Second-year Wayne State University Law School students Dominica Convertino and Kawkab El-Moussaoui were named American Bar Association (ABA) Legal Education Police Practices Consortium (LEPPC) Fellows. The LEPPC aims to contribute to the national effort examining and addressing legal issues in policing and public safety, including conduct, oversight, and the evolving nature of police work. Convertino and El-Moussaoui are 2 of only 38 fellows serving with the ABA's Legal Education Police Practices Consortium during the winter 2022 semester, and are the only two law students selected for the program in the state of Michigan. Convertino's research will examine police practices in the City of Detroit, while El-Moussaoui's will focus on the City of Dearborn.

By Nana-Sentuo Bonsu  The global microchip shortage continues to create inventory challenges for local retailers, who say many customers are growing frustrated with the ongoing problem which has impacted everything from video game controllers to household appliances. Some consumers are waiting a year for appliances. Kevin Ketels, a global supply chain management professor at Wayne State University, said the timeline sounds about right. “To be honest, we think that over the next year it should start to flatten out and we will be able to catch up on demand, but it’s hard to say,” Ketels said. He said several things are being done now to tackle the shortage, including a bill put forth by the Biden administration and investments on the part of tech companies to increase and incentivize chip production.  

By Yue Stella Yu and Jonathan Oosting Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday approved a $1.22 billion funding package to expand the state’s pandemic response through increased testing, treatments and other services. The federally-funded plan, which will son hit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk, marks a breakthrough in an often contentious debate between Republicans and Democrats over how to spend a flood of federal pandemic and stimulus funding available to the state. Among other things, the package includes $4 million that would go toward Wayne State University to establish a “mobile health corps” team to address health disparities in southeast Michigan. 

As the Canadian trucker ‘Freedom Convoy’ continues in protest of vaccine mandates and other restrictions, police in the Canadian capitol are warning people not to bring the truckers supplies or they’ll be arrested. The protest has sparked legal issues, as people are being arrested or threatened with arrest for honking horns or bringing in supplies. Wayne State University Law professor Lance Gable said law enforcement is within its rights. “The city government and the national government do have some legal authority to use law enforcement against people who are disrupting business and traffic…just because they have the authority, though, doesn’t mean that they have to use maximum force,” said Gable. “…obviously the protests have been disruptive, but so far they’ve remained peaceful. They’ve been gaining a lot of attention in the unusual message they’ve been using with these trucks to create a visible obstruction and a visible symbol of what they’re protesting. I think with a situation like this, for the people who might have the authority to break it up within the government, they have to weigh the consequences of being a little more aggressive…and potentially making the protests larger or more vocal…with a situation like this, it’s kind of a tough judgment call…”  

Last week, the White House and the Department of Justice convened 99 law schools who responded to the Attorney General’s Call to Action to the Legal Profession to address the housing and eviction crisis. Ninety-nine law schools in 35 states and Puerto Rico immediately committed their law schools to help prevent evictions. In just a few months, law students across the country dedicated nearly 81,000 hours to provide legal assistance to households and communities across the country. 

By Adrienne Roberts   Last month, the Dearborn-based apparel company Carhartt was thrust into the spotlight when a leaked email from its CEO to staff said it would continue with its vaccine mandate – despite the U.S. Supreme Court saying it, and other private companies, did not have to abide by the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing rule that set off court fights and division among workers. The email was widely circulated on social media, with some praising the company’s commitment to worker safety and others criticizing the brand – which they associated with more rural, conservative consumers – for mandating their employees to get vaccinated. The brand has continued to expand its reach, without alienating the blue-collar worker at the core of its customer base. Recently, the brand has been prominently featured on the show “Yellowstone,” which follows a family as they protect their ranch. Jeff Stoltman, a professor of marketing at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University noted the rise of the show’s popularity is concurrent with a movement of younger people out to the western U.S. “They’re yearning for that simplicity,” Stoltman said. “There’s a lot of forces that are converging on: ‘What do you wear when you’re an outdoorsy person?’” 

More than a year after the January 6, 2021, insurrection attempt, we’re learning more about the level of coordination that went into the effort to overturn 2020’s election result. The congressional commission tasked with uncovering details behind the attempted coup hopes its work will prevent future attacks on our democracy. However, governmental oversight does not always lead to true accountability. The Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School has a new project titled “Portraits in Oversight,” which explores the history of such investigations throughout the United States’ past. “Oversight is something that the media plays a very important role in, and that the public has to be very attentive to, so, really, it’s an ecosystem,” said Jim Townsend, a former state lawmaker and director of the Levin Center.  

By Tamara Hew-Butler  Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of exercise and sports science in Wayne State University’s College of Education, wrote an article addressing the use of fever reducers and fluids in battling the flu. These well-intentioned and firmly entrenched recommendations offer comfort to those sidelined with fever, flu or vaccine side effects. But, Hew-Butler says you may be surprised to learn the science supporting these recommendations is speculative at best, harmful at worst and comes with caveats. 

As co-directors of the Wayne State University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marcus Zervos, M.D., Teena Chopra, M.D., M.P.H., Paul Kilgore, M.D., M.P.H., and Matthew Seeger, Ph.D, share their perspectives on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts discuss parallels between previous pandemics, exacerbated health disparities, a lack of response and resource coordination, the dangers of misinformation, and ways the public health system can better prepare for future pandemics. Together, the co-directors assert that if we learn from this pandemic, our post-COVID-19 world will be more resilient, health disparities will be reduced, and our public health system will become stronger.  

Wayne State University has launched its strategic plan for 2022-2027, called “Our Moment in Time,” which will serve as a guide for future initiatives. The plan, approved unanimously by the WSU Board of Governors, seeks to build on the school’s commitment to student success and its connection with Detroit and Michigan. “Wayne State has been an anchor in Detroit for more than 150 years, and we’re not going anywhere. Our commitment to the community has provided opportunities for our university to have a positive impact on many people and in many ways – most importantly in providing a world-class education to students from all walks of life,” said WSU president M. Roy Wilson. “We remain steadfast in this commitment to our students, our community, and our state.” 

A new report from the nonprofit Zinn Education Project found that 45 states have insufficient or non-existent lesson coverage of Reconstruction in schools. Kidada Williams, a history professor at Wayne State University and host of the podcast Seizing Freedom, joins a panel of experts in a discussion about the legacy of Reconstruction in America, as the Smithsonian Museum presents the exhibition “Make Good on the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacies.” Williams and her fellow historians warn that eclipsing the aftermath of the Civil War will lead students to be uninformed about the seeds of racial inequality today. Williams’ essay “Legacies of Violence” is part of the companion book to the Smithsonian exhibition. “…the violence that we experience in the present day, like the killing of George Floyd or even the massacre at Mother Emmanuel Church, has a deep history that traces back to Reconstruction and this moment where African Americans are trying to be free, equal, and secure, and they’re experiencing what essentially amounts to a war on freedom – specifically Black peoples’ freedom. The essay talks a lot about how they’re trying to figure out how to live within this system while also communicating the horrors they’re enduring…”  

Dallas is known as a diverse city filled with people of different races, nationalities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. In an effort the educate the community, celebrate the right attributes of its residents and help the community and nation heal from racial and political unrest, several religious organizations joined together to present the Faiths in Conversation: Religion, Race and Justice conference. The event featured R. Khari Brown, associate professor of sociology at Wayne State University and president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Brown began the discussion focusing on the connections between the Black Lives Matter movement and how race and religion have played a role in people’s views of the topic. “Like other human rights movements on this nation’s past, religious groups are also among the demonstrators,” Brown said. “For example, on June 4, 2020, people marched with hundreds of others in Detroit to demand an end to police brutality. The march began with Christian and Jewish and Muslim leaders praying for guidance. It ended with religious leaders and elected officials calling legislators to support policies aimed at reducing police violence and encouraging marchers to vote their conscience for the 2020 general election…” 

By Linda Solomon  For a third winter, many are staying home to stay safe, and Americans are quitting work in record numbers. The pandemic has prompted large numbers of people – particularly those with years of work already behind them – to reassess not just their careers but also their lives. This feature story examines the experiences of 4 metro Detroiters who found the courage to ask: If not now, when? Included in the story is Duffy Flynn Wineman of Bloomfield Hills, who is at 68 taking five courses this semester at Wayne State University and intends to graduate one week before her 70th birthday. A mother of three sons and eight grandchildren, Wineman has spent decades acting in community theater and Wayne State has given her the opportunity to achieve her dream of earning a theatre degree. “My Wayne State academic adviser is so incredible. They were so inviting. They were so supportive. They encouraged me to get my degree and said, ‘you need to do this!’ And they walked me through everything. They showed me how to do my application and how to obtain my college transcripts from almost 50 years ago…” Wineman said. 

By Stephi Wild  The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, is proud to present “Fairview,” the 2019 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama by Jackie Sibblies Drury. The production is directed by Billicia Charnelle Hines, associate professor of theatre and assistant chair/artistic director of the Black Theatre and Dance Collective, and performs live on-stage from February 25 through March 5.   

By Michelle R. Smith  Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made “deeply offensive” comments when he suggested things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years, several Jewish advocacy and Holocaust remembrance groups said. Kennedy has invoked the specter of Nazis and the Holocaust in his work to sow doubts about vaccines and agitate against public health efforts to bring the pandemic under control, such as requiring masks or vaccine mandates. Although Kennedy has previously apologized for his use of such tactics, Dr. David Gorski, a cancer surgeon at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a critic of the anti-vaccine movement who has tracked Kennedy’s rhetoric for over 15 years, says his continued use of such comparisons indicates “he means it.” Gorski said the language demonstrates one of the ways Kennedy likes to connect with his audience: buttering them up by portraying them as going against the flow and smarter than everyone else. “If vaccine mandates are totalitarian like Nazis and the Soviet Union and that sort of thing, what does that make the anti-vaxxers? They’re brave freedom fighters,” Gorski said. “There’s flattery in those analogies.”  

By Nancy Schimelpfening  Many people are tired and worn down from having to be constantly vigilant about the coronavirus, and there is a growing sentiment that COVID-19 is inevitable. Some are seeking to expose themselves to help “get it over with,” despite experts cautioning against it. Intentionally exposing yourself to the coronavirus with the hopes of developing COVID-19 can come with severe complications, including death. Doing so puts yourself and others at risk, and puts more of a burden on the healthcare system. Additionally, you may get sicker than you anticipate, as was the case with Czech singer Hana Horka, intentionally exposed herself to the virus and recently died. “While it can be argued that singer Hana Horka likely had fatal COVID complications because she was not vaccinated, the fact remains that COVID is not trivial,” said Joseph A. Roche, associate professor in the physical therapy program at Wayne State University. “Even though vaccination is proven to be a bulwark against complications and deaths, unfortunately, there are still rare breakthrough cases where the acute and chronic symptoms of COVID are worrisome.”  

Nearly 70% of college students say they are experiencing emotional distress or anxiety related to the pandemic. That’s according to a January 2022 survey that also found nearly 9 out of every 10 college students believe U.S. colleges and universities are facing a mental health crisis. The Conversation outlines tips for college students to take better care of their mental health. Christine Kivlen, assistant professor of occupational therapy at Wayne State University, recommends students seek out therapy dogs, citing research that has shown spending just 10 minutes with a therapy dog can reduce college students’ stress levels. “Among other benefits, therapy dogs can help students achieve a stronger sense of belonging and better deal with being homesick and lonely, while also lessening their anxiety and stress,” Kivlen said.  

By Kirsten Carlson  Kirsten Carlson, associate professor of law and adjunct associate professor of political science at Wayne State University, wrote an article outlining key takeaways from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that cleared the way for presidential records dating from his time in office to be turned over to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Carlson says the ruling has immediate – and potentially longer-term – consequences around the limits of executive power, unanswered questions over former presidents’ executive privilege, and the broader importance of congressional oversight.  

By Rose White  At some grocery stores, bare shelves are continuing into 2022. It brings back memories of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when toilet paper shelves were picked clean and hand sanitizer was hard to find. Retailers are caught in a web of issues, including supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and high COVID-19 cases. From cereal to soup to December’s cream cheese demand, fully stocked shelves can be hit or miss at stores. John Taylor, professor of global supply chain management at Wayne State University, says both supply and changing consumer demand are snarling supply chains. “The demand signal is not clear,” he said. “There’s inadequate communication and information flowing through the supply chain to really understand what the actual demand is.” 

With over 50% of Michigan’s population being female and most working outside the home, a panel of experts, including Carey Oven, Leslie Murphy, Carla Bailo, and Terry Barclay, appear on this segment hosted by Carol Cain discussing how women are faring in corporate America. Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum Michigan, shared details of their upcoming 2022 Michigan Women’s Leadership Report which was compiled with the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. The report examines 82 publicly held companies in Michigan and found a mixed bag of how women are faring in leadership roles.