Three public schools in the Riverina will be on show next week as a Japanese delegation visits the region to learn more about school education in Australia. The three academics and five students from Yamagata University in north east Japan will visit the region from Monday 6 September to Friday 10 September. Hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, the delegation will be given an overview of school education in Australia by senior lecturer Dr Brian Hemmings from the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga on Monday 6 September. They will then visit The Rock Primary School on Tuesday 7 September, Wagga Wagga High School on Wednesday 8 September and Wagga Wagga Public School on Friday 10 September.  The delegates will inspect classrooms and lead activities with the school students such as a Japanese Food and Culture program at The Rock. “We anticipate that this visit will forge a stronger link between the two universities in Australia and Japan. We are also interested in talking about the possibility of teacher education students from Charles Sturt University visiting Yamagata in 2011 or 2012 to give them an international perspective in their studies, ” Dr Hemmings said.

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

The lives of parasites will be under the microscope in a new exhibition at the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga. Through its School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences in Wagga Wagga, Charles Sturt University (CSU) is an exhibition partner in Parasites in Focus from Wednesday 1 September until Wednesday 23 February 2011. After a tour of capital centres, the exhibition comes to Wagga Wagga at the Museum’s Botanic Garden site in Baden Powell Drive. It features spectacular photographic prints and interactive exhibits which gives a rare glimpse into the world of parasites. Head of Campus at CSU in Wagga Wagga Mr Adrian Lindner will open the exhibition at 6.30pm on Wednesday 1 September. There will be a special school holiday program for children aged eight years and above on Wednesday 6 October from 10am to 12midday. Bookings are required on 02 6926 9554. Read more about the Museum of the Riverina here.  

Crime scenes are scattered across Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga this week as students study the finer art of criminal and forensic investigations. About 40 students are attending a four-day residential school at CSU in Wagga Wagga from Tuesday 24 August to Friday 27 August for the distance education subject, Crime Scene. The residential school includes lectures on physical evidence, its collection and preservation and coroner’s courts. From 1.30pm to 4.30pm on each day of the residential school, the students will go out into the field to examine various crime scene scenarios set up with mannequins to test practical skills.  

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.”

Local researchers and international guests will gather in Wagga Wagga to challenge current thinking about energy and its consumption. Attending a workshop in the city on Monday 30 August are members of a group of multi-disciplinary researchers who hail from the Institute for Land, Water and Society at Charles Sturt University (CSU). “The 'big' question the researchers are asking is: What can we learn from the present and the past to help people overcome energy constraints and share our resources equitably?” conference organiser, Adjunct Professor Ian Gray from the ILWS said.  At 9am on Monday 30 August at the Riverine Club in Sturt Street, Wagga Wagga, Professor Gray will welcome delegates to the three-day event, including historian Professor Colin Divall from the University of York in the United Kingdom, Professor Hans-Luidger Dienel and Dr Massimo Moraglio, both from Germany’s Berlin Technical University.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is embracing the establishment in Wagga Wagga of the new Australian Aviation Hall of Fame. As one of the founding members of the Hall of Fame, the Head of Campus at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Adrian Lindner, will address its official opening on Tuesday 24 August at the Civic Theatre in Wagga Wagga. “Our involvement in the national Hall of Fame to honour the aviation industry comes as Charles Sturt University explores the introduction of a postgraduate aviation course,” Mr Lindner said. “It is also envisaged that the Charles Sturt University Library and Regional Archives will be providing advice on collecting, displaying and storing archival material.” Professor Mark Farrell from the Faculty of Arts said, “Charles Sturt University is working closely with industry representatives to develop a Graduate Certificate in Aviation Management and also a Master of Business Administration (Aviation Management).”

The success of a scholarship program for students moving from TAFE to Charles Sturt University (CSU) is being expanded in the wake of its success. CSU’s ‘TAFE to University’ Scholarship Program was developed last year specifically for Diploma and Advanced Diploma students studying at TAFE NSW’s Riverina Institute and TAFE Western, and the Canberra Institute of Technology. Due to the program’s success, it has now been expanded to include an additional five TAFE institutes. The move doubles the number of scholarships available to TAFE students in 2011. Three scholarships are available to each of the TAFE providers. “Charles Sturt University is committed to creating strong education pathways. Our collaboration with TAFE institutes is a great example of how educators can work together to ensure students reach their potential,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at CSU, Professor Ross Chambers said. Applications for the $2 500 scholarships are open until 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010.

Ms Libby Clark from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health sometimes feels a twinge of sorrow for tele-operators whose job it is to sit on the phone all day, trying to maintain a calm, clear voice as they either deal with complaints or try to sell a product. “I know we all loath those telephone calls, but after working with these people, and realising how hard this type of work is for the human voice, it really does make me feel sorry for them,” she said. As a discipline leader in speech pathology at the School of Community Health, Ms Clark spends a great deal of time helping people develop their voice for their working life. “Our voice, our speech and our language skills are central to everything we do as human beings,” she said. “It’s It’s how we develop and maintain relationships, but it's also really important for our working lives.” As well as feeling empathy for tele-operators, Ms Clark has concerns for the elderly. “It's important to spend time working with the elderly because if they often find it hard to be heard - especially if they have had some kind of communication impairment like a stroke or have a hearing loss. Just because they are old, doesn't mean they don't have a right to have a say, to be heard, to have a voice in what goes on in their lives.” Dr Clark has worked on voice and speech production skills with tour guides, sport professionals, teachers and business leaders. Speech Pathology Australia is hosting Speech Pathology Week from 22 to 28 August.