Lessons from agriculture in the Middle Ages could today help farms in Australia become more sustainable. Back in that era, farmers didn’t hold individual titles over land but farmed collectively on common property or "commons". A modern day adaptation of this concept is cross-boundary farming, where farmers agree to pool their land resource and manage it as a whole. A free one day forum on cross-boundary farming will be hosted by the Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Wagga Wagga Campus, on Friday 7 September. The forum will consider the opportunities and pitfalls of cross-boundary farming, the environmental benefits, property rights, relationships between and within farming families as well as workloads. There will be two panel sessions presenting various practical and political points of view on the practice.

Local dental therapists and Charles Sturt University academics are encouraging children to grit their teeth and take on a seven day boot camp during Dental Health Week (4-10 August). Orange dental therapist Mrs Linda Barlow is passionate about children's oral health having been an instrumental contributor to the state-wide child health record ’blue book’. "It's a fantastic initiative," said Mrs Barlow. The Australian Dental Association (ADA) is conducting an online seven day dental boot camp offering a variety of dental health fact sheets and children's activity sheets to read and download. "The more parents and children know about their teeth and diet, the more they can help dental therapists in their job." Dental therapy has been in the news recently with CSU launching an Oral Health Therapy course in 2009.  

New students to Charles Sturt University (CSU) wanting to apply for scholarships for the coming year will need to get their applications in before Monday 18 February. The scholarships, which are offered through the Charles Sturt Foundation, are awarded to students who have demonstrated high levels of academic performance, leadership and motivation throughout their school careers. Some scholarships are also available for students undergoing economic hardship, are disadvantaged, are Indigenous or are undertaking distance education with CSU. In 2007, the Foundation provided 235 students with ongoing support for their University studies through the scholarship program.

The multi-award winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery is looking forward to a good 2008 vintage with grape harvesting and pressing well underway. CSU Head Winemaker Andrew Drumm says, “Good rainfall during the growing season ensured grape vines were unstressed and produced high quality fruit.  While the vintage started early, the cool February has slowed ripening, allowing time for the grapes to develop flavour and colour.” The CSU Winery, located on the Wagga Wagga Campus, is receiving fruit from its vineyards in Wagga Wagga and Orange, as well as from growers at Wagga Wagga, Young, Tumbarumba, and Orange. Grape varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, for table wine production. The Winery is taking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce sparkling wine as well as a Portuguese variety Touriga to make CSU Port.

Australia’s beef and live export industry will have a greater understanding of Indonesia’s beef market with the launch of a two and a half year project by the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre (AARC) at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the project ‘Benchmarking the Beef Supply Chain in Eastern Indonesia’ is a collaboration with four Indonesian institutes and the world-wide network agri benchmark. Project leader Dr Claus Deblitz says, “The Indonesian beef supply chain has been identified as a crucial area in Eastern Indonesian agriculture and is one of the most complex”. Drawing a comprehensive picture of the stakeholders, product, finance and information flow, proposals will be developed investigating how the Indonesian supply chain can be more effective and competitive, and provide farmers with higher incomes.

There was loud applause for awarding-winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash as he received public recognition for his work in the fields of agricultural and veterinary sciences and environmental sciences. Professor Ash was named earlier this year the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence 2007. The CSU academic received his award from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter during the graduation ceremonies on the Wagga Wagga Campus in April. Professor Ash, from the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to innovative research in plant pathology, identifying and determining the risk posed by diseases in crops and exploring innovative approaches to the management of diseases and weeds. Since joining CSU at Wagga Wagga in 1990, Professor Ash has attracted more than $4.2 million in research funds, written for over 150 publications and supervised 38 postgraduate students. In the last five years Professor Ash has authored 27 refereed publications and gained 27 research grants.

Two journalists from the small European state of Montenegro, the world’s newest nation, have visited Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bathurst Campus to learn about how the media works in Australia and how the university promotes itself through the media. Dr Hazbo Skoko, a lecturer at the CSU School of Marketing and Management, hosted the visit and acted as interpreter for Mr Vukoman Batko Kljajevic, a radio and TV journalist for Crna Gora, the Montenegro Government Broadcast Company, and Mr Murat Corovic, chief editor of the MOZAIK magazine for culture, education and tradition. Dr Skoko said the visiting journalists were impressed with CSU students’ lifestyles and facilities. “They also were very impressed with the Australian educational system and the transparency, friendliness and easy going approach of the work of lecturers and students.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) research student is seeking volunteers from the Bathurst area to become involved in a physical health and wellbeing study. Mr Cheyne Donges, who is with the School of Human Movement Studies, said that while a number of women have registered for the research, he needs more Bathurst men to participate. “I need non-smoking men aged between 30 to 60 years,” Mr Donges said. “Furthermore, I am looking for people who are not currently or haven’t been exercising more than once per week in the last few months, and they should not be taking any hormone replacement therapy, blood pressure or cholesterol medication. Study participants will receive is a free comprehensive blood test with an explanation of their results, plus an image scan to analyse muscle, bone, fat and other tissues their body. We will also provide an analysis of muscle, strength and cardiorespiratory fitness.” Anyone interested to participate in the research can contact Mr Donges on 6338 4048, or send an email.

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.