Wayne State University is noted in a sidebar item as a member of the Internet2 network which is used primarily by researchers on more than 200 college campuses. Internet2 is also used by several million university students, researchers and professionals worldwide, but is generally inaccessible to the public. Created in 1996, its inventors imagined a swifter Internet able to transmit loads of data free of spam and other interruptions.

Tom Watkins, former state superintendent of the Michigan Department of Education, is noted as now working for Wayne State University as a specialist in K-12 initiatives. In his former position, Watkins helped shape policies affecting 553 traditional school districts and about 200 charter schools in the state.

A photo of columnist Neal Rubin wearing a Wayne State sweatshirt is included with today's column.

A large cast bolsters the power of the Bonstelle Theatre's 'Evita.' They make lack big budget, but the cast makes up for it in heart and number, at this last production in the Bonstelle season.

The News & Moves section includes a note that the Wayne State University Law School will honor its alumni at the annual Treasure of Detroit Ball on April 9. A link is provided for more information.

Wayne State's College of Education (COE) is reaching out to persons with disabilities through a curriculum designed to provide life skills education through simulation. In collaboration with the Jewish Friendship Circle, Margaret Posch, COE associate professor, has written a simulation curriculum called 'Simucations for Life,' specifically geared to the Ferber Kaufman Life Town at the Meer Family Center in Bloomfield Hills. "As we developed the 'Simucations for Life' curriculum, our goal was to offer a hands-on and engaging venue that reached out to a diverse group of young people and others with special needs," Posch said. Paula Wood, COE dean, said the collaborative project offers a two-fold benefit by providing much needed services to persons with disabilities and curriculum trainings to the volunteers at Life Town. "We are implementing a program at Life Town that introduces life skills education to persons with disabilities while establishing a curriculum model for school districts, community agencies, businesses and employment training centers," Wood said.

Kurt Metzger is noted as a presenter during a budget presentation initiated by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for community and business leaders. Metzger outlined the severe population exodus that the city has been struggling with since the early 1960's. Kilpatrick planned to introduce the budget to the Detroit City Council at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

A Detroit News editorial cites Kurt Metzger's new study on college graduation rates nationwide. In Michigan, the college graduation rate of people 25 years old and older is 24.4 percent, compared with 37.7 percent for the highest ranked state, Massachusetts. "The message for Michigan remains the same - increased educational attainment is critical if Michigan is to compete in our ever changing and challenging economy, " Metzger concludes. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina also surpass Michigan in graduation rates, according to the study.

A consortium of higher education associations, headed by the American Council on Education, will start a national campaign this year that will attempt to focus the public's attention on the nation's 300 colleges and universities, with the goal of increasing financial support from state, federal and private sources. Stanley O. Ikenberry, who will be heading the campaign known as the Public Trust Initiative, says the group is hoping to find 10-15 corporate partners that would contribute a "significant portion" of the estimated $3-4 million a year needed to fund the three-year project. Ikenberry calls the consortium - which also includes the American Association of Community Colleges, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Campus Compact, College Board and several other organizations - the broadest coalition of higher education groups ever assembled.

Versandra Kennebrew, a massage therapist, opened a community-based holistic health center that helps people suffering from obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other disorders by using acupuncture treatments, massage therapy and herbs to relieve pain. Dr. Herbert Smitherman Jr., associate chairman of the department of community medicine for WSU and Detroit Medical Center, said, \"I believe that noninvasive procedures have been very helpful to patients that I see,\" he says.

The Hmong, are one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Michigan; their numbers more than doubled during the 1990s, from 2,300 to 5,400. Concentrated in Detroit, Pontiac and Warren, many live in poverty and have turned to schools and social service agencies for help, forcing the financially strained institutions to expand services. With no transportation, and few job skills, they do menial work at nearby factories. Nearly half the Hmong in Michigan have less than a ninth grade education, according to Kurt Metzger, director of the Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University.

The following WSU Law School alumni were honored by the school and its alumni association at the annual Treasure of Detroit Ball at The Parade Co. headquarters: Nancy Diehl, Cynthia Faulhaber, Janet Findlater, Aretha Glover and Marilyn Kelly. Being recognized as \"honorary alumni\" were: Sherrie Farrell, an attorney with Dykema Gossett where she serves in the litigation practice group and specializes in commercial litigation, products liability and other business disputes; and Eleanor \"Coco\" Siewert, who has served as assistant to the dean at the WSU Law School for several years and as special assistant to former WSU President David Adamany.

Under the guidance of fencing coach, Istvan Danosi, Wayne State became a collegiate power in fencing two decades ago. His men's teams won tittles in 1975,1979,1980 and 1982. Danosi produced 15 national champions and he was also inducted into Wayne State's athletic hall of fame in 1983. Wayne State remains on top in fencing with its new coach Maestro Jerzy Radz, who said Monday that the school would honor Danosi with a tournament under his name.

This article mentioned that Detroit Medical Center has launched an advertising campaign to lure Canadian patients to seek treatment at its facilities.

This brief item appears on the "Business Diary" page: "Wayne State University's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has entered into an agreement with Oakland University in which undergraduates will have an opportunity to complete their senior year of work and first year of the doctoral program simultaneously."

Located within the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS) at Wayne State, the AMOS II (Advanced Mobile Operations Simulator) can safely evaluate a driver's ability to handle a broad range of everyday driving situations. The operator can even simulate fog, darkness and ice. EACPHS is the only health science school in the nation to have an AMOS, according to Joseph Pellerito Jr., academic program director and associate professor, EACPHS Therapy Program. In addition to the AMOS II program, Pellerito says EACPHS has a number of research projects currently under way which are federally funded. A photo of Pellerito testing the AMOS simulator is included with the front page story.

The FIRST Robotics competition recently held at Wayne State University is highlighted in a story about Chrysler's engineers' support of the Mumford High School team (recipients of the "Judge Award") recognizing their hard work in the face of adversity. A photo of the Mumford team at Wayne State and Ashley May is included. May is noted as being offered a four-year scholarship to Wayne State University.

A brief notes that actress Phylicia Rashad will receive this year's Sarah Applebaum Nederlander Award at the Masonic Temple on April 26. The gala celebration will include the Detroit premiere of the musical "Hairspray." Proceeds benefit Wayne State University's Department of Theatre. Contact information is provided

\"Spatial Correlation of Physical Aquifer Properties: Influence on DNAPL Entrapment and Recovery is a Center for Environmental and Fluid Mechanics" is the name of the seminar with Lawrence Lemke. The seminar will be presented at Wayne State University on Fri., April 15 at 10:30 a.m.

Wayne State has released a recent study which ranks Michigan 37th in the number of residents with college degrees, says this editorial.