Well, well, well - voting is now open -the fate of the candidates is in the hands of the electorate - but that doesn't mean an end to the campaigning!
I managed to survive my supervision (somehow!) - but I think I may just slightly have to catch up in the Easter vacs! Before running for election I didn't realise how much of an effect the process has on you - both physically and emotionally.
I then moved onto campaigning in college making sure that Trinity Hall turns out en masse (with a little time for lunch inbetween!)
Tea with Target Schools provided a welcome break from the campaigning - where I actually got into a very interesting discussion about the reasons why young carers are so under-represented at University, and the reasons why they don't go onto higher education (something which I'm very interested in, from personal experience) - It was great to see such a good turn-out (about 25 student showed up) - and hopefully the next session ON FRIDAY AT MURRAY EDWARDS AT 6:30 - COME ALONG! (sorry about the plug there!) will be even better attended - it bodes well for the target schools campaign!
Then it was time for the first of 4 hustings - we started at Murray Edwards (the same place where Tea with Target Schools is taking place, this Friday in case you forgot!) with a flurry of questions covering such issues as whether CUSU should be trying to extend its focus to those who could potentially apply as Grads, along with a question about funding Access (there were more questions but I always struggle to remember them all - it seems like such a blur!).
Then we made the short trip next door to Fitz where there was a good turn-out (about 20-25 or so) - with questions on how we would work to dispel myths.
Next was a trip down the hill to Caius... the turn-out... umm... could possibly have been a little higher (3 non-candidates present) but it meant that speeches were delivered in a different way to usual - whomever takes office as the CUSU Sabbaticals next year - they have a challenge to really try and increase interest in the elections process, and especially the hustings process - is 16 in 6 days too many? How do you increase turn-out? However, this didn't mean that we got off lightly - with a nice, technical question of whether bursaries should be linked to RPI or not.
Our final stop of the night was Clare Cellars (for hustings, not a bop in case any of you were wondering!) - which saw questions on if there any policies of the University which we would like to challenge, the effect of some colleges having better financial provisions than others, the private v state school argument in terms of where Access fits in, and also whether we should introduce positive discrimination (an issue which has appeared frequently over the campaign). We also had the first question which provoked a request for a right of reply from the questioner - it was about the effect of things becoming more expensive, but the bursaries available not matching this - issues such as the hardship grants and Cambridge's policy that no student should be forced to leave for financial reasons, all came to light in the course of answers.
Access aside, the lack of Presidents at Clare's Hustings tonight, gave a chance for welfare to be the headliners, which was nice.
Well we only have one more husting session left - tomorrow evening at Trinity - I have no idea how many people to expect, but as a Trinity Hall student, it's my turn to enter the opposition territory as they say!
As one candidate quite rightly said in their speech - no matter who you decide to vote for in this election, make sure you do vote! Turn-out so far is good, but we want as many students as possible to take part in the election.
www.vote.cusu.cam.ac.uk
PS - TEA WITH TARGET SCHOOLS, MURRAY EDWARDS, FRIDAY 6TH MARCH, 6:30PM
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