With the cost of the Federal election running into the tens of millions of dollars, two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have spoken out in favour of voting online, stating it would be cheaper, secure and more efficient. “Australians are able to do their taxes online, bank online and even register to vote online,” lecturers Mr Geoff Fellows and Mr Ken Eustace said. “Yet Australians still turn up to polling stations around the country and have their names crossed off the roll in pencil and then mark their ballot papers in pencil. The technology is there for the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to conduct the poll online. Voters could use their Medicare numbers to vote at portable ATM-style machines. The votes could still be scrutinised and it may reduce the number of voters who mistakenly vote informal if the system ensures invalid votes are authorised. Voters could also vote from home by pre-registering their computer and then voting through a special website. The AEC could even charge the political parties to have links from the special site to election material.”

Local researchers and international guests will gather in Wagga Wagga to challenge current thinking about energy and its consumption. Attending a workshop in the city on Monday 30 August are members of a group of multi-disciplinary researchers who hail from the Institute for Land, Water and Society at Charles Sturt University (CSU). “The 'big' question the researchers are asking is: What can we learn from the present and the past to help people overcome energy constraints and share our resources equitably?” conference organiser, Adjunct Professor Ian Gray from the ILWS said.  At 9am on Monday 30 August at the Riverine Club in Sturt Street, Wagga Wagga, Professor Gray will welcome delegates to the three-day event, including historian Professor Colin Divall from the University of York in the United Kingdom, Professor Hans-Luidger Dienel and Dr Massimo Moraglio, both from Germany’s Berlin Technical University.

The success of a scholarship program for students moving from TAFE to Charles Sturt University (CSU) is being expanded in the wake of its success. CSU’s ‘TAFE to University’ Scholarship Program was developed last year specifically for Diploma and Advanced Diploma students studying at TAFE NSW’s Riverina Institute and TAFE Western, and the Canberra Institute of Technology. Due to the program’s success, it has now been expanded to include an additional five TAFE institutes. The move doubles the number of scholarships available to TAFE students in 2011. Three scholarships are available to each of the TAFE providers. “Charles Sturt University is committed to creating strong education pathways. Our collaboration with TAFE institutes is a great example of how educators can work together to ensure students reach their potential,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at CSU, Professor Ross Chambers said. Applications for the $2 500 scholarships are open until 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010.

Ms Libby Clark from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health sometimes feels a twinge of sorrow for tele-operators whose job it is to sit on the phone all day, trying to maintain a calm, clear voice as they either deal with complaints or try to sell a product. “I know we all loath those telephone calls, but after working with these people, and realising how hard this type of work is for the human voice, it really does make me feel sorry for them,” she said. As a discipline leader in speech pathology at the School of Community Health, Ms Clark spends a great deal of time helping people develop their voice for their working life. “Our voice, our speech and our language skills are central to everything we do as human beings,” she said. “It’s It’s how we develop and maintain relationships, but it's also really important for our working lives.” As well as feeling empathy for tele-operators, Ms Clark has concerns for the elderly. “It's important to spend time working with the elderly because if they often find it hard to be heard - especially if they have had some kind of communication impairment like a stroke or have a hearing loss. Just because they are old, doesn't mean they don't have a right to have a say, to be heard, to have a voice in what goes on in their lives.” Dr Clark has worked on voice and speech production skills with tour guides, sport professionals, teachers and business leaders. Speech Pathology Australia is hosting Speech Pathology Week from 22 to 28 August.                                        

Central Albury will become a hive of activity this weekend with the national Biodiversity in the City event. Hosted by scientists and students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Albury Botanic Gardens, the event highlights interactive activities such as life in the dirt, collecting the animal kingdom, pond life, and biodiversity in the park. Biodiversity in the City celebrates the International Year of Biodiversity and National Science Week 2010. The event will be held between 12noon and 4pm on Saturday 21 August in QEII Square, the Albury LibraryMuseum and the Albury Botanic Gardens. The CSU team is led by the Head of the School of Environmental Sciences at CSU, Associate Professor Ben Wilson. He will be on hand to explain the various displays and specimens to interested visitors. Read about the related CSU photographic exhibition Biodiversity of the Riverina here.

An exhibition of snapshots of rare and unusual plants and animals that highlights the diversity of life around the Riverina region is on show in the Albury Library-Museum from this Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 August. The exhibition, which shows the vital role of biodiversity in sustaining life on Earth, is being held as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. Photographers and researchers living and working in Albury-Wodonga have donated their work to the exhibition, titled Region’s Best Biodiversity Photographs, to illustrate biodiversity at its best. Visitors will see a water beetle hunting and catching a native fish, aerial photographs of pink algae that stain the landscape, goannas wrestling in a battle for dominance as well as rarely seen reptiles, frogs and mammals. A story is attached to each of the 24 images in the display, which is linked to other events being held in the region.

Two leading local science organisations are joining forces to present National Science Week 2010 in the Border region. Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Astronomical Society of Albury Wodonga (ASAW) will present a program of science activities for local school students at CSU’s Thurgoona site from Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 August. Students from the Murray School of Education at CSU in Albury-Wodonga will join with Society members to run hands-on experiments and activities around the University, including investigating the cosmos, craters on meteors and discovering plants and animals in the Thurgoona wetlands. Over 700 students in Years 3 to 8 from 14 primary and high schools in NSW and Victoria will take part in the three-day event, which is funded by the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research.  

More than 150 high school students will gather in Wodonga to see the latest in high technology learning on the Border, with exhibitors from many institutions including Charles Sturt University (CSU). Lecturer from the School of Computing and Mathematics at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Maumita Bhattacharya, said the sessions were important for Border students to find out more on what is available for them in the Information Technology industry. “During the forum, I will be joined by Charles Sturt University computing lecturer Mr Anthony Chan to help students find their place in IT. It depends on their interests, abilities, skills and ambitions, and we will show students how they can find their way through the information maze,” Ms Bhattacharya said. The forum will be held between 10.30am and 2pm on Friday 13 August in the Wodonga Civic Centre, Hovell Street, Wodonga.

Five Charles Sturt University (CSU) students have been named among the eight winners of the NSW Farmers’ Association Tertiary Scholarship Awards. The winners all share a passion for rural and regional NSW and the opportunities it provides. NSW Farmers’ Association President Mr Charles Armstrong says the judging panel is confident that the future of rural NSW is in good hands, following the high calibre of entrants. “All the winners plan to use their talents and skills back in the bush and many of them are currently doing so already, showing their level of keenness and ambition,” Mr Armstrong said. The CSU winners include Bachelor of Agricultural Science student Mr Josh Peffer from Molong; Bachelor of Veterinary Biology/Bachelor of Veterinary Science Ms Melissa Sullivan from Orange; Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) student Mr Tom Webb from Wodonga who was awarded the E. L. O’Brien Scholarship for a student in agriculture; Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) student Ms Tracey Johnston of Weethalle; and Bachelor of Education student Ms Jessica Wythes from Wagga Wagga. They each received $5 000 at the Association’s Annual Conference held in Sydney from Tuesday 20 July to Thursday 22 July.