New South Wales has eight incumbent Independent members of parliament – will that change after the State election on March 24? Charles Sturt University (CSU) politics lecturer Dr Troy Whitford predicts that the number of Independents has plateaued. “But they will always be a main feature of rural elections. Why? Because Independents aim at appealing to a rural and regional mindset called 'countrymindedness'", Dr Whitford explains. “It tends to emphasis the importance of rural Australia and that people in the country have a greater moral compass and a better work ethic than the city, and that politics is always city-centric. ‘Countrymindedness’ suggests rural people are the backbone to the economy, and they should be given special consideration. Old-fashioned ‘countrymindedness’ is apparent in the rhetoric of the Independents representing rural seats.” Dr Whitford predicts Labor will be returned, and says, “I will be very surprised if we see an increase in Independents. I think the Coalition will pick up a couple of seats, but Labor will hang on."

Is Australia up to the standard of France in wine production? Those attending a public seminar at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus next Tuesday 3 April will discover one man’s personal exploration into the difference between the wine industry in these two countries. At a seminar titled Grapes, Wines and Terroir, a Franco-Australian Perspective, Frenchman and recently arrived associate lecturer in horticulture production Yann Guisard will talk about grape and wine production, marketing, retail and consumer perceptions. “I found, from a French person’s point of view, that the industry is less controlled in Australia,” Mr Guisard says. “In France the industry is very structured but it's being subjected to change because of the European Union.” The seminar will be held in Lecture Theatre One, Orange Campus on Tuesday 3 April from 1 to 2pm.

Despite numerous community education campaigns, public awareness of the prevention and risks of osteoporosis remains distressingly low, according to Associate Professor Maree Donna Simpson from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr Simpson addressed inland pharmacists at CSU’s latest Pharmacy Continuing Education Session on Sunday 25 March, urging them to look for any signs of the debilitating disease amongst their patients. “Look for the symptoms – a broken bone, those who are particularly slim, very low body weight. For example, one of the easiest viewed indicators of osteoporosis in older women is a body mass of less than 70 kilos.” Professor Simpson says osteoporosis is a “disease of the ‘baby boomers’. But they think it is a disease of their ‘mums and dads’. Risk factors include genetics, medications for asthma or Crohn’s Disease, or having had an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will take over providing all services to its students such as sports clubs, medical, counselling and advisory on Wednesday 4 April. On the Orange Campus, the Head of Campus Professor Geoff Gurr will accept the handover of these services from local CSU Student Association president Andrew Smith. “CSU students will not notice any difference in the level of services they receive at the University with the change,” said Jim Hackett, the CSU Executive Director of Finance who is overseeing the takeover of all student services by the University. “CSU has taken the stand that the student services provided by the CSU Student Association were an important part of the whole university experience, so the University has stepped in to continue these services, which are particularly important on our regional campuses.” The move has occurred as the result of the voluntary student unionism legislation passed last year by the Federal Government.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host a three day “Coach-the-Coach Conference” at its Bathurst Campus from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 April 2007. According to Dr Stephen Bird, a lecturer with CSU’s School of Human Movement Studies, the conference is booked out and participants will be travelling from around Australia and overseas. “Several lecturers from CSU will be presenting a number of sessions dealing with topics like training techniques, conditioning, and sports psychology and there will also be presentations from some of Australia’s leading Olympic and Commonwealth Games coaches,” Dr Bird said. The conference is being jointly organized by the Western Region Academy of Sport (WRAS) in Bathurst and its western NSW counterpart the Far Western Academy of Sport (FWAS), and is supported by the School of Human Movement Studies.

The country's top economic reform agency has called for the introduction of carbon taxes as a way to cut greenhouse emissions. The Productivity Commission, the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation, last week submitted the proposal to the Prime Minister's task force on emissions trading. Dr Roderick Duncan, lecturer in economics at Charles Sturt University (CSU), says if we are serious about cutting emissions, a carbon tax is inevitable. “But to reflect the true cost of our energy, we are going to have to drastically increase the price of petrol and electricity. People say they are very concerned about global warming, but when I tell them we could triple the price of energy, then they become a lot less enthusiastic.”

Students of Australia’s largest inland university Charles Sturt University (CSU) have been awarded seven of the nine Pharmacy Guild of Australia 2007 scholarships as part of the Guild’s Rural Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme. Faculty of Science Dean Professor Mark Burton was “thrilled” with the announcement. “It’s a testament to our health-based courses at CSU that our students receive such positive recognition. The scholarships encourage recipients to seek work in rural and remote areas which ties in with CSU’s commitment to providing trained professionals who will enhance rural communities,” said Professor Burton. To be eligible, Pharmacy students must be from a regional, rural or remote area. The students then make a presentation to the scholarship committee. Each scholarship is worth $40 000 per student over four years.

The Australian wine industry will benefit from Charles Sturt University (CSU) research to prevent revenue loss for Shiraz growers. A research team, led by senior lecturer in viticulture at the School of Wine and Food Sciences Dr Dennis Greer, is using business intelligence software to investigate water loss from Shiraz grapes. The project has received about $2 million funding from the Australian Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation. Shiraz grapes lose up to 20 per cent of their water content at the end of the growing season which means growers, who are paid on weight, lose up to 20 per cent of their potential revenue. Data including grape bunch weights, carbon dioxide and water vapour emissions is collected every five minutes over several days. According to Dr Greer, "This is relatively new science that has not been done on Shiraz grapes before".

While grain growers rejoice, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) livestock expert is warning recent widespread rainfall across New South Wales and Victoria brings risks as well as great benefits for pastoralists. Professor Kym Abbott from the CSU School of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Wagga Wagga Campus says sheep flocks and cattle herds face the increased threat of parasitic infestation over the next four to six weeks as parasite larvae, that had lain dormant in the soil, move onto pastures. He is urging sheep and cattle producers to closely monitor parasite egg counts over the next few months to treat sheep if necessary but avoid the excessive use of drenches. Professor Abbott says sheep and calves in particular risk weight loss and scour from parasites such as Brown Stomach worm, Black Scour worm and Nematodirus which thrive after prolonged periods of drought.