A forum hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will review Australia’s position within the Asian trade arena, especially Japan and China. Expert speakers, including keynote speaker and Australia’s Japanese Consul General Tsukasa Kawada, will provide up-to-date assessments of economic developments and trade opportunities in Asia. Head of CSU Orange Campus, Professor Kevin Parton, believes the forum encapsulates the University’s strong relationship with Asia. “The Asia Today forum highlights our continuing research and tour visits to Asia and provides a great opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs to review Australia’s trade performance with Asia with the intention of trading with the region.” Issues to be covered will range from a consideration of the general growth prospects in Japan and China through to detailed case studies on how to get started in exporting. The Asia Today forum runs from 9am to 2pm on Friday 22 September. The Orange forum complements an international academic business conference also hosted by CSU that focuses on trade with China, being held on 21 and 22 September in the NSW Blue Mountains > see more.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has acknowledged the important contribution made to its establishment by Sir Charles Cutler who has died aged 88. Sir Charles was the leader of the NSW Country Party (now the NSW Nationals) from 1959 to 1975 and Deputy Premier in the government of Sir Robert Askin from 1965 to 1975. In his role as MLA for Orange (1947-75) and as Minister for Education and Science (1965-72), he was instrumental in the setting up of Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), which eventually became the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University. CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter expressed condolences on behalf of the University. “Sir Charles made an enormous contribution to education in New South Wales, not least as the Minister who oversaw the foundation and early growth of MCAE.” Sir Charles was born at Forbes in 1918, served in World War II and was elected to the NSW Parliament in 1947.

Child protection, genocide, substance abuse, the justice system and the delivery of mental health services to Aboriginal people are among topics to be presented by mental health degree students this week at a conference at Charles Sturt University’s Wagga Wagga Campus on Wednesday 27 September. The conference, titled Footprints: Many Nations on One Journey, is being organised by the students as part of their studies into the professional issues in Aboriginal mental health and will also bring together several guest speakers from State and Commonwealth authorities. Guest speakers are the Manager Clinical Partnerships, NSW Centre for Mental Health; Robyn Murray; Director of Social Health in the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, Kate Gilbert; and Acting Director Adolescent Health, NSW Health, Catherine Lynch. CSU mental health course coordinator Jane Havelka said the student presentations and written reports will provide a valuable contribution to the published material on the issues in Aboriginal mental health.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) postgraduate information technology (IT) students have won scholarships from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Foundation. At a presentation ceremony in Sydney today (Thursday 27 September) NSW Minister for Small Business, The Hon. David Campbell, said the scholarships represent an investment in NSW’s future skills base in information and communication technology. Joanne Hyde from Sydney and Douglas Parson from Canberra, ACT, work in IT businesses. The ACS Foundation has raised $8 million over five years towards 550 scholarships for NSW students.

Matthew Pitcher, a fourth year Pharmacy student at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus, has taken out the NSW finals of Pharmacy Student of the Year. The competition, run by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, recognises outstanding pharmacy students. Matthew says the emphasis is on communication and counselling skills. “It’s about telling the customer exactly how to use a drug and what to look out for. This competition is trying to encourage best practice and at CSU they teach you to put best practice into place.” Head of the University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, Associate Professor Lyn Angel, says this is a very exciting outcome for CSU pharmacy. “In general it is a reflection of the calibre of our students and the quality of the academic staff who have put in the time and effort. They are passionate about their pharmacy profession”. Matthew will compete for the national title early next month. “The final will be a massive challenge. I'm expecting the calibre of the other state finalists to be of an exceptional standard. It will be difficult, but I'll give it my best shot."

Bathurst will once again be “humming” this week to the sound of V8 Supercars. Tomorrow, Wednesday 4 October, two of the official Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship drivers, David Clark from Optima Sport, and Michael Caruso from Decina Racing, will drive simulated laps of Mount Panorama in the computer games laboratory which is part of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Information Technology. Paull Young from BAM Media, which looks after several V8 Supercar teams said it is like the real thing. “Michael hasn’t driven at Bathurst before, and David hasn’t driven a V8 Supercar around Mount Panorama, so their first experience of the Bathurst track will be in the computer lab.” As well, CSU lecturer in Computer Science Errol Chopping, says the computer games lab is well fitted out with enhanced graphics PCs, game consoles, a large fixed silver projection screen, high powered projectors, audio systems, joysticks and steering wheels. “The lab is used to research feedback which the user gets through feel, touch and motion, rather than eyes and ears. For example, we are hoping to mirror an experiment that was done in the United States about untrained pilots flying into cloud. They have a life span of about 147 seconds because they lose spatial orientation and they don’t believe their instruments. They go into graveyard spins and spiral dives because they have no feedback from their eyes.”

A documentary following the life of a Tibetan Yak herder has given livestock owners a better understanding of challenges faced by Chinese agriculturalists. Anthropologist Baima Cuo has fascinated those attending a Charles Sturt University (CSU) public lecture with her presentation titled The Life of Yaks on the Tibetan Plateau. Born in Tibet, Baima Cuo completed her degree in Beijing and spent time in Norway before arriving in Orange. Baima’s presentation will become a documentary produced by Baima’s supervisor Professor Gunnar Haaland from Norway. The documentary follows the life of Tibetan herder who lives in Naqchu, Northern Tibet. “This kind of life is something not many people get to see, so to hear first hand about Baima’s experience in Tibet has been fantastic,” says lecture chair Kerry Cochrane.

“Rural and remote health practioners, like their metropolitan and city-dwelling counterparts, enjoy meeting with their colleagues, chewing the fat, and seeing a face-to-face lecture”, says Professor Patrick Ball, from Charles Sturt University’s School of Biomedical Sciences. Inland-based pharmacists will have another chance to hear about how they can make a difference to the health of their community at the third and final Pharmacy Continuing Education Session to be hosted by CSU’s Wagga Wagga and Orange campuses. Speakers include Dr Judith Crockett, senior lecturer in the School of Rural Management at the University’s newly launched Orange Campus, who will talk about depression in rural communities and Dr Debbie Burton who will update attendees on asthma research and findings. Professor Ball adds that “Professor Carroll from the University of New South Wales will talk about Parkinson’s disease whilst Mr Rollo Manning, a well known mover and shaker within the profession who is based in the Northern Territory, will talk about his work with Indigenous communities and providing solutions for rural and remote pharmacy in general”.

Following the outbreak of equine flu that has threatened the Australian horse industry, experts from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will provide information and advice at a public forum in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 29 August. Dr Sharanne Raidal, senior lecturer in Veterinary Science at the School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences on Wagga Wagga Campus, says, “This is a very important issue for the Australian equine industry. Halting the spread of disease can only be achieved through strict compliance with DPI instructions regarding movement of horses, personnel and equipment. This means keeping horses at their current locations, and restricting movement of people and vehicles. CSU equine facilities at Orange and Wagga Wagga are providing a good example of doing the right thing by suspending classes and imposing industry-standard precautions to contain the outbreak of equine flu in NSW.”