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Ever thought of becoming a Chief Whiskey Officer? Or perhaps you’d rather get stuck in with the fans at the biggest country music festival in the UK?

These are just a few ideas from new Country Society founders and General Course students, Logan Lofto and Zack Flagel. After a conversational tennis match of who should tell the story, it was Zack who took the role of setting the scene.

“I’m from suburban Atlanta in Georgia and have always been involved in country activities but I knew that coming here to a big city like London, I was not expecting any country to be here. Country music is solely home to America for the most part. Yes, it has roots in Irish or Celtic folk music but for the most part I wasn’t expecting anything.”

“So I get to High Holborn [student halls] the first night and there’s a pizza party going downstairs. I go back up to my room to get a drink and I hear from my kitchen, country music blaring and I’m like what, this can’t be! I legitimately didn’t think I was going to hear it the entire year long. Coming from the kitchen, it’s a guy that lives next door to me, Logan, like directly next door.”

At this point Logan takes over in telling his version of events.

“He storms into the kitchen like, you like country music?! Dude is this your music?”

“I was so excited I don’t even know if I introduced my name.”

“Yeah you may have left the room without saying your name.”

Zack, who is also the LSESU General Course President, spoke of how his carpe diem spirit led to the creation of one of LSESU’s newest societies.

“We were thinking, what can we do with our time that we would really enjoy and we didn’t see anything country music wise, country culture wise. So I think I got a text from him [Logan] saying do you want to start a country music society and I think I sent back 10 straight texts like yes, this is happening, yes please please! So it’s been our goal from the third day.”

Originally Zack and Logan had applied as a Country Music Society but changed their description due to it being too similar to the Music Society. Since then they’ve broadened their horizons, incorporating whiskey tasting, tailgating and going to concerts or visiting farms together.

“We want to embody the concept of country bringing people together, just like how we met. They [country songs] talk about having a good time and enjoying life, seizing the day, so we really love that aspect. One of my favourite songs which is kind of like both our philosophies on life, is a song called ‘Live like you’re dying’ by Tim McGraw, who is one of the country legends.”

Showing that they really do live what they preach, the seize the day duo have even started a radio show called The Cowboy, just halfway through term! Having all of zero radio experience, they hosted a LIVE hour long show on the LSE student radio station, Pulse. Looking ahead, they hope to have guests as well as live interaction with listeners as they create themes from spring break, to female country appreciation, to their favourite tracks.

“We obviously leave next year and really want this to grow so what I would want is for someone to takeover The Cowboy next year because I feel like a lot of people don’t listen to country or haven’t been exposed to it.”

In terms of future goals and collaborations, they’ve already joined the Swing Dance Society and Bacchus where they hope to collaborate on a whiskey tasting event.

For now, the next step is holding an Annual General Meeting in order to formally elect and set up the society. With more than 20 people already interested from various backgrounds, Zack and Logan are confident that they are starting on the best foot. Having attended a concert recently where the vast majority of attendees were British, it’s clear that there is an appetite for what Zack and Logan have created.

Logan spoke of how their vision is not to create an intense society.

“I find that societies here see it [having a society] as having a business. We don’t see it that way, everybody is part of the society, collective effort. If you want to try out something, we are open to ideas, absolutely.”

“We hope that people who join will also have their own ideas, like board positions. We joke around like having a ‘Chief Whiskey Officer’ so if somebody wants to be a CWO, reach out, let us know!”

More info:

Join the Society online via the LSESU website.

Keep up to date with their events by liking their Facebook page.

This Thursday 24th November, there will be two motions put to the LSESU UGM. You can find the second motion in the post below this one. Anyone wishing to oppose either motion, please contact the LSESU Facebook or Twitter pages.

Proposer: Jasmine Bidé

Seconder: Riham Mansour

The Union Notes:

·       That the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a new Higher Education framework,  which individual universities must choose to opt into or out of.

·       Opting into TEF allows the LSE to increase Home Undergraduate Fees

·       As a result of TEF, the LSE has already increased  first year undergraduate fees to £9250

·       The TEF ranks UK university teaching as of either gold, silver or bronze standard.

·       The quality of teaching is to be rated through the outcome of three metrics, namely NSS scores, Progression rates and Destinations of Leavers of Higher Education (DHLE) data.

·       According to the Times Higher Education Mock TEF Simulation, LSE is projected place 81/ 120 for teaching quality in the UK, with a “bronze” rating for education quality.[1]

·       While TEF is stated to be in the interest of students, there has been very limited input from students and student representatives in designing this policy[2]

The Union Believes:

·       While improving teaching quality is extremely important, the TEF metrics do not capture this at all. Thus, the TEF is a badly designed piece of policy which does nothing to measure actual teaching quality by focussing on the wrong metrics.

·       The focus on metrics unrelated to teaching quality such as the NSS, DHLE and progression rates ensures the university will spend less time focussing on student voice and opinion on how to improve teaching quality, leading to a deterioration of actual teaching quality not captured by the metrics.

·       That home undergraduate fees are already exorbitant, with the average student graduating with £44000 debt a year. An increase in fees, combined  with the cutting of maintenance grants will ensure university is increasingly expensive and less accessible for students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds

·       That the expected low ranking of a “bronze” for the LSE’s teaching quality will affect the School’s reputation both nationally and internationally, decreasing the value of past, current and future LSE graduates’ degrees

·       That as a national thought-leader and influencer, and a university proud of it’s strong social science showing, the LSE should opt out of TEF, and acknowledge that this is a badly designed piece of policy which is detrimental to both LSE students and the future of higher Education in the UK more generally.

The Union Resolves:

·       To oppose the TEF by a variety of action, including lobbying the School not to opt into TEF

·       To publicly condemn the TEF

·       To work in conjunction with the other UK universities , both Russel Group and otherwise,  in order to ensure that the TEF is unsuccessful and repealed

·       To ensure that the NUS course  of action is the most beneficial to all LSE students by agreeing  to the question: “Should NUS conduct and publish a risk assessment and equality impact assessment before finalising the NSS boycott / sabotage action?”

·       To work closely with the LSE in order to ensure that improvements in Teaching quality remain central to the LSE’s mission, without the need for the TEF  

 [1] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/mock-teaching-excellence-framework-tef-results-revealed-a-new-hierarchy-emerges

[2] https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjijtCUj6HQAhWHJsAKHRiAAX4QFggxMAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fnews%2Fteaching-excellence-framework-moves-forward&usg=AFQjCNH2UmaVADBmVS5GmvHtNy2FjlX4aQ&sig2=dpuJqmBmsbAKVRYSXF7yFg

More information

Anyone wishing to oppose this motion should contact LSESU on Facebook or Twitter

This Thursday 24th November, there will be two motions put the LSESU UGM. You can find the second motion in the post above this one. Anyone wishing to oppose either motion, please contact the LSESU Facebook page or Twitter.

Proposer: Father Begum

Seconder: Ella Baggaley Simpson

This Union Notes

●       That 1 in 4 women experience sexual assault or unwanted sexual advances at university[1]*

●       Frequently these students do not feel comfortable coming forward until graduation or many years after, when a prosecution is even less likely.

●       That an astonishing number of students do not have a good understanding of what sexual consent means.

●       That there have been multiple reports of students feeling uncomfortable approaching LSE to inform them of recent and historic assaults.

This Union Believes

●       That while there exists a framework for the reporting of sexual assault, this structure is far too bureaucratic, with survivors being forced to repeatedly relive their experience unnecessarily.

●       Consent workshops can form a precautionary and preventive infrastructure to complement the pre-existing reporting framework. They will make students aware of the routes of recourse, should they become a victim of sexual assault, as well as preventing them from happening in the first place

●       That there is a chronic problem of male sexual assault being underreported and stigmatised.

●       That consent workshops facilitate an understanding of what consent entails, debunk the biggest myths and misconceptions surrounding consent and provide a medium for students to better engage in the discussion. This refutes the widespread unfounded belief that consent workshops are patronising and accusatory.

●       That it is LSE’s responsibility to provide consent education. The sexual education students may have had before coming to university is asymmetric and consent is a core part of what is necessary for this education.

●       That LSE is an international institution, and consent is universal. Consent instils a respect and mutual understanding between individuals who wish to partake in sexual activity.

●       That the mandatory nature of the workshops will reinforces the LSESU’s zero-tolerance stance to sexual assault, and

●       Students should feel comfortable coming to their school with accusations.

●       That consent workshops can also help those who are third party to an assault, and give an understanding about how to approach the situation with sensitivity, how to help the victim and who to contact from the school.

This Union Resolves:                                        

●       To campaign for mandatory consent workshops for all incoming LSE students starting from September 2017 onwards.

●       That the LSESU should make students aware of the workshops prior to arrival in the Student Union Welcome Packs

●       To lobby the school to mention these workshops in their emails sent out to new students and the workshops to be implemented as part of the registration process.

●       That the Community and Welfare officer, alongside the Liberation Officers, will liaise with the school and Residential Services team to negotiate the implementation of the workshops.

●       To lobby LSE to introduce specific counselling services with trained volunteers for those students who have been affected by sexual assault or harassment.

●       That the Community and Welfare Officer will work with the school’s counselling and reporting services to make the teams better equipped to deal with survivors. The Community and Welfare Officer to also widely publicise the existence of such services and routes of recourse.

●       That the General Secretary will raise awareness that regardless of gender or sexuality, everyone is responsible for obtaining sexual consent

●       That the Community and Welfare Officer will organise a team of volunteers to ensure that they have the appropriate sensitivity and training in order to approach the workshops appropriately.

●       All things mentioned above must take place before the next academic year beginning September 2017, so as to ensure that the next Sabbatical Officer and SU team are able to implement the consent workshops fully. The current Sabbatical team should keep the student body informed of any progress up until their end of contract.

Notes

* https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214970/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214970/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf

More information

If you would like to oppose this motion, please contact the LSESU on Facebook or Twitter.