The annual fundraising appeal for men’s health, particularly prostate cancer and depression, will have the support of students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga, albeit a month earlier than usual. The Moctober Challenge – Grow or Design a Mo’ will be held on campus from Friday 9 October to Friday 6 November. The challenge for men to grow a moustache and for women to design one is being supported by the University’s Division of Student Services’ Health Promotion Service and the student rural health club known as CSU WARRIAHS. Registrations for the month-long challenge will be taken on Friday 9 October with all participants needing to be clean shaven.

Wagga Wagga is the first port of call for the annual Rural Awareness Tour organised by the Cattle Council of Australia. The 12 members, representing key government and industry groups will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga during the visit to the city on Monday 12 October. The tour will also take the group to Knight’s Meats and Cargill Beef Australia’s Wagga Wagga plant. The tour will continue in regional NSW until Thursday 15 October. While at CSU, the group representing agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry and Meat and Livestock Australia, and AUS-MEAT Limited will meet key academics and tour facilities such as the Veterinary Clinical Centre. CSU offers educational and research programs for graduates in the fields of agricultural, animal and veterinary sciences through the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences. The Cattle Council is the peak body representing beef cattle producers in Australia.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Parkes Shire Council will host a free public lecture on Wednesday 21 October at Parkes to examine the difficult questions surrounding the provision of health care services in rural and remote areas. ‘What Health Services Should Rural Australia Have?’ will be presented by the University’s Professor of Rural and Remote Pharmacy, Professor Patrick Ball, from the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga . Professor Ball will present his findings from a study of health care services in two similar rural communities in NSW. “Our research provides evidence that what is required is more flexibility in allowing communities to develop approaches that meet their individual needs, based more upon access to services, rather than necessarily their physical presence,” said Professor Ball. Read more about Professor Ball’s research here.

The town of Temora will host a free public lecture on Wednesday 21 October by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) internationally renowned wetland ecologist, Adjunct Professor David Mitchell, who will discuss recent developments in the management of water in Australian landscapes. Professor Mitchell is from the CSU School of Environmental Sciences at Albury-Wodonga and is Principal Researcher in the University’s Institute of Land, Water and Society. He will review whether it is possible to manage surface waters in southern Australia using methods that mimic the natural processes of water storage and distribution. Professor Mitchell says, “Natural storage of water in the soil profile and in vegetation used to form a protective mantle over the surface. This has been largely replaced by surface water storage from which it readily evaporates, especially during droughts.”. While the latter approach supplies water for agricultural and urban demands, Professor Mitchell will question whether Australia is too reliant on this method of water storage. The CSU academic will also examine the ‘Natural Sequence Farming’ approach founded by Mr Peter Andrews.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has been named as a finalist in The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year 2009 awards. Mr Ryan Aggiss, from Flying Fish Cove winery in the Margaret River region in West Australia, is one of the 10 finalists. The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year awards aims to encourage and recognise excellence in young winemakers in Australia and New Zealand. Mr Aggiss is a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine Science) student studying by distance education through the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. At Flying Fish Cove since 2007, the CSU student was made Winemaker the following year. “It is a great honour to be named as a finalist and to represent my state in the awards,” said Mr Aggiss. “I am looking forward to getting my degree and continuing to develop my career in the industry and believe my studies have helped greatly in my development as a winemaker.” Dr Andrew Clarke, wine science course coordinator in the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, said, “Ryan is well deserving of this nomination. In particular, he is well known by Charles Sturt University academic staff for his excellent palate and perceptive insights into wine production processes.”

A close encounter with lions on a trip to South Africa has given a Charles Sturt University (CSU) veterinary science student a taste for adventure. Fifth-year student Mr James Chadwick travelled to South Africa in September to attend the International Symposium on Wildlife Utilisation, which focuses on veterinary involvement in wildlife management. “The trip opened my eyes to the possibility of working with wild animals in southern Africa, a completely different world of veterinary work that I never knew existed,” said Mr Chadwick. “The highlight of the trip was assisting a veterinarian doing health checks at Lions Rock Sanctuary, which required sedating lions. While transporting the lions from the clinic to their rangelands, on the back of a ute, we noticed the sedative was wearing off and they started to twitch and growl, which was scary, but fun!” The CSU student is keen to return to South Africa to participate in further hands-on experiences and to learn new skills.

A special scholarship will be offered by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in 2010 in memory of the late acting graduate from Wagga Wagga, Ms Ann Gwynn-Jones. The scholarship will be awarded to a new student in the Bachelor of Arts (Acting for Screen and Stage) degree next year. Ms Gwynn-Jones graduated from the same course in 2001 but died a short time later. The Charles Sturt Foundation has joined with the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga to assist her family in raising funds to provide a perpetual scholarship. In aid of this, the School’s University Theatre Ensemble will present a performance of Gormenghast, a novel by Mervyn Peake. The performance on Saturday 31 October in the Riverina Playhouse will be directed by Mr John Saunders.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have a new opportunity to bring their education research to the forefront of international efforts in Indigenous, rural and remote, and environmental education. Professor Jo-Anne Reid, Associate Dean of the CSU Faculty of Education at Bathurst, and President of the Australian Association for Research in Education, said the newly established World Education Research Association (WERA) is a worldwide network of education researchers which will bring together the very best of education research. “We live in a global world and education in Australia can only benefit from being a part of this international body,” Professor Reid said. “These collaborations extend and enrich our own knowledge across all fields of education.” One study currently underway which has the potential for global application is TERRAnova, an Australian Research Council-funded project run in collaboration with researchers from four Australian universities looking at the factors which appear to make a difference in attracting and retaining teachers in rural communities. “Our nationwide study is focusing on schools in communities that have been nominated as successful in attracting and retaining good teachers. This is truly a global issue that, through research, can impact positively on our future as a nation, as well as internationally,” she said.

“Lock up your daughters, the Aggies are in town”, was the rumour that spread through town in 1959 when the students of Wagga Wagga Agricultural College, a predecessor of Charles Sturt University (CSU), visited Wagga for a social occasion. These and other fond memories will be shared when the Class of 1959 gets together for their 50-year reunion at CSU at Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 28 October. Organiser Mr Ian Mashman expects 29 of the graduating 33 students will attend, bringing along years of memories, reflections and yarns on what their lives have become. “Two of our class went on to earn PhDs and we’ve managed to contribute to subsequent generations with 181 grandchildren between us,” he said. “About 13 of us became long-term farmers, and with few exceptions the balance worked in associated agricultural and viticultural industries,” said Mr Mashman. While life is vastly different for the agricultural science students of 2009, back in 1959 there were only five cars on campus. But Mr Mashman reflects, “I don’t think that much has changed, we had great fun in those days”.