Rings, bangles, pendants and brooches created from precious metals as well as other materials such as silicon and polyurethane are on display at an exhibition of work by Charles Sturt University's (CSU) graduating Bachelor of Arts in Jewellery students. Lecturer Sabine Pagan says the students used both traditional and contemporary skills in the manufacture of their innovative designs. She says the highlight of the exhibition is seeing how the students worked within themes such as evolution, space, and body armour. “These themes have guided the seven students in their creation of truly unique works," Ms Pagan said. Executive Director of Craft ACT Barbara McConchie will officially open the exhibition at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery on Friday 17 November at 6.30pm.

Acting students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) are to train in the Chekhov and Stanislavski technique with a Russian director with an unbroken link to the two great men themselves. Leonid Verzub was a long-term student of Maria Knebel, an assistant to Konstantin Stanislavski and friend and collaborator with Mikhail Chekhov, Anton Chekhov’s nephew. In 1979 Leonid Verzub was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of Russia and Theatre Director of the Highest Category. He visited CSU’s Wagga Wagga campus yesterday (Monday 20 November) at the behest of his former student Dr Ashley Wain who is now a lecturer in the CSU’s VPA. Verzub was here to meet the acting and design students with whom he will work next year when he directs the Australian premiere of Stars in the Morning Sky at the Riverina Playhouse. “It is a really rare opportunity for the students to work with someone who is a master director in one of the strongest and richest theatrical traditions in the world,” said Dr Wain.

Primary school pupils from Trinity Anglican College at Thurgoona are exploring migrant experiences and preparing to build their own heritage collections through a project run by Lysa Dealtry, an Early Childhood education Honours student from Charles Sturt University. Ms Dealtry will lead a field trip to the Bonegilla Migrant Museum at the Albury Regional Museum on Monday (27 November). An important part of the project is the “explore-a-box”, which contains items from the Bonegilla Collection. Ms Dealtry, a descendant of migrant parents and grandparents, is conducting her Honours research project on the teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom. Earlier this year, she was awarded a $5 000 fellowship from the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the NSW Migration Heritage Centre to develop a mobile display to raise community awareness of migrants and their heritage and identity. The “explore-a-box” resource will be available for use by local school teachers in 2007.

An innovative Albury-based health research charity hopes to reach a wider international audience thanks to assistance from two Charles Sturt University (CSU) students. The Power Thinking Health Council website aims to help people heal themselves through their own mental health and wellbeing. CSU information technology students Dan Francisco and Ben Van Kesteren developed a monitoring and reporting tool that compares a visitor’s daily moods, feelings and emotions with their personal general health. Power Thinking Health Council president Theo Richter said the online tool “will provide our website readers with immediate feedback on how their current emotional state might be affecting their health, which is particularly important for living with such chronic diseases as cancer”. The students developed the site and associated survey and online monitor as part of their final year project for their CSU information technology degrees.

“The main purpose of his visit was to establish a research culture amongst the paramedic staff and he has done that brilliantly,” Associate Professor Peter O’Meara from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Public Health said of Visiting Professor Malcolm Woollard. “He managed to get a project up and funded and complete the research in seven weeks. One miracle he achieved was approval of the project in just two working days.” Professor Woollard returned the compliment. “I have been very impressed by the professionalism and can-do attitude of the team here. (Head of School) Lyn Angel in particular made it possible for us to speed through the approvals process but still make sure that the project was of an appropriate standard.” The visit was part-funded by the Australian College of Ambulance Professionals (ACAP). Chair of ACAP, Ian Johns, said “we feel like we have hit a home run. Malcolm cuts through the fog of that high level stuff. Now we can see a nice clear snapshot of how it can be.”

“Young people need no magic shields, swords and arrows to cope with the world of work,” according to Associate Professor Erica Smith, a specialist in vocation education and training from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Professor Smith says it is dangerous and futile to constantly make changes to the school curriculum in attempts to prepare young people better for the workplace. Her paper, The Land of Narnia or just the back of the wardrobe? What research tells us about the real world of work for young people will challenge many assumptions made about the nature of entry into work life for young people. Drawing from her national research, Professor Smith says the majority of young people have a realistic view of the labour market, hold sufficient skills to succeed and are able to move to full-time work seamlessly over a period of several years with no major difficulties. “The world of work, rather than being a strange land, difficult to enter, where battles are fought and special guides are needed, is a familiar and navigable place to young people,” she said. 

Carbon emissions trading is a great idea waiting to happen, according to Charles Sturt University’s environment economist Mark Morrison. Dr Morrison says he agrees with Prime Minister John Howard, who said at the APEC summit late last week that any carbon trading system would have to be global to suceed. “The global effort is going to be ineffective unless everyone is going to involved,” said Dr Morrison. “Very few countries are meeting their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is going to be one of the most severely affected countries. The ability of agricultural land in Australia to produce the way it has historically is very unlikely, if you believe the global warming forecasts and I do.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has partnered with The Project Management Institute (PMI) Sydney Chapter to offer a world-first industry-based qualification for project managers. Participants will gain international recognition as a PMI Project Management Professional as part of the course. Scholarship applications are now invited for the Graduate Diploma of Project Management. Dean of CSU’s Commerce Faculty Professor John Hicks believes education in project management is a rapidly developing field in the tertiary education sector. “CSU is pleased to be participating with industry experts in the development of subjects and courses to meet the educational needs of the profession.” Enrolment applications are new being accepted by CSU and scholarships have been donated by PMI to support the launch of the new qualification.