The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences today announced the Nobel Prize in physics to theorists Peter Higgs and Francois Englert to recognize their work developing the theory of what is now known as the Higgs field, which gives elementary particles mass. Scientists estimate that visible matter makes up no more than four percent of the total mass of the universe, and the long-sought Higgs boson particle could be a bridge to understanding the 96 percent that remains obscured. A team of Wayne State University researchers led by Paul Karchin, Ph.D., and Robert Harr, Ph.D., professors of physics, are members of the CMS experiment who played a significant role in the experimental aspects of the discovery. Alexey Petrov, Ph.D., professor of physics and Gil Paz, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics, are particle theorists who studied theoretical aspects related to properties of standard and non-standard Higgs bosons. The Higgs boson at CERN was the culmination of decades of effort by scientists around the world. The Wayne State team helped ensure the 24/7 operation of the experiment and analyzing data at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, and on Wayne State's campus.

Students in 28 schools across Michigan have been selected to participate in the 2013-2014 Building Healthy Communities program to establish healthy lifestyles among school children and create healthy school environments, the partnership of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Michigan Fitness Foundation, United Dairy Industry of Michigan, University of Michigan and Wayne State University recently announced. St. Thomas the Apostle School in Ann Arbor has been selected as one of the 28 schools across Michigan to participate in the program, designed to reduce childhood obesity and its long-term health risks. "Wayne State University is excited to work with leaders in nutrition and healthy lifestyles to help the next generation of Michiganders make healthy choices a priority in their classrooms and throughout schools," said Dr. Nate McCaughtry, director for the Center for School Health at Wayne State University.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson was a guest on "The Craig Fahle Show" exploring a variety of topics including research, technology transfer and community involvement with Midtown Detroit.

A feature story about Midtown discusses the resurgence of an area encompassing two square miles which includes Wayne State University, Arts Center, North Cass, Medical Center, Cass Park district, Brush Park, New Center and TechTown. Regarding safety, Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt says since he started CompStat meetings in 2008, the area has seen a "steady decline" in crime, with the reduction percentage approaching 50 percent.

Dr. David Rosenberg, chair of Psychiatry and The Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair of Child Psychiatry and professor of Psychiatry in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, provided information on mental health issues that may have led to the Oct. 3, 2013 tragedy in Washington, D.C. with Miriam Carey. According to Rosenberg, mental health issues are an epidemic in our society. Post-partum conditions are not uncommonly associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "At Wayne State University, we have mobile crisis teams to help keep patients out of the ER and hospital, determine when it is most necessary, and equally important, after hospitalization, ensure that treatment is maintained so that tragedies such as this one are prevented," said Rosenberg.

Lance Gable, professor of public health law at Wayne State University, participated in a "Flash Point" discussion about the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act.

John Mogk, a Wayne State University law professor who studies land use and ran for mayor in 1977, comments in a story about Detroit's storied history of ups and downs over the last six decades. During a boom time from 1945 to 1960, car companies built 33 plants in the metropolitan Detroit area, but none were located in Detroit. The city had no space because of the population explosion and was landlocked since its last annexation in 1926. "(There was) no room to rejuvenate the manufacturing base on a single-story platform," said Mogk.

The Southeast Michigan Purchasing Management Index slipped to 59.9 in September from August's reading of 60.2. However, the three month average of 57.7 still provides strong evidence of an expanding economy, economists said. "September marks the third consecutive month of increased economic activity throughout Southeast Michigan," said Nitin Paranjpe, a supply chain faculty member at Wayne State's School of Business Administration who interpreted this month's results. "Contributing to the drop in September's PMI was a reduction in production by about four points to 64.6 from 68.5 in August, and employment which fell about five points to 54.2 for the month."

Former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer talked with Craig Fahle about his scholarship, bankruptcy, and more. Archer's scholarship organization, The Dennis W. Archer Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation, has distributed over $1 million to minority students in southeast Michigan. A majority of the scholarship recipients attend Archer's alma maters Wayne State University and Western Michigan University.

The deadline for registering to vote in November's general elections is Monday. But even in this age of the internet, voters in Michigan must fill out a paper form to register. The Dean of Wayne State University's law school Jocelyn Benson told WDET's Quinn Klinefelter not being able to register on-line causes headaches for both voters and elections officials.

Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson - in his first university-wide address - praised his new university but also recommended ways it can improve. Wilson, who took over as president of WSU 62 days ago, also outlined an ambitious vision for the school. Tim Michael, 23, a senior at WSU, listened to the speech online and liked what he heard. "I think he did good saying what was good about us, but also saying what we needed to get better at," Michael said. "I think we really need to work at helping people graduate. I hope he really focuses on that."

In an opinion piece, Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson said there are many changes that can be implemented to make voting and registering to vote easier, more efficient and less expensive - while protecting the security and integrity of the ballot. "Part of the answer to this problem lies in the fact that we live in an unprecedented age of technological advancements, yet our system of voter registration has barely changed over the past century. We rely on paper and mail - antiquated tools - to serve a modern and highly-mobile electorate," she said. Benson also mentioned that the deadline to register to vote in this fall's municipal elections is Monday, Oct. 7.

Wayne State University volleyball coach Phil Nickel is hoping to take the program somewhere it hasn't been since 1994 - to the NCAA tournament. And while it is possible to make it there without winning a conference championship, the only sure way for the Warriors to make the Division II national tournament in December is via coming away from the season as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champs.

A $50,000 donation has established an endowed scholarship at Wayne State University Law School in honor of U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. The gift was presented to Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson on Sept. 29 at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit during an event paying tribute to Conyers and his nearly 50 years representing the Detroit area in Congress. Benson noted the scholarship is another way that Conyers' legacy is being honored at Wayne Law. In 2012, the congressman announced that Wayne Law's Damon J. Keith Collection of African American Legal History will be the beneficiary of the papers and records of his decades in Congress.

Wayne State University's College of Engineering will celebrate its 80th anniversary throughout October with a number of events and activities. Established in 1933, the college has a long history of improving quality of life through education, innovation and entrepreneurship. Its faculty has pioneered research in automotive safety and injury biomechanics, transportation, manufacturing, green technologies, and more. Its students exceed in and out of the classroom, and its more than 25,000 alumni drive innovation in all 50 states and 48 countries. "I've been fortunate to call myself a member of this remarkable community for the past 25 years," said College of Engineering Dean Farshad Fotouhi.

Wayne State University's endowment grew to $277 million during the endowment reporting period ending June 30. The university's annualized investment return was a strong 10.5 percent. Wayne State's rate of investment return was 8.7 percent during the past three years and 5 percent during the past five years. Wayne State's endowment provides annual income to support university programs and initiatives in accordance with donor-specified terms. Although some of the endowment is unrestricted, most of it is designated for a specific purpose. Nearly two-thirds of the endowment supports students and faculty.

The number of patients receiving radiation therapy in the United States for cancer treatment is expected to increase by more than 20 percent over the next decade to almost 600,000 per year. But radiation research over the past decade has decreased substantially, making it more difficult to provide oncologists with the best training in the latest techniques, particularly the integration of medical physics, which is now a required aspect in the clinical practice of radiotherapy. With the help of a five-year, $1.57 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, researchers at Wayne State University aim to develop an innovative and advanced education program integrating radiobiology with radiation physics for all oncologists. The project, "Integrated Course in Biology and Physics of Radiation Oncology," led by Michael Joiner, PhD, professor of radiation oncology in Wayne State's School of Medicine, and Monica Tracey, PhD, associate professor of instructional technology in Wayne State's College of Education, will provide state-of-the-art training in modern, high-quality, image-guided radiotherapy, ultimately increasing productive research in the field and assuring the future availability of highly qualified teachers. The end result will be improved cancer patient care and cure in the United States.

Wayne State University ramped up its campus security by deploying a new emergency notification system so faculty, students and staff can receive nearly instantaneous alerts on their mobile devices during a crisis on school grounds. Last spring, the university deployed a new SMS alert system to send out brief messages to the campus in the event of an emergency, like a school shooting or a campus gas leak. The notification technology was integrated on the back end into an existing alert system the university had in place to send out nonemergency updates. The university sends out updates, for example, when grades get posted or when a student gets taken off a class wait list, said Daren Hubbard, the university's senior director of enterprise applications.

Wayne State University announced that the Graduate School was one of 10 institutions selected by the National Institutes of Health to lead a five-year, $18.5 million initiative aimed at strengthening the research workforce in the United States, where there is a shortage of non-academic research scientists. The WSU Graduate School will receive $1.8 million over the next five years through the NIH's Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) award to implement a new program that prepares graduate and postdoctoral students to enter research careers outside of academia. WSU was chosen in a competitive field, which included several Ivy League schools and other Michigan universities. "More than 100 of the nation's top educational institutions competed for the first round of funding for the NIH director's BEST award," Wayne State president M. Roy Wilson said. "Being selected by the NIH to help lead this important national initiative is a testament to the well-coordinated efforts of the graduate school to develop research professionals with skills that translate to careers outside of academia."

Wayne State University's The Hilberry Theatre is bringing "Macbeth" to the stage as its season opener. The production was directed by Paul Mason Barnes - a guest director whose national credits include other Shakespeare classics, "Romeo and Juliet," "The Comedy of Errors" and "Twelfth Night." Reviewer Samantha White wrote: "And what a great job Hilberry did at re-creating "Macbeth" with this magnificent production." "Macbeth" is playing now through Oct. 12, showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday with an additional matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5.