Bosphorus Chronıcle Bosphorus Chronıcle

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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:
[email protected]
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
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
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.
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!
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.
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
John Keeley Wrzesinski, Biology Teacher, 2011-14
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.)
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
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.
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?
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
telegraph.co.uk/motoring/roadsafety/10570935/Autonomouscars-is-this-the-end-of-driving.
html>.
JUNE 2014
2012 Issue
January 2008 Issue
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
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
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
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
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2012 Issue
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January 2008 Issue
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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
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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
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JUNE 2014
2009
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