CSU Green will host its second annual Tweed Ride and Fair with a vintage-packed day planned for the library lawn at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 21 September.Sustainability officer with CSU Green Ms Alesha Elbourne said, "This year's Tweed Ride will be held as part of Bike Week, a NSW Transport initiative."We aim to engage Charles Sturt University staff and students in sustainability-related conversations about local cycling infrastructure for transport and recreation."The aim is to encourage staff and students to reduce their carbon footprint, and raise funds for tree planting."At least 30 riders are expected to gather at 11.45am in their finest tweeds and climb on their squeaky vintage cycles for a leisurely jaunt around campus starting at 12pm.The dress code is simple; anything that harks back a time before lycra.Find out more about the University's support for bike transport here.To contribute to the CSU Tweed Ride tree count, donate to our partners at BeardsOn here.The 2017 CSU Tweed Ride starts at 12pm on Thursday 21 September at the library lawn, CSU in Bathurst.

A game show devised to celebrate students who are the first in their families to attend university will be staged at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Tuesday evening 19 September.Ms Kara King, FirstDegree Program Lead in the CSU Office for Students, said, "The Game Show Extravaganza will celebrate an inclusive Charles Sturt University community, promote a sense of belonging, and increase awareness of the first-in-family experience."This interactive show will see 10 teams of Charles Sturt University staff and students pitted against each other in rounds of trivia, physical tasks, and fast-paced questions."The format of the show will visit elements of TV game show favourites such as Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud."The game show has been devised by the CSU FirstDegree Program and students enrolled in the Communications Event Management subject. It will be hosted by CSU theatre/media lecturer Mr Dan Aubin, special guest, CSU alumna and Australian comedian Ms Penny Greenhalgh, and current CSU student Mr Nick Everard.The Game Show Extravaganza will be held in the Rafters Bar (in building 1413) on Bathurst campus from 6pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday 19 September. The venue will accommodate up to 200 audience members, and in addition event live-streaming will allow online and remote students to interact with participants by commenting and contributing during the event. Live streaming and interacting are via the FirstDegree Facebook page.Tickets are $5 with all money going to CSU Give for future scholarships. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased online and on campus. Pre-event ticket buyers will go into the running for a major lucky door prize.For more information and to watch the live-stream, visit the FirstDegree Facebook page - search @FirstDegreeCSUThe FirstDegree Program is part of the CSU Office for Students led by Professor Julia Coyle, and is a HEPPP funded program to support students who are the first in their family to attend university.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) paramedicine students have organised the inaugural 'Dare to Know' student research conference in Bathurst on Saturday 16 September.Lecturer in paramedicine in the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst Mr Lyle Brewster said, "This is the inaugural paramedicine research conference and it aims to promote to students early in their careers the idea of doing research."The students have done an amazing job organising the conference."They have found the speakers, organised venues on campus, arranged to pay for travel and accommodation for the guest speakers, have built and maintained the website, devised and issued advertising, liaised with University staff, and have organised the catering."The speakers include international academics such as Professor Peter O'Meara who will speak about 'The emergence of paramedicine as a profession', and leading professional paramedics such as Mr Mark Palaitis who will speak on 'The impact of paramedic research in NSW'.Among CSU paramedicine student speakers at the conference are third-year students Mr Jeremy Benson and Ms Milly Sonter-Kelso who will speak about 'AEDs on drones'.The Dare to Know conference is from 9am to 5pm Saturday 16 September in the large lecture theatre, building 1292, at CSU in Bathurst.Find out more at the conference website.Connect via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DareToKnow2017/?ref=br_rs and Twitter https://twitter.com/D2K2017For more information contact organiser Ms Lana Plews on 0455 500 548, or email Dare2knowbx@gmail.com

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students and staff will be doing their bit to support the life-saving work of the Australian Red Cross when its mobile blood donation van is at CSU in Bathurst on Monday 18 to Wednesday 20 September.CSU student liaison officer Mr Scott Hatch said, "Donating blood is one of the great modern life-saving gifts, and our students have been outstanding in stepping forward to contribute to the Australian community in this way. According to the Red Cross, in 2017 Charles Sturt University students made 768 donations and saved 2 300 lives. That's a significant contribution to our communities."Mr John Feist, NSW/ACT Community Relations Officer with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service praised CSU students when he recently visited CSU in Bathurst. Mr Feist presented student representatives with a plaque acknowledging their donations over several years, and the 142 donations that gained them second place in the 2017 CSU Student Blood Donation Challenge.The Red Cross mobile blood donation van will be outside the CD Blake Auditorium (the gym), building 1220, at CSU in Bathurst on Monday 18 to Wednesday 20 September.To make an appointment phone the Red Cross on 131 495.

People living with disability are looking to higher education as a path to engaging with meaningful activity in their community, particularly in regional areas. But can our regional universities support these aspirations?Researchers from five universities including Charles Sturt University (CSU) are currently investigating the experiences of people with disability who aspire to complete a university course in regional Australia.The research team is now calling for people with disability in regional areas from Wangaratta in Victoria to Port Macquarie in NSW to share their experiences of higher education, particularly those:currently at high school in Years 10 and 11 and who are interested to go to university; and,mature aged people who  haven't been to university but are interested in study."We want to interview volunteers from regional communities to understand their perceptions of higher education. We are investigating the barriers for people with disability in undertaking a university course," said CSU researcher Dr Clare Wilding."The uptake of higher education by people with disability is lower in regional areas than for their city counterparts," Dr Wilding said."According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, people with disability are more likely to have lower levels of educational attainment. Furthermore, data from the bureau showed that there are more people aged 15 to 64 years living with disability in regional areas – around 18 per cent - than those living in major cities, which is 13 per cent. So we should see a higher proportion of students with disability from regional areas attending university.""However, only two per cent of people with disability living in Australia's regional or remote areas are currently studying in higher education, compared with four per cent in a major city."We want to find out why this pattern is happening, and how universities, governments and the community can address the problem," she said.As part of the project, the researchers have already surveyed and interviewed students with disability who are currently enrolled in regional universities."Through this research, we hope to improve access and participation in higher education by regional people with disability, particularly those from a low socio-economic background," Dr Wilding said.The upcoming round of interviews will be conducted using media to suit the volunteer participants: by telephone, instant messaging, Skype, email or face-to-face. People wishing to participate should contact Ms Kate Freire on (02) 6051 9355 or email kfreire@csu.edu.au.The researchers aim to complete and analyse the interviews before the end of 2017, and report final recommendations to the Federal Department of Education by the middle of 2018.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnerships (CUP) Rural and Regional Sports Development Program (Winter round) opened for applications from Monday 4 September.The Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst, Associate Professor Chika Anyanwu, said the CSU CUP Rural and Regional Sports Development Program provides registered community and sporting organisations with the opportunity to request a grant of up to $1 000."The Community University Partnership program builds capacity and aspiration through partnership and support for local organisations," Professor Anyanwu said."The aim of these grants is to encourage and support young people to participate in community sports, and can assist young rural sportspeople or teams to attend events, or provide equipment to assist to meet the cost of participation in sports programs. I look forwards to receiving submissions from teams and organisations within the Bathurst region."The CSU CUP Rural and Regional Sports Development Program has a total of $25 000 available for allocation across all CSU campus communities. Applications close on Monday 2 October, and the guidelines and online application are here.Applications should be submitted to the local CSU Head of Campus at hocbathurst@csu.edu.au.

The life-saving actions of three Charles Sturt University (CSU) students on a football field in Orange last month will be formally recognised by Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann (pictured) on Friday 8 September.CSU paramedic students, Mr Andrew Fraser and Mr Jack Keppel, and CSU nursing student, Ms Emma Curtin helped save the life of Orange City Lions rugby union coach Mr Steve Hamson when he suffered a heart attack at the start of a game on Saturday 5 August.Along with Registered Nurse Ms Wendy Baker, the trio used a defibrillator to revive Mr Hamson, who will also attend the morning tea hosted by Professor Vann at CSU in Bathurst."The staff and students of Charles Sturt University are proud that our paramedic and nursing students were able to render emergency, life-saving assistance," Professor Vann said."It demonstrates that the University truly does produce job-ready graduates with practical, hands-on skills who daily make a difference to the lives of individuals and to our communities."I commend Andrew, Jack and Emma, and thank them and all our students who give substance to the University's ethos of 'yindyamarra winhanganha'; the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in."The morning tea will be held at PULSE Café, building 1414, at CSU in Bathurst at 11am, Friday 8 September.

A visiting Oxford professor will argue in a dynamic new public lecture series at Charles Sturt University (CSU) that the zero tolerance method of controlling doping in sport is not working and anti-doping efforts continue to fail athletes and fans.The free public lecture by renowned Oxford University bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu (pictured) is the first in the 'How to Live Well' themed Exploration Series to be held at CSU in Bathurst on Wednesday 13 September.Professor in Philosophy in the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Suzanne Uniacke, said that under the 2017-22 University Strategy 'Our Communities', a series of public lectures will explore questions about the nature of the well-lived life and a world worth living in."The 'How to Live Well' Series aims to promote reflection and critical engagement on fundamental issues that are part of the University's stated ethos and contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of our campuses and their wider communities," she said.Professor Uniacke explained that Professor Savulescu's public lecture topic, 'Doping in Sport, and Human Enhancement', will challenge conventional thinking in his examination of whether we should accept performance enhancement as part of sport, and focus instead on harmful practices, or practices which are against the spirit of sport."Professor Savulescu will argue that the zero tolerance method of controlling doping in sport is not working, and that on recent evidence the anti-doping effort is continuing to fail athletes and fans," she said."He asserts that from a practical policy viewpoint, we should consider another approach to reach the goals of a level playing field and will argue that enhancement per se is not against the spirit of sport, and that a radical overhaul is needed."A discussion will follow about some of the ethical issues of human enhancement more generally.This 'How to Live Well' Series free public lecture is from 6pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday 13 September in room 223, building 1292, at CSU, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst; follow the event parking signs to car park P7. Register for catering purposes here.

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst have tallied the second highest number of Red Cross blood donations across the state as part of a unique life-saving blood drive.From March to July, CSU campuses in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Port Macquarie, Albury-Wodonga, Orange, Dubbo, and Goulburn competed to see who could save the most lives through blood donations in the Australian Red Cross Blood Service's inaugural Charles Sturt University Blood Challenge.Student Liaison Officer at CSU in Bathurst Mr Scott Hatch said, "With young people the least likely to give blood on an ongoing basis, their donations have helped secure blood supplies over the critical winter months."The students in Bathurst made 142 donations, saving 426 lives, but were beaten by the much larger student population at the University in Wagga Wagga, where students made 348 donations."I applaud all our students at ten campuses and study centres who made a total of 768 donations during the Challenge, collectively saving more than 2 300 lives."Red Cross Blood Service spokesman Mr John Feist congratulated all the students involved in the Charles Sturt University Blood Challenge."We hope their example will encourage other students and the wider public to join the cause and give others a second chance at life," Mr Feist said."We also urge all the students to continue donating blood despite the Challenge being officially over, as the need for blood never stops."Mr Feist recently visited CSU in Bathurst to present a plaque to Mr Hatch and student representatives Mr Josh Buttenshaw, Ms Danielle Kenny, Ms Clare Porter, and Mr Brad Rushby.The Charles Sturt University Blood Challenge is part of the Blood Service's Red25 program, a unique movement in which groups and organisations around Australia unite to save lives through blood donation. To donate, call 13 14 95 or visit donateblood.com.au.