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'The Homer File'
INTRODUCING AN OCCASIONAL AND SOMETIMES IRREVERENT
ROUND-UP OF RECENT NEWS BY THE INTREPID “HOMER FILE”
Our Motto
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“Noli
irasci, par pari
refer”
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THE HOMERFILE – Summer/Fall 2009.
EUL, CIU, EMU, NEU, METC-NCC, and the so-called ‘American University’ aka GAU, North Cyprus Universities.
Welcome, Bainvegni, Benvenuti, Willkommen and أ. حفلة استقبال, ترحيب or whatever it is in Arabic, to the autumn issue of Homerfile!
As we add yet another page to the glorious history of the Universities of North Cyprus, it is important that we look back on the achievements made over the last year. Unfortunately there weren’t any, so we can move on to yet more tales of danger, woe, backstabbing and deceit, with the odd rape and sacking thrown in for good measure.
Northern Cyprus in general is getting more dangerous by the day. What used to be an unspoilt corner of the Mediterranean inhabited by smiling and reasonably honest people is no more. It now resembles a seething rubbish dump inhabited by crooks and thugs. The cruel treatment of animals is appalling by any civilized standards and the poisoning of pets and other animals is rife due to the uncontrolled sale and distribution of lethal poisons to those perverted minds that take pleasure in using the stuff. There are few genuine Cypriots left (most of the population is now from Turkey, resembling ‘the missing link’ in appearance and behaviour, coming from villages most Turks wouldn’t dare to venture near. The remaining Cypriots either hang their heads in despair or jump on the bandwagon of ripping off the few tourists and students that do turn up - ever eager to make a fast buck out of any passing unwary stranger. Violence increases by the day and the police do not seem that interested in getting off their collective backsides and doing much about the problem, but on their salaries one can’t expect much, if you pay peanuts as the saying goes…
We have just heard of a visitor to the island who witnessed a Cypriot builder dumping a van load of rubbish on a road to a tourist beach. The visitor, following advice given by the tourism minister pointed out that what he was doing was wrong. The Cypriot and two of the Neanderthals with him then set about the visitor with a spade! The matter was reported to the police who said that there was nothing they could do and suggested that the victim and assailant shake hands and made friends! Well, as a well know politician in the UK, Nigel Farrage, might say ‘You couldn’t make that up could you’ and I am sure our own nice Mr Christophe Blocher would have a few choice words to say too.
Despite all of this going on under their noses, the CyproTurks cannot understand why tourists and students shun the place and foreign investors and residents are deserting the TRNC in droves! With projected student numbers down by up to 70% on last years figures, it would appear that students along with tourists, are now voting with their cheque books and going to much cheaper and generally much safer places in Turkey and elsewhere.
The American University, Girne American University, the Largest American University in Europe or a combination of all three!
Another report of a GAU student raped:
This is getting to be a regular feature of our GAU report. Yet another foreign student - this time a female Russian student - claims to have been abducted by three men and raped by one of them. Regular readers of The Homerfile will be aware that this is another nasty rape to add to previous ones; rapes involving both female and male students, and always foreigners. Police are investigating the latest incident but don’t hold your breath for a speedy conclusion to the case, as it involves a foreigner after all, a Russian to boot, and as the local men think all foreigners are ‘up for it’- unable to resist their Turkish charms (if you know of any do let us know), the case will almost certainly be swept under the carpet - that is unless the rapist was another foreigner of course!
I guess a few more students will sign up to the GAU Experience; being relieved of huge sums of money, conned into thinking you are signing up to a genuine American university, duped into believing you will be taught by native speakers of English from the UK and the US, and having survived four years of ‘study’, find themselves the holder of an entirely useless GAU diploma that are the laughing stock of businesses in Turkey let alone Europe and the USA. Let’s not forget the fact that you will almost certainly be ripped off big time by the landlord of your accommodation - a building that will probably resemble a Calcutta slum from the early part of the last century… oh and then there is the chance of the rape, or if you are really lucky, a stabbing or a combination of the two to look forward to as well! Still with the arrival of the students the sheep, goats and donkeys can breathe a collective sigh of relief because whilst the males around Girne aren’t that fussy, they would prefer the two legged kind.
…and she’s orf!
The rector of GAU that is! We didn’t even get around to checking the poor lady out before she was ‘dispatched’ probably with a knife in her back. Mind you, she didn’t half talk a load of old crap (bullshit to put it politely) in her rectors address on the GAU website. I don’t suppose that those she dispatched at the end of June 2009, will be all that sorry to see her get her just deserts - as they might see it.
Apparently, Prof. Dr. Nilgun Sarp was asked to draw up a list of Professors and teachers to terminate. I doubt there was any reason to terminate the aforesaid other than a cost cutting exercise by the so called board of ‘trustees’ comprising of: assorted family members of GAU owning a perfume shop and a car/motorbike lot, etc. It is known that at least one of the terminated had complained about the fact that their social security and provident fund contributions had not been paid; what a big mistake to complain about such trifling matters! Come to think of it, wasn’t that one of the Prof, Docs, big achievements - she actually tried to get things like tax payments and wages sorted out for the benefit of her academic staff? Ah Ha! So that’s why they got rid of Prof.Dr. Nilgun Sarp. Nothing to do with how well she was doing her job, but more to do with the fact that she was doing her job professionally (as is possible over there) and in doing so costing ‘the GAU family’ MONEY! Of course she could have just been stabbed in the back by some very desperate grasping individual who wanted her job as has been done before. Prof.Dr Mesut Ayan ring any bells or rattle a few cages?
Prof.Dr Nilgun Sarp
Now I wonder who is in the frame to replace the departed one. Well there’s still ‘Ol Rock’ who use to be Rector a few years ago; I gather he is still about. I suppose Hifzi or Fifzi or whatever the hell his name is could be brought out of semi-retirement to fill the gap. The ‘GAU family’ has surely forgiven him for not pushing the sale of the Hershey bars more vigorously which are still going stale somewhere on campus. Oh God, Oh No they wouldn’t would they? They have! The former rector of EUL and father (is it figuratively or metaphorically speaking?) of Homerfile, good old Agent Orange and the henna king, has done a ‘Sinatra’ and made another comeback. I am quite delighted to see that someone who presided over the systematic destruction of EUL, destroying all confidence in the new SOAS/EUL collaboration that might have put EUL on the road to being a real university in the real world has now got the chance of a reprise at GAU. Whilst skulking around at Lefke his days were filled by: playing one member of the board of trustees off against the other, Heads of departments off against the teachers, the nationalists off against the liberals, the foreigners against the Turks, the Turks against the Cypriots, you name it and he was at it with gay abandon! Well not quite, because along with foreigners, particularly Brits and Americans (who he referred to as ‘drunks drug addicts and perverts), probably not too keen on the Swiss either, homerfiles, homophiles, gipsies, Kurds, and in fact anyone that doesn’t fit in with his blinkered view of the world becomes his nemesis. Whilst there is no current picture available of the new/ re-tread rector, the following black and white image bears a striking resemblance - just try to imagine him at least 40 years older and bald on top.
Another thing that concerns me is his English comprehension - more than a bit hit and miss and he has been known to mutter away in sort of English so that nobody really understood what the hell he was talking about! I wonder who will get the job as the rector’s mouthpiece. Izzet Bey played the role over at EUL; sort of like a latter day Lord Haw Haw turning up at meetings that were likely to be held in English. Maybe they should give him one of those old bicycle hooters like Harpo used to use or perhaps I should volunteer, now wouldn’t that be fun! Fortunately his tenure at EUL was mercifully brief (he doesn’t even mention his rector ship at EUL on his GAU CV, I wonder why?) I give him 3 semesters before GAU is in total up-roar, always assuming he or for that matter GAU, lasts that long. Never mind ‘God Bless America. More like God help GAU!
Another ‘doubtful’ GAU accreditation.
The GAU website states that you can obtain an accredited degree from GAU and National American University. The mention of National American University really got the alarm bells ringing and caused those noises in Reto’s head again, because that is a ‘university’ that could best be described as having a very chequered history of doubtful pedigree and as you know, I am the master of understatement! You can do your own research on National American University and its accreditation status on Google, etc., but what really caught my eye was the claim that all GAU/NAU degrees were fully accredited, but by whom?
We dug around and found that the course in question, International Business Management, Accounting, Banking and Finance, Marketing, Business Management and MIS are indeed accredited by an outfit know as IACBE, which appears on a list of UNRECOGNISED ACCREDITATION ASSOCIATIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING!* This means that IACBE although acting as accreditors of higher education establishments, do not have the legal authority or government recognition to provide such accreditation and consequently lack any recognised academic value. In simple terms this means by signing up for one of these courses, and by paying over a 4 year period, you are likely to end up with something that attracts the same value (and likely the same turned up noses) as used cat litter!
National American University’s (NAU) accreditation is surrounded in mystery too. NAU seems to have several independent campuses dotted around the American mid-west. Most appear to hold Regional Accreditation only, some course being accredited by outfits like IACBE. Without diving too deeply into the mire of US university accreditation it is not that difficult to see that something doesn’t look quite legit here. Why would a university in North Cyprus, or anywhere else for that matter, be offering a degree accredited at best by a regional accreditation agency that is unlikely to be recognised anywhere outside the region or US state it was issued. A student holding such a degree award from a university in say Idaho (where potatoes grow) might well be able to use their diploma in Idaho, but from our experience, not that many students from North Cyprus end up in Idaho.
 | Source Wikipedia |
The GAU Canterbury Campus or is it?
The Dear One appears to have acquired a print shop in a Kent city, given it a lick of paint (no doubt installed a dodgy doctor or two) and opened yet another of those un- regulated schools that blossom and just as quickly fade on the periphery of further education. A little like those cheap Yugoslavian cars some of us remember from the 1970s that promised so much for a small price tag, but were after a short period little more than broken down junk.
We contacted Kent County Council who is responsible for all government approved and regulated schools and universities in the county of Kent and spoke to a senior manager of the education department. Unfortunately, he had not heard of GAU campus in Canterbury. Now a university campus isn’t exactly something easy to hide is it? Well we found it eventually with the help of the Kentish Gazette which is a long established newspaper over in the UK. Apparently GAU have set up in the Kentish Gazette’s old print shop and to call it a university campus is a tad miss-leading to say the least, but then that is the intention after all, to miss-lead.
Most reputable universities in the UK would come under the regulation of the local education authority, in this case Kent County Council. The county councils task would be amongst other things to ensure that the buildings met health and safety regulations, were properly registered, regulated, were offering recognised and verifiable accredited degrees and, that the staff employed there met a certain standard.
As we have said Kent County Council did not appear to be aware of Girne American University until our enquiry alerted them to the fact. So we must conclude that the GAU Canterbury Campus such as it is, does not comply with even the most basic registration requirements of the local authority (Kent County Council). Now this is where it gets complicated: in its advertising GAU doesn’t actually claim to be a UK university, but a campus of GAU (in North Cyprus) and basically, all GAU is doing is offering their registered students a chance to escape the misery and expense of living in student accommodation in Girne, for the somewhat more civilized way of life in Canterbury.
The courses on offer are not approved by or accredited by any UK university or regulating authority. It would appear that the courses are the same as those on offer at GAU; at best accredited by YODAK the North Cyprus Higher Education Board whose degrees are only recognized in Turkey, or by one of those obscure regional US accreditors, but most likely by the unrecognized IACBE.
But students should be able to work this out for themselves when they take into account the unviable fees that GAU are applying to these courses. Most reputable institutions in the UK will be charging upwards of £10,000 per academic year (for tuition for foreign students) and proper universities could well be charging considerably more. GAU annual fees at £3,200 seem quite a good deal but as GAUs glorious leader and the board of trustees are not known for the philanthropic ways, this all sounds very fishy indeed. The living accommodation estimates of £1,500 per semester are presumably for someone living in a tent on Beachy Head, living on baked beans. It gets cold and windy in a tent in Kent, not to mention being disturbed by Dame Vera who despite having just turned 92 god bless her and having a CD in the top twenty, is still singing about the White Cliffs of Dover to the would be jumpers that queue up to jump of the cliffs at all hours of the night.
TAKE THIS AS A WARNING; WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT GAU CANTERBURY IS A VIABLE OPTION FOR MOST STUDENTS. YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS OUT VERY CAREFULLY. BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, CHECK WITH THE UK BORDER AGENCY ABOUT VISA REQUIREMENTS. FOR EXAMPLE, DOES GAU CANTERBURY CAMPUS MEET THE REQUIREMENTS AND FOR THAT MATTER DO YOU MEET THE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS SET OUT BY THE AGENCY TO GET A STUDENT VISA FOR STUDY IN THE UK?
IGNORE ANYTHING GAU SAYS ABOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR YOUR TUITION FEES FIRST. YOUR FIRST PORT OF CALL IS TO THE VISA SECTION AT THE NEAREST BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION OR EMBASSY. THEIR ADVICE IS FREE AND USUALLY RELIABLE AND CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM THEIR WEBSITE. THEY WILL GIVE YOU GUIDELINES ABOUT THE CRITERIA YOU WILL HAVE TO MEET BEFORE A VISA IS ISSUED. MOST ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA WILL ONLY REQUIRE A SMALL DEPOSIT TO SECURE A LETTER OF ACCEPTENCE TO ENABLE YOU TO OBTAIN A STUDY VISA AND THAT IS USUALLY REFUNDED IN THE EVENT THAT A VISA IS NOT ISSUED. SO ASK YOURSELF WHY IS GAU DEMANDING ALL THE FEES UP FRONT. YOU CAN BE SURE THAT IF A VISA IS NOT ISSUED FOR YOU TO STUDY IN THE UK, AND FROM WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED SO FAR, THIS IS HIGHLY LIKELY; GAU WILL NOT BE REFUNDING A CENT OF THE FEES YOU HAVE PAID. DON’T FORGET NEITHER WILL YOUR VISA FEE BE REFUNDED.
THE NEXT AGENCY YOU MUST CALL IS KENT COUNTY COUNCIL TRADING STANDARDS OFFICE ON 08454 040506 (or 0044 8454 040506 IF PHONING FROM OUTSIDE THE UK) ASKING IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES THAT YOU AS A PROSPECTIVE STUDENT SHOULD BE AWARE OF REGARDING GIRNE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY CANTERBURY CAMPUS. ONLY WHEN YOU ARE 100% SATISFIED THAT ANY COURSE OFFERED AT GAU MEETS ALL YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THEN BUT ONLY THEN, SHOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER HANDING ANY MONEY OVER TO GAU. IF YOU ARE MISLEAD BY THE GAU WEBSITE, ADVERTIZING MATERIAL, AGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY, STAFF EMPLOYED BY THE UNIVERSITY OR IN FACT ANYONE CLAIMING TO BE ACTING ON BEHALF OF GAU OR ITS SUBSIDUARIES INTO BELIEVING THAT THIS CAMPUS IS IN ANYWAY REGULATED AND APPROVED BY THE UK GOVERNMENT, OR IS ISSUING UK ACCREDITED DEGREES, YOU MUST CONTACT KENT COUNTY COUNCIL TRADING STANDARDS OFFICE AND COMPLAIN. THE NUMBER AGAIN IS: 0044 8454 04506.
GAU Canterbury Campus is offering Foundation English as one of its courses, which I suppose could be seen as a step in the right direction. At least in Canterbury you will have the opportunity to meet a few native speakers of English, which is more than can be said of GAU’s other institutions where Turkish is definitely the language of choice! Given that Kent is also the main landing point for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers into the UK, this is another reason why the UK Border Agency is certain to look at any application for a visa to study at a non UK accredited academic institution like GAU, with more than the usual zeal they already apply. You might even be able to brush up on a whole bundle of languages during your stay!
Anyway, sparing no expense isas-ch has sent my aunty Lotte (the one with the cross eyed twins) who lives in Broadstairs, to investigate and she will no doubt keep us informed as to what is going on. She has contacts at county hall apparently and jumped at the chance of getting on a charabanc destined for Canterbury. Watch this space; hold the front page, etc, as you can be sure there is more to come on this subject! Why do I get the feeling that GAU Canterbury is going to be about as welcome as that other lot that arrived by air around midnight of May 31st /June 1st 1942. Hopefully, GAU won’t do quite so much damage to St Georges Place as the Luftwaffe did!
St Georges Place (1942) after a visit from ‘Old Jerry’
I have also noticed what I hope is a coincidence involving Agent Orange, the new rector of GAU. He speaks fondly of Exeter- the universities he has been associated with have all had alleged links or collaborations with Bath and now Canterbury all victims of Hitler’s Luftwaffe and what was known as The Baedeker Blitz. We feel obliged to send out a warning to Norwich and York, they might be next!
Another Rag.
The Dear One - Chancellor of GAU, non Harvard Graduate, owner of Bikers Cafe and many other non entities - has acquired a local newspaper called ‘The Cyprus Observer’. This used to be a good read a while ago, but has descended into an advertising rag for the dear one’s enterprises. With a circulation of about five paying customers, one can hardly be surprised to learn that as of 16/8/09, staff had not been paid their July salary, so it’s bread and marg tonight then. Get used to it folks, they have at GAU! I wonder what happened to ‘The Chancellors Gazette’ which was so awful that I used to actually enjoy it. It was a bit like reading an English Proficiency paper from one of those students whose English vocabulary comprised of, “Break time teacher and Pass! Pass!” Teacher.
When taken as a whole it all looks rather sleazy at GAU right now don’t y’all think?
European University of Lefke - AKA EUHELL and Chernobyl on Sea.
MZ is back! No not a cheap East German motorbike from the 80s, but Memo the Mayor. Mehmet Zafer, who old homerfile can’t find too many bad words for as I have used most of them up already, has returned to the Board of Trustees at EUL in a coup d’état reminiscent of Idi Amins overthrow of Milton Obote and has gotten shot of the other lot. I have no doubt that Memo the Mayor will be working day and night to get the university back to the same position it was in when he was deposed five years ago.
A clapped out old East German Motorbike The Mayor of the Republic of Lefke.
That means he will have to get EUL back into the barrel before anyone is able to try and scrape it from the bottom, and what is more, we wish him well! He has made a good start by all accounts. Aside from a competent and English speaking Turkish rector who flies in for the odd visit, there is a new vice rector, a lady who knows what she is doing and is thought to be respected, if not exactly well loved, and let us hope at least some of the bods over there can work together; get EUL through what is going to be a very difficult year and finally make some real progress after what must be about ten years in the doldrums. One thing that was working well over at EUL was the farm when it was being run by that big noisy kraut Vots his name, now getting him back would be another step in the right direction always assuming he wants to pick up the pieces of EUL’s really only one time successful enterprise. It is of course too much to hope that the EPS will ever become a fully functioning department actually producing students that can speak a smattering of English.
As Mayor Memo is keen on health and social issues, perhaps an adequate student support unit might not go amiss over there, that way we might be able to stop having to advise worried students to make the trip over to Girne to get their plumbing sorted out after they have been infected by all manner of wiggly things, bugs and other creepy crawlies that lurk in the less than savoury orifices (for rent!) in that part of the world.
Things are getting pretty desperate in the ladies loos over at EUL. For months now there has been no soap for the washing of hands and no toilet paper for the use of, well what toilet paper is for. But they have installed a new type of loo seat that vibrates and makes a whirring sort of noise; more worryingly it’s plugged into the electric supply and probably imported from India. It is supposed to put a clean polythene seat cover on after each ‘sitting’. Rumours are that one of the cleaners over there got a very nasty surprise when she went to use it. Let’s call her Doris to spare her any embarrassment. Eager to try out the new wonder loo, off Doris trots armed with yesterday’s newspaper and a packet of Capstan Full Strength. In she walks, drops her drawers, lights her cigarette and makes herself comfortable. After a few minutes Doris hears a strange whirring noise and gets the sensation of being sucked down into the bowels of the porcelain pan, and then she gets the strange feeling that she is being thrust into a pair of plastic knickers. Whilst this is going on she is being sprayed with what appears to be essence of Zyklon B (which doesn’t mix well with the ciggies) from a perfume dispenser mounted somewhere out of sight. The loo seat had malfunctioned and our poor Doris was last seen fleeing the building with her bum and associated nether regions wrapped up in plastic cling film. We are reliably informed that she is recovering from her ordeal after treatment at the local psychiatric hospital where she went after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. To avoid any re-occurrences, the vice rector for staff toilets and automated loo seats, son of an executioner probably and generally an all round rotten egg, has personally gone and removed all the cling film from the automated toilets. So, now not only do the ladies have to manage without soap and toilet paper, staff and students alike are also deigned the perverse pleasure of dressing their bits up in plastic or better still, watching a terrified Doris running around the campus dressed up like a huge condom!
METU.NCC. School of Foreign Languages.
The obergruppenfűhrer and chief oberaufseherin, Frau Doris Schutt (not her real name), and glorious leader of the unhappy band of teachers at the school of foreign languages said auf wiedersehen to more of her staff who had suffered enough of the regime there. Although it’s reported that she has managed to hang on to her Dildo, Dido, DoDo, - or something like that - who is one of the teacher trainers.
One former staff member has gone of to the UK to work for a proper PhD and another has followed Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour on The Road to Morocco. God only knows what has happened to the rest of them. It really is the place to avoid if you are a native speaker of English, especially if you have a drop of Anglo Saxon blood floating around in your body. You might like to think twice if you are black, brown, green, yellow, pink in thought, Jewish, Christian, Shinto, Quaker, and especially Swiss! In fact, unless you can prove that you have a degree from Turkish university, any one will do, reputable or otherwise, can trace Turkish ancestry dating back a couple of centuries you really would be well advised to look elsewhere. Native speakers of English last on average one academic year at this place and competent local teachers not much longer. The place is really for a mixed bunch from ‘over the water’ who like to go to North Cyprus for a long holiday. METU.NCC main campus is still an excellent university but sadly, a school of foreign languages that cannot hold on to its staff is a place to avoid – that advice is for both students and academic staff unless you are ‘into that sort of thing’. For sheer misery METU.NCC SFL would give EUL’s English Preparatory School a run for its money as the place not to be seen…I have said all this before of course - bloody genius that I am! As I write, yet another teacher has left METU.NCC for a job in a state school. You would think that someone over in Ankara would be starting to get a bit concerned about the number of departures from the ‘Doris Schutt Experience’ but then again they could always point to the fact that Dildo, DoDo or Dido is still holding firm in support.
CIU Cyprus International University.
Bumbles along in its own merry little way doing nothing outstanding but equally nothing offensive. Most of the academic staff are from either Turkey or Turkish speaking countries, so don’t expect much in the way of understandable English here.
The campus is modern and expanding at a steady pace although the standard of construction in one or two of the main buildings gives cause for concern. If you want a Turkish education in Cyprus at a university set out in the countryside, which could end up looking a bit like Pompeii, then this might be the place for you. If you do go, and you feel the earth moving whilst you are in one of the buildings, it might be wise to run like hell to the nearest open space!
EMU Eastern Mediterranean University.
A shadow of its former self and now in dire financial straights – approximately 40,000,000 TL in debt - it is difficult to see how EMU can survive in its present form, unless radical measures are taken to reduce the massive debt this place is carrying. It remains grossly overstaffed by supporters of the previous government, who were at best a mediocre bunch of academics, who are shortly to be replaced by supporters of the current government of similar mediocrity. Most overseas staff had either fled the place or been replaced by mainly inferior home grown academics; I use the term academics advisedly. The team lead by the former rector, Prof Dr Halil Guven, was making headway in getting EMU out of the political mire it found itself in, but even he gave up hope a couple of years back.
EMU is now looking tired and is falling way behind its nearest competitor Near East University. Maybe with the new UBP government in situ, an able rector with the power to act and staff with the ability to teach, the place might get back some of its former glory. It is very sad to see a much loved old friend in a state like this so here’s hoping for better times ahead. But just as soon as I mention the rector guess what…
and She’s orf too!
Prof.Dr.Ufuck Taneri that is - another female, and up until Sept 7th, rector and ‘big honcho’ of the sinking ship EMU. What’s going on over there in the TRNC? Have the hallowed halls of learning been taken over by a raving band of fascist misogynists, or is this just a case of what our Reto has always said, “You should never trust a woman with a man’s job?” Prof. Dr Taneri was kicked out of her job by the EMU’s board of trustees after they accused her of running a ‘repressive administration.’ That wouldn’t translate into: she stood up to some of the bastards who have collectively run a once fine university into the ground would it? Professor Taneri has only been in post for a few months so she can hardly be blamed for the dire situation EMU now finds itself in.
The main problem facing EMU is from the constant (less than) covert political interference from politicians; be they from the old CTP (left wing), or the new UBP (right wing) government and their meddling cronies. Until you get shot of the politicians from the Board of Trustees and actually replace them with academics who know what they are talking about, the good ship EMU will slip further into its watery grave. Mehmet Harmanci (AKA ‘Memo The 2nd’), Deputy General Secretary of the TDP (which is represented by one Member of Parliament) and who failed to get himself elected to the TRNC parliament a few weeks ago, stuck the boot in by saying; “Mrs Taneri has created a repressive administration among unions, academics and workers. She cancelled the EMU Promotion Office; I think that was another reason for this year’s low number of students.” Oh yeah, bloody genius this boy, so perhaps ‘Memo’ might explain why it is that despite heavy advertising by all the universities in the TRNC, with a promotion office or not, student numbers have fallen essentially because what the TRNC universities offer, is pretty awful and can be bought more cheaply elsewhere. The students don’t want to go to the TRNC Mr Harmanci and that has nothing to do with Prof Taneri and her alleged repressive regime, but more to do with meddling of know-nothing ‘politicians’ like yourself, coupled with lazy, greedy, teachers who expect others to pay for the lifestyle they have become accustomed to!
Prof.Dr. Ufuk Tanari Mr Mehmet ('Memo') Harmanci
Interestingly, in his former job, Mr Harmanci presided over the collapse of a company called KTS (Kibris Travel Services), which was the largest handling agent for tourism in the TRNC. As tourism has all but collapsed, despite extremely favourable exchange rates between the Turkish Lira and Euro/Pound, which mainland Turkey has taken full advantage of, perhaps they should make him rector of EMU and be done with it once and for all? Oh no please don’t, I was only joking!
NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY (NEU)
Well run with no staff or student problems that we have heard of, NEU maintains a bright, modern and well equipped campus that is continuously expanding, which although lagging a way behind most European and GENUINE American institutions, is certainly moving in the right direction. The location isn’t exactly great, but then again it is only a short ride from the main resort town of Girne/Kyrenia and the capital city of Nicosia/Lefkosa. The best Turkish Cypriot University by a very long way, which most importantly, delivers what it promises-well most of the time at least. Like CIU, most of the academic staff featured on the NEU website are not native English speakers so do not expect teaching in English to be a priority in most departments despite what you may be told to the contrary
That’s all for now but you can be sure there will be more tales of doom, gloom and abject misery before long.
Der Homerfile September 2009