This Thursday, Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be the venue for a significant public event organised by ActionAid which will see Ugandan mother of 11, Ms Polly Apio speak about her life in Africa. According to ActionAid, one billion people will go to bed hungry tonight. Not because there’s not enough food to go around, but because the food system is broken. Ms Apio offers a solution. She grows crops on a small family plot producing enough for her family and a little extra to sell. Women like Ms Apio grow up to 90 per cent of the food in sub-Saharan Africa and, if they had access to the same support and services that their male counterparts have, could alleviate hunger among the most vulnerable people in the world. At the public discussion Ms Apio will cover food security in sub-Saharan Africa, the role of women farmers and why sustainable small scale agriculture is so important for Australia as well as Africa.

For the second successive year, a small group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students will take the skills acquired during their studies to help young Fijians living in an orphanage in the capital Suva. Three students from St Martin’s College at CSU in Wagga Wagga will spend a week from Saturday 25 June volunteering at St Christopher’s Orphanage. Head of St Martin’s College, the Reverend Jenny Willsher is organising and participating in the trip. “This volunteer work will assist the students to further develop leadership skills and give them an opportunity to learn more about themselves and how they can be more effective in their own communities – especially rural Australia, once they have completed their Charles Sturt University studies.” The three volunteers include arts and education students from Armidale, Leeton and Sydney. At the orphanage, they will work in the pre-school, undertake tutoring of primary and high school students as well as do some cleaning and work in the vegetable gardens. “This year we have also been asked to help cover the university fees for one of the girls from St Christopher’s who is studying medicine with the Fiji School of Medicine,” said Rev. Willsher. “Students from St Martin’s College are currently fundraising. We will take all funds raised with us when we visit.”

The capacity of rural communities to cope with changed climate conditions will be discussed at a symposium at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga this week. Organised by the EH Graham Centre and NSW Department of Primary Industries, the symposium will feature presentations from a number of CSU staff and students. CSU PhD student, Ms Katrina Sinclair, will outline the experience of the Wakool Shire in southern NSW, where a project involving CSU researchers is helping the community reinvigorate itself in the face of reduced water allocations. She said the challenges of  a changing climate combined with economic and social pressure means some farmers will need to prepare for fundamental change. “My research is exploring the ways government and organisations can help farmers and communities respond to a future that is desirable, viable and durable.”  The symposium will be attended by more than 100 people from the NSW DPI, CSU and Bureau of Meterology.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will join with 20 other higher education providers to showcase its education opportunities to local high school students at the North East Victoria Tertiary Education Tour on Monday 20 June in Shepparton, and on Tuesday 21 June in Wangaratta. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Emily Hill, said the expo provides an important opportunity for students to compare what higher education providers around Victoria and southern NSW can offer. “Nearly 1 300 high school students are due to attend the events in Shepparton and Wangarrata, which presents a great oportunity for regional students to access course information from a variety of institutions. The knowledge shared at these events will help students to make informed decisions about their options for life beyond Year 12,” Ms Hill said. The Shepparton event will run from 11am to 2.30pm in the Mercy Centennial Stadium, Notre Dame Catholic College, corner of Skene and Knight Streets, Shepparton. The Wangaratta event will run from 9.15am to 12.45pm in Performing Arts Centre, Wangaratta High School, Edward Street, Wangaratta.

Is mathematics and romance linked? Can numbers really influence your dating life? In the context of human behaviour, mathematics can provide unique and exciting insights. Residents of Wagga Wagga are invited to attend a dalliance at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Wagga Wagga City Council public lecture by Dr Clio Cresswell, a well known mathematician, author and writer who features regularly on television, radio and in print. Dr Cresswell will use equations to explain love, marital bliss and even the number of dates attendants should enjoy before settling down. The lecture will be held at Wagga Wagga Civic Centre Historic Council Chambers from 6pm on Thursday 29 March. Lovers will not only leave with some great romance tips, but also a rekindled sense of how amazing mathematics is.

Staff from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Dubbo Campus will walk together to support Relay for Life this Saturday 31 March. The “Smarties” team, comprising CSU staff and their families, will take to Victoria Park Oval, Dubbo along with 67 other teams to raise funds for cancer research, education, support services and advocacy. “There are a lot of people on our campus who have been affected by cancer in one way or another,” says team coordinator Jenny Greene. Team members have been encouraged by the donations already received from fellow CSU staff and students, with a successful skipping competition raising another $800. “We had so much fun organising the skipping competition and can’t wait until the weekend to raise money again for such a worthy cause.” To make a donation online, visit the “Smarties” website.

A group of students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) has raised more than $2 500 to help children at a flood affected primary school in southern Queensland. The money raised by CSU Residential Advisors has been donated to the Grantham State School, which is located in one of the small communities devasted by flash flooding in January. CSU Manager of Residential Operations in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, Mr Peter Bell said the Residential Advisors took it upon themselves to raise the money by collecting donations. “Many of our students are from regional areas so they had a real connection with the devastation and tragic loss of life in Grantham,” he said.  Grantham State School Principal Ms Christie Minns says the money will help support the learning needs of students. “While the material damage can be repaired and the possessions replaced it is only within a stable environment that the emotional impact on children can be gradually addressed,” she said. “This contribution will help create that stability in the school context.”

The push for a medical school in Orange continues to gather momentum with Charles Sturt University (CSU) launching the Doctors 4 the Bush  website this Thursday 16 June. CSU recently submitted a detailed proposal to the Federal government to gain support for the establishment of an Integrated Health and Medical Education Precinct. This proposal aims to provide medical and health training for students and boost the number of health professionals for regional Australia to redress the shortage of doctors in the bush. The website has been established to allow supporters of this initiative to keep up-to-date with the latest information on rural doctor shortages and will feature updated information on CSU’s proposal and the opportunity to register support for ‘a fair go for the health of rural Australia’. The website will be officially launched by Medical Program Development Community Consultative Committee member Ms Audrey Hardman, OAM, at CSU in Orange on Thursday.

The 2011 Central West RoboCup Junior Challenge robotics competition will see students from schools across the region build and operate mini robots at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Tuesday 21 June. The coordinator of the competition, Mr Allen Benter, a PhD student and researcher at the CSU Centre for Research in Complex Systems (CRiCS) in Bathurst, said, “Charles Sturt University has been the official sponsor of the RoboCup Junior Challenge in the NSW Central West for the past two years with the event successfully taking place in Bathurst last year. Staff at the University have provided technical advice to students and their teachers, have been judges at previous RoboCup events, and in October last year we held a training workshop on campus in Orange for students and teachers. It’s very exciting to now see this developing field so enthusiastically embraced by schools in the region.”