Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers investigating the detection, prevention and monitoring of diabetes are seeking participants at CSU in Orange in November. Biomedical Sciences lecturer with CSU’s School of Community Health, Dr Hayder Al-Aubaidy, said the research will seek new biochemical markers to screen patients for diabetes and abnormally low blood glucose levels which show prediabetes to predict the development of diabetic complications such as cardiovascular and renal disease and to monitor patients’ responses to treatment. “The earlier we can detect prediabetes, the better chance we have to prevent progression into diabetes and reduce the risk of diabetic complications,” he said. Study participants will have their blood pressure, height and weight measured, body mass index calculated, and blood and urine samples taken to test for biochemical indicators including blood sugar, glycosylated haemoglobin, and blood fats. Participants also answer questions about their overall health, medical conditions and current medication. “We will give each participant the results of their tests, including blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels,” Dr Al-Aubaidy said. Each session will take about an hour, and will be conducted at CSU in Orange in early November. To participate in the study or for more details, contact Dr Al-Aubaidy on (02) 6365 7512 or send an email.

The first Australian to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics, Mr Steven Bradbury, will be the special guest at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) annual Blues Ball in Bathurst on Tuesday 8 October. Ms Jean Ryan, CSU student support officer and event organiser, said, “The Blues Ball is the end of year presentation dinner to honour Charles Sturt University students’ and clubs’ achievements in 2013. Mr Bradbury won the gold medal in the short track speed skating Men’s 1 000 metres event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt lake City, Utah, USA, in February 2002. He is now an international motivational speaker, and we look forward to his presentation ‘Last Man Standing’ about his ‘road to gold’.” The sports soccer, rugby, fencing, netball, ultimate frisbee, rugby league, basketball, touch football, gymnastics, lawn bowls, and hockey will all be represented and in the running for the award of CSU Club of the Year to be announced at the celebration. The 2013 CSU Blues Ball will be held at the Rafters Bar (building C4) at CSU in Bathurst on Tuesday 8 October. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased from Ms Jean Ryan in building C4 (the auditorium and bar) or from the cashier at building S18 (mini mart).

Veteran Australian TV news and current affairs director Mr Peter Meakin will share decades of professional insight when he speaks to journalism students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 8 October. Ms Kay Nankervis, lecturer in journalism at the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said, “We are very fortunate to have such an experienced news executive as Mr Meakin willing to visit the University to speak to our journalism students. During an ‘In Conversation’ session I will host between 1pm to 2pm on Tuesday, he will speak about his career in the media and contemporary media issues, and will answer students’ questions. Later, he will meet journalism students to hear and provide feedback on their story ‘pitches’ and view the TV news stories they are editing as part of their courses.” Mr Meakin was a TV news and current affairs executive at Channel Nine for three decades, and at Chanel Seven since 2003. He has recently accepted the role of executive director of news and current affairs at Chanel Ten, starting in February 2014.

Fifteen nursing students who have completed a three-year degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will be farewelled by staff at a special luncheon at the University on Tuesday 15 October. They are among a cohort of 207 nursing students from across the CSU School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health who will graduate at the end of this semester, and who are now are eligible to register with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority. Ms Lyn Croxon, program leader for the Bachelor of Nursing in the CSU School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, said, “The students have just returned to the campus after eight weeks of placement, four weeks of which focused on the transition to practice as a Registered Nurse. They received invaluable support from the staff in the various hospitals in which they undertook the clinical placement. Clinical practice is an integral and valuable component of the course, preparing our future nurses for the workplace, and the University thanks the regional health services for their support of our programs.” The students come from Dubbo and the surrounding regional towns of Gilgandra, Cobar, Narromine, Parkes and Narrabri. The majority of graduates will accept positions as Registered Nurses with the Western NSW Local Health Network, while some individuals have been offered positions in Newcastle, Wollongong and Gosford.

  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.”

The talents of the final year photography students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be on show at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery from Friday 25 October during the annual graduation exhibition. Thirteen students from the School of Communication and Creative Arts at CSU in Wagga Wagga will display their many styles and techniques during Envisage. The exhibition runs until Sunday 15 December. Envisage will be launched by Associate Professor Helen Ennis from the School of Art at the Australian National University from 6pm to 8pm on Saturday 26 October. Associate Professor Ennis is one of Australia’s leading photography curators, historians and writers. She was formerly Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia. As part of the exhibition, six of the exhibiting students will each speak about their practice and what the CSU degree has given them during a free forum at the Gallery from midday to 1.30pm on Friday 25 October. The students are due to graduate from CSU in Wagga Wagga during a ceremony on December.  

The head of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Associate Professor Nick O’Brien, will deliver a public lecture in Port Macquarie titled Terrorism and Australia: Risk and prevention, including the role of financing in terrorism. The lecture, at the Glasshouse on Wednesday 23 October, is the fourth in a series which has brought speakers from a range of disciplines to share the latest ideas, thinking and opinions on contemporary social, scientific and cultural issues with the Port Macquarie community. Professor O’Brien joined CSU after a distinguished career in policing, including roles as Commander of the international counterterrorism group in Special Branch at New Scotland Yard. CSU Port Macquarie Campus Director Dr Muyesser Durur said the community response to the lecture series had been very encouraging. “The community has really embraced this concept,” she said. “Part of Charles Sturt University’s role on the Mid North Coast is to bring the latest ideas from the University’s areas of research directly to the community and this lecture series has demonstrated that’s something our community is very interested in.” 

The latest debate on climate change and bushfires is “the discussion the Australian community has to have”, a senior CSU ecologist says. Associate Professor David Watson with the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society said the latest debate is a timely reminder of the importance of extreme weather events in Australia. “Recent reports have shown climate change is real and is linked to increasing extremes in weather such as droughts and dry periods, which will increase the chance of bushfires,” said Professor Watson. “Increasing incidences of floods and cyclones are also more likely with climate change, so we as a nation need to consider how we are going to address this. We need to plan for both short-term responses and longer term planning of our cities and settlements across Australia and the various landscapes that will be affected. This is not a political issue — in 2006, then Prime Minister John Howard linked human-induced climate change with increased bushfire risk.  Insurers, agronomists and many other industries are already planning for increases in bushfires, severe storms and other extreme events, so it seems incongruous that the federal government is not being more pro-active.  We cannot afford to sit back and just let climate change happen with doing something about it,” he said.

Stories of what happens to asylum seekers and refugees with nothing to do and preventing social exclusion of children from low income families from services are being presented at the ‘Occupational Therapy Unlimited’ conference run by final year students completing their occupational therapy course with Charles Sturt University. These join over 30 papers being presented as the students celebrate the end of their four year course. Student representative Mr Daniel Frawley said the conference explores the scope and contexts of occupational therapy practice in Australia, with diverse topics covering the interaction of the profession with the functioning brain, different cultures, mental health and working in rural Australia. Academic coordinator of the event and occupational therapy lecturer Dr Sally Denshire said “This student-led event is the jewel in the crown for the graduating student”. The conference will be held on building 667, CSU in Albury-Wodonga at Thurgoona.