Story ideas / news tips from WFU during NCAA tournament

COACHTALK: WHY THEY ALL SAY THE SAME THING – Think you’ve heard that post-game spin from coach before? You probably have, says a Wake Forest University professor who has researched coaches’ post-game comments for nearly two decades. He says there is a pattern in what winning and losing coaches say after each game that reveals an underlying respect for each other and the world of athletics. John Llewellyn, an expert on rhetoric, analyzed the professional vocabulary of NCAA Division I men’s college basketball coaches for “Coachtalk,” a chapter in “Case Studies in Sport Communication,” scheduled for release this year by Praeger Press. There must be something to it – the National Basketball Hall of Fame asked him to submit the research for their archives. Llewellyn, associate professor of communication, is experienced with print and broadcast media and is available for interviews about his research and for analysis of coaches’ comments during the NCAA tournament. Contact: Llewellyn 336-758-4511 (o), llewelly@wfu.edu; or Sarah Mansell 336-758-4393(o), 336-926-0466(c); manselss@wfu.edu.

FLORIDA THIRD IN STATES WAKE FOREST STUDENTS CALL HOME – Florida is the third most represented state among Wake Forest undergraduates, falling just behind Virginia (2) and North Carolina (1). More than 600 Wake Forest alumni live in the greater Tampa area.

VICTORIOUS TRADITION: ROLLING THE QUAD – Following every Wake Forest men’s basketball victory, a mass of students and local fans swarm to the university’s main Quad, rolls of toilet paper in hand, for a tradition called “Rolling the Quad.” During the ritual celebration, the three dozen ash trees that shape the border of the schools’ grassy gathering area become covered in white paper streaming from every branch. The spirited tradition started in the1960s. In recent years, students have broadened the tradition to include other significant campus events. Last spring, students rolled the Quad in celebration of a math team victory in an international math contest, and when the university hosted the 2000 Presidential Debate, white toilet paper was exchanged for red, white and blue streamers on the trees.

LOCAL SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM WAKE FOREST TECHNOLOGY – Wake Forest started distributing laptop computers to undergraduates in 1996, and remains a leader among a small group of colleges and universities that do so. But when students at Wake Forest exchange their laptop computers for new ones after two years, the older computers find new roles in education. The university cleans the hard drives and prepares the computers for local teachers in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest sells about 1,000 computers each year to the local school system at a more affordable rate than the school system could find elsewhere. According to the university’s chief information officer, every teacher in the local school system is now outfitted with a Wake Forest laptop.

WAKE FOREST PUTS CLASS IN STUDENTS’ HANDS, LITERALLY – Students at Wake Forest are experimenting with new hand-held technology that allows for remote control of presentations, instant quizzes and more mobility for students. Students use hand-held computers and a software program called ClassInHand, which was developed by Wake Forest for use on hand-held computers and has been used in several classrooms already, including chemistry, health and foreign languages. Several Division I universities have downloaded the software for use in their classrooms.

CAMPUS-WIDE THEMES SHAPE ACADEMIC YEARS – Many campus events at Wake Forest are shaped around a common theme that reflects the interests of the students and faculty. Next year, the university will host a series of speakers and events designed to foster dialogue among those with opposing viewpoints. The name of the year is “Fostering Dialogue 2003-2004; Civil Discourse in an Academic Community.” It is the sixth theme year sponsored by the university, including 2001-2002’s “Year of Unity and Hope,” a student-initiated theme year developed in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.