Interested in acquiring the skill of wine and food matching? Want to know how to design a dinner party menu with wines that match, or just be able to order a wine to compliment your meal at a restaurant? Dr Anthony Saliba, a Sensory Scientist with the NWGIC, located on Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus, will pass on his knowledge and understanding of why certain wine and foods compliment each other and the key mistakes consumers often make when selecting wine for this purpose. The wine and food matching workshop will be held at one of Wagga's top restaurants, The Three Chefs, on Tuesday 25 September and will include a seven course dinner and CSU wines to match each course.

Improve returns from cattle bound for the Asian market will be the focus of a forum hosted by the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre at the Orange Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 26 September. The meeting, titled Asia Today 2007 - Building Beef Returns, will be held at Borenore near Orange. Dr Claus Deblitz, Director of the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre, said Asia Today 2007 will focus on the opportunities available for beef producers who wish to take advantage of this growing regional market. “The practical morning session will provide industry experts demonstrating muscle density testing, low stress stock handling and related activities,” Dr Deblitz said. “In the afternoon, the forum will provide information for the beef industry and review opportunities in international markets. It will address major beef market trends world-wide and in Asia, improving  beef tenderness and marbling to meet customer needs, prospects of beef production in China and the Australian live cattle export business.” Keynote speaker Rob Sinnamon, the 2007 NSW Farmer of the Year, will outline how he significantly improved the profitability of a 5 000 head Santa Gertrudis beef operation he manages near Casino on the NSW North Coast,.

Interested in studying clinical sciences, nursing or pharmacy? Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences is holding an information session on the Orange Campus on Saturday 22 September between 2pm and 4pm for students interested in enrolling in these courses. Dr Debbie Burton, Course Coordinator for the Bachelor of Clinical Science, says people from the Orange region can see what CSU offers in health and medical science courses and to learn about the University’s commitment to alleviating the shortage of health and medical practitioners in inland Australia. “CSU is playing a crucial role in educating health professionals for inland communities. We have seen 60 to 70 per cent of CSU health graduates gaining work and staying in the country. As the range of health courses offered by CSU increases, so will the number of practicing health professionals in inland communities,” Dr Burton said. Information will also be available on the new School of Dentistry and Oral Health that will be established in 2009.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is sending 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. This year the games organisers expect around 6 000 students from over 40 universities from across Australia to compete in a range of sports. While CSU has competed successfully before, this is the first year that CSU has representatives from all its major campuses as well as Distance Education students at the games. CSU individuals or teams have entered in athletics, beach volleyball, fencing, golf, men's and women's hockey, women's and mixed netball, mixed touch football, rugby union 7s, water polo and ultimate frisbee. CSU team manager Niklaus Granger said, "The Australian University Games boast previous Commonwealth and World University Games participants. CSU is usually strong in hockey, touch football and rugby union, but who knows what 2007 will hold for the combined CSU team?" Go, CSU, go!

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus Occupational Health and Safety Committee promoted a healthy approach to life during its Walk and Cycle to Uni Day, held on Friday 5 October 2007. Both staff and students were encouraged to take part in the event which is and based on the National Walk to Work Day, which is run by the Australian Pedestrian Council. The OHS committee hopes the event will not only assist the environment but will also help to improve personal fitness, health and well-being. Over one hundred participants departed from near the old Hampden Bridge in Fitzmaurice Street Wagga Wagga walking and cycling to the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus. Head of the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus Professor David Green supported the morning.  There was a free breakfast and prizes awarded for the Best Outfit and Best Decorated Headwear for individual walker, teams, Individual cyclists and team cyclists at the conclusion of the walk. Organiser Anette Coombs has extended a huge thankyou to everyone who participated in Walk or Cycle to Uni Day and in doing so made it a really great morning.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate is putting the words into the mouths of some of the nation’s most watched television characters. Ms Kaneana May studied television production at the Wagga Wagga Campus and graduated in 2004 with first class honours in screenwriting, starting her career as a storyliner on the 2005 television series Headland. Ms May, aged 26, says “Since then I have since worked on the Seven network’s All Saints and now work as a script coordinator at Home and Away”.  Ms May was commissioned to write a Home and Away script which went to air in early October. Ms May, from the coastal village Old Bar on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, says “I would definitely encourage others interested in television to do the CSU course. I learned so much about the entire process of television. The course is continually improving to keep pace with what is happening in the industry”.

An initiative to curb the critical shortage of midwives in rural and regional Australia has been recognised in the recent New South Wales health awards. A midwifery training program at Leeton District Hospital and conducted in partnership with Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Griffith and Wagga Wagga base hospitals was nominated for the Director General’s Encouragement Award in the 2007 NSW Health Awards. Three students have completed the program, which includes clinical work at Leeton District Hospital and 12 months of study for CSU’s Postgraduate Diploma in Midwifery. “The program is one way to develop sustainable maternity services in rural areas, including continuity in care and local antenatal services for women having babies,” said Leeton District Hospital clinical midwifery specialist and CSU graduate Tania McVittie. 

As drought continues to tighten its grip on inland Australia Charles Sturt University (CSU) has received two Federal government grants for the provision and installation of water saving measures at its Wagga Wagga Campus. A water tank will be installed as part of the Veterinary Clinical Building which is currently under construction to collect water for washing horses and for irrigation. Senior CSU architect Chris Nesakumar developed the successful grant application, worth nearly $ 50 000. CSU Wagga Wagga Campus also received a Community Water Grant worth $15 000 to enlarge a dam to store stormwater collected from residences and to install a solar powered pump and associated water systems. The water will be used in a composting program to recycle waste on the Wagga Wagga Campus. It is envisaged that the dam will save around 500 000 litres of water per year.

A new book that looks at quality assurance tools and certification programs in ecotourism will be a valuable guide for new and existing ecotourism operators world-wide. Co-edited by Dr Rosemary Black from Charles Sturt University (CSU), the book, Quality Assurance and Certification in Ecotourism, is the fifth in a series of books on ecotourism published by UK publisher CABI. Dr Black, a social scientist with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, said the book has developed from her research on certification of ‘ecotour’ guides. “The book also includes information on quality assurance and certification for different aspects of ecotourism operations like transport, tours and accommodation,” said Dr Black, who spent four years researching and writing the book. Apart from her own work, the book includes contributions from authors around the world including the UK, Australia, America, the South Pacific, South Africa and South America.