Archive
CSU’s Excel-lent world champion
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
"I thought it would be useful to have some industry qualifications,” says Tristam Horn, an Accelerated Teacher Training Program student, of his decision to gain certification in Microsoft® Office. Coming first in Australia in his Excel examination saw the Charles Sturt University (CSU) student win a trip to Orlando, Florida in the USA, where he was then crowned World Champion for Microsoft® Excel. “I learnt a lot that I didn’t know Excel could do. It gave me a better understanding of what it is capable of as far as recording students marks, scaling, grading and graphing, both for my benefit and also for the students to see where they are in the class and in the year. It is an easy way to see how students are going in different areas of their study, and I can see where I need to improve my teaching and hopefully deliver a bit better the next time."
The difference between noodles and bread
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003Whether noodles and bread are made out of the same flour will be discovered by high school students at an agriculture enrichment day in Wagga Wagga on Monday 4 September. One hundred students from around the Riverina region will receive hands-on experience during the day at the E H Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation between 9am and 2.30pm. The Year 10 and 11 students will see what it is like to work in the field of agricultural science with practical activities that are currently used to solve problems in agriculture. Other activities include “What weed is that?”, ”Check out salinity in our waterways”, “How do you transfer a virus in the plant world?” and ”Explore the world of plant DNA”. The E H Graham Centre is an alliance between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and NSW Department of Primary Industries.
International CEO addresses advertising students
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
The changing global communications environment and the increasing role of the consumer were the hot topics when the CEO of the International Advertising Association (IAA) World Secretariat spoke to Charles Sturt University (CSU) advertising students last week. Michael Lee, also the immediate past IAA President, was invited to the Bathurst Campus by Rod McCulloch, CSU’s Advertising course coordinator. “Mr Lee is very familiar with CSU because we have won the IAA’s student advertising competition InterAd three times in six years, the only university in the world to have done so. He is very supportive of what we do here”. Mr McCulloch says the IAA is the industry’s peak body. “It has a presence in over 70 countries and has over 4 000 members. The IAA supports the role of advertising in the community and the fostering of professional development and education.”
Walkley winning journalist of the future
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Being described as a “Walkley winning journalist of the future” must be a heady feeling for any communication student. Matthew Brann, a Charles Sturt University theatre media student in Bathurst has just taken out the radio section of the 2006 JUST Super Student Journalist of the Year Award, announced by JUST Super and the Walkley Foundation. Matthew says his radio item, A Darling Place grew out of his major work last year. “I travelled the Darling River doing stories about the river and its impact on the local communities, where the drought is really affecting small towns. I focused on my own style, which uses a lot of music and actuality.” The judges obviously liked what they heard, saying A Darling Place was a “lovely, whimsical yarn. It provides a wonderful slice of country life that is not often heard in mainstream Australian media”.
Join her mob
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Jenny Dickinson, a graduate of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) double degree in psychology and teaching in Bathurst, is one of five young Indigenous people featured in a booklet urging Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders to “join our mob” and become teachers in the New South Wales public school system. The booklet was produced by teach.NSW Public Education, and Jenny was nominated by her principal at Moree East Public School. “I was the first Aboriginal student to accomplish the double degree at CSU,“ Ms Dickinson said. “I became a teacher because it allows me to indulge my passion for Indigenous education. I think it is very important to encourage Indigenous people into teaching. Discrimination is still alive and well in my opinion.”
Sailing into the future
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Australia’s Young Endeavour national youth sail training program “builds positive social capital” according to a study released by the Federal Government. Charles Sturt University students Sarah Poulos and Tom Fisher agree. “I sailed a few years ago and met a whole group of absolutely fantastic people,” says Sarah, currently in her fourth year of a special education teaching degree on Dubbo Campus and the recipient of a two-year scholarship from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. Tom sailed in July and says “it was awesome. It exceeded my expectations tenfold. You build personal confidence which gives you the ability to do anything you want.” Tom is an agribusiness student from Wagga Wagga Campus who went on a student exchange to Kentucky, USA last year for six months, and is off to Japan soon on a Mitsui travel scholarship.
Healthy future for Orange Campus
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
A passion for rural health has inspired Dr Debbie Burton in her role as senior lecturer in biomedical science at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus. “My son and father both have asthma,” Dr Burton says, “and my cousin died from a pneumonia-related illness so I am very passionate about research into how the lung functions.” Her research into the rural prevalence and management of asthma has looked intensely at the implementing of new techniques, rural health access, and environmental triggers. Australia has the third highest prevalence of childhood asthma in the world, with over 2.2 million people suffering from asthma including one in six children. Dr Burton will demonstrate her work as part of the Community Day to be held on Orange Campus this Saturday 9 September, from 10.30am to 4pm.
New home for Orange Campus a natural fit
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Charles Sturt University (CSU) will officially welcome the Orange Campus to the CSU family this Friday 8 September. The new Head of Orange Campus, Professor Kevin Parton, says staff are optimistic about the move to CSU. “There has been a sense that the Orange Campus has been trying to find its natural home,” he said. “The campus really should have become part of Charles Sturt University when it initially moved from being a college. The Orange Campus is now seen as a jewel in the crown for the University,” he said. The opening ceremony, to be lead by Professor Parton and Acting CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ross Chambers, starts at 2.30pm in the Templer's Mill Bar, also known as the Student Association Function Room.
David Serisier paintings return home
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Artwork by the contemporary painter and printmaker David Serisier, who was born in Orange in 1958, has now entered the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Art Collection and is on permanent display at CSU’s Orange Campus. Produced in 2001, the two large images are formed by layers of rectangles glued on on paper and stacked like ”Quisenaire” rods. The works were chosen to display the great range of his colour palate – one very dark and the other light. “We’re thrilled to have the paintings hanging in our main administration building,” Head of Campus Professor Kevin Parton said. “They certainly have provoked a great deal of conversation amongst staff and visitors to the campus.”Parents encouraged to prepare children for school
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003Six Charles Sturt University (CSU) early childhood education students will undertake a community project in Dubbo that will focus on the importance of transition to primary school for small children. Titled Working Together for Children: Strengthening Transition Pathways, the project will highlight the importance of a positive transition experience to ensure children move into the school environment successfully. The Working Together for Children project aims to help the community recognise that the early years are the most important of a child’s life and their early experiences can influence their learning in following years. “Positive relationships between early childhood professionals, families, carers and schools are an integral aspect of supporting transition from the home or early childhood setting into the school,” said project representative Corina Windsor.