I suppose my appearance on television, following a newspaper interview, was a sign that my media journey was gaining momentum — okay, there might have been a five-year gap between the two, but still, let’s count it as an achievement 🙂
At that time, TRT OKUL channel had a program called “Kontrol Sende” (“You’re in Control”). It was somewhat similar in concept to what foreigners know as “Big Brother” and what we once knew as “Biri Bizi Gözetliyor” — but in this case, it was an educational and much more wholesome version. Fourteen contestants aged between 18 and 25 lived together in a specially prepared space, receiving training on a different topic each day. One of those topics was Albinism, and naturally, I was invited to teach the participants about it.
Spending 45 minutes on TV for my first on-screen experience was a fun and memorable moment. Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the recording, so I won’t be able to share it with you.
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Date : 23.03.2011 Media : TRTOKUL Show : Kontrol Sende
During the lockdown period caused by the coronavirus, I finally had some time to update and reorganize my website. As part of that, I decided to collect and share past interviews, articles, and media features about me all in one place. The first one on the list happens to be my very first newspaper interview.
The headline read: “Why Are Albinos Always the Villains?” — quite an attention-grabber, isn’t it? 🙂 Today, the title might sound odd or even off-putting, but at the time, it actually made sense. The article, published in 2006, was inspired by the release of “The Da Vinci Code” movie, based on Dan Brown’s famous novel. When the film hit theaters in Turkey, the albino character Silas drew significant attention, and naturally, that led to a newspaper story about albinism. 😉
It didn’t take long for Yaprak Aras to contact me. Nowadays, there are plenty of resources online — and even a local association you can reach out to — but back then, I was practically the only person in Turkey one could find to talk about albinism. Of course, my personal website, which has been online since 2000, had a lot to do with that.
The interview was conducted over the phone, and I’d like to thank Yaprak for the thoughtful piece that resulted. I must admit — my thinner face and long hair back then can’t quite compare to how I look now, but still, revisiting those memories feels good. You can find the details of the article below.
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Date: 21.05.2006 Media: Milliyet Gazette Author: Yaprak Aras
The fact that the villain Silas in the “Da Vinci Code” was albino angered the albinos. Dennis Hurley, who is also an albino, made a movie called “The Albino Code” (Albino Code) that shows the mistakes in the movie and tells about albinism.
The “villain” twins in the Matrix Reloaded, Bosie in the “Cold Mountain”, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s enemy, and more. This bias, which is thought to have appeared for the first time in 1897 with the book “Invisible Man” by HG Wells, is on the agenda again with the “Da Vinci Code”. The evil character in the movie, Silas, is depicted as “his skin as pale as a ghost” and “with evil red eyes” like his counterparts.
Albinism, known as “flowiness”, is actually a lack of pigment cells called melanin. The most important disadvantage of this condition affecting hair, skin and eyes, vision problems and sun sensitivity.
The American National Albino Organization (NOAH) has warned against prejudices in the community due to the character of Silas in the “Da Vinci Code” in the past weeks. Dennis Hurley’s movie “The Albino Code” is in everyone’s language.
The movie, which can be watched free of charge at www.albinocode.com, takes the “Da Vinci Code” to ti. Hurley tries to break down the “Hollywood bias” and educate people about albinism by transferring the events in the “Da Vinci Code” through the eyes of a real albino. Hurley answered our questions on the phone.
What was your aim in shooting “The Albino Code”? There is a trend in Hollywood to make fun of albinos and show them as “bad guys”. As a writer and actor, I thought that such a parody would make a sound when the “Da Vinci Code” entered the vision.
Silas karakterini bir albino olarak gerçekçi bulmadığınız halde bu rol için seçmelere katılmışsınız. Evet, çünkü yapımcılarla konuşup birtakım olumlu değişiklikler yapabileceğimi düşündüm. Bir kere albinolar, iyi göremedikleri için uzağa iyi ateş edemez ve gece yarısı araba kullanamaz. Zaten neticede rolü albino olmayan birine, Paul Bettany’ye verdiler, makyajla albino yaptılar. Yine de yönetmen Ron Howard önemli bir yanlışı düzelterek Silas’ın kitapta kırmızı olan gözlerini filmde değiştirdi. Bu da yazar Dan Brown’ın albinizm konusunda bilgili olmadığını veya araştırma yapmadığını gösteriyor. Albinoların gözleri kırmızı değil açık gri veya mavidir.
What kind of reactions do you get about your movie? Everyone loves it. I also get support messages from albinos. My main purpose is to make you laugh. But I try to explain what albinism really is with this movie. I do not want Albino children to experience what I have experienced. Let them grow up safe. Movies are important sources of information. A message like “Da Vinci Code” and the like “Albinos are evil, they have supernatural powers” is nothing but false information. We should all accept that we can be different from each other, and even be happy with these differences.
“No problem unless you win the enmity of the society” Ali Şengöz is 25 years old. He graduated from METU Civil Engineering. He is still working as a project assistant in the Structural Mechanics Laboratory at his school. At the same time, he is making a program at Radio METU. In addition, Şengöz conducts research on albinism and shares it on www.alisengoz.net.
How do you feel when you see albinos as “bad characters” in the movies? The character of Silas in the “Da Vinci Code” did not seem offensive to me. The fact that Silas is on the bad side does not make him look bad. I think it’s okay unless there is a character who can fully win the enmity of society. There are those who love the dark side in “Star Wars”.
What is the biggest problem of albinos? Eye problem. Therefore, he leaves his education. The number of albinism people attending the university is very low. Because even if you sit in the front, you cannot see the board. Studying, reading books is a big problem. I was using a magnifying glass. But it is very difficult to hold a pen with one hand while holding a magnifying glass with one hand. I was using binoculars to see the board. Unfortunately, teachers cannot help because they do not know albinism. In the simplest way, they can give the exams with larger fonts. Illumination of the classroom, the proximity of the board can be adjusted. I am currently using special glasses called bioptics. It can be called the shape of a binocular mounted on the glasses. The field of view is narrow but better than nothing. You can find them in the Spotlightly Helping Center.
When did you start researching albinism? While struggling with the ÖSS exam, the eye problem became even more prominent. At that time, the philosophy of taking a more positive view of life, which was frequently mentioned on websites about albinism abroad, was a turning point for me. If you are going to live with albinism, you have to accept the existence of it.
Is it because you are at peace with yourself because you learned better about albinism? Yeah. When a person does not know what he is experiencing, he is afraid of himself. Maybe that’s why other people react. This is the reason why it is shown as having special powers or badly, especially in movies. In fact, albinism is not a disease, but a genetic condition. Treatment of albinism is currently not possible. You learn to live with it in a way. Instead of denying, he should think about how I can overcome the troubles. It shouldn’t care what others think. It is necessary to approach the event positively.
It was a little late, because I decided to write this article after the sacrifice feast last year (2017), but I can still save some, considering that we were before a feast.
Today, it is told to you with the most beautiful place in the world, “one of the 100 places to go before you die”, “dream island” and so on, with all the scattered phrases, everyone’s been hurt, especially our young girls see it on instagram and say “My love is also gone. and I’ll tell the truth about MEIS, which seems to run away. Listen to me for 5 minutes before saying “We came to Kaş ready, let’s go to Meis one day”.
A little technical information first:
Meis, like many other Greek islands, is a small islet right next to our homeland, at a distance away from you. It is a piece of land that can be called cute, at 7.8km distance from Kaş district (2.1km if you actually measure from closer point). Another name is “Kızılhisar Island” due to its soil color. In 1948, he was connected to Greece and what should I lie, as İlber Ortaylı said, as our elder says, looking at Kaş’s concrete form today; Since they do not allow new construction in Meis; Islet may be glad that it is attached to Greece.
Distance of Meis to Turkey
So should this go to Meis, which everyone is talking about, on some part of the holiday or is it not worth going? If you pay attention, I said “some part of the holiday”, you have to understand from there that the holiday is not a place to go, but a place to have a coffee and return. Here are the facts:
WHY TO GO TO MEIS?
I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense. 😊
Of course, your money is abundant (which is the story of the Greek islands, because of the Euro exchange rate is over). Maybe I will not prevent you in this case, skip it, go to your yacht.
WHY NOT TO MEIS?
If you don’t have the above, it’s not worth going 😊
OK, let me elaborate a little more.
To: Oh, oh, do not go on a holiday/fiest/bayram. It will be harder to wait for a long time in the queue of your passport and get a taste from a trip that you started as a nervous. There are 2 different companies for departure, we used MeisExpres, got up early compared to the other and it was comfortable with air conditioning. But we expect a lot at the entrance and exit from Turkey Meis. By the way, even if you don’t eat and drink there, daily schengen money + go and come money costs a ton. I don’t understand why schengen is wanted anyway.
First impression: As you approach Meis, you see a beautiful, lovely island town as described, a series of buildings and colorful houses set in a bay, all of a sudden appeal. But the truth is, that’s all. 😊 Nothing else, the whole of Meis you see (photo below). There is nothing else. In other words, if you walk, come and go, photos will end in half an hour, including selfies.
Panoramia Meis
Saint George And Kostas: You can go to the island of Saint George and swim in the sea, as your only chance to return when you are gone is the boat that will get off in the evening and there is no other time-consuming activity. But for this you need to rent a boat that will take you there. Again, of course, if you browsed the internet and tried to get information from blogs, you heard the name of Kostas. Everyone was saying, “Oh, very sweet man” “Go with it,” but when you land on the island, you will soon understand why everyone is telling him. When you leave the passport, turn right (the city is already there), take two steps, the first boatman Costas 😊 So, the beloved bloggers get on the boat that comes first to them, they tell him in front of him.
This is the famous Kostas
You will not find anything when you go anyway, you will try to get fried in the sea while saying “Kaş’s sea is more beautiful” and waiting for the return time. I think take it with you, the only restaurant there is a carcass and they’re probably making the worst hamburger I’ve ever eaten. If you say why you ate hamburgers, there is not much else in the menu. The other one is the shepherd salad and caciki they call “greek salad”.
St George Denizi
St George denizdeki kayalar
St Georgeden photos
We realized again after returning with Kostas, if you turn left when you leave the passport, there is a place where you can sunbathe next to the mosque at the end of the island.
Yunan adasında bir Cami
Cami Başkanı
Meis Mosque
Frappe: “If you went to Meis, don’t come back without drinking frappe,” they say to you. Why, because you have to spend time and drink something cool in the heat, and sugar has fallen, something sweet is required. Otherwise there is no other number, be sure to have better beaches in Kaş.
Streets: Okay streets are nice, but with plenty of colorful narrow streets and spilled even seaside town in Turkey you can see anywhere in Europe. If you are gone, take a few aesthetic photos that you can share as if they are beautiful.
Sokak
Bir başka Sokak
Streets reaching to sea
Return: If the engine has arrived and you are returning to Kaş, there is no happiness from you, when you return, throw yourself in the sea and relax yourself and return to your normal life 😊
Bu da Biz
Bir de şapkayla Biz
Some photos of us
Conclusion: Like this, I tried to tell you the facts, like other travel bloggers, without trying to praise every place they go and drag people. I also shared a photo of everything you can see when you go. After that, the decision is yours, but if you go, let me know that when I come back I will say “I said” 😊
PROS AND CONS OF ASSESSMENT METHODS IN THE 2007 TURKISH EARTHQUAKE CODE
Author: Ali ŞENGÖZ
Author: Haluk SUCUOĞLU
Publication Date : January 1, 2009
A new chapter has been added to the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code for the assessment and retrofit of existing buildings. The assessment procedures proposed in the Code are classified as linear elastic and nonlinear procedures. A research has been conducted in this study in order to evaluate the differences between the two types of seismic assessment procedures in the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code. For this purpose, two residential buildings in their existing and retrofitted states were comparatively assessed by employing both procedures, according to the principles proposed in the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code. The assessment results were also evaluated in view of the actual performance observations from one of the investigated building which suffered damage during the 1999 Düzce earthquake.
QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF ASSESSMENT METHODS IN THE 2007 TURKISH EARTHQUAKE CODE
Şengöz, Ali M.S., Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Haluk Sucuoğlu
October 2007, 213 pages
Turkey is located on a seismically active region and ranks high among all countries that have suffered losses of life and property due to earthquakes over many centuries. In addition, its building stock has usually poor construction quality with seismically improper structural systems. These lead to a need for rapid and reliable assessment and retrofit procedures.
In the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code, a new chapter is included for assessment and retrofit of existing buildings. The assessment procedures proposed in the Code are classified as linear elastic and nonlinear procedures. An engineer is allowed to choose one of these two procedures without any restriction.
In this study, a research was undertaken in order to clarify the differences between the seismic assessment procedures in the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code. For this purpose, two pairs of existing and retrofitted residential buildings were assessed according to the principles of both procedures proposed in the 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code. The assessment results were also compared with the actual performance observations from a 5-storey building which suffered damage during the 1999 Düzce earthquake. In addition, an anchorage design methodology was developed for the exterior coupled shear wall retrofit solution, and tested on a 6-storey case study building.
Keywords: 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code, assessment, retrofit, nonlinear procedure, linear elastic procedure, global performance, acceptance criteria.
Permanent link to this article: http://www.alisengoz.com.tr/en/2008/01/01/ms-thesis-quantitative-evaluation-of-assessment-methods-in-the-2007-turkish-earthquake-code/
