Shirley MacLaine Negotiating to Scrap JUNE 5, 2014, THE CALIFORNIA COURIER, PAGE 5 To Star in Film on Immigrants Visas for US Citizens NCAA Certifies Navasartian Games LOS ANGELES - Already the innate ability to put together a By Anita Busch against the Armenian people). (Azatutyun.am) - largest amateur athletic tourna- tournament like the Navasartian Deadline.com William Hurt has also expressed The Armenian government plans ment in the state of California, the Games, is something that was Oscar-winning actress Shirley interest in playing the high school to unilaterally lift visa require- Navasartian Games just received always bound happen, and for it MacLaine is negotiating to star coach suffering a string of losses ments for citizens of the United a massive boost from non-other to scale new heights and be rec- in “Men of Granite.” The project, and resigned that his team will States travelling to Armenia, than the National Collegiate Ath- ognized in a way it was always based on the book of the same never win a game ... until this Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey letic Association. destined to." name, is the true story of how band of Armenian-speaking kids Manasarian announced on Thurs- Known as the nation's college "This raises the bar!" said the a group of poor, Armenian im- take to the court. Only then does day. sports authority, the NCAA is- 33rd. Honorary President of the migrant high school boys rose his passion for the game reig- “It is expected that we will es- sued Homenetmen certification games and Navasartian Organiz- above bigotry in a small town in nites. There is no deal with Hurt sentially do what has been done allowing athletes that play col- ing Committee Member, Vahagn Illinois by proving themselves on and both his involvement and with the European Union,” Mana- lege sports under its umbrella to Thomasian. the basketball court to become the MacLaine's is contingent upon sarian told lawmakers in Yerevan. participate in the 39th Navasar- The NCAA's certification of 1940 state champions. financing. The screenwriter is Manasarian referred to a visa tian Games. This would allow the Navasartian Games comes at MacLaine would play the role Armand Kachigian, who is from facilitation agreement with the Armenian athletes that play Di- a time when the tournament offi- of Sophia Prather, a schoolteach- Granite City. EU that took effect in January. vision 1 College sports the right cially began its games last Satur- er who watches over her "boys of Granite City, a steel town in The agreement signed in late to participate in this year's Nava- day at Birmingham High School. Lincoln Place" with a steely eye, Southern Illinois, is right across 2012 eased the EU’s stringent re- sartian Games, hence, raising the With 220 teams destined to par- takes no guff and prods the boys the Mississippi River from St. quirements for some categories of standard of the competition in the take in this year's tournament, into getting out of their broken- Louis. The surnames of the boys Armenians travelling to Europe. games. basketball was the first sport that down neighborhood gymnasium portrayed in the film -- Markari- Earlier in 2012, Yerevan allowed Homenetmen Western US Re- was scheduled to start the games and onto the high school court. an, Hagopian, Parsaghian, Efti- citizens of EU member states to gional Athletic Council Program officially. Prather stands up for the boys moff – are well-known names in enter Armenia and stay there vi- the city. The story of the 1940s Coordinator, Sevag Garabetian, against the bigotry of the time sa-free for up to 90 days. state champion basketball team stressed the importance of this as most of them were Slavic and According to Manasarian, Ar- Armenian GM Wins began with a bunch of immigrant landmark achievement by saying, Eastern European. She was a true menia is currently engaged in a kids who played in socks, some so "It's a proud moment! This pretty champion in making these kids poor they didn't own tennis shoes similar “very interesting process” much elevates the level of com- Chicago Open rise above their circumstances. -- all from hardworking families with the U.S. “That shows that petition and heightens the expec- In fact, in a town that was eco- CHICAGO (ArmeniaNow. from Eastern Europe and Slavic the level of our relations with the tations at this year's Navasartian nomically and racially divided, com) - Armenian countries who moved to the U.S. U.S. is really rising,” he said dur- Games, and it definitely accentu- these boys had had to suffer the Gabriel Sargissian has won at the in hopes of a better life. ing parliamentary hearings. ates the many positives that this indignity of being called "dirty" open tournament held in Chicago, Not only did they elevate the Armenia’s visa procedures for tournament has had for the past because of the complexion of US, Armchess.am reports. game of basketball in the state, much of the outside world have 39 years." their skin and their obvious pov- The three-time Olympic cham- but they earned respect and been quite simple since the late Homenetmen Western US Re- erty. The Armenian boys were pion had no losses, scoring 7 changed the bigoted attitudes in 1990s. U.S. citizens, many of gional Executive Chairperson, even dubbed "The Terrible Turks" points out of 9. The same result the city. them ethnic Armenians, have Garnik Abrahamian, proudly before Prather set the coach and was also shown by IM Priyadhar- The book on which the script been able to easily get visas not stated, "This confirms what we've the media straight. (The Turks, as was based was written by Dan shan Kannappan from India, but only at Armenian consulates always known about the games. everyone knows but some fail to Manoyan, a sportswriter from the Sargsyan took the first place by abroad but also the country’s bor- That a venerable organization recognize, committed genocide Milwaukee Sentinel. the tie-break. der crossings and airports. like Homenetmen possesses the