ATTENTION HOME BUYERS
WANT TO PAY
ZERO POINTS?
CAMPUS CLIMATE page 49
There's nothing to it
The Zero Point Specialists
The MORTGAGE COMPANY
Of Michigan, Inc.
313-375-2626
This Week's Special
,6x • y,6 6 6
CUSTOM
DESIGNED
WOODWORK
DINING TABLES
4;«vr 41
OVAL
36X 60 X 29
45" ROUND
$299
SQUARE ISLAND
36X60 X29
RADIUS PARSONS
36 X 60 X 29
* Prices reflect solid colors
When you want...
• Commission wood furniture
• Built-in bookcases
• Libraries
• Mantels
• Crown Moldings
• Finish trim carpentry
You deserve...
• Choice
• Experience
• Responsibility
• Artistry
• Fulfillment
Our references guarantee it.
Timeless design... Installation that endures...
Bruno Trentacost (313) 628-1406
HOURS:
Wed.,-Sat,10-7
Sun., 12-4
FURNITURE OUTLET
2599 Crumb Rd., Commerce Twp. • 669-0066
w
Right In Your Own Driveway!
L1J
CC
LLI
LLI
H-
50
AUTO REPAIR AT YOUR LOCATION WITH
THE GARAGE ON WHEELS
The Tune Up Man
DOING BUSINESS SINCE 1976
CALL 398-3605
CERTIFIED & LICENSED VISA & MC WELCOME
Prices Start
at 3349'
See P414*.Call.for Color BtOda0
Thousands Installed Throughout Michikan
'74 Daft; , iddiatell
& ?of Sal.diet .54(0
543-3115
!.1 1 2A1 5:13 e O ii .dr.".117rtcl<y
1
which function as stripped-
down synagogues, Ann Ar-
bor's is largely a social and
political center. It has several
volunteer groups, two publi-
cations and a group for Jew-
ish homosexuals, among other
activities. It sponsors film and
speaker series, and it hosts
seven Israel-related organi-
zations. A Hillel-sponsored
magazine, "Consider," offers
a weekly sampling of opinion
among students on issues
from the drinking age to foot-
ball's instant-replay rule.
Hillel's programming occa-
sionally borders on the auda-
cious, as when it helped
sponsor filmmaker Spike
Lee's campus visit last April.
Executive director Michael
Brooks admits he has taken
some chances over the years,
but he thinks defying conven-
tional wisdom has helped.
When he hosted a speech by
author Kurt Vonnegut, he re-
calls, "The first thing people
asked me was, 'Is Kurt Von-
negut Jewish?' " (He isn't.)
In a class on Jewish identi-
ty, Mr. Schoem asked stu-
dents to draw a "map" of the
Jewish community on cam-
pus, radiating from a focal
point of their choice.
Some put Hillel in the cen-
ter. But most put Good Time
Charley's there. It's a bar.
"That's where all the Jewish
kids go on Friday night," Mr.
Schoem says. "You could say
that these kids are not doing
anything Jewish there. But
there is Jewish contact."
Did the survey show that
campus Jewish life in Ann Ar-
bor was healthiest in a bar?
"I think you have a lot of
people in college who are po-
litically or socially Jewish, and
the religion takes a back seat,"
says Matt Wexley, a recent
Michigan graduate. "Just the
fact that they're Jewish is
enough."
But is it? The good news,
some say, is that Jewish iden-
tity does count. The bad news
is that it isn't demonstrably
deep.
"If Jews don't find ways to
connect with other Jews on
campus, we've lost a critical
opportunity," says Richard
Joel, executive director of
B'nai B'rith's National Hillel
Foundation.
This is the challenge, says
Mr. Schoem: Jews on campus
need to feel good about being
Jewish. Even if that means
tipping back a few beers on a
Friday night with fellow Jews.
Identity Crisis
Jewish students and facul-
ty have to find a middle
ground between ethnic as-
sertiveness and assimilation
in the larger university, says
UCLA's Seidler-Feller.
"I don't think that young
Jews have any models of vi-
sionary leadership," he says.
"If today Jewish students are
reluctant to see themselves as
Jewish (through) religious
connection, then what are
they talking about?"
Perhaps the problem does
not lie with the university af-
ter all.
Many of the Jewish college
students interviewed for this
story acknowledge a dissatis-
faction with their own Jewish
education. They say that He-
brew school had actually
dampened their interest.
"I always wonder why I feel
so much stronger about my
Jewish identity now than
when I came here," says
Joshua Mitnick, a senior.
"That's the opposite of every
Jewish parent's fears."
"Although my religious ac-
tivities have decreased, my
Jewish identity has definite-
ly increased," says Jenny Kell-
man, a senior. "It never really
was important to me before I
got here."
"You gain your identity in
college," says Cheryl Millman.
"It strengthened my Judaism,
because I realized I liked what
my parents like to do."
But David Schoem, while
optimistic about the opportu-
nities that campus life offers,
warns that many Jewish stu-
dents step out of the fold in col-
lege. "Ifs embarrassing to own
up to someone else how little
you know about yourself," he
says.
"This is what our 18-to-22-
year-old Jews look like today.
We have abandoned them,
and we will wait until they are
35 to ask: 'Are they Jewish
and will they give to UJA.' "
But if they are to be active
Jews later, do they have to be
active Jews now? And are col-
lege campuses like Michigan's
likelier to encourage or dis-
courage their particular
search?
Noam Neusner, a former reporter
for the Detroit Jewish News, is
now with a Florida daily. This
article was made possible by a
grant from The Fund For Jour-
nalism on Jewish Life, a project
of th,e CRB Foundation of Mon-
treal and the Jewish Telegraph-
ic Agency. Any views expressed
are solely those of the author.