| Shakespeare featured among Senior Learning Institute courses
John Neville-Andrews, artistic director of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival in Jackson, will be the featured speaker at the spring assembly of the Albion Academy for Lifelong Learning (AALL) at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 25 in Fellowship Lounge of the First United Methodist Church, E. Michigan Avenue and Oswego Street in Albion. Newille-Andrews, who has 30 years experience as a director, actor and producer, will talk about the festival's history and future plans, including this summer's productions of "Henry V" and "Macbeth." Neville-Andrews also is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Drama at the University of Michigan. .
MSU’s ‘World Languages Day’ offers unique program for students
EAST LANSING, Mich. High school students interested in exploring such diverse topics as Russian language, modern Middle Eastern dance, basic Kiswahili, the Peace Corps, the Nigerian film industry and French slang can take part in the third annual World Languages Day on Saturday, April 21, at Michigan State University. More than 600 students, teachers and parents from roughly 50 Michigan high schools will participate in the event beginning at 8:30 a.m. at The Eli Broad College of Business. The event celebrates the benefits of learning foreign languages and culture and highlights the opportunities available for language study at MSU. Students can attend presentations of their choice from more than 70 sessions taught by MSU faculty and guest speakers.
When Stereotypes Stalk Tragedy
Such were the prayers of men and women across the nation who feared a backlash from stereotypes of a killer, especially a mass murderer of such evil as the shooter at Virginia Tech. When portraits of a villain fill the television screens, it's easy for good people to look to their comfortable prejudices for explanations. Blaming race, religion, ethnicity and culture seems more reasonable than accepting the randomness of one madman. The Asian American Journalists' Association urged editors and reporters to "avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason" (and by urging restraint in the name of Asian journalists neatly identified the killer's ethnicity). The public naturally wants to learn everything it can about someone who commits such a heinous act. Reporters look for every angle to explain motive, raising questions about race along with questions of sociology and psychology.
Ready to run
Even though he visited only occasionally, there was something about Eugene that always irked avid runner Andy Heily. "The health of track and field in Eugene is an indicator of the health of track and field in the United States and, for that matter, the world," says Heily, a 35-year-old sales director from Seattle. "The fact that there's not a marathon there is something that's just irritated me for a long time." Two years ago, while living in Boston, Heily felt the urge to vent about Eugene's missing-in-action marathon. But, whom to call? Why, Uncle Richard, of course. That would be Richard Maher, a semi-retired Web site marketer who lives in Eugene and discovered his passion for marathoning about 10 years ago. When Heily called with his idea, Maher hit the ground running.
Community complains over police and immigration cooperation
CARLSBAD ---- Some Latino immigrants say recent cooperation between Carlsbad Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has resulted in the deportation of at least 15 people and is creating an atmosphere of fear in the community.Immigrants said police officers are frequently calling immigration authorities after stopping them for traffic violations. Some immigrants said they are specially concerned about patrols in the area around Jefferson Elementary School in the heart of the city's Latino neighborhood. Carlsbad police Chief Tom Zoll could not be reached for comment Thursday. But he told a group made up primarily of Latinos on Wednesday that in some instances officers call immigration authorities for assistance, including to help identify people who don't have proper identification.
The Literary Art
Anyone wishing to understand the contemporary poetry scene wants at least briefly to familiarize himself with the work of William Logan, and anyone wishing to comprehend today's American wants to know something of its poetry. A nation's poetry reveals its soul, its mind and heart. In this sense, Logan's writings are emblematic of larger and essential issues. In the poetry world, Logan is best known for criticism that has appeared in book form since 1984, George Orwell's future. Logan is known as an acerbic, reactionary critic. He is prone to blame, if not ridicule, rather than praise. He appears to have targeted for especially negative criticism the overtly experimental, vulgar "anything goes" school of modern and post-modern art. But this is only, guardedly, true. For Logan is something of blood brother to the fraternity he attacks, his sallies against it Pyrrhic victories.
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