[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL] The School is part of University of London and students are entitled to use its facilities.[EBOLD][PARA]Hot in the heartland of London's throbbing core, between the end of the Strand and the beginning of Fleet Street, is one the bull's eyes in the world's economic and political darts board. LSE may have an international rep for the E part of its name, but studies extend to social sciences of all sorts. [ITAL]The buildings themselves don't live up to expectations, being a cross between the old and austere and your modern cake-tin type blocks.[EITAL] The buildings are clustered - [ITAL]well, squashed actually[EITAL] - onto the pavement just opposite the BBC's Bush House, less than a mile down the road from Trafalgar Square, and just round the corner from [ULNE]King's College London[EULNE] and the [ULNE]Courtauld Institute[EULNE]. [ITAL]The place is cramped and busy - not a good place to start swinging cats because you'll either (a) hit a wall, (b) hit a person, or (c) get caught by the RSPCA.[EITAL][PARA][PARA]*LSE points out that the CVCP figures from which this statistic is calculated are distorted by a technical complication 2 years ago, and they reckon their non-completion rate is around 10%.[HDNG]LIFE IN LONDON:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]Samuel Johnson wrote 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.' Obviously, he wasn't living on a student grant at the time; for there is only a certain amount in London that a student can afford. SJ was right in that London is second to none in its diversity, but you can't do it all. It's easy to feel that you're not making the most of London if you're not spending every waking minute at the theatre, ballet, opera or cinema, in clubs or fashionable markets, and in museums and galleries, sports grounds and parks. However, if the truth be known, even taking advantage of the many freebies you can dig up if you try, you'd be broke within a week if you tried to keep up with the tearaway pace. When it comes to opportunity, choice and life in the fast lane, London is the turbo-boosted Porsche. London is supposed to be the city that never sleeps, leaving the bright lights burning all night long. In fact, as international metropolises go, this one tends to shut down when the pubs close. Getting more than a cheeseburger after midnight can be as difficult in London as it is in a Turkish jail. Not everyone likes the pace or the impersonal atmosphere that many find in London. Whilst it's hard to be alone, it's easy to be lonely, and most students in London find this at some time. London can be oppressive and if you're not streetwise, or at least street sensible, it can be a dangerous place. Bomb scares are usually just that, but violent crime is on the up. [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] There are a number of responses to the high cost of living in London: (1) burst into tears; (2) mug someone; (3) live on credit; (4) ask daddy for lashings of cash. Alternatively, if these don't appeal, you can always use the following methods: (1) Limit your spending by only going out when and where you can afford it (ULU fits the bill, offering cheap events for students). (2) Buy second hand - for books, there's ULU, Charing Cross Road and Waterloo and, for clothes, try Camden Market, Greenwich, Brick Lane and Portobello Road. (Many a London student falls prey to fashion, but not always at vast expense.) (3) Get a job - [EITAL]more London students have part time jobs than anywhere else.[ITAL] [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] London also has more overseas students than almost anywhere else, which, in Britain's most international city, is an appropriate addition to the already spicy variety of life. The extent of London's cosmopolitanism is unique. Nowhere else are there as many students of every different shape, colour, vintage, creed and flavour.[EITAL][PARA][ITAL] To be young in London and have flexible demands on your time is an ideal recipe. The daily downers such as the time spent travelling have a minimal effect, whereas the opportunities are all there. If you happen to live in London, it's good to be a student, but if you're a student, London isn't necessarily a good place to happen to live.[EITAL][HDNG]ALDWYCH::[EHDNG][PARA]Spit east and it'll land in the eye of a businessman in the City. Spit west and you'll hit either a theatre, a restaurant, a cafe or a cinema in the West End. Spit north (as all too many people do) and you'll have dampened the cardboard home of one of the many homeless who live on the streets around Lincoln's Inn Fields (a small area of grass, which, until the homeless were evicted, was itself a makeshift shanty). Spit south and it'll go deservedly straight back in your face because the Thames is about 100 yards in that direction and the wind will probably be blowing from there. For more details where to spit, look up either the [ULNE]Courtauld Institute[EULNE], [ULNE]Kings College London[EULNE] or [ULNE]University of London[EULNE].[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains: [EBOLD]London is the centre of the network: Bristol (1:40hrs, 1/hr); Birmingham (1:40hrs, 3/hr); Manchester (2:30hrs, 1/hr); Glasgow (5:20hrs, 12/day); Edinburgh ( 4:20hrs, 1/hr); Newcastle (2:45hrs, 2/hr); Leeds (2:30hrs, 1/hr); Norwich (1:49hrs, 1/hr). Trains come into the 8 mainline termini and if passing through London (for example from Canterbury (Kent) to Manchester), it is often necessary to travel by tube (at extra expense) between mainline stations .[PARA][BOLD]Coaches:[EBOLD] London is also the centre of the National Express system and a whole variety of other national bus services (Green Line, Blue Line and so on). Some example National Express journeys: Birmingham (ú9.50, 2:30hrs, 1/hr); Bristol (ú12.50, 2:15hrs, 1/hr); Edinburgh (ú25, 7:50hrs, 3/day); Glasgow (ú25, 7hrs, 7/day); Manchester (ú16, 3:30hrs, 7/day); Newcastle (ú17.50, 5:10hrs, 7/day).[PARA][BOLD]Local Trains: [EBOLD]Network SouthEast operates local overground trains [ITAL]which are a speedy and sometimes pleasant way to travel and are moderately efficient. The main problems are the ease of use (a fair level of understanding is necessary), the high fares and the early closing[EITAL] (last trains between 11pm and 1am).[PARA][BOLD]Underground:[EBOLD] The 'tube' is the largest underground train system in the world and generally,[ITAL] it is fast, easy to use, efficient (well, maybe not the Northern Line) and takes you just about anywhere you want to go, although South-East London is a bit hard done by. However, it is often crowded,[EITAL] shuts down at midnight,[ITAL] it's often disrupted by bomb scares[EITAL] and the minimum fare is 90p. [ITAL]Talking to other tube passengers is tantamount to threatening their mother - the only people who do it are tourists and people who want to talk to you about Jesus.[EITAL] Nearest tube to Senate House/ULU Building: Goodge St (Northern Line).[PARA][BOLD]Local Buses: [EBOLD][ITAL]In the tube you can't see the real sights, so why not take the buses which are just as efficient,[EITAL] offer even more destinations and are slightly cheaper (50p minimum). [ITAL]But buses are slow and, until you know your way around, it's difficult to know which ones take you where.[EITAL] After midnight, buses come into their own - Night Buses are London's only form of all-night public transport and[ITAL] if you don't mind how long it takes,[EITAL] you can go almost anywhere within 10 miles of the centre.[PARA][BOLD]Travelcards:[EBOLD] For a legal way of dodging the expense of tubes, buses and trains, Travelcards are available at ú2.60 for a daily pass for the central 2 zones of the network.[PARA][BOLD]Taxis: [EBOLD]There are 2 types:[ITAL] the classic black cabs which are well regulated and enormously expensive, and dodgy merchants in Ford Escorts which are almost as expensive. There are now also some run by and for women. Basically though, forget all taxis, except late at night when all else fails and/or you're in a party of 4 or more.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Parking in Central London is impossible, and, although there is only one rush hour every day it lasts from 6 in the morning to midnight. Driving in London is excellent training for being a volcano.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Air: [EBOLD]Served by 4 airports, including Heathrow, the world's busiest. Regular flights to anywhere and back.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching:[ITAL] [EBOLD]Not possible from Central London, but get out a little way on to the city's escape routes or beyond the M25 and a thumb's a first class ticket.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Bicycles: [EBOLD][ITAL] A popular form of student travel given the pros: it's cheap and you can get through traffic. But there are the cons: London is big, full of exhaust fumes, lacking in cycle lanes and a Houdini-proof lock is advisable. It's also an easy way to die.[EITAL][PARA][PARA]For more local travel details, see [ULNE]Courtauld Institute[EULNE].[HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Books: 3,000,000 [BULL] Computer workstations: 250[ESTAT][PARA]LSE's main library goes under the appropriately grand title of the British Library of Political Science and Economic Science. [ITAL]As if 3 million books weren't enough (or too many even)[EITAL], there are also a number of small departmental libraries.[HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 2full/3part [BULL] Unemployed after 6mths (1992): 13%[ESTAT][PARA]There's an [ITAL]excellent [EITAL]employment record with 20% of students going into accountancy, banking or the civil service and a further 25% into further study or professional training.[HDNG]SPECIAL FEATURES:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL]LSE is being revamped to honour its centenary in 1995. The entrance foyer has already been redecorated [ITAL]to look like a cross between a 5 star hotel and a gourmet goldfish bowl.[EITAL][PARA][BULL]It has been proposed that the School should move into [ITAL]less cramped [EITAL]buildings, but now it looks like they'll be staying where they are, expanding student numbers 'modestly'.[PARA][BULL]LSE student Ralph Wilde recently took the Government to the European Court of Human Rights over the gay age of consent.[HDNG]FAMOUS ALUMNI:[EHDNG][PARA]An astonishing 23 prime ministers and presidents (not all of the same country), including John F Kennedy, not to mention 23 current British MPs (such as Edwina Currie and Michael Meacher), 4 Nobel prize winners, and the following: Sir David Attenborough (biologist and broadcaster); Clare Francis (world yachtswoman); Loyd Grossman (TV presenter, odd vowels); Mick Jagger (lasted just 1 month); Robert Kilroy-Silk (chat-show host, ex-Labour MP); Bernard Levin (Times journalist, professional clever person); Maurice Saatchi (advertising guru); Mat Osman (Suede bassman); Lord Young.[HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][PARA]Prospectuses for undergrads and postgrads. Alternative from SU.[PARA][PARA]
