ahs lai A LESSON IN HISTORY historian usually deals with his problems in the light of his own past experiences. My present problem is to say farewell. Unfor- tunately, | have no past experience of retiring owing to advancing age; thus | will solve my problem by talking about the one thing | know and where | cannot go wrong - HISTORY. History is the sum-total of all human experience, its no and its practical application. Thus it repre- sents the record of all human activity and all human knowledge. Any subject fits into the study of History and therefore a historian must have an all-round knowledge in addition to his/her specialty. The very word "history" is derived from ancient Greek and means “learning by inquiry." It compels its practitioners and students to think cen and to ask questions; its very vastness forces them to diligence and painstaking research to obtain evidence and then to use critical judgement as to its value. History promotes hard work and reflec- tion, stimulates the imagination and broadens one’s horizon. As an academic person the historian must be truthful and as objective as possible. Thus the historian is enabled to perceive events, past and ie in their true perspective, not in terms of their immediate emotional impact. This is conducive to unprejudiced judgement and ultimately to responsible citizenship. Finally, History enables mankind to learn from the past. It never repeats itself in precisely the same way but there are always sufficient parallels to provide guidance. I do not wish to digress into politics but the present local situation reminds me of Austria in 1933 when its government abandoned democracy with ultimate- ly fatal results. Since History is such a vast subject and the world large and varied, what kind of history is most impor- tant to us as Canadians? Every people’s history is interesting and can provide valuable lessons, but obvious our own past and present provide the most valuable ones. We must, then, study the his- tory of our own country, Canada, to help us to un- derstand our own identity. It is a relatively young country and the roots of the overwhelming majority of Canadians lie in Europe. lt was European needs, controversies and tradi- tions, the conflict between the stable rural French and the aggressive commercial English societies which shaped the past of Canada and are still shaping its present, as last month's Meech Lake Ac- cord which recognizes the special character of Quebec society within Confederation testifies. Also, Canada’s past close ties to Britain and the present overwhelming presenae and influence of our American neighbour to the south have shaped and are still influencing Canada's destiny. Thus the His- tory of Canada, of Europe and the United States must be the first choices of a respectable History curriculum in a Canadian public institution. Other histories are always interesting and useful but they are marginal to us in comparison. Let us never for- get the purpose of teaching History: to understand ourselves and what we are, not to establish com- mercial relations. Leave that to politicians and economists, and leave History to the historians! Finally, | wish to thank Douglas College for having given me the opportunity to teach History without any interference. It is what | always wanted to do and not many people are so lucky in their life’s oc- cupations. For that | am humbly grateful. One does not go into teaching for financial rewards; however, when one is visited by former students years afterwards and thanked for what they per- ceive one has done for them, then one realizes that there is no greater ultimate reward in life than the knowledge that one has not wasted it. George Porges RERISE ELECTED BCAC PRESIDENT We are please to report that at the Annual General Meeting of the B.C. Association of Colleges, held on June 13 and 14, Mr. G.T. Trerise was elected President of the Association for the forthcoming year. Mr. Trerise is a longstanding member of the Douglas College Board and was chairman for two years. With his keen interest and commitment to the College sys- tem, we know he will be an excellent President for the Association and we wish him well on his new challenge. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING/SYMPOSIUM Last weekend, a number of senior administrators and College Board members attended the annual general meeting of the B.C. Association of Colleges, the theme for which was "Delivering Education for the 21st Cen- tury.” At the symposium on Friday, a number of presentations were made. A copy of the audio tape of each of the presentations has been forwarded to the library, as fol- lows: 750 #] Keynote: Overnight Miracles... Speaker: Dr. Michael W. Allen #2 Open Learning/Telecom. Lucille Pacey #3 Learning and Technology Dr. Dennis R.W. Wing #4 ‘Computer Assisted Materials David Karpoff | #5 Expert Systems and Applic... | Les Cochran I Commend all of these tapes to you. I believe you will find #4, David Karpoff speaking on Computer Assisted Materials, of particular interest. Bill Day.