Author: Boshkezenian Garik

‘SELF-MADE’ CANDIDATE TO GIVE STUDENTS A STRONGER VOICE
By Mike Norys
Eye on ASI Presidential Candidates

The Poly Post, CA
California State Polytechnic Univ. Pamona
May 2 2006

Photo courtesy of Arno Keshishian

If you ask senior Arno Keshishian what he brings to office in the
upcoming Asssociated Students Incorporated elections, he responds
unflinchingly.

“We think experience and continuity is what we bring,” said Keshishian.

The 22-year-old self-made man has put himself through college
after working the past two years and now has his eyes set on the
ASI presidency.

“I feel like I can make a difference. I am experienced,” said
Keshishian. “I know how stuff works in here. Starting July 1, I don’t
need to associate myself and learn what ASI is. That’s what I did
this year.”

Keshishian has gained valuable experience this year as ASI Treasurer
and the year before as the attorney general of the Elections Committee.

He has also been the president of Cal Poly’s Mock Trial Association
for the past two years and an active member in the Armenian Student
Association since he has attended Cal Poly four years ago.

“I had the opportunity to do whatever I wanted to do,” said
Keshishian. “There was nothing holding me back. I’ve always had a
drive to do what I wanted.”

Keshishian’s stance is simple; students need a voice.

A prime example is with the parking structure where university
committees are making decisions without student voice. “We want to work
on communication between university and the school,” said Keshishian.

If elected, Keshishian wants to develop a relationship with the
chamber of commerce of Pomona.

Cal Poly is a corporation and Keshishian thinks there are networking
opportunities to be sought.

“We know exactly what we want to do and exactly how we want to do
it,” said Keshishian. “We want to make it as a productive year as
possible.” We locked down our goals and we realized how much work it
would take to accomplish these goals.”

All of the incumbents have pushed Keshishian in the direction he is
now going to continue the current cabinet’s legislation on textbook
prices and making free tutoring available to students.

“We’ve done a lot this year, in terms of goals we want to accomplish
that we set forth at the beginning of the year. We haven’t gotten to
those goals yet, but we’ve made leaps and bounds,” said Keshishian.

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ARMENIA RATED 137 AMONG COUNTRIES WITH FREE MEDIA

AZG Armenian Daily
02/05/2006

New York-based media freedom monitoring Freedom House released its
annual report on freedom of mass media in the world. According to the
report, most serious drawbacks in media freedom in 2005 were registered
in Russia, Uzbekistan and a number of African and Asian countries. A
country is rated based on 3 factor groups: legislation on mass media,
political factors including state supervision over media, censorship
and economic situation, for instance, economic freedom of media,
degree of corruption among journalists.

So, from among 194 rated states 73 have “free” mass media, 54
“partially free” and 67 “not free”. The report placed USA 17 together
with Estonia. Latvia is on the 26th place, Lithuania on 31st,
Ukraine on 113d, Georgia 118th, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan on 137th,
Moldova on 141st, Russia on 158th, Azerbaijan on 161st, Kazakhstan
on 165th, Tajikistan on 167th, Belarus on 185th, Uzbekistan on 187th
and Turkmenistan on 190th.

POLITICAL PARTIES CONCERNED WITH ANTI-ARMENIAN NATIONALISTIC EXPRESSIONS IN RUSSIA

ArmRadio.am
27.04.2006 14:58

At the initiative of the Youth Party of Armenia, May 10-15 a delegation
of Armenian intellectuals will leave for Moscow. The aim of the
visit is to meet with Russian authorities to find out the reasons
of frequent nationalistic expressions against our compatriots and to
learn about the steps undertaken to prevent these.

“In addition to the cultural problems of the Diaspora, we should
defend the interests of our fellow citizens,” Head of the Youth Party
of Armenia Sargis Asatryan said.

Armenia and Russia signed and ratified several important international
conventions, which demand elimination of ethnic discrimination, fight
against persecution and offence of human dignity. Despite this, Russia
continues to remain a country where crimes on the national ground,
including those against our compatriots, occur at every step.

According to Sargis Asatryan, such movements in Russia are organized
and receive special financing. Fans of “Dinamo” and “CSKA” football
teams stand behind this. It deserves attention that members of such
groupings are physically well prepared.

Although the issue is a very complex one, it cannot be transferred
to the ground of aggravation of Armenian-Russian relations.

Letters have been sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the
State Duma, urging to undertake measures “to stop the anti-Armenian
hysteria.”

IN U.S. ALIYEV WILL BE OPENLY SAID OF INADMISSIBILITY OF KARABAKH CONFLICT MILITARY RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2006 00:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It will be Aliyev’s first visit since becoming head
of the oil-rich state bordering both Russia and Iran, and Teheran’s
nuclear ambitions are undoubtedly one of the main reasons Aliyev
has been invited to the White House.” International Crisis Group
Caucasus project director Sabina Freizer has told APA while expressing
her attitude to Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the
US. Sabina Freizer stated that if the U.S. is keen to protect its
energy and security interests, the main issue on the table should be
the unresolved conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. For more than a decade,
only a shaky cease-fire has kept Armenia and Azerbaijan from resuming
their full-scale fighting over the small mountainous territory wedged
between them and Iran.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and soon to be completed
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, which Washington sees as critical
to the West’s energy security, pass within 30 miles of this flashpoint.

In the past months, President Aliyev has intensified his bellicose
rhetoric, threatening to withdraw from peace talks and to militarily
recapture all territories currently occupied by Armenian backed
forces. He doubled the 2005 military budget to $600 million in 2006,
over 16% of Azerbaijan’s total budget. He has also pledged to make
military spending equal to the entire state budget of Armenia, and,
propped up by oil revenues, the Azeri leader’s threat is very real.

In Washington President Aliyev should be told clearly that a military
resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unacceptable. Instead,
the U.S. Government should – while making clear that it will be
pressing Armenia equally strongly – push Azerbaijan to accept now
the principles of a comprehensive peace deal which would include
the renunciation of the use of force, the incremental withdrawal of
Armenian-backed forces from all occupied territories around Nagorno
Karabakh, the safe and voluntary return of all displaced persons,
the reopening of all transport and trade routes closed as a result
to the conflict, and a guarantee that the people of Nagorno Karabakh
will be given the right to self-determination based on a referendum
to be held after clear conditions are met.

This is close to what the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe proposed in February, but there was little international
pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan to encourage them to sign the
deal. As a first step President Aliyev should allow people-to-people
contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.

Until now, the Bush Administration has claimed to have a
three-dimensional approach to Azerbaijan, focusing on security,
energy, and freedom through reform.

President Aliyev was not granted an earlier visit to the White House
because the 2003 presidential elections were considered to be seriously
flawed and were followed by a violent crackdown on the opposition. The
2005 Azerbaijani Parliamentary Elections were another disappointment,
which should have precluded an invitation to Aliyev less than six
months after they were held. Some of the three dimensions are clearly
more important than others.

Even as democratic reform was lagging, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld traveled to Baku three times in 2003-2005. Most observers
in Baku consider these visits to be cementing the relationships that
could ease the way for the possible deployment of American troops
in Azerbaijan to be used in actions against Iran. Today’s invitation
may be part of the Bush Administration’s attempts to ratchet up the
pressure on Tehran. Interestingly, however, Aliyev is preparing to
welcome Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Baku in May, the second such
meeting in Azerbaijan after the two countries signed a non-aggression
pact last year.

According to Sabina Freizer, if the US wants to ensure Azerbaijan’s
long-term support of its policies towards Iran, and overall regional
security, its best bet is to first focus on securing a peaceful
resolution of the existing Nagorno Karabakh conflict. While the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains unresolved, Azerbaijan can ill
afford to undermine its improving relations with Tehran. At the same
time, if Azerbaijan makes good on its threat to take military action
against Nagorno Karabakh, close to Iran’s northern borders, it will
undermine U.S. energy and security interests and cause the flight
of foreign investment from Azerbaijan. The volatile South Caucasus
region, plagued also by unresolved conflicts in Georgia, risks being
completely destabilized, dragging into the fight neighboring Russia,
Turkey and Iran. This perilous scenario is worth talking to Aliyev
about as much as the threats of a nuclear Iran, reported APA.

PRESS RELEASE

April 21, 2006

American University of Armenia
40 Marshal Baghramian
Yerevan 375019 ARMENIA
Telephone: (37410) 512-522
Fax: (37410) 512-523
Contact: Diana Manukyan
E-mail: [email protected]

AUA and Nork Marash Medical Center Author a Study on Quality of Intensive
Care

The April 2006 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Asian Cardiovascular &
Thoracic Annals presented findings from a study by lead author Lusine
Abrahamyan, MD, MPH, which demonstrated that quality of care at Nork Marash
Medical Center (NMMC) following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
surgery, measured in terms of post operative complications and ICU stays,
are comparable to those reported by major international cardiac surgery
centers. According to co-author and Surgical Consultant at NMMC Dr. Hrair
Hovaguimian, “This article is an important step toward establishing systems
for outcomes reporting in parallel with international standards.”

AUA/CHSR faculty Anahit Demirchyan, MD, MPH, and Michael Thompson, MS, DrPH,
also co-authors noted, “The study reported here was a small part of a
five-year privately funded collaborative project between the Center for
Health Services Research and Development of the American University of
Armenia (AUA/CHSR) and the Nork Marash Medical Center focused on assessing
and improving the quality of care at NMMC.” Lead author Lusine Abrahamyan,
now a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, noted that “These results
not only attest to the quality of care at NMMC, but also provide important
insights for individual patient counseling.”

“AUA students, graduates and faculty working together with the Medical Staff
of the Hospital undertook a thorough study and evaluation of all functions
and procedures in the hospital with the express purpose of raising its
standards to accepted international norms. To say that the Hospital and AUA
achieved its goals is both an understatement and a tribute to all those who
worked on the project. Their professional expertise and personal commitment
has manifested itself in a higher standard of care, the direct beneficiary
of which is each and every patient that enters the Hospital. My
congratulations to them all,” added Mr. Edward Avedisian, who generously
funded this project.

For further information about this or other AUA/CHSR projects, visit

————————– ————–
The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit educational
organization in both Armenia and the United States and is affiliated with
the Regents of the University of California. Receiving major support from
the AGBU, AUA offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight
graduate programs. For more information about AUA, visit

NEWLY CREATED STAFF OF NATIONAL INSPECTION ON EDUCATION COMPLETED WITH DISAPPOINTED SCHOOL DIRECTORS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Artashes Torosian, the acting Chief
of the newly created National Inspection on Education of the RA
Ministry of Education and Science neither disproved nor affirmed the
information, according to which, a part of 15 inspectors starting work
at the inspection are former directors of schools who were discharged
the work for financial and other type of violations. And according to
the same information, the Prosecutor’s Office undertook the case of one
of them. In the intervew to the Noyan Tapan correspondent Artashes
Torosian mentioned that all the inspectors started contractual
work. According to him, in future the inspection staff, including
the post of the Chief, will be formed based on the civil serviceman’s
competition. And in future just the competition order will show who
will be able to participate in it and who won’t. According to Norayr
Ghukasian, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science for Secondary
Education, he is not aware and did not participate in selection of
inspectors. He also mentioned that passports of the posts of the
inspection must yet be affirmed after what a competition will be
announced, and inspectors working by the contractual order, will
participate in that competition.

FEDS CRACK $20 MILLION LA MEDICARE FRAUD RING

NBC4 TV, CA
April 25 2006

Investigators Say Defendants Had Organized Crime Ties

LOS ANGELES — Five members of a Russian-Armenian organized crime ring
have been indicted in connection with a $20 million Medicare fraud
conspiracy that operated out of clinics and labs in Los Angeles,
Glendale, Van Nuys and Pasadena.

They have been charged with conspiracy, health care fraud, Medicare
kickbacks, making false statements to Medicare and money laundering,
the Daily News reported.

“This case shows how criminal organizations seek to adapt over time
to Medicare’s fraud-prevention efforts,” Assistant U.S. Attorney
Bruce Searby said in remarks reported by the newspaper. “Here, the
defendants were able to outrun the government for a while, but they
did not count on the perseverance of Medicare administrators and
federal agents whose job it is to protect this important program.”

The group allegedly was led by Konstantin Grigoryan, 56, of Altadena,
a former colonel in the Soviet army; his wife, Mayya Leonidovna
Grigoryan, 54; the Grigoryans’ son-in-law, Eduard Gershelis, 34, of
Los Angeles; Mayya Grigoryan’s brother-in-law, Aleksandr Treynker,
48, of Canoga Park; and Haroutyun Gulderyan, 36, of Tujunga, the
Daily News reported.

The Grigoryans and Gershelis have been in federal custody since their
March 21 arrests. Gulderyan and Treynker have been released on bond.

The five suspects are scheduled to appear in court June 13. They were
indicted Thursday.

In court documents, Searby wrote that the case is connected to
Russian-Armenian organized crime that gutted Medicare of more than $20
million using a network of clinics, paid kickbacks to marketers for
patient referrals and billed Medicare for tests that were unnecessary
or went undelivered, the Daily News reported.

SUSPECT DETAINED IN MURDER OF ARMENIAN STUDENT IN MOSCOW

RIA Novosti
24 Apr 06

Moscow, 24 April: A Moscow school student has been detained on
suspicion of murdering an Armenian student at the Pushkinskaya
underground station.

“A student of a Moscow school, born in 1989, has been detained in
connection with the murder of an Armenian last Saturday [22 April]”,
a press service official of the Moscow prosecutor’s office, has told
RIA Novosti news agency.

The suspect has admitted to the crime, he said.

A tragedy they will never forget
By DAVID SILVERSTEIN, Sun Staff

Lowell Sun, MA
April 23 2006

LOWELL — As he stood at City Hall, the plackard Joseph Dagdigian was
holding didn’t offer a pleasant picture. Though cartoonish, there was
nothing funny about the female figure depicted at the forefront of a
long procession, cradling in her arms the apparently lifeless form of
an infant. Tragedy was portrayed through the picture — a tragedy
Armenian-Americans throughout Greater Lowell came to remember.

Yesterday, city and state officials, as well as members of the
Armenian-American community, gathered in downtown Lowell to
commemerate the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turks, who were then in power over a
large portion of Eastern Europe, initiated a systematic cleansing of
their population by rounding up and either murdering or deporting any
Armenian residing within their borders. This movement began with the
execution of Armenian intellectuals, including educators, religious
figures, and other social leaders, but was soon extended to the
general population. About 1.5 million Armenians were murdered and
nearly 500,000 were forced to flee their homeland.

Yesterday, a crowd of about 50 people, both young and old, gathered
beneath a chilly gray sky and formed a small procession. Led by an
honor guard of Armenian-American veterans, they marched from the
intersection of Merrimack and John streets to City Hall.

Following addresses from state Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, Armenian
National Committee representative Tom Vartabedian, Mayor Bill Martin,
the Rev. Vartan Kasabian of St. Gregory Armenian Church in North
Andover and several others, a flag-raising ceremony took place.

According to a pamphlet passed out by Joseph Dagdigian, a member of
the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the Armenian National Committee, the
Turkish government refuses to formally acknowledge that these murders
were an act of genocide. As part of this ongoing denial, the pamphlet
says the Turkish government pursues a bevy of avenues, including
paying lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to help maintain their image
and prevent others from recognizing the genocide. The U.S.
government, the flier said, conceded to Turkish influence because it
couldn’t afford to lose the air bases in Asia Minor during the Cold
War.

In his address to the assembly, Vartabedian said, “When tragedies of
this magnitude occur, it is our responsibility to ensure that we do
not forget.”

Currently, legislative measures that would officially recognize the
genocide and create a formal day of remembrance are pending in both
the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. These measures, which
have the support of prominent scholars, writers and religious
leaders, as well as a number of Armenian organizations, are called
the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Meeting at the Committee

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 20 2006

On June 16 parliamentary hearings are envisaged to organize in the
National Assembly dedicated to the activity of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in Armenia. Such an agreement was reached at April
20 meeting of Gagik Minasyan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on
Financial-Credit, Budgetary and Economic Affairs and James McHugh, IMF
Resident Representative in Armenia. It is planned that IMF officials,
representatives from legislative and executive bodies, NGOs, Central
Bank and business world will participate at the open discussions
organized by the committee. Gagik Minasyan is confident that the
discussions will be effective and sharp: the cooperation of Armenia
and IMF has both supporters and opponents. As the sides assessed,
the parliamentary hearings can be very useful for the public: the
representatives of the fund will inform about their cooperation and
programmes with the executive body, a brief package on expenses and
received results will be provided. Gagik Minasyan considered necessary
to have prepared a comparative document on the fund activity in CIS
countries. He also considered important that in parallel with the
State Statistical Service the estimated indices of the international
authoritative structure would also be introduced.

Recently in Washington the presentation of the publication prepared
by IMF describing the economic growth of Armenia, monetary-credit
policy, the process of economic reforms was organized. The book is
also envisaged to translate into Armenian.

In June Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo, IMF Managing Director, will visit
Armenia. On June 15-16 the meeting of 12 states’ group will also be
held. These are the countries, which Holland represents in IMF.

As the IMF Resident Representative noted they have a wish to
enlarge the relationship with the parliament, make their policy
more transparent.