Candidates increasingly play on fears

Professor Frederic Pearson, a foreign policy and elections expert and director of CULMA's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, commented about last-minute campaign rhetoric among the presidential candidates. "After wars there is a lot of switching of horses. It's unusual to switch horses in the middle of a war," Pearson said. Voters must ask themselves this year if the Iraq situation merits change and "can Kerry do something meaningfully different to get us out of it?"

October 21, 2004

Signs point to a close race

Lyke Thompson, a professor of political science and director of the Center for Urban Studies here, says that Republicans tend to have more money to contribute to candidates, but notes that campaign coffers are only one factor in a candidate's success. The Democrats have worked tirelessly this year to get eligible voters registered, Thompson said, and that could translate into more votes for the Democratic Party nationwide.

October 21, 2004

Cheney told jobs, wages are worries

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy delivered a speech at Wayne State University saying the Bush administration has had its "opportunity in Iraq and it has been a disaster, a quagmire." Kennedy charged that "there hasn't been one single member of the administration who's taken responsibility for it."

October 21, 2004

Sen. Edward Kennedy speaks at Wayne State University

Following a speech at Wayne State's School of Medicine in support of John Kerry's run for the White House, Sen. Edward Kennedy was questioned about his colleagues in the Senate receiving flu shots while the rest of the nation waits for a limited and rationed supply of the flu vaccine.

October 21, 2004

US study says the pill cuts heart disease risk

The newspapers above are just a small sampling of the dozens nationwide that ran an AP story that discusses research findings from the WSU School of Medicine that found that the birth control pill is safe. Women on the pill had surprisingly low risks of heart disease and stroke. "We're still learning more and more about the biology," said one of the researchers, Dr. Michael Diamond at Wayne State. Doctors say the type of hormone pill and the stage of life at which they are used may be what makes them helpful at one point and harmful at another. Dr. Rahi Victory of the Obstetrics-Gynecology Department was also on the research team, which used data from the Women's Health Initiative Study, which included 60,000 women who had used birth control pills in the past.

October 21, 2004

Cheney has quiet yet powerful pull

History professor Melvin Small is quoted in a story about Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the Bush administration and how he is perceived by others. He noted that vice presidents traditionally bear the burden of "dirty politics" in an election year. "No vice president has ever played a role so central to the administration, and Cheney anticipated it," Small said. "He took the job because he understood its potential significance."

October 21, 2004

An important choice for young voters

The Free Press ran letters to the editor from six Wayne State students regarding their respective opinions on presidential candidates George Bush and John Kerry.

October 21, 2004

Michigan needs nutritional labeling at restaurants

In a letter to the editor, Tom Rifai, a medical doctor and lecture at the WSU School of Medicine, calls for nutrition-fact labeling at major restaurants as one step in the war against the "obesity epidemic." He says many people "grossly underestimate the caloric, fat and sodium content of their staple foods."

October 21, 2004

Ichthyology meets ignominy at the Ig Nobels

Steven Stack, professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Wayne State, is the recipient of an Ig Nobel Award for his research (with James Gundlach of Auburn University) that found a correlation between suicide rates and persons who listen to country music. Stack won in the medicine category. There were over 5,000 nominations for the nine prizes for the tongue-in-cheek awards that nevertheless bring attention to some interesting research studies. Stack's study results were published in 1992 and drew nationwide attention at the time.

October 21, 2004

State loses more jobs

Michigan lost 15,000 jobs in September, pushing the state's unemployment rate to 6.8 percent, according to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Persons interviewed for this article include Jacqueline Manetta, a 24-year-old student at Wayne State. She has used waitressing jobs in downtown Detroit to help pay tuition for the past two years but, with the Red Wings season in limbo, she has had no luck landing a job this year.

October 21, 2004

Local comment: Why take gay couples' only benefit away

English professor Christopher Leland has an op-ed piece calling for the defeat of Proposal 2, the issue on the state ballot that recognizes marriage as a union between a man and a woman. He points out that he is gay and explains some of the challenges of being in a same-sex relationship. "About the only benefit we as a couple have enjoyed in Detroit," he points out, "is the domestic partner medical and dental insurance available through my job at Wayne State University. . . . If Proposal 2 passes, those benefits will disappear."

October 21, 2004

Report unfairly flunks Michigan on university affordability

In an op-ed piece, Mark Murray, president of Grand Valley State University, contends that universities in Michigan and many other states are unfairly criticized in some national surveys for scoring low on affordability. He points out that "higher education has been the long-term loser in the scramble for state funding." The result is that more of the burden of paying for a college education has shifted from the state to the students.

October 21, 2004

People making news

Harper University Hospital named Jeffrey Clark, an associate clinical professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine department of anesthesiology, as chief of staff of medical affairs.

October 21, 2004

Wally's Warehouse Waifs play Dixieland and all that jazz

A brief article about two local Dixieland bands making appearances in the metro area mentions that one of the groups, Hot Club of Detroit, is made up of students and graduates of Wayne State University.

October 21, 2004

Study proves pill safer than thought

The pill as a birth control option may reduce the risk of heart disease. "We're still learning amore about more about the biology," said one of the researchers, Dr. Michael Diamond of the Wayne State Medical School.

October 21, 2004

Clarkson, Wayne State split

The WSU men's hockey team defeated Clarkson University, 5-4, in the Warriors home opener on Oct. 16, but the team suffered a 5-3 loss to Clarkson the following day. The Warriors will be on the road for a two-game, non-league series against Merrimack on Friday and Saturday.

October 20, 2004

College tuition rises again

College tuition rose at a slower rate this year, climbing 10.5 percent at four-year public colleges and 6 percent at private ones. State budget cuts have forced public colleges to pass on more of the costs to students. The overall cost for in-state students at four-year public schools rose to $11,354 and at private schools it rose to $27, 516.

October 20, 2004

Metro and State

Wayne State's women's hockey senior forward Kelly Zamora is the offensive player of the week in College Hockey America Women. Zamora had two goals and three assists in a sweep of Boston College.

October 20, 2004

People on the move

Prof. Ellen J. Dannin was awarded the Donald H. Gordon Award for Excellence in Teaching by Wayne State University Law School at the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting.

October 20, 2004

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David Hollister, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's jobs and development czar, will be the keynote speaker Oct. 20 at a Wayne State University colloquium exploring the topic of how to create job growth in Michigan. Hollister will discuss the economic and labor challenges facing Michigan and how the state can emerge as an economic powerhouse in the 21st century. The presentation will be made at 3:30 pm at the Detroit Institute of Arts Lecture Hall.

October 20, 2004