DragAroundMe took third place at the recent Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize competition, setting the stage for the startup to score a run of business plan competition wins. The 7-month-old startup, which is made up of Wayne State University students, is creating software that enables people to quickly share documents with others in their immediate vicinity. It won the Web/IT prize at the Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize, giving it a few thousand dollars in seed capital and some valuable experience.

Thousands of Catholic college students are taking part in observing Lent, which began Ash Wednesday. John Corvino, chair of the Philosophy Department at Wayne State University, says that nonbelievers also could find a purpose in observing Lent. Last year, Corvino wrote "There's Value for Nonbelievers as Well" for The New York Times' Room for Debate section. "It's a time to step back and reflect and make improvements in one's life. Such reflection isn't always easy amidst the constant stimulation today from e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc." Corvino says.

Craig Fahle spoke with Wayne State University experts in Ukrainian politics and culture, including Kevin Deegan-Krause, Alisa Moldavanova, and Andrey Kashlev, who discussed the current status of the crisis.

Wayne State's women defeated Hillsdale 75-60 in the basketball GLIAC quarterfinals. Shareta Brown scored 16 points in 22 minutes to lead the top-seeded Warriors (20-6) in the tournament at the Matthaei. Wayne State used 12 players, and 11 scored at least one point. The Warriors host Malone (20-9) in a tournament semifinal Saturday at a time to be determined. The Warriors are ranked No. 5 in the Midwest and are 5-1 against the top eight ranked teams.

Everything from the padding on the dashboard to the thickness of the windshield is designed to help keep you alive in the event of an automobile crash. That knowledge comes from experiments and crash tests conducted on crash test dummies. The crash tests often are conducted on human cadavers because engineers and designers need to know exactly what it takes to injure every major organ and bone in our bodies and try to design vehicles to protect us from those forces. The first place to ever conduct cadaver testing was Wayne State University. Its Bioengineering Center has studied impact biomechanics since 1939. Albert King, distinguished professor in biomedical engineering at Wayne State, talked about current research projects. King said that several years ago he did some research on the effectiveness of crash tests and found that about 12 lives were saved for every test conducted.

The University of Toledo (UT) and Wayne State University will offer bachelor's and master's degrees at Schoolcraft College this fall through the Schoolcraft to U partnership. The schools will outline the details of each program at special open house events during the month of March. UT will present its offerings on March 12 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and WSU will hold its informational session on March 18 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Both events will take place on Schoolcraft College's main campus in Livonia in the VisTaTech Center. Admissions and financial aid representatives from Schoolcraft College and each partner university will be on hand to answer questions and assist prospective students with completion of admissions applications on site during the events.

Wayne State women's basketball will see action tonight at 7 p.m. in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals matchup against Hillsdale at Matthaei. GLIAC coaches picked the Warriors to finish second in the coaches poll.

The Southeast Michigan Purchasing Managers Index for February dipped to 47.3, down from 52.3 in January. A value above 50 suggests economic growth, with a value below 50 indicating a slowing economy. The slowdown is likely an aberration in what has been steady economic growth locally, said Timothy Butler, an associate professor of supply chain management at Wayne State University's School of Business Administration. "Though the southeastern Michigan economy has slowed a bit, there's no reason to believe that this is a long-term slowdown. At most, it could be described as a temporary cooling of the economy," he said. "The southeastern Michigan economy has been consistently strong since coming out of the recession. We should not be too concerned about two or three months of poorer results during this time of year," he said.

The Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, located along Amsterdam Street between Woodward and Cass, is the biggest project in Wayne State's history. The $93 million project will create about 200,000 square-feet of space for about 450 researchers and staff, including wet and dry laboratories, faculty offices and common areas, as well as clinical space. "This project brings together a number of biomedical disciplines under one roof, and will give researchers a better opportunity to share and collaborate," said Wayne State University director-project management Anne Vandenbussche. "But the placement of this project is also visually an important feature, offering a gateway to the north end of the campus."

Michigan is one of the states in the country most affected by MS with 20,000-30,000 cases currently reported. There have been advances in treatment at Wayne State University's School of Medicine where studies determined that higher doses of Copaxone, which is used to treat MS, reduces the number of times patients have to get it injected every week. Doctors say treatment is critical in controlling MS. "We have so many treatment options that I think seeking advice and evaluation for symptoms is critical," says Dr. Omar Khan, professor and chair of neurology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. "Establishing the diagnosis, if it is indeed MS, is very important and then starting treatment early is extremely important. One message in the MS awareness week is that if one does have multiple sclerosis, the sooner one starts treatment, the better the outcomes."

Alina Klin, Wayne State University senior lecturer in Polish Studies, talked about the proper way to pronounce Paczki, the popular pastry of choice on Fat Tuesday.

Wayne State University's Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (MBRB) will include research activities in several areas including obesity. President M. Roy Wilson commented about the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to research. The MBRB facility will create about 500 jobs and invest about $40 million into the local economy.

Russian troops consolidated their hold on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula as the United States and others denounced the military movement, deepening the East-West standoff over the future of Ukraine. Russia risks getting sucked into a quagmire if Moscow attempts to expand further into Ukraine, analysts said. Russia has a large army, but much of it consists of poorly trained conscripts. Its forces could probably overrun Ukraine's military, which consists of about 130,000 troops, but trying to occupy large portions of Ukraine would be costly and difficult. Analysts believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is weighing these practical considerations as much as the international response as he decides his next step. "Putin is pushing the boundaries," said Alisa Moldavanova, a political science professor at Wayne State University who has researched Ukrainian security issues. "He is trying to see how far he can go." A more practical strategy for Russia would be to keep Ukraine weak by pushing for Crimea's independence and encouraging a movement within Ukraine to create a semi-autonomous region in the east. "If anything they might push for the federalization of Ukraine," Moldavanova said.

Governor Rick Snyder's proposed cut to graduate medical education (GME) took center stage last Thursday at a Senate Appropriations Community Health Subcommittee, as several groups, including the Michigan State Medical Society, urged senators to restore that funding for the fiscal year 2014-15 budget. The proposed executive budget did not continue $1.4 million in GME funding allocated in the current year budget. Snyder did the same during the budget debate last year, but Sen. John Moolenaar (R-Midland), chair of the subcommittee, recommended (and won) the restoration of funding to that program. Although he would not commit to doing so again this year, Moolenaar said it will certainly be a priority as budget discussions continue. Maryjean Schenk, vice dean for medical education at Wayne State University, told the subcommittee that restoring GME funding could help with an expected shortage of primary care physicians, the latter of which should also be a priority of the Legislature when deciding what to fund and where in the budget. "Michigan ranks 15th nationally in total active primary care physicians, and just 40 percent are open to new patients," she said. "The state needs a new plan to address that shortage." Schenk said that while WSU has increased its graduate school medical school students, not funding GME is a message from the state to those students that it does not have a graduate school plan for them. "Training doctors in Michigan encourages them to stay in Michigan," she said. (subscriber access only)

The Wayne State women's basketball team won its first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title since the 1980-81 season Thursday night, defeating Lake Superior State, 80-74, at Matthaei Center. The victory, coupled with Northern Michigan's 67-59 victory over Michigan Tech, secured the conference's regular-season title for Wayne State (20-6, 17-5 GLIAC). Wayne State trailed 37-30 at halftime, but outscored Lake Superior (5-23, 5-17) 50-37 in the second half, including a 15-4 run that made it 66-59 with 6:01 left. Des Lavita-Stephens had a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch. Kayla Bridges came off the bench to lead Wayne State with 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting. Imari Redfield had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Shareta Brown added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Lavita-Stephens and Jackie Jones scored 13 apiece.

Celebration is the theme of Wayne State University's 85th annual dance concert, which opened Thursday and runs for one more performance at 7:30 p.m. tonight, letting choreographers and performers showcase their drive, focus and hard work to audiences. The Spring Dance Concert features faculty, guest artists and student choreographers working with the three dance companies on campus. Performances are at the Bonstelle Theatre.

Wayne State University Law School Assistant Professor Kirsten Carlson has been awarded a $250,000 grant for the university from the National Science Foundation. Carlson will use the grant to conduct a two-year research project - "Legal Mobilization, Rights Claims, and Federal Indian Policy Reforms" - that aims to develop a better understanding of how, when and with what success American Indian nations use the political process to change the law. "I will also incorporate the research into several classes, which will train students about legislative advocacy. This is a great opportunity for students interested in advocacy to learn more about legal mobilization, advocacy strategies and the success and failure of advocacy strategies." The project begins officially May 1, but the professor already has developed a legislative database of all identifiable bills related to Indians that were introduced and/or enacted by Congress between 1975 and 2011 - a dataset of 6,968 bills. Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson noted that National Science Foundation grants are prestigious and that Carlson secured the grant on her first application, something that isn't common. "We congratulate Kirsten on being awarded the grant and on her important work in this study to provide more information about how American Indian nations are affected by the law-making process," Benson said.

During an interview on WJR's Paul W. Smith Show, Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Chamber, talked about today's Detroit Policy Conference hosted at the Motor City Casino Hotel. He mentioned that Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson will be a keynote speaker at the event calling him "one of the great imports to Detroit." President Wilson's address was scheduled at 9:30 a.m. this morning. The Detroit Policy Conference brings together key business, community and political leaders to inspire innovative solutions and urban revitalization. Mlive is presenting a live blog of the conference.

During Detroit mayor Mike Duggan's State of the City Address, he noted a worldwide breakthrough three years ago when Dr. Sonia S. Hassan, director of advanced obstetrical care and research with the Perinatology Research Branch, found that vaginal progesterone can significantly reduce the risk of early labor in women diagnosed with short cervixes. "Babies who are born prematurely, earlier than 32 weeks, have a much higher risk of having learning disabilities, having trouble in math and reading, having physical development issues…In the city of Detroit one in six of our babies are now born prematurely, 50 percent higher than the rate of the community around us." Duggan said this spring, Hassan, along with the public health director and partners at the Detroit Medical Center, St. John's and Henry Ford are going to roll out a new initiative called "Make Your Day." The program will reach out to the doctors, the hospitals, and to the pregnant mothers bringing the latest medical procedures. WDET features the complete address.

In his effort to keep Detroit on a fast track to end its historic bankruptcy, the city's emergency manager has put together a plan to encourage key creditors to accept cuts he laid out in federal court filings last week, or else face even deeper losses if they do not cooperate. Kevyn Orr has every incentive to keep the parties in line. If he wins broad agreement with creditors, the city will gain access to some $815 million pledged by foundations and others to ease the bankruptcy blow on city retirees. Even so, his plan for dealing with Detroit's $18 billion of debt may drive a wedge between city workers and retirees and their unions and pension funds. "It remains to be seen if the pensioners are willing to give up $815 million by rejecting this plan to pursue litigation which is not likely to succeed," said Laura Bartell, a law professor at Wayne State University. "That is a very high-risk strategy." Besides, Bartell noted, the loss of the pledged money would force Detroit to propose a new plan that is "far less favorable to the pensioners," and one that Judge Steven Rhodes is apt to approve.