Vaccine distribution continues to slowly trickle down the ranks as Wayne State University's students and faculty in front-line health professions got their turn Thursday to begin getting inoculating against COVID-19. Wayne State began administering the first dose of the Moderna vaccine to faculty and students who are in active clinical practice and rotations with patients. "We were able to invite individuals to let us know if they were interested in receiving the vaccine. Those that were interested in receiving the vaccine received an invitation to continue to the process," said Toni Grant, chief nursing officer at Wayne State's Campus Health Center. Approximately 2,000 people were identified by Wayne State as having first priority to the vaccine due to constant exposure working in hospitals. Wayne State is able to administer the vaccine in phases under a memorandum of understanding with the Detroit Health Department. "Wayne State is not mandating that anyone received the vaccine, but it is being highly encouraged that they receive it," said Grant. "One of the things that we wanted to make sure is that everyone was well-informed before they even scheduled their appointment, so all the information was actually made available electronically."

Even living in a time of isolation, the shockwaves that spread across the nation Wednesday were seismic. After insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, the first breach of its kind in more than two centuries, an insistence also arrived that the events were like something from another country. Strain of Violence raises the question is violence as American as apple pie? Kidada Williams, a Wayne State University historian who studies violence, would say yes. “Some scholars have argued that slavery and settler colonialism are the down-payment of the Revolution; they’re the down payment on American success,” said Williams in an interview with the Inquirer Thursday. “If you’re able to achieve significant success using violence, why would you use any other tactics?” Williams, who is writing a book on Black families who were attacked by the Ku Klux Klan amid Reconstruction, said the insurrection reminded her of the Civil War: The rebels were upset over election results, white progressives responded as a matter of preserving the country. The level of surprise this week at the attack at the Capitol, she said, reflects a deep belief in American exceptionalism that sidesteps our history of violence to focus on victories. America, she explained, erases its body count. “The federal government is expert at destabilizing movements that it perceives as a threat,” said Williams, who pointed to the American Indian Movement and the Black Power Movement. “The White Power movement has only recently been seen as a threat.”

What would you call someone who gives you their opinion on something about which they know… nothing? While a few expletives may come to mind, you can say this about them: They are being ultracrepidarian. That adjective — it’s also a noun — is one of ten words compiled by Wayne State University’s Word Warriors, whose mission is to revive English words that have fallen out of usage over time. Chris Williams is the assistant director for editorial services for WSU’s Office of Marketing and Communications. He’s also the chief Word Warrior. He says his team regularly sifts through words submitted by people around the world. “People who follow us on Facebook or just know of the website can submit a word,” Williams says. “We look at that word and see if it meets our criteria.” And what are the criteria? “They need to be words that have fallen out of use,” he says. “If we see that trend has gone down in the last 50 to 100 years, that’s a nice note that this a word worth recognizing.” Williams says they prefer not to highlight slang words, and they must be English. When they find one that meets the criteria, he says it’s a good feeling. “There’s almost like a little tingle,” he says. “Like, that’s a good word, I haven’t heard it before or heard it in a long time.”

Bored of the same old words? A team at Wayne State University released its annual list Wednesday of long-forgotten words to add to your vocabulary in 2021. The 12th annual WSU Word Warriors list includes 10 words that show no signs of anagapesis (loss of feelings for someone who was formerly loved) toward the English language – and may rejuvenate a love for words in others. From residents of Detroit to coast-dwelling paralians (someone who lives by the sea), participants from around the globe submitted words throughout the year. Far from a group of ultracrepidarians (expressing opinions on matters outside the scope of one’s knowledge or expertise), the Word Warriors once again proved themselves knowledgeable about the language. “Each year, I’m surprised by the variety of the submissions we receive from around the world,” Chris Williams, head of the Word Warriors program, said in a statement. “Our Word Warriors once again provided a batch of words that make our language richer. The English language is so versatile and unique, and we’ve ended up with another list of 10 great words.”

To date, tens of thousands of Michigan residents have received the new COVID-19 vaccines, an inoculation rate far below the original projected goal of elected officials. The slow rollout has concerned citizens and public health experts alike, and speed isn’t the only issue facing distribution efforts: Vaccine hesitancy is proving to be a major hurdle as well. Concerns about vaccine safety are coming from various groups, including anti-vaxxers who view this moment as an opportunity to promote their anti-science agenda. While others simply don’t trust the development process, Black Americans have expressed legitimate skepticism of the vaccine based on the fact that the Black community has been historically taken advantage of when it comes to the medical system, as evidenced by the Tuskegee syphilis study among other things. Dr. M Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University, and Dr. Paul Kilgore, associate professor & director of research at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the principal investigator at Henry Ford Health System’s testing of Moderna’s vaccine trial, participated in a discussion and responded to listener’s questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Michael Addonizio, professor of educational leadership and policy studies, wrote a piece for The Conversation on the budget challenges facing school budgets. “The year 2020 may prove to be pivotal in the history of U.S. public education. Many children have gone missing from school completely since March, and millions more are struggling with wholly inadequate online learning experiences. Lower-income and minority children are particularly hard-hit. The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated deep inequities across our public schools. Merely restoring school budgets to their prepandemic levels will not be enough to address them after this long period of limited learning. So far, most states have avoided deep education budget cuts this school year. However, they project revenue shortfalls for the 2021-22 school year.”

Wayne State University is out with its annual list of long forgotten words worthy of a second chance. So if you find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the morning, you can simply say you have Dysania [di-SANE-nee-ah]. Engaging in a lot of fruitless activity during the pandemic, that’s footling [FOO-tuh-ling]. And there's snollygoster [SNOL-lee-gos-tur] , a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially politician. There are seven other words on the list that quite frankly are as hard to pronounce as their meanings are obscure. But they are worth checking out. Wayne State researchers hope their list will encourage more people to search the linguistic cellar for more expressive language. “Each year, I’m surprised by the variety of the submissions we receive from around the world,” says Chris Williams, assistant director of editorial services for Wayne State Marketing and Communications, and head of WSU’s Word Warriors program. “Our Word Warriors once again provided a batch of words that make our language richer.” Wayne State University has been compiling an annual list of eminently useful words for the past 12 years.

Hilary Marusak, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, wrote an article for The Conversation on the benefit of mindfulness training., ”Now that 2021 is here, many are looking for new ways to manage stress. Although mindfulness and meditation are not new – there is evidence suggesting that humans have been practicing meditation for more than 5,000 years – many are turning to these techniques to improve overall well-being. Mindfulness is a technique that involves paying attention to what’s happening now in the present moment, in an accepting, nonjudgmental manner. There are mindfulness apps for managing stress, anxiety, chronic pain, weight loss, better sleep and quitting smoking.”

At first, Joseph and Renuka (“Ray”) Roche just followed the news about the coronavirus, like everyone else. After all, they’re not epidemiologists. He is a physical therapist. She is an occupational therapist. So to the Roches, back in January, the novel coronavirus landed somewhere between curiosity and concern. Nearly a year later, the Roches are still a little bit surprised how much of their problem this really is. Because while the nation hinges its hopes on the vaccine news out of companies like Pfizer and Moderna, the Roches came up with a distinctly different approach to the battle against Covid-19. They’ve isolated a potential explanation for the array of symptoms associated with the disease. And they’ve pinpointed an existing drug that could help mitigate these symptoms — but that hardly anyone is talking about. The Roches’ titles are as long as their road to Michigan. Joseph is the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Wayne State University. Ray is an assistant professor of occupational therapy (with a focus on developmental neurology) at Eastern Michigan University.

Arash Javanbakht, M.D., director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic (STARC) at Wayne State University, wrote an article for Psychology Today. “In 2020, divisions ran deep in America. A new Pew poll found that rarely before have Americans been more polarized than today. Journalists, scholars, and political leaders are increasingly taking note of the hyper-polarization of our political climate. Public figures like President-elect Biden, for instance, have vouched to unite the country and end “this grim era of demonization.” But the task of reconciliation is daunting: Some who try to overcome polarization often concede all too quickly that it is “a waste of time” to engage the other side. We cannot afford to embrace defeatism and retreat into our political tribes if we want to keep this Republic.”

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson wrote an op-ed regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. “As a physician, epidemiologist and scientific researcher, I plan to take one of the coronavirus vaccines as soon as my turn comes.  I am confident that the vaccines are safe and effective, because I am confident in the years of scientific work and care behind their development. As a Black man and a member of Governor Whitmer’s Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, I plan to encourage all Black men and women to take the vaccine. I know there is a lot of distrust and reluctance to get the vaccine born out of historical inequities and mistreatment. Despite the fact that Black people are almost three times more likely than white people to die of COVID-19, according to a Pew Research survey, only 42% of African Americans say they will get the vaccine, compared to 61% of white people. Frankly, neither number is high enough. I encourage everyone — I implore everyone — to get the vaccine as soon as they can. Especially members of the African American community.

In a partnership with Wayne State University’s [WSU] Computing and Information Technology Department [WSU C&IT] and rootoftwo, free outdoor wireless will be offered in Detroit’s Cultural Center—an area that includes CCPI stakeholder institutions: The Carr Center, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Public Library, Hellenic Museum of Michigan, International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan Science Center, The Scarab Club, University of Michigan and Wayne State University, the press release added.

Please don't travel. That was the advice many public health officials urged Americans to follow this holiday pandemic season. And yet, travel over Christmas surged as millions of people left their homes and cities to spend it with family. All the while, hospitals are overflowing, still dealing with a surge of infections from travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. Dr. Teena Chopra, an infectious disease specialist at Wayne State University School of Medicine, participated in a Q&A with NPR host Sarah McCammon.

Hilary A. Marusak, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, and Aneesh Hehr, Wayne State University medical student, wrote an article for The Conversation’s “Curious Kids” series. “When you’re asleep, you can seem completely dead to the world. But when you wake up, in an instant you can be up and at ‘em. How does the brain turn on awareness or consciousness? This question has puzzled scientists for centuries – and continues to do so. While scientists don’t have the full answer yet, they are finding clues by studying people’s brains as they shift between sleeping and waking.”

Ned Staebler, vice president for economic development and TechTown CEO, wrote an opinion piece for the Oakland Press (subscribers only), which also appeared in Michigan Future, about the need to invest “on Main Street” in order to see real economic development across Michigan. Staebler wrote: “We need to support our existing small businesses and to help create new ones. It’s absolutely imperative that we have another stimulus package either at the state level, as Governor Whitmer has called for in the lame-duck legislative session, or from the incoming Biden administration. It’s equally imperative that the stimulus is focused on the mom-and-pop small businesses that employ more than half of America’s workers. In other words, if we want to see real economic development across Michigan, it requires us to invest on Main Street.”

When the NBA, the NHL and MLB started their playoffs this year, they observed strict rules about whom their players could interact with — "bubbles" meant to make sure outbreaks were limited and contained. The NFL is instituting no such bubble for its coming playoffs, according to an internal league memo obtained by NBC News. The league informed teams this week that they can't require players or staff members to stay in isolation in hotel rooms beyond the night before a game. Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging across the country, outpacing the outbreaks early in the year that suspended organized sports across the United States. Since then, most leagues have restarted play even as players have tested positive, games have been delayed and the broader national situation has worsened. "I think a lot of what happened with sport was what happened in the rest of the country," said Dr. Gretchen Snoeyenbos Newman, an infectious disease expert and assistant professor at Wayne State University. "We weren't getting clear messaging from the top. Without that coordinated national response, it was left up to individual leagues, players, communities about what they were going to do, which is no way to run a pandemic." The implications outside of sports have become even more salient now that Covid-19 vaccines have started to roll out, with more widespread availability expected in 2021. "This is the fourth quarter. The sports metaphor is completely apt here. It is time to lock it down," Newman said. "Just make it through until the summer. The end is in sight. Let's not blow it now. We should be being as cautious as possible, because we know it's time-limited."

The coronavirus vaccine arrives. But so does a logistics puzzle for the ages. How do you manage a limited supply of a medicine everyone needs? And what about those who do not trust that medicine? Are they right to wait? Or do they need to be convinced to jump in? Featured on segment two of Flashpoint are Dr. M. Roy Wilson, President of Wayne State University and an epidemiologist; Christina Zilke, a registered nurse and the nursing supervisor at the Washtenaw County Health Department; and Portia Roberson, CEO of Focus: HOPE.

Nonprofits were among the most visible organizations to shift strategies and processes to both endure the pandemic and support those suffering through job and other losses. By April, many colleges and universities began seeing decreases in fall enrollment—16 percent around the country—and drops in residence hall renewals. Consequently, they initiated layoffs and other budget cuts to help stave off hundreds of millions of dollars in predicted losses while also trying to mitigate the financial pain many students were experiencing. Yet, Wayne State University is bucking the trend and has seen increases in some enrollment figures. “We actually had a 5 percent increase in our first-year students,” said university President M. Roy Wilson, M.D., a trained epidemiologist. The university also hasn’t taken the financial losses most universities have so far experienced this year because of shifting strategies a few years ago that included turning to a public-private partnership for housing and food services, Wilson said. Still, with decreased consumer spending in 2020, property taxes left unpaid or deferred, high rates of unemployment and other hits to state budgets, college and university administrators expect state and federal budget cuts to affect their bottom lines in the near term. “We’ve been fortunate, but we are going to be impacted financially,” Wilson said. Wilson added that there’s also the issue of children missing out on the social and educational development they get from in-person learning. “As an epidemiologist, I’m worried about the pandemic and think we have to be very cautious,” he said. “So, I just urge everyone to think in terms of being as aggressive as we can be in driving the numbers down so that we can open up schools earlier.”

Wayne State University is expanding its mobile COVID-19 testing unit. "This new model of taking care to the people and delivering it on their terms, is really a bright spot that's come of this," said Dr. Phillip Levy. With a fleet of vans Wayne State brought the tests to the community. Now the mobile program visits churches, nursing homes and more mostly across metro Detroit. This is part of the first COVID-19 mobile testing program in the country, by Wayne State University and its physician group Wayne Health. "The population in Detroit - particularly the African-American population was suffering disproportionately from Covid both with caseload and mortality and we realized a lot of the population was under social circumstances that would make it challenging for them to easily get a test,:" said Levy, chief innovation officer, Wayne Health. Nearly 30,000 tests later -  it caught the attention of Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services. Now the program is expanding and the mobile health units will get a big boost. "The real nice thing with these vehicles they have dual sliding doors so when the awnings are down the side wraps are on there and the sliding doors are open," he said. "You get to create this whole contained environment to be heated and air-conditioned whatever it is and it creates a comfortable environment to continue to do the type of testing we've been doing." The new mobile health units will start to roll out on Saturday with Wayne State having a fleet of five by early 2021. Meanwhile, there is a lot more than Covid testing. "We pivoted very quickly to add HIV screening, blood pressure measurement, we do blood bass lab work in the field, we draw blood through windows of cars," Levy said. 

On a snowy Saturday, people drove and walked up to the parking lot at Oak Grove AME Church on Detroit's west side for free coronavirus testing. For Pastor Cindy Rudolph, this hits close to home  because she's seen the devastation COVID-19 can cause firsthand. "We have had loss, but we thank God that most of our members who have had COVID, came through healed," Rudolph said. Rudolph wanted to help, so she partnered with Wayne State University and its physician group, Wayne Health, to bring their mobile COVID testing program to her community. "To be in the community is critical," said Chief Innovation Officer with Wayne Health, Dr. Phillip Levy. "People may not have transportation; they may not have the ability to get to a location where testing is being done. In addition, they may not be able to get into a doctor's office." Since April, Wayne State Healthcare workers have traveled to churches, nursing homes and more. Most of the facilities have been in Metro Detroit. They originally used vans that were borrowed from Ford Motor Company, but now their vehicles are getting a major upgrade - becoming full-fledged mobile health units developed by Ford. "These vehicles are updated with all the equipment we need to run a testing operation and more," Dr. Levy said. "So, we are here doing COVID testing and nasal swabs. We have the refrigeration capacity to put the swabs that are ready for storage and shipment." Since the program started, healthcare workers have done nearly 30,000 tests along with additional screenings. Their efforts caught the attention of Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services. Now, the program is expanding. Come January Wayne State will have a fleet of five of these new mobile health units paid for by the state and Oscar Willing Film Director, Steven Soderbergh. "We need to still do COVID testing and people need to get tested," Dr. Levy said. "So anything we can do to facilitate that and keep our neighbors safe, it what we are here for."