LSE Resignations Required

The Woolf Report on the questions arising from the Libyan connections at LSE and the award of a Ph.D. degree to Saif Al Gaddafi has been published. There has been a good deal said about this in the past and the damage done to the reputation and standing of the School. The full report is here:

http://www.woolflse.com/dl/woolf-lse-report.pdf

It is lucky perhaps that the report has emerged in a week when the Chancellor of the Exchequer has presented the Autumn Statement, the strike of public sector workers over pensions has dominated the media, notably the BBC, and the Euro and world financial situation had reached crisis point.

Additionally, in the last couple of weeks in the UK media there has been a lot of attention paid to the nature of investigative journalism. It is striking that so much of this is directed at personal interest stories and there is almost a complete absence of attention to major political and financial matters, such as who is buying whom?

From my reading of the report and the questions that arise in my mind in my purely personal opinion it is time for Peter Sutherland, Chairman of the Council and Court of Governors of the LSE to resign forthwith. It is also my view that Cherie Blair, unmentioned in the report, should consider her position as Governor.

The picture above is a bridge school in the Student Common Room possibly at about the time when Lord Woolf was studying there. Would he have been going to win the rubber or just engaging in a defensive ploy?

LSE, A Message From The Director

After a sudden surge of interest in the LSE by the media in just who and what was going on in relation to the Gaddafi family, the Director, Howard Davies, has resigned. There is a grim irony in that he came to LSE from the FSA. There are now serious questions about the School’s conduct and academic standing.

On the day Howard’s head rolled, I suspect to protect others, the Alumni Association, a particular interest of his, mailed all those on its list and the text of the message is below. There is an ethereal beauty about the timing of this in the context.

Quote:

Are you passionate about LSE? Have you got enthusiasm and ideas about how the School engages with its alumni? Then why not apply to sit on one of the Alumni Association committees.

The LSE Alumni Association was established in 2005 to give alumni a greater voice within the School. Working alongside a dedicated Alumni Relations team, the Alumni Association looks for innovative ways to:

support alumni groups, of which there are currently over 70 across the world;
engage alumni with the School, across all age groups;
develop our programme of events and communications to ensure it appeals to a wide range of alumni.

The Alumni Association is made up of a number of committees, which each focus on a different area of alumni engagement. These committees are overseen by an Executive Committee which meets regularly with representatives from the School to present the ideas and feedback from the committees’ meetings.

The Alumni Association committees are:

Communications
Group establishment, recognition and obligations
Group Leaders' support

Lifelong contacts
Mentoring
Regional ambassadors

To find out more about the work of the Alumni Association and its committees, or for more information about how to apply for a two-year term (September 2011 – September 2013), please see the Alumni Association web pages.

Interested in being involved in the Alumni Association Executive Committee or one of its committees? Apply online today.

Kind regards

The Alumni Association Executive Committee

Unquote

The picture above is of the LSE Student Common Room either during or close to the period I graced the Bridge and Poker schools while waiting for the bars to open. If the cash was short or my creditors insistent there was always the library which was warm, free and where an interesting book might be found in the section on social anthropology.

There is a hand of Contract Bridge being played and from the rapt interest being shown either a critical one or of some technical interest. Bridge has fallen from fashion these days, but it did teach some useful lessons.

If you do not know the game, put “Contract Bridge” into search and look for the Wikipedia listing. The article explains it all and the “Game Play” section indicates what can be involved.

You need to know the rules and then be able to deal, make contracts and proceed on the basis that you know where half of the cards are but to estimate where the other cards are placed and how they might be played.

It seems a pity that so few of the students or staff these days have time to play and pit their wits against each other. Perhaps they might learn how to avoid making catastrophic errors.

In the meantime, in all the kerfuffle going on there is a name curiously absent from the coverage yet to who might be central to the whole business. Did anyone say “superinjunction”?

All I will say was that the Gaddafi in question seems to have had a very close interest in Human Rights legislation.