Last year, environmental science students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Mr Charlie Rothnie-Jones and his friend Mr Nathaniel Oliver started up a community garden in Thurgoona to promote sustainable living, which was recently recognised when they won the 2012 David Battersby Awards for Student Citizenship at CSU. The Kerr Sustainability Centre on CSU’s Thurgoona site allows CSU students to grow food for free and hosts workshop events aimed at sharing knowledge and skills. Members of the garden are from Thurgoona and surrounding areas, from all walks of life. The centre provides space for garden beds for community members and allows people with similar interests and gardening goals to meet and share. The students’ interests complement each other, with Mr Oliver following vegetables from sowing to eating, while Mr Rothnie-Jones communicates extensively with local community centres. “Mr Rothnie-Jones and Mr Oliver deserve their success to date and it is a pleasure to recognise their leadership in the Charles Sturt University community through these prestigious awards,” said the Head of Campus for CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Sue Moloney.

Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are known to affect our daily lives in many ways, but little study has been carried out on their effects on the brain. With assistance from Border residents, Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers led by Dr Herbert Jelinek from the School of Community Health will investigate how our thinking changes if we contract diabetes and its complications, such as cardiovascular disease. “We invite members of the Albury-Wodonga community, with and without diabetes or heart disease, to participate in our project, which will start mid-July,” Dr Jelinek said. “We will be testing all participants for eye, heart, foot and kidney function as well as undertaking a number of tests to investigate brain function.” Anyone interested in participating should contact Dr Herbert Jelinek, coordinator of the CSU Diabetes Complications Research Initiative, on mobile 0427 681 754.

Long gone is the image of an accountant poring over columns of figures in a dingy office. “Professional accountants are vital for driving the success of modern businesses and enjoy diverse and rewarding careers. A modern accountant needs skills in areas such as communication, negotiation and teamwork as well as technical accounting knowledge and an analytical mind,” said Charles Sturt University (CSU) accounting lecturer, Mr Danny Murphy, based in Albury-Wodonga. To help address the shortage of accountants in regional Australia, Mr Murphy and fellow academic Dr Dianne McGrath have developed a work experience program for budding accountants titled Reaping what we sow, which places Year 10, 11 and 12 students with Border accounting firms. “The project allows local students to get work experience to understand what the job really involves, and the variety of careers open to accounting graduates,” Mr Murphy said. The students this week completed their work experiences and will gather on Friday 25 May at CSU in Albury-Wodonga to see what life is like for a CSU accounting student. Later they will visit the Mars factory in Wodonga to examine the work done by management accountants at Mars.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff and students are being encouraged to express on film their ideas for environmental sustainability. The Eco Literacy Film Festival aims to showcase short, three-minute films exploring how the University can reduce its environmental footprint in areas of biodiversity, energy and transport, waste water and pollution, and food and produce. Festival Co-ordinator, Ms Natasha Hard said a total of $6 000 in prizes is on offer and the films will be shown in an online and on campus film festival later in the year. “Anyone who has a phone can make a film and make a difference,” she said. “By celebrating some of the great things being done and highlighting new opportunities, we hope to support interest and action in the area of sustainability across Charles Sturt University.” The festival is funded by a grant from CSU Green. Entries close at 11.59pm on Friday 6 July. Read more about the Eco Literacy Film Festival here.

To understand what it is like to be a person with a disability is the aim of a course at Charles Sturt University (CSU) where four people with disabilities act as tutors for CSU students in the third year of their speech pathology degrees. As part of the 2012 program, groups of students will present the life story of their tutor in a creative performance for the tutors, their families and other CSU students, to be held in the Gums Café at CSU in Albury-Wodonga on Thursday 31 May starting at 10.15am. Program coordinator and occupational therapy lecturer, Dr Ruth Beecham, said the presentations will use imagination as well as media such as theatre, cinema, and pictures or literary expression. “We want our students to totally focus on their future clients, and what their clients want from them. Teaching students to listen carefully and respond creatively is a great way of developing these skills,” Dr Beecham said. “We need to see problems from a number of perspectives, instead of rushing headlong into ‘solutions’, and take time to explore issues.”

Budding writers in Year 12 at Albury high schools will have the support of families and friends, and some critical feedback, when they present their major works for the NSW Higher School Certificate to a supportive audience in Albury next month. On Monday evening, 4 June, Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic and former head teacher of English, Mr Paul Grover  will coordinate the event where audience members will assess the presentation of major works by local English Extension 2 students. “The audience will hear the voice of the author as the students read from the major play, poem, author study or short story they have spent 12 months planning and composing for their HSC examination. These talented student writers will then receive valuable feedback to include in their final writing and revision process,” Mr Grover said. This public event will be held at 6pm on 4 June at the CD Blake lecture theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona. To attend, contact Mr Grover on phone (02) 6051 9707 or send an email.

MyDay at Charles Sturt University in Orange, to be held on Monday 4 June, has attracted high school students from Sydney, Canberra, and north and south coast regions all keen to experience life as a health sciences student. Highlighting courses in dentistry, physiotherapy, clinical science and pharmacy, the day introduces students to the campus known as the health hub of the University. Students will gain hands-on experience in the health clinics, meet with academics and tertiary students and tour the campus. MyDay offers high school students the unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of a university student and provides key information on support available to make their goals achievable. On the same day an Agriculture HSC enrichment day will be held for those studying agriculture in the HSC.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host one of two forums in Albury on Wednesday 20 June looking at whether Australia is making a difference with its international aid programs. Organised by the international World Vision charity, four speakers closely involved with overseas aid projects will address the successes and challenges of working with the world’s poor as they face hunger, malnutrition and disease, and how the Australian government’s $5.2 billion aid budget for 2012/13 could best be spent. CSU will host a daytime event between 1-2pm for school students and the public in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre on the University’s Albury-Wodonga Campus at Thurgoona, while a second evening event for the Border community will be staged in the Albury Entertainment Centre, Swift Street, Albury.

Preparing for the most nerve-wracking exams in their lives will be goal for over 400 final year high school students attending the NSW HSC Science Day hosted by Charles Sturt University this Friday 22 June in Albury. Hailing from as far as Barham and Tumbarumba the students will hear study tips from senior HSC markers across NSW. Event organiser Mr Mark Doyle from Murray High School said the event is a great opportunity for students to hear about the strengths and weaknesses of previous student responses and to improve students’ results. The event will be held from 9am to 3pm on 22 June in and around the CD Blake Lecture Theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.