NextEnergy, in partnership with Wayne State University , announced earlier this month the creation of a National Biofuel Energy Lab to be located in NextEnergy's new building in WSU's TechTown. Faculty, graduate students and Ph.D. candidates from the WSU College of Engineering will conduct research and experiments aimed at forming a solid technical foundation for the development of biodiesel fuels. Boidiesel fuel is made from sources such as vegetable oil, either salvaged from restaurants or obtained from organically grown crops. It is biodegradable, non-toxic and gives off fewer emissions than petroleum-based diesel fuel.

Wayne State is mentioned as one of the regional sites for this year's FIRST Robotics competition. The annual competition involves high school teams, who have adult advisors, building and operating multi-functional robots that will compete in a game with strict rules. Participating teams compete for college scholarships and numerous other awards. The WSU competition is slated for March 16-18.

Michigan\'s public universities have offered thousands of sparsely attended classes, allowed thousands of students to pad grades by taking the same classes over and over, and sometimes failed to monitor or correct faculty performance. Those findings -- issued in state audits -- suggest that taxpayer-supported universities could do more to control costs in dire economic times. The auditors\' concerns come as students and parents face stiff annual tuition increases. In spot checks at six universities, auditors found more than 3,800 instances of students taking the same course three or more times. More than 1,500 Wayne State University students did so, mainly to replace poor or incomplete grades, a practice auditors suggested was an inefficient use of taxpayer money. Beginning next fall, Wayne State students must get permission from academic advisers before taking courses a third time.

Wayne State University and Children\'s Hospital of Michigan have launched a new research project involving little kids who are depressed and youngsters with obsessive compulsive disorder. Professor David Rosenberg, of Wayne State 's School of Medicine and chief of Psychiatry at Children\'s Hospital, says these conditions are medical conditions that respond to medical treatment. He says they can now use MRI\'s to look at the brains of these kids and determine which treatments work best.

Women are outpacing men at campuses across the country. At Wayne State the ratio is 60 percent female to 40 percent male, while at the University of Michigan it's a closer race 51 percent female and 49 percent male. Oakland University is only 37 percent male.

During the morning drive-time newscast, the Detroit Lions photographic exhibit at the Walter P. Reuther Library was touted as a "great Super Bowl event for the whole family." The exhibit, titled "Double Coverage: An exhibit of Detroit Lions History through photographs," features images chronicling Detroit Lions history from the team\'s beginning in 1934 to the present. Former Detroit Lion Wally Triplett will be a featured guest during the Opening Reception at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26. The first African-American draftee to play in the NFL, Triplett was picked by the Lions in the 19th round of the 1949 draft.

A brief highlighting scheduled Super Bowl events includes information about the Walter P. Reuther Library's exhibit titled "Double Coverage: An exhibit of Detroit Lions History through photographs." Described in the brief as "one of the first and most unusual Super Bowl soirees," the exhibit will feature more than 100 photos, memorabilia and a special guest, Roary, the Lions' mascot. The public is invited to visit the exhibit beginning Friday, Jan. 27, and it will run until April 1.

Wayne State University President Irvin Reid is poised to receive a 32 percent compensation increase over five years if the Wayne State Board of Governors approves his pay and benefit raise today. Under the proposal set for a vote, Reid would receive an annual increase in his base salary and benefits worth $126,000 by 2010, bringing his total yearly compensation to $516,760. The proposed pay raise comes on the heels of an 18.5 percent increase in student tuition and after Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon decided this month to donate her pay raise to her university, saying it was the right thing to do in this tough economic climate. \"I don\'t think we should be doing this at this time,\" said Paul Massaron, a member of the WSU Board of Governors who opposes Reid\'s pay increase. He said people at the top need to make sacrifices first. Reid, president since 1997, donated $600,000 to the university with his wife in 2004 and declined a pay raise last year. The board doesn\'t give written annual reviews, but it characterized Reid\'s performance as \"outstanding.\" Jacquelin Washington, chairwoman of WSU\'s Board of Governors, said Reid has done \"a wonderful job\" as president. \"We are fortunate to have someone of his caliber as our president,\" she said. The board may change the details of the proposed compensation package before a final vote at 2 p.m. today.

Geoffrey Fieger owns homes in Bloomfield Hills and the Caribbean , is a frequent commentator on national cable shows and makes a lucrative living using his theatrical style to win big verdicts in high-profile cases. But in the past three months, Fieger has run into legal troubles of his own that cloud the future of the state\'s most famous lawyer. The current problem is a federal investigation looking into whether he illegally reimbursed members of his law practice who contributed to 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. \"He likes the limelight,\" says Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University who worked with Fieger to challenge the state\'s ban on assisted suicide. \"But I don\'t think anybody likes their own cases in the limelight. When your office is being searched ... I\'m sure Geoff or anybody else would wish this had not happened.\"

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

The prosecutors hearing Jack Abramoff\'s confession have, perhaps, too many choices. Depending on what Abramoff tells them, government lawyers could use any of at least four federal statutes to pursue the former lobbyist\'s associates, including members of Congress and their staffers. The laws date from different eras and were adopted not only to stem corruption, but also to fight racketeering and mail fraud. Or, as Wayne State University Law Professor Peter J. Henning has written, \"[O]ne can best describe the federal law as a hodgepodge.\"

This article is a review of the play Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God that is being staged at Wayne State 's Bonstelle Theater.

Former Detroit Lion Wally Triplett will be a featured guest during the reception for the opening of "Double Coverage: An Exhibit of Detroit Lions History through Photographs," 5 p.m., Jan. 26, at the Walter P. Reuther Library. Lions mascot "Roary" will also be on hand during the reception. Contact information is provided. Center for Peace and Conflict Studies to host immigration symposium Wayne State 's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, together with the university's Society of Active Retirees (SOAR) and the Free University of Brussels, will host a symposium on the topic of immigration and ethnic relations in European and North American cities, Jan. 26-27, in the Community Room of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library. Professor Fred Pearson , director of the center, is quoted in the piece.

During an afternoon report, reporter Florence Walton said Wayne State 's Board of Governors was considering a double digit pay raise for President Irvin D. Reid. She also pointed out that President Reid had donated $600,000 the year before and did not accept a pay raise.

Wayne State 's Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) has been awarded a two-year, $150,000 grant from the Ethel & James Flinn Foundation of Detroit . The grant will help improve the diagnosis and management of mental illness in people with mental retardation. The institute\'s research team will be working with the Macomb Oakland Regional Center - which currently serves 1,000 mentally retarded adults, of whom 320 also have mental illnesses. Background information about DDI is provided in the story.

Fox 2 news aired information about parking and shuttle services available during Super Bowl week in Detroit . Wayne State University was noted in the morning and evening newscasts as one of several sites offering parking. Viewers were told that prices vary for parking and shuttle services at the sites and that they should check the Fox 2 Web site for further information at www.fox2detroit.com.

Governor Granholm in her state-of-the-state address mentioned that Next Energy at Wayne State was an example of the sort of initiative that helps to diversity Michigan 's economy and ensures a brighter economic picture for its citizens.

Carbon monoxide can damage the brain, but new research suggests poisoning with the colorless, odorless gas can also cause serious harm to the heart. Patients hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning are at a significantly increased risk of dying over the next seven years, especially from heart conditions, according to a report in the January 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The report breaks new ground, said David G. Penney, a professor of physiology at Wayne State University , who has studied carbon monoxide extensively. \"We know that a certain fraction of people have acute [immediate] cardiac effects, but the fact that it has a long-term effect on increasing mortality is new,\" he said.

Minority college students studying science, math, technology and engineering will get more help toward earning bachelor's degrees under a new mentoring program announced Monday by officials at Michigan State , Wayne State and Western Michigan universities and the University of Michigan .

The National Science Foundation will contribute $2.5 million to the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program, which was created this month to help meet state and national needs for getting minorities into math, science, engineering and technology at WSU, UM, MSU and WMU.