News

Andrew Esguerra Staff Writer As the Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School continues to thrive and expand, active Armenian community member and former educator in the Fresno Unified School District, Zaroohi Der Mugrdechian, took the reins as principal from former principal Sophie Mekhitarian this summer. As an Armenian Community School graduate, I talked with Principal Der Mugrdechian about the school and ...

Suren Oganessian Staff Writer The symbol of my grandfather’s homeland is a mountain. What it means to be Armenian lies within this mountain. They dangle it in our faces, at the edge of our border, a silent mockery. It’s in your face but you can’t grab it, this mountain. Its name is Ararat, with its two curving slopes, no longer ...

Evelyn Demirchian Staff Writer September 14 marked the beginning of the Armenian Studies Program Lecture series for Fall 2011. Ara Oshagan presented excerpts from Father Land, a compilation of his photography, as well as commentary from Oshagan and his father—acclaimed writer and literary critic Vahe Oshagan. The book recounts the father and son’s visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, ...

Staff Report Phillip Der Mugrdechian Junior, History Before going to Armenia, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had seen a few pictures of the country and listened to a lot of people talk about it, but I never thought I would actually go there. As soon as we arrived in Armenia, I realized that the country I had ...

Tamar Karkazian Editor On a recent trip to Armenia I found myself gazing out the window, watching the beautiful terrain of my homeland, and reflecting upon the question: what does it mean to be an “Armenian”? I couldn’t quite come up with one definition, one set of guidelines, one concrete answer. Looking around the bus, I was surrounded by 14 ...

Suren Oganessian Staff Writer For fans of alternative rock, perhaps the most anticipated news of 2011 was that the band “System of a Down” was going to reunite for a world tour. The band had disbanded in 2006, at what may have been the very height of their popularity to pursue other endeavors. Fans instead had been quenching their thirst ...

Tamar Karkazian Editor Living in the Central Valley, we often find ourselves entertained and preoccupied with things special to the Valley, such as Fresno State football, agriculture, and ValleyPBS. So when the Armenian Students Organization was asked to help answer telephones to raise money for ValleyPBS on Tuesday, August 9, the students were ready to help—especially since it was a ...

Andrew Esguerra Staff Writer Passage Through Hell: A Memoir by Armen Anush. Studio City, CA: H. and K. Manjikian Publishers. 2005. 123 pp. Volume 1 of the Armenian Genocide Library Book Series. The eyes of a boy just shy of ten years old capture details more horrific and vivid than any photograph of the Armenian Genocide. These experiences were recorded ...

Ruzan Orkusyan Staff Writer Yet another eventful Spring Lecture series for the Armenian Studies Program came to a close on May 4, 2011 with the emotional presentation of books from the “Armenian Genocide Library Book Series,” founded by Mr. and Mrs. Hagop and Knar Manjikian. Armenian Studies Program Director Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian introduced two guest speakers for the evening: ...

Staff Report Dr. Bill Erysian, Director of International Programs for the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at California State University, Fresno, has been named Program Director of a recently-awarded $3.1 million grant from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. The project, entitled “Agricultural Development for Afghanistan Pre-Deployment Training” (ADAPT), is designed to strengthen the capacity of U.S. sponsored agriculture ...