In his column about the University Research Corridor and North Carolina's comparable Research Triangle Park, Dickerson notes that Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid, Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman will go before the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education on April 20 to present the case that their universities should be recognized - and generously financed - as a Research University Corridor separate from Michigan's 12 other public universities. The Big 3 account for 95 percent of the research dollars brought to Michigan of all 15 public universities. They return $26 to Michigan's economy for every dollar state taxpayers invest in them, not counting the tuition payments.

A feature story in the Community/Highland Park-Detroit section focuses on the Gaining Options - Girls Investigate Real Life (GO-GIRL) program at Wayne State University, which meets every Saturday for 10 weeks to explore seventh-grade girls' career options. Seventh grade is a turning point for girls, said program director/cofounder Sally Roberts, who teaches mathematics education at Wayne State. "We continue to send the message that girls are not as capable. You'd never accept anyone saying, 'I'm a girl, I can't read.' But when a girl says, 'I'm not good at math,' mom and dad might agree… In our society, we don't support our girls," said Roberts. WSU senior Tracey Davis-Watkins, 28, a WSU senior and GO-GIRL mentor, said the GO-GIRL program is beneficial to girls on so many levels. "It affords them experiences that most children their age aren't exposed to, such as being on a college campus." The story includes three photos taken on Wayne State's campus.

A recent Duke University study found that more than a fourth of America's new high-tech companies from 1995-2005 were founded by immigrants. However, the proportion varies by state. Ohio had only 14 percent, while Michigan had 33 percent -- higher than the national average. Thomas Gutteridge, dean of the University of Toledo's College of Business Administration, explained that Ohio didn't do as well nationally because most of its research is done solely at Ohio State University, whereas Michigan has big research centers at Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan.

Wayne State is mentioned in a story about how Oakland University and Beaumont Hospitals plan to open a privately-funded medical school by fall 2010. The announcement surprised many because Oakland had been one of four candidates vying to host a satellite campus for Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. "They fooled me. They clearly dropped MSU like a hot potato," said Robert Frank, executive vice-dean at the WSU School of Medicine. WSU recently increased its class size from 270 to 300 students to help address the physician shortage in Michigan. Frank said he believes it is important for medical schools to collaborate and not compete. The article mentions that Wayne State has the country's largest single-campus medical school.

When Oakland University opens its own medical school in 2010, it won't rely on any state funding, such as medical schools like Wayne State, the article says. WSU provides its medical school with $50-$52 million annually from money it gets from the state of Michigan for education and training for 1,200 four-year students. The story was distributed by Gannett News Service to the company's other newspapers.

An announcement Thursday by Oakland University and Beaumont Hospitals about a new medical school planned for the Oakland campus repositions the university as one of the prestigious schools in Michigan, according to President Gary Russi. Wayne State is mentioned as one of the state's Big Three universities that wish to be funded separately. Oakland officials say a medical school also will help the university retain students who might have transferred elsewhere if they wish to pursue medical studies. A similar article appeared in The Oakland Press.

Hal Stack and David Reynolds of the Labor Studies Center commented about Kirk Kerkorian's $4.5 billion bid for Chrysler and how he'd give union workers a chance to own a stake in the company. UAW members are skeptical of exchanging pay and benefits for partial ownership of the company. "A lot of times it's having to cut off the arm to save the patient kind of thing," said Stack. "Most workers in most unions are not going to want to do this. The union has to believe this is really the last straw (to save the company)." Reynolds pointed to the Eastern Airlines example: "Eastern was in a financial tailspin. Unions gave wage concessions in exchange for stock ownership. They really had a say on the shop floor and in the boardroom." He noted that the unions found enough ways to cut costs that they won back some of the workers' lost wages.

Dr. Rodger MacArthur, an infectious-disease specialist at Wayne State, commented about a new AIDS drug called Darunavir that is "significantly better" at attacking highly resistant HIV than existing drugs, based on a recent study of 230 AIDS patients. Those who took Darunavir lowered virus levels to the undetectable range in 45 patients after 48 weeks. "The results were very, very good - in many ways, perhaps, better than anyone would've expected," said MacArthur, who was not affiliated with the study.

Nancy Vandewiele Milligan has been appointed academic fieldwork coordinator and assistant professor in the occupational therapy program at Wayne State University's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. A photo accompanied the write-up.

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has announced that Michael G. Stephen has been named grant administrator. He joined the university in 2004 as an accountant. A photo accompanies the piece.

Two-time Wayne State University alumnus Fred S. Findling, 76, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Findling Law Firm in Royal Oak. A German immigrant and Holocaust survivor, Findling came to Detroit when he was 11. "I suppose I knew the only way I could make a decent living was to pursue an education," he said. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1954 and a juris doctorate in 1956 - both from Wayne State.

Genomatix Software, a Munich-based biotech company which has an extensive customer base that includes Wayne State University, may open a training center in Ann Arbor. CEO Thomas B. Werner would like to open an office ASAP to be operational by summer.

A feature about Michael Greening, new principal of Royal Oak High School, notes that he has a master's degree in education from Wayne State and is working on a education specialist degree.

The Wayne State University baseball team (18-10, 7-3 GLIAC) swept the University of Findlay (16-13, 8-4 GLIAC) in the April 6 doubleheader, 11-3 in the first game and 4-1 in the second game.

Plunge in magazine\'s annual ranking upsets students; dean blames an error in reporting statistics. Leaders at Wayne State University's Law School are holding a town hall meeting this morning to discuss the recent U.S. News & World Report rankings that moved Wayne State from a Tier 3 law school down to Tier 4, according to the 2008 graduate school rankings released Friday. The drop has been the talk of students, many of whom believe WSU already had been undervalued by the magazine. Maggie Smith, 26, a second-year student and vice president of the student board of governors, says her fellow students feel Wayne State's Law School is the type of institution that\'s not Tier 3 but should actually be in the top. The statistic that affected the law school's ranking was its percentage of 2005 graduates who had found jobs nine months after graduation -- 60 percent -- which was the lowest among all Tier 4 schools. \"There was a significant error in reporting our employment statistics in 2005, and it had a devastating effect,\" said Dean Frank Wu. The ranking was \"unwarranted because of erroneous data, and we will be presenting that all at the town hall meeting.\" Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News, said it\'s possible the employment figures were incorrect. Even so, the law school won\'t get back into the third tier this year, he said. \"Our policy is not to change the ranking\" if the school erred, Morse said.

Computer systems designed to make mammograms more accurate turn out to make them less reliable, according to the largest study to evaluate the increasingly popular high-tech versions of the common test for breast cancer. The study of more than 429,000 mammograms found that \"computer-aided detection\" systems did not help radiologists find more tumors and significantly increased the number of false alarms. The computer-aided detection systems require a radiologist \"who knows what he or she is doing,\" said Dr. Brien Shah, a radiologist with Advanced Diagnostic Imaging, president of the Saginaw Valley chapter of the Michigan Radiological Society and a staff member at the Wayne State University Medical School. \"It\'s a useful tool, but it\'s not the end all,\" said Shah. \"(The machines) invite you to take a second look. They can be a little hypersensitive.\"

Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning commented on the insider-trading trial of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio. The fact that Nacchio's defense could wrap up Monday with less than two days of testimony indicates his lawyers believe the prosecution didn't prove their case, Henning said.

A state House subcommittee narrowly approved a measure on Tuesday that would separate the funding for Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Two separate funding bills for Michigan's public universities call for the same 2.5 percent increase for all 15 institutions in the upcoming budget year, but would split funding into one pot for the 'Big Three research universities. The measure must be considered by the full appropriations subcommittee and the full House, then make it through similar steps in the GOP-controlled senate. Nine of the 12 smaller schools - Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Lake Superior State, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State, Michigan Technological University and Oakland University - have formed an alliance to oppose the separate bills, saying they could lead to more state money for the three biggest universities at their expense.

An article chronicling the life and death of former Detroit Free Press publisher Neal Shine - one of Detroit's premier figures in newspaper journalism - mentions that he wrote a book about his mother, Mary Ellen. The book, "Life with Mae: A Detroit Memoir," is undergoing final editing and will be published through Wayne State University.

Ollie Johnson, assistant professor of political science in the Africana Studies Department at Wayne State University, is interviewed about Barack Obama's qualifications for president, and the question raised in the media; Is Barack Obama black enough to deserve the support of African-American voters? "We spend a lot of time talking about absurd and irrelevant things in American politics," said Johnson. "He's running for president, that takes a lot of ambition, a lot of confidence." Johnson also commented on former NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon. Gordon favored more of a post-civil rights stance focusing more on community service and development while board members preferred a more traditional role of fighting racial discrimination. "(Gordon) came from the corporate sector. He wanted to modernize the organization so they could more effectively do their job."