Total Clips: 3 Headline Date Outlet    Colleges step up to aid Mich. economy 07/16/2008 Detroit Free Press Isle Royale Wolves, moose and you 07/13/2008 Grand Rapids Press    Development Camp Three Stars 07/12/2008 Washington Post - Online Colleges step up to aid Mich. economy 07/16/2008 Detroit Free Press Yung, Katherine Return to Top In what could be a key boost to Michigan's economy, the state's 15 public universities plan to announce today a new effort to create 200 start-up companies over the next decade. The Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship aims to award $75 million in entrepreneurship grants over the next seven years. The money will help speed the development of new ventures created at the schools as well as support entrepreneurial education and internship programs.'We expect to create companies and also benefit companies with the resources of the institutions,' said James Baker, director of Michigan Technological University's Office of Technology and Economic Development. 'It is very unique and very ambitious.'The initiative, which was led by top administrators at the University of Michigan, reflects the bigger role that the state's public universities hope to play in reviving Michigan's ailing economy. With the auto industry employing fewer people, Michiganders' interest in starting businesses has soared. Universities have discovered they can help contribute to this entrepreneurial environment by working more cooperatively with local companies and transferring more of their technology to the real world. The new effort takes this idea a step further by combining the resources and creativity of each school. 'We can be more effective collectively,' Baker said.To kick off the effort, the schools today plan to announce $1.3 million in grants to 20 research projects and educational programs at 13 of the universities. One grant for $100,000 will go toward a new commercialization center at Wayne State University's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics.'The challenge Wayne State and other universities face is to push more new research out into the commercial world faster to create new jobs and industries,' said Randal Charlton, director of WSU's TechTown business incubator. Committees with representatives from both academia and business chose the grant recipients from among 39 applicants. The money came from the C.S. Mott Foundation, but recipients also have raised a total of $2.2 million from both universities and businesses. More grants will be awarded this fall using additional money from the Mott foundation, Baker said. But the universities will need to raise more money, primarily from other foundations, for other distributions in 2009 and future years. Only public universities can apply for the grants, but they can team up with entrepreneurs and others. Baker said the effort eventually will replace the Michigan Universities Commercialization Initiative, which has invested $6 million in research projects and created 27 new businesses. Contact KATHERINE YUNG at 313-222-8763 or kyung@freepress.com. Isle Royale Wolves, moose and you 07/13/2008 Grand Rapids Press Schneider, Kim Return to Top ISLE ROYALE -- Summer vacation days typically aren't spent bushwhacking through rugged backcountry to collect and analyze the bones of dead moose. But then, Isle Royale isn't your typical destination. The island off Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in the western U.P. is home to four wolf packs, a fluctuating number of moose -- this year estimated at about 650 -- and one of the world's longest-running predator-prey studies. For 50 years, population biologists from Michigan Technological University in Houghton have studied the delicate balance between the two species in one of the nation's least-traveled national parks. This Aug. 1-9, a few experienced backpackers with $1,000 to donate to Earthwatch Expeditions can participate in the study with lead researcher Rolf Peterson. As a group, they'll collect bones from moose that starved or were killed by wolves over the winter. From those, researchers will record the sizes, ages and health of the victims and learn more about the population at large. Far more visitors will have the chance to meet Peterson and co-researcher John Vucetich on the study's 50th anniversary weekend on the island. From July 25-27, members of the public can learn about the study through talks focused on the 50 years of research findings and adventures. The weekend also features the premiere of "Fortunate Wilderness," a documentary about the study, said Jennifer Donovan, Michigan Tech's public relations director and one of the celebration's coordinators. But even those who can't make the July event still can experience what makes the island the perfect laboratory for this research: its remoteness. More people visit Yellowstone National Park in one day than visit Isle Royale -- also a national park -- all year. And planning for the trip could include reading from the study's extensive and entertaining Web site as well as a new novel, "Winter Study," a Nevada Barr mystery set on the island among the research team. Barr even used the researchers' real names and study details but added some mysterious twists. "It's a fascinating place," Donovan said of the island. "The ecosystem is a closed one; moose aren't going anywhere and neither are the wolves. It makes a perfect living laboratory for studying how they interact." It also makes the perfect location for spotting both elusive creatures. Moose, in particular, can be seen almost anywhere on the island, but especially around water and in the early mornings and evenings, said Liz Valencia, the park's chief of interpretation and cultural resources. According to the research site, moose came to the 50-mile-long, 8-mile-wide island in 1900, probably swimming over from Canada. The first wolves found their way over via an ice bridge in 1950, and eight years later, researchers already were studying the way the species were uniquely dependent upon each other and a host of other environmental factors. "Researchers feel because it's been continuous for 50 years, they have learned some things shorter studies can never show," Donovan said. "For example, they've learned how much at the mercy of unpredictable events the interactions of wolves and moose are, events like weather, like global warming, like disease." Missing from the island are many mammals found on the nearby mainland, animals that would complicate the predator-prey relationship and make study findings less revealing: porcupine, coyote, white-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat, chipmunks among them. But visitors still will find an abundance of wildlife such as fox, eagles, osprey and loons, according to an Isle Royale online travel guide created by ferry captain Ben Kilpela. Almost every island visitor comes hoping to glimpse a moose and most do if they spend more than a day on the island, said Kilpela's father and retired ferry captain Don Kilpela. Increasingly, visitors also are catching glimpses of wolves. One of the study's recent findings is that wolves have been losing some fear of humans, a trend that prompted warnings to campers last fall. "If you stay there for a couple of days, your chances of seeing a moose always increase, of course," Kilpela said. Even day-trip passengers have caught sight of moose on trails near the park's Rock Harbor Visitor Center. The center offers interpretive programs, and rangers can help steer visitors to one of the island's 30 wilderness campgrounds or 165 miles of wilderness foot trails. Rock Harbor also is the site of the Rock Harbor Lodge, with its cabins, motel rooms and restaurant, as well as a marina and general store. -- Contact Kim Schneider at kschnieder@boothmichigan .com Copyright © 2008 The Grand Rapids Press Development Camp Three Stars 07/12/2008 Washington Post - Online Return to Top I took an informal poll of coaches and media types and put together a 'Three Stars of Week.' Here's what we came up with: First star: D Karl Alzner. Not much flash, but plenty of substance. As expected, the 2007 first round draft pick was the smoothest (and most NHL ready) player on the ice. If you missed him this week, don't worry, you'll see plenty of Karl in Washington next winter. Second star: F Jake Hauswirth. If you're asking, 'Who?', don't feel bad. Thirty NHL teams took a pass on him in this summer's draft. A camp invitee, the 6-4 native of Wisconsin (and Michigan Tech recruit) wowed coaches with his knack for scoring (he notched a goal in each scrimmage). Third star: Oskar Osala. A 6 foot 4 power forward with quick feet, the big Finn quickly showed that he's ready to assume a big role in Hershey next season. Who knows? We might even see him as an injury call-up in Washington at some point. Also receiving votes (in order): F Andrew Gordon, G Simeon Varlamov, F Mathieu Perrault, F Maxime Lacroix, F Phil DeSimone, D Victor Bartley. By Tarik El-Bashir | July 12, 2008; 12:42 PM ET Previous: Caps Re-Sign Gordon | First Rock the Read When does the schedule come out? Tuesday??? Nive piece on Ted's Take about him the 'The Beaver' meeting face to face! Posted by: Capfannmiss | July 12, 2008 1:28 PM Name: