Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Today, at Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex, President Serzh Sargsyan took part in the opening of the Ministerial Summit of the European Higher Education Area and the Fourth Bologna Policy Forum.
The Armenian president delivered welcome remarks:

Distinguished participants of the Ministerial Conference of the European Higher Education Area,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honor to greet you on behalf of the Republic of Armenia on the occasion of this very important event for the European Higher Education Area.

The higher education is, obviously, the pillar upon which the knowledge-based societies are built. In this context, the Bologna reforms transformed the nature of the European higher education ensuring student mobility and establishing wide diversity of educational opportunities. It is also obvious that it is impossible to guarantee a competitive educational system without overcoming systemic problems both in Armenia and in the European Higher Education Area. Armenia had acceded to the Bologna process back in 2005, and by that it designed a new platform of cooperation opportunities with the European area and attained new mechanisms to take advantage of the best international practices.

Current economic and social issues are, meanwhile, serious challenges to the European Higher Education Area, and its common goals presuppose joint efforts and active engagement. For the developing societies, at this stage of advancing information technologies, it is more than important to apply compatible standards in order to address positively the labor market demands, as well as productive cooperation of the beneficiaries in the area of education.

The European education system represented by the Bologna process has made a significant contribution to the reforms carried out in various other regions of the world through numerous education projects, political and institutional dialogue. Assumption of the Bologna Secretariat by Yerevan back in 2012 had been an achievement for the Armenian education system, one that envisaged both responsibility and privilege. It provided the Armenian higher education institutions with an opportunity to share and practice European education values and get better integrated into this process.

Positive and progressive trends have been registered in our higher education institutions related both with the application of the European quality standards and student mobility. The Armenian culture of education, which originates in the antique times as a part and parcel of our country’s ancient history, has always presented itself to the world with its achievements.

The Armenian nation has exceptional esteem toward knowledge and education. That is, probably, due to its millennial history, throughout which it had been plundered, pillaged and persecuted, and its very knowledge and centuries-long spiritual and cultural heritage had been the only value that illuminated its path, and of which it could not have been deprived of. It is no coincidence that during the most difficult days of the Armenian Genocide Armenians had been saving books. Otherwise, we should have not possessed Matenadaran that is the warranty for the eternal existence of the Armenian nation.

Nowadays the creative talents of the Armenian nation, its contribution to the development of global science, arts, theology is being evaluated anew, and it both serves as a source of great pride and indebts us significantly. The last such wonderful event took place recently, when Pope Francis declared the Armenian titan of medieval thought Divine Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Universal Church, one of the 36 greatest thinkers recognized by the Catholic Church throughout its 2000 year-long history.

Dear friends,

To build upon one’s own educational traditions today one needs accessible and adequate tools for contacts and communication throughout the whole European Higher Education Area. In that context the Bologna process-driven reforms significantly supported founding of a student-oriented system and efforts that provide the today’s younger generation with an opportunity to be well-equipped and competitive to respond to current challenges. Although we have not overcome yet all the obstacles we encountered but the accomplishments registered, and the will to achieve the global goals presupposes new cooperative signals and a more active stage of dialogue.

Education is not an aim in itself, and its vocation is to serve global values and goals. Today, in the 21st century we witness in the civilized world numerous acts of terrorism, violence and war.

Indisposition of human reason and values make such unacceptable manifestations inevitable. Therefore, education based upon spiritual, scientific and cultural content shall be directed at the neat development of the human resources in a broader context.

Dear attendees,

This year has been special for Armenia, Armenians and the whole civilized world: we have marked the Armenian Genocide Centennial, paid tribute to the memory of our innocent martyrs, and attempted to build a more secure environment for people and nations. We declare “never again” not to let such a horrible crime to recur, to preclude formation of an environment conducive to it as such, to transform general notions and precepts of humanity and civil coexistence, to build societies free of xenophobia. It is obvious that here education has a significant role to play, and it is the mission that you, distinguished participants, pursue.

I avail myself of this opportunity to welcome you, and wish you success with this Ministerial Conference of the Bologna process. I believe that important decisions you are going to make in Yerevan will have a positive impact on the millions of the European students, and all education beneficiaries, thus paving the way for new progress, economic development and stability.

ANC-PAC Welcomes Winograd Endorsement by American Hellenic Council of
California

Friday, May 21st, 2010
by Asbarez

LOMITA, CA – Armenian National Committee -PAC (ANC-PAC) is pleased to
announce the endorsement of Marcy Winograd (CA-36/Harman) by the
American Hellenic Council of California. With this endorsement, the
AHC has united with a vast number of supporters, activists,
organizations, unions, educators, former and current politicians in
support of the Winograd Campaign. The AHC has been the focal point of
political activities of Greek Americans in California.

`Being a leading voice in the Greek American community, we are proud
to endorse a candidate with leadership qualities as Marcy Winograd,’
said AHC Director Alexander Mizan. `We urge all of our friends and
activists who reside in California’s 36th Congressional District to
support Marcy Winograd.’

Marcy Winograd has raised over $320,000 for her campaign. Winograd
has not received any contributions from corporate sponsors. She has
taken this firm stance to ensure that she is not indebted to corporate
interests, but rather the people’s interests in California’s 36th
Congressional District. She is considered a leader in the state
Democratic Party, as president of Progressive Democrats of America
(Los Angeles chapter), co-founder of L.A. Jews for Peace, and the
Co-Chair of the State Party’s Foreign Policy Committee of the
Progressive Caucus. Winograd has 15 years of teaching experience in
the Los Angeles Unified School District, most recently at Crenshaw
High School.

`The ANC-PAC urges all of our friends and activists to support Marcy
Winograd in the June 8th Democratic Primaries. We have an opportunity
to bring new visions, new leadership, new ideas, and new energy to our
district that is very much needed,’ explained South Bay ANC-PAC leader
Shant Baboujian.

The primary election between Winograd and Congresswoman Jane Harman
will take place on June 8, 2010. Individuals interested in learning
more about Marcy Winograd’s candidacy may visit her website at:

The ANC-PAC is a non-partisan federally registered political action
committee established to support campaign committees for Members of
Congress who share the values of the Armenian American community. The
ANC-PAC is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the voice of the
Armenian American community is clearly heard in our nation’s capital.
The ANC-PAC continues a century old tradition of Armenian American
engagement on the public policy issues facing national political
leaders, both in the U.S. Congress and the White House. For more
information, you may log on to

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 21 2010

Baku appeals to UN over separatist vote

21-05-2010 05:23:36
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United Nations has sent a letter to
the UN General Assembly condemning the so-called "parliament
elections" planned on Sunday by the Armenia-backed separatist regime
in Azerbaijan’s occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region, according to
the UN Information Center.
Expressing concern over the planned vote, Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev
noted that Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that despite its efforts
aiming to resolve the long-standing conflict in line with
international law, Armenia’s policy of occupation and the illegal
actions being taken in the occupied territories indicate Yerevan’s
persistent attempts to annex the occupied land.
`Any vote conducted in the backdrop of the ongoing aggression and
ethnic cleansing carried out in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories,
cannot be considered legitimate and harms the previous legal status of
these territories, which are deemed as Azerbaijan’s territories under
international law,’ the letter says.
Mehdiyev also wrote that the world community has unequivocally
denounced all `elections’ held so far in Upper Garabagh. Therefore,
Azerbaijan is expecting the UN and its members to condemn these
illegal actions by Armenia again.
`This lawlessness targeting Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity jeopardizes the political efforts aimed at settling the
conflict and causes a disruption of stability in the South Caucasus
region.’
The Garabagh conflict began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims.
Since the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan including the Upper Garabagh region and its seven
surrounding districts, despite four standing UN resolutions on
unconditional pullout of Armenian troops and condemnation by a number
of other international organizations.*

FRANCE SUPPORTS EFFORTS OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 20, 2010 – 20:38 AMT 15:38 GMT

French Minister of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche said
that France, which co-chairs the Minsk Group, supported Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders’ efforts to take steps to resolve the Karabakh
conflict.

Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council, Vienna, he emphasized that
political negotiations are the only means to achieve a solution,
the OSCE press service reported.

EVA RIVAS’ FIRST REHEARSAL IN OSLO (VIDEO)

Tert.am
20.05.10

The participants of the Eurovision 2010 Song Contest are already
in Oslo and are actively preparing for the contest. Most of them
have already had rehearsals on the concert hall among them also the
representative of Armenia, Eva Rivas, who has already had her first
press conference there.

Armenian singer looked a little tired in the photos published on the
Eurovision 2010’s website. In all probability the reason might be her
tight itinerary as she had consecutive concerts during her promo tour
in various courtiers she visited prior to the rehearsals.

Eva Rivas will perform her Apricot Stone in the second semi-final
under number 2.

RUSSIA STANDS FOR OSCE REORGANIZATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 19, 2010 – 18:22 AMT 13:22 GMT

Russia stands for the OSCE reorganization, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said.

"Discontent with the current ‘flabby’ condition, we will put forth
reforms for the OSCE reorganization to make it strong, effective and
basing on genuine equality," he said, RIA Novosti reported.

NEW NANOSTRUCTURES STUDY FINDINGS HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Nanotechnology Business Journal
May 17, 2010

According to a study from Yerevan, Armenia, "We consider the
effects of hydrostatic pressure and temperature on the binding
energy and photoionization cross section of hydrogen-like impurity in
Poschl-Teller quantum well. The ground state energy and the impurity
wave function are calculated using the variational method."

"The binding energy dependencies on the width of the quantum well,
the hydrostatic pressure, the impurity position and the temperature
are reported. The dependencies of the photoionization cross section on
incident photon energy for two different polarizations of the light,
different values of hydrostatic pressure and temperature have been also
considered. The results show that the binding energy is an increasing
(decreasing) function of the hydrostatic pressure (temperature) and
that the binding energy can increase or decrease depending not only
on the values of the confining potential parameters, but also on the
impurity position. In the case of the photoionization cross section,
the results show that by changing the polarization of the light, the
behavior of the photoionization cross section dependence on photon
energy changes dramatically," wrote M.G.

Barseghyan and colleagues, Yerevan State University.

The researchers concluded: "Associated with the increasing (decreasing)
of the binding energy with the hydrostatic pressure (temperature)
there is a redshift (blueshift) of the photoionization cross section
as a function of the energy of the incident photon."

Barseghyan and colleagues published the results of their research in
Physica E – Low – Dimensional Systems & Nanostructures (Simultaneous
effects of hydrostatic pressure and temperature on donor binding
energy and photoionization cross section in Poschl-Teller quantum
well. Physica E – Low – Dimensional Systems & Nanostructures,
2010;42(5):1618-1622).

For additional information, contact M.G. Barseghyan, Yerevan State
University, Dept. of Solid State Physics, Al Manookian 1, Yerevan
0025, Armenia.

OSCE REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA PRAISES LEGISLATIVE REFORMS IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
18.05.2010 18:18

On May 18 Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan received
Mrs. Dunja Mijatovi, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

Greeting the guest, Arman Kirakosyan attached importance to the role
of the OSCE in ensuring human rights and basic freedoms.

Touching upon the steps Armenia has taken towards ensuring protection
of human rights, the newly appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom
of the Media positively assessed the legislative reforms implemented
in our country.

The interlocutors discussed the perspectives of further cooperation
between Armenia and the OSCE, particularly the Office of the
Representative on Freedom of the Media. They emphasized the necessity
of ensuring regional cooperation.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
MAY 18, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS: "Armenian Ophthalmology Project"
charitable organization will organize June 28-29 in Yerevan an
international conference dedicated to the issue of retinopathy of
prematurity. Minas Hambardzumyan, public relations and education
manager of the project, told Armenpress that the delegation of American
ophthalmologists will take part in the conference.

PARENTS PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNMENT DECISION

A1Plus.am
17/05/10

Scores of citizens from Yerevan and marzes today gathered outside
the presidential residence to protest against a legislative change
banning persons without military service to enter the Police Academy.

The demonstrators requested to postpone the decision arguing that it
had affected their children’s psychological stress

The government did not take into consideration public opinion let alone
our financial losses and money spent on the course of history, physical
training, and Armenian history. Our children do not evade compulsory
military service. But they should give them a chance to study in the
academy and then serve in the army," said protester Gayane Karapetyan.

"Let the government take the decision earlier and inform the parents
in due time," added Nora Ghabaghyan.

The demonstrators have handed 15 letters to different structures –
Minister of Defense, party leaders, NA Speaker but so far they have
received no answer.

Today they addressed a letter to the RA President with 50 signatures.