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SHARZHOOM
Armenian Action
25
th
Year
March 2004
Vol. 25, No. 3 (85)
Supplement to The Collegian
Armenian  Insurance Claims Yerevan State University President Dr. Radik
Settled in Landmark Case Martirosyan Pays Official Visit to Fresno State
Opinion
Sevag Tateosian
Editor
On January 27, 2004, the New
York Life Insurance Company
signed a "Settlement Agreement"
with the descendants of policyholders who were killed in the Armenian Genocide. The agreement,
which still has to be approved by
United States District Court Judge
Christina Snyder, ensures payment
for twenty-four hundred open life
insurance policies.
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire up to 1915 had purchased between eight and nine thousand life insurance policies and
twenty-four hundred of them remained unsettled until this year.
After New York Life heard about
the tragic events that took place in
the former Ottoman Empire in 1915,
they hired an Armenian attorney to
locate policyholders and found a
majority of them.
Although the official details of
the settlement have not been finalized, what is known is that New
York Life will pay $20 million to
be distributed as follows: up to $ 11
million will be distributed to the
heirs of the twenty-four hundred
policy holders and $4 million will
be paid to the four law firms which
brought the cl ass action suit to court.
$3 million will be shared among
the following Armenian charitable
organizations: the Eastern Diocese
of the Armenian Church of North
America, Prelacy of the Armenian
Apostolic Church Eastern United
States and Canada, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of
North America, Western Prelacy
of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Armenian Apostolic Catholic
Exarchate for Armenian Catholics
in the United States and Canada,
Armenian Missionary Association
of America Inc., the Armenian
Relief Society, the Armenian General Benevolent Union and the Ar-
see Insurance page 6
Nyrie Karkazian
and
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Dr. Radik Martirosyan, President of Yerevan State University,
paid an official visit to Fresno State
on February 2-3. This was the second vi sit of the Presi dent to Fresno;
his first visit was in 2000.
Dr. Martirosyan's visit was part
of the NIS College and University
Partnership Program grant, which
has partnered Yerevan State University and Fresno State in the field
of business and economics for the
past five years. Accompanying Dr.
Martirosyan was Mr. Edmond
Azadian, a board member of the
Friends of Yerevan State University. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of
the Armenian Studies Program
hosted the visitors and arranged
their schedule.
Dr. Martirosyan had a luncheon
meeting with Fresno State President Dr. John Welty on Tuesday,
Feb. 3, where they discussed the
National Geographic Features
Armenia in March 2004 Issue
Photo: Alexandra Avakian, National Geographic
Staff Report
"For 3,000 years Armenians
survived conquerors, calamities,
and diaspora. Defiance and a long
memory continue to sustain them
as they rebuild their Caucasus
homeland."
The March 2004 issue of National Geographic, now on
newstands, is featuring a special 22
page story and photo essay on Armenia, entitled "The Rebirth of
Armenia." The story is by Frank
Viviano with photographs by
Alexandra Avakian.
Excerpts from the story by Frank
Viviano:
"You are looking at the great
Armenian paradox," JivanTabibian
said. We stood at the second-floor
window of the Foreign Ministry
building in Yerevan, watching
clouds scuttle across Mount
Ararat's ice-capped 16,854-foot
(5,137-meter) crown. Tabibian, a
diplomat whose portfolio includes
ambassadorships to four countries
and two international organizations,
was discussing a policy initiative
when he abruptly fell silent, gazing
at Ararat. It's impossible not to be
distracted by Ararat in Yerevan.
Despite its enorm ous m ass, the great
peak seems to float weight!essly
over the city, engaged in perma
nent dialogue with Little Ararat, its
12,782-foot (3,896-meter) neighbor.
The vast snowy brow of Ararat
glowers, pronounces, with hallucinatory power. Its name is derived
from that of a Bronze Age god,
Ara, whose talismanic cult of death
and rebirth mirrored the seasonal
transitions of Ararat from lifeless
winter to fertile spring. Little Ararat,
by contrast, is an exercise in calm,
rational idealism, a volcanic cone
so perfectly shaped that it suggests
not so much what a mountain is as
what a mountain ought to be.
You can'tponder the two Ararats
for long without drifting into philosophical reflection, and the Armenians have been pondering them
since the birth of civilization."
A "Related Links" section gives
readers pointers on where to go to
find out more on Armenia and the
Armenians.
Armenia Diaspora
www.armeniadiaspora.com/home/
index.html Get the latest news on
Armenia.
The Armenian Church
www.armenianchurch.org/church/
etchmiadzin.html
Learn more about the founding of
the Armenian Church.
Armenian History
www.armenianhistory.info/
origins.htm
Discover more about Armenia's
history.
L to R: Mr. Edmond Azadian, Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Fresno
State President Dr. John Welty, YSU President Dr. Radik
Martirosyan.
continuing ties between the two
universities. Dr. Welty and Dr.
Martirosyan signed a preliminary
agreement for continued cooperation between the two universities.
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Haig and
Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies, and Barlow Der
Mugrdechian of the Armenian
Studies Program, joined Dr. Welty
for the luncheon meeting.
Later in the afternoon, Dr.
Martirosyan met with Fresno State
faculty who have visited Armenia
as part of the program. The faculty
SEE YSU PAGE 5
Hye Sharzhoom at 25
Chris Tozlian
Staff Writer
Though it's difficult to admit, I
am currently enrolledinmy twelfth
consecutive semester at Fresno
State. I know what you're thinking. .. "Boy, he has really taken his
time, hasn't he?" Well, it's true; I
have been taking my time.
When I began attending Fresno
State in the fall of 1998, there was
no SaveMart Center, nor was there
a Smittcamp Alumni House. Jerry
Tarkanian was coaching basketball
and the soccer program wasn't in
danger of being "cut." I have seen
six different Associated Student
governments on campus, and have
joyfully watched the multiple enlargements to the Q parking lot.
Simply stated, there have been a
great number of changes at Fresno
State since I began my academic
career.
While it may seem as if everything is changing on campus, there
are a few elements of the university
that have remained throughout the
SEE YSU PAGE 6
Shoghaken Armenian Ensemble to
Perform in Campus Concert April 12
see Shoghaken page 8