The National HeraldA WEEKLY GREEK AMERICAN PUBLICATION

January 13, 2007

www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 10, ISSUE 483 $1.00 GREECE: 1.75 EURO

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ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915

ABy David VoreacosBloomberg News

John Rigas, founder of bankruptAdelphia Communications, wassipping coffee this week at theMaple Tree restaurant in Couder-sport, Pennsylvania, when the own-er's mother approached to wishhim Happy New Year.

"It's so good to see you,'' saidAlex Smith. She skirted the main is-sue preoccupying Rigas, 82. Whilemost media moguls his age rest ontheir laurels, Rigas is facing a 15-year prison sentence. He and hisson Timothy await a ruling on theappeal of their 2004 convictions forlooting the cable television compa-ny and lying about its finances.

"You can't sleep well when somany bad things happened to youand your family,'' said Rigas in oneof three interviews with BloombergNews in the last two months. "Mybrain isn't working as well as itshould. Fear creeps in. Stresscreeps in. You imagine a whole lotof things. I can't imagine this hap-pened to us. I made mistakes, butnot illegal mistakes.''

Rigas is the oldest chief execu-tive officer to be convicted in thecorporate scandals which beganwith the collapse of Enron Corpora-tion in 2001. His crimes were com-mitted family-style. Timothy faces20 years in prison. He was convict-ed with his father of conspiracy, se-curities fraud and bank fraud. Ju-rors in New York deadlocked on an-other son, Michael, who avoidedprison by pleading guilty to a lessercharge.

For a decade, prosecutors said,the Rigases used Adelphia as a per-sonal piggybank to buy companystock and debt, steal cash ad-vances, pay for residences aroundthe country, and fund TimothyRigas' passion for golf.PPOTENTIAL PRISON ORDEAL

If John Rigas goes to prison, hewill be among the oldest of163,491 federal inmates. FormerEnron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, 53, be-gan his 24-year prison term at aprison in Waseca, Minnesota on De-cember 13. Bernard Ebbers, 65,who ran WorldCom Inc., startedHis 25-year term on September 26in Oakdale, Louisiana, not far fromhis Mississippi home. Rigas said hehasn't taken any steps to ready him-self for the ordeal.

"There's no way to prepare in my

John RigasHoping forBetter DaysWith AppealAdelphia’s FounderSays “I Made Mistakes,But Not Illegal Ones”

By Evan C. LambrouSpecial to The National Herald

NEW YORK – After 24 years of ded-icated service in the United Statesof Representatives, CongressmanMike Bilirakis of Florida has re-tired.

His unwavering support of, andadvocacy for, Hellenic issuesnotwithstanding (he was the Re-publican Co-Chair of the HouseHellenic Caucus), his steady effortson behalf of veterans and his workas Chair of the key House HealthSubcommittee left a clear mark onreliable public service.

Despite his expected and immi-nent retirement, Mr. Bilirakisstayed actively involved as a legis-lator, while his party was still in

charge of House affairs, right to theend.

He sponsored the highly publi-cized Christopher Reeve ParalysisAct, which passed in both Housesof Congress and was signed byPresident Bush in the Fall of 2004,pushing for action on its rightthrough December 2006.

The legislation provides for en-hancing further research into paral-ysis and to improve rehabilitationand the quality of life for personsliving with paralysis and otherphysical disabilities, and amendsthe Public Health Service Act topermit the Director of the NationalInstitutes of Health to:

1) acting through the Director ofthe National Institute of Neurologi-cal Disorders & Stroke, to expand

and coordinate NIH activities onparalysis research;

2) to award grants to plan, es-tablish, improve, and provide basicoperating support for ChristopherReeve Paralysis Research Consor-tia;

3) to educate and disseminateinformation and receive publiccomment on NIH programs and re-search regarding paralysis;

4) acting through the Director ofthe National Institute on ChildHealth & Human Development andthe National Center for Rehabilita-tion Research, to expand and coor-dinate NIH research with implica-tions for enhancing daily functionfor persons with paralysis; and

Reflecting on Mike Bilirakis’ Retirement

By Theodore KalmoukosSpecial to The National Herald

BOSTON – Rev. Peter Delvizis, pas-tor of Holy Trinity Church in West-field, New Jersey, urged his parish-ioners to contribute funds throughtheir stewardship program to theparish in order to receive ‘protec-tion’ from the heavenly and angelicpowers in return.

In a front-page article, “Stew-ardship on Angels,” of Holy Trinity’smonthly bulletin, “The Promise,”Father Delvizis stated, among otherthings, “The parish council has tak-en four recognizable orders of an-gels – namely, Seraphim, Cheru-

bim, Angel and Archangel – to rep-resent four new levels of giving inStewardship. These categories willbe published in the Promise startingin 2007, with each steward of HolyTrinity appearing under the ‘protec-tion’ of an angel. In other words,the Seraphim will protect a personwho gives up to $500 in his stew-ardship offering for next year. TheCherubim will protect a steward ifhe offers to the Lord between $501and $1,000. An Angel will protect asteward who offers between $1,001and $2,999. And finally, anArchangel will protect a stewardwho offers $3,000 or more.”

Rev. Delvizis, who was trans-

ferred to Holy Trinity in Westfieldtwo and a half years ago from SaintGeorge Church in Media, Pennsyl-vania, also wrote in his article,“Holy scripture encourages thefaithful to make generous offeringsto the Lord and His Church. In con-temporary times, this concept hasnot changed. Following the exam-ple of Scripture, the parish councilwould also like to suggest an aver-age stewardship offering of at least$1,000 per family. For many, thiswill amount to a very small increaseover the course of a year… to thosefamilies giving over $1,000 peryear, the Lord has honored you byyour generosity. An increase of your

offering is also encouraged.”In a telephone interview with

Rev. Delvizis, his response to aquestion whether he is inviting hisparishioners to pay in order to beprotected by the Seraphim, he toldthe National Herald, “I think it’smore of an imagery than theology.All the angels protect us.”

When the Herald asked him if hesees anything wrong, FatherDelvizis said, “Well, the idea isbased on stewardship, to give.”

Responding to the observationthat, in return, he seems to bepromising the faithful stewards an-

Pastor Linking Stewardship with Angelic Protection?

We’re against having private universities

Riot police clash with protesting students in central Athens this past Wednesday, January 10. An estimat-ed 7,000 people participated in the demonstration, which turned violent, against the Greek Government’splans to end a state monopoly on university education in Greece. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis saidhe was determined to push ahead with the planned reforms.

By Steve FrangosSpecial to The National Herald

One of the real pleasures of be-ing alive at this precise moment inGreek American history is beingable to read all the historical publi-cations the community is now pro-ducing. Long abandoned by schol-ars, Greek Americans are avidlytaking on the responsibility of writ-ing and preserving their own his-torical experiences. “100 Years ofFaith and Fervor: A History of theGreek Orthodox Church Communi-ty of Greater Salt Lake City, Utah1905-2005” by Constantine J. Ske-dros is, without question, one ofthe very best of these recent histor-ical volumes.

The text of this volume is basedon more than 400 pages of docu-ments collected by Mr. Skedrossince the mid-to-late 1940’s com-posed of his “collection of letters,programs, reports about church ac-tivities, and meetings, newspaperarticles, obituaries, etc. (page147).” Mike C. Korologos and MaryP. Chachas, both professional jour-nalists and fellow parish members,helped Skedros tailor his volumi-nous data and corresponding man-uscript into a well-rounded volumeof some 160 pages.

To this volume’s credit, Skedrosalso draws extensively upon the“Greek Oral History Collection” atthe Manuscripts Division of theUniversity of Utah’s J. Willard Mar-riott Library. So we frequently hearfirst-person thoughts and reactionsof Greek immigrants and their chil-dren as the historical text rolls outbefore us.

“Faith and Fervor” is also one ofthe most beautiful historical vol-umes yet produced. At 11 inches in

ContinuingFaith andFervor ofUtah’s GreekCommunity

By George PsyllidesAssociated Press Writer

NICOSIA (AP) – Turkish Cypriotsremoved sections of a bridge thispast Tuesday, January 9, a movewhich has angered Greek Cypriotsand frustrated plans for a newcrossing in the heart of Europe'slast divided capital.

Large parts of the metal struc-ture had gone by midday, and offi-cials said work would be completedby late Wednesday.

Removal of the footbridge at theTurkish end of Ledras Street couldrevive bilateral efforts – frozen forover a year – to allow movementbetween the Greek and Turkish sec-tors in the walled Old City, Nicosia'scommercial and tourist center.

"Our only aim is to open thecrossing," Turkish Cypriot officialOzkan Murat said, according to theCyprus News Agency.

"As Turkish Cypriots, we havedone what had to be done," saidMurat, the top Turkish Cypriot inte-

Turks RemoveSections ofLedra Bridge

By George KakarniasSpecial to The National Herald

ATHENS - Former Prime Minister ofGreece Constantine Mitsotakis suc-cessfully underwent heart surgeryat the Onassis Cardiac Center herethis past Tuesday, January 9, and isrecovering quite nicely, accordingto his physicians.

Now the honorary president ofGreece's conservative ruling NewDemocracy Party, Mr. Mitsotakiswas sent to intensive care immedi-ately after the double bypass opera-tion was performed, recuperatingnicely after surgery, doctors said,and his heart is functioning nor-mally.

The former premier, now 88years old, remained in intensivecare until Thursday, when he wastransferred to a regular hospitalroom, where he was expected tostay for at least a week. Doctorssaid they planned to continue tomonitoring Mr. Mitsotakis closelybecause of his advanced age.

Mr. Mitsotakis was admitted tothe hospital this past Monday after-noon for a scheduled cardiologic

MitsotakisSaid to be OKAfter Surgery

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AP/KOSTAS TSIRONIS

By National Herald Staff

ATHENS – For the first time indecades, the Greek state officiallyhonored nine distinguished GreekAmericans with its highest decora-tions late last week.

Recently retired Florida Con-gressman Mike Bilirakis of Floridaand National Herald Publisher Anto-nis H. Diamataris, film director JulesDassin and former Greek ForeignMinister Petros Molyviatis wereamong those honored by HellenicRepublic President Karolos Papou-lias last Friday, January 5.

Mr. Bilirakis was honored withthe insignia of Grand Commander ofthe Order of the Phoenix, while theinsignia of Commander of the Orderof Honor was bestowed upon com-poser and Boston University profes-sor Theodore Antoniou; philan-thropist and industrialist GeorgeBehrakis of Lowell, Massachusetts;Mr. Diamataris; entrepreneur andprofessor of Thermodynamics atMIT and George Hatsopoulos; phil-anthropist and pharmaceuticalsmagnate Michael Jaharis of NewYork, who is also vice chairman ofthe Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ofAmerica’s Archdiocesan Council;philanthropist and real estate mag-nate Alex Spanos of Stockton, Cali-fornia; and philanthropist and realestate magnate Angelo Tsakopoulosof Sacramento, California.

Retired journalist and lobbyistElias Demetracopolous, who cur-rently resides in the Washington, DCarea, was honored with the insigniaof Commander of the Order of thePhoenix.

The conferral of these prestigiousorders and awards of high distinc-tion upon Greeks of the Diasporarepresents a notable shift in therecognition of Greek Americans byGreece. This fact, in conjunctionwith the recent government pledgeto grant voting rights to Greeks livingabroad, reconfirms the Greek Ameri-can community’s lofty position with-in the ranks of Hellenism.

According to the official state-ment issued by Mr. Papoulias’ office,“with the arrival of the new year, thePresident of the Hellenic Republic,Mr. Karolos Papoulias, will conferthe following distinctions:

“Ioannis Charalambopoulos, for-mer deputy prime minister, formerminister of foreign affairs and formerminister of national defense will re-ceive the Grand Cross of the Order ofHonor.

“Ioannis Varvitsiotis, head of theNew Democracy Party’s EuropeanParliament members and formerminister of national defense; andPetros Molyviatis, ambassador emer-itus and former minister of foreignaffairs, will receive the Grand Cross

Nine Greek Americans toReceive Honors of HighDistinction from Greece

Baptism of Christ overcomes 9/11 attacks

Adam Hortoglou shown alongside his father, Nick, is the lucky fellow who emerged with the holy cross inhand during the Blessing of the Waters ceremony held at Battery Park for the historic Saint NicholasChurch of downtown Manhattan last weekend. Church Pastor Father John Romas and Leonidas Lois, right,are also pictured. See story on page 7.

Enjoying the mild January weather

A cyclist rides behind a fisherman in the coastal suburb of Alimosin southern Athens this past Tuesday, January 9. Greece enjoyedsunshine and temperatures of up to 17 degrees Celsius (62 de-grees Fahrenheit), as the annual period of fair weather known asthe Halcyon Days kicked in.

Continued on page 3

AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

TNH/COSTAS BEJ

2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007

Υοu are invited to visit us

in Winter Fancy Food

(21-23/1/2007 )

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International Section

–Greek Pavilion-

stand 3630-3632

COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007

of the Order of the Phoenix.“General Mohammad Abdel

Salam El Mahgoub, Egyptian minis-ter of state for issues of local devel-opment and former commandant ofAlexandria; Valentina IvanovnaMatvienko, governor of St. Peters-burg, Russia; Constantinos Niko-laou, former member of the HellenicParliament and European Parlia-ment; and Antonios Vratsanos,member of the national resistanceagainst Nazi occupation, will receivethe insignia of Grand Commander ofthe Order of Honor.

“Michael Bilirakis, former U.S.Congressman from Florida;Efthimios Mitropoulos, secretary-general of the International Mar-itime Organization; and DemetriosBeis, former mayor of Athens, willreceive the insignia of Grand Com-mander of the Order of the Phoenix.

“Nana Mouskouri, (international-ly renowned) singer, will receive theinsignia of Grand Commander of theOrder of Beneficence.

“Theodore Antoniou, composerand Boston University faculty mem-ber; Antonios Diamataris, publish-er and editor of the National Herald;Sonia Ilingskaya-Alexandropoulou,professor of Philosophy at the Uni-versity of Ioannina; Elsi Math-iopoulou, professor of Archaeologyat the University of Bonn; GeorgeBehrakis, philanthropist-industrial-ist; Jules Dassin, film director andpresident of the Melina MerkouriFoundation; Alex Spanos, philan-thropist-industrialist; Michael Ja-haris, philanthropist, industrialistand vice chairman of the Archdioce-san Council of America; AngeloTsakopoulos, philanthropist andfounder of the Western Policy Centerin Washington, DC; and GeorgeHatsopoulos, entrepreneur and pro-fessor of Thermodynamics at theMassachusetts Institute of Technolo-gy will receive the insignia of the

Commander of the Order of Honor.“Gabriel Valdes, former minister

of foreign affairs of Chile, formersenator and former president of theChilean Committee for the Restora-tion of the Parthenon Marbles;Castillo Didier, professor and direc-tor of the Center for Byzantine &Hellenic Studies at the University of

Chile; Elias Demetracopoulos,journalist and freedom fighter; andPatrick Leigh Fermour, member ofthe national resistance and author,will receive the insignia of Comman-der of the Order of the Phoenix.

“Maria Larentzakis, former ath-lete, disabled mother; Eleni Pappas,president of the student organiza-

tion of volunteer blood donors at theUniversity of Ioannina; Anna Tsakiri,baby nurse at the Center for Children& Infants on the island of Tilos;Demetrios Fangopoulos, intellectualand contributor to Greek Letters;and Constantinos Chrysostalis, jour-nalist, will receive the Golden Crossof the Order of Honor...”

Greek President to Decorate Nine Greek Americans

3

■ THROUGH JANUARY 13McLEAN, Va. The McLean Projectof the Arts cordially invites thecommunity to attend “Photogene-sis,” an exhibition in its EmersonGallery featuring the works of,among others, Maria Karametou(1234 Ingleside Avenue). Theshow, which features works whichspring from photographic images,ideas or techniques was juried byCharles Brock from the NationalGallery of Art, Stephen BennettPhillips of the Phillips Collectionand Claudia Bohn-Spector, Inde-pendent curator. Karametou is par-ticipating with two works. GalleryHours: Tuesday through Friday 10AM – 4 PM, Saturdays, 1-5 PM.Gallery closed from December 23 –January 2. The show will be on dis-play until January 13. For more in-formation, visit the web atwww.mpaart.org.

■ THROUGH JANUARY 27ATHENS, Greece. The University ofIndianapolis and American Embassyin Greece cordially invites the com-munity to visit “Sacred Legacy: Ed-ward S. Curtis and the North Ameri-can Indian,” a photographic exhibitof Native Americans at the CulturalCenter of the University’s AthensCampus (5 Markou Avriliou Street,Plaka). The exhibition is a uniquecollection of historical photographsby famed photographer Edward S.Curtis (1868-1952), and offers audi-ences a rare glimpse into the tradi-tional way of life of North AmericanIndian tribes at the end of the 19thand beginning of the 20th Cen-turies. It is supported by the Ful-bright Foundation in Greece, andsponsored by ERT (Greek NationalRadio & Television), the AthensNews and the La Chocolatiere andAdjust Lane companies. All work in-cluded has been drawn from thepersonal collection of ChristopherCardozo a leading authority on Ed-ward Curtis and his photography.From his archive of more than 4,000vintage Curtis prints, Mr. Cardozoand the curator Todd Brandow se-lected some of Curtis’ most com-pelling images. Admission is freeand open to the public. Monday-Fri-day, 11 AM – 7 PM. 00, Saturday 11AM – 4 PM. For more information,contact the University’s CulturalCenter at (30-210-323-9908), orvisit the web at www.usembassy.gr.

■ JANUARY 13SEATTLE, Wash. “Mount Sinai: TheFrontier of Byzantium.” medievalByzantine chant from Saint Cather-ine’s Monastery in Sinai, presentedby Cappella Romana. AlexanderLingas, artistic director. For this pro-gram Cappella Romana will be pre-sented as a men’s ensemble, featur-ing a selection of notable Greek Or-thodox cantors: John Michael Boyer(1st Cantor, Metropolis of San Fran-cisco), Stelios Kontakiotis (1st Can-tor, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Wash-ington, DC) and Constantine Ko-kenes (Cantor, Annunciation Cathe-dral in Atlanta). Produced in Coop-eration with the J. Paul Getty Muse-um, “Holy Image HallowedGround: Icons from Sinai,” featur-ing the Monastery’s rich inheritanceof spiritual traditions and materialtreasures, many of which containByzantine musical notation. Cap-pella Romana’s program featuresboth Biblical texts as sung in mid-dle-to-late Byzantium and Ortho-dox liturgical hymnody associatedwith the Monastery of Saint Cather-ine. For this concert, Cappella Ro-mana has selected a group of chantsfrom the late 13th, 14th, and 15thCenturies edited for modern perfor-mance by Ioannis Arvanitis, andwill include works by composer, ed-itor and music theorist, Saint JohnKoukouzeles (late 13th to early14th Century), who pioneered anew idiom of kalophonic (“beauti-ful sounding”) chant which spreadquickly throughout the Orthodoxworld. Saturday, January 13, 8 PM,at Holy Rosary Church in Seattle(4139 42nd Avenue SW). Admis-sion is $25, with student/senior dis-counts available. For more informa-tion, call 503-236-8202 (toll free:866-822-7735) or visit the web atwww.capellaromana.org.

■ JANUARY 17WASHINGTON, D.C. The AmericanHellenic Institute cordially invitesthe community to attend a “Meet &Greet Dinner” in honor of newly-elected Greek American members ofCongress, Gus Bilirakis of Florida,John Sarbanes of Maryland and Za-ck Space of Ohio, oat the CapitolHilton Hotel in Washington (16thand K Streets NW) on Wednesdayevening, January 17. Reception at6:30 PM. Dinner at 7:30 PM. Cost:$75. RSVP to AHI by January 12. Formore information, call 202-785-8430 or visit the web at www.ahi-world.org.

■ JANUARY 19HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. Saint Paul'sGOYA cordially invites the comuni-ty to attend "An Evening of Come-dy," featuring the song parodies ofJimmy Santis, at Saint Paul's Cathe-dral in Hempsead, Long Island(110 Cathedral Avenue) on Friday,January 19, at 8 PM (doors open at7 PM). Performance suitable for allages. Admission: $30. ReservationsRequired. For more information,please call Georgia Constantine(516-747-5283).

■ JANUARY 23NEW YORK CITY. The Cathedral Fel-lowship of the Archdiocesan Cathe-dral of the Holy Trinity cordially in-

vites the community to attend itsnext Book Club Meeting at theCathedral Center in Manhattan(337 East 74th Street, between Firstand Second Avenues) on Tuesday,January 23, at 7 PM. This sessionwill focus on “The Pilgrim ContinuesHis Way,” the sequel to “The Way ofthe Pilgrim.” The two novellas areconsidered classics of Orthodox lit-erature and provide a basis for un-derstanding a prayerful life. Bothnovellas are widely available, onlineand in bookstores. Copies may alsobe purchased at the Cathedral Fel-lowship Bookstore during CoffeeHour following the Divine Liturgyeach Sunday. Any translation maybe used. The leaders of this sessionwill be John Paterakis and SophiaStratakis Huling. They ask thatguests bring a couple questions togenerate collaborative discussion.For more information, call 212-288-3215 or visit the web at www.cathe-dralfellowship.org.

■ JANUARY 27NEW YORK CITY. The CathedralFellowship of the ArchdiocesanCathedral of the Holy Trinity isplanning its annual visit to SaintMichaels Home in Yonkers on Sat-urday, January 27, and is encourag-ing its members to join the effort tospend time and bring a little addedjoy to the community’s elderly. Formore information, call 212-288-3215 or visit the web atwww.cathedralfellowship.org.

■ FEBRUARY 1NEW YORK CITY. The CathedralFellowship of the ArchdiocesanCathedral of the Holy Trinity cor-dially invited the community to at-tend Bouzouki Night at LafayetteGrill in Manhattan (54 FranklinStreet), on Thursday, February 1, at7:30 PM. Mike Stouppakis and Left-eris Bournias will lead Mike’s En-semble for a night of dancing andfun. Buffet and dessert will be pro-vided by Dino Bakakos, owner ofLafayette Grill. For more informa-tion, call 212-288-3215 or e-mailcathedralfellow@hotmail.com.

■ FEBRUARY 15ANN ARBOR, Mich. The ModernGreek Program at the University ofMichigan cordially invites the com-munity to attend, “Toward a GreekNational Music,” the 5th AnnualPallas Lecture on Modern GreekStudies, at the Michigan UnionPendleton Room (530 S. StateStreet) in Ann Arbor on Thursday,February 15, at 7 PM. The lecturewill be given by Maestro Constan-tine Kitsopoulos, who will explainhow the works of composer Mano-lis Kalomiris embody the rich andvaried musical heritage of Greece,and whose operas, in particular,combined melodies from Byzantinetimes with folk songs and rhythmstaken from the rembetiko style. Inhis own way Kalomiris captured theGreek spirit and created a uniquenational musical theatre. He wasborn in Smyrna in 1883, and diedin Athens in 1962. After studyingin Vienna, he settled in Greece in1910 where he worked as a com-poser, teacher, administrator andwriter. Mr. Kitsopoulos has alsomade a name for himself as a con-ductor and pianist whose musicalexperiences comfortably span theworlds of opera and symphony,where he has conducted in suchvenues as Carnegie Hall, Alice TullyHall and Royal Albert Hall. The lec-ture is co-sponsored by the Dr. Dim-itri & Irmgard Pallas Annual Lec-ture in Modern Greek Studies Fundand the C.P. Cavafy Professorship inModern Greek at the University ofMichigan. For more information,contact Carrie Romant at the De-partment of Classical Studies at theUniversity of Michigan (734-936-6099) or visit the web atwww.lsa.umich.edu/modgreek.

■ THROUGH MARCH 4LOS ANGELES. “Holy Image, Hal-lowed Ground: Icons from Sinai,” avisually stunning exhibition featur-ing 43 icons and five manuscriptsfrom Saint Catherine’s Monastery,will be on display at the J. Paul GettyMuseum in Los Angeles until March4. Nestled at the base of Mount Sinaiin Egypt, Saint Catherine’s is the old-est functioning Christian Monasteryin the world, with a collection ofmore than 2,000 Byzantine icons,some dating back to the 6th Century.For more information, visit the webat www.getty.edu/museum.

■ APRIL 20-21PORTLAND, Ore. and SEATTLE,Wash. “Radiant Cloud,” luminouschoral works by contemporaryGreek composers, featuring thework of Michael Adamis, which cre-ates a soundscape for the UncreatedLight of the Transfiguration onMount Tabor. Presented by CappellaRomana. Alexander Lingas, director.Friday, 8 PM, at Saint Mary’s Cathe-dral in Portland (1716 NW DavisStreet). Saturday, 8 PM, at HolyRosary Church in Seattle (413942nd Avenue SW). For more infor-mation, call 503-236-8202 (tollfree: 866-822-7735) or visit the webat www.capellaromana.org.

■ NOTE TO OUR READERSThis calendar of events section is acomplimentary service to the GreekAmerican community. All parishes,organizations and institutions areencouraged to e-mail their infor-mation on any Greek-related event3-4 weeks ahead of time toenglish.edition@thenationalherald.com.

GOINGS ON...

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Clockwise from top left: Californiareal estate magnates Alex Spanosand Angelo Tsakopoulos of Stock-ton and Sacramento, respectively,pharmaceuticals magnate MichaelJaharis of New York, National Her-ald Publisher Antonis Diamatarisand pharmaceuticals magnateGeorge Behrakis of Lowell, Massa-chusetts were among nine GreekAmericans, to include retiredlongtime Congressman Mike Bili-rakis of Florida, who were deco-rated with some of the Greece’smost prestigious awards from thePresident of the Hellenic Republiclate last week, a significant shift inthe Greek state’s attitude towardGreeks in America, who hadn’tbeen so honored in severaldecades.

Continued from page 1

gelic protection, Father Delvizissaid, “We are using this program toencourage people to give and tosupport the church. Obviously, weknow stewardship is important,and that the stewards of the churchshould support the entire operatingcost of the church.”

When the National Herald askedFather Delvizis if someone does nothave $500 or more to contribute,does that mean that the personwould not be protected by the an-

gelic powers, he said, “No, we did-n’t say that.”

The Holy Trinity parish of West-field New Jersey is considered aGreek Orthodox parish in the stateof New Jersey. Ecclesiastically andcanonically, it belongs to the Me-tropolis of New Jersey. In a tele-phone conversation with Metropol-itan Evangelos of New Jersey, HisEminence told the National Herald,“I am not aware of the particular is-sue you are referring to. I would,however, like to make it clear to thefaithful in all of our parishes in the

Holy Metropolis of New Jersey thatthe angels freely grant their protec-tion to all of us.”

The Metropolitan also said, “Iwill personally look into the issueyou mentioned to me.”

Almost all parishes in the GreekOrthodox Archdiocese of Americaoperate essentially under the samebasic membership system used byvarious country clubs, associations,civic organizations and even gyms;namely that the annual member-ship provides for certain benefits,which means that, if a Greek Ortho-

dox congregant does not have$500-1,000 to pay for his or hermembership, he or she can not par-ticipate in the sacraments of bap-tism or marriage, nor be offeredpastoral care.

In many instances, priests are in-clined to compel the faithful to giveas much as possible because theirsalaries depend on, and are directlyrelated to, the financial condition ofthe parish. Many Priests’ salaries to-day are skyrocketing, with some ex-ceeding an annual amount of$120,000, plus benefits.

Westfield, N.J. Pastor Linking Stewardship to Angels?Continued from page 1

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www.thenationalherald.comwww.ekirikas.gr

NICHOLAS LARDAS

5) to make grants to plan, estab-lish, improve and provide basic op-erating support for multi-centerclinical trial networks to designclinical rehabilitation interventionprotocols and measures of out-comes on paralysis.

It permits the Secretary ofHealth & Human Services, actingthrough the Director of the Centersfor Disease Control and Preventionto study the health challenges asso-ciated with paralysis and otherphysical disabilities, and carry outprojects to improve the quality oflife and long-term health status ofindividuals with such conditions;and to award grants for activitiesrelated to paralysis, including theestablishment of paralysis reg-istries and the dissemination of in-formation to the public.

The legislation also allows theSecretary of Veterans Affairs to es-tablish paralysis research, educa-tion and clinical care centers; andaward grants to medical centers totranslate clinical findings and rec-ommendations on paralysis into ev-idence-based best practices.

REP. MALONEYIn a statement to the National

Herald, Congresswoman CarolynMaloney of New York, Mr. BilirakisDemocratic Co-Chair on the HouseHellenic Caucus, a block of morethan 140 House members who tendto support Hellenic interests, saidher longtime GOP counterpart willbe sorely missed.

“I want to commend my friendand colleague, retiring Congress-

man Michael Bilirakis, for his dedi-cation and service to the Congres-sional Caucus on Hellenic Issues.Congressman Bilirakis and I repre-sent large Hellenic communities,and I had the privilege of co-found-ing the House Hellenic Caucus withhim in 1996. The Caucus now in-cludes 142 members of Congress,”she said.

“Together, Mike Bilirakis and I

have been able to seek justice forCyprus and fight for the protectionof the Hellenic islands. The Caucushas served to bring a renewed Con-gressional focus on diplomatic, mil-itary and human rights issues in acritical part of the world,” she said.

“Mike Bilirakis has been a val-ued member of Congress, and it hasbeen a privilege working with himthese past several years. I will miss

his friendship, guidance and sup-port. I am thrilled that his son, Gus,was recently elected to Congressand will take his father’s place asthe new Republican co-chair of theCaucus in the 110th Congress. I amlooking forward to working withCongressman-elect Gus Bilirakis incontinuing the important work ofthe Hellenic Caucus,” Rep. Mal-oney added.

Mr. Bilirakis’ son’s election tothe House this past November is, inlarge part, testimony to his con-stituents’ satisfaction with his ser-vice over the years, and is direct ev-idence of his legacy, as Gus Bilirakisis filling the same Congressionalseat once occupied by his father.

Gus Bilirakis is one of nearly aquarter of the Sunshine State’s 25House members with a close rela-tive who has served in the House orSenate, providing newcomers witha font of inherited connections andadvice, including Rep. KendrickMeek (D-Miami), who succeededhis mother, Carrie; Rep. John Mica(R-Winter Park), whose brotherDan represented South Floridathrough 1988; Reps. Lincoln andMario Diaz-Balart, both Republi-cans, representing South Floridadistricts; Rep. Connie Mack a Re-publican like his namesake father,the retired U.S. senator (his greatgrandfather and great-great grand-father also served in Congress asTexas Democrats).

Despite being in the minority inthe 110th Congress, Florida’s Repub-licans retain clout in Congress be-cause the state’s political importancekeeps its lawmakers influential.

Reflecting on Congressman Mike Bilirakis’ Retirement

By Ashley KinderganHerald News

CLIFTON, N.J. – Cops are lookingfor six gunmen who tied up androbbed 17 men in what Clifton Po-lice called a "pre-planned" and"well-organized" crime at a Greeksocial club last month.

The intruders fled in a smallblack sport utility vehicle, aftermaking off with the men's jewelry,wallets and cash, Detective Capt.Robert Rowan said. The robberyoccurred just before midnight atthe Greek American Soccer Club onColfax Avenue on Tuesday, Decem-ber 19.

A 63-year-old man who resistedthe robbery was pistol-whippedabout the head and hospitalized atSt. Joseph's Regional Medical Cen-ter in Paterson for lacerations to hiseye and face, Rowan said. Police

did not release the names of any ofthe victims, said to be in their 40'sand 50's, but said no one else wasinjured. Police are trying to deter-mine why the club was targeted,Rowan said.

The six intruders were allarmed, operated methodically andused plastic strips and duct tape tobind their victims, indicating a pre-meditated crime, Rowan said. Themen all wore dark hooded sweat-shirts, surgical gloves and masks.

Based on victim accounts, themen entered the club and orderedthe 17 men inside to line up againsta wall.

The gunmen bound their handswith the ties and tape; divided themen into groups; and searchedtheir pockets.

Police did not have an estimateof the stolen goods value, butRowan told the National Heraldthat a "substantial amount of cash"and four diamond-studded Rolexwatches were stolen during therobbery.

Despite their ordeal, severalmen returned to the club the next

evening. The men, who asked notto be identified, said some of theother victims were nervous aboutreturning, and that memberswould look into tightening security,or perhaps even moving. But thosewho were there seemed to be tak-ing things with a measure of hu-mor.

"The best thing you can say is,take it, my friend, and don't hurtme," one man said.

"Just don't take the food," anoth-er man chimed in.

The few men at the club the nextday said they would do what theydid every night: watch sports ontelevision, play cards, eat and talk.The upstairs gathering space isfilled with small tables and postersof Greek soccer stars.

The men said they were watch-ing college football the night therobbers entered. One man said hebelieved the door had been locked,and that they took $130 in cashfrom him.

The club sits across the streetfrom Clifton High School and theCity Hall municipal complex. Thereis a chiropractor's office next doorand several industrial buildingsnearby. A stairwell near the frontdoor leads to the upstairs gatheringspace. The closest residents live atleast 300 feet away on CliftonBoulevard and Svea Avenue.

No arrests had been made atpress time, but Rowan, who hasserved the Clifton Police depart-ment told the National Herald thatthe investigation, which has beenmaking use of polygraphs, is ongo-ing; that several people have beenquestioned; that the suspects areAfrican American males; that"while you can’t rule anything out,"it is unlikely that it was a mob-re-lated crime; and that he is "fairlyconfident" his department willeventually make a break in thecase.

The above story was published bythe Herald News on December21, and incorporates informationobtained by National HeraldCommunity CorrespondentDemetris Tsakas this past Tues-day, January 9. Anyone with in-formation regarding the crime isasked to call Detective Sgt.Harold Van Winkle at 973-470-5930. All calls will be kept confi-dential if requested.

Police Seeking Six GunmenWho Robbed 17 Guys atGreek Club in Clifton, N.J.

By Anne E. KornblutThe New York Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hours aftercasting his first votes in Congress,Representative Zack Space stillbeamed with excitement, showingoff the identification card whichdoubles as an electronic ballotingdevice.

“I had to ask someone how touse it,” he said, proudly whiskingthe card out of its carrying case ashe gave his family a tour of theCapitol. Back in his office, a new re-ceptionist apologized for hangingup on someone who called. “Sorry,second day on the job,” shechirped.

Even before his arrival in Wash-ington this week, Mr. Space, 45,typified the incoming freshmanclass: A Democrat from Ohio, hecampaigned hard on the issue ofethics reform in a race to succeedRep. Bob Ney, who pleaded guiltyin a corruption case. Despite his po-litical inexperience – and the factthat Democratic officials consid-ered him one of their weakest can-didates – Mr. Space beat his Repub-lican rival in an increasingly Re-publican district, 62-38 percent.

Now, he is one of 66 new mem-bers of the 110th Congress, part ofa historic Democratic tide whichswept Republicans from power af-ter a dozen years and left PresidentBush on the defensive.

Although Mr. Space at times ex-udes a certain good-natured goofi-ness – his campaign web logo fea-tured a starry rendering of outerspace, and one of his mottos is a riffon his father’s first name, Socrates(“being the son of Socrates, ZackSpace knows a thing or two aboutethics”) – he has a mission of ut-most seriousness in Congress. Onhis first day, January 5, before allhis boxes were unpacked and hisshared apartment furnished, Mr.Space was given a high-profile rolein introducing his party’s ethics re-form package.

“The winds of change havebrought me here,” Mr. Space said inhis first speech on the House floor,arguing in favor of the package.

“The time to act is now. We have anextraordinary burden to prove tothose who have given us this honor.We must make clear to them thatwe are representing their interests,not bartering legislative favors inorder to gain gifts and trips.”

On the other side of the Capitoldome, the incoming senators willnot cast their first votes until nextweek (and the first one, a resolu-tion honoring the late PresidentGerald R. Ford, will not exactlycause heartburn). Their transitionwill take longer in other ways: Newsenators are housed in temporaryoffices in the basement, while ad-ministrators try to establish whichsitting senators intend to move.

But the wave of newcomers wasmost palpable in the House, wherethe dozens of arrivals circulatedthrough welcome parties, herdedtheir families on tours and waitedin long lines to have their pho-tographs taken with RepresentativeNancy Pelosi of California, the newHouse Speaker. RepresentativeCarol Shea Porter, a New Hamp-shire Democrat who won an upsetvictory, let out an audible gaspwhen she set foot on the Housefloor for the first time, said herchief of staff, Harry Gural.

“Walking in was a little bit likewalking into the lights of YankeeStadium, going out onto the field asa player rather than a spectator,”

Mr. Gural said.The cable network channel C-

Span chronicled even the mostanonymous new members, settingup a camera position in the CannonHouse Office Building to lure mem-bers of the freshman class into in-terviews.

And Mr. Space, grinning as hewandered the halls, had not growndisillusioned by Washington, hesaid, nor strayed from his pledges.“Not yet,” he said, when asked if hehad broken any campaign promis-es. Then he corrected himself. “Imean – no.”

The New York Times publishedthe above on January 6.

The Greek American Soccer Club in Clifton, New Jersey was hit by arobbery, during which six masked men held up 17 club members atgunpoint, tied them up and ran off with a “substantial amount ofmoney” and four diamond-studded Rolex watches last month, ac-cording to Clifton Police.

Congressman Mike Bilirakis of Florida represented his constituents inthe U.S. House of Representatives for 24 years before retiring after his12th two-year term expires at the end of 2006. His son, Gus, waselected as his successor this past November.

The six intruders were

all armed, operated

methodically and used

plastic strips and duct

tape... indicating a

premeditated crime

Zack Space among Giddy Sea of Fresh Faces at Capitol

Congressman Zack Space (D-Ohio) greets his supporters at a party in New Philadelphia, Ohio on ElectionDay this past November. Space, a Dover, Ohio law director, defeated Republican Ohio State Senator JoyPadgett to become one of three Greek Americans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He wassworn-in last week.

Continued from page 1

TNH/COSTAS BEJ

TNH ARCHIVES

AP/TOM E. PUSKAR

FEATURETHE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007 5

mind for anything like that, espe-cially when you know you're inno-cent,'' said Rigas, who is free onbail. He didn't testify at his trial,and maintains he was a victim ofprosecutors bent on showing theywere tough on corporate crime af-ter the Enron debacle.

"Here were these Joe Palookasfrom a small town, nobody knewthem,'' Rigas said. "Make an exampleof them. They were after white-col-lar crime. I think we became victimsof that. I've been painted as this hor-rible man clear across the country.Why would anybody have any sym-pathy for John Rigas, or my family,with what they've read and heard?''

One of the prosecutors, Christo-pher Clark, said the Justice Depart-ment never pressured him to showit was tough on corporate crime, orthe Rigases in particular.

"The actions that were taken bythe prosecutors were based on theoutrageousness of the Rigas crimi-nal conduct and overwhelming evi-dence of their guilt,'' said Clark,now in private practice at LeBoeufLamb Greene & MacRae in NewYork.

The Rigas legal travails aren'tover. John and Timothy Rigas arescheduled for a federal trial on taxevasion and conspiracy charges,starting May 3 in Williamsport,Pennsylvania. The Rigases also aredefending civil lawsuits filed byAdelphia, its shareholders and itsformer auditors, Deloitte & Touche.

The rise and fall of John Rigas isrooted in Coudersport, a town of2,600 in the Allegheny Mountains.He bought the movie theater therein 1951 and started a cable televi-sion business a year later, persuad-ed by a movie film salesman.

As operations grew, he formed alabyrinth of companies, some ofwhich remained closely held by thefamily, while others became Adel-phia when it went public in 1986.His three sons spent two decades inthe business. By 1999, the familyfortune reached $1.5 billion. Adel-phia had become the nation's fifth-biggest cable company, with 5.5million subscribers in 2002.

The Rigases retained voting con-trol over Adelphia stock, and familymembers held a majority of boardseats. Adelphia collected a manage-ment system with them.

Adelphia began tumbling downon March 27, 2002, when it dis-closed that the Rigas family owed$2.3 billion in off-balance sheetdebt on bank loans taken jointlywith the company. Within weeks ofthat disclosure, the Rigases re-signed; Adelphia filed for bank-ruptcy; and John was arrested withtwo of his three sons, Timothy, 50,and Michael, 53.

Prosecutors said the cash man-agement system created a source ofillicit funds for John Rigas. It wasone of many ways in which heblurred the lines between Adelphiaand more than a dozen privatecompanies based in Georgia, Flori-da, Pennsylvania and California.

At his five-month trial in NewYork, prosecutors depicted Rigas asa greedy manipulator desperate forcash. They said the family lootedAdelphia to buy $1.6 billion inAdelphia securities, and that hestole $51 million in cash advances.Timothy Rigas limited those ad-vances to $1 million a month be-yond his father's annual salary ofabout $1 million, one witness said.

The Rigases, the evidenceshowed, spent $26.5 million incompany money to buy timberlandnear their home and $13 million tobuild an Adelphia golf course onland owned by the company andthe Rigases near Coudersport.Adelphia paid for antiques, familyresidences, a personal trainer and afilm documentary by John Rigas'daughter, witnesses said.

Jurors convicted John and Tim-othy Rigas on July 8, 2004, dead-locking a day later on chargesagainst Michael. At the sentencingin June 2005, U.S. District JudgeLeonard Sand said John Rigas "longago set Adelphia on a track of lying,cheating and defrauding.’’

FAMILY FORTUNE GONE,TOWN STILL BEHIND HIMRigas said the family fortune is

now largely gone, wiped out in the

bankruptcy or forfeited to a restitu-tion fund for investors. Rigas helpshis three sons – Timothy, Michaeland James – run Zito Media, a cablecompany with 7,000 subscribers.

He still owns Coudersport The-ater, a 300-seat cinema showingthe new James Bond film, "CasinoRoyale,'' this week. Rigas also ownsWending Creek, a commercial farmwhich sells Christmas trees, maplesyrup, honey and hay.

"Here we are 54 years later, andI've got the Coudersport Theaterand the Coudersport cable compa-ny,'' said Rigas with a rueful smile."That's real progress.''

Timothy Rigas' golf game hassuffered, too, his father said. "We'veall given it up,'' he said. "We're notin the mood for golf or anything.''

John Rigas, who still wears ablack Greek fisherman's cap embla-

zoned with the Adelphia logo, re-mains a fixture in Coudersport. Heattends concerts and dinners. Lastweek, he went to three funerals.

He's always been a staunch be-liever in Coudersport and the quali-ties of a small town,'' said DavidHauber, 65, a local jewelry storeowner who worked at the Rigastheater 50 years ago. "I still consid-er him a friend, and there are anumber of people in town who do.''

Jimmie Bruzzi, who owns a dry-cleaning business in town, consid-ers Rigas a "wonderful man'' whodid "a lot of good for a lot of people."The ones that are blaming theRigases feel it was greed or self-in-dulgence,'' said Bruzzi, 57. "That'swhat I get from customers and for-mer employees. Then others stillfeel there was nothing done wrongto warrant all that has transpired

since.''Rigas lives in a brown brick

ranch house outside of town withDoris, 79, his wife of 54 years. Theyhave four bedrooms, four fire-places, an outdoor pool, a basket-ball court, and a pond. Baker Creekruns through the property, whichabuts forest and farmland. Twosons, Michael and Timothy, still livewith them.

They weren't ashamed of sayingthey were living in the same housewith their parents,'' Rigas said. "Nordid they feel they had to have thatkind of independence.''

Timothy helps his girlfriendraise their infant daughter, Hallie,who is John's sixth grandchild.

"I must say that it's helped himand the whole family,'' John Rigassaid. "She's healthy, happy, laughs alot, smiles a lot. So it's encouraging.Maybe she'll bring us some luck.''

The third son, James, lives near-by with his wife and four Children.Their daughter, Ellen, lives in NewYork City.

John Rigas had heart surgery in1999 and visits doctors for bladdercancer which has been under con-trol for several years. Judge Sandsaid he can leave prison after serv-ing at least two years if doctors sayhe has less than three months tolive.

NEW OPERATORSRigas was powerless to prevent

the dismantling of Adelphia andthe prosperity it brought to ruralPotter County, Pennsylvania, about280 miles west of Manhattan.Within months of the June 2002bankruptcy, new managers movedthe headquarters to GreenwoodVillage, Colorado.

In July, Comcast Corporationand Time Warner Cable boughtAdelphia's cable properties for$17.6 billion. Time Warner Cableannounced on December 6 it in-tends to fire 500 call center em-ployees in Coudersport. On Janu-ary 3, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ap-proved the company's plan toemerge from bankruptcy.

"Everything that has happenedwith Adelphia since the momentthe implosion began has been cata-strophic for our Community,'' saidDavid Acker, CEO of Charles ColeMemorial Hospital in Coudersport,who testified as a defense witness.

Rigas said the company's advis-ers abandoned him before and afterthe bankruptcy. He said he neverintended to defraud the companyand the cash advances were loanshe planned to repay. He said he re-lied on auditors at Deloitte &Touche and lawyers at BuchananIngersoll, a Pittsburgh firm knownsince July 2006 as Buchanan Inger-soll & Rooney.

BLAMES ADVISORS"We were victims because

Buchanan Ingersoll stepped away,''he said. "We were victims because acouple, three key senior peopleturned on us. We were victims be-cause the senior people turned onus. We were victims because thegovernment needed an example toshow that they were tough onwhite-collar crime.''

James Brown, a former chief fi-nancial officer at Adelphia whopleaded guilty and testified as aprosecution witness, lied to jurorsto lessen his possible prison term,Rigas said.

"Any suggestion that Mr. Browndid not provide truthful testimonyhas no basis,'' said Brown's attor-ney, Jonathan Bach of Cooley God-

ward Kronish in New York.The Rigases, who spent $40 mil-

lion on their legal defense, calledno witnesses from Deloitte orBuchanan Ingersoll at the trial. De-loitte later agreed to pay $50 mil-lion to settle a civil lawsuit by theU.S. Securities & Exchange Com-mission and $210 million to settlewith Adelphia investors.

Deloitte, Adelphia and theRigases face a civil trial this year instate court in Philadelphia overwho bears responsibility for thefraud. Investors also are suingBuchanan.

EMINENTLY PREVENTABLEThe tragedy in the case, Sand

said at the sentencing, was that theRigas fraud could have been pre-vented if the accountants andlawyers had blown the whistle.

"Regrettably for everyone, thiswas not stopped over 10 years ago,but continued and got morebrazen,'' he said. "There are no he-roes here. There was no one whocame forward and said, 'This iswrong, I won't be a part of it.' ''

Buchanan provided "sound, pro-fessional and accurate'' advice tothe Rigases, who misled the firm,said spokeswoman Lori Lecker."The Rigases had every opportuni-ty'' at their trial to show they got in-correct advice from advisors, andthey failed to do so, '' she said.

"The reality is that they werefound guilty of their own miscon-duct,'' Lecker said. Deloitte spokes-woman Deborah Harrington de-clined to comment.

NEW APPEALS ARGUMENTIn the argument before the U.S.

2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Rigas'lawyers told a three-judge panelthis past June 14 that the convic-tion must be overturned becauseprosecutors failed to call an ac-counting expert to explain the co-borrowing debt. The National Asso-ciation of Criminal DefenseLawyers agreed, and filed its sup-port for a new trial.

Prosecutors said jurors did notneed an expert to understand thatthe Rigases falsely said they usedtheir own money to buy $1.6 bil-lion of the company's stock anddebt. Neither did jurors need an ex-pert to understand that the Rigasfamily failed to disclose it owed$2.3 billion on the co-borrowingloans, prosecutors said.

John Rigas said he does not fullygrasp the co-borrowing loans. Tim-othy Rigas, who sat in on part of aninterview with his father, defendedthe loans. Buchanan lawyers draft-ed them "with full knowledge thatthe money was going to be used bythe Rigases for a variety of rea-sons,'' Timothy said.

John Rigas said he is hoping forthe best on the appeal. "I've beendisappointed in the past,'' he said. "Inever thought we would get indict-ed. I never thought we would beconvicted.''

He said he is grateful that two ofhis sons will still be home to helphis wife if he loses: "If it does hap-pen, I just hope I'm strong enoughto accept it and move on, and notmake it hard on the family. ThankGod that Michael and James willstill be here,'' he said.

He also said he hopes that "ulti-mately justice will prevail and we'llget a favorable ruling, but maybethat's wishful thinking. Maybe I'mnot facing reality.''

Bloomberg News posted theabove on January 5.

John Rigas Concedes he “Made Mistakes, but not Illegal Mistakes”

(BLOOMBERG) – AdelphiaCommunications' plan to pay cred-itors and end one of the biggestbankruptcy cases in United Stateshistory was approved by a judge inNew York last week.

Adelphia, once one of thebiggest American cable televisioncompanies, filed for protectionfrom creditors in June 2002, amonth before its founder, John J.Rigas, was arrested and chargedwith looting the company.

Last July, Adelphia sold sub-stantially all its cable operations toComcast and Time Warner Cablefor $17.6 billion in cash and sharesin Time Warner's cable unit. Of thatamount, $15 billion in cash andTWC shares will be distributed tocreditors. After winding down,Adelphia will cease to do business.

''The plan has secured the as-sent of over $10 billion in claims,representing approximately 84percent of the claims in this case,''Judge Robert E. Gerber of FederalBankruptcy Court wrote in a 267-page decision filed on January 3.

The plan was approved ''afterseven predecessor plans that madeone creditor constituency or anoth-er – and in some cases nearlyeverybody – extremely unhappy,''Judge Gerber wrote.

Adelphia Spokesman MarkSpiecker declined to comment onJudge Gerber's decision. TWCSpokesman Keith J. Cocozza alsodeclined to comment.

The plan is governed by a so-called true-up mechanism, whichallows the market to set the valueof the TWC shares once the plan

goes into effect.John Rigas and his son, Timo-

thy J. Rigas, who was Adelphia'schief financial officer, were con-victed of conspiracy and securitiesfraud in July 2004. John Rigas wassentenced to 15 years in federalprison; Timothy Rigas to 20. Theyare free pending the outcome oftheir appeals.

When the company filed forbankruptcy protection, it listed as-sets of $24.4 billion and liabilitiesof $18.6 billion. The Adelphiabankruptcy is one of the 12 biggestin United States history by assets,according to BankruptcyData.com.That same year (2002), World-Com, another company broughtdown by fraud, filed the largestbankruptcy, declaring more than$100 billion in assets.

Adelphia Plan to Exit Bankruptcy is Approved

Continued from page 1

John Rigas, founder of Adelphia Communications (above), once the fifth largest cable operator in thecountry, and his son Timothy, Adelphia’s former chief financial officer, are planning to appeal their 2004convictions for securities and bank fraud, as the company, now owned by other Cable giants, emergesfrom bankruptcy. Rigas told Bloomberg News that the picture painted of him by the media as “a horribleman” has made the American public unsympathetic to his family’s plight.

a b

K R I K O SAA CCUULLTTUURRAALL AANNDD SSCCIIEENNTTIIFFIICC LLIINNKK WWIITTHH HHEELLLLEENNIISSMMP.O. Box 3185 - Steinway Station, Astoria, New York 11103 - 0185

Please Join Usfor a

New Year Get TogetherSaturday, January 20th, 2007

7:00 to 10:00 p.m.at

Kellari Taverna19 West 44th Street, off 5th Avenue, N.Y.C.

Tel.: (212) 221-0144

Reception at 7:00 p.m.(h’ordevrs will be served)

Dinner at 8:00 p.m.Green salad,

Main course: Choice of fish (Red Snapper or Salmon),

Chicken, Vegetable mousaka Dessert, Coffee / Tea

Cost: $30.00 payable at the door

For more information and reservation please call: HENRY CALCANES (212)942-0416, ENGLISH

DENISE CONSTANTOPOULOU (718) 956-0197

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His Eminence Metropolitan EEVVAANNGGEELLOOSS of New Jerseywill preside at the Great Vesper Service, assisted by area clergy.

AAtt tthhee ccoonncclluussiioonn ooff tthhee SSeerrvviiccee,, tthhee llaaddiieess ooff oouurr PPhhiillooppttoocchhooss SSoocciieettyy wwiillll ooffffeerr aa rreecceeppttiioonn aatt oouurr ccoommmmuunniittyy cceenntteerr iinn hhoonnoorr ooff HHiiss EEmmiinneennccee..

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Matins: 9:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy: 10:30 a.m., lead byHis Eminence Metropolitan EEVVAANNGGEELLOOSS of New Jersey.

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a b

HOLY METROPOLIS OF NEW JERSEY

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51 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ 07652 ñ (201) 368-8881

EPIPHANY6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007

width and almost 9 inches inheight, once the book is opened, weare offered a full 22-inc panoramaof text and images. The heavy glosspaper used throughout allows for acaptivating employment of histori-cal photographs and documents.The hardcover binding and full-col-or dustcover are also made of themost durable material. It is impor-tant to stress these physical quali-ties. To be quite frank, such profes-sional attention to quality printingis not always tended to in the pre-sent flurry of community-generat-ed publications.

The volume is composed of tenchapters: Historical Overview;Dawn of the Greek Church-Com-munity; Era of Expansion; The WarYears Through 1959; Controversyand Growth in the 1960’s; Commu-nity Growth in the 1970’s; An Eraof Cultural Contributions; Conse-cration of Prophet Elias Church;Church-Community Solidarity; andYear-Long Centennial Celebration,2005. After these chapters, the vol-ume also contains a brief three-page vignette on the PappasotiriouFamily; an appendix listing priests,chanters and volunteer chanters;an annotated resource list; and aname index.

The overall historical text readswell, and the period photographsare stunning.

Still I do have some reservationsabout what could be called thebook’s inherent point of view. ForSkedros and his colleagues, history

seems to be a compilation of facts.This focus on facts translates into anarrative composed largely, but notexclusively, of names, dates, directquotes, geographic locations orstreet addresses. So concerned arethey with accurately providing thiskind of data, they openly lamentmissing documents. As someonewho has contributed and worked inarchives, I fully appreciate theirmisgivings when full documenta-tion is not available. This is far froma causal concern for ConstantineSkedros, who has long been theHoly Trinity community of SaltLake City’s official historian and, assuch, also a primary force behindthe community’s Hellenic CulturalMuseum.

It is striking that, with all the in-dividuals involved with producingthe historical text, Skedros, Korolo-gos and Chachas feel that it is fun-damentally incomplete – thatsomehow the actual history can on-ly be fully written later. As Skedroshimself frames this collective con-cern, “It is my wish that someonewith the necessary skills in histori-cal research will build upon what Ihave compiled and write a moredefinitive history of our community– one that highlights the cultural,family and community spirit of theGreeks (xiii).”

The fear here is one of compe-tency – that ultimately this vol-ume’s authors feel they simplycould not interpret the history ofthe Greeks of Salt Lake City correct-ly, or in full measure. Regrettably,this is an all too commonly shared

experience in Greek America. Overthe last 20 years, in numerousparish and fraternal organizationhistories, we see one example afteranother of long lists of names pro-vided in chronological fashion. Thisseemingly stylistic choice is, in fact,a concern with getting the histori-cal narrative correct (which is doneonly by citing agreed-upon facts),along with the compiler’s fear offorgetting to mention someone

within the community in the over-all text.

In terms of visual images, thissame collective approach sees ex-pression in collage pages where noone in the photographs sees identi-fication. The page itself may beheadlined as “The Choir,” “AHEPA”or “The Festival,” but by not havingan up-and-down, and by not identi-fying anyone by name, then indi-vidual importance or hierarchy cannot be imputed, something suchcollective Greek American publica-tions must always strive for. It alsosmacks of insider-versus-outsiderknowledge and status.

The classic Greek American vol-ume dedicated to the naming ofeveryone is George J. Leber’s, “TheOrder of AHEPA 1922-1972”(Washington, DC: AHEPA, 1972).In January 1985, during a tele-phone conversation with George E.Perry, the then recently retiredHead of the Slavic Room and GreekArea Specialist at the Library ofCongress, I asked about Leiber. Per-ry had worked in partnership withLeiber on AHEPA’s 1976 touringmuseum exhibition, which was thereason for my call. In sharing hismemories with me, Perry told methat Leber’s history of AHEPA hadbeen heavily edited and it was notthe original text submitted. Leber’shistorical account had been re-placed by the endless list of nameswhich now compose this unfortu-nate volume.

History, as a jumble of facts, isnot why we are proud of our ances-tors or relatives. And here lies my

main confusion with this otherwiseexcellent volume.

Aside from the obvious contri-bution, clearly evident on everypage of “100 Years of Faith and Fer-vor,” history – in the sense that Itake it Skedros, Korologos andChachas seem to wish see writtenabout the Greeks of Salt Lake City –can already be read in any of HelenZeese Papanikolas’ publications.What is so striking in readingthrough “100 Years of Faith andFervor” is how fundamentally dif-ferent in tone it is from any text byPapanikolas one would care toname.

LIGHT YEARS BEYONDWhat is so obvious here is the

belief that Skedros and companyunselfconsciously report that theywere fundamentally disqualifiedfrom writing a full and completehistory. This smacks of the viewthat only “experts” can possiblyknow the real history of the Greeksin Utah. Stylistically and in narra-tively, “100 Years of Faith and Fer-vor” is light years beyond the tele-phone book presentation seen inLeber’s wounded volume. But thefundamental orientations are re-grettably the same.

When I was a child, I was told tostand up when any Greek elderwalked into the room. If I didn’t (orif I didn’t do it fast enough) mygrandmother gave me a pop in theback of my head. In time, I learnedwhy this unrestricted respect wasso whole-heartedly given. The suf-fering and sacrifice these men andwomen made on our collective be-

half required nothing less. This iswhy I am personally so very angrywith the complete avoidance ofGreek American history by scholarswho now occupy the 38 chairs inModern Greek Studies.

Okay, perhaps by current Athen-ian definitions, I’m a true Greek.Fine. But all four of my grandpar-ent’s left Greece in the greatest em-igration from that region in mod-ern times. They were of that gener-ation of immigrants seen on everypage of “100 Years of Faith and Fer-vor” who materially and politicallyaltered the Modern Greek State asno other collective group since the1820’s. These same individuals alsophysically and culturally helpedbuild the American Society we allnow enjoy. They live on as real peo-ple in the memories of those whoknew them as they were in flesh.They were giants on Earth.

Is this entire generation of intre-pid Hellenes – after all their physi-cal labors, steadfast devotion, life-time of support and unending hu-manitarian efforts directed towardsGreece – now less than nothing? Itis no exaggeration to report thatModern Greek history can not bewritten without factoring in theGreeks of the Diaspora. That theGreek immigrants to North Ameri-ca are so blatantly omitted speaksvolumes for the disdain – and yes,rank ignorance – of the currentgeneration of Modern Greek schol-ars.

My complaint is not with Mr.Skedros and his collaborators. Theyhave honestly and completely de-voted themselves to preserving andenhancing what they were given.They have been let down by ouracademic, civic and intellectualleaders. After 100 years in NorthAmerica, we somehow feel as if wecan speak authoritatively aboutourselves.

The introduction Skedros haswritten for this volume – about thefuture challenges facing Greeksand their descendants in the UnitedStates – is one of the most conciseand insightful accounts I have everread. His commitment to his faithand heritage can be read and seenon every page of this wonderfultribute.

But we must also write from ourhearts and break out well beyondthe boundaries of acceptable dis-course when our ancestors andtheir good works are so generallyand systematically ignored.

To order a copy of “Faith and Fer-vor,” send your name, addressand $29.95 (plus $10.00 for ship-ping and handling) to Faith andFervor P.O. Box #26793 Salt LakeCity, UH 84126-0793. Pleasemake payable to “Greek Ortho-dox Church.”

The Continuing Faith and Fervor of Utah’s Greek Community

By Robin SteinSt. Petersburg Times

TARPON SPRINGS – There it was,hanging suspended near the sur-face, just like in their dream.Michael Xipolitas' eyes were widein disbelief when he lifted up hisarm and had the Epiphany cross inhis grasp. "I dreamed about it whenI was in the hospital," said hismother, Helen, who has been inand out of the hospital gettingtreatment for leukemia. "My sonhad the same dream."

Xipolitas was in a haze when heemerged from Spring Bayou onSaturday, January 6, during the101st annual Epiphany celebration.

As he kneeled before His Emi-nence Archbishop Demetrios ofAmerica to receive the specialblessing, he was shaking, tearsstreaming down his wet cheeks.

"It feels better than I imagined,"

said Xipolitas, 18, of TarponSprings, who was one of 52 diversvying for the coveted cross.

Epiphany is an ancient GreekOrthodox ceremony commemorat-ing Christ's baptism in the JordanRiver. The first one to retrieve thecross receives a blessing.

"It's like beginning a new life,"Xipolitas said to a crowd back in-side Saint Nicholas Greek Ortho-dox Cathedral.

The boys were still drippingwith the waters of Spring Bayou,which Tarpon Springs Police esti-mated was a balmy 75 degrees.

"I have never seen the water thiswarm," said Manuel Gombos, whohas been organizing Epiphany formore than three decades.

Last year, nearly 55,000 peoplegathered to celebrate the centenni-al Epiphany. They huddled underblankets and wool hats to staywarm.

The water was even colder in2005, when five divers had to betreated for respiratory problems,said Donald Sayre of TarponSprings Fire Rescue.

But last Saturday, the morningair hung hot, steaming people wholined the downtown streets, gath-ered on the grass and clusteredaround the Cathedral.

Humidity was so heavy that thechoir robes and police uniformsdrooped, everyone's foreheadbeaded with sweat.

"Our theme this year was tobring it back to the community,"Gombos said.

This year's celebration drewabout 20,000 onlookers, policesaid.

Earlier in the morning, twinbrothers Mike and Chris Kavouklis,17, stood on the platform assessingthe conditions of the bayou, ner-vous and clenching their fists.

For their second dive, both hadrevised strategies.

"I'm a little more confident be-cause I know what to expect," saidChris, who planned to keep hishead underwater and his eyesopen. "I got over there really quick,but I couldn't hold my breath."

Mike was intent on getting afaster start and selecting a betterdinghy, because he was in onewhich was overloaded and sanklast year.

"I was a little fazed last year. Iwas soaking up the moment anddidn't get a good jump," he said.

Both boys laughed at theircousin, Mark Garcia, 16, a first-time diver who woke up early to dopractice laps in their grandmother'spool.

The St. Petersburg Times postedthe above on January 7.

In the Blink of an Eye, 1 Diver Emerges Triumphant

Mark Sadek, 15, celebrates after retrieving the cross from Lake Eolaas the Saint George Orthodox Church celebrated its 34th annualEpiphany Celebration with a Diving for the Cross ceremony last Sun-day, January 7, in Orlando, Florida. Sadek is the third member of hisfamily to recover the cross.

FEATURE

Continued from page 1

Constantine J. Skedros

ISTANBUL (AP) – Three Greek Or-thodox faithful dived into the win-try waters of Istanbul's GoldenHorn last Saturday, January 6, toretrieve a wooden cross in anEpiphany ceremony.

Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew I, spiritual leader ofthe world's 250 million OrthodoxChristians, first led a liturgy at thePatriarchal Cathedral of SaintGeorge for Epiphany, the day onwhich the Greek Orthodox Churchcommemorates the baptism of Je-sus Christ.

Bartholomew, who is based inConstantinople (present-day Istan-bul), led the congregation to theshores of the Horn – a 2.3-mile armof the Bosporus waterway – for thetraditional blessing of the watersceremony.

He threw the cross into the coldwater, and the three worshippersjumped in, in a contest to retrieveit.

This years' winner was MarioTarinas, 27, of Istanbul, who beat afather and son from Greece toreach the cross first.

Tarinas kissed the cross and lift-ed his arm to show it off as some

300 faithful – members of Istan-bul's dwindling Greek Orthodoxcommunity and visitors fromGreece – cheered and applauded.The two other competitors, Chris-tos Koulidis and his 16-year-oldson, Alex, then swam toward Tari-nas to touch the cross.

All three were rewarded with achain and crucifix fromBartholomew.

The ceremony was conductedunder tight police security. Turkishnationalists, who mistrust the Ecu-menical Patriarchate because of itsties to Turkey's historical rivalGreece, have disrupted similar cer-emonies in the past.

The Patriarchate dates from the1,100-year Greek Orthodox Byzan-tine Empire, which collapsed whenthe Ottoman Turks conquered thecity in 1453. Although only a fewthousand Greek Orthodox Chris-tians now live in Turkey, the Patri-archate has remained in Constan-tinople, and has direct authorityover several Greek Orthodoxchurches around the world.SMYRNA DENIED PERMISSION

Turkish authorities did not grantpermission for a blessing of the wa-

ters ceremony in the port of Smyr-na (present-day Izmir), somethingwhich was allowed last year after averbal announcement by the Turk-ish Foreign Ministry called for al-lowing and protecting the free ex-ercise of religious practice by thoseliving in Turkey.

Last year, Greek Consul Generalin Smyrna George Katapodis orga-nized an Epiphany Day celebration,for the first time after the Asia Mi-nor Catastrophe of 1922.

This year, the Greek Consulagain asked Izmir's prefect for per-mission to hold the Epiphany Dayceremony, but permission was de-nied because "the permit can not begiven because the request was notsubmitted in writing, but only ver-bally."

Finally, the Epiphany Day cere-mony was held by Grand Archi-mandrite of the Ecumenical ThroneCyril Sykis in the courtyard of theGreek Orthodox chapel of Saint Fo-tini.

The above incorporates informa-tion from a report posted by theAthens News Agency on January7.

Greek Orthodox Men Dive for Cross in the Golden Horn during Epiphany in Turkey

Mario Tarinas, 27, kisses a wooden cross after he retrieved it from the waters of the Golden Horn in Con-stantinople last Saturday, January 6. Three Greek Orthodox men braved the cold winter weather to diveinto the Golden Horn and retrieve the cross in a ceremony commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, threw the crossinto the water.

AP/MURAD SEZER

AP/ORLANDO SENTINEL/SARA A. FAJARDO

By Stratos BoudouridesSpecial to the National Herald

NEW YORK – Greek Orthodoxfaithful came by the thousands tocommemorate Epiphany Day lastSaturday, January 6, a day markedby festive celebrations throughoutthe Greek American community.Thanks to unseasonably moderateweather and the fact that this year’sfeast fell on a Saturday, churchgoersfilled their parishes on this very im-portant religious holiday in the Or-thodox Christian calendar.

Two parish communities in thegreater New York metropolitan area–and Saint Demetrios Cathedral inAstoria and Saint Demetrios Churchin Merrick – capped last Saturday’sservices with the traditional Bless-ing of the Waters, during which theholy cross was tossed into the wa-ter. Both services were marked bylarge crowds attending the both theDivine Liturgy and the subsequentceremonies.

Parishioners packed the church

of Saints Catherine & George in As-toria, part of the Saint DemetriosCathedral community, where astanding-room-only crowd faithfulfilled the both interior and court-yard of the church. At the end of theliturgy, churchgoers gathered out-side the parish to join the proces-sion heading for the East River atAstoria Park.

Cathedral Dean Rev. ApostolosKoufalakis lead the procession,while the faithful who followeddrew the attention of all onlookers.The procession stopped in front ofthe River near 21st Street in Asto-ria, and watched reverently as Fa-ther Koufalakis blessed the East Riv-er by tossing the cross into the wa-ter. Hundreds of faithful gatheredby the riverside to witness the prac-tice of this age-old Greek Orthodoxtradition, and to kiss the holy cross.

“Epiphany is the day when Godappeared to mankind and Christdeigned to be baptized by SaintJohn the Forerunner to manifestthat man was created to live eter-

nally. For the first time, our Lordmanifested His divinity and human-ity simultaneously, appearing as theSon of God,” Father Koufalakis toldthe National Herald.

“Commenting on the exception-al turnout, he noted, “The residentsof Astoria always commemorate thefeasts of our holy Church, and espe-cially today, since it is an importantfeast day of our Lord. We joyfullymaintain the longstanding traditionof blessing the waters. People enjoythese traditions, and we all do whatwe can to keep them alive, especial-ly in Astoria, where the communityis still very Greek.”

Cathedral President Photios Pa-pamichael said, “The communityhas really responded to our parish’scalling in recent days, and I’d like toadd that, as part of the frameworkof the celebrations for the 80th an-niversary of the establishment ofthe Saint Demetrios community, wewill maintain this festive spiritthroughout all of 2007.”

Former Parish Council President

Christos Kosovitsas also shared histhoughts on the day’s impressive at-tendance: “I’m very happy and ex-cited about today’s turnout. It’spacked with Greek Americans here,and their presence fills me withstrength and satisfaction, and leadsme to believe that Hellenism will besustained and will flourish, not onlyin Astoria, but throughout the Unit-ed States,” he said.

“I saw many young people todayanxiously waiting to receive HolyCommunion, and this means thatour traditions will never be lost. Andthe mild weather helped us carry outour traditions and customs under themost favorable of conditions. To-day’s celebration brings to my mindmemories from the native island ofNisyros, where I grew up and used tojump into the sea to retrieve the holycross,” said Kostas Kostides, a mem-ber of Saint Demetrios Cathedral, al-though he lives in Long Island, andhad also served as Parish Councilpresident in Astoria for nine years.

“The service was beautiful and

touching. It really makes me veryhappy to relive our Greek Orthodoxtraditions, because this is all wehave left to keep us connected toour homeland,” said a sentimentalEftychia Menikos.

Maria Papadatos said she wasimpressed with the number of peo-ple who attended services last Sat-urday, and noted that, “even thoughthe faithful always show up for reli-gious services here in Astoria, this isthe first time I’ve seen so many peo-ple on Epiphany Day.”

When Father Koufalakis threwthe cross into the East River, noyoungsters jumped into the waterto retrieve it because that part of theRiver is considered extremely dan-gerous due to undercurrents, andswimming is forbidden.

In Merrick, the faithful filledSaint Demetrios Church from earlyon, piously attending morningmatins and Divine Liturgy services.Afterwards, they went to the shoresof Wantagh Park, situated near thechurch, for the traditional tossing of

the holy cross and Blessing of theWaters ceremony. In contrast to thecelebrations in Astoria, three youngmen readily jumped into the waterin an effort to recover the cross afterthe Rev. Nikiforos Fakinos, pastor ofthe Merrick community, threw it in-to the ocean.

Vasilios Zarboutis was the first toreach the cross, lifting it out of theicy Atlantic waters. The other twobrave lads were John Karadakis andStergios Gatzoflias. All three re-ceived praise from onlookers fortheir bravery and efforts to keep theEpiphany tradition alive.

The next day, on the feast day ofSaint John the Baptist, the Churchof Zoodochos Peghe (Life-GivingSpring) in the Bronx celebratedEpiphany with a Blessing of the Wa-ters ceremony at the pier adjacentto the Greek-owned Harbor Restau-rant on City Island. Nine kids, fiveboys and four girls, dove into theHudson River. The cross was recov-ered by 12-year-old DemetraXenopoulou.

EPIPHANYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007 7

By Stratos BoudouridesSpecial to The National Herald

NEW YORK – The parish communi-ty of the Saint Nicholas Church indowntown Manhattan celebratedEpiphany with the traditional toss-ing of the holy cross in Battery ParkPier last Sunday afternoon, Janu-ary 7, shortly after the Divine Litur-gy at Saints Constantine & HelenChurch in Brooklyn on the feast dayof Saint John the Baptist (one dayafter Epiphany, which is celebratedeach year on January 6).

Saint Nicholas Church PastorRev. John Romas set a white dovefree, symbolic of the Holy Spirit,Which descended from Heaven as adove and rested on Christ in theRiver Jordan (John 1.32).

Journalists and television crewsfrom mainstream American media,which have become a staple atevery event held by this historiccommunity, which was destroyedduring the 9/11 terrorist attacks,covered the celebration.

This year’s competition to re-trieve the cross turned out to be afamily affair, as 49-year-old NicosHortoglou and his 19-year-old sonAdam braved the wintry waters tokeep the Greek Orthodox Epiphany

tradition alive. Adam proved to bea little quicker than his father, andreached the cross first.

As soon as the father-son teamclimbed out of the water, they weremet by cameras and journalists.

The younger Mr. Hortoglou saidhe hopes it is a good sign for hisgrandmother to get well.

“I feel very good, because it’s thefirst time that I managed to grabthe holy cross, and the third timethat I’ve participated in this tradi-tion. I hope this will bring my fami-ly luck, especially my grandmother,who is sick, and who I hope recov-ers as soon as possible,” Adam said.

The elder Mr. Hortoglou, whohails from Grevena in Greece, andis a parishioner at Saints Constan-tine & Helen Church, where theSaint Nicholas community hasbeen attending services while theywait for their church to be recon-structed, told the National Heraldthat he was very proud of his son.

“Next year, I’ll be the winner,” hequipped.

Saint Nicholas Church ParishCouncil President John Pitsikalisthanked the Greek American com-munity for the support it has shownSt. Nicholas. “It is just an absolutelygorgeous day, and as you can see,

everyone is enjoying it. It’s reminis-cent of the time before 2001, whenwe used to hold this celebration,”he said nostalgically.

With regard to the large mediacoverage at every event held bySaint Nicholas, Mr. Pitsikalis stat-ed, “We’re always very happy to seethe media, because our churchwould have never made it withoutyour support.”

Parish Council Vice PresidentJohn Kouloukundis noted the day’smild weather. “It’s such a beautifulday today, and that’s exactly what asuccessful Epiphany celebrationneeds.”

Regarding the rebuilding of thechurch, he said, “The rebuilding ef-forts and discussions with the PortAuthority of New York and NewJersey are going well, and I’mhopeful that we will be ready tostart work on the new church with-in three years.”

Regina Katapodis, also a mem-ber of Parish Council, said, “Thisparish means a lot to me becauseI’ve spent my whole life here. Myfather and grandfather both servedas community presidents for manyyears. I’m very proud that SaintNicholas Church continues tomaintain this tradition with the

same zeal, and I’m very certain thatwe will continue in this way forev-er.”

She also credited the smooth op-

eration of the community to theyouthful vigor of the Parish Coun-cil: “In my opinion, the youth of theboard members was a key reason

why Saint Nicholas Church hasmanaged to recover from thewounds caused by the events ofSeptember 11th,” she said.

The communities of Saint Nicholas Church in downtown Manhattan and Saints Constantine & HelenChurch in Brooklyn celebrated the traditional Blessing of the Waters for Epiphany celebrations at the pierin Battery Park last Sunday, January 7.

Historic St. Nicholas Church HoldsIts Blessing of the Waters CeremonyGreek Orthodox Faithful and American Media On-Hand in Battery Park

TNH/COSTAS BEJ

Thousands of New York City Area Faithful Flock to Churches for Epiphany

The parish community of Saint Demetrios Church in Merrick, Long Island held a Blessing of the Watersceremony and Cross-Dive at Wantagh Park last weekend. (L-R) Father Nikiforos Fakinos, church pastor,Stergios Gatzoflias, Vasilios Zarboutis, who recovered the cross from the icy Atlantic, John Karadakis andBasil Louros. The three cross divers were praised for their brave efforts to keep the Epiphany traditionalive.

(L-R) Amanda Phillips, Demetra Xenopoulos, Alexandria Borg, Father Sylvester Berberis, Demetrios Ba-lidis, Elias Germanakos, Claudio Shoshari, Gabriel Papadatos, Antigone Thanasias, Manolis Laoutaris andMichael Stefan after the Church of Zoodochos Peghe (Life-Giving Spring) in the Bronx held its annualBlessing of the Waters ceremony last Sunday, January 7. Miss Xenopoulos retrieved the cross from theHudson River by City Island.

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OBITUARIES CLASSIFIEDS8 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007

By Stavros MarmarinosSpecial to The National Herald

NEW YORK – Regina Pagoulatou,one of the Greek American commu-nity’s leading authors, died on Sat-urday, December 23, at Manhat-tan’s Cabrini Medical Center, whereshe spent her final days. She was 86years of age.

“Regina Pagoulatou will be sore-ly missed because, through herwords and presence, she broughtlife to the Greek American Commu-nity,” said the Very Rev. DionysiosAnagnostopoulos in his eulogy forthe well-known Greek Americanwriter during her funeral service atSaint Demetrios Cathedral in Asto-ria on December 28.

“Regina was a woman of letters,who loved her fellow man and theGreek language,” Father Anagnos-topoulos said. “She devoted her lifeto journalism and literature, andher memory will be eternal. As

Christians, we harbor hope that wewill meet her again in everlastinglife.”

Loved ones, fellow writers,Greek American academics andjournalists, and many longtimefriends throughout the communitywhose lives she touched attendedher funeral.

According to her daughter, KaliLoverdos, she had been sufferingfrom complications with her kid-neys, heart and lungs, and hadbeen hospitalized.

The late author had been in a co-ma for much of the past six months,but she had begun experiencinghealth problems earlier, said herdaughter. Her eldest grandchild,Demetris, offered to donate one ofhis kidneys so that she could re-ceive a transplant, but doctorsruled out the procedure.

Mrs. Pagoulatou had been livingin Indianapolis with her daughterbefore returning to New York this

past summer.Makis Tzilianos, president of the

Greek-American Writers’ Associa-tion, read a poem he had writtenfor her, and noted that, “in time,she will be recognized as NewYork’s ‘First Lady of Greek Litera-ture’ in death, just as she was inlife,” he said.

Mr. Tzilianos recounted Mrs.Pagoulatou’s novels and poems,published in Greek and translatedinto English, as well. “Her literarywork must be preserved as a testa-ment to 20th Century Greek litera-ture in America,” he said.

Local community radio host andjournalist Panagiota Lilikakis, aclose associate of the deceased,read excerpts from Pagoulatou’swork.

GREAT SOUL“I have never met anyone like

her. Regina had a great soul. Herheart and mind were so resilient,”Lilikakis said. Among the works she

read was, “I am Greece,” whichPagoulatou frequently recited atvarious functions to which she wasinvited.

Unable to hold back her tears,Ms. Loverdos looked on, along withher two children, Demetris andAlexander Kazazakis, and an oldfriend of Mrs. Pagoulatou, Lozan-dra Gregoriades, who was exiledalong with Mrs. Pagoulatou duringthe years of political unrest in post-War Greece.

“She taught me to love manythings. Music, nature and most ofall, people. Her love for the Greeklanguage was so strong,” herdaughter recalled. “She had a diffi-cult time being allowed into thiscountry. Her brother was caught upin the strife of the Greek civil war,but my mother had nothing to dowith it. They gave her a very hardtime nonetheless, and my fatherhad to petition President Kennedyto intervene so that she could gether visa to come to America,” Ms.Loverdos said.

“My mother will always live onwith us,” she added, citing hermother’s philosophy: “Your closestand most loyal friend, who willnever lie to you or give you prob-lems, is a book. With a book, yourmind is always free.”

Writer George Giannaris also ex-pressed his admiration for Pagoula-tou: “She could write both poetryand prose. Her writing was vibrant,and more importantly, she was afighter. She suffered a great deal inher life because of her convictions,but she was proud of this. Many ofher life’s experiences are manifest-ed in her work. Regina Pagoulatougave so much to the Greek Ameri-can Community, and no one shouldforget this. It’s so sad when you losea loved one, especially someonewith Regina’s spirit. She is one ofthe last truly spiritual figuresamong us, and I think the GreekAmerican community should honorher, albeit posthumously,” he said.

Musician Seraphim Lazos ex-pressed disappointment to the Na-tional Herald over the absence ofGreek American officials at the fu-neral: “I’m very saddened. Whereare the dignitaries and representa-

tives of the Greek American com-munity, which Regina Pagoulatouserved so passionately through herwork? None of them are here inchurch today. Mrs. Pagoulatoubrought culture to our community,and her work will live on. I’ve beenreading her poetry ever since Icame to America. She was a realfighter, and she will be fondly re-membered,” he said.

Author Demetris Moustakis not-ed that Mrs. Pagoulatou had goneinto exile with renowned GreekAmerican author MenelaosLoudemis.

“She stood out as a writer be-cause she was uncompromising inher beliefs, and could be blisteringat times. This made her seem aloof,but in reality, she was very sensi-tive. When she retired, she wrote inone of her chronicles that timewould not overtake her. She battled

time right until the end,” he said.“I met Regina in Chios, in 1947,”

said her longtime friend, LozandraGregoriades: “She was a proudwoman, always willing to help asmuch as possible. I knew she wasspecial from the first moment. Shewas completely devoted to litera-ture, and to humanity. She delvesvery deeply into the human psychein her work. Now she’s gone…”

Known for her “sharp pen,” Mrs.Pagoulatou was one of the commu-nity’s strongest voices, often criti-cizing the “bourgeois Gentil-homme” of our organizations andthe “distasteful celebrations” ofGreek Letters Day, for example.

She was born in the village ofValsamata on the Ionian island ofKefalonia in 1920, and she attend-ed high school in Amaliada of Ilia inthe Peloponnese. She immigratedto the United States in 1963. Dur-ing the Greek Civil War (1946-49),she was exiled to Chios and Trikeri.She wrote about her experience inher book, “Exile: A Chronicle,1948-1950” (Pella, New York:1999).

Mrs. Pagoulatou, who was ayoung woman in 1948, found her-self caught in the web of terrorwhich the government practiced inorder to exercise total control of thestrife-torn country. She was takenprisoner; interrogated; and placedwithin the confines of prisoncamps, which were surrounded bybarbed wire. In this book, shespeaks about the pain of being anoutcast.

In America, she was a contributorto many journals and newspapers inboth the U.S. and Canada, and washonored by the Greek Studies Centerin Austin, Texas for her short storiesin 1974. She had been invited tospeak about Greek literature inAmerica and Greece on many occa-sions, and gave poetry recitals inmany university centers and li-braries. Her work has been coveredby the New York Times and the Li-brary Journal. She is survived by herdaughter and two grandchildren.

Regina Pagoulatou, “First Lady of Greek Literature,” Passes Away at 86 Years of Age

■ ARGIROPOULOS, ALEX.The South Florida Sun-Sentinel re-ported that Alexandros Argiropou-los, 24, of Boca Raton (formerly ofFort Lauderdale), Florida died onThursday, January 4, after a motor-cycle accident. He is survived by hisparents, John and Monica Ar-giropoulos; his brother, KyriacosArgiropoulos; and his sisters,Daniella and Monique Argiropou-los, all of Boca Raton. "Our belovedson and brother, you will be missedby all. Alex, thank you for the goodtimes." He is also survived by hisaunts, uncles and cousins. His fu-neral was held this past Thursday,January 11, at Saint DemetriosGreek Orthodox Church in FortLauderdale. Burial was at ForestLawn Memorial Gardens-North inPompano Beach, Florida. Arrange-ments were by the Baird-Case Jor-dan-Fannin Funeral Home & Cre-mation Service in Fort Lauderdale.

■ RAFALIDES, PAULThe Star Ledger reported that PaulRafalides, 79, a longtime residentof Westfield, New Jersey, died onMonday, January 1, at OverlookHospital in Summit, New Jersey.Born in Jersey City on February 1,1927, Dr. Rafalides was the son ofSimeon and Hariclia (nee Gaiolou)Rafalides. He had lived in Westfieldfor the past 41 years. A U.S. Navyveteran of World War II, Dr.Rafalides received his bachelor's

degree in education from JerseyCity State Teachers College and hismaster's degree in educational ad-ministration from Columbia Uni-versity. He earned his doctorate ineducation from Rutgers University.Dr. Rafalides first taught at theCentral School in East Brunswick,New Jersey, and then at the juniorhigh school in Teaneck, New Jerseybefore joining the Jersey City Boardof Education, where he held the po-sitions of assistant principal at P.S.39 and P.S. 37, respectively, andprincipal of P.S. 29 and P.S. 33, re-spectively, retiring in 2002. He wasa member of the National Educa-tion Association, the New JerseyEducation Association and AHEPA,all in Jersey City. Dr. Rafalides issurvived by two loving sisters, Pen-ny Curran and Helen Rafalides; hisbrother in-law, Frank Miller; hisniece, Lea (Michael) Colatrella,and her children, Alex and Zack. Hewas predeceased by his wife, Made-line Berdar Rafalides, in 2001. Thefuneral was held this past Monday,January 8, at Saint DemetriosGreek Orthodox Church in JerseyCity. Burial was at Fairview Ceme-tery in Westfield. Arrangementswere by the Greenville MemorialHome in Jersey City.

■ THOMAS, KOULA A.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch report-ed that Koula A. (nee Galakatos)Thomas, 103, died on Friday, Janu-ary 5. She was the beloved wife ofthe late Andrew A. Thomas; lovingmother of Mary (Angelo) Tsichlisand Frosene (Menas) Georgeson ofGrand Rapids, Michigan; deargrandmother of Gloria Bouras,Christine Tsichlis, Penny Tsichlis,Ted (Dominique) Georgeson, An-drew (Emmy) Georgeson andPhilip Georgeson; great grand-mother of eight; loving sister in-lawof Cleopatra Galakatos; and aunt,great aunt and friend of many. Shewas a longtime member of her local

Philoptochos Society. Her funeralwas held this past Tuesday, January9, at Saint Nicholas Greek Ortho-dox Church in St. Louis. Burial wasat St. Matthew's Cemetery. Callinghours were held at Lupton Chapelin University City, Missouri this pastMonday, January 8. Memorial con-tributions to the St. Nicholas GreekOrthodox Church Building Fund orSt. Nicholas Philoptochos Societyappreciated (4967 Forest ParkBlvd., St. Louis, MO 63108).

■ TSAPANIDES, GEORGEThe Star-Ledger reported thatGeorge Tsapanides, 76, died onSunday, October 22, 2006 at hishome in Hillsborough, New Jerseysurrounded by his loving family.Born in Russia, Mr. Tsapanidesmoved to Greece in 1940. He livedthere until he immigrated to theU.S. in 1964. He lived in the Or-ange, New Jersey before moving toHillsborough 16 years ago. Mr.Tsapanides was the owner and op-

erator of Swimming Pool Servicesin Hillsborough. He served in theGreek military and was a memberof the Saint George Greek Ortho-dox Church in Piscataway, New Jer-sey. He enjoyed gardening and be-ing around his family. Mr.Tsapanides is survived by his wifeof 54 years, Parthena Tsapanides,of Hillsborough; his two daughters,Despina (Hari) Menon of BelleMead, New Jersey and Sophia(Carmine) Albanese of Hillsbor-ough; four grandchildren, Nicholasand Katerina Albanese, and Johnand George Menon; his brother,Vasilios Tsapanides of BerkeleyTownship, New Jersey. He was pre-deceased by his brothers, John andKonstantinos Tsapanides. Funeralservices were held on October 25,2006 at Saint George Greek Ortho-dox Church in Piscataway. Burialwas at Gate of Heaven Cemetery inEast Hanover, New Jersey. Arrange-ments were by the Gleason FuneralHome in Somerset, New Jersey.

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By Barbara CrossetteThe New York Times

For more than 40 years, the writ-ing of poetry has sustained ReginaPagoulatou. They were years thatcalled for sustenance: There waschildhood poverty, and then therewas exile…

Mrs. Pagoulatou, who was bornon the island of Cephalonia in 1920,can not remember a time when shewas not a poet. “I began to write po-etry when I was very, very young,”she said over lunch in Manhattan.“My mother was illiterate. I read mypoems to her. By her expression, Icould understand if my writing wasgood or bad.”

During the Axis occupation ofGreece in the 1940’S, Mrs. Pagoula-tou, whose education had endedwith high school, lived in Athenswith her widowed mother and actedin community theater. The stagingof these amateur productions, a ma-

jor vehicle of communication amongGreeks during the occupation, wasassumed by the Germans and Ital-ians to be subversive activity. One ofher brothers was more directly in-volved in politics.

“My older brother was arrestedby the Italians and transferred to aconcentration camp,” she said. “An-other brother disappeared; we neverhear anything about him.”

In 1948, she herself was arrestedduring the anti-leftist drive duringthe Greek civil war which followedthe occupation. She spent 25months in exile on a series of smallislands.

“In Trikeri, we were 5,000women,” she said. “I was writingplays for us there. The result of theexperiences of those years was abook I wrote later called ‘Exile.’ Thatbook was published in New York, inGreek, in 1974.

“After John Kennedy’s election,they gave me the visa,” she said.

“But I had to prove I was a very goodgirl.”

She arrived in New York in 1963,by then the wife of a Greek chef whohad found work at an inn in upstateNew York.

“From the first moment I washere, I was spellbound,” she said.“We drove along the Thruway, and Isaw all that greenery.”

A professor upstate who washelping her with English began toencourage her writing. “Most of mypoetry was about living away fromthe homeland… about homesick-ness,” she said.

The Pagoulatouses soon movedto New York City and became so im-mersed in a Greek-speaking neigh-borhood that Regina never neededto know English. She continued towrite – as she still does – in Greek.But her husband grew increasinglyopposed to her writing.

“I wrote my books with the lastlight, at night,” she recalled, adding

that she never told him of the recog-nition she was beginning to receivefrom Hellenic scholars across theUnited States. Among the booksthose years produced was “Torches”– “Poems about my pain for Greeceduring the recent dictatorship, andabout my pain over (the death of)Robert Kennedy,” she said.

It was after a year of retirementwith her husband in Greece in 1974-75 that Regina Pagoulatou – a verysmall but determined woman – de-cided to return to New York with herdaughter and strike out on her own.She is now working on a new bookof poems she is thinking of calling“Transplant.”

“We here see Greece from anotherpoint of view because we see it from adistance,” she said. “But we have it inour souls. Because we are all a littlehomesick, we care for our traditions.”

The New York Times published theabove on May 4, 1980.

New York Times: For Greek American in Queens, Poetry is her Life

The late Regina Pagoulatou

Shortly before mourners bid farewell to author Regina Pagoulatou during her funeral at Saint DemetriosCathedral in Astoria, her daughter, Kali Loverdos, reads a poem Mrs. Pagoulatou had written about hermother. Father Dionysios Anagnostopoulos and Constantine Antonopoulos, who arranged the funeral,are pictured left.

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GREECE CYPRUSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007 9

By Nicholas PaphitisAssociated Press

ATHENS (AP) – Protesting Greekstudents clashed with riot policethis past Wednesday, January 10, aslawmakers debated ending a statemonopoly on university education– the latest European Union coun-try planning to ditch decades-oldeducation practices in favor of amore market-oriented model.

The governing conservatives saya proposed constitutional amend-ment paving the way for state-su-pervised private universities willhelp more students gain higher de-grees, without undermining thestate system.

Prime Minister Costas Karaman-lis said he was determined to pushahead with the planned reforms,which drew strong opposition fromstudents, academic staff and left-wing parties.

"The reforms will take place.That is not negotiable," state NET TVquoted him as saying. But Karaman-lis said he would seek "the greatestpossible consensus, through dia-logue and without hasty moves."

Some 7,000 people took part inthe central Athens demonstration,with banners deploring "educationfor a select few."

Riot police fired tear gas as pro-testers tried to break through a po-lice cordon outside Parliament,where the debate opened in themorning.

Officers also used tear gas to dis-pel suspected anarchists who brokefrom the crowd and threw petrolbombs and red paint at riot police.One suspected rioter was arrested,but no injuries were reported.

The country's umbrella publicsector union, ADEDY, held a five-

hour work stoppage to coincidewith the march, which closed downcentral Athens and disrupted publictransport schedules.

Demonstrations also were heldin cities around Greece – with mi-nor clashes in the northern port cityof Thessaloniki, where some 3,000people protested – while university

students have held sit-ins at severalfaculties.

"With the creation of privateuniversities, access to higher edu-cation will no longer be secured forall irrespective of their income," anADEDY statement said.

NO IMPACT WHATSOEVERBut a senior education ministry

adviser argued that the proposedreforms would have "no impactwhatsoever" on state universities,which do not charge tuition fees,and have no plans to do so.

"Private universities will be verylimited numerically," said ThanosVeremis, head of the NationalCouncil for Education. "We do not

expect Harvard or Cambridge to es-tablish themselves here," he toldthe Associated Press.

Most E.U. members allow orplan to allow private universities,and several countries are consider-ing reforms to make their systemsmore competitive:

German universities are trying

to charge tuition; Paris schools areconsidering selection, instead ofopen admission; and Dutch col-leges are pushing students to finishfaster.

Associated Press ReporterNathalie Rendevski Savaricascontributed to this report.

Students in Greece Clash with Police as Lawmakers Debate University Reform

NICOSIA (AP) – Muslim and Ortho-dox Christian leaders in war-dividedCyprus have canceled a historicmeeting, with the top Turkish Cypriotcleric citing offensive remarks by hisGreek Cypriot counterpart.

Muslim cleric Ahmet Yonluer andArchbishop Chrysostomos II ofCyprus were due to meet this pastMonday, January 8, and visit the Ha-la Sultan Tekke, the island's most im-portant Muslim shrine in the south-ern city of Larnaca.

But Yonluer said he called themeeting off because of remarks byChrysostomos which were "detri-mental to peace and dialogue be-tween religions," according toTurkey's Anatolia news agency.

He accused the Cypriot archbish-op of acting more like a "radical"politician than a man of religion.

"He says 'the occupying forcesshould leave, the (Turkish) settlersshould leave,' like a marginal politi-cian, like a politician with radicalviews," Yonluer said. "That's not theduty of a cleric. Our duty is to conveyreligious dialogue and tolerance tothe public, as demanded by God."

Ahead of Monday's planned talksChrysostomos said Greek Cypriotshave no differences with TurkishCypriots, only with settlers from theTurkish mainland and with the Turk-ish army. He also said he would raisethe issue of looted Greek Cypriotchurches in the island's Turkish-occu-pied north.

The two clerics had also beenscheduled to meet again in the northof the island on January 22 and visitthe church of Saint Barnabas in Fam-agusta. Barnabas is regarded as thefounder of the Church of Cyprus.Cyprus Church official Frixos Kleant-hous said that meeting would alsonot take place.

Cyprus has been divided since a1974 Turkish invasion in the wake ofa short-lived coup backed by support-ers of union with Greece.

ReligiousLeaders inCyprus CallOff their Talks

rior affairs official.Although five crossings have

functioned on the island since 2003,there are none in the city center, andfor more than four decades, LedrasStreet has been the most prominentsymbol of Cyprus' ethnic partition.

Construction of the bridge in late2005 prompted Greek Cypriots towithdraw support for plans to re-open Ledras Street as an avenuecutting across the buffer zone sepa-rating the island since the Turkishinvasion in 1974.

They claim the bridge, whichcarries Ledras Street over a roadused by the Turkish military, en-croaches on the United Nations-pa-trolled buffer.

The Cypriot Government saidthat, in addition to removing thebridge, Turkish Cypriots should alsodemilitarize and demine the area.

"The aim of opening LedrasStreet is the safe movement of citi-zens and cultivation of a climate ofmutual trust through contact andcommunication between the twocommunities," Cypriot GovernmentSpokesman Christodoulos

Pashiardis said.Greek Cypriots also want the

north to remove customs posts fromthe area.

Efforts to reunify the island havebeen effectively frozen since 2004,when Greek Cypriots rejected aU.N. reunification blueprint accept-ed by Turkish Cypriots in a referen-dum.

Cyprus is divided into a GreekCypriot south – representing the is-land's internationally recognizedgovernment – and a breakawayTurkish Cypriot north – officiallyrecognized only by Ankara.

Turks Remove Sections of Ledra Bridge

By The Associated Press

WHAT'S CHANGING?Greece's conservative govern-ment wants to change the consti-tution to lift a state monopoly onhigher education and allow inde-pendent universities to be run ona not-for-profit basis. Thechanges would take effect afterthe next general election, due in2008. State universities do notcharge tuition fees; independentinstitutions would. The debate inHellenic Parliament started thispast Wednesday, and is due to becompleted in March.

WHY NOW? University re-forms are sweeping E.U. coun-tries to become competitive withthe United States and increasing-ly with universities in India andChina, as fee-paying schemes andindependent colleges are gainingground. Some 50,000 Greek stu-dents are studying abroad, choos-ing Great Britain as their mostpopular destination.

WHO SUPPORTS IT? Despitetheir differences, the governing

conservative and main oppositionsocialist parties broadly supportthe education reforms, and to-gether have 276 deputies in the300-seat parliament. Leftwingopposition parties and unionsstrongly oppose the measures,along with universities which areplanning strikes starting nextweek.

WHO WOULD SIGN UP?Non-profit universities could at-tract the interest of municipali-ties, business federations andunion groups, as well as theGreek Orthodox Church. Branch-es of overseas universities alreadyoperate in Greece, and manywould likely be granted fullrecognition.

WHY DOES IT MATTER? Ed-ucation, chronically under-fund-ed, is a volatile issue in Greece,and frequently the cause of publicprotests. This past fall, Greek pri-mary schools remained closed forweeks because of a teachers'strike, while students staged oc-cupations at hundreds of highschools across the country.

Breaking it Down: A Look atProposed Education Reforms

Riot police clash with protesting students in the northern port city of Thessaloniki this past Wednesday,January 10. An estimated 3,000 people participated in the demonstration, which turned violent, againstthe Greek Government’s plans to end a state monopoly on university education in Greece.

AP/NICOS GIAKOUMIDES

Turkish Cypriot municipal workers removed sections of a bridge next to the U.N. buffer zone (a.k.a., theGreen Line) which has divided the Greek and Turkish Cypriot-controlled areas on Ledras Street, a mainartery in the divided capital of Nicosia, Cyprus this past Tuesday January 9. Large parts of the metal struc-ture had gone by midday.

Continued from page 1

AP/PETROS KARADJIAS

Drug smugglers arrested on their way to Greece

A special police officer stands by the hundreds of packages of seizedcocaine in a police lab in Skopia (Skopje), the capital of FYROM, thispast Monday, January 8. Skopian Police seized 1,060 pounds of co-caine hidden in a truck near the border with Kosovo. The truck pickedup its cargo in Montenegro, police said. Its final destination wasGreece. The total value of the cocaine was estimated of about $58.3million.

AP/BORIS GRDANOSKI

WASHINGTON (AP)- The State De-partment said this past Wednesdaythat it supports what appears to begrowing interest in reviving an in-ternational effort to seek a settle-ment for the Cyprus dispute.Spokesman Sean McCormack ac-knowledged that the effort lost mo-mentum after a United Nationsproposal was defeated by GreekCypriot voters in April 2004."But I think we have gotten to apoint now where enough interestedparties in the region have ex-pressed an interest in maybe tryingagain to find a solution," he said,noting that the U.N. has beenweighing alternatives.Should the U.N. decide to moveforward with a new effort to try tofind a solution, "we would certainlysupport them in those efforts," Mc-Cormack said. "But we would be ina supporting role."

Interest in aSettlement forCyprus Back?

Trash causing environmental disorder in Athens

Ragpickers collect pieces of garbage at Athens' landfill in Ano Liossia north of the capital last Friday, Jan-uary 5. Garbage collection has come to a standstill in parts of the city because the landfill has exceeded ca-pacity. Authorities have promised to build an extension at the site to cope with the daily disposal of 6,000tons of garbage. Many streets in Athens have uncollected trash.

AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

exam, and tests indicated that im-mediate surgery was necessary.

According to a brief statement is-sued by the hospital this pastWednesday morning, “the breathingtube has been removed from the pa-tient, and he is fully conscious andmentally alert. His condition is im-proving adequately in every aspect.”

The National Herald contactedmembers of the Mitsotakis family,who affirmed the success of the elderstatesman's surgery.

His vital signs remained strongthroughout the duration of the open-heart operation, they said, and doc-tors transplanted veins from histhigh and chest to circumvent block-age and deliver blood to the centralartery in his heart.

The former prime minister haddeveloped arrhythmia before hechecked into the Onassis cardiacCenter this past Monday evening toundergo tests. After the operation,Mr. Mitsotakis was taken to the 1stHeart Surgery Clinic, where he wasplaced under the supervision of Dr.Demetrios Kokkinos. The head of the2nd Cardiac Surgery Department,Dr. Alkiviadis Michalis, operated himon.

Speaking about the ex-premier'scondition prior to surgery, Dr. Kokki-nos, who is also a professor of Cardi-ology, said Mr. Mitsotakis enteredthe hospital complaining of height-ened discomfort and chest pain.

Such symptoms call for tests, thephysician explained, and the patientwas subsequently given a coronarycatheterization.

This procedure revealed exten-sive damage to the heart's mainartery, which could not be treated in-trusively through angioplasty, Dr.Kokkinos said, so doctors opted forbypass surgery.

Dr. Kokkinos said that an atrialfibrillation was also detected as a re-sult of the patient's condition. Whenasked about the dangers associatedwith this procedure, Dr. Michalis, thesurgeon, explained that these proce-dures are especially difficult and re-quire extreme care.

Mr. Mitsotakis was briefed abouthis condition, Dr. Kokkinos reported,and was calm and instructed that allnecessary steps be taken to rectify hiscoronary problem.

At his side were his daughter,Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoy-anni; his son, Member of HellenicParliament Kyriacos Mitsotakis; andother relatives.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlisspoke with Mr. Mitsotakis on Mon-day night, prior to the operation,said the Greek Government's ChiefSpokesman Theodoros Roussopou-los.

“I made it through with dignity,”he told his daughter when he sawher standing alongside him aftersurgery.

“I'm fine. Go to Parliament,” hetold his son.

Former Premier MitsotakisUndergoes Successful SurgeryContinued from page 1

EDITORIALS LETTERS10 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007

New York Times editorial loadedWith “gross misinformation”

To the Editor:In response to the gross misin-

formation in the recent New YorkTimes editorial, “Obstacles toTurkey’s Path,” which you repro-duced in last week’s press clip-pings, we endorse comments byProfessor Pandelis Halamandaris ofBrandon University in Manitoba,Canada:

“Your editorial is not fit to printin the New York Times. It displaysbias against Cyprus and the E.U.; isbased on selective and convenientfacts; and ignores or dismisses oth-ers, to include violations or breach-es of international agreements; anarmy of occupation on the island ofCyprus; and a belligerent behavior

or outright aggression on Turkey’spart, while negotiating her admis-sion to the European Union. Final-ly, you denied the Cypriots’ democ-ratic right to choose their own des-tiny when they rejected the U.N.plan in April 2004. And you con-cluded that Cyprus and the E.U.should be blamed for the suspen-sion of Turkey’s admission talks.The logic of your argument leavesmuch to be desired. The one toblame for the present situation isTurkey itself.”

We would add that Turkey islocked within its own recalcitrance,which gives it no way out of its ownbarricades. Turkey is, by far, toochauvinistic, jingoistic and outrightundemocratic – like Nazi Germanywas in the past. Neither any trulydemocratic quarter nor the Euro-

pean Union can allow Turkey’s ac-cession with Attila aggression andAnnan Apartheid plans.

With its recent verdict againstTurkey’s illegal expropriation ofChristian and ethnic properties(“wakfs”), the European Court ofHuman Right has exposed to worldattention, especially after the Sep-tember 1995 monstrously criminalpogrom in Constantinople. Thereare thousands of such expropriated"wakfs" which Turkey must restoreto its indigenous ethnic and reli-gious groups before any motion to-ward accession is acceptable.

But why is the “way forward” forTurkey being pushed so hard byothers? The only things Turkeyseems to understand are aggres-sions, massacres, genocide,pogroms, desecration, persecution,

narcotics and barbaric inhumanity.Would Americans want millions ofTurks in the United States?

George S. EleftheriadesNew South Wales, Australia

Important reversal of policyIt’s customary, at the beginning of each year, for the President of the

Hellenic Republic to announce the names of persons upon whom he haschosen to decorate with the highest honors the country has to offer.

The criteria for his decision are based on the contribution these individ-uals have made in promoting the interests of Greece, or by having had adistinguished career which has brought honor to the country, or have ad-vanced the interests of the country and the cause of global Hellenism insome significant way.

And so this goes beyond any personal sense of honor one might feel inbeing selected, as it speaks to the Greek state’s sense of an individual’s orgroup of individuals’ contributions to Greece and Hellenism.

This year, the President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, announced thathe will award some of the country’s highest honors, among others, to nineGreek Americans for various reasons – and his decision to do so is signifi-cant.

Greece used to honor Greek Americans in the past, for their contribu-tions. In the past few decades, however, that policy had changed. The fewhonors awarded during this period were granted at receptions in Greekconsulates, while the names of the honorees were not included in the mainlist released by the office of the President of the Republic.

Thus, Mr. Papoulias’ decision constitutes an important reversal of poli-cy and a most telling one when it comes to the Greek American communi-ty. Among other things, it goes a long way in proving the substantial im-provement which has taken place in Greek-American relations.

But it also shows the far-reaching, sensitive and astute eye of Mr. Pa-poulias who, as a person who has himself lived for a period of time outsideof Greece, and as a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, is particularly mind-ful of the contributions our community has made, and continues to maketo the motherland.

The list of the Greek Americans selected for this year’s honors is a bal-anced and a carefully chosen one. It includes some obvious choices fromthe world of business and philanthropy, a politician, a scientist, a journal-ist and a publisher – and here we are very proud to say our own Antonis H.Diamataris – and a music director, all from different parts of the country.

While people do what they do because of who they are and what theybelieve in, it must feel good when their work is appreciated by the Presi-dent of the Hellenic Republic and, in short, by the Greek state itself, as itsignifies the country’s acknowledgement of the pride Greeks abroad takein their rich heritage.

It doesn’t end there, however. Those chosen should also feel, more thanever, the mighty hand of honor and duty pushing them onwards evenmore strongly than before to increase their efforts in their chosen fields,for along with honor comes great responsibility.

As Greeks, a small but tremendously great sliver of the world’s peoples,we must feel driven by our heritage to preserve our heritage, for afterthousands of years, it is upon that heritage which Western Civilization stillstands.

Bush and IraqThis past Wednesday evening, President Bush announced his plan to

reverse the negative course of events in Iraq. What started as a hope and apromise to overthrow a brutal dictator and bring tranquility and democra-cy to Iraq has turned into a national nightmare.

The President made a convincing speech, and indeed a promising one,even going as far as to admit that mistakes were made in the past, some-thing which he had long refused to do.

In short, he presented a plan which, had it been put into effect threeand a half years ago, might have helped us save 3,000 precious Americanlives, almost 20 thousand wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars.

While it might still make a difference, however, most people believethat it might be too little too late.

And that is because the fabric of Iraqi society has been torn apart. Thatcountry, for all intents and purposes, is in the middle of civil war. Some es-timates put the number of Iraqi dead at hundreds of thousands of people.

Simply put, that is a brutal and staggering consequence of this war.How can Iraqi society be reconciled? How can it pick up its pieces and

move forward? And on top of that, what role can a foreign power play insuch a process?

While the President’s plan could still work, America must not repeat thesame mistakes made in Vietnam, where one surge of troop level led to an-other, exhausting the patience of the American people and their treasury.

If the Iraqi people are bent on killing each other in the alleys of Bagh-dad, there is little America can do to stop them.

And if the current Iraqi Government can not stop it, then a new oneneeds to be elected.

But for God’s shake, let’s stop pretending, or worse, acting as if we arepowerless to either change a government or a constitution in Iraq. Let’s bewhat we are: a powerful country – some would say an empire – with ahuge investment in Iraq and an army there which is big enough to takecare of our interests.

Leave aside all other pretenses. They do not carry water, are not con-vincing, and do not make for an effective war policy.

Back to diplomacyAfter some initial negative reaction, mainly due to the fact that John

Negroponte seems to change jobs every few months – from Ambassador tothe United Nations Ambassador to Ambassador to Iraq to Intelligence czar,all within a couple of years – his confirmation by the Senate to become thenumber-two person in the State Department seems a done deal at thispoint.

And thus, some sort of history will be made. Mr. Negroponte will be thefirst Greek American to be placed that high in the State Department, andone of few Greek Americans to achieve such a high ranking in the Execu-tive Branch of the U.S. Government – along with Spyro Agnew and GeorgeTenet.

Mr. Negroponte – who was born in London and hails from a shippingfamily in Greece (on the island of Chios), and is known to speak Greek flu-ently, and to occasionally take a vacation on the Greek isles – almost cer-tainly knows Greek issues better than anyone who ever reached the high-est levels in the State department, as would be expected of him.

And even though nobody would ever expect him, or anyone else, to fa-vor Greek positions if they were contrary to those of this country, it is alsoalmost certain that at least some Greek positions and interests coincidewith those of the United States. It is in these areas that, as a seasoneddiplomat, Mr. Negroponte could be useful to both his ancestral homelandland and to his adopted country. As Greek Americans who are concernedabout Hellenic issues, would certainly like to think he is in a position to ef-fect some positive changes in policy.

On the other hand, it is a good thing that expectations of Mr. Negro-ponte run low when it comes to these issues, for he has not given much in-dication in the past that he is overly interested in his ethnic background.

Whatever the case may be, we wish him the best of luck.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PRESS CLIPPINGS

By John McLaughlinThe Washington Post

The Office of Director of Nation-al Intelligence, soon to be vacatedby Ambassador John Negroponte,was born in controversy and neverendowed with the full authority theresponsibilities of the office re-quire. Struggling with the inherentlimitations, Negroponte madesome headway in enhancing U.S.intelligence capabilities, but leavesmuch for his likely successor, re-tired Vice Admiral Mike Mc-Connell, to accomplish. In an erawhen intelligence is at the center ofnearly all foreign and many domes-tic challenges, an enormousamount rides on the DNI's successor failure.

The intelligence structuresprang from recommendationsmade by the September 11 Com-mission which were released dur-ing one of the more bitter Presiden-tial campaigns in modern history.Unlike the Goldwater-Nichols re-form of the military, which tookyears to debate and enact, many ofthe key decisions associated withthe 2004 intelligence reform werecobbled together in a matter ofweeks, with campaign talkingpoints often driving the debate.

At the time, other senior intelli-gence leaders and I opposed the re-structuring, arguing that the en-hancements desired could begained by augmenting the authori-ties of the then-senior intelligencepost, the director of central intelli-gence. When we lost that argu-ment, we said that if there was tobe a DNI, the post should be given

substantial powers, including ro-bust budgetary authority alongwith clear direction and controlover the nation's principal intelli-gence agencies – so as to bringabout the kind of changes we hadlong argued his predecessor need-ed.

Congress stopped short of grant-ing such powers, yielding to De-fense Department insistence thatseveral of the most important agen-cies (the National Security Agency,the National Geo-Spatial Intelli-gence Agency, the National Recon-naissance Agency) remain in itschain of command.

GRANTED MODESTLYENHANCED AUTHORITY

Despite popular perception, theonly agency which reports directlyto the "intelligence czar" is the CIA.Congress granted the DNI modestlyenhanced authority over budgetsand personnel transfers amongagencies – but with many caveatswhich can be used to slow such ef-forts or protect departmental equi-ties. And Congress did nothing toreform its own cumbersome systemof oversight, under which intelli-gence agility is limited by the re-quirement for as many as six com-mittees to weigh in on some deci-sions.

In the summer of 2004, I toldCongress that "short, clear lines ofcommand and control are requiredin whatever structure you estab-lish," and that three words werekey: agility, flexibility and speed.Negroponte did not get these inanything close to full measure.

Working with these limitations,Negroponte has had to assert his

authority to establish it. He hasdone this effectively on some cru-cial budget and personnel issues.He has assembled a talented andexperienced staff, and has begun tofocus on some monumentallytough problems, such as the needfor a seamless information archi-tecture for a diverse intelligencecommunity.

The "issue manager" system hecreated – assigning a single seniorofficer to coordinate the work ofmultiple agencies on issues such asIran and North Korea – holds muchpromise for integrating analysis,collection and other intelligenceactivities. Finally, Negroponte mustbe credited with bringing a reassur-ing and confident demeanor to acommunity which had been rockedby controversy.

Many in the intelligence com-munity perceive the new organiza-tion as a bureaucratic behemoth su-perimposed atop the agencies andmaking more work than it enables.In truth, it is simply too soon to tellwhat the ultimate effect will be; allreorganizations go through a roughshakedown period.

Another, more important truthis this: It is now the law of the land,and for the sake of the nation's se-curity, it behooves all, both withinand subordinate to the new struc-ture, to do everything possible toensure its success.

In that regard, the top priorityfor McConnell must be achieving amore integrated and collaborativeeffort among 16 agencies with di-verse foreign and domestic mis-sions. These agencies have workedtogether more smoothly in recent

years than is commonly perceived,but deeper collaboration has beenhindered by a shortage of critical"enablers," such as common infor-mation systems; common hiringand personnel evaluation policies;uniformly understood standardsfor collecting and analyzing infor-mation; and shared security poli-cies which ensure that the rightpeople and information flow tocritical missions, while guardingagainst penetration by foreign in-telligence services.

Success in these endeavorscould transform American intelli-gence. To succeed, any DNI wouldhave to keep the priority on long-range strategic objectives andavoid getting caught up in the day-to-day minutiae of analysis andclandestine operations – alwayshard to do, because it is the latterwhich generate controversy and ex-ert a magnetic pull on the attentionand energy of intelligence leaders.

President George H.W. Bush wasfond of describing intelligence as"the nation's first line of defense."The challenges confronting themen and women on that line arebeginning to feel as formidable asthose their forebears faced whenthe CIA was created in 1947. Asthen, much will depend on leader-ship.

The Washington Post publishedthe above on January 7. Thewriter is a senior fellow at JohnsHopkins University’s School ofAdvanced International Studiesand a CNN analyst. He wasdeputy director of Central Intelli-gence from 2000 to 2004.

The New Intelligence Challenge

By Jay Solomon and Robert BlockThe Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON – The nominationof a retired Navy admiral as the na-tion's chief spymaster stirred con-cerns about the expanding controlof current and retired Pentagon offi-cials over the U.S. intelligence com-munity.

President Bush is expected to an-nounce today the nomination of J.Michael McConnell as the next Di-rector of National Intelligence, suc-ceeding John Negroponte, who ismoving to the number-2 spot at theState Department. The White Housewill also nominate ZalmayKhalilzad, the U.S. ambassador toIraq, as the next ambassador to theUnited Nations, buttressing Presi-dent Bush's foreign-policy teamahead of an expected change in IraqWar strategy. The nominees willhave to be confirmed by the Senate.

Vice Admiral McConnell's nomi-nation will place current and retiredmilitary officials in charge of allWashington's principal spy branch-es, including the Central Intelli-

gence Agency, the National SecurityAgency and the Defense Intelli-gence Agency. The Pentagon con-trols 80 percent of the Government'sestimated $42 billion intelligencebudget. Additionally, U.S. overseasoperations against al Qaeda andother international terrorist groupshave resulted in the creation of theDefense Department's own intelli-gence czar and the deployment ofmilitary-intelligence assets in anumber of global theaters.

According to members of the in-telligence community, Vice AdmiralMcConnell's greatest challenge asDNI will be to try to claim control ofthese Pentagon intelligence assetswhile striking a balance betweenthe development of tactical andstrategic intelligence.

Legislators and retired spies wor-ry his career as a military-intelli-gence official could hold himhostage to the Pentagon's cultureand mission. Among the lessonsfrom the Iraq war, these officials say,was that the Bush Administrationunder-appreciated the strategic im-pact of removing Saddam Husseinand how countries like Iran and Syr-

ia might benefit."With so many military guys in-

volved, you run the risk of the intel-ligence agencies giving the con-sumers what they want to hear,"said Larry Johnson, who served as asenior counter-terrorism official atboth the State Department and theCIA. "The result could be a focus onsupporting wars, rather thanlonger-term analysis."

Vice Admiral McConnell, 63years old, serves as a senior vicepresident at Booz Allen HamiltonInc., focusing on the consultingfirm's Pentagon accounts. He servedas the NSA's director from 1992 to1996 and worked as the chief intel-ligence adviser to then-Chairman ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powellduring the first Gulf War. Whilepicked to head the country's maineavesdropping agency by PresidentBush, he was well liked within theClinton Administration, and isn'tseen as a partisan player, say thosewho worked with him.

Mr. Negroponte's nearly two-year tenure as the first DNI wasmarked by a workman-like ap-proach toward integrating the U.S.'s

16 intelligence agencies under onecommand, say officials who workedwith him. A chief task was to im-prove information sharing amongthese disparate agencies, particular-ly the CIA and Federal Bureau of In-vestigation. His office also pushedto develop more-nuanced and bet-ter-integrated intelligence assess-ments.

The success of the September 11,2001 attacks is widely attributed tothe U.S. Government's failure toconnect the dots among variouspieces of intelligence. An indepen-dent commission studying the IraqWar also criticized American spyagencies for tailoring intelligenceassessments to underpin already-developed policy objectives.

In trying to streamline the intelli-gence-development process, Mr.Negroponte created a "MagnificentSeven" grouping of agencies whichnow form the heart of America's spywork. Members said they have de-tected better coordination amongagencies as a result.

The Wall Street Journal pub-lished the above on January 5.

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The National Herald welcomesletters from its readers intendedfor publication. They should in-clude the writer’s name, address,and telephone number and beaddressed to: The Editor, The Na-tional Herald, 37-10 30th Street,LIC, NY 11101. Letters can alsobe faxed to (718) 472-0510 or e-mailed to english.edition@then-ationalherald.com.

Pentagon Link to Spy Chief Pick Arouses Concern

By Tim ReidThe Times

WASHINGTON – President Bushbegan an overhaul of his top mili-tary and diplomatic teams as he pre-pared to announce a highly contro-versial increase of 20,000 U.S.troops in Iraq. He is to replace histwo senior generals in Iraq, bothsaid to be skeptical about increasingtroop numbers, and he has alsoreshuffled his national security andforeign policy teams.

The moves are part of a broadmission to surround himself, both inWashington and on the ground inIraq, with officials who support in-creasing troop numbers, a movelargely opposed on Capitol Hill andamong the American public.

Mr. Bush is also beefing up hisWhite House legal team in anticipa-tion of a blizzard of Iraq-related sub-poenas expected to be issued by thenew Democrat-controlled Congress.On January4, he accepted the resig-nation of Harriet Miers, his WhiteHouse counsel, after aides ex-

pressed doubts about her ability topush back against what Democratshave promised will be vigorousoversight of the War's management.

Mr. Bush has also hired an extrafour assistant White House counselin recent weeks. Ms. Miers' positionis expected to be filled by a heavy-weight capable of resisting thelooming Democrat onslaught.

Mr. Bush prepares is set to con-firm that General David Petraeus,who took part in the initial invasion,will replace General George Caseyas the top ground commander.

Mr. Bush also intends to endorseAdmiral William Fallon to head U.S.Central Command, replacing Gener-al John Abizaid as the top militarycommander for the Middle East.

The choice of Admiral Fallon sur-prised some in the Pentagon, as itwould place a naval official with lit-tle experience with the Middle Eastin charge of two ground wars in Iraqand Afghanistan. But it also signaleda growing focus on the threat fromIran. Any mission against Tehranwould rely heavily on carrier-based

aircraft and missiles from the Per-sian Gulf.

DEEPLY SKEPTICALGenerals Casey and Abizaid were

deeply skeptical about increasingtroop numbers in Iraq. General Pe-traeus supports a bigger U.S. pres-ence.

On the diplomatic side, Mr. Bushis to name Ryan Crocker, a veterandiplomat who began his career inIraq in the 1970's, as the new U.S.ambassador in Baghdad. He will re-place Zalmay Khalilzad, who movesfrom Baghdad to become the newU.S. ambassador to the U.N., replac-ing John Bolton.

On January 5, Mr. Bush present-ed a new intelligence chief, retiredVice Admiral Mike McConnell. Hewill take over as Director of NationalIntelligence from John Negroponte,a former Iraqi ambassador, who ismoving to the State Department asdeputy to Condoleezza Rice. Admi-ral McConnell was a senior militaryintelligence official during the firstGulf War and ran the National Secu-rity Agency under Bill Clinton.

The U.S. Army is stretched sothin that Mr. Bush will rely heavilyon extending tours in Iraq and re-mobilizing reserves to make up hisforce "surge."

He is also expected to send twoadditional army brigades, or rough-ly 7,000 soldiers, to Baghdad, andtwo Marine battalions, about 1,500troops, to the western AnbarProvince, the heart of the Sunni in-surgency.

The move comes amid continu-ing divisions between White Houseand Pentagon joint military chiefsabout escalating troop numbers.The focus of the new mission will beto quell sectarian violence in Bagh-dad. But there are misgivings in theAdministration about whether IraqiPrime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is ca-pable of clamping down on the Shiamilitia, his political base. The undig-nified execution of Saddam Husseinhas only reinforced the perceptionthat Shia thugs control the country.

The Times of London publishedthe above on January 6.

President Bush Surrounds Himself with War Supporters

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VIEWPOINTSTHE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007 11

The hanging of Saddam Husseinis part of a long cycle of how victorshave dealt with the defeated. In thecase of Saddam, it is easy to acceptthat this bloody dictator had to facejustice for wholesale and individualcrimes against his own people. It isequally easy to understand whyShiite and Sunni Iraqis are gladthat he received a little of the fear,pain, torture and death he inflictedon hundreds of thousands of theircompatriots.

What motivated the Bush Ad-ministration to link the UnitedStates with the execution of Hus-sein is not comprehensible, howev-er. The White House could havesidestepped accusations of judicialmurder by many in the Muslimworld by using its formidable influ-ence over the Iraqi regime to staythe execution until all U.S. forceshad left Iraq.

Although the two World Wars ofthe 20th Century have establishedthe precedent for judicial executionof heads of state and their under-lings, the Americans have been atthe forefront of addressing warcrimes. At the end of the Americancivil war, for the first time in mod-ern history, the United States triedand hanged Captain Henry “Hank”Wirtz, the commandant of the Con-federate prisoner of war camp atAndersonville, for war crimes in1865. Wirtz was the only individualexecuted for war crimes in the U.S.Civil War, but the event left a longlegacy.

On the other hand, in the an-cient world, the victors simply exe-cute the vanquished on sight, ormake a spectacle of killing the lead-ers of defeated foes. The Romansgranted triumphs to pro-consuls – avictory parade in which the suc-cessful Roman general rode on achariot drawn by white horses pre-ceded by the prisoners of his cam-paign, including the vanquishedkings or chieftains. Later, in the Fo-rum, the leaders of the defeatedarmy faced a public execution – of-ten a simple strangulation, but oc-casionally a more gruesome end.The Romans could afford both thevictory parade and the subsequententertainment in the Forum be-cause they did not fear any conse-quences for their acts since theyhad already conquered most of theWestern world.

The Ancient Greeks were morethoughtful, at least in literature,about the fate of defeated rulers.The Trojan Women tragedy of Eu-ripides demonstrated the crueltyand futility of killing for vengeance.There was also the story of Croesus,King of Lydia, who had boasted toSolon of his successes, but theAthenian had merely commented

that happiness andsuccess can be trulymeasured only at theend. A few years later,Cyrus the Great de-feated the Lydian kingand had Croesus con-demned to be burnedat the stake. As theflames edged closer,Cyrus heard Croesuscalling out Solon’sname and demandedto know what thismeant. Upon hearingthe story, Cyruschanged his mind andspared Croesus.

Despite the morals of these sto-ries, it did not prevent executions ofcity-state leaders or citizens in theclassical period. Socrates is a casein point. The Athenians condemnedthe philosopher to drink hemlockand thus, by doing so, guaranteedhis immortality. But it was Alexan-der the Great who best appreciatedthe fallout of putting defeatedheads of state to death. During thecourse of his conquests in the East,he avoided killing kings and gener-

als he had humbled in battle, andsucceeded in preventing the cre-ation of martyrs. He failed to saveDarius, who was murdered by hisown officers, but his magnanimoustreatment of the Persian emperor’sfamily endeared the Greek king tothe Persians, and helped facilitatethe cultural fusion between Classi-cal Greece and the East. Perhapsthat is why Alexander, son of Philip,acquired the title of the “Great,”and why his legacy still echoes inthe Middle East and India.

At end of the First World War,the victorious allies debated the op-tion of executing Kaiser William IIfor war crimes, but after sober re-consideration, they decided thatthis would leave a bitter legacyamong the German people. Thus,the ex Kaiser spent the rest of hislife in well-earned obscurity as aguest of the Dutch. Meanwhile, theBolsheviks executed his cousin,Nicholas II, and his family; later,both the former Tsar and his wifewere canonized by the Russian Or-thodox Church.

After the Second World War con-cluded, the Allies decided that themilitary and political leadership ofImperial Japan and Nazi Germany,as well as their underlings, had toface trial for war crimes and crimesagainst humanity. But Winston

Churchill suggestedthat it would have beenpreferable to let thesoldiers shoot thesecriminals on sight. Oth-erwise, he argued, anytrial, regardless of howfair, would be per-ceived as victor’s jus-tice.

The Nuremberg Tri-als (1945-49) offeredan international spec-tacle of fast-food jus-tice, but fell short onuniversality. Althoughthousands of Nazis andJapanese imperialists

were tried and condemned, massexemptions were made by the Al-lies for German scientists, regard-less of their culpability to warcrimes. Certainly no Soviets or anyother members of the victorious Al-lied forces faced trial for anywrongdoing to military or civilianvictims.

Yet despite the imperfectionsand contradictions, the Nurembergtrials did set a precedent for ac-countability of state leaders and

their lieutenants. Ultimately, thefailure of Nuremberg was that theprecedent of international justicefell in abeyance after 1949. Thenearest equivalent is the Interna-tional Criminal Court at TheHague, established in 2002 andrecognized by 104 countries, butnot by the United States.

It speaks volumes that Americangovernments are reluctant to jointhe Court because they fear that theworld might bring U.S. troops ormembers of the Administration tojustice. This concern did not pre-vent the U.S. from handing overSlobodan Milosevic, as well asdozens of other Serbs, to the Inter-national Court, all the while know-ing that, in a guilty verdict, thedeath sentence would be applied.

Milosevic died in prison, and hasslowly evolved into a Serb martyr.Remarkably, people in Serbia arequickly forgetting the excesses ofthe Milosevic regime, helped inpart by the economic chaos whichis strangling their country and thefailure of the U.S. and EuropeanUnion to make good on theirpromises to rebuild a shattered Ser-bia. Perhaps if Milosevic had livedlong enough to die in obscurity, theSerbs could have avoided the mar-tyrdom syndrome.

In the case of Saddam Hussein,

the Bush Administration decided,despite all protestations of inno-cence, that the former Iraqi dictatorhad to die. Considering his crimes,and the reconciliation which oughtto take place, a trial in Iraq was nec-essary, but not until that countrywas stable could Saddam have trulyundergone a fair trial. Even themost generous supporters of theU.S. presence in Iraq are stymied bythe stupidity of hanging Saddam,following what, at best, can only bedescribed as a trial only one stepabove a kangaroo court. To makematters worse, Hussein was execut-ed under terrible circumstances,jeered by Shiite Iraqis (he is a SunniMuslim) who are just adding fuel tothe sectarian violence which has ef-fectively degenerated into a civilwar.

There is no doubt in the Muslimworld that the Americans executedSaddam under humiliating circum-stances, and that the Iraqi dictatoris, even now, actually transforminginto an Islamic martyr for both Sun-nis and Shiites. Only the policy-de-prived world of the Bush Adminis-tration could have successfully

spurred a Sunni-Shiite civil war inIraq and yet, with the execution ofHussein, present to these two rivalMuslim sects a common hero. His-tory has taught that obscurity – notnotoriety – is the best formula fordiminishing the virulent legacy ofdictators.

The Modern Greeks knew thatlesson and avoided the temptationof executing the authors of theGreek junta after their ignominiousdemise in 1974. Instead, the mem-bers of the junta faced years of im-prisonment so that, when theyserved their time and came out ofjail, (those who survived) their di-minished legacy shrunk to insignifi-cance.

This, too, could have been Sad-dam’s fate – years in prison followedby the publication of his memoirsand a lucrative contract for themovie rights – but then, how manyin Washington could have survivedthe spotlight? Perhaps, Hussein didnot face the gallows for his sins butrather because of his memory.

Dr. Gerolymatos is Chair of Hel-lenic Studies at Simon FraserUniversity in Vancouver, BritishColumbia and the author of “RedAcropolis, Black Terror: TheGreek Civil War and the Originsof Soviet-American Rivalry.”

Last week, the Na-tional Herald pub-lished an article byNicos Rolandis, the for-mer foreign minister ofthe Republic of Cyprus.With uncommonlybrutal candor, he listedthe errors committedand the problems nowfacing the Greek Cypri-ot community:

“Partition was com-pletely unacceptable inthe past,” he wrote.“Nowadays, as a resultof the recent handlingof our problem, parti-tion is supported by a large sectorof the population (probably themajority).”

If partition is what the majorityof Greek Cypriots want, they maywell get their wish.

Lately, they have seen somealarming signs that the policies oftheir government may indeed leadto the irrevocable partition of theisland. For months, the Papadopou-los government expended a greatdeal of political capital asking theEuropean Union to pressure Turkeyto extend the Customs Union Pro-tocol to the Republic of Cyprus andopen its ports to Greek Cypriotships and planes (as Turkey waslegally obligated to do).

The opening of Turkish harborsand airports was not a major eco-nomic necessity for Cyprus. It was aPapadopoulos effort to forceTurkey to recognize his govern-ment as the government of allCyprus, thereby abandoning theTurkish Cypriot entity in the north.Turkey refused. A few weeks later,the E.U. responded by taking verylimited, almost cosmetic, measuresto “punish” Turkey for not extend-ing the Customs Union to the Re-public of Cyprus. The Papadopou-los ploy failed.

This should not have come as asurprise to President Papadopou-los.

In the National Herald’s July 22,2006 edition, I wrote the following:“(Papadopoulos) evidently believesthat Turkey will be forced to recog-nize the Republic of Cyprus, there-by de-recognizing the TurkishCypriot entity in the north. Turkeyis not likely to do so, and the E.U.will likely find some way to getaround (the extension of the Proto-col).”

And that is exactly what hashappened.

An even more telling sign wasgiven earlier. After April 2004,when the Republic of Cyprus wasaccepted as a full member of theEuropean Union, one was entitledto expect that the leaders of theE.U. would raise the issue of Turk-ish military occupation in northernCyprus. After all, the E.U. had ac-cepted the Republic of Cyprus as awhole. Therefore, Turkish militaryforces in the north were actuallyoccupying territory of a EuropeanUnion state.

Turkey, a country which was as-piring to become a member of theE.U., was holding E.U. territory un-der military occupation! Demand-ing the removal of the occupationarmy from the Cypriot/Europeansoil should have been the first andforemost condition for continuingE.U. accession talks with Turkey.Yet such a demand was never ut-tered. This should have told theGreek Cypriots a lot about Euro-pean thinking.

There is more. In his article, Mr.Rolandis identifies specific stepstaken by the European Union, theUnited States and others, showingincreasing political acceptance ofthe Turkish Cypriot entity in thenorth. He points out that it wasTurkish Cypriot leader Ali MehmetTallat who was invited to meet withCondoleezza Rice, not PresidentPapadopoulos, who is kept at a dis-tance. Elected members of theTurkish Cypriot “parliament” in thedivided island republic’s occupiednorth have been accepted as ob-servers in the Parliamentary As-sembly of the European Union. Lastsummer, the French newspaper LeMonde hinted in an article that oneway to solve the Cypriot problem isto admit the Turkish Cypriot “state”to the European Union as a fullmember, separate from the Repub-lic of Cyprus.

So, what are the options for theRepublic of Cyprus?

POLITICAL, NOT LEGALIt has long been evident that the

problem is political, not legal. Formore than 30 years, my friendGene Rossides, president andfounder of the American HellenicInstitute (and a fellow contributingcolumnist of this newspaper), hasbeen advancing his legal argu-ments with fervor, but unfortunate-ly with less than optimal effective-ness. Far from me to doubt his pa-triotism and passion for Cyprus,but his staunch advocacy has fallenon deaf ears in Washington andelsewhere.

It is time to change course, to re-view, without sentimentality, theactual options of the Greek Cypri-ots.

The one option which has beena staple of Greek Cypriot rhetoricsince 1977 is the so-called “bi-zon-al, bi-communal federation.” IfPresident Papadopoulos was hon-estly aiming at such a federation,he would have already taken the

opening step: invitingMr. Talat, the newleader of the TurkishCypriot community, tocome to the negotiat-ing table and begintalks for a federation.In those negotiations,both communities,Greek and TurkishCypriots, would par-ticipate as legallyequal.

“Legal equality” isnot a concession to theTurk Cypriots. It is thefundamental processin forming a federa-

tion. Ever since the original 13American colonies sent their dele-gates to Philadelphia to form thefederation of the United States ofAmerica, the basic rules of theprocess have been set. The partieswent to Philadelphia as legallyequal – whether they representedthe State of New York or the Stateof Rhode Island. This legally equalparticipation is the basic first step.

Mr. Papadopoulos has not takensuch a step. He has issued onlymeaningless, cosmetic gestures.Perhaps he doesn’t care about afederal solution, and Mr. Rolandisis right when he writes that the ma-jority of Greek Cypriots do not fa-vor such a federation and preferpartition.

But if federation is not what theGreek Cypriots want, what otheroptions do they have?

PARTITION FOR A PRICEAs a second option, partition is

already here, but in its presentform, is it or should it be an option,at all? It simply means perpetua-tion of the status quo.

If the Greek Cypriot side wantspartition, it should at least getsomething in return. Instead ofplaying games at the United Na-tions and the European Union, thePapadopoulos government shouldoffer to recognize the TurkishCypriot entity and support its ad-mission to the European Union –but for a price: In exchange forrecognition, the Turkish Cypriotsshould accept territorial adjust-ments at least as favorable to theGreek Cypriots as those provided inthe Annan Plan. It should providefor the withdrawal of the Turkishoccupation forces; for the compen-sation of properties; for control ofsettler influx; and for other mattersof interest to Greek Cypriots. Rightnow, however, we have a de factopartition given for free.

I suggest a de jure partition for aprice. Such a partition would haveother benefits, as well. Once thenorth becomes a member of theE.U., European rules and processeswill apply to both states as E.U.members, and many big and smallproblems will be solved or handledas they are today among E.U. mem-bers. Moreover, recognition andE.U. membership will be an offerthe Turkish side will find difficult torefuse.

A third option is unification ofthe island following more or lessthe arrangements of the originalRepublic of Cyprus of 1960, whenthe government had a Greek Cypri-ot President (Makarios); a TurkishCypriot Vice President (Kutchuk);legislative chambers composedproportionately of Greek Cypriotsand Turkish Cypriots; and a bu-reaucracy of 70 percent GreekCypriot and 30 percent TurkishCypriot. After all that has tran-spired since that time, however,this is a non-starter.

A fourth option is for today’s Re-public of Cyprus, which is underGreek Cypriot control, to extendthat control throughout the island.For the Greek Cypriots, this mightbe the most desirable, ideal form ofunification – but it is also the leastpossible. It can only be accom-plished after a successful GreekCypriot military conquest of thepart of the island the Turks todaycontrol. I doubt if there is a saneGreek Cypriot who would say that,with Turkey next door, this is a real-istic option.

A fifth option is for the UnitedStates, the European Union and theUnited Nations to “apply the law”and exert heavy pressure to forceTurkey to withdraw its occupationforces and, at the same time, forcethe Turkish Cypriot entity in thenorth to dissolve itself and becomepart and parcel of the Republic ofCyprus. Only dreamers would con-sider this as a possibility.

A sixth option is for the Euro-pean Union to invite the TurkishCypriot entity in the north to applyfor membership. This would be avariation of the second option men-tioned above – except that, if it hap-pens, it is likely to be done withoutany transfers of territory or of anyother benefits to the Greek Cypriotside.

If this were to happen, and itcertainly seems possible that itcould, then it is better for the GreekCypriots to take the initiative anddo it under the second option, ex-tracting as many benefits as possi-ble.

Dr. Kousoulas is Professor Emeri-tus of Political Science at HowardUniversity in Washington, DC. Heis the author of several books,notably “The Life and Times ofConstantine the Great (1999),”and numerous scholarly articles.

A Simple Execution with Consequences: Sending SaddamTo Gallows has Succeeded in Making a Martyr Out of him

GUEST EDITORIALS

The National Herald welcomesmanuscripts representing a vari-ety of views for publication in itsView Points page. They should in-clude the writer’s name, address,and telephone number and be ad-dressed to the View Points Editor,The National Herald, 37-10 30thStreet, Long Island City, NY11101. They can also be faxed to(718) 472-0510 or, preferably, e-mailed to english.edition@then-ationalherald.com. Due to consid-erations of space we enforce astrict 1,400-word upper limit. Wereserve the right to edit for repet-itiveness, diction and syntax. Weregret that we are unable to ac-knowledge or return manuscripts,published or unpublished.

by DR. ANDRE

GEROLYMATOS

Special to The National Herald

With Partition Looming,What are Cyprus Options?

by DR. D.G.

KOUSOULAS

Special to The National Herald

BOOK REVIEW

By Peggy Nichols WalshHouston Chronicle

“The Classical World: An EpicHistory From Homer to Hadrian,” byRobin Lane Fox (Basic Books, 656pages, $35).

So who cares about the classicalworld? You should, if you use high-ways, plumbing or the secret ballot.They all originated in ancientGreece and Rome.

British historian Robin Lane Fox,Reader of Ancient History at Ox-ford University, devotes his keenscholar’s eye to making ancient his-tory comprehensible to modernreaders. His masterful blend ofscholarship and stylish prose pro-duced “Pagans and Christians” and“Alexander the Great: A Biogra-phy,” the latter the basis of OliverStone’s 2004 film.

In his new history Fox studiesthe two splendid civilizations of theclassical world, Greece and Rome.He looks for turning points and theresponses they elicited. These re-sponses created the institutionswhich formed the Western world.Against the hard blue Mediter-ranean sky fans a panorama of sol-diers, poets, tyrants – passionate

individuals who hardly resemblethe austere figures on Wedgwoodvases. Fox tells their stories with abrio which conveys the joy of schol-arship.

Fox’s point of departure is animaginary encounter with the Ro-man Emperor Hadrian, whosereign (117-38 AD) marked the endof the classical period in literature.Edward Gibbon considered thiscentury the happiest time in humanhistory. The author sets out to ex-plain to the emperor what has hap-pened in politics, arts, religion andtechnology since Homer wrote“The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.”

Homer’s heroes, who drive char-iots into battle and consort withgods in human form, introduce theclassical world and its values ofhonor, tradition and nostalgia. Foxanalyzes this world in terms ofthree concepts used by ancient his-torians: freedom, justice and luxu-ry. These values appear, reappearand intersect in intriguing permu-tations.

The author lavishes his longestnarratives on the two most signifi-cant periods of the ancient world,Greece in the Fifth and Fourth Cen-tury BC, and Rome in the First Cen-tury BC. He sees a similar dynamic

in both societies: tyranny, kingship,oligarchy and democracy.

Greek prominence began withits victories over invading Persianarmies. After the Battle ofMarathon, Athens surged with con-fidence; momentum drew com-pound interest. Athenian powerand prosperity created the definingmoments of classical art. Atheniansbegan to read pronouncements, aswell as to hear them.

Something new in human histo-ry gained currency in PericleanAthens: rationalism. Pericles, gen-eral and orator, epitomized thisnew intellectual clarity by ceasingto believe in the “random anger” ofthe gods as an explanation of mis-fortune. “This clearer understand-ing of responsibility is a hallmark ofthe change from an archaic to aclassical age… the Periclean agewas not an age of general Greek en-lightenment… the important thingfor us is that a few people had it, atall.”

The long, melancholy Pelopon-nesian War looms as a case study indepravity, Thucydides its ancientmariner. The war’s harsh lessons ofbetrayal and brutality convince Foxthat this conflict between Athensand Sparta is the most instructive

war in history.The Roman Republic struggled

for life in a crisis involving person-alities out of central casting, fromarchconservative Cato to Crassus,the moneyman, to hungry lawyerCicero. Julius Caesar dominatedRome. After his murder, the Repub-lic imploded. Twelve years of civilwar ended at Actium with Octa-vian’s victory over Marc Antony.Octavian, Caesar’s grandnephew,reigned 45 years as the EmperorAugustus.

Fox, who has a charming senseof humor, speculates on whatmight have been had the flamboy-ant Marc Antony triumphed at Ac-tium:

“Unlike Octavian, Antony hadno need to compensate for medioc-rity by conquests in Europe. Thou-sands of lives might have beenspared… Horace would have beenspared the need to write morallycorrect public poetry… The winnerwould have been Ovid.”

A lucid, comprehensive narra-tive of an awesome world.

The Houston Chronicle pub-lished the above on January 7.Ms. Nash belongs to the NationalBook Critics Circle.

Soldiers, Poets, Tyrants Clash in R.L. Fox’s New Epic

Members of the UTT, the Tunisian Workers Union, put up a poster of former Iraqi President Saddam Hus-sein on a wall of UTT headquarters in Tunis last Friday, January 5, as part of a rally to condemn his execu-tion. The writing on the poster reads: “Whoever honors the martyr must follow him.”

AP/HASSENE DRIDI

12 THE NATIONAL HERALD, JANUARY 13, 2007