THE PROS AND CONS OF DRIVERLESS CARS

Increasing advances in technology with each coming year have affected humanity in many ways. Driverless cars are also one of the major breakthroughs in science. On the other hand, they aren’t a recent invention. The concept was first introduced in the Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. General Motors offered an automated highway system which would guide driverless vehicles to their destination. Then, there were many remarkable developments regarding such cars. Some people are enthusiastic about these advances while some others refuse to use driverless cars owing to a variety of reasons. Thus, both advantages and disadvantages must be evaluated before taking further action.

Driverless cars have various undeniable downsides. To begin with, the human factor cannot be completely eliminated through existing technology. People must know how to operate the vehicle in emergency situations. Drivers should also know how to maintain such cars properly. Moreover, since computers reach a final decision, ethical issues are also thorny problems. There is no clear consensus as to what will happen if a driverless car going at full speed encounters an individual crossing the street. Should it run into this person or decide to take the vehicle off-road even if passengers will be injured? As for such cars’ operating system, we encounter another weighty matter. The operating systems are susceptible to hacking, and hence, security is a knotty problem. That means terrorists can access specific control mechanisms and thus program computers to carry out violent actions such as a vehicle attack. There is also a subtle point concerning this matter. As self-driving cars could collect so much personal information, marketers may use this information to create individualized advertising. How can that occur? When humans use a self-driving car, it’s computer stores information about the trip. Namely, all your private information such as the stores you prefer to visit, and the restaurants you like will be collected. This data would be a treasure trove of input for marketers if automobile manufacturers sold it to them. Similar to artificial intelligence, driverless cars may cause the loss of jobs. In other words, this technology would make people driving taxis or delivering food virtually obsolete. Since people who cannot drive a car would start to own a self-driving car, traffic jams would also increase sharply. Apart from the above mentioned points, there are numerous insurmountable problems: What will happen in the event of a collision? Who will be at fault and who will pay for the repairs? The car manufacturers or the drivers?

Even though it is frustrating to think about the drawbacks, we have to consider the advantages also. Because drivers display undesirable behaviour while travelling by car, self-driving cars will reduce the number of accidents. Many lives will be saved thanks to this. Some research ascertained that over 80% of automobile crashes spring from human error.  For this reason, insurance costs associated with damage will also markedly decrease. As computers are in more control, there may be fewer road rage incidents. Another upside  of driverless cars is that individuals with disabilities will have less dependence on the public transportation systems offering unpredictable schedules. These people won’t ask for the aid of others, which also means the handicapped will have greater mobility. Self-driving cars could work with higher speed limits since computers can calculate all the probabilities related to the safety of driving, a multitude of measures like speed limits on the  roads will be unnecessary. This also means that people might adress their other needs while the vehicle transports them to their destination. Driverless cars would reduce the amount of fuel as well. This is because such cars can avoid high traffic areas and places where there are severe weather conditions thanks to communicating with each other. Commute times will also be reduced because these cars will know where they can maximize speed to ensure the quickest possible commute. Moreover, the probability of missing an exit will be eliminated since this stems from human error. Lastly, self-driving cars could reduce the number of automobile thefts because biometric technologies can recognize fingerprints and faces; these are  used as our passwords for our devices and could also apply to self-driving cars. This means if someone else tries to use our car, it will refuse to start or immediately shut itself down.

In conclusion, driverless cars have positive and negative aspects. However, in my opinion, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It is a well known fact that 1.3 million people are killed worldwide every year owing to traffic accidents. Although the fact remains that we cannot know what the future holds, I am of the firm opinion that autonomous vehicles will eradicate all fatalities. Moreover, the handicapped will have a chance to be more active in social life.

                                                                                          CEM KOCA

GEOENGINEERING

                                                                             

               Over the past 50 or 60 years, global warming and climate change have brought significant changes to our lives. Global warming can be defined as the increase in average global temperature, on the other hand, climate change is accepted as the result of global warming, including droughts, heat waves, extreme weather events, etc. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether geoengineering is a solution to counteract the harmful effects of global warming and climate change. It is claimed that geoengineering is complex and controversial, besides, requires negotiation and cooperation among governments, scientists, civil society, and the private sector. However, most people believe that geoengineering is the best solution to counteract the negative effects of global warming. Geoengineering is defined as the deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the earth’s climate, in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming.

                 To solve this situation, we begin by a closer look at the details of geoengineering. Geoengineering can be divided into broad categories: Carbon Dioxide Removal(CDR) and Solar Radiation Management(SRM). CDR consists of several interwoven terms and methods such as CO2 air capture, Afforestation/Reforestation, Ocean fertilization, avoiding deforestation, algae-coated buildings, and biochar. On the other hand, SRM includes several terms and steps like in the case of stratospheric aerosols, solar reflectors in space, enhanced surface brightness, roads-rooves-pavements, enhanced cloud brightness, and planting light-leaf species.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that geoengineering should be implemented to reduce global warming immediately because the world is warming, this much people know and how much it will warm in the following decades. There is a wide discussion in many parts of the world today as to this issue because it is an undeniable fact that global warming affects several factors adversely in the four corners of the world. It is obvious that global warming has done a lot of damage to; but not for people. That’s why techniques of geoengineering are not only good for people but also good for the animal kingdom due to the  direct impact on nature for example. In addition, it is important to emphasize that geoengineering is affordable and fast-acting and it requires less cooperation and altruism.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: geoengineering should be implemented to prevent a potential humanitarian crisis and due to human rights. It should not be forgotten that people have some rights such as the right to land, the right to self-determination, the right to life, and the right to a safe and healthy environment. If the harmful effects of global warming continue to increase, the environmental side effects will be irreversible and people will not be able to find  land and nutrition for eating. That is to say, they will not be able to fulfill their needs. Some African countries can be shown as the best instance of this, due to the fact that they suffer from droughts, starvation, lack of security and infectious diseases. In addition, due to these negative effects and insufficiencies, people will face a potential humanitarian crisis in the four corners of the world. According to research carried out by elite universities and scientists, Small Island Developing States(SIDS) will be seen in the coming decades like in Bangladesh. It is not wrong to say that it is not possible to live  because of the population density of SIDS. As a result of this, it is an undeniable fact that people will face a humanitarian crisis.

On the other hand, some people claim that geoengineering is complex and controversial, besides, requires negotiation and cooperation among governments, scientists, civil society, and the private sector. However, these claims are not acceptable because it is important to emphasize that the negative effects of global warming are expected to intensify in the following decade and the detrimental effects will affect the entire world. Therefore, people have to take precautions to prevent these negative effects of global warming and implement techniques of geoengineering.

All that has been said raises the issue of whether geoengineering is a solution to counteract the negative effects of global warming. Although some people claim that geoengineering is complex and controversial and has different requirements, it seems that geoengineering is the best solution to prevent the negative effects of global warming. Otherwise, these detrimental impacts are expected to intensify in the following decade. No matter what happens, nothing is more important than human life, so it should be given due importance and it should not be endangered. Geoengineering is an intervention in nature in some sense but it has a role to play in shaping the future and society. Nature is an indispensable factor for humanity due to the fact that as can be seen above, it is related to everything in the world.

KUBİLAY ESER

OVEREMPHASIS ON FORMAL EDUCATION

The modern world is a highly competitive place where millions join the race to the top each passing day. The struggle to succeed involves a lot of hardship and misery, which has caused the fear of the future to become ingrained in parents. This fear coupled with the desire to make the child’s path up the greasy pole as smooth as possible is leading modern parents to focus on schooling to the exclusion of all else. This tunnel vision parents are trapped in is highly detrimental, is doing untold damage and should be discouraged no matter what.

The gravity of the problem of excessive emphasis on formal education is best exemplified by the situation in South Korea. Here children go to school at the crack of dawn for a full day and then head off to ‘hogwons’, that is to say private courses, where they have to do tests and solve problems. They are not allowed to go to bed until they have managed to solve all the problems correctly. The result is that they often don’t get to bed until midnight. Such kids are known to have committed suicide.  That this attitude to raising children and preparing them for the future is akin to torture goes without saying. Not being able to see the damage done to the child’s physical and psychological development is inexcusable.

A child who studies to the exclusion of all else will miss out on a lot of socialization and thus the acquisition of numerous social skills which will also have an undeniable role to play in determining his future success. These social skills can only be learnt through interaction with others in a social setting not through interaction with tests. It is a wonder such children are still able to speak their native language as they don’t even get practice in that. The educational value of the unending battle with tests that continue into the night is also highly doubtful as most educators should know full well. Concentration levels will drop as exhaustion sets in and hunger takes its toll. Couple this with lack of restorative sleep, unhealthy eating habits and minimal physical activity over a long period of time and the child’s growth and development will be stunted.  This is not the whole story however; the damage done to the child’s mental well being also needs to be considered.

A child who is unable to escape the grip of formal schooling will inevitably suffer psychological problems. He may be plagued with lack of confidence as he stays up well into the night completing schoolwork. He may become shy and withdrawn as he has minimal contact with his peers. He may not grow to be street-wise due to insufficient contact with the outside world. He may suffer from fear of failure, be plagued by guilt and be prone to nightmares. Conversely, he may become an inhuman zombie in whom all the qualities that make him human have been suppressed. Parents need to think long and hard about the path they are taking when deciding on the best way to raise their children. The system they are bent on applying amounts to child abuse.

Some may say that a good education is the only way to get ahead in life but a quick look at college application criteria will show that grades are not the only thing being sought by good universities. Club activities, individual initiatives, hobbies and interests and the like are also required. Incorporating all these into the child’s life and providing a more rounded upbringing is more likely to lead to future success as well as good physical and mental health. Parents should wish their children to be successful and happy as well. What is the point of having all the wealth in the world when you can’t relax enough to enjoy it?

A child isn’t the latest type of software; he is a human being with human needs which should not be ignored. Raising a child involves addressing physical and psychological needs. It also involves providing a loving home environment and time with peers. Only focusing on cognitive development to the exclusion of all else will do untold damage to the child and should thus be categorized as a crime.

UNRELIABLE MEMORIES

     Our brain is considered a computer. It records data and data is kept by our brain without experiencing any changes. Actually, the brain stores memories that we think never change. When we remember something, our brain revives them. However, we may not always remember events like the first time. That's why, our memories are unreliable. There are some reasons why memories are not reliable.

      First of all, one of the main reasons for an unreliable memory is that when we want to recall our memories, we reconstruct the events. We are facing a lot of events every day. The new situations which we encounter cause us to reshape the events. In addition, our memories are affected by our present expectations and our current knowledge and thoughts. Thus, while we are remembering  the past events, we can mix the present and the past. Therefore, our memories can deceive us and they may be unreliable.

       Secondly, another reason for unreliable memories is that we usually suppress memories that are painful and damaging to our self-esteem. We have a tendency to remember pleasant memories because painful memories torment us when we revisit them. Therefore, we may not say that memories are completely true and reliable. Moreover, we are open to external factors such as false memories. We are open to believing in unexperienced events. For example, when a person says “a wild dog was chasing you in your childhood”, you believe the person who tells that story. That's to say, you can be misled. That's why, our memories are unreliable.

       All in all, our brain is not a machine which preserves the events and memories. Our brain keeps the memories in mind and each time we recall something, these memories come out changed. Our brain reconstructs them. Therefore, our memories are unreliable.

                                                                                                  Seher Çakmar

DOES TECHNOLOGY NEED TO BE ETHICAL?

                Over the past 50 or 60 years, technology has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether technology needs to be ethical. To begin with, ethics is generally defined as a theoretical discipline that reflects on the good or responsible actions of human beings. It is claimed that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them  in every area. However, some people argue that technology has a responsibility to society to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people.  Moreover, trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook.

                First of all, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that new technological developments may harm people. It is important to emphasize that there are some adverse effects of technology on human life, so the adverse effects of technology are widely debated. The debate on using technology such as gene editing techniques on the Designer Baby Experiment in China, for example, has become a hot-button political issue, involving scientists, policy-makers, politicians and religious groups because how ethical is it to use technology to improve human species? Therefore, the adverse effects of technology are an undeniable fact and some developments may harm people.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the  increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook. Similarly, the discussion on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has mobilized civil society, scientists and policy-makers in a wide debate on ethics and safety. Request for transparency and the desire to be ethical are increasingly central to these debates. A serious hacking event has happened in the USA. The hacked folders included the personal data of about 50 million Americans  which was/has been harvested  via Facebook. This  was announced as ‘’a mistake’’ by Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder and owner of Facebook. Zuckerberg has been criticized during  the investigation. But there is no obvious conclusion and explanation about both GMOs and the hacking event. Therefore, there is a wide debate about whether technology needs to be ethical.

                On the other hand, some proponents argue that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as a human and use them in every area. According to them, these machines should be the most superior and intelligent species in the universe. However, these technologies may have devastating consequences/lead to a lot of serious problems for human beings: for example, (For example..) artificial intelligence might be uncontrolled or get out of control:  we saw/have seen  an apparent instance in the latest Facebook AI Experiment. After a few hours, it was turned off by Facebook because it got out of control and it created its own language.Therefore, Technology needs to be ethical and should  not be used  in every area like in the case of the Facebook AI Experiment and the Designer Baby Experiment.

                To summarize, whether technology needs to be ethical is a controversial issue. There are those who claim that  there is no room for ethics; and technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them in every area. However, it seems that technology needs to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people, and trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation.

KUBİLAY ESER

THE ROLE OF MUSEUMS

 Museums and art galleries should concentrate on local works rather than showing the cultures or artworks from other countries.  To what extent do you agree or disagree?

    Museums and art galleries have long been at the forefront of preserving and representing cultural values and histories of almost all countries throughout the centuries. However, whether they should mainly represent traditional and local cultures or display an international collection is open to dispute. I personally believe that traditional museums should focus on outlining the cultural aspects and artworks of the country while having separate museums with items from other countries does not hurt the national feeling.

    To begin with, educating people about the history and traditions of a country is one of the primary reasons why we have museums in the first place. They conserve important cultural specimens, artefacts, artworks and other items to boast about our past. Such museums, which primarily signify our tradition, should comprise things we, as a nation, can be proud of, rather than having internationally acclaimed artworks or sculptures. For instance, many national museums in Europe solely focus on preserving artefacts and artworks from the country only and they are quite popular among international tourists.

    Having said that, the concept of the museum in the modern era has changed to a great extent. We now have aviation museums, war memorials, motor museums, computer museums, archaeological museums and the list goes on. To make this type of museum popular and useful, we have to have international collections. For instance, the Motor Museum in Australia has a collection from more than 20 countries and they serve their purpose just fine. Museums with international compilation often attract tourists and can be a great way to promote tourism.

    To conclude, national and traditional museums should focus on nurturing national history while we also need museums with international collections to make them more functional and famous. One does not necessarily diminish the necessity and usefulness of another category.

PROTECTING AGAINST CYBERCRIME

With the rapid growth of technology, mankind has made various inventions and individuals' lives have become  easier. Technology has great advantages as well as some disadvantages, and the drawbacks may affect people's lives negatively. One of the threats is cybercrime. Even though digital connectivity is making our lives easier, the risk of cyber attacks is increasing as well, and governments and companies have to deal with the attacks. Personal and institutional information may be stolen and privacy may be violated. However,if the proper solutions are known and applied well, overcoming the problem will become easier.

First of all, there are many effective solutions and one of the most obvious ones is that people should be informed about cybercrimes via news, social media or seminars. In most cyber attacks, hackers capture the innocent's computer through malicious e-mails, various specific software like keylogger and ddos attacks. If people have the knowledge about cyber attacks, they are able to protect their private information and computers with the help of antivirus software. Moreover, if people use their technological devices  consciously, they won't connect to web sites which can be harmful ,and individuals will be careful when they are installing something on their computers. As a result, the possibility of coming face to face with cyber attacks will decrease.

In addition, another significant solution contributing to preventing cyber attacks is that institutions should think about backup. Most corporations may be hit by hackers for ransomware but if a backup system is there, they don't have to pay any money to hackers. Institutions have to have the necessary data about business to work properly and hackers want to keep companies under pressure to realize their desires. A backup system means copied data in at least 2 different places and institutions don't have to worry about the problem thanks to it.

Consequently, with the development of technology, cybercrime is becoming a widespread issue in the world, and it threatens many lives in terms of privacy violations and financial losses. Although, cyber attacks seem  unstoppable, if people are more conscious and informed well, and if  companies have backup systems, they won't have to struggle with cyber attacks.

MUHAMMET TOKATLIOĞLU

WHY PEOPLE DON’T GIVE UP THEIR SEATS TO OLDER PEOPLE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The modern world is becoming an increasingly stressful place as the pace of life has reached epic proportions and people are always on the run. Everything needs to be finished yesterday and people are under continuous pressure to succeed. This relentless pace means that common courtesy and concern for others have fallen by the wayside. Nowhere is this more obvious than on public transport where the elderly stand while young people sit playing with their phones. There are various reasons why young people have become like this.

One reason for the apparent selfishness of the younger generation is the fact that everyone is living in their own little bubble thanks to modern technology. The more connected people become via technology, the more likely they are to shift their attention to the virtual world that they have started to inhabit. A lot of business and socialization takes place online, shopping is done online and education, to a large extent takes place online. Thus modern man inhabits two universes, the virtual one and the real world of his ancestors. Technology aids and abets the break from the real world and leaves young people turned in on themselves focused on their screens and their parallel world. With this kind of a mindset, they don’t even notice the elderly. The modern day zombies are too busy living a life the elderly are incapable of comprehending.

A second reason for young people’s seeming indifference to the plight of the elderly on vehicles of mass transit is the lack of social intelligence. The lack of quality contact with fellow human beings resulting from increased connectivity has also had a knock on effect on social intelligence. Social intelligence enables people to be more aware of their surroundings and to read situations correctly. Yet such a skill cannot develop without practice in real life situations and exposure to real life problems. The virtual world, the new reality of modern man, provides no opportunity to do this. The thus mentally impoverished young people fail to empathize with the elderly who have difficulty standing. They don’t sympathize with their plight and stare at them with blank eyes. In short, the upbringing the modern generation and the life they lead have lead them to lose some important social values.

To sum up, modern life and technological developments have made young people what they are. Understanding the source of the problem should enable us to address it as a community. What needs to be done is make children more aware of the real world and all that is happening around them. ‘Re-socialization’ is the key to making the world a better place.

  

STUDYING ONLINE

     Studying online has become increasingly popular in recent years, so much so that universities are having a difficult time filling their classrooms. Nowadays,students prefer to study online rather than attend classes on campus. This essay will discuss both why students prefer online study and what universities can do to reengage students to bring them back to the campus.

     Since the early 2000s, students have been leaving the classroom in favor of studying on their computers.First and foremost, studying online is far more convenient than attending classes on campus. Who wants to drive through peak hour traffic to attend a one hour lecture when one can simply flick a switch and watch it online? Technological advances such as live streaming mean that students can participate in the classes without having to be there in person. Avoiding the hassle of attending class, which might be located a long way away, is the major reason why students prefer online study.

      Universities have very little hope of attracting students back to their classrooms.As technology progresses and computers become more and more virtual, students will want to actually attend real life classes. In the not too distant future, it is predicted that virtual reality will enter the mainstream which means that universities are fighting a downhill battle.The reality is that students will continue to study via computer technology rather than in real life.

       This essay discussed why students prefer to study online rather than attend classes at university. In my opinion, studying online is far more convenient for students and it is only going to continue to become more convenient.Universities will not be able to compete with the forces of technology and therefore it will continue to lose students numbers.

LABOR UNIONS

                                                              

                Industrialization and globalization have brought significant changes to our lives since the industrial revolution. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether these are favorable or unfavorable especially in terms of employees. Employees have suffered for lots of reasons throughout history and they needed to protect their rights and working conditions. Due to these reasons, they established labor unions in the four corners of the world. Labor unions are defined as a group of people that get together to get better salaries and conditions from their employers. Although labor unions are seen as appealing to many people, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

                In the first place, one of the advantages of labor unions is that labor unions protect the interests  of employees. It is clear that working conditions have detrimental effects on employees and labor unions are responsible for reducing these negative effects. Employees are the basic dynamic of industry and they should be protected from the negative effects of industrialization such as discrimination and inequality. Thanks to labor unions, employees can (gain) access (to) better conditions such as better wages, job security, reduced work hours, and safe workplaces. In addition, labour unions proved to employees that there is strength in numbers because unionized workers have more power as a cohesive group than by acting individually. This power is important especially during collective bargaining. Therefore, due to these reasons, labor unions have numerous advantages.

                When it comes to the disadvantages of labor unions, one of the disadvantages of labor unions is loss of autonomy. It is obvious that employees may disagree with the union’s decision but they have to obey, that is to say, employees are directed by labor unions (certain policies are dictated to employees by labor..). Besides, labor unions can be costly not only to the employers but also employees because there are union dues and initiation fees. Members generally complain about these issues. Due to these reasons, labor unions have some disadvantages as well.

                All that has been said raises the issue of whether labor unions are favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are both advantages and disadvantages of labor unions, as a coin has two sides. Protecting the interests of employees, reducing the negative effects of workplaces, protecting employees from discrimination and inequality, and job security can be listed as the advantages of labor union.  Losing autonomy, union dues and initiation fees are the main disadvantages of labor unions. It is vitally important to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of an issue before making a sagacious decision.

                                                                                                                                KUBİLAY ESER

CYBERSECURITY

                                                                       

                Over the past 15 or 20 years, cyberspace has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to why cybersecurity is important. It is obvious that people encounter computing and communication technologies every day, that is to say,  people’s personal lives involves computing through social networking, home management, communication with(their) family and friends. The ubiquitous integration of computing and communication technologies into common everyday objects enhances their usefulness and makes life easier and more convenient. On the one hand, IT is instrumental in the day-to-day operations of companies, organizations, and the government. Besides, retail consumers depend on computers and networks.   It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity affects several factors in the four corners of the world due to the fact that a rough definition might be that cyberspace consists of artifacts based on or dependent on computing and communications technology. There is a controversial phrase about this issue: Cybercrime. No matter how well constructed, inevitably cybersystems have vulnerabilities that bad guys can take advantage of.  Cybercrime can be defined as the use of the Internet and IT to steal valuable assets (i.e. money) from their rightful owners.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that threats to national security are the main reason for cybersecurity. It is important to emphasize that armed forces depend heavily on IT for virtually every aspect of the nation’s capabilities weapons system; system for command, control, communications, and intelligence, system for managing logistics, and the system for administration. As can be seen above, in the modern world or the twenty-first century, armies consist of several interwoven competencies or distinct types of sensitive data. Due to these reasons, it is an undeniable fact that national security cannot be ignored and precautions should be taken to prevent the negative effects of lack of cybersecurity.  Otherwise, countries may be confronted with the unwanted consequences like in the case of espionage, hacking, misuse of employee privileges, loss of privacy, and misappropriation of intellectual property. These attacks can be defined as one nation’s or third parties attempts to gather, identify, and record information, intelligence, trade secrets, and other product or software information. Therefore, all policies and precautions should be in accordance with Cybersecurity policies to counteract the negative effects of attacks of these types because it is clear that all pieces of information are related to national security, trade, and foreign affairs.      

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: cybersecurity potentially has negative effects in other areas such as economics, innovation, civil liberties, etc. It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity is related to future possibilities and it is regarded as a part of risk management with all of the demands for a share of government budgets and attention from senior policymakers but decision makers discount future possibilities so much that they do not see the need for present-day action. On the other hand, the private sector is constantly trying to bring forward new applications and technologies but attention to security can slow the process of bringing new products and services to the market, therefore, new technologies and applications are offered for general use without effective security. In addition, some measures which are proposed to improve cybersecurity for the nation potentially infringe on civil liberties, such as privacy, anonymity, due process, freedom of association, and free speech.

               

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that cybersecurity is a controversial issue due to the fact that computing or communication technologies are indispensable factors for people, governments, companies, and organizations and contain sensitive data, therefore, cybersecurity is a fundamental component of cyberspace.  It is not wrong to say that cybersecurity is the main threat to national security and has negative effects on economics, innovation and civil liberties.

KUBİLAY ESER

GUN OWNERSHIP

Criminal events are increasing in the whole World. One of the most important reasons for criminal events is gun ownership. Gun ownership is restricted by laws in some countries contrary to other countries where governments let people use guns/allow people to use guns. The latest incident in the US leads to debates regarding gun control. A person carried out an attack with guns in a school. Therefore, the government has enforced/passed a law according to which teachers can be trained in the use of guns. However, gun ownership involves a lot of/ both advantages and disadvantages.

First of all, gun ownership has a number of benefits for people. Criminals will always find a way to obtain guns; therefore, banning gun ownership prevents innocent people from getting killed or hurt. Gun ownership is very easy now. Many people can obtain guns  in illegal ways. For example, in the latest violent attack in Australia, an attacker had a number of guns which are used by military forces and armies. It is seen that it is impossible to prevent people from having guns. On the other hand, women and weaker individuals may have no means of self defense from rape or other crimes. Gun ownership provides innocent people with protection from attacks. Consequently, there are a number of advantages of gun ownership.

Secondly, gun ownership leads to a number of drawbacks for the society.  Many crimes are committed with guns. Thus, restricting gun ownership will likely reduce the number of such crimes; that is, gun ownership is the main source of criminal events. Only the security forces must have guns. Trained people such as armies and the police have to have guns. At the same time, suicides and crimes of passion are higher with gun availability. If people have guns, they can easily commit these crimes. For example, people can feel deep depression; in this case, people can kill themselves with guns. Consequently, gun ownership has a number of disadvantages.

To sum up, criminal events are on the agenda. Especially, one reason for the increase of criminal events is gun ownership. The right of defense is valid for all people. However, gun ownership is not the solution to the problem of criminal events. Governments  all over the World have not an effective programme to control gun ownership. Checking all people who have  guns is not possible. Therefore, no matter what happens gun ownership should  not be allowed  by law.

 NİLÜFER ÇAVUŞ

EMOTIONAL COURAGE

    There are several forms of courage. The most powerful one is emotional courage. It briefly means to be open to both positive and negative emotional experiences. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is to challenge the fear. The only emotion in life is not fear. There are core emotions such as anger, shame, sadness, happiness, enjoyment. Emotional courage appears when we face these emotions. Showing emotional courage is not always easy. However, there are some ways to practice it.

First of all, we should not suppress negative emotions such as sadness, grief, fear to develop emotional courage. It is not possible to always be happy every moment of our lives. What makes life meaningful is our emotions, both positive and negative. For instance, courage does not mean fearlessness. A brave man is not someone who is afraid of nothing; he is someone who conquers that fear.

Secondly, we should act on our emotions even if we are afraid of the outcomes. For example, let's assume that you will go to a job interview. Even if you know that you may be rejected, you should go to that interview. Developing emotional courage starts with taking risks. This is also valid in interpersonal relationships. We should not always think about negative things. We need to be able to think that we will feel good afterwards.

Lastly, we should be able to be open to vulnerability. We cannot always be strong or resistant against all situations. We can be down, we can be disappointed or we can make mistakes. However, what is important is to be aware of faults and not blame others for failures. We should learn from our mistakes without punishing ourselves or avoiding them. We should be honest with ourselves about what we can do or not do.

In a nutshell, emotional courage is not to escape our emotions. It is to know that all emotions are worth living. Therefore, to improve emotional courage, we should not suppress either negative or positive emotions, we should act without fear no matter what results are and we should be vulnerable, truthful and honest with ourselves.

                                                                                                                                       Seher Çakmar

                                                                                                    

WHY WE NEED ART IN OUR LIFE

There is no doubt that man is a civilized creature. One of the components of  civilization is art. While other components deal with man’s environment and man’s outside world (the outside world of man) , art examines the inner world of human beings, and shows the good and the bad in people. Thus, art creates a second nature and beautifies the inner nature of human. Even though there are several reasons why people need art in their life, increasing of man’s capacity and development and transfer of culture can be claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, the increase of man’s capacity is known to be the primary reason why people need art in their life. Art provides a problem and then solves this problem. For example, if a curriculum includes arts such as making statues, painting, pottery or dance, these are the kinds of things that lead students to view the world differently. These abilities give young people a chance to really develop a vision of self. Artistic activity matures the kids passions and thanks to it, young people feel that school is about making different things. Another point is that, being able to imagine has a vital role in man’s life. It is a fact that arts distinguish human beings from other species. A man devoid of imagination  is unthinkable , because man’s dreams allow him to find new things, make innovations and improve them. Shortly, art enables people to think outside the box.

Furthermore, development and transfer of culture seem to be the second reason why people need art in their life. People use hundreds of different languages to communicate. Someone has to learn his language to transfer information or an emotion to a stranger. However, artistic activities, just like  science, are universal. To exemplify, music that caresses the spirit of humans in Austria influences all people positively, not just now but forever. Moreover, art engages with society and it engages also with the key issues that affect people all day. Although the works of art seem to belong to a person, in fact they carry the traces of the depth of history. Therefore, feelings similar to each society can be revealed in the works. In brief, art is universal and leads to connections between the past, the future and the present.

All in all, increasing of man’s capacity and its universality are said  to be the most common reasons why people need art in their life. I think, art is a phenomenon where our dreams and our emotions reach their peaks and we must value it very much.

Burak Özçifçi

JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union is a de facto confederation of 28 member countries in Europe, started in 1957 as the European Economic Community. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are the founders of the European Union. Turkey is not yet a member of the European Union. The membership to the European Union is leading to many debates. While some of the people support the European Union, some of them are not willing to join the European Union for various reasons.

Some people would question whether Turkey’s economy will improve with the introduction of Turkey into the European Union and whether exports will increase. This idea is a misconception in its simplest definition. The best example of this is the Greek economy. Greece, which joined the EU in 1981, has one of the worst economies in recent years. With the wrong practices in the Greek economy, the country has reached the point of sinking. In short, being an EU member country does not mean that the country will be an economically successful country.

Some people strongly oppose Turkey's EU membership. When Turkey becomes a member of the EU, they claim that some industrial companies, such as car factories, that are unable to compete with EU products, will suffer or even shut down. It is perfectly natural to have such concerns. The market for EU countries is very attractive and remarkable. If Turkey is a member of the EU, Turkish citizens will demand the goods of EU countries rather than the goods of their own country. As a result, our domestic and national products will not be produced because of the lack of demand. This will adversely affect the Turkish economy. So it's normal for people who think like that to worry.

Another reason why you don’t want to be a member of the EU is the possibility of unwanted impacts on economic relations with non-EU neighbors. For example, if Turkey joins the EU, it will ally with countries like Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. As is known, these three countries are hostile to Russia. If Turkey is allied with these countries, relations between Turkey and Russia, especially the S400 missiles agreement with Russia and natural gas projects will be reduced and perhaps the two countries will become enemies. This landscape is very frightening.

As a result, although Turkey’s accession to the European Union seems to be in favor of Turkey, it is clear that this is not a good idea in the long run. The European Union has already proved its unity and togetherness with Brexit events in recent years. If Turkey wants to make an alliance with a group, it should not be with the European Union.

                         Gülis Beyza Yıllar

                                                                                                                                                    

YouTubers

In the modern and global world, YouTube is one of the most important social platforms  of our society. Teenagers, called Generation Z, are raised in the era of smartphones and don't know anything about the time before social media. Today, most of the young people are YouTube addicts. They spend a lot of time watching videos on YouTube. YouTube has attained a global watch time of over five hundred million hours daily. Before YouTube became a very popular platform, people used to see celebrities as role models. However, YouTubers' influences on young people surpassed celebrities on traditional media. In fact, celebrities are increasingly shifting their focus to YouTube in order to compete with YouTubers. Moreover, many parents don't even know about the existence of YouTubers and how they affect their kids. In order to raise our children in the best way, we should consider the effects of YouTubers on young people.

            Firstly, we should consider the effects of YouTubers on young girls. Millions of videos which are related to beauty were featured via YouTube. The importance of fashion and beauty have increased in young girls' lives this way. For example, some YouTubers feature Haul videos in which a YouTuber introduces and describes the products that they have purchased after each shopping trip. These YouTubers can earn thousands of dollars via shopping and filming what they  buy. Furthermore, besides fashion videos, a lot of videos which have beauty and makeup content are  featured. These YouTubers teach how to apply makeup and share their beauty routine. Young girls see these YouTubers as role models. They think they must dress  like YouTubers and apply makeup like them in order to look beautiful.

 Secondly, YouTubers affect young people's decision making process. These pseudo experts give information about the products based on their personal experience in order to support their viewer's purchasing decisions. YouTubers share intimate stories about their lives; it makes them seem trustworthy. They feel closer  to YouTubers than their Hollywood variety. They perceive them as equal because they are average people who might be a person living next door. Therefore, YouTubers are more popular and admired than celebrities and they can easily affect people's decision making process.

Finally, YouTubers affect young people's identification process. They affect their behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes. Some teenagers identify with YouTubers and adopt their ideas. Identification is not the same as imitation. It is permanent. For instance, some popular YouTubers talk about sensitive issues including transgender issues, suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression. Hearing about such topics can be empowering for children who may have experienced rejection or isolation. Messages from YouTubers can be very confusing for them. Children might adopt these kinds of ideas which are not actually true. Also, some children adopt the bad language which is used by YouTubers. If they watch YouTubers who don't pay attention to the language that they use, they can start swearing and cursing  people in their lives. In addition, they might eat too much unhealthy food because they see YouTubers consuming them on their vlogs every day. Moreover, some YouTube videos such as Try not to laugh have risks that might result in children getting hurt or into trouble. YouTubers prank one of their friends or a stranger in videos of this kind . They perceive other people as accessories to their  own enjoyment. If viewers imitate this behavior in their lives, they can get hurt because they might ignore the anger of people  who are pranked.

To sum up, YouTubers can easily affect young girls, young people's decision making process and young people’s behaviors since they are one of us. Parents should take precautions against YouTube videos which might have harmful content in order to raise their children in the best way.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-bloggers-influence-teenagers/

https://essay.utwente.nl/71094/1/Westenberg_MA_BMS.pdf

https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/YouTubers-influencing-children/

Gökhan DEMİRÇİN

CAN MEN AND WOMEN BE FRIENDS? 60

Throughout history, men and women have lived together in society. While some people think the purpose of the existence of the opposite sex is just providing continuation of the species so that when they are together they can just think about sex, other people claim that they can be just friends. In my opinion, even though it may be more difficult, I disagree with the fact that men and women cannot be friends.

Firstly, people who believe men and women cannot be friends claim that their interests and concerns are different, which means they have nothing to share. For me, this belief belongs to the Middle Ages and should have stayed there. In today’s world, contrary to the Middle Ages, women and men are equal. They not only have similar social roles and responsibilities, but also have common interests and concerns. For instance, clearly they can both like the cinema and talk about that, or contrary to what we are used to, they can talk about make-up or soccer. Therefore,  this idea is sexist and men and women can share a lot.

Lastly, because their brains work differently, they can have different approaches and perceptions which may complement each other in friendship.They can learn about the opposite sex's way of thinking and feeling and it helps them to improve their framework and the way they perceive situations. When something happens they can see the situations from both men's and women's points of view.

In a nutshell, contrary to the society's  pressure on the impossibility of friendship between men and women, they can share a lot and teach many things to each other. In short, men and women can be friends.

Dilara Şengül

HORMONES AND THE BRAIN

         There are countless differences between women and men which range from our anatomy to how we behave.But these differences start to occur in our brain and then shape our perceptions, behaviours and bodily movements.In terms of the structure of the human brain, the main criterium is the amount of testosterone. When we’re in the eighth week as a fetus, there is no distinction between the sexes; but after the eighth week, some of us are exposed to testosterone in the left hemisphere and as a result of it, this person becomes a male.It means, before the eighth week of our fetal development, we are all female.

       One of the effects of testosterone in our brains is  related to our central nervous system.Testosterone has a significant role in certain behaviors including aggression and dominance.With that, it also increases competitiveness and boosts self-esteem.According to a study which was conducted by Utrecht University,the level of testosterone is directly related with understanding human expressions and cognitive empathetic abilities.The scientists administered the experiment with a test whose name is ‘Reading The Mind in the Eyes’ to see the changes in the subjects’ ability to read emotions.In the experiments, scientists gave  some photographs to the participants and asked them what they felt about the people’s emotions in the photographs.Almost every woman predicted the emotions precisely. Then, the experimenters injected testosterone and showed other photographs to the participants to see the change.The new results were totally different from the former.The participants predicted the emotions of the individuals in the photograph inappropriately.This experiment demonstrated that the amount of testosterone is clearly linked with the ability to empathise and due to that,women are distinctly better than men.

       As a second difference between women and men, we can exemplify our ability to ‘hear’.First of all, we are using our hemispheres in different preponderances.For instance, the prepotency of the left hemisphere,which is responsible for hearing and speaking, is more than the right-hemisphere in women.Men use the right-hemisphere more predominantly.As a result of this biological fact,women are better at hearing than men.In order to pinpoint this truth about our brains, some physiologists conducted an experiment.In the experiment, male and female participants were asked to listen and state what they heard through an earmuff.The tricky side of this experiment was the participants were listening to two words from each side of the earmuff without their knowledge.The females realized the trick and stated  both words correctly; furthermore, they also mentioned which word came from which side of the earmuff.On the other hand, the males were unsuccessful even in understanding the words.Therewithal, they also mixed up the words: if the words were ‘sheep’ and ‘bottle’,they told the experimenters that the word was ‘shuttle’.

     The reason for this discernible difference in hearing between women and men might be about our obligations in nature.The woman who has sentimental communication with her baby, has to be good at hearing in order to understand the needs of the baby by the hums or meaningless words with which she tries to express her wishes for a short time.That is why a mother can differentiate the cry of a baby which can mean that she/he is hungry or needs to sleep.However, the sophisticated abilities of women in hearing and empathizing didn’t always affect their life in a good way.Especially in the Middle Ages, women were considered as witches and enchanters because of their powerful understanding and were punished by the Catholic Inquisition.

      Another difference between women and men is related to  our cognition.There is a common belief that men are better in the fields which require calculations and analytical thinking.Actually, there is some truth in this belief.According to an experiment which was done between males and females to understand their abilities

in three dimensional thinking and mental rotation, men are significantly better than women.In the experiment, participants were being asked to choose the image which was formed by seven squares among the other ones.The other images ,that were similar to the asked one, were turned to different positions and the answer which was tilted to the right was among the other options. At this point, our brain needs to use three dimensional thinking, which is related to the right-hemisphere. As it was mentioned before, men use the right-hemisphere predominantly.At the end of the experiment, both sides chose the right answer but it took 6-9  seconds to find the answer for women while it was 1-3 seconds for the males.This study and other related studies have shown that men are plainly faster than women in tasks which require three dimensional thinking.

        Our first difference emerges in our brain due to the level of testosterone and then starts to shape our anatomies, behaviours,abilities and perceptions.The amount of testosterone that we are exposed to during the fetal development also affects the level of our behaviors’ masculinity.It means, if you are exposed to less testosterone than the normal level as a man, your perception and cognition tend to be like female’s. Knowing all these differences between males and females, we should accept ourselves with our truths and shouldn’t regard these characteristics as something which makes us weak and less capable.

                                                                                                                                                  Sueda   Dinç                          

GRADING ESSAYS

The grading of essays on any English proficiency exam is a cognitively challenging task. The aim being the utmost fairness and accuracy in the assigning of a grade, the task should not be taken lightly. This being the case, it might be useful to underscore the major criteria taken into consideration while doing so. These criteria can be gathered under three headings the most important being command of the language, the second being the structure of the essay and the third being the thought process and ideas expressed in the essay.

The students demonstrate competence in the use of the written language firstly by exhibiting their flawless use of grammar. The scorer’s first priority, therefore, is to study the essay carefully to pinpoint inaccuracies in the use of grammar. Inaccuracies that impede comprehension requiring the scorer to return to the sentence multiple times are considered really damaging. Almost equally problematic are a plethora of minor grammar mistakes peppering the text. One note of caution however, a distinction needs to be made between obvious holes in the student’s knowledge and what may be attributed to carelessness: one slip-up could be attributed to oversight should the student have used the structure correctly in another part of the essay. Consistent misuse of a structure obviously points to gaps in knowledge. A competent scorer is trained to make note of all the above.

A second way students demonstrate competence in the use of the written language is through sentence structure. An educated native speaker will comfortably play around with sentences using present and perfect participles, reduced relative clauses and the like the way a master puppeteer does. Such a writer will use a selection of complex and compound sentences providing an easy flow of ideas. The resulting fluency gained by the essay is immediately recognizable to the scorer who is drawn to the fact that the arguments made are easy to follow and the points made are easy to pinpoint. A less competent writer will not be comfortable with the complexities of the language and may resort to more straightforward sentence structure – a combination of compound and simple sentences. However, he too will get a passing grade provided he makes no major mistakes while writing. Where the scorer will draw the line is the essay where the writer has used only simple sentences and has made a smattering of minor errors. Such an essay would just fail to meet the necessary criteria for passing. However, should the same writer not make the smattering of errors referred to and write simply and correctly, he would scrape through.  A good scorer will quickly distinguish the wheat from the chaff and assign the paper the grade it deserves.

A third way students demonstrate competence in their use of the written language is through their use of vocabulary and collocations. English grammar is relatively simple compared to some European languages; not so the vocabulary as there is a word to describe minute shades of meaning. What makes competence in the use of vocabulary all the more difficult is the fact that each vocabulary item is used in combination with certain other words and not with others. This pairing up words with their significant other, i.e. collocations, is the bain of every language learner’s life. Most mistakes with vocabulary items are made through a disregard for the correct collocation or a failure to grasp the shades of meaning in words that may be placed in roughly the same ballpark. For instance, we speak of an issue having serious consequences; we don’t use the word result instead. A good scorer will pay careful attention to the correct use of these word combinations and penalize accordingly.

One word of warning however, there is the danger of excessive zeal and cognitive bias in the assessment of the use of vocabulary. The source of the cognitive bias is linked to the deep seated opinion that students can be expected to know and use certain collocations but not others. They can for instance be expected to be able to use phrases like very disappointed but not bitterly disappointed; they can be expected to use the phrase freezing cold but not bitterly cold. Though correct, the latter may clash with the scorer’s expectation of the student and may lead him to be unfairly penalized under the misapprehension that the student has memorized this. The scorer is absolutely right; the student has memorized it and there is nothing wrong with this. Learning vocabulary items along with their correct collocations is to be encouraged not frowned on. Completely illogical as this all sounds, it does happen and the source of the misapprehension is modern writing books. The problem is that most modern writing books are overflowing with phrases and structures to be used in certain essays which the students are expected to learn and use in essays of certain types. Despite teaching these structures, seeing an essay liberally embellished with these structures often raises the hackles of scorers. Yet this latter problem has nothing to do with the correct use of collocations. An essay where the structures stick out like sore thumbs in an otherwise very feeble effort will be assigned a failing grade. An essay where these structures are correctly blended into an obviously competently written essay will get a passing grade. The key, therefore, is the rest of the essay. If there are too many clichés and too little else to judge the essay by, the scorer will have no choice but to fail the student.  All this proves that correctly evaluating an essay is no simple task.

On an English proficiency exam command of the language is by far the most important criteria yet correct organization is also vital. American high school writing books have laid down the law in this area too by trumpeting a formulaic approach to writing. Though perfectly logical, these so called formulas are not the only way to write essays provided the writer doesn’t lose sight of the main purpose of writing that particular essay. What is more, there may be students sitting a proficiency exam who are oblivious of American college writing and may just use their common sense. After all, so long as he supports his own opinion and refutes the counter arguments, does the student really need to support his own views in the first two developmental paragraphs and refute the counter arguments in the third? A competent scorer needs to be flexible when evaluating the organization of an essay and not take a blinkered approach.

The last aspect of the essay to be taken into account is the content; however, a word of caution here: to what extent the actual content and ideas matter depends on the purpose of the exam. On the proficiency exam at our university, the ideas to be discussed are provided in the form of bullet points the purpose being to test students’ competence in the use of the language rather than their ideas. As far as our university goes, therefore, ideas take a back seat compared to the other criteria mentioned thus far. This being said, students are expected to put forward a rational argument which is appropriately supported, and original thinking will inevitably color the scorer’s view of the essay.

What has been provided is a brief overview of the general principles taken into consideration by scorers at our university. The purpose has been to inform students of the complexities of correcting essays and to remind teachers once again of the criteria scorers follow.