Charles Sturt University (CSU) Communication (Theatre/Media) graduate, Brendan Cowell has won The 2005 Philip Parsons Young Playwright's Award. Announced in Sydney on Sunday 9 October, Mr Cowell, 28, received a $10,000 mentoring commission from Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre Company B. He won the award for his treatment for Ruben Guthrie, a tale of male depression, addiction and the pressures of success. In order to qualify for the award, playwrights under 35 must submit a play that has already been performed in Australia by a professional theatre company. But the award is unlike other Australian playwright awards as it is given on the basis of a treatment for a potential new work and to the playwright rather than for the play. This recent success for Mr Cowell follows other awards including the 2003 Griffin Award for Rabbit, the 2002 Patrick White Award for Bed and the Gloria Payten-Gloria Dawn Foundation Young Artist Award for his work as an individual.

Sufferers of ingrown toenails can help train future regional-based podiatrists at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Allied Health Clinic in Albury in coming weeks. The final year students, supervised by podiatric surgeon Caroline Robinson from the UK, offer a range of treatments for the painful problem, from conservative care with cutting and footwear advice to low impact surgery carried out under local anaesthetic in the clinic. The experience provided to the students is a vital part of their training for their four year course, the only podiatry degree offered outside an Australian metropolitan area. For details and to book an appointment, contact the CSU Allied Health Clinic on telephone (02) 6051 6922.

A major public lecture for Charles Sturt University's (CSU) Faculty of Education will be presented by social commentator, writer and lecturer Ms Jane Caro, who will look at public education through a marketing lens and suggest ways the system can fight back. Amongst Ms Caro’s accomplishments are her appearances on such television shows as Q and A, Weekend Sunrise and The Gruen Transfer. Ms Caro will take listeners on a personal journey through her experiences as a student, a parent and now as an advocate for public education, discussing how these experiences have formed her views about education, particularly public education. Named after the eminent educator and the inaugural Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Education, Professor Bob Meyenn, the annual education lecture is designed to bring to the border region highly esteemed educational thinkers to share their provocative, practical and relevant ideas with regional Australia. Light refreshments will be served in the Gums Café at 6pm, with the lecture commencing at 7pm on Tuesday 23 April in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre at CSU in Albury-Wodonga. Please send your RSVP to Ms Jen West by Wednesday 17 April  on telephone (02) 6051 9400 or send an email jenwest@csu.edu.au

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) research student is calling for participants from Albury-Wodonga in a study that could help improve the understanding of major diseases. “Diabetes and high blood pressure are very common diseases, and their prevalence is increasing across regional Australia,” said Mr Prajwal Gyawali, a PhD student with the School of Community Health. “These diseases affect the shape and function of red blood cells in blood vessels. The aim of my project is to investigate the extent that blood flow and the shape of red blood cells are affected by diabetes and high blood pressure.” Mr Gyawali is calling for residents from Albury-Wodonga to take part in his project, which will help in assessing the severity and progression of diabetes and high blood pressure, and may also contribute to better understanding of the possible causes of these diseases. During a 30 minute visit to a research room at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Mr Gyawali will ask participants about any medical problems, dietary habits and medications, take body and blood pressure measurements and blood and urine samples for testing. To take part in the project, contact Mr Prajwal Gyawali on mobile 0414 932 057 or send an email pgyawali@csu.edu.au .

Environmental educators from across the Murray Darling Basin will gather this week at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga to describe their opportunities and problems and discuss collaborations in the coming year. The meeting, on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 April, will be hosted by the Regional Centre for Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (RCE-MD) based at CSU. Thirty-five educators from primary schools, TAFE, catchment management authorities, state agencies and research institutes from NSW, ACT and Victoria will gather on the University’s most environmentally sustainable campus to explore education for sustainable development in the Murray Darling Basin. Event coordinator Dr John Rafferty said, "This is a significant meeting of environmental educators. These professionals work with schools, communities and families promoting greater understanding of natural systems across Murray Darling Basin communities.” This second annual meeting is funded by the Murray Darling Basin Authority  in conjunction with RCE-MD.  

Children and staff at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Murray Children’s Centre will share their love for the local environment at an event this week at CSU in Albury-Wodonga. Members of the public as well as parents and guests of the Centre have been invited to view the vegetable, herb and native gardens established in the grounds of the Centre as part of a project funded by CSU Green showing the children how water conservation can be integrated around the home. “We wanted to use the CSU Green grant to develop our gardens so children can learn in a stimulating and sustainable environment, using plants and materials we can all have in our own backyards,” said Centre director, Dr Sydnye Allen. The afternoon tea event commences at 3.30pm on Friday 5 April at the Murray Children’s Centre, building 711, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

High school students in the NSW Mid-North Coast, central and southern NSW and regional Victoria can learn vital life skills while running a simulated business in an online game to be hosted by Charles Sturt University’s Faculty of Business. The GameOn! organisers at CSU are now calling for teams of Years 10 and 11 students from high schools around regional NSW and Victoria to participate in the game in 2013. The game was first staged in 2012. “The student teams will make vital business decisions about marketing, human resources, operations and finance for an online, simulated business. Apart from developing problem-solving skills in their businesses, GameOn allows students to develop important life skills such as leadership, group work, critical thinking, negotiation and time management,” said GameOn coordinator Dr Abbey Dwivedi.  Teams will need to be nominated by the extended deadline of Friday 5 April, with eight rounds of ‘decisions’ to be made during the year and winning teams due to be announced in September 2013.

An icon of Australian science will celebrate 100 years of scientific discovery in regional Australia at a public lecture on Thursday 15 August at the Albury Entertainment Centre. Writer, broadcaster and former federal science minister, Dr Barry Jones, will present a free public lecture as part of National Science Week to the residents of Albury-Wodonga. Dr Jones is the only person to be elected as a Fellow of Australia’s four Learned Societies representing science, engineering, humanities and social sciences. He served in state and federal parliaments from 1972 to 1998, while also serving as national president of the Australian Labor Party and representing Australia on various international committees in science and the economy. This lecture concludes National Science Week activities for 2013 planned by the Albury Wodonga Astronomical Society in collaboration with Charles Sturt University.

Were you born here or overseas, and did you start or re-start school in Australia between 1965 and 1995? Education researchers at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE) based in Albury-Wodonga want to speak to you. They are recording the memories of people who started or re-started school in this period, and want to interview people face-to-face or by telephone for about one hour. Interviewees are also invited to share their memorabilia and photos with the early childhood researchers at the University, as part of a project titled Narratives of Transition: Starting school in different decades, which is part of research into transition to school by the Murray School of Education. To organise an interview for the project, contact Dr Tuija Turunen on (02) 6051 9419, or send an email ttururnen@csu.edu.au .