MARCH FOR JUSTICE
EARTH DAY LACC WEATHER FORECAST WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
63/52
FRIDAY
64/54
SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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Collegian 6-7
Los Angeles
Wednesday May 6, 2015 Volume 174 Number 5
NEWS BRIEFS
CORINTHIAN COLLEGES CLOSE The LACCD has reached out to invite the displaced students of for-profit Everest College, one of the 30 Corinthian College campuses that will soon close in Southern California, to join their nine campus-wide district. The Department of Education says there are extra guidelines for debt-forgiveness for students affected by Corinthian closing.
The Voice of Los Angeles City College Since 1929
100 MARCH FOR JUSTICE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
SHOP FOR MOM AT MOTHER’S DAY ART GALLERY SALE Donated ceramics and art pieces will be for sale to benefit the Da Vinci Hall gallery and the Student Scholarships Program. This sale will take place May 4, 5 and 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students are invited to shop for their mothers and support the art department by attending this event and purchasing art donated by LACC Alumna Merryl Alpert. MUSIC DEPARTMENT HOSTS SPRING EVENING CONCERT SERIES Student musicians will perform guitar, voice and piano, jazz and musical theater concerts every week throughout the month of May. The recitals will include jazz, modern and contemporary music, chamber music and more. For additional information, contact the music department at http://www.lacitycollege.edu/ academic/departments/music/ LACC OFFERS NEW CSU TRANSFER DEGREES Students can earn 14 new degrees available in multiple fields of study. Students who complete the required educational plan will receive an associate degree. Anyone interested is advised to talk to their counselors for detailed information and specific educational plans. KEEPER’S CLUB OFFERS FREE MUSIC LESSONS The Keeper’s International U.S. Chapter invites students to discover and develop their potential. Instrumental and vocal lessons are offered to students by fellow students in an educational and enriching environment every Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 108 in Franklin Hall. The Keeper’s Club International aims to promote brotherhood without violence and to provide a sense of belonging to all youth regardless of their religious or cultural backgrounds. Compiled by Carlos Martinez and Holly San Nicolas
April 24, 2015: More than 165,000 people march six miles from Sunset Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard in remembrance of the Armenian genocide of 1915. The march ended in front of the Turkish Consulate at Wilshire Boulevard and South Crescent Heights Boulevard. Photos By Gegham Khekoyan
Many Share One Family’s Story ”They raised a hand at our valuable people:
By Helen Bezikyan endured the suffering and attempted extermination because of their race and religion.
manto,” my grandmother wrote in her letter, re-
nian people endured other mass killings. the rise of a new government began to unfold in members. She says Armenians soon learned that a group of Turkish reformers called the “Young Turks” had plans to eliminate those who were non-Turkish, the Christian Armenians. The Massacre of Adana in 1909 was a con-
nians were slaughtered during this period. Adana is where my great-grandfather, Hakop Karapeti fellow Armenians to protect their city. dred Armenian community leaders were placed under arrest by the Turkish government. These leaders were the scholars and elites of the Armenian community in Constantinople, present day
is now Turkey. Her father was the village leader and the wealthiest man. He was killed in front of his family before the Turks murdered his wife, son and daughter-in-law who were both teachers. However, my great-grandmother was forced to march along with all the other Armenians. While marching, my great-grandmother caught my great-grandfather’s eye. He saw her both born in Turkey. Nonetheless, the Armenian
menian corpses. To this day, the remains of many are still in the desert.
kop’s daughter-in-law. She knows the history than her husband, my grandfather, Sarkis Ha-
my great-grandparents and their families.
was originally from Turkey, and was one of the
See page 4
Kinesiology, Life Science Building Evacuated
A suicide threat led police to an assault weapon and a BB gun.
Opinion and Editorial ............................. 2-3
By Kyle Blaylock
News .................................... 4
A woman was seen pacing the balcony of her home in the 700 block of Heliotrope Drive carrying an assault weapon and talking to herself, according to neighbors who called the police on Wednesday April 29, 2015 around 3 p.m. The call came in saying she wanted to kill herself.
Arts & Entertainment ........... 5 100 Years Protest ......... 6,7,10 Sports ................................... 9
torn apart. Men were separated from their wives and children. Young girls were abducted, and men were decapitated. The Turks would “stab and rip open the stomachs of pregnant women as they revealed the gender of the babies,” my grandmother wrote. Then the marches began. My grandmother recalls how Armenians of all ages, young and old, were assembled and forced to walk through the Syrian Desert to their deaths. They were hungry, thirsty and barefoot. Those who stopped
end. Survivors were rescued and taken as refugees onto ships and to different countries. They were separated and scattered throughout the world, settling in Lebanon, Syria, Canada, New
trying to eliminate Armenians from the face of the earth.
INDEX
Campus Life ......................... 8
many Armenians forced to walk through the Syrian Desert. Turkish neighbors who Armenians had
LAPD officials and firefighters restrained an elderly woman they believed to be mentally unstable after neighbors reported seeing her pacing her balcony and brandishing an assault weapon on April 29, 2015.
Photos by Curtis Sabir and Frank Vidrio
to calm her down and convinced her to surrender two weapons. Police say she threw two loaded assault weapons, a balcony and surrendered. Meanwhile, a block away on the northeast side of campus, L.A. County Sheriffs and cadets evacuated the Life direction of Heliotrope Drive with little explanation.
“Police are familiar with the wom“When mentally ill people don’t take their meds things like this can happen.” When the woman was in custody, she
water and moved into the shade. Despite the disruption, the woman was not arrested and was instead taken in for evaluation.
4
News
Wednesday May 6, 2015
Los Angeles Collegian
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK:
Grandparent’s Legacy Documented in Open Letter to Armenians
1894 - 1896 - THE HAMIDIAN MASSACRE: Used as a tactic to scare and threaten Armenians into changing their lifestyles and beliefs by asHundreds of thousands of Armenian people were massacred. 1908 - FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: A group of Turkish reformers, “The Young Turks,” sought to eliminate those who were not Turkish or Muslim, singling out Christian Armenians as tar-
robbery occurred. robbery occurred. Western Avenue a robbery occurred. occurred.
1909 - THE MASSACRE OF ADANA:
From Page 1 “1946 arrived and the Armenian people returned menian people got back on their feet and became an invincible Armenia,” my grandmother wrote in her open letter to the Armenian people. My grandmother wrote her letter to inform people of what happened. She describes the anguish and suffering that the Armenians experienced. “With the strength of weapons, the Turks made a game and toyed with an entire race and did as they pleased,” she wrote. The open letter is written to the 1.5 million lives that were taken, the people that were tortured, the survivors of the massacres and for the families who, to this day, still feel the effects of this atrocity - like my own family. As with many Armenians, my grandmother is the descendant of survivors. She is proud of her heritage. Although 1.5 million lives were lost during the
After three attempts by the Collegian, we were unable to get the L.A. County Sheriff’s Incident Report for the last two weeks.
were slaughtered during this incident. The exterto protect his home and family in the city of Adana, West
Armenians, who were perceived as supporters of
Photo courtesy of Bezikyan family.
1912 - THE BALKAN WARS:
the Russo-Turkish wars. As many as 850,000 of these refugees settled where the Armenians were already residents. These refugees played a pivotal role in the killings of the Armenians and the conAPRIL 24, 1915 - THE DEPORTATION OF NOTABLES AND INTELLECTUALS: Scholars and elites of the Armenian community
“Many were gained, such as composer Aram
the Turkish government. The Young Turks knew that without any leadership or guidance, the Armenians would be in a panic and chaos.
myan, and many more,” she wrote. Years had gone by, and no single word could sum up what had been done to the Armenians. Then came the word genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political or cultural group. A Polish lawyer by the name of Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1943, as a word to describe the annihilation that the Armenians had endured, accord-
AUGUST 1915 - FIRST REPORTS OF DEATH MARCH CARAVANS: The Armenians were marched out to the Syrian
The Turkish government continues to deny the tragic events that occurred in Western Armenia, now to conceal the truth of what their ancestors did to the not ever been able to fully mourn all that took place. We have not been given any proper closure and because of this, our wounds are still open. L.A. City College is located in Hollywood and sits right outside the southeast border of an Armenian community. Students can take a few steps and enter Little Armenia. Armenians continue to come together every year to remember as they mourn the lives that were taken. have made new friends and allies who support us and march with us as our brothers and sisters with every passing year that the Turkish government denies responsibility for the murder of a nation. My grandmother ended her open letter by stating, “The Armenians were here, are here, and still will be.” Excerpt from a poem by Yeghishe Charents
‘Es Im Anoush Hayastani’ “For my missed heart, there is no other story Travel around the world, but there is no white mountain top like Ararat There is no illuminated genius like Narkatsi and Koutchak Like a distant worshiped journey, I love my Masis Sar”
The New York Times reported that, “the roads and is a plan to exterminate the whole Armenian people”. Approximately 1.5 million Armenians would be brutally and systematically tortured, starved, raped and worked to death. SEPTEMBER 13, 1915 - “TEMPORARY LAW OF EXPROPRIATION AND CONFISCATION”: ing that all property including land, livestock and cated by the authorities. 1915 - 1930: American Committee for Armenian uted humanitarian relief to locations across a wide geographical range, eventually spending over 10 times its original estimate and helping around 2 million refugees. 1919 - 2015: internationally as the crime that was perpetrated
Commonwealth Avenue a theft from a vehicle occurred. Hoover Street a theft from a vehicle occurred. Mariposa Avenue a theft from a vehicle occurred.
Mariposa Avenue a theft from a vehicle occurred. Heliotrope Drive a theft from a vehicle occurred. Melrose Avenue a burglary occurred. Juanita Avenue a grand theft auto occurred. Source: L.A. Times
PRESIDENT MARTINEZ HOSTS DAYS OF DIALOGUE City College’s fourth and penultimate “Days of Dialogue” discussion was hosted in the Student Union How effectively are we using our resources? This is the question that was explored in the April 28 “Days of Dialogue” discussion. The topics covered in the discussions concern how we as an institution are meeting our mission and improving and how our programs are ensuring student success. Thursday, May 21.
STUDENTS TALK “TED” Students have the opportunity to engage in a “Ted-like” will be presented in the Downtown Central Library in the Mark Taper Auditorium on May 16 from 12 to 3:30 p.m. will be several guest speakers covering a wide variety of topics ranging from technology to politics to poetry. for tickets, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ tedxlapl-tickets-15858933497 Compiled by Lynn James and Holly San Nicolas
was observed by tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents who protested the continual denial from the Turkish government, the successors of the forwhat happened to the Armenians in 1915. Compiled by Holly San Nicolas and Helen Bezikyan
Lasana Hotep speaks with students and collective changes for a more peaceful student[s] and give student[s] permission to take the lead at this particular point in your life, and not let social take the okay to hang out. My advice for students consistently is [to] engage with the reality and the identity of being a student … give that permission to thrive, and if you give student[s] permission to thrive everything else will take care of itself.” Scan here to watch video of Lasana Hotep’s talk about Civil Rights at L.A. City College.
Photo by Tomas Rodriguez