History continues to be made at Wayne State. The men's basketball team coasted to a 90-56 victory over Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, to remain unbeaten in league play. The Warriors had already set a school record with eight consecutive wins to begin a conference slate before the game. They are now 9-0 in GLIAC play this season. "It's only the midpoint of the season," head coach David Greer said. "But we're off to a good start." Ian Larkin led the Warriors with 25 points and eight rebounds. Mike Hollingsworth chipped in 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. Wayne State out-rebounded Saginaw Valley 32-28, but had a remarkable 22 points off turnovers. The Warriors turned the ball over just one time in the second half, and shot 62.1 percent in the half.

While one university seeks to banish words, another wants to save some from the brink of extinction. Wayne State University unveiled Thursday its annual list of the top 10 most useful - and underused - words in the English language. The 2013 list includes such colorful gems as "buncombe," which means rubbish or nonsense; "cerulean," meaning the blue of the sky; and "dragoon," to compel by coercion. "We have a wonderfully rich resource at our disposal, the English language," said Jerry Herron, dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College. "The more we use that language to its full capacity, the more we are able to discriminate and describe the world around us, the more interesting the world gets to be." The goal of the list, he said, is to "encourage people to experience the joys of the English language." Herron also was an in-studio guest on WDET's Craig Fahle Show, and was interviewed on campus by Fox 2's Jason Carr.

As part of its initiative to draw attention to some of the English language's most expressive - yet regrettably neglected - words, Wayne State University has released its annual list of the year's top 10 words that deserve to be used more often in conversation and prose. Now beginning its fifth year, Wayne State's Word Warriors series promotes words especially worthy of retrieval from the linguistic closet. The Word Warriors' extensive list is composed of submissions from both administrators of the website as well as the public; logophiles worldwide have seen their favorite words brought back from the brink of obsolescence at wordwarriors.wayne.edu. New entries are posted there, as well as on Twitter and Facebook, each week. "The English language has more words in its lexicon than any other," says Jerry Herron, dean of WSU's Irvin D. Reid Honors College and a member of the website's editorial board. "By making use of the repertoire available to us, we expand our ability to communicate clearly and help make our world a more interesting place. Bringing these words back into everyday conversation is just another way of broadening our horizons." Herron is scheduled to appear on WJBK Fox 2 this morning at 9 a.m., and WDET-FM at 10:15 a.m.

The Wayne State University Division of Development and Alumni Affairs has announced the appointment of Terry Margolis as the associate vice president for individual giving and campaign director. She previously served as the director of Executive and Professional Development and Educational Outreach at WSU. Margolis will begin her new role on Feb. 4. "I am thrilled to welcome Terry, a professional of tremendous caliber and expertise, to the division's leadership team," said David Ripple, WSU vice president for Development and Alumni Affairs. "She will play an essential role as we prepare for our next comprehensive fundraising campaign, and her past experiences and success at Wayne State University will serve her well in this capacity."

Ann Arbor resident and law professor Michael McIntyre was honored with Wayne State University's President's Award for Excellence in Service. The award was presented to McIntyre Dec. 17 during a lunch held in the professor's honor.

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that older subjects who are in the habit of speaking two languages use less energy as they alternate between mental tasks. By using brain scans, experts were able to demonstrate not only the validity of the hypothesis, but exactly how cognitive engagement changes the brain. John Woodard, an aging expert and psychology professor from Wayne State University, said this is a stepping stone to answering the question of what's causing brain differences between older adults. The research might also assist in the development of new drugs to treat cognitive decline or age-related dementia by helping investigators understand exactly which brain regions are involved in these processes, he added.

Faris El-Khider of the Wayne State University School of Medicine spoke with Channel 7's Carolyn Clifford about flu fighting strategies. Medical experts say there is concern that the current flu season will be more severe than previous years. To minimize the spread of the flu, El-Khider recommends avoiding close contact with those infected, keeping hydrated and washing hands.

Craig Fahle spoke with Aisa Villarosa Berg, president of The 313 Project, and Drew Mast, Wayne State University Law School alum and member of The 313 Project Advisory Board, about their progress in helping the residents of Detroit and their involvement in Home Depot's Aprons In Action program.

A new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that older subjects who are in the habit of speaking two languages use less energy as they alternate between mental tasks. John Woodard, an aging expert from Wayne State University, who was not involved in the current study, stated in a news release: "This study provides some of the first evidence of an association between a particular cognitively [mentally] stimulating activity -- in this case, speaking multiple languages on a daily basis -- and brain function," according to the USNews.

As Detroit officials consider acting on a new plan that would focus future resources on highly populated areas and offer incentives to residents to move out of largely vacant ones, they should study Youngstown, Ohio, as a cautionary tale. In the early 2000s the city produced its highly praised "Youngstown 2010" plan, a land-use framework that envisioned some parts of the city being allowed to become or stay vacant. The stated motive was to create a smaller but better city. The plan was widely hailed internationally as the first attempt by a major city to plan for downsizing. But it was never implemented in a major way because of a lack of city resources. Attempts to use incentives to get residents in distressed areas to move failed because of lack of interest from the residents. Robin Boyle, professor and chair of urban planning at Wayne State University, said the outcomes for major city plans have been mixed. He referred to the 1909 Burnham Plan for Chicago, responsible for the acclaimed lakefront parks and improved roadways. "The Chicago plan did result in a sort of cultural coming together around the ideas," Boyle said. "On the other hand, if we look at many other examples, the impact of plans has been less than remarkable. That's because people don't get behind them."

A Wayne State University researcher is helping lead a federally funded study that seeks to make intersections safer. Civil engineering assistant professor Timothy Gates is the lead investigator on a National Cooperative Highway Research Program project. It examines the connection between roadway safety and available sight distance at intersections controlled by stop signs on the minor streets. The university says that drivers need adequate sight distance at stop-controlled intersections to assess when it is safe to enter a major roadway. That distance may be limited by objects or road features, such as trees, crops, hills, curves, buildings and parked cars. The Transportation Research Board is funding the two-year project, and Wayne State's portion is $75,000.

In a recent paper published in the American Journal on Addictions, researchers from Wayne State University compared treatment- and community-recruited pathological gamblers. According to David M. Ledgerwood, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences in WSU's School of Medicine, it is rare for people to seek treatment for gambling problems even though treatments work to reduce the burden of problem gambling. "Some have suggested that problem gamblers who do not seek treatment have much less severe problems, and that we overestimate the co-occurring difficulties of problem gamblers by studying primarily those who are in treatment, who may have more difficulties overall," said Ledgerwood. "Those who are enrolled in treatment tend to experience greater distress related to their gambling, and are more likely to have gambling-related legal and depression problems and are more preoccupied with gambling."

Hoping to make 2013 a great year for residents, a group of local lawyers says Detroit is a great city to invest in. The group started out as Wayne State University law students who got involved in helping the residents of Detroit. But when they became attorneys, they decided they could really help. Now they've established a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, known as The 313 Project, that puts together monthly community service events and quarterly pro bono legal clinics. "2012, in particular, was a very busy and exciting year for us," said co-founder Erika Riggs. "We actually held five legal clinics in multiple areas of the law … veteran's law, disability, immigration, domestic violence, and even a GED educational workshop for the community." The 313 Project is competing in a contest sponsored by The Home Depot, called "Aprons In Action," hoping to win $25,000, which will be used to fund an upcoming project.

Detroit Thermal LLC, owner and operator of the downtown Detroit district energy steam system, today announced the 25-year commitment by Wayne State University to Detroit Thermal's renewable steam network. Gordon H. Scott Hall and the Helen Vera Prentis Lande Building will join the network as part of the school's strategic sustainability efforts. "Wayne State University has strengthened its relationship with Detroit Thermal by signing a long-term agreement to avoid the cost of renewing the aging steam plant in Scott Hall," said Larry Fodor, director of utilities and energy management. "Detroit Thermal understood the issues facing Wayne State and worked tirelessly to construct an agreement that met both of our goals, with positive impacts to energy conservation and sustainability." "We look to DT to help simplify operations, reallocate resources, and increase reliability," said Daryl M. Pierson, Wayne State's sustainability coordinator. "We're also pleased to partner with a company that's striving to improve economic opportunities in the city while providing sustainable solutions for Wayne State."

Wayne State University has announced plans for its new Mort and Brigitte Harris Office for Adult Literacy, which will train students to become tutors and teach tutors to train others. It will work closely with Reading Works, a growing community initiative whose partner agencies work diligently to boost adult literacy in southeast Michigan. "The office will have three functions," said Jerry Herron, dean of Wayne State's Irvin D. Reid Honors College, where the office will be located. "The first is to teach the teachers and train the trainers to increase the capacity to help adults who want to read. The second is to provide resources to the community to study outcomes and determine how large the problem is. We want to bring the research facilities of a research university to bear on this." As its third goal, the office plans to help Reading Works convene a national summit in Detroit to show the world "that we're not only good at identifying problems, we're good at solving problems," Herron said.

Wayne State University School of Medicine students are participating in Street Medicine Detroit, a program that takes doctors-to-be out of the clinic and into the city treating homeless people in the shelters, parks and underpasses where they often live. The students monitor vitals, provide checkups and make sure people with chronic illnesses are getting the proper medication. The new venture is supported by about 100 Wayne State medical students and the Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO). Founded in the summer at Wayne State University by medical student Jonathan Wong, the chapter has seen many good outcomes in the once-a-week visits they coordinate with NSO's Road Home program and its resident nurse practitioner Dean Carpenter, Wong said. A photo of WSU medical students Wong and Paul Thomas is included.

Dr. Gerald A. Shiener, assistant professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University, wrote an opinion piece calling for modernizing the old Northville Psychiatric Hospital site into a state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital for long-term care. He wrote: "That would certainly benefit people in desperate need of psychiatric care not available in the community…As a psychiatrist who has worked at a community mental health center for more than 30 years, I can attest to the unavailability of needed services for mentally ill people and addicted who are indigent. We pay for those needy individuals in the corrections system and in the overburdened emergency medical system at a cost of triple or quadruple of the cost of appropriate community services and long-term care.

A front page feature story chronicles the accomplishments and challenges during the tenure of President Allan Gilmour. One of the first challenges he tackled was the school's graduation rate. He appointed a task force to probe why only 24 percent of WSU students were graduating in five years. Within a year, the Board of Governors passed a tighter admissions policy that will affect the next incoming freshman class. "(The graduation rate) was unacceptable and we had to do something about it," said Gilmour. In the area of recruitment the University has broadened its efforts reaching out to Lansing, Traverse City, Alpena and western Michigan. As a result, the last two incoming freshmen classes have included students from 14 west Michigan high schools that had not sent graduates to WSU in the recent past. There also has been an effort to build relationships with high schools and key stakeholders in various communities, and to promote a culture for college attendance. Students have been hired to be ambassadors as co-recruiters in Detroit Public Schools. They also represent the university at other campus functions, including alumni and fundraising events. Meanwhile, efforts to improve the student transfer experience from local community colleges to WSU were initiated. WSU also has plans to expand the number of programs offered in Macomb County. Before he leaves, Gilmour said he hopes to revamp the University's master plan, attract about 150 new faculty members, name new deans in several schools and break ground on a new $93 million medical research building. A photo of President Gilmour is included.

The uprising in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, now in its 21st month, is having a profound and often disturbing effect on children in the region. Parents and humanitarian organizations are struggling to help. Many refugee schools have play rooms and art programs that encourage children to express their fears and start to regain a sense of normality. Rola Kadi, a Syrian American art student at Wayne State University, has been giving art lessons to students at the Bashaer School in Antakya, Turkey. When she asks children who left the country several months ago to draw anything that's on their minds, they gravitate to images of the Syria of their dreams. "They draw the revolutionary Syrian flag with words like freedom and peace," she said. Sooner or later, she said, most children stop coloring the sea red and reach for the blue pencils and crayons.

Researchers at Wayne State University are about to experience a power surge in the ability to do their jobs, thanks to an upgraded computer network infrastructure supported by a federal grant. David Cinabro, professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is principal investigator for the project, which comprises two major components and will be funded with a two-year, $360,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The first component builds a dedicated, very high-speed network that will enable WSU researchers to transmit and receive large amounts of data quickly, across the campus or around the world. The dedicated network, or "Science DMZ," as investigators call it, will be exclusive to scientific research and separate from the standard university network for day-to-day traffic. The new network is scheduled for completion around mid-2013. Patrick Gossman, Wayne State deputy CIO for computing and IT and a co-investigator for the grant, likened the Science DMZ to a dedicated lane on the freeway with a 700-mph speed limit. "They need to move huge files here, where they have the computing power to analyze them, or send them to collaborators at other institutions," he said. "This upgrade will greatly speed up our researchers' ability to work, moving their research forward." The second project component will upgrade the local network infrastructure in the physics building. This component will provide the necessary on-off ramps to the new Science DMZ as well as speed up their daily work.