I

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Is Bob Aronson
Senate Look-Alike?

Before Wisconsin's Russell
Feingold unseated two-term
Republican Sen. Robert Kas-
ten for the U.S. Senate, Fed-
eration Executive Vice
President Bob Aronson often
was told that he and Mr.
Feingold look somewhat
alike.
This is not surprising since
they are first cousins.
"During the campaign, my
mother (the former Deborah
Feingold) kept me posted on
Russell's race. She said all of
the women were swooning
over him," Mr. Aronson says.
"Now that he is a U.S. sena-
tor, people say he doesn't look
anything like me."
Mr. Aronson is proud of his
cousin, but he says (in jest) he
wishes his mother would re-
place some of those pictures
of Russell plastered on her re-
frigerator with more photos
of Mr. Aronson's children.
"Russell is a wonderful per-
son, and he is like our late
grandfather, Max, who lived
in Israel, who is buried in Is-

rael, who always did what he
felt was right even when the
rest of the world did not
agree," Mr. Aronson says. "He
will be that kind of senator.
He will always take positions
he believes in."
Are they alike?
"A little," Mr. Aronson
says.

Bob Allinson

It's All In
The Family

Politics is not new to Cindy
Hughey, the new Lansing-
based director for the Michi-
gan Jewish Conference, a
two-year-old statewide net-

Cindy Hughey

working group aimed at en-
gaging communities in advo-
cacy and social concerns.
Her mother, Faylene Owen,
and her uncle, David Her-
melin, are unwavering De-
mocratic Party faithfuls. Ms.
Owen, married to former East
Lansing Mayor Larry Owen,
co-chaired with her husband
Gov. Bill Clinton's Michigan
fund-raising campaign.
Add to that a $25,000-per-
couple fund-raiser at the
Hermelin home, which
brought in $400,000 for the
Democratic Party and the
Clinton-Gore ticket.
Before Ms. Hughey took
this job, which is non-parti-
san, she worked in fund rais-
ing for her mother's political
firm, Mica Consulting. Now
she is laying the groundwork
for a year of activities, focus-
ing on the 14 affiliated Jew-
ish Conference communities
and any potential recruits.

The bar mitzvah years: Russell Feingold, left, and Bob Aronson.

director of the Center for Cre-
ative Studies. She has en-
joyed a lengthy career both as
a volunteer and a profession-
al.
A few weeks ago, she won
a seat on the Michigan Board
of Education, a prestigious
advisory group that keeps the
public informed on issues and
makes suggestions to elected
officials.
The board is evenly divid-
ed: half Republican and half
Democratic. Therefore, Ms.
Straus says, consensus may
not be likely among the board.
"I hope to use this board to
make my views heard," she
says.
Ms. Straus, on the boards
of the Jewish Community
Council, the Greater Detroit
Interfaith Round Table of the
National Conference of Chris-
tians and Jews, and the De-
troit chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, does
have some rather strong
views she hopes to get across.
She would like all schools
to be superb, and she is cer-
tain that Gov. John Engler's
plans for schools of choice is
not a proper way to attain
this goal. "I want all schools
to be of good quality, not just
a few choice schools," she said.
She will lobby for other
ideas, pushing for more
parental involvement in the
education of children and pro-
moting plans for smaller
schools.
Prayer and any other form
of religion must be kept out of
public schools, Ms. Straus
says, adding she will speak
out against government-fund-
ed vouchers to pay for public
and private schools.
"I am a very strong advo-
Running for an eight-year
cate of public school educa-
political term is not how most
tion," Ms. Straus says. "And
people opt to spend their re-
it is being threatened in
tirement years. But then
Michigan and across the
again, Kathleen Straus is not
country by members of the re-
like most others.
ligious right, who do not sup-
port the separation of church
Ms. Straus, 68, a Democrat
and state."
of Detroit, recently retired as

"I want to be a voice for
everybody," Ms. Hughey says.
"I will be watching what goes
on in Lansing to keep the
communities informed."
She has met with coalition
leaders from Catholic and
Lutheran groups. And she
wants to network with other
groups aimed at promoting
human service agendas at the
Capitol.
Her goal is to continue the
work begun by her predeces-
sor, Caryn Nessel, in bringing
Michigan Jewish communi-
ties together. Ms. Nessel ac-
cepted a full-time position
with the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
"They are all so seg-
mented," she says. "Not all
communities are as organized
as Detroit."
The first item on Ms.
Hughey's agenda is mapping
out a plan to visit all the com-
munities. She will publish a
legislative newsletter, and she
is planning a legislative re-
ception to be held Jan. 26 in
Lansing.
The Conference also has a
Litvak Foundation grant for
communities to launch Jew-
ish enrichment programs.
With money from the grant,
the Flint community started
a scholar-in-residence pro-
gram for the Flint, Ann Arbor
and Lansing Jewish commu-
nities .

This Is
Retirement?

Gilbert Joins
Law Firm

She stepped down from the
bench for an unsuccessful, yet
highly publicized, bid for
Congress. And now, after 31
years as a judge, Alice Gilbert
is back to practicing law.
Ms. Gilbert has joined the
Birmingham law firm of Hy-
man and Lippitt, but that
does not mean she is through
with politics.
"I'm not done," she says.
"I'm keeping my options
open."

❑

Alice Gilbert

