The Christmas lights displayed on some houses in the lead up to Christmas made it easy to see that some families are more enthusiastic about this seasonal flourish than others. This prompted Charles Sturt University graduates to create a documentary called Christmas Lights about such families. The director, Ms Lizzie Fisher, a CSU Theatre/Media graduate, takes us on a journey meeting three families and discovering the motivation behind weeks of work and thousands of dollars invested in Christmas lights. She was assisted by Director of Photography and CSU Media Production graduate Mr James Foggo who helped bring these fascinating stories to life. The documentary aired on ABC television before Christmas, and was also screened during Qantas flights over the Christmas period.

The joys, challenges and wonder of science and technology as a career option will be highlighted when high school students attend the Siemens Science Experience at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga from Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 January. The three days of science experiences will include practical and interactive demonstrations for students starting Year 10 in 2009, as well as their parents. A national initiative of the Science Schools Foundation Inc., the annual event has the support of Rotary clubs, Siemens, the Australian Science Teacher's Association and the Young Scientists of Australia as well as universities around the country. Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Science and science enthusiast, Professor Nick Klomp, and Manager of CSU Learning Enterprise, Ms Jenny King, will welcome the students to the Siemens Science Experience from 9am on Wednesday 14 January in the Wal Fife Theatre on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus.

Professor Allan Curtis has been appointed as the new Head of Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga. Professor Curtis, who took up the position on Tuesday 23 December, replaces Professor Gail Whiteford. He will hold this appointment concurrently with his position as Strategic Professor at the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society. Professor Curtis joined CSU in 2004 as the inaugural Professor of Integrated Environmental Management. He previously worked at CSU from 1991 to 2002 before leading the Social Sciences Program at the federal Bureau of Rural Sciences in Canberra. Professor Curtis’ current research focuses on the social dimensions of regional natural resource management, including the social and economic impacts of water and its regulation in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Having survived wind, rain, freezing cold, searing heat and a lightning strike, the Peregrine Falcon chick at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) in Orange has come of age and is preparing for its first flight from the campus’ 50 metre-high water tower. “By all recorded accounts, Peregrine Falcons first fly between six to eight weeks old,” says Dr Cilla Kinross, Adjunct Lecturer in Environmental Management at the CSU School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences. “The chick has reached the six week mark so its first flight could happen any minute. It is likely to stay close to the nest-site for the next several weeks and with its parents for two to three months to learn to hunt before becoming independent.” The chick has been named Migii, the Aboriginal name for ‘lightning’, and was the sole survivor of two eggs hatched in October last year.

The Remote Telescope at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst has a full calendar of observation events plotted for the UNESCO 2009 International Year of Astronomy, which celebrates 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope to view the night sky. The initiator and administrator of the CSU telescope, Associate Professor David McKinnon at the CSU School of Teacher Education says that images of the southern night sky through the telescope can be seen via the Internet, weather permitting, around themes that depend on which celestial objects are visible at that time. “The observation calendar centres on special events such as the particular phases of the Moon and planets, as well as requests that are lodged via the Remote Telescope website,” Professor McKinnon said. “This year is a wonderful opportunity for school students and anyone interested in astronomy to access the telescope and website to see planets and other objects as they may never have seen them before.”

An executive with over 25 years experience in the Australian advertising industry says she understands why Charles Sturt University (CSU) advertising and advertising/marketing graduates are so highly sought by the industry. Ms Anne Llewellynn has joined the CSU School of Communication at Bathurst as lecturer in advertising after a career as a senior account director for major agencies including McCann-Erickson, MDO (Mojo) and DDB, where her expertise contributed to the success of a range of national and international products and services in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, consumer goods, banking and finance sectors. “Last year I worked with final year students in the School’s advertising agency Kajulu Communications to prepare complete communications recommendations for real clients,” Ms Llewellynn said. “The presentations and the calibre of the work produced by some of these students were industry standard. The students graduating from this School enter the industry with the highest academic qualifications and hands-on industry experience.”

Demand for health and education courses offered to Victorian students by Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga continues to be healthy, says the University’s Student Administration Executive Director, Mr Geoff Honey. “The physiotherapy course appears to be full, while our other allied health and education courses have been in strong demand from Victorian students,” Mr Honey said. “However, there are places available in most offered courses on the campus, especially in environmental science and business.” Offers for CSU places through the NSW University Admissions Centre will be made this Thursday 22 January. Orientation Week for new students will commence on Monday 16 February. Victorian applicants considering a CSU course should contact the University’s Student Administration Office on (02) 6051 6811 to discuss their application.

The Neonatal Emergency Transport Service (NETS) team from Sydney will conduct a seminar on neonatal emergency care and retrieval for Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Nursing and Midwifery in Wagga Wagga on Friday 30 January. NETS is well known in rural NSW as the team flies to hospitals in Wagga Wagga and outlying areas to stabilise and transport sick babies to major hospitals for specialist care. “The seminar is for student midwives returning to a residential school at CSU after six months of clinical practice. The School has also invited 20 local midwives to attend. We see it as very important to participate in and promote the ongoing education of nurses and midwives,” Ms Shackleton said. “Most nurses and midwives in rural hospitals will have participated in the retrieval of a sick baby by the NETS team. These babies are usually very tiny and sick, so they require the highest level of professional nursing and medical care to achieve the best possible outcome.”

Recent media reports of a dengue fever ‘plague’ in northern Queensland are an overstatement of what periodically occurs in that State, according to a senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic and member of the Institute for Land, Water and Society. “I don’t see dengue fever marching south from tropical Australia as a great plague, but rather gradually moving with the fluctuations and movements of climate change over many years,” says Professor Kevin Parton. “My work on Ross River fever, a similarly mosquito-borne disease endemic to parts of southern Australia, shows that the virus is present in humans across NSW – which would surprise many people. It becomes more common in certain weather conditions, hence the appearance of an ‘outbreak’. Sure, take public health precautions such as use insect repellent, fix fly screens and tip out standing water around your house, but some current reports are a little sensationalist.”