One of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) most senior academics is among those honoured for his years of service to CSU and its predecessor institutions. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Ross Chambers is one of 13 staff eligible to receive 20 and 30 year service medals during a ceremony on Friday 11 September in the Convention Centre at CSU at Wagga Wagga from 12.30pm. Professor Chambers joined the Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE) in 1979 as an Associate Lecturer in history and politics after studies at the University of Sydney and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London.  He was appointed a Principal Lecturer at RCAE in 1987.  Following the creation of CSU in 1989, Professor Chambers was appointed Head of the School of Humanities and Social Science and in 1992 the Dean of the Faculty of Arts.  In 2002 he was appointed to his current position as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). “It has been a great privilege to be part of the development of Charles Sturt University and to work with the community of staff and students at the University,” said Professor Chambers. “I have especially appreciated being part of an organisation with a strong commitment to the values of equity in access and participation and of service to its communities.”

The service medals are presented to long-serving staff as CSU continues to celebrate its 20th year in 2009. Read more about the 20^th anniversary celebrations here. The 20 and 30 year service medals will be presented to staff on Friday 11 September from 12.30pm to 3pm in the Chancellor’s Room, Convention Centre, building 230, near Jingellic Place, CSU, Wagga Wagga. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Ross Chambers will be overseas during the ceremony and will receive his medal at a later date. Photos of Professor Chambers are available from CSU Media. A second group of staff will also be awarded long service medals from 12.30pm to 3pm at the same venue on Tuesday 22 September.

In a world saturated with advertising and media using sex to sell, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has warned of the long-term risks for children. Dr Emma Rush, Associate Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences says companies are increasingly marketing their products to children to capture the children’s allegiance to their brands. However she says some products, like padded bras for eight-year-old girls, are completely inappropriate.”Big companies make products to make money, but the clothing, magazines, toys and games are becoming increasingly sexualised,” said Dr Rush. The CSU academic is a contributing author to a new book, Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls. The book deals with the sexualisation and objectification of girls and women in the media, popular culture and society. “Experts are seeing psychological damage in younger and younger children and a rise in behaviours such as low self-esteem, depression, self-harms and eating disorders. The children should be out in the world having fun. They should be constructing themselves, rather than squashing into a narrow stereotype,” said Dr Rush. “As adults we have responsibilities for children’s health and development. It is wrong to think of premature sexualisation as simply a matter of taste; the fact is that it has risks for children.”

Dr Emma Rush is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. She is researching the impact of the sexualisation of children. Dr Rush is pushing for a review of the recommendations of the Senate Inquiry into the Sexualisation of children in the contemporary media. Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls is published by Spinifex Press.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has been honoured in a national award for its successful traineeship programs. CSU was named as a runner up in the 2009 Minister’s Awards for Excellence for Employers of Australian Apprentices.  The University was among the top four employers of apprentices in the Western NSW category. Two CSU traineeship programs, known as Front Line Management for existing employees and Indigenous Traineeships, were submitted to the national awards. “The success of these two programs has led to the retention of trainees, a good completion rate for accredited training, expanded career opportunities for existing staff and improved employment opportunities at the University for Indigenous trainees,” said Ms Sarah McCormick , Manager of Diversity and Equity at CSU. Ms McCormick and CSU Training Manager Ms Jenny King attended the award ceremony hosted by the Federal Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations the Hon. Julia Gillard, MP, at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 18 August.

The Minister’s Awards for Excellence recognise and reward organisations and individuals who make an outstanding contribution towards the training of Australian apprentices. More information about Awards can be found here. Through its Division of Human Resources, CSU offers a staff development calendar offering over 100 workshops and forums annually. The University also runs an in-house Registered Training Organisation (RTO), CSU Training to deliver vocational qualifications.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is giving young people the opportunity to have an input into the challenging issues such as homelessness, teen suicide, drugs, poverty and crime. The Making a Difference (MaD) competition is now open and submissions close on Monday 5 October. “By writing a story, poem or script that addresses any issue of social justice, entrants are in the running to receive one of four $250 cash prizes,” explains CSU coordinator Mr Bill Anscombe. “In addition, Charles Sturt University will donate $250 to the charity of the winners’ choice.”  The School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Social Justice Innovation Award is eligible to anyone aged between 15 and 21 and are in Years 10, 11 and 12 at high school or studying at TAFE. Judging will take place in October, with the winners announced early November.

Mr Bill Anscombe is a senior lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. More information, including a full list of competition conditions, is available here. For interviews contact CSU Media

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery Cellar Door at Wagga Wagga has again been named as a finalist in the annual Inland NSW Tourism Awards. The Cellar Door is one of the finalists in the Riverina region of the 2009 Inland NSW Tourism Awards. The winners will be named at a dinner at the Crossing Theatre in Narrabri NSW on Saturday 25 July. The Cellar Door sells wine and offers tastings from the University’s own range of premium table, fortified and sparkling wines. Since its inception in 1977, the Winery has won numerous trophies and medals in national wine shows. The winery has been rated as a 4.5 star winery in the 2009 and 2008 James Halliday Wine Companion and was a finalist in the 2008 Inland NSW Tourism Awards. “It’s a great achievement to once again be named as a finalist in these awards considering the number of cellar door’s in operation in inland NSW,” said Cellar Door Manager Mr Richard Lawson. “The award recognises the Winery’s contribution to local and regional tourism, as well as the extensive range of CSU wine, cheese and olive oil products available for tasting and sales. It also recognises the hard work of our dedicated Cellar Door team.”  

A presentation ceremony will be held in the James Hardie Dining Room, CSU at Bathurst from 2pm to 5pm on Tuesday 30 June. A presentation ceremony will be held from 2pm to 5pm at the Convention Centre at CSU at Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 1 July. Read the latest work of researcher and recipient of the 2009 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence, Associate Professor Gary Luck here.

Commissioner of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) in NSW, Mr John Pritchard and former Senator and Australian Democrats leader, Ms Lyn Allison will headline a national conference focusing on ethics in the community next week. The 16th annual Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics (AAPAE) Conference will be hosted by Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Policing Studies in Goulburn, NSW from Tuesday 9 June to Thursday 11 June. Conference convenor and CSU lecturer in Policing Studies Dr Anna Corbo Crehan says around 50 delegates from universities and the professions are expected to attend to participate in discussion of issues in applied and professional ethics. Dr Corbo Crehan will present a paper entitled ’Appropriate police discretion and Indigenous over-representation in the Criminal Justice System’. Other presentations will focus on ethics in policing; the socio-legal ethics of vulnerable people; and ethics and money in sport.

The Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics Conference will run from Tuesday 9 June from 10am to 2pm on Thursday 11 June. Read the conference program here. Day registrations are available and people should arrive at the venue, the Best Western Centretown, Lagoon Street, Goulburn between 8am and 9 am on the Wednesday or Thursday. The after-dinner speaker on Wednesday 10 June is barrister Mr Stephen Keim, SC who acted for Dr Mohamed Haneef in 2007. The AAPAE formed in 1993 and is a non-partisan, non-profit national umbrella organisation formed to encourage awareness of, and foster discussion of issues in, applied and professional ethics. Contact CSU Media to arrange interviews.

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.

Mr Peter Adams is based in Wagga Wagga and can be contacted on mobile 0438 255 964. He is an adjunct researcher with CSU's Centre for Research in Complex Systems.

Fourteen police intelligence officers from the Middle East have commenced their policing studies in Australia. The serving officers, from Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf, are enrolled in the Master of Arts (Criminal Intelligence) course from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Australian Graduate School of Policing, based in Manly.  “CSU is adding to its strong record of close cooperation with international police forces, having already trained officers from such countries as Hong Kong and Indonesia,” said Head of School, Associate Professor Mark Briskey. The new students commenced their year long course in March with a six week residential school that includes field trips to learn about the intelligence capabilities of the NSW Police Force, the Australian Federal Police, NSW courts, the NSW Department of Corrective Services and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.