"Detroit Today" cohost Saeed Khan, Wayne State University lecturer in the Department of History and Near East & Asian Studies, talked about his recent trip to Turkey and the burgeoning refugee problem in the region. Khan also noted that the Ferguson, Mo. case was the main story running on Turkey's media outlets.

Upperclassmen at Wayne State University moved into dorms Sunday. By midafternoon at the Towers Residential Suites, a routine rhythm had been set as cars pulled up to the curb near the building on Anthony Wayne Drive and parents and students piled belongings into rolling bins and on dollies. The Warrior Welcome Crew, made up of several students who had been through the process, were on hand to help out. Freshmen moved into the dorms Saturday; upperclassmen will continue moving onto campus Monday. Classes begin Wednesday. Wayne State's President M. Roy Wilson also was on site greeting parents and students.

Wayne State University College of Engineering professor Joseph Hummer recently conducted a study that resulted in the recommendation that the city of Detroit remove 30 percent of its traffic signals to save money and improve traffic flow. The results from the study suggest that almost 500 of the signals throughout the city can be removed and replaced with either two-way or four-way stop control saving the city $460,000 to $3,700,000 annually in operating costs.

During a segment of "Langton Briefs," hosted by WWJ reporter Charlie Langton, Wayne State University professor Jose Cuello commented about student diversity and retention and the efforts of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) to assist and motivate students. Cuello said the key to success and retention for students is motivation. Langton noted that CLLAS has a retention rate of about 90 percent.

Wayne State University Professor of Chemistry Stephanie Brock is among a select group of scientists to be named to the prestigious 2014 American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows Program. The ACS Fellows Program began in 2008 as a way to recognize ACS members for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession and ACS, the world's largest scientific society. Only 99 scientists across the globe have been inducted this year. Brock has been recognized for her research on the synthesis of nanoscale materials - particles with diameters on the order of 1 billionth of a meter. These small particles and their assemblies have functional properties that make them useful to address a number of global technological and societal challenges in the areas of renewable/clean energy, environmental remediation, data storage and refrigeration/microclimate control.

In Detroit, thousands of people have had their water turned off in the last few months after not paying their bills. For the water department, it's a way to get delinquent customers to settle their tabs. For residents and activists, it's a serious issue when the city's poorest, including children, are made to live without running water in their home. A group of United Nations experts called it a violation of human rights. "What [the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is] going to say is that the people aren't paying their bills, they shouldn't have any water. And the story's a little bit more complicated than that," said Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University. "You've got to situate water in the context of Detroit. It goes back again to the sort of underlying dynamics of huge water infrastructure, declining population, increased poverty ... it's not just water."

Amtrak, you could say, is an aging railroad looking for a magic pill that can get its infrastructure juiced up enough so it can handle the fastest new things on the market. Created by Congress in 1970 from the remnants of failing private passenger train lines, Amtrak remains saddled with failing, high-maintenance infrastructure as it tries to build for a higher-speed, tech-friendly, urban-fueled future that has already arrived in other parts of the world. "Just like the interstate highway system 60 years ago and the transcontinental railroad 140 years ago, high-speed rail is about how we imagine ourselves as a nation," said Allen Batteau, a Wayne State University cultural anthropologist who is working on a study of high-speed rail in the United States. "Are we a nation or are we 50 separate states? Do we have something in common that leads us to connect up? Looking at every one of these systems, whether it's the transcontinental railway or the promotion of aviation, it was all about building a nation. And high-speed rail, like aviation, has this cachet of the future. A bullet train, it's cool, it's fast, it's futuristic," Batteau said. "The whole question as a nation is: What are we going to invest in?"

The prestigious journal Science features a major article about the most important problem in obstetrics: preterm labor. The article, "Preterm labor: one syndrome, many causes," delivers a powerful message: preterm birth is not one condition, but many, and provides a framework for meeting this challenge. "There are 15 million preterm babies born annually, and the condition affects 5 percent to 15 percent of all pregnancies, with the highest rates in North America and Africa. Prematurity is the leading cause of infant death up to age 1 and the second-leading cause of childhood death before the age of 5," said Dr. Roberto Romero, chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development located at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center. "We have made progress by identifying the causes of premature labor, and now we propose that it is possible to reframe the problem and make it tractable." Romero recognized the exceptional vision of Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson, the University's Board of Governors, WSU School of Medicine Dean Valerie M. Parisi; the leadership of the DMC; and the city of Detroit for "making possible many of the discoveries described on the pages of Science, for much of this work has taken place in Detroit."

The Hilberry Theatre will kick off its 52nd season of plays on Sept. 19 with the popular farce "Boeing Boeing." The season, which is detailed in the story, features comedies and dramas that collectively earned 19 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations.

When the IT leaders at Wayne State University talk about the limitations of their legacy campus portal, they reach for analogies to describe their dissatisfaction. "Our old campus portal looked like the classified section of your daily newspaper," said Rob Thompson, director of academic and core applications. "There was very little design cohesiveness." Or as Daren Hubbard, senior director of enterprise applications, put it: Universities have designed portals as "parcels of real estate like it was some kind of a shopping mall. If you got a storefront, meaning a link or a tab, then you got some eyeballs coming your way. That was your goal, instead of adding value for the users coming to the site." Wayne State decided to build its own portal solution, focused particularly on fostering real-time, two-way communication and better anticipating users' needs. Called Academica, the new portal offers single sign-on as an authenticated front door to applications, and is designed from the ground up to work on any mobile device. But first and foremost it is a social networking platform that enhances and enables collaboration.

It's one thing to empathize with the homeless. But a group of local executives plan to take action: They'll sleep in cardboard boxes in November to raise awareness and funds for the homeless. They're aiming to raise $100,000 through the Nov. 20 "Sleep Out: Executive Edition" for Covenant House Michigan and the more than 5,000 homeless youth in Metro Detroit who wander the streets on any given night in search of a warm bed, a hot meal and someone to care. Presented by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and sponsored by Delta Air Linesand others, the Sleep Out will take place the same night as similar events in 15 cities across the country, from Anchorage to New York. Michigan first lady Sue Snyder and Wayne State University first lady Jacqueline Wilson, who is founder of WSU's Helping Individuals Go Higher Program, are co-chairing the event. Following Covenant House's 17th public Candlelight Vigil Against Homelessness on its Detroit campus, executives staying the night will get a tour and engage in roundtable discussions about the issue of homelessness before turning in. They'll sleep in cardboard boxes lined with a sleeping bag and sitting on the pavement of the Covenant House campus.

A whole new breed of tap dancers will show their fancy footwork this weekend at the Motor City Tap Festival in Detroit. The four-day festival consists of a performance Saturday night, social activities and classes for dancers of all levels at Wayne State University. Professionals teaching classes include Gregg Russell, who worked with Michael Jackson and Gene Kelly; Michigan natives Jenefer Miller and Shelby Kaufman; and Guillem Alonso from Spain, to name a few. The festival culminates Saturday with the Motor City Soles concert at Orchestra Hall. Faculty and guest dancers will be accompanied by Metro Detroit musician Skeeto Valdez's the Mighty Funhouse Band. Salsa, ballroom, flamenco and step dancing also will be performed.

Joseph Hummer, chair of Wayne State University's civil and environmental engineering department, sat down last night with FOX 2 reporter Murray Feldman to give his expert opinion on highway infrastructure and how five inches of rain could shut down every freeway in the Metro Detroit area. Hummer discussed the historic flood's impact on the area's freeway system, the challenges that lie ahead, and what can be done differently in the future, such as more funding, better drainage and more retention ponds.

Wayne State University researcher and physician Ajay Kumar has won an award for his work in identifying a brain inflammation associated with strep infections in children. The university said that Kumar has received the Majd-Gilday Young Investigators Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. The award goes to young scientists for outstanding research contributions to the field of pediatric nuclear medicine. Wayne State said Kumar earned the recognition for a study that may help increase the understanding of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders'' linked to streptococcal infections. The university said Kumar's work could lead to improved therapies to treat the condition. "These findings not only provide an insight into the possible pathogenetic mechanisms behind these conditions, but also suggest a possible important pathophysiological difference between these two conditions," Kumar said in a press release. "We believe that our findings will help in further demystifying and better understanding this condition, which will lead to development of rational and more appropriate therapeutic options."

Feeling the blood run down the right side of his face, 17-year-old Dmytro, a sophomore studying psychology at a university in Ukraine, started gasping for air and coughing. He had been shot in the right eye with a rubber bullet by Ukraine's special police force, the Berkut. The bullet traveled through his eye and nasal cavity, eventually landing in his mouth. It was Feb. 18 in Kiev, two days before Ukraine's bloodiest day of riots since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. While in Ukraine, Dmytro underwent three surgeries - one of which lasted seven hours to remove the damaged eyeball. Dr. Mark Juzych, Kresge Eye Institute director and Department of Ophthalmology chair at Wayne State University School of Medicine, was contacted regarding the boy's situation. "We are fortunate that the Institute has broad expertise in ophthalmological specialties including the ability to address complex ocular trauma patients," he said. Dmytro underwent his fourth and final surgery in Michigan on Friday, July 25 to repair the area around his eye socket. He has had seven surgeries total. He had an appointment Friday Aug. 1 for the final step - constructing a prosthetic eye - before returning to Ukraine Aug. 14. Nadia said his prosthetic eye should be complete by Aug. 12.

A new grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will allow researchers to study how exposures to stressors that are prevalent in the urban industrialized environment impact human health in Detroit and beyond. The grant, awarded to Wayne State University, is one of 21 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers funded by NIEHS. The new Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) includes collaborators at Henry Ford Health System, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University, as well as community organizations. CURES will study diseases that compromise quality of life in an industrialized urban environment, such as Detroit, explained CURES co-leader, Melissa Runge-Morris, M.D., director of the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and professor of oncology at Wayne State University. "Our team of researchers, along with community members, will explore the role of environmental exposure on immune disorders, metabolic disease, cancer, and mental health," she said.

In her role as professor and chair of Africana Studies at Wayne State University, Melba J. Boyd helps facilitate the exchange of knowledge so Detroiters of all colors may think outside their cultural comforts. But in the pursuit of a city vibrant in fine artistry, she explains, we cannot overlook a basic need for people to feed themselves. "My dream for Detroit is for full, viable employment for its citizens," says Boyd. "I'm more concerned about what is essential for the people. Poetry is thriving in Detroit." Boyd is the author of 13 books on the subjects of politics, poetry, Dudley Randall and other literary showcases of prose. And her book, Wrestling with the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press (Columbia University Press) received the 2005 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Book Honor for Nonfiction.

Social media has become an outlet for racist behavior. Recent stories such as the Cheerios commercial, a Dunkin' Donuts video, and the video of Mexican American singer, Sebastian Delacruz are creating controversy originating on various social media platforms. Craig Fahle spoke with Hayg Oshagan, associate professor and director of media arts & studies at Wayne State University; Karen McDevitt, lecturer at Wayne State; and Lowell Boileau, founder of the DetroitYes Forums about racism in social media.

The ban on drinking water in Toledo, Ohio was lifted Monday after tests showed toxins caused by algae blooms had subsided to safe levels. Half a million residents were told not to drink tap water last week after an algae bloom in Lake Erie contaminated the water. Nick Schroeck, director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and assistant clinical professor at Wayne State's Law School, talked with Craig Fahle about algae and toxins in Lake Erie, and why the Detroit metro water supply remained safe during this crisis. They also discussed how events like this galvanize opinions and efforts to protect fresh water resources.

Dr. Bret Hughes, an associate professor in the department of ophthalmology at Wayne State University's School of Medicine and director of glaucoma service at Kresge Eye Institute, commented about glaucoma, which he refers to as a silent condition. "The most important thing to know is that there are no symptoms with glaucoma," says Hughes. "If I break my arm, the pain will cause me to see a doctor. Glaucoma is not one of those diseases." Hughes adds that you may think your vision is fine, when it is actually diminishing. "It's a slow dimming over the years," he says. "It's very subtle and not noticeable in the early stages. If you have a family member who has glaucoma, it's extremely important for you to be checked."