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.

The WSU School of Medicine and the International Association for Organ Donation will hold their annual Organ Donation Symposium on April 19-20 at the Ritz-Carlton-Dearborn. The event will attract people from around the globe to discuss the field of organ donation and the issues surrounding it.

Representatives from several universities - including Wayne State - will participate in a college open house program at Macomb Community College's University Center on Sunday, March 25.

Dr. Walter Pool, founder and former director of the Wayne State University Mortuary Science program, where he taught for 40 years, died Sunday at the age of 95. He began teaching pathology at Wayne in 1939 and retired in 1979. "The contributions he made to the mortuary science program are invaluable," said Gerrie Paulson, the program's campaign manager. "He helped establish it as one of the finest in the country."

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.

The opportunity for Metro Detroit to host a satellite campus of Michigan State University\'s medical school is drawing some competition. Colleges and hospitals from three counties are interested in plans by MSU to train about 50 osteopathic medical students in southeastern Michigan. For the DMC, interest in the MSU satellite campus has strained relations with Wayne State, which trains future DMC physicians. Mike Duggan, chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center, said Hutzel Hospital would be an ideal site -- for both the DMC and Detroit. Hutzel is used as an office building and as a center for training with the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Robert Frank, executive vice dean at Wayne State's School of Medicine, said the satellite campus would be better off somewhere else. WSU recently expanded its program by 30 students, and there just isn\'t enough room for 100 MSU medical students, he said. \"We have to place essentially 1,200 students -- some in lectures part of the time, some in hospitals, some in doctor\'s offices,\" Frank said. \"We have a huge need for faculty and spaces in hospitals for these kids to be able to learn.\" Two photos are included showing WSU first-year medical students in classroom settings.

Revelations of details about the Tara Grant murder case -- discussed publicly by top Macomb County law enforcement officials -- may hamper efforts to give accused murderer Stephen Grant a fair trial, local and national law experts said. Details about Grant\'s supposed confession, an alleged privately administered polygraph test that Grant failed and autopsy results that suggest a struggle and strangulation have been made public. \"All this stuff makes it increasingly questionable whether or not a trial can be held in southeast Michigan,\" said David A. Moran, associate dean of Wayne State University's Law School. \"All of this publicity, beyond just \'So and So has been arrested and charged,\' but here is the specific evidence, here is what he said, here is the findings from the autopsy, makes it harder and harder to try it not only in Macomb County but all of southeast Michigan.\" Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor who also teaches criminal law at Wayne State, said while Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel is not bound by any rule not to discuss the case, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith might have violated ethics rules by discussing lie detector tests for Grant. \"You (Prosecutors) are not supposed to discuss inadmissible evidence or results of tests,\" Henning said. \"But that is one small piece of information in a very large body of very damning evidence against Grant. That is something the prosecutor should not have talked about, but it is very unlikely that he would be disciplined for that.\"

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University is noted as a site for the National Marrow Donor Program. Through the collaboration of the Karmanos Institute, St. John Hospital and Medical Center has collected about 100 units of cord blood each month since June 2005. Stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood can be used to help the body\'s ability to make blood and build immunity. They are collected immediately following a child\'s birth by clamping the umbilical cord and extracting blood from the cord. The blood is then frozen and stored. Once collected, cord blood is stored at the J.P. McCarthy Cord Stem Cell Bank in Detroit, where it is registered with the National Marrow Donor Program at Karmanos Cancer Institute. The cord blood bank is the only one in southeastern Michigan, and one of eight national public cord blood banks.