The success of the inaugural equine school held during the Easter school holiday break at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange has prompted organiser Ms Cheryl Gander to continue the program. The next school will be held from Tuesday 21 to Friday 24 July. “All the participants enjoyed themselves immensely and came away feeling they had learned valuable horsemanship skills as well as new handling techniques and a better understanding of the general welfare and nutrition of their equine friends,” said Ms Gander from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences. The four-day school, run by highly regarded and qualified instructors, caters for all age groups and experience levels. The Equine Centre at CSU at Orange even has a selection of quiet horses that are available for hire during the school. The closing date for enrolment applications for the July school is Monday 13 July. For enquiries please phone Ms Gander on 02 63657 850 or mobile 0417 665 324.

The shift in counselling technique from focussing on a client’s problem and where the problem originated from, to concentrating on solutions to the issue has been highlighted in a new book by Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic and counsellor, Ms Stephanie Johnson. Solution focused counselling... Keeping it Real, discusses the philosophy of solution focused counselling, now used in most government and non-government agencies, particularly in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The eBook provides step-by-step examples of the techniques and principles of solution focused. “This is a book for therapists, social workers, psychologists and allied health professionals in the brief family therapy,” said Ms Johnson. “This is a book for those who are interested in using solution focus in their work and want to know more. Solution focused counselling fitted my counselling approach perfectly. It maintains that the client is the expert in their own life and that the problem is the problem; the client is not the problem. This book is the accumulation of 14 years of counselling practice - I felt that there was a gap in the market for information for beginning practitioners around solution focused counselling.”  

When the week-long live-to-air music festival Sounds Live returns to Bathurst community radio station 2MCE from Saturday 1 to Friday 7 August, the performances will be recorded for distribution to community radio stations around Australia. Ms Michelle O’Connor, Programming and Production Coordinator at 2MCE, said the station recently received a grant from the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (AMRAP) to produce a compilation CD of local musicians from the Sounds Live concerts for distribution nationally via AMRAP and the Community Radio Network (CRN). “The AMRAP funding comes from the Federal Government and is managed through the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF). We are very pleased to be part of this project and look forward to sharing the great musical talent from the Bathurst region with the rest of Australia,” said Ms O’Connor. In 2009 Sounds Live will feature two live concerts for the Bathurst community.  

Half-way through her veterinary science studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga, Ms Simone Lee is putting her scholarship funds to good use. Ms Lee from Mathoura, between Deniliquin and Echuca, won the 2009 Greenham Dairy Scholarship worth $10 000. The funds are being used by the CSU student to meet the costs of the practical experience in her course such as accommodation and travel, including four weeks work in the field in 2009. She has undertaken placements at her home town of Mathoura in NSW as well as in Corryong and Tatura in Victoria. “I spent one year on a dairy farm before starting my degree at CSU in 2007 and it is there that I developed a strong interest in working with dairy cattle,” said Ms Lee. “This generous scholarship has made a big difference to my life  of study and work at CSU.” The annual scholarship, offered by H W Greenham and Sons in Tongala, Victoria, aims to promote education within the dairy industry and to encourage people to undertake further studies and make a commitment to the industry.

A decade-long relationship in cyberspace between fourteen Australian and New Zealand female visual artists has led to a new exhibition of stitched textiles focussing on the issue of climate change. The email group includes Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer, Dr Sue Wood from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wagga Wagga. Organised by email, the exhibition, A Change in the Weather, is currently travelling in New Zealand. It is curated by New Zealand textile artist Ms Clare Smith who found one of her inspirations in her husband, Dr David Wratt, a climate change scientist for Niwa. The works – all 50 by 150 centimetres, highlight the potential causes and consequences of climate change. “My piece, ‘The Forgotten Factor’ is inspired by where I live; fertile farming land shrinks under the onslaught of drought and fire,” said Dr Wood. “We debate the causes and we debate about what to do, but we don't talk any more about the impact of an exponentially increasing world population.”

Identifying animals destined for the abattoir and cloning smelly plants are just some of the activities on offer to high school students in the Riverina at the Agricultural Enrichment Day on Monday 6 July at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga. Hosted by the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation,  an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), the event will give the students access to some of the leading agricultural and veterinary scientists in NSW. “The event has been a success in previous years and I hope the day will inspire students to consider a career in one of the many jobs agriculture can offer,” said Director of the EH Graham Centre, Professor Deirdre Lemerle. Year 10 and 11 students will attend from Barham Central School, Billabong Central School, Riverina Anglican College, Kooringal High School, Griffith High School, Finley High School, Murrumburrah High School, St Paul’s at Walla Walla and Wagga Wagga High School.

To say the odds are long when it comes to the chance of winning the largest lottery draw in Australian history on Tuesday 30 June is an understatement. Professor Nick Klomp, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Charles Sturt University (CSU), puts the chance of winning the jackpot in the $90 million Oz Lotto draw next week at one in 45 million. “If you want an even chance to win the first division just once in your life, you would have to buy a 10-game ticket every single week of your life, even when a baby,” said Professor Klomp. However the CSU academic adds “oh, and you’d have to live to be over 87 000 years old”. “You are much, much more likely to die from being struck by lightning than pick the seven winning numbers by playing a single game next week.” Professor Klomp usually advises people to keep their money in their pocket. He sees lottery tickets as voluntary taxes for people who are lousy at mathematics, but the size of this jackpot makes it worth thinking about.“In any normal week, the best way to be a winner is to put the money you were going to spend on lottery tickets into a savings plan,” said Professor Klomp. “However a $90 million lottery is not normal.  As soon as the first division prize goes over $50 million, the potential payback becomes worth the investment.  It doesn’t increase your chances of winning; it just makes it mathematically more sensible to buy a ticket.” Professor Klomp is keen to point out that all of this assumes that if you win the jackpot, you aren’t sharing it.  “You need the potential payback to be at least 45 million times every dollar you spend. So long as you don’t think it’s an investment and you get your money back in fun, then go ahead and enjoy yourself,” advises Professor Klomp.

After 35 years at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst and its predecessor institution Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), Associate Professor Leonora Ritter, Head of the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, will retire on Wednesday 1 July. Professor Anthony Cahalan, Dean of Faculty of Arts at CSU, said following her appointment to an academic position at MCAE in 1974, Professor Ritter has gone on to make an extraordinary contribution to the School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies and to CSU. “Leonora has been Head of School for the past six years and has chaired and served on numerous committees at all levels of the institution. In every role, her commitment to her students, staff and colleagues has been generous and exemplary. We wish her all the very best in her retirement, and look forward to maintaining Charles Sturt University's association with her in her role as mentor on a number of significant projects in the future,” Professor Cahalan said. Professor Ritter will be farewelled by colleagues at an afternoon tea on Thursday 25 June.

People who rely on their voices for their livelihoods, such as teachers, singers and auctioneers, can receive assessment and care for the vocal tools of their trade at a free, three week clinic in July. Speech pathology professionals from Albury Base Hospital and Charles Sturt University (CSU) as well as CSU students will collaborate to offer an ‘Intensive Voice Management Clinic’ consisting of an assessment and six therapy sessions over three weeks. The sessions will be conducted by voice specialist and speech pathologist, Dr Alison Winkworth, and Albury Base Hospital senior speech pathologist, Ms Anna O’Callaghan, together with CSU speech pathology students using the latest voice assessment and therapy technology. The clinic is due to start with an assessment session on Tuesday 7 July. Potential clients can contact Ms O’Callaghan on (02) 6058 4565 or send an email.