http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/jonathan-sobels/ Jonathan Sobels a bloke who was brought up in Adelaide, been to uni, worked in agribusiness, went back to uni, now works at uni, messes with young minds, talks with people about stuff, has good ideas… en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-mining-industry-could-graduate-to-a-whole-new-level/ Reflecting on the responses to my original piece in The Punch Instead of sandstone unis, what about iron ore ones? I was struck by the extent to which the respondents viewed university education stereotypically; on the one hand as an elitist institution, out of touch with society’s needs; on the other, as a factory for young people who should be trained to do useful stuff, like engineering. The thought that an Arts education had anything to offer was broadly dismissed. People seemed more interested in comparing the philanthropic culture of individuals in the United States business sector to Australian philanthropy, but the notion that a company could also be a social actor was not accepted. Support university incomes and you guarantee university flexibility to respond to the expectations of their community. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jonathan Sobels) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-mining-industry-could-graduate-to-a-whole-new-level/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-mining-industry-could-graduate-to-a-whole-new-level/#item8069 Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:35:46 +0000 Jonathan Sobels | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/instead-of-sandstone-unis-what-about-iron-ore-ones/ As the Senate debates the Mining Resources Rent Tax legislation it occurred to me that, for all the political posturing and economic ‘forecasts’ amid significant uncertainty and complexity, there is another way forward. At the Adelaide Festival of Ideas forum, ‘Resource Rich or Dirt Poor’, held in Adelaide late last year about the proceeds from the mining boom. I asked, “If BHP and Rio Tinto together endowed Universities in Australia with $10 billion by 2015, a) Why would they? And b) What would be the implications”? Fanciful? Naïve? …Or not? The immediate response from the panel was a cynical, “Well, yes, why would they”? And if they were to make such a donation it would have to be put through a ‘cleansing’ institution, a Government agency to ensure that the funds were put to appropriate use. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jonathan Sobels) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/instead-of-sandstone-unis-what-about-iron-ore-ones/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/instead-of-sandstone-unis-what-about-iron-ore-ones/#item8026 Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:50:41 +0000 Jonathan Sobels | Author bios | The Punch