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IN Thoughts
A MONTHLY MIX OF IDEAS
George Cantor's Reality Check column will return next week
For $10, Preserve The Zoo!
VOTE AUGUST 5th
ver its 80-year history, the Detroit
Zoo in Royal Oak has become
0 known as one of the top accredited
zoos in the nation
and, along the way,
it has educated and
entertained every
generation for gener-
ations. As important
as the zoo is to our
community, it is cur-
rently without a sus-
tainable, long-term
funding source.
In 2006, the city
of Detroit turned
over zoo management and governance to
the Detroit Zoological Society and ended
its annual subsidy. As a result, the zoo lost
approximately one-third of its $26 million
annual operating budget. To fill that gap,
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties have
placed a 0.10 mill proposal on their Aug. 5
primary election ballots that would be lev-
ied over a 10-year period.
To the average homeowner in the tri-
county area, the cost would be just $10 a
year. We know this is a difficult economic
time for many, and some may question
whether they can afford to support the
Zoo right now So let me explain just how
important this wonderful facility — the
state's leading family attraction — is to the
economy and quality of life in this region.
In some way, the Detroit Zoo touches just
about everyone who lives in the tri-county
area:
• 85 percent of our 1 million annual visi-
tors come from Wayne, Oakland or Macomb
County;
• 97 percent of our employees reside in
the three counties;
• Approximately 500,000 kids visit the
Zoo each year, including 127,000 schoolchil-
dren on field trips;
• $60 million a year is pumped into the
state's economy by zoo operations.
Most zoos, and every single one nearby,
receive major public funding. The Toledo
Zoo has a millage of 1.85 mills, while
Lansing's Potter Park Zoo operates on 0.46
mills. Our request is far less than even
Lansing's comparatively small millage sup-
port, but it would keep our zoo.
Should the millage pass, residents of
counties approving the proposal will receive
benefits such as discounted school field
trips, a $10 discount on a Detroit Zoological
Society family membership and two free
days for senior citizens. But the greatest
benefit of all is that your zoo will continue
to provide great experiences and memories
to kids and families for generations to come.
As home to more than 3,000 animals
from around the globe, the Detroit Zoo
expands our knowledge of the world far
beyond what any one of us might be able
to experience. Thanks to the zoo, children
learn the wonder of nature, the fascinat-
ing attributes of animals and the vital role
a healthy environment plays in protecting
them all.
It will be up to voters in Wayne, Oakland
and Macomb counties to decide if these les-
sons, and our zoo, are worth keeping.
The Detroit Zoo is part of every tri-coun-
ty family — it's your zoo. With the approval
of this millage, our children — and hope-
fully even our grandchildren's children
— can lay similar claim to it. So please
remember to vote on the zoo millage Aug.
5. The children — and the animals — are
counting on you!
Zoo Hosts 80th Birthday Bash
The Detroit Zoo turns 80 and invites
the community to celebrate at a birth-
day party in the Main Picnic Grove on
Friday, Aug. 1, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visitors 80 and older will be admit-
ted free with a photo ID including
birth date. Visitors 13 and older will
receive $8 admission with a coupon
found on the zoo's Web site, www.
detroitzoo.org . Regular $7 admission
applies for children ages 2 to 12; chil-
dren younger than 2 are free.
A live performance of the Matrix
Theatre Company's "Marsh Magic"
will take place 1-2 p.m. on the Main
Stage, focusing on the lifecycle of the
frog in Michigan marshes. The show is
presented in recognition of 2008 Year
of the Frog, a global awareness cam-
paign to focus attention on endan-
gered amphibians.
For 80 cents on Friday, guests can
take a journey on the Wild Adventure
Ride – regularly $4 – or zip through
the zoo on the Tauber Family Railroad,
regularly $2 one way.
The Detroit Zoo is at 10 Mile and
Woodward, just off 1-696, in Royal
Oak. Call (313) 852-4056.
❑
Ronald L. Kagan is executive director of the
Detroit Zoological Society, a nonprofit organiza-
tion responsible for governance, management
and operations of the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle
Nature Zoo.
First Time Voter At 80
W
hen the telephone rang on
the morning of my birthday,
I assumed the call was from
one of my children.
"I passed. I passed:' the voice sang out.
I recognized the excited tone of my new
friend from the former Soviet Union, the
person I had been tutoring for a citizen-
ship examination. We had worked together
for several months, one day a week for
an hour. He had just returned from his
interview with the INS (Immigration and
Naturalization Service) and called to share
the news.
"What did they ask? How was it?"
He repeated some of the questions:
"Name the 13 original colonies. Who is the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? What
is the name of your mayor, the governor,
your representative in Congress? How
many stripes are on the flag?"
"Your dictation? How did that go?"
B6
July 31 • 2008
He had correctly spelled
and punctuated, without
error, a sentence with the
word, "daughter." Later, I
learned the examiner report-
ed he had been "perfect:'
My student is an 80-year-
old man born in Ukraine.
He served many years in the
Soviet military before joining
his two sons in America five
years ago. One son, a com-
puter scientist living in West
Bloomfield, drove his father to Detroit for
the examination.
My student's beloved wife of 50 years
died a few years ago. He lives alone in a
Jewish Apartments and Services building
in Oak Park.
That evening at dinner, I related the suc-
cess of my student to friends who asked
why an older man would go through the
rigors of preparing for and taking
the citizenship examination. I told
them what he told me. "I want to
vote. I want to have an American
passport:'
This soon-to-be American
citizen is a lean, dignified, sweet
man. He speaks fluent Ukrainian,
Russian, German and Hebrew;
but English is very difficult for
him. Studying for this examina-
tion took tremendous effort over
many months. I was assigned my
student through the Volunteer Service
Department at the Jewish Family Service
offices in West Bloomfield. The program
offered by JFS has been running for 12
years.
Two of the finest teachers in Michigan,
Doreen Sabin and Carole Maltzman, have
been preparing men and women from
various countries to become citizens. They
have impressed numerous public officials
who have visited their classes.
But most impressive of all are the stu-
dents. They know that many Americans,
born and educated in this country, could
not answer all or even most of the ques-
tions on the citizenship test. Nor could
they write the dictated sentences, in their
native language, without errors.
I wonder if these students are aware
that many American citizens will not vote
in the upcoming primary elections. Some
won't vote in the general election.
Too bad the American electorate must
not work diligently for the privilege of vot-
ing. If they did, perhaps, those of us fortu-
nate enough to be born with our right to
vote would share the joy of being able to
cast it.
❑
Jeannie Weiner is a West Bloomfield resident.