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Summer 2008 Vol. VI, No. 4
Letters to the Editors
Spring 2008, Vol. VI, No. 3
Congratulations on your spring 2008 issue on "How Green is AUB?"
One initiative you did not mention, and which may be of interest to your
readers, is the founding in fall 2007 of the Friends of the AUB Campus,
or FAC. This volunteer organization is modeled on the Friends of the AUB
Museum and the President's Club. Its purpose is to contribute to the protection
and enhancement of AUB's campus, especially the planted areas but more
generally all of AUB's landscape. Its membership is composed of persons
with a demonstrated interest in the flora and fauna of the campus. Its
principal liaison with the administration is through the VP for Facilities
and the director of the Facilities Planning and Design Unit (FPDU). An
initial challenge for FAC will be to participate in the process of developing
a master plan for all of AUB's greenery and landscaped areas, an effort
that is to begin the fall. George Damon, the president of the American
Community School (ACS) and an avid bird watcher, has agreed to chair FAC.
Membership in FAC is open to anyone with a sincere concern for the preservation
of AUB's green spaces.
John Waterbury ('08)
Beirut, Lebanon
"Back to Beirut"
When I opened the spring 2008 magazine and saw the name of AUB's new president,
Peter Dorman, a sudden flash of memory made me go back to my old files,
and take out my birth certificate, dated December 6, 1936. And voilą,
Harry Dorman's signature was on the birth certificate-the grandfather
of Peter Dorman! My mother had been a nurse at the American University
Medical Center, and she worked closely with Harry Dorman from 1930-34.
When she became pregnant in 1936 with me, her second child (in Jerusalem),
she was warned that the birth would be problematic. In order to avoid
complications, Dr. Dorman urged my mother to come back to Beirut and AUBMC
to be under his personal care. Thanks to his care and expertise, all went
well and here am I, 71 years later.
What a small world!
Kenell Touryan
School of Engineering (1953-56)
Yerevan, Armenia
Many thanks for the regular news I get through MainGate. This brings back
such nostalgia of my wonderful days at AUB and Beirut and the great friends
I made and I am still in contact with.
Feryal Seyghal Mikdadi
United Kingdom
For alumni, MainGate magazine is our essential link with AUB, and the
expansion and improvement of the University is pleasing to us all. I am
thrilled to learn of the establishment of a student center, equipped with
facilities for physical training and sporting games. I believe this center
will improve overall health and level differences through the spirit of
sport. We are grateful for this important contribution by Mr. Charles
W. Hostler.
I graduated in 1950, when Abdul Sattar Trabulsi was our physical education
instructor. As freshmen in 1944-45, the varsity AUB teams travelled to
Damascus and played against the Syrian University. We won all our games
and were treated to a lavish evening. In the same year, Ain Toura College
invited the varsity volleyball team for a match, where we went unaccompanied
by Mr. Trabulsi and lost. The clergy of the school treated us to an evening
of Arouse-blebneh and a bottle of red wine. We had to lean on each other
for support on our way home.
That same year, intramural sports between classes and faculty were held.
We won in volleyball and the silver medal I acquired is still attached
to my key ring.
Nadim Khalluf (PC '50)
Nashville, Tennessee
Errata
Spring 2008 Vol. VI, No. 3
Class Notes
The photo of Maan Hamdan (BE `80) was mistakenly labelled Nabil Abou-Haidar
(Barch `81)