Front Lines JNenline NOTEBOOK This Week www.JNonline.us Statewide Campus Outreach Initiative Latest From Israel Olympic Currents Michigan State University Hillel is spearheading a Jewish outreach ini- tiative to provide services to smaller universities and colleges through- out Michigan. The program is funded by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and the Kahan and LaKritz families. For the second year, the Kahan-LaKritz Families and Friends Engagement Fellowship will provide funding for Hillel staff to engage Jewish students at Ferris State University, Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Albion College and Alma College. The primary goal of the outreach program is to work with Jewish stu- dents at the schools and assist them in developing innovative programs to create vibrant Jewish life on campuses underserved by Hillel. The students also will have the opportunity to attend national leadership conferences and to participate in the Taglit-Birthright Israel Program. Parents who have Jewish students attending these schools can contact Judith Dworkin, the recently appointed director of statewide engagement, at (517) 332-1916, or e-mail judith@msuhillel.org . Additional Jewish athletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing include: • U.S.— Cycling, Adam Duvendeck, Michael Friedman; Soccer — Benny Feilhaber; Fencing, Sada Jacobson; • Germany — Swimming, Sarah Powwe. Also, Judo athlete Daniela Krukower, who has Benny dual Israeli-Argentine citizenship, was on the 2004 Feilhaber Argentine Olympic team. However, she is not on the 2008 team as originally reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last week. This information came to the IN from Nate Bloom, our Celebrity Jews columnist. - Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor Subtle Olympic Politics In an opinion piece in the Taipei Times online, Nina Khrushcheva, the grand- daughter of the late Soviet Premier 24.30g Nikita Khrushchev and a teacher of international affairs at the New School University in New York City, examines the irony of China selecting Albert Speer Jr., son of Hitler's favorite architect and the designer of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, to create the plan for the Beijing Games. The plan includes an imposing avenue to connect the Forbidden City and the National Stadium. She writes, "China's rulers see the Olympics as a stage for demon- strating to the world the exceptional vitality of the country they have built over the past three decades. And that demonstration serves an even more important domestic political objective: further legitimizing the regime's continuing rule in the eyes of ordinary Chinese. "Given this imperative, an architectural language of bombast and gigantism was almost inevitable, so it is no surprise that the Beijing Games may resemble the hubristic Games that beguiled the Fuhrer and enthralled the German masses in 1936. Like the Beijing Games, the Berlin Olympics were conceived as a coming-out party" Wiesel Offers New Insights Nobel Peace Prize-winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel will speak on behalf of Rochester College at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, at Rochester Church of Christ Auditorium, 250 W. Avon Road in Rochester Hills, adjacent to the 1,000 stu- dent college. Wiesel will present original material in his talk on Elie Wiesel "The Power of Language for Reconciliation:" He also will give new insights into his career and his use of language to help bring about reconciliation on many levels, including social, psychological and spiritual. Buy $15 tickets at www.rc.edu/eliewiesel or (248) 218-2020. - Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor ECOg6 _,Judaism - Robert A. Sklar, editor 53 - Ken Guten Cohen, story development editor Conservation Tips Water • Do not waste water. It is precious and our life source. • Hot water probably is the second-biggest energy expense in your home, often adding up to about 20 percent of your total energy bill. Most water heaters are set for 140 degrees. That is hot! Too hot ... Water heated to more than 120 degrees will need to be cooled down, which is wasteful, so turn down the thermostat on your water heater. • Locate your water heater as close as possible to where water will be needed. Hot water loses heat as it travels, even if the pipes are insulated. • Insulate the pipes. You will save heat, particularly on those long runs to the upstairs bathroom. • Be sure to insulate hot water pipes that travel through unheated areas such as cold cellars. Use tubular or wrapped pipe insulation. Both are easy to install. • Use a tankless water heater that heats water as needed. Water Warrior Please contact Michigan Coalition on the Environment & Jewish Life for global warming presentations: (248) 642- 5393, ext. 7, or mi-coejl®jfmd.org . Alon Benjamin, 20 months, enjoys a swim in the outdoor pool at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield this sum- mer. He's the son of Lizette and Yossi Benjamin of Farmington Hills. His parents say he loves the water. Source: Michigan Coalition on the Environment & Jewish Life A10 August 14 • 2008 AN Want the most current news from Israel? Check our streaming news from Ynetnews.com for continu- ous updates and longer news, opinion and feature stories. And look at the center of our homepage for an Israel story that changes twice daily. Just visit JNonline.us and click on a scrolling story on the left. E-Newsletter Desire notification when stories that interest you in particular are posted on JNonline? It's easy to des- ignate the kinds of stories you like when you sign up for your personalized e-newslet- ter. Only at JNonline.us . Just click on Newsletter on the menu near the top of the page. Celebrations! Find weekly listings of births, b'nai mitzvah, engagements, weddings and anniversaries as well as past simchahs all online. They are all bundled under each week's publica- tion date. Just visit JNonline.us and click on Lifecycles on the left. Online Poll This week's poll question: Could the war in Georgia become another Cold War? Visit the JNonline.us homepage, below the left menu, to cast your vote. Last week's question: Should the Israel Defense Forces seek to rescue Gilad Shalit, assuming the IDF knows where he is being held? Last week's poll results: Yes: 50% No: 50%