1997_05 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper May 1997

              6
Hye Sharzhoom
May 1997
Author Introduces New Book-Zero Coupon
By Jacqueline Arikian
On March 10th, on the campus
of California State University,
Fresno, Professor Michael
Krekorian of UCRiverside made
his way to the front of a crowded
classroom filled with eager students.
A bearded man dressed in jeans
and a sports coat, he seated himself
on top ofthe desk in the front ofthe
room and began to read an excerpt
fromhis latest prize winning novel,
Channel Zero.
The futuristic book, which
loosely involves the struggle of an
advertising executive named Zero
Coupon, was essentially inspired
through the world around him.
Through his observations
of television and popular media
slogans, Krekorian was able to create a storyline which metaphori
cally described the coming destruction of the world. This somewhat
pessimistic portrayal is a sign of
what we are currently amidst and
the dismal nature which it causes.
The current work of this
post-modern writer is not very story
oriented, rather, it is a cross between fiction and poetry.
In a unique fashion,
Krekorian created a story in a poetic manner and achieved a stylistic unity which was immediately
apparent through the tone in his
voice as he read the words of his
thought provoking creation.
"Free is a word described
by laws and regulations," he said.
And as those words seeped out of
his lips, his audience couldn't help
but contemplate the truth in all he
had to say, in all he had formulated
through his careful societal obser- •
Michael Krekorian
vations.
Mesmerized by his in
sight, the listeners were eager to
hear the words which he had to
offer, words which simply flowed
over the reader due to its loose
sense of tone and attitude.
Krekorian struggled to
create a novel who's style carried
on the work. However, the difficulty of this task lied in the fad that
the work essentially depended on
the style due to the lack of narration.
With or without narration,
certain aspects of Channel Zero
were reflective of the message in
Orwell' s 1984, a grim novel on the
dismal-future of America.
' Providing insight on the
overseen fact that infomercials
place more emphasis on the presentation of a product rather than
the importance of the product,
Krekorian presented a parallel to
the constant control of Orwell^s
Big Brother.
Further illustrating this
point, Krekorian discussed the latest technological advance of credit
cards. To most people, the abolition of money in replacement for
credit cards is an added convenience
to life. Realistically however, it is
the theft of privacy, where one's
records and transactions are exposed to the world.
Despite Krekorian' s internal struggle in creating this novel
and its parallel to 1984, it is evident
that his futuristic message is loud
and clear, perhaps a bit too loud
and clear for those of us who heard
the deafening whispers ofthe words
which trickled out of his mouth on
that Monday afternoon.
Mamikonian Concert Review
Vardan Mamikonian, second from right, with Dr. Andreas
Werz, director of the Keyboard Concert, far right, and Dr.
and Mrs. Dickran Kouymjian on the left.
RAISIN, continued from page 3
with other cultures. Interestingly, the intermarriage rate dropped in 1990
to 68% of 63 marriages; this decline was due to an influx of Armenian
immigrants in the 1980s. Jendian found that the American born children
of Armenian born parents are three times more likely to marry non-
Armenians than American born children of non-American born parents.
Vaughn Koligian, Chief Executive Officer ofthe Raisin Bargaining
Association (RBA), gave a speech on The History & Role ofthe Raisin
Bargaining Association. Koligian stated that California produces 75% of
the world's dark raisins and 45% of the world dried fruit. He explained
how it became necessary to organize a collective bargaining association
to restore order to the sale of raisins by farmers. The Raisin Bargaining
Association was established according to terms of the Capper-Volsted
Act (1922) which allowed farmers to unite to form a bargaining association. Led by Ernest Bedrosian, the RBA was set up in 1965, but at first,
many growers were reluctant to sign with the RBA. Today the RBA is a
nonprofit organization with 2,000 raisin farmers in the San Joaquin
Valley.
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, Professor of Classics at CSU Fresno
discussed, Armenian Agrarians as seen by non-Armenians. Dr. Hanson
began by saying that no one had done more for the raisin industry than the
Armenians, except for Mexican-Americans. He referred to hard work as
the foundation of successful farming, at least in the past. In discussing
discrimination against Armenians in the Central Valley, Hanson raised
the issue of envy. He also noted that Armenians sometimes expanded
their farming operations to include agribusiness and this often ran counter
to the North European Protestant agrarian work ethic.
During the question and answer period which followed each session
the debate was lively. In her concluding remarks, Dr. Kaprielian
suggested avenues for research and collaboration. "Aside from the need
to examine more fully the Armenian experience in Fresno, we must also
study the relationship between Armenians and other groups." She said,
"For instance, we should work on the Mexican Armenian connection, not
only with respect to employer/employee relations, but also with respect
to the role Mexico played in the immigration of Armenians to California."
Dr. Warren Gade, Chairman of History at CSUF, thanked the audience for
attending, and in closing the proceedings commented on how well the
symposium had been received.
In an interview following the symposium, Dr. Kaprielian spoke on
the possibility of publishing the proceedings. She expressed the need to
collect photographs, diaries, old accounts, books, advertisements, letters,
and other memorabilia to be included in such a publication.
By Steven E. Gilbert
Professor of Music
CSU Fresno
(Reprinted from the Fresno Bee)
The final installment of this
year's Philip Lorenz Memorial
Keyboard Concerts at Fresno State,
jointly sponsored by the
university's Armenian Studies Program and the Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society, had the added significance of
coinciding with the anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide. It featured
Vardan Mamikonian, a remarkable
pianist born 26 years ago in
Yerevan, Armenia, who now lives
in Paris.
At the center of the program
were the complete "Gaspard de la
Nuit" of Ravel and an entire opus
of Chopin etudes. Neither is an
everyday occurrence; the quality
ofthe performance was even rarer.
The Ravel, fiendish in subject matter as well as pianistic difficulty,
communicated an eerieexcitement-
suppressed fistfuls of notes in
"Ondine," the sinister, evenly repeated gallows motif in "Le Gibet,"
and the wicked scamperings of
"Scarbo."
Chopin's second set of 12
etudes, Op. 25, includes several
that are often played singly, perhaps as encores, but it takes a certain command and concentration
to play the whole dozen in succession.
Each was executed brilliantly,
with control and bravura in all the
right, respective places. The performance was marred only by insistent rounds of applause fromhalf
. the audience, which kept missing
the cue from the other half that the
place for ovation was at the end of
the set.
■ That there was, and a standing
one, even though Mamikonian had
another piece to play. This, theif Andante Spianato and Grand
Polonaise," also by Chopin, was a
perfect built-in encore, just as
Debussy's "Estampes" provided
• the perfect prelude.
More on April 24th
By Aznive Tchapadarian
AHA- these are the call
letters for the Armenian Youth
groups that came together for the
first time this year to commemorate
the 82nd Anniversary ofthe Armenian Genocide. AHA stands for
Armenian Students Organization,
Homenetmen, and Armenian Youth
Federation.
To start the week-long
commemoration activities, a play
and poetry reading were performed
on Saturday, April 19, 1997 at the
Hagopian Center. About 6:30 the
program started with the youngest
ofthe Homenetmen scouts reciting
a poem "Argadz Jrak" (Sad Lantern) by Daniel Varoujan. It was
music to my ears listening to the
scouts recite in Armenian, in sync
with one another. It was beautifully done. After the poem, the
teenage scouts ofthe Homenetmen,
re-enacted a narrated play by
Siamanto, the narrators of the play
were various members ofthe AHA.
The Scouts re-enacted the atrocities that occurred during the Genocide, to the women, children and
men. Of course the re-enactment
could never measure up to the real
brutality that occurred. Crissi
Jelladian read a few lines from a
William Saroyan short, "The Armenian and The Armenian," which
relayed the message that Armenians
will never die, for anyone who tries
to destroy us or our culture will
only make us, the Armenians, stronger. We will unite together to live
Steve Samuelian giving his speech at Ararat Cemetery
long and prosperous lives.
After all the hard work
that every one placed in this event,
we ended the evening by having a
bon-fire in remembrance of the
1,500,000 Armenians who were
murdered and massacred. With the
strong winds, and the amazing sunset behind the bon-fire I felt as
though the spirits of the departed
were with us and giving us their
blessing, to continually fight for
justice and remember their lives.
Ararat Cemetery, was the site
of the second commemoration
event, which took place on Sunday
April 20, 1997.
It was 10:00 o'clock and it felt
as though the tempgfature was already over a hundred degrees. The
sun, attacking our black, matching
tee-shirts, was draining our energy,
but we were working vigorously to
prepare for the event. This was the
most important event, because it
was held at the memorial site for
the Armenian Genocide, Ararat
Massis Cemetery.
The various Armenian Youth
Organizations arrived early in the
morning to start to set up for the
days events, by cutting carnations
and tying ribbons to be distributed
to the people. Various members of
the youth groups spoke in terms of
what this day meant to them and
how it felt to be an American Armenian, first generation or second generation. We have a culture and
religion that is our tie.
Steve Samuelian stated that
"we need to remember and educate
the public of the Genocide." Mr.
Samuelian stated "In 1991, only six
years ago, a genocide was attempted
again in Karabagh. They knocked
on your door and if they found out
that you were Armenian, they killed
you on the spot. WE need to remember mis day and educate the
public, so that this type of violence
does not occur again, not just for
the Armenian people but for man
kind.