Water management issues in China and Pakistan will be in the spotlight when two international visitors present seminars hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the International Centre for Water for Food Security (IC WATER) on Thursday 28 May. Director of Pakistan’s Water Management Research Centre, Professor Niaz Ahmed Rai, will talk on the current water scenario in Pakistan and intervention for sustainable use. The Centre is located at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Director of China’s National Research Centre for Resettlement, Professor Guoqing Shi, will discuss challenges and issues for water management in China including flooding, water shortage, water pollution and water turbidity. This Centre is part of Hohai University, Nanjing, China. The International Centre of Water for Food Security at CSU holds monthly seminars with national and international water experts invited to discuss the emerging issues and policies dealing with sustainable management of water resources for food security.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will mark its 20^th anniversary with a gala commemorative dinner at Bathurst on Tuesday 2 June. Some of the 300 guests will travel from overseas to attend the dinner. Dignitaries include the heads of other universities, politicians, business leaders, academics, staff and alumni. CSU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) and Chairperson of the 20^th Anniversary Committee, Professor Lyn Gorman, said the dinner is an opportunity to celebrate the University’s past and its future. “Charles Sturt University is Australia’s sixth largest university, and it has established itself as the University of inland Australia. It is the leading provider of distance education, with 57 per cent of our 35 000 students studying by distance mode in over 80 countries. Charles Sturt University will continue to support our regional communities and provide graduates for a range of professions needed throughout Australia and elsewhere in the world.”

Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews. The CSU commemorative dinner will be held at the CD Blake Auditorium at CSU at Bathurst from 7.30pm on Tuesday 2 June. Read more about CSU’s 20^th anniversary here.

During Orientation 2009, students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) helped raise money for the organisation, Aussie Helpers. Aussie Helpers is a charity that assists farming families during drought.  The student leaders at CSU at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga collected a total of $5 883 during Orientation 2009 in February. “The Division of Student Services would like to thank all of the student leaders for working so hard to fundraise money for this year’s charity,” said Student Support Officer Mr Christopher Roche.  “It was a great achievement.  We would also like to thank the students, parents and staff that donated money.”  Each year student leaders select an organisation to fundraise for during Orientation. Aussie Helpers will be using the donation to assist families affected by drought and the Victorian bushfires. Student leaders will present a cheque to Aussie Helpers’ co-founder Mr Brian Egan at 10am Friday 29 May outside the student canteen, building 20, near car park 2, Darnell Smith Drive, CSU at Wagga Wagga.

 

Aussie Helpers and its 40 volunteers aim to lift the spirits of those families severely affected by drought in rural Australia.  Aussie Helpers operate in QLD, NSW, VIC, SA and Tasmania.

 

The Wagga Wagga Agricultural College Rugby Union Club at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will use the much anticipated clash with 2008 premiers, Wagga Wagga Waratahs, on Saturday 30 May to promote awareness of breast cancer and raise money for the McGrath Foundation. A ‘ladies day’ will be held to coincide with round seven of the Southern Inland Rugby Union competition when the 2007 premiers Wagga Wagga Agriculture College take on last year’s premiers the Wagga Wagga Waratahs in all three grades. “Against a backdrop of competitive rugby union, we hope to contribute to the vitally important ‘Breast Aware’ message of the McGrath Foundation,” said Wagga Wagga Agricultural College Rugby Union Club president Mr Shahid Khalfan. Money raised during the day, including at a special auction of the first grade players’ ‘Breast Aware’ football jerseys, will be donated to the McGrath Foundation. “I urge all members of the community to support the day and the valuable work of the McGrath Foundation,” said the third year CSU veterinary science student.

The ‘ladies day’ will take place on Saturday 30 May at Beres Elwood Oval, CSU at Wagga Wagga. The first game kicks off at 12.30pm. First grade starts at 2.45pm. A barbecue will be available as well as drinks and finger food. The $20 entry fee will be waived for women. From 5.30pm at the William Farrer Hotel in Wagga Wagga, the 2008 National Young Auctioneer, Mr Jim Tierney will auction off first grade’s ‘Breast Aware’ jerseys. Wagga Wagga Agricultural College Rugby Union Club president and CSU student Mr Shahid Khalfan is available for interview on 0401 062 837.The McGrath Foundation was co-founded by the late Jane McGrath and her cricketing husband Glenn McGrath.

More than 1 000 Year 12 students from across the central west will converge on Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst for the annual Central West Careers Advisers Association FACTS (Facts About Careers and Tertiary Study) Day on Thursday 28 May. Final year students from Bathurst, Lithgow, Kandos, Oberon, Blayney, Cowra, Orange and Molong will have the opportunity to meet and receive information from about 120 delegates representing more than 60 career and employer organisations, including universities, private providers, TAFE, Centrelink, police and other government agencies. Ms Katy O’Brien, a Prospective Student Adviser at CSU in Orange, said “events like this are the result of the University forging closer ties with careers advisors in all schools, including private, independent and state schools. This day offers our regional school students the opportunity to experience our University by visiting the Bathurst Campus.”

Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews with CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Katy O’Brien. Parents are also invited to attend the annual FACTS Day from 10am to 2.30pm on Thursday 28 May at the CD Blake Auditorium at CSU at Bathurst. There is a morning and afternoon session. Students arriving for each session are split into two groups with the first going into the careers expo and the second to the motivational presentation by keynote speaker Mr Bruce Buchanan from the Orange Business Enterprise Centre, held in S15 main lecture theatre. The FACTS Day is organised by the Central West Careers Advisers Association in conjunction with the National Association of Prospective Student Association (NAPSA), a national university network that is responsible for arranging and coordinating careers events throughout Australia.

 

Scholarships worth $330 000 will be presented to 94 students at a special ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst on Friday 29 May. The University’s Charles Sturt Foundation manages donated funds to enable students to apply for financial scholarships to assist them to meet the costs of their continuing higher education. Mrs Jan Hudson, Manager of Stakeholder and Community Relations at CSU, said that during the past 12 months, over 40 new donors have made significant contributions to the Foundation, some of which have been to the value of $1 million. “These contributions reflect the support and confidence of the corporate and community sectors through investment in the enhancement of educational pursuits of young Australians studying at CSU. Many of these students would not be in a financial position to undertake their studies without this level of support,” Mrs Hudson said.

 

Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews. The Charles Sturt University Foundation scholarships will be presented on Friday 29 May between 3pm to 5.30pm at the CD Blake Auditorium at CSU at Bathurst. The Charles Sturt Foundation was established with the sole purpose of providing a fabric of support for the University, its students and their educational activities. Since 1982, Charles Sturt Foundation Scholarships have assisted more than 2 600 students with more than $4 million worth of scholarships. In 2009, scholarships valued at almost $800 000 will be awarded to 220 CSU students across all campuses. More information about the Charles Sturt Foundation can be found here  or on 02 6338.4832. 

The emerging serious health problem of chronic kidney disease will be examined during a public lecture in Griffith in May. The lecture on Wednesday 27 May coincides with national Kidney Health Week 2009 being held from Sunday 24 May to Saturday 30 May. Associate Professor Ann Bonner from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Nursing and Midwifery in Wagga Wagga will explain chronic kidney disease, its risk factors, optimal healthcare requirements and its impact on individuals, society and the Australian healthcare system. Associate Professor Bonner has practiced for more than 20 years as a renal nurse and has developed postgraduate renal nursing courses for universities in NSW and Queensland. Dr Bonner is also involved in collaborative research projects with renal health care clinicians in these states.

Are books becoming extinct? That is the question which will be posed by the School of Education at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga during a public forum on Wednesday 27 May. In the first Edversations Professional Forum for 2009, CSU academics will join representatives from schools, education support agencies and the wider community to discuss the topic. While the next generation of children has embraced new technologies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and SMS, the expert panel will explore the significance of hard copy texts. “The issue is important for educators and parents alike as children are being immersed in a technological world and we need to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to navigate that world,” said one of the forum’s facilitators Ms Letitia Galloway from the School of Education. “We need to ask ourselves 'What place do books have today in the education and development of children?'” The forum is hosted by CSU and Wagga Wagga City Council.  

 

CSU wine and cheese will be served at the Edversations Professional Forum from 6pm Wednesday 27 May in the council meeting room, Civic Centre, Baylis St, Wagga Wagga.

An academic whose work has raised Australian consciousness of the largest accident in the Army’s history will this week address a memorial service for the tragic event. In May 1945 at the Royal Australian Engineers Training Camp Kapooka near Wagga Wagga, 24 young trainee engineers and two of their instructors were killed in an explosion in a bunker during a demolitions training exercise. In 2008, CSU senior lecturer Dr Peter Rushbrook detailed the event in the journal, History of Education Review. “Apart from a mass funeral, where the coffins lay on four semi-trailers, and the subsequent inquiry, the Kapooka tragedy has disappeared altogether from our national memory,” wrote Dr Rushbrook. On Thursday 21 May from 2.15pm near the Kapooka Military Area, Dr Rushbrook will be among the official guests at the second consecutive memorial service hosted by the Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) Commandant Colonel G W Finney.

 

Dr Peter Rushbrook is a senior lecturer with the School of Education at CSU at Wagga Wagga. He is a member of CSU’s Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education or RIPPLE. Dr Rushbrook is available for interview about the 1945 tragedy on 02 69 332564. Read more here.  For media queries about the memorial service, contact Warrant Officer Class One Beatty at the Army Recruit Training Centre on 02 6933 8212.

Actor and author Mr Brendan Cowell, who graduated in 1997 from the theatre/media course at the School of Communication at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst, narrowly missed out on the Play Award when the winners of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009 were announced at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney last night, Monday 18 May. Mr Cowell’s play Ruben Guthrie  was one of six plays short-listed for the prestigious award. Theatre/media lecturer, Mr Jerry Boland, said Brendan Cowell is an immense talent whose success is highlighted by the calibre of the other nominees and by the public acclaim for his work. “Brendan has enjoyed major success both within Australia and abroad, and I congratulate him for his nomination with such illustrious company.”

Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews. Ruben Guthrie was produced in 2008 by B Sharp, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney and will be published by Currency Press in May 2009. Mr Cowell’s first play, Men, was a sell-out hit at the Old Fitzroy Hotel in Sydney 2000. He has received a number of writing awards, including the Patrick White Playwright’s Award for Bed, the Phillip Parsons Playwright’s Award and the Griffin Award for Rabbit. He has also received an Australia Council grant. His most recent play, Ruben Guthrie, sold out the B Sharp season in 2008 and will transfer to the Company B mainstage in 2009. His plays have been produced in Berlin, London, Edinburgh and New York.