Opinion | PRESENT Bulletin | An Online Bulletin by Boğaziçi MUN

Social Memory and the Impact of Commemorative Remedies

We all share a memory apart from our individual recollections of the past. The kind of memory I am referring to cannot exist alone. It needs to be communicated since it is the product of historical, sociological, psychological, and political processes. Remember how your grandparents talked about past events?

223 16.05.2023 Zeynep Ezgi Batmaz READ MORE

Immortality: The Dream or The Nightmare

Have you ever thought about being immortal? Having endless life in a universe that offers endless information sounds thrilling. Even if it sounds like a magical trait that can only be achieved in stories, it might be the technology of a different era.

195 18.04.2023 Bora Benli READ MORE

This Is Why We Need Age Restrictions in Politics

Politics or any kind of decision-making position in a government body needs an upper age limit. Voting already has a worldwide age restriction, the most common legal age for voting is 18 around the world. Only nine countries around the world have 16 as the legal age for voting, whereas, only six countries have 17 as the voting age.

194 28.06.2022 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Endless Cycle Of Consumption: Microtrends

Popular culture is the set of practices, beliefs, and objects that are prevalent in a society. In our age, we live in a society where popular culture constantly and very quickly changes. Out of this constant change, microtrends emerge. People collectively decide on what the "next thing” is, and what is not cool anymore.

214 16.05.2022 Zeynep Ezgi Batmaz READ MORE

Elon Musk’s ‘The Boring Company’: Boom or Bust?

In the year 2018, Elon Musk’s The Boring Company released a merchandise item called “Notaflamethrower”. This product was hyped online as a flamethrower by many and sold for $500 per piece. The product’s name indeed did its credit, as it was not a flamethrower, but a roofing torch dressed and marketed

213 17.04.2022 Oğuz Kaan Kömürcü READ MORE

Should We Abolish Marriage?

We cannot deny the impact of religious beliefs in shaping the modern description of marriage, however, the foundation of the institution goes way back before any of the religions with current believers. In fact, the earliest evidence of a man and a woman uniting is nearly 4500 years old. (1) Of course, defining the concept of marriage as “uniting a man and a woman” is fairly inadequate in the year 2022.

196 11.04.2022 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Performance of Self Driving Cars

Self-driving car technology is a new technology considering the age of traditional car technology. Many companies are working on self-driving. But Tesla Motors company has apparent domination on the market. Recently Tesla Motors company was criticized as they called thousands of cars back to repair a malfunction of the self-driving feature.

213 28.03.2022 Recep Eren Durgut READ MORE

Oscars 2022: The Downfall

The 94th edition of the academy awards will be held on March 27 in its traditional home, Dolby Theater. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes will host the show. Producer Will Parker said, "This year's show is all about uniting movie lovers. It's apropos that we've lined up three of the most dynamic, hilarious women with very different comedic styles". Despite the positive attitude and enthusiasm of Will Parker and other academy members, people on Twitter are furious. Yes, they do have a point.

319 7.03.2022 Öykü Efendi READ MORE

New World Order: The Metaverse

The Metaverse has been a hot topic of conversation recently, with Facebook and Microsoft both scrambling to take part. However, do we know what the Metaverse is? Are we ready for this massive change in our lives? There is no specific answer to these questions, but there are so many different hypotheses about how this process will be like for sure.

221 11.12.2022 Lara Tali READ MORE

Why You Should Care About the Saudi Newcastle Takeover

Concerns about the influence of financial matters on football have been a mainstream debate topic at least since the formation of the English Premier League back in 1992. The Premier League brought about a new system in which the top clubs in English football were more isolated from the rest of the football pyramid and did not have to share their profits as much as before.

210 3.01.2022 Boran Göher READ MORE

Why You Should Be Watching Videos in 480p

It seems that ever since the covid pandemic, video streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu have entered their glory age. With the shutdown of cinemas and cancellation of most cultural events, most of us shifted our focus to video-streaming platforms. But have we ever stopped for once and thought about the impact binge-watching might have on our planet?

252 29.11.2021 Aybüke Caner READ MORE

Clickbait From Another Perspective

Have you ever thought about titles of internet articles? Do you believe that sometimes they do not exactly refer to what they say they do? It seems you are not wrong and alone at all. Just like the title of this article, as readers, we encounter clickbait very frequently. But why are such titles chosen? Actually what is clickbait, why do authors and editors prefer to put it, and most importantly; is it ethical? Does it not manipulate us? Let’s try to give an answer.

186 25.10.2021 Mert Cengiz READ MORE

Taiwan’s Diminishing Success Against the Covid-19

"It is mandatory to wear a mask inside. There will be no face-to-face education until 2021, and we should get used to online learning. We cannot turn back to the pre-pandemic version of life unless the majority of the people in the world are vaccinated.’’ We are all accustomed to hearing these sentences due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

200 12.07.2021 Sena Balban READ MORE

Misogyny in Philosophy

It is true and well-known that the big names of philosophy, whether ancient or modern, consist primarily of men. When we think of the word “philosopher,” the names that come to mind are usually Aristotle, Plato, Rousseau, Kant, Freud, etc. However ground-breaking their theories were, and although their arguments paved the way for advancing science, medicine, psychology, and many other fields, most people were misogynists.

196 12.07.2021 Elif Nazlıcan READ MORE

Present Special: Answering Your Questions About University Life and Boğaziçi

We have gathered some questions about university life and Boğaziçi University that you have submitted through our Instagram Stories (@bogazicimun). Do not forget to follow and turn on the notifications to catch up on our following Q&A during the University Selecting Period to ask more of your questions! Let’s move on to the answers to your questions!

195 12.07.2021 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Tokyo 2020: Pandemic Games

The 2020 Olympic Games are scheduled to be held between 23 July to 8 August in Tokyo, Japan. The Games were intended to be held in 2020, as their name suggests, but were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight years in the IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) 2013 session in Buenos Aires, Turkey, Japan, and Spain fought to host the event. However, Istanbul lost to Tokyo in the last round of voting.

223 12.07.2021 Alp Ünal AYHAN READ MORE

Review: Joe Biden’s First 100 Days in Office

US President Joe Biden has made many promises during his campaign run in the days leading up to his election in November last year. Although he has not yet accomplished everything he said he would accomplish, he moved fast since his inauguration in January and still issued more executive orders than his three predecessors during his first 100 days.

232 7.06.2021 Şebnem Yaren READ MORE

The Masked Bandits: Raccoons as Pets?

Raccoons are animals native to the North American forests. They are very intelligent and skilled, which makes them a versatile species. They are famous for their beautiful furs and masked faces, which gave them the reputation of being thieves. Still, this reputation is not wrong at all. Thanks to their intelligence and speed, they can often be found sneaking food from people or houses. Although they have adapted to urban life, they remain as wild animals which can carry many diseases, including rabies.

203 7.06.2021 Kaan Ertan READ MORE

Academic Pressures: Are We Being Assigned Too Much Homework?

We, as students, have been getting our education under extraordinary circumstances for over a year now because of the pandemic. When we say it is a different experience from what we are used to, and it is hard to adapt to what is necessary when it comes to online school, it can be applicable to students of all ages, from kindergarten to university. Everyone knows we should keep on studying, as we still do not know how long this pandemic will last, and we cannot press pause on life altogether. However, this does not mean that this progress is easy to adapt to. It is time we finally talk about not all, but some of our teachers’ and professors’ lack of empathy at this time, which comes with mental and psychological difficulties on the students’ side.

208 7.06.2021 Elif Nazlıcan READ MORE

Present and Proud: Pride Month

It's June this month, which means we're officially celebrating Pride around the world in the face of phobia, bias, prejudice, persecution and prosecution. Every year during Pride we tend to focus on the dire situation of LGBTI+ people around the world and the work that is ahead of us to achieve full and unconditional equality for Queer people around the world.

209 7.06.2021 Boran Göher READ MORE

ChatGPT : The End Of Handwritten Speeches and Resolutions

ChatGPT emerged in 2020, during one of Turkey's COVID-19 shutdowns. As a tool that can think, work, and produce by itself, it is only fair to say that it has irrevocably changed the course of history as the first major AI tool to be used by the general population. While its role in education remains a contentious topic, its integration into research at Ivy League universities and various industries, including healthcare and finance, is undeniable. Naturally, the realm of Model United Nations conferences couldn't have been exempted from the effects of this technological wave. This exploration delves into the dichotomy of AI's impact on MUN conferences, probing its benefits and drawbacks, and contemplates potential responses to the use of AI in MUNs in general.

461 23.01.2024 Yavuz Kaan Şeker READ MORE

The Crisis in Suez: What Should We Know and Interpret

The Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It is located between mainland Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, separating the African continent from Asia. It provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. As of today, it is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes.

222 3.05.2021 Kaan Ertan & Mert Cengiz READ MORE

The Uncertain Fate of Cishet White Men in The Western World Going Forward The Uncertain Fate of Cishet White Men in The Western World Going Forward

"Enough." So were the words of one queer person who responded to my question on what they thought of cishet white men. They were, in fact, the only person to respond to my question, which was not surprising considering I spent a grand total of 45 seconds looking for queer people to answer my question. Despite the apparent lack of depth of my study group, I believe I have produced a good approximation of the opinions of most queer people.

209 3.05.2021 Boran Göher READ MORE

Being Apolitical: A Conundrum

It seems like politics is the only topic we can have a conversation on these days because of how salient the political agenda is and how infiltrative and effective it is to an average person’s life. However, the question is, how do we have a conversation about politics? If you are just simply commenting on an objective change in your life resulting from some political action, does that qualify as being political? Do we have to be activists to call ourselves political?

206 3.05.2021 Şebnem Yaren READ MORE

MAYDAY MAYDAY: We Are Starving

You wake up, put on your clothes, your shoes, you walk out of your house and walk along your clean street to take the bus to school with your breakfast in your hand. In this simple routine alone, you benefit from hundreds of workers’ hard work. The house you live in, the clothes on your back, the shoes on and the pavement under your feet, the cleanliness of your environment, the bus that drives to your doorstep, the food in your hand, all brought to you by workers.

225 3.05.2021 Duygu Bayram READ MORE

Fiction as a Political Tool: Hate Propaganda vs. Freedom of Expression

Unlike fairytales, 21st-century lives are unfortunately not that simple nor amusing. Besides our individual problems, there are so many external issues that occupy our minds all day long: Economy, politics, never-ending wars, violence, chaotic debates… As we are living in an age of the Internet and super technology, it is nearly impossible to stay away from the harsh realities completely; however, within the development of our modern world, have we totally lost our exit to a free space where we can clear our minds and calm ourselves?

209 5.04.2021 İdil Çakmut READ MORE

Rising Tensions at Boğaziçi: Pluralist Democracy vs. Absolute Democracy

For those of our readers who are not familiar with the term pluralist and absolute democracy; pluralist democracy is a political system where organized groups compete with each other to influence the policy instead of one single group dominating the politics(1) , whereas absolute democracy is a hypothetical form of government where the needs and wants of the majority are prioritized, and the minorities are neglected(2) . As the protests continue in Boğaziçi University as well as in other parts of Turkey, we witness the lack of plurality in Turkish democracy.

222 5.04.2021 Gülin Kirman READ MORE

Catholic Countries And Progressive Social Change

Cultures, traditions, moral values… Varying from society to society, being shaped by totally distinct concepts, however sharing an exact same core: Religion. Throughout history, religion has always been at the center of human life, no matter which part of the world you dwell in. States had established laws based on common notions, people judged each other whether their lifestyles fitted the holy sayings or not…

216 8.03.2021 İdil Çakmut READ MORE

Hobbes: A Liberal Theorist or an Advocate of Absolutism?

Thomas Hobbes is one of the most renowned philosophers of all time. He is especially known for the concept of social contract theory which he developed in his book the Leviathan. In its simplest terms, Hobbes’ version of social contract theory states that individuals were in a state of war before the establishment of states. In this “natural state”, there were no rules governing who owned what, so fighting and killing each other was the only option left for people to survive and get what they want.

192 8.03.2021 Didem Özçakır READ MORE

Celebrating the Past, Planning the Future: International Women’s Day

Every year 8th of March is celebrated as International Women’s day. What this day represents is a call for action for women’s rights and gender equality besides a celebration of the social and political rights achievements of women. This day is a perfect opportunity for us to remember and think about all the issues that women still face globally.

190 8.03.2021 Didem Özçakır READ MORE

Brexit Explained: Why So Important?

Brexit, which is a portmanteau of “British” and “exit” is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) and European Atomic Energy Community on 31 December 2020 with the power from Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This withdrawal is the first case in the European Union’s history. Apart from the EU’s history, the United Kingdom is the first country that leaves an economic union willingly.

196 1.02.2021 Recep Eren Durgut READ MORE

The In-Between Generation: Gen X’s Destiny To Be Ignored The In-Between Generation: Gen X’s Destiny To Be Ignored

The term generation X comes from the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland. Generation X refers to the generation born between the early-to-mid 1960s and early 1980s and is also called the ‘latchkey’ generation because gen X was left in the house by their working parents.

179 1.02.2021 Beyza Karakoç READ MORE

Extreme Comfort In The Nordic Countries:Is It Fairy Tale or Fact?

“I wish I was born in one of the Nordic countries, everything would be much easier.”, “Is this even a ‘life’ when compared to the lives of the Nordic people?”, “They do not have any problems up in the North, they live in an amazingly comfortable environment.”. These are just some example sentences that most of us hear in our lives.

199 1.02.2021 İdil Çakmut READ MORE

Anti-Maskers: What is The Point of Wearing a Mask?

Unlike anti-vaxxers, anti-mask protests have emerged only during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the public health regulations put into place globally. While neither of these trends shares a common cause, both of them became a thing thanks to misinformation and fallacies.

194 4.01.2021 Ümit Altar Binici READ MORE

Reasons for Economic Contractions: What is Narrative Economics?

The reason why economic contractions happen has been one of the most important and fundamental questions of macroeconomics. There have been several different approaches to explaining these phenomena.

203 4.01.2021 Didem Özçakır READ MORE

Malthus and Overpopulation: Miscalculated Future of Earth

Economics may seem all about calculations and money, however, forecasting the global economic climate and using those calculations to foresee the possible crises form the majority of economics. The methods and models are used in this process, and to develop these methods and models, data from the past economic activities are used.

189 4.01.2021 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Humanity vs Capitalism Part 2: Crises Growth in Developing Countries

The first Humanity vs Capitalism article was published in May 2020, during the early stages of the lockdown. As the article suggested, the long duration of the lockdown and the still-not-fully-implemented vaccines damaged the world both socially and economically. More than 83 million people have been affected and more than 1.8 million people have died from COVID-19 since then.

203 4.01.2021 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Something Is Not Right With Today’s Activism

Activism is defined as the practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other kinds of goals. The said vigorous acts can take many forms such as protests, demonstrations, public speech; in shorter words, they can be any act that is done with the intention to make a change. Even though the intentions of the acts are usually positive, sometimes the imperfections of the act may cause trouble. While raising awareness for a cause, putting down other cause(s), or making it seem like that your cause is the only thing that matters is just one aspect of imperfect activism. This sentence brings us to the “WhatAboutism” issue within the many flawed acts.

192 7.12.2020 Hülya Afat READ MORE

Do We Really Need a Maximum Age Limit on Voting?

Voting to elect the leaders who will govern us for an established time is one of the greatest and longest steps we ever took as a species. This mindset took an incredibly long time to settle and it took an even longer time for us to realize this process was only ethical if we allowed anyone older than 18 to participate in it.

219 7.12.2020 Ege Gazitepe READ MORE

Boomer Professors vs Millennials: Who should be teaching who? Boomer Professors vs Millennials: Who should be teaching who?

Can we separate someone’s profession from their personality and life views, especially when they work in education? If those opinions are about denying someone else’s basic human or educational rights, such as homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism; and these opinions cause discrimination during education, those opinions cannot be categorized as a personal view. After all, people mark their contributions to the fields with their names as we see when we talk about Newton physics or Aristotelian logic.

237 2.11.2020 Begüm Güven READ MORE

Dearest Companions of Humanity: Ethics of Pet Ownership

Since the dawn of time humanity's ability to tame animals had been one of its core abilities. We domesticated animals to eat them, ride them, and to put them on to work. The domestication of our canine and feline friends was a different story though what started as just a mutually benefiting relationship turned wolves and wildcats into our fluffy friends over the years. Although this seems like a really positive outcome there are still some questions we need to ask ourselves.

191 2.11.2020 Ege Gazitepe READ MORE

Category by: Opinion

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