Senior high school students from Bathurst, Katoomba, Lithgow, Oberon, Parkes and Yeoval with an interest in computing and information technology (IT) will explore career options at the MyDay event at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 6 May. CSU prospective student adviser, Ms Fran Dwyer, said this MyDay is separate from the communications event, and she expects about 20 students to attend the IT MyDay. The students will interact with CSU academics and current students to undertake activities such as writing programs for mobile phone games, robotics, and computer vision, and they will explore the University’s state-of-the-art facilities such as the computer and games technology labs,” Ms Dwyer said. The courses to be showcased are: Bachelor of Computer Science, Bachelor of Computer Science (Games Technology), Bachelor of Information Technology, and Bachelor of Information Technology (Business Services).

High-achieving Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in the Faculty of Business will receive prizes and awards at the Dean’s List presentation ceremony for the 2009 academic year on Tuesday 4 May at the University in Bathurst. The Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business, Associate Professor Ken Dillon, said, “The Faculty of Business is able to award more than 80 individual prizes for the 2009 academic year to graduating and continuing students in the School of Accounting, the School of Business, and the School of Computing and Mathematics. Students who have achieved a Distinction or High Distinction in every subject undertaken during a session (or over two sessions if they are part-time students) are nominated for inclusion on the Dean’s List. For the 2009 academic year, a total of 124 students were nominated across all the University’s campuses for inclusion on the Dean’s List, and 32 of these will be attending the presentation luncheon to receive their certificates. Unfortunately, not all students are able to attend the ceremony, and a number of prizes acknowledging outstanding academic achievement will be awarded to graduating students at the graduation ceremonies in Bathurst this week. The remaining prizes have been won by continuing students.”

A leading climate change researcher with Charles Sturt University (CSU) believes delaying the emissions trading scheme (ETS) will cost every Australian in the long run. Professor Kevin Parton, a lead researcher with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, said the Federal government’s decision to delay the introduction of the scheme until after 2012 to wait and see what the rest of the world will do on carbon emissions was no reason to delay. “The three biggest polluters are USA, China and Europe. China is developing green technologies, and Europe already has an ETS. They are going to be way ahead of Australia,” Professor Parton said. “The media has greatly exaggerated the cost of an ETS to the public, leading to falling public support for the scheme. And the government doesn’t want to take the scheme to its first election.” Professor Parton said under ‘business as usual’ without an ETS, Australia can expect to double its average level of income by 2050. “But with the ETS this income doubling would be delayed only one year.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) distance education student has been selected for an Australian University Sport team to compete at the 2010 World University Triathlon Championship in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday 30 May. Ms Lauren Parker, who lives in the Newcastle suburb of Maryville, is studying for a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice) through the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Bathurst. “I have competed in about six triathlons in the last two to three years, but before I started triathlons I was a national swimmer for 10 years,” Ms Parker said. “This year I was offered a professional triathlon licence through Triathlon Australia, which means I can now race in the elite category. It’s great to be selected as part of a national triathlon team, and I am honoured and very excited about racing internationally for the first time representing Australia and Charles Sturt University. I hope to compete in three other events in Spain, so for the next five weeks I will be training ‘smart’ and I look forward to this amazing experience."

The real story of NSW colonial governor Lachlan Macquarie is more dramatic and compelling than is otherwise promoted, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher and lecturer who will deliver the keynote speech at a dinner in Bathurst on Saturday 1 May to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the start of Macquarie’s administration of the fledgling colony. Mr Harry Dillon, a journalism lecturer at the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries and co-author of a soon-to-be-published book about Governor Macquarie, says the title of his speech, The Other Lachlan Macquarie, signifies that he will try to go beyond the standard 'Father of Australia' profiles. “It's OK that these things are being restated in 2010 because a surprising number of people are unaware of Macquarie’s considerable achievements. In all, Macquarie was extraordinarily well matched to the peculiar nature of the job in Australia's crucial third decade of white settlement.”

Senior high school students from the Central West interested in exercise and human movement will explore study and career options at the MyDay information event at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Friday 30 April. Ms Katy O’Brien, a Prospective Student Adviser in the CSU Division of Marketing, said the 50 Year 11 and 12 students from State, Catholic and private schools from Canowindra, Bathurst, Lithgow, Orange, Parkes, Peak Hill and Mudgee will be involved in interactive activities with CSU academics and current students that will showcase CSU courses and facilities. “The CSU MyDay event will inform students about CSU’s Bachelor of Exercise Science Bachelor of Education (Health and Physical Education), and Bachelor of Sports Studies / Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) courses,” Ms O’Brien said. “They will explore related facilities such as the gymnasium, the exercise physiology laboratories, and the Media Centre, and will tour the Bathurst Campus. Information sessions will advise them about pathways into courses, scholarships, international study opportunities through CSU Global, and student forums.”

A Bathurst School Community Garden Network will be established through a partnership between Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Teacher Education, Bathurst Climate Change Action Network and the Rahamim Ecological Learning Community, using a grant of $35 623 from the NSW Environmental Trust..Project manager and lecturer at the CSU School of Teacher Education in Bathurst (embed link: ), Ms Jan Page, said the grant will help establish a network of individuals, schools and community groups interested in developing kitchen gardens at five schools in 2010, which will mentor more schools in the NSW Central West in 2011 to expand the network. “The project aims to implement environmental education in schools to promote sustainable living practices by establishing and developing school and community food gardens which will provide a focus to coordinate curriculum and the management of school grounds and resources sustainably,” Ms Page said. Neville Public School, Bathurst South Public School, Glenroi Heights Public School, St Philomena’s Primary School and Bathurst Christian School will take part initially in the project, which will be launched at Rahamim Ecological Learning Community in Bathurst on Wednesday 28 April.

The potential health risk of rural drinking water was the topic of a talk Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Andrea Crampton gave to Rotarians in Wagga Wagga last month. Dr Crampton, who is a member of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS)  found that more than 50 per cent of rural tank water drinkers were drinking water that exceeded the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. In one instance the level of E.coli was 230 times the acceptable limit. Interviews with participants in the study identified a need for more information on potential risks and how to reduce those risks, steps already known but not communicated effectively to the rural community. “Not surprisingly most were more than happy for the government to stay away from their water supplies, preferring to manage their own systems but in a more informed manner,” Dr Crampton said.

Innovative thinking and action to foster positive attitudes to mental health problems and linking individual struggles and social justice are promoted in NSW by a joint initiative between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the University of Western Sydney (UWS). Professor David Fryer, Professor of Community Critical Psychology at CSU’s newly established School of Psychology in Bathurst, and UWS Professor of Women’s Health Psychology, Professor Jane Ussher, will convene a half-day workshop - Freeing up our minds: critical alternatives to drug-focused approaches to mental health – at UWS on Thursday 22 April. Professor Fryer will describe and illustrate his work with ‘artivists’, self-styled ‘survivors of psychiatry’ who use artistic media in community settings to uncover and contest mental health-related oppression. “We have taken advantage of the visit to Australia by Dr Rufus May, a groundbreaking British clinical psychologist, mental health activist and media personality, to convene a workshop for those interested in socially-just alternatives to pharmacological and medical approaches to mental health,” Professor Fryer said. More information on the workshop is available from Professor David Fryer on (02) 6338 4450 or send an email.