Four Charles Sturt University (CSU) students have organised a 'Hero Dash' fund-raising event in Bathurst for the NSW Cancer Council on Sunday 2 June. Ms Michaela Rath-May, a double-degree public relations and business student at the School of Communication and Creative Industries said, “The event is dedicated to cancer sufferers, survivors and carers - the real ‘Everyday Heroes’ making a selfless difference in their own lives and the lives of others. I and my fellow-students in the organizing team – Mr Jack Renshaw, Ms Libby Mellor and Ms Hailing Cheng - aim to raise at least $1 000, but we hope for a lot more. There are three optional events designed to suit all fitness levels: Cross Fit Challenge (highly active); Kids Boot Camp (moderately active under 14 years); and Participation Walk (any fitness level). We encourage everyone to come along and participate for a good cause.” Hero Dash will be held at Macquarie River Bicentennial Park, Bathurst, from 11.30am to 3pm on Sunday 2 June, and is part of Cancer Council NSW’s ‘Do your thing’ fundraising initiative, which encourages people to create their own fundraising run with the support of Cancer Council NSW. Registration is $10 per person, or $30 for a group of four. To register or find out more about Hero Dash visit the team’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Herodashbathurst.

Students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will participate in a simulated car crash rescue organised by health promotion services at CSU for Drug and Alcohol Awareness Month. Police, ambulance, and fire and rescue crews will be on hand to free student actors 'trapped' in the car to demonstrate how occupants are cut out of the wreckage following a crash. Health promotion officer Ms Kirsten Bourke said the re-enactment was made to be as realistic as possible. “We've got students as actors and it’s as though they have actually been in a drink driving crash,” Miss Bourke said. “We are really trying to drive home the message that you need a plan B to get home and if you are going to go out and decide to drink and drive, this could very well be the outcome. Re-enactments have already taken place at CSU in Orange and Dubbo, and Ms Bourke said the month’s focus was on raising awareness of drink driving through events including health promotion bar nights, drug awareness movie nights, and Australia’s biggest morning tea.

Members of the Bathurst Business Chamber and senior executives of Charles Sturt University (CSU) will welcome Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce AC, CVO, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Mr Bryce, when they host them at the monthly business forum to be held at the University in Bathurst at 6pm today, Tuesday 14 May. The acting Executive Dean of the CSU Faculty of Business, Professor Robert Coombes, said, “We are delighted that the ‘Business After Hours’ forum of the Bathurst Business Chamber was scheduled to be held at Charles Sturt University today and that it coincides with Her Excellency’s visit to the city. This is a wonderful opportunity for Her Excellency to meet local businesspeople and to hear of their enterprises, initiatives and aspirations.” Professor Coombes will be joined by CSU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Garry Marchant, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Professor Ken Dillon, as well as Mr Angus Edwards, president of the Bathurst Business Chamber, and members of the Bathurst business community. The ‘Business After Hours’ forum will be held at the Council Room at The Grange Chancellery at CSU in Bathurst.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Mr Mark Lee will spend more than a year in the USA as visiting scholar at the California State University. Mr Lee is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga. He is also a PhD student with CSU's Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE ). During the 16-month visit, Mr Lee will be based in the California State University Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach, California within MERLOT. Established in 1997, MERLOT is a California State University program that provides a free online community and repository of open educational resources (OER), allowing higher educators from around the world to share their learning materials and pedagogy. Mr Lee is currently Editor-in-Chief of MERLOT’s peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT). During his visit, he plans to undertake intensive development of JOLT, and in addition will carry out research in the use of mobile technologies and 3D virtual worlds for learning and teaching, and open educational resources. "I hope that one of the outcomes of my visit will be lasting relationships with researchers and staff across the 23 campuses of the California State University system," Mr Lee said. He left Australia for the USA on Friday 3 May and officially commences his visiting scholarship on Saturday 1 June.

Fitness training will be included in the professional preparation of paramedic students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst, starting with fitness testing for 163 students on Wednesday 15 May. Ms Amanda Hlushak, associate lecturer in the paramedic program at CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences in Bathurst, said, “The aim of running a baseline fitness test for our paramedic students is to make them more fit and more employable by the end of their three-year course. Paramedic wellness, fitness awareness and physical training will also help reduce on-job injuries, reduce occupational stress and enable longer careers. The students will be in uniform and will be doing a weighted stretcher carry, an endurance step-test, and an obstacle course. The obstacle course will include job-specific tasks including the carrying of paramedic equipment, strength tasks, and doing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).” The testing will take place at the gymnasium in the CD Blake Auditorium (building E1, on Village Drive) and on the adjacent playing fields at CSU in Bathurst, starting on the hour from 8am to 6pm Wednesday 15 May.

Psychologist, social researcher and novelist Mr Hugh Mackay will tackle the question of 'What makes a life worth living?' when he delivers the first Charles Sturt University (CSU) Explorations public lecture in Orange on Wednesday 22 May. Mr Mackay has spent his working life asking Australians about their values, motivations, ambitions, hopes and fears. “The good life is not the sum of our security, wealth, and levels of happiness,” he said. “It is one defined by our capacity for selflessness, the quality of our relationships and our willingness to connect with others in a useful way.” In the public lecture Mr Mackay will explore our pursuit of pleasure, our attempts to perfect ourselves and our children, and our conviction that we can have our lives under control.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students will be looking to continue the University's unbeaten record against Sydney University when they host the 2013 Roland Bryant Cup competition on Saturday 18 May. The cup is named in honour of Professor Roland Bryant, who teaches at both institutions, and pits the dental schools of each university against the other in four sports. Students compete in mixed touch football, women’s and men’s soccer, men’s basketball and women’s netball. CSU’s School of Dentistry and Health Sciences in Orange has won the cup in each year since the competition began in 2010. The competition is designed to forge collaborative links and friendships between CSU and Sydney University and has been contested in excellent spirit on each occasion. The day will include a variety of social events, along with the sporting contests.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students with a passion for sustainable living are being invited to apply for a place in the national Green Steps program. Green Steps was started by Monash University in 2000 and CSU was the first regional university to host the free program. It aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle sustainability issues in the workplace. Green Steps consists of six days of training on two weekends in September at CSU in Wagga Wagga, and a 15 day internship. Applications are open for the 2013 Green Steps program at CSU and close on Tuesday 13 August. CSU Green Partnerships Coordinator Ms Nicola Smith said, “The Green Steps program enables students to develop their knowledge of environmental sustainability and sustainable workplace practices to use in their future career. It also helps develop communication and behaviour change skills.”  Read about a former Green Steps trainee and intern on CSU News here:

The Federal government has allocated $5.9 million towards a $8 million Food, Soil and Water Research Centre to be built by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in partnership with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann was onhand for the announcement which will see a new facility built on CSU’s proposed greenfield campus site on Major Innes Road, Port Macquarie. “The centre will make a significant contribution to research into soil and water management and sustainable development on the NSW Mid-North Coast and Australia, and will be integrated with the development of our new campus in Port Macquarie”, Professor Vann said. Federal Member for Lynne, Mr Rob Oakeshott, said the centre will help Australia address problems and economic opportunities in providing enough food and water for an ever-increasing global population. The facility will replace and expand an existing laboratory run by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.