Stories this week at Wake Forest

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON SUBSTATION FOR DEBATE NEEDS

Construction has begun on a power substation to provide power to media who will be on campus for the Oct. 11 debate. Construction will be completed by Oct. 2. The substation is being built in the parking lot adjacent to Wait Chapel and will provide about three megawatts of power, roughly 30 percent of the power the university operates with on a daily basis. The substation will power all cameras, lighting needs and other broadcast equipment needed inside and outside of the debate hall. By Sept. 26 or 27, work will have progressed enough to provide good visuals.

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BEST-SELLING AUTHOR TO SPEAK ON ETHICS

Legal scholar Stephen Carter, whose 1993 best seller “The Culture of Disbelief” focused the country’s attention on the role of religious belief in public life, will speak at Wake Forest University’s Opening Convocation Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. in Wait Chapel. The event is free and open to the public. Carter’s speech is titled, “Ethics, Religion and Politics in American Life.” Those topics are also the focus of his new book, “God’s Name in Vain: The Wrongs and Rights of Religion in Politics,” to be released by Basic Books on Oct. 1. Carter is an observer of contemporary American issues including affirmative action, race, democracy and religion. The New York Times has called him “one of the nation’s leading public intellectuals,” and he was selected by Time magazine as one of the 50 leaders of the next century. Carter’s Sept. 28 appearance at Wake Forest is part of the university’s 2000-2001 Year of Ethics and Honor.

WAKE FOREST PROFESSOR TO DISCUSS OBESITY AT NATIONAL MEETING

Paul Ribisl, chair of the health and exercise science department at Wake Forest, will give a keynote address at the 15th annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Tampa, Fla. this weekend. He will speak on “The New Y2K Problem: Obesity: Genes, Gluttony, or Sloth.” Through his extensive research on obesity’s effect on health, Ribisl has found that nearly 100 million Americans are overweight or obese, a number that makes the disease one of epidemic proportions. Among other findings, his lecture will pinpoint the cost attributable to obesity-related disease at nearly $100 billion. To schedule an interview with Ribisl when he returns to campus Sept. 25, call the News Service.

LIBRARY RECOGNIZES 19th ANNIVERSARY OF BANNED BOOKS WEEK

Rhoda Channing, director of Wake Forest’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library, is available to comment on the 19th annual “Banned Books Week” to be recognized Sept. 23-30 by libraries (including Wake Forest’s), schools and bookstores across the country with readings and displays of banned or challenged books. Channing can be reached at 336-758-5090.