Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) students have topped the University’s sparkling wine production course in 2006. The wine science students - Sophie Houghton, Graeme Scott and Steve Balog - each received 12 bottles of wine from Domaine Chandon, Australia’s leading producer of sparkling wine. Subject Coordinator, Professor Geoff Scollary, said that the contribution of Domaine Chandon to the teaching program was a major factor in the success of the final year Sparkling Wine Production subject. “Students get the opportunity to taste wines, to blend wines ready for commercial release, and to hear from leading sparkling wine makers,” he said. The School of Wine and Food Sciences has a long history of collaboration with Domaine Chandon, with the company’s CEO, Dr Tony Jordan as the first wine science lecturer at CSU in the late 1970s.

CSU Media wishes you all a happy and safe festive season and looks forward to working with you in 2007.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students will soon return to the Campus towns of Albury, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst, and some will be seeking off campus accommodation, according to CSU Student Services Officer Jane Battersby. “We have VTAC and UAC rounds coming out next week, so the student demand will soon be there. We have a database of off-campus accommodation providers, from vacant rental to shared rental and board.” Colleen Poy says providing accommodation to CSU students can be very rewarding. “I started off with one house, then two and now I have five houses. I really missed my children when they left home. There’s nothing like being around young people, they never lose their enthusiasm. Every morning is a whole new day and they are up and at it. I think it’s wonderful.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has made his mark on one of Australia’s premier cycle races. Dean Windsor, who is currently studying Primary Education, won the fourth stage and came fourth overall in points in the five-day Jayco Bay Cycling Classic. The Classic is the world’s fastest criterium series according to organisers. Dean says he is delighted to have done so well. “All the professionals race this, and it is important to get a win early in the season. It is quite a top quality field and a top class event.” Next up is the Road National, a 150 kilometre race around Ballarat, and Dean says he is looking forward to a trip to Europe later this year, as well as “a few tours in Asia. My CSU lecturers are very supportive, so it is possible to combine my studies with the cycling,” he said.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) National Radio News (NRN) was Highly Commended in the ‘Excellence in the Spoken Word’ category by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) at its annual conference in November 2006. NRN manager, Mr Peter Hetherington, said “The highly commended award is a well deserved result for the whole NRN team which consists of only three full-time journalists and six casual cadets who are CSU communications students.” Mr Hetherington said this was the first time in several years NRN has entered in any awards. “It lifted the morale of the staff to be competing on a national level, with the standard of the NRN entries very high. It also showcased the ability of cadet staff to a broader audience, and demonstrates the unique news experience NRN offers to students who are selected for cadetships.”

After six months teaching Year Seven students in a small American curriculum school, Charles Sturt University graduate Lijana Poga decided to switch to volunteer work in an impoverished area south of Manilla in the Philippines. There she found herself working with kindergarten students and developmentally delayed orphans in an unusual classroom setting – a rubbish dump. She was living with an Australian family who run a mission organisation which provides food and schooling to 1 000 children. “I started sponsoring a girl while I was at school and always wanted to volunteer. I decided to go to university and study Education so I had something to offer.” Lijana has returned to Dubbo where she will be teaching in the city’s West. “I’d just like to tell other Education students that there are so many opportunities out there from teaching from international schools to volunteer work. It’s definitely worth looking into.”

Former US vice-president Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, which details the affects of global warming, has become the third-highest grossing documentary in the United States to date. It seems the film’s message is not lost on Australian audiences either, according to Dr Mark Morrison from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Marketing and Management, Bathurst Campus. He is working on a CSIRO project looking at the value the community has for reducing global warming.”We are measuring the community’s willingness to sacrifice future income to mitigate the affects of global warming. It is very interesting - we are finding that although about ten per cent of people don’t want to sacrifice any income, there is a very large proportion who don‘t care about the cost, they just want it fixed.” He says the preliminary findings were presented at a conference in New Delhi recently.

Tennis lovers rejoiced yesterday when the Australian Open got underway in Melbourne. The Open marks the beginning of the tournament year for tennis players, so for the past eight weeks, they have been concentrating on reaching peak fitness, according to Dr Rob Duffield, lecturer in the School of Human Movement at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Once the frenetic pace of the tournament year gets underway, “It becomes quite difficult to find time for physical conditioning, so a lot of tennis coaches and tennis players do their fitness work on court using practice drills. The problem with these drills is that you don’t really know what’s going on,” said Dr Duffield, who spent part of last year quantifying the physical responses to popular tennis drills. His results will be published soon, and will be beneficial to tennis coaches. “Coaches can say well, this kind of drill is very aerobic and will improve physical fitness, while that kind of drill will increase shot velocity and shot accuracy,” he said.

Building relationships with local and international industry and institutions is the focus for new director of Charles Sturt University’s Asian Agribusiness Research Centre Dr Claus Deblitz. “I am convinced that investing in partnerships with experts and institutions pays off,” says Dr Deblitz. With 18 years experience in livestock and beef economics and conducting agricultural benchmarking in countries such as Argentina, China and New Zealand, Dr Claus has brought his wife and two girls from their home country of Germany to start a new life in Australia. “We like Orange. The people are so friendly and welcoming.” Dr Claus is keen to hold small workshops with farmers and businesses to develop ideas for future research aimed at farmers’ needs. “I will then know what research requirements are needed to make a contribution to Australian agribusiness.”