Does cancer run in families?
This Week
Washington Watch
WASHINGTON WATCH from page 25
You should attend our free presentation if you have:
• Two or more blood relatives with cancer, such as parents, siblings, children, or
grandparents (include yourself) .-
• Family members with cancer diagnosed before age 50 (include yourself)
• Family members who developed second or third cancers not related to their original
cancer site
• Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry with a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer
• Family member(s) who have been tested for a cancer gene such as BRCA1 or BRCA2
Thursday, May 25 — 7:30 PM
JCC
6600 West Maple Road
West Bloomfield
A Karmanos Cancer Institute genetics specialist will explain
genetics research and how you and your family can benefit.
Bring your questions and your family tree!
Refreshments will be provided
BARBARA ANN
KARMA_NOS
CANCER INSTITUTE
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www.detroitjewishnews.com
With the Clinton administration
winding down and the Al Gore presi-
dential campaign cranking up, a
number of Jewish activists are on the
move.
Deborah Mohile, who has served
as the official White House liaison to
the Jewish community since 1997,
was expected to announce her depar-
ture this week.
Mohile, the person Jewish leaders
call with gripes and requests for
access, will move into the Gore orbit
— or, more precisely, the Tipper
Gore orbit. Mohile will coordinate
Ms. Gore's activities at this summer's
nominating convention.
With less than a year remaining
before the President packs his bags,
insiders say it's unlikely Mohile. will
be replaced.
Laurie Moskowitz, a longtime
Democratic organizer who is current-
ly heading the delegate operation at
Gore headquarters in Nashville, is
moving back to the Democratic
National Committee, where she will
direct the party's coordinated effort
for the entire Democratic ticket in
November.
Moskowitz is married to Jewish
media guru Steve Rabinowitz, who
has signed on to do the Gore cam-
paign s high-tech media — video, the
World Wide Web and satellite
linkups.
Finally, Ann Lewis, a longtime
Democrat and Jewish activist who
has been heading up the White
House communications office, is
leaving to work with the Hillary
Clinton for Senate campaign in New
York.
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appearance to build friendships and
to accentuate the fact that he's not
like his father. He has to get himself
on the map."
Both candidates, he said, will play
it safe at AIPAC.
.....
Jewish groups reacted with concern
to Monday's Supreme Court decision
striking down a law giving victims of
rape and domestic violence the right
to sue their attackers in federal court.
The 5-4 decision represents one
more effort by the court to curb
Congressional powers; Jewish activists
say the trend threatens to erode the fed-
eral government's ability to step in and
protect minorities when local authori-
ties are unwilling or unable to do so.
And some Jewish activists worry
that the decision could give a boost
to the appeal of Lemrick Nelson, the
young African-American who was
convicted in a federal trial for the
1991 killing of Chasidic scholar
Yankel Rosenbaum after he was
acquitted of local charges.
This week's decision came in the
case of a former Virginia college stu-
dent who brought suit against two
football players she said raped her.
Christy Brzonkala acted under
provisions of the Violence Against
Women Act of 1994, which allows
victims to sue their attackers.
But a state court ruled against her,
and a narrow majority on the high
court agreed that the law was an
improper application of congressional
power.
Jewish women's groups were out-
raged. "We believe states aren't doing
enough to protect rape victims and
victims of domestic violence," said
Sammie Moshenberg, Washington
director for the National Council of
Jewish Women. "This is a very dis-
turbing development."
Moshenberg pointed out that the
court overturned only one part of the
1994 law, not the entire statute.
Other groups, while expressing
concern about the impact on women,
also expressed anxiety about a deci-
sion that represented one more judi-
cial slap at the prerogatives of
Congress.
Michael Lieberman, Washington
counsel for the Anti-Defamation
League, said that "it is an unwelcome
decision, a further disturbing step in
the trend against Congress's ability to
legislate to address inadequacies of
state law. There are potential impacts
on all kinds of anti-discrimination
laws.
Jewish officials expect opponents
of a hate crimes bill now before
Congress to use this week's decision
as ammunition in their fight.
Marc Stern, legal director for the
American Jewish Congress, said the
decision could be a wild card in the
appeal of Lemrick Nelson, who was
convicted under federal civil rights
statutes of the 1991 murder of the
Jewish scholar during the Crown
Heights riots. Nelson s conviction
came after he was acquitted of local
charges.
"His lawyers have already argued
that Congress has no power in these
matters," he said. "We'll have to see if
the circuit court in New York is
influenced by this." II
'