An article highlighting safety initiatives from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America notes a partnership between the automaker and several institutions including Wayne State University as part of the Collaborative Safety Research Center. The partnerships are aimed at studying and reducing traffic fatalities and injuries.

Dr. Valerie M. Parisi, dean of Wayne State University's School of Medicine, writes in an op-ed piece that Gov. Rick Snyder's proposal to have doctors report children\'s weight information to the state as part of his strategy to improve health in Michigan is important because it draws attention to obesity. "Obesity is killing Michiganders and escalating health care costs. Despite decades of widespread information on the effects of overeating and lack of exercise, we continue to eat ourselves into poor health and early death," Parisi wrote. Parisi notes that a team of Wayne State University researchers is tackling this problem with a five-year, $5.7 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. The research team is headed by Sylvie Naar-King, Ph.D., associate professor of Pediatrics in WSU's School of Medicine, and Catherine Jen, Ph.D., professor and chairwoman of Nutrition and Food Science in WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Cynthia Bir, Wayne State University professor of biomedical engineering, is profiled on "Anything is Possible" hosted by Jack Krasula.

About half of children with respiratory illnesses at a daycare center had multiple viral infections during their illness, according to findings presented at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Emily T. Martin, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Wayne State University, said that the study involved 225 children. "We designed the study to look at the distribution of viruses in this population now that we have the technology to detect more viruses than ever before," she said. "What surprised us was that 55% of illnesses that involved a virus had more than one virus detected.

Details about the grand opening event and ribbon cutting ceremony for Wayne State University\'s new A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building and Lecture Hall are included in this article about the event. A photo gallery is included.

As the country continues to struggle with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, commentator Robert Reich warned Friday that scapegoating won\'t lead to good solutions. The scapegoats could be teachers, unions, immigrants, even the rich, said Reich, U.S. Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration. \"Scapegoating\" -- singling out one group for blame -- \"gets us absolutely nowhere,\" said Reich, who spoke during a seminar called \"Retirement in Transition: Work, Relax or Reboot?\" at Wayne State University. Reich said he believes the country will find solutions to its economic problems because Americans have historically risen to the challenge of a tough job.

Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour spoke about the need for educational institutions to revamp and offer new alternatives beyond current lifelong learning programs that are often derided as \"edu-tainment\" for retirees. A former Ford Motor Co. executive who retired twice only to be called back as vice chairman of the carmaker and then asked to head the university, Gilmour quipped, \"I have a whole lot of experience with retirement because I failed at it twice.\" That was the message from \"Retirement in Transition: Work, Relax or Reboot?,\" a presentation of the Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society at Wayne State University. The conference, sponsored by the university\'s Eugene Applebaum Chair in Community Engagement, continues today with a speech from former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, author of \"Aftershock: The Next Economy and America\'s Future.\" Marick Masters, director of the Labor@Wayne program, and Peter Lichtenberg, director of Wayne\'s Institute of Gerontology, also participated in a panel discussion yesterday.

A new national initiative has awarded three Detroit cultural organizations a total of $1.33 million to stimulate redevelopment along the Woodward Corridor. The funds are part of a pilot program to reward and encourage the successful use of art to jump-start economic development in struggling neighborhoods. In its first year, ArtPlace will invest $11.5 million in 34 projects in 25 cities nationwide. It will also be supported by a $12 million loan from major financial institutions. Midtown Detroit Inc., formerly the University Cultural Center Association, won $900,000 to advance its Sugar Hills Arts District south of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, part of Sugar Hill, received $350,000 to finish interior renovations, while Wayne State\'s TechTown got $80,000 to create a multi-use space for community artists.

Jim Rigby, chair of the Department of Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was interviewed during the grand opening of the A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building and Lecture Hall. Rigby talked about the new facility and the national reputation enjoyed by the Chemistry Department as a premier research center. (Cue to -2:21)

Dr. Manish Jain, Wayne State University Physician Group associate chief medical officer, comments in a story about a recall of birth control pills. He says the problem with the six recalled brands has to do with a packaging error that put the pills in the wrong order. The recall means about a million-and-a-half sets are suspected to be wrong.

An article highlights the 40th Anniversary Gala and Celebración for Wayne State's Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies (CBS). The event, held on Saturday, Sept. 10, featured a keynote address from Rep. Hansen Clarke with Guadalupe Lara, from Southwest Detroit\'s LASED as the mistress of ceremonies. Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour welcomed attendees and Tina Abbott, Wayne State Board of Governors secretary-treasurer, was among those honored with the CBS Founders Award. A photo of CBS volunteers is included. (Story runs on page 4 in Spanish)

WWJ reporter Marie Osborne provided on-site coverage yesterday of the "Retirement in Transition: Work, Relax or Reboot?" presentations at Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium.

With retirement out of the question for many Baby Boomers, the thought of an encore career needs to become a reality. Wayne State University's TechTown campus works 70-year-old art history professor Mame Jackson. Jackson is the CEO of an art studio called Con/Vida. She organizes art shows nationwide that include Brazilian and Peruvian art. She started the business a few years ago on a shoe-string budget in her home office. \"We professionalized this operation and joined a community of entrepreneurs,\" Jackson said. \"Our business has become ... it\'s still a nonprofit organization. I think of it as a social entrepreneurship.\" TechTown Executive Director Randall Charlton, in an encore career himself as he runs TechTown, said Boomers can go to TechTown and start over. Links to the Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society retirement themed events are provided.

Wayne State University is hosting a conference Sept. 29-30 to connect scientists, researchers, and community leaders working in academia, industry, and government from across the state of Michigan to explore the future of Michigan's water resources. The conference will be held at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center and Community Arts Auditorium. The discussion will center on water research at the interface of Water and the Landscape, Water and Health, and Water and Energy.

Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour spoke to students, faculty and staff Sept. 12 at Bernath Auditorium during his State of the University address. "We are a community of learners with a passion for discovery, driven to create and apply knowledge for the greater good…deeply rooted in the metropolitan location, from down the street and around the world," Gilmour said. "We are motivated by the success of our students." Gilmour mentioned WSU's latest research breakthroughs and publicity, including a study - featured on "Good Morning America" - involving attention deficit hyperactivity disorder research and the use of nanotechnology and implants to study neurological disorders. "The university is evolving to meet the changing needs of a changing world," he said. A photo of President Gilmour is included.

A feature story examines the development of Wayne State University's A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building and Lecture Hall, which has a scheduled grand opening on Friday, Sept. 16. A. Paul Schaap and his wife, Carol, will be on hand for the event which will showcase the facility's 175,000 square feet of space that includes labs, faculty offices, gathering places for conferences, a 150-seat lecture hall and special events and green roofs. The newly designed enhancements are designed to encourage interaction among students and faculty who otherwise might be isolated in their labs. "The renovation has fundamentally changed our ability to recruit top faculty from around the country, to recruit the best graduate students, to conduct the best research, and hence grow the reputation of the chemistry department," said Jim Rigby, chair of the Chemistry Department. Photos of the facility are included.

Two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants are helping a Wayne State University researcher keep new non-native invasive species out of the Great Lakes and minimize the impact of those that are already there. Jeffrey Ram, professor of physiology in Wayne State's School of Medicine, received a two-year EPA grant of $520,000 in 2010 to verify the effectiveness of ballast water treatment systems aboard ships bound for the Great Lakes. The project's goal is to develop land-based, nonindigenous systems to assess how well shipboard ballast water treatment systems work, as well as how long they last. A second two-year grant of $500,000 received in August 2011 will be used to test an early warning system in Toledo Harbor and western Lake Erie for the entry of invasive species into the Great Lakes.

Business columnist Susan Tompor focuses her column on this week's two-day symposium on retirement in transition hosted by Wayne State University's Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society. The event, titled "Retirement in Transition: Work or Reboot?," will feature speakers and panelists including Robert Reich, former U.S. secretary of Labor and CNBC contributor, who will deliver a keynote address on Friday, and Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour. For registration information, readers are directed to www.focis.wayne.edu.

A Wayne State University researcher has won a $418,000 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. Graham Parker, assistant professor of research in the Department of Pediatrics, will use the grant to study how a particular gene might be involved in the progression of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the No. 1 genetic killer of children younger than 2 years old. "Although most people have never heard of it, SMA is the most prevalent hereditary motor neuron disease, affecting four to 10 per 100,000 live births, with as many as one in 75 people being carriers of the genetic mutation," Parker said.

On September 15 and 16, 2011, the Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS) at Wayne State University will present "Retirement in Transition: Work, Relax or Reboot?" The two-day symposium, which takes place on campus, seeks to explore the changing work cycle of Americans and how the emerging "new normal" affects the way people think about retirement. Irvin D. Reid, Wayne State University president emeritus and director for FOCIS, was a guest on "The Craig Fahle Show" talking about this week's event.