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www.michneandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 51 @2004 The Michigan Daily
Chabad
House
menorah
trashed
Staff suspect
crime motivated
by religious bias
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
A 15-foot menorah was found
destroyed on the front steps of
Chabad House at 715 Hill St. Satur-
day morning. The menorah, the tra-
ditional symbol of Hanukkah, was
built of gold-colored PVC pipes and
had been torn down and left twisted
on the sidewalk.
The Chabad House serves Univer-
sity Jewish students and residents by
offering a place for worship, study
and community. Leaders said they
believe the property destruction may
have been motivated by religious
prejudices.
"For someone to actually go and
maliciously destroy a menorah, there
has to be some kind of hate there,"
Chabad House Director Altoer
Goldstein said. "It's something very
dramatic."
Goldstein said the house's leader-
ship has not yet ruled out alcohol as
a motivator.
"Maybe someone was under the
influence," Goldstein said. "But that
does not justify in any way their
action. It wasn't just a menorah but
a Jewish symbol that was vandal-
ized."
Chabad members have placed the
professionally designed menorah on
the steps for 20 years in celebration
of Hanukkah, the eight-day celebra-
tion often referred to as the Jew-
ish Festival of Lights. Goldstein
estimated that it was worth about
$1,000.
Chabad members are upset and
discouraged by the incident, Gold-
stein said. They believed that Ann
Arbor was a place where they could
practice their religion removed from
anti-Semitism, he said, especially
because there are an estimated 6,000
Jewish students at the University.
"They're very disturbed about the
action," Goldstein said. "The great-
est hope is that we can make people
aware so that this will never happen
again."
In order to expose people to what
happened, Chabad leaders decided to
leave the damaged menorah where it
was found.
There are currently no suspects
in the case. The Ann Arbor Police
Department is investigating, but it is
unsure how the menorah was dam-
aged or whether it was intentional,
Sgt. Pat Ouellette said.
Immediately after discovering the
destruction, Chabad members erected
a temporary menorah where the old
See CHABAD, Page 3A
Seeking
1life
support
PhotoSDy PEIER SUHO I LENI-ELS/Daily
Research technician Bob Kelly, above, works at the Life Sciences institute - the structure
on the far left of the top photo - which is currently trying to draw faculty to Its facilities.
The structure second from the left in the top photo is The Commons, which houses the
University's bioinformatics center.
Eight months later, AAFD
coping with budget cuts
Downsized staff shifts, closed station part of changes
Graduation speaker
will address race,
higher education
By Julia Homing
Daily Staff Reporter
A $1.1 million decrease in funding for the
Ann Arbor Fire Department in this fiscal
year has forced the city to make changes to
its services, training programs and staff.
Mark Redies, the fire department's admin-
istrative assistant chief and budget manager,
said, "We have had to cut back our training a
bit, but most of our costs are from the man-
power," he said, referring to the cuts made
because of the city's budget deficit. The fire
but we would need to call in help from other
townships or from firefighters off duty to deal
with the fire," he said.
The department has also had to close a
station due to cuts. "We have been forced to
close down Station Two, located on the cor-
ner of Stadium and Packard," Redies said.
Captain Greg Hollingsworth said the station
officially closed about six months ago.
Ann Arbor Safety Services Administra-
tor Daniel Oates also said there have been
changes to the department. "We seem to be
managing fairly well, mostly because we
Fire Dept. cuts
The AAFD has made changes after
$1 million in budget cuts last
spring, including:
0 Reductions in the minimum staff
requirement to 15 firefighters.
One fire station has shut down
Changes to what types of
By Emily Liu
Daily Staff Reporter
Robert Moses first became active in fight-
ing racial and class divides in the classroom
after witnessing discrepancies in his daughter's
middle school in 1982.
Moses's daughter was ready to begin taking
algebra, but the school did not offer any alge-
bra courses. As a result, Moses worked with
her and three other students to teach them alge-
bra. As he got more involved in the role, Moses
American and Latino students - suc-
cessfully achieve mathematical skill"
necessary to excel, according to the orga-
nization's website.
Moses, now the president of the project, will
speak at the University's winter commence-
ment Sunday, in addition to receiving an hon-
orary degree of doctor in laws.
Moses, who is black, said he believes that
the country still has remnants of what he calls
inequalities in education that stem from the
period following the Civil War.
I,
I I '
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