An article highlights John Irving's "The Cider House Rules," Part I and II, adapted by Peter Parnell, which will be presented by the Hilberry Theatre Company at Wayne State University starting March 31. (print only edition)

On April 8, Wayne State University and the Scarab Club present \"A Tribute to the Working Class & Working Class Heroes,\" featuring poetry and art, 7 p.m., at the Scarab Club.

Beginning in fall 2011, high-achieving freshmen entering Macomb Community College and Macomb transfer students will have an opportunity to join the Irvin D. Reid Honors College of Wayne State University. The provosts of Macomb and WSU are expected to sign the \"Honors WayneDirect\" and \"Honors Transfer\" articulation agreement this afternoon. Under the new \"Honors WayneDirect\" agreement, students who begin at Macomb will be able to graduate from WSU with University Honors - the highest academic distinction Wayne State offers - and earn significant financial awards in the process. It previously has not been possible for community college transfer students to complete Wayne State\'s Honors requirements or qualify for the university\'s Presidential scholarships. \"This is a unique collaboration,\" said Jerry Herron, dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College. \"Two great institutions - one a major research university and the other an outstanding community college - are partnering to share students and resources in a way no one else is. We are pioneering a concurrent honors program, bridging city and suburb to give community college students the best of all possible worlds.\"

"Appleville," a product of the Michigan Creative Film Alliance involving students from Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, premieres at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Detroit Film Theatre. \"This was a unique opportunity for faculty as well as students, all with different experiences and ways of viewing the world, to work together on a single project,\" says Juanita Anderson, a Wayne State faculty member and part of the film alliance. Twenty-two students contributed to the film, taking turns as producers, directors and production designers as well as actors. \"Ours is a unique training model,\" says Anderson. \"We are cultivating a new generation of storytellers in Michigan.\" She says another student project is being planned for this summer.

WWJ reporter Florence Walton covered the Wayne State University campus ceremony for the people of Japan held at noon on Wednesday at the David Adamany Undergraduate Library's Bernath Auditorium. She noted in her report that WSU's Office of International Students and Scholars is raising money to give to the American Red Cross Japan disaster relief effort.

TechTown and Wayne State University are partnering to give paid internships to the university\'s students. The new paid internship program will offer up to a 50-percent match of an intern\'s pay for companies that take advantage of the program. Organizers hope it will create another valuable synergy between the university and TechTown.

Ninety percent of cancer deaths result from metastasis, the spread of cancer to different areas in the body, yet scientific exploration of the possible mechanical factors that promote metastasis has been limited. Karen A. Beningo, assistant professor of biology at Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is expanding the scientific understanding of what makes malignant tumors spread, and the answer lies within the dense, fibrous matrix that surrounds cancer cells. "This study has identified a novel physical parameter and a new conceptual framework in which to assess the process of invasion, not just of cancer cells but other invasive cell types as well," Beningo said.

Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning commented on a case involving the empaneling of a special investigative grand jury to probe the child welfare agency in Brooklyn, N.Y. \"This is the traditional role of the grand jury, which is not only to return charges but to investigate governmental corruption.\" Any recommendations from the grand jury, though, don\'t have the force of law, he said. \"It essentially becomes a bully pulpit.\"

A brief notes the Wayne State University Dance Company's performance of \"Out of the Box...Our Favorite Dances from Around the Globe,\" onstage on Friday, April 1 at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Harbor Springs, Mich.

Third-year Wayne State University Law School student Haddy Abouzeid is profiled in this story which highlights his involvement on Wayne Law's Moot Court program and his internship with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. \"Through my internship, I\'ve been able to put the knowledge and skills I\'ve gained from Wayne Law\'s superb faculty in action before the judges of Michigan\'s trial courts,\" said Abouzeid, who began working in the Preliminary Examination Division prior to the Anti-Gang Unit. http://legalnews.com/detroit/906430/ http://legalnews.com/grandrapids/1005152/

Wayne State University Law School\'s Winter 2011 Donald E. Barris Student Trial Advocacy Program (Mock Trial) in-house competition was held March 12 in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. The final round featured Elisa Wyatt and Daniel Kosmowski representing the plaintiff as they battled for the championship title against defendant representatives Jyarland Daniels Jones and Ayana Duncan.

An article examining Detroit\'s 25 percent population decrease in the past decade to 713,777 includes commentary from Lyke Thompson, director of the Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University. He said Detroit institutions like Wayne State are trying to attract new residents. "They\'re offering substantial cash incentives for people in that area to buy houses or even to rent," he said. But in the end, according to Thompson, the city really needs to focus its spending on just a few promising neighborhoods.

William Volz, Wayne State University professor of business law, comments in a story about the entrepreneurial spirit in Detroit. "There is a loyalty in the African-American population of Detroit," Volz said. "People are looking around where they live, at school, at home, and they see the opportunities." It is noted in the story that Volz oversees the Blackstone LaunchPad, an entrepreneur assistance program at Wayne State.

An extensive feature examines Wayne State University's recent Alternative Spring Break-Detroit that brought together 60 students who chose to give back to the community. \"These are special kids,\" says Ann Cuddohy Slawnik, director of the Detroit Orientation Institute at Wayne State University. The Institute oversees the student-run program. \"They are not just forgoing the traditional Cancun spring break; many of them are forgoing sleeping in late in their own warm beds.\" All told, the kids fed hundreds of homeless at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, Detroit Veterans Center and Gleaners Food Bank. They tutored at Woodbridge Learning Center, Dixon Elementary School, Erma L. Henderson Academy and Detroit Impact Center. They cleaned up debris and helped restore buildings at Georgia Street Community Collective, Blight Busters, Imagination Station, Spaulding Court Apartments and Historic Fort Wayne. A photo of WSU students is included.

The flight of middle-class African-Americans to the suburbs fueled an exodus that cut Detroit\'s population 25 percent in the past decade to 713,777, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. \"For those of us who have been out in the neighborhoods, we knew that the foreclosures and the abandonment were really extreme and accelerating,\" said Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University\'s Center for Urban Studies. \"The question is, can you put a bottom under it?\"

Live Midtown, financed by Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System and the Detroit Medical Center, is noted as a project particularly significant in addressing the latest census numbers showing Detroit's population decline. The Live Midtown partners this year began offering workers as much as $25,000 in loans to buy a home or as much as $3,500 in rent assistance to live in the city's midtown region. Under the program, the loans could become grants. Within the first six weeks, Live Midtown received 350 inquiries and the three employers pre-approved 42 applicants for financing. They are trying to draw 15,000 new residents by 2015.

A Detroit Free Press editorial cites the Live Midtown program, which is referred to in the editorial as Live Detroit, as a positive model "that might have potential for moving residents around the city as well."

Frederic Pearson, director of Wayne State University's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, commented in a story about the Libyan war. Pearson said although the U.S. involvement does not have a set end date, there is a strong feeling ground troops should not be involved. \"President Obama has not wanted it to look like an American-led or imposed effort like Iraq,\" Pearson said. \"But ... the United States is a leading air power, and arguably will be leading in this, as well.\"

NAACP Detroit branch president Wendell Anthony has expressed support for the decision to give a Great Expectations Award to performer Kid Rock, despite the concern by some NAACP supporters that Rock has performed with the Confederate flag prominently displayed on stage as a tribute to what the singer calls Southern rock music. Anthony said Rock deserved the Great Expectations Award because he has been a longtime promoter of Detroit and supported scholarships for students. It is noted in the story that Kid Rock regularly expresses pride in metro Detroit during interviews, featured scenes from Detroit in his video \"Roll On\" and helped popularize a line of clothing he purchased called \"Made In Detroit\" that helps fund a Wayne State University scholarship for music students.

A brief notes that Wayne State University is holding an event today to help raise funds for Japanese residents affected by an earthquake and tsunami. The event is at noon in Bernath Auditorium, on the first floor of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library. It will include comments from the consul general of Japan. A disaster relief fund drive is under way, and any money collected will be given to the American Red Cross Japan Disaster Relief Effort.