A team of seven physiotherapy, nursing and paramedic students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will repeat last year’s medical assistance to mountain bike riders in the Tour de Timor race around Timor Leste. CSU physiotherapy lecturer Mr Tim Retchford will this year lead the students in their provision of medical support for the mountainous race. “Last year we treated up to 60 patients a day for everything from knee and back strains to dislocations, abrasions and fractures,” Mr Retchford said. “We dine with the competitors each morning, travel ahead of them to the finish to set up our mobile clinic, and help ‘patch them up’ at the end of leg so the riders can get back into the race the next day. Our students gain invaluable professional experience treating injured athletes as well as witnessing this amazing country and bicycle race up close. It is a fantastic experience.”  The Tour de Timor starts in the capital Dili on Monday 13 September and finishes back in Dili on Friday 17 September. The Tour de Timor is 410 km.

How will climate change affect social change? This question will be explored in a free public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo on Wednesday 15 September. Dr Bruce Fell, lecturer in the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Bathurst, will examine the implications of climate change in his presentation titled Climate change means social change: How film, television and the Internet can help, from 6pm in room 422. He says, “The literature on global ecological degradation is substantial, but the reasons western society is having difficulty coming to terms with the issue is less understood. Understanding the relationship between humans, ecological awareness and ‘the screen’, particularly television, is more central to our personal and community well-being than is currently given credit”.  

Four school students will make a difference to their charity of choice through a Charles Sturt University (CSU) social justice award. The Social Justice Innovation Award offered through the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU gives teenagers a platform to write about Making a Difference. The judges included senior social work lecturer, Dr Bill Anscombe, and poet and recently-retired English lecturer, Mr David Gilbey. “Although we only advertised the competition in NSW and the ACT, we also received entries from Victoria and the Northern Territory. This highlights the fact that there are a lot of school students with writing talents keen to be involved in the project,” Dr Anscombe said. They winners of Making a Difference 2010 are Mr Kieran Hennessy from Great Lakes Tuncurry Senior High School, Mr Reid Butler from Merewether High School,  Ms Alexandra Jones from Pymble Ladies College and Ms Tara Whitsed of Corryong College.  Their nominated charities, World Vision, Red Cross, Love146 and beyondblue will each receive $250 from CSU.

The CSU Global Where in the World exhibition will finish its travels when it reaches Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Monday 6 September. CSU Global, the University’s student exchange program, ran a Facebook competition to collect images from international student travels. A cash prize of $500 was awarded to the winning student in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga. Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) student Ms Lauren Owen submitted an image she took in Luang Prabang in Laos. “I like this photograph because it depicts a tradition within the Buddhist community that has been followed for hundreds of years; it shows an ability to enjoy the simple traditions of life, pleasures often lost in a fast paced society,” Ms Owen said. “Having my photograph exhibited gave me a great sense of pride knowing people had viewed, voted and appreciated my work.”  

With the cost of the Federal election running into the tens of millions of dollars, two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have spoken out in favour of voting online, stating it would be cheaper, secure and more efficient. “Australians are able to do their taxes online, bank online and even register to vote online,” lecturers Mr Geoff Fellows and Mr Ken Eustace said. “Yet Australians still turn up to polling stations around the country and have their names crossed off the roll in pencil and then mark their ballot papers in pencil. The technology is there for the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to conduct the poll online. Voters could use their Medicare numbers to vote at portable ATM-style machines. The votes could still be scrutinised and it may reduce the number of voters who mistakenly vote informal if the system ensures invalid votes are authorised. Voters could also vote from home by pre-registering their computer and then voting through a special website. The AEC could even charge the political parties to have links from the special site to election material.”

The success of a scholarship program for students moving from TAFE to Charles Sturt University (CSU) is being expanded in the wake of its success. CSU’s ‘TAFE to University’ Scholarship Program was developed last year specifically for Diploma and Advanced Diploma students studying at TAFE NSW’s Riverina Institute and TAFE Western, and the Canberra Institute of Technology. Due to the program’s success, it has now been expanded to include an additional five TAFE institutes. The move doubles the number of scholarships available to TAFE students in 2011. Three scholarships are available to each of the TAFE providers. “Charles Sturt University is committed to creating strong education pathways. Our collaboration with TAFE institutes is a great example of how educators can work together to ensure students reach their potential,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at CSU, Professor Ross Chambers said. Applications for the $2 500 scholarships are open until 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010.

Ms Libby Clark from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health sometimes feels a twinge of sorrow for tele-operators whose job it is to sit on the phone all day, trying to maintain a calm, clear voice as they either deal with complaints or try to sell a product. “I know we all loath those telephone calls, but after working with these people, and realising how hard this type of work is for the human voice, it really does make me feel sorry for them,” she said. As a discipline leader in speech pathology at the School of Community Health, Ms Clark spends a great deal of time helping people develop their voice for their working life. “Our voice, our speech and our language skills are central to everything we do as human beings,” she said. “It’s It’s how we develop and maintain relationships, but it's also really important for our working lives.” As well as feeling empathy for tele-operators, Ms Clark has concerns for the elderly. “It's important to spend time working with the elderly because if they often find it hard to be heard - especially if they have had some kind of communication impairment like a stroke or have a hearing loss. Just because they are old, doesn't mean they don't have a right to have a say, to be heard, to have a voice in what goes on in their lives.” Dr Clark has worked on voice and speech production skills with tour guides, sport professionals, teachers and business leaders. Speech Pathology Australia is hosting Speech Pathology Week from 22 to 28 August.                                        

Students in their second year of dentistry at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange are finding out what teamwork is all about as they start the next stage of their studies working in the University’s Dental and Oral Health Clinic. Supervised by local practicing dentists from Bathurst and Orange, the students are focusing on oral hygiene procedures such as scaling and polishing, fluoride applications and oral hygiene advice. "At this stage, students are also performing comprehensive examinations including x-rays,” Associate Professor Dr Cheryl Chapple from the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences at CSU in Orange said. “They will always be supervised by a professional dentist and will work up to more complex procedures through the five year course. Academics, local dentists and the students are working as a team to ensure that the communities in the central west of NSW receive access to high quality dental health care.”

Nguluway, the Wiradjuri word for ‘Meeting with Each Other’, is the title under which Indigenous staff from across Charles Sturt University (CSU) will meet this week for their annual conference. About 30 Indigenous staff are expected to attend the two-day event at the Convention Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga from Wednesday 11 August to Thursday 12 August. Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Flo Grant will give the Welcome to Country from 9.20am on Wednesday 11 August. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Ian Goulter will address Nguluway at 9.30am and the Indigenous dance group from Wagga Wagga Maliyaa, will perform at 10am. Indigenous Elders and community members will join CSU staff for these sessions of Nguluway. The University’s Australian Indigenous Employment Strategy aims to increase the proportion of Indigenous staff in continuing positions and boost the overall representation of Indigenous staff to three per cent. Read more about the strategy here.