News & Comment
The Beaver | 02.10.2012
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News section in brief John Armstrong, News Editor
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cWTQTPeTa
31.01.2012
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union
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Bill Gates receives the traditional LSE cap | Photo: Nigel Stead
Students complain of overcrowded classrooms Shu Hang and Yuee Sun
Official LSE figures reveal 14.2 per cent of undergraduate classes currently exceed the official fifteen-student-perclass recommendation. This represents 223 out of 1574 total undergraduate classes. This is a marginal improvement from last year, when 14.9 per cent of undergraduate classes topped the limit. Three years ago, Janet Hartley, the Pro-Director of Teaching and Learning, instituted the Teaching Task Force in an attempt to address this issue. Despite this effort, large class sizes remains one of the most pressing issues regarding the teaching quality at the LSE. Figures reveal the problem affects many departments at the LSE. As it transpires, more evident cases are observed in bigger departments, such as the Department of Economics and the Department of Geography and Environment.
There is also a significant number of over subscribed classes in many second and third year modules. Data indicated that all five “Management Accounting, Financial Management and Organisational Controlâ€? and “Economics in Public Policyâ€? classes have at least seventeen students each, with the largest one having 21. Furthermore, at least half of the classes for Further Mathematical Methods (Calculus), Research Techniques (Spatial, Social and Environmental), Social Science Research Methods of Management, Jurisprudence, and many other courses currently exceed the designated maximum limit. As the LSE has publicly declared, improving student contact time has always been one of the administration’s top priorities. An article published in the July 2008 issue of the Times Higher Education Supplement detailed that “after consultation with staff and students, the task force recommended that ÂŁ1.5 million a year should be spent on new lecturers, to reduce class sizes.â€? At the Students’ Union’s first
Education Assembly in 2009, Hartley reiterated these objectives, stating that “the big priority for the Teaching Task Force was to improve contact time and reduce class sizes to 15 or fewer.� Many students feel that the large class sizes are affecting the learning process in the class. Alex Haigh, a second year Environmental Policy with Economics student said: “Oversized classes mean the class teacher is far less able to interact with students personally during the class and it is much more likely that teachers miss students who are failing or are not working hard enough.� Haigh, who had two oversized classes - in GY222 and EC201 - last term, believes that fifteen people per class is “already too many,� and the number should be “treated as a strict upper limit instead of an average.� “It’s unacceptable that classes are still oversized even after a campaign by the Beaver last year, which highlighted the institution-wide problem,� he added. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that students who fail to turn up
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Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and cofounder and former CEO of Microsoft, outlined his vision for tackling world poverty while speaking at the LSE on Tuesday 24th January. Hans Rosling, co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation and advisor to the Global Poverty Project, spoke alongside Gates at the event. In his address, Gates covered the key themes of his 2012 Annual Letter, focusing on the importance of agriculture and health, which he described as “intrinsically connected,� in the fight against global poverty. He specifically pinpointed the lack of development as “what’s holding people back� in the developing world. “Most of the poor are people with very small farms who barely grow enough to feed their families. In tough years, they are extremely malnourished,� said Gates. “So health ties very closely to agriculture. The reason why kids die of diarrhoea and pneumonia is because their bodies aren’t very strong. If they had proper nutrition, the death rate
would be dramatically lower. Gates said that scientific investigation into better understanding plant genes may help lower crop blight, as well as aid the discovery of new methods of tackling human diseases. In particular, he highlighted the importance of working on a scientific innovation to protect cassava, a major staple food in the developing world, from brown streak disease. Turning to the issue of health, Gates spoke at length about the successes of the campaign to eradicate polio, which was launched in 1987. Today there are only ten nations worldwide left with polio, though Gates accepted that they will be the “toughest countries,� to eradicate the disease in. However, India, which Gates considered to be the greatest challenge, has now gone a year without a single case. Gates ended his address with a warning that despite the tough economic times, it is important that the developed nations do not neglect the developing: “There are many things going on in terms of the Eurozone crisis and budget cutbacks that would make it easy to turn inward and reduce financing.� It is important that “we keep doing what we’re doing� to eradicate poverty, and that
The LSE is involved in a joint research programme, Policy Incentives for the Creation of Knowledge: Methods and Evidence (PICK-ME), with a consortium of universities including Technion, the Israeli Institute of Technology. This week, Lois Clifton, LSE Students’ Union Environment and Ethics Officer, chaired a meeting addressing the issue of the LSE’s collaborative role in the project. The aim of the meeting was to decide whether action should be taken to boycott the scheme. Technion is a research university based in Haifa specialising in science and technology research and development. Founded in 1912, it is the oldest university in Israel and engages in collaborative projects with the government. Technion has been at the centre of recent criticism for its involvement in the creation and design of military
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technology. Thursday’s meeting raised the issue of their connection with Israeli military research. Technion has conducted distinguished research in the field of robotic weapons systems, and in recent years has developed the latest innovations in unmanned aerial drones and unmanned combat vehicles. Clifton, along with Layla Auer, member of the LSE’s Students’ Union Palestine Society and Michael Deas, a member of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, provided a “platform for discussion� on LSE’s research collaboration with Technion. Clifton, argued that Technion is “implicitly implicated in Israel’s occupation of Palestine� and the LSE’s links with the Institute “normalises Technion’s actions.� The Environment and Ethics Officer outlined a range of projects Technion has been actively involved in and expressed concern over its relationship with the Israeli government. Technion has developed a
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Dissatisfaction among Graduate Teaching Assistants John Armstrong
A recent survey has revealed wide spread discontent among Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and Guest Teachers at the London School of Economics (LSE). From the 600 members of staff asked to answer to the survey, 123, representing nearly every Department responded. While the survey outlined the various teaching roles and qualifications they possess, it also raised serious questions over workload and insufficient remuneration. The LSE website states that teachers are expected to work between “three to five hours per week.� The current system allows for two of these hours to be assigned to class seminars and lectures, with the rest allocated for preparation and marking. The survey, which was carried out in Michaelmas Term, revealed that 78 per cent of the respondents felt that the two hours assigned for class preparation are inadequate with 42.3 per cent stating that they spent five hours or more
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FEATURES: BEAT EATING DISORGERS
cWTQTPeTa
21.02.2012
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union
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SNP Leader speaks at LSE
Jack Tindale Staff Reporter Alex Salmond MSP, leader of the Scottish National Party, addressed a packed Sheikh Zayed Theatre on Wednesday evening. The talk by the First Minister of Scotland formed part of a nationwide speaking tour aimed at extolling his vision for Scottish independence. The lecture, entitled ‘Independence and Responsibility: the future of Scotland’ was chaired by Professor Paul Kelly, Head of the Department of Government. The speech, which was broadcast live by the BBC and other national networks, largely focused on the
economic basis for the First Minister’s independence movement, attracting attention from a wide audience from outside the London School of Economics (LSE) community. Salmond, who became the first leader at Holyrood to win an overall majority in last year’s Parliamentary election, opened his lecture with praise for the LSE, albeit tempered by his Keynesian views rather at odds with the School’s traditional Austrian ethos. Praising the recent publication of Beatrice Webb’s journals by the LSE Library, Salmond cited the LSE founder’s then-contemporary criticism of global financial institutions and the results of research carried out by the Grantham Research Centre for Climate Change and the Environment as a basis for the Scottish National Party’s
(SNP) vision of a low carbon Scottish economy based around renewable energy. Commenting on the recent downgrade of the British economy by the credit rating agency Moody’s, the First Minister began by critiquing the fiscal policies of the Coalition government, calling for renewed investment by the Treasury in order to promote growth. Salmond has adopted a resolute opposition to current austerity measures, often referred to as “Plan McB,� and few in the audience seemed surprised by the First Minister using the podium to promote an alternative perspective. Citing free university education for Scottish students, a compulsory apprenticeship program for school leavers and the recent establishment of a Scottish Investment Bank, Salmond
argued that his government’s record on youth unemployment stood robust against that of the coalition, dismissing their “passive acceptance of the consequences of austerity.� Salmond began his main argument by debunking a number of myths perceived as being spread by the pro-Union campaign, principally that regarding currency. The First Minister made no reference to the SNP’s long-standing policy of joining the Eurozone, especially his view expressed two years ago in the Telegraph that Euro membership offered a “strong argument� for independence. Instead, the First Minister spoke in favour of the continued membership of an independent Scotland in the Stirling Zone. Stating that “no nation can stop another from using a fully trade-
Alex Peters-Day, Students’ Union General Secretary, getting gunged for charity as RAG Week took over Houghton Street | Photo: Matt Worby
Data published by the LSE has shown strong similarities between the attainment of General Course students and that of all LSE undergraduates. The data, taken from exam results of the 2010-2011 academic year, does not show significant disparity in the results of General Course students in comparison with LSE as a whole. Rather, the failure rates of both are consistent with each other, at around 6.5 per cent (General Course: 6.8, LSE Undergraduates: 6.6), whilst there is also only a two per cent differentiation in the amount of 2:1s received by each group. One notable difference between the two groups lies in the amount of 1sts and 2:2s achieved. 19.3 per cent of all LSE undergraduates achieved firstclass honours, compared to only 13.2 per cent of General Course students, whilst exactly ten per cent more of General Course students achieved 2.2s, at 31.5 per cent. Though, when the amount of 1sts, 2:1s and 2:2s are considered as a whole, the percentages are almost identical at around 78 per cent. Overall, the data demonstrates a general equality in grades attained between the two student groups. This comes despite significant differences in the overall degree process; General Course students are assessed differently and the admissions procedure is similarly varied. Mark Hoffman, General Course Dean, explained that General Course
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preparing for each course. Teachers are paid hourly for the estimated hours the School expect them to work. However, almost 76 per cent of GTAs and Guest Teachers agree with the statement, “I am paid for fewer hours than I actually work.� For the current projections, teachers are allocated around twenty minutes to mark and give constructive feedback on each essay, yet many feel this is inadequate with one source suggesting that “this is simply not enough time.� Ian Rudolph, LSE alumnus and graduate teaching assistant, said that his “feedback as a teaching assistant was emailed to me for me to study or ignore; there was no acknowledgement for above-average performance, nor would I fear sanction had I performed poorly.� “I want to work in an environment where feedback for teachers are valued like marks for students. Exceptional performance should be celebrated for the transformative impact it has in line with LSE’s core mission,� he added. Paul Kirby, Representative of the University and College Union (UCU), outlined the problem of departmen-
tal variation suggesting that “some Departments have been very reluctant to pay for lecture attendance, even though the guidelines say they should when GTAs are required to attend them.� Similarly, Kirby highlighted that “some people have even reported being asked to help with lectures and course design for no pay at all.� These recent developments come only one year after teachers at LSE were left unpaid for months. In an article published in the Beaver in February 2011, “a survey of 100 GTAs, across thirteen departments, revealed 34 per cent of those who had taught at the LSE during the 2009-10 academic year had not seen an increase in pay.� Yet similar problems remain prevalent among GTAs this year. The School’s policy dictates that pay should rise in accordance with experience each year, regardless of where the experience was obtained. However, this often does not happen and in the survey which is still open to for any GTAs and Guest Teachers, 44.4 per cent of those with previous teaching experience at
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Ian Rudolph, London School of Economics (LSE) alumnus and graduate teaching assistant, has filed a petition to the Graduate Studies Sub-Committee demanding the reinstatement of the Department of Management course ‘OR431: System Dynamics Modeling,’ for the next academic year. Filed on the 14th December, the petition was signed by forty current students and fifteen alumni. Last summer, the Department of Management announced through its website that the OR431 course would not be available to students during the 2011/2012 academic year. This suspension has caused disappointment and “bewildermentâ€? amongst the alumni of the course, who fear it will eventually be permanently cancelled. The course’s popularity was closely linked to the its teacher, David Lane, who in 2005 and 2008, was among the five members of the teaching staff at the LSE to receive an LSE Excellence Teaching award for his instruction of the OR431 course. According to the ‘Teaching Award Special Newsletter’ published by the School, students have described Lane as an “outstandingâ€? professor who “makes you think more profoundly about everyday phenomenaâ€? and has a “rare ability to hold attention and promote curiosity.â€? One student claimed that “his enthusiasm and passion for the subject has inspired me.â€? According to Rudolph, he and sixteen other students attended a meeting for the MSc program in September, where they “share[d] the impact that OR431 had on their experience and ‌ express[ed] their disappointment that it had been cancelled.â€? However, the students claim that their input, like the petition, has not been taken seriously and that “no official response has been received.â€? Michael Fischer, a former MSc Decision Sciences student, expressed his frustration regarding the suspension of the course: “when interviewing for internships with alumni of our program, whenever I mentioned system dynamics, their faces lit up with great memories of OR 431 and David Lane.â€? “It’s sad that people won’t be able to experience one of the best courses in my program, much less the school, and one of the best professors I’ve ever had,â€? Fischer added. Rudolph, who graduated from the LSE with an Msc in Decision Sciences in 2011, claimed that the course has “consistently been one of the most loved courses in the programme,â€? adding that he credited it with “changing my life and the way I think.â€?Rudolph described the course’s “sudden disappearanceâ€? and possible cancellation as a “mystery.â€? Alumni of the course are not the only
students to have expressed disappointment over the suspension of the course. Leo Furtado, a current MSc Decision Sciences student, told the Beaver he felt cheated by the department’s decision. “Last year, all my colleagues from my first year of the MSc recommended me to take OR431,â€? he said. “They have raised the fees from last year and taken out OR431! It’s like our favourite restaurant eliminating one of the best options of the menu and increasing the price!â€? Under School policy, proposals to add or cancel courses must be put forward by individual departments to the Graduate Studies Sub-Committee to be approved. The committee is comprised of LSE academics and a student representative in the form of an elected member of the Taught Graduate Students’ Consultative Forum. The positive feedback the course has received throughout the years has led Rudolph to question the Department of Management’s decision. He felt that this incident reflects a bigger problem with student feedback at the LSE. Rudolph, who co-teaches OR405, said that his “feedback as a teaching assistant was emailed to me for me to study or ignore; there was no acknowledgement for above-average performance, nor would I fear sanction had I performed poorly.â€? “I want to work in an environment where feedback for teachers are valued like marks for students. Exceptional performance should be celebrated for the transformative impact it has in line with LSE’s core mission,â€? he added. Amena Amer, the Students’ Union Education Officer, expressed similar sentiments, feeling that student’s opinion was “ignoredâ€? in the decision to suspend OR431.“It is clear that students really enjoyed this course and given my correspondence with students and staff I find it hard to understand how this decision was made,â€? Amer said. The department has also been criticised for failing to give applicants enough notice period before suspending the course. Amer described the department’s actions as “extremely unprofessional.â€? “I was informed that a message was sent out in July regarding the cancellation of this course for the 2011/12 academic year,â€? she said. “At this point many who have applied had to accept this change given that undoubtedly they had already received their place at the LSE.â€? Current students were recommended to take MN419: Systems Thinking and Strategic Modelling, as a substitute to OR431. Rudolph, however, felt that the two courses were not interchangeable. “MN419 is aimed at management students and so teaches no formal modelling. Those seeking technical modelling training would have to take a weekend course running ÂŁ985
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COMMENT: THE POLITICS OF GENOCIDE | SOCIAL: SEX, LOVE AND THE HUMAN RACE | FEATURES: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMEN?
cWTQTPeTa
06.03.2012
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union
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Elections herald new Students’ Union
able currency,� Mr Salmond defended his view of a monetary union with a rump United Kingdom, speaking in defence of the large-scale oil and gas resources that would fall in between Scottish and British territorial waters by a ratio of around 90 per cent to 10 per cent, respectively. Since Scotland currently stands as the third most prosperous region of the United Kingdom after London and the South West, the First Minister expressed the view that an independent nation would easily be able to maintain a currency pegged to the Pound. The First Minister also expressed his vision for an independent Scottish economy in terms of giving the British government “Six of the Best� with regards to establishing competi-
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Equality seen in attainment Timothy Poole
LSE Students’ Union
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14.02.2012
Newspaper of the
Shu Hang Staff Reporter
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Questions raised over LSE links with Technion John Armstrong
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Students petition to bring back suspended course
Bill Gates tackles issues of global poverty Bethany Clarke
COMMENT: LSE MEMES - PREDICTING GREAT EVENTS | SOCIAL: THE TRIALS OF TWEETING | FEATURES: LGBT HISTORY MONTH
Winning candidates for Full-Time Sabbatical Officer. From left to right: Jack Tindale (Community and Welfare), Matthew De Jesus (Activities and Development), Duncan McKenna (Education), and Alex Peters-Day (General Secretary)
exam results were mainly consistent with other LSE undergraduates, but that various factors affected General Course results. He commented that there is a high failure rate in quantitative courses such as EC220, Introduction to Econometrics, though this failure rate is lower than that of LSE undergraduates in the same module. In qualitative courses, Hoffman revealed that General Course students often struggle to adapt to the different style of essay-writing, but once this transition is made, the top-end of results are often better than that of other LSE students. Several measures have been taken to reduce the high failure rates in courses such as the aforementioned EC220. An important change has been to introduce the requirement to have the permission of the course tutor to enrol, while many students are directed to MN203, Social Science Research Method for Management, as an alternative. The need for permission to enrol in a particular course reflects the general admissions process that General Course students undergo, which is rather dissimilar to the UCAS process. Hoffman explained that the General Course admits around 300 students per year, with 308 admitted in 2011-2012. Some of the students, who attend American universities with longstanding ties to the LSE, undergo internal selection procedures at their home universities; such procedures are fairly automatic and result in a much lower level of applications. The biggest contingent of General Course
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Nona Buckley-Irvine Staff Reporter The Lent Term Students’ Union elections ended tensely as Alex PetersDay secured a second term as General Secretary this week after beating Mohammed Morley by a small margin of votes. In the first round, Peters-Day won 834 votes against Morley’s 810, and after votes to Re-Open Nominations (RON) were distributed in the second round, Peters-Day strode ahead of Morley with 902 votes to his 874. “I am so happy, and so completely overwhelmed,� said Peters-Day of her re-election as General Secretary. “Our tactic was to win vote by vote, and I have been supported by great campaigners and great friends. I love this place, I love this university and I love this Union.� Peters-Day had led a campaign based on continuing her work with the new Director, overseeing the new students building and continuing her work on her brainchild, the Only Way is Ethics campaign, by establishing a new permanent Ethics Code and “leading the fight for the education you deserve.� Jay Stoll, newly elected to the Democracy Committee, said, “there are no words to describe how I feel about [Alex Peters-Day].� Morley, who was campaigning to make the Students’ Union a “political union� was distraught after having lost the elections. Following the results, Morley said on his Facebook: “it was a good campaign and I’m so grateful for the support I received. I hope the elected
representatives will listen to the students and hopefully move the union on to bigger and better things.� Meanwhile, Jack Tindale, chair of the Union General Meeting, won the post of Community and Welfare Officer surpassing both Pallavi Bansal and Rosina St James. The voting required two rounds; in the first round, Bansal received 246 votes, against St James’ 547 and Tindale’s 789, eliminating Bansal. In the second round Tindale was declared the winner after storming ahead with 862 votes, against St James’ 547. Tindale described himself as “relieved more than anything,� and mostly concerned with “just getting a result.� A pirate-themed campaign based on “Making Your Union Ship-Shape� saw Tindale’s campaign team take to Houghton Street wearing pirate hats. Jack Curtis, a key individual in his campaign, said, prior to the results announcement, “I think his memorable campaign videos and slogans will contribute to his success.� Results for other key positions remained extremely close. Only a handful of votes determined Matt de Jesus’s succession as the the new Activities and Development. De Jesus stood against Damini Onifade, who came in second despite receiving more endorsements from societies than De Jesus. There was only one vote between the two in the first round of voting, with De Jesus edging ahead with 775 votes, against 774 for Onifade. Spectators were tensely silent as RON votes were redistributed in the second round, where De Jesus won by six votes. Describing his win as “amaz-
ing,� De Jesus said he “always knew it would be close� and that he “believed in himself all the way.� De Jesus is is eager to get working “straight away,� highlighting the enacting the LSE Equality training as his immediate priority, something he described as being “needed to be done� for a “long-time coming.� De Jesus praised his opponent, describing him as a “great competitor� that would have been “perfect� for the job. Good spirits were not amongst all rivaling candidates. Lois Clifton, who lost to Duncan Mckenna in the race for Education Officer, promised to continue to “challenge Duncan McKenna on campus�, and predicted a “movement� to do so. McKenna’s campaign, which garnered 848 votes against Clifton’s 689 votes was focused on tangible improvements to the daily education of LSE students, such as better teaching feedback and reforming LSE100. McKenna stood out on Hougthon Street for several days with a board asking people to offer their thoughts on how to improve education at LSE and promised to incorporate such feedback into his aims if he were elected. Clifton, known to be a member of the Socialist Workers Party, led a more politically driven campaign, ‘Education for the 99%,’ in response to the recent government cuts to education. Upon winning, McKenna said the “Education Officer is about LSE� and he wants to “make education better at LSE.� He refuted Clifton’s claim of a movement to challenge him, claiming that his “entire campaign was based on what students wanted.� Results remained close for the post of Athletics Union President,
contested by three candidates, Nicole Mateer, Matt Stimson and Ben Johnson. Stimson was eliminated in the first round of voting, and Mateer won by seven votes against Johnson, receiving 593 to 586. Johnson offered his congratulations to the winner: “Nicole had a solid campaign, and I’m sure she will do a cracking good job.� Apprehension was less palpable during the part time officers results announcements, since more than half of them only had a single candidate. Josh Still, Returning Officer and the Master of Ceremony for the evening, reminded everyone that “RON will be running in all the elections.� The posts of Anti-Racism Officer, Ethics and Environment Officer, LGBT Officer and Women’s Officer were secured by each candidate with RON receiving a few votes in each case. Mohamed Harrath, Naomi Russell, John Peart and Alice Stott won each of the respective posts. Jay Stoll won in the first round of the Democracy Committee elections, followed by Joe Anderson, Hassan Arif, Sherelle Davids, and Rachel Quah. The five Athletic’s Union Executive positions were won by Steph Moffat, Robert Martin, Jack Curtis, George Melhuish and Hannah Richmond. Sophie Newman became the newly-elected Disabled Officer by a fair margin of 644 votes to 461 against Jade Symonds. On her plans for the year ahead as Disabled Students Officer she said she wants to “campaign for people to gain awareness of disabilities on campus� and “to improve conditions for disabled students, and fight against cuts, since that will eventually affect
negatively the conditions for these students.� Diana Yu won International Student’s Officer against Jan Ladzinski, a source of celebration for some. Ladzinski was another member of the Socialist Workers Party who failed to be elected. There was a visible lapse in the jovial atmosphere as Jason Wong entered the Quad. After being disqualified from the Trustee elections, he ran a RON campaign against the remaining candidates. Lukas Slothuus, Diva Vaish and Mehak Adil all won positions on the Student Trustee Board, but the fourth position went to RON, beating Rayomand Ratansha Gilder. This means that there will be another election for the fourth place on the Board, which Wong plans on running in. Still said “I received complaints from people regarding anti-semitism, and referred these to the Students’ Union Executive. I had no choice but to recommend expulsion.� Wong consequently wrote on Twitter that “Josh Still will make an excellent returning officer for the Zimbabwe pretend elections.� Although the date for the next election is unknown, Still said “I’m thinking of standing myself, or if not, I will campaign for the moderate with the best chance of beating Wong.� Additional reporting done by Jon Allsop, Nona Buckley-Irvine, Goreti Faria, Arisa Manawapat, and Connor Russell
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Beaver front pages from the last academic year.
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