"Some communities are beginning
to get it, but they're not committing
themselves as fully as we have," says
Aronson.
Carol Smolder, an Ann Arborite
who is the national chair for Partner-
ship 2000, agrees Michigan has been
at the forefront. "We have been the
leaders in terms of developing peo-
ple-to-people relationships, going
beyond the core Jewish community
and bringing others in," she says.
"We were the first to do reciprocal
visits in which the Israeli steering
committee (for Partnership 2000)
was brought here. Others have used
our program as a model and many
communities are now doing more
people-to-people programs."
Although the funding comes sole-
ly from the United States, Partner-
ship 2000 supporters say the benefits
of the program are mutual. Aronson
says Michigan Jews have learned Jew-
ish educational strategies from
Israelis; he anticipates Israelis will
play a key role in developing pro-
grams that reinforce the Jewish iden-
tity of younger people.
"Jewish identity development is
becoming more of a priority for both
Israelis and Detroiters," says Aron-
in the last few months, we're startin
to see gray or black smoke coming
out of the chimney."
Barkan and a few of her neighbors
have again been complaining to
Phoenicia and the Environment Mix),
istry. Residents say their calls are
returned rapidly, but Barkan says
company officials have not admitted
to any smells and claim the smoke
coming out of the chimney is merely
steam. When she tells the company
the "steam" is gray or even black, she
informed that the "steam" only
looks black because it takes its color
from the "wintry skies."
Local Environment Ministry offi-
cials say that while they know of no
stench in the air, they are placing
stricter controls on emissions from
the glass plant's chimney. Barkan
wants to have monitoring equipment
installed in Hoshaya or the Israeli
Arab village of Mashad., which is only
a few hundred yards from the glass
plant, so residents can see for them-
selves if Phoenicia is complying with
the rules.
Tyrah, the Phoenicia executive, is
adamant the company is a good envi-
ronmental citizen, and maintains that
Phoenicia's sulfur and dust emissions
Some examples of
Partnership 2000
exchanges:
On the bus, during a 1995 exchange involving University of Michigan faculty.
son. "We'll also be looking at educa-
tion — particularly how do we bring
elements from Israel that will help us
in our Jewish education system
here."
Michigan Jews are gaining new
perspectives from the Israelis when it
comes to improving programs for
senior citizens, single-parent families
and immigrants, and, "As the project
progresses, you'll see more ways the
Israelis can help us," Aronson says.
While Partnership 2000's backers
are
rnen
• ;J:
inge*Lso
Lions of d ~ *4: oak-
4tply. an d
Phoenicia uses an eledthhi
device for emission monitoring, bu
pthe
ressE ingthe
nvitonm
coem
ntpni nieat iytwo
been
ny for nearly
years to install an optical detection
system, which is superior, Bressler
said.
One month ago, the ministry
ordered Phoenicia to draw up a plan
to install the optical detection device
and show it to'ministry officials for
approval. The company is complying,
Bressler said.
Fair David, chief industrial inspec-
tor for the Environment Ministry's
northern region, said, "While Phoeni-
cia is potentially a very serious pol-
luter, it has made good on the vast
majority of its commitments to the
ministry. The company is responsive
to our demands and has a good over-
all record." ❑
assert the program is a success,
efforts to evaluate it have come to
naught. Robert Marans, chairman of
the University of Michigan's Urban
and Regional Planning Program,
thinks a formal assessment is neces-
sary.
Marans, who traveled to Israel
with Partnership 2000 two years ago,
says he was invited because of his
experience in research and evalua-
tion.
"At the time, there was talk about
evaluating the impact of the program
for the Michigan group as well as
nationally," he says. "I was excited
about the possibility."
An evaluation committee was
formed 1 1/2 years ago, but never
convened, says Marans, who specu-
lates that this is because the UJA
staff person left the agency for
another job.
Although he praises Partnership
2000, saying it helped launch a pro-
ject in which he's helping contacts in
the region to develop a plan for
increasing tourism, Marans believes
there is a serious need to monitor his
and other participants' success over
the long run.
"In an evaluation, one of the
things you'd want to do is find out
exactly what has happened and then
make some kind of attempt to deter-
mine what has resulted from these
efforts. I know there's a lot going on
with the University of Michigan
business school, but whether it's
actually generated new businesses or
created jobs, you'd have to figure
out."
' Aronson agrees, although no eval-
uation plans are under way.
"I don't think we've done the kind
of evaluation that we need to do yet.
Evaluation is a piece that needs to be
Mayors Delegation, March 1995
Mayors, deputy mayors and
economic development unit direc-
tors of the Central Galilee's three
municipalities and a regional col-
lege president traveled to Detroit
to meet with leaders of the Jewish
community, tour Federation's con-
stituent agencies and meet with
'cal leaders in Lansing and
better developed and should proba-
bly be done with a professional con-
sultant, but with lay involvement as
well."
Despite lack of a formal evalua-
tion, Aronson ventures that Partner-
ship 2000 is on the right track. "Is it
a success? Absolutely, unqualified.
But that doesn't mean we don't have
a long way to go." ❑
—Israel correspondent Larry Deorn-
er contributed to this article.