Students from a range of disciplines at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will graduate at a ceremony on Wednesday 23 March 2011. The Head of Campus at CSU in Dubbo, Dr Beverley Moriarty, said, “I’m delighted that 109 students from teaching, nursing, business and social work courses will graduate from Charles Sturt University in Dubbo this year. It is pleasing to note this continuing upward trend in the number of graduating students, many of whom will take up employment in regional NSW.” The Occasional Address will be delivered by Dubbo businessman Mr Bob Berry. The graduation ceremony starts at 10.30am at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre, Darling St, Dubbo.

Orange is set to be the home of a new $10 million planetarium thanks to the hard work of a group of astronomy enthusiasts who will present a public lecture hosted by the Central West Branch of the Royal Society of New South Wales at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Friday 18 March. Orange Planetarium Inc. President, Mr Rod Sommerville, and Vice-President, Mr Nat Burgio, will provide a detailed overview of this unique and visionary project, which will help advance community understanding of astronomy, and science generally, and will be a major educational and tourism attraction for the Central West. “The Orange Planetarium group has been planning the Southern Skies Earth and Space Centre for more than eight years and it’s exciting to see the project develop,” said Professor Kevin Parton, Chair of the Central West Branch of the Royal Society of New South Wales and Head of Campus at CSU in Orange. “The public lecture will showcase final design concepts which will include internal and external rendered images of what the facility will look like.”

The move to university is being made easier for new students with the introduction of a mentor program at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst and Wagga Wagga. The Student Mentor Program offers new on-campus and distance education students extra support during their first year at CSU. The student mentors are trained by the University’s Division of Student Services and then matched with new students in a similar course. The support offered by the new program includes information from the student mentor on where to go for academic assistance or information about CSU. The contact between mentor and the new student can be direct or via the telephone or by email. The volunteer scheme has so far attracted 35 mentors.  . “I found my first year at university rather daunting and confusing, so I feel the Student Mentor Program is one way these feelings can be alleviated in new students,” Bachelor of Arts (Psychology, Animation and Visual Effects) student Ms Georgina McMahon explains. “My role is to oversee the program, making sure mentors are offering new students the correct support. It is hoped this program will discourage any struggling new students from giving up and dropping out of university.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student will present a seminar on Wednesday 16 March at CSU in Albury-Wodonga about how she is using her research experience in the USA to monitor threatened species in Australia. Last year, environmental sciences student, Ms Gaye Bourke, spent the final semester of her degree working as a fieldwork biologist with the Cascades Carnivore Connectivity Project in Washington state, evaluating how highways act as barriers to the movement of American black bears in the North Cascades Mountains. Ms Bourke lived in the tiny community of Newhalem (population 27) in the centre of the spectacular North Cascades National Park. “The three months were a steep learning curve, especially given the lack of large carnivore species in Australia. There were some magic moments, like our first close-up ‘bear encounter’ where we stood watching a female foraging for berries while her cub bounded playfully from rock to rock in front of us,” she said. “The techniques we used with the US black bears are applicable in Australia and they have already been used to monitor populations of threatened species here.”

Lecturers at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Human Movement Studies will deliver four presentations at two free seminars for participants in the 25th CSU Bathurst Half Marathon and 10 kilometre Run to be held on Sunday 1 May. CSU lecturer Mr Peter Micalos said the seminars, at 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday 22 March and Tuesday 5 April at the CSU gym lecture room, will provide runners with current scientific knowledge about how to enhance their performance. “The first seminar on Tuesday 22 March will include presentations by Head of the School of Human Movement Studies, Professor Frank Marino, who will examine the question How will you hydrate for this event?, and Dr Rob Duffield’s presentation, Post-training recovery; recent evidence on best practice, will detail recent CSU-based research on positive and negative recovery practices following exercise. The following seminar on 5 April will examine Why should endurance athletes include weight training exercise? and Dietary fats and performance; the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Mr Micalos said.

Local radio station ABC Goulburn Murray and The Border Mail will host a political forum at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 23 March. CSU political commentator Dr Troy Whitford will be a guest speaker for the evening event, which will be facilitated by ABC morning show presenter Mr Joseph Thomsen and Border Mail journalist Ms Di Thomas, who will take questions from the floor and online. The public forum will be an opportunity for the Albury community to meet with candidates for the coming NSW election and question them on their policies and plans for the state seat of Albury.

International students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will host an annual Harmony Day event in Albury-Wodonga to recognise and celebrate cultural diversity in Australia and the Border. Activities will include tasting food from around the globe (including an Aussie barbeque), as well as demonstrations of Tae Kwon Do, cooking and traditional Chinese dance, organised by the CSU International Club. The event will commence at 1pm today, Monday 21 March, outside the Gums Café on the University’s Albury-Wodonga campus at Thurgoona.

Staff and students from Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus will walk together to support Relay for Life this Saturday 17 March. The “Wonder Walkers”, fourteen staff and five students, will take to Endeavour Oval, Orange along with 40 other teams to raise funds for cancer research, education, support services and advocacy. “This is just one of the many community charity events CSU takes part in every year in Orange,” says team coordinator Geoff Watson. “Members of the team have been encouraged by the donations they have already received from staff and students at the campus with a successful sausage sizzle raising an additional $200 over a single lunch.”

Artist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) post graduate masters student Ann-Maree Turner provides an insight into her own essence and spirit and encourages others to explore their own personal boundaries and space in her first solo show in the Riverina. The exhibition, titled  Transpersonal Unity Consciousness and on display in CSU’s HR Gallop Gallery, is more than just paintings on canvas and linen. Turner delved deep into the landscape of her own mind using the philosophies of Carl G Jung to create what she describes as “absolute truth from art”. Her series of work Dogs on Boards represents fears, persona and projections. Archetypes for Wendy and Space Painting no 3 are two digital art pieces. Her work Boundaries Fences and… is also displayed at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus library. Transpersonal Unity Consciousness runs until 23 March.