As the EUSA election campaign entered its final week, those standing stepped up their publicity campaigns, and the five candidates for president locked horns at the Student hustings on Friday.

Meanwhile, Camilla Pierry was confirmed as the new Vice President Societies and Activities, after the only other candidate for the role, Louise Fellows, withdrew. 

The Student presidential debate saw the candidates trade blows over issues ranging from installing water fountains Old College to the conflicts in the Middle East, with some particularly strong exchanges between Thomas Graham and Oliver Mundell.

Mundell claimed Graham had attempted to block earlier EUSA resolutions against the proposed national ID cards, and that he was only opposing the scheme for electoral reasons, and described Graham's proposed 'dial-a-drink' alcohol delivery plan as 'shocking'.

He added that: “This election is about looking forward into the future, not about candidates who've had their chance and failed to deliver.”

Graham responded by attacking Mundell's plan to spend a day each week working at the King's Buildings campus. He dismissed the idea as 'tokenism', saying: “I'm sorry Oliver, but we don't need the president working at KB, where they don't have an office, and can't do their job properly.”

Liz Rawlings rejected calls from Graham and James Rodger that EUSA should focus more on local problems than campaigns about wider political issues, claiming that: “Apart from top-up fees, these are the only issues that have got students involved in politics in the last five years.”

Rawlings also called for earlier publication of exam timetables to aid international students' travel plans.
James Rodger called on the audience to consider the practicalities of promises, claiming that many were either outside the president's remit or unaffordable, saying: “When you see a pledge on a poster, I want you to consider the viability of that pledge – where the candidate is going to source the money from and who they're going to talk to to achieve it.”

Benedict Robbins faced criticism over a perceived lack of detail in his policies, and chose to focus on presenting himself as a candidate who could bring 'personal integrity' to the office of EUSA president, and make the association more open by being an 'ordinary student with an extraordinary vision'.
Earlier in the week, Guy Bromley, the current EUSA Vice President Academic Affairs, claimed Thomas Graham had misled the electorate over his previous record in student politics.

Bromley told the Student: “Extended library hours were announced at the General Meeting in February 2007, before Thomas became Academic Services Convenor. He's wrongly claiming this as his victory – and it's a central part of his campaign.”

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