In the news

War, security conflicts separate Bush, Kerry

Professor Fred Pearson, director of CULMA's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, comments about John Kerry's campaign pledge to hold a \"summit\" meeting of allied heads of state, including Middle Eastern countries, in an effort to persuade them it is in their best interest to help stabilize Iraq. While there is no indication other countries are willing to suddenly join forces with the United States, Kerry argues his election would create new impetus for cooperation. There is some validity to the \"fresh start\" theory, says Pearson. In contrast to previous American elections, when the international community tended to support the incumbent, Kerry appears to have their backing this year.

Trust fund bill would include many asbestos victims

Dr. Michael Harbut, clinical assistant professor in Wayne State's School of Medicine, comments about Congress' four- year struggle to pass the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act designed to help Americans sickened by asbestos exposure without their having to sue the companies responsible for the exposure. "On the basis of the current science and medicine, the diagnostic criteria in Sen. Hatch\'s bill are outdated, incorrect and incomplete, and if enacted into law, will harm untold numbers of patients,\" says Harbut.

Terror judge criticized for interview of CIA witness

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen, who presided over the biggest terrorism trial since Sept. 11, left his Detroit courtroom, traveled to CIA headquarters and helped interview a witness whose testimony later became key to the judge's reversal of convictions in the case. Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University who has followed closely the unraveling of the Detroit terror case said the judge's actions were not proper. "A judge is not supposed to engage in investigation of the (official court) record and with people who are aligned with one of the parties."

Far-flung jobs slow integration

Study results to be released by Wayne State University tomorrow suggest that jobs dispersed over wide stretches of suburbia are slowing the metro-Detroit region's progress in breaking down segregation patterns. The four-year study is the first to trace the social costs - and benefits - of urban sprawl. Researchers found that metropolitan areas where jobs are dispersed over wide swaths made less progress easing segregation than did regions where jobs are more concentrated. "That means land use does relate to racial segregation," said George Galster, WSU professor of urban affairs. The study does not fully explain whether it is job sprawl that drives segregation or vice versa. An insert notes that conclusions of the study will be presented at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center.