Diverse topics such as work-life balance for farmers and how ‘active ageing’ can improve the health and vitality of older people will be addressed this week by occupational therapy (OT) students completing their degrees at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga. The annual two-day conference, titled OT: Our Time, will explore health issues relevant to occupational therapists as they enter their profession. Conference spokesperson, Ms Emma Ward said, “This event is a great opportunity for the students to challenge themselves by assessing their understanding of many aspects of health”. Opening the conference will be Dr Judy Ranka, a leading OT academic from Sydney. The OT: Our Time conference starts at 9am on Thursday 25 October in Room 101, building 667, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Bromfield Court, Thurgoona.    

Residents of the Albury-Wodonga region are being asked to give feedback on a new device used to assess feet for developing orthotics for inside shoes. Final year podiatry Honours student with Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health, Ms Romany Vonarx, is assessing the accuracy of the device, developed in Melbourne. “The device aims to make orthotic prescription more consistent and save patients money. We want to see if it actually does what it says,” said Ms Vonarx, who is looking for 60 people aged 18 or older from the Border region to take part in her study. The investigation, which runs from Monday 29 October for three months, will be carried out at the University’s Allied Health Clinic, corner Olive and Guinea Streets, Albury. To take part in the project, contact Ms Vonarx via email or telephone the CSU clinic on (02) 6051 9299.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Faculty of Business will present a $1 000 prize to Wodonga Senior College on Monday 22 October, as the regional winner of the Game On business studies simulation competition for senior students. Dr Abbey Dwivedi from CSU’s School of Management and Marketing will present the cheque at a school assembly at 10.50am to the winning team, JMB  Motors, which consisted of three Year 11 students – Mr Jake Morris, Mr Mitch Anderson and Ms Brianna Bice. “The CSU business simulation is designed to assist HSC students undertake their business-related studies by providing a competitive and real-life scenario that reflects what many of today's businesses encounter,” Dr Dwivedi said. “During the simulation, students had to make decisions that impacted their business performance. The activities were designed to be ‘real-life’ as much as possible, as this enhances the student learning experience, which is a key part of the University’s business teaching strategy.”

The Ride2Uni Day on Wednesday 17 October will see staff and students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) showing the Albury-Wodonga community the health and economic benefits of commuting to work via bicycle. Nearly 30 riders took part in an earlier bike event in September, so organisers are expecting greater numbers as the warmer weather encourages more riders to hit the road. Organiser for the event at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Mr Wes Ward, said he started riding 10 years ago when he was told he would have to have his knees replaced within five years after many years of road running. “Thirteen years later, cycling to work up to four days a week from central Albury to the University’s Thurgoona site continues to keep me fit, calms my mind before work, saves me money on fuel, and I still have my original knees,” Mr Ward said. The Ride2Uni event in Albury-Wodonga is part of the national Ride2Work Day being held in workplaces across Australia on Wednesday 17 October.

A leading water ecologist from Charles Sturt University (CSU) believes the allocation of environmental water and various environmental works and measures designed to spread water across the wetlands will allow the environment of the Murray Darling Basin to adapt to climate change. “These works spread water across the wetlands, allow wetlands to drain, and allow fish to migrate,” says Professor Max Finlayson, director of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society. “The ecological condition of the Murray River and its many wetlands has been the subject of much contention and many policy responses in recent years, including the current Murray Darling Basin Plan. This has included major concerns over ecological changes in major wetlands along the river.  I will use my experiences from the mouth of the Murray to illustrate some of the quandaries we face.” Professor Finlayson will present his views at the next public seminar in the Murray-Darling Basin Seminar series, titled ’Climate change adaptation for the Murray River’, at 4pm on Thursday 4 October at CSU in Albury-Wodonga.

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) lawn bowls team has won through to the gold medal match of the Australian University Games (AUG) in Adelaide to defend the national title it won last year. CSU team manager, Mr Nik Granger, said the team had won five of its seven pool games to qualify third for the play-offs behind the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University of NSW (UNSW). “We lost to both universities in the pool stage, but we beat UNSW in the semi-final and the team is confident it can knock over UWA in the final”, he said. CSU first earned a place in the top tier of the AUG in 2009 and won a first division bronze in 2010 before taking the national title last year. Mr Granger said the past 10 years had seen a sharp increase in the standard of competition at the Games, which were now Australia’s largest annual multi-sport event. “There are Olympians, Commonwealth Games medallists, and various state and national representatives throughout the competition,” he said. “CSU will have students from our Albury-Wodonga, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst campuses competing as well as several distance education students.”

Public health advocate Mr Tony Kolbe from Charles Sturt University (CSU) has welcomed the High Court’s rejection of a challenge to plain packaging laws in Australia. The High Court today ruled in favour of federal government legislation to put cigarettes in olive green packets without trademarks. The ruling could see the plain packs in retail outlets by December. As Director of the University’s Centre for Inland Health (CIH), Mr Kolbe said, “Not only is this a win for the health of Australians, it sets a welcome precedent for other countries contemplating plain packaging laws. Tobacco companies can no longer use their packaging as a branding tool to sell cigarettes in Australia.” Read more about Mr Kolbe’s views on the High Court challenge by major tobacco companies on CSU News here. The CIH is a research centre at CSU, focussed on improving the health of inland communities. Read more here.  

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has won a new mountain bicycle for her ideas on sustainability at CSU. Ms Amy Collet won the bicycle as first prize in a competition that highlighted the University’s ambitions to help its students and staff use alternatives to cars around the CSU campus at Thurgoona. Ms Collet will receive her prize from the Albury-Wodonga Campus Environmental Committee on behalf of CSU Green at the Gums Café, Thurgoona, on Thursday 19 July. CSU Green’s Ms Nicola Smith said her group aims to promote the use of bicycles for transportation to, from and around CSU campuses. “We want to progressively remove the barriers to cycling, provide educational material on bicycle routes and cycling safety, and actively build CSU cycling networks that promote the environmental, social and health benefits of cycling,” Ms Smith said.

Twenty business students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will this month demonstrate the possibilities of simultaneous formal study and international travel. The group leaves Sydney on Tuesday 3 July for the Philippines for 10 days to participate in a range of activities at businesses in the capital, Manila. Industry leaders and even the Australian High Commissioner to the Philippines will meet with the students. “This is not about traditional study,” said Mr Anthony Chan from the School of Computing and Mathematics at CSU. “It’s about true workplace learning and immersion into businesses in another culture. The trip’s program has been organised with the Consul General of the Philippines in Sydney and the Philippines Australia Business Council.” The trip is funded by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and CSU Global, a University initiative to increase the number of students undertaking international experiences as part of their studies.