The Beaver - #926

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Issue 926 | LT Week 6

Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union: Making Sense of LSE Since 1949

LSESU defunds The Beaver after 74 years

INSIDE TODAY News Turkish Soc’s emergency fundraiser for earthquake aid, page 3 ‘Occupy LSE’ stages sit-in, page 4

Features LSE staff: men paid 3x bigger bonuses than women, page 5 LSESU fails The Beaver once again, page 6

Opinion Aarti Malhotra Bora Bayram Executive and Features Editors With additional research by Jack Beeching Illustrated by Charlie To he Beaver is fighting for its life.

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As a result of bye-law changes in the LSESU, The Beaver, LSESU’s award-winning student newspaper, is facing the grim prospect of permanently losing its funding. This means no printed paper, no articles, and no space for student voices on campus.

This, to put it mildly, is a disgrace. After circulating a petition that got more than 600 signatures, we have started the process of reversing the decisions that have led to this mess. This is not only a story about the SU’s mismanagement but also

the years-long fight for The Beaver’s survival.

Here’s why and how it’s happening, and what we’re doing to save The Beaver.

SAVE THE BEAVER CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Haute couture must do more for mental health, page 8 New arguments for votes at 16, page 10 BEAVER SOUND, page 11

& flip for

arya barkesseh on the IRANIAN PROTESTS

Meet the team photographed by Claire Oh and Oluchi Egbom Executive Editor

Aarti Malhotra executive.beaver@lsesu.org Managing Editor Vani Kant managing.beaver@lsesu.org Flipside Editor Ambre Pluta editor.flipside@lsesu.org Beaver Editor Jack Beeching editor.beaver@lsesu.org Multimedia Editor Vaneeza Jawad multimedia.beaver@lsesu.org

News Editors Aysha Sarah Klara Woxstrom Features Editors Alan Nemirovski Bora Bayram Opinion Editors Alina Chen Honour Astill Part B Editors Sana Agarwal Anouk Pardon Review Editors Ben Helme Syed Zaid Ali Sport Editor Noah Poll Social Editor Liv Kessler Podcast Editors Lily Whittle Dillon Loh Illustration Heads Charlie To Anoushka Guli Photography Heads Claire Yubin Oh Oluchi Egbom Videography Head Jessy Yang

Front page by Vaneeza Jawad

LT Week 06

Open letter to the LSESU Board of Trustees

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e, former writers and editors of The Beaver and members of student newspapers from around the country are calling upon the London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSESU) to restore its annual grant to the Media Group.

We are deeply saddened and concerned to hear that starting next year, The Beaver will receive no secure, guaranteed financial support from the LSESU as it has historically done so to expense its printing, website, and other essential costs.

members and providing a space for students to express their views. It is without question: The Beaver is an essential part of LSE. It is the Union’s moral responsibility to make sure the student body is well-informed.

In recent years, the paper has covered the ethnicity gap in student attainment, the lacklustre support for disabled students, and LSE’s mishandling of sexual assault cases. Without the Union’s financial support, none of these stories would have been told.

Lastly, The Beaver has shaped many excellent journalists and other professionals. The opportunity for students to hone their writing, editing, and reporting skills is an integral part of a campus newspaper’s role. The paper teaches its newsroom to be curious and The demise of The Beaver open-minded - qualities that would be a great loss to the serve its alumni well in life.

School. Throughout its 74year history, The Beaver has unfailingly delivered Losing The Beaver would be an in its core mission: to immeasurable detriment to the platform creativity, stimulate LSE community, and student discussion, and report with journalism as a whole. In view rigour. Generations of student of these points, we believe it is journalists at The Beaver have vital that The Beaver continues dedicated their time and effort to receive financial support to provide a public service to from the LSE Students’ Union. the LSE community by freely We therefore call on the Union and independently reporting to restore provisions in the on issues that concern Union bye-laws that guarantee secure Without the LSESU’s financial support, The Beaver, an LSE institution since 1949 inducted by George Bernard Shaw - faces the gravest threat to its existence since its founding.

Alive and kicking Ambre Pluta Flipside Editor

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his might be the last time that I write for The Beaver. Because of a lack of funding from the SU, this issue might be the last time any student ever writes for The Beaver. In 1949, on Thursday 5 of May, the paper was published for the very first time. It has since seen many different covers, many

different editors and many different staff writers. But the lesser-known truth, is that The Beaver started out as papers stuck on the walls of this university. All of this started out as ‘mural Beaver’ and most importantly, and always, as students fighting to get their voices heard. The Beaver has continuously provided a platform for students to fight for what they believe in.

Students often are twentysomething young adults,

and consistent funding to The Beaver.

Signed,

www.thebeaverlse.co.uk

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Scan this code on Spotify to listen to the newest Beaver Sound episodes!

Milo Dennison, Editor in Chief, The Oxford Student Famke Veenstra-Ashmore and Megan Byrom, Editorsin-Chief, Varsity Nicole Wu, Editor-in-Chief, Palatinate Ishaan Rahman, Editor-inChief, Roar News Megan Ballantyne, Print Senior Editor, Exepose Jamie John, Co-Editor-inChief, Felix Katie Bevan and Emilia Growney, Co-Editors-inChief, The Boar Chloe Aslett, Editor-in-Chief, Forge Press Alba Goskova, Editor-inChief, The Gryphon Lucinda Dodd, Editor-inChief, Impact Magazine Gair Rhydd, Cardiff University Liam Brown, Beaver Executive Editor (2012-13) Dennis Mooney, Beaver Executive Editor (2013-14) Jon Allsop, Beaver Executive Editor (2014-15) Morgan Fairless, Beaver Executive Editor (2019-20) and Managing Editor (201819) Angbeen Abbas, Beaver Executive Editor (2021-22) Gustav Brincat, Beaver Managing Editor (2021-22) just starting out in life and overflowing with eagerness to change things for the better.

Without a newspaper, LSE students will be left voiceless.

I have worked at The Beaver for the last three years on 14 issues with some of the most passionate people I know.

LSE students have published 926 issues over 74 years while The Beaver survived LSE’s turbulent history. It is not about to end now. The Beaver will not disappear. If we have to return to being papers stuck on the walls of this university, we will.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK submit your best shots of campus to photography.beaver@lsesu.org for a chance to win!

Any opinions expressed herein are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the LSE Students’ Union or Beaver Editorial Staff.

The Beaver is issued under a Creative Commons license.

Attribution necessary.

Printed at Cambridge

Iliffe

Print,

Room 2.02 Saw Swee Hock Student Centre LSE Students’ Union London WC2A 2AE 020 7955 6705

NEWS

News Editors Aysha Sarah Klara Woxström news.beaver@lsesu.org

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LSESU Turkish Soc launches emergency fundraiser after earthquake hits Turkey, Syria Aysha Sarah Klara Woxström News Editors

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n the early hours of 6 February, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and parts of Syria. Almost 9 hours later, a second, 7.5-magnitude tremor followed. Both of these have caused disastrous civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure which are expected to increase.

The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria has increased to over 23,000 as of 11 February. According to media sources, 20,318 people have been killed and over 80,052 have been reported injured. Meanwhile, the death toll in Syria soared to 3,513. In ten provinces, Turkish President Tayy-

ip Erdogan imposed a state of emergency. Multiple nations, including the US, India, the European Union, Ukraine, and China, have expressed their support for the two nations with President Joe Biden, authorising an “immediate US response”.

On 8 February, it was reported that the Turkish society has raised almost 3000 pounds. The LSESU Turkish society later said in an open letter to the LSE community , on February 10, they raised 4900 pounds in less than two days.

The LSESU Turkish Society prepared a bake sale on 8 February to raise funds for the emergency appeal. The society posted on their official Instagram account, “As a community, we have a responsibility to help those in need and make a positive impact on the world…

Your support will make a real difference in the lives of those affected by this tragedy.”

The chair of LSESU Turkish Society, Yunus Kaan Yilmazturk, told The Beaver, ‘‘The priority will change over the course of the events, the first 72 hours, we try to find the people in the field. After that, obviously, we have to understand the magnitude, we have to understand how these people are affected and what we can do… this is the best we can do while we are in London and while we are studying.’’

At the bake sale, the LSESU Turkish Society raised funds to support the earthquake victims while sharing their culture with other LSE students.

When asked about the potential impact of the crisis, Yilmazturk continued, ‘‘[E] motionally and psychologically this will last, I would say, decades. We had a very

big earthquake back in 1999, which was in the Marmara region close to Istanbul, and it’s a very lively memory in people’s minds… This is the biggest in the Turkish Republic’s history. We are celebrating Turkey’s 100th anniversary of the Republic this year, and this is the biggest catastrophe of the century. So, it will last a long time, a decade probably, whatever we can do, we are just here to make a difference.’’

In the open letter to the LSE community the LSESU Turkish society also wrote they have decided to continue their fundraising efforts on campus. To support the earthquake’s victims, the LSESU Turkish society has referred to the Turkish NGO Ahbap, and the LSE Turkish Society’s fundraisers for Turkey Mozaik Foundation and Oxfam.

International fees halve EU student enrolment at UK universities Jack B eeching B eaver Editor Illustrated by Anoushka Guli

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n 2021, 53 percent fewer EU students enrolled in their first year at a UK university compared with 2020, according to figures by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) .

HESA said, “This decrease aligns with the UK’s exit from the EU and a change in international fee policy from 1 August 2021.”

Since 2021, EU students have been subject to international tuition fees –

estimated to average £22,000 per year for undergraduates. Prior to Brexit, EU students paid home fees, usually £9,250, and were eligible for student finance.

In contrast, the number of non-EU international students enrolling in their first year rose by 32% between 2020 and 2021. Chinese and Indian students are the largest groups, making up 27% and 23% of non-EU international students in 2021, respectively.

The total number of EU students at LSE has declined from 2,424 in 2020 to 1,885 this academic year, indicating that enrolments to the School are following the national trend.

Data Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

An LSE spokesperson told The Beaver, “Similar to most UK universities, LSE has seen an overall drop in EU students enrolling over the past few years, although the numbers vary across departments and nationalities.

“We remain committed to attracting

outstanding applicants from all over the world. Overseas students, including from the EU, make an enormous contribution to our community and to the UK’s culture, society and economy.”

4 News #OccupyLSE sit-in on campus shows solidarity with UCU Klara Woxström News Editor Alan Nemirovski Features Editor Photographed by OccupyLSE

dents show solidarity, it’s crucial to the movement. I mean staff said to students that they can’t really support this due to rules and regulations, [they] can’t turn up to a sit-in, so [they] need the students to do it. It was a question whether the students would do that or not and [we] n Friday 3 February, LSE stu- decided: yes.” dents staged a sit-in outside of Centre Building to show soli- “So after three long years, finally, as small darity with and protest alongside UCU as it is, it’s extremely important. I’m at members, who are demanding fair Occupy LSE because this is history, we’re pay, sustainable workloads, reduced making history.” casualisation, and equitable treatment of staff.

Ishani Milward-Rose, a second-year

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With regard to Occupy LSE and the UCU’s demand, they added, “LSE is committed to ensuring an excellent education for our students and supporting all LSE staff. Pay and pensions are negotiated at a national level. We are actively engaging with representative bodies on

these issues in the strongest possible terms and continue to have constructive discussions with our local LSE branch of UCU about a wide range of matters.”

*Some names in this article have been changed to preserve anonymity.

BSc Social Anthropology student notes, “Considering that universities in the UK have £4 billion in reserves and only 3% of that would fix all the demands of the UCU striking staff are demanding, considering that and the fact that universiThe sit-in comes on the heels of the ties aren’t investing in teachers … we’re first of 18 strike days planned by the here to raise your voice and be angry.”

UCU, spanning February and March 2023. The first day occurred on 1 Feb- Maiya McQueen, a postgraduate sturuary 2023. The next strike days are dent studying MSc Social Anthropoloscheduled for 9 and 10 February. gy, believes that “as a post-grad internaThe group, called ‘Occupy LSE’, is not directly affiliated with the UCU, but their demands “echo the demands made by the UCU.”

Sarah Cat*, a second-year BSc International Relations student told The Beaver, “We are coming together because we are completely disgusted at the working conditions that LSE has for our staff, and our students, we understand that their working conditions are our learning conditions, and we want to show solidarity and help in the best way we can.”

“LSE has such a rich history of activism, but year by year that’s kind of died down and slowed down. It’s kind of frustrating to see. We’re here to show students … the [power] we can have as a collective … and to make noise and to take up space. And to let Minouche and all of the directors know that there are students who are willing to actually act and that care about our teachers.”

Tori Anderson, a third-year BSc International Relations student added, “I’m in my final year of undergraduate study and for three years we haven’t seen a movement like this… This time around it is very important that stu-

tional student working part time, and is here taking out student loans… paying £24,000 a year for this university to violate faculty, staff and students over and over again is very, very frustrating, exhausting.”

“We all worked really hard to be here.

This isn’t an easy university to get into and it’s even more difficult to engage with once you’re on campus. It’s exhausting and disheartening to show up somewhere that you’ve tried so so hard … to get to and they don’t care.”

An LSE spokesperson commented on the student sit-in, stating, “Free speech and freedom of expression underpin everything we do at LSE. The School has clear policies in place to protect individual’s rights to freedom of expression, ensure the facilitation of debates and enable all members of our community to refute ideas lawfully, whether through protest on campus or other means.

UCU strike schedule: what to expect in the remaining weeks of term Aysha Sarah Klara Woxström News Editors

LSE LT Term Week:

Strike Days:

Week 5

14, 15, 16 February

Week 6

21, 22, 23 February

Week 7

27, 28 February, 1, 2 March

Week 8

No Strikes

Week 9

16, 17 March

Week 10

20, 21, 22 March

FEATURES

Features Editors Bora Bayram Alan Nemirovski features.beaver@lsesu.org

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Working at LSE: Men earn almost three times bigger bonuses than women How bonuses impact LSE’s gender pay gap

Amadea Hofmann William Goltz Staff Writers

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n investigation by The Beaver has found that male academics at the London School of Economics receive, on average, almost three times bigger bonuses than female academics.

The 2021 LSE Gender Pay Gap Report reveals a stark gender pay gap concerning the bonus pay awarded to staff. Crucially, these bonus discrepancies have no effect on LSE’s declared overall gender pay gap.

LEFT: The average difference in bonus pay has been rising since Over the past five years, LSE’s 2017, with the average difference in bonus pay in 2021 being more median gender pay gap has than three times higher than the average difference in 2020. been steadily decreasing. In contrast, the mean gender pay Since LSE does not account addressed by the application gap has stayed roughly the for bonuses in the gender pay of attraction and retention same, with there being an ap- gap, the gender pay gap is ac- premia.” proximately 24 percent differ- tually 6.83 percent worse than ence in pay between genders. what is officially published “If you’re somebody who only Importantly, both the median – or in real terms, instead of cares about income,” said Dr and mean indicators exclude men earning £7,727.45 more, Grace Lordan, the Director bonus payments in their cal- they actually earn £11,491.15 of the Inclusion Initiative, “as culations of the gender pay more than women. It is im- soon as you enter the LSE, gap. If bonuses were included portant to note that although you’re thinking ‘well, what’s in general calculations, the The Beaver used the average the next way that I can buck overall gender pay gap at LSE bonus amount in its calcula- my income? And that is either would be much worse than the tions, naturally, not every ac- to threaten to leave or to acofficial figures published. ademic receives the same bo- tually leave.’” To be rewardTo examine the bonus pay gap disparity, The Beaver reviewed the LSE Pay Gap Reports which have been published annually since 2017, when the government mandated that universities should publish their pay gap data.

The above graphs illustrate the differences in bonus pay between genders; using calculations of the gender pay gap both including and excluding bonus considerations. The analysis provides a rare look inside what the gender pay gap at LSE actually is.

Despite men and women receiving bonuses at similar rates (38.57 percent and 34.35 percent respectively), the gender pay gap has increased tenfold. The difference in total bonus pay between genders was £332.49 in 2017, increasing to £3,763.70 in 2021.

nus, if at all.

LSE awards a variety of bonuses, the most common of which are ‘performance supplements.’ These accounted for 51 percent of all bonuses awarded in 2021. According to an LSE spokesperson, performance supplements are a recognition that “an academic may be on a career trajectory which makes them highly attractive to other employers.” The term ‘performance supplements’ is misleading, however, as they do not reflect the actual performance of academics.

When asked to clarify the terms and their differences, an LSE spokesperson defined market supplements as applying to “certain disciplines, fields or specialist areas there are recruitment and retention difficulties that need to be

ed through LSE’s bonus pay structure, it seems, academics must prioritise their external career prospects over their contributions to the school.

If performance supplements were used as a genuine reward for internal contribution, they could significantly reduce the bonus pay gap. As Dr Lordan has explained, the School would be able to “increase the bonus pool that’s been distributed equally among men and women at the moment, and allow those rewards to be bigger.”

Furthermore, The Beaver’s efforts to seek clarification from the LSE Human Relations department, which is responsible for the drafting of the Pay Gap Reports, have not been straightforward. An LSE spokesperson provided a brief statement of the LSE’s posi-

RIGHT: Despite the overall gender pay gap decreasing on average since 2017, discrepancies in bonus pay have consistently been accounting for a larger proportion of the gender pay gap at LSE. tion, which was prefaced with the declaration that “unfortunately, no one at the School is available for interview.”

This statement only repeated many of the statements found in the Pay Gap Reports.

Its emphasis on the fact that LSE’s median salary gap is “lower than the UK national average” ignores the fact that the School’s mean salary pay gap is three times higher than the UK average if bonuses are taken into account.

Rejecting any suggestion that a reliance market pressures for determining supplements is responsible for increasing the bonus pay gap, the School insists that progress will only be made in addressing the bonus pay gap “with more women in senior positions across LSE, specifically in academic disciplines that attract a higher market rate and have a greater prevalence of supplements.”

It appears that LSE is hesitant to take a proactive approach towards addressing the bonus pay gap. In the 2021 Pay Gap Report’s concluding section concerning its “ongoing actions,” no mention is made of retention pay, despite it clearly being the factor with the most obviously negative impact on pay inequality.

Based on the statement from an LSE spokesperson, it appears the School does not consider the current system of bonus pay to be flawed, despite the fact that the implementation of performance supplements has coincided with a significant impact in the bonus pay gap.

At a time when members of the University and College Union (UCU) are taking action against the current state of pay, working conditions, and pension cuts, the issue of the gender pay gap at LSE is more pertinent than ever. As the job market for academics grows increasingly stagnant, LSE seems to be provided with a rare opportunity to focus its bonus system on fairly rewarding the contributions of academics to the community, rather than the efforts of academics to leave it.

Read the full article online, and listen to the second companion episode of the ‘Working at LSE’ podcast on Beaver Sound (available on Spotify)!

6 Special Report - Save The Beaver

LSESU defunds The Beaver after 74 years Aarti Malhotra Bora Bayram Executive and Features Editors With additional reseach by Jack Beeching

What is the problem?

The SU has informed us that starting next year, The Beaver will receive no guaranteed funding. This was a result of changes made to the SU byelaws last year when entire sections governing The Beaver were removed. These included provisions which set funding guidelines, foundational principles, and disciplinary procedures. Even though the paper hasn’t received that level of funding in years, the existence of these provisions pressured successive administrations to consider The Beaver’s funding and to take action. However, there is currently no provision guaranteeing any amount of funding to The Beaver.

These bye-laws were removed during the Democracy Review that took place over Lent and Summer Term last year. In a series of workshops run by the non-profit Democratic Society, a group of students were consulted on proposed changes to the bye-laws, with their recommendations being approved by the student body in the

Summer Term. In the course of the drafting of these byelaws, The Beaver was forgotten: contrary to repeated claims, sections were removed without any consultation with the previous committee. Whether arising out of inattention or apathy, this was a blunder that ultimately calls to question the initiative’s true commitment to ‘democracy’.

In either case, this issue is existential: with funding gone, it becomes impossible for us to publish anything. Printing costs, website and digital platform, and software are our only expenditures. And these costs are growing by the day: just earlier this year, our printer instituted a new energy surcharge upwards of £125 per issue. We spend no money on socials — every single penny goes towards achieving our central goal: to make sure students remain well-informed about their Union and university. There used to be a time when advertising brought in thousands of pounds per issue. However, times have changed, and advertising revenue has become more scarce. Consequently, The Beaver cannot survive without funding from the SU. This is not a new problem. The Beaver used to publish every single week: now, it’s only every 3 weeks. As of now, we don’t even have enough money to

“The removal of The Beaver’s Media Grant is not an isolated development. On the contrary, it represents a pattern of increasing funding cuts and other issues that the paper has faced in the past decade.” publish our planned 4 issues this term, with costs being expended even on things we did not previously have to pay for. For instance, the SU now obliges us to pay for libel checkers out of our operational budget whereas, in previous years, this was funded directly by the SU. This not only reflects our urgent need for funding but also how The Beaver’s situation will deteriorate in future years if we do not have guaranteed funding.

Vani Kant, Managing Editor, has noted how “our primary job has now become lobbying, and the paper’s suffering for it.”

When did this start?

After finding out about the removal of the Media Grant, we spoke to multiple ex-editors of The Beaver. From our conversations, one thing became increasingly clear: the removal of The Beaver’s Media Grant is not an isolated development. On the contrary, it represented a pattern of increasing funding cuts

and other issues that the paper as. Whilst The Beaver is not, has faced in the past decade. should not, and arguably cannot ever be wholly independent According to members of The of LSESU, there nonetheless reBeaver’s previous commit- mains a state close to maximum tees, tensions between the pa- independence that can only be per and the Union began to ensured if all aspects of the pubemerge in the year 2017. Jacob lication are ultimately under Stokes, Executive Editor of The student control.”

Beaver between 2017-2018, recalls two primary causes for “The difficulty here though is the strained relations: financial that ’99 per cent inpendence’ and political. Jacob said, “First, is as good as ‘0 per cent indeit was made clear that The Bea- pendence’, if that last 1 per cent ver’s budget should be scoped allows for existential control.” down over time, with LSESU funding covering something In the following academic year, like print and digital hosting The Beaver saw its funds slashed costs only. Anything else was from approximately £20,000* expected to be funded via ad- to £12,000. Adam Solomons, vertising revenue procured by Executive Editor at the time, The Beaver’s student team.” recalls how this budget cut presented a fundamental turning The second source of tensions, point in The Beaver’s trajectory according to Jacob, were at- by forcing the paper to publish tempts by the Union to wield fortnightly as opposed to weekmore managerial influence ly. over the paper. He said, “An impression was given that Adam explained, “We had to go LSESU would prefer the ex- from printing 32-40 pages each ecutive management of The week to around 24 every other Beaver be delegated to LSESU week. Digital became the focus staff, with students managing and that was that. We pleaded lower-down operations. We for more money and they adwere suspicious of such ide- justed a little, but not much.

We saw that as existential — [we] had no idea it would get so much worse [in the coming years].”

By 2021, when Angbeen Abbas took over as Executive Editor, The Beavers media grant had been reduced to £8,000. Given the new budget, The Beaverwas forced to further reduce publishing to every three weeks, limiting output to only eight issues per academic year. It is noteworthy that such consistent cuts in the paper’s funding explicitly violated the LSESU bye-laws at the time, which stated the paper was entitled to enough funds to “produce 21 issues of The Beaver newspaper per academic year.”

Special Report - Save The Beaver

Why is this happening?

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From our multiple conversations with staff at the Union, this pattern of consistent cuts to The Beaver’s budget and the removal of the Media Grant has been attributed to a rapid decline in the LSE administration’s funding of the Students’ Union. This has also been used to justify policies such as charging societies high fees for using SU venues and a vast reduction in the funding of Athletics Union clubs. However, financial data about the Union from the Charity Commission seems to paint a different story.

LSE’s grant to the Union increases by approximately 2 per cent each year and therefore; it is decreasing in real terms.

However, the primary reason for the Union’s tight financial situation is not LSE, but falling revenues from the Union’s businesses, as illustrated by the closure of Denning Cafe, which was losing money.

While the Union’s income from its trading activities has been falling since 2016, the drop in revenue is particularly large in the 2019-20 financial year, where income fell by 70 per cent from £1,970,000 to £589,930 compared to the year before, attributed to the economic impact of the pandemic.

The SU’s commercial failings are seriously affecting its financial prospects. However, it is unclear why The Beaver should be defunded. The Beaver’s role is ever more relevant as Union members need independent and rigorous reporting on these challenges. Previously, the Union recognised that in 1973 as it was fighting its own existential funding battle with LSE: it allocated almost 10% of its grant to ensure The Beaver could continue informing students. Now, as we ask for the bare minimum to continue this legacy, the SU should look to its past.

Given how The Beaver in recent years has taken up a mere 0.2 per cent of the overall SU budget, guaranteeing the paper a secure annual budget is not a difficult financial commitment for the Union to make.

What are the alternatives?

bility to ensure students have access to free and independent information about the Union.

What are we proposing?

The SU has given three suggestions as to how The Beavercan solve its funding problem.

However, they are all inadequate and impractical.

Third is for us to apply to the Students’ Union Fund (SUF), a fund which gives a maximum of £5000 to each society. Putting aside the fact that even if we received the maximum amount of funding from SUF there would only be enough money to publish 5 issues a year, we would be forced to reapply every year.

This is why we are proposing to bring about a more permanent solution: a change in the byelaws.

We have heard the first suggestion too many times: ‘Just run ads.’ Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. Running ads is not a small feat and it does not happen overnight. Under the old bye-laws, the SU was responsible for selling advertising, not editors. This not only reflects the time constraints faced by editors but also the challenge of the task. If the Union is serious about these proposals, then it needs to significantly invest in The Beaver over a period of years to even think about advertising as a viable option for financial independence. Otherwise, it would be throwing its newspaper in at the deep end with no chance of survival.

Second is the idea of charging membership fees or charging for readership. Charging members would mean students have to pay to make their voices heard. Charging readers would mean students have to pay to remain well informed. These would not only introduce an unacceptable barrier to engagement but also mean the SU was abdicating its moral responsi-

We have been assured by the Sabbatical Officers, especially General Secretary Tilly Mason, that they will not let The Beaver die. We appreciate their support; however, it is unfortunately not enough for only this year’s sabbatical team to commit to funding us (which, to be clear, we haven’t explicitly heard from the sabbs). In its current course, The Beaver would have to continuously lobby successive sabbatical officers for essential

Our proposal is to restore provisions which used to guarantee The Beaver a certain amount of funding per academic year.

Currently, with our tri-weekly publishing schedule, we need guaranteed funding for 8 issues, as well as money to maintain our website and other digital platforms.

In order to do this, we have called a Student Members Meeting with the support of over 600 students and alumni.

There, we will introduce a motion which details our funding requirements. Students will vote on our proposals, and, hopefully, the future of The Bea-

ver will be more secure.

To be clear, it is not legally possible for the bye-laws to force the SU to give funding to a cause, as budgeting decisions are exclusively the purview of the Trustees.

However, our proposals will do the next best thing: force every successive administration to consider The Beaver’s funding and make the students’ support of The Beaver known. Democratic mandates are powerful; any decision that goes contrary to the student body’s wishes would be vigorously scrutinised and hard to justify.

To further this democratic mandate, we will also submit a policy proposal. This is a separate process from the Student Members Meeting as it will include a panel of students and is only valid for two years. Combined with the mandate we hope will come out of the Student Members Meeting, the trustees will face a stark choice: to fund The Beaver or go against the will of the student body.

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OPINION

Opinion Editor Honour Astill Alina Chen opinion.beaver@lsesu.org

“SICK” LOOKS: why haute couture brands deserve criticism Maria Vittoria Borghi Contributor TW: mention of mental health disorders and suicide

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ew people are unfamiliar with Yayoi Kusama and her fixation with mesmerizing patterns, splashing colours, and shapes of infinity.

Subversive, immersive, and extravagant, her work feeds into the fantasies of the ultra-creative Generation Z. This is probably why, despite having been active for decades, Kusama’s career has made a strong comeback in recent years.

The success might also come from her personal life. The Japanese artist suffers from hallucinations and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and the so-called “Kusamaification” of objects and spaces is a vivid portrayal of these life experiences.

Not only does Gen-Z report considerably higher rates of mental illness and distress, they are also more determined to talk about such experiences; it’s therefore understandable that some young people might view the artist as a role model. Kusama’s renewed success seems welldeserved, considering that she opened up about her condition as soon as

she attained celebrity status, that is, in a time before our collective awakening on mental health stigma.

Regardless of natural charms and talents, every thriving artist needs regular promotions, and Kusama appears well aware of that.

As a seasoned professional in the popularity game, the 93-year-old must have noticed that the real challenge is not short-term success, but staying relevant for a sustained period of time and collecting the monetary profits of fame.

From this angle, it’s not difficult to see through her new partnership with Louis Vuitton, commemorated with statues and installations popping up in major world capitals overnight. The Kusama-ification of fashion is expected to be a lucrative endeavour for the Japanese creator and the French brand alike: according to the Fashion website Shift, the items of the new collection, which commemorates the 10th anniversary of their previous successful 2012 collaboration LV x Yayoi Kusama, is 'already a soldout phenomenon'.

While certainly not the first artist to use her mental health disorder as a source of inspiration, Kusama is one of the few among them to have

cultivated an eminent career whilst enduring their condition – the fruits of which would later be reaped also through collaborating with fashion brands. Vincent Van Gogh, for instance, also experienced mental health episodes which he channeled into art. Both artists voluntarily entered a mental institution after a series of psychotic episodes: however, while Kusama has made the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill in Tokyo her permanent residence in 1995 – which she leaves regularly to work in an atelier across the street – Van Gogh ended his stay at the Saint-Paul asylum after a year, dying shortly after from a probably self-inflicted wound. It’s truly regrettable that the Dutch painter will never have a say in how his work, now worth millions, has been used by the champions of haute couture as inspiration material for decades.

However, not all attempts at capitalising on mental health struggles have been well received. Presenting Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection, for example, must have been a surprising experience for Alessandro Michele. I can only assume that the then-creative director expected Milan fashion week attendees to share his creative vision of reworked straitjackets. He was probably perplexed to learn that the public and even some of his models did not: following the show, the media reported on his insensitive choice (which overshadowed the whole collection) and on the silent protest of model Ayesha Tan Jones, who opened their palms on the runway, which read: ‘mental health is not fashion’. Journalists and bloggers seem to agree.

Is it not, though? Fashion is arguably the most successful industry to have instrumentalised sensitive

issues and, despite occasional gaffes, designers must believe that the profits are worth walking the sensitivity tightrope. Recall the infamous 1980s ads by Calvin Klein featuring Brooke Shields and Kate Moss? 40 years later, sexual innuendos, a marketing trick that still pays off, are combined with hallucinationinspired prints to make products more attractive, as illustrated by the Louis Vuitton billboards showing a topless Bella Hadid (who is thankfully over 18, unlike Shields and Moss at the time of their respective shoots) covered by a Kusama tote bag. If Sex sells, perhaps “Sick” does too.

The last decades of runways and pop culture are real-world evidence that mental health is fashionable. The normative debate about what fashion can or should be is failing to address the practical concerns that should be discussed today: not so much whether there is a trend towards capitalisation of mental health and social malaise, but what we are to make of it. It’s time to start considering what the advantages and consequences are and for whom, and how to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risks.

We will have to accept that Haute Couture emulates and profits from Van Gogh’s and Claude Monet’s compositions; we can maybe even look past the comedian wearing a Hermès scarf while mimicking Edvard Munch’s The Scream on the cover of Vogue Korea. Still, we must claim something in return: social responsibility. The eagerness to exploit creative output that has undeniably emerged from suffering must be equally matched by donations and awareness campaigns. Kusama seems excited to work with Louis Vuitton, but to what extent are they giving back to the community?

Despite their outstanding commitment to environmental,

cultural and social causes, a clear articulation of their support for mental health issues appears to be missing from their 2022 ESG report and Code of Conduct. Even their brilliant initiative 'WECAREFORMODELS', which was designed to create a safe working environment for models and set new standards in fashion, avoided words such as “mental health”, “depression” or “anxiety”, while offering tips for stress and food management.

The same can be said about the LVMH Heart Fund, which celebrates its first anniversary in June 2023. This new scheme for employees facing “critical personal situations as well as challenging day-to-day issues” sounds impressive.

However, it’s hard to ask for help when there’s reluctance to call a spade a spade: the fact that such an influential company shies away from employing the vocabulary which describes the reality of so many people points to the hesitancy of a whole industry to explicitly support affected communities.

This is what we should be calling haute couture out on: their ambiguous involvement in the fight to support people with mental disorders – a fight they should be openly and consistently spearheading, given that they benefit from their creativity. Not using Kusama’s success to do that feels like a missed opportunity. Brands should honour the hardships of the artists they are ‘inspired’ by in times of artistic or intellectual drought: if we can push them to publicly do that, maybe we can turn this trend into a collective educational and healing opportunity. Now, that would be sick!

Opinion 9

It’s diplomacy, stupid Antóntio Vale Contributor

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ill Clinton first used the famous “it’s the economy, stupid” in his presidential campaign against George H. W. Bush – an adage to signify the primacy of economic considerations in politics. But I believe that an adaptation of this phrase is absolutely necessary in light of the current international political atmosphere. Regardless of its occasional flaws, there is no other way of resolving conflicts and easing tension.

And world leaders really need to be reminded of this as they have been increasingly resorting to alternative (and far more aggressive) forms of intergovernmental communication. At the same time, the average citizen is becoming increasingly outof-touch with the enduring importance not only of bilateral diplomacy, but also of multilateral talks

and negotiations catalysed by organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations (UN). This growing lack of trust in the necessity of such institutions, promulgated by different populist movements, globally threatens to trigger a severe regression in the protection of more vulnerable countries and safeguard of peaceful conflict resolution.

The common thread to the

public’s lack of interest in these inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) is that they are not currently facing issues as noticeable and popular as the ones faced during their inception. The UN, for instance, was built over the rubble of the Second World War and its normative intentions inspired much interest - there was a generalised passion towards it since it represented a new beginning for global relations and the recovery from a very dark historical period.

Currently, there is no such analogous crisis that puts it on the pedestal. Today’s crises, such as the Russo-Ukrainian war and the pandemic, have rather shifted the focus of media attention to national and local levels of governance, rather than the supra-national.

The character of contemporary crises – which appears to feed on cults of personality – means we end up concentrating on explosive statements from politicians, rather than the technical work of organisations or diplomats.

Simultaneously, we are witnessing the rise of a generalised unwillingness to critically and holistically analyse situations. We fail to ask questions or reflect upon the information that we are constantly bombarded with, without even having a chance to evaluate its degree of truthfulness. We rush to conclusions, in response to the pressure to opine on everything, due to the rush of fast-flowing communication. This has, albeit indirectly, compromised

the UN’s popularity, and led to widespread criticisms of the UN for not solving every existing problem as soon as it arises. The very nature of the UN requires it to deal with sensitive issues in a very delicate way so that actually sustainable solutions can be reached. Such an approach clearly diverges from the aforementioned reality of personal communications on online platforms, or the way the media delivers information.

majority of people will prefer to read a headline containing the words ‘nuclear bomb’ than one that asks for a more critical evaluation of a conflict coupled with a more complex solution. A study by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that on average people read around 20% of the information in a web page. This makes it very hard for news agencies to gain any popularity, if a full

We expect immediate solutions to huge crises and ignore ‘lower’ level diplomatic achievements.

This reflects our failure to actually understand their multifaceted structure and multilayered existence, which prioritises the protection of human life through diplomacy, rather than resorting to threatbased salacious dialogue. The most recent example of this was during April 2022 While some were criticising the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his inaction and calling him ‘boring’ in light of the UN’s perceived failure

“Similar to our social contract with our governments at birth, I believe our nations should be contracting with the UN to commit themselves to investing much more trust in multilateral co-operation.”

amidst the invasion of Ukraine, he was actually negotiating the release of women and children from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol – which turned out to be highly successful. What we must be able to understand is that there is no silver bullet allowing the UN to find a miraculous solution to every problem and that ‘tough’, theatrical diplomacy populist leaders have accustomed us to is neither sustainable nor realistic.

But the sad reality is that at the end of the day, the vast

comprehension of their articles actually required people to read their articles! Another study by McGill University showed that people are more drawn to negative news – a phenomenon they call the ‘negativity bias’. This partly explains why news agencies will therefore prefer certain pieces and, consequently, leaders will adopt certain approaches in order to have more visibility.

A complete re-orientation of approaches to international relations is imperative to tackle these contemporary menaces, which threaten to decimate intra-governmental ties that were so carefully constructed by the most astute diplomats of the 20th century.

We should not be creating new states and encouraging separatist movements, nor fostering protectionist policies, and especially not closing ourselves in our own little local bunkers with the comfort of words coming from atomistic, self-interested and myopic politicians. The more countries and individuals merge together and the greater the global dialogue, the easier it will be to find solutions. The more we found our diplomacy in intellectuality and genuine concern for the problems we face, the easier it will be to create a more peaceful global environment.

Similar to citizens’ social contracts with governments at birth, I believe our nations should be engaging with the UN to commit themselves to investing much more trust in multilateral co-operation.

It is in my view critical to reformulate the relationship between governments and IGOs for the sake of developing global policies that would stimulate homogeneous growth

as a civilization: the perception of states as completely independent entities bears no sense in this globalised world.

There is, however, one fundamental requirement for this transition to be efficiently carried out: increasing transparency.

Diplomacy implies patience, and if we want to gather support for it from our impatient societies, we must grant every single citizen access to what is being done. Creating an opaque environment facilitates speculation, paving the way for antagonistic populists to raise bad-faith questions and false allegations. Consequently, the reinforcement of a centralised governance body such as the UN - with the power to interfere more directly with national policy and law would have to go hand in hand with the reinforcement of transparency mechanisms to allow for an almost direct contact with individuals.

To put it another way, while there is an obvious need for more diplomacy, under no circumstance can the title of this article be, on its own, enough to justify any strategy or decision whatsoever. If it were, it would just undermine the power of and support for diplomacy – lest it take on a life of its own, as the original saying did.

10 Opinion Cases for votes at 16 that you haven't heard before D P Sellors Contributor

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ike debating the introduction of the proportional representation system in Britain, or simply whether to get a new mattress, the ‘votes at 16’ discourse will periodically but predictably rise from its dormancy and nestle as if into memory foam into foreseeable arguments, before its dismissal as more pressing issues emerge. In an exchange during Prime Minister’s Questions in 2018, Sir David Lidington and Emily Thornberry made traditional arguments, such as how 16 year-olds should wait until adulthood to enjoy full citizenship rights – while Thornberry cited lower ages in Wales and Scotland, and how if other civic opportunities such as paying taxes, serving in the armed forces, or leaving home are available at 16, then voting should be too. With the British public’s trust in the government reaching perennially low levels, it’s time for the public to be reengaged and more voices to be heard.

A positive reason in favour of introducing votes at 16 is that it boosts long-term participation.

Research has found first time voters aged 16 and 17 had a higher turnout than those aged 18 or 19 in the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election.

In addition, those who were given the vote at 16, first voting in the 2014 Scottish Referendum, and aged 22-24 in the 2021 election, had a higher turnout than those aged 24-26 who voted at 18-19 for the first time. This would make our democracy more representative through a higher lifelong participation, significantly bolstering the calls for lowering the voting age.

A surprising benefit to lowering the voting age is that it has a ‘trickle-up’ effect for improving turnout. Analysing four Danish elections, Jens Olav Dahlgaard found that ‘when Danish children come of age, their parents’ turnout rate increases, and one out of nine who would have abstained are mobilized’. The study finds that parents were only mobilised if

they live with their children.

Over 90% of 16- and 17-yearolds in the UK live with at least one parent, presenting a strong case for lowering the voting age as it further maximises the percentage of the population expressing how they think the country should be run. The trickle-

contended. This is both unlikely and unreasonable.

The downward spiral argument is unreasonable because the change from 18 to 16 incorporates factors that a change from 16 to 14 might not. Also, other arguments for 16 specifically may not apply to ages under 16, thus

local issues than some older voters in the same area.

Conservative Party members as young as 15 already enjoy full voting rights for leadership elections, which means that 15-year-old Tory members may have elected our last 3 Prime Ministers. It is sensible to infer that young Conservatives

“With the British public's trust in the government reaching perennially low levels, it's time for the public to be re-engaged and more voices to be heard.” up effect also helps refute the political expedience rebuttal to more ‘left-leaning’ politicians of lowering the voting age, since more typically conservative older voters are also mobilised.

compromising support for lower ages.

Introducing the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds could introduce a further 1.5 million voters into the electorate.

Whilst critics argue this will lead to lower percentage turnout, it ignores the voting figures that actually signify a represented democracy: the absolute value of turnout.

It signifies the strength of a mandate more suitably as, given a country’s population, it means that a higher percentage of the British population are having a say in how the country is run.

Voter maturity is seen as the argument du jour of the ‘votes at 18’ crowd when they contemplate the assumed tidal wave of teenagers who will supposedly flood their democracy. Firstly, I believe that discussions on the maturity to vote mislead us on what it exactly means to have the right to vote. The 16and 17-year-olds are simply choosing a candidate who their representation should be deferred to – they are not assuming office themselves.

It is not a radical transfer of power; it merely allows those who would like to to select who represents them, so their preferences can be transmitted into the political agenda.

The descent into a chaotic spiral of lowering the voting age until it is measured in months is often a concern with lowering the voting age.

So, what is special about the age 16 and why would its lowering stop there? First of all, the sheer number of civic opportunities that become available at 16 such as paying taxes, serving in the armed forces or leaving home rightly follows from our country’s belief that at age 16, we are of reasonable mind to make such thoughtful decisions.

For a dramatic perpetual lowering, the broadly accepted age of 16 for many civic activities would have to be universally lowered in order for a voting age less than 16 to be seriously

Secondly, concerns about an unwarranted influx of younger voters is perhaps overstated, as assuming a general election every 4 or 5 years, citizens would on average be 18 or 18.5 when they first vote in one. This suggests that on average first time voters would still legally be adults.

Although local elections provide at least minor voting opportunities at least every 2 years, 16- and 17-yearolds are arguably better placed to vote, as in some cases they may be more likely to have lived in an area, potentially being more aware of

have been deemed mature enough to enjoy such rights because having membership is seen as a signal of sufficient interest and engagement with politics. Therefore, a similarly deliberate process such as registering to vote should also be seen as demonstrating the appropriate engagement to be given the vote.

The lack of lived political exposure is also used as an argument against lowering the voting age to 16, as the extrapolation of past political dynamics is perceived as useful for predicting the worthiness of candidates. On the surface, this concern seems to make sense as it posits the

importance of a healthy degree of wariness.

However, my discomfort is that it stipulates that those who have lived through certain experiences can extrapolate their past political experiences more effectively than those who have to use their own research or even than those who have not done so at all! After all, there may well be cases where due to vastly significant societal or economic changes, no extrapolation attempt rather than an amateur’s misfitted one may be more helpful for approaching current issues.

It's time for a positive improvement in political engagement that leads to more accountability and better politicians. 16- and 17-year-olds being given the right to vote gets more people of all ages involved in elections and participating for longer. From Sunak to Starmer, I strongly urge all from across the political spectrum to get behind the motion.

Emily Thornberry will be visiting LSE PPE x Labour Society on the 9th March at 7pm in the LSE Lecture Theatre, CBG, all are welcome to attend.

SOCIAL

EDITED BY LIV KESSLER

Award season begins - A fashion review

by JILL SHAUGHNESSY And just like that, award season kicks off with the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards in January. Their primary purpose is to reward film and TV of the past year. I prefer to judge celebrities on the red carpet. While I wait for the Oscars, here is my trend forecast for the season.

For men’s fashion, there are unconventional colors on traditional suits. Brown hues seem to be a winner as seen on Andrew Garfield at both events. Lovely velvet jackets are also becoming more popular, sported by winners like Evan Peters. Unfortunately, there is also a re-emergence of cummerbunds. I noted the cummerbunds on both Seth Rogen and Adam Scott4 on the Golden Globes red carpet and knew the style was destined to return. And the outdated, cheesy look appeared on Sebastian Stan at the Critics’ Choice a week later. I thought we silently agreed to keep cummerbunds at 1980s proms. In women's fashion, we got to see a lot of beautiful looks on the red carpet. Love it or hate it, a trend of exposed upper abdomen cut out slits seems to be on the majority of long dresses. It appears on the bandage style look that Jenna Ortega and Amelia Dimoldenberg wore as well as on the glittery dresses worn by Amanda Seyfried and Daisy Edgar Jones. Twitter also pointed out to me the lack of necklaces on the red carpet. Collar bones seem to be coming back as a statement in themselves.

Finally, we cannot seem to get rid of the bandeau style tops on dresses as we observe on both Anya Taylor Joy and Julia Garner.

Jill’s Hot Take? Top picks? Happies and crappies?

Biggest disappointment: Lily James - In 2022, Lily James was my absolute favorite on every red carpet. She was always seen rocking flattering long gowns that made her look like an actual princess. I am sad to say her 2023 looks are disappointing at best. Her Critics' Choice ensemble was a puffy black Oscar De La Renta that reminded me of 2014 Pinterest. Her Golden Globes dress had a similar puffy cut (plus abdomen slits) with red fabric that looked similar to a duvet cover.

Golden Globes Best: Daisy Edgar Jones - My favorite of the Golden Globes was Daisy Edgar Jones in a sleek black lace custom Gucci gown. With simple hair and makeup, the dress really has its own moment. I particularly love the bustier top and layered skirt. She manages to look both timeless and one-of-akind in this look.

Critics’ Choice Best: Sadie Sink - Sadie Sink showed up looking absolutely incredible in a youthful pleated short Chanel. The midi length and A-line cut are perfectly flattering and make Sink stand out. The jeweled top is trendy and I don’t mind the exposed abdomen in this context. Overall, Sadie Sink looks flawless. With the BAFTAs and Oscars next up for award season, I am very excited to see what is to come next on the red carpet. But then again, who am I to judge?

I still think Juicy Couture Tracksuits are the pinnacle of fashion.

The Beaver’s guide to 3 writers you need to know in 2023

by STEPHAN BALAC & illustrated by LAMISA CHOWDHURY

‘The High Priestess of Smut’, as described by The Independent, has become a bastion for writers who have found their true calling later in life. Having published her first seventeen novels in her breakout year at the age of 47, Synesthesia has used personal tragedy to fuel her work. In late 2020, as lockdown tightened its grip upon Britain and couples up and down the country felt their relationships strained, her late husband unexpectedly committed suicide by stabbing himself in the back six times with a carving fork, tying his hands together and jumping into the boot of his wife’s car. Such themes of darkness and romantic tragedy can be seen in her latest novel ‘Mary-Lou and the Big, Strapping Gamekeeper’, in which a small village Vicar’s daughter begins a passionate affair with an attractive new employee at the local country estate.

Reclaiming Valentine’s Day

by LONELY CAT LADY Happy Valentine’s day, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!

‘For me, the biggest thing was finding myself in my work. But not forgetting to find my work in myself ’.

It’s that time of year when everyone pairs off and wanders off into their bedrooms. It can be a hard time (no pun intended) for the single ladies out there. But just because you’re single doesn’t mean you can’t experience some love today!

As a funky and hip London comedian (who is actually in his late thirties, slightly fat and steadily balding yet still somehow labelled a ‘young comic’) Miles is a mainstay of the British stand-up scene - despite now appearing solely on BBC panel shows and not having got on stage since his triumphant four minute ‘Live at the Apollo’ set in 2006. A graduate of Lesbian Studies (BSc) at the University of Oxford, Miles quickly became a working class folk-hero and is now much the talk of the popular Islington Eco-Coffee houses. After dipping his toe into screenwriting in 2022, you can catch his debut sitcom ‘Three Men in a Beanie’ on ITV4.

This Valentine’s day, it’s time to love yourself even more than the other 364 days of the year. It’s time to be your own independent girl boss because partners come and go, but you’re (for better or for worse) stuck with yourself. Because of that, I invite you all to indulge in my little Valentine’s day tradition — self-love.

1) Miles Fortnum-Mason

2) Harvey Delaunay Snogglesworth (Esquire) ‘Basically, I wanted to toss it off as long as possible… My parents continuing to finance my lavish charcuterie habits as I masqueraded as a City Journo was a big part of that’ As one of Britain’s few young right-wing writers, Harvey has broken through the glass ceiling which generally prohibits white, male Russel Group-University Graduates from writing in newspapers. But he hasn’t confined his work to mainstream journalism. Indeed, soon after graduating from the London School of Economics in 2021, he pursued a Master's degree at Venereal College, Cambridge, where he won the prestigious Cecil Rhodes Award for Most Bigoted Dissertation for his ‘Essays on Culture: A Pompous Inquiry into the Skull Shapes and Eating Habits of the Scotch and French’. Shortly after, he began work on a hugely successful theatre adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays: ‘I just found myself looking at Richard III and thinking - why was he always the bad guy? It’s such a cliché that the wealthy patriarchal tyrant has to be the villain - and I wanted to flip that narrative on its head’.

Snogglesworth’s new production - in which King Richard wins the Battle of Bosworth, imposes martial law over England and cuts public transport and community arts funding by 87% - has attracted praise from a variety of critical outlets. These include the Spectator, Peter Hitchens and the Spectator. Catch ‘Richard III - Privatised’ at the Bury St. Edmunds Hippodrome until June 2023.

3) Synesthesia Fauxfur-Harrington ‘The most liberating thing about my husband’s death was having the opportunity to experiment socially, literarily and sexually. I realised that no one had ever really combined these to create a novel about romance. And even fewer had been set in charming country villages’.

I'll be honest; self-love has meant a lot of different things to me over the last few years. Sometimes it means accepting myself no matter what, embracing my insecurities, treating myself when I otherwise wouldn’t and even a little different kind of self-pleasure.

Whatever self-love may mean for you, here are a couple of things to make your Valentine’s day this year even more special (tried and true by yours truly): Buy yourself some flowers, à la Alex Russo. Liven up your room by putting them in a cute vase — it doesn’t have to be very ornate. Simplicity is key sometimes.

Cook yourself a fancy meal — an upgraded version of something you love. Play some loud music in the background while you’re cooking, and take some time to reconnect with yourself.

Ground yourself in the present by going on an extra-long walk. Take the scenic route to or from campus, or explore a new park in London.

Take yourself out on a study date. Treat yourself to a nice cup of coffee while you’re being productive. This way, you kill two birds with one stone (and become more efficient, as is the LSE way).

And listen, if all else fails, the Internet is always there…

No matter what, remember to always be kind to yourself. Sending all my love your way.

— C.G.

Beaver Sound in print An alternative dissertation title: dating, dudes & other disasters

by ALICE AURELL & illustrated by CHARLIE TO

After 2.5 years of the uni dating scene, I can firmly say every encounter I have had with a member of the opposite sex has been resoundingly underwhelming.

One time a guy threw a drink in my face (and my all-white outfit) and then 10 minutes later tried to chat me up in the line to the bathroom. Another time, a guy approached me on the dancefloor with the coldest breath making me imagine our, blessedly short, encounter to be similar to that of being eaten by a White Walker. Most frequently, however, whenever approached I always end up having to defend women's rights. These conversations usually take place outside of a random McDonalds at 2 AM while the alcoholic buzz wears off and whoever I am talking to shrinks from 6ft-4-hottest-man-alive to a 5ft-8-medium-ugly-boy.

Dating Tip #1: If you wanna get with a girl maybe don’t negate her traumatic experiences.

Still, it would be unfair of me to write off men completely just because LSE boys harbor misogynistic tendencies. So, as I entered my last Lent Term at LSE I decided to take fate into my own hands and force myself to go, not on one, but three first dates. To increase the success rate I am casting a wide net as each guy will be a student at LSE, KCL, and UCL respectively. All the dates will be scouted on Hinge because (a) I want to minimize the chance of ever seeing these people again and (b) we all know Tinder is not used for First Dates ™.

Dating Tip #2: It is easier to motivate yourself to go on a first date if you delude yourself into thinking that it is for research purposes instead of your personal enjoyment.

While I have not been on any dates yet, I have my three test subjects lined up and some preliminary results to share based on DMs. Firstly, the KCL guy has already given me the ick. Not to play into a well-known narrative but it is what it is. Secondly, the UCL guy is a horrible liar who said he deleted Instagram as a way of justifying him ghosting me. To be fair, I think this reveals more about me than him since I am still planning to get coffee with him. Lastly, the LSE guy does not strike me as a men’s rights activist but there is still time for him to prove me wrong.

Dating Tip #3: Schedule your dates in the same week as UCU strikes.

If you want a full run down and definitive ranking of each boy, tune into the podcast “Nobody Asked” which I co-host with Woman’s Officer, Tito. Our episode premiers in LT weeek 5 for all of you lonely people out there!

Dating Tip #4: Do not go on a date for love, go on a date for the plot, the clout, and the slim chance you can start a journalistic career from it.

A night for vintage & vino

by EMILY GOBELS & illustrated by NOORA BELCAID

Our Word On The Street (WOTS) podcast, which is part of The Beaver Sound (find us on Spotify), brings you the who, what, where and why of London’s current trends and experiences. This WOTS episode started with an Instagram ad: a post for Vintage & Vino - an evening of vintage fashion and great wine. We were easily convinced to buy tickets via their Instagram bio.

Gen and I went to the pop-up with the intention of checking it out for the podcast. We wanted to get a glimpse of what the London fashion start-up industry might have to offer to non-industry people. Before going, we discussed our own observations of trends on social media, both seeing a similar increase in attention to small-brand, micro-fashion events, along with general promotions for more sustainable and vintage/second-hand fashion (i.e the popularity of Depop, Vinted, Ebay etc.). With this in mind, we wanted to see if Vintage & Vino - V2 for short - lived up to our perceptions about fashion pop-ups, and whether such an in-person event added something to the shopping experience that might be lacking in typical online vintage shopping. The non-Depop experience, if you will.

We arrived at Shaman Cafe space in Bermondsey where the pop-up was held, not being exactly sure of what to expect. Pleasantly surprised, we both felt that it was much more open and inviting than we would have guessed. As we discuss in the episode, the cafe/bar environment made it easy to chat to other attendees, with informal seating around the bar - which was selling the selection of sustainable wines - and a dance floor in front of the DJ booth, next to which racks of curated clothing were set up for browsing. We might have made a wine-induced purchase or two, but shhhhhh it was totally worth it for the - for lack of a better term - vibe.

Overall, we can say that it was definitely a fun and unique way to explore vintage fashion, talk to industry creatives and drink some great sustainable wine. It was a cool way to purchase more sustainably without having to really think about it - the focus was more on having a good time and getting to know the V2 brand mission. We were sold: we’re actually going to their next event this week.

Follow V2 on Instagram @v2_ldn to stay posted on their next events and ventures.

Find the podcast on Beaver Sound's Spotify – Emily from Word On The Street

PART B

London can easily make you feel so alone and broken. Sometimes the only person you can depend on in this enormous city is yourself, and for those who are distant from home, relying on people who are so far away physically hurts. The

EDITED BY ANOUK PARDON AND SANA AGARWAL

From my camera to London: a love letter by EMMA DO & illustrated by NOORA BELCAID Being away from home ever since I was young nurtured my passion for photography. I developed it gradually, from using my phone to capture moments to actually having a film camera. I regard my development in photography as a journey of becoming, and appreciating the natural moments all around me. Through this process, I allow myself to be more vulnerable with my emotions, whether they are strong or calm. Many think to pursue photography one must become technical and precise while the core value of this art form is purely to reveal the hidden side of life by capturing layers of emotions and events for the exposure of diverse interpretation.

fact that thousands of people pass me every day as I walk down the street, each with their own set of problems, joys, and sorrows, and that I occasionally witness random interactions between complete strangers helps me to understand how important it is to be in the present moment. I believe that this is enough.

When you start to pay attention, you realise that love is present everywhere, even in the air you breathe. Love exists in every shape or form, in the simplest acts of kindness. A way for me to feel fully alive and to be in the moment things I have not seen myself doing in a long time - is to capture images of young children playing in the piles of autumn leaves, a throng gathered around Leicester Square to sing loudly, or an elderly couple holding hands on a chilly night stroll. Because it makes me more susceptible to experiencing my own feelings when I learn what true, delicate, and genuine love might feel like. That in this city, feeling or expressing love need not be a source of fear.

The thought of not being able to photograph frightens me. I have grown so attached to photography as a remedy when time gets hard. Because pictures speak more than words. The type of happiness I am unable to describe by words, or the type of happiness that makes my cheeks hurt from smiling, are perfectly kept in my camera. The in-between moments that I can capture are what make London worthwhile. London learns how to treat you kindly among all of the brokenness, the beauty, the giving up, and trying again.

I fall in love with strangers and places via photography. When I came to London, I was in awe of this city. There is this mixture of both modernity and heritage in the finest architectural detail. There is something in the air that makes people scurry up and down along the chilly, dreary pavements. London humbles me in every way possible, with its rich history, the vastness and beauty that it can offer, and showing me how small I can be while waiting for a tube home on a September evening. The days I spent getting on a random bus and getting off at any stop along the way have given me a habit of watching people. They used to say that you could be anyone you wanted to be in this city, and I believe that the diversity it fosters makes every second and every person I pass on the street immensely valuable. A street performer at Southbank will always draw me in for fifteen minutes as his low-pitched voice reverberates through the foggy drizzle along the river. I will always find myself spending time admiring couples spending their time in the park, under the sunlight, in an art gallery, or peacefully leaning on each other on a late train home.

In those moments, I have managed to capture love with my camera. I’ve seen love through my lenses in the way someone’s eyes lighted up like the stars, as if their souls were melting together, gracefully interwoven like the winter branches. I have seen how love puts a smile on someone’s lips, and the way it gracefully lingers in a heartbeat of pure affection.

Everything about it is real. Just like you, others are trying to figure things out, enjoying the struggle, and struggling just as much. Your emotions are important, deserving of being felt, heard, and cared for. You do, however, unexpectedly fall in love when you are in the in-between. Because love blooms differently in London.

Backstage interview with

by CEYLAN BORGERS London has a rich and diverse musical heritage, encompassing a wide range of genres and styles and has been home to some of the world’s most influential musicians and bands. London remains one of the world’s leading musical capitals. The goal of this article is to introduce up and coming bands to LSE students.

Having launched their first project a little over a year ago, the Scottish indie-rock band Sixpeace performed their last show of 2022 on December 10th at the Box in Glasgow. The hour-long set included their hits At Your Side, See You Before You Go and Mixed Up, as well as some unreleased songs. Filled with fans and friends of the band, their last headlining show of the year was also a celebration of what the band has achieved within the past year. One major accomplishment this year was being invited to go on their first UK tour, opening for the Toronto duo Ducks Ltd.. The eight city tour included a sold out show at the Windmill, a significant establishment within the London indie-rock music scene and where I first became acquainted with the band.

After their show in Glasgow, I met with the sextet, which includes Adel on vocals, Dylan on guitar and vocals, lead guitarist Kye, rhythm guitarist Finn, bassist Allan

Translation by AMBRE PLUTA

and drummer Alaska, as they were at the tail end of putting away their instruments. The post-concert rush filled the room as attendees hurried to congratulate the band members on their show. Backstage, the members of Sixpeace regrouped and reminisced on how the band first formed, as well as the many shows they performed this past year. The members agreed, with great enthusiasm, that playing at Box was a major milestone of the band’s career.

As Sixpeace continues to leave their mark within the Glasgow indie-rock music scene, hearing how they first formed helps paint a clearer portrait of the band.

‘This is going to sound made up,’ Dylan said when I asked the band how they met. Kye, Dylan, Allan and Finn first became friends during lockdown, as they bonded online over their love for the Scottish band Vistas. Adel and Alaska later joined Sixpeace, further solidifying the band’s sound and image. As the band formed over their shared appreciation for the Vistas, it is only fitting that they also performed shows alongside them. After talking with the band, the significance that the Scottish rock-indie music scene has had on Sixpeace becomes apparent. The variety of intimate venues throughout the city and the steady rise of local bands has further allowed Sixpeace to become an integral part of the Glasgow indie-rock music scene.

As the band members look forward to one day being able to play in front of larger crowds in venues within Scotland and other cities throughout the UK, Sixpeace is currently set to headline their second show in late February.

Their second EP Index Fun! is set to be released in mid-2023. Sixpeace can be reached on Instagram (@sixpeaceband), where they share regular updates about their upcoming projects.

The Silence of the Muses by SEBASTIAN CHING

If you ever find yourself inside the Tate Gallery, you might come across a painting of a forlorn woman adrift in a river. Cruelly spurned and maltreated, she is driven mad with grief, her fate consigned to a watery grave. John Everett Millais’ Ophelia is a beautiful, albeit grim, depiction of its subject matter. It is rendered tragic because of his treatment of Elizabeth Siddal, who modelled for his painting. In his pursuit of transposing Siddal’s despondence onto canvas, he left her submerged in icy cold water for hours. Siddal nearly died from pneumonia as a result. It is her suffering and anguish that is immortalised in Ophelia.

To argue that one’s suffering is necessary to create beauty is a horrific claim. Unfortunately, the archetype of the artist mistreating his muse is a recurrent one.

In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, director Celine Sciamma depicts this relationship in a different light, breaking the silence of the muses.

Portraiture presents itself as a difficult task for the artist. The artist must offer an authentic depiction of their subject through their representation of them. But can such a goal be achieved if the portrait is solely constructed using the artist’s gaze? Sciamma’s solution is to ask who is gazing back at the artist. If Ophelia is a portrait defined by its artist’s singular gaze, Sciamma’s notion of portraiture is defined by reciprocity.

In part a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, throughout the film, portraitist Marianne is haunted by a silent apparition of her muse and lover, Héloïse. Clad in a wedding dress, her spectre haunts Marianne throughout the film. Much like Orpheus, Marianne initially gazes back at the apparition in fear of losing her lover. It is a gaze borne out of a furtive desire to preserve the image of her lover. Towards the end of the film, Marianne’s fears are realised. She must depart, and Héloïse must marry her betrothed. As Marianne departs, Héloïse requests her to turn around. Reciprocating her request, Marianne turns to see Héloïse clad in matrimonial white.

In doing so, both acknowledge the other cannot be recreated by revisiting past memories. To do so would be a representation borne from only the gaze of one, the antithesis of the portrait they had constructed together. The static and definite nature of memory can capture neither the transience or vivacity of their relationship.

In acknowledging this, their love endures, overcoming the limits of temporality.

It is in the aesthetic realm where the two lovers bridge past with present. For Marianne, the experience of meeting her lover’s gaze in portraiture is enough to conjure the memory of her. It is the same for Héloïse. At the film’s closing, she finally experiences the thunderous strings of Vivaldi’s Spring. The memories they conjure involuntarily bring her to tears.

Clockwork written & illustrated by JULIETTA GRAMIGNI Let the space transform, Let it slowly - almost Without realising - become home.

Walk aimlessly and know Its hidden passages, Return again And again To learn something joyously New each time.

Inspect each part of your view, In every season, Remembering soon it will belong to Anyone else.

Collect newspapers you read once And coins you won’t keep; Keep the loose leaf teas you can’t use And turn your plants like clockwork So the sun won’t draw their Bodies too close to the window, ready To topple.

Pin up strange postcards, And chip away the walls with Art that falls and needs Endless tending to.

Open the window, Even in Winter, To hear the Brief moments when traffic Is only a quiet rumble And you can listen to the birds.

REVIEW

EDITED BY BEN HELME AND SYED ZAID ALI

leads. RRR is at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It somehow strikes a great balance between the inconceivable and the intimate.

It's continuously engaging, a barrage of dopamine, and definitely one of the better ways to kill three hours without even knowing it.

Sofia Lammali's All-Time Best: The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante Centred around a poor neighbourhood in 1950s Naples, Elena Ferrante’s fourbook series commonly known as the Neapolitan Novels follows the life of Lenu, through the lens of her complicated friendship with her childhood friend Lila.

The author’s anonymity, the numerous attempts to ‘unmask’ her, and therefore the debate on how much of the story is based on real life, adds to the mystique and conversation that this series has caused.

Her description and experiences of love, education, work, marriage and children hold a mirror up to society’s treatment of women in a way I have rarely seen done as effectively in literature. Exploring themes of female friendship, womanhood and class conflict, these novels have had a profound impact on me, especially as I’ve entered the early stages of adulthood.

Image from The Telegraph

RRR

by JEREMY RICKETTS-HAGAN

Image from the BBC

Holy Spider

by SOFIA LAMMALI

Loosely based on a real life serial killer who targeted sex workers in the holy city of Mashhad in Iran, Holy Spider employs a split narrative framework. One narrative follows the perspective of the serial killer, another follows a journalist’s attempts to unmask him. A lesser film would have made these narrative switches confusing and messy, but Holy Spider manages to weave these two threads together in a really effective and powerful way, offering a chilling insight into the psychology of a serial murderer and religious fanatic.

Criticism of the film has quite justifiably focused on how the victims are dehumanised and discarded in the plot – never fully realised as people. Director Ali Abbasi instead uses this particular story to make a wider point about how women are treated in Iranian society, in which the serial killer's motivations for killing sex workers are viewed as justifiable and a female journalist's attempts to investigate are treated as a nuisance. For most of the runtime, the audience is left in suspense of whether or not he will evade justice.

This tension is heightened by Zar Amir Ebrahimi’s excellent portrayal of the journalist, which earned her Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival.

It is difficult to separate this story, which follows an incident that happened in 2001, from the current women’s uprisings in Iran – a country finally experiencing a reckoning after years of women’s rights being consistently undermined. The final scene of Holy Spider offers a chilling depiction of how the cycle of patriarchal violence, without opposition, will continue for years to come.

In a year where Everything Everywhere All at Once excited audiences with its mix of wacky action and heartfelt drama, a film from Southern India captured attention with a similar brilliance.

RRR is by no means just a Telugu equivalent to the aforementioned Oscar favourite, but is an entirely new and unique experience in its own right. Set in a semi-fictitious colonial India, the plot begins as a seemingly run-of-the-mill, damsel-in-distress story. The colonial government is the villain and the kind hearted yet ridiculously strong Bheem set is our protagonist. However, in his journey, he unknowingly befriends a British colonial officer in Rama, which sets into motion a long game of cat and mouse against the vibrant backdrop of Delhi. The story expands with pulsating energy as the faith and determination of our protagonists are put to the test.

Where RRR separates itself is in its whimsy. It manages to capture a tight and relatively simple script and catapult it with characteristically high flying action sequences, captivating dance numbers, and heartfelt chemistry between our

Image from The Guardian

Vanessa Huang reviews three recent films that celebrate

Babylon

THE MAGIC OF MOVIES

On paper, Babylon is just the kind of navel-gazing that makes for an awards season darling, clocking in at three hours and chronicling the pivotal transition from silent films to talkies in 1920s Hollywood. A tepid critical response and box office performance seem to defeat the conventional narrative on that front, and it’s a response that feels warranted for a film as trite and uninspiring as this.

Gone are director Damien Chazelle’s classic sensibilities: the film is a frenetic sensory assault, racing through its debauchery and excess with thumping orchestrations from composer Justin Hurwitz, and anchored by Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) and Manny Torres (Diego Calva), two Hollywood hopefuls, alongside fading film star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt). Babylon, hardened by Hollywood’s seedy underbelly, presents a disillusioned response to La La Land’s starry-eyed romanticism: as Nellie and Manny rise in stardom, so too begins their nightmarish descent into moral corruption.

What detracts from the film isn’t the taking of blatant historical liberties – despite Chazelle’s reverence for this iconic era of cinema – but the profound emptiness that emerges once the whip-pans and bodily fluids begin to feel wearisome. Babylon constantly works in vulgarity simply for the sake of it, as convincingly edgy as a child discovering the word “fuck” for the first time. There are flashes of potential, such as journalist Elinor St John’s (Jean Smart) powerful monologue on fame and mortality. But these moments are too few and far between, and lacking the necessary connective tissue to really contribute anything coherent.

Giving Chazelle carte blanche for Babylon has resulted in a sprawling attempt at the Big Hollywood Epic, an ultimately thankless task that may have fared slightly better in the hands of a different filmmaker. A canvas this mammoth in scale forces Chazelle to work in broad strokes, skirting across the entire surface, only to land in tedious pastiche.

The Fabelmans If Everything Everywhere All At Once is for people with mummy issues and Aftersun is for people with daddy issues, then The Fabelmans is for people with both. Trust Steven Spielberg, pioneer of the blockbuster, to delve into autofiction for his personal ode to cinema, turning inward and retelling his teenage years in his most intimate film yet.

A film that eschews pretension for earnest sentimentality is easy to dismiss as nostalgic fodder, the kind of crowd-pleaser that’s so simplistic it’s intellectually lightweight. On the surface of The Fabelmans, this may be so. But there are also complex layers that gradually unfurl themselves the longer you sit with it. Rather than dress the film up in grandiose ambition, Spielberg strips the importance of cinema down to its fundamental elements: how we view life and how we tell our stories.

It’s a quality matched by equally unshowy cinematography from Janusz Kamiński, who crafts innumerable shots that will be forever seared into my memory. Spielberg doesn’t shy away from self-criticism either – as his younger self (Gabriel LaBelle) begins to use his camera as a shield, protecting him from the pains of coming of age, he becomes so obsessed with trying to frame everything perfectly that he loses sight of reality.

As much as award ceremonies like to pretend otherwise, there’s nothing objective about the experience of watching a film. There’s so much about The Fabelmans that shouldn’t work, from its clichéd portrayal of high school bullying to its lack of real narrative structure, enough that I’m sure many viewers will find it all too bland and self-indulgent. And yet, I left the cinema smiling from ear to ear and filled with a resounding sense of hope from this illuminating peek into the genesis of an all-time great. If there’s something magical about cinema, this is it.

Empire of Light Paul Thomas Anderson once said of meeting Stanley Kubrick: “He was nice to me when he knew that I directed Boogie Nights, but he was much nicer to me when he knew that I wrote it.” There almost seems to be this creative superiority that we attribute to writer-directors, as if marrying a film’s conception with its realisation means you can really call it your own. Having made a name for himself directing other people’s screenplays, Sam Mendes now takes full control of writing and directing Empire of Light, following his first foray with a co-writing credit for 1917. It centres on a cinema by the seaside in 80s Britain, the people that work there, and how our lives are indelibly touched by films.

1980s camera

A writer-director Mendes sadly is not – the film is less an affecting celebration of cinema and more a vague approximation at it, too detached and impersonal to have any kind of resonance. It feels particularly contrived when characters are outright waxing lyrical about the magic of cinema, to say nothing of the halfbaked attempts at addressing racism shoehorned in and a portrayal of mental illness meant as a tribute to Mendes’s mother. The film simply muddles along, never quite clear on what it is trying to be.

Empire of Light’s major redeeming factor comes in the form of esteemed cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose delicate framing of this art-deco cinema is enough to make anyone’s heart soar. It’s also wonderfully acted: Olivia Colman in a career best, while Micheal Ward brings a gentle warmth. It’s a shame none of that is enough to save the film from being a painful watch.

Illustrations by MITHALINA TAIB

SPORT EDITED BY NOAH POLL

Sabalenka and Djokovic claim titles in Melbourne

by NOAH POLL The Australian Open started with 256 total singles players; only 2 were left standing in the end. One holding her first Grand Slam title and the other holding his record-tying 22nd title.

Sabalenka has been a top contender at tournaments ever since she broke onto the scene and into the top 10 of the Women’s Tennis Association rankings in 2019 (Coretennis) However, the inconsistency in her game always was her achilles’ heel. She would hit twice as many winners* as her opponent but also hit twice as many unforced* errors. Some tournaments, she was locked in and unbeatable, such as Madrid in 2021, where she only dropped one set in the whole tournament to Ashleigh Barty (Coretennis). Others, she would fall unexpectedly early, and these would unfortunately come in some of the biggest moments: a first round loss in Melbourne (2020), a second round loss at the US Open (2020), and most recently a third round exit at the French Open (2022).

Last year, Sabalenka led the tour in double faults, increasing the variance in her results. Working with her coach, Anton Dubrov, she seems to have solved the mechanics issue, which also removed any possible mental blocks that she had while serving. All of this culminated in the huge win against Elena Rybakina in January, sending her to number 2 in the rankings.

On the women’s side, the Australian open favoured big hitters, exemplified by the final between Sabalenka and Rybakina. Some notable players eliminated early were the more passive ones. Daria Kasatkina was ousted in the first round 1-6 1-6 by Varvara Gracheva, hitting only 3 winners* the entire match. Also, Martina Trevisan, the 21st seed* was upset in the first round by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 2-6 3-6, hitting only 6 winners* (Sofascore).

Meanwhile, Jelena Ostapenko (21.7% of points she wins by a winner), Donna Vekic (16.8%), and Karolina Pliskova (18.1%) had deep runs by swinging for the fences. World number 1 Iga Swiatek missed out on the semifinals, but another Pole took her place – Magda Linette (Tennis Abstract).

Other notable results include Rybakina beating Swiatek in the 4th round, Anhelina Kalinina defeating 15th seed* Petra Kvitova in the 2nd round, Katie Volynets ousting 9th seed* Veronika Kudermetova in the 2nd round, and Lin Zhu making it to the 4th round - and then capturing a title the next week in Hua Hin, Thailand.

For the men, history repeated itself yet again, with Novak Djokovic dropping just one set en route to his 10th Australian Open title. Last year, without being vaccinated, he was unable to compete, and Rafael Nadal consequently stepped up and captured the title.

This time, Nadal was caught out of form and outplayed by Mackenzie McDonald in the second round before suffering a hip injury and hobbling through the third set. The defending champion is expected to be out until at least March for the Sunshine Double, but most likely he will play it safe and sit out until the clay court season starting in April.

For Djokovic, the title meant a lot, calling it “one of the most important wins in my life” (Eurosport). Showcasing that he is still one of the best to ever play, he reclaims a share of the lead in the Grand Slam title race, which now stands at 2222-20 (Djokovic-Nadal-Federer). He is human, as a few lapses in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas showed, but at the end of the day, nobody was able to stop his combination of mental fortitude and on-court consistency.

The first week of the Australian Open showcased sensational efforts by the United Kingdom’s own Andy Murray. He defeated 13 seed* Matteo Berrettini in the first round and then home crowd favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis, both in 5 sets.

The second round match lasted until 4:05 am and was drama filled, Murray coming back from 2 sets down (“Andy Murray beats Thanasi Kokkinakis in nearsix-hour Australian Open epic”, The Guardian). 12 seed* Sascha Zverev played in his first major since pulling out of the French Open with an injury, but he fell in the second round to lucky loser* Michael Mmoh. Taylor Fritz, the 8 seed*, was seen as a contender but Aussie Alexei Popyrin took him out in the second round.

Casper Ruud, the second seed* and US Open finalist, was eliminated by American Jenson Brooksby. Fellow Americans Tommy Paul (semifinal), Ben Shelton (quarterfinal), and Sebastian Korda (quarterfinal) performed above expectations.

Showman Nick Kyrgios and US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz were notable absentees in 2023’s rendition of the Australian Open.

In the end, the next generation of players fell short of a title, and Novak took the throne of world number one once again.

Terminology Index (words with *) (source: Merriam Webster) Winner: “A shot in a court game that is not returned and that scores for the player making it.” If someone hits a winner, that means their opponent couldn’t touch the ball.

Unforced error: “A missed shot or lost point (as in tennis) that is entirely a result of the player’s own blunder and not because of the opponent’s skill or effort.”

Seed: “A competitor who has been seeded in a tournament.” In the 4 Grand Slam tournaments, the top 32 players are guaranteed not to play each other until the round of 32, giving them an advantage.

Lucky Loser: A player who lost in the qualifying round but was able to participate in the main draw of the tournament due to someone pulling out.

The Beaver interviews the LSESU Floorball Society Captain

by NOAH POLL, illustrated by FAY QIAN, and image by RAYYAN FURREEDUN

are also many different ability levels. Floorball is a sport where we have the recreational team and the competitive team play together, but now we’re trying to explore whether we should do separate sessions or not, especially as we get closer to competition season.

Noah: What social activities have you organized so far?

Ella: We go to Wetherspoons after almost every training session. Because the Spoons staff recognizes us from going so much, they ask us, “oh, do you want us to save a table for you?” Other than that, we organize socials at Sway around once every 3 weeks. Because floorball has quite a lot of alumni from LSE, and they are busy on weekdays, our Sway socials aren’t as frequent as other clubs.

Noah: How about your favorite memory from being on the floorball team?

Ella Cheong, president of the LSESU Floorball Society, spoke with me about what floorball is, insights she has gained from competing in a co-ed sport and team dynamics. In the interview, she touched upon her favorite memory, the diversity of the team and what their plans are for Lent Term.

Noah: Could you introduce yourself, what you do, what floorball is, and what you’ve done this year so far?

Ella: Floorball is ice hockey without the ice. The sport is mostly popular in Eastern Europe, Finland, Sweden, and Singapore. Our floorball cohort used to be around 60% Eastern European and 40% Singaporean. The year 3 batch is the last batch of pre-Brexit players, so we used to have a lot more Eastern Europeans. Now, because of the change in the student population, we are more like a Singaporean club. The good thing is that this year, we’ve gotten a lot more local players to join us, especially people with former ice hockey or hockey backgrounds. I have been the floorball captain since November of last year. The LSE team plays 5v5 games on the court in the Marshall Building. The unique thing about floorball compared to other sports is we have quite a lot of external players that come in. This is because originally, our team used to be too small to play by ourselves in a league. Slowly, our external member population has grown, with people from Imperial, UCL, and King’s joining us.

Noah: That’s cool. Building off of that, you mentioned how membership is reliant on students from different universities to join. How has that impacted team culture? Does it make it harder to bond and be on campus with each other?

Ella: The team that we play with, London United, wasn’t meant to be an LSE focused team at first, because last year it was LSE and Imperial. But, this year, since we have the Marshall Court, the dynamics of the team kind of changed and the LSE team was the main team in charge. This is just because we’re the team that always interacts with the SU, we’re the team that always organizes socials at Sway.

Because of that, the team culture shifted to more of an LSE majority. Only 20% of a society’s members can come from external sources. As a result, some people had to leave the club. It was a difficult change to navigate at first, but I think that, currently, where our club stands makes me really happy. We have a lot more members than last year because of the branding that we’ve done, and a lot of people just got to know us because our team won the championship last year at Oxford.

Currently, we have 50 members, compared to last year when we only had around 20. As of now, the main challenge we face is that we have a lot of people. Sessions have been quite hard to conduct because obviously with so many people, there

Ella: After we had our University League win last year, we were just walking around Oxford looking for a pub that could accommodate all of us. In the end, nobody could take us, so we just went to this random restaurant. They could tell that we all wanted to party, so they kept approaching our team and offering alcohol. We kept saying yes, but then the bill came and we were like, “oh my gosh, can we claim club funds for this?” It was really fun because we didn’t go into the season expecting a lot. As a first-year captain, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was hard to gauge the ability of the team, so going into the season we weren’t expecting a championship win or anything. After playing a few matches we were like, ‘hey, maybe we have this in the bag’.

Noah: I’m glad to hear that! Looking forward, what are you most excited about for the rest of the year?

Ella: This year we have so many players that we have decided to send two teams to the competition. We have competitions that I’m looking forward to as we play until March. We’re looking forward to more socials. We’re going to do elections in Lent term, so I’m trying to see who’s going to run for captain and how exactly to pass the position down.

Noah: That’s all I have, but do you have anything specific that you’d like to add, or something that I missed?

Ella: We play a mixed gender sport, and there aren’t any regulations for how many girls have to be on a team. Last year we only had 3 girls, and starting out, I was quite scared.

It’s a contact sport and it can get really rough, because you can shove people. I’m trying to get more girls on the team. Floorball is meant to be a bit more chill because we don’t have padding like ice hockey, we don’t move as quickly.

Diversity in the sport is important for me. As a girl, when I first joined floorball I was quite nervous about guys being harsher, like if you mess up, they won’t be afraid to tell it to your face. I think in the teams I was in previously, people are a lot more PC and gentle with you. At the start when I joined floorball, I was on the edge about that. But, I think it’s a really good experience to play the sport with guys because being upfront about mistakes helps a lot with how fast you improve. It improves the team dynamic as well – there’s no underhandedness.

Be it by scrolling on social media, reading articles or seeing video clips of protests online, I have been overwhelmed by the turmoil in Iran and how little I can do to be helpful in any way. Thus, I decided to interview Arya for this Flipside interview, a 3rd year BA History student at LSE and the LGBTQ+ officer at the LSESU.

A

rya is currently on a gap year. Being an Iranian citizen and of Iranian descent, these protests are personally significant to him. He has been campaigning both at LSE and online - in podcasts, articles and protests- for Iranian Women.

Iran is a long standing battleground for human rights. The death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini is what sparked the current wave of protests. Mhasa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality policy for breach of the country’s strict compulsory hijab laws. Amini, who was only 22 years old when she died in the custody of the police, has become the symbol of Iranian women’s fight for freedom.

Protests in Iran have taken place for over 100 years now and they have repeatedly fizzled out after brutal crackdowns from the government.

Arya points out how this time is different: “I’ve never seen a group of people rally together so fast and so unified like Iranians during this time, even the most non-political people I’ve ever seen have started posting and talking about it.” Despite Facebook, Twitter and various other social media being banned in Iran and the lack of onsite reporting, Iranians are leveraging the power of the internet to amplify their voices and gather mass support. “It makes you believe in humanity,” Arya expressed.

When asked about the extent to which Arya believes that social media is influential in the political lens, he immediately exclaimed, “We are half the revolution”, explaining how each one of us can enable the movement by a click of a finger. “I always tell people, ‘Just post about Iran.’ The internet is the strongest thing ever. Compared to the West it is even more so in the Middle East, with the digital revolution, your phone is the most powerful activist tool.” The use of social media as a tool has also emerged as an undisputed one for Iranians as a way to communicate and connect with the world around them.

Arya explained how fundraising, despite the economic crisis in Iran, is not a feasible option mainly due to the difficulty in transferring money to Iran. He elaborated that primarily, the protests are revolving around human rights and not the dooming economic crisis hence the best thing an average person can do to support the movement is repost on social media. “The regime is very powerful and very willing. They have dealt with international pressure and sanctions for years and they don’t care. So, awareness really is the biggest thing.” Arya argued that amplifying the voices of Iranians leads them to feel validated and heard by the international community. “Honestly, the best

thing you can do is to be aware and to just repost.” Arya has been sharing social media posts, reporting on events, writing blogs, and doing podcasts since the beginning of the protest.

“The book is really valuable and helps you understand the nuances of Iranian society.” Arya explained, “Learning about how the 1979 revolution happened has allowed me to better grasp what can be done to make the 2022 revolutions “ A threat to women’s rights is a threat to human successful and how the regime is living on borrights everywhere. And injustice in Iran is injus- rowed time.” Arya has also attended various protice everywhere.’ He expressed. We want to ad- tests in London, Paris, New York etc. vocate for a better future for all of us, don’t leave anyone behind.”

Talking about the role of LSE and its support for students and staff regarding the Iranian protests, According to Arya, social media’s power - espe- Arya said, “I want 100% support, like the war in cially Instagram - is reflected in the billboards in Ukraine. I appreciate LSE supporting Ukrainian Times Square, the Time Magazine declaring Ira- students and anyone who’s affected by the war nian women to be the heroes of 2022, the sup- in Ukraine. However, I don’t believe in taking port at Paris Fashion Week with Designer Mike away support from one group to support another Amiri carrying the slogan “Woman, Life, Free- group. I do think LSE needs to step up its support dom” or even Shervin Hajipour’s “Baraye” win- for Iranian students the way it has for other stuning the grammy award. He pointed out that the dents. I don’t think it’s fair.”

UN expelling Iran from the women’s commission and the European Union voting to designate the Arya, being the LGBTQ+ officer at the SU, notIRGC as a terrorist organisation are both the re- ed that he enjoys his time working as a group of sult of social media awareness. He explained that people trying to do their best for the students.

Iran becoming the first country to ever be ex- He also pointed out that when the SU issued the pelled is “embarrassing, but it was necessary, it is statement about Iran, all the societies followed absolutely a win for Iranian Women.” through, which proved to be recognition and support towards the cause. He further talked We then go on to talk about the role of the com- about the role of LSE as an academic institution munity in the Iranian movement and the plurality “It has to take care of its students, and its staff. of people coming together in Iran. The LGBTQ+ They don’t seem committed to Iranian students. I community in Iran has been fighting for many want more mental health support. I also want to decades now against the conservative regime and see LSE do better for scholars.” has repeatedly been met with violence and oppression. “They are not the voice of the revolution, He elaborated by bringing up the need for inbut they are fighting very, very hard, alongside clusion of Iranians in the “Scholars at Risk Prothem.” He noted that women have always been gramme”, which allows scholars at risk in their very integral to all the protests, especially in 2009. home country to be hosted by LSE for a period of On top of that, Kurdish, LGBTQ Iranians and two years. “I want Iranians to be able to get their Salukis have been fighting every single day for 43 visa sponsored in the UK and be able to seek asyyears, and are now joining hands with the entire lum in the UK, as well as be funded and have a Iranian community. This acknowledgement and job at LSE without the fear of the government recognition of long suppressed minority groups coming after them.” Arya expressed the imporand ethnicities have allowed for the unification of tance of this step and he is actively working on Iran. An Iran with different religions, sexualities, the inclusion of Iranian scholars in the scheme. “I and ethnicities coming together for a single cause am going to try to be in the room every time so - the rights of Iranian women. as to make this happen. It is the most important thing LSE can do right now.”

Arya has also taken on some projects on a personal level, such as his podcast episode “What He noted that these protests have helped him does resilience look like for Iranian women” come closer to Persian culture and other fellow with UnTextbooked. Arya interviewed Dr. Janet Iranians. “My Farsi is good, but it’s not great, and Afary, a professor from the University of Califor- I began taking Farsi lessons again. I have a Persenia Santa Barbara about her book Sexual Politics polis statue on my nightstand. And I never would in Modern Iran. The book surveys the queer and have done that before. I’ve been celebrating Yalfeminist histories of Iran in the late 1700s. The da night. I’ve been reconnecting with my family.” podcast talks about how Iranian women have Hearing this made me smile as it is also the litbeen fighting ceaselessly, how they were able to tle tiny ways in which the diaspora is rekindling, find agency in their household through their reuniting, carrying the heavy weight of fighting marriage patterns and their methods of fighting this brutal regime together. “If you were once which lead to certain victories. disconnected from your culture, now’s the time.”

ARYA BARKESSEH

& the Iranian Revolution

interview by SANA AGARWAL

photography by ZEASHAN ASHRAF

ISSUE 926

LT WEEK 6 2023

“We are half the Revolution” ARYA BARKESSEH