0 9 1 0 0 2B - The Michigan Daily - Weeke l alileai - Thursday, April 10, 2003 The Michigan Daily - Weekend Maazile - Prof. Ralph Williams exposes it all BY Ricky Lax Daily Arts Writer Ralph Williams has been teaching religion and literature courses at the University for years. His prescence in the classroom is one of a kind as he has entertained countless students all the while teaching them the likes of Dante, Shakespeare and the Bible. The Michi- gan Daily caught up with Williams to ask him what makes him so unique. The Michigan Daily: Congratula- tions on winning Best Professor. Ralph Williams: I am genuinely and deeply honored, and will do my very best to try to deserve it. I love every hair on my students' heads, and am wholly in love with the mate- rials I teach: My life is hugely privi- leged in those ways. TMD: When did you know you wanted to be a college professor? RW: Do you know I've always enjoyed the study of literature, but that existed in a larger network of interests. In many ways, coming to be a college teacher was something that simply happened. There are probably six or eight lives that I'd have enjoyed living. I'd have enjoyed being a doctor. Loved to have been a lawyer. Well, in col- lege, I applied to graduate school and Michigan's English department came up with something marvelous called a fellowship, which paved my way to study more. While doing that, I dis- covered that one of the chief things that one did was become a teacher. TMD: Academic freedom is very important to you; have you ever been deprived of it? RW: No. And I would leave the profession immediately if I were. It's enormously important to me. One needs to hear the views of all with whom one has to do intellectually and otherwise, as they wish to express it. TMD: Is anything off limits in your classes? RW: Yes, there is. Abuse of other speakers. The views of other are open to inspection from all quarters, but there will be human respect within the class- room for those who are present. TMD: Are any topics off limit? RW: In general, no - but, pragmat- ically, there is a restraint that I place on myself. It's my understanding, my com- mitment, that I, in the sense of commit- ments or antagonisms to commitments, am not the point of my Bible class. The point of the class is the material that draws us together and the discourse, as it is constructed by you, by me, by all of those there. Off limits for me in the classroom is the sort of expression of points of view, which intend to produce commitment to my own views. TMD: What do you think makes you such a popular professor? RW: I'd like it to be the fact that in my presence, students are received with respect, with human affection, their intelligence; nourished, drawn out, drawn on, their ability to receive and to challenge; extended, and their sheer joy in their human being and abilities; enhanced. TMD: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one work of literature with you, what would you choose? RW: Well let me say then Shake- speare because the works show the pressure of the Bible and then Shake- speare's own work foliates out into the works of almost all others in the West- ern tradition and in many others as well. I choose him because his works them- selves are more extensively and deeply human than virtually anything I know. TMD: Have you ever written a book? RW: Yes. The book, which emerged from my doctoral disserta- tion, is one on a neo-Latin poetics. It drew together for me, at that point, various forms of learning and touched on a number of interesting issues about tradition. My best writings are the ones ahead. There is one in forma- tion on Primo Levi on whom I teach a course. There is one, which deals with the ways in which the Bible has worked through world cultures. There is one called Five Florentine Chapels. TMD: Where is a good place to get Angell tops in lavatories By Ellen McGarrity Daily Arts Writer Where do you go when nature calls? Michigan students reported that they'd rather be in the Angell Hall bathrooms than anywhere else on campus. But what makes Angell's facilities better than the rest? Or are they even that much better? At least one person thinks so. "I love the Angell bathrooms - there's not a lot of traf- fic so you can shit peacefully," said Michigan alum Jim Kyle, who graduated last year and used to spend a lot of time in the building. But let's look into this topic more before making a deci- sion. So, you've just hiked up to campus from your dorm or apartment and you've got an appointment with your LSA advisor. Up the marble steps into Angell, and you hit the first set of-bathrooms. Perfect, a chance to relieve yourself before discussing your major and class schedule for the next 30 minutes. But beware of these "first chance" bathrooms. The lighting above the stalls is almost non-existent and the floors are always covered with dirty paper towels. These bathrooms also have only three toilets each - not the best when you're in a rush. Phew, the meeting with your advisor is over and it's off to your sociology lecture in Angell's Auditorium B. When you're almost there, that supersize Coke from Wendy's kicks in and a stop to the bathroom is necessary. This time you hit up the stalls next to the auditoriums. These are always a good bet - not too crowded and usually kept clean. Girls, this is a good place to primp because of all the space. Lecture's over and a trip to the Fishbowl is needed, as you have a psychology journal due in, oops, an hour. But, that soda is still kicking in, so you visit the bathrooms right out- side of the computer area. Be very cautious in these bath- rooms. Warning: Foul smells and dim lighting lie within. Do the janitors even stop in there? Encore re best for u! By Andrew M. Gaerig Daily Arts Writer Here are the ruberics for the day good people ... Elise Bergman/Daily The new bathrooms in Angell are the best on campus. The journal is completed and successfully e-mailed to your GSI and now it's time for English class. Up the stairs this time - two flights to the old section of Angell. Your bladder is still complaining, so you pay a quick visit to the johns on this floor. These are probably the eeriest and qui- etest bathrooms in the building. Be sure to read all the ancient messages on the inside of the stall doors (yes, peo- ple actually have conversations on the bathroom stalls). You're done with Angell for the day and head out through the newly completed back section of the build- ing. It's embarrassing, but you feel a No. 2 coming on. Don't worry, you're in the right place. The bathrooms in the new section of Angell are a little-known secret. With brand new toilets, sinks, tile floors and not visited too often, these bathrooms are the ideal place to get some precious time to yourself. The consensus? While all of Angell's bathrooms may not be up to par, the number and variety make up for it. LSA freshman Steve Lake agrees. "The urinals are wonderfully maintained," Lake said. "And the toilets are so clean you can drink out of them. Not that I do, but it's good to know the option is there." Straddling that fine line between having too many albums and having way too many albums, Liberty Street's Encore Records has been serving Ann Arbor's music snobs since 1991. Nes- tled unassumingly in a small store- front, a trip across the threshold reveals a crowded cubby of aural treasures. Though navigating the cir- cuitous shelving units can be like mapping your way through the Grad Library stacks, the rewards are far more grand: the store deals almost exclusively in used material, offering the patient customer a seemingly end- less selection. The collection of CD's is impres- sive: the pop-rock section is hit or miss, but persistence usually yields at least a few gems. Classic rock and one-hit wonders are sure bets, but any- thing else depends on the visit. Less popular genres - bluegrass, blues and electronic - are less picked-over, and as a result, offer rewards to the dis- cerning fan. The store's commitment to local music is impressive, as they shelve dozens of local bands for reasonable prices. Often, the best finds - in any genre - are made at the counter, where excess stock is stacked three feet high. Patience is essential, but glean- ing these towers of overlooked mer- cha that is, ToV mo can rag obs tim anc see ing the am to sw< lea cus ing che Ma I tro Enc tive self tior gro wit mo of ser tre; rig pot dinner in Ann Arbor? RW: I'm homesick for Italy so much. I'll go to this Italian restaurant on the other edge of town. I'm Canadi- an born, but I just fell head over heals for Italy. You're born in a certain place and in a certain sense that's home, but then if you are fortunate in life, you get to chose a home of the spirit. For me that place is Italy. There is a bend in the railroad when I come up from Rome. When I pass it, I am home. TMD: So much is made of your commanding hands, there must be some metaphor there, what would it be? RW: I've heard people comment on my hands. I've heard people com- ment on and question my style. In a certain sense, my hands are a given. I can't help my looks. I'm given my hands. If I were to move toward a' metaphor, I suppose I'd want it to be reach and grasp, a reaching out toward, a wish to grasp. But what you see in me is not premeditated style, what you see is my body thinking. TMD: How much free time do you have every day? RW: This may be a self-criticism: I don't think I understand free time. I'm 61 and there's necessarily limited time and I have limited abilities and I am going to get every second out of that time and every bit out of those abilities that I can before time ends for me. So I open my eyes between four and five in the morning and I get up and I start going and I usually stop between 11 and 12 at night. I'm not good at the concept of leisure. TMD: After you leave the Universi- ty, how do you wish to be remembered? RW: There's a line of Dante which I'd like as indicated that by which I'd like to be remembered, if I ever earned it, I'd like it as an epitaph: "Intellectual light, full of love." TMD: Thank you, Prof. Williams. RW: No, thank you. It is a joy to talk with you. I Jobs!!! Spring/Summer Term Apply now at the Law Library enon-law Students *Law Students +S.I. Students Minimum pay is $8.50 per hour! Apply at the hiring table outside room S-180 in the Law Library's underground addition. 'i AA/EOE 11- - -----------