“Lazarus with a triple bypass”. The year was 1989, and John Howard had just lost the Opposition leadership. One reporter at the media conference asked him if he felt like a “political corpse”, another if he thought he could ever regain the leadership. How did John Howard go from that moment in political time, to today marking his tenth year in office with four straight election wins, making him Australia’s second-longest serving Prime Minister? Dr Wayne Errington (left), Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU) is currently writing a biography about John Howard, and will present a paper to a weekend conference looking at Mr Howard’s skill as a politician and his refusal to succumb to political rejection. “He’s grown as a politician, he’s a much more calm person than he was 10 or 15 years ago, he’s much more measured in his policies, he’s prepared to compromise to get things through the senate or to mollify public opinion, and that’s a recipe for a much more successful conservative politician.” Dr Errington’s paper also examines all the elements that have led to John Howard’s remarkable four election wins.

The story of two women living on "a knife's edge" in the Villawood Detention Centre has won an inaugural international broadcasting award for former Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Kirsti Melville. The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme was presented to Ms Melville by Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International at a ceremony in New Delhi. The Radio National documentary is described as "the human story behind the federal government's stance on deporting long-term visa overstayers". Ms Melville, a 1994 graduate with a BA Communication (Broadcast Journalism), says it was a compelling program "because their stories were equally moving and powerful as those of refugees, but they are voices you don't hear very often. I think it was one of the first times I felt like I had had a little bit of an impact. You become very aware of your responsibilities as a journalist and to the people involved." The news that she won came as a surprise, "I was completely gob smacked, and on top of that to find out I was going to India in two weeks to accept the Award was mind-blowing." Kirsti's next documentary is about ageing Holocaust survivors in nursing homes in Sydney.

A best practice childcare centre planned for the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) “would boost our early childhood education profile and be of benefit not just for the professionals in the field, but for our students as well,” according to Lynda Ireland, lecturer in the School of Teacher Education. The play area is to be designed collaboratively between the School of Teacher Education, Mitchell Childcare Centre and leading outdoor environment designer, Prue Walsh. Ms Walsh, an early childhood playground consultant and long time advocate for better play environments says “we’ve never had more exciting research available about what happens in early childhood centres. IQ is no longer rated as the main skill, socio-emotional skills are”. She says that repeated evidence shows positive childcare environments support children’s social and emotional development. “Children who have good social and emotional development go on to develop less drug addiction, fewer teenage pregnancies, are more likely to stick to university, and have more capacity and resilience to cope and adapt to the changes in life.” Annabelle Hillsdon, a tutor in the School of Communication, has children at the centre and is driving the fund-raising effort for construction of the facility. Ms Hillsdon says currently teachers and centre directors travel to Sydney to see Australia’s best childcare play environment. “So the idea is that we build the regional best practice, so people from Warren, Trangie, Trundle, instead of going to Sydney, they come to CSU.” Work is due to start this July.

“Accept our differences, celebrate our similarities” is the theme for Harmony Day to be celebrated next Tuesday 21 March on Bathurst and Wagga Wagga campuses. Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) students and staff will celebrate the national event, which coincides with the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. “It’s an opportunity for all Australians to get to know each other better, share our culture and say ‘no’ to racism,” said CSU Student Community Coordinator Monique Cummins. Special activities will be accompanied by free ribbons, stickers and postcards that celebrate the cultural diversity of students and staff at CSU.

Like a scene from Hitchcock’s horror movie The Birds, one minute you are strolling along and the next you are being attacked from behind by a magpie. Dr David Watson, senior lecturer in Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Environmental & Information Sciences, says to expect the magpie swooping season to begin this week or next. “The first thing to realise is they are just parents looking after their kids, they are not crazy birds with a ‘bee in their bonnet’.” He recommends avoiding the nesting trees and carrying an umbrella or wearing a wide brimmed hat. Dr Watson says the magpie problem on the University’s Albury-Wodonga Campus is caused by hand feeding which has made some of the birds so tame they wander freely into University buildings, including lecture theatres. “Hand feeding can lead to problems and eventually the bird becomes too bold for its own good. As with swooping, it can cause problems.”

Last week the UK government announced that all 306 British World War One soldiers executed for desertion or cowardice are to be pardoned, saying the decision was taken on moral grounds. Charles Sturt University (CSU) historian Dr Rob McLachlan, an adjunct senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, says it was the court martial and execution of Australian soldiers “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock from Bathurst during the earlier Boer War that prevented Australian soldiers suffering the same fate as their British counterparts. He says the public outcry over the deaths of Morant and Handcock ensured Australian soldiers would never again face a British court martial. “Also, the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) was a fully volunteer force, and was not the sort of military that would take easily to this extreme form of discipline. However, I see nothing in the human condition to say it won't happen again.”

Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) students have topped the University’s sparkling wine production course in 2006. The wine science students - Sophie Houghton, Graeme Scott and Steve Balog - each received 12 bottles of wine from Domaine Chandon, Australia’s leading producer of sparkling wine. Subject Coordinator, Professor Geoff Scollary, said that the contribution of Domaine Chandon to the teaching program was a major factor in the success of the final year Sparkling Wine Production subject. “Students get the opportunity to taste wines, to blend wines ready for commercial release, and to hear from leading sparkling wine makers,” he said. The School of Wine and Food Sciences has a long history of collaboration with Domaine Chandon, with the company’s CEO, Dr Tony Jordan as the first wine science lecturer at CSU in the late 1970s.

Policies aimed at increasing the pace of developing renewable energies could accelerate global warming, according to Dr Rod Duncan, a lecturer in economics at Charles Sturt University. It wouldn’t be the first time regulations have had the opposite of the desired effect. When US Congress introduced the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Detroit car makers responded by producing petrol-guzzling SUVs. And when Mexico City implemented no-drive days where a car could only be used every other day, the citizens reacted by buying a second car. “Air quality in Mexico City got worse, because the second car tended to be an old bomb,” said Dr Duncan. And what does all this have to do with alternative energies? “If cheaper alternatives are being developed, oil producers will have an incentive to pump oil faster and sell it cheaper. The renewables could be worth it in the long run, but at least temporarily, you may actually make the global warming problem worse.”

The 42 volunteer members of the new Charles Sturt University (CSU) Staff / Student Choir from the Bathurst Campus has won the open choral section of the 61st Bathurst Regional Eisteddfod held last Friday 27 October. CSU choir master Dr Christopher Klopper was delighted by the choir’s performance, especially since it was formed only six months ago and has had only limited rehearsal opportunities. Dr Klopper said “this is just the start for us and we can only build from strength to strength. I’m so proud of the commitment everyone made”. The choir performed two distinctly different pieces, as required by the eisteddfod rules, within a ten minute time limit. The first piece was an “Irish Blessing” accompanied by flautist Stephanie Nicholls, followed by the jazzier ‘Fever’, accompanied on piano by Denise Wood. Dr Klopper is a music lecturer in the University’s School of Teacher Education. He comes from South Africa and began at CSU in February 2006.