Channel 7 reporter Val Clark conducted an interview with Douglas Fraser, who maintains an office at Wayne State University's Walter P. Reuther Library and is a University Professor. Fraser talked about his historic involvement in the labor movement that included serving as president of the United Auto Workers from 1977-1983. He also commented about the Chrysler bailout during the 1970's that saved the automaker from bankruptcy. Video is included of the Reuther Library and WSU signage.

Fox 2 reporter Deena Centofanti covered the School of Medicine's announcement about the portable ultrasound equipment that Wayne State University School of Medicine students will use during their training. Just a little larger than a laptop, the machines have been used by NASA astronauts and sports teams to help diagnose illnesses and injuries. Wayne State is getting 30 of the $30,000 machines from GE Healthcare, and training will be coordinated by Henry Ford Health System. The hope is that doctors will eventually use the machines in examinations to better detect and diagnose patients. The story aired as part of a "Health Works" feature segment during the 5:30 p.m. newscast.

Metro / State Briefs Both of these briefs announce that Wayne State University School of Medicine students will now be using new portable ultrasound equipment. WSU is one of the first medical schools in the nation to explore this technology. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707130364

Wayne State University Law Professor Peter J. Henning commented extensively in a New York Times article on Whole Foods Market co-founder and chief executive John P. Mackey's decision to discuss and even predict his company's stock on Internet message boards. Henning said executives of public companies are required to make financial disclosures available to all investors, not just a select few. "He wasn't speaking on behalf of the company," Henning said, adding, "He certainly was talking about it. And he was attempting to influence the stock price." After hearing some of Mackey's postings (under the online persona "Rahodeb"), Henning added, "I would have to believe that Whole Foods' general counsel nearly keeled over when they learned about this."

Central Michigan University\'s board of trustees on Thursday approved a 21 percent tuition hike for incoming freshman. The raise in tuition will cost freshmen and transfer students $304 a credit -- or about $9,120 for the year. CMU also has a guaranteed tuition program; the "CMU Promise" prevents future increases by locking in their rate for up to five years. Freshmen last year started with the guaranteed price of $7,530.

Opinion / Editorial As the first of many public universities to announce tuition increases, Oakland University and Michigan State University are targeted in this editorial protest. In the Detroit News' opinion, universities and the federal government must do more to compensate for waning state funding. The News suggests universities do more to help students secure financial aid and find new cost-saving methods.

Editorial During a time when many of Michigan's public universities are announcing recent tuition hikes forced by state budget cuts, Central Michigan University offers students and their parents the "CMU Promise." Incoming undergraduate freshmen and their parents will know the fixed annual cost of college for four years, with a possible extension to a fifth year. That tuition rate will be set in the student\'s first year and will not increase through expected graduation. The Promise incorporates student activity and library fees, on top of tuition and room and board costs.

Wayne State University School of Medicine students will now be using new portable ultrasound equipment. WSU is one of the first medical schools in the nation to explore this technology developed by GE Healthcare and educational techniques developed by NASA and Henry Ford Hospital. GE Healthcare has provided 30 of the lightweight ultrasound devices -- the size of a laptop computer -- for students to learn how to diagnose a wide range of ailments. A Web link to WSU's School of Medicine is included.

Wayne State University's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences appointed Edward J. Kerfoot director for the occupational and health sciences program in the college\'s Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences. A photo of Kerfoot is included.

Results of a survey by the WSU Transportation Research Group on seat belt use in Michigan were noted during an evening news broadcast.

Editorial Michigan House bills 4350 and 4351 are a cause of debate in this editorial column. The Oakland Press believes that the bills, which would establish separate state appropriations for the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, are unfair to Michigan's other 12 state colleges.

In her "Senior Scene" column, Ruth Cain traces the history and mission of Wayne State's Institute of Gerontology. "The institute, from its beginning, chose to study the lives of older people as they live them," said Director Peter Lichtenberg. He explained that the institute combines research with outreach efforts.

The Wayne State University Law School reported that 96.5 percent of the class of 2006 had found employment nine months after graduation.

Crittenton Hospital in Rochester has become a teaching facility for graduates and students of the WSU School of Medicine under a recent partnership agreement announced at a June signing ceremony held at the hospital. Dr. Robert Mentzer, dean of the School of Medicine, complimented the hospital for helping educate the next generation of physicians. Dr. Frank Sottile, chief medical officer with Crittenton, pointed out that physicians tend to stay in the area where they train.

$95.3-million hit to funding could mean tuition hikes Leaders of the state\'s public universities say that the $95.3 million in deferred payments and cuts in state aid dropped in their laps Friday are based on a faulty assumption that they are sitting on large stockpiles of cash. In all, schools will have to account for $25.9 million in cuts, plus they will have to wait until October to get the $69.4 million that would have been the last payment of the 2006-07 fiscal year. That is in addition to $71 million in aid that was already deferred by a budget move in April. The funding crunch could mean construction slowdowns, reductions in services and double-digit tuition hikes at the state\'s 15 public universities. The Sheikh family of West Bloomfield has three college-age children enrolled at Wayne State University for the fall term. \"One reason we\'re at Wayne State is because it\'s economically feasible,\" said Hassan Sheikh, 20, who is studying pre-law and will be a junior in the fall. He worries the family\'s budget will be stretched even tighter by tuition hikes. Harvey Hollins, vice president for government and community relations at Wayne State, said there\'s no such reserve to pad the blow of the $3.2 million in cuts and a $1-million deferment at WSU. \"We look at it as the beginning of changing the quality of higher education in this state as we know it, not just for our university, but for the others as well,\" he said. \"Students and parents may end up sharing the brunt of the cuts. We\'re looking to make systemic changes at the university. This is not easy.\" A photo is included of WSU student Naureen Haroon and her cousin Samreen Haroon studying on Wayne State's Gullen Mall. A sidebar graph also is included showing WSU's funding cut at $3.2 million and a delay in appropriations totaling $1 million.

Both television stations did live reports on the early evening news about the hearings held on campus Tuesday by Congressman John Conyers regarding soaring gasoline prices. Wayne State was mentioned as the site. The "Pain at the Pump" town hall meeting at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center included panelists Nancy Cain, AAA Michigan's public relations director; Jim Croce, chief executive of NextEnergy; Kim Trent, director of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's southeast Michigan office; and Conyers.

Officials of a new Detroit-based venture-capital fund say they will start fundraising in June and hope to raise a minimum of $10 million in the next six months, eventually targeting a maximum of between $20 million and $30 million, Crain\'s Detroit Business\' Web site reported Tuesday. The TechTown Venture Fund will be a partnership with Wayne State University. It will focus on early-stage WSU spin-offs and on tenant companies of the TechTown business incubator and technology park near campus, but it will also invest in other companies.

A front-page story today reports that more than half the doctors beginning medical residency in July at Wayne State will be foreign-educated students. These graduates will fill 91 of 162 first-year residency spots, up from 79 of 166 the year before. While the shift reflects a broad trend toward more doctors from other countries practicing in the United States, it also underscores that the WSU School of Medicine - the largest single-campus medical school in the nation - is at a critical time of change. About 60 percent of WSU medical school graduates stay in Michigan to practice medicine. Students and administrators blame declining interest by some American doctors in the school's medical programs on concerns about the Detroit Medical Center stopping its co-sponsorship of five residency programs. The article mentions several "challenges" the university faces. Dr. Robert Mentzer, dean of the medical school, said he is working to "right-size the relationship with the DMC and maximize our opportunities with other health care systems." Dr. Diane Levine, vice chair of medical education at WSU, pointed out that international graduates of the medical school are very bright and they add diversity to the physician workforce in a changing U.S. population.

Officials of a new Detroit-based venture capital fund will start fundraising in June and hope to raise at least $10 million in the next half-year. The TechTown Venture Fund will be a partnership with Wayne State University. It will focus on early-stage WSU spin-offs and on tenant companies of the TechTown business incubator and technology park near the campus. Details have yet to be worked out or approved by the WSU Board of Governors. "We see a lot of high technology here and no local funds taking advantage of it," notes Joseph Alam, who will run the fund. The article mentions innovative research programs such as the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems program headed by Professor Greg Auner.

Congressman John Conyers will convene a town hall meeting today at Wayne State University to discuss possible reasons for high gas prices. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center.