The theatre and the practice of meditation might seem unrelated, but not for some thespians who use the essence of Zen philosophy to enhance their performances on stage. Charles Sturt University (CSU) in conjunction with Wagga Wagga City Council is presenting a public lecture Zen and Theatre by John Bolton, Guest Director with the CSU School of Visual and Performing Arts and a Zen practitioner. In the lecture, he will present the story of one person’s adventure in theatre and Zen over the last 35 years. Mr Bolton believes that the actor is the one who makes the most mistakes, and the ability to continue to make mistake after mistake, discarding, polishing, and recreating, takes the same sort of steadfast centre of stillness that is found in Zen.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Goulter, will welcome the Federal shadow Minister for Health, Ms Nicola Roxon, MP, and NSW MP Mr Bob Debus, when they visit the Bathurst Campus on Tuesday 31 July. Ms Roxon and Mr Debus will arrive at 3pm at the Heffron Building for a briefing with Professor Goulter before a tour of the Bathurst Campus, which will include an inspection of the new library Learning Commons and the School of Nursing buildings. Mr Debus is also the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the new seat of Macquarie in the coming 2007 Federal election.

Competing against some of the top young environmental scientists in Australia, Charles Sturt University (CSU) honours student John Rawsthorne has won a scholarship from the eminent Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in recognition of his project on the importance of birds in spreading mistletoes in the Australian landscape. His supervisor Dr David Watson from the CSU School of Environmental Sciences asserts that the mistletoe is an important indicator of the health of Australian bush, and John’s research project will help discover how this occurs. In addition to receiving financial support from the Purves Environmental Trust to attend the 2007 Ecological Society of Australia conference in Perth in November, Mr Rawsthorne will also receive advice from leading Australian ecologists Professor Hugh Possingham and Dr Denis Saunders during the project, as well as attend a master class with senior scientists and fellow students in Sydney in October. John’s award is one of 19 presented to research students in universities around Australia. He is based in Forbes in central NSW.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) excellence in teaching and training agricultural professionals for inland Australia is influencing the decisions of some of the nation’s largest businesses. Speaking recently at the launch of AgriLine in the Riverina, the Commonwealth Bank’s Executive General Manager, Agribusiness, Mr Jon Sutton said “The reason we chose Wagga Wagga was because of Charles Sturt University, it has a great Ag (Agricultural) faculty.” Mr Sutton said. “Also there is a significant pool of employable people who have an affinity for the land.”  CSU’s Dean of Science Professor Nick Klomp said “This comment is typical of responses we hear from industry around Australia, particularly from inland NSW.” He said “CSU continues to focus on agricultural teaching and research, further enhancing educational experiences for students studying everything from pasture production to agribusiness.”

A senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has used an international forum to argue for the expansion of community development in the Asia Pacific region to tackle major socio-economic problems such as extreme poverty, lack of education, and environmental unsustainability. Professor Manohar Pawar of the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences was a main speaker at the International Association for Community Development conference. “Many countries policies suggest that those people and institutions with most influence, referred to as ‘top down’, are poised to develop communities at all levels. The capacity of ordinary communities need to be developed to match the ‘top downs’ readiness,” said Professor Pawar. “It is a challenging but not impossible task. If we sincerely search, I believe we will find answers to these challenges within the diversity of the region.”

The new Director of Charles Sturt University's National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, Professor Thomas Henick-Kling will draw on his commercial and research experience to talk about the latest wine research developments worldwide at a evening dinner in Albury on Monday 23 July. A native of Germany, Professor Henick Kling is a wine microbiologist with commercial and experimental winemaking experience and knowledge of wines from Germany, France, USA, Australia and New Zealand. He has returned to Australia after 20 years with the prestigious Cornell University in USA. He has judged international wine competitions in USA and Europe and is on editorial boards for two international wine research journals. Participants will hear from Professor Henick-Kling before enjoying a two course meal in the Border Wine Room, Dean St, Albury.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is committed to an Indigenous Employment Strategy that promotes the employment of Indigenous Australians across all CSU schools and divisions. As part of this strategy a series of workshops have been planned. The first of this two part series was run at the Wagga Wagga Campus and Bathurst Campus in November and December 2006. Further workshops are now scheduled for July, August and September this year. Workshop 1 will provide an overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their culture, especially those of south eastern Australia and the issues that are important to them. Topics will include kinship and relationship to country, Aboriginal dreaming and spirituality, contemporary families and communities, and issues of inequality. Workshop 2 will touch on barriers to education and employment, promoting Indigenous employment at CSU, workplace issues and cross cultural communication, and look at protocols for community consultations.

Eight Charles Sturt University (CSU) International School of Business staff leave for China later this month to conduct intensive professional enhancement programs with their counterparts at four Chinese universities. Tianjin University of Commerce, Yunnan University of Economics and Finance, Changchun Taxation College and Yangzhou University are strategic partners with CSU for the delivery of business studies courses to international students overseas. Professor Alan Fish is Head of the International School of Business at CSU. He explains that the articulation agreements with the four Chinese institutions means students can graduate with both Chinese and western qualifications, making the students more employable. “We will be conducting intensive face-to-face sessions with the Chinese academics to familiarise them with assessment procedures and content of the CSU subjects,” Professor Fish said.

  Earlier this month, Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Women’s Hockey team picked up a gold medal at the inaugural East Coast Challenge University Games. CSU’s Men’s Hockey won silver despite being a man down for most of the competition, while the Men’s Water Polo team came away with bronze. Nik Granger, a student support officer, said this was the first time CSU had competed as one university with a team of 70 students representing Albury, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst and Dubbo campuses. “Overall, seeing as we had such a small team, the atmosphere was fantastic,” he said. CSU also had first year distance education Master of Applied Science (Library and Information Management) student Lisa Matuzelis competing in the Australian University Championships for Surfing at the Gold Coast. She came away with silver and bronze and a typically laconic surfer attitude: “I would have liked to have come first, but I’m pretty happy with the result. I can’t complain,” she said.