English Classes Cut
For New Americans
Cooler Runnings?
Israel's first-ever bobsled team trains for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Bobsled Federation. That brought support from the
Israel Olympic Committee, giving an air of authen-
Special to the Jewish News
ticity to the bobsledders' aspirations.
Bobsledding isn't easy, says David. "It's physically
Calgary, Alberta
demanding. A brakeman takes most of the abuse in
anadian David Greaves and Americans
the two-man bobsled. The idea is for John and I to
John Frank and Aaron Zeff are deter-
alternate and Aaron is the bobsled pilot who sits in
mined to become Israel's first-ever bobsled
front and sees everything.
team and qualify for the 2006 Winter
"Our coach is Ross Dominikovitch, a former bob-
Olympics in Turin, Italy.
sled
pilot for the New Zealand team. He believes we
Like the Jamaicans who first qualified for the bobsled
have a strong shot at qualifying and that we can be
competition in the 1988 Olympics and inspired the
in the top 25-30 and make
movie Cool Runnings, the trio
it, no questions asked."
believes it has the right stuff
Greaves concedes that the
Zeff, 35, who once flew F-4
bobsled
team's success is
Phantom jets for the U.S. Air
based
primarily
on the pilot
Force, dabbles in real estate;
and
that
may
give
the trio a
Greaves, 36, is a computer
razor-thin edge. "Zeff is
networker; and Frank, 40, is a
already a skilled aviator,"
former tight end with the San
stressed Greaves, a former
Francisco 49ers who earned
high school sprinter. "He has
two Super Bowl rings and is
piloted airplanes and is used
now a plastic surgeon.
to speed, which puts him in
Greaves, who was brought
a better position than some
on board following a tempo-
of the others on the course."
rary injury to Zeff, explained,
The track in Calgary,
"We love the sport, but it's
Alberta,
where the aspiring
more about the opportunity
The Israeli team takes a practice run in Calgary.
Israeli
bobsled
team trains, is
to represent Israel.
about
a
mile
long
and was
"John and I competed
built
for
the
1988
Winter
Olympics.
recently in our first event on the America's Cup circuit,
The bobsleds attain a speed of approximately 70
the entry level of international bobsled events. It was a
miles per hour and, according to Greaves, "When I
pretty amazing moment for us. I'll never forget it. It
apply the brakes, I still slide from the finish line
gave me a chill, when the track official introduced us
another 175 yards."
by saying, The track is clear now for Israel One."
It's all a race against time. In practice runs, the
The creation of Israel One took behind-the-scenes
aspiring
Olympians have finally broken the 60-sec-
negotiating that resulted in the creation of the Israel
ond barrier on their way to a goal of 55 seconds —
the standard necessary to qualify in the top 30.
Harvey Rosen is a freelance writer based in Winnepeg.
HARVEY ROSEN
C
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TRAILING DOWNWARD from page 13
4/18
2003
14
Center over five years to complete
capital improvements.
"The fact is that we didn't squander
it. We spent it because the attitude of
this Federation was to reach out and
help every aspect of our community,"
Aronson said. "You cannot find an
agency in this community that did not
benefit from those dollars that came
out of the unrestricted fund."
Hauser said the Federation wouldn't
have done anything differently.
"Yeshiva Beth Yehuda comes to us
and they say they need money — and
over three years when we have huge
deficits," he said. "If we didn't have
the money [in the fund], we wouldn't
give it to them. If they need the
money and we have the money, should
we say no?
"If we wouldn't have given Yeshiva
Beth Yehuda all that money, what
would they have done? Would it have
meant that the school had to close
down? We don't know the answer to
that. Was the money well spent? We
think the answer is yes."
Federation President Lawrence
Jackier added, "We didn't waste any
money; we did the opposite. We took
whatever we could from wherever we
could to address these needs of this
community. The problem is that for a
temporary period of time, we do not
have the option to take funds from
somewhere to address these needs,
which exceed what we can raise in the
campaign."
Cultural Shift
Davidoff notes that the economic
downturn has affected virtually every
organization, from for-profit to non-
A
s many as 18 English classes serving 550 stu-
dents from the former Soviet Union may be
permanently closed because of the state
budget crisis.
Ferndale Public Schools has offered free classes for
adult students at the A. Alfred Taubman Jewish
Community Campus in Oak Park, JVS, Highland
Towers and McDonnell Towers in Southfield, and
Barton Towers in Royal Oak. But with the proposed
Michigan budget reducing statewide funding of adult
education from $80 million to $20 million, Ferndale
Schools gave pink slips on Monday to all of its adult
ed teachers. There may be no English as a Second
Language classes — or other adult ed classes — after
June, according to Dr. Ann Dilly, Ferndale associate
superintendent.
Dr. Dilly received a slim ray of hope last week
when state Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Huntington
Woods, was able to reinstate the per-student reim-
bursement of $2,850 for adult ed in the House bill.
The proposed reimbursement of $880 would have
killed the program, Dr. Dilly said.
Although the $20 million total does not change, the
$2,1850 reimbursement rate "would allow us to run at
least a few classes," Dr. Dilly said. She is working with
Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, to try to get
the higher rate through the legislative conference com-
mittee and final Senate and House passage.
Many older ESL students who live in Prentis
Jewish Apartments in Oak Park have written letters
appealing for support from the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Federation, in the past, has
given $10,000 to fund a June ESL program at the
Oak Park JCC and Ferndale has sponsored classes in
..
July and August.
With the proposed state budget, Ferndale has
announced there will be no summer school of any
kind for children or adults this year.
profits.
"It's pervasive across the country,
not only in federations, but you look
at what's going on, people are hunker-
ing down and trying to find a differ-
ent way to do business," he said.
The Jewish Community Federation
of San Francisco went through a
round of layoffs last year. The Jewish
Federation of Greater Atlanta cited no
layoffs but a 2 percent pullback in
allocations to agencies across the
board last year.
"What we're really doing is re-bas-
ing our spending," Davidoff said.
"And we're talking about a cultural
shift. It used to be, years ago, that we
lived off the campaign — the primary
and sole source for spending in the
community."
Davidoff called the sudden stock
market rise "maybe a once-in-a-life-
— Alan Hitsky, associate editor
time opportunity where we had these
extra funds we invested in the com-
munity to get things done that had to
get done."
Since then, Federation has tried to
"mitigate exposures, mitigate addi-
tional obligations and reduce our
spending in a planful way —7 what
we've called 'the soft landing,"' he
said.
However, the timetables didn't
meet, he said, causing the federated
community to again view the Annual
Campaign as its chief general funder.
The leadership operates Federation
as if it were a publicly traded compa-
ny, Davidoff stressed.
"We live and die by confidence," he
said. "People have to have confidence
that we're well organized and we're
spending every charitable dollar with
support and with a purpose." ❑