Dear Editor,
Last year, on the way back to Ýstanbul from Antalya, my wife, two kids, and I stopped off in Ankara to attend the Homecoming Weekend. When we arrived on campus, I was surprised to see how big Bilkent had grown--it looked like a city in itself.
I was envious to see the greenery when I compared it with 10 years ago, especially East Campus Green, where the Homecoming events took place. I, who love green spaces, consider it a most delightful improvement to the look of campus.
The dormitories (I think the number of my dormitory was in the 60s), the graduate student residences, and A la Carte Restaurant were still where I remembered them to be. However, the buildings that once stood as lone landmarks were now surrounded on all sides by newer structures. I could not summon the courage to go inside the buildings and see only unfamiliar faces. I did not want to see the hallways, the classrooms in which we used to worry about our marks-our concerns then seem so unimportant now. Maybe I placed too much value on marks in those days.
Our daughter Irmak was very excited to be on campus. Compared to her daycare, her fatherÕs old school looked really big. One-year-old Doruk was happy with all the attention he was getting, until it started raining.
On the way back to Istanbul, with my family all asleep in the car, I happily reviewed the whole weekend--what a pleasure it was to visit Bilkent and meet instructors and friends again to talk over old times.
Turan Turanlý (MBA 90)
Dear Editor,
I think it would be useful, in considering the use of mobile phones, to take an historical perspective. There are numerous examples in the past of innovations which at first annoyed a great many people, but later proved to be indispensable. The automobile immediately comes to mindÑhorse-and-carriage drivers thought they were dangerous toys, but where is the horse and carriage today? Sitting near someone listening to a walkman used to be a trial, but now sophisticated earphones and a greater awareness of volume control have virtually eliminated the problem of the annoying audible buzz bystanders were subjected to. I foresee that with time mobile phones will lose their novelty and, through cordless connections to the Internet, acquire greater usefulness. Along with that will come a greater awareness of courtesy and perhaps technological improvements to lessen the annoyance for non-users. Fifty years from now mobile phone Luddites like Ben Ball will be few indeed.
Jay Bidal (BUSEL)
