Governor Jennifer Granholm met with Wayne State University student and faculty and congratulated the university for having been awarded five grants totaling $7.2 million from the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund initiative. She also toured the College of Engineering and viewed some of the alternative energy projects under development. More than $2 million of the grant money that went to WSU was awarded to professor K.Y. Simon Ng, director of alternative energy technology, for a project to develop synthetic fuel to power mobile generators for the military. The collaboration is a public-private partnership between WSU, Detroit-based Titan Energy Development Inc. and the National Automotive Center. A photo is included showing Wayne State professor Naeim A. Henein and Granholm touring a lab facility.

Wayne State University leaders are beefing up their outreach efforts to keep students in school in response to retention statistics placing WSU last among Michigan's public universities and below urban universities across the nation. According to data presented at Wednesday's Board of Governors meeting, 10 percent of WSU\'s students will graduate in four years and 32 percent will graduate in six years, a figure university leaders call \"unacceptable.\" \"We have decided who we admit to our institution,\" said Howard Shapiro, associate vice president for undergraduate programs and general education. \"When we admit them, we need to do what it takes to see they are successful.\" Among the immediate changes: Advisers at the university will be more intrusive early in students\' academic careers; learning communities will be expanded and more peer mentors will help struggling students. Student Marcus Lee said bridge programs such as Project 350, targeted to first-generation college students from disadvantaged backgrounds, are very good at orientating students. The university has many services in place to help students, Shapiro said. The problem is often \"getting the people connected to the services.\" Wayne State University Governor Richard Bernstein said retaining students needs to be the university\'s top priority. A sidebar shows graduation rates for Michigan's universities. Wayne State is noted at 31.7 percent.

Columnist Desiree Cooper writes about the Walter P. Reuther Library's opening Friday of \"In the Fields (En los Campos),\" an exhibit of 30 color photos of teens from Michigan and Indiana who spend nonschool hours harvesting everything from onions to lettuce. Prizewinning documentary filmmakers Pam LeBlanc and Freddi Stevens-Jacobi set out in 2001 to honor the labor of the young migrant workers. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the United States had about 850,000 school-age migrant children in 2001. The State of Michigan offered educational services to about 13,000 children of migrant workers in 2000. About one-fifth of those kids were in grades 7-12. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Admission is free. Contact information is provided.

Wayne State is noted in the story as one of Detroit's sites that is still a part of the steam tunnel network of Detroit that was established in 1903. The city's steam supplier, Detroit Thermal L.L.C., is wrapping up a $22 million project to update equipment and piping systems that currently supply heat to 240 buildings. Wayne State's Detroit campus is shown in a map of the 39 miles of steam pipes that are part of the Detroit Thermal L.L.C. system.

Wayne State University English professor and poet M.L. Liebler presented a program on The Beatles Sept. 20 at the Chelsea Public Library. A second program will be held Oct. 25. A photo of Liebler accompanies this feature story.

A teaser reads, "On Saturday, the Detroit Shock gave local sports fans another reason to cheer when they clinched the WNBA national championship game at Joe Louis Arena. But they aren't the area's only champs. This week, Why Detroit Works also reports on wins for Beaumont Hospital, Honigman Miller, Wayne State University, Kettering University and anyone looking for lean process training."

Harvard University announced Tuesday that it plans to discontinue its early-admission program. The decision rekindles a national debate about controversial polices allowing some students, usually the wealthiest, to receive an admissions decision months before regular applicants. A Harvard spokesperson said the move will allow more low-income and minority students to apply. But some college administrators said they doubted the announcement would revolutionize the admissions field so much as bring good publicity for the nation's oldest university. Critics of early-admission plans have complained that elite colleges now admit at east two-fifths of their applicants through early programs.

This article focuses on the improved quality of dorm food on university campuses across Michigan . Ethnic and vegan cuisine are now mainstays on many campuses, as well as stir-fry dishes. The article mentions that Wayne State 's 19-meal-per-week meal plan at the Towers Residential Suites costs $1,200 per semester. Four WSU students offered their opinions of residence hall food, and separate photos of two students dining at Ghafari Hall accompanied the story. A sidebar listing some of the "unique items being served up at area colleges" mentions the made-to-order stir-fry at Wayne State .

Wayne State history professor and author Charlie Hyde is profiled in this article by Jennifer Dixon. Hyde, who has written nine books about the automobile industry and on other topics ranging from lighthouses to vintage bridges, has organized a panel of automotive authors who will discuss the industry and its history on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Detroit Public Library's Skillman Branch. Hyde explains that he became interested in auto industry history when he moved to Detroit in 1974 and discovered old factories. "I was face-to-face with the physical remains of Detroit 's auto industry when it was at the peak of its prosperity, and that really led me into learning more," he said. Currently working on a history of American Motors and its predecessor companies, Hyde also has written a history of the Dodge Brothers, published in 2005.

SenSound LLC, a company based on research conducted at Wayne State University , has received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop its noise-related quality control technology. This grant will allow SenSound - located in Grosse Pointe Farms - to commercialize its proprietary software allowing manufacturers of noise-emitting products and components to conduct quality testing to verify compliance with noise standards. SenSound has distributed its software to Korea , Canada , Europe, Japan , Germany , China and India .

Wayne State is mentioned in an article about whether or not Michigan is experiencing a "brain drain." Some demographers say the notion has been oversold to a nervous public. Jim Rogers, manager of data for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments sees a hopeful sign in the state's growing number of college graduates. And he says southeastern Michigan is "still a very strong center of population and industry." A research analyst at U-M pointed out that 77 percent of graduates who are Michigan natives still live in the state. Writer John Gallagher says Wayne State reported similar figures.

A recap of area college sporting events notes that Kevin Christensen, a member of the Wayne State University men's cross-country team, finished 8th overall with a time of 21:04 at the Northville Tommy Titan Invitational over the weekend. WSU, ranked No. 12 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) poll, won the 10-team event with a score of 26.

The Wayne State University Department of Music opens its fall 2006 concert season at 9 p.m. Sept. 4. This brief provides an overview of the schedule this season and lists the music department's phone number and Web site.

An AP article about the Detroit Public Schools teachers strike includes comments from Wayne State University visiting labor law professor Margaret Leibowitz. She point out that the fact-finder's job is to consider both sides' positions and the employer's resources before recommending terms of a settlement acceptable to both sides. "Ultimately, labor disputes are settled because everyone has to give a little," she said.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $499,858 grant to Wayne State University - one of seven awarded nationally - to establish a three-year interdisciplinary program to improve career advancement opportunities for women faculty in sciences and engineering. Escalate, which started Sept. 1, seeks to diversify the academic science and engineering workforce and builds on and applies lessons learned from a prior NSF-funded project at the University of Michigan. Principal Investigator for the project is Allen Batteau, director of the Institute for Information Technology and Culture and associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Co-investigators are Ece Yaprak, associate professor of Engineering Technology; Karen Tonso, associate professor of Education; research associate Diane Pawlowski and Michele Grimm, associate dean of Engineering. A photo of Wayne State's Old Main building is included in the Why Detroit Works publication.

SenSound has won a $500,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation to further develop its noise related quality control technology. The two-year grant will allow SenSound to commercialize its proprietary software, which allows manufacturers of noise emitting products and components to conduct quality control testing to verify compliance with noise standards and reduce noise-related product defects.

Detroit Public Schools officials are seeking sanctions against 92 percent of the teachers who defied a court order and didn't return to the classroom Monday. They are requesting that Judge Susan Borman find about 7,000 teachers in contempt of court. WSU law professor Robert Sedler says Borman has the authority to fine the Detroit Federation of Teachers for each day members disobey her ruling. The law also allows those found in contempt to be jailed and assessed a $250 fine for contempt, but judges rarely use the former option because it can be construed as violating the 13th Amendment, which bars involuntary servitude.

In an editorial, Michael Peterson, director of the Whole Schooling Consortium in Wayne State University 's College of Education , opines about the Detroit Public Schools teachers' strike. He believes Judge Susan Borman made a "great mistake" in ordering the teachers back to work. Instead, she should have continued negotiations. He adds that this will only increase the amount of students leaving the district - something Borman wants to prevent. A photo of Peterson is included.

Schoolcraft College in Livonia will discuss partnership opportunities with India on Oct. 25 at 8 a.m. The program will include industry-specific discussions on safety and security, medicine, education, and auto-parts manufacturing. The Wayne State University School of Business Administration will be participating in this discussion.

The West Bloomfield/Lakes Area Democratic Club will hold a panel discussion at the West Bloomfield Library tomorrow from 7-8:45 p.m. on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative ballot issue and its impact on affirmative action. Casandra E. Ulbrich, senior director of development at Wayne State University, is among the panelists.