AN interesting lament emerges from universityland with a view that students simply aren’t as radical as they once were.

There is, of course, no shortage of issues worthy of protest and demonstration in the world right now but an opinion piece in The Beaver suggests it was all much more dynamic and determined in the old days.

The Beaver? That’s the long-standing student newspaper at the London School of Economics near the Strand with a history dating back to having George Bernard Shaw on its first front cover in 1949. The Today programme’s Justin Webb was an editor in his undergraduate days and many other well known journalists have passed through its office.

Anyway, news editor Iraz Akkus has flicked through its archives to mark its 75th anniversary and in her latest opinion piece suggests the stories and pictures from yesteryear point to a far more defiant level of activism on campus. She calls for a reinstatement of LSE’s “progressive eccentricism” and warned that the uni had “tragically tamed its fighting spirit”.

Commercialisation and tech dependency are cited as reasons for distractions, but added: “We have gone from hosting the first suffragette meeting to inviting alleged gender critics and racists to our campus, guised under the branding of free speech and providing a ‘balanced argument’. LSE’s message has therefore changed from what’s right, to what’s acceptable.”

Sadly, that sounds likes most of politics right now.

• HAPPY 75th birthday to The Beaver and for those wondering how it got its name – it’s taken from the LSE’s crest which includes the dam-building animal because beavers are credited with being industrious and hard-working.

A college in the US – Beaver College in Pennsylvania – were less enthused by the association and in 2001 changed its name to Arcadia University.

All the usual fluffy marketing reasons were given for the change but in reality it was because people would titter at the name and the slang for private female anatomy.

It was even suggested Beaver College was not coming up on some web searches because of filters blocking pornography. No such fear at LSE, who embrace it and are even selling souvenir stuffed beavers for the upcoming graduation season. After £40,000 in fees, surely students will be wiling to pay another £33 for the memento.