Green roof installed on campus

LSE has installed a green roof on top of the Plaza Café, following a successful Sustainable Projects Fund bid from three students.

LSE Chill

Don't miss our talented students and staff perform at the last LSE Chill for this academic year, taking place on Friday 25 May from 5.30pm in the Fourth Floor Café Bar.

Dr Peter Howlett

Dr Howlett, Department of Economic History, is a long suffering Leeds United fan but also enjoys music and films - he spent a week last year watching 21 films at the London Film Festival.

Lent term 2012 teaching surveys - permanent staff results

Message from Professor Janet Hartley (pictured), pro-director for teaching and learning.

There were over 13,000 responses to the class/seminar surveys. The average score for the question 'In general, how satisfied have you been so far with the class teaching on this course by this teacher?' was 1.7 (on a five-point scale with 1 being ‘very satisfied’). This is in line with last year’s result. Only 4.5 per cent of students indicated dissatisfaction with any of their class/seminar teaching, and 84 per cent were satisfied/very satisfied.

There were over 11,000 responses to the lecture survey. The average score for the question 'Overall, how would you rate the performance of this lecturer?' was 1.9. Again, this is in line with last year’s result. 6.2 per cent of students indicated dissatisfaction with at least some of their lecturing, while 78.8 per cent were satisfied/very satisfied.

For more information click here. I should like to thank all students for taking the time to provide such important feedback. It will be used to help improve the teaching and learning experience for you and your peers.
 

LSE has installed a green roof on top of the Plaza Café, following a successful Sustainable Projects Fund (SPF) bid from three students.

Two years ago, Olivier Scialom, Sidharth Gopalan and Stanislav Bic entered their proposal to the SPF, which welcomes applications from students and staff for projects which are dedicated to advancing sustainability both at LSE and beyond campus. The project was approved, and with help from Phil Newsham, project manager from LSE’s Capital Development team, the green roof has been successfully installed.

Since the last edition of Student News, more students have got in touch to tell us how they are getting involved in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games:

• Matthew Lombardi, Department of International Relations, will be volunteering with Team Canada at Canada Olympic House during the Olympic Games.
• Choong Ai Pang (Nicole), Department of Statistics, will be volunteering as a venue entry team member at the Olympic Park during the Olympic Games.
• Piyi See, Department of Statistics, will be volunteering as a London ambassador during the Olympic Games.

Training for students

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• PhD Thesis Surgery

• Keeping Up To Date: tools and tips for your research

• Managing your References using Bibliographic Tools

• Writing for Blogs

For a full listing of what is available and further details, including booking information, see www.lse.ac.uk/training.
 

MSc students - don't miss this year's series of workshops, designed especially to help you plan, write and make the most of your dissertation.

There are sessions on structuring your work, effective layout, and managing your references, as well as workshops focusing on career possibilities and managing the psychological challenges of dissertation writing.

LSE Perspectives features photographs taken by LSE students and staff, with 12 new images published every month, and LSE Arts is currently looking for submissions for next month’s gallery.

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

Equality and Diversity summer term events

As the exam season is in full swing and end-of-year change is in the air, we’re running a host of workshops and events to help you sail through - from building resilience, to developing good sleep patterns and balancing work and caring responsibilities.

Download the Equality and Diversity summer term flyer to find out more about the events and get involved.
 

Skip fit lessons

Security officer and former boxer Daniel Beckley (pictured) is running skip fit lessons for all students and staff at LSE.

Build up your fitness, burn calories and increase your stamina, all within an hour.

Lessons will take place from 1-2pm at the Badminton Court, Old Building, on Tuesday 22 May, Tuesday 29 May, Tuesday 12 June, Tuesday 19 June, Tuesday 3 July, Tuesday 10 July, Tuesday 24 July and Tuesday 31 July.

Just turn up on any of these dates with your own skipping rope. All lessons are free to attend. More sessions will take place throughout the Summer and during Michaelmas term.

For more information, email Daniel at d.beckley@lse.ac.uk.
 

Join in the fun on Saturday 9 June from 11am-7pm at the LSE Sportsground, Berrylands, KT3 5HB.

Enter a five a side football team and/or dodgeball team. Your team can consist of your housemates, course mates, society friends or a mixture of them all.

Proofreading and formatting service available

Transformat, a proofreading and formatting service for academic papers, is offering LSE students a 10 per cent discount until 30 September.

Expert proofreaders provide a thorough check of grammar, sentence structure, spelling and punctuation, ensuring your paper is coherent and error free.

The formatting service allows you to focus on your paper's content while Transformat takes care of the appearance, ensuring it meets university guidelines and is of publishable quality.

You can combine proofreading and formatting for the complete service or use either service separately.

Simply use your LSE email address when corresponding to qualify for the discount. Visit www.transformat.co.uk for more information.
 

Contemporary affairs essay competition

Project-Firefly invites LSE students to take part in its contemporary affairs essay competition.

Submit an essay between 800 and 1,500 words on one of the following topics: social media, economic crisis, or current affairs. The top three submissions will win 1,000 Swiss Francs each.

The entry deadline is Sunday 3 June. Visit www.project-firefly.com or email info@project-firefly.com for more information or to enter.

Upcoming LSE events include....

The Emerging Left in the 'Emerging' World
On: Monday 28 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and executive secretary of International Development Economics Associates.

Seasons in the Sun
On: Monday 28 May at 6.30pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speaker: Dominic Sandbrook (pictured), author, reviewer and columnist.

Kiss of the Dragon? China’s Geoeconomic Strategy in a Changing Global Order
On: Tuesday 29 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Jonathan Fenby, former editor of the Observer and the South China Morning Post, Guy De Jonquieres, senior fellow at the European Centre for Political Economy, and Linda Yueh, director of the China Growth Centre and a fellow in economics at the University of Oxford.

On Immortality
On: Wednesday 30 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Dr Stephen Cave, philosopher and writer, and Professor John Gray, emeritus professor of European thought at LSE.

On until Friday 25 May, Atrium Gallery, Old Building

The current exhibition showcases the LSESU Visual Arts Society’s Annual Art Exhibition.

For the first time, the Atrium Gallery displays the work of many talented students studying at the School. The exhibition features a range of sketches, drawings, paintings and sculptures, video installations and photography. Many of the artworks have been created by students during the popular weekly workshops organised by the society, as well as in their spare time.

The exhibition is a great way to examine the artistic vein of the student body as well as explore the many cultural activities present once classes end.

This exhibition is free and open to all, with no ticket required. Visitors are welcome Monday-Friday between 10am and 8pm (excluding bank holidays or unless otherwise stated).

Come and watch our talented students and staff perform at the last LSE Chill for this academic year. The session is this Friday (25 May) from 5.30pm in the Fourth Floor Café Bar and the event is open all.

The line up for the evening is as follows:

6-6.30pm Michael Brenner
Michael Brenner is a postgraduate student in the Department of Philosophy and an American musician, who has performed over 200 shows throughout America with his former band The Mad Hatters. He will be playing music by The Grateful Dead, Paul Simon, original compositions, and maybe even some Bach on the guitar. Eva Huebner will accompany him with vocals on a few tunes.

6.45-7.15pm Veronique Mizgailo
On campus Veronique can be found in the Directorate. Veronique has a classical singing background, having sung with a number of choirs, most notably the London Philharmonic Choir and the English Chamber Choir, and has given numerous recitals. In search of a new challenge she is exploring jazz and less mainstream popular music and, accompanied by Andy Thornes who is a professional musician and songwriter, she will be performing a selection of standards and classic pop ballads. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/veroniquemizgailo.

7.30-8pm Daniel Fisher
Daniel has performed all over the Midwest and the West Coast in the US. His band Ros Coe Tanner is a London based band and has performed throughout the London scene. He will be performing an acoustic set of original songs inspired by Midwest music.

We’re still looking for acts to perform during the year. If you are interested in performing, email arts@lse.ac.uk with your name and details of your act. For more information, visit www.lse.ac.uk/arts.
 

On: Tuesday 29 May from 12.30-2pm in the Thai Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Dr Matthew Desmond (pictured), assistant professor of sociology at Harvard.

At this lunchtime lecture, Dr Desmond will explore the prevalence and ramifications of eviction in the lives of the urban poor in the US.

Eviction is commonplace in inner-city black neighbourhoods and women are evicted at significantly higher rates than men. A qualitative analysis of ethnographic data based on fieldwork among evicted tenants and their landlords reveals multiple mechanisms propelling this discrepancy.

Risk Communication in Health Information Needs and Communication Strategies for Public Health Incidents

On: Tuesday 29 May from 1-2.30pm in room KSW 3.01, 20 Kingsway
Speaker: Dr Petra Dickmann (pictured), research fellow at LSE.

Information and communication are critical to the successful management of public health incidents. But what are effective strategies to communicate with the public? And is the public really prone to panic when responding to health threats?

This talk presents two studies in order to answer these questions. One is a literature review about the healthcare seeking behaviour and information needs of patients. The second is an empirical investigation during the first days of the Influenza Pandemic 2009 ('Swine Flu') at an international airport aiming to understand the information needs of the public and effective communication strategies of public health authorities.

The research findings contribute to a shift in the organisational and communicative approach to responding to major public health incidents and are relevant for future risk communication and policy decision-making. More
 

Podcasts of public lectures and events

The Future of the Left: the case of the United States
Speaker: Professor Eli Zaretsky
Recorded: Monday 14 May, approx 90 minutes
Click here to listen

The Architecture of the Olympics
Speakers: Andy Altman, Professor Ricky Burdett, Jim Eyre, Zaha Hadid, and Michael Taylor
Recorded: Tuesday 15 May, approx 109 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 6 June. Articles for this should be emailed to me by Monday 4 June. Student News is emailed on Wednesdays, on a weekly basis during Michaelmas and Lent term and fortnightly during Summer term.