An item in a listing of continuing education programs notes the WSU College of Nursing Research Day on March 28. The program qualifies for 5.4 nursing contact hours. Contact information is given.

Four members of the Wayne State University men's fencing squad and six members of the women's squad participated in the NCAA Regional competition Saturday at the University of Notre Dame. Senior Marek Petraszek claimed the epee title in men's competition and senior Anna Garina placed third in the epee in the women's event.

David Moran, a criminal law professor at Wayne State University, commented about the renewed police interest in interviewing accused murderer Stephen Grant's au pair, Verena Dierkes, who has returned to Germany. Lawyers said there is no way Macomb authorities can legally require Dierkes to return to the area or to work with local investigators. \"Foreign witnesses can only get here voluntarily,\" Moran said. \"You can transmit a subpoena to somebody overseas and ask him or her to show up, but it\'s up to them.\"

The emergence of trendy hookah bars in the United States masks the serious risk to health from hookah use, according to the American Lung Association\'s new report, An Emerging Deadly Trend - Waterpipe Tobacco Use, released today. Hookah bars are growing in popularity in the U.S., especially among 18-to 24-year-olds, becoming the first new tobacco use trend of the 21st century. Dr. Adnan Hammad, director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), reported in an ACCESS Community Health Research Center and Wayne State University School of Nursing Study that hookah smoking is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. Hammad found that \"urine and plasma nicotine levels, heart rates and blood pressure were sharply elevated with arghile (hookah) use, and there are indications that such smokers are at greater risk for poor pulmonary functioning and oral cancer.\"

Rep. Mike Lahti, D-Hancock, commented about the testimonies of Michigan Tech University President Glenn Mroz, Northern Michigan University President Les Wong and Lake Superior State University President Betty Youngblood, before the state House Appropriations Subcommittee for Higher Education Tuesday. Legislators are considering separating the state's three research universities - Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University - for purposes of funding, a change Lahti opposes. "I'm not convinced of the need to separate," Lahti said. "Those three have medical schools and that separates them from the rest of the universities and they are funded with that in mind." He pointed out "there's a lot of research going on at Michigan Tech, as well."

A Detroit News editorial calls for the adoption of a state initiative that would provide $45 million to fund the Michigan Nursing Corps to train 500 nursing instructors - and graduate 3,000 nurses in three years. Under the plan, the state would subsidize college tuition for existing nurses to become instructors in just 12 months. The state\'s colleges and universities have been slow in training nurses, according to the editorial, primarily because nursing programs are costly to run and tuition barely covers school costs. Last year, Michigan community colleges estimate they lost $1 million on such programs. Nursing schools\' faculty-to-student ratios go as high as 10-1 in critical care programs, for example, because instructors need to personally show students how to physically perform challenging tasks that can mean a patient\'s life or death. "We understand the challenge of finding money in this budget. But this program has the potential of taking Michigan where it needs to go, so cuts should be made elsewhere to provide funding."

The University of Michigan will devote $1 million a year over the next three years to hire displaced Pfizer scientists to teach and conduct research at the university. The money will come from discretionary funds comprised of private donations, U-M spokesman Joe Serwach said. U-M hopes to hire about 20 people with the money. The positions are in additions to hundreds of others U-M has open, he said.

In an editorial, the Free Press calls on the leaders of Wayne State, Michigan State, and the University of Michigan "to shed more light on how they do business" in order to counter the perception of many people that universities waste money, then "hit up students for more money." The newspaper suggest that the presidents of the state's three largest universities follow Gov. Granholm's town hall meeting format in making their case to the public regarding their special needs for increased funding. "Winning public support would lay the foundation for increased support in the Legislature," the Free Press writes, noting that taxpayers want to know what the state receives from each dollar that goes to the three universities.

In his column, Phil Power indicates that he was favorably impressed by the effort last week of Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan to come together and propose that they be funded separately from the state's other public universities. "The core of the argument for supporting research universities is a powerful one," Power writes. "Collectively, they return $26 to the state for each dollar of state support." He adds, "If we're going to get anywhere, the corporation known as the state of Michigan needs to figure out what kinds of long-term investments we need to make in order to survive and compete. Our great universities are a terrific place to start."

Law professor Jonathan Weinberg is quoted in an article about a new Michigan Civil Rights Commission report on the impact Proposal 2 will have on state government programs. The most controversial part of the report centers on an exception to the proposal that sanctions affirmative action programs if they are necessary for eligibility for federal funds. "The trick is not just to land (a federal contract), it has to be one that's tied to affirmative action requirements," Weinberg said. "The problem there is the federal government isn't a big fan of imposing those requirements, so I don't know how many programs there actually are that have those sorts of strings attached to them." Backers of Proposal 2 have said they will be watching closely to see if state officials try to circumvent the intent of the law.

"In unethical, outrageously foolish ways, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission Wednesday lobbed the next volley in the battle over Michigan's implementation of Proposal 2," a Detroit News editorial charges. While the newspaper praises parts of the commission's report on how the state should interpret and implement provisions of the proposal, it says that in other parts the authors "are clearly trying to subvert the will of Michigan voters." The editors take exception to a section of the report that advocates what they see as sidestepping the intent of Proposal 2 by seeking more federal funds that have affirmative action requirements. The editorial goes on to say that it makes sense for the state to lead creation of a "higher education consortium" that will develop a shared implementation plan. Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan are devising their own separate interpretations, The News points out.

In the wake of Comerica's announcement that it will move its headquarters from Michigan to Texas, the newspaper interviewed several Metro Detroit experts about how to attract job candidates to the state. Randy Paschke, chair of the Accounting Department in the School of Business Administration, said that when he needs to hire someone, he looks for a candidate with ties to the area. "It's hard to get somebody and say, 'You've never been to Michigan, come to Detroit,'" he said. One person he hired is associate professor Santanu Mitra. He has family in Novi and said that he had no reservations about moving to the Detroit area.

The Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts awarded Distinguished Alumni Awards to Daniel Loepp, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Eunice Moore, director of health, physical education and safety for Detroit Public Schools; and Larry Walker, professor emeritus of art at Georgia State University. Actor/director/writer Tom Skerritt received the Dean's Award for Career Achievement. Leonard Leone, founder of WSU's Hilberry Theatre, received the Dean's Award for Distinguished Service. No mention is made of yesterday evening's awards program.

Randal Charlton, WSU's entrepreneur in residence, said the university is considering establishment of a seed fund "of several million dollars" earmarked for start-up support of technology businesses. He was part of a panel that gathered recently in Grand Rapids.

John Greenfield was named executive director of the Core Technology Alliance Corp., which is composed of several institutions, including Wayne State University. He was formerly vice president for business development at Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Information Solutions in Kalamazoo.

Michigan's public higher education institutions will face a huge challenge in maintaining diversity in hiring, student admissions and scholarship distribution under Proposal 2, according to a report issued recently by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. After passage of the proposal by voters in November, Gov. Jennifer Granholm directed the commission to investigate the impact of the amendment and make recommendations.

Actor and Wayne State University alumnus Tom Skerritt is the subject of the Detroit News story about the Career Achievement Award that he is receiving today from WSU. Skerritt, 73, who attended Wayne State some 45 years ago, says he "definitely" enjoyed his time at Wayne State. The Detroit native and McKenzie High School grad said when he started doing theater at WSU, he did not realize the school\'s acting program had the national reputation it did then and still does. \"I had my first theater experiences at Wayne. I grew up on the west side of the city and Detroit always had this sense of autonomy. Of course, it\'s a different place now, but I will say that you never see anything for what it is until you leave it.\" Details about Wayne State University's 30th annual Ovation Awards are included in a sidebar. A photo of Skerritt also accompanies the story with a teaser on the front page of the "My Wednesday" feature section. Fox 2 also aired information about the Ovation Awards event scheduled tonight.

This article gives details of the WSU Black Theatre Program's presentation of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" at the Bonstelle Theatre the weekend of March 11. An accompanying photo shows two of the lead actors, William E. Bryson and Brishen Doron Miller.

The evening news reported on the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts' annual Ovation Awards dinner and program yesterday evening. Shots of actor Tom Skerritt and others in attendance at the event were shown as news anchor Huel Perkins mentioned that "one of the greatest character actors of our time" returned to Detroit to accept an award from Wayne State. Perkins also mentioned that Skerritt attended Wayne State as a young actor.

The Wayne State University School of Medicine and the International Association for Organ Donation will hold the 4th Annual International Organ Donation Symposium on April 19-20 at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn. The event - billed as the largest of its kind in the world - will unite people from across the globe to discuss issues concerning organ donation.