And as a student of Chicago politics, he picked up a key lesson: Politicians are as powerful as their patrons.

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Samuel Guidera, 24, a student of history and politics at the University of Greenwich, was found at Bailey Place in Sydenham at 2155 GMT on Saturday.

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It's all a bit reminiscent of mid-80s student politics - and the ultimate result, which is expected to emerge at some point on Wednesday evening, could have as much to do with distaste at factional tactics as with grand questions of ideology.

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Indeed, as a student of France's troubled history and an observer of its politics for over half a century, I suspect France is entering a prerevolutionary phase and that a major convulsion is just over the horizon.

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Meanwhile, student Niall McGlion, 20, is studying politics at the University of Leeds and travelled to Manchester on Wednesday to help with the cleaning operation.

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Prof Jonathan Moore, lecturer in Irish politics at London Metropolitan University, recalls the experience of an American student who recently visited Belfast's Titanic exhibition.

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"Since the beginning, there's been anger, frustration, sadness and fear, but we've been working toward a concentrated effort toward change, " said Eliza Diop, 20, a politics and Africana Studies major who serves on the college student senate and is a resident of the Afrikan Heritage House, which offers programs focused on the African diaspora, according to the college's website.

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