A new collaborative effort is under way to establish such a school in the county. U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, state Rep. Fred Miller and Macomb County Commissioner Paul Gieleghem last week unveiled plans for an advisory committee to study whether there's a need for a 4-year public college or university in Macomb .

This article, written in Albanian by a visiting professor who attended a November taping of the "Leaders on Leadership" program hosted by Larry Fobes of the School of Business Administration , appeared in an Albanian newspaper. It praises Fobes and Wayne State for the program, in which influential business leaders discuss their philosophy and strategy and answer questions from a studio audience. In the article, Musaraj writes about various aspects of the interview show and how it reveals the strategies of leaders who direct far-flung enterprises. She also mentions how important the relationship between the university, business leaders and the media is to students and the public.

The Socius Collegi award was presented to Visteon Corp.'s John Kill, senior vice president and president North America Customer Group. Wayne State 's College of Engineering recognized his support of the university's Engineering and Management Master's Program.

When you think Farmington Hills , drug-relate executions don't leap to mind. "That is the reality. If you have a criminal organization that generates a lot of income, the heads of those organizations are going to live in nice neighborhoods, places they believe they'll be safe," said Wayne State law professor Peter Henning. "This type of killing is not generally a threat to the public, at least not at this point," Henning said. "It's not something you need to fear. The only concern is if it's a precursor to some kind of gang warfare. Then, you'd be concerned about third parties getting into the line of fire."

An early test for Down syndrome has some fearing in increase in abortions. Dr. Marjorie Tredwell, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at WSU, said some women take the test purely to be prepared. \"Women who continue the pregnancy after a diagnosis of Down syndrome now have the knowledge of what they\'ll be faced with,\" she said. \"It\'s not just about termination. Some women even go to support groups for parents of children with Down syndrome before the birth after getting the diagnosis, to prepare them after the baby is born.\"

"If we do not understand how fundamentally the world has changed with the emergence of 1.3 billion new Chinese capitalists and instant communication through technology and take swift action to respond, we will become irrelevant and an economic backwater," said Tom Watkins, former Michigan school superintendent, who has traveled extensively in China . Recently, he released a report while working at Wayne State University . It examines learning in Michigan compared to China . See it at: www.coe.wayne.edu.

Even with Pell Grants, designed to help children from the nation's neediest families, college students are finding it increasingly hard to get through school without holding down jobs and amassing heavy debts. The applications for various forms of financial aid are complicated and intimidating, and the fear of taking on heavy debt is daunting for students and parents. In 2003, 8.6% of the nation's poorest young adults earned bachelor's degrees by age 24, barely up from 7.1 percent in 1975. Statewide, the federal grants went to 2,741 more public university students in 2003 than in 1992. But with 24,000 more students the number represents a 1.6 % drop in the proportion of poor students on campus. The trends are illustrated through the story of a WSU student, Alicia Coleman, who said, "It wasn't nearly enough. You learn a lot the second time around. When you are worried about what you are going to eat, the stress causes a chain reaction. Your grades go down. It affects everything." Coleman has been in and out of college as her finances faltered, and her parents continue to pay a $6,000 loan they took out to help finance their daughter's education. She is featured in a photo with the story.

The state is launching a comprehensive strategy to leverage arts and culture for economic growth. The sector is already an important contributor to the economy, said William Anderson, director of the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Educational institutions also can play a role in training leaders in cultural economic development; Wayne State University , for example, has developed a course on the topic.

A23-year-old Wayne State University student, who was arrested for carrying a kirpan on the university campus under the Detroit Knife Act has been acquitted of all charges thanks to United Sikhs and the American Civil Liberties Union.

As the nation's outlook improves, Michigan will see its 6th straight year of job losses. Amid the gloom, a few encouraging signs can be found. There is a chance that high tech jobs such as the ones created by Automation alley in Oakland County and Wayne State 's TechTown could gain momentum.

Robert Mentzer was named dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He had been surgical department chair and physiology professor at the University of Kentucky . Mentzer replaces interim dean Robert Frank.

There is a movement abroad in the land to develop a full-fledged four year college in Macomb County . Michigan has 15 state-funded universities that grant four-year degrees. Now, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin is forming a group to study whether Macomb County deserves its own university.

WSU men's basketball was defeated by Mercyhurst 61-65. The Warriors' Jeffrey Ferguson came off the bench to score 20 points and snag a game-high seven rebounds.

Doug Rothwell, former Michigan economic development czar and current president of Renaissance, wants to focus Detroit 's corporate leadership on driving economic change, but do so with greater attention to the whole region without undermining the group's "special priority on the city's redevelopment." "There are a few isolated initiatives under way that are trying to change the local economy, such as Automation Alley and university-based economic development programs" like Wayne State University 's Tech Town , Roth well told Renaissance's Board in a strategy paper.

Next Energy got off to a rocky start when an arrangement with U of M fell apart. The Engler administration then turned to WSU, which offered building space in its nascent Tech Town technology park. The non-profit received an initial $30 million for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. NextEnergy has attracted another $13 million in federal research funding for incubator companies that are developing wind power, fuel cells, bio-diesel fuel and other alternative energies.

Oakland University is partnering with Wayne State and its Pharmacy School to share resources and expertise. This new partnership allows students to enter OU, enroll in its School of Health Sciences Pre-Pharmacy program and gain early entry into WSU's doctoral program. This new model will begin to fill the expected demand of 157,000 pharmacists needed by 2020 and address increasing complexities of drug interactions, addiction and misuse among the growing population of seniors.

Former Grand Ledge football player Dan Barnes was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV College Division Football First Team. Barnes, Wayne State football team's linebacker, finished the season with 37 tackles and an interception. Barnes has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all four semesters while at Wayne State .

When the plan to locate NextEnergy near the U of M in Ann Arbor fell apart, Governor Engler turned to Wayne State , which offered building space in its TechTown technology park. Booth Newspapers business columnist Rick Haglund had doubts about the venture, but now with nearly a dozen start-up companies on board, he's singing a different tune.

Ward Connerly, California leader of a ballot campaign to curtail affirmative action in Michigan debated the proposal with Wayne State University Law Dean Frank Wu before about 1,000 people at Lawrence Tech. "We're always talking about affirmative action as if it's the problem. It's the remedy," said Wu.

In 2004, former AsianWeek columnist Frank H. Wu became the ninth dean of the WSU Law School . He is profiled here. For ten years before, he taught at Howard University as the only Asian American on the faculty of an African American school. Wu is the author of a landmark book, Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White. "Asian Americans have to throw off the image that others have created for us, the script that they've written for us to follow," Wu said. Some say Wu may be Asian America's leading public intellectual.