Next week an important event on the Bilkent calendar will take place: elections for Class Representatives. Students from all programs in each undergraduate class, including the preparatory class, are eligible to vote. Voting will be done electronically. This computerized election system, the first in Turkey, was developed at Bilkent University and used here successfully last year.
The names of the candidates and eligible voters are posted at www.bilkent.edu.tr/konsey
The first round of elections will be on Monday, October 25 from 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
If the voter turnout is below 80% for a particular class, the election process for that class will continue with a second round of voting on Tuesday, October 26.
If the cumulative total votes cast on those two days are below 50% of all eligible voters for a particular class, then the top two candidates for that class will enter a runoff election, with voting to take place on Wednesday, October 27.
You can choose to vote at any of the stations listed below and need only to have your student ID card with you.

Locations of Voting Stations
-BUSEL Building C, DB01
-Faculty of Engineering, B-Block, Foyer
-School of Applied Technology and Management, Building R, RA 107
-Computer Center, Building B, 3rd Floor
-Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, MAZ 20 (shared by FEASS+FHL+FBA)
-Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, 3rd Floor, No. 336
-Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, F Block, FFZ 21

The elections results will be posted online at www.bilkent.edu.tr/konsey
Make Your Vote Count!

H.E. Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the President of Chile, was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Bilkent University on Tuesday, October 12. The ceremony took place at the University Concert Hall.

The program included a mini-concert by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and continued with the conferring of the honorary doctorate. President Escobar was cited as having served his country and the world as a statesman, humanitarian and an intellectual. In his speech, President Escobar talked about globalization, the world economy and human rights, and stressed the need for new "rules of the game" in a global society. He concluded by thanking Bilkent for honoring him with the doctoral degree.

Also in this issue:

• "BEHIND THE SCENES"
• "LIFE ETC."
• Alisbah Fellowship Awarded to MATH Students
• MEC Hosts Online Strategy Game
• Special Weekends on Radio Bilkent
• Fitness Tips
• FOCUS ON: Aerobics/Step Programs
• Ready for the Republic Run?
• Follow the Birdee!
• PUZZLE...PUZZLE...
• For the Attention of All Senior Students
• OR Club Members Attended Europe-Wide Regional Meeting in Cyprus
• THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
• Le Piment Rouge Restaurant Menu
• BilAd
• Sports Ad
• Bilkent Symphony Orchestra Concert Program

EMI CLASSICAL, one of the top three international recording labels, has released the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra’s latest CD. It features the Sancan and Tchaikovsky piano concertos with French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard as soloist. BSO music director Emil Tabakov conducted the orchestra for the recording, which is the first CD by a Turkish orchestra to be released by an international label. The CD reached major music markets worldwide on September 21.
The recording has gained critical acclaim from music critics in French, German and British publications and is featured in the October issue of the French music journal Diapason. The magazine gave the CD its highest rating, 5 stars or "diapasons," and published a lengthy interview with Jean-Phillippe Collard as well as praise for Maestro Tabakov and the BSO.
In the interview with Jerome Bastinelli, Collard explained why his return to the recording scene after a 10-year absence had taken place with an orchestra in Turkey: “Located on the hills dominating Ankara, the (private) Bilkent University and especially the music department offer the greatest of musical riches. Composed of national [Turkish] and East European instructors, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, 10 years after its founding, exhibits a rich musical tradition that leaves one with no reason to envy better-known ensembles. When the university first proposed a CD production to me, I naturally wanted to render homage to my own professor Pierre Sancan by recording his concerto. The recording process took place under excellent conditions (at the Bilkent Concert Hall), in comfort and with ample time for rehearsals; very different from the indecently fast pace these things are forced to follow nowadays.”
Bastinelli added his own words of praise for the recording: “Pierre Sancan’s piano concerto offers a fine preliminary to the Tchaikovsky piano concerto’s joyful lyricism. Collard’s interpretation pays a worthy tribute to his master's concerto with crystal clear and refined musicality.
As for Bilkent’s surprising orchestra, they too are lyrically and unreservedly passionate in this recording, and this should constitute a refined yet magisterial entry for them into the international world of discography.
“Tchaikovsky’s famous concerto is also interpreted with a difference. Collard and Emil Tabakov realize a precise and through reading together, clearing the score of bad habits that it has acquired due to much abuse during years of cavalier interpretation. Remaining true to the musical text, a very decisive yet elegant musicality has been achieved, along with clarity in form and tempos.
A much needed cure and salute for this scarred battle horse (of the piano repertoire).”
The CD was released in this country by EMI Turkey on October 15 and will soon be available at the Meteksan Bookstore.