A new report from the nonprofit Zinn Education Project found that 90% of states have insufficient or non-existent lesson coverage of Reconstruction in schools. Historians warn that eclipsing the aftermath of the Civil War will lead students to be uninformed about the seeds of racial inequity today. Gregory Carr, Mélisande Short-Colomb, and Kidada Williams, associate professor of history at Wayne State University, join in a discussion about the legacy of Reconstruction. “…the violence we’re experiencing in the present day, with the killing of George Floyd or even the massacre at Mother Emanuel, has history that traces back to Reconstruction. This moment where African Americans are trying to be free, equal and secure – and they’re experiencing what essentially mounts to a war on freedom, specifically Black peoples’ freedom…” Williams said. A lot of historians see parallels between the January 6 insurrection and the events of 1877. “One of the things that is very important to recognize is that African American freedom after the Civil War was contested. The nation didn’t just magically decide that they were going to abolish slavery out of the goodness of their hearts. African Americans wanted that, to be sure, but that’s not what actually happened. Emancipation comes about in this era that is very contested. White southerners – white conservative southerners in particular – are very hostile toward emancipation. But so are a lot of white conservatives in the north and the west. So, it’s not just freedom itself, but the fleshing out of what freedom means…,” said Williams.   

By Lindsay Moore  Gas prices are influencing car buying preferences according to the latest inventory reports showing that compact cars are moving faster than their larger counterparts. A record high $5 per gallon nationally have curbed spending patterns, according to Cox Automotive. Cox’s new vehicle inventory report for May showed compact cars are staying on the lot for less than 20 days, while full-sized SUVs and trucks have more than double the days on the market. Chip shortages have now cost the auto industry 2 million vehicles that won’t be recouped. Car makers are still prioritizing high-end, high-margin models instead of entry-level vehicles. This ripple effect has shown up in the inventory data, too. Drivers can see the effects of the semiconductor shortage right on the road – or rather the parking lot. The semiconductor supply chain has improved but new production will take at least two to three years to really make a dent in production, said John Taylor, chair of Wayne State University’s department of marketing and supply chain management. “If you use semiconductors, you’re scrambling,” he said.  

Ford is officially 119 years old, and in celebration the Blue Oval is launching an online archive so car enthusiasts can sift through its long and storied past. The Ford Heritage Vault is a digital database that contains more than 5,000 curated photographs and product brochures spanning from the company's founding in 1903 to its centennial in 2003. It took two years for Ford's archives teams to collect all the material. The archive was piloted with the help of employees, retirees, and graduate students from Wayne State University before being opened to the public. 

When Varun Vohra, director of the Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine, noticed more cases involving children who had ingested the sleep aid melatonin, it prompted him to join forces with other experts who had observed a similar increase and study the issue. But even the research team, which was made up of pediatricians and toxicologists, was surprised by the results. From January 2012 through December 2021, the annual number of pediatric ingestions of melatonin reported to poison control centers across the United States rose a whopping 530%, with a total of 260,435 ingestions reported over that time. “None of us really anticipated that large of a surge,” Vohra said. In a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the team cited the rising popularity and availability of melatonin, the increase in sleep disturbances caused by the pandemic, and the extra time children have been spending at home as possible contributors to the soaring number of reported ingestions. Most cases were managed at home, but 10.7% of patients were seen at a healthcare facility. “We at this time are not asserting that melatonin directly led to serious outcomes, including death,” Vohra said, because of the limitations of poison center data and the lack of individual case narrative reviews. “We don’t want to set off alarm bells among parents since the majority of melatonin ingestions are relatively benign and resolve without complications.” Vohra added that the intent of the research paper was to describe the increase in pediatric melatonin ingestions and start a discussion. The research team and other experts have called for more study.  

By Julie Hinds  Juanita Anderson, the head of media arts and studies at Wayne State University, knew from the start how important it was to make “Who Killed Vincent Chin?,” the 1988 documentary she executive-produced. But she couldn’t have predicted the acclaim it would receive, or how it has become what Anderson calls a “vital tool in understanding American history.” The recently restored version of the Oscar-nominated film aired on Detroit Public TV and other PBS stations across the country. The special airing marks 40 years since Chin, a 27-year-old automotive engineer, was assaulted by two white autoworkers on the night he was celebrating at his bachelor party in Detroit. He was beaten so badly that he went into a coma and died four days later. Anderson says it’s an honor to be part of “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and is optimistic that this PBS airing will reach a whole new generation that turns to indie docs for in-depth reporting. In the midst of 2022, the documentary comes with “the tragic part of it still being relevant,” said Anderson, referring to the rise of anti-Asian hate in the United States fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I go back and look at the (the 1988 documentary) and look at the rhetoric at that time by government officials and how that kind of rhetoric from authoritative people had an impact on American society – and the same thing has happened around the COVID crisis.”  

What, if anything, does a COVID infection during pregnancy do to the developing fetus? It appears the virus rarely infects the fetus. Instead, researchers are concerned about the mother’s immune response to viral infection — a cascade of disease-fighting cells that can cross the placenta and could affect the developing brain. “The maternal immune system is changed because of pregnancy. It’s stronger,” said Dr. Gil Mor, scientific director of C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development at Wayne State University. That strength can have a downside, he said, when the immune system goes to war against something entirely new but doesn’t know when to declare victory and shut down. The result can be a chronic inflammatory response. “We need to do everything possible to prevent the chronic inflammation,” said Mor, who studies the effects of pathogens on the immune system in pregnancy. “How do you do that? Simple. Vaccination.” 

The property in Northville Township is among former hospital sites in Metro Detroit undergoing redevelopment, either through demolition or reuse. The former Riverside Osteopathic Hospital site along the Detroit River in Trenton could become newly built multi-family housing. At the former Herman Kiefer Hospital in Detroit, there are plans for an outdoor container theater. In Westland, the owners of the former Eloise Psychiatric Hospital plan to develop a café on the site to complement their haunted and historic attractions. The sites are in various states of disrepair, but within a few years are all expected to be put back into productive use. “It’s interesting when you have a large parcel or a large property, or in the Trenton example, a really well-situated property,” said Carolyn Loh, associate professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University. “There’s just a really major opportunity to take something that is a negative in that neighborhood, because it’s abandoned and not being used and probably decaying, and then really turn it into something that can be an anchor or a positive.” 

First it was toilet paper. Then lumber, chicken wings and cream cheese. And now, tampons, Sriracha hot sauce and peanut butter are hard to find. Shortages are ongoing more than two years into the pandemic as manufacturers continue to deal with battered supply chains, uneven consumer demand and unpredictable weather conditions. “When you get all these changes in demand and delays because of COVID, it makes it hard to rebuild your supply chain,” said John Taylor, professor of global supply chain management at Wayne State University. 

Arash Javanbakht, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University, examines best practices to cope with the constant flow of bad news. 

Wayne State University Law School student Samantha Mackereth recently received the General Motors Scholarship from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan (WLAM) Foundation. The scholarships are awarded to law students who demonstrate leadership capabilities in advancing the position of women in society, business, and the community.  “Working the past few years with juveniles in residential placement, who were almost always the victim of either physical or sexual abuse, I realized that the law leaves children incredibly vulnerable,” Mackereth said. “I hope to spend my career fighting for victims of sexual assault and child abuse and advocate for reform in this area of the law.”   After graduating from Bemidji State University in her home state of Minnesota, Mackereth spent two years working for a juvenile treatment and correctional facility. Later she moved to Michigan to attend Wayne Law.

Erica Davenport is the first person in her family to earn a master’s degree. Davenport recently graduated magna cum laude from Wayne State University in Detroit, earning her master’s degree in educational leadership. “My grandparents were very influential in my upbringing, especially my grandmother Mary,” said Davenport, of Detroit. “She was an advocate of higher education and encouraged me to continue my education after high school. She passed away in 2015 from cancer, a year before I graduated from Western Michigan University. My master’s degree is in honor of her.” The eldest of three, Davenport graduated from the Detroit School of Arts in 2011 and from WMU in 2016. At WMU, she earned her bachelor’s degree in child and family development with a minor in social work.

University of Michigan regents approved increases in tuition and room and board Thursday that pushed the annual cost for a full-time, in-state undergraduate student living on the Ann Arbor campus to nearly $30,000. The 3.4% tuition hike that brings annual costs to $16,736, up from $16,178 in 2021-22, drew criticism from one regent who noted the university's 38th consecutive annual tuition increase and said the school's business model is not sustainable. Michigan State University and Wayne State University set their tuition next Friday. 

A university in Michigan is seeking to make it easier for folks to obtain a bachelor's degree after attending community college, by removing barriers to access such as artificial limits on transfer credits.  Wayne State University in Detroit is putting all transfer students at equal footing by accepting all credits earned in applied, technical or vocational studies - including from community colleges. Mark Kornbluh is provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wayne State. He noted that the average family income at Wayne is lower than at most other Michigan colleges and universities. "This is sort of ingrained in our DNA," said Kornbluh, "that we're supporting students who have drive and interest but are coming with fewer resources to start. So partnering with community colleges is really important there, because it cuts the costs for college degrees significantly." Kornbluh said previously, students could only transfer 12 credits from vocational training, such as training to be an EMT, for instance. But some of those programs require 60 or more credits.

All eyes are on Washington as lawmakers signal a potential breakthrough on gun control legislation. As that work is done on Capitol Hill, groundbreaking research is being done here in Detroit, focusing on the impact of guns.  

Walk into a Target store and you're likely to find more toaster ovens and skateboards and wireless speakers than ever before. The nation's seventh-largest retailer is literally overflowing with inventory. Products on its shelves and in warehouses climbed 43 percent during the first quarter of 2022 over the same period last year, the company said in its earnings call earlier this month. As a result, Target vowed to lower prices and accept lower margins to clear its stores. "What's happened is just as predictable as the setting sun," said John Taylor, associate professor of supply chain management at Wayne State University. "It's the backside of the bullwhip. Demand keeps changing dramatically. We don't normally experience this many large changes and it's very hard to keep track of the demand signals." 

Wayne State University kicked off its 2022 WSU Juneteenth Opening Celebration on Monday with African performances, a voter registration drive, food and live music. The university is hosting several events throughout the week.

Kids wonder about everything. If you’re an elementary school teacher, you undoubtedly fielded questions today such as “What’s for lunch?” and “How are caterpillars insects if they have so many legs?” Our students are naturally inquisitive and built for inquiry. Using the inquiry method is engaging and full of opportunities. In addition to being developmentally appropriate, inquiry is at the heart of social studies standards in many states. Although teachers sometimes hesitate before implementing inquiry in their classrooms, inquiry is easy to implement in elementary school social studies classrooms.

The right to abortion in some states could come down to a handful of people running for positions most voters pay little attention to state supreme court justices. State courts are likely to be flooded with litigation that could require them to rule on access to abortion — or even contraception and fertility treatments — should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks. In Michigan, much of the focus is, for now, on the state’s Aug. 2 primary election as well as a ballot measure pro-abortion-rights groups are circulating that could codify the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. But Whitmer is also asking the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on whether the state’s 91-year-old abortion ban is constitutional, a decision that could hinge on the outcome of the election. Michigan’s Supreme Court has a 4-3 liberal majority, with one liberal and one conservative justice up for reelection. While Justin Long, a professor at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, said it’s “extremely rare” for an incumbent to lose, more than $10 million was spent on the state’s Supreme Court elections in 2020, including more than $6 million spent by outside groups, according to the Brennan Center.

Michigan's longest serving U.S. Senator Carl Levin died in July 2021 at the age of 87. He was remembered by many and honored during a memorial celebration on Sunday. "I had the honor of calling Carl Levin my friend for more than 40 years… one of the most honorable and decent people I've ever known in public life. He was brilliant, humble and principle. Carl looked everybody straight in the eye and he listened. He always told you how he saw it with honesty and respect," said President Joe Biden. 

The family of the late Sen. Carl Levin and the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University Law School honored the life and legacy of Michigan’s longest-serving U.S. senator with a memorial at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, at Wayne State University’s Student Center Ballroom.