Archive
Australian poet to launch Booranga Writers' Centre journal
Tuesday, 27 Nov 2012Well known Australian poet, Mr Les Murray will launch the Booranga Writers’ Centre’s 23rd edition of fourW. The longrunning literary journal includes some of the best poetry and fiction from across the region, around Australia and from overseas. Produced out of the Booranga Writers’ Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, fourW twenty-three connects local and regional writers to more established and international writers. Recent writers-in-residence Jennifer Mills and Christopher ‘Kit’ Kelen join international voices such as Jane Joritz-Nakagawa and Lance Nizami, plus Australians Les Murray, Ivy Alvarez, Matt Hetherington and Brett Dionysius. Les Murray is the guest of Booranga Writers’ Centre and his visit is supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW, Wagga Wagga City Council, and CSU.
CSU celebrates with the community
Tuesday, 27 Nov 2012Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo has invited the local community to an End of Year Celebration on Friday 7 December featuring a range of fun activities for all ages. CSU’s Indigenous Student Support Officer, Ms Sharon Lane, said the event was a way to make the end of a successful year for the University and community alike. “This is a get-together to show what we have on offer, talk about some of our successes and what we have done throughout the year,” she said. “It will be a nice opportunity to catch up with our community members before the Christmas period.” The day will feature stories of successful CSU students and projects and showcase what has been happening on campus this year. Award-winning artist Kodi Lane will be playing with his band, supported by local artist Tony Dess, and there will be a jumping castle and face painting for the kids and a free barbecue lunch. The End of Year Celebration will be held at CSU in Dubbo from 9.30am to 1pm.
Top student profits from cyber space
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012
Charles Sturt University (CSU) accounting student, Ms Divya Kumar, has had a local win in a national share trading competition organised by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Ms Kumar, from Wagga Wagga, is completing the second year of a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree with a Distinction average. The game, the ‘Share Trading Competition’, required students to invest $50 000 of cyber money in any shares listed on the ASX. Ms Kumar’s strategy was to trade a well-balanced portfolio of about six stocks, making a ‘cyber profit’ of about $10 000 between July and November this year. She was named the top student competing against three other students at CSU in Wagga Wagga and 49 students across the University’s School of Accounting and Finance, qualifying for a ‘Gold’ award. Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, Mr Chris Deeley, said the game integrated well with the finance subject. “It gives students realistic exposure to trading securities on the ASX and an opportunity to assess the relevance and reality of various share market and share trading theories, including technical trading, fundamental analysis and the efficient market hypothesis.” It is a sentiment shared by Ms Kumar who added, “The competition has taught me a lot about how share markets work. It has given me a lot of confidence in understanding how the real worlds of accounting and finance actually work.” Careers in primary industries on show at CSU
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012Thirteen Higher School Certificate (HSC) students have been handpicked to participate in a week-long program in the Riverina aimed at attracting more young people to primary industry careers such as aquaculture, ecology, horticulture, fisheries, water security, sustainability, climate change and the environment. Their selection to take part from Monday 19 November in the Industry Placement Scholarship Program run by the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE) and Charles Sturt University (CSU) follows talks to schools in 2012 by the Centre’s science education officer, Ms Emma Wordsworth. “As they embark on their last year of school, the students will have an opportunity to explore the exciting science based careers available in the primary industry sector,” Ms Wordsworth said. The students have been selected from schools in the Riverina and South Australia. The program will see the group visit a local organic rice farm, cattle feedlot, rice mill, native fisheries and food processing plant. On Thursday 22 and Friday 23 November, the students will be involved in activities within the University’s School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences and School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, including lectures, practical activities, tours of facilities such veterinary science facilities and underground laboratory, the Rhizolysimeter. Read more about the PICSE Industry Placement Scholarship Program here.
Performance horse sale at CSU
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012The Equine Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will host the inaugural Supreme Performance Horse Sale from 1.30pm on Saturday 24 November. The sale, which is the first of its kind at CSU, will see 60 Australian working stock and quarter horses go under the hammer, with more than $300 000 expected to change hands. CSU Equine Centre Manager, Mr John Smart, said the auction by Landmark is expected to attract plenty of interest. “It’s the first time that buyers in the south of NSW will have an opportunity to attend an auction in their own backyard,” he said. “Most horse auctions take place in the state’s north, so this is quite a coup for vendors and the industry as a whole.” Sixty horses will make-up the inaugural sale with vendors coming from across NSW as well as Victoria. Local horse breeder and Supreme Performance Horse Sale Committee member, Mr Steve Condell, said the sale will offer some of the best bloodlines in the country. “This is the first time we’ve had the facilities available to offer top performance quality horses,” he said.
CSU library services come up trumps in national survey
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012
The high standard of services offered by the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Library to its users no matter where they live has been praised in a biennial survey conducted in September. The Library Client Survey 2012 attracted 3 844 respondents, with almost 54 per cent of the surveys completed by CSU distance education students. The Library’s Director of Client Services, Ms Alice Ferguson said, “In this latest survey, the Charles Sturt University Library has moved from the bottom 25 per cent of libraries in 2010 to the top 25 per cent for overall performance of Australian university libraries surveyed over the last two years. Our staff were highly commended in the survey for the standard of service they provide to our users.” During the last two years, CSU has established new Learning Commons in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga, and increased its use of social media through the Library. A part promoting the survey, cash prizes were offered to library users to participate in the evaluation. Two of the four winners, medical radiation science student Mr Thomas Belling and Master of Health Science Honours student Ms Di Wintle, were presented certificates by Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann at the Convention Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 6 November. VET graduation for CSU Training
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012The Registered Training Organisation, CSU Training, will be celebrating the achievements of its 2012 graduates with a ceremony at the University’s Convention Centre in Wagga Wagga on Friday 23 November. Graduates include CSU staff and learners who have completed their studies by distance education. The majority of graduates due to attend the ceremony from 2pm to 4pm will be CSU staff members with business and management qualifications and members of the University’s asset maintenance staff with the Certificate III in Asset Maintenance. Other qualifications include: Certificate IV Frontline Management; Certificate IV Business Administration; Diploma of Management; Certificate IV in Training and Assessment; Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution; Certificate III Hospital-Health Services Pharmacy Support; and Certificate IV Hospital-Health Services Pharmacy Support. The guest speaker at the ceremony will be adjunct Associate Professor John Kent from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga.
Champion shooter at CSU
Monday, 19 Nov 2012
Olympic gold medallist Mr Russell Mark will be guest speaker at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga when administrative staff from across CSU meet in the city for a biennial conference. The champion clay target shooter is a special guest at the Admin Future Focus 2012 conference dinner from 6.30pm on Tuesday 20 November. With a theme of sustainability at CSU, the conference has attracted more than 160 administrative staff from across the University, including Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Canberra, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Sydney and Wagga Wagga. The event is being held to ‘foster networking and a sense of community among administrative staff from all University campuses, faculties, schools, divisions and units’. Hailed as one of Australia’s best ever shooters, Mr Mark has competed in six Olympic Games. He won gold in Atlanta in 1996 and silver in Sydney in 2000 in the double trap events. Admin Future Focus 2012 will be held from 1pm on Tuesday 20 November to 3pm on Wednesday 21 November. Read the full program here.A view to the CSU vineyard
Wednesday, 14 Nov 2012
A new venue at which to taste and purchase Charles Sturt University (CSU) wines in Wagga Wagga has opened its doors. Overlooking the University’s vineyard and commercial winery, the new $500 000 Cellar Door is part of a larger project in the precinct which will be completed in the new year. On Thursday 15 November, members of the CSU Wine Club will gather at the new Cellar Door from 5pm to 7.30pm to celebrate its opening. CSU Winemaker, Mr Andrew Drumm, said, “The enlarged space in the new Cellar Door allows us to cater for tours and events. There is also a smaller area that we can use for small groups. It is a great place to showcase not only the wines that locals are used to, but also a few new ones that we have recently introduced, especially, the NV Sparkling, the first to be produced from our vineyard in Orange.” On the 2012 Vintage, Mr Drumm said, “The last season was overshadowed by the rain and the floods, but we’re optimistic about this year.” The Cellar Door is open from 11am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 4pm on weekends. To place a wine order, telephone 02 6933 2435 or send an email.
The amazing brain
Tuesday, 6 Nov 2012
"One of the greatest challenges of modern neuroscience is understanding what happens to the brain as we age and why it becomes vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” said Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Adam Hamlin. Dr Hamlin, from CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences, will talk about our Amazing Brain in a free, public lecture in Tumbarumba on Wednesday 28 November. Almost 280 000 Australians suffer from dementia and that figure is expected to rise as the population ages. Dr Hamlin will outline current breakthroughs in our understanding of the processes that occur in neurodegenerative diseases and what scientists are doing to find potential treatments for these conditions. A national Health and Medical Research Council Fellow, Dr Hamlin is carrying out research to discover more about brain cell death in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Read more about Dr Hamlin’s research on CSU News here.