Journalist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) alumnus Mr Hamish Macdonald will visit the University in Bathurst on Tuesday 21 May to screen and discuss a segment for his new TV show with students at the School of Communication and Creative Industries where he studied. Journalism lecturer, Ms Kay Nankervis, said, “It’s always a pleasure to welcome back former graduates to speak to current students about where a career in journalism can lead. Mr Macdonald has subsequently had an international career in the media as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and anchorman at news desks for CNN and Al Jezeera, as well as in Australia. It will be interesting for our students to learn about Mr Macdonald’s career path, and his new three-part series The truth is? for TV network TEN, which explores a range of contemporary social and political issues.” In 2012 Mr Macdonald received a Walkley Award and a Human Rights Television Award for his report ‘The Age of Uncertainty’ on The Project TV show. Mr Macdonald will screen an episode of his new program, The truth is?, and answer students’ questions between 11am to 12.30pm on Tuesday 21 May at the Media Centre TV studio (building C7).

The Red Cross blood donation mobile service will be at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst next week from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 June. The unit will be located outside the CSU gymnasium (CD Blake Auditorium, building E1). The acting Head of Campus, Associate professor PK Basu urged CSU staff and students to donate blood if they can. “One in three people will need blood in their lifetime, yet only one in 30 Australians donate blood each year,” he said. “The demand for blood and blood products is expected to double in the next decade, and more donors are needed. I encourage staff and students to make the time to donate blood here next week, or whenever they are able.” To make an appointment to donate please call the Red Cross on 13 14 95 or visit donateblood.com.au.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night opens at the Ponton Theatre at CSU in Bathurst on Tuesday 28 May and runs until Saturday 1 June. Described as ‘a whimsical comedy’, this modern interpretation is given the full title, Twelfth Night, As Performed By The Illyria Women's Prison Laundry Detail. Mr Ray Harding, theatre/media lecturer at the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, and co-director of the production, says he has entertained the idea of ‘prison inmates’ performing Shakespeare for many years. “The inmates in this instance are, of course, very talented third-year theatre/media students, but the idea and interpretation resonates with the first US production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot which was set in a prison,” he said. Student co-director Ms Fiona Spitzkowsky said, “The complexity of the language combined with the prison-based creative brief provided by Ray has allowed us all to challenge ourselves and eventually produce an exciting, engaging and surprisingly funny Shakespearean performance, with a little modernity for good measure.”

Eighty-three Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation scholarships and prizes will be presented to students from all four faculties at the University in Bathurst on Friday 31 May. The total value of scholarships and prizes awarded at ceremonies on various campuses of the University is more than $955 000. The acting Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst, Dr PK Basu, said, “We look forward to welcoming the generous donors and the hard-working students selected to receive the 2013 scholarships and prizes. All these students have demonstrated outstanding personal qualities combined with strong academic results or financial need in order to be chosen as recipients. I congratulate them and wish them well for their continuing studies and future careers.” A brunch for scholarship donors and recipients will be held in the James Hardie Room at the Centre for Professional Development (CPD) (building S17) at 9.15am. The official presentation ceremony starts at 10.30am in the large lecture theatre (room 2.23) in building S15, followed by lunch/refreshments from 12.30pm in the foyer of S15.

A visiting Australian education expert will deliver a public lecture in Bathurst and workshops for education staff at Charles Sturt University (CSU) next week. Professor Bronwyn Davies, an independent scholar and professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne, will address the topic, ‘The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Fly’ revisited: Playing with and against the forces of normalisation: feminist narratives and lines of flight, on Thursday 13 June. Host of the visit, Professor Tara Brabazon, Head of the School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, said, “The distinctive features of Professor Davies’ work are her development of innovative social science research methodologies. Her research explores how social worlds are constituted. She is best known for her work on gender, for her development of the methodology of collective biography, and her writing on feminism and poststructuralist theory.”

A new physical theatre production by Charles Sturt University (CSU) theatre/media students will tour secondary schools in central west NSW from Tuesday 11 to Friday 14 June. The production, titled Outta Touch, was devised as part of the second-year subject Drama and Theatre for Young People, and involves movement, comedy, body percussion and acrobatics. Outta Touch is directed by Mr Dan Aubin, lecturer in theatre/media at the CSU the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, and Mr Adam Deusien. Mr Aubin said, “The cast has been working to devise a show from scratch exploring the questions: Have we become too distant? What would happen if we could not touch? How far will our safety culture go, and what does this mean for connecting to other people?” The production will visit four schools - The Scots School, Bathurst; Canowindra High School; La Salle Academy, Lithgow; and Wellington High School. Find out more about Outta Touch here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is making up to $150 000 available for staff and student projects to help the University reduce its environmental footprint. Sustainability Grants are awarded by CSU Green annually as part of  the University’s commitment to reduce energy and water use, increase biodiversity, cut solid waste, and support research into sustainability. An extra $50 000 is being made available this year for one large project to help the University reach its sustainability goals. Co-ordinator of Partnerships with CSU Green, Ms Nicola Smith, said the program aims to educate and promote cultural change. “Applications for the grants have increased each year with more exciting and engaging projects,” she said. “It has increased the knowledge of environmental and social sustainability issues as well as providing an outlet for staff and students to develop social and professional networks.” Past projects include a student and community-run produce garden, a sustainable film festival and a project to increase good waste management practises within student residences. Applications are open until 5pm on Friday 28 June.

Eleven final-year Charles Sturt University (CSU) commercial radio students have devised three promotional campaigns about the University’s ‘Doctors4theBush’ medical school proposal. The students worked in three teams, then presented the finished campaigns for assessment by an expert panel at the University on Monday 3 June. Mr David Maxwell, lecturer in advertising, media sales and commercial radio in the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said, “We always try to give our students real-world learning challenges, and this exercise has an important social focus for all people in regional Australia. The expert panel considered the work to be of a professional standard suitable for broadcast.” The presentation was attended by the University Secretary and Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Mark Burdack; manager of radio 2BS (Bathurst), Mr Phil Cole; Mr Steve Golfin, general manger of Southern Cross Australia Broadcast Centre (Orange); Head of the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries, Professor Chika Anyanwu; and course director, Mr Brett Van Heekeren.

The 2013 Central West RoboCup Junior Challenge for schools in the central west returns to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday 11 June. The coordinator of the competition, Mr Allen Benter, who is also a PhD student and researcher at the Mining Research Laboratory in the School of Computing and Mathematics in Bathurst, said, “We expect about 76 enthusiastic students from seven central west schools to build and operate mini robots at this annual robotics competition. As with previous events, University staff have provided technical advice to students and their teachers, and will be the judges at the RoboCup Challenge. It’s great to see that students and schools in the region have embraced the concept and the opportunity that the RoboCup offers, as robotics is an important and rapidly developing field.”