A feature story profiles the community service efforts of Wayne State University's student athletes. Rob Fournier, WSU's athletic director is a strong proponent for athletes giving back to the local community and has introduced a community service program. His leadership has created a "win-win" for Wayne State and a wide variety of worthwhile organizations that provide help for Detroit's needy. According to the university, 350 of its athletes volunteer a total of 8,250 hours a year. U-M says 700 of its athletes volunteer a total of 3,000 hours and Ohio State says 700 of it athletes volunteer a total of 7,100 hours annually.

TechTown is mentioned during a "Marketplace" segment exploring job creation in Detroit which is helping existing businesses to expand, and encouraging would-be entrepreneurs to start new ones. TechTown's Francine Wunder comments in the audio clip about Wayne State University's business incubator and its role in Detroit's revitalization.

Eastern Michigan University will no longer be the epicenter of the high school football season's opening weekend. The Detroit Sports Commission announced today that the annual Big Day Prep Showdown is moving from Rynearson Stadium to Wayne State University's Tom Adams Field and will be renamed the Detroit Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic. "We are delighted to host this event. It is a great way for people to come and see Wayne State and Midtown Detroit," said Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/sports/local_sports/high_school/brother-rice-cass-tech-will-square-off-to-open-high-school-football-season http://www.annarbor.com/sports/high-school/premier-high-school-football-event-moves-from-eastern-michigan/ http://bloomfield-mi.patch.com/articles/brother-rice-to-open-football-season-against-division-1-champion-cass-tech http://news.yahoo.com/premier-season-opening-prep-football-event-moves-downtown-170058436.html

Dr. Robert Frank, chief medical officer of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Physicians Group, is quoted in an article announcing the groundbreaking for the Detroit Medical Center's new $78 million, five-story heart hospital scheduled to open on the health system's midtown Detroit campus in two years. Frank said one in three deaths in the state is caused by heart disease. http://www.freep.com/article/20120118/BUSINESS06/201180350/DMC-breaks-ground-for-heart-hospital-in-Detroit http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2790&DateTime=1%2F17%2F2012+10%3A573A11+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2790&playclip=True&RefPage=

Wayne State University President Emeritus Irvin D. Reid was interviewed during a segment on PBS's "Nightly Business Report" about business investment in Detroit and the "Live Downtown" project. Reid is currently a member of a review team appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to determine if a financial emergency exists in Detroit.

Dr. Robert Freedman, professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University, comments in a story about hot flash remedies for women. "It's not a very optimistic picture," says Freedman. He contributed to a treatment review published recently in the journal Climacteric by the International Menopause Society. The report is bluntly dismissive of non-prescription remedies saying that non-pharmaceutical sources has failed to show any benefit of over-the-counter therapies compared to placebo for (hot flashes), and the safety of these compounds is not confirmed."

Michigan leads the nation in announcements of research and development facility projects, according to this month's issue of Site Selection, a real estate trade publication. The Norcross, Ga.-based bimonthly also cites Detroit as the fastest-growing market in the U.S. for high-tech jobs. The state's high rate of engineering graduates -- Michigan ranks fifth in the country, according to the National Center of Education Statistics -- has helped boost growth in the tech sector. Important vehicles for growth include the University Research Corridor, a partnership involving Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan that encourages collaboration between businesses and intellectual talent. Also contributing is the MEDC's business incubators and startup support services. (Subscription Only)

On Monday, volunteers from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College joined with City Year Detroit, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Downriver CARES AmeriCorps, Wayne State University, Madonna University, Davenport University, Marygrove College and Oakland Community College for the 19th annual MLK Day of Service. Volunteers gathered at UM-Dearborn and WSU before being sent off to various project sites around metro Detroit, where they beautified, organized, cleaned and created.

Exposure to light appears to have therapeutic effects on Alzheimer's disease patients, a Wayne State University researcher has found. In a study published recently in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, LuAnn Nowak Etcher, assistant professor of nursing, reported that patients treated with blue-green light were perceived by their caregivers as having improved global functioning. Caregivers said patients receiving the treatment seemed more awake and alert, were more verbally competent and showed improved recognition, recollection and motor coordination. They also said patients seemed to recapture their personalities and were more engaged with their environment. Patients' moods also were described as improved.

Current approaches to calculating failure probability in complex engineering structures can be inefficient and result in inconsistency, but a Wayne State University researcher is working to change that. Christopher Eamon, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, recently received a three-year, $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an accurate and efficient method for calculating failure probability (reliability analysis) for computationally and probabilistically complex structural engineering problems, with the goal of achieving greater levels of consistency within a structure. He believes his work will advance structural safety analysis for a variety of complex, high-fidelity problems such as crash, impact and blast analysis; metal forming; and complex structural system evaluation in various engineering disciplines.

Architect magazine highlights the first of a new series of essays on Detroit by Jerry Herron, professor and dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College at Wayne State University. Herron chronicles the history of the city's architectural marvels and examines how the structures became abandoned throughout the 20th Century. The essay includes photos of numerous historic places in Detroit and references national articles on the subject.

Wayne State University assistant cross-country coach Matt Fecht is hoping to run toward glory this Saturday during the U.S. Olympic Trials for the men's and women's marathon in Houston. According to the WSU Athletics website, the 27-year-old Warren native eclipsed the previous marathon qualifying standard of 2:22 at the Oct. 10, 2010, Chicago Marathon, finishing in a time of 2:21:46. A photo of Fecht is included.

Wayne State's Paul Winters named AFCA Division II Coach of the Year After guiding the Wayne State Warriors to the Division II National Championship game, Paul Winters has been named American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year. The organization announced Winters' honor Tuesday afternoon in San Antonio. "This is the ultimate accomplishment for me, and getting the vote from my peers makes it so much more important," he said. "The credit needs to be completely shared by our players and coaches, because this season was a team effort."

Archaeology Magazine highlights new research by Krysta Ryzewski, an assistant professor in Wayne State University's department of anthropology. Ryzewski along with researchers from Brown University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an imaging device that uses a beam of neutrons, a particle found in the nucleus of most atoms, to make three-dimensional images of archaeological artifacts. "The 3-D imaging allows us to peel back the layers of an artifact like an onion," Ryzewski said.

Steven Ondersma, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, was a guest on "The Craig Fahle Show" discussing a study he is currently conducting. The study is focused on drug abuse in new mothers, and looking at such behaviors as a reluctance in drug-using mothers to seek help for addiction.

Last month, Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody visited Flint to report on the 75th anniversary of the start of the Flint sit down strike, a work stoppage at multiple GM facilities beginning in 1936, which Carmody says was "pivotal to the birth of the United Auto Workers," and had profound implications for American organized labor in general. Carmody writes: "The Flint sit down was a major test for labor at large," says Mike Smith, archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. "It was a major stepping stone for the UAW. United Automobile Workers really might not have existed if this strike was not successful."

Detroit Regional Chamber President & Chief Executive Officer Sandy Baruah joined Craig Fahle to discuss the creation of MICHauto, a new initiative launched by the Detroit Regional Chamber. MICHauto will serve as a statewide association designed to establish an automotive-centric economic development and advocacy platform. At the conclusion of the interview, Baruah mentioned that Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour and other leaders is a member of the MICHauto CEO advisory committee.

A Bridge Magazine college cost analysis has found that Michigan families pay more to send their children to state universities than families in almost any other state. Twelve of Michigan's 15 public universities had net student costs higher than the median of their peer institutions across the country. Only Wayne State University, U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint had prices below the average for their peer groups.

A feature story highlights the recovery of a mysterious wooden pole at the bottom of Lake Huron which is fuelling excitement among U.S. and Canadian researchers that they have found more evidence of a "lost world" of North American caribou hunters from nearly 10,000 years ago. The article notes that the principle researchers from the University of Michigan have also teamed with Wayne State University computer scientist Robert Reynolds to create a three-dimensional, virtual model of the ridge.

The Detroit Free Press announced judges who evaluated nominees for its Automotive Leadership Awards. Debbie Dingell, chairwoman of the manufacturing initiative of the American Automotive Policy Council and Wayne State University Board of Governors member, was among those listed.