Briefs Adath Israel marks 50th anniversary

Writing conference for Jewish students

Jewish journalism students around the country are invited to participate in "Do the Write Thing," a conference for college students held in conjunction with the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities.

The General Assembly will be held Nov. 10 to 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. "Do the Write Thing," in its 10th year, will run Nov. 12 to 14. Participants in the writing program will attend workshops relevant to student journalism and will discuss such issues as Israeli-diaspora relations, globalization and values in a changing world. The students will also have the opportunity to interact with Jewish leaders from Israel and North America.

A $99 fee covers General Assembly registration, hotel expenses and most meals. For an application or for further information, contact the University Student Division, Hagshama Department, World Zionist Organization, 633 Third Ave., 21st floor, New York, NY 10017 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Israelis discover Alzheimer's gene JERUSALEM (JPS) -- An Israeli medical team discovered the first evidence of a recessive gene that causes Alzheimer's disease. The Tel Aviv-based team studied 821 the primarily Arab Umm el-Fahn region's residents over the age of 65 and found among them the "highest prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in the world." The findings, published in a medical journal, said a number of genes have been identified as playing a role in Alzheimer's, but until now, all of them were dominant genes, which will show their effect if inherited from only one parent. Israeli Arabs are an ideal population for research in diseases because of their large family size and the high rate of inbreeding.