Robin Boyle, chair of the Geography and Urban Planning Department, is quoted in an article about Detroit and Michigan 's role in helping Hurricane Katrina victims. "The shape, the demographic structure, the size of Detroit in many respects reflects the movement of people from the South, from many states in the South, to find employment in the Midwest and in industrial centers," he said. Mike Smith, director of WSU's Walter P. Reuther Library, noted that there are many connections between Detroiters and friends and relatives in the South. "A lot of folks came up to work and went back to retire in the South," he said