CSU Happenings for Oct. 9-17

October 9, 2009

OCT. 9 – Children’s Concert
Columbus State Schwob School of Music faculty and students will present an interactive concert for children 6 p.m. Friday in RiverCenter’s Studio Theatre. The program, designed for kids up to the 7th-grade level, will involve improvisation between the audience and performers, the use of American Sign Language, puppets and storytelling all woven together with music. Adults are encouraged to accompany younger children. Admission is free. For more information, call 706-649-7287 or go to http://music.colstate.edu.

OCT. 10 – Columbus Sci-Fi Convention and Toy Show
Columbus State University's Coca-Cola Space Science Center will host a Columbus Sci-Fi Convention and Toy Show,10 a.m- 9 p.m. Saturday at the center, 701 Front Ave., Columbus. The event will feature an appearance by actor Sam Witwer, plus comics, action figures, video game tournaments, collectibles, sci-fi movies, model rocket launches and more. Witwer, who was “Lt. Crashdown” on Battlestar Galactica, plays Neil Perry on the Showtime series Dexter. Admission is $5. For more information, go to http://www.ccssc.org or call 706-649-1477.

OCT. 10 – Columbus State to Host Cross Country Invitational at Smiths Station
The Columbus State cross country squads will host and compete in the annual Cougar Invitational 9 a.m. Saturday at the J.D. Evilsizer Sports Complex in Smiths Station, Ala. The invitational will feature 8K race and 5K races. For more information, call 706-568-2204 or go to http://www.csucougars.com.

OCT. 10 – NCAA Women’s Soccer
Columbus State’s women’s soccer squad will host Armstrong Atlantic State 4 p.m. Saturday at CSU’s Walden Soccer Complex. Admission prices are $5 for adults; $3 for students/kids ; and free for ages 5 and under and CSU students, faculty and staff with ID. For more information, call 706-568-2204 or go to http://www.csucougars.com.

OCT. 12-13 - Fall Break
Fall semester break means Columbus State will not hold classes on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile the university will be closed for business on Monday as the result of a furlough day and reopen Tuesday.

OCT. 14-18 - Georgia Theatre Conference at RiverPark
Columbus State University will showcase its RiverPark campus teaching and performing spaces when the university hosts the Georgia Theatre Conference Oct.14-18. The conference, the annual gathering for Georgia’s official theatre organization, will draw about 1,300 participants to Columbus State’s downtown Columbus campus. In addition to high school students and their teachers, conference-goers will include college-level theatre students and professors, community theatre professionals and novice enthusiasts.

Day passes, $10 each, can be purchased from the Theatre-on-the-Park Box Office at 10th Street and Bay Avenue. The pass is good for all activities on the day of purchase. For more information, go to http://www.georgiatheatreconference.com/ or contact Mary Norman, Georgia Theatre Conference executive director, at 229-798-0227 or mnorman830@yahoo.com.

OCT. 14 - Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for West Point Site
Columbus State will stage a ribbon cutting ceremony 5 p.m. Wednesday to celebrate the opening of its site in West Point. The event will take place at the classroom building, 405 W. Eighth St. Since the opening of fall semester, Columbus State professors in West Point are teaching courses including communication, computer science, criminal justice, general business, teacher education and educational leadership graduate-level classes. Courses are offered evenings, Saturdays, online and in mini-sessions to accommodate working students. The site is conveniently located for students who reside in Troup and Harris counties. Also, in-state tuition is available for nearby Alabama residents of Chambers, Russell and Lee counties. For more information about the ribbon cutting, call 706-645-2780.

OCT. 15 – Faculty Piano Recital
Schwob School of Music Pianist Yien Wang will perform 7:30 p.m Thursday, Oct. 15 in RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall. The program will include Debussy’s Images Book I, and Chopin’s 24 Preludes. Admission is free. For more information, call 706-649-7287 or go to http://music.colstate.edu.

OCT. 17 – BLAST! Creators to Give Talk, Screen Their Documentary
The creators of BLAST!, a critically acclaimed documentary described as “astrophysics Indiana Jones style,” will discuss and screen their film starting 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 in the Omnisphere Theater at CSU’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center. The presenters are Emmy-winning filmmaker Paul Devlin and his brother Mark, a University of Pennsylvania cosmologist. The 74-minute film follows a team astrophysicists led by Mark Devlin as they attempt to investigate galaxy formation by launching a specially designed telescope with a NASA weather balloon.

The event is free. But limited space —about 100 seats — means tickets must be acquired in advance from the center at 701 Front Ave., Columbus. For those not able to secure seat, a second showing of the film — minus the special guests — will take place that evening at 6 p.m. For more information, call 706-649-1477 or go to http://www.ccssc.org.