Dear Editor,
We wonder about the reasons for the radical decisions of our university with regard to the
Spring Fest concerts. Students were supposed to show their ID cards and buy tickets.
Considering the aim of the concerts, which is to welcome only Bilkent students and
personnel, we think that our university can afford to provide free entrance to concerts.
We could at least take free tickets by showing our ID cards. Another point is that
concerts are supposed to be held at the Bilkent ODEON because of security problems.
Nevertheless, we think that if the university provides sufficient security conditions,
students will be able to enjoy themselves in a more comfortable festival area. We wish to
see free concerts on the grass field again in the following years, with a wider range of
musical tastes.
Naim Atabağsoy (PHIL/IV), Selin Albayrak(LAW/II), Cihan Altun
(BIM/III), Oya Canlı (IE/IV), Rebia Özduran (LAW/III)
Response to the Letter:
Dear Students,
The organization committee decided that the Spring Fest open-air concerts should be held
at the Odeon instead of East Campus for a number of reasons. Our reasons are due to
experiences that we have had at previous Spring Fest concerts within the last two years.
We received complaints that came from many different channels about serious traffic and
security problems on East Campus, the festival area and the residential area, and about
problems that people coming from outside of the university caused, especially in the last
two years. Because East Campus is an open area, it was impossible to control entrance to
the concerts and the people coming from outside of Bilkent posed a serious risk to the
Bilkent community. The most frightening factor was the possible occurrence of a
disturbance (e.g. fight) in the area. The security reports show that last year, at the
second concert, such an occurence was nearly caused by a group of people from outside the
university.
Additionally, all of the roads connected to Bilkent were closed for hours due to cars
parked illegally on the main roads. However, with such a setup, it was impossible to
intervene in the event of a health problem or a fire. Clearly, for the university, it
became impossible for us to continue to take responsibility for the actions of people from
outside of the university and to hold the concerts in an environment where we could not
ensure the safety of staff, students and the entire Bilkent community.
On the other hand, for concerts to be limited to the Bilkent community and to assure that
people from outside of Bilkent are not admitted, it was necessary to institute the policy
that a university identity card be presented to buy a ticket for the concerts to be held
at the Odeon, which has a limited seating capacity. The ticket fee (10YTL) is a symbolic
fee. In coming years, the fee may be reduced or may be waived altogether but the ticket
system is necessary to make sure only members of the Bilkent community attend the concert.
I want to reiterate that the goal of the new regulations is to give the students a safer,
more comfortable and more regulated ambiance within which to enjoy the concerts. I hope
everyone enjoyed the 2007 Spring Fest.
Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan
Vice-Rector
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