RC 76 Celebrates 30th Reunion
RC 76 celebrated its 3 0 t h reunion on J u n e 2 9 t h at the Sait Halim Paşa Yalısı, with 92
graduates from as far away as the US, Israel and various E u r o p e a n countries in
attendance. The venue had special significance - 30 years earlier the class had held its
graduation ball on the s a m e premises. In addition to the usual s u s p e c t s , A s u m a n T ü r k ü n ,
Leyla Bali, Selim Çetiner, Ceyda Ergin, Nejat Eğilmez, Işıl Şenel B a r l a n , Yasef Tovya and
Karen G e r s o n were a m o n g first-time attendees of our reunions. Organizers chose not to
book live music for the event and the group preferred to chat and catch up on years past.
S o m e of our c l a s s m a t e s s p o n s o r e d parts of the e v e n i n g . Ayşen Zamanpur, of Silk &
C a s h m e r e , had special 3 0 t h year t-shirts printed and distributed to the class free of
charge. Referring both to our maturity and our exceptionally well-connected class, the T-
shirts had the popular whisky slogan "well blended, well a g e d " written on t h e m . The music
was provided by Tansı Yıldırımer while the film and photographs from the evening were
financed by S e r d a r Koçtürk.
It was unclear who exactly s p o n s o r e d the female dancers! A l t h o u g h it was a n n o u n c e d as Hilmi K a y h a n , who was unable to
attend, suspicion fell on AA and B B . This piece was contributed by Nedim Ölçer RC 76, who a d d e d , "I've never been great at
writing. Dear Ekrem Yirmibeşin used to say when tossing me back my papers - "it's like rabbit dung, neither smelly nor does
it s p r e a d . " I always got 5 out of 10. So that's it from me."
25 Years On - The Class of 1981
The Class of 81 celebrated their 25th anniversary this
summer. The reunion took place on the 15th and 16th of
J u l y on c a m p u s . It required around two m o n t h s of
organization, thanks to all involved, especially Şebnem,
E r d e m , Birgül and B a n u . The c l a s s m a t e s who c a m e from all
over the world, U S A , Germany, Italy, B u r s a , izmir and
B o d r u m , had so much to discuss that the two days were
not enough and thus the reunion was followed by mini
reunions in Istanbul and B o d r u m . On the 15th, the class
met at the steps in front of Gould Hall for a cocktail and
tiring (!!) reunion photographs. We had so much fun as you
can see at the photograph here. The dinner was served on
the terrace in front of S u n a Kıraç Hall. A h m e t Uluğ
organized the DJ and the m a r v e l o u s music during the
dinner which took us back to good old 1980s. The multi
vision show reminded us again of our school days and our
long chats continued until early m o r n i n g hours, first on
the plateau and then at the d o r m . Forty of us stayed at the
new boys' d o r m in B i n g h a m Hall, and went back to Orta
school days w h e n we learned to b e c o m e 'young adults.'
The new day brought more excitement and joy as we met
with our families on the plateau. Ice c r e a m was the
favorite a m o n g kids of all ages at the picnic b r u n c h . There
were plenty of us - a r o u n d 130- plenty of food and of
course plenty of talk and laughter again. Everyone was
happy, there were so many things to be s h a r e d and the
time passed too quickly. So, until the next get together.
Contributed by Şebnem Yaşarol, RC 81
51
REUNIONS
Class of 96 Celebrates
10th Year Reunion
It was only yesterday we held our graduation day at the M a z e . The Class of
96 crying their eyes out, getting ready to go to various different places after
seven years of being together. A n d then we blinked... After 10 years, with the
help of our RC 96 y a h o o group - w h i c h hardly ever got any postings, our group
m o d e r a t o r Erez Navaro and myself, by pure luck ; with this I mean running
into people I hadn't seen for 10 years at A k m e r k e z , m a n a g e d to collect e¬
mails, decide upon the date, the venue and the event in a matter of two
weeks. Unfortunately many c l a s s m a t e s lived a b r o a d and could not make it at
s u c h s h o r t notice, but a mental note was made that we s h o u l d plan and
organize at least a year in advance so e v e r y o n e could plan their v a c a t i o n s
accordingly. We had lunch at our beloved P l a t e a u on J u n e 2 5 t h . Catering was
by the RC Cafeteria since we wanted to r e m e m b e r the taste of the famous
meatballs (in m e m o r y of the lost cats of the campus) once a g a i n . Even Bilal
from " t h e Y e m e k h a n e " was present and he r e m e m b e r e d every one of us by
name which c a m e as a s h o c k to s o m e of us who had difficulty r e m e m b e r i n g
the way to s c h o o l . Fifty people s h o w e d up with girlfriends, boyfriends,
husbands and wives. This was a very small number, but a promising start. We
even had an unborn visitor along with our c l a s s m a t e Melike Gürkaynak Erbaşı
who is due to give birth in O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 .
After satisfying our longing for the P l a t e a u , we wanted to c h e c k out Bizim
Tepe and drink s o m e cold beer on this v e r y hot day. We m a n a g e d to re-live a
high s c h o o l flashback yet o n c e again, after being kicked out (!!) of the bridge-
room by our older s c h o o l m a t e s . The day began at 11.00 and lasted until 18:00.
We didn't want to part, gave promises to meet at least once every year and to
keep track of each other. Deep inside we all knew these were promises we
were not going to be able to keep, but we are going to try...
Contributed by Mehveş Dramur Yardımcı RC 96
52
S.O.S - Protecting
Turkey's Cultural Heritage
R
ich in cultural heritage and history, Turkey doesn't always act like it
knows it. A series of recent s c a n d a l s involving the theft of
archeological treasures from m u s e u m s around Turkey has brought home
once again the lack of cultural awaress about protecting our heritage.
Fortunately, since 2 0 0 3 , the Cultural A w a r e n e s s Foundation, created
by a group of 148 prominent a c a d e m i c s , business people, artists,
archeologists, architects and art historians has made it a mission to raise
awareness of this key issue. Leyla Sürmeli, RC 72, general m a n a g e r of the
Foundation s a y s : " O u r mission is to make sure our cultural heritage is
transmitted in a healthy way to the next generations, and to raise social
sensitivity and awareness about protecting our cultural and natural
resources."
The foundation takes a multi-dimensional a p p r o a c h to its work. On an
eduational level, it has been expanding a Cultural A n t s (Kültür
Karıncaları) program which aims to e n h a n c e the cultural values of
primary s c h o o l children through a variety of creative acitivites. The
activities are c o n d u c t e d by v o l u n t e e r s and s t u d e n t s . S o m e of the s c h o o l s
they work with are Beylerbeyi Türkan Sedefoğlu ilköğretim Okulu,
Kağıthane Z u h a l ilköğretim Okulu, Kocaeli Rahmiye ilköğretim Okulu,
Bursa Nuri Erbak ilköğretim Okulu, Fener Tarık Us ilköğretim Okulu and
Balat Kırımlı A s l a n b e y ilköğretim Okulu
A s e c o n d major project area is the E u r o p e a n U n i o n - İŞKUR "Active
L a b o r P r o g r a m s Project, A Plan for New O p p o r t u n i t i e s " . The Project is
designed to revive wood w o r k s m a n s h i p , to ensure that correct renovation
techniques for w o o d e n buildings are passed down through g e n e r a t i o n s
and to increase the longevity of w o o d e n buildings.
At the end of the course, 26 participants received the Wood
W o r k s m a n s h i p Expertise Certificate. Two buildings in the Zeyrek area
which were restored by the participants as part of their field work were
given by the Foundation to the Fatih Municipality to be restored to their
owners.
The foundation also works outside istanbul. In the antique site of
Perge, they run a c a m p a i g n to help re-erect the marble c o l u m n s along
the famous Kings Walk and around the A g o r a . Through the c a m p a i g n , in
2 0 0 4 , 16 c o l u m n s , in 2 0 0 5 , 37 c o l u m n s and in 2 0 0 6 , 21 c o l u m n s were
e r e c t e d . Donors are given a plaque on site in thanks.
How you can get involved
The foundation is non-profit. All its running costs are met by donations from
trustees and other individuals, institutions and companies. Project-specific funding
opportunities exist, as do corporate sponsorship opportunities. Seminars are one
way the foundation can raise funds as course contributions go directly to fund the
foundation's work in other fields. In addition, volunteers are always welcome to
help out with the Culture Ants (Kültür Karıncaları) activities. For more details,
contact Leyla Sürmeli. Cultural Awareness Foundation Barbaros Bulvarı Pınar Apt
No 135 K:4 D: 7 Balmumcu istanbul Tel: 0212 347 2425 Email:
lsurmeli@kulturbilinci.org www.kulturbilinci.org
53
The Foundation runs a series of fascinating courses
on art history, arts and culture, open to anyone.
A selection of upcoming courses includes:
Art and Architecture in Byzantium's Eastern
Neighbours - I
Art Historian HAYRİ FEHMİ YILMAZ
8 Hours / Thursdays / 19.00 - 21.00 / 02.11 / 09.11 / 16.11
/ 23.11 Cost: 180 YTL Registration deadline: 20.10.2006
World Religions of Antiquity
Doç. Dr. KÜRŞAT DEMİRCİ
8 Hours / Tuesdays / 19.00 - 21.00 / 07.11 / 14.11 / 21.11 /
28.11 Cost: 180 YTL Registration deadline: 20.10.2006
Art and Life in Russia - II
Doç. Dr. ERHAN BÜYÜKAKINCI
10 Hours / Wednesdays / 19.00 - 21.00 / 08.11 / 15.11 /
22.11 / 29.11 / 06.12 Cost: 225 YTL
Registration deadline: 20.10.2006