It’s not too late to become a student mentor

Students who would like to join the 2012-13 Student Mentoring Scheme should apply before Thursday 1 March.

Get your tickets for the LSE Literary Festival 2012

Tickets for LSE's 4th Space for Thought Literary Festival will be available from Monday 6 February.

Danny Bartlett

In his spare time, LSESU communications coordinator Danny runs a project called 'Hands Up Who's Bored,' which has gone national with adverts playing out in cinemas and on TV.

For 100 years, the LSE Library’s collections have played a crucial role in the social sciences. However, the digital era poses new challenges, not least the capturing of digital material itself.

Launched last week, LSE’s Digital Library means that the School can now preserve digital material in all forms - from various media and formats through to emails and blogs. The Digital Library contains both born-digital material that has been collected and preserved in digital formats as well as material that has been digitised from LSE Library collections.

The first major collection to be made available through the Digital Library is the diary of Beatrice Webb, with funding from the Webb Memorial Trust. Dating from 1869 to the 1940s, the extensive diary is a key resource for research into a wide range of subjects, such as politics in the late 19th and early 20th century, industrial relations, and the role of women in society. The Digital Library provides a single access point through which you can search and browse this material.

The Digital Library aims to provide greater access to primary sources, improved integration with Moodle and other teaching support material. It will also support innovative research by enabling new ways of analysing and presenting information and data.

Two LSE research groups, the foreign affairs centre LSE IDEAS and political analysts/consultants the Public Policy Group, have been jointly named the world's fourth-best university think tank in a global survey.

IDEAS, the centre for international affairs, diplomacy and strategy at LSE, was also ranked the 20th most influential think tank in Western Europe.

The rankings, in the annual report of the Think Tank and Civic Society Program of the University of Pennsylvania, compared more than 5,300 think tanks from 120 countries.

Competition for multi-million pound grants to tackle debilitating parasitic diseases in the developing world means that serious concerns about whether current drug programmes actually work are being side-lined, says Professor Tim Allen in a letter published in The Lancet.

Professor Allen, professor in development anthropology, and Dr Melissa Parker, director of CRIMA (Centre for Research in International Medical Anthropology) at Brunel University, write that mass drug administration programmes (MDAs) - such as those supported by the UK Government - are often designed without taking into account local political, economic and social issues.

Using feedback from student surveys

Two years ago, LSE changed the way it surveys teachers and courses, by using a paper-based survey instead of an electronic survey. We now get far fuller results - about 75 per cent completion rates on classes.

The 2011 Michaelmas term teaching survey resulted in 410 Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), working as class teachers, teaching across 26 academic departments/institutes, receiving feedback from their students. The average score for the question ‘in general, how satisfied have you been with your class teacher’ was 1.8 (where 1 is ‘very satisfied’). Only 5.2 per cent of students indicated dissatisfaction with any of their class teachers and 82.7 per cent were satisfied/very satisfied.

So what happens with low scoring teachers? First of all, there is detailed consideration of their feedback. The Head of Department considers their scores and explores what issues there may be with both the teacher and the course. The Teaching and Learning Centre staff can observe sessions and offer guidance. Teachers may be directed to a voice coach, or to the Language Centre to join the English for Teaching Purposes programme, and may also be given mentors. GTAs with poor scores will be re-surveyed in the Lent term, and in some cases are not re-hired the following year. In others, if the department decides to rehire, additional support is put in place.

We also note very high scores and these can result in teaching prizes for GTAs and permanent staff, and in extra increments for permanent teaching staff. For more information, click here.

The schedule for the July 2012 Ceremonies has been confirmed and posted on the Ceremonies website.

The Volunteer Centre @ LSE Careers is keen to hear your thoughts on volunteering and whether you have volunteered in 2011.

Please help IT Services to develop and improve our services in line with your needs by filling out our annual user satisfaction survey. It should take no more than fifteen minutes to complete and you could win one of five £50 Amazon vouchers if you enter our prize draw.

Feedback from last year's survey has led to improvements in the services and facilities we provide, such as the introduction of laptop loans, addition of Skype to LSE computers and the upgrade of the wireless service in the Library.

Click the following link to take part:

• Taught student survey (UG and PGT)
• PhD research student survey

There is still space available for students who would like to join the Student Mentoring Scheme in 2012-13.

Voluntary work experience as a student mentor is a great way to boost your CV whilst giving back to the LSE community. As a mentor, you will act as a human signpost to help a group of new students get settled into their first year.

Tell us what you think - Student News feedback survey 2012

The Press Office has put together a short survey for you to let us know how you feel about Student News. It will be an important way for us to find out how we can improve the newsletter for you.

The survey is open to all students and should take no more than five minutes to complete. To take part, visit www.survey.bris.ac.uk/lsewebsite/student_news_2012.

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• PowerPoint 2010: images and media
• Excel 2010: formulas and common functions
• PowerPoint 2010: polished presentations in 10 steps
• Overcoming Procrastination
• English Through Film
• Excel 2010: pivot tables
• Software surgery

February's LSE Perspectives gallery is now online. You can view this month's selection of photos here.

The gallery features 12 striking images submitted by LSE students and staff. Each image reflects a unique perspective on a particular scene.

If you have taken any artistic images on your travels, from your home town or even just here in London why not submit them to LSE Perspectives so that they can be shared with the LSE community.

For more information and to submit your images visit LSE Perspectives Submissions. Every month the Arts team selects 12 images and publishes them online. Previous galleries can be found here.
 

Clare Market Review is now accepting submissions for the next issue.

This term’s issue will be open-themed. Clare is keen to see what’s on your mind, and wants to act as a medium for your thoughts. So if you would like to have your work published, submit your written and artwork pieces (essays, short stories, poems, drawings, photographs etc) to submissions@claremarketreview.co.uk. The deadline for submissions is Friday 10 February.

McKinsey & Co is launching the 2012 ‘McKinsey Innovate: realise your social enterprise’ business plan competition. This is a national competition that aims to promote creative and entrepreneurial spirit by supporting a student team to launch a business that benefits society.

This is a unique opportunity to create something of your own that makes a real difference to the issue you choose to address. The winning team will receive seed funding and support from McKinsey consultants to transform their idea into a real social enterprise. Participants will have the opportunity to obtain skills in project planning and business development through workshops and guidance provided throughout the competition.

McKinsey & Co. will be holding an LSE launch on Monday 13 February at 6pm in room NAB.1.14. All are welcome to find out more about the programme, get advice on their social business plan, and see a presentation by last year's winners. For more information or for the application portal visit www.innovate2012.mckinsey.com. First round applications close on the Wednesday 29 February.
 

Unleash your imagination in the European e-Skills Week Project Passion competition

Where will e-Skills take you? How do you see the digital revolution transforming Europe? Put your creativity to the test and win a cash prize.

The European e-Skills Week Project Passion competition is open to young people all over Europe and will help to tell the story of how investing in the right skills will drive innovation and jobs for all young people across Europe.

Use any medium to create your entry - post your campaign using Twitter, Tumblr, blogs, YouTube or any digital platform that suits you. Build a community of followers around your ideas for getting Europe’s young people to work in the European digital economy.

Once you are ready, fill in the entry form and you could win cash prizes. The deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday 4 March. For more information and the entry criteria, visit www.digitaleurope.org/ESkillsWeek2012.aspx.

Tickets for the LSE Literary Festival 2012 will be available from Monday 6 February. The festival is free to attend and open to all, with events exploring the relationship between the arts and social sciences.

Speakers will include AS Byatt, Michael Rosen, Claire Tomalin, Amit Chaudhuri, Marina Lewycka, Elif Shafak and many more.

Frederick the Great, Napoleon and Abraham Lincoln: what makes a national icon?
On: Monday 6 February at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Professor Alan Sked, professor of international history at LSE.

The Origins of Sex: a history of the first sexual revolution
On: Tuesday 7 February at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Dr Faramerz Dabhoiwala, senior fellow in history at Exeter College, Oxford, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Pity The Billionaire: the hard times swindle and the comeback of the right
On: Wednesday 8 February at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Thomas Frank, founding editor of the Baffler.

PSI - A Greek Gordian Knot: current issues and future consequences

On Thursday 2 February from 6.30-8pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speakers: Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal, lecturer in banking and finance, Queen Mary College, Nick Firoozye, managing director and head of European rates strategy at Nomura, Andreas Koutras, director, ITC Markets, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, deputy chief economist and director of research, EBRD.

Now in its third year, the Greek debt crisis continues to pose a substantial threat for the stability of the eurozone. Following the Council decision of 27 October 2011, Greece has entered negotiations with its private creditors for an orderly restructuring of its public debt, involving a sizeable ‘haircut’ under the so-called PSI-plus.

This panel debate will draw on the expertise of some key market, policy and academic experts to address a range of issues concerning the current PSI negotiations and their implications for Greece and the eurozone at large, including: the legality and distribution of costs of the proposed PSI agreement; the viability and relevance of alternative proposals; the economic outlook of Greece following the prospective agreement; and the implications of the Greek PSI for the other ailing economies in the eurozone and for economic governance in the eurozone at large.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come first served basis.
 

On: Monday 6 February from 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Richard Sennett, professor emeritus of sociology at LSE, founder director of the New York Institute for the Humanities, and university professor at New York University.

Living with people who differ - racially, ethnically, religiously, or economically - is one of the most difficult challenges facing us today. Modern politics emphasises unity and similarity, encouraging the politics of the tribe rather than of complexity.

Don't miss RAG Week 2012

This year's RAG Week is taking place in week six, and is the focus of LSESU RAG's fundraising activities for its three charities: Action Against Hunger, National AIDS Trust and War Child.

Events will include the Battle of the Halls Rematch, Gunge-a-Sabb, the Pulse RAGathon, AU RAG Mr LSE, and the Rowathon.

Look out for more information around campus or on Facebook.
 

Friday 24 - Sunday 26 February at LSE

Brought to you by the LSESU UN Society and the Department of International Relations, and sponsored by the LSE Annual Fund, the London Security Exercise is unlike most regular Model United Nations conferences.

LSEMUN is a real-time crisis simulation, playing out an intense geopolitical crisis from multiple angles and creating opportunities for fast-paced and exciting debate. This year, we will be dealing with a crisis in the Balkans, a region that is peaceful on the surface but still fears a return to the events and conflicts that led to the Wars in the 90s.

Will you be the delegate trying to prevent an escalation of the crisis through diplomacy or will you take a different, more dangerous route? Pick your side. Join the fray.

Podcasts of public lectures and events

The State of the World Economy in 2012
Speakers: Jean-Michel Severino and Martin Wolf
Recorded: Monday 23 January, approx 86 minutes
Click here to listen

How Labour’s Traditions Can Renew Beveridge for the 21st Century
Speaker: Liam Byrne MP
Recorded: Monday 23 January, approx 60 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 8 February. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Monday 6 February. Student News is emailed on Wednesdays, on a weekly basis during Michaelmas and Lent term and fortnightly during Summer term.