UP FRONT

Former Detroiter Sees World
By Protecting His Uncle Sam

STEVEN M. HARTZ

Jewish News Intern

W

hen Ronald Mazer
was a teenager in
the 1960s, his eyes
were glued to the television
set watching Efrem Zimbalist
Jr. star in "The FBI."
Today, the 38-year-old
former Detroiter, who has two
teenagers of his own, no
longer has time for television.
Mazer is a special agent for
the U.S. Department of State,
and his eyes are now glued to
U.S. Secretary of State James
Baker.
Mazer, whose only travel
opportunities as a child were
occasional visits to Ohio, now

tours the world.
"Immediately following Mr.
Baker's confirmation as
Secretary of State in the
beginning of the year, we took

I saw a
gentleman stand
up and run down
the aisle with an
automatic weapon
pointed at the
prime minister:

.

a trip encompassing 16 NATO
countries," Mazer said.
"Basically, it was a country a
day. There hasn't been a dull
moment since."

Ann Arbor Executive
Quits UJA/JCA Post

SUSAN LUDMER-GLIEBE

Special to The Jewish News

E

arl Jordan, Ann Ar-
bor's United Jewish
Appeal/Jewish Com-
munity Association executive
director, has offered his
resignation effective Sept. 15.
Jordan, 55, has held the posi-
tion for one year. Prior to his
Ann Arbor job, Jordan had
served as a rabbi in
Baltimore. For over six years
Jordan had held a variety of
positions at the national
United Jewish Appeal. This
week Jordan left for Israel to
visit his son Phillip, who is a
tour guide.
Jordan's resignation came
shortly after the UJA/JCA ex-
ecutive board's annual perfor-
mance review. But Irving
Smokler, the new UJA/JCA
president, explained that the
two events were not related.
"We did not ask him to
resign," said Smokler.
Jordan's resignation will
leave the UJA/JCA with only
a half-time staff person. "We
are anxious to start a search.
It would be nice if out of
nowhere a candidate ap-
peared," Smokler said. "We're
looking for the strongest kind
of person who's looking to
work in a small community."
If the UJA/JCA cannot find a
person relatively soon the
organization might hire an
interim director. Jordan's
salary was $45,000.
Jordan's resignation did not
come as a complete surprise.
Several persons involved with
UJA affairs felt that Jordan
and the Ann Arbor communi-

ty did not get along well.
"There was a lack of com-
patibility," explained one
board member.
Jordan agreed that there
were differences. "My style is
not Ann Arbor's," he said.
Jordan was hired in large
part because of his national
UJA experience. Members of
the UJA/JCA hoped that he
would help stimulate the
local campaign.
As of June 20, the UJA/JCA
had raised $307,000 from 440
donors. The community ex-
pects to surpass its 1988 total
of $384,727 from 776 donors.
The 1987 figure was $428,057
from 841 donors.

"Without an effective cam-
paign you can't do anything,"
said David Schteingart, past
UJA president who guided
the UJA/JCA in its formative
stages for the past few years.
During his year, Jordan
helped implement a number
of new campaign programs
and restructure some old
ones. UJA officers say that
the 1989 campaign will be
more successful than last
year's in total dollar contribu-
tions and new donors.
Some UJA/JCA members
believe too much of Jordan's
time was being spent in
campaign-related activities
and not spent on community
development.
"Even though Earl has
resigned we believe that he
has brought us forward as our
first executive director," said
Smokler. "We are hoping that
our next director will con-
tinue this process."

❑

Last week, Mazer was in
town visiting his parents, Ed-
ward and Shirley Mazer of
West Bloomfield, and attend-
ing the Oak Park High School
20-Year Class Reunion.
This week, he traveled to
Tokyo, Singapore, and Brunei,
where the Secretary of State
spent three days. "I made
sure that everything was in
place for his arrival," Mazer
said.
When Mazer was in high
school, he had a goal. He
wanted to become an FBI
agent.
"I had talked to a couple of
FBI agents in Detroit while I
attended Wayne State
University. They told me
about the type of positions I
could hold prior to becoming
an agent and finishing my
college curriculum."
to
moved
Mazer
Washington, D.C., in July
1971 with his wife, Pam to
pursue his dream.
"We both worked for the
FBI for a while," Mazer said.
"I moved into what was call-
ed the fingerprint division
and stayed there for approx-
imately three years, working
as a fingerprint examiner."
In 1974, when Mazer com-
pleted his degree at George
Mason University in Fairfax,

Ronald Mazer, special agent for the U.S. Department of State.

Va., then-President Nixon
placed a hiring freeze on
government agencies.
"It looked like it was going
to be an open-ended affair,"
Mazer said. "I was getting
bored with fingerprint work,
so I decided in the interim to
find another job that offered
excitement."
He joined the Federal Avia-
tion Administration as a
police officer at Washington
National Airport. After a
year, he became a special
agent for the U.S. Depart-
ment of State.
After completing the
Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center program in

Glynco, Ga., and at a center
in Washington, D.C., Mazer
received his first assignment
— New York City.
Mazer's first night on the
job only foreshadowed the ex-
citement to come. He was
assigned to protect Prime
Minister Ecevit of Turkey.
"The Prime Minister was
giving a speech at the
Waldorf Astoria in front of a
large group of Turkish
followers," Mazer said. "As I
was standing in the back cor-
ner of the Grand Ballroom, I
saw a gentleman stand up
and run down the aisle with
an automatic weapon pointed
Continued on Page 14

ROUND UP

Ford Motor
Is Cleared

The Ford Motor Company
has been added to the
American Jewish Congress
list of companies with
facilities in Israel, according
to the AJCongress publica-
tion
Boycott Report.
Ford originally was kept off
the list after it stopped
assembling Escorts in Israel.
The AJCongress has since
learned that the move was
"based soley on commercial
considerations." Ford officials
said it was cheaper to import
the cars to Israel than to
assemble them there.
Ford also assembles its
"Travel Van" in Israel.

Israel Tourism
On The Upswing

While Israel's tourism in-
dustry is still reeling from
adverse publicity generated
by the 18-month-old intifada,
there are signs of a modest
turnaround.

According to Amnon Linn-
Lipzin, Midwest Director for
the Israel Government
Thurist Office, April and May
tourism from the U.S. snap-
ped a downward spiral. A
total of 43,700 American
tourists visited Israel, he
said, compared to 36,400 over
the same period in 1988 for a
20 percent increase.
Linn-Lipzin said that while
the new numbers are en-
couraging, and more Jews
from the U.S. are coming to
Israel, "we are still in an
emergency situation."

ADL Policy
On Soviet Jews

New York — The Anti-
Defamation League has
become the first American
Jewish agency to adopt policy
urging that the American
Jewish community's "priori-
ty and resources" for the
emigration of Soviet Jews be
directed toward their resettle-
ment in Israel.

Court Stops
A.D. Listing

The Oakland County Pro-
bate Court will no longer be
using the term A.D., anno
domini, which means "year of
lord (Jesus)," on its legal
documents.

The court agreed to drop
the use of A.D. after Oak Park
resident Phillip Applebaum
wrote to complain.

Applebaum said he saw a
copy of a court document with
A.D. stamped at the bottom.
"Anno domini clearly is a
religious term," he said. "And
its use on government
documents is a violation of
the separation of church and
state."

Applebaum wrote about the
issue to several Michigan
officials, including Dennis
Aaron, Oakland county corn-
missioner. Aaron contacted
Oakland County Probate
Court Judge Sandra Silver,
who ruled that the court
would no longer use A.D.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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