Dr Elaine Dietsch, a Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, will give a public talk about violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at a forum on CSU’s Bathurst Campus on Wednesday 2 May. After several trips to Kenya and the DRC in recent years, Dr Dietsch pledged to publicise the plight of Congolese women who are the ongoing victims of rape and mutilation by warring factions and rebel forces in central Africa. Dr Dietsch will explain how Australians can contribute to improving the lives of Congolese women and their babies. A fund-raising ‘Quilt for Congo’ made by fellow CSU School of Nursing and Midwifery lecturer, Debbie Clatworthy, will also be on display. Intending audience members are advised that this presentation - No longer silenced … Congolese women share their stories of survival - is for adults only; strictly no children.

Two outstanding podiatry students will receive prizes at a ceremony for top academic students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health on Thursday 26 April. Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Science Professor Nick Klomp will present 23 Dean’s Awards and the two prizes during the ceremony, which is expecting up to 100 attendees. The prize-winning podiatry students are Sarah De Groot, who won the Australian Podiatry Association (NSW) Biomechanics Prize, and Sarah Marshall who will be awarded the InterPod Podiatry Prize.

An international book by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic about how children learn to speak will be launched on Thursday 26 April. Associate Professor Sharynne McLeod’s new International Guide to Speech Acquisition lists the components and phonetics of twelve English dialects and 26 other languages, making it the most comprehensive text of its kind. “The International Guide to Speech Acquisition describes the process by which children learn different dialects and different languages. Some of the information has never been translated into English before. If an English-speaking child has a Norwegian mother and a Filipino father, and they are having difficulty in all three languages, this guide can assist the speech pathologist or teacher to help the child.”

For those with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background who are interested in attending university, Charles Sturt University (CSU) has launched a new program which will make the university experience more attainable. CSU’s Indigenous Student Services has introduced a new skills assessment program called Darrambal. “Darrambal means ’footmarks’ or ’roadway’ and is used here to represent the lifelong journey of learning we all travel,” explains CSU’s Indigenous Student Services manager, Mr Ray Eldridge. “The program assesses each person’s skills, abilities and potential to succeed in their preferred course of study. Students who successfully the complete Darrambal program may be offered a place at Charles Sturt University to study their chosen course.” Any person who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may attend. “This is the perfect program for anyone who would like to study at university but are not sure if they satisfy the usual entry requirements.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Professor Cilla Kinross, the coordinator of Biodiversity Day, a free community event on Sunday 17 October, says, “Our role as educators plays a big part in why Charles Sturt University gets involved in community events like a Biodiversity Day”. Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, or on an entire planet, and 2010 was declared the International Year of Biodiversity. The Biodiversity Day will focus on the importance of biodiversity through a program of talks relating to biodiversity of the Central West, as well as fun events for the whole family. In the International Year of Biodiversity, CSU is conscious of its involvement in research and education within the local community and further afield to ensure more is understood about biodiversity. “The Biodiversity Day aims to give the general public a better understanding of our flora and fauna and its natural habitat.There will be events for the whole family throughout the day and prizes to be won,” Dr Kinross said. The Orange Biodiversity Day will take place at the Orange Botanic Gardens on Sunday 17 October. For bookings, timetable and further information, please contact Professor Cilla Kinross on ckinross@csu.edu.au  or phone 6365 7651.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) reinforced its place as the leading agricultural university in Australia when 10 students from CSU won the University Teams Award in the second Australian University Crops competition recently held in Temora, NSW. Guided by Dr Sergio Moroni and PhD student Mr Jeff McCormick from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences in Wagga Wagga, competitors were tested on crop seed identification, business strategy, weed identification and soil analysis. Five CSU students were placed in the top 10 of 41 competitors from six universities. The top placed CSU student was Mr Andrew Gillet, who was second, while Mr Dwayne Schubert was fifth, Mr James Kanaley (sixth), Mr Victor Clifton (seventh), and Mr James Whitley (ninth).

A partnership between Albury-Wodonga’s Cooinda Family Support Group and the speech pathology course in Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health will see 19 families from the Border region receive individual assistance for their children’s speech development needs. The community project will see third year speech pathology students work closely with the families and program supervisor Dr Carl Parsons, who is a senior speech pathologist and patron of the Down’s Syndrome Association of Victoria. Dr Parsons is concerned at the shortage of speech pathologists working in regional Australia. “Families should not feel isolated due to their rural and regional situation,” he said. Dr Parsons will speak with the CSU students between 11am and 12.30pm today, Monday 30 April in Nowik Lecture Room 2 at Charles Sturt University, Guinea St, Albury, followed by participating families at 1pm. During this time, students will meet the families they will work with from May to November 2007.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher says the Australian public is still clinging to damaging stereotypes in regards to the victims of domestic violence, despite public campaigns such as the Federal Government’s Violence Against Women Australia Says No. Trea Sanson-Fisher will be awarded her doctorate about public perceptions of domestic violence at CSU’s Bathurst graduation on Friday 11 May. She says although her community interviewees was more likely than the judicial system to recommend jailing the perpetrator, the interviewees thought the victim was partly responsible for the domestic violence if she had been drinking. Ms Sanson-Fisher added, “However, when the violence was severe and required a trip to hospital, the sample would ‘let go’ of a lot of stereotypes. It seems society is getting the message about severe domestic violence, but not quite getting the message about a slap or a push.”

An international perspective on the value of networks for rural women will be presented at a public seminar at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Thursday 3 May. The University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society will host Professor Carolyn Sachs from Pennsylvania State University in USA, who is an expert in sustainable agriculture, farm women’s networks and the impact of government policy on rural women. The Institute’s Professor Margaret Alston said Professor Sachs will offer an international perspective on the importance of rural women’s networks. “Professor Sachs’ work is internationally recognised,” Professor Alston said. “She comes to us from Rome where she has spent three months working in the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation. She will speak on issues that also affect Australian rural women during drought and in a period of great change in the industry.” The free public seminar will start at 4.30pm on Thursday 3 May in Nowik Auditorium, Guinea St, Albury.