This article about the HANS head and neck restraint device for race-car drivers mentions that Wayne State professor Paul Begeman conducted development tests on it using dummies at the university's crash-test laboratory. The deaths of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt and Formula One driver Ayrton Senna in racing accidents led the governing bodies of several circuits to more seriously consider making the device mandatory for drivers.

An article about how mass-layoffs can adversely affect the health of employees who remain on the job includes a comment by WSU professor Cary Lichtman, an industrial psychologist. He suggest that employees how find themselves in such situations forget about guilt for being one of the survivors and focus on practical matters - and also consider looking for another job.

Law professor Peter Henning, a former SEC attorney, is quoted in an article about a flurry of stock option trading in a St. Louis manufacturing company just before the company's sale to another corporation. He indicates that such trading would raise a red flag among securities regulators. "The options market is fairly well-regulated," Henning points out. "You tend not to have those kinds of spikes." He adds that such trading in call options "is certainly going to get the attention of the SEC."

In his "FYI" column for the newspaper, Ben Burns, director of the WSU journalism program, focuses on a Grosse Pointe Park resident who is participating in a bike ride through several states to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. He also writes about an area resident who just returned from a stint in the Navy. The piece carries a photo of Burns and notes his Wayne State affiliation.

On the evening sports-talk show, the host and a caller discussed uses for the abandoned Tiger Stadium and whether it could used by Wayne State and other area universities for home baseball games.

Wayne State's School of Business Administration Tuesday announced the start of its sixth annual E-Commerce Summer Camp for urban high school students. The camp is an intensive 10-week experience consisting of workplace and computer training through the business school and paid internships in applied technology with area businesses. Through the first five years, the camp has 165 graduates, all of whom have either graduated from high school or remain in high school.

The Michigan Board of Education unanimously approved a measure Tuesday that will grade the state\'s college and university schools of education by issuing annual report cards. The report cards will grade schools on programs; the number of graduates passing the teacher certification test; the number of students graduating in six years; surveys of school districts hiring teachers, and how well the college or university recruits minority students and math, science and special education teachers. As the program is phased in over the next three years, schools that get failing grades on the new report cards could receive help from the Department of Education. It\'s also possible that federal funding or even the schools\' certification as teacher training institutions could be affected. But college officials, who agree they should be held accountable for high-quality programs, said that educating future teachers is too complicated to be rated by a single grade. Wayne State University is included in a sidebar listing showing the percentage of students who graduate from Michigan's public and private education schools and pass the teacher certification test on the first try.

The Detroit International Jazz Festival last week announced that the line-up for the Labor Day weekend tradition is to include a wide spectrum of musical artists, including vocalist Diane Schuur with the Wayne State University Jazz Big Band. The festival also will include food, a children\'s area, daily street parades, Mississippi Queen-style riverboat cruises on the Detroit River and more.

Wayne State and Oakwood Healthcare Inc. signed an affiliation agreement June 5 for an academic and clinical care partnership. This agreement, which is non-exclusive on both sides, will create a long-term partnership between both institutions that will result in the creation of programs that support enhanced medical education, research and clinical care. "This affiliation provides an opportunity for us to expand our educational commitment to our students," said Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid. "We are first and foremost an educational institution, and this partnership will help us to broaden training opportunities for the medical professionals of tomorrow. It also will enhance our ability to conduct research that will assist in bringing the benefits of nationally significant academic medicine to the clinical needs of the community. Our partnership strengthens the delivery of education, research and patient care, which are critical to the future of health care in our region and beyond."

Wayne State's Center for Urban Studies was mentioned in this story about the "Talk Time" program at the Sterling Heights Public Library, which aids the English speaking skills of foreign born people. The center conducted a study which showed the Detroit area has undergone a 37 percent surge in immigration between 1990 and 2000.

WJR's Paul W. Smith interviewed composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, recipient of this year's 5th annual Sarah Applebaum Nederlander Apple Award for Excellence in Theatre. Schwartz, known for the musicals "Pippin" and "The Prince of Egypt," talked about his current play "Wizard" which is touring nationally. He also spoke about his family connection to Wayne State through various family members who are alumni. Details of the June 14 award presentation at Masonic Temple and Schwartz's appearance at a question and answer session Tuesday at Wayne State were mentioned.

Wayne State professor Jerry Herron was quoted in this story about the protesting of Ann Coulter's comments against Sept. 11 widows. Coulter's book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, was released last Tuesday. Herron said that the TV-talk world, where Coulter has achieved fame, is a troubling phenomenon. "A patient, thoughtful, analytical person is made invisible in this world of sustained screaming," Herron said.

In this article about Karl Rove, the White House strategist who was accused of leaking the identity of a CIA operative, Wayne State Law Professor Peter Henning commented on Rove's potential role in the upcoming trial of I. Lewis Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was charged in October with making false statements, obstruction of justice and perjury. Henning said that it is possible that Rove may be called as a witness, but it's not clear how helpful he could be to either side.

Paula Wood, dean of the College of Education , is quoted in a story about the state Board of Education's plans to issue annual "report cards" rating the performance of education schools. The schools would be graded on several factors, including passing rate on certification tests, percentage of accredited programs, student surveys, postgraduate performance of teachers, recruitment of minority faculty, and other criteria. Schools that do not measure up to standards would have two years to improve. Those that don't could lose eligibility for certain federal grants and could be barred from enrolling students receiving certain types of federal financial assistance. Wood pointed out that schools with mostly part-time minority teacher candidates may not score as high as some others under the proposed system, although they may have outstanding programs and teachers. She also indicated that allotting only 5 percent of a school's score to minority recruitment would seem to imply that that criteria "isn't that important" to the state.

For the first time in open court, the Bush administration will defend the constitutionality of a domestic spying program. The case, to be heard today in U.S. District Court in Detroit , involves a Lebanese immigrant whose phone calls were tapped via electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency without first seeking a warrant. The American Civil Liberties Union is hoping the judge will declare surveillance without a warrant unconstitutional because, they contend, the practice violates free speech and privacy rights. The Bush administration counters that the case should not be heard because of the administration's privilege against revealing state secrets that may affect national security. Wayne State law professor Robert Sedler pointed out that "a historical analysis indicates that claims of inherent presidential power over domestic matters have been rejected." But other legal scholars say that presidents have the power to act alone, even absent specific authority from Congress.

A brief announcement at the top of today's report focuses on Howard Bell, executive director of TechTown. The item notes that Bell increased the research and technology park's revenue to more than $4 million in two years and recruited 10 tenants in eight months. A link connects readers to a profile page that carries biographical information about Bell . "Before joining TechTown, Bell led Wayne State University 's Venture Development Office and co-founded Isiah Investments, a venture capital firm," the write-up says. The profile feature is sponsored by Lawrence Technological University and the Grant Thornton firm.

Tom Greenwood's column about retiring Michigan State Police Commander Tadarial Sturdivant mentions that he is a Wayne State graduate.

Monte M. Korn mentions in an opinion piece that Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid's talents, as well as the presidents of the University of Michigan and Michigan State, should be further harnessed to supply the state's brightest children with world class educations in science, math, biology, physics, and technology, as well as leadership in the world of culture, literature and the arts. Wayne State was also noted, along with the University of Detroit Mercy, for being capable of offering Detroit's brightest children what Korn calls "Andover Prep School quality" education.

Nick Ingrao, Wayne State men's swimming and diving and graduate from the Department of Anthropology, has been nominated by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the NCAA Sportsmanship Award. Ingrao earned first team All-American honors in 2006 and is currently a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

A front-page story focuses on a $25 million gift from the Karmanos family to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. The gift propels the institute past the halfway mark of a new $125 million fundraising campaign, which has just been announced publicly. The institute will use a portion of campaign gifts to fund construction of a $47 million surgical and imaging center addition to its existing facilities. The article mentions that the institute, which is operating on a $213 million budget this year, separated from The Detroit Medical Center in December to become Michigan 's only independent cancer research institute. It contracts surgical and imaging services from the DMC. The campaign also will fund $28 million in renovations at Karmanos Cancer Institute clinical sites. President and CEO John Ruckdeschel said the institute would like to be ranked among the top 10 cancer centers in the country by 2010.