2002_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2002

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Hye Sharzhoom
December 2002
Armenian Students Organization Has A Great Start
ASO members at the first meeting of 2002-2003.
Alex Bunch
Staff Writer
The Armenian Students Organization (ASO) began the 2002-03
school year by holding it first meeting in September, with more than
25 members present. A new executive was also elected.
The next meeting and get-together was at Dominion Pizza, located at the northwest corner of
Cedar and Shepherd. There were a
lot of games and things to do, but
for me one of the major things was
just getting to know people, which
I found very easy. There was plenty
of pizza and soda for everybody.
The pizza was hot, and the conversations, both in English and Armenian, were non-stop. People were
generally asking questions about
what the ASO is all about, and
since I am a freshman, I only knew
that there was an ASO, not about
what they do. The ASO and the
Armenian Studies Program are one
of the major reasons why I came to
Fresno. But there was also another
surprise at the meeting, the ASO
decided to buy a cake and surprise
everybody who either just had a
birthday, or was having one in the
near future. (I was one of them.)
There were plenty of pictures taken
and plenty of smiling faces.
The ASO's next event was a
carwash fundraiser, which was held
on Saturday, October 10, at the
Flying A Gas Station located on
Ashlan and Blackstone in Fresno.
We washed over 40 cars and worked
from 10 AM until 2 PM. The gas
station itself is owned by the
Torigian's, who were nice enough
to allow us to use their facilities.
ASP President Sevag Tateosian
provided us with Armenian music
while we were working. Towards
the end of the carwash we were
eating pizza, lehmajoon (Armenian
pizza), and drinking plenty of soda.
Again, everybody was having a
great time. As far as the cars go, we
had many different types to clean.
Some required two people, others
required six people, such as the big
Chevy Luxury Van owned by Ani.
I remember the van was so big that
we helped Gevorg climb on top of
it to clean the roof, which was a bit
difficult.
Our most recent meeting was
again held at a pizza parlor, but this
time at John's Incredible Pizza,
which was also a ton of fun. Some
of the games included ice hockey,
cards, and board games.
The ASO also decided to hold
a Halloween party at Nyrie
Karkazian's house. People came
with all sorts of costumes and again
there was plenty to do and it was a
lot of fun.
Our most recent ASO event
was the "Donate two canned foods
and bowl for free night," held at
Fresno States' bowling alley and
game area. The idea was just as the
title implies. Donate two canned
food items and have fun with free
bowling. In the end, we had a total
of two full boxes worth of cans,
which went straight to Poverello
House. Some people were even
generous enough to donate more
than two canned items.
So, yes, we had fun bowling.
ASO Adviser, Barlow Der
Mugrdechian, a Professor in the
Armenian Studies Program, basically wiped out each and every one
of us. He said he had not bowled in
a long time, but yet he was still able
to beat us. It was nice to again see
so many people bowling with so
many smiling faces and so much
laughter taking place.
"The ASO and the Armenian Studies Program are one
of the major reasons why I
came to Fresno."
Alex Bunch
I would also like to mention
that one part of the ASO's activities also includes co-sponsoring
various lectures with the Armenian
Studies Program. The ASO takes
pride in helping out in any way they
can, which includes serving refreshments after the lectures. This semester we have heard from many
people including Dr. Barbara
Merguerian, who gave three lec
tures during the semester.
So far all of our various events
this year have been a real success.
Let me just say that as an Armenian, it means a lot to me to see us
together bonding. History has
shown that Armenians have suffered a great deal, including the
Armenian Genocide of 1915. It is
incredibly important for we Armenians to stick together and support
oneanother. Spendingtimetogether
like this and learning about each
other is very important. The truth
is, we are like a family, and we
must stick together. What ever our
next event is, I hope to continue
seeing a big turnout like I have seen
so far. Remember also that being
part of the ASO is a commitment
and should be taken seriously. Just
think of all the friends you make,
and the good memories you share
with each other.
Remember, we are Armenian
and proud!
ASO members enjoying bowling at the ASO sponsored canned
food drive at Fresno State.
A Thank You from the President of the Armenian Students Organization
Sevag Tateosian - President
Sevag Tateosian
ASO President
I would like to thank the students of the Armenian Students Organization (ASO) for electing me
President this year. I am thankful
that they had enough trust and faith
to vote me into the
Presidency. Last
year as Vice President under Michael
Harutinian, I learned
a lot about the Armenian students of
Fresno State. For example I learned their
likes and dislikes
and what they like
to do together.
A President is
nothing without a
strong and hardworking executive.
ASO is blessed in having an executive full of angels this year. So far
this semester they have
shown that they are hard
working and like to get everyone together and involved in the ASO. The
most important thing about
the executive is that they
are willing to speak up and
give their
opinions
about planning events,
social activities, and
meetings.
They are always thinking of ideas that will
attract members to
events.
Their names are
as follows:
Tatevik Ekezian is the Vice
President and is also co-host on the
"Hye Oozh" radio show with
Armen Postoyan and myself. She
keeps me
down to
earth. For
example if I
think of an
idea that I
like, but
will not
work for
everyone
else, she is
honest and
will tell me
as well as the other members of the
executive that it won't work, and
she will provide several other ideas
that will appeal more to the stu-
Erica Ananian - Secretary
Tatevik Ekezian - Vice President
dents. She is very intelligent and
committed. She is also a very strong
vice president. One day she will
make a great president.
Erica Ananian, who I have
known the longest on the executive, is the Secretary. Her friendly,
cheerful personality and her ability
to make
new friends
is important, especially to attract and get
new members involved, in-
cludi n g
non-Armenians. Individuals are
comfortable around her and her ability to
listen to people makes it easy for
members to go to her when they
need advice on issues.
Carina Karakashian, who was
a member of the
" A n o u s h "
Barakhoump, is our
Treasurer. It is a
privilege to have
her on the executive. Her experience in ACYO
speaks for itself.
Her ability to help
us plan for events
is very important.
She is a very hard success. The
worker that is dedicated to bringing club's membership is through the
the group together to not only have roof. This was obvious when we
fun, but to have them make friends    had our canned food drive and the
for life. Also, her always-happy
personality and smile are a plus!
Nyrie Karkazian, last, but definitely not least, is
responsible for
Public Relations.
Nyrie was also a
member of the
" A n o u s h "
Barakhoump.
She is so committed to ASO that
she opened up her
house for us to
have a Halloween
social gathering.
Thanks Nyrie!
But that is not all I have to say about
her. Her ability to make excellent,
eye-appealing flyers to publicize
our events has helped make our
events a success. She plays a crucial rule in getting our events publicized. The excellent turnout at
ASO events demonstrates that
people hear about and know about
the activities. She is a very nice
person and
people in the
ASO respect
her.
Thanks
to the members and the
executive of
the ASO all
of our events
this year
have been a
Nyrie Karkazian - Public Relations
Carina Karakashian - Treasurer
group came up with several big
boxes of canned goods that we donated to the Poverello House of
Fresno. Our
first meeting of the
year at Do-
minion
Pizza had
so many
people attend that
the whole
pizza shop
was full of
members.
Thanks to
Rahmi and Vera, whose family
owns Dominion Pizza, for opening
their pizza shop to us and not complaining when our members virtually took over the place.
To me there are several things
that make the ASO a special organization on campus, but the one
thing that I love about this organization is the fact that the members
all have a diverse background. They
are all Armenians but they come
from different parts of the world.
There are members who are born
here in the United States, there are
members from Armenia, Russia,
Lebanon, Iran, Australia, Canada
and many other parts of the world ,
and they each add something dif- ■
ferent to our Armenian club.
I would like to thank the members and tell them to keep making
ASO a success!
a