The YouTube Election

As Hack Attack has reported, a video has been posted on YouTube with a silly voiceover on top of GenSec candidate Stephen Wall’s LooSE TV manifesto video.  It’s pretty sophomoric, but this Observer has to admit it earned a chuckle from us (and from Wall himself, apparently). According to the profile page of its poster (The1969Society), the video has been viewed more than 200 times.

Given the prevalence of unintentionally amusing manifesto videos on the elections website, one could only dream of further spoofs, although we have to imagine that this sort of thing is driving James Bacon batty. Might we recommend that the next video splices images of Abz putting his foot in his mouth on the campaign trail, as well as perhaps him prancing around in a monkey suit?

LSE Hands out First Degree

As you lot may well know, historically graduates from the LSE received their diplomas degrees from the University of London, the umbrella school of which the LSE is a constituent member. That has now changed, as Howard Davies awarded the first diploma degree bearing the mark of the London School of Economics instead of UoL to PhD student Enrico Sette last week. While we remain a part of the University of London, beginning with this years graduates all students will be receiving the new diploma degree, although currently enrolled students will have the opportunity to choose the University of London diploma degree if they like.

Apparently there are some mixed feelings about the change, particularly among British students, who may prefer the UoL degree. GenSec candidate Andy Hallet spoke last term about his preference for the UoL degrees during a UGM, however presumably for many of the international students they will be pleased with the change as they will no long have to explain to employers why their CV says LSE and their degree says Universty of London.

(EDIT: OK, I got tired of striking diploma for degree after the first graph. Suffice to say the distinction was lost on me (I’ll say!), but I’ve made the correction throughout the article)

Everybody Loves Libby

Outgoing SU Treasurer Libby Meyer has been named as the best Sabb in office for the term during the Hustings event this afternoon by Comms candidates. Asked by a questioner in the audience who they thought had been the best Sabb, Abz replied that Libby is the only one who hasn’t been embroiled in scandal, so she got his nod. Fellow candidate Gabby agreed, citing the success of the Freshers Fair this year, and Dan admired her dedication, having seen her in the office past 10pm in recent nights.

So congrats, Libby, you’re the favourite Sabb! But just to bring you back down to earth, you’ve still got a long ways to go before you reach the level of popularity accorded to the Hare Krishna food guy.

What’s On

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, widely known for his short and digestible Globalization and its Discontents, will be launching his latest book, the $3 Trillion War this evening. The event is ticketed, so if you didn’t have the foresight to snap one up last week, you’ll be banished to the video link in the New Theater, or you can try your luck in the returns queue. In any case, this should be a worthwhile event, one of the most anticipated of the term.

When, Where: Tonight, 6:30pm in the Old Theater (video link in the New Theater)

In coordination with the Financial Times, the LSE is hosting European Parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering this week for a discussion entitled “Dialogue of Cultures or Clash of Civilizations?” Given the unrest on the EU’s southeast flank, as well as continuing questions of migration and religion within the European Union, this promises to be an interesting discussion so long as the president is willing to weigh in on the issues.

When, Where: Wednesday, 5:00pm in the New Theater

As one could only imagine you all knew, elections for the Students Union are this week, with voting taking place on Wednesday and Thursday in the Quad (you can also vote online). There are numerous events taking place in coordination with the voting, including a Hustings event this afternoon where voters will have an opportunity to quiz the candidates on their policies and records. Of course there is further detail on all things election related on the Media Group’s election website.

When, Where: Hustings are this afternoon, 1pm in the Old Theater