We live in the computer age, an age where the individual is no more than a number. Assessment of a number is far easier than assessment of a thinking, speaking being. Too often criticism is given without any knowledge of the character to which it is directed. Such a situation leads the student into a feeling of being mass-produced. To some extent this feeling is all too true: "education inflation" is a problem which has made a university degree essential for most executive occupations.
Education should anticipate the needs of tomorrow. Sadly, whilst it ought to produce capable and creative people, it very rarely does more than turn out pre-programmed entities for today's market demand. Learning should be for life, not occupations.
In this school modern processes are being superimposed on traditions that have stood for over a hundred years. The fact that this often creates a great deal of friction should not be the signal to discard all that is old. Change is a gradual process, but it is inevitable, and the retardation of it leads to confusion and frustration at a time when most of all it is necessary to be unhindered in the implementation of a clear and logical plan.
A great deal of controversy has been raised in recent years about student rights and privileges. Most of it can be herded under the banner of the right to "self-determination". It is foreseeable that in the not too distant future the student will obtain this. However, having it, the student body will have to realise that it is a deep responsibility that requires a mature and rational outlook. One would hate to think that it could degenerate into the disgraceful sham that is party politics. In this regard both the students and the current authorities have a responsibility to lay a firm foundation. The administrators of schools should come into contact with more students just as much as students should not shy away from administrators.
Everyone must remember that he has faults. It may be asking too much to want people to accept each other for what he is, but for as long as a student considers himself opposed to teachers and for as long as teachers consider students to be incapable of making decisions, no matter how few the numbers may be in either case, there will be conflict. The process should be brought about by every group in the school working together. No-one must ever forget that he is an individual, but he must not let his prejudices cloud the ambitions and goals of the majority.
Although the future is in our hands now, it is unlikely that we will be making our own decisions in our time as students. As parents, today's students will be concerned with their children and the attitudes they adopt. It is to be hoped that those parents do not forget the attitudes they held when they were young, for their children will have exactly the same unshakeable belief in the justness of their cause that we should have now. We are the progenitors; we must be careful not to make a mess of things.
A. M. West, for the editors
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On Thursday, 28th February, the annual Foundation Day Assembly was held in the Centenary Hall. The Headmaster gave the traditional Foundation Day address, outlining the history of the school from its establishment in 1868 to the present day; in his address the Headmaster questioned the view held by some that B.G.S. and other independent schools are "privileged" schools. Following the address the awards were presented to present and past pupils. (The traditional Old Boys v. Present Boys sporting competition attracted little interest this year.)
The issue also prints the formal definitions of the two O.B.A. awards under the heading "O.B.A. Awards for 1973", recording the prior year's recipients (already held in the index):
(From this period the magazine prints a formal "Awards for [previous year]" block as the definitive record, while the current year's Foundation Day narrative reports that year's presentation. The 1974 Roe and Nowlan winners are therefore Chris Morton and Ross Harley, per the Foundation Day Assembly report above.)
The 1974 Old Boys' Section carries the usual Births, Marriages and Deaths registers (compiled by K. A. Lemon). These registers are not reproduced in this transcript.
They are not reproduced in this transcript.
In this era, an Old Boy's year designation was the year he entered Grammar; the convention today is the year he finished. A boy who started in 1993 and finished in 1997 was (93) but is now '97.
Brisbane Grammar School Old Boys' Association · Old Boys History. Part of the OBA Knowledge Project.
Draft site for committee review. Spot an error or hold a missing piece? Tell the OBA