[he Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 31, 2011 - 3A
he Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 31, 2011 - 3A
EWS BRIEFS
ETROIT
etroit Public
chools recalling
aid-off teachers
Nearly 90 laid-off Detroit Pub-
c Schools teachers are being
alled back to work to ease over-
rowding in some of the district's
lassrooms, district officials
nnounced Saturday.
Principals at 34 schools
equested more teachers, the dis-
ict said ina release.
Some teachers and parents have
omplained of classes with more
tudent than allowed under the
achers' union contract. Of the
istrict's more than 4,000 class-
ooms, 22 exceeded student num-
er limits, school officials said.
TATE COLLEGE, Pa.
arly snow pelts
ast Coast, 2.3M
eft without power
An unusually early and pow-
rful nor'easter dumped wet,
eavy snow Saturday from the
id-Atlantic to New England,
ppling leafy trees and power
nes and knocking out electric-
y to more than 2 million homes
nd businesses.
Communities inland were
etting hit hardest, with east-
rn Pennsylvania serving as the
ull's-eye for the storm. West
ilford, N.J., about 45 miles-
orthwest of New York City, had
ceived 15.5 inches of snow by
aturday night, while Plainfield,
ass., had gotten 14.3 inches.
ew York City's Central Park set
record for both the date and the
onth of October with 1.3 inches
snow.
More than 2.3 million custom-
rs lost power from Maryland
orth through Massachusetts,
nd utilities were bringing in
rews from other states to help
estore it. More than half a mil-
on residents in New Jersey,
enosylvania and Connecticut
er without power, including
ew Jersey Gov.Chris Christie.
y late Saturday, the storm had
acated most of Pennsylvania
nd was tracking northeast.
IAMI
ettlement reached
n 2001 anthrax
eath lawsuit
The widow of a Florida tab-
id photo editor who died in
he 2001 anthrax mailings has
eached a settlement in her law-
uit againstthe U.S. government.
Maureen Stevens of Lake
orth and the government have
ached a tentative agreement
at must be approved by the
ustice Department, according
'o court documents filed late last
eek in West Palm Beach federal
burt.
In her lawsuit, originally filed
2003, Stevens had claimed
at the government was negli-
ent in failing to stop someone
om working at an Army infec-
ious disease lab from creating
eapons-grade anthrax used in
tters that killed five people and
'ckened 17 others. Her husband,
obert Stevens, was the first vic-
EIIING
hina cop accused
f drunken crash,
rowds protest
A police officer was suspected
f driving a police van drunk and
illing five people in a central
hina crash that sparked angry
rowds to smash and flip police
ars in the latest burst of public
nger against the authorities.
Wang Yinpeng, the head of a
wnship police station in Henan
rovince's Runan county, was
harged with endangering pub-
c security after the van crashed
to two street lamp poles Satur-
ay afternoon, the official Xin-
ua News Agency said.
The poles fell, fatally crushing
ve victims and injuring three
ore.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Anti-arson
patrols to flood
Detroit streets
CHRIS DZOMBAK/
English Prof. Ralph Williams reacts to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Golden Apple award on March 9, 2009,
WILLIAMS
From Page1A
ing the Summer 2011 term. He said
he is returning to the University
next semester at the request of the
Department of English Language
and Literature. As long as the
department wants himto teach, he
is happyto do it, he said.,
Faculty members do not often
come out of retirement, but Wil-
liams was an extremely popular
professor so the University made
an exception in his case, according
to Katherine Teasdale, the under-
graduate administrator of the Eng-
lish department.
"This is a highly unusual
arrangement for Professor Wil-
liams, acknowledging his unprec-
edented success in the classroom,"
Teasdale wrote in ane-mail inter-
view. "But because of Professor
Williams's reputation and exper-
tise, we thought it would be an
incredible learning experience for
our students."
Williams said he loves interact-
ing with students, which is one of
the reasons he was drawn back to
teaching.
"They sort of tug and pull and
pry at my mind and lead me on, and
both preparation for lecture (and)
discussion ... are a mode of my own
growth and it's marvelous, it really
is," Williams said.
Williams is renowned for get-
ting to know his students, despite
teaching many large classes.
"Remarkably, he knows the
names of his hordes of students,
and remembers things about their
lives that are important," Teasdale
wrote.
Williams said he tries to under-
stand his students because they
each have a different and impor-
tant point of view. He explained
that if students do not share their
perspectives, the history and cul-
ture of those students are not rec-
ognized. This, he said, isthe reason
he recognizes all of his students,
even if it is just with a glance or a
gesture.
LSA senior Kimberly Grambo
said Williams delivered a num-
ber of guest lectures to her Great
Books course during her freshman
year, and the classes she took with
him were memorable.
"Part of it was hype," Grambo
said. "Everyone showed up for this
lecture that he was in. The place
was packed, and it was just the
energy. He walks in, and it's like
every single lecture is a perfor-
mance."
Grambo said she expects Wil-
liams's return to be a big deal for
the institution.
"I think (his return) means
a lot," she said. "I heard that he
was coming back, actually, and it
reminded me of Michael Jordan."
While Williams has lectured at
other universities, he remained
a professor at the University of
Michigan for the entirety of his
career after a brief stint at Cornell
University in the late 1960s. Wil-
liams said he thinks the University
is the "best public university in
the land," and he appreciates how
much he has learned'from other
departments within the Univer-
sity.
"One of the lovely things about
Michigan is that whatever is stud-
ied is studied here and well, so I
tried to learn from people all over
the University," Williams said.
Throughout his time as a pro-
fessor and during his hiatus,
Williams undertook a number of
projects to improve the education-
al experience at the University.
One of the projects was col-
laborating with the Royal
Shakespeare Company, which
he worked with for a number of
years. He said he believes Shake-
speare productions are not only
educational, but also contribute
to the University's culture. Wil-
liams said University alumni fly
in from all over the United States
and the world to see some cam-
pus productions. Williams also
said he hopes to connect visiting
alumni with students through a
project called "The Stadium and
the Stage" so alumni can main-
tain their connection to the Uni-
versity.
Williams also pioneered the
"Chevrutah" approach to teaching
at the University, where students
are paired with another student for
the entire semester to discuss the
material together each class. Wil-
liamsusesthe formatinstead of the
typical discussion model, in which
some students speak more than
others, a style that goes against his
teaching philosophy. Williams said
he would like to continue develop-
ing the teaching format at the Uni-
versity during his return.
Williams summed up his feel-
ings about the University and
teaching in one line in Italian:
"If I were ever to have an epitaph
and deserved it, it might be one
from Dante, a line of his I par-
ticularly like, but it's one which
I would like to see characterize
this University - intellectual
light, full of love."'
Police and fire
departments aim to
prevent fires during
Halloween
DETROIT (AP) - If any-
one has any intention of setting
fires in Calvin Colbert's west-
side Detroit neighborhood, he
wants them to know that he'll be
watching.
The 62-year-old Colbert will
be one of thousands of city resi-
dents patrolling streets over the
annual Halloween period which
began yesterday with Angels'
Night.
The coordinated effort by the
city, police and fire departments
and neighborhood groups is
aimed at reducing the number of
fires intentionally set to vacant
buildings, houses, garages and
trash containers.
On the blocks he patrols near
Cody High School, there have
been few arsons around Hallow-
een over the past few years, Col-
bert said.
"I do remember the years
when we were going from fire to
fire," he said. "For the last two
years, the deterrence is in place,
and people know there are going
to be a number of people out
patrolling. That deters individu-
als from trying to do arsons."
Detroit gained national and
world-wide notoriety during the
1980s when vandals delighted
in starting fires across the city
over what then was known as
devils' night. In 1984, more than
800 fires were started over three
days.
The city began to mobilize
volunteers to augment police
patrols, and the name Angels'
Night eventually was coined.
Last year, firefighters
responded to 169 blazes, most in
vacant structures. There were
119 fires reported in 2009 and
136 in 2008.
A city-wide curfew banning
children younger than 18 from
being outside without adult
supervision was to go into effect
at 6 p.m. Sunday.
It's also illegal to pump gaso-
line into portable containers
or to carry any flammable' liq-
uid until 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
The ordinance does not apply in
emergency situations for any-
one over age 18 where the fuel
is needed for a stalled vehicle,
heating a home or for use in an
emergency generator.
"We are targeting our pre-
vention activities leading up to
it," Detroit Fire Chief Kwaku
Atara said about Angels' Night.
"We are speaking to commu-
nity groups and middle and high
school students."
Police and firefighters have
their jobs to do, but much of the
work also should fall on Detroi-
ters, Colbert said.
He also is part of Brothers on
Patrol, a group of men who patrol
public bus stops around Cody
High in the mornings and after-
noons to deter fights, robberies
and other acts of violence.
"It is the responsibility of the
residents - those that live here
- to create a safe environment,"
Colbert said. "The solution and
answer is you."
I I
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