1986_11 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper November 1986

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ARMENIAN   ACTION
The Daily Collegian
Volume 8, No. 1
November 1986
The newspaper of the California State University, Fresno Armenian Students
Organization and Armenian Studies Program
Armenian Studies Program
CSUF, Fresno 93740
Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 262
KOUYMJIAN RECEIVES
FULBRIGHT
Professor will teach at
Erevan University next Spring
By Hye Sharzhoom Staff
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Director of
the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno has been
granted a Fulbright Lectureship at Erevan
State University in Armenia during the
Spring semester 1987. Dr. Kouymjian will
teach a course on William Saroyan and
the Armenians, using as the major text his
new book William Saroyan: An Armenian
Trilogy.
No where is Saroyan more loved and
honored than in Armenia. Half of his
cremated ashes are buried there in the
Gomidas Pantheon for famous Armenians.
Kouymjian, a close friend and confidant
of the writer in the years just before his
death, accompanied Saroyan's remains to
Armenia in 1982.
For many years he has been teaching
courses on William Saroyan at Fresno
State. In applying for the Fulbright he was
motivated by the feeling that both undergraduate and graduate students at Erevan
University, especially those majoring in
English literature and foreign languages,
should have the opportunity of an organized course on Saroyan. Though many of
Saroyan's most popular plays, novels, and
stories have been translated into Armenian
and Russian(Kouymjian thinks he may be
the most translated American writer in the
Soviet Union), his later memoirs are only
vaguely known and the enormous quantity
of unpublished works totally unknown.
He wants to correct this situation.
See Fulbright page 8
Pashayan Discusses
Genocide Resolution
By Yvonne Sahagian
Editor
Congressman Charles 'Chip' Pashayan
addressed a good sized group of individuals
at California State University, Fresno, on
October 24, 1986. The lecture was sponsored by the Armenian Students Organization of CSU, Fresno.
Congressman Pashayan began his informal discussion on HJR 192 which is a
resolution before Congress to call April
24th a day to remember 'man's inhumanity
to man' with a special reference to the
Armenian Genocide of 1915. Pashayan
emphasized the strategy to use next time
the resolution comes around, is to fight
'fire with fire'. He went on to say that the
present day Turkish government should
make some kind of move to acknowledge
the Genocide, with the understanding in
mind that it is not the present day government that carried out the actual acts
against the Armenians. This would serve
as the apology and acknowledgement that
the Armenians need and deserve. "The
whole logical scheme cannot be complete
without the acknowledgement of the Turkish government," Pashayan went on to
say.
The Congressman was presented with
the thought from a member of the audience
who went on to imply that until the
acknowledgement of the Genocide is made,
that all Armenians are non-whole. "1
wouldn't go as far as to say that the
Armenian people cannot be a whole people. 1 feel until this thing is recognized, at
least for myself, I don't feel less of a whole
person because of what the Turkish government chooses to do or not do," Pashayan replied.
Pashayan went on to discuss that despite
the current condition Armenians face, the
United States is still the best place to live
in the world. While most people that have
I come to the United States have fled some
See Pashayan page 7
£0*&<^vi^v^*0*^ii^^^<^i<^n*&*&*i*&H0-*&**0^
IPASSPORT FRESNO FESTIVAL
Enthusiastic members of the CSU Fresno
Armenian Students Organization manned
the shish-kebab booth at the annual Passport Fresno Ethnic Festival held on the
Downtown Mall on Saturday and Sunday
October 4 and October 5,1986. Part of the
proceeds of the sale were used to pay the
first $500.00 of a $ 1500.00 pledge made by
the ASO toward the construction of the
new Leon S. Peters Business Building on
the CSUF campus.
1986-87 ASO Executive: Left to right; Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Coordinator
Armenian Studies; Greg Eritzian, Treasurer; Shant Bedoyan, President; Lynette
Zerounian, Vice President; and Yvonne Sahagian, Secretary.
New ASO
Execs Chosen
The Armenian Students Organization is
beginning a new year of activities with an
experienced executive at the helm. ASO
President Shant Bedoyan has had three
years of executive experience and is returning to lead the club for the second year.
Armenian Studies Program instructor Bar-
Low Der Mugrdechian wiil advise the
ASO.
The ASO plays an active role on campus
encouraging students to play a part in the
many functions of the club. The club
sponsors lectures, forums, and programs
which enrich the campus community.
"The ASO is the future of the Armenian
community," states Der Mugrdechian.
"We must recognize that the quality education that our students receive plays a
major role in their development as leaders."
ASO members have raised money for the
Leon S. Peters Business Building and also
have donated money to the Armenian
Studies Program. Future plans for the
club include the establishing of a Distinguished Lecture Series. Social activities
also are important and the ASO is the
meeting place for Armenians on campus.
The executive body of the ASO is
working to make this year an outstanding
one for the organization. A major goal is
to bring all Armenians on campus together
and also to provide a forum where the
entire campus community can learn about
Armenians. The ASO welcomes new
members at all times. Meetings are.held
twice a month by the ASO and all students
are encouraged to attend.
The students were participating in
Armenian display area which includeo a
photographic display of the history of the
Armenians of Fresno, a sale of Armenian
books by the Armenian Assembly, and
also a pastry booth organized by the
Armenian Relief Society on Saturday and
the Armenian Community School of Fresno on Sunday. Over 40 ethnic groups had
exhibits at the festival.
See Passport, page 7
Congressman Chip Pashayan at CSU,
Fresno
Unpublished Saroyan
Works Released
(Hye Sharzhoom News Service, Fresno)
Now, five years after William Saroyan's
death, the first glimpse into the immense
store of unpublished works is given us
through the joint effort of Dickran Kouymjian and the Press at California State
University, Fresno. Though Saroyan's
memoirs Births appeared posthumously,
it had gone to press during his last years
and under his control. In the ensuing
years the processing of his complex estate
has taken up the energy of the William
Saroyan Foundation, sole custodian of
the writer's literary estate including all his
unpublished works. Hitherto unpublished
Saroyan plays are available in a new
volume.
The ASO shish-kebab booth at the downtown Fulton Mall.
j
The book is entitled William Saroyan:
An Armenian Trilogy. The first of three
plays, Armenians written in 1971, takes
place in Fresno, California in 1921. It
explores the tragedy of the Armenian
genocide while it was still fresh in its
victims' memories. The next play,Bitlis,
written in 1975, picks up the story four
decades later, when old memories are
further complicated by new concerns as
Saroyan takes a trip in 1964 to Bitlis, the
very Armenian town —now part of Turkey-- where his mother and father were
born. The final play, Haratch, written in
1979, reflects on the subsequent Armenian
dilemma, which in a larger sense is the
dilemma of all dispossessed and persecuted
peoples. The setting of this play is the
editorial office of an Armenian newspaper
in Paris, where Saroyan had established a
second residence.
See Saroyan page 8