Vol. LXXXII
No. 28
Omaha, NE
10 Adar 2, 5763
March 14, 2003
CELEBRATING 82 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA
Hundreds of Journalists Climb Aboard Gulf-bound U.S. Aircraft Carrier by JANINE ZACHARIA, The Jerusalem Post USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN--A loud swishing sound, a deafening, pulsating bang, and then heavy arresting cables being yanked onto a metal deck. It is the jolting noise produced by an aircraft landing on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and it is the first thing you notice when you arrive. This noise will be a major part of your stay here. The Roosevelt is one of two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. Three others are in the Persian Gulf and another, the USS Nimitz, is making its way here to take part in any conflict with Iraq. All of them are joined by a battle group of ships including cruisers, destroyers, supply ships, and submarines. They are all waiting to see what their role will be. But here, the focus is the fighter jets and the fighter pilots who will play a major role in any air campaign. (Continued on page 16)
Crews began deploying U.S.-supplied Patriot anti-missile batteries in the Tel Aviv area. Photo by ISRANET.
Jewish Press Co-sponsors Live from the 92nd Street Y Presentation: “Biased or Balanced? Israel and the Media” by CAROL KATZMAN, Editor Three world-class journalists and a household name in political polling will face off in a panel discussion about news stories about the Middle East. In the sixth in this latest series, Live from the 92nd Street Y, comes “Biased or Balanced? Israel and the Media” on Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m., in the theater at the Jewish Community Center. Appropriately, this presentation Gary Rosenblatt David Makovsky Ethan Bronner is co-sponsored by this newspaper. According to Fred Tichauer, Chairman of the publication was cited in the Pulitzer competition, Jewish Press Committee, “This is a very important which dates back to 1917. Bronner was named Assistant Editorial Page issue for us as Americans and as Jews. So often the Editor of The New York Times in January, 2002. news we hear on television and see in print is Throughout the previous fall, he worked as an ediskewed. tor in the paper’s investigative unit, focusing on the “If we don’t stand up for Israel, who will?” attacks of Sept. 11. A series of articles on Al Qaeda Gary Rosenblatt will moderate a panel consisting that Mr. Bronner helped edit during that time was of Ethan Bronner, Stan Greenberg and David awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory Makovsky. The four will discuss the media’s news journalism. He had been the paper’s education edigathering methods and challenges facing reporters. tor from 1999 to 2001 and a national education corRosenblatt is editor and publisher of The Jewish respondent from 1997 to 1999. Week of New York, the largest and most respected Before joining The Times, Bronner was with The Jewish newspaper in the country. Prior to coming to Boston Globe from 1985-97. He went on to become a New York in 1993, Rosenblatt was editor of the Supreme Court and legal affairs correspondent in Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years. He has won Washington, D.C. and a Middle East correspondent, numerous awards for his writing from secular and based in Jerusalem. He is the author of Battle for Jewish organizations. Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook America, His analysis of the Simon Wiesenthal Center of which was chosen by The New York Public Library Los Angeles was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in as one of the 25 best books of 1989. the category of Special Reporting in 1985. The (Continued on page 8) honor marked the first time an article in a Jewish
Inaugural Wintroub-Riklin Lecture Takes the Funnies Seriously by ADRIAN GIBBONS KOESTERS, Creighton University Over the years, readers of comic strips have opened up their newspapers to find a Jewish policeman helping “Dick Tracy” solve crime,a Jewish gal-pal advising the angst- and hormonedriven teenage hero of “Zits,” and “Gil Thorp” coaching an observant Jewish football player! Tens of millions of daily comic strip readers have observed these and similar instances of Jews and Judaism in strips as diverse as “Shoe” and “The Family Circus.” Until now, however, no one has collected examDr. Leonard Greenspoon opens this new annual lecture on March 30. ples of them, considered their significance, or brought them to the attention Kathy Hirshman at 334-6445 by March 24; for more of general readers as well as scholarly researchers. information on the lecture, call the Klutznick Chair Leonard J. Greenspoon, holder of the Creighton office at 280-2303. The series, titled the Wintroub-Riklin Lectures, University Klutznick Chair, is doing just that here in Omaha, as he inaugurates a new annual lecture was made possible by generous gifts to Creighton’s series that will focus attention on some fascinating Klutznick Endowment by the Eve and Louis Wintroub and the Dr. Henry H. Riklin families. aspect of Jews in daily life. “We decided, in consultation with the College of The lecture, “Jews in the Comic Strips,” will take place on Sunday, March 30, 7 p.m., at the Jewish Jewish Learning, to use these endowments to Community Center. The lecture, followed by a devote a lecture series to Jews and popular culture,” Greenspoon said. “Part of our mission in the reception, is free and open to the public. Babysitting will be provided for children aged Klutznick Chair is to further Jewish education in three and up. To make babysitting reservations, call Omaha, and we see this series as a fun as well as
informative supplement to our annual Fall symposium,” he added. For Spring 2004, a presentation on Jews and sports is planned to coincide with the Athens Olympics later that year, he added. Regarding his interest in Jews and Judaism in the comic strips, Greenspoon said, “While I have spoken on the Bible in the comics before, my research now addresses how Jews are popularly portrayed in the comic strips, which I see as a natural extension of my previous work. “I believe my focus is a unique one,” he explained. “It is estimated that 100 million people a day read the comic strips, and although many, if not most, of the readers are children, the issues presented are often very serious ones. “In some respects the comics are like the daytime soap operas of previous generations, dealing with important social issues just below the radar,” he added. “Within the past year, various strips have provided information on alcoholism, asthma, breast cancer, and date rape. Cartoonists have taken stands on issues as controversial as homosexuality and ecology, with results that undoubtedly upset some readers.” (Continued on page 2)
INSIDE: Book-Sharing Project Participants Killed in Haifa Bus Bombing ................................ page 9 Elderhood ................................................ page 11 A Romanian Purim ............................. pages 14