1994_11 The Daily Collegian November 1994

              November 1994
Hye Sharzhoom
News^-3
Menak parov Hayastan... hello Fresno
LisaDerian
Mary Melikian and Vahagn
Tonoyan of Yerevan State Univer¬
sity were chosen by the Armenian
Studies ProgramofCalifomiaState
University, Fresno to participate
in the 1994-1995 Eurasia Awards
Program, administered by NAFSA:
Association of International Edu¬
cators and funded by the United
States Information Agency. The stu¬
dents expenses for travel and re¬
lated university expenses were cov-
^ifellby USIA. CSU Fresno offered
two full tuition waivers to the stu¬
dents for the year through the aus¬
pices of Dr. Peter Klassen, Direc¬
torof*he International Studies Pro¬
gram at the University. Carol
Munshower of the. International
Students "Office has been instru¬
mental in the successful award of
the grants.
Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the
Armenian Studies Program is re¬
sponsible for the selection of stu¬
dents, which is coordinated with
the administration of Yerevan State
University.
Mary Melikian and Vahagn
Tonoyan are Fresno State's newest
exchange students participating in
the Yerevan State/Fresno State
University exchange program. At
the end of this summer, they were
greeted in Armenia and brought to
Fresno     by     Barlow     Der
Mugrdechian, professor of Arme¬
nian Studies at Fresno State.
Mary Melikian had never been
to Fresno before, but she had been
formerly aquainted with the U.S.
on two prior visits. Boston was one
of tha places she had been, where
she attended a summer computer
course at Bentley College. She had
also visited Los Angeles, on a trip
to see her godfather.
Vahagn Tonoyan is experienc¬
ing his first trip to the United States.
So far, both students are having a
pleasant time and they are not hav¬
ing much trouble adjusting to an
American lifestyle.
Mary is a 21 year old English
major. She is particularly interested
in translating, and has had some
former experience in that field.
Mary explains that the school sys¬
tem in Armenia teaches you Arme¬
nian, English, and Russian from
die time that you enter elementary
school. Because of her interest in
languages, Mary has gone on to
study German and Spanish. In Ar¬
menia, Mary finds little time, aside
from school, to socialize with her
friends. Since her classes are ex¬
tremely difficult and time consum¬
ing, Mary spends most of her time'
studying and being with her fam¬
ily. She lives with her parents and
her yo'inger brother in an apart¬
ment within walking distance to
the University.
Here at Fresno State, Mary
lives in the dorms. She is taking an
Art', of Armenia course, Armenian
Film, two upper division English
classes, Spanish, and computer pro¬
gramming. She enjoys living in the
dorms and meeting people from
various backgrounds. She spends
most of her free-time on campus,
going for walks, playing the piano,
swimming, and playing ping-pong
with Vahagn. Before the exchange
program, Mary and Vahagn had
never met, but now they have be¬
come good friends. _
Vahagn Tonoyan is a 19 year
old Computer Science major. Here
at Fresno State, he is taking the
same Arts of Armenia class as Mary.
He is also taking Armenian Film,
two computer programming
classes, and a mathematics course.
He spends most of his time study¬
ing in the library, in the computer
lab, and in the student union. In his
free-time he likes to play ping-pong,
pool, go swimming and spend time
with Mary.
Back in Armenia, Vahagn
worked as a programmer for the
Department of International Rela¬
tions, at .Yerevan State University.
He too spent the majority of his
time studying, but also liked to
spend time with friends planning
social events, like picnics. In Ar¬
menia, Vahagn lives with his par¬
ents and two brothers in an apart¬
ment close to the University.
Vahagn and Mary explain that
being a student at Fresno State is
much different then going to school
Photo By Bartow Der I
V****%jn Toooyi and Mary M ■■ Jan In Armenian ~
in Armenia- In Armenia, they are
constantly faced with the condi¬
tions of war and blockade. This
affects the amount of materials the
University can receive, and ulti¬
mately affects Vahagn and Mary.
They told me of their experiences
with the energy crisis, where the
University was shut down for three
months in the winter. They nave
also had to deal with having little
and sometimes no electricity or
heat. At Yerevan State University,
Mary and Vahagn say that the
classes are more difficult md taught
in a much more formal manner
then the classes they are taking
here. Also, they are not given as
much free choice to pick their
classes as we are given here at
Fresno State.
Mary and Vahagn have bod!*
just joined the Armenian Students
Organization and are looking for¬
ward to making some new close
friends.
Although both Mary and
Vahagn miss borne, they are hav¬
ing a good time and gaining a great
deal of experience and knowledge
of American culture onthis ea-
chahgepiogritfo:',^,''';-f'>:    I
Teaching program builds bridges to homeland
Mark Malkasian
When GeorgeBedirian arrived
in Yerevan in the vyjater of 1994 to
take part in the Teach for A rmenia
program, the public relations spe¬
cialist from eastern Washington
found the Armenian capital to be a
grim,- dark city. A persistent grey
overcast filled the sky and tem¬
peratures hovered around freezing.
Without heat, hot water, and more
than a couple hours of electricity
■ each day. Yerevan's residents
seemed shell-shocked ano weary.
At Yerevan State University.
Bedi rian' s workplace for the spring
semester, construction on the
institution's prized new library fa
cility had come to a hah.
Within a few weeks, however,
Bedirian began to notice signs of
Photo By QeogBOBCiiBn.S^aaWtoHyvShBUfiuum
I in Teach For Armenia program in aw park.
renewal. The brightening weather
helped lighten the gloom, but there
was also a stubborn sense of hope
taking hold among the people.
Bedirian watched Yerevan gradu¬
ally come to life from the long
months of hibernation. Construc¬
tion workers even returned to the
library, picking up where they had
left off at the beginning of winter.
As the 1994-95 school year
opens, hope is growing in Armenia
that the republic of 3,7 million
people has passed through the most
difficult trials. Armenian officials
are beginning to shift their atten¬
tion away from short-term humani¬
tarian relief and toward promoting
(he country's long-term recovery.
The Teach for Armenia program
—in which Bedirian and two other
Americans participated during the
1993-94 academic year — is part
of that process.
Teach for Armenia
Teach for Armenid (TFA),
sponsored and coordinated by the
Armenian Studies Program of Cali¬
fornia State University, Fresno, is
grounded in the assumption that
science, technology, and commerce
must be the driving engines of
Armenia's economic development.
To help the country prosper, the
program seeks to create person-to-
person bridges between landlocked
Armenia and the outside world.
Most urgent is the need to integrate
the republic into the* global com¬
munity of knowledge.
In cooperation with the Arme¬
nian Ministry of Higher Education
and Science, the Ministry of Edu¬
cation and Yerevan State Univer¬
sity, TFA places American educa¬
tors and other professionals in the
Armenian educational system. At
the primary and secondary levels
of education, the goal is to intro¬
duce American-style teaching
methods and curricula into Arme¬
nia. In the republic's institutions of
higher learning, TFA aims to ex¬
pose students and scholars to West¬
ern research methods and tech¬
niques. In addition, the program's
frnphasis on improving English-
language i us miction offers Arme¬
nians brtoder access to the world¬
wide information revolution.
Bridges to Armenia
Bedirian, Zaroohi Der
Mugrdechian, and Sosi
Toomajanian, TFA's
groundbreaking participants in
1993-94, encountered a society
reeling from the Soviet Union's
collapse and yet eager for contact
with the We$L Even by the stan¬
dards of the former Soviet Union,
Armenia's hardships have been
epic. Blockaded by neighboring
Azerbaijan and Turkey, industrial
production has fallen six times be¬
low the levels of the 1980s. Aver¬
age salfties range from $2 to S3 a
month. And yet Armenia is a survi¬
vor! Ask Americans channeling
U.S. assistance to the republic
through die Peace Corps, Depart¬
ment of Agriculture, and other agen¬
cies and they will testily to the
remarkable resilience and determi¬
nation of the Armenian people.
They will also affirm that those
serving in Armenia dome away with
a deep attachment to the land and
it$ inhabitants.
' Bedirian, Der Mugrdechian,
and Toomajanian each gained an
insight into the Armenian charac¬
ter and acquired a distinct perspec¬
tive on the workings of Armenia's
educational system.
Bedirian, the coordinator of
publications at Washington State
University, served as an editor and
consultant in the Office of Interna¬
tional Relations at Yerevan Stale
University. Der Mugrdechian, a
kindergarten teacher in Fresno,
California, with nineteen years of
experience, /aught English at
Yerevan State University and a lo¬
cal kindergarten. Toomajanian,
who is a doctoral candidate at
Harvard University's school of edu¬
ction, offered courses in psychol¬
ogy and child development, and
assisted in teaching an American/
English literature class, for sec¬
ondary students in Yerevan.;
Bedirian's talents and experi¬
ence were well-matched with
Yerevan State University's efforts
to broaden its international outreach
and restructure its graduation stan¬
dards. Soon after arriving in
Yerevan, Bedirian began working
closely with Rafael Matevossian,
vice rector of international rela¬
tions, and his administrative assis¬
tant, Haroutioun Kazarian, to for¬
mulate a lengthy fund-raising pro¬
posal and revamp the university's
English-language catalog. In addi¬
tion, Bedirian helped develop a
grant proposal to the United States
Information Agency to facilitate
university-level administrative re¬
form.
Language barriers aside,
Bedirian often found himself work¬
ing to bridge the gulf between
Western and Soviet mindsets. Af¬
ter seventy years of isolation from
Western norms, Armenians were
unfamiliar with the standards that
Americans accept, Bedirian ob¬
served. In applying for grants from
American institutions, for example,
Bedirian had to take a firm stance
to convince his Armenian col¬
leagues that the rules set by fund¬
ing organizations could be bent only
so far.
'What I'm describing is a ward.
~v        Sea TEACH, Paga 6
/