Experts from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Port Macquarie will join government, industry and community leaders from across Australia for Regional Development Australia’s (RDA) Strategic Regional Leadership Conference on Friday 26 October. The conference will examine the importance of regional education provision in light of the communication revolution, which has allowed the development of a mobile and skilled workforce around the country. As a conference sponsor, CSU has made 25 tickets available for young people within the Port Macquarie region to attend. Head of CSU in Port Macquarie, Professor Ross Chambers, will chair a panel discussion on the effects of the digital revolution. The discussion will include Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood and AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn. CSU in Port Macquarie Campus Director, Dr Muyesser Durur, will chair a panel discussion with regional youth and future leaders. The event is designed to inspire government, industry and community leaders to embrace change, learn from experts and create strategies to identify gaps in regional services and make the most of opportunities.

There’s nothing quite like a musical recital at sunset to appreciate the finer things in life. On Friday 2 November, Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Wagga Wagga City Council will co-host Music Under The Leaves in the city’s Botanic Gardens. The recital by members of the Riverina Conservatorium of Music is a widely anticipated annual event, and this year it features classical guitar, the RCM Staff Jazz Ensemble, Meredith and The Conmen, and Clarinessence. Well known performers, Jeff Donovan, Tamaris Pfeiffer, Lauren Davis, Brett Thompson and Meredith Adams are part of the impressive line-up. The event will start at 6pm in the Botanic Gardens, Macleay Street. CSU wine will be served after the performance.

They are less than two months from their graduation from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, and the final-year animation and visual effects students will put their art on display during a free screening of students’ recently completed films in Wagga Wagga on Sunday 21 October. Lecturer Mr Andrew Hagan from the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Wagga Wagga said, “Over their three-year degree, the students have gone from drawing basic concept sketches through to creating sophisticated internationally-competitive animations. Embracing the rich history of traditional animation with the latest advances in industry-leading software, the students have painstakingly created hundreds of thousands of frames. I encourage the local community to come along and celebrate these meticulously crafted artworks in high-definition projection and cinema-quality sound.” The Bachelor of Arts (Animation and Visual Effects) students are due to graduate from CSU in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 11 December. The Animation And Visual Effects Graduate Screening 2012 will begin with refreshments from 6pm at the Forum 6 Cinemas in Trail Street, Wagga Wagga and then the screening starts at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public. You can view a trailer for the Animation And Visual Effects Graduate Screening 2012 here. Meanwhile, an exhibition of the art of final-year photography students from CSU in Wagga Wagga opens on Saturday 20 October. Read more on CSU News here.

A regional youth road safety campaign, to be implemented in the NSW central west in 2013, will use the creative ideas of one of four teams from the Kajulu Communications student advertising agency at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst. Ms Anne Llewellynn, advertising lecturer in the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Bathurst, said, “I am delighted that our students  have developed such an attitude-changing campaign about road safety aimed at their peers in the region. Our agency gives students the opportunity to work on real client briefs such as this, so they are ready to hit the ground running when they graduate at the end of the year. The great outcome from this client brief is that the campaign will hopefully change the attitudes of young drivers and reduce the road toll in the region.” Four final-year Kajulu advertising teams were briefed by Ms Iris Dorsett, Tablelands Area Road Safety Officer, to competitively prepare integrated marketing communication recommendations for a regional road safety campaign funded by Bathurst and Blayney Regional Councils. “What a success,” Ms Dorsett said. “The students accepted and embraced this challenge and produced professional and exciting campaigns. Plans are already underway to apply their creative ideas for road safety education in the Tablelands Area, and the winning team's work will be launched in February 2013.”

Almost 280 000 Australians suffer from dementia and Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Adam Hamlin will discuss what happens to the brain as we age at a free public lecture in West Wyalong on Thursday 25 October. Dr Hamlin, from CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences, will outline current breakthroughs in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, and what scientists are doing to find potential treatments for these conditions. “One of the greatest challenges of modern neuroscience is to understand what happens to the brain as we age and why it becomes vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” he said. “At the moment there’s no cure and no drugs that slow the progression of the disease. If we are going to find a cure or a treatment we must be able to detect it early.” A National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow, Dr Hamlin is carrying out research to discover more about brain cell death in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Read more on CSU News here.

Residents of the Albury-Wodonga region are being asked to give feedback on a new device used to assess feet for developing orthotics for inside shoes. Final year podiatry Honours student with Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health, Ms Romany Vonarx, is assessing the accuracy of the device, developed in Melbourne. “The device aims to make orthotic prescription more consistent and save patients money. We want to see if it actually does what it says,” said Ms Vonarx, who is looking for 60 people aged 18 or older from the Border region to take part in her study. The investigation, which runs from Monday 29 October for three months, will be carried out at the University’s Allied Health Clinic, corner Olive and Guinea Streets, Albury. To take part in the project, contact Ms Vonarx via email or telephone the CSU clinic on (02) 6051 9299.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Faculty of Business will present a $1 000 prize to Wodonga Senior College on Monday 22 October, as the regional winner of the Game On business studies simulation competition for senior students. Dr Abbey Dwivedi from CSU’s School of Management and Marketing will present the cheque at a school assembly at 10.50am to the winning team, JMB  Motors, which consisted of three Year 11 students – Mr Jake Morris, Mr Mitch Anderson and Ms Brianna Bice. “The CSU business simulation is designed to assist HSC students undertake their business-related studies by providing a competitive and real-life scenario that reflects what many of today's businesses encounter,” Dr Dwivedi said. “During the simulation, students had to make decisions that impacted their business performance. The activities were designed to be ‘real-life’ as much as possible, as this enhances the student learning experience, which is a key part of the University’s business teaching strategy.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will have a bigger-than-usual footprint at the Australian National Field Days when it unveils its new, larger, outdoor site today. The University has traditionally been represented with a stand in the education pavilion at the annual event, but School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences academic Ms Shevahn Telfser said this year’s larger stand would provide space for interactive demonstrations. “The stand will feature a horse skeleton which visitors can help assemble as they learn the names of each part, and a display of common and not-so-common fruits and vegetables which visitors can examine and name,” Ms Telfser said. “The idea is to engage visitors with some fun, educational activities they will be required to complete in order to earn a visitor’s bag. The Field Days is a great opportunity to not only show school-aged visitors what Charles Sturt University can offer them, but to also demonstrate our continuing commitment to agricultural science and business degrees in Orange.” The Australian National Field Days will run from today Tuesday 16 October to Thursday 18 October at Borenore near Orange.

The Ride2Uni Day on Wednesday 17 October will see staff and students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) showing the Albury-Wodonga community the health and economic benefits of commuting to work via bicycle. Nearly 30 riders took part in an earlier bike event in September, so organisers are expecting greater numbers as the warmer weather encourages more riders to hit the road. Organiser for the event at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Mr Wes Ward, said he started riding 10 years ago when he was told he would have to have his knees replaced within five years after many years of road running. “Thirteen years later, cycling to work up to four days a week from central Albury to the University’s Thurgoona site continues to keep me fit, calms my mind before work, saves me money on fuel, and I still have my original knees,” Mr Ward said. The Ride2Uni event in Albury-Wodonga is part of the national Ride2Work Day being held in workplaces across Australia on Wednesday 17 October.