Charles Sturt University (CSU) students with a passion for sustainability can help the University reduce its environmental footprint as part of a training and internship program. The 2012 CSU Green Steps program  involves a week of intensive training looking at environmental issues, auditing and communication along with project planning and management. Students will then put these skills into practice in an on-campus sustainability project in conjunction with CSU Green. They can also opt to undertake an internship with an external organisation to get valuable workplace experience. Acting Manager of CSU Green Mr Edward Maher said this has benefits for students and the host organisation. “The students are highly motivated and come armed with enthusiasm and hands on training. They are ready to make a real improvement to the sustainability of their host organisation,” he said. “Green Steps also gives students an edge when it comes to commencing their professional careers.”  Students and organisations interested in hosting an intern can contact CSU Green. Green Steps at CSU is a partnership between CSU Green and the Monash Sustainability Institute.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will celebrate its scholarship and prizes ceremony on Tuesday 8 May, awarding 19 scholarships and 16 awards to students attending CSU in Dubbo. “The calibre of applications for the scholarships is increasing in standard,” said CSU Head of Campus in Dubbo, Dr Beverley Moriarty. “This event is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the hard work students put into their studies and to congratulate those who are achieving their goals. One standout student this year is Ms Helen Hines who is undertaking a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary). She is receiving the Rotary Club of Dubbo scholarship and three academic achievement awards.” CSU students can benefit financially thanks to more than 40 scholarships on offer every year in Dubbo. A large number of these scholarships are funded by individuals or organisations that hold a strong belief in supporting the University and its students.

At first glance mistletoe might seem to be a destructive weed but Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist Associate Professor David Watson will explore the role the parasitic plant plays in promoting biodiversity at a seminar in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 2 May. The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga will host the seminar titled, Parasitic plants as drivers of ecological communities: patterns, predictions, processes. In his presentation, Professor Watson will pull together a decade of research on mistletoe ecology in southern Australia. “The word parasite has nasty connotations to it but rather than being negative or even neutral, in natural systems parasitic plants may be disproportionately important to biodiversity,” he said. “This may provide land managers with a new tool to boost the value of remnant habitats for wildlife and maximise ecosystem functionality in modified landscapes.”

The good news is that Australian soldiers currently in East Timor probably won’t suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) upon their return home. The bad news is that the Iraq War veterans probably will, according to Sergeant Grant Coultman-Smith, a lecturer with Charles Sturt University (CSU). He should know - as a combat veteran, Sergeant Coultman-Smith has suffered from PTSD for over 36 years. He is a Vietnam veteran, worked in post-incident relief after Cyclone Tracy in Darwin and is now an Emergency Response Coordinator with Victoria Police. He is also a CSU Masters graduate in emergency management, a casual lecturer with the University’s School of Public Health and a qualified hostage negotiator. According to Sergeant Coultman-Smith, Vietnam veterans particularly suffer from PTSD because, in addition to the horrors and trauma they experienced, they faced a hostile Australian community and were not debriefed when they came home.

Four students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Ontario in Canada have arrived in Dubbo to work at Dubbo South and Buninyong Primary schools as part of their studies. Ms Jaclyn Craig, Ms Bobbi-Sue Airdrie, Mr Andrew Petruccelli, and Ms Natalia Yarmak will work at the school as part of their Bachelor of Primary Education Studies. Two more students, Ms Amanda Waugh and Mr Marcus Johnson, have been placed at schools in Bathurst. Ms Waugh says she is enjoying her stay. “We are all loving it here and just had our first day yesterday at the schools,” she said. “It was great to meet everyone.  We have found so many similarities but also so many cool differences.” The students will be in Australia until Friday 25 May.

Treatment for the blood cancers multiple myeloma and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma currently require some patients living in regional and rural Australia to travel considerable distances and stay for a period of time in major regional and metropolitan centres. Charles Sturt University (CSU) Honours student Ms Kerry Wagland is investigating how mothers living in regional areas with dependent children, and who have contracted these rare cancers, cope with their disease and treatment. Ms Wagland, with the support of CSU’s School of Psychology, is interviewing rural and regional women who have these diseases to understand how they impact on the mother’s daily life and her relationships. “I am seeking to gain insights into the challenges faced by these women, especially when they have to travel to and stay at a major treatment centre. I am hoping this will lead to improved support for these women,” Ms Wagland said. The interviews, to be carried out for up to one hour face-to-face or via telephone, will be conducted until 31 August 2012.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff and students are being encouraged to express on film their ideas for environmental sustainability. The Eco Literacy Film Festival aims to showcase short, three-minute films exploring how the University can reduce its environmental footprint in areas of biodiversity, energy and transport, waste water and pollution, and food and produce. Festival Co-ordinator, Ms Natasha Hard said a total of $6 000 in prizes is on offer and the films will be shown in an online and on campus film festival later in the year. “Anyone who has a phone can make a film and make a difference,” she said. “By celebrating some of the great things being done and highlighting new opportunities, we hope to support interest and action in the area of sustainability across Charles Sturt University.” The festival is funded by a grant from CSU Green. Entries close at 11.59pm on Friday 6 July. Read more about the Eco Literacy Film Festival here.

To understand what it is like to be a person with a disability is the aim of a course at Charles Sturt University (CSU) where four people with disabilities act as tutors for CSU students in the third year of their speech pathology degrees. As part of the 2012 program, groups of students will present the life story of their tutor in a creative performance for the tutors, their families and other CSU students, to be held in the Gums Café at CSU in Albury-Wodonga on Thursday 31 May starting at 10.15am. Program coordinator and occupational therapy lecturer, Dr Ruth Beecham, said the presentations will use imagination as well as media such as theatre, cinema, and pictures or literary expression. “We want our students to totally focus on their future clients, and what their clients want from them. Teaching students to listen carefully and respond creatively is a great way of developing these skills,” Dr Beecham said. “We need to see problems from a number of perspectives, instead of rushing headlong into ‘solutions’, and take time to explore issues.”

MyDay at Charles Sturt University in Orange, to be held on Monday 4 June, has attracted high school students from Sydney, Canberra, and north and south coast regions all keen to experience life as a health sciences student. Highlighting courses in dentistry, physiotherapy, clinical science and pharmacy, the day introduces students to the campus known as the health hub of the University. Students will gain hands-on experience in the health clinics, meet with academics and tertiary students and tour the campus. MyDay offers high school students the unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of a university student and provides key information on support available to make their goals achievable. On the same day an Agriculture HSC enrichment day will be held for those studying agriculture in the HSC.