DETROIT
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
Metrics
is Proud to Announce
Continued from preceding page
Our 76th Anniversary Dinner
V4*
A.
Guest Speaker
Mario M. Cuomo
Governor of the State of New York
The 76th Annual "Yeshiva Dinner"
Golden Torah Awardee Mr. Norman Allan • November 1 1
The Westin Hotel Rennaisance Center, Detroit, Michigan
Cockails at 6:00 p.m., Dinner at 7:00 p.m. • Couvert $250 per
Couple • For Reservations Please Call 557-6750 • Limited Seating
RESERVE EARLY 557-6750
NIBBLES & NUTS
END OF SEASON
CLOSE OUT
We Create Impressions
That Last
BOSSES' DAY, OCT. 16TH • SWEETEST DAY, OCT. 20th
Gift Baskets & Trays Our Specialty
737-8088
33020 NORTHWESTERN
A
Moste Cord
V
Outside Of Michigan
1.800-752-2133
Kosher & Sugarfree Available
A
Local & Nationwide Delivery
DAVID ROSENMAN'S
AL Au°
mum PIMICHASIERS
NEW & USED CAR BROKER
(313) 851-CARS
(313) 851-2277
16
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1990
SAVE 4 5 %
Don't Miss It . . . The Price
You Have Been Waiting For.
* While Supplies Last *
74 Dail VA•otr at &
S•ediet Soft
Mon.-Sat. 10-5 • Friday 10-8
3947 W. 12 Mile Rd. •Berkley
543,3115
Barry's
Let's Rent It
PARTIES EXCLUSIVELY
• Tents • Tables • Chairs
• China • Paper Goods
4393 ORCHARD LAKE RD., N. OF LONE PINE
IN CROSSWINDS
855-0480
Council, a trade group. "But
by 1992 the European Econ-
omic Community will be
bigger than the United
States." And that means it's
time for Americans to get on
top of this weighty — maybe
about 100 kilograms' worth
(the size of a typical football
player) — issue, he said.
Mr. Braunstein, who said
his interest in metrics spr-
ings from the fact that "I
measure things for a living,"
has devised a system he be-
lieves will make metrics as
easy as 1, 2, 3.
Instead of bogging down
new students with painfully
long lists of how many ounces
equal one gram, Mr. Brauns-
tein applies metrics to easy il-
lustrations: the average
woman is 155 centimeters
tall; a nickel weighs about
five grams; the width of a
fingernail is one centimeter.
"The whole key in think-
ing metric is don't try to
convert," he said. "Try to
visualize."
The metric system was
designed by a French scien-
tist who sought a rational
system of measurement.
Before that, lengths and
widths had been set by less-
than-scientific methods. The
yard was determined by the
approximate reach of the
nose to the thumb, a primi-
tive method for measuring
cloth.
"And a size 9 shoe — what
does that mean?" Mr.
Braunstein said. "It's irra-
tional."
Metrics are much more ac-
curate, he insisted. One
meter equals exactly one 10
millionth of the meridian of
the earth.
It is the precise quality of
metrics that so impresses
Mr. Braunstein, who first
learned the system while
working as an artillery
surveyor with the U.S.
Army. Halachah (Jewish
law) requires that a defined
amount of liquid be used for
kiddush and that an eruv, a
physical boundary that
allows Jews to carry on
Shabbat, be a particular
height. With metrics, Mr.
Braunstein has been able to
translate the Torah's
specific weights and heights
to contemporary mea-
surements, he said.
The Omnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Act does
not mark the first time the
U.S. government has tried to
bring metrics to the Ameri-
can public.
In 1975, the government
considered the Metric Con-
version Act, which ad-
vocated "social metrication"
— slowly introducing
metrics by including them
on familiar landmarks, such
as speed signs.
The speed limit was set at
65 in large part because this
number is so close to 100
kilometers, Mr. Braunstein
said.
But that first giant
kilometric leap for mankind
in 1975 "sort of flopped,"
Mr. Braunstein admitted,
because the American public
refused to budge from the
easy life of familiar cups and
pints.
Still, not everyone finds
metrics mortifying. The auto
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS
industries have been using
the metric system for years,
as have numerous food com-
panies. Soft-drink makers
clearly mark large con-
tainers of soda pop with
"two-liter bottle."
In all, about 60 percent of
America's leading industries
are producing some metric
products.
"This (use of metrics) will
come more and more," Mr.
Braunstein predicted. "By
the turn of the millennium,
young people will no longer
know what an inch is." 111
Schiussel Takes
Votes To Court
STAFF REPORT
D
ebbie Schiussel, a 21-
year-old unsuccessful
candidate for the 24th
West Bloomfield House seat,
is headed for Oakland Coun-
ty Circuit Court on Monday
to challenge some ballots.
Ms. Schlussel lost the
November Republican
primary to Barbara Dobb by
one vote, and she is claiming
that two votes cast for her
were not counted because
the post office did not deliver
two absentee ballots due to
insufficient postage.
Ms. Schiussel declined to
discuss specific claims, but
said there were a number of
different ballots being
challenged. Her case is
scheduled before Oakland
Circuit Judge Ed Sosnick at
8:30 a.m. on Monday.
The winner of the primary
in November faces Democrat
Marcia Fligman, a teacher
at Hillel Day School. ❑