3^ JECONOMICXIENCE J eek's edition of The Bewer Tattoos and ' r Piercings Style Tuesday, February 3 Issue 477 First Published May 5,1949 The Newspaper of the LSESU THE BEAVER Giddens: "not personally in favour of fees." Bizarre Bazaar ¦fe '¦ I™,¦ »Ai viz «tw stuff Professor Giddens talks back... Sithara Sernando The director of the LSE, professor Anthony Giddens, responded last week to the latest fees controversy. As published in a previous issue of ihe Beaver, the elite Russell Group of universities, of which the LSE is part, have submitted a letter to Mr. David Blunkett, the Secretary of State for Education. This takes issue with the Secretary of State's reserve powers to control the implementation of "differential fees"(a euphemism for top-up fees) by individual universities. The letter argues that "provided that any differential fees are accompanied by an adequate system of scholarships and bursaries for the less well off, we cannot envisage circumstances in which a Secretary of State would need to exercise reserve powers to control such fees." If introduced, differential fees would be payable in addition to the government's proposed across the board tuition fees. Photo:l\lina Duncan In response to this new development the LSE Student's Union wrote an open letter to Professor Anthony Giddens, the Director of LSE, condemning the Russell Group letter as a "further nail in the coffin of meritocratic free education". Following the open letter General Secretary Narius Aga met with Professor Giddens to discuss the issue and commented to the Beaver that the School's response was not what students had hoped for. While realising the School's financial position, Aga still felt that "differential fees" would lead to a two-tier system where students would gain entrance on the basis of financial and not academic merit. This would have a negative impact on the academic quality of the student body, inevitably leading to a lowering of the School's reputation. Aga went on to comment further that he felt University Directors and Vice Chancellors should exert pressure on the government to rethink its policy, and in his opinion have failed to do so. When the Beaver contacted Professor ...while students face fees on top of fees Giddens to get his views on the government policy, the Director's reply was that "it is not a question of whether one supports it or not, since it is already stated government policy." However he went on to say that popular universities such as the LSE face ever increasing demands on their resources due to rising student uptakes each year on one hand, and the need to maintain and improve their high academic standards on the other. He also stressed that the LSE's financial resources have been stretched to the limit year after year in the past in order to meet the rising demands on its resources. When questioned on his stance on the Russell Group's letter and "differential fees' his response was somewhat ambivalent. On one hand he states that he supports the Russell Group's stance on safeguarding the ability of individual universities to raise finance through ¦differential fees' should the money allocated to them by the government prove to be inadequate. At the same time he claims that "personally he is not in favour David Balfour Photo: Library of differential fees". He also stated that at the moment the LSE has no plans of introducing differential fees and that the possibilities are that 'differential fees' will be removed from the educational system in the future. Aga when asked for his reaction to this, felt the Director should make a public statement to this effect to stave off LSE students' anxiety on this issue. The general feeling in the Student Executive meeting this week was one of thorough dissatisfaction with Professor Giddens' stance on the issue. In protest they are planning to carry out a series of press stunts within the next two weeks. However, it was felt that the general feeling of apathy amongst LSE students over the issue was a limiting factor on any such expressions of protest. One feels inclined to question whether this lack of popular participation is an indication that the student body agrees with the concept of extra fees, or simply reflective of a feeling that fees do not concern current students as they will not have to pay them. Saucy. Thats what the Tuns is, saucy. On Friday the 19th,the tuns got even saucier, so saucy that every one was slavering, with the delights that were found in the almpst annual Slave Auction. Put together by Emma Pinkerton from the AU (and possible future Sabbatical) and ents Sabbatical Jasper Ward the night was intended to raise awareness and money for Greenpeace. In total about 20 LSE students took part in the evenings frolics. It raised a whopping £140 for one the worlds best known enviromental activitist groups, Greenpeace.. Apparently the slave auction was the culmination of a weeks worth of campaigning for cnviromentalist causes. Jasper was certainly pleased with his part to help. Further, his ego was given a push by the fact that he was the highest priced male sold, at a stonking £12. Unfortunatly his wish to be sold to a. "cheap, minging whore' thai would proceed to force him into unmentionable carnal acts was shattered when he was sold into bondage by tory fanatic 'Skid' Mark Turner. Turner, not one to miss the oportunity of cheap labour, made full use of his slave. Jasper was forced to -wear Hartlepoole FC colours all day on Thursday, an act which upon reflection made Jasper proud. He fully enjoys supporting minor clubs having been a full on Derby County fan since they were in the 3rd division. Further he had to give Mark a full english breakfast, which mark duly ate with intense ferocity and uninterupted concentration, center stage in the UGM. Never in the history of the UGM has one man thought so hard about a banger. Other Sabbaticals wee also auctioned. General Secretary Naruis Aga was sold to ex-LSE Ed. and Welfare office Sam Parham for £10. Current Ed. and Welfare office Yuan Potts, who sold for £5, went to two lovely ladies whose plan it is rumoured to take him to the movies. Yuan however, was not only sold but he participated in the buying. He purchased one Paddy Scoffin. The two were then almost inseperable for the rest of the evening. Paddy is planning to cook Yuan a 'nice veggie meal', but denies rumour that he'll be dressed as a french maid. The most common use for the slaves, seems to be clean their masters houses. After all it helps clean those vomit stains from around the toilet and besides it was all for a good cause. Talking to some of the punters on the evening they expressed amu,sement over the event but were disappointed by the poor quality of the slaves and the general lack of debauchery that was on display. Inside; Section 1 Section 2 NEWS 1-3 UNION 4 LETTERS 5 ECONOMICS 6 FEATURES 7-8 INTERNATIONAl 9 PHOTO 10 STYLE 11 SPORT 1? LITERARY 2 MUSIC 3-5 FILM 6 THEATRE 7 LISTINGS AND HOROSCOPES RETURN NEXT WEEK -(h- THE BEAVER _Issue 477 - FEBRUARY 3 God in the Quad Ryan Conlon NEWS from Nowhere Hard Drive for Work I am sure that everyone who lived or lives within the illustrious walls of LSE's Halls of Residences knows of the hours of fun that can be had with student line. Prank calls in the middle of the night, bogus messages and such like all provide tremendous entertainment for our stimulation-deprived minds. However, a student at Bristol University has taken the idea (o new lengths this week by discovering how to hack into the voicemailing system and change the answerphone messages of all 400 of the halls inhabitants. He replaced messages which used to contain to obligatory "can't-come-to-the-phone-right-now-leave-your-message-and-i'll-call-you-back" with raunchy recordings from 0898 numbers. The prank was only discovered after hundreds of unsuspecting grannies, whilst trying to make contact with their beloved heirs, were asked by "dusky blondes" what colour underwear they were wearing and whether they'd like to take it up the arse. What is the world coming to? And well might I ask when I hear of two separate incidents of human debauchery this week. A lecturer at Bristol University was caught on camera sneaking into his department to use the internet in the wee hours. What was initially applauded as an example of the total dedication of a lecturer to researching his subject was later expo.sed for what it was, namely a grotty attempt by a grotty man to get his rocks off on pictures of infants in various sexually explicit poses. A similar story has hit the headlines in Durham this week when a porter was fined £500 for the possession of over 70 videos depicting child pornography. Also discovered in his house were a number of indecent photos of a child under the age of 16. All these people need is to be mugged by a few such kids in order to find out what the world is really about. Alternatively, they could just read the Daily Mail as a 2nd year French and Italian student found out this week. Whilst perusing the pages of this lauded publication she happened upon a double page spread of her own beloved boyfriend, who had left her bed only hours earlier, cavorting in various states of undress with none other than Geri (Ginger) Spice. The girl is reported to be very hurt and upsel claiming that she had been used shamelessly. Errr yeah... Also used shamelessly were two cats the remains of which were reportedly found skinned and rotting in the slop bins of a hall's kitchens at Royal Holloway last week. Horror and disgust has swept through the ranks of those who had consumed the unidentifiable meal stew with relish the night before but .so far no repercussions have occured. Apparently the mass suicide of all the halls chefs 'is an entirely separate and unrelated incident". Tasha Kosviner The new orderly and scholarly CI20 Tom Livingstone LSE it Services stressed this week that no decisions will be taken on the future of the partial E-mail ban in C120 without consultation with the student body. David Dalby, IT Services manager, intends to keep the ban in force until the end of thecurrent term. At the moment, the 40 computers in the central bank in CI20 are unavailable for E-mail use between ID arn and 6 pm. It seems that the scheme, intended to aid those who wish to work at the expense of those who want to keep up with the gossip, is working. Students who visit CI20 with academic rather than social requirements have little or no difficulty getting a screen. Most users accepted the reasoning behind the scheme, although there have been some rumblings of discontent. Some Tom Livingstone IN A MOVE DESCRIBED BY ONE LSE student as "reminiscent of the Third Reich." the CFE and the SWP intensified their anti-fees campaign - despite attempts by some LSE students to stopthem - by occupying the stage at the latest Guardian/Institute of Education public debate. The LSE's Andy Charlwood was speaking after protesters delayed the start of last Wednesday's debate, which saw Stephen Dorrcll and Tessa Jowell put the case for and against the government's proposals for higher education. As Mr Dgrrell was about to begin his opening speech, the protesters,about thirty in number, unfurled their banners and began chanting their slogans. The protest soon turned to a sit in, and- despite the efforts of some LSE students to pei"suade the campaigners to leave the stage - the debate was swiftly closed. The LSE's Sara Bryson, one of those involved in the sit in. explained that the protest was "against the lack of student representation in the debate," A debate between Mr Dorrell and Tessa Jowell was. she added "a joke." Bryson also retorted to Andy Charlwood's comments,condemning them as "disgusting." in the CI20 queue said they wished to work and use E-mail,and a few ev£n looked back nostalgically to the pre-queuing days, when getting a screen in the room involved cunning, agility and occasionally violence. New screens in the library basement and St. Clement's building are intended to ease the pressure on CI20, and, Dalby hopes, as the term goes on, and thoughts turn to those unfinished essays, the demand for E-mail use will decrease. Complaints against the new system are being taken on board. David Dalby assured the Beaver. "We are listening to students' responses," he stressed, " and we will review thesituation at the end of term." He would not be drawn, however, on the likely outcome of this review.On a different note, Dalby added that he and his colleagues were doing all they could to eradicate the problem of unsolicited E-mail, again as a response to student complaints. But Charlwood maintained that "the protest showed the true nature of the Campaign for Free Education." Any such protest, he added, was not helpful to the debate. After a delay of around 25 minutes, the stage was cleared and the debate was re-openod_, A compromise had been reached, whereby a third speaker, NUS Executive member Jo Cardwell, was allowed to participate. Following the surprising emergence of ¦Mr Dorrell as a champion of the working class, and Tessa Jowcll's predictable '"tough choices" line, Ms Cardwell -speaking in a "personal capacity'" - called for "'the market to be kicked out of education." The man all students love to hate, NUS President Douglas Trainer, was unimpressed, apparently sacking Cardwell when the debate was opened to the fioor. After much heckling and some .sensible contributions from the lloor. the motion "The governmcnt"s policy on student funding will not achieve the national requirement to expand higher education", was passed overwhelmingly. The CFE's actions are unlikely to be their last contribution to the debate (or rather last attempt to hijack the debate), and it is likely that LSE students, militant and moderate, will once again be confronting each other on this issue. Photo: Alex Trojanow Some sfudents suggested resolving the E-mail access problems by allocating some screens for E-mail only, while one second year suggested bringing a ban into force only when the queue exceeded 4 or 5 people. If anyone has any better ideas they should email IT Services. However, if the queue in CI20 is too long, you'll just have to send your answers on the back of a postcard. OVER THE COURSE OF LAST WEEK, the LSE Christian Union held a 'Jesus Awareness Week". The event, now an annual one. has become a chance for members of the strong Christian community at the LSE to coine together. The Christian Union, a non-denominational society with some seventy active members, organised a range of events, and throughout the week manned a stall in The Quad dispensing leaflets and advice. The range of events included outsider speaker Bob Hurley, commenting on the relevance of Christianity in the modern world. Further speakers included one on As well as a stall in The Quad, the Christian Union ran a number of videos throughout^ the week including: a "Jesus video' based on the gospel of Luke, and another recounting the story of one vicar, who hearing a calling from God. went onto the mean streets of New York to help the young homeless and down-and-out to kick their heroin addictions. Ben Goodyear of the Christian Union said that event was an opportunity for "Christians to come together and try to let people know about Jesus, through .talking about his relevance to various issues today'. In addition they were giving those interested the chance to read about Jesus for themselves by offering free copies of St John's gospel. Fee Radicals wreak - havoc at debate Time Calleid on New Bar Construction work continues as bar opening is Ryan Conlon AS MANY READERS WILL KNOW, the old Bank of Scotland building, at the entrance to Houghton Street, is to be the site of a new bar. Brewers Young's of Wandsworth originally aimed to open by the end of February, but delays have meant this will be shifted to early March. No^ precise dates are available as yet. The bar, to be named the Columbia Bar, will be of a split-level construction. Steve Gallagher. Young's Area Manager, said the "'ground floor will be very modern, with a lot of chrome and solid surfaces, while the lower level will be of a more traditional but still fairly modern style", Mr Gallagher said the bar would serve Young's Traditional Ales, twenty different wines by the glass and of course the usual delayed Photo: Ralph Achenbach variety of drinks found in any other pub. It will also serve food. Young's ha\e no particular clientele in mind, saying they aimed to attract "anyone who walks past the door', although they expected it to be frequented by local office workers. .Mr Gallagher said "You can aim at a particular clientele, and be surpri.sed by those who actually come to a pub'. Unlike the White Horse pub. to the rear of LSE, with its prominent 'No Students' sign. Young's said students would be welcome at their new establishment. On the whole, the response of students to the idea of another pub on site seems positive. However, with the Tuns so near at hand, and the prospect of paying for unsubsidi.sed drinks in the Columbia, many fewer may make this new bar their regular watering hole. THE BEAVER . FEBRUARY 3 - Issue 477 NEWS CM0fi:TlT& choice of a geriefafon? The last ten days have seen unprecedented levels of scandal and controversy on Capitol Hill, generating a media frenzy that has gripped the world's attention. Unfortunaiely President Clinton's survival is being perceived solely as a question of political realism. In the wake of the President's State of the Union speech, a poll for CNN showed that 78 per cent of voters declared themselves confident in Mr Clinton's ability to carry out his duties, a rise of 12 per cent from before the speech. It seems the people are satisfied with Clinton the statesman and titillated by Clinton the Romeo. Unless Mr Clinton can be proved to have coerced Ms Lewinsky into committing perjury, he will emerge relatively unscathed. Conclusive evidence that he is currently lying to the world about the nature of his relationship would al.so be politically fatal, but it is highly unlikely that this will emerge. Ms Lewinsky is standing by her original statement that their relationship was not sexual and therefore could end up perjuring herself.. There is also developing evidence concerning the conspiracy theory. On Wednesday. Mr Clinton's lawyers issued a subpoena to the Conservative lawyer George Conway, whom they claim is providing legal support to Linda Tripp - the Pentagon worker who recorded the secret conversations between herself and Ms Lewinsky. It has now transpired that he is also linked to the sexual harassment case involving Paula Jones, thus giving greater impetus to Hillary Clinton's "right-wing plot" argument. This all adds up to a situation where Clinton is in the power position and Monica Lewinsky is the one most likely to lose in this game. Yet why are we not outraged by the behaviour of this man, who is after all the most powerful political figure in the world? He was elected in 1992 after his extra-marital affair with Gennifer Flowers was confirmed and now has two further charges of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct filed against him. Sadly, the reality of the situation is that people are either indifferent to the extra-political activities of our leaders or such scandals actually tend to enhance their popularity. There appears to be some kind of obscene fascination with the sexual misdemeanours of the rich and famous and if Al Gore were to succeed Clinton, we would probably complain that his sex life is far too boring. Of course politicians and public figures are .setting a bad example, but we should ask ourselves the more searching question, why do we so often condone their behaviour? The hedonistic culture in which we live engenders a desire for ultimate fulfilment and the 'exit' option is always available if we are left unsatisfied. Indeed the market is entirely dependent upon our search for something new. The media constantly feeds us with images of perfect bodies, people who are charming, handsome, successful, drive fast cars and are incredible lovers. Perhaps this permeates into our private lives and leaves us not only dissatisfied with our material goods, but our partners too. It teaches us to perceive others as a means which we can use for our own pleasurable ends, as opposed to an end in their own right. This is exactly the assumption that Clinton has showed in his treatment of all the women that he has come into contact with. President Clinton has done little to promote the "strong family values" that he claimed to have in the 1992 elections and even if he and Hillary Clinton have worked out some kind of "deal', he cannot justify the pain that he is causing his daughter. Furthermore, the signals that Hillary Clinton is sending out to other women by exonerating her husband, yet again, are very damaging. Surely we should be attempting to promote high moral standards in society, rather than simply disregarding this aspect of public life as irrelevant. Clearly President Clinton has succumbed to the same desire for instant gratification that drives modern society and in this sense he is not a leader but a victim himself. The real scandal is not so much what he has done, than the fact that we are failing to condemn him for his behaviour. The response of the Ainerican people, who do not seem sufficiently concerned to remove him from office, suggests that they will forgive his faults as long as he continues to deliver the economic goods. Michael Collins Wheels of Fire On the evening of Wednesday 21 Janary a small fire broke out in Dr. Bike's bike shed. The fire brigade extinguished the flames before any damage more serious than a soot coated ceiling was caused. A box of ckjlhes and other personal belongings caught alight because of the limited heating arrangement that the Dr. Bike team has to work with. Zeeshan Azhar, the elusive Dr. Bike, tok a public stand at this year's UGM budget debate to preserve the society's funding. The team need capital in order to carry out thaeir duties and . as this incident has highlighted, to do so in safe conditions. Dr. Bike is interested in encouraging students to cycle to the LSE and in promoting the merits of cycling at a wider level, eery Friday evening Dr. Bike holds a bike surgery where students can get expert advice and assistance in the art of maintainance for their two wheeled vehicles. On a more ambitious level, members of the team are in the process of providing much needed bicycles for the people of Haiti. Dr. Bike is providing the LSE with a unique facility and Zeeshan Azhar will not let a small fire stand in the way of an admirable cause. (FD) It's here... This week is Lesbian Gay Bisexual week, a series of events aimed at hetrosexiuil students to promote awareness of lesbian, gay and bisexual matters . Highlights of the week include debates on Gay rights by both the LSE Debating Society and \ arious political speakers from outside the LSE as well as a filmnight on Tuesday showcasing what was described by Potts as a "light hearted lesbian film" that should appeal to a wide audience. Thursday should also see stalls from major lesbian, gay and bisexual organisations being set up in the quad to further promote awareness. Expect to see stalls from such LGB associations as Stonewall. Gay Men Fighting AIDS and The Terence Higgins Trust .Finally Friday night at Crush will feature The Quad with a "gay flavour" . Potts, who is gay himself, commented that it was his hope that "as many people who are not lesbian, gay or bisexual can find time to come to an event or two. The last thing i want is for the week to be seen as a wholly gay event."(MB) Speaker's Corner Nico Jacuzzi TO THE SURPRISE AND AMUSEMENT OF MOST. The Founder's Day Lecture eventually took place on Monday 26 of January in a jam-packed Peacock Theatre. Many believed that this renowned occasion would have not happened during the current academic year. No. for once, it was not the Timetable office that screwed things up. .More simply the blame was to be found in Italian Politics. Romano Prodi, the current Italian Prime Minister and ex LSE alumnus was expected to return to the school on the 6th October to open the series of public lectures sponsered by the school. However, he suddenly had to decline the invitation because the coalition that supports his government was undergoing major difficulties and hence he had to stay in Rome. After sorting out the trouble over the Italian Budget, he was finally able to come to the School and deliver his speech, titled 'My vision of Europe.' "Professor Prodi's lecture was a detailed report of the events that have brought EU countries to work towards the creation of the single European currency and the. steps which need to be taken in Romani Prodi speaks as Giddens looks on order to successfully achieve such a goal. Amongst these, he stressed the reduction of unemployment, distributional inequality and national public debt as the most urgent common goals. His analysis, which for many observers lacks realism offers a full picture of the pro EMU arguments but leaves opponents of the single currency policy Archives This Week: January 30 1984 In the radieaj. socialist nature for wiiich it has been famed in days gone, the LSE-was, back in 1984, apparently significantly involved in protests against the Tory Go\ernments initial proposals to scrap the GLC (Greater London Council), though opposition eventually proved futile. The Beaver, in this week fourteen years ago, adorned its front pages with a story about the 26,000 strong protest march through the streets of London. Apparently there once was a time when student protest politics did occaisionally leave the its own immediate sphere. Taking an aggressively anti government stance on the issue The Beaver explained how the proposals, still in their preliminary stages, and not to actually be pushed through for another couple of years, would result in the :...advantage for the most radical right wing Government since the war of destroying the Labour Party's main power base outside Parliament. "The GLC, controlled in the majority by elected Labour council members, had significant power to control local London policy on council issues, such as health and education. The Heaver described the Governments moves to abolish it as part of a continuing "onslaught" on these sectors and huge cuts in benefit payments. Evil. Something similar in authority to the GLC may be born in the form of the proposed Mayor of London. A GLC for the new millenium? Within the walls of the LSE itself the Three Tuns apparently took on a new Bar Manager this week in 1984. The new manager was "from the Irish Republic", however with "sixteen years of Bar Managerial experience" already under his belt already by 1984, it seems unlikely that Photo: Jan Sabo indifferent because these views are based on subjective rather than empirical knowledge. Nevertheless, it's probably the Utopian view that needs to be pursued; as he wittily suggested, it was the choice of joining the EEC from its birth, which has determined Italy to overtake British economic performance in recent years. this could have been the first year under the reign of current manager. Jim Fagan. If so he has surely aged well. Finally, with Drugs Awareness week in Houghton Street last week, fourteen years ago The Beaver was advertising legal "Herbal Highs" in its front pages. "Man you gotta believe it. Try some with your friends: improves enjoyment of artforms...clo.se encounters...etc.. etc.". read the advertisement on page three. Oh. to be at the LSE in 1984. Andrew Yule UGM. Wmk and yau'tt miss it. lack h movBjg to a M in an eftwt to lilt mU given «|> providing material i'nr yoai| poHtka! jfflirflo. Hiete mas a s from ibe 1 it tbc dyjng tTfimh.of ibe ! was aa abysmal \ bewtjftt that Jack has sucB. - , ' in» qmkhti m mad k thfet t toOM enid>te tt> gel it up becatwe af j 4t!td bowttoio, or is it p«j!at»e»tly imipotetit'? There seem tt> }mk io h& two eonnccted atjsl mtitwuily retnfwdug «at fliiough cast ml aitdkncc. In the abseneft ai fwrincr stW perforators (Tom Smith aaJ Nick ihti HaitJ .^hcre are yoo "Ji, the UOM is no putting mi a fOod ewKtgb to attract Ste fjordcs, it wa-s the. prcsen-a but »Jeast they were ctitertainittg hacks;:>«hO; ¦were keen to gral> ioispwt i>y p5»yi!tg to, gallery, Now it tend"! dissolve it>to m, onantstic burst of save! gaxiag. [Shorter and shoiteriUved. it &econt«s«vfid moic forbidding, aod so faih to atiraot ihd new blood which H essentia! toi There i<5 only ao lujtg that the UGM cid survjvtton .'\ndy Houghtiin'tj «;iaging. ! Enough iwtjfication: .iSiariasx;? madeiis: usual stfriiog eJTorts wl% u|> the (Jnion i State of frett/.y. .^4 lias become audience chatted ttwugh his: speech.Tfeeai :thcre ws Yuan, who: sijsce beginaing a)»;antf4 tlnifs OBipaign te.bcca wandciiagartJUttdviii: a cijfitu'ved state, anabte to rentetttber who he is or what he's ttoiag. Then Jasper, who ^4 flo-one any tavoars by emplaoing TuraoB! one .stage with a raixed grill. Strangely^ watdstog Skid Mark cat was only nu(rgj«a[lty xmf«' hofrihie thaa watehlag him speak, althoagh ihe combinatitin oKiboth activities: was pretty r A ffit>tioft iibost rccyefittg camo next-Ma.vlw this offers hope for tba l)OM. Thare; could tie a ftittire in recycbng eomtc from thtce or ftmr years ago. Admittedly thsyM Be ftiil of rofaeftces ttt Wut Major ^ the Otllf Wft!, %at that woitltiii't make tbtta any Jess relevant than what the UOM debates Uiese dtay-s. j Tto there was m effoit at comedy from Chariwood. Ht? is to h«tnottt what ,HftriBsv,i! is to ihelorie. Jauk's. tift - Terry Wogatj is not an example to follow for eon«e pR-seatatiota. GorgeotLs Oeorge dida't provide ^}ueb of ft respoa<-e. One tvay of imptovia^s terperforataitce at Scast.iadte^yGM mightabe: prsivem her entering the Tans of » JSVedacsday, George has developed » simple 'dr«s code - if slw's wearing a cap (keep yotir comtnctjts io ynurscif Dirty Salfourj tfeea !^e idid sonietiting .she:iregreis the: night before,: Foliowiag their leader, the Tories stteioed apatlwtie, Notevca Richard Wignali, tlie Aten :.Sked: a {Wright)| Bar Mixed) Griil, 3 2: The ?ies that lo\ cd Me. i.)::fcit!:te:.PtopoFJ 4^ UNION THE BEAVER Issue 477 - FEBRUARY 3 VO YUU BANK WITH NATWEST? If you do and would like to express your views, read on! Natwest Aldwych are looking for a first year, a third year and a postgraduate student (at least one of whom should be from overseas) to be or^ a panel. You would meet with the manager and student officer of Nat West Aldwych twice a term to express your views and give opinions on new initiatives. Nat West will make it worth your while providing food and drinks at the meetings! Please help, it is all part of Nat West trying to improve their service to you. If you are Interested please contact Imogen Bathurst, LSESU Treasurer in E206 or on extension 7471 or via SU reception UNION GENERAL MEETING Thursday 1:00pm in the Old Theatre All are welcome! m M-tthFebOS LGB Week Night Tiie Incredibly True Adventures Of Two Girls In Love Tuesday 3rd 8pm The Underground Bar, Clare Market Building A touching and amusing movie Monday 2nd 12pm Room A44 Speaker Meeting Bay Rights: Can & Should They Go Further? With representatives from the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems Stalls Day RmI out about the oanwaigiiiq worfc of teading gay oniaiite Thursday 5th 11.30 - 2.30 The Quad East Building Wednesday 4th 2pm Room H216 Student Debate Tliis house belsvBS Gay Marriage Stiould Not Take Pfana Heated debate with the LSESU Debating Society takes on a surprise LGB theme with events and entertainment in the Quad on Friday night! For more information^ please contact Yuan on (0171) 955 6709, or email: Y.D.Potts(gilse.ac.uk Raising awareness of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual issues m GENERAt- :¦ SECRETARY'S m COLUMN WhfHi a itorm in ? lea c«j>! The caHmg for a ballot oo HUS wicbdmwal was deciared uncortMitutioBa] by !h« :G«ttStitutjoa and Siectang Committee; . And; :agh% so.; since the wTcumstajsccs tinder, with it was were somewi>at dubious, indeed. :far ...from beings consot«tional:! wou}d,:say.: Henc«:oo ballot wiii be bcJd this term - for the. moment .at least • ttnlesN it gels MibmittCiJ again wiUjin :ttie.next couple of weeks and parsed by lhe UGM, If that may be Jhe case, hopefully, :iviU.:get the proper attcmioi) an issue otfliis: magnitude corotnand';. Like 1 said in my .coiamn iasl week. c.:very taclor bas lo. be: bome in et>ns1 inclitding the siitjanciai argumein of staying. Without-a shadow of doubt, NUS have let studeatsr down : this: year over the fees issue, perhaps 'with an eftcct lasting for years to follow, but die argument remains as to whether it is: more iogicai to stay within, trying to achieve chatige as «t does remain the only nationrtly lepresentattve .shidem body, theoty at: least. And even if we do not feel it ¦is no longer bcnefieial being a part of it for :repre.sentam*e purposes, are .we willing to foregotthe benefits NUSSL (its services .¦jupplier) enables us lo enjoy tn the.shape of provisions to our bar and shop? Needless lo say however, we will have. no qualms:in carjying oatthesstudenls' mandates rnyioniy coileem is:that it is based on.an. iuforMed :opin»n and: not on sensationalist whims. ! : :: ¦ The SU Cxeeuuve Committee voted Shutdown as it was widely telt that students treating it as a day off (whieh inevitably be the case) would not prov® pioductive at ail and would portray "ait iiiiafj which would be counter-ii^adsi^^ in lh>' ;oiii run. This call ftomjihe NUS is a i "too little too late" meastire lit aincidentaily' ooWng a to the Annual Conference^ where the ka^^ship. dominated by Labot#, itottettts. wHl be held accountable for their |& pf al>'enieni w il certainly be welcotne. Hhe fijfecon^io^es! A txtensiun n." library opening hour,- is goitig to be a priority campaign for th« nexf «ouple: of: weeks. The is!>ue has beea Off-the agenda for the next Library stee meeting, We are planning to ct a. purvey to get to J;now your f^wsthis f^ard, so please do tafas a' wilijite to fill out one if approached. It bafat::help if-you could speak to ybar : :lecturers and eJass teachers to .get (Ifer sujppoit on this issue. The BLPBS is ab' institation: of great repute and oa« immensely envied by other other colleges, fliroughottt London and it is unfortanate ^^easd thai its full potential is iw ^'to tinte coastraints. Moreover, on the C i.urse CoHeclJon is in tocr^sJhj^ !dejtiand during the second and third tetps: pad it ts tn this direction thai the main tta^ bf the lobbying effort will be made, ; ? -, Hie Sttidents' Uiwoti LOB Awaiwa^^ week will be held this week. Nunieroa«i speakers and events are pl8nti«l,.so if y«i(' wish to get involved, please cont^ia Yaan 1*otf*, Education and Welfare Officer ftw: further detaiN s Chejr. 5 LETTERS LONDON STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS THE BEAVER Editorial Staff THEBEAVER FEBRUARY 3 - Issue 477 EDITORIAL If you were one of the few people who attended this week's UGM. you will be no doubt aware of the increasing large amounts of seats that are left unfilled. This apathy is no good thing, the once proud institution of the UGM is now left as a mere shadow of its former self, lingering along with a few stalwart members who try desperately to keep the atmosphere going. This is the LSE. which is meant to be one of the few places left in this country to be politically motivated. Are we too succumbing to the apathy that is now becoming representative of the student population? I hope that the answer is no, and the low attendance at the UGM is just a temporary lull. Everybody who attends this institution has the right to vote on is,sues that concern them and yet students stay away. The right of democracy is a freedom that we as students should not squander. While at university, our vote can help change the political tide, to mould the union into an organisation that is representative of the Student body. It is our duty to exercise this right. It should not be left up to the politicians to speak our minds but it is up to us to give voice and raise the visibility of students on the political stage. If we students united, then our voice may then be heard. This means all students campaigning and not the half hearted nature that has dogged the valiant attempts of the political bodies to prevent the apathetic student from having to pay fees. A battle lost ever since it became apparent that the majority of students would not come out fighting but would rather stay in the pub having a pint. The only way for us to bring about change is to become politically motivated and support the actions of the UGM and if we do not agree with the actions, then we as students should be there actively fighting for our future. You may argue that we are only students for such a short time that what we want will never come about. But we owe it to future students to fight the campaigns that we believe in, only then can we hope that the proud tradition that exists at LSE will continue. To give up now, would be like binding the hands of our successors, as situation that can never be justified. COME TO THE BEAVER MEETING ON MONDAYS 6:00PM ROOM C023 Dear Beaver, I refer {o the letter written by "an overseas student" in the 20 January issue titled "Open all halls". It has obviously been written by the student in the heat of the moment without giving proper consideration to the arguments put forward in the article referred to. The School has recently been initiating a scheme to encourage students from deprived inner-city areas of London to apply to this institution and a number of schemes have been introduced in this respect; the new Futures Fund set up by the Foundation and Saturday classes to name but a few. The Students' Union certainly welcomes this initiative because we feel that financially underprivileged students should certainly be given incentives and the long-established clique of public school dominance decreased. Granting students hall places would certainly be a further step in this encouragement because accommodation arrangements do hold priority in prospective students" minds. The Directors' initiative was totally in line with this. Carrying forward this argument - and this is my personal view - I feel that it is wrong to discriminate against London students getting places in halls in their first year. Living in halls is very much a part of the Dear Beaver. 1 write in reply to the letter by the "overseas student" published 2 weeks ago. I feel that the following points are relevant. Why should London based students be denied hall accommodation? Looking at a simple A-Z will illustrate the fact that Greater London is a vast area. Why should those who are officially London based have to travel 30 plus miles late at night, if at all possible or affordable depending on the transport, (if we take the individuals argument to Dear Beaver I disagree with the views expressed by Olympic Pinto and Tony Lee in last week's Beaver Letters Page. I am concerned that tuition fees are likely to deter a great number of able British students from lower-income homes from coming to the LSE, and I do not believe that anyone in our university community would benefit from that. However. I do have considerable sympathy for the views they both expressed as they apply to certain of our union officers, namely our General Secretary. It appears that the more they fail to mobilise the student population at LSE, the more strident they become in denouncing the government, the National Union of Students, the Labour Club - in short, anyone but themselves. The attitude taken by the NUS has been a pragmatic and practical one. The government, which both I and most senior Labour Student members of the NUS are proud to support on any issue other than this one, has taken a clear decision to legislate whole University experience, one which I see no reason why they should be deprived of, just becau.se their parents happened to live in London. Moreover, areas like Harrow and Uxbridge would still be considered in London and no one fancies a one and a half hour commute, which is often the ca,se. This student also fails to carry out a coherent argument in his/her letter. 1 totally fail to see why continuing (second and third year undergraduate) Overseas students should gain priority over HoiVie and EU students on the basis of paying more fees. The educational system in Britain has been operating on this fee paying ratio for years and Overseas students accept that system when they come here. I am totally against discrimination of any sort, so-called positive discrimination included. As students, we should all be united in urging the school to create more spaces by building a new hall, instead of fighting amongst ourselves on the grounds of fee-paying status or origin. Student accommodation is a right and not a privilege and should be given the necessary priority as such by the School administrauon. It is really disturbing to see students running from pillar to post and the extreme), when accommodation in Central London would be far more practical and enjoyable. Student rights in general! Why should overseas students receive better treatment than London based or Home students just because they pay £8000, or overseas alumni contribute financially to the LSE. Whether overseas alumni contribute anything at all constitutes a personal choice and should not be a consideration in who gets priority in hall accommodation. Secondly this individual shows complete ignorance in relation to the British Tax System, (sorry this bits boring). REMEMBER parents of London based for tuition'fees. It has a majority of 179 in the House of Commons. Whatever you try, and the NUS have tried with their week of action, the prospects of success are not great. If you go in with all guns blazing, the chances are that you will come out of the other side shot to pieces. The change of govemment on that glorious day in May last year heralded a change of political culture. The govemment is prepared to listen to people involved in education, both teachers and students, rather than just to lecture to them. The student movement has been assiduous in using this opportunity -remember the change of heart by Higher Education minister Lady Tessa Blackstone on fees for gap-year students, or the £165 million boost for the HE sector. As an officeholder in the Labour Club I have never claimed that the NUS leadership is perfect, but the onus is on our own .sabbaticals to show how they would have done better. Some people are coming up with alternatives - like the normal fifty-seven varieties of loony tunes queuing outside the Accommodation Office day after day. On its part, the Students' Union has been lobbying the School on this matter on a priority basis since the start of this year and 1 personally have not lost a single opportunity in numerous committees as well as meetings with School officials including the Director to impress upon them the urgency of this situation. Before ending, I must comment on how appalled I was at the crude remarks the student made. Attacking the Director's views and disagreeing with him is one thing, being abusive personally is another and doing so in such an offensive manner is not only wholly unnecessary but out of order. In the future, I would also urge students to come and discuss issues like this with myself or one of the other sabbaticals before sending off sensationalist letters to the Beaver, so that the School's explication, which the Students' Union is always made aware of, can be explained. You can still disagree with it, but will at least have a more informed opinion. Yours sincerely. Nanus Aga General Secretary (and home) students as well as the students them.selves in later life will pay vast sums to the Inland Revenue, a significant proportion of which is spent on education, including University funding. Taking these factors into account tmancial contributions from home students are in real terms ultimately no less significant than those from overseas students or alumni. Finally it is arrogant to suggest that it is only overseas alumni who contribute to LSE's global reputation. Yours, ALEX SMITH left-wingers with their master plans to soak the rich, abolish the armed forces and give all the cash to students (well, what doesn't go into subsidising the production costs of their tacky newspapers anyway). 1 doubt many people will go for that option somehow. I have been asked where my loyalties lie, with the government or with students. The fact is that I am loyal to both. Fees might be wrong but Labour's values of social justice mixed with financial realism and self-reliance are those of most students. It is others who must now decide whose side they're on. Are those who harp and carp about Labour Students and the NUS going to come down on the side of moderation and reason, or will they align themselves with our hard-left opponents who. constitute the only real alternative? Its time to choose. Yours sincerely Joe Roberts Secretary, LSE Labour Club Executive Editor Craig Newsome Advertising Manager Moshe Merdler Sectioni News Editors Chris Roe UaW Brough Political Editor Micfiael Collins Economic Editor Andreas von Paleske International Editor Mathieu Bobbins Style Editor Twyla Huang Features Editor Lachesis January Sports Editors James Mulligan Matt Sutton Photographic Editors Nina Duncan Ralph Achenbach Section 2 - BART BART Editor Zak Shaikh. Literary Editor Nadezda Kinsky Arts Editors Yasmine Chinwala Mark Pallis Michael Collins.. Music Editors Daniel Lewis Malte Gerhold Collective Amir Absood- Nanus Aga. Anton Sebi Ahmed. Shaista Ahmed. Mark Antony. Shernna Aniiwar. Shama Aslam. David Bakslien. David Balfour. Mark Baltovic. Laure Beaulils. Christina Beharry. Hector Birchwood. Faten Bizzarl. Jonathan Black. Guy Bufton. Miriam ChalAi. Liz Ctwng. Peter Clegg. Joriathan Cooper. James Crabtree. Dev Cropper. Amii Desai. Michael Epstein. Deborah Goldemberg. Shabnum Hasai. Caroline Hooton. Tani Hussein. Helen Jamieson. Dana Johnson. Tasha Kosvmer. Dan Lam. Philip Lam. BecJ(y Little. Fredrik Ljone Hoist. Kenneth Lo. Kevin Lui. Dan Madden. Baljit Mahal. Anita Maiumdar. Ben Newton. Daniela Ott. Mateo Paniker. Zoe Peden. Keith Postler. Dh»a Ranasinghe. Zaf ftashid. Ruthless Rich. Simon Retaliack. Nick Robm. Da Roche. Brtce-Alban Roualec. Sunil Sodha. Siiva Santofo. Vicky Seabrooke. Graham Stevenson. Chris Sutcliffe. Jamie Tehrani. Peter Udest^. Gutshan Verma. Julia Vowles. Joy Wangdt. Matthew Wilkins. Andrew Yule. The Beaver is published by the London School of Economics Students' Union and ix'inted by Newsfax. of Unit 16. Carpenters Road. Bow Industrial Park. Lorvlon El5. It can be contacted at 0181 986 3130. The Beaver can be contacted on 0171 955 6705 and by fax on 0171 9557717. email:beaver@lse.ac.uk E-MAIL YOUR LETTERS TO BEAVER@LSE.AC.UK HALL EQUALITY SHOULD EXIST NUS PRAGMATIC AND PRACTICAL ECONOMICS Issue 477 THE BEAVER - FEBRUARY 3 The future of money Johannes Tynes discusses the role of digital cash Recent years have seen the explosive growth of the Internet. Much has been talked and written about the coming of the on-line economy and electronic commerce. One of the most important aspects of this development has been the growing demand for methods of secure payments over the Net. This demand, coupled with advances in cryptology. has facilitated the growth of digital cash, cash constituted not of pieces of paper or metal objects, but streams of digits. An important quality of digital cash is that it has the potential of being entirely anonymous, through the use of mathematical "blinding" techniques, both with regards to usage and holdings. This means that, as with physical cash, there are few, if any, traces for the government or other institutions to survey. When using credit cards digital signatures are left which can be linked to the specific individual, describing where, when, and what was purchased for how much. This feature of credit cards has made many people claim that technological developments lead to greater control by the state over the individual. The anonymity of digital cash would be a development in the opposite direction. In other words the widespread use of digital cash would render the prospect of a 1984 scenario, in which governmental surveillance creates a society of fear, suspicion and suppression unlikely and act as guarantor of individual freedoms. This anonymity does have its drawbacks, however. One example of this is criminal cases in which evidence of financial transactions are often integral requirements for correct judgement and sentencing. Thus the financial anonymity of digital cash can make it harder to An important quality of digital cash is that it has the potential of being entirely anonymous... and in theory anyone can _issue it_ convict criminals than it might otherwise have been. Anonymous financial transactions and holdings also make it generally easier for money laundering to take place. It can be argued, however, that this is relatively easy as it is today with few currency controls and falling costs of overseas banking, but with the advent of anonymous digital cash' the costs and risks associated with money laundering would fall considerably. Tax evasion would also become easier for the similar reasons. Just as the increasing ease of international capital movements has caused governments world-wide to shift the burden of taxation from mobile to stationary capital, one consequence of the reduced disincentives to evade taxes may be increased taxation of geographically fixed assets. Hassle free money laundering could lead to the extension of organised crime. An intriguing property of digital cash s that in theory anyone can issue it, and it i by no means clear that banks will be the lost successful players. The be all and end :1 of a successful currency is confidence, id the issuers who command respect iiongst consumers have a huge advantage er others. Companies like Microsoft, ia. and Coca-Cola would therefore have ood base from which to start due to their )eccable reputations and solid brand lies. An important determinant for which Check out the new arrival! Digital cash will guarantee individual freedom. currencies will be accepted and trusted by consumers is what they are backed up with. At present the vast majority of currencies are fiat based. This means that they have no intrinsic value and are not linked to anything of market value. The only reason why people accept such paper currencies is that they expect everyone else to do the same. Such a system, however, could not possibly.originate from scratch. Digital currencies would therefore either have to be proxies for governmentally issued currencies, so that for instance one "Coca-Cola-Dollar" can be exchange into 3 USD, or backed by assets such as precious metals, equities or bonds in a fixed ratio. Which of these two routes would dominate depends largely on the performance and reliability of the governmentally issued currencies. But comparative economic studies show that currencies based on for instance precious metals are more reliable and stable than fiat currencies. This is exemplified by the successful operation of the pre World War I gold standard, which played an integral part in the 'Golden Age' of market liberalism. Another implication of the prospect of digital cash is increased currency competition. In the current situation currency competition is limited to competition amongst the various governmentally issued currencies. This means that if you distrust you local currency, like for instance many people in Asia do at present, you may choose to accept only USD or GBP and chose to keep you cash holdings in these currencies. The currency competition is, however, presently limited by the relatively dominant position of a local currency in an economy. Currency competition has increased in recent years as a result of deregulation of financial transactions and currency regulation falling out of fashion. Some people claim that we already see the results of this in the relatively stable, non-inflationary period that major currencies such as USD, DM and sterling have experienced. Digital cash offers the prospect of competition much more intensive and extensive than what we have at present. The various players would have to compete on qualities such as inflation, reliability, stability, confidence and easy of u.se. For private banks there is an incentive to push the level of fractional reserve banking as high as possible. This means that they issue more in terms of credit letters such as loans, short term credits and potentially digital cash than they have reserves to repay by gambling on the unlikelihood of a majority of their creditors wishing to withdraw their funds simultaneously. The market mechanism balances this incentive to hold fractional reserves with the consumers' desire for minimal risk (and thus a high ratio of assets to credits). The free operation of currency competition would thus drive the process towards the ideal balance according to the preferences of the consumers. Consumers would probably get information about the reliability of the various digital currencies through the media and special consumer interest groups and through the development of brand name reputations in the same way as they do with goods such as cars and furniture today. The introduction of digital cash would also redefine the role of regulators, such as central banks and the Federal Reserve. With the establishment of a competitive market in which the laws of supply and demand determine the nature of the currencies in use governmentally supplied currencies would either have to compete in accordance with the preferences of the consumers or obtain special privileges. Given the immense financial security of most major governments compared with most corporations it seems likely that governments, if sufficiently aware of the situation, would be able to compete on equal if not better terms than the private sector. When it comes to regulating the digital cash industry, however, governments would face severe difficulties due to its international nature. If a particular government decided to place restrictions on. or even forbid, the use of privately issued digital cash nothing could keep the citizens of that very country from using digital cash issued abroad. Photo: Library The only way in which it would be possible to effectively limit the use of digital cash would be if a broad coalition of governments issued a collaborative policy to this purpose. Even then, small countries could act as free-zones for digital Digital cash offers the prospect of competition much more intensive and extensive than what we have at present... the introduction of digital cash would also redefine the role of regulators cash issuance in the same way as they do with regards to off-shore banking today. The current failure of governments to effectively combat illegal material on the Internet shows that the ongoing developments of information technology place real restrictions on the governments" power and that, in the absence of extensive and effective international agreements, digital cash would face very limited threats from the regulators. Also worth noting is that some regulators seem reluctant to regulate digital cash. In particular Alan Greenspan of the US Federal Reserve has taken a surprisingly non-interventionist approach. This may be down to his background in Austrian economics (which advocates free banking and return to the gold standard) and his intellectual history as contributor to books such as 'Capitalism the Unknown Ideal' by Ayn Rand. But with a major economic power such as the USA seemingly willing to accept the unhindered development of digital cash, it will in turn be up to the consumers to decide whether it is preferable to the govemmentally issued fiat currencies of today. Good-bye and Good-riddance! This Is Midas* last colunm before he is ! replaced by a .younger atid. leaner version, Prankiy, Midas has lost mac)) of hi4 and he would prefer to leave rat-raee and retire to a tax-free haven the warm sunshtne of the Caribbeau, E hope that my mad ramblings were of tise : toyoa a.s! «tieaipted:»3;det«y.«if5f t!»e nutsi and-iboits of iffloney:iauiideringf optionsyl futures, insider deaHng «ntJ all ;Ehe information which will niake you RICH; However, before. Midas .sets off into the ¦ golden , sunset, he: will once more attack the common etonoinic fallacies which pervade in the minds of tbe ignorant... It is widely believed that government intervention in industry can and does benefit consumers. Economists have developed careful and clear analy.ses of the situations .when regulation eouid be desirable. But .daes rcgulation in practice, havethcse desirable effects?. . iAdam Smith ecrtainiy doubted.lts efficiency. To: restrain:: people froia entering, into- ivoluntary transactions "is a .manifest violation of tliai tiatural tibeit^ which it is the proper business of law not to iijfrioge but. to support'. Nevertheless^ he .argued, 'iho.se exertions of the natawsl liberty of a few iadividuais which: might . endanger the .sec uri ly of the whole society^ i are, and ought to be. restrained by the laws? of ail goveittments.,.® He. defended; teguiation hi such ca.ses ia principle-be objected to the practice. Th • •:- ' "laiiif.-; LITERARY Bart- FEB 3 - 4771 Catch the right books Nadezda Kinsky looks beyond JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rve Risking a massive generalisation, it could probably safely be said that when most people hear the name J. D. Salinger, they think of The Catcher in the Rve. While I accept that this is his most famous work. I also regard it as his worst. It is a shame that many have not come across his brilliant collection of short stories For Esme - with Love and -Squalor, or his semi-biographical While I accept that The Catcher in the Rve is his most famous work, I also regard it as his __worst. books regarding his (fictional) siblings, Frannv and Zooev. Raise High the Roofbeam. Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction. Maybe the reason these are not pushed down the throats of English Literature Students is the welcoming dedication: "If there is an amateur reader still left in the world - or anybody who just reads and runs - I ask him or her. with untenable affection and gratitude, to split the dedication of this book four ways with my wife and children." In Salinger's writing, the reader can get hopelessly lost in his world, and involved with the lifes of Franny. Zooey. Boo Boo. Buddy (the T character) and most of all Seymour Glass, members of the family of seven siblings, all of which in their childhood regularly appear on a children's radio quiz . called, "with perhaps typically pungent Coast-to-Coast irony". 'It's a Wise Child". This is not to say that Salinger treats only the experiences of seven children of intelligence and a sense of existentialism far beyond their years on a radio program that reeks of conventional America between t h their style and mood - very similar to the characters in not only this, but also their battle with reccurring philosophical dilemmas and influences and their extreine morbidity and existentialist tendencies. The characters are both disturbed and disturbing, yet still carry the reader with fascination through the stories. One reason why these-might hold up the interest more than The Catcher in the Rve often does is the fact that they are shorter - all of them could qualify as short stories - the longest one ("Zooey") is only just over wars As matter of fact, then youth mainly provides background takes the form of memories from the point of view of their adult selves of what u.sed to be seven professional celebrity children. To say that all the central characters are bordering on the insane is an understatement (something which should not come as the greatest surprise). All of them are extremely intense and decidedly intellectual. This provides the books with hundred pages long. This is not cheerful, happy reading material, nor is it necessarily light, but beware of over-analysing the text -what is intended is a mood rather than a message, sentiment rather than meaning. One can see why J.D. Salinger wrote the dedication to the 'amateur reader', and why he hides from publicity: On the one hand, admittedly, his books invite analysis and theory, with the conclusion that .somewhere out there, there must be a highly disturbed mind at work. At the same time, one could do the author the favour he asks for, and 'ju.st read and run'. Take it as using a story to evoke a mood, and leave the hints as hints, wihtout too much deep thought. ('Let it flow over you', to put it in a cliche). On the one hand, his books invite analysis and theory, with the conclusion that somewhere out there must be a highly disturbed mind at work If you liked The Catcher in the Rve.it's worth it exploring his other works, and if you hated it, maybe you will actually enjoy these other stories, especially when not accompanied by a teacher. Just be an 'amateur' about it and be prepared to be confused, disturbed and try not to become too morbid as a result. J.D.Salinger's hooks are all published in the UK hy Penguin and are wonderfully cheap (for books, anyway) Visionary Tongue A small Press review by Lachesis January The Visionary Tongue Collective is. in, my opinion, one of the English small press's best. It is well-produced and the artwork and layout is of a professional standard. Produced more or less quarterly it is a self-proclaimed forum for dark and erotic fantasy. The stories submitted are subject to rigorous editing and the quality this ensures is noticeable. Editors are themselves genre writers including Storm Constantine. Brian Stableford, Kim Newman and a host of others who all take time out to encourage fresh writers to hone their skills as well as comment on the proficiency of old hats such as the amazing D F Lewis. Visionary Tongue isn't focused on a narrow-band of story types such as many of the American small press seem to be. Their broad nature allows for a variety of fiction and poetry that is beautiful and involving. It has been going for several years now and looks set to continue to the Millennium (though everybody says that nowadays!). Visionary Tongue is available by mail order. Contact Eloise Coquio at 6 St Leonard's Avenue, Stafford, ST17 4LT. BLACKWELUS BUSINESS & LAW BOOKSHOP 242-244 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON WCIV 7DZ TEL: 0171 831 9501 FAX: 0171 405 9412 STATISTICAL INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Blackwell's Business & Law Bookshop in London is now able to deliver statistical information from the Office of National Statistics direct to customers. Visit the bookshop on High Holborn for the latest statistics, available in many different publications and through a wide range of interactive CD-ROM products and software applications. We have complimentary copies of Fighting with Figures, the statistical digest of the Second World War, commissioned by Winston Churchill himself, to give away to the first 100 customers who produce the voucher from our free instore magazine. Student Choice. Bart- FEB 3 - 477 ? Wire[ worst songstsf the yeWj month. \v«ek or (toy iitKer. A'piece of indie flttft'. it's not the t'irsl song tif this genre, ant! it ccrtainiy won't ije the liist/ But ultimateiy it's too ordinary.: to get me. swinging in my B-m. ?:: ¦ ¦ ¦ SH Hibee Nation : . / Sentence You To A life Of Dance _A run of the rain. disposiiWe, i^heosy, T^liince affair. The CD's packed tull ot miws which {(•>' 10 spice up the original bm at: the end of; ihe day. as the saying goesv you can*i:poiisb a turd. fJue to it's:; iininitpiring nature^ ) fear that "Lite ol &nce'". will b« heading for a. Wtkdworth: s .bSrgai>i biii;jwaryovi|boj>.{2). . SS Grandaddy Everytiimg Beautiful is Far Away jy I he song started with a soft; comforting ; * voice for indie/rock lo.v,er.s but t !^aited two.mjnutes for the ti«cfc;to actuatiy : ^et goitjg; and wheti it did I wished ii hado-t. What followed can only be described &$ an anaoyini. childish in^irutsental drtrwL . Whoever signed; Grandaddy should be given a good talking to, they neeti to be told to stop wsslittg record company money on dull bands whose mnsic: has been heard thousands of times before {3» SS Anywhen Blanl( A » amiable'Jisle ditty, about the iead "^singer (whose voice is oddly strange) havsrtg a "blank" day, when he's "not entirely happy, not entirely sad". That'.s fair enough, but the other two efforts thai appear on this; CD are decidedly depressing. In fact, 1 wished they had taken (heir own advice and left the rest of the single blank. The dance version of "Blank" is like the original, but with a drum 'n bass backdrop, in fact it seemed totally tmneces.sary to do a dance version of "Blank': itt j,)| ] predict that Anywhen will not be going anywhere in their musical career.(4) SH 7^ c% Single of the Week Primal Scream H they move, idU 'em -si^his sounds like God damn nothing on * earth. Take John Coltrane and Miles Davies out into space with Primal Scream and give them ten grams of crack L9P««V» I ssste James Destiny eafling Ifjey, that's Slot too bad. Surely, there's ^nothing very new ahotit this kind of music; brii pop rnelody. .the.; good old "we live .ih::the nineties and pepiile get; sold in test tubc.s" sort.of thing. With a warm chorus;, in the baclcground and a simple .giiitat<:.:tune way-ystrs Gallagher would ha'^'e done it. Nothing itan.scet!dtng but definitely nice and comforting mustc to accompany your: first .Sitp:;.of..beer in the Tuns. Nl> ^ CIttsgus Pofyesiertfay IIS; thSf-in the stereo |;ihbagW:;"Oh nak not another bt>ring piece of trip hop ,with a rfefrain. that ; sounds like cheap dance.'' liifHriated ; ;^is song is .so boring - I'm not .sure it ; %; really;e^5stR. It is monotonous, tedious and banal ™;;nol the sort ot qualities you . cxpect froni a rock song! The Hybirds ; show' us what; The Verve would sound like if thfey weren't j;ood. Annoying; squealing • guitars litter its lifeless void while vocals emanate with all the vitality of a dead feiTct. It i;s totally dull and uninspiring; :: Thank God it is only two and a half minutes long. ( I) SS Going down in flames, screaming... each.Make sure they take it. Not too difficult, really. Then add Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) for a radical remix and this is what you get. F***ing breathtaking, almost unrecognisable from the LP version. 'Very extreme, Tike heavy free jazz", as chief addict Bobby Gillespie puts it. And with it comes the beautiful The Jesus and Mary Chain cover 'Darklands'. Chilling and hypnotic. Primal Scream have their heads in the clouds. Who else could hit the right sound for the next millennium as fascinating as they do. To be released on 16th February for one week only - rather smart way to keep it out of the charts and make sure it's worth a fortune next year. So go and get it. And should they move, then bloody well kill "em. It's worth it. (10) MG saiy them." And theseUre"pretty mach tlie otsly words you can distinguish lot,..Pair ecotigh; maybe if I'Ust^ir'to tite mustc a few tiitses withottt paying attention to the words i'li.get into it. 'Weil;;o.ot feally; because the melody ;< than last .November's : gig at the LA2. while ""Your love gets sweeter everyday" had a full blown brass and woodwind support: it sounded ;mooth, relaxed f and it went down so well (or is that .something else'.'). The highlight was again, like the last gig, "Even after all". This number provided that all-top-rare spine tingling feeling, that only the best music can give you. Lyric of the night: 'II be your hero, like Robert de Niro". Zak Tempo @ Club Mars ungle, jungle, jungle. Breath taking music of the future suddenly becomes too much embedded in the present, and whereas it used to sound like revolutionary fucked up rude boy grooves from outer space, it's now the soundtrack to tampons and air freshener adverts. But there are no estate agents in here tonight, thank fuck. The opening night, moved from the Velvet Underground to Club Mars is now vibing, vibrating, reverberating - the rubber soles of my trainers (or should that be soul - wicked trainers have definitely got soul) are tingling with the earth-quivering, bowel- Sieieoiilioiiics ASIAN ma FmJNDATHm vr^ti£'rjsr theauKfience ©The Astoria Anyone who has half a brain of their own will know that anything associated with the word 'hype" should be avoided at all costs. This applies to the NME-run Brats awards. Originally designed to stick a finger up at the Brits awards, it's actually become the indie version of it, and that finger, along with their inetaphorical head, has gone up the NME's own arse. So on this cold, Sunday evening, we venture out in the middle of London with hostility towards, all the corporate bullshit that's gonna surround this event (yeah! Anarchy! Kill the system! etc. etc.) Kicking off tonight's proceedings arc The Audience, who I didn't manage to catch duelo the mile long queue that decided to form the minute before 1 camc (probably), but let's just give them a chcer for allowing us to revel in the 'The Audience were very good tonight'-joke. Next up are the Warm Jets, and iltthough it didn't help only knowing one of their songs, it seemed that they were teetering on the edge of being average. They did their stuff, y" know. Strutted around looking confident, told the crowd when to crowd-surf, and jumped a few times in the musical interludes, and made for okay entertainment. But as I've said before, and I'll say again, the only thing worse than being bad is being okay. Maybe in a couple of years time. Now get this; sitting upstairs at the Astoria, there weren't much a of gig thang going, because as packed as it was (great for sleazy guys: Whoops, was that your arse I just brushed past?), it's the home of the typical record company execs. The type that change for a gig by taking off their tie and unbuttoning the top of their loosenig bass. As phat as the ocean. That wide. This is the tuneful head nodding funked-up melodic shit though, the stuff that's bad but still brings a smile to your face. It's pure quality, but it has to be. Jungle's explosion in the last five years or so has meant that a load of cowboy chancers have come along with a drum machine, a PC and a ""How to write your own s'econ-rate drum'n'bass tune" program. So it's now gone the way of house - most of the records released are shit. Fabio's remedy to this is to skilfully •meld together a selection of hot shit that no-one's heard before and isn't going to be in the shops for years. It's like a little community of exclusive elitist dub plate shirt. Yet by the end of the first song- wait for this- they were actually nodding. Nodding, I tell you. Sec, with Asian Dub Foundation, it's impossible to resist bodily movements (however lame). You'd have more success trying to suck through a fruit pastille. They had everything a great band could possibly ever need: more licks than the average tabby, more energy than the Prodigy, and as much social awareness as the Manics ("This one's dedicated to Jack Straw' they say before launching it to what I've called "Hypocrite", because I don't know any of their .song titles, and that). Jumping around with huge enthusiasm, they immediately put the Warm Jets to shame, and when their guitarist plays his axe like he's in Metallica, you realise that these guys are so naturally cool they nullify the problems of the greenhouse effect. The "kids', unsurprisingly, go crazy, and the security have much to cope with as Hying bodies are passed to the front. At this point, much respect is due to the dude with the long dreaded hair who was actually encouraging the crowd to surf, instead of| beating up anyone who does, as is the accepted norm. But then how can anyone resist ADF? Big things are afoot for them, I predict (.somewhat belatedly). Possibly the best dance band ever. And on a totally different note, the Stereophonies, the Welsh lot who single handedly helped the Super Furry Animals, the Manics and Catatonia build up Wales as The Coolest Place To Be. Once the Bristol shock had worn off, that is. If you've heard them before, you'd pretty heaven cream of the crop, shit hot shit. DJ's are small boys doing a wicked model of one-upmanship. Whose box holds the most dynamite tunes? This is good however, it pushes the music forward, your ears get the favourites packed in with the most steaming hot freshest joints. There are moments of abstract jazzy bollocks, but these are far and few. Fabio does not subscribe to that Metalheadz scary dark being whipped round the head with a sheet of cold metal on crack cos like, proper tunes are for wusses kind of thing. Anyway, that stuff s only in vogue to scare off the estate agents, and hence, keep it real, man. So the place jumps on regardless, and my head is dragged out a bassbin by some nice girl at the end. .1 R Hartley much know what to expect: seemingly middle of the road rawk, but with lyrics that resemble the type of witty poems you'd read for school, and a fuck-off voice. This beauty of their live performances, though, is that you realise that the fuck-off voice isn't gift-wrapped courtesy of hi-tech studio equipment; it's as real as the heat in the venue. Need proof? What about the perfectly held lO-second note during "Traffic', or the chorus of former single 'A Thousand Trees'. Singer Kelly Jones comes across as not so much an entertainer as a live singer, contrasting greatly with the act beforehand. Stuck behind a microphone most of the time.eh? There is only a limited capacity to play the part of the crowd rouser (but God knows that security guard's got it covered in that area). And any chance he does get, is spent jamming to the drummer, who is at this point doing anything to avoid acknowledging the video camera stuck up his right nostril. It's the sheer musicianship which form the foundation of the Stereophonies, and in an age where radio play and press backing can get any tosser a sold out crowd, it's a commendable thing. Such a diverse set of bands is perhaps not ideal when you ve only got one crowd to play to, but on the flipside it's better than having a band headline, and a second-rate version of that band as support. The last gig of NME's London shows was definitely a thumbs up, Asian Dub Foundation and the Stereophonies especially were perfect examples of what alternative music should be heading towards. If there's any justice. Which there isn't. Shilpa Ganatra Bart- FEB 3 - 477 MUSIC Nick Heyward The Apple Bed ockstar comebacks have bccomo a tedious fact of life. Bands as * ' ^diverse as The Sex Pistols and Echo and the Bunnynien have reformed to work off their middle-aged spreads and overdrafts while blasting their last vestiges of credibility to'hell. At least these bands were great in their heyday, and the Pistols revelled in the blatant fact that they were going to milk their image for all it was worth. Nick Heyward has no such redeeming features. Once the frontnian of Haircut 100, who blazed a trail as electropop boyband pioneers in the early eighties, Heyward has returned as an official product of Creation Records Incorporated. Creation have evidently put a great deal of effort into reinventing Heyward as a Weller style mad-for-it golden oldie. He showed off his credentials as an ersatz teenager in an interview with the Melody Maker where he managed to use the words "fuck" and "cunt" in the same sentence. Sadly no amount of posturing can conceal the fact that his music is utterly ¦>hite. Heyward moans along like the ageing father of two which he is. trying to DC reflective in a ocean of plodding sub-Beatles syrup. His voice is spectacularly joring, while the lyrics are a masterful jxercise in the noble arts of plagiarism and banality. He sounds like John Lennon night have done had he turned his hand to )iped supermarket music. Perhaps msurprisingly. considering the boy band >edigree which they share, this album has a ot in common with the solo material of lobbie Williams. Heyward seems unlikely ) challenge Robbie's chart pre-eminence, owever, as most of his fans are either dead r far loo busy at their desk job to pay much •tention to this unlikely resurrection. The rpeated injection of Indian instruments and le pointless siring adornment at the end of The Man You Used to Be" are another ilf-hearted ihrow:back to the Beatles and asis, while the single "Today" is a Cast fide in all but name. It is disturbing that In the second chapter ays of 1966. Love was In Classic Allbiuiinni II The Beatles Revolver (1966) you know you're dealing with a ^ classic band when you can'l decide H which of iheir thirteen albums to view as a 'classic album' I Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club md is probably the most famous and Iturally significant album the Beatles er made; a soundtrack for the 60s that laped the whole course of music, owever. the Beatles' progression from the itchy three-chord love songs found on eir early albums to the clever and laginative tracks they made later on in eir careers, was a gradual one. The trend arted with Rubber Soul, which was full of icellent songs with excellent lyrics, evolver, the Beatles' seventh album, ime in-between these two, and musically, ¦as their finest. They had become isillusioned with screaming fans drowning ut their music on stage, and were eager to •y out new studio techniques to make nusic like nothing ever heard before. The album opens with George Jarrison's 'Taxman', an attack on the udicrously high tax-bracket the Beatles ound themselves in. Though the subjects )f their disgust (Mr Wilson and Mr Heath) ire no longer cause for concern, its catchy )ass-line riff lives on in Beck's 'New 'ollution'. No prizes for guessing which Alan McGee. boss of Creation and discovercr of Oasis and the Super Furry Animals felt the urge to add Heyward to his roster. Maybe his grandmother wanted some music to knit to. (3) Chris Roe Kristen Hersh Strange Angels risten Hersh is the paramour of indie obscurists. Her "main band' - the ^Throwing Mu.ses - are accused of being the most under appreciated band of their generation. The reason? Could be that they (a) consistently producc work of the highest quality and 'people' just don't li.sten. YOU LISTENING TO ME? Or, as this reviewer is more inclined to believe, (b) they have consistently produced work which, in the words of my school teachers, 'shows great potential'. Much like Chelsea: looks good, people root for them, ends up smelling of old roses. Enter Ms Hersh. Shows great potential. And let me tell you, this is the most gruesome edition of E.R. ever produced. But. I digress. If for nothing else. Kristen Hersh already has a classic. "Your Ghost', u lilting duet with the svengali of all things goods Michael Stipe, ensures a reputation. Problem 1: a one classic wonder? The previous album never hits the same heights. Problem 2: neither does this. To be fair. Strange Angels is a greatly more even offering. Fans of her older material will see all the signs: metaphors about loss and being stung by animals interjected with poetic yet indecipherable yarns about the price of stilton. Disregarding the fact that track 3 sounds unerringly like 'Crash' by the execrable Dave Mathews Band. Hersh offers a mixed bag of slower ballads. Up tempo is clearly off the agenda, as she addresses her thoughts to an unknown suitor for whom "love as a needle goes all the way down'. Not a lot of variety, and no instant classics, but an album of acoustic trundles which hit the spot on li.stening 11. Mood music for a bad day, with words which make sense in the morning. But. perhaps we all want a sing-a-long once in a while? Still, some of the songs, "Gazeebo Tree' and 'Beesting' for example, are well above the mean. A little variety? Not really, but plenty of aching. Its difficult to appreciate pain by proxy, especially when it doesn't turn into angst wridden crap. Genuine. Classic. Not as Good As "Your Ghost'. Anyway, as a friend said, I had AIDS before it was cool. Perhaps the Clarence Higgens trust would be the way forward (cf. copious grovelling apologies in the next issue). Good stuff. (7) James Crabtree Libido Killing Same Dead Time g et's face it, you don't hear of that I. many Scandinavian bands plying their trade in the hope of fame and fortune. However, there are some notable exceptions in the form of The Wannadies and The Cardigans - evidence enough that there is indeed life after ABBA. Indeed, these two groups, and others, may well find themselves, sharing the limelight with Libido, a Norwegian three piece, now based in London. It has to be said that Killina Some Dead Time doesn't exactly come across as innovative. In fact it seems deeply entrenched in the Indie tradition. To be fair, the band's strength lies in its ability to deliver track after track of well-crafted songs, such as "In My Shadow', and "Supersonic Daydream', Ably backed by Jorgen Landhaug (drums) and Cato Eikeland (bass). Even Johansen leads the band with a mixture of restrained and no holds barred guitar playing. Libido are given their finisihing touch by Johansen's voice which comes over as a cross between Bj-ett Anderson and Thom Yorke. They're given a further dimension by their tnastery of tempo, from the lazy sounds of 'Revolving' and "Crash Out" to the manic "Molest Me'. This debut (and the current single from it. 'Overthrown') are by no means accessible, but they're worth killing time for. (8) Robert Fleming Finltribe Sleazy Listening ^ escribed by Melody Maker as 'a dark #^\Satanic cocktail lounge cult of psycho-sexual breakbeat obsessive', 'Sleazy Listening' clearly came highly recommended. And to be fair to the artists, this is by no means a bad collection of tracks. Whether you see "a dark Satanic cocktail' depends on what you want to find from the album, and also depends on how much LSD you took before listening to the collection. The method of the band is to use a slow drum beat with synthesisers to create a dark, almost morbid atmosphere before using slow, well delivered lyrics to reinforce the darkness implied by the background. Overall, this works pretty well provided that you allow yourself to listen to the music. If you give a lot of attention to the music and the themes, then the album is easily likeable; however, for those into a more shallow listen, the tracks appear to be rather mundane and repetitive. The outstanding track on the album is undoubtedly more chilling, which uses all of Finitribe's tricks to bring about Melody Maker's vivid image. Overall, whether you will get much out of the album depends on whether you have the patience or the mood to listen to it. It is worth sticking with provided that you have the time as it is the type of collection of songs that easily grow on you. (6) Michael Epstein of the Beaver guide to essential music Sunil Sodha invites us to the heady the air, LSD in our veins and The Beatles ruled the new psychedelic era. came first! George has two other tracks on the album. 'Love You To', sees hitn giving a stab at making Indian music. He was just starting to get spiritual, and had become totally enchanted by the mysticism of the music of the East. It is an up-front (rather Said' was based on John's recollection of his second LSD trip taken at a party where Peter Fonda told him. '"1 know what it's like to be dead". The subject of "Doctor Robert' was an infatnous New York doctor who dispensed far more than prescription drugs! 'I'm Only Sleeping' was (blasphemously) covered . by Suags a few rude) song that tells us to 'make love all day long, make love singing song'! John Lennon really had his mind opened by LSD. Not only did it enhance the creativity in his surreal poetic lyrics and inventive hypnotic music, but it was also the actual subject of many of his compositions on Revolver. "She Said She sound-effects laden children's favourite "Yellow Submarine', which of course inspired the animated film, and Oasis's current video. The most amazing tnusical masterpiece comes right at the end of Revolver: 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. This is John pulling an acid trip to music. It is incredible! All he needs is one chord! Constant drumming pounds your head while John's "Dalai Lama' voice care.sses ¦} u i^v» your inind. Loops of weird noises suddenly f*"*years ago; the come out of nowhere and gently float •J i original is far away. The lyrics are deep, to say the least. more dreamy. It starts: "turn off your mind, relax and float p li and includes the downstream', and goes on to tell us to "find Beatles' first u.se the meaning of within', which is, of course, of backward love! guitars, A .song The fourteen .songs on Revolver are all which we can of varied styles, but their common factor is tell the Beatles they all sound great, and together they form had a lot of fun an undoubtedly influential, psychedelic, recording (from thought-provoking album that still sounds Igij^Bl^ils out-take on as fresh today as the day it was released. Anthology 2) is Sunil Sodha / K 'And Your Bird , taximah ( £j^j«Can Sing : a raj eueamqrrigby Miara-TK.i'eally jolly, rsj I'Mo»M.vslmpins J * (t.»»»inon/McCam^©v> / bouncy two- tpVEyouTO minute song tsJ he^theib®andevEBywHEiRE with the coolest bridge section ever. Paul McCartney plods along behind John Lennon in the inventiveness stakes (as ^ ..nil. 1 ^ AND YOUn BI»B CAN SING usual) on Revolver, but produces some undeniably beautiful ballads in the shape of ^ TOC?rOTtniSwEBT the superb 'Here There And Everywhere' iWAift'TO and 'For No One'. «Sn*^o get yoo ihto my ufe • • I ... Hj(«rkrton-^cC»rt»«y) Ringo gets in on the action in the m TOMOfUFiowNEVEiiknows {lAnnon/McCa.-'..... Beastie Beaver ^ord, Homies, YVknaw: yours trtii}:;: lth«»riginalvgen-u-tae. one of a kind-'ili rodent, has been throwiti* it:down Sfith iome serjou>iy wjck shit this wek. li iSijiNiSsB iiieeba and mackia' downtown in the: prbaH AVoodJand: Check; it; iifeVhard like CittttOft. So let the iiqaaiic mfiesifo o* tha mic idrap, yoHsoaesdopc beastie iecttire OO: dead Whu})'.' Belf tioi Beastie ain't on m pfo-oecrophifia flow (If I waooa screw corpses I'd fiang out at the Tub;>. "kay creW.'j. It'4 dead rock stars i« the B-faoy's ear gosgiei> jright n«sv. Watina know why? Welt, if you up oa the «$! i you'd know, ft's been ltea«:years;.:si!nce Richey Maatc vamsfaetl like; Tfe";i3 style at an Oasi'* show ajst! exactly nineteen since punK Sid Viclotts cotnmittcd StaddeMter sapposedly offing his girirfriend,! ^ - • h's these things that raalte ytju think, ya ktJow. Why do they ail go the way of Uie Spirit, before the Great Spirit has evett wnsidered their name? Beil, must: be: . cea-aa! jguinby fresh ixbout iSiat. I /why idse do let! celebrities bite the big ione. each year?!And why else do they ail wn ptike, Marvin Gaye getting his ass esppei! by bis own pa. Jim: Morrissoa .taking his la.st bath and Blvis: tMmuig-into a lethal Double Kirby wit' 'itides: iSig Mae, Allmtitha fuekin' iie.s. They're all iotit there, happv: on their iittie Fiji island where grandma Monroe does the tea for igrandpa. Kennedy svbite Janis ioplin has her ;,wectv"!y )«nch \vit(» die three drummm front iSpinal Tap. They told us that it's -'better to bum. out than lo fade away ' then .split like; icheap siacl^s to. their "i cty own celebrity paradise. Xhanfes,:gitys. .'\nd why all that'.': Beeaase yoa ciai only climb the Olympus of celebrity iegends if you. well, kick that jacket in time. Die young and you're tmforgottea for the rest of your life, become a 3(tar, enter Ae history of mankind, nim iato a Martyr, (I hero for genemtions. Die and iSfoti'ie: forgotten before you're even dead, the sadiWmffltiing of long gone daysi.httpina your iOld fam& would :«sh in for «a apiwaranco in site :St!ll:;:gossips at least. Or isn't that so Micfc aad Keith? .i^nd who gives a damn about iStatus; Qao: or Paot McCartney nowadays? up, boySivPlease;. ;But:once:yoa'rc:dead life is* only about :to start? :Kot only can they have a blunt spliff ::ft!fth 3.obnBy::Leftnon or:pJiiy: Monopoly with :Ml.;K,.::l>at: think of aft the cash they can make. :otit:of !ti!:8.ooks. postcrsj T-sshirts. mugs; kef :rfngs:aa4:pantsi Check the hype overdrive it :the::,:$picc: Ho's-had a pjaae crash tomorrow.; Bost of/CDs, :Very: best :ofCDs. Re-j :!Ceteases' and tribute albuni.s. Comeback ;albam.s. Uve albums.. Photo albums. Lost: itapes and lost ::tracks. The streets to heaven :are paved with gold. I tell ya; They att sit on :the5i;;lktte:tsland, having a laugh at usv :H:aviag a teugi! at.all the tear.s we shed for Shens, ait tbe bulli^tt we make up about theniij Otf^S, we don't deserve much better. But ftcitbetdothey. Well tbea. Sid and Ricbey, by the iBeastie; PrliiDiple::of Gelefarity Death you: cm't fool us aoyiBore. May yoa test in peace, pat wJiewveryou are, boys, Beastie's dollars f >•»' it in. Aai'way mU shit for tbis week, this ibai!. Bart- FEB 3 - 477 And The Winner Is.. Caroline Hooton pre-empts the Oscar nominations Well, as the New Year rolls in. so too do the Hollywood award ceremonies. Those of you who haven't spent the last couple of weeks in a cupboard cannot help but have noticed the sweaty foreplay that leads to the Oscars in March. Already speculation is rife - who will win. who will lose, who will wear the shitest outfit? Questions and deliberations will develop apace after the nominations are officially announced February ! 1th. but speculation as to just who those lucky few nominees will be is swelling faster than Hugh Grant on Hollywood Boulevard following the Golden Globes on Sunday 18th January. The Golden Globes, awarded by the Foreign Press Association in Hollywood, are considered by the industry to be an excellent predictor of who will walk away with their more famous big sister in the spring - indeed 12 of the last 16 Best Picture winners won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Film. Therefore, armed with only the list of Globe winners for this year and my Mystic Meg powers I aim to provide a speculative guide as to who the Academy will recognise and ignore this year. BEST PICTURE James C.ameron's Titanic is currently tipped to sweep aside competition for the Best Picturc category following its Globe win. Lauded as the most expensive film ever inade it could do with a win and the usual SI00 million in extra ticket sales it would bring. However. pity is no reason fori recognition and whilst the Academy may like the sumptuous romance and tragedy brought by ag overgrown ice cube, there is stiff competition from the .Spielberg directed Amistad (not yet released in the UK) about a slave re\olt on a transport ship in the early 18th century and the subsequent American trial of those involved. Widely praised, both for acting and direction, its own bid for award success stands to be scuppered by an embarrassing plagiarism suit which could unnerve an Academy keen lo^iromote a squeaky clean image. The excellent LA Confidential could therefore slip through the cracks to chalk up the plaudits that it deserves - with a strong story, excellent characters, top direction and a wonderful evocation of nitty gritty 50s LA and supported by strong critical acclaim and sound public support the Academy could do worse than to add its recognition. Again however, the seedy image the film projects could go against the glitzed grain the Academy likes to project. Which opens the way for Britain's very own The Full Monty, a great feel-good independent productions last year with its orgasmic appreciation of The English Patient and. having delivered such a rebuke it may well prefer to embrace the errant studio flock once again. British interests could also be represented by The Wings Of The Dove - an adaptation of the Henry James novel with a strong cast led by Helena Bonham Carter and Linus Roache. Beautifully shot in Venice and widely recommended by critics on both sides of the Atlantic it screams pedigree and class - but so did The English I'atient last year and if there's one thing the Academy dislikes it's repetition in recognition, plus there's the fact that comedy with a discussion on 90s gender politics and the effects of unemployment on a Sheffield community - oh yeah, and 5 men get their kit off as well. Unfortunately it's not American, and it's not a studio production. The Aeademy did their bit for whilst it is an excellent film, hardly anyone has been to .see it, which could affect the voting of the more lazy Academy members. In the event that these last two Brit backed productions knock each other out of the running, the way would be opened for Good Will Hunting, staring Matt Damon. Robin Williams and .Minnie Driver. Essentially a redemption story (always popular with voters) it has the strength over adversity themes that any self-respecting voter would wish to advocate. plus it combines independent film making with studio money and values - as such it makes a good compromise. Stalking horses in this category would include As Good As It Gets. Men In Black and My Best Friend's Wedding. Should Win:- Good Will Hunting Probably Win:- Titanic BEST ACTOR / BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Competition in both categories looks to be another light affair this year with some truly excellent performances (as well as some really emotionally manipulative ones) Peter Fonda won the Golden Globe for best dramatic performance for his role as a bee keeper ('.') in Ulee's Gold but this is widely being regarded as an anomaly seeing as the film largely disappeared in the USA. However, such a win at the Oscars would not be without precedent (Jessica Lang won for her role in Blue Sky .5 years ago. a film which also disappeared on its eventual release and which was largely considered a sympathy vole for her failure to win previously). Plus there is the fact that Fonda ha been out of! circulation for the ' last 20 odd years, possibly p r o V o k i n g, sympathy from! those voters who! still rememberj' seeing Ea.sy Riderj first time around. LA Confidential could see its two Antipodean stars Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe cancel out each other's challenge in the Best Actor category, which is a shame as both convince utterly as opposing shades of grey undergoi ng their own redemption of sorts. A better bet for success, if there was any justice in the world, would be Kevin Spacey in the support category for his role in the same film. However, he has already won once in this category, and it is more likely that, were he to be recognised by the Academy it would be for his role as possible gay murderer in Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil), partly because the Academy likes to reward courage in roles (.see Tom Hanks for Philadelphia) and partly because it may well want to rectify its mistake of not nominating in the same category for his role as Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects. Morgan Freeman could step in to become the first black actor recognised by t h cl Academy inj this category [ for his rolel in Amistad. W i d e I y| considercdl to havei missed outl for his rolel in The Shawshank Redemption (given extraordinary competition that year). Freeman has built up an deserved reputation.as one of the finest actors of his generation, and as such the Academy would do almost no better. Unless of course, they choose to go with Wales' own son Anthony Hopkins, another Amistad star who gives another compelling performance which continues his apparent penchant for playing former American character cop with his genius. He hasn't been this good since The Fisher King and it is highly plausible that the Academy will recognise him should he earn a fourth nomination. Burl Reynolds carried off the best supporting actor Globe statuette and it is highly likely that he will be nominated in the same Oscar category for his role as pom producer in Boogie Nights. However, whilst 7()s nostalgia is at a premium at the character not have depth, currently Presidents. However, it is more likely thai Hopkins will be sidelined into the Best Supporting Actor category given his limited screen time. Matt Damon stands an excellent chance of nomination for his title role in Good Will Hunting, building on the reputation earns in^ Francis Fordk Coppola's! Rainmaker Recognition couldl also be made of hisl co-star Robinl Williams in thel supporting category,! who finally tames hist tendency to mug,I shout and schmaltz* and delivers a truly beautiful turn as a widowed psychiatrist helping Damon's moment, and although it is certainly his best performance since Smokey And The Bandit, it is unlikely that he'll similarly succeed in ihe big league, priinarily because the simply does sufficient Suggestions making the rounds are that Tommy Lee Jones could earn the final nomination in the supporting category for a wonderful deadpan turn in .Men In Black. If so, such recognition would iundoubtedly be for the colossal popular success of the film as much as the acting. Stalking horses in the Best Actor category include Linus Roache for Wings Of The Dove and Leonardo Di Caprio for Titanic whilst in the Best Supporting Actor. appearances could be made by Alan Arkin for Grosse Pointe Blank and Tom Skerrit for Contact. Should Win Best Actor:- Morgan Freeman ProbablyWin:-Peter Fonda Should Win BSA:- Kevin Spacey Probably Win:- Robin Williams 1 J BEST ACTRESS / BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS This year is a little better than those gone by as there were more decent dramatic roles for women than usual. Hence competition in both categories can be expected to be fiercer than normal. Favourite for Best Actress has lo be Helena Bonham Carter for The Wings Of The Dove. Failure to win a Golden Globe should ironically strengthen her claim come Oscar night due to the furore caused by critics which should make voters rush to their video to see what the Globes failed to recognise. Giving a strong, intelligent and yet emotional performance which breaks the mould of her usual pale pansies. Carter deserves such a break. However, you cannot discount competition from Judi Dench whose Queen Victoria pushed Carter out of the Globe win. Another emotionally complex and strong performance could well lead the Academy votes to cancel both ladies out. In which case the way could well be opened for Kate Winslett, another Brit for her lead romantic role in Titanic. However, iher case is scuttled by the Icomparative light weight lof the role - while she [brings a depth and imaturity to what is lessentially a romantic Icipher. the Academy may Iwell prefer a more Icomplex character. Which •brings me to Jodi Foster for her performance in Contact - another studied and technically acute turn from multi-winner Foster but which essentially lacks the heart necessary for Academy sympathy. Sigourney Weaver could see recognition for The Ice Storm, Ang Lee's examination of 70s life and the effects of an affair on children. Having enjoyed a consistently strong career-; and a nomination track record only beaten hyf Glenn Close, there is every I chance that Weaver will be given the opportunity o take the rostrum. : Best Supporiing| Actress will essentially be a| two-horse race betweeni Globe winner Kim Basinger and Britain's own Minnie Driver, again for Good Will Hunting. Basinger is stunning as the hooker with the heart whose seen it all, combining a knowing attitude with warmth, but Driver equally impresses in what could be a slight role as the love interest. Emily Watson could steal the statue from both for her role as an IRA wife in The Boxer torn between her husband and Daniel Day Lewis, the recently released prisoner she truly loves (and who can blame her?) Again however, hardly anyone saw the film on its US relea.se and critical attention was nominal -however, she could win votes as compensation f'or her failure to succeed in the best actress category last year with a deeply disturbing performance in Breaking The Waves. Helen Hunt could provide a shock should she be nominated for As Good As It Gets in the support category. Although she won a Globe as best actress, the slight nature of her character (while well acted), combined with the fact that comedy performances do not traditionally do well in the main category, could see her sidelined into the lower league. Watch out as well for a possible surprise nomination for Helen Hunt for her angel from hell performance in A Life Less Ordinary, widely reviewed as the best thing in an otherwise disappointing film, and demonstrating excellent sense of timing combined with a certain ambiguity. Should Win BA:- Helena Bonham Carter Probably Win:- Helena Bonham Carter Should Win BSA:- Minnie Driver Probably Win:- Kim Basinger Let us pray that no one mentions Princess Diana in their acceptance speech (Ed) - FEB 3 - 477 THEATRE 3 Getting The Invention of Love Attention Set in the present time, on a South London council estate. Getting Attention" paints a bleak picture of moral and social deprivation. The play is centred around the living room of a flat and we witness a volatile, rather disfunctional relationship between a young mother, Carol and her boyfriend Nick in which an undercurrent of violence and abuse constantly lurks. Intermingled with a continuous flow of references to Carol's four year old daughter's abnormal and disturbing behaviour we learn that Nick has been abusing the child throughout. The intimate nature of the small studio theatre and proximity to the action provides the audience with the feeling of peering throught the living room window. Coupled with convincing performances from by Sacha Billingham (Carol) and Gary Maynicker (Nick) the play was brought grimly close with harsh realisin. However, whilst outlying a deprissing sequence of social events. Crimp fails to explore or suggest any possible causes. The characterisation of Carol was underdeveloped and ambiguous: amidst blatent neglect, she voices occasional concern for her daughter and her apparent helplessnes seems unfounded. A well acted, thought provoking play nonetheless. Brenda Lee Burke. The Tristan Bates Theatre Covent Garden BOX OFFICE 0171 240 3940 On Now Think you know all about the British? Love them, hate them? The playwright Tom Stoppard may be your cup of tea especially interesting to the immigrant and overseas members of the student body. Born as a Czech, his childhood spent in the East (Singapore and India), he settled on the threshold of his teens in England after Indian independence, 50 years of which last year just marked. Don't Know your Stoppard from your Pinter? The NT has given you a chance. His latest play, as I see it, has at least seven themes; the worth of living a life of textual scholarship and creative artistry; the nature of taste (aesthetics); the debate between science and art; the meaning of death; the opposition of Christianity to Paganism; the contemplative or creative life versus the life of action; and the nature of pederasty and homosexuality. I leave it as an open question whether or how these themes relate to each other and to the play's title. Stoppard uses as his dramaturgical means the world of classical antiquity in the person chiefly of the English poet and classical scholar A E Housman as a tnetaphor for the play's themes. True to form, Stoppard's consistent inventiveness comes into play, as it were. He takes the technique of inventio from the latin rhetoricians to startlingly experimental lengths—a hint of which one finds in the word Invention of the play's title. The play begins at the end of Housman's life, his death, flashes back to scenes real and imagined during the course of his life, and again ends where it began, with his death. The play, in having the structure of a circle, breaks with linear chronology and also keeps it in that the course of events dramatized from the character Housman's recollections are mostly chronological. One will not find the strictures of Aristotelian drama in force here. The complex framework of the play contrasts with its lack of action. Houseman's recollections take the form on stage of dialogues with the few significant others, as the phrase now is, in his life. These are a civil service colleague and those with an academic conncction to his Oxford days and to his subsequent profession as a professor of classical studies. What the play lacks in action it makes up in wit. The play has none of the farce and manic action of his early plays but retains their brilliant and .sizzling wit in dialogue turned to satirizing the material of his themes. The imagined dialogue has the same barbed quality, which the character Houseman's imagined dialogue with his contemporary, Oscar Wilde, exemplifies. They never met while at Oxford; Wilde took the poetry prize that Houseman never received there. Stoppard outdoes himself by turning dialogue into monologue. The actor of the elder Houseman talks with the actor of the younger on stage; he talks with himself. One scene has Houseman alone on stage delivering a philological lecture at once academic and satirical. This play gives the lie to previous criticism of his plays as simple frames as pegs for his wit. He does keep to his past in dialectical drama but now has a host of antagonists and protagonists through which the dialectic of his themes speak. but rarely act. The dialogue depends heavily on classical references and the world of Victorian Oxbridge. The complexity and brilliance of the play's rhetoric overshadows its structure. The audience did not seem to mind. On the one hand they showed enthusiasm; in the interval half scurried to the bar, the other half buried their noses in the program. Who knew what was going on? I for one don't need to go to a play to hear an academic lecture for entertainment. Your enjoyment will depend, I suspect, on whether Stoppard can hold your interest in material remote to most people. Yet through his material he seemed to speak to the audience of what matters. It is the best biography I have seen or experienced—if one has an interest in the material of the play. KP On Now at the National Theatre Why not try getting a standing place? Only £5.00 in the evenings and £4.50 for matinees BOX OFFICE - 0171 928 2252 MODEL AGENCY OPEN DAY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A HIGH FASHION MODEL? WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK IN TV COMMERCIALS, MAGAZINES AND CATWALK SHOWS? IF SO, PLEASE CALL CLAIRE AT SHOOT MODEL AGENCY ON 0171 460 0699, TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT AT OUR NEXT OPEN DAY. MEN MUST BE AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 29, AT LEAST 6 FT TALL AND HAVE A GOOD ATHLETIC PHYSIQUE. WOMEN MUST BE AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 23, AT LEAST 5FT 9" TALL AND BE A SIZE 8 OR 10. SHOOT MODEL AGENCY, LONDON HOUSE 266 EULHAM ROAD LONDON SWIO 9EL F***KING DULL? I Make your own mind up with this great offer - tickets for a tenner!!! -1_ SHOPPING AND F***ING by Mark Ravenhill TISv^^HSISDAY AND W.TmEE5_ _ 21 January-14 Warch 1998 0171 494 5535 0 ' Out Court th&airfe QUEENS THEATRE THE BEAVER NEEDS YOU! WRITERS REQUIRED. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY MEETINGS MONDAY 6PM C023 THE BEAVER FEBRUARY 3 - Issue 477 FEATURES 15 Princess Diana was the greatest person tliat ever lived! XT O V o At least that's what two people decided in the religious survey conducted around the halls last term. Fortunately the other 198 who answered that question didn't agree, although there were some other interesting proposals such as Charlie Chaplin, John Lennon and "My Mu For anyone concerned about the continuing mtcllectual credibility of the LSE there were some sensible answers too. 35 % thought Jesus was the greatest ever, 12.5 % Buddha and 9.5 % Mohammed while only 2.5 % thought the same about Confucius. One of the most surprising results was the 22 % who said that Gandhi was the greatest. I wonder if people really ineant that or whether it's just the trendy thing to say these days; mdst people don't seem to know much about him other than he was a good, peace-loving man who did great things for India. Gandhi should be given the respect he deserves, but to give him as many votes as Mohammed and Buddha put together seems to suggest a certain spiritual bankruptcy. Peace, however, does seem to be an important concern to students at the LSE. When quizzed on the most important issue facing the world today, world peace received 28.3 % of the vote, while the favourite was economic/social issues with almost a third. Fair enough, this is the LSE, but sorry to all you government students: democratic/political issues received only 11.7 %. Spiritual/moral issues were way down the list with 6.5 %. The most important personal issue was tied between education and the family with 17.6 % of the vote each. Living up to its altruistic, non-materialistic reputation, less than 4 % of the LSE claimed that the acquisition of wealth is the most important issue to them, and a mere 6 % put their career as top of the list. Interesting... Despite the apparent lack of interest in spiritual and moral concerns, over two-thirds say they believe there is a God. One in five, however, are convinced that there's no such thing. Good luck to you. Quite a few respondents added comments to their answers such as their conception of God being different from that of the Christian one, or that they believe in "some force". This is strange considering no one proposed George Lucas for the greatest person. Almost a half of those questioned said they believed there's a heaven (although again definitions varied) but only just over one in three could say the same about hell. It's interesting that a lot of people believe in heaven but not hell (except, no doubt, when it comes to Hitler, the IRA etc.) Although Jesus was the favourite choice for being the greatest person there was still much disagreement concerning who he actually was. The most popular suggestion that he was a teacher/ prophet had over 38 % of the vote, while less than one in five thought he was the "Son of God". 13.2 % believed he was a legend (I hope there are no historians among you), "a good man" received 14.9 % , with religious lunatic and con man getting 0.7 % between them. The "others" category (3.6 % ) included such gems as "ruler of nature", "philosopher", and, "mass of energy resulting from expression". Congratulations to the 0.7 % who think he's either a lunatic or a con man. Those two conclusions are more sensible than either the "teacher/prophet" or the "good man" theories. When was the last time any good man told you to worship Him? Which prophet ever claimed that he himself is the means to salvation? As CS Lewis points out, either Jesus was the Son of God, or else he was deluded or a devil from hell. The biggest mistake anyone could make about Jesus is to acknowledge him as one of the great prophets who "did a lot of good." The road to hell is paved with such beliefs, because people with that opinion are completely rejecting all that Jesus came to achieve. As a good prophet, we can keep him for when he suits us and not have to face the massive implications of his death and resurrection. But Jesus never gave us that option. Either he is the means to eternal life or he's not. But let's give LSE students the benefit of the doubt; the teacher/prophet or good man conclusions do not seem to have come about through intellectual error, but rather through lack of research. Only 22.7% of those questioned claimed they had read "a lot" of his teaching. This leaves at least 13% who, while believing he's the greatest person who ever lived, haven't even read all his teaching (which, incidentally, can be read in a day). Another 11.7% said they had read none at all. It beats me how anyone can claim to have knowledge without having read the most influential figure in the hi.story of the world. Anyway, back to the greatest person, I'd say Je.sus must win, since he's the only one of the famous people mentioned who's not dead. SURVEY RESULTS (percentages) 1) What would you say is the most important issue in the world? Peace 28.3 Environment 12.2 Economic/social issues 32,2 Democratic/Political 11 Happiness 4.3 Philosophy/moral/spiritual 6.5 Others 4.8 2) What's the most important issue in your own life? Family 17.6 Education 17.6 Happiness 12.7 Love/sex 3.7 Career 5.7 Money 3.3 Friends 6.1 Personal satisfaction 12,7 o Others 4.1 philo.sophy/spiritual/moral 7.4 Altruistic goals 6.6 Health 2,5 3) Yes No Not sure Do you believe there is a God? 68.8 21.1 9.7 - Do you believe there is a heaven? 47.2 40.2 12.6 Do you believe thefe is a hell? 36.6 50.8 12.6 4) Who is the greatest person that ever lived? Jesus 35 Gandhi 22 Buddha 12.5 Mohammed 9.5 Confucius 2.5 Moses 2.5 Father/mother 2.5 Mother Theresa 1.5 Princess Diana 1 Hitlerl Others 11.5 5).Who do you think Jesus is? Teacher/prophet 38.1 Son of God 28.9 Good man 14.9 Legend 13.2 Religious lunatic/con man 0.7 Others 3.6 6) How much of Jesus' teachings have you read? None 11.7A little 32.6 Some 33.0 A lot 22.7 LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND... IR RERUM COGNOSCERE CAUSUS - To know the causes of things? Andy Seah Many of us in LSE pride ourselves as intelligent people, eager to learn and find the political, economic or sociological theories that explains the world as well as the solutions to its problems. Alternatively we may just want to get a prestigious degree, go out to the corporate world and earn bucketloads of money. Assuming noble intentions, we need to find "the causes of things', analyse their effects and think about the appropriate response;. We are all quite good at looking at the Big Picture. We like to think BIG because it makes us feel we are very important people (how else do you become a top executive?), yet the lesson of microeconomics must be that without proper fundamentals, you will be left to flounder in the deep blue sea. It is at this point that I find LSE students' (AND academics') lack of interest or avoidance in finding out the answers to life's most important questions bewildering. Any rational and thinking person must have, at some point in their lives, thought about questions such as, 'What is the meaning of life?', 'Is there a God/Higher Being?', 'What am I doing here?', 'Am I just a bunch of creative and hyperactive molecules?' and many others. Without answering fundamental questions such as these, what is the basis for living our lives? Does life not degenerate into a 'chasing of the wind'? We at LSE claim to want to 'know the causes of things' yet we steadfastly avoid any attempts to find out more about who or what cause us and the world into being! If you want to think big, it just doe.sn't get any bigger! Why do we avoid asking the big yet fundamental questions? Is it because they have the unpopular and unfashionable tag of 'religion' hanging around them? Let's be objective, how much and how deeply do we understand about each religion? For many of us, being born in "Christian" countries, our religious experiences probably dates back to our Sunday School days. I'm sure we were all intelligent and well-informed by that point in our lives to make rational decisions! (Trick question: When was the last time you read the Bible? The whole thing?)I think you would have guessed by now that I believe in God. "But it's irrational to believe in God!" Come on, give God some credit! If God is really there and if God really created us as intelligent beings, then He must be smart enough to give us good reasons for believing in Him. Chri.stians believe that God has indeed revealed Himself to us, through the Bible, through the person of Jesus Christ and through Christian experiences. Don't believe it? Why not check it out? You owe it to yourself to investigate it. Nobody likes to live life through not knowing why they have just lived it! If you decide that Jesus is not who He claims to be, it would have done you no harm finding that out. So why not grab the nearest Christian you can find and ask them some serious questions or join one of the LSE Christian Union's Just Looking groups where you can find out more about Jesus, Christianity and the Christian answers to life's biggest questions in the context of an informal discussion group? Email Hugh Battye at \Battye, MS. _Hilary Batty__ As most of my fellow students will testify. International Relations is a frustrating subject. We look for the answers to such abstract questions as 'What is Power?', 'What is Sovereignty?', 'Does the nation exist?', in the hope of finding a theory that will explain the world and equip us to solve the world's problems. This is the intention. In practice, there are many theories, and sub-theories within those theories, and sub-theories within those sub-theories....Each "ism" suggest different explanation of the state of the world and a different solution to the problems. Our task as students is to discus.s these theories endlessly and inevitably discover that there is no answer to the questions posed. It can be very depressing to discover, just as a theory is appearing to be particularly convincing, that actually it has a fatal flaw, it is a subject where essays end "so-and-so is a little more right than so-and-so but there is no answer and we'll never really know". So what is the point? Not only in IR, but I'm sure in other subjects at the LSE, the only conclusion drawn from 3 years of study is that there is no conclusion. Bringing God into the realms of IR is not considered to be a particularly intelligent move-it is more rational for us to look for the answers from a human point of view. However, through studying IR and understanding more about my Christian faith, I have come to one important conclusion: I cannot even begin to understand International Relations if I leave God out of the picture. I believe the truth is that God created the world and that problems arise where we try to ignore him and his plan for the world. Having grasped this truth I have used it as a starting point from which to understand the subject that I am studying. Remarkably I have found that it answers all those abstract questions and necessitates that having faith in God and acknowledging his plan for the world (at the centre of which is Jesus Christ) is the only way in which the problems of the world can be solved. I have found that an understanding of the truth is es.sential to an understanding ol IR and of life in general. IR will remain a frustrating muddle if we rely on subjective opinions. Becau.se of this, I urge everyone to .search until you find the one truth that explains the world that we live in. Alternatively be content that fundamental questions will never be answered. 16 FEATURES THE BEAVER Issue 477 - FEBRUARY 3 What's the story, mourning Tory? Alex King on the Conservatives' search for an identity The Conservative party is up the creek, and everyone knows it. But is anyone paddling? Last Monday, chief Tory pointyhead Danny Finkelstein canoed up the Strand to argue his case at the London School of Economics. Finkelstein. Director of tiie Conservative Research Department, argues that the future of British Conservatism lies in pursuirig an "agenda beyond economics". Since the public cannot really grasp macro-economic policy, he suggests, electoral success lies in emphasising a public morality to which people can relate. The Conservatives are not going to win the next election, nor the one after that, by appealing to public • values Concentrating on issues such as law and order, individual .self-reliance and familial responsibility will, Finkelstein believes, win the electorate over. Disarmingly and entertainingly honest about the Conservatives' abysmal performance at the polls in May, the ebullient Finkelstein was quick to emphasise that the new agenda will have nothing to do with "Back to Basics", the Major government's family values crusade which ended in' tears. "After all", Finkelstein observed, "as soon as we announced it we'd find three of our backbenchers in bed together". So will Finkelpolitik work? Is politics beyond economics convincing? History suggests not. Although economics alone does not decide elections, pub economists everywhere know how much their food and mortgage costs, whether they've got a job or not, and who they hold responsible. Votes are usually cast accordingly. The 1997 election was unusual in ejecting a government which presided over a low-inflation, falling-unemployment economy -but then with divisions over Europe and allegations over sleaze the Conservatives worked quite hard to get themselves thrown out, as Finkelstein acknowledges. The lesson from this, though, is not that the public don't understand economics but that private party management and public party image is vital. Finkelstein acknowledges Tony Blair's great achievements in these areas. The Conservatives are not going to win the next election, nor the one after that, by appealing to public values. For one thing it is too soon after cash-for-questions to try such a tactic. More importantly, though. New Labour has occupied the moral high ground and looks at home. Blair has the middle-England family values and Has Brown the High Church austerity. Jack Straw has, rather improbably, managed to become both the Michael Howard's Michael Howard, and the Parent Struggling With Difficult Offspring Just Like Everyone Else. But s e 1 f-satisfied New Labour types should be concerned that the Tories drag themselves from the mire. It is not in the interest of British politics that there is no real opposition to a government with an overwhelming the torch gone out? majority. Good government requires strong scrutiny. It is also not in the interest of the Labour Party to find its most vocal critics on its own back benches - nothing will unite New and Old Labour like an active Tory party. In the short-term the Tories can only limp along. Their parliamentary and media performance since May has been worse than dismal. This is only to be expected: the party is still licking its wounds, and its members' conflict over the EU in general and EMU in particular shows no sign of quieting. Their attacks on New Labour have been restricted to moments of opportunity pertaining to overpriced wallpaper. John Redwood, allegedly the Tories' "star performer", might think that bickering over Margaret Beckett's homestead will bring the government down, but no-one else does. These short-term failings are not really important, however. Labour will win in 2002 whatever happens. What matters is the Conservative party's long-term development. To regain widespread public support, the Conservatives need to do at least one of two things, and possibly both. The first is to attack Labour properly, the second to build a big picture with workable public policies to fill it. The former option might be enough. British Con.servatism has traditionally been defined more by its opposition to other political forces than by its own ideology. Former Chairman of the party Lord Hailsham saw nothing inconsistent "in having opposed Whiggery in the interest of the Crown. Liberalism in the name of Authority. Socialism in the name of liberty." But it is difficult to see how the Conservatives are going to generate a devastating critique of New Labour. There arc plenty of avenues open to them -economic and/or moral liberalism being the obvious ones - but Finkelstein rules these out. His attacks on Labour are based on the argument that Blair is an intellectually empty creature, that all he wants to do as Prime Minister is to win the next election. Someone ought to point out to him that the principal aim of every Prime Minister is to In the short-term the Tories can only limp along. Their parliamentary and media performance since May has been worse than dismal. win the next election. This is pre-election tabloid hyperbole, not Research Department quality criticism. The prospect of a Conservative "big picture" .seems still more remote. Where are the brilliant new stars, the policy wonks who will generate rhetoric and policy for the shadow cabinet? Finkelstein includes amongst his Young Turks Peter Lilley (54) and Iain Duncan-Smith (43). In fairness there is also the energetic Tim Collins, 33-year-old MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and formerly of John Major's No. 10 policy unit. But this is hardly a crack squad. Part of the problem is that Conservative funds have dried up, and the Research Department is a shadow of its former self. A one-man Fink-tank is not enough. Ringing in your ears Lachesis January has mixed feelings about mobile phones The sound of a mobile phone :heerfully chiming in a lecture theatre, perhaps one of those horribly distinctive tunes or the traditional "it could be mine and a hundred other peoples' phone" ring, will set off a series of reactions amongst the surrounding students. Many will attempt to ignore it, either wrapped up in the lecture or trying to seem that they are. The latter group are themselves an entertaining breed, obviously hungering to observe like a person trying not to goose-neck while driving past a road accident, wanting to seem superior to the hordes that have succumbed to the morbid temptation and caused several miles of tail backs in doing so. They will not look in some vain attempt to improve themselves. ¦Tl Others, less self-deceiving or more impulsive creatures, will turn round , some attempting to employ subtlety whilst others have no need of it, to see whose it might b6. The chances are they won't know the person, but that's not the point... There is a general irritation with the owner, perhaps some contempt and smugness by other phone owners who were cunning enough to stop their calls, and a general air of superiority by all, either because they don't own one at all or because they own one, but do it better. And the last reaction visible in this disturbed lecture is a frantic, red-faced scrabbling for the phone, for the button that will stop the terrible ringing, for the end of the humiliation. It seems to take forever and these long seconds are filled with a tumult of mental swearing. Perhaps the unfortunate incident is taken by the perpetrator as nothing. Perhaps they are one of those confident people, worried by nothing. On the other hand, this might be an incidence of embarrassment they will never forget. (Which will ensure no further ringing in a lecture, cdhveniently.) Mobile phones are a convenience that's worth the occasional embarrassment, though whether they're worth the loss of freedom as suddenly everyone who has your number can locate you wherever you are (except in the tube, which is usually when you need to contact them, irritatingly enough). Perhaps this is why whenever ringing a friend with a rather convenient mobile phone one tends to find that the damned thing has been switched off. Saving battery life is a poor excuse for wanting a little privacy. This can be taken one step further in the home. Often, to remain elusive, we just unplug the phone. The mere sound of them ringing is irritating, and occurs during mealtimes or any half-decent program on television. People look forward to mental communication, telepathy as the future replacing the phone. This would be fine if one could still be out of contact, or engaged, or disconnected due to hideously large bills... The alternative to awkward interruptions, of course, is to get a vibrating battery although admission of ownership of such a thing might prove more of an embarrassment than the odd c a 1 ¦ -1 interrupting a Iccture. Or to purchase a new snazzy phone that discriminates between groups of callers, once implemented, if this is remembered. Or to leave it permanently turned off. Or to simply remember that one owns a mobile phone and that, no matter how few friends one has, or how few people have one's number, somebody is bound to phone at your lea,st convenience. This is Sod's law, a healthy admission of which will prevent lack of anticipation of such events. THE BEAVER FEBRUARY 3 - Issue 477 INTERNATIONAL 17 Algeria: the nightmare continues. Hiroko Tabuchi looks at the Algerian situation and places the burden of guilt on the West's so-far ineffective policies towards.the regime in place. An esiiniaied seventy-five thousand lives iiave been lost, and the world can do nothing to help. Over the past few weeks, figures alone were enough to cause an international cmtcry as the latest atrocities in Algeria's bloody civil war claimcd a further 1000 lives over this period. These numbers, together with accounts by survivors of pillaging, rape, and mass-murder, have resulted in mounting pressure on somebody 'to do something'. Why. then, is nothing being done? The fundamental problem lies in the Algerian government's outright rejection of any outside intervention on the matter. An EU.mission sent last week to Algiers was denied access to massacre sites and failed to secure promises on increased transparency into the matter. Algerian authorities have also snubbed efforts by UN high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson to send investigating teams into the country. When France condemned the violence and commented that it was Uhe duly of any government to enable its citizens to live in peace and security.! the Algerian government responded angrily that it was The West, terrified at the prospect of an Islamic Algeria and increased terrorisnn in Europe, turned a blind eye to this blatantly anti-democratic move and since then has financially supported the army regime lunacceptablei for the French to remind them of their duties. However, the Algerian army and government has continuously failed to stop or even intervene in the civilian massacres and this inaction has raised suspicions that they are actually involved in the Furthermore, large exports of oil and gas to Europe have boosted Algeria's economy and reduced its dependence on international financial aid rampant killings themselves. Not surprisingly, the Algerian government has vehemently rejected such accusations. Instead they blatne the recent massacres on the Armed Islamic Group, an armed faction of the Islamic Salvation Front from which the Algerian ariny stripped electoral victory in 1992. The West, terrified at the prospect of an Islamic Algeria and increased terrorism in Europe, turned a blind eye to this blatantly antidemocratic move and since then has financially supported the army regime. In hindsight,the West's irresponsible support has sown the seeds of the present crisis - a government of doubtful legitimacy that is causing trouble today most probably could not have come to power or stayed entrenched there without western support. Furthermore, large exports of oil and gas to Europe have boosted Algeria's economy and reduced its dependence on international financial aid. This has greatly increased the power of the Algerian government to play by its own rules. According to one European official, Algeria "cannot be easily bullied around unles.s there is concerted western pressure, perhaps even through oil companies, and this is very unlikely". Thus the situation is a dire one. made worse by western diplomacy. What can be done to bring peace and security back to Algeria'? The scope for action from the outside is Meanwhile, as the world carries on the debate and waits for somebody to "do something" Algerian citizens, as innocent victims of the conflict, continue to live in a genocidal nightmare. very limited, unless the west is prepared to force its humanitarian demands on Algeria. The EU lacks a coherent policy on the matter and the US seems to be unwilling to commit troops to any mission involving a serious potential for losses, especially after the Somalian experience. A completely forced and hasty intervention would also bring up the traditional tension between a state's sovereignty and its right to deal with its own domestic affairs versus the right of other states to enforce international norms of human rights in that state. Some analysis argue that continued dialogue with Algeria may be the only way to gain a clearer understanding of the conflict without driving Algeria into deeper isolation. Meanwhile, as the world carries on the debate and waits for somebody to *'do something" Algerian citizens, as innocent victims of the conflict, continue to live in a genocidal nightmare. Kyoto: too little too late? , Jean-Martin Bauer looks back in disappointment at the ground-breaking Kyoto conference on global warming and ponders its missed opportunities. Neville Chamberlain, on March 8th 1938. returned from Munich. In front of an eager press corps, he brandished a copy of the treaty he negociated with Adolf Hitler that same day.Chamberlain described it as a guarantee of 'peace in our time'. Similarly, on December 1, 1997, delegations from the world over converged on the imperial Japanese city of Kyoto to discuss the issue of global warming. After a tense week of negociations. the delegations emerged from the meeting beaming for the cameras, claiming the negociation of an accord that would save our planet from the ravages of global warming. The parallels are frightening. A view of the pre-conference developments might help us to understand why. In 1992. the Rio conference, attended by president Bush, called for the reduction of emissions to their 1990 levels by the year 2000. Everyone agreed, shook hands, smiled for the cameras. But emissions continued unabated, as did the trend of global warming on our planet. In the US's case, emissions are up a whopping 12% from 1992 -underlying the need for a new conference setting binding targets for reductions. In the run up to the meeting in Japan, the participants fielded propositions for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The newly green Europeans called for a 157c reduction by 2010. Japan modestly called for a 5% target. The US and Australia pushed for a mere stabilisation of emissions by 2010. The summit, after much wrangling and arm twisting, produced a As in Rio de Janeiro, the attendants of the conference emerged with broad smiles and even broader relief. protocol setting individual targets on a regional basis. Europe could cut its emissions by 10%. The US and Japan could settle for 5% reductions by the target date of 2010. As in Rio de Janeiro, the attendants of the conference emerged with broad smiles and even broader relief. It was a landmark in international cooperation on the polluiton problem. Never before had countries agreed to set binding targets for reducing pollution. It also demonstrated that political circles were no longer immune to the pressures exerted upon them by the urgency of the greenhouse the Kyoto agreement omits two thirds of humanity. The accord only applies to developed nations, leaving out the fast-growing and fuel-hungry populations of the _South_ However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And it does seem like we are heading down that direction. Firstly, the proposed reduction targets - a worldwide average of 6% -are, for all intents and purposes, marginal. The negociators' lack of ambition and vision are stunning, considering the high expectations of the meeting. If - and this is a big 'if-emissons do fall by 6% in 13 years, it would only bring emissions down to their 1990 levels, hardly putting a dent in the problem. Secondly, the Kyoto agreement omits two thirds of humanity. The accord only applies to developed nations, leaving out the fast-growing and fuel-hungry populations of the South. Admittedly, these countries emit small amounts of pollution per capita. However, the fast pace of industrialization in NICs, in addition to the delocalisation of polluting industries to their shores hints at a very big problem in the medium term. The world's developing nations should have be.en included in the final accord as. in the near future, they shall weigh into the global warming equation with authority. Thirdly, as with all international treaties, the accord is only applicable once the countries' legislative bodies have ratified them. In Europe's environmentally aware parliaments, this should not be much of a problem. But ratification is much less certain in the United States' congress, where a rabid anti-green backlash has sidetracked much of the environmental legislation pushed by Bill Clinton these past years. Furthermore, mid-term elections make 1998 a crucial electoral juncture, and the temptation to humiliate a weak president may prove too enticing to resist for the Republican congress. With the US accounting for 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the world, non-ratification could rob the accord of legitimacy and significance. For the above reasons, there is a very real chance that the Kyoto agreements may turn out to be a dud. It was not 9 out of the 11 hottest years on record have occured in the past decade. The trend may already have influenced global climate patterns nearly ambitious enough and is ridden with loopholes that could render it as worthless as the paper it's printed on. And it is a bad time to be playing around with smoke and mirrors. This month. 1997 weather summaries were released, showing that the planet's average temperature had yet again risen. 9 out of the 11 hottest years on record we shall have to get used to a reality of more extreme weather, disruptions in hurti'an habits, and, in the long term, of a reduction in quality of life the world over have occured in the past decade. The trend may already have influenced global climate patterns.A case in point is the exceptionally strong El Nino brewing in the South Pacific, whose exceptional intensity may be linked to global warming. The event has provoked billions of dollars worth in damage around the globe. Future El Ninos may become more frequent and more intense, presenting a very real threat to human welfare. If Greenhouse gas emissions go on unabated, and temperatures keep rising, we shall have to get used to a reality ol more extreme weather, disruptions in human habits, and, in the long term, of a reduction in quality of life the world over. These prospects, apparently, did not seem to move the negociators at Kyoto last month. Are leaders with vision too much to ask? Kyoto: too little, too late? 18 A DAY IN THE LIFE THE BEAVER Issue 477 - FEBRUARY 3 Sinking into the red s(^^^eacock Tlieatre, we take'it for granted ' that it's bright. wart|p^art^hat we can understand the lecturer (acoustically at least). The man responsible for insuring this is .Sam. Officially, he is the Fir|; Safet>,iwi^ecurity Officer. But he is much better described j||,an exttemefy friendlv man. Here is how he takes care of the day-to- Sam also recovers lost items and returns them to theii rishtful owncre Whensthe:^^eys.;are returned at 17:15, we look back it motlur day in the Peacock theatre..S!Ke you tomorrow. Ralph Achenbacni A THE BEAVER FEBRUARY 3 - Issue 477 STYLE 19 Pierce Pressure Piercings and tattoos, ooh... the sign of a disturbed individual. That was more or less tiie general convsensus of the baby boomer generation. However, these days they've become so common that even future investment bankers have them. The Beaver Style team chased after a few bejewelled and branded LSli individuals to get their advice on piercing/ tattoos as weli as to describe their experiences. as a guide to the rest of us who are thinking... thinking... thinking... but just haven't quite made up our minds. Piercing Through You've seen him. he's not that hard to miss. In total. Pronoy Buse, 3rd year Economics student has thirteen piercings, including a tongue and a nipple piercing, making him quite a piercing expert. Although most would fear the puncturing of the tastiest muscle, Pronoy insists that the anxiety is unnecessary. 'The tongue didn't hurt, really, h was all over in about 3-4 seconds. They used a needle to make the hole and then screwed in the stud." Commenting on the aftereffects, Pronoy said they were minimal as well: "I couldn't eat for about a week because my tongue swelled up quite a lot... Food does get stuck in it sometimes but it's been alright. It was a bit weird having it in at first, but it feels strange now when I don't have it in." When asked about his other piercings. Pronoy said the nose didn't hurt, the lip didn't hurt, but "my nipple hurt quite a bit. That bled quite a hit at the time and I had to put dressing on it when 1 went to sleep and stuff. I've only had it for about 2 weeks, but they say it takes about 2-3 months to heal." So why pierce so much? Says Pronoy, "I really like facial jewellery and the tongue piercing is good for kissing." Sexy Sparkle Sex appeal seems to be a common theme for piercers, as one anonymous non-piercer exclaimed. "I'm too scared to get it done myself, but 1 love pierced parts. They're extremely sensual." Navel piercings are thought by many to be particularly alluring, but the trade-off for the jewelled tummy is giving up all trousers that aren't hip-huggers, especially for the first 6 months. Describing her navel piercing experience. 3rd year Industrial Relations student. Sophie Krawbee said. "It hurt so much. I couldn't believe it! And it never Slopped! It was like painful forever!" Former General Course student Katja - V ...........^ Silva-Leander's experience differed from Sophie's saying. "It didn't hurt at all because they used this anaesthetic spray. It was really terrible though because 1 looked down and there was this huge straw in the hole and it was really weird." And when you sneeze? Nose piercings have become quite common-place among LSE students. However, although their acceptance has grown dramatically in recent years, those that have them still believe that their employers from earlier generations will find them unacceptable. Entertainment Sabbatical Jasper Ward said about his nose ring, "No regrets - except for when I get a job. I'll have to take it out." Similarly, Katja Silva-Leander said, "For interviews I think I'll take it out because it doesn't make a very good impression." Jasper and Katja also agreed about the pain experienced with a nose piercing. "It was fairly painful but I managed not to cry. My mum told me to get it done. It was her idea. I had to do it because she was egging nie on. If 1 hadn't done it. I'd have seemed like a right wuss." said Jasper. Kaija's reaction was a concise. "U hurt. I cried." Both Jasper and Katja explained that nothing happens when they snee/.e but that these piercings arc p a r t i c u 1 a i" 1 y susceptible to infection during the llu season. Who dunnit? Although most people interviewed made sure tiiat their piercings were done by licensed professionals. .Massimiliano Sfara. 4th year Management Science with French student chose to allow a doctor friend to pierce his lip in a bedroom. "She knew the theory and she had done some others before She pierced with a needle from the outside in and then went from the inside out with the piercing. It took ten minutes. It didn't hurt, it didn't swell or anything. The first week I couldn't laugh because then the piercing was going to go everywhere," explained Massimiliano. Infectious A major fear of potential piercers is infection. Said Kate Treglown, 3rd year Sociology about her eyebrow piercing, "It bothers me because it hurts quite a lot and it swells up occasionally so it's a bit annoying. I have moments of regret when it goes funny." Professional Help Seeking the advice of a professional when you're unsure is always best. MetalMorphosis helped us out with some information on piercings and how to keep Ail Phoios 'sstse QiJSSi t h e m safe. Beaver: How do most people react? Metal Morphosis: People come in and psyche them.selves up. They go in to have their piercing and then they come out laughing at how stupid they must have looked before they went in. It's nothing. It's all just mental. Beaver: Do you ever use an anaesthetic. Metal'Morphosis: "We do offer it, but we don't like to use it because it kind of affects the piercing and the healing process. It can blister around the piercing because it's so cold. It's just a spray that freezes the area. Beaver: How long does it take to pierce and could you explain the process? MetalMorphosis: The whole process takes about 2 seconds. The piercings are done with a canular needle, which has a plastic lining. The needle pierces through the skin and then it is pulled out while the plastic lining remains in the hole to keep the pressure on the piercing. Through the lining, the jewellery is inserted. Beaver: How long does it take to heal? MetalMorphosis: Different piercings take different lengths of time to heal and this depends upon how well your body reacts to the piercing and how clean it is kept. For instance, a navel piercing.takes roughly between 3 months to a year to fully heal. Hygiene is a very big factor! Beaver: Do your piercers have a piercing license? MetalMorphosis: MetalMorphosis has its own training school in Hackney. Grades I. 2. and 3 must be passed to be a qualified piercer. Tattoos, too! Less of a trendy fetish than body piercing, tattoos have symbolic and sentimental meaning for their owners. Masters student Hector Birchwood's Cireek Orphic hymn wrapped around a scorpion has particular significance for him because of its representation of the Greek god Hades. Similarly, 2nd year Economics student. Yasmine Chinwala. said jokingly that her tattoo of the Egyptian eye of Horus is a reflection of herself because of its "all-knowing" connotations. Choosing something that you won't tire of is key. Chris Sutcliffe. 3rd year Anthropology, says he highly regrets one of his tattoos. "It would cost me 2.500 pounds to get it removed. I would spend a lot of time thinking about what it is vou want." NEXT WEEK'S ISSUE: BEAVER STYLE SITS IN ON A TATTOOI^^G SESSION! TH WlimtoCo? Mdai Mor|)hoi.is JO/11 Moor Street ^ , (Bnd Old Coaiptou Street) " i Soho, London WiV5U prd:0i7J .434-4554 Higlily recommtjnded for their facilities. for ear. fepjale * Piiii ^ill h aad Kensington Market ICeft!.mgtoa High Street TeS:0!7i-934-9334 irfcbasaHvsnt tanoc stmJi0i: