A production by first-year theatre/media students at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst this week explores what happens when online fantasy transcends reality. The Right to be Forgotten, a Cycle Productions devised theatre performance directed by lecturer Ms Kate Smith, is a dark parody that aims to provoke the audience to confront their own online reality. “Social media is an inescapable and often controversial aspect of daily life,” Ms Julia Patey, the assistant director, said. “Facebook stalking, ‘Frape’ (Facebook rape), identity theft, our online reputations and privacy - or lack of - are pivotal issues directly affecting many of us. As one character observes, ‘We have moved our lives online and it is risky. People forget that our data is being logged and there are people watching’. We challenge the audience to ask themselves, who is watching you online? What if you were given the chance to construct a new identity? How do you want to be remembered? The Right to be Forgotten is a blend of cabaret, circus, dance and comedy that explores these themes in a funny and insightful pastiche of the virtual world.”

Prizes and awards for high-achieving Charles Sturt University (CSU) students in the Faculty of Business for the 2010 academic year will be presented at the Dean’s List Award ceremony in Bathurst on Tuesday 10 May. The new Dean of the Faculty of Business, Professor Lesley White, said, “In any given semester, there are students who achieve an outstanding academic record in Faculty of Business courses in the on campus, distance education, or offshore tutorial modes. The Dean’s Awards are the formal recognition of these outstanding achievements, and we are able to award 155 individual prizes for the 2010 academic year to graduating and continuing students.” A total of 124 students were nominated across all the University’s campuses for inclusion on the Dean’s List for the 2010 academic year. Twenty-nine students are expected to attend the presentation luncheon in Bathurst to receive their prizes and awards, 11 students from the School of Accounting, 13 from the School of Business, and five from the School of Computing and Mathematics. One outstanding Bachelor of Business (Finance) student from Bathurst is Ms Rebecca Hood who is graduating with distinction. Ms Hood has been a Dean’s List award recipient in 2008 and 2009, and has again achieved outstanding results in 2010, recognition of 19 high distinctions and four distinctions achieved while completing her degree.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication and Creative Industries will co-host, with the Centre for Media History, a two-day interdisciplinary symposium in Bathurst on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 May to mark the centenary of the ‘bible of the bush’ in NSW, The Land newspaper. Ms Margaret Van Heekeren, lecturer in journalism at the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said the symposium, titled The Land: Past, Present and Future, will bring together media scholars to reflect on how the media sees rural and regional Australia. “The idea for the symposium was sparked by The Land anniversary but the symposium is really a broader look at how rural and regional areas have been represented in media, and how they interact with media. We have presentations covering newspapers as well as radio and film,” Ms Van Heekeren said. Academics from several universities will present papers on a range of topics related to The Land newspaper, and the general media coverage of issues affecting rural Australia in the last 100 years.

Teaching and education courses at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst are the focus of the MyDay promotion at the University on Friday 13 May. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Fran Dwyer, said, “This MyDay will provide senior high school students from around the region with general information and interactive sessions with academics from the School of Teacher Education at Charles Sturt University. This enables students to have a clearer view of their tertiary study options and career opportunities in the important field of education.” Approximately 68 senior students from 22 high schools in the region and beyond will attend.

As part of the 60th anniversary of teacher education being offered in Bathurst, a time capsule at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will receive a new deposit on Wednesday 11 May. A new book, Tales and Tidings from the Pioneers of Bathurst Teachers College 1951-52, written by Mr Royce Levi, one of the first teacher education graduates, will be added to the time capsule. The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Toni Downes, said, “We’re delighted that Mr Levi will visit Charles Sturt University to share his book which captures more stories of the first graduates, many of whom have gone on to hold distinguished positions in education. The book will be entered into the teacher education time capsule which contains wonderful memorabilia, such as the first graduation ball photograph and the dance program for the first graduation ball held in the Walshaw Hall, Bathurst, in 1952.” The time capsule will be sealed once again at 12 noon Wednesday 11 May, at Heffron House (building N4) at CSU in Bathurst. A date has not been set for the next opening of the capsule.

The challenges of working to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in war torn African countries will be featured in a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 11 May 2011. In the lecture titled Sex, babies, money, violence and genetics, international genetics consultant and adjunct senior lecturer with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dr Sara McClintock will share her experiences working with the International Livestock Research Centre in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.  “I was running a lab trying to produce cheap embryos that would produce 95 per cent female calves to increase the profitability of a local farmer’s cow so she could afford to send her children to school and feed them a little milk.” Dr McClintock said in times of civil unrest, crops are often destroyed, seed stocks stolen and farm animals eaten by the tribal militias. “These animals are usually a local breed that has survived in tough conditions, may be worm resistant or have a low feed requirement,” she said. “One of the solutions is to conserve germ plasma, such as semen, in liquid nitrogen but this can be politically sensitive because many developing countries are paranoid about developed countries stealing their genetic material.”

A leading Australian theologian and academic at Charles Sturt University (CSU) has been awarded an honorary doctorate by another national university. Reverend Professor James Haire, AM, KSJ, who is Professor of Theology at CSU and executive director of the CSU Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACC&C) , received the Doctor of the University from the Australian Catholic University in Sydney at its recent graduation ceremony. The citation for the honorary degree noted that Reverend Professor Haire is one of the world’s leading scholars and promoters of interfaith dialogue. It concludes, ‘Australia is indebted to James for his work in encouraging understanding between not only the Christian churches, but between people of different faiths’. Reverend Professor Haire also delivered the occasional address to graduates, and spoke of the need for them to be compassionate and generous in their personal and professional lives. “My experience is that, on balance, unless there is obvious evil, it is worth taking the risk to be generous. If you are generous, you give and you expect trust, and it is trust that is both the Christian way, and in any case makes life worth living,” he said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU), in association with the Islamic Council of NSW, will present a free screening of documentary In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: Muslims Down Under at CSU in Orange on Friday 13 May. The film captures the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of Muslims in Australia, and tells the stories of Muslim pioneers and their descendants, beginning with the pivotal, fundamental role the Afghan camel herders played in the development of outback Australia, to the successful integration Muslims have made into modern Australian society. Documentary producer Ms Nada Roude says the documentary encourages a greater effort in understanding and appreciation of Islam and Muslims where sharing knowledge and stories is one of the most important ways of building a genuine sense of community in Australia. “It strengthens the belief in fairness, equality and respect, the values we aspire to in Australia.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will host 60 students in Years 5 and 6 from three Central West schools - Trangie, Portland and Peak Hill central schools – on Wednesday 18 May as part of the Regional ASPIRE program. Regional ASPIRE encourages students as young as five to consider university education as a post-school option. The federally-funded program aims to ensure equal information access and awareness of university study for all students, especially for those from rural and remote areas that are under-represented in higher education. Director of Academic Support at CSU, Ms Liz Smith, said, "The research is very clear that students' ideas about who attends university, and more importantly who doesn't, are formed at a very young age. It's important for children and their families to understand their options in terms of university, and Regional ASPIRE plays a big part in building that understanding." Ms Sue Rogan, Manager of Pre-entry Programs at CSU  has been responsible for the development of Regional ASPIRE at CSU, which sees student ambassadors working with the school children when they visit the campus. Ms Rogan said, “We have an outstanding group of ambassadors who the school students will enjoy working with, and their day will end with a mini graduation."