Suicides and attempts at suicide are a serious community health problem. In 2007, the Division of Student Services at Charles Sturt University (CSU) began a program to create a ‘suicide-safer community’ among its students and staff. “Deaths and injuries due to suicide can be reduced and a community-centred approach is considered an effective strategy,” said Mr Peter Bell, CSU residential operations manager for Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga campuses. “We aim to equip members of the University community with the skills to help students and fellow staff members when they may be struggling emotionally.” The University delivers suicide awareness seminars to its staff to create direct, open and honest talk about suicide. Mr Bell will discuss suicide and ways in which the community can help prevent it in a public lecture starting at 6pm on Wednesday 21 May in the Nowik Theatre, CSU Albury City site, Guinea St, Albury. CSU wines and cheeses will be served after the lecture.

There was loud applause for awarding-winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash as he received public recognition for his work in the fields of agricultural and veterinary sciences and environmental sciences. Professor Ash was named earlier this year the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence 2007. The CSU academic received his award from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter during the graduation ceremonies on the Wagga Wagga Campus in April. Professor Ash, from the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to innovative research in plant pathology, identifying and determining the risk posed by diseases in crops and exploring innovative approaches to the management of diseases and weeds. Since joining CSU at Wagga Wagga in 1990, Professor Ash has attracted more than $4.2 million in research funds, written for over 150 publications and supervised 38 postgraduate students. In the last five years Professor Ash has authored 27 refereed publications and gained 27 research grants.

Improving the reading, listening and speaking skills of primary and pre-school students is the focus for Charles Sturt University (CSU) speech pathology students, working with the NSW Department of Education and Training and Albury Community Health. Collaborating in a project which is now in its fourth year, CSU students are working in public primary schools at Corowa South, Henty, Jindera and North Albury, as well as in the Koori Kindermanna preschool in Albury. CSU lecturer and project coordinator, Dr Ruth Beecham, said the project ”aims to maintain the provision of speech pathology services as well as  educating CSU students. All the projects cost little and are developed in response to the needs of individual teachers and schools. Because we are looking to prevent communication problems from intensifying in children,  the knowledge and resources produced in these projects are given to teachers and are left with the schools for future use”. Final year CSU student Ms Gemma Coughlan, who has been working for the past 10 weeks at Henty Public School, said her project aimed to develop children's literacy skills while instilling a love of reading and learning.

Seven sports teams comprised of 70 students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Albury-Wodonga, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst campuses have performed well at the East Coast Challenge (ECC) - University Games staged in Sydney from Sunday 6 to Wednesday 9 July. CSU entered men’s and women’s hockey teams, two men’s and a women’s water polo teams, a women’s netball team, and a rugby league seven-a-side team. Mr Nik Granger, a CSU student support officer and the Team Manager, said all the CSU teams performed strongly in the eleven-sport one thousand-competitor Games. “The women’s netball team, made up of Bathurst and Albury-Wodonga students who had never played together before, convincingly beat all opposition to win the ECC championship. The hockey teams continued their dominance of the University Games with the CSU women’s hockey team becoming the ECC champions for the third year in a row, while the men’s team won the bronze medal. The men’s number 1 water polo team dominated the competition and was undefeated to win gold, while the men’s number 2 water polo team won the bronze medal. The rugby league ‘sevens’ team of students from Wagga Wagga and Bathurst Campuses won the silver medal. The women’s water polo team was unplaced in their first time in the competition. It is a testament to our students’ attitude to competition against much larger universities that CSU placed fifth overall, and again won the ‘Spirit Award’ as it did at the 2007 Australian University Games,” Mr Granger said.

A massive crane will be used to lift and position prefabricated concrete 'pods' for innovative new accommodation on Charles Sturt University's (CSU) Albury-Wodonga Campus. Semi-trailers started delivering the pods on Tuesday 22 July and will continue on Wednesday 23 July. Mr Andrew Callander, Executive Director of CSU Division of Student Services, said, “The installation of the concrete pods is a significant first step in providing new and much needed accommodation for our students. Construction is on schedule to date, and, weather permitting, the buildings should be completed in six months.” The pods are formed and cast in concrete with three walls and a roof as one. They are then lifted and locked into place on concrete foundation pads. The process should see two pods installed per hour, with the builders expecting to complete two houses with a central shared kitchen and bathroom in three days. The new accommodation at Thurgoona will house up to 200 students and is expected to be ready for the start of the 2009 academic year. The facility will be connected to the campus’ grey-water recycling system.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has a long history of producing champions in various fields and it hasn’t lost its touch with the recent inclusion of All Luck, a horse sired by CSU thoroughbred Bao Lack, in Australia’s Olympic three-day event team. “Bao Lack is a 16.2 hands-high thoroughbred with a wonderful temperament,” CSU’s Equine Business Management lecturer Dr Amanda Warren-Smith said. “I’m not surprised he has produced a horse that can compete at Olympic level.” Mr Shane Rose will make his debut at the Beijing Olympic Games riding the 13 year-old horse. Mr Rose and All Luck will feature in three days of fierce competition in three disciplines; dressage, cross-country and show jumping. “We’re thrilled that Bao Luck has sired this Olympic contender,” Dr Warren-Smith said.

Local dental therapists and Charles Sturt University academics are encouraging children to grit their teeth and take on a seven day boot camp during Dental Health Week. Albury dental therapist Mrs Anne Pritchard is passionate about children's oral health having been an instrumental contributor to state-wide child health programs. "It's a fantastic initiative," says Mrs Pritchard. The Australian Dental Association (ADA) is conducting an online seven day dental boot camp offering a variety of dental health fact sheets and children's activity sheets to read and download. "The more parents and children know about their teeth and diet, the more they can help dental therapists in their job." Dental therapy has been in the news recently with CSU launching an Oral Health Therapy course in 2009.

Climate change and international markets are influencing the demand and supply of conserved fodder in Australia, and this year’s Riverina Outlook Conference will focus on the strategies needed to manage these changes. Hosted by the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation at Charles Sturt University (CSU), the conference will be held in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 14 August. EH Graham Centre Director, Professor Deirdre Lemerle said, “The aim of the event will be to highlight key issues that make the difference between profit and loss from conserved fodder. The Conference continues the long-standing tradition of highlighting future challenges for agriculture while offering suggestions and solutions to deal with them. Managing risks and the challenges of maintaining livestock production levels in a variable climate make the theme for this conference highly relevant to producers, agricultural advisors, consultants, educators and agricultural industry representatives.”  

For the first time, more than 80 sheep and lamb producers will converge on the NSW town of Cowra for Charles Sturt University's (CSU) annual Asia Today forum on Thursday 14 August 2008. Director of the CSU Asian Agribusiness Research Centre, Dr Claus Deblitz, says the day will cover all aspects of marketing lamb, from trends in the Asian markets to hearing from a local marketing group on their ability to lift returns. Dr Deblitz said, “Cowra is an important town within CSU’s region, with many of its residents studying at one of its campuses, so this is why we decided to hold this major conference there. Two areas which will receive attention on the day are the threats from and opportunities offered by climate change and current developments and their consequences for grain markets.” said Dr Deblitz. “We are delighted to be able to bring such a major conference to the local area, and given the high standard of speakers we hope local lamb and sheep meat producers will take part in these discussions.“