PRESS RELEASE
A.R.F. Shant Student Association
104 N. Belmont Street, Suite 306 Glendale, CA 91204
Tel: 818-462-3006
Fax: 866-578-1056
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Chris Minassian
October 17, 2005
CATHOLICOS ARAM I MEETS WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS IN LOS ANGELES; STRESSES
IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE, FAITH, AND IDENTITY
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, met
with Los Angeles area college students on Thursday, October 13, at
Glendale Community College (GCC). The Special Student Forum with the
Catholicos was organized by a coalition of local student organizations
chaired by the ARF Shant Student Association (ARF SSA) and comprised
of the Armenian Youth Federation and Armenian Student Associations of
University of California Los Angeles, GCC, and Loyola Marymount
University. His Holiness Aram I, who was accompanied by Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy, discussed
issues of importance to Armenian-American students in local
universities and colleges.
Opening remarks were made by Dr. Armine Hacopian, Clerk of the GCC
Board of Trustees, who greeted the Catholicos and recognized several
public figures in attendance, including Glendale Councilman Ara
Najarian and other City and College officials. ARF SSA Executive
Board Member Krikor Krikorian then made remarks in Armenian, thanking
the Catholicos for his presence and commitment to Armenian youth and
invited His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian to the podium to
introduce the Catholicos.
The Archbishop spoke about the education, accolades, and experiences
of the Catholicos. He noted that the Catholicos, who holds multiple
masters degrees and a PhD, is not only a spiritual leader but a
tremendous intellectual. He went on to congratulate the Catholicos
for becoming the first person to be re-elected to the position of
Moderator of the World Council of Churches and welcomed the Catholicos
to the podium.
In his pontifical address to those in attendance, His Holiness Aram I
spoke of the importance of knowledge, faith, and preservation of
identity in society. He stressed the significance of the youth’s
active involvement and responsibility as not only the future leaders
but present leaders of the community. Additionally, the Catholicos
spoke about maintaining cultural characteristics and values in a world
increasingly homogenized by globalization and commercialization.
An open dialog ensued between the Catholicos and the attending
students, during which the Catholicos answered questions on a variety
of topics ranging from spirituality to materialism.
On behalf of the event’s organizing coalition, Levon Baronian, former
president of the CSUN Armenian Student Association and administrator
of the Armenian Network of Student Clubs (), thanked the
Catholicos and Prelate for helping make the event a reality. He then
introduced Dr. Levon Marashlian, Professor of Armenian Studies at GCC,
who concluded the event with his closing remarks.

Glendale News Press
Published October 15, 2005
WRITING THE RIGHT
One sneeze or two, it’s up to you
ANI AMIRKHANIAN
Armenians are superstitious people. The act of warding off evil and keeping
away bad luck is an essential part of life for the most superstitious
Armenian.
Most superstitions have to do with luck. Everyone wants to have good luck
and people take measures to achieve that luck.
I have never been very superstitious. The occasional knocking on wood or
keeping fingers crossed is as far as I’ve gone to have some luck come my
way.
In many cultures, an animal or mythical creature, is a symbol of luck. The
elephant, for example is considered to lucky in Thailand.
The Armenian people consider the “kapoot achk,” or blue eye, lucky. That
doesn’t mean whoever has blue eyes is the luckiest person in the world.
A blue eye charm is hung often on the front mirror of a car or on a chain as
a necklace. The blue eye keeps away the “evil eye” and is to prevent bad
luck from occurring.
Many people actually have more than one blue eye charm. An entire set of
stringed blue eyeballs is also common as a necklace or bracelet.
Other superstitions are a bit more abstract. When traveling, it is always
customary, well, more of a superstition again, to throw water on the path of
the traveler.
My mother is the official “water thrower” in the family. She will stand
holding a glass of water and as soon as the traveler drives away in their
car, she will throw the water after them.
Since water is symbol of life, it also represents purity, as if to say “may
your travels be righteous with God on your side.”
Another superstition has to do with sneezing. This may sound a bit absurd,
but it is one of those superstitions that many Armenians take seriously.
It is always said that two sneezes are better than one. If you sneeze once,
you should follow it with another.
Sneezing twice is particularly important when one is engaged in a
conversation about the future or an upcoming event.
Armenians believe that if you sneeze once your future goal will less likely
be achieved. But a second sneeze will take away all the ills or devastations
that may stand in the way of achieving your goals.
I have relatives who believe deeply in this superstition. They will worry,
and even be alarmed, if the second sneeze does not follow.
During a conversation, it is best to refrain from sneezing, because if one
sneezes, they are expected to have a second one on the way.
I have engaged in conversations with people who have stopped and asked me to
sneeze again.
“Sneeze again, bring another one,” is often the request. The request is
usually followed by a long pause, where they await the second sneeze.
Sneezing becomes a requirement and if one ceases to sneeze for a second
time, a stern look is often returned that translates to “you are doomed.”
So when it comes to Armenian superstitions, it’s helpful to be familiar with
them before entering into an Armenian household.
They provide a glimpse into the culture.
* ANI AMIRKHANIAN is a news assistant. She may be reached at (818) 637-3230

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 10 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
THE PRESS RELEASE OF THE NATIONAL STATISTICS SERVICE
In the academic year of 2005-2006, there are 236 secondary schools
and colleges instead of the 237 of the previous year. The number of
children at schools is 21 639, having decreased by 325 or 1.5 per
cent since the previous year. This year 2339 children went to school,
having increased by 205 since the previous year. The number of pupils
in each region is: in Stepanakert 7256 (against 7332 last year), 38.2
per cent of the total number of schoolchildren, Askeran region 2657
(2719) 12.3 per cent, Hadrut region 1985 (2037) 9.2 per cent,
Martakert region 2674 (2649) 20.7 per cent, Martuni region 4018
(4105) 18.6 per cent, Shahumian region 537 (552) 2.5 per cent, Shushi
region 810 (799) 3.7 per cent, Kashatagh region 1702 (1771) 7.9 per
cent.

Harold Doan and Associates (press release), CA
Oct 13 2005
EBRD board to Georgia & Armenia
Oct. 12 2005
Press Release – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Directors from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
are on a seven-visit to Georgia and Armenia. They are meeting senior
government officials and business leaders in the respective
countries, as well as investors and representatives of the
international and diplomatic community and civil society.
The EBRD’s board of directors represents the Bank’s 62 public
shareholders, rather than its executive arm, and approves all Bank
projects. The goal of the visit is to learn more about the state of
reforms and transition in the region as the Bank prepares its new
two-year strategy for Armenia, due before the end of 2005. Both
Georgia and Armenia participate in the Bank’s 2004 Early Transition
Countries (ETC) initiative, which aims to stimulate market activity
in the Bank’s seven lowest-income countries of operations by using a
streamlined approach to financing more and smaller projects.
The Bank’s cumulative commitments in Georgia, which is pursuing
structural reform and a large-scale privatization programme, stood at
319.6 million in August 2005. The EBRD’s main strategic orientations
for Georgia focus on the promotion of private-sector activity and
investment through support for domestic and foreign investors, small
and medium-size enterprises to build stability in the power sector
and enhance the investment climate. In Tbilisi, the seven EBRD
directors will meet President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister
Zurab Nogaideli, National Bank President Roman Gorsiridze and
Parliament Chairwoman Nino Burjanadze.
The Armenian economy continues to perform encouragingly in 2005,
recording a growth rate of 11.7 per cent in the first eight months of
the year, in line with the average of the past four years. Foreign
direct investment inflows were sharply higher in 2004, poverty on the
decline, fiscal performance improving and public debt sustainable.
Total EBRD investment in Armenia was 32.1 million in May 2005. The
EBRD delegation will meet President Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan and key ministers. The Bank is considering a
variety of new equity investments and cooperation with Armenia’s
strengthening banking sector to bring more financing to smaller
businesses.

;file=article&sid=6387
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Egoyan Rips into Pop Culture Icons in “Where the Truth Lies”

October 15, 2005
In the 1950s, there was no greater entertainment team than manic
comedian Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and suave singer Vince Collins
(Colin Firth). There was also no team with bigger secrets to hide,
including the truth behind how a female corpse managed to turn up in
their hotel room one inconvenient evening. In bringing his adaptation
of Rupert Holmes’ novel, “Where the Truth Lies,” to the screen, Atom
Egoyan follows an ambitious writer’s (Alison Lohman) investigation
into the mystery of a decades-old crime, and in the process once again
explores the many ways humans revise their pasts to salvage their
presents. IFC News’ Dan Persons had an opportunity to speak with the
director: Just a wild guess: The title’s what first attracted you to
the project.
It’s a title that could kind of serve as a guide to a lot of the work
that I’ve done. But I think it was an enormously entertaining and
vivid window into American pop culture that Rupert Holmes provided. I
was delighted by the book and the possibilities, but the latent theme
that the title suggests was compelling as well.
There are several levels to the romanticism in “Where the Truth Lies:”
There’s the otherworldliness of the sequences in the TV studio, but
even when you move out of that environment, you’re dwelling in a
stylized world.
But only because one of the characters, Lanny Morris, is trying to
present that stylized world. He has an agenda with the way he’s trying
to present what his life meant at that time, what his life was geared
towards at the height of his fame. The Kevin Bacon character, in his
voice-over — purportedly writing his autobiography — is trying to
present a version where everything, and anyone, was available to
him. He was this voracious, lascivious, erotic being moving through
countless women, so it behooves his legacy to sustain that.
He does that very meticulously, but we find out that that’s not the
case.
There are obvious parallels between Vince and Lanny and the real-life
team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. What was the line you had to walk
to make the characters stand on their own?
Well, in the book, they’re actually modeled after [Martin and Lewis],
and I found that very distracting. I wanted to create an act that
didn’t exist, but which people felt could have existed. There’s a
whole kind of history of duos that we’ve lost a sense of, because we
don’t have teams anymore in our popular culture. There’s a Freudian
make-up to them, which is based on a sort of ego/id principle: One is
unleashed, very impulsive, and the other is always trying to civilize
and tame him. It’s a recurring sort of construction, and I just
thought, Why don’t we look at this idea of the Englishman, the
ultimate civilizing influence, and how that intersects with American
culture at that time? You did have these people like Noel Coward and
David Niven and Rex Harrison, even Peter Lawford — kind of suave and
the picture of etiquette — trying to tame someone else, trying to
keep a lid on it. That just seemed an interesting way to construct a
team. We worked on that and scrupulously avoided direct references to
Martin and Lewis.
Am I off-base in thinking you don’t have any romantic regard for the
past? I’m certainly fascinated by the role of sentiment in the way we
construct our sense of what the past is about, the ability to
manipulate and present histories that may not have been what they seem
to be, but which have a powerful hold over our subconscious
otherwise. Those can sometimes be romantic constructions, and often I
will create a view of something which seems to be loaded with a
romanticism, only to have that deconstructed, ultimately, just because
the characters are trying to arrive at some sort of clarity. But I’m
also trying to create an atmosphere which is seductive and which draws
us in, so I will use any one of a number of stylistic devices to do
that. So sometimes the music can be very romantic, and there’s a type
of imagery which seems to suggest another world, but my goal is to
arrive at something with as much clarity as possible.
“Where the Truth Lies” opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 14,
rolling out to other cities in subsequent weeks. For more on the film, see the
_official site._ ()
IFC is IFC is a network of _Rainbow Media Holdings LLC_
() ,a subsidiary of _Cablevision Systems
Corporation_ () a network of _Rainbow Media
Holdings LLC_ () ,a subsidiary of
_Cablevision Systems Corporation_ ()

Review: ‘Where the Truth Lies’ Matters
By CHRISTY LEMIRE
.c The Associated Press
AP Movie Critic
The menage a trois that serves as the climax of “Where the Truth
Lies” has prompted a bit of a tizzy since the film screened at Cannes
in May.
The scene – featuring Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth as
Jerry-and-Dean-type ’50s entertainers and Rachel Blanchard as a hotel
employee who gives new meaning to the term “room service” –
initially was considered racy enough to merit the dreaded NC-17 rating
from the Motion Picture Association of America. Bernardo Bertolucci’s
“The Dreamers” was in a similar quandary last year. It went out with
the NC-17 tag; “Where the Truth Lies,” meanwhile, will appear with
no rating – which filmmakers can opt to do.
After seeing the film, though, you’re left to wonder: Is that all
there is?
Yes, the sex is sexy, but that’s not the point. It’s in no way
shockingly graphic – it’s not like “9 Songs” or “Sex and Lucia.”
Presumably it’s the implication of what these characters are doing
that’s got people all worked up.
Which is a shame. Because there’s a lot more going on in Atom Egoyan’s
film that’s worth thinking about afterward – namely the mood, which is
glitzy and sumptuous; and the performances, which are striking and
even surprising, especially from Firth as the Dean Martin figure.
It’s a joy to watch him play the bad boy after a string of gentlemanly
roles in period pieces and the “Bridget Jones” movies.
And Bacon seems to be channeling Jerry Lewis in full swagger, though
he’s even more effective when his character is long past his prime,
trying to look cool with sideburns and an ascot but sadly aware of the
neediness beneath his bravado.
But here’s something else you may find yourself asking afterward: Is
Egoyan serious?
With this tale of sex, death and deception, which the director adapted
from the novel by Rupert Holmes (yes, the pina colada song guy), he
wallows so devilishly in the conventions of film noir, he approaches
parody. The melodramatic voiceover (courtesy of Alison Lohman as the
intrepid girl reporter), the glamorous and gritty settings, the
obsession with the ugly side of show business – Egoyan takes them all
and whips them up into a fizzy cocktail that’s intoxicating but also
flummoxing.
Part of the problem is his propensity for jumping back and forth in
time, from 1972 Los Angeles to 15 years earlier, when a beautiful
young fan turned up dead in the duo’s hotel suite bathtub after a
drug- and champagne-fueled threesome. Firth’s Vince Collins and
Bacon’s Lanny Morris were never accused in her death, but the event
destroyed their act and their friendship.
Lohman, as ambitious young entertainment reporter Karen O’Connor, is
assigned to write the story of what happened that night. (“And the
girl, Maureen,” she asks Vince intensely during their first meeting,
just as the music swells. “What happened to Maureen O’Flaherty?”)
But she’s doing so at the same time Lanny is working on his memoirs.
Besides leaping around too frequently in time, Egoyan also jarringly
alternates “Rashomon”-style between Lanny’s version of the events,
Vince’s version (as he tells them to Karen) and Karen’s own take on
what happened as she probes deeper.
Of course they all turn out to be unreliable narrators – and as
evidenced in his earlier films, including “Felicia’s Journey,”
Egoyan likes to provide disturbing twists through the revelation of
his characters’ twisted dark sides.
Karen herself gets entangled emotionally with both men, which lands
her in a drug-induced tryst with a pretty blond in an
Alice-in-Wonderland get-up, the lights from the shimmering backyard
pool illuminating their activities in the living room of Vince’s
modern Hollywood Hills mansion.
Sound like something out of “Mulholland Drive?”
Yes, a great deal of “Where the Truth Lies” comes across as vaguely
David Lynchian, both tonally and in the striking, sometimes glowing
visuals. And it all might leave you with the same feeling you get
after one of Lynch’s films: not totally sure about everything you just
saw, but too dazzled to care.
“Where the Truth Lies,” a ThinkFilm release, is not rated but wow –
name it and it’s probably in there: language, nudity and violence,
sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Running time: 107 minutes. Two and a
half stars out of four.

10/14/05 15:08 EDT

Glendale News Times
Published October 14, 2005
Man accused of murdering his mother
Police plan to file charges against man who called 911 after alleging he
stabbed his mother to death.
By Tania Chatila, News-Press and Leader
NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Police plan to file charges today against a
25-year-old Misak Saakian who called 911 Wednesday saying he had just
stabbed his mother, police said.
Saakian, of Glendale, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder after
police received a call from him claiming he had stabbed his 53-year-old
mother, Gohar Saakian, in their kitchen.
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“The son did call 911 and said that he did kill his mother, and at this time
we do not have a motive as to the reason why,” Glendale Police spokeswoman
Sherri Servillo said.
Police received the call at about 5:30 p.m. and found Misak Saakian in front
of the family’s home, in the 500 block of West Dryden Street, where his
father also lives.
“He was very upset,” Sgt. Ian Grimes said of the unidentified father. “Put
yourself in his shoes.”
Misak and Gohar Saakian were the only two people in the house at the time of
the stabbing, Servillo said.
Gohar Saakian died at the scene of multiple stab wounds to her entire body,
Servillo said, adding that the murder weapon, a knife, was found at the
home.
“Probably, I was the last person to see or talk to her,” said next door
neighbor Herosik Ahmadabadi.
Ahmadabadi, who lived next door for about four years, saw the woman just two
hours before the stabbing.
“I was coming by bus, you know, the stop by Pacific Avenue, and I see her,”
she said. “We came home together — we walked together.”
Ahmadabadi copied the front page of Thursday’s newspaper, and kept it on her
coffee table — a constant reminder of her lost friend.
“I was so shocked,” she said. “I was so upset. I couldn’t believe it. She
was so sweet. We would always talk, like when she would water her lawn, I
would too. Always she told me ‘I’m going to take [Misak Saakian] to church
and I’m going to pray for him. I’m going to pray for him.'”
Ahmadabadi, and her husband, Cass Khodaverdin, said they noticed problems
within the family in the past, but never imagined anything like this would
happen.
“Last night was the worst,” Khodaverdin said. “The mother, father, they were
nice people, but you know, they were unusually quiet. We never heard them
play music. They were never laughing, just always quiet. Not even in at
Thanksgiving or Christmas. And the son, he never had friends over.”
Misak Saakian is being held at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles on
$1-million bond, pending an arraignment at Pasadena Superior Court

PanArmenian.net
Armenian Sunday School Opens in Pskov
15.10.2005 00:03 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ October 15 the opening of a Sunday school of Urartu
Armenian community will be held in the building of the school N14 in Pskov.
According Natalya Volkova, the principal of the school N14, the school opens
for Armenian children, who were born and live in Russia. In her words,
during their weekend classes the children will study Armenian history and
language. The school is founded by Urartu Armenian community with the
support of city and regional authorities. Consul of Armenia, representatives
of the MFA and city administration will take part in the school opening
ceremony, reported Pskovskaya Lenta Novostey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Panorama.am
18:46 14/10/05
NO MONEY, NO STRUGGLE AGAINST CORRUPTION
The Budget of 2006 will distribute 1 billion and 904 million ARMD to the
General Prosecution department of RA, 304 million more from the previous
year. As the general prosecutor of RA Aghvan Hovsepyan noted that the
Prosecution’s building needs reconstruction. To the question what kind of
measures the prosecution initiates to struggle against corruption A.
Hovsepyan said, `The government doesn’t provide additional measures for
straggling against corruption’, and added, `We have already established two
departments for struggling against corruption and trafficking ‘.
/Panorama.am/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Panorama.am
17:04 14/10/05
10 LITER PETROL PER DAY
>From the next year, duty machines of the government instead of 4 liter
petrol per day will waste 10 liter. Such kind of benevolence of the
government is connected with the budget of 2006, i.e. the expenses of the
government has increased with 6.7 billiard, 3 billion of which is overseen
for increasing the salaries.
The executive could normalize the expenses of communication and electricity,
the number of machines as well. For example, the number of duty machines for
the presidential staff will be 63 (there are 40 this year). /Panorama.am/