First-year paramedic students will come to grips with simulated injured passengers trapped in a mangled vehicle when they join with the State Emergency Service (SES) Bathurst Unit in a joint extrication exercise at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 6 October. Mr Brian Haskins, lecturer at the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Bathurst, said, “As part of the Clinical Studies 2 course for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) we will work with the local SES to free three simulated patients from the staged wreckage using the ‘jaws of life’ cutting equipment. There will be eight treating paramedics from first-year and possibly some intensive care paramedics from second and third-years for this exercise, with all the other students observing. Exercises like this one are vital to provide our students with ‘real working life’ experiences.” Unlike the recent trauma simulation exercises on campus, this scenario will only run once.

People can sift through the evidence, look for clues and help solve a hypothetical murder at a master class run by Charles Sturt University (CSU) at the Australian Education Fair in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on Saturday 15 October. The class, titled ‘Who killed Elmo: a forensic biotechnology investigation’ is designed to showcase the role of a scene of crime officer, just one career path for students undertaking a Bachelor of Forensic Biotechnology  through CSU in Australia. Program leader for the Bachelor of Forensic Biotechnology, Dr Thiru Vanniasinkam said the class is a mock forensic biotechnology investigation. “It is a light-hearted way to give people some idea of what happens in a forensic laboratory. We work with fingerprint dusting powder, go through the evidence and come up with conclusions,” she said.  “By the end of the class people will not only know who killed Elmo, but they will have more information about the programs offered at Charles Sturt University.”

The premiere of the production, Human Geography by Australian playwright Mr Finegan Kruckemeyer will be held in Wagga Wagga on Saturday 8 October. The play, commissioned by Charles Sturt University (CSU), ‘entwines the stories of many lives through the meanderings of the flooded Murrumbidgee River’. Human Geography is directed by Ms Kim Hardwick, lecturer with the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Wagga Wagga, for the University Theatre Ensemble (UTE).  Ms Hardwick said, “We are delighted that Finegan will attend the premiere of his play in Wagga Wagga on Saturday. He wrote the new Australian work for Charles Sturt University and developed the play with our acting students. This has been an amazing opportunity for them.”  The play premieres at 7.45pm on Saturday 8 October at the Riverina Playhouse in Cross Street, Wagga Wagga and runs until Saturday 22 October. Tickets range from $12.50 to $24 and can be purchased from the Civic Theatre booking office on 02 69269 688 or at the door.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students provided prevention as well as cure for competitors in the 2011 Tour de Timor bicycle race. Six final year physiotherapy students provided screening, treatment and advice on preventing injuries to the 58 Timorese competitors in the week leading up to the race, which this year ran over seven days and 600 kilometres of mountains and rough roads. Developed as part of students’ required practical experience for their profession, the students provided physiotherapy services each day in hot, dusty conditions to competitors and volunteers, with demand peaking at 130 patients in one day. “The students were fantastic. They remained energetic and enthusiastic throughout the two weeks, often working with limited sleep,” said Mr Tim Retchford, placement coordinator and academic with CSU’s School of Community Health, based in Albury-Wodonga. “Competitors, race organisers and doctors and nurses from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Australia gave glowing praise for the quality of our students’ work. They were even formally recognised when they received an award from East Timor’s president the Hon. Jose Ramos-Horta.”

It is with sadness that Charles Sturt University (CSU) adds its condolences to the family of Mr Harold Mair, OAM, who recently passed away in Albury. As Mayor and a member of the NSW parliament, Mr Mair was a good friend and supporter of the University’s predecessor organisations, particularly during the establishment of the Albury-Wodonga campus. He received an honorary doctorate from CSU in recognition of “his energetic and effective advocacy towards the establishment and development of facilities in the Border region, including Charles Sturt University,” said the Acting Head of CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Mr Garry Taylor. The University’s central Albury campus was first established on its Olive Street site during Mr Mair’s time as the NSW Member for Albury. CSU only recently moved most of its research and teaching facilities to Thurgoona.

The 45th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in Vietnam on Thursday 18 August will have special meaning for a group of final year Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in Wagga Wagga.  The anniversary, which is now known as Vietnam Veterans Day, comes after a recent visit to the battle site by students.  Bachelor of Agricultural Science students from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga visit the Long Tan memorial site in Vietnam in July each year during their annual two week agricultural study tour of the Southeast Asian nation. “It is an emotional day,” said CSU lecturer Dr Condon. “We walk students through the events of the 1966 battle. They are the same age as the Australian soldiers who fought at Long Tan and we take 18 students, the same number of Australians who died during the battle.” CSU student Ms Bek Ricketts of Robertson said, “Visiting Long Tan was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Being able to walk in the footsteps of such incredibly brave young people was truly amazing." Dr Condon said, “The students leave the site having a greater appreciation of our Vietnam veterans; it is a powerful and worthwhile part of our trip to Vietnam.”

A group of five teaching students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia will spend the next four months studying at the CSU campus in Ontario, Canada. The students from Bathurst, Albury and Dubbo are studying the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) through the Faculty of Education. Dubbo-based student, Mr Pete Minney, seized the opportunity to study abroad. “I can broaden my experience by observing first-hand the strategies teachers from another country use and whether the children benefit from a different approach to education,” he said. The exchange has been supported by CSU Global, a University initiative which aims to increase the number of students undertaking international experiences as part of their studies.

With the Australian carbon tax on the horizon, Charles Sturt University (CSU) will provide an international perspective on how businesses can effectively account for their energy costs with a presentation on Wednesday 3 August. Professor Ulrich Nissen, from the University of Applied Science in Germany, will give a presentation on accounting for energy costs. Event organiser Dr Dianne McGrath with CSU’s School of Accounting and Institute for Land, Water and Society said Australian companies acknowledge they need to account for current and future energy costs. “This is where accounting professionals can assist. Business managers and accountants will need to develop skills and qualifications in energy cost management for now and especially the future, issues Professor Nissen has recently addressed by modifying university teaching in accounting in Germany,” Dr McGrath said. Professor Nissen’s presentation will commence at 9am until 11am on Wednesday 3 August via video conference in the Business Faculty building, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

Health students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) are joining tens of thousands of Australians to urge State and Federal governments to end the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health crisis, and provide health equality for Indigenous Australians. The University’s Multidisciplinary Albury Rural Health Society (MARHS) is supporting the national Close the Gap campaign by hosting a ceremony on Saturday 30 July to raise community awareness. MARHS Co-President and CSU allied health student Ms Sian Draffin is alarmed at the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. “As future health professionals, we students are passionate about health equality for all Australians and see this as a social justice issue that we should all do something about,” said Ms Draffin . “Guests at our event will be able to join over 140 000 Australians to sign the official Close the Gap pledge that urges action from all Australian governments.” Students from CSU and other university rural health clubs throughout Australia will be attend the Close the Gap ceremony, which is also open to the public. The MARHS ceremony will start at 1.30pm on Saturday 30 July in the CD Blake lecture theatre at CSU in Albury Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.