Lecturers and PhD students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will judge the 2009 RoboCup Junior Central West competition at Dubbo Christian School on Thursday 25 June. They will also offer technical advice to school students and their teachers at the event. Associate lecturer and PhD student Mr Allen Benter, from the School of Accounting and Computer Science  at CSU at Bathurst, said RoboCup Junior is aimed at primary to secondary school children and introduces students to the international RoboCup World Championship. “RoboCup Junior focuses not only on engineering and computing skills, but also emphasises sportsmanship, teamwork, cooperation and organisational skills. The participants must construct and program a robot to compete in one of three events; Dance, Rescue or Soccer. The winners of the regional competition then advance to the state competition,” said Mr Benter, who is a PhD student with the Newcrest Mining Research Laboratory at the Universty’s Centre for Research in Complex Systems (CRiCS).

A veterinary science student at Charles Sturt University (CSU) is driving the renewal of environmental activism within the student body at CSU at Wagga Wagga. While a first year student in 2008, Ms Gemma Hawkins from Wagga Wagga established the Eco Active Club with 10 inaugural student members. Support has risen to 50 members in 2009. The group is involved with environmental advocacy in areas such as recycling, promoting transport such as bus and cycling and annual events like Clean Up Australia Day, Earth Hour and World Environment Day. The club also organises student outdoor activities such as rock climbing. With the support of the CSU Division of Facilities Management, Ms Hawkins pushed ahead with a student vegetable garden on campus with the first planting taking place in early June. “I’m hoping the concept of the garden will eventually expand to a common art space for students and the wider community,” said Ms Hawkins. “I feel there is a culture of change sweeping through the University and the student body is embracing action and more practical outcomes for the environment.”

Igniting an interest in all areas of science is the goal behind expos being hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga this week. Local high and primary school students will attend the Science in the Bush expo in Albury on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June. The days will include exhibitions, interactive talks, shows and workshops about all things science. Topics to be presented by a range of science organisations such as CSU, The University of Sydney, the Powerhouse Museum and Australian Museum include: ‘Life in a bucket of dirt’; ‘I like to move it, move it’; ‘All from a drop of blood’; and ‘Invertebrates, the backbones of our rivers’. Science in the Bush is hosted by CSU as a part of the Science in the City project run by the Australian Museum and its Executive Partner, The University of Sydney. A comprehensive program of activities can be found here.

Three expos are being held in north east Victoria this week to showcase Australian tertiary institutions and courses on offer in 2010. Over 40 institutions including Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be represented at the information days being held in Wangaratta today, Tuesday 23 June and in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 24 June. An earlier event was held in Shepparton on 22 June. Representatives from local and interstate universities, institutes of NSW TAFE and private providers are available to discuss career options with Years 11 and 12 students from Victoria and NSW. “The days present a great opportunity to find out about the courses of interest in one place at one time,” said CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Rebecca Gale Collins.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Orange boasts a newly refurbished football field thanks to funding from the Federal Government. The request for funding for the construction of a ‘soccer field, associated change rooms and weight training facilities’ at CSU at Orange was made to the Commonwealth under the Voluntary Student Unionism scheme in November 2006.  The $374 000 funding was approved in early 2007. During 2008 investigation of the site revealed that substantial earth works would be required to establish a soccer field.  The decision was made to run soccer games on the football oval, with soccer and rugby being played on alternate weeks.  This required an upgrade of the playing surface together with enhanced irrigation.  Additionally, new goal posts, soccer nets and corner flags had to be purchased for soccer games.

Anyone living in the Dubbo area who is interested in a career in nursing is invited to an information evening at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Dubbo on Wednesday 24 June. Ms Cathy Maginnis, Academic Adviser at Dubbo for the Bachelor of Nursing degree at the CSU School of Nursing and Midwifery, said “The evening is for Years 9-12 students, parents, teachers, mature-aged students, and anyone who already has some qualifications in nursing. It is open to those interested in becoming a registered nurse, and will explain what we have to offer them at the CSU Dubbo campus. There will be speakers from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, as well as the Director of Nursing at Dubbo Base Hospital, the Manager of Primary and Community Health Services, and current CSU nursing students and graduates,” Ms Maginnis said. The evening will conclude with a light supper.

High school students from Dubbo and surrounding towns will experience university life when they attend the two-day MyDay event at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Dubbo on 23 and 24 June. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Katy O’Brien, said, “MyDay is designed to give students a taste of university life so they know they can gain first-rate qualifications and start a career without having to leave the region. This is an important consideration in the present economic climate. MyDay will involve approximately 81 Years 10, 11 and 12 students over the two days, with students from outlying schools attending on Tuesday 23 June, and Dubbo students attending on Wednesday 24 June.” The participating schools include Dubbo Christian School, Dubbo College Senior Campus, Wellington High School, Gulgong High School, Molong Central School, Coolah Central School, Trundle Central School, Forbes High School, Mudgee High School, Coonamble High School, and Parkes High School.

A comparison of Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein with the futuristic film Bladerunner and finding connections and contrasts between female writers Jane Austen and Fay Weldon are all on the agenda at Charles Sturt University (CSU) this week. The annual HSC English Study Day will be held at CSU at Wagga Wagga on Friday 19 June. Staff from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences have joined forces with the Wagga Wagga branch of the English Teachers Association to organise lectures and workshops for up to 1 000 students from regional high schools as well as TAFE NSW Riverina Institute. The wide range of HSC English texts, including novels, plays and poetry, will be analysed and debated throughout the day. “We are looking forward to robust and insightful discussions about the many texts available in the HSC English syllabus in 2009,” said Mr David Gilbey, Senior Lecturer in English at the School of Humanities at Social Sciences at CSU at Wagga Wagga. Presentations will be given by CSU academics, high school teachers as well as CSU students training to be English teachers. “The rich mix of English texts up for consideration will hopefully benefit and delight HSC students as well as their teachers and CSU students about to embark on their careers as teachers.”

Researchers from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute of Land, Water and Society (ILWS)  will meet at Wagga Wagga for two days this week to focus on setting a research agenda to tackle the big issues facing the Murray Darling Basin. Institute Director Professor Max Finlayson said, “the inaugural forum is aimed at addressing the issues which are really challenging Australians in this region, such as learning to live with climate change and ensuring we maintain healthy people, communities and landscapes.” Around 70 CSU researchers based across the University will attend the forum and talk about environmental issues including restoring and sustaining our wetlands and valuing ecosystem services. Social researchers will focus on areas such as the future for regional natural resource management, human wellbeing and healthy communities, and developing regional business enterprise.  “It is important to get our researchers into one room to sit together and focus on the big issues at hand. We are all doing individual research projects but the old adage that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’ rings true,” Professor Finlayson said.