Scientists from around Australia and overseas will discuss how the brain processes text at a forum convened by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in the Blue Mountains of NSW on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 December. Dr Joanne Arciuli, from CSU’s School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies, said that the forum - It’s all in the Mind; Information Processing and our Language and Literacy Development - will consider questions such as: What parts of the brain are active during reading? Do we inherit our reading ability? Do you have to be a good speller to be a good reader? and Artificial intelligence is largely based on understanding of the left hemisphere - but what about the right hemisphere? The forum, at the Fairmont Resort, Leura, will report on new research in studies of text, gathering researchers, students, clinicians, educators and technology developers from the Australian Research Council’s Research Network in Human Communication Science (HCSNet), who are working in areas such as visual word recognition, reading and spelling, literacy development, text analyses, brain imaging and computer modelling.

Starting on Monday 11 February, Orientation Week at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will welcome over 1100 new students to the Bathurst Campus as well as introduce them to the social attractions and businesses in Bathurst. Ms Pamela Rudge, a CSU student who is also Orientation Week Sponsorship Coordinator, says “This is a time that students remember fondly for the rest of their lives. The experiences new students have and the associations they form during Orientation Week will influence their spending behaviour and preferences for the rest of their time at CSU. That’s why this is the perfect opportunity for businesses to introduce and promote their services and products to new students whose combined long-term spending contributes millions of dollars to the Bathurst economy.* I encourage all Bathurst business people to contact me to arrange to promote their businesses to the new CSU students during Orientation Week,” Ms Rudge said. Orientation Week activities run from Monday 11 to Friday 15 February, and will centre on the theme for 2008, ‘Orientation Games - Achieving Your Goals’. Highlights of the week will include; an information market day for local community organisations to promote their services to new university students; a market day for commercial businesses to promote their products and services to students from stalls on the CSU library lawn; mystery bus tours which familiarises students with landmarks, essential services and participating business houses; and day and night entertainment. Bathurst businesses interested in becoming involved with Orientation Week can contact Ms Rudge at the CSU Orientation office on 6338 4799.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is ensuring communities of inland Australia have continued access to quality higher education by granting approval for the Sydney-based art-supply company The Art Scene to continue to deliver the Mitchell School of Arts (MSA) programs. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Lyn Gorman, says the driving force behind this decision is to continue a long standing program that provides artistic, social and economic stimulus to the arts community, and to allow CSU to maintain focus on its core business of providing higher education programs. The Art Scene has been involved with the MSA program for many years and has the expertise to continue the program, according to its manager Mr Paul Malouf. “We are committed to continuing and further developing the excellent art programs that have been offered in the past by the University and retaining a reputation as the leading arts program of its kind in Australia,” he said. The Art Scene plans to offer the Henry Malouf Mitchell School of Art Scholarship and will continue to use facilities on CSU’s Bathurst Campus. Funds held in trust by CSU from the Friends of the MSA will be transferred to The Art Scene, enabling it to continue to offer scholarships to eligible participants in the program.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design graduate Emily Harris has won a national competition to create a new design for National Youth Week (NYW) 2008. Emily’s design features the slogan Shout, Share, Live, Unite. The pink, blue, white and black creation will be used on NYW 2008 promotional material, including websites and posters. Ms Harris, from the NSW inland city of Wagga Wagga, says she was "so happy, it was awesome". Ms Harris studied a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design at CSU Wagga Wagga Campus then began working for Melbourne design firm House Mouse in mid-2007. “It’s an industry that is tough to break into because it is so competitive”, she says, and her advice to prospective graphic designers is to "stick with it if it is your dream”. Emily relished the opportunity for creativity that the National Youth Week Design Competition offered, saying that it was an exciting "opportunity to express your own form of design".

Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) have extended condolences to the Drayton family over the tragic death of Mr Trevor Drayton who was killed in an explosion at the Drayton Family Winery at Pokolbin in the NSW Hunter Valley on Thursday 17 January 2008. Professor Thomas Henick-Kling, Director, National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, says Mr Drayton was a highly respected leader of the Australian wine industry who will be sadly missed by all who knew and worked with him. His knowledge and experience was a wonderful resource for the national wine industry. Mr Drayton contributed to the research activities of the NWGIC and his input will be missed but not forgotten. CSU and the NWGIC also expresses condolences to the family of a second man, Mr Edgar Orgo, also killed in the tragic incident, and hopes for a full and speedy recovery of Mr William Rikard-Bell, a graduate of CSU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine Science), who was injured in the conflagration.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is mourning the death of one of its founding fathers, Mr Peter Hastie, who passed away on Tuesday 29 January at Eltham Lodge in Victoria at the age of 79. Mr Hastie was appointed on 16 October 1969 as Chairman of the Interim Council of the Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE), and then as Chairman of the Council until 30 June 1982. At the time, he was the longest serving Chairman of the governing body of an institute of higher education in New South Wales. Under his Chairmanship, RCAE grew from a small single-purpose institution, with fewer than 450 students, to the ninth largest College of Advanced Education in Australia. Mr Hastie was also a driving force behind the relocation of the former Wagga Teachers’ College to land adjoining the Wagga Agricultural College. The CSU Boorooma site stands as direct evidence of Mr Hastie’s vision, energy and insight. The Peter Hastie Ovals, located at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, were named in his honour on 21 October 1992. A funeral service for Mr Peter Hastie will be held at the Le Pine Chapel at Eltham, Victoria, on Monday 4 February commencing at 12 noon. Mr Hastie is survived by daughters Janet Twigden, Fiona Cropley and son Warwick Hastie.

More than 500 mourners have attended a memorial service at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus on Monday 4 February to honour former Chancellor, Dr David Asimus, AO, who died on Australia Day 2008. Moving tributes to Dr Asimus were delivered in eulogies from Ian Macintosh, Ian Sully and son-in-law James Sutherland. The congregation included the Hon. Kay Hull, federal Member for Riverina; The Hon. Daryl McGuire, NSW Member for Wagga; John Fairfax, Chairman, Fairfax Media, the Hon. Tim Fischer, Former Deputy Prime Minister; The Rev. Archbishop Francis Carroll, Catholic Bishop of Canberra; Mr Lawrie Willet AO, Chancellor CSU and Mr James Sutherland, CEO Cricket Australia. Dr Asimus was elected the foundation Chancellor of CSU in 1989 and served in this post until 2002. As Chancellor, he oversaw the integration of the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education and Mitchell College of Advanced Education to form the new Charles Sturt University.

With a background in business planning and policy development, Mr Stephen Butt has been appointed the new Executive Director of Facilities Management at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Mr Butt, who is an experienced engineer and project manager, comes to CSU from the Greater Southern Area Health Service based in Wagga Wagga. The former fitter and turner who trained in Wollongong, has post graduate qualifications in engineering management. At CSU he will oversee the largest set of building projects ever embarked on by the University, with academic facilities and services and student residences worth $240 million being constructed over five years from 2007 on its campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. This includes nearly $45 million to be spent by 2009 on the expansion of the Albury-Wodonga Campus.

A book on economic globalisation with local, national and international contributions edited by CSU academics will be officially launched by the Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University (CSU), Professor Ian Goulter, on Wednesday 13 February. Engagement & Change - Exploring Management, Economic and Finance Implications of a Globalising Environment, examines the issue of globalisation from diverse perspectives. Co-editor Dr PK Basu, Associate Head of the School of Marketing & Management at CSU’s Bathurst Campus, said the book contains “23 papers by Australian and international researchers from different disciplines and addresses the effects of globalisation on areas such as management, economics, finance, accounting, marketing and human resources”. Contributors included 19 academics from CSU and from seven other Australian universities, as well as from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.