An event that transformed the portrayal of Bali in Australia as a holiday island of paradise, peace, art and culture to a place of violence and tragedy has been transported to the stage. The Charles Sturt University (CSU) theatre production A Terrible Beauty has been written by tutor in the CSU School of Communications, Ray Harding. He is a former Home and Away script producer and has had plays in London’s West End. Ray Harding says A Terrible Beauty will challenge audiences to examine the impact of westernisation on the social and cultural complexities of Balinese life. He makes no apologies for the confrontational subject matter. "This is the primary role of theatre, to challenge and provoke,” said Ray Harding. The production A Terrible Beauty is designed by and stars students from CSU’s theatre media course in Bathurst.

An advocate for diversity and greater cultural understanding in international public relations has commenced a month long visit to Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) leading School of Communications in Bathurst. Hailed as one of the world’s leading public relations academics, Dr Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, is an Associate Professor from Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University and is co-author of the “must-read” for PR practitioners, The Global Public Relations Handbook. The National Communication Association in the United States awarded the text its PRIDE award in 2003 for best public relations book. Professor Krishnamurthy Sriramesh has also worked at universities in the USA (Maryland, Purdue and Florida) and as a public relations practitioner in India. In 2004, he received the Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations in the USA. “We are delighted that such a prestigious voice in international public relations will share his well researched knowledge and experience throughout the CSU School of Communications,” said Head of School Associate Professor Tom Watson.  

Pharmacy students at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Orange and Wagga Wagga Campuses will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the head of the peak employer organisation, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Kos Sclavos, during his visit to CSU on Tuesday 23 May. A Brisbane-based community pharmacist, Mr Sclavos took up the post as National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in November 2005. During his visit to the Wagga Wagga Campus, Kos Sclavos will meet with students in Orange via video-conference as well as hold face to face meetings with students and CSU academics, including Head of the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences, Associate Professor Lyn Angel on the Wagga Wagga Campus. With the Pharmacy Guild representing 4 500 pharmacy owners across Australia, Mr Sclavos is the recipient of a number of industry awards including Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Young Pharmacist of the Year 1999 and Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management’s Pharmacy Manager of the Year 1993.  

The seven Charles Sturt University (CSU) Ontario students currently in Wagga Wagga and Dubbo are now in their last week of practicum teaching in the Australian bush. Three are at North Wagga Public School, two at Peak Hill Central School and two at Macquarie Anglican Grammar School in Dubbo. The Peak Hill and Dubbo prac. teachers Crystal Napasney, Laura Lande, Mandy Greenspoon and Erin McAlister spent Saturday night at Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo having close encounters with various wildlife. Crystal describes Peak Hill as “very rural and very flat. It’s not desert but there’s not much green. It’s brown and dusty.” Laura says this overseas practicum “will be like the icing on the teacher's college cake. I’ve definitely gained an international perspective. The training I’ve received means I could teach anywhere in the world.” Read more about CSU in Ontario here.

Veterinary Science students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus now have 16 newly-donated Angus cows on which to develop their clinical and diagnostic skills. The cows were donated to the CSU veterinary program by a group of Angus breeders led by Lucinda and Bryan Corrigan, proprietors of Rennylea Angus stud at Bowna, near Holbrook. They are the first delivery of a total of 23 cows to be donated to CSU’s new Veterinary Science program by regional Angus cattle breeders. The pure Angus cows join an existing herd of 14 Poll Hereford cows donated by a number of breeders, coordinated by Robert and Moira O’Reilly, Redgate Poll Hereford stud, Rutherglen, Victoria. The cattle will be used by CSU’s 97 first and second-year Bachelor of Veterinary Science students as part of their practical experience and training in handling large animals. Professor Kym Abbott, CSU Director of Veterinary Science, said it was hoped to eventually build up the herd to more than 250 breeding cows which will provide for the needs of all the Veterinary students and those in the School studying Animal Science and Animal Production.

Business in the Central West will be the topic of discussion when 18 officials from the consular missions of Australia’s leading trading partners visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 10 May. The Central West Region Economic Forum will be attended by officials from India, the Philippines, China, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Slovenia, Serbia, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador. The forum organised by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) also involves the Department of State and Regional Development, Orange City Council and Charles Sturt University. CSU will host the Forum at the Orange Campus.  

Students completing postgraduate courses in Captive Vertebrate Management at Charles Sturt University (CSU) visited the Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo last week to work closely with the Zoo’s habitants. The students, travelling from as far away as  Darwin, Perth and California, spent the week working closely with Dubbo Zoo veterinarian Dr Tim Portas. The courses developed in co-operation with Western Plains Zoo were the first in Australia to offer specialisation in captive vertebrate management. Students are provided with the knowledge and skills to manage zoos and wildlife parks based on a thorough understanding of animal behaviour, the requirements of captive reptiles or birds, preventative medicine, reproduction biology and zoo and exhibit design principles. Dr Portas showed students an ultrasound image of eggs in the reproductive tract of one of the Galapagos tortoise females.  Last year the turtles laid but all the eggs were infertile. Dr Portas is more confident that the new eggs will be fertile because of a positive reproductive examination of the males.

Romance was in the air at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bathurst graduation last week when Donna Trim and Leigh McCulloch received their Bachelor of Computer Science (Games Technology) degrees. Donna is the first female graduate of the course, “I knew it would be male dominated but I thought there might be at least one other girl. It was kind of normal for me going through High School doing IT subjects like computer programming with mostly males.” There was an upside however: “I got quite a bit of attention being the only female." Leigh and Donna, who met while doing the Games course, are now real-life partners. The day was an extra special one for them, with Leigh giving the Vote of Thanks, graduating with distinction, receiving the School of Information Technology Prize for Academic Excellence, and “our parents meeting each other for the first time which was exciting”. CSU’s Information Technology does have a female Head of School, Associate Professor Sue Moffat, who says “there are only two female academics in this School. It would be nice if we managed 50-50 in my lifetime but a ratio of one third females is something to aim for.” Donna enrolled in the Games course because she loves working with computers and loves playing games. She now has her “dream job”, programming multiple player mobile phone games for Viva La Mobile in Surry Hills in Sydney.  

A national award from the Australian library sector will be presented to recent Charles Sturt University graduate Tania Barry for her commitment to her profession as a librarian in Victoria. Ms Barry, who graduated from the Bachelor of Arts (Library and Information Science) in April 2006, has been named the recipient of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Metcalfe Award for 2006.The Award commemorates John Metcalfe, a former NSW State Librarian, for his contribution to librarianship and library education. Ms Barry is the Children's and Youth Services Librarian for the Wyndham Library Service, Werribee south-west of Melbourne. “Tania has shown a great commitment to the profession, and through her work has created a busy program of events and initiatives that link the library to the community,” said senior lecturer Roy Sanders. “I am pleased to receive the Metcalfe Award because it is a peer-nominated, national award and I feel it provides professional recognition of the programs I initiated to improve literacy levels within the community,” said Ms Barry. The ALIA is the professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. Charles Sturt University last year celebrated its 30th anniversary as a lead educator for librarians across Australia and internationally.