the tensions

got thicker. The results of the election continued to pour in in the form of vibrant maps of red and blue and states, count-down clocks and data analysis, all the while accom-panied with chants of “U-S-A” and “O-B-A-M-A” and ques-tions over what a win would mean for the future.

The atmosphere lightened towards the end of the night, as it became more and more apparent that Obama would emerge victorious from the election.

One student commented, “overall, the night was a fun way to engage with politics, and another opportunity to debate, drink, debate and drink some more!”

“With the combination of heat and a packed pub, a sense of togetherness is una-voidable!” she added.

Chris Rogers, a third year BSc Politics and Philosophy student said that while it was a “good night,” he had to leave early as the venue was getting too packed.

Barack Obama won a sec-ond term in the White House after winning 332 out of 538 electoral votes, sweeping most of the swing states in-cluding Ohio and Florida.

Liam Burns speaks at UGMNona Buckley-Irvine

Ira Lorandou

US election party in the Tuns

5NewsThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

Last Thursday night, mem-bers of the London School of Economics Students’ Un-ion SPICE (Society for the Promotion of Indian Culture and Ethos) went down to the Quad to celebrate Diwali Dhamaka. Arguably the most important and well known celebration in the cultural calendar, the Hindu festival of lights commemorates the victory of good (light) over evil (darkness).

According to Kamlesh Walia, president of SPICE, the event aimed to “ensure students at the LSE could experience Diwali in a true Indian style” while “having a blast.” It also aimed to “dis-play Indian culture through live performances and Bolly-wood music.”

Donning heavy makeup and colourful traditional cos-tumes such as Sari and Gha-gra Choli, students marked the start of the event by per-forming the Aarti, a Hindu religious ritual of worship in which light from wicks

the deities.The hungry crowd was

then rewarded for their pa-tience with an exotic three course dinner. Competition for food was intense, as the organisers struggle to cope

their share of traditional In-dian cuisine.

While students were busy lining up for food, the lights gradually dimmed as a live band took over. Lead by Med-ha Krishna, LSE alumna and

singing show “Seragamapa”

with two romantic ballads before switching into high

energy uptempo numbers, inspiring the audience to sing and dance to the famil-

iar tracks.The band ended their

performance with a birth-day song, with the birthday boy standing reluctantly and awkwardly on stage as the crowd wished him a happy birthday.

After a brief interlude, members of the SPICE com-mittee took to stage to per-form a group dance. Chan-

neling classic Bollywood, male and female dancers

smooth and seductive dance moves to popular contem-porary Indian songs, elicit-ing raucous cheers from the crowd.

With the last performance ending at ten, the rest of the night was dedicated to hard-core partying, as students danced to a live DJ session featuring Indian and Bhan-gra music.

Other highlights include the Bingo session, where Sid-dharth Gopakumar, secretary

of SPICE won the 50 pound prize much to the dismay of the other contestants.

Reception towards the night was positive, with many students praising the night for its “lively atmosphere” and “great music.”

Neeraj Baguant, a second year Actuarial Science stu-dent said that the authentic atmosphere of the night has managed to ease his home-sickness.

“This is exactly how we do it back at home!” he ex-claimed.

Rishikesh Anadkat, a sec-ond year statistics student also enjoyed the event. “I had the chance to get together with many of my friends and meet a lot of new people.”

Meanwhile, Tan Yang Tsen, a second year student from Malaysia was surprised at the diversity at the event.

“There are a lot of people

one would expect,” he said, “everyone’s enjoying them-selves while being exposed to the rich Indian culture.”

According to Walia, the event this year was “bigger and better than ever before.”

“With over 400 people at-tending,” he said, “it was a phenomenal success and one of the biggest events the LSE SU India Society, SPICE has ever hosted!”

SPICE celebrate Diwali Bollywood styleShu Hang

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Professor Daniel Miller, pro-fessor of material culture at University College London spoke to a full-house on the subject of “Consumption and the Philosophy of Denim” at the request of the Sociology Department and the British Journal of Sociology.

It looked at the world as it is, at as a banal a practice as our choice of clothing which we perhaps would never con-sider articulating anything profound about our identity

consequences of consump-tion.

Testament to Professor Miller’s grand status and in-

sociology and of anthropol-ogy, the Hong Kong Theatre was packed to its maximum capacity and with people lin-ing up outside the theatre with the hope of securing a seat.

Miller’s work is founda-

analysis and consumption studies, but as the open-ing speaker Don Slater con-

ceded, “it is hard to be brief about Daniel Miller’s work” as it spans across a range of subjects. Nevertheless, ac-cording to Slater, Professor Miller’s primary academic in-

sumption studies in which he “re-wrote the book” through his work on “Denim.”

Miller began his lecture with saying that the focus of his work “Denim” is hom-age to Georg Simmel and his book “The Philosophy of Money.” Simmel took “mon-ey,” the “quintessential ob-ject of economics” and then removed it from its context and wrote a book about so-cial science and philosophy. Equally, Miller took denim, studies its everyday use and then relate that to changes in society at large and larger is-sues such as climate change.

Professor Miller claimed that neither blue jeans’ his-tory nor capitalism can logi-cally explain its mass con-sumption. Although Blue Jeans were previously asso-ciated with social processes such as counter-culture or Americanisation, it has lost

able, as people tend to wear jeans for longer than any oth-er clothing.

Arguing that Blue Jeans “is not a fashion item,” Miller claimed that a possible rea-son for its mass consumption is precisely for this reason. They hold no fashion status and no link to any distinct so-cial process; they are just “or-dinary.” It is a way for some-one to “relax out of identity” and enjoy a “comfort” out of the politics of identity, which has become an increasingly contentious topic.

The notion of “just jeans” and their non-descriptive na-ture made a member of the audience, Carolyn Thomas, very uneasy. Carolyn felt that Miller’s claim of the ordinari-ness of jeans, in which he based his whole argument, was unfounded. Carolyn said that she was “surprised by his statement about jeans being a non-fashion item, jeans are maybe one of the most complex fashion items because they are able to em-body all fashion that we pro-ject on to them... that is the interesting part to me, and

yet he seemed to only want to focus on ‘ordinariness’, even the concept of ‘ordinary’ is relative to your social group/status and the changing fash-ion.”

Another member of the

audience, Paz Concha, was interested in Miller’s analy-sis of everyday practices like putting on a pair of jeans and how this “was an example of us trying to apply rules on the most common practices.”

Miller on the philosophy of denimIra Lorandou

6 13.11.2012 | The BeaverNews

Last Thursday, the London

School of Economics Stu-

dents’ Union Business So-

ciety and LSESU Women

in Business hosted “Ladies

Night,” an event aimed to

educate females how to be-

come future leaders and to

succeed in their career.

The highlight of the event

was a panel discussion with

ten female professionals from

share their experiences of

what it is like being a female

in male-dominated industries

to about 100 students.

Discussing “Opportunities

and Challenges Female Pro-

fessionals face during their

Career Paths,” panellists an-

swered questions submitted

by the students beforehand,

making the session an inter-

active one.

The impact of the mater-

nity leave on career progres-

dence, role of mentors and

other important topics were

discussed. Sharing their ex-

periences on balancing fam-

ily and professional life, the

speakers gave an honest ac-

count on how maternity leave

their career progression. The

discussion concluded that al-

though female organisations

within companies are work-

ing to improve the situation,

very little has been done yet,

despite the positive trends

indicated by official statis-

tics.

Speaker also gave tips

on how females could reach

professional success. Advice

given included taking every

opportunity to learn more

and enhance one’s skills,

managing stress by taking

a positive approach and not

being afraid to express one’s

opinion.

Work ethics was also

stressed to be important in

determining one’s career

success. “If you do not do a

particular task, somebody

else will.” Students were told

to push themselves further

and further, as success de-

The speakers also gave

tips on networking for female

students. It was noted that

from men, as they tend to

build fewer but stronger re-

lationships. “Don’t be afraid

to meet new people,” said

one panellist.

Female students were also

advised to learn to play golf

or poker and follow football

news as this will facilitate

communication with male

colleagues and clients, in ad-

dition to helping one become

a well-rounded person who

anybody.

The conclusion made at

the end of the discussion was

that being a woman should

not stop one from achieving a

goal. It was also said that be-

ing a woman can sometimes

be an advantage as it can

help one stand out in a crowd

and be memorable.

The discussion was fol-

lowed by a chocolate tasting

and networking session.

Ladies Night to boost female confidenceEkaterina Daminova

rest over the “rates-rigging

scandal.”

A representative from

the LSESU Financial Soci-

ety stated that its members

are “optimistic” towards the

banking industry despite

the crisis.

“The culture of want-

ing to go into investment

banking at the LSE has not

changed and our sponsors

are still actively looking to

engage our students. In fact,

they are actually investing

more in careers society this

year than they did before.”

Another representative

felt similarly, claiming that

the “general increase in me-

dia exposure in the banking

sector” - both negative and

positive - has also made stu-

dents more curious about

a career in banking. She

added, “there is also a great

surge in interest for intern-

ships as seen by the popu-

larity of our events such as

with past interns.”

According to a 2012

booklet produced by the

LSE Careers service on in-

vestment banking, banks

aim to convert sixty to sev-

enty per cent summer ana-

lysts into full-time, graduate

hires. Although the sector

itself has been hit hard by

the recent economic crisis,

students’ enthusiasm to en-

ter the industry is yet to wa-

ver and opportunities to do

so remain available.

Continued from page 1.

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7NewsThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

Tian Xiang Farm; Zambia, Af-

rica. A plump, middle-aged

Chinese woman stands with

her hands on her hips, over-

looking three male Zambian

farmers, planting seeds in

wants to cause confusion”,

one man mutters in the local

language, causing the oth-

ers to break out in laughter.

While this may seem an

uncommon scenario to many,

it is a typical scene from

the public screening of the

award-winning documentary

tre.

Director Nick Francis of

crew’s encounter with a Chi-

nese construction worker in

story,” remarked Dr Chris Al-

den, reader of international

glected and necessary to

tell.”

is a two-fold documentary,

looking at grassroots work-

ers on one level, and inside

meetings with top officials on

every conversation is subti-

tled.

tary begins with the Chi-

where hundreds of African

delegates gather in par-

liamentary meeting hall in

Beijing, under a white dome

with a large, Communist red

star.

demonstrated the undeni-

class tensions. Li Jiangguo, a

project manager from China-

Henan, is given the task of

supervising Zambian work-

ers in the construction of a

workers a large plastic tub

diet”, complains a worker

who proceeds to bring out

mal we keep at home, we do

not give this.”

Fast-forward to Xiamen,

where the 13th China Inter-

national Fair for Investment

and Trade is being held. The

camera follows Zambian del-

Trade, Commerce and Indus-

try as they walk under a gi-

ant, red-lettered sign which

ment”.

lationship,” contrary to main-

stream Western thought.

land of opportunity”, the di-

land which needs our sympa-

thy.”

Jude Howell, professor of

International Development at

Chinese immigrant farmers

have had no prior agricul-

technological transfer here?”

Arisa Manawapat

LSE screens “When

China met Africa”

Sustainable Fund “highly recommended”

Commended” award at the

tal Association of Universities

Awards is an annual awards

ceremony rewarding envi-

ronmental and sustainability

achievements in universities

and colleges.

Applications went through

a rigorous two-stage screening

process and were reviewed and

judged by a panel of sector rep-

ject received a glowing review

novative and well administered

student applicants to the Fund

ence through managing the im-

plementation of their ideas.”

vironmental projects on cam-

pus.

catering outlets, the fund be-

and now has amassed about

The project was also funded

through other projects such as

the ReLove Fair held earlier in

the year, where second hand

items were sold.

The Fund is available for stu-

dents who want to design, cre-

ate, and carry out sustainabil-

ity projects on campus. Though

the projects are directly aimed

at environmental sustainability,

the fund also recognises the

value of social and economic

sustainability, and thus the so-

also be considered.

able Futures Fund project on

help reduce the urban heat is-

tion by lowering surface water

ban biodiversity.

According to Robin Ray,

a unique student environmen-

tal group targeting students

who are interested in helping

institutionalise sustainability

practicalities of doing so.”

societies that works to imple-

ment sustainability projects on

is open to students provid-

ing their own project idea, the

Fund has also been working to

develop a list of suggested pro-

jects in the case that students

perience managing a project.

A number of mentoring events

cants with project advice and

development.

Applications this year will be made available on the No-

round will be held at the be-ginning of Lent term.

Shu Hang

8 13.11.2012 | The BeaverComment

A historic moment in politics

Barack Obama’s election vic-tory over Mitt Romney was supposed to be a lacklustre af-fair. Seen as divisive at home and indecisive abroad, Obama looked browbeaten from years of constant struggle against an intransigent Congress and the restlessness of global de-

from the titan elected on a surging wave of hope four years ago. Presiding over a sluggish economy and having expended his political capital ramming through a decidedly piecemeal healthcare pack-age, the President seemed not so much the change that America had been waiting for but the embodiment of

increasingly susceptible to petty partisan sniping. Gone was the soaring rhetoric and lofty idealism which had so el-evated him above his discred-ited peers, to be replaced by grinding, intractable discord

Remarkably, his re-elec-tion wasn’t even much of a surprise. For all the sensa-tionalised talk of narrowing polls and Obama’s failings, the Republicans forfeited the Presidency the minute they

bad and truly insane to com-pete for their nomination. The fact that the vile Newt Ging-rich, vile and seemingly stu-pid Herman Cain and palpably unhinged Rick Perry can all at one stage have been seri-ous contenders is testament to the mediocrity of the can-

picked. Those who feared that Romney would prove an insip-

id choice were largely proven right, with his moderate cre-dentials derived more from

-tion to healthcare, going from pro-choice, reforming Gover-nor of Massachussets to social

to beat his most enduring Pri-mary challenger Rick Santo-rum, a spectacular non-entity until the desperate anybody-but-Mitt coalition made him an unlikely star. Caricatured as a heartless plutocrat with a sack-‘em-all mentality, his fate was all but sealed when he senselessly dubbed 47 per cent of the American people workshy scroungers, despite

debate performance drag-ging him back into the race. Despite the seemingly unin-spiring nature of their choice, however, the American peo-ple’s decision has two vital

First and foremost, Obama was a glaringly superior can-didate to his opponent, with his record greatly creditable given the unprecedented po-litical, economic and interna-tional challenges he has had to face. Domestically, he saved the Michigan auto-industry and its thousands of jobs, pushed through a bold stimu-

threat of depression and had

President in history to univer-salise healthcare insurance, putting two pro-choice women on the Supreme Court, repeal-ing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military and

coming out in favour of gay marriage. Abroad, he crafted a delicate balance between his liberal peacenik instincts and the need to ensure the security of his country; pull-ing troops out of Iraq whilst initially bolstering them in Afghanistan to halt Taliban momentum, turning on old allies such as Egyptian Presi-dent Mubarak to support the democratising values of the Arab Spring whilst guarding against a destructive terrorist incursion into the ensuing vac-uum and pushing his START treaty for nuclear non-prolif-eration with Russia through a lame-duck Congress whilst au-daciously bringing down the West’s most dangerous and reviled enemy in a generation. It is clear that not all of these successes came without com-promise or complication. Ul-timately, however, Obama has always seemed an under-rat-ed President, with disappoint-

ridiculous assessments of his potential rather than the hard facts of his record. Out of the

had the integrity and skill to drive America through the unique challenges to come.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the election was momentous due its implica-tions for the Republican party. Many pundits have predicted that the hard right will de-clare Romney’s defeat a victo-ry for their convictions, shrilly declaiming that a Tea Party

the base could have beaten Obama. Calls for further po-larisation will undoubtedly be made in the short-term, al-though these should be disre-garded as the miscalculation

of American sentiment that they are. Romney lost simply because he wasn’t a very good candidate, with his moderate status actually keeping him in some sort of contention rather than hindering his progress. The sensible rump of his party need only turn to the data to see where they went wrong. Obama won women by 55-44 per cent, Hispanics by 71-27 per cent and African Ameri-cans by a staggering 93-6 per cent (despite popular fears of their disillusionment) in a country in which such groups are growing in both propor-

same polling day, Wisconsin

openly gay Senator, voters in Maine, Maryland and Wash-ington all approved same-sex marriage, New Hampshire

delegation to Congress and Republicans Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock lost winna-ble Senate seats in Missouri and Indiana over ill-judged comments decrying the abor-tion of rape-induced pregnan-

-ening as a socially progressive country and the Republicans cannot possibly hope to regain the Presidency until they rec-ognise this fact.

Tuesday’s results, then,

than immediately apparent. I fundamentally believe that Obama can become one of the best US leaders of mod-ern times, gradually repairing

building on social provision at home, whilst using his re-newed foreign policy mandate to negotiate with Iran, make progress in Syria and have a crack at pulling Israel and

Palestine closer together (par-ticularly now he can get tough with a chastened Netanyahu who backed the wrong horse in the US election). How the next four years will pan out is difficult to predict but, with a sense of cautious optimism, they may go something like this. Obama, emboldened by a strong new mandate and with-out re-election to think about, will face down sabre-rattling Republican obstructionists in the House with a disarming willingness to work together to

tax increases and spending cuts that both parties will des-perately want to avert. Bol-stered by the realisation that the party must become more economically responsible and socially progressive, Repub-lican moderates will eventu-ally unite to marginalise the lunatic fringe, who will take a hit in the 2014 midterms as a result. With the new Congress altogether more amenable to bipartisan progress and the sensationalists distracted by a 2016 election likely to pit su-perstar Hillary Clinton against the Hispanic Marco Rubio, fe-male Condoleeza Rice or mod-erate Chris Christie, Obama will have two more years to quietly push through more valuable reform, leaving of-

is tentative at best, although it does neatly convey one cer-tainty. Following Obama’s re-election last week, the shape of American politics is chang-ing for the better.

Jon Allsop is President of

LSESU Forum.

Forecasting the next four years of American politics with Obama in charge

Comment

Jon Allsop

BYU

S71

9CommentThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

“We believe in a generous America, in a compassion-ate America, in a tolerant America” – when news sta-tions began to call President Obama’s victory over Repub-lican candidate Mitt Romney, cheers of relief and happi-

-ies worldwide. As the clocks struck 7:00am in London, and President Obama articulated his vision, the elation we felt lay primarily in the triumph of liberalism over the fright-ening stances of social con-servatism. The most powerful country in the world will not be led by a man with ostensi-bly dangerous ideas, but by a man who gives us hope that America can be a country that promotes equality, freedom and peace, a country we be-lieve in.

For months, the world had to witness a series of radical pronouncements from Tea Party candidates and even from the supposedly moder-ate Mitt Romney on a range of issues such as abortion, immigration and gay rights. Despite these, the polls all seemed to show an evenly split electorate and we all

wondered, could the US real-ly elect a President who sup-ports “self-deportation” or a Congressman who believes there is such a thing as “le-gitimate rape”?

Fortunately, November 6th proved to be above all an ab-solute rejection of these ide-as. In what turned out to be a decisive Electoral College victory, Obama was re-elect-ed for reasons that extend beyond demographics. The President and the Democratic Party are on the “right side of history” on women’s rights, immigration and gay rights. The Republicans, on the other hand, are, as Thomas Fried-man stated “at war with too many in the next generation of America on all of these is-sues.” To the world’s relief, it seems America is moving “forward”.

Republican candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock infamously sug-gested that even in the case of rape abortion should not be allowed. Statements such as Mourdock’s claim that pregnancies caused by rape are still a “gift from a God” caused public outcry. To our immense relief and in spite

backing, both candidates lost as Missouri and Indiana

voted for their Democrat op-ponents. Due to the failure of the Republicans to gain

-nally abandon its arcane posi-tion on abortion and accept a woman’s right to choose.

Perhaps the most impor-tant social issue of 2012 was gay rights. Before this elec-tion, no President had openly supported gay-marriage, no state had approved it through referendum and only six states had passed it through the legislative process. It

Minnesota reject a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage; and revolutionary to see Washington, Maryland and Maine vote to legalise it. The public took a stance that rejected Mitt Romney’s belief that the Defense of

-riage as exclusively between one man and one woman) should be maintained. In ad-dition, it was amazing to see the groundbreaking victory of Tammy Baldwin in Wiscon-

-ly gay member of Congress. Her victory, and these steps away from discrimination and towards equality are inspi-rational - demonstrating the emergence of a society where being gay will not limit what

one can achieve. The election result will

-migration policy. Mitt Romney advocated “self-deportation” - that is he believed in incen-tivising illegal immigrants to leave the US by making it impossible for them to gain employment. The Democrats on the other hand, recognize the incredible contributions immigrants make to the US economy and culture. Obama, who won 80 per cent of the minority vote, is committed to giving the millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizen-ship. Given the much more diverse electorate, Repub-lican electoral calculations will likely lead to immigra-tion reforms passing through Congress. Regardless of the motivations for them, these reforms will mean millions

-

them and their families the ability “to keep reaching, to

-ing.”

Whether in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Jakarta in Indonesia, or The Three Tuns, it seemed the rest of the world (with the exception of Israel and Pakistan) was in support of the Democrats due to the frightening far-right nature

of the Republican Party not only on these social issues but also on foreign policy. The Economist described the extremism of Mitt Romney’s party as being “his great-est handicap”. At LSE where there would usually be at least some divide in support for the Labour and Conserva-tive parties, it seems that no matter your economic views it was socially unacceptable to be Republican. The student body advertising the event at The Three Tuns, stated there would be a space for Republi-cans in the cupboard!

The American people chose to support the values of “we’re all in this together” by voting for Barack Obama. These values give us hope of an America that is becom-ing a fairer and more toler-

not only its citizens but also

we found ourselves agreeing with Mitt Romney when he began his concession speech with “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you”, as that is exactly what we would like to say to those Americans who voted for the right presi-dent, allowing liberalism to triumph.

A triumph of liberalismWhy America voted for the right candidate on November 6thIsabella Mosselmans and

Guillermo Ordorica

It wasn’t long ago since La-bour hailed the implementa-tion of the National Minimum Wage across the country. Back in 1998, employers had

-mum of £3.60 an hour for workers aged 22 and over, and today the rate has risen to £6.19. Last week, however,

Wage Week, where a high-er wage was demanded by low-paid workers across the country. The idea of the liv-ing wage, as opposed to the National Minimum Wage (set by the government), has been

with more and more people

pretty good case.Let’s be clear, the living

wage isn’t about redistribut-ing wealth; it’s about pay-ing a wage that is fair and that gets the bills paid. In essence, the living wage al-lows for the minimum cost of living. It will cover the cost

of bills, food, rent and travel in a certain area. In London the wage is calculated by the Greater London Authority to be £8.55 an hour while for the rest of the UK it stands at £7.45, which is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughbor-ough University.

Those workers who cur-rently earn less than a living wage are more likely to re-ceive tax credits and/or have to go to pay-day loan com-panies to take out loans that

of their outgoings, such as a bus ticket, electricity bill or school uniform. This creates a vicious cycle where house-holds are plunged deeper into unnecessary debts. A living wage payslip won’t go straight into the back pockets of workers; it simply allows them to make ends meet.

As things stand, the tax-payer and generous tippers subsidise low-paying em-ployers. Tax credits for some low-paid workers may bring them up to a decent level of

income, but the government’s role is not to top up the wag-es of the employed! In 2010, the Institute for Fiscal Stud-ies calculated that giving every private sector worker a living wage would increase earnings by around £12 bil-lion, and generate £6 billion in higher tax revenues for the government.

It has been argued that

no change in their actual in-comes, as a Living Wage may simply mean they pay more taxes, or may disqualify them from tax credits. However, studies have shown the posi-

-ple who pay more taxes feel they have contributed more to society. A person will feel prouder if they do not have to have their wages topped up with tax credits. Moreo-ver, an independent study of

paid the living wage in Lon-don found that it had improve the quality of the workforce, with absenteeism falling by

25 per cent. If low-paid work-ers, who usually work fright-fully long hours and awkward shift times, are paid a higher

less hours, freeing up time to spend with their families.

The really great news is that a living wage is unlikely

-ment, despite concerns being raised by some. Similar fears were raised in 1999 with the introduction of the National Minimum Wage. However,

-

after it was introduced. In fact, since 1999, the Nation-al Minimum Wage has risen

-tion and yet there is still no evidence to suggest that this rise has cost jobs.

Citizens UK have been campaigning for a living wage since 2001, and have made fantastic progress, peacefully pestering CEOs, attending company AGMs and inform-

outside Whitehall. In the pro-cess, they won a few people

round to their way of think-ing.

KPMG have managed -

ing wage without incurring higher costs. In fact, so did Deloitte, PwC, Preston Coun-cil, Lloyds London, Samuel Rhodes School, LSESU, Ca-pacity Global, Herbert Smith and many more. As a direct result, these employers who have paid their entire work-force a living wage have lift-ed over 15,000 families out of poverty.

Boris Johnson is a big fan of the living wage. In fact, the living wage campaign has recently been picked up by Ed Miliband and the La-bour Party, but it is this cur-rent government that needs to act. The coalition’s pledge to get Britain back to work and rid the country of its sup-

won’t function when people who are working aren’t earn-ing enough to live. It’s time to bring the living wage to the forefront of the agenda.

The case for a living wageArguing that this issue should be at the forefront of UK political agenda

Adam Wright

10 13.11.2012 | The BeaverComment

November marks the start of Islamophobia Awareness Month, a national campaign by prominent British cam-paigners set up to tackle and reverse the increase in anti-Muslim sentiment and hate. It’s about time. Many authorities on Islamopho-bia will cite a Runnymede Trust report from 1997 as the start of an acknowl-edgement that Muslims in Europe and the U.S. in particular were beginning to face discrimination pri-marily due to the fact they were Muslim. But what fol-lowed in the next decade would have surprised even the most cynical author of that report.

The 9/11 attacks on the United States and the en-suing “war on terror” insti-gated an increasingly nega-tive portrayal of Muslims in the mainstream media, where the seven most com-mon adjectives to describe Muslims were to become: radical, fanatic, fundamen-talist, extremist, militant, moderate and evil. Such a narrative can only cause fear, division and hate, and that is where we are today. 44.7 per cent of the British public believe there are too many Muslims in the UK, over 60 per cent feel Islam is incompatible with British values and only 25 per cent feel positively about Islam.

Anti-Muslim hate, be it a physical attack against a young woman wearing a headscarf, a criminal act of damage against a mosque or the desecration of a Muslim grave, are all direct consequences of a sense of fear and suspicion achieved through the often cynical and negative portrayal of Islam and Muslims. This is why it is so important that Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment are tack-led head on by those of us who understand the causal link between sentiment and hate.

What’s even more reveal-ing is the mis-match between how non-Mus-lims perceive Muslims and how Muslims perceive them-selves. 83 per cent are proud to be a Brit-ish citizen, compared to 79 per cent of the general pub-lic. 77 per cent of Muslims strongly identify with Brit-ain while only 50 per cent of the wider population do. 86.4 per cent of Muslims feel they belong in Britain, slightly more than the 85.9 per cent of Christians. 82 per cent of Muslims want to live in diverse and mixed neighbourhoods compared to 63 per cent of non-Mus-lim Britons.

Why the mismatch? Well, the answer is quite simple;

it’s the narrative. The only way to overcome this unfair and marginalising depic-tion of Muslims is for the narrative to change and for portrayals of Muslims to be in line with reality, not the subject of a sometimes sen-sationalist, somewhat irra-tional and often perverted tirade against Muslims by some prominent commenta-tors in the mainstream me-dia.

Muslims are largely proud citizens of Britain and, in my opinion con-tribute massively to this

country. It’s time the ha-tred against them was chal-lenged robustly by us all and in the same fervour we would if that same hate was directed against any other racial or religious minority.

To those who see Is-lamophobia as a problem

on the far-right like the BNP and the EDL, groups which routinely target Muslims, the statistics which demonstrate the widespread nature of anti-Muslim sentiment among the British public speak for

themselves. Islamophobia has also penetrated main-stream politics across Eu-rope. Geert Wilders’ anti-Muslim party, the PVV, is the third-largest party in the Netherlands. Wilders compares the Qur’an to Mein Kampf and publicly advocates for the mass deportation of Dutch Mus-lims. Switzerland’s largest political party has banned minarets and in France, Marine Le Pen’s Front Na-tional, on an anti-Muslim platform, received between eighteen and twenty per

cent of the vote in the country’s most re-cent Pres-i d e n t i a l election.

C l o s e r to home, I s l a m o -phobia in

Britain is an increasingly worrying trend for many of us who want to live in an inclusive society, and while mainstream political parties and MPs hardly in-dulge in the rhetoric that has poisoned Dutch and French politics, successive governments have not done enough to challenge the extent of the problem and in many ways have helped foster suspicion of Mus-lims. There are signs this is slowly changing although the relics of New Labour policies, continued under

the coalition government, have had a huge impact on British Muslims. One of these is the government’s PREVENT agenda, a prob-lematic “counter-extrem-ism” strategy with a heavy focus on universities, col-leges and student groups. It is up to us as students to resist the agenda and make it clear that treating Mus-lim students as suspects is not okay.

One of the great strengths of the LSE is our incredibly rich and diverse student body. Our ability to work together against at-tacks on individual groups on campus has inspired students across the coun-try. Our response to Islam-

campus, will be one of the greatest social challenges of a generation. It’s only right that we as students come together and use this

against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.

The LSE Students’ Un-ion as part of Islamophobia Awareness Month is proud to be hosting:

Exhibition on Islamopho-bia in the Quad (Monday November 19th – Friday 23rd)

Launch event in the Quad on Tuesday Novem-ber 20th at 6pm with Dr Leon Moosavi (University of Liverpool) and Myriam Francois-Cerrah (Journal-ist and Academic).

Islamophobia Awareness Month

Mohamed Harrath

Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir,

Last week, you published an open letter from representatives of unions within LSE to Craig Cal-houn, objecting to information that had been included on recent payslips about discounted private

not, in any way, imply that the School has a position on the relative merits of the NHS and private providers.

As with many universities in the UK, LSE has negotiated a group discount rate for private medical

-

was sent to communicate a change in the administration of the discount scheme.

I appreciate, though, that the payslip is a powerful communication tool and we will be mindful of this when considering adding a message in the future. It would not, however, be appropriate for

-

Chris GoslingHR Director, LSE

11CommentThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

On November 6th, the voters of Colorado and Washington passed land-mark bills that legalised cannabis for recreational use, the first time this has been done anywhere in the world. These new laws mark the culmination of a period of intense shift in the public perception of the planet’s most common illegal drug. The liberal at-titudes of a modern Ameri-can electorate look set to pass more cannabis legis-lation in the near future. Humorously, in New York City, there is a larger fine imposed on someone who sells a 16-oz soda than there is on someone who is carrying an ounce of cannabis. While America’s experience of cannabis is different – the “War on Drugs” and its brutal links with Mexican cartels is far more violent and pub-lic than the comparatively amateurish underworld associated with cannabis smuggling is in the UK – we have relatively similar cultural values and norms. So, while our younger cousins are busy legalis-ing cannabis, I think it is worth considering wheth-er we should follow suit.

The crux of the ar-gument is nowadays no longer centred on old hip-pies wishing to return to their guitar-playing days of hallucinogenic drugs and casual sex, but on eco-nomics and morality. My argument for legalisation is simple, but first must start with a dismissal of the hysteria surrounding negative health effects of using cannabis. Medical research has not shown a definite link between reg-ular cannabis consumption and decreased life expec-tancy. Anyone who tries to tell you that cannabis is as dangerous as tobacco, or kills as many people as al-cohol, is relying on rheto-ric and fabrication. This is not to say there are no health problems that arise from cannabis consump-tion – paranoia and schiz-ophrenia do occur, but in

such rare incidences that it does not make sense to criminalise on that basis. It would be tantamount to criminalising bananas, be-cause some clumsy people occasionally slip if their skins are left on the floor.

While I’m debunking common myths, there is no medical basis for the term

“cannabis addict.” Addic-tion creates physical with-drawal symptoms – evident in regular users of heroin, cocaine and tobacco – but the properties of the c a n n a -bis plant don’t have this ef-fect on the brain. Cannabis is only addictive to the ex-tent that chocolate, shoe shopping or texting is. You may not enjoy it, but you don’t have physi-cal withdrawal symptoms – muscle spasms, vomit-ing and diarrhoea – when you give up chocolate for lent. Therefore, it is only possible to make the medi-cal argument for cannabis restriction on very tenu-ous grounds, and those doing so usually rely on a

bad personal experience or other anecdotes, which are ridiculous pieces of evidence to use when dis-cussing government policy.

Furthermore, from the Office of National Statis-tics, “Deaths involving cannabis were very low (seven deaths in 2011) and usually involved more

than one substance.” As a comparison point, rough-ly 100,000 people died in 2011 from cigarette use, and 10,000 from alcohol. I would posture that more

people are killed in gang and crime related violence associated with the drugs trade than in the consump-tion itself, and a system whereby we moved the market from criminals to the government is likely to diminish the reach of drug gangs. The “War on Drugs” has been an un-mitigated disaster, and le-galising cannabis would be

admitting this - an unlikely action for any politician with a self-preservation in-stinct - but as a country it is time we stop supporting costly operations that do little to stop drug supply and harm innocent people every year.

A second argument for cannabis legalisation, and

one that is considered far less often, is the econom-ic revenue that a tax on the drug could bring in for the government. Law-makers in Colorado plan

to use the tax income to build new schools – money will also be used to edu-cate the popula-tion about drug use and abuse. The UK cannabis market is valued around £4 bil-lion (there are

obvious difficulties meas-uring the size of an illicit market), but it seems fair to assume that legalisation and taxation would gener-ate revenue of the order of several billion for the government, and take the money out of the hands of gang lords and criminals. On top of the obvious rev-enue from government sales, there would be jobs

created in state-licensed cannabis shops, and there would also be a reduction in policing costs related to drug prohibition. While it would be foolish to say that legalising cannabis is going to be the grand sav-iour of our economy, at a time of brutal budget cuts and self-imposed auster-ity, any additional revenue should be welcomed by the government.

The final argument, which is often advocated by American pro-legalisa-tion groups, is the freedom of adults to do what they want in their own homes. The current restrictions on cannabis use are a form of state paternalism, and it infringes too far into our lives. There are many damaging activities that the state allows – smok-ing, drinking, fast-food consumption, and suicide – just to name a few. To restrict cannabis on the grounds that it harms you is inherently contradic-tory, and even if we take an exaggerated view of the negative externalities of cannabis use, they are no more significant than the externalities from obesity, lung cancer, second hand smoke and drunken behav-iour. John Stuart Mill fa-mously decreed that “lib-erty supersedes safety in terms of actions that affect oneself.” We would do well to heed his advice.

I don’t believe that a world where cannabis is legalised will have dread-locked drug-users strewn across the streets, guz-zling cheesy Wotsits and flunking off work to get high. I think it’ll be a world where adults have more choice, and can smoke a joint with their friends at the weekend if they want to, without the clenched fist of the state hanging over them. But we’ll see. If the Colorado and Washing-ton experience goes well, then we will need to start implementing our own le-galisation policies soon, and start getting with the times.

Welcoming weed on the agenda Ed Szymanski

Why we should get with the times and legalise Britain’s favourite narcotic

Medical research has not shown a definite link between regular cannabis consumption and decreased life expectancy. Anyone who tries to tell you that cannabis is as danger-

ous as tobacco, or kills as many people as al-cohol, is relying on rhetoric and fabrication.

Want to comment on something in the Beaver? If you have an article idea, a Letter to the Editor, or you want to respond to

something you’ve read in the newspaper this week, we’d like to hear from you.

Email comment@thebeaveronline.co.uk

LEAH

GR

EGG

12 13.11.2012 | The BeaverFeatures

Features

One could argue that the only apology uttered by a politician in-office during the past ten years, has been Nick Clegg’s fees-related one; an occasion brilliantly converted into a rap song that became a YouTube sensation. For the genera-tion of the 90s, the only other relevant occasion was Bill Clinton apologizing for his Oval Office debaucher-ies. In contemporary times, one is therefore left with a single example of a leader apologising for not deliver-ing on his promises, while trying to think of a politi-cian who apologised for what he actually did, is even more Herculean. In the con-text of the current EU cri-sis, where states are called upon to mend their spend-ing bonanzas, many citizens are awaiting a ‘mea culpa’ from the leaders and par-ties who rode the wave of uncontrolled ‘allocations’. Citizens are unlikely to hear such humble words from their leaders, and this ar-ticle will argue that they do not deserve it either.

About a month ago, the former Deputy Prime Min-ister of the technocrat Pa-pademos government and one of the oldest members of the PASOK party, Theo-doros Pagkalos, uttered the controversial statement: “We all binged together”. Through this statement, the rather controversial Mr Pag-kalos suggested that the citizens of Greece had to

share the blame along with the politicians instead of dumping everything on the latter, for they had contrib-uted actively to the current mess. Despite of the fact that this man represents, amongst others, everything that is deeply wrong with the Greek political system, he is most probably right. Greece has not been, since the end of the military junta, comparable to Pinochet’s Chile or Mubarak’s Egypt. Unlike the two latter exam-ples, Greek citizens had the opportunity for more than thirty years, to choose be-tween candidates across the political spectrum when, and if, they judged the coun-try to be sidetracking. Spe-

er cannot be singlehandedly held responsible for corrupt or oppressing statal mecha-nisms in Western political systems.

In republics, responsibil-ity is collective because the running of the state is as-signed to individuals elected

Furthermore, the tolerance of illegal or illegitimate prac-tices by a population which banalises deviant civic be-haviour is as condemnable as the practice itself. The newly re-elected President Obama, quoting JFK, said that: “The role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote.” The choices of those electible every four

ally disappointing and only occasionally inspiring, but our civic and democratic du-

ties extend beyond the suf-frage and into our day to day interactions.

nancial echo of the Lehman Brothers bust reached the shores of the Old Continent,

nesses of states as soon as Moody’s, Standard & Poor and Fitch ceased playing the ‘Three Wise Monkeys’.

While Greek citizens are not responsible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac se-curitizing mortgages which could never be repaid, they are to blame for not shield-ing their state and its sys-tem, through their votes and daily practice from negative externalities that always tend to occur. Rephrasing what the masked individual from V for Vendetta so elo-quently and elegantly said: “States are not responsible for their citizens, citizens should be responsible for their states.”

The day 44 per cent of Greeks voters chose to elect George Papandreou, a man they previously called: “Lit-tle George” (Giorgakis) to highlight his perceived in-competency and naivety, they became partially re-sponsible for the impact that his administration would have on their coun-try’s prosperity. And while citizens had the power and the right to protest when Papandreou’s Party voted

randum with the ECB, the EC and the IMF, (unconsti-tutionally according to some legal experts) they only did

when their respective sec-

cuts. A behavior somewhere along the lines of Pastor Niemöller’s poem: “First they came...” Similarly, in the 2008 General Elections, Italians chose Silvio Ber-lusconi for the third time as their Prime-Minister: a jetsetter playboy, media Mo-gul, and owner of AC Milan would comfortably dwell once again in Palazzo Chigi. Although it would be unfair to argue that a nation with a history and culture as rich as Italy’s can be personi-

lusconi, it certainly is not the epitome of Italian Re-publican achievement. One can only imagine what Gari-baldi, Mazzini or Socrates would think of their neigh-boring descendants, if they were to ever lay eyes on ‘Il Cavaliere’ or ‘Little George’ brandishing as elected lead-ers of these two countries.

The vast majority of citi-zens of countries that are now undergoing Structural Adjustment programmes in Europe have a comprehen-sive education, a satisfacto-ry access to information and have developed adequate critical and analytical skills. Eventually no answer along the lines of ‘blame it on our corrupt politicians’ came be uttered as a response to the ‘cognoscere causas’ of a problem as multi-faceted and multi-dimensional as the ongoing crisis. It is to overestimate the capacities of individuals such as Angela Merkel, George Papandreou

(and his father Andreas Pa-pandreou: a man renowned

1980s and 1990s) or Nicolas Sarkozy as being the promi-

our current hardships. Similarily, institutions

such as the European Com-mission, the IMF or the ECB can’t be solely held ac-countable for the distress of Greek, Portuguese and Irish workers, for the former are the process of Institution-building in which Sovereign States have contributed ac-tively, and still do. Both on a community and national level, it is essential to be prepared for situations that arise beyond one’s control but which have an immedi-ate and sometimes calami-

It appears that the gener-ation of the ‘Credit Card’ is learning the hard way how crucial frugality is, and that societal foundations need to be strengthened and en-hanced prior to cyclical

were to be found guilty of embezzling money or other condemnable practices, ret-ribution should follow. How-ever, citizens should be fully aware that retribution alone

ing of those battling to sur-vive the current economic crisis, nor will it ensure the cessation of similar practic-es in the future. The change that our societies require go beyond what the IMF or the ECB might prescribe: it is civic as well as social, rather

A citizen’s responsibility

Georgios Barzoukas

SPIRO

SK PH

OTO

GR

APHY

13FeaturesThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

Circling the square: a new industrial revolutionThe world economy is un-der increasing pressure. We depend on a limited re-source base that can hardly cater for our needs already, yet projections suggest that another billion people will be added to our total population in the next cen-tury. As China and other non-Western nations ma-ture economically, their in-habitants will increasingly aspire to our consumption-driven lifestyle. The Earth cannot sustain humanity at this rate: we are running out of planet. But an idea, (or, more accurately, a col-lection of ideas), exists that may be able to help us de-fend our resource base. It’s not a gimmicky magic bullet product, like biofuel, nor a preachy moral cam-

paign. All it asks you to do is change the way you think. More accurately, it asks you to change the way you think about the things we use.

It is called the circular economy, but it also goes by design to disassemble or cradle to cradle. Several economists, scientists and architects claim to have

basic principle is modelled on nature, it can also be described as being ageless. The argument is breathtak-ingly simple. Our current

manufacturing process is linear, with three basic steps: take, make, and dis-pose. The problem is that we’re running out of prima-ry (natural) inputs to take, and our disposal is polluting and damaging the planet in

We are already trying to de-lay the dispose bit, by recy-cling, which means we get a few more uses out of things. But the circular economy goes beyond that. It wants to get rid of the straight line, and get us thinking in circles.

In nature, waste is food. This is the core principle of circularity. Everything we make, once it has served its purpose, can be an in-put in some process of use to us. The easiest circle to build is harnessing nature by making everything we

possibly can biodegradable, so nature eats it for us. One

is for edible product pack-aging, so you would get a Big Mac in a box that tastes like chips. More complex products would be made of component parts that are useful, so they are taken away and broken down. For example, clothes might be

be melted down and used as fertiliser, or car tyres used as housing insulation (both

of these are totally unscien-

illustrative purposes, by the way).

Things that are techni-cal and even more complex, with lots of parts, may need considerably more atten-tion. Here things get really clever. One idea for higher-end products is the intro-duction of a service econo-my instead of an ownership one. Instead of buying a mo-bile phone, or a washing ma-chine, you buy the service of mobile phone or wash-ing machine provision from a company for a set time. Then when it breaks, or be-comes obsolete, the compa-ny takes it away and gives you a new one. Instead of selling you some crap that breaks after a year (hello, Apple), it’s suddenly in the corporation’s interest to

give you a dependable piece of equipment, so they don’t have to give you a new one every week. Then, at the end of the product’s life, Ap-ple are stuck with 38 million iPhones. It’s hardly in their interest to throw them all away- if they’re built with circularity in mind, a few tweaks, and bingo! iPhone 12! (Though I may have cho-sen poorly, as Apple prob-ably do this anyway). As for that washing machine, it suits Whirlpool or whoever

to break the product down and sell the useful parts.

So there is no one circu-lar answer for all questions, just a brand new set of op-tions that, if well thought through, could be environ-mentally and economically

macro level. Circularity’s second principle is that di-versity is strength: the more ideas there are, the more protected the planet and the economy are. It applies equally to energy produc-tion, which should either be green with no by-products, or in an interesting twist, have useful by-products.

To a hard-headed LSE student, though, this is all unicorns and rainbows. We won’t do it until we have to; it makes no sense to devel-op a design process that un-doubtedly costs more than

the one we already have, right? Supply and demand, etc. Well, not necessar-ily, according to McKinsey, who, in a report commis-sioned by the Ellen Mac-Arthur Foundation, argued that circularity could pro-vide ‘An annual net material cost savings opportunity of up to USD 380 billion in a transition scenario and of up to USD 630 billion in an advanced scenario, looking only at a subset of EU man-ufacturing sectors’. This is

because right now, resource inputs are directly connect-ed to revenue, but resource costs are high and growing, and expose companies to the volatility of commodity prices. Circularity breaks this link- who wants their business to be at the mercy of speculators? So maybe this is an idea you can in-vest in when you land that dream job at the Goldman Sachs after all.

There are problems, of course. There have been ac-cusations that some of the inventors have been holding too tightly on to the intellec-tual property and thus re-duced the idea’s exposure. The main issue, however, is an intellectual one. De-signers need to understand circularity to make circular products. Companies need to understand circularity

before they can radically alter their business model, and entrepreneurs need to understand it to build new circular businesses. Con-sumers need to understand circularity so they start fa-vouring circular products over linear ones. Academ-ics need to understand cir-cularity so they can start researching it. Will the cir-cular economy really throw the world a lifeline? There’s

Sam Barnett

JUSTH

UG

O

14 13.11.2012 | The BeaverFeatures

This past Sunday November 11, people from all over the UK and the Commonwealth fell silent at the eleventh hour to remember the dead and fallen who fought so bravely since the First World War. Why we celebrate this day is (I thought) obvious; to mourn the incomprehensibly staggering numbers of men and women

since World War I. This is done by the donning of memorial poppies and by taking some time out of one’s day on the 11th to remember those who

Two years ago, I traveled

to see the dimpled and still

World War, the dishearten-ingly long stretches of Juno, Sword, and Omaha beach-es, and the grand monu-ments and memorials dedi-cated to the ‘glorious dead.’

Spreading to the horizon, the perfectly arranged white crosses for the French, white tombstones for the Common-wealth, and black crosses for the Germans brought home the sheer magnitude of the

The numbers such as 60,000 (the number of casualties

-tle of the Somme) suddenly personalised and became far more meaningful–and tragic.

I do not pretend that all, or even a large percentage, of these men died for my freedom even if that may have been

In fact, I imagine that most of them were socialised into fervent nationalism, cun-ningly persuaded, lied to, or

-ing, for purposes our repre-sentatives, rightly or wrongly, deemed higher than them.

These days, of course, I imagine that most soldiers in a volunteer force have a genu-

in the causes our leaders en-gage in. I also believe I have

a right to live free from terror and others’ a right to live free from the tyranny of, say, the Taliban or Saddam Hussein.

However, the reason why I wear the poppy and fall si-lent on the eleventh hour is neither because I believe our

war nor because of a fervent patriotism for my native coun-try, Canada, but because it is an absolute tragedy so many killed and were killed. We are, after all, only primates living on some rock in an obscure corner of the universe. In this sense, war is ultimately un-necessary and always a trag-edy. Nevertheless, tyranny oc-curs and some forms of it are worse than others (take Nazi

A line is drawn and, however undesirable, a choice must made. It seems to me the only viable one is to stick with the lesser of two evils, and not

die in asserting that choice. I -

ain was an Empire in 1914 it is not now. The poppy is as much about remembering the fallen of the past as those of today.

In light of this, it seems clear this day deserves the greatest reverence.

This is why I was so sur-prised to see so few at the LSE wearing the poppy on the 11th and so few attend the memori-al service in the Shaw library.

Trying to rationalise this, I have concluded that there are three groups of people at the LSE who choose not to remember.

-tional students who come from places that were not, or were only tenuously, connected to

Their ignorance is under-standable and, for the most part, forgivable. After all, I do not celebrate, nor feel I should, the Chinese day of remembrance, for example.

On the other hand, I do not reside within China’s borders and, as such, do not enjoy direct

The second group are

those from the Common-wealth but for whatever rea-son are uncaring or ignorant. The best of them might, for intellectual reasons, reject the idea of the Poppy (as my

recognise the sombre tone of the 11th. It is, after all, the anniversary of an armistice.

This level of basic respect -

mates from the third group, also hailing from the Com-monwealth. The third group is composed of those who active-ly resist Remembrance Day.

The website of the Socialist Workers’ Party - whom, I’m as-suming because of their vex-ing presence on campus and in Starbucks, form the politi-cal background of most of the

-stention to the poppy through equating it to a celebration of imperialism (and prob-ably investment banking too).

Anti-imperialism and anti-

war might be noble campaigns, but the day and the poppy are not, nor have they ever pre-tended to be, a celebration of imperialism, empire, and war.

It is to remember the young men and women that have committed and been on the receiving end of in-conceivable, but coldly real, actions. It is hard to escape the political connection but Day is far more about the individual tragedies, so im-mense they outweigh every-thing else. To use the event to obnoxiously encourage that inevitable global revolu-tion is insulting as it is stupid.

I can only express the ut-most frustration to see the third group mock those who protect them while they sleep. I defend their right to dissent, yet this right only

groups, I can only suggest one empathise with the

men and women who have given far more than any-body should to the Common-wealth in which we reside.

Place yourself in the shoes of a seventeen year old man in this city 98 years ago or in the shoes of the men and women currently serving overseas, prepared to kill and die with the, unin-tended or not, consequence of protecting this imperfect

(even in 1914) by its race or religion but by a set of noble ideas. We would not be worthy of calling our-selves academics if we did not question the leaders and debate the history but we are not worthy of call-ing ourselves compassion-ate (or indeed logically con-sistent) if we do not honour

sustain(ed) the society we currently reside. And this is why we wear the poppy.

LAU

REN

CAT

HY

TUR

NER

Remembrance day and its importanceMarshall Palmer

15FeaturesThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

“And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and work-ing with leaders of both par-ties to meet the challenges we can only solve together.”

Fine words, Mr President. But bipartisan compromise is just as unlikely to happen in the coming four years, per-haps even less so – for this

in the fact an embattled presi-dent campaigning on shaky grounds managed to survive, but that it was a Republican moderate who was decisively defeated on election night. Romney may have pandered and U-turned and twisted his words on whim but at the end of it all he is no Rick Perry or Paul Ryan, and it is this growing shadow of Repub-lican extremism which will threaten to divide America more than it has already done.

The marks of this collapse of the moderate Republican faction are clear – Jon Hunts-man Jr., all but ignored dur-ing the Republican primaries

kicked out by the conserva-tive faction of his own party following his criticism that the GOP needed to do more in bipartisan compomise; Mitt Romney, who does not even have Massachusetts or a po-litical position to return to; the

Ryan who, in contrast, will re-turn to his seat in the House of Representatives as one of the most far-right Vice Presi-dential candidates in Ameri-can history with a greatly

wise, Rick Perry is set to seek re-election to the position of Governor of Texas, while Mi-chelle Bachmann managed to retain her seat in the House of Representatives. Centrism is a forgotten voice in the Re-publican Party; fanatics and Tea Party activists abound.

It is therefore worrying to see President Obama extend such invitations for collective action to the Republican Party itself – if anyone could have

wing, it would have been the President. They did not have to see eye to eye or agree on even a single piece of legisla-tion, but at least they would have been open to negotia-tion, debate, compromise – elements that are distinctly removed from the growing core of hardliners who would gladly bring America to a standstill simply to ensure a greater chance of conserva-tive victory in 2016 by pin-ning the blame for failure to progress on Obama. Older, grayer – but how much wiser? If his victory speech is to be taken at face value, his belief in the potential for a ‘grand

compromise’ between the parties as a whole is naïve.

Commentators have spo-ken of a civil war within the Republican Party – but such a war is long over, with a dwin-dling moderate faction now decisively defeated and with no apparent means of regain-ing ground within the GOP itself. What does this mean for America? Firstly, the up-

to result in the same kind of heart attack that happened with the threat of govern-ment shutdown during budget talks in 2011. If past trends of Republican behavior in the House of Representatives is any indicator, right-wing ex-

tremists in Congress would quite happily drive the United States right up to the edge of disaster, agree on a limited compromise and then blame the President for refusing to engage in bipartisan talks.

It may well be true that Obama cannot compromise – but what does compromise mean when one is dealing with an increasingly right-wing Re-publican party? The Presi-dent once again spoke of sit-ting down with Mitt Romney to discuss where they could “work together to move this country forward”; once again, it is crucial to remember Rom-ney is not representative of the makeup of the Republican

Party, and will be remembered within his party for his defeat.

The path ahead for Obama is grim, beset by restricted choices and hostile Republi-cans ready to pounce on any error, genuine or perceived. If there was any hope of break-ing the partisan deadlock in Congress, it evaporated with the fall of moderate Republi-cans in the GOP and the grow-ing dominance of the Tea Par-ty right. If Obama truly stands for hope, it is little more than the desperate, nerve-wrack-ing hope that Congress does

now envelops Washington.

Dominic Hung

Jack Tindale

In the end, the result was rather limp. For people in-terested in the hyperbole of the rolling news networks, with all their talk of “knife-edge” and “too close to call” and “electoral college tie,” in the end Mr Obama was re-turned to the White House with a fairly thumping major-ity in the Electoral College, something the BBC seems to think is selection by a meet-ing of political science majors.

It is quite clear the Ameri-can people decided to go for a status quo result. Obama be-

Reagan to gain a majority of the popular vote in two elec-

increased legitimacy and a sense that, tepid endorsement or not, the American people still feel that he is the person best suited to serve as Com-mander-in-Chief. Arguably Obama’s victory comes sec-

tyeight fame, who was able to break the will of self-appoint-ed experts via a unique com-bination of mathematics and

truth, but at present, Silver remains an outside bet for the Democratic nomination 2016.

It would be wrong for this correspondent to talk in any more objective ways about the way in which the USA voted.

Irrational love for Robert

nings Bryan aside, there are far more experienced commen-tators around to pass judge-ment on the United States.

the President’s re-election means for British politicians.

The Conservatives and

reasons for quiet optimism and forthcoming dread.

Typically, the main is-sue that the US election was fought over, the economy, will no doubt be at the centre of attention in the General Elec-tion of 2015. David Cameron will be considering the fact that the President was re-election with a the highest rate of unemployment since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 alongside similarly anemic growth-rates. Short of priva-tising Scotland, there is lit-tle sign that wage packets will have recovered to their

pre-credit crunch highs, yet, should the prevailing view be that the economy has rounded a corner, Obama has demonstrated that an in-cumbent can win election.

It represents a clear sign of hope for Mr Cameron, who has already seen Sarkozy, Za-patero and Berlusconi fall to the endemic malaise within European society. Obama’s victory, shows that “steady as she goes” may yet win the day, although it should be noted that the US econ-omy is three per cent larger than when Mr Obama en-tered office in 2008. The UK

on, Obama’s victory rep-resented a comparative rebuck to the Tory Right.

Within hours of Mr Rom-ney’s concession speech, Sen-

Carolina, hardly a moderate, publicly denounced those who accused him of “not being conservative enough” as es-sentially living in cloudcuck-ooland. Whilst all wings of the Republican Party lost out on election night, the message to the GOP right, especially

represented by such such il-lustrious ambassadors such as Todd Akin and Allen West must be that America has fundamentally progressed from the Culture War era.

Mr Cameron would do well to point out to his party that, whilst British voters retain similar view to their American cousins regarding

both nations are far more progressive than the centre-right would care to admit.

Gay marriage may not win any votes for the Prime Minister, but dropping it would certainly lose some.

may take some solace from the fact that, in appealing to the middle-ground, Obama has presented a blueprint for Ed Miliband emerging victorious as Prime Minister in just over two years time.

The President has certainly governed rather more to the centre than his winning coali-tion may have liked, but it was interventionist bail-outs of the auto industry that secured his victory in Ohio, a stimulus package that began the trou-bled economic recovery and

an open mind on social re-forms that shored up his sup-port amongst minority voters.

In many respects, the President helped to deliver

bour submitted to the country back in 2010, a manifesto that Mr Miliband co-authored.

The President also ensured victory thanks to a ground-game that was far ahead of his somewhat out-modelled opponents, who saw their cherished “Project Orca” fail miserably, with poorer direc-

ple Maps. President Obama led the way in the use of so-

election, this time, it was the energy and commitment of volunteers that main-tained a formula for victory.

develop existing strengths in voting rolls, activist in-volvement and consolidation of the “town hall” method of word-of-mouth endorse-ments, then it bodes well for Mr Miliband standing on the threshold of Downing Street.

Of course, one should not

Obama’s re-election and its lessons

16 13.11.2012 | The BeaverFeatures

270 TO WINDEMOCRATS // OBAMA

AMERICA VOTES

SENATE

DEMOCRATS: 53 SEATS

REPUBLICANS: 45 SEATS

INDEPENDENT: 2 SEATS

OBAMA 332ROMNEY 206

OTHER CANDIDATESLIBERTARIAN // GARY JOHNSON 0.97%GREEN // JILL STEIN 0.34%CONSTITUTION // VIRGIL GOODE 0.09% JUSTICE // ROCKY ANDERSON 0.03%

17FeaturesThe Beaver | 13.11.2012

270 TO WIN REPUBLICANS // ROMNEY

AMERICA VOTES A BEAVER GRAPHICS BREAKDOWN

SWING STATESVIRGINIA 50.8% 47.8%FLORIDA 50.0% 49.2%OHIO 50.1% 48.2%NEW HAMPSHIRE 52.2% 46.4%

N. CAROLINA 50.6% 48.4% INDIANA 53.4% 43.8%

WON BY OBAMA

WON BY ROMNEY

DEMOGRAPHICSHISPANIC VOTERS 71% 27%BLACK VOTERS 93% 6%WHITE VOTERS 59% 39% FEMALE VOTERS 55% 44%

MALE VOTERS 52% 45%WHITE CATHOLIC 59% 40% WHITE EVANGELICAL 78% 21% NON-RELIGIOUS 70% 26%

KEY PROPOSITIONSLEGALISED MARIJUANA PASSED IN COLORADO, WASHINGTON AND FAILED IN OREGONGAY MARRIAGE PASSED IN WASHINGTON, MARYLAND AND MAINE REMOVAL OF DEATH PENALTY FAILED IN CALIFORNIALABELLING OF GMO FOOD FAILED IN CALIFORNIAREMOVAL OF RACIST LANGUAGE IN STATE CONSTITUTION FAILED IN ALABAMA

OTHER CANDIDATESLIBERTARIAN // GARY JOHNSON 0.97%GREEN // JILL STEIN 0.34%CONSTITUTION // VIRGIL GOODE 0.09% JUSTICE // ROCKY ANDERSON 0.03%

HOUSE

DEMOCRATS: 195 SEATS

REPUBLICANS: 234 SEATS

6 UNDECLARED AT TIME OF PRINT

WISCONSIN 52.8% 46.1%COLORADO 51.2% 46.5%IOWA 52.1% 46.5%NEVADA 52.3% 45.7%

18 13.11.2012 | The BeaverAdvert

The Beaver 13.11.2012

PartB19

TELEVISIONREVISITED~ STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

FILMKEEP THE LIGHTS ON

MUSICRUN JACK RUN

13.11.2012 PartB

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival with much critical success, Ira

Sachs’ semi-autobiographical feature can be described as many things: an audaciously intimate portrayal of a long-term relationship from its ex-huberant beginning to bitter-sweet end; an ethnographical account of New York gay com-munity at the turn of the mil-lenia; a refreshing take on the addiction narrative where the subject is neither condoned nor condemned; and more. At the heart of it all, howev-er, Keep The Lights On tells a very simple story, that of two individuals fortunate enough

the end, turns out to be.

duces Erik (Thure Lindhart),

director who invests the hope of artistic recognition into his long-gestating documen-tary on late Avery Willard, a post-WWII gay experimental

his bed, the man dials up a landline in search of a sexual partner for the night. ‘Good-looking, muscular.. six-and-a-half inches, uncut’, he de-scribes his appearance to a stranger in a well-rehearsed seductive tone. Paul (Zachary Booth), on the other hand, is a conventionally handsome

lar and shirt tucked in, he

bourgeoisie. When the two

lit hotel room, he succintly in-forms Erik, ‘I actually have a girlfriend, so don’t get your hopes up’. Little do they know that this heterosexual façade would be the least of their concerns.

Paul’s drug use spirals from

a romantic bonding experi-ence into a catalyst for argu-ments, into days, and then weeks of untrackable disap-pearances. For once, the seemingly upstanding citizen, instead of the struggling art-ist, is a drug addict. Rehab is followed by relapse, one after the other. Eight years go by. More and more, letting go of one another appears to be the only sensible option.

But is Paul’s drug addiction solely to blame? Sachs exam-ines that question with a calm, insightful perceptiveness, only achievable through the

is, of course, based on the real relationship between the di-rector himself and Bill Clegg, prodigal son of New York lit-erary scene, who had, in suc-cession, established his own publishing agency, left it for a two-month crack binge with male prostitutes in boutique hotels both sides of the atlan-tic, lost his apartment, clients, boyfriend, savings, ended up in rehab, had a triumphant return with a confessional memoir suitably titled ‘Por-trait of an Addict as a Young Man’, and that was two years ago. Earlier this year, the By-

other memoir—‘Ninety Days’ —which refers to his less than successful attempt at staying

a milestone for those in re-covery. One can only imagine the sheer amount of instabil-ity being involved with such a larger-than-life personal-ity would entail. If anything, the fact that Keep the Lights

On did not turn into furi-

melodrama is an ultimate tes-tament to Sachs’ artistic in-tegrity. Instead, what we get is a level-headed introspec-

tion, sensitively delivered in

tionalised form, with a touch of palpable self-restraint at every step.

presence of colourful, vividly drawn peripheral characters. This includes an elderly in-terviewee who laments the disintegration of the homosex-ual community, an adorably narcissistic bodybuilder who possesses an English degree, and a Russian art student who promises Erik dinner, whose cameos demonstrate the diversity within a subcul-ture which, since its coming out in the 1970s, has largely been perceived through the distorted lens of outdated ste-reotypes, and until recently, relegated to the margin of society so that their alleg-

tive and later literal, does not threaten the established so-cial order. Still, Sachs handles this ethnographical aspect of

throughout, allowing it to en-

of overwhelm it.Lindhart is perfectly casted

for the role. His low-key, un-assuming, ghostly demea-nor further accentuates the uncertainty with which his

relatively high-pitched voice, occasionally rising during mo-ments of emotional intensity,

gives him a particular childish quality, conveying strength and vulnerability simultane-ously. Booth registers less impression than his roman-tic opposite. Perhaps that is

Sachs’ decision to channel the fragmented narrative through Erik is meant to be imitative of memories, and mimics the way in which one experiences the world—through a narrow, disjointed point-of-view where the internal truth of another person always remains out of reach. Still, one cannot help but think that a more thor-ough character examination of Erik, given what we know of his real-life counterpart—paradox of propriety and decadence, dual drives of sex and death, embodiment of ex-tremes—could yield an even more impressive story.

Nevertheless, Keep The

Lights On is a tremendous piece of art in its own right. Filmed in hues earthy orange and biege, the cinematogra-phy emphasises the intensely physical, almost primal, qual-ity of this passionate dance of romantic codependence. Most importantly, Ira Sachs has joined the pantheon of those who have successfully turned their pain and yearning into art, where its beauty can be forever preserved.

Josh Jinruang

EDITORSPartBVENESSA CHANJOSH JINRUANGpartb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

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Private BGINGER WHOREBYprivateb@thebeaveronline.co.uk

TheatreLAURENCE VARDAXOGLOUtheatre@thebeaveronline.co.uk

TelevisionISABELLA SILVERtv@thebeaveronline.co.uk

Video GamesPHILIP GALLAGHER

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Thure Lindhart and Zachary Booth as a pair of troubled lovers in Ira Sach's critically acclaimed drama, Keep the Lights On.

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IN CINEMAS NOW

Director

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Run time

The Beaver 13.11.2012

LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD

a.k.a. ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS14 NOVEMBER

BARBICAN CENTRELouis Malle directs the

phenomenal Jeanne Moreau

Nouvelle Vague movement.

Moreau plays a woman who

conspires with her lover to

murder her husband. But

is the result.

ALPSUNTIL 15 NOVEMBER

RENOIR CINEMAYorgos Lanthimos's eagerly

Dogtooth is

gymnast and her coach have

Lanthimos serves up another

settling drama and delicious

ambiguity.

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

16-17, 23 NOVEMBERBFI SOUTHBANK

Carrying his mordant vision

and shooting almost entirely

ic. An ambitious press agent

Sweet Smell of Successcold noir. AMOUR

FROM 16 NOVEMBERCURZON SOHO

to cope when a stroke leaves

sudden and inexorable erosion

FRITZ LANG'S M19 NOVEMBERBFI SOUTHBANK

81 years later as possibly the

best crime thriller ever. It is

a compelling character study

THIS WEEK IN FILM

21

STUD

IO G

HIBLI

BFI SOU

THBA

NK

MY NEIGHBOUR TOTOROL My Neighbour Totoro is a tender

bour Granny warned them

curious sisters do not scare

easily. When they discover the

laughter.

is not portrayed as something

common in the Hollywood

we—well used to associating

big strange creatures with

dren's tale is anticipated but

the story allows the audience

to indulge their inner child

creatures and situations with

result is an approachable and

My Neighbour Totoro is simple

grounded by the absence and

the tension is palpable. Hiyao

end with all loose ends neatly

My Neighbour Totoro

stead it seems to suggest that

are enough to pull through

lations.

My Neighbour Totoro

dio Ghibli's imaginative and

whimsical animation is done

TO BE RELEASED ON BLU-RAY

12 November 2012

Director Hiyao Miyazaki

Writer Hiyao Miyazaki

Run time 86 minutes

Year 1988

Country Japan

ARTIFIC

IAL EYE

BLUE D

OLPH

IN FILM

DISTRIBU

TUTIO

N

KINO

LORBER

BARBIC

AN

CEN

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13.11.2012 PartB22

Each week we catch up with

a PuLSE DJ and see what they

have to say for themselves.

NEILAY & KABIRpost_Rushmore

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA? Counting clocks in a puddle of sin. Post-geography, some-where before time.

3 TRACKS WE WILL HEAR?1. I Ain't Got The Time by Navid Izadi2. Smoke A Sac by DJ Paul and Juicy J3. Show Me Love by Robin

ONE REASON WHY WE SHOULD TUNE IN?If we are allowed to say 'shit', we're like some George Lucas pre-Anakin type shit.

If we are not allowed to say 'shit', we just said we'd be playing Robin. C'mon son.

IF YOUR SHOW WAS A TUBE STATION WHICH ONE AND WHY? We're more similar to Heath-row knaa'mean..

WHEN?Thursdays 1-2pm every week! (8am for the EST homies) (#represent)

So there you have it, tune in

to Neilay and Kabir's show

every Thursday at www.pul-selse.co.uk for what promises

to at least be positively early

Emir Nader

LSE student Arun Blair-Man-

gat is part of the RnB/Hip-

hop duo Run Jack Run with

his brother Nari. We talked to

him about their music, the in-

dustry and studying history at

the LSE.

HOW WOULD YOU DE-SCRIBE RJR’S SOUND?My brother and I come from completely different musi-cal backgrounds; my brother grew up listening to a lot of hip-hop and I was always in-fluenced by soul and mow-town, and then into kind of pop—and I love rock. I guess initially finding our feet soni-cally at first was an… interest-

ing process, but now it’s much more cohesive: it’s RnB/Hip-hop.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE IN A BAND WITH YOUR BROTH-ER?It’s really crucial to have an honest relationship with someone that you’re going to be working with like this. So I can say ‘that was terrible’ or ‘that’s awful’. I’m probably a little bit more blunt, he’s al-ways telling me off, but it’s better to be direct.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LATEST VIDEO ‘LIGHT UP THE SKY'.

So, the beat was probably made… maybe five years ago? But this one still strikes a chord, we were like ‘that sounds fresh—that still soundsgood!’ So we just kind of brought it back into the now, in terms of ‘beat-wise’, be-cause it had had a different beat originally. I guess we wanted to write something about us, and be very truth-ful. So we make music in our bedroom studio, and we are brothers and we’re trying to do everything by ourselves, independently. It’s important to put out positive messages. I think it’s almost harder to make something that’s a lit-

tle bit more positive, and not necessarily a euphoric dance tune like ‘YEAAH WAAOOOW-WW!!!’

DO YOU SEE THE RESHAP-ING OF THE MUSIC INDUS-TRY IN THE PAST DECADE AS A CHALLENGE OR OP-PORTUNITY FOR EMERG-ING ARTISTS?I think it’s really actually em-powering that it’s become so fractured, because there are now so many routes. There’s more power to the people for sure, so people can trump an artist. I mean, if you look atDrake he released a mixed-tape a few years back, and

that just blew up—he is the epitome of what a new artist can be. There wasn’t necessar-ily Song or Columbia or EMI pushing this person by. He’s got integrity, and a sound that is very relatable to the new generation, and he hasn’t sold out—which is really cool. And I have no qualms with people making commercial music, at all, it is a music business for a reason. It is important to champion new talent, other-wise there won't be anything.

WHY ARE YOU STUDYING HISTORY AT THE LSE?I want to do as much as I can in this life. I have a lot of in-terests and I really enjoy life itself—like the world. I think I’d go a little bit crazy if I sole-ly focused on music. Because I’ve been so interested in mu-sic from such a young age, more than just listening to it as a release, or listening to it to enjoy. So it’s nice to be able to do other things, like learn-ing about the world, because that’s enriching my mind and making me able to put every-thing into context.

DOES STUDYING HISTORY MAKE MUSIC SEEM TRIVI-AL ON ANY LEVEL?It’s actually made me think the opposite. Music is so uni-versal—I think with all these horrendous and sometimes wonderful things that have happened in modern history, music is so empowering. I know what you mean, but for me it’s the opposite. There are all these divisions, where the world is always going to be crazy and unequal and unjust, and I just feel that music can unite.

Check out Run Jack Run (RJR) at runjackrun.com. Download Light Up The Sky at soundcloud.com/runjackrun, and you can visit their YouTube channel at you-tube.com/rjrofficial.

Tom Barnes

a chat with ! of RUN JACK RUN

THE PULSE LIST

DJ PA

UL ELSTA

K

Brothers Arun and Nari Blair-Mangat of the duo Run Jack Run

DJ Paul Elstak

The Beaver 13.11.2012 23

RICH

MIX

POETRYSpoken word has come into its own as a legitimate poetic form. Originially popularised by the 1960s African-American Civil Rights movement, and later adopted by college students engaged in postmodern live performance arts, it has become an inclusive medium for self-expression and social commentary. Here are some upcoming spoken word poetry events at Rich Mix, Bethnal Green, for your calendar.

CINEPOEM22 NOVEMBER

RICH MIX(FREE)

JAWDANCE28 NOVEMBER

RICH MIX(FREE)

MR SANDMANN8 DECEMBER

RICH MIX(£9, £7 STUDENT/CONCS)

ALLSORTZ ALLSTARZ OPEN MIC

21 DECEMBERRICH MIX

(FREE)

TONGUE FU10 JANUARY 2013

RICH MIX(£9, £5 STUDENT/CONCS)

GIGSBRAD MEHLDAU

14 NOVEMBERBARBICAN CENTRE

ESPERANZA SPALDING

15 NOVEMBERROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

RIZZLE KICKS15 NOVEMBER

THE ROUNDHOUSE

SWANS15 NOVEMBER

KOKO

NXI STUDENT NIGHT15 NOVEMBERNEW CROSS INN

LINDSTROM +JOAKIM + NZCA +THE OTHER TRIBE

16 NOVEMBERXOYO

SALTWATER SAMURAI + ECHIDNA

16 NOVEMBERTHE LUXE L IVE

BONOBO (DJ SET)17 NOVEMBER

KOKO

LONDON GYPSY ORCHESTRA

17 NOVEMBERUNION CHAPEL

THE VACCINES + FUCKED UP

17 NOVEMBERBARBICAN CENTRE

MWALIMU EXPRESS18 NOVEMBER

RICHMIX

SNARKY PUPPY18 NOVEMBER

THE MACBETH

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT + KRYSTLE WARREN

18 NOVEMBERHAMMERSMITH APOLLO

GENTLEMEN'S DUB CLUB

20 NOVEMBERHOXTON SQUARE BAR

PASSION PIT20 NOVEMBER

THE FORUM

PURITY RING + DOLDRUMS

20 NOVEMBERSCALA

TOM VEK + BRETON + COVES

21 NOVEMBERTHE GARAGE

WANT TO WRITE FOR MUSIC?

YOU COULD INTERVIEW OR

REVIEW ALBUMS AND CONCERTS!

Submit articles or just get in touch with Emir and Tom at

music@thebeaveronline.co.uk

TONGUE FU @ RICH MIX

Shoreditch’s Rich Mix seems to have estab-lished itself as a bit

of a hub for all things spo-ken word—that’s live poetry, broadly speaking —and Chris Redmond’s Tongue Fu is an enjoyable evening spent lis-tening to a boisterous band accompanied by some witty wordplay (better than allit-eration anyway). The premise for the show is a good one:

take to the stage and recite their work as three musicians fashion a sound based on the words. There are also vaguely relevant images being project-ed onto the back wall—again improvised. Rachel Rose Reid’s enchanting storytell-ing stood out alongside per-formances from Iuna Ellams,

Ferguson.It was a little unfortunate

though that the focal point of the night—the words—were drowned out by a trio of musi-cians intent on making them-selves heard: as soon as one asks to be turned up they all do! Despite each performer

sound to support their poem, the band was insistent on playing what they wanted to.

The poets themselves are not dressed up in tweed, smok-ing pipes or cradling a bottle of red—essentially they’re not your stereotypical bohemian writers. This is a good thing though, people from all kinds

kinds of all other possible fac-tors) stand up on stage and

simply read what they have

Dickens bookend the range of topics covered at Tongue Fu. There seems to always be a great feeling of inclusivity and openness attached to this kind of event; there is never heckling, only support, the performers don’t have an air of superiority but enjoy the words with the masses, and more often than not you don’t even have to pay! It’s kind of like a utopian comedy circuit.

I chanced upon a ‘poet-ry slam’ earlier in the year

Tongue Fu in that the poets take it in turns to compete for judges’ votes—the judges being those audience mem-bers who look at their shoes when the compere asks for volunteers. Perhaps because of the competition, the per-formances at the slam were more sincere, more heartfelt, than those at Tongue Fu; luck-ily male judges were scoring pretty poets noticeably and

lower the tone. The guest ap-pearance from former teacher and Poet Laureate of Peter-borough—I’ve heard it all now —Mark Grist excited the reg-ulars in the crowd. Grist has become somewhat of a pinup for poetry today; his rap bat-tle with teenage MC Blizzard went viral earlier this year, and I would recommend look-ing it up if you haven’t already —although it does get very vi-cious very quickly.

Spoken word lurks some-where beneath theatre, gigs and live arts in general, it’s one of those things that you won’t notice until you start to look for it—and then you won’t be able to escape it. An iceberg makes for a suitable analogy; do feel free to use

ing on a poem about spoken poetry for a spoken poetry evening – you can’t rule any-thing out anymore after hear-ing that Peterborough has a Poet Laureate.

Next on at

RICHMIX

10 January 2013

RICH

MIX

CO

GD

OG

BLOG

13.11.2012 PartB

I have a confession to make: my name is Isabella Silver, and I still miss The West

Wing. It has been six years, and

I still yearn for that witty rep-artee, those long walks down the hallways of the White House, and Martin Sheen’s slight speech impediment and stupid hair. But we have to face facts: it’s never coming back. So, instead, let’s try Stu-dio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the one-season series Aaron Sor-kin made between The West Wing and The Newsroom. It is the only thing that can com-bat W.W.W.—West Wing With-drawal.

Studio 60 ran for one sea-son in 2006, and followed the lives of two TV produc-ers, Matt (Matthew Perry, aka Chandler from Friends) and Danny (Bradley Whitford, aka Josh from The West Wing), as they try to pick up the reigns of a late night comedy-sketch show (think Saturday Night Live, but a lot less funny) when the former host has an on-air meltdown. They strug-gle with office romances, meddling from channel execs and dropping ratings as they try to keep the show afloat.

Really, it’s classic Sorkin: amusing, patronizing and vaguely irritating in equal

measures. Plus, you know, Josh is in it. However, Studio 60’s main failing is that it can never be The West Wing, no matter how hard it tries—and it tries really hard—and the inevitable comparisons are its downfall. It tries extremely hard to be political, with an entire episode dedicated to the War in Afghanistan. Sorkin has chosen the comedy sketch show as the spoon with which to shove his political moral-izing on the state of ‘America today’ down our throats, and the two concepts jar a little. Another fairly gaping problem is that, whilst Sorkin’s dia-logue is as droll as ever, the jokes that are supposedly be-ing used on the comedy show are pretty much lame. Which sort of makes the whole idea that Matt and Danny are these comedy geniuses a bit unbe-lievable.

And yet despite all these flaws, Studio 60 survives as a fantastic show, and this is because of all the moments it stops trying to be the West Wing. The most interesting example of this is the relation-ship between Matt and Har-riet, played by Sarah Paulson. Sorkin creates a believable and heart-breaking on-again off-again relationship, a total

Greek tragedy, which gives the series some real soul, some weight, a backbone. Ig-noring the bullshit about her being a Christian and him be-ing a liberal atheist, there is a truth and a sorrow to their relationship which is both moving and genuine (look out for the two-part episode, ‘The Harriet Dinner’, in par-ticular). Another brilliant part is the character of Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber), TV exec. Originally the villain to the heroic and pure Matt and Danny, Sorkin was forced to develop the character fast as it became clear the show was going to get cancelled. As the show goes on he becomes more nuanced, and you find a sad, work-obsessed man just trying to do his job. You feel sorry for him and you root for him over the self-righteous asses. Despite all his shout-ing, Rudolph turns out to be the most principled and hero-ic of the lot, and the most re-alistic character on the show.

Studio 60 is flawed, and it’s no West Wing, but it has a truth and importance all of its own. And, hey, at least it’s bet-ter than The Newsroom.

Isabella Silver

24

GEEK OUT: NEON GENESIS EVANGELIONIn 1995, the world of anime

was transformed by the broadcast of a broadly typ-

ical show about an unwilling teenage protagonist holding a complex relationship with his estranged father whilst trying to save the world via the com-mon mechanism of a giant ro-bot. After teaming up with two fellow pilots, one stoical, one headstrong, the trio manage to fight off a set of increas-ingly Lovecraftian eldritch abominations, learning about life, love and happiness in the process.

So far, so standard. How-ever, Evangelion is to mecha anime what Twin Peaks was to cop shows. Created by Hide-aki Anno, the mind behind the likes of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Gunbuster, the original series breaks out of a fairly pedestrian setting into a complex study of char-acterisation, with a particular focus on depression, isolation and the pain of human inter-action. Whilst these themes have now become a typical, almost clichéd aspect of many derivative anime, at the time the approach was considered almost revolutionary. Prior to the original showing, only a handful of shows, notably Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the more obscure Space Run-away Ideon, had ever chosen to discuss the psychological damage that placing a super-weapon in the hands of a teen-ager would do. Despite the

outlandish setting, the perils that protagonist Shinji Ikari undergoes is an impressive at-tempt by Anno’s Studio Gain-ax to hold a mirror up to an audience raised on escapism and angst.

Evangelion broadly mir-rors the protagonist with an equally dysfunctional cast. Shinji’s guardian, Misato Kat-suragi, is a woman broken by her experiences during “Sec-ond Impact’, the global cata-clysm that acts at the show’s background. His fellow pilots, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Lang-ley Soryu act as similar foils to such roles, with the former being so passive as to imply a

much darker origin than origi-nally suggested, whilst the latter’s brash and assertive nature is systemically broken down by the final third of the original series’ run.

The show is less about fighting a monster-of-the-week, in this case represented by the guise of the ‘Angels’, seemingly extra-terrestrial beings whose arrival heralds the destruction of the human race, but about the social in-teractions between vulner-able people. As is typical to the genre, we expect the re-lationship between Shinji and Asuka to reach an amicable conclusion, instead, they be-

come even more broken and abusive towards one anoth-er, something that reaches a dreadful denouement by epi-sode twenty. The television series finishes on a cautiously optimistic note, but only after forty minutes of surrealism that subsumes it into a state of confusion. The same can be said for the feature-length End of Evangelion, which acts as the ‘official’ finale, but only after ninety minutes of vio-lence and death.

Anno wrote Evangelion as he was emerging from a peri-od of severe depression, which perhaps explains the erratic episode mood-swings. He also uses the show as a means of criticising his own audience for their obsessive use of the show as escapism. Shinji Ikari is an introverted and cowardly protagonist and the vitriol that he often spawns amongst vari-ous first-time viewers tends to be because he is rather too fa-miliar for comfort. A notorious scene where the protagonist masturbates over a comatose woman was inserted by Anno purely as a reaction against the fetishisation of his female characters. In areas such as this, Anno is to be praised for holding a mirror up to the au-dience and challenging them to rethink their own lives.

Evangelion has suffered from Seinfeld Syndrome. It has created so many tropes, spawned so many derivatives and inspired so many artists

that it almost seems trite to-day. This is a shame. Suc-cessors, such as the likes of RahXephon and Genesis of Aquarion have been impres-sive visually, but the original has yet to be bettered. The animation holds up well, espe-cially considering the fact that Gainax ran out of budget by the time of the final two epi-sodes, something that clearly explains the likes of one par-ticular skit in which two char-acters stand in an elevator for a minute, sans-dialogue.

It seems sensible to revisit the show on the eve of the re-lease of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, the third part of the Rebuild tetralogy and re-imagining of the original program. Although the new films have presented a dif-ferent way of looking at the franchise, helped by a more assertive Shinji, new charac-ters and a sufficient number of callbacks to make obses-sive fans debate the concept of the show being a sequel. In actual fact, it also allows for a more reflective consideration of Evangelion, which remains the one of the most influen-tial cartoons in history, almost twenty years on from the first time audiences were intro-duced to a self-doubting and introverted young boy forced to pilot a huge robot with an horrific secret.

Jack Tindale

NBC

(Clockwise from top) Asuka Langley Soryu, Gendo Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi, Rei Ayan-ami, Shinji Ikari, Misato Katsurahi. (Background) Evangelion Unit-01

REVISITED: STUDIO 60

NBC

SECRET STATEWEDNESDAY 10PM

CHANNEL 4

The second installment of the new four part political drama on C4. Gabriel Byrne plays the Deputy Prime Minister who is forced to take the politi-cal spotlight when the Prime Minister dies under suspicious circumstances. Very exciting, very British.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

THURSDAY 8PM

E4

Yay it’s back! All our lovable geeks are up to their old tricks: Howard’s up in space, still bro-

and his mother; Raj is lonely, and a new bromance blossoms between him and Stuart, the comic book store guy; Penny has issues with being the girl in her relationship with Leon-ard, and Amy is still trying to provoke a human emotion from Sheldon. Hilarity, um, ensues.

TELLY RECS

CH

AN

NEL FO

UR

GA

INA

X

The Beaver 13.11.2012

Precariously perched above Covent Garden’s Jubilee Market, almost

like a vulture with a prefer-ence for vintage dresses and souvenir number-plates, is the latest derivative from the mind of street-food guro Yian-ni Papoutsis. MEATmarket, like its older siblings Meat-wagon and MEATLiquor, spe-cialises as an antidote to the asinine world of GBK or the increasingly tedious Byron, with their multi-page menus and charity tie-ins.

In an attempt to keep the inevitable horde of tourists away, MEATmarket’s entrance has been modelled on the popular ‘Post-Industrial’ style

of design commonly seen in Detroit, Bolton or Chernobyl. Compared to the hodgepodge of faux-Americana inside, the exterior seems barren. A grey doorway on Tavistock Street almost beckons you to stay away from what one would naturally assume to be the service entrance to London Transport Museum, only re-vealing itself to the handful of nosey passers-by who have the gall to walk on the wrong side of the road. Walking up the stairs, you half expect to see a police team with a bat-tering ram.

Thankfully, the air of con-cern is soon replaced by a waft of smoke so greasy that it

almost gives your nostrils cho-lesterol. MEATmarket is less a restaurant, more a bar, with a set of parallel tables sitting so close to a wall of glass panes that any post-meal stretch would leave a careless diner at risk of falling into the atri-um below. A rather concerning mesh has also been stretched over them, apparently in or-der to keep pigeons out. The message seems to be ‘you can now enjoy your meal without

ciding to use your burger as a WC’ which is refreshingly respectable of the manage-

is perfect for people-watch-

ing, so long as the people you want to watch are prune-like old market salesmen. Sadly for foodies possessed of the gift of sight, you may decide order your burgers to go.

Despite the diner-feel, the price is decidedly higher than even the likes of formal es-tablishments such as Sam’s. For the average LSE student, this is not an habitual venue. The bottom-rung ‘Dead Hippy Burger’ with fries costs in ex-cess of £10, and there isn’t a discount for takeaway orders.

This is likely good thing, at least for your health, this is food so guilty that even non-Catholics will feel minded to go to confession. Servings are generous, ‘slab’ is perhaps a better description that burger to be perfectly honest, and the quality of the meat used is exceptional. At times, there is perhaps an overuse of sauces,

the beef used in the signa-ture Philly Cheese-Steak is far higher than the thick mesh of jalapeños would suggest, which is rather a shame, but it is entirely consistent with the ethos of the place.

The only real disappoint-ment are the hotdogs. For £7, the ‘Ripper’ didn’t really live up to expectations. With a soggy bun and an overuse of mustard, it represented a rather poor contrast to those available at the Delaunay

for less money. So, skip the hot-dogs, book

a gym session and MEATmar-

the masses of Covent Garden. Just don’t ask for a knife and fork, that’s probably a barring

Jack Tindale& Liam Brown

Is there a point of applying features to an absolutely classic Nintendo 64 game,

using a console that originally sold itself based on a migraine inducing 3D function? Such is the quandary I was faced with when I discovered Star Fox 64 3D, a remake of my personal favourite game of all time, Lylat Wars 64.

Originally on the N64, Lylat Wars is a corridor space shooter wherein you play the leader of a 4-man mercenary team known as ‘Star Fox’, gen-erally considered to be more competent than the combined military forces of the planet you are assigned to protect. Your squadron becomes the spearhead of a counterat-tack against the aggressor of the game, and probably one of the most memorable video game bosses of all time, An-

dross. The original version

gameplay, as well as a system where the player could take

degree of re-playability, as did the inclusion of a medal sys-tem which would allow deter-mined players to unlock more difficult versions of the game.

to be released with the edition of a rumble pack, a novel de-vice for the time.

for the Nintendo 3DS, anoth-er novel device, with better toned graphics, less annoy-ing voices, and a brand new ‘gyro controls’ feature which can be used in gameplay. It involves tilting the console itself to control your aircraft, which works surprisingly well. Although, one must take care

not to get too enthusiastic with your movements lest you foil the 3DS’s fragile align-ment. Thankfully there is a stabilisation button to allevi-ate this—and given how you will need patience to get used to these new-fangled wireless controls anyway this does not turn out to be too much of a problem—as long as you are committed to getting good.

It is rather uncharacter-istic for Nintendo that these controls work fairly well once you get used to them. The fact that they are part of the con-sole itself and do not need to be constantly reconnected is a nice change from the control-lers for the Wii, and a some-what redeeming feature after the terrible 3D function which bought the 3DS its name. Fur-thermore, since moves like barrel role, somersault and U-

turn can be utilised using the buttons rather than pointing

the new controls never make things too complicated.

Above all, the original game is perfectly preserved. I

trols simply for the nostalgia value, and I was happy to see that some challenge still ex-isted in the game for me, even without the added bonus of

the gyro controls. That is not to say the experience is still all there emotionally. For one, I kind of miss the old voices. But still, Star Fox 64 3D was a brilliant purchase. I mean,it has been out for a year al-ready. I had no excuse not to have it already, and frankly neither do you.

Philip Gallagher

25

COCKTAIL CORNER

With the American elec-tion over and the bal-

of the Electoral College repre-sentatives, we at PartB have come up with some themed cocktails to help you either celebrate Obama’s win or get over Romney’s loss.

With these election-in-spired cocktails you and yours will be able to swallow four more years of Obama.

BLACK AND WHITE MARTINI

30 ml Creme de Cacao

Shake with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with black and white licorice candies.

SPELL BINDER(FULL OF WOMEN)

10 ml Bailey’s Irish Cream10 ml Cointreau10 ml Creme de Cacao

Layer in order in a shot glass with Creme de Cacao on the bottom.

FLORIDA FREEZE ON RESULTS

37 ml Coconut Cream37 ml Dark Rum59 ml Pineapple Juice30 ml Orange Juice

Blend with 170 grams of ice until the mixture is slushy.

Beaver Bartender

NIN

TEN

DO

STAR FOX 64 3D

EW

AN

-M (F

LICKR)

Slippy, still the worst pilot in the galaxy after all these years.

MEATMARKET

The Mezzanine, Jubilee Market

Hall, Tavistock Street, WC2E 8BE

Noon-11pm daily

Cuisine AmericanAverage spend £10-15Meals Lunch, dinnerReservations No

EW

AN

-M (F

LICKR)

13.11.2012 | The Beaver26

Social media is a fun and enjoyable way to pro-crastinate between the various commitments of your humdrum and ultimately pointless lives. However, occasionally you may tweet or blog

about something in a naughty and un-approved manner. To this end Private B has produced a handy little cut-out-and-keep guide to how you should use your myspace page.

# NEW # SOCIAL # MEDIA # REGULATIONS

Jack Tindale

The B can exclusively re-veal that a top level advisor attached to the highest of-fice in the Students’ Union is not what he appears to be. In a stunning revela-tion seen earlier this week, when Putin-Day was hand-ed a list of potential names, she couldn’t help but blurt out the fact that one of her

was, as we had long sus-pected, a Tory.

The B is, for legal rea-sons unable to name this particular individual, any and all allegations are as yet just that, allegations,

land we are all innocent until speculated guilty. To protect the identity of this abhorrent human being, Private B bought a very ex-pensive piece of equipment, a random covername gen-erator, after it was felt that using the infamous code-name “Deepthroat” would be in poor taste. With this in mind the B shall, hence-forth be naming this person by the designation Lord Ro-ahm. Just to reiterate, any potential similarity with this name and a popular super-market, or real person, is entirely accidental.

When pressed for a quote Putin-Day called the B a “fucking disgrace, I’ll have yous all tooken out and shot.” It is clear that despite increasing calls for Putin-Day to come clean and uncover one of the many secrets her regime of terror has covered up, she has no intentions of step-ping down in the near fu-ture.

Tinned Dick, a top level advisor to Putin-Day gave

afternoon, in response to this issue. He gave his strongest condemnation to the “witch-hunt being per-petrated against me-inor

... individuals that, despite horrible secrets, deserve a chance to bring real good to the community.”

This comes as a continu-ation of the wave of con-demnation that Putin-Day has had to endure over the past few weeks. Having re-ceived a damning report from the LSE estates labe-ling her desk in the Sab-batical Officers’ den a level 4 biohazard, her initial re-sponse was to lean on her top level advisor Tinned Dick, clearly, however, such unwillingness to look after her own personal space is clearly indicative of the type of work she goes about doing in the Students’ Un-ion. If our leaders can’t keep their tables tidy, can they do the same with the Union?

Having just found out the existence of this mys-terious, and cleverly coded individual whose fake name is, again, Lord Roahm, this esteemed organ thinks not.

There is, however, one shining positive for Putin-Day - her electoral machine once again managed to en-gineer a surprise victory for another of her closest allies in the Union. The B is of course talking about the election of Carmilla to the position of friend-who-sits-over-there-for-two-days-of-the-week. Despite releas-ing a video and engaging in facepaint time, Carmilla managed to storm to an astonishing victory, twenty eight hundred votes ahead of her nearest rival. Unlike Florida this race was called at a reasonable pace. By the time polls opened Car-milla already had two thou-sand votes tallied up in her column. The B wishes the newest cog in the pointless machine that is the LSE Students’ Union well in her new post.

SECRET TORY ADVISOR SHAME

Eccentric hat wearing weirdo who lures children in with sweets

YET ANOTHER LOOKA-LIKEY COLUMN TO FILL SPACE

The Beaver 13.11.2012 27Social

I think I might be pregnant. And the father of the child is that guy in a Smurf-

costume from Halloween! I wish I could remember his name!”

Unintended pregnan-cies, be they in commit-ted relationships or follow-

used themes in sitcoms and drama series. However, as funny as they may be rep-resented on television, in reality they are no laugh-ing matter. Of course, pregancy can be a wonder-ful experience, nature’s gift – when you feel that you are ready for it. But if the pregnancy is un-planned the situation and the emotional responses get tough.

No preparation, no thought whatsoever was taken beforehand by LSE student Emily (name changed) and her boy-friend. They were dating for a while when he came from their home country to visit her in London for a couple of days. “We have

had sex for a while and we were always careful and using protection, but two weeks after he left, my period was supposed to be due, but nothing hap-pened” she describes. “I thought: ‘Well, this isn’t unusual. It’s nothing too worrisome.’” But each day that went by without her period, the pressure mounted. ‘What if…?’ she started wondering. Then she began feeling nauseous in the mornings. ‘Isn’t that an early symptom of preg-nancy?’ She began read-ing up on the facts online. Other symptoms include tender breasts, headaches and lower backaches. Cer-tain she had none of these other traits; she assumed her nausea must just be a

when her breasts began to feel tender. ‘Sometimes that is a sign that I get my period.’

But a whole week later, there was no denying the symptoms anymore. That is when Emily really started to worry. She says: “Then

denly come to your mind. What will my boyfriend say? What about my or our future? What will happen to my study if I have a child? And of course, do I want to keep it?” In Western so-cieties, independence is a great value. But how inde-pendent can one be with a child? Huge amounts of

nancial independence ei-ther. In many Western coun-tries one has the freedom to choose to terminate a preg-nancy, but that doesn’t nec-essarily make things easier, as, for some, the answer to

immediate ‘No’. For oth-

worth considering. How-ever, no matter how much freedom one has, this is never an easy decision to make.

Despite Emily and her boyfriend being close, she chose not to tell him right away. “First of all, he lives on the other side of the planet, so what could he do, except worry about us

and the future, just like me? Secondly, it is in my nature to try to figure out things by myself. That is why I didn’t tell him or any-one else.”

Naturally, every woman

tion. Some prefer a strate-gy of ousting until the actu-al test result; others choose to talk to a role model or other trustworthy person. Maybe the best friend, who might understand the situ-ation the best. Maybe the parents, who always know what to do. Maybe a spir-itual person, who one can trust. Or maybe the poten-tial father, who has a right to know, at the latest when the pregnancy test is posi-tive.

Emily explains: “The moment I realized that I couldn’t stop being nerv-ous about this until I was certain, was when I decided that I need to do a pregnan-cy test. I thought I would

you can do at home.” She would then go to a doctor if

the test was positive.She went to a Boots store,

making sure to avoid the ones closest to her home or to school. She recalls:“The

ironically, in the ‘Family Plan-ning’ section of the store.”

At home, she read the in-structions more than care-fully. “I had to wait one more night because it is best to take the test in the morning. I had never slept that badly.”

she endured the worst and longest two minutes of her life. “I was torn; I needed to know the result but at the same time I was scared that it would be positive. So, I stared at that little hour-

seconds, then I looked away because I couldn’t take it. I guess I must have looked rather stupid there.” With the time up, the dooms-

she glanced, it stated ‘Not pregnant’. Nothing more, nothing less. But for Emily those three letters had nev-er meant more than in that moment.

BABY BLUES

Anna Gallinat on why deadlines are far from some girls’ biggest worries

TOR

STEN

MAN

GN

ER

“

If you walk amidst the crowds in Cam-den Lock Market, as your pace slows, in-

hale and you will be met by a particular smell. You look around, and notice a food stall called “Mei Mei’s Street Cart”, run by a friendly British woman. She works happily wearing a big smile as people stop to take photographs and to ask her questions. So, what is it that she’s cook-ing to attract the tourists’ attention? The answer is pancakes.

When her sister visited Beijing, she fell in love with

bite. After returning, the two women invented their own imaginative methods to cook Chinese pancakes, this popular Beijing street food. After I bought one and ate it, being Chinese myself, I have to say, they have done a good job to make some developments in order to suit Britons’

step is the variety of ingre-

Their winning combination is to combine ketchup or

mayonnaise, onions, let-tuce, tomatoes, kebab, and coriander. Although, visi-tors can still choose to add something more, such as pork, duck, or something veggie. You might compare

to French crepe or remark

that the cooking process is like that of a Mexican burri-to, she is the one who gives Chinese pancakes some popularity and fame in Lon-don.

So what does the real Chinese pancake look like? Are vegetables and meat

necessary for cooking? Chi-nese pancakes originated from Tianjin, a metropolis bordering Beijing and the fourth largest city in China. Therefore, this street food’s official name is the “Tian-

the recipe, it is not easy to

prepare hence, you need patience. To make Tianjin

need three to four deep fried dough sticks each about eight inches long

eggs (lightly beaten), one-

tablespoon Chili sauce, half tablespoon seafood sauce, two tablespoons chopped scallions, one tablespoon sesame seeds, and two ta-blespoons vegetable oil.

First, you need mix to-

egg, and the water until you have a well-combined free mixture. Second, heat up a skillet, brush with a bit of oil, and scoop three to four tablespoons of bat-ter onto it. Third, tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter covers the surface evenly. Fourth, pour the eggs on, sprinkle on chopped scallions and sesame seeds. Then cook the batter for one to two minutes until the pancake turns golden brown. Fi-nally, place it on a serving plate, brush with the sauc-es, center the deep fried dough sticks, and wrap it up!

Although it may be a lit-tle tricky to cook, especially for beginners, this street food really tastes delicious. I can’t say my own attempts at home have been particu-larly successful but I am no masterchef. It looked

more like a bomb had hit,

every surface, batter scat-

sauces left bubbling on the stove. Following that expe-rience I decided that even if the pancakes in Camden weren’t the most authen-tic, they were certainly bet-ter than mine!

across the continent might be a bit far fetched for you, make sure you get a taste of China, the delicacy that

cake, in London. Gustatory sense helps

silky tea. We absorb vita-mins from juicy fruit and refreshing vegetables. We are kept in high spirits by having the sweetest choco-lates and candies. But there is always one special taste which can remind you of home. No matter how long it is that you’ve been gone, this special taste lies in in-grained in your memory, hard to remove, that will be aroused the moment you miss home.

28 13.11.2012 | The BeaverSocial

There’s no taste like homeJiayi Fan scours the capital for her favourite Chinese snack

Missed my 9:00 am this morning #still drunk’.’ ‘Lost my wallet,

phone and ID, anyone seen them, message me’. ‘Got on a night bus at 4:00 am, end-ed up in Lewisham’. Sound familiar? It could only be a Thursday morning news-feed on Facebook or Twit-ter.

As much as AU members love to complain about the notoriously ‘sweaty zoo’ so

week to experience the un-derground room with the drippy ceiling in central London. It’s nothing grandi-ose, the only award that the AU’s venue of choice would ever come close to winning would be for cramming the largest number of peo-ple into the smallest space possible. That’s the way it should be.

But our love-hate rela-tionship with the Wednes-day night club explains the very importance of sport at the LSE and why we do it: sport unites us. A communi-

ty of people from all corners of the world, all faiths and all subject areas are gelled together by commitment, team spirit, perseverance and determination which culminates after matches every Wednesday night.

So maybe some of us don’t get round to playing for our team every week (I think I played a total of four netball matches last year, one of which was can-celled). But we still feel proud to say that we are part of the AU.

What’s more, there’s something for everyone. From footballers to those who practice martial arts, sweat, conversation and saliva are mixed together into a unique cocktail in the Leciester Square under-ground.

It’s not all about the

can rival the immense sense of pride one feels af-ter playing a great game, being called ‘player of the match’, or scoring that win-ning goal. Or the determi-

nation to play better when the odds are against you, or when you’re playing that team who’ve beaten you by a whisker the last three times.

Aside from the debauch-ery of Wednesday nights, sport has another aspect that many tend to take for granted. Forget about yoga and pilates, an hour long

netball match or messy rugby game will allow your mind to focus afterwards. For me, and many others, looking after my physique is key, not only in looking how I want to, but also in terms of feeling mentally positive. Few can argue against the fact that exercise makes you feel more upbeat for the rest of the day. Even if

your mind and body might not be feeling so fresh on a Thursday morning!

Not only does sport unite people socially, create great chat and improve grades, it proves positive for the mind, body, and soul. Though I’m still not looking forward to ending up in Lewisham at 4:00 am any time soon.

We’re going to the Zoo, againSelina Parmar

HO

LLY

LEIG

HAN

NE

MO

YAN

BR

ENN

29The Beaver | 13.11.2012 Social

I don’t know what I ex-pected at the LSE, but

desks.

But the LSE has done

What are you paying for?

Why we’re Welsh and proudF

30 13.11.2012 | The BeaverSport

Aaand they’re back. Bigger, better, faster, stronger. With a lack of veterans left, LSE WFC was anxious starting the new season. However, after a great turnout at Fresher’s Fair, excitement accelerated quickly after tryouts and our ‘Give it a Go’ session. WFC’s issue of not attracting enough freshers means the dynamics of the team changes from year to year. Which pretty much makes everything that much more exciting! Truthfully, the talent and potential was so incredible that I couldn’t sit still, biting my nails, getting random bursts of excitement

Sunday.Having conceded a goal

was left slightly shaken up. Football is a team sport. Duh. And the team is comprised of individuals from all corners

experience. It wasn’t long be-

fore the team stepped up their game and played some quality football.

Frustrated by their third consecutive draw with King’s Medics, nothing but smiles re-mained on the pitch after the

a performance to be proud of and excitement for the team spirit to grow, and believe me,

Literally. The following match was cancelled due to the pitch being “waterlogged” but hey, WFC relocated to the LSE li-brary and remain undefeated. Here’s to the new season and the adventures to come…!

28th October - King’s Med-ics Vs. LSE: 1-1

Captain’s MVP: Jenny Critchley for her ease and certainty on the pitch and her admirable tackles in defence; all that with no breakfast!? Wowza.

Coach’s MVP: Nadin Me-dellin for her fast pace and to put it simply… what a ‘sexy’

Qué Buena!

An exciting season ahead for LSE women’s footballAria Georghiou

From the Eyes of a GingerMatthew Worby

The culmination of the years tennis is the ATP World Fi-nals. Eight of the best men duke it out in two round robin pools, before four enter into the knockout phases of the competition. The star stud-ded line up meant that even without Raphael Nadal, who is in urgent need of a trip to the Bat Cave for some Dark Knight style knee reconstruc-tion, every match promised to be a real treat.

Interestingly the draw of which match will be played in what session isn’t made pub-lic until the day or two before, so despite managing to obtain tickets punters are unsure of the precise line up they will be able to enjoy. We were fortu-nate enough to watch possibly the greatest player of all time, Federer, play David Ferrer, and, despite my best attempts to work the primitive ATP site, had no idea which doubles match would warm up the crowd. It was with excitement that we had the luck to be able to watch Radek Stepanek and Leander Paes dispatch the unfortunate duo of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

This slow starting aperitif was the perfect way to build up to the main match of the session. Whilst we weren’t avid followers of doubles ten-nis it was clear for all to see that Paes and Stepanek were

a cut above their opposition. Indeed it was pleasing to lat-er open up wikipedia and see that paes has won seven males doubles grand slams over his lengthy career. This match

seemed destined to be head-ing for a tie break, until the Indo-Czech pairing mercilessly targeted Granollers, who could only volley into the net to lose the set.

The second set was a mark-

before breaks of serves were as rare as hen’s teeth, they were now coming thick and fast. While there was still a disparity of class, Paes and Stepanek’s concentration ap-peared to have waned, they were dropping easy points in the middle of games, and it was haunting them at later stages. However after a spectacular point in which Leander made an audacious volley attempt in front of the umpire’s chair, only to have to jump over his bench in a jason bourne-esque fashion, the momentum began to shift. Mistakes were elimi-nated and Paes and Stepanek maintained their as yet perfect record of winning sets in the competition.

With the starter out of the way it was time for the tanta-lising main course. Federer may be the grandfather on the court, but when he plays in-

doors he is a man transformed. Despite him having a head to head record of thirteen wins to no losses to Ferrer, the Span-iard works so hard at every facet of his game, if ever Fer-derer were to slip up, today would be the day.

And despite the scoreline seemingly a relatively comfort-able Federer victory, 6-4, 7-6 where he also maintained his perfect record of not dropping a set, the match was always a closely fought contest. Ul-timately, however, Ferer was

gear with which to triumph. Several times the Spaniard

had Federer’s serve at 0-40, and yet he failed to break. Ultimately Ferrer had ten breakpoints, where he capi-talised on just one, Federer, conversely capitalised on two from the four he managed to obtain.

The two contrasting styles made for engrossing viewing, Ferrer’s venomous striking of the ball was something to be-hold, until you looked to the other side of the court and Federer was waiting patiently to return the ball at an even more impossible angle, and at the exact same pace, if not faster.

It is difficult to describe exactly what makes Feder-er so impressive. It’s more

less swinging motion when he plays. He is actually a lot slower around the court than one would imagine having watched him on television. This merely makes his play-ing ability all the more breath-taking, as he anticipates and reads the game so well there is no noticeable weakness from his lack of pace compared to either Djokovic or Murray.

Then there’s his place-ment of his shots. Ferrer is an excellent athlete, and has the ability to soak up pressure until his opponent makes a mistake, an excellent “num-bers” player, his shots are consistently in corridors of uncertainty where, on aver-age, he should either win the point through an error of his opponent, or be in the position to thump the ball into an open

these numbers to the extent that I reckon even nate Silver would scratch his head. In the

er was dropping the ball ei-ther on the line or within such close proximity it essentially

nal this year, he is simply still an entire plane of existence above the rest of his fellow players when indoors.

However, that is not to say he is unbeatable.There

in Federer’s game that, if not corrected will lead an oppo-nent such as murray or Djoko-vic to outlast even the sweet-est of his corner forehands. This is both his serve, and un-

the Swiss Maestro managed to only make 40 per cent of

won 59 per cent of those that he landed, but gainst a more skillful opponent he would have had a much harder day in the office. The there were his menagerie of unforced

problem early on in most of the big games he has played this year, had Ferrer started out more positively the match

ent outcome. So where does Federer

go from here? Well, he has a match soon against Del Potro, so this is the key indicator of just how ready Federer is to step up his game against one of the other top three in the world. Were he to put in a dominant performance in the Millenium Dome, despite being safe in the knowledge of a victory then the rest of

empty handed for the third

likely against Murray, will be an absolute barnstormer of an event.

CH

LOE

HAS

HEM

I

31The Beaver | 13.11.2012 Sport

YOUR SPORT,

IN BRIEFSwimmer leaves the pool for good

Ross Davenport, three time Olympian, and two time double Common-wealth Games swimming champion announced he would leave the sport, Friday, saying it was “time to move on.”

Levi slalom

Despite a hip surgery and advice from doctors not to compete, German Ma-

Levi slalom with a com-bined time of one minute and 55.58 seconds. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland and American Mikaela

top three, respectively.

Snooker regula-tors clear Davis v Un-Nooh match

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker As-

vis committed any wrong-doing in his September 8th 4-0 win against Thai player Un-Nooh. The two

third round of the Players Tour Championship.

McLaren looking forward to AustinLewis Hamilton and Jen-son Button have both ex-pressed their optimism over the new United States GP track. Com-

track, Hamilton said he thinks “it’s going to be a track that drivers enjoy.”

Autumn Interna-tionals beginThis season’s internation-al rugby are well under way. England completed an expected win over Fiji, 54-14. Argentina tri-umped over Wales, the latter slumping to their fourth consecutive inter-national defeat. The most impressive result being France’s destruction of Australia, 33-6.

John Allsop

Joys of League 2 FootballThe Premier League is fre-

quently criticised for being

inaccessible. The top teams

are more corporate behe-

moth than supporter-driven;

matchday prices have sky-

rocketed in recent years,

whilst matches are scheduled

at the convenience of Sky.

The players, whilst techni-

cally excellent, are over-paid

and often look disinterested,

with fans leaving grounds

up and down the country

frequently bemoaning their

South American starlet’s fail-

ure to put in that extra tackle

or chase down that loose ball.

Perhaps most unforgivably,

clubs are no longer rooted in

their local community.

for example, you’re just as

likely to hear a Cockney ac-

cent or no accent at all as a

Manchester one, as moneyed

glory-supporting Southern-

ers trek up from Guildford

to see ‘their’ team inevitably

thump a Wigan or Norwich

City. Its one redeeming fea-

ture is the quality of play it-

self, with even the big games

having escaped the cycle of

cautious tedium that ren-

dered Sky’s ‘Super Sunday’

tag somewhat risible only a

few years ago to become ex-

exquisite skill and helter-

skelter entertainment.

Anyone who parrots the

line that the Premier League

is ‘the best league in the

world’, however, can’t have

sampled the joys of npower

League Two. The division

only ever grabs national

attention when one of its

‘plucky’ teams goes toe-to-

toe against a big club in the

FA or Capital One Cup, mak-

ing an Aston Villa or Sun-

derland sweat before being

narrowly, heart-breakingly

beaten by a last- minute strike

from an unknown youth-team

right-winger, returning from

a ‘character-forming’ loan

fore falling out of favour and

ending up on the bench at

Walsall by autumn.

Indeed, many older fans

only worry about League

Two in hoping their team

isn’t returned there in May,

mistakenly believing it to be

the ‘old Second Division’.

League Two exists largely

outside of the public eye, qui-

etly going about its own busi-

ness without ostentation or

pretence. On the whole, this

is to be considered a great

shame, with an afternoon out

at a League Two ground a

much richer experience than

its bank-breaking Premier

League equivalent. To prove

this, I have decided to com-

pare the two games I have

had time to see in North Lon-

don since moving to LSE last

autumn. Last October I went

to watch Arsenal beat Stoke

City 3-1 with a friend from

halls, whereas this October

I trudged up to Barnet to

watch my beloved Plymouth

Argyle (yes, them of the Paul

Whitehouse ‘Green Army’

commercial) claim a 4-1 vic-

tory.

THE GAME: Clearly, the quality of football

at the Emirates was much

higher than at Underhill,

even if our Aldershot loanee

Guy Madjo may genuinely be

than Marouane Chamakh

and Barnet did at least try to

play better football than Tony

Pulis’ ‘combative’ side. Ulti-

mately, however, the League

Two game was more enter-

taining.

The contest seemed to

mean more to both sets of

players, both striving for

their football league futures

at the foot of the table, both

lunging into every tackle

with wholehearted aplomb

on a sticky pitch.

Even though Arsenal won

their game through Robin

van Persie’s majestic, gliding

movement and the deft touch

of Aaron Ramsey where we

won ours courtesy of Dar-

ren Purse’s uncompromising

defending and Luke Young’s

games were just as enthral-

ling as each other in their

own way, played under the

same rules and dictated by

the same aim: that potent

mixture of points and pride.

If you think you have to

big names, meanwhile, you’d

be sorely mistaken.

Whilst only anoraks may

revel in a glimpse of some-

time Northern Ireland inter-

national Warren Feeney or

Championship journeyman

just snapped up erstwhile Ar-

senal winger Luis Boa Morte

whilst the game I saw at Un-

derhill marked Edgar Davids’

touchline debut as Barnet’s

new player-head coach.

THE STADIA:

The Emirates is undoubtedly

a gorgeous ground, curved

into a beautiful bowl around

a lush green pitch. Situated

in the vibrant heart of Isling-

ton, it commands the local

landscape.

Unfortunately, there is no

atmosphere whatsoever. I am

assured by my myriad Arse-

nal supporting friends that ‘it

gets louder for the big games’

but this in itself is a damning

mentality that some match-

es are bigger than others.

Watching a match amongst

Arsenal fans is like going to

the cricket but with the bore-

dom-busting alcohol-fuelled

sense of fun sucked out, as

a crowd of middle-class lo-

cals and tourists sit in near

silence on their red plastic

seats, munching on their

sandwiches and occasionally

breaking into a tame chant of

‘Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal’ or

sporadic smattering of polite

applause.

Only the Stoke fans lifted

the mortuary-esque quiet

and even silence seems pref-

erable to yet another atonal

refrain of ‘Why, why, why De-

lilah?’, a Tom Jones song with

so far unexplained connec-

tions to the Potteries. Under-

hill, by contrast is a ‘proper

football ground’, standing on

its last legs against the in-

exorable tide of modernisa-

tion that will see it tragically

season. With a ramshackle

combination of shallow seat-

ing and shed-style terraces

around their ‘famous sloping

pitch’, the ground has a ro-

mantic tumble-down feel.

Crucially for the atmos-

phere, you’re also allowed to

stand, something long since

outlawed at Premier League

stadia for understandable

safety reasons. Packed in

like sardines, the travelling

Green Army spent ninety

minutes bouncing up and

down, singing the praises of

Feeney to the strains of Dep-

eche Mode’s ‘Just Can’t Get

Enough’ and volubly enquir-

ing ‘who the f*@* is Edgar

Davids, we’ve got Jason Bent’

in tribute to the dreadlocked

Unlike the sterile environ-

ment of the Emirates, away

fans at lower league sta-

dia are bonded by a shared

sense of hopeless camarade-

rie, glued together by a wit

that is only partially ironic.

MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE:

For me, this is where League

Two enjoys its chief advan-

we went to the Emirates, my

friend and I sat quietly in the

upper tier and walked back

to Fitzrovia clutching our

glossy matchday magazine

and munching on over-priced

gourmet street food. On our

trip to Underhill, we chatted

to a kindly old programme-

seller who turned out to be

the official club historian

about a game between the

researching, sat in the sunny

beer garden of an adjacent

pub proudly sporting our

colours without fear of vio-

lent reprisal, bought a glori-

ously tasteless and relatively

cheap burger from inside the

ground and returned to the

train station sharing our mu-

tual delight at a rare away

victory with other members

of the travelling cohort.

League Two fans expe-

rience ‘proper football’ at

‘proper grounds’ frequented

by ‘proper supporters’, revel-

ling in a weekly walk through

our nation’s most salient

sporting heritage, clicking

through old-fashioned turn-

stiles with a sense of unpar-

alleled nervous excitement

and pouring out at the end

relieved to have a football

club to support regardless of

the result.

Yes, they want to get out

of the division at the right

end as soon as possible, as all

football fans do. But for those

marooned in lower mid-table

mediocrity like my Pilgrims

are at present, revelling in

what the bottom tier has to

ant hiatus.

Next time you feel the

Premier League burning a

hole in your pocket, turn to

League Two. You may just be

32 13.11.2012 | The BeaverSport

InsideSport

The English league was once

The case for safe standing