Rick Kaplan, former president for CNN - U.S. and MSNBC and winner of 47 Emmys and dozens of other journalism awards, will speak Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Wayne State University. Kaplan, whose experience in TV news spans 40 years of in-depth reporting and producing, will present "The Role of the Media in the 2014 Elections" from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Bernath Auditorium of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library. Kaplan and Jack Lessenberry, longtime journalist, area head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State and senior political analyst for Michigan Radio, also will discuss Kaplan's historic career and the future of broadcast journalism. The event is co-sponsored by the Wayne Law Sports and Entertainment Law Society.

The Kresge Foundation has awarded Wayne State University a $100,000, one-year grant to support CitizenDetroit, a community outreach program of the Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS). Since its inception in 2012, CitizenDetroit has educated and mobilized residents of all ages, providing a framework for constructive political discourse. Community participants co-create the standards for evaluating political leadership and decisions made in Detroit. CitizenDetroit is directed by Irvin D. Reid, inaugural holder of the Wayne State University Applebaum Chair in Community Engagement and President Emeritus, and his collaborative partner, former Detroit City Council member Sheila Cockrel. "CitizenDetroit challenges the tendency of individuals to sit on the sidelines and oppose the actions of city leaders based solely on media coverage and urban legends," said Reid. "Access to better information means citizens will better understand how difficult it is for elected and appointed leaders to make tough decisions that affect other people's lives."

Camille Walker-Banks, director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative at Wayne State University, discusses the aims and successes of the program, and what she has learned in the program's first year. This "intensive MBA master's program on steroids" fills a gap in business support services offered in Michigan, by teaching business owners across the city, region and state how to manage or grow a second-stage company. The program produces real-world results backed up by cold, hard-fact numbers: 64 percent of alumni have reported increased revenue within 6 months of graduating, and 45 percent have reported adding jobs within that time. The program is currently accepting applications for its fourth cohort.

Wayne State University's women's tennis team has had a season those associated with the program aren't likely to forget anytime soon. Aside from winning a GLIAC regular-season championship for the first time since 1982 and having the first unbeaten conference record since the 1982-83 squad, Wayne State also won its first-ever GLIAC Tournament Championship via a victory against Grand Valley State in the final tournament match Oct. 26. The Warriors' win provided them with an automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament, which is scheduled for May of next year. In years past, Wayne State coach Sheila Snyder indicated that Northwood and Ferris State dominated the conference. "Every year, we keep closing the gap," said Snyder, who was presented with the GLIAC Coach of the Year award. "Every school in the conference is getting better and better. I think they wanted to take off from where we left off last year. I think they saw it - 'Hey, this is fun.'

Wayne State University Law School announced today its intent to expand a successful pilot program that provides free legal support to military service members, veterans and the family members of both. For the past year, Wayne Law students working under the supervision of experienced attorneys have been assisting veterans in Macomb County. The pilot program, Advocates for Warriors, began as an informal partnership with Macomb County Veteran Services to fill a need for providing legal support.

This weekend Wayne State University students will take flight in a production of J.M. Barrie's classic "Peter Pan" at the Bonstelle Theatre. For Director Michael Barnes, "Peter Pan" has proven to be one of the most challenging plays he has ever directed. The production's greatest challenge has proven to be the complex flying choreography, assisted by Hall and Associates, one of the stage industry leaders in flying effects. "It's kind of an amazing opportunity because we have students who end up getting to work on the flying equipment, and they can have that on their resume and think, 'I could do this later in life,' " Barnes said. When the play premieres this Friday, all the crew's hard work will appear effortless, leaving the audience enraptured by a timeless tale.

The Detroit region, while shaken by a rough decade, remains the dominant economic power in the state. The Detroit-area's most critical business sectors are gradually clawing back, with health care emerging as a vital new area of growth. Manufacturing output increased by 3.1 percent in 2013, with manufacturing comprising roughly 18 percent of the region's economy. The Detroit region's finance sector - which includes insurance and real estate - grew by 1.6 percent and stood at 19.3 percent of the region economy. The Detroit region's health care sector - which includes social services - has grown the most in the past few years, to 9 percent of the region's economy. It is the only major sector that stands above its output in 2007, at 4.8 percent above that. Perhaps a confirmation of that trend, work continues at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Piquette Avenue in Detroit on a $90 million biomedical research center affiliated with Wayne State University. When completed in 2015, the biomedical center will house programs in cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders as well as computational biology and biomedical engineering. It is expected to employ hundreds of researchers.

Wayne State University Law School announced yesterday that Advocates for Warriors plans to expand its free legal service piloted in Macomb County to military service members, veterans and their families in Oakland, Wayne and other counties. To carry out the plan, the program needs partners willing to invest in the mission, said Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson. Under the pilot program, Wayne Law students have been working under the supervision of experienced attorneys to assist veterans in Macomb County for the past year. "Their need for legal assistance in issues ranging from family matters to accessing their earned VA benefits exceeds the support that the legal community is providing," Benson said.

More than 100 volunteers from Wayne State University, Americorps and Detroit Public Schools participated in an effort to create safe routes for students in Detroit. Volunteer workers picked up garbage, cleaned up weeds, hung up signs and marked safe routes to clear the way for students as they walk to and from their local schools. Victor Green, Wayne State University director of community relations, was on site and commented about the effort. Wayne State also adopted a classroom contributing $1,000 for needs of the classroom.

A photo gallery includes images of the public tour held Nov. 6 at Wayne State University's Mortuary Science Building.

More than 100 volunteers from Wayne State University, Americorps and Detroit Public Schools participated in an effort to create safe routes for students in Detroit. Volunteer workers picked up garbage, cleaned up weeds, hung up signs and marked safe routes to clear the way for students as they walk to and from their local schools. Victor Green, Wayne State University director of community relations, was on site and commented about the effort. Wayne State also adopted a classroom contributing $1,000 for needs of the classroom.

The president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings is the featured speaker at a Wayne State University lecture about "Investing in Detroit." Christopher Ilitch is to speak Wednesday at the event at the Detroit school. The Detroit Red Wings are part of Mike Ilitch's stable of companies. Officials in September held a groundbreaking for a new 18,000-seat hockey arena for the team and a 45-block entertainment district in Detroit. The new arena is expected to open in 2017. During the Wayne State event, Mike Ilitch's son is expected to discuss the family's vision for the mixed-use sports and entertainment district.

Wayne state University's Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS) will feature two sessions on Nov. 17 and 18, focusing on the theme, "Democracy in Far Away Places: Namibia and Afghanistan." As part of International Education Week, guest speakers will explore the challenges of democracy and education in Namibia and Afghanistan. On Monday, Nov. 17, The Honorable Martin Andjaba, ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to the United States of America, will discuss "The Emergence and Challenges of Democracy on the African Continent," from 1:30-3 p.m. at Wayne State University's Law School Auditorium. From 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18, Sakena Yacoobi will examine "The Challenges of Democracy and the Education of Women in Afghanistan," at the McGregor Conference Center.

A program that seeks to improve access to primary care providers in medically underserved Michigan communities has received a federal funding boost to help it expand. Wayne State University recently announced that the Michigan Area Health Education Center program has been awarded a one-year, nearly $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to maintain its four regional centers and launch a fifth. The Northern Lower Regional Center is scheduled to open in 2015. Current locations are the Southeast Regional Center in Detroit, the Mid-Central Regional Center in Mount Pleasant, the Western Regional Center in Grand Rapids and the Upper Peninsula Regional Center in Marquette. "This is critical to our state, which faces a dire shortage of physicians at a time our population is aging and needs more health care and more health care providers," Valerie M. Parisi, M.D., dean of Wayne State's School of Medicine and co-principal investigator of the grant, said in a statement. The Wayne State University College of Nursing and School of Medicine established the Michigan Area Health Education Center in 2010.

At Wayne State, doctors and medical students have a place to exercise their classical music muscles with like-minded physician/musicians at the Detroit Medical Orchestra (DMO). In 2009, medical students Michelle Ubels and Pamella Abghari met during an event at Wayne State's School of Medicine. After stumbling upon a shared passion for playing classical music, they hatched an idea: Start their own orchestra. Ubels took to finding a conductor and the music, and Abghari took to gathering members from the Wayne State medical community. Since 2010, the DMO has grown to more than 80 members, including medical students, music students, nurses, physicians, professors, researchers, technicians, lawyers, architects, and other members of the health field at Wayne State and the Detroit community at large. Dr. Michael Cher, DMO board member and chair of the Department of Urology at Wayne State's School of Medicine, applies his skills in surgery to his role in the orchestra as a clarinetist. "When you're doing an operation you kind of have to 'orchestrate' the operation - and that's a pun there - from start to finish. It goes in a certain tempo. …There's a flow to a surgical operation, and it's just like that when you play a complicated orchestral piece," he says.

When a big, well-funded institution sets itself down in a struggling neighborhood, it can disrupt things. But if these "anchor institutions" really include and engage the communities, they can also turn the neighborhood around. That's the core of a new report by the Center for American Progress. The report details how the government can help leverage the potential of these "anchors" in revitalizing the cities where they're located. "General Motors in Flint, Michigan, picked up and left. And with it went all of these jobs, and that really decimated the economy. Wayne State University in Detroit? They're not going to be picking up and leaving." Universities and hospitals are economic powerhouses. Universities represent three percent of the national economic output and employ more than 3 million people. Hospitals employ even more: Five million. One in eight universities and one in 15 hospitals are located in inner cities. But what's key is that, unlike industries that have driven growth in the past, these institutions have permanent ties to their communities, says author Tracey Ross.

Lending his considerable star power to get out the vote efforts in Michigan, President Barack Obama Saturday night gave a rousing speech to Democratic supporters, urging them to shake off cynicism and turn around a recent history of staying away from the polls in large numbers in off-year elections. Speaking to a crowd of more than 6,000 people at the Matthaei Physical Education Center at Wayne State University, Obama, battling low approval numbers, delivered a passionate address, reminding voters it was a Democratic agenda that helped save the auto industry and increase access to health care.

This fall Wayne State University Law School began offering a master of laws degree in U.S. law for foreign lawyers and law students. The new program will prepare international students with a solid grounding in the U.S. legal system for careers in government work, business, academia or private practice. Nick Schroeck, a Wayne Law assistant (clinical) professor, director of the Transnational Environmental Law Clinic at Wayne Law and executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, recently arrived in China for a month of teaching at the Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xi'an. Schroeck participated in an "Asked and Answered" Q&A about his experiences in China.

University High School (UHS) has partnered with Wayne State University to run the C2 Pipeline after-school program to help prepare students for college and, eventually, a career. UHS is one of 15 metro Detroit schools to have the program funded for five years through the Michigan Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant Program. C2 Pipeline takes place for two hours a day, four days a week, with about 55 students currently enrolled in the program. Students are given a snack or meal after school, followed by an hour of study and then an hour of enrichment in science, technology, engineering and math. To learn more about the C2 Pipeline program, visit c2pipeline.wayne.edu.

Chera Kee, Wayne State University assistant professor of English, was a guest on Detroit Today talking about our cultural fascination with zombies, from its historical origins in Haiti to the sociological and media-based factors contributing to the phenomenon in the United States. Kee has taught classes and given lectures examining the horror genre. On Oct. 28 she was the featured speaker during Wayne State's "Knowledge on Tap" speaker series held at The Whitney's Ghost Bar in Midtown Detroit.