January 8-14, 1989,
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S to chair House Committee� __ ......___ ..............
By Ted J supporter of such efforts and is
expected to push legislation es-
WASHINGTON, D.C. - tahlishiag setasides in all
Michigan Congre man John govellUDCnt contracting.
Conyers Jr., has been I selected A spokesman for the new
by his Democratic ooUeagues m chairman observed that while
the House of Representatives to . there were several Federal
be the chairman of the impor- . ,agencies with mandated
tant Govemmen Operations setaside programs, the effec­
Committee during the 101st tiveness of their programs
Congress. varied and "most feD far short of
The 59-year old Conyers, their publicized Igoals."
who as the second �anking By far; the largest program
member of the committee, sue; with the most potential is the
ceed Representative Jack five percent minority setaside
Brooks of Texas ho became goal at the Department of
the ne chairman of the House Defense. The program,
JUdiciary Committee. The enacted in 1987, could provide
GoVCl1lJDeDt Operations Com- as much as $30 billion in ron­
mittee has jurisdiction over tracting funds to monority busi­
governmental reorganization, nesses,
general revenue sharing, and Conyers was re-elected this
the .000erall economy and ef- year to his thirteen term in the
ficiency of government opera- the House of Representatives,
tions and activities. winning about 90 per cent of the
One particular and impor- vote in the Fast Congressional
tant function of the committee is District, which includes part of
its oversigllt of the government's Detroit Presently, he is a senior
contr cling business. Conyers, member of the House Judiciary
who is a member of a House task Committee and chairman of its
force on minority business Subcommittee on Criminal Jus­
setaside ograms, is a stro� tice.
RUFFLESFEAniE ELDER MILITANT .
During his 24 years in the The Congressman's designa-
Congress, Conyers has been an _ tion as an "elder militant" in the
outspoken advocate of social House and the Democratic
justice and economic oppor- - Party has been earned through
tunity and has been known "to his fights for unpopular causes;
ruffle many feathers" in the ef- his imrompromising posture on
fort to get legislation to assist - the elimination of racism in the
Blacks and other minorities.· federal government, and his
In hi Judiciary Committee political wor for Third World
role, he has conducted hearings coalitio . .
in several cities on police Last year, Conyers spon­
violence, racially-motivated sored a Congressional resolu­
violence, white collar crime, tion honoring the contributio
grandjury reform and other of jazz to the American culture
criminal justice matters. His and designating it as "an
proposal to provide literacy and American National Treasure."
vocational training in correc- The Congressman, who once
tional institutions was added to played the trutnpet and every
two major educational bills. � now and then can be persuaded
One of the founders of the to provide . piano rendition, lias
Congressional Black Caucus, sponsored a jazz issues forum at .
Conyers was a principal ar- the last four annualle�tive
chitect of its annual alternative weekends of the Congress onal
federal budget. He was a lead- Black C?ucus. . .
ing sponsor of the Humphrey- . He IS expected to introduce
Hawkins Full Employment Act,' m the new Congress a House
which was enacted in 1978 and Joint Resolution designating I
initiated the drive that led t� the May 25, 1989 as "National Tap
passage of the. Martin Luther Dance Day," in recognition of
King Holiday Bill, which be- "America's only original form of Congressman John Con)'e1"S Jr.
came law on November 2, 1�83. dance."
Blackmo named
to Water Board.
DETROIT - Mayor
Coleman A. Y-oung Monday an­
nounced the appointment of
Mary Blackmon and Harold
Gurewitz to the Board of Water
. Commissioners and the ap­
pointment of Leon Cohan to the
Detroit Arts Commission.
Blackmon fills a vacancy
created by the resignation of
William G. Herbert. Her ap­
pointment is to a term on the
board ending February 14,1992.
-Gurewitz fills a vacancy
created by the resignation of
Sylvia Calabrese. His term ex­
pires on Feburary 14, 1989.
Cohan fills a vacancy on the
Arts commission created by the
death of Max Pincus. His term
expires February 14, 1991.
Blackmo of Detroit, is as­
sociated director of urban af­
fairs for Mic igan Bell
Telephone Company and has
. been employed by Bell since
graduating from Mumford High
School She recently completed
11 years of service on the
Detroit Board. She has studied
at Wayne County Community
College, the Detroit Com­
munity Music School and the
Detroit Institute of Musical Art
-_ Gurewirtz, of Detroit, is a
partner in the law firm of Baum
& Gurewitz of Detroit Prior to
1 entering pr ate practice in
t n 198� he was assistant United
o Corporate/C ty -States Atto y for the Eastern
WOIIIeD' fl Inc. __ .I District of ichigan for eight
n m-p-. years. Durin that time he be-
o oft odeI looked came chief of the Economic
beautiful beca e Crime Unit. He holds a B.A. de­
gree from Michigan State
d. Vniversity and a J.D. degree
from the Wayne State Univer-
sity Law School, I
Cohan, of Bloomfield Hills,
is senior vice president and
general counsel of Detroit
Edison Company. Prior to join­
ing Edison in 1973, he served as
Deputy Attorney General for
the State of Michigan from 1961
through 1m. Cohna also serves
as Chairman of the Michigan
Council for the Arts and as
Chairman of the State Board of
Ethics and recently completed
three terms as president of the
Jewish Community 9>uncil of
Metropolitan Detroit, an
umbrella organization for some .
300 fraternal, religi us social
and community elations
groups. He continues as a mem
ber of the Council's Executive
Committee. Cohna is a graduate
of Wayne State University,
where he received a B.A. de­
gree, and of Wayne St te
University Law School, where
he earned a J.D. degree .
\ .
Rucker on duty
DETROIT - Navy Fireman
�pprentice Lamarr E. Rucker,
shn of Florence L Rucker of
15333 Sorrento, Detroit, recent­
ly participated in acceptance
trials with the Precommissjon­
ing Unit Battleship Wisscoosin,
based at Pascagoula, M· .
A 1984 graduate of Detroit
Central High school, he joined
the Navy in June 1987.
Marine Pfc. Johnnie L.Byr4,
son of Sylvia A. Golston of 1§55
Grandmont, Detroit, recently
returned from a deployment to
the Republic of the Philippines
_ A 1985 graduate of Cody
High School, Detroit, he joined
the Marine Corps in December
1985.