Last week the UK government announced that all 306 British World War One soldiers executed for desertion or cowardice are to be pardoned, saying the decision was taken on moral grounds. Charles Sturt University (CSU) historian Dr Rob McLachlan, an adjunct senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, says it was the court martial and execution of Australian soldiers “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock from Bathurst during the earlier Boer War that prevented Australian soldiers suffering the same fate as their British counterparts. He says the public outcry over the deaths of Morant and Handcock ensured Australian soldiers would never again face a British court martial. “Also, the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) was a fully volunteer force, and was not the sort of military that would take easily to this extreme form of discipline. However, I see nothing in the human condition to say it won't happen again.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU)’s academic excellence and work within the Orange community will be celebrated and highlighted at a special Community Day to be held at the University’s new Orange Campus on Saturday 9 September. The Orange institution has been part of the City of Orange since 1973 but with its recent addition to the CSU family, there is plenty to celebrate. Local citizens can visit the campus and see how the university and its staff have incorporated their work into Orange and beyond. Highlights will include a pet parade and vet checks, wine appreciation sessions, public lectures and music. Head of the Orange Campus Professor Kevin Parton believes it is a great opportunity for local residents to visit the campus who have never seen the grounds before. “We are always open to the public but the Community Day gives everyone a reason to visit,” he said.

To mark Adult Learners’ Week in September, Charles Sturt University (CSU) is recruiting for CSU Connect, a free bridging program that fast-tracks distance education students into undergraduate degree courses. Danielle Ranshaw, the StudyLink Program Coordinator at CSU Bathurst says CSU Connect came out of research into rural participation and attrition rates at university. “The idea is to get more people from the regions into the University and also adequately prepare students for study. CSU Connect takes people from a basic level to a fairly advanced level quite quickly.” Lisa Marr is one of the potential students who enrolled in the first CSU Connect program last year. “I saw a poster on a noticeboard in Mudgee. I wanted to go to university, but it has been a while since I left school. I know that if I had a degree, I might get the job I want and fulfil my life a bit more. I feel like I can meet the standard of university study now, that I can complete it and do very well at it.”

"I thought it would be useful to have some industry qualifications,” says Tristam Horn, an Accelerated Teacher Training Program student, of his decision to gain certification in Microsoft® Office. Coming first in Australia in his Excel examination saw the Charles Sturt University (CSU) student win a trip to Orlando, Florida in the USA, where he was then crowned World Champion for Microsoft® Excel. “I learnt a lot that I didn’t know Excel could do. It gave me a better understanding of what it is capable of as far as recording students marks, scaling, grading and graphing, both for my benefit and also for the students to see where they are in the class and in the year. It is an easy way to see how students are going in different areas of their study, and I can see where I need to improve my teaching and hopefully deliver a bit better the next time."

The changing global communications environment and the increasing role of the consumer were the hot topics when the CEO of the International Advertising Association (IAA) World Secretariat spoke to Charles Sturt University (CSU) advertising students last week. Michael Lee, also the immediate past IAA President, was invited to the Bathurst Campus by Rod McCulloch, CSU’s Advertising course coordinator. “Mr Lee is very familiar with CSU because we have won the IAA’s student advertising competition InterAd three times in six years, the only university in the world to have done so. He is very supportive of what we do here”. Mr McCulloch says the IAA is the industry’s peak body. “It has a presence in over 70 countries and has over 4 000 members. The IAA supports the role of advertising in the community and the fostering of professional development and education.”

Being described as a “Walkley winning journalist of the future” must be a heady feeling for any communication student. Matthew Brann, a Charles Sturt University theatre media student in Bathurst has just taken out the radio section of the 2006 JUST Super Student Journalist of the Year Award, announced by JUST Super and the Walkley Foundation. Matthew says his radio item, A Darling Place grew out of his major work last year. “I travelled the Darling River doing stories about the river and its impact on the local communities, where the drought is really affecting small towns. I focused on my own style, which uses a lot of music and actuality.” The judges obviously liked what they heard, saying A Darling Place was a “lovely, whimsical yarn. It provides a wonderful slice of country life that is not often heard in mainstream Australian media”.

Australia’s Young Endeavour national youth sail training program “builds positive social capital” according to a study released by the Federal Government. Charles Sturt University students Sarah Poulos and Tom Fisher agree. “I sailed a few years ago and met a whole group of absolutely fantastic people,” says Sarah, currently in her fourth year of a special education teaching degree on Dubbo Campus and the recipient of a two-year scholarship from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. Tom sailed in July and says “it was awesome. It exceeded my expectations tenfold. You build personal confidence which gives you the ability to do anything you want.” Tom is an agribusiness student from Wagga Wagga Campus who went on a student exchange to Kentucky, USA last year for six months, and is off to Japan soon on a Mitsui travel scholarship.

A passion for rural health has inspired Dr Debbie Burton in her role as senior lecturer in biomedical science at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus. “My son and father both have asthma,” Dr Burton says, “and my cousin died from a pneumonia-related illness so I am very passionate about research into how the lung functions.” Her research into the rural prevalence and management of asthma has looked intensely at the implementing of new techniques, rural health access, and environmental triggers. Australia has the third highest prevalence of childhood asthma in the world, with over 2.2 million people suffering from asthma including one in six children. Dr Burton will demonstrate her work as part of the Community Day to be held on Orange Campus this Saturday 9 September, from 10.30am to 4pm.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will officially welcome the Orange Campus to the CSU family this Friday 8 September. The new Head of Orange Campus, Professor Kevin Parton, says staff are optimistic about the move to CSU. “There has been a sense that the Orange Campus has been trying to find its natural home,” he said. “The campus really should have become part of Charles Sturt University when it initially moved from being a college. The Orange Campus is now seen as a jewel in the crown for the University,” he said. The opening ceremony, to be lead by Professor Parton and Acting CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ross Chambers, starts at 2.30pm in the Templer's Mill Bar, also known as the Student Association Function Room.