Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Deputy Chancellor Ian Macintosh received his Australia Day 2006 award, the Member in the Order of Australia (AM), at an investiture ceremony at Government House in Sydney on Friday. The AM is for services to local government, regional development, higher education and public relations. Mr Macintosh says “it is certainly an honour and something that gives you a good warm feeling”, adding that he did not find it cause for self-congratulation. “You look back and think I could have done it better, I could have done more. I could have worked a bit harder, tried a bit harder”. It is a surprisingly humble self-assessment. CSU’s Vice-Chancellor Ian Goulter said Mr Macintosh’s skills and background have strengthened the University. “Mr Macintosh has made a major contribution to both the NSW Central West and the University.” Mr Macintosh says he is most proud of his involvement with the Australian Nuffield Farming scholarships, which are now the premier agricultural scholarships in Australia, his 8 ½ years as Mayor of Bathurst and especially CSU. “CSU is a phenomenally successful operation. The people who built it up showed enormous foresight and energy. It was then and still is a great team of people. My commitment to CSU is about making it not just the state’s, but Australia’s, dominant regional tertiary institution and I think it is an achievable objective.”

The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism: Facts and Fiction is the focus of a public lecture to be given in Wagga Wagga this Wednesday night by senior lecturer in Nuclear Medicine at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Mr Geoff Currie. Despite heightened awareness of international terrorism post September 11, 2001 most people are still not well informed about the dangers and possibility of nuclear terrorism, according to Geoff Currie. “This lecture will address a number of questions including the psychosocial impact of nuclear terrorism; the vulnerability of nuclear reactors to sabotage and theft of nuclear material by terrorists; the threat of ‘dirty bombs’ and what could be potential targets in the Riverina,” Geoff Currie said. Currently a senior lecturer in Nuclear Medicine at CSU, Geoff Currie has 20 years clinical experience in both therapeutic and diagnostic Nuclear Medicine and is widely published internationally. Major Garth Wheat, a highly decorated soldier who served in the Royal Australian Army for 30 years, will also speak at the lecture which begins at 6pm on Wednesday, 10 May in the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre meeting room.

The newly appointed Dean of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU’s) Faculty of Education, Professor Toni Downes will speak at an Education Week forum in Wagga Wagga next week on the topical issue of how students use computers and the changing nature of learning. Professor Downes will be the inaugural speaker at the first CSU Edversations public forum on Thursday 18 May in the meeting room at Wagga Wagga City Council starting at  6pm. Professor Downes, who recently joined CSU as Professor of Education, has more than 25 years’ experience working with teachers to improve education through the creative use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). She will speak on the topic Student Internet use at home and school in the first of a new series of professional forums on education, especially aimed at teachers in the Wagga region. “CSU is a leader in teacher education and we hope the Edversations series will strengthen the education community and provide a place for Faculty of Education staff to meet local teachers and build links with others interested in education,” said Dr Andrew Wallace, Senior Lecturer in Education at CSU. One of Professor Downes’ current research projects is looking at the gender gap in IT and communication technology subjects and why girls are failing to fully participate in IT, both in schools and in their career choices.

One of the first music lecturers at Bathurst Teacher’s College (BTC), John Cassim, has donated $20 000 to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation Trust. The funds will be used to support the John Cassim Award for Music Education and will be awarded to a student who is undertaking one or both of the two music electives of their teaching degree. When Mr Cassim arrived at the brand new BTC in 1951, it was an era that today’s staff and students would hardly recognise. He particularly recalls one night when a student was discovered with a bottle of beer. “Well that student was dismissed on the spot. I couldn’t believe it.” He says he “loved the students” and he hopes the scholarship money will help the recipient with their University fees. After Bathurst, Mr Cassim taught in Sydney and conducted for the Sydney Opera Company, the precursor to Opera Australia, before establishing a thoroughbred horse racing stud in Bowral. Now 85, he is still breeding race horses and loves to play CDs “so the mares and foals can listen to music”.

The first Canadian students from Charles Sturt University (CSU), Ontario to do their practicum teaching experience in Australia have started work at North Wagga Public School.  The three Canadians are among the first group of Bachelor of Educational Studies (Primary Teaching) students at CSU, Ontario which began in August 2005 with 114 students. The one-year postgraduate teacher education program which operates between CSU in Australia and school boards in Ontario, prepares candidates to teach in Ontario elementary or primary schools. Juanita Germaine, 34, of Barrie, Ontario; Deb Gross, 24, of Hamilton, Ontario and Kristin Larion, 23, from Paris, Ontario will spend three weeks teaching kindergarten and year 2/3 students at North Wagga Public School. All three said the opportunity of practice teaching in Australia as well as CSU’s reputation in teacher education were factors which attracted them to the CSU program. Four other CSU Ontario students are doing their practicum teaching in Dubbo at the same time.  Professor Tom Lowrie, head of CSU’s School of Education, said the Australian practicum experience was an exciting component of CSU’s Ontario program which he hoped would be expanded. Read more here.

A $100 000 scholarship will enable Charles Sturt University (CSU) PhD student Jodie Ivers to conduct research into the way people manage their electricity usage . Ms Ivers is the recipient of Country Energy’s inaugural Energy Efficiency Research Scholarship. The industry scholarship will allow the postgraduate student to research renewable energy or an area known as demand management. “Demand management could be changed using new technology such as  a “smart meter” in people’s homes. The meter could tell the resident how much electricity is being used at any time and how much it is costing,” explained Ms Ivers. At peak times, an alarm would alert a resident to warn them the cost will escalate. And why aren’t more people taking up the option of green electricity? “This is what I have to find out. Basically what I’ll be doing is finding out what consumers think about renewable energy, what they know about it, what their attitudes towards green electricity are and trying to find ways to increase adoption and awareness,” said the CSU student. Originally from the central west town of Oberon, Ms Ivers now lives in Bathurst. “I like the socially responsible aspect of research, so I would love to see my work make a difference in what’s happening in regional areas, and reduce the amount of fossil fuels that we are using,” added Jodie Ivers.

The title of 2006 Royal Bathurst Showgirl has been bestowed on Charles Sturt University (CSU) communication student Jennifer Browning. Studying the double degree of Bachelor of  Sports Studies/Bachelor of Arts (Communication/Journalism), as well as holding down a cadetship with the National Radio News (NRN) on CSU’s Bathurst Campus, Ms Browning went to school in the city and is now undertaking her university studies in Bathurst.  “I think being an ambassador for the city of Bathurst will be wonderful,” said Jennifer Browning. She says her communications and interview training was a distinct advantage in the competition. “I am an NRN cadet so we are always immersed in what’s going on around us both in the community and on a national level.” The ten young women were judged on local knowledge, current affairs, deportment and personality. Next stop for the CSU student is a two day course in deportment and personal presentation skills in Dubbo, before the Central West zone competition.

The boys-only Dead Bones Society meets under the gigantic jaw of a T. rex for its third session on Thursday 13 April. The writing workshops at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst have been so successful that more sessions are planned for the rest of this year and next. Teenage fiction author, Charles Sturt University (CSU) tutor and literacy consultant Paul Stafford says the ‘comedy horror’ workshops are aimed at gifted nine to 12-year-olds with an interest in writing and science. “It’s like a secret club because boys love that kind of thing. A creepy old museum at night is pretty exciting.” The boys are mentored by male teacher education students from CSU where Paul Stafford graduated with a degree in print journalism. Penny Packham, public programs officer at the museum, says the CSU students help the boys focus and express their ideas. “It’s giving the students an opportunity they don’t otherwise have. They are incredibly enthusiastic and quite happy to offer their time.” The workshops have been so successful the museum is looking to expand the program and run similar workshops for girls.

Described as an ardent and vocal supporter of the pharmacy program at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Ian Dean has been awarded a Companion of the University. Mr Dean has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, UK and the USA. From 1990 to 2003, Ian Dean was Registrar and Chief Executive of the Pharmacy Board of NSW. In presenting the Companion of the University, Dean of the CSU Faculty of Health Studies Professor Mark Burton said “Ian Dean has advocated on behalf of staff, students and the University as a whole in various pharmacy and industry forums and most notably within the NSW Government”. “His understanding of the role that CSU plays in the recruitment and retention of rural pharmacists contributed significantly to the establishment of the first Professor of Rural Pharmacy in Australia at CSU in 2005,” Professor Burton added