The Tremendous, a band made up of students from Charles Sturt University (CSU), took out the Rock Up 2007 Battle of the Bands final in Dubbo earlier this month. Laurie Mahon, a first year Bachelor of Communication / Bachelor of Business Studies student, describes his band's music as "folk mixed with psychedelic, funk, jazz and roots". Other CSU students in The Tremendous are Lily Leahy, Liam Robertson and Julian Pavey. Mr Mahon says the two vocalists, Grace Turner and Zana Kobayashi, are hoping to enrol at CSU next year. Part of the prize includes two days recording time and after that, The Tremendous will tour the east coast of New South Wales. “It’s very much a dream – to be able to tour and record. If we work hard then hopefully it will become a reality. I’ve been in a lot of bands, and this is the first that people come up after the show and tell us how much they enjoy the music, and that is exhilarating,” said Mr Mahon.

Matt McNee is keeping his eyes on the ground as rain falls across NSW while he completes a PhD at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on cover cropping, where a crop is used primarily to cover and protect soil from water and wind erosion. With a background in farming sugar cane in Queensland, Matt is now at CSU’s Orange Campus observing the condition of soils on collaborating farms throughout NSW, including Orange and Wellington. “I’m looking at pure cropping and mixed farming properties with different soil types to discover whether the planting of crops intended for ground cover, as opposed to crops for grain yields, benefits the soil and increases efficiency of water conservation.” Matt hopes to discover how much cover is necessary to benefit soils in semiarid environments. “The objective is to adapt Australian farming systems in a semiarid environment to find the best cropping system and management options.”

Following the Federal Budget announcing $65.1 million for a School of Dentistry and Oral Health at Charles Sturt University (CSU), the architectural design concept for the Dental Education Clinic on CSU’s Dubbo Campus will be unveiled on Saturday 2 June 2007. The Dubbo Dental Education Clinic is designed to complement and supplement existing public and private dental services in Dubbo and will be developed in close consultation with existing dental practitioners. The University will offer opportunities for dental practitioners to work as adjunct academic appointments in the program. The University will immediately begin the process of establishing the multi-campus infrastructure of the School of Dentistry and negotiating staff appointments. The first CSU dentistry students are expected to enrol in 2009, with the University aiming for 240 places for dental students over five years.

Graduating with a PhD in early childhood education this Thursday 24 May, Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Alison Lord has discovered there are many difficulties in operating children’s services in rural and remote Australia. Researching the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS), the national quality assurance system for long day care children’s services, Alison examined how child care staff and parents living in rural and remote communities continue to engage with the system which is compulsory and tied to Commonwealth Funding. “There are many dedicated, educated early childhood practitioners that deal with geographical and professional isolation while working in low status, predominantly female occupations,” Alison explains. “I have also discovered the QIAS has not always improved the quality of outcomes for children and their families. Perhaps more access to funded professional development for early childhood professionals and direct funding of child care centres, rather than funding via parent subsidies, may lead to better quality services for young children and their families.

While grain growers rejoice, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) livestock expert is warning recent widespread rainfall across New South Wales and Victoria brings risks as well as great benefits for pastoralists. Professor Kym Abbott from the CSU School of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Wagga Wagga Campus says sheep flocks and cattle herds face the increased threat of parasitic infestation over the next four to six weeks as parasite larvae, that had lain dormant in the soil, move onto pastures. He is urging sheep and cattle producers to closely monitor parasite egg counts over the next few months to treat sheep if necessary but avoid the excessive use of drenches. Professor Abbott says sheep and calves in particular risk weight loss and scour from parasites such as Brown Stomach worm, Black Scour worm and Nematodirus which thrive after prolonged periods of drought.

India is the new booming economy – surpassing even China in recent economic growth. It is an amazing success story that is much more evident in the cities than the countryside according to Kirsty Hommel, a recent Charles Sturt University (CSU) social science graduate who spent her practicum in rural southern India developing skills she had learnt at CSU. “The area I lived in was very untouched by western influences. The village I was based in was without a road.  Many people in this area live without running water or electricity - they use local wells and designated trees for toilets.” Kirsty says the Healthy Districts program aims “to increase the overall standards of health in the community through addressing poverty.  We used community development to assist the community to generate income. I really enjoyed being there. Even after I met my practicum requirements, I chose to stay another month. I felt very immersed in the community and the culture there.”

The country's top economic reform agency has called for the introduction of carbon taxes as a way to cut greenhouse emissions. The Productivity Commission, the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation, last week submitted the proposal to the Prime Minister's task force on emissions trading. Dr Roderick Duncan, lecturer in economics at Charles Sturt University (CSU), says if we are serious about cutting emissions, a carbon tax is inevitable. “But to reflect the true cost of our energy, we are going to have to drastically increase the price of petrol and electricity. People say they are very concerned about global warming, but when I tell them we could triple the price of energy, then they become a lot less enthusiastic.”

No doubt it is a very nice accolade when a national newspaper describes your latest film as “shaping up as the year's top Australian comedy”. However, director and Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate Darren Ashton says, “Although we are really chuffed at the response, at the end of the day the most important thing is that people go and see it”. The idea for Razzle Dazzle grew out of a short story written by Darren’s partner, and fellow CSU graduate, Carolyn Wilson. Described as “a fly-on-the-wall look at the tears, tantrums and tiaras in the world of competitive dance eisteddfods”, it was filmed in the “mockumentary” style because, “The dance world is really heightened, and I wanted to balance that with being observational and understated,” said Darren, whose debut feature film was Thunderstruck. His next project is a wrestling film set in the 1970s.

New South Wales has eight incumbent Independent members of parliament – will that change after the State election on March 24? Charles Sturt University (CSU) politics lecturer Dr Troy Whitford predicts that the number of Independents has plateaued. “But they will always be a main feature of rural elections. Why? Because Independents aim at appealing to a rural and regional mindset called 'countrymindedness'", Dr Whitford explains. “It tends to emphasis the importance of rural Australia and that people in the country have a greater moral compass and a better work ethic than the city, and that politics is always city-centric. ‘Countrymindedness’ suggests rural people are the backbone to the economy, and they should be given special consideration. Old-fashioned ‘countrymindedness’ is apparent in the rhetoric of the Independents representing rural seats.” Dr Whitford predicts Labor will be returned, and says, “I will be very surprised if we see an increase in Independents. I think the Coalition will pick up a couple of seats, but Labor will hang on."