The challenges of working to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in war torn African countries will be featured in a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 11 May 2011. In the lecture titled Sex, babies, money, violence and genetics, international genetics consultant and adjunct senior lecturer with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dr Sara McClintock will share her experiences working with the International Livestock Research Centre in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.  “I was running a lab trying to produce cheap embryos that would produce 95 per cent female calves to increase the profitability of a local farmer’s cow so she could afford to send her children to school and feed them a little milk.” Dr McClintock said in times of civil unrest, crops are often destroyed, seed stocks stolen and farm animals eaten by the tribal militias. “These animals are usually a local breed that has survived in tough conditions, may be worm resistant or have a low feed requirement,” she said. “One of the solutions is to conserve germ plasma, such as semen, in liquid nitrogen but this can be politically sensitive because many developing countries are paranoid about developed countries stealing their genetic material.”

Fresh from his presentation at a conference in the United Kingdom, the Manager of Residential Operations at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, Mr Peter Bell will discuss an innovative youth educational program at a public lecture in Narrandera on Wednesday 18 May. At the Association for Student Residential Accommodation conference in Edinburgh in early April, Mr Bell delivered a presentation on the program, Putting Youth in the Picture. He discussed how CSU is rolling out the program across its regions after securing the first NSW licence in 2010. Designed to assist local communities in dealing with confronting issues for young people, Putting Youth in the Picture has already been implemented in the University’s Halls of Residences. “This program is about empowering local communities through their local councils, school or sporting groups to use the program’s resources to hopefully prevent their young people from getting into difficulties,” Mr Bell said.

A special presentation ceremony will be held on Wednesday 11 May for postgraduate information technology (IT) graduates following the Faculty of Business graduation ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 11 May. Mr Martin Hale, an adjunct senior lecturer in computing at CSU and the chief executive officer of IT Masters Pty Ltd, a partner organisation with the University, said the special ceremony recognises the achievement of these higher degree graduates following their formal graduation that day. “This event helps to celebrate the students’ achievements, and provides the opportunity for many who have studied by distance education to meet their fellow students,” Mr Hale said. “They will also be presented with their special IT Masters graduation jackets by the Head of the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics, Associate Professor Irfan Altas. The IT Masters special graduation celebration will be held from 5pm onwards on Wednesday 11 May after the conclusion of the Faculty of Business graduation ceremony. The event is on the first floor of the Mansfield Building (building C2, the main lecture block near the Library) at CSU in Bathurst.

Teaching and education courses at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst are the focus of the MyDay promotion at the University on Friday 13 May. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Fran Dwyer, said, “This MyDay will provide senior high school students from around the region with general information and interactive sessions with academics from the School of Teacher Education at Charles Sturt University. This enables students to have a clearer view of their tertiary study options and career opportunities in the important field of education.” Approximately 68 senior students from 22 high schools in the region and beyond will attend.

The education of teachers has been a core part of Charles Sturt University (CSU) and its predecessor institutions since 1947 with the establishment of the Wagga Wagga Teachers’ College. A public forum will be held on Tuesday 24 May to discuss teachers’ important role in our diverse society. “Everyone's talking about the need for great teachers in every classroom, so how do we produce quality teachers?” asks Head of the School of Education  at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Associate Professor Roslyn Brennan Kemmis. “In our increasingly complex society, it is important that we examine the university subjects offered to education students to ensure we prepare them for a world that is rapidly changing. We need to produce teachers that are lifelong learners and agents of change within the reality of today’s schools and prepare students as 21st century teachers.

There’s a dentist in Dubbo who is all smiles about his new position at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Dental and Oral Health Clinic  in Dubbo. Dr Janaka Nishantha Rupasinga and his family recently moved to Dubbo so he could take up this exciting new challenge and give Dubbo more accessible dental care. “My wife is also a dentist and she is hoping that once our two year old gets older, she will be able to start practicing in Dubbo too.” The CSU Dental and Oral Health Clinic boasts 16 dental chairs in total, with the aim of CSU’s dentistry students providing patient care alongside professional dentists. “We hope to work alongside other local dentists and take the pressure of their waiting lists to ensure everyone living in the region receives fast and efficient dental care.” To book an appointment with Dr Janaka contact 1300 278 642 (1300 CSU OHC).

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication and Creative Industries will co-host, with the Centre for Media History, a two-day interdisciplinary symposium in Bathurst on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 May to mark the centenary of the ‘bible of the bush’ in NSW, The Land newspaper. Ms Margaret Van Heekeren, lecturer in journalism at the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said the symposium, titled The Land: Past, Present and Future, will bring together media scholars to reflect on how the media sees rural and regional Australia. “The idea for the symposium was sparked by The Land anniversary but the symposium is really a broader look at how rural and regional areas have been represented in media, and how they interact with media. We have presentations covering newspapers as well as radio and film,” Ms Van Heekeren said. Academics from several universities will present papers on a range of topics related to The Land newspaper, and the general media coverage of issues affecting rural Australia in the last 100 years.

The latest in animation and visual effects will be shown in Wagga Wagga during the 8th annual Australian International Animation Festival, hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in May. “The 2011 event at the Forum 6 Cinema has secured amazing exclusives from more than 2 000 submissions from all around the world,” said festival organiser Mr Andrew Hagan from the School of Communication and Creative Industries  at CSU in Wagga Wagga. The festival will premiere on Friday 13 May at 6pm with the first International Competition program. On Saturday 14 May, there will be a special presentation by Australian filmmakers. “We’ve enticed as many of the filmmakers as we could to take the stage after the screening so they can talk about animating in Australia and to answer questions. There are programs for younger audiences and even a late night event for those whose tastes lurch to the truly odd and unfathomable.” There will also be free talks and workshops by filmmakers from local and international filmmakers. See the full program here.

Prizes and awards for high-achieving Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in the Faculty of Business for the 2010 academic year will be presented at the Dean’s List Award ceremony in Bathurst on Tuesday 10 May. The new Dean of the Faculty of Business, Professor Lesley White, said, “In any given semester, there are students who achieve an outstanding academic record in Faculty of Business courses in the on campus, distance education, or offshore tutorial modes. The Dean’s Awards are the formal recognition of these outstanding achievements, and we are able to award 155 individual prizes for the 2010 academic year to graduating and continuing students.” A total of 124 students were nominated across all the University’s campuses for inclusion on the Dean’s List for the 2010 academic year. Twenty-nine students are expected to attend the presentation luncheon in Bathurst to receive their prizes and awards, 11 students from the School of Accounting, 13 from the School of Business, and five from the School of Computing and Mathematics. One outstanding Bachelor of Business (Finance) student from Bathurst is Ms Rebecca Hood who is graduating with distinction. Ms Hood has been a Dean’s List award recipient in 2008 and 2009, and has again achieved outstanding results in 2010, recognition of 19 high distinctions and four distinctions achieved while completing her degree.