Charles Sturt University (CSU) will celebrate the reward for years of hard work embodied in degrees, diplomas and certificates to be awarded to 721 graduands at the CSU Goulburn Campus on Friday 18 May. The NSW inland city will be swept up in celebration as families and friends gather to acknowledge the achievements of some 165 graduands who are due to attend the ceremony from the Faculty of Arts and the Australian Graduate School of Policing. NSW Police Commisioner Ken Moroney will present new police recruits with their testamurs. The occasional address will be delivered by Dr Leigh Gassner, Assistant Commissioner with the Victoria Police Academy and a musical interlude will be performed by the NSW Police Band. Prize winners at the ceremony will include Ms Melanie Roseman, who will receive the Constable Education Program Medallion for her top academic performance in the Associate Degree in Policing Practice; Ms Rashelle Conroy, the Police Associate of NSW Award in the Bachelor of Policing; and Ms Debra Dawes, the Police Department Employees Credit Union Award in the Bachelor of Policing (Investigations).

An analysis of 14 existing studies on Echinacea, published last week in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, shows that the herbal remedy can cut the risk of catching a cold, and reduce the severity of a cold by up to a day-and-a-half. This comes as no surprise to Dr Philip Kerr, lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry at Charles Sturt University’s Wagga Wagga Campus. “I’m a tincture rather than tablet man myself,” says Dr Kerr. Echinacea supplements are available as tablets, extracts, tincture, tea and even in fresh juice. He adds it should be taken, “At the very first sign of feeling a bit off.” Dr Kerr says to watch for the “tingle on the tongue” as a sign of an effective Echinacea remedy. Echinacea effectiveness can be reduced by “the process by which the plant extract has been prepared, and which variety of the plant has been used,” Dr Kerr said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) and international computing giant IBM have announced a scholarship and internship program that will see CSU information technology (IT) students gain invaluable industry experience with IBM in Bathurst while completing their degrees. Initially six students will receive scholarships from IBM while they work for 40 weeks part time with the global information technology provider, developing skills in application development and maintenance and IT helpdesk support. “This program provides an exciting opportunity for the University’s students to engage with one of the world’s leading corporations in providing quality courses and graduates for the information technology industry,” said Professor John Hicks, Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Business.

Will nano-technology save the world or spell the end of civilisation? Professor John Weckert of Charles Sturt University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics says as well as those two groups of people with diametrically opposed view of this new technology, there is also a third viewpoint:  “These voices are trying to get the arguments into perspective so that the technology can be used in ways that are most beneficial.” Professor Weckert is the editor-in-chief of a new journal, NanoEthics. “It was thought that now is a good time to set up an academic journal that can be a forum for serious discussion of these issues,” said Professor Weckert. He says the journal is aimed at academics, philosophers, ethicists, policy makers and “people involved in regulation, many of whom are lawyers. It is very much a cross-disciplinary journal.”

“The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Art Collection will benefit enormously by the inclusion of this definitive painting by John Peart.  It an exceptional example of the artist’s work, that will serve as an integral part of their collection for generations to come,” says art valuer Randi Linnegar from King Street Galleries in Sydney. She was commenting on an artwork gift to CSU of an abstract painting, Muffled Rhythms 1984. CSU Art Curator Thomas Middlemost describes the “very large and important painting from a significant Sydney artist” as an “an intensely challenging artwork, which reflects the artist’s difficult path in the Australian art world. Muffled Rhythms, 1984 will exist as a ‘jewel in the crown’ of the University’s collection, which includes monotypes by Peart and paintings by James Gleeson, Emily Kngwarreye, to name a couple. The donation of this work will increase the standing of our important, nationally renowned art collection.”

A Charles Sturt University PhD student, Debra Dunstan, has received a prestigious Churchill Fellowship which will allow her to travel to Canada and the United Kingdom. Her PhD examined intervention for pain related to work disability. Using WorkCover NSW guidelines, she developed a rural program to successfully move worker’s compensation recipients back to work. “Typically people are only treated in major metropolitan areas. This model turned out to be very effective. We had significant outcomes.” The Churchill Fellowship will allow her to travel to Canada to examine similar models, as well as the United Kingdom where the idea has been expanded to successfully move social security beneficiaries into work. “I hope to be able to work with governments to develop a community based treatment for people who are on disability support pensions, and that fits in with the Australian government’s Welfare to Work program.” Debra says of the Fellowship, “I was overwhelmed really, it is an honour and a privilege and a very exciting opportunity.”

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Djirruwang Program Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) aims to create a critical mass of highly skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to deal with mental health problems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This innovative program has been acknowledged by the NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health) the Hon. Paul Lynch, who described is as a “significant commitment” by CSU. Mr Lynch’s comments came during the official launch of the NSW Aboriginal Mental Health and Well Being Policy 2006-2010 last week on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus. “The Djirruwang Program meets the national practice standards of the mental health workforce, making Charles Sturt University the first university course to use nationally agreed practice standards in mental health,” he said.

More than 500 mourners have attended a memorial service at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus on Monday 4 February to honour former Chancellor, Dr David Asimus, AO, who died on Australia Day 2008. Moving tributes to Dr Asimus were delivered in eulogies from Ian Macintosh, Ian Sully and son-in-law James Sutherland. The congregation included the Hon. Kay Hull, federal Member for Riverina; The Hon. Daryl McGuire, NSW Member for Wagga; John Fairfax, Chairman, Fairfax Media, the Hon. Tim Fischer, Former Deputy Prime Minister; The Rev. Archbishop Francis Carroll, Catholic Bishop of Canberra; Mr Lawrie Willet AO, Chancellor CSU and Mr James Sutherland, CEO Cricket Australia. Dr Asimus was elected the foundation Chancellor of CSU in 1989 and served in this post until 2002. As Chancellor, he oversaw the integration of the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education and Mitchell College of Advanced Education to form the new Charles Sturt University.