Anti-depressants like Prozac work in 50 percent to 60 percent of people, and light therapy is effective in as many as 70 percent of patients, says Dr. Alireza Amirsadri, a psychiatrist and SAD specialist at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Detroit Receiving Hospital .

NextEnergy has partnered with WSU to open the national Biofuel Energy Lab at WSU's TechTown. The first-of-its-kind biofuel technology development lab is made possible through a $2 million Energy Department grant. WSU professors, graduate students and Ph.D. candidates from the school's College of Engineering will conduct the day-to-day research and experiments carried out in the lab onsite at the NextEnergy Center . WSU College of Engineering Professors Simon Ng and Naeim Henein will manage lab activity.

The Justice Department is extending its review of the proposed buyout deal. Stephen Calkins, a Wayne State University law professor and former Federal Trade Commission attorney, said preparing a court case to challenge a merger is not unusual. He said anti-trust attorneys typically pursue several avenues in such mergers. They could prepare a court challenge while negotiating to divest some of the companies' holdings to avoid controlling too much of the market.

The tapes of Richard Nixon's private Oval Office conversations leave no doubt that America 's 37th president, while appointing Jews to high-level posts and publicly supporting Israel , routinely indulged in anti-Semitic rhetoric. Moment steps back into history, with the help of the tapes themselves and several distinguished scholars - including Mel Small, professor of History at Wayne State -- who have written about this complex and controversial figure. Small said that Nixon had a general dislike for Jews that went beyond the fact that he disliked liberal Democrats who were Jewish.

A brief calendar items notes that Gene Kraig, author of "The Sentence: A Family's Prison Memoir," will speak at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium Feb. 21.

Gerald Oglan has been named assistant dean of teacher education at Wayne State 's College of Education . He was formerly an associate professor for the college's reading, language and literature program and program coordinator for special education. A photo of Oglan is included.

Wayne State University plans in March to put out a request for bids for a permanent lobbying firm to represent the university in Washington . The university plans to select a new lobbying firm in June and to hire a director of federal relations to serve in Detroit as a conduit between the university and the new lobby firm, said Harvey Hollins III, vice president of government and community affairs. WSU is keeping its Washington office to continue serving as a hub for faculty and staff doing business in the city and plans to hire one employee to staff that office, he said.

This brief article mentions a new text book: Driver Rehabilitation and Community Mobility: Principles and Practice, that was written by Wayne State Prof. Joseph Pellerito Jr. Pellerito is director of the occupational therapy program in Wayne State 's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Officials with four state universities, including Wayne State University , announced a new mentoring program designed to give minority students studying science, math technology and engineering more help toward earning bachelor's degrees. Michigan State , WSU, Western Michigan and the University of Michigan are financing the 5-year, $5 million Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program along with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Lake Superior State University's President Betty Youngblood is encouraged by Gov. Granholm's proposed aid increase. At 3.86 percent it is the highest proposed increase for any state university in Michigan . The governor's proposed budget features a two-tiered approach to higher-education aid. Michigan State , Michigan and Wayne State , the state's three largest universities - designated "research universities" would each receive a two percent increase - dividing $16 million in state aid. The other 12 universities would divide a base of $8 million, or one percent. Another $8 million is set aside for "formula" raises like Lake State 's proposed bonus.

Gov. Granholm's new funding formula for 12 of Michigan 's 15 universities is a report card of sorts. If grades were given out they would cover areas such as affordability, degree-completion rates, aid to the needy and financial aid as a percent of the overall budget. The three main research schools - U of M, Michigan State and Wayne State - each got 2 percent increases. Other universities got less, and some with higher-than-average, per-pupil revenue got nothing.

NextEnergy signed an agreement Feb. 8 with BP to establish a hydrogen refueling station at Next Energy's new facility in Wayne State 's TechTown industrial park.

The State of Michigan is racing to become the nation\'s first alternative energy research hub, as Americans grapple with President George W. Bush\'s recent statement that the United States is addicted to foreign oil. The initiative calls for investing up to $2 billion in research, development and business incubation, and it could create thousands of jobs for engineers and other technically skilled Michigan residents. The model for Michigan \'s rise to the top of the alternative energy sector is the public-private partnership that started NextEnergy in Detroit . NextEnergy is a nonprofit research-and-development incubator. Since it started in 2001, during the administration of Gov. John Engler, NextEnergy has become Michigan \'s premier example of how the state\'s economy is becoming less dependent on automotive companies and more diversified to boost its fortunes. The 40,000-square-foot facility is near the campus of Wayne State University , in one of Michigan \'s 11 SmartZones that offer tax incentives to lure technology companies.

A Baltimore judge ruled last month that two former Network Technologies Group directors, Nora Zietz and Robert Stewart, were negligent in their dealings with a consultant hired to turn around the company. But last week, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals affirmed a separate 2004 ruling that dismissed fraud claims by a major NTG investor against Zietz and Stewart. The telecommunications firm collapsed amid accounting fraud in 2002. The WorldCom and Enron cases set precedents that plaintiffs\' attorneys in shareholder fraud suits can use when trying to negotiate settlements, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who co-edits a Web log on white-collar crime. Seeking personal payment from company directors, he said, \"becomes a bargaining chip\" in putting together a shareholder settlement.

Atlanta-based Lord, Aeck & Sargent first made the grade in the metro Detroit architectural industry by securing a $5 million project - an addition to the University of Michigan medical school's cyclotron building. That led to more educational projects at UM, Michigan State University , Wayne State University and other institutions. The local office, in downtown Ann Arbor , has increased its staff from one to 15 since 2001 and its revenue from $340,000 in 2002 to $2.9 million in 2005.

A new Granholm administration proposal to spend $100 million to seed regional economic-development projects is drawing interest. Other items in Granholm's $42.6 billion budget, include a $34 million, 2 percent funding increase for community colleges and universities. The increase would be a straight 2 percent for community colleges and the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University , but Michigan 's other 12 public universities would see a 1 percent increase, with an additional 1 percentage point to be distributed under a formula that rewards degree completion, accessibility, affordability and outreach to low-income students.

Detroiters comment on how the city can build on its Superbowl success. Robin Boyle, chair of Wayne State University 's department of geography and urban planning said Detroit should be acknowledged as the region's "core" for entertainment and the arts, and supported with strong transit links between Detroit neighborhoods with convenient transfer hubs to the suburbs.

Mon., 2-13, 06/4:30 to 6:30 p.m. -- \"The NSA Warrant-less Surveillance Program: Is it Legal?\" This will be the focus of a panel of legal experts at Wayne State University in the Bernath Auditorium, located in the Adamany Undergraduate Library, 5155 Gullen Mall. Featuring Professor C.J. Peters of the Wayne State University Law School; Associate Dean David Moran; Professor Brad Roth; Michael Steinberg, Legal Director of the Michigan Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Professor Gregory Fox of Wayne Law University School will be the moderator. Free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Robin Dortenzio at robind@wayne.edu.

Lauren Warkentien, a 2005 Marine City graduate, is one of three pitchers on the Wayne State University softball team.

Arthur L. Johnson Urban Perspectives Lecture Series, noon at the Wayne State University Alumni House on WSU\'s campus in Detroit . Speaker is Frank Taylor, owner of Seldom Blues. Free. Call 313-577-2300.