CHS students hear first-hand stories of survival
By MICHELLE COLE 05/28/2004
Coventry Courier, RI
May 28 2004
COVENTRY – High school students from across the state heard firsthand
the stories of survivors during Coventry High School’s first annual
History Symposium last Thursday.
The theme for the day was “Terror and Tragedy in the 20th Century,”
and presentations focused on three infamous historical events: the
Armenian genocide; the Holocaust; and the Cambodian genocide.
Nicole St. Jean and Mackenzie Zabbo, two CHS seniors, organized
the history day as part of their CIM project. The students had
participated in a “Terror and Tragedy” unit in their 11th grade
history class and decided to pursue the issues as their CIM project
to share the experience with others, according to Matthew Brissette,
social studies chairperson.
Five schools attended the History Symposium last Thursday, packing
about 450 students into the high school auditorium to learn from the
guest speakers.
“If [the students] can see things firsthand, it’s going to have that
much more profound of an impact,” Brissette explained.
With moving presentations from the survivors, students learned how
some childhoods end suddenly and tragically as young children are
caught in the crossfire of government changes and warfare.
For Loung Ung, one of the three guest speakers, her childhood – with
its memories of going to the movies with her father and sitting on
his lap eating fried cricket snacks – ended when a new regime took
power in Cambodia.
She was five years old.
In 1975, Ung’s family joined in the mass evacuation of homes from
the city of Phnom Penh and was forced to try to farm in primitive
“labor camp villages” in the countryside. She shared memories of
malnutrition and starvation and how she ate charcoal – imagining it
was cake – for her sixth birthday.
These changes were part of the new Khmer Rouge regime’s desire to
create a utopian agrarian society, Ung explained, and any who were
different or did not conform to this ideal were killed. Ung told
students how both of her parents – as well as 20 other relatives –
were killed by the regime. At nine years old, she was orphaned and
had to train as a child soldier.
In 1979 the Vietnamese army defeated the Khmer Rouge, and Ung was
able to escape the country. Today, she speaks to audiences about the
dangers of land mines – which still threaten the people in Cambodia
decades later – and the need for justice and peace. She is the
author of First They Killed My Father: a Cambodia Daughter Remembers
(published by HarperCollins in 2000).
“Peace is a choice. Peace is an action,” Ung said. Other speakers
included Moushegh Derderian and Alice Golstein. Derderian was born
in Turkey in 1911 and is a survivor of the Armenian genocide. From
1915 to 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman Turkish Government in a move to exterminate all of the
two million Armenians from the multi-ethnic Empire, according to a
handout. Golstein was born in Germany at the beginning of the Nazi era
and experienced many of the devastations leading up to the Holocaust.
“[The History Symposium] went very well for the first time,”
Brissette said. “Most students seem to be pretty positive [about
the experience].”
Brissette said he hopes the history day will continue in the coming
years through student organization and departmental support.

PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARIAN’S ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF FIRST
REPUBLIC DAY
ArmenPress
May 27 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik Margarian
issued a message today to the nation on the occasion of the First
Republic Day, which runs below.
“Dear compatriots, I congratulate you on the occasion of the First
Republic Day. Due to the collective will of our nation and its
unbending spirit the centuries-long desire to restore Armenia’s
statehood came true On May 28, 1918.
In the row of our victories, celebrated in May, the heroic battles of
Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilisa stand, in terms of implementing
the idea of independence by relying on our own strength after a
six-century long break that has become later a basis for new feats
of arms and new manifestations of Armenia’s freedom-loving spirit.
Though the First Republic did not live long, but its lessons-freedom,
independence, sovereignty and building a strong state, and which is
more important-to maintain it, have been passed from generation to
generation to have displayed itself anew in late 1980-s. The struggle
for the independence of Artsakh has reaffirmed our resolute to maintain
our historical achievements.
The 13-year long Third Armenian Republic is moving ahead today
resolutely, developing gradually its economy and consolidating its
sovereignty, reinforcing its role and place in global processes.
There is no alternative to independent Armenia, based on democratic
values and I believe that no force, no difficulty is able to impede
our march.
I once again congratulate you all on the occasion of this beautiful
festive day. I wish you all good health. strong belief, strength and
will to surmount difficulties. We have to be united and our historical
achievements will become the guarantee of our efforts for building
a strong and prospering homeland.

120 MILLION DRAMS PROVIDED TO SHIRAK REGION FOR WORK AGAINST MONEY PROJECT
ArmenPress
May 27 2004
GYUMRI, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS: About 25 percent of the 500 million drams
provided by the Armenian government for ” Work Against Money” project
is given to Shirak taking into consideration the level of unemployment
in the region and the previous effectiveness of the project.
According to the data provided by regional employment center from
the total 120 million provided to the region 82 million is given
to Akhurian and Gyumri, 20 million to Artik and its neighboring
territories, 10 million to Maralik city and its neighboring communities
and 4 million each for Amasia and Maralik communities.
As different from the previous years, this year instead of cleaning
the streets people will renovate green zones and forest areas. At the
same time reconstruction of secondary and cultural establishment and
streets will be conducted.
Shortly registration of citizens eager to participate will start.
Last year such an initiation provided work to 1500 unemployed.

NON-RESIDENT AMBASSADORS RECEIVED BY FM, PRESIDENT
ArmenPress
May 27 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS: Non-resident ambassadors accredited in
Armenia, other high level diplomats held meetings today with Armenian
foreign minister Vartan Oskanian, minister of trade and economic
development Karen Chshmaritian and Head of Armenian Development Agency
V. Movsissian.
According to FM press services, the ambassadors came from about 40
countries of Europe, Asia, American, Africa, Middle East and CIS.
Armenian foreign minister outlined major policy trends of Armenia,
Armenia’s efforts to reduce tension in the region and establish
stability and cooperation. Exchanging ideas, Oskanian told about
Armenia’s security issues, energy resources and Nagorno Karabagh
conflict regulation prospects.
The guests conferred economic situation with minister of trade and
economic development K. Chshmaritian. They exchanged ideas about
present state of economy and prospects for development, the legislative
field stipulating foreign investment.
The aim of the meeting was to introduce non-resident ambassadors to the
present situation of Armenia, outline major external policy trends,
indicate economic prospects and developments as well as introduce to
historical cultural values of the country. Later the ambassadors were
also received by president Kocharian.

Times Union, Albany, NY
May 28 2004
‘Burgers and genes’ changing medicine
Saratoga Springs–Medical school graduates told new challenges await
them
By RICK KARLIN, Staff writer
Tomorrow’s physicians are entering an era in which “the distinction
between illusion and reality is blurred,” Nobel laureate Dr. Joseph
Goldstein told the 168 graduates of Albany Medical College on
Thursday.
His point was that the pace of progress in medicine is growing so
swiftly that technologies which couldn’t even be imagined years ago
are almost upon us.
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Within a decade, maybe even in six years, Goldstein predicted, it’s
possible that people will be able to visit their corner drug store
and order up their own personal “genomes,” or genetic profiles, which
they can put on CDs and bring to their doctors. The physicians,
presumably including some of Thursday’s graduates, may then be able
to predict the odds that a patient may get certain types of cancer,
heart disease or other ailments.
That’s all the more amazing, he said, when one considers that the
field of genetics, and the link between genes and many diseases,
barely existed in the 1960s when Goldstein was a medical student.
Goldstein, who won the 1985 Nobel prize and the 2003 Albany Medical
Center prize for his research into how cholesterol accumulates in the
bloodstream, gave the address at the medical college’s 166th
commencement exercise, held at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Medicine since the 1960s has been transformed by “burgers, chips and
genes,” said Goldstein.
The “burgers” referred to the rise of McDonald’s and the fast food
industry which has transformed the eating habits — and cholesterol
levels — of much of the nation, explained Goldstein.
“Chips” are the silicon microchips which have enabled the rapid
digitization of medicine as well as the rest of society.
“Genes,” of course, mark the revolution in genetics which could lead
to the on-demand CDs. Technology wasn’t the only aspect of medicine
that has changed over the years, according to Thursday’s speakers.
Among the changes are what Albany Medical College Dean Dr. Vincent
Verdile termed one of the “disturbing trends,” in which
pharmaceutical firms are sponsoring an ever-growing percentage of new
drug studies.
Those studies are also leading to more and more favorable outcomes,
noted Verdile who warned the newly minted physicians to be cognizant
of that trend.
The medical school graduates, who were heading to various residency
programs nationwide, seemed to be well aware of the rapid changes in
their field. “Things will always keep changing, hopefully for the
better,” said Ken Ofordome, who came to the college from Nigeria via
California and who is planning on a career as a urologist.
Siranush Yegiyants, a native of Armenia who has also lived in
California, said she expects the continued growth of managed care to
have a greater impact on her chosen specialty of plastic surgery.
“I’m definitely going to be affected by HMOs,” she said.
Jonathan Gainor of Voorheesville grew up hearing about how medicine
has changed.
His uncle, Barry Gainor, is a physician and professor at the
University of Missouri and grandfather John Gainor was a well-known
Albany-area doctor.
“He made a special impact on their lives,” the younger Gainor said of
his grandfather who would make as many as 18 house calls in a day.
“Can you imagine going to 18 houses in one day?” mused Barry Gainor,
who was back in the Capital Region for his nephew Jonathan Gainor’s
commencement. Those days, of course, are gone he said, adding,
“Everything changes and you have to adapt.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
May 28, 2004
If you think the Armenian Apostolic faith says
nothing about current moral issues, think again!
New York, NY – Abortion, reproductive technologies, homosexuality,
gay marriage, suicide, euthanasia – these issues are hotly debated and
highly politicized. Various faith communities and organizations are
grappling with them for all sorts of different agendas. Whether we
like it or not, we are forced to face these issues in our personal,
professional and communal lives. One cannot have an intelligent
conversation nowadays without discussing these issues. Our faith,
steeped in the Holy Scriptures and the rich theological tradition,
gives us ample resources to think critically and intelligently about
these moral and ethical topics.
For this reason, the Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC)
of the Eastern Prelacy has organized a unique program for adults in
the Mid-Atlantic region entitled “Critical Issues of Life and Faith,”
scheduled to take place at St. Mary of Providence Center in Elverson,
Pennsylvania, June 25-27, 2004 (for details, please visit the Prelacy
web site at ). An eminent Armenian Orthodox
ethicist and theologian, Prof. Vigen Guroian, will be the main speaker
for the Saturday portion of the program.
Dr. Vigen Guroian is a Professor of Theology and Ethics at Loyola
College in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of six books and
nearly 150 articles, and three books are forthcoming. Professor
Guroian is the first Armenian theologian ever elected to the
American Theological Society and the Orthodox Theological Society
of America. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Society
of Christian Ethics, has been active in both the National Council
of Churches and the World Council of Churches. He has established
himself in the American academic community as a prominent Orthodox
theologian and ethicist. AREC recently commissioned Prof. Guroian to
write pamphlets on moral and ethical issues for the general public.
In addition to the presentations by Prof. Guroian, the Saturday program
will include small group and panel discussions. The panelists will be
Very Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian (Media Relations Officer, Catholicosate
of Cilicia), Dr. Carlo Bayrakdarian (Psychiatrist), and Dr. Meline
Karakashian (Psychologist and Educator). On Friday evening, the program
will begin with a Bible study – ” Jesus Christ claims our total being –
body and soul,” led by Deacon Shant Kazanjian, director of AREC.
The general public and specially parents, educators, Church delegates
and board members should take advantage of this unique edifying
Christian educational program. Those who wish to attend only a portion
of the program may do so. For further information and registration,
please visit the Prelacy web site

Olympics needn’t be Hellen earth
By Philip Howard
The Times (London)
May 28, 2004, Friday
They said that Athens would never be ready for the Olympics in time.
According to The New York Times: “Athens is a dump, the transport
system is on a par with provincial cities of Algeria, the democracy
is bogus, the Games will be crooked, and the Greeks know as little
about amateur sport as the Chinese.”
Luckily, The Times was there to put the record straight. But this was
all about the Olympics in Athens in 1896. Michael Llewellyn Smith,
our former Ambassador to Athens, describes the invention of the modern
event in his book Olympics in Athens 1896: The Invention of the Modern
Olympic Games, which is about to be published.
He records how much Pierre de Coubertin and the other founding fathers
of the Neo-Olympics owed to such British pioneers as Tom Brown’s
Schooldays, the Much Wenlock Olympics in Shropshire (where shin-kicking
was one of the games), and such British contests as the University
Boat Race. Coubertin took care not to acknowledge his sources.
Our archives show how instrumental The Times itself was in the rebirth
of the Olympics. The archaeologist, Charles Waldstein, former director
of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, put the record
straight about Athens. He contradicted rumours that the site and
buildings would not be ready in time, and that the Games would be
a failure.
Having inspected the stadium and rifle ranges, he was happy to
congratulate the organisers and the architect on the energy and
intelligence with which the work had been pushed forward, and the
stupendous effect produced by the stadium. He gave this testimony,
naturally, in a letter to the Editor of The Times.
Our man in Athens was a leading and eccentric player in the renaissance
of the Olympics. James David Bourchier, who began his career as a
beak at Eton, and ended it as a Bulgarian national hero, was one
of the few Times hacks (so far) to be portrayed on a stamp wearing
Bulgarian national costume.
He was also stone deaf. It was a common sight in the gardens of the
Royal Palace in Sofia to see King Ferdinand of Bulgaria shouting
state secrets into Bourchier’s ear-trumpet. A British diplomat said
that whenever a great noise was heard in the Balkans, it was either
Bourchier telling a state secret to a prime minister, or a prime
minister telling a state secret to Bourchier. An Irishman and classical
scholar, he sympathised with the struggles of the Macedonian Greeks
for complete freedom from Ottoman overlordship. His lush moustache
and melancholy eyes would add distinction to our newsroom today.
In 1896 Bourchier had got into hot water in Bulgaria for taking
the side of Muslim Bulgarians. The man from The Times was accused
of being an enemy agent, or even an Armenian agitator. His contacts
were threatened with death or ruin. So we decided to transfer him to
Athens. Bourchier wrote to the managing editor: “I have always been
glad to think that The Times attaches more importance to questions
of scholarship and art than any other newspaper, and perhaps I may
say that, in my own case, work in this field -which is done con amore
-is likely to be my best.”
To mark the opening of those first renaissance Games, The Times
published a two-column think piece from Our Special Correspondent
-Bourchier of course. He paid tribute to Courbertin. He regretted
that the festival could not have been celebrated at Olympia among
the monuments of ancient grandeur being brought to light by the
archaeologists. But he accepted that this was impossible. Modern
visitors could not be expected to camp out in the fields or under the
portico of a temple, like visitors to the ancient games. Athens was
the only place capable of supplying modern comforts and infrastructure.
Bourchier castigated the British for not turning out: “It is greatly
to be regretted that England, the home of latter-day athletics, will
be very inadequately represented at the festival, and that Oxford and
Cambridge, where the physical and mental training of Ancient Greece
has found its nearest counterpart in modern times, will hardly be
represented at all.” He said that the Olympic Games should never be
removed from their native soil.
As one Greek said, you cannot tread twice in the same river. We can
regret that they did not decide always to hold the Olympics at their
original home of Olympia.
We miss the brave amateurism of those first games, at which a
Princeton boy picked up the first discus he had seen, and won the
event; a British tourist went in for the tennis, and won; and nobody
knew whether the triple jump was hop, hop, jump, or hop, step and
jump. Either would do.
We deplore some of the sillier modern sports, as opposed to knitting,
which featured in some of the early Olympics. Bring back shin-kicking,
I say. We regret that the Games have been taken over by commercialism,
bribery, corruption and cheating. But we cheer for their ancient charm
and modern magic. And we can be sure that The Times will continue
to support and report them with the enthusiasm and wisdom of James
Bourchier, our Special Correspondent.

No justice when fascinating lives are crammed into a short slot : Review
by Ian Bell
The Herald (Glasgow)
May 28, 2004
One Day of War: This World
BBC2, 9.00pm
No Going Back
Channel 4, 8.00pm
If One Day of War was to be believed, it isn’t hard to become a
terrorist. An accident of birth, a brutal government, or even the
desire to run a brutal government of your very own: given any one of
these you have a good chance of winding up as one of the two people
who die every minute because of war. Alternatively, you could be
helping someone else to join the silent ranks of the dead.
This was a documentary brilliant in its conception but shaky in its
execution. The idea was to film 16 people at war in various uncongenial
parts of the planet on a single day and provide a snapshot of global
conflict. The trouble was that the attempt to cram so many stories
into 90 minutes led to potted biographies and potted history.
If ever a film demanded context, it was this one. We kicked off,
for example, with Comrade Grace, an 18-year-old in the ranks of the
New People’s Army in the Philippines. This movement’s claim to fame
is that it is “the world’s longest -running active group of communist
rebels”. For 30 years they’ve been slogging it out in the jungle. We
heard that they once attacked American bases, but these days harass
the government. Why?
With some tales, it is true, you could just about work out the
fighter’s motivation. Shushila Magar, a 24-year-old Nepalese woman,
was clearly sincere. You have to be dedicated when the only weapons
you have are flintlock rifles. Equally, if you live in a feudal state
that condemns half its people to exist on less than a dollar a day,
you tend to be militant.
Nevertheless, when Shushila said that modern weapons don’t matter if
you had ideology as a weapon, you suspected that her group might be
competing with the New People’s Army for revolutionary longevity. The
Nepalese fighters were also described as Maoists. Yet again, I would
have loved someone to explain what that means in the 21st century.
These were stories of our times, but they were, as often as not, the
same old story. Poverty and oppression fuel rebellion, the revolution
sours and “liberation” soon resembles the same old tyranny. You
couldn’t quibble with the heroism of Mousa Ibragim Osman, a fighter
with the Sudan Liberation Army, nine of whose brothers have died
while an Arab Muslim government has been ethnically cleansing black
Muslims. You wondered, though, how the SLA would behave if they were
on top.
What was most striking about these conflicts, nevertheless, was the
world’s eagerness to forget them. Hands up who knew that the trench
warfare in Nagorno Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan has lasted
three times as long as the First World War? Corporal Albert Hinasyan,
an Armenian conscript, didn’t even try to explain what that one was
all about.
There were good wars and bad wars. You could feel for the Karen
National Liberation Army, who have been fighting for independence from
a genocidal Burmese government for 55 years. It wasn’t so easy to cheer
for Colombia’s FARC, a revolutionary corporation raking in $ 300m a
year from drugs, extortion and kidnapping. This documentary made each
of these conflicts seem like the same conflict. That was truly unjust.
Injustice was uppermost in the minds of Chris and Katie Day, ages
11 and 14 respectively, going on three. What, you wondered, did
Austria do to deserve this pair? Their father was fed up working 87
hours a week as a milkman; their mother had fallen in love with the
Austrian Alps. Together, the parents had sunk every penny they had,
plus £ 130,000 borrowed from a bank, into a mountain hotel. Were the
cherubs having it? They were not.
“I’m not goin’ to school ‘ere,” Katie announced before entering an
institution that should have demanded her instant deportation. The
boy, meanwhile, had to be lifted from the car. The dream was turning
into a nightmare, but the Day family had brought a little bit of hell
with them. Fun to watch, though, in a grisly sort of way.
GRAPHIC: CAMPAIGN: Roger Rosal speaks for the Philippines’ rebel group.

Azeri minister blames international bodies for Armenian defectors’ hunger strike
Sarq, Baku
28 May 04
Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Sarq on 28 May
headlined “The national security minister calls on the two Armenians
to stop their hunger strike” and subheaded “Namiq Abbasov: ‘If any
tragedy happens to them, the International Committee of the Red Cross
and other structures will be responsible for this'”
Azerbaijani National Security Minister Namiq Abbasov has called on
the Armenian defectors, Artur Apresyan and Roman Teryan, to stop
their hunger strike, which they have started in protest against
the activities of the UNHCR and the International Committee of the
Red Cross.
He said that the aforesaid individuals place the responsibility
for this action on international organizations. Abbasov added that
according to the law, those held in solitary confinement cells at the
National Security Ministry are force-fed if they announce a hunger
strike. “But the law does not apply to them Apresyan and Teryan ,”
Abbasov said.
He added: “Today I issued an instruction to persuade them to stop their
move. Let them be patient, start to eat and see what extra measures
we take. Our human rights organizations, NGOs and media outlets are
protecting them. If any tragedy happens to them, the International
Committee of the Red Cross and other structures will be responsible
for this”.
From: Baghdasarian

Peterson attorney lives in limelight, fights for underdog
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 27, 2004, Thursday, BC cycle
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — He charms jurors, attorneys and judges with
his easygoing style. Lawyer to the stars, talk show pundit, the
mustachioed man in crisply pressed suits is now the man of the hour.
As lead defense attorney for Scott Peterson, Mark Geragos is the
former fertilizer salesman’s best hope of avoiding a death sentence
in the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their fetus.
Defendants are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty
– but Geragos has said police and prosecutors did all they could to
convict Peterson in the court of public opinion before a gag order
was imposed on the case.
That’s one reason why Geragos is so chummy with reporters – “What
drives me just crazy is when I think that somebody is getting a raw
deal,” he explains in an interview.
During breaks in the proceedings, Geragos saunters from the courthouse,
says a few well-chosen words, takes a couple of questions and strolls
off, cell phone to his ear.
That’s the face much of the world sees, a man who appears confident,
deliberate and deftly in charge of his surroundings, the kind of
attorney many friends and colleagues say they would want on their side.
Geragos was catapulted to fame after he secured acquittals for
Whitewater figure Susan McDougal and took on the cases of Winona Ryder,
former Congressman Gary Condit and rapper Nathaniel (Nate Dogg) Hale.
Beyond the cameras’ glare, Geragos is a man like any other – committed
to his job, his family and his Armenian-American culture.
“The thing that drives me is fighting for the underdog and taking on
causes that are generally not well recognized,” Geragos said. “Being
Armenian and having all four of my grandparents who fled genocide,
I have a great and deep and abiding appreciation for what it’s like
to be the subject of tyranny.”
One of his proudest achievements is a settlement in January that went
mostly unnoticed. The descendants of some 1.5 million Armenians who
were killed nearly 90 years ago in the Turkish Ottoman Empire will
share in a $20 million settlement for unpaid life insurance benefits.
Geragos served as plaintiffs’ attorney in the class action, which
took four years of work.
That’s why he took on the Peterson case, even as others assured him
it was a loser.
“The whole idea … is to defend people and to fight for their rights
and their liberties,” Geragos said.
Married with two children, Geragos, 46, is managing partner of a Los
Angeles law firm that includes his father and brother. The arrangement
allows them to take cases at no charge, if the cause is right. “I’m
the luckiest lawyer on the planet that I’ve got the kind of practice
that I do.”
Geragos was defending both Peterson and Michael Jackson, until the
pop star complained his child molestation defense wasn’t getting
enough attention. Geragos shrugged off his firing, saying only that
“I truly, truly wish him well and am hopeful for a favorable outcome
for Michael.”
His friend and fellow Los Angeles attorney Harland Braun says Geragos
“understands people more than most lawyers do.”
Another thing he understands, according to Geragos’ co-counsel Pat
Harris, is that high-profile clients cannot be defended solely inside
courtrooms – not when jurors are constantly in danger of being exposed
to every supermarket tabloid take on the trial.
Geragos has lost his share of cases, but even the best lose some,
according to Shepard Kopp, a lawyer at his firm. “That’s the ultimate
challenge. As a trial lawyer, you take cases that appear to be
unwinnable and you find a way to win.”