Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) range of high quality cheeses is set to tempt tastebuds and tantalise tourists. Tourism NSW is sponsoring a media tour for travel journalists to highlight some of the outstanding attractions and tourism products available in the Riverina region. The group will visit the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus cheese factory on Wednesday 28 February at 10:15am to taste test CSU cheeses. The tour party includes journalists from the Australian Traveller, the Sun Herald, the Open Road and other publications. CSU cheese maker Barry Lillywhite says: “This sort of national media exposure is invaluable to the region’s tourism potential as well as CSU cheese sales”, adding “People have to see the exciting work going on at the CSU Cheese Factory and in the Riverina”.

Advertising ethics might strike many as an oxymoron but not Dr John Hadley, a new appointment to Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus. Dr Hadley is teaching Media Ethics and Public Policy to third year journalism and public relations students, as well as advertising ethics to advertising students. “The course deals with the ethical dilemmas that communication professionals face in their jobs,” he said. Dr Hadley completed his PhD Animal Property: Reconciling Environmentalism and Animal Rights in March 2006 at the University of Sydney where he taught last year. He is an associate of CSU’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics and his main interest is the practical application of ethics in people’s working lives. This is Dr Hadley’s first taste of Bathurst country life, after a background in inner-city Sydney. As a keen cyclist he is already revelling in “the fresh air and no cars”.

Ideas commonly held by education providers and other stakeholders are open to challenge by the findings of contemporary research into learning, knowledge, quantum theory and brain science, according to Mr Patrick Bradbery. Manager of the Professional Development Unit in the Faculty of Business on Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Bathurst Campus, Mr Bradbery will discuss these issues and the implications for the design and delivery of learning interventions at a presentation titled ”What the bleep do we know about learning?” at the University between 12.30pm and 2pm on Wednesday 28 February. “This presentation questions whether we have lost sight of the purpose and function of tertiary education, and whether it has become purely vocational in its focus,” Mr Bradbery said. His presentation will contextualise the finding from brain research that the ions which carry messages throughout the brain travel along pathways that are only just a little larger than the ions, thus creating a “quantum environment”.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in animation Damian Candusso is celebrating Oscar success for Australian director George Miller’s animated feature film Happy Feet. Damian, who is based at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, was already in Los Angeles for the 2007 Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) annual Golden Reel Awards ceremony, which was held on Saturday 24 February. Happy Feet was nominated for Best Sound Editing at those awards, but lost to the animated movie Cars. However, last night Happy Feet went one better to pick up the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Academy Awards. Speaking from Los Angeles Damian, who worked as a sound editor on the animated penguin flick said, “We’re all very excited,” adding , ”The sound award would have been awesome but the Academy Award is a higher honour”.

“Beware the rIdes of March!” (apologies to Shakespeare) is the catchcry for the Ride to Uni Day to be held by Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 7 March. For the first time, bicycle riders will gather on the University’s Albury City Campus to ride to the Thurgoona site via the bike trail which follows the newly opened Albury bypass. Carbon dioxide is a major cause of global warming and it has been estimated that each car driven from Albury city to CSU Thurgoona releases five kilograms of carbon dioxide – or 100 ‘black balloons’ – into the atmosphere. Ride to Uni Day coordinator Peter Taylor said riding instead of driving to work not only increases fitness and relieves stress, but also allows each participant to play their small part in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The new President of Dongguk University’s Computer Science Institute in South Korea, Dr Kyung-sun Beak, will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury–Wodonga on Monday 17 October to sign an agreement and investigate opportunities for expanding collaboration between the two universities. CSU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Ross Chambers and Dr Kyung-sun Beak will sign a new articulation agreement during the visit to facilitate further pathways for students from Dongguk University to study business and information technology at Charles Sturt University. A number of students from Dongguk University are already studying at CSU in Albury-Wodonga under a previous agreement signed in 2008. Two of these students will meet for lunch with the South Korean delegation, which will also include the Dean of International Studies, Professor Min-jung Ko, and the Director of Marketing, Jong Wook Ryu. The Head of Albury-Wodonga Campus and Director of CSU’s Office of International Relations, Ms Sue Moloney, will take the delegation on a campus tour after lunch and then, time permitting, a brief tour of Albury city.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and staff will puff and pant to work and study on Wednesday 12 October as part of the annual Ride to Work Day 2011. Cyclists from CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga will participate in the morning event, which will finish with a free breakfast. Event coordinator, Ms Nicole Maher from CSU Green, said the Ride to Work Day is a great way to, “enjoy some exercise, travel with low emissions and enjoy a free breakfast. More and more people are riding to work for fitness, health and to reduce their environmental footprints, as well as to enjoy a relaxing period before the pressures of daily work.” Tips on cycling to work are available from the Ride to Work official site here.

NSW Minister for Small Business, the Hon. Katrina Hodgkinson, MP, will launch Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) newest business degree, the Graduate Certificate of Small Business Management in Wagga Wagga tomorrow, Wednesday 26 October. Ms Hodgkinson, who is also the Minister for Primary Industries, will be joined at the launch by Ms Yasmin King, the NSW Commissioner for Small Business who is currently conducting a listening tour throughout the state. CSU's Graduate Certificate in Small Business Management offers students access to industry peers, market leaders and other leading resources. On the eve of the launch, the Wagga Wagga Business Chamber has appointed course director Dr Lan Snell as an ex officio Board Member in recognition of CSU's contribution to the Wagga Wagga business community.  “The launch has already received an overwhelming show of support through the heavy representation of industry and local bodies,” Dr Snell said. “It shows how much support for small business there is in the region.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) veterinary students will be given practical guidance on leadership, team-work, communication, emotional intelligence and conflict management tomorrow Wednesday 7 March as part of a veterinary leadership experience (VLE) workshop on CSU Wagga Wagga Campus. CSU lecturer in dairy cattle practice Natasha Lees said, “The VLE is a chance for students to further develop their skills enabling them to successfully make the transition from the lecture hall to the workplace”. Ms Lees believes the workshops will help CSU produce graduates that meet the needs of its regional, national and international communities. First year students in CSU’s School of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences will be addressed during the workshop by Professor Rick Debowes and psychologist Kathy Ruby, both from Washington State University, USA.