Coinciding with World Environment Day on Friday 5 June, a survey has been launched at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga this week to gauge support for new cycling routes around the campus. Launched by the CSU Division of Facilities Management and a staff and student group, Eco Active, the survey aims to develop a better understanding of cyclists at CSU, as well as plan and implement appropriate facilities for cyclists. “CSU is striving for fewer cars on campus, safer cycling, signage, better facilities and more bicycle parking,” said Eco Active vice-president, Ms Katie Hannan. The CSU Cyclists survey can be found here.  

Animal science students from Iowa State University (ISU) in the United States will meet their counterparts from Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga from Monday 1 June to Wednesday 3 June to share their educational experiences. Twenty students from Iowa University will be accompanied by two lecturers during their visit to CSU. Hosted by the CSU School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences,  the ISU students will tour the University at Wagga Wagga on Monday 1 June and visit Cargill Beef and a property at Holbrook on Tuesday 2 June before returning to CSU on Wednesday 3 June. Animal science students from CSU will host a barbecue dinner for their international guests from 6pm on Tuesday 2 June.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic aims to draw attention to the impacts of climate change on low paid Australian workers. Sociology lecturer and co-author of the book Living Low Paid, Dr Helen Masterman-Smith will present a seminar in Sydney on Monday 1 June to discuss the barriers to social and workplace citizenship that low paid workers experience. These barriers are highly relevant to whether the Australian labour market and economy can actually deliver a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon economy or whether such a transition will simply reproduce current labour market inequalities. “If employee engagement is seen as critical to greening Australian workplaces, what does the lack of voice and dignity that many low paid workers experience in their jobs mean for the feasibility of a just transition to a low-carbon economy?” asks Dr Masterman-Smith. “For all its shortcomings, delaying the emissions trading scheme to 2011 not only delays the necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it also delays the labour market transition to sustainable workplaces and work practices, which has health and other social implications.”

Water management issues in China and Pakistan will be in the spotlight when two international visitors present seminars hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the International Centre for Water for Food Security (IC WATER) on Thursday 28 May. Director of Pakistan’s Water Management Research Centre, Professor Niaz Ahmed Rai, will talk on the current water scenario in Pakistan and intervention for sustainable use. The Centre is located at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Director of China’s National Research Centre for Resettlement, Professor Guoqing Shi, will discuss challenges and issues for water management in China including flooding, water shortage, water pollution and water turbidity. This Centre is part of Hohai University, Nanjing, China. The International Centre of Water for Food Security at CSU holds monthly seminars with national and international water experts invited to discuss the emerging issues and policies dealing with sustainable management of water resources for food security.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will mark its 20th anniversary with a gala commemorative dinner at Bathurst on Tuesday 2 June. Some of the 300 guests will travel from overseas to attend the dinner. Dignitaries include the heads of other universities, politicians, business leaders, academics, staff and alumni. CSU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) and Chairperson of the 20th Anniversary Committee, Professor Lyn Gorman, said the dinner is an opportunity to celebrate the University’s past and its future. “Charles Sturt University is Australia’s sixth largest university, and it has established itself as the University of inland Australia. It is the leading provider of distance education, with 57 per cent of our 35 000 students studying by distance mode in over 80 countries. Charles Sturt University will continue to support our regional communities and provide graduates for a range of professions needed throughout Australia and elsewhere in the world.”

The work of a graphic design student from Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga has been on exhibition in Melbourne after her piece ‘Stamp Collection’ was short-listed for an international competition for emerging designers. Ms Missy Dempsey from the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga was one of 65 students from tertiary institutions in Australia, New Zealand and Asia to be short-listed for the agIdeas 2009 NewStar competition. The event took place during the design industry’s annual conference, known as agldeas 2009.  Held in Melbourne in early May as part of International Design Week, agldeas 2009 is one the largest design events in the world, attracting industry leaders. “I like to design with my hands before my eyes, it makes me feel like I've physically achieved something,” said Ms Dempsey. “’Stamp Collection’ combines my two loves which are hand crafts and design. All the pieces of the work were hand stitched and sewn, then digitally put together.” CSU senior lecturer in graphic design, Mr Michael Agzarian said, “Missy has done extremely well to be short-listed as the competition for the NewStar event was stiff with hundreds of students submitting work.”

During Orientation 2009, students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) helped raise money for the organisation, Aussie Helpers. Aussie Helpers is a charity that assists farming families during drought.  The student leaders at CSU at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga collected a total of $5 883 during Orientation 2009 in February. “The Division of Student Services would like to thank all of the student leaders for working so hard to fundraise money for this year’s charity,” said Student Support Officer Mr Christopher Roche.  “It was a great achievement.  We would also like to thank the students, parents and staff that donated money.”  Each year student leaders select an organisation to fundraise for during Orientation. Aussie Helpers will be using the donation to assist families affected by drought and the Victorian bushfires. Student leaders will present a cheque to Aussie Helpers’ co-founder Mr Brian Egan at 10am Friday 29 May outside the student canteen, building 20, near car park 2, Darnell Smith Drive, CSU at Wagga Wagga.  

The Wagga Wagga Agricultural College Rugby Union Club at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will use the much anticipated clash with 2008 premiers, Wagga Wagga Waratahs, on Saturday 30 May to promote awareness of breast cancer and raise money for the McGrath Foundation. A ‘ladies day’ will be held to coincide with round seven of the Southern Inland Rugby Union competition when the 2007 premiers Wagga Wagga Agriculture College take on last year’s premiers the Wagga Wagga Waratahs in all three grades. “Against a backdrop of competitive rugby union, we hope to contribute to the vitally important ‘Breast Aware’ message of the McGrath Foundation,” said Wagga Wagga Agricultural College Rugby Union Club president Mr Shahid Khalfan. Money raised during the day, including at a special auction of the first grade players’ ‘Breast Aware’ football jerseys, will be donated to the McGrath Foundation. “I urge all members of the community to support the day and the valuable work of the McGrath Foundation,” said the third year CSU veterinary science student.

An academic whose work has raised Australian consciousness of the largest accident in the Army’s history will this week address a memorial service for the tragic event. In May 1945 at the Royal Australian Engineers Training Camp Kapooka near Wagga Wagga, 24 young trainee engineers and two of their instructors were killed in an explosion in a bunker during a demolitions training exercise. In 2008, CSU senior lecturer Dr Peter Rushbrook detailed the event in the journal, History of Education Review. “Apart from a mass funeral, where the coffins lay on four semi-trailers, and the subsequent inquiry, the Kapooka tragedy has disappeared altogether from our national memory,” wrote Dr Rushbrook. On Thursday 21 May from 2.15pm near the Kapooka Military Area, Dr Rushbrook will be among the official guests at the second consecutive memorial service hosted by the Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) Commandant Colonel G W Finney.