Schools and other institutions around Australia, including Charles Sturt University (CSU), will burst into song – the same song – at 11am Thursday 30 August. Life is a Song has been especially written for the project entitled Music, Count Us In, which is an initiative of the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training. CSU choir master and music lecturer in the School of Teacher Education Dr Christopher Klopper calls the project “fantastic” and confirms that Life is a Song will be performed on CSU’s Bathurst Campus. He says the timing of the project also coincides with his fourth year student’s practicums, so they will take the project into schools around New South Wales. “This is an opportunity for everyone in Australia to be learning one shared song. It will raise awareness of music education and, if it is successful, could become an annual event.”

The generosity of an Australian non-profit organisation has guaranteed four Charles Sturt University (CSU) Dentistry students receive more than $50,000 each towards their studies. At a recent scholarship and award function at CSU in Orange, the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation (VFFF) awarded four first-year students annual scholarships of $10,000 during their five years of study. Since 1962 the VFFF has distributed in excess of $70 million to non-profit organisations in Australia. The future of young people is of particular interest to the VFFF, as are the special needs of Australians living beyond the major metropolitan centres, particularly in rural and outback Australia. “With graduates from the School Dentistry and Health Sciences encouraged to practice in regional Australia, these scholarships are not only helping four students each year, they stand to benefit regional Australia as a whole,” said Head of School, Professor David Wilson.

The Tremendous, a band made up of students from Charles Sturt University (CSU), took out the Rock Up 2007 Battle of the Bands final in Dubbo earlier this month. Laurie Mahon, a first year Bachelor of Communication / Bachelor of Business Studies student, describes his band's music as "folk mixed with psychedelic, funk, jazz and roots". Other CSU students in The Tremendous are Lily Leahy, Liam Robertson and Julian Pavey. Mr Mahon says the two vocalists, Grace Turner and Zana Kobayashi, are hoping to enrol at CSU next year. Part of the prize includes two days recording time and after that, The Tremendous will tour the east coast of New South Wales. “It’s very much a dream – to be able to tour and record. If we work hard then hopefully it will become a reality. I’ve been in a lot of bands, and this is the first that people come up after the show and tell us how much they enjoy the music, and that is exhilarating,” said Mr Mahon.

Winning awards isn’t everything, but for one Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic it’s made all the hard work even more worthwhile. Every year the world’s leading publisher of business and management research, Emerald Group, invites their 200 journal editorial teams to nominate what they believe has been that title’s outstanding paper from the previous 12 months. CSU’s School of Accounting academic, Associate Professor Jayne Bisman’s paper Making the mainstream: An analysis of the scholarly literature on accounting in China 1999-2008 published in Asian Review of Accounting, has been chosen as an Outstanding Paper Award Winner at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2010. Professor Bisman was thrilled with the acknowledgement. “Myself and co-author Weini Liao worked extremely hard on the paper and were proud of the finished product. This award is the icing on the cake.”

A passion to assess the impact of climate change on some of the world’s driest places has attracted Dr Antonio Castro from his native Spain to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga for the past six months. A visiting research fellow with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS), Dr Castro is assessing the possible impacts of global climate change on Spain, especially the dry south-eastern Andalusia region. He was drawn to Australia to investigate Associate Professor Gary Luck’s major project on assessing ecosystem services, those services provided by the natural environment that enhance the man-made environment, such as carbon storage, timber production, pest control, flower pollination and biodiversity conservation. He hopes to incorporate the skills and knowledge he has developed with Professor Luck into his own research. Dr Castro said he was impressed with the Institute, having never seen ecological, social and cultural views coming together in one institution. “Albury is also a very comfortable city and Australians are very friendly,” Dr Castro said.

Nearly 50 prizes will be presented to Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduates and current students in the Faculty of Business to recognise their academic excellence in 2009. Prizewinners will receive a variety of prizes including scholarships, books and funds from donors such as the Albury Freemasons, the Certified Practising Accountants of Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Tax Office. During the ceremony Acting Dean of the CSU Faculty of Business, , Professor Ken Dillon, will recognise 28 students and graduates with Dean’s List awards for their exceptional academic performances. The ceremony will start at 10am on Thursday 22 April in the Faculty of Business building on CSU’s Thurgoona site.

Four students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Ontario Campus, Canada have arrived in Dubbo to work at Buninyong and Wellington Public Schools as part of their studies. Ms Angelica Barone, Ms Laura Donnelly, Ms Lucy Lee and Ms Wendy Wright have been provided accommodation on the CSU Dubbo Campus during their stay and will complete their practical studies as part of their Bachelor of Primary Education Studies. Lecturer in the School of Education in Dubbo, Ms Alison Lord, is excited about the Canadian student’s arrival, having taught them during her secondment at CSU in Ontario. “These girls are passionate about children’s education,” Ms Lord said. “Their commitment to the course and their future careers is proven by travelling to the Western Region of NSW to complete their studies.”

Staff at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Policing Studies in Goulburn, NSW, have raised more than $3 000 for Ms Jan Pike, a Riding for the Disabled champion who is aiming to compete at the 2012 London Paralympics. The Head of the School of Policing Studies, Associate Professor Rosemary Woolston, said, “We’re delighted with the fundraising efforts by CSU staff and some police staff at the college. So far we have raised over $3 000 dollars and we still have an outstanding raffle from which we expect to raise more money. These funds will be used to assist Ms Pike to get to the Paralympics in London in 2012 by helping with necessities such as horse feed, farrier services, agistment fees, equipment and maintenance, accommodation for training and competition, and travel.”

In a collaboration described as a “first”, NSW Ambulance Service will second two positions to the Charles Sturt University Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) course. Described by Peter O'Meara, Associate Professor in CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences, as “fantastic”, the one and two-year positions are being advertised, “Because the course has been growing at such a rate. This will provide more staff up-front for the growing demand. It will also give NSW Ambulance further knowledge of our course, and we will get the opportunity to pick their brains about what is going on in NSW Ambulance. They are always seeking graduates, and an extra 250 jobs on top of the 300 they already recruit annually was just announced in the NSW Budget,” said Professor O’Meara.