1994_11 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper November 1994

              November 1994
Hye Sharzhoom
News—3
Menak parov Hayastan... hello Fresno
Lisa Derian
Hye Sharzhoom
Mary Melikian and Vahagn
Tonoyan of Yerevan State University were chosen by the Armenian
Studies Program of California State
University, Fresno to participate
in the 1994-1995 Eurasia Awards
Program, administered by NAFSA:
Association of International Educators and funded by the United
States Information Agency. The students expenses for travel and related university expenses were covered by USIA. CSU Fresno offered
two full tuition waivers to the students for the year through the auspices of Dr. Peter Klassen, Director ofthe International Studies Program at the University. Carol
Munshower of the International
Students Office has been instrumental in the successful award of
the grants.
Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the
Armenian Studies Program is responsible for the selection of students, which is coordinated with
the administration of Yerevan State
University.
Mary Melikian and Vahagn
Tonoyan are Fresno State's newest
exchange students participating in
the Yerevan State/Fresno State
University exchange program. At
the end of this summer, they were
greeted in Armenia and brought to
Fresno     by     Barlow     Der
Mugrdechian, professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State.
Mary Melikian had never been
to Fresno before, but she had been
formerly aquainted with the U.S.
on two prior visits. Boston was one
of the places she had been, where
she attended a summer computer
course at Bentley College. She had
also visited Los Angeles, on a trip
to see her godfather.
Vahagn Tonoyan is experiencing his first trip to the United States.
So far, both students are having a
pleasant time and they are not having much trouble adjusting to an
American lifestyle.
Mary is a 21 year old English
major. She is particularly interested
in translating, and has had some
former experience in that field.
Mary explains that the school system in Armenia teaches you Armenian, English, and Russian from
the time that you enter elementary
school. Because of her interest in
languages, Mary has gone on to
study German and Spanish. In Armenia, Mary finds little time, aside
from school, to socialize with her
friends. Since her classes are extremely difficult and time consuming, Mary spends most of her time
studying and being with her family. She lives with her parents and
her younger brother in an apartment within walking distance to
the University.
Here at Fresno State, Mary
lives in the dorms. She is taking an
Arts of Armenia course, Armenian
Film, two upper division English
classes, Spanish, and computer programming. She enjoys living in the
dorms and meeting people from
various backgrounds. She spends
most of her free-time on campus,
going for walks, playing the piano,
swimming, and playing ping-pong
with Vahagn. Before the exchange
program, Mary and Vahagn had
never met, but now they have become good friends.
Vahagn Tonoyan is a 19 year
old Computer Science major. Here
at Fresno State, he is taking the
same Arts of Armenia class as Mary.
He is also taking Armenian Film,
two computer programming
classes, and a mathematics course.
He spends most of his time studying in the library, in the computer
lab, and in the student union. In his
free-time he likes to play ping-pong,
pool, go swimming and spend time
with Mary.
Back in Armenia, Vahagn
worked as a programmer for the
Department of International Relations, at Yerevan State University.
He too spent the majority of his
time studying, but also liked to
spend time with friends planning
social events, like picnics. In Armenia, Vahagn lives with his parents and two brothers in an apartment close to the University.
Vahagn and Mary explain that
being a student at Fresno State is
much different then going to school
Photo By Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Vahagn Tonoyan and Mary Melikian in Armenian Studies Program office
taking a break between classes.
in Armenia. In Armenia, they are
constantly faced with the conditions of war and blockade. This
affects the amount of materials the
University can receive, and ultimately affects Vahagn and Mary.
They told me of their experiences
with the energy crisis, where the
University was shut down for three
months in the winter. They have
also had to deal with having little
and sometimes no electricity or
heat. At Yerevan State University,
Mary and Vahagn say that the
classes are more difficult and taught
in a much more formal manner
then the classes they are taking
here. Also, they are not given as
much free choice to pick their
classes as we are given here at
Fresno State.
Mary and Vahagn have both
just joined the Armenian Students
Organization and are looking forward to making some new close
friends.
Although both Mary and
Vahagn miss home, they are having a good time and gaining a great
deal of experience and knowledge
of American culture on this exchange program* '
Teaching program builds bridges to homeland
Photo By George Bedrian, Special to Hye Sharzhoom
Armenian college students in Teach For Armenia program in the park.
Mark Malkasian
Hye Sharzhoom
When George Bedirian arrived
in Yerevan in the winter of 1994 to
take part in the Teach for Armenia
program, the public relations specialist from eastern Washington
found the Armenian capital to be a
grim, dark city. A persistent grey
overcast filled the sky and temperatures hovered around freezing.
Without heat, hot water, and more
than a couple hours of electricity
each day, Yerevan's residents
seemed shell-shocked and weary.
At Yerevan State University,
Bedirian's workplace for the spring
semester, construction on the
institution's prized new library facility had come to a halt.
Within a few weeks, however,
Bedirian began to notice signs of
renewal. The brightening weather
helped lighten the gloom, but there
was also a stubborn sense of hope
taking hold among the people.
Bedirian watched Yerevan gradually come to life from the long
months of hibernation. Construction workers even returned to the
library, picking up where they had
left off at the beginning of winter.
As the 1994-95 school year
opens, hope is growing in Armenia
that the republic of 3.7 million
people has passed through the most
difficult trials. Armenian officials
are beginning to shift their attention away from short-term humanitarian relief and toward promoting
the country's long-term recovery.
The Teach for Armenia program
—in which Bedirian and two other
Americans participated during the
1993-94 academic year — is part
of that process.
Teach for Armenia
Teach for Armenid (TFA),
sponsored and coordinated by the
Armenian Studies Program of California State University, Fresno, is
grounded in the assumption that
science, technology, and commerce
must be the driving engines of
Armenia's economic development.
To help the country prosper, the
program seeks to create person-to-
person bridges between landlocked
Armenia and the outside world.
Most urgent is the need to integrate
the republic into the global community of knowledge.
In cooperation with the Armenian Ministry of Higher Education
and Science, the Ministry of Education and Yerevan State University, TFA places American educators and other professionals in the
Armenian educational system. At
the primary and secondary levels
of education, the goal is to introduce American-style teaching
methods and curricula into Armenia. In the republic's institutions of
higher learning, TFA aims to expose students and scholars to Western research methods and techniques. In addition, the program's
emphasis on improving English-
language instruction offers Armenians broader access to the worldwide information revolution.
Bridges to Armenia
Bedirian,    Zaroohi    Der
Mugrdechian,       and       Sosi
Toomajanian, TFA's
groundbreaking participants in
1993-94, encountered a society
reeling from the Soviet Union's
collapse and yet eager for contact
with the West. Even by the standards of the former Soviet Union,
Armenia's hardships have been
epic. Blockaded by neighboring
Azerbaijan and Turkey, industrial
production has fallen six times below the levels ofthe 1980s. Average salaries range from $2 to $3 a
month. And yet Armenia is a survivor. Ask Americans channeling
U.S. assistance to the republic
through the Peace Corps, Department of Agriculture, and other agencies and they will testify to the
remarkable resilience and determination of the Armenian people.
They will also affirm that those
serving in Armenia come away with
a deep attachment to the land and
its inhabitants.
Bedirian, Der Mugrdechian,
and Toomajanian each gained an
insight into the Armenian character and acquired a distinct perspective on the workings of Armenia's
educational system.
Bedirian, the coordinator of
publications at Washington State
University, served as an editor and
consultant in the Office of International Relations at Yerevan State
University. Der Mugrdechian, a
kindergarten teacher in Fresno,
California, with nineteen years of
experience, taught English at
Yerevan State University and a local kindergarten. Toomajanian,
who is a doctoral candidate at
Harvard University's school of edu
cation, offered courses in psychology and child development, and
assisted in teaching an American/
English literature class, for secondary students in Yerevan.
Bedirian's talents and experience were well-matched with
Yerevan State University's efforts
to broaden its international outreach
and restructure its graduation standards. Soon after arriving in
Yerevan, Bedirian began working
closely with Rafael Matevossian,
vice rector of international relations, and his administrative assistant, Haroutioun Kazarian, to formulate a lengthy fund-raising proposal and revamp the university's
English-language catalog. In addition, Bedirian helped develop a
grant proposal to the United States
Information Agency to facilitate
university-level administrative reform.
Language barriers aside,
Bedirian often found himself working to bridge the gulf between
Western and Soviet mindsets. After seventy years of isolation from
Western norms, Armenians were
unfamiliar with the standards that
Americans accept, Bedirian observed. In applying for grants from
American institutions, for example,
Bedirian had to take a firm stance
to convince his Armenian colleagues that the rules set by funding organizations could be bent only
so far.
"What I'm describing is a ward.
See TEACH, Page 6