Michigan artists are featured in the exhibition "Rex Lamoreaux Collects," on display through Nov. 22 at Wayne State's Community Arts Auditorium. Only Michigan artists are represented in the show - including a number of people from metro Detroit. The exhibit - more than 60 works in all - is a sample of the nearly 500 works Oakland County octogenarian art collector Lamoreaux has donated to the WSU collection.

Wayne State University is one of 10 universities receiving an Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) grant. The universities will be given grants worth between $250,000 to $750,000 per year to develop "curricula that address intelligence community workforce requirements, particularly in science, regional studies and foreign languages."

Merit Network, Michigan's research and education network, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, Nov. 16, with a symposium and reception. MERIT was formed to provide computer-sharing among Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan. It has since expanded to include other schools and colleges.

The fifth annual Concert for Eli will be held Nov. 11 at the Romeo Masonic Temple from 6-11 p.m. The event honors the memory of Eli Parks, a music student at Wayne State University, who died tragically in 2002. All proceeds go toward a music scholarship created in Parks' name at WSU.

Working with researchers at Wayne State University, scientists at the Wisconsin-based Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a specific biochemical pathway by which androgen - the sex hormone - increases levels of harmful chemicals known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the prostate gland that play a role in the development of prostate cancer. The scientists have synthesized a molecule that can block androgen-induced ROS production in prostate cancer cells. More lab tests need to be carried out, but researchers hope clinical trials can begin in 12-18 months.

In a letter to the editor, Wayne State University Board of Governors member Eugene Driker commented about the Oct. 19 article, "Anti-Israel Propaganda," which discussed the rally urging Wayne State to divest from Israel. Driker wrote, "Your article about an anti-Israel group that gathered in a public space on the Wayne State University campus correctly noted that it was made up of no more than 25 people. A group of Jewish counter-protesters, of equal size, was right there to set the record straight about Israel and her policies. That's exactly as it should be on a university campus." Driker added that Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid's "prompt and unequivocal rejection of the demand of this fringe group, many of whom are not WSU students, that the university divest from Israel, has been widely publicized and has received strong praise from as far away as Manchester, England." Driker also noted WSU's close connection to the Detroit Jewish community which he described as deep and longstanding. "Three of WSU's eight member Board of Governors are Jewish. As the community's recent demographic study noted, far more members of our community are graduates of WSU than any other university."

An article in the online version of The News yesterday evening includes a comment by President Irvin D. Reid regarding passage of the controversial Proposal 2, which bans affirmative action in government as well as public universities. He said passage of the proposal would have a "monumental" impact on the university. "This thing could be a nightmare for us for years to come and it could cost an infinite number of dollars," he said. Since the ballot language is broad, numerous university programs and practices would likely come under legal review. Jorge Chinea, director of WSU's Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies, also commented. "Any time you have a program geared to helping minority students in order to create a level playing field there is always a chance someone will look at that and think set asides and reverse discrimination, which it is not," he said.

According to researchers at Wayne State University, combining integrated optical and free-space components is the key to designing a new generation of miniature imaging spectrometers. These devices are crucial for lab-on-a-chip systems. "Our device can work with dozens of independent optical inputs," said Ivan Avrutsky of WSU's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His team is hoping to commercialize its idea and suggests that interested parties contact the WSU Technology Transfer Office.

Forty people are running for four different education-related governing boards in Michigan. This article mentions the candidates for the WSU Board of Governors, as well as boards at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and the state board of education.

Noah Hall, a Wayne State University law professor and water law expert, commented on how the Michigan Supreme Court recently ordered oral arguments in a lawsuit over alleged harm to the environment caused by a large food producer that is withdrawing groundwater from the same source used by a community for its water supply. "The issue the Supreme Court is reviewing is whether the plaintiff has standing for alleging harm," said Hall. "That is not the emotional heart of the case. The heart of the case is whether or not a company can bottle a public resource and sell it for profit."

The Wayne State University women's fencing squad began its 2006-07 season impressively, with three WSU fencers placed in the top eight at the 35th Annual Garret Penn State Collegiate Open on Saturday. Senior Anna Garina placed first in the epee competition.

Three members of the Wayne State University men's fencing squad participated in the Garret Penn State Collegiate Open on Sunday. The article gives information on how each athlete performed. Senior Marek Petraszek won the epee competition. Wayne State hosts the Istvan Danosi?Michigan Open on Sunday, Dec. 3.

Chelsea Burnett of the Wayne State University women's ice hockey team is the College Hockey America rookie of the week after scoring a goal in each game against Cornell University over the weekend, a 2-game series which WSU swept.

An obituary examines the life of Martha Thornton, 70, who graduated from Wayne State University with highest honors in business administration. Ms. Thornton was one of the Fortune 500's first female senior vice-presidents and she broke new ground for women in the workplace. She was Ameritech's senior vice-president of human resources from 1989 until her 1994 retirement. She also testified in 1991 before a U.S. Senate committee on health-care reform chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy. "Although she rose to one of the highest, most senior positions in our organization, she never lost her quiet, human touch while working with others," said William Weiss, Ameritech's former chairman of the board. A photo of Ms. Thornton is included.

Stanley Louis Rosenthal, art professor at Wayne State, is having his watercolor artwork displayed from Oct. 31 to Dec. 8 at Siena Heights University. He will be giving a lecture at Siena Heights' Rueckert Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 1-3 p.m.

Oregon voters will be deciding today if there should be a limit on increases in the state's biennial budget to correspond to the rate of population growth, plus inflation. Two other states, Maine and Nebraska, have similar ballot initiatives. The three measures are modeled after Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights often called Tabor, which was approved in 1992, and resulted in a 20-percent reduction in financial support for higher education earlier this decade before voters narrowly agreed to roll back the cap last year. The Colorado experience, where higher education took the biggest hit of any sector of state government, is what has college leaders in this state worried. In some ways, the vote looms larger in Oregon than in Maine or Nebraska because, unlike in those states, overall appropriations for higher education in Oregon are actually lower than they were in 2001, by some $100-million. The outcome of these initiatives is being watched closely by anti-tax activists who tried to get similar measures on the ballot in more than a dozen other states this fall. A win anywhere could bolster their future attempts elsewhere, including in Michigan, Nevada, and Oklahoma.

Members from Wayne State University's Board of Governors and The Detroit Medical Center Board of Trustees met for the first time last week to discuss various issues in their current contract, including physician reimbursement and exclusivity agreements. It is unclear whether the groups were able to move toward an agreement. DMC Chairman Charles O'Brien would not discuss details of the meeting, but a joint statement issued Thursday described the talks as "wide-ranging and spirited." The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the nation's residency-program watchdog, is coming Nov. 14 to investigate. The council could move to shut down the two sides' joint residency programs if it determines that a contract is not forthcoming. Governor Jennifer Granholm's Press Secretary Liz Boyd said the governor also has talked to DMC CEO Michael Duggan, Wayne State President Irvin D. Reid and medical school Dean Robert Mentzer Jr. to encourage a resolution to the conflict.

The Detroit Free Press is endorsing Democrats Eugene Driker and Debbie Dingell for the Wayne State University Board of Governors, and Democrat Kathy White, WSU law professor, for the University of Michigan Board of Regents.

The Detroit News is endorsing Democrats Eugene Driker, 69, and Debbie Dingell, 52, for the Wayne State University Board of Governors

An article in this "newspaper for American's physicians" about use of drugs to relieve arthritis pain includes a comment by professor April Vallerand of the WSU College of Nursing. Referring to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality regarding the risks and benefits of pain medication, she said "it puts the issues on the line and helps physicians sort through the benefits and risks for each individual patient, which is truly how we have to manage pain today." She added that she wishes there were better options. "You look through the report, and it says there are problems with everything. . . . I think the key to this will be to individualize to a particular patient.