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HIT SHARZHOOM
Armenian Action
21
St
Year
March 2000
Vol. 21, No. 3 (69)
Supplement to The Collegian
85th
2000
Kouymjian Honored as "Man of the Year"
Armenian Students
Organization
Armenian Genocide Day
Remembrance
Monday, April 24, 2000
12:00 Noon
Free Speech Area
Fresno State Campus
Featured Speaker
Mayor Jim Patterson
The U.S. Premiere of
"Destination Nowhere:
the Witness"
Tuesday, April 25,2000
A documentary film about
Dr. Armin Wegner
V
Alice Peters Auditorium
University Business Center
Fresno State Campus
John Jabagchourian
Editor
A lifetime of work,
dedication and
achievement in Armenian studies earned Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian, director of the Armenian Studies program at Fresno
State, the Armenian National
Committee's honor of "Man ofthe
Year" at a banquet on Sunday,
March 5.
The day, which Fresno City
Mayor Jim Patterson proclaimed
"Dr. Dickran Kouymjian Ph.D.
Day," attracted much attention from
friends, family and notables from
around the world as well as a crowd
of over three hundred people from
the Fresno community who filled
the Tor Nino's banquet hall.
"Being chosen 'Man of the
Year' by the ANC tells me and my
colleagues and staff that the work I
and we have done is important
enough to the community to acknowledge it and honor it,"
Kouymjian said.
Congratulatory letters were
received from His Holiness Aram
I, Catholicos ofthe Great House of
Cilicia, Archbishop Mesrob
Moutafian, the Armenian Patriarch
of Constantinople, and close colleagues and family members from
other countries, all of whom wrote
to congratulate and acknowledge their respect
for Dr. Kouymjian.
"Your contributions
to the field of Armenian
Studies is so great, that
you are not only the "Man
of this Year," but as a philologist-teacher-scholar,
your works will for many
years be a valuable and
rich source for both Armenian and non-Armenian students," Archbishop Moutafian wrote
of Dr. Kouymjian.
The afternoon began
with some welcoming remarks by
the master of ceremonies, Berj
Apkarian, followed by an invocation by Fr. Vahan Gosdanian, Pastor of Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, and the singing of
the Star Spangled Banner and Mer
Hyrenik, the Armenian National
Anthem, by Hygo Ohannessian.
A dozen special guests such as
Mayor Patterson, City Council
President Tom Boyajian, and others trying to gain support for their
upcoming election were introduced.
Meher Chekerdemian, chairman of the ARFTehlirian Gomideh,
spoke of Dr. Kouymjian and his
achievements. "Dr. Kouymjian
single handily has brought attention to the Armenian culture by
Richard Darmanian (left) presenting Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
with the Armenian National Committee's "Man of the Year"
Award. photo by A vedis Krikorian
establishing an Armenian Studies
chair at Fresno State,"
Chekerdemian said.
Fresno State Associated Students President, Arakel Arisian,
who was asked to speak by the
ANC, commented about students'
appreciation for Dr. Kouymjian's
work.
"Fellow students say he is a
brilliant man, he knows everything," Arisian said.
"He respects students, and students respect him.
Yerevan State University Delegation Visits
Fresno State for Three Weeks of Business Training
• YSU President and Six Business Faculty
YSU President Dr. Radick Martirossian (left) presenting Fresno
State President Dr. John Welty a commemorative 80th anniversary medal of Yerevan State University.
photo by Eusebio Arias
By Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Hye Sharzhoom Advisor
A delegation of faculty
and administrators
from Yerevan State
University, Armenia, headed by
Rector (President) Dr. Radick
Martirossian, arrived in Fresno on
Sunday, February 27 for a three-
week working visit.
Accompanying the Rector are
Dr. Grisha Gharibian, Dean of the
Faculty of Business; Harutyun
Marzpanyan, Associate Dean ofthe
Faculty of Business; Amalia
Saribekian, Professor of Business;
Ashot Kakosy an, Professor of Business; and Hasmik Hovhanesyan,
Lecturer in Business.
The group is in Fresno as part
of a $104,440 grant awarded to
Fresno State for the purpose of conducting a Faculty Development
Program in Business and Economics with Yerevan State University
(YSU) under the Newly Independent States (NIS) College and University Partnership Program.
Yerevan State University is the
premiere university in Armenia and
has achieved international recognition in many disciplines. The
University was founded in 1919
and has a student population of
about 10,000.
Project director Barlow Der
Mugrdechian of the Fresno State
Armenian Studies Program, welcomed the delegation at the airport,
along with Fresno State Finance
Professor Elizabeth Shields and
interpreter Ashot Hagopian.
The group spent the first week
See YSU, Page 6
"His contributions will remain
in each individual who has taken
his classes," Arisian said.
Dr. Kouymjian, in an emotional moment, addressed the previous speakers and the crowd.
"I am touched by the comments and letters," Kouymjian said.
"I am very humbled that you honored me."
With a touch of modesty Dr.
Kouymjian said, "Teaching and
doing research is so much easier
See Kouymjian, Page 5
McCain Remarks
Spark     Firestorm
Over Genocide
Resolution in House
Staff reports
Republican Presidential
candidate Sen. John
McCain sparked controversy on Tuesday, February 29
when he said that he would not
support a congressional resolution
calling on the government of Turkey to acknowledge the 1915 Armenian Genocide. His remarks
came at a town-hall meeting held in
the North Gym on the California
State University, Fresno campus.
Many Armenian students and community members were in the estimated audience of over 1,500.
McCain' s comments prompted
a front-page article in the Fresno
Bee on Wednesday March 1. He
was quoted in the story as saying,
"I will not support that resolution. I
See McCain, Page 7
Ag Students, Page 3
Jerusalem 2000, Page 4
News from Armenia, Page 7
Upcoming Events, Page 8