Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project underway
Mehr News Agency, Iran
Aug. 25, 2006
TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (MNA) – Armenian officials announced that preliminary
operations for the building of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline has
been completed.
Preparatory operations for the building of a pipeline to transfer
Iran’s natural gas to Armenia were finished, the Persian service of
Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) said here on Friday.
Based on a contract concluded between the Iranian company, Arvandan and
Armenia’s Hayrussgasard Co., the Iranian side has managed to finish
the digging of a 22.5 km long trench for the project, the report
quoted Shushan Sardarian, an official with Hayrussgasard as saying.
The length of the Armenian part of the gas pipeline from the border
region Meghri to Kajaran is 42 kilometers.
Pipe laying operation, as the next phase of the project to carry Iran’s
gas to the Transcaucasian republic, is expected to be completed by
the Iranian side by the end of 2006, the report added.

International Journalist’s Network –
Aug. 25, 2006
Changing Channels: Journalism education in Armenia
Region :None
Country :Armenia
Topic :Basic Journalism
25/08/2006
Professor Lazarian works with his students in the school’s computer
room.
If universities move with glacial swiftness, then you might call
Professor Aram Lazarian the man who melts glaciers. In little more
than a year, he has persuaded Yerevan State University in Armenia to
adopt an entirely new approach to teaching journalism.
Journalism education at most universities in post-Soviet states has
not changed much since the fall of the Soviet Union. Curricula are
theoretically and historically based.
Margie Freaney, a former Knight Fellow in Slovakia and the founding
academic director of the Caucasus School of Journalism in Tbilisi,
Georgia says, “Few [university] instructors have any practical
experience themselves as journalists.”
Typically, students don’t write and report or shoot and edit. They
simply listen to lectures, read, discuss and regurgitate. As a
result, says Freaney, “Students graduate with no useful professional
skills.”
Aram Lazarian has dedicated himself to changing that.
Lazarian is a product of Yerevan State University, having gotten his
undergraduate and doctorate degrees there. But he’s traveled
extensively, and what he saw at western universities inspired him:
students writing stories, shooting video cameras, designing web
pages. When he saw colleges with their own radio and television
stations where students produced live newscasts, he instantly
recognized that journalism is a profession one learns by doing.
“It became one of my personal goals,” says Lazarian, “to make a
drastic change [in the way we teach journalism].”
With funding from the International Center for Journalists and USAID,
along with approval from a dean who recognized the benefits of a
hands-on curriculum, Lazarian launched a journalism master’s
program. He adopted the model developed by Margie Freaney at the
Caucasus School. Instead of taking multiple classes, students in
Lazarian’s master’s program focus on specific topics for days or
weeks at a time.
The pilot program consists of six woman graduate students. All had
completed their undergraduate degrees at Yerevan State. And, all were
accustomed to the standard, hands-off curriculum. They were used to
90-minute classes, not daylong and weeklong projects where the
instructor gives immediate, continuous feedback.
Talk about academic culture shock.
The journalism school students used to study in this classroom.
Universities are slow and deliberative bodies. Adding or changing a
single course takes multiple levels of academic approval. Here was a
professor pushing for instant change who understood both the
possibility and enormity of the challenge.
As Lazarian says, these six students “became very quickly responsive
to these new methods.” Instead of talking, they were doing.
Instead of writing papers, they were writing news stories. Instead
of reading about photography, they were shooting the camera. All six
give the program high marks.
“In the other [classes], we only speak about these things, but here
we go about doing everything by ourselves,” says graduate student
Hasmik Lazarian (no relation to Prof. Lazarian).
Now the students enjoy this computer room to complete their projects.
And they can do it themselves for three reasons: small class size,
the necessary equipment, and qualified instructors. All instructors
recruited by Lazarian for the pilot year have extensive professional
experience, such as former NPR reporter Kelly McEvers and former
Knight Fellows Skip Isaacs, Margie Freaney and Tim Spence.
At Yerevan State University, the typical classroom has no computer,
no Internet connection, no video projector: only a blackboard and
chalk. Lazarian’s classroom is wired. Each student has an
internet-connected computer loaded with software.
“I don’t have to go to a computer room and wait,” says Sara Khojoyan,
“I can do my work when I come to class.”
Software provides the technological adjectives and adverbs essential
to today’s multimedia journalists. From Photoshop to Dreamweaver to
Adobe Premier, the students at Yerevan State University are learning
not only how to report but also how to design and deliver stories
across multiple platforms.
“For the first time in my life, I can do it,” says Varduhi Azkaryan,
“I learned more than I imagined, and I am very happy.”
Hasmik Lazarian is more than happy; she knows she’s developing
skills critical to future employment. Says Mkrtchayn, “Without this
equipment, we can’t work. Because it’s impossible to speak about
something – to imagine how to do it -and not to do it by your own
hands.”
The bottom line for journalism education, however, is not whether
students are becoming technologically proficient but rather if the
program is producing better reporters.
Students like Siranouish Gevorgyan recognize that. Says Gevorgvan,
“I believe journalists can change things in this country.”
“The market demands professionally trained journalists” says
Lazarian. “The ultimate goal of our program is to improve
professional journalism education in Armenia.”
And he is certainly doing that.
Margie Freaney, who has trained journalists throughout the region and
taught the business-reporting component of this year’s pilot masters
program, says positive results are “already evident.”
Freaney says, “The six students already have far superior skills as
journalists than their peers who have not had the advantage of a
rigorous professional program.”
Thanks to Professor Lazarian, they are learning journalism by doing
journalism.
Professor Karl Idsvoog is a professor at Kent State University. He
taught the broadcast portion of Lazarian’s master’s program in June
2006.

Globe and Mail, Canada
Aug. 25, 2006
Don’t follow the money
>>From Friday’s Globe and Mail
George Armoyan has no MBA, no CA, no CFA or any other designation
that would qualify him as the best investor in Canada you’ve never
heard of. “I have a WD-Wheeler Dealer,” he says with a laugh.
The fast-talking, Syrian-born Armenian wheels and deals more cleverly
than just about anyone on Bay Street. But he doesn’t work on the
Street, and he invests in businesses that don’t show up on his
rivals’ radar screens. The 45-year-old lives in Toronto, but his
private holding company, Geosam Investments (named after his sons,
George and Sam), is based in Halifax. It controls a public company
called Clarke Inc. that holds transport, warehousing and IT assets.
His investment philosophy is simple: Don’t follow the money. Armoyan
is a value investor who searches for bargains other money managers
have overlooked. Of course, plenty of managers claim they do that,
yet they then stampede like a herd of buffalo to a handful of big
names like Canadian National Railway, Dofasco and the banks.
That’s why true outriders like Armoyan are the wave of the future. He
and his five-man team of accountants and analysts work a niche-they
go after broken, ailing or simply undervalued companies and income
trusts with market values ranging from $50 million to $150 million.
“We’re in the minor league,” he says. “Most institutions do not want
to be involved in these illiquid stocks.”
The Armoyan team will typically buy no more than 20% of a
business-majority stakes are hard to sell-then obtain a seat or
two on the board and go to work. That often means ousting managers,
selling a division, cutting expenses, merging with a competitor or
just telling a compelling story from near the bottom ranks of the
TSX. The job often requires the help of “operators, visionaries and
sons of bitches,” says Armoyan.
The goal is an 18% return on equity on the half-dozen or so
investments the team manages at any given time. One big winner was
Vaquero Energy, a junior oil company. The team bought a stake in
2003, when Vaquero traded at less than $1 a share, and Clarke reined
in the oil company’s risky exploratory drilling program. Soaring oil
prices also helped. Last year, Highpine Oil & Gas bought Vaquero in a
stock swap for about $7 a share.
Clarke itself, a trucking company that had underperformed for years,
also needed a shakeup. Armoyan sacked management and focused
operations. The share price has climbed from about $3 in 2001 to more
than $10 recently. Other holdings have included Halterm Income Fund,
Royal Host REIT, Fishery Products International and Versacold Income
Fund. His worst pick was Hip Interactive, a video game company that
went bust last year.
Although Armoyan runs apart from the Bay Street herd, the herd has
noticed him. Mention of his interest in a stock can send it soaring.
That happened in April, after Clarke disclosed its 11% stake in the
Granby Industries Income Fund. When Clarke sold some units, investors
and analysts got skittish, and the share price sank. “We view [his
sale] as a negative, since Mr. Armoyan may not be bringing his
experience directly to the fund,” said a report by Research Capital.
Armoyan won’t reveal his personal net worth, other than to say, “I
don’t have to work for the rest of my life.” Clarke is certainly
flush-it has $140 million in cash.
That Armoyan has got this far in finance is unlikely, to say the
least. He and his family emigrated from Syria to Boston in 1976. He
then enrolled in Dalhousie University in Halifax because he couldn’t
afford a U.S. school, earned a civil engineering degree and fell in
love with Nova Scotia. A trader and bargain hunter by instinct, he
bought junk at auctions, from canoes to washing machines, and resold
it through newspaper ads. Then he shifted to land development.
In the 1990s, Geosam started buying non-performing loans from banks
and converting the loans into equity in the borrowers’ businesses.
Since then, he’s been a shake-up artist, moving in and out of
companies quickly. Jim MacDonald, chairman of Enterprise Capital, a
leading activist investment fund, says Armoyan is a “very shrewd
observer of companies and goes where others fear to tread.”
What’s next for Armoyan? More-and bigger-deals. He’d like to build
Clarke into a billion-dollar company. “If I had the money, I’d go
hostile after [Bell Canada owner] BCE,” he says. “I think the parts
are worth more than the whole.”
It’s a nice fantasy, but Armoyan should keep sifting through the
weeds, searching for small, tarnished gems while the big boys look
the other way. That will keep him out in front of the herd.

LEVON MELIK-SHAHNAZARYAN: TALKS ABOUT POSSIBLE RETURN OF LIBERATED
TERRITORIES INSULTING
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 25, 2006
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. Talks about possible return of liberated
territories to Azerbaijan are insulting, stated the political scientist
Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan.
According to him, inadmissible is the justification of return of
these territories by the fact that Armenians have not resided there
for the last few decades.
“This means giving up the Armenian people’s territorial claims,
including the ones involving western Armenia, as a bad job, because
Armenians have not resided there for the last few decades either,”
he said. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA THANKS CITIZENS FOR CONDOLENCES ON RUSSIAN TU-154 PLANE’S CRASH
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 25, 2006
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. The Russian Embassy in Armenia expressed
gratefulness to the citizens of the country for sincere condolences
on the crash of TU-154 Russian plane.
“The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Armenia
expresses gratefulness to the authorities, organizations, political
parties, diplomatic missions in Yerevan and all citizens of Armenia,
who conveyed condolences to the Embassy on the crash of plane belonging
to “Pulkovo” Air Company”, noted in the message presented to the ARKA
Agency by the Press Service of the RF Embassy in Armenia.
On August 22, Pulkov Airlines’ TU-154 plane flying from Anapa to St.
Petersburg crashed near Sukhaya Balka village, 45 km away from
Donetsk. All 160 passengers on board the plane, including 45 children
and 10 crew members died.
August 24 was declared mourning day in Russia. S.P. –0-

AMBASSADOR: COMMODITY TURNOVER BETWEEN ARMENIA, UKRAINE ROSE BY ONE-THIRD IN 2006
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 25, 2006
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. Commodity turnover between Armenia
and Ukraine rose by one-third in 2006, Ukrainian Ambassador to
Armenia Alexander Bozhko told ARKA News Agency on Friday at Ukraine
Independence Day celebration party in the embassy.
In his words, commodity turnover between the countries made $110
million last year” and now it grew.
“It means our economic relations are developing”, Bozhko said.
“Ukraine buys more Armenian cognac than Armenians themselves in
Armenia. I think this is an important fact for Armenian partners”,
he added.
The ambassador said Ukrainian metals are in demand in Armenian market.
He stressed that the economic relations were spurred by recent reforms
in Ukraine.
Besides, Poti-Ilichevsk ferry launch has contributed a great deal to
the economic relationship development.
Bozhko said it is very pleasant to him that Vanadzor chemical plant
buy Ukrainian coal.
According to National Statistical Service of Armenia, trade turnover
between Armenia and Ukraine made $88.5mln at the first half of 2006
(export $8.011mln and import $80.549mln) after growing 14.1%, compared
with the same period a year earlier. ($1=AMD 397.76). M.V.
-0—

POLITICAL ANALYST: AZERBAIJANI MILITARY BUDGET BUILDUP IS MERE BLUFF
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 25, 2006
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. Azerbaijani military budget buildup is
nothing more than a mere bluff, an independent political analyst,
Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told journalists on Friday.
In his words, allotted money fails to reach destination and come back
to the pockets of those allotted it.
The expert pointed out that the military equipment Azerbaijan bought
recently from Ukraine and Belarus for $900mln is “scrap metal”. He
said the tanks bought for $1.2mln each were produced in 1941 and
there is no ammunition for them.
“Azerbaijan’s armament doesn’t outstrip that of Karabakh. More than
that – Nagorno Karabakh must be armed 5 times better than Azerbaijan.
“We must do it without looking at international agreements and
quotas. First of all, we have to think about own security”,
Melik-Shahnazaryan said.
Speaking about Azerbaijani army, he said 5 thousand soldiers have
died since 1994 of diseases and hunger.
However, the political analyst thinks that the situation can change.
That’s why he views it necessary to remain vigilant always. M.V.-0—

Garegin II presents condolences on Tu-154 crash
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug. 25, 2006
YEREVAN, August 25 (Itar-Tass) — Head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, Catholicos Garegin II has presented condolences to Russian
President Vladimir Putin in connection with the Tu-154 crash, Holy
Echmiadzin spokesman Vagram Melikyan told Itar-Tass on Friday.
“On behalf of the clergy and the flock of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, we present profound condolences to Your Excellency, families
of the dead and the entire people of Russia,” the message runs.
Garegin II prayed for the crash victims. He also presented condolences
to head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II.

A moment wyh Michael “Red” Berberian
By Sarah Menesale/ Staff Writer
Friday, August 25, 2006 – Updated: 01:24 PM EST
Westborough News, MA
Aug. 25, 2006
Sitting on the porch in his rocking chair, reading the paper and
enjoying the weather is how Michael “Red” Berberian spends most of
his retirement days.
Traffic whizzes by his home on Otis Street, once a skinny dirt
road. Now it’s home to many industrial buildings and soon a housing
complex. Along the porch rail grows tomato plants ripening in the
sun. They’re the last vestiges of a once booming farm.
Berberian, 91, stopped working the fields long ago. Now they’re the
playground of weeds and wildlife. But ask him about his life and
plowing the fields, and he immediately jumps in with a story about
Billy, his horse.
A true character, Berberian is known for his sassy wit and
unpredictability, whether he’s sharing his opinions at Town Meeting
or during his term as a selectman years ago. Plus he’s sure to tell
you he’s Armenian. One friend called him, “always entertaining but
not afraid to get under people’s skin.”
But his cantankerous nature is endearing, and he’s gathered up bushels
of friends over his more than 80 years in town. Many came out for
his 91st birthday earlier this month, gathering at his home on Aug. 6
(his birthday is Aug. 5) to eat hotdogs and hamburgers and toast him.
The sign outside his home for Red’s Farm Stand, while no longer open,
reads “Happy 91st Birthday Red,” and many cars drive by with a honk
in acknowledgment.
The News sat down with Berberian this week to reminisce on a life
well lived, the many changes in Westborough over the past century
and what it’s like to be a farmer.
How did you get your nickname?
I was loaded with freckles and had red hair. They’re all merged now
into one big freckle. I got my nickname when I was really little.
We used to live in Worcester on Chandler Street across from the
Chandler Street School and the cop on the beat used to hold my hand
and walk me across the street saying, “Come on Red.”
How did you get into the farming business and what are your most
vivid memories of that time in your life?
I was born in 1915 and my family moved to Westborough a few years
later. My father bought this 34-acre farm on Otis Street for $1,500.
The only building on it was a chicken coop. The previous owner had
burned the house and barn to collect the insurance money.
I’d get home from school. I was just a little boy, this high (he
raises his arm waist level.) I’d hitch up the horse Billy and start
plowing. On Saturdays and Sundays my whole family used to plow.
My parents, Mike and Agnes, were only home to work the farm on the
weekends. They worked in Worcester. When we were done we started
planting. It was all done by hand. I liked everything about farming.
It was my job. We had cows, goats, cats and dogs. I loved the
animals. I miss the horse more than anything.
I’d take the produce to Salem Square, the farmer’s market, and sell
our crop. Rte. 9 used to be a dirt road with big rocks in it. It used
to take three hours to get there with the horse and wagon.
Whenever the horse needed a break I’d stick a big rock under the wheel
to stop the wagon from rolling down the hill. We had a market garden
so we had all kinds of vegetables.
We used to go swimming in the afternoon after we finished the rows
at Hoccomocco Pond.
How did the farm progress over the years? And why did you stop?
I took the farm over for my parents. We had the farm stand for
years. My wife, Isobel Mitchell used to take care of it. We did a
good business here.
I stopped farming. I don’t want to farm it anymore. And my kids don’t
want to farm it. I enjoy my retirement so much. Now I’m resting on
my laurels. Let the rabbits and woodchucks enjoy it. I’m letting my
farm rest.
I sit on my porch on the rocking chair. A few people visit and sit
with me a few minutes. But, I’m mainly alone.
What was your education like as a self-described “farm boy”?
The farm kids had it all over the city kids. I graduated from
Westborough High in 1933. I wasn’t a dumb kid but I wasn’t the smartest
either. I had to do my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. We
didn’t have electricity. I loved going to school. The bus used to
pick us up right in front of the house.
Armstrong was the superintendent. I don’t remember his first
name. There’s a school named after him now. He gave me permission to
come in later after going to market.
What are some of your favorite memories? When you think about your
life what pops out?
We used to go to Nantasket beach with my mom and dad. They’d buy us a
hot dog or an ice cream cone. It didn’t take much to keep us happy. I
hate salt water. The first time I went swimming I got a mouth full
and that was it. From then on I only swam in fresh water ponds.
I remember the tornado. I had to go pick my sister up at the top
of the street. The wind was whipping by and the chicken coop and a
bunch of bushel barrels went flying by me. Our neighbors never did
give back those bushel barrels.
My wife, who’s from Marlborough, died a few years ago. She used
to work in Worcester and my sister worked in Worcester for two
attorneys. I don’t remember how we met. I think Isobel was going to
Salter’s secretarial school with my sister and she used to come here
visiting with my sister. So that’s how we met. I have three children,
Richard, Cindy and Scott and a couple of grandchildren.
I used to be a selectman. The only thing I hated about it was the
lack of privacy. Someone would call me up at two in the morning
complaining. If I wanted to I could still be a selectman. I was a
good selectman and I was fair to everyone.
My sisters Irene and Betty both died within the last few years.
Irene was a WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp) in the war. I got
deferments because I was working a farm. I belonged to the state
National Guard, that’s the closest I came to Army life.
That’s the nice thing about getting old. You reminisce. I think about
all the things I’ve done in my life. I remember the good people and
the stinkers.
What kinds of changes have you seen in Westborough?
When I was growing up those were the good old days. You knew everyone
in town and they knew you. You went to Town Hall and paid your
bills. Then drove down to Uhlman’s and bought an ice cream cone.
It was a big celebration.
We used to shop on Main Street at the bakery, the butcher, McDonald’s
grocery, the drug store, Chamberlain’s newspaper store, the Strand
theatre. It was all downtown.If you had a dime in your pocket you
were rich.
Now in this country it’s a lot of hurry up and wait. This country is
full of (crap). Everyone has their hand in the till.
We have a nice town, a nice Town Hall and nice schools. The town’s
been good to me and I’ve been good to them.
How was your birthday celebration?
My birthday is August 5. There was a big celebration (held Aug.
6). It was a surprise. There was a sign out front that said “Happy
Birthday Grampy.” The yard was full of cars. It was a hell of
a party. There was grilling and the rotisserie and hot dogs and
hamburgers. Anybody who’s anybody was here.

Karabakh expert: “Azeri propaganda got a backlash from the world community”
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 25, 2006
A few days ago Azerbaijan told the UN, the OSCE and the CE that it is
ready to take part in the extinguishing of the fires over the Nagorno
Karabakh-controlled territories. Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov said
that involved in the operation might be the Azeri ecology and natural
resource and emergency ministries and international organizations.
How can one explain such a strange position? Until now the Azeri
authorities have objected pointblank to any joint activity with
Nagorno Karabakh.
“There is only one explanation to such a strange behavior – this is
required by the international community, who is gradually realizing
that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved unless an
atmosphere of confidence is created between the conflicting sides,
first of all, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, in the
last months Azerbaijan’s information policy on Nagorno-Karabakh and
the Armenian people, as a whole, has been extremely aggressive and
chauvinist, despite the mediators’ assurances that there will be
a breakthrough in the peace process this year. It is obvious that
Azerbaijan’s aggressiveness not just prevents any confidence building
but simply undermines the efforts of the international community,
especially, of the OSCE MG co-chairs,” Karabakh political scientist
David Babayan says in a talk with REGNUM.
He says that the fires Baku is so much talking about were not caused
by Karabakh, but by a strong drought – the strongest in the last five
years. “There are no cultural monuments over those territories.
However, the logic of the Azeri propaganda machines is simple: the
more outrageous the lie is, the quicker people believe it. However,
nobody believed this lie. One proof is the report on the fires by
the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk, who said that the fires were caused by unprecedented heat.
Azerbaijan’s reaction was quite rigid and even unethical. Some
apologies for patriots from top authorities began insulting Mr.
Kasprzyk. Here, I would like to rephrase the well-known proverb:
truth not only hurts but also maddens,” says Babayan.
This notwithstanding, the Azeri propaganda has not only failed to
mislead the international community but has also received a very
negative reaction from it. “The international community refrained from
arguing with Azerbaijan, but advised it to start a joint program to
extinguish the fires – quite a painful decision for Azerbaijan.
That was an effective blow on Azerbaijan, who is now in quite a
delicate situation. The Azeri authorities will now have to tell
their people that they have to contact with ‘the separatists’ who
‘are destroying’ their cultural legacy,” says Babayan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress