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8 The Armenian Reporter | February 28, 2009 Community Vodka Lemon to launch Zohrab Center film series March 5 NEW YORK – The Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center’s new Film Series event will feature a screening of an Armenian or Armenian-related film one Thursday a month at the Zohrab Center in New York. The award-winning Vodka Lemon will be the first film viewed in the Film Series on Thursday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m. Vodka Lemon is set in a Kurdish village in Armenia, which is suffering economically after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The story focuses on the growing relationship between Hamo, a Kurdish widower, and Nina, a widow who works in a local bar named Vodka Lemon, which is about to shut down. The movie, which debuted in 2003, is in Kurdish, Armenian, Russian, and French, with English subtitles. A still from Vodka Lemon, set in a Kurdish village in Armenia. In accordance with the film’s title, lemon vodka cocktails will be served, along with light appetizers. Suggested donation is $5. The Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center is located at 630 Let us know what’s on your mind. Write to us at letters@reporter.am Second Avenue (at 34th street) New York, New York. connect: ZCFilmSeries@gmail.com 1-212-686-0710 ars 2009 Summer Youth Connect Program in Boston invites applications WATERTOWN, Mass. – The Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA is currently accepting applications for its 2009 Summer Youth Connect Program to be held in the Greater Boston area from May 31 until June 7. The program is available to college students at any level of study as well as high school seniors who will enter college next fall. Now in its second year, the ARS Youth Connect Program immerses young Armenians in a week of lectures, social activities, visits to Armenian-American institutions, news of internship opportunities both in the United States and in Armenia, and meetings with youth organizations in the Boston area. Participants attend lectures and discussions on topics such as youth and social movements in Armenia, rural development in Armenia, and challenges facing Armenians and Armenia. There will also be time for sightseeing in Boston and visits to area universities where there are Armenian programs. Program director Asbed Kotchikian of Bentley University, Waltham, has developed and directed youth programs in the United States, Armenia, and Middle East. Lodging, provided by the ARS, will be at the university. There is a $100 application fee but no participation fees as the program covers lodging, food, and local transportation. Applications should be received by Thursday, May 1. connect: 1-617-926-3801 arseastus@aol.com www.arseastusa.org/programs/youtheducational-program.html www.facebook.com/group. php?gid%131868610576 Scholars to assess Genocide Prevention Task Force report Edward D. Jamie, Jr. Funeral Chapel, LLC 208-17 Northern Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361 Tel. 718-224-2390 Website: www.jamiejrfuneral.com. Serving the Armenian Community Since 1969 Edward D. Jamie, Jr.-NY&NJ Licensed Funeral Director WASHINGTON – A symposium to assess the official report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force will be held on March 13, 2009, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This is the initiative of the editors of Genocide Studies and Prevention, published in partnership by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (“IAGS”), the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (“IIGHRS”) and the University of Toronto Press. “This much anticipated report was released in December 2008,” said Prof. Herb Hirsch, one of the journal’s editors. “We wanted to organize as quickly as possible a symposium of experts from North America and Europe in political science, international law, sociology, history, and philosophy to provide an independent, in-depth, scholarly review and assessment of its findings.” The Genocide Prevention Task Force was officially launched in November 2007 by a consortium of nongovernmental agencies – the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the U.S. Institute of Peace – co-chaired by Madeline Albright and William Cohen. Ms. Albright served as U.S. envoy to the United Nations and then secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Mr. Cohen was secretary of defense during Bill Clinton’s second term. Participants in the task force and its research included over 50 people with international, diplomatic, political, government, military, academic, humanitarian, and other relevant experience. The task force’s mandate is explained in the title of its official report, Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers. The co-chairs explain in their foreword, “This report provides a blueprint that can enable the United States to take preventive action, along with international partners, to forestall the specter of future cases of genocide and mass atrocities. The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue. Our challenge is to match words to deeds and stop allowing the unacceptable.” Prof. Gregory Stanton, president of the IAGS, noted, “Scholars understand that to commit genocide is a political act. But when it comes to such things as preventing genocide, the kind of politics found in Washington and other capitals of power can sometimes get in the way of real understanding, and therefore of effective intervention.” Prof. Roger W. Smith, chair of the IIGHRS, commented, “One cannot study genocide without feeling the urgent need to do everything one can to prevent it. We need to persuade governments that preventing genocide is in their national interest, for both moral and pragmatic reasons. That is why this symposium should critically analyze this vital report and its potential effectiveness.” Entry to the symposium is free, but preregistration is required. The papers presented and discussed at the symposium will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of Genocide Studies and Prevention. Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal was co-founded by the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute). The journal’s mission is to understand the phenomenon of genocide, create an awareness of it as an ongoing scourge, and promote the necessity of preventing it, for both pragmatic and moral reasons. It is the official journal of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and is published three times a year by the University of Toronto Press. connect: 1-416-250-9807 admin@genocidestudies.org Let us know what’s on your mind. Write to us at letters@reporter.am
The Armenian Reporter | February 28, 2009 9 Community Holiday Gala slideshow featured on alma’s newly designed website Above left: Gala chairperson Michele M. Kolligian welcomes guests to alma’s third Holiday Gala. Above right: alma trustee Robert Khederian (third from top right) and his table of guests. WATERTOWN, Mass. – The Armenian Library and Museum of America recently launched its redesigned website almainc.org into a state-of-the-art, multimedia site. In order to expand alma’s online presence and improve its outreach efforts, the new site lets visitors make a donation, become a member, and learn about corporate sponsorship opportunities. Website visitors can also take virtual tours of alma’s galleries, search the Library catalogue, and purchase items from alma’s gift shop, including souvenirs, artwork, and event tickets. The most recent addition to alma’s website is a slideshow displaying more than 100 event photos from alma’s third Holiday Gala, which took place this past November at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The slideshow includes candid shots of 300 guests from the Greater Boston area and as far away as California enjoying the exciting evening in support of alma. alma trustee and gala chairperson Michele Kolligian and her committee planned the festive occasion in true Armenian style. During the cocktail reception, jazz performed by Vardan Ovsepian and vocalist Maggie Grebowicz blanketed the colorful conversations among friends, family, and supporters of alma, who caught up with one another over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Many guests browsed alma’s compelling traveling exhibit, “Légion Arménienne: The Armenian Legion and Its Heroism in the Middle East,” which was on display in the reception area. Other attendees crowded the silent auction table to view the 46-inch flat-screen television with Blu-ray disc package, assortment of Boston sporting event tickets, a diamondencrusted pendant, and other luxury items and packages that awaited the highest bidder. With anticipation mounting, doors opened to the hotel’s Plaza Ballroom, where a slide presentation displaying alma’s treasures played in the background. Once guests were seated, Ms. Kolligian welcomed all in attendance on behalf of alma and its Board of Trustees. Guests then feasted on a sumptuous multicourse dinner with wine and a decadent dessert. After eating, guests fluctuated between placing their final bids on prized silent auction items and dancing to the inviting homeland sounds played by Harry Bedrosian, Bruce Gigarjian, David Hoplamazian, Kenny Kalajian, and Joe Kouyoumjian. A number of songs later, Ms. Kolligian announced the close of the silent auction and invited alma Trustees Robert Khederian and Daniel K. Dorian IV to the stage as the live auction’s stand-in “celebrity” auctioneers. For the duration of the auction, the comedic duo roused the crowd to bid big with a range of good-humored banter. In the end, a Bruins Box for 18 guests, four private suite tickets to a New England Patriots game, four EMC club tickets to a Red Sox game, and a private box for 12 guests to see Disney on Ice were auctioned off, along with the incredible perks that each auction package offered. Before the event ended, young professionals joined the festivities during the first ever late Gala ‘Kef’ Dance, sponsored by alma. The merriment and dancing continued well into the night as guests danced to the deejay’s American music selections and enjoyed late evening fare. The Gala raised much-needed funds, part of which will be used to further enhance alma’s website by building a membership interface. The members-only pages will have interactive features that give members exclusive access to streaming audio and visual content of alma events and programs and much more. While alma’s Gala has come to an end, the season of giving and celebration continues. Come spring, alma will hold its annual Sports Raffle campaign and celebrate the fundraiser’s fifth anniversary with a promotional offer of five tickets for $300 (individual tickets are $100 each). While the You share the same community. Discover what happens when you share the same experience. raffle tickets will be mailed out in the early spring, alma supporters can preorder them through the website starting March 15, 2009. For more information about Relay For Life and Paint the Town Purple, or to find an event near you, visit www.cancer.org/relayNYNJ or call 1.800.ACS.2345. 1.800.ACS.2345 www.cancer.org/relayNYNJ
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