Representatives of Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Mitrataa Foundation will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Bathurst on Thursday 19 July to support the development of education for women and girls in Nepal. The MoU will be signed by the Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Andrew Vann, and Ms Bec Ordish, the founding director of the Mitrataa Foundation. Ms Trisha Poole, lecturer at CSU’s School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, said the agreement lays the foundation for CSU to collaborate with the Mitrataa Foundation to help empower Nepalese women and girls through education and training initiatives. “This collaboration will encourage the organisation of joint educational activities,” Ms Poole said. “In November this year, 12 CSU teacher education students will travel to the capital Kathmandu to undertake their professional experience placements in local schools supported by the Foundation. I will accompany the group and support the students to run professional development workshops for Nepalese teachers.”

Psychologist, social researcher and novelist Mr Hugh Mackay will tackle the question of 'What makes a life worth living?' when he delivers the first Charles Sturt University (CSU) Explorations public lecture in Orange on Wednesday 22 May. Mr Mackay has spent his working life asking Australians about their values, motivations, ambitions, hopes and fears. “The good life is not the sum of our security, wealth, and levels of happiness,” he said. “It is one defined by our capacity for selflessness, the quality of our relationships and our willingness to connect with others in a useful way.” In the public lecture Mr Mackay will explore our pursuit of pleasure, our attempts to perfect ourselves and our children, and our conviction that we can have our lives under control.

An introduced pest bird, the Common Myna, is trying to make its home in Orange, an occurrence that Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Dr Cilla Kinross is attempting to prevent. Setting traps for this major pest of national significance and removing nests is Ms Kinross’ answer to these birds. “We have spotted them nesting in and around Bunnings and Lone Pine Avenue,” Dr Kinross said. “Bunnings have been supportive of their removal and we will set traps to capture and euthanise them humanely.” A successful trapping program was started earlier this year and is about to recommence to try and catch those missed in the first round. A project run with volunteers of the Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society, and supported by the Orange City Council and the Central West Catchment Management Authority, was set up in the hope that the situation of these pests becoming a serious problem as seen nearby in Bathurst can be prevented. In Bathurst the Common Myna has had a negative effect on native wildlife, both birds and mammals. In many areas this species has come to totally dominate the birdlife and few natives are seen. “We can prevent the spread of these pests but we need to be vigilant and ask anyone who sees a Myna bird in their garden to contact Dr Cilla Kinross on 6365 7651,” Dr Kinross said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will host a public lecture next week on how computers can help solve environmental problems. The free lecture, by CSU Endeavour Research Fellow Dr Sreenath Subrahmanyam, will focus on recent examples of how computers have been used to detect environmental contaminants, assess environmental impacts and construct artificial wetlands. Dr Subrahmanyan joined CSU on an Australian government-funded Endeavour Award, and has designed an artificial wetland for the Cadia Valley mine near Orange as part of an ongoing remedial project. Dr Subrahmanyan said computers were now being used to solve a range of environmental and biological problems. “Computers are being used to find out if there are elevated sugar levels in blood and to detect creatine levels in the blood of body builders,” he said. “They are used to test if our food grains are polluted with toxins, to reduce carbon emissions in various industries and to assess and reduce the pollutants from industries that damage our health, land, water and air.” The lecture is part of a series co-hosted by CSU and the Central West Branch of the Royal Society of NSW. CSU wines and a selection of cheeses will be served following the lecture.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) lawn bowls team travels to Adelaide next week to defend the national title it won at last year’s Australian University Games. The gold medal follows years of hard work for the team, which earned a place in the increasingly competitive competition’s top tier in 2009. The team won a first division bronze in 2010 and, finally, the long-awaited gold medal last year. CSU Student Support Team Leader Mr Nik Granger said the past 10 years had seen a sharp increase in the standards of competition at the games, which were now Australia’s largest annual multi-sport event. “You’ve got Olympians, Commonwealth Games medallists and various state and national representatives throughout the competition,” he said. “CSU will have students from our Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga competing, as well as several distance education students.” CSU’s Ultimate Frisbee team will compete in division two this year with hopes of securing a gold or silver medal to earn elevation into division one for the 2013 games and the University team will also include individual representatives in cycling and athletics.

Orange residents with the cycling bug can get into the spirit of NSW Bike Week by joining Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff and students and the Orange Bicycle User Group (BUG) on a bicycle orienteering ride on Sunday 23 September. Starting and finishing at the CSU Cellar Door, the ride will let riders decide their own route by visiting check-points around north Orange and answering a simple question at each. All riders are welcome for the 15km event, which should take about two hours at an easy pace. The event will be one of two Bike Week rides for CSU campus staff and students, who will also embark on a ride-to-work event on Wednesday 19 September. This year’s ride is gearing up to be bigger than ever, beginning at Bill’s Beans in McLachlan Street at 8.30am before the ‘peleton’ heads down Leeds Parade to the campus for breakfast. CSU Campus Services Manager Mr Mark Chapman said while the ride-to-work event was for CSU staff and students, the orienteering ride on 23 September was open to the public. “The public event is aimed at participation so be sure and invite your family and friends,” he said. “The start time will be between 11am and noon, so come along and enjoy an easy afternoon cycling and even taste a CSU wine while you’re on our campus.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery has released its first Riesling entirely produced with fruit from its Orange Campus vineyard. The 2012 “R” Riesling is the latest edition to the winery’s Letter Series, which is designed to showcase varieties not traditionally produced by CSU including Merlot, Tempranillo, Grenache and Petit Verdot. CSU Winery Marketing Manager, Mr Justin Byrne said the vintage had been much-anticipated following a couple of difficult seasons. “The Riesling vines were planted on the Orange Campus at the end of 2009, but with cooler and wetter-than-usual seasons in 2010 and 2011 this is the first vintage we have produced from them,” he said. “It is a major triumph for our viticulturist Geoff Cook who nursed the vines through those trying seasons, and it will make a welcome addition to the range”. The CSU Winery Orange Campus cellar door is open 11am-4pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The CSU Winery Wagga Wagga Campus cellar door is open Monday to Friday 11am-5pm and 11am-4pm on weekends.

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.

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.”