Fighting with your spouse can make chronic conditions worse

If you’re living with a chronic illness—as half of all Americans are—then you may want to check any unnecessary bickering. According to a recent study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, the only thing worse than living with a chronic condition is fighting with your partner while living with a chronic condition. Researchers were interested in getting a better understanding of how the day-to-day interactions in a marriage impact the health of a person living with a chronic disease.

August 2, 2018

Michigan politicians, others react to Supreme Court redistricting decision

The Michigan Supreme Court decided late Tuesday to keep a proposal to change the way Michigan draws voting district lines on the November ballot in 4-3 decision released late Tuesday night. The decision came after months of contentious legal proceedings which kept the proposal, by the group Voters Not Politicians, in limbo. The opposition group, Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution,  unsuccessfully argued that the measure was too broad to legally go before voters. Instead, that group argued it would require a constitutional convention in order to make the changes. Susan Fino, professor of political science, commented to Bridge ahead of the decision last week. “It’s clearly a valid initiative petition that meets all the constitutional requirements, so unless the Court is willing to expose themselves as overtly political, they really can’t keep it off the ballot.”

July 31, 2018

N.M. telescope for Wayne State magnifies ties to late friend

Russ Carroll was a bit above it all and Dan Zowada was more down to Earth, but they shared an interest in the stars, and the two kids like that in a class will always form their own constellation. As high school ended, they took separate paths. Carroll, who is brilliant, went mostly west. Zowada, who was creative, stayed put. Then three years and two weeks ago, Zowada died — which is where the rest of the story begins. Nearly 2,000 miles away from the glow of Detroit's skyline, in the desert of southwest New Mexico, sits the Dan Zowada Memorial Observatory — Wayne State University’s gateway to the cosmos. The observatory and land were gifted to WSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy by Carroll, a retired entrepreneur and astronomer, in honor of Zowada, his late childhood friend.

July 30, 2018

Archaeological digs reveal details about Detroit's history

Professors at Wayne State University were asked to investigate a three-story worker’s row house, or tenement house, located in Corktown. Thomas Killion, associate professor of anthropology at Wayne State and his students worked for three years on the archaeological dig at the row house, one of Detroit's oldest surviving structures.

July 16, 2018

Busting 3 common myths about homelessness

As a young psychologist in the 1980s who had researched treatment of the mentally ill, I was concerned by many reports suggesting that the growing number of homeless people may be due to deinstitutionalization.

July 5, 2018

Digging for mid-1800s trash uncovers lives of Corktown residents

Thomas Killion, associate professor of anthropology at Wayne State, said he and his students worked for three years on the archaeological dig at the row house, one of Detroit's oldest surviving structures. The house was built in 1849 on 6th Street, he said. Workers moved into the building in 1850.

July 1, 2018

Why is suicide on the rise in the US – but falling in most of Europe?

Suicide now ranks in the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. In 2015, 44,193 Americans died by their own hand. That was more than the number killed in motor vehicle accidents (37,757) and over twice the number who died through homicide (17,793).

June 28, 2018

Juneteenth: Freedom’s promise still denied to thousands of blacks

June 19 marks Juneteenth, a celebration of the de facto end of slavery in the United States. For hundreds of thousands of African-Americans stuck in pretrial detention – accused but not convicted of a crime, and unable to leave because of bail – that promise remains unfulfilled. And coming immediately after Father’s Day, it’s also a reminder of the loss associated with the forced separation of families.

June 19, 2018

How contaminated is the fish we eat?

Dr. Donna Kashian, professor of biological science at Wayne State University, said people need to concern themselves with the contamination of fish. "If you are pregnant, if you are under 11 years old, you are going to be more sensitive to some of these compounds," Kashian said.

June 12, 2018

For flickers, looks can be deceiving

"The hybrid zone between the yellow- and red-shafted flickers is particularly striking, but despite very apparent morphological and ecological differences, genetic studies beginning in the late 1980s found few differences between these two 'subspecies,'" adds flicker expert William S. Moore, a Wayne State University professor who was not involved with this research. 

June 7, 2018

What will pulling out of the Iran deal do for Israel?

The U.S. just pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Will this be good or bad for Israel in the short run? What about in the long run?

May 21, 2018

Will the new U.S. embassy lead to peace?

The US embassy move should have been part of “final status” talks, not a premature and needless step to fulfill a rash campaign promise.

May 17, 2018

Wayne State looks to the stars

Wayne State University is adding a state-of-the-art robotically controlled observatory to its assets. But, the Dan Zowada Memorial Observatory is located on 40-acres in the mountains of New Mexico.

May 14, 2018

(Column) Americans' enthrallment with British royalty

Janine Lanza, associate professor and director for the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program at Wayne State University, examines the intense interest many Americans have in the affairs of British royalty. “Our history and Constitution forbid noble titles from taking hold in this country. American culture traditionally prizes individual achievement and accomplishment rather than status conferred by birth,” she says. “However, the pomp and ceremony of Old World royalty have captivated a country with a brief history and no traditions to rival the pageantry that marks such royal events.”

May 10, 2018

Dry Times: Looking back 100 years after prohibition

A 2012 archaeological dig by Wayne State University uncovered hard evidence of a Purple Gang gambling room in the basement of this 19th century building, as well as the collapsed remains of a tunnel that allowed those in the know to access the space.

May 1, 2018

Professor explores constraints on policy learning after disaster

Kristin O'Donovan, assistant professor of political science will explore the limits on policy learning about disaster mitigation after a community has experienced a disaster. 

April 20, 2018

Research reveals insects were major food source millions of years ago

Julie Lesnik from the department of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said: "Insects are an important food source for billions of people in the world today but researchers tend to ignore this food source when reconstructing past diets.

April 16, 2018

Wayne State teams up with Applied Materials

Materials engineering solutions provider Applied Materials, Inc. and Wayne State University will work together to create new thin film deposition processes for the advancement of semiconductors.

April 13, 2018

The dark side of social media

Over the last two years, according to an analysis by the Free Press and BuzzFeed, at least 50 violent acts, two a month, have occurred on Facebook and Instagram live and Twitter's Periscope — the latest one here in Detroit. Criminologist Matthew Larson, an associate professor of criminology at Wayne State University, said given the millions of live-streams every day, "these acts of violence are especially rare and no doubt outliers." 

April 13, 2018

WSU student educates medical professionals on LGBTQ health

For the LGBTQ community, usually that anxiety exists because they haven’t come out to the medical staff serving them. Or, it’s because they fear being judged or mistreated for being open about their lifestyle. 

April 11, 2018