On December 1, Ömer Turan (ECON/IV) took first place in Üniversite Öğrencileri Tarih Yarışması (the University Student Competition in History) which was organized by Toplumsal Tarih Dergisi (TTD) (Social History Magazine). The title of his article was 1930'lardaki Şehircilik Tartışmaları: Cumhuriyet'in Kamusal Alanının Oluşması (Discussions on Urbanization in the1930s: the Formation of the Republic's Public Sphere). He chose the topic because he was particularly interested in this historical period and based his work on a combination of history and social theory.

Ömer found out about the competition in April last year when he saw it posted on campus bulletin boards. During the summer, he spent considerable time researching his topic and then submitted the finished article to TTD for entry in the competition. He is very happy to have taken first place and recommends that university students who are interested in social history enter next year's competition. For more information about both TTD and the competition go to www.tarihvakfi.org.tr/toplumsaltarih. The award ceremony will take place on December 14 and Ömer's article will be published in TTD's January 2001 issue.

Miray Akdağ (COMD/1)