Seven sports teams comprised of 70 students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Albury-Wodonga, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst campuses have performed well at the East Coast Challenge (ECC) - University Games staged in Sydney from Sunday 6 to Wednesday 9 July. CSU entered men’s and women’s hockey teams, two men’s and a women’s water polo teams, a women’s netball team, and a rugby league seven-a-side team. Mr Nik Granger, a CSU student support officer and the Team Manager, said all the CSU teams performed strongly in the eleven-sport one thousand-competitor Games. “The women’s netball team, made up of Bathurst and Albury-Wodonga students who had never played together before, convincingly beat all opposition to win the ECC championship. The hockey teams continued their dominance of the University Games with the CSU women’s hockey team becoming the ECC champions for the third year in a row, while the men’s team won the bronze medal. The men’s number 1 water polo team dominated the competition and was undefeated to win gold, while the men’s number 2 water polo team won the bronze medal. The rugby league ‘sevens’ team of students from Wagga Wagga and Bathurst Campuses won the silver medal. The women’s water polo team was unplaced in their first time in the competition. It is a testament to our students’ attitude to competition against much larger universities that CSU placed fifth overall, and again won the ‘Spirit Award’ as it did at the 2007 Australian University Games,” Mr Granger said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has a long history of producing champions in various fields and it hasn’t lost its touch with the recent inclusion of All Luck, a horse sired by CSU thoroughbred Bao Lack, in Australia’s Olympic three-day event team. “Bao Lack is a 16.2 hands-high thoroughbred with a wonderful temperament,” CSU’s Equine Business Management lecturer Dr Amanda Warren-Smith said. “I’m not surprised he has produced a horse that can compete at Olympic level.” Mr Shane Rose will make his debut at the Beijing Olympic Games riding the 13 year-old horse. Mr Rose and All Luck will feature in three days of fierce competition in three disciplines; dressage, cross-country and show jumping. “We’re thrilled that Bao Luck has sired this Olympic contender,” Dr Warren-Smith said.

As students return to Charles Sturt University (CSU) this week for the start of the second semester, the University welcomes Red Frogs founder Mr Andy Gourley to Wagga Wagga and Bathurst Campuses to discuss his initiative aimed at encouraging a safe alternative at social events. Founded in 1997, Red Frogs now connects university students with more than 1 800 volunteers to assist them through some of the most important years of their lives. Manager of Residential Operations, Mr Peter Bell, said CSU supports a fun yet safe lifestyle for all students and wants to promote responsible alcohol consumption. “Volunteers are the key to the success of Red Frogs. Students will be encouraged to volunteer to participate in the program, which will give them a chance to help fellow students and develop and use leadership skills.” Red Frogs aims to change the atmosphere of an event and promote a sense of looking after your mates by handing out red frogs and ice blocks, cooking pancakes and running coffee crawls to help support students through their studies.

About 230 administrative staff from across Charles Sturt University (CSU) are expected to attend the biennial Admin Focus Conference 2008 which will be held on Bathurst and Wagga Wagga campuses in the coming week. Held for the first time in 2000, the biennial conference provides an opportunity for the University’s administrative support staff to gain new professional skills and updated information. The 2008 conference will be held on the Bathurst Campus on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 July.  Admin Focus aims to recognise the significant contribution of administrative staff in office and support positions, and to foster networking and a sense of community among administrative staff across the University. The event will include keynote addresses from senior staff, skills development workshops, and an exhibition of services and projects at the University.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic will be track-side with competitors in the Indonesian Olympic Team at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China, having coached athletes in several disciplines since late 2007 to develop the team’s strength and conditioning. Dr Stephen Bird, a lecturer in the School of Human Movement Studies, said “I am very happy with our input into the athletes for these games and really look froward to getting over there. Strength and conditioning preparation of the Indonesian Olympic squads has gone well, with all athletes making significant improvements in their conditioning levels.” Dr Bird is involved with archery, weightlifting, badminton and track and field, and will continue to assist the athletes in their quest for peak performance. He does not think the air pollution in Beijing will impact on the Indonesian competitors. “Although most European teams have expressed concerns, I don’t believe this will be a major issue for the Indonesian team as they experience similar conditions on a daily basis in Jakarta. I also believe that China will do everything possible to ensure that conditions are a good as possible.”

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Marketing and Management is holding a short film competition to promote the courses of the School and to raise money for local Bathurst youth service ‘headspace’. Known as the CS[U Flix] - M&M Short Film Awards, the 2008 competition focuses on ‘Life as a business student with the CSU School of Marketing and Management’ and offers filmmakers the chance to win three $2 000 prizes. The short film competition guest judges include Mr Rod McCulloch, Head of CSU’s School of Communication; Mr Jimmy Foggo, digital media producer for Fremantle Media Australia; and Mr Mark Waters, managing director of advertising agency PPS in Sydney. Entries close at 4pm on Friday 15 August, and the winners will be announced at a special awards public screening at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) on Wednesday 27 August.

Climate change and international markets are influencing the demand and supply of conserved fodder in Australia, and this year’s Riverina Outlook Conference will focus on the strategies needed to manage these changes. Hosted by the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation at Charles Sturt University (CSU), the conference will be held in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 14 August. EH Graham Centre Director, Professor Deirdre Lemerle said, “The aim of the event will be to highlight key issues that make the difference between profit and loss from conserved fodder. The Conference continues the long-standing tradition of highlighting future challenges for agriculture while offering suggestions and solutions to deal with them. Managing risks and the challenges of maintaining livestock production levels in a variable climate make the theme for this conference highly relevant to producers, agricultural advisors, consultants, educators and agricultural industry representatives.”  

For the first time, more than 80 sheep and lamb producers will converge on the NSW town of Cowra for Charles Sturt University's (CSU) annual Asia Today forum on Thursday 14 August 2008. Director of the CSU Asian Agribusiness Research Centre, Dr Claus Deblitz, says the day will cover all aspects of marketing lamb, from trends in the Asian markets to hearing from a local marketing group on their ability to lift returns. Dr Deblitz said, “Cowra is an important town within CSU’s region, with many of its residents studying at one of its campuses, so this is why we decided to hold this major conference there. Two areas which will receive attention on the day are the threats from and opportunities offered by climate change and current developments and their consequences for grain markets.” said Dr Deblitz. “We are delighted to be able to bring such a major conference to the local area, and given the high standard of speakers we hope local lamb and sheep meat producers will take part in these discussions.“

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student will experience the razzle-dazzle of ‘Bollywood’ when she heads to Mumbai, India, in August for work experience in the sub-continent’s filmmaking capital. Ms Zoe Kelly, a theatre/media student at the School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus, won a scholarship to take part in the India Study Abroad Centre’s ‘Film & Media Program’ for four weeks during August-September 2008. Ms Kelly said she was very interested in a career in filmmaking. “When I found out about the film and media program it sounded like such a great opportunity to travel and experience a culture that would challenge and inspire me in many different ways to broaden my perceptions of filmmaking. The idea of experiencing such a foreign culture as well as simultaneously being able to experience the biggest film industry in the world seemed like an incredible way to study abroad. I love the exuberant colours, high-spirited characters and mixture of different genres that ‘Bollywood’ films have to offer, and this is something that I would love to learn more about and experience in the flesh,” she said.