Staff Report Ed Lanfranco is a native of Fresno who lived and worked in China for two decades, including the last eight years as a Beijing-based correspondent for United Press International. Lanfranco, an expert on the city of Beijing and well-versed in Chinese history and culture, said he was motivated by two of China’s celebrations for the dead: Qingming and ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer Kuwait is a small sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Iraq to the north and west, and the Persian Gulf to the east. Kuwait is one the richest countries in the world, per capita, and is known for its large oil reserves. Kuwait is extremely hot in the summer, reaching high temperatures ...

Tamar Karkazian Staff Writer The start of September marked the beginning the new ASO year. The 2009-2010 Armenian Students Organization term began on September 2 with its first ASO meeting. This meeting was followed by bi-monthly meetings on Wednesday nights. An executive committee was selected, with Hagop Ohanessian, who will graduate this Fall, as president. Karine Frnzyan, who wants to ...

Tamar Karkazian Staff Writer President: Hagop Ohanessian Major: Business Administration-Real Estate Urban Land Economic Option Minor: Armenian Studies and History What do you hope to accomplish? I hope to continue the traditions of ASO. I hope to meet new fellow Armenian students on campus and provide them with the best leadership. As President, I will work with the rest of ...

Staff Report Armenological and Social Sciences section of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, April 2009. Dr. Kouymjian, far left.

Staff Report Castro Valley resident Rosalie Mahakian has bequeathed the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno $50,000 for general Program purposes. She passed away in Castro Valley on February 10, 2007. Rosalie Hagopian Mahakian, born in Fresno, California July 7, 1922, was one of five children in the family of Ovagim and Elizabeth Hagopian. Her childhood was that ...

Tamar Karkazian Staff Writer For over 30 years Armenian children from all over the Valley have been attending the Armenian Community School of Fresno. In the past couple of years the Armenian Community School has undergone numerous changes, ranging from a change in location to introduction of after-school programs. Some of the more obvious changes are of the name and ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer Dr. Sergio La Porta was appointed as Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State and joined the faculty this Fall semester as an Associate Professor of Armenian Studies. Dr. La Porta’s father immigrated from Sicily in 1960 and his mother, whose parents were English and Dutch, was born in New York. Dr. ...

Evelyn K. Demirchian Staff Writer Twenty-year-old piano prodigy Nareh Arghamanyan graced a packed auditorium on September 18th at the Fresno State Concert Hall. Arghamanyan’s electrifying performance was at once elegant, moving, and worthy of the international praise she has received as one of the youngest professional concert pianists. Playing a two-hour set, Arghamanyan exuded energy with her performance, not often ...

Pateel Mekhitarian Editor Dr. Dickran Kouymjian was recruited from France to restart the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State in 1977. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian was a freshman at Fresno State in 1974, and was present to experience the beginning of the new program. Der Mugrdechian was very involved in Armenian related events during his college career, taking a one-month ...