Whether noodles and bread are made out of the same flour will be discovered by high school students at an agriculture enrichment day in Wagga Wagga on Monday 4 September. One hundred students from around the Riverina region will receive hands-on experience during the day at the E H Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation between 9am and 2.30pm. The Year 10 and 11 students will see what it is like to work in the field of agricultural science with practical activities that are currently used to solve problems in agriculture. Other activities include “What weed is that?”, ”Check out salinity in our waterways”, “How do you transfer a virus in the plant world?” and ”Explore the world of plant DNA”. The E H Graham Centre is an alliance between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and NSW Department of Primary Industries.

The changing global communications environment and the increasing role of the consumer were the hot topics when the CEO of the International Advertising Association (IAA) World Secretariat spoke to Charles Sturt University (CSU) advertising students last week. Michael Lee, also the immediate past IAA President, was invited to the Bathurst Campus by Rod McCulloch, CSU’s Advertising course coordinator. “Mr Lee is very familiar with CSU because we have won the IAA’s student advertising competition InterAd three times in six years, the only university in the world to have done so. He is very supportive of what we do here”. Mr McCulloch says the IAA is the industry’s peak body. “It has a presence in over 70 countries and has over 4 000 members. The IAA supports the role of advertising in the community and the fostering of professional development and education.”

Being described as a “Walkley winning journalist of the future” must be a heady feeling for any communication student. Matthew Brann, a Charles Sturt University theatre media student in Bathurst has just taken out the radio section of the 2006 JUST Super Student Journalist of the Year Award, announced by JUST Super and the Walkley Foundation. Matthew says his radio item, A Darling Place grew out of his major work last year. “I travelled the Darling River doing stories about the river and its impact on the local communities, where the drought is really affecting small towns. I focused on my own style, which uses a lot of music and actuality.” The judges obviously liked what they heard, saying A Darling Place was a “lovely, whimsical yarn. It provides a wonderful slice of country life that is not often heard in mainstream Australian media”.

Jenny Dickinson, a graduate of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) double degree in psychology and teaching in Bathurst, is one of five young Indigenous people featured in a booklet urging Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders to “join our mob” and become teachers in the New South Wales public school system. The booklet was produced by teach.NSW Public Education, and Jenny was nominated by her principal at Moree East Public School. “I was the first Aboriginal student to accomplish the double degree at CSU,“ Ms Dickinson said. “I became a teacher because it allows me to indulge my passion for Indigenous education. I think it is very important to encourage Indigenous people into teaching. Discrimination is still alive and well in my opinion.”

Chickpeas are being put to the taste test at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga as part of research that aims to develop the export market and diversify the Australian diet. PhD student, Ms Soumi Paul Mukhopadhyay, from CSU’s School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences is examining consumer preferences for cooked chickpeas in Australia and India, which is the world’s largest consumer of chickpeas and a key market for Australian exporters. “The study involves sensory analysis of cooked chickpeas,” she said. “Understanding how chickpeas are used and identifying what sensory attributes influence consumers’ preferences could help pulse breeders select for those traits and ultimately lead to better market positioning of Australian product in India.”  Ms Paul Mukhopadhyay is looking for participants to take part in the study beginning on Tuesday 7 May. You can contact the CSU PhD student by email smukhopadhyay@csu.edu.au.

Australian Skeptics have retained their $110 000 prize after 84 tests were performed during the annual Mitta Muster near Albury-Wodonga on Sunday 10 March to see if anyone could demonstrate an ability to ‘divine’ water. In what was the world’s largest scientific test of water divining, 20 two litre bottles full of sand or water were placed randomly in an open area to see if water diviners could identify the contents of each bottle. There was no time limit and bottles were moved periodically throughout the day to ensure fairness. “The results showed no doubt,” said Charles Sturt University psychology lecturer and event organiser, Dr Krissy Wilson. “All results fell into the expected pattern for random results and no pattern for any ‘diving’ abilities. We had participants from across NSW and Victoria take the test, and none were scientifically proved to have any particular psychic ability to find water.” Chief investigator from Australian Skeptics, Mr Ian Bryce, observed that, “The results when charted revealed a classic ‘bell curve’ showing results that we would expect from random chance”. Australian Skeptics remain willing to search for the evidence that divining is a real phenomenon. The $110 000 prize remains available for anyone able to demonstrate any paranormal claim under controlled conditions.

To celebrate the launch of Charles Sturt University’s Pharmacy course in Orange, an ornate piece of local history has returned to the city after spending several years in Wagga Wagga. Two ornate carboys the large traditional glass vessels that are a recognised symbol of pharmacy were originally donated by Max McCarthy, the previous long time proprietor of McCarthy’s Pharmacy in Orange, to the Pharmacy course at CSU Wagga Wagga Campus in recognition of the establishment of the first pharmacy course offered in inland Australia. In the 18th & 19th centuries the carboy was used to show customers a sample or 'specie' of the drugs they would use in compounding medicines. One of these ornately decorated 50-centimetre tall jars has been returned to Orange to mark the introduction of CSU’s Pharmacy course at the Orange Campus. Mr McCarthy and Malcolm Rosborough, the current owner of McCarthy Pharmacy and a governor of the CSU Pharmacy Foundation will visit CSU Orange Campus to place the carboy on permanent display at the Pharmacy laboratory.

Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia will inspect the Wagga Wagga Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Thursday 12 October. He will be accompanied by a large delegation from Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 13 million. Head of the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus Professor David Green says the Prime Minister is visiting Wagga Wagga as part of his official visit to Australia. “The Cambodian Prime Minister expressed an interest in seeing Australian agricultural facilities, hence the visit to our Campus.” Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter said “it is very clear that our model of collaboration with government agencies and with industry, as demonstrated with the E H Graham Centre and the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, is a model for other countries to use.”  The Cambodian delegation will be briefed on current collaborations between the NSW Department of Primary Industry and Cambodian research institutions before a luncheon hosted by CSU. Professor Deirdre Lemerle, Director of the E H Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, a joint research venture between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, says the visit is a “tremendous opportunity to showcase our excellent research capacity in agriculture, and further develop our collaborative links with Cambodia to create profitable and sustainable agricultural systems.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher is looking for Border residents to help her find out whether measuring blood pressure in a person’s feet is a good indicator of heart disease. Ms Kelsey Cook, an Honours student in podiatry at the CSU School of Community Health, is looking for people from Albury-Wodonga aged between 33 and 55 years to take part in the research, which involves having a free check of blood pressure in your feet as well as a free blood test to screen for cholesterol and other signs of heart disease. “We are investigating the relationship between the risk factors for heart disease and their effect on blood flow to the lower legs and feet,” Ms Cook said. “If blood pressure in the foot is related to heart disease this could have important implications for the early detection of heart disease, which is particularly important for people living in rural and remote communities,” Ms Cook said. This will be the first research project to be based in the new Community Engagement and Wellness Centre (CEW) at CSU in Albury-Wodonga. To be involved in the study please contact the CEW on (02) 6051 9299.