By Hilary Golston  Over four days of Senate hearings last month, Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke of her parents struggles through racial segregation and says her path was clearer than theirs as a black American after the enactment of civil rights laws. Now, she's officially been confirmed as the third Black Supreme Court Justice, the seventh woman, and the first Black woman to hold the distinguished position. Wayne State University Law Professor Robert Sedler said the partisanship has been going on for almost 20 years, when it comes to selecting judges for the Supreme Court. "The thing that has been troubling to me. Is that she. It's highly qualified to sit on the Supreme Court and in point of fact, so have been all the nominees since 2005 when George W. Bush dominated chief Justice Roberts and Samuel Alito. What has happened and both parties are guilty of this is that they have politicized the confirmation process," Sedler said. 

By Jordyn Grzelewski  The United Auto Workers kicked off 2022 with a full agenda: a constitutional convention, campaigns to organize new members amid the auto industry's transition to electric vehicles, a growing unionization movement in higher education, and continued efforts to restore the union's reputation amid a years-long corruption probe. Also looming are direct elections of international officers following a historic referendum to change the way the union picks its top leaders, and a new round of national contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers. Still, even as the union works to put the corruption scandal behind it, related expenses continued to add up in last year, according to a new federal filing by the union, with new legal expenditures for some of the UAW's top leaders, additional payments to an outside law firm hired to oversee the union's response to the investigation, and payments tied to the federal monitor charged with overseeing the union. “It’s hard to say what the full costs of this are, but it’s more than just the dollar cost," said Marick Masters, a professor at Wayne State University's Mike Ilitch School of Business. “You have to ask yourself: how much of an improvement are we actually making in the operation of the union?” 

Wayne State University has officially launched a national effort aimed at bringing more immigrant startup founders to Southeast Michigan. The Detroit-based university said it has partnered with Global Detroit, part of the Massachusetts-based Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Global EIR) initiative, aimed at placing foreign-born startup founders at local universities to teach and mentor. The founders, in turn, become eligible for an H-1B visa, enabling them to launch and grow their companies in metro Detroit. As part of the launch at Wayne State, German immigrant and tech startup founder Simon Forster has been named as the first Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the university. “We’re excited to pair Wayne State’s leadership in advancing new technologies with Global EIR’s innovative approach to bringing and keeping international talent in Michigan,” said Lindsay Klee, Wayne State’s senior director of technology commercialization. “We’re equally excited to provide our students and faculty the opportunity to interact and learn from these global entrepreneurs.”  

Like many things throughout Detroit’s history, the freeways that cut through the city were created without the full consent of Black residents – often displaced by such infrastructure projects. And the creation of highways didn’t just bring devastation to Black communities in Detroit, but to Black neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. It happened in Los Angeles and New Orleans, as well as other metropolitan cities in America. However, there is now a push to rectify the damages done to communities of color by freeway projects. The State of Michigan recently released its plan to tear down I-375 and create a new “urban boulevard.” Additionally, a Biden Administration spending bill pledged $20 billion for cities across the country to redevelop portions of highways that destroyed Black communities. Robert Boyle, professor of urban planning at Wayne State University, joined in a discussion on the project and said the people who suffered most from the creation of highways were the politically disenfranchised, particularly African Americans. “The past is really important today when people are discussing what to do with these neighborhoods that were severely divided by the technology of the 1950s and 60s,” Boyle said.  

By Keenan Smith  COVID-19 cases are well off their omicron surge, but in the last week, cases have plateaued. Some communities are seeing an uptick in cases and hospitalizations. Health leaders across the country are watching the omicron BA.2 variant, which is more transmissible than the original omicron strain. COVID-19 wastewater surveillance, which includes the collection and sampling of wastewater to watch for outbreaks, can play a key role in public health and predicting future surges. Researchers Jeffrey Ram, a professor of physiology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, and William Shuster, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering at Wayne State University’s College of Engineering, have been testing specimens from a sewer line 20 feet below the street in Midtown. “The signal in wastewater gives a couple of days, maybe even up to two weeks advance warning,” said Ram. Shuster added, “That gives us some time to get out to our public health authorities.”  

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, will present “Head Over Heels,” featuring songs by the Go-Go’s. Performances will run April 15-24.    

By Herbert Smitherman, Jr. Dr. Herbert Smitherman, Jr., professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and president and CEO of Health Centers Detroit Foundation, wrote an opinion piece celebrating the science that allowed us to fight back against a pandemic. “…we are the only generation in human history that has been able to fight back against a pandemic with science through the development of a vaccine, to end that same pandemic in real time. Please do not underestimate what we have accomplished as a human society and the impact of the 2020 COVID vaccine or the science behind it. The literal enormity of isolating the genetic code of COVID-19, developing a vaccine based on historic science, mass producing that vaccine, the logistics of distributing that vaccine across the globe, establishing sites and staff to administer the vaccine, agreeing to public policies and educating the public regarding COVID and the vaccine, getting shots in arms, developing a mechanism to test for the virus and the development of IV and oral treatments for COVID, has been a feat like no other in human history.”

Students from diverse backgrounds at Wayne State University Law School have launched the “Lawyers Look Like Me” campaign, an initiative that sends a powerful message: Lawyers can look like us, too. The campaign aims to challenge stereotypes about what lawyers “look” like, celebrate historically underrepresented law students, and highlight the importance of diversifying the legal profession. The students driving this campaign represent numerous multicultural and ally organizations. “Lawyers and judges carry people’s livelihoods and liberties in their hands. It’s so important for the profession to welcome practitioners that come from all walks of life,” said Aleanna Siacon, a third-year law student and the creator of the campaign. “There’s much work to be done to address and remove the barriers that make law school inaccessible to many. But this campaign recognizes the power of representation.” 

By Danielle Salisbury People who regularly see primary care physicians tend to live long and healthier lives – if they can locate and secure doctors near home, Michigan doctors said. Despite the necessity of such practitioners, who handle patients from birth to death, there are too few of them and trends suggest there will be even fewer as current practitioners age and medical students with six-figure loan debts choose more lucrative specialties. Of Michigan’s 83 counties, 75 are at least partially designated as having shortages in primary care doctors. To address the situation, the state academy is calling on state leaders to invest an additional $31.4 million in existing programs, MIDOCS and the Michigan State Loan Repayment Program. MIDOCS, funded by the state, increases the number of medical residency training slots in primary care and other high-need specialties. Those accepted must commit to two years of practice in a rural or urban underserved area after they complete their residences. In exchange, they may receive up to $75,000 for repayment of eligible educational loans. The program partners with the medical schools at four state universities, including Wayne State.

Around 300 medical students from Wayne State University’s School of Medicine gathered at Motor City Casino on March 18 for Match Day, the nationwide event where medical students find out where they’ll spend their residencies. The event was the first in-person Match Day celebration since 2019. The match rate for School of Medicine students who participated in this year’s match was 97.4%. “I really care about service now that I’ve been in Detroit, so I’m so excited to bring it to the Bronx,” said Emily Nghiem, who matched at her first choice for a general surgery residency at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital in New York.   

By Kimberly Craig  If you found yourself a tad grumpy Sunday after losing an hour of sleep, you’d be in good company. Studies show that most Americans would like to put an end to bidding farewell to that hour of sleep in March and waiting months to welcome that hour back in November. But while the U.S. Senate voted this week to eliminate that biannual clock change in the Sunshine Protection Act, it would also come with something sleep experts don’t want to see happen – making daylight saving time permanent in 2023. Supporters of living in daylight saving time year-round say it would give children more time to play outside in the afternoon and it would be good for the economy. But many physicians are urging lawmakers to make standard time a permanent thing, to allow our bodies’ internal clocks to be aligned with the timing of the sun. Wayne State University professor Dr. James Rowley, who also serves as the medical director at Detroit Receiving Hospital’s Sleep Disorder Center and as an officer with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, firmly believes we should be on permanent standard time. “It’s well known that the changes in March result in increases in cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and driving accidents. And there are some subtle changes even when we go backwards again in the fall,” he said, noting that if lawmakers adopt a uniform daylight saving time, Michiganders won’t have sunlight until 9 a.m. in the winter. “There’s good evidence that we need sunshine in the morning to be awake during the day.” 

Wayne State University Law School students Elyse Victor and Andre Hage were named finalists of the Moot Court winter in-house competition. Victor and Hage demonstrated strong oral and written advocacy skills that advanced them to the final round. “Students prepare from the first week of classes to the preliminary rounds of the competition by researching case law, writing a brief, and practicing oral arguments with senior members of the moot court team,” said Emily Barr, chancellor of the Moot Court program. “The magic of the program is watching new team members blossom into talented and zealous advocates.” The final round judges included Michigan Supreme Court Justice Megan Cavanaugh, Third Circuit Court Judge Carla Testani, and Wayne Law associate dean for research and faculty development Christopher Lund. Semi-final judges included Wayne Law professors Amy Neville, Jack Mazzara, and Dan Ellman. 

By Logan Tesmer  Dr. Hilary Marusak is the director of Wayne State University’s THINK lab and an assistant professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. THINK is an acronym for Trauma History Investigation of Neurodevelopment in Kids. The THINK lab studies brain development in children and adolescents and the impacts of environmental stress on the brain, as well as anxiety and PTSD. These traumas can be found in interpersonal forms, such as violence, as well as medical-related traumas from a cancer diagnosis or treatment. The lab’s work also targets the recovery from these traumas through exercise, meditation, or pharmaceuticals. Dr. Marusak joins for a segment of Community Connect to discuss her love of science, getting more girls into the industry, and how the THINK lab helps children in the community. “If you work with kids, I think you share this idea that if you intervene early, you can really change the course of that kid’s life. The brain is changing so rapidly and dynamically during that time, so it’s much easier to take advantage of that brain plasticity and get kids on a better chart for the rest of their life,” said Dr. Marusak.  

Ask almost anyone what’s wrong with trucking — drivers, transportation economists, advocacy groups — and they’ll all begin with one number: the extraordinarily high turnover rate. For decades, truckers have quit at alarming rates, leading to a chronic shortage. The turnover rate was at a staggering 91 percent in 2019, which means that for every 100 people who signed up to drive, 91 walked out the door. Plenty of people have the commercial driver’s licenses needed to operate trucks, said Michael Belzer, a Wayne State University economist who has studied the industry for 30 years. “None of them will work for these wages,” he added. Studies even show that their pay, when adjusted for inflation, has declined markedly since the 1970s.

The American Bar Association’s Legal Education Police Practices Consortium was created by deans of ABA-accredited law schools in 2020 in response to police killings and use of force in primarily Black communities. Besides learning about research, the students’ work will teach interpersonal skills, too, says Richard Bierschbach, the dean of the Wayne State University Law School who also is on the consortium’s advisory committee. So far, 59 schools are participating. “It’s a great way for law students to understand the realities of trying to get information from police departments and other similar bodies,” says Bierschbach, adding that sometimes agencies don’t want to share information, and other times they simply can’t do it or don’t have it “because of years of bad infrastructure or systems. In law school, before you do this kind of work, you might think, ‘Why are they stonewalling?’ With this project, you can get in on the ground and see what the world’s actually like.”

Masks are mostly gone two years into the coronavirus pandemic. But so are thousands of family members and friends. Students are generally back in classrooms. But it's difficult to capture the scope of learning loss and  the emotional toll. Stores and restaurants, movie theaters and hair salons have been open for months. But businesses — and working families — are still struggling to pay the bills. And it's all fodder for Michigan politicians of all stripes seeking to capitalize on the real-world impacts of the pandemic and how leaders fought against it to propel their candidates to victory. "If you believe the old adage that the personal is political, then everything is politics, right?" said Patricia Wren, professor and chair of the department of public health at Wayne State University. "Maybe politics and public health function best when we share a common vision and a common goal, and maybe we differ on how to get there. But those, for me, are interesting conversations to think about how we might get Michigan or the country to a place where we feel safe and where people can live and work and play effectively together again."

Who died of COVID-19 in Michigan during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic was heavily influenced by demographics like age, education level, the county where they lived, vaccination rates — and even who got their vote in the 2020 presidential election. As Michigan marked the grim two-year anniversary last Thursday of the day when the first cases were identified, a Free Press analysis of state and federal data shows a higher death rate in counties where a larger share of people voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But analyzing COVID-19 deaths in Michigan is more complicated than just looking at who supported Trump and who didn't, said Brady Baybeck, an associate professor of political science at Wayne State University. “Pandemics work in complicated ways, particularly at the county level,” Baybeck said. "The relationship is not as strong potentially as it could be at the individual level.” Patricia Wren, chair of the department of public health at Wayne State University, agreed. "Sometimes when we paint with (a) broad brush, we want to say it's red versus blue," she said of so-called "red" counties with more conservative voters and "blue" counties with more liberal voters.

Spotlight on the News interviewed Nicole Hamameh and Tamarie Willis of Wayne State University's Center for Behavioral Health and Justice about what's being done to address the opioid epidemic for people serving time in prisons and jails. The program also featured Detroit City Council President (and Wayne State alumna) Mary Sheffield about the city's annual budget, neighborhoods and future development.

By Kim Russell Our leaders want to lower gas prices, but could their efforts have unintended consequences? At the national level, U. S. Congress is considering waiving the 18 cents federal gas tax. The Michigan House passed a bill that would waive the state gas tax for six months. The gas tax holiday still needs approval from the Senate and the Governor to become law. If it does pass, gas stations in Michigan would no longer have to pay just over 27 cents per gallon to the state in motor fuel tax used to fund road repairs. The idea of a tax holiday sounds great, but, the question is: who actually would get the holiday? Professor Kevin Cotter, chair of Wayne State University’s economics department, warns that while the idea of a gas holiday sounds great for stations and drivers, in the situation we are in now, everything would not remain equal. “A cut in the pump price, that is going to result in an increase in gas purchases that the market can’t accommodate,” Cotter said. He said that we have to remember what is causing the spike in pricing: a global shortage of oil due to the war in Ukraine. Russia is facing sanctions, and tankers don’t want to carry Russian oil through a war zone. “You either have a shortage or the price goes up,” said Cotter. “The alternative would be, if you look back to the 1970s, when we had price controls after the oil embargo there were long gas lines. Because people wanted to buy gas, but gas wasn’t available. The fact is we are going to continue to see the price go up, and I don’t think a tax holiday is going to make much of a difference.”

By Chad Livengood A return to the normal 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday office-based work setting that was a staple of corporate America before the virus was first detected in Michigan two years ago this week is perhaps the exception now for big employers. Crain’s asked more than 40 of Southeast Michigan’s largest office employers this week what the current status of their workforce is and their plans for the future. Most of those who responded remain in either work-from-home or hybrid schedules where employees spend a day or two in the office each week and then Zoom in remotely for meetings the rest of the time. Wayne State University has a flexible, hybrid work schedule in place for office workers through May 31 that will be re-evaluated then, said university spokesman Matt Lockwood. “But we are confident that (hybrid) will remain an option to promote recruitment, retention and job satisfaction for all employees,” Lockwood said.