The Border region’s beef industry is on show to international visitors in April as Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society hosts five livestock scientists from the South East Asian nation of Laos. The group are studying beef and goat production across the region, visiting local properties, meatworks and the Wodonga saleyards and talking with livestock extension officers. The program, led by CSU’s Dr Joanne Millar, is funded by the Crawford Fund, which supports agricultural training for developing country scientists. Dr Millar, who has worked in livestock development in Laos for the last six years, said the program aims to “increase the knowledge and skills of Laotian extension officers’ in advanced cattle production and marketing, while they also learn how to run beef production courses for farmers. This is the first time that provincial and district livestock officers from Laos have been to Australia. The scientists work closely with farmers who are struggling to improve their livelihoods from their own beef herds.”

The graduation of more than 2 000 students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus will be celebrated on the city’s main street when academics don their gowns to march along the city’s main street on Tuesday 8 April. The annual Town and Gown Academic Procession will start at 4pm at the corner of Morgan and Baylis streets to the Civic Theatre, where the Head of the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, Professor David Green will host a reception from 4.30pm. The procession will be led by  Wiradjuri Elder, Ms Gail Manderson, carrying the message stick followed by the Esquire Bedell, Mr Henry Gardiner, carrying the mace, then the Chancellor Lawrie Willett AO and Mayor Kerry Pascoe. University and Wagga Wagga City councillors, academic staff, eligible general staff and graduating students have also been invited to participate in the event. Eligible staff working at the TAFE NSW Riverina Institute, the University of NSW Rural Clinical School and Wagga Wagga City Council are also invited to the procession. Six CSU graduation ceremonies will be held on the Wagga Wagga Campus from Wednesday 9 April to Friday 11 April.

The works of a major contemporary Australian artist will be displayed in an exhibition to be opened by Charles Sturt University (CSU) Chancellor Laurie Willett, AO during the graduation of more than 2 000 students from the Wagga Wagga Campus. Entitled ELEMENTS: Dianne Fogwell, the exhibition will be opened in Joyes Hall at CSU, Wagga Wagga on Thursday 10 April from 6pm. Ms Fogwell’s practice is inextricably linked to printmaking. Recently she released her work from the confines of the etching plate mark, standard paper sizes, frames, and other technical boundaries. The artist’s wall sized glowing golden, red or blue prints on numerous sheets shimmer and flow, dazzling the eye, pushing the confined boundaries of traditional printmaking, unrestricted by scale. The exhibition will be opened throughout the graduation ceremonies from Wednesday 9 April to Friday 11 April.

The new President of Yunnan University of Economics and Finance in China, Professor Rong Wang, will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) tomorrow, Friday 4 April. Dean of the Faculty of Business, Professor John Hicks, said that China is the world’s fastest-growing economy, and it is vitally important that CSU is involved with the country. “Yunnan University is a strategic partner of CSU for the delivery of business studies courses to international students overseas. It’s significant that the new President of our partner institution is prepared to travel to Bathurst to see what CSU looks like and to meet CSU senior executives. The programs we now present in China are quite novel and we are trying a very different approach in terms of off-shore education.” On Friday Professor Wang will meet Faculty of Business academic staff and tour the Bathurst Campus before attending a dinner with CSU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Ian Goulter and Faculty members.

People interested in the history of newspaper publishing in Bathurst are invited to attend a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at 6pm on Wednesday 2 April. Ms Margaret Van Heekeren, an associate lecturer in journalism at the CSU School of Communication, will present Crossing the Great Divide - the 160th Anniversary of Newspaper Publishing in Bathurst, the story of the first 18 months of newspaper publishing in inland Australia. “In late 1847, newspaper editor and printer Benjamin Isaacs transported the first printing press over the Blue Mountains, and on 5 February 1848 the first newspaper was published in Bathurst,” Ms Van Heekeren said. “This was a turbulent time of transition for Bathurst, as the colonial community began to transform from a frontier outpost into a formalised settlement and trading centre. It laid the foundation for 160 years of continuous newspaper publishing in Australia’s oldest inland settlement.”

The NSW Central West Regional 2020 Summit will be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst this Saturday 5 April, ahead of the Federal Government’s Australia 2020 Summit in Canberra later this month. The co-host of the local 2020 summit, CSU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Ian Goulter, said “I am delighted that the University is hosting this forum because this is an important opportunity for local people to contribute their thoughts and ideas to help to shape a long term strategy for the nation’s future. The local summit will discuss the same 10 key areas as Australia 2020 Summit – the productivity agenda, the nation’s infrastructure, our environment, our farmers, healthcare, Indigenous Australians, the arts, national security, improving the system of government and strengthening our communities. I urge everyone to participate if they are able to.” The outcomes of the Central West Regional 2020 Summit will be formally submitted to the national summit for discussion.  

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have raised almost $7 000 for charity during Orientation 2008. Students, representing CSU’s student body, recently presented a cheque for over $6 800 to NRMA CareFlight, a rapid response critical care service. CareFlight duty doctor, Dr Andrew Dubky, received the cheque on behalf of the organisation. “Last year students across five CSU campuses raised more than $1 200 for the Salvation Army Drought Appeal," CSU Student Services representative, Ms Jean Ryan said. "Raising such a large sum of money this year was a testament to how hard our continuing students worked during Orientation 2008 while making the first year students feel welcome.”  

The popular Connemara pony will take centre stage at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Equine Centre in Wagga Wagga this weekend when the Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society of Australia holds its general meeting on Saturday 5 April from 10am to 4pm. The Connemara ponies, which are well regarded for their compact size, good temperament and marketability, will be on show during a display in the Equine Centre’s covered arena from 11am. Attending the day’s events will be the Society’s president and former federal Treasurer, Mr John Dawkins, and the Director of Veterinary Science at CSU, Professor Kym Abbott, who will officially welcome the pony breeders to the University from 10am. The Connemara Breeder’s Society of Australia last year donated the Connemara pony, Siobhan, to CSU and agreed to establish a fund to support research and education through the Charles Sturt Foundation to aid in education of their members and to support equine student scholarships.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is seeking healthy volunteers from the Bathurst district to participate in a research exercise program. Dr Jack Cannon, a lecturer in motor control and learning at CSU’s School of Human Movement Studies, said the aim of the exercise program is to improve the strength and the quality of life of participants aged over 65 years. “The program requires participants to do whole-body strength training for about one and a half hours, twice a week. The 12 week exercise program will run from Monday 14 April to Friday 11 July,” Dr Cannon said. “Participants will start with comprehensive assessments of body composition, muscle and nerve function, and quality of life assessments. They may also be involved in focus group interviews to discuss their attitudes towards the program. Throughout the program each participant will have a CSU student to act as their personal trainer and to assist them to perform the exercises. We are also seeking volunteers 65 years and older to participate as a ‘control group’ who will not do the exercise program, but will be involved in the assessments in April and July.”