EDITORIAL Bringing The Mountain You won't find poison ivy, mosquitoes or crickets. You won't see brilliant sunsets, starry nights or glowing campfires, either. A camp in the city — packed into an abandoned supermarket along clogged Telegraph Road no less — is Tamarack Camps' attempt to bring the balmy summers of Ortonville and Brighton to the winter doldrums of Southfield. The Adventure Center, as it is called, opened this week in the former Chatham Market next to the Tel-Twelve Mall. It is important for Tamarack Camps and, with the right programming, for teenagers in the Jewish community. For Tamarack, it serves as a recruitment center for prospective campers at a time when there is a general slippage in enrollments nationwide among Jewish overnight camps. If you can't bring the prospect to the camp, then bring the camp to the prospect . . . For teenagers, the right combination of activities and a "teenager-oriented" environment could provide a healthy alternative to "hanging out" at malls and shopping centers after school or on weekends. We applaud the creativity which went into developing the Adventure Center. While we recognize the program will only run through May, it is our hope the community embraces it and the dilemma of finding a permanent, year 'round location is created by heavy interest and participation. Hillel's Glow possible on campus. Brooks' rationale is that Jews are not only interested in the Jewish world but the broader community around them. The Hillel staff has been successful because it has allowed the students to do the programming, and that programming has attracted a wide audience. The Hillel board and the Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, which provides a good portion of the funds, should be congratulated for allowing Brooks to do his thing. The greater question which emerges is how to duplicate the U-M Hillel model on other college campuses. Is U-M Hillel unique because of the size of its Jewish student population and its proximity to Detroit? We think not. Hillel foundations at other universities must examine their programs and their emphasis, broaden their student input and their outlook to bring in more of the Jewish students. Creating a diverse Jewish community on campus, a place for Jews to meet Jews, will only happen when Hillels follow the U-M Hillel example and try to meet more of the diverse needs of that community. They must not allow other organizations, whether on or off campus, to fulfill these needs. As Michael Brooks is so fond of saying, "Hillel just might be the last Jewish gas station before the freeway of life" for many of our Jewish youth. KGB-Am RADIO 8 WRiatiP ArrarioN1 CLARAZ VOWS • tor/E Gar RE41.,OFriCiAlaxiT V184.5 TO GIVE AisalAY„ COR 6iNE3 411 OPEN nit 30 SECONDS! FiNDipa A „, iCIOD 1111r The University of Michigan and the Detroit Jewish community is justifiably proud of the accomplishments of U-M's B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation. As our Close Up report points out this week (Page 24), U-M Hillel is unique in terms of the scope of its programming and the involvement of students. We should not be hasty to play the numbers game, the bottom line for so many Jewish communal organizations endeavors. Numbers are important, and U-M Hillel's numbers present an enviable report for other organizations to follow. More importantly, however, is programming content and critics are quick to question Hillel's results in terms of the "Jewishness" of its programs. U-M Hillel director Michael Brooks has a wider view: the "Jewish" programs at 1429 Hill Street are top quality; there is nothing but praise for the expansion of the daily and Shabbat minyanim, the variety and content of programs and groups for Soviet Jewry, Zionism, etc. But should the organization expend so much time and effort on general programs, such as its speaker and movie series and Consider magazine? Why not? Hillel is seeking to attract the broadest Jewish audience :111::1111P LETTERS Barcus Tribute Is Appreciated Thank you for the excellent retrospective on Frank Barcus and for the fine review of his recently re-published book, Freshwater Fury. The Purely Commentary article printed in the Feb. 6 Jewish News ex- presses his younger daughter's tribute (Dr. Rachelle Barcus Warren) to her father. I, too, am extremely proud and fortu- nate to be the daughter of this multi-talented man. . . . The photograph accompany- ing the article is also a favorite of mine for I am the daughter happily sitting on my loving dad's lap. It should be noted, too, that my musically talented mother, Esther Barcus, played a big part in my father's career, for she was a guiding light and an inspiration to him, as he, in turn, was an inspiration to all of us. Incidentally, Rachelle's Ann Arbor opera company is called 6 Friday, February 20, 1987 The Papagana Opera Co., a name taken from Mozart's op- era, The Magic Flute, not "Pasadena" as stated in her tribute. Suzanne Barcus Tushman Southfield Oak Park Gives Equal Service Your article by David Holzel (Feb. 13) regarding the hospice approval by the Oak Park Board of Education was fine. My concern is the statement: "Some residents of the neighborhood south of Nine Mile Road contend that they receive inferior municipal services." To the contrary, all areas of Oak Park receive out- standing services from the city. It is surprising with two coun- cil members living in this area that we have never received any complaints at our council meetings or in our depart- ments from anyone in the area. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Oak Park takes pride in de- livering services equally to all residents. Charlotte M. Rothstein Mayor, Oak Park Jewish News Gets Kudos I am very pleased at the ap- pearance of The Jewish News. It looks great, doesn't come apart and is printed very clearly and colorfully. The Jewish News is worth the extra dime . . . _ I'm ordering my first sub- scription because you people are showing you really care about quality. The tote bag is also a fine incentive! Daniel Eastman Warren Welles' Record Is Ambiguous I seek to paint an accurate portrait of Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles during the Holocaust. In contrast to the ("Purely Commentary" Jan. 23) written by Editor Emeritus Philip Slomovitz, Welles' historical record is not without significant blemishes. There exists one instance during the Holocaust when Welles' behavior was clearly favorable: his confirmation to Rabbi Stephen S. Wise that the reports of systematic Jewish extermination, arriving from Swiss Representative of the World Jewish Congress Gerhart Reigner, were authen- tic. However, this meeting oc- curred at the state department on Nov. 24, 1942. In late August, Welles received the Reigner information. Thus, ac- cording to historian David Wyman, "neither Welles nor others in the state department pursued (Reigner's informa- tion as well as other reports) with much energy." Also in 1942, Eleanor Roosevelt asked Welles if Jewish refugees turned away by the British from entering Palestine could be taken into British colonies in East Africa. Welles replied that no facilities for refugees existed there and there were no ships available for transportation. This was simply not true: Wyman shows that many ships returned to port empty throughout the war and that ships were in abun- dant supply. When the same question came up at the Ber- muda Conference a year later, the diplomats there declared that the reason Jewish refu- gees could not go to East Africa was because 21,000 non- Jewish Polish refugees were currently making their way there. In April 1943, western dip- lomats convened in Bermuda, ostensibly to formulate evacu- ation plans for European Jews and other refugees to safe areas in Spain, Switzerland, southern Italy and Palestine. In reality, the conference was Continued on Page 10