Charles Sturt University graduate David Ford has won the Great Australian Story Challenge with his short film, A Little Bit of Magic. David graduated this year with a Bachelor of Arts (Television Production), and will now spend three months working with Australian Story at ABC TV. “I have a lot of respect for both the program and the ABC. I feel I have the capacity to make good stories, but it is also knowing how to work within a particular production environment. I don’t know where it will take me or what it will hold but it is looking optimistic.” A Little Bit of Magic tells the story of Cliff Armitage, who had an amazing career change since being involved in the gun control policy formation after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. David says making the film was a challenge “because I was doing the lighting, sound and camera, as well as producing and directing and researching”. Last year David filmed a travelogue documentary about his time spent at an African AIDS orphanage, which airs in July on cable TV in Australia, and later in New Zealand and Indonesia.

Staff and employees from Wangerang Industries in Orange will receive training at Charles Sturt University (CSU) today giving them a new range of work skills for the local viticulture industry. CSU Vineyard Manager, Peter Cannon, viticulture lecturer Peter Hedberg and horticulture lecturer John Eiseman have combined their knowledge to instruct employees in the specialist skills of vine pruning, spur pruning, safety and equipment handling and care. Wangerang Industries provide the region’s mentally and physically disabled with a chance to work. Wangerang Industries CEO, Marc Bonney is excited by the prospect of offering his employees skills in horticulture.

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.

Is there such a thing as a balanced assessment of the “Intelligent Design -Creation Science” controversy? Professor David Goldney from Charles Sturt University (CSU) believes so. The well-known scientist and environmental consultant, who has lived and worked in the Bathurst community since 1972, is a committed Christian and an Adjunct Professor at CSU. Professor Goldney estimates almost half the world’s scientists are Christian on some level, but still accept the theory of evolution, including himself. “While I’m a Christian, I’m committed to Darwinian evolution and I think the ‘Intelligent Design’ argument is way off track. There’s a continuum of people, from ‘flat earthers’ to creation scientists, with the view that evolution leads only to atheism and proves there is no God. Somewhere in there might be some middle ground.” Three public lectures are planned for June, where Professor Goldney will “go through the range of creation stories that a Christian might look at and still remain an honest scientist with integrity and accept faith”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Honours student, James Bekkema, has won an Apple University Consortium Scholarship and will now attend The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference to be held in San Francisco in August. Sue Moffatt, Head of CSU’s School of Information Technology, describes James as “one smart cookie”, saying the highly sought-after scholarship was won in a competitive national competition between 36 Australian universities. She says James is "an exceptional student who has done much of the Mac development work on his own initiative". The conference includes presentations, dinners, a tour of the US Apple Campus and a keynote speech by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple. “I’m really looking forward to ‘Student Sunday’. I’m currently an Honours student, and this could well be my last year of University, so I'll be asking Apple computer representatives what they are looking for in a university student,” said Mr Bekkema.

  Charles Sturt University (CSU) has ensured the continuing success of the Orange Campus by appointing Professor Kevin Parton as the new Head of the Orange Campus. Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter said Professor Parton is the right man for the job. “I congratulate Professor Parton in taking on this important position. He will play an active role in strengthening the University’s links with the region and the delivery of service to the community.” Professor Parton will hold the position of Head of the Orange Campus concurrently with his position as Head of School of Rural Management. “It gives me great pleasure to continue the work already commenced to expand the teaching and research work of the Orange Campus,” said Professor Parton. “There will be a more extensive range of courses in 2007 including those from Rural Management as well as Nursing, Pharmacy and Clinical Sciences. The emphasis in these undergraduate programs is on professional education and as such they offer great opportunities for students of our region and beyond to move towards highly sought after careers. I look forward to working with our dedicated staff as they guide students on this path to success.”

Heather Bell has been appointed the Acting Head of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Dubbo Campus. Mrs Bell has just returned from a six month placement at CSU Ontario where she worked as Campus Operations Manager, which was her role for the past five years at the Dubbo Campus. In announcing the appointment, Vice-Chancellor Ian Goulter congratulated Mrs Bell, saying “she will play an active role in strengthening the University’s links with the region and the delivery of service to the community.”  Mrs Bell says these are exciting times for the Dubbo Campus. “The Admin Focus conference saw over 100 CSU staff travel to Dubbo to see first hand the development that has taken place and that the construction is completed at Dubbo, we can cement our place in the CSU community as well as the Dubbo regional community.” She says she was delighted by the appointment. “Absolutely, I think I will now be well placed to encourage prospective students to visit the Campus and consider higher education, particularly those who may have left school a few years ago or those looking for state-of-the-art student accommodation.” Mrs Bell take over the role as Head of Campus from Professor David Battrersby who was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Ballarat University.

A Federal Government inquiry into school students’ knowledge of Australia’s history has led to a new Charles Sturt University (CSU) history course for teachers being launched for 2007. Course coordinator and history and politics lecturer Dr Troy Whitford said there is a real gap in the knowledge students and teachers have about Australia’s democratic process and its history. “This course aims to address many teachers’ poor understanding of Australian history and help teachers to address the need to teach about Australia’s democratic processes and citizenship in their classes. The Graduate Certificate in History (Civics and Citizenship) relates to relevant sections in other teaching subjects for social science, geography and modern history giving graduates a big picture understanding, particularly in relation to the organisation and operation of the Australian democratic system,” Dr Whitford said. Enrolments for the postgraduate course, to start in 2007, will run until November 2006. The Federal Government will hold a summit on teaching Australian history in August this year.

The peak body for Australian agricultural scientists and technologists has honoured the life-time professional work of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Emeritus Professor Ted Wolfe. The Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (AIAST), representing professionals working in agricultural science and natural resource management, has made Professor Wolfe a Fellow of the Institute. He has a lengthy involvement with agricultural education at the University which in recent years has seen him lead international student exchanges between CSU and the University of Delaware, USA. Professor Wolfe has also been recognised for his work in building the agricultural capacity of countries like North Korea and Eritrea, visiting and building ties with both countries. He believes strongly in the benefit of these visits to scientific agriculture and to farmers, not only in the host country but also in Australia. “Following the recent run of poor seasons, the Australian agricultural sector deserves on-going community support for the valuable role it plays in food security, land care and earning export income,” said Professor Wolfe. Outgoing Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Science Professor Jim Pratley said this was a fitting and richly deserved reward for Professor Wolfe for his tireless commitment to agriculture and AIAST.