I DETROIT
Cohan Affirms Ideals
At Awards Ceremony
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
N
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THE BOARDWALK 737-9059
16
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1991
ational and state pol-
icies support the
ownership of guns,
but condemn support for the
arts, Leon Cohan, former
chairman of the Michigan
Council for the Arts said
this'week.
Mr. Cohan, in an- accep-
tance speech for the In-
stitute of Human Relations
of the American Jewish
Committee's Judge Learned
Hand Award, said he didn't
understand why such poli-
cies advocate guns, which
"destroy and maim people,"
and fail to recognize arts,
which "enrich people and
and provide a touchstone of
humanity and beauty and
consolation in Our lives."
The Holocaust Memorial
Center recently learned it
would not receive any state
funds this year. And the
Detroit Science Center, also
a target of budget cuts, an-
nounced it will have to close.
Mr. Cohan is credited with
bringing together an August
summit meeting between
the state's major arts
backers and Gov. John
Engler, whose plans to cut
state-funded cultural arts
programs is troubling to the
state cultural arts commun-
ity.
At the summit meeting,
Gov. Engler agreed to con-
tinue state support of the
arts, and he launched a new
state arts council to em-
phasize promotion-al cultural
programs and make grants.
Mr. Engler did not ask Mr.
Cohan, a Democrat, to serve
on the new council, called
the Michigan Council For
the Arts and Cultural M-
fairs. Bunny Goldman, the
director, also a Democrat,
will leave her position this
week in protest of Mr.
Engler's moves to curtail the
arts.
Senior vice president and
general counsel for Detroit
Edison, Mr. Cohan was
honored by AJC for his ser-
vice to the legal and general
community. Former presi-
dent of the Jewish Commun-
ity Council, he also serves as
the chairman of the State
Board of Ethics. Mr. Cohan
has served as assistant and
deputy attorney general for
the State of Michigan.
Mr. Cohan spoke of
"malignant" race relations
that will "destroy us unless
we deal with it, and deal
with it soon and wisely and
fairly."
He addressed issues of care
and education for children,
calling it a "national
disgrace."
"High infant mortality
rates, unsafe schools, an
abysmal education process,
and the juvenile drug epi-
demic are wasting our most
priceless treasure, our
youth," he said.
"Most of our leaders at the
national, state and local
levels display neither
leadership nor political
courage," Mr. Cohan said.
"The level of public ap-
pointments to vital positions
makes one want to cringe
Mr. Cohan is
credited with
bringing together
an August summit
meeting between
the state's major
arts backers and
Gov. John Engler,
whose plans to cut
state-funded
cultural arts
programs is
troubling the state
cultural arts
community.
and to shed tears for our
beloved land."
Mr. Cohan said it is time
for America to "open its
arms to the oppressed, its
hearts to the deprived, and
its minds to that which is
different and challenging."
The courts, he said, need
more judges like Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Louis
Brandeis, Learned Hand and
Thurgood Marshall. _
"Where are the piercing
voices for our children, for
equal rights for women, for
justice and real fairness and
opportunity for all?" he ask-
ed. ❑
Workmen's Circle
Holds Bazaar
The Workmen's Circle will
hold its annual gala holiday
bazaar 12-3:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at
the Workmen's Circle Educa-
tional Center, Oak Park.
The bazaar is a fund-raiser
for the Workmen's Circle
schools. Included will be:
Chanukah gifts and wrapp-
ing supplies, a raffle, books,
toys, crafts, bake sale, lunch
counter and white elephant
sale.
For information, please call
Workmen's Circle, 545-0985.