Former Deloitte & Touche executive Richard Gabrys has been named interim dean of the Wayne State University School of Business Administration. Gabrys, a member of the Board of Visitors for the business school and the WSU College of Nursing, retired from Deloitte & Touche in 2004 after 42 years with the firm. Taking the reins of the school's $30 million campaign to fund a new building will be a top priority, but he said he has no preconceived notions of what his other priorities will be. He will meet with the school's faculty, students and other constituents to develop a plan. Gabrys pointed out that the business school provides important educational support to those living and working in Detroit . "I felt that if there weren't an interim dean in place that momentum would be lost with respect to the campaign as well as other things the school has in place," he said.

An article about the retirement of the operations chief at Miami-Dade College notes that Meredith Gibbs, chief of staff at Wayne State , will take over the duties at Miami-Dade as of Jan. 3.

A story about efforts by federal agencies to find persons fluent in Arabic languages as interpreters and government operatives includes a comment by Mahmoud Abdalla, WSU professor and director of the Arabic Summer School in Vermont . He pointed out that the FBI, CIA and NSA recruit heavily in the Dearborn area, which has a large population of Arab Americans. "People are very scared to be accused of working with a particular agency, like the FBI or CIA," he said. "People are also very aware that they have to help their country."

A story about the buyout of a financial institution by another bank and the resulting angst of employees at the first institution includes a comment by Cary Lichtman, industrial psychologist at Wayne State . He advised employees who are concerned about losing jobs to get busy networking and cutting personal debt. "It's not going to be the greatest Christmas they've had, but they have to focus on the future," he said. In a year, he pointed out, "there's a good chance that they'll be in as good a job or better than they're working at right now."

Jessica Litman of the WSU Law School is quoted in an article about the legal efforts of large inkjet cartridge manufacturers to halt competition from smaller companies that refill cartridges. The article examines complicated legal aspects of the case, including Lexmark's use of a license agreement on boxes containing its product. "The little print on packages doesn't look like a contract to me," Litman said. "It looks like a unilateral declaration. The appropriate way to analyze box-wrap is that if you buy a Lexmark cartridge from OfficeMax, you have a contact with OfficeMax, not Lexmark."

More than 200 Detroit and Wayne State University boosters gathered at the Guardian Building to celebrate the WSU Press publication of American City : Detroit Architecture, 1845-2005. Two photos of guests are featured with the story.

These duties will soon be in the hands of Meredith Gibbs, scheduled to arrive Jan. 3 from a job as chief of staff at Wayne State University in Detroit . A lawyer, Gibbs previously held several high-level administrative jobs in Maryland 's state government.

Contract talks between Wayne State University 's medical school and The Detroit Medical Center have broken down, primarily over financial issues, a conflict that has the university prepared to move its physicians to other hospitals, according to this report on page one of the business section. At issue is how much The DMC will pay WSU under the partnership, among other matters. The relationship between the medical center and the university involves research, physician practices and education of medical students and residents. There are no firm plans to resume negotiations. "Its at a crisis point, and they ought to get back to the table," said Paul Massaron of the WSU Board of Governors. With three months remaining on the current partnership contract, a quick resolution is important, observed Richard Bernstein of the WSU Board of Governors. "If there's no longer a contract, we're going to have to start negotiating with other hospitals," he said. The DMC is struggling to stay in the black after years of deficits. Wayne State , like all public universities in the state, has faced cuts and freezes in state funding. A photo of Bernstein accompanies the story, and a` sidebar provides brief facts about the WSU School of Medicine and The Detroit Medical Center.

A front-page story about barriers that make getting around difficult for physically handicapped persons leads with the example of a St. Clair County man who had difficulty accessing Wayne State's Bonstelle Theatre due to lack of an entrance ramp. Captions under two accompanying photos of the man in his motorized cart mention the nine-step entrance with no ramp at WSU's Bonstelle. The man said theatre employees had to carry him in to see a performance but were not available to assist him out of the theatre following the play. Jim Sears , associate vice president for facilities at the university noted that "It's a problem site," and pointed out that WSU does not own parking spots or land around the theater, so space is not available to make the building more handicapped accessible. Wayne State and the American Red Cross, owner of land adjoining the theatre, have discussed options but no agreement has been reached.

Marc Kruman, chairman of the History Department and director of the Center for the Study of Citizenship here, is quoted in an AP article that ran widely in newspapers across the country. The article examines measures being proposed by some members of Congress to oppose President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and use of the Patriot Act to approve government actions that some see as an invasion of civil liberties. "Civil liberties are always most endangered during wartime," Kruman points out, "and there does seem to be a greater tendency to look for and find domestic and internal enemies during wartime."

An editorial urges contributions to the Old Newsboys Goodfellow Fund and notes that the nonprofit organization, in addition to its traditional Christmas box donations to the needy, "provides several scholarships to Wayne State University ." This year, the Newsboys will provide a journalism scholarship named for Detroit News Production Editor Mike McCormick, who raised thousands of dollars for the charity.

An AP story about The Kalamazoo Promise, the scholarship program for public school students in that city that has gained widespread attention, mentions that Wayne State is offering qualified students a 50 percent discount on room and board.

An article about the moot court team from Cooley Law School winning the Region VI National Moot Court competition mentions that, among other schools, the team beat out others from Capital University Law School , Cleveland Marshall Law School and Wayne State University Law School .

A 12-year-old student in the Chippewa Valley School District has been charged under a state law that makes terrorist threats criminal offenses. If convicted she could end up under the supervision of the juvenile court until she turns 19. Robert Sedler of the WSU Law School said terrorism charges against children are rare. "But here I think it's really not 9/11, it's Columbine (that officials are concerned about)." The article reports that Sedler thinks the police acted appropriately in bringing charges against the girl, who claims the Internet threats were just a prank.

Fans of WDET-FM's former "adult alternative" music mix have been organizing a campaign to protest the station's decision to cut music programming during the day to make way for news/talk programming. The group has been "sending mass e-mails to newspapers and the president of Wayne State University , which owns the station," the article reports. Supporters of the "old" WDET format will gather at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Magic Stick on Woodward in Detroit to stage a protest rally.

Wayne State is mentioned in a letter to the editor by Larry Lawhorne, M.D., director of the Geriatric Education Center of Michigan. He points out that the center he directs is located at Michigan State University but also draws strength from members of its consortium, including the WSU Institute of Gerontology, three other universities, the Michigan Primary Care Association and the Michigan Dementia Coalition. The consortium provides multidisciplinary training for physicians, nurses, social workers rehabilitation therapists and other health care professionals. Lawhorne urges Congress not to reduce or eliminate funding of the 50 geriatric education centers across the country.

When a printer ran off 10,000 copies of Rosa Park's obituary and funeral program and sold them for $10 a piece, family members say they felt it cheapened her name and accomplishments. Now her nieces and nephews are asking for her will to be voided and to put one nephew in charge of her estate. The issue isn't an inheritance; it is control of the legal rights to her name and its use. Jessica Litman, who teaches intellectual property and copyright courses at Wayne State 's Law School , said Parks' name has little (monetary) value by itself. But with an aggressive enforcement campaign to get license fees for its use, it could be valuable. "Surely people will be interested in making motion pictures, biographies, documentaries about her," said Litman. "If someone could claim to own either that right, or the right to pictures of her, I can imagine that going for a tidy sum."

This article about temporary jobs being filled in connection with the Super Bowl in Detroit mentions that the Marriott Hotel-Renaissance Center , host hotel for the NFL, is working with Wayne State , Ferris State and Michigan State universities to find qualified people to beef up its staff during the days surrounding the event.

This all-news station interviewed law professor Robert Sedler regarding President Bush's use of the NSA for domestic spying under the Patriot Act. Sedler disagrees that the administration has emergency powers that permit the authorization of spying without obtaining a warrant.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has named members to the new Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board (SEIC) and to the Michigan Strategic Fund. President Irvin D. Reid is among several members appointed to the SEIC Board. The SEIC has responsibility for grants and loans made to support technology investments in the life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing and homeland security and defense.