More than 50 participants from universities around Australia and overseas are expected to attend The Future of Fatigue symposium hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst between Monday 22 and Wednesday 24 August. Conference chair and Associate Dean of Research for CSU’s Faculty of Education, Professor Frank Marino, said, “Fatigue is central to how ordinary people manage their daily activities, and to how athletes perform and recover in any sport, particularly the elite. This symposium will discuss the latest research and developments in the field, and will help to define research areas that could increase human capacity for exertion and how we recover from it. The University’s School of Human Movement Studies is at the forefront of this research. Following the success of the first symposium in 2009, the School has attracted the best speakers in the field and will generate research for years to come.” Presentations at the symposium will examine such issues as muscle wasting disorders, neurophysiology, older athletes, cycling, and decision making by athletes and umpires.

Links between sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles, some forms of diseases such as diabetes and obesity, and whether your neighbour should pay part of your health care will challenge the audience of a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 31 August. Recently appointed Professor of Exercise Science and acting Head of CSU’s School of Human Movement Studies in Bathurst, Professor Robert Robergs, will deliver his first major lecture as part of the annual CSU Education Faculty forum. Professor Robergs’s lecture, titled The exercise and disease prevention dilemma: what we know but choose to ignore, will explore past studies of the causes of sedentary lifestyle diseases and the importance of physical activity and fitness in disease prevention. “We know that being physically fit, regardless of age, is essential for helping prevent disease,” Professor Robergs said. “There are barriers to developing an active lifestyle, and behaviour change is not just about medical and physiological knowledge. Central to this challenge is the responsibility of a citizen in a liberal social democracy. Does being sedentary increase risk and health care costs, like not wearing a seat belt when driving a car? If so, should we tax the sedentary? Why is it against the law to serve someone too much alcohol, but not too much food?”

The annual Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence will be presented at a ceremony at the University in Bathurst on Monday 5 September. The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Ian Goulter, said, “The 2011 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence acknowledge the commitment, dedication and ongoing excellence demonstrated by both academic and professional staff across Charles Sturt University. I thank the award recipients for their efforts which collectively contribute to the continued success of the University.” The ceremony will start at 1pm at the James Hardie Room, Centre for Professional Development (S17) atCSU, Panorama Ave, Bathurst. A ceremony for the presentation of awards to CSU staff at its southern campuses was held on Monday 29 August.

In recognition of the 2011 'International Year of Chemistry', a public lecture hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Wagga Wagga City Council will explore how a series of seemingly unrelated chemical discoveries changed the course of history. Professor of Chemistry at Macquarie University in Sydney, Peter Karuso, will trace chemical connections from the humble shipworm to the discovery of antibiotics. "I'm hoping to show people how important chemistry is to their lives by showing how chemical discoveries have changed the course of history over and over again," he said. "Chemistry is so interesting and so powerful that it deserves the best and brightest minds. I hope in some small way to inspire young people and their parents to take an interest in things chemical as I am sure that chemistry will be at the heart of solutions to many of our current and future problems."

The largest-ever group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and staff will provide physiotherapy and first aid services during the 2011 Tour de Timor, which commences from the capital of Timor-Leste, Dili, on Sunday 11 September. Six CSU physiotherapy and three nursing students and three staff will follow the Tour ‘peloton’ for six days around the mountainous, 600 kilometre course, providing medical services for tired, sore or injured riders. The CSU coordinator, Mr Tim Retchford, said the CSU students will gain valuable professional experience “while working in challenging conditions in a beautiful, though undeveloped, country”. This is the third time CSU students have provided these services during the Tour de Timor. The students and staff leave for Dili on Sunday 4 September to prepare themselves and riders for the event, as well as visiting local medical facilities. Meanwhile, PhD student at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Ms Nicola Wunderlich will take leave during her research in East Timor to cycle in the 2011 Tour De Timor. Read more on CSU News here.

Contributions to university administration, research, and community engagement by a psychology academic at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will be acknowledged with the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Leadership Excellence (Individual Award) at a presentation ceremony at CSU on Monday 5 September. Dr Rhonda Shaw, lecturer and researcher at the School of Psychology in Bathurst, has a research record that has seen her invited to be a reviewer of a textbook for first-year students, and for a number of high ranking journals, such as the Journal of Health Psychology and Child Neuropsychology. She has also conducted CSU Foundation Scholarship interviews, and convened and facilitated a faculty-wide working party to revise current Honours theses marking guidelines, which resulted in the establishment of benchmarks against other universities. Dr Shaw also organised and co-chaired a CSU staff workshop on Enhancing Staff / Student Interaction: Dealing with ‘Difficult Students’. In addition, Dr Shaw has made significant administrative contributions through her membership of the Faculty of Arts Honours Committee and the School of Psychology Board. Dr Shaw’s community engagement on ageing issues resulted in her being invited by Bathurst Regional Council to participate in the development of the older person’s section of Council’s Social and Community Plan.

Paramedic students will contend with dramatised mass trauma on the library lawn at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 21 and Friday 23 September as part of their studies. Mr Brian Haskins, lecturer at the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Bathurst, said, “The simulation will run for one hour, five times on Wednesday and four times on Friday, in a cordoned off area in front of the library to give students enrolled in the Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) a taste of what they might later encounter on-the-job. The staged scenario is that a tractor and trailer from Charles Sturt University’s Division of Facilities Management has gone out of control and hit a number of students. There will be 10 patients to treat and 10 treating paramedics from the Clinical Skills 2 subject. The two main objectives of the scenario are to expose the students to a mass casualty incident, and to put them under some real pressure by having onlookers, including media, observing their assessment and treatment skills.” The School will also video each simulation session in full for later review by the students.

Hair, eyebrows and beards were bleached and coloured at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga on Friday 26 August all in the name of raising money for cancer research and patient support. The activities, held at CSU in support of Daffodil Day, raised nearly $2 400 for the NSW Cancer Council. The fundraising was organised by Charles Sturt Campus Services and the Residential Support Scheme at CSU. “There is a competitive streak between staff across the University so we organised a ‘fund-off’ to raise money for the Cancer Council. A total of $510.25 was raised at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, $841.65 in Bathurst and $1 030.70 was raised in Wagga Wagga,” said Ms Vanessa Conlin, a Residential Operations Officer.  In addition to the temporary ‘hair salons’ for the bleaching and colourings, staff also sold daffodils and pins in support of the annual Daffodil Day event.

A special presentation ceremony was held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst yesterday evening, Monday 5 September, to acknowledge the consistently high level of service provided by the staff of the CSU Contact Centre, who respond to all phone and email enquiries about courses and study at the University. In thanking the staff and presenting their citations for the annual Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Performance Excellence (Team Award), Professor Ian Goulter stressed the importance of their role and acknowledged their dedication and the assistance they provided to prospective students and their parents. “The Contact Centre is a highly professional and committed team that is passionate about customer service,” Professor Goulter said. “The team has maintained this commitment throughout a challenging year of change to core processes and practices, with each member of the team embracing these challenges positively to ensure a smooth transition to university study for students.” At another ceremony earlier in the afternoon, Bathurst campus-based members of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Project Team received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Performance Excellence (Team Award).