There will be a meeting of creative minds from across Australia in Wagga Wagga when Charles Sturt University (CSU) hosts the Symposia09 conference on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 August. The two day creative arts conference brings together 14 speakers from across Australia including specialists in animation, lighting design, illustration, sound, web design, exhibition design, video, photography, multimedia, music, visual art and graphic design. “This is an intensive two day gathering of some of the leading creative practitioners in Australia,” said Associate Professor Margaret Woodward, Head of School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga. It will include a combination of visual presentations, music, discussion and an opportunity to meet informally with speakers. “Collectively the speakers have vast experience and knowledge to inspire the audience,” said Professor Woodward.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery has been awarded three more prestigious wine show medals at the 2007 Boutique Wine Awards in Sydney. The CSU Winery claimed two Gold Medals and one Silver Medal, continuing the winery’s success at major Australian wine shows. The 2006 Limited Release Chardonnay was awarded a Gold Medal and more recently won Top Gold in its class at the 2007 Cowra Wine Show. This wine is produced from grapes grown in the University’s vineyard at Orange. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot also took a Gold Medal. This wine is produced from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the University’s Wagga Wagga vineyard and from the Hilltops region in Young, NSW and Merlot grapes from Cowra. The 2005 Shiraz won a Silver Medal and although this wine is not yet released, it was also awarded a Silver Medal at the 2006 Wagga Wagga (Southern NSW) wine show. It is produced from grapes from CSU vineyards at Orange and Wagga Wagga and from the Gundagai region.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery Cellar Door at Wagga Wagga has received an Award of Distinction at the 2009 Inland NSW Tourism Awards held in Narrabri, NSW on Saturday 25 July. The Cellar Door sells wine and offers tastings from the University’s own range of premium table, fortified and sparkling wines. “It’s a fantastic achievement to receive this award – one of only five businesses (in addition to the 18 category winners) out of 58 entrants in the state to be commended,” said Cellar Door Manager Mr Richard Lawson. “The award recognises the Winery’s contribution to local and regional tourism, as well as the extensive range of CSU wine, cheese and olive oil products available for tasting and sales. It also recognises the hard work of our dedicated Cellar Door team.”  Since its inception in 1977, the CSU Winery has won numerous trophies and medals in national wine shows.

The world is coming to students with Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health  this week with the annual Allied Health Job Forum being held in Albury. Over 300 students enrolled in CSU degrees in physiotherapy, speech pathology, podiatry and occupational therapy are able to view job vacancies being offered by over 25 organisations. These organisations come from around Australia, including Tasmania, Queensland, ACT, Melbourne and regional Australia, as well as showcasing the newly merged Albury Wodonga Health. CSU representatives will provide information on jobs in general as well as international job opportunities. Forum coordinator Donna Duncan said the forum was a “fantastic opportunity for potential graduates to become aware of the diversity of employment opportunities available”. The forum will be held from 1.30 to 3pm on Thursday 30 July in St David’s Uniting Church Hall, Wilson St, Albury.

Once a safe region for mixed farming, the southern NSW district around Wagga Wagga is now enduring an unprecedented period of low rainfall affecting both dryland and irrigated farmers. A public seminar and forum entitled A Dry Argument will be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 29 July to examine some of the consequences of drought and the difficulties farmers face in adjusting to dry periods. “Agricultural scientists, agribusiness and policy makers are often swept up in the technology of coping with drought and maintaining production, rather than considering their response to the ‘big picture' travails of farmers. The future of farming is a topic worthy of careful consideration,” said CSU organiser Emeritus Professor Ted Wolfe. “We’re bringing together experts from Victoria and across the Riverina to share their experience and insight.” The EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation (an alliance between CSU and NSW Department of Primary Industries) is hosting the event in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology and Wagga Wagga City Council.

A visiting community critical psychologist with an international reputation will deliver a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst on Thursday 30 July that examines ‘Why the wretched of the earth kill’. Professor Mohamed Seedat, from the University of South Africa, is a guest of the CSU School of Social Sciences and Liberal Studies. His lecture will critically examine the viability of explanations for violence such as that in South Africa in May 2008 that primarily targeted foreign nationals and resulted in 69 deaths, thousand of displaced people, and untold psycho-social trauma. “Most prominent among these explanations is the idea that xenophobic violence arises from the interplay of various socio-economic issues - poverty, inequality, joblessness and poor delivery of municipal services,” Professor Seedat said. “In particular, I will examine explanations which have their roots in anti-colonial theory and scholarship focused on understanding the reality and the life-worlds of the colonized. I will argue that while such explanations offer a degree of systemic understanding, they do not explain sufficiently why the ‘wretched of the earth’ - the poor, downtrodden and oppressed - kill their own.”

As part of the research for her Honours degree in Pharmacy, Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Sarah Kissiwaa is calling on smokers in Orange to assist her by completing a survey on a ‘quit’ program to be available in pharmacies. “Although there have been enormous declines in the prevalence of smoking over the last decade, smoking is still responsible for too many deaths and there is a lot more we can do to help smokers quit,” Ms Kissiwaa says. The survey will give critical information towards developing the ‘quit smoking’ program. “Quitting is the hardest thing anyone can do, but the consequences of not quitting are much worse.” Ms Kissiwaa recommends the use of nicotine replacement therapy and speaking to a pharmacist or doctor and getting as much support from family and friends as possible. The surveys are available in print and online.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Associate Professor Manohar Pawar highly commended the Indian ”rights-based approach” to economic development while speaking at a plenary session on “welfare-to-work” at the 15th symposium of the International Consortium for Social Development in Hong Kong. Professor Pawar particularly supported the right to education and right to work, which is the main basis of emerging social security in India. According to Professor Pawar, India, which is in the midst of liberalisation, free market and globalisation, has assumed the responsibility of providing work to its citizens by enacting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. He added India has also proposed to offer security to workers in the unorganised sector, when the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Bill is approved in the Parliament and contended that politics of welfare should not be geared for welfare of politics or politicians.

Students and staff at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga will come together to plant trees on the University campus starting at 10am on Friday 31 July as a contribution to National Tree Day. The planting will be in the James Hagan Court northern garden area. Grounds Supervisor in the Division of Facilities Management at CSU, Mr Simon Cole, said “Charles Sturt University plants hundreds of trees every year on its campuses, and thousands over the years, but we thought it was important to contribute to this annual national event. We will be planting 100 mixed native trees with water storage granules to help them along, and the ground is already prepared to make it quicker and easier on the day. The planting is also a step towards meeting the University’s targets for biodiversity and carbon reduction as specified in its Institutional Development Plan 2007-2011.” The annual National Tree Day is Australia’s biggest community tree planting event and has seen approximately 13 million native trees and shrubs planted since the event was launched in 1996.