Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The following is a compilation of highlights of recent media coverage of Wayne State University.
• Media outlets nationwide ran stories on May 25 about First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit at Wayne State University. Several thousand people gathered at Tom Adams Field to hear Obama speak about mentorship and education. Wayne State President Jay Noren delivered opening remarks during the event which also featured Governor Jennifer Granholm, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, basketball legend Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, director Spike Lee, WSU Board of Governors member Debbie Dingell and other celebrities and local leaders. Some representative media sites carrying the story included: Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, USA Today, Associated Press, WHTC (Holland, Mich.), Examiner.com, WILX (Lansing), Lansing State Journal, MLive.com, Oakland Press, WWJ-AM 950, Electronic Urban Report, WJBK-TV Fox 2, WTOL (Toledo), UpNorthLive (Traverse City), WOOD-TV (Grand Rapids), UPI.com, WWMT-TV (Grand Rapids), WWJ-TV, WNEM-TV (Flint), WJRT-TV (Flint), WZZM-TV (Grand Rapids), Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Tex.), TV 20, WJR-AM, WDIV-TV, Washington Post, WFRV-TV (Green Bay, Wis.), Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Conn.), ABC News, Fox News, TIME and Reuters.
• Following intense discussion, Wayne State University’s Board of Governors voted on June 23 to increase tuition for resident undergraduate students by 4.4 percent. Graduate students will pay 4.9 percent more. "We as an institution face some very difficult and challenging times as we strive to be competitive and remain a premier institution," board member Debbie Dingell said. "Yet at the same time, we have a moral responsibility to our students to continue to ensure that we offer an affordable and quality education." Media outlets running the story included: Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, WWJ-AM, WJR-AM, WDIV-TV, WJBK-TV, WJRT-TV, WEYI-TV, WXYZ-TV, Chicagotribune.com, Crain’s Detroit Business, WEYI-TV (Flint) and WTVG-TV (Toledo).
• Both Governor Jennifer Granholm and Mayor Dave Bing acknowledged Wayne State University President Jay Noren who was attending the White House Council on Automotive Communities meeting. Granholm also mentioned during the June 11 C-Span coverage that TechTown is a burgeoning center of life science, renewable energy and technology commerce.
• Wayne State University Jay Noren announced the appointment of Ronald T. Brown as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs effective August 1, 2010. Brown was dean of the College of Health Professions at Temple University for six years before joining Wayne State. “Ron consistently has earned the respect and admiration of his students and colleagues for high standards as a teacher, administrator, scholar and researcher, and he brings an outstanding record of visionary leadership to bear on his new responsibilities,” Noren said in a statement. The story was picked up by numerous media outlets on June 17 including: Crain’s Detroit Business, Detroit Free Press, MSN.com, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.), Sun Herald (Biloxi, Gulfport, Miss.) Atlanta Business
BOARD OF GOVERNORS AGENDA AUGUST 4, 2010
Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
Page 2
Chronicle, Baltimore Business Journal, Boston Business Journal, Washington Business Journal, MITechNews and MLive.com.
• After nearly a year as interim dean, Dr. Valerie Parisi has been elevated to full dean of Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, according to June 25 and 26 Crain’s Detroit Business and Detroit Free Press stories. “Valerie has done an outstanding job of building relationships within the School of Medicine and throughout Wayne State, as well as with other health-care organizations in the community,” said President Jay Noren. During the past year, Parisi has led talks for a closer partnership with the Henry Ford Health System and completed contracts for medical students, residency programs and clinical services at the Detroit Medical Center.
• Sharon Vasquez, dean of Wayne State’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, is leaving her position Aug. 16 to become the provost at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn. Vasquez joined Wayne State as dean of the college in May 2004, according to the June 10 Crain’s Detroit Business story. Vasquez will craft a transition plan for the college prior to her departure, and President Jay Noren plans to appoint an interim dean until the university finds a permanent replacement. “Sharon leaves behind a legacy of cohesiveness and a greater sense of shared success within CFPCA than was the case when she came to Wayne State,” Noren said. “The University of Hartford is fortunate to have her join its ranks.”
• The Detroit Free Press, Crain’s Detroit Business, MLive.com, WDET-FM, WJR- AM, WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV provided coverage on June 8 of U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin’s commencement address for Wayne State’s School of Medicine. Dean Valerie Parisi commented in the WJR-AM clip.
• Wayne State’s College of Nursing dean Barbara Redman was interviewed on WDET-FM during "The Craig Fahle Show" regarding nursing and health care reform. During the June 16 segment, she discussed how nursing can help address the primary care gap and the nursing shortage.
• Anthony Holt, Wayne State University police chief, participated in a May 29 interview on WDIV-TV about the police department’s efforts to inform the community about crime prevention. Holt offers tips to drivers that go a long way in the prevention of break-ins.
• A local company hopes to use medical technology developed by cardiologists at Wayne State to help clean up areas affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Using technology to get oxygen into the bloodstream, the company is looking to do the same thing to the Gulf waters—replace the oxygen used by the oil, allowing bacteria to consume the oil. The story aired June 18 on WJBK-TV.
• For decades, cancer has been believed to be caused by a sequential accumulation of common gene mutations, with the identification, characterization and targeting of common genetic alterations and their defined pathways dominating the field. Henry Heng, associate professor in Wayne State’s Center
BOARD OF GOVERNORS AGENDA AUGUST 4, 2010
Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
Page 3
for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, is challenging this notion, however, with evidence that the general mechanism of cancer occurs at the level of the genome, not the gene. Heng published a study in a recent edition of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry that represents an important illustration of the evolutionary mechanism of cancer. Dbusiness Magazine, Great Lakes IT Report and WWJ-AM carried the story on June 8.
• A June 15 WDIV-TV segment highlighted Wayne State’s re-employment program for displaced workers available through the University's Macomb Education Center. Terry Margolis, director of educational outreach and executive and professional development, commented in the story.
• A new study of premature infants at Lansing's Sparrow Hospital could provide a bedside measure of pain and lead to more effective pain management for those infants. Carolyn Herrington, assistant professor in WSU’s College of Nursing, started the study in May, comparing new stress detector equipment to the current methods of measuring pain in infants. According to the June 15 Lansing State Journal article, she hopes the comparison will show the stress detector is accurate because it delivers faster results.
• WJBK-TV and WDIV-TV aired a June 21 report about Wayne State teaming up with the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival (DWIFF) to host the DWIFF annual Tech Fair on June 26. The free event will give the public access to filmmaking and TV broadcast professionals, vendors and educators to enhance the overall filmmaking experience and create a rich learning environment.
• A new monthly survey of purchasing managers by Wayne State University’s School of Business Administration and the Southeast Michigan chapter of the Institute for Supply Management released June 8 indicated the local economy continued to expand during May. Nitin Paranjpe, an economist and faculty member in WSU’s business school, said the May increase was a result of growth in production and new orders, and improvement in employment activity. The Oakland Press, Corp! and Great Lakes IT Report ran the article.
• Wayne State University and the Institute for the Study of the African American Child will host a weekend of events aimed at reversing the patterns of failure among African American children. The Round Table on African American Education “The Situation, The Solution, The Strategy,” will take place Saturday, July 17, according to the June 3 Detroit News story.
• It was reported in the June 29 edition of Model D that grant funding for research at Wayne State University is up $8.2 million as of the end of June, compared to the same time in 2009. So far the university has taken in $122.7 million this year compared to $114.5 million a year ago, representing an increase of about 7 percent. That increase came after most of the federal stimulus funds were disbursed last year. Jim Barbret, associate vice president for research and finance at Wayne State, comments in the story.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS AGENDA AUGUST 4, 2010
Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
Page 4
• Metro Mode reported on June 11 that Wayne State is among three universities in Michigan that rank in the top 40 doctoral granting institutions based on the number of international students. According to the Institute of Higher Education, Michigan ranks eighth nationally in economic impact from international students.
• Wayne State's Detroit Orientation Institute and local nonprofit Inside Detroit are accepting applications for a one-day summer session July 21. The July 4 Detroit Free Press article included background information and registration details for the event.
• Wayne State University medical school researcher Dr. Bengt Arnetz heads a five-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health. The $2.6 million study of post-traumatic stress among Iraqi war refugees in the Detroit area will track Iraqi refugees who have been exposed to war in their native land. It will look for the effects of employment, language classes and mental and social services in reducing stress and trauma. Arnetz says the first such look at a random sample of immigrants starting from when they arrive in their new country. The story ran on July 4 and 5 in the Los Angeles Times, WXMI-FOX 27 (Grand Rapids), Mlive.com, WNDU-TV (South Bend, Ind.), Q13 FOX (Seattle/Tacoma, Wash.), WXYZ-TV and WNEM-CBS (Flint).
• WWJ-AM ran a June 4 segment highlighting the history of Wayne State University dating back to its post-Civil War roots when it was known as “Detroit Medical College,” which became WSU’s medical school in 1968. Current data regarding enrollment and academic programs are provided.
• A study conducted by Wayne State researchers, which proposed correlations between post-strength training muscle repair processes and increases in resting metabolic rates, is mentioned in a July 2 Idaho Mountain Express article encouraging active lifestyles.
• MetroMode reported in a July 1 edition that Wayne State University's Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center recently received an honorable mention from the Engineering Society of Detroit. "It's important because it's an important research center here in southeast Michigan," said Robert Stevenson, chair of the committee in charge of selecting the winners.
• WDIV-TV’s Katrina Hancock interviewed Wayne State University softball coach Gary Bryce on May 30 about his 29th season at WSU. Bryce led the warriors to their second Division II World Series appearance.
• Padmaja Rao, assistant director of career services at Wayne State University, commented in a July 3 Detroit News story about job prospects for Michigan’s college graduates. Rao said more companies were showing interest in hiring graduates for full-time and part-time jobs, as well as for paid and unpaid internships.
• A July 6 Hour Detroit article discusses an old fallout shelter that was recently discovered in a basement crawl space in the Emma Lazaroff Schaver Music
BOARD OF GOVERNORS AGENDA AUGUST 4, 2010
Submitted by: Andrea Roumell Dickson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
Page 5
Building. The survival gear included drinking water, crackers and other supplies dated November 1962, a month after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Jim Sears, WSU’s associate vice president for facilities planning and management, discovered the stash during a renovation project of the boiler room located in the basement area of the building.
• Urban planning professor and SEED Wayne director Kami Pothukuchi participated in a first-of-its-kind urban farming summit at the University of Michigan Dearborn in March. Pothukuchi describes SEED Wayne’s new Detroit Fresh project which pairs local growers with corner grocers in communities where residents lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The feature story ran in a July 6 edition of Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
• Law professor Bob Sedler was a guest on the July 7 edition of WJR’s “Paul W. Smith Show”, where he fielded questions from listeners about immigration law.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS AGENDA AUGUST 4, 2010
WDET / WSU Source Report May 20, 2010 through June 10, 2010
The Ann Craig Delisi's Morning Fahle All Things Weekend Live Special Essential Outreach Date Name Title WSU Dept. Topic Edition Show Considered Edition PSA Reads Program Music /Other Interview on Susan WSU Co- G. Komen Race for 5/20/2010 Joanne Grossman chairs Wayne Cares the Cure 1 Interview on FastTrac 5/24/2010 Randall Charlton Director TechTown event 1 Interview on Kilpatrick sentencing 5/25/2010 Peter Henning Professor Law School hearing 1 Environmental Interview on latest in 5/26/2010 Nichk Schreck Director Law Clinic Asian carp crisis 1 School of Interview on traffic 5/27/2010 Peter Savolainen Asst. Professor Engineering roundabouts 1 Interview on brain development 5/27/2010 Senteel Sunduram Resarcher Medical School research 1 Environmental Detroit incinerator 6/8/2010 Nick Schreck Director Law Clinic permitting process 1 1 1
Surgeon General U.S. Surgeon speaks at WSU Med 6/8/2010 Regina Benjamin General Medical School School graduation 2 2 Interview on WSU Journalism keeping the Helen 6/8/2010 Ben Burns Director Program Thomas Award 1 Interview on 6/10/2010 Hector Gonzales Asst. Professor Medical School depression research 1