Christmas holiday information

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 11 December in the Shaw Library.

Benjamin Butterworth

Third year student Benjamin cannot do without Kinder Bueno chocolate bars, Twitter, and Tony Travers, and would also like to be able to turn fruit into Ferrero Rocher.

LSE raises £125m through private investors to support campus redevelopment

LSE has raised £125 million by means of private placement of unrated debt. The money borrowed by the School will be used for the capital redevelopment of its recently expanded campus.

Three major investors were successful in their bids to lend money to LSE for a mix of 15 year, 30 year and 40 year maturities, arranged by Barclays Bank Inc. They are all life assurance companies seeking long term fixed rate income.

The School received the funds on 27 November which will be used to support the capital development programme of the next ten years and beyond.

The two main future capital developments planned are a redevelopment of the East Building and St Clements Building on the main LSE campus, to commence in 2015. This is in addition to a refurbishment, re-modelling or redevelopment of the recently purchased 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which will commence in 2016.

The School is also set to complete the £38 million development of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre in the coming weeks.

The primary sources of funding for capital development at the School will continue to be surpluses generated from academic activities and philanthropic support. The new borrowing will enable peaks of investment in capital development to be funded earlier and over a longer period than otherwise would be the case. More
 

Christmas holiday information

As the holidays approach, you are encouraged to review the Student Services Centre’s Christmas holidays guide.

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.

There are also a number of suggestions regarding the variety of things going on around the city in December and January for those planning to stay in London for all or some of the Christmas break. Have a wonderful holiday.
 

If you will be leaving the UK during the holidays, it is a good idea to take photocopies of your passport (and visa if applicable) and a stamped copy of your Certificate of Registration with you when you travel.

Anyone travelling abroad should always check to see if a visa is required and review visa application instructions carefully. Visa applications may require that you request documents from LSE, which can take three to five business days to process - see Certificate of Registration.

Please note that the SSC’s opening hours are changing, and that we are closed for dates in December. Click here for details. Be sure to plan ahead when requesting documents.

Around 20 LSE students braved the winter conditions on Thursday 28 November in a 24 hour Sleep Out organised by the LSE Students’ Union RAG (Raising and Giving) society.

The event, organised by RAG with the help of Students Advocates International, aimed to highlight the plight of the many people who are currently without shelter across the UK and all money raised will be donated to Spires, a day centre for homeless and vulnerable people in Lambeth. The LSE students spent the night on the steps of LSE’s Old Building on Houghton Street.

LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun said: "I am happy that the spirit of volunteering and of care for others is strong among LSE students. I am impressed with the significant amounts of time and energy our volunteers give to many causes from tutoring in local schools to helping a range of community institutions. I am grateful for the support given by the LSE Volunteer Centre and for the work of the Students’ Union."

Nona Buckley-Irvine, LSESU RAG President, said: "Homelessness in the UK is a growing problem as the number of people sleeping rough continues to rise. The effects of this are visible on our campus today with eight people regularly sleeping rough, and soup kitchens being facilitated daily in Lincoln's Inn Fields. We hope the Sleep Out will raise awareness of the problem of homelessness in Britain."

London Globalist enters RBS ESSA competition

The LSESU Global 21 Society has submitted itself and its annual magazine, The London Globalist, into the 2014 RBS ESSA competition.

The RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (ESSA) is a national scheme that pro-actively rewards and recognises societies and the teams behind them.

In its bid for the bronze award, the Society has entered a short promotional YouTube video which can be viewed here. Thirteen videos that best promote a society will be chosen as finalists in June 2014.
 

The 2013-14 Sustainable Projects Fund (SPF) is now open for applications, with up to £20,000 available to winning applicants.

The SPF was established by the Sustainable Futures Society to advance sustainability at the School. All students and staff are welcome to submit an application for an environmental project on campus. Previous winners have included the LSE bicycle maintenance stand, the Plaza Café green roof (pictured), and the Passfield Hall garden.

Want to learn more? Attend the launch event and workshop on Thursday 5 December from 3-5pm in 32L.LG.08, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, where you will be given information about last year’s project fund winners as well as suggestions and ideas for submitting a successful application this year. You can also stop by the Sustainable Futures Society stand on Houghton Street this week to find out more.

Ten of the world’s leading banks have racked up fines and similar "conduct costs" of nearly £150 billion over a period of just five years.

This is one of the findings revealed in a new analysis published by LSE.

The researchers, led by LSE Professor Roger McCormick, assessed the costs accrued by ten of the world’s leading banks across the UK, Europe and America as a result of misconduct. When put together, and reviewed over the period 2008-12, these ten banks alone incurred nearly £150 billion for misconduct of various kinds, including mis-selling PPI and other products, manipulating LIBOR, and failing to observe anti-money laundering rules.

Boys who leave school or university during a recession experience better health in later life than if they left during a boom, but the situation is reversed for girls, according to new research from LSE.

Researchers analysed the long-term health of more than 10,000 people across Europe who left full-time education between 1956 and 1986 in the context of national unemployment rates at the time of leaving. Greater unemployment rates during the school-leaving year were associated with better health at ages 50-74 among men, but worse health among women.

The research, Are economic recessions at the time of leaving school associated with worse physical functioning in later life?, is published in the latest edition of Annals of Epidemiology. It coincides with European Commission figures released last week which indicate that Eurozone youth unemployment is at a record high of 24.4 per cent.

The SSC’s opening hours both in and out of term time will change to 11am-4pm from Monday 16 December. These opening hours will be extended during peak times of the year, for example during exams and Orientation.

The SSC is closed as follows during December/January:

• Wednesday 11 December
  Open 10am-12.30pm
• Tuesday 17 December
  Closed due to graduation ceremonies
• Wednesday 18 December
  Closed due to graduation ceremonies
• Thursday 19 December
  Closed due to graduation ceremonies
• Monday 23 December to Wednesday 1 January
  Christmas closure

The Saw Swee Hock Student Centre is nearly complete, the scaffolding is down, and LSE Careers is getting ready to move.

After the Christmas holiday, all LSE Careers one-to-one appointments and resources will be on the fifth floor of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre. When you make an appointment, make sure you check the location carefully on your confirmation email. We look forward to seeing you in the new building.

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• Word 2010: formatting an academic paper
• English Through Creative Writing
• Introduction to Government, Intergovernmental and Archival Sources

Teaching and Learning Centre training events

• End of Term Review for MSc Students
  Wednesday 11 December from 12-1pm in CLM 4.02, Clement House
  Session for MSc students looking at the previous term achievements and what's next.

All sessions can be booked via the Training and Development System, which is recommended, but if that's not possible or if an event is fully booked, you can just turn up on the day.
 

Computer tip of the week

PowerPoint animation

There is something called "Death by PowerPoint", you may have heard of it. There are many reasons this can happen. One cause is the overuse of text, cramming your slides full of words, and then there is the lack of movement. Movement - animation - can help maintain interest. You can apply animation to text and images.

To apply animation, select what you wish to apply it to and then:

1. Click Animations - Animation
2. Select the animation you want.

If you are applying animation to text:
3. Click Animations - Animation - Effect Options: experiment with the options available to find the most suitable.

If you want, you can go further and animate by word or letter:
4. Click Animations - Animation then click the icon under Effect Options and choose Effect - Animate text: experiment with the options available.

Warning: avoid too much animation as this too can kill your presentation.

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

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

We are always looking for submissions for future galleries. 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.

The International Growth Centre (IGC) is seeking to appoint two full-time economists for a fixed-term period up to 31 March 2015 with possibility of extension, subject to funding. The posts are based at University of Oxford.

The postholders will engage in IGC related research under the direction of the Oxford IGC Management Group (Paul Collier, Tony Venables, Chris Adam, and Doug Gollin) who will have particular country interests in Africa and in the thematic areas of firm capabilities, energy, and urbanisation.

Applicants should hold a postgraduate degree (MSc or equivalent) in economics, public policy/administration, development economics, or a related discipline from a major research university.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is very keen for young people and students to be some of the first to see his new musical, Stephen Ward, and learn about the Profumo affair, whilst also making a contribution to charity. Therefore he has kindly invited LSE students to attend the previews on the following dates:

• Tuesday 10 December at 7.30pm
• Wednesday 11 December at 7.30pm
• Thursday 12 December at 7.30pm
• Monday 16 December at 7.30pm
• Tuesday 17 December at 7.30pm
• Wednesday 18 December at 7.30pm

While the tickets have been given to the School free of charge, there is a donation of £5 per ticket to support the LSESU RAG (Raising and Giving) society, who have been raising money for Spires.

Tickets will be distributed from 1-1.30pm on a first come, first served basis on Thursday 5 December in the Quad in the East Building. There is a limit of two tickets per student and LSE ID will be required to collect the tickets.

Forthcoming LSE events include....

Feminism in the Media
On: Tuesday 10 December at 6pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: Natalie Hanman, editor of Comment is Free at theguardian.com, Lola Okolosie (pictured), writer, teacher and prominent member of Black Feminists, and Tracey Reynolds, Reader in Social and Policy Research at London South Bank University.

From Moral Panics to States of Denial: a celebration of the life and work of Stan Cohen
On: Tuesday 10 December at 6pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Professor Robin Cohen, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford, Professor David Downes, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at LSE, Daphna Golan, founding research director of B'Tselem, Thomas Hammarberg, human rights defender and former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and Professor Harvey Molotch (pictured), Professor of Sociology and Metropolitan Studies at New York University.

Lunchtime Concert
On: Thursday 12 December at 1.05pm in the Shaw Library, Old Building
Performer: Marina Nadiradze (piano)

Is Europe Working?
On: Thursday 12 December at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides (pictured), Regius Professor at LSE.
This event is free and open to all but a ticket is required. Tickets will be released on Thursday 5 December.

The next LSE Chill session will take place this Friday (6 December) in the 4th Floor Café Bar, Old Building. Come along at 6pm for a time-limited open bar and snacks. The session is open to all and will feature some dynamic acts.

The line-up for the evening is as follows:

6-6.30pm Tara Priya
Tara is a singer/songwriter from San Francisco, California.

6.45-7.05pm Anuradha Santhanam
Anuradha is a singer and will cover some classic rock.

7.20-7.50pm – The Houghtones
The Houghtones are LSE's a cappella group.

On: Friday 6 December at 6pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speaker: Ha-Joon Chang (pictured), South-Korean Economist and Reader of Economics at the University of Cambridge.

At this event, organised by the LSESU Economics Society, Ha-Joon Chang will discuss extracts from his 2014 book about the different schools of economic thought.

Ha-Joon is noted for his work in the field of development and institutional economics, including the bestseller 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. In addition, he has previously worked as an advisor to the World Bank and multiple UN organisations, as well as writing a column in the Guardian newspaper.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. For more information, visit Facebook.
 

On: Tuesday 10 December from 6-7.30pm in the Cañada Blanch Room, Cowdray House
Speaker Dr Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers (pictured), University of Bournemouth

Dr Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers is a social anthropologist whose work focuses on Albania and Kosovo. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bournemouth.

On: Wednesday 11 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.

Free and open to all students and staff. The service will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies.
 

On: Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December in 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Speakers include Peter Bearman (Columbia), Vikki Bell (Goldsmiths), Claudio Benzecry (Connecticut), Georgina Born (Oxford), James Brassett (Warwick), Roberto Franzosi (Emory), Laurie Hanquinet (York), Sarah Nettleton (York), Cristiana Olcese (LSE), Marco Santoro (Bologna), and Mike Savage (LSE), with others presenting papers.

Bourdieu’s seminal work has influenced the agenda of sociology of culture like no other. As a result, art - as symbolic representations of culture - is still mainly perceived as a means of distinction. Attention has been given to dynamics of art production and art consumption actively contributing to the reproduction of existing power relations. This focus has been at the expense of other relevant cross-class dynamics: mainly the role of aesthetics in meaning development, and its impact on social relations.

This conference aims to put aesthetics at the centre of the sociology of culture’s emerging research agenda and to lay the basis for an understanding of culture and the arts beyond entertainment and the consolidation of existing social boundaries.