In a story about Kim Lavine, author of "Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea into a Million Dollars and How You Can, Too!" Terry Cross, executive in residence at the Wayne State University School of Business Administration, is noted. Cross is director of Green Daisy, Lavine's new entrepreneurial company.

Wayne State University Law School announced that David Scheffer, a former U.S. ambassador at large for War Crimes Issues, will deliver the 23rd Annual I. Goodman Cohen Lecture in Trial Advocacy on Thursday on Feb. 22. Contact information is provided.

Cherita Smith, point guard on the Wayne State women's basketball team, is featured in this article. She has impressed head coach Gloria Bradley with her style of play. "She has been a match up problem for our opposition," Bradley pointed out. "She has become the most improved player on the team because of her defense. The article includes photo of Smith during a game.

The Fisher Family Foundation has made a $500,000 grant to the Wayne State University Law School. The grant will be used for construction of the Damon J. Keith Classroom Building and Center for Civil Rights. It brings the total amount of money the law school has raised in its campaign to nearly $16 million.

Wayne State University's Dance Company One performed African dances for students at Ealy Elementary School in celebration of Black History Month. Photos are included of the performance and Dance Company One members Katie Kanigowski and Denita Gregory.

Wayne State University is listed in a sidebar accompanying an article about how local governments and school districts that consolidate could see additional state funding. WSU's state allocation for 2008 is pegged at $225.5 million under Gov. Granholm's budget proposal. Only U-M and Michigan State would receive more. The Department of Management and Budget is cited as the information source.

The number of students at Michigan's 15 public universities has dropped overall for the first time in five years, according to this article by Booth Newspapers' education writer. Two story sidebars compare the number of freshman at each university during the past two years as well as the total number of students. One list shows that WSU enrollment for fall 2006 was down by 155 students -- to 32,982 -- from the previous year. But freshmen enrollment was up by 66 students in 2006. The numbers are from the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.

Wayne State University Law School has announced the creation of the Alan Schenk Endowed Student Prize, which will be given annually to the outstanding student in the Law School's Business Planning courses. It will be presented for the first time at this fall's 2007 Honors Convocation.

WTVS TV Channel 56 aired a documentary about U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith on Feb. 4 titled "Judge Damon Keith: Equal Justice Under Law." Featured in the documentary are actor Bill Cosby, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, former President Bill Clinton, among others. The article mentioned a $16.5 million addition to the Wayne State University Law School - the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights - that was opened in honor of Keith.

The latest issue of MichiganScience includes a report by a professor at Wayne State University's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics about a cervical cancer vaccine treatment that would be mandated for all young women in Michigan, under proposed legislation. The brief does not identify the professor by name.

A brief notes that Laura McCloskey has been named director of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute at Wayne State University. She was formerly a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. McCloskey holds bachelor's degrees from the University of Wisconsin and University of Washington, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. A photo of McCloskey is included.

A story on the New York Times education page about race-conscious admissions policies at U.S. universities mentions Wayne State's new policy in the Law School. The policy allows the school to consider factors such as a student's having overcome substantial obstacles, having lived on an Indian reservation, or being multi-lingual. Dean Frank Wu said efforts to comply with Michigan's new law banning affirmative action in admissions could bring legal challenges. "There's a new fight building," he said. "And that's going to be whether the mere fact that you're striving for diversity means you're somehow trying to get around the ban and find proxies, or pretexts, for race, and that that's impermissible." He added that it is ironic that efforts to adopt a new policy to comply with Proposal 2 have been interpreted by some as an effort to circumvent the law. Roger Clegg, president of the Council for Equal Opportunity, said policies like Wayne State's do raise questions. "I have a real problem when schools adopt what on their face are race-neutral criteria if they are doing so to reach a pre-determined racial and ethnic goal," he said.

A brief item notes that the Wayne State University community has come through in a big way to help the Society of St. Vincent de Paul replace clothing lost in an early December fire at one of the charity's stores. A weeklong drive at the university's main and medical school campuses netted roughly four tons of winter clothing. Donors also contributed numerous boxfuls of canned goods.

An article about what causes hot flashes in women during menopause cites a study by Dr. Robert Freedman and colleagues at Wayne State University. They theorize that women who are affected have a very narrow "thermoneutral zone" - the temperature at which the body is neither sweating nor shivering. Estrogen appears to widen the zone. According to the article, no one knows exactly what happens to the body during a hot flash, but it appears that changes in brain chemistry have something to do with it.

Wayne State University will host a United Nations discussion on Thursday, Jan. 11, at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. The event will feature UN ambassadors from Iraq, South Korea, Japan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Kazakhstan. They will discuss UN reform and expectations for the new secretary general. A number is provided for more information.

Wayne State is mentioned in this story about the most recent legal maneuver by the Center for Individual Rights to force the University of Michigan to comply with a voter-approved ban on some public-sector affirmative action programs. The center has asked a Washtenaw County judge to order a preliminary injunction that would compel U-M to stop considering race in admissions and financial aid. The center won a legal victory last week when a federal appeals court ruled that U-M, Wayne State and MSU should not have received an extension until July 1 to implement provisions of Proposal 2. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who had supported the July 1 extension, has said he will file to intervene in the latest case in support of the petition by the Center for Individual Rights.

A story about how recent slayings in Detroit may negatively impact the city's image mentions a 2005 crime study by Wayne State University that concludes, "The crime rate in downtown Detroit is significantly lower than the crime rate for the entire United States, the state of Michigan and Michigan's largest metropolitan areas." The report described the downtown Detroit crime rate as "miniscule" when the number of visitors to special events is factored in. The article points out, however, that "the crime picture of the city as a whole remains abysmal."

A round-up article that lists upcoming area events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. mentions the following at Wayne State: * A tribute luncheon at noon on Jan. 12, with civil rights legend Dr. C.T. Vivian delivering the keynote speech. * A daylong Read-a-Thon beginning at noon on Jan. 17 in a tent outside the Undergraduate Library. Also mentioned: WSU law professor Jonathon Weinberg will lead a panel discussion on "Affirmative Action After Proposal 2" at the Detroit Urban League offices on Mack Ave., beginning at 8 a.m. on Jan. 15. The occasion is the All Peoplescq-Abramson Breakfast. Admission information and contact numbers are provided for all events.

The pro-affirmative action Group By Any Means Necessary has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn a recent U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned an earlier federal judge's decision delaying implementation of Proposal 2 for Michigan universities. The University of Michigan said it won't make any admissions decisions immediately regarding applications for fall-term enrollment. While the new law won't affect undergraduate admissions at Wayne State, it could impact some financial aid programs. The six-month delay would have provided time to determine how far-reaching the effect would be, according to Louis Lessem, WSU vice president and general counsel. He said new rules for admission to the WSU Law School will go into effect. Those rules, which do not include race as a factor in admissions, were approved last month. Lessem also indicated that Wayne State is unlikely to get involved in any further federal appeal. A Michigan State official said that university is working to ensure that its financial aid programs conform to the law.

A Michigan company has teamed up with Wayne State University, NextEnergy and Titan Energy Development in Detroit to win a U.S. military contract to formulate new maintenance procedures for diesel engines in light of government-mandated changes to diesel fuels. The $2 million contract will go to Brighton Diesel Diagnostics in Whitmore Lake for wear-testing of military generators using new low-sulphur diesel fuel. A spokesman for the company pointed out that Wayne State has a state-of-the-art bio-fuel lab, while NextEnergy and Titan Energy have expertise in generators. The concern is that low-sulphur fuel provides less engine lubrication, which could lead to premature engine wear.