"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.