The role of women in higher education is being celebrated at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst and at universities across the country during Bluestocking Week from Monday 13 to Friday 17 August. Dr Kristina Gottschall, a lecturer at the School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, and the newly-elected President of the Bathurst sub-branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, said two events are planned. “All ‘Bluestockings’ and their supporters are invited to attend a screening of the new Australian film The Sapphires at 6.40pm on Tuesday 14 at the Metro Cinema, Bathurst, and there will be a special lunch at Café Mitchell on the University’s Bathurst Campus from 12.30pm on Wednesday 15 August ,” Dr Gottschall said. “In addition to providing a place for women, their friends and supporters in Charles Sturt University to get together, we want to stress the importance of women’s contribution to academic life, advancing feminism and equality through education and collaboration, and subverting the social constructs that narrow social roles, and women’s creativity, expression and thought. It’s essential to reconnect through such events, particularly given the tightly regulated and compressed nature of academic work life today, especially for women who tend to have higher rates of casual employment.”

Awards for excellence in research, teaching, leadership, innovation and sustainability are just some of the honours to be presented to Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff by Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Andrew Vann during the coming week. The 2012 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards will be handed out at two ceremonies in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 15 August and in Bathurst on Monday 20 August. The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence will be presented to Dr Jade Forwood from the School of Biomedical Sciences in Wagga Wagga. Dr Stephen Bird from the School of Human Movement Studies in Bathurst will receive the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Professor Excellence. The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence will be presented to Dr Geoff Burrows from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences in Wagga Wagga. The presentation ceremonies will be held from 1pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday 15 August, Convention Centre, CSU in Wagga Wagga and from 1pm to 3.30pm on Monday 20 August, James Hardie Room, Centre for Professional Development, CSU in Bathurst.

Twenty five senior students from Central West high schools and central schools will attend a three-day residential camp at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst from Tuesday 28 to Thursday 30 August to stimulate their interest in university study and careers in business and the creative arts. Ms Sue Rogan, manager of Pre-entry Programs / Academic Support at CSU, said, “The I-Manifest program will see students from schools partnered with the CSU Future Moves program divided into two groups, with tutors from the Faculties of Arts and Business and advertising industry professionals, to develop a new product, and learn how to launch and promote it in the market. This is an exciting concept that will lead the students through the process of conceptualising, researching, developing and promoting new consumer products. It will give the students a taste of what university study and life is like, and the professional careers options that might interest them.” The students will work with marketing and advertising academics from the School of Marketing and Management, the School of Communication and Creative Industries, and personnel from Sydney advertising agencies Droga5, and Satchi and Satchi. Future Moves staff and volunteer undergraduate leaders will coordinate and support the activities over the three days.

In the side’s first season in the Country Rugby League Centennial Coal Cup competition, the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Mungoes Rugby League Football Club won its semi-final against the Kandos Waratahs last weekend and qualified for the grand final. CSU Mungoes RLFC President, Mr Andrew Banasik, who is studying for a Master of Management at the CSU School of Management and Marketing, said this also enables the team to host the grand final game at Carrington Park in Bathurst on Saturday 8 September. “This is the first year the team has entered this competition and the Club’s achievement is outstanding ,” Mr Banasik said. “Everyone made a huge effort throughout the season, and with luck and continued hard work we hope to be the 2012 champions.” The club invites everyone to the grand final at 2.30pm on Saturday 8 September at Carrington Park, Bathurst, to cheer on the CSU Mungoes who will play the team that wins the elimination final next weekend between the Kandos Waratahs and Lithgow Bears.

The Mitchell Student Guild of Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will host the annual Kids Day Out charity fundraiser on Sunday 2 September. 2012 Kids Day Out Director, Ms Alyce Woods, said, “After being postponed earlier in the year due to wet weather, the new date gives children of all ages a great way to celebrate Fathers Day with their dads. This year’s event promises to be a jam-packed day with appearances by Dora the Explorer and Diego, Toy Story’s Buzz and Woody, and  Tinkerbell. This year we’ll also have some great rides for the little kids and ‘big kids’ at heart. All proceeds will go to the Bathurst Base Hospital Paediatric Ward, and the local Riding for the Disabled.” The event will feature carnival rides, kids’ craft making stalls, an animal petting zoo, jumping castles, barbeque and food stalls, candy and show bags, a community stage with local musicians and performers, raffles, roving performers, face painting, an ambulance on display, and a special look at local emergency services.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Regional Development Australia (RDA) will co-host a beef industry forum in Bathurst on Thursday 30 August to provide cattle producers with the latest production and market trends and intelligence. Dr Karl Behrendt, Director of Agribusiness Research Group at the CSU Faculty of Science said, “Leading experts in beef production and marketing will speak at the Agribusiness Today Forum ‘Profitable Beef in a Challenging Future’, so local cattle producers can hear firsthand about markets and expected returns for this major rural enterprise. Speakers from Queensland will examine production systems, and one of the state’s largest beef processors, Teys, will give a processor’s view. We’ll see how Australian production fits on the international market, and gain ideas on how to improve the performance of herds here on the NSW central tablelands. Speakers involved with the Australian Lot Feeders Association will showcase the latest research about feedlots overseas, and experts from the NSW Department of Primary Industries will provide tips and tools for producing the right beef from herds. A local butcher will discuss consumer feedback about beef products, and there will also be a focus on bulls’ fertility, as well as about using genetics to gain the best results. Mr Tim McRae from Meat and Livestock Australia will present the latest intelligence from the domestic and international markets.”

The public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 5 September by leading Australian medical expert, Emeritus Professor John Dwyer, AO, has received a boost with the release of a report last week by the Senate’s Community Affairs References Committee. The University made a written submission to the Committee, and Professor Dwyer, and the Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Andrew Vann, made submissions in person at a public hearing in Albury on Tuesday 5 June. Professor Vann has also responded to the report. Mr Col Sharp, Head of CSU in Bathurst, said, “Professor Dwyer is a leading advocate for structural reform of Australia’s health care delivery system, and he argues that current health outcomes for rural Australians are not acceptable. His public lecture will examine the rationale for and progress with CSU’s bid to establish a new rural medical school to boost the supply of ‘doctors for the bush’, and Professor Dwyer will also reflect on the broad endorsement of the University’s proposed approach to rural medical education in the Senate Committee report.” The Dental Clinic and the new Interdisciplinary Clinical Simulation Centre for nursing and paramedic students at CSU in Bathurst will be open for inspection by the public in the hour prior to the lecture.

Inspired by the 2012 Central West RoboCup Junior Challenge at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in June, 20 senior students from St Stanislaus College in Bathurst will visit the University on Tuesday 4 September to explore how robots are developed and used in research and industry. RoboCup coordinator, Mr Allen Benter, a researcher and PhD student at the CSU Centre for Research in Complex Systems (CRiCS) in Bathurst, said, “The Stannies students were so engaged by the competition they asked whether they could return at a later date to see how we develop robots for specific purposes. It’s great that the students are so motivated to learn more about the important and rapidly developing field of robotics. We will show and demonstrate research robots, quadcopters and surface imaging technology.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic who provided expert evidence at a murder trial of 25 defendants in South Africa in 1989, will attend a local screening on Thursday 13 September of A Common Purpose, the award-winning feature-length documentary about the trial. Associate Professor Graham Tyson, lecturer and researcher at the CSU School of Psychology in Bathurst, was one of the defence team’s expert witnesses in the trial in which 25 people were found guilty of the murder of one person. “In South Africa at that time, if a person was found guilty of murder, they automatically faced the death penalty, unless extenuation could be proved,” Professor Tyson said. “These 25 people faced the death sentence. I had given evidence in a number of such trials on the psychological factors that could influence people in crowds and which could reduce their ability to foresee the consequences of their behaviour. That evidence had been accepted as grounds for extenuation in an earlier trial, and therefore I was asked to testify in this case. Organising the defence case was a huge undertaking, and the film shows what a remarkable job defence lawyer Ms Andrea Durbach did. It is a very moving film and, when I saw it, it raised a lot of old emotions in me.”