A former Miss World, Ms Belinda Green will be the guest speaker at the 2010 Charles Sturt Pharmacy Foundation dinner in Orange on Saturday 16 October. Other festivities during the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Pharmacy Social Weekend include golf at Duntryleague, a tour of CSU in Orange, including a visit to laboratories, and pharmacy lectures. The event is a chance for members of the profession to enjoy a social weekend with local pharmacists, CSU academics and students. Ms Green will speak at the dinner at Racine Restaurant in Orange on the topic of challenges and adventures. Tickets for any of the weekend activities can be purchased through the Charles Sturt Foundation on 02 6338 4834 or send an email.

Garden lovers in Orange will be treated to a fascinating talk on the world’s best botanic gardens by one of Australia’s most celebrated botanists, Dr Tim Entwisle. A guest of the Central West Branch of the Royal Society of NSW, Dr Entwisle will visit Orange on Friday 15 October for a public lecture hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU). As Executive Director of the Sydney Botanic Gardens Trust, NSW Government Botanist and Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney, Dr Tim Entwisle is a regular guest on ABC Radio. “To Dr Entwisle, botanic gardens are all about ‘planting ideas’ - interpreting and studying plants from around the world to understand, appreciate and celebrate the importance of plants to life,” Head of Campus at CSU in Orange, Professor Kevin Parton said.

Under the night sky of West Wyalong, two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics will be discussing the attempts by astrophysicists to unravel some of the mysteries of dark energy and matter in the universe. A free public lecture, What is our Universe made of? will be held in the Bland Shire Council Chambers in West Wyalong from 6pm on Thursday 23 September. Lecturers in physics from the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Dr Allan Ernest and Dr Matt Collins, will present “compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter” in our universe. They will also outline the quantum-based theory of dark matter originally developed by Dr Ernest in 2001, and currently being progressed by the team at CSU to try to understand the nature and origin of dark matter. Contact Ms Julie Sharpe from Bland Shire Council on 02 6972 2266 or send an email.

According to Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Communication and Creative Industries lecturer Dr Bruce Fell, the world’s television stations have a large part to play in lowering carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. A compelling free public lecture to be held on Wednesday 22 September will look at how everyday television influences our individual and community understanding of the world. According to atmospheric scientists, the 39 000 television stations across the globe have 350 reasons to care about global ecological sustainability. “The safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million (ppm), but the June 2010 measurement was 392.04ppm,” Dr Bruce Fell said. “Television can assist with the ecological debate surrounding global warming and climate change.”

Four school students will make a difference to their charity of choice through a Charles Sturt University (CSU) social justice award. The Social Justice Innovation Award offered through the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU gives teenagers a platform to write about Making a Difference. The judges included senior social work lecturer, Dr Bill Anscombe, and poet and recently-retired English lecturer, Mr David Gilbey. “Although we only advertised the competition in NSW and the ACT, we also received entries from Victoria and the Northern Territory. This highlights the fact that there are a lot of school students with writing talents keen to be involved in the project,” Dr Anscombe said. They winners of Making a Difference 2010 are Mr Kieran Hennessy from Great Lakes Tuncurry Senior High School, Mr Reid Butler from Merewether High School,  Ms Alexandra Jones from Pymble Ladies College and Ms Tara Whitsed of Corryong College.  Their nominated charities, World Vision, Red Cross, Love146 and beyondblue will each receive $250 from CSU.

Oral health programs from across Australia, Fiji and New Zealand will be represented at a meeting being held at the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga this week. The Oral Health Educators’ meeting will be held from 8.30am to 4pm on Friday 3 September. Thirty academics who teach the Bachelor of oral health programs within dentistry schools in the three counties will discuss issues such as new developments in oral health programs and regulations. The meeting is being held at CSU in Wagga Wagga following its new oral health program which began in 2009. Representing CSU at the meeting is the Head of School of Dentistry and Health Sciences, Professor David Wilson, and acting Director of the Oral Health and Dental Clinic, Mrs Helen Tane. The University introduced its Bachelor of Oral Health (Therapy/Hygiene) at CSU in Wagga Wagga and its Bachelor of Dental Science at CSU in Orange in 2009

With the cost of the Federal election running into the tens of millions of dollars, two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have spoken out in favour of voting online, stating it would be cheaper, secure and more efficient. “Australians are able to do their taxes online, bank online and even register to vote online,” lecturers Mr Geoff Fellows and Mr Ken Eustace said. “Yet Australians still turn up to polling stations around the country and have their names crossed off the roll in pencil and then mark their ballot papers in pencil. The technology is there for the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to conduct the poll online. Voters could use their Medicare numbers to vote at portable ATM-style machines. The votes could still be scrutinised and it may reduce the number of voters who mistakenly vote informal if the system ensures invalid votes are authorised. Voters could also vote from home by pre-registering their computer and then voting through a special website. The AEC could even charge the political parties to have links from the special site to election material.”

An official copy of the Australian Government’s apology to child migrants in the 1900s will be displayed at the Learning Commons at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange.  With many Central West residents holding strong memories of Fairbridge Farm in Molong - one of the locations where child migrants from the United Kingdom were housed - the apology offered many a sense of closure to a dark time in Australia’s history. “Charles Sturt University in Orange is pleased to have this framed apology on display,” Head of Campus in Orange Professor Kevin Parton said. “It is an important part of our modern history and serves as a reminder to those studying here that events like this have happened.” The child migrants were from care institutions in the UK. Agencies involved in the child migration were Barnados and Fairbridge as well as agencies representing the Catholic and Protestant churches. Child and youth migration to NSW ended in 1967.

Rural health professionals will take advantage of the modern facilities when they visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange this Thursday 26 August to conduct training. Eleven nursing assistants from Orange will use CSU’s simulation hospital as part of their Certificate III in Health Services Assistance. Nurse educator for the Greater Western Area Health Service’s (GWAHS) Centre for Rural and Remote Education, Ms Trish Casey, said, “The facilities are a wonderful asset when it comes to training local professionals”. Skills laboratory attendant with the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health at CSU in Orange, Ms Sarah Strutt, hopes the ongoing relationship between the two institutions can continue to grow. “Charles Sturt University puts a lot of emphasis on these types of relationships. It gives both parties the opportunity to develop and ensures our regional communities benefit.”