Bosphorus Chronıcle Bosphorus Chronıcle
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Bosphorus Chronıcle Bosphorus Chronıcle
IN THIS ISSUE Burak Özçelik in Qatar Northwestern Film Festival • 2 Boys Soccer Team: Road to Championship • 2 Photography Collage: Spring at RC • 3 Farewell Interviews with Teachers • 4-9 Inside the Copy Center: An Interview with Ahmet Uçar • 10 Autonomous Cars • 12 Mor Çatı • 13 ASL II Students conquer Amsterdam and Paris • 14 Freeboard • 14 Getting to Know Stephen Shifflet• 15 Keşanlı Ali on RC Stage • 15 The Piano Guys Enchanted the Istanbul Audience • 16 World of Warcraft: The Beginner’s Guide • 16 Is Game of Thrones Catching Up with the Books? •17 State of Sound •18-19 Bosphorus Chronıcle JANUARY JUNE 20142010 Issue Issue Bosphorus Chronicle is the quarterly newspaper of Robert College İlber Ortaylı Shared His Wisdom with the RC Community Berk Eroğlu Surely you know İlber Ortaylı. He is not only one of the most famous historians in Turkey, but also quite a phenomenon in Turkish social media. His funny “caps” about others’ ignorance and his own superiority, prepared by anonymous internet users, have been circulating online with the speed of light. Last month, the Robert College Student Council was able to reach him, and they invited him to RC to give a talk on studying social sciences at the university level. İlber Ortaylı accepted the invitation of SC and the talk took place on April 8 in Suna Kıraç Theater. When SC first announced this event to the student body, they anticipated high interest among RC students. To prevent overcrowding in the theater, the SC decided to give out free tickets to students interested in attending the talk. These tickets were instantly gone. During the event, the theatre was full of students who were truly interested in history and also students who were there primarily to see İlber Ortaylı, thinking “In all probability I will learn something from him.” Waiting for İlber Ortaylı to come on stage, the excitement in the theater was intense. The audience was immediately interested in the things he talked about. For instance, Ortaylı touched upon the importance of primary documents in the study of history and the necessity to learn foreign languages. When asked about how many languages he can speak, he didn’t give an exact number, but he humbly defined his knowledge of languages as “not too extensive, only as much as I need.” Following his own meandering speech, Ortaylı answered many student questions with long asides and abundant digressions. After a while, everyone in the theatre had gotten used to his distinctive way of speaking and answering questions. As much as this was a talk where students learned many things about the study of history, it was also a talk-show-like occasion where İlber Ortaylı made the audience laugh as he was subtly lecturing. For instance, as he was talking about the Ottomans, his own phone rang, and he picked it up. It was his daughter. He later said: “One should always answer a call from his daughter.” Eventually, the much-awaited question came from a brave student: “What do you think about your photos and caps in the social media?” He laughed İlber Ortaylı and answered: “My students from perfect sense of humor.” After the talk, İzmir University started this phenom- lots of students grouped around İlber enon, then everyone started to make Ortaylı and took selfies with him! my caps. And I think it’s not bad; usually they are funny. Today’s youth has a “Dialogue in the Dark”: Experiencing Blindness Ezgi Su Korkmaz “Is there anyone who is afraid of the dark?” asks the guide, and I am the only one who replies meekly: “Uh, I am, a bit…” The transition into darkness has already begun; hence, I cannot see his face, yet a friendly voice responds, “I assume you will have the most fun then.” “Dialogue in the Dark” is a unique exhibition situated in Gayrettepe Metro Station, offering the experience of a day in the life of a blind person. Founded by Dr. Andreas Heinecke in 1988, the exhibition has traveled to thirty countries and has been experienced by about seven million visitors. The exhibition is open for all ages, although parents are warned that children under nine might have a difficult time. it. Walking down the first corridor, you sense that every trace of light is left in the outside world. You are now blind. Things to pay attention to during the experience: “Dialogue in the Dark” consists of everyday Istanbul experiences as well as activities only done by blind people. At one point in the trip, you are even brought to an artificial gathering center only for the blind. You have your own trial with Morse Code without seeing the paper and the pencil in your hands, and the chance to carry the beverage you’ve just bought without hitting any of the furniture in the café. All along the trip, you are given the most experienced help possible, since the guides themselves are also blind people. They try their best to show you their world in the short time you spend together. After you get used to the dark, the most important medium you have for understanding the environment are your ears. Unintentionally you begin to pay more attention to the sounds and voices; after a while you are able to distinguish every sound and the exact direction it comes from. So what is this curious exhibition? It is quite an experience. “Dialogue in the Dark” is a small replica of some parts of the city set up in entire darkness. No source of light is allowed into this artificial world; cell phones, digital watches and similar light sources are to be left outside in the closets provided. Before participants enter the closed area, everyone is given a rod and a brief explanation of how to use December JUNE 2014 2009 Issue Issue The sounds all around: is. (Since talking is highly encouraged, you are in non-stop communication with your groupmates, which means that the possibility of accidentally molesting someone is very low.) Your guide’s orientation: How things feel in your hands: Your guide knows the world of darkness better than anyone. He or she will be an essential help for you to find your way. Not listening to the guide’s directives could be risky as s/ he is the one showing you where to go next and how to best get there. Touch everything. You are able to know the direction you are going by touching the corridors. You can tell where you are by touching everything that comes to your hands. Try to define the objects; after some practice, it gets easier to tell what something “Dialogue in the Dark” is not only entertaining but also thoughtprovoking and enlightening. After a small chat with the guide, the trip is over, and you are once again in the Gayrettepe Metro Station, trying to adjust to the light. Thoughts are swirling around in your head about how the blind go through their everyday lives. The answer: not very easily. “Dialogue in the Dark” shows that blindness is adjustable. You can continue to be a part of society without your sight. However, for that to happen, society needs to be more aware of and helpful toward people who have lost their sight. Istanbul is a crowded, busy, dense city with very little mercy for the disabled. Many of the sidewalks do not have the raised yellow line as a help for the blind. Most of those that do have this line serve more as a trap rather than a help. Some of the yellow lines are cut abruptly in the middle by a tree or a street lamp, causing extra trouble. Disabled people are encouraged to go outside to the streets and become more active, but would you try to walk on a road where it is nearly impossible for you to make your way? Even the most attentive environments have a serious lack of help for disabled people, and our school is no exception. Imagine blind people trying to make their way on the Robert College campus: how long would they last? In a nutshell, here is what “Dialogue in the Dark” tells you: blind people can do anything, as long as there is an awareness among sighted people. Logo of Dialog In the Dark (Photo courtesy of tashi5125501.wordpress.com) BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 1 NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS In memory of those who lost their lives in Soma... Burak Özçelik in Qatar Northwestern Film Festival Bita Koç If you live in Istanbul, you have noticed the little kids standing in the traffic, trying to sell water. For most of us, this remains a mundane detail. For Robert College senior Burak Özçelik (RC’14), however, this led him to ask:“How would my life be if I had been born into these kids’ world?” Burak began to contemplate such a world. He says: “Just like we try to save a person drowning in the sea, I believe we should try our best to save these kids drowning in the immense sea of life; when in need, we should consider buying the water they sell to reintegrate them to our society.” And Burak decided to make his contribution through making a short film about the issue. In his film, Burak conveyed the story of the homeless boy Michael who tries to sell water in the traffic for the whole day. He showed the audience how people don’t view homeless children as members of their society. However, the film gives a hint of hope that these children can be reintegrated into society by the people who care about them. This sensible arts initiative netted Burak an invitation to THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival: his film is a nominee in the Best Story category. Burak’s success, of course, didn’t come easily. The process for him was definitely not as smooth. THE BC STAFF edıtors-ın-chıef Lara Margaret Güneri Mert Dilek sectıon edıtors Ali Girayhan Özbay Ege Bıçaker layout edıtors M. Miraç Süzgün Bita Koç layout Assistants Tuvana Kankallı Ezgi Yazıcı Tunahan Ekincikli Publisher: Birmat Matbaacılık *** RC adına sahibi ve yazı işlerinden sorumlu müdürü: Güler Erdur *** Bosphorus Chronicle is published quarterly during the academic year by Robert College students. We welcome letters to the editor, feedback, and articles by students. However, we reserve the right to edit all materials for reasons of appropriateness of length. Give your submissions to the advisor or one of the editors or send it to us via e-mail. All photographs published are taken by the writer unless otherwise credited. How to contact us: By mail: Robert College, Arnavutkoy 34345 Istanbul, Turkey. By e-mail: bosphoruseditor@gmail.com Yerel Süreli Yayın 2 Gizem Ergün advısors Carolyn Callaghan Moira Lang Official logo of the Qatar Northwestern Film Festival “The film needed to be shot on the main road,” Burak says. “For it to be effective, I decided to shoot it in the evening, but it was hard to find an actor who could play a homeless boy during the cold winter evenings.” Oğuz Yıldız (RC’17) came to Burak’s help. Oğuz and Burak saw each other daily on the morning bus, and since they live in the same neighborhood, Burak proposed that he act in the film. “It required great courage, confidence and talent to play the boy selling water in the evening traffic,” says Burak. Burak did many takes before shooting the final footage. “Because it was dark Boys Soccer Team: Road to Championship wrıters Ali Girayhan Özbay Berk Eroğlu Bita Koç Deniz Şahintürk Ece Selin Timur Ege Ersü Ege Bıçaker Ezgi Yazıcı Ezgi Su Korkmaz Gizem Ergün Lara Margaret Güneri Leyla Ok Mert Dilek M. Miraç Süzgün Tunahan Ekincikli Tuvana Kankallı Zeynep Karababa outside, the lights were creating shadows; ensuring that the camera didn’t overshadow and that people didn’t stare at the camera were big challenges for me,” he explains. Despite all the challenges, Burak managed to shoot his movie. However, his biggest challenge was yet to come: On the last day of festival applications, as he was making the final touches on his film, an unexpected error occurred. School was over and he was sitting in the computer lab, but he was unable to fix the error. “I needed to leave school as well. I felt stressed and desperate. At that point, it seemed to me that all my efforts had been in vain.” Burak tried everything he could, but he couldn’t fix the problem. So, he saved his current work and left school to head to Beşiktaş. Refusing to give up, Burak entered an internet-café in Beşiktaş and almost magically, he fixed his problem and made the last touch. Beyond his great efforts, Burak also gives credit to his Film & Literature and Photography classes. He noted that the things he learned in these classes enabled him to adopt different perspectives throughout his experience of creating his film. On April 17-19, Burak attended the THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival which represented 30 countries and 90 films. During these three days, he partook in various workshops and seminars, met Northwestern students, and talked to Doha’s prominent producers and directors. Berk Eroğlu On Mondays and Wednesdays after school, passers by can see the Robert College Boys Soccer Team training hard on the Dave Philips Field. They have just won the Dostluk League. Their success is remarkable, but what do they owe it to? Last year, the team unfortunately lost its shot at being the league champion, but last year’s adversity only cultivated the team’s will to win. Improving themselves both physically and mentally, team members worked very hard this year, and their efforts eventually paid off. The circulation of players made it crucial to come up with newer strategies for the team. Burak Kar (RC’15) became the captain because of the uplifting spirit he adds to the team. Kar has proven to be one of the most ambi- BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE tious and tenacious members of the team once again at the Dostluk League. Another quality of the team is the variety of its players. While captain Kar stands strong on the field and uses his power to the farthest point possible, Hamza Aydın (RC’14) is possibly one of the most talented players on the team. Even though some players have better reputations, each member has special abilities, and at the end of the day the most effective component of their success is their team spirit and loyal- ty. The players even shaved their heads in the same hairstyle to illustrate the team spirit! Through determination and solidarity, the RC Boys Soccer Team broke a record by winning nine out of nine games, guaranteeing the championship two matches before the league finishes. For now, the players are proud that they achieved their present goal, and they are happily looking forward to next year’s matches, because the team’s future seems brighter than ever. Boys Soccer Team with their coach Emre Karagöz. JUNE June 2014 2012 Issue Issue January 2008 Issue NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS Spring at RC People say that Robert College is the most beautiful in the spring. Like all of you, Bosphorus Chronicle has been amazed by the beauty of wisteria and the million kinds of flowers blooming every other spring day. Now, wisteria left its place to the ivy and purple turned into green. But do not worry! Here, we put together the unforgettable smell of whisteria, the spring breeze, flowers and all the things that you will miss until the next wisteria season. (From left to right) Top: Göksu Kalaycı (RC’16), Oğuz Arseven (RC’16), Leyla Ok (RC’16). Middle: Göksu Kalaycı,Lara Margaret Güneri (RC’14). Bottom: Yeşim Yurteri (RC’16), Mert Dilek (RC’14) JUNE 2014 2012 Issue BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 3 FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS Farewell Interviews Lara M. Güneri Ece Selin Timur Leyla Ok Ezgi Yazıcı As the school year is coming to an end, the joy of summer and the idea of a long awaited vacation are emerging in everyone’s heads. Summer is also bringing bittersweet memories for the members of the Robert College Community. Bosphorus Chronicle wants to bid farewell to the beloved teachers who are leaving RC at the end of the year and hear about their future plans and what they will miss the most. We sure will miss them. Moira Lang, English Teacher and Bosphorus Chronicle Advisor, 2010-14 What are your plans after you leave Robert College? old lady deal with this new-fangled stuff. In mid-July, I’ll return to my home in Ithaca, New York, to reunite with my family, including my cat Ozzie— who will be introduced to my Turkish cat Mustafa, nicknamed Mıstık. I’m retiring from teaching after 35 years. I will be working on helping to elect a friend to the US Congress. What are some of the most memorable memories for you at RC? What are some of the changes you observed in RC, over the years you were here? As in many places, RC has become more and more technology- connected. Thank goodness for my tech-savvy students who help this There are many memories. To list a few: The Moth events, the Romeo and Juliet festivals each Spring, poetry week events in the forum. I enjoyed my Oral English class with a great group of Seniors two years ago. Realizing how much I’ve come to like teaching 9th graders and eating pizza in the Barton garden with my Beloved 9/5’s, helping produce the Bosphorus Chronicle and talking with students in the Writing Center were some of the most memorable moments for me. What are you going to miss the most about Robert College? I’ll miss the little moments in class: the Namaste greetings, singing Happy Birthday songs, laughing at a student’s joke or gasping at a student’s poem or insight. I will miss my colleagues and friends here. I hope RC students know how fortunate they are to have a faculty and staff who are so full of energy, creativity, and intellect. They are an unparalleled group of professionals. Ms. Lang reading the last issue Janet Schaefer, English Teacher, 2010-14; Debate Coach, 2011-14 you observed in school? way, on a student? The administrative stuff changes: schedules, class times, curriculum, books... People come; people go. Nothing that really matters changes. The quality of the students remains the same. You are all wonderful. I doubted if I should ever come back. If I have taught my lovely Lise Preps anything it should be that you give your best because you should always give your best. It’s a reflection of you. It is you. The Lise Prep curriculum is demanding. We teach skills and who really wants to learn skills? BORING!!! But skills give you the tools to learn, anything and everything. So get out those colors! T4 that article, story, chapter. Write everyday in different ways. Stretch your mind. Stretch your abilities. And have some fun while doing it. There is a joy to learning. Hopefully I showed them that joy. What are your plans after the end of school year? I’m going to go home and be a grandma to my beautiful granddaughter Aliyah. I miss that little girl. What will you miss the most about both Istanbul and Robert College? Where Ms. Schaefer has been hanging out the last few weeksbefore spring break. She’s pictured here with her friend Derya and her sihirbaz therapist Alper What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? When I stood at the bottom of the hill looking up at the beauty of Gould Hall and thought: “Wow! It’s real. I’m teaching here.” And that was immediately followed up with “Damn! I have to climb this---- every morning?” There are so many memorable moments I’ve had over the past four years. Ipek (Ozbodur, RC’16) running up to me in the halls, with a big smile on her face, and giving me a HUGE hug. Students who smile when they have read a 4 Quick Write and typed for 15 minutes non-stop. Berkay (Kef, RC’15) telling me to climb aboard the overflowing bus at the bottom of the hill and making sure I got off at the right stop in Ortakoy where I had lived the first two years. What I will always remember the most is the students who have showed me their minds and their hearts. I may never remember the assignments, but I will always remember their spirit, as I hope they remember mine. Since the day you stepped on the stairs of the Gould Hall, what are some of the changes I will miss the warmth of the students and the people of Istanbul. It has been so cool to live here and learn the hearts of the people. Istanbul is more than the sum of its parts. Robert College is more than the sum of its parts. It’s the whole package that creeps into my heart and will remain there forever. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Istanbul and RC somehow joined my journey and it has made all the difference. Prep teachers are the first teachers that students ever encounter in RC. What are the demanding and beneficial sides of being the first major influence Considering the vast number of cities you have seen, what are the distinctive features of Istanbul that had attracted you in the first place? I didn’t choose Istanbul or Robert College. They chose me. Getting a job here was purely “kismet.” It reminds me of my favorite poem in the whole world, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” Yet knowing how way leads on to BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE Ms. Schaefer and her granddaughter JUNE 2014 2012 Issue January 2008 Issue NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Fernando Olivencia, English Teacher, 2012-14 What are your plans for the future? I’m going to Kosovo and teach in the American School of Kosovo in Pristina. What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? All the moments with the residential students were memorable. I had amazing classes and students at RC. I had a great time teaching here! College and Istanbul? You guys, students, all the people at Robert College and the city itself. How do you manage to get along so well with the students? Sitting down and talking with the students has helped me a lot. I have gotten to know them better that way. What are you going to miss the most both about Robert Mr. Olivencia with his students Karen Lindsay, Head Librarian, 2012-14 What are your plans for the future? My work has always been very central to my identity, so retiring feels strange. Yet, there is a lot I want to do now that my time is my own. First of all I will get out of bed when I feel totally rested, and I am going to eat when I am hungry instead of right away, because I have to get to school, and I am going to read the books I want to read, not the ones I am thinking of buying for the school. I have never done any volunteering the way Robert College students do so naturallyso I want to do some volunteer work related to literacy such as reading to younger children back Ms. Lindsay at home in Canada. I hope also to work for the Green Party of Canada. I also plan to study Thai massage in Chiang Mai, and over time, to qualify as a Yin yoga instructor. Did you observe any changes in Robert College while you were teaching here? The year before I came the oneto-one laptop program was introduced, so I have seen two additional phases of that. I think the program had led to big changes in the way teachers teach and students work. What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? The first time I spoke at a Flag Ceremony, everyone clapped when I was introduced. That was my first great feeling here; students didn’t know me, but they were applauding just to be supportive. I have learned a lot by sponsoring Robert College Debate Society (RCDS). This experience let me get to know many students on a much deeper level. I always remember our trip to Slovenia fondly. kids. The students here are amazing - not just smart but also very funny, talented and interesting. Lise Live, CIPs, and the theatre performances are testament to that. Robert College students make teaching a pleasure. Of course, I will miss my colleagues and teaching in general. As for Istanbul, I wish I had seen more of it, but I know I won’t miss the traffic! What are you going to miss the most both about Robert College and Istanbul? When I teach overseas the most important part is always the people and the culture. I will miss the Jeffrey Baykal-Rollins, Art Teacher, 2007-14 What are your plans for the future? My family and I will be moving back to the United States. I plan to go back into university teaching (like I did before I came to Robert College), and to do my own professional artwork fulltime. I’ve been invited to be Visiting Artist at Clemson University in South Carolina next year, where I will create a new performance art project as well. I will also contin- ue with some of the projects I’m already involved in, including a film project in Berlin, writing for Turn On Art Magazine out of Madrid, and exhibiting my work with Kasa Gallery in Istanbul. Did you observe any changes in Robert College while you were teaching here? The biggest changes I observed were outside the walls of Robert College in the nation of Turkey itself, and within myself per- Ikon Exhibition Poster (Jeffrey Baykal Rollins) JUNE 2014 2012 Issue sonally. I can say with complete honesty that after being at RC for seven years, working with such fine colleagues and truly amazing students that I have become a much better teacher, and for that I will be eternally grateful. I have observed Robert College students do remarkable things, and have complete faith that as they continue to do so, they will make this wonderful country an even better place. What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? Every single day that I’ve been here! What are you going to miss the most both about Robert College and Istanbul? of my heart will always remain here, and I know already that it will pull at me for the rest of my life. Other than my Turkish family in Istanbul whom I deeply love, I have no doubt that what I will miss most is the incredible students here that I have had the honor of teaching. Choosing to leave Robert College and Istanbul has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. A huge part Photo Courtesy of Jeffrey Baykal Rollins BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 5 FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES John Keeley Wrzesinski, Biology Teacher, 2011-14 What are your plans for the future? Next year I will be teaching IB Biology at the American International School of Lagos, in Nigeria. The opportunities to teach IB Biology at good schools are limited, and when those opportunities present themselves it is wise to seize them. It was a very difficult decision to make, because I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience here at Robert College. The time has gone by incredibly fast. Did you observe any changes in Robert College while you were teaching here? I have observed changes in RC and in myself while teaching here. I have become a better teacher with the help of my colleagues, and with the help of my students. There have been obvious changes with the move to the 80 minute block schedule, and with the introduction of laptops into the classrooms. I would rate the changes I have observed as positive. What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? Can I name more than one? Interactions with students at Robert College are among my most cherished memories. I consider myself lucky to have been able to teach the kids who attend this school. Lise Live and the Orchestra nights are always phenomenal, as are the drama productions. The view of the Bosphorus from the plateau is priceless. What are you going to miss the most both about Robert College and Istanbul? I am probably beginning to sound like a parrot repeating the same thing. What I will miss most are the students that I have had the privilege to teach. I will miss the Robert College campus, as it is a wonderful place to live and work. The city of Istanbul is a nice place to be, the climate is very comfortable, one can safely walk the streets and use the public transport. I will also miss the other teachers that work at Robert College. We know that you have a lot of different experiences teaching in rather interesting countries. How do you choose these countries? It is more a matter of choosing positions or teaching assignments rather than choosing countries. That is certainly the case for the next couple of years in Nigeria. The older you get, even though you are becoming more experienced, it becomes harder when seeking international teaching jobs, unless you have experience in certain niches (had to sneak in a biology term). IB experience is one of those niches. If I could create my own perfect teaching position it would be filled with Robert College students, focused on learning more than grades, and allowing the continuation of such for as long as I was capable of doing a good job. I would like to thank the Robert College community for allowing me to be a part of the community. Mr. Wrzesinski in the Biology class Gülhiz Yüksek, Geography Teacher, 1995-2014 What are your plans for future? Music, which I can’t spend much time on, will be an important part of my life after RC. I plan to improve playing kanun which I started practicing two years ago. I’d like to be involved with the two Türk Sanat Müziği choirs at Koşuyolu that I’m directing. I’ll spend more productive time with my very precious friends and hopefully enjoy my time in my summer house in Ege surrounded by the beautiful nature. But the most important thing is not to forget what John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” What changes did you observe while you were teaching in Robert College? Photo courtesy of Gülhiz Yüksek Robert College is a school that I started teaching at after working in public schools for many years. With this transition, I had to develop new reflexes in addition to my experiences formed over a long period of time. An education system that was more research based, and more progressive, and work- ing with children who are more receiving, confident and who have wider perspectives was new and enjoyable for me. It was a lovely journey, so that in the end being a teacher turned into a pleasure and delight. Even though the unpleasant situation in the education system affects the school nowadays, I can say that it’s an ideal environment for the ones who have high goals. Can you share one of the most unforgettable memories you had while teaching in RC? In my first year I had two Geography classes. Students were trying to stretch me out from my disciplined attitude and very low grades I gave while I was scrambling to make them accept my style. The same year I found myself in the“teacher evaluation system” which was new to me. I distributed the exam papers in one class, we checked them; the grades were very low. At that moment our department head dear Tansu hanım entered the classroom with “student evaluation forms” in her hand. Of course I found out that my other class’ evaluation average was really high and that class’ was really low. My dear students hadn’t missed the opportunity and had taken their revenge. I was really sad that I disappointed Tansu Hanım who always supported me. However my department head filled her report for the administrators with compliments and by connecting the low average to the reason that the evaluation was made on an exam day, she relieved me. I still communicate with those students and dear Tansu Hanım is still my closest friend. What are the things you are going to miss most in RC? It’s obvious that I’m going to miss a lot of things. I’m leaving a world that is decorated by thousands of colorful, sparkling and dynamic memories. I’m leaving the habits, sounds, colors, smells, the places where I’ve spent an average young person’s life behind. All the things I have lived here, sweet or bitter, I’m going to miss you all. Serap Karaman, Philosophy and Psychology Teacher, 2008-2014 What are some of your most memorable memories at Robert College? Actually everyday was full of different memories. My duty as a counsellor in the Philosophy Platform among high schools was the most unforgettable one. With student groups from five different high schools in Istanbul, we discussed dystopias and social psychology experiments under the theme “Evil and Obedience” and all the groups made presentations for two days. Our students built up strong dialogues with the students from other schools and their presentations were really successful. It was very enjoyable to counsel these wonderful students. Alongside that, all the Community In- 6 volvement Projects I was involved in were full of unforgettable memories. I was really proud of the RC students who participated in the projects where we worked with disabled students. I will always remember them with love. What are your plans after the end of school year? First of all, I want to spend more time with my family, which I could not do as much as I wanted to during my time as a teacher. I want to focus on the readings and research that I have planned to do after my retirement. I have always been interested in music, art and writing but there was never enough time to develop myself in those areas. I think, I will have time for all of them after the end of this school year. Also, social projects will remain as a major part of my life. What will you miss the most about Robert College? Surely, I will miss my beloved students, colleagues and everybody who contributes to this wonderful comunity. In a school where teachers improved themselves as much as the students, what was your greatest gain? The technology-centered education is vital. This being the case, once again I understood the importance of faceto-face communication and realized that emotional intelligence is the most essential quality of life under every condition. BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE Photo courtesy of Serap Karaman JUNE 2014 Issue January 2008 Issue FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Darcy Bakkegard, English Teacher and Drama Director, 2012-14 What are your plans for life after Robert College? In July I am moving to Fargo, North Dakota (a magical land of snow, mosquitoes, bison, prairie, and my very large family) and will spend most of the summer at a lake in Minnesota. A little camping and a lot of time with family and friends. In the fall I will be teaching –somewhere- and will start working on the next phase of my education. Did you observe any changes in Robert College while you were teaching here? I have only been here two years, so I cannot say there have been dramatic changes in that time. The change from 10 periods to 4 was the largest school change, and seems to have helped students (and teachers) slow down a bit and dig more deeply into content. Certainly there have been some obvious shifts in political expression in Turkey in the past two years and I have been keenly interested in watching that transformation. I will continue to watch Turkey and how the students of RC help shape what comes next. What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? I’ve had many great moments at Robert College, many of the most memorable in the theatre: directing The Pillowman, watching the cats scamper around the stage during Burial at Thebes, and, right as Cansu raised her arms calling to Zeus for help, the call to prayer sounding from three directions. Really, just getting to work with the actors here at RC. (Also, a very special visit from the cast of God of Carnage.) What are you going to miss the most both about Robert College and Istanbul? The students- working with them on shows and watching them grow in class. The past two years have been a blast. In Istanbul: the call to prayer and walks on the Bosphorus. It’s hard to imagine living without them. Thank you to all the students who have made this year the best year of teaching I could have ever imagined. And to the members of RC Theatre: You are a dream team; the most annoying day with you is better than most days; you amaze me. God of Carnage, one of the many plays that Ms. Bakkegard directed at RC. Ms. Bakkegard Elizabeth Washburn, Math Teacher, Girls Basketball and Running Club Coach, 2011-14 What are your plans for the future? Did you observe any changes in Robert College while you were teaching here? and stole many of our girls basketball team’s things, including many smart phones and wallets. The girls found out about this and still decided to play the game. I remember standing on the side, coaching these girls, and just feeling so proud and impressed as I watched them come together as a team, support each other, and play so well. I knew that I had a very special group of girls and this moment proved it for me. I haven’t stayed here long enough to see many long-term changes. Everything was a change. What are you going to miss the most both about Robert College and Istanbul? What was one of the most memorable moments for you at Robert College? There is no way I can live in a more beautiful city. The skyline and daily views from this campus are unbeatable. After I leave here, I am going to miss the people I have met the most. Next year, I will be working at a private school in Naples, Florida. It will be another new place for me since I have never been in Florida. I will be much closer to my family, which I am very much looking forward to. During an away basketball game, a man broke into our locker room Can you tell a little about your sports career? How did you start playing basketball and how did you become the coach of the girls’ team at RC? When I was in fifth grade, my dad started the girls’ basketball team at my school, so I would be able to learn the game. He was both my first coach and more importantly my biggest supporter throughout my career. After I graduated from high school, I decided to play Division 3 ball at a small, academic, liberal arts college called Whitman College. I loved playing there. When I graduated from Whitman, my college coach asked me to stay and be the assistant coach of the college team, which I did, thus starting my coaching career. Images from Ms. Washburn’s childhood and her college years Patrick Morse, English Teacher, 2013-14 What was the most memorable moment for you at Robert College? My most memorable moment was when The Lady Bobcats team took the field for their first international tournament in RC history. The precise moment was when we were preparing for the match and we all gathered in our huddle and shouted our team name, “THE LADY BOBCATS” so loud it echoed across the field and off of nearby buildings. It gives me chills to think about that even today. In that moment I was very proud of what the team accomplished and the identity they made for themselves. What are your plans after Robert College? In the short-term, I will be moving back to the United States and will be teaching in a high school in the Washington, D.C. area. There are a few adJUNE 2014 Issue ventures planned in places like Alaska and Costa Rica. I might get a dog, which would be awesome! But in the long-term, I hope to get my Masters in Literature, buy a large sail boat, sail at least three of the world’s seas, become a voice actor for cartoons, and see The Great Wall of China. A guy’s gotta have dreams, right? What will you miss the most about Istanbul and Robert College? I will definitely miss Istanbul, especially the food! I have a lot of friends (Turkish and other nationalities) who have made a sprawling city feel like a familiar neighborhood and I will miss them all until I see them again. I feel similarly about Robert College: my two sections of prep classes, my home group, The Lady Bobcats and Boys Rugby teams have made a school of over one thousand students feel much more familiar and welcoming. I will definitely miss my students and those I got to know as a teacher or otherwise. As a prep teacher you are one of the first teachers that students encounter in RC. What are the demanding and beneficial sides of being the first major influence on a student? I think the biggest benefit to being a teacher of preps was that they were just as new to the school as I was this year! It was like we were all learning the rules and routines together, which was comforting. Beyond that, being a prep teacher is the best because preps went through the greatest changes over the course of a year, and I was able to be a part of that. It is a humbling and an inspiring experience. Mr. Morse with his LP3 students BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 7 FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS Bidding Farewell to Mr. Anthony Baker Ege Bıçaker All farewells are hard and sad; however, saying goodbye to Anthony Baker after 32 years of service to Robert College will be harder and sadder than a usual goodbye. We all know him from the corridors and the classes of Feyyaz Berker Building. Our memories of his classes are marked by his jokes and his idiomatic phrases. However, of course there is more to a person than his classes. Bosphorus Chronicle interviewed Mr. Baker on behalf of all those interested in his life, character, and retirement plans. First, Mr. Baker’s answers to the famous Proust questionnaire: What is your idea of perfect happiness? Sitting on the veranda of my summer house, looking out on my olive grove, the sea and beyond with a glass of something special in my hand. What is your greatest fear? Being poor in old age. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Being indecisive and putting things off. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Arrogance. Which living person do you most admire? I can’t think of anyone except Nelson Mandela, though he’s dead. What is your greatest extravagance? I’m not extravagant. What is your current state of mind? I’m looking forward to retirement, but I’m a little sad that this chapter of my life will be over. Robert College has not only been a place to work but also a place where we raised our family. A photo of (Lord) Anthony Baker in his early years at RC (RC Yearbook of 1989) 8 What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Creativity in an educational context. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I’ll leave that for my students to decide. Which talent would you most like to have? The discipline to be truly creative in some field. What do you consider your greatest achievement? To have overcome my inherent cautiousness and to give up the secure job in England to work abroad. Where would you most like to live? My house in Greece and my family home in Manchester (England), with visits back to Istanbul. What is your most treasured possession? The carpets, kilims, copper, ceramics and that kind of stuff which I have gathered in Turkey. What is your favorite occupation? Puttering around in Evia where my summer house in Greece is located. What is your most marked characteristic? My sense of humor and cynicism. What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty and willingness to put oneself out. Who are your favorite writers? I tend to read nonfiction rather than fiction; it’s been a while since I read fiction. I particularly read and enjoy history books; therefore I don’t have an answer for this question. What is your greatest regret? I believe that regret is a pointless emotion; what’s done is done! What is your motto? Live well but modestly. Now, it is BC’s turn at asking questions! What’s the story behind your coming to teach in Turkey and at Robert College? I first came to RC in 1980 with my future wife. We came here from Greece on holiday and she showed me Robert College. It was just before the 1980 coup and the environment was pretty dangerous. The economic situation was terrible; people with guns were on the streets. Just as I turned the corner on the hill to ascend to the school buildings, the number plate of my car fell off and I had to stick it inside the front window. In the evening after we had left the school, we were stopped by the police, carrying guns, as the car had no number plate. Luckily, my wife knew Turkish (because she lived here in her childhood) and she politely explained the situation. This is how I first met Robert College. Later that summer we moved back to England where we got married. Life in England after two wonderful years in Athens was dull and depressing. I had caught the travel bug and tasted what it was like to work abroad. I had great expectations of what life could be like and I realized that as a teacher I could use my skills to live in and learn about another culture and experience a wider world. How did Robert College shape your life? RC gave me a place where I felt I could function well as a teacher and a setting in which I could raise a family with my wife. Can you tell us a few memories about your years at Robert College? Class is always a place of bantering and joking; any of my students will tell you that. Therefore it’s hard to find a specific memory. One can be this: Classes used to have 36 students, a number far too great for lab work. Therefore there used to be two teachers in the lab, myself and Ron Mallinder. The chemistry classes were on the top floor of Woods Hall with a beautiful view of the Bosphorus. Ron had told the students that at noon, after the lab class, he would announce the grades of the last test of the year by launching a series of giant paper airplanes from our office window, each with the grades of a particular section written on it. So when the clock hit 12 o’clock, the paper airplanes were duly launched and they flew down to a large crowd of shouting and cheering students gathered on the ground below. As a foreigner who has lived in Turkey for a long period of time, can you tell us your observations about Turkey and the changes you have witnessed? I came to Turkey in 1982; there was a closed, siege economy back then. (It was two years after the military coup.) The country was insulated BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE Mr. Baker in his office from the world outside. You could buy neither coffee, nor foreign cigarettes, nor almost anything from abroad unless you went to the black market. People were a lot less affluent and had fewer opportunities, yet they valued nonmaterial things such as kindness to each other. Then, Turgut Özal came, the government liberalized the economy, and people’s lives improved materially. I think that people are too materialistic now; the humanity that existed before has been diminished. John Freely, your father-in-law, is still a professor at Boğaziçi University and wrote books about the history of Robert College. How did your family shape your perception of Robert College? The whole Freely family gave me a perception of Robert College even before I moved here. I am aware of how this place has changed over the years. Though my fatherin-law’s field is physics, he’s very knowledgeable historically. He wrote two volumes of the history of Robert College. Your students feel affection for you because of your funny comments and your creative methods of teaching, such as demonstrating the movement of a water molecule by letting them imagine that your arms are hydrogen bonds and your head is an oxygen atom. How would you describe yourself as a teacher and your relationship with RC students? I’m definitely an old-fashioned teacher. I don’t apologize for my style; it’s the only way I know how to teach. I believe that if I engage my students, they will like to come to class and have a more positive attitude to learning. Overall, I really enjoy being in the classroom with a group of students, and I believe it comes across to the students. I am quite a serious person and I was a lot stricter in the old days, but the school atmosphere has changed, and so have I. I’ve mellowed with age (like a good Scotch) and my humor has become a little gentler (but not too gentle). I communicate naturally with students; some adults talk down to students or they communicate in a style that’s not natural when they talk to students. I’m not like that; if I’m fed up I tell them and I think they appreciate my style because students, like all people, don’t like being talked down to. Why did you choose chemistry and being a teacher? Chemistry was my best subject at school and the subject that I was most interested in. Halfway through university, I realized the party was going to be over soon and I needed to find a way to earn a living. I dropped into teaching as I couldn’t think of a better job elsewhere. Once I started, however, I realized it was a job that satisfied me. I’m a firm believer in “you work to live, not live to work.” What’s your favorite activity and place in Istanbul? Wandering around the historical parts of the city, going to the Kapalıçarşı, eating out --although I don’t do these things much anymore. What are your hobbies? Reading, photography, listening to music. What are your future plans? Setting myself up to basically divide my time between England (family house), Greece (summer house), as well as doing some travelling including regular visits to Istanbul. What is your advice for Robert College students? Never take anything at face value, as things are rarely as they first seem. Develop a healthy skepticism about life. JUNE 2014 2012 Issue January 2008 Issue NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Bidding Farewell to Esra Ürtekin Ege Bıçaker Esra Ürtekin is leaving Robert College after 23 years of teaching Turkish Literature. Her students will remember Esra Hanım for her energetic and animated talk and her friendly manners. As many know, she led altruistic projects at RC, including the construction of facilities such as labs at various hospitals in need, even before Community Involvement Projects were introduced to RC. Bosphorus Chronicle held an interview with Mrs. Ürtekin for those who are curious about her life and experience at RC. What’s your favorite word? “Canım” because I use it a lot. What’s your least favorite word? Grudge What excites you? Seeing changes, beauty and nice surprises What kills your enthusiasm? People who are not willing to share my enthusiasm. What’s your favorite sound? It varies a lot! Sometimes quality music, sometimes the sound of running water, sometimes the song of birds or even the sound of the crickets… What’s your least favorite sound? Angry shouting Which profession would you not like to have? I would not enjoy any profession besides teaching. If you could choose who would you like to be? A nymph Where would you like to live? The place of my dreams might be slightly utopic but it is a crowded but serene location with both wellpreserved nature and civilization. What’s your biggest flaw? I do not know if it’s a flaw but I’m a perfectionist. Also, it is very hard for me to say no. What’s your state of mind? I’m serene and happy. What’s your motto? Give 100% to everything you do. What’s your definition of happiness? Living a healthy life, seeing the people I love are happy and being able to share their happiness. What’s your definition of sadness? The uneasy feeling and hopelessness rooted in uncertainty. What’s your biggest regret? I do not have any big regrets. What is your most characteristic quality? Thinking fast and being solution oriented. What’s your biggest achievement? I have made most of my dreams come true. When did you hear about Robert College and how did you end up teaching here? I started teaching in Selin High School, a small school with a select student body. I can say that it was my first love. My ideals brought me to Robert College in 1991. What are some unforgettable moments from the twentythree years you spent teaching at Robert College? There are so many memories that I do not know which one to start from. (She smiles.) I love sunshine whereas the students pull the black thick curtains whenever they get a chance. The first thing to pop in my mind when I heard this question was the arguments I had with countless students over the curtains. There was not an orientation program for new teachers when I started teaching in RC. My students taught the location of the theater and the printing room to me. Back in the 1990’s many illnesses filled my life. One shares her pain as well as happiness with the people closest to her; I shared all my emo- Esra Ürtekin with Tifes students JUNE 2014 2012 Issue Esra Ürtekin and the social sciences department-photo courtesy of Esra Ürtekin tions with my students. One day, one of my students, Layza gave me a mug with a devil’s eye on it. She said that she did not want any more hardship to find me. Since that day, that mug stands on the coffee table, which you can see immediately after entering my house. It has been 20 years since that day; in the meantime I moved two times. Nevertheless, the place of that mug hasn’t changed. Misfortune can not catch me anymore. What is the importance of Robert College for you? I was 26 when I started at Robert College; I grew up here. I got the chance of seizing my ideals and making friends here. I love this institution. I used to tell my students: “People do not have to love one another, but they must respect one another.” However, I’ve loved each and every one of my students very much, I believe that it multiplied in me. What are your plans for the future? I went to school each September ever since I started primary school. I have always made plans for my future, my job, my children and my husband. My mind has always been on the years yet to come. Now its time to “follow my heart”- that is why I chose to retire. There are no plans, at least for now! As your students, we recognize you by your infinite dynamism. Esra Ürtekin Could you share your secret to preserving this energy with the RC family? I’ve always loved my job. I love producing; it makes me energetic. I am just as energetic at home. I do not know what it means to get exhausted while doing the things I love. This does not mean that I never get tired; there have been many times when I felt like going to sleep but still grading exams long after midnight. Other than that, bad weather and sorrow also lower my energy. You contributed to the RC Community with your participation in TİFES and Community Involvement Projects. How much importance do these activities hold in your life? The projects I do teach people about using empathy, being free from greed, and understanding their environment while letting them get to know themselves better. My social service projects started at 1995 while I was teaching here. Back then a Kızılay club was running. We made many services with that club, namely, working for the disabled in Istanbul, helping students in the poorer regions with their studies, and constructing a pathology lab in Baltalimanı Osteopathic Hospital and a children’s room in the Child Oncology department of Çapa Research and Education Hospital. Moreover, we sent writing utensils, clothes, cleaning tools and books to schools in the Eastern Anatolia and Southeast Anatolia. The books and encyclopedias were more valuable back then since internet was not nearly as accessible. Once I was trying to separate a huge heap of books that was going to be sent after school. I sent my students to the school buses and tried to finish the job by myself. The room of the Red Crescent club was right in front of the printing room on the way to the health center. I saw two pairs of eyes looking at me from the small window of the room. I was throwing the books into the packages, bending and standing again with my dusty clothes and fallen bun. BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE Meanwhile, they were watching this weird woman who was doing crazy moves. After having felt the gaze of the students, I later learned that they were residential students of our middle school; I laughed at myself. I opened the window and called the students over. They helped me until dinnertime. In their high school years, they turned out to be the most dedicated members of the Kızılay club. TIFES was a totally different event, an organization on a very large scale. I wish it could continue. Robert College held the first inter-high school theater festival in Turkey. Participating in this festival was a point of prestige for other schools. Even in January, schools called in to apply. We gave everyone the chance of talking to many artists from our Robert College family. So many people were sorry that this organization has come to an end, namely students, teachers and administrators of other schools. I still remember their reproachful calls. One of the underlying reasons of our interest in your lessons is your friendly approach to students in addition to the knowledge you taught us. In your opinion, what are the qualities of an ideal teacher? I’m glad if I could be the teacher you just described. A teacher should do her job with love. She should share morality and life with her students as well as her knowledge. She should be an eye opening model. I graduated from Istanbul Girls High School. The school had a system of old and ossified rules. We hesitated to talk to our teachers and ask questions to them. I decided to be a teacher then and I was sure about what kind of a teacher I was not going to be rather than what kind of a teacher I would be. If you know what I mean… Lastly, what is your advice for Robert College students? You are at a very good school; appreciate it. Spend your years here in the most efficient way possible. 9 FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS Inside the Copy Center M. Miraç Süzgün Walking from Woods Hall to the infirmary, students may have noticed a mysterious door.. Most students never get to learn what is behind this door, yet it opens up to Robert College’s trusted Copy Center. The Bosphorus Chronicle interviewed Ahmet Uçar, who has been running the Copy Center for 26 years, to find out about his job and about his impressive soccer career. BC: Can we learn a bit about your background? Ahmet Uçar: I was born in Sivas in 1962. The year I turned ten, my family moved to Rumelihisarı, Istanbul. I continued my education here but because of the political and economical circumstances in Turkey, I could not go to a university after graduating from the Hotel Management and Tourism Vocational High School. I worked at various locations in Taksim and at Bogazici University as a waiter between the years 1980 and 1984, and then joined the army. After I returned, I moved from one job to another for a while. In the early months of 1987, I started working at the Copy Center of Bogazici University. The reason I returned to Bogazici University was that my father worked there for a long time and I liked working in a place which was close to my home. Eight months later, a friend of mine who was working at Robert College at that time mentioned an opportunity to start working at the RC Copy Center; I applied for the position and was accepted immediately as a photocopy operator. I came to Robert College on July 1, 1988. Since then I have been working in this place. I’ve been married for 27 years and have two lovely children. BC: How did your soccer career begin? AU: I started playing soccer when I was six or seven years old on the streets of my neighborhood. During the 1970s, the streets were much wider, and cars were not nearly as common. So we had a lot of space to play sports in Rumelihisari, especially soccer. We played around some tumbledown houses and in high schools’ soccer fields. I was spending all my time playing soccer with my friends in the streets. We used to play with children from nearby neighborhoods. Even at school, whenever we had free time, everybody would gather and play soccer. Our passion for the game increased over the years, so in 1978, we founded the first “Rumelihisarı Youth Soccer Team.” I played midfielder –sometimes in the outside left and sometimes in the central midfield in the team. We were a great team, and I truly miss those days. BC: Did you have any achievements on that team? AU: When we started out as a youth team, we first played against other youth soccer teams such as Yeniköy, Arnavutköy, and Kuruçeşme. Unfortunately, we did not get to be the champion in that league; but after three years, the club managers put me on the A Team, and the youth team became a place for players to prepare and train themselves for A Team. Our first team, Rumelihisarı Spor Kulübü (Rumelihisarı Sport Club), was in Istanbul National Third Amateur League, and I was playing first string as the central midfielder. Honestly, it was an honor; if you look at the history of the club, you can see that there are many famous figures who played there, such as Şener Erzik, an RC graduate and the vice president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). After playing on the first team for three years, we became champions in our league and were promoted to the upper league. It was a remarkable success because the club was established in 1932 and was not victorious for the first 27 years of its existence. BC: Did you receive any formal transfer requests from the other soccer clubs? AU: Some good teams such as Turkish Airlines (THY) Soccer Ahmet Uçar sitting at his table Club wanted me to play for them. I was very young, and people were calling me “Yavru Ahmet” because I was very fast and talented at dribbling the ball and scoring a goal. For instance, if I had accepted THY’s transfer request, then I would have worked for the Turkish Airlines company during the week and played soccer on the weekends. In a way, I would have had two jobs at the same time, but my club managers rejected this and many other transfer requests. They told me that I was a very good soccer player and they did not want to lose me, so I stayed on the team and played an important role in our championship as the club managers expected. BC: What happened next? AU: Many clubs kept offering spots before I joined the army, yet we rejected each and every one. At that time, our soccer club held licenses, so it was impossible for us to leave our team or transfer to another without the permission of the club. In the army, I played on the soccer team of the 55th Battle Command Training Brigade in Kırklareli. Our army team played in the tournament among the brigades in the Thrace region. It became champion there and was finally qualified for the national soccer tournament among the brigades in Turkey. In the national tournament, our team got first place and became the national champion, too. When I returned I worked at the Copy Center of Bogazici University for a while and then came here. On weekdays, I worked here and on the weekends, I played for my former team, Rumelihisarı Sport Club. This routine went on Ahmet Uçar in his 20s 10 BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE JUNE 2014 2012 Issue January 2008 Issue FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS for almost twelve years. As I got older, I realized that I could not juggle my work and soccer career at the same time, so I quit the club in 2000. BC: Was it really hard for you to quit playing club soccer? AU: I always considered soccer a hobby and that is why I always preferred to play in the amateur leagues. After I quit, I still played soccer with people at the school, so honestly it took a heavy burden from my shoulders. BC: With whom did you used to play soccer at Robert College? AU: In the past, we played soccer with the teachers, employees and supervisors at school every Friday at 18:00. Sometimes when we needed extra players, we would call students in the dormitory and they would join us. For example, once we played a match against the teachers including Izzet Dodurgalı (Religion teacher), Mehmet Uysal (Turkish teacher), Claus Cadorette (Math teacher), Cahit Can (retired Science teacher) and Dave Philips (retired P.E. teacher). I remember Mr. Philips was very fast and he could dribble very well. None of us could catch him. After a while, we couldn’t keep up with our weekly soccer meetings; nevertheless, we still played on the Plateau once a month. But since 2009, my doctor has not allowed me to play soccer. So, I stopped playing sports ever since. BC: What is your daily routine in this school? AU: I come to school really early, around 7 AM, have breakfast with my colleagues and get to work at 7.30 AM because sometimes teachers come to the Copy Center before the first period and ask me to copy some documents. I mostly spend my time in this Copy Center, but sometimes if a printer crashes I go to repair it Before a football match, Ahmet Uçar: Back, third from the left too. I also enjoy the time I get to spend chatting and having lunch with my colleagues. In the last two months, I have started to jog with some colleagues on the Plateau. BC: What has changed in the school over the years? AU: I recall that students were much closer to each other when I first got here. What I mean is that they were together all the time and instead of staring down at their phones, they practiced eyecontact while conversing. So, I believe that students’ firm and sincere relationships are nearly lost, but actually the same goes for all contemporary adolescents. Many physical changes have taken place in the school as well. For instance, I remember playing soccer in the current library in the late 1980s when it used to be a gym. Also, the White House (Bubble) was not there when I first came here. BC: How would you compare other schools with Robert College? AU: I get to meet students from different schools, so I can say that there are two different things that make Robert College unique. First, students at Robert College are more interested in their studies compared to other students. Second, Robert College offers a much wider array of social activities. When compared to RC, other schools do not offer as many opportunities to their students. From sports to cultural activities, everything RC offers widens the horizons of the students, and that is why the students who graduate from Robert College excel both academically and socially. BC: Which course would you take if you were a student here? AU: Honestly, I do not enjoy Mathematics, so I would not choose that. (He laughs.) I would choose a second language besides English. Since I am also very curious about studying plants and animals, Biology would be a really interesting course for me. BC: Do some of the documents that you copy interest you? Do you ever take them home and read? AU: I have not taken any documents home before, but on some occasions, I read some parts of them while copying. For example, sometimes Turkish teachers want me to copy an article and while I copy it, I look at the paper unwillingly and read some parts of it. Teachers generally tell me, “If you are interested in that article, please help yourself and get an extra copy.” I seldom get the chance to discuss such articles with the teachers, yet I still learn a lot from the brief readings that I do. BC: What are your current hobbies? AU: As I have already mentioned, I used to play soccer, but now I am only a spectator. Occasionally I go to the cinema, and I spend the rest of my free time with my family. *** Bosphorus Chronicle thanks Ahmet Uçar for taking time to answer our questions. (Left) Boğaziçi Üniversity, Ahmet Uçar: back, sixth from the right , 1980s | (Right) Ahmet Uçar , 2014 JUNE 2014 Issue BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 11 NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Autonomous Cars: Say Goodbye to the Driver’s Seat! Tunahan Ekincikli Driving might be a pleasure for some people who are interested in cars, but most people will probably agree that there are times you would rather not drive your car. Sometimes, one just wants to push a button, cross his legs, and let the car go automatically all the way home. This wish for an “automatic” vehicle has given a fantastic idea to engineers all around the world: an autonomous car. If you are not a person like Richard Hammond from Top Gear, you will not say, “We have been using autonomous cars for decades: taxis!” An autonomous car should not need a driver to control the vehicle. Also, an autonomous car must be capable of sensing its surroundings. It should navigate its route to avoid harming people and animals. This concept of a car without a person in the passenger seat might remind you of the KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) and the TV series Knight Rider. However, the advent of the autonomous cars are not as far as you think. In fact, Volvo predicts that more than 10% of the cars in the world will be autonomous by 2020. When was the first autonomous car built? The journey of autonomous cars started nine years ago, in 2005. The United States Department of Defense (USDOD) challenged many automotive companies and universities to engineer a driverless (selfdriving) car. This competition was named DARPA Grand Challenge, and took place in the Mojave Desert, a place with an area of 124,000 km2 and 100 sharp turns. The task was to build a car that could go to a given point in the desert without a driver. There was only one simple rule: the teams were not allowed to control their cars after they took off for the target. Stanford Racing Team’s autonomous car, Stanley, took first place. The car, created by Stanford University’s Racing Team in cooperation with Volkswagen, completed the challenge in 6 hours and 54 minutes. Stanford University won the $2 million prize and built a new research center for autonomous cars with this money. After this competition, some car companies got really interested in autonomous cars and started to build their own autonomous cars with the help of famous engineering universities such as MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Technical University and Technical University of Munich. In a short period of time, autonomous cars started to appear on the covers of technology magazines. How do autonomous cars work? The most important feature of autonomous cars is their ability to sense their environment. Prototypes of autonomous cars use sensors that are placed on the top and in the front of the car. The sensors on the top of the car are generally a laser range finder and radar. The two sensors collect data from the surroundings, and then generate a 3D map of the environment. The computers, which are placed at the back of the car, compare the generated 3D map with high definition maps in the database. Since cars must be able to proceed on both roads of small villages and big cities, every single detail becomes very important. Statistical data are collected in centimeter (cm) base. In addition to the radars and laser range finder, HD cameras have a massive role. Cameras are usually placed on the front of the car and continuously take pictures of the environment in high definition, sending these pictures to the visual computer. The visual computer processes the images sent by the HD cameras and tries to detect traffic lights, zebra crossings, bridges, interchanges, etc. Afterwards, these assembled data are compared with the database, just like 3D maps. If there is a difference, then the driver is warned by the system immediately. Another role of the cameras is to detect obstacles around the car. The coordinates of the obstacles are sent to the motion computer in the next step. The rest of the sensors are used to control the motor power of the car. the four sensors that are placed alongside the wheels keep measuring the speed and acceleration of the car. Afterwards, these values are sent to the motion computer at the back of the car. Using the data from the high definition cameras, the computer generates the path that can be used and the speed that the car should travel to arrive at the target point. Steering and throttle actuators follow the commands of the computer and divert the car. The technical plans for the autonomous cars are about to be completed, but there is a huge obstacle that companies face: pricing. The sensors that are used on the Google’s self-driving car cost over $15,000. Therefore, if companies want to sell their autonomous cars, they need to create more economical solutions so that even upperclass families can afford to buy one. What are some advantages of having autonomous cars? 1) Fewer traffic accidents: According to Google, 1.2 million people die and 3 million people are injured worldwide every year because of car accidents. The costs of these car accidents are over 350 billion dollars. What is more interesting about these data is that more than 93% of the car accidents are caused by human error. Autonomous cars aim to get human error out of the equation, thus drastically decrease the number of car accidents. But then comes this question: what if a problem occurs in the system? Don’t worry! In emergency cases, people will be able to push a button and control their cars manually. So, if you own an autonomous car in the future, it does not mean that you can never drive it. 2) Wasting less time in traffic: Research shows that on average, a person spends 52 minutes in daily traffic. Companies like Volvo and Mercedes believe that autonomous cars will give this portion of time back to the drivers. While your autonomous car will be driving you home, you will be able to read magazines and books, watch videos, etc. You will not be wasting your time while waiting in the traffic. 3) Using less fuel: The comparisons between autonomous cars and normal drivers by Stanford University show that autonomous cars use less fuel compared to human drivers. Therefore, autonomous cars will cost less to operate. 4) Being able to drive whenever you want: Even though you might enjoy driving, there may be places that you may not want to drive, such as roads with track work and narrow streets. Thanks to autonomous Mercedes Intelligent Drive (Photo Courtesy of Coches.com) 12 BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE cars, you will not be forced to drive when you wish not to. If you feel tired while driving, or if you think that you will be damaging your car on a certain road, then all you will have to do is push a button on the control panel and enjoy the rest of the travel as your autonomous car works its magic. Later, if you want to drive your car again, you can deactivate the system and control the car manually. What is the progress of autonomous car projects? Most of the known car companies have autonomous car projects, and most of them have disclosed their autonomous cars in previous expositions. However, the following developers are one step ahead of the other companies. a) Stanford University – Volkswagen Group After the success with Stanley, the cooperative teams continued to work on autonomous cars together. Their car is an Audi TT (named Shelley), and it is one of the most exciting autonomous vehicles. The project made news when the team announced that it is the fastest autonomous car ever engineered. During demonstration, Shelley hit a speed of 195 km/hour on a closed track. b) The Google Driverless Car Google’s car became famous when Larry Page, the CEO of Google, picked up his friend with a car that did not have anyone in it. Google’s self-driving car was the first autonomous vehicle that had a license to be tested in traffic. This means Google can use driverless cars in everyday traffic in California. Thanks to this opportunity, the team behind the project was able to test more trials with the autonomous car. In fact, in one of these trials, Google took a blind person to Taco Bell and drove him back to his home, making the car popular in social media. On the other hand, there is a problem with Google’s project: Google is not a car company. Because of this, Google engineers were not successful at hiding the sensors. As a result, Google’s autonomous car looks like a prototype instead of a conventional car. c) BMW Connected Drive BMW showed its autonomous car at CES in January 2014. The car did Shelley (Photo Courtesy of wired.com) not look different than the others at first, but people saw the difference when the car hit the track. BMW, the company that is known for its race cars and muscle cars, built an autonomous car that can reach a speed of 130 km/h. BMW has surpassed the other companies with their ConnectedDrive technology. d) Volvo Drive Me System Volvo has sped up in the autonomous car competition in recent weeks. The company announced that they have agreed with Swedish authorities to use public ways to test their cars in typical everyday scenarios. Volvo also aims to have 100 autonomous cars on the roads of Gothenburg, where Volvo will test its new cars in 2017. Volvo has a slightly different approach to autonomous cars. The company believes that by using magnets in the roads with a fixed difference, the cars can better understand their positioning on the road. e) Mercedes Intelligent Drive According to MIT Technology Review, Mercedes Benz’s autonomous car is the most developed one. When you look at it from the outside, it doesn’t look any different from a conventional car. In this sense, one can say that engineers at Mercedes achieved great success by hiding the sensors under the chassis. Furthermore, Mercedes Benz’s Intelligent Drive is the autonomous car that has traveled the longest distance thus far. Based on the company’s press statement, a S500 with Intelligent Drive went over 100 km in traffic without any single problem. Hence,the day when we can travel long distances in autonomous cars is not that far away. Works Cited Engadget.com. N.p., 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www. engadget.com/2014/01/08/highly-automated-driving-bmw/>. Google’s Driverless Car. Dir. Sebastian Thrun. Ted.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www. ted.com/talks/sebastian_thrun_ google_s_driverless_car>. Mercedes-Benz TV: Autonomous long-distance drive. Youtube. com. N.p., 8 Sept. 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=CKqJccK_EkM>. Technologyreview.com. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.technologyreview. com/featuredstory/520431/driverless-cars-are-further-away-thanyou-think/>. Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www. telegraph.co.uk/motoring/roadsafety/10570935/Autonomouscars-is-this-the-end-of-driving. html>. JUNE 2014 2012 Issue January 2008 Issue NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Mor Çatı: Long Live Women’s Solidarity for a World Without Abuse Zeynep Karababa “Like everywhere else in the world, violence towards women is one of the most common human rights abuses in Turkey. Recent research shows that 4 in 10 women are subjected to domestic violence at home by their husbands or boyfriend,” says one of the brochures of Mor Çatı, an organization which provides, support, shelter, and counseling for victims of domestic abuse. A lot of questions appear after hearing this statistic, and the most imperative one is “why?” Why does a man beat a woman? Why can’t we stop this violence? Bosphorus Chronicle visited the Mor Çatı’s solidarity center to gather information on this serious problem. BC: If you classify the domestic violence in Turkey according to years, do you observe any change? Mor Çatı: Actually, it is hard to give an answer to this question but for the best answer, we must look at how domestic violence changed over the years. Honestly, sometimes even the most qualified research done in Turkey is not credible. Last year the press asked a question about domestic violence to three different ministries, and all of them gave different answers. In this case there is always distrust of the analysis, even of the facts. However, the last research done by Hacettepe University shows that domestic violence increased by 1400% , but we are not sure about the accuracy of this research. I can say that, Mor Çatı has gotten a lot of applications since its founding. So we can’t say there is a decrease in violence but I think the number is not the important point. If a woman is exposed to violence we, as the Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation, should do something to stop it. BC: Where does the violence rate of Turkey stand compared to other countries in the world? MÇ: This question requires very detailed research, but I can say that in all the nations in the world, there is violence towards women. Every day an average of 250 women were raped last year in France. In Germany, a woman was killed every two days. Unfortunately, child abuse is also a common maltreatment in all nations. Violence shows itself in different ways everywhere. So, we should be able to know the reason of violence. For example, we, Mor Çatı and feminists, say that the reason for violence is the gender inequality in our society. The violence’s potential can change with economic or social status. But as we see in our support groups, for example, a well-educated philosophy teacher can do the worst to his wife. He might not beat her, but he can apply psychological violence. Violence can be of different kinds or in different places, but the meaning of it is always the same: the strong one beats the weak. I believe that it is really a cultural thing. For instance, when we train our children, we call a girl a delicate princess and a boy a strong lion. Boys are trained like they must protect their mother, their sister, every woman in their lives. If we look at our anxieties in our lives, all of us are exposed to violence. If I, as a woman, am afraid of walking in streets at night more than a man, then I am exposed to violence. In order to stop the common idea that the strong beats the weak, we must take a holistic approach to violence. BC: How can a woman apply to Mor Çatı? In what ways do you help these women? MÇ: We have a solidarity center and a telephone line where women can call us between 10.30 AM to 4.30 PM. Some of them come directly to our shelter. Mor Çatı is in İstanbul and just has one shelter; but we are in solidarity with other women’s rights organizations in other cities. It is a conscious choice that Mor Çatı has only one shelter and only in Istanbul, because we don’t want any branches or hierarchy between centers. Women generally come here or send an e-mail to us or call us. There are some volunteers and attendants that help these women. The first thing that volunteers do is to listen to these women, understand what they needs any kind of psychological support, we have again some volunteer psychologists here. As a final option, if a woman needs to move away from her home, she can stay at the Mor Çatı shelter, if there is an empty place. If there is not a place, we help them to go to a government shelter. BC: If these women have children, how can you help their children? MÇ: As well as these women, their children can get psychological support too and stay at the shelter as long as there’s an empty place. We also have some volunteers for helping these children and taking care of their needs. BC: What about their education? MÇ: They continue their school with Mor Çatı’s logo (Photo courtesy of uniball.com) End violence Against Women (Photo courtesy by dagmedya.net) need, and then show them some alternatives. Listening to these women without any judgment is a very crucial behaviour we should have. We are trying to make women stronger and louder in the society. Violence is really corrosive and traumatizing. Women generally lose their self-confidence, and some of them even blame themselves. Our volunteer lawyers help these women with some judicial issues. If a woman confidential records. BC: Does the government help women who are exposed to violence? MÇ: I know women who are killed by their husband on the way to the courthouse even though they were protected by police provided for them by the government. What I’m pointing out is that, if we don’t change the judicial system or social system we have in Turkey, then we will not reach any solution at all. Perhaps many things changed in our lives: nowadays men are not the only leaders of the house, and rape has some deterrent punishments. But many things do not change either. The consent age for sexual intercourse in Turkey is fifteen; if you heard about the case of N.Ç., you may know that she was thirteen but the judge said that she had consented. I am not saying that it just about the government and justice; it is also about our society. BC: How can citizens help these women? How can a person be a volunteer for the Mor Çatı Foundation? MÇ: If someone wants to be in our family, her ideas must agree with ours for her participation. I must talk about the procedure of being volunteer. Firstly, we have a form for knowing the volunteer and a network where all of the volunteers can meet. We have some workshops and meetings called “Mor Muhabbet” where we discuss some topics such as pedophilia,women’s rights or child marriage. BC: A lot of people have different and often wrong ideas about feminists. Can you explain what “feminism” is? MÇ: Most people don’t know the meaning of the term feminism because of media. Feminists want equality, not hierarchy. Feminism is not about poverty; it is about justice. I hope one day everybody will understand what we are trying to say. Trees (Photo Courtesy of Alex Downs) JUNE 2014 2012 Issue BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 13 NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES ASL II Students Conquer Amsterdam and Paris Elif Büyükakbaş RC ’14 was a rather lucky grade as the students had the chance to take the newly created Art, Society & Literature (ASL) II course before they graduated. And for the long-awaited ASL II trip, a group of highly motivated RC seniors traveled to Amsterdam and Paris for spring break. In a week full of the myriad facets of the arts, ASL II students, guided by the English teachers Rick Hummel (who teaches the course along with Michael Hays) and Shirin Shabdin, not only had the chance to see remarkable artwork by famous artists, but also had immense fun. The first two days of the trip were spent in Amsterdam. The hotel the students stayed in was rated among the trendiest hotels in Europe with its cutting-edge design and colorful in-room light effects. With its peaceful atmosphere, grand architecture, welcoming people, delicious food and beautiful canals, Amsterdam was a remarkable experience. We had the opportunity to see and appreciate the famous Milkmaid by Vermeer and The Night Watch by Rembrandt, both displayed in the Rijksmuseum. The Van Gogh Museum, Rembrandt House and Anne Frank House were some of the other museums that we visited in Amsterdam. We later ended up in Paris after a train trip that was rather entertaining. Seeing the world-wide famous works of Michelangelo, da Vinci, J. L. David and many others in the Louvre; and those of Courbet, Rodin, Cézanne, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir and many others in the Musée d’Orsay was an unequalled experience. Musée de l’Orangerie, the Centre Pompidou, the Pantheon, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the bookstore Shakespeare and Company were a few of the other remarkable stops of the Paris trip. Now let me share some of the other – informal-- highlights of our trip: Biggest fail of the trip: A group of students, including me, got lost trying to get back to the hotel in Amsterdam. We missed only one bus stop, and decided to walk back to our hotel, supposedly only one block away. Following the railroad tracks as our guide, it took us more than an hour to find the hotel. As we realized the next morning, however, it was actually only five-minutes walking distance away. Facepalm! Happy birthday to Aslı and Alperen! We celebrated two of our beloved friends’ nineteenth birthdays, Aslı Akdemir and Alperen Akkoyunlu, in Le Café Marly, located in the courtyard of the Louvre. The giant éclair that was as long as a table’s width was one of striking specialties of the restaurant, which I myself greatly enjoyed. What is this “Healthy Tayfa”? Rick Hummel, Mert Dilek and Berk Manav established a group devoted to indulging in “healthy” food. The idea of this group was first brought up at a dinner table in Paris when the three were eating mussels. However, their attitudes towards other people on the trip were rather discriminating at times. They ran an application system for their group that was quite similar to that of college applications. They even held interviews with students. On Aslı Akdemir’s birthday, they released their admission decisions and welcomed Ms. Akdemir to their group. This was followed by a ceremony that was held near the Louvre Palace. They gave her a miniature Eiffel Tower as a welcoming gift. Berk Manav’s magic tricks With his skillful fingers, Berk Manav performed marvelous magic tricks with his playing cards. He mesmerized his friends by performing numerous tricks on the train to Paris as well as in the renowned Luxembourg Gardens. WhatsApp Group: “We will always have Paris” Even before the departure, the What- don’t have a sleeping problem. Berk Manav (RC’14): They count the weird myths people create to go to sleep. Can Gökşen (RC’14): Votes. Ali Girayhan Özbay (RC’14): Androids! Andrew Laraia: Kitty cats. Adorable little fuzzy, purring kitty cats. Maura Kelly: Numbers. Melissa Altıntaş: Blades of grass. Shirin Shabdin: I thought animals couldn’t count? Andrew Tingleff: Sheep count grass. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say? Yağız Alp Tekin (RC’14): Meeeeeee. Berk Manav (RC’14): Such a cheesy question. Can Gökşen (RC’14): Stop tweeting about me you lonesome pervert. Ali Girayhan Özbay (RC’14): Yoghurt. Andrew Laraia: Hot corned beef and pastrami Reuben on grilled rye, with sauerkraut, melted Swiss Cheese and Russian dressing. And a side of French fries. Please. Maura Kelly: Bacteria. Melissa Altıntaş: Cheese can’t talk Shirin Shabdin: Depends on what country it’s in – “Peynir!” Andrew Tingleff: It says “fromage”! Would you rather be able to only whisper or only shout? Why? Berk Manav (RC’14): I’m gonna scream and shout and let it all out. Can Gökşen (RC’14): I’d rather whisper because one can be discreet before being loud, but it’s not easy to be loud before being discreet. Ali Girayhan Özbay (RC’14): Whisper because you can always use a speaker. Fulya İdil Keskin (RC’15): I should learn to whisper; the world already hears a lot of my shouting. sApp group of the trip was created. Throughout the trip, the WhatsApp group was of great use for checking meeting times, keeping in touch, sharing photos, helping those who got lost, etc.. Ms. Shabdin was one of the most active members of the group with her daily challenges for students, such as asking them to take selfies in specific locations. Eating, eating, and eating As well as visiting museums, we visited a number of restaurants and cafés to fully engage in the culture of both cities. Among my favorite locales was Les Deux Magots, once the meeting point of great intellectuals, writers and artists such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. Moreover, thanks to Lara Güneri’s crepes cravings, we enjoyed several delicious crepes sessions during our walks. Music, music, and music It was a great pleasure to have live mu- sic with us throughout our metro trips in Paris. From a duet of accordion and guitar traveling with us on the train to a whole band of nine elderly musicians playing their contrabass and trumpets in the corridors, every inch of the Paris metro stations was filled with music and joy. When the musicians were silent, we took over their part and sang our favorite songs from our childhood, including those by Tarkan, Teoman, Serdar Ortaç and even Group Hepsi. There was not a single time during the trip that we lacked music. And throughout the trip, we always reminded ourselves that we will always have Paris (and Amsterdam)!* *If you get this reference to the line from Casablanca, consider yourself a cinephile. The famous Amsterdam label (left) | The Healthy Tayfa (right) Freeboard Lara Güneri Freeboard is your chance to express your thoughts, free your imagination, and be heard! In this unlimited, creative corner of BC you can dig into the deepest thoughts of your imaginative subconscious without having your motives or ideas questioned or restricted. Here’s how it works: for a couple of weeks, we go around asking you the selected question(s) of the issue, and the most extraordinary responses get published in this corner. In this issue we have decided to pose four questions! Let’s see what several members of the RC community had to say when asked some of the questions that have dazzled humanity for centuries. What do sheep count when they can’t get to sleep? Yağız Alp Tekin (RC’14): Sheep can just count Dolly. Obviously, they 14 BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE Andrew Laraia: Whisper, most definitely. I don’t really like talking to people much anyway, so whispering would make it even easier for me to be anonymous. Maura Kelly: Whisper – those who shout only want to hear themselves. Melissa Altıntaş: Shout- those who attract the most attention to themselves always get ahead. Shirin Shabdin: I’d definitely rather whisper – people would need to come close to hear what I have to say. Andrew Tingleff: I would rather whisper because shouting would not only annoy others but would annoy me as well. Would you rather have fingers as long as your legs or legs as long as your fingers? Why? Berk Manav (RC’14): My pockets would be leg long and they would be a very comfortable home for my new fingers. Ali Girayhan Özbay (RC’14): Legs as long as fingers because you can always ride a wheelchair but there is no such thing for fingers. Fulya İdil Keskin (RC’15): I’d rather have fingers as long as your legs, so I could reach everywhere, even between the wall and the radiator to get my phone. Yeah, it happened to me once. Andrew Laraia: Fingers as long as my legs—imagine how easy it would be to point and cok ayip people... Maura Kelly: Legs finger-length to avoid the tangled mess my fingers would make leg-lenth Melissa Altıntaş: Fingers as long as my legs: I could still walk easily, and my piano skills would greatly improve. Shirin Shabdin: I would rather have fingers as long as my legs – I could reach EVERYTHING and not have to get up. Andrew Tingleff: I would rather have fingers as long as my legs so that when I got tired of standing on two legs I could use my fingers as well. JUNE 2014 2012 Issue January 2008 Issue NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS FEATURESBOSPHORUSCHRONICLEFEATURES Getting to Know Stephen Shifflet Deniz Şahintürk There are many reasons why Stephen Shifflet, the new prep English teacher who joined the RC community in January of this year, is not exactly the “ordinary” type of educator. He had a pet pig named “George” when he was a kid, he writes about the inequity in the world and believes that writing and teaching are two occupations that go hand-in-hand and not to mention that he is a published writer. Shifflet grew up in the small farming town of Graford, Texas with a population of only 495 people. “My childhood was mostly filled with sports and school--more emphasis on the sports,” he says. “As in most small Texas towns, I also attended events like rodeos and tractor races.” He says that he had to raise farm animals for school, and had a pig named “George” one year. Mr. Shifflet’s passion for writing has deep roots. He says that he has been writing stories since he was five and has always known that he wanted to be a writer. “The biggest and earliest influence on what kind of stories I enjoy reading and writing was a set of books I received from my grandfather about Greek mythology. The first story I remember reading was ‘Theseus and the Minotaur.’ A set of encyclopedias was also always on hand when I needed to know something about the world beyond my small town. This was before the internet, of course.” In the North American Midwest, tornados occur constantly- and Shifflet’s first significant childhood memory is of a tornado that came close to his house when he was about four years old. He says that it was his first realization that there was danger and chaos in this world. As a teenager, Mr. Shifflet wanted to travel around the world and write books- something he seems to have managed to accomplish. “I just had no idea that teaching would enable me to do both,” he says. He adds that teaching and traveling are two things that play an important role in what he writes about. All writers have some kind of muse, and Mr. Shifflet defines his as “necessity”. “Many writers write because they see a problem in the world and want to represent it in art or maybe even attempt to change it,” he says. “Inequity and misfortune in the human condition has always driven the motivations of my characters, especially in the novel I’m currently working on.” Shifflet says that he is the kind of writer who writes constantly, and wakes up in the middle of the night to jot down ideas. “Getting the ideas is the easy part. The hard work comes when you have to fill in the hundreds of pages between the ‘golden ideas’ you have,” he says. “In between comes character development, consistency in voice, plot balancing and pacing. That takes time and commitment. You have to do this sweat work on the days you don’t feel like writing--not just those few times a week you feel inspired.” He says that he has these “inspired moments” when he is traveling, especially when taking the ferry ride across the Bosphorus. “For the laborious work, I have a comfortable writing chair that I settle into for hours on end. Sometimes I’ll go down to the seafront and set up in a coffee shop for the day.” When asked how he balances the rest of his life with his writing, Mr. Shifflet says that he isn’t one of the writers who have normal lives. ”I suppose that luxury is reserved for the very small percentage of writers who are making a living off of their writing,” he says. “Hopefully this will be my luxury after my next novel but for now, most of my ‘spare time’ is spent reading and writing.” For Mr. Shifflet, teaching and writing go hand-in-hand. “What I want to write about encourages me to read great literature and learn about new cultures and explore new ideas. In turn, I pass some of this on to my students. Also, my experiences in the classroom and what I learn from my students sometimes makes its way into my writing.” He says that teaching over the years has been quite a study in characterization and personality types. “School is like a microcosm of society as a whole. So, teaching in different schools has been a lesson in what people are capable of, like overcoming tragedy and adversity. In the end, I’m always left with a deep sense of empathy for the human condition and hope in the future of society.” Mr. Shifflet’s decision to teach internationally was inspired by some of his friends who landed teaching jobs in Istanbul. He first went to Egypt but came to Istanbul a few years later. “So far, I love Istanbul. I’ve been here for almost four years now. Whenever I think I’ve seen all there is to see of Istanbul or to know about its history, I discover something new. I round an unexplored corner and find myself in awe all over again. I find some ancient ruin, or grand palace, or some arresting Bosphorus overlook. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.” We asked him if he’d ever consider writing a novel set in Istanbul. “When asked whether I will ever write a novel set in Istanbul, my response is always--how could I not? What writer could ever live in this great city and not be inspired to write about it? What painter could come here and not paint it?” he replied. His advice to young writers is -- read read read and write write write. “There is no other way around it. You also need to find a reason to write. Find your inspiration. Only then will you be willing to put in the time it takes to to finish a novel, a short story, or even a poem.” Keşanlı Ali on RC Stage Leyla Ok Every year in March the Robert College Turkish Theatre Company stages an amazing production. This year Keşanlı Ali Destanı (The Ballad of Ali of Keshan), by the Turkish playwright Haldun Taner, was presented to RC in a superb production directed by the Turkish Literature teachers Eda Yurdakul and Gül Soydan Koç. Our very own actors performed for three days on March 25 through 27. We discovered that there are many people at RC who are secretly from Keşan! The performers had great accents and also beautiful costumes. Keşanlı Ali Destanı is a famous play in Turkey. The Robert College version was a successful adaption. The main story is about the central character Ali getting out of prison and trying to fit into his destitute society. Most of the people in his village are proud of him, and he is seen as a hero because he killed Çamur İhsan for his beloved Zilha. However, Zilha later blamed him because Çamur İhsan was her uncle. Keşanlı Ali, who is actually blameless, is torn JUNE 2014 2012 Issue between his love for Zilha and his reputation in society. The play revolves around the elections in Keşan. In this sense, the character of Keşanlı Ali represents a tyrant. Actually, the play was written as an allegory of the political situation of the 1960’s, but it preserves its dynamism and international relevance even today. As usual, RC Turkish Theater produced an amazing show and received great acclaim from members of the RC community. Congratulations to our performers, directors, backstage crew, and all the others who worked hard for this great show! Keşanlı Ali Destanı BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 15 ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT BOSPHORUSCHRONICLE The Piano Guys Enchanted Their Istanbul Audience Gizem Ergün The spectacular band The Piano Guys gave a concert at Zorlu Center on April 11. The band, a YouTube phenomenon, mixes contemporary pop music with classical music and creates mash-ups with piano and cello. There are four Piano Guys, but only two of them were on stage with their instruments: Jon Schmidt on the piano, and Steven Nelson playing cello. Band members Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek arrange the music and the music videos. During the concert, The Piano Guys put on an amazing performance, giving absolutely more than what a piano and cello could conceivably offer. The Piano Guys played their famous songs, including “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets” (a mash-up of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and One Republic’s “Secrets”) and “Code Name Vivaldi” (a mash up of the Bourne Identity soundtrack and Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto). These spectacular mash-ups were really successful and received much applause. Jon Schmidt and Steven Nelson are not only great musicians but also true comedians. In between songs, they talked with the audience and shared their memories and thoughts about the songs. They also told the surprising story behind The Piano Guys, including how they formed their band. For example, they start- ed shooting their videos in order to sell a piano and, as Steve said, “That piano is still not sold.” Even so, it has made these four guys quite famous and successful. What made the concert great was mostly the amazing music; however, Jon and Steve’s commentary The Piano Guys was truly funny and made the night even more enjoyable. For example, at one point Jon Schmidt mentioned that his favorite classical piece was Pachelbel’s Canon, and Steven Nelson confessed that he did not like that song at all and found it boring. While they were playing it, he pretended to sleep, but still continued to play the cello. When Jon stopped the song, Steven wanted to speed it up and played it really fast. It was unbelievably funny to see them doing something so creative. Furthermore, in one song Jon Schmidt played the piano upside down in order to catch up with Steven, who performed hundreds of tricks with his cello. As the performers point out, it is surprising to see an amazing cello player in a music group called The Piano Guys, but still the cello is one of the essentials that make the band’s music great. Long story short, it was a great concert with lots of laughs that accompanied the breathtaking power of innovative music. World of Warcraft: The Beginner’s Guide Tuvana Kankallı World of Warcraft dominates the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) industry with 7.8 million current players and with over 100 million accounts created on its servers since its first launch in 2004. It does not have the best graphics or the biggest universe, so why do people still keep playing “WoW”? The answer lies within the game’s intriguing lore which keeps the gamer engaged even after four (and another one on its way) expansions, many achievements to unlock, challenges to complete and, above all, the way it is an endless world you can spend years in. World of Warcraft may seem complicated for those who have less or no previous MMORPG experience. For some, it might be so overwhelming that they might never start at all. For those who are missing out on the glorious world of WoW, here’s a beginner’s guide that might help with the initiation process. Keep in mind that the guide is prepared for those who have never played WoW or any other MMORPG before. *** Each player should choose a realm (a server) that she/he would play in with her/his character. There are four types of realms: PvE, PvP, RP and RP-PvP. In “Player versus Environment” realms, the player focuses on completing quests and killing the monsters around; battling with the other players is only acceptable if the opponent agrees to it. In “Player versus Player” realms, in addition to PvE’s features, a player can attack another player of the opposite faction at any time. In “RP” realms, players role-play, much like in PvE. In “RP-PvP”s, the player can role-play and battle with the other players. After choosing the desired type of realm, the next step is to create a persona by choosing a race and class. Race relies on faction. There are two factions in fight: Horde and Alliance. A player can be either a Horde or an Ally. By choosing a faction, a player chooses which side of the battle to fight on. Alliance races are Human, Dwarves, Gnomes, Draenei, Worgen, and Night Elves, and Horde races are Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Taurens, Undead and Blood Elves. There are also Pandaren who can choose their faction later on. Race determines the place a player will begin and it also affects the player’s class. Classes define a character’s skills and roles. Depending on class, a player can be a damage dealer (DPS), a healer or a tank. Someone who wants to be a healer and cure her/his wounded allies can be a paladin, monk, druid, shaman or priest. If dealing damage and devastating enemy opponents are more appealing, class doesn’t really matter, since every class is capable of DPS-ing. There are three schools of damage dealing: melee, caster and both. Warriors and hunters are specialized combatants, dealing damage with their choice of weapon. Rogues are master poisoners. Once a player has chosen her/his race, faction, and class, it is time to start leveling. Before reaching level 15, players should complete quests through the transcendent world of WoW. After reaching level 15, players will be able to join instances and go into dungeons. Raids, battlegrounds, arenas, scenarios, war games and many other perks of World of Warcraft await all players in the following levels. Photo credit: “World of Warcraft: Azeroth by the Numbers.” Infographic. Battle.net. Blizzard Entertainment, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://us.battle.net/wow/ en/blog/12346804/world-ofwarcraft-azeroth-by-the-numbers-1-28-2014$. World of Warcraft by the numbers 16 BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE JUNE 2014 Issue January 2008 Issue BOSPHORUSCHRONICLE ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Is Game of Thrones Catching up with the Books? Ezgi Yazıcı Especially after the premiere of the Game of Thrones’ season four on April 6, the following scene became a part of our reality: some Game of Thrones fan quotes a character or makes a Thrones reference to one of his Game of Thrones buddies and they get into an endless passionate conversation about the show. The unfortunate third person, who has never watched the show because he has never liked the fantasy genre or just hates following the insane bandwagon, rolls his eyes and endures the conversation about a bloody wedding and some boy/King Joffrey and a dwarf. Since he cannot understand the conversation, he watches his friends’ antics and asks: “Why are they so excited? It is just a TV show. And in fantasy genre.” (Add a lot of eye-rolls to your mental picture of this questioning.) The big fan reaction to the events in Game of Thrones can only be compared to those of the faithful audience of last decade’s hit TV show Lost. But unlike Lost, which earned its vast audience through the mystery of too many supernatural happenings and deep moral themes about life, Game of Thrones gets its reputation not through absurd unpredictability, but through a sense of “I should have seen that coming!” reality. Although A Song of Ice and Fire (the faithfully-followed books that inspired the show) and the show itself are classified as fantasy genre, they are the closest things to the chaotic and disordered real life in TV right now –except for dragons, maybe. The author of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin, explains his reason for the worldwide madness in an interview with Vanity Fair: “There’s always this tension between fiction and life. Fiction has more structure than life does. But we have to hide the structure. We have to hide the writer, I think, and make a story seem like it was true. Too many stories are too structured and too familiar. The way we read, the way we watch television, the way we go to movies, all give us certain expectations of how a story is going to go. Even for reasons that are totally unconnected with the actual story itself. You go to a movie, who’s the big star? O.K., if Tom Cruise is the star, Tom Cruise is not going to die in the first scene, you know? You shouldn’t know that, ideally. The emotional involvement would be greater if somehow we could get past that. So that’s what I try to do. Bran is the first of the major characters you meet, after the prologue. So you think, Oh, O.K., this is Bran’s story—Bran’s gonna be a hero here. And then: Whoops! What just happened to Bran there? Immediately, you’re changing the rules. And, hopefully, from that point, the reader is a little uncertain.” Beyond its traumatic plot twists, Game of Thrones tells the ultimate struggles for power (the great Iron Throne) and its corrupting power for both the noble and common men. The readers and audience deal with not black and white characters but gray ones that evolve and change. months between two seasons is excruciating beyond description. The executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss replied to this rumor by saying, “One perk of being the most powerful man in the world: yes, you get to see episodes early.” By now, half of the episodes in season four have aired; the audience saw another important royal wedding after last year’s Red Wedding of Starks, and what followed was the chaotic post-wedding events. The season will continue to build to a high pulse and will be remembered as one of the best seasons for the next couple of years. As much as one cherishes experiencing the suspense of the episodes, some part inside every watcher wants to learn beforehand who is going to kill whom, and what will happen to Tyrion, and so on. The immense power of the reader who knows the answers to most of these Game of Thrones series (Photo courtesy of scb.com) Unlike the conventional fantasy questions has been a secret weapon and, the final book, A Dream of stories, Game of Thrones has no against the non-reader Game of Spring in the seventh season, and protagonist or antagonist; instead, Thrones audience. An outsider of maybe to expand the show to an it relies primarily on the conflicting this medieval fantasy world and its eight season if things get tight. But interests of sides which struggle to Iron Throne can never truly compre- their true intention is “not to oversurvive through the fast-changing hend the power of the readers over stay their welcome.” Of course, there rules of the game. the watchers, but actually, as de- is the problem of growing child acThe faithful and excited fan spec- cent readers, all we do is show our tors like Maisie Williams, who starttrum is not limited to the obsessed benevolent sides to the watchers, ed the show when he was 11 years classmates that jump around for smile and not give away any spoil- old and is now sixteen, yet he still every new thirty-second sneak ers. At least, that is what most of the plays the 12-year-old fan-favorite Arya Stark. peek. Recently, the rumors that U.S. readers do. President Barack Obama requested However, this privilege of the read- On the other side, George R. R. Marto see episode one of season four ers is probably about to change, tin suggests either creating a prebefore the debut date went viral. since the TV show is catching up quel season focusing on Ned Stark That is what we all would do if we with the unhurried author George and Robert Baratheon’s war with were presidents, right? A gap of ten R.R. Martin, who is still writing the Targaryens, like Spartacus did with Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen (left), Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei (right) - Photo Courtesy of imdb.com JUNE 2014 Issue sixth book of the series, The Winds of Winter, which will consist of seven novels. The question “What will happen if by some small chance the show catches up with the books?” has lingered in the minds of all the readers for years, even in those of the executive producers Benioff and Weiss, but they comforted themselves by saying, “George R.R. Martin will hopefully speed up and everything should turn out just as fine!” The current fourth season is based on the second half of the voluminous third book, A Storm of Swords, and some characters’ storylines are extended to the following two books, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, containing events taking place simultaneously but focusing on different characters. The executive producers’ ideal plan is to cover what has been left in Crows and Dragons in the fifth season, The Winds of Winter in the sixth season Gods of the Arena season, or giving a one-year hiatus in the middle of the final season as did Mad Men, Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. But for now, the producers are not rooting for any break or a prequel. Instead, they sat around a table with George R. R. Martin and learned what will happen to every single character in the next two unpublished books, in case the show needs to surpass the books. And that is the exact point where the faithful readers lose their minds. The readers who grew up with these books since 1998, waiting 5 years for the third book, and 6 years for the fourth book, basically cannot accept the fact that they will learn the ending from television before they do from the books. The sixth book, The Winds of Winter, is hopefully to be published in 2015, and that gives a maximum of two or three years to Martin to write the final book, requiring him to double his regular writing speed. The problem still remains unresolved, but most of the readers would prefer to see the on-screen finale than a hurried, superficial final book that will remain on the crowded shelves of “great series that ended up horribly.” Unlike the common thought, the book wouldn’t lose its worth after the on-screen finale because even though they faithfully follow the same plotline, the book and the show have different benefits. The books give you immense historical background of events, character insights, hidden details and an impeccable quality of writing, whereas the show gives not a deeper but a broader vision of the A Song of Ice and Fire world. Of course, visually experiencing all the flawlessly described events and places in the book is just a plain joy for readers. In the worst and most probable case, where George R. R. Martin cannot catch up with the fast-pace of the show, many of the readers will tear their eyes out in pain and curse the producers. We have to admit it: this is what is probably going to happen in the upcoming few years. The final books should follow the high writing quality of their predecessors, and if he needs ten years to write them, so be it. After all, literature is art, not business. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister - Photo Courtesy of imdb.com BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 17 NEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWSNEWSNEWS STATEOFSOUNDBOSPHORUSCHRONICLESTATEOFSOUND Mac DeMarco - Salad Days Cem Töre Gökçam Mac DeMarco had no concerns in life when people heard his music for the first time in 2012. Everybody loved Rock and Roll Night Club EP and his debut album 2, because no one could possibly hate a 21-year-old Canadian with a guitar and a huge gap between his front teeth singing about pretty much anything. DeMarco looked like the happiest person alive, and listening to him only provoked you to give up all else and try to become like him. Mac DeMarco was living life to the fullest. There is so much to love about his new album Salad Days as well. The record, fittingly released on April Fools’ Day, combines the creativity of the sound of his former works with lyrics about the problems he has ignored for so long. Thoughts on everything touring took away from him and his long time girlfriend Mac DeMarco performing new songs from his album Salad Days Kiera replace songs about cheap cigarettes (“Ode to Viceroy”) and his mother cooking something in the kitchen (“Cooking Up Something Good”). These are truly Mac DeMarco’s salad days, something he is aware of, as evidenced by the record’s title. He is signed to one of the most popular indie labels in the business today, Captured Tracks --a label that forced him to “write an upbeat single to pitch to late-night talk shows.” This led to one of the best songs of the album, “Let Her Go,” yet Mac obviously treats it as the ugly duckling of the record. There are so many people around DeMarco who are willing to waste his jovial attitude in favor of an edgier appearance and better sales, and he is becoming aware of them now. In 2014 the music business is crueler than ever, and DeMarco is somehow surviving with his signature wide-toothed grin and songs of love and brotherly advice. In “Goodbye Weekend,” one of the songs that instantly stand out with a little solo at the end and a catchy chorus everywhere else, he responds in the most straightforward way possible: “If you don’t agree with the things that go on within my life, / Well honey that’s fine, just Album art for Salad Days know that you’re wasting your time.” strument was played, recorded and However, the point to make about produced by him. In one month, by Salad Days might be something one man. And today, as the album’s completely different. Incredibly masterpiece “Chamber of Reflecand almost impossibly, the album tion” with its beautiful synth melody was recorded in a single month, fades out from the room I’m writing November 2013, in DeMarco’s house this article in, I’m confident that in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Every in- Salad Days is the best thing I have listened to in a long while. Animals as Leaders - The Joy of Motion Ali Girayhan Özbay Despite never having explicitly formulized it, the philospher Hegel, in a more abstract sense as the establisher of the groundwork of the theory, would not hesitate for a second to name Animals as Leaders’ first three albums as examples of the dialectical theory named after him*. When the YouTube guitarist Tosin Abasi , who was also playing in a technical metalcore band called “Reflux” which later disbanded, was approached by Prosthetic Records in 2008, he initially declined the offer to record an album. He later decided to follow up on that offer under the moniker of “Animals as Leaders”, recording the self-titled album with contributions from Periphery’s Misha Mansoor. It is an 8-string shredding fest and undoubtedly one of the landmark albums in progressive metal. Later on, Abasi expanded Animals as Leaders into a trio and the band surprised its fans with Weightless, an album sonically very different from their first release, featuring electronic elements, a jazzier and more open sound as well as less shredding, garnering some discontent among those who expected something more similar to the first album. Their latest release, The Joy of Motion, 18 serves as the reconciliation of the styles of Animals as Leaders and Weightless (hence the Hegelian dialectical approach mentioned earlier, with this release serving as the synthetic leg of the trio) and makes a firm statement telling the fans that Animals as Leaders are not compromising their musical vision while also considering what the listener base expects from them. The album incorporates a wider array of styles, from the Flamenco parts in “Another Year” to jazz fusion in multiple solos and from the expected djent sounds all across the album to the electronic intro of “Crescent”. This adds another dimension to the album overall since while Abasi demonstrated his mastery of music theory and guitar practice in pretty much everything Animals as Leaders did, this time there are multiple dimensions of “depth”; it does not come through solely in his compositional and practical skills but also through the employment of these new styles. This trend was already evident in Weightless, to the chagrin of many fans. However, Joy of Motion serves as the affirmation of the band’s future artistic direction; one that is less concerned with the label of “metal” and more with creating music that is innovative and truly progressive. In many ways that is analogous to King Crimson’s approach to being “progressive.” As the band’s back- bone and frontman, Robert Fripp always voiced his opposition to King Crimson being labeled as “prog rock” while also moving away from the progressive rock orthodoxy they themselves established in the groundbreaking album In the Court of the Crimson King, releasing very successful yet different albums such as Red, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and Discipline as their contemporaries such as Yes and Jethro Tull decided instead to stay closer to the established modus operandi of making progressive rock. Despite the new musical direction evident in The Joy of Motion, Animals as Leaders do not compromise the main pillars which held their music together. Musical mastery is as evident as ever. Unusual time signatures, incredible soloing, expert harmonization, uncompromising production quality and top notch instrumental skill, in short, the classic ensemble of elements which define the music of Animals as Leaders, are as prevalent as ever. Finding evidence to back this claim couldn’t be easier -every second of the album is full to the brim with skill. However, moments such as the bass work in “The Woven Web” and the main riff in the opener “Ka$cade” stand out. There is no over-eagerness by the band members to show off their abilities which would make The Joy of Motion sound like an instrumental wankery tirade. There BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE is space for the hyper-technicality of “Mind=Spun” as well as the serene, melancholic chord progression of “The Future That Awaited Me”. The Joy of Motion is a splendid release. It is full of excellent musicianship fused with very involved playing capable of evoking emotion while also managing to keep the listener’s attention with something new, pleasant and innovative while not going overboard with innovation . It sounds familiar instead of something dizzying, like a fusion of Captain Beefheart’s (a colleague of Zappa) Trout Mask Replica and metal. It’s worth giving a listen without a doubt, and more than probably worth giving several dozens of listens . *G.W.F. Hegel proposed a system of “Abstract/Negative/Concrete” propositions which was later refined into the commonly known system of thesis-antithesissynthesis by Fichte and Heinrich Moritz Chalybäus. Album art for The Joy of Motion JUNE June 2014 2012 Issue Issue January 2008 Issue STATEOFSOUNDBOSPHORUSCHRONICLESTATEOFSOUND NEWSNEWSNEWSBOSPHORUSCHRONICLENEWS Mogwai - Rave Tapes Umutcan Gölbaşı In Mogwai’s Rave Tapes, the listener can find everything that makes the band both great and upsettingly crippled. The band’s recent studio album, following three years of intriguing silence, reflects the pressure of the socalled “musical characteristic” and “creative comfort zone.” Mogwai, a band that has been around for almost twenty years, is one of the primary names mentioned when a rather intellectual discussion on synth and post-rock takes place. The very first (and very successful) executions of synth scores in ever-rising melodies have been Mogwai’s expertise, and although the band never dramatically went ahead to create a room of their own, Mogwai did have the kind of intrepidly inquisitive mindset that delivered the consistent popular feedback from the musical elite. As a fan of Mogwai, I was quite interested in Rave Tapes, but quite disappointed, too. The 10th second mark on the album is no different from the 10,000th, and both include the kind of stuff that was associated with the band many years ago. In fact, this album might mark the first instance where I heard a tune, cried out “That must be Mogwai!” and felt disappointed. Quite frankly, never has the existence of a bandunique characteristic disturbed me, and although I have doubted myself, it is Mogwai that is getting old. Post-rock, having finished its puberty, now consists of bands that should consider retirement, and just as my grandpa refuses to stop having tea for breakfast, post-rock bands refuse to stop using their methodic oddity, for which they were once renowned. Mogwai is one of those bands, and while their early usage of synth scores was extremely creative and welcome, now it just marks the mindset of playing it safe. Whether because of stubbornness or fear, Rave Tapes, although still consisting of those characteristic synth scores, does not offer anything else. It is dull, predictable, and if you are a good enough listener, boring, too. There is no innovation, no progress on the existent method- Album Artwork for Rave Tapes ology, nothing that comes across as crisp, bold or worth telling your friends about. Mogwai, once the band with the combative field and harsh enough stance before the world of artists, now feels too shallow and bereft of confidence. This, I fear, is due to a conflict that arises from the expectations of post-rock bands: constantly explore newer sounds and constantly stick to a unique characteristic sound. Striking a perfect balance of the two is almost impossible, but certainly doable (see Radiohead), and Mogwai, dare I say it, has lost it. Despite this harsh criticism, one positive conclusion we can draw is that Mogwai gets somewhat more comfortable with analog sounds in the song “Remurdered,” which might be the only worthy memory to keep of this very album. rather than discovering which notes I can introduce”. They speak from the heart as mature musicians who respect the purity of songwriting. Masvidal, as a practicing Buddhist, emphasizes transcending through embracing universal unity, simplicity and self-discovery in “Gitanjali” and “Moon Heart Sun Head”; both include Eastern music inspirations. If anything, the latest Cynic album is the sound of musicians who grew in spirit and body and became less, not more. There is life after synth, and Mogwai needs to learn it Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free Us Mert Uşşaklı Writing in State of Sound for three years, I reviewed a handful of bands which I associated with the words “unique”, “creative” and “different”. The degree to which I emphasized these words has differed. However, when anyone speaks of Cynic, the decades old genre-transcending metal band, I use the words “unique” and “creative” with the most honest intentions. Their 1993 release Focus initially gathered limited attention, but viewed retrospectively, it was truly an arcane meteor that landed on the death metal scene of the early 90s. Death metal fans hated it, jazz fans loved it. Mixing in electronic drums, with Steinberg guitars, effect pedals, jazz harmonies, complex rhythms and robotic vocoders, Cynic recorded an album that still leaves listeners in awe today. But the members of the band always felt that metal was just a territory on which they could expand their musical interests. Paul JUNE June 2014 2012 Issue Issue Masvidal and Sean Reinert did everything from recording motion picture soundtracks to playing pop-rock under the name “Æon Spoke”. They returned in 2008 as Cynic, to record the space-rock influenced continuation of Focus, Traced in Air. It was a brilliant comeback, 15 years after Focus, and fans were left with a mindboggling question: Where can Cynic go next? Traced In Air’s accessibility was apparently a hint of where Cynic would go next. Now, with Kindly Bent to Free Us, Paul Masvidal’s concept of songwriting is stripped naked, with only slight indications of Cynic actually being a metal band. The first few seconds of this album introduces us to screeching, eerie sounds accompanied by an ominous guitar arpeggia—it’s the sound of a band that dominated the underground death metal scene, breaking through the walls that hid their true identity. Almost everything is simplified and the songs present themselves in their purest form. The introduction “True Hallucination Speak” reminds us of Cynic’s roots with it’s odd-phrased guitar riff and spacey robot vocals and groovy bass. Songs like “The Lion’s Roar” and “Infinite Shapes” quickly transition between poprock and metal, proving that Cynic is capable of annexing any musical territory. “Kindly Bent to Free Us” is the album’s title track and the leading single. It’s a song that sums up all elements of Cynic, including loud metal crescendo’s, jazz solos played over swing beats, technical bass riffs, Masvidal’s signature vocal delivery and a progressive rock structure. For metalheads or those who enjoy musical technicality, Masvidal’s guitar work is very tasty. Regular contributor Sean Malone introduces absolutely jaw-dropping bass parts and the band makes sure their riffs are essentially metal-inspired. Yet, metal-inspired is as far metal as this record gets. This is most definitely Cynic’s most accessible and this comes at the cost of being less surprising and striking than their previous work. This is not, however, a band transforming. It is, instead, a band maturing and naturally evolving. The evolution is expected. Both Reinert and Masvidal are now in their 40s and in all of their interviews since 2008, they have emphasized how their sense of musicianship has evolved into “learning which notes not to play, Album Artwork for Kindly Bent to Free Us BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE 19 Bosphorus Chronıcle Editors’ Epilogue Mert Dilek Lara M. Güneri Page Writing Competition award ceremony is the perfect opportunity to do this, enjoy some snacks and listen to some amazing literary works written by your friends. - Order some food or get something from the canteen and head up to the Plateau. Don’t be discouraged by the slightly uphill walk. Don’t forget you climb the stairs of Gould at least once a day; you can do this. Guess what we’re going to say--yes, enjoy the view from the Plateau. There are few places in Istanbul where you feel on top of the world with both bridges under your feet. - Talk to someone you never talked to before. In a class consisting of two hundred students, you tend to stick with your own group of friends, but get out and talk to new people. New friends are found in the most unlikely places. - If you have even the slightest desire to do something, don’t hesitate, just do it. If you want to write, write for a school publication; if you want to act, try out for the RC Theater Company; if you want to sing, perform at Lise Live. No embarrassing moment is worse than regretting not doing it. - Ask a stupid question in class. Whether it’s “Can you please repeat everything you just said in the past 50 minutes?” or “Why are we so concerned with what x is? “ If you are wondering, just ask. - Say hi to not only your teacher but also all the administrators, ISS workers, gardeners, carpenters, etc. you see on your way to class. There is nothing like seeing a friendly face on campus when you are having a bad day. - Find a nice place in the forum and watch a Forumball game. Even if you don’t understand the rules, or it creates a scary journey to cross the forum, just enjoy it. Don’t forget the RC forum is the only place you can watch the sensational game of Forumball. Whatever you do, be proud of yourself; you are in one of the best schools in Turkey and no matter how much you struggle, you are surviving it. So make the most of it. On a more sentimental note, it was a fast, tough, and immensely enjoyable ride. If we reflect on the reality of our experience on a comically obvious but thoughtful level, we can’t overlook the fact that Robert College simply changed our lives. We are leaving this school five years older than we first stepped into it. What we were exposed to at RC filled those five years with such twists and turns that at the end, we were new people. Whether it be the classes that we took here, the clubs that we joined, the people that we met, or the mistakes that we made, everything about this place molded us into who we are today. It is inevitable to acknowledge that it would be impossible to find the opportunities here at RC at anywhere else. And those opportunities are what eventually enabled us to get into the colleges that we will go to, meet the people that became our best friends, and get to know the teachers that helped us discover our passions. In the hands of the people that make RC what it is, we grew up. There were times when we concentrated maybe too much on the negative sides and the challenges of our experience at the expense of seeing the bigger picture. Because it is easy to spot weaknesses and to complain, sometimes that was what we preferred to do: we talked on and on and on about all the ways this school could be improved, and our disapprovals ensued. Some of them still survive. Yet, as we are getting ready to leave this place for good in mid-May, we increasingly cherish all the doors RC opened for us and all the amazing memories RC has given us. At the end of the day, we are happy, because RC is possibly the best thing that happened to us in this short span of our lives. Maybe this observation will lose its validity as years pass by and we unlock new chapters in our lives. But for now, this feels true. We are concluding our final article much like we started writing our first articles for Bosphorus Chronicle. With great uncertainty, confusion and anxiety, we are bombarding the page with words. We are not, and will never be, sure if these are the right things to write, if we are choosing the right words, if we are good enough to be doing this, to write this. All those years at BC and, in a larger sense, at RC are marked by eerily similar beginnings and endings. Three months from now, we will apply to write in the daily newspapers of our respective colleges. The whole experience that we had here will re-start. The cycle will have made one more turn. We are anxious, nervous, but quite frankly, immensely excited and thrilled, too. We will open these new chapters with the confidence that RC has made us ready for them. The hinterland of our current personalities is boosted with the things that RC offered to us and we took advantage of. We are eager to enrich this collection with new pieces that will be offered to us by new people and new places. We are eager to use the remains of our days at RC to their fullest extent for the greatest of pursuits and accomplishments. We thank everyone who made this experience memorable and life-changing for us. We were in this together. Robert College Class of 2014 In early April, as we took our selfies with the wisteria in front of Gould Hall, suddenly it dawned on us that we were close to the end of this journey. We could not help but realize that next April we wouldn’t be here to enjoy the amazing smell of the wisteria. Similarly, as we are writing this article, we are aware that unfortunately this is the last piece of writing we will do for Bosphorus Chronicle. It has been a rather startling wake-up call for us, we must admit, because the uncertainty of the future not only thrills but also intimidates us. As we approach the closing of a chapter, we are truly excited to move on to the next, but equally reluctant to accept the fact that something is ending, never to resume again. It was a fast ride. Five years may seem like a really long time, and it is, but believe us: when you look back, you are struck by how everything eventually resembles a whirlwind. It ends the way it began: once again you are thrust into territory about which you have little or no idea. Nonetheless, those five years turned this territory that we call Robert College into a second home for us. And as it happens with a home, we are more than honored to have discovered its unknown rooms, gotten used to its people, learned what is where, and known what ultimately makes it a home. As much as we are melancholic that we are leaving this beautiful home of ours, we can’t help but feel proud that we survived this place. We feel proud of this accomplishment, because it wasn’t easy. A motley of skills, tips, epiphanies and a sense of cunning enabled us to make it to the end. Before we say our final goodbye, we feel obliged to share some “senior wisdom.” Here are some things we advise you to try before you graduate; don’t forget, when the last bell rings, it will be too late. - No matter how much work you have to do, or how hard the upcoming AP physics exam will be, try to participate in and attend as many school events as possible. - Attend a school event you normally wouldn’t. If you are shy, attend a ball and dance like no one is watching, watch a flag football game even though you don’t know any of the rules, or attend a musical evening. - No matter what don’t miss a friend’s performance, ever. Watching your friend do something she likes and enjoys is one of the most magical things. - Take a selfie under the wisteria in front of Gould Hall and invite all your friends. And please don’t wait until your senior year to do this, like we did. While you are there don’t forget to enjoy the astonishing smell. - Tell the teachers that meant something to you just that. They are a big part of your high school experience, so let them know how much you appreciate them. - Spend a free period or any free time with a book in your hand, enjoying the view from the upper floor of the library. Trust us, you’ll miss this view greatly wherever you go. - Go out on the library balcony and enjoy the view up there (yes, we know there is a great view from almost anywhere in the school). PS: The Jane 20 BOSPHORUS CHRONICLE December JUNE 2014 2009 Issue Issue