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UP FRONT
Sandy Levin Feeling The Heat
■ - Of State-Wide Reapportionment
KIMBERLY LI FTON
Staff Writer
S
o
-
•
ander Levin doesn't
like to talk about
redistricting — not to
the media, not to his friends
and not to anyone else.
He's got good reason: The
U.S. representative from
Southfield is uneasy with
the many questions coming
his way about his political
destiny. The five-term House
veteran represents the 17th
Congressional District —
one that political watchdogs
say will be deeply affected by
reapportionment. The state
must scrap two of its 18
House seats because Mich-
igan did not grow in popula-
tion as much as other states
in the last decade.
"I'm under pressure, there
is no doubt about that," says
Mr. Levin, a Democrat. "I
will try to persuade people
that it is important that I
return to Congress. I am try-
ing to be as effective as I can
in Congress."
Line-drawing begins this
fall in Michigan. Redistric-
ting will go into effect for the
January 1993 session. On
Monday, the state Special
Committee on Congressional
Redistricting will hold its
first public forum for consti-
tuents in Detroit and
neighboring communities at
11 a.m. at the Henry Ford
Library in Dearborn.
Also on Monday, the 1990
U.S. census figures will be
finalized.
Some political pundits
speculate that Michigan will
lose two Democratic seats
As a non-black
Democrat with less
seniority, Mr. Levin
may be vulnerable. -
.
because of population losses
and political pressure.
Others say a state with a
Republican governor and a
split delegation in its two
state houses normally
translates into the loss of
one Republican and one
Democratic seat.
Most expect the battle over
boundaries to be fierce, with
the final districts drawn by
the courts. The issue will
land on court dockets if the
state House — controlled by
Democrats — and the Senate
— controlled by Republicans
— and Gov. John Engler, a
Republican, can't agree.
Because of the Voting
Rights Act, which prioritizes
the maintenance of minority
districts, the two Detroit
seats held by newly elected
Rep. Barbara Rose Collins, a
Democrat, and Rep. John
Conyers, also a Democrat,
are virtually safe. These
districts are, however, the
two which have suffered the
heaviest population losses.
Political experts on
Capitol Hill say the process
of deduction leaves Mr.
Levin as a key redistricting
target. Although he has
served for nearly a decade,
others hold more seniority.
Democrats John Dingell and
William Ford are protected
by seniority and their
leadership roles on Capitol
Hill. Mr. Dingell is chair-
man of the House Energy
and Commerce Committee,
and Mr. Ford chairs the Ed-
ucation and Labor Com-
mittee.
Democrat David Bonior,
chief' deputy whip, is pro-
tected by his leadership role.
And William Broomfield,
who is Republican, is the
ranking member of the
House Foreign Affairs
Committee.
That leaves Mr. Levin, and
Robert Carr, whose Sixth
Congressman Sander Levin
District spans from Lansing
Yet the only sure thing
to Pontiac, as possible Dem-
now, Mr. Alexander says, is
ocratic victims. In addition,
that "everybody is talking
freshman legislator David
and nobody knows what will
Camp, who represents the
happen. It is a fun parlor
massive 10th District, re-
game for political junkies to
mains the vulnerable
play.
Republican.
"It is a lot of conjecture
"To maintain the two seats
from all of us," Mr. Alex-
in Detroit, the only way to go
ander says.
is two Democratic districts,"
"Sure there is a chance the
says Jim Alexander, Oak-
Democrats could lose two
land County's Republican
seats," Mr. Levin says.
chairman. "The population
"There is also a chance the
loss is at the southeast end
Republicans could lose two
— a Democratic area."
seats."
ROUND UP
Exhibit Traces
'Degenerate Art'
Chicago — In 1937, the
Nazis waged an attack on
modern art by mounting En-
tartete Kunst, "Degenerate
Art," a derisive exhibition
that contained 650 art works
confiscated from German
museums.
" 'Degenerate Art': The
Fate of the Avant-Garde in
Nazi Germany," now on
view at the Art Institute of
Chicago through Sept. 8,
recreates Entartete Kunst,
with some of the 100 pain-
tings and sculpture from the
original exhibition, plus
films, music and literature
targeted by the Nazis. The
exhibit also provides an ex-
amination of the historical
context of the persecution of
art and artists.
The Entartete Kunst ex-
hibition marked the
culmination of the cultural
purges carried out by the
Nazis after they took control
of Germany in 1933. Six-
teen-thousand works were
Ernst Kirchner's "Self-Portrait as
Soldier," labeled by the Nazis as
"degenerate art."
confiscated from 32 public
art collections; a selection
were displayed and crowded
into 10 rooms in the former
Archaeological Institute in
Munich. The exhibition was
arranged by theme: works
that treated religious sub-
jects, works by Jewish ar-
tists, abstract art and art
that demonstrated African
or primitive influences.
Graffiti and slogans on the
walls denounced the works
as "decadent," "un-
German" and "morally
offensive." The exhibition
attracted 3 million visitors
before its 13-city run ended
in 1941.
Boirowed from 90 public
and private collections
throughout the world, the
works in " 'Degenerate Art':
The Fate of the Avant-
Garde" include paintings
and drawings by Marc
Chagall, Oscar Kokoschka,
Wassily Kandinsky and
Paul Klee.
Tickets for the Chicago
exhibition are on sale at all
TicketMaster outlets, or
may be reserved by calling
the museum, (312) 902-1500.
Immigrants Show
Right-Wing Stance
Jerusalem — A new
survey conducted among
Soviet immigrants to Israel
shows their decided
preference for a hard-line,
right-wing political stance.
The survey was sponsored
by the National Council of
Jewish Women Research In-
stitute for Innovation in Ed-
ucation at the Hebrew Uni-
versity of Jerusalem School
of Education. It showed that
53 percent of the immigrants
would vote for a new polit-
ical party that represented
them, rather than a veteran
Israeli party. But if no such
party existed, nearly half of
the olim would vote for par-
ties of the right, 21 percent
for parties of the left, and 4
percent for religious parties.
The rest were undecided.
In addition to political par-
ty preferences, the survey
showed the immigrants'
hard-line attitudes toward
relinquishing territories.
Three-fourths of the re-
spondents said they are
against trading territories
for peace. Two-thirds said
they would agree, at least to
some extent, with the state-
ment that "the whole world
is against us."
Domestic Violence
Focus Of Brochure
Washington, D.C. — More
than 50 percent of women
are battered at some time in
their lives and nearly 66
percent of all married wo-
men experience physical
violence in their marriages,
according to a new brochure.
The brochure, "Facts
About Domestic Violence,"
is part of BBW's effort to
heighten awareness of do-
mestic violence in the
United States. It describes
the typical victims of do-
mestic violence, profiles
those who batter, explains
why women stay in violent
homes and offers recommen-
dations to help break the cy-
cle of domestic abuse.
For a copy of the brochure,
send $1 and a self-addressed,
stamped envelope to B'nai
B'rith Women Central Ser-
vices, 1828 L St. NW, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20036.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum