1991_12 The Daily Collegian December 1991

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Page     4
NEWS
Hye Sharzhoom •December 15)91
Kalfayan stresses education
By Jeff Ahronian
Editor in Chief
Sarkis Kalfayan's life has been one
of almost constant moving about By the
time he had celebrated his 15th birthday,
he had already lived in four different parts
of the world - something that taught him
how to speak five different languages and
eventually serve as General George S.
Patton's interpreter during World War II.
Kalfayan, who serves as the Chair¬
man of the Kalfayan Center for /Armenian
Studies Advisory Board, was born in Sam¬
son, Turkey in 1911. He and his mother,
Aghavni, were forced to flee the country
in 1914 after the massacres began, and
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Occupation: Retired City Manager.
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Sarkis Kalfayan
Born: June 29,1911 in Samson,
Turkey.
Marital status: Yes.
Children: None.
The purpose of my job was: To
operate the city government at the most
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economical and efficient way with
whatever tools available.
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First job: Agricultural economist with
t JIM.
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation whle
:
attending Fresno State College (1947-
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1950).
.
What J enjoyed most about my job:
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Seeing the city I managed improving the
■
1 living standards of residents.
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My most embarrassing moment ever
was: I ate a meal at a well known
restaurant only to find that when the bill
was presented I had left my pocket book
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home.
The person who has had the most
impact on my life is: My wife.
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All time favorite television show:
from WWII (age 36) before I attended
bly we were very poor and I can't
Perry Mason.
college (thanks to the G.I. Bill of
recollect any fond memories other than I
All time favorite movie: Victor
Rights).
had to start working at the age of 15 to
Hugo's "Les Miserables" produced
If I could change one thing about
provide food and shelter for our family.
some 60 years ago in black and white.
myself, I'd: Try to remember names of
My father was paralyzed due to polio.
Favorite food: Sea food (shell fish of
acquaintances the way I used to when I
Biggest gripe: The fact that the
all kinds).
was a young man. It
is most embarrass-
majority of today' s Armericans have
Favorite vacation spot: Huntington
ing.
become so self-centered instead of
Lake where we have a cabin I built in
Best gift I ever gave
Endowment of
thinking about what's best for each
1954.
over one-half million dollars to CSUF
other.
Favorite sport: Watching long distance .
for the Armenian Studies Program to
I'm most proud of: My education and
running.
help educate needy and deserving
the ability to help financially many
People who make me laugh are:
students.
public institutions that help the needy.
People who try to put on an act beyond
Best gift I ever received: My wife's
Ten years from now, I will be:
their normal capabilities.
love for me.
Hopefully still alive (remember, I am
Biggest regret: Waiting until I returned
Fondest childhood memory: Regretta-
now 80 and way past the life span of the
average American male).
move to Cairo, Egypt Kalfayan's mother
was a "picture bride" with a man in Racine,
Wisconsin. The below 25 degree tem¬
perature was too much however for
Kalfayan's step-father, who suffered from
rheumatism, prompting the family to move
out west to a 'little known* town called
Yettem. The year was 1926 - and Kal¬
fayan immediately became attracted to the
warm climate.
In May of this year, CSU Fresno an¬
nounced die naming of the Sarkis and
Meline Kalfayan Center for Annenian
Studies after the Kalfayan's pledge of
over $500,000 to the ASP.
When asked why he is donating to the
university, Kalfayan, who has no children
and no immediate family, replied, "If it
wasn't for the help of others, I wouldn't
have ever gotten the chap.ee to go to school
and get to where I am today. My wife and
I are donating to the university because we
want our heirs to be the students who will
follow us and tell anew the story of the Ar¬
menian people."
The endowment is set up to provide
scholarships in the name of him^lf and
his wife, in the name of his parents, in the
name of his wife's parents, and also a
specified amount towards a lectureship in
Annenian Studies. It is Kalfayan's ulti¬
mate wis!) to witness the establishment of
a second chair at the university.
Kalfayan, who maintains that educa¬
tion is above all other things, graduated
from Fresno State College in 1950 with a
degree in economics. He later went on to
attend UC Berkeley and USC.
Kalfayan's only visit to Armenia oc-
cured in November of 1990 when he trav¬
elled on behalf of CSUF in order to help
establish a student exchange program be¬
tween CSUF and Yerevan University.
Kalfayan still retains very vivid memories
of his visit "The people living in Armenia
are terribly in need of food. There is no
rice, no flour, no soup, no meat., not even
powdered milk for the children. Hunger
is a big problem." Kalfayan contributes
this to the fact that Azerbaijan has block¬
aded Armenia and will not allow any
supplies or gasoline to enter the republic.
rf.
Family Feud continued from page 2
family in but my cousin Jane forgot to
bring her I.D. with her so she had to go all
the way home to downtown L.A. to pick it
up. Now from butterflies to a nervous
stomach. We were worried that if she
didn't make it she wouldn't be able to be
on the show. We let the people in charge
know that she was coming and also had
my sister Jonna with her. She finally made
it back about an hour later.
They took us to this big room where
they fed us breakfast and went over the
rules with us. They also did pep talks with
us to get us excited and yelling for practice
on tht show.
As we were eating breakfast who
should walk in but Howard. I got nervous
all over again. I was afraid he was going
to come over and pick on me some more.
I didn't dare go and talk to him.
He v-ame up tc our table where we were
eating and started talking to us. He was
surpnsingly nice and really showed a lik¬
ing to our family. He mentioned to us that
when he was going to school in New York
he dated a girl by the name of Araxi. He
aLo mentioned she was very beautiful. If
you are reading this paper Araxi, Howard
still hasn't foregotten about you!
After breakfast the families were all
escorted into the studio where the show is
taped. We all got a chance to practice
hitting the buzzer, playing a mock round
of the Feud with all the music and lights,
and practice our seating positions for the
announcement of our family. •
They also that they would escort us to
the bathroom for breaks so we wouldn't
wander off and talk to certain peopleof the
show. They also strated thatif they caught
us cheating by whispering answers to one
another they would stop taping and have
us thrown in jail. They gave us a lot of
bathroom breaks because they said people
get nervous and need to use the bathroom
a lot I didn't think I really would utilize
it that much, but I did and so did every
other person there.
They never got to our family that day,
however. We waited behind the stage
until almost 9 o'clock p.m. The entire
studio was about 65 degrees inside and I
froze the whole time waiting.
The only entertainment we got was from
the MC himself Ray Combs. He noticed
that we were sitting there freezing and
bored. He started teasing us from the stage
between commercial breaks by spitting
water at us and sticking his tongue out He
asked us when we were going to be on the
show and the only answer we could give
was a shrug of our shoulders and an "I
don't know."
During one of the commercial breaks,
he ran from the stage to us and first hugged
Jonna and Jane and then said, "I can hardly
wait until you girls get on," and ran back
due to the fact they were yelling 4 seconds
Ray.
My mother Helen was the star of the
day. Shewona6oomtVoxoutofadrawing
from the audience.
The following dav. we waited
again in the back of the frozen studio. Ray
of course kept up with his entertaining.
We were adeast being fed the whole time
during the wait That day they gave us
leftover bagels and don u ts from breakfast
fresh fruit cheese, cracker bread, coffee
and sodas. The only thing they failed in
providing us was blankets.
After a day of waiting and long hours in
the back, they finally called our family up.
The butterflies came back. We lined up
in our sitting positions for our entrance. If
you wonder about how the families know
when to stand up when the announcer says
the name of the family there is a person
standing in the back of the box we are
sitting in that yells "move!"
Whenever someone would say an answer
or get a buzz to a wrong answer, the stage
people would be putting up their arms as
crosses to represent a strike.
The family we played against were all
tall older brothers and their father. Their
size was very intimidating to five short
Armenian girls. They were really nice.
We got to talking with them during the
wait not realizing we would be up against
them.
They told us that when they were picked
to play us that ihey were kind of intimi¬
dated because they thought we were all
very good looking and would be very dis¬
tracting for them. They said they were
going to try and not look at us during the
game.
We played a total of five rounds and
won the first four in a row but tost the last
one which decided who would play the
fast money round for $10,000.
Ah we went to a commercial break, we
were approached by Howard and Ray.
Howard told us how sorry it was that we
lost and that he thought we would win. He
also added that he liked us so much that he
will try and bring us back again next year.
After the other family won the $ 10,000,
we all got on stage like the families usually
do and the theme music playing as we
congradulate the winning family. Our
mothers came back for the game and we
brought them on stage with us. They were
so embarrassed that they were hiding
behind us so the camera wouldn't catch
them on TV.
After the taping, we signed a release
form that listed the giving of six consola¬
tion prizes and $50.00 a piece. The prizes
and the money have not yet arrived. One
person told me they knew of a family who
received underwear and nylons. That may
or may not be true but we shall see what
the delivery man will bring us.
Above all, the experience was one I
wouldn't trade for anything. The people
were great and treated us like family.
Next year we may have another chance
to be on the Feud. But until then don't
forget to watch in Februrary as we make
our debut as the Basmajian family.
-..  '
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