A student from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst has been selected to take part in the 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain. Ms Makayla Bischof, a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) student from Cowra will attend the event from Tuesday 16 to Sunday 21 August. “I was selected based on my involvement in the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst,” said Ms Bischof. “I have been involved in the Cowra Youth group and youth festivals such as Manifest. I’m looking forward to a spiritual and a cultural experience. I loved World Youth Day held in Sydney in 2008 so much and am looking forward to the unity of different youth around the world coming together.” Ms Bischof will initially spend time in northern Spain exploring sacred sites and Spanish culture. “We will visit the provincial capital León and stand inside its famous cathedral with 182 stained-glass windows. We will stay in ancient Astorga, which is encircled by walls, and walk part of the Camino de Santiago, a Christian pilgrimage trail, before heading to Madrid for World Youth Day.” Ms Bischof’s trip is supported by CSU Global, the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, and the Parish of Cowra.

A mosaic wall mural thought to be the largest in Australia will be dedicated at a ceremony at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in Canberra on Thursday 4 August. The Executive Director of centre, Reverend Professor James Haire, AM, said, “The ‘Mural wall of the Holy Spirit in our land’ is a ceramic mosaic derived from a painting by Mr Hector Jandany, a Christian and an elder, lawman and custodian of the Gija people of the East Kimberley region in Western Australia. The original painting is in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and the mural, approved by Hector during his lifetime, was executed by Mosaics by Morrisey. In the painting and the mural, the Holy Spirit is depicted in the form of the white owl of the Gija people, whose lands extend from Warmun to Texas Downs in the East Kimberley. The Holy Spirit watches over us all.” The Governor-General of Australia, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC, and Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, AC, CBE, DSG, will dedicate the mural at 3pm, Thursday 4 August at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, 15 Blackall St, Barton, Canberra, ACT.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will host special visitors and a public lecture in the weeks ahead. Head of Campus, Dr Bev Moriarty, said the Dubbo Men’s Probus club will visit the campus on Tuesday 2 August to inspect University facilities, including the new CSU Dental Clinic. “I’m also delighted that two representatives from Dubbo City Council’s sister-city, Minokamo, in Japan, Mr Ryohei Sago, a retired head master, and Ms Hiroe Yamauchi, an elementary school teacher, will tour the campus and the CSU Dental Clinic on Wednesday 3 August,” Dr Moriarty said. “And on Wednesday 10 August, the University will host a free public lecture, Water, Drought and Climate Change, by Professor David Mitchell from the CSU School of Environmental Sciences and Institute for Land, Water and Society. This very interesting and relevant topic is already attracting strong local interest from around Dubbo.”

The solitude of US servicemen serving in the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan and Russian coasts are seen in 24 arresting images of war depicting the Kiska battlefield through the lens of US master craftsman and artist Mr Sam Maloof. These have also been re-visited by contemporary artist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann in 24 corresponding photographs. The exhibition, titled Solitude Recaptured opened on 23 July at March Field Air Museum at Riverside, California, USA. “While Sam Maloof is well known as a master craftsman of fine mid-century furniture, this exhibition shows he already had an ‘artist’s eye’ when he was a young soldier,” Professor Spennemann said. “It was a great opportunity to ‘re-vision’ Kiska 60 years later and to exhibit alongside Maloof’s images”. This travelling exhibit was developed by the US National Park Service Alaska Regional Office, The Aleutian WW II National Historic Area and CSU. The exhibit runs until Saturday 3 December.

Former and current police officers and school teachers are sought to participate in Charles Sturt University (CSU) research about decision-making in their careers. The study by Ms Loene Howes, a psychology student and a teacher for 14 years, will focus on the career decision-making of police officers and teachers who stay in these professions or enter new careers. “In particular, I need former school teachers and police officers who have gone into other fields, as well as current police officers and school teachers, to complete an anonymous online survey,” said Ms Howes. "The survey usually takes 10 to 30 minutes to complete, depending on how many questions are relevant to the experience of the individual completing the survey. I hope my research will be of use to police officers and teachers considering career change, counsellors assisting police officers and teachers with career transitions, and police and education departments in addressing the needs of staff and keeping experienced staff in the professions.” The survey can be found here. 

Scientists and administrators from India are visiting the Border this week to investigate how Australia is managing the often conflicting uses for limited water resources. Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society is hosting the 14 person group, from Loktak in Manipur state and Chilika, Bhubaneswar, for their three-day visit to CSU in Albury-Wodonga and its surrounding natural and artificial wetlands. ILWS director, Professor Max Finlayson, said, “Indian wetland managers face competing interests for water resources, such as hydro-electricity, irrigation, domestic supply, and the environment, which we are also addressing in the Murray Darling Basin. This is a great opportunity for both countries to learn how we can more effectively manage our water resources for all our users.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has this week welcomed the Australian Red Cross mobile Blood Donor service onto its Bathurst Campus to encourage staff, students and community members to give blood. Professor Greg Walker, Head of CSU’s Bathurst Campus, said, “We know that, according to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, the gap between the number of blood donors and the number of Australians who need blood will widen unless Australians step up their efforts as blood donors. CSU is proud to support this vital service and encourage our staff, students and community members to give blood regularly. We’ve supported Red Cross blood donations on the Bathurst Campus since the 1970s.” Potential donors should contact the service directly on 13 14 95 to make an appointment, and allow at least 45 minutes for the donation process.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 28 March, marks 68 years since the fall of Madrid in the Spanish Civil War. It is thought about sixty Australians travelled to Spain to fight the fascists who eventually succeeded in overturning the democratically elected government. Mr Kevin Poynter from Charles Sturt University’s Visual and Performing Arts School is currently working on a play about what motivated these men to fight. He describes them as “passionate” and “romantic”. Mr Poynter says most Australians tended to join the British Brigade. “The war was particularly horrific. There are some very gruesome stories of those international brigades when they were flung into some desperate battles and lost half the brigade in 24 hours.” About 500 000 people lost their lives in the Spanish Civil War, and the war's end brought a period of dictatorship that lasted until the mid-1970s.

Accessibility and human rights instead of rigid funding should be the priorities when planning health care services for rural and remote Australia, says Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Professor of Rural and Remote Pharmacy Patrick Ball. Professor Ball studied four communities in central west NSW as part of his examination of the provision of health services outside metropolitan Australia. “Governments have put forward centrally controlled, standardised solutions based on defined services and bricks and mortar,” he said. “We have evidence to show that rural and remote areas need more flexibility in allowing individual communities to meet their health needs and more emphasis on access to services rather than what hospital and which health facilities are located where.” Professor Patrick Ball will present a free public lecture on his research from 6pm in West Wyalong on Wednesday 3 August.