Christmas in London

The Student Services Centre has put together a guide for students planning to stay in London for Christmas and also those who will be travelling abroad during the break.

LSE Christmas carol service

End the term on a festive note with the School's traditional Christmas carol service, on Wednesday 12 December in the Shaw Library, Old Building.

Sarah Gledhill

Sarah is a law student but spends most of her time with more 'entertaining' activities at LSE, such as LooSE TV and Pulse radio.

Congratulations from the staff at the Student Services Centre (SSC) on the completion of Michaelmas term. We hope you will have a safe and fun vacation.

As the holidays approach, you are encouraged to review the Christmas in London Guide on the SSC website. The page offers guidance for those who will be travelling abroad during the break, contact numbers in case of an emergency, and vacation opening hours for services at LSE.

If you are planning to stay in London for all or some of the Christmas break, the Christmas in London Guide also offers a number of suggestions regarding the variety of things going on around the city in December and January. Don’t forget to check out the International Students House Christmas programme which is available to all full-time students. Some popular London events will become booked up quickly, so plan early and reserve your place as soon as possible.

The latest issue of Global Policy contains a section dedicated to 'International Law, Human Rights and the Global Economy: innovations and expectations for the 21st century'.

The section brings together eight cutting-edge articles written by international law experts and tailored to a cross-disciplinary audience of academics, practitioners and policy-makers. The articles highlight a number of important developments that invite us to take a fresh look at how we think about the role of international law when it comes to the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as to contemplate seriously what we might expect of it in the years to come.

Chancellor risking 'fatal error' on growth, warns independent report

The chancellor risks making the 'fatal error' of undermining the potential of local economies to drive economic growth if councils are made to bear the brunt of further cuts to public spending, warns a report by LSE professor Tony Travers (pictured) published this week.

The warning comes as new figures reveal that cuts to the funding councils received from government have already forced a reduction of between 16 and 44 per cent in councils’ spending on pro-growth services such as roads and transport, culture, housing and planning and development. These cuts sit alongside smaller, but still significant, reductions in the amount of money available for core services such as adult social care and child protection.

LSE research supports major report on NHS funding

The Nuffield Trust, backed by LSE research, has published a major report showing that the NHS could experience a £44-£53 billion funding gap in 2021-22.

This will occur unless it delivers unprecedented productivity gains over the next decade, or public finances improve enough to allow health funding to increase faster than inflation, the report warns.

The figures were released alongside new polling data commissioned by the Trust which shows that the NHS is the number one area the public want to be protected from the cuts.

The report was partly based on research by LSE's Personal Social Services Unit (PSSRU) which set out projections of public expenditure on social care and continuing health care for people aged 65 or over in England from 2010 to 2022.

Nick Hurd MP, minister for civil society, responsible for the Community Organiser’s programme of the Big Society, has launched a report by LSE and Orbit on how housing associations can empower tenants to help their communities and tackle society’s toughest challenges.

LSE Housing and Communities researchers conducted 170 in-depth interviews with local people, community leaders and Orbit staff about their community investment priorities to inform the development of a framework to guide future investment decisions. Specially trained resident ‘peer researchers’ helped to carry out more than half of the resident interviews. The top five community investment priorities identified were:

• youth activities, support and job access
• employment and job training for adult residents
• tackling crime and anti-social behaviour
• welfare and money advice
• support and provision for older people and families.

For more on the report, click here.
 

'Catch up' strategies for developing countries

The dynamic economic growth of China and other large emerging markets provides an unprecedented opportunity for industrialisation and growth in Africa and other low income countries, according to a paper in the November issue of the LSE journal Global Policy.

According to Justin Yifu Lin, formerly of the World Bank, nearly 100 million labour intensive manufacturing jobs will be freed up by the graduation of China, and other growing middle income countries, from low skilled manufacturing. This could quadruple manufacturing employment in low income countries.

In his paper, From flying geese to leading dragons, new opportunities and strategies for structural transformation in developing countries, Lin says: 'To fully benefit from these opportunities, policy makers in low income countries must quickly plan and implement economically viable growth strategies.'

He argues that the successful strategy for developing countries is to exploit their late-comer advantage by building up industries that are growing dynamically in more advanced countries with similar resources to theirs, in terms of land, labour and capital. More

National Scholarship Programme

Home UK undergraduate students who began their programmes in the 2012-13 academic session are eligible for a National Scholarship Programme Award if their household income is between £0 and £3,000.

To apply, students need to have made a means tested application to Student Finance. The Financial Support Office has identified a list of eligible students and confirmed their awards, however if you think you should be eligible and have not heard from us, contact financial-support@lse.ac.uk as soon as possible.

The deadline for being assessed for the National Scholarship Programme is Friday 14 December - no awards will be made after this point.

All home UK undergraduates who qualify for a maintenance grant are also eligible for an LSE Bursary, again assessed via a means tested application to Student Finance. The deadline for being considered for the bursary is the end of the Lent term. Again if you are expecting a bursary but have not had confirmation of it, contact financial-support@lse.ac.uk.

Three Minute Thesis competition

Could you present your research to a general audience in three minutes and with one slide?

The Research Festival’s Three Minute Thesis competition, running in February and March 2013, is open to all LSE MRes, MPhil and PhD students with prizes for the winners. This is a great opportunity to develop communication skills and give your research exposure.

Mobile printing is here

Are you tired of having to wait for a free computer just to be able to print out your work?

LSE’s new Mobile Printing Service is now available for all students to use. The service lets you print on the move from your laptop or mobile device in three different ways. As long as you have access to your document on your device, you can:

1. Simply email your document as an attachment
2. Upload it via the Mobile Print Web Portal
3. Download the driver on your laptop and send your print jobs directly from all your commonly used applications.

Then, simply log on to a print station and release your print jobs.

To learn more about this service and find out how to get started, visit www.lse.ac.uk/mobileprinting.
 

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• Excel 2010: presenting and printing data
• PhD Thesis Surgery
• End of Term Review for MSc Students
• PowerPoint 2010: images and media
• Safe Posture and Avoiding RSI

Office 2010 self-study workshops for everyone will end on Friday 14 December.

Topics cover Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010 and Word 2010. Come and learn something new or refresh your IT skills before the term ends.

Nominations are invited for the award of a Queen’s Honour (which include MBE, OBE, CBE).

Do you know someone working at LSE who has:

• made a real impact on the School
• gained the respect of their peers
• changed things for the better at the School
• demonstrated innovation
• brought distinction to British life and enhanced its reputation through their work at the School?

A full explanation can be found here but please bear in mind that awards channelled through the School should be for services to higher education, with particular reference to the School.

Climb Mount Toubkal

Are you interested in going to Morocco next summer and climbing North Africa's highest peak, Mount Toubkal?, for a good cause?

Anna Mammedova, an undergraduate student in LSE's Department of Law, will be making the climb next year and is looking for likeminded students to come with her.

All the money raised will go to TEACH (Time to Educate Africa’s Children), which focuses on alleviating poverty through the power of education and empowering the young to make a positive change to their world.

TEACH provides holistic programs that equip young people with the skills, knowledge and resources that enable them to support themselves in the challenges they face. Projects include its school learning and update renovation programme, which aims to create a safe, practical and inspiring learning environment, develop English language skills of local teachers, empowering youth with limited access to medical facilities with basic first aid skills, and much more.

An information event will be held on Tuesday 11 December at 6pm in CLM.1.03 for anyone interested in getting involved. For further information, email Anna at a.mammedova@lse.ac.uk or follow the @LSE_TEACH twitter feed.
 

First year international relations student Donara Barojan will be spending 10 weeks in a Ugandan or Kenyan school as a project worker for the EPA (Education Partnerships Africa) this summer.

EPA is a student-run charity with all of its funds coming from donations. Anyone wanting to sponsor Donara can do so at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/donarabarojan1.

Donara said: 'During my summer in Africa I will invest the donations to connect the school to electricity, buy textbooks and lab equipment. Apart from that, I will set up some after-school activities and my personal challenge will be to set up a debating club. I will also establish a comprehensive health awareness programme, organise careers and sports days. Most importantly, I will make sure that these changes are sustainable. For these extraordinary changes to happen I need your help.'

LSE Perspectives

December's LSE Perspectives gallery is now online. You can view the gallery online 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, in 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.

Calling all musicians

Bands wanting to apply for the Uni Music League talent competition have until Friday 14 December to get their entries in.

Uni Music League is a talent project offering student acts the opportunity to get noticed by industry professionals and build up their fan base across London. As the name suggests, aspiring bands from all participating universities are pitted against each other in a league-style battle of the bands competition, with a variety of opportunities and prizes up for grabs. All bands will be heard by music industry professionals and get their material exposed in various ways, from performing at some of London’s trendiest venues, to the winner recording an EP with a top producer in a fantastic studio.

Skip fit lessons

Security officer and former boxer Daniel Beckley 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.

The next lessons will take place from 1-2pm at the Badminton Court, Old Building, on Tuesday 8 January, Tuesday 15 January, Tuesday 29 January, Tuesday 5 February, Tuesday 19 February, Tuesday 26 February, Tuesday 12 March, and Tuesday 19 March.

Just turn up on any of these dates with your own skipping rope. All lessons are free.

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

Forthcoming LSE events

Visualising Political Struggle in the Middle East
On: Thursday 13 December at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Lina Khatib (pictured), co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Centre on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

Demystifying the Chinese Economy
On: Tuesday 18 December at 6.45pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Justin Lin (pictured), former World Bank chief economist and senior vice president of development economics.
LSE students and staff can request one ticket via the online ticket request form after 10pm on Monday 10 December.

Perspectives on the European Crises from a Small Open Economy
On: Wednesday 16 January at 4.15pm. The venue will be confirmed to ticket holders.
Speaker: Anders Borg (pictured), minister for finance in Sweden.
LSE students and staff can request one ticket via the online ticket request form after 10pm on Tuesday 8 January.

Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the birth of neoliberal politics
On: Wednesday 16 January at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Dr Daniel Stedman Jones, barrister.
Respondents: Professor Mark Pennington, professor of public policy and political economy at King's College, University of London, and Professor Lord Skidelsky, emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Warwick.
 

Burma's Silent Sufferers

On: Monday 10 December (Human Rights Day) from 5-7pm in room NAB.2.16, New Academic Building

The LSESU Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery Societies are teaming up with international charity Restless Beings for a special Human Rights Day event on Burma’s silent sufferers.

The event aims to raise awareness about the little known persecution of Rohingya Muslim minorities in modern day Myanmar (Burma). The event will run through the history of the current refugee crisis which has seen the displacement of over 22,000 Rohingyas in the last two months alone and also gives the opportunity to learn about volunteering and activism opportunities at Restless Beings with an interactive presentation given by one of the founders of Restless Beings.

For more information, email Sarah Essa at s.haji-essa1@lse.ac.uk.
 

Sleepwalking into a Global Famine

On: Tuesday 11 December from 6-9pm in room CLM.1.02, Clement House
Speaker: Benny Dembitzer, a development economist who has worked for the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the University of Cambridge.

At this talk, organised by the LSESU Social Enterprise Book Exchange (SEBE) Society in coordination with the LSESU Development Society, Benny Dembitzer will discuss his new book, Sleepwalking into a Global Famine, and the implications of his theories on the current crisis and the future effects globally. The event will be followed by a Q&A session.

On: Wednesday 12 December at 5.30pm in the Shaw library, Old Building

End the term on a festive note with traditional carols and readings. Featuring the LSE Choir and Rt Revd Trevor Mwamba, Bishop of Botswana. The service will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Podcasts of public lectures and events

When Gay People Get Married
Speaker: Professor M V Lee Badgett
Recorded: Monday 26 November, approx 85 minutes

Social Movements and Social Change
Speaker: Professor Craig Calhoun
Recorded: Tuesday 27 November, approx 90 minutes

The Eurozone's Design Failures: can they be corrected?
Speaker: Professor Paul De Grauwe
Recorded: Wednesday 28 November, approx 81 minutes