A deed of agreement has been signed by the NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald and Charles Sturt University (CSU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter over a series of land transfers to boost agricultural research in Orange. The agreement will eventually see the Orange Agricultural Institute transferred to a purpose-built facility in a new agricultural science and research precinct at CSU in Orange. “The new centre would be physically located on the CSU precinct, meaning Institute staff will be able to work shoulder-to-shoulder with CSU agricultural research teams,” said Mr Macdonald.Highlighting a number of key partnerships between DPI and the University, Professor Ian Goulter said, “this deed is not just for CSU, not just for the Orange community but it is important for NSW agriculture and for Australia”. ABARE forecasts export earnings for farm commodities in 2005-06 will reach $27.2 billion.

The future of the universe from the perspective of science and the Christian theological tradition will be explored in a conference sponsored by Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Public and Contextual Theology Research Centre (PACT). From Resurrection to Return: Perspectives from Theology and Science on Christian Eschatology follows conferences on science and theology in Canberra in 2001 and in Adelaide in 2004. The conference will be held on Wednesday 29 March and Thursday 30 March in St Mark’s National Theological Centre and the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Barton, ACT. Among the keynote speakers are renowned theologian and New Testament scholar, Rt. Reverend Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham; Reverend Professor Robert J. Russell, founder and director of the Centre for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, California; and Reverend Professor Ted Peters, Professor of Theology, Pacific Lutheran Seminary and co-editor of Theology and Science. “The conference is an exciting opportunity for scholars from various disciplines to share insights on an important theme and strengthen our links nationally and internationally in the science and religion dialogue,” said PACT Director, Professor James Haire.

If you are worried by the conflict between providing traditional and computer play experiences for your child then you are invited to a seminar in Albury on Wednesday 22 March. Titled What's Play in the New Millennium?, leading Charles Sturt University (CSU) education researcher Professor Robyn Zevenbergen will discuss what play looks like in a time where digital images dominate so much of the adult world. The CSU academic will also examine whether the digital environment is a quality substitute for play and whether it is real for modern children. The seminar will be held from 6pm in the Robert Brown Room in Albury City Council, Kiewa St, Albury. This is the first of several workshops to be offered during 2006 by CSU's Murray School of Education.

Rural health inequalities will be on the agenda of an international social work conference attended by leading rural social researcher Professor Margaret Alston from Charles Sturt University (CSU). Hosted by Coventry University in the UK from Monday 27 March, the three-day conference will examine building international social work collaboration on health inequalities research. As Professor of Social Work and Human Services at CSU, Margaret Alston will discuss the issue of “Globalisation, rural restructuring and the Australian rural health system: a failure of policy – where to for social work?”. “Unfortunately rural health inequalities are not limited to Australia, but we can do much better in addressing this disadvantage. This conference gives me the chance to share my ideas with others on how we might better respond,” said Professor Alston. The UK conference has attracted speakers from Australia, Canada, China, Estonia, India and the USA.  

After 27 years developing theatre and drama education at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Ray Goodlass is retiring this Friday, 17 March. Ray is senior lecturer and postgraduate course coordinator in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU and chaired the Arts and Culture Research Group of the University's Centre for Rural Social Research. Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Arts, Professor Lyn Gorman praised Ray’s long-term contribution to theatre education at CSU, his passion for regional theatre and the cultural life of Wagga Wagga. Involved in drama education all his adult life, Ray has directed over 100 professional and student productions, most recently as resident director for the University Theatre Ensemble. He has been a guest lecturer on acting and script analysis at UCLA, Los Angeles and NIDA and was director of the Riverina Theatre Company for two years. “Ray’s work as an artist has in turn challenged, provoked, enriched and engaged Wagga Wagga audiences for nearly 30 years,” said Kevin Poynter, lecturer in Design for Theatre and Television at CSU. In his ‘retirement’, Ray plans to complete his PhD on the poetics of gay theatre and continue his trade union and political advocacy work

Two senior livestock officers from Laos in South East Asia are visiting the Albury-Wodonga region this week to compare small scale livestock production systems with farms in their country. Deputy Director of the Lao National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service, Dr Tienne Vannasouk, and Director of the Lao Livestock and Fisheries Extension Centre, Mr Noungthong Sihanath, are being hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) during their week-long visit. The trip includes presentations to Victorian Government agricultural extension officers at Tatura and visits to local enterprises. Both officials work closely with CSU academic Dr Jo Millar, who is leading an Australian Government funded project to investigate how farmers learn from each other to improve livestock production in Laos. The Lao researchers will visit the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society on CSU’s Thurgoona site on Friday 10 March.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) computer network has gone wireless. CSU students and staff are now able to use their laptop computers via wireless links to receive and send emails and interact in online learning environments without having to plug in to a data line. The wireless links have been developed in areas where high numbers of users gather such as libraries, computer centres, selected lecture and tutorial rooms and outside areas. The wireless technology has gone live on the Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga campuses with plans to further expand the network.

The University Theatre Ensemble’s (UTE) production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in 2005 has been recognised in the annual Canberra Area Theatre Awards. Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Naomi Clegg was named the winner of the Best Costume Design (Play) in the Canberra regional awards held in February 2006. Miss Clegg is due to graduate from CSU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts (Design for Theatre and Television). UTE is the stage production arm of the acting and theatre and television design degree courses within the University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts in Wagga Wagga.  The productions involve final year acting students and are designed by final year theatre design students. “As our licence to produce The Crucible stipulated that the play be produced in period, Naomi had to undertake an enormous amount of research to design costumes that were true to colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and she more than lived up to all this research,” said director of The Crucible and senior CSU lecturer Ray Goodlass. “Ms Clegg’s achievement in the Canberra Area Theatre Awards demonstrates not only the quality of our students but also the significant contribution the University makes to the artistic diversity of the regions we serve,” said Dean of CSU Arts Faculty Professor Lyn Gorman.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) television production students have started their careers on a high note after securing a 12-month traineeship with leading television network, Channel Nine in Sydney this year. The students, Anna Macdonell and David Page, will also each receive $3 000 scholarships from Channel Nine after a competitive selection process conducted by Channel Nine managers on the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus. The Nine Network also offers three-week internships to third and final year television production students as part of ties between CSU and the industry. “Due to the high standard of the students, it is always difficult to select participants in the internships and traineeships,” said Channel Nine Supervising Director, David Summons. “It’s vitally important for the students to secure real world experience and industry contacts,” said CSU television production lecturer Bruce Gater. “Channel Nine’s policy of providing internships and two major traineeships allows this to happen,” he said. Ms Macdonell and Mr Page are due to graduate from CSU in 2006.