Awards and certifications from September 29

Wayne State University has been selected as a 2010 Digital Education Achievement Award winner by the Center for Digital Education for the university's development of the Researcher's Dashboard, a Web-based custom software that monitors and manages proposals and grants in real time. The Digital Education Achievement Awards recognize outstanding digital technology projects and programs that have enriched education for students and teachers.

September 29, 2010

Quicken contest to pay off a client's mortgage

Quicken Loans plans to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a contest that would pay off the mortgage of one of its customers. The Detroit-based mortgage company expects to write its millionth home loan in December and is embarking on its "Thanks A Million" contest. The contest will soon get some more buzz after ads start running next month on YouTube and national television. The ads were created by a Detroit-based crew of film students and professionals lead by Marc Ruiz, a Wayne State University film professor.

September 29, 2010

Detroit's white population rises as blacks move out of the city, Census shows

According to the recently released Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey (ACS), there has been an apparent increase in the percentage of white residents in Detroit. The white, non-Hispanic population of Detroit was recorded at 13.3 percent in 2009, up from 8.4 percent a year earlier, an increase of 5 percentage points. It had climbed just a tenth of a percentage point from 2007 to 2008. \"The black flight from the city started in the 1990s and it\'s only accelerated,\" said Jason Booza, a demographer who is a research assistant with the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Booza and others say that while the ACS data may have flaws, they believe there are more white residents in the city, and many are in the midtown area near Wayne State University.

September 29, 2010

Blacks likely to benefit from targeted lung cancer therapy

Research conducted by Dr. Ramsi Haddad, assistant professor at Wayne State University's School of Medicine, found that black patients with non-small cell lung are as likely to harbor a specific mutation in tumors as white patients.

September 29, 2010

Oakwood may build $23M center in Detroit

Wayne State University economist Allen Goodman, who teaches health care economics, commented about the preliminary approval of a new $23-million health care facility near the Southfield Freeway and Outer Drive. Oakwood Healthcare, one of metro Detroit\'s biggest hospital companies, would operate the 70,000-square-foot medical center. Goodman said inner-city hospitals are suffering the effects of population moving to the suburbs and diminished reimbursement for treating uninsured patients. \"The more hospitals you have, the more competition you have, and I think that\'s absolutely the case.\"

September 29, 2010

Report says Southeast Michigan faces nursing home shortage, funding crisis

A new report issued yesterday by the Detroit Area Agency on Aging concludes Southeast Michigan nursing homes are facing a funding crisis and a pending shortage of homes as the population ages. In an 18-month study, the agency's Long Term Care System Change Task Force found nursing homes in Detroit are closing at a rate of one per year, too many rely on Medicaid funding, and there is a perception of quality problems. Researchers at Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies contributed to the study.

September 29, 2010

WSU's shifting enrollment declines again

News brief mentions that Wayne State University's enrollment for the 2010-11 academic year is at 31,505, a slight decrease from 31,786 last year.

September 29, 2010

Wayne State to hype stem cell center at World Stem Cell Summit Oct. 4-6

Numerous media outlets, including Mitechnews.com, ran stories about next week's 2010 World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit. Co-sponsor Wayne State University will showcase its novel Great Lakes Stem Cell Commercialization Center before an audience of more than 1,200 of the world\'s most influential stem cell stakeholders in science, business, policy, law, ethics and advocacy summit, being held Oct. 4-6.

September 29, 2010

UAW likely to appeal for fired workers filmed drinking, but Chrysler won't want to settle

Arthur Schwartz, an instructor in Wayne State University\'s Industrial Relations program and a former General Director of Labor Relations at General Motors, comments on the firing of 13 Chrysler workers who were filmed by Fox 2 last week apparently drinking and smoking pot. http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=1004&DateTime=9%2F27%2F2010+10%3A05%3A42+PM&Term=wayne+state&PlayClip=TRUE http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/09/expert_uaw_likely_to_appeal_fo.html

September 28, 2010

Register now for Detroit Orientation Institute at WSU

Registration is now open for the 19th Signature session of Wayne State University\'s Detroit Orientation Institute. The program is designed to provide media, business, nonprofit and other professionals who are new to metro Detroit with a candid understanding of the issues affecting the region, on three consecutive Thursdays in October. The sessions provide a historical and regional perspective on diversity and demographics, education, arts and culture, development, the auto industry and the political landscape.

September 28, 2010

NextCAT scores $250,000 from Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund

The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund is investing $250,000 into NextCAT, providing another seed capital boost for the Techtown-based start-up. The 1-year-old biodiesel firm is utilizing technology developed at Wayne State University to push forward the development of biodiesel. This technology allows biodiesel producers to use less-expensive raw materials for production, simplifying the process.

September 28, 2010

Ann Arbor, Detroit: Rallies back aid for undocumented students

Rallies were held at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan on Monday, highlighting the cause of financial aid for students who are illegal immigrants. Monday was a national day of action for the federal and California Dream Acts, which call for financial aid for illegal immigrants. Critics say passage of the proposals would serve only to divert college money away from U.S. citizens.

September 28, 2010

Awards and certifications from September 28

Four alumni of Wayne State University have been selected for induction to the Wayne State Engineering Hall of Fame. The alumni are Doug Szopo, a Ford Motor Co. executive; Tobenette Holtz, an aerospace engineer manager; Laxmi Narayan Bhuyan, professor of computer science and engineering; and Paul Sgriccia, an engineering manager for an international engineering services firm. The four will be officially inducted at the Night of the Stars on Oct. 2, WSU's annual celebration and fundraiser honoring those who have contributed to excellence in the field of engineering.

September 28, 2010

Wayne State prof finds evolutionary origin for insect wings

Insect wings originally formed out of lobes used to glide to the ground from tall vegetation, not from ancestral gills as once thought, according to a recent study published by Wayne State University researcher Aleksandar Popadiae.

September 27, 2010

The suburbs are killing Detroit and themselves

Robin Boyle, chair of Wayne State's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Lyke Thompson, director of WSU's Center for Urban Studies, commented in a story about challenges Detroit is facing such as population loss and suburban sprawl. Thompson noted that "130-plus municipalities of one kind or another" lie in the three-county Detroit area (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties). He added that most of the people who left the city moved to the suburbs, rather than out of state. Boyle said that Europe's industrial cities, such as Liverpool and Essex in England, are going through the pangs of job losses just as is America's Rust Belt. But the European cities aren't suffering as much due to strict land-use regulations that prevent sprawl.

September 27, 2010

Event to teach the art of the lean business launch in tight times

Detroit Free Press business writer Susan Tompor featured in her column the Oct. 13 E2Detroit event hosted by Wayne State University and TechTown. Randal Charlton, TechTown executive director, comments in the piece.

September 26, 2010

Schools work social media into curriculum

Wayne State University in January introduced an online graduate certificate in communications in new media. The course is limited to 20 slots each semester, but it has exceeded that limit each time and has a waiting list, according to WSU lecturer Karen McDevitt in the Department of Communications. McDevitt said there\'s real value in approaching so-called new media instruction in creative ways.

September 26, 2010

E2 Detroit conference focuses on creating businesses amid slump

Entrepreneurs, business leaders, authors, investors and others will be on hand during the sixth E2 Detroit conference, titled "The Lean Launch: Creating a Business in a Down Economy," which will be held Oct. 13 at Wayne State University. Event location and contact information are provided in the article.

September 26, 2010

Initiative aims to link research, business

Business Leaders for Michigan and the University Research Corridor announced the formation a new initiative called Accelerate Michigan to better align university research with the business concerns of large companies. The goal is to make Michigan a top ten state for economic growth, organizers said.

September 26, 2010

Rosa Parks' other (radical) side

Wayne State history professor Danielle McGuire discusses her new book, At the Dark End of the Street, which looks at famed civil rights activist Rosa Parks' life of activism before her legendary bus boycott on Dec. 1, 1955. McGuire states that Parks has been mischaracterized in historical texts as a quiet, reserved southern woman and argues she was a fiery leader with a passion for women's rights. http://www.theroot.com/views/rosa-parks-other-radical-side http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/09/24/life/doc4c97809caa334812327878.txt

September 26, 2010