Wasserman Conference to Be Held At UB On Feb. 8

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Avner Cohen, senior Jennings Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., will deliver the keynote address at the 12th annual Wasserman Conference, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 8, on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

Cohen will discuss "Israel: 50 Years After Its Birth-Normalcy or Anomaly?" at 2:15 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre.

Blair Hofherr, editor of the UB student newspaper ARI, will give a student response, followed by a discussion of "Zionism and Israel: A Musical Relationship" by Deborah Katchko Zimmerman, cantor at Temple Beth El.

The annual event is sponsored by Hillel of Buffalo and was established by Arthur Wasserman and his late wife, Louise.

The theme of this year's program, which kicks off Jewish Awareness month, will be "Zionism 1897-97/Israel 1948-98."

Workshops that will be held from 3-4:10 p.m. include:

• "Zionism: Has It Run Its Course?" by the Hon. Daniel Kutner, counsel for academic affairs-U.S.A. in the Israel Consulate General in New York City

At the 4:15-5:30 p.m. session, speakers and topics will be:

• "Israel and the U.S.A.: Are We Still Friends ?" by Jerome Slater, Ph.D., UB professor of political science

• "Mutual Responsibility: Diaspora Jews and Israeli Jews -- Are We One People?" with James Lodge, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo and a UB student panel including Sharon Rosen, Jamie Friedman, Brian Farber and Andrew Gonedes.

The conference will be co-sponsored by the UB Department of Political Science; the American Jewish Committee of Western New York Buffalo/Niagara Chapter; ARI, the Israeli Student Association and the Jewish Student Union, all at UB; UJA Campus Campaign, and the American Jewish Committee.

Registration, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Lobby, is $2 for students and $6 for members of the community. Reservations for dinner, which will began at 5:35 p.m. in Pistachio's in the Student Union, is $3 for students and $6 for the community.

For more information and dinner reservations, which must be made by Feb. 3, call Hillel Foundation at 835-3832, or the UB Campus Center for Jewish Life at 639-8361.