Renowned Australian documentary filmmaker Mr Tom Zubrycki will present a special lecture to Charles Sturt University (CSU) students about his new film, The Hungry Tide, on Tuesday 13 September before a screening that night at Metro 5 Cinemas in Bathurst. Dr Jane Mills, Associate Professor in Communication (Teaching and Research) at the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries said, “Tom Zubrycki has mapped Australia’s changing social and political landscape for the last 20 years. He has directed 14 documentaries, many of them feature-length and award-winning, and has produced another 12 with emerging filmmakers. His latest film, The Hungry Tide, which premiered at the 2011 Sydney Film Festival and greatly moved the audience, examines the struggle of Kiribati, a tiny Pacific nation threatened to be engulfed by rising sea levels due to climate change. For the105 000 inhabitants on Kiribati’s 33 atolls, climate change is not an abstract issue, as rising sea levels and salinity are now threatening their lives. I encourage everyone to see this compelling film about the plight of our Pacific neighbours, and to reflect on this most important environmental issue.” Mr Zubrycki will speak to students enrolled in various Bachelor of Communication courses at 4pm at the University.

The Mitchell Student Guild at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will host the annual Kids Day Out on Saturday 24 September. The co-ordinator of this year’s Kids Day Out at CSU, Miss Alyce Woods, said, “The event will be bigger and better, and all proceeds will go to the Bathurst Base Hospital Paediatric Ward, and the local Riding for the Disabled organisation. Children can meet Dora the Explorer, and the Toy Story movie characters Buzz and Woody, and see and do much more, so we encourage parents to bring their little ones for a memorable day out.” The event will also feature kids craft making stalls, an animal petting zoo, jumping castles, barbeque and food stalls, candy and show bags, sack, three-legged, and egg-and-spoon races, a stage with various local performers, raffles, colouring competitions, roving performers, face painting, an ambulance, a fire truck and a police car.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will play host to a special NAIDOC Day celebration on Wednesday 21 September. The NAIDOC Day event hosted by the Barraamielinga Indigenous Student Services Unit will see invited community groups and community members such as the Dubbo Senior College ‘Indigenous Youth Leadership’ Scholars attend a BBQ lunch with the day themed Change: The next step is ours. Entertainment will feature award winning blues artist and 2011 Deadly Award nominee Buddy Knox and the Buddy Knox Blues Band, as well as local talent and 2011 Nanga Mai award winner Mr Kodi Lane. “It’s events like these that remind us of our heritage and celebrate our achievements as a community and as a nation,” said CSU Student Services Office team leader Mr Laurie Crawford. “We invite anyone to come along and enjoy the day.”

The staff and alumni of Charles Sturt University (CSU) are saddened by news of the passing of Mr David Morrow, who lectured in law at the University’s predecessor institution, Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), in the variously named School of Business entities from 1972 to 1989. Mr Morrow died peacefully at home in Bathurst last week. Following his retirement, Mr Morrow was an active member of the CSU Foundation, helping to raise funds for the University, and served in the role of Esquire Bedell, carrying the symbolic mace for many CSU graduation ceremonies. He is also remembered as a keen bridge player and teacher, and was a foundation member and life member of the Bathurst Beef and Burgundy Club. The University extends its condolences to Mr Morrow’s family.

The annual SPRUNG Festival of performances and multi-media productions by final-year theatre/media students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) kicks off in Bathurst on Wednesday evening 14 September. Festival spokesperson, Ms Phoebe Lane, said, “The SPRUNG Festival seeks to engage the local community by demonstrating a commitment to artistic innovation by providing high quality entertainment. This year the festival features two theatre shows, a hip-hop comedy, a flash animation film, a children’s touring show, a physical theatre piece, an arts publication, and a documentary on a community project with Kelso Community Centre. Everyone is welcome.” The SPRUNG Festival is presented by CYLE Productions and the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst. The official festival launch will be held at the Ponton Theatre at CSU at 6.45pm on Wednesday 14 September, and runs to Saturday 1 October.

What do physical theatre, touring theatre for young people, and outdoor satirical hip-hop theatre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) all have in common? They are dynamic theatre forms featured in the coming SPRUNG Festival and supervised by newly-appointed lecturer in theatre/media, Mr Daniel Aubin, a former Canadian national gymnast who recently joined the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst. “These three exciting major works by our third year students will surprise and captivate audiences,” Mr Aubin said. “All productions demonstrate a high level of technical skill and imagination, and integrate all three years in the course.” The productions include Level 101 (physical theatre), Health Havoc (touring theatre for young people), and The 7PM Projects (an outdoor satirical hip-hop theatre). Mr Aubin has been a performing artist, theatre director and educator for over 15 years in Europe, North America, and Australasia. His experience ranges from stunt-doubling for US actor Mark Wahlberg and corporate leadership programs, to theatre, film, festivals, special events and circus. He has taught physical theatre, clown and acrobatics at Flinders University, Adelaide College of the Arts, and for the Australian Dance Theatre.

Regional engagement will be the topic for discussion when Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Mr John Nolan addresses the 2011 Australian Local Government Aboriginal Network Conference in Dubbo on Thursday 15 September. As community relations officer for CSU’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, Mr Nolan is passionate about regional engagement. “My lineage is part Wangkumarra northwest of Bourke, and Wiradjuri on my father’s side,” Mr Nolan explains. “After spending the first nine years of my life living in railway tents, I moved into one of the first homes built in Dubbo by the Aborigines Welfare Board in 1955.” After finishing his schooling in Dubbo, Mr Nolan worked in positions with the NSW Aboriginal Lands Trust and Aboriginal Development Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission before following his other passion, teaching, which saw him working at primary and secondary schools in Dubbo, Alice Springs and Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. “I’ve certainly seen how beneficial regional engagement is in large communities. I hope to pass my knowledge on at the Conference.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst recently hosted ‘Xplore CSU’, an on-campus information day for 44 Year 5 and 6 students from Tullamore Central School, Tottenham Central School and Kelso Public School in Bathurst to encourage them to consider higher education when they finish school. “The ‘Xplore CSU’ day is part of a federally-funded program which aims to provide information, access and awareness of further education for all students, especially those from rural and remote areas which are currently under-represented in higher education,” said Ms Liz Smith, Director of Academic Support at CSU. “Research shows 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 for university, and the program helps build that understanding.” The ‘Xplore CSU’ day allowed the students to attend seminars and activities in the Schools of Computing and Mathematics, Human Movement Studies, Communication and Creative Industries, and Business.They toured university facilities, participated in a mock graduation ceremony, met CSU student ambassadors, met Wayne the robotic dog, and visited the on-campus television studio where they recorded a news bulletin.

Agricultural science students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) have again excelled at the Australian University Crops Competition held in Temora in September with two students named in the competition’s top five. An initiative of Grain Gowers Limited, the third annual competition was held from Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 September. The event, covering grains, pulses and oilseeds, involved students from six Australian universities. Two members of the CSU team, Ms Ally Dingjan from Wagga Wagga and Ms Candice Robinson from Whitton finished in the top five, ensuring the pair participates in a study tour to New Zealand in 2012. In addition to the individual winners, CSU took out the University Teams Award. Crop agronomy lecturer in the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Dr Sergio Moroni said, “The Charles Sturt University team performed extremely well throughout the competition. The seriousness of the event did not deter them from enjoying themselves. They made me proud.” The students are studying the Bachelor of Agricultural Science at CSU in Wagga Wagga.