Students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will visit Canoblas High School on Friday 24 May to help year 11 chemistry students conduct a practical laboratory session. The visit is the first part of a pilot program aimed at encouraging Orange high school students to take up further education, and careers, in chemistry and science. CSU pre-entry program coordinator Ms Tonya Graham said the high school students and their parents would make a return visit to the University on 4 June, where they would participate in another chemistry lesson. “The Canoblas students will also have the opportunity to sit in on more chemistry lectures through the year,” she said. “We want to show them the sorts of university courses that involve chemistry, and the sorts of careers they could go on to have by studying it. We’ve started this concept with Canoblas because it is one of the schools we run our Future Moves program in, but we would like to soon be able to include students from other schools in Orange.”

The secret to filming the perfect shot as an athlete lunges for the finish line will be explored when an internationally renowned camera operator visits Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 22 May and Thursday 23 May. Mr Glen Steer - a Steadicam operator - has worked on nine consecutive Olympic Games, as well as live programs such as The Voice, Celebrity Splash and NRL broadcasts.  During two days of workshops he will teach Bachelor of Arts (Television Production)  students the craft of using this highly specialised camera equipment. “This is an outstanding opportunity for students to network and learn directly from Australia’s most acclaimed operator. It will help boost their career prospects as they prepare to enter the industry,” said Associate Head of the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Patrick Sproule. “The fact that Mr Steer has taken time out of his busy schedule to provide this workshop is a testament to the industry recognition of our program and the capabilities of our graduates.” CSU has recently purchased a full Steadicam system which students have used to film public events such as Twilight by the Lagoon and the Food and Wine Festival in Wagga Wagga.

More than 100 motorcyclists from the Far Riders club will arrive at Mount Panorama in Bathurst on Saturday 25 May to donate surplus or damaged gear to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) paramedic program for use in student simulation exercises. Mr Brian Haskins, lecturer in the paramedic program at the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst, said, “The bikers are due to arrive by about 11.30am and will do a lap of the Mount and then gather for a group photo at the Start-Finish line in Pit Straight where they will present the donated equipment – boots, jackets, helmets, gloves. They will be joined by other donors, Ms Cherelyn Chapman and Mr Andrew Carnegie-Smith, who both donated cars that will be modified for use in student extrication exercises. I’ll be there with the new CSU paramedic trauma car to collect the equipment in, and I’ll present certificates of appreciation to the donors. On Saturday afternoon, I will show the CSU Inter-Professional Simulation Centre to some of the donors, including Mr Philip Lennon, who is an Australian specialist in the removal of helmets from injured riders.”

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) resident poet, David Gilbey, will spend five months on a “journey of discovery” as part of his study leave to complete his first full volume of poetry. “There is an ancient connection between travelling and writing,” says David, who is Senior Lecturer in Literature and Creative Writing at CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus and the founding president of Wagga Wagga Writers Writers group. David begins his international sojourn next week in Paris and the Loire Valley in France before travelling to the University of Montana, USA, where he will be featured at the Montana Festival of the Book in late September. He will also read his poetry at seminars in Wales, Ireland, the Robert Menzies Centre in the UK, Shanghai in China and at Sendai in northern Japan, where David was visiting Professor of English at Miyagi Gakuin Women’s College in 2000.

Journalist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) alumnus Mr Hamish Macdonald will visit the University in Bathurst on Tuesday 21 May to screen and discuss a segment for his new TV show with students at the School of Communication and Creative Industries where he studied. Journalism lecturer, Ms Kay Nankervis, said, “It’s always a pleasure to welcome back former graduates to speak to current students about where a career in journalism can lead. Mr Macdonald has subsequently had an international career in the media as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and anchorman at news desks for CNN and Al Jezeera, as well as in Australia. It will be interesting for our students to learn about Mr Macdonald’s career path, and his new three-part series The truth is? for TV network TEN, which explores a range of contemporary social and political issues.” In 2012 Mr Macdonald received a Walkley Award and a Human Rights Television Award for his report ‘The Age of Uncertainty’ on The Project TV show. Mr Macdonald will screen an episode of his new program, The truth is?, and answer students’ questions between 11am to 12.30pm on Tuesday 21 May at the Media Centre TV studio (building C7).

The Red Cross blood donation mobile service will be at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst next week from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 June. The unit will be located outside the CSU gymnasium (CD Blake Auditorium, building E1). The acting Head of Campus, Associate professor PK Basu urged CSU staff and students to donate blood if they can. “One in three people will need blood in their lifetime, yet only one in 30 Australians donate blood each year,” he said. “The demand for blood and blood products is expected to double in the next decade, and more donors are needed. I encourage staff and students to make the time to donate blood here next week, or whenever they are able.” To make an appointment to donate please call the Red Cross on 13 14 95 or visit donateblood.com.au.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night opens at the Ponton Theatre at CSU in Bathurst on Tuesday 28 May and runs until Saturday 1 June. Described as ‘a whimsical comedy’, this modern interpretation is given the full title, Twelfth Night, As Performed By The Illyria Women's Prison Laundry Detail. Mr Ray Harding, theatre/media lecturer at the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, and co-director of the production, says he has entertained the idea of ‘prison inmates’ performing Shakespeare for many years. “The inmates in this instance are, of course, very talented third-year theatre/media students, but the idea and interpretation resonates with the first US production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot which was set in a prison,” he said. Student co-director Ms Fiona Spitzkowsky said, “The complexity of the language combined with the prison-based creative brief provided by Ray has allowed us all to challenge ourselves and eventually produce an exciting, engaging and surprisingly funny Shakespearean performance, with a little modernity for good measure.”

Eighty-three Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation scholarships and prizes will be presented to students from all four faculties at the University in Bathurst on Friday 31 May. The total value of scholarships and prizes awarded at ceremonies on various campuses of the University is more than $955 000. The acting Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst, Dr PK Basu, said, “We look forward to welcoming the generous donors and the hard-working students selected to receive the 2013 scholarships and prizes. All these students have demonstrated outstanding personal qualities combined with strong academic results or financial need in order to be chosen as recipients. I congratulate them and wish them well for their continuing studies and future careers.” A brunch for scholarship donors and recipients will be held in the James Hardie Room at the Centre for Professional Development (CPD) (building S17) at 9.15am. The official presentation ceremony starts at 10.30am in the large lecture theatre (room 2.23) in building S15, followed by lunch/refreshments from 12.30pm in the foyer of S15.

Maintaining and upgrading skills, continuing professional education and accessing the latest research and expertise has been cited as major problems for attracting and keeping health professionals in regional Australia. Charles Sturt University (CSU), the NSW Greater Southern Area Health Service (GSAHS) and Occupational Therapy Australia (NSW) are collaborating to bring vital professional development to health clinicians in southern NSW. Over 30 occupational therapists from the region will update their skills and explore new forms of professional education at a two day workshop in Gundagai on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 August. CSU’s Professor of Occupational Therapy Gail Whiteford, Dr Michael Curtin and Clare Wilding will lead discussions in how to better train future occupational therapists for the region. GSAHS allied heath director Ros Bauer said the partnership between CSU, GSAHS and OT Australia will provide much needed professional support for clinicians in communities across the region and to explore new ways of delivering health services.