Last month, Wayne State University announced its plan to create the Detroit Center for Black Studies as part of its efforts to prioritize faculty and research centered on the Black experience. The university will recruit and hire 30 new humanities faculty, made possible by a $6 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Dr. M. Roy Wilson is the president of Wayne State University. He says one of the goals in opening the Detroit Center for Black Studies is to connect the breadth of scholars who work in African American and African diaspora from all the universities in southeast Michigan. “The goal is an inclusive center that brings together the breadth of scholars who work in African American, African and African Diaspora Studies, and the interconnections with us and global histories, culture, economic, legal and health systems,” says President Wilson. 

Marick Masters, professor of business and adjunct professor of political science at Wayne State University, is included as an author in a series about the state of the global economy published by The Conversation. “US workers organized and took to the picket line in increased numbers in 2022 to demand better pay and working conditions, leading to optimism among labor leaders and advocates that they’re witnessing a turnaround in labor’s sagging fortunes…” he writes. “In total, there have been at least 20 major work stoppages involving upwards of 1,000 workers each in 2022, up from 16 in 2021, plus hundreds more that were smaller… As of 2021, union membership was at about the lowest level on record, at 10.3%. In the 1950s, over one in three workers belonged to a union. The deck is still heavily stacked against unions, with unsupportive labor laws and very few employers showing real receptivity to having a unionized workforce. Unions are limited in how much they can change public policy. Reforming labor law through legislation has remained elusive, and the results of the 2022 midterms are not likely to make it easier. Nonetheless, public support for labor is at its highest since 1965, with 71% saying they approve of unions, according to a Gallup poll in August. And workers themselves are increasingly showing an interest in joining them.”

The Michigan Chronicle spoke to Marquita Chamblee, Wayne State University’s (WSU) first associate provost for diversity and inclusion and a member of the president’s cabinet as the chief diversity officer.  “We certainly, like so many institutions and organizations, had a kind of resurgence of our efforts after George Floyd was murdered in 2020. But that wasn’t the genesis of the work that we began, that’s a much older history,” said Chamblee. “We’ve done a lot of DEI work more broadly and racial justice has probably been more in the central university, but the Damon Keith Center for Civil Rights has done a lot of racial equity work over the last several years as part of the university.” Chamblee said much credit goes to WSU President Dr. M. Roy Wilson who immediately put out a statement after the murder of Floyd and the protests had erupted, in support of the systemic change and brought staff together to make tangible changes in the university.  Her work involves responding to requests for training, workshops or an intervention around DEI that needs to be responded to in the department. The officer hired an intercultural training director to hone in on creating and expanding staff training and education programs. Conversations focus on identifying and implementing understandings of implicit bias, microaggressions and learning how to challenge yourself based on your identity to be more intentional about navigating other people around you. “We, each of us, need to look at our own implicit biases and what to do about them. The workshop on this is probably the one I get the most requests for. I think it’s because microaggressions are happening and people are aware that they’re happening and, whether it’s in a given department or generally at the university, people want to bring it awareness. What is the microaggression? What does it look like and how do we interrupt it?” In June 2020, a working group at Wayne State University came together as the Social Justice Action Committee (SJAC). The committee was tasked with first, examining internal policies, procedures and practices to identify bias on campus that may disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized people. Chamblee said hiring more diverse staff and faculty is one of her priorities to ensure those working at the university reflect the diverse demographics of students. The university was awarded a $6 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to support the equitable hiring and the construction of a Center for Black Studies on campus. The infrastructure is still a work in progress and will likely materialize over the next couple of years.  “The diversity, equity and inclusion of our campus community is beneficial to everyone,” said Chamblee. “That is what we continue to support, people’s process to buy-in [to] the conversations we are having…the procedures and practices we have, we need to institutionalize them so we don’t need to keep reinventing the wheel.” 

Wayne State University is hosting a two-part event dedicated to honoring and preserving the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his famed 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event series will feature a panel discussion about the economic force of diversity, equity and inclusion, and an awards ceremony for exemplary community leaders. Stacie Clayton is the director of Wayne State’s Division of Government and Community Affairs. She says Wayne State wants to remind people what King’s speech and march were all about. “Our focus is on economics and social justice. We want to make sure that our students understand their role in the economy, specifically Detroit’s economy, and to understand how there are opportunities. While most people know [Dr. King’s] ‘I Have a Dream’ speech as a rallying call for equality, it also was a rallying call for economic equality. And part of that comes with jobs and employment.” The Economics of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Panel Discussion will take place at the Industry Innovation Center Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. Participants are asked to RSVP in advance as seating is limited. Randy D. Williams, founder and president of Talley & Twine, the largest Black-owned watch company in the country, will also give a keynote address about connecting social justice to economic growth at the Mike Ilitch School of Business Lear Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 13. Participants can also RSVP to this address online.

Susan Burns, the chief fundraiser for Wayne State University and one of the most senior development professionals in Southeast Michigan, is stepping down. Burns, vice president for development and alumni affairs and president of the Wayne State University Foundation will retire at the end of March after a 38-year career of raising money to support nonprofit institutions in the arts, higher education and health care fields. David Ripple, vice president of philanthropy at Trinity Health will succeed her, the university said, pending approval of the WSU Board of Governors later this month. Set to join WSU on Feb. 1, Ripple will be charged with developing plans for WSU's next comprehensive campaign, which will look to raise in the area of $1 billion, Burns said. She spent the first 16 years of her career in the arts with subsequent fundraising roles at the Jacksonville Symphony and Interlochen Center for the Arts before coming back to her hometown to lead development at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1998. She returned to her alma mater as associate vice president for development at WSU in 2001. Seven years later, she shifted to health care, becoming president of the St. John Providence Health foundations. But another seven years later, she returned to WSU in 2016 to lead fundraising for the university. "I keep coming back to the same place — I'm just supposed to be here," she said of the square mile in Detroit where she was born, attended WSU and has led fundraising for the DSO and WSU. She's retiring, she said, to spend more time with family and friends and her husband, a visual artist. The couple, who live in a loft on Canfield between WSU and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, plan to remain in Detroit. "We're not leaving. We have a history of leaving places just before they become cool. We want to stay and enjoy it here," Burns said.

Wayne State University has released their annual list of words we should start using again. Now beginning its 14th year, Wayne State’s Word Warriors program aims to resurrect long-lost — but not completely forgotten — words. The list is compiled from public suggestions and administrators. “Once again, our Word Warriors have provided a collection of words that makes our language a bit livelier,” said Chris Williams, assistant director of editorial services for Wayne State Marketing and Communications, and head of the Word Warriors program. “To say someone ‘stravaged under the mogshade as the crepuscular glow filled the forest’ is so much more poetic than saying ‘he walked in the woods at night.’”

The Paul A. Rosen Constitutional Law Speaker Series Endowment was established in 2017 by Bernard Mindell, Wayne Law class of 1964; Barry Waldman, Wayne Law class of 1969; and Bob Garvey, a trial attorney in St. Clair Shores, to commemorate their friend Paul A. Rosen's passion for constitutional law. The series exposes students, staff, and members of the greater university community to dynamic speakers who are experts in the field of constitutional law. The fifth annual Paul A. Rosen Constitutional Law Speaker Series will take place on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, both in-person at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium and virtually via Zoom webinar. This year’s speaker is Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Waldman, who will be giving a lecture titled, "The Supreme Court and American Democracy.” 

By Luke Laster Michigan's minimum wage rises above $10 starting this year, but what does that mean for Michigan small businesses who may have small margins. The increase from $9.87 to $10.10 was set by the "Michigan Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act of 2018," and is part of multiple annual increases. Marick Masters, a professor of business at Wayne State university says this raise should be manageable when it comes to small businesses in the state. "Most recent year, you had about 170,000 person increase in the number of employees in small businesses in Michigan. So that's something you want to sustain, and you wouldn't want to set the minimum wage perhaps at a level that would detract from that," says Masters. He says small businesses have been leading the way in job growth, not only nationally but in Michigan as well. He added about 2 million people in the state work for small businesses, about 48%of the workforce.

Did you know that the number one cause of blindness in African Americans is glaucoma? "If you have a family history, you're significantly increased risk. As well as in the African American population, you're at 6 times greater risk of developing it," says Dr. Mark Juzych, director of the Kresge Eye Institute. January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, and ophthalmologists are encouraging you, especially if you're over 65, to get your eyes checked. Juzych says glaucoma is the thief of sight because there are no symptoms of this disease. He says the only way of knowing if you have it is to get your eyes checked periodically. Juzych says the reason there's a whole month dedicated to bringing awareness given that there are no symptoms of it. "I think this (month) makes sure you bring it forward, so people understand that they really need to get checked out; there's no way for you to know otherwise," says Juzych.

By Lori Solomon Most patients seen at a primary care clinic for underserved minority patients report positive experiences with telemedicine, according to a study published online Dec. 14 in Cureus. Heather N. Abraham, M.D., from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and colleagues surveyed patients to assess satisfaction with the medical and social aspects of the care they received via telemedicine at a university-affiliated primary care training clinic. The analysis included responses from 79 participants (ages 18 to 74 years). The researchers found that 3 percent of participants reported feeling "uncomfortable" sharing details about their health concerns via telemedicine. More than half of the patients (60 percent) felt some level of comfort with telemedicine after their first encounter, while 14 percent were still uncomfortable and 26 percent were neutral. Most participants (88 percent) said they were willing to participate in future telemedicine visits. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents "strongly agreed" that concerns related to their social determinants of health were addressed, and 59 percent "strongly agreed" that the resources provided by their physician were helpful. "Telemedicine was well received, with high satisfaction for addressing medical and social concerns," the authors write. "The results of this study support the use of telemedicine to assess social determinants of health in an underserved minoritized patient population and will help physicians optimize future interactions with patients through telemedicine."

The Wayne State University Office of Economic Development in Detroit and TechTown Detroit have named social architect and urbanist Christianne Malone to the dual role of assistant vice president for economic development and chief program officer. In her role, Malone will be responsible for the design, implementation, management, and continuous improvement of entrepreneurship programs for both the OED and TechTown. She will assist in advancing the overall economic development strategy for WSU and establish relationships with funders, community partners and external stakeholders. “Wayne State and TechTown gained a tremendous leader with the hire of Christianne Malone,” says Ned Staebler, vice president for economic development at Wayne State University and president and CEO of TechTown Detroit. “She’s not only an innovator in the economic development space, but she’s also a coalition builder, teacher, coach, and catalyzer who will bring her wide range of knowledge to benefit our entire community.’

By Marick Masters Marick Masters, professor of business and adjunct professor of political science at Wayne State University, wrote an article for The Conversation about ongoing shifts in labor issues. He writes: Workers organized and took to the picket line in increased numbers in 2022 to demand better pay and working conditions, leading to optimism among labor leaders and advocates that they’re witnessing a turnaround in labor’s sagging fortunes. Teachers, journalists, and baristas were among the tens of thousands of workers who went on strike – and it took an act of Congress to prevent 115,000 railroad employees from walking out as well. In total, there have been at least 20 major work stoppages involving at least 1,000 workers each in 2022, up from 16 in 2021, and hundreds more that were smaller. At the same time, workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and dozens of other companies filed over 2,000 petitions to form unions during the year – the most since 2015. Workers won 76% of the 1,363 elections that were held. Historically, however, these figures are pretty tepid. The number of major work stoppages has been plunging for decades, from nearly 200 as recently as 1980, while union elections typically exceeded 5,000 a year before the 1980s. As of 2021, union membership was at about the lowest level on record, at 10.3%. In the 1950s, over 1 in 3 workers belonged to a union. As a labor scholar, I agree that the evidence shows a surge in union activism. The obvious question is: Do these developments manifest a tipping point?

A Wayne State University researcher has received a $1.7 million, five-year award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health for the study, “Targeting nitrative stress for treatment of cisplatin ototoxicity.” The research aims to address the critical gap that exists in understanding how nitrative stress caused by cisplatin treatment alters cochlear protein signaling causing apoptosis – or death of cells – in cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. The study, led by Samson Jamesdaniel, Ph.D., assistant professor of family medicine and public health in Wayne State’s School of Medicine and in the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, stated that cisplatin and its analogs are prescribed to 10 to 20% of all cancer patients, causing hearing loss in up to 80% treated with the drug. "Cisplatin is a first-generation platinum-based anti-neoplastic drug that is the backbone of combination therapies to treat cancers of the bladder, cervix, lung [non-small cell], head and neck [squamous cell], testicle, mesothelium and some other solid tumors,” said Jamesdaniel. “The ototoxicity caused by treatments using cisplatin can significantly affect the quality of life in cancer survivors and lead to devastating consequences in children, with impacts on speech and language development, education and social integration.”

Republicans have an opportunity to flip an important seat in 2024 following the announcement by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow that she will not run for reelection the next cycle. Stabenow was the first Michigan woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, a position she has held since 2001. In a statement on Thursday, she said she is "inspired by a new generation of leaders" and ready to pass the torch once her current term concludes on January 3, 2025. The Michigan GOP tweeted Thursday that it is already eyeing a Republican replacement for Stabenow "in addition to electing a Republican president." Jim Townsend, a former Michigan representative and current director of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School, told Newsweek that Stabenow "gave everything she had to being a U.S. senator." He also said a major strength of hers was her ability to be self-aware and focus on issues and not drama, which included routinely working across the aisle. "Michigan remains very much a battleground state," Townsend said. "Democrats had a tremendous year in the 2022 election but that doesn't guarantee success in the future. It suggests that voters are interested in problem solvers and not ideology." While not naming potential replacements for her seat, he expects a nominee who will not cater to extremes on either side of the partisan spectrum. "You have to be able to show people you are focused on Michigan's problems and that you're going to be someone who supports and listens to a broad spectrum of the state," he said. "I think candidates that only seek to appeal to their base—I think this could be true on either side—have a limited opportunity in Michigan." 

In last year’s “Burning Questions,” we pondered pressing topics related to the approaching 2022 elections. There may be no controversial campaigns or hotly contested races in store for the coming year, yet somehow, the political climate seems as fervent as ever. The sense of calm that settled in a few months back, once the ballots were cast and victors declared, has already begun to recede as we contemplate what 2023 might hold. Among the topics making us sweat this January: mercurial gas prices, rising tensions around school safety, the looming threat of recession — and of course, the roads. The “R-word” seems to have become a constant presence in our lives. For months now, the Federal Reserve has been announcing interest-rate hikes on what feels like a daily basis, thus fueling already extensive debate on whether our financial fears will be realized (and whether they already have been). But for all the discourse, a concrete answer has remained elusive. According to the International Monetary Fund, that answer is: probably. The organization predicts that, barring swift action on inflation from policymakers, a recession is imminent — at least on a global scale. Wayne State University economics professor Michael Belzer is less concerned. “Unless something bad happens, I don’t personally think we’ll really get into a full recession,” he says. While multiple factors, such as the Russian war on Ukraine and the enduring disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global markets and supply chains, continue to drive inflation, there is cause for optimism. In particular, Belzer points to falling unemployment rates and persistent job availability as signs that the labor market is continuing down the road to recovery. However, he is wary of the Fed’s “aggressive tight-money policies” potentially knocking it off course. Rather than curbing inflation, he thinks steep increases in interest rates could actually serve to stifle economic improvement. “I don’t think that high interest rates will reduce inflation, because the inflation we’re experiencing in this moment isn’t caused by demand shock, like it is in most recessions.” Belzer also discusses gas prices and the international intricacies making fuel prices are particularly difficult to predict. “It’s important to understand that gas prices are not local — oil is a commodity traded on the global market.” However, he suspects that the root of the initial price relaxation — the global economic downturn and resulting reduction in fuel demand — will also “keep the lid on fuel prices” … at least for the next year or so. 

Beginning Thursday, airline passengers coming to the U.S. from China will need a negative COVID-19 test. It can either be a PCR or an antigen test, but it must be taken within two days of departure. Some say testing is necessary to keep Americans safe. However, Chinese authorities say science doesn't support the requirement. Dr. Paul Kilgore, associate professor in the Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and co-director of the Center for Emerging Diseases, discusses his thoughts on continued COVID testing requirements. “I personally think we should be putting our efforts into other areas. The testing requirement is something we’ve tried in the past, and it didn’t really show or demonstrate great impact or effect.” Kilgore said he doesn’t think countries would be imposing testing requirements if China was more forthcoming with its data. “I view public health as 80% politics and 20% science. Part of public health that’s so important is engagement, communication – the sharing of information. If we can actually get back to that, we may not need the testing of passengers before they get on an airplane…”

Detroit's Jazz community is mourning the death of Gretchen Valade, who passed away last week at the age of 97. The Carhartt heiress was a prominent arts supporter and philanthropist who founded Mack Avenue Records and kept the Detroit Jazz Festival alive. "I came to call her the 'Angel of Jazz' many years ago because she has this purity of vision, purity of dream," Chris Collins,  Professor and Director of Jazz Studies and Valade Endowed Chair in Jazz at Wayne State University, said. In doing so, Valade turned the dreams of countless artists into reality.  Sharing her success to ensure there was a thriving Jazz community in metro Detroit.  "What she's about is breaking down barriers so that people can participate in these things. Everyone is invited to the party," Collins said. One of those parties, the Detroit Jazz Festival, that Valade rescued more than a decade ago. She established a foundation with a $10 million endowment to keep the largest free Jazz festival in North America alive. In recent years Valade donated $9.5 million to Wayne State University for a new Jazz center that will bear her name. "It will put a footprint of Jazz right on Cass Avenue in a facility that is more than a club, but not quite as huge as the festival where we have 1000s of people just in that right spot," Collins said.

By Darren Cunningham   Following the collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during Monday Night Football, the American Heart Association is encouraging people to understand the importance of CPR and the difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack. Cardiologist Dr. Brian O'Neil is the chair of Wayne State University’s Department of Emergency Medicine and board president for the American Heart Association Detroit chapter. He said when someone does need CPR and receives CPR, their chances of being discharged from the hospital increases by three-fold.  O’Neil explained, “When you’re doing CPR, you’re maintaining blood flow to the heart itself because even though it’s not beating, it’s still using a lot of energy and if you don’t resupply that energy you get into something called the flatline or asystole." "That’s never what you want," he added. O’Neil said what happened Monday is uncommon but not unheard of.