Save the date dept. for 'The Eye and the Chip'

It is noted that Wayne State is conducting research on the science of restoring vision to the blind using electronics and electrical stimulation of the visual cortex of the brain. The Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology will hold another in its biennial series of vision technology events, \"The Eye and The Chip 2006,\" June 15-17 at the Westin Hotel at Detroit Metropolitan Airport . The event will explore this evolving science.

December 21, 2005

Schools shouldn't get blank check for spending increases

Columnist Thomas Bray says a proposed law that would guarantee funding increases for public schools, community colleges and state universities equal to the rate of inflation, is a bad idea. The K-16 Coalition for Michigan 's Future says it will go back to the Legislature before seeking certification of its petition drive which the group says has accumulated a sufficient number of signatures to place the law on the 2006 ballot. Bray wrote, "What\'s really needed is not another bailout but fundamental reform of the education system itself. It\'s outrageous that educators would think they should get automatic spending increases as far as the eye can see, while everybody else must get in line

December 21, 2005

Edelman, Davidson to be honored at WSU commencement

Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson and nationally known children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman will receive honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Wayne State during winter commencement ceremonies on Dec. 15th. Also to be honored will be businessman and philanthropist Yousif B. Ghafari and civic activist Angela Kennedy. Both Ghafari and Kennedy will receive Distinguished Alumni awards.

December 20, 2005

More than black and white: Neighborhoods display more diversity

Jason Booza, a geographic information specialist at Wayne State 's Center for Urban Studies, commented extensively in a story about Macomb County 's growing diversity. Booza said that much of the new diversity is because of spillover from Oakland County , mainly from Troy , often due to new immigrants finding comfortable places to live.

December 20, 2005

High joblessness plagues disabled - only 37% of working age can find jobs in Michigan

Fifteen years after the federal Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, employment remains the most glaring disparity between people with disabilities and those without - even as technology has fostered greater independence. In fact employment for the disabled has declined since the passage of the act. Damon Page, 33, relies on technology to help him do his job - entering names and addresses into a spreadsheet for his $12-an-hour, data-entry job in Wayne State 's Department of Occupational Therapy. At the university Page helps physical rehabilitation clients become acclimated to assistive technology. "He's just a really bright individual, " said Joe Pellerito Jr., Page's boss and academic program director of the occupational therapy program. The story includes photos of Page.

December 20, 2005

WSU professor interviewed on WWJ

Sally Roberts, assistant professor in Wayne State 's College of Education (COE), was interviewed by WWJ's Greg Bowman during his "Making the Grade" segment. Roberts talked about the COE's GO-GIRL (Gaining Options-Girls Investigate Real Life) program expanding nationally. The 10-week, semester program, created for seventh-grade girls from public and private schools in the Detroit metropolitan area, is designed to help students develop mathematical confidence, skills and conceptual understanding by integrating mathematics and social science research. Registration and background information about GO-GIRL was provided including Web site materials located at: http://www.gogirls.wayne.edu.

December 20, 2005

Promise of free college changing lives

The Kalamazoo Promise, a pioneering new scholarship program for graduates of Kalamazoo 's public schools funded by anonymous donors, has Michigan colleges competing for the prospective students. Western Michigan is offering four years of free room and board to 2006 grads, while Wayne State will give them a 50 percent discount.

December 20, 2005

Job Benefits From Overseas Tax Breaks Hard to Find

The deal was Congress would open a one-year window of U.S. companies to bring overseas profits home at a reduced tax rate and in return the companies would invest billions in U.S. facilities and research - creating jobs. Critics say it didn't work out that way. "there was no mechanism that linked the repatriation with the creation of jobs," said Michael McIntryre, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit .

December 20, 2005

WDET issues statement about format changes

Coleman outlines the research-based rationale behind the program changes at WDET. Contributions were down, listeners were down. The station still has many music programs with experienced WDET hosts.

December 20, 2005

School briefs: Cooley moot court team wins regional contest

A team from Wayne State 's Law School participated in the National Moot Court Region VI Competition, sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Young Lawyers Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York . Cooley Law School was crowned champion of the event, sending the school's team on to New York in January for the competition's national final rounds.

December 20, 2005

WDET

George Bullard from the Detroit News, submitted his blog entry on WDET. He writes that the station is receiving a bad rap from critics over recent format changes. The station's management eliminated some shows and adjusted the programming mix to attract more listeners. More changes to the format include new weekday news programs instead of midday musical interludes.

December 20, 2005

Where college students live: How safe is it?

Recent fires near the U-M campus fuel concern about rental housing that is available to students. Ann Arbor has the largest number of student renters in the state with about 70% of students - 28,000 men and women living off campus. Michigan State University has 60%, or 27,000 students, living off campus. Students acknowledge that they need to be more careful, but they maintain that off-campus housing in Ann Arbor is often poorly maintained by landlords. Students say rental houses should be inspected annually.

December 20, 2005

Leadership in Katrina Disaster

A column about relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims carries a tagline noting that the writer, Ron Walters, is director of the African American Leadership Institute and is author of the book "White Nationalism, Black Interests" published by the Wayne State University Press.

December 19, 2005

Most child safety seats used incorrectly

Although nearly 80 percent of Michigan children use child safety seats when riding in vehicles, 71.4 percent of the devices are installed incorrectly, according to a new report prepared for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP). The Wayne State University Transportation Research Group determined the state's 79.7 percent use rate by conducting observational and interview surveys from April to August 2005.

December 19, 2005

The politics behind the legal lynching of Tookie Williams

The execution of Stanley Tookie Williams by the State of California on Dec. 13 was a politically calculated action by "ruling elites." Executing Williams, writes Azikiwe, provided the right wing with an opportunity to shore up its political base.

December 19, 2005

Black Businesses are growing despite Barriers

Dr. Timothy Bates, economics professor at Wayne State University , and others made it clear that young, highly educated black professionals with corporate experience are driving black business growth today, and they are supplying new jobs to African-American workers. "For black businesses, the expertise is in the pipeline (the college-educated entrepreneurs) can achieve if the money and the markets are there," said Bates.

December 19, 2005

Women: Roundup

Southern Indiana defeated the Wayne State women's basketball team 82-66. Shatona Clark had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors.

December 19, 2005

Viking QB commits to Wayne

Tri County all-state quarterback Josh Rouhan has accepted a full scholarship to play for Wayne State , a Division II school that competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Wayne State holds a record of 3-7 during the 2005 season and hopes during its next season that Rouhan will create some competition at the quarterback position. Rouhan has suffered a knee injury while playing his senior year in high school but hopes to recover quickly and play for Wayne next year.

December 19, 2005

Rule change could hurt WSU physicians

Proposed changes to state rules for new surgery centers could jeopardize the Wayne State University Physician Group's plans for a new outpatient surgery center in Troy . New standards recommended by the state Certificate of Need Commission would restrict the definition of "surgery" to only those procedures that are performed in an operating room, eliminating procedures commonly cited on applications such as endoscopy or mole removal. The narrower definition reduces the number of procedures that can be counted toward surgical volume. That makes the standard "almost impossible" for the university's physician group and other non-hospital applicants without existing centers, said Colin Ford, director of state government affairs with the Michigan State Medical Society.

December 19, 2005

WDET protesters air ideas

A group of about 100 irate WDET listeners gathered Sunday at the Magic Stick nightclub in Detroit to plan strategy on how to get the station to return to a music format. They planned to file a class-action lawsuit against the station, which is owned by Wayne State University . They also discussed picketing at high-profile events such as the North American International Auto Show fundraising dinner and the NFL Super Bowl. According to its written statement, the grassroots group wants a compromise with WSU that would allow for some daytime music. The protesters say the news format is too similar to that at another public-radio station out of Ann Arbor . WDET, which had a $30,000 deficit at the end of its fiscal year in September, began airing more NPR news and talk programs last week.

December 19, 2005