THE US EMBASSY COOLS ARMENIAN INSPIREDNESS

A1+
28-02-2005

On Friday the San Francisco Armenian National Committee had
informed that John Evans, the American Ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary to Armenia, had announced during the meeting
with the US Armenian Diaspora that Karabakh cannot be returned to
Azerbaijan. The Armenian National TV Company had informed about it.

Today the embassy has made an announcement hinting that it is early to
be inspired. It is said in the announcement, â~@~Misunderstandings
about the U.S. policy may have arisen as a result of my comments on
the status of Nagorno Karabakh.

The U.S. government supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
and holds that the future status of Nagorno Karabakh is a matter
of negotiation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The United States
remains committed to finding a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict through the Minsk group process. We are encouraged
by the continuing talks between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan under the auspice of the Minsk group co-chairs.â~@~]

–Boundary_(ID_/PJJUhUAwMa9QWGxCBODEA)–

Turkey complains EU about Armenia’s “Chernobyl to be” Nuclear Reactor

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Feb 28 2005

The Armenian nuclear reactor in Medzamor can be the next Chernobyl
according to Turkey and EU. Medzamor plant which is 16 km away from
Turkish Armenian border is among the five most dangerous nuclear plants
in the world. Plant’s Armenia-1 and Armenia-2 units were reported to
have problems. The same plant was shutdown in 1988 due to a powerful
earth quake in the Spitak region of Armenia. The nuclear facility is
on the Eastern Anatolia fault.

But after Soviet’s collapse, the plant was restarted in 1995. Armenia
insists on running the nuclear plant. The high risk reactor may cost
millions of Armenian’s life as it was in Chernobyl.

European Union ordered Armenia to close the nuclear plant.
International Environmentalist groups protested Armenia several
times. A possible earthquake may turn a substantial part of Armenia
into a deserted nuclear area.

JTW

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lawyer maintains Peterson’s innocence
By Kristin Moritz, Desk Editor

Stanford Daily
Feb 28 2005

Mark Geragos, the prominent criminal defense lawyer who recently
represented Scott Peterson, who was recently convicted of killing his
wife, Laci and their unborn son, spoke Friday about his career and
defending clients in highly-publicized trials.

According to sophomore Seepan Parseghian, president of the Armenian
Students Association, which sponsored the event, the group asked
Geragos to speak in order further its goal of “contributing the
Armenian perspective to the Stanford community in an academic and
social context.”

“I am well aware of [Geragos’s] charisma and vibrant personality when
in the spotlight,” Parseghian said. “But I give more emphasis to his
dedication to the Armenian-American community. He has taken on
numerous cases involving a wide range of Armenian issues.”

Geragos, an Armenian American who attended Haverford College and
Loyola Law School, founded a private law firm with his father in 1983
and has specialized in criminal defense work ever since. Geragos said
it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend accused criminals due
to wide-spread media coverage.

“What’s happened with cable TV is that you have a ‘Foxification’ of
criminal law,” Geragos said. “You get these high-profile criminal
cases and the mainstream media covers them in the most sensational
way possible. With the internet, any rumor is quickly picked up and
once it is on cable TV mainstream media feels compelled to run with
the story.”

This “Foxification,” said Geragos, was especially prevalent during
Peterson’s murder trial.

“So many times during the case people were bringing up rumors about
evidence that was not even presented,” he said.

Although jurors convicted Peterson of murdering his wife Lacy and
their unborn son, Geragos maintains Peterson’s innocence. He said he
took the case originally because he felt moved by the scene that he
observed when Peterson was initially brought into custody.

“I became so incensed when he was arrested,” Geragos said. “There was
a throng of people outside holding up signs that he should die. I
never thought that in this day and age that I would see anything like
that. It was a very troubling thing for me to see — someone being
railroaded and confronted by a virtual lynch mob.”

Geragos did not speak specifically about the trial because he is
under a gag-order until Peterson’s sentencing in March. He did,
however, say that much of the press coverage did not accurately
represent the evidence or facts of the case. He attributed much of
this misinformation to the fact that the judge did not sequester
jurors.

“During the course of the case we were able to expose three separate
stealth jurors who lied in order to try to get on the jury,” Geragos
said. “There was so much community fervor against Scott that many of
the jurors wanted to be on the jury because they had their own
private agenda.”

Geragos called what happened on the day of the verdict — thousands of
people lined up outside of the courthouse and cheering the outcome —
“one of the sickest things [he had] ever seen.”

“There is truly nothing worse than to see a guy you believe is
innocent get sentenced to death,” Geragos said.

Although Peterson has not yet been sentenced, upon his conviction,
jurors recommended that he receive the death penalty. Geragos called
capital punishment “abhorrent.”

Junior Louise Nutt is taking a class on the death penalty and came to
the talk specifically to ask Geragos about his opinion on the
subject.

“He brought up a lot of points about the death penalty that I think
are very important, but that people outside of the law don’t usually
hear about,” Nutt said.

In addition to defending Peterson, Geragos has also been involved in
numerous other high-profile cases. In the late 1990s, he represented
Susan McDougal, a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, when
she was tried and convicted on fraud charges related to the
Whitewater scandal.

Despite his role in criminal cases, Geragos called a class-action
lawsuit that he filed for survivors of the Armenian genocide one of
his biggest successes. The suit, which was filed against New York
Life Insurance on behalf of 2,300 Armenian Americans who purchased
insurance policies when they immigrated to the United States during
the genocide, resulted in a $20 million settlement for the thousands
of people who were originally denied the right to collect on their
policies. Part of the settlement was also earmarked for Armenian
charities.

Mazi Pielsticker, a first-year law student, said he enjoyed Geragos’s
speech and appreciated the opportunity to hear such a prominent
lawyer speak.

“I thought he was awesome, very charismatic,” Pielsticker said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman Online, Turkey
Feb 28 2005

Chief Negotiator Needed for Turkey’s EU Negotiations
By Suleyman Kurt
Published: Monday 28, 2005
zaman.com

Ankara has been accused of not doing its homework and slowing down
the reform process, but insists that its work is on schedule.

Turkey has succeeded in making a significant number of political
reforms in order to meet the Copenhagen Criteria over the past two
years, but has not yet determined who its chief negotiator will be
and has not made structural changes to meet the economic criteria
required in the process of joining the European Union (EU) since the
last EU summit on December 17, 2004. Documents such as the Accession
Partnership Document, the Frame Text, and the Political and Cultural
Dialogue Document must be prepared before negotiations begin.

Ankara says the work is underway and that there are no delays in the
process. The government is expected to announce its chief negotiator
within the week and that work will subsequently speed up.

Turkey has been focused on naming its negotiation delegate and on the
adaptation protocol for October 3rd when negotiations begin, but has
not registered much progress in the political arena over the last few
months. EU leaders set forth their expectation of a “sustainable
political reform process” when they gave Turkey a start date for
negotiations at the December 17th summit in Brussels. EU Commission
officials repeat concerns that Turkey has not met the market economy
standards. In this field, if the required structural arrangements are
not achieved in this area, the start of negotiations on economic
topics will be jeopardized. The EU objects to the structures of the
Central Bank and public banks. In addition, it is requiring that
Turkey meet the provisions of the Customs Union.

The approval of the Accession Partnership Document, the Frame Text,
and the Political and Cultural Dialogue Document has been stretched
out to the second half of 2005. In addition to concerns about the
delay, Ankara is worried a out the content of these documents. The
possible inclusion of certain terms will create difficulties for
Ankara, specifically defining Alevi and Kurdish groups as minorities
and statements about Cyprus and Armenia. Turkish diplomats are trying
to ensure that these documents are flawless. The Turkish public has
shared the EU’s interest in Ankara’s choice for chief negotiator,
which will be announced before the “EU-Turkey Troika Meeting” on
March 7th.

Armenian president unhappy about delays in capital construction

Noyan Tapan news agency
25 Feb 05

Yerevan, 25 February: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan held a
working meeting on 25 February with government members on issues of
capital construction. The participants in the meting reported on the
course of project and organizational work on capital construction in
their spheres, the press service of the Armenian president has told
Noyan Tapan news agency. The schedule of their implementation was
approved. The republic’s president demanded that the participants in
the meeting make efforts not to violate the schedule of the work.

Kocharyan expressed his concern over the fact that there have been
delays this year in the sphere of project and construction work on
facilities of capital construction. “In essence, no work has been
carried out for several months, and then beginning from May, we try
to complete the construction work by the end of the year, on a tight
schedule and at the expense of people’s health and the quality of
the work that is being carried out,” the president said.

In order to solve the problem, we can initiate the budget process one
or one and a half months in advance and approve it not in December,
but in November in order to have more time for preparing the draft
documents, conducting tenders, etc., he said.

Kocharyan thinks that it is also necessary to include in the state
budget the construction programmes that have been approved, which
will not only reduce the waste of time, but also make the general
process more specific.

Kocharyan thinks that among the programmes of capital construction,
the situation with the participation of construction companies
in competitions is more problematic and requires a radical
solution. “There is some information that the builders do not believe
in the fairness of competitions. There are cases when people are
forced in advance not to participate in competitions. I just want to
warn you that if this information is confirmed, we will take quite
different measures,” the president stressed.

Kocharyan said it is important to differentiate between customers,
controllers and inspectorates in order to improve the process of
holding competitions, which will cause a clash of interests and make
the process fairer and clearer. In cases involving larger and more
important facilities, we can set up an interdepartmental commission,
the president said.

The president also thinks it is not clear why only one or two companies
are taking part in purchase and construction competitions. “I do
not understand why the price is higher than the market one when an
organization wins the competition. We will follow up these cases. Since
budget allocations to these spheres are growing, we want this process
to be fair and ensure wider participation,” Kocharyan stressed.

Azeri daily questions Karabakh remarks by US envoy to Armenia

Zerkalo, Baku
26 Feb 05

Excerpt from Rauf Mirqadirov’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo
on 26 February headlined “‘Karabakh cannot be given to Azerbaijan as
this will be a disaster,’ the US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans,
reportedly says”

“The idea of separatism in the 20th century is comparable to society’s
taboo on a divorce in the 19th century. The Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents should finally take a political step and move forward,”
the US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, told representatives of the
Armenian diaspora in San Francisco asked about the prospects for the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Regnum news agency quotes the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) as saying.

Evans said that at present, there is no good reason for optimism
about the settlement of the Karabakh conflict because neither Armenia
nor Azerbaijan are close to making their own choice of the conflict
settlement, ANCA reported. Although the USA respects the territorial
integrity of states, “everyone realizes that Karabakh cannot be given
to Azerbaijan as this would be a disaster”, Evans said.

[Passage omitted: details of Evans’s statement and Karabakh discussions
at the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe]

It is worth pointing out right at the start that it is doubtful that
the US ambassador to Armenia has made such clear statements about
the future of Nagornyy Karabakh, especially as this information was
disseminated quoting ANCA, which can hardly be trusted. However,
such statements are another reason to remember the double position
of Western countries, including the USA, on the unsettled conflicts
in the post-Soviet area.

[Passage omitted: statement of former US co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group; international community always declares its support for
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity]

Now let us talk about direct negotiations with representatives of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Armenians. The author of this article has
repeatedly said that Azerbaijan should be more flexible about this
issue. It is hardly expedient to immediately reject direct contacts
with the Nagornyy Karabakh Armenians, especially as the resolution
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which meets
Azerbaijan’s interests on the whole, contains a call for this.

However, as a condition for establishing direct contacts with the
Nagornyy Karabakh Armenians, it is necessary to demand that Armenia
officially recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity within its
internationally-recognized borders. Moreover, this requirement is
fully in line with international legal norms and no-one, not even
the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, will dare to oppose this
position. Azerbaijan should announce that until Armenia makes an
official statement on the recognition of our country’s territorial
integrity, Azerbaijan will regard the Karabakh problem only as a
conflict between the two states.

Armenian leader says Karabakh talks “more intense”

Golos Armenii
26 Feb 05

President Robert Kocharyan has said that Armenia’s negotiations with
Azerbaijan on the disputed area of Nagornyy Karabakh have become “more
intense and there is a slight hope for a result”. In a wide-ranging
interview with the newspaper Golos Armenii, he also called for
Karabakh’s involvement in the negotiations. Kocharyan said that he
would like to see a strong opposition in the country because “a weak
opposition corrupts power and stimulates apathy in society as people
have to compare bad with very bad”. The following is an excerpt from
Marina Lazarian and Lana Mshetsyan’s report by the Armenian newspaper
Golos Armenii on 26 February headlined “‘I would suggest to abandon
any comparison with Baku’, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said”;
Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

A large number of questions was asked during a hotline with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan. The questions were virtually from all
over Armenia, members of the diaspora, CIS countries as well as from
Azerbaijan. Alas, as always, this time too, we had failed to pass on to
the president all the questions received from our readers. Therefore,
we have chosen the questions only on “hot” topics. But we intend to
forward the remaining questions to the appropriate ministries and
departments. Thus, no question will remain unanswered or open.

[Artur Yesayan, teacher] Mr President, what kind of a status should
Nagornyy Karabakh have?

[Robert Kocharyan] Independence in the foreseeable future and part
of Armenia in the long run.

[Nikolay Markosyan, engineer] Mr President, what do you think of the
fact that there is a large number of Azeris with Iranian passports
in Yerevan at present? Is it not strange that the Iranian citizens
speak Armenian and marry Armenian girls? How would they react in Baku
if they see two Armenians speak Armenian in a public place?

[Kocharyan] Unfortunately, Armenophobia is part of the state
policy of Azerbaijan. The reaction of society in Azerbaijan to the
brutal murder of an Armenian officer in Budapest is a result of
that policy. Moreover, our nations are different in terms of their
perception of the world and in terms of our cultural traditions. The
Sumqayit events could have never happened in Armenia. This is our
strength and not weakness. For this reason I would advise you not to
make any comparison with Baku.

Karabakh

[Andranik Saakyan, engineer] Mr President, don’t you think that the
11-year-long negotiations on Nagornyy Karabakh ended in deadlock
because of Azerbaijan’s non-constructive position? What do you think
will happen next?

[Kocharyan] As long as no practical solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem has been found, people will keep saying the negotiating
process is at a dead end. The world experience shows that such
conflicts cannot be settled quickly. We must work persistently and
consistently towards that end and this is what we have been doing. At
present, the negotiating process has become more intense and there
is a slight hope for a result.

[Internet-newspaper Patriot Day.az, Azerbaijan] Mr President, even if
we assume that Armenia’s military force now equals that of Azerbaijan,
in your opinion how long will this parity be preserved taking into
account the difference between the economic potential of the two
countries?

[Kocharyan] This is one of Azerbaijan’s propaganda arguments. It has
been used since 1989 with a different degree of intensity. This is
what made Azerbaijan start a large-scale war for Karabakh in 1992. It
is enough to have a retrospective look at the press and speeches by
Azerbaijani officials to see that. I think that the economic potential
in the modern world is defined not by the number of the oil barrels
produced, but by the efficiency of the economy. And here undoubtedly
Azerbaijan is lagging behind.

PACE

[Ardan Luros, Canada] Mr President, what do you think of David
Atkinson’s latest report on Karabakh in PACE?

[Kocharyan] That was the report by the former rapporteur Terry Davis,
inherited by Atkinson. Maybe for this reason there is a dichotomy
between David Atkinson’s remarks and the content of the report. There
are positive as well as negative sides in the report. [Passage omitted:
urges experts to prepare reports on conflicts based on facts] I would
suggest not to overestimate the significance of the document. The
real negotiations are being conducted within the framework of the
OSCE Minsk Group.

[Eduard Ayrapetov, physicist] Mr President, Armenia has repeatedly
been saying that the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic should become a party
to the talks in any format. Incidentally it is known that the NKR has
also something to say to Azerbaijan. David Atkinson’s latest report
seems to point to this aspect. How is Armenia going to react to the
“ray of light” in the “dark” report by the British MP? What has the
Armenian Foreign Ministry been doing for the NKR to get involved in
the negotiating process?

[Kocharyan] I think there is an incorrect perception of the NKR
participation in the negotiations. The negotiating process is much
broader than simply meetings between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan. I meet Arkadiy Gukasyan [the NKR president] regularly to
coordinate the negotiating positions. There are also regular visits
by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to the region where they meet the
NKR leadership. By the way, this is the most comprehensive part of
the negotiation process. There are also visits by the OSCE incumbent
chairman’s assistant to the NKR. The NKR is actively involved in
all the processes. At my meetings with the president of Azerbaijan I
represent the interests of Karabakh as well. Certainly we would like
the NKR to be involved in this format as well.

[Passage omitted: reiterates the point, tells Nigar from Azerbaijan
that he has been to Baku and other Azeri towns in Soviet times, calls
for recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turkey,
says the CIS has future and urges better ties with Armenians in
Georgia’s Javakhk]

Russia

[Silva Karapetyan, musician] Mr President, the year of 2005 was
announced a Year of Russia in Armenia. What do you think of the
current level of Armenian-Russian relations?

[Kocharyan] Cooperation between Armenia and Russia in all spheres
continues to grow. The Russian president is expected to pay an official
visit to Armenia in the spring. This will give us a chance to discuss
what has been achieved and define our future cooperation plans.

[Liana Mikaelyan, geodesist] Mr President, has Armenia been
marginalized from many railway projects? What can you tell us about
Armenia’s involvement in the “North-South” transport corridor?

[Kocharyan] No railway project has been kept away from us. We discuss
the involvement in different projects. But we mean the projects that
demand big expenditure. The functioning railways pass though Armenia
and do not demand capital expenditure. They had been frozen due to
political constraints, but might start working at any moment. This
undoubtlessly is an advantage when looking at the figures in any
project.

[Passage omitted: more of the same, Kocharyan disagrees that the
influence of the Armenian Diaspora abroad is weakening and says that
40 per cent of the GDP is formed by small and middle businesses]

Opposition

[Vladimir Gromov, colonel] Mr President, a man as inexperienced in
policy as Stepan Demirchyan has become your real competitor for the
second term. Are you pleased with such an alternative?

[Kocharyan] I will refrain from replying in personal terms and try
to speak generally. The higher the level of the opposition the higher
the level of society. It is obvious that those in power should aspire
to appear better then their opponents. A weak opposition corrupts
power and stimulates apathy in society as people have to compare bad
with very bad. I favour a strong opposition, but not in the sense of
shamefulness or hysteria, but in the sense of a professional level
and organization.

[Passage omitted: generalities on the need to choose right people
for posts]

[Vera Azatyan, scientist] Mr President, the opposition promises to
stage a revolution in April, similar to the revolutions in Georgia
and Ukraine. But it is obvious that those revolutions were done
on order. Is there a danger of a revolution like that happening in
Armenia with the help of Western subsidies? How can we protect our
country from this?

[Kocharyan] An effective and energetic team, a targeted social policy
and a balanced foreign policy are the best guarantors of stability. If
the authorities are weak, there will always be somebody who will try
to undermine them even further. The existence of many unhappy people
would mean that somebody might decide to enlist their support.

[Passage omitted: talks more about Georgian and Ukrainian revolutions,
Kocharyan says he prefers to work more and talk less, the president
talks about gasification problems, natural resources and promises
more jobs and better economy and talks about the need for optimism].

Business

[Roza Babayan, musician] Mr President, why only sons of top officials
become successful businessmen in Armenia? Does that mean that all
the others are lacking in talent?

[Kocharyan] More than 50,000 businesses have been registered in the
country, more than 34,000 have been paying taxes. In 2004 1,500 new
firms were registered. I can assure you that there aren’t that many
children of the country’s top officials among the businessmen.

[Passage omitted: reiterates the point and denies corruption in the
education system.].

German opposition submits motion urging Turkey to examine killings of Armenians

AP Worldstream
Feb 27, 2005

Germany’s conservative opposition has submitted a parliamentary motion
calling for Turkey to examine its role in the killing of Armenians
nearly a century ago, a senior lawmaker said Sunday, drawing criticism
from Ankara’s ambassador in Berlin.

The motion urges the German government to push for Turkey to “look
without reservations at its role toward the Armenian people in the
past and present” and to “champion freedom of opinion in Turkey,
particularly concerning the massacre of Armenians.”

Friedbert Pflueger, a foreign policy spokesman for the opposition
Christian Democrats, said lawmakers deliberately avoided the term
“genocide” and, rather than attacking Turkey, wanted to ensure that it
“faces its history openly.” No date has been set for any vote.

Armenia accuses Turkey of genocide in the killings of up to 1.5 million
Armenians as part of a 1915-23 campaign to force them out of eastern
Turkey. At that time, Armenia was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey remains extremely sensitive to the issue. It denies that the
killings were genocide, says the death count is inflated and that
Armenians were killed or displaced along with others as the Ottoman
Empire tried to quell civil unrest.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations. The German
opposition motion calls for Ankara to normalize ties “immediately.”

Turkey’s ambassador to Germany, Ali Irtemcelik, said the motion
contained “prejudices, factual errors, significant shortcomings of
information and one-sided expectations.”

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s government has been one of Turkey’s
strongest backers in its bid eventually to join the European Union,
but the opposition has argued that it should be offered a “privileged
partnership” rather than full membership.

Georgian, Armenian, Azeri officials visit South Korea

Choson Ilbo web site, Seoul
28 Feb 05

Text of Arirang TV, published in English by South Korean newspaper Choson
Ilbo web site on 28 February

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have a lot in common. All former
members of the USSR, the three countries have been struggling to make
transitions into market economies since the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991. Carrying out widespread reforms has led to steady
growth and lower inflation. But they are still battling issues like
poverty and high unemployment rates, problems Korea faced in the 60s
and 70s in the aftermath of the Korean War.

Officials from the Caucasus nations, are in town to learn about Korea’s
economy, especially how the country was able to emerge so quickly
from the ruins of the Korean War and into an economic powerhouse. The
officials say there is much to be learnt from Korea’s experience,
from both its successes and failures.

One area of great interest for these countries that are used to a
centrally planned economy is how to effectively lead the economy under
democratic conditions. “Strengthening the capacity of the state as
a planner and as a developer and supporter of the private sector is
critical for Georgia and Korea has very good experience. And this
is what we would like to primarily learn from your experience,”
said one official.

Officials are also taking the chance to increase bilateral cooperation
by inviting Korean investors to their countries. These countries hope
to benefit from technological help to fully utilize their resources
and successfully develop their economies. Increasing bilateral
ties is expected to be mutually beneficial. “By strengthening
the relationship between Korea and these countries, I think we can
enhance our international status. Not only diplomatic but also economic
status, because they have many good natural resources. We can have good
opportunity to secure those natural resources like oil and minerals,”
said one Korean official. Also for Korea, enhancing ties with the
three countries located at the strategically important area linking
Asia and Europe may open a new route to Southwest Asian countries.

LADWP Science Bowl XIII Results: Venice High School Captures Title; Team Wins
Fifth Regional Trophy, First Since 1997; North Hollywood ”A” Team Places
Second and ”B” Team Third

Business Wire
Feb 27, 2005

Granada Hills Charter High School “B” Team Places Fourth

Venice High School won first place today in the annual LADWP Science Bowl
Regional Competition.

The Venice High School “A” Team will receive an all-expense paid trip to
Washington, D.C. to represent the city of Los Angeles at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s National Science Bowl April 28 to May 2, 2005.

“The Venice High School Science Bowl Team will represent Los Angeles very
well. The team demonstrated great skill and determination. We are proud of them
and all participating teams,” said Melinda Rho, chair of the LADWP Science Bowl
Volunteer Steering Committee.

“Science Bowl not only recognizes academic excellence, but provides
outstanding platforms to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in technical
fields while also helping them develop teamwork skills and to ‘think on their
feet.’ These skills are invaluable to future employers, such as LADWP, in
maintaining a technologically current and motivated workforce,” said Robert K.
Rozanski, LADWP Chief Administrative Officer.

The winning team members are Captain Jonah Rosenthal, Nicole O’Keefe, Seth
Rotkin, D’Amico Lorenzo and Andrew Bernstein. Their coach is Richard Erdman.

The competition at the National Science Bowl is expected to be tough. A total
of 66 regional finalists are expected from 40 states, the District of
Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year, 11,000 students will participate in
regional competitions.

Each Venice High School “A” Team Member receives the Hitachi Scholarship of
$1,000. The school will receive the LADWP prize of $2000 for science
instructional materials or equipment and a trophy. As runner-up, the North Hollywood
High School “A” Team members will each receive the LADWP $1000 U.S. Savings Bonds
Scholarship. The school will also receive a trophy and $1750 for the purchase
of science materials.

North Hollywood High School’s “B” Team placed third. The school will also
receive $1500 in science materials or equipment from LADWP and a trophy. Team
members will receive a $300 IEEE Scholarship. Fourth place team, Granada Hills
Charter High School’s “B” Team earned $1250 for science materials and a trophy
for the school with students receiving an Office Depot purchasing card of $200
from LADWP.

Members of the runner-up North Hollywood High School “A” Team include Captain
Jensen Law, Jennifer Yeh, Clifford Shin, Timothy Hsieh and Alex Yen. The
coach is Len Soloff. North Hollywood High School “B” Team Members are Melisa Lin,
Denise Ye, John Chen, Matthew Kim and Joseph Chang. Coach is Rishita Shah.

Granada Hills Charter High School “B” Team Members are Marena Lin, Angela
Liu, Alan Nam, Jared Needle and Steven He. Coach is Bob Demetrion.

In addition to the regular buzzer competition, the special Franklin Lu
Hands-On Competition was held. The competition is named for Franklin Lu, an
electrical engineer and devoted Science Bowl Volunteer, who passed away suddenly in
Nov. 2001. This year the competition involved a series of brain twisting
puzzles.

In this competition Downtown Business Magnet High School placed first. The
school was awarded the Franklin Lu Hands-On Trophy. Each team member received an
Office Depot purchasing card for $250 from LADWP.

Second place was presented to TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School. Team
members received purchasing cards to Office Depot for $200 from LADWP. Third
place was won by Hamilton High School. Each team member received a purchasing card
to Office Depot from LADWP for $150. And fourth place was won by Gardena High
School. Each team member was awarded a purchasing card to Office Depot for
$100.

The LADWP Science Bowl follows a fast-paced game show format in the style of
the vintage “General Electric College Bowl” academic quiz show. Team members
answer toss-up questions worth four points in order to earn the right to answer
10 point bonus questions. The team with the most points wins the match.

During today’s competition more than 150 individual matches were held, 126
during the morning’s round robin league play and the remainder in the
afternoon’s Double Elimination Championship Tournament of 16 teams. A total of 42 teams
from 26 public, private and parochial high schools participated during the
LADWP Science Bowl.

Subjects cover computer science, biology, physics, earth science, chemistry,
astronomy, mathematics and new advances in technology.

In addition to LADWP and the U. S. Department of Energy, local event sponsors
include the Hitachi Southern California Regional Action Committee, the
Hitachi Foundation, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
the San Fernando Valley Engineers’ Council, the Water and Power Community Credit
Union, and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Annually, about 100 volunteers, mainly LADWP employees and their families,
serve as moderators, timekeepers, and scorekeepers at the regional competition.

The LADWP Science Bowl is an official, regional qualifying tournament of the
U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl. This year local tournaments
will be held in 66 regions located in some 40 states, the District of Columbia,
the Virgin Islands and American Indian Nations. Nine regional competitions
are held in California including one at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for
schools outside the city of Los Angeles. Annually, more than 11,000 students from
1800 high school participate in the National Science Bowl program.

LADWP is one of only a few utilities in the nation that is a coordinating
regional sponsor and host. LADWP is also involved in a number of educational
partnership and community programs including the Teacher Workshops, Youth Service
Academy and the Adopt-A-School Program.

Further information about LADWP education programs can be received from the
LADWP web site at, , clicking on the Community and Safety Section
and then Educational Services.

LADWP, the nation’s largest municipally owned utility, has provided service
to city residences and businesses for more than a century.Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power Walter Zeisl, 213-367-1342 or 213-792-5521 (cell)
Kimberley Hughes, 213-367-4417 or 213-792-9599 (cell)