Omaha World Herald (Nebraska)
July 14, 2004, Wednesday
UNMC’s wide reach Omaha-based medical instruction is helping
developing countries.
When a nursing student in the Nebraska Panhandle has a question, the
University of Nebraska Medical Center can provide the answer.
With more than 75 online nursing courses available statewide, UNMC is
providing an important service.
Now the reach of UNMC, in collaboration with the Nebraska Medical
Center, is slowly being extended further — to the other side of the
globe.
In all, UNMC has some 40 cooperative agreements with medical
institutions around the world. About 15 of the agreements are
particularly active. Just a few weeks ago, UNMC officials signed four
cooperative agreements with hospitals in China while accompanying
Gov. Mike Johanns on a trade mission to East Asia.
Harold Maurer, UNMC’s chancellor, has encouraged such international
efforts, which have become reality through the work of such staff
people as Nizar Mamdani, executive director of the Office of
International Healthcare Services; Dr. Ward Chambers, associate
professor of cardiology; Sheila Ryan, a professor in the College of
Nursing; and Donald Leuenberger, vice chancellor for business and
finance.
Ryan, for example, has worked to establish links with nursing staff
in several developing countries. The connections she has forged with
Armenia are particularly impressive. The same types of nursing
courses available throughout Nebraska are now available to students
in that former Soviet republic, which remains wracked by instability.
Significant, too, has been UNMC’s efforts in Afghanistan, another
country attempting to climb out of upheaval. As noted in a
World-Herald story by staff writer Stephen Buttry, Chambers has
visited the Afghan capital five times to cement ties between UNMC and
Kabul Medical University.
It would be hard to exaggerate the severity of medical needs in
Afghanistan. The country’s infant mortality rate is the highest in
Asia. Ninety percent of women do not have prenatal care. One-quarter
of children die before the age of 5.
In the wake of decades of war, Afghanistan’s hospitals and medical
schools have enormous needs, Chambers says. Many hospitals lack
running water and electricity. The country has no magnetic resonance
imaging scanners, efficient computers are scarce, and medical
textbooks are out of date.
UNMC has the potential to do tremendous good by establishing online
medical instruction and other assistance for Afghan medical students.
These efforts display great vision. UNMC is demonstrating an
impressive generosity as it extends a helping hand to those who need
it, not just here in the Midlands, but even on the other side of the
world.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
July 18, 2004 Sunday ALL EDITION
Midwest Passages
MIKE MAGNUSON AND JUDITH CLAIRE MITCHELL
Former Menomonee Falls resident Mike Magnuson (author of “Lummox”)
returns to the Milwaukee area this week to read from his new book,
“Heft on Wheels,” a memoir about a big man’s determination to turn
his life around.
Magnuson weighed 250 pounds a few years ago. Booze, cigarettes and a
rotten diet were his way. But he joined a biking club — and began
cycling slowly as part of a balanced diet-and-exercise routine.
Instead of being nuts on parties, he became nuts on cycling.
The man is 175 pounds today and cycles in tournaments. “Heft on
Wheels” is a humorous look at a makeover. Magnuson, now head of
Southwestern Illinois College’s creative writing department, has
arranged his book tour to Milwaukee to coincide with Saturday’s
Downer Avenue bike race. Yes, he plans to ride.
A few years ago, a friend gave University of Wisconsin-Madison
creative writing teacher Judith Claire Mitchell a stack of letters to
read.
They were written by the friend’s great aunt, who had been a YMCA
volunteer in France in 1919. One of the letters mentioned an Armenian
who lost his family during deportations.
Mitchell used that tiny thread to begin weaving her debut novel, “The
Last Day of the War.”
She reads on Wednesday from this love story between a Jewish girl
from St. Louis and an Armenian-American soldier in Paris at the end
of World War I.
IF YOU GO
What: Talk Who: Mike Magnuson When and where: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Harry
W. Schwartz Bookshops, 2559 N. Downer Ave.
What: Discussion, reading Who: Judith Claire Mitchell When and where:
7 p.m. Wednesday at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, 4093 N. Oakland
Ave., Shorewood.

PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel; 514-276-9479, Fax; 514-276-9960
Email; [email protected] Website;
ON THE OCCASSION OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANADIAN ARMENIAN
DIOCESE PILGRIMAGE TO STE. ANNE DE BAUPRE
Among the many events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the
establishment of the Canadian Armenian Church Diocese, perhaps the
most significant and memorable could be considered the three-day
pilgrimage on the weekend of July 9-11 to Quebec City’s Ste. Anne de
Baupre Shrine. This was the initiative of Rev. Fr. Zareh Avak Kahana
Zargarian, Pastor of Toronto’s Holy Trinity Church, and organized by
the Church’s Christian Education Council, under the auspices of His
Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, Primate.
In the afternoon of July 9, about 150 pilgrims arrived from Toronto to
Montreal, where they were greeted and welcomed by Rev. Fr. Vazken
Boyadjian, Pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral. After a
brief rest, they visited two famous Montreal landmarks – the
St. Joseph’s Oratory and Notre Dame Basilica – where the pilgrims
prayed jointly, then retired for the night in high spirits.
The next morning, some 120 pilgrims from Montreal’s St. Gregory the
Illuminator and Laval’s Holy Cross Churches joined the Toronto group
and the caravan of busses carrying close to 270 pilgrims headed
towards Quebec City, after the blessings and prayers of the Primate,
Rev. Fr. Hayrig Apegha Hovhannisian, Rev. Archpriest Fr. Zareh
Zargarian and guest visitor Rev. Fr. Zaven Avak Kahana
Arzoumanian. The three-hour pleasant journey was marked by religious,
national and popular songs all the way to Quebec City. Upon arrival to
Ste. Anne De Baupre Shrine, the pilgrims were welcomed by the
sacristan of the Shrine Fr. Pallette. The Divine Liturgy was
celebrated on the main altar by the Primate, assisted by
Rev. Fr. Hayrig and Rev. Fr. Zareh. The Altar servers were the young
Deacons and Sub-deacons of Holy Trinity led by senior deacons Nourhan
Ipekjian and Ara Anmahouni. The choir of Holy Trinity conducted by
Mr. Hagop Deukmedjian sang harmoniously throughout the ceremonies,
highly impressing the attending large number of both Armenian and
non-Armenian faithful, who were also joined by the small Armenian
community of Quebec City. It was the first time that Armenian Badarak
was being celebrated in the magnificent Shrine. Darius Gumushian, 21,
says “I am now a pilgrim. Becoming one has taken me to the depths of
Quebec to huge cathedrals that could only be found in books or
television. Here I learned to take nothing for granted and that we are
not only God fearing community on earth. Rethinking with our
counterparts in Montreal and Quebec City is always a good
thing. However, more importantly, the spiritual aspect is most
important by performing the Holy Badarak in other Churches. I believe
we all bonded well and I cannot wait to return to Toronto to share our
experiences with others”.
Following lunch the pilgrims had a tour of the old city and arrived in
Montreal to be hosted to a wonderful and warm reception in Laval, by
the Holy Cross Church. A joyous program extending into the late night
kept everybody in high spirits. “Before coming to the pilgrimage I did
not understand the reason I was going, but now when we have performed
mass at the beautiful churches it felt different. Spiritually, I felt
very good” Saro Sahagian, 19.
On Sunday morning, pilgrims assembled in St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral, where the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Rev. Archpriest
Fr. Zareh Zargarian, assisted by Rev. Fr. Vazken Boyadjian. The altar
servers and the choir singers were from Toronto’s Holy Trinity. Before
the sermon, Fr. Boyadjian welcomed the pilgrims and Fr. Zareh, who had
been the pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator for seven years before
moving to Toronto, said in his sermon that this pilgrimage was a
reaffirmation of our faith in God and in the Mother See of the
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin. In appreciation of the
Primate’s dynamism, Fr. Zargarian presented His Eminence with a
decorative cross as a memory from this historic pilgrimage. Bishop
Galstanian in turn thanked all and presented Fr. Zargarian with an
antique chest cross, wishing him strength and good health in his
mission of service to the church and to our people. “The pilgrimage
to Montreal was very enlightening. I was very surprised by the impact
I received spiritually after this historical event. It was a great
honor for me to be able to celebrate Holy Mass at the Cathedral in
Montreal. The pilgrimage rejoiced and recharged my soul which will
last me through the hardships o this world” says sub-deacon Mher
Torossian, 20.
Following the ceremonies, upon the directive of His Holiness the
Catholicos of All Armenians, prayers for the repose of the souls of
benefactors Alex and Marie Manoogians were conducted. The congregation
then assembled in the Church’s Marie Manoogian hall where a luncheon
was served by the Parish Council and the Ladies’
Auxiliary. Rev. Fr. Zaven Arzoumanian welcomed the pilgrims and
praised the organizers as well as the participants for a unique type
of event to commemorate the Diocese’s 20th anniversary. Fr. Boyadjian
thanked once again the young deacons and presented each one of them
with the Church’s emblem. “I think that this pilgrimage is very
special, because there is a difference in doing the Holy Masses where
we did because there is a history and I really enjoyed it” Haigaz
Mirzoyan, 23.
The gathering ended by Fr. Hayrig’s blessings, and the pilgrims went
up to the Diocesan quarters to receive the Primate’s blessings before
departing for Toronto.
Indeed this has been a weekend full of spiritual revival and joy for
the pilgrims and for the clergy alike.
Department of Christian Education
Information Office

Noyan Tapan, Armenia
July 7 2004
Armenians in Turkey want own radio and TV station

Representatives of the Armenian community of Turkey have filed a
statement to the Supreme Board of Radio Television (RTUK) demanding
broadcasts in Armenian. This demand followed the start of broadcasts
in Kurdish and Assyrian by Turkish Radio and Television. Zaman
Turkish daily reports that the editor of Akos Armenian-language daily
published in Istanbul Grant Dink said that the Armenian community has
launched a donation drive to help it be realized. It is expected that
a total of US$300,000 will be donated. Armenian radio has been a
dream for 10 years, Dink added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Noyan Tapan, Armenia
July 9 2004
`Tsaig’ Gumri TV company is fined for 100,000 drams
The National Committee for TV and Radio made a decision at its July 8
meeting to fine `Tsaig’ JSC for 100,000 drams (180 US dollars). As a
result of monitoring conducted by the Committee it was revealed that
`Tsaig’ TV company has violated the demands of the second part of
Article #10 of the Law on TV and Radio. On May 31 and June 14 the TV
company retranslated show `Windows’ of the Russian TNT TV company.
`Tsaig’ did not signed proper agreement on translation of foreign
programs.
The company has to pay the penalty within 15 days after decision is
made.

Noyan Tapan, Armenia
July 14 2004
“Bridge of hope” and “Mission East” announce a competition on the
theme of disability
“Bridge of hope” and “Mission East” announce a competition “Education
For all” on the theme of disability for the best TV/ Radio/ Newspaper
publication. The aim of the competition is to advocate education and
equal opportunities for people with disabilities by means of
elucidation of the theme in media.
Publications made from July 1 – November 20- 2004 are eligible to
participate in the competition. The results will be finalized on
December 1, 2004 and the winners will be presented with Pentium 4 for
the best publication and special prizes for the best TV program,
Radio program and Article.

BBC News
July 17 2004
Moscow magazine editor murdered

The body of a Moscow magazine editor has been found dead on a city
ring road, Russian media reports.
Prosecutors are treating the death of Payl Peloyan, editor of
Armyanski Pereulok (Armenian Lane), as murder, according to RIA
Novosti news agency.
He was found with knife wounds to his chest and bruises on his face,
a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Earlier this month, editor of Russian Forbes magazine, Paul
Klebnikov, was shot dead in northern Moscow.

Mr Klebnikov was an outspoken critic of Russia’s oligarchs
Russian police said the body of Mr Peloyan was found at the side of
the MKAD highway encircling Moscow at 0700 (0300GMT) on Saturday.
They were reportedly not ruling out the possibility his death was
linked to his work at the Russian-language arts and literature
magazine serving the Armenian community.
On July 9, Mr Klebnikov – a US citizen – was shot four times as he
left his office in the north of the Russian capital.
He had been an outspoken critic of Russia’s wealthy oligarchs.
US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Mr Klebnikov was the
15th journalist to be killed in connection with his work in Russia
since 2000.
The group called on President Vladimir Putin to address what it calls
the “climate of lawlessness and impunity” that has led to the
killings.

AZERI PRESSURE GROUP STOPS HUNGER STRIKE OVER ARRESTED MEMBERS
Ekho, Baku
17 Jul 04
Text of X. Qasimova’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 17 July
headlined “The KLO has stopped the hunger strike”
Activists of the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) stopped their
hunger strike yesterday, the KLO deputy chairman, Barat Imani, has
told Ekho. According to him, the action stopped at 1200 (0700 gmt) at
the request of the chairman of the committee to protect the rights of
the arrested KLO activists, Isaxan Asurov, and lawyer Elcin Qambarov.
Imani said that the hunger strikers agreed with Asurov and Qambarov
that the judiciary could see the hunger strike as pressure on the
court.
“The action caused an outcry in society. But we were simply surprised
at the attitude of MPs from the Karabakh region. With the exception of
MP Karam Aliyev, they did not even try to express their opinion on the
issue. As for Karam Aliyev’s statement on the populist actions of the
KLO activists, we try not to react to utterances of this kind,” Imani
said.
(Three KLO members began a hunger strike on 12 July, demanding the
release of six of their colleagues arrested for protesting against the
participation of Armenian officers in a NATO conference in Baku)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI
July 17 2004
Tourism chief considering in-state jobs strategy
Overseas workers nab much of the summer employment
By SCOTT WILLIAMS
Wisconsin’s top tourism official is considering stepped-up efforts to
promote summer job opportunities in the tourism industry as many
attractions recruit workers from overseas despite unemployment here.

Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin said he has no indication that theme
parks and other popular destinations are intentionally passing over
Wisconsin workers. But he said the state lacks a comprehensive
strategy for matching Wisconsin’s jobless to tourism jobs, which
often go to workers from Poland, Finland or other foreign countries.
A state job center in Wisconsin Dells, for example, has stopped
sending representatives to job fairs in Milwaukee, relying instead on
the Internet to reach job seekers in the state’s largest metropolitan
area.
“There might be a programmatic gap,” Holperin said, meaning not
everyone who needs a job is being reached by existing programs.
Destinations in the Dells, Door County and other popular tourist
spots began wide-scale recruiting of foreign workers, typically
college students, when low unemployment in the late 1990s created a
labor shortage. Although the economy has since gone flat and
Wisconsin joblessness is up, many attractions continue hiring from
out of the country for their summer seasonal help, citing other
forces in the marketplace.
Some say residents who live in Milwaukee and those who live in other
areas of high unemployment cannot be coaxed into relocating for the
summer, and that young people in Wisconsin generally must return to
school before the tourist season ends.
At Landmark Resort in Door County, Personnel Director Joanne Stanzel
has hired several college-aged students from Armenia and Romania,
primarily for housekeeping jobs.
Stanzel said some Wisconsin residents seem uninterested in the
drudgery of scrubbing bathrooms and arranging bedsheets.
“Even in desperate times they don’t want to do housekeeping,” she
said. “It’s sad to say.”
One housekeeper, Lilit Vasilyan of Romania, said she worked as a
waitress in her home country but wanted to visit the United States
this summer to improve her English.
Vasilyan, 20, said she is enjoying her job at Landmark and is most
impressed by Door County’s natural scenery.
“I imagined how it would be,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

The Times (London)
July 17, 2004, Saturday
Celebrating the first Christian nation
by Greg Watts
Greg Watts speaks to the spiritual leader of the world-wide Armenian
Church.
IF YOU happen to walk along Iverna Gardens, a quiet street in
Kensington, London, you will come across a very unusual small,
square, church built of white stone.
This is the Church of St Sarkis, home to members of the oldest
Christian nation in the world, Armenia.
Situated between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, Armenia declared
Christianity the state religion in 301 after St Gregory the
Illuminator converted King Trdat III.
The Armenian Church split with mainstream Christendom in 451 when it
disagreed with the Council of Chalcedon’s declaration that Christ had
two natures, human and divine.
Most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, known as one
of the ancient churches of the East, which are distinct from the
Orthodox churches. Three of the quarters in the old city of Jerusalem
represent the great monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and
Islam. The fourth quarter is home to the Armenians.
The first Armenians to arrive in Britain settled in Manchester in the
19th century. A mixture of textile traders, small manufacturers and
retailers, in 1870 they built the first Armenian church in Britain.
Today, there are an estimated 12,000 Armenians in Britain,
concentrated mainly in London. Apart from St Sarkis, the capital’s
Armenians also worship in nearby St Yeghiche, a former Anglican
church.
Last month, Catholicos Karekin II, the spiritual head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, visited Britain. His itinerary included meetings
with the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
The ties between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Church of
England are very close and go back more than a century, Catholicos
Karekin said. “The Archbishop of Canterbury and I spoke about the
role of the Church in the world, especially in a world of conflict
and on behalf of all people everywhere. We prayed together for better
understanding in the world.
“Also, we agreed that the Church of England and the holy see of
Etchmiadzin would set up an exchange programme whereby the Church of
England would send student clergy to Etchmiadzin. Armenian student
priests come to Britain with the help of the Church of England.”
Armenia achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. After 70
years of Communist rule, he continued, the Church has to meet a
number of major challenges.
“We need Christian re-education and we must build more churches and
rehabilitate existing churches. And we need more priests. We need
about 2,000 worldwide, but we are graduating only about 50 each year.
We hope soon to double that, and towards that end we are expanding
the seminary in Sevan and we are building a new seminary in Gyumri,
north of the capital Yerevan.”
Young people, said Catholicos Karekin, are flocking to the Church. “I
am very pleased with the interest that our young people are showing
in the Church. We have set up seven youth organisations, which
attract about 5,000 young people each week. These included sports and
traditional Armenian music and folk dancing classes. Also, the
history of the Armenian Church is now being taught in all schools.”
However, he accused what he calls “born-again sects” of destroying
the traditional Armenian family. “These are mostly
American-orientated, and include the charismatics, the Jehovah’s
Witnesses and the Mormons. Because Armenia is a poor country, due to
the combination of the effects of the 1988 earthquake, the war with
Azerbaijan, and the damaging blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan, these
wealthier sects have created a situation whereby faith is a buyable
and sellable commodity. They are offering food and materials in
exchange for abandoning the Armenian Church and becoming one of their
followers. It hurts me to say that some Armenian families realise
that their faith is saleable.”
Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church
in Great Britain, admitted that the Armenian Church in Britain faces
the same problems as other churches in attracting young people. Thus
the K Tahta Armenian Community Sunday School in Acton, West London,
plays an important part in trying to encourage young Armenians to
value and understand both their faith and their culture.
“The school is the only place where young people can learn about
their national identity. There are classes in the catechism, Armenian
language, history and music. We are not nationalists but we love our
nation and our culture,” said Bishop Hovhannisian.
Armenians claim that 1.5 million of their people were killed and
600,000 deported in 1915 by the Ottoman Turks. They condemn the
deaths as organised genocide. But the issue remains controversial
because the Turkish Government has always denied that what happened
qualifies as genocide. It maintains that the deaths were precipitated
by the outbreak of war and were justifiable as a military reaction to
Armenian insurrection.
“The issue of the genocide is very important for Armenians. It’s a
moral issue first of all rather than a political issue. Any genocide
that is not recognised can lead to further genocides. The Armenian
genocide is important for all mankind, not just the Armenians. On
April 24 each year we commemorate all the victims. I hope that one
day all nations will recognise the genocide,” Bishop Hovhannisian
concluded.