The Dubbo Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host a two day conference for about thirty CSU indigenous staff on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 October. Head of Dubbo Campus and Director of the University’s new Centre for Indigenous Studies, Mr Gary Shipp, said that this was the first time a CSU Indigenous staff conference has been held in Dubbo. “Indigenous staff from all CSU’s major campuses will attend and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Goulter, will address staff at the opening dinner on Tuesday evening, 9 October. This is an important meeting because it not only allows the Indigenous staff at CSU to establish contacts, but it will inform all staff of the recent developments at CSU with the establishment of the new Centre for Indigenous Studies and the development of an Indigenous education strategy. This will place CSU as a lead higher education provider in progressing Indigenous education nationally and in particular within inland Australia.“ A number of speakers will address the conference including Ms Lynette Riley-Mundine, Academic Coordinator at the Koori Centre at the University of Sydney, who was raised and attended school in Dubbo.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) sent a 115-strong team of students to compete in the annual Australian University Games on the Queensland Gold Coast from Sunday 23 to Friday 28 September and came away with a Silver Medal in the Women’s Hockey and a Bronze Medal in Beach Volley Ball (Division 2). “Our athletes did well against some tough competition,” CSU team manager Niklaus Granger said. “There were about 6 000 students competing from over 40 universities Australia-wide in a range of sports. The CSU Women’s Hockey team did particularly well with only 12 team members (1 sub) in its 3-1 loss to the University of Sydney in the finals.” In addition, at least four CSU students were selected for the Green and Gold Merit teams. These are students chosen from all competitors based on their performance during the week. They include Kate Davis (Bathurst) and Amanda George (Wagga Wagga) in women’s hockey, Duncan McPhee (Bathurst) in men’s hockey, and Will Stuart (Bathurst) in men’s rugby.

Applications have opened for students seeking financial assistance in 2008 through the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Equity Scholarships. The scheme offers students three types of scholarships; the Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships, Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarships and CSU Equity Scholarships. The Commonwealth Scholarships are offered by the Federal Government for students from a low socio economic background, especially Indigenous students and students from rural and regional Australia. The CSU Equity Scholarships were introduced in 2006 when the University’s allocated $3.25 million from 2006 to 2008 to assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds. “The scholarships, which vary from $2 000 to over $4 000 each, are an integral part of the University’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to national and internationally recognised educational opportunities, “ said Mr Les Burr, acting Executive Director of Student Services at CSU. Students have until the end of November 2007 to complete their application forms. More information is available at the Equity Scholarships website here. 

Charles Sturt University (CSU) third year veterinary students are marking a milestone in their commitment to graduate from the University of inland Australia. A Halfway Festival is being held by the students to celebrate the halfway point in their six year veterinary science degree. The three day celebration begins on Friday 5 October at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus with a breakfast and continues on Saturday 6 October with a charity rugby match between the Riverina Southern Inland Rugby premiers Wagga Agricultural College and a team of veterinary students. Proceeds from the match will support the Aussie Helpers charity, which assists drought stricken families. The CSU students, their parents and faculty staff will later attend a dinner, hosted by the DIrector of Veterinary Science at CSU, Professor Kym Abbott. The Halfway Festival concludes on Sunday 7 October with a "barefoot" lawn bowls competition.

Award winning Australian author Ms Catherine Jinks aims to inspire the Riverina region’s budding writers at the launch of a program designed to develop the skills of young authors. Catherine Jinks, who writes historical fiction for young adults, will be in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 4 October to launch Cyberwriters, a project for young authors of historical fiction devised by Booranga Writers' Centre member Ms Jen Thompson. The visit by the internationally celebrated author is funded by a Country Arts Support Program (CASP) grant from Regional Arts NSW and is presented through the collaboration of the Booranga Writers’ Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU), the Eastern Riverina Arts Program, the Museum of the Riverina and CSU.  Ms Jinks will present a one-only reading and open-microphone discussion session in conjunction with the launch of Cyberwriters at the Wagga Wagga Historic Council Chambers.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and staff are being encouraged to roll up their sleeves and support the Wagga Wagga Blood Bank’s first ever Club Red Corporate Challenge, a blood donor program designed for businesses and community organisations. The Club Red Corporate Challenge is aimed at rallying everyone in the Riverina business community throughout 2007 to help save lives. The challenge runs until the 31 December 2007 and importantly each blood donation could save up to nine lives. CSU's Roxanne Loche says, “Giving blood is an ideal way for us to get involved in a vital community service. Staff can organise to donate in groups to boost the team spirit. Donating blood makes us feel great in the knowledge that we are helping to save lives”.

The Dolls Have Souls is an exhibition of drawings and textiles by Ms Julie-Ann Tylor. The works are contributing towards her Master of Visual and Performing Arts from Charles Sturt University (CSU). They are drawn from her intimate memories of much loved family heirlooms, a set of dolls, inherited by the artist. Ms Tyler says “My mother’s small legacy of the tiny set of Guatemalan Trouble dolls have become a symbol of a rite of passage. The making of art has been a ceremony of transcendence, from the role of a daughter, to the eldest surviving daughter, the default matriarch of the family. The dolls have become a vehicle for describing not only events in my mother’s life, but also as an overlay for episodes in my own life”. The Dolls Have Souls exhibition is on display in the HR Gallop Gallery, CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, which runs from Tuesday 25 to Thursday 27 September 2007.

Morwell's La Trobe Regional Art Gallery is hosting the Charles Sturt University (CSU) exhibition of major works selected from its extensive collection which has grown from four hundred works in 1993 to almost two thousand. Exhibition curator Thomas Middlemost says, “This is the first full and considered viewing of the artwork, which normally hangs in public spaces on CSU’s four main campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. Contrasts is an exhibition about the nature of institutional collecting as much as Australian art history. It examines the birth and expansion of CSU through the artwork collected by its predecessor institutions". Mr Middlemost says, "This is not a collection formed with a single vision but a compilation of a number of contrasting personalities, artistic styles and defunct collections. Setting artworks against each other to do battle or to make love makes for interesting viewing," he said.

With increasing links being identified between occupational organophosphate-based pesticide exposure and cancers, the need for a more sensitive screening test than the existing test has become apparent. Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in biomedical sciences, Dr Helen Moriarty will present a seminar entitled A novel screening test to detect low level occupational exposure to organophosphate-based pesticides on Thursday 27 September 2007 that suggests a solution. Dr Moriarty has identified a simple test that uses blood from a finger prick sample. Since many users unknowingly expose themselves to pesticides, a successful screening test will enable safe handling practices to be monitored and adjusted as necessary. This application is anticipated to make a major impact on the prevention of many environmentally induced cancers.