DIRTY MONEY NEW BOND FILM FEATURE Corruption, Oil Read It Here Ethics and and Your Degree First Space Travel Chemistry Computer Meltdown ANDREW OFORI value"; but the amount seems to to establish responsibility, aided by be rising daily as comprehensive a number of safety inspection Sparks flew this week in the damage reports are submitted to reports from various parties. It is Chemistry Two building as an elec- the department. believed that the fault is likely to be trical fault resulted in a power The college, which is insured, is due to sub-standard installation or surge throughout the first floor now embroiled in legal discussions continued on page four mains system. On Sunday 16th November at around 7pm all lights on the first floor of the building began to flicker and blow; the air conditioning system failed; dor- Mine's a large one mant electrical appliances eerily switched themselves on and the culmination came with the explo- sion of electrical equipment. The College's electricians car- ried out extensive work to restore power to the devastated first floor. The power surge caused substan- tial damage and in the aftermath, it became apparent there was a fun- damental flaw in the mains sys- tem. It is believed there was a short in the riser that supplies the first floor and as a result 415V (compared with the 240V domes- tic maximum) energised the neu- tral wires in the mains system, rendering many areas of the floor extremely hazardous. Fortunately there were no casualties. Dr Rzepa, the incident's sole witness, is now responsible for the complex task of replacing destroyed computer equipment. Out with the old, in with the new: after a record seventeen months He described the current cost of in office Eric Allsop (right) handed over the ICU Presidency to the damage as "a five figure Andrew Heeps at an exclusive soiree last Friday. Photo: Seeta Rajani The Music Library Annexed by SOAS Students Newspaper JEREMY THOMSON dents. They see access to the of theft. One activist described the at Imperial Senate House collection as essen- conditions inside: "I'm feeling as College Students at the School of tial to their studies, but the college, though I've slept in a hedge... It's Oriental and African Studies which has to pay over £70 for each very bright and surprisingly busy... (SOAS), part of London library pass, claims that they can no You close your eyes for a split sec- University, have seized control of longer afford anough passes. The ond and someone wakes you to Issue their library and are running it protest was lauched by the SOAS tell you that it's your turn to do... themselves to provide twenty- student union, who have given horror of horrors... reshelving." 110 1 four hour access. The students, overwhelming support to the The students have been receiv- who first occupied the building action in two seperate votes. ing support from many student 5 on 20th November are now facing Around fifty protestors are liv- unions. They are viewing the sit-in December a court order to evict them. ing in the building and are running as a general protest against falling They are protesting against the all the usual services, with the university funding, and there are 1997 dwindling availablity of the main UL exeption of the loan system - rumours that they are considering library, Senate House, to SOAS stu- books cannot be removed for fear occupying Senate House itself. NEWS 5 December 1997 JCB Causes Power "Chaos ANDREW OFORI using the JCB digger and then finish chemists were moved to the Civil the task by hand, as is common Engineering building. The major After the devastating power surge building practice. Unfortunately the damage caused as a result of the of 16 November, the hapless sub-contractors attempted to com- incident extended to: disruptions Chemistry department has once plete the excavation using just the to timetables, ruined experiments, again been afflicted with electri- JCB and consequently struck a degraded or destroyed samples cal problems. Before 9am on power line. As news of the 'black- and lost computer data. Monday the RCS1 building was out' spread to the building site and London Electricity Board had suddenly cloaked in darkness. the cause was established, the JCB repaired the damage by 4pm on The cause was soon traced to driver and his guide were dismissed Monday. Ian Cillett, IC'S Safety sub-contractors on the BMS off site and replaced. Officer, carried out a full safety building site who had still failed Chris Sousman, the building inspection before the power was to notice the fact they had grazed supervisor from the Chemistry eventually switched back on at the electric mains feed to RCS1. department, described the situa- 8.30am on Tuesday. He stated that The company responsible for tion that ensued in RCS1 as disruption to the department had the BMS building venture, Schal, "chaos". Due to the lack of electri- been kept to a minimum, but had informed the sub-contractors cal equipment to control experi- added he was unable to assess of the presence of power lines in ments as well as the loss of light- how severely safety levels were the area they were excavating and ing, the building was evacuated and compromised until the incident's advised them to dig to a safe level sealed. Morning lectures for the full effects had been evaluated. Illustration: Stavros Polyviou Labour MP Talks Conservative MP Talks PATRICK HAYES state" describing this as "not sus- VERONIQUE NEVEUX tainable." He concluded saying On Tuesday 2nd December, Labour must use its huge majority On Wednesday, Sir George Imperial College Labour Club to drive the country through this Young, shadow defence minster, played host to Tony Wright, MP period of "radical uncertainty" addressed an audience of twen- for Cannock Chase, and chair of ahead of the millennium. ty-one people at a meeting in the Constitutional Affairs Select He then faced stiff questioning the Mechanincal Engineering Committee. from the audience on a range of Department. He spoke of "the dramatic topics including the issue of bene- Invited by the ICU change which the Labour Party has fits for single mothers. On this Conservative Society, Sir George undergone in recent years, with the point he reinforced the govern- spoke out against Tony Blair and party bouncing back from the elec- ment's determination to end the his 'New Labour' party, describing tion defeat of 1992". He also "dependency culture," adding that the cabinet as a. "Pernicious cock- referred to a new, third way in pol- additional money had been made tail". Issues such as European itics, often called the "Radical available by Gordon Brown to help Union and privitisation were also Centre", speaking of the decline of lone parents into work. Mr Wright's raised during the talk. the 1980s market doctrine and last point was that New Labour was Thatcherism, and the waning of a built on Old Labour values but with public belief in the old left's idea coherent positions which people that "a bigger state is a better could understand. Photo: Veronique Nevuex Imperial Students Fall Victim to Conmen FELIX NEWS TEAM Court on the evening of Monday to hitchhike from the MI. He said could not believe my stupidity at 17th November. The victim he was a professional golfer and being conned like this but on talk- Felix has learned that profession- described the incident as follows: played for Scotland and teaches ing to other peope I realised that al confidence tricksters operating "I was stopped by an upper golf in London and usually flies this also happened to many other around London are targeting for- middle class looking, tall, slim from London to Edinburgh. He told people when they initially came to eign students at train and bus white man wearing a grey suit and me that he was a devout Christian London." stations. At least three IC stu- aged between thirty-five and forty. and would return the money in two The man was described as dents have been ripped off this He asked me the way to Edgware days' time on Wednesday" "smartly dressed wearing a grey term, and have lost up to £100 Road to get to the Ml. Looking Convinced by the man's story trousers, black shoes, a grey blazer each. very tired, he informed me that he and appearance the victim gave the and a pink shirt. He had brownish The men are adopting a cun- had been mugged in Heathrow by man £100. In return he was given hair with a parting from the side. ning guise, posing as professionals two black youths and he had an address and telephone number The hair was 1.5 inches long, he claiming to have been mugged and reported it to the police and that he which later proved to be false. was not bald. He did not carry a needing a loan. had been walking since 8pm. He "I reported it to the police and bag or anything else and had a One of the victims was said that they took his money, his they informed me that this kind of Scottish accent." approached whilst walking in Earl's ticket and bag so now he was going thing was common in London. I Issued by Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited, regulated by the Securities and Futures Authority, Morgan Stanley is a registered service mark of Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Co. GLOBAL REACH IN-DEPTH CAPABILITIES LOCAL INSIGHT INDUSTRY EXPERTISE CAREERS IN BANKING Careers in Global Investment Banking Beatriz Reyero-Del-Rio, Financial Analyst There are few truly global investment banking firms.