While Canberra admires Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre, modern art from the land of the Pharaohs is attracting attention in the Riverina. Dalia Farah and Ibrahim Awad, from Luxor in Egypt are exhibiting at the HR Gallop Gallery during Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Orientation week. Dalia is a scenographer and the exhibition is a collection of her set designs, costumes and masks. Dalia will also display her virtual sets and lighting which have been generated by three dimensional software. Ibrahim is a sculptor and a professional portraitist, modelling with clay, fibreglass, marble, wood, stone, wax, cast iron, ceramic and mould sculpting. The exhibition, titled Artists from Egypt, will be opened by CSU Head of Wagga Wagga Campus Professor David Green at 6pm, Monday 19 February.

What is the relevance of Christianity to modern Australian youth? Is God a major influence today? Reverend Father Dr F. Washington (Tony) Jarvis will touch on these and other issues during a public forum sponsored by Charles Sturt University’s Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACC&C) in Canberra on Thursday 22 February. Internationally recognised in religious circles, Father Tony is an Episcopal priest who is no stranger to social, ethical and moral dilemmas confronting the youth of today after running a city-wide youth ministry in Cleveland, USA. He also has much experience to impart as a past President of the Headmaster’s Association of USA and a former member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Committee.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Indigenous Employment Program is proving an effective vehicle for positive change and equity. Melanie Shea is one shining light to emerge from the program that offers ten traineeships a year in the University. She is now employed at the CSU Learning Materials Centre (LMC) as a full-time despatch assistant and has gained invaluable workplace experience with the full support of the CSU Indigenous Employment Coordinator, Karen Kime. Mel began a twelve month traineeship in Transport and Distribution at the LMC just one week after completing her Higher School Certificate. “I believe on-the-job training is a great door opener for people to gain confidence, knowledge and qualifications. The new skills can then be applied in any workplace. I am so pleased to have been a part of the program,” Melanie said.

Earlier this month the Australian government announced it would set aside more than $1.7 million for projects under the Defeating the Weed Menace program, including nearly $280 000 for research on Parkinsonia, one of Australia’s worst weeds and ranked number one on the list of the 20 Weeds of National Significance. Dr Anantanarayanan Raman, senior lecturer in Ecological Agriculture at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus, said Parkinsonia is a problem throughout the tropical world where it spreads rapidly by seed. “Currently only integrated pest management and grazing by camels are being explored in Australia to control Parkinsonia. Biological control appears as a strong possibility to me, especially by using seed-feeding insects. One species of Asphondylia is known to infest Parkinsonia flowers and feed on them, which could lead to the total degeneration of the flowers. This species and other seed and flower-infesting insects need to be surveyed for their potential,” said Dr Raman.

Success keeps flowing to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery, this time for its 2003 vintage Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon. The premium red, produced by CSU wine maker Andrew Drumm, has won a bronze medal at the 2007 Royal Agricultural Society of NSW four day wine show in Sydney. Fermented from grapes grown in the Hilltops region near Young in NSW, the wine offers an intense blackcurrant aroma with a hint of spice. The same wine also won bronze medals at the 2006 Royal Melbourne Wine Show and the 2006 Rutherglen Wine Show. The result further enhances the CSU Winery’s growing reputation for producing fine wines, which earned it a top ten “dark horse winery” rating from renowned Australian wine writer James Halliday. The award winning premium red and other CSU wines are available for purchase or tasting at the Cellar Door at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus.

A project that will develop models of health care that work for the specific needs of rural and remote communities will start in Molong in the Central West region next month. Dr Julaine Allan, from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences, will ask focus groups about “their experience of health care provision, what the community needs now and in the future, what models of health service provision work and do not work, and what they would suggest to improve them”. In April, Dr Allan will take her “intensive case study” to Canowindra. “We will compare the two towns and work out why some services work well in one area and not another. Even though communities may be of similar sizes, they are not necessarily the same. We are aiming to improve rural health status by being able to target those differences.” Dr Allan says this is the pilot phase of the project, “and we are seeking additional funding to work with other communities in inland Australia”.

A report was released in the UK last week which claimed that watching television harmed children much more than previously thought. The research was drawn from analysing 35 scientific studies and identified 15 negative affects including obesity, which the report claimed TV caused through a lack of exercise. That sets off alarm bells for Charles Sturt University’s Dr Michael Gard. “All 35 studies will be variable in terms of methodology, the strength of their findings, and what they measured. There is a lot of research on obesity, health and television, and none have shown any connection between TV watching, physical activity and obesity. Technology does not make you fat and stupid and sick. Yes, kids need a variety of experiences. But there is a greater evil here and that is people like this who start telling us how to live our lives rather than kids watching TV every day.”