The Dead Bones Society, a series of “comedy horror” workshops aimed at gifted nine to twelve year old boys, has won a NSW 2007 Local Government Cultural Award. The workshops, which take place after-hours at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst, are run by Charles Sturt University (CSU) tutor and literacy consultant Paul Stafford and mentored by male teacher education students from CSU. Mr Stafford describes the Society as a “secret club. Boys love the idea of a creepy old museum at night”. Scott Bell, a fourth year primary education student at CSU said he could see the boys’ self-esteem building over the course of the workshops. “To put it bluntly, reading and writing are considered by many boys to be girly, so these were boys who can be picked on because they like to read, but it was a good blokey environment where their writing styles improved. It pushed them into deeper levels of creative writing.”

Over 1 000 school students from across the Central West of New South Wales will descend on the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) later this month for FACTS Tertiary Information Day 2007. Organiser Denis Behan said the Day is designed “specifically for Year 12 students. They come from Lithgow, Molong, Blayney and Orange as well as Bathurst, from government and non-government schools. We have 60 different exhibitors including all NSW and ACT universities as well as private providers, TAFE and other agencies who help students.” Nicholas Williams was Captain of Kelso High last year and attended the 2006 FACTS Day. He is now studying the CSU double degree in psychology and secondary teaching. “There were a huge number of stands and a lot of information. I found it very helpful. You go away with something to think about.”

A ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Friday 25 May will honour Mrs Sheila Swain, AM, by naming the School of Nursing and Midwifery complex on the Bathurst Campus The Sheila Swain Building. Among her many distinctions, Mrs Swain was appointed to the Council of Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), which became part of CSU, in 1980 and was elected Chairman in 1984. Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Professor Elaine Duffy, said the University continues to be enriched by Mrs Swain’s contribution.  “As well as her service to what was then Mitchell College, Mrs Swain has maintained her links with CSU and has generously funded five scholarships to assist female nursing students experiencing financial hardship while completing their studies. Mrs Swain is an inspiration and an outstanding role model for all women, and especially for female nursing students, and that is why we chose to honour her in this way,” Professor Duffy said.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has made his mark on one of Australia’s premier cycle races. Dean Windsor, who is currently studying Primary Education, won the fourth stage and came fourth overall in points in the five-day Jayco Bay Cycling Classic. The Classic is the world’s fastest criterium series according to organisers. Dean says he is delighted to have done so well. “All the professionals race this, and it is important to get a win early in the season. It is quite a top quality field and a top class event.” Next up is the Road National, a 150 kilometre race around Ballarat, and Dean says he is looking forward to a trip to Europe later this year, as well as “a few tours in Asia. My CSU lecturers are very supportive, so it is possible to combine my studies with the cycling,” he said.

CSU Media wishes you all a happy and safe festive season and looks forward to working with you in 2007.

A group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students are out to "put the sting" into their more fancied rivals when they compete in the water polo competition in the upcoming Australian University Games, to be held on the Queensland Gold Coast from 23 to 28 September. The CSU Bluebottles, comprising nine CSU students from its Albury-Wodonga and two from Bathurst campuses, boasts seven regular top grade players who have represented the Ovens & Murray Association, NSW and Australian Country Teams. In July, the Bluebottles walked away with a bronze medal at the Australian universities’ East Coast Challenge and are confident of an even better performance on the Gold Coast. Team captain Matt Hogan, who played for the last three years in England and before that had stints with the Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Dolphins in the Australian National League, said, "We are going to the Gold Coast confident in our ability to be competitive. After our top three finish in Sydney we can go to the Australian University Games believing we are a medal chance.” The Bluebottles are looking for support from the Border community to get to the Games. Anyone interested can send an email to csubluebottles@hotmail.com

A Federal Government inquiry into school students’ knowledge of Australia’s history has led to a new Charles Sturt University (CSU) history course for teachers being launched for 2007. Course coordinator and history and politics lecturer Dr Troy Whitford said there is a real gap in the knowledge students and teachers have about Australia’s democratic process and its history. “This course aims to address many teachers’ poor understanding of Australian history and help teachers to address the need to teach about Australia’s democratic processes and citizenship in their classes. The Graduate Certificate in History (Civics and Citizenship) relates to relevant sections in other teaching subjects for social science, geography and modern history giving graduates a big picture understanding, particularly in relation to the organisation and operation of the Australian democratic system,” Dr Whitford said. Enrolments for the postgraduate course, to start in 2007, will run until November 2006. The Federal Government will hold a summit on teaching Australian history in August this year.

Glenn Tasker is the CEO of Swimming Australia Ltd (SAL), the nation’s governing body for the sport and a Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate. After his recent travels to New York, Montreal, Shanghai and Madrid, what does he think of Bathurst? He says his student days were “the best years of my life”. After graduating in 1974, Glenn taught in Sydney before being seconded into the new NSW Department of Education Sports Unit, where his career in sports management and administration took off. He says the highlights of his time so far at SAL have been the Athens Olympics in 2004 and discovering and nurturing young athletes like Ian Thorpe. Glenn Tasker is a guest speaker at Bathurst graduation ceremony on Thursday 4 May. He wants to tell the graduates that “teachers have to have high expectations of not only themselves, but also of the pupils. I want to impress upon them that they have a very, very important role to play in society, and that they need to be inspirational and dedicated to the task”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Dr Keith Nesbitt’s research on a design pattern for complex systems has won him a 12-month postdoctoral appointment to the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) in Boston, USA. Dr Nesbitt, a lecturer in Information Technology at CSU, has been working in the relatively new field of science known as complex systems. The study of complex systems is about understanding indirect effects and the problems we find difficult to solve. They have causes and effects that are not obviously related. Examples of complex systems include beehives, ant colonies and even the stockmarket, as well as the human brain. NECSI, where Dr Nesbitt will be based, is an independent non-profit educational and research institution dedicated to advancing the study of complex systems. NECSI was established as a collaboration of faculty from Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Brandeis and other academic institutions. “I’m keen to take my research to the next level. That would be the ultimate goal: to try and understand what they call the theory of the mind”, said Dr Nesbitt.