Al Hermsen, director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, was interviewed in a story about the state possibly pulling the Michigan Promise scholarship, which would affect 96,000 students statewide. Wayne State University will credit student accounts with hopes that the state will follow through. "To lose a $1,000 scholarship at this date could be devastating and could change students enrollment plans," said Hermsen.

In February 2000, the WSU dance department was renamed the Maggie Allesee Department of Dance after a generous gift of $2 million from Allesee, a longtime Metro Detroit dance and cultural arts advocate and philanthropist. Guests at the Fifth Annual Spring Gala dinner, held at The Whitney, enjoyed a full evening of cocktails and elaborate meals. Following the dinner party, a concert \"Dancing the Legacy\" was held at Wayne State\'s Bonstelle Theatre. Allesee\'s gift is the largest of its kind to any university dance program in the country and created the first individually named department at WSU.

King H. Yang, a professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at WSU, has studied computer modeling as it relates to vehicle crashworthiness and occupant injuries for over 27 years. Yang believes that numerical simulations will eventually replace conventional crash testing. "There is a lot of information about injuries that we cannot get from using crash dummies, but is readily available from the computer simulations." Yang believes that as engineers continue to develop computer models, they will one day be able to pinpoint the type of injuries that will occur as a result of a given crash.

400 show up in Charles Pugh's forum to help Detroit, Detroiters Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh said he was elated at the turnout of about 400 people last night at Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium for a forum on volunteering to help Detroit and Detroiters. He hosted the meeting with WDET-FM (101.9) radio talk-show host Craig Fahle, who has held a series of "Call for Action" shows on how people in the region can help to transform Detroit. Pugh and Fahle plan another meeting for 5-8 p.m. Thursday at the Community House, 380 S. Bates in Birmingham. The second meeting will also promote volunteering in Detroit but it will be a chance for suburbanites to meet Pugh and give him suggestions for improving Detroit and making it more appealing to outsiders, he said. http://www.freep.com/article/20120222/NEWS01/120222081/400-show-up-Charles-Pugh-s-forum-help-Detroit-Detroiters http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=1004&DateTime=2%2F23%2F2012+6%3A46%3A09+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=1004&playclip=True&RefPage=

A new study suggests that rising tuition costs, higher borrowing limits on government loans and new wave of low-income students have pushed average debt burden of college graduates higher as more students borrow. Undergraduate students borrowed, on average $19,300 which is up from $12,100 a decade earlier. More students, even from the nation's wealthiest families, took on debt to pay for college. The volume of federal government loans alone rose 137 percent from 1992 to 2002, to $20.7 billion.

Sean McAlinden, senior economist for the Center for Auto Research, talked about Michigan's recovery from the worst automotive industry downturn in 70 years and the auto industry's ongoing fortunes during a lecture at Wayne State University last week. During a Q&A session following the lecture, McAlinden tackled the persistent question about why the U.S. auto market has never embraced passenger car diesels with quite the same fervor that the Europeans have. "Direct fuel-injected, modern diesels give the French, already, 46 mpg for their fleet average," he said in pointing out the advantages of using diesel. "But many cars are 60 mpg in the B class, Fiats and Peugeots and the like. (print edition only)

Law professor Peter Henning comments in a story about the lack of public scrutiny for the subprime mortgage executives guilty of mortgage fraud and other financial crimes.

Professor Peter Henning commented in a story about a reversal from the Michigan Supreme Court to consider if a major drug trafficker should have faced a second trial after his first conviction was overturned because of perjured testimony used by the prosecution.

A Detroit News editorial says Gov. Rick Snyder was right to say he hopes to boost immigration as part of his economic revitalization program for the state. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, via teleconference, also told the audience at the Wayne State University immigration conference that New York City lost only 1 percent of its jobs in the recent recession, compared to a national average of 6 percent. He attributed this fact to the many immigrants to his city. As he noted, \"Immigrants make jobs rather than take them.\"

Wayne State University has extended for two months the eligibility deadline for a temporary financial aid package designed to help students especially impacted from the down economy. The plan, announced in March and now with a deadline of June 30, instituted a one-time doubling of university financial aid to qualified full-time freshmen. Additionally, WSU announced this week that it is offering a 50% reduction in tuition for up to two classes per semester for two semesters to alumni or spouses of alumni who have lost a full-time job within six months of the time they enroll for classes.

David Hamel, professor of business management at Wayne State, comments in an article about the recent federal minimum wage increase. \"You keep increasing the minimum wage, and it\'s just going to be exacerbating the problem,\" said Hamel. \"Whenever you have more money coming in on wages, you\'re going to have folks who take advantage of it.\"

Law professor John Mogk comments in a story about the renovation agreement for Detroit's Cobo Hall.

A story comparing Warren's economy to Ann Arbor mentions that Wayne State is building an advanced technology education center at Warren's Macomb Community College.

A feature details the challenges faced by a Canadian immigrant from China who had attempted unsuccessfully to land a job in Windsor. Bin Wu decided she needed another degree, which she earned at Wayne State. That, in addition to a language training and work placement program in Windsor, resulted in a job with an accounting and tax firm

A story about a portfolio management and investment planning firm notes that its founder, Jonathan Citrin, is an adjunct business professor at Wayne State.

Greg Kowalski, editor of the Birmingham Eccentric, recently joined the alumni board for Wayne State's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. Kowalski reminisces in this comment piece about his time spent at Wayne State in the 1970s and implores prospective students and graduates to check out the university.

Wayne State University baseball player Michael Wiseman is a recipient of the 2011 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Postgraduate Scholarship. The honor, which awards each recipient $5,000 in aid to the graduate school of their choice, was voted on by the Faculty Athletic Representatives of the GLIAC member institutions. Wiseman led Wayne State with a .368 batting average (ninth in GLIAC) and a career-best 71 hits to lead the conference. A 2011 GLIAC Commissioner's Award winner, Wiseman graduated from the WSU Business School this spring with a 3.55 grade point average.

An article by the Associated Press about Gov. Granholm's plan to drop the Department of Environmental Quality in her proposed state budget, includes comment by Michael Harbut, an asbestos specialist at Wayne State. The state environmental quality program is designed to ensure compliance with federal asbestos rules."There is no such thing as a safe level of exposure to asbestos," Harbut said.

Marick Masters, director of Labor @ Wayne and professor in the School of Business Administration, is quoted in an article about problems the sagging economy is causing for the airline industry. He says the economic situation is likely to continue into 2010, making it more difficult for already hard-hit airlines.

Wayne State University\'s weekly farmers market kicked off Wednesday and will be held every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through October 28. It is located on Cass Avenue, in front of the university's Prentis Hall.