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Eye on Politics: School funding petition is a real test

Organizers of a protest at the State Capitol in June demanding more money for public schools plan to launch a petition drive to require the state to increase funding for schools and universities by no less than the rate of inflation next year. If the drive nets a sufficient number of valid signatures, and if the Legislature then fails to vote on the issue, the issue will automatically go on the November 2006 ballot. "A lock-tight budget guarantee for any specific cause is questionable public policy," writes columnist Chris Christoff. "But if you like making legislators squirm, you'll root for the school funding proposal." Christoff speculates on whether the Legislature might write its own funding guarantee for schools in order "to avoid the political heat of a citizen-led ballot issue." He says legislators may first wait to see if the petition drive is successful.

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Law professor Noah Hall, an expert on environmental law, is interviewed in a report about the recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that declared that Great Lakes shoreline is public property. But many lakefront property owners say the decision gives them no recourse when certain beach users abuse the privilege and make a nuisance of themselves. It is a controversy that is also playing out in other Great Lakes states, such as Ohio , where property owners are suing the state, asking a federal court to declare that they own the beaches adjacent to their property. "I think it would be completely reasonable and expected for another state to look very hard at Michigan 's reasoning and analysis in this case and probably adopt a similar line" Hall said.

Numbers paint better picture: State second in nation in growth of "knowledge" jobs

New U.S. Census Bureau data show that Michigan added 91,077 professional, scientific and technical service jobs from 2000 through 2003, second only to California . "I was very surprised," said Kurt Metzger, research director for the Center for Urban Studies. "In this overwhelming bad news that we keep seeing … it does give you pause to at least say maybe the base is being developed, that Michigan is attracting that kind of workforce. Not only are they the jobs that are growing, but even more significantly, they're the jobs with high wages … and more than making up the payroll loss in manufacturing jobs."

Lobbyist Abramoff's status, ties didn't thwart indictment

Wayne State law professor Peter Henning was quoted on the recent indictment of lobbyist Jack Abramoff on six counts of mail and wire fraud. Abramoff's Florida attorneys said he plans to fight the fraud charges. "If Mr. Abramoff fights it, it complicates things because the D.C. investigation will not want to interfere with Miami , and that can slow things considerably," Henning said. "But it could simplify them in a hurry if he cooperates [with the government] and has anything to deal."

Karmanos Cancer Center researchers get $4.5M for early-detection studies

Researchers at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute on Monday were awarded $4.5 million in National Cancer Institute grants to fund research into early detection of breast and lung cancer. Dr. Michael Tainsky, director of the program in molecular biology and human genetics at the institute, was given $3.4 million. The money will fund research to detect antibodies produced by breast-tumor proteins and use them to develop an early detection breast-cancer test for women who show no symptoms of the disease. Dr. Harvey Pass, professor of surgery and oncology at the cancer institute and Wayne State University , will use a $1.1 million grant to study biomarkers in lung cancer. "When cancer is identified at the earliest stages, the probability of cure is very high; and therefore, diagnostic screening tests that can detect at these early stages are crucial," Tainsky said in a statement.

Oakland County slowly expanding in diversity

The minority population in Oakland County has grown to 20.7 percent, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. "The country, as a whole, is 33 percent minority," said Kurt Metzger, researcher for Wayne State University 's Center for Urban Studies. "We may be a little late to the game, but we're starting to pick up the pace and starting to look like the country as a whole." He pointed out that diversity has economic benefits because of the number of foreign companies that do business in the area. He also noted that immigrants to Oakland County are "a generally higher income, higher educated population."

Numbers paint better picture

Newly released U.S. Census figures show that minorities and women have increased their business ownership or sales at a faster rate than the state average. Since 1997, the number of black-owned businesses in the state increased by almost 78 percent and Asian-owned businesses grew by 32 percent. Despite a slight decrease in the total number of businesses owned by Hispanics, their sales and receipts increased by 63 percent. The number of woman-owned businesses grew by 18 percent. Kurt Metzger, director of the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center at WSU, attributes minority-owned business growth to increasing minority population. About 25 percent of Michigan residents identified themselves as minorities in the 2000 census.

Exec cleared of Kmart fraud

Former Kmart Chairman Charles Conaway has been cleared of wrongdoing by an arbitration panel in a civil suit filed by the company's former creditors. It is a stunning victory for Conaway, who headed the firm for 20 months. "The claim was, in essence (that) Conaway didn't do as good a job as he could have, but the business judgment rule protects you from 20-20 hindsight said WSU law professor Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor. "Did he get too much compensation? Maybe. That might be business stupidity, but it's not illegal."

Damage caused by pregnancy drinking

New research has shown that even low-level consumption of alcohol by pregnant women may be harmful to unborn babies. Researchers found that youngsters exposed to low to moderate levels of alcohol while still in the womb had slower thought processes and intellectual function. Julie Croxford of Wayne State University said, "In the past much focus was placed on studying the full-blown FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome). More recent research has considered those individuals damaged by lower levels of exposure. This is an important focus." The news item ran in various health publications and in newspapers in England , Scotland and Ireland .

Study projects physician shortfall in Michigan by 2020

The state could be facing a shortage of 6,000 physicians by 2020, according to a study commissioned by the Michigan State Medical Society. Medical schools are looking at ways to increase enrollment in the coming years, but more federal dollars would be needed to open graduate residencies. The Medical Society is working with Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan to study physician counts and per-capita ratios, as well as practice details, such as specialties practiced, and training programs.

Higher College Tuition quietly taxes parents

Tuition rates on college campuses have been "increasing at an alarming rate over the past 20 years," according to this article from Scripps Howard News Service. Over 10 years, concluding with the 2002-03 academic year, average tuition and fees at public and private four-year colleges and universities rose by an inflation-adjusted 38 percent, according to statistics from the College Board, which administers the SAT test. In Michigan , state universities wrestled with three straight years of cuts in state aid. Since 1982, state funding has dropped from 62 percent of the schools' total budgets to 40 percent. "During down times (in state revenue), state colleges and universities have proven to be easy budget-cutting targets," the writer points out.

Focus Law: Do lawyers have free speech?

Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State , believes that lawyers in fact do have freedom of speech when commenting about judges. Sedler says that lawyers, like everyone else, have a First Amendment right to make public statements that criticize courts, judges, prosecutors and the administration of justice. Stephen Safranek, a law professor at the Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor , disagrees with Sedler's opinion and debates otherwise.

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Tom Watkins, who was identified as "former state schools superintendent and currently special assistant to the president of Wayne State University ," was a guest on the "Michigan Matters" show with host Carol Cain. He was part of a round-table discussion regarding the Detroit Public Schools situation following Cain's interview with interim CEO William Coleman. Watkins said the school board should welcome private investments such as that offered by a generous donor a couple years ago that was turned down by the board. He also said that people need to stop debating about charter schools versus public schools and to focus instead on how to ensure the best quality education for students. Joining him on the panel were newsman-publicity counsel Cliff Russell and businesswoman-Detroit booster Denise Ilitch.

A third live within mile of danger

Joseph Louvar, Wayne State chemistry professor, was quoted on the safety of industrial plants that handle toxins such as those at EQ Resource Recovery Inc. in Romulus , the facility where massive explosions occurred last week. Michigan ranks fifth nationwide in the release of toxic chemicals, sending 417 million pounds up smokestacks, down pipes or away on trucks in 2003. The federal government requires facilities like EQ to be inspected every other year and the state\'s Department of Environmental Quality makes unannounced inspections of the plants quarterly. Some observers say the industry has vastly improved safety. \"In general, they do really well,\" Louvar said.

Race debate will never end

The newsletter of the University of Mississippi School of Law includes a full page article and a photo of WSU Law School Dean Frank Wu , who gave a lecture at the school in March on "Diversity in the New World ." He said that society needs more dialogue about attitudes toward race, dialogue that leads to action and public policy. "To start with affirmative action is to do everything backwards," he told the audience. He also pointed out that "diversity is like democracy, a process, not an outcome."

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