A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic will be track-side with competitors in the Indonesian Olympic Team at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China, having coached athletes in several disciplines since late 2007 to develop the team’s strength and conditioning. Dr Stephen Bird, a lecturer in the School of Human Movement Studies, said “I am very happy with our input into the athletes for these games and really look froward to getting over there. Strength and conditioning preparation of the Indonesian Olympic squads has gone well, with all athletes making significant improvements in their conditioning levels.” Dr Bird is involved with archery, weightlifting, badminton and track and field, and will continue to assist the athletes in their quest for peak performance. He does not think the air pollution in Beijing will impact on the Indonesian competitors. “Although most European teams have expressed concerns, I don’t believe this will be a major issue for the Indonesian team as they experience similar conditions on a daily basis in Jakarta. I also believe that China will do everything possible to ensure that conditions are a good as possible.”

A DVD made by Charles Sturt University (CSU) television production students documenting the lives and experiences of respected members of the West Wyalong Aboriginal community will be used in schools across NSW as part of the state’s Aboriginal education policy. The 20 minute DVD West Wyalong Wiradjuri will be officially launched at West Wyalong High School (WWHS) on Thursday 14 August at 11am. Filmed in West Wyalong, the DVD documents the childhood, schooling and family experiences of four West Wyalong locals and what it means to grow up as an Indigenous person. Third year television production student and DVD producer Ms Gemma Thornton was assisted with camera work and sound and lighting by other CSU students. “I learnt a lot about Indigenous culture and also about dealing with West Wyalong High School as a ‘client’, which is invaluable experience for getting a job after university,” she said. WWHS’s Ms Jenene West said it was essential to capture local people talking about their lives in the local region. “There is no point in showing school children a DVD about Arnhem Land as it just isn’t relevant. It’s important that they can relate to the location,” Ms West said.

Ms Rebecca Turnbull, a medical science and applied biotechnology student from the the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus, was chosen as CSU representative to the inaugural Australia-India Universities Youth Forum in July. The forum drew together almost 60 Australian and Indian university students. Highlights included a sustainability leadership training program in Sydney, a three-day eco-tour of outback Australia, a tour of a biodynamic organic farm near Canberra, and workshops with the City of Sydney’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 project team. “Each participant brought a different area of expertise from their university education; from engineering to teaching, languages to economics, architects and town planners and those in science and biotechnology,” said Ms Turnbull. “We were constantly consulting our fellow student experts which reinforced the concept that sustainability affects us all, regardless of occupation and origin.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) agricultural science student Mr David Gale, from the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, was one of 22 young people selected to attend the World Council of Churches’ international dialogue centre, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey Institute in Switzerland in July. Mr Gale participated in the inaugural Ecumenical Water Network Summer School on Water, not far from Lake Geneva. “The incredible bit for me was that a group of culturally, sexually, denominationally, vocationally and politically diverse young adults, who have an incredible passion to see water more equally shared, were able to come together and I was able to be a part of it,” said Mr Gale. “As a group we reflected on water and the ecumenical response to the global water crisis, especially issues of privatization, water management, water scarcity, gender and water, water rights and sanitation.”

Six students from Charles Sturt University's (CSU) Albury-Wodonga Campus will represent the University in netball in the upcoming Australian University Games to be held in September in Melbourne. Led by CSU education student Ms Chelsea Daly, the group is seeking donations from Albury-Wodonga businesses to raise money for travel and accommodation for the group. The Australian University Games are Australia's largest annual multi-sport event, the national university Olympics, and are the most exciting event on the national tertiary calendar. The 2008 event, hosted by Monash University, includes teams from all Australian universities and runs from 28 September to 3 October.

A third-year Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) student at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Dubbo Campus will travel to Canada at the end of August to spend her next academic session at the University of Regina in the province of Saskatchewan. Ms Sally Holland, from Wellington, NSW, is the third student from the Dubbo Campus to participate in the CSU Study Exchange Program when she starts her semester abroad on Tuesday 2 September. “I was lucky to successfully apply for this scholarship which only became available since the end of 2007, when the CSU Office of International Relations secured an additional $5 000 overseas scholarship for one Dubbo exchange student to study abroad in 2008,” Ms Holland said. “I am very excited about my upcoming trip to Canada to study for a semester.” The CSU International Exchange Program offers CSU students a variety of study abroad opportunities to gain credits towards their degree under its student mobility program CSU Global.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student will experience the razzle-dazzle of ‘Bollywood’ when she heads to Mumbai, India, in August for work experience in the sub-continent’s filmmaking capital. Ms Zoe Kelly, a theatre/media student at the School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus, won a scholarship to take part in the India Study Abroad Centre’s ‘Film & Media Program’ for four weeks during August-September 2008. Ms Kelly said she was very interested in a career in filmmaking. “When I found out about the film and media program it sounded like such a great opportunity to travel and experience a culture that would challenge and inspire me in many different ways to broaden my perceptions of filmmaking. The idea of experiencing such a foreign culture as well as simultaneously being able to experience the biggest film industry in the world seemed like an incredible way to study abroad. I love the exuberant colours, high-spirited characters and mixture of different genres that ‘Bollywood’ films have to offer, and this is something that I would love to learn more about and experience in the flesh,” she said.

Nearly 30 delegates from the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia (SEGRA) Conference being held in Albury will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) as part of their meeting on Wednesday 20 August. Hosted by the Head of CSU’s Albury-Wodonga Campus, Professor Gail Whiteford, the delegates, who are from the business community around Australia, will receive short guided tours around the University’s award-winning Thurgoona site. “The visit will highlight the partnership between CSU and Albury City Council, especially in the economic, educational and social development of the Border region,” Professor Whiteford said.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Division of Library Services will ensure Dubbo’s educational resources are of the highest standard by donating a significant number of visual arts and photography books to the TAFE NSW Western Institute – Dubbo campus library on Thursday 21 August. “The books are duplicates of copies already held in the CSU Library collection at the Wagga Wagga Campus,” explained CSU’s Director of Operations at the Division of Library Services, Ms Kerryn Amery. “We go to great efforts to make sure any duplicates are given a good home.” The books will enable the Dubbo TAFE Library to provide additional support for fine arts, cultural arts and Aboriginal visual and performing arts courses taught at Dubbo. “CSU has a strong relationship with TAFE NSW and this is just one of the many collaborative efforts that guarantee our campus towns offer the highest educational programs,” Ms Amery said.