Our charity-culture fest is in full swing: hope you've enjoyed it so far. Events like the Development Society Auction, rowing from London to Calais and a sell-out comedy show have contributed to what could be the most successful RAG Week for many years. Please give generously, and help out if you can.

 

The President & Vice-Presidents of ULU came down to LSE to speak to me about ULU and its future. We're all agreed on the need for ULU to do more campaigning, and - in fact - more generally. We also spoke about overcoming the cutbacks ULU has faced in recent years. In related news, for the first time in a long time, we have LSE students running in ULU elections for both President and Vice-President. Best of luck to them both.

 

This week we held a couple of open meetings on Your Union; and we've been collating the results of the survey. Watch out for the results of this soon.

 

Congratulations to Rob Charnock, who has been crowned as the new Pulse Führer for the next year. Looks like he's got an exciting year ahead: best of luck to him. Wish he'd bring back the ponytail, though.

 

Yesterday I sat on the Good Campus Relations Working Group to discuss concerns about the atmosphere on campus. Everyone acknowledges there are problems, but it is proving much harder to come up with any solutions.

 

Been helping Aled produce a very good report to Council on the academic and social experience at LSE, expressing many of the concerns students have.

 

It's big, and it's looking pretty beautiful, too. Next week is shaping up to be huge. The taskforce has selected Rainbow House, Wings of Hope and Link Community Development as our charities. Watch out for details of all the events; speak to me if you'd like to get involved. The t-shirts are going to be awesome, too.

 

The sabbs have given up their cosy offices to come together in a shiny new open plan office. There's still a few teething problems, but it looks set to revolutionise the Students' Union, the way we communicate and our visibility to students. Well done to Wil for sorting it out.

 

This week we've gone big on Your Union: if you've not done the survey already, go to changeyourunion.co.uk and enter for your chance to win an iPod Touch. Come along to our open meetings today at 2PM in H101 or 5.30PM in NAB206 on Monday.

 

In our termly meeting with the School, we discussed classes and lectures scheduled on Wednesday afternoons and Thursdays at 1PM. It is a difficult problem to solve, but we're determined to get to the bottom of it.

 

Number 10 - Went for a reception at Number 10 with other students from around the country. one word: amazing. Clare Market Review - Next issue is shaping up nicely, spent some of this week libel reading it. Exec meeting - we discussed the graduation ball, electoral reform and much more. Student governors meeting - discussed a paper we are drafting on the student experience.

 

It's coming, and it's going to be massive. Last night we had a great meeting of the taskforce where we decided which charities to support and what sort of fundraising activities we want to organise. If you weren't there, don't worry - there's still plenty of opportunities to get involved! Email me or su.rag@lse.ac.uk and tell us what you'd like to do.

 

Congratulations to Nikhil, Becky and 100s of others involved in Timeless. I went to see it at Sadler's Wells on Sunday and was astounded by the quality of the production. Without doubt the biggest achievement of the LSE student body this year. Weird thing happened while we were in the theatre though....

 

And London came to a standstill. With teaching cancelled on Monday, along with all of my meetings, I spent the day libel checking the Beaver and sending out countless messages updating students on which bits of LSE were out of action. Worryingly, some classes and lectures seem to have been rescheduled to 1PM today, which goes against an agreement we have with the School. We will be following this up.

 

F&S - we approved changes to the Copy Shop, including some fancy new machines which print directly from your USB stick! Very futuristic. Your Union - Second survey has just launched, which focuses on what the Students' Union does in terms of activities and campaigning, and what we should be focusing our resources on. Website - Met with the University of the Arts London SU, who have recently gone through a tendering process for their website. Have been putting together the brief for this project, and will also ULU - Went to an inquorate Senate meeting on Tuesday, which turned into quite a fruitful discussion on what ULU should be doing (the conclusion being 'something' as opposed to the 'nothing' they seem to be doing presently!).

 

Inspirational quote: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Harold R. McAlindon

 

I will be running a safety awareness campaign over the next couple of weeks. Every student will have the opportunity to pick up a safety booklet and there will also be the opportunity to discuss an issues of concern that you have about you safety with the Westminster Student Liaison Officer PC John Farnberry.

 

We now have a 24 hour Library...well kind of. The Library will be opening on a 24 hour basis from the 23rd of February. It will open on a 24 hour basis until the end of the summer term which is a far longer period than last year. There will also be a survey conducted by the library during this period which will have questions about the library opening on a 24 hour basis. The library has kindly allowed the us to have input on the survey so that we can ascertain as to how we deliver on our mandate of extended library opening hours so please take the opportunity to fill out the survey.

 

This week I have also attended two consultative for which are an opportunity for course representatives to raise student issues with the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Deans. Issues that were raised included issues with the schools induction period and how it could deliver a better one.

 

Next week there will be several Events to mark Disability Awareness Week. Events so far include a deaf rave on Friday, an art exhibition on the ground floor corridor of the old building and sign language lessons. Please speak to Jessica for more information or send an e-mail to su.disabilities@lse.ac.uk.

 

I attended the Aldwych group meeting on Monday which took place in Cambridge.. This was as productive as it usually is. It was agreed the Student Union would work with the NUS and take a lead on a national ID cards campaign. Please come to the open meeting for international students tomorrow d if you would like more information and advice on the governments new points based system and to hear what the union will be doing bout the problems that they present to students. Please speak to Ayshman the International Students officer for more information on that or send an e-mail to su.international@lse.ac.uk.

 

As always this takes up a significant part of the Education and Welfare officers day. It is once again Assessment Misconduct Panel season and unfortunately students are still falling foul of the regulations. While I am at risk of repeating myself please ensure that you are aware of the regulations and what constitutes plagiarism so that you will not have to come along to a panelhearing with me.

 

Pointless but interesting fact: The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air

 

Inspirational Quote: Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

 

On Monday myself and Aled met with the School to discuss how a 24 hour Library could potentially be implemented. There were a number of concerns that were raised regarding it's implementation and we are looking at how they could potentially be resolved. The outcome of the meeting was very positive and I hope to be reporting back with some good news soon.

 

Yesterday I went to a meeting of the Disability and Diversity Consultative Forum with The LGBT Officer and the Disabilities Officer where issues regarding Women's. LGBT, Religious, International Mature and Part Time students are discussed. There were a number of very positive initiatives from the school on addressing problems that relate to these groups of students. One of the key outcomes was to look at the experience of LGBT students in halls considering there has been a number of concerns raised by these students.

 

The teaching awards are back. This week I have been The LSE Teaching Excellence Awards is an opportunity to raise the profile of teaching across the School, and to acknowledge the effort and

enthusiasm invested in teaching and the support of learning by academic staff. Up to five awards are made each year. The initial selection of teachers is undertaken by student nomination, coordinated through the Students' Union. The final selection is undertaken by the Pro Director responsible for Teaching, Learning and Student Affairs, so please watch out for these as nominations will open next week.

 

Concerns about safety in halls and on campus are becoming a bigger concern for students. I have therefore been in regular contact with the Westminster Safer Neighbourhoods Team about creating a position of student Liaison Officer within the met who will have the responsibility of Liaising with and advising the students union. They will play a key role in hall and safety campaigns in general. After extensive discussions it was decided that a Police Officer by the name of PC Farberry will take that role in the meantime and I will be meeting with him tomorrow.

 

Last Friday I attended the National Postgraduates Committee. We are working hard to get this pretty much defunct organisation integrated into the NUS so that we will actually have a body that represents postgraduate students effectively.

 

Pointless but interesting fact: The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

 

Inspirational Quote: Minds are like parachutes - they only function when

open -Thomas Dewar

 

It seems that it is a very depressing time of year and unfortunately more students than usual are experiencing emotional problems. If you feel that you would like to speak to someone please send an e-mail to student.counselling@lse.ac.uk or su.advice-centre@lse.ac.uk or phone 020 7852 3627.

 

Due to the success of the blood donation sign up and Bone Marrow register last term I am in the process of organising another session possibly with the opportunity to donate blood on campus if you are already registered to do so. There are blood donation forms at the back so please pick one up and sign up if you wish to donate.

 

The second course reps training session was very successful. And much of the feedback from it has been positive. If you are a course rep and would like some information and advice on how to perform well in your role please send me an e-mail.

 

The Student Affairs Committee was a productive meeting > Issues such as the disappearance of some of the common rooms, the prospect of a PhD common are as well as the New Union Building were discussed.

 

Unfortunately due to the snow several meeting that I supposed to have attended had to be rescheduled so I will report back at the next UGM.

 

Pointless but interesting fact: In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it is smiling).

 

General Secretary blog > click to go back to top of page
19 February 2009 – Aled Dilwyn Fisher

I haven't been well this week, and went home early yesterday because of it. But RAG has been fantastic. Well done to everyone involved in the fundraising, and don't forget Hacks vs Jock Straps tomorrow... please give generously to the right side! By the way, we raised over £2000 IN ONE DAY for MAP last week - amazing!

 

I've spent most of this week writing, with the help of Student Governors and officers, a paper to Council on the 'student experience', i.e. the decline in the quality of our education at LSE. It addresses Wednesday afternoons free, teaching quality improvements, the importance of Induction, Halls, departmental ethos and many other issues. This paper will come to the committee in early March; look out for something in The Beaver this week (if they decide to print it, of course!). This is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, so thank you to them - but the ideas contained therein come from students, and the concerns they have expressed for a number of years. I've also been drafting the Annual Report of the Students' Union, which also needs to go to Council; the main SU Annual Report will be presented in Week 10 at the AGM to students.

 

Had another great meeting on ethical/socially-responsible investment with representatives of various interested societies, including People and Planet, Amnesty and Palestine Society, to discuss moving forward with research into other universities' policies, ethical investment funds and other aspects of the issue. I am confident this year that, finally, the School will adopt some kind of ethical investment policy - we just have to make sure it is as comprehensive as possible, which requires us providing well researched proposals and showing how deeply students feel about it. If you'd like to get involved, please email me!

 

I had a really exciting meeting with Estates over the New Union Building project. The increase in the size of the facilities we have is going to be fantastic. We've had a great response to the survey on what you want from the new building - as always, check out changeyourunion.co.uk to take part with a chance to with an iPod Touch - and we will be drawing up the brief to give to the School before the end of term. I'll be visiting a recently built Students' Union on Monday at Winchester University to get some good ideas.

 

LSE not for profit meetings, Listening Campaign meeting, meeting various students, raising money in various ways, and much more...

 

Opening up the Union to change continues with the Your Union consultation. The survey, in two parts, is now online at changeyourunion.co.uk. Please sign up to have your say in the future of the Union and particularly our New Union Building. There will be an Open Meeting Today at 2pm in H101 and another on Monday at 5.30pm in NAB 2.06.

 

LSE Not for Profit goes from strength to strength. The campaign handed in the letter to Howard Davies on Monday, even though it was pouring down! We await a response. The concerns raised by numerous students about their dissatisfaction with LSE will be put to the Council and Court of Governors by student representatives in early March. We are drafting a paper on the issue of the 'student experience' - join us tomorrow (Friday) at 2pm in our new offices (E009, formerly STA travel).

 

Please give generously to MAP today! Collections will be happening all day on Houghton Street and outside the Old Building.

 

The Dialogue Commission's first meeting between representatives of the Palestine and Israel Societies seemed to be a success, and the process of dialogue will continue. If you want to get more involved, email su.dialogue@lse.ac.uk Erin, Kat and the team have done a great job in getting it started, and I look forward to great things!

 

Last Friday, Emmanuel, Cole and I travelled to Nottingham for a meeting of the National Postgraduate Committee (NPC). Never heard of them? Of course not. They are a failing organisation and need to change to offer a proper national voice for our postgraduates. A motion was tabled to investigate a merger with NUS, in which there would be a new Postgraduate sabbatical officer, extra staff support and funding. This is the best move for postgrads and we, along with other Unions and Graduate Student Associations, pushed that the motion was passed. We look forward to building the new postgrad campaign inside NUS, where postgrads and undergrads can be united.

 

Sitting in on the Selection Committee for the new Pro-Director of External Relations and Research, Beaver Collective, discussing the Clare Market Parliament with the Debate Society, discussing SRI and meeting with the Union's investment manager, meetings of the School's Academic Planning and Resources Committee (APRC) and Council, meeting of the Students' Union-School Liaison Committee (SULC!), working on the LSE's Strategic Plan, moving into the new office and much more...

 

… you may have noticed. So I spent Monday at home answering calls, sending emails and Facebooking to get the information out there. Tuesday was a very lonely day in the office with very few people around! I hope you enjoyed throwing a few snowballs; my highlight was getting to ‘inbox zero’! Two days of nothing much happening means I have very little to report…

 

Part 2 of the Your Union consultation survey launches today at changeyourunion.co.uk. Take part in the surveys to change your Union, affect the New Union Building and be in with a chance of winning some great prizes! The consultation continues with open meetings, and we have been meeting other groups, like the Media Group and the religious societies, to get their specific views on the development of the new building.

 

The Twinning Taskforce met on Friday to discuss ideas for taking our twinning with An-Najah university forward this year and in the future. There were some great ideas coming out of this meeting, so look out for those. We also discussed how we go about proactively twinning with other Unions, particularly those in parts of the world where injustice and oppression are a constant threat to the right to education. Hopefully, some of these changes will become part of the Your Union proposals.

 

Well done to all who took part in Timeless. It was a great evening. I’m so jealous that I didn’t audition now…

 

I’m really looking forward to our first ever Global RAG Week, which will combine celebrations of our diversity with raising money for some good causes. To get involved with the week itself, email Dan on su.comms@lse.ac.uk and also email RAG themselves on su.rag@lse.ac.uk.

 

Preparing the selection for the new University Challenge team, meeting of the Student Affairs Committee to discuss induction/PHD common room/mentoring, meeting with Estates and the Drama Society to sort out lighting and other issues in the Old Theatre, NAB Project Board to review the NAB and how it’s going, wishing Pulse a happy birthday by getting drunk and eating cake, meetings between the School and the occupation to work out implementation of their demands, and much, much more…

 

Treasurer blog > click to go back to top of page
19 February 2009 – Wil Barber

The new machines for the Copy Shop arrived on Tuesday and they’re looking very big and shiny. There are a few teething problems with the USB printing facility but photocopy experts are currently beavering away to sort out the Gremlins.

There is Real Ale and Fairtrade wine in the Tuns and new sofas are on their way.

 

Two things on this side, we had our first meeting of the LSE Students’ Union SRI working group to discuss the proposals on Socially Responsible Investment we will be presenting to the School. We will be meeting again next week to discuss progress on our research.

I’ve also been preparing a document to send to the Estates division to bring in recycling bins across all our common spaces. Apparently we’ll be getting the bins for free instead of paying for them…which is nice.

 

At “Your Union” open meetings held last term a number of society chairs asked about sponsorship training. As a result, we’ve organised a session next week for society members to attend. We have invited Fiona Sandford, the head of the Careers Service, to explain how best to approach companies for sponsorship money. We will also have a representative from the Alumni Office coming down to explain how to build relationships with and get money from Alumni.

The session will be held next week, on 25th February at 3pm in the Underground.

 

Had very brief Finance and Services Committee Meeting, Catering Services User Group where (as Charlie Dougherty may be pleased to hear) we discussed Real Ale provision on campus, also had a number of other meetings with the rest of the Sabbs regarding progress on Your Union, finally I had a meeting with Murray Carol regarding re-usable mugs.

I’ve also been spending a fair bit of time organising the Bernard Levin Award.

 

Welcome to week 5, hope everyone’s staving off the mid-term blues. I would just like to welcome Howard to the UGM and also wish him a very happy birthday.

 

At bloody last, a new era has dawned over the Students’ Union. With the telephone and internet installed over the weekend we have now been able to move into the STA travel offices and all of the Sabbs will be located here for the rest of the year. Once we have finished settling in we will be looking at allocating the empty office space to SU staff, societies and the Media Group.

 

We are in the process of narrowing down the selection of venues for the Gradball. Although Koko appeared to be a front runner there were some concerns that this venue would not be suitably classy for a graduation ball. As a result, I travelled down to Camden with our Entertainments Manager to check out the venue. I can report that the venue does look absolutely fantastic, provides great value for money, although has slightly limited catering facilities.

 

On Monday myself and Aled met with our current investment manager to discuss the most appropriate way for a charity such as ours to move towards an ethical investment policy. He agreed that he will look at any proposals that we present to him and access their profitability. Once he has accessed these proposals will be put out to wider consultation.

 

We have now confirmed that Radio 4 favourite Melvyn Bragg will now be presenting this award to the lucky winner of this award. You might have seen this award advertised on the Union update and on the grey log in boxes. If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me on su.treasurer@lse.ac.uk

 

It’s now been 12 days since I last had a cigarette. Which I guess means I have officially quit smoking. This does mean that I am slightly more crabby than normal, so I do apologise if I am a bit snappy in today’s UGM.

 

Not too many other meetings this week, highlights of the bunch include: SULC, Treasury Team, Exec, Good Campus Relations, Society AGMs.

 

Well this certainly put a spanner in the works at the start of this week. It meant I ended up missing loads of riveting meetings like the LSE Waste Management Steering Group - bummer.

 

My current least favourite rumour is that I’m re-running for Treasurer. I can confirm that I have absolutely no intention of re-running for a sabbatical position.

On that basis if anyone is thinking of becoming a Sabbatical Officer and would like to know more about the job please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I will more than gladly answer any questions you have as discreetly as possible.

 

Preparations for next academic year start early in the Treasury. I have also been working this week on Freshers’ Fayre 2009 and have started work on our budget submission to the School for funding for 2009/10.

 

I was supposed to be visiting Koko last Monday to scout out this area as a potential area for the grad ball. This has now been re-arranged and we are also looking into the possibility of hosting this at Matter or Fabric.

 

As part of our bid to improve these awards I have spent this week contacting other Students’ Unions for more information on how they run their awards. This is going to be presented back to the Union Awards working group for further discussion. 

 

A final move in deadline has now been set for this problem stricken area of the Students’ Union. Internet and telecoms will be being installed next week which means that the Sabbs will be working out of this office from the start of week 6.