Firstly, I would like to congratulate Joe Farish on being elected as Access Officer, it has been a very closely contested election, and I know that Access is in very safe hands over the upcoming year, and I have no doubt that he will do a fantastic job.People have asked me how I feel about not winning and my opinion on the outcome. Being honest – you learn a lot about yourself in these elections – doing things you never thought would be possible for you to do. But there was something that I realised long before voting even opened, let alone closed, was that there could only be one possible main winner in the CUSU election; but this winner didn’t actually attend any hustings, this winner didn’t even submit a manifesto, in my opinion, the main winner in this election has got to be Access.
Three very passionate and experienced candidates saw Access leap to the forefront of everyone’s mind; there were questions galore at some hustings for the candidates vying to be the potential Access and Funding Officer, and Access made it onto the front page of a student newspaper for the first time in my Cambridge memory.
I have had writers from both of the papers e-mailing me asking for my opinion and comments on the latest report into poverty being the biggest barrier to academic achievement as part of articles to go in both papers this week.
Seeing Access in the spotlight as much as it has been is not something that I expected at all when I submitted my nomination, but it is something that I’m really, really pleased about. Too often, the issues go unnoticed, left to the Access Officers to consider. Hopefully, the media coverage can help Access to maintain its profile, because there are important issues, which whilst may not be of relevant to your average student, do still mean that it is more important than ever that CUSU and the University in general are driving and extending our access programmes. As I know only too well, the Access programmes aren’t just things the University do to make it look good in the media, which has no effect – these schemes benefit real students and help ensure that those students who have the potential realise that Cambridge is a place for bright students, and that financial, social and educational background are not factors which should stop you in your quest for academic success.
For those of you wanting an answer to the question ‘So what is next for Andy?’ Well, whilst I am (obviously) gutted not to have been elected, the key thing to remember in all of this is that Access is about more than one person. It is not just about the person who holds the title of ‘CUSU Access Officer’; it is about the students in the colleges, organising their own access projects, it is about the students who give up their time to go and visit local schools voluntarily to talk about their experiences, and it is about those students who open Oxbridge up as an opportunity to those students who may never have considered it as an option before because of their misconceptions, or their fears. That, in my eyes is what Access all about, and that is what I intend to continue to be involved in – I will continue to dedicate my time and energy to Access, I will continue to do everything within my power to get the real message out about Cambridge.
So finally, if I’ve played even the smallest of parts in raising awareness of access and the many tough issues related to it, and created a springboard from which Access can jump to even greater heights, reach even more students and result in more Access success stories – then I’m proud to say that I had a part to play in that.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Tuesday 3rd March - The end is nigh...
Today saw one final push for votes and the final hustings session which was held at Trinity.
After a bit of a lie-in (much-deserved I think after the past 2 days!) I started by flyering the Sigdwick Site, moving between the law faculty and english faculty (depending on the traffic and also where I fancied being at a particular moment in time!)
I then decided I'd actually make an appearance at a lecture! There was then time for a bit more flyering before getting some lunch!
After this it was back to do some quick flyering before going to my 2nd lecture of the day (I'm getting good at this lecture malarky!)
The evening saw the last night in Trinity Hall Bar before it shuts ready for the brand new Aula Bar to be opened later this week! However, almost as significantly - it saw the final hustings of the 2009 CUSU Elections - Turn-out may have been low (probably because most people have voted alread) but I enjoyed the opportunity to give Oxbridge Applications a good bashing when the question on it arose! I won't get into a rant about it now but if anyone is interested then just ask me about it!
Well, well, well - that is the end of the Hustings trail, and practically the end of the campaign trail (hopefully it will be the end of the miserable weather - but I'm not holding my breath on that one!) - Tomorrow sees voting in colleges before the count taking place at Jesus Forum from 8pm - it is being covered LIVE on CUR1350 - The UK's best student radio station - so please do tune in - but most importantly - whether you're boting for me, or for any other candidate, or even just for a referendum - please do vote! Whether you are a grad, undergrad, home student, international student - it is your representatives who are being elected! CUSU is the student's union, so make sure you get the people you want in! Some of the races this year are very tight so every vote is going to be important! And don't stop at voting yourself, get all of your friends to vote! It doesn't take long at all!
Until tomorrow... goodnight.
PS - Vote Andy!
After a bit of a lie-in (much-deserved I think after the past 2 days!) I started by flyering the Sigdwick Site, moving between the law faculty and english faculty (depending on the traffic and also where I fancied being at a particular moment in time!)
I then decided I'd actually make an appearance at a lecture! There was then time for a bit more flyering before getting some lunch!
After this it was back to do some quick flyering before going to my 2nd lecture of the day (I'm getting good at this lecture malarky!)
The evening saw the last night in Trinity Hall Bar before it shuts ready for the brand new Aula Bar to be opened later this week! However, almost as significantly - it saw the final hustings of the 2009 CUSU Elections - Turn-out may have been low (probably because most people have voted alread) but I enjoyed the opportunity to give Oxbridge Applications a good bashing when the question on it arose! I won't get into a rant about it now but if anyone is interested then just ask me about it!
Well, well, well - that is the end of the Hustings trail, and practically the end of the campaign trail (hopefully it will be the end of the miserable weather - but I'm not holding my breath on that one!) - Tomorrow sees voting in colleges before the count taking place at Jesus Forum from 8pm - it is being covered LIVE on CUR1350 - The UK's best student radio station - so please do tune in - but most importantly - whether you're boting for me, or for any other candidate, or even just for a referendum - please do vote! Whether you are a grad, undergrad, home student, international student - it is your representatives who are being elected! CUSU is the student's union, so make sure you get the people you want in! Some of the races this year are very tight so every vote is going to be important! And don't stop at voting yourself, get all of your friends to vote! It doesn't take long at all!
Until tomorrow... goodnight.
PS - Vote Andy!
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Monday 2nd March
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
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
Monday, 2 March 2009
Sunday 1st March - Hustings, hustings and yet more hustings!
Today saw the busiest day of the campaign in terms of hustings with 5 in a single day, but it also saw us crash through the half-way point of this hustings schedule!
It started with our first lunch-time slot, at Jesus College - questions were raised about our recent Access involvement and how we propose to increase media interest in Access initiatives.
After lunch in carvery, I was off up to Churchill for radio hustings on CUR1350 - Despite having a microphone right in front of me, I actually found it not too bad - questions were submitted live during the show and we talked about students from ethnic being under-represented and how we plan to tackle this, along with a question about the purpose of CUSU open days. (If anyone wants to hear extracts from it - it should be on the CUR1350 website in the next couple of days)
With not much of a break inbetween, the next stop was Newnham (via putting a poster up at Gardies - never imagined I'd be doing that!). Questions were asked on how we would increase funding for Access and a question about international students and whether we should be encouraging them to apply.
Next stop - Homerton (via a mini-bus) - this took place in the bar and so we had some enthusastic football fans, who were obviously cheering for the candidates at various intervals (or it might have been when a goal was scored - not really sure which!) This was home turf for a number of the candidates, and so the turn-out was slightly bigger than the previous hustings - HE Funding entered the arena of discussion once more, as did what we would do in our first few months in the job, as well as a question about whether we need an Access Sabb not that applications are higher (complete with a certain CUSU President forgetting to give me my time to answer - which ended up with me getting my words into a nice game of twister!)
Final stop on the Sunday was the other side of Cambridge - Girton (via Co-Op for some of the hungry candidates!) - rumours of random questions to do with what sandwich or fruit we would be and why were proved to be unfounded - instead we had a question about whether Access is actually what CUSU should be doing, because arguably it doesn't affect current students directly.
Turn-out wasn't great today for a number of the hustings - will be interesting if we see more students tomorrow at Murray Edwards, Fitz, Clare or Caius.
As for me - I have a supervision in 9 hours - oh the joy - I'd sort of forgotten what law work was like!
It started with our first lunch-time slot, at Jesus College - questions were raised about our recent Access involvement and how we propose to increase media interest in Access initiatives.
After lunch in carvery, I was off up to Churchill for radio hustings on CUR1350 - Despite having a microphone right in front of me, I actually found it not too bad - questions were submitted live during the show and we talked about students from ethnic being under-represented and how we plan to tackle this, along with a question about the purpose of CUSU open days. (If anyone wants to hear extracts from it - it should be on the CUR1350 website in the next couple of days)
With not much of a break inbetween, the next stop was Newnham (via putting a poster up at Gardies - never imagined I'd be doing that!). Questions were asked on how we would increase funding for Access and a question about international students and whether we should be encouraging them to apply.
Next stop - Homerton (via a mini-bus) - this took place in the bar and so we had some enthusastic football fans, who were obviously cheering for the candidates at various intervals (or it might have been when a goal was scored - not really sure which!) This was home turf for a number of the candidates, and so the turn-out was slightly bigger than the previous hustings - HE Funding entered the arena of discussion once more, as did what we would do in our first few months in the job, as well as a question about whether we need an Access Sabb not that applications are higher (complete with a certain CUSU President forgetting to give me my time to answer - which ended up with me getting my words into a nice game of twister!)
Final stop on the Sunday was the other side of Cambridge - Girton (via Co-Op for some of the hungry candidates!) - rumours of random questions to do with what sandwich or fruit we would be and why were proved to be unfounded - instead we had a question about whether Access is actually what CUSU should be doing, because arguably it doesn't affect current students directly.
Turn-out wasn't great today for a number of the hustings - will be interesting if we see more students tomorrow at Murray Edwards, Fitz, Clare or Caius.
As for me - I have a supervision in 9 hours - oh the joy - I'd sort of forgotten what law work was like!
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