The fine folks at TechTown, Detroit \'s only research and technology park, announced Friday that six new tenants have signed TechTown leases in the final quarter of 2005. The incoming group of entrepreneurs raises the total number of resident companies to 21. Thanks to significant business growth and foot traffic, the park\'s first retail entrepreneur has chosen to relocate to TechOne from another area in the city. The Java Exchange -- a coffee shop that serves up financial education in addition to smoothies, sweets and coffee drinks -- is slated to open to the public in February. The coffee house offers free use of desktop computers, free wireless Internet access and opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship and finance through in-store events. \"Our original plan was to expand to 40 companies in 10 years. We couldn\'t be more pleased that just 16 months after our first tenant moved in, we are more than half way toward achieving that goal,\" says Howard Bell, TechTown\'s executive director.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan wants to do for breast cancer what it has done for heart attacks and pneumonia: pay more for improvements in treatment. The Blues and other insurers have linked higher hospital reimbursements to quality improvements in the treatment of conditions such as heart attack and pneumonia for several years. Now the Blues are laying the groundwork to provide incentives for quality improvements in breast cancer treatment and other complex diseases. If they can do that, said Patricia Lorusso, a breast cancer oncologist and director of the clinical trials program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center , the program could be a big benefit to physicians and patients. "If they can keep up with new treatments … it could be a benefit to have a (network) available to disseminate that information statewide," she said.

An editorial was featured concerning Michigan 's colleges of education turning out graduates who are unprepared to teach. One major insufficiency is that many graduates are often unprepared for dealing with students from various racial and ethnic backgrounds once they land a job after finishing their degrees. Colleges can help solve a part of the state's education problems by encouraging more students to major in math and science since Michigan has a shortage of teachers in those subjects.

Testing for prostate cancer is an inexact science and results in many false positive results. Some doctors say many prostate tumors grow so slowly as to present a low-level of threat. But doctors can't always tell the deadly tumors from the harmless ones. Melvyn Raider, who teaches at Wayne State 's School of Social Work , is familiar with the controversy - he's had three abnormal tests in five years and multiple biopsies. "There's probably not much prostate left after all those samples," he said.

An article about the appointment of David Moran as associate dean in the WSU Law School traces his academic background and accomplishments. A photo accompanies the piece.

Janine Marie Lanza will speak on "Sharing the Wealth: Families and Inheritance in Early Modern Paris" at a free brown-bag lunch program, 12:30 p.m., Dec. 13, in the Faculty/Administration Building.

Hillsdale's victories over Wayne State , December 10, in men's and women's basketball games are detailed in this article. The host Chargers won the men's contest 62-59 to stay perfect in the GLIAC. The Hillsdale women claimed an 84-54 win in the first game. Accompanying photos show Hillsdale's Gretchen Rocco making a lay-up over two WSU defenders in the women's game and the Warriors' Kris Krzyminski defending against a driving Hillsdale player in the men's contest.

This article traces the founding of SpaceForm, a startup company located in TechTown, by Wayne State graduate business students with cooperation from Delphi Corp. The company uses an innovative method of welding dissimilar materials. The process was created by a Delphi researcher. Alain Piette, recipient of an Adams Fellowship through the WSU School of Business Administration, is the company's sole employee at the present time. The welding process is being presented to potential customers with an eye to growing the business.

That was the cost of a week-long business trip to China taken by Mary Sue Coleman and 10 administrators and faculty members.

Sports brief entries in separate roundup articles note that Hillsdale defeated Wayne State , 62-59, in basketball. Kris Krzyminski led the Warriors in scoring with 18 points.

Wayne State 's 16-month program enrolled 64 students this fall, compared with 37 in 2001. The school had more than 750 applicants.

This article reviews about 15 books on the big ape and Professor Cynthia Erb of the Wayne State History Department is mentioned as the author of a, "…superb scholarly study, 'Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture' (Wayne State University Press, 1998)."

Robert Sharoff and William Zbaren, architectural writer and photographer, respectively, were in Detroit two years ago to do a story on the Book Cadillac Hotel; they fell in love with Detroit 's buildings and decided to do a book on Detroit 's architecture. The result of their collective swoon is a book that's come out just in time for the holidays. The handsome new coffee-table book from the Wayne State University Press, " American City : Detroit Architecture 1845-2005," was a labor-intensive labor of love. Color photos that accompany the story are attributed to the Wayne State University Press.

On her "Great Stuff" (to do on the weekend) report Saturday afternoon, news anchor Roberta Jasina mentioned that "Pride and Prejudice" was playing at Wayne State 's Bonstelle Theatre.

As Wayne State University president, Irvin Reid\'s mission is to make the school world-class. In the last five years, he\'s been abroad 15 times to such places as India, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Germany, Egypt, France, Japan and to Syria. The total cost was roughly $50,000, not including the expenses of university personnel who traveled with Reid. By contrast, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman traveled abroad twice since becoming president in 2002. Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon has been abroad twice since she became president in 2004. Reid, who became president in 1997, said his trips were primarily to forge joint programs with other schools and to foster student or faculty exchanges. \"If I am the University of Michigan , I don\'t have to have the president as cheerleader,\" Reid said this week. The same is true for Michigan State , he added. \"Our profile is not as high. I think we\'re very good, but we\'re not as well known.\"

An AP story about fast-track nursing degree programs for people who hold college degrees in other fields mentions that Wayne State enrolled 64 students in its 16-month program last fall, up from 37 in 2001.

Wayne State University\'s office of development named Bernice Lopata, formerly executive director of corporate and foundation relations and campaign operations, as associate vice president of advancement services and corporate and foundation relations.

More people are scrapping established careers to become nurses, enticed by programs designed to draw professionals from other industries to the under-served field. Wayne State University \'s 16-month program is the fastest growing in the nursing school. The program enrolled 64 students this fall compared to 37 in 2001. The article was also accompanied by a photo of Virginia Remedio, who teaches WSU nursing along with students Veronica Umeh, Archana Singh, Kristin Szutarski, Cindy Mock and Geoff Brownell.

Detroit: The Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts presents a performance of the Tennessee Williams classic, \"Sweet Bird of Youth\" at 8 p.m. today at the Hillberry Theatre, 4743 Cass Ave. The play tells the story of a drifter whose failings as an actor led him into a career as a gigolo who returns home to rekindle a romance with an old flame. Tickets are $15 to $28, with $10 student rush tickets available on the day of the performance. For information, call (313) 577-2972.

Two defendants in the DeMarcus Graham murder trial have court-appointed private attorneys because many public defenders have conflicts of interests stemming from the case's grand jury investigation. Whether this will cost the county more still is uncertain. David Moran, assistant law professor at Wayne State University , said Isabella County 's public defender system is similar to the eight or nine others in the state. "Only a minority of counties have a public defender system," he said. "Most counties that do have a public defender office have a system to appoint private attorneys."