2004_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2004

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Armenian Action
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26"
Year
December 2004
Vol. 26, No. 2 (88)
Supplement to The Collegian
Armenian Studies Program
Honors Program Approved
Hakop Tataryan
Editor
Ambitious Fresno State students
who are taking Armenian Studies
courses have something to look
forward to in the Fall of 2005. An
Honors Program has been approved
for students taking upper division
classes in the Armenian Studies
Program. The Honors Program will
also offer numerous benefits to its
participants.
All students who apply to the
A rm eni an Studies Honors Program,
musthave Junior standing (60 units)
with at least a 3.5 GPA in Armenian Studies courses, a cumulative
GPA of 3.4, and must have completed atleastfour Armenian Studies classes.
Along with the Armenian Studies classes, students must participate inthe Smittcamp Family Honors Colloquium (a weekly two-hour
meeting for all honors students) as
long as they are in the Armenian
Studies Honors Program. The colloquium will cover an array of topics regarded as higher learning -
including: public policy, current
affairs, and contemporary society.
To encourage community involvement and offer a greater experience, the Program requires its
students to complete twenty hours
of community service each semester. Opportunities are available for
Armenian Studies-oriented service
in the various programs available
on campus: Hye Sharzhoom, "Hye
Oozh Radio," and "All Things Armenian."
In the last semester of the program students in the Honors Program will be researching atopic of
choice under the supervision of a
faculty member. The topic can be
in various areas of study such as
language, history, architecture, or
see Honors Program page 8
Poochigian Awarded "Top Dog"
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Debbie and Chuck Poochigian
Staff Report
California State Senator Charles
"Chuck" Poochigian was awarded
California State University,
Fresno's Distinguished Alumnus
Award at the 52nd Annual Top
Dog Alumni Awards Gala held on
Thursday, Oct. 28. The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the
highest honor given by the
university's Alumni Association.
The Alumni Association has
been honoring a distinguished
alumnus since 1953, when Robert
Greelis, Class of '39, was the first
honoree.
Other recipients of the top
alumni honor have included U.S.
Secretary of Treasury
Paul O'Neill; California Secretary of State
Bill Jones; the late
journalist H. Roger
Tatarian, former
Houston Mayor Lee
"Pat" Brown; the late
Sen. Ken Maddy; the
late legendary coach
and educator
Cornelius A. "Dutch"
Warmerdam; and
former U.S. Ambassador Philip Sanchez
as well as numerous
local leaders.
Poochigianis a third-generation
resident of the San Joaquin Valley
who received his bachelor's degree
from Fresno State in 1972 and
served in the Air National Guard.
He serves as State Senator for
the 14th Senate District and has
been Senate Republican Caucus
Chairman and Assistant Minority
Leader since 1998. He serves on
various committees, including Ap-
propriations, Constitutional
Amendments, Agriculture and
Water Resources and Revenue and
Taxation.
He established the partnership
between the Attorney General, the
California State University and the
see Poochigian page 4
Society for Armenian Studies Celebrates
Thirtieth Anniversary With Special Events
Staff Report
The Society for Arm enian Studies (SAS) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a series of celebratory
activities in the month of November.
The SAS was founded 30 years
ago in Boston by Dr. Richard
Hovannisian (UCLA), Dr. Avedis
Sanjian (UCLA), Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian (AUB and later Fresno
State), Dr. Robert Thomson
(Harvard), and Dr. Nina Garso'ian
(Columbia). They set the foundations of a Society, which today has
more than 200 members worldwide and is the leading organization in the field of Armenian Studies.
The SAS is dedicated to the development of Armenian Studies as
an academic discipline. It has as its
goals to promote the study of Armenia and all aspects of Armenian
culture; to promote the teaching of
Armenian subjects in educational
institutions; to promote the publication of texts in various fields of
Armenian studies; to organize and
sponsor conferences, symposia,
panels, and other forums pertaining to all aspects of Armenian cul-
6th Annual
Armenian Film
Festival
Friday, April 1, 2005
Sponsored by the Armenian Students Organization and Armenian
Studies Program. Partially funded
by the Diversity Awareness Program of the University Student
Union, CSU Fresno.
First Call for Entries
Entries are being sought for the 6th
Annual Armenian Film Festival to
be held at Fresno State.
Films made by Armenian directors/writers, or films with an Armenian theme are being sought.
Films up to 1 hour in length • Films
may be in any language, English
preferred • Films may be on any
topic, Armenian theme preferred •
Film must be in video/DVD format- if in video, it should be in
NTSC format.
Deadline for entries to be
received is February 1,
2005.
see Film Festival page 4
Dr. Richard Hovannisian, left, receiving a plaque from SAS
President Barlow Der Mugrdechian. The award recognizes
Hovannisian's role as one of five founders of the SAS.
The first activity of the anni ver-
ture and society; and to facilitate
the exchange and dissemination of
scholarly information pertaining to
Armenian studies through a program of publications, consistent
with the objectives of the SAS.
sary celebration was a reception in
honor of SAS held at UCLA on
November 7. Dr. Peter Cowe,
SEE SAS PAGE 8
Lucille Apcar Introduces New Book
Left to right: Mimi Malayan and Lucille Apcar with photo of
Lucille s grandmother, Diana Agabeg Apcar.
Sarah Soghomonian
Staff Writer
On October 26th the California
State University, Fresno Armenian
Studies Program and Armenian
Studies Organization welcomed
Lucille Apcar, granddaughter of
Diana Agabeg Apcar. Lucille
Apcar spoke about her grandmother
and shared stories from the newly
published book, From the Book of
One Thousand Tales: Stories of
Armeniaandlts People, 1892-1922
by Diana Agabeg Apcar.
Diana Apcar was born October
12, 1859 in Rangoon, then British
East Indies, now Yangon,
Myanmar. The Apcar's family trace
back to Persia where they lived for
over 300 years.
In 1891, Apcar moved with her
see Apcar page 6