1991_10 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper October 1991

              Page 4
NEWS
Hye Sharzhoom • October 1991
Bagdasarian discusses CSU System
By Jeff Ahronian
Editor
Born in Los Angeles, Marian Bagdasarian moved to Fresno when she was just six
months old and grew up in the midst of the
downtown Armenian community. The
oldest of five children, she remembers
most fondly the happy home she had. "My
mother was not an Armenian, but she was
treated wonderfully," she recounts.
Bagdasarian has been involved with
public education for over twenty years and
serves as a Californian State University
Trustee, a position appointed by the Governor that oversees the operations of the
twenty campus system. For the last six
years, she has been the chairperson of the
education committee and a member of the
budget committee.
As of this moment, she is instrumental
in establishing a committee that will encourage involvement between K-12
schools and CSU. "We need, to expose
students to the university. A lot of students lack motivation and desparately need
role models - university students could be
terrific role models."
When asked about the current budget
Hye Profile:   Marian Bagdasarian
Occupation: Educator.
Born: July 5,1929.
Children: 2 - Gary and Darlene.
The purpose of my job is: To educate
children and young people.
First job: Packing raisins atLion Packing
Company when I was 13 years old.
What I enjoy most about my job: Being
around young people. To teach.
I realized I wanted to be involved with
education when: My fourth grade teacher,
Miss Rippe at Emerson School in Fresno,
was such an influence on me. I wanted to
be like her.
The person who has had the most impact on my life is: My mother.
All time favorite television show: 20/20.
All time favorite movie: Gone With the
Wind.
Favorite food: Chinese food.
Favorite vacation spot: Cancun, Mexico.
Favorite sport: Tennis.
People who make me laugh are: Great to
be around.
Biggest regret: I wasn't able to get involved in education earlier in life.
If I could change one thing about myself,
I'd: Learn to be less outspoken.
Best gift I ever gave:   Life to my two
children.
Best gift I ever received: My wedding ring
43 years ago.
Fondest childhood memory: Family va
cations in the mountains at Dinkey Creek.
Favorite way to relax: Read a good
book.
Biggest gripe: People who litter.
I'm most proud of: My two children.
Ten years from now, I will be: Still involved in educational issues.
situation involving CSU, Bagdasarian
replies that the Legislature simply does
not understand the situation. "CSU is
mandated to accept students who fall into
the top 33 1/3%. However, funding for
this many students is just not possible."
As a result, she believes that we must turn
to private funding to help ease the burden.
"We need to educate business to the fact
that it is to their advantage to support
higher education because the students
today will be their workers of tomorrow."
Bagdasarian also belives that budget cuts
should be more balanced instead of the
lopsided reductions Higher Education was
delivered.
When asked about the Armenian Studies Program at FSU, Bagdasarian had
nothing but positive things to say and is
anxious to see it expand. "I want to see it
(the ASP) grow. They have got to sell it -
it needs to be advertised. It's a terrific
program and I believe that our Armenian
students should have some background to
their culture." Bagdasarian went on to say
that there is a lot to offer here at CSUF and
that young people are not taking advantage of the situation. She urges students to
make an effort to maintain their Armenian
culture. "It's much easier to learn about it
now than it was 40-50 years ago because
there is no longer a taboo associated with
it. When outsiders are exposed to our culture, they can'tbelieve how much we have
to offer"
Bagdasarian is very active within the
community as well. Sheisaco-founderof
the Armenian Community school, active
in the First Armenian Presbyterian Church,
a member of the Fresno Arts Center, the
Metropolitian Museum, and the Fresno
Philharmonic.
Der Bedrosian wins
Presidential election
ASP 6th Annual Banquet
Special Guests to Speak
By Armen Aghishian
Staff Writer
In an unprecedented free, democratic
presidential election in the Republic of
Armenia, incumbent parliamentary president Levon Der Bedrosian won a landslide victory on October 16. He accumulated over 83 percent of the vote. Der
Bedrosian's term of office will be five
years at which time another election will
take place. Der Bedrosian first gained
national attention as a leader of the Karabagh Committee, for which he and other
members of the committee were arrested
by Soviet authorities. He spent five months
in prison and after his release was elected
to the Armenian parliament. He had previously been involved with protests against
the government while a student.
This is the first free and open election in
Armenia since Armenia's independence
in 1918. Observers from throughout the
world were on hand to assure the legality
of the voting procedures. With the recent
referendum, the road to independence
seems to have been paved in cement
Of the eight original candidates, only
five remained in the running on the eve of
theelections. Of those dropping their candidacy, the most surprising to Armenians
both in Armenia and abroad was the resignation and withdrawal of Armenia'sPrime
Minister Vazken Manukian, on September 23, 1991. Manukian was the first
prime minister of Armenia since the fall of
communism and a leader of the eleven
member Karabagh Committe, which had
led Armenians in the large-scale demonstrations of 1988. The reason for his departure was reported as differences between he and the president.
Others that withdrew their candidacy
were USSR Parliament Deputy and writer
Zori Balayan, and the president of the Association of Armenia's trade banks Mi-
asnik Hagopian.
The candidates who remained in the
race were Supreme Council President
Levon Der Bedrosian. Der Bedrosian was
nominated by the Armenian National
Movement. He is also a scholar of Armenian history and formerly held a research
position at the Armenian State Manuscript
Library (Matenadaran). Actor and ARF
(Tashnag) party candidate Sos Sarkisian,
Republican party leader (of Armenia)
Ashot Navasartian, Karabagh Committee
memberand Armenia's Parliament member Rafael Kazarian - who was also formerly the vice-president of Armenia, and
finally Pariur Hayrikian - president of the
Alliance for National self-determination -
the organization that nominated him.
Hayrikian, who had his Soviet citizenship
revoked in the summer of 1988 for his
active role in the human rights movement,
was reinstated in November of 1990.
It has been reported that of the over two
million people who were eligible to vote,
1.5 million actually voted, an approximately 70 per cent turnout. The breakdown of the voting was as follows: Levon
Der Bedrosian, 83%; Pariur Hayrikian,
approximately 7%;andTashnagparty representative SosSarkissian,lessthan5% of
the vote.
By Hye Sharzhoom Staff
The sixth annual banquet of the
Armenian Studies Program at CSU
Fresno will be held on Sunday, October
27, 1991 at 6:00 p.m. in the Residence
Dining Hall and two special guests will
appear at the Banquet.
William Saroyan's daughter Lucy
Saroyan will discuss the memory of her
writer father ten years after his death in
Fresno. During her weekend stay she
will visit the newly opened William
Saroyan room at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum.
Ms. Saroyan is currently living in the
San Francisco house built by Saroyan in
1940 for his mother and sister Cosette.
She and her brother Aram are famous
through the works of Saroyan. The
novel Mama. I Love Yon was written
especially for her and its companion
work, Papa. You're Crazv for her
brother.
Ms. Saroyan has spent most of her
life in New York and Los Angeles
working as a film and stage actress. She
has been a fervant devotee of her father's
work and of Saroyan as a person, often
in contrast to her brother's more critical
writings on the author
His Excellency Berj Zeytountsian,
Minister of Culture of the newly
independent Republic of Armenia, will
also speak that evening.
Mr. Zeytountsian, who was born in
Alexandria, Egypt in 1938 and
immigrated to Soviet Armenia in 1947,
has been in the United States since early
September at the invitation of the
International Writing Program of the
University  of Iowa.     Prior  to  his
appointment in the Spring of this year
as the first Minister of Culture of the
freely elected Armenian government, he
was for many years the Secretary of the
Armenian Writers Union in Erevan.
Zeytountsian's plays and novels have
made him one of the most popular
modern Armenian authors. Many of his
eleven books have been bestsellers in
the Soviet Union and his plays are
regularly presented on the Armenian
stage.
The Minister's stay at the
International Writing Program is
sponsored by AT&T. On Thursday
morning, October 24, 1991, in Los
Angeles, Mr. Zeytountsian symbolically
"threw the switch" on the new state of
the art satellite telephone system rebuilt
after the devastating earthquake of 1988.
It is the most advanced telecommunication system outside the United
States and will allow direct dialing from
the U.S. to Armenia without having to
pass through Moscow and costing no
more than regular long distance calls.
The hook up on Thursday will
connect Los Angeles with both
Washington and Erevan in a conference
call during which Minister Zeytountsian
will speak with newly elected President
of Armenia, Levon Der-Betrosian and
US. officials.
Mr. Zeytountsian will arrive in
Fresno on Saturday after driving through
the Grapevine from Los Angeles to see
the yellow umbrellas of conceptual artist
Christo.
At the Sunday banquet Mr.
Zeytountsian will discuss the current
situation in Armenia.