Page 9 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 9
EDITORIAL
Perhaps The Gon zaga Record should have come into existence years ago. On the
other hand, there is something to be said for waiting until an institution such as a
school has settled down properly. For one thing, until comparatively recent years
Gonzaga College was a very small school. For years it was a single stream school
with a combined enrolment between Preparatory and Secondary of hardly more
than 270 pupils. And it is only of recent years that any sizable population of past
pupils began to exist. Financial realities demand that there must be a minimum
constituency of prospective buyers before you launch your magazine. Any nuclear
physicist will tell you that there is a 'critical mass' below which the thing will not
work!
Finally, it hardly needs to be said, the appearance of a school magazine depends
~n the arrival on the scene of someone enthusiastic enough to invest the time and
trouble in producing it. At this point the Editor wishes to pay special tribute to Mr
Anthony Farmar. It is due to Tony's enthusiasm and encouragement that the
Gonzaga Record makes its debut. Tony is in the publishing business. He says that
it was his experience on magazines at Oxford during his university years that set
him off on his career. He would see as the principal aim of a school magazine not
so much the keeping of a record of school activities, but of getting the boys
themselves actively engaged in its publication. There can be all sorts of useful and
unexpected side effects to their active participation.
Well, we will not try to resolve here which aim is uppermost. We commend the
magazine to our past and present pupils, and shall try to realise both aims.
As this is the very first issue of the Gonzaga Record, we offer a word of
explanation to our readers. They will notice a rather marked accent on 'hi story' in
our reporting. We think we owe this to our past. After all , no magazine chronicled
their activities during the years when they graced (or di sgraced) our not so
venerable halls and walls. By no means would we wish they should feel that they
had passed on ... 'unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.'
What would those who remember Gonzaga as ·a small school find most different
today? The first most obvious thing would be the physical size of the school. The
eight-classroom win g th at runs across towards the Community house we nt up in
1977; it cuts off the easy access they would remember as they dashed around from
the front to the back of the school. And then they would be struck by the two-
storied science and specialist block. Both these buildings were pushed through
during the head-mastership of Fr Dermot Murray, SJ. He certainl y left his mark on
Gonzaga.
And, of course, our old boy would immediately note the increased size of th e
Perhaps The Gon zaga Record should have come into existence years ago. On the
other hand, there is something to be said for waiting until an institution such as a
school has settled down properly. For one thing, until comparatively recent years
Gonzaga College was a very small school. For years it was a single stream school
with a combined enrolment between Preparatory and Secondary of hardly more
than 270 pupils. And it is only of recent years that any sizable population of past
pupils began to exist. Financial realities demand that there must be a minimum
constituency of prospective buyers before you launch your magazine. Any nuclear
physicist will tell you that there is a 'critical mass' below which the thing will not
work!
Finally, it hardly needs to be said, the appearance of a school magazine depends
~n the arrival on the scene of someone enthusiastic enough to invest the time and
trouble in producing it. At this point the Editor wishes to pay special tribute to Mr
Anthony Farmar. It is due to Tony's enthusiasm and encouragement that the
Gonzaga Record makes its debut. Tony is in the publishing business. He says that
it was his experience on magazines at Oxford during his university years that set
him off on his career. He would see as the principal aim of a school magazine not
so much the keeping of a record of school activities, but of getting the boys
themselves actively engaged in its publication. There can be all sorts of useful and
unexpected side effects to their active participation.
Well, we will not try to resolve here which aim is uppermost. We commend the
magazine to our past and present pupils, and shall try to realise both aims.
As this is the very first issue of the Gonzaga Record, we offer a word of
explanation to our readers. They will notice a rather marked accent on 'hi story' in
our reporting. We think we owe this to our past. After all , no magazine chronicled
their activities during the years when they graced (or di sgraced) our not so
venerable halls and walls. By no means would we wish they should feel that they
had passed on ... 'unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.'
What would those who remember Gonzaga as ·a small school find most different
today? The first most obvious thing would be the physical size of the school. The
eight-classroom win g th at runs across towards the Community house we nt up in
1977; it cuts off the easy access they would remember as they dashed around from
the front to the back of the school. And then they would be struck by the two-
storied science and specialist block. Both these buildings were pushed through
during the head-mastership of Fr Dermot Murray, SJ. He certainl y left his mark on
Gonzaga.
And, of course, our old boy would immediately note the increased size of th e
