Smoking is GOOD for you

By George K. Dulgeryan
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Yes, GOOD for you… Take every negative notion you’ve got about smoking tobacco and get rid of it. I’m going to give you an alternative perspective on smoking because the fact of the matter is, just as you believe that smoking is bad for you, smoking is also GOOD for you.

A smoker’s community in today’s world is one subject to endangerment. This threat of extinction, mind you, is the result of overstated and underrepresented propaganda instilled into our minds by the anti-smoking campaign along with the media every day. Yes, you may die if you smoke, but we will all die someday, so might as well enjoy life to the fullest and have a smoke from time to time.

According to Iain Gately, author of “Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization,” tobacco is believed to have been first cultivated sometime between 5000-3000 B.C. Over time, tobacco has evolved from a hallucinogenic and entheogen within tribes native to America, to a recreational substance used widely throughout the world today. If you ask me, it’s one of mankind’s earliest found treasures, so why not enjoy it?

The trouble with Nicotiana Tabacum, the tobacco plant, is the fact that it’s got such a horrid reputation. The anti-tobacco movement in the United States has successfully instilled a fear of tobacco in each and every one of us. All of its negative side effects are stressed upon, without even mentioning its numerous positive side effects. Well, just as the old saying goes, “There are two sides to every coin,” and I’ve taken it upon myself to enlighten you.

When researching information about a certain product, people tend to ask individuals who are experienced on the matter. Well, I asked Arsen Keshishian, a smoker of 11 years – making him an expert in the field – what he thinks about smoking. “My cigarette is one thing I look forward to in times of hardship, it puts me at ease.”

Just like Keshishian, any cigarette smoker will tell you that nothing is as relaxing as a good, smooth cigarette. Full enjoyment may be achieved especially prior to difficult events in our lives, for example, academic examinations. If you ask me, it’s what keeps me sane, besides alcohol, which is entirely another article on its own. A plus side to smoking is the stress-relieving and concentration-enhancing element we must all learn to appreciate. After all, it may greatly assist you in getting through with one of life’s most important endeavors, your education.

Smoking tobacco is also recognized as an effective appetite suppressant. Yes, you read right. You can get slim and keep looking good by simply just smoking. Instead of avoiding that 4x4 animal style burger at In-N-Out with fries and a milkshake, a smoker can enjoy the burger and its commodities without an ounce of guilt. There are no complicated diet regimes or restrictions on your favorite desserts and it beats any weight loss supplement program any day. All you have to do is light up a stogie and you will stay lean.

So, we’ve got relaxation and staying lean so far. You might be asking yourself, George, can there be more? Yes people, it gets better. We’re about to get a little jingoistic in a moment.

I believe smokers need a bit more recognition for being such great patriots. What do I mean? Well, according to Taxpolicycenter.org, a study was held in 2007 which shows that smokers in the United States contributed $15 billion in tobacco taxes to their country. I can’t think of anything else consumers purchase in this country that comes near those numbers. Talk about food for thought.

On another note, it is also safe to say that smoking is an efficient tool when it comes to meeting people. Whether it’s at school, a night out, or practically anywhere, smokers share something in common with one another, the fact that they smoke, and therefore feel more relaxed in each other’s presence right off the bat.

I could keep going, but I do have a limited amount of space here. Realistically speaking, all I’m saying is enjoy your life. There are many things in this world that are bad for you, but if you enjoy them in moderation, there is no harm done.

Viva La Nicotina!

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Victoria’s Chronicles

Adam Krikorian Prepares Women's National Water Polo Team for an Olympic Victory

By Lara Kuyumjian
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He has won a total of 14 national championships and titles as player, assistant coach, and head coach of the UCLA Water Polo team. He is currently the head coach of the United States’ Women’s National Water Polo team, busy preparing his team for victory for the upcoming 2012 Olympics, set to take place in London, England. He is Adam Krikorian…

Born on July 22, 1974, Krikorian spent his childhood in Mountain View, a city in northern California. Coming from a family of five, Krikorian states that his parents instilled in him a tremendous pride for being Armenian. “Even the license plate of the family car is HYEFIVE,” Krikorian smiles and states. He recalls attending St. Andrew Armenian Church in Cupertino as a child, saying, “Going to church every Sunday with my family instilled a lot of values in me. I’ll never forget those Armenian picnics – great food and playing soccer with other kids my age.”

A water polo and swimming champion of Mountain View High School, Krikorian scored a total of 113 goals during his senior year alone! He was then accepted for admission to UCLA right out of high school, and joined UCLA’s water polo team. “UCLA, Cal, and Stanford were my choices – but I chose UCLA. There was something about this place that was special. The people involved are humble people who are great to be around,” Krikorian explains.

Another big reason for Krikorian’s decision to join the Bruin family, was the fact that the captain of UCLA’s water polo team was an Armenian – Matt Emerzian. “We instantly became friends and bonded just because we were both Armenian,” he states.

Krikorian describes his experiences and time spent at UCLA as “incredible and amazing… I made some great friends.” He continued to play water polo at UCLA from 1992 till 1995, and won a national championship as captain of the team during his senior year. “It was the first national championship since 1972… a 23-year-long drought. But since then, our men’s and women’s teams have combined to win a total of 16 national championships!” Krikorian proudly exclaims.

As soon as he graduated, Krikorian was offered the position of assistant coach for the men’s water polo team, and later for the women’s team as well, both of which he gladly accepted. “During my first year of assistant coach, our team had one of the worst years. I think that’s what drove me in and kept me here. I saw something that was broken and could be built with dedication and hard work,” Krikorian explains.

That “dedication and hard work” worked! His team won 14 national championships – 10 while he was head coach and 3 while he was assistant coach. Krikorian was given the water polo Coach of the Year award numerous times, in 2001, 2004, 2004, 2005, and 2007! UCLA’s 100th NCAA championship was achieved by the women’s water polo team under the coaching of Krikorian in 2007 – the first university to accomplish that milestone in history! And in 2009, he was named NCAA Division I Coach of the Year for the sixth time by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC).

Being the head coach of both the men’s and women’s team at UCLA at the mere age of 24 is a feat in of itself. “When you’re at UCLA coaching, you’re expected to win. I was scared at first, but I knew I was blessed to have this opportunity. My parents instilled a good work ethic and always told me to never give up. My brothers beat me up when I was a kid so I was tough!” he adds.

“The best part of my job is working in a campus I love, with people I respect. And hearing Armenian people randomly cheering in the stands and yelling ‘Hey Armo’ is one of the many perks…” he adds.

Krikorian, however, demoted himself to assistant coach of UCLA’s men’s team when he became the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National water polo team. “It was one of the toughest decisions in my life. But there’s nothing bigger and more important than representing your country. It’s a feeling beyond imaginable,” he explains.

With Krikorian as the head coach, the U.S. national team is currently ranked #1 in the world. He coached the team to victory, earning the gold medal at the World Championships in Rome, Italy on July 31, 2009. “We’re off to a great start! It’ll definitely be an exciting tournament at the Olympics in London in 2012. We’re taking on the world!” Krikorian declares.

His coaching follows his theory of the 3 W’s: Work ethic, Willingness to learn, and Wanting to compete and win… Krikorian’s 3 W’s theory combined with his extensive training program will surely prepare his team to victory. “Training includes 3 hours of conditioning in the morning, then lifting weights for about an hour, and finally, about 2.5 to 3 hours of tactic-oriented practice,” he explains.

But, according to Krikorian, all of this pales in comparison to his current obstacle in life: having his 8-month-old daughter potty-trained. “Now that’s the real challenge in life,” he jokes.

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Facebook Status Update: Feel the Greatness of Facebook

By Talin Gharibian
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“What self-respecting college student isn’t on Facebook?” may initially seem like an absurd question. Sift through your mental inventory of friends, however, and you will probably be able to count the result solely with one hand.

There must be at least a little bit of substance and value in something so popular, right? Even though that premise may often be wrong, in this case, it’s remarkably right.

The beginning of this monolithic corporation was quite humble, after all. Created only 6 years ago, it was the brainchild of a Harvard undergraduate. He wanted to create a database of college friendships.

Mr. Zuckerburg went above and beyond his initially plain aim. The social network of Facebook now boasts over 22 million active users, more than half of which are in high school or college. It is the nation’s 6th most-visited website, according to the tracking firm ComScore. 

Facebook’s most accessible positive attribute is that it provides the ability to network socially. It helps break down barriers between employers/colleagues and employees as it allows connections to be built on new “non-professional” levels.

Most people find it difficult to maintain strong connections between friends and family over a large geographic distance. Letters have become obsolete and the telephone incompatible with a high-paced lifestyle; staying in-touch with Facebook is the new low-key alternative. According to a current CSUN student from London, “It [Facebook] is amazing; I can chat with my cousins in Paris all the time without any inconvenience.” 

Facebook not only allows for the reinforcement of social relations with existing friends, but also the direct creation of new ones. Users can search for old friends, stumble upon them through mutual friends, and even make completely new ones (conveniently enough according to city, college or interests). It especially allows users to stay in the know regarding happenings, as ‘event invitations’ have completely replaced any other form of notification.

Facebook users may not only project any idea they have into this “world” but also control what ideas others have of them. The popularity of the site is rooted in its privacy; users have the ability to control/specify what audience sees what information. It is the 21st century providing an easy, efficient way to constantly change social masks.

The new Facebook Global Happiness Index measures the mood of the country based on how many times a day users utilize common words such as “happy,” “good,” “angry,” or “tragic.” Adam D.I. Kramer, creator of the index, said that this could be the first step in reorienting the nation’s sense of self-worth. Perhaps it is a better model for social progress. It shifts attention from measures of economic performance to the psychological health of the country (which is in turn useful regarding the economy). 

Expectedly, any monolithic corporation would focus a tremendous amount of effort upon consumer analysis. As you may or may not know, Facebook uses information its members provide in order to direct advertising (yes - that is why you keep seeing hangover pill and stress management class advertisements). This ever-efficient method results in increased consumerism, which in turn results in a stronger economy (or at least a more aware public), which in turn is more beneficial. 

One of the most groundbreaking new developments in Facebook utilities is the Marketplace, or free classified advertising available to the public (divided into the categories of Housing, Jobs, For Sale, and Other). This is particularly helpful for new businesses and those attempting to sell online services. The businesses that utilize Facebook report an increase in revenue, contrary to the ones that do not. 

There is a great benefit in connecting the social and business realms. “The advantage of having classifieds linked to a social network is that you know something about the seller,” said an analyst at Forrester Research. In this case, you are less likely to be a victim of fraud through someone you know.

Rivaling Marketplace in new usefulness is Facebook’s new feature of directly linking or tagging others within status updates, particularly for businesses. Andrew Huang, a product manager at Facebook who developed this new feature, said it would enable users “to talk about their real-world connections” and “interact with each other more.” This will also allow businesses to monitor what others are saying about them, in turn emphasizing improvement. Customers feel a personal connection, which fuels an increase in business. “It is a great way to interact one-on-one and build a relationship with our customers,” says Alice Shin, the Kogi BBQ truck’s creative director. This mobile company of Korean cuisine has 4,300 followers on Twitter and 2,150 on Facebook. They use Facebook to post specials, discounts, and daily shifting locations. 

All in all, Facebook’s benefits extend to so many varying realms of modern existence. Its positive attributes most clearly outweigh its negative ones. If you are skeptical, just try to imagine your social life without its existence. That gentle pang in your stomach says you agree -- though perhaps that was aided by the mention of the basically-holy Kogi truck.

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The Armenian Chronicles

By Richard Davitian
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A peculiar cartoon character depicting a traditional Armenian man has been taking over the web in recent years. The character's name is Harut and it seems as though every other day someone is posting the infamous video of him doing the Armenian dance. The mastermind behind the craze goes by the name Hayk Manukyan.

Manukyan came to the States from Yerevan, Armenia when he was seven years old. At a very young age his mom put him into art, acting, and singing classes. But the class he held onto the most was art.

Manukyan spent his entire academic career in public American schools. "I think it really helped me get used to being in America quicker," he said.

During our meeting, he recalled a fond memory from his childhood: “One thing I remember from when I was 10 years old is when we got a home video camera. I was so excited. My sisters and I would write shows and make videos. Then, during birthdays, everyone would come over and watch the tapes. It’s pretty much what I do now but on a bigger scale. It’s something I always had a passion for.”

His uncle was an animator working for the Soviet Union, and he worked on many famous cartoons. Manukyan believes he received his talent genetically from his uncle.

Manukyan was mostly self-taught in animation. For the purposes of learning to draw, he took several life-drawing classes.

“When I was 14 years old, I sent Disney my artwork, which was mostly cartoons and paintings. I told them that I hope to work for them, but they wrote back a letter saying “nice try” because, according to them, I was too young and had the wrong idea about animation similar to most beginner animators. People don’t realize: it’s not only about drawing cartoons – you have to be a really good artist and use that to draw cartoons,” he explained.

When he sent them his portfolio, they sent him back a huge packet of all the things he had to learn. This may have been very appropriate considering that “the top person I would want to emulate and follow in their footsteps is Walt Disney,” he said.

After high school, Manukyan was hired as an animator. For two years he worked on big movies such as “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “The Hulk.” During those two movies, he never made a single Harut cartoon or video.

He now works in Glendale at a big studio with a more secure job. “Today I am pretty happy with where I am with my career because it gives me more time to concentrate on other aspects of my work,” he said.

Manukyan has always been interested in animation mostly because “animation is like acting, except it is done with drawings.” He believes that the work he did at a younger age was of a more serious nature.

“Most of my stuff was about the Armenian genocide and it was dark and dramatic. But when I started making videos for the web, I wanted to do shorter, more light-hearted videos,” Manukyan explains. He began doing comedic shorts and it ended up being a success. He does a lot of planning beforehand. “With my YouTube videos, a lot of the comedy is in the editing and in the planning.”

Moolt is the name of his website, which in Russian, means “cartoon.” When he first started creating cartoons, he was working at a job where his talent and creativity were held back. He got frustrated and used his creativity to start his first cartoon called “Sweet Mother of Vartan.” People fell in love with it, and he started making more cartoons after working.

He began his first cartoon in 2005 and then started working on videos of himself less than a year ago. There are a few characters that Hayk works with in his cartoons. There is Vartan, Harut, Abo, Karo, and Harut’s friend, John.

He also noticed that on YouTube, people created videos of themselves talking about life. Therefore, he started making videos of himself using the Harut character and voice. These videos also became a great success.

“Most of my comedy is based on Armenian situations, humor, and characters, and because of that it makes it original to other people.”

He thought his fans were mostly Armenian, but when he opened up a fan page on Facebook, he found that many of his fans belonged to different races and countries outside of the United States.

Interestingly, his favorite comedians are those from the past such as Charlie Chaplin and Lucille Ball. “I think there was a little bit more skill involved back then, and the reason I say that is because today most comedians try to make you laugh by shocking you or performing vulgar comedy. That takes skill too, but it’s a lot easier.”

“I have this ultimate goal in life to make a Sasountsi David movie. I believe that all the things that I’m doing today are mostly leading me to that. I am using YouTube to grow and establish myself as an entertainer in order to somehow reach that goal. The more people know about me and my work, and the more that I can prove that I can entertain people, the more chances I have of achieving that goal.”

Manukyan hasn’t made Harut cartoons in a long time. The new one Manukyan is currently working on is more like the old “Number Twerve” cartoon. He is also going to introduce a lot more characters.

“These new cartoons are based on my real life, so Harut is going to be based on me. There will also be a grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, and a couple of sisters,” Manukyan revealed.

He is excited about the new project that he is undertaking and will continue doing the videos as long as people enjoy watching them.

Tags: Armenian, Fun, Art, Cartoons