Experts to examine Detroit's financial woes at meeting

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is assembling a group of experts who will meet at Wayne State University to examine the city\'s financial woes and suggest solutions. The city faces a potential $214 million budget shortfall for 2005-06, and it remains to be seen whether there is a deficit this year.

January 3, 2005

Economic grants just don't work

The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars every year on economic-development projects, but it's not clear if the projects work. In 2001, for example, the figure was $57 billion. Peter Eisinger of Wayne State University observed that despite their dubious value the programs enjoy wide popularity and there is \"extremely broad agreement as to the desirability of substantial government involvement in the creation of private-sector employment.\"

January 3, 2005

Making the Grade

Josh Millet of Harvard University recently created a website devoted to making College Board test-preparation classes available to all students for free. Would-be test takers work through ha series of online questions in order to prepare for the ACT SAT and Graduate Record Examinations.

January 3, 2005

A Mandate to educate

A recent report by the Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education calls for all Michigan citizens to strive for the completion of a post-secondary degrees or additional credentials. No state has gone this far to make post-secondary education degrees a commitment to its citizens. Today only 37 percent of Michigan's 18- to 24- year olds are enrolled in higher education.

January 3, 2005

President Scrooge slashes aid for college students

Despite his promise to continue to expand Pell grants to encourage college education the Bush administration has contrived a new Pell Grant eligibility formula that will eliminate 80,000 to 90,000 students eligible to receive the grant in 2005. Although Bush has promised for four years to raise the maximum award to $5,100, the grant tops off at $4,050.

January 3, 2005

Binge Drinking blamed in EMU case

A 20-year-old Eastern Michigan student died following hours of drinking at a fraternity party. The student also consumed pills -- probably ecstasy -- before he went into convulsions. Jim Vick, vice president for student affairs said the death is "sad, traumatic and devastating," but he hopes it serves as a reminder to students about the dangers of misusing alcohol and drugs.

January 3, 2005

Quicken boss has big-league dreams

A feature on the front page of the business section about millionaire businessman Dan Gilbert mentions that he attended the Wayne State University Law School. Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans, is reportedly negotiating to purchase the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team.

January 2, 2005

New WSU Web site a first of its kind for a university

The newspaper re-ran an article published in December about WSU's new Web site that is aimed at junior and high school students. The site features animated characters to entertain those who access it, thereby making it fun to obtain helpful information about Wayne State. In addition to playing the games, site visitors can enter drawings for free T-shirts that feature the game characters.

January 2, 2005

Americans' rights at work must be protected

An op-ed piece by David Bonior, identified as a professor of labor studies at Wayne State University, charges that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency empowered with enforcing labor law, has stripped workers of legal protections during the last several months. Among examples, he cites a July ruling by the NLRB that declared graduate teaching and research assistants were students and not technically employees, therefore universities do not have to bargain with them.

January 1, 2005

Americans' rights at work must be protected

An op-ed piece by David Bonior, identified as a professor of labor studies at Wayne State University, charges that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency empowered with enforcing labor law, has stripped workers of legal protections during the last several months. Among examples, he cites a July ruling by the NLRB that declared graduate teaching and research assistants were students and not technically employees, therefore universities do not have to bargain with them.

January 1, 2005

Wayne State's labor studies

The labor school at Wayne State University begins its winter session during the second week of January 2005. A listing of classes and contact information for students is included in the story.

December 31, 2004

Scholarship honors judge's wife

The Eileen M. Maceroni Endowed Scholarship Fund has been established at Wayne State University by her family. The fund will provide scholarships for students going into social work. Dean of the School of Social Work, Phyllis Vroom, said the university is "very grateful that the Maceroni family has endowed this scholarship. It is particularly appropriate that it honors the history of a woman who balanced family and academics, as do many of our students."

December 31, 2004

Grandmother earns bachelor's

A 75-year old grandmother, Dorothy Dekutoski, wasn't planning on going to graduation, but her kids insisted. She graduated from Wayne State with honors Dec. 16, with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. She is pictured in a photo with Stuart Henry, chair of the Interdisciplinary Studies Dept.

December 30, 2004

Genocide in Africa stirs an outpouring of Jewish aid

Professor Fred Pearson, director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in CULMA, commented about the spread of genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. The U.N. and African initiatives to save the Sudanese people have been hampered by the lack of sustained pressure on the Sudanese government, Pearson said. "Neither Egypt nor the United States wants to destabilize the Sudanese government [which is considered behind the mass murder]," Pearson said. \"Yes , it\'s bad to have a glaring genocidal situation there; but, because of the oil-rich areas in Sudan that both Egypt and the United States are interested in, our government is not as forceful as it should be to stop the killings. \"

December 30, 2004

Oakland Community College '05 budget

Oakland Community College officials outlined budget projections for the year 2005-06 based on a 1 percent increase in enrollment, a 3 percent increase in tuition and a slight increase in interest revenue. The operating budget is tentatively projected to increase by 5.6 percent.

December 30, 2004

High-tech training prepares surgeons

U-M's virtual reality simulators let students practice on computer-generated patients when performing surgery. The gall bladder surgery simulator is one of about a dozen high-tech tools in the U-M's new $2 million Clinical Simulation Center. The medical school launched the project earlier this year to give students doctors more practice with delicate procedures.

December 30, 2004

Livonia: WSU prof receives $400,000 award

The Wayne Briefs column notes that Alexey A. Petrov of Livonia, physics professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a $400,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Development Award to do research and work with Detroit area high schools to develop a program in computational science. A photo of Petrov accompanies the item.

December 29, 2004

Minimal waste at universities

In a letter to the editor, Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, takes issue with a Jan. 26 Free Press article reporting on alleged waste and inefficiency at Michigan's public universities. The article was based on a report from the state auditor general's office. Boulus points out that the article "ignored the fact that the final analysis by the audit reports for each university ended with the same overarching finding: 'We concluded that the university was generally effective and efficient in its use of resources allocated to support academic and related programs.'" In the letter, Boulus adds, "To pick a handful of relatively small findings in terms of overall dollars and efficiencies and expand them into a general condemnation of university use of tax and tuition dollars is sensationalism." He calls for more investment in the state's public universities.

December 29, 2004

Parental Guidance Suggested

A Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute study investigates parents' roles in children's cancer treatments. "We are learning that the greater the physical stress, the kids remember the negative and act out as they grow into adolescence, rebelling against follow-up treatment and medical experiences in general, " said Terrance Albrecht, director of the communication and behavioral oncology program at Karmanos and professor of family medicine at Wayne State.

December 28, 2004

Detroit clinics to test new blood substitute

Dr. Larry Diebel, medical professor at Wayne State, is mentioned in an AP story about a blood substitute designed to save the lives of emergency room patients by boosting blood pressure in patients suffering heavy blood loss. Diebel will lead the study locally at Detroit Receiving and Sinai Grace hospitals. Twenty cities will participate in the nationwide study of PolyHeme, which was developed by an Illinois company.

December 28, 2004