How is Door made; Shown in Two Minutes

You open some doors everyday. Have you ever thought about the work put to make one? In this video, master furniture maker for specalized orders, Faruk Balikci goes through the process on camera.

It takes hours to make a door for your specialized needs, and here is how. Faruk is specializing this door, because the house he has been working does not have standard measures. So, the doors from furniture stores don't fit. Faruk works for about six hours to prepare a double door for indoor use.

President Trump's Travel Ban Protested at White House

On February 4, 2017, Saturday, hundreds gathered in front of the White House to protest President Trump's executive order banning travel from seven countries.

Protesters marched to the Capitol after two hours of protest at the White House.

Uber is Great, Isn't it? Listen from a Driver

by Elvan Katmer

Since Uber Has become a part of our lives, it eased transportation, made it cheaper to move from one place to another. Most of us enjoy the service, sometimes bashing the taxicab industry. 

Uber has also created a lot of jobs, giving oppotunity to many people. It even helps you lease a car if you want to drive for Uber. But, have you ever thought how it changes a driver's life?

In this story, I have talked to an Uber driver. 

Women in Sports - Podcast

Women around the world, not only in the U.S., are facing inquality from the many aspects of life. Women overall, get paid less, disrespected often, are not given same position when compared to men.

In this podcast we are looking into women in sports from various fields, and we are investigating how being a woman affected their careers in sports.
Audio, edit, production: Elvan Katmer, Selena Alexander, Emily Judd
Music: Creative Commons
Professor: Rolando Arrieta Audio Reporting Class, Georgetown University, MPS Journalism

Pay Inequality in Tennis

Elvan Katmer, Georgetown University, 2015

Some of the world's top paid athletes are tennis players. Still many of the professional tennis players do not make money, and yet have many expenses to complete a pro tour.

In this piece I am digging into a tennis player's pro tour journey.

Election 2016 - Donald Trump is the Presumptive Nominee

Elvan Katmer
May 5, 2016

Donald Trump won the Indiana Republican Primary on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, taking all 57 delegate for candidates to claim. Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the presidential race, making Trump the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party follwing Trumps win.

Democrats contiue their battle though Hillary Clinton secured more the 90 percent of the delegates needed for the party's nomination. Bernie Sanders wowed to stay in the race until the convention after winning Indiana Democratic Primary, acknowledging that the path to victory is narrow.

You and I

I published the original story on 10/20/2013 in Both Turkish and English as one post. Here it is in English only.

You and I

I am an unhappy one. I am lonely despite all the people around me. I am a grumpy one. Despite all those smiles I serve around, I am a grumpy one against myself. I am a hopeless one. Even if my dreams are beyond my horizons; I am the one who cannot think about tomorrow, cannot live in today never forgetting yesterday.

I cannot sleep. I get myself too tired; so I bury myself into the depth of darkness. I am insomniac; even when I close my eyes, my mind does not sleep, keeps thinking about about all necessaries and unnecessaries. I do not take rest at nights; contrarily, I sleep my eyes open my mind with you. When you look at me from outside, I am twenty-five; if you can see my inside, I am fifty.

I am amnesiac. I forget a lot; I forget what I am saying in my speech. Sometimes, I forget what i am doing; there has been times that I forgot who I was. I forgot my identity. Really, who am I? Who is my family, whom I love, whom I am in love with? For who would I die; for who would I live? Do I die? Did I die, am I alive??

I am sorrowful. To most, I have everything; some even considers me rich. I don't have anything; I don't have anyone, I am solitary. Am I anyone? I am no-one; like she says, I am the one unlike anyone. My soul is sad, my heart is filled with sorrow. My eyes are teary, they drop in my soul for the whole time.

I am sick. My body is sick, my soul is sick, my heart is sick. If my body decided to collapse, probably it has a good reason for it. My mind should have a reason; maybe it is a traveller like me, but likes to travel without me. I have a heart; it is tired, it is hardly beating lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub.. Dont stop my heart; keep working. Keep pumping that endless love; until my mind loses me, until my soul gets tired of my body, until my soul comes off your body..

Media Coverage of January 7, 2015

Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine came under a terrorist attack On January 7^th, 2015 in Paris leaving 12 people dead.

As the nature of the case was savage, and it was unexpected, the terrorist attack found exclusive space in every news outlet around the world. We are still watching, reading or hearing daily aftermath coverage from many news organizations.

World leaders condemned the attack, and they also marched against terrorism in Paris.

The protests against Charlie Hebdo attack reached a point where counter protests started as some found remarks offensive to their religious beliefs. People marched against the terrorist attack in Muslim countries, while some other people marched against the magazine’s coverage.

While some news outlets named the attack as Islamic terrorism and the attackers as Muslim terrorists, some reasonably separated Muslims from terrorism. Some journalists even held the Muslim world accountable for the attacks as the attackers were identified as Muslim French citizens.

On the same day, January 7, 2015, according to various news sources (AP, ABC News, NYT), a bomb attack in Iraq killed 12 people. A car bomb has killed more than 30 people and left more than 50 people wounded in Yemen. At least nine people some of them children were killed in Afghanistan when a bomb blasted. Same day, the US military officials have acknowledged that the air strikes against ISIS might have killed civilians too.

To find the initial information I wrote about Charlie Hebdo attack, I didn’t have to do much search as almost any news outlet I checked had some story on the case.

On the other side, to be able to find the information in the latter part, I had to go through several outlets, and compare data from different aspects. I certainly believe there are more, but it is so hard to find all as they are not covered as exclusively. Few news outlets actually covered the stories of people killed in the other parts of the world.

As well as news media, people strongly reacted Paris attack, while Middle East routine did not receive much coverage. What a shame, right? I said routine. Yes, terrorist attacks and killings in Middle East are routine. As they are not happening anywhere near us, or they are not directly affecting us, we do not even care. The deaths are such a routine that Jerusalem Post posted a story on January 8, 2015 about Syria with a headline “Zero killed in Syria combat for the first time in 3 years.”

One time, our news writing and reporting professor had said “If something is not interesting, it is not news.” We are at such a point that hundreds of people being killed is not newsy anymore. It is only newsy when they are unexpected or near us.

In that case, can we say the news coverage is fair, balanced and ethical?

Sports Plus Helps Prepare Children with Disabilities to Life - Reporting from Gaithersburg 7

Midway through the pool, Mark was uncertain. But with coaching from his swimming instructors, the 12-year-old kicked continuously and made it to the wall.




Mark Posing for Camera. Photo: Katmer

"One more! One more! One more!" he shouted, as his father proudly took a photo.

For Jim Lynch, it was a bittersweet reminder of his son's obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many kids enjoy repeating an activity they are learning, but with Mark it was always a question of when he would stop.

On this day, it was not a problem. Mark's instructors work with Sports Plus, a local nonprofit that works with children with developmental disabilities and they have been trained to deal with his issues, which includes Tourette's syndrome and hyperactivity.

Sports Plus initiated in fall of 2015 as a pilot program for soccer by Tom and Natalie Liniak. Montgomery County offered entertainment programs for children with disabilities. They wanted the program help kids learn how to set goals, not just to score them.

Liniaks worked collaboratively with sports coaches, education professionals, and therapists to create a curriculum in fall of 2004. The first pilot program ran successfully the following summer, so they decided to branch out into other sports. It also led the program run year-round starting from fall of 2005.

"Not everybody loved soccer," said Mr. Liniak. "We went into a gym program. We would have fitness training, basketball, volleyball. We even piloted a baseball program."

Their son John loved going to ocean. But they worried about his safety in the water.  Montgomery County offered programs where only volunteer instructors taught swimming. But they worried it wasn't effective for their son. So they piloted the swim program in the summer of 2007.


Liniak Family, Courtesy of Sports Plus.

The program now includes summer camps, soccer, basketball, volleyball, field and track and swimming dedicated to help children with developmental disabilities learn to stay on their feet while enjoying their time. One of the main purposes of the program is preparing these children for real life. Even though they have some challenges, they also are good at doing certain things, in some cases better than we are.

"What about a world where we could teach the base skill, so within the early years when they go to the water park, they can go down the slide just like everybody else? What about a world they can jump in or play tag or do whatever it is just like everybody else? But they don't need me. That's the key," said Liniak.

According to Mr. Liniak, Sports Plus reached its set goal in helping children. Jake, 15, who has been in the program since its establishment is in drum line in his high school band. He is an accomplished piano player. He is also in his swim team in the summers swimming B meets, which is the slower time swimmers and some A meets, which is faster swimmers' group.

When Tom Liniak learned his son had autism at the age of two, he was working as a lawyer frequently travelling around the country. At first, he thought he could handle it like so many other problems, by throwing money at it.

"People paid me a lot of money to fix things, solve problems, so I was going to do that for my son," he said.

But over the time he realized that wouldn't work. He quit his job and family sold their house so that he could start a consulting program and work on Sports Plus to help his son and other children.

Hundreds of children joined the program since it started. Once a child is in the program, Tom and Natalie review his or her activity log and advice parents what activities would best fit their needs to best help them gain abilities they can use in future.

Michael Hoffman, a financial advisor said his son Matthew get the chance to interact with other people, and will stay in the program as long as he enjoys it.

"The biggest thing for him is engaging with other people. That's really the big obstacle of the disorder," he said.

Local Bar vs. Nationwide Restaurant & Bar Chain - Reporting from Gaithersburg 6

By Elvan Katmer

Thursday, December 1, 2014

Local Bar vs. Nationwide Restaurant & Bar Chain

Quince Orchard Plaza has two sports bars, but they have very different customers.

Quincy's bar and Grill has been in business in Gaithersburg for 30 years, though it was named Ernie's Bar until Marty and Alexis Magill bought it six years ago.

The small restaurant is known for good food, cheap beer, a jukebox full of classic rock and live music several nights a week.

Quincy's bartender, Stephanie Ayton on the move.

Nearby is Buffalo Wild Wings, a national chain with over 840 locations.

When Buffalo Wild Wings moved  into the plaza, Magills felt threatened at first. The business could be affected by the competition, but it did not happen.

"We expected a 10 to 15 percent hit for the first couple of months. But I literally can tell you, it [Buffalo Wild Wings] actually increased our business," said Mrs. Magill.

The bar has a good regular customer base thanks to its years of reputation at Quince Orchard Plaza. Carlos De La Carrera, a regular customer at Quincy's said the environment is friendly, and you would always see an old friend when you come to Quincy's.

"It feels like you are at a friend's house," he said.

Buffalo Wild Wings has on the other side established its business successfully. According to restaurant's manager Matthew Halbrook who has been running the business since its opening at the shopping center May 19, 2013, the location is great for the sports bar chain, and it helped give a new face to the shopping center along with along with LA Fitness on the opposite side. That's where you go to burn the beer and wings.

"We are bright, we are colorful. We stand out. You can almost see us right off 270," he said. "People see that the shopping center exists."

Buffalo Wild Wings is a large three section bar and restaurant with over 75 HD TVs and a few projectors. Although it seems to have a larger variety of choice when compared to Quincy’s food, serving preconditioned food meant to be prepared, served and consumed quickly doesn’t get thumbs up from customers.

Quincy’s on the other side is almost half the size of Buffalo Wild Wings. Although it gets the highest draw through the football season, Quincy’s is not the best place to watch football according to Ryan Kwasnik, a server at Buffalo Wild Wings.

“I go there. I like Quincy’s, but I would never go there like on a Sunday or Saturday night to actually watch a game,” he said.

What draws people to Buffalo Wild Wings are sound quality, TVs and the stadium like atmosphere. Sound is adjusted to the sections. Lounge area by the bar is where people come together, watching the games drinking beers and yelling. Rise section is preferred by families for its surrounding, and low dine is the place where speakers are less loud.

“I could see the game in every direction,” said De La Carrera. “There are some TVs that are showing the same game, but at the same time you still see up to five or six games.”

A total of 67 people work at Buffalo Wild Wings, but some customers say they don't have the same skills as their counterparts at Quincy's.

Erik Mercilliot, shopper at Quince Orchard Place who has been to both bars complained about servers at Buffalo Wild Wings.

“The one time I went, the girl [server] was like ‘Sorry that the service is crappy,’ and then still continued to give us crappy service,” he said.

Consistent staff at Quincy’s also helps business. One of the bartenders, Paul Watson now in his early 70s, is still bartending now two days of the week at Quincy’s since its first day in Gaithersburg. It receives compliments about staff’s professionalism, friendly and swift service along with food quality.

A local real estate agent in her mid 50s, Laura Patterson recalls the days she came here as a teenager. She has been a regular at Quincy’s since the restaurant, then Ernie’s, moved to Gaithersburg from Rockville in late 1976.

“There is nothing fancy about it. It is the people that go there and the atmosphere,” she said.