Staff, students and visitors often comment on our outstanding campus and I am pleased to advise that the following few months will mark some very significant and exciting new developments.

Designed to bring employers together with current Bond students and Alumni, the CDC’s on-campus office will be staffed by two full-time Employment Services Specialists, working in conjunction with industry-specific Careers Advisors attached to each of the university faculties.

Small-to-medium sized businesses are stealing a march on the Goliaths of the corporate world by scooping up the best and brightest university graduates.

This week, Bond University’s Assistant Professor in Education Dr Jonathon Sargeant set off, along with one hundred youngsters, on a week-long journey from their urban, south-east Queensland homes to rural Australia.

The adventure is part of Rotary Club’s "Beach to Bush" experience, which will see the 12-14 year olds take a 24hr train ride from Brisbane to Longreach in far western Queensland onboard the "Spirit of Outback".

The initiative follows the 2003 Rotary Clubs "Bush to Beach" project in which 350 youngsters from far western Queensland were provided with the opportunity to put the harsh daily realities of the severe droughts behind them by enjoying a holiday of a lifetime in Brisbane.

This year, the tables have been turned to provide a group of urban youths with the opportunity of experiencing first-hand the challenges facing those living in rural Australia, whilst also providing them with an appreciation of our natural resources and the value of water conservation within their own communities.

Over the next few days, the group will be taken out of their comfort zone as they are thrown together for the first time, with little to no access to modern technology for comfort.

Based at the Australian Agricultural College, they will be involved in numerous ‘outback’ experiences and activities including boomerang throwing, overnight camping, penning sheep, shearing, camp fire cooking, clothes washing (outback style) and damper making as well as cultural and educational visits. They will also be given the opportunity of helping out on a 63,000 acre sheep and cattle property.

Dr. Jonathon Sargeant will be following their amazing adventure as part of his current research project – "Perspectives of Children".

Over the course of the week Dr Sargeant (pictured right) will engage the children in informal group discussions and questionnaires focussing on their attitudes towards water, the environment, school, relationships, the world in general and their future.

The purpose of his study is, first and foremost, to provide this often voiceless generation a chance to be heard by their parents, teachers and wider communities on issues that are important to them.

"My main aim is to provide society with an invaluable opportunity to understand the needs, concerns and opinions from the future generation’s perspective to enable us to better prepare them for their future – and ours," Dr Sargeant said.

Minister for Education, Science and Training The Honourable Julie Bishop MP visited Bond on August 31 to tour the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty building and the Bond University Film and Television Centre.

Bond University Chancellor Mr Trevor C Rowe AM recently addressed the Australian Universities International Alumni Convention in Brisbane, speaking on the topic "Globalisation's Contribution to a Better World".

Read his address here.

THE 'REEL' DEBORAH READ

She’d played the resident vixen in an Asian soap opera, was Kim Catrall’s stand-in on Sex and the City and rubbed shoulders with Angelina Jolie and George Clooney at the Oscars, but Deborah Read still wasn’t satisfied. It wasn’t until she stepped onto her own set that she finally discovered her real passion for directing.

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