Students of Australia’s largest inland university Charles Sturt University (CSU) have been awarded seven of the nine Pharmacy Guild of Australia 2007 scholarships as part of the Guild’s Rural Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme. Faculty of Science Dean Professor Mark Burton was “thrilled” with the announcement. “It’s a testament to our health-based courses at CSU that our students receive such positive recognition. The scholarships encourage recipients to seek work in rural and remote areas which ties in with CSU’s commitment to providing trained professionals who will enhance rural communities,” said Professor Burton. To be eligible, Pharmacy students must be from a regional, rural or remote area. The students then make a presentation to the scholarship committee. Each scholarship is worth $40 000 per student over four years.

In what’s been described as a "U-turn of dramatic proportions", the same study that in 2002 warned menopausal women to abandon Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has now released findings that show HRT risks are not as bad as first thought. The Women's Health Initiative Study (WHIS), a major 15-year research program to address the most common causes of death, disability and poor quality of life in postmenopausal women, last week stated any additional risks may apply only to older women. Charles Sturt University (CSU) biomedical researcher Dr Christopher Scott says he is not surprised by the new findings. “The initial findings were quite scary, but since then they have done a lot more thorough number-crunching. HRT is considered to be beneficial to deal with the symptoms of menopause, but a woman with a strong family history of breast cancer and cardiovascular should not take HRT long term. You have to look at the particular person and what they want to use it for and how long they want to use it.”

The Australian wine industry will benefit from Charles Sturt University (CSU) research to prevent revenue loss for Shiraz growers. A research team, led by senior lecturer in viticulture at the School of Wine and Food Sciences Dr Dennis Greer, is using business intelligence software to investigate water loss from Shiraz grapes. The project has received about $2 million funding from the Australian Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation. Shiraz grapes lose up to 20 per cent of their water content at the end of the growing season which means growers, who are paid on weight, lose up to 20 per cent of their potential revenue. Data including grape bunch weights, carbon dioxide and water vapour emissions is collected every five minutes over several days. According to Dr Greer, "This is relatively new science that has not been done on Shiraz grapes before".

Young people’s access to educational opportunities can be adversely affected by drought, according to new research that will be presented at a national conference soon. Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Professor Margaret Alston and Dr Jenny Kent will present the final report on their research at the conference which will be hosted by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), the Foundation for Regional / Rural Renewal (FRRR) and CSU. Former Deputy Prime Minister and conference convenor Ian Sinclair will join with members of the Myer family, who are the major donors to the FRRR, at the official welcome starting at 2pm on Tuesday 17 April at the Nowik Auditorium, CSU Albury City site, Guinea St, Albury.

Academics and other professional staff at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are being introduced to the next wave of online change. Associate Professor Marian Tulloch, the Director of the Centre for Enhanced Learning and Teaching (CELT), will introduce the new online learning and teaching environment CSU Interact at a series of seminars on CSU’s campuses between 7 May and 16 May. “In early 2008 CSU Interact the new online collaborative scholarly environment will be rolled out across the University for learning and teaching,” Professor Tulloch said. “As part of CSU’s flexible learning strategy it will provide an integrated, enhanced and evolving learning environment for on and off campus students. Because it is a complex and collaborative process, these seminars will provide an opportunity for staff to hear more about the development of CSU Interact, to ask questions, and make suggestions.”

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.

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.”