It is noted in a story about Macomb Community College's new Center for Alternative Fuels that the curriculum was developed with Wayne State University's Division of Engineering Technology, as part of a $299,000 National Science Foundation grant supporting integrated education and industrial training. MCC, which last month introduced the Center for Alternative Fuels on its Warren campus, is also co-hosting its first Alternative Fuels Symposium and Expo Thursday at the new center. The Center for Alternative Fuels at MCC also will be the site of the college's educational initiatives.

Wayne State Law Professor Peter Henning commented about accusations that Brenda Braceful, deputy director of the Detroit Law Department, misappropriated client funds from a client when she was in private practice. If she is found guilty of professional misconduct at a disciplinary hearing next month, legal experts said, she could lose her license to practice law, preventing her from continuing as a $110,000-a-year appointee of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Henning said misappropriation of client funds is the worst offense a lawyer can commit adding that failure to protect a client\'s money is a major breach of the client\'s trust.

Glenn Weisfeld, a human ethologist at Wayne State University, takes issue with the findings of a Pennsylvania State University research team. The study concluded that the pheromones (scent) a young girl's father gives off not only prevents inbreeding, but also stalls menarche (when a girl first has her period). Weisfeld said that the authors do not conclusively demonstrate that these changes in timing of menarche are due specifically to pheromones. "Merely showing a statistical relationship between father absence and age of first menstruation is not enough," Weisfeld said.

Wayne State's Bonstelle Theatre will open the season with the drama "Inherit the Wind," a play based on the famed "Scopes Monkey Trial" in which a high school teacher was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in the classroom. Featuring a cast of more than two dozen performers, the play is directed by Blair Anderson, chair of the Theatre Department. The article includes the performance schedule, ticket information and the Bonstelle Web site.

A review of the play "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Main-In-The-Moon Marigolds" at WSU's Studio Theatre opines that the production "lacks the emotional impact this wonderful play . . . is capable of having." Reviewer Delaney concedes that the "production's defects would not be as apparent to someone seeing the play for the first time." The article gives play dates, location of the theatre and a number for ticket information.

In a story about the race for board seats at Michigan's three largest research universities, the winners will face issues from tuition rates and major capital expenditures to luxury boxes at the University of Michigan stadium. Democrat Eugene Driker, who is seeking reelection to Wayne State University's Board of Governors, says the tuition increases were necessary because of cuts. "If you don't have modern laboratories and modern equipment and top-notch faculty you are really fooling yourself and the students by pretending you are giving them a top-notch education." It is also noted in the story that Republican Elizabeth Hardy is not seeking re-election to WSU's Board of Governors. A sidebar is included of candidate biographies.

Columnist Phil Power offers an endorsement in an opinion piece for Democrat Debbie Dingell who is running for Wayne State University's Board of Governors. Power says she is an "inspiring example of the kinds of public spirited people who go out of their way to help manage our great universities." Dingell commented about her decision to run and the type of management style she employs. "I want to keep Wayne State affordable and accessible to the kinds of people who want and deserve to go to college. As a member of the board, I certainly don't want to micromanage the daily business of the university. I think I can be someone to help out, to be a resource to the president, to be a cheerleader, to help make sure the university reaches its potential."

Peter Frade, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was interviewed about the Annual Open House at Wayne State University's Mortuary Science Building. Prospective students, their families and the curious are invited to attend the event today from 6-9 p.m.

The public service "Great Stuff" events report this morning makes mention of "Inherit the Wind," the current production at Wayne State's Bonstelle Theatre.

Dr. Michael Simon, professor of medicine in oncology for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Center at Wayne State University, and five other investigators, studied the differences between 10,314 white and black women in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties who were diagnosed with breast cancer from 1988-1992. After tracking them for about eight years, their findings released in May revealed that white women are more likely to develop breast cancer while African-American women are more likely to die from it. "It's not rocket science," Simon says. "The African-American women were more likely to live in disadvantaged areas. They were less likely to have a lumpectomy and radiation and more likely to have a mastectomy." Simon says data indicate that African-American women generally are not getting early detection screenings, and that's why their cancers are discovered at more advanced stages, lessening the chances of survival.

Columnist Rochelle Riley references a Wayne State University study released last spring finding that more than 49 percent of youths who aged out of foster care in 2002 and 2003 in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties were homeless at some point during their first three years on their own. Wayne County Community College District announced Wednesday that it will create a $7 million residence and resource center to aid Michigan youths who grow too old for state foster care.

The University of Phoenix has lost another legal round in its attempt to derail a whistle-blower lawsuit that seeks billions of dollars in damages from the for-profit institution and its parent company, the Apollo Group Inc. Last month a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the university on a legal issue and ordered the lawsuit, filed under the federal False Claims Act, to proceed to trial. Lawyers for Phoenix had hoped to have that decision reversed by the full court, but in a decision on Wednesday, the court denied that request. The complaint, filed in 2003, alleges that the university wrongfully obtained a minimum of $3-billion in federal funds over a period of six years. Nancy G. Krop, a lawyer for two former recruiters for the university who filed the suit, has estimated that perhaps $1.5-billion of that is recoverable. If Phoenix is found liable under the law, it could be ordered to pay up to three times that amount.

Urban Planning professor Robin Boyle talked to CBC reporter Dominic Girard about the impact of the World Series on future economic and urban development in Detroit. Girard recently walked a ten-block area around Comerica Park and commented about what he saw versus what he has read in the national media.

This letter, signed "a concerned Wayne State medical student," mentions the Oct. 13 rally held at The Detroit Medical Center to express the concern of medical students and residents over the lack of progress in negotiations between the university and the DMC. The letter repeats the oft-reported circumstances of the contract negotiations and concludes with the following: "I fear that if this contract negotiation ends in failure, money will once again win, with the people most in need of health care being the ultimate losers."

Peter Lichtenberg, director of the Institute of Gerontology , is quoted in an article about how to persuade elderly persons to see a doctor if they have an aversion to doing so. "I hear people say, 'I don't want to go because I don't want to know,'" Lichtenberg observes. "The assumption is that if they have a disease it's untreatable or terminal, and that's wrong." He points out that seniors, more than any other group, worry that they will become a burden to others, mainly their kids.

A feature on middle school art teacher Lorraine Krol, mentions that she has three degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit. While taking courses at WSU, she arranged for her work to be shown at the London Art Gallery. She still displays her works in local art shows in the San Diego area.

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute women's ice hockey team notched a win over Wayne State University last Saturday in a non-conference match-up. However WSU rebounded to win over Rensselaer the next afternoon in sudden-death overtime.

Douglas Barnett, Wayne State University clinical psychology professor, commented about one of the most unusual cases that Milford police have ever investigated. An unidentified woman, 26, who is currently serving a sentence for prostitution, is cooperating with Milford police and has turned in her pimp, William Pattison - her father. Pattison, 47, advertised his daughter's services as a prostitute on the Internet. "It may be hard for her to know how abnormal this is if this is how she's grown up," Barnett said.

The FBI raided the offices of Southfield-based Life for Relief & Development, a renowned American Muslim relief organization on Monday. The nonprofit organization was one of two groups that funded a 2002 Baghdad trip by three Democratic congressmen who opposed the Iraq war. The article mentions that one of the congressmen is former Rep. David Bonior, "who has since left office and teaches labor studies at Wayne State University ."

Wayne State University professor Robin Boyle commented about Port Huron's downtown revival which is showing signs of slowing with higher numbers of vacancies. He said Port Huron's situation is not unusual. "Many traditional urban centers are having to deal with increased vacancy," he said. "This, of course, is made more difficult in a place like Michigan that is suffering from an economic downturn."