In the news

.

NPR featured a report on the decline in the number of foreign student studying at U.S. universities. There is more of a decline in graduate student enrollment than undergraduate enrollment. Some of the decline is due to tightening restrictions in the wake of 9/11, but more of the decline is due to rumor and misconception about the visa rules and anti-American sentiment. There is a pronounced dip in the number of foreign students in the sciences, which was said to be a particular problem because not enough American students pursue the sciences.

WSU's first couple wins praise for $600K donation

A $600,000 pledge to Wayne State by President Irvin D. Reid and his wife Pamela Trotman Reid is noted in an article accompanied by photos of the Reids. "This is an investment in a university we truly believe in," the president said. "If I'm going to go out and ask other people to demonstrate their commitment to Wayne State University, my wife and I wanted to do it too, very early on." The pledge is among the most generous ever from a university president in the state, if not the nation," said Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. The article mentions that Frank Wu, dean of the Law School, and his wife Carol Izumi, have pledged $125,000 to the school. And six members of the President's Cabinet are donors of $10,000 or more, according to Susan Burns, vice president for development and alumni affairs. "These are all in anticipation of our first comprehensive, campuswide campaign," she said.

Chancellors gather

A story about Oakland University President Gary Russi's recent address at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club is accompanied by a photo of Russi and President Irvin D. Reid at the event. Russi, who is chair of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, pointed out that while total enrollment at the state's 15 public universities is up for the ninth consecutive year, state funding for higher education institutions is down significantly. "Our state's economic security, civic fabric, and social progress all depend on the state's public universities and their graduates," he told the gathering.

Fewer enroll at 6 state colleges

The article mentioned that Wayne State enjoyed an increase in student enrollment, with 223 more students enrolling this fall. The article also quotes Anthony Miller, a Wayne State freshman who picked the university over several other schools. ...The18-year-old from Troy said he wasn\'t even considering Wayne until he received mailings during his high school senior year that touted programs that lined up with his desire to become a surgeon. A campus visit also helped change his mind. \"I focused on a lot of specifics before I applied. I was totally against Wayne State because it was in Detroit and it might be unsafe. When I visited, it was fine and everybody was so nice.\" Miller received offers from Rochester College, Calvin College, Oakland University and Michigan State. Wayne State clinched the deal with guaranteed entry into its graduate medical school if Miller maintains a 3.6 grade-point average and excels in core curriculum classes.

Defense wants tapes thrown out

Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former assistant U.S. Attorney, was quoted on Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga's attorneys plan to ask a federal judge today to dismiss a key piece of evidence in the case against him and two co-defendants. Marlinga is charged with conspiracy, fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and exceeding campaign contribution limits. Among the motions obtained, the one to suppress the tapes would do the most damage to the government\'s case, Peter Henning said.

Prep test helps plan for future

Cheryl Somers, associate professor of educational psychology at Wayne State University, believes it\'s important for students to take the precursor to the ACT college entrance exam, also known as the PLAN test. The test will help seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students measure the depth of their academic abilities. \"If you frame it to the child as if the test is truly diagnostic -- to determine how much they know at that point -- and you tell the child you don\'t have explicit expectation for their performance, then in theory, there should be no pressure,\" Somers said regarding the test taking difficulties for students.

Exhibit rises from its roots

Wayne State University professor of Africana studies, Melba Boyd, is a consulting historian for a core exhibit at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The show will unveil its $12 million multimedia to the public on Nov. 30. The slave ship is a key element in the exhibit, called \"And Still We Rise: Our Journey Through African American History.\" The exhibit has been in the works for two years and under construction for eight months and is presented in 22 galleries. The museum expanded the core exhibit space to 22,000 square feet from 16,000 and it delivers its message with artifacts, murals and tableaux containing more than 100 body casts.
News outlet logo for favicons/wayne.edu.png

Prenatal alcohol exposure has effects far beyond fetal alcohol syndrome

This article on fetal alcohol syndrome(FAS) and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder(ARND) quotes a professor from Wayne State\'s School of Medicine. \"FAS is characterized by growth retardation, central nervous system impairment, and a distinctive pattern of craniofacial anomalies,\" said Sandra W. Jacobson, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and first author of the study.\"ARND refers to nonsyndromal individuals with confirmed heavy prenatal alcohol exposure who exhibit measurable, but generally subtler neurobehavioral deficits than those seen with FAS. Whereas FAS is well established and easier to diagnose, it is not generally recognized that a child can be adversely affected by prenatal alcohol exposure without the characteristic facial features and growth deficits. Nonetheless, alcohol-exposed children with attention deficits or poor social judgment who lack the pattern of facial dysmorphic features may suffer from a similar set of problems that interfere with their academic and social performance.\"

Free culture fest targets copyright restrictions

Professor Jessica Litman of the WSU Law School is quoted in an article about a new grassroots organization aimed at returning "a balance between copyright holders and the public in the cultural arena." The group, called FreeCulture.org, promotes the use of open-source software, encourages student artists to adopt relaxed licensing agreements for their creations and campaigning against legislation that expands the powers of copyright holders. "What's happening now is that we're trying to apply this (copyright) law to a couple hundred million consumers, and it doesn't make any sense to them," Litman said.