Welcome to Orientation 2011

This is your chance to learn all about LSE and your place in it. Find out what events are on offer next week to give you a flying start in the new academic year.

Quids in with sQuid

Make sure you activate your LSE ID card, and top it up with money online, for access to special exclusive offers across campus including The Garrick’s early bird specials and lunch deals.

Alex Peters-Day

'Get involved in everything you can - you might find yourselves doing things you’d never imagined'. Alex, general secretary of LSE's Students’ Union, welcomes you to the School.

The Student Mentoring Scheme offers all new LSE undergraduate and General Course students the chance to make connections with second or third year undergraduates, often from the same department. Mentors are students like you, but with more experience of LSE.

By now, your mentor should have been in touch to introduce themself and to set up a time to meet during Orientation Week. This first meeting is your chance to get to know a few new students, usually from your department, and to ask your mentor any additional questions you may have about settling in.

Your mentor will also set up another group meeting with you in Week One, and a few other times during the year. Regardless of whether you decide to meet your mentor in person or not, they are also available by email throughout the year to answer any questions that arise.

Don't feel shy about getting in contact - mentors are disappointed when they don't have a chance to help.

A warm welcome from the Library to all students. As always we will be working hard to make your experience with us the best it can be.

Orientation is a good time to pass on some important Library information, particularly regarding recent changes, so you can start the year using the Library as smoothly as possible:

• Locker applications process will open on the lower ground floor on Monday 17 October from 1pm
• Course Collection items can be borrowed for three days. The overdue fine on these items is 30p per day; however the fine on recalled items is £1 per day
• Course Collection holds will be on open access in the Course Collection. Main Collection holds will need to be picked up from the Service Counter
• Pay fines or add money to your print account using LSE Wallet
• If you need any assistance in the Library keep an eye out for our roaming floorwalkers who will be happy to help
• All IT enquiries should be directed to the Help Desk on the first floor

Welcome from the Disability and Well-being Service

Disabled students are invited to attend a welcome event on Tuesday 27 September from 10am to 3pm. The day will provide lots of useful information about services at LSE as well as a free lunch.

The term disabled includes students with long term medical conditions, sensory and physical impairments, neurodiverse profiles such as dyslexia or Asperger syndrome, mental health concerns and so on. You are welcome to dip in and out if you can’t make the whole day.

For more information, email Sue Haines at s.haines@lse.ac.uk.
 

The graduation day story

Graduation is one of the best and busiest times of the year for students and staff at LSE, and the latest film from the 'Stories from LSE' series tells the story of a graduation day through the eyes of Rachel Leighton and her family.

A student in social policy, Rachel graduated last year with a 2:1 and was joint winner of the Janet Beveridge award for conspicuous achievement in final examinations.

The film takes viewers through the day, from gown fitting and her graduation photograph to getting her degree from Sir Howard Davies, then director of the School.

Rachel is keen to put her experience to good use and encourage greater participation in higher education following graduation. 'What I really want to get into is widening participation to universities - getting children from non-traditional backgrounds into higher education,' she says.

Continuing students can now register for the new academic year online, by selecting the ‘Registration for continuing students’ option on LSE for You. Students should ensure that they register no later than Friday 7 October.

New students are required to register in person. Further information, including schedules, is available via the registration web pages.

LSE’s Catering Services provide a diverse range of great food and drinks for all tastes and budgets.

Fourth Floor Restaurant
Old Building, Houghton Street (Monday-Friday 9am-7pm)
LSE’s main student restaurant offers a huge choice of value hot and cold meals throughout the day, including international dishes, vegetarian options, salads, stir fries and pizzas.

Fourth Floor Café Bar
Old Building, Houghton Street (Monday-Friday 11am-9pm)
Enjoy handmade speciality sandwiches, cakes, barista coffees, wines and beers.

LSE Garrick
Corner of Houghton Steet/Aldwych (Monday-Friday 8am-7pm)
Speciality drinks and light snacks on the ground floor. Superb home cooked meals on the lower level at lunchtime.

Café 54
Ground floor, New Academic Building (Monday-Friday 8.30am-6pm)
A wide selection of drinks, hot snacks and light meals.

Mezzanine Café
Mezzanine floor, New Academic Building (Monday-Friday 10.30am-4pm)
Barista coffees, delicious smoothies and cakes.

The Plaza Café
John Watkins Plaza (Monday-Thursday 9am-9pm, Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 12noon-6pm)
Enjoy hot and cold drinks and light snacks.

The George IV
Corner of Portugal Street/Portsmouth Street (Monday-Friday 12noon-11pm
Traditional pub serving real ales, beers, wines and spirits.

Special offers in all of LSE's catering outlets are exclusive to sQuid card users.

Your LSE ID card incorporates sQuid so be sure to activate it for access to special offers across campus, including The Garrick’s early bird specials and lunch deals.

Users spending 30 sQuid or more on their card each month will also be entered into a prize draw, with five winners getting 10 sQuid value added to their loyalty purse.

Some of the services for students include:

• IT Help Desk: for support regarding LSE hardware and software, network and email account issues and general IT queries
• Student PCs: Over 1000 student PCs, including laptops to borrow and use in the Library
• PC Availability Service: visit lse.ac.uk/itservices/findapc for live PC availability
• IT Support for Disabled Students: IT support and assistive technologies
• 24 Hour IT Helpline: call 020 7955 6728 for support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
• Virtual IT Assistance (VITA): real-time assistance with an IT help desk advisor
• Laptop Surgery: for assistance with personally-owned laptops and mobile devices
• Free Anti-Virus: if your laptop or personal computer is not properly protected it can become infected within a few minutes of connecting it to the network
• Free IT Training: IT training is delivered in a number of ways, allowing you to enhance and improve your IT skills
• Online IT Guides and FAQs: a series of online guides and FAQs offer advice and solutions to common IT-related questions
• LSE Mobile: this is the campus app for mobile phones

The Language Centre has lots to offer new and continuing students.

Do you think you might need help with your English?
If English is not your first language and/or you have never studied in an English speaking environment before, the Language Centre offers a comprehensive support programme available to all students.

Want to take a language as part of your undergraduate degree?
You can take a French, German, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish course as a fully assessed part of your undergraduate degree. You do not even have to have studied the language before. Four literature and society options are also available.

Do you want to take a language course whilst at LSE?
If you are a postgraduate student or an undergraduate who cannot (or chooses not to) take a language as part of your degree, we have a programme of extra curricular courses. Our Certificate Course programme offers Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Additional services
If you have an important piece of work to submit, there is a proofreading service available to LSE students at cost.

The packed programme of employer presentations, fairs, forums and seminars for Michaelmas term launches next week so whether you’re a new or returning student, now is the time to get to know LSE Careers.

We’ve created a quick-start web guide showing the huge variety of events, services and resources available, and to answer all your initial questions, including 'when can I log into LSE Careers'? and 'how can I find a part time job on campus'?

See information for new students to get started, where you can:

• Download the brand new LSE Careers brochure 2011-12
• Find out how to book for events and one-to-one careers and CV appointments
• Log into the LSE-exclusive online vacancy board 'My Careers Service'
• Get a list of the key, upcoming careers events during the first few weeks of term
• Watch the new presentations on networking, digital footprints, interview technique and more
• Sign into premium careers websites including 10 Minutes With, Vault, Wetfeet and Going Global

The Library has been acquiring ebooks faster than ever before, adding thousands of titles every year.

The Library tries to buy ebook versions of everything it already purchases in print for course reading lists and always tries to buy ebook versions without restrictive print and download limits.

All ebooks can be accessed via the Library Catalogue both on and off campus, as long as you have your username and password.

Some facts relating to ebooks:

• 14000+ ebooks already available, with more being added every day
• all ebooks can be found on the Library Catalogue
• many have no restrictions on fair-use printing or downloading
• most available as PDF and some in ebook reader friendly formats
• no limit on how many students can read them at once
• always available even when all print equivalents have been borrowed
• no fines

The Volunteer Centre sits within LSE Careers and is here to help you find a volunteering placement in a charity or not-for-profit organisation during your time at LSE.

The Centre offers a range of volunteering opportunities for you to get involved in, whether you have one hour a week or two days a week to spare. It can offer a wealth of advice on volunteering in London and internationally, plus how you can make the best use of your opportunities to make a difference in the world and help gain new skills for your future careers.

Visit lse.ac.uk/volunteercentre for more information or come and meet the Volunteer Centre coordinator during the term-time drop-ins:

• Tuesdays at 4-5pm, upstairs in SU Quad by Alpha Books
• Fridays at 2-4pm, LSE Careers, Floor Three, Tower Three

The LSE Student Counselling Service will be running a series of events during the first few weeks of term. These include presentations on being a student at LSE, good writing psychology, as well as workshops for MSc and international students.

A list of all workshops and presentations being held in Michaelmas term can be found here, with further details on the Student Counselling Service website. Events are free and open to all current students; there is no need to book in advance.

The Student Counselling Service will also run groups this term on stress management and self-esteem. These small groups last for three weeks, starting in November, and places must be booked in advance.

We are also running longer term therapy groups for MSc, undergraduate and PhD students. For a list of all the short term and longer term groups, please click here.

The LSE Neurodiversity and Dyslexia Service has a number of projects planned for the coming academic year. The service is part of the Disability and Well-being Office and is the first place to contact if you are dyslexic/neurodiverse or think that you maybe.

The service offers guidance, information and resources, so log on to the new Moodle site for more information, to join the interest group, or to sign up to one of the activities.

Upcoming events include a photo workshop on Wednesday 2 November, organised as part of Dyslexia Awareness Week (31 October to 4 November). During the workshop, students will use photography to produce artwork which represents life as a neurodiverse student at LSE. Participants do not need any previous artistic experience. If you are an LSE neurodiverse or dyslexic student and would like to attend, email disability-dyslexia@lse.ac.uk.

To coincide with the start of the new academic year, Transport for London (TfL) has relaunched Cabwise - the text messaging service which gives contact information of the nearest minicab operators to your location and also the number for a taxi (black cab).

Cabwise is a key part of the Mayor of London's Safer Travel at Night initiative. Working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police, it aims to raise awareness of the dangers of using unbooked minicabs (including unlicensed cabs and licensed minicabs touting illegally) and highlight the safer travel options in the capital at night.

So when you’re on a night out in London, remember:

• Never approach a minicab on the street or accept a journey from somebody who approaches you: they are acting illegally, even if they are licensed by TfL
• Only taxis (black cabs) can pick passengers up on the street without a booking
• When travelling by minicab always book it with a licensed operator. When it arrives check it’s for you by getting the driver to confirm your booking details and checking the driver’s photo identification, and always sit in the back
• To get three local cab numbers text ‘CAB’ to 60835

Free to Dance

From 11-16 October, south London school teacher Ben Hammond will be attempting to break the record for the world’s longest ever dance by an individual, in order to raise funds for LearnBurma.

Ben will be dancing through an entire 131 hour silent disco line-up in the Scoop amphitheatre, next to City Hall London, and is inviting LSE students to join him and help raise money by getting sponsored to dance at one of the four hour silent disco sessions.

LSE's autumn public events programme is now online

There are lots of events taking place during the first weeks of Michaelmas term.

Below is a small selection of some of the upcoming events. Other speakers will include Luke Johnson, Professor Ha-Joon Chang, Professor Robert Trivers and Professor Roger Scruton.

Upcoming events include....

Changing Fortunes: income mobility and poverty dynamics in Britain
On: Monday 3 October at 6.30pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speaker: Professor Simon Burgess, Professor John Hills and Professor Stephen Jenkins (pictured)

Cybercrime, Cybercops and You
On: Tuesday 4 October at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Misha Glenny (pictured)

Hellenism, Universal Rights and Apartheid
On: Wednesday 5 October at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: George Bizos

LSE Arts Lunchtime Concert
On: Thursday 6 October at 1.05pm in the Shaw Library, 6th floor, Old Building
Speaker: Agon Piano Trio

Wednesday 28 September, 6.30-8pm, Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Maxine Molyneux (pictured), professor of sociology and institute director, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London.

Latin America has been, and continues to be both a pioneer and a zone of experiment in a wide variety of domains. This lecture will consider the degree to which these new developments are addressing the deeply rooted gender inequalities that characterise the Latin American region.

• LSE Chill

Friday 30 September

Following the success of LSE Chill last year, we’re delighted to bring back this popular event for another year. LSE Chill, an open performing evening, is open to all and the next session will be on Friday 30 September from 5.30pm in the 4th Floor Café bar.

The line up for the evening is as follows:

6-6.30pm Joshua Bernstein
Joshua Bernstein is a singer/songwriter/composer, located in London, who is currently playing gigs and writes music for dramatic productions and films.

6.45-7.15pm Konni Deppe and Martin Slade "Le Swing Electrique"
Konni Deppe (vocals) and Martin Slade (guitar) will be performing an eclectic range of jazz standards. Konni shares her time between working for LSE's Residential Services and a professional singing and teaching career in the UK and Germany. Martin has spent many years gigging in indie, rock, blues and jazz bands when not whizzing across campus to fix broken network outlets.

Wednesday 29 February - Saturday 3 March
Do you have a passion for the arts and literature as well as social science? Then come to the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2012 which will explore the interaction between the arts and social sciences.

Free to attend and open to all, the festival is a great opportunity to see famous authors from across the world discussing how their work is relevant to you, as well as join creative writing workshops and watch live music. Past speakers have included Andrew Motion, Colin Thubron, Lionel Shriver, Elif Shafak, AS Byatt, Ben Okri and Professor Richard Sennett.

Podcasts of public lectures and events

Beyond The Crisis: lessons for the future of the eurozone
Speaker: Herman Van Rompuy
Recorded: Wednesday 7 September, 70 minutes
Click here to listen

The Leaderless Revolution: how ordinary people will take power and change politics in the 21st century
Speaker: Carne Ross
Recorded: Thursday 8 September, 83 minutes
Click here to listen

Nicole wants to hear from you!

Do you have some news, an achievement, or an aspect of LSE life that you would like to share? If so, then I would love to hear from you, contact me at n.gallivan@lse.ac.uk or on ext 7582.

The next edition of Student News is on Wednesday 28 September. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Monday 26 September. Student News is emailed on Wednesdays, on a weekly basis during Michaelmas and Lent term and fortnightly during Summer term.