2000_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2000

              8
Hye Sharzhoom
December 2000
Left to Right: John Shields, Elizabeth Shields, Barlow Der
Mugrdechian, Aram Karapetyan, Anna Sargsyan at Koko's
Restaurant.
YSU, Cont. from Page 1
Mark Keppler
Karapetyan and Sargsyan visited with faculty and staff from
various departments and areas to
observe how distance learning is
becoming an integral part of the
educational process. They observed
first-hand a pilot program in the
area of mathematics, which draws
students from Japan to a web-site at
Fresno State. The program is administered by Dr. Peter
Tannenbaum ofthe Department of
Mathematics.
Both guests participated in
seminars and workshops which
were taking place on campus during this time.
They also had time to visit
important Armenian cultural sites
in Fresno, including the David of
Sasoon monument, the William
Saroyan exhibit at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, local Armenian
churches, and general areas of interest in Fresno.
Upon     their     departure,
Karapetyan and Sargsyan loaded
their suitcases with books and educational materials to enrich the
School of Business in Yerevan
Project director Barlow Der
Mugrdechian and Professor Elizabeth Shields of the Department of
Finance, worked with the guests
on developing their schedule while
in Fresno. Ashot Hagopian assisted in logistics and planning of
social activities.
Meanwhile, Fresno State professors Gerald Bryan and Mark
Keppler returned from separate
trips to Armenia.
Dr. Gerald Bryan, Professor of
Marketing, conducted an in-depth
evaluation ofthe progress achieved
in the first year of the joint Yerevan
State University-Fresno State Business Project. He interviewed faculty and administrators from both
institutions and completed a report
on his findings.   His report will
provide an important insight as to
the future directions for the recently awarded three-year grant between the two institutions
Mark Keppler, head of the
Graduate MBA Program at Fresno
State, spent a week in Armenia
discussing the changes which YSU
is instituting in their newly established MBA program. He worked
with faculty and students in Armenia and would like to see a graduate student from Yerevan State University enter the Fresno State MBA
program. He is encouraged by the
high quality of students in Armenia and their knowledge of English.
All of the activities discussed
above are part of the first year of
the new three-year Faculty Development Project in Business, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs of the United
States State Department.
The project was assisted fi-
Gerald Bryan
nancially by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the
United States Information Agency
under the authority ofthe Fulbright-
Hays Act of 1961, as amended.
List to Fresno State's
Armenian Radio Show
Every Saturday morning
from 9:00AM-12:00 noon
FM90.7
Your D. J.s
Sevag Tateosian and Armen Postoyan
HYE SHARZHOOM
NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
Hye Sharzhoom is sent without charge to thousands of people throughout the
world. Although there is no subscription fee we urge readers to support our efforts
with donations of any amount. This request has assumed a special importance
because of increased mailing costs.
Yes, I would like to support the Hye Sharzhoom mailing expenses with a
donation of:
$_	
Name:	
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Please make checks payable to Armenian Studies Program and send to:
Armenian Studies Program
California State University, Fresno
5245 N Backer Ave M/S PB 4
Fresno, CA 93740-8001
U.S. Government Continues to
Bow Down to Turkish Threats
By John Jabaghchourian
In a sudden and unexpected
move, House Speaker Denis
Hasten pulled the Armenian
Genocide resolution, House Resolution 596, off the House floor in
response to a letter sent by President Clinton just moments before
the bill was to be voted on during
the "October 19 session of Congress.
Meanwhile, as the United States
government continues to brush off
the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide conducted by the Ottoman Turkish government, France
and Italy passed similar legislation
through their government bodies
on November 8 and 17, 2000.
In President Clinton's letter, he
urged Speaker Hasten to take H.
Res. 596 out of consideration in
the House, stating that the bill could
impact the current situation in the
Middle East between the Israelis
and Palestinians and could endan-
ger American lives.
"We have significant interests
in this troubled region ofthe world:
containing the threat posed by East
and West Asia, stabilizing the
Balkans, and developing new
sources of energy. Consideration
of the resolution at this sensitive
time will negatively affect those
interests and could undermine efforts to encourage improved relations between Armenia and Turkey," President Clinton wrote in
his letter to Speaker Hastert.
The unexpected part of the .
resolution's withdrawal was
Speaker Hastert's willingness to
follow the President's request; a
request that was against the
Speaker's alleged interests in the
resolution.
Back in August during a campaign dinner for fellow Republican, James Rogan (CA-27),
Speaker Hastert promised to bring
H. Res. 596 to the House floor for
a vote.
In a press release, the Speaker
stated, "I support this resolution
and I supported bringing it to the
floor. I believe that the Armenian
people suffered a historic tragedy
and that this resolution was a fitting condemnation to those events."
However, with all of his support for the resolution, Speaker
Hastert readily abandoned the resolution at the request of the President. If he were truly committed to
bringing the resolution to the floor,
where he believed it had the support ofthe majority, would he have
pulled it?
Speaker Hastert, as well as the
House International Relations
Committee, were well aware ofthe
objections and threats used by the
Administration's State Department
well before October 19th and continued to push the bill onto the
floor.
Back in the last issue ofthe Hye
Sharzhoom, I was skeptical of the
Speaker's intentions, and felt he
may abandon the resolution once
on the floor, hoping he had done
enough to get Rogan re-elected.
It turns out he did abandon the
bill but Congressman Rogan, representing Glendale and Burbank,
lost the election to Democrat challenger and California State Senator, Adam Schiff. However,
Hastert and the Republicans did
maintain a slim majority in the
House, and Hastert will likely retain his position as speaker.
President Clinton has demonstrated a weak response to threats
by foreign governments, in this
case the Turkish government, and
has allowed these threats to influence American policy.
"I am disappointed with this
outcome -1 put a lot of hard work
into this resolution," local representative and co-author of H. Res.
596 George Radanovich (CA-19)
said. "But if I am fortunate enough
to be re-elected in November, you
can count on me taking this issue
head-on once again in the 107th
Congress."
Congressman Radanovich was
re-elected on November 7, so the
process has to start from scratch
starting next year. While a new
Congress and Administration will
be in place the political climate has
not changed much in favor for a
similar resolution.
Thank You Donors
Spurgeon & Ruth Avakian
Vallejo
David Sarkis Barsamian
Pasadena
In memory of Norma Der Mugrdechian
Kenneth & Jane Bedrosian
Fowler
Jack & Barbara Bousian
Fresno
Eleanor Caire
Fresno
Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Chahmirian
Fresno
Richard & Armon Darmanian
Fresno
Armen & Margaret Dildilian
Port Washington, NY
Betty & Jacob E. Hagopian
Fresno
In honor ofCelia Vaznaian Mason's 89th Birthday
Mrs. Aileen Hunt
Salinas
In memory of Mary Ann Maunan-Sharp
Martin Koobation
Santa Barbara
Lillian & George Mardikian
So. San Francisco
Ms. Rosemary Matossian
Benicia
Jack & Victoria Peloian
Cutler
John & Linda Shahbazian
Parlier
Margaret Shahenian
Fresno
Lois Varjabedian
Worcester, MA
Margaret B. Williams
Fresno