"Cashing in on job opportunities in the gaming industry: How Detroit can do it right" is the topic for the Richard C. Van Dusen Forum on Urban Issues scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday May 8 at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center at Wayne State University.

Guest speaker James Johnson will discuss generic strategies for engaging the private sector in inner-city job creation and poverty alleviation and suggest how Detroit's new gaming industry can successfully implement the strategies. Johnson is the visiting 1998 Van Dusen scholar at Wayne State and Maynard Adams Distinguished Professor of Business, Geography and Sociology at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He directs the Urban Investment Strategies Center in the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC-Chapel Hill.

A roundtable discussion featuring representatives from Detroit's three proposed casino operators will follow Johnson's presentation. Participants will discuss their projected job needs, planned training programs and intended links to the Detroit community. The panel will be moderated by WJBK Fox-2 news anchor Huel Perkins.

A continental breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. The program is free but reservations are requested. Call (313) 577-5071 to reserve a seat.

The event is sponsored by the College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs at Wayne State University in cooperation with the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. The program is made possible by the Richard C. Van Dusen Endowment at WSU, which was established to promote his commitment to urban America and metropolitan Detroit. The late Mr. Van Dusen, an attorney, served on the WSU Board of Governors.