The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has named Charles Sturt University (CSU) as the winner of its Club Red Corporate Challenge in Wagga Wagga for the second successive year. The University made the highest number of blood donations of businesses in Wagga Wagga in 2008. During a visit to CSU at Wagga Wagga by the Red Cross donor mobile unit, the Club Red Corporate Challenge trophy was presented to the University, with donations by CSU staff and students totalling 233 in 2008. The University’s blood donation efforts continue in 2009 as part of CSU’s 20th anniversary celebrations. The University has issued a ‘North-South’ challenge in March where the total staff and student blood donations at CSU at Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst (North) will be tallied against donations at Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga (South). Read more here.

While 2009 provides Charles Sturt University (CSU) with an opportunity to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the year is also a time to honour the 114-year tradition of excellence and innovation in teaching, learning and research. The University was established when the Charles Sturt University Act was passed by the NSW Parliament in July 1989, however the institution’s history can be traced back to the Bathurst Experimental Farm, established in 1895.The official opening ceremony for the University’s 20th anniversary will be held from 11am, Thursday 12 March, in Joyes Hall at CSU at Wagga Wagga. Read more here.

Almost $1 500 has been raised for the Leukaemia Foundation World’s Greatest Shave by a staff member at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga. Multimedia Officer Mr Ian Hamilton, from the CSU Division of Learning and Teaching Services, said farewell to his locks and his beard on Friday 12 March. Ably supported by his CSU workmates and with sponsorship from local businesses, Mr Hamilton declared his hair loss a resounding success. Local hairdresser, Ms Bree Harrison from Mayhem Hair, gave her skills to the fundraiser free of charge. In thanking everyone for their support Ian said, “I have known people who have battled leukaemia so any money I could raise goes to a great cause”. The World’s Greatest Shave ran from Thursday 12 March until Saturday 14 March to support patients with blood cancers and to fund vital research.

The search for treatments to beat such modern day diseases as cancer and diabetes is prompting scientists to examine traditional medicines used by Indigenous Australians. Native plants including Prickly Fanflower were used by Indigenous Australians and Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Philip Kerr is investigating their potential as anti-cancer and anti-diabetic medicine. “Australian and other naturalised flora represent a vast, untapped reserve of potential eco-friendly medicinal agents,” he said. Other plants under investigation include Desert Poplar, Sticky Goodenia, Stiff-leaved Bottlebrush and the well known weed Bathurst Burr which may have the potential to combat cancer. Dr Kerr says his interest was triggered while studying in Western Australia where a controversial ‘cancer treatment’ derived from an Australian native plant was being dispensed to terminal cancer patients. "For many years, natural products from Australian flora had been studied but with no apparent connection to their medicinal potential, but with the renewed interest in medicinal plants worldwide, that interest has burgeoned," he said. 

The Western Research Institute (WRI) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst is celebrating 10 years of research that has charted and informed developments in rural and regional Australia. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, complimented the organisation on this milestone, saying “WRI is celebrating its 10th birthday in the same year that Charles Sturt University is celebrating its 20th. WRI and CSU have worked together on many projects that have helped shape and paint a picture of inland Australia. On behalf of CSU, I congratulate WRI on this significant achievement and look forward to working with the organisation over the next 10 years.” WRI Director, Mr Tom Murphy, said that when the WRI was established in 1999 the aim was to provide timely and factual data about trends and developments in regional Australia and the organisation has exceeded that aim. See more CSU 20th anniversary events here.

Members of the Wiradjuri and wider Border community can share their memories of the late Wiradjuri elder, Pastor Cec Grant, at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga on Friday 1 May. The life and work of Pastor Grant, or Wongamar, will be celebrated at the Annual Pastor Cec Grant Lecture, which will be presented by local CSU academic and Wiradjuri elder Yalmambirra. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Ross Chambers, said Pastor Grant made important contributions to Indigenous education at CSU. “The lecture will touch on Christianity and Indigenous culture and spirituality as a tribute to Pastor Grant and his vision,” Professor Chambers said. The evening event will commence with a barbeque at 5pm in front of the Nowik Lecture Theatres, then move into the main theatre for the lecture at 7pm. 

Director of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the former Director of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, Dr Dawn Casey, PSM, FAHA has been appointed to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Council. Dr Casey is the newest member of the University’s governing body following her appointment by the NSW Minister for Education and Training, the Hon. Verity Firth, MP, on recommendation from the CSU Council. Dr Casey, who is nationally and internationally recognised for her leadership of the Powerhouse Museum, the National Museum and the Western Australian Museum, has been appointed until June 2011. Dr Casey has made a major contribution to Indigenous policies and programs in Australia as well as to Australia’s cultural heritage, including. the establishment of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. She also initiated the joint Commonwealth-State response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as a senior executive in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Dr Casey’s appointment comes as the University celebrates the 20th anniversary of its establishment through the Charles Sturt University Act 1989. Read more here.

As part of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) 20th anniversary celebrations in 2009, a new art exhibition will be opened this week to highlight more than a century of Australian monotypes. The exhibition, MONO uno: Australian Monotypes in the Charles Sturt University Art Collection, will be opened at 6pm, Friday 27 March by Mr Damian Kelly, General Manager of the Print Council of Australia. “The CSU Art Collection holds more than 80 monotypes. Some of these are historically important, such as the work by A H Fullwood, ‘Valley View’, or R C W Bunny, ‘Reclining Nude’; the latter will tour in November through the Art Gallery of NSW to three capital cities,” said curator Mr Thomas Middlemost. The exhibition is one of many events to mark 20 years of CSU during 2009. See more 20th anniversary events here.

Ensuring a bright future for Australia’s agricultural industry through improved education of its future leaders will bring academics and industry representatives together at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga on Thursday 26 March. Hosted by the CSU School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, the industry advisory day will focus on the improvements made of the Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree, including the introduction of work placement in the course’s final year. “Various agricultural industry organisations will attend to help forge new relationships between the employers and educators of agriculturalists and to work on plans for the future to improve agricultural education in Australia,” said CSU lecturer Dr Alison Southwell. “By working together to produce the next generation of agriculturalists, we can make our graduates more ‘work ready’ and more capable of handling the challenges that agriculture faces in the future.”