THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2,1987
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Divestment	Page 5
TonyBenn	Page 8
German Elections	Page 9
Samuel Johnson	Page 9
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS UNION
Better Never
Than Late
South African Ambassador Pulls Out
By BRIAN BOYD
Dr Dennis Worrel, the ex-South African Ambassador, has cancelled his proposed appearance at the LSE today. His cancellation comes in the light of his resignation as South African Ambassador to Britain. The reason for his resignation is his proposed entry into what is euphemistically labelled "The South African Political Arena". According to the "Cape Times", a leading Cape Town newspaper, Dr Worrel will be running as an Independent in the forthcoming white-only elections. For these reasons his political standing is in a state of considerable flux, making it near impossible for him to speak as a representative of the Pretoria Government as an independent political spokesman.
A 'Press" release, issued at 4 pm on Friday .3()th January, from the Open Debate Forum, (Auditor Paul Wood) states "He (Dr Worrel) very much regrets that, due to the somewhat complicated and potentially embarrassing position that such a debate would
create for him, and the fact that he has undertaken not to make any further public or press statements until he returns to South Africa, he is therefore unable to undertake this engagement.
Dr Worrel had been invited by Paul Wood, on behalf of the Debating Society, (since renamed the "Open Debate Forum"). The Student Union immediately reacted and disassociated itself from the event, and had planned to picket the meeting.
This picket was ratified at last Thursdays UGM - the motion passed being "That the LSE Students Union officially opposes the appearance of the Ambassador". The Senior Treasurer, Rory O'Driscoll, put forward arguments against the motion, but in vain. Phil Evans, from the Anti-Apartheid movement, called for an emergency motion asking for Paul Wood's society to be disassociated from the Union. This would have cancelled the meeting irrespective of whether Dr Worrel wanted to come. This emergency motion was passed by a majority of ten votes, but later.
when the constitution was consulted, it became apparent that a two-thirds majority was needed. Helena Catt, Chair of the Union, deemed the motion lost.
The Student Union had organised an alternative meeting to take place in the New Theatre on Monday, at the same time as the Worrel meeting. The Union hopes this meeting will still take place, and have arranged for Stuart Holland (Labour Front Bench Spokesman for Overseas aid and Development), Richard Balfe (Labour M.E.P on the LSE Court of Governors), and a representative from the African National Congress.
The fact that Dr Worrei is unable to speak here today has not deterred the President of the Open Debate Forum from inviting him to speak on a future occasion. "We would like to emphasise that we would more than ever enjoy the opportunity to have him participate in a debate at the LSE and hope that he may do so on his next visit to London." (from the 'Press" release).
Photo: Sivan
t
Divest Now!'
United Student Front Formed
By PAUL KLKBNIKOVand NICK MORENO
After nine long years, the LSE Divestment campaign seems to be reaching a critical stage. With the current furore over the arrival of the (ex) South African ambassador, and a resurgence of anti-apartheid activity amongst students, this spring promises to be a decisive period in the Divestment drive.
There is evidence that the Divestment campaign is gaining strength by broadening its base from a hard core of committed activists to a broad student coalition. On Friday, the inaugural meeting of the United Student Front On Divestment took place, a group of representatives from a multiple of different political and cultural organisations committed to divestment. It remains to be seen whether such a motley coalition will be able to act together effectively, but if so, it will prove to be the essential first step in forming the type of activist student front that proved so effective in North American Divestment campaign.
The groups represented on Friday included Amnesty International, the Anti-Apartheid movement, The Indian Society, the Malaysian-Singapore Society, Labour. Liberals, and many others. There will be another meeting of the United Student Front on Wednesday, when even more groups are expected to attend.
The LSE has over £1.7 million invested in companies such as Shell and GEC which are heavily involved in South Africa. So far, nine years of Student Union resolutions and dialogue with the Court of Governors has led to very little concrete results.
On Friday, Avinash Persaud affirmed that for the last nine years, the LSE Governors had fobbed and fudged student demands for divestment in all eom-
Photo: Sunil Shah panics with more than ."iOO employees in South Africa. Instead, the Governors have insisted that divestment might only take place if companies had at least .'i per cent of assets in South Africa. Of course, it is impossible to get sach information from the companies concerned, particularly as the Botha regime has set up a department to hide the amount of foreign investments.
A years deadline to start divesting was totally ignored by the School. The Front therefore are considering putting forward a demand that the Court of Governors divest all holdings in companies with over 500 employees in South Africa by April 25th, two months after the Court of Governors meet. If this is not carried out, a rapid escalation of action will occur, starting with demonstrations and petitions, and rising to sit-ins and direct action.
The South African Govern-ment"s growing resort to killing and its increasing substitution of military-executive action for parliamentary procedure have resulted in many people, previously lukewarm towards divestment, committing themselves to taking action on the issue.
For reasons both inside and outside the LSE, the time has come for all students to find the commitment and endurance to push through the divestment campaign.
The School must realise that the students will not be stopped this time. The Court of Governors must examine its conscience. Can they morally and ethically support such an abhorrent regime by abstaining or voting against divestment? A majority of LSE students, some previously lukewarm towards divestment, are now prepared to take as much action as necessary to achieve the total success of this campaign. Students must and will provide the final commitment needed to get total divestment. We WILL win this time!
NEWS
BEAVER
Silence from Pretoria is in no one's interest
The word in the Three Tuns on Thursday night was that even if the South African ambassador could have been prevented from coming, neither the Left or the Right would have wanted to do so. The Right didn't want to do so because of their "Freedom of Speech" position, while the Left would not have welcomed a cancellation because the mass mobilisation to oppose the ambassador had already started and would undoubtedly prove to be an im-
Eressive show of force. In short, oth sides were relishing the confrontation.
The Left's "No Platform" stance is stronger on principle than on tactics. Surely at some point on Thursday evening, they must have taken stock of the fact that the presence of the South African ambassador was responsible for the biggest mobilisation of anti-apartheid sentiment for years. No amount of pickets in front of the silent facade of the South African embassy could have produced such an explosion of activism, political consciousness, and self-confidence.
The fact is that a live enemy is far more of an inspiration to action than distant tidings from the newspapers, or a silent and withdrawn enemy. After a while, monologues lose their propaganda value; the enemy ceases to seem real. But the enemy is indeed very real. Neither apartheid nor British investments in it have been liquidated and therefore the debate on South Africa is far from finished. The only time wc should expect apartheid to be silent is when it is completely dead. Until such a time, every opportunity to do battle with the live representatives of apartheid will be far and away the most effective means of arousing interest and gaining support for the anti-apartheid cause.
One of Napoleon's favourite maxims was that one should do battle and negotiate at the same time. He usually had a special diplomatic party negotiating the peace at the same time that he was destroying his enemies on the battlefield. One of the reasons why Napoleon was so successful was that Napoleon was as successful a diplomat as he was a general.
Such a strategy is very effective since it leads to concessions whatever your assumptions may be. If you believe that your cause can be won through negotiation, your bargaining position is made stronger through the threat of force. If you believe you enemy will only concede through force, then he is made more vulnerable through the bargaining concessions he believes will appease you. In any case, the enemy is weakened by the uncertainty he feels about your intentions and his subsequent ambiguous or contradictory policy.
The anti-apartheid cause is one of utmost importance to LSE students. There is a lot of work that must still be done in service to this cause - raising the consciousness, mobilisation, demonstration and action. These are no mean tasks, but they must be accomplished before we are to succeed. What a pity, then, that so many misguided people prefer silence to the opportunity to do battle With the agents of apartheid.
Silencing the representatives of apartheid will not make it go away. One-sided harangues against a silenced opponent convinced few people and perhaps even diminish respect for the only ones allowed to speak.
Napoleon would have already conquered apartheid - probably through a series of short and incisive campaigns.
Xette^


m
U.L.U. - Our Right to
Dear Editor:
On Thursday the 22nd of January, the UGM noted that the University of London union had been threatened with a 50% reduction in its grant and called for support to a picket of Senate House on Wednesday the 27th of January to oppose this cut. In furtherance of this all the LSE halls of residence were leafleted as was the Brunch Bowl. Upon this date, only 12 members of the LSE turned up amongst a picket of little more than 100 people, that is, less than 0.2% of the University of London.
The organiser called this a triumph, we call it pathetic. This issue is not one of a party political nature, it affects everyone at LSE who uses ULU both directly and indirectly. (Surely more than 12 of us). If the proposed cuts are
implemented the bar, disco and concert facilities, along with the careers advisory service would face possible, if not probable, closure.
This would not only seem to apply to the LSE political hierarchy but also appears to mirror the views of the majority of the LSE. To quote one second year undergraduate; "I'm an apathetic student, I have the right to my own opinion". Strange, coming from the very same lips which stated a week earlier "I love ULU, let's go every Friday".
To conclude, the ULU campaign should be a great concern to all London University students. ULU provides a central focus for all colleges. If education is a right and not a privilege, then surely we have a right to defend it, not the privilege to stand by and watch others destroy it. J. Taylor R. McHugh
JJ's Reply
So you want to cut me off in my prime eh? Well how jolly nice of you to take such an interest in my genitals — no really, I'm touched. But wait dear lady, hold that axe, let us first consider the charges.
You say I only attack the Left. Answer me then, the presence of Rory O'Driscoll in my column every week, and at various other times, Simon Bexon, LSE Liberals, LSE Tories, Steve Bantoft, Kate Turner, Babs Band, Nigel Kilby and Ron Beadle (NB. 1 accept some still see Ron as a leftie). All these have been ridiculed, I hope, in a humourous and not spiteful way, yet are they not all ri^t of centre. My treatment of Deidre McGinley's untimely exit you also criticise, why not my treatment of other resignations too. I'm sorry if you feel offended by my reference to Deidre leaving, however my treatment of this was, I think, light-hearted and could in no way be taken seriously (as indeed can any of my articles!!). Deidre left for reasons far more serous than occassional comments in Beaver. Why she left is her own affair. I'm sure I could have written far more malicious rumours as to why, if I'd wanted to; but no I did not.
Finally may I say that if you feel Deidre's memories of the LSE will contain "J.J.", rather than her own achievements and activities, then madam, you hold me up to be something I am not (i.e. the personification of LSE) and on the contrary do Deidre a diservice she neither wants nor deserves. It seems to me. Miss Novak, your axe ought to be put away, and that my genitals be left where they are.
Yours fully equipped,
J.J.
Free Speech for Whom
Dear Editor:
At the risk of pre-empting what is likely to be continued debate on the free speech issue, may I add what I feel is a pertinent detail; namely, that for "free speech" to be meaningful, mass literacy is surely necessary (what point is a free press if no-one can read". Ironically, such a mass literacy campaign, together with the improved health care and land reforms necessary to bring the country out of its feudal past, is under constant threat in Nicaragua due to the contras.
With this in mind, far be it for me to challenge the "intellectual giants" who manage to dominate each anc every issue in the LSE. but this whole affair becomes a trifle pathetic and meaningless compared to what ordinarypeople (the glorious contra "freedom fighters'-^ seem only capable of attacking doctors, tcachers and farmers, never the Nicaraguan army) in Central American have to fear each and every day.
Yours faithfully,
Dougal Hare
Evil Capitalists at Rosebery?
Dear Editor:
Before taking a wild swing at the "capitalists" of Rosebery Hall, who are supposedly turning out desperate students into the street, it might be worthwhile to note what the Hall has done for LSE students over the past five years. While it may be boring dealing with fact rather than emotional fantasy, this will reveal that the "evil capitalists" have helped keep housing affordable for hundreds of LSe students - postgraduate and undergraduate, home and overseas alike.
Not only have the books been balanced in the halls and flats, not only have facilities been improved substantially, not only has the School been able to afford to build a new hall of residence, but students have also benefitted from minimal rent increases. Between 1983 and 1985, there was no increase larger than 4.5% per year. The "substantial" increase of 6% for 1986-1987 is paying for a new hall of residence to house 200 students.
Ms. Mary Zanfal, the bursar at Rosebery Hall, and her colleagues, far from being "Scrooges", have been largely responsible for this change in fortune. In 1985-86, the LSE administration asked for a 6.5% rent increase to keep a balanced budget. Since bursars agreed to do their best to increase vacation revenues, the rent increase was limited to 1.5%.
If Rosebery Hall took no non-student vacation bookings in the spring, rents would have to increased by at least 3% in 1987-88 to offset this loss of revenue alone. Added to inflation and the cost of the new hall, this fall in income may result in a 9-12% increase in rents this year.
This is not to say that the bursars are heartlessly throwing students onto the streets to pinch a few pennies. While students, in the contract they sign for term time accommodation agree to give up their place in Rosebery Hall in vacation, the bursars have ensured that vacation housing is available to all students. Alternative accommodation, if necessary, is being provided in Passfield Hall and at City University. This arrangement has worked well during summer vacations, when' many postgraduate students remain in London for their research. There is no reason to expect that it will cause undue hardship this spring.
Between 1978 and 1982, rents in LSe accommodation increased between 10 and 25 percent per-year, due to inflation and falling revenues. Many students found LSE halls unaffordable and moved into' substandard private housing.
Recognising this, bursars at LSE facilities have made a concerted effort to increase income from vacation rentals from non-students. Rosebery Hall alone has increased its vacation revenues by more than 200 percent since 1982.
In the past, problems arising over LSE accommodation have been discussed and solved by students, bursars and administrators working in co-operation, especially through the Inter-halls Committee. Calm and rational consideration has done a lot more than uninformed and emotional
scare-mongering.
If someone wishes to help all ¦ LSE students, a couple of suggestions might provide a compromise that will keep rents down and satisfy those students remaining in London over Easter. Students who must move to a different hall for the holidays should be assured that they will pay no more in rent because of the change. The LSE of the Students Union should also offer to provide transportation and assistance for those who must move to a new hall of residence. Yours sincerely, a t „r,<thn Edgar Whitley m.S. Luja Simon McVicker y Lucas N. Pigott S. Bantoft Greg Thompson John Gisborne James Mclnally Taymour Ezzat
Uoseljery Tourists
Dear Editor
The issue of room availability at Rosebery Avenue Hall is really quite simple: Was the hall built for tourists or was it built for students? No one, it seems, knows. Dr. Patel, who was kind enough to discuss the issue, could
Crovide no clear answer, saying e preferred to stay out of Inter-Hall Committee politics. The warden, Kurt Klappholz, says rooms will be assigned to tourist based on student demand - at least in the future. The bursar's office holds the opposite view: rooms will be assigned to students Ijased on tourist demand.
This year, with an unprecedented number of overseas students living in Rosebery, the bursar's office is moving students out to accommodate tourists. It is a policy that has caused confusion and bitterness, exacerbated by the favoritism shown to some students at the expense of others. Unfortunately, little can be done to rectify the situation at this late date. However, the Inter-Halls Committee needs to address the problem before next year.
The argument that the rooms must be let to tourists in order to balance the books is a spurious one. For that matter, the school could sell the hall and use the proceeds to lower the living cost for all students, not just those living in halls. The issue is whether students who need to stay in .their rooms during break to write their theses or prepare for June exams will be provided a room, or whether they will be forced out. The bursar's office has promised to provide rooms at other halls for displaced students, but so far there is no guarantee that space will be available.
Dr. Patel says the situation calls for give and take, but who's giving and who's taking?
H.C. MacLachlan
Executive Editor; Paul Klebnikov	¦
Mpnaoino PHitnr- Katp. Mpvrick	I
Managing Editor:_Kate Meyrick Societies Edi
iditor: Stavros V.S. Makris News Editors: Bryan Bwd, Nick Moreno Features Editors: Alex Crawford Arts Editor: Ann Henry Asst Arts Editor: Andy Blakeman Music Editor: Dougal Hare Sports Editor: Hendrik Meesman Photography Editor: Sivan Lewin, Mark Moore
Copy Editor: Ann Henry	^
staff: Nico Macdonald, Johanna Eigen, Paul Wood, Sunil Shah, Julian Ozanne Aaron Chassy, Nic Cicutti, Kazuko, Laurie, Greg Lane, Ross Broadstock, Elisabeth Botsford, James Reeves, Richard Ford, Marita O'Brien, Mark Moore Judith Conlon.
Special Thanks to: Alex, Ann and Judith for typing.
Kazuko and Laurie for layout.
Other contributors as credited.
Typeset by: Clerkenwell Graphics, 13-14 'Vandy St., London EC2 and Solar
Graphics, 2a "Tabernacle St., London EC2
Printed by: Eastway Offset, Cambridge Heath, London E9
Published by: The Students' Union of The London School of Economics and
Political Science, East Building, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE. Tel.:
(01) 405-7686 Ext. 2870	_
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2.1987


COLLEGE SCENE

At The Union
by Elizabeth Botsford
(All resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental)
Today, Helena very obviously had PMT. Now girls, sorry, wim-min, we must not be shy of bodily functions. You may think more important issues dominated the meeting but that just shows your tendancy towards male chauvinism. Wimmin's issues are always being ignored.
This week's was yet another unique, historical meeting. Peat "What do you call in Irish man who has been buried for twenty million years" Wilcock cracked a joke; "I could not get my coffee because I was intimidated by the seven-person long line." Ark! Bloody ark! Honestly, people are always triviaHsing trade union rights. How naughty of them!
In Rory's report he claimed he was 'trying to be candid and rational'. He's been here for four years and really should know better by now.
Nick Randell, Mr. Nice Guy Labour Sabbatical Candidate, who, my sources tell me, will even be getting the McVicker vote, compained of the 'disgusting show of apathy' at the grants cuts demo. One hundred people, including thirteen from LSE, showed up. Sounds like quite an outstanding show of apathy to me.
Helena's eyes have not yet been cured and, poor Chairman, her ears are failing too as she mistook a call for a count as a move to next business.
The first emergency (when something really urgent happens we will have to employ some new vocabulary) motion was presented by George in a very dmky trenchcoat au Lord Beaverbrook. He urged us not to pay our telephone bills until the B.T. strike is over. The right swooned out of habit, but the tremours of olden times were no longer apparent. A dishonourable picket line, however, asked us to go up to the picket line and tell it we support it for five minutes. I am sure it would be thrilled. JJ is the man for the job. (By the way, did people notice Ron Beadle sitting to the right of JJ, cowering in a protective position from SWSS?)
By the way, the President of NCU (the stinking union) is John Golding, a bit right-wing for Boy George, one would have thought. He resigned a seat in Parliament to take up his union post, but being a great believer that a woman's place is in the House, left his wife MP holding the constituency.
Just for a moment I will actually be informative as issues were somewhat obscured by rhetoric. B.T.s pay offer is above inflation but is being rejected because the working hours interfer with the

/

' ¦' )¦
workers' social lives. That is what was said by a young man, who will remain nameless because it's unlikely anyone baptize him after those swear words.
Binette then passed around the unique, historic collection bucket, covered in the insignia of strikes past. Someone actually managed to make a pro-Government speech, 'I love the cavalry regiment of the Wapping constabulary.'
The second emergency motion was . . . well, you had to be there. South African ambassador, freedom of speech. Public Order Act — no inciting of racial hatred, European Convention - no plat-forming any who works to deny freedom of speech to others -You name it! Mandela feceives emissaries from the South African government, and we should try to emmulate him in every way. John Lloyd of "New Statesman" was going to speak against the ambassador, but he is fighting his own denial of free speech by Thatcher. Oh, but the emotion! the anger! If these people had not been allowed to debate, how would that aggression have been channelled?
We were bemused - freedom of speech versus allowing shits to speak. The Afrikaners believe they have God's backing for what they are doing. No-one can understand this just as no-one could believe it when an extremely ignorant man spoke of the South African ambassador being the legitimate representative of six million white South Africans. He wondered why we do not get uptight about the Rumanian ambassador, etc. We do not get uptight about the Rumanian ambassador because the right is so apathetic. I agree with him that representatives of the Soviet Bloc are as immoral as those of South Africa, but I would never advocate their morality on the grounds of their representing the five percent Party members. It is exactly that which makes them so abhorrent.
I V S''
I ^ ¦. VA
The ignoramus, some wh( could make bully boys of us all, least served the function of frr e speech which J.S. Mill claims is o important-that of clarifying ojr views on the issue. The uprc-ar was fraught with the realizatior, of our vocal potentials.
Sasha screamed, "You're flaying debating games." Tina 'Ood-damnyou' Turner screai.ied, "There is no debate on jpar-theid." Nick Randell does not want anyone here with blooil on his hands. Didn't he vote for inviting a Sinn Fein member to speak?
Helena's PMT can excuse her allowing Phil Evans and the f',irls to continually interrupt O'Dris-coll's discourse. He seems to thrive on it.
The third emergency motion saw Phil Evans, who two wee;ks ago said he did not like witchhunts, dissaffiliating the- Open Debate Forum from the Union. Who would have believed that Paul Wood, whose demeanour is so mellow, could have caused so much trouble?
Luckily, the constitution is such that a two-thirds majority is needed to dissaffiliate any society. As this was not gained, the South African ambassador meeting will be taking place 6 p.m. Monday and will be picketed by thousands upon thousands of revolutionary (and that means violent, kiddies) ANC supporters So, be there for the beans, wearing your official Riot Tee-Shirt, produced in picketer and scab designs by Chas Beagley, in aid of his 'Pep up next year's dole money' Fund.
By then it was 2 o'clock and most people missed Helena's attempt to roll through a motion giving £500 to Sussex University Student's Union. Their assets have been frozen by the University, so it would not have been much use anyhow. Also, those wonderful students of Sussex, whose example was shown to shame us, have given up their occupation. So, there is £500 going spare - any takers?
I
The Occupation at Sussex University
by the Sussex University Student Union
The students at Sussex University went into occupation over a Green Paper "Planning for the ISSO's". It proposes to axe 90 jobs, including 57 faculty members and to run down services, including closing down two common rooms. We believe that the university administration should take a stand against cuts and adopt a policy of non-implementation and maintain jobs and services that presently exist.
The main difference in our administration compared with other colleges, is that they are not implementing cuts because they are forced to by the Tory government but that they be-Ueve in this "rationalization".
Occupation
On January 13th after a mass meeting in the library, students voted to occupy Sussex House, the main administrative building. During the occupation over 600 students became involved, mainly those who had never taken any political action before. Stewards were elected and leaflets were produced daily.
The administration sought to divide workers and students by saying that we were preventing workers from collecting their wages. This is a lie - from day one we tried to negotiate with the university's finance officer to arrange for workers' wages to be paid.
Administration Spies
Files uncovered in the occupation showed the Administration's refusal to talk to students and workers over the cuts, and their use of spies in student union meetings, demos, political discussions, etc., to compile information which could be used against activists.
Another Emergency UGM was called on the 22nd January which won a clear vote of confidence for the occupation from students. The next day however, the police broke in and all
present left peacefully as decided by the occupation meetings. Since the occupation, NALGO and ASTMS on campus have supported the right of students to fight education cuts and job cuts.
The Administration have said that the Students' Union will be charged a minimum of 5000 for staff and other costs of the six days of the occupation. The Union will also have to pay for damages caused over this period.
But further action will be needed to prevent the Admin, from bankrupting the Students' Union and victimizing individuals. We now have no money for welfare (being the only welfare provider on campus), for leaflets and for continuing our campaign against the Green Paper.
Appeal for money
We believe that it is only from a position of strength, obtained through occupations, that we will see our demands satisfied. That strength is made real when we receive support from other students. In fact students from most other colleges are facing similar cuts - we need to lean on each other, to fight together; if anything, French students in 1986 showed this to be the case, and they won outright, bringing down the education minister on the way!
We are ^pealing for money from LSE Students Union and others - your financial support gives us the ability to fight on, and to continue our welfare services. Your action against the Tory cuts gives all students and workers the confidence to fight back. We in Sussex are not prepared to wait for the NUS leadership to sit around a table with Kenneth Baker — we've taken action now to fight the cuts.
One college cannot do this on its own so it is important that we all take action and fight back together.
United We Can Win.
Student Politician
For some students the prospect of final examinations can often arouse a sense of panic. On the other hand, few face the awesome task of tackling final examinations and a general election.
Ian Crawford, a third year undergraduate at the LSE, has been selected to stand at the forthcoming general election on behalf of the Liberal/SDP Alliance. Ian, a mature student and ex- chairman of the Liberal Party at the LSE, is a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Gravesham constituency in Kent. The constituency is currently represented by Tim Brinton who had a majority of 8,463 at the last election.
Ian is fairly optimistic about his chances due to the fact that the Alliance has done well in the constituency at local council elections and in addition, since 1945 it has consistently returned a candidate whose party has gone on to form the government of the day. Ian aims to challenge his electoral rivals on the issue of the North/South divide. With unemployment running at around 20% in Gravesham, he aims to high-
light the anomalies in the "prosperous South" and "impecunious North".
For Ian, the absence of a decision regarding the date of the general election is proving to be a little worrying. A June election may well mean a clash with his examinations. According to a reliable source, the same goes for lan's prospective agent, Rory O'Driscoll, the LSE's Senior Treasurer.
Mark Guest
NEWS
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2,1987
Rosebery: The School Replies
By J F D Lauwreys, Bursar
I write to correct a number of inaccurate statements in your article Squeezing Out the Students. The claim that students have been forced to move out to make way for commercial bookings and that these bookings automatically take precedence over students is a misrepresentation of the accepted and successful policy to maximise Hall vacation income for the direct benefit of students.
Your readers may not all be aware that university residences are required to be self-financing and that their use by conferences, educational groups and others during vacations makes a very significant contribution to running costs. Income earned in this way has the effect of considerably reciucing the level of hall fees that would otherwise have to be paid by students. Hail Bursars have a dual responsibility: on the one hand they seek to maximise vacation income* from commercial bookings (which arc charged at a higher rate) and on the other a judgement has to be made concerning a realistic allocation of rooms to students (in the latter regard the Regulations governing arrangements in the Halls make
quite clear that "the making of an application does not guarantee a place" during vacations.
In the case of Rosebery Avenue an allocation was made, as for previous years, of 50 rooms to be occupied continuously by students over the Easter vacations. With hindsight this number was clearly not enough in view of the greater proportion of overseas students accommodated in the Hall this year. Moreover, the notice posted in the Hall announcing arrangements did not allow sufficient time for students each to have an equal opportunity to make a successful application. Neither was it pointed out that further places would be available as a consequence of the voids which occur where commercial bookings do not run continuously. In fact, at least 60 students will be staying in the Hall over the vacation and availability of further places in the other Halls for Rosebery Avenue students will soon becomc known. The expectation is that the great majority of students wanting a place will be offered accommodation in one of the School's Halls (as a precautionary measure an option on a further number of rooms at nearby City University has been arranged). Notwithstanding these
arrangements it is clear that things could have been better handled at Rosebery Avenue and the Warden has apologised to students for the shortcomings in the arrangements for this coming Easter.
The matter of student vacation accommodation arrangements during vacations will be considered by the Inter-Halls Committee which represents the interests of students in all the School's halls and flats. In addition, greater account will in future be taken of fluctuations in the number of overseas students staying in Halls when it comes to making decisions about the number of rooms to be offered to students during vacations.
Rosebery is especially attractive to outside organisations and makes a very considerable financial contributions to the residences account. Your article was particularly critical of the hall's success in this area. The fact . remains, however, that a healthy vacation Icttings trade forms an essential pi; nk of the strategy to provide our accommodation at the lowest possible cost to students. What we must continue to try to do is to achieve a high vacation lettings income while minimising the inconvenience to student residents.
"Unemployment is Demeaning"
The famous wise men came to' town! They had a look at the state of affairs, but would they be able to conquer unemployment?
Franco Modigliani, the 1985 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, recently gave a lecture in the House of Commons on how to fight unemployment. He was speaking on behalf of a group of economists (including our very own Professor Layard) which has just published a study on how to increase the level of employment.
According to Modigliani, too many people are being too complacent at the moment. Such people will point to the steady growth rate of the economy; they will point to the trimming of government deficits in recent years and the predicted steady growth rates of the future. These people are disregarding one of the largest wastages of our times - unemployment. Work hours lost today cannot be made up tomorrow; they are gone forever.
Modigliani assumes that a reduction in unemployment by one percent should increase output by two percent, thus in Great Britain
we arc wasting between 22 and 26 percent of our output per year (depending on which set of government figures we choose to use). The Government also loses the tax revenue associated with the potential output. So far, we have only considered the economic losses of unemployment. Modigliani was quick to point out the social aspects, in his words: "Unemployment is demeaning."
Yet if unemployment is such a bad thing, why are we not doing enough about it?
Among the many reasons Professor Modigliani emphasised the following:
1.	The unemployed have not made enough fuss; i.e., they are not stirring up trouble. This prompts the next question: is the unemployment benefit sufficient? Also, we must remember that a large bulk of the unemployment is youth employment which is of the less problematic sort since these young people often remain at home and are supported by their parents.
2.	There is not enough capacity to employ those without jobs; i.e.
there is not very much idle capital.
3. Many countries are facing balance of payments problems. If output were to increase, demand would rise and the sucking in of imports might lead to inflation.
For these reason, the "Don't-Rock-The-Boat-Theory" has become fashionable.
He quickly ran through the economic history of the last decade and explained how Western Europe and the U.S. got into such a bad state. He blamed the rapid wage increases of the early seventies, wage increases which were inconsistent with output. The rise in wages sucked in imports and led to balance of payments difficulties. On top of this came the oil crisis of 1973 which forced inflation up. Fighting inflation required contractionary measures which led to unemployment. More recently, the tightening of fiscal policy on both sides of the Atlantic has done little to help those without jobs.
Modigliani calls for governments to rock the boat. Firstly, he would like to see them induce firms to expand. Acknowledging the fact that an increase in capacity must come about for expansionary policies to have any substantial effect, he would like to see governments creating capacity by forcing the growth rate up. Modigliani thinks that the rate of growth can be pushed up to, in the first instance, five percent with a little tricky macro management. If government resources are fully utilized, taxes might be raised, and the generated surplus used to boost the economy. The government might also be able to take the budcel into deficit, and "if you do thmgs right", a deficit can be turned into a profit.
Secondly, Modigliani calls for unity among countries fighting the common problem of unem-ploymcnl. If expansionary policies could be coordinated among the industrialised countries, balance of payment problems arising from an intrr;isc in tiem'and (thereby suckinij in imports) could be limited io .i minimum, since in ihcorN demand will rise sinuiltaniHuisly.
On the subject of -Aagcii. Mod-igli;mi was adamanl; in his opin-ion^here shoiuld be ;• complete wage freeze until the economy has moved much closer to it full employment level. "People in employment have no right to hinder anyone else in selecting work."
This famous wise man certainly thinks unemployment can be conquered.
LSE and Shell Appeasing Apartheid
South Africa needs oil. Without oil, South Africa could not continue its illegal occupation of Namibia or carry out military aggression against neighbouring states. Without oil, South Afiica could not mount daily attacks on its black population in the townships of South Africa. This is why the EEC, the Commonwealth and OPEC have placed a mandatory oil embargo against South Africa.
But through the active support of a few oil companies, South Africa receives all the oil it needs-at a price. Royal Dutch Shell is deeply implicated in this illegal trade. According to the Shipping Research Bureau in Amsterdam, Shell received $120 million from South Africa in 1980 alone, as "incentive payments" for busting the oil embargo. The LSE has over £130,000 invested in Shell.
If the LSE, along with other universities, local authorities, charities and trade unions, was to divest from Shell, then its collaboration with Pretoria could be forced to an end. This is no piped dream. In the United States the divestment campaign has been responsible for corpo-« rate giants like IBM, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Kodak divesting frorn South Africa.
On this side of the Atlantic, the divestment campaign is still young, but the Inner London Education Authority has already terminated its £10 million contract with Shell. The pull out from South Africa last year by Barclay's Bank is proof that concerted divestment campaigns by British students can be as successful as their American counterparts.
At the Court of Governors, the School continues to defend its holding of shares in companies like Shell, and, at the same time, expects us to believe that they are sincere about opposing apartheid. According to the School, if Student Grov-emors were to provide them wdth evidence about the South African involvement of any , company in which the School has holdings, the School would naturally "look into it." How wonderfully concerned they appear to be.
The problem is that the School beheves that the important yardstick of a company's involvement in South Africa is it's percentage of assets and turnover in South Africa. This is a highly convenient criteria for divestment if you don't want it to work. The South African government has recently set up a Government department whose sole purpose is to hide the assets and turnovers of foreign companies operating in South Africa.
Further, by using intermediaries and trading under different names, companies themselves help in this cover up. Finally, emphasising a percentage as oppo.sed to an absolute level of involvement in South Africa means that the School can pull out of Reckitt & Coleman, a medium-sized company that does much of its business in South Africa, but keep investments in a multinational, like
Shell, that has investments in South Africa worth over half a billion pounds, supplies over 18% of South Africa's petrol needs but has only around 4% of its global assets in South Africa.
The other problem is that placing the onus on the Student Grovernors to spend time and resources researching into the near "invisible" South African operations of every company in which the School has shares, is simply a device to delay the divestment campaign. The School should ask, and pay for, an independent organisation like the Ethical Investment Research Institute to provide the necessary evidence for the Investment Committee.
We believe that whatever criteria used for the purposes of divestment, companies like Shell, which trade illegally in South Africa, should be treated as a special case. Firstly, because the LSE, an internationally respected educational institution, should not be seen investing in companies that openly flout international law. Secondly, because when a com-
Eany is trading illegally, almost y definition, it is impossible to ascertain the true level of its involvement in South Africa.
The evidence that Shell is breaking international law is quite clear. Intensive research by the Shipping Research Bureau led to the discovery that 23 Shell tankers were involved in the transport of crude oil to South Africa during 1979-1982. These vessels delivered approximately 4.5 million tons of crude oil.
If the LSE really does oppose apartheid and is genuinely concerned about ending any tacit support the LSE might be ^v-ing to South Africa by investing in companies that help apartheid stay solvent, then it must divest immediately. In divesting, it must use a criteria that is verifiable and affects companies that are providing the greatest absolute support to the South Afncan economy. Further, irrespective of the level of involvement in South Africa, when companies trade there illegally, the LSE should also divest from them.
In 1894, Henry Hunt Hutchinson, a member of the Fabian Society, died, leaving instructions that Sidney Webb and four other trustees were to dispose of the residue of his estate for socially progressive purposes. That money was used to set up the LSE.
Today, the LSE invests some 11% of its total investments in South Africa-related companies. Investing in apartheid, a system of government that denies basic political rights, basic health care and basic education to 70% of the South African population on the grounds of race, surely likes outside the realm of socially progressive purposes. The LSE must divest now, if only to remain true to the noble principles of its foundation.
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2.1987

FEATURES
Protesting in North America: How Divestment Worked
Nelson Mandela an honourary degree from the university. Several times a day students phoned the office of the president of the university to remind him of the issue. Then students occupied his office until he made a decision. The president finally used a technicality to reject the nomination because Mandela could not receive it in person. After continuous student protest, in the fall of 1985 the Board of Regents voted in favour of divestment.
By Melinda Ham
The successful divestment campaigns of American and Canadian universities can provide inspiration to revitaUse LSE's campaign and indicate new routes of action.
No British university has divested from South African related companies so North American universities provide the only examples. Universities such as Berkeley, Michigan, and McGill have all successfully divested amounts much greater than LSE's £1.7 million.
Under the coordination of the South African committee, the McGill Divestment campaign made intermittent attempts to influence its Board of Governors since 1976. It was not until the academic year 1985-86 that the campaign achieved its goal.
In September 1985 S.A.C. set up tables in every campus building and provided fact sheets to sensitize the students and faculty to the atrocities of apartheid. Pamphlets were then handed out showing McGiU's $4.5 million investment in South African related companies, emphasizing the involvement of aU students and staff in the issue. Petitions were printed in the "McGill Daily" and sent to the Dean and the Board of Giov-emors demanding a review of investments in South African related companies. A referendum was held on divestment initiated by the Student Council. The majority of the students voted for McGill's divestment. The next Board of Governors meeting was held January 1986 smd divestment was now on the agenda.
S.A.C. organised a rally to be held outside the administration building while the meeting was in session. The rally began at kOOpm. Megaphones, amplified music, organised cheers and banners attracted a crowd of over one thousand students, professors, office and maintenance employees.
The Governors' meeting began at 4.00pm. At 6.00pm they attempted to close the meeting
even though the issue of divestment had not yet been discussed. The crowd in the square below formed a human chain and encircled the administration building. They were determined not to allow the governors to leave until they voted on divestment.
A Student Council representative attending the meeting upstairs later said that the noise of the crowd almost drowned out the speakers in the meeting. Finally, after much deliberation (and possibly swayed by student pressure) the Board of Governors voted in favour of divestment, making McGill the first Canadian university to divest.
Michigan University is another example of a successful divestment movement. The university had $40 million in coin-panies with interests in South Africa. The campaign gained momentum in 1983. The students' method of action was described by one of the participants, Aaron Chassy. The issue was taken outside the university as a delegation of 500 students picketed outside the office of the Ann Arbor representative in Congress.
Within the university, the campaign focused in the central square of the campus. Organisers stood at all 4 comers of the square handing out pamphlets, buttons and attaining signatures for their petitions. Many rallies and speakers congregated on the steps of the graduate library on one side of the square. Protests were often interrupted by the arrests of students. Chassy said that "the university security forces ganged up with the Ann Arbor police".
As a compUment to these rallies, in order to be a permanent reminder of the divestment struggle, a shanty town was built in the central transcept. It symbolised the segregated Ban-tustans where blacks are forced to live in South Africa.
A "relatively iwintless" gesture was a motion to award
The LSE
Divestment Charter
The university that divested the most assets was Berkeley. Gary Larson, a student participant in the campaign, estimated that the amount divested was approximately $3 billion.
Berkeley's divestment campaign began in the autumn of 1984. With an undergraduate population of 33,000, Larson estimated that 4.000 students were serious participants in the campaign.
Many notable avenues of protest were tried. Students refused to buy products with South African interests such as Coca Cola. A lecture boycott was organised with professors' full support. Larson said that the students and staff were united against the administration on the divestment issue;
The Student Council renamed the Student Union building the "Steven Biko" Building. A special newspaper, the "Steven Biko Times" Kept an update on the campaign's progress.
The biggest protest action occurred in the spring of 1985. The students occupied the Administration Building continually for four and a half weeks until the state health authorities evicted them. The Divestment rallies and protests continued unabated. At one point the Berkeley police were called in to quell the protesters. Several students were injured. This event received wide television publicity. The campaign gained so much public interest and participation that the Board of Regents gave in and the Divestment campaign achieved its victory in the autumn of 1985.
These three successful movements are indicative of the more than sixty other North American universities which have divested. By taking the initiative and launching a campaign of action, LSE students can demonstrate to the Board of (^v-ernors that a consensus against apartheid has been reached and that the students do not want to have shares in companies that invest in this regime of legalised racism.
"No decent individual supports Apartheid .. . The Question is now best to encourage peaceful change in South Africa and how best to dissociate ourselves from the horrible repression that is taking place there .. . The only reasnoable, peaceful and effective alternative is divestment. Divestment from S. Africa is the effective and morally acceptable stand."
DThe LSE should call upon reputable outside and independent organisation to research into the S. African involvment of all companies it has holdings.
2)Research into the S. African involvment of companies in which the LSE has holdings.
The capicuM u/^^u^dn^
not "to deliver oil -ft» SouUi Africa until ui/€ the OuispaMS of hirvi... ^
86*" LOHWO coo^^o'-l>S
(Jfji
(})OOCH S£r
Ttrv'TO-Z'A/C 6oc
oec Net
HJLt I

should be updated annually, made accessible to all members of the School.
3)The LSE should sell any holdings it has in companies which are breaking EEC, Commonwealth and OPEC embargoes on arms, other military equipment and oil going to S. Africa.
The LSE should sell within two months, any holdings it has in companies which employ more than 500 employees in S. Africa. We would like all students of the LSE to support and sign the Charter so that the Student Governors can present it to the Court of Governors on 25th February in full confidence that they have the backing of the student body on this issue.
Avinash Persoud
Questions Posed by Some Academics to the Divestment Offer and Our Replies:
By Richard Wilson
1."	.. . whether the South African case can be or should be regarded as unique and if so why".
•South Africa is the only nation with institutionalised racism. Consequently, S.A. is the only country which has been banned from the U.N. and the Commonwealth.
2.	"Why is it assumed that the derivation of income from South Africa ... is automatically reprehensible."
•Profiting from the denial of basic human rights to the entire Black population of S.A. is morally reprehensible. Investing in South Africa — related companies is giving tacit approvsd and financicd support to a white supremacist regime.
3.	Divestment is a "political statement".
'There is no neutral ground. Investing props up apartheid, divestment undermines it. It's that easy.
4.	"The School is being asked to make a token gesture."
*The action of the LSE itself will not bring about the collapse of Apartheid. But, the LSE is not acting alone. The Divestment Campaign in the U.S., for example, has led IBM, Coca Cola, General Motors, Kodak, and Procter and Gamble to pull out of S.A. In Britain the divestment campaign is gaining momentum, cdready ILEA has terminated its £6m. contract with Shell. When LSE divests fully it will be a clear lead for other British Universities to foUow.
Update on LSE
Divestment
Campaign
By Melinda Ham, Avinash Persaud and Richard Wilson
Concerted student action to pressure the LSE into divesting from South Africa - related companies began about ten years ago. In March 1978, student governors proposed LSE divestment but were rejected out of hand at meetings of the Court of Governors that year on the following grounds;
... the School as an institution should not commit itself to particular views on general moral or political issues."
The impetus for the renewed campaign came with the worsening crisis in South Africa culminating in the State of Emergency.
Early last year the Academic Board passed a strongly worded motion in favour of divestment. The School then approached the student governors and "advised" them that the only way a similar motion could be passed at the Court of Governors (the School's highest decision making body)
was if the student governors "... asked the Investments Committee to review the School's holdings in South Africa — related companies." The student governors did so on February 20, 1986, with the support of some 100 students demonstrating outside the meeting. The Court passed the student motion that day.
However, by the summer the students realised that all the Investment Committee was prepared to do was to review the School's investments. Of the ten South Africa — related com-
panies the School has substantial holdings in, the School sold their holdings in just two. In response to this the student governors presented a further report asking the school to make a clear-cut decision to divest. This idea was met with little sympathy by the School.
In the face of such opposition and blatant prevarication the student union passed another motion last term reiterating its commitment to divestment. Reference was especially made to Shell because of its unique collaboration with the Botha regime and
the South African Defence Force. This motion sanctioned the sixty strong picket of Shell-Mex House on the Strand that afternoon.
From the past developments of this campaign it is clear that the students' union has exhausted all official channels. After nine years of dialogue the student union has failed to convince the School of the justification of divestment. The only marginal gains were won through protest action. The future strategy of this union must be one of more action and not just talk.
©
COLLEGE SCENE
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRtlARY 2, 1987
Societies Corner
by Stavros Makris
Happy new "Rabbit Year" to all of you and here's a chance to participate in the festivities celebrating the Chinese New Year.
TheChinese Societyis presenting a gala evening on Friday 6th February in the Old Theatre. Entry guaranteed for £1.00. Dr. Patel is rumoured to appear, but he is not part of the snow. The show will include Chinese Cultural Dances, a live band, a play and a variety show.
While on the same theme, the Malasian Society is also celebrating at the Empire Suite on Tottenham Court Road-details from Paul Chong, Passfield Hall, S3 (387 7743).
More news on theGrimshaw Club and its trip to Russia. The price for 8 days in Moscow and Leningrad, flight, hotels and official sightseeing inclusive is £295. More details and visa applications are available from the Grimshaw Club in the IR department A139.
For the rest of you Let's See Europe fans, look out for the Ski Club Easter trip to Cour-mayeur from 20th to 29th March. If you are interested in sliding down endless slopes, this is the offer you cannot ignore. As for the social life, just ask last year's survivors . . .
Talking about survivors, there are very few of them left after the Poster War. Two societies, with similiar interests, catering for the same market, have been fighting for the same poster space by removing each others posters. They have been warnecf by the Student Union, and if they continue, they shall have to meet the consequences. For the time being, hostilities have stopped; doubtless the two sides are considering their next move. Will they go for a total, all out war or just for limited warfare? Maybe in the end, they will settle for guerrila tactics.
Highly inventive and imaginative tactics were in evidence during thelnner Temple Debating All England Competition. Fifty-five teams took part; among them, three from the LSE Law Society and one from the LSE Debating Society. The LSE Law Society teams foundered in the early rounds, while the Debating Team reached the finals. There, it met opposition from two teams from Oxford and one from Birmingham before it succeeded in winning the championship. For all of you who are unaware of the competition, it is one of the biggest English Debating competitions and is usually contested by worthy law/barrister teams. This year's winners, though, were not lawyers but our own illustrious Senior Treasurer, Rory O'Driscoll and the acid-tongued Jonathan Putsman.
Highly inventive and imaginative people are needed to attend the Rag Week meeting on Tuesday 17th February, especially the Heads of Cultural Socities. The subject of discussion is the Multi-Cultural Fair! For all those who missed the first meeting on Monday 2nd February, Chas Begley and Rory O'Driscoll have all the details.
Last week saw the well attended stagii^ of "The Assassins" by the LSE Drama Society. This, the latest of their productions, was met with loud
€
agratulatorj sful produc-
applause and coni noises. The successful production was followed by a long partying night which started in "Serendipities" in Islington and climaxed in the director's house. According to inside sources, "certain members of the cast, particularly Shewyar, were trjdng to get off left, right and centre and, in the end, finally delivered the final coup de grace to the director's living room carpet. Before he is allowed to audition for the next production, he'll have to pick up the dry cleaning tab for the carpet." This year the Society has been very active, and all its productions have been critically acclaimed. Yet, there is more to come . . .
The Italian Society meets on Monday 2nd February to discuss future plans, somewhere m St. Clement's Building.
And as a last note, a reminder of two great parties this week. The Afro-Caribbean Society invites one and all to a cultural evening on Friday 6th February. The night is to kick off with a fashion show, exhibition of arts and crafts, calypso and disco. The venue; A40, A45, A85, the Old Building at 6.30 p.m. Tickets £3.00 and £3.50.
The day after, Saturday 7th February in the "Three Tuns Bar the Guiness Appreciation Society will provide you with unlimited quantities for 50p. As a bonus. Southern Comfort will be offered for SOp a double. And that is all the motivation you need to exhibit your tribal dancing skills.
Following last week's resignation by Paul Wood from the Debating Society and the formation of a new associate society. Wood still managed to make news this week. The UGM objected to his bringing the South African ambassador for a debate on the South Afri can issue. Spirits ran very high and the heated debate on the issue saw the oratorical skills of Mr. Wilcock and Mr. O'Driscoll fence for the favour of the crowd, leading to the final dismissal of Wood. However, the vote was so close that the re quired 2/3 majority for banning a society was not achieved. As a result, the news is that the Ambassador will come. Have courage, will fight on.
The U.G.M. - Students Give Their Views
Photo: Sunil Shah
By Brian Boyd Mark Guest
Attitudes to the U.G.M. are rich and varied. Is it a forum for serious political debate or an opportunity for political cliques to personalize serious student issues? The Beaver sought out the views of a few L.S.E. students.
Lesley Kemp, a 2nd year Sociology student said that she attended UGM's but "found them a bit annoying because there is a certain set of people who dominate the meeting". Lesley knew who was on the Executive and commenting on these whe thought that "Rory O'Driscoll represented only himself and that "Pete Wilcock was better". Lesley suggested that "the Chair should have more control at the UGM's".
Jeanne Buckley, M.Sc.
Government. Jeanne does not go to the meetings and suggests, "They play 'little' politics as opposed to dealing with the real issues of the LSE." Regarding the members of the executive, "I've not got the foggiest idea." Jeanne thought that the executive were too egocentric and that the union meetings could only be improved "if they were more civilised".
Steve Brown, a 2nd year Government student thought that the UGM's were "good sometimes but they often degenerate into public-school type games". Steve added, "We need more serious debating, I think the right use certain tactics to destroy the union meeting."
Justin Russell, a 3rd year Government student said that "They (UGM's) have degenerated over the last three years, from a sensible debating forum into a series of political attacks." Justin knew of most of the executive and thought they represented students well enough. Asked about his suggestions for improvement he said that, "If those on the right started tak-
ing issues seriously instead of provoking people by their extreme right-wing views, it would be better."
Simon Hallsworth, 1st
year Sociology. Simon does not go to the union meetings and expressed no interest in them whatsoever. He said that he could see no evidence that the meetings wielded any power. In effect they had "no clout". Asked about who constituted the executive, Simon commented, "I've no idea at all." Simon offered no opinion regarding the executive's efficiency and he could see little room for improvement at the meetings: "The newspaper seems to
confirm my pre-held beliefs about the impotence of the union."
John Segaert, M.Sc. Government. John goes to the UGM's but qualifies this with "they have nothing to do with reality". Although he knew a few members of the executive, he was not impressed with their ability. "I think it has nothing to do with representation. "The UGM has to do with self-servicing parochial interests." John did see room for improvement at the meetings "if there was more structure and better organisation". "They should also have a better system for controlling speakers."
UtU travel
Wherever you want to go
• Worldwide flights.
•	Special fares for students and academics.
•	Tours and short breaks.
•	Ski holidays.
•	European trains.
Enquiries and Bookings European 01-581 8233
Intercontinental 01-581 1022
..we'll get you there!
A service of
Unbeatable prices — unbeatable quality! Call in and see how far you can go.
ULU Travel East Building
London School of Economics
STA
I
TheWorldbeaters
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2, 1987
COLLEGE SCENE
i©
LSS
By J.J.
Well, well, well, two letters last week about me; soon I'll have my own pigeon-hole. The mad-axewoman should find her personal reply on the letters page. While to Martin, thanks for the clarification. I didn't realise, however, that people look to my "column" for sexual advice. To help clarify the situation further, the Red Stripe in the Shop are rubbery and don't have a "ring-pull". Dipping your willy in Red Stripe lager will neither stop babies, V.D. or anything else. However, it may be fun to try it.
From safer sex to boring politics. That last week we had no elections bodes badly for all of us. However, Nigel Kilby does assure me more nominations were handed in only to apparently disappear.
Still, we have a full Executive. Nick Randall continues his rise to power, without his virility at the polls being seen. His running mate in March will be everyone's favourite Granny" Helena Catt. Miss Catt, or "Pussy Galore" as she's known, is at present taking over the S.U.; ileturning Officer, Chairwoman, and now it seems Senior Treasurer-to-be. Should Dr. Patel be reading this (as I feel he must), I would look out, a Catt is on the prowl. Look out for the Helena Catt School of Economics prospectus for 1987/ 88.
Should Grandma have any problems regarding her quest for LSE dominance, she need only look as far as the Exec, for advice. Newly elected Von Habsburg is there with generations' experience for Catt to draw on. Indeed, the new S.U. War Officer would probably have been more surprised if we had had to vote him in. Von Habsburg is already laying down the law . . . thus the
Brunch Bowl no longer serve.^ Bourbon creams.
Did you ever wonder what ex-Sabbaticals do? Well, Pete Wilcock is very open about his job at Barclays next year. No, he didn't get a job via his open day, but then again neither did anyone else! Rumour has it, he got it via a friend in AISEC!' And what of Tory O'Sweatshop ... he and Steve "Interesting" Bankrupt are opening a knitwear factory in Leicester. Why Leicester you may ask, indeed Tory did, but Bankrupt explained - an abundance of cheap labour.
A trip to the Debating Society was hardly worth crossing the road, never mind a picket, with whiter than white, Mr. Squeaky Clean Chariz Gonorrhoea in stalled as new Boss. The Virgin King will soon launch his own ser ies of debates:
Week 1. How to win friends and influence people.
2.	How to be a spine-less creature.
3.	Grovelling can be fun.
4.	Living under a thumb. For the Society as a whole, next week's debate looks sure to be highly contentious - "T.T.H.B. Noddy was a Revisionist". P.S. Peter Dawson wants to live for a 1000 years.
P.P.S. Well played Kenny and the Saunders Football Team.
Passfield Hall Report
"Here Comes the Bride" etc. rang out this week as the society wedding of the decade was announced. Congratulations to Jeannene, who got engaged in a drunken stupor at the Disco to a charming young man 3000 miles away. And love was in the air earlier in the week, but of a more dubious nature. "Save water - share your bath with a friend" has taken on a new meaning at the top of the annex with rumours of three, or was it four, to a tub. The Social Secretary has the names and his silence may be bought for an extortionate sum before publication of the Rag Mag. Come on, pay up, who cares if everyone knows anyway?
Celebrations also took place in G32 this week as J.J. single-handedly defeated the unemployment crisis and got a job. I am told he was inspired by the job description on page 16 of Monty Python's Big Red Book. Over a particularly interesting cup of tea J.J. told me "the job prospects are very interesting and not boring at all".
Michelle cruised through her first hall meeting with the minimum of fuss, although there was some controversy over the adoption of a hall mascot. Suggestions ranged from alligators to penguins (via Cuppie), but my tip for the eventual winner just has to be Passfield Pterodactyls. Watch this space for further updates. And while I'm offering advice to the punters, put your money on Minnesota Milly for the pool competition and unless Yido pulls out a Lazarus, Simon "Crafty Cockney" Spencer for the darts. Griggs you're nowhere!
Friday night was Disco night and what a lot went on! Early in the evening there was a move to open a Greek restaurant in room 99 with plate throwing all in. Apparently, you have to leave your clothes in the corridor, and whatever you do, don't take your alarm clock. Later,
Benji was accosted by a mad hippie complaining about the Disco, who couldn't understand why our B.B. and heavy metal* don't go together. All sorts of rumours are flying concerning Marion and her exploits but they're just too confusing to sort out as yet. Aaron, on the other hand, almost certainly had something to squeal about the following morning.
Entertainment was of a more unusual form on Saturday night as we were lulled by the soothing sound of running water. As the hapless pipe continued to-open its sides a packed TV ¦ lounge remained transfixed by "The Omen" and totally ignored the rising flood mark. Alas, Noah was nowhere to be found and an Ark was totally out of the question since the animals that were going in two by two had retired much earlier. So the film ended, nearly everyone evacuated, and it was left to Moses and a few chosen to part the waves. Every credit to Sean, Colin, Chris and the rest who fought the flood, even if they only did it for the paddling. From what I've heard, the pipe burst due to sabotage from Saunders who wanted to keep our brave footballers up all night mopping. They failed to accound for the Passfield resilience when it comes to defending our honour. Sunday morning, we were out there to do or die and very probably both.
The first play saw Saunders protesting fiercely because one of our players accidentally touched one of theirs. Things settled down and the underdogs Saunders surprised everyone with their fluent play. Four splendidly executed touchdowns against the run of play left us wondering what went wrong — but all credit to the Psychos (?). Kenny played a blinder which made all the difference - where was Bella on Saturday night? But was the Saunders victory just a flash in the pan? Some
piercing runs from the fleet-of-foot Josh suggested that their defence had weaknesses that can be exploited and Chas . "Lawrence Taylor" the linebacker was within inches of sacking Kenny on severed occasions. Special mention should go to the Passfield cheerleaders who are too many to name but were an inspiration to both the players and the whisky trade. A challenge for a return match has been issued with several of our secret weapons yet to be unleashed. You have been warned. But please, none of this pathetic fondle football — LET'S TACKLE!
Superbowl night had a splendid atmosphere in the newly surfaced TV lounge. Hooray for the hot dogs and beer which all made it a night to remember. Denver were louder (every now and again) but in the end it was no contest, was it now? Bets poured in with Bill taking a £1 sweepstake which nobody won and Sean taking up to £30 bets at a time. If only the Broncos had won he'd have been bu}ring the beers for weeks.
A few titbits to finish: Jayne Sloane took a tube to Euston but didn't quite make it; Richard Ford moved rooms, but that's hardly news nowadays; Mark the Molar Bear has suffered further excavations into his teeth. A new seam has been opened up but as yet they have found nothing more than a ner^fe. A spokesman for the NUM, sorry, UDM, said "this is our first venture into dentistry, so we're not really sure how to proceed".
That's it for this week - don't forget it's Rag Week soon, so why not shake off the apathy that besets the LSE and make a little effort to help others for a change.
No. 88
P.S. Why is Lorna called "Hairy"?
P.P.S. Angelo, turn your bloody alarm clock off!
The Vacuous Hall Report Carr-Saunders
At last, the first Rosebery report of the term, and even now events barely justify its writing.
So; back to last term and the Christmas dinner. The famous Rosebery plaque disappeared after the previous disco amid much public secrecy, and much personal distress on the part of the warden. This joyous evening was rumoured to be awaiting the return of said plaque. At least two students claimed to remember noticing the plaque -great excitement was anticipated.
The meal over and the hall well sated, the celebrated President John Pinochet Gisbourne rose and gave a perfect example of the speech that will one day make hime chairman of his local Rotary Committee. The presentation heralded, Nick Peoples Dubious Hero Randall and Connal Apparently less Objectionable than Before Hanby wheeled in the gleaming article, shining, sparkling and bedecked with floral tributes of great splendour. Mr. Klappholz struggled for words in this highly emotionally charged moment, members of the committee were heard to sob uncontrollably. Fortunately, a cigar of congratulation was on hand, and Mr. Klappholz was able to calm the wailing hoardes with economic eloquence. Here, for the first time, witness the long awaited pictures.
Back to spring, and election fever has begun to take over at Rosebery - who wiU be standing for election next Wednesday. It certainly looks as though the various posts wiU be hotly contested. To be totally frank, we
Hall Report
have no idea at all of the likely outcome, although Chris Redman is a hot tip for President. No doubt democracy will win the day with a secret ballot, "Gorbachev style".
On a trivial note, scandal has been thin on the ground - requested mentions, however, include the developing romance of Steve Base and Kay Rossiter -West Ham formed the bond, love sealed it; the perfect union of tomorrow's great hope with yesterday's .. . well yesterday's tomorrow's yesterday's person. Rumour has it the whole story is entirely fictitious. Otherwise, the Government's recent policies have clearly put an end to the degenerate swirling cesspool that was Rosebery's own making - another plus for the greated woman who sends our
heroic secretary signed and scented portraits.
On the other hand, the sudden disappearance of the pouting receptionist (description disclaimed) may account for the low velocity of gossip circulation - hurry back, Wednesday isn't the same.
NB Rosebery's buskers are qeueing up for "Rag Week", so watch out music lovers. Non-musicals welcome - look out for the famous Chris Matheson singing technique, a kind of down graded Syd Barett, out of tune.
See you all at Wapping; Miranda, Jane, Alex and Time!
NB Volunteers needed for next week's hall report - apply to censor.
Two Pints of Exhibition and Ten Regal Ordinary
The Hall Report this week is not written by the bastard who did it last week. Feelings were running high as to which piece of slime wrote last week's vomit-laden report. John, Morag, etc. were not exactly over the moon about their mentions, and if his/her/its identity is ever revealed, I will personally ring his neck.
Highlight of the week was our walkover against Passfield in the American football confrontation. As a result, J.J., Stavros, Kilby et al. are now refusing to speak to anyone from our hall. Most of us hope they continue to do this for a very long time. Well done to Ross for all his organisation.
Elections are rearing their ugly head again. Hall President is a straight fight between Ross and Lucy. Lucy, as nice as she is, is thought not to stand a chance against Ross who is a good organiser. The only problem is that he is Welsh. The Social Sees posts are hotly contested. The most capable candidates seem to be Henry Mehma and Nick Moreno so vote for them. Treasurer is wide open and all the candidates could do a good job. Paul and Bob should have little difficulty in capturing the Vice Presidents offices.. Harold nearly had a fight last
week. Please grow up lads, you are supposed to be mature! A lot of Greek couples are being seen in top London nightspots. Perhaps Grecians do Urn a lot? The rest of us have to make do with a night in the bar. Talking of which, why can't we do the bar up a bit. At the moment it resembles the inside of John Watson's room — a total and utter disaster area. Please can we decorate it a bit (the bar that is, not John "I cheat at pool" Watson's room).
John "Who's Fat?" Eddleston is offering a reward to the person who identifies The Scouser. If anyone knows who the anonymous author is he should tell Ed Kuska who will deal with the matter as is his usual fashion, i.e. chop his head off.
Next week Carr-Saunders returns to normal, thank God. Passfield Hall have challenged us to a game of footy so another massacre of our opponents looks likely. Several death threats have been made to the utterly useless video game in the common room. Unless a new one is provided the old one will find itself in a pair of concrete wellies in the middle of the Thames. This is no threat, you have been warned!
By Ronald McDonald
CONTRIBUTE TO THE BEAVER COLLECTIVE MEETING MONDAY 5PM E204
FEATURES
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2,1987
Tony Benn: A Very English
Phenomenon
Interview by CHRIS PHILIPSBORN
Mr. Benn, 66, has had a distinguished political career. He has held a number of posts in government, the two most recent being Secretary of State for Industry (1974-75) and Secretary of State for Energy (1975-79). He has been on the Labour Party Executive since 1962 and was Chairman from 1971-72. Mr. Benn was the member for Bristol South East from 1950 to 1983, and for Chesterfield since March 1984. Tony Benn is the most well-known personality to have emerged from the left wing of the Labour Party. He has opted for the backbenches since the gneral election of 1979.
I arrived in the Benn household in Holland Park at nine in the morning and was shown into a warm and colourful sitting room lit up by the bright winter sun. Mr. Benn, I was told, was not quite ready (he was just putting some clothes one). A few minutes later, the man himself emerged in a hastily donned navy blue jacket and a brown tie hanging somewhere to the left of his neck, and looking somewhat as if someone had been making vigorous attempts at strangling him. Seing my monstrous black tape recorder on his sitting room table, Mr. Benn promptly left the room to fetch his own recorder which he duly placed on the table next to mine. He does not seem to place much trust in journalists, even those from such august institutions as the Beaver. I must add that I was profoundly grateful as I was none too sure that my borrowed instrument would do its work properly, and 1 could always resort to borrowing his tape.
I began by throwing a quote at Mr. Benn, a particularity nasty thing to do to anyone at nine in the morning.
"You said at the 1975 Labour Conference that Labour was '. . . not just here to manage capitalism but to define its' finer values." What are these 'finer values'
In his pleasantly soft yet distinctive voice, Benn began by describing what he sees as the four layers defining a political pafty: the political figures, the party policy, the party structure, and finally the party's values and ideology.
Democracy
It is on this last level, according to Benn, where you are really determining the purposes of society. Is it there to make profit? Is it there to make war? Is it there to provide social justice? I think that it is that layer that ultimately determines everything else. If you believe in a hierarchiacal society, that will reflect itself in undemocratic institutions and in policies that implement it, as well as in people who aim to get to the top of the pile. If you look at it differently, at the bottom, then all those values permeate up to the top. So suppose in that sense that is what politics is really about. The problem of the Labour Party is that it has not really made an attempt to change the more basic level of democratic control over economic and industrial power or the values of the society which it is trying to manage . . . The Labour Party
historically has very often operated at the top two levels but has not really gone down to the two bottorri and more bottom and more fundamental levels.
Unlike most people Mr. Benn has become increasingly liberal with age. Some people, I suppose, start on the superficial left and end up on the right. I suppose in a way, not that I ever started on the right, but I had a fairly run-of-the-mill view of things when I was young. My experiences deepened my conviction that if you're going to solve any real problems, you've got to make more basic changes."
I could not resist asking Mr. Benn for his hot tip for the next election.
"I am in the business of influencing opinion, not predicting it! I think that we should win and could win. It will be a hard struggle because there's not really a single newspaper in Britain which is pro Labour ..."
"What do you think of Neil Kinnock as a leader?"
"The Labour Party is always quite clear about these things, namely that you support your leader and try and put him in Number Ten."
Funny People
I went on to ask about Mr. Kinnock's stand against labour's militant tendency. "The labour Party is fuU of funny people, isn't it? I mean, it's full of people who are not socialist at all. We had two Deputy Leaders, Roy Jenkins and George Brown, both of whom I know quite well, who were not in any meaningful sense socialist, but you live with them because the Labour Party includes some people on the hard right. I think we've just got to accept-that the argument about the future is primarily an argument . between different sorts of socialists ... I never voted to expel Shirley Williams although I knew that she vvas a Tory ... or Owen or Rogers . . . (Williams, Rogers, Owen and Jenkins left Labour to form the S.D.P. in 1981) When people talk about a broad church that's what vye really mean . . . the expulsions hhaven't picked up a single vote for Labour."
"Had it not angered those M.P.'s who had lost their job due to left wing infiltration of their reselection committees?" I asked. Mr. Benn answered, reasonably enough, that this was all part of the democratic process. After all, he himself had been defeated after 33 years in Parliament by Mr. Sayeed, a Conservative.
Thatcherism
"What do you think of Mrs. Thatcher?" I asked.
"WeU, I don't believe in theory of Thatcherism. She's a woman defending the class she represents. She's a teacher who teaches right wing views from the daily experience of society, and I think most Labour people just want to see a Labour leader as committed to our people as she is to hers . . . Mr. Thatcher has disman-
tled the democratic instruments of the G.L.C. and tried to limit Trade union democracy .... and tried to urge the competitive view of life . , . that's had an impact. If you're going to defeat that clutch of ideas which I think are very dangerous, you have to address that layer of politics. I think the weakness of the Labour Party is that it has not done that properly. If you're going to defeat the teachings of Thatcherism, you have to teach another point of view. I remember-when Mao Tse Tung was asked to comment on the impact on world history of the French Revolution. Mao replied, "It's a bit too soon to say." . . . Whereas Harold Wilson said, "A week is a long time in politics," which is a very silly remark..On the other hand Thatcherism doesn't exist .. . if she were replaced by Mr. Tebbit it would be just as bad. If she were replaced by Dr. Owen, politics would move further to the right still."
1 asked if Mr. Benn agreed that Mrs. Thatcher had achieved one of her objectives in that she had made those on the left wing of the Labour Party more unpalatable to the voting public. He did not;
"Underneath, my impression is, there are more socialists alive and well now than at any time in my life ... all that's really happened is that there is a consensus among the estab-hshment far to the right of anything we've seen since the mid-thirties."
Mr. Benn told me about the S.D.P. If I were a Conservative who didn't like Mrs. Thatcher, I think I would feel quite secure in voting for Owen ... I wouldn't describe the S.D.P. as wet because in some respects they are the right wing of the Conservative party. I don't think David Owen is a wet at all, and I think in some ways he made a mistake not going straight into the Tory Party . . . I think that after the next general election, there must be a distinct possibility that he will move on again to the Conservative Party . . . because that is his natural home."


main argument against it was also a democratic one:
"I don't believe in nationalism . . . but I do think . . . that there is a basic democratic issue here, and to have out laws made in Brussels by a commission that is not elected is . . ^ jmdesirable . . . the Commission law would take precedence over British law ... I suppose most of the things I am interested in are now about the development of democracy
,Mr Benn enlarged on the subject with relevance to U.S. bases in Britain. "My own opinion is that you cannot call yourself a self-governing democracy while you hae an American President with lots of bases here which he can use - even if they don't have nuclear weapons . . . Candidly, I think Britain's contribution to the world would be better in the forrm of a non-aligned policy rather than being a member of a block."
Hierarchical Society Society is Rotten
I was curious to know if Mr. Benn still felt the same way about the House of Lords . . . Well, I have a very old fashioned belief in democracy . . . it's better that you govern yourself rather than be governed by people under hereditary patronage. I think there is a cancer of patronage in our society ... it apphes to the Labour Party, too.
"They don't have the pressure of having to win votes," said 1.
"Well, that's the case for Hitler,, of course. Hitler didn't have the problem of having to win votes, neither did Stalin. Once you start that argument, you really are putting your finger on the danger of 'democracy'. Democracy does actually mean that you do have to think about people . . . Actually, the House of Lords is an awful old fraud ..."
E.E.C. Pull-Out
Mr. Benn would also like to see Britain pull out of the E.E.C. His
I asked Mr. Benn what his American wife thought about all this. "Well, you'll have to ask her!" Ask a simple question ... He pointed out that national opinion polls showed a distinct lack of confidence in American policy. "I think myself that the feeling that it would e better not to have 30,000 American troops and 125 bases here will grow, because of the fact that you are then really at risk from being sucked into conflict in which you have no part ..."
John Mortimer once described Tony Benn as " ... a very English phenomenon: a descen-dent of the Puritans . . . nonconformists and . . . Nineteenth Century Christian Socialist." How did Mr. Benn see himself?
"I think there is an ancient tradition in Britain of people who have over many centuries resisted oppression in one shape or form ... of people who believed that there were inherent rights whether you were black or white, rich or poor, disabled or fit, clever or
dim . . . They funnily enough reflected themselves in a pres-socialist way in the Declaration of Independence and in Rousseau's 'Man is born free and everywhere found in chains.' You oppress people to the point where they being thinking, and out of everybody comes this reaction ... I think that is the tradition to which I fell part. I think that society is really so rotten; the values are so rotten and the system we're being told to worship is so rotten that that feeling is now beginning to come again. It's the drummer heard in the distance that's frightening the people in the castle."
I wanted to know what Mr. Benn was proudest of having achieved in his career.
"I suppose that the things I'm most pleased about is that I've supported a lot of people at critical periods. When they've really needed support, I've been there. Secondly, I hope that I've encouraged a lot of people to have confidence in themselves because one of the most effective pieces of propaganda is to persuade people that they are too ignorant, stupid and powerless to do anything. "
In 1981, Mr. Benn failed to defeat Dennis healey in his bid for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party by 0.852%. I wondered if his ambitions for the future had diminished somewhat since then, apparently though, Mr. Benn considers that many of his supporters are still very much around, but that the first main objective is to win a general election. "If Mao was right that you won't be able to tell the impact of the French Revolution, I suppose it's a bit early to tell the impact of the 1981 Deputy Leadership election yet!"
THE BEAVER COLLECTIVE MEETING MONDAY 5PM E205
. THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2, 1987
FEATURES
©
West German Election Results: Small is Beautiful?
By Leon Mangasarian .
Elections held in the Federal Republic of Germany on 25 January returned Chancellor Helmut Kohl's centre-right coalition to office. But Kohl's own party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received only 44.3% of the vote, their lowest share since the first West German federal elections in 1949. The opposition Social Democratic Party's paltry 37% was in fact regarded by many as an achievement, given the dire predictions in the weeks before the election
left a great many questions which will certainly heat up German politics during the next year.
Helmut Kohl's CDU/CSU coalition may have won enough seats to maintain the coalition but the Chancellor himself was forced to admit that he had suffered a serious political setback. The CDU/CSU lost some 2 million votes mainly in their rural strongholds and through the abstention of more than 740,000 voters. In addition, nearly 400,000 conservative voters switched to the Social Deipocrats. A major part of the election post-mortem will be to determine just how these votes were lost. But many are
the environmental Green party.
The real victors in the election have been the smaller parties. TTie Free Democratic Party which is in coalition with the CDU/CSU increased its share of the vote to 9.1% (compared with 7% in the 1983 election). The Green Party soared to 8.3% (from 5.6% in 1983) an increase of 2.7%. More worryingly, minority parties, including the far right, have picked up support since 1983. However none of these 17 micro-parties won anywhere near the 5% level needed to enter the Bundestag.
After a decidedly boring season of campaigns - only Franz-Joseph Strauss and the Greens seemed to create any excitement or con-troversy - the above results have
already blaming the intemperate attacks made by the corpulent F.J. Strauss on the Free Democratic Party. Strauss was particularly vituperate in his criticisms toward the FDP foreign minister, Hans Dietrich Genscher whom he said was soft on Moscow and hard on South Africa. This did not go down well with the electorate and it seems that part of the explanation for the FDP's strong showing is that some voters shifted their vote from the conservatives to prevent Strauss from becoming foreign minister. In any case, F.J. Strauss was the biggest loser of the election for it is clear that he will never become foreign minis-ter; his final political goal. The
question for other conservatives is how they will tame their obviously unpopular right wing.
The defeated Social Democrats face a period of uncertainty and decision. Willy Brandt, the SPD party chairman for the past 22 years has announced that he will retire in 1988. It is not at all clear who will replace him and as the two major candidates represent the left and centre factions of the Party, a war of words is sure to lead up to next year's special conference. The left candidate, Oscar Lafontaine, Premier of the Saarland, is a fierce opponent of nuclear energy and believes West Germany should leave the military command structure of NATO. The day after the election he held a press conference in which he bluntly termed as "wrong" the decision by the SPD's chancellor candidate Johannes Rau to refuse any alliance with the Greens. The other candidate to lead the SPD is Rau himself, the great seeker of the political centre. But it is not clear that the Party would want to elect a chairman the man whose election policies inspired so little enthusiasm among voters. A third possibility is Hans-Joachim Vogel, leader of the SPD in Parliament, but he too ran unsuccessfully for the chancellorship in 1983.
The Free Democrats with their 9.1% win of the vote are in a strong position to demand at least one extra minister in the cabinet to supplement the three they already have (Economics, Foreign and Justice). This may mean that the return of Count Otto Lambsdorff, the former Economics Minister, who became entangled in the Flick bribery affair and is now on trial for tax evasion. It is felt that even a guilty verdict would not be too damaging to his chances, although it is unlikely that he will become Justice minister. When asked why the FDP had done so well. Party Chairman Martin Bangemann said; "We stuck to the issues. We don't attack our coalition partners and you can't say that about the CSU (F.J. Strauss's Party)". Indeed, Herr Strauss was so help-
Chancellor Helmut Kohl ' Christian Democratic Union)
ful to the FDP in the past electio.n that many members feel he should be given an honorary membership. Nevertheless, the FDP will not want to push Chancellor Kohl too hard on any of the issues, for they can no longer play the great prostitute of West German politics. A coalition with the Social Democrats would not bring them into a parliamentary majority and in any case, the two parties have drifted too far apart since they split in 1982.
It was the Greens who celebrated their victory with the most gusto. Their 8.3% of the vote will give them 41 seats in the Bundestag; nearly as many as the Free Democrats and the Christian Social Union. Although they have not yet become the third largest political force in West German politics their influence will be much enhanced during the upcoming months. The Party leadership will face two important issues: First, the question of whether they whould attempt cooperation with the SPD. This was approved in a vote at the Party
Conference in Nuremberg last September in terms of a challenge to the Kohl government. But the sharp rebuff given by Johannes Rau to these advances may have strengthened those in the Green party such as Jutta Ditfurth who would prefer not to entangle themselves with the "Hollywood boys" and their "technocratic growth policy". Second, the Greens have been kept off many committees in the Bundestag for "security reasons". It remains to be seen if they will be able to push hard enough to take part in all affairs of the West German Parliament.
All taken it can be said that an infinitely boring election has produced some highly interesting results. Those parties which were loath to make hard decisions last year may well be forced to do so this year. Given these results and the fact that voter turnout was a "low" 85% of the electorate, it would seem that democracy in the Federal Republic is clearly in a far more healthy state than in other Western "democracies".
Samuel Johnson — An Irascible Londoner
By Kate Prendergast
London has always had its characters. The English literary tradition especially, is full of men of the Metropolis, and perhaps no one more so than Samuel Johnson.
Johnson was born in 1709, son of a poor bookseller in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and he never entirely forgot his provincial roots. He would take his "annual ramble into the middle counties", and Garrick, half fearfully no doubt, would imitate Johnson's midland accent: "Who's for poonsh?."
W:- '>5/,
«, * ¦ssr*^-
''M
Johnson went to Oxford in 1728, but despite already displaying an uncommonly fine mind, his poverty forced him to withdraw after a year. And Oxford, to its eternal discredit, offered him no form of financial assistance (which it managed to find for Addison). After teaching for a while, Johnson came to London in 1737, and for ten years struggled to make a living on Grub St., contributing to the "Gentleman's Magazine", and writing some poetry. From 1750, from issuing the "Rambler", and writing for the "Adventurer" and the "Idler" Johnson made his reputation as a moral essayist. He then published his "Dictionary" (1755). "Rasse-las" (1759), an edition of Shakespeare (1765), and "Lives of the English Poets", his last work, in 1780.
Johnson was irrcsistably drawn to London life. He lived in several houses around the City, the only surviving one being at 17 Gough Square, off Fleet St. An elegant, late 17th century house, Johnson lived here between 1746-59. at a rent of £30 pa. He compiled the "Dictionary" in the attic, with the help of 6 clerks. His wife Tetty, who in the opinion of Johnson's friend Robert Levett, was "always drunk and reading romances in her bed", died here in 1752. Johnson sheltered many under his various rooves: "whole nests of people" as Mrs. Thrale put it, who depended on this charity. The house is now full of Johnsonian relics.
and has been open to the public since 1914.
Sam Johnson loved the stimulus of London, Henry James' "complete compendium of the world". Boswell once remarked that he liked the cheerfullness of Fleet St. "Why Sir", replied Johnson, "Fleet St. has a very animated appearance; but I think the full tide of human existence is at Charing Cross."
He was also aware of the miseries of urban poverty, squalor and vice, partly perhaps becuase in his early years he was always plagued by poverty: "SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D". He was equally aware of the nature of change in cities; the moves towards an urban, commercial world, "where all are slaves to gold, where looks are merchandise and smiles are sold". Although it was also these changes that lead to a commercialisation of literature which allowed men like Johnson to earn a livelihood by "throwing truth among the multitude".
Johnson was a very sociable man. He had many friends, was an eminent "clubber", he founded the Club (of literary Gentlemen) with Reynolds in 1764, and was a frequenter of various London haunts, in the belief that "the true felicity of human life is a tavern". He was also the greatest master of the art of conversation. Ultimately though, Johnson was a very serious man; all his work, his life infu:ied with a deep moral
sense. In many ways he was very conservative: an ardent Jacobite, even in 1783 he was declaring "the Hanoverian family is isolee here. They have no friends." Yet, in other ways completely unorthodox. As he got older he got more comfortable, more well known, and if we read Boswell's (who met him only in 1763) "Life" only, seemingly more prolific. Yet Johnson never became completely reconciled with himself.
He suffered from an acute sense of loneliness, battled constantly with "Sloth", and had a deep fear of melancholy and madness (typically, unlike Boswcll, who flirted with the pseudonym "Hypochondriack"). In many ways he was like Swift: strongly heirachical. with a profound moral sense, a biting tongue, and prone to deep melancholy (Swift's "giddiness"), which was perhaps why he disliked Swift so much.
Yet. Johnson ultimately was more moving, perhaps because he himself could be so moved. Sometimes, so the story goes, as that great bulk of a man manoe-vered himself homeward, after an evening of exquisite conversation. he would pass destitute children sleeping in the streets. And every now and then he would stop and press pennies into their palms, so that when they woke up the next morning they were able to buy themselves breakfast. It is a lasting image of Johnson in his city.

ARTS
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2,1987
State of the Art
Ideas and images in the I980's
ICA
The state of the art. . . or the state of art in the 1980's? That you must decide for yourself after viewing this exhibition, which complements the C4 series of the same name.
As its introduction makes clear, 'State of the Art' is not primarily intended to be representative of the contemporary arts; rather, it explores those ideas and issues which circulate in, and concern, that strange beast 'Post-modernism' (or are we now at Post-post-modemism?). Even this is now under assault from other voices, from those working outside conventional boundaries, bringing voices beyond our everyday experiences and those from witlun ourselves which are drowned out by the ways we have adopted to Uve in our increasingly uniform technocratic society.
These voices are represented in the section Identity, Culture and Power.
"It was only in the 1970's that the historical hmits of modernism, modernity, and modernisation came into sharp focus. The gorwing sense that we are not bound to complete the project of modernity. . . and still do not necessarily have to lapse into irrationality or into apocalyptic frenzy... all of this has opened up a host of possibilities for creative endeavours today." Andreas Huyssen Within this reassessment (or breathing space) we find artists such as Anselm Kiefer, and Jorg Immendorff, looking back with the taboo of European fascism being re-examined in their symbolist paintings. But, whilst artists in the West use the motifs and icons of oppression, more powerful guilt-free images containing suppressed and unsupressed anger, from those in the "Third World" and . the subcultures of our society.
Some are artless, like the pretentious doodUngs of Jean-Michel Basquiat, an ex-graffiti artist who achieved his fifteen minutes of fame in the company of Andy Warhol. Such studied artiness pales beside the beautiful dreamworlds created by the Aboriginal artist Michael Nelson Tjakamarra, who re-presents the sacred forms of Ms culture to us, without losing their archetypal meanings.
Other artists in this section work with more familar themes of oppression at home and
abroad. The works of Donald Rodney are especially powerful and disturbing when one penetrates their surface; the sheer everyday horror of South Africa is unavoidable in his work, which was created in the ICA itself, "Nudes Descending Stairs", a phrase which here takes on a chUUng reality.
given society, their historical formation, the source of their strength or fragility, the conditions whuch are necessary transform some and abolish others."
Michel Foucault
Perhaps Western Art has exhausted the scope of the visual world, and now concentrates on the underlying philosophies prevalent in our society. In the section Imagination, Creativity and Work, the theory of Art becomes indistinguishable from Art itself. Despite its title, the works in this section by Howard Hodgekin, Susan Hill-er and Joseph Beuys elicit few emotional responses from the viewer: they exist as expressions of theories of the world, not of the world. Miriam Cohen's "Menstrual Work", in contrast, is frighteningly personal; to say that it is inaccessible is a Phihstine response, that of those who must see everything in terms of its external value. Whatever it expresses transcends its aesthetic.
Moving to the next room, the outside world returns in the works discussing and exploring Politics, Intervention and Representation. An emotional response also returns with Peter Dunn and Loraine Leeson's "Docklands Community Poster Project", conceived not as a work of art, but at the request of those whose community is under threat from a redevelopment over which they have no control. Designed as 'agitprop', re-defining the images of the docklanders' threatened world. It has an aesthetic coherence and emotional power lacking in purist artforms.
"A society without power relations can only be an abstraction. Which . . . makes all the more politically necessary the analysis of power relations in a
If a crisis of image and direction is prevalent in the above sections of "State of the Art", it is the basis of Sexuality, Image and Identity. The current realignments of sexual identity and the examination of the representations of our lives via the all-pervading media in our society concern toe artists here. For instance, Mary Kelly's "Interim" project, being created on snatches of conversation and images of clothing, to fashion "narratives" about perception by and of women. From this it is literally an about turn to the eight lenticular photographs by Barbara Kru-ger which re-present the language of advertising, stripping away its gloss to reveal to true unrelenting nature of the medium.
This is only a brief description of what is a small exhibition, yet one which reflects the contemporary concerns, personal and social, of technique and expressive style, the multiplicity of which, seemingly arising from the present state of art in flux.
Sometimes, in "State of the Art", we see reflections of the crisis in modem post-everything thought, an eclecticism run riot, leading to a tyranny of obscurity and indulgence which, ironically, the only coherence is that of money. Is "State of the Art" a part of, or a critique of, such a situation?
"State of the Art" shows at the I.C.A. untU 1st March 1987.
Dougal Hare
Irving Penn
Irving Penn's career as a photographer began under the careful nurture of Alexander Liber-man at Vogue, then in its heyday. It was there that he first started to photograph the still-life and fashion-art of which his later work was to grow.
Although his commercial work is immaculate and ingenious, it is his personal work which is most interesting.
Penn is best known for his classic black and white portraits which he began while still at Vogue. The prestige of the magazine allowed him the opportunity to photograph many of the most interesting writers, artists and actors of his time. His portraits are characteristically taken against a neutral background, taking his subjects away from their usual surroundings. The faces show every detail and peculiarity, and yet all are dominated by the same supreme sense of style that Penn showed in his fashion photography. They are
filled with grace and poise, epitomised in his portrait of Cecil Beaton.
The portraits of the peoples of West Africa^ Morocco, Nepal and South America are also composed against empty back-
found it in them and their unashamed personal adornment.
Penn's most recent work is probably his most unusual. The huge magnified images of cigarettes, and of bits and pieces found in the rubbish. His pictures in the Cigarette series transform the squashed and charred butts into mysterious iconic figures. Their deterioration lends them a strange and inventive beauty.
Penn's outstanding prints form an excellent exhibition for the opening of The Victoria and Albert's new Twentieth Century Gallery. The exhibition will continue until the 8th March 1987.
Andy Blakeman, Sivan Lewin
grounds. Penn's critics have claimed that there is no value in such portraits taken out of context of their environment. However, Penn was looking for style in his subjects, and he
JAZZ COLUMN
The close relationship between the artist and the music produced - the improvisatory nature of jazz - in part explains why so much emphasis is given to an understanding of the people and not just the form the music takes. This is why Leonard Feather's new book, "The Jazz Years" (Quartet Books, London 1986), which he suggests is less an autobiography than a "selective retrospective", is of special interest.
Feather's involvement in the field spans some sixty years during which time he not only played (piano), composed, and arranged, but also got to know the productions and distribution sides of jazz as well as becoming one of the world's leading critics. Above all, over a sustained period he became intimate with the musicians themselves and with their personal and collective struggles.
The accent of "The Jazz years" is on the collective. It is written from a liberal perspective, which is why a whole chapter, some 20% of the book, is directly concerned with "Prejudices", i.e., racial and sexual. And it's in this context that Feather gives a series of personal recollections - be it Glenn Miller's use of the term "nigger", big band segregation, hotel room segregation, and so on; or, the tremendous difficulties with which women musicians have been faced
occasions when solidarity effected real change even if, ironically, it was to bring the temporary demise of a publication supposedly devoted to the coverage of jazz.
What makes Feather's book a fascinating document is not merely what is said, but you can read between the line, i.e., the extent to which this particu lar art form - like all others - is heavily constrained and fre quently suffocated before birth by the business dimension. It's a book which gives some insight into the ironies, reahties and contradictions of the pro fession.
When it comes to Peter Clayton and Peter Gammond's "The Guiness Jazz A-Z (Gui ness Books, 1986), I must confess some sense of disappointment. (In a previous article described Clayton as the best radio jazz presenter.) The book simply falls between two stools. It's nicely illustrated, and writ ten with humour as well as a very wide knowledge of the subject, but for all that it's in sufficiently comprehensive to be regarded as a reference book for "What's What" rather than "Who's Who" in jazz which is its claim. More worrying (or should I say frustrating) from the user's point of view is that the criteria for selecting the placenames, venues, landmarks, movements, shrines, etc. remains a mystery. This wouldn't be so
[VERt OAKCi e>lD INSIfiUMENfAual
WINDSORS
NEW
DANCE BAND INSTRUMENT Catalogue
NINDSOilS
when trying to break into the jazz world, the artists who didn't make it, the artists who did but were exploited, or those who like Toshiko Akiyoshi (Japanese composer/arranger/ band leader) did make it on their own terms but against all the odds.
The book isn't "serious" as such. It basically consists of a series of structured episodes written entertainingly, but for more than purposes of pure entertainment. One of these is when the compillation of "Esquire's 1987 Jazz Book" is hijacked by fanatical Dixielan-ders to the exclusion of mainly black musicians. Feather immediately instigates a counter coup by a letter which concludes: "As long as the present unfair set-up continues, we do not wish to vote in any future polls, and we will refuse to accept any future awards." His shock troops (i.e., signatories) included Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Trummy Young, Tad Dameron, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holliday, Buck Clayton, Johnny Hodges, Oscar Pettiford, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Nat King Cole.
As an episode, it's tinged with many emotions, including farce. After all, who could con-, ceive of a more terrifying set of opponents, and how could one' be so clumsy as to unite them.' But from the musicians' point of; view, it's one of those very rare
bad if the book was 800 or so pages long, but an A-Z compressed into 250 pages high lights its arbitrary nature, particularly when a large number of: these pages are taken up by illustration. The authors them selves admit that this is "an approach which leads to what looks like anomalies." In fact, one can be more precise than this - they ARE anomalies.
With regard to the future, think there is room for a "what's what" of jazz, but for it to be of any meaning what soever, it must either strictly limit its areas of study, OR aim to be systematically all-inclusive; that would clearly require a publisher with a lot of time and money on their hands.
Giorgio Meszaros
THE BEAVER, ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2, 1987


ARIS

Salvador
With the growing interest in increasing American mihtary involvement in Central America, a number of films have recently been released showing various aspects of this situation. The most recent entry is Salvador, written and directed by Oliver Stone, himself a veteran of America's in-volvment in Vietnam. Perhaps because of his own experiences in Vietnam, Stone's perceptions are drawn from a different source than those making films on similar subjects but based merely on news reports and second-hand information. Stone offers a hard-hitting, sometimes graphically realistic recounting of events in El Salvador during the period 1980-1981. He relies on the audience's sensibility in combination with the subject matter to allow conclusions to be drawn and, perhaps more importantly, questions to be raised.
James Woods is an out-of-work freelance photographer, currently living the not-so-high life in San Francisco. Beset with marital and financial problems, he decides to drive down to El Salvador, a country he had written about several years previously, remembering it to be a place where cheap women and cheap booze are available in abundance. Joining him in this adventure is James Be-lushi, another person who finds himself in less than wonderful circumstances. Central America has a certain amount of appeal for him, and since life in San Francisco is hardly paradise, he agrees to accompany Woods. However, what begins as a joyride down south, vwth the promise of cheap decadence, quickly turns into a hellish nightmare as the two men find themselves in the middle of a bloody civil war which has left the country torn between two equally horrific camps. On the one side are the left-wing, government backed troops and on the other, the right-wing, American backed contra troops. In the middle are the citizens of El Salvador who are trying to eek out a living in their poverty-ridden country, slowly being destroyed by the internal conflict. Woods and Belushi, too, become unwilling participants in the conflict, finding themselves fighting to stay alive and to try to under-
The Golden Child
The real Golden child is Eddie Murphy, or rather the Goose, with the Golden Egg. A Murphy movie is Big News, Big Hype, Big Money. Big Disappointment. To queue — or line up if you are American -on a cold Monday night thinking you'll get in The Empire for £2 and then have to pay £4 and
stand just what the American "advisors" are doing in a country which clearly doesn't want or need their involvement.
The activities of the right-wing troops, headed by the manical "Major Max" and his Black Squad are shown in graphic detail by director Stone. Torture, mutilation and death become commonplace events in the hves of the citizens of El Salvador, but when the two American photographers, James Woods and John Savage (portraying Newsweek photographer, John Hoagland, who was killed in El Salvador in 1981) visit a human garbage dump where the Black Squad disposes of the bodies it has destroyed, the casualties of the conflict cease to be mere statistics and become individuals who died a terrible death.
Salvador is a film that is almost shocking in its realistic presentation of events taking place daily in this war-torn country. The people are struggling to make some sense of the situation and to try to continue their existence with the constant threat of disappearance, torture and death at the hands of individuals who are feUow Salvadorians. The performances by James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy and John Savage are all brilliant, particularly Woods, whose reactionary quirkiness works to his advantage as a man in a country which is totally out of control. Filmed on location in Mexico, the film manages to present a vivid portrait of life in a country whose destiny is being determined, to a large extent, by a power sitting some 3,000 miles away.
Ann Henry
then be faced with endless trailers and only 90 minutes of Eddie Murphy ... is this fair?
As always. Murphy comes up with the usual tight one-liners and comic, if not hilarious, facial expressions. The action is fast and occasionally reminiscent of Jackie chan. Charles Dance towers on top of heroic at timesover the more heroic scenery of katmandu and the City of angels. The dehght of the movie is the Real Golden Child.
Now days, Mr. Murphy does not act in a film, the film acts around him. It's more like "we've got this charismatic superstar, let's make money; let's find some people that look good, some that look bad, dress them up, and make all of them look inadequate next to him. Then, presto! High Box Office Receipts!" This is a movie for Murphy fans to go and see and clap (they actually did several times during the "plot"). This is no longer a movie; it's more like a service of the faithful conducted by whistles . . .
Stavros Makris
HeavenI/ Pursuits
Sainthood is only awarded after three authenticated miracles. The Blessed Edith Semple died in 1917 with only one authenticated miracle to her credit. The authorities of the school named after her are trying very hard to promote her into sainthood. However, their envoy to the Vatican is turned down and warned not to pursue their crusade since "the church does not like miracles".
Though miracles do occur in the Blessed Edith Semple Sr lool, they are not all of a si'oernatural nature. Vic Mathews (Tom Conti) is a remedial teacher who performs small miracles with the academic progress of his students; canonization is the last of his worries.
Divine intervention is to change Vic's life drastically. The woman in his life begins to wonder if his good work is more like show business rather than good teaching practice.
In Heavenly Pursuits matters of life and death are treated with an off-beat humour that makes the film a delightful and, in a sense, original comedy with a serious side to it. It is the charm and charisma of Tom Conti that pulls it off. This is not a Michael Forsyth film about
Scotland, yet Michael Relph manages to build a fight story around Conti while giving their moment to the supporting cast.
Watch the reaction of Father Cobb (Brian Pettifer) when at last he has first hand evidence of a miracle. He destroys the evidence because of his faith.
This is a rnovie about the faithful and the non-faithful and the changes brought about by the manifestation of divine intervention to both of them. This is a movie that raises no heavy issues, demands no soul-searching, gives no answers. This is a movie well worth watching on a slow Wednesday
evening. stavros Makris
Raw Deal
Rarely has a title been so aptly chosen for a fUm. He's "a thinker", "a mover", "hungry" and "a take-charge guy", but most of all he's a bit of a joke when it comes to acting. Arnold Schwarzenegger - we must credit him for retaining his own, distinctly un-Hollywood name -returns to the screen fresh from his copious exploits in "The Terminator" and "Commando", and in "Raw Deal" tries to out-Dirty Harry Mayor Eastwood and out-Rambo "Rocky" Stallone. Unfortunately, Arnold fails on both counts, lacking the cool of Clint and the sheer simpleness of Sylvester.
The non-violent scenes are very synthetic, but there are some funny one-liners: Arnold tells his wife "don't drink and bake", as she angrily throws her cake at him; and later shouts at his adopted mobster-girlfriend "get the hell out of here - sweetheart". There is one particular surreaUstically comic scene, when Arnold, cruising in an open-top Cadillac, puts on The Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction", spins around a disused worksite, and wipes out a score of mobsters with a machine gun, in one hand, while steering with the other.
Julius Gottlieb
An Italian Straw Hat
Tom Conti has returned to the London stage after quite a long spell of films. His newest effort An Italian Strav^r Hat is a hilarious remake of the French comedy written in 1851 by Eugene Labiche.
This comedy is the vaudeville style, in which the star is completely aware that he is on stage, shpping back and forth between his commentary and his part in play. Within this format, Conti has fun with the stage and the movement of the set.
The story is simple, using the comedic staple of one action as the backdrop, while the main "circumstance" is resolved without the other characters realising what is going on. Fadinard (Conti) is the bridegroom on his wedding day. His bride-to-be may find out his true and woman-chasing nature if he does not find a replacement Italian straw hat which was accidentally damaged that morning when Fadinard had an early morning tryst with another woman. Fadinard's dotty uncle (CUve Dunn) is aware of some problem, but he is more of a hindrance than a help in finding the hat. Conti's only ally is his uncle's man servant, Felix (brilliantly played by Mark Hatfield), who performs some amazing acrobatics and feats of perfect timing in preventing the situation from becoming completely out of control. All of the actors perform marvellously, keeping the audience thoroughly entertained for two hours. Long live vaudeville.
Marita O'Brien
Fallen
(Drill Hall Arts Centre)
Fallen is the collaborative effort of writer Polly Teale, director Julia Bardsley and actress Carole Pluckrose and represents their interpretation of the events surrounding the real life story of the "Kerry Babies" murder of several years ago. In the course of researching the material for the play, the three women spent time in Ireland talking to the various people involved in the case, including the woman accused of the murder.
The body of an infant was found washed up on a beach near Cahirciveen; the boy, only a few days old, had been brutally stabbed to death. The person charged with the child's murder was Siobhan Yates (Carole Pluckrose), a young woman from a nearby village of seemingly questionable moral standing in the eyes of the community. She had become involved with a married man by whom she had a daughter, Annette, and a son. Siobhan's son was born prematurely, and in her confusion and shame, she had taken the body of the dead child and buried him in a field behind the barn. This occurred the night before the child's body was found washed up on the beach nearby. Had Siobhan Yates murdered her son, or was she coerced into signing a confession by the local police force and magistrate? Was their judgement of her conduct so clouded by their own piety and self-righteousness that they were wUling to convict her before conducting a full investigation into her recollection of the events surrounding the death of her own son? When the body of Siobhan's son was found
buried in the field where she had claimed, the local author ities were left with a lot of explaining to do. But, -if Siobhan Yates was innocent of the stabbing death of the baby, who did kill him? To date, this question has not been answered.

Carole Pluckrose gives a memorable performance as Siobhan Yates. This is a one-woman show which requires a full range of emotions and tremendous acting talent to hold the audience for an entire evening, and Pluckrose shows herself equal to the challenge In her use of a very small stage, with very few props, she is able to create the illusion of being in many different locations, at different times during the day. As Siobhan Yates grows up chronologically, we see the transformation taking place be fore our eyes. And as the events of the murder unfold around her, we are privy to her fear and confusion.
Hallbowl '87
Sunday, 25th of January provided THE American Football event of the year. Not the 3 hour advert-stricken Giants/ Broncos match but the inter-hall spectacular between those 2 arch-rivals, the Saunders PSYCHOS and the Passfield PANTHERS.
The atmosphere was electric, and with full squads (of teams), mass support and even cheerleaders all wearing special Hall-bowl T-shirts (which, incidentally, raised £50 for Rag), it was quite a night.
Tension was high from the start, and when Ross Bpo'ad-stock was successively^"^ high-tackled during his return of the kick-off, tempers flared (tackles themselves had been agreed illegal, due to Saunders' refusal to play otherwise!) The needle existed for almost all the first half with one particularly ugly incident between the American Marks of each team almost coming to blows.
Apart from one faked punt break-out run by Josh, the Psychos dominated the first half but were unable to convert this advantage into points. Then, suddenly, Kenny Florin, the Psychos quarterback, threw a 20 yarder to put Saunders within striking range. With 30 seconds left on the clock there was no time for a huddle. In the hurried play Florin threw one of his "bombs" to wide receiver. Grant Geiringer, who dropped into the end zone to send the Saunders crowd wild, this brought up half-time, and the Saunder contingent just swarmed around their American heroes.
The Psychos gained more confidence in the second half, and the Panthers got rattled with snaps going astray and completion problems.

HMffiWL
Final Score:
Saunders PSYCHOS 28 Passfield PANTHERS 7
With that little l)it of extra time, the Saunders offensive line managed to gain him. Florin continued to throw with precision and linked with Geiringer again and twice with long passes to Gary Goldsholle, bring -the score to 28. Ken Kuwane and Neil Cornelius backed this up with good rushing yardage.
The Panthers had their consolation score when Josh caught a long pass, juggling the ball into the end zone.
The Psychos dominated this particular game, but the Panthers still claim that the "flag" system of tackling cramped their rushing game and are now demanding a return fixture. A prospect to be relished.
TAFFY
Photo: Dave Waksman
LSE Basketball
Two weeks before the end of last term, the undefeated L.S.E. basketball team journeyed to Oxford, where it gained a hard fought one point victory over Oxford University. The undersized Oxford team proved to be a formidable opponent for the LSE because like the LSE, the Oxford team was stocked with Americans with years of basketball experience.
The LSE jumped out to a thirteen point lead by halftime behind Mike Swell's 15 first half points. In the second half Oxford relied on its outside shooting to whittle away at the LSE lead. Oxford pulled to within one point with under a minute left to play. With ten seconds remaining and the LSE up by one, an Oxford desperation foul put Swell on the line for a one-and-one opportunity. Swell missed the first freethrow but center Patrick Shannon came down with the rebound. Rather than run out the clock, however, Shannon dribbled out, squared up and launched a fifteen foot jumper which missed. Oxford-pulled down the rebound and was able to advance
the ball up court in time to get off a twenty foot jumper at the buzzer. Fortunately, the shot misfired and the LSE escaped with a 71-70 win.
Last Sunday the LSE hosted Cambridge University. The team was handicapped by an eight-week lay-off and the loss of forward Matt Wallack, who recently suffered a season ending knee injury.
As expected, the LSE came out flat in the first half. LSE was able to regroup midway through the half and held a 33-23 lead at the intermission. Throughout most of the second half, the team controlled the tempo of the game and maintained a comfortable lead. With four minutes left, however, Cambridge made its run and was able to come to within three points of the LSE before its two big men fouled out of the game. LSE pulled away in the closing minutes of the game behind the clutch free-throw shoofing of guard Rod Palmer to gain a 68-59 victory.
By Kevin Koga
Football Reports
Royal Holloway & Bedford New College 1 LSE 1st XI0
The 1st XI's first post-Christmas game saw them lose a closely-contested match. In quite an open game, the only goal was the result of appalling marking at a corner. Although the 1st XI did enough to perhaps warrant a draw, the performance was not, as they say, very professional. Enthusiasm was particularly lacking. Why? Some players showed a lack of fitness, others a lack of effort-and as always, the 1st XI win the award for the quietest team. However, let's proceed to the now-compulsory humourous anecdotes. Did Shipstone have his mind on the game or on the price of ballet tickets for two? Is it true Wallis trains with his whippet and only eats black pudding? Why was Red-head feigning injury? Can guinness really be good for you considering Rob Jones' appalling missed chance? And finally, will a new perm mark Billy the Fish's return to the fray?
SNOTTY
LSE 2nd XI 5 Imperial 1
LSE once again showed the form that had taken them to the top of the table by completely overwhelming the opposition. Theyscored 5, but it could, and should, have been 10. Most notably, Rob Easton missed a series of chances including a penalty, and his name should have been on the score-sheet more than just the once.
Adam Marking came in a centre-forward for the missing Nick Ball and ran his heart out - he was everywhere. If only everybody was as fit and enthusiastic as Adam, then the LSE football club would not be in the state it is today.
The mid-field worked hard and diligently throughout creating many openings, and Jeff Kirsh got his just rewards scoring his first hat trick of the season.
John Nolan came on at half-time for his first game in a year, and quite frankly, it showed. He was unfit, lacking in skill, and refused to go in for a tackle.
LSE 3rd XI-3 vs New College 4th XI-1
LSE won this scrappy game 3-1 after a slightly sub-standard performance from the all-stars. Awed by the presence of our honourable leader the boys all wanted to impress, desperate for a first team place. One can't help feeling that the team will remain intact.
We took the lead mid-way through the first half when a Dave Davies shot was saved on the line by their central defender. Nolan coolly stabbed the penalty away, bravely accepting the responsibility! A sloppy goal was conceded soon after so the score was 1-1 at half-time.
After another "serious" Bridges team talk at half-time the boys went out with fresh confidence and vigour. Gradually the opposition was worn down, as Neil Caragher at last gave Ise the lead with an excellent goal. A third was added when "that centre-back" popped up again with his second erfort, this time an oggie. This game was certainly not without incidents: who will ever forget Nolan's crack at the world 50 metre reverse sprint record, or Mike Gunter actually doing something right. And it's two more points towards that elusive title.
Royal Free Hospital-1 vs LSE 4th XI-2
A very long journey and an obnoxious opposing captain didn't provide the ideal preparation but on a very heavy pitch, the LSE played some solid football to be 1-0 up at half-time thanks to a scrappy goal from Alex Hunt. In fact the LSE could have increased their lead but unfortunately Dan Duncan forgot we were playing football and balooned a penalty kick over the bar.
The second half saw the LSE put together some good moves and soon we were 2-0 up thanks to a 25 yard screamer from Steve Brown. However Royal Free had most of the latter play and scored due to an atrocious error by the goalkeeper, Ray Bradley. In fact only some stout defending by Jules, Nick and Richard gave the LSE the final 2-1 victory.
THE BEAVER. ISSUE 256, FEBRUARY 2,1987
New York Champions
After the NY Mets winning the Baseball World Series just a few months ago, the NY Giants have now completed New York's euphoria by winning that most treasured of American trophies, the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Giants will not be granted the honour of a tickertape parade because New York's mayor doesn't like the fact that the Giants Stadium is in New Jersey and not New York.
The game was quite an exciting one, compared with last year's, and the Denver Broncos had a one point lead (10-9) at
Cricket
The L.S.E. six-a-side cricket team had another good day last Saturday, and now look certain to win the indoor league and with it the Silexine Trophey.
Of the two matches scheduled, the first was won by default when a team comprised of musicians failed to arrive, and thereby did not play. (Get it?)
The second match, however, was of vital importance being against a side who, like L.S.E., had lost only one match. Another decisive victory with the coin enabled skipper Derek Smith to ask Pacific to bat first (a definite disadvantage in this 12 overs com-' petition).
An excellent start saw Pacific reach 33 without loss of wickets in the third over, and a total of around a 100 began to look likely. However, in typical fashion, Justin Jones removed both openers, aided by a fine catch from Simon Eckersley playing in his first match.
Further accurate bowling from Saeed Khawaja (3 overs for 11), good fielding (including 3 runouts) and tidy wicket-keeping from Stewart Robertson, restricted Pacific to 64 all out.
The L.S.E. reply started well with a 50 partnership between Simon Bexon (23) and Smith (18 n.o.), including two well struck
sixes from Bexon. Khawaja (4) and Jones (4 n.o.) helped take L.S.E. through to their seventh victory in eight matches.
Team: Simon Bexon, Simon Eckcrsley, Justin Jones, Saeed Khawaja, Stewart Robertson, Derek Smith. Scorer: Kate Meyrick.
Derek Smith
half-time, due to the opportunism of John Elway, the Denver Quarterback, and the uncharacteristic carelessness of the Giants defence. Denver would have had an even larger lead at half-time, were it not for they kicker, Rich Karlis, who missed two field-goal attempts. The Giants got a big morale booster midway through the second quarter when George Martin sacked Elway in his own end-zone.
In the second half however, the Giants, and particularly their defence, got going and the game developped into one-way traffic. The tnird quarter became a decisive 17-0 point advantage to the Giants with Joe Morris and Mark Bavaro, two of their outstanding players, each scoring a touchdown.
By the fourth q^uarter the game was decided but the Giants continued playing a very tight defensive game and put another 13 points on the-scoreboard before the Broncos got a consolation 47 yard touchdown that was surely the most impressive of the game. It was all too late however. The Giants, undoubtebly the best team in the NFL today, had done the job and the habitual "dunking" of coach Bill Parcels was not to be missed out on.
Phil Simms, the Giants quarterback, completed 88% of his passes which was the highest not only for any Super Bowl game, but for any of the 213 post-season games in NFL history and earned him the title of Most Valuable Player.
The Giants also tied the Super Bowl record for most touchdowns with 5. The 39-20 final score was a fair result and if the Giants keep up tthis form throughout the next season, unlike the Chicago Bears, they will be extremely difficult to stop in their quest for their second Super Bowl Title.
THE BEAVER COLLECTIVE MEETING MONDAY 5PM E204
LSE 1st XI
Photo: Sean Davies