A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic will address a dinner in Bathurst on Tuesday 8 March to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD). Associate Professor Leonora Ritter, an Honorary Fellow in the CSU Division of Learning and Teaching Services, will speak about the achievements of women in the past century and draw attention to what she thinks needs to be achieved in the future. Outlining her speech, Professor Ritter said, “We seem to have made more progress in masculinising women to suit a patriarchal world of aggression, competition and oppositional politics than in feminising the world. I believe we need to ‘feminise’ men and the public sphere by promoting creativity, collaboration, communication, empathy and adaptability.” Professor Ritter will also address a CSU Senior Women’s Forum IWD breakfast at 8am at the University on Tuesday 8 March.

Senior students from high schools in the region will gain information and insights about communication courses they can study when they attend the MyDay promotion at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 15 March. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Fran Dwyer, said, “This MyDay will focus on journalism, public relations, theatre/media, advertising, and commercial radio. About 40 students from 14 schools around the central west will attend general information sessions and interactive sessions with academics from the relevant disciplines and courses.” Participating schools include All Saints College, Cowra High School, Gulgong High School, James Sheahan Catholic High School, La Salle Academy Lithgow, Lithgow High School, Mackillop College, Mudgee High School, Muswellbrook High School, Oakhill College, Portland Central School, Red Bend Catholic College, St Mary’s Senior High School, and St Stanislaus College.

Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst are being encouraged to sign up for the Red Cross 2011 Inter-campus Blood Donation Challenge when the mobile donor unit visits the campus from Monday 14 to Thursday 17 March. The Head of Campus in Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, said, “Charles Sturt University is happy to encourage such a competition. The activity is entirely consistent with the University’s desire to see CSU students contribute to the broader society and develop their sense of social responsibility.” Mr Brendan McIlveen, a final-year paramedic student at the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences, said that the competition aimed to see which CSU campus can donate the most blood to save the most lives. “Just one blood donation can help save the lives of three people, so with hundreds of potential donations from people at the University we may be able to save the lives of thousands. As well as this, blood donations assist medical research and can be used to treat patients in emergencies and disasters. It takes less than an hour to make a donation and it’s a wonderfully practical thing to do to assist others in need,” Mr McIlveen said.

One the of the oldest public institutions in Albury, the public hospital, is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Local historian and adjunct academic with Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, Associate Professor Bruce Pennay, has gathered a collection of documents, photos, films and artefacts to commemorate the event, which will be on show at the Albury LibraryMuseum in Kiewa Street. “Many people have been involved with the Albury Hospital since it was established in 1861, either as patients, visitors, employees or fund-raisers. This is their opportunity to celebrate the hospital and its links to the Albury community,” Professor Pennay said. The Exhibition will be officially opened at 1pm on Sunday 13 March in the LibraryMuseum, and continues to Sunday 1 May.

Indigenous poet Ms Ali Cobby Eckermann is the first Writer-In-Residence for 2011 at the Booranga Writers’ Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga. A Nunga writer, Ms Cobby Eckermann lives in the South Australia town of Koolunga. Her first poetry collection, published by Picaro Press in 2009, little bit longtime, charts her journey to reconnect with her Yankunytjatjara family. In 2007, Ms Cobby Eckermann was granted two poetry mentorships through the Northern Territory Writers’ Centre and Varuna, The Writers’ House. The poet will be joined in Wagga Wagga by fellow writer Mr Lionel Fogarty, a Murri man from Queensland. His internationally acclaimed work includes ten books of poetry and a children’s book. Mr Fogarty is well known for his activism for the rights of Indigenous Australians since he was a teenager. While a Writer-In-Residence until Friday 11 March, Ms Cobby Eckermann will be accompanied by her partner on visits to the Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre in Wagga Wagga, where they will be working on writing with detainees.

Students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Environmental Sciences will give high school students from around Albury-Wodonga a personal experience of study at CSU on Thursday 10 March. The 11 high school students will work with CSU undergraduate students for the day, following them through lectures, laboratory study and fieldwork, as the CSU students go about a ‘normal day’ in their studies as part of the University’s MyDay program. Head of the School of Environmental Sciences, Associate Professor Ben Wilson, said open days can only show a snapshot of university life, but “you have to ‘be a student for a day’ to see what it is really like. This is particularly important for such a ‘hands-on’ degree as environmental sciences.”

India is the new booming economy – surpassing even China in recent economic growth. It is an amazing success story that is much more evident in the cities than the countryside according to Kirsty Hommel, a recent Charles Sturt University (CSU) social science graduate who spent her practicum in rural southern India developing skills she had learnt at CSU. “The area I lived in was very untouched by western influences. The village I was based in was without a road.  Many people in this area live without running water or electricity - they use local wells and designated trees for toilets.” Kirsty says the Healthy Districts program aims “to increase the overall standards of health in the community through addressing poverty.  We used community development to assist the community to generate income. I really enjoyed being there. Even after I met my practicum requirements, I chose to stay another month. I felt very immersed in the community and the culture there.”

Is agriculture financially risky? Most would agree that it is, but Charles Sturt University School of Marketing and Management lecturer Mark Frost believes it’s not as risky as many would assume. As fiscal stress continues to plague farmers in the region following the ongoing drought, Mr Frost will speak at a Partners In Grain workshop titled Dollars and Sense, aiming to provide valuable financial information to assist in managing finances in the challenging year ahead. “This workshop takes an independent, common sense look at different aspects of farm finances and will equip farmers with the tools to make some sensible business decisions over the next twelve months and beyond,” Mr Frost says. The Partners in Grain Dollars and Sense Workshop will take place at the Coachman Hotel in Parkes on Wednesday 14 March at 9.15am.

The US Consul General in Australia, Mr Niels Marquardt, will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 16 March to learn about the work of the University and to deliver a lecture to staff and students. The Head of Campus at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Adrian Lindner, said, “I look forward to welcoming Mr Marquardt to the University and showing him some of the excellent facilities here. We will tour the campus, and visit the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, and the International Centre of Water for Food Security. We will also discuss the work of the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation. Mr Marquardt will then present a lecture for staff and students about his experience in the US Peace Corp.” Mr Marquardt’s lecture, The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love: Volunteering in the Developing World, will explore his experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda from1977-79. The Peace Corps is an independent US government agency established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to encourage young Americans to serve their country in the cause of peace by volunteering to live and work in developing countries that request assistance. Mr Lindner hopes meeting and listening to Mr Marquardt’s experiences will inspire current CSU students to get involved and make a positive contribution in developing countries.