Tennis lovers rejoiced yesterday when the Australian Open got underway in Melbourne. The Open marks the beginning of the tournament year for tennis players, so for the past eight weeks, they have been concentrating on reaching peak fitness, according to Dr Rob Duffield, lecturer in the School of Human Movement at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Once the frenetic pace of the tournament year gets underway, “It becomes quite difficult to find time for physical conditioning, so a lot of tennis coaches and tennis players do their fitness work on court using practice drills. The problem with these drills is that you don’t really know what’s going on,” said Dr Duffield, who spent part of last year quantifying the physical responses to popular tennis drills. His results will be published soon, and will be beneficial to tennis coaches. “Coaches can say well, this kind of drill is very aerobic and will improve physical fitness, while that kind of drill will increase shot velocity and shot accuracy,” he said.

As part of the EH Graham Centre seminar series, Dr Leslie Weston from Cornell University, USA will present a seminar about allelopathy, or using a plant’s natural defences to beat weed infestation. A leading agricultural scientist, Dr Weston is seeking to use no artificial chemicals to control weeds in crops. She is now looking at weed suppression in turf grasses and ornamentals, as well as studying resveratrol, a natural fungicide produced by grape plants which also lowers the incidence of arteriosclerosis in consumers of grape products. The seminar will be held on Wednesday 14 February at 12noon in the Agricultural Institute Conference Room, Pugsley Place, on Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus. The E H Graham Centre is a collaborative alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Professor of Human Resource Management and director of Research Development, Andrew Smith has joined eight elite scholars to be appointed as a Research Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). ANZAM is the peak professional body for management educators, researchers and practitioners, representing about 500 individual and 50 institutional members, including most Australian and New Zealand universities. It aims to advance scholarship and practice in management education and research.  ANZAM Research Fellows, who are appointed for three years, act as mentors to doctoral students and researchers, helping develop their career and research profiles. Professor Smith says his appointment “is a considerable honour”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is strengthening its ties with regional councils while also providing more accommodation for students through the Regional Shires Accommodation Scholarship Scheme (RSASS). The Berrigan, Jerilderie and Tumut Shires have demonstrated their commitment to the RSASS by each purchasing a room in the CSU’s new student accommodation cottages. Those rooms will be occupied by a student from each of those local government areas. CSU Chancellor, Lawrie Willett, AO will unveil door plaques for the Berrigan, Jerilderie and Tumut Rooms during Commencement Celebrations starting at 2pm on Monday 19 February at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus.  It is hoped that in time similar plaques will adorn the doors of all rooms in the Shires’ Cottage.

While Canberra admires Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre, modern art from the land of the Pharaohs is attracting attention in the Riverina. Dalia Farah and Ibrahim Awad, from Luxor in Egypt are exhibiting at the HR Gallop Gallery during Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Orientation week. Dalia is a scenographer and the exhibition is a collection of her set designs, costumes and masks. Dalia will also display her virtual sets and lighting which have been generated by three dimensional software. Ibrahim is a sculptor and a professional portraitist, modelling with clay, fibreglass, marble, wood, stone, wax, cast iron, ceramic and mould sculpting. The exhibition, titled Artists from Egypt, will be opened by CSU Head of Wagga Wagga Campus Professor David Green at 6pm, Monday 19 February.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Indigenous Employment Program is proving an effective vehicle for positive change and equity. Melanie Shea is one shining light to emerge from the program that offers ten traineeships a year in the University. She is now employed at the CSU Learning Materials Centre (LMC) as a full-time despatch assistant and has gained invaluable workplace experience with the full support of the CSU Indigenous Employment Coordinator, Karen Kime. Mel began a twelve month traineeship in Transport and Distribution at the LMC just one week after completing her Higher School Certificate. “I believe on-the-job training is a great door opener for people to gain confidence, knowledge and qualifications. The new skills can then be applied in any workplace. I am so pleased to have been a part of the program,” Melanie said.

Earlier this month the Australian government announced it would set aside more than $1.7 million for projects under the Defeating the Weed Menace program, including nearly $280 000 for research on Parkinsonia, one of Australia’s worst weeds and ranked number one on the list of the 20 Weeds of National Significance. Dr Anantanarayanan Raman, senior lecturer in Ecological Agriculture at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus, said Parkinsonia is a problem throughout the tropical world where it spreads rapidly by seed. “Currently only integrated pest management and grazing by camels are being explored in Australia to control Parkinsonia. Biological control appears as a strong possibility to me, especially by using seed-feeding insects. One species of Asphondylia is known to infest Parkinsonia flowers and feed on them, which could lead to the total degeneration of the flowers. This species and other seed and flower-infesting insects need to be surveyed for their potential,” said Dr Raman.

Success keeps flowing to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery, this time for its 2003 vintage Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon. The premium red, produced by CSU wine maker Andrew Drumm, has won a bronze medal at the 2007 Royal Agricultural Society of NSW four day wine show in Sydney. Fermented from grapes grown in the Hilltops region near Young in NSW, the wine offers an intense blackcurrant aroma with a hint of spice. The same wine also won bronze medals at the 2006 Royal Melbourne Wine Show and the 2006 Rutherglen Wine Show. The result further enhances the CSU Winery’s growing reputation for producing fine wines, which earned it a top ten “dark horse winery” rating from renowned Australian wine writer James Halliday. The award winning premium red and other CSU wines are available for purchase or tasting at the Cellar Door at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus.

A report was released in the UK last week which claimed that watching television harmed children much more than previously thought. The research was drawn from analysing 35 scientific studies and identified 15 negative affects including obesity, which the report claimed TV caused through a lack of exercise. That sets off alarm bells for Charles Sturt University’s Dr Michael Gard. “All 35 studies will be variable in terms of methodology, the strength of their findings, and what they measured. There is a lot of research on obesity, health and television, and none have shown any connection between TV watching, physical activity and obesity. Technology does not make you fat and stupid and sick. Yes, kids need a variety of experiences. But there is a greater evil here and that is people like this who start telling us how to live our lives rather than kids watching TV every day.”