The less commonly known oilseed crop, safflower, will be in the spotlight when world experts descend on Wagga Wagga for the 7th International Safflower Conference to be held from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 November. Conference convenor Ms Sue Knights said safflower offers enormous potential in drought conditions and the conference will feature a visit to trial crops at Coleambally to demonstrate its suitability to the Riverina. “The conference is themed ’Safflower: unexploited potential and world adaptability’ and will encompass growers, marketers and researchers as an opportunity to undertake critical industry development on this underutilized crop,” she said. Hosted by the Australian Oilseeds Federation, the program features speakers from India, USA, Spain and the Charles Sturt University EH Graham Centre’s Dr Rod Mailer who will speak on ‘Quality evaluation of safflower cultivars’.

The ’rich heritage’ left for Charles Sturt University (CSU) by the first students enrolled in the Wagga Wagga Agricultural College in 1949 was acknowledged during a ceremony held at CSU at Wagga Wagga on Friday 24 October. Several of the inaugural students, known as ‘the 49ers’ gathered to honour their former classmate, the late Mr John Bowen. The University has honoured Mr Bowen by naming a student accommodation building John Bowen Hall. The 1912 building was used by the first group of students to attend the Wagga Wagga Agricultural College in 1949. Mr Bowen’s widow, Mrs June Bowen, and their son, Mr Ken Bowen, met with former agricultural students at the naming ceremony. Mr Bowen told the audience that his father, who lived on the NSW Central Coast, kept coming back to Wagga Wagga and “loved the college and the city”. Read more here.

Following previous successful exhibitions, staff at the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will present recent works in a show titled text/object. The exhibition will be opened by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administrative), Professor Lyn Gorman, on Friday 7 November at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. Show curator Dr Johannes Klabbers says this is a unique opportunity for the community to experience the wide-ranging practices and research of creative practitioners teaching at CSU. “All works in this exhibition are collaborative, Some participants have worked with family members or colleagues within the school, while others collaborated with national and international artists. The result is a very eclectic exhibition featuring the work of 28 participants.”

Medical imaging students and staff at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will commemorate International Radiographers and Radiation Therapists Week from 3–9 November at CSU Wagga Wagga Campus. Undergraduate courses in Medical Imaging have been taught at CSU for over 30 years. This year more than 200 students are studying on campus in preparation for a career as a radiographer, a health professional who takes medical images including CT and MRI scans, ultrasounds, mammograms and x-rays for diagnosis. Lecturer in medical imaging, Mrs Kelly Spuur said, the University also has post-graduate students enrolled in courses including ultrasound and image interpretation and offers a professional advancement program for overseas radiographers. “The world’s first X-ray taken was in 1895 and Saturday 8 November is recognised as World Radiography Day,” she said.

Acting students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) have expressed their gratitude to Regional Express (Rex) Airlines which has demonstrated its commitment to regional communities. The airline has donated four return flights between Sydney and Wagga Wagga in support of the final year students’ Agents’ Day Showcase. The annual showcase is organised and largely funded by Bachelor of Arts (Acting for Screen and Stage) students. Major casting agents from Sydney are invited to CSU at Wagga Wagga to view short performances by the acting students. “The cost of staging the showcase has risen due to increasing interest from agents wishing to attend the event,” said CSU acting student Ms Hannah Smith. “Despite our late request to Rex, the airline generously responded by donating the flights. This contribution will go a long way to ensuring the continuing success of the showcase.”

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) 2007 Shiraz has been nominated for the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the 2008 Royal Melbourne Wine Show, Australia largest wine show. Fifteen wines were selected in October by a panel of international and national judges. The award for the best red wine of the 2007 vintage is one of the most sought after trophies of the 21 awards available at the show. The CSU 2007 Shiraz is produced with grapes from the University’s vineyard in Orange and is the only NSW wine to be nominated for this year’s Trophy. The wine has already been awarded bronze medals at the Orange Wine Show in October and the Riverina Wine Show in September. CSU Shiraz 2007 will be released at the University’s Cellar Door at Wagga Wagga in mid-November. The winner of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy will be announced at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show presentation dinner on Thursday 13 November at the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne.

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) secured two awards at a popular short film festival held in Wagga Wagga on Saturday 25 October. Over 600 people filled the amphitheatre at Wollundry Lagoon at the annual Reel is Real film festival. A varied program of 16 short-listed films from all over Australia was screened. The Best Animation award went to first year graphic design and multi-media student Mr Aleksei Fateev for his animated film, ‘Alien Life Cycle’.  The Best Film went to second year television production student, Mr Jackson Bauer for his film, ‘The Paperboy’.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduates have come up trumps in the National Contemporary Jewellery Awards held on Thursday 24 October at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery. Ms Emily Snadden from Wagga Wagga, was highly commended for ‘best innovative contemporary jewellery design’. Ms Snadden, who graduated with the Bachelor of Arts (Jewellery) in 2006, works in the CSU School of Visual and Performing Arts. Her design entitled The Bends continued her exploration into the potential plasticity and malleability of metal. “My works are unashamedly quirky and conceptual works which aim to demonstrate a material plasticity normally uncharacteristic to metal,” said Ms Snadden. Ms Emma Kidson, also from Wagga Wagga, won the ‘best innovative contemporary jewellery design submitted by an artist under 26 years of age’. Ms Kidson owns a jewellery design business in Wagga Wagga and graduated from CSU in 2007. Entitled Origami Box Ring 1, Ms Kidson submitted a sterling silver ring.

As part of its mission to develop productive and efficient agricultural systems, the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation,  an alliance between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Department of Primary Industries, is holding a working breakfast about genetically modified (GM) crops and their projected impact. Organiser and CSU post-doctoral fellow, Dr Rex Stanton, says the event is targeted at farmers, advisors and consultants and will feature two speakers who will share their international knowledge of GM crops. “Suzanne Warwick is a research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, who researches weed and crop evolution and is studying the environmental impact of commercially released GM modified canola crops,” he said. “Culcairn farmer and 2007 Nuffield Scholar, Mr Murray Scholz, will explain his recent study of the implications of herbicide tolerant GM crops on weed management in North America, Europe and South America.”