1996_11 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper November 1996

              2
Hye Sharzhoom
November 1996
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor of Hye Sharzhoom:
I apply to you in order to ask you a
great favor for my students and
graduates who have a great desire
to correspond with your univefsity
students and professors, willing
enough to create a friendly "bridge"
between the Diaspora and Armenia.
The correspondence should be in
English preferably, but could be
carried out in any other languages
of the following: French, Spanish,
German, Russian, and Armenian
according to the correspondent's
desire and ability. Please be kind
enough to insert the following addresses in your following newspaper issue, so that our aim may be
realized thanks to your kind help.
Here are the names and addresses
of the young and old people, all
living in our New Armenia, eager
to serve their country and be useful.
Professor Shahe Hamamdjian
Yerevan Armenia
Christine Hagopian: 25 years old.
She is a graduate of the Foreign
Languages Institute in Yerevan. She
is single and desires to have a pen-
friend to exchange ideas and
thoughts and improve her knowledge ofthe English language, which
is her specialty. She likes Armenian and foreign modern music,
traveling, and reading. Address:
Sevastopolian St. 49, Yerevan, Armenia 375028. Telephone is 27-
52-02.
Tamara Shakarian; 32 years old.
She has a polytechnical education.
She would like to correspond with
a young man of her age or older,
interested in Armenia and Arme-
nianproblems. She knows English,
Russian, and Armenian. She has
been looking for work in vain. She
is would like to exchange ideas
with a friend. Address: A. Hagopian
Street, No. 1, Flat 104, Yerevan
375033. Telephone 26-09-83.
Varcik Karakhanian: 38 years
old. She is a teacher of retarded
children. She would like to write to
a serious person in english in order
to exchange ideas and thoughts.
She likes to travel, she likes Armenian music, and can sing and dance.
Address: A. Tigranian St. No. 30,
Yerevan, 375037. Telephone
254237.
Zara Moussalian: 20 years old.
She will graduate from the Arts and
Architecture Institute. Her hobbies
are painting and drwaing. She
knows Russian, Armenian, andEn-
glish. She would prefer to correspond with a young man, older and
with the same interests, preferably
in English. Address: 30,
Leningradian Street, Flat 46,
Yerevan 37538. Telephone 396220.
Nazik Grigorian: 18 years old.
She is student at the university for
Managing and Computerizing
Studies. She knows English well
and would like to correspond with
either men or women of her age or
older. She is ready to answer in
Armenian as well. She can play
the piano, has studies music,
and likes to travel.
Karineh Sirunian: 32 years
old. She is not married. She is
a gradute of the Bryusov Foreign Langauge Institute. She
knows Russian well, Armenian
and English. She works at an
English firm as a clerk in managing and computers. She has a
great desire to have an
Armeniain friend to exhcnage
ideas and create a friendly link.
Her hobbies are music and traveling. Address: Khachadrian
Street, No. 25, Flat 12. Telephone 25-01-91.
Vahe Arakelian: 27 years old.
He is single. He is a graduate of
Yerevan State University in the
Economics Department. HE
knows Armenian and Russian
well. He would like to exchange
ideas and correspondence. He
is very interested in American
customs and way of life. He
likes American football and
likes to fish and hunt. Address:
Aikestan, 10th Street. No.2,
Flat 17 Yerevan 375035. Telephone 55-62050.
Hye Sharzhoom encourages
students, as well as community
members, to engage in correspondence with Armenia. Any
assistance needed in translation or mailing is always available.
The California State University, Fresno
Armenian Studies Program
Codially invites you to a banquet marking its
Twentieth Anniversary
and honoring
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies
Director, Armenian Studies Program
Sunday, November 10,1996
Reception - 5 P.M. Banquet - 6 P.M. Residence Dining Facility
California State University, Fresno
$40 per person Students $10
Please respond by November 4, 1996
Armenian Studies 10:
One Student's Experience
by Jacklin Gharibian
Armenians—they have
such strange names and facial features, an aberrant language (with
peculiar-looking alphabets), and a
distinctly odd culture. I always felt
this strangeness within myself, and I
reckoned that we were, somehow,
different from others. However, I
later learned that Armenians are, instead, distinctly unique. I also presumed that I knew enough about
these "strangers"—about the Genocide, Tigran the Great, William
Saroyan, and the Armenians of California. How can one not know anything about their culture and history?
But, I discovered that my knowledge
was very limited and inadequate—
there is always something more,
among the masses, that comes across
your face as a non-coincidental surprise. Then you hear yourself say:
"Wow, is it really true that Armenians did that? I had no idea!"
I registered for Armenian
Studies 10 (Introduction to Armenian Studies) for the 1995 fall semester with Dr. Dickran Kouymjian,
carrying all of my pre-conceived
opinions and convictions about Armenians. Within the first hour ofthe
class session, I knew that the class
would offer "something" more than
just the lecture hours, exams, and
reports. Instead, I sensed that I would
encounter challenges that would ultimately reshape my thinking habits.
For the first seven weeks of
the semester, we studied a book writ-,
ten by Michael J. Arlen called Passage to Ararat. This book was primarily about Arlen's journey to Armenia which led him to discover his
roots and allowed him to come in
terms   with   his   father,   his
Armenianess, and himself. Arlen,
who at times claimed he, "Hated
being an Armenian," covered
nearly all subject matters that Armenians have experienced from the
birth of their nationhood. For instance, the author wrote about the
Kings of Nairi, the Kingdom of
Urartu, Tigran the Great, the Armenian community of Fresno, Armenian rug merchants, Armenian
architecture, the Dashnaks, and
most important of all, the 1915
Genocide. These matters concern
Armenians, yet Arlen crafted his
novel in a manner that grasped the
attention of non-Armenians as well.
He brought out universal questions
in life, showing that Armenians
have the same needs as other human beings.
Why did the 1915 Genocide take place, and why is it that
Armenians, after 80 years, have
not yet healed their souls? Coming
into the class, I knew the answer for
the first question, but I had difficulties with the second. Several films
were &iown in class to help clarify
the misunderstandings or our misconceptions about the massacres,
such as An Armenian Journey, The
Hidden Holocaust, Everyone 'sNot
Here: Families of the Armenian
Genocide, and The Armenian Case.
In the Armenian Studies 10, Syllabus Reader, we further examined
the details of the Genocide. All of
this, along with Dr. Kouymjian's
lectures, served the key to my understanding of, "The crime of the
century." I knew that the Turkish
government completely denied the
Genocide ever taking place in history, but I further learned that they
See Armenian 10, Page 6
HYE SHARZHOOM
me SUMIW
Editor
Sean Clark
Layout
Tina Attashian
Staff
Jacqueline Arikian
Tina Attashian
Jacklin Gharibian
Crissi Jelladian
Karen K°rabian
Advisor
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Photographers
Tagui Semerjian
Matthew Maroot
Hye Sharzhoom is a supplement of the Daily Collegian and the newspaper of the CSUF Armenian Studies Organization and the Armenian
Studies Program and isfundedbythe Associated Students. Articles may
be reprinted provided Hye Sharzhoom\$ acknowledged. Hye Sharzhoom
welcomes prose, poetry, articles, and other material from its readers. For
further information concerning the newspaper or Armenian Studies
Program:
c/o Armenian Studies Program
5245 N. Backer Ave.
Fresno, CA 93740-0004
(209)278-2669
http://www.csufresno.edu/ArmenianStudies/